Chapter 1: 1. A Star Swimming with Life
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Hm, a reminder...?
...A thousand days left, huh.
In another thousand days, I'll have to part with this original body, one I've used for so long and grown so accustomed to.
I wonder if I'll be able to do it well next time.
In the castle city of Tafkau, where a sand-laced wind blows—no, in the castle ruins that were once Tafkau... a lone figure stands.
The castle city of Tafkau was located near the center of the continent, on the shores of a large lake.
Last year, this was the land that became the stage for a fierce battle between the 'Demon Lord' Koai and the 'Servants of God'.
However, even though it was the stage of a fierce battle, many of Tafkau's residents had evacuated around the time the 'Servants' gathered and Koai emerged victorious. Furthermore, since there were few battles that engulfed the city proper, the damage to human life, property, and buildings was relatively minor.
Despite this, the victor, Koai, did not linger in Tafkau and left promptly. Nor did any reinforcements appear to occupy the city after Koai's departure.
The humans were unable to gauge Koai's intentions, but in any case, the soldiers who arrived as reinforcements had time to devise countermeasures against a reinvasion. Thus, to prevent it from being used as a base by Koai or the elves in the future, the decision was made to destroy the city itself.
However, the destruction of Tafkau was not a decision made after careful deliberation. It was carried out unilaterally by the army of a certain influential noble—the first reinforcements to arrive in Tafkau, several days after the battle—who, fearing Koai more than necessary due to rumors mixed with fact and fiction, acted on their own authority.
In reality, Koai and their companions were not planning any further attacks... far from a reinvasion via Tafkau, not even a skirmish between humans and elves occurred. As such, it turned out to be a hasty, overly rushed decision.
However, after the war, there were almost no residents who wished to return to the abandoned Tafkau... or at least, almost none who claimed to.
In the past, the castle city of Tafkau had been a strategic point, the central fortress of 'Elgent' on the front lines against the elves and demons, and had greatly contributed to the unification of the continent by humans... but...
After witnessing the overwhelming might of Koai, who had swept aside even the 'Servants', the fortress's imposing majesty must have seemed to do nothing more than vainly adorn a past glory.
It was perhaps only natural that no one wished to return to a land where only such sorrow lingered.
In any case, the abandonment of Tafkau did not become a major issue.