Ivan tried to calm herself and began recalling what the ancient books said about the Holy Sword.

The Holy Sword wasn’t actually a weapon someone had forged. It was a byproduct of a pact between a contractor and a spirit with an affinity for holy magic.

With the materials humans could dig up these days, they could make decent melee weapons. But against the monstrous races, weapons without magic backing them up just weren’t enough.

To defeat the monstrous races, humanity needed to draw on a new source of power. The Elf Clan was the wealthiest of the monstrous races friendly to humans, so powerful human warriors began making pacts with holy spirits.

Since these were commercial contracts, most contractors didn’t get to choose. They were stuck with whoever they got. Powerful, beautiful spirits only existed in their dreams—in reality, the spirits they contracted with were all hideously ugly old-timers.

Still, plenty of human swordsmen worked hard to earn a Holy Sword, tempted by its terrifying power.

Following the proper process, an excellent swordsman might obtain a Holy Sword by the age of twenty in peacetime. During a war, it could happen a little sooner—but not by much.

Holy Swords seemed plentiful across the kingdom, but there were only a handful of powerful warriors who wielded top-tier ones. Most Holy Swords were merely average.

But that was all in the past. Ivan had recalled these old stories because she wanted to search the Holy Sword’s history for a way to awaken it again.

Generally speaking, once a pact was formed, it was difficult to break unless something truly major happened.

Ivan put her mind to work, and, sure enough, she came up with a possible way to summon the Holy Sword: call her contracted spirit by name.

The spirit bound to Ivan’s Holy Sword was named Aster Omdin.

She was an exceptionally rare female sword spirit. Apparently, all the other sword spirits belonging to the kingdom’s top warriors were grizzled old men. Ivan had been pretty surprised to end up with a fair-skinned, beautiful sword spirit.

But that was as far as it went. Back then, Ivan had been a lunatic obsessed with swordsmanship.

And his sword spirit, Aster, was a girl with no personality to speak of. They’d barely spent any time together. Ivan only called her out when something urgent came up.

The last time he’d summoned her in person was a year ago. Ivan’s unit had been marching at night when the enemy surrounded them. With their lives on the line, Ivan called Aster out.

Faced with a sea of monsters, Aster simply raised a hand and waved. A huge swath of undead vanished, as if they’d been deleted with a quick format.

The price of using a skill with such overwhelming power was that Aster fell into a deep sleep afterward. She hadn’t responded once in the past year.

At the thought, Ivan hurriedly pushed up the long sleeve of her shirt. Thankfully, the contract mark was still on her arm, its dark-red and gold pattern standing out sharply against her smooth skin.

There was still a chance!

Hope renewed, Ivan cleared her throat and began to chant:

“Aster Omdin, I summon you in the name of your contractor. Show yourself.”

A flash of golden light—and nothing but empty space before her.

…

No response?

Was I not being reverent enough?

Ivan tried the chant again, but the same result awaited her.

Oh no. What if the Holy Sword really was gone?

Without the Holy Sword, wouldn’t she just be a cute little thing waiting to get herself killed in front of the Blood Clan Queen?

Just as Ivan was drowning in despair and thinking of finding a rooftop where she could be alone for a while, a small, snow-white hand poked her in the back.

“Eep! Don’t poke me there~”

Maybe it was because her body had turned into a girl’s, but even a perfectly ordinary complaint came out a hundred times cuter.

Ivan hurriedly covered her mouth and turned around. A blonde girl tilted her head and stared at her in confusion.

As if to say, Who are you?

A deathly silence filled the room.

Ivan thought up a thousand ways to say hello. How was she supposed to explain to her sword spirit that her master had turned into a girl?

The Elf Clan had probably seen all sorts of things. Maybe she could just say the Blood Clan Queen had ambushed him and turned him into a girl. Failing that, she could just ask, “Do you believe them, or do you believe that I’m Qin Shi Huang?”

“Aster, I’m about to tell you something very serious. Don’t laugh.”

(・◇・)?

“Your master here had a little accident, so my body’s temporarily turned into a girl’s. And I can’t awaken the Holy Sword’s power right now. Do you have any ideas?”

“Turn back.”

Aster said it without hesitation.

Ivan was speechless. It was like telling your boss you couldn’t make ends meet, only for him to tell you to keep working hard without ever mentioning a raise. A perfect little logic loop.

“Isn’t there anything else you can do? I’m right in the middle of the Blood Clan’s stronghold. Are you expecting me to escape unarmed?”

“Hmm…” Aster thought for a moment, then shook her head, her expression unchanged.

“Sex-change magic is difficult to perform. Even the elders of the Elf Clan can’t guarantee it’ll work.”

“All right. Are your injuries any better?”

“Much better. But with the power I have now, I can’t get you out of here.”

“That’s okay. I’m sorry about what happened last time, Aster. I shouldn’t have treated you like a tool and left you to spend a year recovering.”

“Sword spirits have always been tools of slaughter. I don’t mind.” Aster yawned, then noticed the wooden sword in the corner. She bent down, picked it up, and blew on it.

“Use this for now. I sealed some of my power inside the wooden sword. It should still manage a few simple techniques.”

“Thank you.” Ivan took the wooden sword. Something felt odd. This had all gone a little too smoothly.

Why was there a perfectly suitable wooden sword in the room where she’d woken up?

It was almost as if someone had prepared it just for her.

Ivan furrowed her brow. Just then, someone knocked rhythmically at the door.

“You should go back.” Ivan nudged Aster, hid the wooden sword, and hurried to the door. She peered outside through the crack.

She saw a black-and-white maid’s uniform. Could it be the attendant from yesterday?

Ivan opened the door and saw someone she didn’t recognize.

“P-Princess, you’re awake!?”

“You knocked, didn’t you? Weren’t you waiting for me to open the door?”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry for disturbing your rest. I’ll be your maid from now on. You can call me Ella.”

“I don’t need a maid. You can go.”

Ivan shut the door without a hint of politeness. A maid would only slow down her escape. This had to be one of Vivian’s schemes.

“Your Highness, did I do something wrong?”

“I’m not your princess. Goodbye—no, never again!”

Ella was starting to panic outside the door. Her Majesty the Queen had told her to take good care of Princess Wei Yue’s daily needs, but the princess didn’t seem to like her at all. Was she too intimidating-looking?

Ella took out her compact mirror. A cute, apple-cheeked face looked back at her. She didn’t look that scary, did she?

Then why didn’t the princess like her?

“Your Highness, if there’s something about me you don’t like, I can change.”

“I don’t need a maid.”

“I see.” Ella looked a little downcast. She’d only just found the job, and she was unemployed before she’d even started.

“Well, I’ll leave breakfast by the door. If you get hungry, Your Highness, you can take it.”

Ella left some bread, an apple, and a beautifully packaged bottle of blood by the door. Then she bowed and walked away without looking back.

Quite a while later, the door, which had been firmly shut, opened a crack.

Ivan looked over the fairly hearty meal and carried it back into the room. Beside the bread lay a beautifully made card.

It read, “A super-sweet breakfast made with love for Princess Wei Yue~”

Who was Wei Yue?

Ivan looked at the lovely little figure reflected in the bottle of blood.

Could it mean her?