The place in which Charlotte Doyle was supposed to frequent, was that of the grocery store.

One comfortably situated on the basement floors of the grand mall, she began to make her way towards it in a manner most natural. There was little need to rush herself, after all, what would come of such things? The day was still young, and all things considered, quite beautiful too. Night City, being the clean, pristine, ideal of the modern Aeolian metropolis, enabled the full appreciation of the weather in it. Given that the industrial aspects of society were located in other, more unsavory locations, and the increasing incentive for environmental concern, such an outcome was only natural.

That and the fact that today, the mall was fairly devoid of activity. With only a few passing individuals, most of the life itself was found in the form of store workers. Knowing that, the normally reserved Charlotte couldn’t help but smile.

Sometimes, a little peace and quiet went a long way.

Owing to her outlook and overall demeanor, what should have been a minute’s walk instead extended itself to that of several, as her eyes, struck by a most egregious sight, were diverted to none other than her doom.

The frozen yogurt store, which despite her constant reservations of it ever opening, had finally opened its doors to customers, and was in fact, quite conveniently devoid of any customers.

The idea of a perfect sweet, cold goodness compacted into a carriable snack, alongside cute hologram displays of the shop's various animal mascots had enraptured her.

Why not? Was the line of thought that went through her mind. To her, there was little need for much consideration, in her mind, the grievances of weight was not one that had bearing, if she truly was upset with her body, then she would simply exercise more. With her newfound determination and desire to improve herself, the very idea of laziness was not one that had sprung into her mind.

Anything short of the utmost dedication and strength of will would not only dishonour the efforts of Jaiga, but herself too!

Smiling despite the awareness that such a desire might have been overly saccharine, she nonetheless pressed onwards.

“Welcome!” A young woman exclaimed, as if their first customer of the day entered.

Through the exchange of mutual smiles and nods, Charlotte now began her deep introspection into the nature and truth of frozen yogurt flavoring. Truly there were too many options, strawberry, banana, blueberry, vanilla…

How cruel… Charlotte contemplated, while she would have been able to contemplate for an hour longer, her strength of will and determination pushed through! Without much ado, she forced herself to make a choice, and chose to get three flavors respectively.

“Vanilla, strawberry and cookies and cream please.”

Enthusiastically, the lady behind the counter presented the goods forth.

From the authentic grin that was on the lady’s face, one would have expected an occasion befitting that of a marriage if nothing else. Her appearance was almost unusual in that sense, the gentle tremble of her frame, the smile devoid of any artificiality, and her eyes that stared straight into her soul, Charlotte pondered twice over the matter.

Certainly, could this be the case?

Her mother had always described her as beautiful when she was younger, so the assumption that she might have captured the attention of a maiden such as the store employee was possible.

Thus, Charlotte uttered a brief but sincere thanks and parted ways.

Aside from the tiny smidge of boost in ego it gave, the impression of others had little bearing on her being.

The girl who was now finished with her tasks walked towards an alleyway. That was her supposed route home after all. She had come here through that alleyway, and she would go back home through the same path. She had come for the purpose of buying frozen yogurt so it was only logical she would leave once that was done.

At the end of the alleyway was a door, her body would go to that door, her body would open that door, and her body would enter it. This was the predetermined course that had been set for her, that was all there was to it.

Or at least, it was, until she felt a wet stain seep through her clothes. Her mind came to comprehend that she had dropped her frozen yogurt, its contents spilling out onto the pavement below.

A certain sense of unfamiliarity creeped into her mind. Was she always so clumsy? When she searched through the crevices of her mind for any information or indication of such, she instead found nothing.

Taking out a handkerchief from her coat pocket, she began to wipe the stain. She wiped and wiped and wiped and wiped but the wetness was still there. What was going on? Shifting her line of sight down, a colour filled her vision, a colour that shouldn’t have been here.

Red.

Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.

Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.

Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.

Her handkerchief was red, her hands were red, her coat was red, and the pavement was red.

“Huh?”

Staggering back, she slipped and fell on the puddle of crimson.

Seeing so much red made her feel dizzy, unpleasant, putrid even. As for why, she did not know. Perhaps she may have known before, she thought, but as of now, she did not.

Seeking to escape the redness that filled her world, she looked to the end of the alleyway, to the door, to her home, to warm tea and freshly baked cookies, to fluffy blankets and a good shower, to her mistress Jaiga, to her best friends Lisbeth, Alphonse, and Eliyen, to her...

What her gaze rested on instead was a shadow standing less than two meters high at the end of the alleyway, its form vaguely resembling that of a human.

Clearly more than just the product of an obstruction of light, its darkness enveloped everything around it. There was no object, no item, nothing that could be seen where it existed. Like an all encompassing black hole, she instinctively knew that whatever it swallowed was never to be seen again.

“Ah...”

Charlotte, who could only sit there and watch, soon vanished.

On the 3rd day of the first month, there was a room. Within this room was a letter. A letter written in blood, the text inscribed upon it, provoked that of a challenge. An retaliation, a deal, but most importantly a conclusion, it was a letter that called upon the wrath of Jaiga al Heilewis. For the last hours that had passed, went by in the absence of Charlotte Doyle.

There was little more that needed to be said, for the knight, in her stead, would smite what would soon be dead. Galloping off alone, she held bated breath. She did not moan, for she could not risk furth death. For it was inscribed that Charlotte was alive, and even should Jaiga die, she would do so in stride.

Lie or not, truth or fraught, her spear was steadfast, and her honor even more so.

Fear, inadequacy, vengeance, within the heart of the knightess that was Jaiga al Heilewis, there remained an absence of said emotions. A brand-new spear grasped firmly within the palm of her left hand, she had found herself in front of none other than the residence of the scum that had eluded her valiant efforts prior. A vile demon of magic pertaining to the shadow variety, his villainy and evil would finally be put to an end.

Hesitation, no more a trifle than a pebble along her path, she stepped forward.

Rugged, downtrodden, and downright filthy, she pondered on why evil and aesthetic degeneracy often went hand in hand, and then contemplated whether this was just confirmation bias.

Setting her heart ablaze into a state of righteous fury, her mind engrossed itself in the task at hand, and that task was to kill.

Beyond her duty to that of empathy, was the separation of those whose lives were of value, and those that were not. For life, precious as it were, was not to be viewed with impartiality.

When push came to shove, people needed to die, and that was that.

As she took her next step into the venue, the grip around her weapon tightened. Her attentive look suggesting that she was now within the presence of danger, her eyes began to compare the shapes and forms of what was around her, to what would have been the norm.

“Eleuchten.”

A warm mucus-like texture surrounding the palm of her right hand, her Resolve manifested, and upon the utterance of her command, transformed itself into a dazzling orb of light.

Rotating in accordance to the revolution of planets, it illuminated the area around her in a ten meter radius, which did as much to reveal her surroundings as it did her existence.

Brought up as a Paladin that engaged in the art of honorable combat, the thought of concealing her aura did not once even prop itself into her mind. She was not a lowly assassin, she was a warrior, and for a warrior such as her, such a course of action was absolute.

A shroud of iridescent aura emanating from her, she made her statement loud and clear.

“Prostrate before my light and reveal thy insolent self at this instant!”

Speaking as her eyes examined the one crevice of the area that gave little in the way of information, it seemed that her call had been heeded, as none other than the one that she had anticipated appeared.

Despite the seemingly inconspicuous act however, the villain that sought the attention of his victim, had done so not out of polite compliance.

But out of pure sadism.

The being, now reconstructed in all its humanoid glory, stood to be of a height, no higher than that of a child. The corners of their mouth upturned in triumph and predominance, patches of what would otherwise be pale human skin, instead showed none other than irregular gaps that revealed darkness in them.

Darkness with the quality of the occasional human eye amongst other things.

Jaiga confirmed. No matter how different it seemed from their encounter prior, there was little doubt that this was in fact the creature that had disrupted civil order.

By merit of its existence as a demon, it had been instructed that it should receive the universal treatment that they as a race unanimously shared.

It was a concept that had been ingrained in the minds of Paladins since birth, not one that she had acquired under the tutelage of Rainee.

Stiffness of a confining variety holding her move, her rational side prevented her from making any hasty movements. Drawing from the knowledge that had been instilled in her since childhood, Jaiga recalled the words of her teacher.

The knight was known for her valor, but feeling at odds with the monster, held a degree of hesitation to approach. If her lessons served right, the significance of the monster mutating into a humanoid form, served as not a sign of weakness, of the gradual continuous process that would lead to death, but rather, something else entirely…

Jaiga was quite unsure of how to feel.

Their overall Resolve is less than before, but the quality it holds is no longer that of a mere savage beast…

Soon, the tension in the air changed dramatically, as the pervasive aura that ran off Jaiga, now held the quality of disgust. Unable to ignore the predicament at hand, her face made no effort to disguise her emotion.

“You promised Charlotte Doyle, where is she?”

The monster paused, then scratched the back of his head.

“Dead, most likely buried in some ditch in the middle of nowhere, you know how it goes.”

She did not expect much less. Charlotte Doyle in the grand scheme of things, was no more than a pawn, a inkling of life within a vast sea of evil, there was no weight or ripple to be held with her death. Only the sorrow of her former companions.

The monster gestured upward with his chin, and gazed toward the ceiling. During this insignificant moment in time, there was almost a sense of reconciliation between the two.

Like the respect offered by an opposing warrior in the heat of battle, the demon both respected and admired her sense of sorrow.

The monster laughed at the mere thought of it.

“Ya getting sentimental or somethin’? Don’t worry Yagay, there’s plenty of maids in the world, I’m sure if you pay a whore or two that they’ll gladly roleplay those snobby fantasies of yours.”

Jaiga took this retort with a calm face and serene mind; whatever advantage the enemy were to gain, her composure would not be one of them. Now that the stem of her naivete had been eradicated, there was no further need to hold herself back.

“Are those your last words?” She mumbled. “If so, I shall commence the last rites.”