Zeroth Directive

Archive II

A report from our correspondent: There are many mysteries surrounding the president of Karlan Trade, Enciodes, and the most intriguing of them all is of course his bodyguard, the former three-time winner of the Kazimierz Major—Miss Degenbrecher. ... With her permission, we have shadowed her for a day— When she wakes up in the morning, the first thing she does is to head downstairs to buy breakfast. After her meal, she will go out if Master Enciodes has work for her, or if there is Tschäggättä training to conduct. Otherwise, she will exercise in the yard for about two hours, then copy scriptures or read in her study until noon. She then goes to the nearby commercial district for lunch. During her lunch break, villagers will often approach her, asking for help with farm work or to settle some trouble (there is a consensus among the locals that her help is first-come-first-served), and what's most astonishing is that she will agree to help them after eating. You could say she spends most of her afternoon helping the villagers, and on the rare occasion she has free time, she will head to the snowy mountains in search of something more exciting. Usually, her dinner is willingly provided by the villagers who borrowed her assistance, or she'll simply have something on the road. Then, she goes for a stroll by Lake Silberneherze before returning to her residence and calling it a day. Yes, Miss Degenbrecher, the living legend who left an unbroken record in Kazimierz is now living the simple life here in Kjerag. This only whets our curiosity about her attitude toward life, but she was unwilling to share her opinion. After the writer was hung by a wooden pole on the wall outside her residence, we were forced to take a different approach. After interviewing some random neighboring villagers, we have selected a few valuable comments from them. Hopefully, our readers can get to know her better this way. 'Degenbrecher? She's a good person! Just ask around, there's no one here who hasn't received her help! You definitely have to write that down. No clue what this Kazimierz thing everyone keeps mentioning is, but she's definitely a good Kjerag girl!' ——An old man enjoying the shade under a tree 'Miss Degenbrecher? Oh, she's an honorary member of our Anglers Association. At first, we thought someone like her wouldn't be interested, but one day she spent the entire afternoon with us by an ice hole, and it was then I knew she was one of us. Go ask the fellas who're always at Lake Silberneherze. Everyone knows her, she's our idol.' ——A young angler 'Degenbrecher? To be honest, I was wary when she first joined us. After all, she pretty much took my position. But afterwards I stopped caring, yeah? Spend long enough with her, and you'll realize that despite how she looks, she really does care, deep down. There's no doubt she's an indispensable member of the Silverash family.' ——An Itra with a strange scent 'Can Kjerag can satisfy her? That is but the preliminary question. You will soon discover that what gives her cause to leave or stay is not the satisfaction she feels, but whether her environment makes sense to her. I am pleased to note that Kjerag does indeed, and I believe her attitude towards it represents a sort of simple, yet sharp, perspective on this place. I can only hope that she finds the future Kjerag just as coherent.' ——A Feline who asked to conceal his identity ..... ——Excerpt from the March 1098 issue of 'Kjerag Newsletter' second edition

Archive III

Degenbrecher stands halfway up the mountain, turning around to view the scenery she has grown a little tired of, and recalls the first time she faced an avalanche. She had no choice but to face Kjeragandr's 'turnover'—the local parlance for an avalanche—to save a couple who could not escape in time. It was an interesting experience for her, and she realized for the first time how she could simultaneously wrestle with nature and have fun. Since then, you could always find her in the rescue team whenever an avalanche occurred in Kjerag, and as such she has become a hero to many of the locals. Honestly, I'm only trying to entertain myself, she thinks. These days, Kjerag's avalanche warning system is more than sufficient. The day before one occurs, the monitoring center sounds an alarm to warn the residents and pedestrians at the foot of the mountain to evacuate, and the mountain is closed to everyone and anyone—with her as the sole exception. When she sees the locals watching her walk into the snowy mounts with surprise in their eyes, she thinks she did not come here to win or lose. For her, there is no victory or defeat against an avalanche. After all, what even counts as a win? To survive? If so, then naturally she's on a winning streak. But if requires her to cut down her foe, then she has never once succeeded. But this does not dishearten her, for she finds it quite enjoyable to challenge something she cannot defeat. Besides, as long as she lives, she can try again and again. And perhaps one day, she might just succeed? Even so, the Kazimierz knights had regarded her as an insurmountable wall, and not just that. Once they concluded she was unbeatable, they gave up entirely on trying to score a victory, with their bouts somehow ending up about testing their skills against hers by the number of blows they could take before falling. A wave of white snow rises from the mountaintop and rolls downward. She looks up, thinking of Enciodes and his hooded friend. She thinks that what they face is just like the avalanche in front of her, or what those knights saw her as. She pulls out the swordbreakers stuck in the snow, and launches herself towards the wave. They always seem to make the same choice as her.

Archive IV

Aspirations. For the orphan living out on the streets, it was survival and having a good meal. To achieve this goal, she wielded her worn-out swordbreakers and killed her way from Leithanien to Kazimierz, turning herself from an obscure competition knight into a champion. Everyone she met on the way told her that survival doesn't count as an aspiration, that one's desires should be more complex than that. So many were so insistent that she became a little curious. As a result, the Leithanian dark horse tried out many of their aspirations—their corrupt, intoxicating, infeasible lifestyles—she has tried it all. She has also met those with so-called nobler inclinations. But in doing so, she carefully realized that all their desires ultimately boil down to keeping themselves or the people around them alive, and to have a good meal afterward. It was then that she decided that Kazimierz did not hold the answer she was looking for. And so the nation's champion chose to be exiled. By the way, the GCC probably still doesn't realize that if they hadn't sought her out, she'd never actually planned on winning a third time. The conflict with Darksteel did indeed introduce unprecedented danger to her, and at the time she had two thoughts. One was to ask Darksteel what kind of aspirations someone as strong as them might have, and the second was that if her skills were lacking, then there really wasn't anything wrong with dying on the spot. Kazimierz was just that boring. In the end, neither happened, and instead she met a young noble who claimed to hail from Kjerag. You seem to be curious about how Enciodes convinced me to go with him at first. It was nothing special, he was just the first person I couldn't fully comprehend. And now, there are many more like him around me. I don't understand you, Enciodes, or some of the others on this landship any more than you understand me. You may find it hard to comprehend that I lack any aspirations, but do you people really have something you're striving for? All you do is to piece together the wishes of others into a huge fortress, then convince yourself that building it is a dream of your own. Let's say I ask you now, what do you want to do? Can you think of anything that isn't just realizing the desires of someone else? If you could trade your life to realize your dream, people like you probably wouldn't hesitate for a second, as if you were born just for that. I've seen too many avaricious people drown in their own desires, as well as too many tragic deaths of those who did no wrong and only wanted to live. I've also seen many who managed to realize their desires and obtain the life they aspired to. But people like you, I've yet to see how your lives end. And that's why I chose to go with him, and why I stand before you. Just do whatever you want, and I'll make sure you live.

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