Völundio ~Divergent Sword Saga~

Cleo, a weathered mercenary, harbors a simple, almost fragile dream: to earn enough coin to purchase a small home and finally lay down his sword for good. But in a world where violence is the only currency he knows, peace remains an elusive horizon. His latest job, a routine escort, spirals into a desperate flight for survival when his party is ambushed by a band of cutthroats far more formidable than any common thief. With his comrades fallen and his own life hanging by a thread, Cleo’s prospects seem to end in a bloody ditch on a forgotten road. It is in this moment of utter despair that he encounters Kohaku, a mysterious demi-human girl whose amber eyes hold secrets of the future. She claims to have foreseen his imminent death, a vision that has driven her to cross his path. For reasons she refuses to divulge, Kohaku has vowed to stand between Cleo and the grim fate that awaits him, wielding an uncanny power to shield him from danger. Bound by her cryptic pledge and his own growing bewilderment, Cleo finds his path irrevocably altered. Haunted by a prophecy he doesn't fully understand and protected by an ally he cannot trust, he must now navigate a world that seems intent on killing him. The question remains whether her intervention is a blessing that will grant him his peaceful life, or a curse that will drag him into a far deeper and more perilous conflict.