I Fell
I liked keeping pets.
As a child, I started with common animals and eventually moved on to rare breeds whose fur color changed in response to mana or expensive hybrid species.
If it was something I could legally keep in the upper tier, I would have gone through most of them at some point.
But I don't have many memories of keeping them for long.
"Master. You're almost dying."
While having breakfast, I was called to the pet yard, where a palm-sized ball of fur lay helplessly.
The day before, it had been scratching at the glass wall and whining for snacks.
"It was fine yesterday."
"Aging. This species has a naturally short lifespan."
When I got closer, its small belly was rising and falling very slowly.
With each breath, the ribs were visible through the fur.
"Can it be saved?"
"If I attach a regeneration procedure, it can hold on a little longer. But it won't reverse the aging."
The vet added that it could buy a few months.
The cost was at the level of buying a few new specimens.
It wasn't a burden financially.
As the precious young master of a megacorp, I wouldn't worry about a few coins.
The issue was that every few months, I'd have to do the same thing again.
That was too bothersome.
I would find a pet I liked, bring it home, adjust food and environment, and by the time it got used to habits, it would age.
Then I'd call the vet, empty the yard, and start over from scratch.
I had even held funerals for a couple of times, but after that, I left it to the servants.
Every time it died, I had to go through the same procedure, so it was hard to find a reason to follow it myself.
So, I looked for something that lives longer.
The secretary brought a list of long-lived magical creatures, and I even saw a few in person.
There was a lizard that lived 50 years and a bird that lived nearly 100, but once I saw them, they didn't appeal much.
If I made them live longer, it was the same thing.
Then, suddenly, a person caught my eye.
What if it was a person.
They live much longer than animals, and they change constantly while growing.
Their behavior changes according to what you teach them, and they show unpredictable reactions, so it might not get boring just looking at the pet yard.
Fortunately, I also had quite useful eyes for choosing people.
If I stared at someone with my bare eyes for a few seconds, the faintly colored aura would gradually become clearer.
Each color seemed to have different talents, and red was like superpowers, blue like magic.
They sound like easy abilities, but when actually used, they cost a lot.
I don't know if they're strong or weak now, or if they'll betray me later.
To raise them well, I'd have to bring them myself and watch, so it was a small saving in the trouble of looking at people.
Still, it was enough to choose a rough gem.
Among them, kids with black mixed in were strangely noticeable.
Sometimes, like beans in a drought, there were one or two, but even if I kept watching, I couldn't find something different from other colors.
But I didn't dislike the black.
It was pitch black and dark, and it felt like it sucked you in just by looking.
The first one I met was when I was 18.
On the way back from descending to the lower tier, a street urchin in clothes stained with blood and dust was sitting leaning against the alley wall.
From the appearance, it could have been a common unregistered orphan, but the moment my gaze brushed, I saw black mixed in the red light.
After staring for a few seconds, the hazy two colors became clear.
Among the people I've seen so far, it was thick enough to be ranked on my hand.
The attendant next to me followed my gaze and asked quietly.
"Shall I have him removed?"
"No. Let's take him."
"...That kid?"
"Yeah."
The attendant didn't ask for reasons.
No one would allow me, the youngest young master of our house, to take in an orphan.
After that, there were a few more similar incidents.
I gave the taken kid food and a place to stay, and provided education suited to the color.
After a few years, when I thought he could live alone, I prepared independent funds and residence, and sent him out after settling his temporary ID used under my protection.
That was enough to think I had raised him well.
I never promised to keep him forever, and I never sent him out empty-handed to the streets.
If I made him able to stand alone, wasn't that the end of what I was responsible for?
From 18 to 33, I took in and sent out a few like that.
After the last kid left the house, I didn't bring in anyone new.
Since it was a hobby I've done for a long time, it was enough at this point.
More than anything, I was starting to get tired of people.
If I took in more here, I'd get tired forever.
I needed a short break.
So, for 2 years.
While receiving dividends and spending them, occasionally getting treatment, and watching my siblings fight over the successor position, I lived a suitably aging life.
There was nothing bad about it.
No, rather, it was good.
No responsibility, no hassle, and living was easy.
I could always eat what I wanted.
I could always have what I wanted.
It was really good to want to live like this for my whole life.
...Until before our family went bankrupt.
"Ugh..."
It didn't take even a day to go bankrupt.
Until I woke up in the morning, the mansion was similar to usual.
Through the bedroom window, a 9th ring advertising hologram was floating, and the automatic curtains opened at the set time.
The strange thing started from in front of the sink.
Normally, the mirror that should show health records and schedules upon face recognition showed only a black screen.
After moving my hand a few times without response, checking personal terminals, the family network connection was cut off.
"Is it a blackout?"
When I opened the door, it wasn't that.
The corridor lights were fine, and the air conditioning was quietly running.
Instead, the security guard and servant I usually met around this time were nowhere to be seen.
The security drones that passed by the window were also not visible.
Since they followed the same trajectory every day, the fact that they weren't outside caught my eye first.
After walking a bit, the security door of the family-only area was wide open.
There were no signs of explosion or tampering.
It looked like someone had opened it with official permission, so I put my hand on the wall emergency terminal and a log briefly appeared.
[Top-level authority used]
[Authenticator: Second successor]
It was my second sister.
The following records disappeared before I could read them, and instead, a personal terminal vibrated.
It was a pre-set reservation message that opened even with the family network cut off.
- Little brother. If you're seeing this, come down right away.
- I removed your name from the removal list.
- Instead, the rights from the family side won't remain. If you live quietly, no one will touch you.
A short message.
But it contained a lot of information.
"Sister opened it."
Just in case, I tried sending a reply, but it didn't go through.
Our house's defense network is difficult to tamper with from outside.
To open the core research building, there needs to be biological authentication from a family member with successor rights, and since my second sister, who had that authority, opened the door herself, there was little more to check.
When I turned my gaze outside the window, strange corporate identification-marked transport planes were floating above the research building.
I tried contacting my parents and other siblings, but no one connected.
I could have gone directly to check, but walking into a seized research building didn't appeal to me.
If I was alive, I'd contact later, and if dead, I couldn't go anyway. It was better to survive first.
While changing clothes, I checked my usual account.
The balance was 0.
The family stake was blocked from even querying, and the mansion and vehicles no longer recognized me as owner.
The 'rights won't remain' my sister said was probably this.
Still, the secretly hidden money wasn't stolen.
Even if I didn't want to get involved in the successor fight, it was close to common sense in the upper tier to prepare at least a slush fund.
From childhood, I had seen my siblings freeze each other's accounts and remove people, so I couldn't have not prepared something.
More worrying than money was the treatment.
My body required periodic maintenance because the longevity procedure was imperfectly established.
It wasn't to the point of collapsing immediately, but since the family medical network was gone, I had to look elsewhere for the next treatment.
Considering the cost, I wasn't in a position to use up the hidden money.
I just packed a small bag and left the mansion.
The 9th ring levitation railway station was quieter than usual, and at the corporate area entrance, a government control line was already set up.
Far away, black smoke was rising in the direction of the research building, but it didn't seem like my account would come back by watching it.
When I put my ID chip at the gate, red letters appeared.
[Upper tier residency rights have been revoked.]
[Vertical movement is restricted.]
"Fast."
It meant I could go down.
It was good. Since there was no place to stay above, it was fine.
As the levitation railway descended each floor, the view outside the window changed.
The neat glass outer walls decreased, and exposed pipes and patched iron plates began to appear between buildings.
As I went lower, the advertising holograms became dimmer, and instead, the humming vibration of cheap mana transformers rose to the floor of the cabin.
I kept going down without deciding where to go.
I wouldn't starve immediately, but the hidden money wasn't infinite.
To secure treatment costs, it was better to find a cheap place to hide first.
Accommodations that didn't carefully check IDs were surprisingly easy to find.
On the counter, a mana meter was taped over, and every time I passed the corridor, a motor scraping sound came from somewhere.
Soundproofing wasn't good, and hot water smelled like metal, but it was enough to stay a few days.
I hesitated for a moment whether to change clothes.
The coat I wore from the upper tier didn't match the surrounding scenery too much, but it was a shame to discard something with shielding fabric in good condition.
I didn't need to buy new clothes just because I came to the lower tier.
Eating wasn't too difficult either.
Cheaper than upper tier food, but the price was much lower, and hygiene wasn't something I worried about unless I looked.
I spent three days in the lower tier.
On the third night.
At the entrance of the alley where I was returning to the accommodation, someone pointed at my coat and said.
"That guy looks like he fell from above."
I tried to pass by pretending not to hear, but stopped.
Three at the alley entrance.
One was leaning against the wall smoking something like a cigarette, and the other two blocked my way.
Their clothes were worn, but the knife at their waist and the mana pistol looked fine.
There was no chance of winning a fight.
So, no need to fight anyway.
"How much?"
The man blocking the way narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
"Doing this because of money."
I took out a communicator from my pocket.
I didn't intend to show the hidden account, so I opened the temporary lower-tier wallet I had made a few days ago.
I had moved some money there with the intention of getting it torn off and ending it.
"100,000."
The expressions of the three changed subtly.
It wasn't a small amount.
Considering the accommodation fee nearby, the three could enjoy a few days of free food and lodging, and it wasn't a waste to spend that much for my life.
"Receive and end it."
The man looked back and forth between my communicator and my face and smiled.
"Brother, you must have some money."
Ah.
I made a mistake.
The one thing I learned after three days in the lower tier was that showing payment ability here doesn't always lead to problem solving.
If a human can immediately hand over 100,000, they probably have more than that.
"How much is in your account?"
"I have no reason to tell you that."
"Why not?"
The guy next to me grabbed the hem of my coat.
Reflexively, I slapped his hand away, and the laughter stopped.
"This is real."
The guy's eyes changed as he rubbed the fabric with his fingers.
He must have recognized the shielding fabric.
Wearing it because it was a shame to discard it ended up creating trouble.
"I'll give you the coat too, so just go."
"Shoes look good too."
"That's not possible."
"Why?"
"Annoying to buy new ones."
After saying that, I thought it was a response that didn't help the negotiation much.
The man burst into laughter.
"This guy hasn't figured out the situation yet."
The knife was drawn.
From here, it seemed difficult to solve with money.
I looked for an escape route, but footsteps came from behind.
The guy who was leaning against the wall earlier had gone around to the opposite side of the alley.
Two in front, one behind.
Considering my physical abilities, it was not a good situation.
"Hand over the communicator."
"If I unlock it, will you spare me?"
"Yeah."
It sounded like a lie.
But handing over the communicator was better than having a knife in my stomach right away.
At the moment I raised my finger to unlock, the man who had been holding my coat pulled my arm.
"Before that, take this off."
My body was pulled forward.
While losing balance, a fist hit my side, and my breath was choked as I hit my shoulder against the wall.
It hurt.
Since in the upper tier, I rarely got hit while living, it hurt more.
This is why I hate violence.
It's hard for me to do it, and it hurts when others do it.
"Stay still."
The man raised the knife again.
This time, there was no room for jokes.
If I reached out to block, my palm would be pierced first, and if I turned my body, it would go into my side or back.
It was the moment I was calculating which was less fatal.
From above the alley, metal clinked shortly.
Kwang.
At first, I thought something had fallen.
The man holding the knife had disappeared.
It took a few seconds to discover the body pinned to the wall a short distance away, hanging limply.
"What?"
The remaining two turned their heads at the same time.
At the entrance of the alley, a woman in black clothes was standing.
Her long tied hair was slowly sinking below her shoulders.
One of them hurriedly took out a pistol, but the woman's gaze reached him first.
The next moment, the distance disappeared.
"What—?!"
Kwaang—!
Before the finger even touched the trigger, the woman dug into the front and rammed her body.
With a dull sound, the man rolled on the ground, and the last guy behind shouted a curse and ran out of the alley.
The woman's gaze followed that direction.
A man running to the end of the alley, a nearby junk car, again the man.
Every time the line of sight connected, the woman's position changed strangely.
Twice.
Three times.
When the last collision sound was heard, only the woman and the man who had moved in the alley remained.
The woman didn't check the fallen guys.
Instead, she slowly turned her head this way.
Only then did her face come into proper view.
She was unfamiliar.
It was definitely an adult woman I had never seen before, but the moment our gazes met, the color I had seen long ago overlapped.
Deep red.
Black light digging between them.
Was it?
The woman's expression, which had been staring at me for a few seconds, first shook.
Her lips parted just a little.
"Master?"