The Banquet
Watching Han Suhui's back as she prepared breakfast yet again after finishing her part-time job, I found myself in an impossible tangle of feeling.
Anyone else, I wouldn't have cared. But with my little sister, I didn't want to hide so much as a speck of dust. Whether I should tell her about Song Yura — about what we were to each other, about what I had done — was a question that dragged an enormous weight of agony behind it.
Master and slave... just that relationship alone would be shocking enough.
And quite apart from that, Han Suhui was still grinding through her everyday life. A twinge of guilt crept in. Was it right for me alone to be enjoying myself like this?
Thinking about it, I could go right now and...
If there was anyone tormenting Han Suhui, killing intent boiled up inside me until I wanted to drive a dagger into their brow, their throat — any vital point I could find.
But I couldn't. That would put the police on my trail. I'd manage somehow... but Suhui's life could become far harder than it already was.
No. Worse than that.
What if I failed to protect her, and Han Suhui ended up in a prison uniform?
My little sister in a black-and-white striped prison uniform? She'd look adorable. Stunning, even. But absolutely not.
"What era's prison uniform are you even talking about? These days they're way more boring and ugly than that."
How would you know that?
"Well, Karina's been studying this world pretty hard, you know."
Why would you study something like that?
"It's information that might come in handy a year from now."
"..."
I tried to parse the meaning behind Karina's words, then shook my head. That wasn't what mattered right now.
"I want to see Suhui in a prison uniform. I'd take a picture and hang it on the wall."
"...That's a warped desire."
"Huh? Oppa, did you say something?"
"Ah — no. I was just thinking, Suhui. If things get really unbearable, instead of dropping out of school, it wouldn't be the worst idea to just... poke the kid who's bullying you. Lightly."
"Do you want to turn your one and only little sister into a criminal?"
Han Suhui set down the soy sauce egg bibimbap and untied her apron, looking at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Our Suhui would look cute and pretty even in a prison uniform. And if you ever did end up in jail, Oppa would break you out whenever you wanted."
"You're insane. Seriously. If only to keep you from becoming the villain of the century, I'm going to graduate high school in one piece and get into a top university on a full scholarship, just like you."
"Suhui, if there's something you want to do, you don't have to worry about money or anything else."
"I want to be a lawyer, or a police officer, or a counselor. And all of those require going to college, you know?"
I had a faint idea why she wanted those particular jobs. There was nothing more I could say.
"Alright."
For now, the best I could do was nod along with her decision in silence. If I was going to interfere in her life, I needed to earn the right first.
Power. Backing. I'll make it so that no one can ever treat you however they please.
The convenience store job would be over in three days, and I figured I could quit Strawberry Pocha within a week at most. After that, I planned to put even the Tutorial Tower on the back burner and start building a real power base in earnest.
Just hang in there a little longer, until then.
I looked at Han Suhui, who was smiling that same happy smile she always did, and made a vow. In the Tutorial Tower. In the modern world. No matter what kind of shitty obstacles were waiting for me, I would overcome every last one of them for my little sister.
Entering the Forgotten Tutorial Tower.
Floor 1 — The Tale of the Esteber Family — in progress.
Come to think of it, they'd said a banquet would be prepared at the end, hadn't they?
It was morning in the modern world, but here the sun was already going down.
It was a landscape that drove home, all over again, that this place and the modern world were completely different. The one thing they had in common, I supposed, was that here too I had a little sister I needed to protect.
"Rin, they said there's a banquet."
"...But I can't get excited about a banquet we only got because you almost died."
How was it that both of my little sisters — the one in the modern world and the one here — could be this kind, and this precious?
"It's fine. Let's just enjoy a luxurious meal we don't normally get. Oppa would die a hundred more times for you if that's what it took."
"D-don't say something so horrible. Hic... hhngh..."
"It's just a figure of speech. If anything, I'd be more upset if you didn't enjoy it after how hard we earned it."
"Sniff. Okay. I'll do my best to eat."
"That's my girl."
I patted Rin's head and followed after Oliver, only to notice him staring at me with a strange look in his eyes.
What's his problem?
"What else? That's the standard look you give a siscon."
It was a reaction I simply could not comprehend. Loving your little sister and wanting to protect her was an older brother's natural duty — and his right.
"...Maybe I should book him a psych ward in advance."
Thud. Thud. Thud—
The mansion was absurdly vast. Just walking to the dining hall took over five minutes, and the number of servants moving through the halls had to be close to a hundred. Every last one of them was well beyond ordinary.
"The Esteber family is one of only two ducal houses in the Sebanes Empire — what people call the emperor of the underworld. Of course the people who work here aren't ordinary. If they were even a little bit ordinary, they'd be dead in no time."
Come to think of it, the first tenet had been survival of the strong... I could roughly guess what kind of place this was. But if they tried to apply that philosophy to my little sister, I had no intention of letting it slide.
"And you have the power to back that up?"
"..."
Not yet... but I would make sure I did. It was humiliating, but I admitted it — for now, just keeping Rin alive was the best I could do.
In the distance, I could see servants lined up in two rows, pressed against both walls. Was this the dining hall? If so, the Esteber family's members might be waiting inside.
The door groaned open on its hinges.
Contrary to my expectations, the dining hall was empty. Four place settings laid out with meticulous care. I could only guess that there were currently just four people who could call themselves members of the Esteber family.
"The food will be out shortly. Enjoy yourselves."
At Oliver's words, I asked — just in case.
"You say that, but you didn't put poison in it or anything, right?"
Given that this family had prepared those twisted, filthy trials, it seemed entirely possible. Oliver's eyes went round, as if the question had caught him off guard.
"You... you'll survive a long time, contrary to appearances. I've got a feeling about that."
What's that supposed to mean.
Oliver didn't give me the answer I wanted. He just left.
"We shall bring in the food."
"Do it."
My affinity for the Esteber family was already hovering near zero, so I didn't look kindly on the people who worked here either. Which is why the casual speech, the rude attitude — all of it came out of me without a second thought. I'd spent more time alone than not even in the modern world. This kind of blunt, hard-edged manner was more familiar to me anyway.
Clink. Clink—
"Should anything be amiss, please call upon us at any time."
Rin, on the other hand, had no idea what to do with the servants' attitude — lavish and yet utterly rigid.
"Ah, yes... o-okay."
The maids actually frowned at Rin's demeanor, and seemed to prefer my rude, commanding informal speech.
This family is insane in every possible way.
That said, I had to acknowledge this family's power — their foundation, their wealth, their military might. Everywhere I looked, there was gold. No — there were jewels that felt far more precious than gold. I just didn't know their names.
Even the utensils in my hands weren't simply gold forks and knives. They were beautiful and sharp enough that you could feel a master's touch in every line. If I fought with this fork right now, it would probably be sharper than a dagger made by some talentless blacksmith.
Are they telling us to start a knife fight in the dining hall?
With a family this unhinged, that wouldn't even be strange.
A cart rattled in. A moment later, maids began arranging an enormous quantity of food on the table — neat, swift, and disciplined. Steam still rose from freshly baked wheat bread, topped with cheese so luxurious even I — who knew nothing about cheese — could tell it was the good stuff. An entire roast chicken sat whole on a platter. Venison piled with vegetables and spices, a seafood soup — everything was the finest of the fine.
Just the two of us, and they'd brought out over forty dishes.
"I-I can't eat all of this."
Rin, who'd been nothing but amazed at first, grew flustered at the sheer volume and said as much. One of the maids clicked her tongue.
"You may leave it. Whatever remains will be discarded, or the ones below will deal with it."
You didn't even know that?
I didn't miss even that tiny mutter. I drove my fork into the table.
THUNK.
"For this kind of hospitality, the service is garbage. Maybe if I ram this fork through that mouth of yours, it'll improve a little?"
A chill swept through the room. I unleashed my Killing Aura, and the maid from a moment ago bowed her head at once. Her complexion darkened slightly, but her response was utterly composed.
"I sincerely apologize for the discourtesy toward our guest. It seems I briefly lost my composure. If you wish it, I will gladly accept punishment."
The maid who'd said that — after a brief flicker of panic — actually looked faintly impressed.
What the hell is with these people...
This family is truly goddamn awful.
I muttered that to myself, and then a youthful voice rang out from behind me.
"Hnn, what's this? For a second I thought one of my sisters had started talking in a guy's voice. The forty-fourth candidate, was it? Quite the interesting 'item' we've gotten this time."
But unlike that childish voice, the aura rolling off the woman was that of a monster beyond imagination. Rin had gone rigid. I turned in her place to look, and my fist clenched tight.
Radiant silver hair that called to mind the moon in a night sky, and passionate crimson eyes like rubies set in her face. The symbols of the Esteber family. I'd wondered if she might be the first daughter, but both her looks and her presence were completely different. The only resemblance was the silver hair and red eyes — proof of Esteber direct blood.
She gave the impression of a girl who hadn't quite finished growing, in more ways than one.
Her height. Her chest. Both were a little lacking. And yet the chilling, formidable pressure she radiated was enough to chew up most adults and spit them out.
"The forty-fourth 'item' is one thing. But what's this? A parasite with no value and no strength to survive, clinging on just because she's blood?"
"Kh-hhk... hhngh..."
The words were vicious, and the Killing Aura that came with them crushed down on Rin's entire body. She screamed through her tears — and my body moved on reflex.
A sharp metallic ring cut the air.
"...So it's just the skin that looks the part, huh?"
A smirk. I'd closed the distance in an instant and pressed the fork to her throat. She didn't so much as blink. She just smiled, and leisurely stepped back.
"Macaron was starting to like the forty-fourth candidate a little... but seeing you drag around that piece of luggage, the disappointment's even bigger."
Third Daughter — Macaron
Affinity −1
The girl named Macaron skipped backward, her tone playful.
"As for the forty-fourth candidate — I do hope Macaron will be able to call you Oppa soon. Do your best."
The dining hall door creaked halfway shut. Then Macaron poked just her head back through, baring teeth like a shark's as a tremendous Killing Aura poured out of her.
"And that look — like you're staring at a little kid. Show me those eyes one more time and I'll melt those insolent eyeballs right out of your skull. Macaron's a proper adult starting this year, fufu."
The door slammed.
Watching the third daughter vanish after saying only what she wanted to say, I had to let out a laugh that was more rage than humor. The first one, the third one... not a single normal woman among them.
Damn it. I'm starting to miss Song Yura.
I let out a long sigh and went back to my meal.