A Guild of One

I hurried toward the Tower's portal, determined to get there before the day burned out.

The grounds around it were locked down tight. Men who were clearly city guards stood in grim, unyielding ranks, watching every approach. Corpses tainted by the demonic energy inside the Tower mutated into even more powerful beasts, so they controlled who went in with ruthless thoroughness.

"Whoa... there are so many guards. And their faces are scary."

"Yeah."

I drew a breath, steadied myself, and walked up to the guard posted in front of the portal.

"I'd like to enter the Tower."

"...Huh?"

His gaze traveled down. And down. And still further down, a long and insulting descent, before our eyes finally met. The difference in height was humiliating.

"Haa... Listen, kid. This isn't a playground. Run along back to your mom."

"I am not a child. I use mag—"

"Shoo! Get out of here. Stop wasting my time."

"Want me to kill him, Master?"

"Hold it, Rhea."

"What?"

"...Nothing."

I had no choice but to turn around and walk away. This childlike face of mine was turning out to be an enormous problem. Even if I somehow fooled the guards and slipped inside, a body like this would draw every wrong kind of eye the moment I set foot in the Tower.

"I suppose I ought to find some way to hide how I look, at least..."

I was still circling the plaza, turning the problem over, when I felt it — a sudden, solid bump against another person.

"Ah! I'm sor—"

"...Kid?!"

I looked up. It was the purple-haired woman from before, the one who'd offered to teach me magic. Now that I actually looked at her, she had a rather mature face.

"Where did you run off to all of a sudden? I've been looking everywhere."

"Did you need something from me?"

"Could we talk for a minute?"

"I'm sorry. I'm busy. If you'll excuse me."

"Kid!"

I tried to ignore her and walk away. She caught my hand.

"Persistent, isn't she."

"Haa... What is it?"

"It'll only take a second. Have you thought about joining our guild?"

"A guild?"

"That's right. Big Sis here is the guild master of a Tower conquest guild."

"Ah... is that so."

"Mm-hm. We need talent. That's why I came looking for you — someone who can use magic like that at your age."

Grrrrrlk.

My stomach chose that exact moment to announce itself. This damn pint-sized body.

"Hungry, huh? Do you have any money? Big Sis'll buy you something to eat."

"...Tch."

I sat on a bench and talked with her while I stuffed my face with the hamburger she'd bought me.

"Here. That's our guild card — want to take a look?"

I took the card she held out.

The members field was blank.

"Huh?"

"...There's no one listed under members."

"Ah! Th-that's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠because the card is old. Don't worry about it."

"Kairen. This lady is kind of suspicious."

I thought so too. For a guild master, she didn't exactly radiate authority.

"Would you be honest with me? How many guild members do you actually have?"

"..."

Serina stopped mid-chew. An awkward smile crept onto her face.

"W-we're in a bit of a transitional period right now."

"How many."

"...Just me."

"Pfft."

"Just you?"

"There used to be a lot of us! But everyone left, and... now I'm the only one still here. Ah, but the guild itself is perfectly fine! We even have an office!"

She waved both hands in front of her, scrambling to explain. The confident guild master who'd strutted up to me was gone. Her eyes darted, restless and unsure.

"Why did they all leave?"

"Well... because there was no money in it. The lower floors barely drop any mana stones, and we don't have the strength to climb any higher. It's a vicious cycle."

"..."

"There's a condition for keeping a guild registered. Every quarter you have to turn in a set quota of mana stones, and this quarter's deadline is two weeks away. If we don't make it, the guild gets forcibly disbanded."

She took a huge bite of her hamburger and talked around it.

"Honestly, I'd almost given up. But then I saw your magic today, and I thought... maybe."

"Kairen. This lady is genuinely desperate."

"Hmm..."

"Look at her eyes. Those are the eyes of someone who's completely lost focus."

Rhea was right. Heavy shadows sat under Serina's eyes. Now that I was paying attention, her nails were split, and the soles of her boots were worn down to almost nothing. It was a sorry state for anyone calling herself a guild master.

"...Why haven't you given up?"

"Hm?"

"If you're the only one left, you could just join another guild."

Serina froze. Then she tipped her face toward the sky.

"This guild... I didn't found it. My late master did."

"..."

"I can't let the guild my master built die on my watch."

Something in her voice was familiar. It was the voice of a person who had something to protect and not enough strength to protect it. For a moment she overlapped with the version of myself that had sat in a hospital room, watching Rhea die a little more every day.

"...Kairen."

Rhea's voice had gone quiet. She'd felt it too, I think.

"So I'm asking you, kid. You don't even have to join. Just climb the Tower with me once. With your ability, I'm sure—"

"I'll join."

"...Hweh?"

I was a little surprised myself at what had just come out of my mouth.

"Oh? Kairen making the first move?"

Not that I had much choice. On my own, I couldn't even set foot in the Tower.

"I have conditions, though."

"Anything! Name it!"

Serina shot to her feet and clasped both hands together. Passersby glanced over.

"Don't pry into who I am. And don't interfere with what I do."

"Th-that's fine! Of course! Kid, are you serious?!"

"Don't call me kid. It's Kairen."

"Kairen! Great, Kairen! It does sound a bit like a boy's name, but this big sister is going to take such good care of you!"

She was so overcome that she scooped me clean off the ground ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and crushed me against her.

"Wh-what are you—! Put me down!!!"

Serina's enormous chest mashed into my cheek as if it meant to flatten it.

"That fucking bitch..."

"Ghk... Rhea, language..."

"Rhea? Who's that?"

"...It's nothing. Please put me down."

And so I found myself more or less dragged back to the Tower portal. The same guard who had run me off was still at his post.

"You again, you little brat? I told you this isn't a playgr—"

"This one is with our guild."

Serina held out the guild card. The guard took it and narrowed his eyes.

"...The Flora Guild? Ahh. The one you run all by yourself..."

"Yes. The one I run all by myself."

Serina's already-narrow eyes twitched. The guard cleared his throat, handed the card back, and stepped aside.

"...You may enter."

Walking toward the portal, I took a small, mean satisfaction in how differently he treated me now compared to when he'd chased me off.

"Kairen. That's the same guard, right? His face is hilarious."

Serina glanced down at me and grinned.

"That's why you need an affiliation. A kid who shows up alone gets turned away at the door."

"...I told you, I'm not a kid."

The moment we passed through the portal, the air itself changed. Heavy. Damp. Fine threads of demonic energy crawled over my skin.

The first floor was supposed to be relatively safe, but a dense fog still stretched to the edge of sight, and making out anything ahead was no easy task.

"Kairen, stay right behind me. Don't get careless just because this is the first floor."

Serina lifted a hand. Violet mana bloomed around her, and vine-stems coiled up her forearms. She was ready for a fight.

"Oh. Her mana output is a lot higher than before. I guess what she showed us outside was just a casual demonstration."

Something burst out of the fog.

A beast matted in black fur. It looked like a wolf grown to three times its proper size, and demonic energy steamed from its jaws.

"A Dark Wolf! Just one. Kairen, stay back! Big Sis will show you how it's done."

Her vines punched up through the earth and shot toward the beast. Their tips sharpened into spearpoints and drove for its flank.

Crunch.

The vine punched clean through the Dark Wolf's side and skewered it where it stood.

"See that, Kairen? Think you can manage? I'll pin them like this so they can't move, and then you finish them off..."

That was when a much larger wolf stepped out of the fog, drool hanging in thick ropes from its mouth.

"...A higher-tier specimen. Be careful, Kairen."

Serina fired her vines again, the same way as before.

Thud.

The beast caught them in its teeth and tore them apart. A groan slipped out of Serina.

"Kh... When this happens, you don't panic. You stay calm and respond."

The beast swung toward her and charged. She threw up a wall of vines in a hurry, but the impact spiderwebbed it with cracks.

Boom. Crrrk.

"Tch...!"

The vine wall split open, and the beast came through.

In that same instant, the mana inside me surged.

Just as it had on the street when I analyzed Serina's magic, the structure of the spell unfolding in front of me poured into my head in a flood — the root formula of the vines, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠paths the mana traveled, the reinforcement patterns, the range of possible transformations. The blueprint of a technique Serina had spent a lifetime building was fully parsed in a matter of seconds.

"Kairen. Look. The joint on its left hind leg is weak. The magi circulation cuts out every time it moves."

That was Rhea for you. She read the structure of mana with a different kind of eye. Magi and mana only differed in form; underneath, their structures were much the same.

I stretched out a hand.

FWOOOOSH!!

A white vine-stem split the ground and erupted upward — thicker, faster, incomparable to Serina's. Edged in black, the pale vine punched clean through the beast's left hind leg.

GRAAAAH──!!

The Dark Wolf screamed and lost its balance. I didn't stop. A second vine, then a third, burst from the earth in succession and drove through its torso.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

The beast collapsed. As the demonic energy bled away, a red mana stone surfaced from inside its chest.

Silence.

"...Huh?"

Serina stood there staring. She had already let her own vines dissolve, and her mouth was half open.

"Wh-what did you just do?"

"I killed the beast."

"That's not what I'm asking...! Those vines — that was my magic! So why were they three times bigger and faster than mine?!"

"More like five times, honestly. Heh."

"...A difference in talent, perhaps?"

"K-Kairen, you did not just say that to me."

Her eyes kept bouncing between horror and wounded pride.

I picked up the mana stone and held it out to her.

"These sell for a decent price, right?"

"...Yeah. A stone that size would go for a pretty good amount..."

"Then we should hunt more."

"...More?"

I was already walking into the fog.

"You're so cool, Kairen! Kyaaah!"

"Serina, please keep up."

"...You were being so formal earlier, and already?"

"Ah. Sorry."

"That's not the point — it's dangerous, so don't go charging ahead alone!"

Grrrrrrr...

Growls rolled out of the fog ahead of us. Not one. Three — no, five.

Serina's face went pale.

"That's too many...! Five Dark Wolves is enough to give even a party that knows these lower floors a hard—"

I set my hand against the ground.

FWOOOOOOSH──!!

White vines exploded outward, blanketing a twenty-meter radius. They tore the fog apart, split the earth, and punched through all five beasts at once.

GRAAH! Kiiing—!

The screams had barely started before every last one of them hit the ground.

In the hush that followed, five mana stones came rolling across the dirt.

"..."

Serina's knees gave out. She sat down hard.

"Haa... haa..."

She was the one panting. I was the one who'd done the fighting.

"Are you all right?"

"What... what even are you...?"

"Kairen."

She looked up at me. The woman who, not an hour ago, had been promising to take me under her wing now had an entirely different feeling in her eyes.

Awe.

"...Let me ask you one thing."

"Yes."

"Have you gotten scouted by any other guild besides mine?"

"I haven't."

"...Of course you haven't. Today's your first day out."

Serina got slowly to her feet — and then folded at the waist in a perfect ninety-degree bow.

"I'm begging you, Kairen."

"...What?"

The easygoing big-sister act from when she'd bought me lunch was gone completely. Her voice was shaking.

"There's only so far I can go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alone. Honestly, if you hadn't shown up today, I was going to quit next week. I'd have to apologize to my master, but I just couldn't..."

"..."

"The mana stone tribute is due in two weeks. If you help me... no. Without you, this guild is finished."

Her bowed shoulders trembled, just slightly.

"Going for the heartstrings, huh. She really is in a pitiful spot."

"...Serina."

"...Yeah?"

"Please raise your head."

She lifted her face slowly. The rims of her eyes had gone red.

I set six mana stones in her hands.

"I already said I'd join, didn't I? This should cover today's share, right?"

"Kairen..."

"But if you call me 'kid' again, I'm quitting."

"I won't! I absolutely won't! I'll call you Lady Kairen!"

"That's a little..."

"Lady Kairen! Ahahaha!! I love it!!"

"Rhea, you—"

"Rhea? You keep saying that name. Is it like... an invisible friend, or...?"

A look of genuine pity settled on Serina's face.

"No. It's nothing."

She tilted her head, but she didn't push. Trying to keep the promise she'd just made, I supposed — the one about not prying into who I was.

On the way out of the Tower, Serina muttered to herself, the mana stones clenched tight in her fist.

"Seven mana stones in a single day... At this rate, we might actually make the deadline..."

"Kairen. Look at her hands shaking. I think she's about to cry."

The moment we stepped back through the portal, outside air filled my lungs. I hadn't realized how clean air could feel when there was no demonic energy in it.

"Kairen."

"Yes."

"You're coming tomorrow too, right?"

Hope and anxiety sat in equal measure in her voice, as if everything hung on the answer.

"You're buying food again, yeah?"

"...Pfft. Every day if you want. This big sister has enough to feed our Kairen."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow."

A bright smile spread across Serina's face.

On the way back, I opened the door of the shabby little house, and Rhea spoke as I stepped inside.

"Kairen. You were so cool today."

"Which part?"

"All of it. Taking down the beasts. Deciding to help that lady."

"It wasn't that much."

I lay down on the ragged mat and stared up at the ceiling.

"You said the tenth floor, right? The one where you can see the stars."

"Mm. The tenth floor. They call it the Corridor of Stars."

"Gather mana stones, save the guild, go see the stars. We've got a lot to do."

"Greedy."

"With this power, I'm going to have it all. Everything I never got to do in my last life — and I'm doing it with you, Rhea."

"......Hehe."

Rhea's laugh sounded in the dark. Small and warm. Still alive.

This pint-sized body, dragged all over creation for a whole day, grew heavy, and sleep came rolling in.

"Rhea."

"Mm?"

"Good night."

"...Good night, Kairen."

And so the first day of this new life — long and short all at once — came to a close.