The Color Fades from Memory
The very bottom of my memories, where even the colors had begun to fade, was filled with scenes I could only describe as happiness.
My father, a Night Elf knight who was a bit gruff and self-righteous but possessed outstanding swordsmanship and a strong sense of justice. My mother, who would gently rein him in. And my younger sister, who looked exactly like me.
Father, once a renowned swordsman, taught us swordsmanship. Mother, once a famous mage, taught us magic. Though I never quite grasped magic, I loved swordsmanship. I improved faster than anyone else. Father even praised my talent highly and passed on not just self-defense techniques, but proper killing moves as well.
Every day was spent learning the sword, followed by Father getting scolded by Mother for teaching us things like killing techniques. We weren't wealthy, but every single day was happy.
At least until a trivial dispute sparked a war, and the flames of that conflict swept over our village. Until Mother was struck by an arrow while evacuating the villagers and died.
Father grew a little quieter, but he still cared for us sisters with utmost devotion. He even tried to protect the very villagers Mother had given her life to save.
Until the villagers, worn down by the poverty the war had brought, tried to sell us sisters into slavery.
Night Elves were all valuable slaves. But since Father was too strong, they settled for selling us half-elves to buy food.
Enraged, Father slaughtered every last villager—man, woman, and child—then took us deep into the forest.
At least the three of us—Father, me, and my sister—could live happily together there.
But the gods were cruel. Strange men calling themselves the Black Round Table attacked our home. I barely managed to escape, but I was separated from my family.
After that, I spent my entire life searching for Father and my sister. Whenever I ran out of money, I worked as a mercenary. That's how my swordsmanship became widely known.
Because of that skill, I was invited to join the journey for a great undertaking. Every single participant was a transcendent powerhouse, each one only slightly below Father in strength.
Except for one person—Werner.
At first, I thought he was just a kid begging for breadcrumbs. We were all exhausted, so when the boy said he'd show us an interesting magic trick if we gave him a piece of bread, we showed a bit of interest.
Cheonma stepped forward to test him. We figured he'd at most make a coin disappear or something simple.
But what the boy showed us was...
A massive bolt of lightning that struck Cheonma right on the crown of his head.
Cheonma, seeing the boy's talent, wanted to bring him along on the journey. We were hesitant about taking such a young child at first, but the boy himself desperately wanted to join, so we had no choice.
The boy with blue eyes like mine, Father's, and my sister's was named Werner.
The members fiercely played rock-paper-scissors to decide whose surname to give him. I tried to pass on my mother's surname to Werner, just like mine. But in the end, no one could beat the Phantom Thief in that kind of bet.
Werner Alton. That became the boy's full name.
We cherished Werner like family, and the boy grew stronger with each passing day. After completing the great undertaking, Werner followed the Leader and Media, while I set out once again to find Father and my sister.
But I still couldn't find even a trace of them. Disappointed, I returned to where my comrades were.
That's when I found that Werner had become a completely different person.
His eyes looked like he hated everything in the world. His brow was constantly furrowed, as if everything was a bother. When I asked the other comrades why, they either genuinely didn't know, pretended not to know even though they did, or told me to get lost if I wasn't there at the time.
All I could do was helplessly watch Werner change.
Yet now, the Werner from before that change was standing right in front of me.
"...Big sis?"
"Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment and forgot I was talking to you."
It was unmistakably the Werner from back then. The one who would cling to us calling us "big sis, big sis," desperate for our praise. True to his childhood habit, Werner was biting his nails.
"You still haven't fixed that nail-biting habit, I see."
"Ah, it just happens out of habit..."
I hated getting lost in nostalgia, but the old memories surfaced on their own, and I felt a little happy.
If I had stayed by your side instead of going on that hopeless journey to find fragments of my past, would you still have changed like that?
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"But you're not even surprised seeing me like this, big sis."
"I was a little surprised. I just didn't feel the need to show it."
I was definitely a bit surprised. But since he said it was for treatment, I didn't feel the need to point it out.
Werner scratched his head and finally got to the main point.
"I'm planning to return to the capital."
"Do you have business in the capital?"
The only comrade left in the capital was that knight commander. To put it nicely, he was a machine filled with loyalty. To put it badly, he was an insufferable bastard.
"...I'm going back to my position as a Royal Mage."
My thread of reason nearly snapped.
The one thing that had let me feel at ease after Werner ran away was that he had also quit being a Royal Mage. It was a dirty, dangerous job. A job where you had to obey every order from the Imperial family, whether it was war or massacre.
I had thought he ran away because he was disgusted by that very work.
"Why? Why would you step foot back into that incredibly dangerous place?"
"You don't like it, do you, big sis?"
"Of course not. Not just me—anyone would try to stop you."
Cheonma, the Phantom Thief, the knight commander—any of our comrades would try to stop you. If they allowed our youngest to take on that shitty job, I'd go find them myself and settle it.
"What if I said I was going even if you tried to stop me, big sis?"
"Then... I'd have no choice but to stop you by force."
I knew all too well from Father how foolish it was to try to bind someone with power or violence. But even so, I couldn't just stand by and watch someone precious to me walk into danger of their own free will.
"But big sis..."
Werner wore a bitter expression I had never seen before.
"I have to go. There's only that one choice."
"But Werner..."
"Big sis, I have one thing to confess."
Werner suddenly took off his outer garment, revealing his upper body. It was a bit embarrassing, but this wasn't the time to look at someone with sexual eyes.
He pointed to the red scar on his side.
"I can't use Grand Magic anymore."
"What...?"
"I got stabbed by some demonic sword or whatever, and my mana circuits got completely wrecked."
"Since when...?"
"...It happened while you were away on your journey. A lot of things happened."
So that's why the other comrades had been so worried about Werner. They had all been pitying their youngest, who had lost the specialty he was so confident in.
I had been too stupid to even realize that.
And then I suddenly remembered what I had said to him. How I had lightly teased him using the chant for the Grand Magic he used to cast.
He had lost something he cherished so much... and I had mocked it.
Only then did I understand why he had kicked the door open and left. He must have been desperately hiding his crying face. And I had mocked him without knowing anything.
My chest felt wrapped in invisible chains, and those chains were trying to drag me straight down to hell.
Did I even have the right to meddle in Werner's affairs, telling him what to do?
I hadn't even known why he had changed. And without knowing, I had dug into his wounds.
"Werner... I..."
"I know what you're worried about, big sis."
Werner patted my shoulder. The same warmth from that day when he had approached me as I worried about whether I could find my family and gently patted my back came through clearly.
"I'm okay now. Now... I'm really okay."
He added the words "now." It meant that even if he was okay now, he definitely hadn't been okay in the past.
How painful it must have been. Since I knew better than anyone the feeling of losing something precious, it hurt even more.
"Yeah... if that's what you want, then you should go."
I, who couldn't even be by your side when you were hurting the most, have no right to stop you.
"So, about that, big sis..."
"What is it?"
"Won't you come up to the capital with me?"
There was no reason to refuse. I thought this was a second chance for me, who had failed to protect my precious little brother.
"...If that's what you want."
"Thanks. I guess I'll have to buy you a meal next time, haha."
Werner stood up with that pure smile from his childhood.
"Oh right. Since it's been a while since I've been in this form, should I do it like the old days?"
"What...?"
"Thank you, noona."
At the word "noona," exactly the same as back then, my heart began to pound.
I had only just realized it, but Werner somehow reminded me of Father.