Because I'm Your Sister
A cool autumn breeze had already filled with a chill.
The trees had shed their outer garments in a silent competition. Snow powder dusted their thin frames, turning them into something almost festive, like wearing brand-new clothes.
Of course, the snow-laden conifers stood out as the most beautiful.
Completely a Christmas tree…
Sugar, sweeping the backyard snow, had fallen into thought. Her arms had healed long ago; the bandages were gone.
Time had passed, and it was now January. There was no Christmas in this world, so December had simply been an ordinary end of the year. Thinking about the people who had panicked without being Christian in their past lives, she felt a pang of sadness.
Instead, January was the great festival. The day the Saint had descended from the heavens and first set foot on this land. That was why it fell in January.
When one visited the bustling district, the streets were gorgeously decorated with gold, silver, and purple lights, glass orbs, ribbons, and cloth. Gold was the color of nobility, silver sacred, and purple because the Saint’s eyes were purple. Those meanings were embedded in the decorations.
A typical January scene in this world where Saint faith was firm.
Even the orphanage decorated at this time of year. More sponsors meant more money—when the water rises, one must build the levee. A decorated place felt more lively than a dreary one, and the children got to live in something vibrant.
Though the reality was far from perfect, at least they could eat every meal. She was satisfied.
One must always be grateful.
She wasn’t on a battlefield. She wasn’t a shield or a slave. If she were careless, she might be dragged to the cult and become the Evil God’s cherished doll. But right now… she wasn’t.
The thought was terrifying, yet a staff rested in her bosom. The solid feeling of holding a gun. Her chest burned with courage.
Then she looked ahead. Snow still piled high.
“…”
Feeling her heart freeze, she muttered that there was no Clean magic and kept sweeping.
Today was the day the sponsors visited.
The orphanage children were preparing a play to commemorate the Saint’s arrival.
While rehearsal was in full swing, Sugar wondered why she was outside sweeping snow.
If I go out, it becomes my solo stage. It will eat up the scene—
That extremely arrogant opinion had been accepted.
From the orphanage director’s perspective, Sugar was already an adopted child—originally Ryly, but Rubshi had secretly come to inform her later. It was better to let the others shine, so she gave the OK sign.
With nothing left to do, Sugar continued sweeping.
“Should have done the play instead…”
Outside was bitterly cold, and the backyard was vast.
…
After sweeping, she rubbed her freezing hands and headed toward the attic. The wind was fierce, so it was still cold, but far better than outside.
And there was a magician here.
“Chuuu, chuuu, chuuu.”
She dashed over to her friend writing something and stuck close. The friend jumped in surprise.
“Ah!”
“I’m so cold. Warm me up…”
At this age, she was supposed to be clearing snow. Sugar spoke with a sad tone, and Ryly glared at her while extending his hand. This friend was supposed to be in the play but was secretly slacking off.
Placing the staff on his palm, Ryly began chanting, lowered it, and spat out the command.
“Warm Breeze.”
A warm wind blew from somewhere, wrapping around his body. It was pleasantly warm, like a heater was on.
“Ooh…”
Shivering and melting, the wind suddenly stopped.
This was annoying.
When she looked at him with eyes asking for more, he shook his hand.
“I’m busy.”
“Once, you seem to have no affection, Master.”
“Now you can sweep too. You do it.”
“It’s warmer when you do it…”
Sugar picked up the staff and chanted.
“Warm Breeze.”
Lowering it and taking the command, warm wind blew.
But it was lukewarm, and the wind stopped quickly.
“See? The efficiency is terrible… your stomach will hurt soon.”
Through three months of bloody effort, she had reached the third level.
Originally, because of her strange mana properties, she couldn’t do anything.
Too much mana leaked out. If she poured out too much to compensate, the phenomenon would explode.
If she used just a little, nothing happened.
In the middle of that, the staff somehow balanced the amount of mana that could cause phenomena and the leaking mana, making it possible.
Thanks to that, she now knew how to cast magic-like magic.
In exchange, her mana leaked constantly. She had balanced the mana, but still leaked more than others. Naturally, she used more mana than others when casting.
So, looking at Ryly with sparkling eyes, he refilled the staff.
“Tsk.”
He didn’t forget to mutter.
Immediately chanting.
His chant was longer, as if trying to cast a longer-lasting spell.
Sugar watched the scene, listening to her friend’s soft voice.
Eyes closed, holding the staff, fluent chant without a hitch—exactly a magician.
Haha. This is the one I gave you.
While watching with a satisfied smile.
“—Ugh!”
The chant broke, and he suddenly started coughing.
Surprised, she patted his back. He flinched away.
“Why all of a sudden! Are you okay?”
“Just… a cough…”
Covering his mouth with his sleeve, he coughed repeatedly, then straightened up.
“A cold?”
She reached to check his forehead temperature, but Ryly flinched again.
“Stay still!”
Her worried shout made him stop. Placing her hand on his forehead, it was hot.
“Hmm… there’s a bit of fever.”
“… Fine. Sleep one day and you’ll be better.”
“Writing all day in a cold, dusty place… it hurts… Let’s go. Use the private room for a while. Go rest. Tell the play to skip.”
“Got it.”
Sugar pouted, not answering as expected.
It was almost the first time Sugar, who always smiled in front of Ryly, showed an angry expression.
Ryly startled and stepped back.
“Listen.”
“… No.”
“If it worsens and you get lung disease, what then?”
“There won’t be any of that.”
Keeping up her pride, Sugar approached close.
“If you keep doing that, I’ll do this.”
And in an instant, she hugged him.
Holding his hand in a flowing motion, Ryly tried to snatch the staff. This blocked escape through magic.
Ryly, unable to do anything, just struggled.
“Let go! Let me go!”
“If I do this, I’ll catch a cold too. What am I supposed to do?”
“Whether you catch it or not!”
“Yeah, no choice. But you can’t do anything either, just getting hugged?”
“Ugh…!”
Ryly was taller than Sugar now, but if he resisted strongly, he could escape.
How could that be? Ryly shouted like he was spitting.
“Okay… we can go…!”
“Good.”
Holding hands, they headed to the private room.
Sugar walked ahead, Ryly following.
Even on the way, coughs echoed from behind. He should have listened earlier.
If a cold took hold here, it was over. No proper nutrition, cold, and terrible hygiene.
Sugar laid Ryly on the private room bed and immediately brought a bottle of water, a cup, a wet towel, and an old fairy tale. She had carried them in her small arms.
Placing the wet towel on his forehead,
she chanted to warm the water in the bottle,
and poured it into the cup, setting it on the bedside table.
Then she pulled a chair over, sat down, and opened the fairy tale.
“What are you doing…”
“Reading to you.”
“I’m a kid?”
“Then a kid. Because I’m your sister. I have to do this much.”
“…”
Since she had promised to become family. This much was nothing.
Ryly silently turned his gaze away. Sugar smiled and began reading the first page of the fairy tale.
“Then I’ll start. Once upon a time…”
…
After stretching and closing the book, Ryly had his eyes closed.
He coughed continuously but occasionally opened his eyes dimly, as if not quite asleep but sleepy.
“Wait…”
She felt his ears and neck with the towel. Every time, his body flinched, but he stayed obedient.
Fever seems higher…
The forehead was fine with the towel, but other places were burning hot. The cough seemed to worsen, and his breathing sounded labored.
She probably needed medicine.
“Rest well for now.”
Sugar put the staff in her bosom and stepped out of the private room. She didn’t forget to pat the head of her sick friend.
Standing there, she saw everyone bustling. Moving props or luggage, dressing up. The adults guided the children, and the children followed their instructions.
“Ao! Sugar! Move aside!”
“Why are you blocking the middle of the road!”
Hic. I was struggling to sweep snow in the backyard too…
Being scolded felt like being treated as luggage, making her sad. But what could she do? On a day like today when everyone was busy, she had to listen quietly.
Sneaking over to the window, she sat like a dummy.
She couldn’t catch the adults or they would scold her. If she saw the director’s sister, she could ask if there was medicine.
She stood there for a long time.
Knocking on the window, she turned and saw a smiling woman in black clothes.
“What. Rubshi.”
She looked back in front.
“…”
What?
Rubshi?
Turning around again, she saw the woman waving her hands wildly.
Stealth heretic!
She hadn’t noticed the mana at all!
Sugar jumped up.
From the beginning, she had been an extremely hated face. She had been quiet for a while, but now she was visiting as a sponsor.
“Yes, excuse me… excuse me… I was looking for a child named Sugar. Please continue what you were doing without minding me.”
Though she said that, the listener felt otherwise. Everyone froze at the early sponsor visit.
“Director… call the director…”
“Where are you now?”
“I don’t know…”
This wasn’t going to work.
Sugar headed upstairs and peeked through the railing gap.
“Hehe, ha ha. Rubshi. You’re here. Shall we go out and talk?”
Grinding her teeth, she smiled and spoke as if reading a Korean book. She couldn’t be rude to the sponsor in front of so many people.
“Ah, Sugar! Long time no see! But aren’t you cold? Let’s talk inside…”
“No, be careful. I can’t see my eyes… hmm, the indoor is crowded, so it might be better to go outside.”
“If Sugar thinks so, then yes.”
Earlier, after sweeping, Sugar had gone to the backyard.
Outside, she erased the smile on her face.
“The staff members are busy preparing the event, and you show up like a boss checking in.”
She was busy to death and made her come for a greeting.
“Idiot. What am I. I’m just a worker supporting the organization from below.”
She took it seriously? Sugar clicked her tongue.
Sometimes she had a naive side.
Or maybe she was doing it on purpose.
“So. Why did you come? You even hid your mana today. Very suspicious.”
“Mana concealment is my specialty. You didn’t notice at all?”
Looking hesitant, she continued speaking.
“And, I came to deliver good news today too. I hid it with a surprise visit. Since I was hated before, I avoided coming. Today, please forgive me.”
Later, when the sponsors gathered, there would be a magician there. To hide her identity? Or because?
She didn’t say it, only to avoid hurting her mouth.
“Then, what did you do in the meantime?”
“Are you interested in me?”
“Curious how many people you swallowed.”
“Why such words… I had a mission, so I behaved. I had to buy delicious things for Sugar, so I worked hard earning money… and set up the altar…”
“What? Altar? Where is the location?”
“This much is a secret.”
If she told, she would call the guards right away. The heretic evidence was right in front of her, so she couldn’t deny it.
“If I say I’ll be with you, will you tell?”
“If you receive baptism with eyes closed, I can tell. Want to?”
Then Sugar would become a heretic she couldn’t refuse.
She said that.
Answering sharply that she wouldn’t, Rubshi laughed loudly.
“Between us, I’ll tell you this much. Last time during the mission, I saw you, right? That mission was setting up the altar. There was a good place around the city… it’s almost complete now.”
“Ah, yes…”
She should demolish all of that.
But from a heretic’s perspective, if the place was good, it was bad for normal people.
After thinking about something trivial, a sudden idea came to mind.
“Hey, do you have any medicine?”
“What? Medicine…?”
She was a magician and had lived a long time, so she should know about medicine. Since she couldn’t go to the church clinic, she probably carried herbs or something.
So when asked, the reaction was weird.
“Sugar… no matter how we treat each other… ‘medicine’… and giving it to a child…”
“What?”
“A medicine that makes you feel good…”
She seemed to have misheard the content.
“No, not that…! When you’re in pain!”
“Ah, ah… medicine. When in pain… real medicine…”
Covering her mouth with both hands, she nodded. Sometimes she seemed thick-headed.
“Why carry such medicine?”
“Even so, it’s legal…”
If she talked about law, she should convert.
Normal moral concepts were firmly set, so it was good. Sugar let out a dry laugh.