Big Sis is Always There (4)
The muscular guy slung me over his shoulder like a sack of rice and bolted down the stairs.
Wait, does he think I'm a hostage or something?
No, more importantly, who the hell are you people?
"H-Hey! W-Wait a s-seeecooond! I'm not a hooostaaage… mmph!"
I finally got what Lannancy-noona had been feeling earlier.
The guy moved so brutally fast that my body bounced on his shoulder, nearly biting my tongue off. My words all slurred together into mush.
"Don't worry, kid! We'll break that yokai's charm on you soon enough!"
He thought I was babbling nonsense under her enchantment.
"We're from the Council. You can trust us."
The Council? The Great Yokai Council?
Why the hell were they here all of a sudden? It didn't take much thinking—the reason was obvious.
Lannancy-noonaaa…!
At times like this, I couldn't help but resent her a little.
The guy burst into the inn's first-floor lobby.
Shing.
The people sitting there drew their weapons in unison, blocking his path. Their dazed expressions suggested they were under Lannancy-noona's charm.
Good. Now we can clear up this misunderstanding…
Before I could even open my mouth, the guy bellowed.
"Nothing wakes you up like a good punch!"
That was when I first witnessed the true prowess of a Council member.
Pow! Pow! Pow!
"Gah!" "Guh!" "Eek!"
He smashed precise fists into their heads, knocking each one out cold with a single blow.
Even against a group under enchantment, he didn't hesitate. You needed real confidence in your skills to pull that off.
I'd accidentally learned a new way to break mental interference.
Bam!
He kicked open the inn door and charged outside.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Sariya-noona stood tall outside, blocking the way.
"Shit." "Get in stance. I don't wanna cash in that death insurance…"
The burly guy and the short-cut mage swallowed curses and assumed combat positions.
"We gotta save the hostage somehow. Got any big spells?" "Should've said so sooner. Takes time to prep." "This is why mages are such a pain."
As the two exchanged tense words, Sariya-noona's gaze locked with mine—dangling from the guy's shoulder—in midair.
Noona, help me!
I sent her a desperate plea with my eyes.
"……."
But her pupils started trembling uneasily. Her long, weapon-like claws reached toward me… then hesitated in the air.
…Noona?
For some reason, she looked full of doubt.
"…Hey, what's that up there?!"
The guy pointed at the sky, seizing the moment.
Everyone glanced up—and in that split second, he took off running like a madman.
"That's our cue to run!!" "Even screwing over allies? F-Fine, let's go together!"
Exploiting Sariya-noona's hesitation, the two agents fled like hell. And me, slung over the guy's shoulder? It was pure agony.
"W-Wait! Noo… urp!"
I nearly hurled right then.
Thud.
In the chaos of the escape, the hat covering my head slipped off and hit the ground.
I spun dizzily, staring blankly at Sariya-noona's unmoving back as she stood tall in my fading vision.
***
…Goddamn it for real. Pissing me off.
My mood was utter shit.
Wait, that's too crude maybe.
Let's say I was in a foul mood.
Either way, it burned me up that some humans had brazenly stolen my possession.
And it was all because of that dumb 8-cheok ghost who'd let him slip away right in front of her.
The 8-cheok ghost stood in front of the inn, staring blankly at the hat on the ground.
People started gathering from the commotion, but she didn't budge an inch.
You lunatic. Always nagging me to stay out of sight, and now this.
Lannancy snapped her fingers irritably.
Snap.
The onlookers' eyes glazed over. They dispersed like nothing had happened.
Lannancy strode up and shoved the 8-cheok ghost's back.
"What the hell are you doing? Lost your mind?"
"……Yeah, seems like it."
Her voice sank weakly.
She looked seriously off. The usually arrogant and domineering woman seemed completely out of it.
"Not gonna chase 'em? Your precious little… brother just got kidnapped!"
The 8-cheok ghost slowly shook her head at Lannancy's prodding.
"Maybe… this is for the best."
"What?"
"He came to the Imperial Capital to live among humans anyway. So… parting ways with yokai like us here is probably right for him too."
I couldn't help but snort in disbelief.
"…Hey. You some tragic heroine from a novel? He's been calling you 'noona' this and 'noona' that, making you think you're actually blood-related or something?"
Her eyes flashed sharply at that.
Boom!
She stomped the ground in rage, carving out a massive crater.
Thanks to Lannancy's charm, passersby missed the roar. But Lannancy, standing right there, felt a chill down her spine.
The 8-cheok ghost clutched her face with both hands, muttering in agony.
"I don't know. I don't know why I'm like this! Tears keep coming out of nowhere lately, and when he got taken, I couldn't even attack for fear of hurting him. I'm going crazy!"
The biggest change had hit right after her recent realm upgrade.
Protect my little brother… Please stop… If you're happy…
A woman's voice echoed in her mind—one she'd never heard before.
But it didn't feel foreign. It was like recalling words she'd spoken long ago.
At first, she'd thought Lannancy was pranking her.
But day by day, not just the voice, but fragments of memories flooded in.
A shrine maiden. War. Human sacrifice. And a little brother.
All painful recollections. They weren't hers, yet there was no disconnect.
She'd suspected mental interference, but no—holding the boy's hand, who could even reverse the cookie house curse, changed nothing.
"Quit whining."
Lannancy spat coldly. She hated seeing the 8-cheok ghost so mopey and unlike herself.
"If you won't go, then I'll hunt them down myself."
As Lannancy turned to leave, the 8-cheok ghost grabbed her wrist with a firm grip.
"Wait… you know something, don't you?"
Her empty eyes bored into Lannancy.
"About that special power he has."
Lannancy flinched inwardly but played it cool.
"O-Of course I do! He's my little brother, the archbishop and—"
"Cut the crap. Something else."
The 8-cheok ghost stared straight at her.
"You've heard the rumor too, right? About the Doppelganger Lord in the eastern forest getting a pet human."
Of course she had.
It was absurd even among yokai gossip.
A Doppelganger Lord raising a human was shocking enough, but the rest was pure nonsense.
Just being near him slowed realm growth without eating humans or kin.
Who'd believe that?
But Lannancy had felt it vaguely, even before her own upgrade—her vitality improving.
Despite the life-draining constraint.
There was only one possible cause.
"So what?"
Lannancy shot back defiantly.
"We're yokai. Seeking realm growth is as natural as breathing. In a world of eat-or-be-eaten, chasing strength to live easier— what's weird about that?"
She sneered at the 8-cheok ghost.
"You noticed it too, didn't you? That's why you approached him—for that selfish boost. Getting all sentimental now like you're real family? It's disgusting."
The 8-cheok ghost's grip slackened at the venom.
She hung her head, unable to retort.
Not a word was wrong.
She'd approached him to use him at first.
Test his power, protect him initially just to keep him alive for more upgrades.
But from the moment that kid called her "noona"...
Everything changed.
Noona's hand got softer.
The innocent kid's soft grasp warmed her.
Noona's embrace feels so secure…
She liked the good kid leaning on her.
Please don't kill them.
She wanted to grant the cute kid's plea.
I'm not the archbishop, I told you!
Hearing her brother-like kid made her happy.
Watching him made her heart race, her mind at ease.
Like reclaiming something lost long ago.
I was the one supposed to charm him.
But at some point...
Before the boy's pure heart...
Her stagnant blood began to flow.
…I got charmed.
And yet.
Deep down...
She still hoped for realm growth.
……
She knew it.
How pathetic this was.
But… I don't want him to hate me.
To the being who outgrew the word "kid" for her heart.
With noona around, I'm always secure.
Just those words.
For the first time since becoming a yokai, tears fell.
An inexplicable obsession to become the perfect big sister.
It kept tormenting her.
"…Idiot."
Lannancy left the 8-cheek ghost behind and walked off.
But after a few steps, she stopped.
She bit her lip.
Who were those words for?
Why am I even mad?
Just like she'd told the 8-cheok ghost, she was a mere emotionless yokai.
I'm pissed because they stole my possession. Yeah. That's it.
She repeated it to herself.
…Is that really all?
That doubt clung to her ankles.
Deep down, she knew.
If that were true, she'd just ditch the 8-cheok ghost and go alone.
So.
"……Listen up."
Turning her back on the 8-cheok ghost now...
Felt like turning away from herself.
"No matter the reason… I don't want to part from him right now."
She said without looking back.
"I'm a yokai. I'll do what I want. Loyal to my instincts and role."
So.
"You do what you want too… you moron."
The 8-cheok ghost lifted her head.
…Yeah.
Why had she agonized so stupidly?
Memories this, whatever that.
Her heart hadn't changed.
Admit it.
She couldn't go back to before meeting her brother.
More than devouring humans.
More than stacking realms for power.
She'd discovered a smaller, sweeter haven.
…I'm a yokai.
She was an 8-cheok ghost.
The boy was special, but undeniably human.
We were predator and prey by nature.
But if...
…If I weren't a yokai anymore.
Could she stay by his side?
I don't want to lose the kid.
That feeling surged strongly, for some reason.
She didn't have to become human.
If I can just exist in the kid's world.
Even without clinging to his side.
As long as she could be where he could see her.
As his big sis.
Whoosh—
The wind blew fiercely, pushing at her back like an urging gale.
She wanted to surrender to it.
A constraint might make it possible.
Since meeting her brother, her realm had risen two levels.
Each upgrade allowed one new constraint.
She could still add two more.
Usually, you avoided extreme constraints.
Couldn't impose abilities outside your nature.
Couldn't create something from nothing.
Violating a constraint meant inevitable death, somehow.
And above all, unprecedented.
A yokai reborn as something else? Near impossible.
…But.
If I never break it, the constraint doesn't matter. Whatever price I set.
And with her miraculous brother, who turned impossible into possible.
Maybe she could escape the constraint's bounds.
Even betting my existence—
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The ground suddenly shook.
"W-What the hell is that…?!"
Something grotesque battered the barrier around the city walls like mad.
The monster bred in the ManShinJeon branch.
Faces made of dozens of writhing tentacles atop bloated, infant-like bodies—the grotesque giants scaled the walls.
Dozens of them, at least.
Moments later.
Crack!
With a shattering like glass, the barrier exploded. The city plunged into screams and pandemonium.
The grotesque giants lunged for people—then suddenly whipped their heads one way.
They charged madly in unison toward a single direction.
The way the Council had fled.
Those things from the ManShinJeon branch…! Drawn by brother's sweet scent?!
The situation was spiraling to hell.
"H-Hey! We gotta go! Hurry!"
Lannancy yelled.
She was right.
No way she'd let those tentacle freaks steal her brother.
At the same moment.
The two bolted full speed toward the Council's escape route.
Oh crap.
Screech!
The running 8-cheok ghost halted. Lannancy called out in exasperation.
"What?! Why'd you stop?!"
She'd dashed back to the inn, scooping up her brother's fallen hat with care.
"Almost left it."
"…Hmph. Quit posing and carry me already! I'm too slow!"
Without a word, she hoisted Lannancy onto her back.
"W-Wait? You're seriously letting me ride…?"
"Hold tight."
"Hold on, are you under my charm or whaaaat?!"
The two figures merged into one, streaking away like lightning.