The Rookie's Horizon of Endless Sunset
Sunset spread beyond the horizon in a time belonging to the rookie with nothing left to teach.
……!
The tentacle giants, trampling building debris as they leaped toward my little brother, froze in an instant.
They had sensed the overwhelming presence at their backs.
No matter how much they were fragments of Outer Gods, they were still just fragments, not the true entities.
They couldn't afford to act recklessly in the face of an aura that sought to surpass the limits of their kind.
In that silence.
She walked leisurely in her white dress.
This is the end point I can reach as a yokai.
She herself was still adjusting to this unfamiliar world.
Quiet.
No sounds reached her at all.
Not the people's screams and shouts, nor the noise of crumbling buildings, nor even the squelching of the fusion beasts' tentacles.
It was as if sound alone had been banished from her world.
Now.
With one step, she was instantly before the Council branch building.
She reached out to touch the wall, but it collapsed before her hand made contact—from the sheer pressure of the air.
I hope no fragments splash onto little brother.
Her mind was so serene that even trivial thoughts like that surfaced.
The voices of the wandering spirits no longer reached her.
The time granted to her was one minute.
In this city, for that duration, she could achieve anything she desired.
What came after? She didn't know.
She'd heard tales of imposing constraints in exchange for all one's power and realm, but nothing like this.
She could only guess at the backlash.
So let's use it wisely.
She stepped over the crumbled wall and walked right up to her little brother.
She stopped about three steps away. Getting any closer might harm him. This distance felt right.
I wonder what your name is.
There'd never been a need to ask.
"You," "kid," "little brother"—those sufficed for conversation. Hadn't he always called her "four-cheok sis"?
A name. A name.
She wished he would remember her name.
One came to mind: the name of some unknown wandering spirit.
A pitiful shaman who, unlike her, had failed to protect her little brother.
That'll do.
She smiled.
Then slowly turned her back.
It was time.
Regeneration was a nuisance.
Separating head from body wouldn't cut it.
Then I'll just make it so they can't regenerate.
As her will stirred, destructive wind pressure enveloped her entire body.
What expression should I make?
What face should she wear when that minute ended and she faced him again?
That was her only concern.
A cold wind heralding night brushed my cheek.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!
The sound of air exploding pierced my eardrums at the same moment.
What I'd clearly seen was the giants—wrapped in tentacles like armor—lunging straight at me.
Then a pure white afterimage flashed like lightning across my vision.
Nine giants burst simultaneously, shattering into the air like a fireworks display of blood and flesh.
No chance for regeneration this time. Their remains hissed and melted away without a trace before even hitting the ground.
What the hell just happened…?
Then, through a hole in the wall I hadn't noticed before.
Amid the rubble, leaning against a broken wall, sat four-cheok sis. I bolted toward her without hesitation.
"Sis!"
In the middle of the puddle where the yokai had melted. Leaning limply against the shattered wall, she looked spent.
I could tell at a glance: she was the one who'd caused this, and at tremendous cost.
"Hah…."
Sis's condition was beyond awful, even as a polite exaggeration. Her arms were melted into unrecognizable horrors, and her entire body flickered like a hazy afterimage.
"Kid, you're not hurt, are you?"
Her cracked voice asked about me first.
"I'm fine. But sis, you…."
I rushed to her side and grabbed her hands—what was left of them.
"Can this heal?" "Yeah… just tired. It'll be fine soon."
Four-cheok sis forced a smile as she answered.
Then Lannancy sis, following behind, spotted us and halted abruptly. Her pupils shook wildly.
"You… are you insane?"
She muttered in a trembling voice.
"Who the hell stakes their realm like that?!" "She's right here. My head's ringing, so don't yell. Hurts my ears." "What does staking her realm even mean?"
Lannancy sis clamped her mouth shut at my question.
She averted her gaze from me, as if reluctant to answer.
…What's going on.
The mood felt off.
Even without her answer, I could sense it intuitively.
I didn't want to believe it. But the hands of four-cheok sis that I held kept fading toward transparency.
"Kid."
Four-cheok sis called to me.
"…Yeah, sis." "Wasn't I more of a big sis than that Lannancy?" "……." "A little—just a little—cooler, right?"
I nodded slowly.
"You're always so reliable, sis."
At my words, sis's lips twitched awkwardly upward.
Forced smiles probably looked like that. A stark contrast to her usual wide, ear-to-ear grin.
She lifted her melted arm and gently stroked my head.
"You'll keep remembering me as your sis from now on, right?" "Why ask something so obvious? Where are you going?"
I pulled her into my arms.
I don't know why. Just… if I stayed still like this, it felt like she'd slip away forever.
"Kid."
She whispered toward me.
"Remember what I taught you about constraints? I had one left." I do.
Power amplified through self-imposed penalties.
"Not sure if it's a constraint, though. More like… yeah, a promise fits better."
Four-cheok sis wrapped her arms around my back in a warm embrace.
"No matter where you are in the world, I'll protect you. As for the price… you decide?" "…Stay by my side. Don't go anywhere. I was planning to go to the Imperial Capital with you sisters."
I felt her sharply inhale at my words.
"…You're that kind of kid after all. My little brother. The greatest stroke of luck I've ever had."
Shh.
Slowly, the arms around my back loosened and fell away.
"My name is… Sariya. Last name… can't remember."
Her voice brushed my ear like wind scattering.
"So glad I could protect you this time. Really."
As her words ended, Sariya sis's hands fully touched the ground.
"…Sis?"
No reply came.
I called her name over and over, but she lay utterly still, as if deep in sleep.
Suddenly, a blinding pure white light enveloped us.
I squeezed my eyes shut. The weight in my arms vanished in an instant.
My heart plummeted.
Grip.
My hand clenched Sariya sis's clothing. A cold wind pierced my chest.
"…Little brother."
Lannancy sis called me. I needed to answer, but my mouth wouldn't move.
I'd seen deaths since childhood. Thought my emotions had dulled.
But farewells with those close…
Tommy. The elderly couple. And… Sariya sis.
They never got easier.
If only I'd been stronger.
Would the outcome have changed?
I'd leaned too much on sis.
Had no choice but to trust everything to Sariya.
And this was the result.
My people… I have to protect them myself.
Since leaving home.
The cookie house, Fruitsring territory, and now.
I'd felt the need not just for shelter protecting me, but for one safeguarding my own.
The world was harsher and tougher than I'd imagined.
To survive together.
I had to grow stronger.
"…Lit… little brother!" "……Huh?"
Lannancy sis's shout snapped me from my thoughts.
"Look ahead!" "What?"
The pure white light showed no sign of fading.
If anything, it grew brighter with time.
What's about to happen…?
It was now too dazzling to even open my eyes.
"Something's wrong. Come here!"
Lannancy sis grabbed me and pulled me back.
Then the light began to diminish.
"What is this…?" "…Beats me."
As the light slowly cleared from where Sariya sis had been.
A palm-sized girl, glowing with crystalline light, slept soundly, breathing softly.
"Nya…."
She looked unmistakably like Sariya sis, but the aura was entirely different.
"…A spirit?"
Lannancy sis muttered in disbelief.
I'd heard of them before.
Spirits.
Beings at the opposite pole from yokai, embodiments of nature living alongside living creatures.
"No way… this can't be. Possible through a constraint…?"
Lannancy sis glanced back and forth between me and the tiny girl.
I carefully approached the sleeping girl so as not to wake her and scooped her into my arms.
Up close, it was certain.
It's Sariya sis.
…Thank goodness.
I stood slowly, mindful not to disturb her.
"…Now I get why that eight-cheok ghost stuck around you."
Lannancy sis, who'd been watching me, approached and patted my shoulder.
"Hah, seriously. You're no ordinary archbishop, pulling off miracles like this?" "I'm not an archbishop." "Sure, sure."
Lannancy sis poked at Sariya sis with her finger.
"Nngh… don't poke…."
A childish, cute voice leaked out—nothing like her usual tone.
"…This is kinda fun?"
As Lannancy sis tried poking more, I hid Sariya sis behind my back. She pouted.
"When she wakes up, ask her how it feels to snag every form there is. Her on coming back to life."
When she wakes up?
"Where are you going?" "You've got your own thoughts after this, I'm sure… and so do I. Don't worry. We'll meet in the Imperial Capital. I'm just heading out first."
I got it, but it felt so sudden.
As if reading my mind, Lannancy sis stepped closer.
"Take this."
She held out an ornate piece of jewelry.
Isn't this what Lannancy sis wanted back in Fruitsring territory?
I stared suspiciously, wondering if she'd stolen it again. She cleared her throat.
"Ahem! I didn't steal it! I made it myself! After all that effort…."
Ah.
"Carry it visibly, and folks will warm up to you easier."
Like the hat Sariya sis gave me, it probably had special properties.
"You… I can trust you now. That's why I'm giving it."
Even without her charm… if you treasure an eight-cheok ghost like that….
She mumbled something softly, but I couldn't catch it.
"What was that at the end?" "Ah, anyway, see you later!"
Whoosh!
With that, she vanished into the dark night streets in a flash.
Staring at the spot she'd left, I looked down at Sariya sis sleeping in my hand.
What do I do with sis.
Just sleeping?
Is there anything I can do?
I knew zilch about spirits, unlike yokai, so nothing came to mind.
Maybe hit up a library in the Imperial Capital? That's when—
"Hey! Kid! You alive?!"
Loud footsteps echoed, and a familiar burly figure came panting from the alley.
The muscular Council member who'd slung me over his shoulder and kidnapped me from the inn earlier.
And on his shoulder hung the short-cut mage, just like I'd been.
"Kid! You okay?!" "Guh!"
He dumped the short-cut mage unceremoniously on the ground and checked me over. His thick fingers prodded everywhere—it was mortifying.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. But that mage lady might not be." "She'll live! We're the Council's elite few. A little roughhousing won't even bruise her!" "Ronan's a bonehead…. You're the only one who treats a lady like this—you're not? What's that?!"
She sprang up from the ground, then suddenly clutched her mouth and started retching.
"Urk! Cough, blegh…!" "Uh… she looks pretty bad?"
As I asked incredulously, he sidled up and whispered conspiratorially.
"Spirit mages are so rare, the shock's got her hurling. Mages' thirst for knowledge is legendary, y'know."
"Ah…."
As I nodded, the short-cut mage wiped her mouth and glared at him.
"It's your barbaric carrying method! You muscle-brained idiot!!"
She kicked his shin. She ended up hopping around in pain instead.
After the commotion died down.
She caught her breath, approached me, and scanned me up and down with gleaming curiosity.
"Looks like the charm's worn off since you've got a spirit. Usually, yokai ties make spirit contracts impossible… but here's a counterexample! Publish this as a paper, and research grants'll pour in…."
"You were in real danger, kid. Suspected Lannancy yokai, plus some insanely strong thing. We rescued ya, though! Uhahahaha!"
That yokai's sleeping right in front of you guys.
I kept that to myself.
I was starting to tell believable truths from the unbelievable ones.
"Oh, right. Introductions are late. I'm Ronan, Heart's Eye Squad, Council branch."
"Reina, same squad."
"I…."
"No need. Name can wait."
Reina grinned, cutting me off.
Her eyes flicked between sleeping sis in my arms and the melted Outer God fragments around us.
"Anyway, kid, you're luckier than you look. Surviving this mess? Total civil servant material."
Civil servant material?
I didn't think so….
Ignoring my thoughts, Reina extended her hand.
"Straight to the point: wanna join our Council?"