There Are Five Absolute Beings in This World
In this world, five absolute beings exist.
Transcendents who could stand alone against the entire world, frail humans who had stepped into the realm beyond the heavens. Four of them had divided the continent into quarters, each firmly guarding their own territory and position.
In the east of the continent, the martial nation of Hwan ruled by Tugwi. In the west, the magic kingdom of Ellemental ruled by Majoan. In the south, the land of great nature Yggdrasil ruled by the Empress. In the north, the frozen tundra of Tyrfing ruled by the Ice Queen.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm.”
Among those lands, the capital of Ellemental—home to Majoan—Raymond. In the kitchen of an unremarkable apartment, a girl’s cheerful humming floated through the air.
Eggs sizzled in the frying pan. Beside them, miso soup bubbled gently. From across the room, the electric rice cooker hissed as it finished its cycle, sending plumes of pure white steam into the air.
A girl who looked no older than twelve or thirteen moved busily about, setting a generous breakfast table.
“Uncle! Breakfast is ready!”
She called out while scooping fluffy white rice into a ceramic bowl decorated with a delicate floral pattern. When no answer came, she tilted her head toward the silent bedroom.
“Did he not hear me?”
That was strange. Her uncle had unusually sharp ears. By now he should have been shuffling out, scratching his stomach.
She set the rice scoop down and walked toward his room.
“Uncle!”
She knocked lightly and turned the handle. The scene inside was less neat than it was barren. A single massive bookshelf covered one entire wall. There was no desk, no chair—nothing meant for comfortable reading.
She knew he loved books enough to have turned the spare room into a study, yet he preferred to read them standing or sitting on the floor. So the sight didn’t strike her as odd.
Only when she heard movement did she notice her uncle finally stirring beneath the blanket. He sat up with a long, drawn-out yawn.
“Haaaaahm.”
The moment he was upright, he groped for his thick horn-rimmed glasses and slipped them on, then scratched at the flattened hair on the back of his head.
“Did you sleep badly last night?”
He looked more exhausted than usual. The girl’s worried gaze made him shake his head as if to brush off her concern.
“No. I just had a dream for the first time in a while.”
“A dream?”
Yes. A dream. Not a particularly welcome memory.
He had dreamed of the day he first met the girl before him. More precisely, the day he met his older sister and her husband—that damn bastard whose title still felt awkward on his tongue.
To be exact, the bastard’s family hadn’t even shown up. It hadn’t been a formal meeting, just a simple meal between the two of them. In the dream, his sister had nagged him like always, yet her eyes had held a deep, quiet happiness.
“Never mind. Is breakfast ready?”
“Yes!”
“I keep telling you not to bother. Just order delivery. Why is a kid working so hard?”
“If you eat delivery every day, you’ll ruin your health.”
“They have plenty of healthy options now.”
“It costs a lot.”
“I have plenty of money.”
Money was the one thing he had in excess. Perhaps it was the memory of the poverty he’d known as a child. He wasn’t exactly stingy, but he could not tolerate want. Until a few years ago he had hoarded wealth with frightening intensity. He had eased up a little now, but back then it had been so bad that Greed used to mock him constantly, calling him “big brother” with a sneer.
“Well, your cooking tastes better anyway, so I’m not complaining.”
Just as she was starting to feel hurt that he would suggest delivery after she had gone to all the trouble, his casual addition stopped her short. The man really did alternate between whip and carrot so smoothly that she could never find the right moment to get angry.
“I’ll just wash my face and be out. Wait for me.”
He yawned again, long and wide, then walked past her out of the room. Arina slowly closed the door behind him, her eyes catching on the only other object in the otherwise empty space.
Beneath the fluttering curtain, on the windowsill, sat a small picture frame. In the sunlight it sparkled, showing a younger version of her uncle—already looking just as blunt and indifferent as he did now. Beside him stood her late stepmother, looking far younger than Arina remembered. It was the single item her uncle treasured most in this room.
Arina gazed at the photograph for a long moment before quietly closing the door.
Two years earlier.
With Kain’s permission, Kayen and Hughes’s wedding had proceeded without a hitch.
“What?”
On the day of the ceremony itself, Hughes must have spent quite a sum. The venue was as extravagant as the high-end restaurant where they had first met. Kain clicked his tongue softly at the sight, then headed straight down to the buffet and began filling a plate.
His sister soon came to scold him for leaving midway through the wedding. As he listened to her lecture, her next words made him lift his head in disbelief.
“So while we’re on our honeymoon, could you look after Arina for us?”
When the same request came again, he confirmed he hadn’t misheard and frowned deeply. He pushed his slipping glasses back up and asked,
“Why should I?”
“Why? You said all your work was finished and you were going to settle down. You’re living in Raymond now, right? Arina has never been to the capital. She’d love it.”
“That’s not a reason.”
Why should he be saddled with raising a child? None of her logic satisfied him. Of course he understood that a ten-year-old needed a guardian, but there was no reason it had to be him.
“Leave her with the Grant family.”
Hughes Grant. The surname alone made it clear he was direct blood of the Grant Merchant Group. His younger brother had taken the position of successor, while Hughes held a suitable post and supported him. Surely leaving the girl with them would be far more trustworthy than leaving her with him.
“Well… there are circumstances.”
Kayen gave an awkward, troubled smile.
Arina was the daughter of Hughes’s ex-wife—the woman who had cheated and run away. The Grant family couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable around her. After all, she was the daughter of the person who had damaged the merchant group’s reputation. They treated her as normally as they could for Hughes’s sake, but children were sensitive to atmosphere. The subtle awkwardness had gradually caused her to withdraw.
“Isn’t it the same for me?”
“I thought so too, but apparently not.”
Kain was different. Arina had already realized that even if he wasn’t warm toward her, he wasn’t hostile either. In fact, it had been her choice to stay with Kain rather than the Grant family.
“What?”
Bewilderment flooded Kain’s face. He glanced toward Arina, who was walking hand-in-hand with Hughes in the distance.
“……”
Their eyes met. She blushed shyly and waved. Ignoring the greeting, he turned back to his sister.
“I don’t want to.”
He refused her request outright, then brought a piece of some nameless raw fish to his mouth.
“Find someone else.”
“Please. I’m begging you like this.”
“……”
Damn it. Don’t lower your head and beg like that.
Kain secretly ground his teeth. She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew how weak he was to her requests. That was why she acted this way. It was detestable, yet what irritated him more was that he couldn’t bring himself to refuse as easily as he wanted.
“…Why do you care so much?”
Now he was genuinely curious. Why was she going this far for a child who shared none of her blood? Even making such a troublesome request of him.
“Hmm.”
Kayen turned her head slightly, scratching her cheek in embarrassment.
“It’s not anything grand.”
“……”
“She’s just pitiful.”
She was still so young. She had done nothing wrong, yet she received the hatred of adults because of their circumstances. It reminded Kayen of their own childhood. The situations were completely different, of course, but having lost her parents and tasted the malice of the adults around her, Kayen naturally felt sympathy for Arina. That was why she had treated the girl like her own daughter—so she would never feel lonely.
“Arina is my daughter.”
No. She already was her daughter in every way that mattered. Family, precious to her next only to Kain and Hughes.
“……Sigh.”
After a long silence, a heavy sigh finally escaped Kain.
“Thank you, Kain.”
Realizing the sigh was silent consent, Kayen smiled brightly at him.
“The reason I’m asking you is because I trust you that much. You know that, right?”
“As if.”
“Arina may be young, but unlike you she’s mature and doesn’t cause trouble. It won’t be that difficult.”
“Who are you comparing to a child right now?”
Kain let out a hollow laugh. Kayen teased him with a playful tone.
“Remember? When I came home late from work, you’d suddenly go off to the cemetery and pull stunts like that.”
“That time you said you’d be back in the morning but came at dawn instead.”
“You even broke the smartphone.”
“If you hadn’t suddenly called out to me in the dark asking where I’d been, I wouldn’t have dropped it.”
“The important part isn’t that you didn’t get caught.”
How could she not compare them? At the very least, Arina would never cause that kind of trouble. She was clearly far better than Kain had been.
Disliking that conclusion, Kain pressed his lips tightly shut and focused only on the food left on his plate. His habit of clamping his mouth shut whenever he was at a disadvantage in an argument or when complaints piled up had not changed since childhood.
That adorable habit reminded her so much of his younger self that, just like back then, she reached out and stroked his now-adult head.
“Take good care of my daughter.”
“……”
Kain did not reject her hand. Anyone who knew him would have been stunned speechless. If anyone else had dared to touch him, that hand would have rotted away in an instant. Kain loathed physical contact from others with an almost pathological intensity. The fact that he allowed himself to touch others was a rather unbalanced state of affairs.
“Just make sure you come back safely.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“If that bastard tries anything at night, tell me.”
“Haha! It’s our honeymoon. What if he doesn’t try anything?”
At the absurdly serious remark, Kayen finally burst out laughing. Hughes, who had apparently overheard, broke into a cold sweat. Kain took in the sight of Arina tilting her head in confusion at her father’s suddenly damp palm, then pushed his empty plate aside and stood up to get more food.
Family… huh.
New people were entering the world that had once held only him and his sister. The fact felt strangely unfamiliar, yet seeing his sister so happy did not feel bad at all.
He hoped her happiness would last.
For the first time in his life, Kain prayed earnestly to the gods.
But perhaps because the gods had abandoned him long ago, they ignored his wish and trampled it without mercy.
Exactly five days later, the news reached him.
During their honeymoon, Hughes Grant and his wife—Kain’s older sister, now Kayen Grant—had lost their lives in an airship accident.