Noise
After a bit of a scene at the apartment entrance, I brought the boy who'd thrown himself into my arms uninvited — along with Jia — inside.
Throb…
Once we were in and seated at the table, I clutched my aching head.
Squeeze.
Warmth pressed against my right arm. I did my best to ignore the boy clinging to it, firing off heart-eyes at me nonstop, and asked the two of them,
"So… you're saying you two live with me?"
"Yep! We're family!"
The boy laughed like it was the best news in the world.
Whether on purpose or not, he tugged my arm closer until his chin was practically nestled against my shoulder.
I asked for an explanation, not a "we're family, end of story."
Childhood friends or not — even if the goddess herself set this relationship up — living under the same roof was a whole different level. What kind of setup was this?
It's awkward to even ask…
I had no memories of these kids, but the two of them clearly had some kind of fabricated history with me slotted into place. I wanted answers, but asking felt wrong. They'd assume I already knew, and any question would only draw suspicious looks.
I'd have to dig carefully — or just ask the goddess herself.
And then there was another thing that felt off…
Squeeze…
This boy currently wrapped around my arm.
For reasons I couldn't pin down, it didn't feel bad.
Why doesn't this bother me?
It absolutely should have. Of all the men who'd ever shoved themselves into my space like this, the only halfway decent one had been that hero who refused to die no matter how hard I tried to kill him. Everyone else who'd gotten this close had gotten a personal introduction to the goddess.
And yet having this kid hold onto me didn't feel unpleasant at all. He was freely burying himself against my chest, hugging my arm, and launching hearts at my face in broad daylight — and all I felt was that it was… normal. Not gross.
Is it because he's little…?
He still had that baby-powder smell on him — or, less charitably, that milky kid-scent. Maybe that was why my guard wouldn't go up.
Yeah. That had to be it.
He and I were the same gender, for one thing! And even if he weren't — even if this were a girl — you'd only take it seriously if you were around the same age. When a little kid says they like you, you just smile and say, "Ask me again when you're bigger," and move on.
That was probably all this was.
Since it didn't actually bother me, I didn't bother peeling him off. There was something almost cute about it, like a little brother putting on the charm. If he'd reeked of sweat I would've shoved him away, but that soft kid-smell barely registered. And somewhere underneath it was a strange, familiar feeling I couldn't place.
The problem wasn't me. It was Jia.
"…"
He was staring at the boy with those same dead, lightless eyes I'd seen that morning.
A moment later, Jia's mouth opened.
"Lee Jihu."
"Hmm?"
"Cut it out and get off."
"Nooo~ Seonghyeon-noona is my noona. Who are you to tell me to get away from her, hyung?"
"Hey. Lee Jihu. You not listening to your hyung?"
"Noonaaa~ Jia-hyung is being mean to me…"
Whining that Jia was bullying him, Jihu promptly buried his face in my arm.
"Waaah… Jihu's hurt…"
"Grit…"
Watching Jihu put on that adorable fake-crying act, something in Jia's mouth made a sound like it was about to crack.
If I leave this alone, someone's actually going to lose teeth.
I peeled Jihu off my arm like he was a cicada glued to a tree.
"Uweh?"
He clung hard enough that his arms trembled, but he didn't have much strength — even a gentle push was enough to knock him free, leaving him making a dazed little noise as he came off.
"No…ona…?"
Jihu looked up at me with the devastated face of someone betrayed by the person he trusted most, tears welling —
"…Hmph."
— while Jia, the second I dropped him, let out a breath like the tension had finally eased, wearing an expression that said of course.
I felt a little bad for the abandoned look on Jihu's face, but if I hadn't done it, this apartment was about five minutes from a cohabitant homicide.
Alright. Let's sort this out. Lee Jia, Lee Jihu… brothers, then?
I hated to admit it, but they were both pretty cu—
No.
I refuse.
They just looked like normal people. They weren't girls. What was there to call cute?
Anyway — similar names, normal-looking faces. Brothers with a bit of an age gap, from the looks of it.
If I just asked "Are you two brothers?" they'd probably ask if I had dementia. Better to work the situation a little…
"If you're brothers, try getting along. Why are you two snarling at each other like that?"
"Because he never listens."
"That's a hyung problem. I didn't do anything wrong to him. Fine, I won't snarl. So can I hug your arm again? Please?"
Jihu stretched his hands toward me, flailing just short of contact.
Jia clearly did not appreciate the display, warning or no warning.
"This is exactly why I say anything. Lee Jihu, I told you to knock it off."
"Noona's fine with it, so why are you butting in, hyung?! Stay out of our relationship!"
Jihu would not back down. No actual violence yet, but the atmosphere between them was already a war zone.
Brothers. Obviously.
Haah… if only these two were girls…
Two girls fighting over me out of jealousy. What a beautiful picture that would be. I'd pull them both into a broad, comforting chest, calm them down, throw in a little lip service about how cute kids shouldn't fight… it would've been perfect.
But they were boys, so I couldn't even work up the enthusiasm.
Still. What choice did I have? Leave them alone and someone was going to pull a knife. I had to break it up. I couldn't pull them into my chest, but I could at least do the decent human thing.
"Both of you, enough. How dead does the mood in this house have to get before you're satisfied? Cut it out."
I didn't actually expect one line to stop them. I was gearing up to wade in and separate them properly when—
"…Sorry."
"…"
Both of them folded instantly.
The two of them dropped their eyes like students getting chewed out by a teacher, watching me for cues.
Why?
I said one thing and now they were walking on eggshells?
"You don't have to be sorry, exactly…"
The way they were acting made me start second-guessing how cold I'd sounded. Kids, even if I were your parent, you wouldn't need to look this cowed.
"Haa… I'm going to my room."
I scratched my head and stood up. Both of them kept their mouths shut tight, still reading my face like they thought they'd been scolded.
"I wasn't even mad, I just—"
I was about to say something softer to smooth it over when—
Zzzt—
"…?"
One corner of my vision started to warp.
Zzt—
Zzzzzzt—
Like the static on an old CRT television from when I was a kid, something began to take shape inside the distorted field of view.
Zzt—
Two young children — a boy and a girl — holding each other, their bodies rotting as if eaten by disease. Something about them felt familiar.
I was trying to place who they were when the static roared back in.
Zzzzzzt—
The same boy and girl, healthy now, sitting around a table and looking at me.
Zzzzzzzt—
More noise — and with it, a single letter.
Written on it were the words:
So that I won't be a burden to y—
Throb!
Pain like someone had driven an awl straight into my skull.
"Ghk…!"
I staggered and caught myself on the table.
"Seonghyeon!"
"No— Noona!"
Both of them called out at once, but I couldn't hear a thing.
"Hah…"
My heart was hammering so hard and so strangely that I couldn't calm down.
What…
What was that?
Sssssss…
A white snake — somehow — had climbed all the way to the rooftop of an apartment more than twenty stories high. Its red eyes flashed as it looked down at Seonghyeon.
Watching him sway and clutch the table, the white snake opened its mouth. It had read the change in him perfectly.
"Well now…"
A sigh heavy with lament.
"Our young lady has truly outdone herself this time…"
If it had hands, it would have been clutching its head in pure distress. The mess Stella had made was that enormous.
It had expected an accident. It had not expected this.
Those three should not have been together. Or rather — being together was fine. What Seonghyeon must not do was start remembering things like that.
Right now it was only fragments. But later he would recover everything, and the resonance would drag the others into recalling memories that were supposed to stay forgotten.
It's a blessing that He wasn't present when the young lady came looking.
If this got out, expulsion from her goddess seat would be the least of it. For someone as fragile as her, the punishment waiting on the other side would be more than she could bear.
For the young lady's sake…
The snake's pupils stretched into thin slits.
That one has to die.
Not just Seonghyeon. Those two as well. Not one of the three could be allowed to exist in this world.
They were the young lady's shame. If things went wrong, she would be the one who got hurt. For her sake, all three of them had to die — the truth buried with them.
Ssssss…
The snake, which had been no thicker than a handspan, swelled and swelled until, in the blink of an eye, it was large enough to coil around the entire apartment building. Its jaws yawned open — wide enough to swallow one or two apartment blocks whole.
Forgive me, young lady.
It had come down to the mortal realm to be of use to her, and now it was about to do something that would wound her instead. But there was no other way. Even a hero with the merit of slaying the Demon King was still only human. Her bloodline mattered more.
Swallow them. Erase the evidence. Fast.
It had made its decision and was about to strike when—
Flash!
Someone locked eyes with the snake as if driving a spear straight through it.
He's looking at me…?
Right now the snake was in a state no one could touch or see. A serpent of this size materializing in the middle of an apartment complex would have caused absolute chaos, so it had shifted into something like a spirit form.
And yet Seonghyeon was looking straight at it — with eyes full of something that felt like pure hatred.
"…"
The snake said nothing.
It simply moved — faster than anyone.
CRACK!
Seonghyeon kicked the table hard enough to snap a leg clean off. As the broken leg fell, he kicked it up with the top of his foot and caught it in one hand like a staff.
A shattered table leg. Ordinary wood, nothing special — but the moment it settled into Seonghyeon's grip, it might as well have been a war mace.
WHOOOOM!
So the moniker Martial Saintess was never empty words.
Sensing the danger, the snake lunged, jaws wide, straight at Seonghyeon.
But—
WHHHHIIIP!
The staff in Seonghyeon's hands was already swinging faster.
Martial Saintess
Original Mace Arts
Sixth Form
⟨ Heaven-Shattering Smash ⟩
The great arc of the staff began to move — shoving space itself aside as it came.