The Sister Left Behind

The next day—

Father took on another commission and said he wouldn't be back for a while.

"Well then, I'll be off."

Mother pulled him into an embrace.

"Come back safe."

"And take care of yourself."

"Don't you worry."

"I'll be home before you know it."

"Dad, next time you come back, buy me that thing that makes the fart noise!"

"Uh… sure."

Armel's scorching gaze burned into him from the side.

"Don't buy it."

"Understood?"

She was smiling, but behind that smile lurked the unmistakable pressure of bring that home and you die.

"I won't buy it."

"Good."

"Then go carefully and come back safe."

"I will."

"And you, son—train hard and study hard."

"Yes, sir!"

"Armel."

"Yes?"

Peck.

"Eugh! Gross, lovey-dovey stuff!"

"Haha."

"Alright, I'm off."

"Be careful out there, Dad!"

"I will!"

"Honestly… they could just leave for a day without all that."

"Mom!"

"Hmm?"

"You're still young!"

"W-well, yes."

"Shall we go see Serina, then?"

After Father left, we headed over to Auntie's place.

Knock, knock.

"Is Serina home?"

"Coming!"

A tremendous clatter erupted from inside.

"Oh dear…"

"Mom, Aunt Serina's still alive in there, right?"

"I'd like to think so."

The door flew open and Auntie came tumbling out in a rush.

"Welcome, Armel—and you too, little one."

The scent of medicinal herbs filled the house.

"Are you okay, Auntie?"

"Yeah, somehow still breathing."

For a pharmacist's home, the place was a disaster—cluttered beyond belief.

"Well… I haven't had any patients in a while, so I got a bit carried away with research…"

"I'll tidy up real quick if you don't mind waiting?"

"If it's all right with you, why don't we help a little?"

"I'd be so grateful!"

"I'll help too!"

"Thanks, little one."

And so, before any studying could begin, we all threw ourselves into a full-scale cleaning spree.

"We got so caught up cleaning that—"

"—it's already lunchtime."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, really."

"Shall we eat first, then?"

"You'll join us, won't you, Serina?"

"Yes… thank you."

Over the meal, Mother spoke up.

"Serina."

"Yes?"

"If you wouldn't mind—"

"Would it be all right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I sat in while my son studies?"

"Of course, I don't mind at all."

"Thank you."

"I just want to watch him learn."

"I see."

"I'm a little envious of the little one, honestly."

"Come to think of it—"

"How did you and Mom become friends, Auntie?"

Auntie set down her fork and glanced sideways at Mother.

"I got to know her naturally after becoming close with Fer, but—"

"Is that all right with you, Armel?"

"Pardon? What do you mean?"

Armel whipped her head away in a hurry.

"So that means I can tell him, then?"

Aunt Serina leaned in and whispered into my ear.

"What?"

"Your mom was ridiculously jealous, you know."

"Is that true?"

"Serina—don't tell me you brought that up."

"Who knows?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

The story went like this.

After Auntie and Father became close, she started calling him Fer—and Mother had been jealous of that.

"Armel was terrifying back then."

"One evening Fer came pounding on my door, going—"

"—Armel thinks you and I are having an affair!"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Clearing up that misunderstanding was such a nightmare."

Scrape.

"I'll just… go do the dishes."

"Oh no… I've embarrassed her."

"Huh?"

"Look at your mother."

Clatter-crash.

"Mom, the plate's breaking!"

"Ah… right!"

"I should probably go help her, shouldn't I?"

"I'll take over the dishes for you."

"Thank you."

Mother came back and sank into her chair.

"You okay, Mom?"

"I'm fine…"

"I'm starting to understand what people mean when they say Serina will spill your entire life story."

"Haha."

"I felt the exact same way last time."

"Somehow you end up telling a child everything."

"A child's innocence really is impossible to resist."

"Isn't it just?"

"Well, the dishes are done—"

"Shall we actually start studying?"

"Yes!"

Aunt Serina brought over an enormous book on medicinal herbs.

"Auntie… what is that?"

"Hmm?"

"It's a herb encyclopedia."

"We're not learning all of that, right?"

"Of course not!"

"This is just the primer. The main text is even bigger."

"Wow."

"Mom, I want to go home."

"No."

"…Yes, ma'am."

"Come on, just try learning it."

"It'll help you later."

"All right."

"Why do you think the first herb is so important?"

"Because it heals people?"

"That's right—but not every herb can heal everything."

Slash.

"Auntie, why did you just cut yourself?!"

"It's fine."

"A wound this small just needs a little Bloodhalt Herb."

She applied the herb, then peeled it away—and the wound vanished without so much as a scar.

"Whoa!"

"The bleeding stopped instantly!"

"Right?"

"That's the power of medicinal herbs."

"And when you use herbs like this to craft something—"

Auntie pulled a bottle from a box.

"Oh—this is different from the medicine bottle you gave us last time."

"…It is different."

Serina looked flustered and glanced at Armel. But Armel only shook her head, equally surprised.

"How did you tell them apart?"

"The bottle you gave us last time was a little clearer."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"This one looks different somehow."

"Is that so?"

"You're exactly right. This one was made by people using herbs and mana."

"That's why the color is a bit denser."

"Then what about the one you made, Auntie?"

"The one I made?"

"That one… combines my mana with a spirit's mana."

"A spirit?"

"Yes."

"We'll come back to that story later."

"This is a potion."

"What kind of effect do you think it has?"

"I don't know."

"Potions vary depending on the herbs used, but—"

"—this one restores fatigue."

"And how much do you think it costs?"

"I have no idea."

"That's all right."

"About three copper coins apiece."

"That cheap?"

"It is cheap."

"But there are higher-grade potions than this."

"Try guessing how much those go for."

"Hmm… maybe they charge silver coins?"

"Wrong!"

"The answer is gold coins."

"What?"

"Gold coins?"

"But the amount you charge us, Auntie, is…"

"Right—even at the most, about ten silver."

"Auntie, you sell them ridiculously cheap…"

"Can you even make a living?"

"I manage just fine!"

"And that's how it should be!"

"How it should be?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well…"

Auntie looked as though she was struggling to explain, and her eyes found Mother.

"I'll explain that one."

"Okay!"

"Son—if there was only one of something in the whole world, and you had a monopoly on it—"

"—how would you use it?"

"Hmm…"

"I wouldn't get greedy. I'd sell it at a fair price, or…"

"…or just give it away?"

"Exactly."

"That's what normal people would do."

"But the Potion Association monopolizes them and sells them at outrageous prices."

"They're allowed to do that?"

"Of course not."

"But very few people know how to make potions."

"More precisely—there are some, but every last one of them belongs to the Potion Association."

"So are you one of them too, Auntie?"

"No. I got so fed up I raised hell and got myself expelled."

"What on earth did you do…?"

"Oh, nothing much—just lobbed an explosive potion on my way out."

"Auntie, that is not nothing much."

"Isn't it?"

"Most people don't go around blowing things up just because they're annoyed."

"Is that so."

"Anyway, that's why the pricing is completely absurd."

"That's right. Do you understand now?"

"Yes!"

"So the Potion Association is basically a club for bad people."

"Uh… well."

"Pretty much."

"That's why ordinary adventurers—"

"—either use low-grade potions or just treat themselves with raw herbs."

"But if herbs are needed to make potions—"

"—why don't they monopolize the herbs too?"

"If Mom kept snatching away the meat you love, what would you do?"

"I'd be sad, but…"

"If Mom won't give it to me, I just wouldn't eat it…"

"That's not what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I mean."

"I mean if she forcibly took it from you."

"Then I'd cry and throw a huge tantrum, wouldn't I?"

"Exactly. If they seized the herbs too—"

"—there's no telling what kind of uprising might break out."

"So they leave them alone."

"I see."

"Then why not just heal with magic?"

"Healing mages are incredibly rare."

"Hardly anyone can do it."

"Can you, Mom?"

"Of course."

"What about you, Aunt Serina?"

"Obviously I can too."

"Are they really that rare, then?"

"Probably?"

Auntie hastily shut the book.

"That's enough for today."

"Go outside and get some fresh air, little one."

"Okay!"

"Mom, I'll go wait outside."

"All right."

"How was the lesson?"

"Pardon?"

"I assume you weren't watching the whole time because you were worried about him."

Serina spoke as though she could see straight through me.

"There's no fooling you, is there, Serina."

"To be honest, what happened last time has been weighing on me."

"Last time?"

"Yes."

Armel walked over slowly.

"Serina."

"I want to hear it now."

"Why did you offer to teach the child?"

"You and Fer are both terrifying people, you know."

"Fer?"

"Yes. Not long after I said I'd teach him—"

"—Fer showed up and said this."

Fer had said it with a face of pure ice.

"I know."

"So Fer said that…"

"Yes."

"More importantly—you had a younger sibling?"

"I never saw anyone."

"Yes."

"He died a long time ago."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's all right."

"He wasn't my blood brother, but—"

"—he was my family."

"I see."

"Honestly, when you first asked me to look after the boy, Armel—"

"—I didn't think much of it."

"But talking with him…"

"The things the little one said… they were so much like him."

"It all came flooding back."

"That boy loved to chatter too… I found myself thinking."

Serina fell silent, her hand resting on the back of a chair.

"That child's dream is to become a hero like you, isn't it, Armel?"

"Yes."

"Pasi was the same."

"He said he wanted to be just like me."

"Back then I just laughed it off."

Serina's face began to harden.

"I was the one who killed him."

And so Serina's story began.

She had been staring silently at a single drawing.

"Day after day, my little brother begged me to teach him about herbs."

Just then—

Serina took out the medicine bottle she had given us.

"Is that the bottle you gave us?"

"Yes."

"Back then, I was…"

"…completely consumed by research into fusing spirit mana with human mana in a medicine bottle."

The face of the woman recounting her past looked unbearably heavy.

"He sounds like a wonderful little brother."

"He was. He really was a wonderful kid."

"How did he die?"

Serina brought out a single herb from her laboratory.

"Is that…"

"Don't tell me—is that Ilwoncho?"

"Yes… the legendary herb said to bloom in only one place every five hundred years."

"Ilwoncho."

"I thought the places it blooms were almost completely random…"

"The truth is, my brother and I had a terrible fight right before he took that commission."

"That day, he'd taken on a somewhat dangerous commission."

"So I told him to give it up."

"I was a target for elimination by the Association, after all."

"And just like that, Pasi went far away from me."

"When days passed with no word from him, I grew frantic with worry."

"And then it happened…"

"One of the guild members came to our house."

Serina bit down hard on her lip.

"His body had been savagely torn apart by monsters."

"And his throat had been stabbed by someone."

"But do you know what was in his hand?"

"Serina…"

"No… in that child's hand was the Ilwoncho…"

"He died… still clutching the very first—and last—herb I ever taught him."

Serina's hands were trembling.

I couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Armel, wordless, simply wrapped her arms around Serina.

"It's all right…"

"You can cry now. It's okay."

And through the quiet room, the long-suppressed sobs of a sister left behind rose softly into the air.