Siblings Acknowledged by DNA

More than thirty orcs were smashing against the flimsy castle wall with the wooden clubs in their hands. "Smash it! Snort!" "Kill them! Snort!" "Food! Food! Human flesh!!" "Meat is supreme!" If it had been an ordinary wall, no amount of bashing with wooden clubs would have made a difference. It would have been like throwing eggs at a boulder. But what if the boulder was already one crack away from shattering? Wouldn't pelting it with enough eggs eventually break it? That was exactly the state of the wall right now.

The clubs the orcs wielded were crafted from trees native to Monster Land. The timber that grew there possessed far greater strength and resilience than wood from any other region. Its density and hardness were on an entirely different level. Add in the orcs' brutish power, and those "eggs" they hurled might as well have been hard-boiled.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"The wall is shaking!"

"We're finished!"

Each impact made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the wall visibly tremble. The sight sent waves of terror through the gathered people.

"My Lord! What do we do?"

"Where are the knights?!"

"Knights! Help us!"

The residents' eyes were wide with fear. Dread and panic spread like wildfire, leaving everyone trembling with unease.

They really aren't coming.

Elena clenched her teeth. The knights were nowhere in sight. They were undoubtedly waiting at the training grounds, expecting her to come begging. They knew her too well—that she would never abandon her territory, and that she would eventually swallow her pride and ask for their help.

They get me with the same tactic every single time.

She had no choice. With her people and her land held hostage, the lord of the territory had no option but to bow her head. As long as the residents were the leverage, she was destined to lose the standoff.

"I'll go..."

"But My Lord, it's far too dangerous!"

"I've trained for this. Orcs are... something I can handle!"

"I know how strong you are, My Lord! But... the curse!"

"......"

Elena understood Hans's concern perfectly. Even so.

Boom! Boom!!

"Eek!"

"It's over!"

"Aaaack! Somebody save us!"

As lord, she could not allow her people to remain trapped in fear. Besides, these orcs showed no sign of retreating. They had clearly come with deadly intent.

"I'm going."

"My Lord, please—at least tell the knights you'll raise their pay!"

"We don't have the money to raise their salaries."

Elena bit her lip in bitter frustration.

"I've already sold everything we own at rock-bottom prices. Paying their current wages is barely manageable. How could I possibly offer them more?"

If they had the funds, she would raise the pay without hesitation. She would sacrifice any amount of money to protect the precious territory her parents had left her. But.

"We have no money."

Elena scaled the wall and leaped down. Though the height was considerable, her trained body handled the drop without issue.

"Hoo..."

Her legs stung on impact. She lifted her head and stared straight ahead. In her amethyst eyes, a revolting two-legged pig monster stood drooling, as if mocking the natural order of the world.

"Snort! Human female!"

"Female meat!!"

"Meat, meat!!"

The moment the slobbering orcs spotted Elena, they charged with savage hunger. Sunlight glinted off the blade she drew, making it shine with lethal sharpness. As if it carried all her hope.

Elena swung her sword to defend her territory.

* * *

"Kuhahahaha! The outside must be in complete chaos by now, right?"

"But it's taking longer than usual. I expected her to come crawling in tears by this point."

"Well, I saw her head out with a sword herself earlier."

"What? Puhahaha!"

The knights roared with laughter. There was no discipline or dignity in the sound—nothing but the crude braying of street thugs pretending to be proper knights.

"Herself? With that cursed body of hers?"

"It's not even funny. Guess she wants to put up a last desperate fight."

"But what if she actually dies?"

"It'd be a shame, but we'd just find a new post somewhere else."

They spoke of their lord's possible death with complete indifference. It was only a minor inconvenience.

"The pay was pretty decent, though."

"We've saved enough to settle down anywhere else!"

"Still, it'd be a waste for a woman like that to die. With a face and body like hers..."

"If she weren't a noble, I'd have tried my luck with her."

The knights freely traded vulgar jokes about their own lord without a shred of shame.

"Alright, shall we head out now?"

"You're actually going?"

"Even if she dies it's no big deal, but it would be a shame. Might as well wring out a little more while we're at it. Right?"

"Yeah, fair enough."

The knights rose and gathered their gear. The equipment was pitifully neglected. A proper knight would maintain his weapons and armor like his own life, spending nearly half his salary on upkeep. Yet the swords these men carried were chipped, rusted, or dented. It was obvious they had invested not a single gold coin in maintenance.

"I need to get some new equipment soon."

"What? You're buying it yourself?"

"Pfft, what nonsense. We'll just ask our beautiful Lord Elena to buy it for us~. Tell her we can't fight without proper gear and she'll have no choice."

"True enough."

"Let's move. We can't let the lord die, after all."

* * *

"Why is there no one here?"

Albert, who had finally returned home, tilted his head at the sight of the completely empty lord's castle. Something felt wrong. In his memory, dozens of servants had always lived here. With this much movement, he should have run into at least one by now.

"There's literally no one. And why is everything so filthy?"

He ran a finger along the window frame and stared in disbelief at the result.

"What? This window was supposed to be white? I thought it was gray."

It was caked in years of dust. The hallway, which should have been adorned with noble artwork, was bare. His father had especially loved armor and had once displayed many fine pieces here. Now there was nothing.

It feels desolate.

"Did they move away?"

He had heard stories of soldiers returning from service only to find their families had relocated without them. Could the same thing have happened?

No, that can't be it.

Things were different here. Commoners might move easily, but nobles could not. It wasn't impossible, but.

There's no reason for them to leave.

"Then what the hell happened? I guess there's only one way to find out."

Albert closed his eyes, then opened them again—like flipping a switch.

"System, locate people."

"No, the range is way too broad. Narrow it to about 1km and prioritize humans."

The System. It was one of the powers Albert had obtained upon becoming a hunter. An existence that existed solely to assist him—an ability no other hunter possessed. In simple terms, it was like the artificial intelligence from a certain steel hero franchise. Extremely convenient. It provided navigation, conducted searches, held vast knowledge, and answered any questions. A state-of-the-art AI equipped with navigation, scanner, and knowledge database functions. That was the System.

It even activates skills automatically. I can't overstate how useful it is.

Countless hunters had coveted this ability. Though it had no official rank, if one had to assign one, it could proudly be called EX-rank.

"Fifty-six? That's absurd."

Albert frowned in disbelief.

"When you say it like that, I can't argue."

The System had never made a mistake during all their time together. Which meant that within a 1km radius, there were only fifty-six humans.

"This doesn't make sense. Where is everyone? Can you open the map?"

"I'll give you that later. For now, can you show me where the people are?"

A yellow arrow appeared. Albert followed it at a leisurely pace.

"Why is there only one arrow? Usually there would be..."

"They're gathered? Why?"

"Monsters?"

Albert quickened his pace. The arrow pointed outside the window. Annoyed, he simply smashed through the glass instead of opening it. The drop from the fourth floor was nothing to an EX-rank hunter like him. He could land safely from skydiving altitude without a parachute.

"Did you say something?"

Albert glanced in the direction of the arrow. Looking down at the territory from above finally revealed its wretched state. His face filled with shock.

"What happened? Why does it look like this?"

He muttered in disbelief. The territory he remembered had been far grander. Clear water flowed abundantly, golden waves rippled across the grain fields, residents laughed and chatted noisily, and merchants bustled about selling their wares. It hadn't been perfect, but it had been a good place to live.

But now...

"No... that can't be right."

Albert landed on a nearby rooftop and sprang forward like a coiled spring. With each leap, his figure shot ahead. After only two jumps, he reached the top of the castle wall. Only then did he understand why everyone had gathered.

"How many?"

"I see."

Albert watched the woman fighting the orcs.

"She's not using mana. Why? That sword style loses all meaning without it."

Albert observed her carefully. His intuition. His instinct. His heart. Everything told him she was his sister. But.

My sister should still be a child.

"Could the time axis have shifted? System, what's your analysis?"

"......"

He had thought simply returning would be enough. But the time axis had shifted.

"I really hated that part of the 'inevitable'... Hoo..."

So was that woman truly his sister? The snow-white hair, the amethyst eyes. And that swordsmanship definitely belonged to their father. It seemed likely, but.

"Why isn't she using mana? And why is she fighting alone? Are there no other fighters?"

"Where are they?"

"Chatting?"

"Location."

The arrow pointed to the lower left. Sure enough, six knights were standing there, laughing and joking among themselves.

"Eavesdrop."

"Focus."

Eavesdropping allowed him to hear distant conversations, while Concentration filtered out surrounding noise so he could focus on the target.

"Puhahaha! Did you see her pathetic struggle out there?"

"Pfft, it's hilarious watching a mana-sealed human try so hard~. I might actually cry~."

"What a pathetic bitch. Who risks their life for territory? If it were for money, sure. I really don't understand our lord's mindset."

"Alright, let's time this right. It'd be bad if she actually died."

"We'll jump in once she breaks an arm or something. If she begs us with tears in her eyes, saying 'Please save me,' my soft heart might just compel me to help immediately."

"......"

Albert's eyes grew cold. The armor they wore belonged to his father's collection. Furthermore...

"Of course they would."

Albert turned his gaze. The woman was fighting desperately. The people behind her called her lord.

"What will happen to our lord...?"

"What are those damn knights doing?! Those worthless thugs!"

"My Lord!! Somebody please help Lady Elena..."

"Steward Hans! Isn't there anything we can do?"

"What can I possibly do?! I desperately want to help, but... there is no way."

They were calling her Elena and worrying for her. One of the residents had referred to her as Elena.

"So she really is my sister."

Her appearance had changed greatly, but traces of her childhood features remained. Of course, there were still things to verify, but he needed to help her now. Without mana, defeating that many orcs would be impossible.

Albert leaped lightly from the wall. He fell rapidly due to gravity and landed precisely between Elena and the orcs.

"Who... are you?"

Despite bleeding, Elena possessed a beauty so captivating it made even her wounds look alluring. Her enchanting amethyst eyes filled with confusion.

My sister grew up to be quite pretty.

"Who are you?! It's dangerous right now! So please..."

"Ah, that can wait. I have something to confirm first. Excuse me."

Albert collected the blood flowing down her cheek. Then he opened the subspace that all hunters possessed by default and retrieved a device. It was a DNA tester.

"Exactly. I need to confirm she's really my sister, don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I?"

He had been deceived too many times before.

Stay quiet. This is my personal matter.

Albert gave the System a stern warning.

She's my sister. I'll handle this. Don't interfere with this part.

"What are you doing?! Behind you!! Look behind! The orcs!!"

"...This is an important moment. Don't interrupt."

"Kuuuk...? S-scary...?"

"Body feels heavy..."

"Can't move my body..."

"I just lightened myself at the bathroom... Snort?"

He had frozen the orcs in place. The Intimidation skill could stiffen weaker targets' bodies, and with greater intensity, it could even kill them while they remained standing.

"How annoying. I'm in the middle of something important."

Albert dropped his own blood and Elena's into the DNA tester. The device could compare DNA on the spot using only blood samples.

More precisely, it uses the unique properties of mana.

Every person possessed mana with distinct properties, much like DNA. Even if they appeared identical, closer inspection would reveal minute differences. However, research had shown that blood relatives shared identical mana signatures. Of course, the signature would change over generations, but.

For siblings and parents, it's identifiable.

The blood containing mana fell into the device. A small light appeared as the examination began.

She has mana in her blood. So why isn't she using it? And what is this curse?

While questions swirled in his mind, the result appeared.

A wide smile spread across Albert's face. The final verification was complete. The DNA tester had confirmed they were siblings. Now he could say it with absolute certainty.

"Sister!! Your big brother has returned!!"