Past? She Wasn't My Real Sister.
They shared only one thing in common: black hair and eyes, so rare on this continent. For that reason alone, she had cared for him with all her heart. She said he reminded her of the little brother she'd lost. But this was the end result of her devotion.
"Sis! Open your eyes! Get up!"
Not content with shielding him from the boss's brutality, she'd tended to him day and night while he lay unconscious, only to lose her life to the aftereffects.
Foolish woman. Cherished woman. And a memory that cut so deep it hurt.
Whenever she appeared in his dreams like this, he knew it was a nightmare, yet he screamed all the same, his heart breaking.
"Help! Save her!"
He had to move. But as always, his body wouldn't obey. Only sharp pain ruled him.
……Pain?
'Huh? This is definitely a dream……?'
A strange disconnect hit him again just then.
Bang!
"What the hell!"
"What's going on!"
The door flew open, and two burly thugs with ugly mugs burst in.
Doubts about the vivid dream sank away, replaced by desperate worry for his fallen sister.
"Sis, my sis……!"
He screamed as desperately as he could, but as always, his voice didn't reach the brutes.
"What's with this kid?"
The bald one among them nudged her body with his foot. She slid off the bed with a thud, rolling to the floor.
The redhead grimaced at her pale, lifeless face.
"……Fuck. Looks like she's done for."
One person's death. Their reaction to the tragedy? That was it.
But Tiny couldn't stay detached. The deep regret of doing nothing in his panic back then fueled his screams even louder.
"S-save her! Save my sis!"
He knew it was a dream, but its hyper-realism dragged him fully into those desperate emotions.
A voice choked with sobs. But the listeners showed no reaction.
"What the……?"
"We can save her! Take her to a priest and…… Mmph! Mmph!!"
"Shut it, brat."
The bald brute clamped a massive hand over his mouth, nearly covering his whole face, and glared threateningly.
But the knight now counted among the continent's top ten wouldn't yield to such intimidation. With his current powerless child's body, though, all he could do was glare back.
"Mmph! Mmgh!! (Save her! We can!)"
"Hah, look at those eyes. I'll rip 'em out……."
"Gerik, don't make a scene. He's barely clinging to life as it is."
"……Tch."
The bald one—Gerik—clicked his tongue at his partner and glared again.
"Quit your yapping. Unless you wanna follow your sis."
But the moment he pulled his hand away, Tiny's high-pitched cry erupted again.
"We can save her! Take her to a priest!"
"Fuckin' little shit……."
"Gerik!"
"Nngh……."
Gerik raised a fist like he was about to strike, but backed off with a scowl at the redhead's shout.
"We have to save her. To a priest, we need to……."
These bastards wouldn't listen. He knew that all too well.
He also knew she'd stopped breathing the moment he woke.
Still, he repeated the plea, heart bleeding.
It was the lifelong grudge etched deep in his chest, impossible to shake.
'If this is a dream, maybe I can change it just once.'
Maybe she could live again. Maybe he could meet her again, even in a dream.
He couldn't let go of that futile attachment.
"Give money to a priest and……."
Of course, it never happened—that's why it stayed a nightmare. Always.
The two thugs looked down at him with exasperated faces.
The redhead scratched his head irritably, leaned in, and met his eyes.
"Kid."
"The temple can save her……."
"You think a priest would heal a whore?"
Those dagger words sealed his mouth.
Yeah, he knew that better than anyone.
But priests love money, so if we pay…….
"And your sis? She's already dead."
Yeah, I know…….
'……No, no.'
She can still be saved. It's a dream.
"J-just pay them and……."
"Hah, fuck…… Stubborn little shit."
Thwack.
A fist slammed into his solar plexus. Breath cut off, sharp pain exploded.
'Pain……?'
What if this is real…….
His small body lifted slightly, vision blurring.
- Hey! You said not to do it to me…….
- But the boss…….
The fading voices vanished, and the world went black.
* * *
It felt like dreaming again. A dream where the continent's top knight, the Mighty Knight, returned to his most wretched childhood.
'Do even the dead dream?'
The absurd thought hit just as pain crackled through his body.
'……Pain?'
Sensation returned to his limbs the instant he questioned it.
"Nngh, ah……."
His blinking eyes focused on a blurry figure.
And then.
"……You're awake?"
A redheaded woman's face came into view.
'What…… the hell is this?'
Confusion reigned. Pain lingered, senses alive.
……Why?
"Why'd you thrash around? You just woke up after ten days. Why not dig your own grave while you're at it?"
"Who……?"
His cracked voice sounded so childish even to him. His whole body felt awkward and disorienting; words wouldn't come right.
She seemed to misread his reaction.
"Playing dumb……? Nah, doesn't seem like it. Fuck…… Yeah, must be a shock. Eat this and snap out of it."
A spoonful of murky soup approached his lips. Child-sized spoon, but it looked big up close. And the woman before him seemed huge too.
Wait…….
'Did I shrink?'
What the……?
He dropped his gaze to see a familiar small body. The undersized kid from his early childhood…….
Déjà vu froze him on his tiny limbs. But she wouldn't wait.
"Tiny! Eat up. Gotta build your strength."
"Where…… am I? Ngh."
Turning to look around triggered aches everywhere.
Real pain.
It amplified his confusion.
……Is this reality?
"Where else? Back room of the Inbear. Nearly had to haul two corpses…… Whoops, eat. Here, slurp. Good boy."
Gulp.
Forced soup down his throat. Thick potato taste, no spices—just plain.
Meager, but achingly nostalgic.
It revived old memories. And of the woman before him.
"Emma……?"
His sister's old friend. Back then, working the same job at Philes Territory's Inbear pleasure district…… colleague.
He'd never chatted long with other women besides sis. Shy, sure, but mostly because she stopped him.
- Don't get tangled deep with folks here. Nothin' good comes of it.
- You'll leave this place someday, live proud and honest.
- Head high, no shame, bold as brass.
Right, Tin?
Yet she'd approached warmly. And after sis died, saved him from following her.
"Call me sis, remember? Why only with Erina…… Ahem. Never mind. Not for a sick kid. Open up. Ahh……."
Gulp.
So vividly real in taste and feel. That's why this unreal situation baffled him.
"A…… dream? No……?"
The mumble darkened Emma's face.
"Erina's thing…… No, eat more first. Talk later. Open."
"N-no, this is……."
Clunk. Spoon in mouth silenced him.
The soup's flavor piled on reality, confusion swirling in his eyes.
Time passed. Moonlight filtered through the window, washing the musty room a bit.
In the deep night, Tiny's shaken gaze steadied.
"……This is real."
The words he spoke settled it. Like waking from the dream.
'I've gone back. To the past.'
Emma and the others visiting while he lay there convinced him. Not a dream.
Some he hadn't even known the names of back then.
And the lingering tingles? Too vivid for a corpse.
Only one explanation fit.
- Remember this. Come find me soon as you can. Wherever you are, to Valentia Ducal House in the Aslan Empire…….
The Sword Emperor's dying words, dismissed as senility.
He'd done something.
'But how the hell…….'
He knew legends of great magic, even experienced some.
But nothing this absurd.
'What the…….'
He knew little of magic anyway—pointless to ponder alone.
Still, felt unfairly done by.
Shiver.
"That damn geezer!"
Should've sent him back a few days earlier.
"Why this exact……!"
Cough!
Yelling choked him.
Hack, hack.
"……Heh, heh. Damn it."
Hack.
This frail body couldn't even vent rage properly. Coughs wracked him.
Cough. Hack.
Once calmed, reason returned.
Yeah, he knew. Blaming the wrong people.
But losing her again, right before his eyes? The shock lingered.
"Sis……."
Demon King, Sword Emperor—who cared now.
Only regret surfaced. For her.
That soon turned to fury at the tragedy's cause.
"……I'll rip you apart."
Shiver.
Wolf—real name unknown, just called Wolf. Pimp ruling Philes Inbear, beggar gang boss, back-alley kingpin.
And 'her.' Resentment flickered for the gold ring that sparked disaster.
But it faded fast.
'Did my kid body make my mind childish too? Silly grudge…….'
He'd resented her once in his past life.
But matured, realized it was wrong, let it go.
Good intentions turning sour? No reason to curse the giver.
Real men don't.
- Head high, no shame, bold as brass.
Right, Tin?
Sis wouldn't want him hating her.
So shake it off again.
Left was…….
'Wolf.'
Rage focused on the gray-haired wolfman likely in his nearby mansion.
In his past life, it'd taken three years of power-building to catch him.
A brutal fight, barely victorious—not satisfying revenge.
No waiting this time. No regrets.
'Wait for me.'
Humm.
Willpower stirred mana, warming his body tenderly.
His spoon-lifting struggle eased bit by bit.
Not like his clueless past life.
Starting right this time, he'd gain power soon.
Even in this small body.
'Revenge, for sure…….'
Fuel of pure rage to ignite mana flames—
"Ah!"
A forgotten crucial fact surfaced amid boiling fury.
In his past life, sis's death had driven him mad, rampaging till collapse.
Down just days, but that short time birthed another deep grudge.
So move now.
Or he'd be too late again.
'No, not yet…….'
Humm.
"Nngh……."
Tiny mana barely moved him; his recovering body screamed again.
Agonizing stimulation everywhere.
But his blazing black eyes only burned brighter.