The Weight of Protection
Like a scene from a play, the gazes of the one perched in the tree and the one falling slowly crossed. The moment Raven touched the ground, he rolled into a breakfall without hesitation, regained his balance, and broke into a sprint.
His instincts were screaming. If he failed to shake the man off now, it would become nearly impossible later.
Crash! Bang!
A door slammed open somewhere above, followed by the thunder of footsteps pounding down the stairs. Raven hurled the room key through the open first-floor window onto the counter and accelerated.
The key skidded toward the corner of the counter from the force of the throw, but…
Someone will notice eventually.
At least it was still on the counter.
The footsteps behind him and the grinding of teeth were genuinely chilling. Even when facing monsters, Raven had never felt such a visceral chill race down his spine. He let out a hollow laugh and focused on running.
If he catches me, I’m screwed.
The youngest disciple thought.
Father… I found Master, but approaching him carelessly would only make him wary. If I went to him in the form he knows, he would attack or flee. Even if I approached as a stranger, I would only meet suspicion and walls.
The Master I know is like a rabbit—lonely, yet full of caution. After what I did to him, that wariness must have grown worse.
So instead of rushing in, he quietly turned the situation over in his mind.
I need to meet him in a situation where he cannot refuse me.
His goal was to bring the man to the imperial capital—more precisely, to the imperial palace.
Forcing him along was an option, but Father was someone who had no choice but to wander the world. Keeping him in one place was not to his taste either.
Since he carried guilt, Deceiver would show him a vast, comfortable cage—no, a nest—where the door remained open so he could come and go as he pleased, and then apologize.
He would say he was sorry for being discovered.
He should have kept the lie going until the end, but he had been foolishly found out and hurt him.
And he would etch into the man’s mind that this place was somewhere he could return to. If he filled it with every kind of splendor, even if the man tried not to remember, he would.
Remembering meant that one day, at some moment, he would think of this place again.
I need a way to bring him to the capital without raising too much suspicion…
Getting him there came first.
Of course, he knew Master would eventually visit the imperial capital. Now that he had found him, simply watching might have sufficed. But after going to all this trouble to locate him, the thought of not even exchanging a single word felt deeply unsatisfying. Worse, he could not guarantee that some other scoundrel would not discover him in the meantime and make a move.
The youngest disciple, who had never abandoned his true nature, set aside the gentlest and most boring option. Tearing the paper in his hands, Deceiver thought.
What kind of people was he weak to?
The answer came quickly. Watching Dan following behind his master, Deceiver twisted his lips into a smile.
Young children who have not yet grown. And victims of the Gates.
If something similar happened twice in a single day, it would arouse suspicion, but approaching normally would only earn wariness anyway.
In that case, it was better to create a situation he could not refuse, even if it raised suspicion.
It has been a long time since I saw your face up close, Father.
Ah, but first, he had to deal with this.
Contrary to the momentum that suggested he would move immediately, Deceiver remained where he stood and scattered the torn wanted posters into the air.
Anything concerning “Raven,” especially descriptions of his appearance that directly related to him, were difficult for people to remember or recall, even if they were permanent records. If they were not kept in sight, people would forget Raven’s very existence, just as they forgot the man himself.
Therefore, almost no one would recognize and report his master because of these.
I have already removed the wanted posters from every inn and shop in the village his footsteps are headed toward, so it should be fine for a while.
More than that—bounties? Did they really think that would work? His elder brother and sister were truly foolish.
Deceiver’s lips curled crookedly.
Father is no ordinary person.
Our master is such a sensitive rabbit.
Even if they had secretly placed bounties only on inns and shops, the moment someone tried to recognize and report him, he would notice. Then the chances of him avoiding the capital, where capture was most likely, would rise.
And above all…
I found him first. I will not let some scrap of paper hand him over to my brother and sister.
He had always been his.
His father, and the only key that could lead him to perfection. Ah, and his master as well.
While briefly measuring the distance and calculating, unnecessary things had wormed their way in as disciples.
Since he had no intention of foolishly losing him again, Deceiver launched himself without hesitation in the direction his beloved master was headed.
After saving Dan, the Guardian Spirit had clearly said this before returning.
[At least the Gate has already been closed. That is fortunate.]
Raven had not answered at the time, but he had agreed inwardly. If the Gate had still been open, things would have become far more troublesome.
Protecting someone else while closing a Gate alone was never easy. He had experienced it many times, yet the mere thought still made him shudder. Just as the spirit had said, it was fortunate.
And now it has actually happened.
With a reluctant expression, Raven held the “child” in his arms and backed away. Unlike Dan, who had been close to adulthood, this was a “real child,” perhaps only ten years old—a girl whose noble bearing seemed entirely out of place here. She trembled and buried her face against his chest. Whether she was secretly wiping away tears or simply rubbing her face in a childish plea for comfort, he could not tell.
……Does he have some connection to “children”?
Everyone he got involved with was a child.
The hollow laugh lasted only a moment. Soothing the girl, he rolled his eyes to assess the situation.
To anyone else watching, the current state of affairs would have seemed hopeless.
A Gate had opened in the middle of a wide street, monsters pouring out of it. And in front of it stood a trembling child.
He had been in a hurry to escape, but once he saw that scene, he could not simply pass by.
Thus, Raven, now holding the child he had snatched up, sighed and spun the dagger in his other hand.
Now I have two burdens to protect……
Before, he had only needed to worry about Dan. Now he had to look after both Dan and the child.
……Ah, not yet, perhaps. He had already warned the crow that had been chasing him first—if it did not want to die, it should stay away. If it had any sense, it would keep its distance.
Still, the fact that the Guardian Spirit was angry weighed on his mind. He knew the spirit would not ignore his danger, but… even so, he was not shameless enough to summon him while knowing how furious he was, especially when Raven himself was at fault.
“……Hey, what’s your name?”
Resolved to handle this alone, Raven asked the child.
“……Di… cough, Didi.”
“An alias, I see.”
He felt the small body in his arms flinch.
He could not understand why she was so frightened. From her clothing, she seemed like a noble. Hiding her family name and true identity from someone she could not trust was only natural.
He had only asked for a name because he needed something to call her. The real name did not matter. Calmly, he repeated the alias she had given.
“All right, Didi. Do you get motion sick?”
She shook her head vigorously.
The way she rubbed her forehead against his chest while shaking her head was rather cute. Raven let out a short breath of laughter and drove his dagger into the roof of a monster’s mouth as it lunged at them, whispering softly.
“Then just keep your head down like this for about five minutes… no, ten minutes. It will shake quite a bit, but don’t lift your head no matter what.”
What he had to do was simple.
Slaughter the monsters pouring out while carrying the child, then close the Gate.
He would have to keep holding her, which meant one arm would be occupied, but there was no helping it. It was far safer to keep her in his arms than to set her down and risk losing her.
Tightening his grip in case she slipped, he whispered quietly.
“When this is over, I’ll ask why a noble-looking child was alone out here. Use the time to think about your answer.”
“……”
If he added a touch of selfishness, he could have chosen to enter the Gate first to escape the monsters, but Raven could not do that. He knew all too well what would happen if he ignored so many monsters.
Never mind whether he could protect the child inside the Gate—Dan, left alone outside, would die.
The monsters would devour Dan first, then head for the nearby villages.
The damage would be catastrophic.
With that thought, Raven began fighting the monsters while holding the child—and then,
“[Child, what on earth are you……]”
—he was scolded.
It had never made sense to fight a swarm of monsters while carrying such a glaring weakness.
In the end, Raven could not even attempt to close the Gate. Simply dealing with the monsters that had already poured out was difficult enough.
Even that was becoming harder as he was gradually surrounded.
In a desperate attempt to break free of the encirclement, he stepped on the nearest monster and leapt—only for another to grab his ankle and slam him to the ground. Reflexively, he stopped himself from letting go of the child to brace his fall, instead clutching her tighter. A dull pain exploded through him and his vision flashed white.
That moment of delay proved fatal.
By the time the monster’s gaping maw entered his narrowed field of vision, it was already too late. Even as the long-silent Guardian Spirit finally acted, Raven did not look surprised. He simply closed his eyes, as if he had expected this.
“[……]”
The Guardian Spirit cut down the monsters—and with them, the noise—until a strange silence fell.
Having instantly cleared the surrounding monsters, the spirit glanced back at Raven and sighed. In his rough green eyes, the trembling young man was reflected.
“[What am I supposed to do with you……]”
“……At least my face wasn’t hurt.”
He had done his best to protect it. Getting injured there would have been troublesome.
“It’s the most useful part, after all. Even the ancestor… even you acknowledged that. I have to protect it.”
The child in his arms trembled at the joke clearly meant to lighten the mood. Raven patted her shoulder without concern.
Of course. Laughing was better than crying. At least she was laughing.
He could not see the spirit’s expression, but he knew he was not smiling. As the awkward silence stretched, a heavy sigh came, followed by a stiff voice.
“[That is not what I meant. It was for your own self-respect… No, never mind.]”
“……”
“[Why did you not call me? You are clever enough to understand the reason for my silence.]”
He should have called.
The Guardian Spirit had remained silent because Raven did not value himself. Therefore, Raven should have summoned him the moment he was in danger or trouble.
“……But……”
Gray eyes rolled slowly. Whatever he was so conscious of, the unfocused gaze that had been blinking hesitantly was pushed by the silent urging until it finally spilled out his fear.
“What if I was that shameless and you ended up hating me?”
“[……!]”
“You know it. You are the only one I have left.”
Clench. As if struck by a sudden wave of loneliness, the child gripping his clothes tightened her fingers.
The dead could not breathe, yet the Guardian Spirit froze as though the air had been stolen from him.
His wide eyes trembled violently. After a long silence, he raised his sword with difficulty and cut down another approaching monster before placing a hand on Raven’s shoulder.
“[Child.]”
The hand that had risen from shoulder to neck now cupped his cheek. The callused thumb brushed gently beneath his eye.
The sudden touch made the murky gray eyes blink in confusion.
“[I told you before. Even if the sky and earth were reversed, even if the entire world turned against you—]”
Even if it meant destroying the world.
“[I will never hate you.]”
“……”
“[Never.]”