The Flame of Tranquility
The first impression of the man named Jang Sinwoo was that of a “lonely person.”
More precisely, someone who chose loneliness for himself. He was a strange man who made it glaringly obvious that he had built walls around himself.
He had no intention of hiding it, and when necessary he would mercilessly smash through other people’s walls… yet even so, he still maintained his own solid ones.
Their first meeting had been extremely brief, but even in that short span it was clear he was a stubborn, self-centered man who found everything bothersome.
That much was fine. The other first-years weren’t all that different.
They didn’t flaunt it as openly as he did, but everyone gathered here was talented. Their pride pierced the heavens, and they themselves knew it wouldn’t be long before that pride was broken.
Because they had been the same. They had already lived through it. It was something like a custom. Some would feel nostalgia; others would feel the shame of having their dark history forcibly dragged into the light.
As long as no one crossed the line, a certain amount of childish behavior could be overlooked.
But his case was different. The sense that everyone was condemning him was strong. I had to wonder why even third-years like myself—not just the others—were casting such hostile looks his way.
There’s no smoke without fire.
Still, I wanted to confirm with my own eyes rather than rely on rumors, so I gathered information.
I later heard from classmates that the bad rumors about the student “Jang Sinwoo” were so widespread they had even reached the third-years.
Parachute admission. Terrible attitude in class. Hiding his skills. Threatening the faculty. Verbal abuse and violence. Ties to the underworld.
There were plenty of other rumors, but the overall impression was that his background was shady and rotten.
It was almost impressive how inflated the stories about him had become in such a short time after enrollment.
The man himself couldn’t possibly be unaware, yet far from denying them he looked down on and mocked his surroundings as if gazing at something ridiculous.
When I once asked why he left such things alone, he only answered that he wasn’t free enough to get involved in them.
But from what I had seen, the real answer was simply that he left them alone because they were bothersome.
After all, the him I had observed was both extremely generous and extremely strict. He held certain standards for himself and for everyone else.
If you could meet those standards, you could catch his eye. He would look at you with indifferent eyes and shine a light on the bleak road ahead, asking whether you could follow this far.
He not only solved my long-standing worries but even showed me how to go further. Wanting to repay even a fraction of that kindness, I worked so hard I spat blood.
Someone hearing this might call it arrogant. That’s fine. In truth he possessed the power to be as arrogant as he liked.
Everything I had seen of him so far was literally off the charts.
Honestly, I didn’t think it was a level of skill that belonged at the student tier. He was so extraordinary it felt wasteful for him to be bound here.
The first time I witnessed his power, I genuinely thought I might die right then and there.
Even that hadn’t been full strength—he had held something back—yet the chill I felt then had been so bone-deep it still haunted me.
Perhaps the rumors hadn’t been entirely false.
And that wasn’t all.
It had been only a short while, yet in that brief span he had grown even stronger. The last time we met I had already thought him monster-strong, but somehow he had become stronger still.
…Really?
Honestly, I had never felt the world so unfair as I did then.
No matter how hard I tried, I could never reach him. I was certain that the moment I took one step forward, he was already heading somewhere far beyond.
So this is what people mean when they say “the real deal.”
That was when it started. Looking at him made my heart pound wildly. Thinking of him made my chest tighten. Strangely, no jealousy rose. Instead I felt happy simply being able to walk beside him.
I sincerely wanted to stay by his side—and more than that, to become his strength.
Seeing him still keep a distance from me, even if less than from others, left me frustrated and a little sad.
Yet whenever he placed me closer than the rest, a smile naturally curved my lips and happiness filled me.
Mom always told me to find the person my heart was drawn to. And once I found them, never to let go.
Is this what it means for the heart to be drawn? No—this is a sensation that can’t be defined by such simple words. I won’t let it be reduced to that.
This is something more special, more tender, yet somehow sticky and complicated.
Yes… this feeling is—
“Rui.”
Speak of the tiger and he appears, or so they say. Recalling Mom’s advice, I heard her call my name.
Slowly opening my eyes, blue light flickered across my vision. What wavered in time with my gaze was clearly my own mana.
Originally I had prepared this technique to surprise him, but I never dreamed I would end up demonstrating it like this.
I don’t like this.
The main family that tormented mine, and that woman who knew my feelings yet mocked me by coveting his body right in front of me—none of it pleased me. My cheeks puffed out on their own.
I wanted to do it too…
“…I know.”
A slightly curt reply slipped from my mouth. Perhaps influenced by my own emotions, the Flame of Purification I had sealed inside my body also poked out above my skin.
The flame he had created just for me. A gift unique in this world, meant only for me. Seeing it, my sulky mood melted away and a smile naturally settled on my lips.
Oh no—I shouldn’t. I almost fell into my own fantasies again. To hide the real smile, I deliberately put on my usual fabricated one.
Then I exhaled lightly and dragged every heated emotion back down to calm.
The gazes that had been watching this way for some time now grew blatantly stronger, no longer bothering to hide. Those who had only observed had finally decided on a course of action.
Shirogane Rui slowly rose from her seat. The smile vanished. The reflection in Mom’s eyes showed a face so composed it was nearly expressionless.
The only difference from usual was that her pupils—once close to dark gray—now glowed blue. Because she wasn’t merely wrapping the Flame of Tranquility around her body; she was storing it deep inside as well.
Thanks to the faintly luminous eyes that made her look like a beast encountered in the dark, their gazes locked onto her at once.
Killing intent.
A chilling killing intent sharp enough to make the skin prickle on its own.
It seemed she wasn’t the only one who felt it; those around her also showed signs of wariness.
At first they had tried to dissuade and send everyone back, but from some point they had naturally become entangled in this affair.
Perhaps he had called them with even this in mind?
He hid far too much.
When she moved according to his instructions, everything proceeded so smoothly that she sometimes deluded herself into thinking he had orchestrated it all from the start.
She had no desire to force open his inner thoughts, yet wanting to know everything about the person who interested her was only natural.
Slap!
She struck her own cheek to steel herself. Get a grip.
Discovering that even a slightly deeper thought always circled back to him, Shirogane Rui accepted the thick killing intent in those gazes in order to erase her embarrassment.
It was a sensation that made one understand, without words, what it meant for flesh to tremble.
It’s a different feeling from Shinwoo dongsaeng.
If the chill from him was terror like a heart being directly crushed, the killing intent she felt now clung tenaciously, as if licking her entire body.
Both were killing intents, so there was no ranking them, yet mood-wise the latter felt far worse.
Jang Sinwoo’s murderous intent was extremely plain. Because he added no emotion beyond the simple will to kill, it became all the heavier and more terrifying.
In contrast, that murderous intent was complex to a disgusting degree. Besides the desire to kill, all sorts of other emotions were layered in. Dirty lust that could not be hidden and twisted desires of the worst kind sat there without the slightest concealment.
Mom’s killing intent toward them was different again. Sharp, yes, but it felt like a wounded beast’s final struggle.
Like a hedgehog forced to raise every spine to protect something. Once she understood that what Mom wanted to protect was family, a warm feeling rose unbidden.
Even the same killing intent could differ this much.
Shirogane Rui quietly raised her mana. The things watching from beyond the darkness were gradually revealing themselves.
Flames of overwhelming heat, on a completely different level from before, boiled and bubbled inside her. Yet far from growing hot, her body remained utterly cold.
The stronger the fire grew, the deeper the blue within became. Action and reaction repeated; frost formed around her and at the same time melted into steam in a strange phenomenon.
“Rui, that power is…”
“…Change of plans. The target’s combat power exceeds expectations.”
Shocked reactions spilled out. She paid them no mind. This praise rightfully belonged to him, not her.
If she had been a broken instrument, he was the mechanic who had tuned that instrument exactly to his liking.
A strange junior who, even while she called him dongsaeng, somehow felt like a senior. From some point she had found herself unconsciously capturing his figure in her gaze.
She wanted to believe everything he said without question. It created a strange sensation of wanting to leave every decision to him without realizing it.
The more she thought of him, the stronger that feeling became.
Even she could tell her current self was strange. Yet she could not stop it.
She wondered if she had always been this dependent on others, but seeing Mom still standing at her side to protect Dad made it not entirely incomprehensible.
Shinwoo dongsaeng…
For some reason she felt so envious of Mom moving to protect Dad. She wanted to see him right now just as badly. She wanted to show him her current power and hear him praise her for doing well.
If the very person who was successively rewriting the future she should have borne, the work she should have carried, wouldn’t he easily blow away this anxiety she felt now?
Do only as much as you can.
Suddenly it seemed she heard his voice. Why did a word she had once heard come to mind now? She didn’t know. But what was certain was that the anxiety of a moment ago had cleanly vanished.
Truthfully she had wanted to follow wherever he went. Even that fiancée woman followed him; there was no reason she couldn’t.
But he had firmly refused.
At first it had been terribly disappointing and sad, yet she never showed it outwardly. She thought her emotions would only burden him.
She blamed her own dishonesty and envied the woman faintly smiling in his arms. She fantasized again and again how wonderful it would be if she could become like that someday.
Then his low voice cut through those thoughts and startled her.
The Yashiro will force an attack.
Without asking or questioning, she found herself accepting words spoken with certainty rather than speculation. Only then did she understand why he had told her this.
He had left her here because he trusted her!
Then she would live up to that trust.
Even though he was not here now, she would use the power he had created for her and burn every last despicable thing that coveted what was his to ash.
Clap, clap-clap.
“Amazing. Truly amazing.”
From beyond the darkness came a frivolous voice utterly unsuited to the tense situation.
The man who emerged from the center of that darkness looked every bit as frivolous as he sounded. A flashy suit one might see in a host club and perfume so thick it could be smelled from afar made her stomach churn.
Yet his presence was strangely absent, which only made him more unpleasant. Mom’s brow furrowed deeply the moment she confirmed his face.
“Hisame-oppa…”
“Hmm? Are you Hanabi? Your impression has changed so much I almost didn’t recognize you. I have a great many things I want to say to you.”
“The deadline should still remain. There ought to be a message from Tsugumi-oppa.”
“True. But we’re not the sort to keep such verbal promises, are we?”
With those words alone he cut Mom off. The frivolous man opened eyes so narrow it had been doubtful he was even opening them, and fixed the ominous purple pupils within upon her.
The chilling sensation of being slowly licked and appraised from head to toe told her at once who had owned those sticky gazes from beyond the darkness.
Moreover, sensing the demonic energy wavering inside him, she knew the man before her no longer walked the path of a human.
“That power will surely be needed to make the Yashiro even greater. I won’t kill you.”
“Shut up, heretic.”
Nausea rose at the mindset that regarded people as tools without the slightest hesitation.
Her power, her very self—everything was for him. A dog of a clan with nothing left but decline dared to covet what belonged to him. Absolutely unforgivable.
“Hmm. At least that fiery personality seems to have been inherited intact. As thanks for teaching you reality, I’ll take that sharp tongue. Consider it a lesson.”
What irritated her most was how utterly confident he was. What on earth was he relying on to speak with such certainty?
“Then let us correct the distortion from long ago.”
Squelch.
It did not take long to understand the reason. From beyond the darkness, it crawled out.
A massive lump of flesh that appeared as though it had always been there, supported by skinny arms and legs that writhed as they held it up, made everyone hold their breath.
“Huff… huff…”
Inside the enormous mouth sat crooked teeth. From the place too hideously twisted even to close properly, sticky liquid dripped. The earlier squelching sound had been the noise of flesh rubbing against flesh.
Mouths gaped and breathed all over its body as well—thoroughly grotesque.
“This is one of the masterpieces that will set the faded Yashiro back on the path of revival. Its name is Ookuchi.”
Clearly inhuman. Yet because its presence felt so natural, it was all too human-like. The cognitive dissonance amplified the fear.
“Ah, aaa… hun… gry…”
“No need to fuss. I’ll let you eat soon. First… yes, how about devouring those scattered over there?”
“Uuu, aaa…”
At Yashiro Hisame’s words the monster began to move. Having no intention of simply watching, she immediately wrapped flames around her fist—yet at that very moment a sharp blade arrived before her eyes.
“Shirogane-senpai!!”
“Rui?!”
A sudden strike, an attack that aimed for a gap, yet the blade never pierced her eyeball.
Clang!!
“For people who boldly walked into someone else’s home with muddy feet to act so brazen—just as Master said, you truly have no manners.”
Because the hand of a girl who had suddenly appeared seized that blade.
“Hup!”
Swoosh!!!
Belatedly Mom and Shinwoo dongsaeng’s friend rushed in to attack the black-masked figure, but the man discarded his dagger and leisurely vanished into the darkness.
Tsk.
At the same time a tongue-clicking sound came from beyond.
The owner was none other than Yashiro Hisame. His scheme had failed. That was why he clicked his tongue.
In other words, even her actions until that moment had all been within that man’s calculations.
A slight chill ran through her at the realization. Because the enemy was formidable? No—because of admiration for Jang Sinwoo, who could prepare even for this despite not being present.
“Did you enjoy the empty-house burglary?”
“Foolish question. From my position you are the bugs meddling in the family business. A mere servant crossing the line. I shall forgive you with your life, so hurry and offer your neck.”
“Ahaha! Even your jokes aren’t funny. If you’re going to play at being a king, you should at least try to look a little more dignified. Though the real problem is whether a lowlife like you could ever pull off a solemn king in the first place.”
The girl was clearly smiling. Yet the mana aura surrounding her made it plain she was furious.
“Really, trash like you is why Master gets so tired. Won’t you realize that quickly and incinerate yourselves?”
The venom that would have broken a weaker person seemed to prick his temper; the arrogant expression that had worn a constant unpleasant sneer twitched.
“Who is your master? I’ll specially dissect that fellow slowly while he’s still sane.”
“Do you even have that power? Even now you’re hiding elsewhere like a rat and peeping this way.”
“…!”
At the following exposure, Yashiro Hisame’s carefully maintained calm crumbled for the first time. He widened both eyes and shouted.
“Th-that bitch is the most dangerous! Kill that bitch first! Hurry!!!”
““Ha!””
At the same moment, sword-wielding figures charged from every direction.
No matter which side one blocked, another place would be wounded. The gleaming tips of those blades were not merely from keen edges. Even the slightest attack must not be allowed.
She roughly raised flames and shook off most of them, yet among them were those who charged straight through the heat of the fierce fire.
Undeterred by the pain of flesh cooking and blood boiling away into steam, they thrust their swords.
“Jang-mi!”
“Yeah!”
Ban Taewung deflected an assassin’s blade, and Cheon Jang-mi, seizing that opening, leisurely swung her dagger.
Whoosh…
The motion was slow enough to follow with the naked eye, yet the enemies did not dodge. No—more precisely, they dodged and were still cut.
Slow yet fast. Dodged yet unavoidable. At that bizarre phenomenon the assassins, who had remained calm even while being cooked by fire, showed surprise.
She thought they had blocked them perfectly. When a comrade falls in an instant, one tends to hesitate. What Ban Taewung had not expected was that they too were first-class killers.
Even the gap shown in that instant had been acting. They swung long blades intending to cut down the collapsing comrade as well.
Reacting late, Ban Taewung panicked and threw himself to protect Cheon Jang-mi; the sword severed the comrade’s neck. By a hair’s breadth. Just before the blade could touch Ban Taewung’s body, its trajectory bent.
“Immature.”
Creating a gap by cutting a comrade. The attempt itself was good—it had actually worked. But because of it the sword slowed. A fatal surprise attack meant nothing if the swing itself was sluggish.
And Shirogane Hanabi was not so rusted that she would miss such a lukewarm blade. She had dulled a little, yet she remained strong and sharp.
Thwack! Crunch!!
At the sight of her dislocating every joint of the enemy with bare hand-strikes alone, without even drawing a sword, Yashiro Hisame ground his teeth.
“You bitch… intending to repeat the mistake of that day again!!!”
“Ha, mistake? Who exactly is committing the mistake right now!! If I had known the Yashiro would sink to such heresy, I would never have chosen to spare any of you back then.”
Speaking venomously, Shirogane Hanabi pulled the hairpin from her head, drew the blade hidden inside, and completely tore the lower half of the neat kimono she wore.
“Yes, I admit it. I certainly committed a mistake. Meeting him and learning emotion made me far too soft. That is why this damage was created.”
After tidying the roughened clothes into neat folds, her atmosphere changed. The killing intent that had been no different from a hedgehog’s spines condensed into a single point and became the sharpest dagger of all.
“That ends now. For the sake of the souls of those who were sacrificed because of you, I will definitely correct the mistake of that day.”
“…Ha, is that guy’s life not precious to you?! With just a flick of my finger I can kill the brat you love so much!!!”
The initial leisure vanished from Yashiro Hisame.
Having his position pinpointed, and further seeing Shirogane Hanabi’s entire demeanor transform, cold sweat began to pour from him.
For him the scenery of that day must have been a nightmare itself. That was why he had spent long years adding effort upon effort.
Joining hands with the underworld, using puppet arts further strengthened by their aid to gradually erode the family.
For a more perfect result he had even commissioned the Black Magic Tower to create his doll. In exchange he had been forced to hand over some of the previous Yashiro family head’s remains and several hidden secret techniques, yet the finished product had been perfect.
His current self was strong. It was no exaggeration to say he now possessed power enough to kill the Hanabi of those days.
“Try it.”
“…What?”
Yet what was that confidence now? At the sense of déjà vu, at that overbearing presence, Yashiro Hisame could not hide his anxiety even though he stood in an overwhelming position.
“…Ha! You spouted about loving that man or whatever, but in the end you’re still a Yashiro!?”
“Are you changing the subject?”
Calmly, filled with killing intent, Shirogane Hanabi glared.
“Try it.”
If the likes of you can, that is.
Grind…
The sound of teeth grinding seeped into the dark night. He knew it too. The moment the leash named Shirogane Ichiro disappeared, even the last means of restraining that witch would vanish.
Stay calm here. Yes—there was not a single reason for his current self to feel inferior.
Repeating that to himself, Yashiro Hisame smoothed the hair mussed by cold sweat and shouted.
“Ookuchi!! Devour those people right now!!!”
“Gu, uwaaaaaa!!!!”
Crunch, crack!!!
In an instant the lump of flesh expanded. The mouth enlarged until the monster’s entire body was covered in mouths, and it began to move. The sight was like a giant wave—a wave that would swallow everything it touched.
“Keek, kuhikikik… You bitch, you brought this on yourself!!!”
He still hated those eyes that kept staring at him. That damn woman born later than him yet competent at everything. Always compared. The label of “you” had been far too heavy and hateful.
Hating the one who had possessed everything yet discarded it all so cleanly after snatching away everything he had wanted. Hateful. He would kill her. He would make her thoroughly writhe in agony.
Simply returning the pain he had tasted would never be enough.
He had gone to the bothersome trouble of stealing Shirogane Ichiro’s soul for this. He would make her clearly see the man she had loved so much fall into a monster—and further, her own appearance dying after being violated by that monster.
Today he would tear off the brand of that day!!!!
“Kihik, kihihik!!”
Taking advantage of the commotion he quickly retreated into the darkness. Though Shirogane Hanabi was still looking at him, that was a prepared puppet. The real one had already infiltrated the building’s interior.
If I can just reach the inside like this…
The moment he could kill Shirogane Ichiro’s body—then
“You must be thinking that you’ll win.”
Halt.
Yashiro Hisame’s pupils contracted as he carefully advanced. He could not breathe. His body trembled on its own. A creaking sound rang from his joints like a poorly oiled machine forced into motion.
A sound that should not exist here had been heard. Though he did not want to look, he had to look behind him. And he looked.
Clothes of dual structure in white and black. An artificial smile that grinned unsuited to the atmosphere. Secret two-tone hair of sky blue and pink that blended perfectly.
“W-why…”
Why was someone who could not be here standing here? Hadn’t she been over there until a moment ago? Questions piled up. He borrowed the puppet’s vision again, yet that woman was still fighting Ookuchi. Then what on earth was the woman before his eyes?
Twins? No. Even identical twins could not be this identical. Hallucination? No—the pressure standing before him now could never be dismissed as mere illusion!
Then what the hell was it!!!
“Even if you ask why, there is only one answer I can give you.”
At the girl’s calmly spoken words, Yashiro Hisame felt true fear. This sensation, this chill—he had felt it from the one who had surpassed the Yashiro secret techniques as well.
The man who had created his monster. Exactly the same as the master of the Black Magic Tower who had cooperated in turning Shirogane Ichiro into a monster.
A gaze that did not regard him as a person. Neither tool nor anything else—simply looking with complete indifference. That was what Yashiro Hisame feared most of all.
“As a maid should, I came to perform a maid’s duties.”
Cleaning up trash, that is.
Thrust!!!
Simultaneously with those words, the slender girl’s hand pierced straight through the man’s abdomen.
