Tarnass Ice Plains: A Sister's Unbreakable Bond
Tarnass Ice Plains. Tarnass Ice Plains.
Right after the Holy King's exile decree sent me to the continent's harshest land, I planned to give at least Leysila a chance at a somewhat normal life. A normal life where she could meet a good man as an ordinary woman, start a new family, and live happily.
But.
"......"
"Leysila, please...."
The girl refused to leave my side to the end. She didn't want a new family in some other form. My little sister... chose to die by my side until the very end.
So I gave up trying to convince her. Perhaps my very existence now was thanks to my one and only family, the only person I could truly trust—my sister.
But at the very last, I asked her seriously one more time.
"Leysila... with this choice today, you might never live a normal life again. You might not even remember it now, but you won't be able to fulfill your childhood dream of marrying a handsome prince... even that might become impossible. And yet... you'll still follow me?"
"......"
Leysila stared at me blankly without any reaction for a moment. Just as I thought she might finally be hesitating after I'd said so much and was about to give her more time to think—
"I... I......"
"Huh...? Ley... sila?"
"I... wa-want... to... be with... b-brother... fo-for...ever......"
Twelve years. After twelve long years of not uttering a single word, Leysila began to find her voice again of her own will. Just to convey her desire to stay by my side until the end.
I pulled my struggling sister into a soft yet firm embrace as she tried to force out more words, and tears streamed down my face.
"Yeah... you don't have to say more. I get it. Let's stay together until the end."
"B-bro... ther... *sob*... *hic*...!!"
The small tremors in her shoulders against my chest. The hands clutching my clothes, refusing to let go. I silently stroked her back and stood there for a long while.
Tears froze instantly in the biting wind, stinging my cheeks, but an inexplicable warmth welled up from deep in my heart.
Even if the whole world turned its back on me, this child would be by my side. That alone gave me a reason to live again.
Twenty-four years old. At the edge of the continent, in the Tarnass Ice Plains where blizzards raged year-round. Even in that frozen hell where I thought nothing could exist, life was blooming.
A small village nestled inside sheer mountain peaks, shielded from the knife-like winds. The people gathered there were a far cry from the continent's ordinary folk.
A former mercenary with one arm severed, an elderly scholar branded a heretic and chased out, a hunter with a massive burn scar covering half his face. They were all scarred humans, discarded and abandoned by the world....
Yes, this was a place of exile, the final sanctuary for those forsaken by society.
The day we first set foot in the village, I stood before the village chief and the villagers and calmly laid out our story. How I called myself a Hero and claimed to have beheaded the Demon King. But how I was betrayed by the Holy Kingdom and my comrades for being a fake who never received the Creation God's blessing. And how I was essentially chased into this barren land as an exile.
After finishing, I braced myself for rejection and squeezed my eyes shut. No matter how forsaken they were, they had all once fanatically worshipped the Creation God. I thought they might attack me on the spot for blasphemy.
"......"
But their reaction was nothing like I'd expected.
The village chief silently added another log to the hearth. The one-armed hunter stepped forward and clapped my shoulder.
"You've been through hell. Those smug Holy Kingdom bastards have been rotten for ages. Warm yourself up first."
No one pelted me with stones for being a fake. No one demanded proof of my exploits. They just quietly offered an empty cabin and soaked rock-hard frozen bread in hot meat stew.
...In the end, I shed tears once more.
"Thank you... thank you so much."
From that day, we quietly blended into the village. We rose at dawn to clear snow, chopped frozen wood for firewood. In the afternoons, we followed the hunters, tracking beasts' footprints across the ice plains without rest.
Like the days as a child plowing fields under the elderly couple's care, we just lived each day in silence. And as we sweated in the skin-splitting cold, inhaling air that tore at our lungs—
The glamorous yet horrific memories that had tormented me viciously seemed to fade bit by bit, swept away by the snowflakes.
Above all, the villagers' casually warm consideration slowly melted my frozen heart.
Leysila, too, found stability among them. The village children didn't mock her stuttering but approached first and held her hand. The women sat her by the hearth, taught her to knit, and gently wrapped her clumsy hands in theirs.
Tarnass Ice Plains, called the world's harshest place. Yet here, we learned a peace we'd never felt in the continent's glittering heart—and spent a full year.
Twenty-five years old. Just as cabin life became routine, the village chief elder dropped by unannounced. He eyed me and my sister cautiously before speaking.
"Uh, Kail. About your sister... how about pairing her with my grandson? He's a big lug, but he's got a good heart. He'd cherish Leysila like nothing else."
"Ah...."
It was a proposal to match her with his marriageable grandson. I stared blankly at the elder for a moment, then smiled. I'd seen the grandson many times—a diligent, honest young man. He seemed like he could make Leysila happy.
Better than burdening her with me forever; a normal family would be best for her. I nodded, about to speak—
"No... I... don't... want......"
Leysila popped up behind me, clutching my sleeve tightly.
"I... want... to... be with... brother... forever......"
She forced the words out like squeezing her throat, face flushed red, tears welling, her stubborn refusal to leave my side clear as day.
"Leysila...."
"I... don't... want... that......"
"...Sigh."
Twenty-two years old. It was time to start gently pushing back on her clinginess, and I knew she needed some distance from me to truly find peace. Excessive dependence was poison, after all.
But even knowing all that, I couldn't do it. Leysila had been with me from start to finish, my one true family.
"...I'm sorry, Village Chief."
In the end, I could only bow apologetically to the elder. He chuckled it off with a joke about his grandson striking out and left. From his faintly regretful air, he'd half-expected the refusal.
'That guy's too damn nice for his own good.'
I gently stroked my sister's head as she gripped my sleeve like a lifeline.
After that, our days flowed on peacefully. On days when the ice thawed a bit, we'd drill holes and fish side by side. On fierce nights when winter winds battered the windows, we'd huddle by the fireplace, blowing on roasted potatoes to share.
As we built that simple, modest routine, my heart—betrayed by all, branded a fake Hero, shattered—began to heal like snow melting on the plains.
Of course, just like when demons suddenly appeared and stole everything from the village. Like when my second parents were torn away in an instant.
The world never intended to leave me—or us—alone.
A week before turning twenty-six. A merchant caravan, visiting every couple of months, arrived. They unloaded food, daily necessities, and bundles of newspapers with the continent's major news.
I paid for the firewood with what I had and casually unfolded a paper. My eyes froze on the top headline.
"...What?"
My fingertips trembled faintly. Holding my breath, I scanned the text hurriedly.
Below it detailed how the Holy Kingdom had abetted demon invasions to solidify its power and status. How demons, sheltered by the Kingdom, hunted humans freely for food and sometimes moved at their command. Their horrific symbiosis laid bare.
And the article's final paragraph.
Thud.
The newspaper slipped powerlessly from my hand onto the snow.