There are many kinds of people in this world.
They live with various jobs. Some live ordinary lives, while others live unique ones.
Some say one should live a life befitting their station. If born a beggar, one should live as a beggar with nothing; if born high, one should live high.
Fate.
It is fate that made me this way. Too many people in these backalleys lived with such thoughts.
They make no effort to escape. Too many try to live day by day as given, with what they have.
One day, out of curiosity, the boy asked an old man sitting on the ground drinking cheap alcohol if he had any intention of moving to a better place if the opportunity arose.
But the old man's answer was different. He said even if he went to a better place, because he was a Sarkaz and Infected, he would inevitably fall back here.
Adults passing curses onto children, continuing life.
Finishing the conversation with the old man, the boy stood up.
A sad story, accept fate. That was all the old man said.
Yet the boy looked at the sky.
He was not a god. Nor a hero. He was merely a human without the power to change the world.
For now.
Yes, for now.
Crossing the line of death, cutting down a knight who abandoned even his name and a vampire who devoured countless humans, the boy swore.
It can be small. He wasn't hoping for a grand dream.
Just a little, just a very little.
That humans would not fear challenges.
That his deeds could light a fire in human hearts.
The boy and his friends earnestly wished for it, and on that day, he could obtain a Star.
And the Star the boy gained that day embedded itself in the sky of this backalley, beginning to shine in the empty night sky.
Yujin approached Ling after talking to Aorn.
"Sorry, did I talk too long with the Old Man?"
"No, it doesn't really matter."
She had become close with Yujin, but Ling’s goal remained singular. To escape this past and return to Dahuang.
Although the timeline was messy, she couldn't rule out the possibility that other siblings were already here. Like Shu, who fell a year earlier and was with the children.
If a lot of time had already passed outside... nothing could be worse.
"This is practically our territory. Well, partly because others don't touch us out of fear of the Old Man. But others also know I come and go here often."
"…Others buy weapons here too?"
"Yeah, if the Old Man only sold swords to me, he'd starve to death."
Yujin chuckled. He didn't seem to care who the blacksmith called Aorn sold swords to. Whether he knew the sword sold by that blacksmith could return as a blade against him.
Clang, CLANG! Clang!
Ling watched the blacksmith hammering. Not as good as Nian, but skillful enough to be called a master. Why did such a person set up a forge here?
"Ah, right."
"Did you forget something, Old Man?"
"Yuria's gang came by recently."
Hearing the name Yuria, Yujin’s face hardened instantly.
Not a good story. Ling had heard she was a crazy vampire. A vicious lunatic who enjoyed sucking children's blood.
"Did they come as customers?"
"If they did, I wouldn't have told you. They barged in demanding money and asking for equipment support."
"…Haa."
Yujin sighed deeply.
"What kind of nerve do those bastards have? They know I hate them more than Nameless."
"I debated hitting them with the hammer but just sent them away. They took a few swords in the process."
This was strictly Yujin’s territory.
Yujin didn't claim ownership of any place except this forge. No, even this forge. The rightful owner was Aorn, and Aorn and Yujin were just close.
The old man who threw him a sword out of kindness.
Yujin never forgot that grace.
"When are they coming again? Tell me, and I'll handle them."
"Today."
"…?"
"They asked when to pick up the tribute, so I told them today, matching the day you come. How about it?"
Hearing 'today,' Yujin looked back and forth between Aorn and the door.
"Sigh, I figured."
Fighting didn't matter. Yujin owed Aorn for supplying swords. That alone was reason enough to deal with those persecuting the old man.
"Ling, go ahead. I have some business here. Tell the Teres siblings and Shu."
He would fight. Yujin would surely draw his sword and scatter blood against that gang.
"I'm not going."
"…What?"
Ling looked at Yujin with a faint smile.
A child with the seeds of a hero. A boy who would become a knight wandering the world in the future.
"Stop talking nonsense and go. Shu will worry if you get hurt."
"Unfortunately, I have the ability to protect myself."
Blue energy gathered as the girl opened her hand. Light Arts, but the weight the name carried was different. Yujin looked at Ling’s hand with a gasp.
"You could use Arts!?"
"Yeah, so I won't be unhelpful."
She was an adult. So she had an obligation to protect the boy who was still a child.
Even if this was the past, or mere fragments of memory.
"…Hmm, Old Man. If Ling is in danger, please protect her."
"Asking an old man to swing a sword?"
"Look at your arms. You could crush heads with those."
"Elder abuse!"
"We're child abuse."
Unfortunately, there was no Human Rights Protection Committee in the world of Terra. If there were, Yujin wouldn't have to do this.
Yujin drew a longsword shining in a corner of the forge. A length unfitting for Yujin’s body. A longsword fit for an adult.
"Will that work? It's a bit long."
"Doesn't matter. The essence of a sword is the same anyway."
It wasn't long after he drew the sword. While Yujin deliberately hid in a corner of the forge. The sound of the door banging open was heard.
BANG!
"Hey, blacksmith!"
Seven sturdy men. They entered the forge with frivolous expressions. Three entered the forge glaring at Aorn, while the remaining four waited outside yawning.
"You have what we talked about last time ready, right? If not, know that we'll take the swords here and smash the shop."
A man with a thick club embedded with nails and a vicious knife swung the club threateningly. As if he would swing it at Aorn's head if money wasn't given quickly.
Yujin lowered his eyes watching them. Platinum light gathered on his hand.
Ignoring Aorn who still ignored them, the men's eyes scanned the forge. Then their gaze landed on Ling sitting on a wooden chair against the wall.
"No way, our Old Man! You prepared a child for us? You really betrayed Yujin when we asked you to stab him in the back?"
"…Sigh."
"Wow, we can have some fun and then hand her over to Sis. Perfect. Then, money later, kid first..."
Aorn sighed deeply. As if tired of watching these morons. Just as Yujin was about to rush out shining his sword sharply. Before he could jump out, a chilling sound was heard.
Crunch!
"Too pathetic to listen to."
Ling said, extending a slender finger and shooting something at the man. Sharp, polished awl-like thing. Created by Ling’s Arts, rotating like a bullet, it pierced the man's shoulder.
"Ugh, gaaah!!"
"Vulgar thing."
Ling looked at the man with contempt, and the man standing at the front fell screaming. A small hole, but pierced cleanly, pouring blood. Probably blew the bone away cleanly.
Reflexively, the man behind swung his club and rushed at Ling. But not tolerating that, Yujin, who was hiding, rushed out and cut off the hand holding the club.
A fountain of blood spurts. Two men panicked. Moving while screaming.
"Yujin! The forge gets dirty, fight outside!"
"Heard that? The shop owner says fight outside."
Yujin kicked the man rushing with a knife, sending him flying. The flying man broke the door and rolled on the ground.
"Oops, failed to control strength."
"…Repair cost for the door?"
"Ehe~"
"Ehe my ass!"
Shrugging roughly, Yujin went outside. Unlike the three who entered first, there was a man who looked like a leader outside.
A guy with a blood-like tattoo on his forehead.
Seeing Yujin walk out confidently, the man who looked like the leader clicked his tongue. Already beneath his feet was the man who took Yujin’s kick squarely and rolled on the ground.
"An executive? Never seen that face before."
"…Are you Yujin?"
Those Yujin dealt with so far were just thugs. Losers who couldn't even use Arts.
But this time it's different.
Seeing the blood-red tattoo, he instinctively felt that man would use Arts.
"Yes! I am Yujin! The Yujin who really hates you guys."
Seeing the boy shouting playfully, the man clicked his tongue.
"My name is Horkal, one of Lady Yuria's three subordinates. I want to make you an offer."
"What?"
"Hand over children regularly. Then Lady Yuria will accept you."
Yujin pretended to dig his ear as if hearing nonsense, then looked at Horkal. Hand over children? Me? Why?
Horkal looked at Yujin as if displeased with his attitude, but took a deep breath and spoke again.
"It's a good opportunity for you too. How long will you clean up after brats with that talent?"
"Wait, one question before that."
"What?"
"What happens to the children taken?"
Horkal was speechless for a moment as if choked. However, Horkal opened his mouth again.
"They become Lady Yuria's strength. Rather than dying as insignificant orphans, they die as sacrifices for the strong."
"…Fuck, seriously."
Hearing Yujin’s curse, Horkal took out a short staff as if emitting a sharp aura. Assuming a combat stance, he aimed the staff at Yujin.
"So the rumors about using kids as blood bags were true. I hoped it was a lie since I never saw it with my own eyes."
"They have nothing to do with you anyway."
"Fuck off, crazy bastard. Seriously, I'm the only sane person in this backalley."
Yujin rushes in. The man tries to swing his staff accordingly. Head-on confrontation. Just as the staff emitted red light and was about to shoot something.
"Impudent, using such crude Arts in front of whom?"
Blue light flashed. Before Yujin could swing his sword, Horkal's wrist holding the staff disappeared at some point.
"…Ling!?"
"Ah, Yujin."
One thing the boy didn't know.
Ling was a Caster who could be called the pinnacle in Yan.
Even if she became younger and created Arts from scratch.
Beating such a half-baked Caster was natural.
Because she could create a result of 10 with the power of 1 by using small power efficiently.
Watching Horkal rolling around in pain from his blown-off wrist, Ling looked at Yujin. And unconsciously spoke as if wanting praise from Yujin.
"I did well, right?"
"…Uh, yeah. Good job."
Yujin, however, looked at the smiling Ling with a bewildered expression.
2. Yan, The Village Where You Are (18)
One of the three executives of the organization led by Yuria, Horkal.
If he hadn't been in these backalleys, he would have ended his life as a nobody, but here, it was different.
Even being able to use Arts garnered respect. Even if it was just a simple Art that could shoot something to penetrate.
Horkal felt superior with just that.
I am strong here. Backed by a vampire. He had lived with such petty pride.
"Guh, aaah-! Haa!"
Horkal rolled on the ground, screaming in pain. It was agonizing. Red blood poured before his eyes, unstoppable, and only a searing heat like fire was felt around his wrist.
Looking again, his hand was rolling on the ground.
And Yujin and the girl like a blue river were looking down at him pathetically.
He definitely tried to shoot Arts. But the moment the power gathered to be fired. Something sliced through his wrist at a speed he couldn't see or feel.
As he was about to scream again, something sharp was shoved into his mouth, gagging him.
"Ugh...!"
"Quiet, and spill it. Why cause trouble at Old Man Aorn's forge all of a sudden?"
Yujin shoved the blade into his mouth. He wanted to scream, but no voice came out. Already consumed by fear, Horkal looked at Yujin with wildly shaking eyes.
When Yujin pulled the sword out to listen, Horkal, feeling the strong taste of blood in his mouth, hurriedly opened his mouth.
"L-lately, Lady Yuria has been very irritable because we couldn't get children easily. So we tried to take over that forge and threaten the blacksmith to catch you!"
Horkal, with strong survival instincts, recited the reason faster than anyone. It was a well-known fact that Yujin didn't kill people but took one of their limbs as punishment. Horkal had to tell everything he knew to live.
"…Is it because of me that getting children became hard?"
"Y-yes. Since you protect the children and swing your sword, the blood Lady Yuria needs to receive decreases..."
"Fuck, that crazy bitch won't drink anything but children's blood? Seriously, what a lunatic."
It seemed Horkal tried to use the forge as bait to lure Yujin out and catch him.
Unfortunately, with his crude Arts skills, it would have ended quickly even without Ling’s intervention.
"P-please spare me. I'll tell you everything I know."
"…Wait, I'm more curious about something than Yujin."
Ling, who had been watching quietly from behind, stepped forward. Glaring coldly at Horkal once, she gathered blue light in her hand and met Horkal’s eyes.
"What level of skill does the woman named Yuria possess?"
Yuria, Vampire. And sucks children's blood.
That was all the information Ling had. Not knowing what level of Caster Yuria had reached, she had to ask Horkal, who was called an executive.
"…I don't know the details either."
"Aha, you don't know?"
When Ling smiled eerily and gathered blue light to show him, Horkal trembled like a leaf. Instinctively knowing. That Art Ling possessed was what cut off his wrist.
"Someone like me can never imitate her Arts...! I only saw her fight once. I only know the method of fighting with the opponent's blood or her own blood! Isn't fighting with blood basic for vampires...!"
Truly basic information. Utilizing blood Arts was what all vampires did, as Horkal said.
"Enough, Ling. Just let him go. With his wrist cut off, he won't be able to work properly anyway."
Ling looked displeased, but since Yujin said so, it couldn't be helped.
"Don't let me see you again. Next time, I'll cut off your legs too so you can't even function as a human."
"…I'll keep that in mind."
Perhaps fear suppressed the pain, Horkal pressed his spurting wrist with his clothes and endured. Knowing Yujin’s mercy was quite generous in these backalleys, he hurried away without looking back.
Returning to the forge after resolving the matter, Aorn puffed on his cigarette and looked at Yujin. As if there was another bad fact.
"Tsk, Yujin. Are you hurt?"
"No. I'm fine."
"I don't know where you picked up that girl, but if you or she hadn't been born here, you would have enjoyed a pretty decent life."
"I'm already here, so it can't be helped."
After a trivial conversation, Aorn turned his gaze to Ling. Age seeming similar to Yujin, not a child's eyes but listless eyes as if uninterested in everything in the world. The girl's eyes held a certain arrogance.
"Hey, kid. Did you say your name was Ling?"
"Yes."
"Take good care of this guy. He's a guy who throws his body first whenever he gets angry, so you'll have to make rational judgments instead."
"Don't worry. I was planning to do that anyway."
Perhaps he worked even while Yujin was fighting outside, Yujin’s sword was already finished. Yujin took the sword Aorn handed him and bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Old Man."
"No need for thanks... forget it. Take care of yourself. Nameless's side is also unusual lately. Seems like they're preparing something."
With those words, Aorn turned his head sharply, and Yujin and Ling watched him before leaving the forge.
Perhaps the sun had already set, night began to fall quickly. Sunset lingered over the always-cloudy sky, and Originium lights on the streets began to turn on one by one.
"…Yujin, I have a question."
Walking quietly, Ling opened her mouth.
"Hmm? What."
"Do you have a dream?"
"Dream?"
"Yeah."
A boy's dream, Ling suddenly became curious about it.
Since she received help at the first meeting. Even if it was a past that would disappear with only Ling remembering, Ling wanted to hear the boy's dream.
"Dream... I have only one."
"You do have one. What is it?"
"Knight."
Knight, hearing that name, Ling tilted her head. To Ling, a knight sounded like someone who just fought a little better than others.
In this era, the value the name knight carried was only that much.
Seeing Ling looking as if asking if the name knight was worth that much, Yujin smiled faintly. The reaction was the same as when he told Theresa and Theresis. Because the knight they thought of and the knight Yujin thought of were different.
"Ling, what do you think a knight is?"
"Hmm, someone who fights better than others?"
The value a knight of this era had was just that.
But the knight Yujin thought of was.
"Following what I think is just."
"For the poor and sick weak."
"Sometimes for someone's honor."
"And, wielding a sword for the people I love."
"That is the knight I dream of."
Chivalry, perhaps an old-fashioned rule no one needed to follow anymore.
The boy took it as a milestone. Even if where he was and where he stood now saw him as foolish, to Yujin, a knight was someone who protected his honor and pride.
It's okay if people don't call Yujin a knight when he grows up. Recalling the things he did thinking for himself, if Yujin can answer yes without hesitation to the question, Was I knightly?
Yujin was a knight.
"…Is that why you protect the children, out of responsibility?"
Listening to Yujin blankly, Ling asked about the reason Yujin protected the children.
Yujin doesn't interfere with the children he protects. Just protects them. Provided a shelter, an abandoned building, where they could rest at least for the night. Other than that, he helped them survive on their own.
"Uh, the kids are still young. They won't be used to living alone. I can't be with them forever... but I want to do what I can."
Was the problem that Yujin, not a child, looked young to Ling?
But perhaps because she became younger, her thinking became younger too. Even after hearing Yujin’s childish dream, Ling thought Yujin’s dream was quite cool.
Looking back to see if she ever had such a dream, she hadn't. Just living as it flows. Thinking that if death comes someday, she is alive now and death will come later.
After defining herself, how she had lived.
Thoughts multiply. Even when her brother Jie died, she didn't grieve. Just thinking that the day had come, her emotions didn't fluctuate.
Perhaps because she had lived too long.
Ling opened her mouth unlike herself. Telling the story of living too long like a lost child. Speaking as if explaining someone else, for some reason laying out the story as if wanting comfort from that child.
Lived a long life without purpose. Although she liked writing poetry, it didn't become a reason for Ling to live.
Then, what should Ling live for?
Listening silently to Ling’s story, Yujin started walking down another path as if changing his destination. A desolate backalley. The highest place among them. A place where the sky was visible best through the dark clouds.
Arriving at a place where a large tree stood lonely. The towering tree just stood alone.
"Then, what should she live for?"
Finishing the trivial story, Ling looked at Yujin anxiously. Worried that Yujin might deny her life. That he might laugh at what kind of human lives such a boring life.
"Ling."
"Huh?"
"There is no reason to live life. I just live because I exist here, and because I existed, I have the right to survive."
The boy smiled.
"Finding a reason to live in the world is good. That alone is fine. But just as there are people who live hanging on to one reason, there are people who live for various reasons."
One day, Yujin fell here as a child for no reason.
Anxious. Hated. At some point, the boy who was an adult came to fear the world.
Insignificant small hands. Frail body.
Even if persecuted and abused, Yujin lived gritting his teeth.
He didn't give up.
"Why do you think I saved you?"
"Just, because you saved other kids too. To achieve your dream."
"Well, yeah. I thought you would be helpful to me. That's why I saved you."
"…I see."
Something stings in her chest.
"Then, well—"
"And I was curious about your story. Hair color rare around here. Where on earth did she come from?"
"…?"
"And why are those guys hitting kids without listening to me. Am I funny? The kid getting hit isn't a Sarkaz but another race. Why are they here?"
"Yujin, what are you say..."
"Ling."
Blue eyes and platinum eyes meet. Next to Yujin, sitting with his back to the tree, was Ling.
"Looking back, you lived for trivial reasons. It might feel like that. But if you think again, it will be different. Things that happened because of your actions. Or things you had to do because of others' actions. Things don't happen for just one reason."
"..."
"It's human to decide a reason to live with the warm sunlight and a single drop of falling rain. And it's human to die because of cold wind and loneliness."
Humans cannot live alone.
"Even when helping someone, people don't help for just one reason but for various reasons. Benefit to oneself, curiosity, simple show of strength, such reasons can be why one doesn't let a person die and saves them again."
Ling recalls the past. One day, she blocked a sandstorm with Arts to protect soldiers because she had to stop a catastrophe. Ling that day felt a little proud.
Writing poetry brings joy. Ling lived enjoying reciting created poems and drinking alcohol.
Sometimes talking with siblings, listening to others' stories.
"Ling, so there is no trivial life in the world. The person you mentioned must have worried a lot living a long time. Isn't that proof they want to live?"
Only then did she realize.
Herself.
What face was she making on the day Jie died?
She couldn't remember. Like black ink smeared over, Ling’s face was hidden in memory.
What came to mind were three siblings. Shu was grieving. Crying, suffering from her brother's death.
Xi was afraid. Because of the worry that she would disappear someday. Seeing Jie forgotten by everyone in the world, thinking she would disappear like that too.
Nian was angry. There was sadness, but Nian struggled to survive somehow.
Ling feared death. Like her siblings feared, she was scared. Being forgotten by the world and humans like her brother, no one being able to recall her, was so scary.
But as the eldest sister, she showed no expression. Didn't grieve. Didn't fear. Didn't get angry. Thinking she could hide her emotions, she drank alcohol and looked at the mountain range spreading like a dream.
It was all a lie. When Yujin saved Ling in that backalley, Ling felt relief. Ling back then was feeling fear. The fear of dying like this.
...Why.
"Wait."
"Ling?"
"Wait, don't say anything and lend me your shoulder."
Did her mental age also become younger because she became physically younger? Ling buried her face in Yujin’s shoulder without saying anything more.
Even hearing sniffling sounds, Yujin looked up at the sky as if he heard nothing.
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