episode_0004

The screams of the monsters filling the room.

The distorted figure of the head nun, so twisted that it was confusing whether she had once been human.

In the midst of it all, a sword was embedded.

A white sword, glowing with fiery heat, pointed towards me.

“The gods have answered our prayers! Sir, that must be the hero’s sword!”

“That can’t be true.”

The Holy Knight Northchild claimed to have received a shining sword from the heavens.

If that were true, then what lay before me now was undoubtedly it.

Had my prayers truly been answered?

“It’s hot, so hot!!!”

With a body writhing alongside the severed arm, disregarding what used to be clothes, it began smashing against the wall.

Amidst the chaos and screams that ensued, the nuns rushed in –

“Eek, what is that?!”

“Could it be a failure…?”

Peering through the hole, the head nun, little by little, began to step back.

Whether she couldn’t see the shining sword or was engulfed in fear by the horrifying mass of flesh.

“…Gah?!”

With her face buried in flesh, the monster, now unable to speak, yanked out an arm entangled with black tentacles.

And in an instant, she grabbed one of the nuns and dragged her into her embrace.

– Thud, thud…

Accompanied by chilling sounds and droplets of blood, and with that –

“Aaargh!!!”

Screams erupted.

The nuns in black robes vanished in a flash, and the sound of a lock opening from behind began to echo… but.

“Lena, duck!”

Immediately, the protruding second and third tentacles pierced through the wall, sucking in the nuns.

As if insatiable.

Matching her massive frame, it seemed to finally reveal its voracious appetite before us.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

Ears tightly shut, Lena clung to me.

The head nun, writhing and spitting blood, was now devouring the nuns, but it was evident that soon it would extend its tentacles towards us as well.

“Sir, Lena, stay behind me.”

If Lena was right.

If that was indeed the sword wielded by Northchild.

If all the stories about prayers were true.

“Grrr…”

With this weapon, capable of vanquishing monsters, perhaps we could save Lena and our ‘friends’.

Like heroes and champions in a tale.

***

The golden-haired girl remembered.

Her father and mother, dying from illness.

Though their prayers may not have reached the gods, they always promised to be together.

Recalling their final words, Lena, lost in thought, was approached by a nun.

A whisper to care for children who had lost their parents.

Perhaps she thought it might be a divine intervention.

From there, the suffering began.

Tasks never assigned by her parents.

Horrendous foods never tasted before.

Reflecting on whether not listening to her parents led to this, the girl wept.

Even that was unbearable to hear for the nuns, or rather, the monsters who lashed out.

The nuns who once helped Lena’s pastor father were always kind,

Her mother, who married that man, tended the garden and sometimes brought delicious fruits.

But every nun here only tormented the girl with whips and hands.

Slowly, faith was fading away.

Tears were drying up.

Living was becoming too difficult for the young girl.

Then came a book filled with tales of heroes.

Reminding her of the heroine her mother used to tell her about before bed, Saint Joan.

She carefully held the discarded book and returned, but for the girl who hadn’t fully mastered reading yet, the book was a challenge.

She managed to read the title, but understanding the text-filled book was too much for the young girl.

Thus, Lena searched for her savior, her “hero.”

“Ryan, come forth.”

A holy warrior who brought peace amidst the battlefield where people killed and were killed, felling the tyrant king who severed ears with a shining sword and flag.

A saint who called for peace in the midst of a war where people killed each other, helping a wise king ascend by toppling a tyrant.

Initially a bandit who stole from and harmed people, but eventually stood up for friends, family, and everyone.

A great hunter who single-handedly brought down a monstrous bird spewing fire from the sky.

Many tales heard from a boy’s lips.

Reading words illuminated by moonlight with tired, sleepy eyes,

Helping heal wounds by applying chewed leaves to injuries,

The one person who ensured peaceful sleep every night.

In the whispers echoing in the girl’s heart, another new hero was etched into the deeply ingrained legends.

Someone who shielded her with a palm larger than a laundry paddle.

Someone who felled a monster attempting to swing a fist larger than a roadside boulder.

Someone who stood in front of evil attacking instead, shielding her with their body.

And now,

Standing before the monster, wielding a sword plunged through the darkness of night, was Ryan,

The boy she now called her brother.

“Come at me, you monster…!”

It must have been tough.

Exhausting.

And painful.

Yet, the ‘brother’ who helped the girl till the end, despite being wounded, swung his sword at the flying tentacles.

“Kieeeek!”

If a knight had seen it, they would have said he was not swinging the sword, but rather being struck by it, a pitiful movement.

However, the delivered blow cleanly cleaved the swollen flesh of the magnificently inflated monster into two.

“Wow…!”

The staggering legs were now, in the girl’s eyes, those of a gallant knight resting peacefully,

The emaciated body, deprived of proper food, was the knight’s armor,

The face contorted in pain became the knight’s helmet.

The hero she sought, the hero she prayed for daily, was right beside her.

Always.

“Brother…!”

“L-Lena, stay back. It’s dangerous…!”

The strained breaths escaping painfully due to the injured body carried a solemn resonance emanating from the helmet.

Torn and tattered clothes fluttered like a cape.

Hands depleted of strength became a gentle touch on her shoulders.

The fervently prayed prayers had been answered.

So splendidly.

“Brother! Watch out!”

Evil descended upon the distracted hero from behind.

Pointing at it, an imminent strike followed.

Despite relentless pounding and clawing, the seemingly indestructible monster’s flesh was swiftly sliced off.

“Ugh…!”

With all his might, the weary figure swung the heavy sword, embodying the valiant appearance of the holy warrior who stabbed and killed the conquering lord.

A hero defending people with all his might.

Now, the boy holding the hero’s sword had only one person in his eyes and heart: the girl.

“Aaargh!!!”

Like cutting through water, the sword swiftly ignited white flames on the flesh, splitting it apart.

The trajectory of the sword, thanks to its ability to cleave darkness, even tore through the orphanage named prison.

The walls and pillars began to crumble chaotically.

And gradually, the sky revealed itself.

Was it the shining sword that split the darkness?

On the distant horizon, the sun was rising.

“Die…!”

Struggling to climb atop the writhing body, he thrust the sword, causing blood to spurt.

Even that was engulfed in white flames in an instant, turning neatly into ashes.

The watery lumps started overflowing, streaming down.

Despite slashing the chunks several times, the boy finally reached out his hand.

To the girl who witnessed the birth of a hero.

“…Let’s go, Lena.”

“Okay!”

She didn’t ask where they were going.

Because it didn’t matter to the girl who had met a hero.

Clutching the outstretched hand tightly, she could only support her older brother leaning on her with all her might.

“What about… our other friends?”

“I don’t know. Looks like they all ran away.”

As they exited into the corridor, they saw an open bedroom door and a broken window.

Her weary eyes paused for a moment on these sights.

The girl’s golden hue simply followed where the boy’s azure light led.

“Let’s get out of here quickly, older brother.”

“…Yeah. We should.”

The immensely large padlock was already lying on the ground.

Mismatched shoes were scattered around—some finding their pairs, some not.

Among them, Lena precisely picked out only the matching ones to hand over to Ryan.

“Your feet, here… slip them on.”

She personally helped the staggering hero put on his shoes and carefully held his hand to prevent him from falling.

Providing warmth on a cold night, she embraced the boy who was hindered by pain with all her strength.

From a place filled with suffering, she pulled Ryan with all her might towards freedom outside.

The dimmed sun shining brightly in the darkness enveloped them.

Dispelling the cold, they cleared away the shadows where bugs and mice lurked.

Simultaneously, they expelled the remaining shivers from the boy’s body.

“Oh, older brother?!”

“…I’m… fine.”

A hero sacrificed himself to protect someone.

In every story, their fate always seemed to end in death.

Lena knew this well.

“No, it’s not fine. Let’s find a doctor. Quickly.”

“…Lena.”

In the distance, mountains were visible, and before them lay a desolate vegetable patch.

Even what little remained, perhaps for procuring food, had been uprooted, presenting a grim sight to the two.

In such circumstances, the young pair stood in the middle of the road.

“Can we rest for a bit?”

The boy who eventually even gave up a bed for himself said so.

Leaning towards the sword rather than himself, as if trying to make it easier.

“Are you tired? Okay, let’s rest a bit. Where… yes. Let’s rest on the soft grass.”

“There are bugs in the grass, Lena.”

“It’s okay. Come here. I’ll catch the bugs.”

Carefully guiding the exhausted hero, Lena gently laid his body down.

Ensuring his head didn’t touch the ground.

Instead…

“How’s that?”

Her knees became a soft pillow for the hero.

Though somewhat heavy, Lena, with a wide smile, delicately caressed Ryan’s head.

With a hint of blue tint, her thin fingers lightly brushed past.

” …. ”

Instead of a reply, a faint breath escaped.

The boy’s eyes, barely holding on, closed shut, slipping into a deep slumber.

“It’s my turn to protect you now, older brother.”

Slowly crumbling down, the orphanage sent smoke billowing high into the sky.

Like a signal sent to people, it heralded the appearance of a hero.

The news of the hero’s arrival spread to the nearby village thanks to a merchant who stumbled upon the two unconscious children.