521 Robia’s Past

521.

I took Robia to a small spring that formed a green island like an oasis in the middle of the wasteland. Splash! With that sound, I lowered Robia, who I had been carrying on my shoulder, into the shallow water.

“Ugh…!”

Robia still showed a wary attitude. This time, he had a look on his face as if he was gauging what kind of terrible acts could be done using water.

“Don’t be so scared, Robia. I really just want to hear your story. You don’t have to look at me like I’m some kind of cannibalistic monster, you know?”

The words I said to reassure him didn’t seem to have much effect. He looked like a herbivore right before it gets eaten.

Well, it’s no wonder he’s scared. I had just slammed him into the ground with a Hero Kick a little while ago. But with this attitude, it didn’t seem like he would easily tell me his story.

How can I effectively convey that I don’t have any hostility towards him? After thinking about it, I approached Robia. Splashing through the knee-high water, I grabbed Robia’s hand as he backed away, and got closer and closer.

And then I gently hugged him. Robia’s head only came up to about my chest. I pulled his face close to my chest so he could hear my heartbeat.

“I don’t intend to harm you, Robia. I just want to hear your story. Okay?”

“R-Really…?”

It seemed that the language of the body was effective. Robia’s breathing, which had been fast-paced with fear, was gradually calming down. I released the arm that had been hugging him and said.

“Yes. I’m a Hero. If the Mayor and Goldman have committed evil deeds, I intend to punish them. So please tell me properly. The reason you’re trying to get revenge on them, and also about your sister.”

After listening to my words, Robia pondered for a moment and then nodded. He unzipped and threw off his torn and wet jacket.

His upper body, with what looked like soft skin, was revealed. Black feathered wings also fluttered as if stretching. There was a long stitched scar on the boy’s chest. It looked like a trace from some kind of surgery.

Touching that spot, Robia began to tell his story.

===================================

“Robia, are you asleep?”

“I told you to call me ‘Nuna,’ didn’t I? What is it? Can’t you sleep?”

It was an empty room. Two rectangular beds placed side by side were all the furniture in the room. On top of them lay a boy and a girl, each with black feathered wings.

The two were wearing white clothes similar to hospital gowns. Although the clothes were plain, something protruded as if pushing the clothes out near the chest. It was a tube inserted right next to the heart to make it easier to collect Phoenix blood.

Twice a day, the two had their blood drawn. They were told that it would be better than having syringes stuck into them or being cut with scalpels every time they had their blood drawn, but it was hard to think of it as fortunate. Every time the boy saw the thing sticking out over his clothes, he felt despair.

After having their blood drawn, they felt all the strength drain from their bodies. In the first place, there was nothing to do in this narrow room, but they could do nothing but lie listlessly and blankly. After having his blood drawn in the evening, the boy felt like it was too much trouble to even think.

The only comfort was the starlight in the night sky visible beyond the iron bars. The boy looked up at the stars with a tired face and said.

“Eung… Robia, when will I be able to fly in that sky again? Will they ever let us go? I want to fly in that night sky again. Soaking my body in the clouds, looking down at the distant ground…”

The girl turned her head to the side. The face of her younger brother, staring blankly at the sky beyond the iron bars. Robia said as if it were nothing.

“Well… I don’t think it’s possible unless a Hero-nim shows up or something? From what those guys are saying, it seems like we’re the only Phoenixes left. I don’t think they’ll voluntarily let us go. I guess we have no choice but to accept it now…”

“Are you okay with that, Robia? Are you really okay with living like this? This terrible life…”

“Let’s think positively. As long as we’re valuable to Goldman, he’ll never let us die. Well, it’s definitely boring, but there’s nothing else uncomfortable about it, right? We get delicious food on time, every time.”

“Are you serious? Robia?”

“Well, yeah.”

That’s not what she really thought. She didn’t want to show her younger brother, who was in despair, that she was also in despair. But that was a mistake.

“I don’t like it… I don’t like it… I want to fly again… *Sniffle*, *sob*… I don’t want to live like this forever… I’d rather die…”

The boy began to cry as he imagined living like this forever. The sound of her younger brother’s crying clawed at Robia’s heart more sharply than despair.

Her younger brother’s crying did not stop easily. It seemed like it was a cry that he had been holding back for a long time. The girl, who had been listening to it all along, said.

“Do you really want to get out? No matter what happens?”

“Yeah, I, I want to get out no matter what… I don’t want to anymore…”

The girl looked up at the night sky. The stars were shining beautifully. Come to think of it, there was also a story that the stars shine because the dead become stars and look down on those who are left behind.

“Okay, this Nuna will get you out.”

The girl said again as if it were nothing. She was trying not to look tragic. The boy, hearing those words, jumped up from the bed.

“Really? Can you do it? Robia…”

Her younger brother’s eyes sparkled with anticipation and surprise. They were eyes that seemed to hold all the hope in the world. That gaze made Robia’s resolve even stronger.

“Yeah…”

Although there seemed to be little difference in appearance, the two were nearly 20 years apart. Unlike her younger brother, who had lost his mother almost immediately after hatching, she had learned about their powers to some extent from their parents.

The Phoenix is a divine creature on par with Dragons. Its sacred flame is known to burn everything. This room, created by squeezing out the insignificant wisdom of humans, was no exception.

However, they were not yet adults. The two were too young to properly handle the blue flames that were the symbol of the Phoenix. Robia’s mother had always warned her sternly.

If you use the flames before you become an adult, you will die.

The girl’s black wings began to flicker with blue flames.

“Nu, Nuna?”

“Anyway, you only call me Nuna at times like this… I’ll get you out, little brother. But promise me just one thing in return. Live freely, but remember my name forever.”

“No, Nuna, it was my fault…! I’m fine with being in here forever, so please don’t do it…!”

The blue flames that started from her wings spread to the girl’s entire body. Feeling an unbearable heat, Robia said.

“We’re not parting forever. We’re Phoenixes, after all. If we repeat reincarnation, we can meet again. Definitely in the distant future…”

“Robia!”

Finally, the girl smiled at her younger brother.

A blue flame in the shape of a bird pierced through the walls of the small prison and burst out.

=======================================

The boy was trudging through a secluded part of Irene. He didn’t even feel like flying. The starlight in the night sky felt like it was blaming him. This wasn’t what he wanted. He just wanted to see Robia.

The streets of Irene were filled with joy. Even though a blue explosion had erupted from Goldman’s mansion, people didn’t seem to care much. The blue lights illuminating the dancing people, the boy could tell that it was made using Phoenix blood.

The reason why they used precious Phoenix blood for something as trivial as lighting… was probably just because the blue color was pretty, right?

Armed men were running through the streets, stomping their feet. They were Goldman’s subordinates looking for the boy. They poured out of the city’s main gate. They seemed to think that he would have escaped outside the city. The boy huddled further into the darkness.

“Hey, what’s this? Are you a beast-kin?”

A man with a flushed face kicked the boy with his foot. Seeing the boy’s surprised reaction, the man sneered and said.

“What, are you an escaped slave? Hehe, now that I look at you, you have a pretty face… Whether I find your owner or sell you somewhere else, I could make quite a bit of money, huh?”

“H-Hiiik…!”

The boy was afraid of everything. He just felt crushed by the guilt of having caused Robia’s death with his immature words and the savagery of the world he had been thrown into. The boy curled up and closed his eyes tightly.

But that was the moment. The man who was about to reach out to the boy was hit by something that came out of the darkness and instantly turned to ashes. His companions also turned into a handful of ashes and scattered before they could even figure out what had happened.

A black-robed mage was standing in front of the boy, who had barely opened his eyes.

“Hehe, interesting. I’ve really found an interesting subject. This must be fate.”

The black mage flashed his pearly white teeth and smiled eerily.