Side Story: Dreaming Under the Sunbeams

The bell rang, but it was different from the usual clang of the bell tower. It was a much simpler, high-pitched electronic sound.

I kept scribbling away with my mechanical pencil.

Someone called out to me, “Hey, I’m heading out, Chisa!” A pause followed. “Wait, isn’t that tomorrow’s homework?”

“Yeah. I want to get it out of the way now so I can relax and play video games for the rest of the day. I hate bringing homework home with me. I’ll see you later, okay?”

I despised lengthy homework assignments because it meant I had to work on them at home. One- or two-page handouts were the best. I could finish them up quickly, stick them in my textbook, and leave them at school. It made my bag lighter, too, so it was a win-win.

I wrote as fast as I could. At the very end, I double-checked that I had written my name on it.

Chisato Suzushiro.

As I read my name, I cocked my head slightly.

“Wait, was this always my name? I was sure there was a ‘K’ in there somewhere.”

Something felt strangely off about it, but the sensation only lasted a second. I forgot about it quickly enough as I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the classroom.

My middle school’s building was pretty old, enough that they had plans to renovate it soon after I was set to graduate. From there, it was a twenty-minute walk back to my place.

I lived in a house with an orange, triangular roof. It was small and had been built a fairly long time ago, but coming home to the familiar place put me at ease.

My parents weren’t home yet. I got changed in my room, then set up camp in front of the TV in the living room, turning both it and the game console on.

A beautiful image popped up on the screen, which was even bigger than me.

The moment I saw the title, Farzia: Kingdom at War, my consciousness faded.

◇◇◇

Before I knew it, a wasteland spread before my eyes, clouds of dust dancing in the air. I looked ahead of me, so exhausted I could barely stay standing.

Beyond the broken stone gate was a golem three times the size of a person. It collapsed to the side, kicking up a storm of dust. One of its legs had crumbled, leaving it unable to stand.

After hitting the ground with an earth-shaking thud, the golem crumbled away completely and turned into a mountain of dirt.

Countless soldiers showered in the blood of their enemies came running past it, and leading the pack was a dark-haired young man swinging his sword.

My eyes were fixed on him.

His blue cloak flapped in the strong wind. His blue eyes were focused on me, narrowed and filled with bloodlust.

The moment I accepted that I was going to die, for some reason, tears nearly came to my eyes.

It’s finally over.

I couldn’t help smiling. When the young man saw that, he snarled, “What are you smiling about?!”

The sight of it had offended him, it seemed. That was fine; it didn’t make a difference to me if the soon-to-be-king despised me or not.

“Damned queen’s spellcaster... After aiding an enemy country and crushing your fellow countrymen like ants under your feet, what could you possibly have to smile about?!”

The young man held his sword at the ready, absolutely furious. From behind him, a silver-haired girl reached out a hand to stop him.

“It’s not wise to kill a spellcaster, Alan. I told you I’d take care of it, didn’t I?”

“What do I care?! She did it... It was all because of her!” Alan growled through clenched teeth. He shook off the silver-haired girl’s hand and glowered at me with a fiendish expression.

“You murderer! Don’t you have anything to say?!”

The tip of his sword came straight for me.

So I’m going to die by this man’s sword, I thought.

I felt bad that I’d put him through so much pain, and something like regret washed over me—regret that I hadn’t accepted my death sooner.

In the end, I reflexively shut my eyes for fear of the pain, and...

◇◇◇

I woke up. The sound of people’s voices and rustling leaves snapped me back to reality.

“Did I doze off?”

Glancing around, I saw that I was somewhere outside Maynard City’s walls. It was a graveyard for Maynard citizens, a little ways down the carriage-traveled road.

The day after the battle in the city, I’d helped out with the burial of the townspeople. After all, more people had died in Maynard City than just the victims of the previous day’s scuffle. Everyone was already exhausted from dealing with the aftermath of the fires and the accompanying labor. I knew it would be hard on them to dig a bunch of holes, so I offered to lend a hand.

There weren’t as many people to bury as there usually were on the battlefield.

Still, it wore me out. When he had seen I was unsteady on my feet, Cain had suggested that I sit down by a tree. There, I’d nodded off... and gotten lost in a daydream.

Perhaps I was so tired because I’d buried all the enemy soldiers after threatening the townspeople with potential disease from “unhygienic conditions.” Or was the problem that I’d helped rebuild all the houses that were destroyed in the fires?

More accurately, I’d tried to help with the rebuilding, but it hadn’t gone very well. I was a complete architectural amateur. Going around piling up stone walls without any regard for foundation or wall thickness had hurt more than it helped.

The carpenter had been hesitant to tell off the spellcaster himself, so in a game of telephone, he’d told a soldier, who’d told a knight, who’d told Cain, who’d told me that he wanted me to back off. My own ineptitude was discouraging, to say the least.

“Gee, it’s been a while,” I muttered as I hazily reflected on the dream.

The first dream had been of my past life. I’d hated doing homework at home, for sure, and coming home to an empty house because both my parents were working had felt nostalgic. I definitely remembered lazily playing video games in the living room when no one else was home.

“But the next dream...”

I had dreamed I was killed by Alan, as Kiara.

I felt my recollection of it getting hazier by the second, perhaps out of fear. Yet I couldn’t forget the look in Alan’s eyes in the dream. They’d been filled with ferocious malice, enough that just remembering it sent a shiver down my spine.

Truthfully, I’d never been scared of Alan until now—even knowing that one wrong step would have seen me killed at his hand.

When we first met, he was younger than his game sprite, so it was hard to imagine him as the same person who might one day kill me. We’d gotten to know each other after that, and seeing as I had begun to walk a different path from my game counterpart, I assumed things would turn out fine. Eventually, I’d stopped thinking about it altogether.

“So why now?”

It was weird to get scared over a dream, considering I hadn’t even felt that way when we actually met.

The images in my dream had felt so real, too. And the Thorn Princess had been there.

The things Alan had said implied he’d lost someone precious to him. In his rage, he had brushed off the Thorn Princess when she’d tried to stop him and then had come at me with his sword.

Who had dream-Alan lost?

If it was someone close to Alan, maybe it was one of his knights. Or... it didn’t seem particularly plausible, but maybe he’d fallen in love with a girl he met on his journey, and that girl had been crushed by my golem?

Either way, I sure was sleepy. I felt ready to doze off again... but I realized that if I went back to sleep, I might see a continuation of my last dream, so I rubbed my eyes. I knew it was just a dream, but I still wouldn’t enjoy seeing myself get killed by someone I’d come to think of as a friend.

“If you’d like to get some more sleep, shall I take you back?” someone asked, and I looked up to my right.

Cain was standing there, looking down at me.

He was the one who had prompted me to sit down, so it made sense that he was there, but I sure hoped he hadn’t been waiting there the whole time for me to wake up.

Now I feel bad...

But I couldn’t have him take me to the inn. If I went back to my room, the drowsiness would overtake me and I’d fall right back asleep. In fact, I’d be out like a light by the time he got me on his horse.

I didn’t want to be subjected to another dream of Alan glaring me down with those hateful eyes. I knew he would never really do that, of course. More than anything, I would feel guilty my brain had conjured up the image and have a hard time looking him in the eyes.

“Erm, I’d rather not go back yet. Give me a chance to wake up a little...” I trailed off into a yawn.

I hid my mouth in a hurry, but Cain saw it all. He looked off to the side like he was holding back a laugh, and his shoulders shook for a few seconds.

“You seem awfully tired.”

“Hrk... Yes. I am feeling strangely sleepy. It’s not like we were camping out last night, either. I wasn’t even feeling this tired after the battle at Clonfert...” Another yawn. After the second time, it seemed useless to try and cover them up.

“Why don’t you sleep a little while longer? I’ll watch over you.”

“But I can’t go back to sleep,” I fussed.

Cain sat down next to me. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“Huh?”

I blinked. I hadn’t said anything yet; how had he figured it out?

The question must have shown on my face. Cain smoothly volunteered, “You had the same look on your face my little brother did whenever he had a bad dream.”

Cain’s brother had died before he’d even reached the age of ten. Does that mean I act just like a little kid?

That was a hard pill to swallow. Master Horace, always by my side, started snickering.

When my lips twisted into a pout, Cain chuckled. “Once, a long time ago, my brother told me he was scared to sleep, too. There had been a brawl outside the castle, and someone was killed as a result of it. The shock of witnessing someone die for the first time had devastated him.”

“Oh no...”

That would definitely have an impact, even for an adult.

Of course, maybe it was an issue of civilization at large. In this world, it wasn’t strange to see someone collapse on a street corner, and that sort of thing was an everyday occurrence in the more unruly parts of the country.

“He was kindhearted, just like you. He knew violence didn’t suit him, so he never went anywhere fighting might break out. He never watched many fencing matches, either, so he wasn’t used to the sight of swords. Mother and Father both knew that there was no hope of him becoming a knight, even once he got older, so they were planning to put him on the path of a civil servant... but of course, he never had the chance to take the first step.”

Cain’s little brother had been lost in Llewyne’s previous invasion. Cain had been thirteen at the time, and he had already been serving Alan at the castle. He had been part of the troops fighting against the Llewynians, and he hadn’t had the chance to check on his family until after the battle had ended.

Clara had been the one who’d informed him that they were lucky just to have found the bodies.

Still, it was rare for Cain to talk about his family at length. I listened carefully to his story.

“I was always looking after my younger brother, so everyone assumed I was used to dealing with children. I believe that’s why I was given the role of Lord Alan’s escort... but he was the exact opposite of my brother. Lord Alan was dense in a way that made him particularly suited to knighthood. I was shocked that His Lordship would have Lord Alan accompany him to sweep out the Llewynians, considering how young he was, but Lord Alan didn’t show the slightest hint of fear himself.”

Yeah, that sounded like Alan alright.

If he were someone more easily affected by death, he wouldn’t be able to lead the charge on the battlefield. Wait, but wasn’t Alan about nine years old during the first Llewynian invasion?

Lord Évrard was clearly trying to get Alan accustomed to war, but that was still awfully Spartan of him. It was true that forcing him to adapt would raise his chances of survival, I supposed, so maybe that was just his own way of expressing his love for his child.

“The only child with even less hesitance to kill than Lord Alan was His Highness.”

“Huh? Reggie fought, too?”

“He accompanied the king to the battlefront. I believe His Highness was thrust into even harsher conditions. He was near the front lines most of the time.”

“But... why?”

To fulfill his role as commander of the troops, the king should have been at the rear, surrounded by soldiers. If anything, Reggie’s behavior at Fort Clonfert and the hills of Dilhorne was an exception to the rule—though according to him, that was because direct action was needed to coordinate all the troops from various provinces. Wasn’t the prince generally supposed to stay in a safe place?

Plus, Reggie would have been the same age as Alan—nine years old. I knew Reggie wasn’t fond of the king, and it clearly went both ways; it sure sounded like the king had been using the opportunity to try and kill off his son.

Groul must have had a tough time.

“In the midst of the fight, His and Her Lordship decided they could no longer abide by it and took His Highness back to the castle. It was after that that he began keeping company with Lord Alan.”

The couple must have thought it was too much for any child to bear.

“But wow... I never would’ve imagined they were fighting from such a young age.”

“Both Lord Alan and His Highness were destined to head into battle eventually. Why, Lord Alan even demanded we ‘let him at ’em,’ and refused to hear anyone advise him otherwise. He insisted on going out in my stead so that I could go look for my family.”

I was nearly moved to tears. Alan was such a good kid...

However, Cain followed up matter-of-factly, “Even if I wanted to go search for them, they were likely to be on the opposite side of the battlefield. There was no point in looking until the fight was over. I told Lord Alan not to be so foolish, and when he tried to rush out of his own accord, I stuffed him into a burlap sack and locked him up in his room.”

Cain was unexpectedly rough when it came to Alan. Maybe men were just like that with each other? Lady Évrard was something else for allowing it, too. Oh, Maya and Clara were both pretty gutsy themselves. Had everyone just been influenced by Her Ladyship?

“Before you feel too impressed, in Lord Alan’s case, he simply wanted an excuse to go fight.”

“What? Don’t be silly! He wouldn’t think to suggest it unless he’d really been thinking of you.”

“Whatever you say, Miss Kiara.”

The edges of Cain’s mouth lifted in a smile, and he patted me on the head lightly, bouncing his hand off the top of my hair. The way the motion came so naturally to him really highlighted his “older brother” vibe.

Was he trying to distract me because he didn’t want to talk about it in-depth? Or had he really not given it too much thought, so he didn’t want me getting worked up about it? It was hard to tell.

His reaction reminded me of Reggie, somehow.

“If you were Alan’s escort, does that mean you were like an older brother to him?”

If they’d picked Cain because he had a younger brother, that was probably what the Évrards had been hoping for. Hence why they wouldn’t comment on him stuffing Alan in a burlap sack.

“I don’t know how Lord Alan feels about it. I believe he just sees me as his nagging watchdog.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. I got the sense that somewhere deep down, Alan really relied on Cain. To me, it looked like he really cared for the knight.

“Were you also a big brother figure for Reggie?”

“I would be honored if he thought so, but he was quite precocious from an early age. I never had much to teach him. Rather, Lord Alan was the one who taught him the kinds of mischief befitting a child his age.”

And it was Cain’s role to scold them, apparently.

However, he was suddenly reminded of something. “Oh, wait. There was one thing I managed to teach him.”

“What was it?”

“How to hold an animal.”

How to hold an animal? That seemed a bit random, at first. But apparently, Reggie had never had the chance to pick up an animal at the royal palace.

This story was from before Cain had started serving Alan. Cain had come to the castle with his mother to deliver something to his father. There, in an otherwise empty area, he caught Reggie staring at a sleeping dog. Cain was nine at the time. Reggie was five.

The boy was well-dressed, so Cain assumed he was the son of a nobleman—but little did he know that this was the prince himself. He had witnessed everyone’s rough handling of the little rascal Alan, so he didn’t hesitate to call out to the boy. He told him that it wasn’t safe to walk around unattended and that he would be better off going back inside the manor.

Then, Reggie said he wanted to pet the dog—but he didn’t know the right way to do it, so he’d just sat there watching it. According to what Cain heard, the boy had never been allowed to own a pet. The closest he ever got was petting a horse during his horseback riding lessons.

Yeah, horses are a little too big to make a good substitute for a dog.

Cain figured he could just show the boy how to pet a dog and then take him back to his parents, so he explained how it was done. He told him the proper way to touch a dog without scaring it, and how to pick one up without hurting it.

“For a while after that, he went around petting various animals and picking them up with the most serious look on his face. When Her Ladyship caught sight of it, she clamored about how cute it was, swept up both His Highness and his animal companions in her arms, and spun them around.”

I had to agree with Lady Évrard on that one. Young Reggie must have been as cute as an angel. If he was hugging a small animal on top of that, it was no wonder she couldn’t withstand the urge.

“It must have been awfully cute... I wish I could have seen it myself,” I said, accidentally letting my thoughts slip out.

Cain looked at me with eyes half-lidded. Something in his gaze made my heart skip a beat. He’d been thinking back on fond memories of Reggie, so that probably explained the tender look in his eyes.

“That’s about all I’ve done for His Highness. The rest was all him and Lord Alan getting into trouble like the children they were, provoking me into chasing them around.”

“I’m sure Reggie just wanted to take full advantage of having a big brother around! Lucky... I always wanted an older brother.”

“You’ve never had siblings?”

“In this life, I technically have a half-brother... but I barely know him, so it doesn’t feel much like having a sibling. In my past life, I was an only child. I think it would’ve been more fun for me to have a brother back then.”

If I’d had siblings, my past life would have had a slightly different flavor to it. Would we have fought over who got the TV to play video games, though? That could’ve made my life a little more difficult.

“Were you lonely without siblings?”

“I wasn’t lonely, no. It was a more peaceful world. I’d go to school every day, talk about totally inconsequential things with my friends...”

I was overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia. It was a peaceful life I could never go back to—but that life was giving me strength here and now.

“Do you ever want to revisit the world of your past life?”

“If I could, I would. But I’m not Chisato anymore; I’m Kiara.”

“Chisato?”

“That was my old name.”

Come to think of it, I’d never told him what my past self had been called.

For whatever reason, Cain flashed a mirthful smile. “Well then... Lord Alan has no more need for a brother figure, so if you’d like, I could become your older brother instead.”

Cain stood up and offered me a hand.

“If Miss Chisato didn’t have one either, it means I’d be your one and only brother figure.”

There was something incredibly flustering about hearing him say “one and only.” Thus, I hesitated to take his hand... but then Cain got a mischievous glint in his eyes.

For a brief moment, I prepared myself for the worst, but I relaxed when he patted me on the head.

To my chagrin, it was always hard to object when he treated me like a little girl. It made me think back to my past-life mother, putting me in a pensive mood... and that was when he got me.

“Eep!”

He scooped me up into his arms and lifted me off the ground. I shrunk in on myself in surprise. As he stared down, our noses nearly touching, Cain’s mouth quirked up into a faint smile.

“This is exactly what I taught His Highness about animals: if you wait until they’ve let their guard down, it’s much easier to pick them up. It’s similarly effective on children, and I see it’s quite effective on you, too, Miss Kiara.”

Wait, does that mean he’s giving me the animal treatment?! The worst part is that I can’t say he’s wrong!

“Not so sleepy anymore, are you? Let’s go back.”

Cain began briskly walking ahead, still holding me in his arms. He was right that I’d shaken off my drowsiness, but it was SUPER embarrassing to be carried like this when I was neither unconscious nor incapacitated.

“P-Put me down, please!”

“I’m about to mount you on my horse, so it wouldn’t make sense to put you down now. Just be still.”

Cain sat me down on his horse, then stroked the top of my head as I pouted. It made it seem like he was humoring a childish tantrum of mine, and the desire to protest once again withered inside of me. I felt so utterly defeated that tears nearly came to my eyes.

Still, there was something oddly familiar about this feeling.

Who else would console me the moment I got angry, forcing me to drop the argument? Reggie. It was exactly the same trick Reggie always used.

When I made that connection as I was shaken about on horseback, it dawned on me.

Cain really was Reggie’s stand-in brother. He’d taught Reggie far more than how to handle animals.

Perhaps thanks to that realization, or perhaps because of all the time we’d spent talking, even as I remembered it, dream-Alan’s spiteful glare no longer felt so scary to me. I accepted that it was a mere product of my imagination—not reality.

Still, I couldn’t help thinking that if Cain were ever killed... maybe that’s what would drive Alan to that sort of rage.