Chapter 4: Divided Siblings

I, Dewey Percy, was raised by two people who made as many children as they could and then had them earn money so that they themselves would not need to work. Our house was decrepit, our clothes were worn-out, and our stomachs were constantly empty. My first memories are those of working from home as a child. Whenever I made a mistake, my parents would insult and beat me for how useless I was.

Some of my older brothers and sisters had run away without a word, probably fed up with that horrible home situation. Because of our parents, they had never learned how to read and write, and I wondered how they were faring on their own in this mostly literate country. However, I never heard anything from them.

However, Ronnie, one of my brothers, despite being five years older than me, never left home. He remained there, bravely withstanding the dreadfulness of it all so that he could take care of his siblings.

He always sounded grouchy, but he actually cared a lot for us, and he even took food out of his meals so that we could eat more. I looked up to him, and at the same time I wanted to be of some help myself.

Of course, I didn’t want to grow up into someone like my parents, but neither did I want to turn out to be as helpless as my older siblings whose only option had been running away. I wanted to change this horrible situation, both for me and for all my other siblings.

In order to escape from poverty, I needed a good job, which in turn clearly required me to study a lot. I bartered with my siblings, promising that I would keep working just the same, and convinced them to let me go to school.

During the day, I would attend school, where my classmates would make fun of me for my raggedy clothes and old, battered textbook. During the night, I would stay up late to work and study even more, as much as I could.

My efforts paid off, and I was able to skip grades and quickly pass what people called the most difficult admission test in the kingdom, the one that allowed me to work at the Magical Ministry. When I received the news of having passed, I felt the most happiness I ever had in my whole life.

As I started working at the Ministry, I moved to the workers’ dormitory located on the premises, but I didn’t forget about my family. As soon as I received my first salary, I sent almost all of it home, addressed to Ronnie, hoping that it would make my siblings’ life easier, and I continued doing so every month.

However, I eventually found out that Ronnie knew nothing of this money, which had all been intercepted by my father and used to finance his drinking. Or maybe part of it had gone into my mother’s pocket—I do not know—but whatever the case, my siblings did not see a single cent of it.

I was so busy getting used to my new job that I never found the time to visit... Well, truth be told, I did have days off, but I never used them to go back home. At the Ministry I had a nice, clean room and tasty, warm meals. I didn’t have to sleep on the cold floor bundled up in a bunch of rags, I didn’t have to feel hunger, and most importantly, I didn’t have to withstand my father’s violence.

I liked my new life, and I didn’t want to go back just to be beaten by that drunken old man. In the end, I wasn’t any different from my other siblings who’d run away. I was just thinking of myself, doing what was best for me with no regard for how my brothers and sisters were doing. I had abandoned them.

It only made sense that Ronnie would tell me not to come back ever again. I had deserved that, and I had no right to feel sad for it.

It’s all my fault, I thought, holding back the tears as well as I could, when I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder and heard them call my name. I didn’t need to turn around to tell who it was. I knew her voice well—she was Maria, the girl I loved.

We had known each other since we were kids. Even though we lived in the same town, her situation was entirely different from mine—she was a magic user, and a Wielder of Light at that, which made her a rarity among commoners.

At first, I remember feeling envy for her. However, listening to some of the rumor-loving people in town, I later found out that her life had not been quite as rosy as I had assumed. Her neighbors shunned her because of her powers, and, once at the academy, she was bullied by her noble classmates.

I will never forget how she looked as she told me that she, too, once believed that she would have to fight all alone. However, despite the sadness, despite the pain of it all, she kept showing her kind smile.

Even though the people there were anything but welcoming, she would still go back to her hometown on her days off. The strength that she showed was incredibly charming, but at the same time, it made me realize how I could never be like her. I had left the siblings I had wanted to help to their own fate, enjoying my new leisurely life.

“Is everything all right, Dewey?” she gently asked me.

I knew that she was lying. I knew that she had no reason to be there and only wanted to make sure I was okay...and I wanted to let myself go, accepting the pity that she was offering me. However, I wasn’t worthy of her kindness.

“Yes,” I claimed, holding back the tears, “I was only a bit shocked. I am sorry. But my brother isn’t to blame for what he said. I did abandon them. I am sorry you all had to witness that scene.” I couldn’t raise my head, let alone look Maria straight in the eye. “As I said, I will take a public carriage, so please go back without m—”

As I spoke, she took me in her arms, and I found myself inside a warm embrace.

“Dewey. Didn’t I tell you that you don’t have to face everything by yourself? You can rely on me,” she said, stroking my back. “If you feel like crying, you shouldn’t hold back. It will make you feel a bit better,” she continued, and as if on command, tears started flowing out of my eyes.

I was torn between the embarrassment of being seen crying and the warm comfort of the first gentle hug I could ever remember receiving.

After crying for a while, I did feel a bit better, just as Maria had assured me. The more I calmed down, however, the more the awkwardness set in. In particular, my face was pushing against something very soft, which could only be...

No, don’t think of that. I absolutely cannot think of that.

But the more I tried to ignore that fact, the more I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“I-I’m fine now. Please let me go,” I insisted, now at my limit, and I was relieved from her breast—I mean embrace.

I could only imagine how red my face was at that moment, but at least my heart felt a little lighter.

“You do seem fine now,” Maria told me with a smile.

“Yes...”

The girl I love comforted me while I was crying... Should I be happy about this? Should I just be embarrassed?

“So, since you are fine now, I have a proposal to make. Would you like to hear it?” She stared at me with her clear blue eyes, making my face feel even hotter.

“O-Of course...”

“Won’t you try to speak with your brother again?”

“What?!” I yelped, completely taken by surprise. I had assumed that Maria, in her kindness, would suggest keeping my distance from someone who clearly wanted nothing to do with me.

“B-But he told me to never come back, because I abandoned my family...”

“That is my point,” she answered, gesturing with her index finger. “You didn’t abandon them. You were sending them money, and today you rushed here as soon as you read that letter.”

“I never came back here before today though...”

“It’s barely been half a year since you left. You’ve just started your new job, so I’m sure you’ve been busy catching up with work even on your days off.”

“That’s true, yes, but...” I knew that, had I really wished to do it, I could have found the time to go back home. I chose not to.

“And most of all, you don’t even know why your brother told you those things.”

“That’s just because I left him and all my other siblings...”

“But you didn’t! You can’t be sure of how he feels, since you’ve never talked about it. You’re just making assumptions. Someone,” she said with a giggle, “once told me this: you can’t tell what people think, even if they’re very close to you. Even if they’re family. So you need to talk to them to be sure.”

I could tell that she was trying to do an impression of Katarina, and I couldn’t help but giggle as well.

However, she was right. Even when we lived together, Ronnie and I were both so busy that we never had much time to talk to each other. He was a grumpy guy, but he always looked out for his siblings—I didn’t know why he’d say something like what he did.

I must not run away, I thought, but I couldn’t work up the courage to step forward either.

“I’ll come with you,” Maria then declared, and I immediately started walking back to the house, with the world’s most wonderful woman by my side.

★★★★★★

“Hmmm... I don’t think I’ve made any wrong turns...”

I’d been following Dewey’s sister’s directions to Ronnie’s workplace, but I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere, and I started feeling anxious. There was a lot of greenery around me, but not a single soul that I could ask for information.

I wasn’t that bad at following directions...but I didn’t have a compass built into my head either. Furthermore, I didn’t really know this town except for the area around Maria’s house. I’d never been near Ronnie’s workplace before, and it honestly surprised me to even find a path in what was basically a forest.

“I thought it’d be close by, since he went there on foot...”

And his legs were injured too... It’s sad to think he had to walk on this bumpy path full of rocks.

I kept stumbling my way along the path until I saw Ronnie’s back in the distance.

So I didn’t get lost!

He was walking relatively slowly, probably because of his hurt leg, so catching up with him wasn’t so hard. “Ronnie!” I called when I was close enough.

“H-Huh? Why are you here?”

“I wanted to talk with you a bit more,” I answered, and he looked at me suspiciously.

“Why should I talk with you? And I don’t have time anyway. I’m going to work.”

“But I heard from your sister that your job involves strenuous manual labor. How are you going to work, hurt like that?”

“Tsk, always running her mouth...” he grumbled, clearly displeased. “I know, but I have to go and see if there’s something I can do. If I don’t make money, all the little ones are going to starve.”

“So you’re not even sure you’ll be working at all? Then it’d be better to rest for the day, or your injuries won’t get any better. If you need to report that you’ll be taking the day off, I can deliver the message for you.”

“Were you even listening to me? I’m paid by the day, and I need to work. I can’t just take a day off like that.”

“But if you go and hurt yourself even more, you won’t be able to work at all. If you need money now, just ask Dewey. He’d be happy to know he can help.”

“Dewey left us. He’s not one of us anymore,” he replied dryly, furrowing his brow.

“He was very worried about all of you while coming here, you know?”

“That guy...” he muttered, and I caught a glimpse of sadness in his eyes.

“You really care a lot about your brother, don’t you?” I asked Ronnie, whose face immediately turned sour.

“Huh?! What are you talking about?! I just said that he isn’t one of us anymore!”

“So you said, but doesn’t that just mean that you don’t want him to worry about the rest of you and enjoy his own life?” I countered, feeling that this was the true meaning behind his harsh words.

“How’d you come up with that idea?!”

“By looking at you back there and here now. It’s obvious that he’s important to you,” I declared, confidently staring at him.

Ronnie started awkwardly scratching his head. “Did Dewey say that?”

“Nope. It’s just what I think. Dewey thought that you hated him, and he was quite shocked because of that,” I replied, and Ronnie gave me a look that was half relief and half sorrow.

“Let him think that then. Don’t tell him about what you just told me.”

“But why? He was really hurt when he heard those words coming from one of his beloved siblings. You should stop being so embarrassed about it and just tell him the truth.”

“I’m not embarrassed about anything!”

“You aren’t?”

Huh, I thought that was the issue. Ronnie does look like the type who has trouble admitting his own feelings.

“Of course not! I just don’t wanna weigh him down...”

“How so...?”

“You saw that scum we call ‘father.’ While we’re working our butts off, he steals all the money he can from us, gets drunk, and beats us. And our mother isn’t much better either. That’s why we have to live in that tiny shack that’s gonna fall apart any day now. I’ve never been to school, so I can’t hope to get any decent job, since I can’t read. And all the others who left before Dewey were the same. He was the only one who made it. He got into the Ministry... Having to care for a family like this is only gonna be a hassle for him.”

“That’s not...”

Before I could say true, Ronnie added one more thing.

“He’s our pride,” he said, looking calm and satisfied as he did so. “He’s always been smart, you know. He even learned how to read all on his own. When he told me he wanted to go to school, I knew that was the right thing for him. He’d go to school and then come back home to work. I know how hard he was working, trust me. And then, what do you know, he was even smarter than all the other kids there, and he got to skip grades. Oh, I was so happy when I heard of that. Then he got recommended by the school to take the Ministry’s exam, and he managed to pass it without a problem. I’m so proud... No, we’re all so proud of having him as our brother.”

Ronnie’s recounting of his brother’s achievements was a happy and loving one. He clearly wasn’t lying about being proud of Dewey.

“That’s why I don’t wanna weigh him down. I want him to forget about scum like us and live his best life.” He smiled sadly.

“Ronnie... Neither you nor your siblings are scum.”

“I can’t read and I can’t do calculations with numbers. I’m a piece of useless scum, just like my father.”

“Your father may be scum, but that doesn’t apply to you. Of course, being literate and numerate is very useful, I will give you that, but those skills don’t make you any worse or better of a person. If anything, I think very highly of you for the way you take care of your younger siblings.”

Despite the beating he had received, he was still determined to go to work to feed his family. Despite how this could make Dewey hate him, he wanted his little brother to be happy and free. That was the opposite of scum.

Ronnie was staring at me, surprised. Perhaps, just like Raphael had theorized, both Dewey and Ronnie had been put down by someone for all their lives—their father, obviously—and ended up losing all of their self-confidence.

“I-I...” Ronnie finally started talking, but someone’s jarringly brisk voice interrupted him.

“There she is!” the voice cried. I turned around and saw a cloaked woman running out of the woods toward us with a grin on her face. She was the very woman Liam and I had met near the orphanage. Larna had told me her name...

“Sarah?” I wondered, and she seemed surprised.

“How do you know that name?” she asked me.

“Someone told me, obviously. More importantly, what do you want?” I fired back, wary of her, and she started laughing.

“I’ve come to bully you a little bit.”

“Huh?!” I uttered, confused by that nonsensical answer. “Why in the world would you do that? We barely even know each other, and this is the longest we’ve ever talked!”

“Yes,” she agreed after thinking about it for a while, “that’s true. But, you see, I’ve been feeling all weird up here because of you recently,” she continued, placing a hand on her chest.

For the first time, her expression didn’t look fake. Her face right now reminded me of a child who could start crying any moment now. I felt kind of sorry for her, and I reached out my hand to her.

“And so, I’ll bully you a bit to make up for it,” she concluded, going back to her fake-looking grin as she raised and then quickly lowered her arms. When she did this, a huge black snake appeared out of nowhere.

Wow! That looks even more realistic than the snakes I make! I thought, failing to understand the gravity of the situation.

“Watch out!” Ronnie shouted, jumping in front of me to shield me from the snake, which hit him straight in the arm.

“Hng!” he cried out in pain.

“Are you okay?!” I asked, trying to determine if he had been hurt.

“It’s nothing. But don’t just stand there like an idiot! And what’s that girl’s deal?!” he shouted, but, from the way he was holding his arm and the pained expression on his face, I could tell that it had definitely not been nothing.

He jumped to protect me even though he barely knows me... He really is a good guy!

“I’m sorry. She’s...an acquaintance...of sorts, but I guess she hates me for some reason. Anyway, show me your arm.”

The spot where the snake had hit him had turned into a large black bruise.

“What’s this now?!” he yelled, scared by the unnatural blotch on his skin.

This isn’t a normal bruise. It was Dark Magic, just as I suspected... That girl really knows her way around nasty spells, that’s for sure. It’s just like that time when she sealed us into that pitch black space... I thought, the main difference being that, unlike the previous time, I had absolutely no idea what to do.

“Awww, I missed,” Sarah muttered with a clearly fake frown. I feared that she was not going to leave it at that, however.

“Ronnie, that woman is dangerous. Please run away,” I requested, but he shook his head.

“I’m not gonna leave you alone with someone dangerous,” he replied. He wasn’t just a good guy, but a brave one too.

“Thank you, but don’t worry—I know how to defend myself. However, I can’t hold out for that long, so I want you to go and tell that woman from the Ministry who was with me earlier. Can you do that?”

“If you can defend yourself, then you’re probably better off without me...” he conceded, looking at his wounded body. “I’ll go get that woman.”

As he started running back toward his home, I mentally added “can make decisions and act quickly under stress” to the list of good things about Ronnie.

“And have her look at your arm!” I shouted as he escaped. He raised a hand to show that he’d understood.

Good. And now, let’s deal with her, I thought, turning around again to face Sarah.

“That’s the second time you let someone else run away. You’re really kind, aren’t you?” She spoke with a big smile and an unfittingly cold voice.

She kept faking emotions so consistently that I couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all. I had caught a glimpse of what seemed like a true reaction earlier, but it had only lasted a second.

“Say, why do you—”

“And that’s one more thing I hate about you,” she interrupted me, swinging her arm once again. This time a black fog appeared, surrounding me.

Everything around me went black and silent while the forest disappeared.

This must be the same spell as before, no doubt about it. She’s trying to trap me in the darkness. Last time it was so scary... I could have never made it out if Jeord and Keith hadn’t been with me. But this time, it’s different. I know how to get out.

I visualized my skull wand, something that I was now well used to doing. I immediately felt its weight in my hand, and I clenched my fingers around it. Then, I waved the wand and visualized the darkness disappearing. A small dot of light popped up in front of me and started sucking up all the darkness surrounding it.

Perfect! I did it.

Soon I was out of the darkness and back into the forest, where Sarah was standing in front of me, looking terribly annoyed.

“So you really can fight my spell that easily... Well then, how about this?” she taunted me, raising her arm for the third time. I knew that when she swung it back down it would make yet another dark spell come forth.

Seeing how there wasn’t that much distance between us, I rushed toward her and took her arm in my hand, stopping her from moving it. It was extremely thin—worryingly so.

“Listen. I want to talk this out with you,” I pleaded.

“Wh-What are you saying?” she asked in disbelief. The shock on her face, for once, looked genuine, which made me feel some relief.

“You seem to hate me for some reason, but I don’t hate you. I want to know more about you, and I want to understand you. That’s why I’d like to talk,” I explained, still holding her arm.

Her black eyes were as wide as those of a frightened child as she stared into mine.

“Look...” I tried to continue, but she shook my hand off, lowered her hood over her face, and rushed into the forest as if she was trying to run away from me.

She looks so...defenseless.

“In the end, we still didn’t manage to talk...” I sighed to myself as Sarah disappeared between the trees.

★★★★★★★

I, the girl they called Sarah, was aimlessly running through the forest. I didn’t know where I was going, but I felt like I couldn’t stop. If I did, that weird feeling in my chest would have taken over me.

I’d always thought that Katarina Claes was a weird woman, but today I learned that she was even weirder than I’d ever imagined.

She wants to talk with me? Know me? Understand me? I’ve never heard such strange things. What is wrong with her?

The calm, peaceful way she’d looked at me when she said those things made them even worse. It was the first time that anyone had ever looked at me like that... Or was it?

Maybe, long ago, someone else had looked at me that way. Before my father had stopped coming back home, my mother would give me that same calm look as she caressed my head. And when my father disappeared and my mother started ignoring me, that one boy would smile kindly at me.

And even before that, my father...

When I was taken by darkness, I had shut all those memories away to protect my heart. I lived without thinking, doing only what was ordered of me. Now, because of that cursed Claes woman, those memories had started resurfacing.

It had been a very long day...

“Mom, I’m ba—”

I opened the door to find unfamiliar men inside my house. Scared by that sight, I looked around for my mother, before finally seeing her lying down on the floor beyond the strange intruders. One glance was enough to understand that she had no life left in her.

I let out a scream that cannot be described with words, and I felt something explode inside of me. My whole body was taken over by a burst of heat.

“Hey, this kid’s got magic! We’re supposed to kill her too, but... What should we do?”

“Magic kids can come in handy. Let’s take her back with us for now.”

“And what about the body?”

“Orders are to just make sure she doesn’t get found.”

The men talked amongst themselves, but I couldn’t really hear them. I kept screaming and hugging myself.

I feel so hot... Mom... Mom!

All of a sudden, I saw a dark shadow appear in front of me and felt a sharp pain in my stomach. The last things to go through my head as I lost consciousness were the kind mother I no longer had and the red-haired boy’s kind face.

Why am I remembering these things all of a sudden?

Tears—something I thought I couldn’t shed—were coming down from my eyes.

My heart was throbbing,

throbbing with pain,

sadness,

longing,

grief.

I ran even faster, overflowing with unfamiliar emotions. I kept plunging through the trees, scratching my face, hands, and feet against the branches, hoping that I would soon go back to normal.

★★★★★★★

I was staring at the forest into which the woman had disappeared before realizing that I had more important things to do. Ronnie was still wounded, and I had sent him to call for Larna. I needed to tell him as soon as possible that he didn’t have to rush anymore, or he’d be putting a lot of undue stress on his already weakened body.

Even though I ran back as fast as I could, by the time I’d reached Ronnie I was almost back at his home. He noticed me and we just stood there for a while, staring at each other, gasping for air from all the running. That must have been a pretty funny sight.

“Hah... Hah... Th-Thank you...for going back all this way...running...” I gasped as soon as I had enough breath to do so.

“Huff... Huff... D-Don’t worry... Haah... I wasn’t even...going all in...” he replied, still wheezing.

He ran all this way just because I asked him to, and he jumped in front of me without a second thought to save me from that snake... He’s such a good guy. Oh, right!

“Ronnie, show me your arm!” I commanded, and I took a closer look at it. The black bruise hadn’t grown any bigger or darker, but it hadn’t shrunk at all either.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“It’s not that big of a deal, really,” he answered nonchalantly, but as I touched his bruise, he clearly writhed in pain.

What kind of spell could this be?

“I’m sorry this happened to you because of me...”

“I was the one who decided to jump in front of that snake,” he told me, but ultimately it had all been for my sake. And to think the poor guy had been injured enough by his father already.

I wondered whether Maria’s Light Magic could fix his bruise—Light Magic could cure wounds, but unfortunately it had failed to work that one time that Keith had been...cursed or whatever.

Maybe I can just pull it off, like with that curse thing... I thought, and I tried doing so, but to no avail. Okay, that didn’t work... What about absorbing it like I did with the black fog? Might as well try.

I put one hand behind my back, so that Ronnie wouldn’t see it, and I made my skull wand appear. With a flick of the wrist, I visualized the bruise being sucked away into nothingness, and...

“Wh-What’s that? That black thing is, like, rising...” Ronnie exclaimed, surprised by how the bruise was leaving his body and disappearing behind my back. “What is going on?!”

I did it! I’m great!

“Can you tell me what is going on?!” he repeated his question, probably understanding that I’d used magic on him. I couldn’t really explain what I’d done, though, since Dark Magic was involved.

I tried to come up with a good excuse...and failed. “It’s, ummm, a trade secret. Can’t talk about the details.”

“Oh, right... You work at the Ministry too.”

Thankfully he didn’t know much about magic, and just assumed that this was a normal thing.

“So, does your arm still hurt?” I asked.

“The pain went away along with the bruise...” he replied, much to my relief. I still wanted Maria to take a look at him, but at least it seemed that the worst was behind us.

“I can’t fix your other wounds though. We’ll need someone else to take care of those,” I explained, looking at all the other non-magical bruises he still had because of his father.

He shook his head. “Forget about those. They’re my own fault.”

“I can’t just forget about it! You’re all battered up, and I made you run on top of that. Also, it’s not your fault that your father beat you up.”

In hindsight, his father had probably been so hard on him because Ronnie had tried to take him away from Dewey. Whether or not that was the case, Ronnie certainly wasn’t to blame for his father’s violence.

He again declined. “It is though. Anyway, you should stop worrying about me and go home. Aren’t your friends waiting for you?”

However, I had no intention of giving up this time. “No. I won’t go home until I’ve seen your wounds treated and you and your brother having a proper discussion.”

“What’s your problem, girl?” He looked shocked. “I’ve already said I don’t want him to have anything to do with us anymore.”

“Because it’d weigh him down, right?”

“Right. He doesn’t need any of us ignorant, useless lot.”

“You can’t be so harsh with yourself. Forget about weighing him down. Dewey is proud of you, you know.”

“Because I look after the others? I’m just doing that because nobody else would.”

He really doesn’t want to admit it... Getting through to him isn’t going to be easy.

“It’s obvious how much you care about them...and you even took the risk to protect me, a stranger, before running for help despite how hurt you were.”

Normally you wouldn’t do that for someone you’d just met a few minutes earlier.

“That was just in the heat of the moment...”

“Even so, that’s not something that just anybody would do. You’re a great person! You’re kind and strong,” I declared, pumping my fists.

“She’s right!” a voice nearby called out. I looked in that direction and found Dewey, also pumping his fists, standing besides Maria.

Oh, Maria brought him back! Way to go!

“You’re always looking out for the rest of us! I know you work the hardest of all, and you don’t even use the money you make for yourself! You use it for our siblings, because you’re so kind!” Dewey told his brother.

“How long have you been listening?” wondered Ronnie, half-distressed and half-embarrassed.

“Since you said that you don’t want me to have anything to do with you anymore... I didn’t know you thought you’d weigh me down or anything like that.”

Ronnie covered his face with his hand and let out a big sigh. Dewey had heard the part that his brother most wanted to hide.

“There’s no point in hiding it since you’ve already heard it... It’s just as I said. You fought your way out of this misery. The rest of us would just drag you down, so—”

“That’s not true!” Dewey interrupted his brother. He was so passionate in saying those words that his face had turned red.

That was the first time I ever heard Dewey yell. Despite his young age, he was always calm and collected.

“Why would you drag me down? If it weren’t for you, I’d never have been able to join the Ministry!”

Ronnie, slightly taken aback by his brother’s outburst, replied, “I didn’t do anything. You were the one who put in all the effort.”

“No way you ‘didn’t do anything.’ Back then, I was so intent on doing my best that I didn’t even notice, but after I started working at the Ministry and I could catch my breath, I realized just how much you supported me,” Dewey countered, approaching his brother and taking his hands. “You used to do part of my share of work, didn’t you? How else would I be able to do a whole day’s worth of work after coming back from school?”

Ronnie didn’t answer, but the way he was blushing left little room for doubt.

“I respected you back then, and I respect you now. So don’t say that you’d just drag me down!” Dewey shouted at his brother.

After standing in silence for a few moments, Ronnie finally replied. “I’ve always been so proud of you. We all have. You scored a job that good even though nobody ever handed you anything. That’s why we wanted you to be free to enjoy the life you deserve.”

Dewey started crying, but I suspected those probably weren’t tears of sadness. “I started studying and putting in all that effort because I wanted a better life for myself, it’s true. But the only reason I kept at it was because I wanted a better life for you and all our other siblings too!”

“Dewey...”

“So, don’t run away from me like that! Let’s all leave that terrible life behind us!”

It seemed that Dewey’s words had finally reached Ronnie’s heart.

“You’re right.” The older brother nodded.

Maria and I, deeply moved, were looking at them from the sidelines.

“They are such good brothers,” she commented.

“Yes,” I immediately agreed.

Now that Dewey and Ronnie had finally overcome their misunderstandings, we could all go back to their house. The two brothers apparently wanted to talk with all the rest of their siblings.

That makes sense... Even though they know they have each other’s backs, they really have to do something about those parents. They’re the cause of all the problems in that family. Even if all the kids got away with Dewey’s help, that deadbeat dad of theirs could come after them.

Maria and I told Dewey to ask us for help if he needed anything, and he said that he would. It seemed that today’s events had changed him for the better, teaching him that it was okay to rely on others.

When we reached his home, I was ready to fight their horrible father with all the strength I had in me, but I was met by a surprising scene.

“Umm...huh?”

Dewey’s dad was nowhere to be seen. Instead, all of his siblings were cleaning up the house, helped by a bunch of people I’d never seen before. Since Larna was giving them orders left and right, they were probably her subordinates.

“Miss Larna...? What is happening?” a befuddled Dewey inquired.

“Oh, Dewey,” she replied with a serious face, “I heard that your parents couldn’t find a job, so I ‘found’ one for them. The employer will provide their accommodation, and they were to start immediately, so I sent them on their way. They’ll be busy for a while, so if you want to contact them, just go through me.”

That all sounded wonderful...except for how it was obviously a lie. Dewey’s parents forced their children to work so that they didn’t have to, so I was sure that Larna was to blame for their alleged sudden change of heart.

However, despite noticing how suspicious that story sounded, Dewey didn’t seem in the least bit concerned—if anything, he looked relieved to find out that his parents had basically been kidnapped. That reaction told you everything you needed to know about what he thought of them, and all of his siblings also looked more relaxed than earlier.

“And...why are my siblings cleaning up?” Dewey asked.

“So they can leave,” answered Larna casually.

“Leave...? They’re leaving the house?!”

“Can’t have them stay here on their own now that your parents are away ‘working,’ can we? I heard that one of your brothers is of age, but looking after this many children would be too much for him. I’m having them move to an apartment managed by the Ministry, where they’ll be looked after as needed,” she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Those children had been living here basically on their own for their whole lives, but Larna, who wasn’t going to stand for that, had immediately arranged for them to move. She really was a capable superior.

“But we don’t have enough money to move...” Ronnie had gone pale with fear.

“Don’t worry, your parents are going to pay for that with their new job. And the Ministry’s lodgings aren’t that expensive, so part of Dewey’s salary will be more than enough. I’ll even find you a real new job, if you want,” Larna replied, leaving the young man shocked and almost unable to accept this much kindness.

However, when Dewey lowered his head and thanked Larna, his brother seemed convinced, and he did the same.

“Just leave it all to me,” Larna assured them, sounding very pleased with herself.

And so, it was decided that all of Dewey’s siblings would move to a proper house, and Ronnie would also get a new job. That was sure to make Dewey feel very relieved too.

After that discussion was over, I explained to Larna how we had run into Sarah and how she had hit Ronnie with a Dark Magic spell which I then removed.

“How did she even find you?! Does she follow your smell or something? Or is it magic? Hmm. This is very interesting...”

Larna had a point—last time could have been a coincidence, but today Sarah had clearly been looking for me.

Do I...smell that strong?

“From the way you say she ran away, she probably isn’t going to come back all that soon. However, keep this. For safety.” She handed me something that looked like a small egg with a piece of string coming out of it.

“If you’re ever in trouble, pull on that string. The device will make a loud noise and another device which I have on me will notify me of it. Use that if Sarah comes at you again,” she explained.

Oh, so it’s just like the key chain alarms that kids used in my old world... She must have made this with magic.

“But, you know, I have to ask you,” she continued, “you do have a familiar, right? Why don’t you use that when you need help?”

“Oh, that’s right! I’d forgotten about him! Again.”

Pochi, my Dark Familiar, was a very good boy. He would always come to the rescue, as long as I remembered to call out to him. Unfortunately, that almost never happened, since I tended to think of him as just a pet.

“I will try to remember next time...” I promised my superior, who was giving me the most dejected look ever.

“Please do... Even though I hope there will be no such next time,” she replied with a deep nod.

I was actually supposed to report all those happenings with Sarah to the Ministry, but Larna, not wanting to keep me busy on my day off once again, offered to do it instead, based on what I’d told her.

“But isn’t it a day off for you too?” I asked.

“Don’t worry. It’s basically a hobby for me,” she replied.

Both she and Maria looked at Ronnie’s arm, and they found nothing wrong with it. The latter even fixed the rest of his wounds with her Light Magic, and Ronnie was extremely impressed and just as grateful. Along with Dewey, he was now going to help the rest of their siblings prepare to move.

Maria and I wanted to help as well, but we were told that there were already more than enough people there—including those that Larna had called—and that we should just head back.

“It’s still a bit early to go home though...” I observed, looking at the sun still high in the sky.

“In that case...would you like to stop by my house?” Maria shyly suggested.

“Of course! We’ve come all this way after all, and I bet you want to stop by too!” I agreed, and so our next stop was decided.

The two of us, accompanied by Pochi, whom Larna had told me to call out just in case, headed toward Maria’s house, this time walking on a proper paved street. The trail that Ronnie and I had been running on earlier was little more than a footpath through the forest, cleared to allow some construction work nearby.

Poor Ronnie had to use that path to go to work every day... At least now Larna will introduce him to a proper job, and he won’t have to worry about his other siblings as much. It’s been a tough life for him, but I hope he’ll be happy now.

While thinking about the future of the Percy family and discussing it with Maria, we kept walking until we had almost reached her house.

“It’s been so long since I last met your mother. I should have brought a present or something.”

“I failed to mention this to you, but...given the time of the day, my mother is unlikely to be at home. She will probably be at work,” Maria replied, looking troubled.

“Really? She won’t be there?”

“I think so. I am sorry I did not mention this to you earlier.”

“Oh, don’t worry. That’s not a problem. But then, why do you want to go home?” I had thought that the only reason she wanted to visit was to see her mom.

“I thought that maybe...my father might be there.”

“Your father...”

I suddenly realized that, in all the time we’d known each other, I’d barely ever heard Maria mention her father.

If he’s home at this time of the day, does that mean he works nights? But wait, then why wasn’t he home when I met Maria’s mom?

I had a few doubts, but Maria started speaking before I could voice any of them.

“Actually, I haven’t really spoken with my father since my magic powers first appeared...” she confessed.

I was utterly surprised. She and her mother seemed to be on such good terms that I’d assumed the same was true for her and her father as well.

“Wasn’t that...a real long time ago?”

“Yes. I was five years old at the time.”

That’s pretty much her whole life! She’s been living with this issue for more than a decade?!

“Since both my parents are commoners, having a baby who could use magic made them the subject of a lot of unpleasant talk,” she sadly explained.

For the first time ever, I properly understood the circumstances around Maria’s childhood.

As a noble, having magic powers was a normal, good thing. Those around me praised me just for being born like that. However, that didn’t apply to commoners, who usually had no magic. My brother Keith, for example, was born from an escapade between a nobleman and a commoner woman...and most people probably assumed that this was the case for Maria too.

When I first visited this town, I noticed that everyone knew where Maria’s house was. I thought that it was just a really close-knit neighborhood, but maybe the truth wasn’t that pleasant. Maybe Maria’s family was just treated like an object of gossip, given that a magical baby being born in a town this small was a very rare occurrence.

“And then my father stopped coming home...” she continued, sadly lowering her face before quickly raising it again, this time with her eyes full of resolve. “But seeing what happened with Dewey made up my mind. I must do something about this. I told Dewey that he has to speak with his family to properly understand the situation, but I lacked the courage to do so myself. However, I will not run away from the truth anymore. I want to try to speak with my father.”

Maria was a special person—not only could she use Light Magic, but she effectively was the main character of this entire world. At the same time, she was just a girl the same age as me with all her troubles and fears. However, she was ready to face her weaknesses and move forward. This is what truly made her special.

“I can’t do anything for you, but I’ll be by your side,” I told her, taking her hands into mine.

“Thank you.” She smiled. “When you are by my side, I feel like I could do anything.”

We kept walking, hand in hand, all the way to her house.