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“Haa… Haa…!” Lichter ran.

He had clean drinking water, baguettes, cheese, and the best part, skewered meat from a street vendor. Lichter ran with a lot of food under his arms. He’d thought about saving it, but this was the first time he had ever held a silver coin in his hand.

However, this Lichter’s young heart had grown impudent, resulting in him spending it. A decision he would later regret.

(Tieck, wait for me!)

Lichter was sure his brother would be overjoyed. Lichter was proud of himself as an older brother and couldn’t wait to see his brother’s happy face.

He glanced up at the sky. The purple began to melt into the orange sky, and before long, the sun began to set.

Inhaling the air that was beginning to turn cold at night, Lichter’s mind grew calmer and more rational.

“I guess I’d better hurry a bit.”

It had only been yesterday that their ‘father’ had thrown a tantrum. It would be unbearable if the same repeated again today. Lichter hurried home.

◇

“This is strange.”

After some time, Lichter sensed the anomaly lingering in the air.

The cold village where he lived was northeast in direction. Here, the sun rose the earliest, while also setting before anywhere else. Despite this, the sky was unusually bright.

It was unlikely that a festival would be held unexpectedly in that poor, modest, cold village.

With the strange feeling in his heart, Lichter continued running. After a while, he saw many adults running from the direction of the village. Everyone’s face was distorted, and they all looked like they were trying desperately to escape from something.

These were adults from the village whom Lichter knew.

“Wait! What’s going on?!”

Lichter called out to them, but the adults passed by him without stopping, panting and gasping for breath. However, not only did they not stop, the wave of adults pushed against Lichter’s small body, knocking Lichter on his butt.

“H-Hey!”

The adults left.

A seed of doubt sprouted deep in Lichter’s chest as he watched their backs grow smaller and smaller.

“It can’t be…”

Lichter muttered anxiously, before standing up. He had no time to waste. He hid the food he had bought in a cave in a grove of trees off the road, shoved a single rusty knife into his pocket, and ran off.

Lichter ran with all he had. His heart was raging violently, stashed away in his petite frame as he ran through the grassy fields. Unspeakable anxiety seemed to fill his entire body, carried by his blood.

After running for a while, the entire village came into view. Even from a distance, one could see that the village was filled with a red hue, unlike its usual desolate appearance. The village was sparkling with fire, and something black was roaming on the streets.

Lichter’s heart sank. The village was being attacked by Demons. No, it would be more correct to say that it had already been destroyed by them.

“Tieck!”

Lichter couldn’t help but shout his brother’s name. Neither his ‘father’ nor their home was on his mind. He was solely worried for his brother, who was waiting for Lichter to come home. After all, Tieck would be in the village at this time.

Sliding under the village gate, Lichter ran through the back streets and roofs to the heart of the village. Flames and screams engulfed the area. Lichter felt as if his heart was breaking at the unfamiliar appearance of his home village.

“Tieck! Please… Be safe!” Lichter muttered, almost as if praying.

However, in this space filled with the smell of ashes and blood, it was too slim a hope. Like a rat in a sewer, Lichter slithered through the Demons and finally made his way to the front of their house.

“Tieck! Where are you?!”

Their house had collapsed. The house, which could only be described as a rag-and-bone shack, had been leveled to the ground only after being exposed to the fires for a short time.

Tieck would normally be in the house at this time. Blood quickly drained from Lichter’s face. However–

“Big bro!”
“Tieck?!”

Lichter’s heart leapt. There was no mistaking that voice for his brother’s. As he ran around the rubble in a circle…

“Tieck!”
“Big bro… You came!”

…Tieck was there. Both his legs were crushed by the rubble, but he was definitely there.

His young brother was crawling on the ground and within his tear filled eyes, Lichter could see a mixture of pain and joy.

“Tieck… Just what is going on here?”
“Bro… It hurts… It hurts!”

Tieck gripped Lichter’s clothes with all his might.

From the thighs down, his body looked like a crushed tomato. The flowing blood continued to stain the beam that clutched Tieck’s red-colored legs.

“W-Wait for me! Your bro will do something!”
“O-Okay! Thank you big bro!”

Calmly, but with a racing heart, Lichter picked up a piece of wood nearby. He inserted it under the beam that held Tieck’s legs and tried to push it up using the principle of leverage.

“Hyaa!”

However, it did not budge at all. Though it wasn’t surprising considering Lichter was still a child.

“Damn it… Damn it!”

Demons’ laughter and innumerable human screams reverberated throughout the area surrounding them… all the while Lichter’s chest was being gripped by the fiery hand that kept burning down the wrecked hut. He had no leeway, nor did he have time.

Lichter’s irritation at the beam’s stubborn refusal to move was at an all-time high.

“Big bro… It hurts! It’s hot! Please, help me!”
“It’s alright. It’s all going to be alright. Your big bro will do something!”

But nothing changed.

The time just continued to pass, while the fear of not knowing when the Demons would come back gripped at the brothers’ hearts… It was then that–

“Hey! Lichter! Get over here and help me!”

Lichter heard the voice of their ‘father’.

“What?”

Upon looking, a short distance away, the man was also under the rubble, just like Tieck.

Compared to his brother, the trauma to his legs was clearly less severe, and his prominent arms managed to float through the debris. It seemed like he could escape with just a little help.

However–

“Are you dumb? Like hell I’d help you.”

Lichter said in a sneering manner. He believed this was divine punishment. Lichter put in even more strength trying to move the beam crushing his brother, completely turning a blind eye to their ‘father’.

“Y-You fool! Get over here and help me!”
“And why should I?!”
“I know what you want to say. But this is exactly the kind of situation where you need more hands! This is not the time to bring up personal grudges! People’s lives are at stake! I can help you save Tieck! You know that you can’t move s̲h̲i̲t̲ with those baby arms of yours! That’s why you should save me first!”

The man’s words rang true, and Lichter knew it. As the man had said, this was an emergency and personal feelings came second. Even so, Lichter couldn’t move. He was being held down by his pride and his sheer distrust of the man.

“……”
“Hurry it up! If you don’t, both you and your brother will die!”
“Damn it!” Lichter cursed, knowing that now was no time to be picky.

Lichter pulled out a square piece of wood and inserted it under the rubble covering the man.

“Arghhhh!!!”

As he exerted himself, the rubble lifted up slightly.

With a boost from Lichter’s strength, the man pushed back from the rubble with his arms full of power.

The man, flushed and trembling, was finally able to crawl out from under the rubble.
Rolling over, he got up and cleaned off the dirt on his clothes.

“Phew! That was a close one.”
“Good, good! Now help me get Tieck out! Lend me your strength!”
“Hehehe… Thanks.”
“H-Hey…”

The man chuckled.