Several hours earlier.

It was just as Egru’s front door was broken down.

Soldiers in golden armor invaded the house. They bore the seal of the Imperial Palace, not the Papal Headquarters. Egru asked, trembling:

“Wh-who are you…?”

“Are you a demon hybrid?”

“Well, it’s obvious just by looking at him.”

The Imperial soldiers were surprisingly calm for having just broken down the door. If anything, they seemed displeased about visiting the filthy Easthole.

“Come with us right now.”

“Wh-why?”

“…We received a report.”

“It’s an imperial order. We need to conduct an interrogation at headquarters, so come quietly.”

The threatening soldier’s gaze fell on Egru’s wrist.

“Wait, why doesn’t this one have a bracelet? Hybrids staying in the system are required to wear one.”

“Should we put one on him now?”

“I-I was about to leave the system soon…”

Egru retreated hesitantly.

“Ugh…!”

But an Imperial soldier roughly grabbed Egru’s forearm.

As his skinny arm was squeezed by the rough grip, a throbbing pain surged through him.

“Is this necessary? We don’t have time, just knock him out.”

“He’s clearly not worth much. You can tell by how he’s hiding in Easthole, which isn’t even a demon-concentrated area.”

Egru struggled with all his might. His heart was pounding so hard it hurt. Whatever it was, he instinctively knew.

Going with these people would be dangerous.

“He-help…!”

Egru closed his mouth as he was about to call for help. No one would stand up for a demon hybrid. Egru squeezed his eyes shut.

‘I have to do this alone, all by myself…!’

He opened his trembling lips as wide as he could.

“Hey, stay still!”

“Ugh, damn it!”

Egru bit the soldier’s hand with all his might. As soon as the grip on his forearm loosened, he slung his bundle of belongings over his shoulder. The sound of bare feet dashing across the house echoed.

“Damn it, this hybrid bastard! What if he’s contagious?”

“You idiot, how could you let him go?”

Thud.

It was then that the demon stone fell out of the bundle.

“Ah…!”

Egru whirled around. It seemed to have rolled out of the poorly tied cheese pouch.

‘Oh no…’

I need to return it to D’Élysée. His steps faltered as he was about to turn back. The burly Imperial soldiers were approaching with large strides.

Tears welled up in his amber eyes. There was no time for prolonged sobbing.

Egru climbed up to the window. The pale green silhouette, unable to turn back in the end, escaped through the back window.

Then it was just running. He pumped his short legs until he was out of breath.

“Damn it! Hey, give me that! Quickly! We’re going to lose him at this rate!”

One of the Imperial soldiers irritably grabbed a crossbow.

“You vermin! Today’s the last day you’ll see the light!”

“Shoot his legs. They said it’s hard to convert corpses.”

“Ha, is that really necessary?”

The Imperial soldier said, aiming the crossbow. The arrowhead precisely targeted the pale green back.

“The point is to capture him alive, right?”

The crossbow string was drawn taut. Twang. With a short noise, the sharp arrow shot forward in a straight line.

The sound of running footsteps continued a bit longer. But it gradually slowed, then thump.

The Imperial soldiers high-fived each other.

***

“Brother.”

At the sound of his young brother’s voice, Egru’s eyes flew open. His blurry vision focused on the small, youthful face of his brother.

‘Wh-what’s going on?’

Was D’Élysée ever this young?

‘A-and this is the brick house.’

It had been a long time since he’d been anywhere near it, due to Levian’s insistence.

He felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Before his mind could fully wake up—

“Big brother…”

Egru suddenly sat up and hugged his brother. His young brother was crying.

“Levian hit me.”

“Wh-what?”

“Here…”

Egru was shocked. There was a large bruise on the forehead his brother showed him, sniffling. At a glance, there were even traces of a nosebleed. Before he could even think ‘it can’t be,’ his amber eyes grew hot.

“Oh no, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”

“Why are you sorry, brother?”

D’Élysée, who was tightly hugging Egru, asked casually.

“Can’t we leave?”

D’Élysée buried his face deeper into Egru’s chest.

“I want to move. Somewhere without Levian.”

Levian was Egru’s only friend. He was like family, someone he had been close to for a long time despite their bickering.

“…Okay.”

But Egru completely trusted his brother’s words. How could he not? He couldn’t question his already hurt brother about the details. He avoided the act itself. He couldn’t even imagine how much more painful it would be if his only family doubted his sincerity.

At that very moment, his vision changed. As if a die had been cast, space and time twisted in an instant.

“?”

Now Egru was standing in front of Levian. It was the familiar Guildmaster’s office. Egru took a step forward. Despite the surreal situation, he no longer felt a sense of dissonance. He melted into the scene as if in a dream.

“D-did you hit D’Élysée?”

“What?”

Levian frowned, roughly stubbing out his cigar.

“Fuck, did that insolent brat say that? No, yesterday I was drunk…”

Why isn’t he denying it? Egru’s face turned pale. Now he couldn’t hear a word of Levian’s excuses.

“Why! Why did you do that! To my brother! Why!”

“No, listen to me first! Fuck, I got hit more! Do you know how many times I was hit with a broom when I went over last night because you were sleeping and told me not to come in? I just gave him a little smack on the head because he was being cheeky…”

“S-still, you shouldn’t! Violence is wrong! Why! Why did you hit my brother!”

Egru pushed Levian hard, even though he was trembling. But the other didn’t budge an inch.

“He was really! Really hurt! He had a lot of nosebleed!”

“What? Nosebleed? What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t even touch him that much…!”

“Don’t ever, ever lay a hand on D’Élysée again! I really won’t stand for it next time!”

“…What are you going to do if you don’t stand for it?”

Levian instantly grabbed Egru’s collar. Egru’s boots lifted off the ground.

“What can you do? Do you think you’d amount to anything without me, fuck?”

“Ugh…”

Egru burst into tears. He sobbed, tears streaming down his face.

“Birds of a feather…”

Levian roughly threw down the collar and turned away. Egru repeatedly wiped his eyes with his wet sleeve.

The fact that it was Levian who had hit his brother came as the biggest shock. He thought they were closer than anyone. He couldn’t stop crying, feeling sorry for his brother.

No matter how hard he tried to stand up to him, Levian wasn’t scared at all.

Because he had no abilities. Because he was stupid enough to incur a massive debt.

He didn’t have the strength to properly protect even one brother.

“L-let’s move, D’Élysée.”

Back at the brick house, Egru said with swollen eyes. His young brother’s pale green eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Really…”

“Wow! I’m so excited! Brother, you’re the best!”

Egru smiled softly as his brother hugged him tightly.

The next morning, Egru opened the drawers one by one, stepping on them to climb up. Eventually, it formed a staircase-like structure. From the high cabinet came a glass jar piggy bank he had been secretly collecting. It was an emergency fund he had saved bit by bit, eating and spending less of his own share.

“?”

It hadn’t accumulated as much as he thought. It was far from enough even for one person’s carriage fare.

“Brother, brother.”

“What, what is it, D’Élysée?”

“I saw Levian messing with that before.”

“What?”

“Levian is tall, right? He took something with his long arms.”

“…I see. Thank you for telling me, D’Élysée.”

Egru carefully came down, holding the clinking glass jar. The first destination was the large carriage rest stop.

“H-how much is the carriage fare?”

“…”

The coachman just looked down at Egru without answering. It was the only carriage that operated to villages outside the system.

Suddenly, he noticed a sign hanging on the horse’s neck. Egru focused on the numerical units. Then he counted the coins in his possession one by one.

“Um, well, you see…”

Egru mustered his courage and asked haltingly.

“I-I don’t have enough for the carriage fare… Is it possible to pay for just one person if I hold my brother on my lap?”

“…”

“Or, or I can stand! My legs are really strong!”

“Sigh.”

The coachman let out a sigh for some reason.

“…Come back before sunset.”

“R-really? Thank you! Thank you so much!”

The coachman’s answer gave him hope. Egru bowed repeatedly, expressing his gratitude. It had been a long time since he felt things going so well.

Now all that was left was to find money for one carriage ticket.

“I-I’d like to receive my overdue wages from before…”

Egru visited one of the workplaces where he used to work. It was a factory that packaged cotton textiles for export. The manager looked Egru up and down and said:

“The boss will be in tomorrow morning. Come back then.”

Egru knew the boss wouldn’t be there then either. It was a futile errand that had been repeated several times already.

“Th-this time it’s really urgent. It’s already two months overdue…”

“Making a fuss over just two months. Be grateful we even hire hybrids.”

“E-even a little would be fine. Please, I really need it. It’s a very urgent matter…”

“Ah, just get out already! Stop bothering me unnecessarily!”

“P-please don’t be like that, just once…”

Slap.

It was then that Egru’s amber vision spun. His left cheek turned red.

“You hybrid bastard, you can’t even understand what I’m saying! How can I give you money when I’m not the boss?”

“Pl-please…”

Still, Egru didn’t give up. If standing didn’t work, he grabbed onto the man’s trouser leg. He begged and pleaded, getting trampled on, until blood started flowing from his nose.

“Damn, you stubborn bastard…”

The manager threw a few coins at him, as if disgusted.

“Eat and get lost!”

Egru collected the money with a blank face. It was far less than his overdue wages, but by collecting like this, penny by penny, he finally had enough for the carriage fare. It was thanks to repeatedly visiting and begging at every shop that owed him wages.

“Sniff.”

Egru looked at a clock through a transparent shop window. He also looked at the sky. The sun was about to set.

Fortunately, there was still some time left. Speed was of the essence if he wanted to escape the system without Levian knowing.

He packed all of his meager belongings and left a letter. He wrote that he would return when he had money. He would definitely repay the huge debt, so please wait for him.