Chapter 37: Upheaval (5)
Chapter 37: Upheaval (5)
“I don’t want to! I like Aska! I don’t want to go to the capital! I like it here, where Aska is!”
“With Jin’s talent, once you start learning magic there, you’ll soon be able to travel back and forth easily using warp magic. It’s a great opportunity.”
“No, no. I like seeing Aska like this much more!”
Faced with Jin’s firm and unhesitating resistance, it was Aska who finally relented.
“I see… Well, if that’s what you prefer, Jin, then I won’t force you.”
Aska folded the letter and turned to Jin with a gentle smile, the expression Jin liked best. Watching his own reflection in that smile, Jin’s face melted into a grin like diluted paint soaking into water.
Aska reached out and stroked his hair, adding softly, “I don’t want to be apart from you either, Jin.”
Those words made Jin so overwhelmingly happy, he threw his arms around Aska and buried his face in his chest.
But at the time, Jin had no idea what tragedy was about to come.
Had he known, he would never have made that choice.
And that choice, he would come to regret with all his heart until death.
* * *
People often say they have a bad feeling, even on ordinary days. But the truth is, there are no real omens for things that have no cause.
There are no exceptions, not even for a poor child who, always a step behind others, learned everything the hard way but eventually found his share of happiness; not even for a young magician with monstrous potential to shake the world.
Swept along by the tide of time, most of his old memories had faded, but that day, Jin remembered every single scene in vivid detail.
The day the catastrophe struck and turned his life upside down.
* * *
That day was the one Jin looked forward to most each week, Aska’s visiting day.
That morning, when Aska arrived, the weather was perfect, not a single speck of cloud in the sky. Such clear skies were rare. Wanting to enjoy the day, Jin and Aska skipped class and went to the small garden inside the orphanage.
It was late spring, and the garden was lush with grass and flowers, the air warm with sunlight and stirred by a gentle breeze.
Jin’s gaze never left Aska, from the moment they stepped into the garden hand in hand, to when they sat down together at its center. Aska looked up at the sky, letting the breeze wash over him, then lowered his eyes to the flowers and gently touched a petal.
Jin watched every little movement without missing a beat, smiling innocently. Just watching him filled Jin with warmth and happiness.
Sensing that unwavering gaze, Aska suddenly turned to him. Seeing his own reflection in Jin’s glittering golden eyes and the pure affection shining within them, he smiled and patted Jin’s head.
“You see my face all the time, don’t you? Look at these flowers instead. They’ll wither before long, so you should see them while you can. Especially since we skipped class to come out here.”
His voice was as tender as his touch. Jin shifted his gaze to the colorful blooms. He spotted a row of white roses.
Careful not to prick himself on the thorns, he reached out and gently tapped the petals of a white rose, the same kind Aska had touched. The softness spread pleasantly from his fingertips. Then, Jin looked back at Aska.
Having watched him closely for so long with such affection, Jin noticed right away that Aska looked at white roses with a slightly deeper gaze than he did other flowers.
Jin wanted to fill the world with white roses just for Aska, but quickly realized he didn’t know any magic like that. So, he asked impulsively.
“Isn’t there a spell for this kind of thing?”
“This kind of thing?”
“Um… like… a spell to make flowers bloom like this.”
Lacking the vocabulary to express himself properly, Jin frowned a little in frustration and looked back down at the white rose he’d been fiddling with.
Aska glanced between the rose and his pupil, smiling.
“Manipulating the flow of time with magic is impossible. Time belongs to the gods; it’s purely a part of nature. Flowers blooming is part of time’s domain, so magic can’t create real blossoms. However…”
Trailing off, Aska pulled out a piece of paper and a pen he’d brought with him. He carefully sketched a magic circle onto it. Then, with a spell spoken in a voice soft as the spring breeze, light bloomed from the circle and a few white roses appeared. Aska handed one to Jin. It looked just like a real rose.
Jin took it, eyes wide with curiosity as he looked between the flower and Aska. The older man continued.
“Creating shapes like this from nature isn’t difficult. It’s only an imitation, though, not a real flower. It’s a rose made of magic. Spells like these that aren’t for combat are mostly useless… but if you’re curious, would you like me to teach you?”
“Yes!”
But then…
“Aaaaahhh!”
“Kyaaah!”
Screams erupted from inside the orphanage building, high-pitched cries full of fear and pain, too raw to be from a simple argument or accident.
Though they couldn’t see inside, the sound alone shattered the peaceful atmosphere like glass.
Startled, Aska and Jin froze, turning their heads toward the source of the cries.
Then came thudding crashes and the sound of objects breaking, piercing through the screams like blades. Jin flinched. Aska jumped to his feet. As Jin turned to look at him, something caught his eye.
A splash of red smeared across the glass window.
Jin froze in place. His face drained of all color, a chill crawling over his skin.
Even a child could recognize what that thick red liquid was, streaking down the clear pane.
Blood.
Jin’s body locked up in horror. Peace had shattered.
Suddenly, everything went dark. Aska’s warm, large hand covered Jin’s eyes.
“What… what is this, all of a sudden…?”
Aska’s voice, murmuring blankly above his head, was soft but disoriented. Then, as if something clicked, he abruptly fell silent.
The terrible noises continued to erupt around them. Even without his sight, Jin realized something awful.
The sounds weren’t just coming from inside the building. They were coming from beyond the outer wall as well.
Jin’s body trembled. Aska turned him around to face away from the building and pulled him into a tight embrace, Jin’s face pressed to his chest. In a low, steady voice, he whispered.
“Jin. Just stay like this for a moment. Don’t look back.”
But Jin’s senses were sharpened now. He noticed it right away. That calm voice was trembling, just slightly.
As Aska’s arms moved behind his back, hastily doing something, he spoke again.
“Jin, is there anything around here…”
The words cut off as a deafening crash rang out behind them. Something collapsed with a roar.
“…D**n.”
In the darkness, Aska’s quiet curse echoed. He suddenly released Jin. Without warning, Jin’s vision returned.
Right in front of him stood Aska, holding a large umbrella, likely brought in case of rain, with both hands, shielding against a black, smoldering blade. Beyond him…
“A-Aska… wh-what is… that…?”
Something that looked like a person, but clearly wasn’t, loomed before them.
The black weapon Aska was blocking wasn’t a sword. It was part of the creature’s body, emerging where a human hand would be. Its appearance was grotesque, beyond monstrous. And what lay beyond the broken wall was far, far worse.
People lying motionless on the ground. People writhing. People screaming and fleeing.
And among them, black creatures chasing, stabbing, slashing without reason.
Blood gushing, painting the earth. Collapsed homes and buildings.
If hell existed, it would look like this.
Then, some of the monsters noticed them and began to approach.
Their movements were so clearly violent and deadly that even Jin, with no combat knowledge, instinctively felt the danger. And the sounds they made, low, grotesque, almost whispered, slithered through the air.
It was too much to bear. Jin couldn’t keep watching. He covered his eyes with his hands. It wouldn’t erase the horror, but it was the only thing he could do.
Only for a moment.
Aska, still facing away, suddenly pulled Jin’s arms down and shouted.
“Jin, now! A barrier, quick!”
Gone was his usual calm. His voice was sharp with urgency. His gaze darted back behind him. Jin followed it instinctively. One of the monsters that had been downed was rising to its feet. Once it stood fully, it would charge again.
And it wasn’t alone. More were approaching from behind. Jin’s face turned deathly pale.
“A-Aska…”
Perhaps because he was so used to following Aska’s every word without hesitation, Jin acted before he could think. With the spell-triggering words tumbling out of his mouth, he cast a protective barrier.
The black weapon aimed at Aska’s heart struck the barrier and bounced off with a clang. Aska exhaled a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.
With tear-streaked cheeks, Jin trembled uncontrollably. Aska reached out to wipe his face, voice soft and shaken.
“…Well done. Thank you. You saved me. Just hold it for a bit longer and I’ll…”
He gently patted the child with one hand while scanning the area for his bag.
But then, his voice trailed off. His expression drained of all color, turning to stone.
……
T/N: Aska! 😭
