CHAPTER 3.
“Yes, it’s me.”
My older brother leaned down and looked at me.
Lazix Granble.
The eldest son of the Granble family. My strong and reliable big brother.
But… my brother’s right arm was gone.
“Oh, this?”
He noticed me looking and shook his empty sleeve.
“I lost it while fighting in the village. There were too many enemies.”
“Ugh…”
“Hold on. You’re in worse shape than me. What kind of poison is this?”
He opened my mouth with his one hand and checked my throat.
“Ugh.”
Then he closed his eyes and bowed his head. My heart dropped.
“Why can’t I feel your aura flow…?”
He gritted his teeth.
“You can’t use aura… so you can’t resist the poison. Cough. Ray, can you hear me?”
I nodded.
“What happened to the house? This all happened while I was out in the village… Ah, what about Lily? She said she was worried about you and went back to the house early.”
“Li…”
Lily Granble.
My older sister, two years older than me. I could only slightly shake my head.
“Sigh… What about Father?”
I shook my head again. My brother sighed, coughing.
“So they used poison in the mansion… and a very strong one too.”
Yes. It was a horrible poison that paralyzed the entire body.
“Those bastards… how did they cross the border and sneak into the village without being seen… cough!“
Then he bent forward and coughed up blood.
“Cough! Cough! Ugh… I didn’t train enough. Just losing an arm and I can’t fight properly…”
No, that’s not it, brother.
It’s not because of your arm. It’s the poison.
The bodies of the dead kids were full of poison. And now, that poison is going into your body too.
Even now, it keeps entering you.
“Damn it. If my body was fine… No, even if I just had a sword, I could’ve taken down all those bastards…”
He looked at the cave entrance and clenched his teeth.
“I need to kill them all and get you out of here… Ugh…”
That was it.
My brother finally collapsed next to me.
Even then, the red smoke kept pouring into him. After a moment of silence, he looked at me with bloodshot eyes.
“…Ray.”
“Bro…”
“Damn it, it wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Suddenly, my brother’s eyes looked strange.
“I was doing so well at the Academy. I kept winning all the class competitions. I even beat the seniors this year. Everyone praised me. I might’ve joined the elite squad or the inspection team after graduating. People respected me. But now look at me. This is pathetic… This can’t be real. I was meant to reach the top… Cough! What am I even saying right now…?”
His eyes slowly returned to normal. He let go of my collar and held his head, confused.
“Ugh… What did I just do…? Am I losing my mind…?”
“Bro…”
“…I’m sorry. This isn’t what I wanted. I was supposed to protect you… Cough!”
Suddenly, blood splashed on my face.
It was my brother’s blood.
That was the end.
He fell forward, his face on the ground.
Silence again.
My brother was dead. I didn’t need to check.
The red smoke coming from his body was enough.
Poison—thick and deadly—was entering my body again.
Everything turned red.
“Ugh…”
It hurt. My body started shaking.
“Aaaaaargh!”
Voices. Screams.
I could hear children screaming again.
They didn’t want to die—even though they already had.
One loud voice rose above the others.
“Look at me!”
A clear voice shouted.
“I’m the best!”
“Everyone at the Academy is watching me!”
“I will succeed!”
“I’ll make the Granble family the strongest of the Sword Kings!”
That was my brother’s voice.
His hopes, his pride, his dream…
“Ray. You must live and escape.”
“No matter what.”
That was his last wish.
But… I’m sorry, brother.
I don’t think I can do it. I feel like I’m dying too.
Everything went blurry.
Was this finally the end?
“…Cave 2. Found another ‘living frog.’”
No, it wasn’t.
I was still alive.
Someone grabbed my collar and dragged me away.
“Hey, is this one still alive?”
“You blind? Can’t you see the poison flow still moving?”
“I’m bad at seeing stuff like that.”
“Idiot. Whatever. Move them to Cave 1.”
More voices shouted from different caves:
“Four alive in Cave 3!”
“Five alive in Cave 4!”
“Not bad! Move them all to Cave 1! The poison will explode soon. Get them all inside and run!”
“Hurry!”
“No time! Even poison ghosts won’t survive this poison!”
Everything faded again. I heard footsteps and shouting.
“Alright. Looks like we got about ten or more.”
“Poison blast soon! Evacuate!”
“We’ll be back in 24 hours!”
“Evacuate!”
Then—quiet again. Too quiet to feel real.
Was I dead already?
Then why…
“…Ray.”
“Ray?”
“Ray…”
A familiar voice.
The kind of voice I could never ignore.
I used the last bit of my strength to open my eyes.
“Ugh…”
“Ray? It’s you, right?”
It was my sister’s face.
Lily Granble.
My one and only sister.
“Sis…”
“Yeah, it’s me. My sweet little brother. But… my eyes aren’t working well right now.”
She blinked her cloudy eyes and gently stroked my hair.
“Thank you, Ray. For staying alive.”
“Sis…”
“Some of the caves got connected just now. That’s how I found you. I think the heavens helped us.”
She smiled and hugged me.
Was this real? Or just a dream?
It didn’t matter.
I was just happy to see her again.
Even though her face looked pale and her skin was shiny red…
“Something exploded in the cave,” she said, turning her head.
“Do you see that liquid flowing? They call it poison vein. It’s clear and has no smell.”
No, it wasn’t clear water.
It was bright red poison. The worst kind.
But I didn’t want to look at it.
If I had just a little time, I’d rather look at my sister’s face.
“Poison is flowing from the back. The air’s getting worse too. Every time I breathe in, my head…”
She blinked her red eyes and closed them.
“No. This is bad. We finally met again… I should think happy thoughts.”
Suddenly, more red poison splashed behind her.
Splash!
“Ray.”
She hugged me and laid over me.
Trying to block the poison with her body.
“Ah…”
She started shaking.
“Ray… my only brother. I had so many things I wanted to say when we met…”
She spoke with closed eyes.
“That time, long ago… at the end, Mom asked me to look after you. I tried really hard. But I also…”
She stopped.
Then tried again—but said nothing.
She just smiled.
Until the end.
Splash!
More poison burst out.
After a while, her body became heavy on mine.
She had died.
I closed my eyes.
I didn’t want to see the poison flowing from her into me.
But I could hear her voice in my mind.
“Ray… my good little brother.”
“I could’ve done more for you.”
“I’m sorry I went to the Academy. I should’ve stayed by your side.”
“But I had dreams too.”
“I wanted to make new friends… build a new family…”
New friends. New family.
Was that her dream?
Like how my brother wanted to make Granble number one?
I don’t know. She rarely spoke about what she wanted.
If I had known, I would’ve spent more time with her that day.
“I want to make lots of friends.”
“Good ones.”
“I’ll introduce them to my little brother.”
“How can I spend more time with my family?”
Her voice echoed in my mind.
It didn’t feel bad.
Even if it was a hallucination—I didn’t care.
I just wanted to keep hearing their voices.
And it wasn’t just her.
“What should we eat today?”
“Every meal is precious!”
“Bread with lots of butter is the best!”
Tiver.
“The professor wants a real duel. What do I do?”
“What if I win? I might get scouted before graduation.”
“I’ll raise Granble to number one.”
My brother.
“The kids in Class A are too intense to be friends with.”
“Maybe I can befriend the B or C class students.”
“I wish I had a bigger room—to invite more friends.”
My sister again.
Everyone had dreams.
But in the end, they all gave up their dreams to protect me.
They all wanted to live…
Now their voices echo faintly around me.
Maybe I’ve gone crazy.
Or maybe… a part of them really is inside me now.
If that’s true, then I…
