Published: September 10, 2025
※This is the state of Labyrinth City five years after the conclusion of the story seen from a background character during the initial release.
“I’m going to Labyrinth City today.”
I muttered to myself as if conveying my determination.
“This view will be the last time I see it for a while…”
From the hilltop, I looked down on the remote mountain village where I was born and raised.
There’s nothing here.
The children are always hungry, and in winter, some inevitably die.
There’s no apothecary, so if someone falls ill, they die; if they get injured playing in the mountains, some don’t make it either. Occasionally, the magic user Mr. Tarlberg comes by, which helps, but he rarely visits this village far from his own, so most years the only lifeline is the ridiculously expensive medicine brought by traveling merchants.
I heard that many died in the great demon god war five years ago, but in our village, the Echigoya Trading Company gave us food and medicine, so we only lost a few more than usual.
“Brother, are you really going?”
The calm and mature voice belonged to my six-year-old sister.
She’s hated by the elders for her cursed-colored hair, but she’s smart and very reliable.
“Yeah, I’m counting on you to take care of Mom.”
“Won’t you reconsider? If you just wait six years—or rather, nine years—I can leave the village too. I’m worried about leaving you alone.”
That’s not something a six-year-old should say.
“Waiting six years means I’ll be twenty-one. I can’t become an explorer when I’m that old.”
“…Twenty-one’s not old.”
For some reason, my little sister is lenient with who counts as “old.”
Just recently, she said, “Forty’s still young.”
“I have no intention of reconsidering—”
“No.”
When I answered instantly, she sighed deeply.
It was as if she’d given up trying to reason with a stubborn child.
“I thought you’d say that. Here’s a parting gift.”
She handed me a brand-new dagger and a blue iron helmet.
The dagger wasn’t a cheap one for dismantling—it was a large blade fit for combat.
“Why did you get such expensive things?”
“I made them. There’s no scrap iron in this village, so I spent months collecting iron sand from the river. I worked hard, so please use them carefully.”
—Iron sand?
No, wait, she made them?
“No way you could make them, right?”
“…Well, yeah. I bought them. The pretty stones I found in the river sold for a good price to a merchant. Let’s just say that.”
—“Let’s just say,” huh.
She’s still hard to tell whether she’s telling the truth or not.
“Was I a bother?”
Suddenly, she looked worried and asked.
“No, I’m really happy.”
When I said that, her smile bloomed like a flower.
She looks her age when she smiles like that.
“I’ll earn a lot with these and make life easier for you and Mom.”
“That’s not necessary.”
She said firmly.
“Brother, until I leave for Labyrinth City in six years, promise me you’ll ‘value your life’ and be careful.”
“Got it. I’ll be cautious.”
She likes this phrase.
Whenever I try to have an adventure, she always stops me.
Usually, I force it, fail, or get injured, but every time she fusses over me with nagging but caring hands.
“Really, you mean it?”
“Yeah, I swear on this dagger!”
Though I said it seriously, she didn’t quite believe me.
But it’s okay—
“Reina, trust me.”
“All right. I do.”
When I held her hands firmly and said so, she blushed and said it.
“—Rom, big brother.”
“That’s not my name.”
“I was wrong. Sharon, big brother.”
For some reason, my sister insists on calling me “Rom.”
Her real name is “Tona,” but she says “Reina” is her soul’s name.
I remember when she explained this, she insisted, “Since I am Reina, you should be Rom, big brother,” or something I didn’t quite understand.
She also teased me saying, “Sharon sounds like a girl’s name.”
Though afterward, she seriously said, “But you’d probably look good in women’s clothes,” which scared me away.