Episode 4: Duty in Love (1/4)

⌖⨊ Tatsuki Rize ⨞⋅

◬ Origin Year 138, 22th of Hana.

Somewhere in the middle of the endless sky, numerous satellite islands came together to form a floating archipelago. Giant, thick walls surrounded the main island, a reticent castle stood in the centre of the municipality.

An odd city where mediaeval European architecture meets modern stylization—this was Fortress City Fuji.

It functioned as the so-called ‘imperial capital’ of the First Stratum. Orders we receive from the upper strata arrive here first before being relayed to specific checkpoints.

Most if not all of this city’s population live to support the military. Young children work as porters, medical professionals tend to the injured, cooks ensure a supply of nourishment, and business people keep a steady flow of resources.

Whether it be stray demonica or attrition-type Cloud Hive invasions, there was never a day this region wasn’t being attacked by some otherworldly monster. A not-so-friendly city where soldiers had to be stationed everywhere, round the clock, to prevent casualties caused by stray demonica.

The night was cold, our bodies warm. Scraps of light illuminating clouds, the view of the Fortress City in the distance appeared like sparks of a flickering flame.

I turned to Eun-chan who sat beside me.

She stared towards humanity’s stronghold in the distance. Eyes reflecting the twinkling light of the world beyond.

Nothing about her mind was right.

Everything.

This is going to be fun.

I touched her hand.

“Promise me that you won’t do anything harmful without my permission.”

She trembled a little, then turning to me she answered meekly.

“…Okay.”

It was time to leave this place for good.

To start a new life.

◃⊰⊱. ϕ⊹ ⋈⊶⌖⊹⊰⊱▹

Before we could enter the city, we first had to cross a checkpoint.

This created our first problem.

Eun-chan would certainly be caught if we went by this typical entry route. Grabbing her tight by the arm, I led us to a shadowy corner of the port having just disembarked.

“Alright. Let’s rest here for a bit.”

“???”

“Let’s think about how we can get you in.”

“…?”

Alas, our first major hurdle came so soon. I chose midnight thinking it would be easier to sneak in. Who would’ve thought that security was tight no matter the time?

There were no blind spots. Climbing the wall was a no-go. The whole stronghold was completely lit up in alert of imminent attacks. And it was impossible to mimic the abilities of a certain spy.

“Y-You didn’t think things through?”

“Nope.”

I didn’t think thinking things through would help anyways.

“Don’t panic. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

I reached into my pocket and took out sleeping Cinnamon. He was shrunken in his carapace.

“Cinnamon, wake up.”

I tapped on his shell.

“I need your help.”

After some more prodding, a green head popped out. His two eyes glared at me and stared…

“It’s not something dangerous, just help me find someone, anyone from the orphanage who is stationed anywhere near the walls. Please?”

Snap. Snap.

“It’s for Eun-chan you know?”

Snap. Snap.

“Okay, okay.”

Snap—

“I’ll promise you that much. So go.”

Snap.

Cinnamon flew from my hands.

“And now we wait.”

I promised Cinnamon cuttlefish cartilage tomorrow. Lucky for me, I remembered I had some stored in my apartment.

Eun-chan snuggled up into a ball and pressed her head against her knee. I sat down beside her and stroked her head.

Her soft and silky hair… she must be tired.

“Are you cold?”

I asked. She shook her head.

Lair. Your body is freezing even through the clothes.

I took off my outer coat and put it over her.

“How about this? Better?”

“…You didn’t need to do that.”

“Well, I just did. Part of my responsibility, you know?”

Eun-chan raised her head and looked at me once before returning to her shrimp-like state.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Hey, there’s nothing to be sorry about—”

“…”

She said nothing more after that. Figured it wouldn’t be easy caring for a depressed daughter.

We waited a little longer.

And a few minutes later…

“Rize-chan?”

“Eh?! When did you get here?”

…Cinnamon found our man! Mr. Shang!

“I took the night freight. Do you need help?”

He asked.

“Yes! How can we get Eun-chan in without getting found out?”

I said. Mr. Shang scratched his chin in contemplation.

“That’s a tough one. They check basically everyone before entering.”

Snap. Snap.

“What?”

Mr. Shang grabbed the turtle sitting on his head and looked at it.

Snap. Snap.

“Cinnamon, you’re a genius!”

“I can’t understand a word he’s saying…”

“Mr. Shang’s physique is perfect for a job like this. Yes, I totally agree.”

I nodded up and down in complete agreement with Cinnamon’s suggestion.

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

“Mr. Shang, do you have an extra large bag in your bag? One large enough to fit me inside if I were an adult?”

“Yes… no, I mean, no I don’t. Why?”

“We’ll stuff her inside.”

Eun-chan’s shoulders flinch from the corner of my eyes.

“You’re crazy.”

“It’s called being resourceful.”

◃⊰⊱⊹. ⊹⌖Ω ⩏⊹ϑ ⊰⊱▹

“Is it heavy?”

“Marginally.”

We passed through the checkpoint without being caught. Luckily, intimidated by Mr. Shang’s scary face perhaps, they didn’t check our bags.

Eun-chan had this special ability to alter her own weight. It made the whole courier process much easier. So after Mr. Shang passed me the duffle bag, I went to the nearest public bathroom to take her out.

Nothing lewd happened, don’t worry. But her expression was priceless.

“Good?”

Mr. Shang, asked. Can’t believe he took the liberty to wait for us just outside.

“Yes, thank you so much.”

“Alright. I wish you two the best.”

He was about to leave, my curiosity piqued.

“Mr. Shang, random question: where are you rushing off to?”

“Where? That’s a secret.”

“Oh. I see, I see.”

I’ll respect that then.

Saying our farewells, we took the train down to Miriyo district. First order of business was to change Eun-chan’s appearance.

The train itself was quite empty, no note-worthy pick-up artists anywhere onboard. I dragged Eun-chan and the sleeping Cinnamon to a well-known shopping district. Even at night, the place was still somewhat bustling with activity. Not every shop was open, and if they were, those weren’t the ones I was aiming for.

“Here.”

Finally we arrived.

My senpai’s beauty salon. The shop was closed for the night. We moved to the backside alley.

“KeLing-senpai, KeLing-senpai, are you open?!”

I banged on the back door.

“KeLing-senpai! KeLing-senpai! KeLingsenpaiKeLingsenpaiKeLing-senpai!”

A black silhouette appeared overhead.

The hazy expression of the woman who I woke up in the middle of the night looked horrific.

The ground floor and first floor of the building were where the barber shop was located. The second floor was her, and her friend’s living quarters.

“Morning KeLing-senpai!”

She stuck her head back in, saying nothing.

“W-Wait! Wait! KeLing-senpai this is an emergency! Open the door!”

“Shut up and hold on a moment.”

She said, Eun-chan and I waited outside for a good minute before we heard the sound of a chain dropping. The door opened.

“Why this sort of time…”

She groaned. KeLing-senpai looked completely battered in her one-piece cotton nightgown.

“Oh, nothing crazy. Just human trafficking.”

“…I shouldn’t have asked. Get in.”

“Yes.”

I tugged at Eun-chan’s cloak.

Lai KeLing, 38 years old, widowed. A retired soldier turned hairstylist after she lost her husband in battle.

She has 4 children, all of which are currently working in the military. Two of them just entered their final year of cadet school, the other two were already young adults working at Flying Fortress 10 and 3 respectively.

But that’s beside the point.

“Who is this?”

“She’s EiYun-chan, my daughter.”

“Excuse me?”

“Go on and introduce yourself!”

I prodded Eun-chan.

She trembled, stuttering with indecipherable words. KeLing-senpai narrowed her eyes and reached out to tap her shoulder.

“Hey, you alright?”

Eun-chan froze up like a clam. KeLing-senpai turned to me.

“What the hell happened to her?”

“Long story short… I can’t tell you. But I need your expertise to transform her so that she becomes unrecognisable.”

“What do you mean unrecognisable? I can’t decide how to ‘work my magic’ on her if you don’t make it clear.”

“Fine, fine! Simply put, she’s supposed to be dead, but isn’t.”

“Dead? Seriously? can’t you bother me with some other problem some other time…”

“I’d be screwed if I came some other time.”

KeLing-senpai sighed deeply. Then turning to assess Eun-chan’s appearance.

“Anyways. Let’s take a good look at you first. What’s your name?”

“Eun… uh, EiYun…”

“Nevermind. Please take a seat.”

“Y-Yes…”

KeLing-senpai took off Eun-chan’s coat (mine) and sat her down before the mirror.

“So Ms. EiYun, what kind of hairstyle do you want?”

“I uh…”

“Make it black!”

“I didn’t ask you.”

“She needs to look like my daughter! It’ll be suspicious.”

“It’s suspicious enough that a complete virgin like you has a daughter older than yourself.”

“Geh?!”

She hit where it hurt!

“Will brown be alright?”

“Whatever Rize-chan says…”

“I don’t have the typical black dye most salons use, but I do have a natural alternative. That however, doesn’t guarantee a full shade for those with light-colour hair. Will you be alright with that?”

Then I interrupted.

“Eh? Seriously? Not having your most basic item in stock, isn’t that a serious business problem?”

“Look, we advocate for healthy all-natural products here.”

“Then it can’t be helped.”

Really unfortunate.

“This will take an hour, relax.”

EunHa nodded.

My senpai’s skills shone through despite the sleep-deprived look on her face. Long bangs which covered Eun-chan’s face were trimmed, the bundle of smooth flowing hair tidied and curled, finally finishing with a coat of the natural dye left to set.

“You must’ve been through something horrible.”

“…”

Eun-chan didn’t respond to KeLing-senpai.

“Rize-chan, what do you plan to do with her after this?”

“After this? I’m going to bring her to my apartment and sleep.”

“I don’t mean that crap. I mean your future plans with this girl. Drop her off at the orphanage as you do every other kid?”

“No way. I said she’s my daughter right? So she’ll be my daughter.”

“I’m charging you a heavy price for bothering me like this.”

“W-What?! What happened to the discount we promised?!”

I patronise your salon to all the orphans! How could you do this to me!

Ignoring my pleas, KeLing-senpai began rinsing the dye off Eun-chan’s hair. It was followed by treatment, then blow drying.

The blonde shine of her hair was now chestnut-brown. Some parts of her hair had been shorted, and all the washing had allowed her hair to reveal its beautiful curls.

She spun Eun-chan to face me and showed off her masterpiece.

“Hm.”

Her charm had certainly gone up a notch but…

“What’s with your reaction?”

“She still looks like her.”

“Hah?”

“We need to disguise her so people can’t recognize her.”

“Then should I have cut her hair short instead? You told me not to?”

“No, no, no. I want her long hair. I’m just thinking if there’s a better way to go about this. She’s quite a big shot in the Third Stratum.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wait, KeLing-senpai, hold still.”

“W-What?”

I took off her round glasses and placed them on Eun-chan. Senpai blinked as if blind, Eun-chan squinted cutely.

And when she opened her eyes, my heart—oh my heart!

“She’s perfect! How much is this!?”

From a ravishing cool beauty to a virtuous scholar-like girl in AV videos. It completely flipped her demeanour!

“Sorry, this isn’t for sale. I’ll be taking it back.”

KeLing-senpai showed absolutely no mercy.

“The power of my spectacles is quite high. You shouldn’t play around with it.”

She added while wiping her glasses with the skirt of her nightgown.

“Do you know any place with fake glasses we can get then?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you can ask the uncle who runs the glasses shop down the street. I got mine there. Turn right at the junction, but don’t bother him now, do it tomorrow.”

“Eh… then do you have anything I can use to disguise Eun-chan for a bit? Like, your old glasses frame?”

“No.”

Sigh.

What a pity. Eun-chan looked really pretty with a pair of glasses on.

I turned to her, who was quietly admiring her new hairstyle in the mirror.

“Eun-chan, you’ll have to wear glasses even if your vision is completely fine, okay?”

“Okay.”

She answered while continuing to play with her hair. How adorable.

◃⊰⊱ϑ⊹ ⨞⋅⫝⫘⌖ ⊹⊹⊰⊱▹

EunHa followed Rize to her apartment. It was a twenty-minute walk from the hair salon.

This was her first time exploring within the walls of Fuji City. A fusion of European and minimalist designs. The biggest structure, which was the mediaeval castle in the background, created this hard to describe monolithic atmosphere.

The subtly hard ambience suited the conflicting feelings swirling in her heart.

“Here we go.”

Rize turned on the lights, revealing a large triple-room suite.

“Please take off your shoes, thank you.”

A bedroom, kitchen-living quarter combination, and bathroom. The Black Siren’s apartment.

There were many extendable shelves set up packed full of unknown materials. The items ranged from super thick books and journals to glass flasks and metal stands; it’s as if she were some kind of researcher.

In the corner, EunHa noticed a chest full of prana crystal shards. The sight of it made her rub her eyes.

…How in the world did she get her hands on so many of these?

“I don’t have many clothes, so you have to make do with this. You can take a shower first.”

Rize shifted through her box of clothes and took out a loose gown and panty. EunHa received it with much trepidation.

…She was going to wear someone else’s clothes.

“Don’t worry. The panties are new, I actually got them for the orphanage, but I haven’t had the time to pass them to the older kids.”

“Ah… t-thank you.”

“Did you think you were going to wear mine?”

“N-No.”

“Big fat liar. Your face shows it all!”

A misunderstanding. It was pointless to hide anything from her. She was the infamous Black Siren after all.

“You should speak up if you disagree with anything. We can work out a compromise.”

She said. EunHa lowered her head.

“Okay…”

And nodded.

She tied her fragrant-smelling hair and went into the shower. Since her hair had already been treated at the salon earlier, there was no need to wash it again here.

Standing slightly bent over as the water poured down her body, her vision blurred.

Naturally, she had to cry.

It had been like this ever since the day she should’ve died.

◤◢

“You can sleep with me, or you can sleep on this bed while I take the sofa. Pick one.”

EunHa didn’t want to trouble Rize anymore than this. She thought that as long as she had a pillow, blanket and a reasonable space to sleep, the rest didn’t matter.

“I can sleep anywhere, it’s alright.”

“Great! Then you’re sleeping with me tonight.”

Rize, seated on the fluffy bed patted the spot right beside her. EunHa took a while to register Rize’s words.

“Come on—”

“I can sleep on the couch.”

“Sleeping on the couch is not an option. You said you’re fine anywhere, so you’re sleeping with me.”

“…”

Was it too late to take back her words now? EunHa had said she was fine ‘anywhere’.

The time was 3:30 am in the morning by the time Rize turned off the lights. The two of them tucked themselves under the blanket.

“There’s no need to rush for anything tomorrow.”

Rize said gently as she stroked EunHa’s hair. EunHa turned to her.

As their eyes met, a sense of serenity enveloped EunHa’s mind and body.

“We can always do whatever we need the day after. So don’t worry about what will happen and just rest okay Eun-chan? Everything will be alright.”

Everything will be alright. Those were comforting words.

Words that… EunHa didn’t know if she could believe. Not after everything she had been through.

Though… there was probably no need to, because Rize was the embodiment of those words. It must be true, even if it was false.

Rize dozed off much earlier than EunHa. She curled up and buried her small body into EunHa’ bosom.

She’s warm… EunHa thought.

The dark clouds in her mind seemed to just clear whenever Rize was by her side. It made no sense, even when trying to comprehend it in the sense of traumatic attachment.

From today onward, you are my daughter.

Her reassuring words echoed in her mind.

How could a 12-year-old child say something like this to her? Absurd.

EunHa giggled.

But why did it matter anyways? If Rize wanted it, so be it.

Her life belonged to Rize anyways. Was there anything left to live for? And, hadn’t she longed for a mother in the distant past? Wasn’t this fulfilling her lifelong dream?

Sure, it may not be the mother she expected, but wouldn’t it work out somehow? Rize had the qualities.

Truly. Insanity.

EunHa closed her eyes and accepted the reality before her.

Rize was now her ‘mom’.

And like her, they were both…

Her consciousness descended into the dark, relishing in her mother’s warmth.

…Broken.

◃⊰⊱⊹. ⊹⌖Ω ⩏⊹ϑ ⊰⊱▹

The first light of daybreak.

EunHa, who woke up after about four hours of rest, couldn’t return to sleep. She pried herself away from Rize and walked over to the gentle glowing curtains.

Beyond the thin fabric was a sliding door that led to the balcony. And the view of the city in dazzling sunlight was awe-inspiring.

She was surprised by how easily the door opened. Stepping out to the balcony and placing her hands on the rails, a breeze blew against her.

She could hear the hustle and bustle of the city.

Small guppies and angelfish flying overhead, giant warships moving in fleets far out in the distance.

She breathed in the refreshing morning air.

…Free. She felt free.

Everything she had been carrying—left behind. She looked down from the railings.

The open streets below, citizens moving about like busy little shrimps.

A 5-story drop.

Right now, if she wanted to die she could.

This metal frame was the only thing between her and death.

She could end her life here.

She…