I was seeing another dream – a dream about the first time I ever killed someone.
A dream about when Towa awakened as the Ruinmaker.
The Ruinmaker was a humanoid anti-star godment, the strongest weapon in the world. If used, it could eradicate our planet, and was without a doubt the most powerful star armament in existence.
Towa was human, but she was also a star armament. On the day my parents died, Towa transformed into a star armament and replaced my right arm. Then, I used her power to take revenge. I killed one of the men who had killed my parents.
I had one other person to kill, but the man who cut off my arm had suddenly disappeared. The one I killed had probably cast some star sorcery on the brink of death which had allowed his partner to escape.
The man who directly killed Mom had died, but both of them had been fighting Dad when I entered the room, and I was determined to make the other one pay.
...No, no. I shook my head and tried to banish the black thoughts from my mind. I couldn’t forgive them, but I was afraid of letting murderous rage germinate inside me. The more I thought about it, the more it ate me up. I was starting to lose my mind. The moment I had seen that man stab Dad, I had let my desire to kill take complete control. But right before that, I had heard a voice.
“Kill.” A voice that pushed me to murder.
Apparently, the Ruinmaker had the power to amplify its user’s negative feelings, such as murderous intent or hatred. This process acted as a supplement to one of the Ruinmaker’s other abilities: the power to steal star power from whoever it killed. If I had merely wanted revenge and nothing more, the quickest way for me to achieve my goal would’ve been to go on killing people and stealing their power in order to strengthen myself.
Regardless, I had killed someone that day. I also stole his star power. It may have happened as a result of the Ruinmaker amplifying my desire to kill, but I wasn’t about to push all the blame on to her. Even if my desire hadn’t been amplified, I’m sure I still would’ve wanted to kill that man.
I had no choice. It was the only way to protect Towa. But I wasn’t trying to rationalize any other murder, and I didn’t want to rely on killing people and stealing their power. I wanted to get stronger on my own, and use that power to avenge my parents.
I had another reason to become strong: I wanted to defeat Yukihime. I’d been challenging her ever since we met, but I’d never won a single battle. The reason Towa and I were living with Yukihime was so that she could guard Towa, the Ruinmaker, but I wanted to guard Towa on my own.
It wasn’t that Yukihime was unreliable – after all, she was the strongest star sorcerer in the entire world. If she couldn’t do it, then who could? That didn’t matter. I was Towa’s big brother. I had a duty to protect her. Besides that, it just frustrated me. I hated losing so much, it made me want to die.
On top of that – and this was so embarrassing that I’d never be able to tell her – I wanted to become a man who was fit to stand by Yukihime. If I remained weaker than her, I’d never have any right to fight by her side.
...Why am I having this dream now, though? I haven’t had it in a while... And it never gets any easier. Even though it was the middle of winter, my back was caked in sweat. Is it because Christmas is just around the corner? It was December 21. Four days away. For better or worse, it seemed like my destiny was linked with Christmas. It was the day when my parents were murdered, and the day I met Yukihime. Christmas was her birthday, too... But I guess that didn’t really matter.
I just hope nothing happens this year...
That morning, Yukihime left the house earlier than usual. It wasn’t uncommon for her to head to school alone, since she had a lot to deal with as the Headmistress. Normally, someone like her wouldn’t have any time to spend with me, but I guess she was so competent that she could finish her duties and still have time to spare. With that in mind, I assumed that day would be the same as any other, but...
When I got to class, I saw Yukihime drooped over in the next chair over, grimly muttering to herself. “This is bad...”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“...I’ll tell you later.” She seemed different than usual. It was rare to see her so dispirited.
Why can’t she just tell me about it now? I was starting to worry, but I decided to wait until she was ready.
After school, Yukihime called me to the Headmistress’ Office. It was lined with luxurious furnishings. I had no real concept of the value of furniture, but even I could tell right away that the sofas in the center of the room were super expensive.
“Is this dragon leather or something?” I asked as I sat down.
“Of course not. I think it’s cow.”
“Aww, cow?” Still way more than I could afford, probably. “So, what gives? You look like something bad’s happened.”
Yukihime sat down across from me, then closed her eyes and remained silent for a few seconds. Finally, as if she had just made a huge decision, she started speaking in a very serious tone.
“I’m going to a meet with Khaos Schwartz tomorrow.”
“Wha... Y-You’re kidding, right?”
“I truly wish I was.”
I was so shocked that I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence.
Khaos Schwartz: One of the other worlds that existed alongside ours. There were a total of five, including our own.
#1, Blue: Azur Étoile, the Core World
#2, Black: Khaos Schwartz, the World of Chaos
#3, Rainbow: Semuleice, the World of Illusions
#4, Silver: Machina Silvaria, the World of Silver Creations
#5, White: Paradisos, the World of Sacred White
Inhabitants of the other worlds called our world Azur Étoile. Normally, worlds never interfered with each other, and for a long time, humans didn’t even know that there were other worlds out there. Khaos Schwartz changed all that.
16 years ago, when Yukihime and I were born, the First Otherworld War took place. Then, nine years later, Yukihime’s parents died in the Second Otherworld War. Khaos Schwartz invaded our world and began both of those wars.
As far as I knew, only people from Azur Étoile, Khaos Schwartz, and Semuleice traveled to other worlds. The fourth and fifth worlds made absolutely no outside contact. Semuleice was a friendly world that was on good terms with us, while Khaos Schwartz was the only world that had ever invaded any other ones. On top of that, the men who killed my parents were also apparently from Khaos Schwartz. There was no way to identify them, though. It was dark that night, and I hadn’t even seen the killers’ faces.
Khaos Schwartz was a world that had several different countries and forces. The people who were coming to visit us now could be from a completely different force from the ones who killed my parents, but there was still a chance that they could be connected somehow.
Yukihime and I had both lost our parents to people from that world. We had no history with the rest of the worlds, but things were different with Khaos Schwartz.
“...Why do they want to have a meeting all of a sudden? There must be some reason. Nothing like this has ever happened!”
“Okay... Just calm down and listen to me. Khaos Schwartz, they...”
“What?”
For a moment, it was silent. Then, Yukihime continued. “They want us to hand over the Ruinmaker... Towa.”
“Are you kidding me? That’s insane!“
“They must be in serious trouble. Otherwise, they’d never make such a crazy demand.”
“...Damn it. What did the Seven Houses say?”
“Some of them were stupid enough to request we quietly hand Towa over. Even putting personal feelings aside, there’s no way we could just hand her over to them. It doesn’t matter how much they claim that they’ll take care of her. If she were to be used in a war, there’s no telling what could happen, and besides, if they take her... They might never return her.” She went on. “On top of that, to us, losing Towa means losing crucial military strength. If we hand over our most powerful weapon, we’re basically inviting our enemies to come and attack us.”
She was right. She was right, but...
“...I’m sorry. There’s no way I’d ever hand Towa over to anyone,” she added.
“I know that...”
Towa was a weapon, but I refused to see things that way. Yes, she’s extremely powerful, but so what? That just means I need to get strong enough so that we don’t need to use her anymore! That’s the sort of fantasy I was chasing. I know that I need to prepare myself... I know I need to give up on this, but...
“But Kokuya, we need to think realistically this time.”
Yukihime...
“This could lead to war. And if it does, we may need to use her.”
She confronted me with the very reality I didn’t want to face.
“Nothing’s set in stone yet. It all depends on how the meeting goes tomorrow. But there’s a very high possibility that things may come to that, so I want you to prepare yourself... so you can make the right decision when the time comes.”
“Okay, I will,” I said.
“I’m sorry we had to discuss this.”
“...It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
“That may be so, but I still wish I didn’t have to say these things to you. I know how much you treasure Towa...”
“Thanks for thinking of me... I’m really glad that you became Towa’s guardian. Thank you, Yukihime.”
It was a little embarrassing to say, but they were my true feelings. You have to be honest with stuff like this.
“...Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?” Yukihime blushed.