Grave of Death 10: A Story of a Brother and Sister.
There is only the path to despair. Nothing else.
I thought I was dead.
This time for sure, I clearly felt that I had died.
“Onii-chan!?”
A dim, giant necropolis. A dim, bizarre space where everything was the color of bronze.
Before my eyes stood a rotten giant. Saturnus, I think it was called.
Its four eerie, cross-shaped eyes stared at me, and a massive hand reached out.
Ah, so I’m going to be eaten and die too.
Is this finally it?
I’m sorry, Elina.
I brought you to a place like this.
Your big brother was an idiot. I just wanted to somehow make you happy.
Our parents were Seekers.
That’s why I wanted to become a Seeker too.
Three years ago. Our parents went on a request and never came back.
So, I became a Hired Pup for the best Koon Hunt in town.
Even though I was treated like a slave, we somehow managed to survive.
There were hardly any ways for young siblings to get enough food.
You couldn’t even enter the Junkyard without paying 300 Oro.
And even if you could get in, you’d rarely find anything valuable enough to sell for a living.
Before that, there was nowhere to sell things anyway.
And even if there was, they’d just rip you off.
That’s why, no matter how harsh or painful it was, becoming a Hired Pup for Koon Hunt was our only choice.
Fortunately, my sister and I had Relics. Having even one makes a world of difference compared to having none.
But I wanted to build up even a little track record, earn some money… and this is the result.
We were tricked by the bottom-rung Seekers of Koon Hunt.
Those bastards used us as decoys and ran off.
But they can’t leave this Grave of Death. If they leave, they become Offerings of Death.
Either way, it’s the same for us.
We’ll die disgracefully in these rag-like clothes.
The Grave of Death. The Giants’ Necropolis, huh.
Is it lucky or unlucky that a necropolis will be my grave?
“Onii-chan!!”
Goodbye, Elina.
I’m going to di— Just then, someone stepped forward. Who is it? A child?
Another Hired Pup? That kid was caught by Saturnus.
“A-Am I saved?”
My legs gave out.
I don’t know who it was, but I was saved. Saved… Saved… Saved.
Then, Saturnus started thrashing about for some reason.
Wondering what was happening, something fell down.
“Whoa!”
What was that? I heard a metallic sound. Looking closer, I saw a white, gleaming… knife blade.
“Onii-chan!”
“Elina!”
My twin-tailed sister ran up to me.
“Onii-chan. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Somehow still alive.”
“What on earth just happened?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, let’s run.”
This is our chance. Let’s get away from here while we can.
“Wait, Onii-chan. That knife blade.”
“Eh? What about it?”
“Let’s take it with us.”
“Why something like that?”
Take that thing? Sure, we don’t have any weapons right now, but a fragment like that…
“Onii-chan. That’s something incredibly amazing. Why is something like that in a place like this?”
“Elina… could it be a Relic?”
“Yeah. I saw it with my Relic, [ True Eye ]. Just pick it up.”
Elina’s Relic, [ True Eye ], can apparently discern the true nature of things.
Its essence… well, I don’t really get it.
But I know it’s amazing. I’m proud of my sister.
“But it’s a blade.”
How am I supposed to hold something like that?
As I hesitated, Elina said.
“It’s okay. It won’t cut you.”
“Huh?”
“Just hurry, we can’t stay here. Pick it up quickly!”
“O-Okay.”
Following my sister’s instructions, I picked up the strangely white, gleaming knife blade.
My finger touched the edge, but it didn’t cut me.
“Come on, let’s run!”
“Ah, yeah.”
I gripped the blade tightly and left the spot.
Zombies in white clothes attacked us.
“Uwaaaahhh!”
“Onii-chan! Hold up the blade!”
“L-Like this?”
The blade shone pure white. The zombies recoiled as if in fear.
“Wh-What!?”
“Quick, let’s go while we can!”
“T-To where?”
“Anywhere, I just want to get out of this necropolis.”
“Y-Yeah, you’re right.”
“This way.”
“O-Okay.”
Elina led the way with surprising confidence.
I followed behind her.
We encountered zombies and Skeletons along the way, but they fled when I held up this blade.
Then we entered a narrow passage. It was quiet, with no Monsters.
I didn’t know where it led, but at least we were safe.
“Amazing. Could this be an OOPArt?!”
“You mean Legendary.”
“Is that right? I don’t really get it. Like Legacy and stuff.”
It’s all jumbled up, I don’t really understand.
Elina puffed her cheeks.
“Geez, that’s why you’re no good.”
“…Ugh, well, my Relic isn’t impressive like yours.”
“That doesn’t matter. Your Relic depends on how you use it, Onii-chan.”
“Even if you say that…”
My Relic is [ Synthesis ]. It can supposedly combine two objects.
But mostly, it just creates junk. It never seems to work well.
“I wish I could do something about this blade.”
“Onii-chan. I picked this up.”
Elina handed me a broken sword.
It was a rusty, battered sword with the tip broken off.
“Oi. Don’t tell me.”
“You can’t use it as a weapon like that, right?”
“W-Well, that’s true, but right now, the Undead run away if I just hold this up.”
“Onii-chan. That won’t work forever, you know. There’s something dangerous up ahead. We need a weapon.”
“Did [ True Eye ] tell you that too?”
“Yeah.”
“So, you want me to use [ Synthesis ] to combine the broken sword and the glowing blade?”
“We’ll die if you don’t.”
Either way. Because of the Offering of Death Relic, we’re going to die today anyway, right?
My sister must know that too.
But Elina hasn’t lost hope.
Does her Relic, [ True Eye ], show her some path to survival?
“…Alright.”
I’ll trust my sister.
Holding the rusty, battered sword in my left hand, I gripped the glowing white blade in my right.
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
This is bad. I’m getting nervous.
My hands are shaking. What should I do? If I fail, both will be ruined.
“Onii-chan.”
Elina gently placed her small hands over mine.
“Elina…”
“It’s okay. If it’s you, Onii-chan, you can definitely do it.”
Her small, warm hands. They were trembling too.
Elina is also anxious. She’s scared.
I thought I was the only one who was afraid.
What am I doing? I’m the older brother.
“Watch me, Elina.”
I brought the broken, battered sword and the glowing white blade together and activated [ Synthesis ].
The white, glowing blade fused onto the broken tip of the sword, dyeing the entire blade white.
The battered, rust-covered sword was reborn as a white sword.
The fittings didn’t change, but the whole thing became white. It glowed faintly.
“It worked.”
“You did it, Onii-chan!”
“Yeah, I did it. It’s a White Sword.”
“Nope. That’s a Holy Sword.”
Elina said with a bright smile. Holy?
And then, in the room at the end of the passage, a variant of a Phantom Soldier lay in wait.
It was tough, but following my sister’s instructions, I managed to defeat it.
It was a hidden room. There was a Treasure Chest, and inside was a bag filled with money.
After taking it, we left the room and entered a red corridor. There were rooms on either side.
It felt kind of like a mansion.
There, we changed into clothes and armor we found in the rooms.
Another room had a bath.
Elina said she wanted to wash up, so we decided to use it.
She forcefully made me wash too, and we both got cleaned up.
“You look completely different now, Onii-chan.”
“…Yeah.”
I was wearing leather armor. I actually wanted to wear iron armor, but it was too heavy.
Elina was clad in a red cape and a yellow dress.
It looked simple but high-quality. Elina looked much cuter after washing up too.
Come to think of it, I’d only ever seen her looking grimy; I never knew my sister was such a pretty girl.
Elina wore a battle belt, with a knife and pouch attached to her back waist.
And even though she wasn’t an Attribute User, she carried a staff. A red metal staff.
My sister was happy. She was twirling around excitedly.
Sure, I was excited too when we changed, but still.
“What’s wrong?”
“Even if we get cleaned up like this, like we’re reborn… we’ll still become Offerings of Death.”
That’s right. In the end, unless we liberate this Grave of Death, we’ll die.
But there’s absolutely no way we can defeat the King of Death, even with the Holy Sword.
Yet, even hearing my complaint, Elina remained calm.
“It’s alright now, Onii-chan.”
“What is?”
“Just a little longer. Someone will defeat the King of Death. When that happens, the Grave of Death will collapse. After a loud rumbling, right in front of us, over there. A Teleportation Array will appear there, and we can get outside. The Offering of Death will disappear too. We’ll be saved.”
“How can you know something like that?”
“That’s my Relic, [ True Eye of Foresight ].”
“Foresight…?”
What’s that? Wasn’t it [ True Eye ]? I don’t get it.
Elina stuck out her tongue playfully and smiled.
“It’s fine, Onii-chan. As long as I’m here, you’ll be okay. Let’s become Seekers when we get out, okay?”
“Eh? Can I really become a Seeker?”
“Yes, you can. I’ll be with you, so you definitely will.”
A beaming smile. Could Elina make a smile like that?
I see. I can become a Seeker.
“Elina. I’m going to become a great Seeker like my parents.”
“You can become an even greater Seeker than that.”
Elina said it brimming with confidence, as if she was absolutely certain.
Hearing her say that made me feel like it really would happen.
A short while later, after a loud tremor shook the ground, a Teleportation Array truly appeared right where Elina had pointed.
Without hesitation, we jumped in and returned to the surface.
We decided not to return to Hydrangea, but to head for the Royal Capital instead.
Elina was the one who told us to.
But before that, there’s someone I have to kill.
The man right in front of me, screaming his head off while holding a blood-soaked saber.
That piece of trash from Koon Hunt who brought us to this place.
If I do as Elina says, I can even kill a Tier V Seeker.
Somehow, it feels like a path of hope has opened up before me.