At home, the evening had settled into a rare moment of peace.
After bathing Rin, Allya had dressed him in some of her old childhood clothes before bringing him out for dinner. The oversized clothes made him look even smaller than usual.
“Bro, give them a call and ask where they are—and what have you made for dinner?”
Allya stood nearby in her brother’s oversized off-white T-shirt. The soft fabric hung loosely from her shoulders, its wide sleeves reaching almost to her elbows and its hem falling to mid-thigh.
“Curry,” Sam replied, carrying the food from the kitchen.
“Yeah, I’ll call them. But first, go dry your hair. You’re wandering around the house with wet hair; you’ll catch a cold.”
“Alright, I’ll wrap a towel around it. I don’t know why everyone has a problem with my hair.”
Allya turned on the television for Rin before disappearing into the next room to grab a towel.
While they ate, Sam tried calling both Kirito and Reno, but neither answered.
“Why aren’t they picking up? They weren’t answering me either; that’s why I asked you to call,” Allya said.
“They’re both becoming too headstrong. I need to have a word with them.”
“You need to rein them in, or your students might just slip out of your control.”
Rin listened to their conversation and let out a soft chuckle.
Sam glanced at Allya.
“You bought so many clothes, yet here you are, wearing a Kirito T-shirt.”
“That’s not true. I’m wearing my own shorts.”
“Fair enough.” Sam looked toward Rin. “If you need anything, just say so. Don’t be shy.”
“Okay.”
Rin gave him an innocent, warm smile.
A moment later, Allya’s expression darkened.
“Bro, you need to do something about the neighbors first, or else I’m going to deal with them myself.”
Sam paused.
“Why? What happened?”
“They have a huge problem with my lifestyle and the way I dress. They go around the whole neighborhood saying things like, ‘Her parents don’t even live together, and look at the clothes she wears.’”
Her fingers tightened around her spoon.
“My own brother has never said a word to me about it. Who are they to talk about my mom?”
The last words came out quieter.
The pain of losing her mother still lingered beneath her anger.
“Hey, why are you getting so upset?” Sam said gently. “I’ll talk to them. Don’t take these things to heart.”
“And I don’t know...” Allya looked down. “When I went to pick up a parcel today, she was glaring at me. I felt like I could’ve done something I’d regret right then and there.”
“There’s no need for that. I’ll handle the matter.”
After dinner, Allya and Rin got ready to go out for ice cream. Meanwhile, Sam called Cloie and asked her to send the rest of the recording.
“Allya, if you two are leaving, go ahead—but put the dishes in the sink first. I’ll wash them later.”
Sam stepped onto the balcony, phone pressed to his ear.
“Yeah, I’m putting them there now.”
Allya and Rin cleared the dishes from the dining table, carried them into the kitchen, and soon left the house for the nearby store.
“Hello? Send over the rest of the recording.”
Sam leaned against the balcony railing.
“Yeah, I’m sending it right now. I hadn’t realized I’d only sent you half of it.”
The sound of running water and dishes clattering together came faintly through the phone.
“So, what are you doing?” Sam asked.
“Washing dishes. They’d piled up over two or three days. I was so busy with work that I couldn’t get any housework done. I still have laundry to do, too.”
“Your place is always a total mess. You should take a day off sometime and clean it up.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Sam was about to reply when something caught his attention.
Across the street, on the opposite rooftop, two masked men had begun following Allya and Rin from a distance.
His relaxed expression vanished.
“I think I’ve figured out who those guys were working for.”
Sam straightened.
The jackets they were wearing were unmistakable.
“Sol Invictus.”
Cloie fell silent on the other end of the call.
“Yeah. It’s those bastards...” Sam's fingers tightened around the balcony railing. “I should’ve kept an eye on them from the start.”
He stepped over the railing.
Then he dropped.
Twenty-three floors below, the city waited.
But before he could even reach the ground, his body vanished into a scattering of faint blue particles.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Sir, there’s a girl with the target. What should we do?”
One of the masked men spoke into his walkie-talkie.
“She must be with the Dark Knights. Kill her and bring the Guardian back.”
A cold voice answered through the radio.
The two men continued after Allya and Rin.
Then a familiar voice came from behind them.
“Why are you in such a rush to kill my niece? We still have plenty of time to spend together.”
Both men froze.
Sam stood behind them.
The moment they turned, they instinctively created distance and dropped their walkie-talkies.
“Come on, let’s sit and talk,” Sam said casually. “I’m not in the mood to kill anyone today.”
One of the men stepped forward.
He lunged.
Sam caught his wrist before the attack could connect and effortlessly shoved him aside.
“Alright, come at me then.”
Sam rolled his shoulders.
“Let me loosen up my limbs a bit.”
The two men attacked together.
Their movements were fast, but Sam slipped between their strikes with almost insulting ease. Every time one of them tried to close in, he redirected the attack, seized an arm, and sent the attacker stumbling away.
One masked man suddenly drew a dagger and rushed him.
Sam caught his arm.
With a sharp twist, he threw the man to the ground and stripped the weapon from his grasp.
Sam turned—
The second killer was already charging.
Without a second thought, Sam plunged the dagger straight through the man’s throat. Sam drove the dagger through the man's throat. Before the killer could recover, Sam finished the attack with a swift, decisive strike., severing the man’s head entirely. Crimson sprayed across the rooftop.
The survivor on the ground scrambled backward in absolute terror, his boots scraping against the gravel until his spine hit the concrete wall.
“Please, spare me!” he pleaded. “I’ll quit this killing business and live a normal life!”
Sam stared at him.
His phone suddenly rang.
The screen displayed Allya’s name.
Sam answered.
“Yeah, Allya? What is it?”
With one hand, he gestured for the killer to remain silent.
“I just wanted to ask which flavor you’d like,” Allya said.
“Any flavor is fine. Just bring it home before it melts. And don’t go wandering around. It’s getting late.”
Sam began walking away as he spoke.
“Okay, got it.”
The call ended.
Behind him, the remaining killer slowly exhaled in relief.
Then Sam stopped.
Without turning around, he sent the dagger flying backward.
The weapon struck its target, and the man collapsed.
“Atomic Rail.”
Blue particles shimmered through the air.
Sam vanished.
“Hello, Cloie. Get rid of the two bodies in the building opposite mine. That bastard Sol Invictus sent hired goons. The damn cowards really don’t want to show their faces.”
Sam reappeared on his balcony.
“Yeah, alright. I’ll send the team for the cleanup. Send over the remaining video footage, too.”
Cloie sighed.
“Also, do you have the number for a cleaning service? I can’t handle this myself.”
“Why would I have that? Ask someone else.”
Sam opened the main gate when Allya and Rin returned.
Allya handed him an ice cream.
Sam took it without complaint and dropped onto the sofa.
At 12:30 AM, Kirito and Reno finally returned.
They called Sam from outside the gate.
“Is this any time to come back? And you could have at least told me before leaving.”
Sam got up from his study table and walked over to open the gate.
“I already told Allya when I called.”
Both boys stepped inside, removed their shoes, and started toward their rooms.
“You two were out and about, but surely you haven’t forgotten that you have a math test on day after tomorrow?”
Sam closed the gate behind them.
Both of them froze.
“Yeah... we know.”
Kirito and Reno exchanged a glance before quickly disappearing into their rooms.
Sam watched them go.
“Who knows what’ll become of them?”
He shook his head and headed toward his own room.
“Hey, where’s my T-shirt?”
Kirito looked around.
“Allya must have put it in her room.”
He walked toward her bedroom.
When he opened the door, he stopped.
Allya and Rin were already asleep, curled up beside each other.
A small smile appeared on Kirito’s face.
He quietly pulled a blanket over them, making sure they were warm, then closed the door without disturbing them.
Meanwhile, Sam sat alone in his room.
He opened his laptop.
The video file Cloie had sent appeared on the screen.
Sam clicked play.
The recording began.
Six hours earlier — Interrogation Room
Kentaro sat restrained in his chair, his face exhausted.
“Catte and I grew up in a small village. I come from an ordinary family, whereas Catte’s family was ‘Awakened’—a lineage where a ‘Flame Guardian’ emerges in every generation.”
His voice trembled.
“Since Catte wasn’t Awakened like the rest of her family, she was treated terribly by them. I had loved her since high school, but the way her family treated her had filled her with deep hatred toward them.”
He lowered his gaze.
“When we decided to elope, her brother stood in our way. That’s when we met Hawk. He told us that if we helped him create an artificial Flame Guardian, he would get us out of there, and Sol Invictus would protect us from both the Dark Knights and Catte’s family.”
Cloie stared at him.
“So, you actually used your own children for an experiment?”
“No.”
Kentaro shook his head.
“The truth is, we never really had children of our own. Both Rin and Rizz were artificial bodies created solely to house the Flame Spirit. They were empty shells.”
His expression became increasingly strained.
“Over time, the Flame Spirit settled completely into Rizz’s body. It took thirteen years for that to happen.”
He swallowed.
“We were supposed to hand Rizz over to Sol Invictus while we continued raising Rin as our own child. But two years ago, Rizz died from mana poisoning.”
Cloie remained silent.
“We tried desperately to get them to let Rin go, but they threatened to expose us to the Dark Knights and have us eliminated.”
Kentaro's hands trembled.
“So, we forcibly sealed the spirit inside Rin’s body. On the very day we were supposed to hand him over, the Dark Knights attacked us and rescued him.”
Cloie’s expression hardened.
“Do you have any idea that a small child’s body can’t handle that kind of strain?”
Her voice dropped.
“And yet, you...”
She stopped herself.
“Never mind. You people have already crossed every boundary of monstrosity.”
Kentaro gave a bitter laugh.
“So, what are you going to do with him? Turn him into a weapon too?”
“No.”
Cloie stood.
“We’re going to give him the life she deserves.”
She turned toward the door.
“Hey!”
Kentaro's voice cracked.
“You said you’d fix Catte!”
Cloie stopped.
“Just look back.”
Her eyes briefly moved toward Catte.
“She died the moment I dropped her to the ground.”
Kentaro's face crumpled.
“You’re a witch. You’ll never know the meaning of true love.”
His voice broke as he reached toward Catte.
“Why have you kept me alive? Just let me go to her...”
Cloie looked back at him for a moment.
“Yes,” she said quietly. “I will never be able to love anyone again.”
Then she stepped out of the room.
The door closed behind her.
“Rin... Rin... save me. I don’t want to die... Rin!”
Rin suddenly woke in the middle of the night.
His breathing was uneven.
“Big sis Rizz...”
Tears gathered in his eyes.
Allya quietly sat up beside him and pulled him into her arms.
“There, there... nothing’s wrong. I’m here.”
She gently stroked Rin’s head, holding him until his breathing gradually settled.
Eventually, he fell asleep against her.
"A few days later,"
Cloie arrived at Sam’s house to take Rin with her to India.
“So, what time is the flight?” Sam asked.
“Eight o’clock,” Cloie replied.
“You guys should get going, then, or you’ll be late,” Reno said.
Allya helped Rin get ready, reassuring him along the way.
“Bye, Rin! You’re going to have so much fun there.”
She handed him a necklace.
“And here. Take this.”
“Thank you.”
Rin looked down at the necklace before gently hugging Allya and Kirito.
“You’ll come to visit me, right, Sis?”
“Yes.”
Kirito smiled.
“We definitely will.”
“Shall we go then, Rin?”
Cloie held out her hand.
“Yeah.”
Rin took it.
The two of them left for the airport while the others headed toward school.
On the way, Cloie called Sam.
“So, they’re making artificial spirit holders, then?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, but we still don’t know much about their ‘Flame Spirit’ experiment,” Cloie replied.
“Did Kentaro say anything else?”
“No.”Cloie paused.
“We’ll have to find out everything about this on our own.”
Sam stared out the window.
“So, we’re back to square one.”
“That’s about all we can say for now.”
Meanwhile, the entire class was reeling from the exam paper Sam had created.
Kirito stared at the questions in disbelief.
“Hey, did he set an exam paper or a noose for the gallows? How are we supposed to pass this?”
Ibuki glanced toward Sherry.
“Man, Sherry’s already given up the ghost.”
Kirito turned toward her.
“Hey, Sherry?”
“I’m done for. I have no idea what kind of world this paper came from.”
Asuna clutched her head the moment she looked at the questions.
“Mom is going to kill me.”
At the front of the classroom, Sam calmly checked the clock.
Then he picked up his marker.
“And your time starts... now.”
The classroom fell into chaos.