Episode 30 – Blood Ties II
The girl’s eyes widened as she looked around, wary of her surroundings.
It was only natural.
To her, this place was completely unknown. A room she had never seen before, filled with strangers. In her village, there were no women with beautiful red hair like Iris, nor were there men as delicately handsome as Dan. If anything, the people she knew all looked worn out.
But among them, the girl’s gaze stopped on Nada.
Once she spotted him, she didn’t look away. She kept staring at him, unblinking. Before long, tears welled up in her dark eyes, spilling over as she opened her mouth.
“Father…? Or Karol… big brother…?”
To Nada, it was a nostalgic name.
—Karol.
He knew that name.
Even though his memories were frayed and faded, that name had never disappeared. Just like the girl before him, he too used to call that man “big brother.”
Karol was born two years before Nada, the eldest son of a family who owned a tiny patch of farmland in their tiny village. Nada couldn’t remember Karol’s face anymore, but he still remembered calling him “big brother” and remembered his younger sister calling him the same.
“Sorry, but I’m neither your father nor Karol—”
Nada spoke coldly to the girl.
She jolted, her shoulders trembling.
But Nada hadn’t meant it that way.
He was simply irritated—irritated that she had mistaken him for his father or older brother. He wasn’t them. He had chosen a different path. He thought he had become a different person entirely.
And yet… he resembled them so much that even his own sister mistook him for them.
In his memories, his father’s and brother’s faces no longer existed. No matter how much he tried, they were shrouded in darkness, as if painted over. So Nada tried recalling his own face, the one he saw every morning, and then forced himself to remember theirs.
This time, the blackened faces came back—clear and vivid.
Five years ago, yes, his father and brother had looked much like he did now. His father’s face was more of a faint impression compared to his own, but his brother, born from the same parents, had almost the same face as him.
The only differences were the countless scars that only Nada bore. Those were the marks of a life lived differently.
“Hey, Nada—!”
Iris scolded him after noticing the girl looked ready to burst into tears again.
Nada quickly spoke up, almost scrambling to smooth things over.
“Ah… sorry. Didn’t mean to sound harsh. My name is Nada. Can you tell me yours?”
He tried to sound gentle. Whether he succeeded or not, he wasn’t sure.
But the girl smiled, just a little, and Nada felt relieved.
“Tayla’s name is Tayla! Nada… you’re my big brother, right!?”
“…Yeah—”
Of course, Nada knew the name Tayla.
She was his youngest sister—the last child their father had named, the baby of the family. Born when Nada was ten. When he left home, she had still been an infant drinking her mother’s milk.
He hadn’t seen her since.
But now, looking at her like this… he could see their mother in her. Their eldest sister, too.
And, in a quiet way, even a bit of himself.
Nada thought he had forgotten the warmth of his mother, the kindness of his older sister. He couldn’t remember their faces anymore. His mother, who had once been gentle to all her children when times were better, and his older sister, the eldest sibling, who took care of him in their mother’s place.
Faces he thought were painted over in darkness now came back to life—brought forth by looking at Tayla.
“Nada… this is the first time I’ve ever met you, big brother! I mean, I’d never met you before… you’d already left home, they said. But you know, I always heard stories about you from Shama-nii and Claire-nee!”
“Aahh—”
Nada listened to Tayla’s words with a nod-like motion.
That name brought back memories.
He knew both of those names well. They were names he had repeated countless times and carved into his heart.
Shama was his younger brother. Born two years after him, so they were close in age, but compared to Nada—who’d been big since childhood—Shama had always seemed small and frail. He’d probably inherited more of their mother’s blood.
Since their mother had gotten pregnant again just a few years after Shama was born, Nada remembered that he and their older sister often took care of him in place of their mother, who handled the housework, and their father and eldest brother, who worked the fields.
He had been a clumsy, tiny little brother, but always followed right behind him, an adorable kid through and through. Naturally, the big and energetic Nada had doted on him.
And Claire—like Tayla—was Nada’s younger sister.
Now that he was looking at Tayla, her face called Claire’s to mind clearly. The freckles on her cheeks were distinctive. She was three years younger than Nada, yet they used to play together all the time.
She’d loved running around, and Nada remembered how she and Shama would often go with him to the mountain nearby.
Claire, being the smallest, would always start lagging behind, so Nada—always walking at the back to make sure she didn’t get lost—would take care of her while they climbed.
Because she was the one he looked after the most, she’d adored him and called his name all the time.
“Yeah… those are old memories. Of course, I know Claire and Shama—”
Nada spoke with something like a sigh of admiration.
For just a moment, he had remembered a warmth he thought he’d long forgotten.
Even though he now spent his days diving into dungeons, killing monsters, and scraping together a living in a bloody, mud-soaked life, thinking of his family back home still made his heart feel a little fuller—against his will.
Maybe he hadn’t remembered Claire and Shama much until now simply because he’d been too busy. He’d been too desperate to survive to afford the luxury of reminiscing. That probably wouldn’t change from here on out either. And whatever he felt now—this would only be temporary.
“Then… what about me?”
Tayla asked, like she was hoping for something.
“Of course, I know you. You won’t remember, but we met when you were still a baby. Naturally, I remembered you—”
Nada said in a gentle voice.
In his mind, Tayla resembled Claire more than their mother or older sister. She looked just like Claire had when she was little—the faint freckles, the slightly curled black hair, and that innocent smile.
“Really? But you know, I don’t remember at all. But Claire-nee and Shama-nii always told me stories about you, Nada… big brother. They said you were kind. That you always shared your food with them when they were hungry…”
“Ah—”
Nada’s reply was half-hearted.
He remembered that.
Compared to his father and older brother, he got smaller portions, but his younger siblings got even less—and they were always hungry. So he often gave them some of his own dinner, which was only slightly more than theirs. He also faintly remembered giving them the nuts or berries he sometimes managed to find when they went to the mountains.
He thought he’d forgotten all that, but Tayla’s words brought it back.
“Claire-nee and Shama-nii were always grateful for that! So, you know… they said they wanted to do the same. They always shared their food with me…”
Tayla’s voice grew small.
Nada’s expression didn’t change, but seeing the shadow fall over her face made him feel like he already understood everything.
“So… what about Claire and Shama now?”
Nada had already imagined it. He’d prepared himself.
Ever since Tayla came to this town… ever since he’d met her alongside that slave merchant—he had been imagining it all this time.
“Well, um… um…”
“Yeah—”
Tayla’s breathing grew rushed, like she couldn’t get the words out.
Tears, bigger than before, welled up in her eyes.
Seeing that, Nada realized he probably didn’t want to hear what came next. But he slowly breathed out, steadying his heart, and waited for her words.
As if accepting that this was his duty as their brother.
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