Chapter 24: A Promise Between Family
With introductions done, Clara informed us that there was a problem at the Robot Settlement and that it needed to be fixed as soon as possible or the lives of the vagrants would be affected.
Knowing that our meeting with Svarog would be postponed for a while, we decided to tag along with Clara to Rivet Town to retrieve the supplies needed, and that was how we found ourselves here.
I was leading the way with Clara riding on my shoulders while shyly holding onto my head with a bashful smile on her face.
“Did you really think your Onii-chan would let you come here all alone, Clara?” I asked teasingly as we stood back and watched the others deal with the Fragmentum monsters that got in our way.
I felt Clara's grip tighten slightly as she squirmed on my shoulders.
“I-I'm just used to doing these kinds of things mostly by myself with the help of Perkins,” Clara answered shyly.
“Well now you have me, and you can always call me whenever you need something! I promise that as long as I’m not busy with something super important, like saving a world or helping one of my other friends, I'll always come running when you call.” I said with a confident nod.
I was met with silence for a moment before Clara quietly whispered something that I couldn't quite make out.
Blinking, I tilted my head slightly.
“Sorry, could you say that again, Clara? I didn't quite catch that.”
Clara's hold on me tightened further as she repeated herself in a small, vulnerable voice.
“You said that you're not from this world, right, Onii-chan?”
“That's right.” I nodded, still unsure where she was going with this.
“If that's the case...” Clara hesitated. “That means you'll be leaving this world soon to go on more adventures.”
Her voice became even quieter.
“Wouldn't I be a bother if I asked for help when you're so far away? You might be helping other people and making you travel all the way back here just for me sounds selfish.”
The sadness in her voice made my eyes widen as I finally understood what she was worried about.
Almost immediately, I wanted to smack myself.
From Clara's perspective, I was a traveler who journeyed between worlds and had countless adventures.
She was just one girl living on a dying planet.
How could she justify asking me to drop everything and come help her?
For someone as kind and selfless as Clara, it was exactly the sort of thing she would worry about.
She would always put the needs of others before her own.
Unable to hold back the urge to berate myself for not thinking this through, I suddenly let go of one of her legs and punched myself in the face.
Hard.
“O-Onii-chan!?” Clara squeaked in alarm.
I staggered slightly as a small amount of blood dripped from my nose.
“Why did you hit yourself!? Are you alright?” Clara asked in a panicked voice.
Quickly wiping away the blood, I immediately moved to reassure her.
“Sorry about that, Clara, but your Onii-chan just had to punish himself for being such a big idiot.” I said reassuringly.
Seeing that she didn't look reassured at all, I quickly continued.
Up ahead, I vaguely heard a conversation between March and Bronya that I mostly ignored.
“D-Did Caelus just punch himself hard enough to bleed?” Bronya asked in a disbelieving tone.
“Don't worry about it, Bronya. Trust me, the more you try to make sense of what that idiot does, the more confused you become, so I just ignore it for the most part.” March replied calmly, not sounding concerned in the slightest.
“I-I see...”
Turning my attention back to Clara, I put on the smug expression of an older brother about to show off.
“You see, in all my excitement over getting a little sister, I completely forgot to tell you about an amazing ability your Onii-chan has that makes all those worries a nonissue.”
Clara blinked curiously.
“...You do?”
“Yep~” I nodded proudly. “You see, the power of the Trailblaze lets us return to any place we've been to before whenever we want. Even across different planets~”
“Whoa~” Clara let out an awed sound. “The power of the Trailblaze is amazing.”
“You bet it is~” I agreed happily. “But even if I didn't have that, your Onii-chan has an even more amazing ability that works almost the same way, but is even better. I'll show it to you later, so please don't hesitate to call me whenever you want, even if it's just to talk, okay Clara?”
As I spoke, I gently squeezed her legs in reassurance.
“Mn~ Okay, Onii-chan! I will!” Clara promised with a happy nod, sounding much more cheerful now.
“Speaking of that, I'll have to get you a phone so we can communicate. Though will they even work without whatever techy shenanigans those jerks at the IPC do first?” I muttered to myself as I got lost in thought.
Above me, Clara giggled happily from my shoulders.
It took us a while, but with everyone pitching in, we eventually managed to find everything Clara needed to repair what was broken.
Of course, no quest would be complete without having to defeat a strong enemy.
This time, that enemy happened to be a Blaze Out of Space.
A giant Fragmentum monster made of metal and flames.
Before anyone else could step forward, I carefully lifted Clara off my shoulders and gently set her down on the ground.
The little girl looked at me in confusion.
“Hey guys, mind if I handle this one?” I asked as I stretched my arms before summoning my bat and resting it across my shoulder.
Then I looked at the monster with a confident grin.
“Sure, nice of you to finally contribute.” Seele said with a shrug while throwing me a small glare for not doing much the whole time, which I of course ignored.
“Fine by me.” Bronya nodded.
“Alright, just don’t push yourself.” March said after giving me a thorough look and seeing that I appeared fine. Though reluctant, she eventually agreed.
“I stand with March.” Dan Heng nodded as well.
“Thanks. This will serve as a good opportunity to show off my cool side to my little sister.” I grinned excitedly.
I was immediately met with deadpan looks from everyone except Clara, who just smiled bashfully.
“Now watch closely, Clara, and know that even if he doesn’t show it, your Onii-chan is actually quite strong.” I declared confidently.
The next moment, my eyes turned red as my Sharingan activated.
And because I wanted to show off a little, or a lot, I also slotted in Lucky Strike and activated it.
For the next hour, I would be one lucky son of a bitch.
Grinning ferally, I shoved a massive amount of Destruction Path energy into my bat, causing it to glow silver.
Then I disappeared.
Appearing behind the monster in the next instant with my bat extended to my side, I remained perfectly still as the wind ruffled my coat and hair.
A second later, the monster exploded into pieces.
I stayed in place for another moment, waiting for the reactions.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long.
“…Whoa. He’s actually that strong even though he looks kind of wimpy?” Seele said in surprise.
My chest immediately puffed up with pride at getting her to admit that.
“I had a feeling there was more to him than met the eye.” Bronya sounded calmer but no less impressed.
“That was fast.” Dan Heng commented in his usual flat tone, not sounding particularly surprised considering he knew all about my nonsense abilities.
The real surprise came from March.
Instead of sounding impressed, she sounded worried.
“Arrghh! This idiot!” March threw her hands into the air. “There he goes again going overboard. Hmph! Don’t come crying to me when you regret it later.”
There was a mixture of annoyance and concern in her voice that made me smile a little.
Most importantly, however...
“Onii-chan is strong.”
Clara's voice immediately grabbed my attention.
Slowly turning around, I was greeted by an awed expression that made my grin widen.
Clara then blinked cutely as she noticed my eyes.
“Is something wrong with your eyes, Onii-chan?”
Her question immediately got the attention of the others who hadn’t seen my Sharingan before.
“Heh, told you I’m strong~” I boasted proudly. “And don’t worry about it. My eyes turning red just means your Onii-chan is getting serious.”
To emphasize my point, I struck another cool pose.
Clara giggled softly while everyone else rolled their eyes.
Their reactions were ignored.
Clara’s approval was the only one I wanted in the first place.
With everything settled, we quickly made our way back toward the Robot Settlement.
My absurd luck was already showing signs of working too, as we conveniently found several useful supplies lying around on the way back.
Since I had left my Sharingan active on a whim, I also managed to catch another glimpse of that familiar silvery-blonde hair shortly before we reached the settlement.
This time, however, I was ready.
With the added visual prowess of my Sharingan, I managed to catch sight of a painfully familiar eye staring back at me before its owner quickly hid again.
A beautiful mix of deep ocean blue and sunset pink.
Eyes that reminded me of a breathtaking sunset.
It was only because Clara was still riding on my shoulders that I didn't immediately chase after her.
There was no way I would ever forget that hair.
Or those impossibly beautiful eyes.
‘So she’s really here.’
I thought as I forced myself to keep walking while my heart thundered inside my chest.
‘I have to see her.’
The thought was almost desperate.
Unfortunately, in my excitement, I completely missed the worried looks March and Dan Heng exchanged after I suddenly went quiet.
=====
With Firefly
‘He saw me! He definitely saw me!’
That was the thought that kept repeating in her mind over and over as her heart beat so loudly she was afraid someone might actually hear it.
Most importantly, Caelus.
‘What do I do now!?’
Firefly wondered nervously as she continued following them, though much more cautiously this time so she wouldn't be spotted again.
Even if a small—
No, a very big part of her wanted exactly that to happen.
“His eyes were red too.” Firefly muttered to herself thoughtfully. “But I know for a fact that his eyes were gold yesterday. Is that just a side effect of some ability?”
The question only added itself to the growing pile of mysteries surrounding him.
“At least I managed to confirm that his personality hasn't changed one bit.” Firefly giggled softly as a healthy blush rose to her cheeks. “It was so cute seeing him interact with that little girl as her big brother. He practically adopted her from what I saw. Clara, I think.”
Just thinking about the scene brightened her mood.
Despite everything he was going through, Caelus had still managed to smile so freely.
“I’m really glad I managed to snap some photos.”
Pulling out her phone, Firefly looked at the picture currently displayed on the screen.
It showed Caelus smiling widely while carrying Clara on his shoulders, the young girl looking bashful but happy.
A warm smile appeared on Firefly's face.
“I'll definitely show these to Silver Wolf and Kafka when I get back. I bet they'll be surprised.”
She could already imagine Silver Wolf demanding every photo she had taken while Kafka simply smiled knowingly.
Unfortunately, her thoughts soon returned to the fact that Caelus had definitely seen her.
Immediately, she became a nervous wreck again.
“Haah... what should I do now?” Firefly groaned quietly. “I really want to see him, but now I'm even more nervous about meeting him.”
She buried her face in her hands.
“What if he thinks I'm some creepy stalker!?”
As embarrassing as that possibility was, Firefly still found the courage to continue following them.
Now that Caelus had seen her, all she needed was the perfect opportunity to talk to him alone.
Surely such an opportunity would present itself eventually.
Right?
=====
Back With Caelus
After returning to the Robot Settlement, Clara quickly got to work repairing what had broken with our help.
Eventually, the topic turned back to Svarog and whether he would be willing to speak with us.
At the very least, having Clara with us meant we didn't need to find a way through the closed gates ourselves.
“Umm, I talked to Mr. Svarog yesterday about your request, Onii-chan.” Clara informed us nervously as we stood in front of the second gate, the one that led directly to Svarog's territory.
“While I can't confidently say that what you told me changed his mind, it did make him pause for a bit, which is something I've never seen Mr. Svarog do before.”
“The important thing is that you tried, Clara.” I said with a reassuring smile as I gently patted her head.
As expected, Clara immediately flushed in happiness.
The others remained silent at my words since, before arriving at the Robot Settlement, I had asked them to let me handle convincing Clara to allow us to meet Svarog.
While some of them hadn't been convinced at first, namely Seele and Bronya, seeing me interact with Clara during our little expedition had eventually persuaded them to give me a chance.
March and Dan Heng, meanwhile, had never doubted me and agreed immediately.
“Mr. Svarog became really evasive when I mentioned that you and your friends have sealed a Stellaron before and started running calculations again.” Clara shook her head sadly. “Unfortunately, he still seems convinced that your help won't be enough.”
Frowning slightly, I kneeled down until I was at eye level with her.
“Clara, if I'm being completely honest with you, I really don't like you being under Svarog's care.” I spoke gently but firmly. “There are many things that, as a machine, he simply won't be able to help you with as you continue growing into a young woman.”
Her eyes saddened slightly, but to her credit, she didn't look away.
Instead, she listened.
“However,” I continued, “because you've told me that he's your family, and because he's raised you all this time, I'm not going to say anything more about that.”
A small smile returned to her face.
“What I am concerned about is that Svarog knows the Fragmentum corrosion is getting worse and worse as time passes, yet he hasn't done anything to actually secure your future.”
Clara visibly winced.
“But Mr. Svarog is doing everything he can...” she protested weakly.
I shook my head.
“You know hiding down here won't save you, right?”
Another wince.
“It'll only keep you alive a little longer.”
The words hurt her.
I could see it.
“What that tells me is that Svarog has already accepted your death as a possibility.” My voice hardened. “And that makes me angry. Furious even.”
Clara's eyes widened.
“What kind of father gives up when his daughter's life is at stake?”
The question hung in the air.
Realizing I had become a little too heated, I immediately softened when I noticed tears forming in Clara's eyes.
With an apologetic smile, I gently wiped them away.
“I'm sorry, Clara.”
She sniffled quietly.
“But as your big brother, I can't just stand by and pretend everything is okay.”
I rested a hand on her head.
“So even if it makes you sad, I'm going to do whatever it takes to convince Svarog that he's wrong.”
My expression became determined.
“And if that means beating him up until he finally listens, then that's exactly what I'll do.”
A few people behind me coughed awkwardly.
“I'll show him that there are other paths forward. Ones that don't end with you dying because he's too stubborn to consider them.”
Clara lowered her head.
I gently patted it.
“Don't worry, though. Even if we end up fighting him, I promise we won't destroy him.”
That seemed to ease some of her worries.
As we prepared to force the gate open ourselves, I suddenly felt a small hand grab my sleeve.
Blinking, I looked down.
Clara was staring up at me with teary but determined eyes.
“If I let you see Mr. Svarog...” she began softly, “will you promise not to take things too far?”
Her grip tightened.
“And if you can't beat him... will you retreat?”
The conviction in her voice surprised me.
Even now, she was worrying about both sides.
About us.
And about Svarog.
Unable to help myself, I grinned and gently patted her head once more.
“That's a promise.”