Kairo knelt beside the still body, memories flooding back like a relentless tide.
He remembered their first meeting—Kai charging in to save him from that white monstrous tiger, its form twisted and nightmarish. The image burned behind his eyes.
"If you weren't there, I would have been eaten alive by that lion over and over again until he got exhausted from eating me…" Kairo's voice cracked as he spoke to the corpse, fingers trembling where they rested on Kai's cold shoulder. "Kai, you saved me. How would I not feel guilt? And if you weren't there… how could I have even found this place? How would I have met your friend… how…"
His words trailed off as a hollow sensation spread through his abdomen. Kairo looked down, eyes widening in shock. His stomach had turned back into a void, the earlier wound completely gone.
"So that illusion… it was you. You were taking that pain away from me…" His throat tightened painfully. "Uhh, it hurts… You were doing this for me."
Tears spilled freely down his cheeks, hot and unrelenting. He cried uncontrollably, shoulders shaking as he hunched over the body. "You also said I wasn't worth scaring. You were trying to comfort me in a way so I wouldn't get scared of you. Because of that damn contract, you couldn't express your love to me. Damn it… damn it…"
Fragments of memories surfaced—Kai always showing his back to hide a genuine smile after Kairo had accidentally called him brother. The small, hesitant acts of kindness that had seemed so strange at the time now cut deeper than any blade.
Kairo spent hours crafting the grave, making it as beautiful as possible. He stole flowers from nearby shops, arranging them with trembling care, and sculpted a simple yet elegant marker with his own hands. When it was finished, he sat beside it, knees drawn to his chest, staring at the mound of earth in heavy silence.
I'm way too hungry…
His hand brushed against the pouch at his side—the white tiger-skin pouch that had belonged to Kai. Inside, he found another scroll. Unrolling it with shaky fingers, he read the words written there.
Kairo, if you get this, it means I am dead. If I were alive, I wouldn't have let you go hungry. It is a gift. I have a secret friend who has way too much food. If you use this spell and learn it, you can summon food as much as you can. Love you, my dear brother. I just couldn't say it because I am kinda shy, but in my religion it is fine to say that I love my brother. So survive as much as possible. Your dearest bro, Kai.
Fresh tears blurred his vision. Kairo activated the spell on his first try. Warm, fragrant food materialized before him—steaming and plentiful. He began eating slowly, each bite tasting of salt from his tears.
"Thank you very much, big brother."
The food didn't rot, just like in this strange world. He savored every mouthful, crying quietly as he did.
I actually turned into a monster just like Kai… but was I able to change my heart too and become kind, just like Kai?
"And I am too sorry, Brother. I was making fun of you. I just… I just can't handle it, for disrespecting someone like you." His voice dropped to a broken whisper. "The reason why you couldn't see demons, Kai… is because you were an angel. Where demons feared you—not because of your strength, but because of your kind nature. I think my father was right. Being kind and strong, you can defeat those ugly monsters as much as you can."
After a long while, Kairo rose to his feet. He took a few steps away from the grave and blinked in surprise at how effortlessly fast he moved. The memory of Kai's quiet admiration for his growing strength surfaced, bringing a bittersweet ache to his chest.
The road curved like a ribbon of pale stone, guiding travelers toward the castle as if it possessed a will of its own. At first, it appeared only as a shimmer on the horizon—towers rising like silver flames against a lavender sky. But the closer he came, the more it revealed itself: a palace of impossible elegance, its walls carved with delicate patterns that caught the light and scattered it into soft rainbows across the gardens below.
The castle did not loom. It floated—not literally, but in presence. Its spires were too slender, its arches too graceful, its banners too fluid in the wind to belong entirely to the ordinary world. Soft golden light spilled from every window, even though the sun had not yet set, as if the place glowed from within.
Around it stretched gardens so lush they seemed painted rather than grown. Blossoms of colors not easily named—some like liquid sapphire, others like burning ivory—spilled over marble pathways. Crystal fountains sang quietly, their water catching the air like drifting glass.
And then there were the people.
They moved through this dreamlike beauty with an air that felt almost… misplaced. Silk robes trailed behind them, embroidered with constellations and gilded threads. Jewels flashed at their throats and wrists, brighter even than the castle lights. Their posture was impeccable, their expressions composed—but their eyes carried a sharpness that shattered the harmony of the place.
They did not look at the flowers.
They did not listen to the fountains.
They looked at each other.
Every gesture was measured, every smile edged with quiet judgment. A woman paused near a rose arbor—not to admire it, but to ensure others saw her pause. A man laughed, not from joy, but from the need to be heard laughing. Conversations drifted through the air like polished glass—beautiful, but cold, each word chosen less for meaning than for impression.
One might have expected laughter to echo freely in such a place, but instead it came in careful bursts, like rehearsed music.
A traveler standing at the gates might feel it immediately—the strange imbalance. The castle was breathtaking, almost sacred in its beauty, yet the people within it seemed determined to rise above it, as though even this wonder was merely a stage for their own importance.
And yet, the place endured.
The wind still moved gently through the towers. The flowers still bloomed without audience. The light still poured from the windows, soft and generous, touching even those who did not notice it.
It was as if the castle itself understood something its inhabitants did not—that beauty does not need admiration to exist, and that no amount of arrogance could ever outshine the quiet magic woven into its stones.
Kairo wandered the polished streets, the castle's golden light casting long shadows behind him.
A group of finely dressed men argued loudly nearby, gesturing wildly at each other.
"My house is clearly superior!" one snapped, chest puffed out.
"Yours? Don't make me laugh!"
Not far away, a cluster of children fought viciously. One boy shoved another hard. "We won't lose to the likes of you!"
The second kid swung back, landing a solid hit. "Take that! Your skills are trash!"
Kairo watched them, brow furrowed. "Hmm. Kinda weird place. How can a place be so beautiful while its people are way too arrogant?"
Several men nearby turned their heads, their gazes dripping with genuine disgust as they looked him up and down. Kairo's stomach twisted. He broke into a sprint and vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving only a faint gust of wind behind.
"Damn him! He's so arrogant!" one man growled, face twisting in fury.
"Acting like I can't beat him with magic! Pretending to be so tough!" a woman spat, fists clenched at her sides.
Kairo hid in a narrow alley, heart hammering. A cold fear settled over him. These people… their eyes are somehow similar to those red and white-eyed monsters in the forest. But these people are way too arrogant.
Brother Kai… will these people really accept the monster I've become?
He tried to run again, but the monstrous strength he had grown used to had completely faded. His legs felt ordinary—human. Weak.
Before he could slip away, the group of kids spotted him.
"Hey, it's that kid!" one shouted, pointing excitedly.
"Whoever loses will get the hell beaten out of him!"
The rest roared in agreement.
I defeated kids my age before. I'll defeat them too.*
Instead of facing them head-on, Kairo turned and bolted in the opposite direction. The children, enraged by his behavior, gave chase with wild yells.
He ran and ran. For half a day, the pack of kids pursued him relentlessly through the winding streets and into the dense forest outskirts. Kairo's lungs burned, each breath like fire in his chest.
This pain… it's killing me…
Exhausted, he finally stumbled. The twenty or so kids his age swarmed him, kicking and punching without mercy. They beat him for two long hours. Kairo curled up, pretending to be dead, body limp on the cold ground.
"Uhh, he died. What's the point of killing someone who won't feel pain anymore?" one kid said, kicking him one last time. "Well then, let's go. My mom is waiting for me. I'm gonna tell them how I killed another kid!"
The group roared with laughter and scattered toward their homes, leaving him broken on the forest floor.
Kairo waited until their footsteps faded. Slowly, painfully, he opened his eyes. His bones were bent at unnatural angles, shattered in multiple places. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself upright on both broken legs and began the agonizing walk back toward Kai's grave. Every step sent white-hot agony shooting through him, but he kept moving, sweat mixing with tears and blood.
He finally reached the grave as night fell, collapsing beside it. Curling up against the earth, he drifted into exhausted unconsciousness.
A familiar green aura soon enveloped his body, gently knitting bones and soothing wounds. Kairo stirred, staring at the glowing light with dull eyes.
Why did Kai torture me? I screamed for three days… and this is nothing compared to that level of pain.
Shivering in the freezing cold, he gathered some wood and lit a small fire. Its warmth barely pushed back the chill. Kairo reached into Kai's tiger-skin pouch and pulled out the white lion fur.
"It is that jacket… when I first met him." He slipped it on, the fabric strangely adjusting to fit his frame perfectly. It was huge at first… then it became my size.
A realization hit him as he stared into the flickering flames. Wait a minute. The reason Kai tortured me… it was because of that void man. He said I had to sacrifice my guts to get here.
"All that… just to get beaten by arrogant kids."
The crack of twigs made him tense. A new bunch of children emerged from the trees, younger than the previous group. Kairo shot to his feet, fists raised warily.
"You have found me. I won't get beaten up this time!"
He studied them carefully. They're way lot younger than me.
"You kids, why are you in this dense forest?"
A small girl stepped forward, her eyes hollow. "It is because we don't have a home. We are forced to stay here so that predators eat us instead of eating them."
Kairo's breath caught. The fire crackled between them as silence stretched, heavy with the weight of her words.