My Sister is Bronya

"What are you doing here, great hero? Shouldn't you be at this moment shouting that 'thirty years east, thirty years west' line in front of those clansmen who once looked down on you? What, running to me to save face?" Glancing at Ishiu as he settled into the passenger seat, Bronya kept busy with her work while speaking with a hint of sarcasm.

Ishiu's mouth twitched. He said helplessly, "Where's your head at? Do I look that bored?"

"Heh heh... that's hard to say." Bronya pursed her lips.

Ishiu sighed, his gaze locking onto Bronya, his expression suddenly turning very serious. "Bronya... who are you really?"

"Huh?" Bronya frowned, looking at him with confusion. "What nonsense are you spouting? I'm me, who else would I be?"

Chapter 34: The Root

"No, that's not it. Stop pretending, Bronya. Before these eyes of mine, you're as bare as the day you were born!"

Ishiu shook his head, concluding with a tone of absolute certainty. At the same time, his eyes shifted into icy-blue demonic eyes.

Ishiu had actually noticed it long ago. Before these eyes, everything—no matter what—had lines of death running across it. But... there was one exception: Bronya.

In a world full of death lines, only Bronya was completely clean. Not a single death line, not even a thread.

Back when Ishiu didn't understand what these eyes meant, he found it strange but didn't react much. After all, these eyes had come to him inexplicably, and there were too many things he didn't understand.

But just now, during the battle, he had realized what these eyes—named the Dead Apostle Ancestor—represented. They were the end of everything. In this world, no matter what it was, there would come a day when it reached its conclusion. Even the world itself was no exception.

Yet Bronya had no death lines. What did that mean? Was she immortal?

Ishiu didn't know, which was why he came to ask.

However, what Ishiu didn't expect was that, even after he laid it out so bluntly, Bronya didn't give him an answer. Instead, her face flushed red with anger, and she slapped him directly.

"You, you bastard! Pervert! Lecher! Go die a hundred times, Bronya!"

"What the hell?"

Ishiu, holding his reddened cheek, was stunned. He stared blankly at Bronya. Judging by her reaction, had he really gotten it wrong?

But just as Ishiu was starting to doubt himself, Bronya's expression did a complete one-eighty. The aura around her shifted in an instant, becoming deep and mysterious.

"Little guy, not bad. I didn't expect you to be so sharp, figuring me out so quickly." Bronya covered her mouth with a delicate laugh... No, to be precise, it was no longer 'Bronya' but something else.

"Who are you? Where's Bronya? Did you take over her body?" Ishiu's face changed abruptly. He yanked out his dagger and pressed it directly against 'Bronya's' neck.

"Don't be so rough. I am, after all, your lifesaver. Is this how you treat your savior?" 'Bronya' seemed unconcerned that Ishiu might slit her throat. Instead, she smiled and reached out, gently stroking his cheek.

Ishiu frowned. After a moment's hesitation, he withdrew the dagger and slapped away the hand that was groping his face.

Of course, he didn't do this because she claimed to be his lifesaver. It was because this thing had no death lines. Ishiu figured that even if he really did cut her throat, it wouldn't harm her at all.

Besides, the situation was unclear. He didn't know if this was someone disguised as Bronya or something else that had taken over her body.

"Looks like you don't believe me." Seeing Ishiu's hostile expression, 'Bronya' sighed in disappointment.

"Isn't that obvious? Even a kindergartener wouldn't trust someone who shows up out of nowhere wearing their friend's face." Ishiu said coldly.

"Is that so? I suppose you have a point." 'Bronya' nodded, as if agreeing with him, then snapped her fingers lightly.

The next second, Ishiu felt the world spin. Everything around him vanished in an instant, like being strapped to a supersonic jet at full speed. When he opened his eyes again and looked around, he found himself in a place that felt like the center of the universe.

His location had changed from the jeep to a blue planet, surrounded by countless stars. In the distance, he even saw the glowing sun.

"This is..." Ishiu stared in awe, almost thinking he was dreaming.

"Welcome to my world. Let me reintroduce myself. My name is A. I brought you here from the Sea of Quantum and let you enter the 'Root' that all magicians dream of, granting you the Dead Apostle Ancestor."

Where Bronya had been standing, there was now no trace of her. In her place was a white-haired loli Ishiu had never seen before.

Ishiu blinked. It took him a while to piece things together. He hesitated before asking, "Your world? Is this another parallel world? And what's the Root? Did you give me these eyes?"

"Not a parallel world, but another world. Like the world you were in before you died."

"I see." Ishiu nodded, showing no surprise that she knew his secret. He figured that with someone who could casually reshape reality, his little secrets probably meant nothing to her.

"As for the Root, I'll explain it simply. You can think of it as the cause of everything, the origin of all phenomena. In this world, everything has a cause before an effect, and the Root is the source of this world."

A said leisurely, "I happened to find you in the World Sea... oh, that's what you call the Sea of Quantum. At first, I didn't think much of you. But when I discovered your soul came from another dimension, I got a little interested."

"Out of curiosity, I pulled you out of the World Sea. If it weren't for me, you'd still be drifting aimlessly in the cracks. That feeling can't be pleasant, can it?"

"Then I tossed you into the Root and awakened the Dead Apostle Ancestor in you."

"What's your goal?" Ishiu asked calmly. "You don't seem like the type to do good deeds and stay anonymous, like Lei Feng."

"Goal... heh, it's too early to say that now. You're still too weak. Even if I had something I wanted you to do, you couldn't manage it with your current abilities. So, to be precise, I'm investing."

"Investing?"

"Yes. Giving you some help while you're weak. If you grow strong in the future, this investment pays off. If you die halfway, it's no loss to me. Do you understand?"

"I get it. But I have one more question. Why me? Because I've died once? Or because I'm from another world?"

"That..."

(Next chapter officially ends the world arc and returns to the original world.)

Chapter 35: Return

A smiled and said, "Simple. Because of your soul."

"My soul?"

"Your soul possesses a very special adaptability. No matter which world it is, you seem able to enter freely—that is your uniqueness."

A explained, "Don't think it was simple for me to bring you to my world. That's precisely because your special soul adapted to the rules of this world. If it were someone else trying to cross worlds, even with my help, they'd be rejected by the world itself."

"And it's precisely because of this that you've piqued my interest. If someday I need your power to help me with something, considering I saved your life, you wouldn't refuse, would you?"

"If what you're saying is true, then of course I won't refuse." Ishiu said in a low voice. He didn't think the white-haired loli was lying to him, because in the eyes of an existence that treated worlds as its chessboard, he was probably just something that had sparked a bit of her curiosity.

"But that world... what was that all about? Did you create it? Why are Cocolia and Bronya exactly the same as the people in my memories?"

"That wasn't my doing. You can think of that world as a parallel world to yours. Like a big tree—its trunk always has many branches. Isn't it normal for those branches to have similarities? Just similar flowers, that's all."

"I threw you into that world to see how you'd perform, whether you'd satisfy me. After all, the uniqueness of a soul doesn't represent whether the person themselves is useful."

"So what do you think now?"

"So-so. I'll say you barely passed."

"Can I go back to my original world?" Ishiu's eyes revealed longing.

"Of course you can." A smiled a little slyly. "But then you'll owe me another favor~"

"No matter." Ishiu had no objection to that. After all, she had given him his life back. As long as he could return, what was one favor?

"Good, I like straightforward people." A snapped her fingers. "I've said what I needed to say. If you don't have anything else to ask now, I'll send you back—back to your original world."

"These eyes of mine... the Dead Apostle Ancestor. What kind of existence are they? Why did I get them?"

"The Dead Apostle Ancestor... you getting these eyes was unexpected to me, yet it makes sense." A thought for a moment and said, "As for these eyes, you'll have to slowly comprehend them yourself. All I can say is, they are eyes that represent death. As long as you can understand a 'death,' they will respond to you."

"I see..."

"Alright, any more questions?"

"...That." Ishiu bit his lip, was silent for a while, then couldn't help but ask, "What will happen to that parallel world?"

People are not made of grass or wood—who can be heartless?

Although Ishiu had only been in that world for less than a month, Cocolia's kindness to him wasn't fake. If he just vanished abruptly like that, what would happen to her?

Ishiu didn't dare to think about it, but he had to go back, because his home was in the real world.

"So you're worried about that. Looks like I really didn't pick the wrong person this time." A smiled and patted Ishiu's head. Despite being a white-haired loli, she acted very mature, which gave Ishiu an awkward feeling.

"Don't worry. That world never had a Qiye Ishiu to begin with. I just stuffed you in and fabricated a false memory for them. After you leave, they'll all forget you existed. And your Cocolia mom? She only ever adopted Bronya as her goddaughter. I just transferred her feelings for her daughter onto you. But it seems she really liked having a son."

"Wait, then Bronya coming to break off the engagement..." Ishiu's face darkened.

"Hehe, how was the background story I designed for you? Starting as a trash young master with an engagement break trope—I heard it's pretty popular these days." A said with a grin.

"Where is it popular?! That stuff has been outdated for who knows how long, okay? Now the trend is the more handsome the protagonist, the more the readers can immerse themselves!" Ishiu couldn't help but shout in complaint.

"Huh?! It's already outdated?" A's eyes went wide, looking incredulous.

"...Forget it. Just send me back." Ishiu's mouth twitched. He suddenly felt that this unfathomable A might have a few screws loose.

"Mm, don't go dying on me casually."

"Thanks for the concern. I'm not that easy to kill."

"Oh, I wasn't concerned about you. I just don't want my favor to go unused before it's even needed."

"..."

In any case, Ishiu was successfully sent back to his original world by A.

The process wasn't very pleasant. As soon as he landed, Ishiu couldn't help but run to a nearby patch of grass and vomit.

Once he was mostly done, the churning feeling in his stomach eased up a bit.

This world-crossing sensation was really awful.

Still, at least he was back. He just didn't know where this was.

Ishiu wiped his mouth and looked around at the towering skyscrapers and steel forest of the modern city, feeling a bit of a headache.

But at least it was a modern city. Finding information was simple enough.

After some inquiries and a bit of effort, Ishiu quickly figured out where he was.

He was in a Japanese city called Changkong City, and the time was December 2, 2013. Counting it up, he'd been away from this world for about three months—still within an acceptable range.

As for Cocolia Orphanage, it was over a thousand kilometers away. In the past, that would have been despair-inducing, but now it was much more convenient—he could just take a plane.

The problem was, Ishiu had no money and no ID on him. Aside from a Wolf Fang blade, he had nothing. In this steel-jungle modern city, forget taking a plane—he didn't even have a tissue to wipe himself.

Truly, starting with a single blade and picking up everything else along the way.

Ishiu thought about calling Cocolia, but her phone was always out of service range. He guessed it was some kind of information-blocking measure, because he only knew her private number, and that only worked within Siberia.

The orphanage's phone was the same.

As things stood, it seemed he had no way to contact Cocolia or the others. He'd have to find a way to take a plane, a boat, or a car there.

But first, he'd need to live in this city for a while, at least long enough to get some ID. Otherwise, he'd be an undocumented person, and if the police caught him, it would be a huge hassle.

He could use the police to get himself deported back to Siberia, but that would be too embarrassing.

As the second-in-command of the orphanage, second only to Bronya, if he got sent back by the police as an undocumented person, he'd probably be laughed to death by Bronya.

Chapter 36: Raiden Mei

So, the question now was: how was he going to get his hands on some money?

Ishiu sat on a park bench and thought for a while, eventually making a decision.

Half an hour later, an ordinary convenience store in Changkong City welcomed a young, handsome cashier who could have coasted on his looks but insisted on earning his pay through honest labor, turning down the suggestive hints of the beautiful married store owner.

And that cashier was, naturally, our Ishiu.

There was no helping it. As someone without legal status, Ishiu had plenty of ways to get money, but none of them were exactly clean. He wasn't a good person, but he hadn't sunk low enough to resort to that.

So, working a part-time job was his only option.

Part-time work in Japan was pretty decent. His current job as a cashier paid 1,500 yen per hour—though, admittedly, part of that was probably a bonus from his good looks.

Besides, being a cashier was simple enough. All he had to do was take payments, give change, and flash a smile at the customers.

Since the convenience store was near a girls' high school, most of the customers were female students. And a handsome, slightly boyish young man like Ishiu quickly became their target for teasing.

After all, Ishiu's physical age was only fourteen. Though his training had given him the build of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old, his face couldn't be aged up through exercise alone.

He had lied about his age and relied on his mature way of speaking to land the job. Otherwise, he'd have been stuck hauling bricks at a construction site.

Facing the teasing of these older girls, Ishiu kept his composure, brushing them off with half-hearted replies while sinking part of his focus into his mind, contemplating the reward he had just received.

The system had previously issued a mission to help the Qiye Family stop the Honkai Beast invasion, and he had completed it. But the subsequent events had delayed him, leaving him no time to check the reward that had been distributed.