"You're late," Emilia scolded as soon as Jaiden stepped inside. She stood by the door with her hands on her hips, her irritated expression making her look like a mother lecturing her child.
"What do you mean? I wasn't gone for more than thirty minutes," Jaiden replied in the same tone.
Emilia pointed at the wall clock near the entrance—it had already been an hour past the promised thirty minutes.
"I thought you said you wouldn't take that long," she said, giving Jaiden a disapproving look. "Be more careful, big brother. At this hour, it's getting dangerous out there."
"Hey, hey. You're too young to worry that much. You'll get wrinkles," Jaiden teased.
She frowned and said, "You're mean, big bro," sticking her tongue out at him before heading for the living room.
Emilia hopped over the back of the couch, landing on the cushions, turned on the TV, and sprawled out with her head resting on the armrest. Jaiden followed her in and stared at the little gremlin lounging before him.
Despite the way she addressed him, the two were not blood-related siblings. Jaiden had been adopted a year before she was born. She was a petite 155 cm (5'1"), with purple hair styled in a bob cut and green eyes like two emeralds. The girl was wearing a yellow cami tank top and denim mini shorts.
"Right!" Emilia said, taking her eyes off the news and looking at Jaiden. "Where are the chips you went to get?" she asked with a bright smile and a sparkle in her eyes.
"Honestly, I've never seen anyone get so happy over junk food…" For a moment, Jaiden froze.
Only now did he realize he wasn't carrying the bag of groceries—he'd left it in the alley during the fight and forgotten it in his hurry to leave.
"They were sold out at the store," Jaiden lied. He didn't want Emilia to know about the fight, much less that he'd been stabbed.
Thanks to the system, there wasn't a single mark on his body—not even a hint that anything had happened—so if she believed him, that was the end of it.
Emilia's expression turned a bit sad and sulky at his words. She could act brat with Jaiden sometimes, but she truly cared about him — and that was exactly why he didn't want to worry her, especially if it involved fights.
"So why did it take you so long to come back?" she asked casually, though her tone still carried that hint of suspicion. Of course, Jaiden already had a ready-made excuse that would shut the conversation down.
"I ran into Beatrice on my way home," he said with a smile.
Emilia's expression instantly changed. "That cow. Jaiden, you really need to choose your friends better."
"She's my coworker, and she's actually a good person once you get to know her," he replied, trying to soften her disapproval.
"No matter what you say, I still can't like that big-boobed cow. Hmph," Emilia muttered, puffing out her cheeks.
"Again with that…" Jaiden said with a sigh.
Emilia had always been considered a pretty and cute girl. During high school, she had plenty of admirers, but she always turned them down, saying she already liked someone. Up to that day, she had never actually had a boyfriend—not for lack of suitors—but even so, a certain complex still lingered in her mind.
Her breasts—or rather, the lack of them. The girl had a small chest. Even though she'd been pretty since she was little, she was kind of obsessed with having big ones, because her mother had big bazoombas. She always hoped to inherit those mommy milkers, but it seemed that particular gene skipped her.
Although she felt intimidated by girls with bigger knockers than hers, she generally behaved well around other girls, and even among them, she was well-liked. But with Beatrice, it was different. For some reason, she just couldn't get along with her.
It couldn't be just about breasts, because they were constantly arguing whenever they met, and the feeling was mutual. The two were like oil and water.
Emilia intended to say more negative things about Beatrice, but her attention shifted to the news playing on the TV. "Another body has been found in the western district of Valerian. This is the seventh death from an unknown cause, and public safety authorities are investigating the case," the reporter said.
"That's why I get worried," the little sister said, hugging her knees with a sad expression.
"But that's in the western district, and even so, there's no one who could defeat me in a fight," Jaiden said, trying to ease Emilia's fear.
"But brother, you're not immortal," she said. "And I get really worried. Public safety says the deaths are of unknown cause, but when they say that, it's like…" She didn't continue, but Jaiden knew what she meant.
'It's a monster,' he thought. 'Some creature that escaped from a portal.'
Monsters usually come from dungeons through portals that appear in our world. The possibility of a monster showing up here and attacking people is not zero.
Crime in Valerian is low thanks to the Head Hunters. It could be a human killer, but the news said "unknown cause."
Public safety is investigating, so the guilds haven't been called in yet. Public safety is basically the police, but with the distinction of having Awakened as part of their staff. Unlike the guilds, they handle regular crimes as well as cases involving Awakened and monsters in our world, so they always act first.
If public safety fails to resolve the problem, the guilds are then notified. These are primarily composed of Awakened, responsible for killing monsters and exploring dungeons, but they are companies that organize Awakened and assign missions to them. They have neither the authority nor the interest to act against public safety.
If we were to compare their firepower, public safety and the guilds are fairly balanced. The Top 10 strongest Awakened are spread between their respective guilds and the police. A full-scale war between these groups was something nobody wanted, so they stick to the rules and each one takes care of their own interests. Meanwhile, the body count keeps rising.
Although he was quite confident against normal humans, Jaiden knew that fighting monsters was a completely different story. Ordinary people couldn't even take on a goblin — conventional weapons simply didn't work against them. The only ones capable of facing such creatures were the Awakened.
Jaiden had just awakened his powers, but he knew that without fully understanding what he could or couldn't do, he'd be easy prey for that unknown monster.
'But big bro, you're not immortal,' Emilia's words echoed in his mind. 'Of course I know that. If it weren't for a miracle, I'd probably be dead by now,' he thought, recalling the events that had just unfolded.
Jaiden sat down on the couch. He looked at the girl who had been by his side for most of his life — the one who had supported him through his hardest moments. His benefactor. Her sad eyes stared blankly into the distance. Jaiden placed his hand on Emilia's head and began to gently stroke her hair.
"Don't worry, Lia," the young man said. "I'll be more careful coming home from now on, and I'll try not to stay out late at night."
"Really?" Emilia asked, her eyes now fixed on Jaiden, searching for confirmation in his words.
"Yeah," he replied. "I finish work in the late afternoon, and yours ends around the same time. There's no reason for me to stay out late and leave you alone."
Emilia's face brightened into a smile. She let go of her knees and wrapped her arms around Jaiden's arm. "I'm so relieved, Jay," she said, her cheek brushing gently against his arm. Despite her age, she acted like a little girl whenever she was around him.
Emilia's parents, Erick and Mary, had always wanted children. They bought the big house the two now lived in for that very purpose. Needless to say, Erick spent every bit of money he had—and even what he didn't—to pay for it.
Despite being frisky like rabbits, the couple couldn't conceive.
One stormy night, Mary claimed she heard a noise by the front door. When she opened it, she found a wicker basket on the porch. Inside, wrapped snugly in a blanket, was a baby boy. Despite the heavy rain, he wasn't crying. Concerned, she brought him inside and showed him to her husband.
Later, the two decided to adopt the child and named him Jaiden. A year later, almost miraculously, they had a daughter of their own—Emilia.
They had planned to tell the children the truth once they were older, but fate intervened. Erick and Mary died in an accident when Jaiden was eleven and Emilia was ten. That was when the two learned everything.
To Emilia, Jaiden was all that was left of her family—and she loved him more than anything in the world. She couldn't imagine what she'd do if she ever lost him.
'But maybe I really did spoil her a bit too much,' Jaiden thought as he looked at the smiling Emilia clinging to him.