“Poor boy. If only you had been born into another family,” murmured the nurse as she changed Najun’s bandages.

  Najun, overwhelmed by painkillers, wasn’t fully present and drifted in a kind of trance.

  He was reliving his very first lesson with the teacher who had taught him the fundamentals of the magic of this world:

  “So, what do you know about the magic of our world?” the teacher asked, clearly full of enthusiasm.

  “Magic is connected to blood and family.”

  That was Najun’s answer.

  **“Correct! Magic is deeply connected to family. The family you are born into influences your magic. There are four forms of abilities: Birth-Ability / Pet / Object / Protection.

  Birth-Ability: These are abilities specialized in combat and are particularly powerful.

  Birth-Pet: Ghostlike beings that grow and die together with the person they belong to since birth.

  Birth-Object: An object that materializes and is bound to certain conditions.

  Birth-Protection: Abilities suited for defense or passive use. But they don’t necessarily have to be related to combat—they can also involve healing, reading, etc.

  There are also Family Gifts, and each one belongs to one of the four categories just mentioned. These Family Gifts appear as small gift boxes and can only be given and taken by the family’s head.

  Any questions?”**

  “Can you have more than one Birth-Type, or only one?”

  “Normally you have only one of the four, but it’s definitely possible to have multiple of the same type or several of different types. Like your father and your brother Naki.”

  “Okay. My other question is: is that really everything about magic in our world or… is there more?”

  **“A family’s status and fame influence both the strength of magical abilities and the health of its members. When a family is unknown and socially ‘dead’, the life expectancy of its members drops, and their vulnerability to illnesses rises drastically.

  Basically, magic is built on the reputation of the family.

  Also, if someone does not belong to the family—or no longer belongs—they lose access to the family abilities. But you must personally feel excluded; that cannot be dictated by others.

  Never forget that magic is a complete mystery, and we still haven’t discovered everything within it. You may one day discover a new practice or an extension of an existing one.”**

  Najun didn’t know why he remembered such things now, but more memories flowed through him until he finally woke up.

  “Where am I?” Najun asked weakly as he tried to sit up.

  “Careful, or you’ll hurt yourself even more.”

  The nurse helped him sit and explained where he was and what had put him in such a state.

  “Right… I was punished by Father.”

  Najun stared into emptiness and pitied himself.

  The nurse tried to cheer him up with food, conversation, even games, but nothing worked, so she gave up.

  She handed him the last medication for the day and left with a tired smile.

  “The boy is really at the end of his strength. They should just send him away so the father doesn’t have to ‘punish’ him anymore. I should bring him something sweet tomorrow. That always helps.”

  On the way to her room, the nurse noticed something unusual on the floor: a gun.

  “What’s that? Is that… a revolver?”

  Before she could finish her thought, she was knocked unconscious. Someone dragged her into a storage closet and tied her to a cabinet.

  It was the intruder. She had knocked the nurse out and carried her away.

  The girl transformed into the nurse.

  The condition for transforming is physical contact with the person she wants to imitate. The longer the contact, the longer she can maintain the form—and she can even mimic personality traits and recent memories.

  After transforming, she walked straight back to the sickroom where Najun was trying to fall asleep.

  “I thought you were going to the workers’ quarters. Your shift should be over.”

  “Yes, but I left my bag here. And I have to give you one more pill. It’s new for your treatment, and I forgot earlier. It’ll be quick.”

  She took her bag, which she had intentionally planted earlier, and handed Najun a pill.

  “No water. Just swallow it.”

  She watched him closely, waiting for him to gulp it down. The pill was not for treatment—it was meant to kill him.

  Her mission was to kill every core family member, starting with the weakest present.

  Najun put the pill in his mouth and made swallowing sounds.

  “Good. Then have a nice day, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She walked toward the door with a satisfied smile.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Wait.” Najun stopped her.

  “Yes?” she answered, slightly nervous.

  “This pill tastes a bit strange.”

  “I understand. It’s made from rare herbs and has a strange preparation method.”

  “It tastes more like… poison.”

  Najun spat out the pill and stood up.

  “So you didn’t swallow it?”

  “No. I always activate my Birth-Protection when I’m in bed, and I sensed something strange. Like the nurse being dragged into a room by the woman who shot me in the leg.”

  “Hahaha! Wow, your ability has a big radius.”

  “The bigger the radius, the less accurate my vision gets. But it was still enough to see you clearly.”

  They now faced each other again.

  “Doesn’t matter. You don’t stand a chance against me anyway.”

  “Hands up.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Then your end will be slow. I originally wanted to kill you quickly, but if you’re this cheeky, maybe I’ll just take the other leg. Honestly, it’s impressive you can even move. Respect.”

  “I don’t need your compliments.”

  Suddenly Najun closed his eyes and walked forward.

  The woman warned him three times to stop—but he kept walking.

  “Stop!” That was the fourth time.

  “No.”

  She fired.

  The bullet hit him in the head, and Najun fell backward onto a bed, motionless.

  “I have to hurry. My transformation will wear off soon, and they probably heard the shot.”

  She made her revolver disappear and walked toward the door.

  **“Should I return to my family? My parents told me I have to kill at least three core family members. The side members don’t matter—though I can kill them if the opportunity comes.

  But I only killed one right now… maybe I should kill at least one more before I head back.”**

  She didn’t notice the dark figure behind her holding a potted plant over her head.

  The pot smashed down; she collapsed. The pot shattered across the floor.

  She looked up and saw the frail Najun staring at her with a disturbing expression.

  “H-How are y-you still a-alive?”

  “Because I have good instincts. I used my ability to sense the exact moment you were going to shoot. So I let myself fall right then, making it look like you shot me in the head. The fact that you didn’t see any blood splatter should’ve been an obvious clue… but I guess I overestimated you.”

  Najun grabbed the next potted plant.

  “No. Wait. Wait!”

  She begged for her life, but Najun showed no mercy and smashed the pot against her skull.

  “Faster. Even faster.”

  Naki whispered to himself as he trained in the training hall with a wooden sword.

  He grew faster and faster until the wooden blade snapped.

  “That was already the fifth one.”

  He grabbed another sword and continued striking the training dummy, which was already falling apart.

  “Father and Hina make me so angry. Someone should yell at them and teach them how to treat people. And that someone will be me.”

  The sixth sword broke.

  After training, Naki headed straight to his father’s room, but he witnessed something extremely strange:

  He saw his father and Najun hugging and smiling at each other.

  “What is going on?!” Naki thought as he approached.

  “Hello Naki, my other son. Najun just told me something wonderful. Go on, tell your brother.”

  Najun looked at Naki with tired, emotionless eyes.

  “I captured the intruder. All by myself.”

  Naki stared at him, feeling both pride and an unpleasant surprise—Najun had defeated someone who had escaped him.

  He looked at his father.

  “Isn’t it great?! My son finally did something useful. I already informed her father—they’re on their way for the exchange.”

  “Exchange?” Naki asked, glancing at Najun.

  “To get his daughter back, he must hand over two Family Gifts and relinquish the claims to an important family artifact. With this artifact, you can do incredible things.”

  “What kind of artifact?” Naki asked.

  Aihara and Najun looked at each other and refused to answer.

  Naki watched them talk and laugh together.

  “He hurt him so badly yet still allows Najun to act like this…”

  Later they stood before the core family temple.

  The intruder’s father waited with his men.

  Aihara hopped around, laughing loudly.

  “So we caught your little intruder, huh? Or rather—my son Najun found and captured her. You brought my things, right?”

  The head of the Shojo family placed two small gift boxes on a trolley along with a long, cloth-wrapped object.

  Both sides stepped forward and took their exchange items.

  “1… 2… 3!”

  Aihara threw the girl aside, and her father immediately rushed to catch her.

  “Good thing she’s fine, or this wouldn’t have ended peacefully.”

  Aihara took his things and went inside.

  The others said farewell to the Shojo head.

  “Don’t you ever dare come here again,” Najun said, even though the man didn’t really hear him.

  “Since when are you so tough?” Naki asked.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “This punishment and your first success… they don’t seem to be doing you much good.”

  “They help me see what I’m truly capable of.”

  “Father told you that?”

  “Something like that.”

  “I don’t want to sound grumpy, but don’t ever forget how they’ve treated you.”

  “I know. I’ll stay cautious.”

  “Really? At times you seemed to enjoy Father’s attention a bit too much. Like you want to claim it all for yourself.”

  “Why would you think that? Jealous?”

  “Hahahaha! Wow, not even one day and you already think people are jealous of you.”

  “What do you mean by ‘one day’?”

  “Not even a single day of being even slightly a good son—and you already think you’re at the top of all children. Arrogance is poison.”

  Najun looked at his brother coldly and walked away.

  Naki walked in the opposite direction.

  Both had uncharacteristic expressions: Najun looked angry yet empty; Naki looked thoughtful and disappointed.

  One day later, they were summoned by their father.

  “Thank you for coming.”

  “What do you want?” Naki asked angrily.

  **“I have a mission for you—not only for you two, but for all eight of my children. As you know, I had many lovers, but only one was the right one. She is even your biological mother, so this is an even more exciting matter for you.

  The mission is: Rescue my wife—your mother.

  All your siblings have already been briefed and agreed to this mission. Whoever rescues her will become the next family head.”**

  “WHAT?!” Naki burst out.

  Najun remained kneeling and listened carefully.

  “The one who rescues her will be the next head. As of now, your main task is to find your mother. There may be complications, but keep the main goal in sight—or you’ll lose it without realizing.”

  “How are we supposed to do that? Can you at least tell us something about her situation—or how you’re so sure she’s alive?”

  **“Just win. I don’t care how you do it. As a hint: you’ll never achieve it alone, but trying doesn’t hurt.

  Good luck, my children. Watch over me and your mother.”**

  Naki and Najun stood within the family estate.

  The oldest son was somewhere in the mountains.

  The oldest daughter was in a zeppelin, listening to music.

  Another sister was in a dark forest.

  Another brother was in a castle, currently killing many people.

  The strange brother was on a graveyard, greeting everyone there.

  The youngest sister was in a typical American diner.