Chapter 96: Rest in Peace - part 3

I was born in a place called the Kingdom of Latveria, somewhere in Europe.

We were a family of four—father, mother, my little sister, and me. And my sister was—

"Big brother, look at this! Captain America!"

How should I put it…

"I'm gonna get a job helping heroes when I grow up! Then I'll shake hands with Spi—… with a hero!"

She had this terribly boyish kind of admiration.

Ever since she was little, my sister had admired heroes. She would draw pictures of them in her sketchbook with crayons.

"And that one?"

I pointed to a hero doll painted bright red, with black and white lines drawn like a spider’s web.

"This is Spider-Man."

"Spider… man? Doesn’t sound like he’d be very popular."

"That’s not true! He can climb walls and spin webs of any size!"

Her favorite was always the one she made up herself.
Spider-Man… I’d never heard of him, and when I looked it up, the name never came up.

I thought it would be cruel to ruin her fantasy, so I decided to just play along.

Mother, on the other hand, seemed to wish she would be a little more ladylike.

"Since it’s a holiday today, dinner will be special."

When Father said that, my sister made a conflicted face.

It seemed she didn’t really like His Majesty the King. But… she didn’t exactly hate him either.

We lived in Latveria’s capital, Doomstadt, so the whole city would get lively on holidays.
Flags lined the streets, and everyone praised the King.

And truthfully, even I saw His Majesty the King as someone amazing.
Strong, and incredibly wise.

Looking out the window, I could see silver robots flying through the sky.
They were designed in the image of the King, wearing his deep green robe.

The King was a brilliant scientist.
With his science, he advanced the technology of our nation.

Most of the army was made up of those robots.
That’s why our military power surpassed neighboring countries… and even though Latveria was small, it was wealthy.

Just as my sister admired heroes… I admired him.

But then, one day—it came.

Happiness takes so long to build. But when it breaks, it’s in an instant.

A civil war broke out.

I didn’t know the cause. Politics were too hard for a child like me.

But I remember seeing images of unrest on TV before that.
It all felt like someone else’s problem… until it burned away the memories I held dear.

The robots built by the King—someone hacked them, and they went berserk.
The capital, Doomstadt, was engulfed in flames.

My parents tried to flee the country with us.

But before I realized it—

It was just me and my sister.

Hand in hand, the two of us stood in the burned-out city… staring up at a sky redder than the flames.

The civil war was put down by His Majesty.

I didn’t really understand. I didn’t know who to blame. I just… didn’t know anything.

"Big brother."

Still holding my sister’s hand, I walked through the ruined streets.

The bookstore where Father once bought me a book.
The grocery store where I shopped with Mother.
The park where I played pretend with my sister.

All of it, all of it, all of it.

Burned, collapsed, reduced to garbage.

"Big brother…"

It was sad, it was empty—like a hole had been gouged out of my chest.

All I had left was my sister.

The warmth I felt through her hand in mine was the only thing left to me… the only memory that survived.

Still holding hands, the two of us sat down on top of our ruined memories.

Under that burning sky, with hollow eyes, I—

I tried to protect her—

I tried—

---

The city was rebuilt at a rapid pace. The scenery I once shared with Father and Mother was painted over.

And then, we became orphans.

Because His Majesty the King made a large donation to the orphanage, we never went hungry. But still, I felt unbearably empty inside.

One day, while I was reading a technical book in the orphanage, a ball rolled to my feet.

"Big brother, you need to take a break once in a while…"

"I don’t have time for that."

For a better life, to take back what was lost. For my sister… I couldn’t afford to stand still.

I turned the page and set my pen moving.

Those days continued, on and on and on… until before I knew it, a whole year had passed.

No great events, no highs, no lows. The gentle passing of uneventful days goes by quickly.

Because really, isn’t it like that? How long can you even remember the taste of an ordinary lunch on an ordinary day?

Then again, a ball rolled to my feet.

"Big brother."

"No, I—"

"Come on, let’s go."

"But—"

"Just come."

My sister tugged my hand and pulled me outside.

She threw the ball. It bounced softly against my chest, then rolled onto the ground.

I lifted my head and looked at her—

"Ah…"

She had a worried look on her face.

I thought I was the one protecting her. Yes, I only thought so.

The truth was different. I was just a child who couldn’t see beyond myself—one that even my sister had to worry about.

It’s pathetic, but that’s the truth.

…Yes. I was just a child who couldn’t see beyond himself.

Ashamed inside, I let a smile slip onto my face. Not everything had been lost. I still had someone kind enough to care about me. And that alone was enough to keep me going.

So I picked up the ball, turned to face my sister—

The sky turned gray.

"…Huh?"

The leaves falling from the trees drifted so slowly that if I didn’t believe they were moving, I might not have even noticed.

No… maybe it was just an illusion—maybe I was the one moving, and not the world. Even that, I couldn’t tell.

The people around me looked as if they had stopped entirely.

"What is… this…?"

When I let go of the ball, it fell to the ground—and then it too stopped moving.

My sister before me was frozen as well.

It felt as though I had been left alone in the world.

And then—

"You are not alone."

I heard a voice.

When I turned around… there was someone there. Someone who looked male, yet female… young, yet old… impossible to pin down.

"…Who are you? What are you? What’s happeni—"

"I am the Ancient One. A sorcerer."

A… sorcerer? I shook my head.

"A sorcerer? That’s impossible…"

"Impossible… it is only natural for you to think so."

The one who called themselves the Ancient One sat down.

But this was the orphanage’s playground. There shouldn’t have been any chairs.

When I frowned, the Ancient One spoke again.

"But the world you see is not all there is. Beyond the laws of physics you know lies the unseen unknown."

"But… that’s just… magic, you say?"

"If a man from centuries ago were to see the science we wield today, wouldn’t it look like magic to him?"

The Ancient One pointed ahead.
There, in the garden, was a television.

With a snap of their fingers, and when I looked back, it was gone.

"So then, magic—what lies beyond the unknown—wouldn’t it be strange if it didn’t exist in this world?"

"…That’s…"

"There is little time, so please… simply accept that it does exist."

As the Ancient One rose from the chair, the chair itself vanished.
Not in a flashy way, like in a game or a movie.

It simply disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place.

…By then, I wasn’t even surprised anymore.
I had already been swallowed up by the presence of the person before me, who carried themselves as if it were only natural.

"Then this… time that’s stopped—"

"It is not stopped. You and I… have only slipped into a different dimension."

I didn’t understand a word. But I had the feeling that asking further would be pointless.

"Why… why are you doing this…?"

"I could have carried it out silently. But that, I felt, would be dishonest. So—"

I looked at them with suspicion, and the Ancient One’s face grew grave.

"Let’s get straight to the conclusion."

They raised a finger… and pointed it toward my sister.

"She must be erased."

I immediately threw myself between my sister and the Ancient One.

"Ah… or rather, she, was it?"

She? He? …What are they saying? My sister has always been a girl.

What nonsense is this?

"My sister… erased?"

"Yes."

The affirmation came without hesitation, without a hint of cruelty—and I found myself staring at the ground.

A small stone.

…I had to protect her. I had to.

"She is… somewhat—no, quite special. So much so that even across different dimensions, few like her exist."

I picked up the stone.

"She is an extremely dangerous existence."

And I threw it.

But it froze mid-air before the Ancient One, unmoving.

They didn’t even look at it. Didn’t do a thing. The stone simply stayed there, motionless… before slowly dropping to the ground.

"I understand your feelings. But the scales cannot be allowed to tip."

"Wh-why…?"

"Have you never thought her words or actions were strange?"

At those words, I turned back to look at my sister.

She said she loved heroes—yet admired one that didn’t even exist.

But wasn’t that just natural for a child?

There was nothing strange about that—

"There’s nothing strange about it…"

"No. It is abnormal. You’ve sensed it, haven’t you?"

The Ancient One spoke as if they could see straight through me.

"Her body, her vessel, is mixed with something inexplicable. Something like a vast, black hole…"

Before me, a three-dimensional projection appeared, shaped like Earth.

"It connects to another universe."

And then, it split into many.

From the Earth at the center, a single line of light extended, connecting to another Earth.

"Within her lies a something that draws upon information from another universe… from a dimensional realm out of phase with our own."

"Another… universe? Dimension?"

I felt as if everything I had believed about reality was being rewritten before my eyes.

"Yes. Another universe… another Earth. From there, she draws information—memories—from the star’s Akashic Record. Tell me, did she not, in her childhood, ever behave as though she were a boy?"

"That’s…"

It was true.
Mother used to scold her, telling her to correct her speech.

"That is because the memories she was drawing upon made her so. A soul that died in that world, became record, and bound itself to her… memories endlessly drawn into her."

"Wha…?"

"Those memories warped her childhood self. Earlier, deeper than any guidance of her father or mother. They became the pillar upon which her heart was built. At this point, her thoughts are almost indistinguishable from his own."

I was speechless.

A man from another universe?
The memory of the dead?

What was he even saying?

I couldn’t understand. I didn’t want to understand. I didn’t want to know.

But even so—

"That doesn’t matter… to me… it changes nothing—"

"…………"

"No matter what you say…"

Father and Mother entrusted her to me.
I have to protect her.

"…Yes. You hold a remarkable conviction."

The Ancient One snapped their fingers. The floating Earth before me shattered.

"But this… is what lies ahead. A possibility."

The broken Earth dissolved into light, into dust, and vanished.

"The end of this universe. The collapse of all life, all matter."

"…No… why…"

"Because of her memories."

The Ancient One’s gaze fell upon her.

"That’s… that’s absurd…"

"Yet it is truth. The something inside her draws upon memories from another universe. You understand the value of those memories, don’t you?"

I shook my head. I couldn’t make sense of it.

Seeing that, the Ancient One continued.

"Knowledge from another universe. For conquerors of the multiverse, such knowledge is more precious than breath itself. Her memories will call forth beings of immense power and malice."

They snapped their fingers again.

The shattered Earth became a black mass.

"The threat is not limited to this universe. Knowledge out of phase will tempt threats from beyond. In other words, they may come… from other universes."

The black mass shaped itself into a human form, its eyes glowing red.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

"From the multiverse—the infinite universes—threats would converge. That possibility… I must erase."

"There has to be some way—"

"That some way is why I am here. To erase her."

"…No…"

The Ancient One exhaled deeply.

"I will not kill her. First, I will seal the something inside her."

A golden magic circle appeared in their hand.

"And then, I will erase every memory that resides within her."

"Her… memories?"

"Yes. Even now, she may already hold fragments of grave importance… the memory of weapons beyond measure, of transcendent cosmic beings, of stones that govern all things, of apocalyptic futures, of the All-Outside-the-Universe itself."

The light formed images—shattering, reforming, shattering again.

"Even I cannot grasp them fully—no, must not grasp them. Such things must be hidden away."

I understood.

But Father’s and Mother’s memories?
Her memories of me?
All of it… erased?

"No… no, you can’t…"

"For the sake of this universe—no, of all universes—her memories must be erased."

The Ancient One vanished.

I turned toward my sister—and realized, with a jolt, that the Ancient One was already right beside her.

"Stop—!"

But my body wouldn’t move.
As if it were no longer mine to command.

Was it the Ancient One who bound my body still?
Or was it me—accepting, resigning—that kept me from moving?

…Even now, I cannot say.

.

.

.

My sister died.

No, maybe she wasn’t biologically dead.

But still—she had definitely died.

The sister who lived with Father, Mother, and me was gone.

She no longer spoke, no longer played, no longer shared her dreams… not even laughed. My sister was gone.

Every day she just sat in her chair, silently gazing outside. She only moved when told, without any will of her own. Like a doll with its soul ripped away.

After the Ancient One erased her memories, I stayed at her side for a few days—stayed with the human who had once been my sister. I looked after her.

But no matter how much I spoke to her, she never remembered. She understood nothing.

…Eventually, I was taken in by a foster father. Even when I left the orphanage, my sister showed no expression at all.

And so I gave up. I accepted that my sister was gone—dead.

A few months later, after I was taken in… the orphanage, where I had once lived and where my sister still remained, burned down. I don’t know who did it, or why.

Half the children were found as charred corpses… the other half vanished without a trace. My sister was among the latter—the missing.

Missing, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe she was alive. Yes, I grieved. But I got over it in just a few days.

Because my sister had already died.

…That’s what I told myself. To protect my own heart.

---

“Terrible story, isn’t it? I just abandoned her, gave up on her.”

Tinkerer sneered at himself.

“……”

We both had our guns aimed at each other, but… that wasn’t what occupied my thoughts.

Tinkerer’s sister… knowledge from another universe? Almost like me… no—was it me? If so, then it makes sense why he and I look alike.

But what, why…?

I furrowed my brows. I couldn’t understand.

“…Let me continue.”

Ignoring my confusion, Tinkerer went on.

.

.

.

I learned engineering under my foster father, Phineas Mason.

He was an inventor. A bad one.

As long as he got paid, he’d lend his skills to any criminal who asked. That kind of inventor. But still… he did care about me, in his own way.

He told me that one day, I’d inherit his work. That’s what Phineas—no, the previous “Tinkerer”—always said.

A few years later, he died from gamma radiation exposure. His workshop didn’t have proper shielding… nowhere near what this room has. And so the radiation from his experiments and inventions built up inside him until it killed him.

…It was his own fault. But I don’t mean to curse him. I did respect him, at least somewhat.

I changed my legal name to Phineas Mason Jr. and began calling myself “Tinkerer.”

Like my father, I sold weapons to criminals, making money.

…My goal? My purpose? Of course I had one.

I wanted revenge for my sister. …No, that’s not quite right.

I hated the Ancient One who had killed her. I wanted to kill him—not for her sake, but because I wanted to overcome the powerless fool I had once been.

But it wasn’t enough. They say he’s the Sorcerer Supreme, the greatest of magicians. And to kill someone like that… what I had was nowhere near enough.

That frustration never left my chest.

So I buried myself in research, working recklessly, helping criminals… and before I knew it, years had passed.

But still, there was no path to killing him. Could modern science, modern technology, really kill a sorcerer? I saw no end in sight.

I thought and thought and thought…

And then, the day came.

I was building a jet pack for a man they called the Vulture, when the phone rang.

“Yes, this is Fix-It. I can repair anything, and I can build anything.”

That’s what I said. And the voice on the other end laughed, amused.

『Nice to meet you, Tinkerer.』

The man on the other end of the phone called me Tinkerer.
His voice was flat, stripped of emotion.

"What business do you have with me—"

『I have a wonderful proposal for you.』

---

"He was the boss of a certain secret organization."

"…The Unseelie Court."

"That’s right."

Tinkerer gave a weary laugh. And I realized—that’s the expression he had been hiding behind his mask.

Exhausted. Resigned. A face weighed down by the world, carrying a fragility that looked as if he might die at any moment.

"He claimed to be a time traveler from the future."

"A… time traveler from the future?"

The words made me suspicious.
A man from the future…?

No, but… in this world, it might not be impossible.
I tried to recall—but damn it, at times like this, nothing came to mind.

Seeing me struggle, Tinkerer let out a long sigh and smiled bitterly.

"In exchange for teaching me future technology, he urged me to join his organization."

"……"

"I was never a good person to begin with. So I had no aversion to joining a criminal group. What interested me more… was the technology from the future."

So that’s the reason for Tinkerer’s scientific brilliance.

"With that power, I thought I could finally kill my enemy."

"But—"

"Let’s get back to the story."

---

Welcomed into the Unseelie Court as an executive, I was given complete freedom. I provided weapons and inventions, and in turn, I researched technology from the future.

For an inventor, could there be a more ideal environment?

Eventually, once I had assembled enough weapons, I began gathering information to carry out the assassination of the Ancient One.

But information on a sorcerer was nearly impossible to obtain. Even with unlimited money, it was useless.

…So I asked the boss of the organization if he had any leads.
I figured if anyone knew, it would be him.

And he answered with exactly what I wanted to hear—almost as if he had already known the question before I even asked.

"…Already dead, you say?"

『That’s right. The Ancient One was killed by their own disciple.』

A file was sent to my tablet.
…A corpse, riddled with wounds, filled the screen.

That face—I could never forget it. And it hadn’t changed a bit since back then.
It was the Ancient One.

"No… that’s impossible…"

『It happened only a few months ago. You’re a little late.』

I frowned at the boss’s words.
…He was unfathomable.

He seemed to know my objective, and he already knew the Ancient One would die. If he was truly from the future, then it wasn’t impossible.

『The title of Sorcerer Supreme has already passed on… Do you want to kill the new one?』

"…No."

『I see.』

The one I wanted to kill was the Ancient One.
Not the position of Sorcerer Supreme.

And it wasn’t that I wanted them dead.
I wanted to kill them—by my own hand.

But instead—

"……"

I was left stunned.

I had lost my reason to live.
And it had slipped away before I could even fulfill it.

But…

Even without a purpose, I kept on living.
I had no reason to end my own life, so I simply continued existing.

Aimless, apathetic, just drifting along.
…Helping trample on people’s lives out of habit, I kept living.

As a loyal executive of the organization, I only piled up more sins.

.

.

.

One day, I was going through data files that had been sent from the Unseelie Court headquarters.

"Redcap… huh."

I let out a sigh as I scrolled through the information displayed on my tablet.

It was a project I’d already heard of—the “Redcap Program,” run by another division of the Unseelie Court.

The plan was to artificially create superhumans using a counterfeit version of the Super-Soldier Serum.

The scientists in the organization had been told the serum was provided by an outside source… but in truth, the supposed “Power Broker” was nothing more than an L.M.D.—a Life Model Decoy—created by the Boss himself.

In other words… this whole project was nothing but the Boss’s personal experiment.

No one else knew he was a man from the future, or that he possessed such scientific knowledge. At least, no one in my circles did.

He was a secretive man. I had never even seen his face.

…Well, the Redcap Program had already been frozen. Publicly, it was written off as cost-inefficient. But the truth was most likely that the Boss had already achieved what he wanted from it.

One successful subject was enough to satisfy him. …Or maybe that was all he had intended from the start.

The Boss used the organization as his personal laboratory. The other executives raved about overthrowing nations or conquering the world, but his goals seemed to lie elsewhere.

What those goals were, I neither knew—nor cared to know.

And so, from the project’s single successful subject, the one known by the codename Redcap… I was tasked with creating her suit.

That was why the data had been sent to me.

Measurements of her height, arm length, and other bodily details were included.

…A girl, huh.

Not unusual. Most of the organization’s covert agents were women.

I skimmed through the rest.

Then I dragged my finger across the video file. It was necessary to review her combat style—since the suit I designed had to match her movements in battle.

---

"In a room surrounded by white, porcelain-like walls, stood a girl facing off against an agent about her own age."

"……"

"That girl… was you."

Tinkerer tilted his head slightly.

"I could hardly believe my eyes. She had the same face as my sister."

"…I’m your—"

"Forgive me, but save your questions for the end. Time isn’t something we have an unlimited supply of."

My grip on the gun I had aimed at him faltered. For a moment, I nearly lowered the barrel.

"In that moment… in my slow, meaningless death… I came alive again. The feelings I had sealed away came back to life—because I saw you."

Tinkerer’s eyes fixed on me.

"I thought… I could bring my sister back."

What should have been clear, transparent eyes—like mine—were instead murky, clouded, heavy with obsession.