“Emria!? Emria are you here?” He said frantically, hoping to the heavens that she would answer.

“Rein is that you? *sniffle* Please help me, Rein!” The voice of a crying little girl, no older than 6 years old came out from under a wooden beam. Without hesitation, Rein grasped the beam of burning wood, with excruciating pain and burns, he managed to lift it. He found an unharmed Emria under it. Rein heaved a humongous sigh of relief and hugged her promptly.

“I’m so glad you’re ok Emria, but wait, how are you uninjured?” Rein asked, confused and ecstatic at the same time. Hugging him, Emria cryingly responded

“I-I don’t know… when the wood beam fell on me, I put my arms out and it didn’t hurt…”

“Could it be that you manifested a Spring?”

“I don’t know… *sniffle* I couldn’t move after I used it, but nothing could hurt me.” She said as she dried the last of her tears.

Before Rein could catch his breath, he heard the sound of wood shattering behind him. He turned around, only to realize that it’s too late to dodge. He had to watch this tall, thick wood beam fall on him. He knew that Emria, who was in his arms, would be safe because of her Spring. He thought he could go without regrets. But as the beam landed, he didn’t feel anything. No pain, no unconsciousness, it’s as if someone tapped him on the shoulder. He realized what happened. Emria’s Spring protected him. He looked back down at her to see if she was okay, but she looked drained. It’s as if she was barely able to stand.

“Emria, are you okay?” He asked with no concern for himself. Exhausted, she replies while holding on to him:

“I’m okay, I’m just glad you’re not hurt Rein.”

“It’s all thanks to you, your Spring is amazing. Anyways, let’s get out of this place already.” He picked her up and ran out through where he came from. Emria, concerned for Rein’s safety, mustered up some energy and activated her Spring once again so Rein wouldn’t get burnt. As they exited the building, he glanced over at his sister, who was exhausted from the endless forces of enemies bombarding her. Without turning around to look at him, she yelled:

“Rein! Hurry up and get out of here!” This was the second time she’d yelled at her brother, but this time, she didn’t feel guilty. It was an emergency after all.

“But sis, you’re clearly exhausted. Maybe I should finally be a man and help. I’m done with running!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself! You just barely got Emy to safety. Are you gonna put her in harm’s way just to satisfy your ego? That’s not what a man would do! A true man would prioritize the safety of the girl in his arms over all else! Do you understand?”

Those words stuck with him. After a moment of reflection and conflict on his sister’s words, he decided to put his trust in her.

“Sorry, and you’re right. Thanks for reassuring me… Leona.”

Before he could do anything, he felt a presence peer over him. He turned around to see an Econican soldier, motioning his sword downwards. At that moment, Rein didn’t think. He instinctively shielded Emria. Was this it? Were they about to die? Emria was too tired to use her Spring once more. Closing his eyes, he heard a noise. He opened his eyes, laying them on his sister who had protected him. A sword thrust through her shoulder. The soldier who did it dead on the ground.

“Big sis Leo?” Emria uttered, terrified and trembling.

“Are… you two alright? Emy… Rein…”

“I should be asking you that! You just got stabbed! You shouldn’t talk.” Rein screamed with tears in his eyes. Leona took a knee.

“I’m fine.” She saw him motioning to put down Emria to check on her. “Don’t you dare let go of Emy.” He halted his motion. She pulled out the sword from her shoulder, unleashing gushes of blood. She wielded the sword with her right hand, with her original sword in her left. Focused on Leona, Rein hadn’t noticed that they’d been surrounded.

“Rein, hold tight to Emy, and don’t let go.” She stood up. “The hell do you guys want? Why are Econican soldiers attacking an Orthlys village? Is this to be taken as a declaration of war?”

“Oh, so you’re the Timeless Blitz’s kids. I don’t recognize the green-haired one, but the Ranger woman and the boy are definitely his. They’ve got his white hair.” A soldier’s voice emitted from the crowd. The man who emerged looked like a child. He had long blue hair, and some tattoos over his body, and was no taller than 5′ 2 (160cm). He wielded a mace half his size and emanated the aura of the leader of the group.

“Oh? I didn’t know soldiers had kid mafia bosses now. And how’d you know who we were? I can’t imagine anyone in Econica knows us.” She spoke with a sarcastic tone, clearly holding back the pain inflicted on her.

“Heh, you’re sharp. Sorry about this, jobs a job. You’re right though. We’re not Econican soldiers. We’re a group called ‘Checkmate’. We were hired by a group of Orthlys nobles who’d benefit from a war. One of them even placed a hefty bounty on the children of Drevius Alister. Can’t exactly reveal who it was, but I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now. Doesn’t do ya much good since you’re about to die.” He said as he took a cigarette out and lit it.

Leona knew the name Checkmate. A notorious mafia group said to take on any request, at the right price. Their members were unknown, but the Ranger guild had been after them for quite some time. But how was he aware of who they were? Not even the guild knew about Leona’s true identity. She even used an alias when on guild business. Only a small number of people would know that the Timeless Blitz was their father. Without much thought, both Leona and Rein came to the same conclusion. One of the nobles who hired them was Melina Alister. Their aunt.

“So that’s it huh?” She readied her swords. The sword she had custom forged in one hand, and the Econican sword that was through her shoulder in the other. She was using her father’s dual-blade style, which was her best style as she was trained by the Timeless Blitz himself. She’d never used it in Ranger work as it would have revealed her true identity. Though, she still kept up with her training when she was at home.

“So you’re using your old man’s moves? Heh. Alright, B2, F2, headfirst assault.” Two soldiers came charging forward. Leona cut them down.

“D2, E2, from the rear.” Leona time hopped behind them and sliced them, one sword on each.

“B1, finish her.” Out of nowhere, from behind the crowd, a soldier ran at her with incredible speed. She barely reacted in time and swiftly hopped back.

“That Spring of yours is really troublesome. Mind not using it for a bit?” The kid boss said.

“In your dreams pipsqueak. How about you stop ordering these men and fight me?”

“Our mission was to kill you. Not fight you.”

Her injury was starting to catch up with her. Talking was only making it worse. She took a deep breath, spreading her arms out.

“…”

“What? You lost your nerve Ranger?” Said the man the boy called B1. “My code name is White-White knight, one of the masters 1s. Gotta admit you impressed me by dodging that attack. But yo-” Before he could finish his sentence, he felt his arm being severed. Without realizing it, Leona had cut his arm. Blood gushed out.

“Argh, you bitch!”

“Rein, when I give you the signal, I want you to take Emy and run.”

“But Leona!”

“No buts. Please Rein. If you stay, you’ll get caught in the attack. This is our only chance.” She talked with incredible calmness, almost as though nothing so far had fazed her.

“An attack? You couldn’t mean?! No! Don’t! That’s the attack that killed father! You’ll disappear into nothingness!”

“If I don’t do this, not only will I die, but you two will as well. This is our only option.”

“No! Big sis Leo, I don’t want you to die! Please, don’t die!” Emria yelled with sorrow. Leona smiled warmly at her.

“Sorry kiddo. Take care of Rein for me will you?”

Rein was about to talk back, but he remembered his sister’s words. ” A true man would prioritize the safety of the girl in his arms over all else!”

“The hell are you planning? Wait, that stance! All pieces get to cover!” The boss knew something big was coming.

“Now Rein! Take Emy and run! I’ll direct the technique forward, so you won’t need to go too far!” Crying and hesitating, Rein took Emria and started running. He looked back, seeing the most magnificent sight. Aura was surrounding his sister, endowing her with a mysterious white light. Before she unleashed the attack, Rein heard her utter something.

“Sorry for yelling at you kid.”

And with that, she unleashed her attack. A blinding light came down from the heavens and encased the village. The light emanated an ear-piercing sound that persisted as the attack continued. The wind blew behind Rein, but he didn’t look back. Emria was crying in his arms, but he couldn’t stop to comfort her. He had to heed his sister’s words and continue running. Rein came across a small cavern, and in his frenzy, he took shelter. After about 5 minutes of hiding and crying, the sound dissipated…