Chapter 1
“Riku, my beloved daughter. Just drown and become food for demons.”
Riku’s father was carrying her by the collar. Held high above the ground, her legs waved around uselessly. Her father calmly walked closer to the edge of the cliff. It wasn’t just a simple cliff, but a very steep one, due to the constant crashing of the raging sea. The stormy waves that were blasting onto the cliff looked like they were saying: “Come quickly. Fall at once.” It was a very scary scene. Riku looked at her father.
“Father?”
Her father was giving her a smile that made him look as if he were troubled. Even though he was going overboard now, he used to be very kind to Riku. Of course, he didn’t neglect her spiritualist training. No matter how good she became at handling the spear, no matter how much she improved in swordplay, if she wasn’t able to use the technique to infuse anti-demon power, she would get beaten. She would be whipped, and beaten down with the anti-demon sword. It hurt so much she couldn’t bear it. She hated when she was ridiculed.
“Like this, I’m going to fall off!”
Even so, normally he was very kind. Riku knew that he didn’t put food she didn’t like on the table when eating out of consideration for her. Even when she had broken vases, her father only smiled and forgave her. When she wanted something, he would buy it for her. He would also give her cute dresses as presents.
When Riku was five years old, her mother had died from illness, and her father had comforted her. He’d become more affectionate, and even decreased the training time. Yes, Riku’s father was very kind to her… Or at least, that was how he was supposed to be. Because there was no way a father like that would act this way. Riku soon became desperate, and kept looking at her father pleadingly.
“But you’re a useless child, you know. That’s why you’ll be falling.”
Her father said, crushing any hope she had left. She noticed that even though a smile was on her father’s face, his eyes weren’t smiling. It was similar to how he was during training. They were eyes that showed profound frigidness.
“Even though you’re already seven years old, you can’t use spiritualist arts at all. This is simply a lack of talent, and a child without talent only brings shame to the Brausak name. That is why you’re not needed anymore.”
“But…”
Riku’s vision felt drained of color as the words sunk in. He said she wasn’t needed. He said she had no talent. But then, what was she supposed to do? Being driven out of her home, how was she supposed to keep living on? As if trying to hug him, Riku started clinging onto her father’s arm.
“Fa-Father! I-I will make a better effort! So please, let me stay! Please, don’t throw me away!”
“Riku.”
Riku’s father started to caress her head with his free hand. As if cherishing it, he stroked her hair. It was a burning red in color. Riku didn’t like it very much when her father stroked her hair. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her hair color, rather, she felt off about the way her father viewed it. It felt to her like he was just looking at a research subject. It scared her. But right now, she couldn’t displease her father any further, so she desperately endured her discomfort.
“That’s just how it is. Rook, who’s only four years old, was already able to infuse anti-demon power a long time ago. You’re the only one that can’t do the basics of the basics, Riku. And I’ve always felt revolted at your hair anyway. It’s nauseating.”
Her father shook off the thin arms that were clinging to his arm. Usually this wouldn’t be enough to make her lose her grasp, but Riku was deeply shaken by her father’s words. Even with her unimaginable strength, there was no way for her to keep clinging to his arm.
Her red hair was indeed something peculiar. None of her family members had red hair. Not her parents, not their families, not even her older sister and younger brother. Only Riku had it. Her hair wasn’t well received, but even so, for her beloved father so blatantly say such things wasn’t something she thought would happen.
“Good-bye, Riku. Don’t ever show your face to the Brausak household again.”
And with that, Riku was thrown away. For a moment, she felt like she was floating, but soon she was able to hear the sound of the wind cutting around her. She was rapidly nearing the raging sea. The dark waves seemed to be inviting her, saying: “Come, come over here.”
As soon as she hit the water, she was violently engulfed by the waves. Her entire view was filled with bubbles, and the assault of the waves battered her body. In desperation, Riku tried to make her way through the waves.
“Fa-… a… Cough, cough… Father!”
Distantly, on the peak of the cliff, she could see the silhouette of a person. As if seeking for salvation, she reached out her hand. But soon, the next wave came and hit her. The huge wave swept little Riku down, and all she could do was try to hang on.
~*~
From very far above, wearing a coat with the Brausak crest on it, Raimon Brausak coldly watched Riku disappear into the waves. Within the raging sea, a tiny white hand could barely be seen, but a big wave soon engulfed it. Riku’s eye-catching red hair was nowhere to be seen.
“So in the end, there was nothing like a hidden power? A waste of my expectations after all.”
If it weren’t for Riku’s rare red hair and super strength unfitting of a seven year old, he would’ve driven her out sooner. He’d already known she didn’t have any talent in the spiritualist arts by the time she was five years old. Unknown to Riku, her mother was killed around that time for giving birth to someone useless.
“Then, Father… Why didn’t you kill her sooner?”
Behind Raimon, a small shadow appeared. A silver haired boy with one eye hidden by his hair looked up at him. Raimon kindly patted the boy’s head.
“It’s because there was a small chance that thing might have had a special power hidden away.”
“A special power, you say? I’ve never seen elder sister ever accomplish anything, though.”
The boy was puzzled. Raimon disagreed with a shake of his head.
“That thing’s hair was red, right?”
“Yes, red.”
“There is a superstition that red hair that doesn’t resemble the parents holds a hidden power. Besides… That thing’s muscle strength has always been abnormal.”
Raimon narrowed his eyes. Red hair that is rumored to hold a hidden power… And Riku’s thin arms that can easily deal with a seemingly unmovable spear and two-handed sword, even though such a thing should have been impossible. Even when carrying pots that require adults to put in some effort in order to carry them, for her, not even a trace of fatigue is seen. As if it were expected, she was almost able to carry nearly a hundred of them. Although, in the end, she’d slipped and broken all of them. For a normal seven year old, carrying two or three at once would be what would make that happen.
“That thing is abnormal.”
“But even so, elder sister didn’t hold any spiritualist powers.”
To Rook’s response, Raimon nodded admittedly. Riku was clearly abnormal, but even then, she didn’t have any spiritualist power. The four year old Rook, who would eventually become the successor of the Brausak house, was already starting to distinguish himself over others as a spiritualist. Even if in a most impossible coincidence something was to happen to Rook, then just having the fifteen years old Raku marry someone should do. In other words, in comparison to anti-demon power users, Riku with just her weird strength wasn’t really needed.
“Even though I thought the true nature of her powers would reveal themselves if she were at the brink of death… Rook, you must properly devote yourself as the successor of the Brausak household. You mustn’t become useless like that thing. As your family, I’m putting my trust in you.”
“Father, that’s mean.”
Rook grasped Raimon’s big hand. And then, made a sorrowful face.
“Saying it like that, doesn’t it sound like I’m inferior to elder sister?”
“No, you’ve been properly making an effort. Even though you‘re only four, you’ve reached a realm of theory that not even someone like me can compare to. Without doubt, you’re a genius that is born only once in a thousand years. Indeed… You can’t even be compared to that thing. I’m expecting a lot of you.”
“Yes!”
Turning his back to the cliff, Raimon left together with his son. Rook, feeling somewhat lonesome, looked back at the cliff. Then, with a really tiny voice that even Raimon, who was walking next to him, didn’t hear, he said.
“If she was a little bit cuter, I could have saved her… But even if I helped her, she wouldn’t be of much help for the events anyway…”
“Did you say something, Rook?”
“No, it was nothing. But Father, I have something to ask you regarding the administration of territory. About the land in our earldom that was supposed to be given to elder sister… Could it be given to me instead?”
“That plot of land? I don’t really have anything against it… But that piece of land is one where you can’t even cultivate wheat, you know?”
“That’s not a problem. I’m four years old already, I can properly manage the territory. As the next head of the Brausak household, for the sake of our people, and also for the sake of our standing as spiritualists, I’m looking forward to devoting myself entirely.”
Seeing Rook’s bright smile, Raimon felt relieved. He was a successor that could really be relied on. For both the role of the territory administration and the role of spiritualist, the Brausak household would be secure. For this exceptional child, Raimon heart decided to give his all at raising him. And as for the imbecile elder sister… The name Riku Brausak would be removed from the family tree.
There wasn’t even one person who asked about Riku. Obviously the servants didn’t, but neither did other fellow practitioners of anti-demon arts that once had congratulated Riku’s parents when she was born, and neither did the elder sister and younger brother that remained. Everyone forgot about Riku’s existence. She was the Brausak household disgrace. As someone that didn’t have any talent as a spiritualist, she was an existence that was only an eyesore. Rather than mourn her, the number of people that were happily laughing behind her back about her disappearance was much higher.
In the future, regarding this event, all Raimon Brausak wrote in the book of the military history of the spiritualists was: “To drop that thing off the cliff… How foolish of me it was. If only I had just killed her personally at that time…”
~*~
Riku Brausak more or less had always believed herself to be a special existence. She believed so from the time she was born. That was because even from the time she was born, she possessed knowledge. It wasn’t the usual case of how one would be born and not know about anything, but rather, she was aware of memories that she shouldn’t have ever experienced or had knowledge of. In other words, she had memories of her previous life, or something of the sort.
In her previous life, she was a girl with no distinguishing features. She struggled with her grades, was bullied by her classmates, and would run away from reality to immerse herself in otaku culture. Before being run over by a truck, she led a very ordinary life. But Riku despised her previous memories. Having some unknown person’s memories inside her brain felt nasty, though it couldn’t be helped.
And so, she completely ignored her previous memories. Knowledge about things like television or cars was convenient to have, but she didn’t remember most of the more useful parts of her memories. If she couldn’t remember such things, then those memories were worthless. But there was one single thing that she paid full attention to. A memory about a certain game.
Apparently, that game was of the otome genre, and was about an anti-demon arts practitioner that, together with his very intimate friends, fought against the demon race to prevent the unsealing of the Demon Lord. Even so, the main objective of the game wasn’t killing off the demon race, but rather, having the main character enjoy himself with the unfolding love from the cute girls.
The main character of the game was, in fact, her little brother Rook. In the game, Riku was introduced as his first harem member. At the point of time when the game began, she was the second sister who didn’t stand out. In her childhood, her life was saved by Rook, and because of that, she started to deeply trust him. Or apparently so it went in the game…
“At Rook’s side is where I belong.”
While saying that and laughing, she stepped up and took personal care of him, along with a big-breasted maid. In the starting quest, the player would need to use Riku’s strength to move a big pot in order to discover a secret door. But after the second week, the player would get an item that, when equipped, would allow the other party members to move the pot as well.
Basically, it meant that even if Riku wasn’t there, the story would be able to advance. In fact, other than that quest to move the pot, she doesn’t really have any use. Even so, after winning over the leader of the demon army, the Demon Lord’s sister, at the scene when the world came to peace, in the far corner, Riku made an appearance. As far as the story goes, Riku was a character that lived until the end of the story. Even though she was useless.
While Riku hated her previous memories, she was still interested in the memories about that game. The world was currently at peace. The demons were active, but there had never been anything that caused a big turmoil. Even so, without a doubt, a great war would soon start. That’s why increasing her own power was necessary. Although, despite her efforts, Riku wasn’t able to use the spiritualist arts. No matter how much she trained, she could only become stronger physically. At that pace, she wouldn’t be able to be useful for anything. But even so, she had taken comfort in knowing she was going to be saved in the end.
“Wasn’t it because you’d had such a carefree life that you’d gotten careless?”
Somebody’s voice came to her ears. Yes, Riku had been careless. She wasn’t negligent in her training and was prepared to struggle to the death with it. All she had was sheer muscle power, but she’d hoped that after becoming an adult, while she wouldn’t be a very good spiritualist, it would at least be enough for her to be able to stay in the Brausak household. But because of her previous memories, she’d been negligent. She had figured she’d be able to keep living there and stay safe and sound by being together with Rook. Yes, thinking like that wasn’t good.
“That’s right. Because that happened… Because such a thing happened, it was no good.”
As she was carried to the shore, she finally understood. Because she had those memories, she’d stupidly carried on with that overconfidence. Irritatingly, with her previous memories as someone that was worthless at everything, she’d become negligent without even being aware of it. No, was it really because of her previous life?
Riku thought it over. This world wasn’t anything like the memories of her previous life. For as much as she remembered, her previous memories might as well have been nothing more than a simple book that was left in her bedroom at some point. It was nothing more than a clump of unimportant information she didn’t directly have any relation to. In other words, they were completely unrelated to Riku Brausak. Because of those previous memories, her own life was turned into a mess. Riku sank her nails into her forehead hard, causing blood to gradually flow out. But after all that she’d been through, that level of pain didn’t matter at all. Dark feelings started to spread through Riku’s heart when the voice spoke again.
“Yes, then, you don’t need those memories.”
On the secluded beach before her, an obscure figure stood. He was a beautiful young man with glittering black wings, and he was looking at Riku. Glancing at his wings, Riku laughed.
“Are you a demon?”
“No, I am a Death God.”
The Death God was faintly smiling. In his hands, he carried a strange scroll with very tiny letters written very close to each other on it. Riku narrowed her eyes and read the letters.
“Contract writings… One may have one wish come true. In exchange for that, one must consent in giving up one’s own soul… What kind of joke is this?”
“It’s not a joke. I can grant you your wish. In exchange, I want to receive a soul. Actually, while in a certain way it is your own soul, the soul I want is that previous life soul of yours that is acting like a parasite to your actual soul. Souls that are capable of possession have a strong attachment to the world… If you let it ripen, it’s very tasty.”
The Death God licked his lips. His tongue was long and red, looking more or less like a snake hunting for its prey. Seeing his scary and creepy expression, Riku trembled a bit. But even so, she noticed she was actually interested in his proposal.
“In other words, even if you were to grant a wish for me, I… Riku Brausak won’t be really affected, right?”
“It will be just about the existence of that thing you call ‘previous memories’ all being forgotten. Your own soul itself won’t suffer any consequences. Not even in the afterlife, of course.”
“I see.”
The exact moment she had heard those words, she’d already decided in her heart. As Riku got up, she looked into the wanting eyes of the Death God. Seeing Riku’s resolve, he leaned forward with shining eyes. With a somewhat weird voice, he encouraged Riku to make a wish.
“Now, say your wish. Do you want a bathtub overflowing with gold? Or perhaps good looks that are enough to make anyone bow before you? Maybe getting revenge on someone that looked down on you? Ah… If you give both your souls, I’ll give you a special service. I’ll grant you two wishes.”
“A place.”
Interrupting the Death God, Riku started to say her wish. While looking at him with cold eyes, Riku, with feelings coming from the depths of her heart, she raised her voice as if she were declaring something.
“I want a place where I can belong. A place where my power is recognized. As for the Brausak household which threw me away… I will get revenge myself. I want to give hell to those who didn’t accept my power.”
“Hmm…”
The Death God boredly scratched his cheek, then looked at Riku from head to toe.
“But you can’t use spiritualist powers, you know. The super strength you were born with prevents you from using your spiritual powers. If the structure of your body isn’t changed, you won’t be able to use spiritual power for the rest of your life. Ah, that’s right! Won’t you give your own soul as well? If you do that, I can not only prepare you a place to belong to, but also regarding the spiritual powers…”
“I don’t need it.”
Riku said with a clear voice. Opposite her skinny appearance, her eyes were shining with ambition.
“I have this power. So what if I won’t be able to use spiritualist powers? I am myself. I will make them understand… And I will do so with my own power!”
Riku was showing a smile full of desire. Seeing her act like this, the Death God kicked a pebble in boredom.
“That’s so boring. You won’t come across another opportunity like this so easily, you know?”
“As if I would want something like this for that. Besides, if I get too greedy, I’ll get overconfident again.”
“Tch… And here I was thinking I was going to get to eat both souls. Oh well, it can’t be helped.”
The Death God held Riku’s head under his hand. A faint light similar to fireflies started to surround Riku. Her feet distanced themselves from the ground as she slowly rose up in the air. Even so, she didn’t feel scared.
“If you keep going forward, you will obtain your place to belong. But, that’s only if you survive until then. Well then, I’ll be taking my payment now.”
Please let me know if there’s anything inconsistent or that needs further editing/corrections!!
-emrld
Scarlett Shoujo 