Black and White and My Grown-Up Little Brother
I called out to Kurarin on a whim, thinking she might know something! It was just for fun, but then it actually worked. What if people start saying I'm ordering gods around?
"Rosarin, you want to know about this country, right?"
"That's right."
"Got it! Leave it to Kurarin!!"
In Kurarin’s hands was a picture-story show titled "Heartbeat☆Thrill☆A Love Story of Black and White."
"... A picture-story show, huh?"
"Kurarin worked hard on it."
With that being said, I had no choice but to watch. Kurarin began her picture-story show.
A long, long time ago...
After the Evil God was sealed away...
The Evil God had sown seeds across the world. These seeds gathered dark power and polluted the lands where they were scattered.
"We have to do something about this."
The lazy god, unwilling to deal with it personally, created beings to purify the world. There were the Dark Panther Tribe, who controlled magic, the Golden Lion Tribe, who brought light, and the Silver Wolf Tribe, who had resistance to magic.
And then... the clans of Black and White. This story is about the Black Dog Tribe, who absorb magic, and the White Cat Tribe, who dispel it.
The explanation in the picture-story was easy to understand, but the illustrations were so overwhelming that I couldn't absorb any of it. The shockingly vivid colors, like neon pink, and the uniquely abstract drawings reminiscent of Picasso were just too distracting. Isn't this a pretty serious issue?!
I closed my eyes. Instead of "Don’t think, feel," I figured that if I didn't look at the pictures, I wouldn't get distracted, and since the explanation was clear, I could still follow along.
To summarize, aside from the Dark Panthers and Golden Lions, there were other tribes given the mission to deal with magic. In this country, there were the Black Dogs, who absorbed magic, and the White Cats, who dispelled it. The two tribes lived together in harmony.
However, a White Cat noble kidnapped a Black Dog princess and established a new nation. Since then, the two tribes have been at odds.
Without the White Cats to dispel magic, the Black Dogs absorbed too much and started dying.
The White Cats, having married Black Dogs, became tainted by absorbing magic, grew arrogant, and lost their ability to dispel it.
Now, both the White Cat and Black Dog nations are doomed.
The artistic picture-story lacked any sense of urgency, but wasn't this really bad? I mean, I could probably do something about it for now, but maintaining it regularly... I could handle it while I’m alive, but what about after that...?
"Right now, there’s only one White Nyan-Nyan who can still dispel magic. She’s someone you know well, Rosarin—a free spirit."
"Huh?"
Nyan-Nyan sounds kind of sketchy... No, wait, a free-spirited White Cat? Only one person came to mind.
"The rest of the White Nyan-Nyans have become twisted and turned into bad Nyan-Nyans. The Black Woof-Woofs' blood was merely the trigger."
"So, they still have the power to dispel magic, but their personalities are too awful to use it?"
"That’s about right."
"”It is!?"”
My brother and Dirk were shocked. So if we just fix their personalities, it'll be fine?
"If we leave Aldin-sama there, won't everything get purified automatically?"
"Ojousama, what do you think Aldin-sama is?"
"A miraculous white being that cleanses everything around him."
".................."
"Just by leaving him there, it's amazing. Criminals turn themselves in, arrogant and hostile older brothers become doting siblings... and before you know it, the whole area is pure white."
Gator clutched his head.
"Leaving aside Alphage-sama, what was that first part?"
"A real-life horror story."
"That actually happened?!"
It did. With Aldin-sama around, everyone confesses their crimes, and corruption just disappears.
"Back to the topic, what should we do? Should I go rough up some kitties first?"
So, we just need to fix the White Cats' personalities, right? With beastmen, brute force is usually effective. I’m good at that.
"No, I'll do it."
Pochi looked straight at me. There was no hesitation in his eyes.
"I know I've had Rosarin Oneechan by my side this whole time, but… this is this country's problem, so I think it should be solved by its own people."
"You're right."
We’re just outsiders. I suppose, given the magic aspect, we could be considered involved, but if Pochi says he’ll do it, we should let him.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Yeah."
His plan was beyond anything I could have imagined. It was... eccentric, to say the least. But the success rate was probably high.
"... Pochi-kun is definitely Rosarin's little brother..."
"What do you mean by that!?"
As I protested against Dirk, my brother smiled and said,
"Rosarin, put your hand on your chest and think about it."
I placed my hand on my chest. I’ve grown quite well. Very bouncy.
"... Pochi and I are both your siblings, Niisama!"
"I mean, you were the one who raised Pochi the most."
"And Niisama, you were the one who raised me!"
"Honestly, it was more like you ran wild and occasionally escaped to do reckless things."
"Ugh!?"
"Like the first time you met Kou."
※ I left my brother behind to go rescue Dirk.
"Ugh!"
"Or things like Kuurin, the Great Tsunami, magic, more magic, and even more magic."
※ I did a lot of things. People even screamed, "Rosaariiiiin!"
"Uuuuuugh!! But I have no regrets! I do reflect on it, though!!"
"And that's exactly why Pochi turned out like this."
"Haha. I think it's thanks to Rosarin Oneechan, as well as Ru Oniichan, Gator, and Jend that I grew up this way."
“"………………"”
"Right!"
"Yeah."
With just one sentence, Pochi completely shut down my brother and Gator. He has definitely grown.
Even if we’re not related by blood, as his "Oneechan," I decided to watch over him this time.
Though, I'll be working behind the scenes, of course!
What do you think about this chapter?
