1.THE DAY THE GEARS BROKE UP
Edited from: https://starrydawntranslations.wordpress.com/katahane01/

“Riku, my beloved daughter, just drown and become food for demons already.”

Her father was carrying Riku by the collar.

Without being able to touch the ground, her legs waved around uselessly. Her father was calmly walking, moving closer to the edge of the cliff. It wasn't simply a cliff; erosion from the raging sea had caused it become incredibly steep and the stormy waves that were blasted onto the cliff seemed to say: “Come quickly. Fall at once.”

 Riku looked at her father.

 “Father?”

 Her father only returned a troubling smile.

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 the demon banning power, she would be beaten. She would be whipped and beaten down with the demon banning sword. It hurt so much she couldn’t bear it.  She hated it very much when she was ridiculed.

“This way I will end up falling down!”

Even so, normally he was very kind.

Riku knew that, out of consideration for her, he didn’t put food she didn’t like on the table when eating. Even when she broke the vases, her father only smiled and forgave her. When she wanted something, he would buy it for her. He would even give her cute dresses as presents. When Riku was five years old, at which time her mother had died from illness, her father comforted her; he became more affectionate and even decreased her training time.

Yes, Riku’s father was very kind to her… Or at least, he was supposed to be. There is no way a father like that would act this way. Riku soon became desperate and kept looking at towards him.

“But Riku is a useless child, you know. That’s why you will be falling down.” Her father said, cutting all of her hope in half.

She had already noticed it; even though a smile was showing at her father’s face, his eyes weren’t smiling. It was similar to how he was during training. They were ones that showed profound frigidness.

“Even though Riku is already seven years old, she can’t use spiritualist arts at all. This is a matter of simply not having any talent. A child without talent only puts shame to the Barusak household. That is why Riku is unneeded.”

“But…”

Color vanished from Riku’s sight.

She was told that she was unneeded. She was told that she had no talent. But then, what was she supposed to do from now on? Being driven out from her house, how is she supposed to keep living? Riku started clinging as if trying to hug her father’s arm.

“Fa-father! I-I will make more effort! So, please let me stay! Please, don’t throw me away!”

“Riku.”

Riku’s father started to caress Riku’s head with his free hand.

As if cherishing it, he stroked her hair. It was a red color, as if it was burning. Riku didn’t like it very much when her father stroked her hair. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her hair because of its color, rather, it was that she just couldn’t get used to the way he did it. It felt to her like he was just looking at a research subject. It scared her deeply.

But right now, she couldn’t displease her father in any way and she desperately endured the discomfort.

“This is already a determined fact. Four year old Rook was already able to infuse demon banning power long ago. The only one that can’t do the basic of the basics is you, Riku. I’ve always felt revolted at your hair anyway. It’s nauseating.”

Her father shook off the thin arms that were clinging at his arm.

Normally, this shouldn’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 up on clinging to his arm.

Her red hair was indeed something peculiar. Both her parents and in both of their families, none of them had red hair, not even her older sister and younger brother. Only Riku had it. She knew her hair wasn’t well liked, but even so, for her beloved father to admittedly affirm such a thing was something she hadn’t thought would ever happen.

“Good-bye, Riku. Don’t appear in front of the Barusak household ever again.”

And with this, 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 through 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 fell down, she was violently engulfed by the waves. Her entire view was filled with bubbles and the movement of the waves were breaking her body.

In desperation, Riku tried to make her way through the waves.

“Fa… a…” She spluttered and coughed. “… Father!”

In the distance, 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 would come and hit her. The huge wave would sweep down on little Riku. All she could do was to try to hang on.

———

There was a man very far above watching Riku disappear into the waves.

It was her father, Raimon Barusak.

Wearing a coat which had the crest of the Barusak household on it, he was looking down at Riku. Within the raging sea, a tiny white hand could barely be seen, but soon a big wave would engulf it, and it would be lost. The eye-catching red hair was nowhere to be seen.

“So, in the end there was nothing like a hidden power? A waste of expectation after all.”

The red hair rarely seen in this country and the super strength unimaginable to a seven years old.

If it wasn’t for those reasons, he would have certainly driven Riku Barusak out sooner. Raimon already knew Riku didn’t have any spiritualist talent by the time she was five years old. Unbeknownst to Riku, her mother was also killed around this time as someone useless that bore a powerless child.

“Then, father… Why didn’t you kill her sooner?”

Behind Raimon, a small shadow appeared.

A boy looked at him, one of his eyes hidden behind his silver hair. Raimon kindly patted the boy’s head.

“Because there was a chance that thing might have had a special power.”

“A special power, you say? I’ve never seen elder sister ever accomplish anything.”

The boy was puzzled. Seeing the boy’s behavior, Raimon shook his head in disagreement.

“That thing’s hair color was red, right?”

“Yes, red.”

“There is a superstition that a red haired child who bears no resemblance to their parents will hold hidden powers. Besides… That thing’s strength was abnormal.”

Raimon narrowed his eyes.

The red hair that is rumored to hold hidden powers…

Riku’s thin arms could easily deal with those seemingly unmovable spears and two-handed swords, even though such a thing should have been impossible. Even when carrying pots at which an adult would strain, she would show not even a trace of fatigue. As if it was expected, she was able to carry almost one hundred of them; although in the end, she let them slip and broke them all. For a normal seven year old child this would happen at two or three.

“That thing is abnormal.”

“But even so, elder sister didn’t hold any spiritualist powers in the end.”

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 will eventually become the successor of the Barusak house, was already starting to distinguish himself over others as a spiritualist. Even if, by some unimaginable coincidence, something was to happen to Rook, then simply having the fifteen years old Raku marry someone would be fine. In other words, compared to the other demon banning power users, Riku with just her weird power was unneeded.

“Even though I thought the true nature of her powers would be revealed if she was at the brink of death… Rook, you must properly devote yourself as the successor of the Barusak household. You must not become useless like her. As your family, I’m putting my trust in you.”

“Father, that’s mean.”

Rook grasped Raimon’s big hand and made a sorrowful face.

“Saying it like that, doesn’t that make it sound like I’m inferior to elder sister?”

“No, you’ve making proper effort. Even though you are still four years old, you’ve reached a realm of theory that even I cannot compare. Without a doubt, you are a genius that is born only once in a thousand years. Indeed… It is not a level that can even be compared to that thing. I’m expecting a lot of you.”

“Yes!”

Turning his back from the cliff, Raimon left together with his successor to be.

Rook, somewhat feeling 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 help her, she wouldn’t really be of much help for the coming events anyway…”

“Did you say something, Rook?”

“No, it was nothing. But leaving that aside, father, I have something to talk about regarding our territory administration. About the land in our earldom that was supposed to be given to elder sister; could it be given to me?”

“That plot of land? I don’t really have anything against it… But you can’t even cultivate wheat on that piece of land, you know?”

“There is no problem. I’m four years old already. I can properly manage the territory. As the next head of the Barusak household, for the sake of our people, and also for 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 can really be relied on. For both territory administration and spiritualism, the Barusak household will be secure. For this much too excellent Rook, Raimon decided to give his all into raising him.

That was what Raimon’s heart decided.

As for the very excellent Rook’s imbecile elder sister… The name Riku Barusak will be removed from the family tree.

There was not even one person that commented over what happened to Riku.

Obviously the servants didn’t, but it was also the same for the other fellow practitioners of the demon banning arts, including ones that had once congratulated her parents when Riku was born. Even the elder sister and younger brother that remained did not speak of her; everyone had forgotten about Riku’s existence. The Barusak household disgrace; as someone that had no talent as a spiritualist, she was an existence that had been defined only as an eyesore. Instead, the number of people that were happily laughing behind their backs about her disappearance was much higher.

In future years, regarding this event, all Raimon Barusak left to be told in the book of 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…”