Glimpse of Eternity [A Reincarnation Isekai Fantasy]

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Somewhere in Tokyo city, stood a luxurious mansion.

Anyone looking bearing witness to its splendor would doubt whether they were still in Tokyo, as the mansion's outer design was heavily influenced by the White House. In fact, the resemblance was so uncanny that one would think they had suddenly been transported to Washington DC. There was even a fountain, except this one had a large statue of a man dressed in an elegant hakama standing on a pedestal in the middle. Various exquisitely crafted statues of white marble were tastefully distributed around the area to be admired by anyone granted the honor of visiting.

If that wasn't already pushing the limits of extravagance, the path from the gate to the fountain in front of the mansion was a distance that only someone who would do well in a triathlon could walk without getting exhausted. And this long path had cherry blossom trees dotting along it on both sides. Whenever spring came, the trail would truly be a sight to see.

With the estate's exterior pushing the boundary of how lavish a place could be, it went without saying that the inside of the mansion — where the owner and any of their kin resided — would be luxurious as well. It had a carefully designed interior, decorated by only the finest and most expensive artworks the mansion owner could get their hands on. Truly, the author of a book with such a place as its setting would throw down his pen in frustration from the monumental — and also very tiring — task of describing the place.

It was within this opulent mansion that a little girl skipped merrily down a hallway, uncaring of the ridiculously expensive artifacts she could accidentally bump into along the way. She was dressed in a pretty pastel-colored dress that she lovingly stroked from time to time, and her shiny black hair was tied in a ponytail that bounced with every step. Her bright blue eyes were narrowed in happiness as she hummed an upbeat tune she heard from the cartoon she'd watched with her most favorite person in the world.

The sweet smile on her face, combined with her inherently cute looks, made her look like a little fairy.

"Hm hm hmm~♪" she hummed happily as she went on her way.

The adorable little girl's name was Kagami Kyouka, and she had just turned six years old the other day. A fact that she told everyone who would listen. Sometimes twice, because she'd forget she told them already. At the moment, she was in the greatest of moods because she finally got to wear the dress that her big brother gifted her on her birthday. It was a lot less shiny and glittery than her other dresses, but just the fact that her brother gave it to her made it her new favorite.

She had actually worn the same dress the day after her birthday as well and accidentally spilled juice on it. But she wanted to wear it as much as possible, so she asked the maids to wash it immediately.

Naturally, she made sure to ask in the cutesy way her big brother taught her to do, so the maids did as she asked right away and with extra care. It worked every time. Just as her brother told her. But she'd never doubted his words in the first place because her brother was always right. Of course, as their employer's daughter, the maids pretty much had to do what Kyouka asked them to do anyway. But being asked so politely and in such an endearing way would make anyone want to do their best to do anything she asked.

"I bet big brother's gonna be surprised that I'm wearing it already!" Kyouka couldn't help but giggle at the thought.

The maids and manservants who were also walking down the hallway would walk to the side and bow as Kyouka walked by, and Kyouka would always greet them with a bright smile on her face because her brother told her to. They returned her smile with their own, convincing Kyouka even more that her brother could say no wrong.

"Ah young mistress, please be careful! If you skip around like that, you'll trip!" One of the many concerned maids, finally called out what everybody else had been worried about.

"Okay!" Kyouka chirped, obediently following what the grown-up said. Although she'd stopped skipping, she was still walking as fast as her short legs allowed. After all, if she walked slowly, didn't that mean she'd be away from her brother for longer? That sounded horrible. Oh, she didn't like that at all.

It didn't take too long for her to arrive. She stood in front of her big brother's room and was just about to knock on the door...

"Ah!"

When she suddenly remembered something.

Kyouka tottered over to one of the windows so she could check her reflection, but it was too high up.

This was not good.

She looked around to find any other reflective surfaces she could use, but when she couldn't see any, she instead walked up to a maid who was standing to one side while bowing her head to her.

"Uhm!" she called out to the maid. "Excuse me!"

The maid stopped bowing and smiled at her young mistress. "Yes, what can I do for you, Young Miss?"

"My hair... is it messy?" Kyouka asked while turning her head from side to side to give the maid a better view.

"It's a bit...excuse me." The maid inspected Kyouka's hair, and after asking for permission, started smoothing it down with her hand. "There."

"Am I pretty? Am I cute?" Kyouka tilted her head at an angle, then looked the maid in the eye with her eyes widened a bit. She made sure to add a bit of a pout to her lips.

'Big brother said to do it like this...'

"Ah..."

The maid was stunned. She felt like her soul was being purified.

'How can someone be so adorable?' the maid thought.

"Yes! You're absolutely the cutest in the world, Young Miss!" The maid exclaimed after she snapped out of her stupor.

"Hehe~♪. Thanks!" Kyouka beamed at the maid. Compliments from her brother were the best but getting them from others felt nice too. After making sure she didn't look like a spooky witch with bad hair, she made her way back to the door to her brother's room before proceeding to slam the door open — or at least try her best to do so, since she wasn't very strong.

Normally, she would knock, but she had just received a compliment, so her spirits were high. Her big brother would forgive her with a smile on his face when she apologized later, anyway. And she wanted to surprise him, so knocking didn't seem like a good idea.

"..."

What greeted Kyouka when she opened the door was silence. It wasn't that her brother was stunned speechless or anything, it was simply because there wasn't a soul in sight.

Her big brother was not there.

"He's not here! Why!?" Kyouka couldn't help but exclaim. She had aimed to surprise her big brother, but she ended up being the one surprised — by his absence, that is.

"Young Miss..." The same maid called out from the side. "The young master is currently in the back garden. I believe he was training the puppy he recently received as a present."

"Oh! Thanks!" Kyouka, who hadn't even realized that she was just pranked, scampered off to the back garden. She had been away from her big brother for far too long — from her perspective — and she couldn't take it anymore.

The maid smiled as she sent her mistress off. But then she called out worriedly. "Please be careful! if you keep running like that you might trip!"

Kyouka's shoulders jumped and she slowed down. Yet she still walked quite briskly.

As brisk as her little legs could carry her, that is.

 

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"There he is!" Kyouka exclaimed. Her hair got a bit disheveled during the trip here, making her wish that her house wasn't so big. But she couldn't care about that right now.

Kyouka's big brother, Kagami Ken, was indeed in the back garden, just as the maid had said.

He was a ]young boy of roughly ten years old. With neatly combed obsidian hair and bright blue eyes, as well as facial features obviously foreign in nature.

It would not have been wrong to call him an older, male version of Kyouka. If Kyouka could be described as cute, Ken could only be described as handsome. Despite still being a young child, Ken was maturing at a faster rate than boys his age, though he still retained the boyish charm of a child his age. Despite this, his eyes and smile carried a calmness and tranquility that one could not associate with a boy his age, giving him a mysterious air of maturity.

As mature as a ten-year-old boy could be, anyway.

"Sit," Ken said calmly to the three dogs in front of him while holding a small cloth sack in his left hand.

Two of the dogs, A German Shepherd, and a Siberian Husky sat down immediately upon hearing Ken's command. Both dogs were quite big, even for fully grown adult hounds. The last of the three dogs, however, didn't sit down. It was a Belgian Shepherd puppy that looked even smaller than it actually was because of the menacingly large dogs sandwiching it.

The pup looked at the two bigger dogs beside it, but instead of following their lead, it started growling fiercely at Ken instead, baring its little, but sharp fangs at him. An act that caused the other two dogs visible alarm as they stood up and trotted over beside the boy, growling fiercely at the pup.

"I said..." Ken looked down at the disobedient little dog, his gaze mild but his voice chilling. "Sit."

Kyouka, who had been walking in from behind Ken, suddenly stopped after hearing this unusually cold voice.

'He sounds so weird... I don't like it!' Kyouka shrunk into herself as she just stood there gazing at her brother's back. She also unconsciously covered her ears.

All three dogs started at Ken's voice. The two older dogs recovered quickly and sat back down, even though they weren't the target of the command. On the other hand, the puppy was also startled, but rather than fear, it showed caution. It was completely on guard against Ken, however, it didn't dare to attack or run either.

"Huh. That usually works..." Ken scratched the back of his head with a troubled sigh. He squatted down on the grass, all the while not letting his gaze leave the disobedient pup. He pointed at the pup with his right hand. His thumb and forefinger were positioned in a way that he looked like he was pointing a gun at someone. It was a fairly common thing that young boys did when they played soldier or policeman.

However, as if being given a command, the two dogs, who had been shaking in fear suddenly sprang into an attack stance, ready to dash forward and attack immediately. They growled fiercely at the disobedient pup, seemingly ready to tear it apart with a single command from Ken.

"Let's do this again, hm?" Ken said. His voice had returned to normal and his smile returned. However his eyes were still cold, and his 'hand-gun' was still pointed at the pup. "Sit. Please."

The two older dogs immediately sat down, however, their glares were still trained on the insolent pup — who kept being disobedient towards their master — their fangs still bared, ready to strike.

It was unknown whether it was due to the two bigger dogs' relentless intimidation or that it finally learned to copy what the other dogs did, however, the pup finally obeyed.

Seeing the pup sit down, Ken beamed happily. Like any ordinary young boy would. "Good boy!"

Plunging a hand into the sack he had with him, he took out a bone-shaped dog treat that radiated a tantalizing meaty aroma. With a flick of his wrist, he lightly tossed it toward the pup.

The pup was apprehensive at first, it sniffed the treat Ken threw to the ground close to him and sniffed cautiously. But after the first sniff, it immediately gobbled the treat up.

"Yummy, right?" Ken said to the pup. He took out two more treats and tossed them to the two other dogs. "Bruno and Slay, here. You guys are good boys too."

Bruno the German Shepherd and Slay the Siberian Husky, deftly snatched the treats up as it was in the air with practiced motions. The little pup saw this and looked at the two older dogs in envy.

"Okay next... Bark!" Ken commanded.

Bruno and Slay barked simultaneously.

"Good. Here, Bruno! Slay!" Ken took out two treats and tossed one each toward Bruno and Slay. The two dogs, snatched it up mid-flight yet again, though Slay almost dropped it on account of being too excited.

Ken then proceeded to look at the pup expectantly. The pup looked toward the two bigger dogs — who were currently chewing on their own treats — then hesitantly looked at Ken. After a few seconds it barked. Not very loudly, but it was a bark all the same. He was more than satisfied.

"Good boy! Here you go!" He took out another treat and lightly tossed it toward the pup.

The pup excitedly tried to snatch it from the air just like the other two did. It wasn't as used to it as the other two though, so it failed and the treat hit it in the face instead.

'Cute.' he thought, a stupid grin on his face, but he schooled it back to a calmer expression. It was training time and he had to be stern and authoritative, just like the dog trainer taught him.

The pup stared at the treat seemingly frustrated that he failed to catch it, but the smell the treat was letting off was just too enticing; it couldn't take it anymore. It dug in.

Ken then proceeded to try out various other commands. Bruno and Slay would do them first, as they'd done plenty of times, and the pup would then try to do its best to copy them. Eventually, the fingers Ken reached into the sack found nothing.

"Ah, I'm all out. We'll do this again tomorrow... or not. I have to leave early tomorrow, so I guess it'll have to be the day after." Ken mused aloud. He then looked at the pup who had become quite a bit more docile. It had even started trying to lick Ken's face as he petted it while squatting down. "Now, that you've become a bit more obedient, I guess I can start thinking about giving you a name."

'Belgian Shepherds are cool, so it would've been a shame if I had to get rid of another one. The question now is... what do I name it?'

Ken hadn't named the pup yet. He knew from experience that he would be hurt more if he had to get rid of a dog he had named himself. After the first time, he decided to only name a dog if it showed absolute obedience over the course of its training. If a new dog grew up to a certain size, and still didn't get a pass from Ken, then he couldn't keep it.

Of course, Ken wasn't training these dogs to have absolute obedience because of some twisted purpose, or because he wanted some loyal toy or something.

He actually loved dogs.

Ken honestly thought dogs were the best animals in all of existence. In particular, he liked big dogs. They were really cool. The coolest thing ever.

Of course, he loved his little sister more than any number of dogs. His tiny little sister — who was scared of any animal bigger than a cat and was absolutely terrified of Ken's dogs. It was understandable. The types of dogs Ken liked were usually bigger than Kyouka. By a lot. It would be weirder if she wasn't scared of them.

Even though he loved his little sister more, he still really wanted to have pet dogs though. They were the coolest thing ever, after all. Who wouldn't want one? So, he compromised. He would train them to be as loyal as possible. That way, he could have the dogs learn to avoid Kyouka, as well as remove the possibility of them hurting her. The thought of one of his dogs hurting Kyouka — who probably wouldn't be able to resist at all — was absolutely terrifying for Ken.

That's why even if he really didn't want to, he had to get rid of them if the training didn't go well.

While thinking about how great it was that he could keep his newest pup, he suddenly noticed Bruno and Slay acting strange.

They had suddenly started running away from him. The pup — who'd learned by now that he should just do whatever the other two dogs were doing — hastily followed them without knowing why. After running a certain distance, Bruno and Slay stopped and looked at him again. The pup also stopped, but instead of looking at Ken, it looked at the two bigger dogs, its head tilted in excited confusion.

'No, what are you even doing? Don't just run off like that...'

He was about to scold the two when he heard the rustling of leaves behind him. He looked over to find his little sister peeking out from behind a bush.

'Oh. That's why.'

"Kyouka? What are you doing over there? Come here." Ken didn't know why his sister was hiding behind a bush, but that didn't really matter to him. When seeing his favorite person ever, what other reaction was there but to smile?

With a strangely relieved expression, Kyouka walked out from behind the bush, leaves sticking out of... well, everywhere. Her dress, her hair, her sweaty skin. It seemed as if she'd been rolling around in the grass while he couldn't see her.

'Did she try to sneak up on me? Silly girl.'

That explained his dogs' strange behavior. Bruno and Slay had been aware of her before she had even entered the garden. They had been strictly trained to stay far away from her after all. Her scent was very familiar to all of Ken's dogs.

As Kyouka pattered over to him, Ken immediately noticed that she was wearing the pastel-colored dress that he had given her as a present the other day. He smiled in exasperation. "It seems you really like the dress."

"Ah!" Kyouka's big doe eyes opened wide as she exclaimed. A moment later, her mood fell rapidly.

Ken frowned at that, but years of being around her gave him a pretty good idea of how her tiny little head worked. She had probably wanted to surprise him with how quickly the maids washed the juice stain off the dress, unaware that he'd checked in with them yesterday to make sure everything was in order.

'Haha. It's cute that she thinks she can get a one-up on me.'

Amusing as it was, he couldn't very well let her remain in that depressed state any longer. He had six years of experience dealing with Kyouka, so he knew how to cheer her back up.

"You look really cute!" Ken smiled warmly at Kyouka.

"...Really?" Kyouka beamed happily. Her happiness index shot up to a hundred instantly. Already forgetting what she was sad about in the first place. "Hehehe~♥."

'I always like how easy to deal with she is. Though it worries me a bit too...'

Ken was beginning to think that maybe he should start training Kyouka to hate men since she seemed to be the type to be easily tricked by bad guys. Not that he knew what that actually meant, but he heard the servants whispering about it here and there. How Kyouka was the type who attracted the bad kind of attention.

And as her brother, he kept it in mind even though he was ignorant of key information. Surely, he'd find out once he got a bit older. Worst case, he'd ask Hanzo, his butler who he secretly thought of as his dad. His real dad was never around, after all.

"Ah, there's something weird over there!" Kyouka suddenly shouted, pointing at something in the distance. "I'm gonna check it out!"

"Wha— Hey!" Ken called out, his eyes as wide as saucers. "Don't run!"

He was about to worriedly chase after her, but then he remembered where exactly he was.

'Well, she'll be fine. This is the Kagami Manor's grounds.' Ken calmed down as he thought that. 'There are people who make sure there aren't any snakes or anything dangerous on the estate grounds. Probably only birds and small insects are there. She'll be fine...'

The entire estate only came to the possession of Ken's father about a dozen years ago, but the Kagami Manor's grounds had been maintained for centuries — before it was even called by that name. Centuries worth of care should have definitely flushed out any dangerous creatures.

Ken was sure of this. But this was this, and that was that. He couldn't leave his sister alone.

Now that Kyouka had left, Bruno and Slay had returned to Ken's side. The pup followed as well, albeit still looking a bit confused.

Finding himself in a bit of a dilemma, Ken grimaced in thought. The place where he kept the dogs was a bit far, and he had sent away all the servants since he wanted to be left alone while he was training his dogs. So there was no one nearby who Ken could foist the dogs on. He didn't really want them to stay here either since it might start raining or something. Letting the dogs stand in the rain for any amount of time was definitely bad, same as leaving them in a car.

'Eh. May as well.'

After a bit of hesitation, he decided to just take them with him.

Ken threw the sack in his hand aside then whistled with his mouth once, clapped once, then pointed to himself. Whistling once, then clapping once was a signal for the dogs, which meant to follow the person he pointed to.

Bruno and Slay both barked once to signal that they understood. The pup also barked once after a delay, although it was most likely just mimicking the other two again.

"Okay, let's go," Ken said. He started jogging towards the place where Kyouka ran off to. The two older dogs followed, with the pup bringing up the rear. It wouldn't take long to catch up to his sister. Kyouka was a six-year-old girl, who was prone to getting sick over the slightest thing, while Ken was a very physically active ten-year-old boy.

The area they had arrived at was quite far from the Mansion. There also weren't any paved paths or trails here; just trimmed grass as far as the eye could see. Beyond the garden were a few hectares of flat grassland, and after that was a seemingly endless expanse of cherry blossom trees. Whenever spring came, these trees' colors would bloom to a beautiful pink hue. He would admire them from the rear veranda with Kyouka while drinking tea and eating snacks.

He was just about to enter that copse of trees when he noticed the abnormalities in the area. There was nothing wrong when looking at it from afar, but it was more noticeable the closer he got. There was a dark haze spreading out from within the small forest of trees. It was like the mist that showed in the early morning.

Except it was black.

'What? What is this...!?' Ken felt dark thoughts slowly seeping into his mind. His panic grew and a cold chill surged through his veins as he observed the surroundings.

The area further into the copse of trees was like an entirely different world, compared to its surroundings. The trees were visibly withered like dried raisins, especially in comparison to the trees that could be viewed from the garden. There was no longer any grass on the ground — just the bare dirt. Upon closer examination, the black haze was actually rising up from beneath the soil. More than any of that, It smelled absolutely horrible. Ken could smell it from so far away.

To borrow a phrase he heard the other day: It smelled like shit.

'Kyouka went in here... Ah, geez! She's so stupid!'

One would have normally thought that a sheltered six-year-old girl wouldn't even think of going into a place as creepy and stinky as this.

Kyouka was different though.

Kyouka was never scared of creepy things.

Kyouka was also, never really one to mind bad smells.

The big brother of such a Kyouka thought back to how she never really reacted while watching scary movies. She would even say they were boring, or that the monsters looked cute or funny. He also thought back to how he had brought home a durian as a souvenir from his trip to the Philippines. He had meant it as a prank, but Kyouka ended up liking it so much, it became her favorite fruit. Now he had to eat it with her every few weeks — otherwise, she'd pout for days and he didn't want that.

Ken could feel his head aching. His sister's weird eccentricities were supposed to be harmless. And in a strange and annoying way, it was cute. But now he wished she didn't have it. Had she been normal, she never would have given such a weird place a very wide berth.

Hearing a dog's whining, Ken turned to look behind him. The two older dogs, although visibly on guard against the odd place, seemed to still have every intention of following him. They stuck close to him.

The pup at the very back was different though. He seemed to have absolutely no intention of following Ken into such a creepy place.

'Well, that's understandable. Even I wouldn't want to follow anyone to this kind of place.'

Normally, that is.

'Kyouka... a puppy makes better decisions than you...' Ken doubled his determination to increase his sister's intelligence.

But first, he had to bring her back. He looked at Slay, seeming to have decided on something.

"Slay," Ken called the dog's attention. Then he whistled once, clapped twice, and pointed at the Pup. The instructions were similar to the ones he used previously, except clapping twice meant that they had to protect whoever he pointed to.

Slay, who would have normally followed his orders seemed to be reluctant to stay behind. Ken, moved by his loyalty, patted Slay on the head. "Don't worry boy, We'll be back."

Ken, accompanied by Bruno, briskly but carefully proceeded deeper into the weird place. The odd smell grew more intense with every step, but that did not faze him. He could barf anytime he wanted later, but he had to get Kyouka out of there first.

It must have been harder for dogs. As he expected, Bruno was very visibly distressed. He was walking while keeping his head as high as possible, trying his best to avoid the putrid smell coming from underground.

'He's still coming, though. I have to give him an extra special treat after this. Like, maybe an entire cow.'

Ken and the very good boy kept trudging through the horrid stench. After what felt like an eternity, they eventually made it out of the copse of trees.

In front of the boy and his dog was a clearing. Kyouka was there too.

"Kyouka!" Ken called out.

"Ah! You caught up!" Kyouka beamed at her brother.

"We're leaving this place. Now." His tone brooked no argument. He couldn't help but let a hint of iciness into his voice.

This place was just way too strange. Sticking around was the last thing he did. Kyouka was used to getting spoiled by him so she would probably try to convince him to stay a while longer, curious about what was going on around them. As such, he had to take a stronger tone, impressing upon her how serious he was.

"O-okay..." Kyouka must have sensed that he wasn't going to let her have her way this time, so she obediently nodded.

She started walking toward him when they suddenly heard a sound from the other side of the clearing. Both siblings turned to look at where it came from. They couldn't really see it clearly, but something big was slowly making its way towards them from beyond the black fog.

Squeee!

An ear-shatteringly loud screech akin to someone dragging their nails across a chalkboard — except a hundred times worse — made Ken, Kyouka, and Bruno recoil from the shock to their eardrums. Kyouka fell down on her butt with her eyes closed shut in pain, while doing her best to cover her ears; Ken somehow stayed upright, however, he still couldn't help but curl forward while shielding his ears; as for Bruno, he was laying on the ground and also covering his ears as best as he could with his front paws.

Once the screech finally came to an end, Ken endured the ringing in his head and the urge to pass out that accompanied it to look at the source of the soul-shaking wail.

He couldn't believe what he saw.

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