CH 48

Chapter 48: Even if we’re not related by blood…

Yuto: (ーーhe’s fast?!)

Yuto instinctively let go of the boy as he dodged.

Fortunately, he did not lose his balance and quickly recovered and readied his stance.

But the boy held the last piece of bread and disappeared into the alleyway.

Yuto: “Ahh...my bread…”

Yuto’s shoulders sagged a little.

If he chases down the boy now, he could potentially get his bread back.

But the young man who just appeared probably won’t let him.

“Picking on Tokmu like that. You prepared to die?!”

Yuto: “Picking on him? No, I was just getting my breadーー”

"Enough with your excuses!”

Yuto: “ーー!!”

The young man dashed forward at Yuto with his fist before Yuto could finish his sentence.

Yuto dodges the fist by a hair.

Yuto: (This person…….he’s an Adventurer!)

From the quick, sharp movements, Yuto immediately deduced that this man was no common layman.

The man was fast even in Yuto’s eyes.

But he's not so fast that the young man escaped his sight.

Yuto carefully dodged each attack as he spoke.

Yuto: “That boy stole bread from me.”

“Stop lying!”

Yuto: “I’m not lying. I was walking around carrying bread, and he took some from me….”

As Yuto dodged, he desperately did everything he could to clearly explain the situation.

The young man’s attacks were intense and not to be underestimated.

Yuto: (He’s definitely above an E-Rank.)

Yuto calmly analyzed the man’s combat capabilities as around D or C.

The only reason why he’s able to make such calm judgements is because he just fought a monster of an Adventurer just this morning.

Thanks to that experience Kratos, Yuto was able to deal with this sudden person-to-person combat without losing his calm.

“Hey, wait….is that….true?” Yuto: “Yes, it’s true.”

Yuto was hoping that his explanations finally reached the man’s ears.

The young man lowered his fists.

And from there, his actions were just as fast.

He immediately lowered his head deeply before Yuto.

“IーI’m so sorry! Please forgive me! I’ll go retrieve the bread from Tokmu right now!”

Yuto: “Oh no. That’s fine.”

In the end, all Yuto lost was one 50 gard bread.

If it’s just that, then it’s no issue.

The reason why Yuto had the bread taken from him was because he had his guard down.

It’s the price for the lesson he learned that afternoon.

“But….then….” Yuto: “In return, could you tell me a little about yourself?”

“Me? I’m Dannan - a D-Rank Adventurer.”

Yuto: “Are you perhaps a scout?”

Dannan: “Oh, yーyeah, that’s right. How’d you know?”

Yuto: (I knew it.)

So this young man was named Dannan, and he was an Adventurer too.

And just as Yuto guessed, he played a Scout-Role.

A scout is exactly what it sounds like. Your main job is to detect Monsters before they attack you.

And from the 11th Floor of the Base Dungeon, you’ll start encountering traps.

Disarming these traps is also the job for the scouts.

The reason why Yuto thought Dannan was a Scout was because of how thin Dannan’s presence was overall.

Right after the boy took Yuto’s bread, Yuto has been making sure his [Presence Detection] was active.

It would be stupid to get the bread back only to have it stolen again.

And Dannan was able to sneak past his [Presence Detection] undetected.

Right up until Dannan tried to attack him, Yuto did not know that he was there.

Yuto thought that this was largely due to the Stealth Skills that many Scouts carried.

And on top of that, Dannan attacked him using a needle.

A Scout’s typical choice of arms is a knife or sling-shot.

They avoid close-combat and stick to mid-range combat.

Although a needle is extremely rare, this is very much a Scout-like weapon choice.

Yuto: “I’m Yuto. I’m an Adventurer, the same as you, Mr. Dannan.”

Dannan: “Are you a C-Rank?”

Yuto: “Oh, yes, how could you tell?” Dannan: “Well, it’s pretty easy to tell when all of my attacks were dodged so easily.”

Dannan strained a smile and shrugged his shoulders.

Yuto: “So Dannan.” Dannan: “Yーyeah?”

As Yuto was about to speak, Dannan tensed up.

In return for letting the thievery go, he presumed the worst and expected a far harsher condition in return.

Yuto: “So this is up to you whether you want to accept it or not but…”

<<<<>>>>

After parting ways with Yuto, Dannan began walking towards the abandoned house he currently resided in.

When he heard that his much younger brother Tokmu stole from the Adventurer, Yuto, he felt his blood run cold.

But Yuto let the slight pass too easily without any consequences.

There are other Adventurers who wouldn’t hesitate to take off a head or two for lesser offenses.

From that perspective, the results were too good to be true.

But he also felt immense suspicion because of it.

Dannan: (What’s Yuto up to?)

No matter how you look at it, thieving is against the law.

If the perpetrator was known and the victim wanted to press charges, there is very little Dannan could do to save his brother.

But none of that happened, and it all felt too unnatural.

Dannan: “I hope I’m not being sucked into a really awful party…..”

Yuto wanted to discuss with Dannan about joining a party.

Specifically, Yuto wanted Dannan to join his party.

Of course, this is just a temporary trial membership and not a permanent one.

Dannan: (But is there something behind all this?)

Dannan could not help feel the fears and worries loom behind the offer.

Dannan: “But even if that’s the case…….”

If it’s for Tokmu, Dannan can endure anything.

They are not related by blood.

Tokmu was discarded on the side of the road in the slums, and Dannan by chance ran across him.

Tokmu was a baby who hadn’t even opened his eyes.

At first, Dannan thought that he would never be able to raise a child by himself.

The thought of having the boy die before his eyes was enough for him to think about abandoning the baby himself.

But as he reached out to take Tokmu back to the slum's back roads, Tokmu’s hand gripped Dannan’s finger.

Tokmu’s hand barely grasped Dannan’s pinky finger. It was that small.

But although the hand was small, the hand gripped his finger tight and would not let go.

That was the moment that Dannan embraced his life with Tokmu.

And from that point on, Dannan did everything he could to raise Tokmu.

When Tokmu was hungry, he would go around different shops to ask if they could prepare a meal for babies.

If Tokmu was crying, Dannan would pace in circles not knowing what to do.

The nights when Tokmu had a fever, Dannan spent a sleepless night caring for him.

In order to raise Tokmu, Dannan earned as much money as he could.

He joined many different parties and worked as their scout.

But Scouts are only second above the luggage carrier in the party hierarchy.

Even as a D-Rank Adventurer, it was next to impossible to earn enough for himself and his baby brother.

But Dannan did not give up.

He budgeted his little earnings tightly and managed to continue raising Tokmu.

Tokmu was the apple of his eye - the centerpiece of his heart. Dannan understood why parents tended to spoil their kids.

But Dannan was only 14 at the time. He was far too young to carry the responsibilities of a father.

He raised Tokmu more as a brother than a father, but even though they had very little, he raised him with the utmost care.

By the time Tokmu turned 5, he was able to devote a solid amount of time to Dungeon Hunting.

He was able to increase his earnings.

Now, they should be able to eat as much as they want.

It was at that time when it happened…

Tokmu was diagnosed with an illness.

At first, Dannan thought it was a cold.

Tokmu would burn with a fever at night.

And he would get better after a good night's sleep.

But the fever kept coming back night after night.

And because of the fever, Tokmu’s health was slowly deteriorating.

He lost weight day after day, and Dannan spent the last gard he had to get a doctor to see him.

[I believe this is a Magic Power Syndrome, but…...we do not have the means to treat him here.]

ーーMagic Power Syndrome.

When the Magic Power inside a body overwhelms the physical body, or when you receive too much exposure to Magic from the environment, symptoms begin to arise. It is a disease that is very difficult to cure.

Dannan’s heart stopped when he heard the news.

But he immediately pushed himself to ask the doctor if there were any cures.

[Doctor, please, what would it take for Tokmu to get better?]

[......there is…..one possibility, but I can’t guarantee that it will work.]

[That’s fine! Please, Doctor! I’ll do anything! Tokmu is….he’s my only brother!]

It’s been 5 years since Tokmu was diagnosed with Magic Power Syndrome.

This year, he’ll be turning 10.

But Tokmu is still suffering from the Magic Power Syndrome even today.

Dannan was just unable to get the medicine needed for Tokmu’s treatment.

[1,000,000 gards…..]

That was the price for the medicine.

An ordinary Adventurer could maybe save up that much in a few years.

But Dannan had Tokmu to raise. And Scouts’ earnings were much less in general than most Adventurers. Under the circumstances, it was impossible to save up that much money.

As Dannan entered the abandoned house, Tokmu came up to him excitedly.

Tokmu: “Bro! Welcome back! Look, look at this!!”

And he took out the infamous 50 gard bread.

Seeing the bread made a dull pain throb in Dannan’s heart.

Dannan: (........so he did steal bread from Yuto…..)

Dannan wanted to think that Tokmu would never do something like that.

He even wanted to believe that the boy he saw with Yuto wasn’t Tokmu.

That maybe he mistook another kid from the slums for Tokmu….

But the wisps of hope vanished at that moment.

Dannan: “Tokmu…….why…..why did you steal this bread?”

Tokmu: “IーI didn’t steal it! I……..I found this on the ground!”

Dannan: “Don’t lie to me. I….I saw you when you got caught by the person you took this from.”

Tokmu: “BーBut you saved me………..”

Dannan: “Why did you steal this bread? I give you enough to eat, don’t I?”

Tokmu: “That’s……..”

Tokmu stared at the ground as he surrendered.

But a flash of anger sprang as he looked up at his brother.

Tokmu: “Because….you haven’t eaten anything at all! I already know! Even though you’re letting me eat as much as I want, you haven’t eaten anything!”

Dannan: “Oh, um...no…..I’m eating my meals elsewhere so….”

Tokmu: “You just told me to not lie. So why are you lying to me now?!”

Dannan: “...............”

Dannan was pushed into a corner.

He was the one asking questions, and now, it was Tokmu who flipped the table and had questions he wanted answered.

Tokmu: “Bro…...we don’t have money, right? You’re spending all the money just for me so…..” Dannan: “No, that’s not true.” Tokmu: “Then why aren’t you eating?! If you don’t eat….you’ll……..”

Large tears welled up in Tokmu’s eyes and began streaming down his face.

Not knowing why his brother was crying, Dannan began to panic.

Tokmu: “You’ll…….you’ll…...you’ll die from starvation!!”

And with that Tokmu lets out a loud wail.

Dannan: “Hey, no….I won’t, Tokmu. I won’t die just like that. I’ll be fine.”

Dannan tries to comfort Tokmu.

Why did Tokmu steal? Dannan finally understood why.

Tokmu wanted his brother who was starving to eat as much as he liked.

Dannan felt his eyes mist as he clearly felt how much his brother was worried for him.

But Dannan also noticed the change overcoming Tokmu.

His body temperature was rising.

Dannan: (No…..did his fever come back from getting too excited?!)

Tokmu’s crying voice shriveled and grew smaller.

Dannan grabbed him and immediately headed to the bed.

Tokmu tried to resist, but he had very little strength left in him.

His eyes lost focus and no longer looked back at Dannan.

Dannan: “Tokmu, thanks for worrying about me. But you don’t have to worry about me anymore. Don’t you know how strong your brother is?”

Tokmu: “Really….?”

Dannan: “Of course. Aren’t you thirsty? Here, drink this.” Dannan gets a Healing Potion for Tokmu.

He takes the cap off the bottle, and Tokmu takes a swig of Healing Potion and drinks it down.

Tokmu immediately loses consciousness and falls asleep.

Dannan: “........his fever is now coming on faster than before…”

Dannan grits his teeth as he looks upon his brother’s face.

The Magic Power Syndrome will usually provoke a fever in Tokmu after sundown.

Once the fever hits, Dannan would give his brother a Healing Potion.

It costs 1,000 gards per bottle.

This would lessen the damage the Magic Power Syndrome was causing to Tokmu’s body.

But it would only lessen the damage.

The root of the cause was left untouched.

The reason why Dannan struggled so much in building up his savings was because he required at least one healing potion per day.

But in order to completely cure Tokmu, he will need to save up money.

But without the Healing Potions, Tokmu’s body would weaken to the point of death.

In order to accomplish both goals, Dannan sacrificed his meals.

But even then Tokmu realized what his brother was doing.

It will be difficult to continue being frugal about his meals around Tokmu.

Dannan: (If he was that worried, then I can’t just not eat around him anymore….)

Dannan took his thumb to wipe away Tokmu’s tears.

Leaving the room, he recalled his dialogue with Yuto.

Yuto did say this.

If Dannan joined his party, the rewards from Dungeons would be split evenly.

There was no way for Dannan to know if Yuto was being sincere or not.

But if that was trueーー.

Dannan: “I might be able to save enough money……”

Tokmu didn’t have much time left.

Yuto’s offer would be the final chance Dannan would get to save his brother.

Dannan was going to make this work no matter what.

He was going to reach his 1,000,000 gard goal.

For Tokmu who would cry himself to sleep worrying over his elder brother - Dannan wasn’t going to let his brother’s life end here, not now, not ever….

Dannan: “Hang on just a bit longer, Tokmu….I’ll definitely save you!”