CH 16

(T/N: I changed the name of Lars’ Older Brother from “Delaide” to “Dedite”. At first “Delaide” is the name written in the raws, but it looks like the name is now Dedite”.)

“Oh, Lars, you’re late!”

“Sorry brother, I was struggling a bit!”

I saw Nina off to the middle of the road and went into the house that was probably her parents’ house. I was relieved and went back to the square to find my family. My brother immediately came running to me, showing a worried look on his face.

“Is your stomach okay? Do you want to take some medicine?”

“Do you want to ride on Dad’s back?”

My parents were also very worried. I suddenly felt like crying when I looked at my family again after hearing what they had just said.

“(I wonder if Mom valued Verna-sensei’s herbs so much because my brother almost died.)”

“What? Staring at my face? Did you want to kiss me?”

“N, no! I just think you’re awesome.”

“Hahaha, what’s the matter with you all of a sudden? Well, it’s true that Maria is awesome!”

I didn’t know what to say to my father, who laughed, so I used my body language to tell him.

“Dad’s great too, you know? He always goes out to sell vegetables for us. It’s thanks to you that we are able to eat!”

“Hey, hey, what’s really going on ……?”

“Fufu, maybe he got excited about the festival? Well, let’s go home. Do you want a piggyback?”

“No. I’m going home hand in hand with my brother.”

“You guys are really close.”

Mom said, and we laughed as we headed for the house on the hill. I’m happy …… I don’t know how to express my gratitude to the two of them, because this never happened to me in my previous life. However, I’m going to do my best to express it more.

The day I made such a decision, Nina did not come back to our house.

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

The harvest festival was over in the blink of an eye, and we had entered the “Red Season” when the heat was on the rise. By this time, the situation around us was changing, and the biggest event was —

“Sigh ……”

“What’s wrong, brother, you’re so down.”

The number of people in training was reduced by one. One of our training group members was reduced because Nord didn’t come to play with us much anymore. The reason for this was that Nord’s father had gotten into a fight during the harvest festival.

He had been drinking and got into a fight, and someone who saw him hit Nord, who intervened, reported him to the guild. He was taken to an orphanage. His father is already out of jail, but he’s not allowed to see him at all …… And that Nord is,

(I have to help out at the orphanage, so I may not be able to come every day).

He told me that he had made friends with a girl around his age when I was here the other day. I was happy that he had made a friend other than us, but after that, brother was like this.

“Hmmm, get a grip. It’s not like he stopped being our friend.”

“Yeah …… but I’m worried.”

It’s true that I’m also worried about whether he’s being bullied by his new friends and whether he’s adjusting to the orphanage. When I told my mom about my conversation with my brother, she just smiled and said, “Well, maybe you’ll understand how Dedite feels when Lars is older”. Nord only comes once every five days, but I think it’s okay because it’s not like he never comes ……

And the other thing is about Nina.

I was relieved to see that she hadn’t gone to see Brao since the harvest festival, and that she didn’t seem to be being messed with by him.

It was just–

“I’m sorry, but I’m in need of some money, so would it be okay if I went to work during the day? Oh, Of course, I’ll take care of Dedite-sama and Lars-sama in the morning and at night!”

And so, she began to work apart from being a maid.

Probably because she was no longer getting paid for her work as a spy. Since my brother was like that, I once secretly followed Nina, but she was working in a bakery.

I’ve also been watching Nina’s parents’ house for a few days, but the goons and such didn’t show up, so maybe Brao is having a hard time attacking them. If he makes a mistake, he’s not just a lord, but also a criminal.

“I wonder if kidnapping is too risky.”

I imagined on my own that if there was an ocean, I could jump high on a boat, but it might be quite difficult to walk with a single woman on land, and I was thankful that Nina was safe today.

And with that thought in my mind, I was heading to Dr. Berna’s house alone.

“Hello-“

“Hello, Lars-kun, are you alone?”

I went to the living room and sat down on a chair and continued talking.

“Yes, I am. The path that my father made is easy to walk on, so I can come here easily. My brother is at home reading a book since Nord is not here.”

“Ufufu. He can’t show his good side, after all.”

“? Good side? Is he going to show it to Nord?”

“Well, well, it might be too early for Lars-kun? What are you going to do today? Magic training? Picking herbs?”

Verna-sensei sounded like my mother, and I felt discouraged. But I quickly took a deep breath and straightened up.

There’s a reason why I came here alone today.

And that is–

“Verna-sensei, please teach me more magic. Actually–“

I told Verna-sensei about my family’s situation. She looked surprised at first, but her cheeks puffed up when I told her about my brother’s near-death, Nina being nearly assaulted, and the harassment.

“What a person! I hate people like that! I’ll be over there too …… oh, no, more importantly, Lars-kun, what are you going to do after making your magic stronger? The Lord is a bad person, but even if he hurts you with his magic, he can’t kill you, so he will always hate you. He might even use his position to come and kill you. If that’s the case, I can’t teach you.”

Well, that’s what I thought teacher would say. Of course it would be best if I could do it directly, but the teacher was right, killing him would be a crime. If I let him live half-heartedly, he would take revenge. If they couldn’t compete with me, they could go to another family. So I say this to the teacher.

“Don’t worry! It seems that the pig …… the lord is still planning to do something to us, so I want to be strong to protect everyone.”

“……”

Teacher kept her mouth shut and thought. I’m trying to figure out what to do. She has long bangs, so I can’t tell if she’s closing her eyes or not. Eventually, she opens her eyes and tells me.

“I understand. But don’t do anything rash, okay? I’ll go to your house once in a while and ask Maria-san about Lars-kun and the others, okay? And If you are doing anything reckless, I won’t teach you.”

“Yes! Don’t worry, I’m going to make him socially ostracized …… No, when I grows up, I’m going to make more money than him and take back the title as the lord.”

“Hm? Did you just say something bad just now ……”

“Not, not at all! So, where do we start?”

“Well ……”

This is how I ended up learning from Verna-sensei even when my brother was not around.

There’s no need to rush yet. The only thing I can do right now is to slowly build up my strength —