Chapter 6 - Father and Brother
Chapter 6 [Father and Brother]
I felt the Little Bear going after me in surprise, but I also knew he couldn’t catch up.
‘The Little Bear probably can’t handle it alone, so I should go and deal with it first… Wait… isn’t this dangerous?’
The sight of three people, who seemed weak, surrounding Big Bear entered my eyes. However, the fact that they were able to capture Big Bear who was stronger than them meant they had some means.
‘But I… I still have things I need to do…’
If I step in and die in the worst-case scenario, I wouldn’t be able to get revenge. If I wanted to achieve my goals in life, I had to stay safe and still. Whether Big Bear and Little Bear got hurt. No, even if they died.
I have to stop and retreat.
I have to.
But I couldn’t.
‘What’s wrong with me…?’
Actually, I knew the answer.
‘I don’t want Big Bear to die.’
I wanted to help the person who showed me kindness for the first time in my life. I didn’t want to turn a blind eye to the people who had treated me so sincerely.
‘Let’s help just this once. If I think it’s impossible…’
I can just leave the two bears and run away by myself…
I hated just thinking about this idea, but for my goal, I had to do it.
‘Let’s do our best for now.’
We soon arrived at our destination. In the big open space between the dense trees were four people, including Big Bear.
‘Those three look like villains.’
Every single one of them was dressed in black, wearing masks that only revealed their eyes. Each of them stood surrounding Big Bear with ferocious weapons in hand. One of the strongest-looking men had blue eyes and was holding a sword threatening the neck of Big Bear who was sitting on the floor.
The Big Bear had blood all over his clothes, and his left elbow was bent at a strange angle. Not only was blood flowing at the wound on his neck where the blade of the sword touched there was also black blood flowing down from his mouth.
My anger soared, but I calmed myself as I rushed in while maintaining the Invisibility and Presence Erasing Magic. I approached the three people who couldn’t see me because of magic, kicked the sword far away, and then turned around to kick the blue-eyed villain with my other foot. Of course, I reinforced my feet with mana.
“Argh!”
The villain screamed and collapsed with foam in his mouth.
Why?
Because I kicked him between the legs.
The other two were clearly embarrassed by my sudden attack, but they did not stay still. One man swung a knife to see if he could locate me, but only cut the air above me as if he hadn’t realized just how small his attacker was. I took the opportunity to attack him in the same area as the first villain.
“…!”
The second villain fell heroically without even a scream.
Unfortunately, the third villain could not be defeated in the same way.
‘Then!’
I folded my fingers into the shape of scissors and poked him in the eyes.
“Argh!”
The third villain recoiled, covering his eyes. I then knocked him out by hitting him hard in the abdomen. I fixed the three villains on the floor using a binding spell, then released the Invisibility Magic and turned around.
“Big Bear! Are you okay?”
Until just a while ago, I thought Big Bear was in a serious condition because he was sitting on the floor bleeding. He even had black blood flowing from his mouth, but upon seeing him up close, his complexion looked better than I thought.
I was still worried though.
“Are you in pain? Did you get poisoned?”
I felt the Little Bear come up behind me.
“Little Bear! Take out the antidote if you have it!”
“Who are you calling Little Bear…”
The Little Bear grumbled, only then did I realize there was no sign of concern on his face. I reviewed the Big Bear again. Fortunately, it didn’t feel like his condition was getting worse.
The Big Bear stared at me with his eyes wide open as if he were very surprised.
No, it wasn’t just surprise, there was also a hint of fear.
“But Dad, do you have to use such cruel means? We already have the poison, so you just have to deal with them properly.”
“…I didn’t do this”
The Little Bear’s eyes moved toward me.
“You also did that to Father last time! How can you be so cruel!”
“What are you complaining about? It’s either you win or you lose!”
I shouted proudly. Winning a battle through the other’s weakness was still called victory!
This is the path of a warrior!
“What a joke…”
The Little Bear clicked his tongue and shook his head. He then pointed to the fallen and asked, “Father, how are you going to handle them? Are you going to kill them?”
Big Bear then shot the fallen villains a fierce look, spewing a terrible aura at them. The villains, hurriedly shook their heads, determined to live right away.
“I’d love to, but they aren’t from the same person. It’s not directly related to
that
.”
‘That?’
“We’ve already achieved our goal, so let’s leave it at that. But first, let’s check their faces.”
“Okay.”
The Little Bear approached the blue-eyed villain first, smashing and ripping off his mask. It was a man about 20 years old. He had curly gold hair, as well as straight teeth and delicate features that were very pretty.
“Father, as I thought we can’t let them go like this. I’ll beat them up first then bury them.”
The Little Bear took a shovel out of his subspace and dug out three long pits within minutes.
As I released the binding magic on the three villains, Little Bear tucked them into the three pits like seeds. Thanks to their own wish to not suffocate, the three’s heads were in a strange posture outside the pit. Their chins were just barely out of the soil.
The blue-eyed villain’s beauty was not at all affected by the fact you could only see his face.
“You know Dia, you can’t be fooled just because of a pretty face.”
The Little Bear looked at my face and swung his index finger.
“As your brother, I advise you not to choose a man by his face. It’s the heart that counts. Got it? Hey! Listen to me!”
I ignored the Little Bear and approached Big Bear.
“Does it hurt?”
The Big Bear’s complexion was back to normal, but his arm was still folded at an odd angle.
The Big Bear kneeled on one knee in front of me, making it so that he was eye-level with me.
“No, it doesn’t hurt. You don’t have to worry because I let them attack me on purpose.”
“On purpose?”
“I had something I needed to obtain.”
The Big Bear stood up and collected all the black blood, including the few that flowed to the floor, with mana and lifted it up into the air. He then directed it into a small jar that he had pulled out of a subspace. The Big Bear closed the lid of the jar and sealed it tightly with several spells.
The Little Bear explained.
“It’s poison. That stupid Euralli family is very good at using dirty tricks like poison. Some poisons can even go undetected even with divine power, so Father had no choice but to use this way.”
Only then did I understand why Big Bear was beaten by people obviously weaker than him.
I was still worried though.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m alright. I have a stronger constitution than others. I’ve also made sure that it won’t be dangerous so you don’t have to worry. I’ll recover soon.”
The Big Bear took some pills out of a small box in the subspace and swallowed them.
“Father really does recover fast. Don’t worry!”
I finally felt relieved.
The Little Bear grinned before looking at the blue-eyed villain again.
“No matter how many new poisons you develop, it won’t matter. You’ve seen how strong Father is. What nerve you have trying to fight us with that measly power of yours.”
“He’s desperate.”
“I guess it’s because he’s afraid he’ll be pushed out of his position as successor. Now that he’s let the poison be taken away, it’ll be even worse.”
“I suppose so. Well, it’s over now. Let’s get going.”
“I’ll carry Dia this time! After all, Father’s arm is hurt.”
The Little Bear suddenly smiled brightly and held me up. The Big Bear looked at me and the Little Bear alternately, I could see that he was unhappy.
I felt sorry for him somehow.
“Ah! We have to get a carriage first. Dad, you know where to get one right?”
“Follow me.”
The Big Bear took the lead. As the Little Bear followed, I carefully watched the Big Bear’s left arm while being hugged in the Little Bear’s arms.
When we reached the edge of the forest 10 minutes later, the arm, which had been strangely bent, was almost completely normal.
It looks like it would just take just a little more time to make a full recovery.
It was a relief.
‘…Good!’
I had no choice but to admit it. It hadn’t been long since we had met, but the two bears were truly good. That’s why I moved my body even with the risk.
‘Would it feel like this if I had a father and brother?’
I was an orphan in my previous life, so I had no idea what a family was. I could only imagine it. As for my family in this life, I had no choice but to put the questions I had on hold.
‘I feel… heavy?’
But at least now, I wasn’t lonely.
“Ah well.”
I yawned spontaneously. Since I used a lot of mana earlier, I was quite tired. It was also partially because I was worried and nervous about the Big Bear.
“Are you sleepy?”
“Yeah.”
“As expected, babies need a lot of sleep.”
“I’m not a baby!”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure.”
I wanted to shout again, but I couldn’t stop the yawn that came out.
“It’s because I suddenly used a lot of mana.”
I added an explanation as an excuse.
The Big Bear stopped and looked back at me. His expression was stiff. He seemed worried about me.
“To use a lot of magic, you have to have a strong body. Even if you’re born with a lot of mana, you’re still young and small. It’s better not to use mana at all before you’re all grown up.”
“It’s uncomfortable not to use it.”
“Then at least don’t use it until we get to the Duchy. There’s me and Juliano, so you don’t have to use it until we arrive. I only revealed my position so that I could get the poison. From now on, I’ll move as carefully and stealthily as possible. It won’t happen anymore. So don’t use magic. You got it?”
The Big Bear explained for a long time.
I didn’t agree nor like it, but I nodded anyway.
‘I can answer like this but I can just use it when needed.’
The Big Bear lifted me from the Little Bear’s arms and took me away.
“Father!”
“I know. Dia, you can sleep now.”
“Okay.”
When we entered the village, an unfamiliar sight unfolded. Clean and bright faces walked the streets with a relaxed atmosphere. I had seen it when I peered out the restaurant window earlier, but it was even more fascinating up close.
Sadly, it didn’t last long before I fell asleep again in the comfort of Big Bear’s arms.
—
It was my first trip in a carriage.
‘
No, it’s my first trip ever.’
I went here and there in my previous life, but it could not be called a trip because the only purpose was to destroy monsters.
‘I also always traveled using Flight Magic to deal with the monsters as efficiently as possible.’
From that way of movement, where you couldn’t afford to rest at all and constantly overworked your body. This trip in a carriage was different.
The carriage was so stable that there was no shaking at all, the chairs were soft and the entire atmosphere was great.
At night, we entered the village and stayed at the inn. This was the part I liked most. Every inn we had visited so far was large and clean. They were also always equipped with large bathtubs and hot water. The food was also delicious, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.
“Aren’t you bored?”
The Little Bear and Big Bear took turns driving the carriage from the horse seat outside. Today, as Little Bear came into the carriage he asked this.
“No, I’m alright.”
“Dia is very quiet. My sister and I weren’t like that when we were kids.”
“You have a sister?”
“Yeah. A twin sister.”
“What about a younger sister?”
The Little Bear paused for a moment before shaking his head.
“None.”
“What about other siblings?”
“None.”
“So there’s only two of you.”
“…Yeah…”
The Little Bear’s reaction was strange, but before I could look into it more he laughed as if to shake off his dark feelings.
“If you guys are twins, then you two must look quite similar?”
I had never seen twins before.
“The only thing similar about us is the color of our hair and eyes. No, not even the color is the same, hers are much darker. The stronger the mana, the darker the color of the hair and eyes after all. Her name is Marciana Leocardia. She’s strong and smart, and also the heir to the Duchy.”
The Little Bear was talking very proudly about his sister. They looked very close.
‘Is this…what brothers are like?’
I didn’t know what that feeling was. After all, even in my previous life, I had no family. Strangely, I suddenly envied the Little Bear. At the same time, the mood sank.
“You know, Dia.”
The Little Bear had a troubled face and continued carefully.
“Last time… You said you didn’t have any family.”
‘If I just had my original clothes I could have guessed my family and social status’
But the kidnapper had wrapped me in old, humble cloth, not the original clothes.
Thus, it was true that I had no idea who my family was.