The Strongest Family Has Arrived!

Chapter 5

—–CROW—– 

I was bewildered.  He had sweated profusely building that shade… for me?

For a half-sister he’d met less than an hour ago, whose existence he hadn’t even known, a burden forced upon him?

No, rather than thinking it was because I was his blood relative, I had to see it as a minimal act of human decency.

For a young, vulnerable girl.

“Aren’t you getting in?”

“Oh, no. I’m fine.  A…ppa? You go in. You must be tired and hot…”

“Me? In there? Are you underestimating my twelve years of prison experience? I’m someone who’s pulled weeds and carried wood all day under the scorching sun.  Don’t be ridiculous.”

Ryan grabbed the back of my neck and shoved me into the shade as if annoyed.  It was much better with the blazing sunlight blocked.

‘What is this?!’

Consideration for the weak?

Did I need to reassess Ryan’s personality?

“Ouch! What the— you! Why again?!”

“Stop yelling!”

While I was pondering, Ryan opened the wheelhouse door and caused a commotion. I hurriedly crawled out, thinking he was finally going to kill the engineer, but…

“He could at least give me some water.”

Fortunately, he seemed to have only commandeered a water bottle.

I went back into the shade, crouched down, and stared blankly at Ryan.

As if trying to cool off, he tilted the water bottle over his head and poured it over himself.

Bright yellow eyes. Golden hair that stuck out in all directions like a lion’s mane. A handsome face, but with strong features and sharp eyes, giving him an overly fierce impression.

And above all… his large build, as if he could swallow me whole in one bite.

He was well over 190cm tall, with muscles packed tightly onto his frame, a truly imposing figure.

Even if Ryan were truly incompetent, he could easily snap my fragile neck.

But…

“Here, drink the rest.”

…It didn’t seem like he would.

A small hope bloomed that this man, who saved some water for me, might be unexpectedly decent.

“Thank you…”

Ryan sat down with his back to me, the shirt he’d taken off draped over his head, fully exposed to the blazing sun.

Watching his back, I felt a strange sensation.

‘What is this feeling?’

I hadn’t imagined it before meeting him, but the fact that Ryan was my half-brother, sharing at least some of my blood, felt strangely poignant.

Especially now that I had decided to turn my back on all my siblings and my father, the only family I had ever known, leaving me utterly alone.

‘No, pull yourself together. You have to stay alert until you’re sure about his personality.’

I shook my head firmly, and as if sensing my burning gaze, Ryan turned around.

“Hey.”

He called me.

*Lurch.*

At that moment, the rickety boat lurched.

“Yes! What is it?”

“…”

Ryan frowned.

“N-N…”

“?”

***

“Ughhh.”

*Booooom!*

The powerful ship’s horn sounded, signaling departure.

This bustling place, filled with uniformed sailors and people moving busily, was Sorrento, an independent port city.

“Urp.”

It was a large island and a stopover on the way to the mainland.

“Uuurp.”

Ryan had been suffering from seasickness for the entire three-hour journey.

And as if that wasn’t enough, he was diligently leaving his mark even after disembarking at the pier.

‘He’s kind of… pathetic?’

Well, it was a relief that the terrifying man now felt a bit more human.

Who would know? That a man who could kill with a snap of his fingers was now struggling with mere seasickness.

“Is it funny?”

“No?!”

“Ha… ha…”

Somehow hearing my quiet chuckle, Ryan glared at me and grabbed my arm, his face pale.

“Pat… pat my back…”

“Okay!”

*Pat, pat.* I obediently patted his back as instructed.

“Ha… To get to the mainland, I have to… get on another boat and do this… again… for a whole week…?”

“The ship we’ll take from here is big and nice, so you won’t get seasick.”

“Uugh.”

“Are you done? Are you feeling better now?”

“I need to lie down…”

Ryan, having calmed down, wiped his chin with the back of his hand and straightened up with difficulty.

“Shall we find a place to stay then?”

I wondered if he had any cash. I rummaged through Ryan’s bag, which he was carrying at his side.

“Huh?”

Ryan nonchalantly took the bag from me and started walking, carrying it himself.

See, he *was* considerate.

I smiled slightly, swinging my now-empty hands.

“Let’s exchange the gold bars for money first!  This city has a special exchange rate, so it’s beneficial to exchange them while we’re here!”

“…”

“If we exchange them on the mainland, three gold bars will be worth three thousand gold, but if we exchange them here, we’ll get around three thousand one hundred gold!”

Ryan, who had been walking sluggishly, stopped abruptly and stared at me.

“What?”

“You’re quite talkative when you get going. And you’re pretty smart for a twelve-year-old.”

I flinched.

“…Isn’t it better than being stupid?”

“Hmm.”

Ryan stroked his chin with a suspicious look, observing me.

Then, *sniff*.

He suddenly frowned, turned his head sharply, and glared at something.

I sniffed the air too.

Following the acrid smell, I turned to see four sailors gathered together, smoking cigars.

“Stay back a bit.”

Ryan told me to keep my distance and then approached the sailors, fumbling in his shirt pocket.

“Hey, fellas!  Can I ask you something?  Here… damn it, where is it?  Hold on a second.”

“Haha, take your time. But where are you coming from? You look like you’re from out of town.”

One of the sailors asked. Ryan, rummaging through his bag, answered absentmindedly,

“I came from Abyss Island. I’m planning to transfer to another ship here and head to the mainland.”

At his words, the sailors froze.

Abyss Island.

There was nothing there but a prison.

If he came from that island, then naturally…

“I was released today.”

At his added remark, the sailors blinked and exchanged glances.

“Ah, here it is! I found… huh?”

By the time Ryan finally found a piece of paper, the sailors had stubbed out their half-smoked cigars and were running away.

“Hey, fellas! Where are you going!  Never seen a criminal before?”

Ryan’s arm, outstretched towards them, dropped.

“What the… It hurts my feelings to be treated like this after serving my full sentence.”

I hesitantly approached Ryan.

He looked a bit upset.

Well, it was understandable.

He must have realized that living in society with a criminal record, especially as someone from Abyss, wouldn’t be easy.

Moreover, his crime was the massacre of civilians.

And how much more frustrating would it be if it was something he didn’t even do?

‘But it’s okay. We can correct what’s wrong.’

That was my goal.

“Hey, but aren’t you scared of me?”

“Now? After all this?”

“I just thought… I’m a criminal. It’s strange that you decided to follow a criminal, even if you had nowhere to go.”

“…”

“Even those big guys ran away, but a little girl like you is so fearless.”

Ryan glanced at me.

“You didn’t follow me without knowing what I was convicted of, did you?”

“I know.  You killed a lot of people and set fire to the village.”

The reason I feared Ryan wasn’t because of his criminal record, but because he almost killed me before the regression.

I knew that Ryan wasn’t the true culprit of the “Konrad Massacre” that occurred twelve years ago.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“No, it’s okay. You’re still my only appa.”

“….?”

Ryan seemed to hesitate.

“What?”

“Haven’t you had sex education yet?”

“What?  Suddenly?”

“J-Just in case, I’m asking, but… you don’t actually believe that I… fathered you when I was your age, do you?”

He looked at me cautiously, as if I were some creature devoid of intelligence.

—–CROW—–