Episode 177
“Wow, what is all that?”
“How many carts are there?”
“Huh? That’s the McLane family flag. What are you doing?”
“What kind of top are you talking about?”
“what?”
“Ah, it’s the Archduke.”
As Logan appeared amidst the clamor of people, the crowd gathered at the entrance to the town split and formed a path of its own.
As Logan slowly made his way to the front of the platform under the gaze of countless people, Philip, who was looking awkwardly at the fancy silk clothes that were different from what he usually wore, hurriedly greeted him.
“Confucius. There is no need for you to come out in person…”
“No. I asked you to do this, so I should at least say goodbye. I have something to give you.”
“Yes? No, what you’ve done so far is all too much. On such a grand scale…”
“This is what’s missing, this.”
“…Huh?”
The moment Philip saw the paper Logan took out and waved, he couldn’t hide his puzzled expression.
An unusual document, or rather a contract, with a bluish mana tinge.
It would not be an illusion that the words written therein feel familiar.
“My contract… But why did you bring it with you?”
Is it because you still don’t trust me?
Philip’s face hardens slightly.
Wow.
Logan tore up the magic contract in front of him.
“Confucius?!”
The moment Philip’s eyes doubled in size.
A slight blue light was seen escaping from his and Logan’s bodies and dispersing into the air.
Philip looked blankly at Logan at the sight of the mana contained in the contract disappearing.
Logan grinned and placed the torn contract in Philip’s hand.
“It’s late, but it’s a reward. I worked hard for a while, but I was so focused on the war that I forgot about the efforts of the people who worked behind the scenes. Dwayne was the same way.”
When I glanced back, the furry administrator gave Philip a thumbs up.
Then, when I made eye contact with Veron, I frowned again.
Philip was unable to speak due to his complicated thoughts.
“The performance bonus proposal is the same, so please do your job properly, Philip Sangju. Understood?”
“…Yes. Yes, Master. Of course. I will do my best, no matter what!”
A loud voice shouting so that everyone around you can hear.
Tiny water droplets were falling down Philip’s head, which he bowed politely.
* * *
“I’ll finally be able to visit the new territory.”
Once the urgent matters were over, Logan felt relieved and started doing other things he had in mind.
“Do you want to go to the Calia region yourself?”
“No. Taren.”
“yes?”
Not only the Kalia region, which was acquired as a result of the rice paddy trade, but the Taren region was not well received even among the vassals.
Of course, most of them were reticent, thinking, ‘Confucius must have something on his mind,’ but there were also loyalists who did not hesitate to speak out.
Like Dwayne, so to speak.
“Do you have a hobby of looking at wastelands and abandoned mines?”
“…The McLane Plain was originally a wasteland. Have you forgotten?”
“Ah… Then the Taren region? But the water…”
“That’s natural, and there’s something to check separately.”
“Huh?”
“Anyway, Hamar and Clayton are planning to go together on the way, so find out the schedule and coordinate it. There’s less work in the workshop now, right?”
Dwayne nodded and answered.
“Yes. It will be easy for Lord Hamar to coordinate the schedule, but Mr. Cleit says he has been stuck in the laboratory these days and hasn’t come out. I think it’s because of the experiment you mentioned with Mr. Prince…” “
Hmm, that’s important too, but…” No, but this comes first. Tell Clayton to postpone the experiment.”
“You won’t listen to me, right? Above all, how can I bring out a mage who is stuck in the laboratory and won’t come out!”
ha.
“Then I will go there myself.”
Now that all the work that needed to be checked and approved in person has disappeared, Logan’s steps are lighter than ever.
however.
Knock. Knock.
“Brother. This is Ronian.”
I heard the voice of my younger brother who had not been seen for a while.
“Oh Ronnie. Listen…”
Logan, who was about to answer willingly, was startled when he saw his younger brother’s face as he opened the office door and came in before he could finish answering.
“Hey! What’s going on with you?! What’s with that face?”
A face that has been cut in half with an expression that seems to have made a resolute decision.
What’s interesting is that even with such disgrace, the momentum felt is actually better than before.
The level of advanced force user.
After confirming this, Logan’s expression changed drastically again.
“You guy. What kind of training did you do to make your face look like that?! No matter how successful you are, training while harming your body in the long run…” “
It’s not because of the training, bro.”
“what?”
“I just changed my mindset a little bit and I saw a path. Just like my older brother said.”
“her…?”
As Logan, he couldn’t help but make a puzzled expression.
“And because of that, there is something I would like to discuss with you.”
The words that followed were enough to make Logan dumbfounded.
“Warrior training? Why on earth would you suddenly pursue such an old custom?”
Warrior practice.
A child from a noble family leaves the family and travels the world, testing martial arts and gaining experience to develop their personality and martial arts skills.
Although the meaning is plausible, it was a custom that was abandoned because so many people died in the process, and Ronian somehow brought it up.
“…I thought about it for a long time, but I have nothing to do in the territory right now.”
“What? What do you mean? You’re trained as a knight and you’re doing well in the police force, right?”
“That’s just me doing what you could have done.”
“If you think about it that way, I can do all the family affairs. That’s not possible, so there are vassals, you, and your father… hmm. Aren’t there other people?”
If it were Ronian in the past, he would have just nodded at this point, but today he wasn’t so gentle.
“But this time it’s different. No matter how much I think about it, I think it will ultimately be more helpful to my family and my brother to focus on what I can do well.”
“The thing you’re good at…”
“I’m talking about swordsmanship. You also said that, I have the talent to become stronger than you.”
“Yes, of course. Everyone who knows you will think so.”
Logan truly thought so, but upon hearing that, his younger brother tilted his head and laughed.
“Well, that’s a bit of a question, but I know that you definitely believe that. I’m going to try to believe in you too. That’s why I’m going to train as a warrior.”
“Where on earth did you hear that? What kind of guy put that on you?!”
Logan was truly annoyed.
This is the younger brother who will become an Auror user if he just trains in the family.
I can’t believe that a younger brother like that would take the risk of embarking on a warrior training.
However, my younger brother’s next answer was absurd.
“Brother.”
Phew.
Dwayne, who had been listening quietly, cleared his throat, caught Logan’s nervous gaze, and turned around, covering his mouth.
“…Me? To you? When?”
“When I look at you, I feel like I won’t be able to catch up with you through regular training.”
“…what?”
“I felt my skills improving as I went through battlefields and actual combat. So I concluded that if I really wanted to surpass my brother, that was the most suitable direction.”
“Ha…”
I was speechless.
Are you saying these ridiculous thoughts are because of yourself?
To think that his younger brother, who was clearly a future Auror user, would leave home and engage in dangerous work because of him.
“No! Absolutely not!”
I couldn’t accept it, either out of love for my younger brother or to prepare for the future.
But this time, Ronian seemed really determined and did not back down.
“My brother has been a pillar of support for me since I was young. Of course, there were some… bad things along the way, haha. Even before you became the pillar of the family, you were always a pillar to me.”
Logan looked at his brother with mixed feelings.
“Even when overcoming my family’s crisis, I always stood behind my brother. I was able to endure the difficult battle with the belief that my brother would do anything, and it eventually became reality. But!”
Ronian’s voice rose even higher.
“It seemed like my growth had stalled at some point. My brother would solve everything, so I could just follow him. I think I unconsciously thought that way.”
Before he knew it, his clenched fists gained strength.
“You said I had the talent to surpass you, right? Maybe that was true, so I decided for the first time that I would try to surpass you if possible. Once I made that decision, I saw a way to overcome the wall.”
After taking a moment to catch his breath, Ronian raised his head and made eye contact with Logan.
“Brother. You must remain the pillar of the family. I will become the sword of the family. So that you will not be disappointed, I will strive to become a truly superhuman as you expect. That is the path I have chosen. Please allow me.”
My brother’s long words.
Those words, one by one, pierced my heart.
Above all else.
‘I was hindering this guy’s growth?’
Those words were the biggest shock.
“Ha…what is that…”
I covered my face, scratched my head, and tried to trick myself into thinking it wasn’t true.
But….
‘Did Ronian McLane, the youngest Auror user in his past life, really go through the same growth stage as he does now?’
Thoughts bite one another.
‘Didn’t he try harder than anyone else to revive his broken family? ‘Is the McLane family, which has already become the highest noble family in the kingdom, really in the same environment as it was back then?’
The inference that naturally came to mind following Ronian’s words suggested that what he said might be true.
My younger brother had awakened to the Force a little earlier than in his previous life, and more than anything, he was learning the divine sword vision.
So will we really become stronger than in the past faster than in the past?
‘That can’t be possible.’
Above all, I knew myself well.
Those who lack earnestness find it difficult to achieve success.
How far can Ronian, who became the second son of the kingdom’s highest family, maintain his sense of improvement?
And above all.
‘Do I have the right to stop my younger brother from growing up?’
why? By what right?
Aren’t you trying to keep your younger brother locked up under the pretext of caring for him?
‘After all, wasn’t I only thinking of Ronian as a weapon to overcome future crises? ‘Isn’t that why I’m trying to keep it within my field of vision?’
Questions about myself continued to plague my mind.
Logan, who had been mulling over things for a while, finally composed his mind and looked at Ronian.
My younger brother, who thought about it until half his face fell and finally decided.
The sight of him looking at himself with unchanging eyes even after a long period of silence.
“Um…”
Even though I thought I had made up my mind, the answer didn’t come easily.
“…I definitely think you have the talent to surpass me. But since I won’t play either, it might be better for Jindeuk to train at home rather than for you to wander around the world and gain experience while neglecting training.”
Ronian, whose expression brightened for a moment as if he knew that this was a half-permission, immediately answered. He spat out,
“I swear. Even during my warrior training, I will never neglect my training.”
“Sometimes the world is more dangerous than war. You may become distrustful of people and dislike them, and then you may become desolate.” ”
I will remember the hearts of those who believe in me. As soon as I feel like I’m ruining myself, I’ll come back home. Above all, I will do my best to overcome anything.”
“My brother is wandering the world… big. I will tell you one by one the stories I heard from the mercenaries. Write it down and memorize it so you never forget it. I will send it to you later.”
“Thank you! “Brother!!”
Logan sighed and looked at his younger brother’s face filled with joy.
‘You’ve grown so much before you know it.’
Even though he is already close to the same height as himself, he still sees a youthful face. The
image of his younger brother from his past life that he remembers is the wounded face of a very young child and the superhuman who had grown to the point where his hands could not reach and cut down his enemies. There were only those two faces.
The face of my younger brother, somewhere in between the one in front of me, felt unfamiliar.
However,
“I believe in Ronian McLane. I will definitely keep what you said.”
That made my heart so proud.
He promised himself that he would work hard so that the reality he had changed could become a bigger stepping stone for his younger brother.
“Of course, brother!”
“Okay. Now then… ..”
“Oh, by the way, brother.”
“Hmm?”
Ronian, who was overflowing with motivation, suddenly hesitated and carefully spoke out the words.
“Since you allow me, could you please persuade my mother instead of me?”
At that moment, half of my pride was gone. It was chipped away.
