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“……Your name. I’ve heard it before.”
I could already guess how and where this boy heard my name.
I didn’t even need to talk about winning the Grand Festival.
After all, this boy was a trainee knight from Poldren.
Didn’t I know of a knight over there?
“You heard it from Sir Coulter Pirante, right?”
“H-how did you know?”
As I said Sir Coulter’s name, his eyes widened.
He might’ve thought I was a fortune teller, and not a magician……
Hey, you got it all wrong.
“I heard you talking before, that you were a trainee knight in the Poldren Territory. I just thought that, if it was Sir Coulter, he would’ve talked about me before.”
“Th-that’s right. The captain told us that there was an extremely strong magician at the Academy.”
“Well, enough about me. Shouldn’t you rescue your sister now?”
“……Ah!”
I pointed toward the thug who ran away while letting his friends get beaten up.
The boy regained his senses with an ‘Ah!’ and stood up to run to his sister on the ground and remove her restraints.
“S-sister!”
“Hansen!”
“……”
So his name was Hansen.
Hansen and his sister hugged and cried while looking like they hadn’t seen each other in a long time…
Their familial bond was beautiful to look at, but it was also a little embarrassing for me to watch, so I stepped back a bit.
It was because they had reminded me of Ruina.
I deliberated on if I should run after the Gnarled Oak gang and punish them so they never mess with these people again.
But I felt it wasn’t right to interfere even more into their matters, so I just shook my head.
Yeah.
A magician who jumps into battle against injustice.
This much was enough.
I got back on my saddle and held the reins lightly.
It was then.
“W-wait!”
Hansen’s sister stopped me and, after wiping her tears from her face, spoke up.
“Th-thank you for helping us. I want to cook you something as thanks……”
A meal.
It was still quite a bit till I had to eat lunch…
“I-if you aren’t too busy… please let me.”
“……”
There wouldn’t be a problem with getting to know this brother-sister pair a little more, right?
* * *
To be completely accurate, Hansen’s and his sister’s house wasn’t in Poldren.
It was in a small town just outside the territory.
But it was a truly remote place, to the point where I wanted to ask why such a place existed in the flourishing eastern territories.
“It’s a little shabby, but please come in.”
Shabby?
How could I put this…?
It honestly put me at ease, since it reminded me of Ardell.
“Then, please excuse me.”
I did my greetings and entered the house.
“There’s no one here. Our father would be out collapsed in some bar around this time.”
“Ah… Ok.”
She said such an unnerving phrase like she was talking about her neighbor going on a walk.
Should I call this innocence?
I don’t know.
There was less room inside than expected, but I didn’t complain and sat down.
“I-I’ll prepare the meal soon, so please wait a moment!”
“I’m fine, so take your time.”
Hansen’s sister was really pressed for time for some reason and ran into the kitchen, and as I expected…
Shatter!
The sound of broken plates could be heard.
“It’s fine! I’m fine, so don’t worry!”
“……”
Was she really fine?
I looked at Hansen, surprised, and Hansen just shook his head knowingly.
“She’s a bit clumsy…”
“……”
“…sir.”
Sir?
Why the sudden respect?
“A-anyway… Thank you for helping me before…”
“……”
“…sir.”
“Just talk comfortably. Why are you suddenly so respectful?”
“B-but… y-you are a noble… and… I…”
“How old are you?”
“I’m sixteen…”
“So am I. So just talk like you did before.”
“But……”
“No buts. If you’re that uncomfortable, can you not just attach sir at the end? Either do it properly or not at all.”
“……”
Did I push him too hard?
Hansen looked dejected, his head hung low, and looked like he was going to start crying before swearing that he would be properly respectful…
But that wasn’t the case.
“Aite. Then I’m gonna talk casually, ‘kay? No take backs later.”
“……”
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator – Jreaming
Proofreader – Artethrax
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* * *
So this was how he normally spoke.
I snorted a bit from the shock, and Hansen seemed a bit more comfortable, laughing for the first time.
It was the first time I saw his laughing face, but he didn’t look too bad.
He looked like he’d be a bit popular with the girls.
“I’m Hansen. No family name. I’m a trainee knight in the Poldren Training Center, Ruin… I can call you Ruin, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve heard about you a lot. Our captain talked about you nearly every day.”
“What did he say?”
“That there was an incredibly powerful magician at the Academy. He said you had the power to smack an ogre but were still weaker than him.
“……”
Ah, was that so?
I was pretty sure we settled our power levels with an arm wrestle before I started learning the body arts in the academy…
But he was talking about being stronger than me?
Well, I guess there was no need for me to prove I was stronger right now.
“He talked about you a lot during these last few months. If Ruin learnt swordsmanship, he would be stronger than you lot. Ruin would’ve done this instead of your trash swordsmanship. And so on…”
“Hoo damn… That man… I see he talked about me a lot.”
“Ruin, are you really close with our captain?”
“Well, a little. He told me to call him brother… but he’s too old to be my brother.”
“Woah! That’s awesome! Calling the captain ‘brother’…”
Hansen’s face was undoubtedly that of a young child’s when I was talking about Sir Coulter.
“I want to get stronger faster and be a great knight like our captain!”
The sole 6th-rank knight in the eastern territories.
Sir Coulter was the strongest knight Hansen knew, and also his idol.
Sir Coulter was strong.
That was why he was a good goal to aim for.
“……Despite being weak right now.”
It was a little sad to say it, but Hansen was so weak that I wouldn’t have known he was a trainee knight if he didn’t say it himself.
He was far from a 6th-rank knight. It was a mystery if he would even be able to graduate from the training center.
“To be honest, I’m dead last at the training center. So I’m made fun of everyday, people saying stuff about how a commoner like me who doesn’t even pay the fees shouldn’t be staying at the training center with skills like mine…”
“……”
“Everyone made fun of me except the captain. He told me I had a talent that no one else there had. That even though I wasn’t in the light now, if I persevered and trained hard, I could become stronger than anyone else.”
This was the reason he respected and idolized Sir Coulter Pirante.
While listening to Hansen’s story, I suddenly thought back to my past experiences and laughed loudly.
“Yeah. Effort won’t betray you. Even if you’re later than everyone else, if you persevere and hone yourself, a miracle will someday find you.”
“Really? Will that really happen?”
“Yeah. Cause I was like that before.”
“You? Were you at the bottom like me, Ruin?”
“……”
I just nodded my head.
Yeah.
It was the same.
Just as Professor Hydel and the Director believed in me, Sir Coulter believed in Hansen.
If you didn’t betray this belief and put in effort, a miracle would find you at a truly unexpected time.
“I don’t know much about swordsmanship, but the look in your eyes is good.”
“…Captain told me the same thing.”
“The way you measure someone is similar anyway, so don’t ever give up and push through. You’ll definitely be able to become strong.”
A drunkard for a father, and a clumsy but innocent and kind sister.
Even though he was the youngest in this house, he was already the head of this family.
“Ok!”
Hansen looked like he gained some confidence and nodded while smiling.
“It’s done! Sorry for the wait.”
Just on time, Hansen’s sister brought us food.
Bread with corn soup and stir-fried mushrooms, and even a few small pieces of dried bacon that were brought out for special guests.
It was a small but hearty meal.
“Thanks for the food.”
And I gladly picked up my utensils to eat.
I pulled a spoonful of corn soup into my mouth, and while I did that, Hansen leaned toward me and whispered,
“Sorry. I completely forgot to tell you before, but my sister’s cooking is kinda bad.”
“……”
Ah, so bland.
Why didn’t you tell me sooner?
However, Hansen’s sister asked me,
“How is it? Is it good?”
With an innocent face, and I could only smile awkwardly and nod.
“Y-yeah… It’s really good.”
“Ah! That’s a relief. I was worried it’d be too bland.”
“……”
However, my hand was already reaching for the pepper shaker Hansen secretly passed to me.
Sorry.
Honestly, it was too bland.
* * *
I finished the slightly awkward meal, and graciously accepted the tea that Hansen’s sister handed to me.
“Thank you.”
This wouldn’t also be bland, right?
Ehem.
It was good.
In any case, after the meal ended, I could hear these two’s story a bit more…
But the story of Hansen’s family was quite typical.
The siblings had to shoulder the debt caused by their alcoholic father, and it just had to be the cutely named ‘Gnarled Wood’ gang that was known to commit cruel and evil deeds that the father borrowed money from.
The thugs who were stuck on how to get the man to repay his debts tried to sell Hansen’s sister into prostitution.
And Hansen lifted his sword to protect her.
After quietly listening to their story, I asked a question.
“The Gnarled Tree gang? What kind of group are they? Their name is kinda cute, but the things they do are horrible.”
“Even if they sound like that, they’re a bunch of cruel bastards. If you get on their wrong side, they will tie you up to a gnarled tree stump and cut off your head.”
“……”
The gnarled tree in their name meant the stump used when executing people.
Meaning, the gang name said they were the executioners.
They were savages.
“And their leader, Nusel, has already slain four with his sword. No one can touch them.”
“Why is the Poldren territory letting them be?”
“Their area of activity isn’t in Poldren. It’s only around the nearby small villages like ours.”
“Don’t you guys have guards too?”
“No, we don’t. Even if I say we do, they’re all in some bar somewhere. Those damned bastards don’t give even half a shit about us.”
“……”
The Radian Kingdom.
The weakest nation.
There was a reason we were like that.
Even when thugs and ruffians like this were out making trouble, we made no efforts to stop them.
Originally, I intended to end my relationship with the siblings at this point.
I needed to return to the academy, and this wasn’t something I needed to get involved with.
However…
‘Should I deal with them…?’
Since these guys were more wicked than I thought, I started to feel like I should punish them.
But then…
Bang bang bang!
“Get out, you sons of bitches!”
“…Shh! It’s the Gnarled Tree bastards.”
We had guests.
No, we had been found by some unwelcome guests.
“Oh ho?”
And they came here on their own two feet.