Chapter 76

Mightiest Melee Magician

Chapter 76

Ruina.

Only four years younger, she was my one and only little sister, and had just turned 12.

“……Ruin?”

The Ruina in my memories was just a little kid who would follow me around wherever I went, but during these six long years, she had started to grow into a beautiful lady.

She was on the terrace when she saw me, and after getting shocked by my appearance at the house, she ran downstairs and burst through the door.

And then…

“Ruin!”

She charged straight into my arms for a hug.

I gently lifted her into the air and smiled.

“I’ve been gone for too long. Sorry.”

“……”

She was a bit taller, but she was still that cute Ruina that I remembered.

She still acted like a little kid.

Then, Mr Pison threw out a joke after seeing Ruina.

“Young Lady, didn’t you say you would kick the young master’s shin when he returns?”

“What?”

“Haha. Looks like you’re just happy to see him now that he’s finally returned.”

“……W-wait, yeah!”

Ruina jumped back to the ground, having remembered something.

She then jumped up and kicked my shin.

“You dummy! Why are you only here now?! You never even sent any letters!”

“……!”

Crack!

Naturally, I could’ve dodged it if I wanted to, but I wanted to see just how much it would hurt if I got hit……

……But that was a mistake.

Why did it hurt so much?

I clutched my leg, bouncing on the other, and Ruina, seemingly still unsatisfied, shouted at me.

“Don’t you know how worried I was!”

“……Ugh, sorry. But Ruina, I think… I think my bone is broken.”

“Eh? R-really?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I can walk. Why did you hit me so hard?”

“……W-wait, let me see.”

Ruina’s expression froze after hearing me say that my bone was broken, but I let go of my leg and jumped up high on the spot.

“Just kidding.”

“……Ruin!”

Ruina was furious as she ran at me, and I easily evaded her before running while smiling.

Haha. Yeah.

It was always fun to mess with Ruina like this.

She was taller, but she’s still just as gullible as before.

I allowed myself to get caught by Ruina and received some punches to my back.

While that happened, my father walked over to me.

“Ruin, you should’ve told us you were coming.”

“I wanted to come back as fast as possible, and I also wanted to surprise you guys a little.”

“Well, you succeeded.”

My father smiled gently and gave me a gentle hug.

“Ruin, welcome home.”

Yeah……

The nostalgic smell of my hometown.

My heart had already lightened.

* * *

The Ardell Family’s dinners were usually quite simple.

But today was different.

Unlike any other day, an abundant feast was prepared instead.

A sweet pumpkin soup with a fresh corn salad.

Salty bacon and ki trout, the specialty of the Ardell territory that could only be caught on the southern sea here.

Of course, it wasn’t by any means the grandest of dinner tables, but everything was cooked with love and care.

“Nom nom. Nanny Barnelly’s food is still amazing.”

The taste was also nostalgic.

My nanny, Barnelly, who stepped in to take care of me when my mother passed away early, had always cooked me delicious food. We looked at each other and smiled.

“Are my dishes better than the meals you had at the academy?”

“Of course. It’s unfair to compare the two.”

“Fufu. It is hard to eat other food after trying mine, after all.”

“Ruin, are you already finished eating?”

“No, I’m just getting started. Nanny, can you give me another serving?”

“Fufu. Take as much as you like.”

And like that, I went on to finish another delicious plate of food.

“It’s amazing… I still can’t believe it. For my elder brother to return.”

Ruina sat next to me with a hand on her chin, contemplating the amazing situation next to her.

“I heard you’re learning swordsmanship.”

“Uh… How did you know?”

“How can your older brother not know? Learning swordsmanship to protect your weak brother. I’m touched.”

Weak.

Now, it was a word that didn’t fit me at all……

And I was very thankful for that.

“I-it’s nothing…”

Ruina’s face became red with embarrassment, and I asked her,

“Is it fun?”

“……Y-yeah.”

“Wow. Then can you show me sometime?”

“I-I’ll think about it.”

“Alright. I’ll look forward to it.”

“……”

Ruina pouted, cheeks further reddening.

There were a few female knights who went down the path of swordsmanship, but it was a matter of fact that there weren’t that many, and she seemed shy because of that.

She was at the age where hair pins and beautiful dresses might be more fitting than heavy swords and armor.

I finished eating and looked toward my father.

My father’s expression showed that he wanted to say many things to me……

But for now, it looked like he’d wait until I finished my meal.

That was why I spoke first.

“Father.”

“Yes?”

“The story I told you when you came to visit the academy before… Do you remember it?”

The story I told him.

The story where I said I wouldn’t make him wait any longer.

That I would definitely produce results within the semester.

My father had never forgotten.

“Of course.”

“I have more things I want to tell you about that.”

“The night is long and the tea is filled, so don’t worry.”

“The night might run out before then.”

“……That long?”

Then, Ruina hurriedly stood from her seat.

“Nanny! I’m changing into my pajamas!”

“Young Lady, right now?”

“Yes! And get me my pillow and blanket as well. I’m sleeping next to my brother today!”

“Hoo… Haha……”

“You’re going to the living room, right? Don’t you dare tell the story without me there, or I’m really gonna slap your back!”

She then hurriedly ran to her room.

My father and I sat in our seats, chuckling with each other.

After laughing like that for a bit, my father pulled out a small letter from his coat.

“Is it perhaps related to this?”

The letter was stamped with the Radian Kingdom’s seal, and contained the words, ‘The father of close friend Ruin Ardell, to Baron Dellin Ardell.’

“Did you receive a letter from the prince?”

“That’s right. It’s my first time receiving a letter from the palace.”

“……”

From the looks of it, since Lord Radian Croster couldn’t reach me, he went for my father instead.

Since the territory was in the corner of the kingdom and there wasn’t much foot traffic in this palace, it was only natural that he wasn’t caught up with the latest news.

That was why I wanted to be the first one to give him the good news……

But those damned princes.

They’re really not helpful at all.

This wasn’t all.

“Also, a lot of letters were delivered to our territory. There were more letters recently delivered than there were letters ever delivered here.”

* * *

* * *

“……”

The cupboard was filled with letters from noble houses who had gained interest in me.

The goals of all those letters were the same.

“Ruin. Seems you’ve truly made a mess this time.”

“Yes. I really did.”

For I, Ruin Ardell—

Smack!

Someone slapped my back and moved away.

“Ack!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to start?”

“Ruina, did you just learn violence instead of swordsmanship?”

“So what if I did? I told you clearly to not start without me! I’m curious about what you did! Not even Dad would tell me!”

“Haha. We didn’t talk much, so don’t fight and let’s move to the living room.”

* * *

In the living room, other than the three of us, there were the elders of the house and the representatives of the territory’s subjects.

My story.

This was something everyone in the Ardell territory was curious about, and there was no reason to hide things now.

The only exception being the secret to my power.

I talked about all the things that happened during my past 6 years at the academy.

Ruina stifled a bit when I was talking about the 5 years of living as a failure due to not being able to overcome my disability, but became resolute when I then began to talk about finding a new method of using magic and my training before becoming the academy’s representative.

And finally…

“Y-you did?”

“Did Young Master really win in such a big tournament? On top of that…… you even had a meeting with the crown prince of the Empire?”

Everyone was shocked and even baffled when I told them that I won the Grand Festival.

“What in the world……? Our young master did……?”

Father, Ruina, the elders, and the subjects of the territory.

Everyone sat there and exclaimed in shock.

Shock.

Wonder.

Relief.

Lots of different emotions were present in this room.

Stories that were so foreign to these people who had only lived a normal life this entire time.

However, this wasn’t the story of some wondrous adventurer, but of the young master of this territory.

“That’s why I returned. Because I finally had the right to see you guys again.”

My story where I didn’t want to show them my failed appearance.

My story where I wanted to only show the people near me my best performance.

“……Young Master, you are admirable.”

Then, the elder and chief of governmental affairs, Baggins, who, in power, was second only to my father, said in shock,

“Lord, please tell the young master that—”

“Baggins, let’s talk about that later.”

“It’s right that you tell him now. It’s related to the young master, so it’s—”

“……Baggins!”

“……”

My father raised his voice a little, and Baggins could only stay silent.

“What is it?”

As I asked my father, he shook his head, signaling that it wasn’t anything I should concern myself with.

It looked like he had a secret that he didn’t want to tell me……

So, I asked him.

“If I hear something concerning me from someone other than you, I think I would be more upset.”

“This is my problem. It’s nothing you should concern yourself with. You just have to focus on your academic—”

“That academic achievement is in the end also for the good of the territory. I’m also a member of the Ardell territory.”

“……”

My father glared at Baggins with regret from him bringing up the topic, but he ended up caving.

“Alright. We have a small problem.”

“…A problem?”

“As you know, we’ve recently received a lot of letters, all of them regarding you.”

Letters regarding me.

Maybe about what my plans would be after I, the winner of the Grand Festival, would be doing after I graduate.

Or…

“Using you as their excuse, there were some who said would greatly invest in our territory. They would deal with the wolves that prowl on the outskirts of our territory and develop new land, create bigger farms, and even construct a port so that they could grow the Ardell territory into a naval powerhouse in the South.”

A scheme to manipulate my father, using promises sweet like honey.

However…

“Naturally, I declined all of them. How could a father sell off his own son?”

My father wasn’t one to get done in by schemes like this.

He was the one who taught me that my future was always in my hands.

This wasn’t the real problem.

Even if we were to decline and get criticized by it, their influence wouldn’t destabilize our territory in any meaningful way.

The real problem was elsewhere.

“Vilcos Monzo. He is threatening us, using you as the reason.”

“Threaten? Wait. If it’s Monzo…… The trade city Monzo?”

“That’s right.”

As the only trade city in the vicinity of the Ardell territory, most of the produce in Ardell heads toward Monzo.

This also meant that the small amount of money we gained from Monzo was keeping the Ardell territory alive.

And this meant…

“Ardell’s ki trout, barley, and potatoes are being forced to be sold at unbelievably low prices.”

“……”

“There’s only one thing Vilcos Monzo wants. It’s for you to become the guardian magician of Monzo. If we do, then they promised to raise our current low price to double the original to compensate.”

We could only sit here while they messed with us using disgusting schemes.

“Have you taken other measures? There should be a problem with messing with the price of goods on purpose.”

“Yeah. What you said is right. We’re currently trying to do everything we can, so you don’t have to worry about this and can leave this to me.”

“……”

Is it right to leave it to my father?

Or… should I handle this myself?

Of course, I wouldn’t solve this problem by becoming their guardian magician.

I had even declined the offer of the Raynac Empire’s crown prince……

These guys should know their place.

Then, there was only one method left.

“Father, I have a good idea.”

“……A good idea?”

“Yes. Have you heard?”

I smiled and lifted my fist.

“The medicine for bad guys… is getting hit.”

——