Volume 2 - CH 36

I left the village and headed south. Rufina’s sense of smell paired with my detection technique to perceive our surroundings. …There were some monsters, but no traces of a human.

Guess we’ll need to head a bit further south. Once I made it back down south, near the tree I used to use as my base, I noticed something. …Fire.

Looks like someone is burning a fire. One Rufina noticed as well, she turned to look that way. We slowly made out way closer. Erasing all signs of our presence, we peeked out from cover at the place that was once my base.

…There were five humans in the fields and the old cabin I made. Two of them were knights. Another two were… probably lower world managers. The lower world managers wore clothing that would blend nicely into shadows. They were likely clothes designed for living in the lower world.

But the knights were really conspicuous in their armour. In the middle of them was the most conspicuous man. …Leon Hauburst. The fourth son in the Hauburst household, as well as my next oldest brother.

He was donned in armour showy enough to strut out into a parade. …Maybe it has really good performance? I tried checking it out with appraisal with that possibility in mind… but it didn’t have any skills on it or anything.

I could tell from the result of appraisal that it didn’t have any particular abilities advantageous to battle. …I guess he probably came here to search for me.

He might be aiming to take me down one-sidedly in a surprise attack later on. Though, it’s not like he came here to kill me or anything. If I had to guess, he might be here to persuade me.

Anyone else coming from the Hauburst house to bother me would really be a pain.

I’ll negotiate then. I’ll talk to Leon, ask him never to come here again, and send him back to the upper world. Even though I had come up so close to them, those guys were just carefreely eating some meat.

…Well, I did learn that they weren’t particularly perceptive when the werewolf told me about them. They did let the werewolves get back to the village without even noticing them after all.

When I unnaturally shook a tree, they turned over here.

“Who’s there!?” Looks like they finally noticed me. The lower world managers had already been standing from the start, and the knights drew their swords late. Leon took his time standing. …He was acting somehow dignified.

The knights and lower world managers were really frightened though… I was a little curious about that. As I approached the fire, they were also able to see my face.

This was finally enough to make Leon’s eyes go wide. “If it isn’t Crest, you seem to be doing well.”

“More or less. So did you guys also come here to bring me back like Albert?”

“Albert? What, did you meet him?”

“Yeah. After I dealt with him, I guess he should be getting along great with some goblins somewhere.” After that I have no clue what happened to him. When I shrugged and said that Leon gave a bitter laugh.

“I see. He doesn’t really matter. Right now the one I need is you, Crest.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, that’s right. God gave an oracle in the upper world you see. It touched on how good of a skill gacha is. It’s a power that’s meant to save the world from danger. Likewise, it’s the same for Minue from the Mycelian house and Ellis from the Refield house as you know.”

…Minue, huh. That’s a nostalgic name there. If I remember right, Minue was also pretty hated by the Mycelian house. She also entered the knight academy for that reason. We got along pretty well since due to our similar circumstances.

“What’s Minue been up to?”

“The Mycelian house was lucky to be in that position. It’s the same with you Crest.”

“…Because God said it was a good skill?”

“That’s right. Right now, you’re also able to become a lord. Isn’t this a good chance to show up your older brothers you hate?”

“I don’t really care about showing anybody up. I’m fine with living out a relaxing life. The upper world is stifling. I don’t plan on going back.” …Sounds like Minue will be getting a decent position in the upper world. That’s good. As I said so, the smile Leon had on his face up till this point cramped up.

“…Do you really not want to go back?”

“Yeah, I don’t.”

“Even so… it will be really inconvenient for us if you don’t return. I don’t know what will happen to our house if you don’t come back.”

“I see. That’s a nice thing to hear. Now I want to go back even less.” When I said this he furrowed his brow.

“…Crest! Are you being ungrateful for all the time we spent raising you!?”

“I don’t feel any gratitude. So, what about it? You don’t seem to have any of your previous composure though.” When I said this, Leon drew his sword from his hip. At the same time, the knights and the lower world managers also drew their swords.

“…Alright you guys. Like I told you before, break that idiot’s arms and legs, then we’ll go back once you but the slave collar on him!”

“…Understood, lord Leon.” The knights grasped their swords with smiles rising on their faces. …I see they’re definitely looking down on me.

“Lord Crest. We used to do sword practice together.”

“…That may be the case.” The knights used to play around with me occasionally.

The knights would do sword practice with me on Leon’s orders. Of course ‘practice’ is a rather kind expression. In actuality they would just torment me while I couldn’t do anything. Then Leon would enjoy a good laugh as he watched me.

“You weren’t able to become a knight. That’s the level of your ability. You ought to just surrender.”

“It’s not that I couldn’t become a knight. That man got in the way of it.” …I have enough skill to become a knight. I mean I always had the top score in the knight academy. But someone got in the way of things and closed of the path of a knight for me.

My ignorant father and brothers called me a dropout. However, I’d heard that even that was arranged by Leon. The edges of Leon’s mouth curled up into a smile.

“Your expression of despair back them was really funny.” Snickered Leon. Then he pointed his sword my way. “Do it everyone!”

The moment Leon ordered them the knights flew towards me.