I woke up suddenly because of my father, who had woken me.
"Rudel, get up now, I need your help."
"What for?"
I was sleeping peacefully and, since it was vacation, I could laze around as much as I wanted, but my father dragged me away after explaining the reason.
Once the sleep left me, I analyzed the situation.
"Are you Marquis Bradford? It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Londing, a merchant, please remember me."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Marquis. My company is small, but we are growing by leaps and bounds."
"If you need an official buyer, please request me."
We came to the port because my family, thanks to me, had created an aircraft repair workshop. It wasn't a big deal, but Ixion used second-hand parts in the repairs, which gave the ships a slight improvement.
This created huge demand from us, and with that, many ships came to receive upgrades.
Even merchants came to form trade deals with us and have branches in some territories or companies.
But since it was Ixion's technology, my father obviously rejected them because it wasn't his.
This led them to the strange idea that my family wants to create a mega commercial company to have the power all to themselves.
The hallucinations of these people are incredible, they're scary.
And since I returned home, my dad brought me to calm down these people who come every day trying to make deals.
Once I gently rejected everyone, I told them I could give them a discount so they wouldn't feel bad. I don't want anyone trying to replicate one of Ixion's ships, which have the power to devastate an entire territory.
After finishing with these annoying old men, we went to the top floor of the port office. Originally, the port was a small place where barely one ship could fit.
But thanks to the renovations, it's so extensive that it occupies a good portion of the territory.
Even, since my family was given the territory of the traitor Balzac, they used it to make a second and third workshop because they didn't fit here.
While climbing the stairs leading to the upper floor, I could hear the voices of the sailors working here.
"Hey, that's young master Rudel, isn't it?"
"It's the first time I've seen him."
"They say he single-handedly destroyed the Commonwealth and the Supreme Kingdom because they looked down on him."
"You could say we're lucky to be under the care of someone so terrifying."
"Get to work! Do you want him to take your wife away?"
"They say he only goes around surrounded by beauties of princess rank."
"I wish my daughter were a beauty so he would ask for her hand. Our family could boast that we're related to the kingdom's hero."
(It's so embarrassing to hear them.)
I know I've done strange things, but everything they say embarrasses me.
Finally, we reached the top and my father took out a megaphone. This invention of Ixion is very useful because it facilitates communication over long distances and only exists in this place.
"Ah, ah. Please everyone pay attention and stop what you're doing. I have an announcement to make."
Upon hearing the boss's voice, almost everyone stopped working and some came closer to hear better.
I really didn't understand why my father brought me if it was just to get the merchants to leave him alone.
"I'm sorry to take your time, but I just wanted to tell you that we're making an incredible pace in the territory's profits, so to show my gratitude to all of you, one gold coin and two silver coins will be added to your salary."
The sailors started shouting in celebration.
I asked him discreetly.
"Is it okay to raise wages? Won't you have problems later?"
"We're going to raise taxes, so wages should also go up, right?"
"Oh, that's true."
(Hearing that wages will rise is something that in my previous life was almost like winning the lottery.)
"This measure will be implemented at the end of next month, as I discussed it with the officials and everyone agreed."
"To finish, maybe many don't know or haven't met him."
Suddenly, my father took me by the shoulder and made me step forward.
"But my son Rudel here has been appointed as Marquis. We are a simple rural barony, but thanks to him we have grown and now have all this new equipment and have also overcome the economic crisis we saw years ago."
"A year ago we were thinking about how to make ends meet, and now we have so much work I feel like taking a vacation, hahaha."
Everyone started laughing along with my father. It seems like a joke, but we really were so poor that my current situation is a miracle for us.
"The reason for bringing him here was to tell everyone once and for all that he is the head of his own branch. Therefore, any decision regarding the territory will exclude him."
"Huh?"
Upon hearing those words, I finally understood why my dad brought me.
(He wanted to tell everyone that any decisions they make won't need to be consulted with me, despite me having the highest rank. I see, it's an indirect way of saying I have nothing to do here, despite being his son.)
(Are they kicking me out of the family business? It's not that I care, but it hurts a bit to be dismissed like that from something that has your name on the document.)
Once we finished speaking, we went down the stairs.
"I'm sorry you had to come, but there were so many people who wanted to work as knights, engineers, and sailors for us, believing they would serve you, and this was the only way to keep them away. Among other things."
"I see, I thought it was strange that there weren't people like that wanting to work for the family, believing they would be under my name."
"But it's incredible that they really believe I'm the future owner of these lands, despite being the third son."
"That would be really bad for us, you know?"
When we reached the ground, I turned around at a familiar voice.
A man with wrinkled skin, gray hair, and a foxlike face stood before me.
"It's a pleasure to see you again after a year, young master Rudel."
"Likewise, Hermes."
"Master, who is this person?"
Ixion had been by my side for a while; I don't know where he went, but he appears like a ghost and I'm used to it, so I explained to him in a low voice.
"This old man was the mayor of the territory. He's not a bad person, but I'd describe him as a cunning fox?"
"Why? Also, why does a small place like this need an authority other than the feudal lord?"
"A mayor is the highest authority in a territory after the feudal lord; he generally handles the connection between the people and us, like receiving complaints, when there are problems, etc."
"But in larger territories, like Alisa's duchy, there is a governor who handles one or more territories, and then there are the mayors who would be an extension of him, and after that the officials."
"Although in this place, the meetings were an excuse to go drinking and gambling, until my mother caught them all and they started taking it seriously after being threatened with having their wives told what they did behind their backs."
"Now about the old man: since childhood he was a flatterer of Lyle, he even tried to engage his youngest daughter to him, but she ran away with a guy years ago. But when I brought improvements to the territory, he stuck to me like glue and his comments are always so obvious about me taking the territory because it would be better in my hands."
"I can't deny it," Ixion responded, "the territory improved under my technology, which you own, so if you took the territory, you would simply give it more improvements to the point of turning it into a metropolis in a few years."
"That's what I don't want. I have my own territory, which Siegwald returned to me after giving him a pier from the Supreme Kingdom in exchange, and besides, I don't want to take away the territory that Lyle will inherit."
"I see, you really love your brother very much to not remove him from the picture."
"Of course, I don't want those stories where brothers kill each other over inheritance, and even if Lyle were out of the equation, Bram would be left and I'd have to remove him too, and I don't want that."
"You're too soft, you know? If it were me, I would have removed him from the picture without caring about anything."
"I'm not a cruel, emotionless guy like you!"
"Oh, how sweet, you care about your brothers. Let's hope your brothers don't try to kill you like other nobles would have done in the past."
"They're idiots whose lives don't interest me, but my brothers aren't idiots enough to do that."
"But you doubt it, right?"
"...Shut up."
"Hohoho, it's good to see you healthy as always."
Hermes approached me and greeted Ixion.
"You're the strange fairy he found a while ago, aren't you?"
"That's right. Thanks to me, this dump can have riches."
"I see, it's nice that young master Rudel found you."
"Rather, it was luck for him. Without me, he'd be buried in a mass grave."
"Hey!"
"Hohoho. Well, that didn't happen and now he's in a better place, right?"
"That's right."
"It would be really good for the territory if someone like you and the young master could give it more life as the years go by."
(There it is! And the worst part is he says it without filters.)
"Especially since I've heard he now has two more women under his care. The future of the Bradford family is guaranteed with success, without a doubt."
"Master, I really like this old man. He truly understands the value of your genes. Don't you have any women to join the master's harem?"
"Ixion!"
"Hohoho, I'm afraid not. I only have my granddaughter Jessica left, but she's even younger, but if you wait a couple of years..."
I stopped him before this guy wanted me to get involved with Paula-chan's friend.
"Let's go, Ixion!"
"Are you leaving already? Young master, tonight we'll have a banquet to celebrate your return, make sure to come."
"That old man is really irritating."
"Alright, alright, he really doesn't have bad intentions, but it's better if Lyle doesn't hear him."
My father was by my side; apparently there were still things to do and I couldn't leave.
"But Dad, what he says could get me into trouble with Lyle; I solved that fear he had of me a while ago and I don't want him to regain it again."
"Don't worry, Lyle understands better than anyone that you don't mean to harm him; he's not stupid enough to take his words seriously. But there's no denying it, you're important to the territory."
He stopped and looked at me fixedly.
"Rudel, the truth is that you've become a vital piece for this place, which is why we always receive letters asking you to please take the heir position and I burn them after announcing that you're not interested."
"I hope this doesn't escalate to a protest demanding that you take the territory; that would be annoying."
"Really, coming home instead of relaxing brings me problems."
My father saw me downcast and put his arm on my shoulder.
His face was strange, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know what words to use.
"Rudel, you see, I am your father."
"I know, or aren't you? Am I adopted?"
"You're not!"
"The thing is..."
His gaze seemed lost and he immediately recomposed his look; he said words to me I never thought I'd hear coming from him.
"I haven't been the best father. I'm a terrible one; I tried to sell you in the past to pay debts that, thanks to you, no longer exist."
"I'm the worst father in the world and I deserve to be beaten for it... that's why..."
His expression seemed painful, but not because of what he was saying, but probably because of what he remembered.
"Trust me. As your father, I can see that you've taken a path that's impossible for me or anyone else to follow."
"In the future, you'll surely get into more trouble; it's not because you're a troublemaker, but because trouble seeks you out."
"Is that supposed to be comforting?"
Then I saw something I only saw when my mom hit him: my father started crying.
"Please trust me. I don't have the power to be of help, but you're my son. As your father, I must protect you, especially since you've been through many problems and conflicts."
"No matter what problem you have in the future, your old man will help you without hesitation, whether it's some advice or you have problems with the palace, I'll be in the front line to protect you because you're my son. You and all the others are my family; as the man of the house, I must protect them with my life."
At that moment, a mental image of my father from my previous life came to me; a conversation we never had, occurred with his face in it.
He hugged me in front of everyone and it was embarrassing.
"Dad, everyone is watching us."
"It doesn't matter. There's nothing wrong with a father hugging his son."
This reminded me of my talk with the five fools a while ago; for some reason, seeing him so close brought tears to my eyes; I held them back, but I felt very happy to see that my dad really loves me, so I returned the hug.
(So, what happened earlier isn't them kicking me out of the family. Rather, they don't want to cause me problems if something happens.)
After a while of hugging each other, we let go because it was becoming uncomfortable.
"Well, that was all I wanted to tell you. Let's continue with the pending matters."
"Yes. And thank you, Father."
I said those words completely blushing, like a schoolgirl blushing after a confession.
"Oh, how beautiful is the love between father and son. Bell will explode when she sees this."
Ixion was taking photos of us.
"I hope you haven't done anything weird."
"Your family will want to see how much you love your dad; your fiancées too; this isn't weird at all."
"You always make things weird when you talk with that sarcasm."
"I only use it to bother you, but it wasn't sarcasm, rather my genuine words. I'm glad you're getting along better with your father."
For some reason, I believe him. This guy, when he lies, you can feel it in his voice, but now he seemed honest.
He generates so much distrust in me that I don't know when something he says is a lie or not.
"By the way, Master, I'd like you to see something."
"What is it?"
"You'll see."
We approached a part of the hangar where the armed units were and there was a crowd there. They were merchants selling and buying armor.
There, amidst so many silver armors, was a large destroyed black armor.
It was Battler.
It was bruised because a huge sacred tree fell on it; the tree dried up but remained stuck; Ixion removed it and the result was that it lost almost the entire lower part.
"It looks like a shark bit it."
"That's the first thing you say when you see it?"
"Well..."
The state Battler was in was deplorable.
It was once a great battle armor that could intimidate its enemies, and now it's a half-eaten black slab.
"Do you know this is the second time you've left Battler in this state?"
"The first time was unavoidable and I hoped you'd be more careful afterwards. The remaining pieces were hard to catch before they sank to the bottom of the sea."
"I used them to create a new one, but with inferior power, and it ended up like a big cookie with a big bite."
"Don't call it a cookie, it makes me laugh."
"This is no laughing matter!"
Ixion said while pressing my face with his red lens.
"This time I'll have to disassemble it and melt it down to create it from scratch and make its armor more resistant. It will take time, but what bothers me is that you might leave it in a terrible state again."
"I'm truly sorry. I won't do it again."
I clasped my hands imploring for mercy.
The people around me started asking questions about him, and Ixion, happily, answered them.
Some asked if they could replicate it, and this guy mocked them saying they couldn't do it even in a thousand years.
By the way, Bell is in my territory making sure the palace hasn't stolen anything; she'll return soon.
◇◇◇
Walt watched from afar as his son was surrounded by a strange sphere and people who could never have touched this place before.
"I never thought that boy with no future would really become a cog that moves the world at his whim."
"I should be afraid of him, but seeing him act like that, I only understand that my son had bad luck and that, as his father, even if I'm a weakling next to him, I must support him."
In the depths of his heart, he never thought his son was the monster many believe him to be.
◇◇◇
Meanwhile, in the Bradford house, the girls were helping with household chores.
"It's not necessary for you to do the cleaning too. In fact, Alisa-chan shouldn't even touch a dirty rag."
Alisa, who was cleaning with a facial mask on, said to her mother-in-law.
"It's not that much; at the palace, part of the education I received was cleaning, since it was to bring us down from our pedestal and make us believe there's no difference between nobles and servants outside of status."
"Besides, this will also be my home and I want to help keep it clean. And, mother-in-law, you're the one who shouldn't make so many movements because of your condition."
Sonya felt a pain in her chest when she saw a girl of Alisa's status cleaning; not one, but three, in fact.
Lucy was also helping, despite being in a wheelchair.
"They're really good girls."
Even Ellen was helping in a maid outfit.
"I finished cleaning, where else do I need to do it?"
After Alisa told Rudel's family and the other girls about Ellen, everyone was stunned.
But they assimilated it quickly, while Rudel's family was scared.
Since a girl of count rank would be his concubine, while a duke's daughter would be the wife. They feared the worst, but Ellen said she wanted to win over the family, despite being a stranger, so now she was helping with household chores.
"Though it scares me a bit that a sixth woman might arrive tomorrow. That boy doesn't look like a womanizer with his appearance, but his behavior is that of one."
"I wonder what he does to conquer them?"
Sonya was once a young maiden like them, so she understands that, being young, they're attracted to the fame or heroic status her son has, but she still thinks it's exaggerated and even dangerous.
(I should scold him when I see him...)
But after thinking that, she remembered something.
She has never been a mother to him.
Since he was little, she barely gave him affection and left him alone, despite being the youngest before Paula was born.
(Do I even have the right to be called his mother?)
At that moment, they returned. Everyone went to welcome them.
"I'm very hungry, I want breakfast."
Upon seeing her son, the first thing she did was say.
"Rudel, your hair has grown a lot."
Rudel stopped and confirmed it by bringing one of his hairs that reached his eyebrow.
"It's true, my hair has grown quite a bit. I'll tell Ixion later to cut it before I enter the academy."
Sonya stepped forward and took him by the shoulders.
"Why wait when your mother can do it now?"
"Huh? You, Mom?"
"Of course. I used to cut all your hair, so it's not strange that I do it now."
"Alright, it's not necessary to do it."
"I want to. Besides, tonight there's a party for your return, so it would be good for you to be presentable."
His mother insisted so much that Rudel could do nothing but reluctantly accept.
"Alright."
"Let's go to the kitchen, since there's space there."
The two went to the kitchen, while the maids and his family watched that strange scene.
Once inside, she examined his hair with her fingers to remember what it was like in his childhood.
"Do you remember when I cut Bram's hair? He said he was afraid I'd cut his ear by mistake."
"I remember; Lyle joked that you cut his off and that terrified him."
"Hahaha, Bram didn't understand until he was 13 that his brother was just playing a joke on him."
"I remember, but I laughed more when you shaved Dad and he was afraid you'd cut his mustache."
"That caterpillar on his face never pleased me when he kissed me."
Sonya started cutting her son's hair; she spent a while cutting it when she suddenly stopped.
"Hey, Rudel, is Miss Eleonora really one of your new fiancées?"
Rudel didn't stop to think about it and told her clearly.
"Yes, she is. I kept it secret for personal reasons, but I've sorted it out now. I'm sorry I hid it."
"It's normal to have secrets," his mother said, "but you must think about your fiancées. At first there were two, now there are four and then a fifth came along," she added.
Those words made Rudel's mouth go dry.
"I understand what you're trying to say, Mom."
"I don't think you understand, Rudel. Women don't usually show their feelings to men, but think about how your fiancées must feel knowing there's another woman in your life."
"A-and I already talked to them about that. They accepted it and told me they understand! Every decision I make is thinking of them; the last thing I want is for them to be sad because of me."
His mother resumed cutting his hair.
"I hope you don't regret it. A jealous woman is the greatest enemy for any man."
"By the way, should I cut your bangs or not?"
Rudel remembered that in the past he liked to hide his shadowy eyes, but now he didn't care anymore.
"I don't like hiding them anymore. You can cut them."
"Really?"
His mother was surprised by those words. Her son always had a complex about his eyes, and now he had asked her to cut the hair that hid them.
She realized how much he had grown.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh? Did you cut it wrong or something?"
"I'm so sorry."
"Mom?"
Sonya suddenly started crying.
"It was really my fault. I'm your mother, but I never gave you the affection I gave all your brothers, like your sister."
"You were the only one I treated as leftover."
"Since I'm going to have another child now, I can only think about how you had to live without knowing your mother's love."
"That being the reason why you seek so many women: to fill that void of love that your mother never gave you."
Rudel, seeing his mother cry over a realistic assumption about why he has so many women, could only be frightened.
(My mother thinks I have a problem with lack of maternal love and that's why I have multiple women.)
(You're wrong, Mom! That would possibly be true if I didn't have the soul of a middle-aged man inside me.)
Since he couldn't tell her that, he said something more appropriate to the situation.
"You're wrong, Mom. My reasons are personally selfish; it has nothing to do with what you're saying."
"I'm truly aware of what I'm doing and I really never hated you or anything, because I understood you had three problematic children to take care of."
"But... if that were really true, why do you keep looking for more women?"
"I... am a shameless and unscrupulous man. Something like Lyle being an idiot or Bram being a muscular fool; it's something we developed and it wasn't your fault."
"I understand... Hey, Rudel."
Sonya wiped her tears and looked at her son with sadness.
"Is it too late to start treating you like a mother?"
"As I said, I never hated you or anything, so I always saw you as a busy mother. But if you want to spoil me, I won't complain."
"I see, then starting tomorrow I'll prepare your favorite food."
"W-well, that's a victory for me."
Sonya, seeing him blush, thought.
(I want my son, who is now being treated as a monster, to be seen by everyone as a normal human like everyone else.)
(I couldn't be a good mother in the past, but now I want to be a good mother for the future he will have.)
After finishing cutting his hair, Rudel approached her and gave her a hug; Sonya was surprised and she hugged him back.
His father and the others were outside watching everything and could only make the same surprised expression.
(What was that?!)
No one could believe that Sonya wanted to pamper Rudel after so many years.
◇◇◇
Night fell, and the entire town was celebrating. Some didn't know the reason, but they didn't care.
There, in the middle of the celebration, the same group of sailors from the port was celebrating happily.
Then, one of them noticed something.
"Hey, look over there."
Everyone looked in his direction and saw the Bradford family arriving, but their eyes focused on the group of women surrounding Rudel.
Murmurs came from all around, not just from the group of sailors.
"The third son is amazing; at the beginning he was a nobody and today he has changed the world."
"It's true; since the academy his name started being heard in different regions. Even here we were surprised when he fought with the crown prince and came out unscathed."
"I worked in another territory and saw him attack the territory of a corrupt noble who had been mocking the palace for years."
"Leaving aside the evident military power he has for himself, I die of envy every time I see him with those beauties."
"One is a duke's daughter, another is a foreign princess and they all have important statuses."
"I heard from one of the mansion's maids that yesterday another fiancée was added."
"Really? The young master was blessed with women."
"I don't think he's the only one. Yesterday two girls came and both were beautiful."
"Surely that other girl is in the process of being conquered."
"The future of the territory is secured and it will surely expand."
"But the future head is young master Lyle, right? Was he disinherited?"
"Umm, I think his father will take away his inheritance. It would be better for everyone if the territory was taken by the youngest son; I don't want anyone to hear this."
The men moved closer to hear him.
"But I think it's better for the third son to take power. He feels more reliable than either of the two sons."
"That's undoubtedly something no one should hear you say, but you're right."
The men continued talking and didn't notice that Lyle was behind them with some drinks.
When he reached his family, the first thing he did was address Rudel.
"Rudel, let's talk in private for a moment."
◇◇◇
Rudel and Lyle went to an area away from the bonfire; the voices were barely audible.
"So what do you want to talk about?"
Rudel asked after sitting on the grass with his brother.
Lyle drank his drink and responded without delay.
"Rudel, why don't you take the territory? With you at the helm, the territory would improve enormously."
"I don't want to," Rudel responded, imagining what had happened. "You're the eldest, plus the territory is for you. I already have my own territory and I don't want to have two places to maintain."
Lyle took another sip and this time, looking at him, said.
"I know what everyone says about me; it's no news to anyone what the villagers and sailors think of me. That's why it would be better for everyone if you had total dominion."
"I'm content with having a job. I'm just the useless older brother; I have nothing more to offer this place than my existence. That's why you, who possess influence and power, would be a better family head than me."
For Lyle, he was always the heir to a small rural barony. But when Rudel obtained Ixion, that day he discovered his small existence.
Because of this, before the war, for Lyle, Rudel was a threat.
But after experiencing the war, he understood that having Ixion didn't really mean anything he desired.
His brother gets into trouble with local or foreign governments; that's something his heart couldn't withstand.
Because of this, he was happy to appreciate what he had, but due to Rudel's achievements, he again learned that his existence was inferior to that of his younger brother.
Everyone loved Rudel for different reasons; for Lyle, having everyone reject him in favor of his brother was all he needed to know to understand his role.
"I already told you I don't want..."
"It's better this way for everyone. That's why I haven't even been able to get a fiancée, because I'm a man who's worthless."
"Unlike you, who's a national hero. Or Bram, who they consider greater than me because of his body."
"That was too much."
Bram arrived and gave Lyle a light hit with his beer glass.
"This one is for you and this one for you."
He gave both of them a beer.
"I don't drink alcohol."
"It's non-alcoholic beer."
"Huh?"
"That strange sphere that follows you said months ago that it would like to make beer for you; no one likes beer without alcohol, but it was specially brewed for you."
"I tried it and it tastes exactly the same."
Rudel took the glass his brother gave him and, after thinking for a while, took a sip.
Then another and so on.
"It tastes good."
"I told you."
Rudel drank it all.
"It's the first time I can taste beer and not spit it out."
"You're the strangest human in the world, you know?"
"Huh? The strangest one is you, big guy."
"That's true, Bram; you used to eat your boogers thinking they were vitamins."
"That was because you told me that, Lyle!"
"Bram, do you remember when Lyle scared the horse named Henry so much by drawing a strange face on its behind?"
"Hahaha, I remember it well. Lyle ran for at least 30 minutes because the horse got angry."
"You two, don't remind me."
Bram sat down and they began talking about the past.
For the first time in a long time, Rudel could have this conversation that seemed like a lie.
Bram stopped laughing and, looking at the bonfire from afar, spoke to Lyle.
"Lyle, you shouldn't envy anything about me or Rudel."
"Rudel might be a guy with incredible power, but he's a lazy fool who prefers to sleep all day."
"And I'm a nobody without any kind of power."
"When I was escorting Miss Alisa, I got involved in one of the conflicts surrounding Rudel."
"It was terrifying. I really don't understand how you can envy anything about Rudel when he risks his life."
Bram responded while clutching his knees.
"It's true that he's a hero and has his own territory and title, while we have nothing but this place. In fact, I was always envious of Lyle because he's the heir and I thought that, together with Rudel, we would live working as officials at home, but now things have gotten worse because Rudel is a being superior to the family and Lyle has a chance to marry a countess, while I will inherit the territory."
"I've never been so afraid until now because I always thought I would be a family dependent and, at the same time, I aspired to be the heir, but now that there's a possibility of it happening, I understand that the panic is because I longed for something I knew would never come, and I'm not ready for it."
"If Lyle remains the heir, there's no problem because I can continue being the useless younger brother."
"You're wrong!"
Bram's speech was interrupted by Rudel's shout, who, with tears, said.
Squeezing his glass firmly until it broke and spilled his beer on the ground.
"You're both wrong. So what if Bram inherits the territory? Nothing bad would happen to him because I would help him; the same for Lyle. Whether he marries the countess or not, I'll help him because they're my useless older brothers."
"The only one who has something to envy here is me. You shouldn't go through what I went through."
"You can sleep knowing you did nothing wrong... but I..."
Rudel covered his face, as if ashamed of himself.
"I've killed so many. I've killed so many people that sometimes I disgust myself when I look in the mirror; I've started taking pills not only to not think about it, but also to be able to sleep and not think about it."
"The worst part is that sometimes they don't work. And I can hear the people I've killed. Saying things like 'please forgive me' or 'I have a family' and 'I want to live'."
"You don't know what it feels like to have blood on your hands. It was horrible; I didn't want to do it."
"But they didn't give me a choice. Those idiots always choose the method. It's true that I'm rude, but even so that's not reason enough to seek war."
His brothers also thought about it.
When they got involved in the war, they had an idea of what it was like due to teachings from school and acquaintances.
But when they experienced it, they realized it was much more horrible than they had imagined.
Torn apart bodies. People screaming while their blood was spilled on the ground.
Shouts of men begging for someone to save them.
They only saw the war from the ship, but Rudel is someone who saw it from the front lines.
His brothers, who thought about how amazing their younger brother was, finally understood that he isn't.
Rudel is just an ordinary human who got involved in disputes that weren't his.
Lyle always wanted to know how Rudel was since that day, but he always avoided the question until now.
Seeing him cry, he remembered his childhood when they bullied him, but now it was different.
Seeing his younger brother cry, Lyle felt like trash.
A sense of powerlessness filled their hearts.
(We are the older brothers. It's our obligation to protect our younger brother.)
They always treated Rudel badly, but they were no longer children playing pranks.
They were adults talking about adult topics.
Watching Rudel tremble, both placed their hands on his shoulders.
"It's okay, Rudel."
"If you want to cry, you can; we'll cover for you."
Immediately after, both hugged him.
"We are your older brothers. It's our duty to protect our younger brother."
"Because of that, Rudel. It's okay to cry, but above all, it's okay to ask us for help. We'll cover for you as much as we can from now on."
The older brothers hugging the younger brother seemed to return to the time of their childhood, but this time fulfilling their role as protectors.
Rudel felt weak, as if a switch had turned off.
He felt so fragile before the two men who always bothered him but who now seemed trustworthy.
"I hate it so much! I hate having to kill!"
"I don't want to kill people ever again!"
"But I'm sure in the future I'll do it again because there are idiots who want me dead!"
"It's okay, Rudel. Your older brothers will protect you this time."
"For today, you can cry and depend on us."
Because of that, both made a vow to each other as they looked at one another.
(If the day comes when the world sees Rudel as a threat, we will be in the front line to defend our little brother.)
With that internal oath, the older brothers promised to protect him, even if it cost them their lives.
As strange as it may seem, the Bradford family had become more united than before, signifying a future event that would make the world tremble.
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Observing the great bonfire from her room was Elaine.
Who held in her hands a bag with something inside; she was smiling.
"If you want to play with me, you'll have to learn to get burned because I play very rough."
The day ended peacefully, except for Elaine, who was plotting something against Lyle.
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I hope you really liked the change in Rudel's family, since I always read the comments about how they hated his family. I hope with this chapter that hatred has dissipated.
And remember, the family didn't hate him; they were controlled by a bug we saw in volume 3.
The fanservice is for Elaine because from now on the focus will be on her:
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Here is the Mega link where you can see the chapters with illustrations in PDF format, as well as the characteristics of the characters and armor: https://mega.nz/folder/75wTzA4b#W-_qGvlSP9miCm1jpk54IQ