I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 51

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Joker’s Flower Path 051
“Th-thank you!”
“Thanks, Uncle Alex. Mmph!”
At the sight of Milo and Jake greeting him with puffy faces, both Alex and Leo couldn’t help but laugh.
“Here, you must be thirsty from all that crying. Drink some water first.”
“Okay.”
Milo handed the cup first to his younger brother Jake, and Alex smiled warmly at the gesture.
‘Now that I think about it…’
Looking at Milo, whose condition had improved after receiving treatment at the Temple, Alex felt as though he’d seen him before somewhere.
It might have just been a feeling, but thinking back to his time at the ‘House of the Lake’ inn in the Caldis territory, perhaps they’d met in the Future.
‘But I don’t have any clear memory of it…’
It was a strange sensation—oddly familiar yet unfamiliar at once.
“You drink too, brother.”
“Sure.”
Jake handed a cup to Milo at that moment.
The young face of Jake and the face of Milo, who had only recently come of age, looked remarkably similar.
It made sense.
They were brothers, after all.
‘Ah!’
A memory suddenly flashed into his mind.
‘The Future.’
—A letter for you, Hero.
The face of the crying Information Guild member who had brought him Dein’s death notice even into a dangerous place came to mind.
‘That was Jake.’
Though he hadn’t recognized the still-young Jake at the time, seeing his older brother Milo’s face now, he had some idea of what Jake would look like when he grew up.
‘In the Future, he must not have found his brother.’
It seemed Jake had wandered the castle town searching for his brother before joining the Crow Information Guild.
And by the Future, he’d grown up well under Dein’s guidance, developing the ability to deliver letters even to that grueling ‘Hero’s battlefield.’
‘For a thirteen-year-old to come alone from the farming village to the castle town—he has real talent.’
Alex found it remarkable to encounter this ‘connection from the Future’ so unexpectedly like this.
“So what will you do now? Go back to the village?”
Unlike in the Future, Jake had found his brother—how would he live going forward?
“No, since I’ve come all the way to the castle town, I’d like to look for work.”
Milo shared the conversation he’d had with others at the Temple.
[People who’ve come all the way to the castle town seem to have real spirit of challenge.]
That was true.
At least he wasn’t squandering it on gambling or the like.
“So we’re staying in the castle town from now on?”
Jake asked with eyes sparkling.
Having seen the castle town thoroughly yesterday, he understood how bustling and exciting this place was.
“If I can find work.”
If he couldn’t, they’d have to return to the village immediately.
“You can do it, brother!”
“That’s right! You can do it, Milo!”
Leo clenched his small fists tight and cheered Milo on.
There was the connection from the Future, and Alex had promised to help as well.
“I’ll ask Dein if he knows of any suitable work. He knows the Brodell castle town well, so he’ll definitely know something.”
Of course, it would be Dein doing the searching.
“Really?! Thank you so much!”
“Thank you, Uncle Alex!”
“Wow! Uncle’s the best!”
At the broad smiles of the three, especially Leo’s reaction, Alex’s shoulders puffed up with pride.
[This foolish nephew of mine.]
Ibek’s playful teasing laugh was now familiar to him.
“Today, let’s just rest here properly, and tomorrow we’ll look for better lodging.”
The Blue Forest Inn where they were currently staying was chosen to be clean and comfortable for Leo’s sake, and it was expensive.
To stay in the castle town for a long time with the money Jake and Milo had, they needed to find a cheaper place.
“We could always rent a single room.”
[You’re going to have Dein do that too?]
Of course.
There was no need to struggle when you had a good information source at your disposal.
“That sounds wonderful!”
Jake and Milo’s eyes sparkled with anticipation for the days ahead. Seeing his brothers so excited, Leo caught their enthusiasm and laughed with delight.
Alex reached over and ruffled Leo’s hair affectionately.
Leo’s happiness made Alex happy too.
“Oh, right! This is a token of gratitude from the others.”
Milo held out a pouch of Silver Coins to Alex.
‘I didn’t expect them to give me anything.’
He hadn’t either, really.
Having no reason to refuse, Alex accepted the money.
“Tell them I’m grateful.”
“Of course!”
As repayment, so to speak.
He’d also asked Dein to help those people find work.

* * *
After lunch.
Alex took the children to the Market.
He needed to see what supplies Milo and Jake would require.
Milo, who’d only glimpsed the Market with passing interest before being kidnapped upon arrival at the Castle, wandered about with Leo and Jake—who’d explored yesterday with abandon—both now wide-eyed with wonder at everything they saw.
“How much is this grain? Do you have anything cheaper?”
“Well, I’ve got some older grain. That should be fine to eat.”
But he hadn’t forgotten their true purpose.
Milo moved from shop to shop, inquiring about the prices of grain, vegetables, and meat.
“Phew. Things really are expensive here at the Castle. We’ll need to find work soon.”
Chuckling softly at Milo’s words, Alex approached a particular shop.
‘Wait—is that the Crow Information Guild insignia?’
‘They run shops here too?’
Alex’s eyes met those of the shopkeeper—a member of the Crow Information Guild.
“Welcome!”
The guild member greeted Alex with a knowing grin. Word about Alex had already spread through the entire Crow Information Guild.
After all, this was the person who’d walked into the guild’s own headquarters—a Tavern—and revealed the Branch Chief’s true name.
They’d even become friends in the span of a few days.
It was impossible they wouldn’t know about him.
“Can you let Hugo know I’d like to meet him?”
“The boss said he’d stop by the inn this evening. You can wait there.”
‘What? Did he already find something?’
“Well, not what you think—it’s actually about those two,”
the shopkeeper pointed at Jake and Milo.
“Work, accommodations, that sort of thing.”
‘How’d he know about that?’
‘The Information Guild really is terrifying.’
At the shopkeeper’s words, Alex murmured with newfound appreciation.
“Do you have people planted at the Temple as well?”
Alex remembered that Milo and those who’d been kidnapped had received treatment at the Temple and discussed their situations there.
‘Wow.’
‘They’ve got people stationed at the Temple? Is that even allowed?’
“Ha, ha, ha—well, not exactly… Ask the boss about the details! These are gifts for the children!”
The shopkeeper handed over Snacks, which Alex graciously accepted and distributed among Leo, Jake, and Milo.

* * *
That evening.
“Oh! Uncle Dein!”
“Hello!”
Just before dinner, Dein arrived at the inn.
He ruffled the children’s hair as they rushed to greet him, then settled naturally into the seat across from Alex.
“I’ll have another beer, and add these and this too.”
“Right away!”
Dein finished ordering without hesitation, grinning shamelessly; Alex simply laughed along.
The food arrived quickly and was soon laid out on the table.
Dein’s eyes paused for a moment watching Alex, as always, take the first bite and set it on Leo’s plate before him.
‘Still strange to see.’
On the surface he looked like a sellsword fresh from some village, yet his actions bore the marks of someone who’d weathered every hardship imaginable.
‘He was composed in combat too.’
On top of that, his magic was fast and powerful for someone supposedly a 2-Circle Mage.
Deeming him an interesting fellow, Dein joined the children’s conversation and regaled them with tales of the lord’s castle and other curiosities.
“Wow…!”
Leo was so entranced he forgot to chew the food in his mouth, and for some reason this reminded Alex of the Future.
[This kid’s got great storytelling skills!]
[This is totally fun!]
Even Ibek, who had enjoyed diverse and fascinating content in that other world, listened to Dein’s stories with genuine pleasure.
As the cheerful meal drew to a close.
“You’ll need this, right?”
Dein pulled out several sheets of information papers.
Leo and his brother blinked as they looked them over. Unfortunately, Leo was still learning to read, and his brother couldn’t read at all.
Fortunately, the papers also had pictures drawn on them.
“What is this, Uncle Dein?”
At Leo calling him uncle, Dein smiled widely and explained kindly.
“This is information about work and lodging I found for Milo.”
“Really?!”
“Yay!!”
Leo and his brother sprang from their chairs without thinking, looking back and forth between the papers and Dein. Dein grinned as he explained.
“This one’s a clothing shop, this one’s a grocer, and this one here is….”
Pictures of clothes and grain were drawn beside the text, making them easy to identify.
“This is the wage—um, can you read numbers?”
“Yes, yes! …But only up to ten.”
“That’s enough for now. But if you’re going to work at a shop going forward, you’ll need to learn both letters and numbers.”
At Dein’s words, Milo nodded continuously, his eyes shining with hope.
“And this is the lodging.”
The lodging information also had pictures—the room’s size, furniture, and the layout of the kitchen were drawn simply.
At information about homes they might soon be living in, Milo and Jake’s eyes shone even brighter.
Leo, seeing this for the first time, watched the papers with a face full of wonder.
They examined them so intently their foreheads nearly bumped together.
“Let’s go to the room. It’ll be easier to talk there.”
“Okay!”
“Yes!”
At Alex’s suggestion, the children sprang from the table and scrambled excitedly up to the second floor. Alex and Dein followed after them.
“How did you manage to find those jobs? Did you plant someone at the Temple?”
“I did plant someone, in a sense. I simply asked, as a believer of the Sollenium Church, about the circumstances of some unfortunate people.”
Dein brought his hands together as if in prayer with a reverent expression, then broke into a mischievous grin.
“And made a donation too.”
[In other words, he bought his way in with money!]
Ibek chuckled.
Entering the room, they saw Leo and the children already seated on the floor, examining the papers.
“Brother, what about this clothing shop?”
“I don’t know much about clothes?”
“Then what about this grain shop? Or maybe this restaurant?”
“Hmm. A restaurant might be a place where you could learn to cook.”
“A restaurant sounds good, brother!”
While the children deliberated earnestly.
Alex and Dein sat at a table and conversed.
“The job you commissioned last time is still under investigation. The kidnapped people are still in the basement, so no one knows where the abducted ones went, and the ones we caught won’t say a word.”
[? Didn’t the Count’s Household have the guards taken away?]
[How do you even know something like that?]
This was why he was a Branch Chief of the Information Guild.
Given that he seemed to know even about the dungeons of the Count’s Household, which likely maintained strict security.
“What about Todd’s General Store?”
[Right. That place was involved too, wasn’t it?]
“We did catch a clerk there, but it seems like he knows almost nothing. He thought he was just a regular slave trader.”
[How does ‘regular’ apply to a slave trader?]
[So it really is a fantasy after all….]
Dein added.
“The shop owner and their family haven’t been seen in quite a while, apparently. The neighbors thought they’d gone on a trip, leaving the shop to the clerk.”
Rather than renting or buying the shop, the culprit had simply disposed of the owner and family to seize it.
“…They must be dead already.”
Likely they’d suffered the same fate as those who were taken—something inflicted on them by the perpetrator.
“Probably.”
Alex and Dein’s expressions turned grim.
“The Dark Magic Circle? Did you learn anything about it?”
Probably not.
There weren’t many people who knew about Dark Magic Circles.
“Domeric Brodell examined it and said he found nothing. Atin—ah, he’s a 3-Circle Mage under Brodell.”
[Said to be rather sickly?]
“Even Atin looked at the Magic Circle the disciple drew and couldn’t make sense of any of it.”
Alex nodded with a calm expression, and Dein found that interesting.
It was almost as if he already knew that the other mages would fail to decipher the Magic Circle.
‘Just a 2-Circle Mage, though.’
Though of course, he might know a great deal in theory.
“So what’s the Count’s Household doing about it now?”
Dein answered Alex’s question.
“They’re gathering mages from the lord’s castle to investigate the Magic Circle. If that doesn’t work, they’re planning to request aid from the Magic Tower.”
[Will they call on Alex too, then?]
“They said they’d ask you to help. Over dinner, they’re planning to invite you.”
[Dinner! An invitation!]
[But how does he really figure out things like this?]
[Impressive!]
“When?”
As Alex considered the upcoming schedule, Dein’s amber eyes gleamed and he broke into a wide grin.
“Now.”
Knock, knock—
“Guest, a butler from the Count’s Household has arrived and is looking for you.”
A moment of silence hung in the air.
Alex’s face showed surprise, and Dein burst into delighted laughter.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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