I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 53

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

Cousin’s Flower Path Laid — Became a Hero 053
Dein returned to the Guild.
While waiting briefly at the Blue Forest Tavern, a carriage bearing the Brodell Count House crest arrived.
“Good day, Alex. And young master.”
“Hello! Butler! I’m Leo!”
Since Alex had met the Caldis Viscount House butler once before, Leo showed no fear and greeted this unfamiliar servant with easy confidence.
“Yes, good day to you, Leo.”
At the spirited bearing of six-year-old Leo, the butler smiled faintly without meaning to.
[This is why experience matters.]
Alex exchanged greetings with the butler, looking pleased, then boarded the carriage with Leo.
The butler’s eyes brushed briefly over the sword at Alex’s waist, but he gave it no particular thought.
Since Alex was a mage, he assumed it was for self-defense, and because the Brodell Count House was a knight family, other knights commonly carried swords as well.
“Uncle, the Count House carriage feels so much softer!”
[The Count House carriage does seem nicer, actually.]
[And it doesn’t seem to bounce as much.]
The interior decoration and materials differed noticeably from the Viscount House, making it interesting to observe. After Leo had examined the entire cabin, he turned his attention to the window.
“Wow!”
A small golden head bobbed this way and that as the passing scenery unfolded outside.
[I want to see outside too!]
At Ibek’s thought, Alex also peered out.
Just then they were passing through a merchant district where magical lamps and lanterns burned brightly.
“Whoa! Uncle, where is this?”
“This looks like the High-class Shopping District. It’s expensive, so only nobility and knights come here.”
“I see!”
Unlike the Caldis Lordship, where there were few nobles or highborn persons because it was a viscount territory, the Brodell Count House had many people of elevated rank living within it, and thus boasted a high-class shopping district.
Unlike the market, where merchants set up stalls noisily to draw crowds, the high-class district displayed its wares beyond glass windows.
“Wow! Everything’s so shiny!”
[Looks expensive.]
Since it was already evening, there were few customers, yet the shops remained open for business.
“Uncle, they’re selling cakes over there!”
[Desserts!!]
[Sugar’s so expensive that there aren’t any dessert shops in Caldis Territory — but the Count House is different, as expected!]
[Let’s go there sometime, Alex!]
“We’ll visit later. The Brodell Count House has plenty of delicious things too.”
“Okay!”
[That’s right!]
Alex decided to explore the High-class Shopping District with Leo at a later time. Such experiences would be valuable for Leo’s development, after all.
Once they passed the high-class district, large and small mansions came into view.
“Where are we now, uncle?”
“This is where nobility and knights live.”
Unlike the commoner residential areas, where small buildings huddled close together, the Nobility Residential Area featured mansions with gardens of their own.
“It’s so pretty! Look, flowers are blooming there!”
Leo’s sky-blue eyes, pressed against the window, moved busily about.
“We shall arrive shortly.”
As the butler seated on the coachman’s bench spoke, walls began to appear. The journey continued.
“…? Uncle, I can’t see anything beyond the wall.”
[Right. Didn’t he say we’d be there soon?]
Leo and Ibek looked bewildered as only walls and trees continued to pass by.
“The Count House mansion is vast. All of this land belongs to it.”
Alex, who had seen even larger estates in the future, offered the explanation.
“Really?!”
[Wow! That’s insane!]
Leo and Ibek gazed out the window with astonished eyes.
The endless procession of walls and trees finally ended when the carriage came to a halt at the gate.
Or rather, they thought it had ended.
As the guards confirmed the Count House carriage and opened the massive iron gates, the carriage began moving again.
“Wow! The gardens are so beautiful!”
[Whoa! This time it’s nothing but trees and flowers.]
The carriage rode on through an endless expanse of gardens.
Since this was the residence of the lord of the territory, the grounds stretched several times wider than the gardens in the Nobility Residential Area, requiring several minutes of travel by carriage even after passing through the gates.
The Count’s House really is different!
The Caldis residence had a garden too, but nothing close to this expansive.
“It’s huge! Uncle! It’s even bigger than our fields!”
“Right? If we turned this into farmland, we’d get an incredible wheat harvest.”
Looking at such a magnificent garden, and that’s what comes out of his mouth?
The groundskeeper must be weeping.
But Alex had been a farmer.
For all its charm—the meticulously tended flowers and trees blanketing the grounds—he couldn’t help but see wasted potential in so much land.
Neigh—
The carriage, which had been moving smoothly, began to slow.
“Leo, we must be almost there.”
“Yep!”
Glancing outside, the manor building came into view.
“Wow!”
Leo’s sky-blue eyes widened at the sight of it. His mouth fell open. He pressed himself against the window as if he might burst through it.
“Uncle! There’s a tower! Look how pointy the top is! It’s like a castle! And the house is three stories! Three! So—incredibly—big!”
Alex caught hold of the excited boy, who was bouncing in his seat.
Wow!
It’s even grander than the Viscount’s residence! More ornate too!
Ibek chattered away in an equally animated voice.
“There’s a fountain there too.”
“A fountain? What’s a fountain?”
Oh! A fountain—that’s the real mark of a proper manor!
“It’s a structure that makes water shoot up from below. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
Leo looked toward where Alex was pointing. Sure enough, water was shooting upward from below.
!!
Leo stared at the fountain with wide eyes.
For a child who understood that water flowed downward, this was astonishing.
The only way something could move like that was through his uncle’s Water Magic.
“Oh! That’s magic too, isn’t it? Right, Uncle?”
“That’s right. It’s magic.”
Huh. So it wasn’t science after all.
As they drew closer to the manor and fountain, Leo’s sky-blue eyes gleamed brighter.
“You may step out now.”
The carriage stopped and the door opened.
Alex descended first, then helped Leo down.
“It looks even more amazing up close!”
Once out of the carriage, Leo craned his neck upward to take in the full height of the Count’s residence.
Worried he might topple backward from staring so hard, Alex reached out to brace his back.
Klaus Brodell and Meilin Brodell, who had come out to greet them, along with their servants, let out soft laughter at the sight of the boy.
“Leo, you should greet them properly.”
“Oh, right! Sorry.”
Reminded by Alex, Leo bashfully grinned and moved to stand beside his uncle.
“Welcome, Alex. And welcome to you as well, young Leo.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Meilin Brodell, fiancée of Ethan Caldis.”
Klaus Brodell and Meilin Brodell greeted them with aristocratic courtesy and grace.
Hmm… somehow it’s a bit intimidating.
At their impeccably noble greeting, Leo’s eyes widened, and Ibek lowered his voice to an almost inaudible murmur.
The Caldis Viscount certainly is blessed.
A lady of such refinement as his betrothed!
Though she does look tired. I wonder if she’s frail?
Noticing the slightly pallid complexion of Meilin Brodell, Alex returned a polite bow.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Brodell. And good to see you again, Count Brodell. I am Alex, a mage.”
Leo followed suit, offering a spirited greeting in the manner Alex had taught him.
“Hello! My name is Leo!”
At the boy’s adorable and spirited salutation, smiles blossomed on both Brodells’ faces. Judging from Ethan Caldis’s letter, this kind uncle and cute nephew seemed to match the description perfectly.
“Please, call me Klaus. Now, do come inside.”
“And call me Meilin. Since dinner isn’t quite ready yet, I thought I might show you around the manor first—would that suit you?”
“That would be lovely.”
“Sounds good!”
The Brodell Count House was grander and more ornate than the Caldis Viscount House.
Meilin Brodell spoke in a soft, measured voice, explaining the paintings with stories that would delight the young Leo.
“This is our ancestor. He was elevated to Count after slaying that monster.”
“Wow! The monster is huge!”
Meanwhile.
Alex conversed with Klaus Brodell.
“Unfortunately, my younger brother examined the Incomplete Magic Circle, but he couldn’t determine what it is.”
[What? Then the second son isn’t a dark mage?]
[Perhaps he’s simply pretending not to know?]
[He wouldn’t be foolish enough to openly declare himself a dark mage.]
Alex agreed with Ibek’s assessment.
Even so, there was still no definitive proof that the second son was a dark mage.
“That’s why, in two days, I plan to gather the mages of the Lordship to examine the Incomplete Magic Circle. I thought that by sharing our perspectives, we might uncover some clue.”
[Gather the mages?]
[As long as they don’t start fighting, that’s fine.]
“If you have no prior commitments, would you consider it? I assure you the compensation will be substantial.”
[Dein is truly remarkable.]
[To piece this together.]
[There’s a Guild member here too, isn’t there?]
Klaus Brodell continued.
“It shouldn’t take long. My younger brother is exceptionally brilliant—talented enough to be invited to the Royal Capital Magic Academic Exchange.”
One could sense the pride of an older brother speaking of his sibling.
[Wow. And he killed someone like that?]
[The second son deserves heavenly punishment.]
But nothing was certain yet.
Having witnessed in the ‘Future’ how innocent people were often unjustly suspected, Alex resolved to investigate thoroughly until the truth became clear.
“Understood. I’ll participate.”
“Thank you. This will be a tremendous help.”
Klaus Brodell smiled with genuine relief.
“Uncle!”
Leo, who had been conversing with Meilin Brodell, called out to Alex in an excited voice.
“Meilin said that after we eat, we can go up the spire. Can we?”
[Now he’s securing what he wants on his own.]
Seeing how desperately Leo wanted to climb it, Alex couldn’t help but laugh at how the boy had managed to gain permission himself.
“Of course. Uncle will come with you.”
“Yay!”
At Alex’s approval, Leo broke into a broad grin and threw both arms up in the air.
At that adorable sight, Alex and Ibek both laughed, as did the Brodell siblings.
As Meilin Brodell smiled softly and gestured to a maid, several servants appeared carrying beautifully wrapped gifts.
“These are gifts. I prepared them in haste, so I hope they’re to your liking. I wanted you to have them, as I am truly grateful for saving Ethan.”
Meilin Brodell offered her thanks to Alex with genuine sincerity.
When she had read Ethan Caldis’s letter saying he had been brought back from the brink of death, the shock and relief she felt were beyond words.
It was all thanks to Alex.
“You’re too kind. I gratefully accept the gifts.”
Whether it was written in the letter or not, Leo’s gifts outnumbered those meant for Alex.
Naturally, Alex was delighted.
“This is a reward for saving the territorial citizens. Please pass my thanks to Hugo as well.”
[A reward!]
Klaus Brodell handed over the reward.
[Today’s haul is excellent!]
Alex felt the same.

* * *
After the tour of the mansion ended, they proceeded to the dining hall.
“You may give my sword to him.”
Before entering, Alex entrusted his sword to a servant.
[Not a particularly long table.]
[I thought the Count House would have an enormous table.]
Such a grand table was probably used only when there were many guests.
A table of appropriate size for four people (plus one disembodied spirit) was set with place settings and ready to use.
The moment Alex, Leo, and the Brodell siblings took their seats, servants began carrying out the prepared dishes.
Within moments, the table overflowed with food.
The Count House’s cuisine was far more lavish and varied than the Viscount House’s offerings.
With access to more spices and seasonings, a symphony of aromas rose from the plates—so harmoniously balanced that Alex found himself wondering if this was what noble cooking truly meant.
Naturally, as a phantom, he’d never tasted or smelled anything like it before, so he found himself genuinely anticipating the meal.
[Wow!]
[It looks delicious!]
“Uncle, there are so many dishes I don’t recognize.”
At Leo’s murmur, Alex and the Brodell siblings let out soft laughs.
“This one here is…”
Meilin Brodell began explaining each dish with gracious patience.
[Oh! Now that I know what it is, it sounds even more delicious!]
Leo’s sky-blue eyes sparkled all the brighter, his excitement mounting.
[Argh! I can’t wait anymore!]
[Alex, let’s eat!]
[I want to see what Count House cooking is really like!!]
Naturally.
Alex first served himself from the large platter onto his own plate, then speared a piece with his fork.
Leo waited expectantly and in good order, while the Brodell siblings watched with curiosity at his measured approach.
Then.
The dining room door burst open, and a man stepped inside.
“Brother, Meilin. I just came to see the guests, but I’m leaving now…”
As Alex turned his head to see who had entered, his mouth still working on the food, Ibek’s voice reached his ears.
[Oh, the second son… poison!]
‘!!’
Poison.
That single word sent Alex’s body into motion faster than thought could follow.
“Ptui!”
He spat the food from his mouth,
and with a sharp crack,
brought his Enhanced fist down on the table, splitting it clean in two.
In the same breath, he scooped Leo into his arms and dove backward until his back pressed against the wall, putting maximum distance between them and the table.
A Fireball materialized beside him as he drew the hidden dagger from its sheath, its blade glinting sharp and ready.
The dining room fell into absolute silence.

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