I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 66

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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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Cousin Paving the Flower Path, I’ve Become a Hero — Episode 66
Ibek was thinking.
Alex had originally been an ordinary farmer with no reason to kill anyone, and in the “Future” he’d been a ghost and couldn’t kill anyone.
‘After returning….’
Killing the wolf monster had been done with magic, and the slime and mushroom had probably felt like just cutting through jelly and mushrooms.
‘The goblin….’
He’d thrust his sword directly through a surviving goblin and killed it, but back then he’d been half out of his mind.
So this was nearly the first time Alex had killed something with his sword while in his right mind.
‘And this is definitely the first time killing a human.’
Ibek had killed a human before, but he hadn’t felt anything like this.
That was because the first human he’d killed had been a researcher who’d used him as a test subject.
Naturally, it was an enemy he’d wanted dead, so he’d been able to handle it almost with satisfaction.
[Alex. Don’t think of it as killing a human.]
[A black mage, after all. You were absolutely right to kill her—she was Leo’s enemy, and yours too.]
[She was about to poison Leo!]
“…I know that too.”
Alex knew it as well.
It was something he’d resolved to do. Besides, he didn’t have such a fragile spirit that he’d suffer this much over it.
How many deaths had he witnessed in the “Future”?
He’d even watched “Future Leo” kill humans dozens, hundreds of times over.
That was right.
Leo.
The only moment Alex’s strong spirit weakened was whenever it involved Leo.
Alex lifted his trembling right hand and tried to recall the sensation he’d felt when killing Domeric Brodell.
That sensation of a sharp blade piercing skin, cutting through flesh, breaking bone. And the scalding blood that had covered his hand.
[…Are you crying?]
Before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face.
“…Did Leo feel like this the first time he killed someone?”
[Ah….]
Leo had been sixteen when he killed a human for the first time.
Not a demon, not a black mage, not a demon-kin.
Brigands who’d been attacking passersby.
Of course, they were brigands who deserved to die.
But because they looked like ordinary people on the surface, and because there were several of them, “Leo” had suffered for a long time afterward.
“Even had nightmares….”
Recalling the sixteen-year-old Leo who’d tossed in bed, Alex wept silently.
Back then it had been agonizing too, but experiencing it firsthand now felt even more terrible.
The gruesome sensation of killing a person, the heavy responsibility of a comrade’s life depending on you, and the fear facing death itself.
“My Leo… he’s always been feeling all of this…. Ever since he was sixteen, constantly….”
Images of the suffering Leo flickered through Alex’s mind.
From Alex’s lowered eyes, tears continued to fall without stopping—hot tears rolling down his cheeks, dripping from his chin.
He felt only resentment toward his helpless self for never comforting Leo or helping him.
[That’s right….]
Ibek waited until Alex had finished crying.
Sometimes it was best to just let someone cry their heart out.
This was the right time for it.
If little Leo were beside him, he wouldn’t be able to cry like this.
How long had he been crying?
The silent tears gradually came to a stop.
Exhale—
With a deep sigh that seemed to shed away his tangled emotions, Alex lifted his lowered head.
“Ha….”
The tension had eased and his emotions had run high, so he’d ended up crying without meaning to, but now that he’d cried it all out, he felt drained and a little embarrassed.
[You done crying?]
Because Ibek was there.
[How are you feeling?]
As Alex roughly wiped his tears away with his shirt, Ibek smiled and spoke in a lighter voice.
“Mm. I’m fine.”
Alex, who’d never shown anyone tears like this before, responded with an embarrassed face and a small, awkward cough.
(In the “Future,” having been a ghost, no one could have seen him cry no matter how much he wept.)
‘You’re lucky to have an uncle like me, Leo.’
At Ibek’s words, Alex laughed bitterly.
“Am I?”
‘From now on, I won’t let Leo go through anything like this.’
“…Yes.”
Having now taken a life with his own hands and faced danger alongside others, Alex understood it with absolute clarity.
He didn’t want Leo to become like the Future.
He wanted him to walk only the flower path of happiness.
Alex’s resolve hardened all the more.
“Let’s rest now.”
‘Right!’
‘I need to sleep well if I’m going to meet Leo tomorrow with a bright face!’
Alex rose unsteadily, stripped off his soiled outer robe, and lay down on the bed.
* * *
The next morning.
Alex’s eyes opened. But his face showed no sign that the fatigue had lifted.
‘Ugh… I didn’t sleep at all.’
‘Why were you tossing and turning so much?’
Ibek, who’d also lost sleep, let out a wide yawn—a sound that seemed oddly strange for a being now reduced to mere spirit after once being nothing but bone.
Once a lich, now only a ghost—and yet still capable of yawning.
“Just a lot on my mind, I suppose.”
‘Definitely about Leo.’
Caught out by the truth, Alex scratched his cheek in silence.
Having worked hard through last night and into the early hours of this morning, Alex kept the morning training to light stretching.
There was something to check.
‘My bones!!’
Alex pulled out Ibek’s bone, which he’d quietly taken yesterday.
The pristine white bone was larger than the two he’d found before.
“Which bone is this?”
‘Hmm. This one…’
‘It’s the first bone of my left pinky finger!’
Now that Alex looked at it with that explanation, it certainly did resemble a finger bone.
Though he still found it strange how Ibek could distinguish left from right, or somehow know it was the pinky.
‘That’s the third one now!’
‘Two hundred and three left to go!’
…He wasn’t sure whether to feel happy or sad about that.
‘But those skeletons were definitely strong.’
‘How did you deal with them in the Future?’
“I smashed them with Divine Power.”
If the Demons had grown that powerful, then perhaps it was only natural that the Hero and the Holy Kingdom couldn’t defeat them.
Alex carefully placed Ibek’s pinky bone in the pouch with the others, knowing full well what disaster would ensue if he lost it.
“But why did your backer hand your bones over to Domeric Brodell, who isn’t even a Black Mage yet?”
It would’ve been more beneficial to use them himself.
‘Who knows. He might’ve been trying to expand his influence, or maybe testing something.’
‘Or perhaps he simply gave them away as a prank?’
Regardless of the reason.
“If your backer was willing to give your bones to someone else like that, he might have even more of them.”
‘Oh! That’s true!’
‘Maybe he’s been collecting my bones just like we are!’
‘If we just took them from him, collecting my bones would go much faster!’
“On the other hand, he’d be just as strong.”
‘Ah.’
The master who’d poured powerful mana into the bones yet neglected to place protective enchantments fell silent.
In any case.
The odds were high that Ibek’s backer possessed other bones of his.
‘I wonder who the backer is?’
“Do you remember what Domeric Brodell said?”
‘That they were watching from the Royal Capital?’
At Ibek’s words, Alex nodded.
“I suspect he must have met them in the Royal Capital. And I’m also concerned about the Duke that Meilin Brodell married into.”
[That old marquess who’s been married several times over?]
“Right. He wouldn’t have sent his sister to someone completely unrelated.”
Domeric Brodell was selfish enough to poison his own family—he wouldn’t have handed over his younger sister without getting something in return.
“Power, money, Black Magic—he must have gained something.”
It seemed he’d need to dig into the marquess’s background.
[Do you know the marquess’s name?]
“It’s probably Addler.”

The Meyheti Kingdom had two marquesses.
One was Spencer, the other Addler.
The Spencer he’d met in the “Future” wasn’t that type of man, so it had to be Addler.

“Let’s ask Dein for more details.”
As it happened, they were in Dein’s Tavern right now.
Stepping out of the room, Alex found two Guild members cleaning the shuttered tavern.
“Good morning, Alex. You’re up early.”
“Is there any chance I could see Dein?”
The Guild member gave a small laugh.
“The Branch Chief is still asleep. He usually wakes up late.”
Since the information Guild’s main activities happened in the evenings, most members slept until lunch—except for those assigned to morning shifts.
‘I’ll have to catch him later, then.’
After exchanging greetings with the two Guild members, Alex left the Tavern and headed for Jake’s house.
It was time for Leo to be waking up.
* * *
“Mmm…. Oh! Uncle!”
The six-year-old Leo, just stirring awake, saw Alex smiling brightly at him and grinned wide.
True to his promise, Uncle had come back in the morning.
“Did you sleep well, Leo?”
“Yep! How about you, Uncle?”
“I slept well too.”
“Hmm. Doesn’t seem like it.”
Leo’s sharp, sky-blue eyes caught Alex red-handed, and he scratched his head awkwardly.
[Sharp as a tack!]
[Your uncle tossed and turned all night.]
[I couldn’t sleep either.]
[At least he didn’t cry about it.]
[Early morning moodiness really is something else.]
It felt like he’d been caught off guard.
“Your uncle didn’t sleep well.”
“I knew it!”
Leo nodded in satisfaction at Alex’s honesty, then patted the bed he’d been lying on—Jake’s bed.
“Sleep here, Uncle.”
“What? Aren’t we doing Swordsmanship practice?”
“You’re tired, Uncle. I can learn Swordsmanship later!”
“Leo…!”
[Our Leo!]
[Such a good boy!]
Leo giggled at Alex’s touched expression, then turned to Jake.
“That’s okay, right, Jake?”
“Of course! Get some good rest, Uncle Alex!”
Jake replied cheerfully from where he and Milo were preparing breakfast with the food and ingredients Alex had brought.
“He says it’s fine, Uncle!”
Leo tapped the bed, his eyes sparkling.
How could a doting uncle resist such an adorable nephew’s face?
“Alright, I understand.”
Alex smiled and lay down on the bed.
“Sleep well, Uncle.”
Looking at Leo’s beaming smile, Alex felt his heart lighten. He smiled back and closed his eyes.
[Finally, he’s asleep.]
[I should get some rest too. Yawn!]
* * *
At that same moment.
The Brodell Count’s Residence.
Klaus Brodell was occupied with cleaning up the mess his brother had made.
Since the work in the underground chamber had to remain secret, he entrusted that to the knight who had accompanied him and assigned the rest to other knights.
He had to find not only the people Domeric Brodell had hired, but also the wandering merchants spreading rumors throughout the domain—and determine whether they were genuine merchants or imposters in disguise.
“And look into the people who said they were heading to the lord’s castle and then vanished.”
With only bones remaining and no way to verify their faces, and lacking any identifying articles like mercenary badges, there was nothing for it but to search the outlying villages for the missing.
The reason for the search was to provide compensation.
Those killed had been members of the Brodell family.
He also intended to provide additional compensation to the victims Alex had found previously.
“Genortap is a problem too.”
However insignificant a 2nd Circle Mage he might be, he was still affiliated with Genortap.
With one of their mages dead, compensation would be necessary.
‘And I’ll need to find whoever gave Domeric that book.’
The Royal Capital had been mentioned when he was angry at Alex, so it was surely someone he’d met there.
Of course, with so many people encountered during the magical academic exchange, he wasn’t sure they could be found, but he intended to try as far as possible.
Having issued all the instructions he could manage, Klaus Brodell picked up with an uncomfortable expression the rough cloth sack he’d set at a distance.
It was the sack containing the Black Magic Grimoire that Alex had given him.
“Have a horse prepared.”
Now it was time to go to the Temple.

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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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