I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 127

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

Chapter 127
I clung to Urs in panic, pressing myself against him.
“U-Urs. What was that just now?”
[Hmm, it seems a Rift has opened.]
“A Rift? A dimensional Rift? Then… does that mean a foreigner is falling through?”
[Probably. I wonder what species from which world this time.]
Urs rose to his feet and tilted his head upward, beginning to scrutinize the dimensional Rift that had torn open in the empty air above.
That Rift opened once a month, carelessly dropping poor souls dragged from other worlds.
[Ah, wait.]
After carefully examining the Rift and the space beneath it for a moment, Urs’s brow furrowed.
[Surely not…? No, Miss, take cover!]
It happened in an instant.
A pattern covered in geometric shapes and indecipherable characters spread outward in all directions.
I had no time to dodge. A blinding light painted my vision white.
“…!”
I stumbled backward and collapsed onto the ground. Unable to look directly at the intensely luminous Rift, I squeezed my eyes shut and whipped my head away.
Only after the light that had struck the back of my head diminished somewhat could I crack my eyes open into a narrow squint.
A bluish, unidentifiable force swirled all around. The cliff face was engulfed in a blue aura.
Within the center of that massive aura, someone stood.
The first thing I perceived was golden hair whipping about wildly. The second was a pair of crimson eyes, wide open in shock, that seized my attention.
The figure was a young man with an impressive height and a physique perfectly proportioned. His complexion was pallid, yet his eyes and lips bore a deep red hue, and his features were sharp and refreshing.
He stared at me with an expression equally startled.
The shock of witnessing the Rift’s opening vanished completely. The young man’s lips parted as though he might cry out at any moment.
We remained frozen in place, neither daring to utter a single word.
Several more seconds passed in that state.
Just as I began to suspect time itself had stopped, he opened his mouth in a voice so fragile and pitiful it was almost heartbreaking.
“Rosy…?”
Another unfamiliar name.
He staggered forward, his steps unsteady. I sat in the grassland, clutching my herb basket tightly to my chest as the approaching man came into view.
As the distance closed, my bewilderment deepened.
‘What is he?’
An appearance more beautiful than any elf I had ever seen in Alfheim drew near enough to touch.
In the moment I lost myself gazing at a face beautiful enough to enchant anyone regardless of gender, the young man collapsed before me, dropping to his knees. His trembling lips quivered as he reached out his hand.
At the same time, something made contact with my left chest.
Something… touched me? My chest?
I looked down blankly.
A hand. Somehow, we had drawn close enough to touch.
My racing heartbeat transmitted itself entirely through his palm.
Thump, thump, thump….
He murmured in disbelief, his expression dazed.
“My heart….”
His palm remained pressed against me. I felt him as acutely as he felt me.
Beneath my left collarbone, exactly where my heart lay, his large, scorching hand held firm….
The sensation felt strangely familiar.
‘…Wait.’
Familiar? What was familiar about this?
Only then did I see the situation with clarity. Shock and horror crashed over me like a tidal wave.
It was unmistakable. This was…!
The moment the Blond Youth made a move to shift his hand against me, I hurled the herb basket directly at him.
“What the hell, you pervert!!”
Where exactly do you think you’re touching?!
“Per… What did you say?”
The young man blinked stupidly, as if he hadn’t understood. Meanwhile, he snatched the herb basket with lightning speed and set it upright beside him.
“D-Don’t come any closer!”
I scrambled to my feet and put distance between myself and him.
He wasn’t the only one who had fallen from the Rift. There was another person behind him.
Black, coarse hair. A second man, handsome in a heavy-featured way, struck the Blond Youth’s back with a sharp blow.
“This bastard, seriously. Out of nowhere!”
“Wait. Just now, Rosy said something strange…. Ugh, it hurts. What the hell is this guy doing?”
“Didn’t you drag me here to keep you in check? I’m doing my job perfectly fine, so what’s the problem!”
What in the world was happening here?
Urs called out to me, his face drained of color.
[Miss, what’s going on?]
“Urs, strange men fell out of the Rift!”
[What?!]
As I finally came to my senses and pointed accusingly at the uninvited guests while shouting, Urs came rushing over in alarm.
But Urs wasn’t the only one shocked. The pervert and his friend wore equally bewildered expressions.
“Strange men…?”
“…See? I told you she was acting strange.”
The Blond Youth shot to his feet. He was tall enough that even I, no small woman, had to look up at him.
He closed the distance between us far faster than I could retreat.
“No, don’t come near me!”
Before I could even turn and attempt to flee, both my shoulders were seized. His grip was formidable.
Forcing me to meet his eyes, the Blond Youth spoke in a low voice.
“Rosy.”
“Let go of me!”
“Rosien. What’s my name?”
“How the hell would I know, you lunatic…!”
Lunatic! The young man gripped me harder as I struggled. His hands, burning hot, trembled with a convulsive shudder.
“Look at me properly. You’re not saying you don’t remember who I am?”
“Who the hell are you…!”
Only after I shouted did the sense of déjà vu wash over me. Looking at him up close, his face was strikingly familiar.
I had definitely seen this face somewhere before.
It was the kind of face one could never forget after seeing it once. And those beautiful crimson eyes… yes, certainly…
In my dreams.
“K-Karga?”
The moment I spoke aloud the only name I knew, certainty crystallized within me. He was that young man from my dreams.
I hadn’t recognized him immediately because I’d never seen him in such complete form, from head to toe.
His complexion was slightly more vibrant than in the faces I’d seen before, and his limbs were intact and whole. But there couldn’t possibly be two faces like this in existence, so it had to be him.
Karga. The sole prisoner in the dungeon I visited every time in my dreams. A monster abandoned by the world.
The young man’s face, which had been clenched with tension as he looked down at me, went deathly pale. It was as though time itself had frozen for him alone.
After a long moment, the tension finally drained from his tightly clenched jaw, and his lips parted hesitantly.
At last, a word I recognized flowed from him.
“Rozentia…?”
The name that was presumably my own.
As the young man and I stood speechless, staring at each other in bewilderment, someone wedged themselves between us. It was Urs.
[It’s been quite some time since new humans have come to Alfheim. And two of them at that! But it seems you’re already acquainted with our lady?]
“Acquainted.”
The young man let out a sharp, incredulous laugh.
“Acquainted?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
The dark-haired one, who had been watching the situation with a furrowed brow, interjected urgently.
“You step back for now, Wynack.”
He roughly pushed the blond-haired one, who was laughing at something, to the side. Then he managed to force the corners of his mouth upward toward Urs and me.
“We came searching for Lozietti Kirges, but it seems the situation is quite different from what we anticipated. Rather than trying to understand how this came to be right now, wouldn’t it be better if we introduced ourselves first? Would that be acceptable?”
* * *
The introductions were brief.
The blond-haired young man, who appeared to be the same person from my dreams, confirmed his name was indeed Karga. The one who came with him was named Luize Whezel.
Urs invited the two of them to the cottage where I stayed.
It was originally his duty as the keeper of the Western Forest to take in outsiders who had fallen through the Rift.
However, Urs subtly pawned off that responsibility onto me.
[Would you mind showing them around the house? I have some business in the village I need to attend to.]
“You’re leaving me alone in a space with a pervert? I never knew elves could be so irresponsible!”
[But he doesn’t really seem like a pervert to me?]
“How can you tell just by looking at appearances…!”
I lodged an absurd protest against Urs. The thought of having to share a space with that dangerous man made my heart pound violently.
But Urs merely chuckled and shrugged infuriatingly.
[I’m not sure about the blond one, but the dark-haired one seems quite composed. It should be fine. If anything happens, just blow the horn quickly to signal me.]
Elves possessed the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood. If Urs was confident, then at least they weren’t dangerous individuals harboring sinister intentions.
I reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“I understand. But you need to come back quickly.”
[Yes. Go on and chat amongst yourselves.]
Urs departed the cottage with a subtle smile lingering on his lips. I found myself suddenly left alone in the dwelling with two unfamiliar young men.

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