I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 32

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

Chapter 4. Family and “Clan” Are Not the Same
Stars are merciless entities.
Humans can never truly know their nature. To them, drifting through the vast abyss of the cosmos, this world is merely one among hundreds of billions of similar planets, and we humans are nothing more than insignificant ants—so small and worthless we cannot even be distinguished from dust.
Therefore, their indifference is justified, and humans must never dare to speak their names or attempt to divine their intentions.
They are pan-universal beings, so let that excuse suffice. After all, humans do not concern themselves with the brain structure of ants either.
But when an ant that has caught a star’s gaze begins to act like a star and seeks dominion over its own kind, that becomes a problem.
Those who bear Guardian Stars inherently mirror the nature of stars themselves. Cold, merciless, and arrogant beyond measure.
Winyak and Whiszel, composed of blood relatives, came closer to the meaning of “family” than other Transcendent Families. However, the Kirges—a clan centered on the apprenticeship system—held a strong ideology of might makes right. Fundamentally a collective of scholars with fierce intellectual passion, competition among apprentices was equally fierce.
Candidates for the position of Family Head in Kirges had to pass brutal trials each year. Those who fell short of the standards the clan demanded were ruthlessly stripped of their Kirges castle and cast out from the family.
Kirges worshipped genius and mercilessly ground down the mediocre.
Yet on the other hand, even the most celebrated genius must remember that they could be torn apart by their followers at any moment.
From the start, there were countless peers who watched with bated breath, waiting to see if I would stumble under tasks beyond my ability, hoping to catch even the smallest mistake.
Rivals could appear anywhere, at any time, and the clan’s favor could shift in an instant.
So the Family Head candidates were essentially always standing on trial.
I despised that philosophy of Kirges. Because of it, once I reached a certain level of mastery as a sorcerer, I deliberately took up the sword.
If you don’t cultivate expectations from the beginning, you won’t be disappointed or cast aside. Once I began openly rebelling, my brothers gradually started avoiding me, as if they had seen something unsettling in my behavior.
The mutant of Kirges, they called me.
But my relationship with Alpien was not entirely severed. In fact, until around the age of ten, we were the closest of brothers.
Each other’s sole rival and sole confidant.
Even when the other Kirges brothers flushed and fled whenever I passed, Alpien alone remained at my side as always.
Until Regina brought me to the Continental Conference.
That meant she had marked me as the next Family Head. From that moment, Alpien’s attitude toward me began to shift gradually.
Of course, there was another decisive reason behind it…
But still, I never imagined he would come to hate me enough to want me dead.
Roooaaarrr—!
The scene before my eyes inverted, and a massive circular arena packed with spectators engulfed me. Seventeen years old—the decisive match for the position of Family Head in Kirges, held in that very place.
“This is the end, Rosien!”
The blue-haired boy shouted triumphantly in my direction.
Mana wove itself like a net across my brother’s Planetarium.
Rune letters imbued with linguistic power surged toward me. As I moved to evade and activate my Planetarium, a suspicious form caught my eye behind Alpien.
‘What is that…?’
At first glance, it appeared to be a dark mass with multiple tendrils wavering at its edges. Its exact appearance was difficult to describe.
Only two blood-red eyes, embedded like warning lights at its center, were vivid and clear.
‘A phantom…?’
I was momentarily distracted by that bizarre form, then belatedly deployed my defensive spell. The timing was slightly off, but it was a scale I could block without difficulty.
Or so I thought.
The moment my barrier deflected Alpien’s attack, the true sorcery hidden beneath it erupted. The first had been a feint.
The instant new rune letters etched themselves clearly in the void.
“…!”
A blinding light that scraped across my corneas erupted before my eyes. Nearly simultaneously, a tremendous shock engulfed my entire body.
My body lurched upward violently, and something sharp pierced through my chest from behind. My spine arched like a drawn bow.
It was the most horrific pain I had ever experienced in my life….
Then, darkness.
“…Gasp!”
I jolted awake with a start, my eyes snapping open.
The world around me was still shrouded in the dim haze of early dawn. It would be a while before the sun broke the horizon. I sat up abruptly and lit the lamp.
‘Where am I….’
My heart was pounding wildly. This wasn’t my bedroom in Abuye.
This was my private chamber in the Kirges estate. By coincidence, it bore the same dimensions and interior décor as the room I had used during my time as Rosien Wynyak. It was the sort of lavish chamber befitting a princess of a great nation.
‘Right, I’m still in Delpiam.’
It was May now. Only one month remained before I would return to Abuye—spring was slipping away.
I irritably wiped the sweat from my damp forehead.
I had dreamed of my time as Rosien Wynyak. Worse still, it was a dream of that moment during the Family Head succession tournament when my brother’s sorcery struck me down.
“How unlucky….”
Of all years, I had ended up staying at the Kirges Main House instead of Whezel’s headquarters. With nothing to do but loiter about, it was inevitable that I would have nightmares whenever I caught sight of that bastard Alpien’s face.
Memories of those days when my classmates from the Kirges era had utterly ignored me and ostracized me without end came flooding back, doubling my foul mood.
‘Wretched creatures. When I return to being Rosien Wynyak, every last one of you will be bound and sent straight to spiritual discipline.’
Sleep had fled entirely. I climbed out of bed, my head steaming like a boiling kettle.
In the mirror across from me, I saw a young girl in pajamas with crimson hair cascading down to her waist.
I had grown considerably taller over the past few years. I hadn’t realized in my previous life how significant a three-year gap could be during childhood.
Hmm, though I wish I were a bit taller still.
【Rosy, Rosy. Let’s go!】
The hilt of the sword I had laid carefully beside the bed floated into the air. It was the Sacred Relic of Winyak—the Great Annihilation.
【Why not head to where the incarnations of the Formless Lion train? Those men do their dawn drills too, and since they’re beasts, their muscles are absolutely exquisite….】
The Sacred Relic made a gulping sound. The Formless Lion was the alternate name for Whezel’s Guardian Star.
I giggled and threw on my outer robe.
“Well, it does love beautiful men. So… should I sneak a peek?”
When we were in Winyak, it wouldn’t make a peep and would lie flat and still, but the moment we left Winyak, it came alive like this.
【Departure!】
I accepted the Sacred Relic’s solemn command and left my chamber.
Only then did a belated question occur to me.
‘But what were those red eyes watching me in the dream?’
* * *
Rosien Wynyak was called the very epitome of an arrogant transcendent.
For one, she was a prodigy so extraordinary that even the word “genius” seemed inadequate. People spoke often enough of how she was surely beloved by the stars themselves.
Moreover, Rosien Wynyak possessed a beautiful and lovely appearance. Among the students of Kirges, she was known by the nickname “Rose Princess” and even had fan clubs formed in her honor.
Yet Rosien Wynyak had never once acknowledged the masses who revered her like devoted followers.
She was always cold and distant. Whenever those who admired her tried to approach her cautiously, she would first create a chill and leave.
This quality made Rosien Wynyak all the more mysterious, generating both passionate fans and fierce detractors….
“…Wait, are we talking about the same person right now?”
I could no longer maintain my composure.
The princess of Kirges? What, the Rose Princess?
‘Was there another Rosien in Kirges besides me?’
My lips drooped in a catfish-like expression, and as I stared at the other person with that face, they cried out as if entranced.
“If ‘The Linguist of All Things’ were to take human form, they would surely look just like Rosien!”
“….”
“I should have at least tried speaking to you while I was alive. I should have confessed my feelings regardless of rejection. Even Alpien was rejected so mercilessly, yet here I am, cowering away….”
After finishing my morning training, I had just stepped out to head toward the Imperial Capital. I spotted familiar faces in the corridor.
They were my classmates from the same cohort. Remembering last night’s dream, I casually struck up a conversation. I wondered if they still harbored resentment toward the dead Rosien.
But I never dreamed they would react like this.
‘What? How cold was I really? There’s no one warmer-hearted than me.’
“I should have at least asked to see the Planetarium once. If I had, the princess’s research records would have survived even in death. It pains me to think about it. With just that, I could have secured my position as a candidate for Family Head….”
‘Ah, so they were after my Planetarium all along. That’s their true motive.’
Well, of course. I pretended to clasp my hands behind my back and flicked my finger sharply.
“Come to think of it, if she died instantly from a lethal curse, the rumors might have been exaggerated from the start. When you look closer, she might not have been anything special, and—ack!”
The Former Brother suddenly appeared and stepped on a banana peel, sliding out from under him.
His Planetarium, which struck the floor directly, cracked with a sharp sound.
“No, my, my Planetarium…!”
I grasped the palm-sized disc and leisurely passed by the Sorcerer, whose face had turned deathly pale.
‘Ugh, even after sixteen years, Kirges is still unbearable. If it weren’t for my Master, I would have buried my bones in Winyak long ago.’
I thought they hated me, but it turned out they were just extremely shy. That’s somewhat refreshing, but the core remains the same.
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I stretched languidly, and through the window below, I caught sight of a familiar figure.

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