I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 35

—————

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

—————

Chapter 35
The Butler presented the tray with practiced courtesy, deliberately ignoring the faint metallic scent of blood that clung to the Young Master.
On days when letters arrived from Delpiam, the servants of the Wynak Mansion could finally breathe easier. Kalien tore open the envelope where he stood.
The paper was covered entirely in exuberant handwriting—the kind that seemed ready to leap off the page and tumble across the surface with unbridled energy.

The servants watched the Young Master anxiously as he remained motionless, clutching the letter.
They were approaching the breaking point. Rosien had been gone for eleven months already.
The Young Master of this period was nothing short of the incarnation of Satan himself.
He rarely stayed properly at the Mansion. Wherever he was wandering, he would return like a ghost only after dawn, invariably reeking of that faint metallic scent. Often his clothes were splattered with blood.
It was certainly connected to the unsavory rumors circulating through the Capital these past few months.
Mercifully, there had been no bloodshed within the Main House itself yet—but if time continued like this, it was inevitable that victims would soon fall within the Mansion’s walls.
Just days ago, a servant who had displeased the Young Master had witnessed his rage firsthand and fainted dead away. The offense: the position of his younger sister’s small portrait on his bedside table had shifted ever so slightly.
In short, he was in an exquisitely hypersensitive state where even the slightest touch could set him off.
‘Rosien, I’m counting on your letter!’
Kalien finally spoke, having stared at the letter—more precisely, at the very last sentence—with such intensity he seemed ready to bore holes through the paper.
“I think I need to go to Delpiam.”
The servants’ eyes widened simultaneously as they released the breath they’d been holding.
“N-now, sir?”
“Yes. Rosy says she wants to see me.”
“Ah… of course, the young lady must always long for the Young Master, mustn’t she…?”
A lie. Rosien Wynack was fond of her brother, certainly, but she wasn’t the type to act as though she couldn’t live without him.
The servants exchanged glances, their heads bobbing in understanding. Indeed.
“This is the first time Rosy has written that she wants to see me right now…”
So that’s why he seemed so excited.
That somewhat oblivious young lady was accustomed to indulging the Young Master’s whims, but she wasn’t the type to initiate them herself. Which was precisely why, whenever Rosien happened to reach out first, the Young Master would be absolutely delighted.
‘But going to the Empire right this instant would be practically impossible, wouldn’t it?’
The Butler, gauging his mood, carefully broached the subject.
“Begging your pardon, Young Master. According to international law, Transcendents cannot simply abandon the territory to which they belong…”
However, the seasoned Butler caught sight of those eyes he knew all too well and swiftly changed his approach.
“…But there are always exceptions to such rules. When shall we depart? Shall I have preparations made?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m leaving right now.”
Kalien’s cloak billowed dramatically through the air. He turned on his heel and retraced his steps back the way he’d come.
“Tell Father I’ve gone to Delpiam.”
“…Yes….”
After the Young Family Head spun around and left with a whoosh, silence descended upon the Mansion.
But it was short-lived. The Butler bounded up the stairs to the Study as if his coattails were on fire.
“I’ve submitted an immediate request for a residence permit to the Delpiam Imperial Court! The Young Master of Wynyak is scheduled to cross the border within a day or two─!”
* * *
What in the world was that crimson-eyed monstrosity reflected in Alpien’s Planetarium?
And how had I managed to escape the coffin and make my way to Abuye?
Ever since my visit to the Delpiam Imperial Capital, I had been consumed by these questions. Yet no matter how hard I racked my brain, not even a plausible hypothesis emerged.
And so here I was.
In the dead of night, beneath a moon shrouded in clouds, unusually dark—a hooded robe pulled tight to conceal my face, footsteps quieter than a cat’s.
Yes, a thief in the moonlight.
I walked silently along the grassy path, relying on a single thread of starlight I had summoned into the air. The layout of the Kirges Main House was, of course, in the palm of my hand.
Though it was night, for the Sorcerers of Kirges—who spent every waking hour peering through telescopes at the night sky—this was their true time of activity. They could not observe the heavens during broad daylight when the sun reigned.
‘Alpien is probably at the Observatory right now.’
The Kirges Celestial Research Institute, constructed behind the Main House. That was my destination.
During my stay at Kirges, I had observed with keen attention that Alpien never parted with my Planetarium.
Did he even sleep with it hanging around his neck?
‘Ugh, how creepy.’
I climbed to the Observatory, grumbling inwardly all the while.
Inside the Observatory, a massive Planetarium rotated slowly, with telescopes arrayed in rows behind it.
The Sorcerers of Kirges observed the night sky here, researched the coordinates of stars, and converted them into rune characters. Once the formula was complete, they imbued it with the blessing of Kirges’s Guardian Star, then spoke it aloud as an incantation.
Because it was tedious to recite rune characters every time they used sorcery, the Sorcerers recorded all their research notes and sorcerous formulas in their own Planetariums. It was no exaggeration to say that the difference in power among Sorcerers stemmed directly from these Planetariums.
That was why every member of Kirges treasured their Planetarium like their own soul. If you truly wanted to enrage a Kirges Sorcerer, merely placing a single finger on their Planetarium would suffice.
‘So yeah, I’m furious. Wouldn’t you be?’
The restraint I’d shown until now was remarkable.
The uppermost level of the Celestial Research Institute was a space accessible only to the Family Head and Family Head candidates. I stood before the closed door and summoned the Guardian Star.
“O Incantation Master of All Things, I beseech you. Your servant asks but one final favor, just this once more.”
How many times had I made this request….
Yet my steadfast ally, the Guardian Star, answered kindly as always.
The blessing of stars enveloped me from head to toe. The Sacred Relic of Wynyak hanging at my waist hummed in resonance.
I chanted the incantation without pause, weaving sorcery around the Observatory so that nothing happening here would leak outside. Then I wrapped the blessing of Wynyak’s Guardian Star, the “Judge of Darkness and Chaos,” around both my legs.
Beyond the glass door, I could see Alpien’s silhouette peering through a telescope.
“Who’s there?”
Alpien irritably removed his glasses and glanced back at me. Only then did he notice the dense net of starlight surrounding him.
“Who on earth…!”
Alpien couldn’t finish his sentence. I didn’t give him the chance to babble. I kicked off the ground, and the solid blessing of stars around me caused a sharp crack to split the floor beneath my feet.
Characteristic trait of Sorcerers, first: it takes seconds to complete a sorcerous spell.
I closed the distance to Alpien’s face in an instant using my pre-arranged short-range teleportation technique. Not even a second had passed, and by the time Alpien desperately activated his Planetarium, I was already throwing my fist.
Characteristic trait of Sorcerers, second: they are vulnerable in close combat.
“Haaaah!”
I mercilessly drove my fist upward into Alpien’s jaw.
Crack—!
The satisfying impact echoed through the air.
“Gah!”
Without pausing, I twisted my body and drove my foot into his chest.
The third characteristic of a Sorcerer: fragile constitution.
All bookworms share this weakness. How could they have ever taken a proper hit when they don’t even practice basic combat? These are the types who find it too tedious to lift a spoon to their own mouths, so they conjure automatic feeding mechanisms with stellar blessings instead.
Thud-crash. Alpien’s airborne body slammed down onto the massive telescope.
“Ah, refreshing. I’ve been dying to beat you like this—like a dog being disciplined.”
I laughed wickedly as I approached him.
The Planetarium rotated overhead as Alpien writhed, still struggling to regain his senses.
“Hagh, cough, refuge….”
He belatedly unfurled a sorcerous formation, but it was already too late. My hand was already driving precisely into his throat.
I saw nothing else. My entire focus was consumed by that small Planetarium dangling from his chest. It was all that mattered.
‘Mine…!’

—————

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

—————