I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 61

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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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Chapter 61
After escorting Lina to the village, I climbed back onto the Wooden Bridge. By then, the sun had already set, and twilight draped the world in shadow.
‘No one around? Good.’
I lifted the Planetarium above my head. Enlarged to considerable size, it descended toward the valley below.
I meticulously searched the problematic area while making minute adjustments to the Planetarium. To prevent the stench, I’d heard that the Investigation Team had already gathered all the dead mountain goats and burned them.
‘I wish at least one corpse remained.’
What I sought was singular: rope marks—the kind left by friction.
For the past three years, Wynack Castle, nestled in the heart of the Rim Mountain Range that sprawled across the northern reaches of the Abuye Kingdom, had known peace. While I traveled far and wide searching for Kalian’s elixir, I remained perpetually vigilant, my senses sharp.
Always watching for any sign that Broken Chaos might resurface.
The crimson-eyed monstrosity presumed to be Broken Chaos possessed no fixed form. Yet one thing I could state with absolute certainty: it possessed tentacles that writhed and moved like serpents.
The rope-like scars that had remained on Regina’s body—I remembered their pattern with perfect clarity.
If the bizarre incidents occurring near Wynack Castle were truly the work of a Lost Soul, traces would inevitably remain somewhere.
It wasn’t long before I found what I was searching for.
“…!”
A spiral-shaped trajectory, as though several thick ropes had been dragged across the ground before converging and being drawn upward—it remained vividly etched upon the stone.
I grasped the railing of the Wooden Bridge, barely managing to breathe.
‘It’s returned!’
That perilous entity, from which I’d found no trace in three years, had resumed its activities. Again, right before my watching eyes!
And that very dawn, Jake vanished.
* * *
Jake’s return came a week later.
But could it truly be called a ‘return’?
Jake was discovered—wedged among the dense thicket of a mountain ridge, bleeding from countless wounds across his body. The Wynack Disciples carried him back to the castle.
The moment I heard the news, I rushed to Kalian’s chamber.
“Kalian!”
The room was suffused with the rich aroma of black tea. Lately, he’d been indulging in tea time with unusual frequency.
“Rosy.”
Kalian, who had been pouring tea, offered a picture-perfect smile.
“Care for some tea?”
“No. That’s not important right now.”
I stood gripping the doorframe, struggling to catch my breath.
“Kalian… Jake has returned.”
“Has he? Though you look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”
Kalian dropped a sugar cube into his teacup and stirred it gently with a teaspoon, asking with serene composure.
“Why—is he dead?”
I found myself momentarily at a loss for words.
Kalian, lifting his cup and casting a sidelong glance in my direction, tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
“Rosy?”
“Why are you asking so calmly?”
“What?”
“A swordsman who served Wynack for over twenty years has returned in tatters, and in just a week at that…. He’s now wandering the edge of death. And you, as the young lord, all you have to say is….”
“Ah.”
“Kalian Wynack. This isn’t a joke.”
Only then did bewilderment flicker across Kalian’s face. But I dare say he wasn’t nearly as flustered as I was.
Kalian set down his teacup with a careless gesture and hurried toward me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it so callously… It was just a thoughtless remark.”
“Thoughtless? Someone who went missing has returned? Don’t you know how much everyone searched for Jake, how worried they were…?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Kalian watched me anxiously, his expression drooping like a tail that didn’t exist, but I couldn’t bring myself to notice such things now.
I pressed my throbbing temples and paused to catch my breath when Kalian asked carefully.
“So… Jake came back in tatters? What does that mean?”
“… You need to be careful from now on, Kalian.”
“Careful about what?”
“It seems that thing has returned again.”
“So what exactly is it?”
“Broken Chaos.”
A subtle crack appeared across Kalian’s face.
Now he seemed ready to take my words seriously. I seized him and poured out my words like rapid gunfire.
“The crimson-eyed monstrosity. You saw it with me three years ago in Delpiam, in Regina Kirges’s past. Seven years ago, it was clinging to your shadow.”
“….”
“It seems to have begun its activities again. It had been quiet for a while, but… That’s why I came to warn you to be careful. It’s already attached itself to you once before. It might search for a familiar host and try to burrow in again, so for now be cautious… Kalian, why does your expression look like that?”
“… It’s nothing.”
Kalian slowly covered his mouth with his hand. As I continued speaking, his complexion gradually paled until it had turned ashen white.
“Understood, Rosy. For now… I’ll go see Father first. You should go check on Jake.”
* * *
Rosien was pushed out of the room ahead of him.
Kalian returned to the side table and finished the remaining tea.
As always, he tasted nothing.
Kalian clenched and unclenched his fists several times, gauging his sense of touch. His senses were dull.
“… Ha.”
He stepped out into the corridor.
The moment the young lord appeared, time seemed to stop. Servants gathered in small clusters throughout the corridor, whispering about the catastrophe that had unfolded the previous night, suddenly snapped to attention.
The young lord of Wynack despised how others trembled at the sight of him.
When he was a much smaller and prettier young boy, he was called a walking calamity throughout Wynack.
Save for the Transcendent Owen Wynack, scarcely anyone dared approach the boy. Those unfamiliar with stars and Transcendents could only conclude that all Transcendents must be equally capricious and cruel.
Then around fifteen, the boy had undergone a complete transformation, as though he’d taken a blow to the head somewhere. For ten years thereafter, the ancient castle had known peace, yet few believed the young lord could suppress his true nature forever.
Just like now.
Look at those ominous eyes.
Everyone harbored the same unspoken thought, though none dared voice it aloud.
‘Poor Jake.’
‘How on earth did I displease them to return in such a state?’
‘I thought it would be fine since Rosien was there….’
The young master, who had been observing them intently, slowly brought his index finger to his lips.
Then he offered a beautiful smile.
Shh.
It’s a secret.
“….”
The servants held their breath in unison.
The harmony of eyes that curved like willow branches and the meaningful curve of his lips was seductive enough to inspire admiration.
But one must never be enchanted.
A demon wearing the shell of an angel. That was the young master’s second epithet, following “the walking calamity.”
The servants erased all expression from their faces and bowed even more deeply.
The young man passed before them, lined up like wooden puppets, at a pace neither fast nor slow. Only the sound of multiple heartbeats tangled together in confusion.
Before the young master, never meet his gaze, and do not tremble.
Simply remain still like a fixture of the mansion, waiting until he is satisfied and departs.
If you wish to preserve your life for long.
That is the unspoken rule that drifts implicitly through Wynack Castle.
* * *
Jake’s condition was grave. According to the physician, he had sustained severe internal injuries.
I first sent out the physician and all the servants, then made a small wound on the inside of my forearm.
Over the past three years, through repeated experimentation, the healing power dwelling within me manifested most strongly through bodily fluids such as blood or tears.
‘A drop or two of blood should heal most wounds as if they were washed clean.’
Yet despite having him consume several mouthfuls of blood, Jake’s condition showed no signs of improvement.
If even a part of my body, nearly fused with the Resurrection Crystal, could not heal the wound in one go, there was only one likely possibility.
Whoever harmed Jake was either equal to Railo’s star or one tier above it.
‘「Broken Chaos」is the Dark Castle, that is, the star that devours stars, as it was said.’
Seven years ago, that was how Kalian had spoken of it. A Dark Castle with power surpassing the Guardian Star—I could not even begin to fathom its might.
But there was precisely one thing that troubled me.
I examined Jake’s body carefully.
If the culprit who harmed Jake were 「Broken Chaos」, there should be the same wounds remaining as those left on my Master’s body.
‘There aren’t any.’
Though he had sustained severe internal injuries, there were no external wounds visible whatsoever.
But could the beasts dying around the Ancient Castle and Jake’s injury truly be the work of different entities?
‘At least it’s certain that 「Broken Chaos」continues to appear before me persistently.’
At the thought of those gleaming, crimson eyes, the fine hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
In that moment, an unwelcome hypothesis occurred to me.
‘No, wait. Is this truly only this time?’
Perhaps that monster had never left this vicinity at all, remaining here continuously. It was simply that I had not noticed it.
But could there truly be not a single witness?

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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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