I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 72

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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 72
Jake’s answer came back with an almost anticlimactic swiftness.
“I saw it.”
“Then, perhaps…”
Gripped by extreme tension, I whispered my question.
“Were its eyes… red?”
A pair of blazing crimson eyes.
“Did it have things attached—arms, or a tail, or tentacles, I couldn’t tell—that moved in all directions?”
Leaving traces as if rope had been dragged across.
“Was its form something that defied description by any other words?”
That monster—darkness itself, evil itself, chaos and apocalypse—that seized the viewer in absolute terror the moment they beheld it.
“Uh, listen, Rosien.”
But Jake’s expression was one of confusion.
“I’m not entirely sure what you’re talking about. What I saw wasn’t the kind of… monster you’re describing.”
“It wasn’t?”
My heart seemed to crumble at its edges.
No—it wasn’t my heart that shattered, but the great iron stake that had been driven through it. In its place, bewilderment and relief surged together.
It wasn’t the red-eyed monstrosity.
Kalian wasn’t the culprit…
Jake let out a grave sound.
“Truth is, I still don’t fully understand what happened to me.”
“Tell me. Continue.”
“I simply heard a voice. Or rather, I’m not sure if I should call it a voice. It felt more like a tremendous resonance.”
My spine prickled instantly. A voice that was not a voice.
The absolute will itself of an existence that transcended this world.
‘The Star’s message!’
It felt as though a colossal hammer had struck my crown.
Yes, now that I thought back on it, Jake had suffered internal injuries with nearly all his organs ruptured.
‘It’s similar to two years ago, when the Judge of Darkness and Chaos made contact with me at the Kirges Observatory!’
“What words did it speak to you?”
I asked urgently.
“Which Star was it? The Judge of Darkness and Chaos? The Omniscient Word Sorcerer? Or was it a different Star?”
“That’s… since I’m not a Transcendent, I couldn’t tell immediately upon hearing it.”
Jake let out a troubled groan.
“The only thing I could understand was this: ‘Tell them to kill.'”
“…Kill whom? Who?”
“I don’t know that.”
Jake shook his head, but I could make an educated guess.
At least I knew whom he was supposed to relay that message to. It was me.
The Star had commanded me once more to kill someone.
Instead of delivering a direct oracle to me, this time the Star used another human. The herd deaths of beasts and Jake’s injury were all indirect expressions of the Star’s will meant to reach me.
‘Who on earth is it? Who am I supposed to kill? Surely, surely not really….’
Not Kalian Wynack, right?
It couldn’t be. It absolutely couldn’t be.
The Star would never impose such an obligation on me!
But I already knew that Kalian was hiding secrets. He might be a far more dangerous existence than any human….
Then Jake muttered as if speaking to himself.
“If the Young Family Head hadn’t given me a heads-up beforehand, I would’ve been dead for sure.”
“What did you say?”
The chaos swirling through my mind came to an abrupt halt.
I widened my eyes and grabbed Jake’s shoulders.
“Did you hear something from Kalian? What was it? Tell me, Jake. Don’t leave out a single detail!”
* * *
The evening Jake remembered was peaceful like any other day. It was probably the day he’d spouted nonsense about playing matchmaker for Rosien.
It was at the threshold where the Wynack Swordsmen were filing into the Dining Hall after finishing their training. The Young Family Head called Jake to a stop.
“Jake.”
“Yes, yes! Young Family Head.”
“Want some tea?”
His tone was gentle. Every hair on Jake’s body instinctively stood on end.
But how could one refuse the words of a Transcendent like the heavens themselves? Jake was dragged into the Young Family Head’s Reception Room as if being led to slaughter.
The Young Family Head truly did drink tea. While staring at Jake with an intensity that could bore holes.
“Your tongue seems to have grown rather long lately.”
“Gulp.”
“You said unnecessary things to Rosien.”
Jake’s mind raced frantically. What nonsense had his three-inch tongue dared to spout to Rosien?
“You said she probably won’t be able to marry, didn’t you?”
“Huh? Ah. That was, that was just a joke….”
“A joke?”
Kalian, who had been slowly caressing the teacup, raised one eyebrow sharply.
“A joke, you say, Jake. Rosien heard your words and came to tell me she’d find a lover as soon as she became an adult. How is that a joke?”
That’s because your Rosien lacks perception and interpreted the words however she pleased—how is that my fault for speaking the truth?
Why should her marriage prospects be blocked because of this?
Instead of protesting unfairly, Jake chose a wiser approach.
“Well, I naturally assumed Rosien would marry the Young Family Head!”
That’s what Selman and Lina had said.
“Whenever the young master seems to be in a foul mood, just mention Rosien’s name! But absolutely never use a nickname!”
“If you call her Rosy, he gets subtly upset.”
Now Jake realized it had been lifesaving advice. He spoke urgently.
“Because the Young Family Head cares for her so much. And Rosien holds the Young Family Head in special regard. Since her match is already decided, there’s no need to seek a partner from afar—that’s what I meant, but it seems Rosien misunderstood.”
As Jake spoke fluently, sure enough, Kalian’s furrowed eyebrows gradually relaxed.
‘I’m sorry, Rosien. But truthfully, it’s already a settled fact that only you don’t know about….’
“So that’s what you meant.”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Then why did you say you’d arrange a match for Rosy?”
Jake nearly bit his tongue as he tried to relax.
Damn it, just how much did you spill to the Young Family Head, Rosy?!
“R-Rosien seems rather slow in that department, so I thought if I nudged her a little from the side, it might help her become aware of her feelings toward the Young Family Head….”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
It didn’t work at all. Kalian Wynack had his simple moments, but he certainly wasn’t a fool.
“If you introduce a man to Rosy, I’ll….”
Jake swallowed hard. I’ll what?
Kill you? Dismember your limbs? Feed you to wild dogs alive?
All wrong. The Young Family Head spoke in a gentle, kind tone.
“Make you my personal bodyguard.”
“…!”
“From morning until night, never leaving my side for a moment, attending to my every need, Jake. How does that sound?”
“Gasp.”
“Would you like to be attached to me all day long?”
No! Jake straightened his spine rigidly.
“I will eliminate every male who dares glance at Rosien, Young Family Head. I’ll make the area around her pristine—absolutely pristine!”
“I’m glad you understand so quickly.”
The Young Family Head finally smiled with satisfaction.
“Go.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Jake shouted loudly and spun around to leave.
‘I’m sorry, Rosy. But he can’t do anything to you, so it won’t be such an unhappy marriage. Besides, he’s handsome…!’
You can live off his face, right? Yes, that’s right….
As he grasped the doorknob with such useless thoughts swirling in his mind.
“Wait.”
A soft voice caught Jake’s ankle.
The Young Family Head rose to his feet and closed the distance in long strides. Jake instinctively tried to back away, but the wall blocked his retreat.
‘Why, why!’
As Jake broke out in cold sweat, the Young Family Head drew close enough to touch and thrust his face forward.
Jake was reflected in those crimson eyes from head to toe.
“You smell.”
“Yes…?”
“Like a Star.”
What is this beautiful lunatic talking about?
The Young Family Head laughed brilliantly.
“Stars are merciless beings, you know that, don’t you? Jake.”
“Y-yes… well, the basics…”
“Don’t wander about alone.”
“Yes…?”
“They are selfish and calculating. Whether a few ants die or not, they don’t care in the slightest. But when it suits their purposes, they display the dead ants for all to see.”
“…”
“They even select which ants to kill beforehand.”
Jake’s breath caught involuntarily. The mesmerizing beauty of his appearance lent an unsettling credibility to the strange words spilling from his lips.
In essence, he was warning me to be cautious of Star.
“I’m telling you this because you’re close to Rosien. Don’t needlessly wander about alone, especially not in the dead of night. Stars shine brighter at night than during the day, after all.”
“I… I will keep that in mind.”
“Oh, and.”
The Young Family Head spoke softly, both hands tucked into the pockets of his gown.
“I don’t eat beasts, Jake.”
The fine hairs on the back of his neck bristled sharply.
The Young Family Head was already aware that the servants had been gossiping about the mysterious mass deaths occurring around Wynack Castle recently.
“And I don’t consume that much in a single sitting.”
“I… I apologize…”
“It irritates me when people whisper that I’ve eaten something I never touched. Wouldn’t you feel the same?”
“…”
“For years I’ve eaten nothing, starving miserably. Only recently have I managed to survive on scraps of foul-smelling grass. And now I’m suddenly accused of being a food thief? Think about it. Wouldn’t even the most indifferent person feel a sudden appetite?”
It was a strange analogy, but Jake nodded frantically without thinking.

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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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