Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 191

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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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“Did you think that revelation belonged to you alone?!”
What kind of ghost appears in the middle of the night?!
My head throbbed, and though I wanted to rub it, I couldn’t move an inch—I could only thrash about. The radiant Excalibur, having struck me with the flat of its blade, spun and planted itself in the ground.
Its form was virtually unchanged from this morning. The only difference was that it had shifted from black to white. Ah, I suppose the disappearance of the chains counted as another distinction.
“See! It’s a reboot! I told you it was a reboot!”
“Beep! Beep beep!”
Please, you beasts, explain yourselves in a way humans can understand!
Since my body was bound and I couldn’t strike their backs, I figured I’d have to bite them instead—I was growling when a metallic clink sounded and my neck suddenly grew heavy.
What is this? What is this?! Why is my neck so heavy?!
Huh? When I move my neck around, it keeps making that metallic sound? What’s hanging from my neck?
“Beep! Beeeep! Shaaaa!”
“See! I told you something was wrong! Rosalite, why did you do that! Why on earth did you do that!”
When did you ever say such a thing, you fool!
No matter how I turned my head, whatever hung from my neck wouldn’t fall off. I called for Aster, but he wasn’t answering, so I spun around—and that’s when I saw a woman crouched directly behind me, trembling violently with her head in her hands.
“Aster, what are you doing?”
“G-ghost! Ghost!”
Right, the Brown children were afraid of ghosts. If they’d seen that translucent woman from earlier, they’d certainly be terrified. Let me think of someone I could ask for help instead…
“Beep! Beep!”
“You’re an idiot! Rosalite is an idiot!”
…Peter would be better.
I asked Peter to remove whatever was hanging from my neck. He immediately extended his claws with a sharp sound and grasped the object at my throat, pulling hard.
“Squawk! Cough! Wait! It hurts, you beast!”
What is this—something incredibly hard is caught there. And judging by the metallic sound, could it be… a chain? Is it a chain?
As I was lost in speculation, Peter seemed to remember something. He gestured for me to wait a moment, then suddenly bolted out of the basement. Soon, a tremendous crash echoed from the direction of the main building.
Not long after, Peter returned—and in the beast’s hands was our house’s wall mirror.
Hmm… based on its size and shape, it looked like the one that had been attached to the ballroom wall. Father would be quite devastated.
As for me, I’d have no reason to dance for a while in this condition, so I was grateful for that at least.
“Let me see.”
I pulled my animal companions over and examined my neck. As expected, a chain necklace hung prettily from my throat, and a tag with writing on it was attached as well. I calmly read the characters.
“Re, place, ment… battery.”
…?
I wondered if I’d misread it, so I read it again.
“Replacement battery.”
It really did say “replacement battery.”
What… what on earth is happening?!
“You’re an idiot! Rosalite is an idiot! How could you bring another Dark Mage here without me! You agreed to a contract without thinking! How could you do such a thing without consulting me!”
What are you talking about! Consulting about what?! The fact that Lam was positioning herself as my first wife was ridiculous enough, but to be criticized for something I never even did—I felt like I might explode.
“Isn’t that how all con artists operate? Think about it. Has the other party ever actually asked for consent and received it?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Impossible?”
“That’s… impossible…”
…There it is!
Wait. I’m not certain whether this is directly related to what Lam calls rebooting, but this afternoon when Celin reset the magic, she asked me three times if she could proceed. And I consented three times, telling her to hurry.
But that consent was only for resetting the magic. It was never consent to use me as the next battery to reboot the magic…
As I muttered to myself in a daze, Lam somehow understood and shrieked loudly.
“Rosalite also frequently gets a seal first and then modifies contracts!”
“Hey! How do you know that?!”
How in the world does this creature know about something I did secretly where no one was around?! I scolded Lam to lower her voice and organized the facts revealed so far.
So, let’s assume Celin obtained my consent first and then proceeded with the modified contract. Since the Dark Mage Lam standing before me guaranteed that magic could activate in such a manner, this was a highly credible hypothesis. But there was no opportunity to proceed with the magic. The woman had a magical restraint on her, and during the brief moment it was released, I only used magic to fix her physical age at its prime. There was nothing suspicious.
“Moreover, with such strange mana fluctuating like this! Peter knew, and I knew! How could Rosalite not know! You’re an idiot! Rosalite is an idiot!”
“What?”
Strange mana? I don’t sense anything.
My mana detection ability, honed through countless iterations, was comparable to Aster’s. Even Sage expressed admiration at how I detected the magic on the ring Leon brought and how I arrived at the basement first when the corrupted Excalibur appeared.
Peter seemed to be chirping in agreement with Lam from beside me, but still unable to trust, I nudged Aster and asked if she felt anything strange.
The woman, still trembling, answered that increasingly bizarre mana was gushing from the sword far more than before.
“….”
I still don’t sense anything at all?!
No, wait. Could this very fact that I sense nothing be what’s been bothering me all this time?
That’s right. When Celin fixed her physical age at its prime, she briefly used dark magic. Dark magic uses mana from another dimension or an external realm, so it carries a distinctly alien quality compared to mana that exists in the natural world.
But when Celin used dark magic, I felt nothing unusual.
Ah, I see. If the woman had used dark magic, I should have felt that unpleasant sensation like when I pursued the scent of the corrupted Excalibur before. But I felt nothing.
The fact that I felt absolutely nothing unpleasant—that was what bothered me!
“Ugh! This crazy woman really is like a leech! How does she not know when to give up!”
Would she really have thought to continue the magic through rebooting at a moment when life hung in the balance? Successfully completing a contract to use me as the next battery? How did she even pull me into the contract in the first place? Since I’m outside the scope of Celin’s dark magic, magic shouldn’t work on me, should it?
“….”
Um… perhaps. Really, a part I don’t want to think about. Did Celin figure out in an instant what I barely arrived at by painstakingly gathering clues—that my magic doesn’t work on her because I’m not a soul of this planet—simply by getting punched once by me?
Now that I think about it, that semi-transparent Rosalite Rocksburg earlier said something about that realization not being hers alone… No, surely not.
Who would imagine that seemingly scatterbrained woman actually has a functioning brain?!
What method did she use? What could it be? Did she do some kind of IP bypass? Everyone else noticed, but only I didn’t sense it, which means it’s definitely something connected to me.
Wow, I almost got into real trouble today. If Jack hadn’t stopped me, wouldn’t I have ended up as a battery? Surely that woman didn’t foresee even that I’d die and verify it?
“…?”
But thinking about it… whether battery or whatever, if I die this time, it really is the complete end, right? Then isn’t that good?
“Young Lady! Young Lady, something terrible has happened!”
Is that the only thing you can think of when you see me?
As I chased after Aster and we circled the Mansion, Jack, who had disappeared at some point, appeared carrying Glen, whose face was still covered by his hands. I found it strange that Leon should have been beside him, but Jack, being perceptive, resolved my curiosity first.
“The Duchess! The Duchess has returned!”
“Mother? Why would that be a disaster?”
“Leon asked if he could call me Mother, and he’s getting beaten for it!”
“That’s hardly a catastrophe!”
This wretch—why would you pour oil on someone whose heart is already burning with resentment and trampled to ruins!
“Lam, you come along too! We’re not finished talking yet!”
“Huh?! It’s my bedtime now!”
“I’ll pay you overtime!”
“Do you think everything can be solved with money?!”
“Well, what else can I do! I’ll just send you straight back to Largol!”
“Waaaaaahhhhh.”
Lam’s face crumpled instantly, and she clung to me desperately, begging me not to abandon her. Stuck to me like gum, she showed no signs of letting go. With no choice but to carry her along, I nudged Aster, and the woman staggered upright before hoisting both me and Lam into her arms simultaneously.
“Why is she like that? Did she see a ghost?”
“Yes. One came out earlier.”
“Kyaaaaaahhhhh!”
Jack Brown bolted away at full speed, cradling the panicked Glen in his arms. That man was faster in retreat than Aster, I’ll give him that.
I drove Aster forward by hammering my head against hers, urging her to run faster. At this rate, my younger brother would die. If Mother destroyed the entrance again, Father would collapse, and if Father collapsed, Mother would follow suit.
I had to prevent this chain of misfortune. Driven by that singular resolve, I spurred Aster onward, and we barely reached the Main Building entrance when I witnessed it—
The marble staircase that Leon had painstakingly restored lay shattered once more.
Leon must have been diligent with his training lately. In the past, he’d be knocked flying in a single blow upon meeting Mother, but now he was dodging skillfully. Quite the improvement.
Yet it was only a matter of time before Leon took a beating. My only brother was focused entirely on evasion, gasping for breath, while Mother hurled every weapon imaginable without so much as a single ragged breath.
How could I stop an enraged Mother? As I pondered this, a voice that would instantly paralyze her rang out through the Ballroom.
“Maria Rocksburg!”
The moment Father’s resonant voice boomed out, Mother dropped her weapons and began whimpering “Eddie, Eddie,” looking utterly cowed.

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After that, Father wielded a whip once more. Before the shattered marble staircase debris could be cleared, he issued an edict that Mother would receive neither food, bathing, nor sleep, while he struck the wall with sharp, cracking sounds. Mother looked as aggrieved as a slave dragged forcibly to an Egyptian labor camp, but Leon seemed accustomed to it.
Well, that made sense—he’d spent a full month doing labor camp work.
“Why must I do this, Eddie! It’s all that brat’s fault! He asked me if he could call me Mother!”
“Hold your tongue, Duchess! And what was wrong with what Leon said! If he’s my son, he can certainly call you Mother!”
“Father, Eddie is mean. Eddie only hates me!”
Father truly is remarkable. How does he command that wild beast of a woman so effortlessly?

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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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