Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 214

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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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The Horned Rabbit gazed up at the sky, flared its nostrils, and stepped aside to open the water channel. Based on the entrance’s dimensions, it didn’t look large enough to accommodate horses and a rabbit. I had no choice but to entrust them to the Horned Rabbit.
“I’m leaving the horses in your care. We may not see each other for a long time, but… this isn’t abandonment. The Rocksburg people will definitely retrieve you and return to Aleine.”
“Squeak! Squeak!”
The Horned Rabbit nodded as if it understood perfectly. This creature really seemed remarkably intelligent. Could it possibly be smarter than our family dog?
“Rosie, Rosie, hehe, let me braid your hair, sweetie.”
Hmm… it seemed like more than a possibility. One thing was certain: Peter was far more dignified than our family dog. Just look at how he held the reins of the horses we’d ridden and saluted as if to reassure us.
“…”
That creature actually understood what a salute meant. It was rather unsettling. What if the Horned Rabbit ends up ruling humanity in the future?
“Grandmother, light a fire for us. We can’t see ahead in this darkness.”
“Why don’t you use your sparkles?”
“That’s the Doctor’s specialty! My head hurts when I use illumination magic!”
“Goodness, this little one only has high output.”
Fine, fireflies it is.
As I conjured multiple flames, Sage finally felt reassured and released my hand. This child’s night vision was still as poor as ever. I’d nagged him so many times to eat more carrots, but he stubbornly insisted there was no connection between carrots and poor night vision. Stubborn little thing.
“Wait.”
What now? I waited to see what this child was fussing about, and soon enough, I heard footsteps. Despite his poor night vision, his hearing remained remarkably sharp.
“That’s strange. There shouldn’t be anyone passing through here.”
Had the Fourth Prince finally become independent enough to move about on his own? Once Aster and the dog stopped showing anxiety when he wasn’t right beside them, the child approached my side and peeked around the corner, his expression turning bewildered.
“Why is there a hole there?”
Ah… I understood what had happened. I’d figured it out. Rosalite must have known this was the secret passage the Fourth Prince mentioned and simply smashed right through it.
When I voiced this opinion, Sage agreed with a troubled expression, while the Fourth Prince remained bewildered, asking how anyone could possibly break through a cement-mortared brick wall.
Well… common sense might say otherwise, but among the children who came with us, the Fourth Prince was probably the only one incapable of breaking through a brick wall. Even Rosalite, likely the weakest among them, could have shattered a wall of this thickness effortlessly.
That child possessed only the most troublesome talents, employing strange techniques like physical enhancement and electromagnetic force. Her adaptability was absolutely chilling. How could a brain-attribute mage use electricity to stimulate muscles and enhance her body? What kind of lunatic creates magnetism with electricity to produce iron weapons infinitely?
Moreover, she could not only create weapons but also accumulate steel thickly for defense, reshape it freely, create stairs to climb to high places, and even walk through the air if her physical abilities permitted it.
In other words, she could engage in aerial combat against multiple opponents, and since her physical abilities could be enhanced by that troublesome child’s magic, the conditions were met to overcome any obstacle.
A terrifying child indeed. Even with only three circles, in a one-on-one fight, she could instantly defeat any mage below the sixth circle. Most importantly, that child had learned from Sage, making her casting speed absolutely horrifying.
Such a child should be locked away in the Magic Tower quickly. Since she loves learning, if I could coax her properly by mentioning the True Magic Tower has rare materials…
“This way. This is the real secret passage.”
Right. Generally, a secret passage should be operable with just one mechanism. In any case, that troublesome child and her sibling were hopelessly crude… This wasn’t a matter of intelligence but rather that their methods and problem-solving approaches were barbaric.
Rosalite was crude. Absolutely crude and savage beyond measure. How could a noble girl lack even a trace of elegance? That Eddie creature spoke softly and beautifully even in casual conversation, and her every movement radiated refinement.
“…”
Oh right, she wasn’t a noble. She was an unknown creature from another world. She’d integrated so naturally into Rocksburg’s crevices that I kept forgetting. If someone lived in that gap for over sixty years, they’d naturally assimilate.
“…”
Sigh… I really will end this once and for all this time. No matter how few in number, I’ve put ordinary humans through far too much. Continuing to turn back the planet’s time was an absolutely vicious act.
I’d tried to raise these troublemaking brats to become children I could lock away, but how did things become like this? I thought I’d educated them diligently and poured affection into them. Perhaps discipline was insufficient. I may have been too lenient in raising them.
‘Who goes there!’
As I followed the Fourth Prince’s guidance up the stairs, a High Priest dressed in clearly noble vestments shouted at us.
So, among the priests, those gentlemen dressed in such fine clothes with beards—are they called the High Priest? I’m not entirely confident since I’ve lost interest in Joraab after annihilating the Summoning Priests, but….
『Your Eminence! It is I! Nerva Tianuus!』
When the young one removed his wig and bowed, the eyes of the one called High Priest widened in shock.
『Your Majesty?!』
He glanced around, then quickly ordered the boy to put the wig back on and gestured for me to follow. This bearded youngster led the way, pressing walls and pulling candelabras just as Nerva had done, opening strange passages here and there as we advanced….
What kind of temple has this many secret passages?! Be honest with me—you’re not priests, you’re an assassination organization, aren’t you?!
『I apologize for the roundabout route. The upper levels are in chaos because of a mad woman.』
『A mad woman?』
『Yes. She burst into the priests’ changing room, shouting that she’s to become the Queen Mother of Largol, and now she’s locked in the Heresy Inquisition Office, raving to be allowed to meet the Crown Prince.』
『Ah….』
Rosalite Rocksburg….
The young one beside me seemed to have the same thought, for Sage covered his face with both hands and called for the Doctor. Seeing how he still shields her despite her constant shameful antics, this fellow must be sincere after all.
Though Sage was naturally a kind-hearted boy who spread goodwill everywhere, how did he end up forming a parent-child bond with that wretched girl?
『I must meet with the Pope immediately—there are matters I need to discuss. Will you guide me?』
『That is….』
The young one called High Priest seemed to be gauging our reactions. I was about to say it was classified information and we could discuss it separately, but the Fourth Prince, upon seeing Aster, answered with confident authority.
『These are people who helped me hide. And that beautiful lady will soon be my wife.』
『My, I am honored to meet the future Crown Princess.』
Well… everything’s fine, but why is this High Priest youngster greeting me with a smile? I looked back and forth between Aster and the Fourth Prince, expressing my bewilderment, but the High Priest seemed indifferent to my concerns and continued with his own matters.
『Then I must inform you: His Holiness the Pope is currently missing.』
『…What?』
『When the Prophet appeared, he said he needed a private audience and dismissed all attendants before departing alone.』
『Where to?!』
『That, I’m afraid I don’t….』
What terrible luck. I came all the way to Joraab’s headquarters to find Celin, only to discover the Pope and Celin have already fled hand in hand?
If the situation is as it stands… then what Celin said wasn’t a lie to escape the situation, but the truth.
That girl who’s been laundering her identity for nearly two hundred years while serving as Pope—how cunning she must be. If Celin weren’t connected to Joraab, I would have cast her out long ago. Moreover, if she needed to dismiss all the Zoroab Spiritual Religion members and meet alone… there’s something suspicious about it.
Since she’s the type for whom her own survival is the most important thing in the world, she wouldn’t have abandoned her protectors without good reason.
『When His Holiness returns, I shall inform you immediately. In the meantime….』
The bearded youngster with the title of High Priest stared intently at the Fourth Prince in his dress, then at us in our ragged state, before proposing the best solution.
『It would be best if Your Majesty were to disguise himself as a wealthy young lady visiting from Cerepia. Therefore, if I may say….』
『We have plenty of donations.』
『As expected of Your Majesty Nerva. You know Joraab well.』
It seemed Rosalite had given Nerva nearly all her money. But this religion—how is it that these priests are so obsessed with money? Ugh….
Even if Celin invented this religion, it probably wasn’t like this from the beginning.
This must all be the influence of the current Pope. That girl has only ever cared about money and beautiful faces since childhood. Her promotions to High Priest were surely all based on handsome men or beautiful women. This bearded youngster has aged gracefully, so he must have been quite the charmer in his youth.
In any case, with the money Rosalite provided, we gained the freedom to move about the temple as we pleased and secured comfortable lodgings. Since we were disguised as people from Cerepia, it was somewhat inconvenient having to speak Cerepia’s language whenever we encountered outsiders, but otherwise we enjoyed a life of perfect comfort.

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Four days had passed, and yet the comfort of this place only deepened my sense of crisis. Throughout those four days, I’d scoured every corner searching for even a trace of Celin, but found nothing. The Pope hadn’t shown his face either. If only that Pope’s girl would return—I’d capture her, beat the information out of her, and extract Celin’s location. But even that option remained frustratingly out of reach.
“Ro… sie? Rosie, where… where are you… you…?”
“Young Lady? Young Lady? Where is the Young Lady? Hey, do you know where the Young Lady is?”
The real problem was that these beast-like creatures kept searching for Rosalite.
Well, it made sense—scent clings to fabric, after all! With each passing day, Rosalite’s scent faded from the dress the Fourth Prince wore, and these creatures detected it with an almost supernatural sensitivity, displaying signs of separation anxiety.
What if these things go completely mad? They’re acting like they’ll bolt straight to the Imperial Palace the moment they catch Rosalite’s scent. Worried about that possibility, I was contemplating whether to obtain fresh clothes of Rosalite’s, when our household’s canine suddenly jolted upright on the bed, ears perking up as he turned toward the window.
“Celin! I smell Celin!”

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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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