Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 243

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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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Could it be? Is this finally happening—the long-awaited Asterion time from the Blue Star Night that I hadn’t seen in ages? The boy had grown up so healthy in body and mind that I’d completely given up on that front, thinking he’d become a spirited and unsettling Asterion, free from the stench of misfortune that comes from emotional deprivation and control-freak tendencies tangled together.
Yet here he was, still planning to cling to me regardless. I had a bad premonition that some nasty pest would attach itself to Leon, so I hurriedly stepped in front of the boy. But then Yuri smiled in a way even more unsettling than Asterion.
How creepy. Why was she smiling like that?
“It’s fine. I’m harmless. I have no intention of interfering. Please enjoy your beautiful love!”
…What is she even saying?
I couldn’t grasp the context of the conversation at all, but since I’d already designated her as Problem Child Number One, it wasn’t surprising. Well, actually it was surprising. How could someone be this incomprehensible?
As the sinister-looking person made me want to evacuate Leon, Papa and what looked like a court official who shouldn’t exist in this era disembarked from the Saint Brilliant Lucilucil Ship.
“No way! I’ve told you a thousand times it’s absolutely not happening! If you want to argue, go settle it with Serena and come back!”
“How can I meet someone who’s passed away? And aren’t you the True Magic Tower Master now? When have I ever asked you for such a favor? Just this once, please. If you lower the bar a little, there are children who won’t have to be trapped in the Magic Tower.”
“You’re really persistent! Anyway, it’s not happening!”
Wow, this man looked like the most treacherous person in the world! The gaunt man had a hooked nose and shadows under his eyes that gave him a sinister impression. Even just standing still, one corner of his mouth curved up in a way that looked like he was sneering at people, and his eyes were so murky I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
It looked like just talking to him would make me spill all my secrets. Could this be Magnus that Papa mentioned—the person who becomes the most terrifying in the world when he loses his temper? He said he was a man of integrity! But he doesn’t look like a man of integrity at all! Well, of course, I shouldn’t judge people by their appearance!
“Magnus! Magnus, look at these people! It’s really Rosalite and Leon!”
“Child. Reality and fiction are different things, as I’ve told you many times.”
“I know! But they really existed!”
“Look here. This child is so good-natured, but lacking in discernment, so they couldn’t pass the test.”
“It’s not discernment… isn’t that just plain stupidity?”
Papa still had that unfiltered way of speaking. If Serena had been alive, my back wouldn’t have survived. Of course, I strongly agree with Sage’s assessment.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Rosalite of Rocksburg. I understand you wished to meet me.”
“Ah, I’m Magnus, the Magic Tower Master of the Adelheid Region in the Cerepia Federation. Thank you for coming such a long distance. Yuri was throwing such a fit about wanting to meet you…”
This person was having a hard time raising a child too. I shook hands warmly, but something sticky transferred to my palm, and my body went rigid. The sinister expression on Magnus’s face made my blood run cold. What is this? Poison? Have I been poisoned? So he really was as treacherous as he looked, pulling some underhanded trick?!
“I-I’m so sorry! I forgot to put on my gloves!”
“Good grief, you fool! How can you just grab the Doctor’s hand like that without thinking! And from someone who secretes such strange bodily fluids!”
“Oh my, I forgot. My handkerchief—where did I put my handkerchief?”
Bodily fluids? What? What did you just say? You’re telling me this is a liquid that naturally secretes from a human body?
I turned back to Leon with what looked unmistakably like a toxic substance—a greenish liquid—smeared on my hand. Leon, my boy, I know you carry ten handkerchiefs that look exactly like mine wherever you go. Please, wipe this off for me right now.
Barely suppressing the urge to scream, I found Leon, and when he saw my state, his eyes went wide and he immediately drew his sword.
“You old geezer who looks like the ten senators who ruined the Coca Kingdom of the Cerepia Federation! What are you trying to pull on my sister!”
So you had the same thought as me! But calm down a bit! It’s bodily fluids! Just bodily fluids, okay?!
The fluid in my hand was drying up, leaving only a crusty, salty residue, which was absolutely killing me. Yuri, standing in front of Magnus, pulled a sword hilt from the dock’s iron post.
So with just materials, you can pull out simple-shaped objects with Shadowless Creation? She’s reached quite a formidable level. If Leon had found a good teacher like this, he could produce this kind of output too.
“Step back! No matter how much of a lady Leon is, I cannot forgive anyone who acts carelessly toward Magnus!”
“I am Leon, you madman!”
“Please put away your sword! Miss Leon!”
“I’m not a miss, you madman!”
Wow… it’s quite something when people really can’t understand each other like this.
Wow… it’s really something that things don’t work out that way with him either.
Before I knew it, a sword-play match had erupted between the two of them, so I abandoned any hope of retrieving Leon’s handkerchief and headed to the water source. After scrubbing my hands thoroughly with the island’s naturally purified basalt water—clean enough to drink—I was drying them when Magnus, gloved and wearing a sinister smile, offered me a handkerchief.
“I’m truly sorry. It wasn’t intentional.”
“Not at all. These things happen.”
“I’m relieved. As I’ve heard, the people of Rocksburg certainly have strong minds about such matters.”
“In my territory, there’s a doctor who hasn’t aged in over a hundred years despite being no mage, and a carnivorous rabbit the size of a house. What else could possibly surprise you?”
“Haha, the Duke certainly has a gift for humor.”
“You may not want to believe it, but every word is true.”
Seeing him laugh, it was clear he didn’t believe a single thing I’d said. If things go well, I should give Rocksburg a proper tour sometime.
“By the way, did only the two of you come?”
“Yes. We requested this meeting ourselves, and it seemed improper to arrive in a large group.”
This man is genuinely kind-hearted. Then again, having passed the Magic Tower’s character assessment and being called a person of integrity by the kind Sage—he must be extraordinarily virtuous.
In any case, it’s fortunate he’s a good person. This is a remote island, and if negotiations go south, I could always capture him and use him as leverage. Even though he’s a 7-Circle Archmage, we have Sage on our side, and we’re far more numerous, so kidnapping would be manageable.
“I see. I hope you and Sage can reach a successful accord. As the Duke of Rocksburg, I shall serve as witness. This Royal Villa has excellent views and is quiet, so you should find your stay quite comfortable.”
“Thank you for your consideration. That such a refined and dignified person is Sage’s adopted daughter is truly a blessing beyond measure.”
“Hey! Why would the Doctor say I’m beyond his measure? We’re both geniuses meeting—we’re perfectly matched!”
“You, be quiet.”
Well… I’ve never actually become Sage’s adopted daughter, but let’s just go with that.
I nodded along with their words and guided them to the Royal Villa. Magnus expressed concern about Yuri and Leon continuing to quarrel, but when I mentioned that children naturally grow through fighting, he seemed reassured.
“I was worried when Yuri insisted on coming along, but I’m relieved she seems to be making a friend her own age. She’s always been the type to follow only behind me…”
“This is quite fortunate. My younger sibling also has no friends their age. I’ve been concerned watching my grown child chase only after their older sister, so I hope Yuri and they become good friends.”
“Ah, truly, how did Sage ever meet such a wonderful person.”
Magnus wiped away the viscous green fluid flowing from his eyes, expressing deep emotion that just meeting me made the journey worthwhile. So that really is bodily fluid. Seeing even his tears are that color.
Though it might be rude to ask, I’d already suffered damage from that green substance, so I carefully inquired about his unusual constitution. Magnus explained it casually—during his childhood at the True Magic Tower, he’d fallen into a vat of magical potion created by another mage, and upon emerging, he’d simultaneously gained this constitution and become a water-attribute mage.
Hmm… that is truly… far too… Asterion!
“Rosaliiiiite!”
What’s wrong with that one now.
When we arrived at the villa’s gate, Janet stood there bare-chested, drenched in sweat, her shirt wrapped tightly around her torso, wielding a pickaxe. The scene was so unladylike that Magnus naturally averted his gaze, but she linked her arm through mine and forcibly dragged me forward.
“Come quickly! We need Rosalite’s strength one last time!”
What have these fools done to someone else’s private property now. Sighing, I followed Janet and found Jack Brown, Aster Brown, Lily, Violet, Camille, and Lien all gathered in one place.
In the brief moment I’d looked away, they’d created something extraordinary. Sigh… what excuse could I possibly give to the King.
“You lot. What is this.”
“A planned open-air bath, Young Lady.”
“The location seemed nice, so we thought it would be good to have one.”
“Aster insisted so hard—”
—that we stopped.
“That’s enough.”
“Lily coaxed us into coming, so we stopped.”
“The people from the Main Building were having so much fun, so we stopped.”
“Camille asked for help, so we stopped.”
Right. So while I wasn’t looking, they’d drilled holes into what looked like a massive boulder worthy of natural monument designation in front of someone else’s villa, installed steps, diverted water channels to create drainage systems, and even embedded what looked like rebar into the floor. Truly exemplary work.
“Listen up, all of you. Put your heads down.”
I rapped each child on the head before ordering Janet, Aster, and Jack to press their foreheads to the floor. Jack protested loudly about the unfairness of it all, but if those with real power hadn’t caused trouble in the first place, these children wouldn’t have gotten involved at all.
I kicked Jack as he continued whining and forced his head back down to the ground.
“You, Jack Brown. You should have stopped them. What if they cause even more damage? This is Royal property—how am I supposed to compensate for it?”
“Weren’t you planning to destroy it anyway before leaving?”
“When did I ever say that! I was just going to dispose of some trash and break a few things before we go!”
“That’s basically the same thing!”
“You impudent brat, always talking back!”

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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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