Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 263

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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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#Side Story: The Long Shifts Make for Weary Men

There are three kinds of criminals in this world: those who break the law, those who flee from its grasp, and those who write it. For what it’s worth, my wife has done all three.
I hold the title of Security Chief, yet I find myself bound to a super-criminal wife—a situation both unsettling and deeply contradictory. Though to be fair, this cushy position was a gift from Rosalite herself, so I’ve no right to complain.
Still, a hollow feeling gnawed at me as I drew on my water pipe, perched atop an I-beam in the Redevelopment Zone’s open field.
Born and raised in Largol, I’d climbed to the Crown Prince’s side, only to lose both status and nationality before fleeing to Rocksburg six years ago. Time had slipped away like sand through fingers. I couldn’t even say how it had passed. Especially when Marie and Lily first came into the world—my back felt as though it might snap from the weight of it all.
There were so many crises then, and the twins never left my chest, so I barely managed to make use of the Nanny I’d hired. Looking back, she possessed muscles so rigid they offered little cushion for holding infants.
Rosalite was consumed with the Duke’s duties, while Marie and Lily would sleep for an hour, wake demanding their bottles, sleep another hour, then cry for softness. So I spent most of my time at the Security Bureau.
One could say Janet and I raised Marie and Lily together. We each held one child while conducting our work, and since the boys preferred my embrace, they’d wear displeased expressions whenever they had to settle for Janet’s arms, as if doing her a reluctant favor.
Without Deputy Chief Janet, I’d have been performing circus acts—juggling children in my arms, carrying them on my back—while trying to work. I made the right call dragging her to the Security Bureau when she showed up in Rocksburg with her résumé in hand.
Rosalite and Gazelle wanted to help too, but they lacked the necessary softness to be of use, so the boys rejected them outright. My brother-in-law at least cleared the threshold where the children didn’t cry, but for some reason they grew irritable around him, so he was excluded from childcare duties.
One way or another, the boys eventually forgot their newborn obsession with softness and grew robust and wild. Now they run rather than walk, and their mischief has given the Brown Family headaches.
Well, I couldn’t fault them for it. Had I been in Marie and Lily’s position, I’d have chased down those Brown children and played rough with them too. After all, how could you not find it fascinating—seven children who look identical?
I’d thought those boys would never marry, their temperaments being so peculiar, but then Will Brown took up with a Maidservant named Becky from Crowley—and they bonded over the strangest things: a mole beneath the eye, an obsession with black clothing, disturbing diary entries—and married in haste, producing two children in quick succession.
Then Jean Brown, who’d been stationed in Diamond Territory, brought his wife to Ling Ling Obstetrics Clinic and fathered quintuplets. Two parents alone couldn’t manage five children, and returning to Diamond Territory would have meant the children becoming playthings for the Diamond nobles, so they simply settled in Rocksburg.
As a result, the Mansion now teemed with children. Seven bearing the Brown name, plus Eri, Lily, Marie, and Yudi—eleven in total. A soccer team, practically.
Rocksburg folk are extreme. Truly, utterly extreme.
“Phew….”
White smoke curled from my lips as I exhaled, and my chest opened wide. I’d been smoking and exhaling repeatedly when I suddenly noticed a child peering at me from around the alley corner.
“You there, little one. What’s the matter?”
The child had hidden once, only to be shoved forward by the others behind, revealing a clever-looking face with hair the color of neither brown nor gold, arranged in tight spirals like a drill. The child looked exactly like a villainous young lady from a storybook read to children—the kind who laughed with that distinctive “ohohoho.” Rosalite did an excellent impression of that laugh.
“Well, you see…, mister.”
“What.”
I took another drag and answered the child’s call. At my age with two children to my name, “mister” was fitting enough.
“Are you unemployed, mister?”
I mimicked Rosalite and drew in a long breath through my nose. This little one looked mischievous and spoke mischievously to match. I gestured with my hand to summon the drill-haired villain girl, who looked ready to spin away at any moment.
“Little one. Come here a moment.”
“You’re unemployed, aren’t you? You’re here every day at this time. My father says people who play during the day are unemployed.”
I swung my pipe at the chattering drill-haired child and struck her head with a sharp tap.
“Ow!”
“I’m not unemployed.”
“You getting mad proves you’re unemployed!”
“I’m not unemployed.”
The drill-haired child huffed at me and pointed to her companions hiding behind the alley. Apparently, she was the leader of this group.
“You keep coming here, so we have nowhere to play! This was our territory!”
“Rocksburg holds the redevelopment rights to this land.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about at all!”
“Ooh.”
For a child who looked to be around ten years old, she certainly knew some rather sophisticated vocabulary. I clapped my hands in appreciation, and Drill threw a tantrum, kicking at me with all her might.
“A grown adult shouldn’t steal children’s playground! Go get a job!”
“I’m not unemployed.”
“Rocksburg Territory has great employment support! We can just go to the Administrative Center together right now!”
“I’m not unemployed.”
Desperate to reclaim their playground, the little one grabbed my clothes and dragged me forward with all her strength, whimpering. Hahaha, this kid Drill was hilarious. I had to admit, coming to Rocksburg meant plenty of reasons to laugh.
“Hahahaha.”
“Stop laughing! If you keep this up, you won’t be able to pay taxes and you’ll be kicked out of the Territory!”
“There’s no playground around here, is there? Construction sites are too dangerous for children.”
“In a poor neighborhood, what kind of grand facilities would there be? We just find empty fields to play in.”
“Hmm.”
Rosalite may be obsessed with money, but she takes good care of the residents’ welfare. That’s strange. Is it because this is a redevelopment zone? When I get home, maybe I should tell her to pay more attention to the poor people’s circumstances.
If I said something I normally wouldn’t, I could already picture the horrified expression she’d make, wondering if I’d picked up something strange while working. I was stifling my laughter, shoulders trembling, when little Drill made an expression similar to Rosalite’s.
“Mister. Have you lost your mind from playing too long?”
“I’m not unemployed.”
“That’s why we should escape unemployment today!”
This kid had a master-level skill at ignoring what people said. Somehow, the Alein Royal Family came to mind, so I obediently put away my water pipe and followed the little one. The Security Bureau runs fine without me. My subordinates just get ground down, that’s all.
I checked my pocket watch and confirmed that my break time had ended. I surrendered myself peacefully to Drill’s whims. From now on, it’s not Security Chief time—it’s Duke’s Consort time. Taking care of the residents is also the Duke’s Consort’s duty. Hahahaha.
“Here! This is our neighborhood’s Administrative Center!”
The building and signage certainly looked outdated. The newly developed new city district was absolutely sparkling, and the Administrative Center even had a Masujung crystal embedded where the name was written, so it glowed brilliantly at night.
Now that I looked around, the surrounding buildings were shabby compared to those near the Rocksburg Mansion, and the children’s clothes looked worn. Though the beautiful villainess in front of me was wearing expensive-looking clothes. She seemed to be the richest in the area and acted as the leader, but… that was strange. Why would a kid like this live in a redevelopment zone?
“Hurry! This is where they help with employment!”
Moreover, judging by how much she knew about various things and the rather difficult words she used, she seemed to have received proper education at school.
Hmm… I had a suspicion about something… This was getting interesting.
I was dragged along by Drill and started filling out a resume. I wrote my name simply as Lucius, then my age, my residence as Rocksburg Territory, and my final education level…
“…”
“Oh!”
I’d never attended school, so what was I supposed to do about this? As I hesitated at the education field, the little one seemed to have misunderstood something and covered her eyes with both hands.
“Mister, hurry and write! I’ll keep my eyes shut tight! And my dad said that discriminating against people based on education is wrong!”
Yes, you little villainess certainly received good family education. Finding her consideration amusing, I chuckled and marked an X in the education field.
“I’ve never attended school.”
“Gasp!”
I was dying trying to hold back my laughter. The little one looked so sorry for me that I trembled with suppressed mirth and wrote down miscellaneous experience. What could I list… Alein language, Cerepia language, tank operation, rear support during the Masujung Mine occupation war, vanguard in the Iris invasion.
“Wow! Mister, you’ve been to war?!”
“Many times.”
“Then you’ll find a job quickly! I’ll tell my dad and get this processed right away!”
“Your father’s a civil servant?”
“My dad works at the Security Bureau!”
As I thought. A civil servant after all. And it seems he holds quite an important position, judging by how quickly he seized this lucrative opportunity.
I made my way to the Administrative Center’s service counter, tapped it twice, and asked them to deliver a note to the director. Rosalite and Gazelle were in for some brutal overtime soon enough.
“Mister, when you get hired at the Security Bureau, please mention my father’s name! I’ve heard you need to build connections from the start!”
“What’s your father’s name?”
“Amram Amber!”
“Oh, so your surname is Amber then.”
“I’m Miriam Amber!”
“I’m Lucius.”
“Mister, you’re unemployed but you have such a cool name!”
“I’m not unemployed.”
After receiving encouragement from Miriam not to lose hope even if I couldn’t find work immediately, I obtained a twin popsicle that split into two halves, then climbed the stairs to the second floor of the Administrative Center. The director, having been notified in advance, was already waiting at the corridor entrance with a deep bow.

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After finishing that business and returning to the Mansion, everyone bearing the Rocksburg name at the dinner table immediately began harassing me. They spouted nonsense about how public officials could barely scrape together a few coins from their meager salaries—so why would I deliberately stir up trouble and create work? They sounded like corrupt officials themselves.
When I responded with calm composure, the previous Duke and the current Duke stopped their barking and asked me directly.
“If you continue spouting such nonsense, I’ll have you revise your toy acquisition budget while you’re at it.”
“I’m fine with that, Lucilucil. I thought it was about time to stir up some trouble anyway.”
If you really thought that, then stop stepping on my big toe with your shoe. I’m wearing indoor slippers and it hurts.
“Rosalite. I’m in quite a bit of pain.”
“Good heavens, what on earth? Why are you suddenly complaining of pain? Isn’t it just old age catching up with you, Lucilucil?”
Just you wait, Rosalite. We’ll settle this later.
I clenched my lower lip and spoke in a low voice. I wondered—after I finished speaking, would they still dare to harass me?

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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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