Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven: Meeting the Family 3 (Thor’s POV)
“Master Sieg, would you like to talk with me for a bit?”
“…I don’t mind, Thor. Let’s talk in my room.”
When mealtime ended, there was a break period. Tonight, they would be staying at the estate. And Thor had been told to visit Helfried after finishing his evening preparations. In other words, it was an invitation to speak frankly with each other in a disarmed state. Before that, Thor decided to talk with Sieg.
“Well then, Julius. I’m counting on you to look after Sis.”
“You can trust me with that.”
“Will you two be okay? Thor, make sure not to be rude to Master Sieg, okay?”
Looking displeased that Karen was only cautioning Thor, Sieg hid his sulky feelings behind a smile and said:
“Sister Karen, I’ll be magnanimous no matter what Thor says to me, so it’s fine.”
“Well, if the ever-so-grown-up Master Sieg promises that, then I can relax.”
Karen walked away with Julius, looking relieved. It seemed those two had their own things to sort out, so letting them be alone was what a younger brother should do.
Thor followed Sieg toward his room.
Whether it was trust or lax security at the estate, there were no servants in the room, nor any shadows standing guard. If this was a sign of trust, it wasn’t trust in Thor but trust in his sister Karen.
Thinking about it that way, Thor felt awkward about having provoked Sieg and roughly scratched his head.
“Ah, well…”
As Thor searched for words, Sieg spoke first.
“Sorry.”
“Wait, why are you apologizing, Master Sieg?”
Then, right in front of the startled Thor, a tear slipped from Sieg’s eye.
Thor panicked in alarm.
“Why are you crying!? No wait, it’s my fault, isn’t it!?”
“It’s not your fault. I, on my own…!”
Sieg seemed to be trying to hold back tears, and for that reason was biting his lip hard enough to nearly bite through it.
Instinctively, Thor checked the potions he carried. He should have brought a large healing potion.
“As Sister Karen’s younger brother, I wanted to beat you… I thought such a thing. Even though you’re an honored guest, I took a terrible attitude, I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no, no.”
While preparing to take it out in case of injury, Thor broke into a cold sweat.
“Honestly, I knew you guys were being kind to Sis. But part of me still thought you were nobles looking down on us commoners… so I ended up provoking you.”
Assuming the other side saw them as “mere commoners,” Thor had in turn dismissed them as “just nobles.”
“Part of me wanted to put you in your place because you’re a noble… But the only reason that taunt worked was that you genuinely care about Sis.”
Nobles sometimes tried to take in commoners. If that commoner had useful power, nobles skillfully executed this. And Karen had that useful power and the personality to give it away without limit to those she considered family.
There had undoubtedly been those who saw through that side of Karen and tried to worm their way close to her. But although he knew genuine feelings suited to the bond they were forming were certainly there, he couldn’t help but needle him anyway.
“Master Sieg, I’m the one who should apologize.”
At Thor’s bowed head, Sieg nodded with red eyes.
In the awkward silence that fell, Sieg eventually spoke.
“…Why do you address me like that?”
“Huh?”
“You call Uncle Julius just ‘Julius,’ yet you insist on calling me Master Sieg. Why?”
Thor scratched his cheek at Sieg’s bloodshot-eyed question.
“No matter what I say to Julius, his feelings for Sis won’t change, so it’s fine. Rather, if they’d change over something like this, I’d like him to exit stage immediately.”
“My feelings for Sister Karen won’t change, no matter what you call me, either.”
“Then I’ll call you Sieg.”
When Thor said this, also dropping the polite language, Sieg nodded while looking sulky.
“Well, that’s fine. You are Sister Karen’s younger brother after all.”
“But hey, Sis calls you ‘Master Sieg,’ right? Why just me?”
“I thought it would be too much to get ahead of Uncle Julius.”
“Huh?”
Recalling the interactions between Karen and Julius, Thor tilted his head.
“But if Sis plans to enter this noble house, won’t that way of addressing you stick forever? That’s why I’ve been putting on a polite front.”
“Who knows? It depends on what Sister Karen wants. Whatever path she chooses, I intend to support her.”
Even though the Ehlertt family surely had its own objectives, Sieg spoke calmly.
Seeing Sieg, Thor realized that the boy before him was truly Karen’s ally.
“…You’re a good younger brother.”
Sieg looked up as if startled, stared at Thor, then looked away bashfully.
“You’re a pretty good younger brother too. If Sister Karen had a B-rank adventurer as a younger brother, she could hold her head high. Unlike me, you’re strong, so you can protect her from various dangers.”
“But doesn’t Sis seem like the type who’ll make enemies even a B-rank adventurer can’t handle?”
“Ah…”
Sieg made a complicated face, and Thor gave a wry smile, realizing this brother also understood Karen well.
“That’s why I’m aiming to become an A-rank adventurer. Well, not just for Sis’s sake—I want it myself too. Anyway, while I’m gone, I’m counting on you to look after her, Sieg.”
“I can’t fight, though?”
“There are enemies that can only be dealt with by the authority of the next head of an earl’s house, right? The kind that a B-rank adventurer couldn’t handle if they attacked indirectly.”
Sieg narrowed his intelligent blue eyes and nodded with a serious expression.
“…That’s certainly true.”
“Let’s divide the roles.”
Thor grinned with dilated pupils.
“There are guys like Lyos in this world. I’m keeping quiet because Sis isn’t saying anything, but to protect her from guys like that, one younger brother isn’t enough.”
It was a fact that became clear as soon as he left the dungeon and talked with old acquaintances and friends in the royal capital of Earthfill.
Karen was probably trying to hide it to prevent Thor from retaliating. Remembering how things were in the dungeon, the relationship didn’t seem that bad, so Thor chose to stay silent, but if he got the chance, he intended to repay the favor.
Sieg narrowed his blue eyes and said with a cheerful smile:
“Crush Lyos? Our family hasn’t made a move so far, but if we wanted to, we could even kick him out of the Royal Knights.”
“Nah. Sis doesn’t like relying on people, but for some reason she thinks it’s fine to trouble Lyos as much as she wants. If possible, push him up to a position where she can work him like a mule. It’s annoying, though.”
“…Uncle Julius would probably hate that if he knew.”
Sieg, who was like a younger brother to Karen yet Julius’s nephew, looked conflicted.
Thor declared as purely Karen’s younger brother:
“It’s just right to make him think she might be snatched away from him if he neglects her even a little. That way, Julius will treasure Sis like a jewel, right? Actually, she is in high demand. Her junior disciple, whom she got recently, apparently likes her too.”
“Eh, what, I didn’t know that!? Uncle Julius probably doesn’t know either!?”
“Everyone who was at the alchemy workshop that time has tight lips, huh.”
The fact that the information hadn’t reached the Ehlertt family’s intelligence network likely meant exactly that. Thor, who intended to leave this place eventually, felt relieved at that fact.
“I’m putting Sis first no matter what, but what are you going to do, Sieg?”
“Hmm.”
Sieg’s hesitation lasted only a moment.
“Rather than everything in this world going Uncle Julius’s way, I feel like Uncle Julius would be happier if things went Sister Karen’s way, so I’ll put her first as well.”
“Julius does seem like he has some wishy-washy parts.”
“Despite how he looks, he’s surprisingly delicate.”
Thor raised his fist. Seeing it, Sieg widened his eyes in surprise. Thor, a commoner who usually conformed to noble customs, decided for once to do things his own way—or, tracing it back, Karen’s way.
According to Karen, it was called a high-five. Karen was a palm person, but Thor was a fist person.
Thor took Sieg’s right hand without permission and lifted it, then made him grip it into a fist. Bumping his own fist against it, Thor grinned.
“Looking forward to working with you, Sieg.”
“Y-Yes, looking forward to it, Thor! …Big Brother.”
Thor ruffled the head of Sieg, who had added that in a very small voice. The moment Sieg shouted "Stop it! Thor!" with a red face, the maids came tumbling into the room.
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