The Start of a Heart-Pounding Adventure?! (2) A Strange Man
Ruman made a disapproving face.
“Hey. Temarr… Isn’t your brother a minor?”
“?”
Temarr hyung looked at Ruman while tearing at his meat. As if asking what that had to do with anything.
Right. What does that have to do with it?
I looked at Ruman while chewing on the meat that wouldn’t tear easily.
“Hyung! Tell me quickly!”
“Haa.”
Adventure! The start of an adventure is an incident!! My mood, which had been completely dead from carriage sickness, came alive!
We’ll meet bandits! Find treasure!! Maybe we’ll even meet a Dragon? Can I join hyung’s Hero group too?! Then it’s fine if some ogre-like princess from some country gets kidnapped later! I can just go along!
When I grabbed and shook hyung’s clothes, hyung removed my hand.
What… making me feel distant again.
“Is someone dying funny to you?”
“…I never said it was funny, okay? Can’t I just ask?”
It was a mistake.
I just… No. I was wrong.
“Why are you so angry? What did I do wrong!”
“Ren.”
Argh! This damn mouth!
I know I was wrong too. That’s why even as I stubbornly insisted, my voice crawled lower.
It sounded like a stubborn person’s tantrum. So to Ruman and hyung’s ears, it must have sounded even more like that… I just need to apologize, but I really didn’t want to.
Do you have to say it like that… Just, you could just tell me to be careful with my words. Why, when hyung is here, are you humiliating me in front of hyung! I absolutely don’t want to lose!
I glared fiercely at Ruman’s golden eyes. Even while thinking that Ruman might slap my cheek. However, Ruman opened his mouth with his habitual smile.
While poking Temarr hyung’s neck with his scabbard.
“Why are you poking someone else’s hyung!”
“We didn’t come here for some adventure. Temarr is heading to the capital bearing the duty of a Hero, and Ren, strictly speaking, you’re ‘baggage.'”
“……!”
Baggage.
I ended up hearing the words I least wanted to hear.
Hyung. Am I baggage? No, right? Then why did you ask me to come with you?
I was so upset I couldn’t speak. I widened my eyes because I felt like I might cry.
Don’t cry, like an idiot…! If I cry here, I’ll look like a whining child! I’m not baggage! Hyung asked me to come!
No, I know I’m baggage too. But hyung, please say I’m not. I’ll be more careful from now on. Okay? That way I’ll feel less embarrassed. Please.
“We can’t overlook everything just because you’re young. Even if you’re Temarr’s brother.”
Ruman spoke coldly and sharply.
What’s with that lecturing tone?
It wasn’t a reproachful tone nor was he being overbearing, but Ruman’s words hurt me. Those are the words I hate hearing most.
I’ve never once been given consideration for being young. I’ve! never received anything good for being a Hero’s brother!
Then why do people always bring up Temarr hyung when scolding me?
I never thought Ruman would say something like that.
Really, I’m funny too. How long have I known this person, what did I trust to have such half-hearted goodwill? After saying with my own mouth that I don’t like forming shallow bonds. Idiot Ren. Stupid Ren.
More than that, hyung. Is hyung not saying anything again?
Hyung’s mouth was firmly shut in a straight line. Not even a breath could be heard through the gap between his thick lips.
So annoying.
“You could get seriously hurt doing that, so be careful. Gosh, here I am giving a lecture.”
I didn’t even hear Ruman’s following words.
Like hyung, I also firmly shut my mouth and chewed only the innocent meat.
It’s tough, tasteless. Absolutely the worst.
Ptui!
I spat out the meat and scraped dirt over with my foot to bury it.
Huh. Were you watching?
Hyung’s gaze was fierce.
Wasting food is something only bad people do. Why did I do that… I’m beyond help. If I dust it off and eat it again, can I cancel being a bad person? I slyly watched hyung’s reaction while digging through the dirt. But Ruman turned hyung’s gaze away and gestured for me to leave it.
“So? What about the corpse?”
“Assassination Guild.”
What, earlier you gave signals not to talk about it.
I kept digging through the dirt when Ruman stood up and stood in front of me! On the ground where I spat out the meat!
“Why all the way here?”
Even when I tapped Ruman’s foot, he didn’t budge.
Damn it. Hyung! Just let the food waste thing slide this once… The dirt might be clean but Ruman’s shoes must be dirty!
“There were carriage wheel tracks. From the traces, it seems to be from today. Looks like they were chased and dealt with by the escort.”
Hyung threw the completely stripped skewer into the campfire.
The flames shot up toward the sky and burned fiercely.
“Hmm.”
Ruman seemed to have an idea.
He stroked his chin lost in thought, then turned his gaze and met my eyes.
Achoo! Achoo!
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah! I’m fine.”
Hehe. I’m fine if hyung worries about me!
I rubbed my nose while holding back my cough.
The snot on my finger stretched long. Ew, gross. I rubbed my hand on the dirt ground.
Hyung quickly turned his attention away from me and looked around, narrowing his eyebrows as if searching the surroundings.
Do you see something? Even when I turned my head following hyung, I could only see trees soaked in darkness like shadows.
“Do you know something?”
“There was a rumor going around the capital.”
As Ruman drew out his words saying “What was it,” he took something out from his chest.
“What is it?”
“Newspaper.”
Hyung swiftly caught the paper Ruman threw and unfolded the scrap. Hyung’s eyes reading the newspaper became serious.
What is it, I’m curious too! But I couldn’t join in. I was embarrassed and my pride was hurt from being scolded earlier.
I’m fine without it.
But I kept my ears wide open.
Ruman looked at me and snickered, then sat between hyung and me.
“Duke Ganien passed away, they say. So the Duke’s daughter is hastily returning to the capital estate, it’s obvious. They’re saying the collateral branch aiming for the dukedom might have made a move.”
“I see. Could it be the Duke’s daughter?”
“Such coincidences aren’t common.”
Ruman put the paper Temarr handed back into his chest.
“They say he died of illness but that’s not certain either. Since Duke Ganien’s only child is his daughter. So everyone’s attention is focused on who will inherit that enormous fortune and the dukedom. It won’t be easy to make a move, but the one who set up the board seems to have surprisingly big guts.”
“You’re not involved, are you?”
Jackpot! Really?
I was pretending not to be interested while listening, but at hyung’s words I was so startled I raised my head.
Whether it was “huh” or “hoot,” Ruman let out a laugh seeing me like that. Hyung’s gaze also rested on me.
“Phew. I don’t get involved in troublesome matters.”
“If there’s profit, you don’t discriminate. Ruman, do I not know you?”
Are they fighting?
I was surprised by hyung’s sharp words and checked their expressions, but it didn’t particularly seem like it.
It was an attitude of stating facts, and Ruman seemed to take it that way too.
“Haha. But still, getting involved in the Duke’s daughter’s case would mean losing too much. Being meticulous doesn’t suit me.”
Ruman’s laughter was clear and unexpectedly high.
When he laughed, his platinum hair burned white followed along his shoulders and swayed.
What… They must be really close.
Even hyung’s eyes seemed to have laughter in them.
Even though they seem to be talking about old stories of Ruman causing trouble, he’s laughing? That means they’ve built up enough time to laugh it off. They have enough affection that such things don’t matter… What.
This feeling. I really hate it…
“Achoo! Achoo! Damn…”
Why do I keep coughing? Why does the snot keep coming out too? Damn body.
My head was also gradually getting heavy, it seemed like I was getting a fever.
“I’m fine. Take your hand away.”
“You seem to have a fever.”
What, when did you come again? Ruman put his hand on my forehead and tilted his head.
“Move.”
“Huh~”
Hyung pushed Ruman aside and sat in front of me.
Warm, gentle-colored eyes.
With those eyes, hyung always only said no…
“Ren. Are you okay? Does it hurt somewhere? Do you perhaps have an illness?”
“…No, thing. It’s just cold.”
“Haha. Temarr! If you’re sick, it’s all illness? This is the problem with Heroes.”
“You’re no different. Ruman.”
“Hmm~ Should I boil some soup? What to do, today won’t work. You’ll have to endure until tomorrow, Ren?”
“…Well. Ren is a normal person after all.”
Ruman smiled annoyingly.
I can totally endure it, you know?
My heart that had sunk for a moment beat anxiously.
I again… No, did I want to be acknowledged? So what if hyung knows about my illness? It’ll only hurt his heart. I’m really terrible too. Wishing for hyung’s heart to hurt…
When I shook my head vigorously, hyung asked in an even more gentle voice, “Does it hurt a lot?”
“It doesn’t hurt! I don’t hurt! I’m strong!”
I’ll be strong! I’ll throw away weak feelings and such. I can endure this kind of illness perfectly fine by myself. I won’t hurt hyung’s heart with something like this!
I lifted my head sharply and bumped hyung’s chin and my head hard enough to make an “Agh!” sound, then clutched my head making groaning sounds from a different kind of headache.
But unfairly, hyung had a perfectly fine face.
“Your head didn’t crack, did it?”
Saying such things! Hyung might have a stone head.
“Ren, tell me right away if you’re hurting.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Dark eyes looked at me with concern.
The hand stroking my head was really, truly gentle. I became sulky again. Why are you suddenly being gentle? I really don’t understand hyung.
I was hugging my knees while sighing and wearing the jacket Ruman took off for me, when I heard signs of someone.
‘If I can hear it, hyung and Ruman must have heard it too, right?’
The two had already stood up at some point, holding swords in their hands and looking toward where the sound was coming from.
I could also hear the faint neighing of a horse.
“Excuse me. I apologize for this, but… would it be possible to share the fire?”
What poked its head out from the darkness was a man with gentle-looking eyes who had brought a carriage.
