“I will give you the position of family head.”
Yeriel was struck speechless. Those impudent lips that had been hurling curses in her older brother’s face came to a halt.
Her eyes blinked, her mouth opened and closed, and the little breaths she kept swallowing back as she tried to say something were adorable.
“Bull, you’re bullshitting me!”
Yeriel finally spat the words out as though chewing them up.
“That manner of speech is uncultured.”
“......You’re lying!”
“A little better.”
“......See? You are lying!”
I shook my head at Yeriel, who showed no sign of believing me.
“I do not speak falsehoods.”
“!”
Only then did the child’s hands begin to tremble. Her eyes swept the room as if searching for something.
“A pen, where’s a pen and paper? A written pledge, write a written pledge, hurry.”
“You have no dignity.”
“See?”
Before she could point at me and say, You’re lying! I cut her off smoothly.
“Let us make a covenant instead.”
“......”
A covenant.
For a mage, a covenant is something rather special. Simply put, it is the act of engraving a vow into one’s heart or skull, much like memorizing a spell.
If broken, one dies or loses one’s mana.
“Really, you really mean it?”
“Yes.”
“No, that doesn’t make sense. Why? Why all of a sudden?”
I could not very well say, To placate your fury and eliminate the “death variable” both now and in the future.
So from Yeriel’s perspective, this must have seemed unbelievably abrupt.
However, it was a position I would have handed over someday anyway, so I merely had to fabricate a reason and attach it.
“From now on, I intend to devote myself to the Magic Tower and magical research. I will have no time to act as family head, and you must already be reasonably proficient as a lord by now.”
“You only realized that now?”
“I have known since long ago. I was merely testing you.”
At that, Yeriel flinched as if wondering whether that was true, but she soon shook her head and shouted sharply.
“Testing, my foot! I was the one testing you!”
“If you do not wish to believe me, you need not.”
“......”
Yeriel wet her parched lips with her tongue. Then, still in a deeply suspicious tone, she asked slowly.
“Then...... when are you going to hold the succession ceremony...... sir?”
The way she stuck her tongue out at the very end was adorable. She truly seemed like a younger sister.
Of course, I had naturally not thought about the succession ceremony at all. I merely answered as if glossing over it.
“You would know the proper time better than I.”
Fortunately, Yeriel seemed to have something in mind and nodded gravely.
“Three years from now. The Day of Exception.”
“......”
I have no idea what that is, but since she is being so serious, I should just go along with it for now.
“In that case......”
Yeriel thought for a while, then gathered the things she had brought with her.
There was a knife and a pistol on the bed. It seemed she had intended to do something along the lines of, I’ll kill you today and go to hell.
“Do you intend to return immediately?”
“Of course I do! Someone burned two hundred million at an auction, so I have to hurry back and clean it up.”
She was still snapping, but the sparks that had been flying from her voice had already died down.
Well, the position of family head of Yukline far surpassed a mere two hundred million.
Yukline’s territory, the entire region known as “Hakedia,” was fertile land counted among the finest on the continent. Its location was the textbook example of having mountains behind and water before it, fit to be called the most precious golden yolk after the Imperial Capital, and its political position was absurdly good as well.
It was not so close to the Imperial Capital that the imperial family’s checks could fully reach it, yet not so far that exchange between them became difficult.
Thanks to such advantages, it had developed and developed again, becoming one of the few great territories to host both a regional Magic Tower and a regional knight order.
The only houses that could perhaps compare were Iliade and Levairon, but Iliade was somewhat lacking in land area, while Levairon was too far from the Imperial Capital.
To become the master of such a Yukline meant, in other words—
To stand in a position beneath one and above ten thousand.
“Oh, right. You.”
Yeriel, who had been about to leave in a hurry, spoke from in front of the door.
“Don’t even think about taking it back later.”
“‘You’?”
“......The reason I’m not insisting on a covenant is because of the bare minimum of trust...... sir.”
Yeriel ended her sentence like that and went out the door.
No, she was about to go out, then stopped.
“If this is a lie, then even I don’t know what’ll happen...... sir.”
The “sir” at the end was almost silent.
“It’ll be all or nothing. Got it? Everyone in our territory already regards me as the lord.”
I know. I know it all too well.
They are retainers who love Yeriel so excessively that they would put poison in my food or drink on their own initiative, or at Yeriel’s instigation.
“Trust me. It is not a lie.”
“......Hmph.”
Yeriel busied herself putting the dagger and gun into her bag. Then, as she was about to go outside, she paused and looked back.
“......”
She stared at me wordlessly.
I did not avoid her gaze and met it head-on.
After a long staring contest, Yeriel grasped the doorknob. She seemed as though she would leave just like that, but then she looked back again.
“I don’t trust you, and I’m still suspicious. So—”
“Let us make the covenant immediately.”
“......I don’t need it.”
With a face that was clearly holding back a smile, Yeriel opened the door.
Thus, pouting, Yeriel was about to leave for real this time, but......
“Yeriel.”
I stopped her.
Yeriel halted in front of the stairs and looked back at me. Her face asked why I was calling her. It was also the face of someone afraid I might take back what I had said.
“......What?”
I did not know what I ought to say here. In the first place, it was not as if I had not called her to a stop on pure impulse.
However, I am not satisfied with merely eliminating a “death variable.” I want to go one step further than that.
I will not use the system-like 「Personality」 as an excuse to live like Deculein. 「Personality」 certainly binds me, but it is not a shackle that is impossible to overcome.
Therefore, at the very least, in order to reach the end of this world.
In order for me to stand upright as Kim Woojin rather than Deculein.
I must “personally” change the relationships that Deculein has already twisted......
“You must be hungry after coming all this way. Have a meal before you go.”
......Even as I said it, chills rose along my back. It was the rejection reaction of the personality itself.
Yeriel seemed to feel the same, as her shoulders twitched. Her wide pupils shook this way and that as though she had seen a ghost.
I had gathered my courage in my own way and said it as kindly as I could.
“N-no thanks! I said no! Don’t suddenly say weird things! I told you I have to hurry back, what are you even saying......”
Yeriel shrieked, then clomp, clomp, clomp—! hurried down the stairs like some elementary schooler running away.
—I’m leaving! Get the carriage ready!
Before long, Yeriel’s shout rang out from the first floor.
“Hm.”
[ Fate of the Villain: Death Variable Overcome ]
And as a reward for overcoming the death variable, I obtained shop currency.
The total amount of shop currency was now 6 won. I could now access the “System Shop.”
However......
“......What a mess.”
I am in no state of mind for that.
In terms of time, it had probably only been about fifteen minutes.
Yet had some storm swept through and gone?
I closed the wide-open door and stretched my arm into the air.
Whoosh— Just as I was about to sit in the chair with the wine and glass that had flown into my hand through psychokinesis.
“How fascinating.”
An unfamiliar voice drifted in from somewhere.
I was flustered, but I was not flustered.
Again, no matter how startled I may be inside, this body never shows it on the outside. It is a strange yet rather efficient trait.
“......I only came by on a whim, you see.”
A slender voice continued.
Soon, a fragrance drifted in from the window frame illuminated by moonlight.
I turned my gaze there.
“To think something like this was happening.”
A beauty with red hair carelessly let down, Ganesha.
She looked at me with a playful smile. I furrowed my brow slightly and said,
“You are an uninvited guest, Ganesha.”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, but...... Professor, you’re handing over the position of family head? Are you really, truly trying to change?”
Why is this adventurer so interested in another family’s affairs? Ah, of course, Yukline is not my family, strictly speaking.
I replied calmly.
“I merely judged that she would do better than I.”
“Really? No, even so...... even so, you know.”
Still sunk in doubt, Ganesha murmured.
“She isn’t your biological sister.”
“......”
She is not my biological sister.
For a moment I was taken aback, but since Yeriel was, according to the setting, my half-sister, it was true in a way.
“That child doesn’t have even a single drop of Yukline blood mixed in her.”
“......”
Not even a single drop of Yukline blood.
I do not know what she means by that.
......What is this?
I do not think there was a setting like this.
When was it added?
Or could this have been the little twist the writer mentioned?
“Is that really all right?”
At times like this, Deculein’s personality is truly a relief.
No matter how shocking the words I hear, even if someone presses a knife tight against my throat, I do not shed even a single common bead of cold sweat.
“You were the one who first requested it from us, Professor. The biological distinction between you and your sister......”
So that was the situation.
I looked at Ganesha without a word. Ganesha was wearing an innocent smile.
“Didn’t I have a subordinate inform you three months ago?”
I chose my words in my head.
Several words repeatedly formed sentences with one another, then broke apart.
Buzz— buzz— buzz—
Letters flew between my left and right hemispheres.
......In truth, I had no obligation to say anything.
I did not have to say anything to Ganesha.
However, I did not want to lose Yeriel as family head over something like this.
Therefore, I had to silence Ganesha.
“Even if that is so......”
Words I somehow, anyhow, spun out for that purpose.
“......Yeriel is still Yeriel.”
The reason that there was no reason.
“......”
A brief silence flowed by, and then came the sound of someone’s breath catching.
It was an exclamation from Ganesha.
She was looking at me with wide eyes.
“Wow.”
Ganesha swept back her bangs. Goosebumps had risen on the back of her hand.
“I never thought you’d say something like that, Professor......”
I never thought I would either. It was a setting I had known absolutely nothing about.
“All right. I’ll definitely keep it a secret!”
While I was left floating, Ganesha clamped her mouth shut and clenched both hands. It was cutely girlish, unfittingly so.
“Oh, and I’ll tell you this too. You see, Professor. Their attention has been drawn to you. The Yuksadu, you know them, right?”
The Yuksadu, the Six Serpent Heads.
It refers to the leaders of a criminal organization whose infamy resounds even across the continent. A bounty of nearly tens of millions is placed on each one of their heads.
“They’re aiming for the items you bought at the auction. Luten will, of course, handle the delivery properly. It would be utterly humiliating for them too if auction goods were stolen. But be careful when those items arrive at your mansion.”
Ganesha raised her index finger.
“I’m not saying this for nothing. Lately, it seems you haven’t been maintaining your magical defenses at all, Professor. They’re far too lax. You should replace the vault with a better one, and rebuild the mansion’s magical security system as firmly as it used to be.”
“......Understood.”
Having said that much, Ganesha brought her hands together with a clap.
“And about today, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but...... I’ll make sure this never happens again.”
“......Ganesha.”
I called her name. With unwavering eyes, I looked at her face.
“Yes? What is it?”
“If, by any chance, there is someone aiming for Yeriel......”
It was out of concern.
If Deculein from three months ago had tried to do something to Yeriel. If he had harbored some malicious intent I did not know about.
I had to ask Ganesha to take on a request that would smooth it over.
“Ah—”
At that, Ganesha smiled softly, somehow like the moonlight. Its mysteriousness left me speechless for a moment.
“......Don’t worry. Such a thing won’t happen.”
Whoooooosh—
The wind blew.
The curtains fluttered, covering the window frame where Ganesha had been leaning.
Soon, the wind ceased.
Ganesha was gone.
“......Ha.”
Immediately after, my upright posture collapsed for the first time. I swept my hair back carelessly.
Yeriel.
I thought she was his half-sister, but she wasn’t even blood kin.
I clasped the back of my neck with both hands. Then I looked up at the ceiling.
“...That was a fact I truly didn’t need to know.”
I truly did not need to know it.
Because knowing changed nothing.
Thinking about it, it was not much of a twist for me. No, it was a twist, but it was not that “big” of a deal.
To begin with, I am not Deculein, so whether Yeriel is Deculein’s biological younger sister or not, that fact alone would not change my attitude.
So, let us keep it hidden.
To me, Yeriel is still Deculein’s younger sister.
A younger sister I feel strangely fond of.
A cute child.
Ganesha is tight-lipped, so this secret will be kept for a long time...
* * *
Meanwhile, on the roof of a residential district near the imperial capital.
“Professor... something about him has changed a lot. Did he become a different person? Or... is someone wearing the professor’s mask?”
Ganesha sat carelessly on the slanted red bricks, recalling the scene from moments ago.
It had been an extremely impressive drama, one she likely would not forget for quite some time.
“Indeed. That professor has a human side to him after all.”
Her subordinate, Rohan, answered.
“Right? I guess this is why people go on about bad boys. A man who spent his whole life doing doglike things says one pretty thing, and suddenly he looks really cool.”
“...It’s just because he’s handsome. The whole world knows you’re an enormous sucker for pretty faces, Captain. You accepted the first mission because of his face too.”
“You’re ugly, so should I tear your face off? Back then, we were short on money, all right? When your creditor tells you to take a job, what are you supposed to do?”
Right now, Ganesha was with her adventure troupe.
The “Red Garnet Adventure Troupe,” with five members in total, consisted of three men and two women, but one of the women had gone a long way off to reserve their lodgings.
“Oh, right. You all know this is an absolute secret, don’t you? This kind of secret is something you keep your mouth shut about until the day you die. Revealing it means betraying the trust of an adventurer. You won’t be my comrade anymore, so I’ll kill you with my own hands.”
“Of course. We’re human too. If we revealed it, we’d be dogs. Dogs.”
“Dozmu? You answer too.”
The hooded man called Dozmu let out a yawn and nodded.
“Honestly...”
Ganesha narrowed her eyes at that insolent subordinate, then soon turned her gaze toward the distant Yukline mansion.
All the windows were already covered by curtains, but the side Deculein had shown there was truly charming. So very human.
The way he had murmured, almost like reciting a poem, that Yeriel was still Yeriel...
...In the past, she would have naturally dismissed it as a laughable act.
But Deculein had promised Yeriel the position of “Head of House,” no less.
No matter what, to make a child who had absolutely nothing to do with the Yukline bloodline the head of the house.
It was a decision even she, who prided herself on being progressive, could not have made.
“...Anyway, now I don’t think we need to be wary of Deculein. He doesn’t seem obsessed with the ‘children’ either.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Then, slowly... what has that one been doing since earlier?”
Ganesha looked at a wild boar hugging the chimney on the roof and sobbing loudly.
Rohan answered.
“He is crying.”
“I know that. We’re looking at the same thing, aren’t we?”
“He says it was moving, so he is crying.”
“...Sigh. Built like a bandit, and yet.”
With a sigh, Ganesha lay down on the roof and looked up at the sky, dark and bright at once.
The moon was especially large today. The wind was clear and cool. The scenery was faint, as though it might vanish at any moment.
The reason she had gone out of her way to find Deculein—no, the reason she had been watching him all this time—
was to confirm whether he still had lingering attachment to the “Talent of the Archipelago.”
Of course, she had not been able to ask him directly whether he was “still looking for magic slaves.” Depending on his answer, she might have had to make Deculein her enemy.
But...
Deculein seemed to have decided to change in many ways.
She did not know what had brought about that change of heart, but it was not such a bad thing.
“What did Reilly say? Did she secure a place for us to stay with the kids?”
Soon, those children would arrive by boat.
Ganesha was both looking forward to that moment and worried about it.
To stand against “those bastards,” they needed the children’s talent, but if the purpose of training the children was ultimately “war,” was that the right choice?
From a strictly moral perspective, it was not.
Because they were still young children.
But if, once those children grew up, they could save dozens, hundreds, even tens of millions of lives—
then it could clearly be called a righteous cause.
“Yes. That is why we have no money.”
Rohan spoke. In that instant, a vein at Ganesha’s temple popped.
“What? Oh, don’t give me that shit.”
“It’s true.”
“No, why the hell do we only run a deficit no matter how many missions we do? Did you embezzle it? Tell me straight.”
“The Deculein mission. We canceled that ourselves and paid an enormous sum in compensation, didn’t we?”
“Oh, right.”
Tch. Ganesha clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“Sigh... then, kids. Let’s head back now.”
“Yes. Everyone, gather close.”
Rohan called the boar and Dozmu.
They huddled together in one place like rice balls, and after Rohan tapped something with a thump-thump-thump, the four soon became blue particles and were “transmitted” somewhere.