Chapter 21 - Divorce Ceremony (3)

I was about to go straight to my hometown where the divorce ceremony would be held.

"Brother, take this with you."

"What is this?"

"It's a charm. With this, the goddess will surely protect you."

"Thank you. I'll keep it with me."

Levia handed me a charm. I accepted it. 

Will this really be helpful?

I wasn’t sure about that, but having it was probably better than not having it.

"Come back safely."

"Yes, I'll return safely. Please take good care of Eleana."

Levia waved her hand at me. I waved back and set off towards my hometown, leaving the village.

To be honest, I wasn’t worried about the divorce ceremony itself.

After all, Kailyn was preparing it. I just needed to say we didn't love each other anymore in a moderately prepared place. I didn't think there was anything special about it.

However, that didn’t mean I have no worries.

I'll have to see her when I go to my hometown...

Actually, going to my hometown itself was a problem for me. There was someone in my hometown that I found very uncomfortable to deal with. Now I had to meet that person...

I have to go though...

But I couldn't avoid seeing her forever. I thought I should meet her this time.

So who was this person? 

The identity of this person was... my younger sister.

"Brother. It's been a while."

A few days later, I finally arrived at my family home.

As soon as I arrived, I could see my younger sister. A cute girl greeted me cheerfully. One could say she was a really cute and pretty little sister, at least in appearance.

But I knew that her appearance and personality weren't really related.

"It's been a while for me too, Amelia."

I faced her, hiding my uneasiness. I greeted her warmly, trying to act like a good older brother. At a glance, this might look like a normal reunion between a brother and sister after a long time.

But it wasn't.

"Brother. Shall we have a chat first?" She said with a smile, pointing at the ground. 

There was a hole under her feet big enough for one person to fit in. Seeing the shovel next to it, she must have dug it herself before I came.

Anyway, my sister pointed at the hole. I found her really scary.

***

My sister starting to get very angry at me, who was in the hole.

"You come back after a long time and what? You're divorced? Are you kidding me?"

The reason for her anger was obvious. While divorce wasn't really a big deal from my perspective, it was different from the family's standpoint.

My sister Amelia was in a position representing the family. My divorce must be burdensome for her.

"Why do you only bring trouble instead of helping? Is it okay for me to suffer?"

Divorce between nobles involved many complicated things. When our family became in-laws with Kailyn's family, we made various contracts.

"There are so many contracts we need to review. I really can't live because of you, Brother! Really!"

Things like trading goods from our territory. But now we were no longer in-laws. Of course, all those deals need to be canceled or modified.

And all of that was the responsibility of my sister who was currently in charge of the family. She had reason to be angry at me.

"I'm sorry..."

I knew that well, so I didn't really have anything to say. Actually, when Kailyn left the child with me and left home, one reason I didn't get divorced was to avoid making things difficult for Amelia.

But now that we were getting divorced, I quietly listened to her scolding. Who knew it would turn out like this...

Anyway, after about 30 minutes of scolding...

"Come out."

"Okay."

She finally let me out of the hole. I came out cautiously upon hearing her words.

"Haa... So, are you okay?"

Now that her anger seemed to have subsided, Amelia stopped being angry. She came over and dusted off the dirt on my body. She looked at me with eyes of genuine concern.

"You're getting divorced, aren't you feeling upset or anything?"

Actually, although Amelia said those things because of family matters, she must also be worried about me.

"If you have any worries, tell me. I'll listen..."

After all, divorce happened when a marriage didn’t work out, right? In general cases, people who got divorced were far from happy. In that sense, she must be very worried about me.

She's still the same, isn't she?

Looking at Amelia like this, I felt that she hadn't changed at all. We were siblings who grew up without parents since childhood. We relied on each other as we lived.

Our relationship was much closer than normal siblings. In the end, she always worried about me no matter what.

"I'm fine. It doesn't bother me at all. I actually feel good about getting divorced."

I told Amelia that I was fine.

Honestly, what was the big deal about divorce? It might be different for medieval people, but from my modern perspective, it wasn't particularly special. Modern people divorced a lot, and I knew one or two people around me who had divorced.

Moreover, thinking about it now, being able to cut ties with Kailyn, a notorious villainess, was probably much better in the long run. I really wasn't bothered at all, and I answered her like that.

"I'm glad you seem okay."

Amelia finally showed an expression of relief. She must be relieved that I said I was fine.

"I won't nag anymore. Stay comfortably before you go."

"Thank you."

Amelia told me to rest a bit before I leave. I thanked her for that. With a day left until the divorce ceremony, it seemed I'd be able to stay comfortably.

Or so I thought. For some reason, Amelia's expression didn't look very bright.

"I'm busy with other problems, anyway."

Amelia seemed to have some worries. I asked her what they were.

"Huh? What problems do you have?"

When I asked, Amelia hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said, "Magic beasts."

What she was worried about was magic beasts.

"Magic beasts?"

"Yes. Magic beasts. They've started appearing recently. I don't know why they're appearing in such a barren territory..."

Amelia started telling me about the current situation in the territory. Our family, being a poor baron's family, had a territory that couldn’t be called good, but recently magic beasts had started appearing in that territory.

Well... it's natural, I guess.

Around the time when the Demon King started to become active, magic beasts started to increase incomparably more than before in various parts of the continent. A magic beast appeared in my village not long ago, and it seemed the situation was the same in this territory.

"What should we do about the magic beasts..."

"You don't have money to hire people, right?"

"Of course not..."

Usually in these situations, one asked mercenaries or adventurer guilds to subjugate the magic beasts for a reward. Other territories probably solved problems in that way, too. But the biggest problem was that our poor baron's family didn't have money for that.

"Haa... What should we really do..."

Was this what one would call a dilemma? In the worst case, we might have to sell part of the territory to raise money. Or give up the family name.

Amelia, who was trying to save the family somehow, couldn't help but sigh deeply. And listening to Amelia's words, I thought. 

If it's magical beasts, can't I just defeat them?

"Should I subjugate them for you?"

I boldly told Amelia. I said I would subjugate the magic beasts.

Unlike before, mere magic beast were no match for the current me. I had the Spirit Sword, and I also had Beepbee, the darkness spirit I contracted recently. I could defeat magic beasts with my eyes closed.

"Huh? You, Brother?"

"Yes."

"Is that possible?"

"I'm saying this because it's possible."

It was a very tempting offer. For a moment, Amelia's eyes sparkled, but...

"Hmm... If you're saying this forcefully, you don't have to. I'm sorry for pressuring you, bBother."

Amelia's eyes quickly lost their light. My sister didn't seem to believe me much. She knew better than anyone that I was ordinary.

She must be judging that someone like me couldn't possibly subjugate magic beasts. She seemed to think I was just saying this out of stubbornness. It seemed I needed to update my sister's thoughts today.

"No, I'm really serious."

"No, Brother...? Are you going to keep joking?"

I said again that I would subjugate the magic beasts. Amelia showed no sign of believing my words until the end. But she'd have to believe soon enough.

"I'll go subjugate them right now."

"Huh...?"

I just needed to show her me defeating the magic beasts. I said that and left, leaving behind my sister with a bewildered expression.

I'll fight together with Beepbee while I'm at it.

I thought this would be a good opportunity. Beepbee, who recently contracted with me. I wanted to test the new ability I gained.

There's time until the divorce ceremony starts, so this works out well.

Besides, I had nothing else to do until the divorce ceremony anyway, so I might as well spend time subjugating magic beasts.