Chapter 127
I wonder when it was.
When did I begin to see myself as an older brother?
Mother treated Leo and me equally. She never once told me that, as the older brother, I had to do anything.
I wasn't raised as an older brother. But at some point, that changed.
I began acting as an older brother.
When was that?
While I was thinking about it, I finished teleporting.
Several tall towers rose throughout the city. A mage was targeting Leo from atop one of them.
So I mercilessly drove my hand through his chest. There was no technique to it—just a rough thrust powered by magic.
But that was fine. It made it less likely for anyone to notice my presence.
"Gah...?"
The mage died before he could recover from his shock at my sudden appearance.
At the same time, I teleported again, flying to another mage.
"What?!"
He hadn't expected someone to teleport in.
The mage had no time to mount any effective countermeasure against me, having appeared right in front of him, before I pierced his chest.
By then, the mages targeting Leo elsewhere had noticed that something was wrong.
But I could teleport faster than they could move.
Teleport. Pierce the chest.
I repeated the process at high speed, one mage after another.
As I teleported from tower to tower, I remembered something.
I had once seen an ideal older brother.
That person came to see me every day after I was imprisoned. No matter how busy he was, he came to talk with me. That was all he did.
He never said he would get me out of prison. He never brought me anything, either.
He knew I didn't want those things, and simply kept me company so I wouldn't be lonely.
And when I left prison, he gently patted my head.
He added just one phrase: "That's enough."
I wanted to become like him—the kind of person who could say that.
An older brother who could accept his little brother's recklessness, and still support him when that recklessness got him into trouble.
That's right. Just as Leo had admired someone.
I, too, had someone I admired.
My eldest brother, who had been Crown Prince. I wanted to become an older brother like him.
"We're brothers, after all... We were both striving toward the same person."
As I muttered that, I thrust my hand through the mage's chest.
Blood sprayed.
But I felt no sympathy. These men weren't soldiers caught up in the struggle for the throne.
They had willingly committed crimes, and were trying to cause even more damage here.
They should be judged under the law, but they'd receive the death penalty anyway.
There was no problem with putting them down here.
"Eeeeeek!!??"
Two remained.
One of them screamed.
But I didn't hesitate. I pierced his chest and teleported away at once.
The last one abandoned any attempt to intercept me and turned both hands toward Leo.
Leo was concentrating with all his might and had no way to dodge, while Nelbe Ritter's attention was fixed ahead. Neither of them would likely be able to defend against it.
So I grabbed the mage's arm and broke it.
"Aaaaargh!!??"
"My little brother is doing his best to reach beyond his limits right now—could you not get in his way?"
"Y-your little brother...?!"
"It's a real pain, honestly. Scolding him for being an idiot and covering for him so he doesn't fail—having to do both is the hard part of being a big brother."
"N-no way... You're Al...?!"
He couldn't finish his sentence.
I had driven my hand through his chest.
I watched the mage collapse like a puppet with its strings cut, then took up position there.
Leo's incantation was progressing smoothly.
≪To bring salvation to the people, that radiance is God's mercy, that golden light is a heavenly miracle, demonkind, repent—≫
The incantation continued.
It was a seven-part incantation, said to be the highest level in modern magic.
Considering the difficulty of holy magic, this was naturally a top-tier holy spell, more advanced than many inferior ancient spells.
Holy magic developed to fight demons. It was humanity's weapon, one that tolerated no unclean evil.
Why was Leo able to use such a spell? He had probably learned it after the incident in the south. Back then, he had wished that he could have used it himself.
Leo hadn't been satisfied with the outcome in the slightest.
That feeling drove him to learn it. But throwing a spell he'd only just learned into actual combat was reckless in the extreme.
Even now, the incantation nearly broke off.
The strain was probably putting a burden on his internal organs, sending blood up into his throat.
Leo desperately swallowed it and struggled to continue the incantation.
So I decided to make things just a little easier for him.
≪God of Time, I am one who rebels against your providence, the flow you decreed is immutable, time flows endlessly, never stopping and never obstructed, the great current of time continues forever, I rebel against that current, let me glimpse an instant of the future—Deja Vu Clock≫
Ancient magic that manipulated time was usually difficult to use. For one thing, there were almost no spells the caster could use on himself, while spells cast on others had only limited effects.
Despite that, it consumed a huge amount of magic power, making it impractical.
Even so, this spell was fairly useful.
It created déjà vu by showing others a glimpse of possibilities just ahead.
It didn't show them a fixed future. It only showed them several possibilities that hadn't yet been fixed.
And because it only showed what was just ahead, it could be used in only very limited situations.
Even in battle, however, it was more than useful. Déjà vu warned them that a particular action was dangerous. That alone could save lives and let individuals distinguish themselves.
A young soldier charged straight at a gigantic monster. It was a dangerous move. But perhaps it wasn't dangerous for him. I didn't know what possibility he had seen, but he judged it the best course and acted.
Then, after driving his sword into the gigantic monster's neck, the soldier collapsed together with it.
The soldier emerged from the cloud of dust, rolling across the ground.
"Looks like you're keeping your promise, Second Lieutenant Relner."
The young soldier, Second Lieutenant Relner, had achieved an impressive result. Then he took up a new sword and risked his life again.
Everyone was fighting for Leo.
They followed him even in such a foolish act. Surely it wasn't simply because Leo was a prince.
"It's because he's the kind of idiot you can't help rooting for..."
There is a word for it: single-minded honesty.
It suited Leo perfectly. He was honest to a fault; even when yielding would have been wiser, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Even so, people gathered around him. Because that single-mindedness was something they lacked.
People admire what they don't possess.
Being able to do what others cannot is also a fine quality in a ruler.
Stopping someone like that, or supporting him properly, is a retainer's duty. And Leo had the breadth of character to keep such retainers at his side.
Just as Father kept the prime minister at his side. Leo would surely find someone like that, too.
"Come on, Leo. Everyone's opened a path for you—let them have it."
≪Heaven does not abandon the righteous, this golden light is a radiance that banishes evil—Holy Glitter!!!!≫
A golden circle appeared, encircling the castle, and golden light began to spill from it. It was a barrier.
It was there to keep anyone from escaping the purifying light that was about to descend.
A complex magic circle appeared above the castle, and then a massive pillar of golden light descended from it. It enveloped the entire castle and purified everything within.
Eventually, the light began to fade.
If the demon blood had deeply ravaged their bodies, no one would have survived. Everything would have been purified and erased.
But when the golden light faded, many people lay fallen.
A tremendous cheer rose up. Lars and the others had also defeated the gigantic monster, and the crisis was over.
Many people called Leo's name. Leo tried to answer them, but he must have reached his limit.
Leo staggered and fell. At the moment before he hit the ground, Zeke slid underneath him like a cushion. Zeke had apparently meant to catch Leo, but the difference in their builds left him serving only as a pillow.
After watching Zeke struggle with a faint laugh, I teleported back to Fiene.
"We managed it somehow."
"You have done well."
"I'm not that tired. I was completely in a supporting role this time."
"Um... Al-sama... I..."
"Hm?"
Fiene murmured something as if she found it difficult to say.
Then Fiene bowed deeply.
"I am terribly sorry! I've been saying whatever I wanted!"
"You weren't wrong. Not in calling me, nor in what you said. I put my personal faith in my little brother ahead of making the big-picture judgment. If many people had been sacrificed as a result, I'd have been little better than a criminal. Sorry. The two of us are idiots."
Saying that with a wry smile, I watched Fiene wave her hands in a fluster. Unable to think of what to say, she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly.
Fiene's reaction was so funny that I burst out laughing, then spoke.
"But this time, I trusted Leo. After thinking it through, I believed Leo could save them. From your perspective, it must have seemed like a reckless, nerve-racking decision. I'm sorry. I keep causing you trouble."
"N-no, that's not true! You're not causing trouble! I'm the one who's been causing trouble... I'm sorry for being useless..."
Seeing Fiene's shoulders droop, I shifted my gaze to Sebas.
I had no idea how Fiene had contributed.
I'd wondered if she had made some serious mistake, but Sebas shook his head.
"Fiene-sama performed admirably. No one would call her useless."
"So he says."
"Th-that's..."
"It's all right. Everyone has their own role. No one can do everything—not me, not you, and certainly not Leo. We cooperate to make up for what we can't do alone. You may not have strength that is useful in battle, but you have strengths elsewhere. They are strengths I don't possess. I always count on you."
"Al-sama..."
"So I have one favor to ask. Look after that idiot little brother of mine sleeping over there. He's a handful. You're the only one I can entrust him to. Your trip isn't over until you make it home. Make sure you bring him all the way back to the imperial capital."
"Yes! I understand!"
Seeing Fiene regain her energy, I smiled and opened a teleportation gate.
Then I glanced at Sebas.
The look meant that I was entrusting Fiene to him, but the versatile butler seemed to understand everything from that alone. He gave me an elegant bow of acknowledgment and saw me off.
He was impossible to catch off guard.
As I wondered whether I should look for a weakness in Sebas next time, I teleported back to the imperial capital.