‘Was thinking that the problem?’
This event, which I had thought of as light exercise, did not end there.
Klen led us to the next location, as if he were giving us a tour of what monsters inhabited Valuncio.
Brother Marcus and I annihilated an orc habitat near a certain forest, faced a wolf of unimaginable size, and even caught a slimy monster living in a swamp.
Most of these were creatures whose extermination priority had been delayed because they were located far from the city or main roads and posed no immediate threat.
“…”
Surely Klen isn’t using us to stabilize the territory, is he?
But how did he know all these locations so well?
Was his mindset that, even if things are bothersome, when he moves, he’ll deal with things efficiently all at once?
Furthermore, throughout the entire process, Klen never once drew his sword.
He didn’t use magic or even move his body much.
He literally achieved maximum efficiency with minimal movement.
“Wow~ The monsters here are quite something, too.”
Brother, who stretched heartily while riding his horse, looked bright and refreshed.
Seeing his smile, I figured, what does it matter?
‘As long as Brother is having fun, that’s what counts.’
I also got to move around freely after a long time.
And we arrived at the last course of this tour: the entrance to the forest.
Unlike the places we had been to so far, there were no monsters to defeat, but Brother’s eyes sparkled as he looked around.
“Is this the Endless Forest where the Divine Beasts and spirits live?”
“…It’s just the entrance, to be exact.”
If I hadn’t gone inside, I might have thought the entrance and the interior were the same.
But I had seen and walked inside with my own eyes.
Compared to the inside, this place is just an ordinary forest, even if it has some slightly unusual grass.
[And I am the Divine Beast of that forest~]
Aren spread its wings wide and puffed out its chest as it proclaimed.
But since it still sounded only like a bird’s chirping to others, the two men merely looked at it cutely.
“…Huh?”
Klen gently nudged my arm and even tugged at the hem of my clothes.
While Brother’s eyes were turned to the other side, I grabbed Klen and moved behind a distant tree.
Since I wasn’t hiding, Brother could see me clearly.
And since he would know I intentionally moved away, he probably wouldn’t approach.
I lowered my voice and asked,
“What is it?”
“Adrian, you tour the area with Brother.”
“And you?”
“I will check if anything has changed.”
He meant he was going to check what Rodney had done recently.
Klen using magic is confidential information between us.
Even if he was my brother, it wasn’t something to easily reveal.
But since we were in the vicinity, it would be good to check what Rodney had been up to.
“Do you not need Levatein?”
“No. First, I will confirm it… and then you can simply destroy it later.”
“Hmm.”
Although I am the owner of Levatein, that doesn’t mean it’s a sword that only I can wield.
It doesn’t have the ability to recognize its master and exert its power.
It would be better if he destroyed it immediately upon finding it.
“Then, Aren.”
[Why are you calling me?]
“You stay with Klen, and if something happens and he needs to call me, fly over right away.”
[That’s a simple task. Leave it to me!]
Aren, which was sitting on my shoulder, readily moved over to Klen.
After eating so many cookies, moving closer to him looked quite natural.
I looked straight into Klen’s eyes and said,
“If a problem arises, call me immediately.”
But despite my serious gaze, a smile was etched on his lips.
He firmly grasped my hand and continued,
“Then, if I am in danger, you must rush over right away?”
“Of course!”
Satisfied with my answer, which held no hesitation, Klen’s smile deepened even more.
And his face drew near, pressing our foreheads together, and he quietly said,
“…Even if no one is watching, you mustn’t be too affectionate with your brother.”
“No! Ah, yes. I understand.”
What’s the problem with being affectionate with my brother?
Besides, the absurd thing Brother did when Klen and I first met would definitely not be repeated.
But since adding more words would likely prolong the conversation, I vaguely glossed over it and quickly turned my back.
And I returned to Brother Marcus.
His head, which had been looking at the flowers, turned toward me only after hearing my noisy footsteps.
“What, you’re not going with him?”
“He told me to sightsee privately with Brother.”
“…Like he would.”
No matter how quietly we spoke, there was no way the words didn’t reach Brother’s ears.
He was probably deliberately diverting his attention to other things around him to avoid overhearing our secret conversation.
“Let’s go.”
My back felt slightly bothered, but I first led Brother forward.
The place people visited for sightseeing purposes was naturally the entrance to the forest.
Although you can only see the forest over the fence, that’s the closest you can get.
Since nobles and sightseers occasionally came and went, there should be no problem taking Brother there.
“Lord Adrian!”
A few knights who spotted me quickly rushed forward to greet us.
“I came here today to show my guest around this area briefly.”
“Ah… A guest?”
“Greetings!”
They blinked as they greeted us and looked at Brother’s face.
It was clear that he resembled me, so was it because I used the term ‘guest’ rather than ‘brother’?
“We’ll look around and head back, so don’t worry about us.”
“In that case… Hmm, please look around carefully.”
“Please be careful not to cross the fence; it is forbidden.”
They weren’t right next to us, but they probably weren’t without caution.
After all, we were standing right in front of the fence to sightsee, and I had a history of jumping over and entering by force.
“Hoo-oh.”
Brother’s gaze was fixed on the vast forest visible through the gap, as if he found it fascinating.
For me, the memories of having explored that place vividly resurfaced, more than curiosity or wonder.
The Divine Beast, Pegasus, the strange wolf that followed us, the Elder who exuded holiness.
My meeting with Aren.
And… I properly made my marriage vow there.
I recalled that several Divine Beasts had witnessed that scene.
“…”
“Why is your face suddenly turning red?”
“What? No… isn’t it just the sunset making it look that way?”
A rush of embarrassment brought a sudden flush of heat to my face.
The overly intense kiss—for a marriage vow—that we exchanged in front of them came back to me.
Klen must have done it because he didn’t know they were there.
Probably.
To hide my increasingly hot face, I urgently looked up at the sky.
As if to back up my excuse, the edge of the sky was slowly turning red, looking like paint bleeding out.
It was that influence.
It was only the sunset making it look that way.
After repeating this several times in my mind, the heat seemed to subside slightly.
“Huh?”
Among the colors slowly spreading like diffused red paint, I saw a blue dot appear.
In the scene where everything was moving leisurely, only that one thing darted forward quickly.
It was clearly Aren.
It should take quite some time to examine the surrounding magical array.
The fact that the creature was flying towards me now, less than an hour after we separated, meant that something had happened to Klen.
I couldn’t take the surrounding knights and Brother with me without knowing what kind of trouble he was in.
I took a small, deep breath, then turned my head, looking as unhurried as possible.
“Brother. I’m going to run a quick errand nearby. Just look around here.”
“What? Where are you going?”
“It will only take a moment, so wait. I’ll be right back!”
Based on the experience I had accumulated, I even smiled lightly, as if it was really nothing.
But the moment I turned my back, the smile fell.
