Ch.7474. Can I Kill?

“H-hey, brother, what brings you here?”

“Haha! I heard you were invited to the Imperial Palace, and as your brother, shouldn’t I naturally accompany you?”

The one who entered the study was none other than Leonard Alphonse.

With a dumbfounded expression, I continued speaking.

“…Did you get permission from Father?”

“Of course, Father gladly gave his permission.”

As I sat quietly in my chair with a look of disbelief, Leonard pulled a letter from his pocket and placed it on the desk.

-Leonard wants to see the inside of the Imperial Palace. As his brother, I hope you provide him with this good experience.

…That’s it?

No, this damn father throws a bomb at me and casually dismisses it with a note—is he in his right mind?

Anger surged to the top of my head, but maintaining my composure, I opened my mouth.

“No.”

“Alright.”

“…Pardon?”

“If you don’t want to, there’s nothing to be done.”

“What did you say?”

What?

Why is he agreeing so easily!?

I shot him an uneasy look, and Leonard pointed to the bottom section of the letter he had just handed over.

-P.S. I barely managed to dissuade Miria from going. If you don’t feel like attending the Imperial banquet with Leonard, I’ll send Miria instead.

‘This cunning old man…’

My hand holding the letter trembled.

Then, Leonard turned away, not even bothering to care.

“Tsk, so I’m going back to the family estate?”

“…Wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

I stopped Leonard as he was about to leave the study and stood up.

Then, spreading my arms wide, I flashed a smile tinged with pretense.

“L-let’s go together!”

*

“Wow… so this is an imperial carriage? The sofa is so soft, it doesn’t even compare to our carriage!”

“Is that so?”

“Hey, just because you’ve ridden in it a few times, you’re treating your brother like a country bumpkin?”

“When did I ever treat you like a country bumpkin?”

“You seem to be getting cocky lately because you’ve been lucky, but at times like this, you should be humble. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The urge to sew Leonard’s mouth shut was rising.

I had been wanting to catch him and beat him up one day, and I wondered if today might be that day.

Moreover.

Knight Edric, who had helped me on my previous trip to the Imperial Palace, was also in the carriage.

My head was throbbing from all the embarrassment Leonard was causing the Alphonse family.

“You never say anything to our first and second brothers, so why only to me?”

“W-what did you say!?”

“Am I wrong? You always pick on me because I’m easy to bully, don’t you?”

Struck by the truth, Leonard hesitated before raising his voice even higher.

“Y-you’re the one who can’t say anything to our older brothers but always talks back to me. Isn’t it because you think I’m easy to push around?”

“That’s right.”

“…What?”

“Of course you’re easier to push around than our first and second brothers, aren’t you?”

Leonard narrowed his brows and thrust his face toward mine.

“Do you really want to die?”

“Are you capable of killing me?”

“You little…”

A situation on the brink of explosion.

Knight Edric, who was in the carriage with us, spread his arms as if to calm us down.

“On such a good day, why are you brothers fighting like this?”

Leonard glanced at Edric, then leaned back on the sofa and crossed his arms.

“Know that I’m holding back because of the Imperial Knight.”

Seeing him act so arrogantly, not even realizing that Edric was his lifesaver, I felt beyond exasperated.

Just as I was about to snap back, a loud “BANG!” shook the carriage, making us all lurch.

CRASH-!!

Sigh…

Is it another assassin attack?

The Etherian Princess wouldn’t have sent them, so is there another faction involved?

-AAAGH-!

-R-run away!!

Outside the carriage was already engulfed in chaos.

Knight Edric drew his sword and spoke with a rather composed expression.

“I’ll go out and see what’s happening. Please wait here for a moment.”

I also moved to follow Edric out of the carriage.

Then Leonard, with a pale face, grabbed my collar.

“D-didn’t you hear what the Imperial Knight just said? He told us to wait.”

“If it’s assassins, staying inside the carriage might be more dangerous. Couldn’t arrows come from anywhere?”

With an expression radiating annoyance, I shook off his hand from my collar and went outside the carriage.

Stepping onto the sandy ground, I found the scene already in chaos.

Especially, the howls of magical beasts were so loud they felt like they would tear my eardrums.

Grrrr…

Is it fortunate that it’s not an assassin attack?

I drew the Raiden Sword from my waist and slowly moved forward.

Thud-! Thud-!

The magical beasts that had sent the Imperial Knights into panic were a pack of Black Hounds.

Wolf-like in shape with black fur, they contained a darkness so intense it was eerie.

Their wide mouths gleamed with sharp claws and teeth, and their blood-red eyes reminded one of ‘fire.’

‘Black Hounds…’

In the original story, during the magical beast wave, they were the culprits who devastated the Lake territory, just like the Ogres.

They were much larger than wolves, and the rough breathing from their mouths made me feel like my whole body would stiffen.

Seeing them in person, the word ‘magnificent’ truly came to mind.

Swoosh-!

I took a stance with the Raiden Sword and emitted energy.

The Black Hounds hesitated, then began to surround me.

‘Can I do this?’

Black Hounds—as powerful as Ogres but several levels above in agility.

I was confident I could win, but facing this magical beast for the first time, my shoulders did tense up a bit.

Grrrr…

The Black Hounds approached cautiously with their massive bodies, like predators stalking prey.

I also steadied my breath and raised the Raiden Sword high.

ROAAAR-!

The Black Hounds leaped into the air and charged at me simultaneously, and at the same time, one Black Hound was split in two by my Raiden Sword and fell.

Splat-!

The blood of the magical beast scattered in the air.

Before they could regroup, I plunged deep into the pack of Black Hounds with my Raiden Sword.

Slash-!

ROAAAR-!

The Black Hounds fell with screams.

After easily dispatching several, the remaining Black Hounds became disoriented under my pressure.

When Knight Edric, who had finished dealing with other magical beasts, joined in, the tide of battle was quickly decided.

ROAAAR-!

Knight Edric tapped off the magical beast blood from his silver armor and exclaimed in admiration.

“As expected, Lord Selden, you are truly remarkable.”

“Not at all. It would have been difficult without you, Sir Edric.”

“But still, every time I escort you to the Imperial Palace, something happens… First assassins, and now a pack of Black Hounds.”

I gave a slightly forced smile to Edric, who was scratching his head with an embarrassed expression.

“Haha… At least it’s not assassins, right? At least no one is targeting our lives.”

“That’s true.”

Looking around, I could see the remaining magical beasts being gradually dealt with by the Imperial Knights.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew… Fortunately, thanks to Sir Edric’s quick handling of the situation, it seems no one was seriously injured.”

“Not at all. This is all thanks to you, Lord Selden.”

While Edric and I were exchanging compliments, a familiar scream reached my ears.

“S-save me!!”

I reflexively turned my head toward the sound and saw a Black Hound that had entered the carriage.

It had snatched Leonard’s thick leather shoe and was growling “grrrr.”

Swoosh-!

I immediately rushed toward the carriage, and Edric and I simultaneously sliced through the Black Hound’s head and body.

As I calmly sheathed the Raiden Sword, it seemed the Black Hound we had just killed was the last magical beast attacking the carriage.

“There don’t seem to be any more magical beasts left.”

“Lord Selden, thank you for your hard work. Now, I’ll first check if anyone is injured—”

That’s when it happened.

Interrupting Edric’s words, Leonard jumped out of the carriage, furiously angry.

With only one shoe on, he looked quite ridiculous.

“Hey, you Imperial Knights!! Do you realize my noble body was almost in danger!?”

Edric bowed respectfully.

“I apologize for causing you concern.”

“You think an apology settles this? When magical beasts attack, shouldn’t your first priority be protecting the people in the carriage? Isn’t that your duty!?”

Leonard’s tone made me furrow my brow, but since he had a point, I remained silent for now.

Edric also bowed again, as if acknowledging his mistake.

“I-I’m sorry. One of the knights guarding the front of the carriage was injured and—”

“I don’t care whether lowly beings like you get hurt or not. I’m going to make this clear when we get to the Imperial Palace, so just wait and see.”

The Imperial Knights murmured among themselves.

There had been a mistake in the protection, but these were words that shouldn’t be said to those who risked their lives to fight the magical beasts.

I stepped forward toward Leonard and spoke.

“Brother, since everyone is safe, why don’t you forgive them just this once?”

“Ha!? You ran out when you were told to stay in the carriage, and now you have a lot to say? Did you want to be a hero or something?”

“It was a dangerous situation. I went out to help in any way I could. That’s why there are no casualties now, isn’t it?”

“Who cares about those lowly lives!! My shoe is ruined now!!”

It felt like whatever reason I had left snapped all at once.

I lowered my head deeply and let out a sigh.

Then, looking at Knight Edric with the kindest smile in the world, I opened my mouth.

“…I need to have a private conversation with my brother.”