episode_0021

Frederick Byron.

The second son of Viscount Byron, he was a gifted Auror.

But at the same time, it was just that.

“It’s been a while since I saw you, but that informal language hasn’t changed. You have an amazing temperament.”

“Anyway, is it as big as you?”

“I… … You haven’t forgotten that he’s your older brother, right?”

“Sometimes I forget. When I look at the things I’ve been doing since long ago, I feel like a brat instead of an older brother.”

“… … … Bastard.”

He has a talent for Auror. The head also turns properly. It doesn’t look bad either.

Although he was an ordinary person who could lead the family well if he inherited it.

After all, Frederick was the second son, and he had an older brother.

The eldest son was a genius in both magic and Auror.

“… … This is the first time in a long time that we need to strengthen the friendship between brothers, right? How about we use Auror equally with each other?”

“Then, don’t you remember getting scolded by Grandpa Charles?”

“… … … … .”

In the end, Frederick realized that he would not be able to inherit the position of head of the family no matter what he did, so he changed his target to me.

He was angry at me, the third son, the younger brother, and the person who had no talent.

Of course, I didn’t accept it while shaking. I tried my best to annoy him, but in the end, I had no choice but to get physically beaten in the end because of his aura.

If Grandpa Charles, who was in charge of Frederick’s education, hadn’t taken my side, at least one of my limbs would have been broken a long time ago.

‘It’s a good thing I sent Sally to the annex.’

I didn’t send Sally to the annex for nothing. He gradually became more cunning, falsely apologizing to my father and Grandpa Charles, and later on, he only showed his true colors when I was alone with him.

Father probably only knows Frederick’s gambling problem and doesn’t know about his temper.

Despite this temperament, Frederick’s reputation was not bad.

So, when I’m alone with Frederick, I call him informally. He gets scratched easily by things like this.

“I feel like I want to instill respect for my brother right now.”

“Try it.”

“… … … I’ll pass on this one time. Because I have something to see my father. Anyway, you’re just an incompetent bastard who can’t do anything.”

Tuk. Tuk.

Frederick, who was pouting in an annoying way, tapped my shoulder with his hand and walked by.

Of course, it was just a sound, but the shock I felt was something completely different.

‘It even looks like a bruise.’

He is also a fucking guy. Even for a brief moment, you used your aura to shake up the inside of your skin?

Did I learn all this shady stuff while studying abroad?

‘Okay, it’s better to laugh out loud now.’

Anyway, I have no intention of seeing you for long.

I will make you pay, either by packing your bags again tomorrow or by being placed on probation for the rest of your life.

I looked closely at the back of the guy who was giggling and heading towards my father’s office, and then I took a step forward.

To the training ground.

“… … oh? Master Kyle? Are you back from Duke Everts?”

“It’s been a while, Commander Knight.”

gymnasium.

This was the place I was sure… … only.

Tadat! Ding!

“Haha! I won this time too!”

“Why is that pudgy bastard doing so well… … … ?”

“Hey! Go and call for alopecia areata! There should be at least that child!”

“Victor, the bone in that bastard’s hand is cracked. I got hurt while practicing swordsmanship alone.”

“… … Do you get hurt while practicing swordsmanship?”

… … Kyle Galli is doing it. The sun is in the middle of the sky.

Except for the knight commander who was resting separately, almost all the knights were passionately playing Kyle Gali.

I looked at the knights rolling around in sweat, taking off their armor, and then turned my head to the knight commander.

“Training time… … No?”

“It’s time for a short break. You are doing it even in that short period of time. It’s truly a pandemic, master.”

“… … Really?”

thud! Quad Deuk!!

If you just listen to the sound, it’s no different from a real hand-to-hand combat… … Is this actually the case?

Looking at the knights playing board games(?), it seems like the number of people who know the true taste of board games has increased.

‘This is a board game… … Am I right?’

First of all, the rule is Harley Galli, but in the meantime, as the knights maximize the physical elements as they want, it feels like you are watching an extremely intense sports match.

At times like this, I thought it wouldn’t have been better to tell people about real sports games.

‘Well, what’s good is good.’

Anyway, that’s a rule only for knights who use Aurors. A hybrid created to introduce board games to those who are not satisfied with playing board games while sitting at a table.

When I created the house rules, I had just been allowed to play board games, and I used Kyle Galli as a basic framework to satisfy the knights who said Kyle Galli was not fun, so it ended up like this.

“Haha! Is there no knight who can beat this Hanson’s piggybacking!!”

“Hey old man! That’s a foul!!”

“So you paid the penalty? It’s a game that’s okay to be illegally played, that’s the best… … !”

Still, everyone seems to like it, so it’s okay.

That’s a rule that other people won’t use anyway, so since it’s general purpose, why not make a special type of card?

With that in mind, as I watched the articles enjoying something between sports and board games, something unusual caught my eye.

“Knight Commander? What is that under your feet?”

“Ah, this is a rule we added ourselves. Since we started the game from the same position, those who were familiar with sprinting and jujitsu had an advantage. That’s why we imposed a penalty that specifically increases the distance. The board under the feet is fixed so that the starting position may change during the game.”

“… … This is a house rule you came up with yourself, right?”

“Yes.”

Board games have set rules. But, as I also did, it is not absolute.

I don’t know if it’s an official competition, but in board games played just for fun, sometimes breaking the rules or changing them arbitrarily adds to the fun.

In particular, the fact that the knights arbitrarily set house rules and develop the game is quite… … It was heartbreaking.

Is this how parents feel when they see their children growing up?

I’ve never been in a relationship, but I feel this way from a board game.

“Anyway, there are more changes to the rules. When there are only two people left, the cards are lowered so that they can be seen, sliding is prohibited, fouls such as piggybacking require half of the cards held, etc. Ah, but what happened at the training ground… … … ?”

“Ah.”

I also forgot for a moment because I was watching the knights Kyle Galli.

I glanced briefly at the knights who didn’t even know I was there because they were so engrossed in Kyle Galli, then walked closer to the knight commander and whispered quietly.

“You know that the second brother is back, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

“I’ll ask you straight. Among the knights, you know the one who hangs out with your brother and gambles?”

“… … … How did you know?”

“Those who did it once can’t do it again.”

Among the knights who participated in gambling during the yacht incident, only one knight who used the yacht for gambling for the first time was dismissed.

Considering that the rest of the knights all ended up with a pay cut, it means that they are still in the knighthood.

‘It is said that the driver who bet a lot at that time even bet his salary for the next 10 years on his house paper.’

These are the guys who ran a gambling operation of that scale. Even if they were afraid of their father and were afraid of him, what would happen if the second son, who returned from forced study abroad, gently flirted with him?

Even if not all of them fell for it, you can’t say that there wasn’t a single knight who fell for the trick.

The knight commander also quietly gritted his teeth as if he understood the inside story.

“… … I don’t know exactly how many people participated. I can’t agitate the knights for no reason, so I can’t catch them one by one and ask them if they gambled… … … .”

After yacht gambling, the Knight Commander seemed quite cautious as ‘no gambling experience’ was added to the conditions for joining the Knights.

Surely, if you just ask all the drivers out loud, you’ll only end up with strange rumors.

But it was clearly visible to my eyes.

Who participated in the gambling?

“There is a certain person in my opinion. Can I interrogate him?”

“… … … There was already an order from the head of the family. However, please be as quiet as possible.”

“Don’t worry.”

After reassuring the knight commander, who looked worried that strange rumors might spread among the knights, I walked towards the place I had seen from the beginning.

Sitting in tears under the tree while everyone does kail gali.

To Victor with alopecia areata.

“Woman, Victor.”

“Do, Master… … ? Oh, it’s been a while.”

“Sure. But it’s been a while since I last saw you, and you’ve changed a bit?”

“What… … Are you saying… … … .”

One of the knights who participated when we first created Kyle Gali for knights only, Victor with alopecia areata.

For the first time in a long time, the crown of his head was wider than the last time.

… … He had a bandage wrapped around his right hand.

“Where did you get hurt?”

“Uh, yesterday I was practicing swordsmanship alone… … … .”

“Well, let me ask you again.”

“Master… … … ?”

I know because I have played Kyle Gali, or Halli Gali, a lot.

Haligali is a single species, so it is easy to get injured as many hands gather together. However, it was no exaggeration to say that the types of injuries were almost standardized.

Maybe your fingers get entangled and break.

If you scratch your fingernail and it bleeds.

Or a bruise will form.

Or maybe the wrist ligaments are stretched.

And finally.

‘There’s a crack on the back of my hand.’

The knight was swinging his sword and the back of his hand cracked, not even his finger? Perhaps that makes sense for other knights and knight commanders? You must be thinking the same thing.

However, it seemed that he had not yet been able to connect it to gambling using Kyle Gali.

It wasn’t even a strange thing. There were many cases where knights got injured while training alone. However, everyone was curious because it was the backbone of the hand.

It hasn’t even been a month since Kyle Gali spread there. If you’ve been playing for a long time like me, it might still be difficult to connect the back of your hand injury with Kyle Galli.

If more time passes, someone might notice… … It’s only been a day since Victor injured the back of his hand, so it’s only right that I know for now.

So, I smiled at Victor, who couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

“Where did you get hurt?”

“… … … … .”

I just asked again.

Again and again.

*

Late at night with the moon rising.

Normally, I quietly left the room when I would have been asleep or playing a board game.

It was thanks to Victor getting rid of alopecia areata.

‘Gambling takes place every night at 12:20 in Frederick’s room.’

It wasn’t difficult to get information from Victor. I cajoled him into thinking that he might be stressed recently due to the cracked bone in his hand and that his alopecia areata had worsened, but it didn’t take long for him to give in.

Rather, once he opened his mouth, he confessed earnestly.

──I absolutely did not go there knowing it was a gamble! I got this alopecia areata while gambling on a yacht, so why would I go? Even the bones in my hand were injured there… … …

Victor said that the knights were asked to play Kyle Galli, so of course they thought it was a house rule, so they followed along and ended up sitting at the gambling table.

The first time I saw the gambling table, I thought it was wrong, but after gambling for the first time in a while, I felt like it for a while.

However, he said he realized the reality after losing all his spare money in just two days and cracking a bone after clashing with Frederick in Kyle Galli’s hand.

──Master Frederick said that if you want to keep your position as a knight, you must keep it a secret… … …

Anyway, since I injured my hand bone, I won’t be able to work as an engineer for a while. It is said that he was anxious that his career as a real knight could end if he continued to engage in gambling like this.

Of course, he asked God to keep what he revealed a secret.

… … Amman still carries out gambling in secret, but Frederick’s silence may have been a bit lax.

‘Is there some reason?’

This is a problem for which there is no answer even if you think about it now.

The moment when I was about to head to Frederick’s room after fully preparing to make a deal.

“… … … Sally?”

“Hehe, hehe… … … .”

There was something black squatting in front of the room.

It was Sally with an awkward smile.

“Sally, you… … ?”

“Sorry, sorry. Well, I know you’re worried, Master, but I still… … … .”

“… … … … … .”

“It’s a magic I learned for you… … … This is something I learned to use in times like this.”

“… … Sally.”

Sally had heard my warning, so she knew it could be dangerous for her, but her actions were more about me than that.

Even though I said this, it was impossible to send it back without ordering anything.

“Okay, let’s go together first.”

“Do, Master… … !!”

It’s not that far to Frederick’s room anyway. It was a short distance, less than a minute’s walk.

Nevertheless, Sally was smiling as if she was really happy, which made me feel a little embarrassed.

After avoiding the patrolling maids and getting close to Frederick’s room, Sally was stopped.

“Sally, you know I can’t keep up with you anymore, right?”

“… … … Ha, but I can’t send you away alone… … .”

“Who says you’re alone?”

“Yes?”

“… … Well, if you really want to help, I’ll just ask you for one last silent spell. There’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

“Ah, I understand. Ho, if it’s dangerous, call me right away.”

“Of course.”

Sally chants the silence spell and nods as if she’s okay now.

I smiled at her as gratitude and stood in front of Frederick’s room.

bang!! bang!!! bang!!!!

“What, what!?”

“Kyle… … !?”

“Frederick, your younger brother just came to your room to play. Why are you so embarrassed? Oh.”

With all my might, I kicked the door several times and forced it open. Hmm, I feel refreshed inside.

The people in the room were Frederick, people whose faces I didn’t know, a knight I’d seen a few times in the training hall, and.

The familiar Khailgali and a sizeable pile of gold coins.

“You bastard.”

It was just right.