Episode 337
Hector watched the situation with a stiff expression, but he couldn't easily speak. He hadn't fully grasped the situation.
On the other hand, I was able to get a general idea of the situation from Verita's words. Aerts had come to the Small Iron Hall like Hector had, but used words like inferior to refer to me. Verita had become furious when she heard that.
This is a bit troublesome, I thought. It would be difficult for me to handle it if Verita caused trouble in the Badnikers' main house.
The good thing was that it was Aerts who had caused the trouble.
"Cough." I cleared my throat to make my presence felt.
The fiercely glaring Verita controlled herself the moment she saw me. "Ah, Brother."
"Brother Aerts, are you okay?" I asked.
"Luan Badniker." Aerts saw me and got up with a twisted expression. I could somehow feel hostility in his eyes. It was a bit stronger than what I had felt from him before the regression. Then he said something unbelievable. "What is your relationship with this nun?"
"What? Uh..."
I wasn't oblivious. In fact, I picked up on things rather quickly. Seeing the way Aerts sneaked glances at Verita, I felt that the emotions contained in his words were quite blatant.
I came to my senses and said with a stiff expression, "Brother Aerts, consider this a warning. Stay away from her."
Unless you want your life to be ruined. I swallowed down those words and offered the best advice possible.
Aerts' eyes widened, and Verita was also surprised. Even Hector trembled from beside me. All three of them were so surprised that I found myself also feeling that way.
Then Aerts' face turned slightly red. He wasn't embarrassed by my words. Rather, he exclaimed angrily, "You! How dare you treat me as an insignificant fly?"
"A fly? Ah."
I belatedly came to my senses and looked at the current situation objectively. At this point in time, Luan Badniker is still a loser to Aerts, right?
In other words, it was the first time that the boy who usually couldn't even meet the eyes of his own siblings was openly defying one of his siblings. In the end, Aerts would naturally think I was a pathetic guy obsessed with women.
"Ugh." I groaned. Misunderstandings kept piling up, so I felt irritated. I was the type to want to move my body when I was misunderstood like this. I said in irritation, "I'm angry. My head feels hot. I have never felt such intense anger before. Brother Hector."
"What?" Hector replied.
"Sort out this situation. Quickly, right now. Before Good and Manners go on a rampage."
Hector sighed and shook his head as he stepped forward.
***
After a while, Hector roughly sorted out the situation. Aerts was the type who acted like he would die if Hector ordered it, so he believed every word. Looking at him like this, I didn't know if he was simple or stupid.
"Ah, I see. So the nun and Luan are just colleagues?"
"We aren't just colleagues. I am the person he trusts the most," Verita said in a strangely proud voice.
I ignored their conversation and looked at Hector, who seemed particularly exhausted from explaining everything. He continued, "Anyway, in summary, Father can be healed with the help of Sister Razbet here."
"I see," Aerts replied.
Hector made eye contact with me for a moment before sighing. It was a faint sigh that was filled with deep relief.
"Well, that's good," Aerts continued.
As expected of a devoted believer of the Iron-Blooded Lord. It was clear he had been very worried. Looking closely, his face was pale and his complexion didn't look very good. I remembered he had been like this even before the regression.
"Then what about the treatment? Are you going to start right away today?" Hector asked.
"Not today. I will do it tomorrow during the day," Verita answered.
"Ah right. You just arrived today, so you should rest a bit."
That wasn't really necessary. All I'd done today was come home, talk to Assad, talk to Lise, and have a meal. It was just that due to the nature of the martial arts I learned, I felt better when the sun was up. Therefore, I planned to do it in the morning.
Aerts glanced at Hector before saying, "It is truly a relief that the family head can recover. It is unfortunate that all of us siblings have nothing to do after gathering at home. Brother Hector, what can we do without divine power?"
"We are useless, unfortunately. It is mealtime, so let's just eat," Hector said sullenly.
As the youngest, I tried to comfort him. "Useless? Isn't that too harsh? Just having all his children together should be a happy thing for Father. I'm sure we also have a role to play."
"What?"
"Uh..." I trailed off. The fact that he was asking for more details was enough to make me want to snap at him.
I crossed my arms and thought about it. Then I said vaguely, "Maybe we could sing a song or something?"
"A song? Do you mean something like a hymn? I've heard that the hymns of devout believers can have a healing effect, but for me—" Hector began.
I cut him off and said, "Not that. I mean something like a song to cheer him up. 'Dad~ Stay strong~ We are here for you~' or something. Don't you know any songs like that?"
"Hm." Hector closed his mouth with a very serious expression.
Come to think of it, he was a man jokes didn't work on. I was about to take back my words when I was interrupted. The dining room's door opened and one familiar face after another appeared.
"Luan, you are here."
"Wow. It is the youngest. Long time no see."
They were my brothers and sisters. I'd never thought we would gather at such an unexpected moment.
The moment I blinked with surprise, the chef appeared carrying the food, calling out, "Future family head! It is ready!"
"Huh?"
"Future family head?"
"Ah," I muttered. It seemed I'd have to explain it again.
I received the gazes of my brothers and sisters and suggested, "Let's talk about the details while eating."
***
I wasn't very hungry, so I just ate roughly while listening to the chatter of those around me. Is this the real Luan, why is the future family head not Heero, what is happening now, and so on.
This is the disadvantage of regression, I thought. It was very troublesome to explain something that had already been said. Fortunately, I could waste time drinking cold water.
"Just by looking at his face, it is definitely Luan."
"The only one with the authority to appoint the future family head is the current family head. Are you dissatisfied with the family head's decision?"
My reliable eldest and second brothers took care of me. I looked at them with a proud expression. My heart filled with warmth at the sight of the oldest brothers taking care of the youngest.
Since they'd done me a favor, it was polite to treat them to a meal. Of course, it wasn't common for the youngest to buy a meal, but I wasn't an ordinary person and I wasn't buying it with my own money.
Thus, for the first time in a long time, I had a hearty meal with my siblings.
"Father can be cured? Phew. I'm glad. Then I'll be going."
"I'm sorry, but I have something to do too."
"I'm sorry, brothers. The elder called me directly."
Well, no, that didn't happen. There were always people who ruined a good mood. I had no intention of holding back my siblings, so I let them leave.
The only exception was one person, who muttered, "Then I guess I should take another look at the ledger."
"Brother Raizen," I called out.
"Huh?"
"Brother, come here."
"Why? I also have something to do—"
"Unless you want to be beaten."
"I do have things to do, but they aren't more important than a warm meal with my siblings."
As I dragged Raizen along, he started rambling about the youngest going through a stormy phase, causing me to hit him on the back of the head.
I felt he was different from Heero and Hector in many ways. He'd even tried to use the Iron-Blooded Lord for his own purposes, so he had to have great courage.
This recklessness would've killed him before my regression, but I somehow felt that he would be muttering something silly like "Well, this is completely hopeless," even when he was on the verge of death.
In any case, we shared a meal while I listened carefully to my siblings' current situation. Maybe due to the news that the Iron-Blooded Lord could be cured, the atmosphere was much more relaxed than last time, but that didn't mean it was filled with pointless chatter. Most of the children of the Iron-Blooded Lord were taciturn by nature.
"This meal is really good," Raizen remarked. He was the only one who had a different personality from the others, so he talked nonsense while moving his fork.
After eating, Heero approached me and said, "I heard about what happened in the north, and that Feed and many other heroes died in the line of duty. If I had known this would happen, I would've volunteered for that mission. I regret not doing so."
"Did you know Sir Feed?" I asked.
"I knew him to some extent. He was a bit old-fashioned, but I learned a lot from him. He contributed a lot to the fact that the S-class heroes are praised, both externally and internally."
I nodded.
The Hero Society had suffered quite a few blows due to the disaster in the north, but the biggest damage was probably from the death of Heavenly Wind Knight Feed. Thinking of the treatment that S-class heroes received in the Society, it was unclear how much damage this one absence would lead to.
Apparently, he came from a noble lineage of the winged race too. It was unlikely, but the relationship between the Hero Society and the winged race could deteriorate.
It wasn't any of my business, but I couldn't help sighing, because the death of the Heavenly Wind Knight could have been due to my intervention.
Heero held out something to me, saying, "Take this."
"What is it?" I asked. I looked at it curiously and saw that it was a hero's badge made of gold.
"Congratulations. Now we are at the same rank."
"Brother, why do you have this?"
"I received it from the headquarters chief before coming here. Wouldn't it be a hassle to go all the way to Teper to get this?"
"Aha. You make a lot of sense."
"By the way, you don't seem surprised."
"I received a tip in advance."
It was before my regression, but Zach had given me a hint. Due to my achievements in the north, there was a high chance I would get a promotion without having to go through the promotion trials.
I enjoyed the glittering feel of the golden hero's badge in my hands. It meant I was an A-class hero. Just by having it, there were few areas in the empire that I couldn't access. It wouldn't do much in areas where the imperial family's influence was strong, but the power of the hero's badge became stronger as one went further from the empire's center. That was because branches of the Hero Society existed even in places where the power of the imperial family didn't reach.
"Where is your next destination?" Heero asked.
"Let's see. Maybe the south?" I replied.
"You are really planning to travel all over the empire, huh. If it is the south, you might run into Olivia."
Someone interrupted with a laugh. "Haha. Eldest brother, don't be stupid. The south is so big. What are the chances of him running into her?"
"Raizen Badniker. I never gave you permission to participate in the conversation."
"What's wrong with it? We should get along well as brothers."
"Don't be ridiculous. I haven't acknowledged you."
I'd thought the atmosphere was good, but they suddenly started bickering again. I stayed silent and didn't get involved. They weren't young brats. It would be too much if they couldn't even control their arguments.
I planned to intervene if things got out of hand, but the argument between the two brothers didn't heat up too much. That was already a great development compared to the past.
The day ended without any incidents. The next morning, the long-awaited moment finally came. It was time to treat the Iron-Blooded Lord.
***
My detailed and meticulous operation plan went as follows: Work with Verita on the treatment of the Iron-Blooded Lord and give most of the credit to Verita. The end.
The key here was Verita's role. She was famous enough to be called the Bloody Mace and was part of the Seventy-Two Churches. In other words, she could claim that she'd removed the Dark Qi inside the Iron-Blooded Lord using a method they didn't know. That meant the most important part of this operation was that Verita and I had to treat the Iron-Blooded Lord together.
Verita demanded, "Please allow me to carry out the family head's treatment on my own."
"That is impossible. I don't doubt you, but Delac is the head of the Badnikers."
Before the treatment, Verita and Assad argued for quite a long time. As planned, Verita demanded that no one could be allowed in the room when performing the treatment. Naturally, this was difficult for Assad to accept.
Verita argued with him for a long time before sighing and saying helplessly, "Fine. I will allow only one person to watch the treatment."
"One person?"
"Yes. I will go in with Brother Luan here."
"Why Luan Badniker? Can't I accompany you?"
"That isn't possible," Verita refused in a firm voice. "Removing the miasma is no different from being in a life-or-death battle. Sir Assad, at such a moment, would you entrust your back to someone you don't trust at all?"
Assad remained silent as Verita continued, "In this family, the only person I can truly trust and follow is Brother Luan. We have been through several battles together."
"Mm."
Assad's worries deepened. Verita had always acted obedient, but now she was expressing her opinion without yielding at all. I could tell that it made Assad a bit flustered. Still, just seeing him hesitate like this allowed me to know what decision he would make.
"It can't be helped. I understand."
He probably thought she wouldn't do anything stupid with me around. So in the end, with Assad's permission, Verita and I were allowed to enter the Iron-Blooded Lord's bedroom alone.
After entering, Verita looked around for a while. She seemed to be adjusting her focus as one of her eyes flashed faintly. Then she mouthed, They are watching.
Similarly, I asked by moving my lips, How?
It is eavesdropping magic. It seems they aren't peeking in.
Perhaps they'd thought that adding more surveillance would get them caught. In any case, it was a relief/ If they only eavesdropped based on sound, no one would realize what was about to happen in this room. Verita had stressed that her concentration must never be broken, so there would be no interruptions.
I nodded slightly and stood in front of the Iron-Blooded Lord, thinking, Then let's start the treatment.
I reached out to my father.