“That’s it.”

Following Geloman’s instruction, I snapped my fists out again and again, and he nodded with a satisfied look. The smile reflected in his blue eyes felt unfamiliar, but good.

I have talent!

I could not stop the corners of my mouth from twitching. The more I moved, the clearer and better I felt!

Back in the village, all I remembered was being scolded harshly for going around fighting and swinging my fists, so being praised like this felt strange. My cheeks grew hot with excitement.

“That’s incredible!”

Charles, who was facing me as my practice partner, seemed excited too, nodding with a flushed face. Every time his number of drills increased, he looked ready to cry, but still, he was happy with me when my skill improved.

I grinned foolishly and looked at Geloman.

“Can you teach me swordsmanship later too?”

I asked him excitedly, but before Geloman could answer, someone cut in.

“No.”

“Temar......?”

It was my brother. I had no idea how long he had been watching, but he strode over and stepped between Geloman and me.

Wh-What is this, so suddenly!

Flustered, I stood there blankly for a moment before asking sulkily,

“Why not? Isn’t it better to have as many ways to protect yourself as possible?”

Ughhh, this is awkward!

It had been so long since I had talked to Temar that for some reason I felt shy and embarrassed. Barely holding back the urge to twist around in place, I looked up at him.

My brother’s stiff face looked both gentle and stern.

“Blades are dangerous, Ren. They aren’t something you can take lightly and learn.”

“When did I say I was taking it lightly? I just want to be able to protect myself.”

Did he think I wanted to learn as a joke? Hearing his words suddenly made anger rise in me.

I had been perfectly fine when I answered just now.

When I glared at him with my lips twisted, my brother’s face gradually hardened too.

“Ren. Don’t be stubborn. I’m beside you, so do you really need to learn something dangerous?”

“Since when were you beside me?”

“.......”

My brother’s mouth shut tight.

‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

Why had we suddenly started fighting?

The warm atmosphere fell silent in an instant.

When I looked at my brother, who had lost his words, my chest stirred.

Still, apologizing right away felt...... hard. There was something knotted up inside me. The thought that this was our first conversation in so long, so couldn’t he treat me warmly? mixed with the resentment of all the days I had spent alone, and my words came out harsh.

But regret came late, and I could not take back what I had already said. Not that I really wanted to. It just...... made me hate him, the way he spoke as if he would always be beside me.

I did not want my brother to hurt as much as I had, but I wanted him to understand, even a little, that I had been hurt. No, I did not even want that. Just stop saying careless things!

“Temar. Why are you speaking of swordsmanship as if it were something bad?”

“Th-That’s right. Wouldn’t learning be good?”

Geloman cut in, and Charles stammered as he took my side. I nodded at my brother as if to show him. With two people defending me, I puffed out my chest as much as I could and glared at him. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“Don’t interfere.”

“Interfere?”

“Gasp.”

Charles read the room and stepped back.

“Geloman. I have something to say to my brother, so give us some space. Luman, you too.”

Luman? When I turned my head, Luman was already beside us. He watched me with a slightly troubled expression, then patted Temar on the shoulder and gave us space.

“I don’t really have anything to say to you.”

My heart pounded. I had told my brother I had nothing to say to him!

Half of it was spite, and the other half was anger.

But at my brother’s next words, I froze. Because they were words I had never expected at all.

“Ren,” my brother called my name quietly.

“I......”

And after a long pause, what he said was,

“I’m sorry.”

An apology.

“What...... Why, what, all of a sudden.......”

I was so stunned that I only blinked. It felt more numbing and bewildering than being slapped.

Why was he suddenly apologizing? What apology?

Was he apologizing for opposing the swordsmanship? That was not something he needed to apologize for.

My brother’s expression was too serious. Looking at his shadowed face, I opened and closed my lips, then stopped.

I bit down hard on my lips again and again. Because otherwise, I felt like I would run away right here.

What was my brother trying to apologize for?

The deep eyes beneath his dark brows stared at me, holding countless words. Reflected in those eyes, I was chewing my lips with a childish face. As if I would cry if I did not.

“......Don’t bite.”

My brother’s finger touched my lips. He chose his words over and over. After repeatedly opening and closing his mouth, he slowly continued. They sounded like words he had thought about for a very long time.

“For not being there beside you all this time. I’m sorry, Ren.”

“......Why all of a sudden?”

He was apologizing in the middle of an argument? And for something that had been festering since long ago? Why?

Had something happened to my brother? Fear suddenly dropped into me.

“Are you hurt somewhere? Or are you sick?”

“Ren, what are you talking about?”

“Are you hurt somewhere? Are you hiding something from me?”

“Ren. There’s nothing like that. Calm down!”

“Ah.......”

My heart beat uneasily, and my chest hurt as if it were being squeezed.

My brother grabbed my shoulders hard and shouted. I felt people staring at us in surprise.

I looked at my brother with a bloodless gaze.

My brother narrowed his eyes and looked me over from head to toe. I shook my arms and threw off his hands gripping my shoulders.

“If you’re not, then fine. You scared me, saying something you never say!”

When I snapped hysterically, my brother’s face stiffened. He clenched his teeth and swallowed a sigh. He looked as if he were holding back anger.

I knew I had been wrong to suddenly lash out. But I did not want to apologize.

He scared me. It was his fault. He was the bad one. I whipped my head away and strode toward the carriage. My brother did not stop me. If he had called, Ren! and just asked if I had been frightened, maybe I would have felt better.

No. Maybe I would have gotten angry and pushed him away again.

Bang!

Without even looking at the expressions of the people around me, I shut myself inside the carriage. Then I drew my knees together and buried my head.

A groan slipped out. My heart was beating anxiously.

No, have I lost my mind? Why did I suddenly freak out like that!

There was no way my healthy brother could be sick. There was no war now, and everything was peaceful.......

‘Is it really?’

It felt as if someone whispered in my head. Telling me not to pretend I did not know.

I raised my hunched upper body and looked down at both my hands.

Problems I did not want to think about seriously began pushing in, one by one.

The things no one told me, the words my brother and Luman had swallowed, seemed to circle around me.

I was guessing at the words the two of them had swallowed.

When I held Luman’s spear in his place in the bunker, I had predicted the path to the capital.

When I had carelessly grabbed the spear manifested through a Hero’s authority and unraveled that pattern....... When I had pressed down the surging power and driven away the masked men with light.

And through the words I had heard half-asleep, I realized that my guess had been right to some degree.

‘Isn’t it an ability granted by God? So wouldn’t it have been given to someone qualified, someone who would make the right choice? I believe saving that boy must have been an important mission as well.’

If saving me was ultimately an important mission, then I must have some use.

Just like when I held the spear in Luman’s place in the bunker.......

After that, I had not spoken about it with anyone. I knew nothing at all about Heroes, but if I had not taken Luman’s place then, he definitely would have ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) died.

‘Do I have some kind of power?’

Not knowing anything made me uneasy, but at the same time, I did not want to know.

I leaned against the carriage and stared blankly at the wall.

Suddenly, I thought that the days I could spend with my brother might be shorter than I expected.

......Something was happening in the kingdom. Something that needed Heroes.

***

“What do you mean by that?”

Jepeto asked back. He tried to understand what he had just heard, but the question was so abrupt that he could not make sense of it after all.

“Are you asking whether Ren has an illness?”

In the end, Jepeto repeated the question he had heard.

“Yes. Doctor, do you have any idea?”

The one who had called Jepeto out, saying he had something to say, was Hugh. He had come to him several times before and shared casual conversation, only now bringing up Ren. Looking back on it, it seemed he had been coming to Jepeto all this time for this question. Which meant he was not simply asking. As far as Jepeto knew, Ren had no illness. He had many external injuries, but.

Jepeto frowned.

“You’re asking because you suspect something, aren’t you? Does Ren have an illness?”

“No. From the first time I saw him, he seemed to have a weak constitution, so I only asked out of concern.”

Hugh shook his head and denied Jepeto’s suspicion.

“I disturbed your mind with unnecessary words. I’m sorry.”

Hugh apologized and left. When he stood, the duke’s daughter, who had been watching from far away, gestured to him. Watching Hugh’s back recede, Jepeto felt that something did not sit right.

If his weak constitution bothered him, he would have asked about Ren’s constitution, not gone out of his way to ask about an “illness.” It sounded like a question asked by someone who knew something, but Jepeto could not guess what.

“Could it be?”

Jepeto rose from his seat and strode loosely toward the carriage.