Arc-7 Ch-32

"The Person I Don't Really Understand."

Ever since I started attending the academy, whenever my noble-born classmates ask me about Father, my answer always ends up being something like that. Both the young lords and the young ladies do this.

I'm not trying to dodge the question. Even to me, his own son, Father is simply a person I don't really understand.

Although prying into someone else's household is the kind of behavior that tends to earn dislike, nobles have a different perspective. Their houses can rise or fall depending on a single piece of information related to political strife or trade. For them even the smallest piece of intel can sometimes be worth more than a small pouch stuffed with platinum coins.

To people who are constantly gathering information, the existence of a person or thing they "don't understand" seems to become a source of anxiety.

I feel like asking those people in return: what exactly does Father look like in your eyes?

I have confidence in my memory, so I can recall the details of situations from the time I became aware of things around me, and even from when I was very small I still remember them dimly.

But no matter how much I trace back through those memories one by one, the only conclusion I reach is still that Father is a person I don't really understand.

For several months he stays in the royal capital, yet he has never once told me what he does there besides work related to the territory.

This may sound vulgar, but I've heard that many heads of households keep mistresses in separate residences they have prepared. This holds true whether they are nobles residing in the capital or frontier lords living on floating islands.

However, not once has any such scandalous rumor ever come up about Father.

To begin with, the Bartfort house is so famous for being a mutually loving couple with many children or perhaps it's simply that Mother is so frightening that he cannot cheat.

An uneducated, ill-mannered upstart. I have no choice but to admit that this reputation is correct.

Long before we were born, back when Great-grandfather was still alive, I believe, the Bartfort house had not even reached the lowest rank of baron.

The poor Bartfort family could not afford to send all the children to the Royal Academy, so Father apparently entered the kingdom's army having received only the bare minimum of education.

That's why even now he is somewhat lacking in etiquette and manners; there are times when he is more awkward than we children, who have been strictly trained by Mother since we were little.

A master of tactics, outstanding in martial valor, and an unscrupulous knight. This is another reputation that I don't really understand.

Father is treated as the representative of the new nobles who gained peerage through military achievements.

Although it was only for a few years, he served as an advisor to the Holfort Kingdom Army, and even among territory-holding nobles who are enthusiastic about the deployment and training of their private armies, he stands out particularly.

He often shows up at the training sessions conducted by the Bartfort feudal army, yet somehow Father seems to dislike conflict.

He can go through the same training as active soldiers without batting an eye, but even I can tell that he clearly has less motivation than when he's plowing the fields as a hobby.

"What part is just a front and what part is his true feeling, even I his own son cannot tell."

That is the person called Leon Fou Bartfort, Earl, as seen by me.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

"What's wrong, Lionel?"

"I have a proposal."

"What is it?"

"I will accompany Father as well."

The conversation with Father was terribly short , probably not even thirty seconds.

But after that, the air in the room seemed to turn to lead; the silence became oppressively heavy.

The cause was Father. The gaze with which he looked at me was no longer the usual gentle and kind one.

It was as though the skin of a cow placidly grazing in a pasture had torn open, revealing an irritated, starving wolf underneath, just like the terrifying monster from the scary stories I remember from when I was small.

The Father standing before me right now was not the Father I knew.

"What are you thinking, Lionel! Do you have any awareness of being the heir!?"

A high-pitched shout coming from the side snapped me back to awareness. Perhaps I had stopped breathing ever since I made the suggestion to Father.

When I turned my face toward the voice, a tiny girl was glaring at me.

I didn't recognize her at first and had to think for a moment. Only then did I remember the fact that this girl was Mother, having become younger.

"You saw those monsters in the dungeon together with me and Ariel, didn't you! Those are not opponents that a child with no combat experience can easily defeat!"

"…Even so, Mother defeated two of them and wounded the third."

"That's because I have magic! You children can use a little as well, but it shouldn't have enough power to slaughter enemies in actual combat!"

"Magic isn't the only way to defeat enemies. Fortunately, we have plenty of guns and ammunition."

"Cheeky brat!"

Mother was incredibly reassuring when she defeated those monsters in the dungeon.

The fact that we managed to somehow rescue the adventurers who were being attacked in that situation was thanks entirely to Mother's efforts.

I had never known before that Mother could use fire magic with explosive-like high power. It was Mother who finished off the monsters; Ariel and I couldn't do anything.

All we could do was help the injured. No matter how desperately we try to cover it up, that miserable fact doesn't change. We are children who are protected by our parents.

But even such a strong Mother was turned into a child even smaller than us because of something lurking in that dungeon.

Afterward, while Father was busily giving orders to the escorts who had rescued Mother from deep inside the ruins, what exactly was I doing?

Nothing. I was only trying to keep my younger brothers and sisters from making a fuss and calming them down.

Normally Mother is the one who calms everyone, yet they stayed quietly waiting inside the room because Father ordered it, apparently because there was a rare lost item.

After Mother woke up, she was assigned escorts and we moved separately; we were relocated to an elven settlement in another location.

And now it is morning. The agitated Father rejoined us, and without listening to any of our opinions, he unilaterally announced the plan.

Even though we have been caught up in an incident whose situation I still don't understand, we continue to be treated as complete outsiders. 

"According to everything I've heard so far, it seems we were brought along so that Father could disguise himself as a tourist."

What the heck is that?

Is he basically saying that we are convenient disguise tools for Father?

Those young lords and ladies born into prestigious houses are raised being taught that for nobles, the single most important thing is to connect bloodlines through marriages with other houses and thereby ensure the survival of the family.

I understand well enough that there are many noble parents who see their own children as nothing more than tools for political strategy and pour no love into them.

But I had always believed that my Father was not that kind of heartless person.

To begin with, the Bartfort Earl house is one that Father himself established through military achievements during the war. It only took on the proper appearance of a noble house after Mother married into it. At that time she was a duke's daughter.

Normally, a marriage between an upstart and a duke's daughter from an old lineage would be considered mismatched; once an heir was born, it wouldn't be strange for them to live separately right away.

Yet Father and Mother genuinely seemed to love each other from the heart. Although they try to maintain parental dignity in front of us children, the fact that they are even more affectionate than a newlywed couple is clear just from the number of children they have.

He grumbled about being burdened with various positions because the royal family favored him. This made other nobles glare at him. But the fact that he was recommended for ministerial posts proves just how outstanding Father is. Many court nobles cannot obtain key positions despite their service.

I had always felt indebted toward Father.

Was it really acceptable for someone as mediocre as me to inherit the Bartfort house? Someone inferior to Father should not have been the one to do so.

Especially since enrolling in the Royal Academy, that gloomy feeling has continued without letting up.

The advanced class is a completely merit-based world where only talented individuals are enrolled, regardless of birth.

Even if someone is a commoner born in a rural village, as long as they have talent they can be promoted just like the Saintess, so everyone studies desperately with bloodshot eyes every day.

I endured a life with no moment of mental rest. This was true both at home and at the academy. I wanted at the very least to be worthy of being the heir to the Bartfort Earl house.

Even if I seemed unreliable in the eyes of Father and Mother, I had done my best in my own way as their ordinary son. So even if I felt unsteady, being constantly forced to obey unilateral orders without any consultation whatsoever naturally built up dissatisfaction.

It was only at this moment that I finally became aware of my true feelings.

I see. So all this time, I had been angry.

"No matter how you look at it, the personnel allocation is wrong. Going to conquer the dungeon alone is suicidal for Father by himself. Even an amateur like me can tell that it would be far better to keep our escorts to the bare minimum and have everyone else accompany Father."

"That is…"

"…"

As I thought, Father and Mother clearly dislike the idea of bringing escorts into the dungeon.

Not only Father excels in tactics. Even Mother understands reason and logic. Yet both of them are refusing to make such a rational decision. That is strange no matter how you think about it.

There has to be some reason. Absolutely. And it must be something so serious that they cannot let their own children or capable subordinates find out about it.

Among the reasons that come to mind, the one that fits best is the existence of that talking lost item.

Information about lost items doesn't circulate much in the world. It's said that their existence is simply too powerful and could throw the country into chaos.

The lectures in the advanced class cover a wider and deeper range of knowledge than those in the regular class. When it comes to history, they go into detail about the founding of the Holfort Kingdom and even the subjugation of the early powerful clans.

It is officially announced that the war which ended just before I became aware of things was brought to a conclusion by the power of the Saintess and the airship, a lost item, that the royal family had kept secret.

Even in this civilized age, if a lost item were turned against you, it could completely change the tide of battle; that's how powerful they are. And Father and Mother were acting together with a lost item.

Could it be that this situation is far more outrageous than I had imagined?

"No one must rob adventurers of the treasures they obtained through exploration."

This is the single most emphasized clause in the laws of the Holfort Kingdom.

Tricking and ambushing an adventurer after they find treasure and taking it, or extorting it through status or money, is considered the most despicable act. Everyone believes this without exception. This holds true from royalty down to commoners.

Therefore, when the royal family wants a treasure that they deem useful, the standard practice is to praise the adventurer's achievement. Then they grant rewards such as peerage or territory.

The Roseblade Count house is my Aunt Dorothea's birth family. It also came to be treated as a prestigious house. This happened thanks to the achievements of an ancestor who was once a renowned adventurer.

The lost item that Father and Mother are hiding is, no matter how you look at it, not ordinary.

A lost item that can speak and communicate intentions is something I have never seen or even heard of before. Moreover, if it has detailed knowledge of ancient ruins outside the elven village, its value increases even further.

If converted to money, it would be difficult even to guess whether it would be worth thousands or tens of thousands of platinum coins, or even hundreds of millions of dia.

If the royal family lost the airship lost item in the war, it wouldn't be strange for them to prepare a marquisate for Father. They might even prepare a ducal title.

Yet Father and Mother are not doing that. They are clearly behaving in a way that hides its existence.

The proof is that the lost item never showed itself in front of the escorts. It only appeared before us because Mother urged it to in the dungeon.

When Father had the escorts examine the condition of the rejuvenated Mother, the escorts were not present even though the company commander of the Bartfort feudal army, who is also a sergeant major, was right there.

Father and Mother must be abnormally afraid of information about that lost item leaking out. That's why they don't want to bring the escorts into the dungeon.

"It's obvious that taking the sergeant major or the other escorts would be far better than taking someone as inexperienced as me, yet they won't do it. I can vaguely understand what Father and Mother are afraid of."

"If that's the case, then all the more reason you should stay here and wait with me, shouldn't you?"

"Even so, it would be better than letting Father go into the dungeon all alone. After all, we have known the secret for quite some time now."

I could see Mother swallowing her words after hearing my statement, while on the other hand Father did not let his expression waver.

Up until now I had always been an obedient good child who never once went against my parents, so they must be shaken.

If this incident had never happened, I might have continued living my whole life without ever defying Father or Mother.

That would certainly be the ideal child from a parent's perspective. For an ordinary person, simply obeying the orders of parents or royalty without thinking and drifting toward the easier path is also a wise way to live.

But someone deep inside my heart was screaming.

"Are you really okay with that?"

Once I started thinking, I could no longer stop myself. I had no intention of backing down today until Father told me the truth he was hiding.

"…Is that meant to be a threat?"

Father, who had been silently watching the argument between me and Mother until now, finally reacted.

But it was frightening.

Father's attitude, which made no attempt to hide his obvious displeasure, went beyond arrogance and clearly treated my very existence as nothing more than a nuisance.

From Father's perspective, he was desperate to act as quickly as possible to save Mother, who had become younger, yet here I was wasting time with my self-assertion. I could understand why he felt that way.

Still, I would not back down. If I gave in here, I would never be able to change.

"Calm down, Leon. Knowing Lionel, this is not mere selfishness…"

"Angie, sorry, but could you stay quiet for a moment?"

"……"

"Let me ask one more time. Is this your way of threatening me?"

"That is not my intention. I am simply stating my opinion in my own way."

"Then it is rejected. We have enough manpower."

"With all due respect, Father arrived at this house at dawn and was exhausted. If Mother had not stopped you, you would surely have pushed yourself until you collapsed without even eating. In order to overcome this situation, I believe the family should combine our strength."

"Unnecessary concern. Or perhaps you and the others think Angie ended up like that because of yourselves?"

"Listen well, Lionel. The fact that I became this way is solely the result of my own actions. It is absolutely not your fault or anyone else's."

"Kids should just keep quiet and do as their parents say. A half-baked amateur would only get in the way."

When I heard Father's words, my vision went completely red.

Even in a situation like this, Father called my participation a hindrance. That was the greatest insult he could direct at me.

I do understand that Father and Mother are not deliberately looking down on me.

It is parental love wanting to keep their child as far from danger as possible, and also the judgment of nobles that if the heir dies it would be a catastrophe.

But if I keep indulging in that protection, it will not do. A cowardly and mediocre person like me will never change this way.

If I back down now, I will remain unchanged for the rest of my life.

"It is certainly true that I would be a hindrance. I lack adventuring experience, and as a soldier I am inferior even to new recruits in the army."

"No, you do not need to put yourself down that much."

"Lionel, calm down. We are not insulting you."

"But if I do not act in this crisis, then I have no qualification to be the heir of the Bartfort Earl family."

"Why does it turn into that!?"

"When Mother is suffering and Father is about to head into a deadly place, a son who stays shut up at home is nothing but a coward. Would my younger siblings accept such an eldest son? Would I be able to gain the trust of our retainers?"

I fired off my words one after another without giving any opening for rebuttal. For Mother it would probably be difficult to argue back.

Mother, born into a ducal house, had repeatedly drilled into me the importance of fulfilling one's duties in order to maintain noble pride.

Compared to commoners, nobles bear far harsher obligations. Only by enriching the territory and protecting the people can we enjoy a life of luxury.

Right now, what is important for the Bartfort Earl territory is Father as the head and Mother who handles the practical affairs, not me, the heir.

"So that is your reason for accompanying us. Lionel, you are misunderstanding the role of an heir. Our Earl family indeed rose thanks to Leon's military achievements. But that does not mean anyone thinks the heir must take the lead on the battlefield."

"Young Master Lionel, we do not believe that you failing to accompany the Lord to the dungeon in this matter makes you unfit as heir."

"Mother and the captain do not understand the situation. What we must protect right now is not me as the heir, not Mother who has become younger, and not the experienced captain. It is Father."

"What are you saying?"

"If Father's operation succeeds, Mother will return to normal, we will all come back safely, and the Bartfort territory will remain peaceful. But if Father dies, Mother will stay this way and there is no guarantee the territory can continue to be governed as well as before. Even little Dylan, who plays board games, would understand that sending the king alone into the enemy camp in a strategy game means instant defeat."

"That may be true, but…"

"If my position as heir is in the way, then I will abandon the position of heir."

"Lionel! Do you not understand what your words mean!?"

"The law does not require that the heir must always be the eldest child. The Bartfort Earl family has many children, so if we make Leah or Dylan the heir instead of me, it will be fine. In the worst case, we can have one of my sisters marry an excellent noble son as a groom."

"Wait a second!?"

"That's the worst, Onii-sama!"

"Unbelievable."

The stares from my three younger sisters hurt, but since this was sophistry meant to persuade Mother, please overlook it.

If I have said this much, surely Father and Mother will now lend an ear to my words.

This is not just childish selfishness or unreasonable demands. With my limited mind, I thought desperately and am trying to act.

I want to cooperate with Father, raise even slightly the chances of restoring Mother, and conduct myself in a way that brings no shame as the eldest son of the Bartfort Count family.

For that reason, it cannot be helped if I put my own body in danger. Adventurers and soldiers are respected precisely because, even while knowing it is dangerous, they obtain treasure through wisdom, strength, and courage.

"Then I am coming along too."

"…Wait, why does it turn out like that?"

"Because if a coward like you is going with Father, why should I be the one left behind?"

"This is a duty that Father as the head of the family and I as the heir must perform. Ariel has nothing to do with it."

"Haa? A weakling like you? Have you ever once beaten me in a fight up until now?"

"Can't you understand that sibling quarrels and actual combat are different?"

"If you are going to say that, then show better results than me in training. You may be good at written tests, but you are completely hopeless at practical skills."

"I am going to assist Father. Do not think I would fail to notice that your true intention is just wanting to go on an adventure."

"Then put together my headstrong brother who only thinks too much and me who has outstanding athletic ability, and we make one proper person."

"It would just increase the number of hindrances to two."

"Oh my, Onii-sama actually has self-awareness that he is a hindrance? I am surprised."

"Do not mock me with that deliberately exaggerated tone. Listen to your older brother a little."

"We were born on the same day, so stop acting like the big brother. I overtook you long ago."

"Enough already!!"

A sudden high-pitched voice pierces the inside of my ears with a sharp sting. The owner of the voice is our small Mother.

Perhaps because her body has shrunk, her voice, which I have been familiar with since birth, sounds higher than usual and it hurts my eardrums. When I glance sideways at Mother, it is clear she is extremely displeased.

Because she has become younger, the impression is less scary and more cute, probably because I have seen my sister Ariel and Roxanne, who resemble her appearance closely.

If I were the same age as Mother right now, I doubt I could oppose her at all. Surely Mother must have been like this since she was a child.

"…Haah. Leon, please somehow persuade these two."

Mother's exasperated voice probably comes from hearing my statements and Ariel's outrageous demand. I feel a little bad about it.

On the other hand, prompted by Mother's words, Father silently stands up slowly from his chair. His figure carries the overwhelming presence of a large carnivore like a lion or a bear.

Father, who has continued physical labor such as farm work and livestock raising since childhood and even now voluntarily joins training, has a body so thick it is hard to believe he is a noble.

His physique, which is two or perhaps even three sizes larger than mine, approaches slowly step by step, bringing a terror I have never felt before.

When I think back, I realize Father has hardly ever scolded me.

I have never been hit or struck either, and the one who always got angry was Mother while Father was the one who soothed things.

It feels as though I have stepped on the tail of a sleeping beast, and my body nearly freezes in fear.

When Father comes close to us, he first places his hands on our shoulders.

I desperately endure the heavy weight that nearly bends my knees. Somehow I feel that if I bend my knees here, it would be wrong.

Ariel, who is standing next to me, does not seem to find it difficult at all, which makes me envious.

Next, our chins are grasped by large hands. Thick, knobby fingers hardened by farm work and training, along with a calloused palm, cover our mouths.

It is suffocating. I want to step back several paces right now.

But Father's two eyes continue to glare straight at us.

Those eyes are terribly cold and carry an intensity that would normally make anyone cower.

Surely the nobles who dislike Father or those who deride him as an "Villainous knight" behind his back must fear this side of him and whisper ill.

If Ariel and I were to flinch here, take even one step back, or avert our eyes, he would not permit us to accompany him. That firm resolve is transmitted through his thick palms.

"You bastards are making fun of me."

For the first time in my life, anger toward Father welled up inside me.

Does he seriously think that by doing this I will cower and reverse my opinion?

Ever since I was young, deep in my heart I have always been troubled by the fact that I could never become like Father.

I hated how weak and sly I was, and I wanted to become even a little stronger, which is why I wished to accompany him.

Even though you wish for your son's growth, do not block the path and get in the way.

If anything, I want to bite down on the palm covering my mouth.

Without averting my gaze from Father's eyes, I glared back with anger of my own. Then Father's hands gradually relaxed their strength and moved away from our mouths.

"…It seems your resolve is firm."

"Yes."

"Of course it is."

"Time is precious right now. Prepare yourselves immediately. Captain, show them what equipment is needed."

"Is that all right?"

"Persuading these two is impossible for me, and even for the current Angie."

"Leon!"

"Sorry, Angie. This time these kids are in the right."

[T/N- No they are not , if not for plot armour they all be dead.]

It appears that Ariel and I have passed Father's test.

The moment I feel relieved, strength drains from my body and I stagger. In contrast, Ariel beside me is innocently rejoicing.

Even though I put up such a front and defied Father, I already start regretting it, and I hate myself for it.

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Authors Note  

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The chapter where Lionel-kun tries hard.

In the original work, Leon is excellent even if inferior to the five idiots, and Angie is a duke's daughter with no flaws except her short temper.

With parents like that, it seems natural that a son would lose the will to rebel, but this is the first time he shows his own will.

So far the story has centered on Leon and Angie, but from now on the children will have more scenes.

Next chapter is scheduled for August 8, timed to coincide with the start of the new Mobseka comic adaptation.

Addendum: At the requester's request, the illustration previously drawn has been posted on pixiv.  

Thank you so much.

To 9430-sama Pixiv

I would appreciate any opinions or impressions, as they would encourage me going forward.