Chapter 11 – “Mark’s Feelings and the Princess in the Forest”

~Side Mark ~

The moment I saw my brother slumped on the ground, my eyes went black. Even though my brother had told me about it beforehand, the fact that there was someone there who was hurting him made me irresistibly angry, and when I came to my senses, I picked up my wooden sword and went towards the person who had hurt my brother.

There was no strategy in my mind, only the need to punish the person who hurted my brother. That was how angry I’m at him.

I thought I was a tolerant person when it came to anger if I do say so myself. However, I wouldn’t allow anyone to harm my brother, no matter who they are.

This was partly because he was my only brother and partly because I felt that way, but most of all because I believed that he was the reason I’m where I’m today.

I used the magic that my brother taught me to strengthen my body to get closer to my opponent. Then, with all my strength, I swung my wooden sword. However, the blow was easily dodged.

The opponent was talking to me while we were fighting, but I was too angry to hear what he was saying. The only thing I had to do now was to avenge my brother’s loss.

After a few more rounds of fighting, I was defeated by a wooden sword that I failed to catch when my opponent was getting serious.

As I was biting my lip and clenching my fists in frustration, my opponent approached me.

“You’re that good at your age, that’s impressive. Who are you?”

“Margrave Byreus. This boy is my other son, Mark.”

My father introduced me to the person I had been fighting. That’s when I finally regained my composure and realized who I’d been fighting.

Anyway, I was introduced to him, so I gave him a bland greeting, and he put his hand on my shoulder and proposed something. Between the two of us, it was a little painful when he put his hand on my shoulder…….

“I like it! Be my daughter’s son-in-law!”

“Yes?”

But I didn’t scream because my brother had told me beforehand that Margrave Byreus would be coming to inspect my brother to assess his abilities. Everything was going exactly as my brother predicted. After all, big brother is amazing.

“With all due respect, I’m the second son, so shouldn’t you be talking to my brother about something like that?”

“I was going to at first, but I think that was a bad idea. Your performance in that regard is something to behold. I’ve decided that there’s no harm in making a connection with you.”

My anger, which had almost subsided at the words of Margrave Byreus, flared up again, but I did as my brother instructed. According to my brother’s instructions, if I fought against Margrave Byreus, he would offer me an engagement.

I was also instructed that if the Margrave approached me about a fiancée, I should accept the offer, and I was going to accept the offer accordingly…….

“Well, this is a very happy occasion, and my Malbert family will be at ease now. Margrave Byreus, I look forward to your continued support!”

“I intend to do so as well. I’ll be counting on you.”

Before I could agree on the engagement, my father did, so things went smoothly and without any problems. When the conversation was over, I remembered my brother and rushed over to find him asleep.

My father and Margrave Byreus, who saw him, seemed to have mistakenly thought that he had fainted from the Margrave’s attack, but I could only smile bitterly because I knew that my brother, who was stronger than me, would not have fainted from a blow of that level.

 

~~~~~~

When I woke up, I found myself on a familiar ceiling. Apparently, I had been carried into the bedroom while I was asleep.

There was no one in the room, but there were traces of someone who was there earlier, so it must have been Mark or Laura.

When I looked at the condition of my body, I found that I didn’t have any problems, not even a scratch, even though I had been slammed into the ground. This was thanks to the fact that I used my body-strengthening magic just as I was about to hit the ground.

It was a spell that was always in effect, but when Byreus blew me away, it instantly strengthened my body and nullified the damage.

This way, my opponent wouldn’t know that I was strengthening my body, and I could hide my abilities.

Just as I was about to crawl out of bed, Mark and Laura came into the room. When she saw me, Laura was the first to rush over to me. There was a hint of worry in her eyes, and she looked like she was about to start crying.

“Ani-sama, are you alright!? Are you hurt!?”

“As you can see. There’s no way something like that can hurt me.”

In fact, there was not a scratch on me, so I’m not wrong. It was not wrong, but it was not completely right either.

Byreus’s attack would have likely resulted in broken bones and bruises all over the body for an ordinary soldier, and if I had taken it seriously, I wouldn’t have gotten away with it.

However, that was just a hypothetical scenario if I took it seriously, so I wouldn’t dare mention it here……. This is also an older brother’s kindness to avoid worrying his younger siblings……. Maybe.

Afterward, Laura started to rub herself unusually hard to check for injuries, but I stopped her when she started to sniffle. It seems that my sister still has twisted feelings towards me, her brother.

In the past three years, Laura has turned eight years old, and while she was still developing as a woman, she was definitely growing into a beautiful young woman.….. In the old man’s way of saying, I am really looking forward to seeing her in seven years.

After I fell asleep, I heard that Byreus had asked Mark to be engaged, as I had expected, and he had agreed without any problems.

And then I heard that my father and Byreus were disappointed because they thought I was asleep and fainted……. Yes, this will further advance the plan.

After Mark told me what had happened, and I had finished playing with my younger siblings, I headed for the forest, my usual routine.

There was a small forest a few minutes walk along the path behind the house. Although weak, it was inhabited by monsters and small animals, making it a valuable place for a little practical training.

By manipulating the magic in my body, I searched for signs of creatures around me, and I could immediately see some reactions. Most of them were non-aggressive animals such as squirrels and rabbits, so I ignored them and proceeded further into the forest.

After walking through the forest for a while, I saw a different reaction from the small animals, so I lowered my posture and continued on my way. There they are, several goblins.

It had a murky, dark green skin, an ugly face, and was a little shorter than I am. Their height is around 120 centimeters by my estimate. There are three of them grouped together.

In their hands was a club, which I didn’t know where they got it from, and a dirty loincloth wrapped around them to cover their lower body.

However, I didn’t really have an impression of this monster because I always encountered it when I came to the forest. But this time it was different.

It was because all three of them looked somewhat impatient and were acting as if they were running away from something…… No way, did a powerful monster appear?

With this question in mind, I used my body enhancements to close the gap and cut off its head with my hand used like a sword. With the defensive strength of a goblin, I could now easily defeat them without using a weapon. This was also the result of my daily training and growth.

As I continued further into the forest, I heard a girl scream from the depths of the forest.

At that moment, I had a premonition of trouble, but I couldn’t just leave her there, so I went straight to the place where I heard the scream to check on her.

“Gaaaaaa”

“S-someone…… p-please help me!”

There was a girl who looked like a princess at first glance, dressed in an out-of-place gorgeous dress. I wondered why someone like her would be in such a place, but the situation was so serious that I had no time to think about it.

There was a monster that was about to attack her. It was a Lesser Grizzly, a bear-shaped monster that was over two meters tall and covered in fur all over its body.

I didn’t know why a monster like this was appearing in a place like this, but I was about to help her when I decided that she was in danger, but then I had a moment of hesitation.

The current me would be able to defeat a Lesser Grizzly without any difficulty. The problem was what would happen after I defeated it.

If I were to defeat the Lesser Grizzly at this point, she would know about my abilities. This was something I wanted to avoid at all costs.

But I didn’t have time to think about countermeasures against the Lesser Grizzly that was closing in on her every second, so I rushed towards her.

(Damn it, how could this happen at such a crucial time!)

I shook off the urge to complain to the goddess of fate if there is such a thing. I decided to fight the Lesser Grizzly in order to save her.