No Discrimination, Little Brother
“Treat everyone equally, little brother. Why isn’t there a commoner male lead?”
“I told you already. Commoners don’t get treated like people. Isn’t that how it was in the Middle Ages?”
Good grief. That’s not a commoner—that’s a serf. And even serfs were treated like human beings. Are you confusing them with slaves?
“Ugh, I don’t know. Anyway, this isn’t the 21st-century democratic era! There’s no concept of treating people like actual people at all! Just look at Black people. Did they treat them like humans back then?”
Hey now. Racist remarks are strictly prohibited. How outdated can your thinking get?
“I studied too, you know. The class system in the Middle Ages wasn’t just a system—it was like divine order handed down by God. In a place like that, a commoner male lead? Even if he slays demons, a commoner is still a commoner.”
That’s not a commoner, it’s a serf. It seems our little brother studied the wrong things.
Tens of thousands of knights. A 6kg dagger, second round—what the hell? I get it now. It’s that deeply ingrained perception. No matter what a commoner does, he’s still a commoner. No matter how outstanding he is, he remains a commoner.
“Then, little brother.”
What happens if that commoner catches one of the Seven Deadly Sins?
In truth, Cain had asked himself the same question.
He had no problem beating the hell out of Wilhelm or the knight order, yet why didn’t he do the same to the protagonists? Even when they clearly provoked him first, why did he reach for words before fists?
It was probably because of his past. The experience of living as a web novel PD had planted a certain stereotype deep in his mind: protagonists must be treated well no matter what. Messing with them would be incredibly exhausting. For the sake of the future, you absolutely needed to build a friendly relationship with them.
‘The other male leads had more than enough reason to hate me.’
Originally, the war situation should have been roughly even. The demons shouldn’t have been so utterly crushed. The male leads were supposed to grow by fighting demons later on, raising their names and spreading their fame. Only then would they approach the female lead.
By doing all of that himself, Cain had completely removed their stepping stones.
Of course, the male leads didn’t know their original fates. But they could still feel instinctive rejection. Since this was a possession story, that much was more than possible.
Most decisively, he had treated Estelle harshly. In romance fantasy, the male leads lived and died for the female protagonist. It was the one and only absolute law of this world. Challenging that head-on was bound to cause problems.
Wilhelm had been the world’s greatest trash prince in the original story. That was why Cain had beaten him without hesitation and would continue to do so. But what about the protagonists? How should he handle them? Should he go easy and wait? Or just let it slide?
‘I guess I should apologize to Wilhelm later.’
Discriminatory treatment is the fastest way to ruin a person. If he beat up the slacking knights and the trash prince, then surely the male leads deserved a beating too, right?
Crunch!
There was no defense at all. He probably hadn’t even perceived the attack. Even the Grand Marshal standing beside him was a beat too slow.
Though he was a male lead, he was still before his growth phase. Blocking Cain’s strike had been impossible from the start.
“Ugh… ugh…”
He probably didn’t even know why he had fallen. Only after barely grasping the situation did Arhen turn his head.
“…Ah, aaaaagh! Uwaaaaagh!!”
With his limbs twisted and sprawled in an unsightly heap, the pain finally registered and screamed through his nerves. A shrill shriek burst from Arhen’s mouth.
Slap!
Cain had no intention of tolerating even that.
“Shut your mouth.”
“Krrgh! Uuuuugh!!”
“You won’t die just because your arms and legs are broken. You can heal it with holy power anyway, can’t you?”
A simple yap could reattach severed limbs, yet here he was throwing a tantrum. So let’s harvest some corn this time.
Cain raised his fist, then stopped mid-motion.
“That’s far enough.”
A chilling blade rested against his side. It looked ready to sever his neck at any moment.
“Grand Marshal.”
“As you said, holy power will heal him cleanly. So stop here. I’ll smooth things over somehow this time. But next time, even I won’t be able to cover for you.”
“Grand Marshal.”
“That boy is my nephew and a prince of the empire. Power may be supreme in this world, but swinging it without restraint only makes you a monster. Do not cross the line the world has drawn, Cain.”
“Eclaven.”
The age gap between Cain and the Grand Marshal was nearly twenty years. Yet Cain casually called the Grand Marshal by name.
“…”
But the Grand Marshal did not show any displeasure. Just as he had said—Cain stood above him in pure martial strength. It was arrogant, but it was an arrogance he had earned.
“Move.”
The sword in his hand trembled, if only for an instant. Survival instinct had shaken even a knight’s will. He had nearly withdrawn his blade without realizing it. That fact wounded the Grand Marshal’s pride.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot do that.”
“…”
“Step away from Arhen. That will suffice.”
He was the prince’s maternal uncle and the empire’s Grand Marshal. His nephew—his prince—had been attacked right before his eyes. At the very least, he needed to be given a justification to lower his sword. The Grand Marshal’s suggestion carried that meaning.
If the opponent had been anyone but Cain, he would have accepted. He would have given face and made the other withdraw his blade himself.
“…!!”
But Cain had no such intention whatsoever.
“Tsk!”
Before he could even register it, the sword was pulled back inward. Instinctively, he defended the spot where killing intent poured forth. At the same time, Cain’s fist slammed into his chest.
Boooom—!
“Guh…!”
It was fortunate he had twisted his sword to block. “Huk. Huk.” That strike had not been a warning. If it had landed cleanly, his heart would have shattered and killed him.
“Are you truly determined to make an enemy of the empire?!”
“Enemy? Please.”
He was simply cleaning up one prince who couldn’t read the room and one overripe Grand Marshal. Would the empire really turn against him for the sake of those two?
“You bastard!”
If there was a gap in skill, he had to at least seize the initiative. Although he had allowed a surprise attack, he could not permit anything more. The Grand Marshal thrust his sword fiercely toward Cain.
Vwoooong—!
The blade sliced through the air and poured down like light. Incredible speed. Terrifying power. True to his title, the Grand Marshal was strong. He perfectly dominated the space and heightened his assault, leaving no opening for a counterattack.
It was the skill of a powerhouse who had distinguished himself in the demon war. He proved he had not received the title of Grand Marshal for nothing, demonstrating it with fast yet heavy swordsmanship.
“…”
Yet the Grand Marshal’s expression was grim. Even after unleashing such tremendous swordplay, his face only grew stiffer.
‘Not a single strike… connects.’
What was even more frightening was not that they failed to connect. Cain was dodging them by the most exquisite margins. At first, he had wondered if his sword could reach at all. But no—it was intentional.
Without any excessive movement, as if anything more would be wasteful, Cain measured the exact distance needed to evade each attack.
“Huuuup—!”
The Grand Marshal ground his teeth and drew out his mana. The power surged to its maximum and radiated light.
Vwoooooong—!
Even faster speed. Even denser killing intent. A sword that could perhaps even pressure a high demon.
“Why! Why won’t you counterattack?!”
These were strikes that could take his life at any moment.
“Counterattack already, I said!”
Cain continued to dodge the Grand Marshal’s sword. Eventually, the frustrated Grand Marshal urged him to strike back. But Cain stubbornly maintained only the precise distance until the very end.
“Hoo, hoo!”
In the end, the Grand Marshal exhausted every one of his techniques. He could repeat them, but that would be nothing more than repetition—exposing his own weaknesses.
“Why aren’t you counterattacking?”
“That’s right! Are you mocking me?!”
Not at all. Quite the opposite—he was showing respect. The Grand Marshal was someone who had hunted demons more diligently than anyone. It was a little disappointing to have his prey stolen, but that was all.
He was one of the people who truly deserved proper treatment. That was why Cain had not attacked until now.
From here on, it was time to pay the price for the wrong choice.
Shhhhh—!
Burning mana formed in Cain’s hand. The Grand Marshal tensed and raised every ounce of his power. The moment Cain’s attack began, he focused entirely on defense. He might be bisected and killed in a single blow. He knew all too well how strong the man before him was. So he braced himself with full tension and received Cain’s hand—
‘…What?’
Strangely, he was blocking far too easily. It made no sense. His opponent was the demon slayer Cain. Considering his martial prowess, he should not have been able to afford such leisure. Why? How could he deflect every single attack…?
“…Y-you insane bastard!”
How? Just how was this possible?
‘I thought it felt familiar somehow!’
It was no illusion. The true identity of the attacks Cain was using was the very swordsmanship the Grand Marshal himself had just displayed moments ago!
‘This can’t be. I’ve never shown it this perfectly before today!’
The explanation was simple. He was copying the previous attacks exactly. But this was no child’s game of drawing a few lines. It was an extremely precise sword path, an offensive technique he had refined over decades. Replicating it after seeing it once was impossible. Not even a high demon had ever managed such a feat!
Kaang!Clang—!
“Ha. Haha! Hahahaha!!”
Since it was his own swordsmanship, blocking it was not difficult. At least his body’s memory would not lose out. But the Grand Marshal’s heart had already tilted. To replicate such precision after seeing it only once—it made defeat feel inevitable.
He already sensed it instinctively. What was even more terrifying was the certainty that this was not the end. Perhaps Cain had even grasped his weaknesses and counters. No—he definitely had. If he had taken everything in a single glance, then by actually performing it he would have understood it twice, even three times over.
‘This must be the final secret technique.’
It was a sword path refined to the extreme so that no one could block it. Cain had dodged even that. Then what about himself?
Thud!
“Krrgh—!”
Unfortunately, he could neither dodge nor block it properly. The moment they collided, the Grand Marshal’s sword bent downward. An opening appeared. Death rushed right before his eyes.
Tap—
“…What are you doing?”
Cain’s hand stopped at the Grand Marshal’s right shoulder.
“The match is already decided, so finish it quickly.”
“Finish what?”
Crack!!
With the sound of a shoulder shattering, the Grand Marshal collapsed.
“The only ones who can die by my hand are demons. And those who collude with demons.”
“Krrgh…”
“Unfortunately, Grand Marshal, you don’t qualify.”
Cain dusted off his hands and approached Arhen. Even with his limbs broken, Arhen had not lost consciousness. Thanks to that, he had witnessed the entire scene—the defeat of the Grand Marshal, whom he had believed could stand against Cain, and Cain now walking toward him.
“Your Highness. Do you know why this mad dog doesn’t bite just anyone?”
Thud!
“Guhk!!”
Using his left hand so as not to damage the internal organs, and holding back his full strength, Cain struck the prince’s stomach. Arhen looked like he was about to die from the pain.
“If I bit every random person, I’d be too busy dealing with the resulting mess and might actually miss the real demons.”
“Uuuugh…!”
“But now that I think about it, you’ve already been beaten quite a lot. What difference would a little more make?”
Press—
“Uwaaaaagh!!”
When Cain lightly pressed on the broken limbs, a scream tore out.
“Hey, prince.”
“Krrgh!!”
“You were curious why your brother kept shielding me, weren’t you?”
He wasn’t shielding me. He was tying me down. I’ll bow my head, so please don’t get beaten like this by others. For the sake of brotherly love, it seems you need to take a few more hits since you don’t understand your brother’s cool sacrifice.
“Let’s start a project on you too.”
The follow-up to Wilhelm’s mental reformation project. Arhen’s romance-fantasy-male-lead intelligence enhancement project. It wouldn’t be easy. He was already entangled with the female protagonist, and the power of love was far too strong to overcome.
Like how the heroines in harem stories mindlessly catfought, this would be even worse. A man with a woman becomes a beast. It was practically a law. Escaping it was nearly impossible.
But people could be cured if beaten enough. ‘Like a rain ritual.’ If it doesn’t work, just keep beating until it does.
“…What the hell is this?”
The next day, Wilhelm rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
“Arhen?”
“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I committed a mortal sin. So please stop hitting me. I’m sorry. I was wrong. I committed a mortal sin. So please stop hitting me…”
Arhen was begging with his hands and feet, repeating the same words over and over.
“Grand Marshal?”
“Nothing happened. Nothing at all. Nothing happened.”
The Grand Marshal stood ramrod straight, every muscle tense.
“Hey, Cain. You…”
“I didn’t kill them.”
Cain spoke proudly, as if announcing a great decision he had made.
“…”
Wilhelm decided it was best to stop thinking altogether.