Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: House Zahav: Always Cloudy After Clear Skies
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There had been a bit of a commotion, but somehow the schedule wrapped up smoothly, and they were on their way to the training grounds.
His literacy studies had finally gotten on track, to the point where he could read simple books on his own, so he decided to increase the focus on aura training.
They had been a little late entertaining the guests from the academy, so he hurried his steps, worried that Hilda might be waiting.
"Oppa. Where are you rushing off to?"
"Whoa, you scared me."
He flinched at Yuria's sudden voice as she poked her head out from his side.
Blood ties clearly hadn't played a role, yet her golden hair, strikingly similar to his, cascaded down and sparkled in the sunlight.
"What, what? Does my hair bother you? Hehe. You can tug on it a little if you want."
Perhaps noticing his gaze, Yuria gathered her hair into a single ponytail and held it out toward him.
"What nonsense is that all of a sudden, Yuria..."
"Oh, sorry. For using it as a handle, it's like this, right?"
She tilted her head, split the ponytail into two, and gripped them at her sides.
She had simply held them with her hands, but it formed the classic twin-tail style... And, to put it crudely, she had made handles and was shaking them in front of him.
"How about it? Do you like this kind of thing, oppa?"
"......"
His mind was about to blank out.
They said House Zahav's bloodline ability hadn't manifested in her, so what was this?
No. If he thought that way, Jevella should have some crazy quirks too, but she was just a kind, capable big sister to him.
The academy didn't explain it either, since the other students seemed perfectly sane...
"Ah."
He got it.
She was just like that.
Karen must have been so used to House Zahav's problem children that this level of behavior seemed cute to her.
That realization hit just as he thought he understood Yuria.
The aversion he felt toward the incomprehensible melted away, replaced by a slight sense of crisis.
He might not meet House Zahav's ideal delinquent archetype, but he couldn't drop the delinquent act either.
It was still better than not doing it, and even after the succession rite, they might question his bloodline's authenticity.
In short, he needed to act even crazier than Yuria.
...It wouldn't be easy, but he'd have to try.
He smirked, grabbed the twin tails she offered, and pulled.
"Handles are nice, but my tastes run a bit different."
"Huh? Then what does oppa like?"
"A leash."
With a curt reply, he wrapped her hair around her neck.
Golden strands crossed over her white nape. Once secured firmly, he recombined the two tails into one and gripped it in his hand.
It looked like he had turned Yuria's own hair into a necklace-cum-leash.
Possible only because her hair was so long.
Her pale purple eyes widened as her neck was suddenly gripped like it was being strangled by her own hair.
"Oppa, you're a genius?! I never even thought of this!"
"Of course. Your big bro's always been awesome."
"It's not harsh like iron or cheap leather, it chokes when you pull, and best of all, the humiliation of being bound by my own hair!"
"......Glad you like it."
A natural sigh escaped at Yuria's endless exclamations.
One thing was clear: House Zahav had botched child-rearing.
Jevella was the only decent one—abused into sanity, while Yuria was just not right in the head...
Ah!
That's why they wiped each other out in the succession struggle?
Perfect understanding. It wasn't bad luck or some unimaginable black curtain; they just deserved to die and fall.
His muddled mind cleared. Right. No matter how nuts Yuria was, what did it matter to him, since he was leaving House Zahav anyway?
As he nodded inwardly, Yuria—leash in place, hands behind her back—followed with light, cat-like steps and spoke.
"So? Where are you headed, oppa?"
"To a lesson."
"A lesson? Did House Zahav start its own academy while I was gone...?"
"No, just private tutoring. Lady Hilda, vice-captain of the Silver Lion Knights, is teaching me all sorts of things."
"Hmph. Lady Hilda, oppas's concubine... Got it."
"......It's not like that. I'm learning reading, etiquette, and aura training."
"Oppa can read?!"
"Do I really seem that illiterate...?"
He felt a bit hurt.
You can read? Weren't you illiterate?
He'd never heard such a brutally violent question, even including his past life.
Well, he had been illiterate until recently.
Did his hurt show? Yuria hurriedly shook her head.
"N-No! It's not that you seem illiterate, just disinterested in anything but fighting and girls! Don't misunderstand, oppa!"
"......?"
Was that supposed to be consolation?
A question mark floated in his mind, but he belatedly remembered not to try understanding a madwoman's logic.
She seemed docile now and didn't stand out much, but... Yuria's aura was more beast than human.
Not calling her dumb or subhuman.
She exuded the vibe unique to those with instinct over reason, senses over intellect.
He knew a few like that among Calypso survivors.
Though Yuria was an especially standout case.
"Heh. Oppa works harder than I thought?"
"Ha! I just dump most family business on Sis Jevella and goof off."
"Huh? Doesn't big sis Jevella handle the hard stuff anyway?"
"......"
Here was someone who mistook ongoing favors for entitlement.
"Anyway, you're learning aura from the vice-knight captain? Aren't you stronger, oppa?"
"Strength and skill are separate. I only picked up aura after joining House Zahav. Gotta build a solid foundation from basics."
"Heh. So you can't just wield aura freely even if you're strong."
"Obviously... Didn't you learn aura properly as a kid too, Yuria?"
"Hmm. I'm a genius, so I awakened it on my own."
"......"
Right. No bloodline ability, but she had martial talent.
Like how he could unconsciously focus mana and face aura users.
Yuria had gone a step further, instinctively mastering aura handling.
Not surprising. Unlike his mysterious bloodline, she was pure Zahav.
This world's nobles generally had at least one superhuman ability.
Bloodline abilities were just one; he'd seen plenty who made him question if they were human.
They'd gone their separate ways now, but he knew well from an old orphanage comrade from a fallen noble house.
Bloodline aside, the guy had exceptional resourcefulness.
...Though his social skills were disastrously bad.
Nostalgia was brief. They had arrived at the training grounds, so he waved Yuria off.
"Shh. We're here, so don't interfere and go. This is home, but you're here for academy practical training, right?"
"I could go if you let me, oppa."
Yuria pointed to the hair-leash around her neck.
Only then did he realize he'd been parading her leashed through the castle.
"......I'll let you go, so head out. If you don't want academy, go see Sis Jevella at least."
"Yeah. That was the plan anyway. Been a while since I saw big sis Jevella."
Yuria nodded obediently and left. For some reason, she kept the hair wrapped around her neck and waved.
"See you later, oppa!"
"Yeah."
"Next time on the same bed as big sis Jevella?"
"Doubt it."
He gave a perfunctory reply to her now-familiar remarks and opened the training ground door.
...Where Hilda waited, having heard the entire conversation from outside.
Hilda turned her gaze to him for the first time.
"No."
"......As a knight, I only wish glory upon House Zahav."
"No."
Maybe clear up this misunderstanding for once?
The academy instructor, hit first by Yuria and then stoned by Enoch.
No, former instructor Brent gnashed his teeth.
"Kuk... Damn House Zahav. How was I supposed to know they had a hidden bastard child."
He clutched his arm—recently healed from fracture, still faintly numb—and recalled the events from hours ago.
The eerie Head Butler Aaron had warned that showing his face again meant his neck, not arm, would snap.
Brent stared blankly at the closed castle gates. Delvin, the academy head who brought his belongings, handed him a dismissal notice too.
Even without Yuria's incident, his repeated minor corruptions had earned multiple warnings. Thus, the final ultimatum came without procedure.
Recalling Delvin's cold expression as he handed over a mid-grade potion as severance, Brent unconsciously gripped his newly healed arm.
Crack.
Compared to House Zahav monsters, he paled, but Brent was skilled enough for academy instructor—a knight in his own right. The ominous sound came from his weakened arm.
But mentally cornered, he had no slack to notice the pain.
"Damn it! Damn it! No one left to borrow money from now...!"
Brent's bribery stemmed from a simple reason.
Abandoning the sword between shining talents and harsh reality, he took up gambling as a new hobby.
Using his instructor position to borrow here and there, even taking bribes...
But now jobless, repayment was impossible.
Returning to the capital like this, word reaching the loan sharks from his borrowed gambling dens...
A grim future awaited.
As anxious Brent pondered his options, a robed man appeared.
"Brent Diego. Former academy instructor, gambler owing 20,000 gold to the Ellis Family. Correct?"
"Wh-who are you!"
Brent drew his sword in shock, wincing at the pain from his untreated arm. The man blocking him remained calm.
"Calm down. My enemy is solely Enoch Zahav. Help me, and I'll cover your debts and prepare a new identity."
"......How do I trust you?"
"If not, you have only one path left."
Brent realized: no future either way.
Flee and get hunted by Ellis Family, or overstep and get killed by Head Butler Aaron.
If one of two deaths, better to thrash about.
Recalling Enoch and Yuria's faces, their gazes of contempt and indifference like looking at bugs, Brent nodded.
"Fine. Screw over Zahav's brats and clean my future? I'll do anything."
"Good choice. Take this first. Head to the place I indicate. There should be walls still under repair."
The man pulled a small box from his robes.
Brent flinched upon taking it. The aura inside was black magic, strictly forbidden by academy teachings.
But with nowhere to go, it didn't matter to Brent.
No, knowing black mages' terror made it reassuring.
"With this..."
Gamblers ruin their lives by twisting their own fate.
Just like now.