Timing Is Everything
Timing is important, after all.
“Oppa?” Elena’s delicate brow furrowed. A stranger had appeared out of nowhere while she was fighting orcs. He wore bizarre clothes the likes of which she had never seen or heard of, and he was suddenly claiming to be her brother. She felt a surge of anger. Another fake at a time like this.
Ten years had passed since her brother disappeared. Naturally, countless impostors had shown up claiming to be her real brother during that time. They saw someone else’s misfortune as their chance to climb higher. Despicable creatures. Vile parasites who tried to profit from another’s tragedy.
“Haa…… I don’t know who you are, but stop spouting nonsense……”
“Chwiik!! Kill!!”
“My body’s moving again!!!”
“Kill, kill!!!”
The orcs suddenly began to move. Elena reacted on pure instinct. She threw herself in front of the man pretending to be her brother. Why am I protecting this fake…… But…… She simply couldn’t bear to watch someone die right in front of her. She hated the impostor, but she hated death even more.
“Get back!!”
Elena tried to shove the fake behind her, but the moment her hand touched him, she felt an immovable weight and an indescribable pressure. It was like…… a mountain range. An absolute force of nature she could never hope to move no matter how hard she tried. She understood instantly. I could never beat this man even if I died and came back to life.
The impostor’s face twisted. Clear anger and irritation. The instant his emotions flared, the atmosphere around them changed.
“How annoying. I finally get to reunite with my lovely little sister after 110 years, and these piglets dare to interrupt?”
The moment displeasure filled his eyes, a pop sounded beside them. When she turned her head, one of the charging orcs lay dead, its head burst open.
“……What……”
“E-rank orcs at best, yet they have the nerve to bare their teeth at me.”
The fake—no, Mincheol’s gaze turned vicious. It had been 110 years. After crossing a time so long that even mountains and rivers would have changed, he had finally found his sister. And at such an important moment, mere orcs dared to interfere. It was unacceptable.
“Gluttony.”
Gluttony has been summoned.
Mincheol extended his hand, and a small slime materialized on his palm.
“A-a slime?” Elena’s voice came out bewildered.
Slimes were the weakest of monsters. Even novice adventurers could handle them with a little know-how. There was even a saying that rabbits were stronger than slimes. And he was summoning one now? Why?
“These pests are annoying. I don’t even want to dirty my own hands. Gluttony, eat them all.”
At Mincheol’s quiet command, Gluttony let out a cheerful pyong~ and bounced down to the ground. It wobbled exactly like a slime should—transparent, fragile-looking, the weakest of the weak. The orcs relaxed at the sight and laughed.
“Chwik! Slime! Tastes bad!”
“We eat meat!”
One of their kin had just died with its head exploded, but it hadn’t seemed particularly frightening. They hadn’t seen what happened. Their instinct to eat meat overrode any fear.
“Chwiiiik!”
“Eat!!”
The moment the orcs charged again, Gluttony moved. Its body swelled enormously, defying the law of conservation of mass, then spread out wide like a cloth being unfurled. In an instant, it swallowed all twenty-seven charging orcs whole.
Urp—
The slime let out a light burp and returned to its original small form. Even after devouring twenty-seven orcs, its size hadn’t changed at all.
“……”
Elena’s mouth fell open. She had seen it with her own eyes, yet she couldn’t believe it. What in the world had just happened? Was what I saw real? The weakest slime had swallowed orcs dozens of times its size—twenty-seven of them—and digested them in seconds as if they were a light snack. It was impossible by any common sense. Yet the slime before her had shattered that common sense completely.
That thing……
“Close your mouth. A bug might fly in.”
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Closing your mouth for you? My cute little sister had such a blank look on her face, so her big brother decided to help.”
“B-big brother?! What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“Why is it nonsense? Aren’t you happy? Your brother’s come back. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?”
Elena’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. It was only natural. Countless people had approached her claiming to be her brother, all after her wealth, her title, or her. At first she hadn’t known better, but after ten years of being deceived, she had learned her lesson. She couldn’t trust people so easily.
“Thank you for saving me. But I won’t tolerate this kind of rudeness again. And……”
If he had simply been a benefactor, she would have shown proper gratitude. But he was a fake. An impostor claiming to be her brother. The warmth she had felt cooled instantly. She knew she shouldn’t feel this way, but the wounds from years of betrayal had never healed.
“I don’t have a brother.”
Elena turned away cleanly.
“Hmm…… Things are getting troublesome.”
You were too hasty.
“Well, maybe. It’s hard to believe your long-lost brother suddenly came back.”
Mincheol had confirmed it with the DNA scanner, but Elena hadn’t.
“I’ll have to handle this myself.”
His relationship with Elena was something he had to resolve on his own. No one else could help.
“Ah, and I’ll need to change my name.”
Your name, sir?
“Yeah. In that world my name was Kim Mincheol, but here it’s different.”
Mincheol walked after Elena and gave the order to the System.
“My name is Albert. Albert Legrian.”
Command received.
Master’s name has been changed to Albert Legrian.
Welcome back, Albert.
“Why?”
Regardless……
Congratulations on returning home.
* * *
“Shall we get moving too?”
“Ucha-cha-cha, we can’t let our cute lord die, after all.”
The knights who had been hiding in the corner, waiting for the right moment, stood up. It was time to make their entrance. She must have reflected on her actions by now. If they had already asserted dominance this much, she should understand.
“Let’s kill the orcs in style and ask for a raise.”
“We should ask for new equipment too.”
“Right.”
The knights loosened up and began preparing for battle. But then—
The lord was walking through the castle gates.
“What? Why is she coming in?”
“Did she give up?”
“No, the atmosphere feels off.”
“Wait, I’ll go check.”
One of the knights approached Elena.
“My lord.”
“Kaizen, you’re late.”
Elena’s gaze was sharp as a blade. Negative emotions—anger, resentment—swirled in her amethyst eyes. In the past, that look would have frightened him, but not anymore.
What does being a noble matter? She has no assets, no connections, no money, and not even any family left.
There was nothing to fear. This territory was close to Monster Land, so outsiders rarely came. No matter what happened, she couldn’t fire or execute them.
Without us, she can’t stop the monsters pouring out of Monster Land.
Whether she liked it or not, whether it disgusted her or not, as lord she had to keep the knights. That was her parents’ dying wish.
“Ahahaha, well, you see, I was going to prepare quickly, but this junk equipment kept acting up. I’m a bit late. By the way, what happened to the monsters?”
Elena let out a deep sigh, swallowing all the words she wanted to say.
“They’re all dead.”
“Huh? Dead? That’s impossible. Thirty orcs showed up, so how……?”
“How do you know that?”
“Pardon?”
“You just said you arrived a moment ago. So how do you know there were thirty orcs?”
“……”
Kaizen flinched. He had made a mistake in his panic.
“Ah, th-that’s because I heard the villagers talking……”
“The villagers wouldn’t know the exact number. So how did you, who supposedly just arrived, know there were thirty orcs?”
“That’s……”
“Haa…… Never mind. I’m a little tired.”
Elena headed toward the lord’s castle, saying she would rest. Left alone, Kaizen blinked. He had learned one thing today.
“This won’t do.”
Timing really was important.
* * *
“Looks like things are pretty messed up.”
Albert, who had been watching the situation, spoke. Having consumed countless forms of media while living in Korea, he could roughly see the shape of things. Just like how watching the first episode of a drama lets you predict the ending, Albert could already tell how the territory’s situation would unfold.
It is exactly as it appears. Knights who are not knights, even looking down on their own lord.
In this world, is a noble’s title lower than a knight’s?
Requesting information.
“I need that information too. That can’t be right……”
Something was wrong. This was definitely his territory. He had even confirmed his sister with the DNA scanner. That meant this was his home. Then why has the territory ended up like this? No matter what, if Mother and Father were here, it wouldn’t have gotten this bad.
He knew from what he had seen as a child. His father had an eccentric personality obsessed with armor, but as the pillar of the family he possessed an unshakable, mountain-like presence. His mother overflowed with maternal affection and always smiled gently at her family, yet she possessed business acumen sharper than any merchant.
With those two here, how could the territory have fallen to this state?
“I need to check.”
It would be best to prepare for the worst.
“……”
It may sound unpleasant, but based on the limited information gathered so far, your parents have already……
“Shut up.”
My apologies. However, Albert, your power must not be swayed by emotion.
I exist for your sake……
“Haa, I know. No need to worry. Who do you think I am? EX-rank Hunter, Kim Mincheol. The one once called the pinnacle and absolute being of the world. Losing my composure is not something I do. I’m always calm.”
With those words, he closed his mouth and walked on.
……The pinnacle of the world, the absolute being…… That is precisely why I am worried.
( Ĭ ^ Ĭ )