Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Knight Order Leader (1)
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‘What a ridiculously massive mansion. Is this a palace or something?'
The mansion of Ianus Aleyas, where they arrived after a long carriage ride, was magnificent.
Towering spires rose high, giving it an imposing presence, and armed soldiers patrolled the grounds, controlling the crowds.
"Welcome, Lord Kurt."
A man who appeared to hold a high position spotted Kurt's face and greeted him.
"This way, please."
"Have my brother and sister already arrived?"
"Lords Sershes and Helena have already arrived. Lord Est should be here shortly."
Sershes was the eldest of the four siblings. He was Kurt's oldest brother.
Helena was the second, and Est, the third, were Kurt's older sisters.
"Then, Hazel, I'll be off."
"Yes, please take care."
Hazel, who had accompanied them, bowed as she saw them off.
From here on, it seemed only members of the Aleyas family were allowed inside.
'Still, there sure are a lot of people.'
The interior was bustling.
Excluding Ianus's servants, these were all Aleyas family members, yet if there were really sixteen or more, it looked like everyone was required to attend.
'There are even faces I remember from my time as Archbishop Hausel. If they knew I was Hausel, they'd probably swarm me and try to kill me.'
In his previous life, they had fought tooth and nail against each other, and now they were relatives.
It felt a bit strange.
'No, even here... we'll end up fighting for our lives, won't we.'
With that thought, he lifted his head.
A woman with a cold expression was approaching down the corridor.
"You're late, Kurt."
"I'm sorry, sister Helena."
As she glared at Kurt, he recalled his memories.
'Helena's aged quite a bit. She's probably over forty now, huh?'
Helena Aleyas.
Ianus's eldest daughter, Kurt's older sister.
A woman who had checked the Dialogue Church using all sorts of un-knightly schemes.
However, despite favoring cowardly tricks, her schemes themselves weren't all that refined... so she kept failing in her battles against the Dialogue Church.
'I even turned one of Helena's strategies against her and trapped her once.'
She had been an enemy in the past, but he held no grudge against her.
If anything, it was nice to see someone from the old days.
Of course, Helena would never dream that he was Archbishop Hausel.
"So you're Sion."
"Hello, Aunt."
"Call me Lady Helena."
Helena said in a frosty tone.
"Sion, I have business with your father. You go that way."
"Sister, Sion is..."
"My sons are over there, so ask them to keep an eye on him. You!"
Helena called over a passerby and gave instructions.
"Sion, as I've told you many times..."
"Don't worry, Father."
Just don't do anything to draw attention and stay quiet.
That was Kurt, his father, his wish.
"I'll go play with my cousins."
"...Alright, got it."
Helena urged him with her eyes, so Kurt reluctantly let him go.
* * *
"So you're Sion."
"Huh, you're a cute little guy!"
The ones who greeted him in a quiet corner of the garden were boys in their mid-teens.
'Helena's sons, brothers Cain and Robel...'
Cain resembled his mother with his sharp-featured pretty boy looks, while Robel was a chubby kid with a rough face.
'If Helena becomes the next Knight Order Leader, Cain will be the one after that.'
Cain was known as a rather talented boy. He was set to join the Holy Knight Order soon.
Robel wasn't as good as his brother but was still pretty capable.
"Nice to meet you, brother Cain, brother Robel."
"Good manners."
"Such a polite kid!"
They were sitting at a table, eating.
When he stood there quietly, Cain gestured to an empty seat.
"Our little brother must be hungry."
"No, I'm fine."
"We'll share some. Grandpa's house has great food."
Cain pushed over the plate in front of him.
It was seafood in a creamy sauce that smelled divine.
[Whoa.]
Igzard muttered in his head.
[Quite generous, eh?]
Igzard's words were sarcastic.
All that was left on the plate were seafood shells.
They had picked out all the good bits and shoved the garbage plate at him.
"What're you waiting for? Eat up."
Cain urged him with a smile.
Robel shrugged beside him.
"Brother, Sion's still too young to appreciate this kind of dish, I think."
"Is that so? Well, he's just a kid, can't be helped."
"So we should make it kid-friendly."
With that, Robel picked up a bottle of red sauce from the table.
It was 'ketchup,' recently imported from a distant region and all the rage with kids.
"There, now it'll be tasty!"
Robel dumped a ton of ketchup onto the plate.
Seeing the red ketchup slathered messily over the white cream sauce killed his appetite instantly.
"Eat up, Sion!"
"Sorry, no spoon or fork. Want to use ours? Or just eat straight from the plate."
Watching his giggling cousins, he let out a small sigh.
'What idiots.'
He could guess why they were doing this.
In the coming succession struggle, he was a potential rival. So they were trying to intimidate him early.
To drill in that he shouldn't defy their brothers.
'They must think I'll get scared and burst into tears...'
Typical of Helena's kids.
Petty bullying.
'Going this far just to crush a twelve-year-old kid's spirit?'
As he kept his head down silently, they leaned in, giggling.
"Sion, you crying?"
"Your big brothers are sharing yummy food—why cry? Dumbass?"
Ignoring them, he slowly reached for the plate.
Then lifted it with both hands.
"Wait, you gonna eat it like that?"
"Haha, Sion! You a dog or something? We were just kidding—"
"Whoa."
Pretending to lose balance, he stumbled forward and flung the plate.
And that plate flew straight at Cain, who had leaned in close to peer at his face.
Cain's pristine white robes were splattered with cream sauce and ketchup.
"Urk?!"
"I'm sorry, brother."
He bowed politely.
"My hand slipped."
"You little shit, what the hell...!"
While Cain froze in place, Robel lunged at him.
A pathetic sight: about to swing at a much younger kid.
"I'm sorry, brother."
But of course, no reason to take the hit.
"My foot slipped."
"...!"
Robel tripped over his leg and face-planted.
Right into the puddle of sauce from the spilled plate, so Robel's robes got filthy too, just like his brother's.
"Sion, what the hell was that?"
"What do you think?"
When he shot them a cold glare, Cain flinched.
"What are you, anyway?"
"And what are you?"
He approached Cain with a icy voice.
"Treating your youngest cousin, who you just met for the first time in your life, like this... what the hell is that?"
"...!"
A flicker of fear passed through Cain's eyes.
He instinctively realized the kid in front of him wasn't someone to mess with.
"What are you punks doing?"
Right then.
Clicking heels announced the arrival of a woman with refined features.
A face he didn't remember. But he figured it out quickly.
'Sershes's daughter, I bet. The eyes are similar.'
Sershes Aleyas.
The man who commanded the 'Assault Knight Brigade,' the Holy Knight Order's strongest force.
His skills were top-notch, earning him great merits against the Dialogue Church.
As Archbishop Hausel, he had clashed with him multiple times.
'I always won, though.'
Recalling that, he observed Sershes's daughter.
As expected, she had a proud, haughty air.
Around twenty years old, her name was...
"S-Sister Sena!"
"Sis...!"
Right, Sena Aleyas.
He'd heard she had already joined the Holy Knight Order and was doing well.
She was the only one of their generation to make it in so far.
"Sister, hear me out!"
Cain cried out with an aggrieved look.
"This guy, Sion, did this to my clothes!"
"Me too!"
Robel pointed to his own sauce- and ketchup-stained robes and raised his voice.
But Sena's gaze remained cold.
"So?"
"Huh?"
"What do you want me to do about it?"
Cain and Robel flinched at her sharp tone.
"You want me to punish him for you?"
"No, that's not..."
"Sis..."
"If you can't handle something this minor on your own and have to ask for help, get your name struck from the Aleyas family tree."
"...!"
Cain and Robel trembled in place, speechless.
Sena seemed like an absolute authority to them.
"Anyway."
Sena frowned as she looked them up and down.
"You planning to greet Grandpa in those clothes?"
"Ah..."
"Th-that's..."
"Go change. The family meeting's starting soon."
"Y-yes!"
"Got it...!"
Cain and Robel scurried off, leaving just him and Sena.
"Hello, sister Sena."
"..."
He greeted her, but Sena scanned him coldly without responding.
"So that's why Grandpa called you here urgently."
She muttered briefly, then turned her back to him.
"Come on. Grandpa's looking for you."
"Grandpa?"
"He wants to see your face before the family meeting starts."
Watching Sena stride ahead, Igzard's voice echoed in his head.
[Hmm, looks like Ianus is really interested in you.]
Ianus paid more attention to his grandchildren than his children, but rarely met them personally.
For such an Ianus to invite him to the family meeting wasn't enough—he even sent Sena to fetch him.
This was no small matter.
'Then shall I pay him a visit after all these years.'
His past life's archenemy, and this life's grandfather.
To meet Knight Order Leader Ianus Aleyas, he hurried after Sena.