All This Is Because of Duke Hamilcar
The priests of Demia's temple were wrapped in enormous anticipation inside the carriage heading toward Serpine.
Who was Count Serpine? He was a great noble who possessed his own palace.
If the ultimate middle man was Superman, then there was the super lord, the lord among lords.
Our father was the chamberlain at court, which meant he reported to the king beneath him.
But Count Serpine was not like that. The king could not command Serpine. He was the super lord.
I glanced sideways at Damien. I had dozed off for a moment earlier, and Damien had offered his shoulder as naturally as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. It was comfortable leaning on it, so I didn't refuse.
If my brothers or father saw us like this, Damien would be slapped across the face in an instant.
Of course, since he was young, Damien's knight would have to sacrifice his pitiful life in his place.
But Damien himself would suffer no loss. That was what some people thought. However, that wasn't the case.
It was the killing of his honor. Twelve-year-old Damien would have to live with the scarlet letter of being a boy who had already tried to assault a proper noble lady when he was young.
From the perspective of this era, it was considered better to die.
Even Damien's knights would be able to die saying, "It's better to die than to live." Because they died for their stupid master, they would leave behind the name of a loyal knight, and their families would receive protection from Hamilcar.
At the very least, his eldest son would be protected by Damien his entire life, even until death.
Despite knowing all this, Damien didn't even blink. Instead, he held his spine unnaturally straight to let me lean comfortably, stiffening his body as if it were a tree.
To others, he looked like wood.
I checked my Status Window again. It was still a mess. The assassin S still stood out beautifully.
Status had good functions, but it was hard to read. A bunch of letters, the whole thing taking up the world.
There seemed to be some classification standard, but I doubted I would ever fully understand it.
After rummaging through the Status Window for a while, I found the letters [Father, William Hamilcar] and below them the name [Mother, Marie Zephine] together.
Somehow, another name was written there. [Younger brother, Adelaide Zephine].
What was this? Marie Zephine was dead. She had died giving birth to Damien. Why was Adelaide Zephine his younger brother? And why "Zephine"?
No matter how much of a woman, a hand so rare it was almost unheard of. If Hamilcar had another child, the whole world would know. Yet I didn't know. Or was William Hamilcar even her father to begin with?
If so, then it had to be Hamilcar's. What kind of family was Hamilcar, sending their own child to another house? If the other house demanded the child, it would be war. The entire Hamilcar territory would be declared war on.
Even the king couldn't take a child from Hamilcar. If you want Hamilcar, try it yourself.
Who was Adelaide Zephine? It was too absurd. I woke up with a start.
Pythia was a divorced woman, and Damien had a birth secret? Why was Hamilcar like this? Was there a ley line? Did a ghost attach itself to the land? Why did everyone keep saying "Today's peaceful county mode"?
The domain had solved nothing, yet every time I turned around, there was trouble.
At this point, I was curious. William Hamilcar, who would be my future father-in-law or husband, what kind of man was he to make the territory's people this way?
Was the territory too big for management? Ah, because there was no countess?
Our territory was practically managed by my mother. My father couldn't do it. He only came to the domain two or three times a year.
I had said I would go to Hamilcar in July, waiting for when my father would come down. My father had stopped by on his way to the king's summer palace, since the summer palace was in our domain.
We were lucky. Because we had a palace in our domain, we could stay with my father in summer.
But other court nobles' families had bad luck and might not even spend a day together in a year. Court nobles were the king's limbs, after all. Had you ever seen a person living without his limbs?
Of course, William Hamilcar was usually stuck in his own domain, but without a wife, managing the domain wasn't easy.
So... why did that become the reason Damien had a younger brother?
Excluding bias as much as possible, Adelaide Zephine was not Hamilcar's daughter. She was Damien's younger sister, but a half-sister. That meant... Damien's mother was still alive.
“Die! Kill everyone except the women! Brothers, let's go!”
A huge sound came from outside the carriage, making it shake violently. The carriage hadn't had magic devices in the first place, so it shook a lot, but this time it was almost about to overturn.
I instinctively pulled Pythia, sitting next to me, into my arms. Of course, that was how I felt, but in reality Pythia had hugged me. She was much bigger than me.
Damien covered our tightly embraced bodies to protect us.
With a loud bang, the carriage fell to the floor. Even though one side had completely fallen, it hadn't overturned. It was a blessing in disguise.
I felt Pythia, still holding me, trembling. I was trembling too.
Was this really a bandit?
I knew from common sense that long-distance travelers like us would meet bandits, but we had assassin S, sword A, and mage Damien. So I wasn't worried.
I had assumed that when we stopped to rest, there would be an ambush, but I hadn't imagined an ambush on a moving carriage.
“Arian.”
Damien called my name in a low voice. I barely managed to peek out because I couldn't let go of the arm holding me.
“Huh?”
“I'll set up a barrier. Stay inside quietly. Don't come out.”
What did he think I was? How was I supposed to get out? There was a bandit outside.
“Promise me, hurry.”
We were traveling with one carriage and one supply wagon. The Demia temple priests were riding the wagon, and they had already entered battle mode.
“Don't retreat. We have ladies we must protect.”
“The earth’s embrace will protect you. Do not fear death!”
They were encouraging each other. It looked more like they were trying to bolster their courage.
In my opinion, fleeing would be better. I was too worried that fighting might go wrong! I was worried about my own safety, about the priests outside, about trembling Pythia, but...
This black-haired boy made me worry about nothing.
“You’ll handle it all, right?”
It was less fear and more surprise, like tears were about to burst out.
Sniffling, I asked, and Damien suddenly smiled brightly. He stroked my hair with his white hand.
“Just trust your brother.”
I watched Damien open the carriage door and step out, muttering blankly.
“I’m your sister, crazy...”
The k-yooju girl instinct surged, but the moment Damien waved his hand, light swords appeared at his fingertips and flew toward the bandits. It cooled my excitement instantly.
Yes, he was a handsome brother. Call him brother. For now, at least.
The door slammed shut like an automatic door.
“G-guy... brother. That little one, maybe,” whispered Bandit 4.
Bandit 1 and leader of the group pulled the reins and stared fixedly at Damien’s face, groaning.
They had barely dodged the water arrows, but they were soaking wet.
“Eternal Rift...”
Eternal Rift... Damien Hamilcar. Why was he here? A genius who was the top contender for next Magic Tower Lord.
The bandits stopped all movement at the leader's command and looked up toward the leader's gaze.
Black hair like melting night, cursed purple eyes, skin as white as snow. Everyone remembered that face.
Last year they had been moving under Hamilcar’s flag while bandits infested the Light Mountain pass, causing problems with toll income.
Why would Hamilcar, with strong military power, call in mercenaries? It turned out the opponents were military from a neighboring country pretending to be bandits. The fight was on par with a battlefield.
And in that battlefield, the existence of a young mage flying high in the sky to attract attention while summoning lightning and stealing the enemy's morale was unparalleled.
Later, after the contract ended, I learned he was already a famous person in the magic world.
‘Eternal Rift’ Damien Hamilcar. He received the title of Eternal at ten years old and was the closest to the Infinite title. A genius.
Yet such a precious body in such a shabby carriage...
And why had the client ordered to kill everyone except the women? Had they known about Damien Hamilcar or not?
“It won’t hurt.”
Damien started singing.
The bandits didn't fall for the cool voice. Damien had sung like that on Light Mountain and summoned lightning.
“Kill before the song ends!”
After the leader's judgment, Bandits 2, 3, and 4 rushed at Damien at the same time.
Bandit 5 aimed a stone bow at Damien, but he kept his expressionless face and closed his lips.
The moment the song ended, small lightning bolts appeared in midair with a crackling sound and fell on the bandits.
It was small lightning, but it would have been worth trying, right? They had overlooked something.
They were already soaked. The lightning current was fatal to wet bodies. They collapsed screaming.