The Knight’s Return and the Sister’s Secret
I must have eaten something wrong… ♡
“Ugh!”
Ian woke with a start, checked the unpleasant state of his bed, and his face stiffened.
‘Ah.’
It was something he had experienced often during the war, but experiencing it at home felt strange.
‘This is all because of my sister….’
He sighed and headed downstairs. Irina seemed to be sound asleep, and since it was still dawn, he decided to wash his undergarments before she woke up.
‘Last night….’
He had worked up a sweat to forget the image of his sister’s body that kept flickering in his mind, and in the meantime, she had been tidying up his laundry.
But he wasn’t sure if it was really just tidying.
‘She was definitely smelling my underwear….’
Could it be that she, too, felt something for him…?
Ian shook his head. He didn’t want to believe it. Of all the people Ian knew, there was no lady as modest and wise as Irina Calster. A woman like that… could never lust after her own brother by blood.
‘Though, we aren’t actually related by blood….’
Thinking of their lineage made his head spin again. He should have told her the contents of the letter their father left behind and left this place freely to live as a commoner, but he couldn’t just abandon the people he had considered family. If he did, the aftertaste would be too bitter.
‘The best thing would be for Irina to find a husband.’
In a family without an heir, it was common for the eldest daughter’s husband to inherit the estate. It was something that had happened often during the war.
‘I’ll ask her about it during breakfast.’
He changed his clothes and began his morning training—a morning run he had learned from his father in his youth and continued to this day. It had been a long time since he’d done it back in his hometown. After greeting the familiar villagers and working up a sweat, he returned to find black smoke billowing from the chimney of the log mansion.
“You’re right on time. I’m not sure if it’s to your taste.”
Irina saw her sweat-drenched brother and remembered what happened last night. It could have been awkward, but she barely managed to maintain her composure.
‘What do I do, what do I do, what do I dooooo… ♡!’
The moment she had buried her face in her brother’s underwear and inhaled. She had brushed it off as just tidying up at the time, but he must have thought of her as a total pervert.
‘Why is he so sexy when he’s sweaty… my brother…! Ughhh!’
“Come on, sit down.”
‘Please, come a little closer… ♡!’
Irina handed Ian a stew and some freshly baked wheat bread. It was a modest meal for a noble, but it was the usual breakfast at the Calster estate.
“How is it? Does it suit your palate?”
“It’s delicious.”
“That’s a relief… it must be hard for a knight like you since there’s no meat.”
“It’s fine… more importantly, let’s talk while we eat.”
Irina flinched, thinking he was bringing up what happened yesterday.
“W-what is it?”
“Sister, do you not have a man?”
“… I wondered what you were asking so suddenly, but no, I don’t!”
“There are plenty of men who like you. Should I introduce you to someone I know?”
“Don’t. I don’t want that.”
At those words, Ian began to feel a sense of relief.
‘Relief…? As I thought, I….’
He decided to test the waters, just in case.
“T-then… what about me?”
“H-huh? What is that supposed to mean?”
“… I-it’s a joke. A slip of the tongue. Ah… I need to attend to estate business. Thanks for the meal.”
Ian left to do the dishes. Irina, left at the table, chewed over her brother’s words and blushed.
‘W-wait… did I just… get proposed to… by my younger brother?’
Th-that’s impossible… ♡
Her heart hammered, and her lower abdomen began to tingle. Irina rubbed her burning face with her hands, trying to hide her twitching lips.
‘W-why am I like this, starting from yesterday….’
Not even once… had Irina ever thought of her brother as a man. Of course, it had been a long time since they last met. Even though they spent their childhood together, during their teenage years, Irina was at the academy in the capital, and by the time she graduated, Ian had enlisted. It was hard to see each other except during holidays or when he was passing through.
‘E-even so, why would I feel this way about my own brother….’
Irina thought of the many men who had proposed to her. There were sons of prestigious marquess families, and she even had ties to the second son of their liege, the Count. She had never once seen them as men. There was no particular reason. She just wanted to study more and enjoy her freedom like her second sister. By the time she felt the crisis that she should get married, she was already treated as an old maid who had missed her chance. On top of that, the war broke out, and the good men were either dead or drafted. So, she had given up on marriage.
But….
Now, she was seeing her brother as a man?
‘I-I’m crazy! I must have eaten something wrong… ♡’
However, Irina’s gaze remained fixed on her brother’s broad, sturdy back.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Normally, he would have to visit their liege, Count Remore, and receive his title before taking on his duties as lord, but… the war Ian had participated in wasn’t over yet. Because of that, the investiture ceremony was delayed, and he was temporarily acting as the lord.
… Even so, the position of Baron Calster was little more than a farm owner. The Count, who highly valued his father’s skills, had granted him land, serfs, a castle, and a knighthood to recruit his father, who was a mercenary at the time, and that had led to today.
‘The problem is, farm management isn’t my specialty….’
He knew the basics. He didn’t know the depths of it. … Come to think of it, his father seemed to have left the trivial tasks to his subordinates. Back then, there were no wars, and the farm was relatively prosperous, so there was enough leeway to hire help.
‘As expected, I should leave this to my sister….’
Checking the ledgers, it was work his sister had been doing even when his father was alive. After graduating from the academy and returning home, she seemed to have taken charge of farm management while helping their father. She was truly a sister to be respected.
“Sister,”
He went to find Irina. Outside the mansion, she was teaching math and writing to the village children, and she readily responded to the call of her brother and the next lord.
“Now, the Lord has arrived. How did I tell you to greet him?”
“It is an honor to meet you! Baron Ian Calster!”
“… I’m not a Baron yet.”
“Then what should we call you???”
“Just call me brother.”
“Hehehe….”
He patted the head of the nearest child and looked at his sister.
“Do you have a moment? There’s something I need to discuss regarding estate business.”
“Yes… I understand, my Lord.”
Irina acted with courtesy in front of others… but once the children disappeared, she returned to her usual attitude.
“What is it?”
“Because of the estate work… farm management doesn’t seem to suit me. I’d like you to take full authority and manage it as you’ve been doing.”
“Are you saying you want to abandon the duties of a lord?”
“It’s about doing what each of us is good at… I’m a soldier and a knight. I’m confident in maintaining public order and military discipline, but I don’t have the confidence to do farm work.”
“I see. Admitting your own shortcomings and assigning appropriate duties to talented people is the correct behavior for a lord… but it would be good to learn. I can’t do it for you forever.”
“I wish you would do it for the rest of your life.”
That sounded like a continuation of the conversation they had earlier that morning… and Irina blushed.
“Actually… there is one thing I want to ask of you.”
“I hope it’s not something that will give me a headache.”
“I think it’s a job that suits you perfectly?”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When a war drags on, public order inevitably deteriorates. It is a common occurrence for old men to take the place of young men who have disappeared, and to oppress weak women. On countless battlefields, while invading other territories, he had seen that sight countless times. But he hadn’t known it was happening in the Calster territory.
‘It’s only natural.’
Ian whistled. At that, a black horse that had been sleeping sprawled out on a pile of straw, unlike a horse, jumped up and rushed out.
“Where do we have time to rest… it’s the battlefield again, Callum.”
-Neigh.
“Even if it’s just clearing out bandits… we should still be careful, just in case.”
As he mounted the horse, his sister Irina came out of the mansion late, holding a flag.
“It’s the Lord’s procession, shouldn’t we at least look the part?”
“… A lord, huh.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“No, I have something to tell you when I get back.”
“Okay… but will you be alright alone?”
The opponents were bandits made up of retired soldiers and former mercenaries. They were soldiers who had once served his father. Perhaps they were even the people who had guarded the farm when Ian was young. … But no matter how many of them gathered, they would be toothless tigers. If they had any sharp teeth left, they wouldn’t be clinging to a barony at the edge of the Count’s territory, committing robbery. Such people could not defeat a knight who had been rolling on the battlefield until just a few days ago. Ian was at least certain of that.
“No need to worry. Just think about how to handle the estate in the future.”
“I’m still worried, though….”
He planted the flag symbolizing the Baron Calster family into the saddle. The sight of it fluttering in the wind brought back old memories.
‘Ah… Father.’
-Clop, clop!
Irina watched the back of her brother as he set out for battle alone. That mischievous brother of hers had become a knight before she knew it… and was following in their father’s footsteps. ‘Father should have seen this, too….’
-Hiiiiiing!
As they ran along the unpaved road, Callum complained. According to Irina, the bandits’ base was a watchtower their father had built long ago but had abandoned because he didn’t have the troops to defend it. As they arrived nearby… the killing intent was captured by Ian’s senses, honed on the battlefield.
‘They must have seen the flag.’
A flash of light from the roof of the watchtower. Ian drew his longsword and swung it. The *Aura* flew toward the roof, splitting the arrow that had just been fired in two.
-Kwoooooong!
An explosion occurred, and the roof of the watchtower was blown away.
‘Ah, I failed to control my strength.’
The result of treating the well-maintained watchtower of the battlefield and the abandoned watchtower of the barony as the same thing.
“Aaaargh!”
With screams, the bandits fell from the sky. The bandits who had been waiting on the ground at the news that someone was coming were stunned, unable to understand what had happened.
‘He… cut the watchtower with a sword?’
Soon, one person came to the bandits’ minds. As the war intensified, the name ‘Calster’ began to be heard from the distant battlefield. The Sword Saint of the Wind, Ian Calster….
A bandit who had seen Ian Calster in person during his childhood opened his eyes wide and hurriedly rushed forward.
“It’s been a long time! Young Master! I am Doman, who once served by your side! Do you remember me!?”
“No.”
He remembered the name, but there was no reason to acknowledge a man who had fallen into banditry and oppressed the weak.
-Slash!
While still on his horse, he cut the man’s throat and stood in front of the watchtower. The number of remaining bandits was about three.
“I am Ian Calster, who has been acting as the temporary lord of the Calster estate since yesterday… According to Irina Calster’s report, you are the bandits who plundered my people… Do you have any objections?”
“P-please spare us, Young Master!”
“We had no choice but to do it to survive!”
“… One of the teachings I received from my father was that the greatest punishment for those who torment the weak is not to kill them, but to make them live as the weak.”
Ian threw a rope.
“If you don’t want to die, tie your own ankles. I will give you a chance to live, but you will live as slaves for the rest of your lives.”
There were no bandits who would comply with that….
“Aaaaaaaah!”
The bandit who was a former lumberjack rushed in with an axe, only to have his hand cut off.
“Run away!”
The bandit who was a former serf tried to run into the forest, only to have his legs cut off by *Sword Qi*.
“… Just please spare my life.”
Only one person tied his own ankles and surrendered.