The Count's Arrival

“Keeeeeaaagh!”

“Krwaaaaaaar―!!”

“Hah. Looks like both of them are dumber than me, thankfully.”

He'd been only half-convinced it would work on the Goblin Shaman, even if it did on the Troll. But judging by the scene before him, the skill had taken full effect.

So a monster really was just a monster.

“Kevin. I'll draw their eyes—take out the Goblin Shaman first.”

“What?”

“No arguing. Move!”

The moment Luden moved, the Troll and the Goblin Shaman came chasing after him, Kevin all but invisible to their eyes. The effect of Taunt was better than he'd expected.

If I'd known this would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠happen, I should've used Taunt from the start and just had Kevin run away.

The thought flickered through his mind, but he shook his head. Even with his stats temporarily boosted, holding those two off for any length of time would have been impossible.

His Strength and Agility had each climbed a full grade or more. Two attributes rising that much in one go—the Bread of Vitality was no joke. It was a shame the effect was only temporary.

Saving up those quest rewards for an emergency was worth it after all.

The instant the thought crossed his mind, a blast of heat surged from behind. He threw himself sideways, and a fireball roared past, charring the tree ahead of him to ash.

“Kekekekekeak.”

“Why, you—”

Luden spun and charged straight at the Troll. With his Agility raised, his body felt light as a feather. He slipped past the incoming massive fist with ease and drove his foot into the ground.

“Keak?”

At the sight of Luden soaring up to the Troll's head in a single bound, the Goblin Shaman's eyes went wide as lanterns. The boost to his Agility had strengthened the Leap skill as well.

His raised sword caught the sunlight and spat out a blinding gleam.

CLANG!

The next instant, his descending blade struck something hard and scattered sparks—bone fragments. Luden clicked his tongue as he realized it was a protective shamanic ward. A golden opportunity, wasted.

“Krwaaaaaaar!”

The Troll began rampaging anew, and the enraged Goblin Shaman started hurling spells without restraint. Luden barely had room to breathe between dodges.

“Tch.”

A searing heat, and blood ran down his arm. A spell he hadn't quite evaded had grazed him. He was reaching his limit.

And it was then that Luden saw it—Kevin, perched on a tree behind the Troll without him noticing.

What is that idiot doing up there? But in that same moment, Kevin's face hardened with resolve and he leapt down from the tree, driving a full-force kick into the exposed back of the Goblin Shaman.

“Kreak?!”

“Nice! Well done, Kevin.”

Having praised his brother, Luden pounced on the fallen Goblin Shaman.

As a wind bearing razor-sharp intent came rushing in, the Goblin Shaman desperately cast his spell. The summoned bone fragments blocked the gale—then shattered.

Luden dropped low and swung his sword in a great arc.

The wind howled and swirled. The blocking bone fragments—and the Goblin Shaman himself—could not withstand the spinning vortex and were flung away.

The second form of the Storm Sword: an omnidirectional blade technique that hurled everything around it into the sky.

“Krooooooar!”

The moment the Goblin Shaman went down, reason returned to the Troll's eyes. Whether from an awareness of how it had been enslaved all this time, its face was twisted with fury.

The bread's effect had ended. Feeling the strength drain from his body, Luden's face contorted.

“Damn it. Of all the timing.”

“Luden!!”

The Troll's fist was closing in. Taking that blow in his current state would surely be the end of him. Was this how he lost the chance he'd fought so hard to earn?

And then—

“You wretched beast!”

With a thunderous roar, someone leapt between Luden and the Troll. Aura erupted from the man's sword, and in a single stroke, the Troll's head left its shoulders.

Luden and Kevin, frozen as if time itself had stopped, finally found their voices when the Troll's head hit the ground.

“...Father?”

“Father!!”

Count Kaisar, who had arrived in dramatic fashion to fell the Troll, let out a long breath of relief at the sight of his two sons. That had been far, far too close.

“Thank the heavens you're both safe.”

The messages came flooding in one after another, fierce and relentless. The quest was finally over.

But instead of celebrating, Luden simply collapsed where he stood.

“Haah. Finally done.”

Exhaustion was written all over his face.

After felling the Goblin Shaman and the Troll, the Count swept the remaining goblins out of the forest with his surviving troops. With the shamanic spell broken, the goblins had returned to their senses, so dealing with the rest was no trouble at all.

And so Lukasha Village was safe once more, and the subjugation came to a successful end.

So this is how it flowed in my past life, too.

Though only the outcome was the same; in truth, things had gone very differently. This time, he and Kevin had combined their strength to take down the Goblin Shaman, and the Count had slain the Troll—so unlike his past life, their allies had escaped without heavy losses.

Kevin was safe, too.

Everything had gone the way he'd hoped.

“Whew. I don't think I've had a fight this brutal even back in my mercenary days.”

Sighing, Luden wrapped a bandage around his wound.

“If it weren't for the quest reward this time, things could've gotten ugly.”

He had a new reason to focus on quests. On his own strength alone, he never could have produced a result like this. In that sense, the gains from this battle were enormous.

“Heh heh. Now then—time to settle the accounts.”

Eyes gleaming, Luden rubbed his hands together and checked his rewards.

“Ohhh. Now we're talking. All that suffering was worth something.”

The exclamation escaped him on its own. There really was a reward for grinding through that quest. His attribute growth had been slowing lately, and he'd needed an elixir above the lowest grade—never expecting a Low-Grade one to drop. And on top of that, a remarkable item and a skill besides.

As always, quest rewards set the heart racing. Just as his excitement drove him to examine his new prizes right away—

Knock, knock.

“Are you in there?”

The slender voice did not belong to Erin. Luden's brow furrowed; he'd been all keyed up to check his rewards, and of all the timing.

He deliberated for a moment, then shook off the disappointment and rose from his seat. Whoever it was, if they'd come about something trivial, he intended to tell them to come back later.

But—

“I'm glad I found you. If you're not too busy, might we speak for a moment?”

At the sight of the woman's gentle face, Luden's eyes went wide. The visitor was someone he had never expected.

Countess Mayran.

Kevin's mother.

Countess Mayran was the woman the Count had remarried for political reasons after Luden's mother passed away. In Luden's memories, she had been a gentle, delicate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soul. Even after being brought to this rural territory, she never once voiced a complaint, always wearing that kind smile of hers.

“What brings you here...?”

“I wanted to thank you.”

“Pardon?”

“I've already heard. That you saved Kevin during this subjugation. Thank you, truly.”

So Kevin told her himself, did he?

Luden had always felt awkward around her. And no wonder—he'd said some truly cruel things to her, even if people called him immature back then.

Hmm. Thinking about it now, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feel awful.

It wasn't as if he'd hated Mayran from the beginning. Quite the opposite—when he was even younger than he was now, he'd adored her. She had been kind to Luden despite his not being her own child, and she'd taught him a mother's love he never knew he was missing.

But as the years passed, Luden had slowly put distance between them. The fact that she wasn't his birth mother—and his inferiority complex toward his younger brother Kevin. Those two things had sent him off the rails.

Looking back, the soft-hearted woman had never once gotten angry at him, even at his cruelest words. Words that must have cut her deeply.

“It's nothing worth thanking me for. Looking after my brother is only natural.”

“?!”

Had the answer really been that unexpected? Mayran's eyes went wide. She clearly hadn't imagined the word brother would come out of Luden's mouth. It was, after all, an acknowledgment of Kevin as family.

Luden gave a wry smile.

“That one acts all composed on the outside, but he's secretly got a careless streak. He must take after Father—but still, that's what older brothers are for.”

“Ah...”

As if hiding her embarrassment, Mayran couldn't find the words to continue. Tears welled up at the corners of her trembling eyes.

Even for Luden, who had lived through a past life, apologizing outright was no easy thing. The debt of the heart he owed her, along with Kevin, was not a light one.

But he had no intention of leaving it that way, either. Why else would he have tried so hard to seize the chance he'd been given?

Right. There's still time to make things right.

Luden spoke to Mayran like a vow.

“You don't need to worry anymore. The days of fighting are over—for Kevin, and for me.”

“...Please take care of that child.”

The brief autumn passed, winter arrived, and the monsters that had plagued the territory endlessly finally quieted down. The busy season was over—but only for a moment. The territory now had to prepare for the brutal winter ahead.

Before that, however, a grand banquet was held at Kaisar Castle. It was a party to celebrate the Count's victory, having once again protected the territory from the monsters.

Meat and drink were handed out to the knights and soldiers who had risked their lives in battle, and modest rewards went to the vassals who had managed the territory's affairs. And this time, those who had earned new merit became the stars of the party.

“My sons Luden and Kevin have slain the wicked Goblin Shaman. Raise your cups and celebrate them, all of you!”

“Waaaaaah!!”

“Long live Lord Luden! Long live Lord Kevin!”

“Truly, the Count's sons through and through.”

“The future of Kaisar looks bright indeed.”

Having not only distinguished themselves in the goblin purge but also beheaded the mastermind behind it, Luden and Kevin had become heroes. And no wonder—ordinary ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠goblins were nothing special, but a Goblin Shaman commanding a horde was a dangerous existence that had wiped out entire villages before.

For the lord's two sons to have destroyed one, the uproar was only natural. Kevin had always been the family's hope, but this affair had raised Luden's reputation as well. The pathetic image of his past hadn't vanished entirely, but the way people looked at him had changed considerably of late.

In my past life, this wasn't a party—it was a memorial service.

Back then, there had been no laughing and shouting like this. In a heavy, silent atmosphere, everyone had been suppressing their grief.

Luden watched the transformed mood with quiet pride for a while, then spotted Kevin standing alone in a corner and made his way over.

“Hey there. What are you doing all alone over here?”

“P-puhut! Why are you here...?”

“What do you mean, why? Is there someplace I can't go? More importantly—you'd better not be drinking, right?”

“It's not alcohol, it's juice!”

Kevin snapped back and whipped his head away. But there was none of the old hostility in him. Something in Kevin's heart had clearly shifted after this affair.

Luden grinned.

“By the way—you talked about me to the Countess, huh. And here you were pretending to be all aloof. So that's how you really think of me.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?! Wh-when did I ever—”

“Heh heh. No need to hide it. This big brother knows everything.”

“Mother told you?! No—wait, who are you calling big brother!”

“Honestly. Is that any way to talk to the brother who saved your life?”

“Saved me, my foot. Have you forgotten? You were the one about to get done in by the Goblin Shaman if it weren't for me.”

And so the two brothers were bickering again in no time. Watching his sons at it, Count Kaisar wore a warm, contented smile.

And so two years passed.