Position and Will
I dragged the two assailants into the workshop and started a 'talk' with them.
The program includes grinding dustcloth on their arm until it's dripping red liquid and then rubbing Lightning Pepper on it. No I guess how it's done doesn't matter.
Julian's two assailants are both High Assassins at later half Lv30s. They're relatively strong yet they got knocked out just from me bumping into them by accident. Looks like they're not accustomed to being ambushed despite being ambushing specialists.
"Why did you attack Julian? Is it a grudge, or are you two hired hands?"
"..."
"...Pe."
One is silent, the other is spiteful. Looks like they're not gonna talk huh. Hoou.
If that's how you wanna play, then I too have my ways.
I took the head of the ogre I headbutted to death a few days ago from Item Screen in front of these assailants.
I was planning to get it made into a new equipment at Gen's Workshop, but they couldn't accept new order yet.
Due to the counter headbutt I did on it, the head looks real gory I can't bear to look at it. Belch.
The assailants' eyes popped wide when they saw it.
Afterward, I took Explosion Buster, the exploding great hammer from Item Screen.
"You guys wanna turn into this? You have the resolution to brutally kill people, of course you're prepared to get brutalized yourself, yeah? Let's do this, heave-ho."
"H-hiiyiii!! P-please waiit!"
"I-I'll talk! I'll talk, don't do it!! Someone hired us to attack! The client is the second son of Duchy House of Febronia, Ivarad the family head."
As I swung explos-etc like a golf club and stopped short on their heads, they confessed just like that.
...Hold out a little more won't you. Of course I was just threatening you.
"Hey hey, take it outside if you're gonna do it. I cannot have my workshop get any dirtier."
Julian shrugged his shoulders as he watched us.
Uh, I think there's a more worrying thing here.
Apparently these two received a specific instruction on how to kill Julian from their client.
Which is some nasty stuff.
『Do not kill him outright, do not deign him an easy death. Cut off his arms, and make that good-for-nothing taste despair as he's dying a slow excruciating death.』
So they said. What a poor taste~.
"Duchy House of Febronia huh, are you familiar with it, Julian? I don't really know noble houses."
"...Umu. That is my former family house."
"...Wha?"
"I am aware that he loathes me, but to think he would go as far as sending assassins... I am no longer an heir to the house, he could have left me alone. Quite tenacious this kid brother of mine, truly."
Eh, wha, what? What's that mean?
Former house? Kid brother? ...Oy, oy, he must be joking.
"Are you telling me, your little brother hired these guys to kill you...!?"
"That appears to be the case. That is if we are to believe these two are not lying but the word 'A slow excruciating death' sounds exactly like him, I do not think it's a mistake... I do wish it was."
Uh, what kind of kid brother is he anyway.
Is that even possible when the elder brother is like this.
"...What? Did you do something so bad to get your brother hate your guts that badly? What kinda grudge is he holding..."
"Come to think of it, have I ever talked about my former nobility days?"
"No, I just heard about it offhand."
Guild receptionist Furoina-san mentioned it, but I never imagined it to be true.
I mean considering his normal behavior, you'd think he's just a random oddball or a lunatic.
"...I had been receiving tutelage in order to become a proper heir from young age. Territorial management, the right etiquette to mingle with other nobles, you name it. I never questioned such education no matter how tough it was."
Uwah, this guy started monologuing.
Is this gonna take long? Ah, it looks like it is.
...I shouldn't have blurted out that sarcasm.
"On the other hand, my kid brother... It was decided that Ivara was to be wedded to a daughter of a duchy house, he was to support me as a connection to that household. But my brother was a prideful man, you see. He always grumbled how he was treated like an extra."
"Well, guess you'd hate getting told to live your life as your brother's support without a say on it. I would."
"Then just as my brother kept piling up his discontent, anger and grudge on me day by day, I stealthily went to read the closely guarded hero's note my family is responsible of. I ended up reading it. And found out about the existence of all those wonderful weaponry."
"I can't catch up with the rapid development. How'd it go from your kid brother to you reading the hero's dark history, cough... Hero's note."
"Now now, just listen. Thereafter that moment on, I could not hold the urge to get those weapons reproduced and bear witness to them wielded. I tried to order their creations from blacksmiths and magic tool makers, but nobody was able to turn them into reality. It's not simply a matter of Skills, you cannot make hero's weapons without an understanding on the idea, or rather the concept behind them."
Well, I can't imagine there's a lot of people who can understand those insane weapons. They're too jam packed with men's romance, many parts are just inefficient.
That might be different to people who are familiar with games, manga and fictions, but to the people of this world... I'm not one to talk for matching well with these weapons and these weapons only though.
"As days went on and my irritation grew from being unable to find the right maker, I found myself gripping a hammer in a quest to reproduce hero's weaponry by my own hands. I would spend a whole day training to engrave magic tool formulas."
"Uh, what about your nobility tutelage. Ain't no way you got time for that."
"Umu. Naturally my parents were enraged and warned me to cease such gambols at once. Indeed it was perfectly reasonable of them... And yet to that, I would ignore their plea and continue to strike my hammer and engrave magic formulas."
"...Talk about filial piety or lack thereof."
"Fuhaha, you tell me about it. Then as I kept at my endeavors despite everything they told me, they were finally fed up of me or perhaps they sympathized with their foolish son's plight. My parents made the decision to expel me from the household, and for me to go independent before coming of age. Well, to keep things short, I was disinherited."
Julian laughed at himself as he narrated his life story.
I could tell a hint of loneliness and nostalgia from his expression.
"The last person who saw me off was my kid brother. 『You good for nothing. Never again shall you show your mug before me.』 was his last word to me."
"What-a-wonderful-kid-brother-you-have."
"...Indeed, he is too good for me."
――――――――――――――――――――――
"Aniue, tell me one thing. Is your life as an heir to a duke household such a trivial matter to you? What does the position of duke family head mean to you?"
"Mu? Hm, nothing?"
"What...?"
"Umu, now that I think about it, this household might have never been that important to me. I feel like that has now finally been made clear to me with your inquiry."
"...You, what are you."
"'I must become someone fit to be the family head', 'I must strive hard as to not disgrace myself before our people', I bore such a sense of duty as I lived, but looking back, those were what I was told to be, not what I truly wanted to do myself."
"I wish to create the weapons designed by hero with my own hands and to witness them wielded. Inconsequential that may be, that's what I truly desire for the first time in my life."
"And now that I am aware of my own desire, I cannot see the fascination on becoming the heir to a duchy house. I am aware how selfish that is, but please forgive your brother for departing."
"Don't screw with me! Just how much do you think I coveted this position you deem as worthless!"
"Haven't you always spoken about wanting to live your life as Ivarad Febronia himself, not just as my support? That too is your own will. With me no longer in the picture, that wish shall now come true surely. What is bad about that?"
"I do not wish for a position aniue cast away! How could you so easily crush the thing I yearned so underfoot!"
"Ah, sorry. It's time to board my wagon, I'll have to excuse myself... Take care of yourself, Ivara."
"Hold it! Don't you dare run away! I won't forgive you bastard, ever! Die, die a slow excruciating death as you taste despair, you good for nothing!"
――――――――――――――――――――――
"...Ever since that parting, we never had any more contact."
"At least talk properly with your brother to the end..."
"I would like to but if I missed that wagon, I would have to wait a full week for another to come by. Returning home and staying there for another week right after I was set on leaving wouldn't do, would it."
...Uh well, I guess that would be awkward.
But I dunno about that resulting in his brother setting his sight on his life.
"Uumu, I managed to escape death this time thanks to my customer, but Ivara would surely send another assassin my way once he found out about my survival."
"...Excuse me."
I dropped my fist on the two assailants' heads.
"Sooi!"
"Adaa!!"
"Gyaa!!"
Taking that head-on, the two got knocked out. RIP. Don't think bad of me.
Julian looked at me dubiously as he spoke.
"...Pray tell what are you doing?"
"I wanna discuss our future plan. Can't have prying ears listening in now."
"That's quite a polite way to induce drowsiness. They are not even twitching, are they even alive?"
It's fine, it's fine, they may have lost half of their HPs, but they're not dead.
Good grief, we're gonna get busy if we wanna get out of kid brother-san's ploy. What a pain.
...A yandere-like grudge from his own kid brother. What layer of hell is this. Even got goosebumps out of me.
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