#098. The Aftermath Is Too Kind (2)

#098. The Aftermath Is Too Kind (2)

There are maids, secretaries, and administrators coming and going through the Lord’s residence.

“Woah.”

Therefore, it is not unusual for women involved in social activities to come and go.

“Waaah.”

However, it was not a common experience to see a beautiful stranger cover her mouth, jump up and down, run over and spin around twice, poke your cheeks, and lift you high into the air three times.

“Put me down, Anna.”

“Huh? How did you recognize me?”

“You’re the only woman who treats me so casually.”

If Cecilia saw her, she would stretch Anna’s cheeks out at once.

“This is a swindle. Anna has grown up so much, but Brother is the same as before. Did you have a picky diet?”

“If a Demon King Candidate doesn’t eat a picky diet, he’ll eat people…”

“Keep being a picky eater!”

Anna, having not seen him in ages, chattered away like the little girl from eight years past, eager to share all her stories.

Ian found them quite fascinating, and so he listened quietly, giving her his full attention.

“In Blood Rim, Hansel taught me swordsmanship, and then suddenly someone came up and kissed him on the cheek! Since the Vampire Lord changed, he’s been free, and all these women with nowhere to go became maids at Hansel’s lord’s castle. Do maids always kiss cheeks? Should we do that too?”

“I have maids, but they don’t kiss my cheek. They probably just like Hansel a lot.”

Cecilia would stretch his cheeks until they nearly popped off.

Not just the maids, but his own cheek too.

“Hmph~ That’s a big problem for you, oppa. Ten times more girls like you than Hansel.”

Anna seemed to think of Ian as some kind of walking, talking cheek-kissing canvas, which did nothing for his dignity.

“Still, meeting Hero-ajumma in the North was even more surprising, you know? She gave me the most help with my training.”

“Ms. Oppenheimer?”

“Yeah. She said she was returning the skills she’d taken away, and taught me all sorts of things, there was nothing she didn’t know. Later, they thought my mother had taught me swordsmanship at the Stasephia Count’s estate! Hehe.”

The Hero was atoning for her karmic debt by looking for boy monsters in her spare time, while occasionally aiding Anna’s martial arts journey.

It wasn’t just the Hero.

Dracozaar, the top leader of the Beastkin Alliance, and the southern nobles who had participated in the Allied Forces, everyone Anna asked for help gave her their skills and advice without holding back.

‘The world I changed has become the foundation for Anna’s growth.’

What could be a more heartwarming story?

Thanks to that, he could listen to anything Anna said without worry, with pure joy.

“But, you know… I got a boyfriend?”

Until Anna started dishing out her boyfriend stories, that is.

* * *

The Teresa family, it seemed, were fated to meet less than stellar partners, a family prone to being taken advantage of.

Though they possessed great power, they trusted easily, gave their hearts too readily, and failed to see and ward off those who approached with ulterior motives.

The greatest victim of this had been Teresa, Ian and Anna’s mother, so Ian’s heart pounded even harder.

“Did you bring your boyfriend?”

“I told him to come over!”

If he started judging and disliking him from the get-go, she might become rebellious and run off with him in the throes of love.

Ian quickly understood Teresa’s anxious thoughts.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I thought you would be able to judge him well.”

“I’ll do my best to figure him out.”

If he approached her with even a hint of malice, what should he do?

Tell Anna not to fall in love?

Ask him to break up with his little sister?

Or should he try to persuade Anna?

There were many options, but Ian was afraid of every single one of them for one reason.

He was a brainwasher.

A wicked being who twisted and distorted the hearts of men.

Would they really listen to his words as pure advice or a caution?

Or would he distort her mind through brainwashing and force her to believe it was a broken relationship, causing Anna to resent him?

Ian felt a fear unlike the fear that gripped Teresa.

‘I can’t run.’

Anna was his precious little sister.

Back when Teresa couldn’t play the role of parent.

He might have starved himself, but he’d never let Anna go hungry, selling his wit to procure food and make a living.

He had raised and fed her with his own hands; to Ian, his little sister was no different than his own child.

He’d rather be hated than see his precious sister suffer in a misguided relationship.

With the courage to be disliked, he attended the meeting to meet Anna’s boyfriend for the first time.

“…Gorgon. Where did you unearth that golden-inlaid full plate mail?”

“It’s ceremonial armor, bestowed upon me by His Majesty.”

“Why are you wearing it now?”

“This is all about presence. What would they think if Anna’s older brother, her bodyguard, showed up in some tattered armor? They might gossip that if he can’t even maintain his armor, what does that say about the state of the family?”

“I see.”

If the nursemaid and bodyguard, Gorgon, was like this, the nanny, Nina, was even more over the top.

She was wearing a full suit of heavy armor: the black barding of the Royal Heavy Cavalry, armor for her torso and a harness for her upper body. She was even carrying a bow made from the sinew of a black whale, a gift from the Beastman Alliance to commemorate their friendship with Sodom City.

Judging by her appearance, she might as well march onto the battlefield and put an arrow in the boyfriend’s back.

“Did you come to hunt Anna’s boyfriend?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, today I’m Anna’s bodyguard too. That’s all.”

Nina’s will was full of intention to not let Anna to some guy he don’t even know where he come from !

As he settled into a chair in the drawing-room, resigned to whatever might happen, even Hanyan, the perpetually slacking captain of the Lord’s manor guard, was chewing out the guards, shouting, “Are you crazy? Straighten your shoulders! Are you trying to disgrace our territory?”

Seeing Hanyan and the guards fall silent in disciplined attention as they noticed someone arriving with Anna, Ian shifted uncomfortably, fidgeting in his seat.

“Oppa, we’re here!”

Anna wore a brown leather jacket over a white shirt, along with a matching belt and brown pants.

A metal buckle on the cross belt, clearly chosen to impress her boyfriend, slashed diagonally across her chest and cinched her waist, accentuating her bust and slender figure.

Gorgon, sensing the revealing outfit exposing a superior alpha female body that makes many guys weep, rolled his eyes within his helmet.

‘She adventured in that getup?’

The longsword at her hip and the gauntlets peeking out from beneath her shirt and jacket were all but unnoticed.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Rivers Goldroad.”

Anna’s boyfriend had soft, wavy hair, kind eyes, and a gentle smile that was almost too endearing, making Ian dislike him all the more.

Despite his gentle demeanor, the dark long-sleeved shirt and the matching brown jacket he wore to create a couple look, along with the strained tendons visible beneath his rolled-up sleeves, only made him more irritating.

His belt and combat boots suggested he was no stranger to adventure, and the greatsword strapped to his back didn’t seem out of place.

‘A strong man, despite his kind face.’

The runes carved into the blade of the greatsword and the magical energies emanating from them, revealed the blade’s value to be akin to a national treasure of the kingdom.

The casual way he carried the greatsword on his back, even without a scabbard, confirmed that he had earned the weapon and adapted to it.

But it wasn’t the strength of his body that mattered; it was the strength of his heart.

“I confess I’m quite surprised. After being trapped in the Cocoon of the Demon King for eight years, I awakened to find the little sister I used to care for has grown taller than me, and is introducing me to such a strong warrior as her boyfriend.”

“You’re too kind. I’ve heard many tales of Ian-hyung. How he made a noble sacrifice for humanity, and was blessed with a second chance at life. Surely the goddess Light-Nodi of the Revolutionary Church must have been deeply moved by his sincerity.”

Ian casually threw out a few questions.

“Are you an adventurer?”

“Not as a profession, but after falling in love with Anna-ssi at first sight during my travels, I joined her on her martial journey in the hope of winning her over.”

“Did your training prove…fruitful?”

“Indeed. A life dedicated solely to strength. Seeing young Anna, who wishes to wield her power for good, like her mother or brother, made me want to see her grow stronger. To support that growth, to stand by her side.”

“It is a joyous thing, to pursue what one believes is right. Yet, a certain unease lingers. If you’ve forsaken a dream, a life, for Anna’s sake… will regret find you one day?”

“I am more content with the self I am now, after meeting Anna, than the self I was before.”

A good man, he was.

A conundrum with no easy answer, a dilemma.

A question of choice, designed to assess character and disposition.

More questions followed, yet Anna’s beau remained unshaken by them all.

Despite the unwavering resolve he showed in navigating those difficult inquiries, Gorona and Nina felt their initial apprehension – they had even gone so far as to don armor – morph into a growing unease.

They had realized, quite naturally, that Ian had yet to utter this man, Rebirth Goldroad’s, name even once.

“I understand that you are a good man. That you hold your sister dear, even to the point of abandoning your past. That the two of you share deep affection and a strong bond. Can you guess what I’m thinking now?”

“I do not presume to earn the easy approval of Theresa’s eldest son, a hero comparable to the bravest warriors.”

“Regrettably, that is so. You answered many questions with honesty, but the past you steadfastly conceal… it troubles me.”

Ian’s gaze fell upon the runes etched into the greatsword, spotting a keyword he recognized from the original game’s lore book.

“Only a rightful heir, of the Imperial bloodline, can wield this greatsword.”

“!!”

“You concealed the fact that you are a member of the Imperial Family until the very end.”

Could it be that Ian was fluent in both ancient runic languages, like Hanza, and modern magical tongues, like English?

“That is…”

“Were you afraid? Afraid of the impact that the precarious diplomatic ties between the Imperial Family and the Theresa Slayers, before my sealing, might have on the two of you?”

“The Imperial Family? That’s a lie. You never mentioned such a thing. You said you grew up in your hometown under merchant parents who managed a lot of people…”

Suspicion, then betrayal, clouded Anna’s eyes.

Ian knew this rift was so delicate, a mere push could shatter it completely.

As a brainwashing master, how difficult would it be to exploit such a chasm in their hearts?

“I was… ashamed. Ashamed of the dishonorable Imperial Family, and the atrocities of the Empire, that plunged border states and their inhabitants into suffering. My pledge to witness the tragedies and future I had to bear turned into a pure love for a woman.”

Rebirth Goldroad knelt, collapsing to the ground.

“If you cannot accept my existence, I understand. But if you recognize my sincerity, please, grant us your formal permission for our relationship.”

But Ian did not cast a spell of manipulation, a test upon this man.

He remembered how a reckless act of brainwashing had plunged him into eight years of hardship.

And so, instead of a wicked manipulation, he cast a gentle one.

“If your love for Anna is true, then never betray her. Build a happy family together.”

Rebirth Goldroad, who had not expected his sincerity to be recognized, wept tears of profound gratitude.

“Thank you, Brother!”

“If you do only what is right in your conscience, then even if it means betraying your country, the whole world will embrace you.”

Ian spoke those words sincerely, intending them as a simple blessing.

But in this world, there existed something called spite.

[Brainwashing successful on a crucial NPC. Brainwashing experience greatly increased.]

[Brainwashing Overload Reoccurring]

[Brainwashing Target – Rebirth Goldroad]

[Command – If you only do what doesn’t shame your conscience, the whole world will affirm you, even if it means betraying your country.]

Another brainwashing, unintentionally laid down.

It stirred Rebirth Goldroad’s conscience.

‘The Empire is flawed now, but I don’t have the courage to betray my nation and turn my blade on my brothers and sisters. All I can do is wander the frontier, lessening and repaying the Imperial family’s wicked deeds, even by a little.’

In the heart of the young man, lost in such feeble thoughts, the brainwashing took root as great courage.

‘I’ve believed that up until now, but Ian is right. To meet a good woman, a man must have the courage to stand against his own country without shame!’

The courage to shake the nation of selfish imperialists and embark on a power struggle to create a better world.

“Anna. I will leave for the Empire. And I will truly challenge the throne.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?!”

“I’ll return as someone who doesn’t shame you, my brother, or my own conscience!”

Suddenly left to part with her boyfriend, Anna gaped and turned to Ian.

“Oppa. What have you done…?”

Ian averted his gaze, like a dog caught doing wrong.