Chapter 9 - Home Sweet Home

With a crisp motion, Laward bent more than ninety degrees at the waist, then straightened.

“Then I shall take my leave. If I am to increase the intensity of the training regimen you gave me, esteemed mentor, I must make every second count.”

“... Good. I look forward to it.”

I had no desire to keep talking to Laward now that he had that crazed look in his eyes, so I left at once. I had to hurry to catch the train to the county of Hasgard.

“I-I'm sorry! Rebecca, my sen—my roommate kept giving me things to pack, so I'm a little late...!”

A little later, I boarded the train with Esther and her suitcase. A stuffed rabbit was being subjected to torture, its head sticking out of the overstuffed luggage.

The train journey was as dull as expected.

“I've never traveled first class before...”

Only Esther, roaming about the train as excited as a child, offered a fairly refreshing diversion.

More time passed.

Hasgard, at last. It had been a while.

I gave Esther a spare room and reunited with my family.

Father was particularly delighted to see me. He said he had something important to discuss, but that I should get some rest today and see him tomorrow.

Well, it would obviously be about the Subjugation Festival.

“Young master, your bath is ready,” said Paris, the head butler.

I enjoyed the welcome-home bath the servants had prepared, then flopped onto my bed.

Ahh.

Sinking into the snug bedding with a freshly washed body brought back memories of my idle days. It had been wonderful, lying in my room doing absolutely nothing.

Home sweet home.

009

“I've decided that we will participate in this year's Subjugation Festival.”

It was breakfast. The head of House Hasgard—in other words, Father—broached the subject.

Here it was.

“There hasn't been a Subjugation Festival for the past three years, so this one looks set to be quite a large undertaking.”

At those words, all three brothers, myself included, froze with our utensils in hand.

“What do you boys intend to do?”

Father looked around at us as he asked. As though we had arranged it beforehand, we answered in birth order.

First came the eldest, Dyer Hasgard.

“Of course I will take part. I shall support you to the best of my ability, Father.”

Next was the second son, Romans Hasgard.

“I've been waiting for the Subjugation Festival! At last, a chance to show the skills I've spent years honing.”

“Oh, is that so? I'm proud of you both. And you, Daywin?”

Then came the third son, Daywin Hasgard.

“I...”

“Ah, Daywin. I would like you to participate as well, but... there's no need to overdo it. I won't force you.”

Father?

I haven't even said anything yet.

“Haven't you been pushing yourself lately? You've only just returned from your travels. You must still be rather unsettled.”

That was right.

Despite his well-trained body, the youngest son, Daywin Hasgard, occupied the position of the family's pampered darling.

“Besides, your health is hardly sound.”

Apparently, before I possessed him, Daywin had suffered from an illness that left him on the verge of death. Of course, I had no symptoms or lingering effects now.

The strange part was that no one yet knew what the illness had been or how he had recovered.

As a result, I, Daywin Hasgard, was someone they could never stop worrying about and treating with care.

“I...”

“Father, Daywin is still too young and inexperienced to go into battle.”

My eldest brother interrupted before I could finish.

“I agree, Brother. I do hope our youngest will soon grow into a dependable man, but... it would be best to leave it for another time.”

My second brother backed him up. Both were openly cutting me off.

Their motives were obvious. They were blatantly trying to keep me from attending the Subjugation Festival—

Wink.

Both brothers winked at me at the same time, their expressions saying, Didn't I do well?

They weren't... trying to keep me in check.

They simply assumed I would refuse to go and had stepped in to defend me.

It's embarrassing to admit it this late, but I was loved. Not just by my parents, either. Both of my brothers showered me with more than enough affection.

When I first came to this world, when I realized I was the third son of a noble family, I had been anxious.

I'd imagined the sort of situation you often saw in games and novels: blood brothers plotting to assassinate one another or seize each other's power.

But it was all in my head.

The three Hasgard brothers got along well. My two older brothers, in particular, were remarkably affectionate.

The reason I'd spent my previous life doing nothing but loafing around was that my family accepted whatever I did.

The pampered youngest son. A flower raised in a greenhouse.

“Oh, is that so? Daywin, what do you think?”

Father set down his fork and looked me in the eye.

“What I think is...”

I swallowed and decided to declare my ambitions. My brothers had supported me; I ought to respond in kind.

Just as I slowly began to speak—

“Father, I think it would be quite sufficient for Daywin to merely observe this Subjugation Festival and leave his formal debut for another occasion.”

“Observe? That's an excellent idea, Brother. In that case, I'll take responsibility for making sure he can follow me safely. Don't you worry about a thing, little brother. Your big brother will protect you.”

You bastards.

Let me get a word in.

“Oh, is that so?”

And why did Father keep repeating the same damn thing...?

“Daywin, what do you—”

“The Subjugation Festival! I will participate!”

Finally, I'd managed to say it properly. My voice had cracked halfway through, but that wasn't important.

Father and my brothers—all three men turned to stare at me at once, disbelief written on their faces.

“Yes, Father. I said I will participate.”

“I-I'm proud of you, Daywin...”

Father was so moved by my decision that his eyes grew moist.

Just how useless had Daywin been before I possessed him?

“You've made a fine decision, Daywin. Observing this expedition will be a valuable experience for you. Your eldest brother will work hard to set a good example. Yes, excellent. I'm feeling inspired.”

“Our brother is absolutely right. I, too, dearly wish to be a brother you can respect. Just trust me and follow! It's always been my dream for you to look at my broad back and nurture ambitions of your own!”

Ah...

I wished they would both just shut up.

At some point, I'd stopped being able to touch my food. A sudden urge to leave the table right that instant welled up inside me.

Still.

I still had to say my piece.

“I won't be observing.”

“Hm?”

Father, my eldest brother, and my second brother—the three Hasgards asked in unison, as though harmonizing.

“I mean that I will personally command troops and subjugate the monsters.”

If this had been a comic, my speech bubble would have gotten an emphasis effect about now. Bold lettering and a bigger font would have driven the point home.

“Wh-what? Son, do you truly mean that?”

“Daywin, you've grown up so much already...!”

“Little brother. Give your big brother a hug.”

“N-no.”

“Just let me hug you once.”

I fled, but my second brother vigorously ruffled my hair with his thick hand.

“Father! Please stop him!”

“Romans! Have some dignity! Ha ha ha! I said, have some dignity! Ahahaha!”

Father mediated the commotion at the table, roaring with laughter all the while.

I'd been away for some time, but this was Hasgard as usual.

The eldest Hasgard, Dyer.

The middle Hasgard, Romans.

Both brothers believed the youngest Hasgard, Daywin, would fail at his first Subjugation Festival. There was no room for doubt: he would fail, without question.

Their own first attempts had gone that way, after all.

They had voiced their support for Daywin at breakfast, but their true feelings were different. Both expected him to accomplish nothing before falling by the wayside.

“Brother, do you see this? I'm going to slip it into our little brother's pack. He won't suspect a thing. Heh heh heh...”

Romans, the second son, had even resorted to tampering with Daywin's pack.

“Wait, is that... Brother, surely even you wouldn't...”

“Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. The finest healing potion available in the capital. They say it can bring you back even if your internal organs are ruined. Heh, heh heh...”

With a villainous laugh, the second son stuffed healing potions deep into the pack.

“Brother, how did you get your hands on such a thing...?”

“It was nothing special. When I heard our youngest was joining the Subjugation Festival, I put my savings and my contacts to work. They're reliable people, so the potions should perform as promised.”

Bottles of red liquid steadily filled every available space.

“With these, we won't need to worry even if our little brother finds himself in grave danger. He couldn't die even if he wanted to. Heh heh heh...”

He gazed proudly at the sloshing liquid.

“I can't even imagine how grateful he'll be when he finds these later. Heh heh... I'm sorry, Brother, but I believe I'll be the one he respects most.”

“That's my brother. But, Romans, that won't be enough.”

“Not enough?”

The second son frowned, as though his pride had been wounded.

“Restorative potions are easy enough to provide. In fact, Daywin may already be expecting them. He's a clever boy.”

“Brother... are you saying he'll see through my scheme?”

“You should have put more thought into it. You're rather careless.”

This time, Dyer, the eldest, began to chuckle.

“I've made a few adjustments to Daywin's troop composition. That's all you need to know.”

“Brother... what on earth have you done...?”

“Nothing much, Romans. Let's just say... I've mixed in a few retired royal knights.”

“Former royal knights!”

“They may be getting on in years, but aren't the royal knights geniuses drawn from all across the nation? They may have acquired a few wrinkles, but their wealth of experience will run as deep as those lines.”

The eldest stared at the red potion in his younger brother's hand, its color reminiscent of wine.

“To put it in drinking terms, they're the finest wine, aged for thirty years.”

“Heh heh... As ever, your wisdom is beyond me, Brother...”

“Hahaha! You're no slouch yourself!”

Night deepened over Hasgard.

It was, of course, Hasgard as usual.

“What's this?”

While organizing my pack, I found potions I'd never seen before. Never mind their extraordinary color—the bottles themselves were glowing.

Was it Father?

Or Mother?

Or perhaps...

No need to think about it. It had to be my brothers.

“What a waste of effort...”

Just how little did they think of me?

I'd been the commander of the paladin order, damn it. I'd dined with the pope, gone to the sauna with the Sword Saint—the whole lot.

By now, I wanted to show them a thing or two myself.

As I walked along, steeling my resolve, I heard a hubbub of voices. Troops had recently gathered at the Hasgard estate to prepare for the Subjugation Festival. The voices belonged to those soldiers.

Father had assigned a portion of the troops to me as well—

“Oh, young master Daywin! Good day!”

... Why were there unfamiliar faces here?

When I'd met them last time, they had definitely all been young men. Yet now men well along in years, men with the unmistakable air of seasoned veterans, were greeting me as though it were perfectly natural.

What was this about...?

Meanwhile, my second brother's soldiers jogged past, tossing out comments as they went.

“Hahaha, young master! Those men will certainly be more useful than that academy student you brought along!”

“That's right. They say youth is best, but at the Subjugation Festival, an old man beats a child!”

They'd picked up word of Esther somewhere and had a few things to say about her.

They certainly had plenty of breath to talk while running. Impressive stamina.

“Don't push yourself too hard, young master. Just stick right behind those men! Or shall I come along with you?”

They didn't stop there, either, throwing in remarks that made me sound like some little brat.

The water downstream was only as clean as the water upstream. It wasn't hard to see why soldiers serving my brothers acted this way.

This was starting to piss me off...

Once again, I felt I would have to go all out...

The night before the Subjugation Festival, Daywin could not sleep.

The event that would destroy his family was almost upon him. Pathetically enough, the thought made him a little nervous.

He went into the woods in the county of Hasgard, taking the opportunity to test his strength somewhere deserted while out for a walk.

A short while later...

When Daywin raised his head and looked around, the forest, once thick with trees and undergrowth, was as barren as a desert.

Every plant and tree around him, save for the spot where he stood, had been swept away in an instant. Great trees decades old had snapped like matchsticks. The earth had been overturned, and a lake had boiled away.

It looked as though an invisible giant had seized the entire forest and crushed it in its fist. As though a meteor had fallen and laid waste to everything.

The trees, the rocks, even the lake.

Everything had been erased, the very terrain reshaped.

Daywin had reshaped it.

'Not what it used to be.'

Standing in pure white armor, Daywin clenched and unclenched his fist.

“... Still, about half of it is back, I suppose.”

The armor he had fashioned from divine power softly faded away.