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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: A Drastic Solution
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My expression must have shifted subtly, because Isaac's serious face slowly began to crumble.
"Pfft... kh."
Isaac barely managed to swallow his laughter. It seemed he was just teasing me to see my reaction.
"That's enough joking around."
Edmond cut in, his voice weary. The family meeting had started less than ten minutes ago, yet he already looked exhausted.
"Will you be alright? Of course, it would be good if you could extract some information, but one wrong move and everything could be exposed."
"They didn't seem to have a deep understanding of black magic either."
Even if I used it right in front of them, they'd never know without a detector.
Edmond watched me with his somber eyes before finally sighing and nodding.
"I see you won't be dissuaded. Once you get stubborn, you're worse than Yulia or Isaac."
"Am I really?"
"You tend to be."
Isaac added from behind me. Yulia nodded as well, as if in agreement.
"Just this once. Since you've already agreed, there's nothing to be done, but from now on, you must refuse, no matter the excuse."
Edmond spoke firmly, as if he would accept no objections.
"About that site you're visiting tomorrow. I've cleaned it up as much as possible, but it will still be obvious that a carriage accident occurred."
"That's probably why they used a detector~. A broken carriage just sitting on the mountainside is a bit strange, after all."
The meeting finally returned to the main topic.
"Just in case, I'll follow you and quickly get rid of anything that might be left."
"That would be best."
"Alright, that settles the first item on the agenda. Now for the second."
I turned to Isaac, whose wrist was half-dangling, and asked.
"When you go to work tomorrow, will you be able to hide it?"
"Ah~. That'll be tough. I skipped training today by saying I was sparring. And I only managed to hide it thanks to you..."
Once formal training began, his body clearly wouldn't be able to handle it.
"The only silver lining is that the training grounds are off-limits because of today's incident."
"Then where will you train?"
"We'll probably use the second training ground. We used it when the main one was under inspection. We have to share it with the Royal Guard, so space is tight. At the very least, there won't be any basic stamina training like running laps for a while."
That was a relief, but the fundamental problem remained unsolved.
"There's no other way..."
Edmond said in a low, somber voice.
"Desert."
"?"
"What?"
I couldn't believe my ears. This was not something the calm and rational Edmond I'd known my whole life would say.
"It's the only way to get out of the knightly training without raising suspicion."
"But, brother. What about my public reputation?"
"And what will you do if your identity is revealed while you're worrying about your reputation?"
That was certainly a dilemma.
Which was more disgraceful: deserting or becoming a zombie? As someone who wasn't a knight, it was hard for me to judge.
"If we arrange it now, we can get a ship. Somewhere as far away as possible, where the authorities are weak... Yes, the Schuhill Kingdom should be perfect."
The more I listened, the more plausible it sounded.
As I found myself getting swept up and nodding along, Isaac's face turned pale. Or maybe it was always that pale.
"Why not just say I've contracted a fatal disease~?"
"If you did that, the imperial court might send a royal physician."
Edmond responded to Isaac's sarcasm matter-of-factly. It wasn't that he didn't notice the snide remark; he was clearly pretending not to, just to provoke Isaac further.
"Then just say my wrist was chopped off! It's not that different."
"Both of you, stop it!"
Seeing signs that the argument was about to escalate, I stepped in.
Both Isaac and Edmond were on edge. It was understandable; they must have been exhausted from being conscious of others' gazes all day.
"First of all, I've been thinking about why your wrist is in such bad shape when the others are relatively okay."
Isaac was the only one whose wrist kept falling off. Edmond's and Yulia's bodies were weak, but not to that extent.
"I think it's because of how you were during the accident."
"The carriage accident?"
"Yes."
I slowly blinked. The scene of the accident was vivid, as if etched beneath my eyelids.
"You reached your hand out of the carriage."
Like a single flower blooming on a pile of corpses. How could I forget that straight hand, sticking out from the wreckage of the carriage?
"Because of that, it seems to be out of balance with the rest of your body."
I couldn't think of any other reason. Edmond had been inside the carriage, so his entire body was shattered, while Yulia, conversely, was fine except for her heart.
"Hmm~. Is that so?"
Isaac scratched the back of his neck as he replied.
"To be honest, I don't remember it well. I remember throwing you out..."
He added that right after that, everything went black, and by the time he came to, he was already a zombie.
"So, what I'm saying is... what if we smashed that wrist and then reattached it?"
"......"
Isaac's eyes seemed to whisper, *Emily, you too...?* It was a drastic method, I admit, but I couldn't think of another solution.
"That's a good idea. Yulia, bring a hammer."
Edmond immediately agreed.
"What about my opinion?! Don't I get a say in this?"
"Why would your opinion be necessary? It's not like you can feel pain anyway."
"It hurts mentally! My mind isn't okay with this!"
Isaac recoiled, hiding his hand behind his back. I figured it must be difficult to watch your own hand get smashed while you're fully conscious.
"Don't worry, brother. I'll cover your eyes."
"That's not the problem!"
It seemed this wasn't the answer Isaac was looking for either.
"W-well, it's not like you have to go to work tomorrow. Let's try to find another way over the weekend, and if we can't, then we can think about deserting or something. Okay?"
"Isn't this the 'other way'?"
Edmond took the hammer that Yulia had hastily fetched.
As Isaac shuffled backward, Yulia and I grabbed his arms.
"Why are you two always perfectly in sync at times like this!"
"We're twins."
"Yep, that's right."
We looked at each other and nodded. Isaac had always found it difficult to use his strength against us.
"Alright, then."
Isaac's hand was placed neatly on the dining table.
*Whoosh.* The hammer was raised high into the air. Isaac, too, seemed to have given up, squeezing his eyes shut.
Just as the hammer was about to fall.
"I'm home~!"
*Click.*
The lights flicked on, brightly illuminating the table. Standing at the door, Andrea tilted his head and looked up at us.
"What's everyone doing?"
"......"
"......"
We exchanged glances, then smiled brightly as if on cue.
"We were waiting to throw a surprise party for you, Andrea~!"
"But our little brother caught us. What should we do~?"
I took a large step forward, blocking Andrea's view.
"Hmm? But it looked like you were bullying Isaac..."
"Bullying him? We were just having fun. Right, brother?"
I jabbed Isaac in the ribs, and he quickly replied.
"O-of course~!"
"Really? With a hammer?"
"Yeah. It's a game that's popular these days. The loser gets a penalty."
Andrea tilted his head.
"Grown-ups are weird!"
Ever since he'd secretly taken a sip of the wine we drank as an aperitif, he had developed an ironclad rule not to try to understand the hobbies of adults.
Edmond discreetly hid the hammer behind his back and asked.
"How was your first day at the academy? I had them prepare all your favorite foods for dinner tonight."
"Th-there's cake, too! We had it specially made by that patissier from the Tahil Kingdom you like."
This wasn't just a hasty excuse.
We had been planning to celebrate Andrea's first day at the academy for months.
"Reeeeally?!"
Andrea's eyes sparkled. Forgetting even to change his clothes, he came running over.
"The best, the best!"
And then, *whoosh*.
He charged straight for Isaac!
*'No!'*
I hadn't properly fixed Isaac's wrist yet. Andrea was just acting out of habit, but for Isaac in his current state, it was incredibly dangerous.
Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.
Andrea flying toward Isaac, a flustered Isaac awkwardly preparing to catch him, Yulia hesitating before jumping in, and Edmond reaching out a hand.
"...Hah."
I let out the breath I'd been holding.
Just before Andrea and Isaac collided, I had grabbed the back of Andrea's collar.
But it didn't end there. Of course, it was impossible for me to stop a charging eleven-year-old with just my own strength.
*Slither.*
A red snake slithered up my forearm. Fortunately, the cut I'd gotten earlier in the day hadn't healed yet.
*Clamp!*
The red snake bit its own tail, wrapping around my wrist. A jolt ran through my arm, and Andrea stopped.
He was just an inch away from reaching Isaac.
"Hmm? Sis?"
"Isaac is feeling a bit under the weather today. We wouldn't want you to catch it~."
"Gasp. No colds! I'll give it to my friends!"
"Right? And then you might not be able to go to the academy."
"I'd hate that!"
Andrea recoiled and moved away from Isaac. "You don't have to go *that* far..." Isaac muttered, but everyone ignored him.
Soon, the prepared course meal began to arrive, and Andrea's attention shifted to it.
When Yulia brought out the cake at the end, he even gulped.
Everyone did their best to act out a 'normal day.' The party continued late into the night, until Andrea was exhausted and fell asleep.
When I finally finished everything and lay down on my bed, I was completely drained of energy.
I felt like I could pass out at any moment, but I still had something to do.
"Lev."
I said, looking at the black cat who was yawning—*hwaaam~*—and stretching.
"Teach me black magic."
At those words, Lev gave a languid smile.
-Are you finally ready to receive this one's great teachings?
Lev lifted his chin and spoke arrogantly. His tail swayed gently back and forth.
"A little."
-It would have been better if you had listened to me sooner. Then your siblings wouldn't have been revived in such a ridiculous state.
He licked his front paw gently and then naturally groomed his face. His actions were just like a cat's.
"I still don't know. If this is really the right thing to do."
I gave a bitter smile.
"But for now, I need that power."
Deciding whether it was right or wrong would have to come later. I stared down into Lev's golden eyes.
His vertical pupils narrowed once more, and then his eyes curved into an enchanting smile.
Though I wasn't sure if a cat 'smiling' was the right expression.
-There is a certain sinfulness in teaching black magic to a descendant of Samuel. It's quite delightful.
At times like this, I was reminded that he was a demon. A chill inexplicably ran down my spine.
