Volume 1 Chapter 57 The Return of the Three Brothers
"...Stone."
Cain pressed his hand to the ground and spoke words of power.
The path to the square shifted and became smooth, shiny stone.
"Whoa!" "No matter how many times I see it, it's awesome!" "Thank you so much!" Voices bubbled up from all around him.
Cain waved back with a big smile, greeting everyone.
"Alright, all done! Thanks a ton, Gardy!"
Cain turned and called out to Gardy, who was still keeping the crowd in order.
"Working hard, as always, Cain."
Cain glanced toward the familiar voice.
Benjamin stood there, dressed in travel gear.
"Elder Brother Ben! Welcome back. Are you alone?" Cain was pretty shocked, but managed to reply calmly. After all, Benjamin had taught him magic, and it was weirdly embarrassing getting caught using it now.
"Nah, I'm here with our elder brother and Chris."
Facing the direction Benjamin pointed, Cain saw a broad-shouldered man and a boy with a shield strapped to his back.
"Hey, you're Cain, right? You've grown a lot, haven't you?"
"Elder Brother Arthur?"
"What, you don't remember me? Figures! Ah, whatever──yeah, I'm Arthur. And that skinny one over there? That's Chris. Don't you go forgetting us again, got it?"
Arthur ruffled Cain's hair, rough but fond.
"Guess you don't remember much about me either, huh? Mom kept us from playing together much when you were little."
Arthur leaned down and peered into Cain's face, grinning.
"You two should stop. Cain looks scared, you know."
Benjamin stepped in, gently stopping them.
"Alright, fine. We'll catch up at the mansion, yeah? Cain, how'd you even get out here by yourself?"
Arthur glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then asked Cain.
Cain waved over Gardy and explained to his brothers about how he'd made the new stone road.
He also mentioned that Randolph would be along soon to pick them up.
"Wow, that's awesome. When I was your age, all I did was swing a sword around! Seriously, that's cool."
Chris kept glancing from Cain to the newly paved street, full of admiration.
"I already knew from Mom's letter, but you really taught him magic just last year... Cain's such a fun guy, huh?"
Benjamin praised, sounding genuinely pleased.
"Is our little brother a genius or something? And it's great to see the villagers so happy. Did it always have this much energy?"
Arthur also praised what Cain had done.
Cain, not used to being complimented since Michio's time, turned bright red and looked down, too embarrassed to say anything.
"Oh my, you young master. If you keep praising young Cain like that, he might just collapse."
And once again, Randolph appeared at the perfect moment.
"""Enough with the 'young master' already."""
The 3 of them said it in perfect harmony.
"As always, you 3 get along so well. The Sanroze family is doing just fine."
The villagers, who had been listening to the exchange, burst into laughter and called out to the 3 brothers, "Welcome back!"
The 3 waved and called back, responding with friendly smiles.
"Everyone, it's time to head back to the manor. Please get on the carriage over there."
Randolph pointed to the carriage and gestured for them to board.
The 4 of them climbed aboard, and once Gardy took the driver's seat, the carriage began moving toward the manor.
When the carriage reached the front entrance of the manor, Lydia greeted the 3 of them with a huge smile and hugged each of them, saying "Welcome back."
After Lydia's warm welcome, the 3 turned to Alice, showering her with compliments like "You're so cute," "You've gotten prettier," and "You've grown up so much."
Alice received the praise with a genuinely happy smile.
Once the greetings at the entrance were over, they moved to the guest room, where each of them greeted Luke as they returned home.
Luke was overjoyed to have the whole family back together.
Cain found himself loving this family even more than before.
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