Volume 1 Chapter 58 The Bond of Brothers
Arthur, Benjamin, and Chris were back home. With the whole family together, dinner tonight was a little fancier than usual.
Even so, it was just hamburgers, macaroni salad, vegetable soup, and Satsuma oranges for dessert.
But the brothers were loving it, chowing down and shouting, "Delicious! Delicious!"
After dinner, Luke called the 3 of them to his office for a chat, and Cain, now with some free time, decided to read the "Book of the Hero" in the library.
"Ugh, I really want to build a sewer system. Need it for flushing toilets. And then, maybe expand the castle walls, and an actual bathhouse?"
While Cain was muttering to himself and reading...
"Cain, you in there?"
Chris's voice called out from the library entrance.
"Yes, Elder Brother Chris. What can I do for you?"
"Oh, there you are. Wow, you're actually reading! I could never get into books, so I barely ever set foot in the library."
Chris approached him, looking around at all the books.
"Cain, the others are calling for you. Let's go to Brother Arthur's room."
"Yes, I'll tidy up right away, Elder Brother Chris."
He'd never even been in Arthur's room before, maybe?
Cain put the book back on the shelf and followed Chris to Arthur's door.
"Brother Arthur, I've brought Cain."
Chris asked Arthur for permission at the door.
'Wow, he don't just barge in, even though we're brothers.'
He was a little surprised, given how close they all were.
"Come in."
"Excuse me." "Excuse me."
Cain entered the room behind Chris.
"Chris, you can do it when you try. If you always did this, you wouldn't get yelled at by the instructor."
"Don't say that in front of Cain!"
Arthur and Benjamin laughed at that.
They really do get along, huh?
"Cain, good to see you. We wanted to have a little talk, just the guys. I wasn't sure if it was too early, but Benjamin said it was okay."
Benjamin nodded in agreement.
"Cain, you understand that our family is the Viscount family, right?"
Arthur saw Cain nod and kept going.
"There are 4 boys in our family, counting you, Cain. So, tell me straight──do you want to be the heir?"
He just dropped a bomb out of nowhere!
Cain was stunned, but managed to answer calmly.
"No, I don't. I just want to do whatever I can to help Sir Arthur and make our lands better. That's enough for me."
"See, Elder Brother Arthur? Told you he'd say that."
Benjamin looked pretty pleased his prediction was right.
"How come you all give me the exact same answer?"
"Well, watching Dad just slog through paperwork every day doesn't really sell it. He looks bored out of his mind and he never gets to go anywhere."
When Chris just said it like it was, both Benjamin and Cain nodded hard, going, "Yeah, totally."
Then all of them cracked up together.
"Alright then. Cain, you're one of us now, so I'll say it again. I want to make the Sanroze house strong enough to take care of all my brothers. Will you help me with that?"
Arthur said it, bowing his head.
Benjamin and Chris jumped to their feet and answered, "Yes, sir!" Cain freaked out a little but scrambled up after them, echoing, "Yes, sir!"
"Alright, enough with the serious stuff. Tonight, let's just hang out──talk about what's going on in the domain, what's up with everyone. Maybe even about... girlfriends?"
Arthur flashed a mischievous grin and magically pulled out snacks and drinks from... somewhere.
After that, the conversation took off.
They stayed up way too late, laughing and talking until they totally overslept and missed morning practice.
Sometimes, you just need nights like this.
Or so Cain thought.
* * *
Meanwhile, deep in the great forest──
The cries of monsters──growling, snorting──echoed everywhere, but the town was still far away.
No one realized a threat was creeping closer.
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