The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 61

 

Episode 61: Three Months after the Battle @Armes

"Hey, are you sure it was a good idea?"

 On the way back from the mansion's hall, her brother looked back and muttered.

"I've told you many times that it's fine. I want to be useful to you."

 In response, he scratched his head and with a sullen expression on his face, he said.

"I'm glad you feel that way, but you don't have to become a knight."

 Perhaps remembering the ordination ceremony that took place just a few minutes ago, he said that with a sigh.

 As her brother said, she officially became a knight today.

 She had vowed earlier in the hall to be his shield and sword as the knight Armes, instead of following behind him like she had been doing.

 But for her at that time, it was half a pretense.

"Because that way I could be with Nii-san."

 She really wanted to be with her brother who was often away from the mansion.

"You...... knight's job is dangerous, you know? How could Elfie allow you to become a knight for such a reason?"

 Her brother's cheeks twitch as he looks at her with a look akin to dismay. Perhaps he's worried that Elfie would scold her. But it's okay.

"I told her I am going to protect my brother, and she gave me permission, you know?"

 When she went to ask for permission beforehand, Elfie nodded silently with an indifferent expression on her face as usual. But for just a little bit...... or maybe an hour, of being lectured on how to be a knight, but thought that was just a preliminary preparation for becoming a knight.

"...It's hard to deny because it doesn't seem like a lie."

 When she told him that, her brother muttered with a slack-jawed face as his shoulders slumped.

"But even if I told you that, I've already become a knight, so there's no use complaining now, right, Nii-san?"

"Yes, yes."

 Her brother sighs in resignation. She's a little happy to see such a worried look on his face, and she ends up smiling and saying.......

"Really, Nii-san is a worrywart in a weird way."

"It's natural. To me, you're an important sister."

 It is the best proof that he cared for her as if she were her sister, even though they were not blood-related.

...

 As soon as the nostalgic dream ended, the first thing I felt was a raging pain and a tingling itch.

"……Nhh."

 The bright ceiling reflected the light as the hem of the curtains flutter in the breeze blowing in from the window at the edge of her view.

 And as she was guided by that, she finally realized someone on her side.

"N-Nee-san?"

 There she was, with black hair that was cut at the shoulder, not in her usual maid's uniform, but in her regular casual clothes.

 She chuckled at the sight of her sister Mashiro sleeping on the side of the bed with her head slumped over, breathing heavily in her sleep.

"Nhh...?"

 Perhaps she heard her sneering, she looked up at her quietly. She's cute with her sleeping habit. But she wouldn't tell her because she would get angry.

"Ah, ahhh...!?"

 Mashiro, who was not fully awake yet, looked at her and when she saw her, her eyes widened in surprise and she covered her mouth with her hands, and her eyes became moist with tears as she looked at her...... Did I say something?

"You're awake, Armes!!"

 Despite her concern, she speak out loud as her sister, Mashiro, hugged her while crying.

...

"Fumu, you're consciousness seems fine."

 A man who claimed to be a doctor of the Fregrance family checked her body, which was still unable to get up, and told her.

"Your body's skin is still regenerating slowly, but there is no need to worry too much about infection."

"Really!?"

 The bandage that had been undone was replaced by a brand-new bandage, and her sister, Mashiro, was wrapping it around her. Incidentally, it is a secret between them that she was about to cry again when the doctor in charge got angry with her a while ago. Armes thought she had developed a bit of a crying habit.

 But once she grasped the situation, she understood that it was inevitable.

"But since you've been in bed for three months, it's going to take some time for you to be able to move around on your own."

"I see……"

 Three months.

 When she was told of the blank three months of which she was unaware, she looked up at the ceiling and trace her memories bit by bit.

 But the memory is always the same, and it all arrived at the scene where she was commanding the battlefield on a small hill. It's as if the second half of the story has been left out, like a half-finished novel that only takes place before the climax.

"Um, can you tell me what happened?"

 That's why she genuinely wanted to know.

 Not only about the blank three months that she didn't remember, but also about how she was able to come back to the mansion. There were so many things she wanted to ask.

 But the moment she asked that. The mood, which had been slightly relaxed, froze, and the doctor who worked for the Fregrance family turned his eyes away from her.

"...!"

 No, technically, the doctor was looking at Mashiro, who was next to her. Looking at her precious family member as if she were a tumor, she felt a natural dislike for the doctor.

"Are you sure?"

"..."

 The doctor, however, as if her feelings were a trivial matter, asked Mashiro, who held her left wrist with her right hand and her shoulders shook.

"...N-no, that matter is."

"?"

 The sight of her sister, who is normally so friendly and open with everyone, made her feel a bit uneasy. It's a sensation that filled her heart with an indescribable foggy mist.

"Are you okay, Nee-san?"

"...Y-yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine so."

 She answered her, but in reality, with a shiver on her lips, Mashiro's face turned pale and she repeated her short but erratic breathing.

"Um, if it's something you don't feel comfortable saying, I'll ask about it later......."

 So when she told her that, her right hand, which was holding her left wrist, was suddenly filled with strength, and her skin turned pale.

 A moment of silence. The wind blowing in from the window ruffled the curtains, and just as Mashiro was about to open her mouth.

"I'll tell you."

"Eh?"

 A voice that was as beautiful and clear as the sound of a bell. A blonde hair, which was slightly blown up by the wind, and the jade green eyes peeking out from between. Dressed in a loose-fitting red dress, the owner of the voice approached them.

 The woman's name is Fregrance Retia, and she is recognizable even without being named.

 She is the daughter of the head of the main family and the one who had a relationship with her brother.

"But promise me this, whatever you hear, don't make a commotion about it."

 The maid, who had been waiting behind the main family's daughter, brought a chair next to the bed and Lady Retia sat down on it.

"Is it something that would make me want to make a commotion?"

"That's right, I didn't say it well. You're going to do a ruckus, but I'm telling you, don't do such things."

 The young lady of the main family responds to her question. Then she said to Mashiro, who was in front of her.

"......And, Mashiro-san. I think you should leave, but what do you think?"

"...I'll stay."

"I see, alright."

 Armes was somewhat annoyed at the way she said that. She guessed it's a natural thing for her to look down on others, but for some reason, it pisses her off. She didn't know how her brother continued to associate with such a person....... She remembered.

"Um, where is Nii-san?"

 She suddenly wondered.

 Whenever her brother left the mansion, he always goes to the main family's daughter, so the fact that this person was here meant that her brother must be somewhere in the mansion. Yet, she couldn't see him.

"Yeah. Let's start there first."

 In response to her words, the young lady of the main family in front of her changes her expression to one of seriousness. And then.

"He...... your brother and his knight Elfie were both killed in the last battle."

 She said that without hesitation, in a tone that she had become accustomed to saying over and over again.

"Eh?"

"According to the wounded soldiers who brought you to the kingdom and the military doctor in charge, he made it to the bridge, but the enemy ambushed him there and both of them were killed in the battle."

"Wait a minute! What do you mean, killed! And Elfie-sama too!!"

"I told you not to make a commotion. Besides, you can't even get up yet."

 She screamed the words one after another to the young lady of the main family. But the young lady calmly said so and held her down as she tried to get up.

 Then, after taking a breath, the young lady of the main family stared at her with her jade green eyes and began to tell her what had happened.

 According to her, Nii-san was injured at the same time as I had my last cut-offed memory.

 Elfie-sama saw that and had Nii-san command a wounded unit consisting of only wounded soldiers and let him go first.

 Although the retreat was a difficult journey, they reached their final objective. Nii-san let the severely wounded, including me, cross the bridge first.

 But then. The enemy took advantage of the location and came from an animal trail, and Nii-san and his men were taken by surprise and defeated.

 Elfie-sama's unit was exhausted on the way back, And.

"He and the knight with him...... and the soldiers under his command were all killed, leaving only a few who had returned with you. The knight Elfie's body was returned a month prior to now."

 That's the whole story of what happened that day, the young lady from the main family said and closed her mouth.

"It's a lie."

"It's not a lie."

"No, that's not true! Because Nii-san is...... Nii-san is!!"

"If you move so much, I will have to restrain you."

 The doctor who is a member of the main family says so with a calm expression on his face as she raises her voice in response to her raging emotions.

 And above all, the young lady of the main family also responds to her words with a calm face.

"I will say it again and again. What I just said is not a lie. Almost everyone who was there died in the war. They desperately held the enemy in time for us to escape."

"ーー!!"

 I never thought I would hate not being able to move.

 So much that I could not tolerate the appearance of the young lady from the main family who said so plainly in front of me.

 I understand. I know why Nii-san risked his life to fight there.

 I hate this young lady who talked about it as if it were a matter of course.

"If so! Then you should take Nii-san's place......!!"

 That is why I had to say it. Even if these words were to trample Nii-san's feelings, I couldn't hold back.

"Armes!!"

 But before I could say anything else, Mashiro's angry voice hit my mind.

 With that, my voice was cut off as my throat tightened. The words were filled with Nee-san's thoughts that she would not even allow me to say it. But.

"You can say it."

"..."

 The young lady of the main family, sitting in front of me, never lost her calm expression and just stared at me.

 It was the eyes that were prepared to take all the blame, slander, and even abuse from me.

"……Why."

 That is why my vision naturally begins to blur with tears when I realize how little my words were that I tried to throw at her earlier.

"Why did Nii-san have to die?"

"..."

"Why did Nii-san have to die and not me......"

"Yeah."

"Uu, uuu... uuu."

 一Once the brake was broken, these tears were unstoppable.

 It hurts every time her tears run down the burns. But the pain indicated that she was alive, and the reason why her brother died, and is transmitted directly from her body to her heart, not her head. That those who have died will never feel this pain. She felt like she was being told that.

"...Armes."

 I heard Mashiro's sobbing voice next to me. Mashiro must have known in advance. That's why she was hesitant to tell me, I realized it now.

 I felt a dull ache in my heart as if a large stake had been driven through it. It is painful, and the wound that will never heal, no matter how much I cry or not, now comes out and clamps down on my face.

"...Nii-san."

 Armes suddenly looks up out the window at the sky that stretches out behind it.

"No... Nii-san. Don't leave me alone..."

 It was the sky when she first met her brother. After abandoning her hometown and running away with her parents, she finally found her place, but it is now gone.

"Uu, uuu... uaaaaa."

 For a while, everyone in the room listened quietly to her lamentations.