The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 66

 

Chapter 66: Current Position and Future Plans

 Some months had passed since the day I met that old doctor, Schultz...... and I was finally able to walk on my own.

“Onii-chan, come here!”

"Yes, yes. Alice, don't run too much. I just recovered, you know?"

 I was walking side by side with a girl called Alice, who had taken care of me from the time I first woke up until today, in the village of Vu-alheit in the Imperial Domain.

 Incidentally, I can't even remember my name, let alone where I'm from, so Alice calls me "Onii-chan". When I asked Alice why she called me that, she replied.

“Maybe it’s because you look like my older brother who’s gone?”

 And, it was quite a heavy story, so I stopped asking the reason before Alice's real brother's story started. 

"...This is Vu-alheit village."

 I muttered to myself while walking along the bare dirt road.

 Schultz... the old doctor asked, "Are you okay with being touched by us, Vu-alheit people?", I knew that this was an imperial village.

 This village, the place of racial discrimination that has taken root in the empire and can be called the original home of the empire, is located in a land blessed with rich mineral resources.

 Perhaps because of this, the village has factories resembling hemispherical domes, from which numerous plumes of black smoke rising.

 Occasionally, a piercing metallic sound echoes from inside the buildings, making me want to cover my ears with my hands.

 It is not the image of a peaceful countryside village with lush greenery, but rather, the entire village seems to be one big workshop. Moreover, the village is surrounded by barbed wire netting on all sides, giving it a somewhat bleak atmosphere.

 I followed Alice as I compared to what I thought of Vu-alheit village in my mind with the actual scenery of the village.

"Onii-chan, you're making a strange face again."

 As I was walking along, Alice, who was walking next to me before I knew it, looked at me and asked.

"Eh? No, I'm not making a strange face..."

“Really? You've been looking like this for a while now."

 When Alice said that, she pulled her eyebrows between them with both hands and groaned in a cute voice. ……Isn't that a strange face, rather a difficult face? 

"No, what kind of face is that?"

"You have a face like this."

 When I sigh and smile wryly, Alice raises her eyebrows further and groans.

"Haha, don't look like that. Alice is making a strange face, you know?"

"I'm not making that kind of face! I'm just imitating Onii-chan!"

 Perhaps my words were upsetting, but Alice walked a little faster while puffing out her cheeks.

 As I watched her back, I suddenly thought to myself.

 From the outside, she looks like a cute and innocent girl. I don't think anyone would feel any negative emotions when they were with Alice, who is the epitome of the word "innocent".

 I myself have been under Alice's care since I was bedridden, so I can certainly sense her innate goodness. But.

"..."

 I quietly look behind me so as not to be noticed.

 An unpaved road. Among the people of Vu-alheit Village, who had the same brown skin as Alice, a lone man is staring at me while hiding.

 It is not the old doctor Schultz. No, he is not from Vu-alheit village to begin with.

"Good work."

 The man who is following me while hiding is an imperial guard.

 That said, maybe I'm a prisoner of war under suspicion of being a spy. Well, I would normally be monitored.

 And speaking of surveillance, Alice who is walking in front of me was probably also monitoring me.

 In terms of not making me feel alarmed, she is the most suitable person for the job.

 That's why I don't trust Alice much.

 I have nothing to be guilty of. I felt like my instincts were telling me not to let her into my heart.

 It was as if the person I was before I lost my memory was saying to me.

"Onii-chan, look at this! A big piece of dried meat!"

 As I was thinking that, I saw Alice pointing at the venison hanging from the eaves with a twinkle in her eye in front of one of the stalls.

"If you're going to buy some, make sure you limit it to a little. You won't be able to eat lunch."

"Mu, treating me like a child again! I'm 14 years old this year!"

"From my eyes, you're still a child."

 ……Well, after seeing such childish things over and over again, I started to think that maybe I was thinking too much.

"I mean, no stopping until you buy the one the village chief asked you to buy, right?"

"Ah, that's right. Father always gives me just barely enough money, you know."

 With a regretful glance toward the dried deer meat, Alice lightly shook the drawstring bag handed to her by her father, who is the head of this Vu-alheit village, up and down.

 Sadly, the sound coming from the drawstring bag soon faded into the surrounding noise.

 I pulled Alice away from the stall and we walked down the unpaved road again.

“Speaking of which, Onii-chan, you will be discharged from the infirmary next week, right?”

"Hmm? Ah, that's right. They said I can't run yet, but I can walk normally and it doesn't affect my daily life anymore."

 Schultz, an old doctor who looks like a mummy, says that although I am doing much better than before, my recovery in the last few days has been remarkable.

 Well, implicitly, "Since the damage inflicted on your body has disappeared relatively quickly, you don't need to see a doctor anymore."

 And fortunately, I should be able to leave the infirmary next week, but after this, I'll probably be sent to a facility that holds prisoners of war. That's what I think. In short...

"Only a few more days with Alice like this, huh?"

"Eh?"

 The brown-skinned girl walking next to me stopped.

"By any chance, Onii-chan, did you regain your memory?"

"Eh? No, I'm going to be moved to another place when I leave the infirmary, right? So I'll be going to say goodbye to Alice."

 When I said that, Alice blinked her eyes and tilted her head.

"Did you find a place to live, then? Or did someone from the outside come to pick you up or something?"

“Putting aside where I will live, I don’t remember anyone coming to pick me up, I'd rather not have someone come to pick me up."

 I feel like I'm going to ask the person who came all the way to pick me up, "Well, do we know each other?" If the other party was my lover before I lost my memory, then it would be a disaster.

"Then where are you going?"

"No, it's not like I'm going somewhere, I just thought I might be sent to a internment camp somewhere."

 As we gradually approached our destination, the plaza, the noise of the people grew little by little.

“Um, by any chance, Onii-chan, haven’t you heard from Schultz?”

"Eh, what are you talking about?"

 Alice, who doesn't even show the slightest dislike, gently squeezes my hand back, and she murmurs somewhat troubled.

 From Alice's hand that I held, a soft and slightly warm temperature was transmitted directly to my palm.

 Contrary to such warmth, Alice spoke the words from Schultz with a little hesitation.

"Onii-chan, when you leave the hospital, you're going to live with me at my house, right?"