Chapter 53

“I am under no obligation to explain that to you, Jin.”

Vittorio’s voice was monotonous as usual.

It was a sharp contrast to Jin’s overbearing tone.

‘And that’s exactly like rat poison to someone with Jin’s personality.’

The last trace of a smirk vanished from Jin’s face.

He tilted his head back slightly and spoke.

“You’d better stop acting like this is your own bedroom, Vittorio. Where exactly do you think you are?”

“I don’t quite follow. Is one’s conduct supposed to change significantly depending on whether they are inside or outside their room? I’m not a frivolous man like you, so I wouldn’t know.”

It was a blatantly provocative remark.

It was hard to believe such words had come out of Vittorio’s mouth.

But then again, isn’t this how childhood friends who hate each other usually reunite?

I haven’t mentioned it yet, but these two really don’t get along.

They’re practically itching for a fight.

Their bickering is one of the main attractions in the early stages of the original story.

‘…Of course, that’s from the perspective of a reader.’

Standing in front of two men who looked ready to start a brawl out of nowhere, I was restless.

I had to stop them.

This could turn into an actual bloodbath.

And besides, if these two fought, it wouldn’t exactly be a minor scuffle.

However, neither of them spared a single thought for someone like me.

Jin spoke.

“Frivolous? Are you seriously spouting that nonsense to my face? You arrogant bastard.”

“No one fits that description better than you. Don’t underestimate yourself so much, Jin Astrier.”

Compared to Jin, who was clearly fuming, Vittorio showed no emotional agitation whatsoever.

His voice calmly picked apart Jin’s flaws, rubbing salt in the wound.

“Furthermore, while you were busy failing, our army presented your fief with the news of victory.”

“What…?”

“Since you’re so incompetent, your brother had to draw Limone into this matter just to get things done. You don’t need to thank Limone. Just thank your brother. He accomplished what you couldn’t.”

Why are you dragging me into this?

I didn’t say anything!

I could hear the sound of Jin grinding his teeth from here.

Having his recent defeat mentioned seemed to be the final straw for Jin.

“…Fine. It seems you have no intention of making excuses for your actions. Then I’ll just assume whatever I want. You ignored the Lord of Denabi’s house arrest order and kidnapped my brother to use him for whatever subversive scheme you’ve cooked up.”

“…”

Vittorio didn’t bother to deny it.

Hey, at least try to make an excuse!

—Screeech.

As Vittorio remained silent, Jin’s sword was slowly drawn from its sheath.

Vittorio spoke.

“Entertaining (his voice was about ten thousand light-years away from sounding entertained). Do you intend to take my head?”

“If your guilt is as clear as day, there’s no reason I couldn’t.”

What kind of farce is this?

I stepped forward.

Their eyes finally drifted away from each other.

That’s right. Look at me, you punks.

Young guys always picking fights for no reason.

“Look. That’s enough.”

“I told you to stay out of this.”

Jin warned me.

Truly, he had the spirit of a protagonist.

Shane would have been terrified.

But I’m not the younger brother you used to know.

The person standing here is the Korean, Lee Jungwoo.

I spoke.

“I’m the one who ran out of the room. Commander Vittorio was just helping me out. You don’t need to be so defensive.”

“You…”

Jin narrowed his eyes, clearly suspicious.

It was the expected reaction.

The youngest brother Jin knew wouldn’t have been able to step forward like this, let alone speak this way.

It was only natural for him to find it strange.

Not that I cared, of course.

“I get it. It’s probably easier for you to think that your youngest brother, Shane—who has no courage or talent and just stays holed up in his room—was captured and threatened by a prince from a neighboring fief. But you’re wrong. We entered into a legitimate contract. I just stepped out for a moment to fulfill my end of the bargain. Nothing happened.”

I jerked my chin.

“So, put the sword away.”

“…Did Vittorio tell you to say that?”

“Ha.”

This is ridiculous.

Once again, I felt the gap between how Jin sees me and how everyone else does.

Jin had only just returned to the castle.

This was the first time he and I were meeting since I possessed this body.

To him, I was nothing more than a pathetic, shut-in younger brother.

I silently walked toward Jin.

Naturally, no one stopped me.

I stood face-to-face with Jin, only three steps away.

“See? I’m right here. Does this look like something Vittorio made me do?”

Even so, Jin still didn’t sheath his sword.

He glared at me with a terrifying expression.

What, should I pretend to be scared?

You might be Shane’s brother, but are you mine?

How many years do you think Lee Jungwoo has survived in the corporate world?

“Pfft, seriously…”

As I let out a smirk, Jin spoke.

“What do you have to smile about? You violated Father’s house arrest order.”

“Ah. Right. I messed up. So, do you want to use that sword to give me a lashing? I’m not quite sure why that blade is still out here catching the breeze.”

I didn’t give Jin any room to argue.

“You’re a man who lives by the sword, Brother. You should know the value of your own blade. Do you even realize how immense the value of violence is? No, you clearly don’t, since you’re acting like this.”

I continued.

“Unlike me, you were born with incredible talent for the sword. To think you’re wasting it just to intimidate your childhood friend and your youngest brother. If you had looked at the ledgers in the administration office even once, you wouldn’t be doing this in your right mind.”

“…”

Jin couldn’t even form a proper response to the stream of words pouring out of my mouth.

I called out to Vittorio.

“Hey, Commander Vittorio. You should get going now. Didn’t you say you had business to attend to?”

“I do.”

“Then hurry up and vanish back to Limone. We don’t have a single cent left to spend on hiring you. If you’re dreaming of squeezing any more money out of us, you’d better wake up and go home.”

“Heh…”

He let out a short laugh and walked past us.

“I’ll do just that.”

I placed my hand on Jin’s shoulder as he moved to intercept him. Jin glared at me.

Finally, all the aggro was focused on me.

Nice.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

He changed his question.

“No—who the hell are you, exactly?”

“…”

That was a sharp question.

I gave him a bright, playful smile and asked back.

“Who do I look like?”

“…Shane Astrier.”

“Shane Astrier, who?”

“My youngest brother. A timid loner who spends every waking hour holed up in his room. A pathetic weakling with zero talent for swordsmanship, capable of nothing but jealousy and spite.”

Jin didn’t stop there.

“…That was the Shane I knew. So, who are you?”

His vitriol didn’t come as a surprise.

In the original prologue, Jin puts on a heart-wrenching performance over Shane’s impending death. But that wasn’t because they actually had a good relationship. It was simply because Shane happened to be family dying right in front of him.

In reality, Jin despised Shane.

While it wasn’t exactly a noble sentiment, I couldn’t say I didn’t empathize.

After all, the original Shane really was the kind of guy Jin described. Someone who couldn’t help but be looked down upon by his own family.

But I’m not that guy.

“You really want to know who I am?”

Jin didn’t nod, but he didn’t look away either.

Feigning lack of interest, are we?

I spoke up on my own.

“There’s one way to find out.”

We stepped out of the courtyard of Denabi Castle.

I took the lead, with Jin following behind.

Jin spoke to the back of my head.

“I heard about you from Father.”

“What did he say?”

“He claimed you’ve accomplished a great many things. It was so ridiculous I stopped listening halfway through.”

“Why? Your quiet little brother finally made a big scene. Is it so hard to just listen?”

“The Shane Astrier I know isn’t someone capable of achieving those things. He doesn’t have the stomach for it.”

Of course you’d think so.

I shrugged.

Jin continued.

“How did you win Father over? Just how underhanded are you to make even Father lie for you?”

Oho.

So that’s how you’re going to play it.

You think I manipulated Alejandro into inventing fake achievements for me?

‘Ha! What a vivid imagination you have!’

I chuckled inwardly. Swallowing my laughter, I gave a slow nod.

“Why didn’t you ask someone other than Father? Then you would have realized I’ve managed to deceive all of them, too!”

As I retorted sarcastically, Jin’s face turned fierce.

Ooh, scary.

I spoke up.

“I simply have a talent that you brothers lack. I’ve only just realized it myself.”

“Talent? You?”

“Well, it’s nothing grand like swordsmanship. But I have it. Just one thing. A talent to do what you can’t. Curious?”

“Even if you tell me, there’s no way I’ll believe it.”

“Is that so? Well, I’ll tell you anyway.”

I pointed to my eyes.

“Eyes.”

“…?”

“I have an eye for people. Unlike you.”

“Ha. You expect me to believe that, of all things? A shut-in like you couldn’t possibly have a talent like that.”

“Fine, then. Don’t believe me. It doesn’t matter, because soon enough, you won’t have a choice but to believe it.”

Soon, we arrived at a familiar place.

Strictly speaking, it was only familiar to me.

This place didn’t exist before Jin left.

“This is…”

“How is it? The smell of fermenting alcohol.”

It was the brewery.

Inside the row of warehouse buildings, the brewing process was in full swing.

Man, it felt good to be out in the field again and catch the scent of the workspace.

“Let’s go in.”

The moment we stepped inside, one of the workers recognized me.

“Oh! Young Master!?”

As one worker made a fuss, the eyes of the others gathered on us.

—What! It’s the Young Master!

—Young Master! You’ve finally woken up!

I bowed my head and greeted them.

“It’s been a while. I ended up taking a few days off unintentionally. How have you all been?”

A worker in a wheelchair approached me.

“We heard the operation was a success thanks to you, Young Master!”

“No, what did I do? It’s all thanks to your family members fighting so hard.”

Another worker stepped forward to ask a question.

“I heard a rumor that you even used magic, Young Master?”

“Oh, please, magic? I just showed off a little trick, that’s all.”

The conversation continued with small talk.

“I heard the place you saved this time was the orchard? Thanks to you, my newborn will finally get to taste some fruit!”

“Ah, about that—what do you think about making fruit wine with them to sell? Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?”

Before I knew it, the brewery workers were swarming around me.

I stole a quick glance at Jin’s face.

His expression was complicated.

Jin had always been the one treated as a hero by the people.

But not this time.

This was my turf.

‘Jin Astrier. You aren’t the protagonist here. And soon enough, you won’t be the protagonist anywhere else, either.’

I changed fate.

I changed the story.

This world is my world.

And Jin, in my world, you’re going to have to learn how to be a supporting character.

Because I am the protagonist of this newly written story.

‘Because I… am going to take that place away from you.’