Chapter 35

Tomorrow would be the fourth day since the Knights had arrived on-site.

To break the current deadlock, even more grueling reconnaissance missions likely awaited them at dawn. With that in mind, Garmon had intended to finish his meal and head straight to sleep.

He wondered if his subordinate, Varna, was fitting in well with the town.
He wondered what kind of things he was discussing with Nagi.
He wondered if there would be time to catch up with his brother once the mission was over.

Garmon believed that this Orc subjugation would absolutely succeed. Ever since he joined the Order, he had never seen a subjugation fail, and he had heard that Nagi, the leader of the Kliffia Militia, was cooperating with Varna to find the Orcs. Though Nagi had a stubborn side, Garmon expected that if he had stepped up to help, they would surely find a lead.

He believed that—or rather, he wanted to believe it. But absolute trust, while rooted in reason, has no binding power. He realized he should have understood that fact much sooner.

On the outskirts of Kliffia, atop an off-limits cliff where the two of them used to sneak off to watch the stars as children, Garmon stood facing his younger brother. The two boys had somehow grown into an adult and a young man, having forgotten even how to smile at each other the way they once did.

The crimson sunset of the wasteland illuminated the brothers like actors on a theater stage.

It was Garmon who spoke first, his expression stiff.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Coming at me with ‘Why,’ are you? You’ve really become a piece of work, Brother… I’m pretty sure I’ve told you a thousand times how much I can’t stand you. I’m actually confused as to why you’re acting so shocked and angry only now.”

“I am not angry. I am asking what your objective is.”

That was a lie; he was furious. It was impossible not to be.

His sharp younger brother understood the expression hidden behind the thick-skinned mask his brother wore, yet he continued to smirk defiantly. It was the specific ugliness of someone who lived to provoke and despise others. Normally, Garmon would tolerate any amount of selfishness, but not this time.

Because behind his brother, his own subordinate lay bound with rope.

“Objective? I don’t have one. I just wanted to do something you’d hate.”

“Then you should be satisfied by now. Release Varna-kun at once.”

“No thanks. You’re still miserable, and I haven’t had enough fun yet… Just beating this guy to a pulp isn’t enough for me.”

Hidden in the shadows of the sunset, his form wasn’t entirely clear, but blue bruises and the dark stains of blood were visible on Varna’s face as he lay slumped and motionless. He was breathing, but it was easy to imagine what kind of state he was in.

Knight Varna—his subordinate who had been on a solo mission in town, the rising star of the Knights, and a man who, despite being low-maintenance, somehow always made Garmon worry. He was not a man who deserved to suffer such irrationality.

How long had it been since Garmon felt this angry? He thought his matured spirit wouldn’t be shaken by minor things. He felt a sense of surprise that such intense passion still remained within him. In his palm, the threatening letter Nagi had sent him was crushed into a ball.

“Assaulting and restraining Varna-kun after he grasped vital information about the Orcs… Varna-kun, who trusted you. Stealing the documents containing that information. And on top of that, calling your brother here by name, threatening to dispose of both Varna-kun and the documents if I didn’t come. Did you seriously write such a childish ransom note?”

“Serious or not, this is the reality of the situation, isn’t it? Well, I figured a crafty guy like you would bring reinforcements to catch me, but you actually came alone. Did you think this was just a little joke from your brother?”

He had hoped it was a joke.

In fact, he had been half-doubting it until he reached this spot.

『Please!! You have to save Varna-kun!!』

It was Nonoka who had delivered the threatening letter to Garmon when he returned to the Motive Carriage for a meal break. A stranger had told her at noon to give it to Garmon, and she had been aghast after checking the contents. Her heart felt crushed by anxiety as she waited for Garmon to return.

Of course, he hadn’t taken the story at face value immediately.

A knight of Varna’s caliber shouldn’t have been defeated so easily, and there was the possibility it was just a prank. To Garmon, the most likely scenario was that the town’s militia was using Nagi’s name to interfere with the investigation.

However, based on the fact that the man in Nonoka’s story closely resembled his brother’s physical description, and the fact that Varna hadn’t returned for his scheduled noon report, he concluded he couldn’t ignore it.

To be honest, he had thought his brother wouldn’t actually do something like this, believing it to be a mere prank. He thought that even if Nagi did something dangerous, he would listen to reason once Garmon talked to him. Even so, Garmon couldn’t trust his brother 100%, as he felt a “malice” in the letter that was different from the hostility shown before.

“Won’t you stop this foolishness? You must realize it yourself. Doing this is meaningless, and it is a clear criminal act. It’s not too late…”

“Don’t start spouting lines so predictable they make me want to yawn.”

Nagi used his toe to kick the fallen Varna, rolling him… toward the edge of the cliff, where a fall would mean certain death.

“S-Stop it!!”

Cold sweat broke out instantly, and Garmon shouted despite himself.

He could not permit this to go any further; it could no longer be brushed off as “just playing around.”

A small groan escaped the prone Varna, but Nagi showed no remorse, mockingly tilting his head.

“Eh? What should I do? I wouldn’t mind just dropping him off the cliff right now. I know… throw that spear on your back away. Unless you think your subordinate’s life is worth less than a weapon.”

“…Fine.”

Garmon unfastened the spear he carried and obediently tossed it behind him.

For a knight, whose regulations required them to carry their weapon, it was a supreme humiliation. Even so, he believed in his brother’s conscience, and he felt no hesitation in discarding it for the sake of his subordinate.

“I’ve thrown it away. Now, release Varna-kun. He has nothing to do with this, and I won’t run away.”

“No. I don’t trust you.”

Nagi seemed slightly satisfied, but he wouldn’t move his foot, as if to say he still held the power of life and death over Varna. Garmon’s hope that this would end it was trampled before his eyes; there was no opening to take Varna back by force.

This place of memories had a great view, but it was also a steep, high cliff with a lethal drop. If Nagi continued his whim just a bit longer, Varna really would fall to his death.

The nonsensical reality of it made Garmon want to weep.

At this point, Garmon was forced to admit that this was a premeditated crime.

‘Choosing a cliff with a wide view and only one path, then placing the hostage in the most dangerous spot. A perfect location where he can eliminate the hostage the moment the other party breaks their word, and where it’s difficult for anyone to interfere…!’

As if seeing that Garmon finally understood the gravity of the situation, Nagi shook his head exaggeratedly and sighed. It was an attitude filled with deliberate, condescending malice. Garmon felt a dark heat burning within his heart.

“You’re so slow, Brother. How can you ignore me for so long despite how much I was picking a fight? Or is it that this rookie knight is such an important colleague that he’s more precious than family? Is that why you’re acting like this?”

“Don’t be ridiculous… I have never forgotten you, nor have I ever thought lightly of you. I promised Grandpa and Grandma that I would raise you until you could stand on your own. I won’t be so arrogant as to ask for your gratitude, but I’ve accepted your selfishness—if not all of it, then most of it—and this is the result? It’s madness…”

“Ha! It’s not madness. Isn’t this just the punishment for leaving your brother behind in the sticks to become a knight and never really listening to a word he said?”

“That’s why I’ve always tried to make up for it—”

“I’m sick of hearing those shitty excuses!!”

Garmon was glared at by Nagi as if he were a mortal enemy, his brother’s voice thundering with an authority that allowed no room for argument.

Garmon fell silent, stunned by Nagi’s furious outburst. He had seen his brother irritated before, but this was the first time he had directed such raw, naked rage toward him. Somewhere in his heart, Garmon might have been naive enough to believe such a thing would never happen.

“I’ve had enough of your self-satisfied attitude!! Honestly, I want to shove this guy off the cliff right now just to watch that smug look of yours crumble into nothing!!”

“Why go that far…? We’re family, brothers of the same blood! Why do you hate me so much!? If you wanted to make me suffer, you could have just told me to stand still and let you hit me!! If you hate me so much you can’t stand the sight of me, just say it, and I…!”

“It’s not like that!! You’re family? You, the piece of shit who moves from job to job and never shows his face back home!? You’re not even home ten days a year—where exactly is the ‘happy family’ between you and me!?”

“…!”

He couldn’t deny it.

No, he had known.

Garmon had realized long ago that his existence as a family member was warped.

So, Nagi really was rejecting me… for becoming a knight and leaving him behind.

The Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights were extremely busy, and holidays were few and far between. To make matters worse, since the headquarters was in the Royal Capital, even when he received a block of leave, it took time to travel to Kliffia where Nagi was. At worst, they could only see each other for the length of a day trip. If allowed, Garmon, too, wanted to spend more time together.

But as a knight, he simply could not accept his brother’s phrasing.

“There are things that are impossible even for me! If we don’t hunt Orcs, someone in this country will die! Are you saying it’s fine for others to die as long as it’s for the sake of your family!?”

“Don’t you… change the subject!!”

In an instant, Nagi charged with unimaginable speed, and his punch buried itself in Garmon’s face. Garmon staggered from the pain of a blow he hadn’t felt in ages, the metallic taste of liquid spreading in his mouth. Dazed by the reality of it, he stood there rooted to the spot.

“Heh… heheh! Perfect! Ever since we were kids, whenever you didn’t want to back down, you’d punch me to shut me up! I always thought that was so damn unfair!! Now you get to taste how it feels to be the one getting hit!!”

Seeing that Garmon remained silent and offered no resistance, Nagi continued his violence.

He struck Garmon’s chest, hooked a blow into his stomach, and kicked his legs with all his might. Garmon fell pathetically, his face scraping against the ground. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fight back because there was a hostage. It was simply that the fact his brother was hitting him—truly, seriously hitting him—made his mind go blank.

Why? Why must I be hated by the brother I gave everything for… Was I mistaken to think he’d be fine without me? Or did some wicked person incite him? —Did he hate me?

Garmon no longer understood anything.

A kick landed in his defenseless stomach as his thoughts ground to a halt. He coughed violently from the pain and impact, his body instinctively tensing to protect his abdomen.

“Gah!! Cough, wheeze…!!”

“Tch… you really look pathetic, Brother! To think this is the result of abandoning your family to rush off and be a knight—it’s hilarious! Oh, right… I forgot I had one thing to ask you.”

The nightmare reality sounded hauntingly vivid from above, a sound Garmon wanted to block out. Nagi, now a criminal, whispered in a pompous tone while stepping on Garmon’s stomach.

“You said you came here to save Varna, but really, you just wanted the Orc report, didn’t you? If you just honestly admit it, I’ll hand over the documents at least.”

Inside Garmon’s heart—the heart of a man betrayed by the family member he cherished more than anyone else—something snapped with a distinct sound, a sound different from the breaking of a final hope.

“Do I—”

“Huh?”

“Do I look like such a rotten knight to you… that I would value work more than my subordinate!? Do you have any idea how much the lives of our comrades in the Knights are irreplaceable treasures to us!?”

Strength surged through Garmon’s body, and a boiling heat took control of his head. There was a conviction that he could not yield on this point, even if the opponent was his brother. At that moment, forgetting all decorum and the situation, he swung his fist upward.

“Uoooooh!!”

“Gah!?”

Garmon punched his brother—whom he hadn’t struck once since their grandparents died—square in the face with the full intent to crush him. The power generated by the muscles of a man who fought Orcs for a living sent Nagi flying several meters, causing a painful spray of blood to erupt from his nose.

Staggering toward Nagi, whose eyes were wide at the sudden counterattack, not a trace of Garmon’s usual kindness remained in his eyes. There was only pure rage.

Rejection would have been fine. It would hurt, but he could endure it. If he were despised as a failure of a family member, he had enough self-awareness to accept that. But Nagi had laid hands on his subordinate and trampled on Garmon’s feelings of care for that comrade.

That—as a member of the Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights—Garmon could never forgive.

“I’m the one who prays every night while commanding subordinates who might die tomorrow, hoping they win without a single scratch! There is… NO WAY I would abandon a subordinate for such words—!!”

A glowing countenance of fury transformed Garmon’s face into that of a demon. His true anger finally exploded at the words that decisively insulted the pride he held as a knight—a pride he cherished alongside his family.

But the moment Nagi saw this, he stood up immediately, clenching his fists without flinching before his brother.

“What are you getting pissed for on your own? The one who’s pissed… is ME—!!”

“Shut up!! Take it back… Take back what you said about me abandoning my subordinate!!”

There was no longer anyone in this place to stop the two of them.

With the setting sun as the only witness, the bell rang for a serious brawl between brothers, exposing everything between two people who had been passing each other by for years.

…I don’t know if he’s playing along or if he’s being genuine, but just spit it all out here, Nagi.

Garmon failed to notice the person watching their fight through squinted eyes.