Chapter 22: Luke Notos Greyrat – Part Two

────Luke’s Perspective────

I’m sitting at Rudeus’ bedside right now, under the glare of two Sword Kings.

They’ve at least stepped outside the tent to leave us alone, but still—this is the relative of the man who killed their lord, approaching his family.

If I so much as make one suspicious move, they’ll cut my head off in an instant.

Rudeus… to be honest, I’ve never been good with this guy.

He doesn’t care, but because my father feared his bloodline, I ended up making him suffer through countless troubles. And more than anything, he’s just too damn talented.

Lady Ariel couldn’t win over a single of the Special Students at Ranoa, yet he managed to make every last one of them his ally and then went on to defeat the Immortal Demon King. He even stole Sylphy away from us and made her his wife.

Out of sheer pride I challenged him to a duel, but on the swordsman’s stage I was swatted aside, not even worth his notice.

Since then, he kept piling on achievements: clearing the Teleportation Labyrinth, mastering King-tier water magic, even fighting the second-ranked among the Seven Great Powers and earning his recognition.

And now, in the Asuran succession struggle—the largest kingdom in the world—the one at the very center is without a doubt this man.

Between the awkwardness of our birth, my own inferiority complex, and the eerie inscrutability of his recent actions, I just couldn’t bring myself to truly trust him from the bottom of my heart.

As I spun my wheels in that endless loop of useless worries, Rudeus—laid up from blood loss—regained consciousness.

"Mm… ngh…! What’s the situation!?"

"You’re awake… Thanks to you, none of ours were killed or wounded. We let a few of them slip away, but most of the enemy died by your magic. Wi-Taa, the one who cut you down, won’t be surviving with that much blood loss."

"I… I see… That’s… good… ugh, u, ughhh…"

No sooner had I reported than he started gagging, choking out miserable sounds.

At first I thought his wound had reopened, but no. I recognized this.

He… had never killed anyone before. And from what I’d seen of him, this was the kind of person who couldn’t even handle a fight to the death in the first place.

"Hey, Rudeus… why did you even come along with us?"

Before I realized it, the question slipped out.

"Why? Because… I was worried about Sylphy…"

"I’ve heard that plenty, but… couldn’t you have just told Sylphy not to go in the first place?"

"Huh?"

"Sylphy’s your wife. She just had a child. From her husband’s point of view, there’s no reason at all to let her join a battle like this."

Even as I said it, I couldn’t believe myself.

We were the ones willing to sacrifice Sylphy’s happiness to bring her along for Lady Ariel’s sake—what right did I have to say such a thing?

"And even with Orsted, the one who gave you this order—if he just wanted to profit off Lady Ariel’s power, why go about it in such a roundabout, unpopular way?"

"Huh…? Wait, how do you even—"

"Everyone in this group knows you’re acting under Orsted’s orders. You weren’t really trying to hide it. If you never intended to conceal his involvement, then why not bring him himself along?"

Setting aside my father’s betrayal, I kept pressing my mistrust of Rudeus’ actions. Unless I could be satisfied on that point, I felt I would never be able to believe in him wholeheartedly.

"Even if Orsted’s curse is real, this is ridiculous. Keeping so many secrets, deciding everything on your own, putting your body on the line until you nearly die… it’s completely backwards."

This isn’t like you. The Rudeus I know—the Rudeus you should be—

"You should be able to… handle this better than that, shouldn’t you…?"

Handle it better… so that even Father wouldn’t have to be killed…

It was the most selfish, desperate plea imaginable.

And yet, for some reason, Rudeus smiled faintly, almost nostalgically, a bitter smile.

"I can’t do it… I know, I really do know that things won’t work out this way. But every time I try to talk it over and decide together, I lose my nerve, I get scared, I can’t get the words out…! Just imagining killing someone makes my hands shake, even when my family’s lives are on the line, and I panic and end up like this…! I kept betraying Sylphy, never noticed Eris’ feelings, never even realized what everyone around me was doing for my sake…! Every time I try to speak, I’m terrified I’ll only hurt them more, make things even worse. That fear… it never goes away!"

When he finished shouting, he curled in on himself, clutching his head.

His face was twisted with self-loathing, his words dripping with weakness—knowing he was wrong but unable to move. And strangely, I felt a kind of kinship with him.

"Listen, Rudeus… you’re doing a lot better than you think. Maybe you’re getting weighed down because your family and friends are all Milis believers… but you’ve taken responsibility for the women you’ve been with, and you treat even another man’s child as your own."

"Yeah, well, that’s rich coming from Luke-senpai, who never takes responsibility and just keeps trading women around…"

"…At the very least, we trust you enough to leave Sylphy to you—the woman who’s crossed death with us more than once. Instead of choking on your regrets until you’re paralyzed, talk to Sylphy and the others, even if you slip up sometimes."

His blunt words stung, but I let them pass. Somehow, I was just glad I could talk to him at all. His smart mouth didn’t bother me anymore.

The way he sulked with that gloomy face, pessimistic and beaten down, it reminded me of Father.

That was it. He’d just been too competent for me to feel it before.

To me, he was my best friend’s husband, a younger cousin of mine who could be dumped by a girl and left impotent, nothing more.

(Ah… I wish I could’ve had a talk like this with Father, while he was still alive.)

Before I knew it, all the awkwardness and dislike I’d felt had completely melted away.

"Rudeus… I don’t want my father to die. Please—lend me your strength, so we can save him."

(I know I’m just being selfish, only piling more trouble on him. But still… why does he look so relieved…?)

"Understood, Luke-senpai. I’ll speak with Orsted-sama and Ghislaine… we’ll find a way."

This will probably be the first and last time.

But I’ll put all my trust in him.

No matter how it ends… I know I’ll be able to accept it and fight to the very last.

Dragged along by circumstances until now, I’d finally made up my mind.