The Hero’s Disciple Has Returned

“The tea is delicious.”
“Is that so?”

Mr. Ras gave it to me saying it was good tea. Indeed, the aroma and taste were deep, and it seemed like it would be quite expensive. I had reluctantly accepted it due to the threat(?) that he would throw it away if I didn’t take it, but I didn’t expect it would be used so usefully like this. But this guy can even appreciate the taste of tea… I guess as time passes, everyone grows up.

“You’ve grown a lot to even appreciate tea.”
“…Ahem. I have grown quite a bit.”

Seeing Balik clear his throat and avoid eye contact like that, it seems it was just a polite remark… I couldn’t help but wonder if I should scold him for still having such an immature side despite being in a high position like the Mercenary King, or if I should just be simply happy to see the unchanged appearance of this brother-like guy. For a moment, I couldn’t help but ponder.

‘He’s all grown up, so it might be funny to keep treating him as my junior.’

For a retired A-rank mercenary to look down on and scold the Mercenary King… Even I thought it was a laughable act.

But I soon shook my head and changed my mind.

‘But if he really wanted to be treated as the Mercenary King, he would have sent someone, not come personally like this.’

The fact that he came himself clearly meant he wanted to be treated like before. So I decided to forget that we were meeting after a long time and just treat him exactly the same as before.

“You being the Mercenary King. There must be endless incidents and accidents.”
“Hey now. I’ve grown a lot, I tell you! I’m not the same person you used to look after back then.”
“I’m in seclusion, but I could gladly visit the mercenary guild for your sake. Should I do that?”
“Ahem. Well, would someone in seclusion go that far? You don’t need to do that much for me.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I used to think that human relationships were nothing special and would naturally disappear as time passed. But seeing Balik, who remained unchanged at this moment, I couldn’t help but realize how hasty that judgment was.

‘I see… Was I feeling lonely?’

It couldn’t help but be a funny thing.

I chose to live alone in seclusion, turning my back on everything because I was tired of everything in the world. But even in the midst of that, a part of my heart was feeling lonely.

I was just pretending to be strong, but deep down, I didn’t want to be alone.

It couldn’t help but be a truly embarrassing story.

But even if it’s truly embarrassing, it’s my true self and my essence, so the story can’t begin without accepting it. The reason people want the truth is because there’s an end and a beginning there.

“So what exactly is that?”
“A dragon egg”
“Are you joking?”
“Was I the type of person who made such jokes in your memory?”
“Definitely not… The overwhelming presence I feel is indeed… It certainly seems to be a dragon egg… But how did you end up having such an incredible thing?”
“It’s great magic left behind by the last Dragon Lord. It was set to be delivered to this child, who was protected by time-stop magic, when a suitable person to take care of this child appeared. I was chosen as that suitable person, so I ended up taking care of this child like this.”
“How is it that you always seem to get involved in troublesome issues even though you turned your back on the world and went into seclusion?”
“…I think so too.”
“But brother…”
“Brother”
“Pardon?”
“Call me brother. Isn’t it funny to keep calling me ‘sir’ forever?”
“…Well. It was you who said titles like ‘brother’ or ‘elder brother’ weren’t allowed.”

Well, at that time, I didn’t think it would become such a long-lasting relationship. I clearly thought it would be a very brief relationship that would end soon. In a way, it could be said I was arrogant. Despite knowing the saying ‘There’s nothing light in human relationships, so no one can know how and in what way they will turn out,’ I ignored it.

Since it seemed to be a deeply intertwined relationship anyway, I decided to correct it, thinking it would be shameful not to rectify past mistakes.

“If you don’t want to call me brother, keep calling me ‘sir’.”
“Hey! Who said I don’t want to? But still, ‘brother’ is a bit much, so let’s settle on ‘elder brother’.”
“Do as you like.”
“Hehehe. Elder brother.”
“…Don’t laugh like that. Doesn’t your orc-like face become even more orc-like?”
“Ha! The only one who can openly call this Mercenary King Balik orc-like is elder brother… Oh. There’s one more person, I guess.”
“To be one of two people in this world, what an honor.”
“That’s right. Know that it’s a great honor. Both master and disciple are really…”
“Hm? What are you talking about?”
“It’s just the obvious fact that only elder brother and elder brother’s disciple can openly call me orc-like.”

I could tell at a glance that Balik’s visit was because of Sera. Because no matter how I thought about it, there was nothing else that could make Balik break his own stubbornness except something related to Sera. So I naturally assumed that he had formed a connection with Sera and eventually came to visit me, but…

“There’s no way my disciple would say such bad things to you, right? She’s such a polite and quiet child.”
“……?”

Balik looked at me with a face that truly said, ‘What on earth is this person saying?’

…Why is he acting like that?

♧♧♧

Balik was stupid but had good intuition. Therefore, he couldn’t help but recognize with his excellent intuition that Jade’s reaction now was sincere.

‘That fox seems to have thoroughly deceived elder brother.’

How much did she wear a mask and act perfectly in front of elder brother to hide her true self so thoroughly… He had expected her to put on some airs in front of elder brother, but it seemed she had put on not just airs but tremendous airs. Balik, who had directly experienced Sera’s true self while half-dying, couldn’t help but get goosebumps.

In his heart, he truly wanted to shout ‘Elder brother! That’s all pretense!’ for Jade’s sake, but…!

He couldn’t dare to do so because he knew with his quick intuition that if he did that, he would not just half-die but really die. No matter how much he valued Jade… Even though he could fight risking his life for Jade… This case was impossible from the start.

Mercenaries had an overwhelmingly high probability of dying. Therefore, if one was living with the profession of a mercenary, it was natural to have a mental picture of ‘If possible, I’d like to die like this’ in their mind. Of course, just because one drew such a mental picture didn’t mean it would come true, but as long as one lived with death right in front of them, it was inevitable to imagine such an ideal death.

Isn’t it said that a person’s life is determined by how they die? In the end, since mercenaries had a high probability of dying, it was natural to think at least once about how they would die.

In that sense, in the ideal picture that Mercenary King Balik had imagined for himself, he had never had a picture of messing with elder brother’s disciple, getting beaten half to death, and then getting hit once more to die. Therefore, at this moment, Balik not revealing the truth to Jade and covering it up was truly an unavoidable choice for him.

“Th-That’s right. I misspoke.”
“I see.”

‘Elder brother truly thinks that girl is quiet and kind and all that…’

How thoroughly did she wear a mask… For that sharp person to be so thoroughly and firmly deceived… Sera, what a terrifying person…

Balik couldn’t help but feel genuine fear.

“So, has my disciple become much stronger?”
“Well, isn’t that obvious?”
“I guess you taught her a thing or two.”
“Huh?”
“Why are you acting like that?”
“Ah. No. Um. Erm. It’s nothing.”
“I tried to teach her as much as I could… But I guess my body wasn’t normal.”
“I heard about that.”
“Is that so? I taught her not to tell anyone as much as possible. For her to tell you right away even though I said you were my acquaintance. I’m really worried in many ways. Should I have taught her more…?”
“……”

Balik felt his head going blank.

How thoroughly did that girl deceive elder brother to make him worry at such a level? Isn’t it no different from the level of a parent worrying about a child who has just become independent? It would be normal to worry that the world might be in chaos because she was running wild too much… But he was worrying as if Sera was a weak(?) child that even masters couldn’t handle.

‘In other words, her being that strong isn’t thanks to elder brother’s teachings.’

She might be able to create that heterogeneous aura blade because elder brother gave her his aura heart, but Balik could easily sense that the essence of that tremendous strength didn’t originate from elder brother.

In other words, that girl was a monster from the beginning. And what gave wings to that monster was Jade’s aura heart.

Balik could reach that door of truth at once.

However

‘…Does that make sense?’

Being stupid, he could only approach the door of truth but not open it, which was the limit of the stupid Balik. He wanted to ask the smart Jade, unlike himself, to get that answer and feel relieved, but…

“So, you know. That disciple of mine… Hm? Why are you acting like that?”
“…It’s nothing.”

Hmm…

There’s a saying that ignorance is bliss…

Is it really necessary to know the truth to be happy? To begin with, he’s talking so happily about his disciple in a state of not knowing the truth, so insisting ‘That’s not the truth!’ here seems a bit like spoiling the mood…

‘Elder brother… Please forgive this younger brother who cannot tell the truth.’

It was Balik’s fate to feel guilty towards the respected elder brother he met after a long time.