165
Brothers
‘What is this atmosphere?’
Weasel… no, Dylan muttered, narrowing his eyes at the strange feeling.
Ha-na, who would normally still be sleeping, was already out and about, moving around lively. It was strange to see her smiling brightly, as if something good had happened.
Kanna was also smiling brightly. The atmosphere of the ten pups was also strange.
Dylan was able to notice because he had survived under the saplings for quite some time.
The atmosphere was completely different from yesterday. It was definitely colder, but I felt strangely warm.
“Did something happen last night?”
Dylan, feeling left out, asked Hannah, who was humming.
“Ah! Um… It’s a secret!”
Dylan scratched his arm with goosebumps at the sight of Hannah answering shyly.
Judging by the look on her face, something had happened between Hannah, Sipsaekki, and Kannah.
Hannah was a great operator who made up stories about the ten puppies.
When Hannah said it was a secret, Dylan felt even more threatened.
“Eat this.”
Hannah put down a roughly wrapped piece of bread.
Dylan looked at him for a moment. It was similar to the meat buns that the pups ate, but the meat inside was all torn off.
Moreover, compared to the ten puppies, the contents seemed a bit poor.
Of course, just giving me meat bread and a place to sleep without receiving any money was enough to qualify me to be called a mother.
“I’ll eat well, Mom.”
“Dylan… I told you not to call me that.”
Dylan was slightly startled by Hannah’s cold voice, but he smiled his signature cute smile.
Then Hannah went inside, frowning. Delmuto, with a tired expression, came out from inside instead.
Delmuto was the first to get up to prepare the ingredients.
“Hey, Delmuto, good morning.”
Dylan smiled and waved.
Delmuto, he was a great man who deserved praise just for making Hannah’s poor food taste good.
“Yeah, Dylan. How’s the food?”
He was a boring guy because he was quiet, but Dylan thought he was okay because he was funny and loud.
“It’s always delicious. But today, there was a lot of meat torn off…”
“Oh, the boss tore the meat into pieces to shape it for Aaron.”
Dylan looked down at his meat bun for a moment. After all, it looked like it was made from the leftovers from giving pretty meat to the pups…
‘It’s delicious.’
It didn’t matter because it was delicious and I didn’t even get paid for it. Dylan drank the beer with ice in one gulp and exclaimed, “Wow!”
The magic was truly amazing. The original beer was delicious, but when I put ice in it, it tasted even better than I had imagined.
‘You’re drinking beer with ice!’
It was amazing that I had such an incredible idea. It made me feel even more amazed at Kanna’s ability to make ice light.
Even though Kanna was born to the ten pups and Hannah, Dylan felt that he had a significant influence on the upbringing process.
‘I could sweep up a gold coin with this beer…’
Dylan muttered under his breath, looking at his ice-cold beer.
However, Kanna already had Hannah. No matter how close Dylan was to Kanna, he could never be as close as his mother.
Then suddenly, Delmuto’s tired face appeared.
“Oh, Delmuto, didn’t you say you were a wizard too?”
“······A wizard? Oh, I see. I was a wizard.”
Dylan clicked his tongue at Delmuto’s calm answer. Even though he was insignificant and pathetic compared to Kanna, he was still a wizard.
But Dylan couldn’t understand why he had forgotten that he was a wizard.
“What? Oh, I see? This guy is annoying. If you’re a wizard, shouldn’t you be able to bring in a lot of gold?”
“Not all wizards are like Kanna.”
“That’s true. Kanna is Kanna and she’s the only one.”
Delmuto nodded vigorously at Dylan’s answer.
“Before coming to Cassidy, I used to run a cleaning magic shop. With my mana, twice is the most I can do.”
“Washing magic? Who would open a store and get something so useless?”
Dylan clicked his tongue at Delmuto’s stupid words.
“Yes, it was rare for anyone to come looking for it. Only the nobles came occasionally.”
Dylan nodded at Delmuto’s continued words. Originally, noblemen liked to spend money on useless things.
However, even nobles would not likely use cleansing magic often.
“It didn’t suit my aptitude. If I used magic twice, I would have to lie down and cry all day long, and I knew exactly what my limits were. I couldn’t get interested.”
“Interest? What interest is there?”
Dylan was dumbfounded. What kind of interest is this when you’re worried about whether you’re going to die today or tomorrow?
“···You wouldn’t know. You’re not a wizard.”
Delmuto smiled bitterly. It was frustrating to see him like that, but what could he do? He had already been caught by the ten-year-old.
Plus, Dylan knew that Delmuto was getting paid a lot of money by Hannah. He wasn’t the type of guy he needed to worry about.
“Hehehehehehe.”
At that moment, a strange laughter was heard from inside.
It was a laugh that felt like someone had been stabbed in the stomach. Since there was only Hannah inside, it was definitely Hannah’s laugh.
“···Did something happen last night?”
Dylan asked, shuddering slightly as if he had heard something terrible.
“Oh, I heard that Kanna and the boss fell asleep in Aaron’s arms.”
‘For some reason I couldn’t hear Kanna’s snoring…’
Dylan’s face crumpled at Delmuto’s answer.
Even though they are Hana and Kanna, haven’t they crossed the line between themselves and the ten-year-olds?
How could the three of them be together without me? I felt left out. Since Dylan thought of himself as the closest aide to the 10 pups, the feeling of being left out soon turned into a sense of crisis.
“Ah, it’s time.”
Delmuto got up. It was obvious what time it was. The ignorant training of the ten-year-old was over.
Dylan had tried to follow suit a few times before, but he gave up, shaking with fear at his own ignorance.
At that moment, the door opened and Kanna came in with a bright face. Kanna grabbed the big hands of the cub with both of her hands and pulled them towards her, but the cub’s face was more playful than usual.
And even Hannah, who clings to the puppies with a bright smile.
It was similar to usual, but Dylan, who was quick-witted, felt something strangely different.
As he watched them in harmony, he felt a sense of crisis as if his position was becoming narrower. Dylan jumped up from his seat and ran to Aaron.
I was slightly surprised by Kanna’s furrowed eyebrows and Hanna’s glaring eyes, but I couldn’t let that get to me.
Dylan thought he was no slouch when it came to cuteness.
“Father-! Good morning!”
Dylan, who had been speaking cheerfully and holding Aaron’s other arm, was hit hard in the head and passed out.
Delmuto clicked his tongue slightly as he watched Dylan being grabbed by Aaron’s hair and taken to the kitchen.
***
‘What a refreshing start.’
Thanks to hitting the weasel on the head, the day started off quite refreshingly.
I put the weasel I had brought aside and opened the door to the captain’s office. However, an unexpected person greeted me.
“Oh my, it’s Aaron.”
As I opened the door to the captain’s office, Brick’s mother Marsha greeted me brightly.
After that, the captain appeared with his pants on backwards. His face was red, as if he had been running.
It wasn’t an uncommon sight in the Middle Ages, but it wasn’t a pretty sight either.
‘You have no intention of hiding it now, do you?’
I glanced over to the side. There was Brick next to me, his face all wrinkled up.
“No, why is Mom here······.”
Brick muttered in a weak voice.
“I heard you come home late these days? You’re working overtime.”
Masha shot Brick a stern look. Brick gave her a stinging look.
‘I still see married men’s gatherings.’
I’ve heard that married guys like Scar and Corpse get together after work and do something.
They seemed to have some grand excuse, but I heard that most of them just sip beer and play dice.
For a gathering that calls itself the shadow of the Catholic Church, it was surprisingly wholesome.
“Go quickly. Don’t worry the kid. Come visit anytime you want.”
Masha looked at us, smiled softly, and walked away.
“Then let’s see each other later tonight!”
As Masha went out, the captain shouted at the door.
“Captain! Who are you meeting? And why are you meeting at night?”
“Marsha. The love of my life, the flower that has always come to me. Marsha. Oh- Marsha.”
Brick’s expression hardened at the captain’s harsh words.
“Get away from my mother! Not the captain! Absolutely! Not!”
Brick said, rolling up the arms of his coat, revealing sauce-stained leather arm guards beneath.
“Permission? You are Marsha’s son, not her parents.”
The captain answered with an unusually wide eye. It was a correct answer.
“Anyway! The captain is not allowed!”
“Why?”
“The captain is fat, incompetent, ugly… and he’s still the captain!”
The captain’s new form shook at Brick’s response.
‘That makes sense.’
I nodded.
“······There is a reason for everything.”
The captain took on a serious expression. There was a moment of silence as his heavy voice, unbecoming of the man, spoke.
‘Is there a reason why I’m fat, ugly and incompetent?’
What on earth could there be for that to happen?
“Whew- and already your younger sibling···”
The captain, whose mouth had twitched for a moment, smiled, pushing back his thin hair.
“Little brother? I have a little brother···.”
Brick, who had been mumbling for a while, trailed off.
“Oh, I guess there was a room for the captain.”
Brick, who had been frowning and thinking, ran towards the captain as soon as he heard Kel’s admiration.
“That bastard touched my mom?!”
“Son! Calm down! Son!”
“What about my son! You crazy chief! How dare you attack our mother!”
The two were instantly entangled. Brick swung his fist, but the captain escaped surprisingly easily.
“What does age have to do with love! Marsha is a woman too! Does loneliness go away just because you get older?! All you have to do is live by asking questions!”
The captain shouted. Brick, who had been getting angry, stopped.
“I know what you think of me! When I was young, I used to have five women by my side…”
“What, five?! Where did this ugly captain lie… No, if he’s not lying, that’s even more of a problem!”
The captain revealed a past history that didn’t need to be included, and the two became entangled again.
There is a saying that rich people grow by fighting, so I watched it for a while.
“Would you like to bet? The Captain will become Brick’s father.”
Kel asked with shining eyes.
“Okay, I’ll give you one silver for that.”
“I was thinking of doing it too, but···.”
“If you tease me, I’ll encourage you.”
“Okay. How can you bet on your colleague’s heartbreaking family history?”
I clicked my tongue at the sight of Kel wiping his eyes, and at the right time, I took the captain and Brick away.
For some reason, it was Kel, smiling brightly, who broke the subtle silence that continued for a moment.
“Brick, I heard Charlotte is pregnant too. If Martha and Charlotte both have babies at the same time, the bond between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will be so strong.”
Brick rushed at Kel’s words again.
The relationship between the rich and the poor has become stronger.
“Boss, do you want to make a bet to see who will have the baby first, Marsha or Charlotte?”
I clicked my tongue as I watched Kel take out the silver coin.
Of course it was Marsha.
***
Brick stayed in the captain’s office, saying he had more to say, and I left headquarters with Kel.
A cool breeze blew through the armor. Perhaps because it was a dwarf-made garment, the ventilation was very good.
“But, Captain, your complexion doesn’t look good?”
Kel, who had a bruise on one eye from being hit by Brick, asked.
“Oh, because of debt.”
“Debt? What kind of crazy person lends money to a manager?”
Kel asked back as if he had heard a really strange story. His expression was filled with sincerity, and he was dumbfounded.
“What about me? I always pay back what I borrow.”
“My two rose umbrellas and my boots······.”
“I paid it back.”
“Yes? When did the captain pay you back?”
Then I tapped the guy’s chest plate. The dull sound made Kel look delicate for a moment. Adding a few of the guy’s rose umbrellas would surely be cheaper than that chest plate.
“Chief, do you know that? When I was young, my father······.”
Kel, who had been catching his breath for a moment, asked with a serious face.
“I don’t know, kid. I’m just going to pay off a debt.”
I waved my hand roughly and headed toward the synagogue. Behind me, Kel shouted something as if he was being unfair, but I couldn’t hear him well, perhaps because I hadn’t slept.
As usual, monks were busy walking around the synagogue. They passed by with resigned faces, muttering prayers.
Looking at him reminded me of the story of monks going out and keeping a close eye on the residents.
‘Is this the right religion?’
