Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 267: The Future Lies in Our Hands
Victor told me to set him free. Karin told me not to impose ideals. Am I really binding Leonard so much? Blocking out the inner voice, Keith forced a awkward smile and laughed it off.
“Hahaha, what are you saying? There’s no one more worthy of being called a hero than Leonard-sama.”
“…Crybaby Leechan.”
“Huh?”
Keith couldn’t help but make a strange sound at the peculiar word that came out of Karin’s mouth.
“It seems that my elder brother was called that when he was a child.”
Karin continued, with a preface that she had heard the story from her parents and veteran servants while they were still alive.
“He would cry when barked at by dogs, cry when bullied by girls of the same age. He was such a child. My parents were quite worried about what would become of the Kruger family with such an heir.”
As Lutz seemed to want to say, “So that’s why you were born,” Claudia lightly nudged Lutz’s side with her elbow. Disaster was averted.
“But that’s a story from his childhood, isn’t it?”
Keith asked, bewildered, but Karin quietly shook her head.
“A person’s essence doesn’t change so easily. You can’t imagine it, just admiring him. Like the sight of my elder brother, always drinking alone and sobbing when he returns home.”
“What is there to cry about? Achieving numerous military exploits on the battlefield, saving the country and being hailed as a hero, having a knight order established for Leonard-sama, receiving an honored sword from His Majesty the King. What is there to be dissatisfied with?”
Karin glared sharply at Keith, who looked genuinely unable to understand. Her eyes were mixed with anger and hatred.
“Do you think Nii-sama would be unfazed using a man who was raised like a brother and his allied soldiers as decoys in battle?”
“But that’s unavoidable for annihilating the enemy…”
“Unavoidable… If only people’s hearts could be so easily resigned with such words.”
“You don’t understand anything,” Karin’s eyes were saying. Feeling the pain of being seen like that, Keith instinctively looked away.
“Nii-sama was not a brave knight, nor did he like war. He fought desperately not because he wanted to, but because if left alone, more sacrifices would have been made. Yet you all…”
Karin stood up and approached Keith. Then suddenly, she reached out her hand. Her delicate and dainty fingertips grabbed Keith’s crotch.
“Ow!”
Keith writhed in agony as Karin glared at him.
“What are you all? You say you can’t stand it without Leonard-sama, or that you can’t fight without a memento. Won’t you stand on your own legs, fight with your own strength, like my elder brother you admired?”
Keith tried to wriggle away, but every time he did, his movements were sealed by the strong grip on his testicles. If he were to push Karin away, the treasure might just come off.
“What are your balls for!?”
“F-For the prosperity of our descendants!”
“Is there no love or courage in them!?”
“It’s not a bag to put those things in!”
“Then do it from today!”
Karin relentlessly tormented Keith mentally and physically. There was a sadness in her that if she were a man, she could have gone to the battlefield and shared her brother’s suffering.
“Th-The words you speak!”
Keith, who was half driven to despair, shouted. In various ways, he seemed to be slightly excited.
“Killing each other is ridiculously scary! It’s not something decent humans do! Whether the opponent is human or monster!”
While looking like he was about to burst into tears at any moment, Keith continued.
“I want to fight under someone I can trust, and if that’s not possible, I want something that can give me courage. Is it strange to wish for that!?”
“Then you should pray to God!”
“There was no God on the battlefield!”
The room fell silent. In an era where everything in life revolved around God’s teachings, it was a major problem for even a nobleman, albeit a commoner, to deny God.
It was a slip of the tongue, Keith murmured awkwardly, realizing he had to say this.
“…We only have Leonard-sama.”
They couldn’t become understanding companions for Leonard. They just projected ideals and relied on him. Nevertheless, it was a fact that they admired Leonard. With that in mind, the hostility disappeared from Karin’s eyes, and she released her grip on Keith’s crotch and stepped back.
Seeing Leonard’s image in Karin’s gentle yet lonely smile, Keith felt a tightening sensation in his chest.
“Keith, I’m going to renounce the title of the Kruger Baron.”
At Karin’s sudden confession, Keith’s mind went blank for a moment.
“Why would you say such a thing? Isn’t it the most important duty of nobility to leave behind a name, a family, and bloodline? Are you saying so easily that you’ll destroy the family left by Leonard-sama!?”
“What use is there in preserving a family that has lost its leader? The Kruger name should have been renounced the moment we lost our land. If my brother hadn’t been born into a noble family, he wouldn’t have had to suffer. He could have remained a good father, a good husband, gentle yet resolute when needed…”
“Karin-sama…”
“I hate this country that took my brother away from me. At the same time, I can’t resent the country my brother protected with his life.”
Karin returned to her seat and showed them the parchment she had been writing on.
“I was also writing a request for the renunciation of the title.”
Keith could only shake his head in confusion, unable to keep up with understanding whether he was listening or not. Karin then turned to Lutz and the others.
“I apologize for dragging you all into this mess.”
“No, we’re the ones who should apologize for making such a bold request.”
“Although it’s not much of an apology, you should stay at the mansion tonight. Let me prepare rooms for you.”
Without waiting for a response, Karin rang a handbell and immediately gave instructions to the butler who had quickly arrived from the adjacent room. Without any particular reason to refuse, Lutz and the others followed the butler’s guidance upstairs.
While this exchange was taking place, Keith, with a pale face, stared silently at his feet.
“I want proof that Leonard-sama was alive, not proof that he’s gone…”
Leonard’s sword, the Thirteenth Knight Order, the Kruger family – everything related to Leonard was disappearing one after another.
Keith had no power to stop it.
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