[V8C18] Struggles of a Man With an Accident-Prone Little Brother
Translated by Jodas 8: The Witch of the BoundaryFrederik encountered that Arachne when he was on patrol alongside Oliver and their father.
The Arachne was terrifyingly powerful, and even his father, the strongest in the Lange Hamlet, couldn’t stand a chance against it.
“…I was caught right off the bat, and my father tried to save me… Oliver, meanwhile, screamed and ran away immediately.”
Just remembering it made his stomach churn.
Frederik held his mouth and waited for the nausea to settle.
He could still see a glimpse of that fresh blood and his father’s desiccated corpse in the back of his mind. The choking stench of blood still lingered in the back of his throat.
Frederik was neither angry nor resentful that Oliver ran away on that day. If anything, he thought it was the right decision.
Even their father didn’t stand a chance. There was nothing that young Oliver could have ever hoped to accomplish.
The biggest fool was the one who got caught in the spider’s web right of the bat: himself.
“…At that point, Oliver still had his fear. He felt the proper fear for that situation.”
Oliver changed after that incident.
But Frederik did not notice Oliver’s change immediately. He couldn’t have.
“When our father died, I was not in the best condition… And for a while, I was cut off from everyone else. It was only after some time had passed that I was able to meet Oliver again, and he was acting strangely…”
“Strangely?”
“He wasn’t just pretending. It was like he actually lacked fear… Like Oliver is to this day.”
Originally, Oliver was just a coward who put on a false front. No matter how much he acted brave, his legs and voice would always be shaking.
Yet, when Frederik met his brother for the first time in a while, it felt as if something critical to him as a person was missing.
It was uncomfortable to look at him, as if he was a different creature entirely, yet it was unmistakably Oliver. Frederik felt like he was going insane.
“All the adults around us said ‘He’s been acting like that because he feels guilty over his father’s death,’ but… I thought that couldn’t be it. That Arachne must have eaten Oliver’s fear.”
The moment Frederik realized that Arachnes like that one were the only Monsters capable of such a thing, Frederik was struck with a palpable terror.
For someone to have only part of his emotions eaten but left alive, what would you call that except being ‘marked’?
If the others of the Lange Family found out, then Oliver would be thrown to the Monsters as bait.
(That’s why I can’t let it slip to the other adults that Oliver has been marked.)
That Arachne was a strong Monster, so leaving the Crystal Territory would be a potentially suicidal maneuver for it. It should not approach the Lange Hamlet with much frequency.
That said, he never knew when the next time might be. This attack going on right now only amplified those concerns.
To be honest, Frederik had a hard time staying calm.
(The next time it comes, it’ll do the same thing again. It’ll eat Oliver whole right before my eyes.)
He had to kill it before that happened. He had to kill the Arachne.
“Frederik, you…”
A voice came from right beside him.
This girl’s voice had an unusual property. Even when his mind was all jumbled up and clouded, her voice could just slide right in.
She neither pitied him nor tried to comfort him. With the simplicity to just say what was on her mind as she thought it, Tia spoke.
“You’ve been fighting to protect Oliver, huh?”
Frederik laughed bitterly.
Had anyone other than Tia said that, he surely would have made a disgusted face and denied it immediately.
“…I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I’m not doing this because my little brother is precious to me or cute or whatever. We kinda got along back when we were kids, but now…”
Frederik cut himself off and thought back to things his brother had said and done.
—Brother! Have you been getting enough sleep!? Lavender is key to a good night’s rest! You should try a body pillow too, Brother!
It gave him a headache.
“…Knowing nothing of my struggles, that shitty little brother of mine constantly bugs me about ‘improving lifestyle habits’ or ‘proper sleep time’ or whatever. I always think ‘I can’t get a good night’s rest until I do something about the Monsters! You should just go home, you good-for-nothing trash!’”
“Pirorororo…”
Tia formed a diamond shape with her mouth and made that strange noise. It seemed that he must have been making an unsettling expression.
‘Ah, crap, crap.’ Frederik massaged his face.
“But it wouldn’t make me feel good to see Oliver get killed like this… I don’t want a repeat of the time that our father died. That’s all.”
To put it bluntly, it boiled down to ‘Don’t give me any more trauma than I already have!’ It was to that end that Frederik was desperately battling day in and day out.
Truthfully, he wanted to run away. Just as Oliver made the right choice to run as far away as he could on that day he was marked.
But the people of the Lange Family, the Monster Hunters, could not cross the Wall. They would not be allowed to escape the Monsters.
“Frederik, don’t you think that Oliver might be safer in the Wedge Tower then?”
“I have thought about that, but… After losing his sense of fear, Oliver is truly terrifying. He would charge straight at Monsters as if it were nothing, and I just know that the moment he joins the Extermination Office, he’s going to get himself killed. He’s weak, after all.”
While the Langes were a family of Monster Hunters, that didn’t mean they proactively went out to take down Monsters. Their primary responsibility was protecting human settlements. Aside from that one instance with the Arachne, it was rare for strong Monsters to make an appearance.
On the other hand, the Wedge Tower specialized in going on expeditions to take down Monsters. Unlike the defensive missions around the Lange Hamlet, the Extermination Office faced far greater dangers on its expeditions.
If you’re worried about the dangers posed y Monsters, then being in the Lange Hamlet was the preferable option.
But if you take into account the danger of being discovered as ‘marked,’ then the Wedge Tower was a better choice.
Whichever one he chose, there was cause for concern.
With that in mind, Frederik arrived at the following conclusion:
“If he’s in danger either way, then it would be better if I went to the more dangerous place while Oliver stayed back in the Hamlet where it was relatively safer. Besides, if I’m in the same place as Oliver, I might very well die from the stress.”
“Pefuu… Was that last part the important part?”
“Yeah. That’s why it really pissed me off when Oliver came to the Wedge Tower.”
Pissed off enough that his first reaction was to chuck a spear at him.
‘I’ve been running around all this time so you don’t die, so just be a good kid and go home already!’ — At the time, Frederik had been extremely furious at him.
And to be honest, there were plenty more complaints he had to make about Oliver.
But before Frederik could put those to words, he heard a voice calling from the hallway.
“Master! Master Frederik! The Monsters are on the move again!”
Frederik quickly stood up and grabbed his spear. Then he looked down at Tia.
…Truthfully, he didn’t want to get the Apprentices involved. But the situation being what it was, they were just too shorthanded. Enough to welcome the help of even an Apprentice.
“I’m sorry. We’re pretty shorthanded right now, so we might need your support.”
“Piyopp! Leave it to me! I’m doing great!”
Even though she’d been missing until just recently, she was always a reliable junior.
‘Instead of flying around in an emergency with Tia, I really just want to take a gentle stroll through the sky with her.’ Frederik thought.
Waddling behind Frederik, Tia thought for herself.
The older brother had the seeds of fear planted within him, while the younger brother had his fear eaten. The older brother was running around trying to keep his brother away from danger, while the younger brother was trying his hardest to be useful to his brother.
According to Frederik, Oliver had his fear eaten by a spider Monster.
That appeared to be the doing of the Monster who ate Frederik’s father.
(Something feels… strange.)
Tia usually didn’t let it show, but she had the distinctive ruthlessness of a Monster inside her.
So she knew.
The Arachne who ate Frederik’s father was a ruthless Monster with a persistent obsession for humans. Seeing the state that Frederik was in — Seeing his malnourished body, unable to eat or sleep properly — Tia could imagine that being the result.
The Arachne was ruthless. She was knowledgeable in how to make humans suffer. Why would such a Monster leave Oliver alone like that for such a long time? How could she be satisfied only eating his fear?
In the first place, Frederik never witnessed ‘the moment that Oliver’s feelings of fear were eaten.’
(Could it be…)