“You won’t have to deal with it too much longer, Master Caim.”
“I’m fine. It hurts a bit, but I can put up with it.”
“Just a little longer and I’ll have saved enough money. Then you won’t have to stay in a place like this...” Tea added in a whisper.
Caim, however, didn’t catch what she said, as his face was still buried in between her large breasts, so he could only make a questioning expression. When Tea finally finished treating his wound, she released his head and he could at last breathe freely.
“By the way, why did you come here today?” Caim quickly asked to hide his embarrassment. Tea came at least once a week to see him, so the question was truly only to gloss over his bashfulness. He didn’t expect her to have any special business.
“Grrraaaw... I almost forgot.” After putting away the supplies she’d used to treat Caim, though, Tea blinked a few times as she recalled something. It seemed she did have a specific reason to visit today. “Well...the master ordered me to bring you to the mansion...”
“Father did...? It’s rare for him to have any business with me.”
“It’s almost the anniversary of the mistress’s death, so he wants you to come before that.”
“I see,” Caim said in realization, his expression darkening.
The anniversary of his mother’s death was a week away, so his father wanted him to return home to pray for her. As for why it needed to be before and not on the day itself...well, that was because his father didn’t want to see his cursed son on the day his beloved wife had died. It was heartless and selfish of him, but at least that way he fulfilled what little obligation he had toward his son while still showing his love to his wife.
“Fine, I’ll return to the mansion.”
“I know I shouldn’t be saying this since I’m the one who’s supposed to bring you there, but...I know everyone there really hates you. You don’t have to force yourself to go if you don’t want to.”
“It’s okay. I want to mourn for Mother, and was even planning to pray in front of the gate if I wasn’t permitted to return, so this just saves me the trouble,” Caim said with a sad smile.
Caim had made his decision. He would return to the mansion he had resided in until a year ago—to the Halsberg’s home, where his twin sister and his father, the Master Pugilist, lived.
〇 〇 〇
The head of the Halsberg’s county was a renowned former adventurer who had defeated many monsters and bandits. However, thirteen years ago, he had been granted a peerage as a count and the territory that came with it as a reward for eliminating the Poison Queen. The established nobles weren’t happy that a mere adventurer had joined their ranks, but as Kevin was extolled as the Master Pugilist—the strongest man in the kingdom—no one was openly antagonistic to him. Gathering retainers using the connections he’d forged during his adventuring days, Count Kevin Halsberg governed his domain peacefully and earned the love of his people.
“Back when I was driven out, I never thought I’d return...” Caim, the lord’s son, grimaced as he looked at the home he hadn’t seen in a year. While the mansion held precious memories of his mother, it was also packed with painful ones. If possible, Caim would have preferred never to return there at all.
“Master Caim...are you all right?” Tea asked, sounding concerned.
“Yeah, don’t worry.” Caim shot her a feeble smile and walked through the mansion’s gate.
As they made their way inside, they passed by the gardeners and the soldiers in charge of security. However, none of them greeted Caim. In fact, they averted their eyes as if they didn’t want to look at something so filthy.
“They’re so rude!”
“Leave them be. I don’t care.”
Caim was used to people acting like that. The only ones who had ever treated him normally were his mother and Tea—and in a way, the fact that the soldiers and staff didn’t throw stones at him made them better than the villagers.
As Caim and Tea neared the mansion, they noticed two people moving around in the garden—Kevin Halsberg, the master of the residence, and Arnette Halsberg, Caim’s twin sister.
“Well then—today I’m gonna instruct you in the Toukishin Style too!”
“Yes, Father!”
Dressed in clothes that allowed for easy movement, the pair were practicing hand-to-hand combat.
“First, let’s review a little. The Toukishin Style—or the Fierce Fighting God Style—is a martial art that focuses on covering your body with mana. Not a sword or a spear, mind you—only your body. Using your mana to reinforce yourself is a standard technique in basically every martial art, but the Toukishin Style goes even further!”
The large red-haired man—Kevin—took a sharp breath, and the next instant his body was completely surrounded by the aura of his mana, which gushed out of him like steam. Little by little, the volume of it shrank down to an unusually small size. However, that wasn’t because Kevin had reduced the amount of mana he was releasing but because he had compressed it to make it more dense.
“By condensing the mana enshrouding your body to its limit, it becomes as hard as steel. This technique is called Mana Compression, and if you master it, even a dragon’s scales can’t outmatch it. And of course, it also raises the power of your fists!”
Kevin punched a human-sized rock in the garden, his mana-clad fist pulverizing it in a single strike. He hadn’t been nicknamed the Master Pugilist for nothing.
“You just saw how strong Mana Compression can be, but not being able to use it on weapons will be a disadvantage at first. After all, no matter how talented you are, it takes at least five years to learn how to use this technique easily. But once you’ve mastered it, you’ll never require a weapon again—and you can use it whenever you need. Plus, you won’t have to carry any additional weight. You can obviously run faster if you’re not wearing heavy armor, right?”
“I see... I expected no less from you, Father! Do you think I will ever be as strong as you are?”
“Of course! You’re my daughter, after all—I’m sure in ten years or so you’ll be a first-class martial artist. And to make sure that happens, we’re gonna train hard today too!”
“Yes! I shall do my best!”
Caim’s expression darkened as he watched the father and daughter pair practicing harmoniously.
“It looks like they’re still training, so should we go inside the manor first?” Tea asked him.
“No...I want to watch.” Caim refused Tea’s kind proposal, instead staring at his twin sister.
Arnette... My little sister, my other half...
When he looked at her, Caim couldn’t help but feel empty. They had been born on the same day and of the same mother, but their relationship was far from close. In fact, it was terrible...or rather, it was on Arnette’s side. She hated Caim because their mother, Sasha, had been very protective of him due to his curse and had always stayed by his side to take care of him. That had made Arnette despise her brother for monopolizing their mother’s attention, and her hatred had only worsened after Sasha’s death.
“Well then, let’s start. Try to condense the mana around your body as much as possible, and it’s fine to go slow,” Kevin said.
“Yes!” Arnette replied enthusiastically.
Caim watched them in silence. Just as his sister hated him for monopolizing their mother, he in turn envied how she could monopolize their father. He couldn’t help but be jealous of her for not being cursed, as that meant she could learn martial arts from her loving father.
It feels like they’re doing this on purpose to upset me. After all, there’s no way they haven’t spotted me here... If you’re going to ignore me, then just don’t ask me to come.
“Good! Next, I’ll teach you the basic techniques. First...Kirin!”
“Yes! Am I doing it right, Father?!”
The father proudly demonstrated the move, and the daughter tried to replicate it. And all the while, Caim—feeling increasingly alienated—watched them from afar, focusing on their training until the very end, as if averting his eyes even for a moment would be a terrible loss for him.
Once done with their practice, Kevin and Arnette went back to their rooms to clean up, so Caim used the opportunity to go pray for his mother.
“I’m back, Mother.”
An altar had been set up in Sasha’s former bedroom, decorated with flowers and featuring a portrait of her atop it. Caim knelt in front of the altar and offered a prayer to the only member of his family who had ever loved him.