The Hero’s Brother Is Bound To Be Depressed

61 – Because the truth always comes out

As Lawton paced the house nervously, he heard a knock in his ears.

Smart-

Let’s open the door right away. An old friend Lawton has been waiting for so long, and the only remaining friend, the green mage master. Tarantra greeted me with a bright smile.

“I was surprised that you contacted me first.”

As Tarantra sat down on the sofa, Lawton, who was frantically dropping items from the table to the floor, brought a squirrel figurine.

As Lawton placed the squirrel statue on the table, Tarantra looked at Lawton with a puzzled expression.

“I found it… ! I finally found a cure for stone thorn disease!”

Tarantra asked with surprised eyes at Lawton’s cry.

“What… ?”

“Look.”

As Lawton sprayed the medicine he took out from his chest on the squirrel statue on the table, the statue cracked and the squirrel, which had turned to stone, draped over the table.

“Jung, really. Are you alive?”

Tarantra asked at the appearance of the squirrel that seemed to move at any moment.

“No, unfortunately. If the petrification has fully progressed, it is already dead, so that is impossible.”

After saying that, Lawton removed the squirrel’s carcass and this time brought back a live squirrel chained to a vine.

“Let me tell you why this cure is great.”

Lawton poked a live squirrel with a thorn from a platinum flower while wearing protective gloves.

As the little arm pricked by the thorn turned into a stone statue, Lawton again sprayed the cure on the little arm that was turning to stone.

Then, the arm, which had been petrified, became clean again as if it had never happened.

“If you spray a cure while the petrification is in progress, it will not only stop the petrification. You will even have immunity.”

Lawton stabbed the squirrel with a thorn again, but the squirrel only suffered but did not petrify.

“You really made a cure…. Great, Lawton. You did really well.”

At Tarantra’s words, Lawton sat down on his sofa as his legs gave out.

“… 53 Years and 4 months and 11 days.”

“What… ?”

To Tarantra’s cautious question, Lawton answered with a wry smile.

“The time I lost Rael and started researching.”

Lawton couldn’t hold back tears of joy.

Every day, I made a promise to Rael that I couldn’t keep that I would find a cure tomorrow.

Failed and frustrated countless times. Promised tomorrow.

And in the end, after 53 years, 4 months and 11 days of hard work, I was finally able to keep my promise.

“Finally… You kept your promise.”

Tarantra got up from the couch and hugged the tearful Lawton.

“It was a lot of hard work. Keeping her promise to Rael, she devoted her whole life to research…. I was counting on you to find a cure.”

Lorton sobbed like a child despite having lived for decades at the words of Tarantra.

He had long since lost hope of finding a cure while he was still alive.

Because it was just research that became the goal of my life, I had no choice but to keep challenging myself.

Repentance, frustration, sense of defeat, loneliness, etc. The feelings that had hardened in Lawton’s heart for decades and left deep scars like thorns flowed away in tears as he felt happy that he had kept his promise to Rael.

Because of that, what kind of expression is Tarantra making as she looks down at herself in tears.

Lawton didn’t know.

***

The weekend came, and I went straight to Modest.

“Is the report ready?”

I was hoping for information that would surprise Lawton when he said it promised to be a huge amount of information.

The woman wearing the cat mask put a report on the table.

As I reached out to pick it up, the woman held out her hand to stop me.

“Wait a minute.”

The woman who brought out another report added her words.

“This is a report of further investigation. It was a very hard investigation.”

“Really?”

“To see this report, you need to sell one more piece of information to get the price right.”

I was a little surprised by the woman’s words. Investigating Lawton’s surroundings is such an expensive price.

“You’re not overcharging, are you?”

“No way. Our Modest won’t do that to our customers, especially to ‘Lily’.”

Let’s say it suspiciously, and as if waiting for that to happen, the woman held out a piece of paper comparing the contents of the investigation and the value of the information about Fenrir.

As expected, I read the paper slowly, thinking that I was a merchant of useful information.

Reading the paper, I noticed a strange point in the investigation.

“Why did Lawton’s lover’s investigation cost so much money?”

“Because he was a person from about 50 years ago, there are few records, and he is the most important person in this report. I had to pay a high price to other information guilds.”

At the woman’s words, I felt strangely uneasy for some reason.

“Okay, with that being said, I can’t not sell information.”

As I was about to share the information I had prepared in advance about nobles following the order, a woman suddenly asked.

“Can we say what we want again? Oh, of course I will give you a generous price.”

I didn’t know what Modest would ask for, so I nodded in wonder.

If I listened to it and it was against me, I could just refuse it.

I decided to take this opportunity to see what Modist thinks of me and accept it.

“Okay, tell me.”

“How much do you know about Rosalyn, the 2nd year pension department head at Transcendence Academy?”

Confused by the woman’s question without context, she staggered greatly.

Could it be that someone made a request for Rosalyn? Rosalyn was an important help to Roel in her future. If anyone was targeting Rosalyn, she had to stop it.

“Well, why are you asking?”

When I asked in a wary voice, the woman answered urgently as if making excuses.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. A request simply came in from one of Rosalyn’s friends to investigate whether it would be okay to be her friend.”

Fortunately, it was different from what I expected, so I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Chief of the Pensions Department, Rosalind knows that well.”

It’s a character I set up and an important character. Even detailed settings such as Rosalyn’s likes and dislikes and her habits were written in the setting book, so I couldn’t forget even the smallest things.

“Really… ?”

I answered with a snort at the woman’s behavior when she asked in a suspicious voice.

“Yes, what Rosalyn likes. Don’t worry, I know what she hates, even her little habits.”

Since I have a collection of settings, my voice is full of confidence.

“Then do you know what your favorite food is?”

“Spicy. Especially, I like spicy lobster.”

If it was a test, the woman nodded and asked straight away.

“What else?”

“I like fruits too. I like things sour, so I often eat candy that tastes like lemon or orange.”

After that, the woman asked me trivial things about Rosalyn.

I didn’t ask anything about Rosalyn’s genius of alchemy, whether she was really researching to see if Rosalyn was someone worth making as her friend.

In that respect, I was able to clear up my last little doubt.

“… I guess this is enough.”

“Really?”

I was rather surprised by the fewer questions than I expected. I didn’t think this would be worth more than Fenrir. It must have been true that she paid generously.

“Yes. I know enough about this.”

I think he said something meaningful, but I didn’t understand what he meant. Fortunately, I was wearing a mask, so my stupid expression was not revealed.

“Here is the report you purchased.”

I checked the reports with great anticipation at the two reports the woman held out on the table.

After checking the report several times for a long time, I asked with a trembling voice.

“This, this report is true… ?”

“… Yes. I cross-validated it time and time again, and found someone who was still alive to check it out.”

As the woman kindly pointed her finger at the statement written in the report, I almost forgot that I was wearing a mask, and inadvertently wiped her face and almost dropped the mask.

“I see…” .”

Bewildered, confused. Those emotions filled my head without a break. It felt as if someone had hit the back of the head with a hammer from an unexpected place.

“… Great job.”

With that said, I took the report and left Modist.

After making sure that no one was following me, I went into an unoccupied alley and put the report, mask, and cloak into the space storage.

I leaned my back against the wall, gazing up at the overcast sky that seemed like it would rain at any moment, like my mind was filled with confusion.

Should I tell Lawton the ugly truth? There is an old saying that not knowing is medicine.

My steps didn’t fall easily as I was worried about whether it was right to be fooling around.

If I had been Lawton, would I have thanked you for telling me this?

I looked up at the fast-flowing dark clouds and pondered for a long time, but in the end I couldn’t find an answer.

I figured I’d finally meet Lawton and decide what to do.

Even if he decided to tell the truth now, his mouth might not fall apart when he saw Lawton’s face.

I borrowed a horse and headed to Turning Village with a heavy heart.