The Hero’s Brother Is Bound To Be Depressed

84 – Greed

There is a lion idiom called Jeolgujeolguk (竊鉤竊國).

It meant that a petty thief who stole a hook would be beheaded, but a thief who stole the country would enjoy wealth and prestige.

What I did in the survival test went beyond everyone’s expectations to the point of ending the test early.

As Roel feared, if I had used a sneaky method called space magic to get points by teasing other people’s backs, I would have been criticized for being cowardly. , It was changed to ‘dangerous guy’.

Even my roommates, who treated me as someone who didn’t have me, would sneak out of the room when they saw me, or if they were alone in the room with me.

It wasn’t my intention, but it was better than being cursed at, so I didn’t intend to clear up the misunderstanding.

Because the survival test ended prematurely, the 1st year combat team took a break until all tests were over.

And Friday evening after the exams for all grades. A huge banquet was held at the academy to celebrate the end of the exam.

Lakar and I arrived at the banquet hall in advance and set up seats for the members to sit down.

In fact, rather than having reserved a seat, there were no people around us who wanted to sit down, so the seats for the members naturally remained.

As more and more people start to take their seats at the long table in the banquet hall, Kane looks a bit tired, and Aria, who always looks lively on the contrary, and I don’t know why, but… A troubled-looking Luna joined our table.

“Ross, Lakar. You said you were 1st or 2nd? Rumor has it that you guys are amazing?”

As soon as we met, Kane added her words as if sympathizing with Aria, who made a fuss about her.

“I heard that too. The exam ended early because of two madmen who appeared in the battle department.”

From Kane’s mischievous smile, I knew that rumors about me and Lacar had spread throughout the academy.

“I’m the head of the Messiah Club, so I should do this.”

I shrugged my shoulders, threw a joke, and everyone giggled.

Aria asked abruptly as they were transferring the colorful dishes on the table to their respective bowls.

“Then it is certain that the two will go to a duel, and what about the rest? This time, I also placed 4th in the Ministry of Magic and went to a duel.”

As Arya turned her head away from her turkey leg to look at Kane and Luna, she cowered her whole body like a small animal.

“I… I didn’t get a good grade on the exam.”

Aria hurriedly offered words of consolation with a puzzled look at Luna’s gloomy voice.

“Mi-sorry! Everyone, I will get good grades next time!”

Luna shook her head with a bitter smile at Aria’s gibberish.

“It’s okay. Because my efforts weren’t enough. Congratulations on your 4th place.”

Arya quickly laughed at Luna’s words.

“Unfortunately, I’m in 5th place, so I won’t go to the duel.”

Aria narrowed her eyes and glared at Kane as if in doubt.

“You didn’t drop out on purpose just because you were annoying, did you?”

Judging by the large up and down movement of the fork holding the cake, Arya seems to have hit her head.

“What, what are you talking about? I am not that kind of person.”

Aria brought her face closer to Kane who was muttering while avoiding her gaze.

“But why does it damage my eyes? Like someone who gets stabbed~?”

“I avoid them because they are ugly.”

“What?!”

As always, she turned her gaze away from the two bickering and looked at Luna, who kept her mouth shut in silence.

As soon as she met her gaze, her worry disappeared as she saw Luna smiling as usual.

As I traded my plate of her cut steak for Luna’s empty plate, she squinted one eye and Luna gave a small thank you.

“It was a lot of hard work. Luna.”

“Yes. Ross also had a hard time taking the test. I’ve heard rumors too. She said she did a tremendous job on the exam….”

As her eyes lit up as if she was curious about her Luna, Aria, who was pinching her carne, turned her head and asked.

“Right! How did you do it? Even if I asked, no one could explain it properly.”

Everyone seemed curious, so I briefly explained what I had done in the test.

Wow, oh, great. Arya, who exclaimed admiration, looked at me as if she was amazing, her whole body trembling as soon as the explanation was finished.

Kane listened to her explanation with her crazy eyes, and at the end she gave a sneaky thumbs up.

“Great Ross. Even the professors would be surprised.”

When I was feeling a deep sense of happiness from seeing Luna praising me with a pretty smile, Nelson appeared at the banquet hall.

“You can listen while eating. I know how annoying it can be when you’re eating something delicious and your flow is interrupted.”

Laughter was heard from all over the table at Nelson’s joke.

“As of today, all the grade tests are over. Everyone has been through a lot. Did you have any good memories from this exam? Our professors and teaching assistants worked hard to score, and now we are able to announce the top and bottom ranks for each department by year.”

At Nelson’s words, Arya, who was tearing off a new turkey leg, stopped her hand and looked expectantly.

As Nelson swung his wand, the fire that spewed from the tip of the wand turned into writing in the air.

Arya, discovering my name among countless names, let out a roar of joy and tapped my forearm.

As expected, Lakar and I became the chief and second in the combat department. If you become the top of each department, you will receive something like a wish ticket as a reward.

When Roel was in first grade. She became the chief of the combat department and the first year, so the wish ticket increased by one more, and I used that one for my special admission.

I had already decided where to use it before the exam.

As I was being congratulated by the members for becoming the head of the Combat Division, I heard someone shouting my name from afar.

“Ross!!! Congratulations to the head of the combat department!!!”

I covered my face at Roel’s loud voice that echoed through the banquet hall.

Please, don’t sing in a loud voice in front of others… !!!

As I turned away from Roel, who was waving at me and shouting, as if I was someone I didn’t know, I hurriedly got up from my seat with my face flushed red with embarrassment at Roel’s act of calling my name out loud again, as if he thought I hadn’t heard.

When he waved his hand to Roel, who was waving brightly and smiling without knowing the speed of others, asking him to stop and sit down.

Suddenly, someone started applauding, and the Combat Team students sitting around me started clapping.

“Congratulations, chief!”

“Congratulations!”

“The test was great!”

Claps and whistles. Embarrassed by the unexpected celebration, I thanked the people around me with a bewildered expression and sat back down.

“I guess everyone recognizes you!”

“I have no choice but to admit it! You did that crazy thing!”

Aria’s words, Kane added with a giggle.

“Right. The manager was really great.”

She put her hand on her shoulder, smiled at Lakar’s nod of approval, and turned her head to Luna.

When I looked at Luna with a puzzled expression on her lips with a melancholy look for some reason, I felt strange and scratched the back of her head as Luna looked at me again with a bright expression.

Is something going on… ?

It looked like he was worried, but I don’t think it’s something he can tell me about.

“Now, everyone, please concentrate. It is about the duel tomorrow.”

At Nelson’s words, the murmur died down in an instant.

“The academy will be fully open over the weekend. Many people are planning to visit Transcendence Academy to watch ‘The Duel’. The Capital Guard and Imperial Knights will be stationed at the academy to ensure the smooth running of the event. Shops in the capital and other cities will open temporary stores over the weekend, in classrooms, vacant lots and more. You can taste a variety of foods over the weekend.”

Clap clap clap—

At Nelson’s words, applause echoed throughout the banquet hall. In particular, Aria clapped hard like a seal at her words of various foods.

“However, more important than the event is your safety. If you see that one of the guests of the academy poses a threat to a student or approaches a student for an impure purpose, be sure to seek help from a nearby knight, professor, or teaching assistant.”

Fortunately, nothing special happens in this duel. The church and the demon king were busy looking for the whereabouts of the hidden saintess.

“I will announce the participants of the duel.”

As Nelson swung his wand once again, new names came to mind.

A total of 16 students per grade.

If you were aiming for the top spot in your grade, you had to play four matches over the weekend.

“For the contestants who must have had a hard time taking the exam for 3 days. The fairy bath on the 5th floor will be open over the weekend. The imperial family also provided a lot of support to relieve the fatigue of the participants, so I hope that the participants of the duel will definitely use the public bath during the weekend.”

After speaking, Nelson went back to the table where the professors were sitting, and in an instant the banquet hall became noisy. Discussions about tomorrow’s duel were heard from all over the table.

Excluding the participants, the students could bet some amount of money on the duel, so each one seemed to be sharing information.

The one among us who joins the duel is me, lacar and aria. There were 3 people in total.

It would have been nice if everyone had participated, but I felt a bit disappointed.

“A fairy bath! What will happen this time!”

Arya said in a voice full of anticipation, her eyes shining.

The fairy bath was a place that appeared in novels as well. It was a special place to get rid of physical and mental fatigue and quickly restore physical strength and magic.

It’s not a hugely magical space. As Nelson said, the alchemists from the imperial family simply created a huge potion bath using potions.

After the meal, while the people left the banquet hall one by one, we had a good time talking about our backlog.

While each one of them was talking about what happened in the exam, Luna, who was quieter than usual, kept bothering me, so when I finished talking and left the banquet hall.

When Aria told me to go to the fairy bath immediately, I told her to go with Lakar first, and followed Luna.

On the way back to the Faculty of Magic dormitory.

Perhaps it was because he left the banquet hall late, no one was seen passing by.

As we walked along Luna and her path in step, Luna, who had been silent for a long time, opened her mouth.

“Congratulations Ross. You’re the head of the combat department…. You worked really hard.”

I smiled happily at Luna’s words.

“I worked hard to get compliments from my girlfriend.”

Luna smiled happily at my words, then quickly lowered her gaze with a dead expression.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but ask in a puzzled voice.

“Why are you looking so downcast… ?”

“That… Ross worked hard and became the chief. Because I messed up the test….”

Seeing Luna wriggling her fingers with her apologetic expression, I looked around and grabbed Luna’s left hand.

“It’s okay. Because Luna always works hard. You will definitely get good results next time.”

“Yes… I hope so.”

Stop at Luna’s footsteps with a helpless expression despite my consolation, and let’s give strength to her hand as if giving a signal.

As Luna turned her head to look at me with her puzzled expression, I brought her lips closer and touched Luna’s soft cheeks.

Luna’s face, who received her surprise kiss on the cheek, turned red in an instant. Originally, her big eyes widened even more, her lips twitching in embarrassment was so cute that her mouth naturally smiled.

“It’s okay if Luna finishes last in her exams.”

Luna pursed her lips at my words, and she burrowed into my arms, buried her face in her chest, and asked in a low voice.

“Why… ?”

“Because you are pretty, cute, and I love you very much?”

She hugged Luna tightly in her arms and whispered playfully, and suddenly she felt Luna’s shoulders tremble.

“Luna… ?”

She looked up just in case, and for some reason Luna was hugging me and shedding tears.

I was taken aback by Luna’s sudden tears and my mind went blank.

Seeing Luna sobbing and shedding tears as if to relieve her sadness, I quickly thought of what had happened today, wondering what I had done wrong, but I couldn’t figure out what made Luna cry.

I didn’t have any guesses, so there was nothing I could do other than to comfort Luna’s back.

“Why are you crying? Don’t cry.”

After a while, she swept Luna’s back to comfort her, and Luna, who was holding on to my waist, quietly loosened her arms, as if she didn’t want to leave me.

Taking advantage of that gap, let’s reach out to her and wipe the tear marks left on Luna’s face. Perhaps it was embarrassing to see her crying, Luna licked her lips and burrowed into my arms again.

“My Luna is pretty when she cries, right?”

I whispered a joke into her ear to lighten the mood, and Luna’s ears instantly turned red.

After remaining silent in my arms for a while, Luna raised her head and looked at me with watery eyes. Perhaps because of her tears, her lips turned redder than usual, and her slightly protruding lips were cute.

When I put my head down and our lips met, my lips felt warmer and softer than usual.

“Sorry… I suddenly cried….”

With a watery voice, Luna looked at me with anxious eyes, as if she was worried that she would think badly about crying, and I burst out laughing.

“It’s okay. You can cry to your heart’s content by my side. It’s okay to whine about how hard it is, and it’s okay to be spoiled. I can comfort you diligently.”

As I said that and kissed her once more, Luna smiled brightly as if she had never cried before.

“Ro, if Ross is having a hard time, you can cry by my side anytime. Because I want to help Ross too.”

I asked in a playful voice as Luna spoke while holding onto my clothes with her small hands, as if not wanting to miss me.

“I wonder how you can comfort me?”

Keep your face close and playfully whisper. Luna winced at me, pursed her small lips with her blushing face, and then she suddenly stretched out her arms and hugged me tightly.

“Eh, hugging me tight like this….”

The way Luna looked up at me while enduring her shame was so lovely.

I hugged her Luna, put her chin on her shoulder and whispered to her.

“Certainly, comforting.”

I inadvertently felt Luna’s hand stroking the back of my head with her small hand.

I hope that this warmth stays in my arms forever….

I felt that kind of greed.