The Hero’s Brother Is Bound To Be Depressed

95 – Created emotions

My body instinctively swung the spear at the approaching danger.

The fireball, which had been flooding with magical energy, exploded with a huge roar.

Kwaaang――!!!

Perhaps it was intended to boost the momentum, magic flew through the hazy dust.

I hurriedly tilted my upper body, but the reaction was delayed because I lost my balance. His left arm was pushed back, and a great shock was felt.

Artifacts that absorb shock turn red, alerting you to danger.

If you receive any more shock, you will be eliminated immediately.

I hurriedly took out the seeds I had stuffed in my pocket and threw them forward with magical energy.

A flying ball of fire burst into a huge beanstalk.

Kwawang-!

Several explosions were heard in succession. Visibility was limited by a cloud of rising dust and a burning beanstalk.

―――!

The floor of the arena began to collapse from the huge impact.

At the same time, I felt the space on either side of me shimmer.

The manifestation of magical power.

The moment I felt it. I instinctively ran forward.

Kwaaa!

Suddenly, the walls on both sides collided and collapsed with a roar.

Thump! Boom! Thud!

Leaving behind the sound behind my back, I ran forward at the traces of the spell that could be seen through the dust.

The floor he stepped on suddenly rose upward, and his body jumped into the air.

I saw Ellie aiming her wand at me in the air through the dust.

With one corner of her mouth twisted up. Ellie, who looked at me with her strange eyes, swung her wand without delay.

A huge stone fist created with magic flew toward me.

But I didn’t give up.

Because I said I would do my best.

I forcibly twisted my body in the air. From the recoil, I heard a cracking sound from somewhere in my body, but all my nerves were focused on Ellie.

Whehehe!

I gathered the remaining mana and threw the spear.

Quaaa!

The stone fist is shattered, and the spear of destruction rushes towards Ellie without losing momentum.

A red light shot towards Ellie, destroying everything in front of her.

But Ellie reacted to even that.

A mass of purple lightning that appeared with sparks in the air caught the spear of destruction in the air.

After landing on the floor, I gritted my teeth and ran towards Ellie as a last resort.

Ellie pointed her staff at me with a bright smile.

A huge shock hit her chest. She belatedly heard the sound of a drum beating in her ears.

As her body fell backwards and rolled across the arena floor, only then did she hear the wild cheers of the crowd.

―The first year senior is… ! This is Ellie from the Ministry of Magic!!!

With the excited host’s voice, a dejected laugh leaked out.

I couldn’t reach it.

Effort, talent, whatever.

The result was expected, but the mouth is bitter.

“… f*ck.”

My collapsed swear words were scattered without reaching anyone due to the fierce cheers of the crowd.

***

“There is an awards ceremony right after the 4th grade finals, so please wait in the waiting room.”

At the words of the faculty member, I silently nodded.

As if the sophomore finals were still being prepared, the floor resounded with cheers from the crowd was quiet.

I swept her face once and leaned back in the chair.

I was once again aware of my inferior talent buried in the fraudulent magic of space magic.

Space Magic and the Spear of Ruin.

Without these two, I’m still below average.

I am strangely funny to myself.

Even though I knew the result, it was difficult to accept it easily.

There must have been a feeling of anticipation hidden somewhere in the heart.

– Kiki

When I reflexively turned my head at the sound of the door opening, I met Obsidian’s eyes.

“Ross.”

Ellie came straight to me after closing the door of the waiting room and had a faint smile on her face.

I pretended to be nothing and spoke in a calm voice.

“It was a lot of hard work.”

“Yeah, you did a good job too.”

Saying that with a smile, Ellie, sitting close enough to brush her clothes, looked at me for a moment in silence.

Black eyes resembling beautiful obsidian.

I couldn’t help but look away from the strange heat in those eyes.

“Ross, today was great. I couldn’t find you at all from a year ago….”

“I lost without being able to attack once, so what?”

At my words mixed with a sigh, a breathless laugh was heard.

“Still, if it was transference, the magic would have gone off in one blow. That’s a lot of growth. You became the second-in-command at Transcendence Academy in one year, right? The villagers will be surprised too?”

I weakly nodded at Ellie’s words.

I am still in the first year, and there are many ways to grow. The reward of the bet, Lycan’s training, is also waiting for me….

When you first participated in the duel. Since the final goal was second place, there is no need to be depressed anymore. Because there is something more important than that.

I was in no hurry to organize what I was going to say in my head. But at the same time, I was prepared for the worst.

Ellie’s words passed me just before my lips fell.

“Ross, there is something I am concerned about.”

“Huh?”

I lost my momentum and turned my head in a dumbfounded voice to meet my eyes. Ellie gave me a pretty smile and leaned slightly towards me.

“Why didn’t you use that magic?”

“Magic?”

“The magic used in the village.”

A strange look observes my expression. Whether it was doubt or curiosity, I felt my mouth dry.

“I was afraid that he might use that magic, so I kept checking it.”

“There was a reason I couldn’t use it.”

“Hmm, that’s right.”

With her snort, Ellie put her shoulder on mine. The warmth through her clothes made her flinch as if she had been burned.

In response to her reaction, Ellie slightly narrowed her eyes and gave a charming eye smile, then spoke in a playful voice.

“I thought I didn’t use it to lose on purpose.”

“It can’t be.”

After a short laugh, Ellie wiggled her lips and said.

“Why~ You did that often in the past. You take the punishment instead of me, and you get scolded instead of me for my mistakes.”

“Is that so?”

It was a memory that did not appear in the novel, so I had no choice but to answer in a calm voice.

“Yeah, I did…. You may not remember, but from then on I thought Ross was very nice.”

I felt like those words became a thorn in my heart. She couldn’t even imagine what kind of expression Ellie would make after learning Ross’ true face.

A shady thought arises from a corner of my mind.

Should I say that I deliberately told my brother that I like you and made him refuse to confess?

If only I kept my mouth shut, Roel and Ellie wouldn’t know anything.

If you just deceive Roel and make him connect with Ellie….

He hit the thigh with his fist. Reason returned to the tingling pain.

Once again, I almost gave in to my reason for being possessive towards Ellie. Even though she had made such a promise, she was shaken by Ellie in front of her.

It was a made-up emotion that remained in Ross without memory, but I still couldn’t let it go.

Ellie tilted her head and asked if she was surprised by my sudden action.

“Why is that?”

I said with a sigh to Ellie who looked worried.

“I have something to confess to you.”

The moment I spoke, I felt my heart ache. Are you prepared for the shock in advance?

“… Confession?”

To the bewildered Ellie, she spat out the words that popped into her head as if pouring them out.

“I’m not as nice as you think. I told my brother over and over that I like you because I wanted to keep you by my side. If you said that, I thought that because of my brother’s personality, he would definitely reject your confession. Because I wasn’t the older brother who would take away the childhood friend my younger brother liked.”

Ellie pulled her shoulders away from her butt. The warmth that was leaving her made her feel as if something in her heart was collapsing.

For some reason, I felt a sense of loss for no reason.

“That’s a lie….”

Ellie put her hand to her mouth with her shocked face.

“It’s true. I wanted to own you as my own. Because you were the only person who was good to me and the one who made me feel warm.”

In a guilty voice, I lowered my head and said.

I didn’t have the confidence to meet your eyes. I was afraid of meeting Ellie’s gaze, who felt betrayed by me.

For a while, Ellie was silent. She felt suffocated by the silence that filled the waiting room.

I could have suffocated if I hadn’t heard the cheers of the crowd outside the arena, along with the cheers of the emcee announcing the start of the duel.

After a while, as if squeezing her voice, Ellie spoke.

“Now… ?”

The words I heard in my ears were so different from what I expected, that my mind went white.

I thought of swearing at myself and resenting myself. I expected her to release her own heart troubles on me, but that’s not what Ellie said.

So I had no choice but to raise her head and look at Ellie with a dumbfounded gaze. Her mind went white, and she was unable to give a proper answer.

I couldn’t say anything, so Ellie asked me again with her obsidian eyes shining.

“Do you still want to own me?”