In a dramatic showdown between Jayden and me—where I was insisting that one day was enough and he was adamantly claiming it had to be at least three—we ultimately reached a tense compromise of two days.
I still wasn’t sure why we were negotiating over something like this, but thanks to this, I managed to secure one method.
“So, what exactly do I need to do?”
“I’d like you to persuade Lucas a bit.”
“You know he won’t be swayed just because I try to persuade him, right?”
Jayden looked incredulously at me.
“It’s not necessary to actually succeed in persuading him. Just… talk to him.”
“Oh.”
“That guy… um.”
I pondered for a moment. Lucas only attacked me when I was alone. Otherwise, someone else would obviously block those attacks for me.
Jayden’s skills couldn’t match Lucas’s. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t defend against anything. Sure, if they fought with their lives on the line, Lucas would win easily, but he could definitely block a sudden slap like a pro.
What this meant was that Jayden didn’t know about the time Lucas had actually sliced me with a sword.
So I thought for a moment.
Despite my bravado, Jayden showed that he cared for me.
He treated me like a real brother, even though our blood was not connected.
I had continually rejected this kind of goodwill, but if we were to get technical, it was pretty similar to the kindness Alice showed me.
Of course, there was a difference.
Alice chose the path of not following the Emperor, while Jayden chose to follow him.
Alice was a bit less burdensome, whereas Jayden was quite a bit more so. Alice expected almost nothing from me, while Jayden had some expectations. That was probably the difference.
Since matters related to the Emperor were done and dusted, I could push that to the back for now, but the feeling of ‘burdensome’ was more pronounced just with that subtle difference.
“……”
After thinking for a moment, I decided to lay down a condition first.
“First of all, I’d like you to swear to me.”
“What kind of oath?”
Jayden looked a bit taken aback, his eyes wide.
“I swear you will never kill Lucas, no matter what.”
“What did that guy do wrong?”
“It’s not that he’s done any wrong against you.”
“Still, doesn’t that mean he’s done something that would make me want to kill him?”
Damn.
“Anyway, if you don’t do that, I won’t ask anything more from you, and I won’t call you ‘brother’ anymore.”
Jayden thought seriously for a moment.
He weighed the reason he might want to kill Lucas against the chance to make me call him ‘brother’.
“Okay, I swear.”
Jayden chose the latter.
What’s the big deal about the word ‘brother’?
Looking at Jayden, who was staring at me with a serious expression, I opened my mouth.
“Lucas has tried to slice me up with a sword more times than I can count. He succeeded often enough that I can’t even keep track anymore, and thanks to that, I’ve experienced being sliced all over.”
“……”
Blink.
Jayden blinked.
I thought it would be best to not give him time to fully process what I meant.
“Even though I reversed time and it ultimately didn’t happen, the memories from that time came back, right? It seems Lucas remembers all the times he sliced me up like it was yesterday.”
“Wait, hold on.”
“Lucas didn’t do it just because he hates me—”
“Hold on.”
Jayden raised his hand seriously, and I closed my mouth.
“…So you’re saying Lucas has actually sliced you with that sword? And more times than you can count?”
“Well… yeah.”
If I gathered all the pieces I was sliced off, it would probably weigh dozens of times my current body weight. It wasn’t just a matter of getting lucky once.
“……”
“So he thought I would dodge, so he swung his sword around casually. Every time I dodged, it probably looked like I was doing it out of expectation, right?”
“Do you think that would be a good excuse to swing a sword at your brother?”
“Lucas never made excuses. He just…”
I took a moment to collect my thoughts.
“At first, he thought I was just cheating and dodging easily, and he felt betrayed. But now he realizes that’s not the case. It’s that I’ve analyzed his moves and evaded them. He has to put in ‘effort.’”
“And?”
Jayden spoke in an infuriated tone.
Since I rarely saw him angry, to be honest, I was a bit scared.
“He thinks it’s pathetic that he overlooked that effort. While thinking of it as a mistake, he’s still sulking.”
“So you wanted me to convince him.”
Jayden sighed deeply.
After a moment of silent contemplation, he eventually nodded.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
“…Thank you.”
“I haven’t heard a genuine ‘thank you’ in a long time.”
But it seemed like the fact that the cause for my gratitude was Lucas didn’t sit well with him.
“By the way, does that mean I can leave here?”
“No. You’re still in confinement.”
“Then? Will you let me make a call? Setting a phone line costs quite a bit. Do you think Alice will approve?”
“Nope, that’s not it either.”
“Is there a way?”
“Well, there is. You might not like it though.”
“Stop hiding it and just tell me.”
I looked at Jayden and simply replied.
“Gryphon.”
*
“When I heard ‘Gryphon,’ I honestly felt a little excited.”
Jayden grumbled.
“I told it to wait by the window, but I didn’t expect it to break the window and swoop down.”
“Well, it did ride on my back halfway.”
The Gryphon was smart.
I was sure its intelligence surpassed that of a human.
Though it did have some beastly tendencies, sometimes seeming silly or timid, it was still a magical beast. It could remember its flight path accurately.
So I asked that Gryphon to abduct Jayden a little.
The soldiers couldn’t dare fire a shot at the Gryphon. First of all, it was my property, and secondly, they didn’t want to accidentally shoot Jayden in the foot while trying to attack.
Halfway through, the Gryphon brought Jayden along and landed, then waited for me to hop on its back before taking off with Jayden behind me.
When we reached the place where Lucas was, we broke through the second-floor window again, pushed Jayden inside, and now we were perched at the entrance of the mansion.
Maybe it was pretending to be asleep.
If I were to say that I didn’t know why the Gryphon did that, I would just apologize and return Jayden to his original spot, and that would be that.
I had a feeling that the Gryphon found this plan a bit entertaining.
It also had a rebellious spirit, after all.
“…What are you two doing?”
Lucas looked dumbfounded as he saw us entering the mansion.
Hmm.
“I just came for a quick visit.”
“With that guy?”
“That’s right.”
Jayden said.
“We made a deal.”
“…What kind of deal?”
“That’s not important.”
Before Jayden could answer, I quickly interjected.
“Let’s, uh, sit down.”
“Well, I’m not sure if sitting down is necessary, but…”
“…Huh?”
As I pulled out a chair to sit down, Jayden said that.
Jayden tidied up his slightly disheveled clothes from riding on the Gryphon and walked up to Lucas.
“What’s the matter?”
Lucas stared at Jayden with an incredulous look—
Thud!
And in an instant, he got knocked sideways.
With a bang and a loud clatter, Lucas crashed into a couple of chairs before rolling onto the floor and quickly got back up.
“Are you okay!?”
There were voices coming from outside.
Hmm.
I thought for a moment. Is this okay?
But thinking about it, I didn’t think either of them would end up dead in a fight.
Making that judgment, I shouted.
“I’m fine!”
“They went inside!”
Ah, see? It’s all fine.
Well, it’s fine. After all, it would take a few more minutes for them to come in. The fight would end up getting resolved inside.
As I sat in my chair and casually pulled a snack bowl toward me from the table, Lucas charged at Jayden, who had just gotten up.
“What are you doing!?”
“It’s my brother’s share.”
“Oh.”
While Lucas paused for just a moment, his face got greeted by another punch.
After hitting the floor again, Lucas didn’t immediately get up this time.
“Get up.”
Jayden approached, cracking his knuckles.
“…Was this the deal? Using you to get revenge on me?”
“Nope.”
Jayden said.
“He said he wanted you to be persuaded.”
“…Persuaded?”
“I plan to make you listen to and understand my brother’s story, since you don’t listen.”
“…!”
Lucas opened his mouth and stared at me.
Blood was dripping down from his nose.
I shrugged my shoulders.
Honestly, the reason I asked Jayden for a favor was that I figured if Jayden was the one trying to persuade him, Lucas would get riled up enough to argue back.
…Well, that’s up to Jayden to figure out how to do it. I didn’t go into details. I didn’t expect it to turn out like this, but it might just work in its own way.
If Lucas has any sense, he’ll counterattack.
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