The Strongest Family Has Arrived!

Chapter 16

—–CROW—– 

Sniffle.

Thinking about my ex-boyfriend, I had cried my heart out and returned to the cabin, lying down on the bed.

“Why were you crying?”

Ryan, lying on the opposite bed just like me, kept pressing me.

“Sniff. Didn’t you say you wouldn’t press me…?”

“…”

Ryan shut his mouth. He was good at keeping his word.

Then…

The door opened and livan came in.

“Oh, did you finish feeling sorry for yourself?”

Ryan got up to greet him. livan silently sat beside him and began rummaging through his belongings with a gloomy expression.

“Hmm.”

Ryan, after meeting my gaze, nudged his side.

“If you’ve changed your mind about joining our revenge, tell us now. I don’t care if we split up here.”

“…”

“Since the professors didn’t die unfairly, you don’t have any reason to risk your life to get back at our family, right?”

That’s right. The reason I told livan the truth was to give him a choice.

To decide whether he would continue with us or part ways at this juncture.

‘He seems like a sensitive person…’

livan was anxious about ruining a girl’s life. livan was shocked and dazed after hearing the truth from me. He didn’t seem to have a strong mentality.

A man like that had created weapons that would take hundreds of lives in the future, all for the sake of “revenge”.

Could he have been comfortable with that? No, he wouldn’t have been.

livan was a significant asset, and it would be a shame if he left, but I couldn’t demand a sacrifice without a cause.

Then…

livan took something out of his bag and stood up.

‘!!’

I was shocked at what he was holding in his hand.

‘A gun?’

“The garrison has been almost completely annihilated!!”

Before Ryan’s massacre, our family’s garrison had been annihilated.

Those who possessed unfamiliar weapons that were difficult to counter with swords and spears had attacked the Vasenbergs without warning.

Most of them were mercenaries who had nothing to lose and didn’t even value their own lives.

“The White Magician? Why is that man doing this?”

They had no loyalty to their employers, so it wasn’t difficult to capture a few and find out who was behind them.

It wasn’t difficult to learn the principles and methods of using their weapons either…

Firearms that targeted their targets with projectiles had existed before, but the guns that the White Magician had improved boasted power that couldn’t be compared to previous ones.

“How dare they, without fear!!”

Even if the power of those unfamiliar weapons was surprisingly strong, would they be a match for ability users?

But they had definitely succeeded in flustering my father.

The shock of someone daring to bare their teeth at the Vasenbergs. The fear of a weapon with unprecedented power. The unease that came from the fact that an ordinary human had created it…

All of that combined to make him…

“Summon all members of the family.”

My father gave the worst order.

My brothers, who were staying in their respective territories, all gathered at the main estate.

Not knowing that was the place where they would gather to die by Ryan’s hand…

*Click.*

livan cocked the gun and aimed it at me.

‘Ah.’

My mind went blank.

I knew exactly what would happen if he pulled his finger on the trigger.

‘Why is he suddenly doing this…?’

At that moment, when I was so surprised that I stopped breathing…

*Whoosh.*

livan lightly twisted his hand and reversed the gun’s direction. He held the barrel and handed the grip to me.

“Here, you take this, kid.”

“…Haa.”

I took it and gasped for the breath I had been holding. livan sat down next to me and tilted his head.

“Have you seen something like this before? Do you know what it is? Why are you so scared?”

“Ah, it’s just… it just looked a little dangerous….”

“You’re sharp. If you’re going to keep traveling with us, you need something to protect yourself.”

I paused and looked back at livan.

Ryan, who had been listening, smiled as if he was surprised.

“You’re really going to stick with me? Don’t worry about us, you can leave if you want.”

“Come on. If I wasn’t here, you’d be out on the street and die, so don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“I would not!”

“Anyway, the reason you had that ability transplant or whatever it is all because of the Duke of Vasenberg, isn’t it?”

livan sighed.

“I do wish that there had been a more ethical way to approach it than that kind of experiment…”

livan, who had been muttering, put his arm around my shoulder. And, holding my hand which was holding the gun, he said,

“But it doesn’t change the fact that your brother’s family is wicked. This man livan will burn himself out with the talent that god gave me to fight against the corrupt family.”

“Yeah. I like your spirit.”

“Kid, watch carefully. I’ll teach you how to shoot.”

“Ah, yes!”

“This has low power. Like a slingshot. But if someone tries to grab you, shoot them. It’ll give you time to run away.”

livan, holding my hand, aimed at Ryan across from us.

“It’s based on the principle of firing a projectile by pushing air. Pull the slide on top to fill it with air. Put your index finger on the trigger.”

Toward Ryan’s abdomen, who was blinking blankly…

“Try hitting that guy’s belly.”

“Yes?”

“What?!”

“It’s important that you don’t hesitate.”

livan whispered quickly.

“Pull it.”

*Bang!*

“Aaaack!!!”

With a shriek, Ryan grabbed his belly and fell over.

Thud.

Something that had struck his abdomen rolled onto the floor. It was a small stone with a smooth surface.

“Oh my.”

livan looked at me with wide eyes.

“You actually pulled it.”

“I-I was told not to hesitate…”

“Owww! You crazy!!!”

“Yeah! You did good. I don’t have to worry about you now. You’ll survive on your own just fine.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m hurting, you guys!”

Ryan, who had been rolling around in pain, stood up, fuming.

“How much could it hurt? Stop acting dramatic~”

livan, looking bored, cleaned his ear.

And… Ryan, who was staring at me, annoyed that I had pulled the trigger without hesitation.

“Ahem.”

Avoiding his gaze, I quietly tucked the gun inside my skirt.

***

The passenger ship had a dining hall that was shared by all the cabins. livan, who was in charge of finances, said we had to save money, so we ate the cheapest ham stew. After eating, I went to the shower room that was only for third-class passengers. I washed myself timidly in a corner of the shower room, where the naked bodies of others were on display.

It might sound surprising, but everything was new to me…

Eating meals with cheap food that they called ham stew but had no ham, washing myself without the help of maids in a shared bathroom.

And now.

I, who had only ever ridden on top-class private ships, was getting ready to sleep on a hard and cramped bed in a third-class cabin.

‘But… it’s manageable?’

I had to adapt anyway. I wasn’t a rich princess anymore.

“I’m turning off the light.”

Ryan, on the lower bunk across from me, nodded his head and pointed at the candle by his head.

“Ah! Just a moment.”

livan, who was sleeping in the bunk above Ryan, was already fast asleep. I quietly got out of bed so I wouldn’t wake livan and went to Ryan.

“What.”

Ryan, who had half-risen, raised one eyebrow.

“Can I see your stomach?”

“…”

When I whispered quietly, Ryan, who had been glaring at me, slightly lifted his shirt.

“Eek.”

A bruise…

When I touched it, the wound healed.

“You give the disease and the cure…”

Ryan muttered as he pulled down his shirt.

“What would have happened if you killed me? You shot me without any hesitation. So unfair.”

“I’m sorry. It was just for a moment…”

I whispered in his ear with an apologetic smile.

“But you won’t die. Not in the future either. If you just keep your head attached, I’ll make sure you never die, Appa.”

“Ha.”

Leaving Ryan, who was laughing in disbelief, I went back to my bed.

Hmm. The day that had the most events happen to me since I was born…

Today was the first turning point for me after the regression. I had abandoned my father, who was supposed to be my family, and had chosen my half-brother, whom I had never met. Now, on paper, Ryan was my only family.

…Family?

Yes, we had become family.

With the man who had tried to kill me.

“I’m turning off the light for real now.”

I looked back at Ryan. He had been sulking ever since he got shot, but thankfully, his face had quickly brightened up after getting healed.

“Good night.”

“Yeah.”

Whoosh

 Ryan blew out the candle with his breath.

—–CROW—–