Chapter 148 : Mars’s Real Power

TL:SummerPeanut

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It's been a long time since I've seen Mars pull out a sword… For some reason, Mars pulled out two swords: one was the Salamander Sword I used to be equipped with. The other was a sword with a golden blade.

When I asked Mars about it, he said that he had become a two-sword wielding swordsman... It seems that Mars' growth still knows no bounds.

Ever since he was a little boy, Mars has always been like this: he could think more clearly and speak better as a three-year-old than I could as a six-year-old.

I didn't use any honorifics as a child, but for some reason Mars used honorifics, so I started to use them, and I would steal and copy his mannerisms.

In the beginning, I desperately practiced swordsmanship and studied without Mars's knowledge, thinking that I couldn't lose to my brother, but gradually it shifted to wanting to be recognized by him.

Mars is a genius. He simply has many talents. I have seen excellent people at the Lister Imperial School, but I have never seen anyone better than Mars.

And Mars's greatest talent is his talent for hard work. I think I'm a pretty hard worker too, but Mars puts in more effort than me. He is flexible in his thinking and seriously trains in things I would never have thought of, such as simultaneous physical and magical attacks or dual wielding.

Perhaps the two-sword style is also an extraordinary thing. I started running with Mars towards the crowd of magic beasts.

The first thing that surprised me was that our running speeds were overwhelmingly different. I'm running as fast as I can, but Mars seems to be only running lightly. And he doesn't seem to be using Sylphid.

I was surprised again when Mars arrived at the herd of magic beasts. As if there were no death armies or death hounds there from the start, he runs through to where the death knight is without slowing down.

After Mars reached over, there were only the corpses of death armyies and death hounds left behind. Mars slaughtered the threat level C magic beasts with a single swing...

Mars's sword speed was at a level where I could only barely manage to see. It has such speed that I absolutely can’t react to it even if I can see... After all, Mars is a two-sword wielding swordsman... No matter how I think about it, there is no way to respond…*1

When Mars reached the death knight, he took two swings, slashed off both of the death knight's arms and easily decapitated the death knight that was rendered helpless. That’s a magic beast with a threat level of right...?

My target has gone far, far away, but with this it means that I can also make an effort.

I want to see Mars's successes as close as possible, and I want him to recognize my presence as much as possible, so I'll never give up trying.

☆☆☆

“Hey... Mars is slaying magic beasts with a...sword right now, right?”

I asked Clarice and she nodded with a smile. It was the first time I had seen Mars pull out his own sword. I've seen Mars fight a few times, and I've actually fought him previously.

Ike had always said that Mars is stronger than him, but I thought the difference was only a small one, a difference that would definitely be filled if Ike worked hard for a year in his fifth year...

But Mars’s movement under my eyes was not the same as what I had seen before. How many of us could actually follow Mars's sword... At the very least, I couldn't.

I thought my eyes were pretty well-trained, having always seen Ike's spear up close...

“Sister-in-law. Believe it or not, the serious Mars is much faster. I think Ellie is probably faster than the current Mars."

Huh...? He isn’t going all out? Even though Ike is already struggling to keep up with him... and she’s telling me that Ellie is capable of the same level of speed?

“...Mars...serious...glowing...”

Ellie muttered mysteriously.

Glowing? What about glowing? You need to be more clear with your words!

I wasn't the only one surprised by Clarice's words, let alone Ellie's.

“I-I didn't expect... him to become so strong, and this isn't even his full strength... Ellie is faster...? So this is what it means to be a real B-rank adventurer..."

Nearby, Lord Zeke and Van were also surprised.

The other adventurers, who had been trying their best to advise Mars and Ike earlier, also became absent-minded. I'm sure they are just like me and can't accept the reality of the situation...

After that, only dead magic beasts remained after Mars's passage, and Ike was also steadily defeating the rest of the magic beasts.

The slaughter show was over after about five minutes. Ike looked a little tired, but Mars came back with a clean and fresh face as if he didn’t went into battle just now.

☆☆☆

“Father! I'm back!"

Ike said as he bowed his head and I followed Ike's lead.

“You guys are as amazing as ever... Forgive me for doubting you two even a little.”

The other adventurers came to us in droves as Zeke said this.

“Who are you people?”

“Are you really Count Zeke's sons?”

“That was awesome! I couldn't see how you beat ‘em!”

Half the adventurers were interested in us but the other half…

“Where did you girls come from?”

“Are you girls related to Lord Zeke?”

They came here because they are attracted to Clarice, Ellie, and the senior glasses.

The faces of the adventurers sank when I told them that Clarice and Ellie are my fiancées and senior glasses is Ike's fiancée.

When senior glasses said in front of Zeke that she’s Ike's fiancée, I stole a look at Zeke’s face but he laughed the words off. It's all right now, isn't it?

After that, the adventurers invited me out for a drink, but I declined, saying I was too tired today. Because I would have less time to spend with Clarice and Ellie if I agreed.

I returned to Zeke's mansion and immediately tried to take a bath, but there was only one bathtub, so I had the unused room converted (for more bathtubs).

I made three bathtubs in the unused room and had the women take their baths there, while Ike and I took turns to go into the bathtub that was there originally.

Incidentally, the women's bathrooms were enclosed quite tightly with Earth magic, so there was no need to worry about peeping.

I'm worried about Clarice and Ellie being peeped at, but I'm even more worried about what happens to the men who peep in. I don't want them to end their lives as men in a place like this...

Ike said I could go ahead and take a bath first, so I decided to comply. Apparently, Zeke and him have something to talk about. Their (frozen) relationship finally thawed out after all. I'm sure they both have a lot of things to talk about.

When I got out of the bath, Ellie was already standing there. She immediately came to my left and buried her face in my neck as usual.

Zeke who saw me and Ellie and laughed bitterly. Well, you wouldn't expect your son to suddenly make out in front of you...

After flirting with Ellie for a while, Clarice and senior glasses also came out of the bath. Naturally, Clarice came right next to me and surrendered herself to me.

Senior glasses saw this scene and made a gesture as if to cover her eyes and said below.

“Mars... are you guys always like this...?”

Zeke muttered without asking anyone.

“A year ago he was a bit more reserved... but well, not much has changed since then...”

He said dismissively.

Ike came out of the bath too and he sat down next to senior glasses and suddenly the two of them started kissing... apparently we got caught in action by them... Oi... Aren’t their side way more extreme?

I'm so... jealous that every time they say a word or two they do a kiss! Two sons making out in front of their father... surreal much?

“W-well... it's about time Van came back. Let's all have dinner together."

As everyone was preparing for dinner, Van returned from his guard duty and we immediately talked over dinner together.

The topic of conversation was about the senior glasses, our school, and Almeria after we were gone, and there was no end to the topics of conversation.

Van particularly liked the story about what I had done to Gysahl while Zeke had his hands on his head... I guess he won’t know what kind of face to make when he meet Count Mesalius...

Incidentally, Zeke didn't even know that the senior glasses was the count's eldest daughter... Perhaps it would be more correct to say that he didn't remember. Zeke apologized many times flatly to Ike and the senior bespectacled girl.

Zeke also wanted to know about school. He was probably thinking about where Leena would go to school.

I replied that it’s a very good school, but Ike mentioned that we should be careful with Duke Regan. He said that she would change the color of her eyes if it’s about Holy magician.*2

Ike, who cannot use Holy magic, had also been manipulated by her Magic Eyes several times... Come to think of it, Duke Regan had used her Magic Eyes on me too. ... I should be a little wary of Duke Regan from now on.*3

When I told Zeke that I had set up a clan called Daybreak, he was also surprised. He was even more surprised when I told him that the members also had an S class teacher, a Sword King. When I told him about the clan, Ike said.

“Can't Red Lotus join Daybreak too?”

He asked seriously.

“Personally… No, Clan Daybreak welcomes you. Now it's up to Red Lotus memberse to decide about it...”

When I answered that, the senior glasses answered.

“The members of Red Lotus also have a certain amount of pride, so I wonder what they all think about it… I think they would definitely nod their heads repeatedly if they saw Mars's battle just now though...”

“That's true... but he also dominated the B-rank adventurers in the last tournament by one to ten... There might be a chance since they saw that fight..."

Ike responded to the words of senior glasses. Clarice and Ellie were enthusiastically talking about the fighting tournament when Van asked them to elaborate.

They were both very happy that I stood up against Doaho.

I heard that the number of magic beasts in the labyrinth in Almeria is increasing little by little, so let's dive into the labyrinth when we go back in January. We should be able to get to the fourth floor now.

Finally, I forcibly pushed for one request. After all, no matter how strong they are, Clarice, Ellie, and senior glasses are still girls, and all three of them are quite cute, so there are danger apart from the magic beasts.

So I asked Zeke to let someone absolutely trustworthy accompany the three of them in my and Ike’s stead. Then Zeke allowed Van to accompany them. He also took into account that when Van returns, it will be safer if all of Azure Fang members return together.

After the meal and conversation had settled down, we decided to sleep in our respective rooms. I'm going to sleep with Clarice and Ellie.

I usually sleep with my MP depleted, but I'm not going to do that today. I'm also going to take tomorrow's early morning running and muscle training off. Time with Clarice and Ellie is more important now.

Tomorrow morning is early.

The three of them will leave early to get as far away from Rimurgarde as possible. Thus, the three of us decided to head to the bedroom before 21:00.

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Author’s note:

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TL’s note:

1. The raws is very confusing because I feel like there’s a gap in the author’s rationale. How on earth does being a dual-wielder has to do with him barely seeing and not able to respond in time? Maybe author is trying to say that even if Ike can see Mars’s first swing and barely respond to it, he won’t be able to for the next attacks.
2. I went with literal translation. Basically Ike wanted to say Duke Regan is fine and dandy until it comes to matter about Holy magicians and she’ll readily sing a different tune.
3. Wtf, bruh. A bit late, no?