Nurturing the Hero to Avoid Death

translator: mii

editor: sleepchaser, ASplashofMusic

Lian goes out a lot, and this has especially been the case recently. On Saturdays and Sundays, he often stays overnight outside and doesn’t come back home until noon the next day.

According to Lian, monsters have started leaving their dwellings in the mountains and forests that stood west of the village in recent years, injuring the villagers and eating the crops.

If we continue letting them damage the crops, the tax we’ll be able to collect from the farmers will decrease. If that happens, then we won’t have enough to pay the country the set tax assigned to each territory. The food supply we can set aside for the villagers’ consumption will decrease as well.

By then, it won’t only be the villagers who will be in trouble but everyone living in this territory, including us.

Because of this, Lian proposed to build a fence along the village’s western border to repel those monsters and demons. That way, we can stabilize the situation and keep the crops safe until harvest. Then both we and the territory’s inhabitants will be happy.

The damages incurred will only worsen if we leave it alone, so it’s cheaper in the long term to invest in building this fence right now. This is for everyone’s sake too.

That’s what Lian said. Both my father and I understand his point, and we admire and approve of his opinion.

My younger brother’s really intelligent and wise. He has such good foresight.

Not only that, but Lian volunteered to procure the materials and take charge of the installation of the fence himself to ease our workload! He said, “Like Father and Brother, I want to give my all to protect the village and all its people.”

Ahh, really! My little brother’s such a pure and kind-hearted boy!

Lian was also the one who created the document listing the specifications for the fence’s installation, as well as the planning chart for the installation process after consulting with Lowendal and the experts.

With that document as the basis, he ordered and amassed a supply of nails and iron wires. After that, he headed to the village’s western border to install them.

Whenever the supplies run out, he orders again before continuing the installation.

His long-term plan toward completion is well-paced. The work has been proceeding smoothly. And according to his schedule, the fence will be completed by the end of this year.

In addition to that, Lian’s in the process of developing evacuation routes and reconstructing the unoccupied houses in the village to become key evacuation sites in case of emergencies. In those evacuation sites, he has prepared some demon-repelling papers, holy water, weapons, and armors. They’ve also been stocked with food which have been cast with magic for long-term preservation

He also purchased large magic bullhorns, which will serve as warning signals if monsters come to the village. He had them installed all over the village.

My little brother can be a little… no, he’s considerably prone to worrying. Though I feel like he’s going a bit too far… everything he does won’t be useless. He really thinks about the future very carefully.

He even took the initiative to order the materials, negotiate the prices, and organize all the necessary documents after consulting with Lowendal.

My father and I are still amazed with his ability to organize, manage, and process everything so skillfully. It’s unthinkable that he can handle all of that just freshly out of the local school.

“Yes, Brother. I’ll be going now.”

“I see… Then please be careful, okay? You can’t do anything dangerous. Don’t ever go to dangerous places either.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lian flashes a soft smile and nods. Ah, cute.

Oh, that’s right. Today’s… Saturday, isn’t it? I feel saddened instantly upon remembering that.

“Ah, Lian… Are you coming back to the mansion today? Or are you staying outside overnight again?”

He doesn’t come back to the mansion on most Saturday nights. Whenever that happens nowadays, he doesn’t return until Monday.

On the matter of the fence’s installation, Lian insists that he definitely won’t leave it to others. He even personally goes to the site to supervise. I know that there’s no helping it, but the work site’s quite far away from the mansion, so it’s difficult to head there, then return on the same day. So whenever he visits the site, he’ll stay overnight with the workers.

He has a lot of escorts guarding his safety, but I’m still worried. After all, Lian’s so cute. I feel uneasy every time Lian stays outside overnight, wondering whether those ruffians have some weird thoughts on Lian.

And above all, it’s very lonely to not be able to eat dinner with him…

“Yes, that’s right. The site’s currently located in the northwest area of the village. It’ll take a very long time for me to return from there, so I’ll stay at Chard’s Plantation for two nights.”

“What?! Two nights!!”

The installation site’s getting more and more distant. Because of that, Lian often stays in one of the villagers’ houses or the Owens’ villas that are situated near the site. Occasionally, he stays at Cheddars’ Ranch, which is located halfway between the mansion and the western region of the village. There are times when he specifically goes to the ranch as well. Lian said that the ranch was very large and had several unused rooms. That’s why he stores his clothes, as well as many materials and items there.

“Is that so… You have to make sure that your escorts are right by your side at all times. Don’t wonder alone.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Hmm… That guy. What’s his name again… Fram, is it? Are you setting out with that escort with unusual blonde hair?”

“H-huh?! Uh, err, that’s right…” For some reason, Lian breaks into a slight frown. Cheeks growing a bit red, he averts his eyes.

“Alright. Then I’m relieved.”

Lian personally hired Alfred Fram to be his side escort because of his great strength and reliability. To test him, I told him to spar against the escort who is said to be the strongest in the mansion… And Fram won in the blink of an eye.

Indeed, just as Lian said, he’s amazingly strong.

I’ve heard that he has also defeated two flying demons whose wings span around three meters wide. The demons were in the midst of building a nest in the depths of the forest, so they were very fierce. And yet, he managed to defeat them all on his own. The escorts accompanying him at that time reported it to me in excited voices, eyes shining like a bunch of children.

As expected of my little brother. His ability to judge people’s characters is amazing.

I have no complaints about his strength. But if we’re looking for his weaknesses, Fram belongs to the lowest of social classes. After all, he’s an orphan who grew up through the support of the church. What’s even more upsetting is he defeated my Lian at the swordsmanship tournament. Just remembering that scene infuriates me. What an annoying guy.

However, to protect my most precious Lian… I can only suppress my anger. After all, I want the strongest guy protecting Lian. And for someone from a low social class like him, his appearance isn’t that bad, so he’s perfect to become Lian’s personal bodyguard.

Though there’s also one more problem… And it’s the most important problem that always worries me, that I have to prevent no matter what.

And that’s whether my Lian will eventually come to fall in love with that guy.

After all, he has pretty good looks. He’s strong, skillful, and reliable too. Should an emergency arise, he will protect Lian even at the risk of his own life. With all these admirable qualities, isn’t Lian sure to gain a crush on him… no, wait.

Regardless of everything, that man is a former orphan of low social status. He doesn’t know his hometown. He has no other relatives either. And in between his job as an escort of the Owens, he also juggles several other jobs like his job at the ranch.

Since he’s a man of low status of questionable origins and takes care of smelly livestock every day, he probably doesn’t have much money saved up. How can my Lian fall in love with such a man?

Hmm, that’s right. What am I so worried about? That’s definitely not going to happen. I’m just worrying for nothing.

“Lian, you have to make sure that Fram stays by your side. Understand?”

“Huuh?! Ah, yes, I understand! Um, w-well then, I will go now!” Then Lian turns around as though in a hurry, cheeks still red.

Hmm? Why is he blushing…

…Ah! Could it be?! No, it’s not just a “could!”

Did his heart throb when he saw me in my work mode?

Yes, I’m sure that’s the reason. No doubt about it. After all, he ladies often tell me, “Robert, you look so cool and dreamy whenever you’re working!”

Oh… This is bad. What should I do if Lian one day tells me something like, “Brother… When I look at you… My chest suddenly grows painful…” with flushed cheeks?

What if Lian comes knocking on the door of my private room at night? And in thin, translucent pajamas made from silk… and without any underwear. And then with teary eyes, he says, “Every time I think about Brother, my heart pounds faster and my body heats up…”

No no no. No way. Hehehe. There’s no way Lian will do that…

But if he does, then… I’ll be obligated to satisfy him, am I right?

After all, he’s my cute little brother. As his older brother, it’s my responsibility to look after him and his needs. It’s part of my duties to dissipate the heat from his body.

It’s my obligation to pamper, cherish, and protect him…

Ah, my nose is bleeding again.

Maybe I should look up for a while.