Chapter 152

Here’s the translation of the provided text into English using first-person point of view:

—

What was Elshimer saying to me just now? It felt like I misheard him.

No way. There’s no chance my older brother would leave a letter for me like that.

It must be someone else delivering a letter that my older brother wrote, and I just misheard him.

Right?

I tried to send him a look with such meaning, but…

“The moment I was busy with post-processing, the eldest young master suddenly appeared before me. I really thought I was seeing a ghost.”

Whether Elshimer ignored my gaze knowing what it meant or he simply didn’t understand its significance, he confirmed my guess was wrong and merely presented the letter he held out to me respectfully.

“But of course, I wouldn’t read the letter intended for the youngest young master out of curiosity…”

“Could you give me some space to read this alone?”

“Sure, but don’t use reading the letter as an excuse to leave.”

“There’s a presence of Katarina outside the window here. I can’t do that.”

“…You feel her presence? Even though I knew her position, I couldn’t sense her presence here…”

“Hmm… You can’t sense it because she’s concealing it so well. Once you become as strong as me, you’ll be able to sense it too.”

“Oh, if I can’t sense it, that’s a serious issue.”

Elshimer’s expression contorted seriously as he pondered or agonized over something, stroking his chin.

Though it might seem trivial, not being able to sense someone’s presence even when they’re not far away seems to be quite a shock for him.

After all, if I couldn’t sense Asulin’s presence nearby, I’d be shocked as well, so I understood his feelings.

Reflecting on how one’s sensitivity to different presences increases as their martial arts level rises, I knew that Elshimer’s current concern would eventually be resolved with time, assuming he didn’t give up and kept working hard.

But telling him that time would solve everything now would be pointless.

“Let’s worry about it later. Just give me some space for now.”

First, I asked him to give me some space.

Since Elshimer would surely realize such an important matter on his own without needing someone to remind him, there was no need to waste time giving unnecessary advice.

“…Understood.”

Elshimer, who had been subtly checking how to easily detect presences, seemed to think it was difficult to answer based on my attitude and nodded silently.

Thus, after accepting the letter said to be from my older brother, I managed to create an environment where I could review the authenticity of the letter on my own.

By the way, did Asulin expect me to jump out the window and rush to the scene if necessary?

While Elshimer’s visit was expected, I never imagined Katarina would be placed below the window where I might secretly jump out of the hospital room…

Seeing her standing here, seemingly protecting and watching over me instead of being by Asulin’s side, made me realize that things must have settled down quite a bit during the three days I was unconscious.

If I were to be honest, these were tasks I should have handled myself, but I felt guilty that Asulin and Katarina ended up spending time on them unnecessarily.

When I see Asulin next, I should massage her shoulders to thank her for all her hard work.

Expressing gratitude in any form is what spouses do when they want to avoid causing trouble for each other.

…Ahem. I should check the letter first.

“Alright.”

As Elshimer disappeared through the entrance, I carefully examined the envelope in my hand before opening it.

—

The letter was so ordinary in appearance, from the envelope to the paper inside, that it made my suspicion of it being fake fade away.

Even though I hadn’t opened the seal yet, I intended to carefully inspect the seal first before checking the contents inside.

Despite the apparent urgency, the wax seal and the unique emblem of the Failord Count Family were cleanly stamped, making the envelope look genuine.

This form of letter was quite familiar, reminiscent of times when Dominus was still the head of the Failord Count Family.

He had strictly forbidden the use of communication magic, especially when it was becoming widely commercialized, due to the risk of it being intercepted by high-level mages.

Instructions to send formal documents with letters instead of communication magic for matters concerning the family were also given.

Even though I hadn’t written anything, stopping abruptly after getting used to writing made me feel a strong sense of loss.

It was just when I was starting to get accustomed to the communication magic that bridged continents like it was a conversation right next to us.

The ban came at a time when the administration of the count’s territory was already tangled like a knotted thread, making it nearly impossible to function.

Dominus’s inexplicable stubbornness, which ignored the objections of the retainers against such inefficient measures, only added to the chaos.

Reflecting back, he must have intensified his security measures to keep his secret plans hidden, including the pact with the assassin league of the Western Continent, to prevent the old god from being revived.

Stopping the use of communication magic and taking measures to prevent internal affairs from leaking externally only became clear to me now.

To summon an unnamed deity from the realm of spirits into the material world—this was risky, especially since it had already happened and the deity was successfully expelled.

Had it been discovered beforehand, the Failord family name would have been erased from imperial history.

After all, despite the opposition of the retainers, such absurd measures were taken, and even my wise and mature stepsister Rize struggled to handle the family’s affairs properly.

Yet, the same type of paper that my older brother used for his reports to Dominus was now in my hands.

Though distinguishing the writer based solely on the paper quality seemed overly speculative, it was hard to dismiss the fact that my older brother, who I saw die, was now alive and standing before me.

—

I let out a faint sigh, checking the envelope for any hidden measures before breaking the seal.

—

I checked for extreme poisons that could cause instant death upon contact, or ones that could be dispersed internally to poison the reader.

Poisoning through letters was a common tactic used by the assassin league of the Western Continent, so I couldn’t afford to be careless.

—

Fortunately, my advanced spiritual sense quickly determined that there were no toxins or traps inside the envelope, beyond the letter itself.

—

“…”

I took a deep breath, carefully breaking the seal and opening the envelope.

—

The sensation of tearing the wax seal was oddly addictive, but now, the most urgent task was to confirm the contents of the letter.

—

Upon reading the letter, a sigh escaped me, a mix of relief, nostalgia, and sadness that I couldn’t fully identify.

—

[To my younger sister who I won’t see again.]

—

This line felt like the biggest reason for my sigh.

Was this a letter or some sort of will disguised as a letter?

—

I tried to suppress the strange feeling and focused on the content, but once I finished reading, a soft sigh escaped me.

—

From the brief letter, I sensed that my older brother didn’t have much time left.

—

Even if the hints suggesting his impending departure were scattered throughout the letter, the fact that he planned to visit the Eastern Continent before his life ended and wanted to live separately from me caused an overwhelming emotion.

—

Of course, regretting not waking up sooner was natural, but it also intensified my desire to meet my older brother again.

—

Naturally, I had numerous tasks to handle before I could act on those desires.

—

“…Alright.”

—

I prepared to go out, adjusting my hostility and minimizing my presence.

—

…I usually prefer staying put, but this letter urged me to act faster.

—