"Why am I so busy?"
Ian wondered as he sat down on his bed. He wasn't the protagonist. And the impact his character had on the original storyline also wasn't something so significant that it'd change the storyline. All that made him come to the realisation that he was working too hard."I should take a break!"He stilled his will as he sprang up on his feet. All he had been doing since he came to this world was set the platform here and there for the protagonists benefit. He didn't even travel anywhere outside the duchy because he had too much to do."Outside the Duchy..."Ian mumbled as he tried to recall the novel's settings. There was indeed many beautiful places described in the novel. Although those places will soon turn into battle ground, that didn't mean Ian didn't have a chance. He still had his chance of travelling those places.Ian grabbed his pen and paper and sat down in his table. As he recalled all those important arcs, he notKnock Knock."Mother.. Are you inside?"Ian asked as he knocked on Olivia's door, thinking about how he should bring up the topic of the tour to her."Huh? Ian? Come on in!"Olivia, who came out to open the door as soon as she could after hearing Ian's voice, opened the door wide as she smiled. She wasn't expecting Ian to come at this time of the day since Ian usually woke up late. And nowadays, since Ian was busy with many things, he couldn't spend too much time with her either. So the amount of joy she was feeling at Ian's sudden visit couldn't be described into words."Were you in the middle of work, mother?"Ian asked as he sat down on the soft couch, glancing towards the table that was beside Olivia's bed. A huge pile of paper was placed in it and signs of someone working could be seen clearly. Since it was the harvest season, both the Duke and the Duchess was very busy with the work related to the management of
"I'm done!"Ian said as he kept the last pile of clothes inside his storage ring. The amount of clothes and food, medicine, potion and other travel necessities Rob prepared within a single day was astronomical. Ian almost dropped his jaw when he entered him study and saw the huge pile."Is there anything else you need, young master?"Rob asked as he fixed his glasses. Ian looked at him with a judging look as he placed a lemon candy in his mouth, trying to stop himself from swearing."You do realise I'm only going there for a week, right?""Ahem! This is what the Duchess ordered. You can talk to her if you're unsatisfied.""Ahhh.. Now that I think about it, I'll probably need that much."Ian said as he went back to his seat. He looked outside, which was already dark. The moon was very bright as it was just the day after the full moon. It was almost time for him to leave."Well then
'Did the Gods send me here to babysit?' Ian wondered as he took out three slices of strawberry shortcake from his subspace. He placed on in front of each of them, the brother sister duo, and one was for him of course. 'Ash also likes this flavour..' Ian thought as he took a bite of the cake. The other two was still throwing awkward questions at each other as they stayed emerged in their own world. Ian could hear small talks like "How have you been?" "It wasn't too bad working as a knight. What about you?" And then complete silence from the two of them.. And again.. "Are you okay now? Does it hurt anywhere?" "I'm okay. Mister took good care of me." Then silence once again.. 'Wow... So awkward..' Ian tried to ignore the duo next to him as he focused on his precious cake. It was indeed very precious, since the chefs at the duchy spent wee
"Are you sure you'll be okay, son?"Olivia asked as she fixed Ian's collar. It was morning, and time for Ian's departure. He was wearing a plain white shirt and a maroon jacket on top, and black skinny pants. He wanted his attire to be as comfortable as possible.Ash was also wearing similar style clothing and a blue jacket instead. Since he had grown taller and gained some weight, he looked very charismatic in those clothes.'Almost as handsome as me.'Ian thought as he looked at the kid next to him. He wondered why he could find so many similarities between himself and Ash lately, but then he realised he was the one raising that kid. It was obvious they'd look similar, like father and son.Although others would call them brothers, to Ian, Ash was more like a son than a brother. He was too old to have a younger brother that young."Of course, mother. It's something I want to do so I'll be fine."Olivia was full of worries when the ac
"Hot damn! Am I in a fairytale or what?!" Ian admired the scene in front of him as he spoke. The others were also having similar similar thoughts and feelings as they entered the village. The guards on duty at the gate stopped their carriage and asked for identification paper. Ian noticed Corner showing him a badge. The reaction of the guard told him that it was the Dicarious Duchy's badge since the guard almost dropped his jaw in shock. The two exchanged a few more words before they quietly let them enter the village. The way nobody made a fuss at Ian's arrival made him very satisfied with Corner's flexibility. He even felt like patting the guy on the shoulder a few times. "Let's go by foot." Ian peeked through the window as he said. The carriage came to a stop beside the entrance. He wanted to enjoy the festival with Ash and the knights like a normal
"Whoops! Sorry. Bad joke."Ian said as he got in a defensive position. He gave himself an internal slap on the cheek as he started grinning again."Anyways, gramps. When can I meet her?""Her?""I'm talking about grandma! I wanna meet her.""Oho! Yea yea.. Come here in the morning tomorrow. I'll ask her to make some of her special breakfast for you!""It's a deal then!"The other's looked on as Ian made friends with the people in town one by one. Corner was quite surprised to see this friendly side of Ian that wasn't seen very often in the past. He wondered if he should be grateful for the fact that Ian lost his memories. But a question also arose alongside that thought.'Just what kind of memory was he carrying all on his own that made him turn out like that?'He wanted to ask. But he also
"Wait. Are we lost?"Ian stopped walking as he looked around, not being able to find any familiar traces anywhere."I don't think that's the case, young master."Steve said as he unsheathed his sword. Ian wasn't as alerted as Steve was, but he also asked Jet and Canis to stay on guard."It's too quiet."There was no sign of life even when they scanned their surrounding with mana. Instead, the mana around them seemed to be acting weird, their pattern different from the natural pattern of mana.The both of them could come to the same conclusion at that point. Someone was artificially controlling the mana."Damn.. What now?"Ian complained as he started walking. There was no reason to stay frozen in one place just because of this."Y-young master! Where are you going?"Steve asked as he hurriedly tagged alone, this time making sure he doesn't passout like before."I do
While Ian was busy enjoying his time inside the cave, the others were turning paler and paler as they heard Steve's explanation.Steve was a talented and skilled knight without question. But even someone like that was thrown away by that 'monsters' one swipe of a hand. He didn't even have time to protest or hold his ground. They couldn't even begin to fathom how powerful he was or what type of awful things Ian must be going through at the moment.By Steve's explanation, it was pretty clear to them that Ian sent Steve out in exchange for his own presence, meaning, to them, it looked like Ian was sacrificing himself to save Steve. Even Steve, who hadn't realised this fact before now, had a grim expression on his face as Corner pointed out this fact to the others."He's doing it again.. ""He's sacrificing himself for others once again..""Why does he do this for us? We're not even worth a single strand of his hair!""Brother.. he's