Chapter 68: Tale of the Chuunibyou hero ( 7 )

Rudeus’s POV

…

… Laurel’s story wasn’t as absurd as he had claimed.  It wasn’t the hero-slaying-dragon story I was expecting. Rather, it was more about how a bunch of kids bully a weakened, lone enemy on a lucky day.

In short, a Red Dragon fell down within their vicinity, so they were forced into battle. Laurel held the dragon down while Linia, Pursena, and a bunch of other kids ganged up on the dragon.

Of course, it was a Red Dragon, and they were kids, so they didn’t manage to do any significant damage. Still, the kids fought valiantly and tired the dragon out long enough for Ghislaine to arrive and one-shot it.

Still, considering most of them were ten, with the oldest being fifteen, it was a feat that could be described as legendary. Gustav seemed so proud after hearing of his granddaughter’s feat, as well as his daughter’s well-being. Family is family, after all.

It seemed like Laurel’s story had ended there. That was, until Geese spoke.

“Eh? Boss? What about your other feats?”

“... What other feats?”

“Don’t joke around, boss. Did you forget that?”

“Ah. Oh. Oh shit.”

Laurel’s expression twisted in horror as Gesse began his story.

“Gentlemen, let me tell you about my six-month campaign with this man.”

…

“There’s no need, for I alone am enough.”

“Oh!”

“When day arrives, I shall wear the mantle of dawn and return with victory.”

“Wow!”

In short, it was cringy as hell. I knew Laurel was a bit of an edge lord, but still, I didn’t think it was THAT bad. Still, it was quite a tale, to the point where my journey through the Demon Continent couldn’t compare.

“A man must do what a man must do.”

“Oh!”

“And with that, he strode off to the battlefield with the reins of a lone horse and a sword on his other.”

“Oh!”

“So long as I, the War God, am here, defeat is impossible!”

Geese was one hell of a smooth talker as well. By the time I had noticed, a lot more people had come to listen to the tale.  Geese was so good at it that people were praising left and right with “as expected of the hero."

In the mean time, the person in question had disappeared midway. I decided to follow him.

…

Laurel was sitting in the middle of nowhere with his legs crossed in a lotus position. He had his eyes closed as if he were hearing something.

“What brings you here, brother?”

… Did this guy have eyes on the back of his head?

“How did you know I was here?”

“I could sense your presence.”

“... Sense my presence?”

“It’s something I recently picked up. Isn’t it ironic?”

“?”

“The scent of rain, the sound of bristling leaves, my eyes are closed, yet I’m seeing more clearly than ever… If this is what magic looks like, then what the hell have I been doing with my life?”

“…”

I stared at my younger brother, who was having an existential crisis out of nowhere. Can you seriously not swing from one phase to another?

“I will not suffer this alone.”

Laurel said as he turned to stare at me. What do you want?

“Rudeus.”

“Yes?”

“Put mana into your fist.”

“?”

This guy… He's not going to start a fistfight with this as an excuse, right? I stared at Laurel suspiciously, but nothing came out. And so I did as I was told, pouring mana into my right hand.

Unlike aura, this clump of mana is pure mana. That is, until Laurel starts poking it.

“What are you—Eh?"

The mana on my hand surged and rattled, forming into shape. Slowly it turned more fitting, sort of like a tight glove. It was, without a doubt, an aura. I stared blankly at my right hand as the glove slowly loosened.

I tried to make it like before, but a loose glove was all I could do. Laurel’s words came right after.

“Do you get it now?”

“Get what?”

“The thing about people with Laplace factor is they can’t use aura. It was a lie.”

“...”

“How does it feel? To have the very foundations of your knowledge, your expediencies and hardships, all unraveled before you… How does it feel to realize that everything you have ever learned turned out to be a lie?”

“...”

… In the first place, what’s the Laplace factor? It’s the first time I’m even hearing of this. That aside…

“Could you teach me more?”

I didn’t think I could manifest an aura. But after experiencing it once, I think I have a feel for it, though some training might be necessary. Seriously, this Laurel really is a treasure trove. Poke him a few times and he pulls out something like this.

Laurel, on the other hand, stared incredulously like he had just seen a monster. His jaw fell to the ground as he continued staring at my expression, muttering something that sounded like, "How can you be so fine after all that?"

…

And just like that, for the following months, I started learning magic from Laurel. That was when I realized two more things about Laurel. One was that he became more methodical at teaching. Two was that, whether it was the sword or the spell, he was incredible.

As expected, just having a demon eye wasn’t going to make me invincible. Right, don’t get a head of yourself, Rudeus. You shouldn’t grow cocky.