Chapter 4: Desolate Village

I can only pat my sister's head and let her cry on my chest.

"I-I promise you! I-I will be the greatest! I-I will not be a crybaby anymore!"

"Of course. I know you will be able to do it. You are my sister, after all."

"T-Then… Then you will not need to leave alone! I-I will be the one protecting you!"

"Of course. I believe in you and look forward to that future."

She looked at me with a face full of tears and snot.

"Y-You are not m-making fun of my dream?"

"Why would I do that? You are my sister, and I believe you can do it. Working hard and being the best of the best. I will always believe in you because you are my sister."

I give her a big smile and pat her head one more time. Ah! There goes another wave of tears. I can only pat her head while she hugs me even tighter than before. I look around, and the servant who will come with me smiles at me.

Oi! Can't you help me?! Oi! Sebastian! Why are you laughing?! You are supposed to be my personal butler, but here you are laughing! I can see it even when you cover your mouth!

Urg. These people…

Why do I hire them again? Right because the servant following before is fired, for they are nothing but a spy to the other nobles. Urgh. Oh well.

After another minute of crying, my little sister looks at me and says,

"Just wait, brother. I will be the best."

"En. I will be waiting for that day to come."

I pat her head one last time before getting into the carriage, and the servant starts to move.

"I wonder why she wants to be the best."

"Ah, you forgot about it, huh, young master?"

I snap from my thoughts and look at Sabastian, who is the coachman for today's journey and say.

"What is it? What is it that you know that I forget?"

"Your little sister will join the academy because of how much mana she has inside her body."

"Oh! Right!"

The Vermillion Academy is the biggest and the most prestigious academy in the entire continent. That place is the academy many people want to get into.

Vermillion Academy is a place to learn magic where only a certain individual can get inside the place. Annie is among the people who get accepted into that place because of how big her mana reserve is.

Well, not too big. She is above average but is put into the category of prodigy because of how young she is. However, among the prodigies, she is still average and needs to work hard if she wants to be the best of the best.

That is the only reason my father let me fire all the servants who bad mouth Annie and why he let me hire all the servants that serve Annie and me. As long as we are useful, he will let us do anything.

"Haaaa… When will she go to the academy?"

"When she reaches the age of twelve, young master."

"So, two more years and three years before she gets her blessing, huh?"

Two years, huh? Can I support her for only two years?

I open my system and sigh a little.

Please don't disappoint me, buddy. You are my only hope to support her. I don't want something powerful or anything. Just enough to make her grab her dream, and I will be happy. I release another sigh and close my system.

"Young master really loves your sister, huh?"

"Of course. She is my sister, after all. That is only logical sense, right? Brother needs to take care of his sister, after all."

"If only the first young master agrees with you."

Ah, that arrogant bastard, huh? He is tolerable when he has yet to awaken his blessing, but after getting his blessing, which is [Sword Grandmaster] [B-Rank], he becomes too arrogant for my liking.

He kept bragging to my face that I was just a useless son and would not be worth anything. With the news of my getting an E-rank blessing, his bragging worsened. I really need to thank my father for getting me away from him and then punch him for getting me away from my sister.

Oh, well. That is for the future. For now, I need to take care of my territory and then support my sister. Punching that man's face is my third priority for now.

"Sebastian, how long will it take us to get to my territory?"

"We should arrive there before the sun goes down if there is no problem along the way. It is not too far away, after all."

"I see. Wake me up when we arrive, will you?"

"Of course, young master. I will wake you up."

"Thank you."

=//=

"Young master. Young master"

I snap my eyes open and open the door where Sebastian stands there with a worried expression. I frown and get out of the carriage. I'm greeted with nothing but a desolate village when I leave the carriage.

I didn't see anyone in this place, only an abandoned building.

"This is my new territory?"

There is nothing in this place! The land is barren, and there is no source of water in this place! I thought that he would send me to an oasis village. I see. He did not lie to me. He just did not mention that the thing that makes it an oasis is already gone.

"Heh… Hahahahaha! I see! You shitty father. You did not want me to be alive, huh? This is a gentle way to say that I'm banished."

I laugh for another minute before looking at the servant coming with me.

"You guys can go back. I don't want you guys to bear this humiliation with me."

Instead of walking away, the servants look at each other, and Sebastian walks forward.

"What are you talking about, young master? We will not run away just because there is a problem in front of us. We will continue to be on your side and help you just like how you hold your hand when we are down."

I look at them for a few seconds and give a small laugh.

"Ahhh… What kind of servant do I hire? They keep disobeying my order."

I release one last laugh before saying.

"Very well! If you want to come with me, then don't blame me for working you guys to the bone! We will turn this place into paradise! Our paradise! The place where our descendants can come and admit that this is paradise compared to other cities!"

"OOOOHHHH!"

I smile a little at their shout of agreement.

"Come! The first thing we need to do is fix this place. I will heal this place."