This Clumsy Brother Of Mine

The hours dragged by agonizingly slowly to Rowan. He had been unable to fall asleep completely, waking up and worrying himself sick about his brother's condition. It was not until around 7am that a nurse came looking for him.

"Hello, you are Rowan Heart, yes?" The beautiful Drubad nurse asked as she blinked her eyes at Rowan. She was surprised at how much he looked like his brother, although his hair was darker, and his features were a bit on the softer side.

"Yes, I am. Please how is my brother doing?" Rowan quickly sat up and asked.

"Your brother is doing good. He is in a stable condition, and you are now allowed to see him. Please follow me." The nurse smiled comfortingly at him before leading him down the corridor that led to the ward that he had followed Marcel to the night before.

There, he noticed that the people that had been unconscious at that time were now awake, and were talking amongst each other. Marcel was also there, and smiled at Rowan when he stepped into the room.

He knew that Rowan would be more interested in seeing his brother than getting acquainted with the other team members there, so he did not bother.

The nurse took Rowan over to an isolated bed that was occupied. The moment Rowan saw the familiar face of the occupant of the bed, he rushed forward, but held himself back at the last moment. Eric was sleeping at the moment, and it would not do to wake him up.

"He should be awake soon, so you can rest easy." The young nurse patted his shoulder before turning to leave.

"Thanks." Rowan absently thanked her before taking a seat on the empty bed beside Eric's. There were no seats close by so he decided to sit there.

Before he knew it, he was laying down, and then in a few more moments, he drifted off into another sleep. Now that he knew his brother was going to be okay, he was finally able to sleep well.

.

.

Bam!

Rowan jerked awake as he fell on the floor. He had rolled off the bed that he was sleeping on.

"Ow..." He groaned and rubbed his sore bottom.

"This clumsy brother of mine..." A quiet voice reached his ears, startling him and wiping away any remnants of sleep still lingering in his eyes.

"Eric!" Rowan almost jumped on his brother, but held himself back again when he remembered that he was injured. "You've got guts to call me clumsy when you're the one that's injured." Rowan retorted, but he couldn't wipe the grin on his face.

"Argh... I might be injured, but that doesn't mean I can't give my little brother a hug." Eric forced himself into a sitting position and opened his arms for a hug. Rowan hesitated when he saw the bandages that were firmly wrapped around his brother's torso, but eventually went for the hug.

"Wow, the captain is openly showing his emotions." A whistle came from the direction of Eric's teammates, and he flashed them the bird.

"Shut up." He grumbled with a scowl before turning back to Rowan. "It has only been half a year and you've grown this much. I guess mom was hiding the good stuff, huh?" Eric laughed gently, but had to stop when he felt his injuries radiate some pain.

Just then, a small delegation of people stepped into the ward. The person at the front looked over to the brothers, before turning back to his guards and telling them something. The guards took up posts at the door while he made his way over.

"Uncle Freeman." The two brothers greeted the Director.

"Eric, Rowan. I'm terribly sorry that your reunion had to be soured by such an event." Freeman approached them with a wry smile.

"It's fine, Uncle Freeman. None of us could have predicted that such a simple mission could turn out so awry." Eric waved away the old director's concerns.

"Ah, Lena is probably going to kill me when she hears about this." Freeman gave a helpless sigh. He could only imagine Lena's furious yells as she complained about him putting her children in danger.

The two brothers shared a look before chuckling to themselves. The sight of it annoyed Freeman, though. How could he be here, lamenting about how their mother would scold him, and the two boys didn't even give a damn?!

Freeman spent some more time talking with them before eventually switching back to his serious persona.

"Ah, let's talk business. I know you were injured, but were you able to secure the fruit? Even the tiniest bit of it?" He asked.

"Yes, we were able to secure a third of it. That was all we could get from the entire trove before we were forced to retreat." Eric also switched to a more serious and dignified persona. Rowan could see the leader in his brother. Eric truly took after their father to a scary degree. "Marcel handed it over to the Resource Redemption Department upon our arrival."

"Oh, I see. I did not even stop by there before coming here." Freeman nodded his head as he thought. "I guess we should expect Rowan to be a Baron soon, then." He smiled suddenly.

"What? You want to use it on Rowan?" Eric was surprised.

"Yes. The sooner the better. That way, we can use the news of his successful advancement to distract Lena from your injuries." Freeman grinned as he formulated his master plan.

While the two Nobles discussed, Rowan quickly found himself lost and confused. He tried to speak a couple of times, but paused in order to compose his words.

"What are you guys talking about?" He eventually settled on the most simple and direct question he could use.

"Ah, you have not been exposed to these things for long, but no worries." Freeman began, but reduced his voice as he spoke, as if he was afraid of someone hearing him talk about a secret. He had forgotten that he was the director of the organization for a moment. "There are certain treasures that can boost the growth of a Noble. Sometimes, it can even allow a commoner that had failed to generate a geno armament and become a Noble to have another chance and become a Noble! I want to use part of this treasure to enhance your advancement speed so that you may become a Noble in a week's time."