Ruins, Ruiners, And A Shitty Brother

"Halt!"

Our carriages soon stopped after hearing the order from a knight that Verl trusted for this trip.

At this moment, a week and a half passed since we left the Duke's Land and so far we didn't encounter pointless trouble.

Isaac kept a quiet watch, doing his job.

Well, on the outside.

In reality, I found that he was trying to keep a keen lookout on me to see if I'll cause trouble. If that happens, he will surely draw his sword in front of me.

Aside from that, the travel passed without a hitch.

We stopped at some inns and taverns to take rest, eat, and sleep. Along the way, I was met with beautiful sceneries, passed some lands, cities, and towns, and even saw some ruins and ruiners.

"We'll rest at this place for today," Yower, who was in the front with the driver of this carriage, ordered calmly.

The knight from earlier and Yower were having the same thoughts of relaxing at this place for now.

"Let's go."

Since everyone agreed, I had no complaints. Everything was so simple to understand.

…

"Hey, time to eat. Just so you know, I'm not your maid to remind you every time and… grow up will you?"

Isaac warned with a disgruntled tone which I completely ignored and merely nodded without any emotion, replying to him to only wait outside.

In just a minute, I chose something comfortable to wear. Brown pants, a white shirt, and black shoes. As I have to maintain an image of a noble, I tidy myself up.

"Come," Opening the door, I softly said, not even looking at Isaac as we began walking through the inn and moved toward the dining hall.

"Full, huh."

"There's one available,"

Isaac said, shifting his head at some table, and our eyes soon landed on two people silently eating.

"Uhm, nope,"

"Hey," Isaac blocked the way I was supposed to return back, continuing with a serious tone, "I don't know what your family situation is and I wasn't planning on interrupting that. My orders are to keep you fed. I will not let you go back,"

I was on the verge of arguing back, but seeing those sharp eyes gazing at my well-being that would definitely hit me first before dragging me to that table the moment my mouth uttered something it didn't want, I gave up.

"All right, all right. Geez,"

Shaking my head helplessly, I proceed to follow Isaac and sit at the same table where my other siblings are eating.

Their reactions are somewhat expected as they flinched while looking at me with horror before diverting their attention to the food, trying to avoid my gaze as possible.

Letting out a sigh from my mouth, I take everything easy while eating my food. While doing it, the sound of people talking passed through my ears.

"Another ruin emerged. They said it's an Intermediate Grade Ruin. The Governer's guild is currently asking for assistance to clear it. Do you have someone you know?"

"Two Basic Grade Ruin is being sold at an underground auction just yesterday. When they checked the inside of it, they were greatly shocked as a lot of Pieces were seen. They were very rare,"

"Hey, did you know the news already? Strange things were happening throughout the kingdom and also towards the other kingdoms,"

'Ruins, huh,'

Going in and out of such places as taverns, inns, and bars is the most frequent way to learn some information but the thing is, people wouldn't know if it's true or not. They have to check it for themselves and see if it's true but those who have experience would try a different approach.

Unofficial gatherings, private meetings, and Ruiner conventions are three cases.

You could get much information there, even confirm if the rumors and information outside were true but with an exchange that has the same amount of their answers.

An example of the information one could acquire is Ruins.

Whether it was a newly discovered or old one didn't matter as Ruins are one of the sources of power in this world. The people who use the powers of the Ruins, mainly Piece, are called Ruiners.

Ruins had various grades which are basic grade ruin, intermediate grade ruin, upper-grade ruin, and proficient grade ruin with basic being the lowest and proficient being the highest.

The rewards people could reap there are enormous. One of those rewards is called Pieces.

Once they consume or control a Piece, they would able to use its power. This has been proven through trial and error and there are certain limitations like any other powers.

The person is capable of knowing it since it was his or her own power they acquired. It was an involuntary passed of powers that has no definite explanation.

Apparently, Pieces are not as powered as someone may think. It just increases the strength of the person but if someone doesn't have definite training or has a certain amount of physique or has compatibility of the item, they would likely fail or be crippled.

It was only natural that since there are advantages, there could be also disadvantages.

The Fordent Kingdom controlled a large sum of Ruiners, adding them to their arsenal with knights and guards. There is also an official organization of this kingdom that almost everyone looked upon which is named, The Justice.

They at least control or consume four Pieces with the help of other people who have certain qualifications or experience to assist them.

Ruiners are also ranked.

Starting from Progression 0 which is the normal people who undergoing of consuming or controlling a Piece. Progression 1 is the people who had one Piece and can control it with ease and is starting to control another piece. Progression 2 are the people who are near controlling their new Piece or had two Piece to control with ease or they could control their previous piece and is starting to get the hang of the second one.

It goes on and on and as of now, the highest person who had the largest Piece consumed or controlled of this kingdom is Progression 10.

He goes by the alias Demolisher.

Anything above Progression 10 is unknown. At least, that's what I know on the surface.

'It's like other types of novels I read. There's one particular novel I remember though,'

Looking at the person beside me, I can't help but muse, 'Isaac is a special case of Ruiner. I don't know his backstory but in one of the talks with the second prince Robyn, he mentioned that he was trapped in a ruin when he was a kid, acquiring something along the way.

It's basically the system. And speaking of his system…

'It seems he really had stopped using it for the time being. Damn, this guy. I understand the danger of something unknown but… that's a treasure you got right there! Why aren't you using it to improve yourself?!'

I could only complain inwardly, looking angrily at Isaac, who shifted his gaze at me, giving me a frown.

'Right, he talked about earlier if I was a Ruiner, and when I said I wasn't, he completely ignored me. I wonder what was that about? God, if I had the strength, just want to smack his head—'

"Cough!"

All of a sudden, due to the excessive food I had eaten, I choked myself while thumping my chest. Isaac finds it amusing as he only watches me with a smile while the workers hastily get a glass for me to drink but… it wasn't them who rescued my stupidity.

"H-here. P-p-please drink,"

It was Lori who had given me a drink.

I quickly grab it forcibly, chugging the whole water down before gasping breaths for half a minute.

"Sigh, unfortunately, you survive." Isaac shakes his head while the corner of his lips curled upwards.

'Unfortunately? You damn psycho!' I shouted inwardly, glaring at him for a moment before moving the glass to the side with the intention of giving it back to Lori.

But she quietly moved back to her initial position with a hint of nervousness and fear on her face.

Seeing both the pitiful situation of the siblings, I can't help but let out a sigh from my mouth.

I actually took sympathy for Lori since she was the one who had her ego and confidence damaged because of this guy. Not just her ego but her whole personality.

Raging from two to six years old, Lori was a cheerful side but when she turned seven and above, this trash guy started to torment her, saying some nasty things that could easily make the child depressed. Her mental illness was evident but as of now, she hides it very well from everyone, including Verl.

Well, their mother died giving birth to her and Noelle probably didn't like it at all.

Where do I even know this? It's not like Noelle's memories were passed to me.

Actually, this is one of the scenes of the kidnapping arc where Isaac rescued Lori and they have a serious talk in a prison and Lori began to tell her story which is very sad in my opinion. At that moment, Lori finally had someone to call big brother.

All in all, Noelle is trash and a shitty brother.

After that, I somehow remembered what happen. Noelle survived the kidnapping arc and the situation between him and Isaac worsened.

It made me subconsciously shiver while looking at my side.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

"Can you stop being stingy? I came here with good intentions," I said, wiping my mouth with a napkin before standing up from my place, removing my nervousness before continuing, "Take care of Lori for me. I know you have the qualifications,"

Since what Noelle—no, since what I've done is beyond repairable, it's better to hand it on to someone who could truly take care of Lori. And it should be someone whom I could trust and with a personality, I knew.

I could be gone in a year now after I helped this world to prepare the anomalies hence it wouldn't be bad for that someone to form a connection with my little poor sister.

Thankfully, those qualifications had been met by this guy on my front.

"… the hell are you spouting now?" With a frown, Isaac replied.

I could only shrug my shoulders, giving him a nonchalant look, "No reason,"

I bid farewell and asked the guards to leave me alone, but they were persistent in doing their jobs as they remained in their position where they could look after my room, requesting the same thing for Isaac to do the same.

On the quiet and peaceful night, I wrote a letter that was obviously meant for Isaac to see since he was the only one who had the right to enter the room I was staying in. Verl made clear of this.

The moment I knew the guards and Isaac left their guards down, making them think I was already fast asleep, I escaped my room through an available window.

I left the necessities I didn't need, similar to those things, and the letter I had written on the desk.

That's right; I left the room I was staying at without garnering the attention of everyone.