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“He was a strange man.”

That was Louis Larchevia’s assessment of the hero Siyun.

Kalia thought such an evaluation was truly unfitting. In her view, there weren’t many people as simple-minded as Siyun.

Indeed, her brother didn’t understand Kalia either. Not even her desire to distance herself from power, nor her decision to risk her life to become the commander of the knight order and join the hero’s party.

“There are plenty of people who can take your place. Does the Duke’s second daughter really need to risk her life?”

That was her brother’s remark.

Kalia thought her brother didn’t genuinely worry about her. Being the Duke’s second daughter wasn’t enough to inherit the title, but it certainly was too much to marry another noble. Kalia had grown up hearing that she was beautiful since childhood. Even if she wasn’t at the level to be called the most beautiful in the kingdom, she could certainly hold a prominent spot at a ball.

Kalia thought it made her brother uncomfortable to see her lowering her own “value” by making scars on her body. That was why he likely said such things.

However, it seemed that the man named Louis was not someone who could be understood with such simple thinking.

Sometimes Kalia felt that Louis truly cared for her. Difficult letters from the battlefield sent through the knight order, the gear and supplies steadily provided in the name of the family.

If the heartfelt words written in those letters were calculated, Louis would indeed be a terrifying person.

He was obsessed with power. Even someone who was clearly a good person, a hero directly chosen by the goddess, sought means to oppose his rivals.

Yet at the same time, he genuinely worried about his younger sister. He urged her to quit while secretly supporting her so that she wouldn’t get entangled with his enemies on the battlefield.

This duality looked endlessly strange to Kalia.

Kalia’s brother, Louis, couldn’t understand Kalia, and at the same time, Kalia, Louis’s sister, couldn’t understand her brother Louis either.

Perhaps that was because their thoughts were so different. He was someone who often thought more about his rivals than family. Kalia wondered if he had ever loved someone. Well, it also didn’t seem that his wife was particularly unhappy; after all, she resembled Louis quite a bit.

“I tried to find a weakness.”

Louis spoke to Kalia as if confessing.

“But that weakness was just nowhere to be found. At first, I thought that was why the goddess sent him. If he had no attachment to this world and no family, he wouldn’t be swayed by political weaknesses.”

In front of Kalia, who had come to persuade him, he fiddled with his glass.

Alcohol dulls the mind, so he refrains from drinking unless absolutely necessary, and tea only makes him dizzy. That was Louis’s usual principle.

To gain power, he suppresses even his own desires. No, perhaps his desire for power was so immense that other desires were pushed aside, Kalia thought.

“I’ve tried to create a weakness. After seeing the party formed, I seriously considered using a companion as a weakness.”

To think that her brother could entertain such notions against a hero directly sent by the goddess, Kalia was genuinely amazed.

She had known he thought this way for some time, but she never imagined he would put it into action.

“But oddly enough, all of the hero’s companions are key figures in the kingdom. If I made them my enemies, they could tear my territory to shreds. They’re not just ‘people with power;’ they are truly individuals who possess terrifying strength.”

Louis let out a light sigh.

“Moreover, they were people I couldn’t bribe in any way. Money, honor, and even flattery wouldn’t work on these zealots. Not to mention the elves. They certainly don’t have a favorable view of the kingdom’s nobility or royalty.”

Indeed.

Kalia understood her brother could think that way. He didn’t believe in miracles that pure goodness could bring about. He was a person who thought that in order for something to exist, there had to be something in return.

After all, there were things that came and went even in the relationship with the hero. It just wasn’t something easily visible to the eye.

“Before long, his presence became too large. So much so that I can no longer touch it. Even if he is royalty, if I deny him, the people will rise up. I could suppress them, but could we suppress a hero? Would he just stand by and watch as the people suffer?”

Louis frowned.

“Thinking like that struck me as strange. It was a seriously flawed thought. Something felt fundamentally twisted.”

Seeing Louis deep in thought for the first time in a long while brought a bit of freshness to Kalia’s eyes. As Kalia looked at him with a hint of interest, Louis suddenly asked her.

“After thinking for quite some time, I finally understood. Kalia, tell me what a noble is.”

“Those who serve the people.”

“Do you truly think that way?”

“No.”

“Right. If they truly served the people, they shouldn’t be up there. Of course, many noble children do go to the battlefield. They fight with their lives. Just like you.”

Louis fixedly stared at Kalia as he continued.

“But that’s not simply because it’s a noble action they are taking. It’s a kind of investment. If they fight and return alive, they earn legitimacy as nobles. But is it only nobles who fight there?”

No.

Of course not, the number of common soldiers fighting far exceeds that of nobles.

Nobles come to participate as commanders and leaders. They lead troops composed of commoners.

The probability of death isn’t significantly different, but if you count the number of deaths, it’s overwhelmingly the soldiers.

“Do all those who die or return injured receive noble titles?”

Of course not.

There is compensation. It is certainly not a small amount. But it feels insufficient as the value of a human life.

Those who achieve deeds that cannot just be glossed over receive titles. But such cases are extremely rare. So should titles be stripped from noble children who die without achieving such feats?

Of course not.

Rather, they simply garner sympathy as those who sent their children to war while being nobles.

“A noble is a noble because they are noble. To become a Duke like us, at the very least, one must bear the blood of royalty or be the husband of a queen. And to do that, one must first be a noble. The queen won’t marry a commoner… unless they’re a hero, perhaps.”

Kalia now understood what Louis was trying to convey.

“If a hero were to say he wants to marry a princess, then it would indeed happen. If he says he wants to become king, then it will happen. If he claims the name of the dynasty as his own, then it will happen. But he desires none of that. He does not think he particularly wants all those things that everyone desires. Why?”

Louis’s brow furrowed.

“Nobles wrap themselves in the facade of sacrificing for the people to gain power. But that is not the reality. That process is merely a negotiation with the people, daring to make the minimum sacrifice understandable to them while navigating precariously. And to hold the right to negotiate, one must be born at least a noble…”

Louis looked at Kalia.

“Then what if someone were to truly sacrifice for the people? Not a noble’s child, nor a royal’s child, but someone who has been sent directly by the goddess, someone with an unparalleled birth status? Wouldn’t that frankly upend the cause and effect we think we understand? Wouldn’t it be truly recognized as a ‘noble’?”

Incorrect.

He believed everyone to be a precious existence. Truly. That’s why he lamented every death. He blamed himself for the deaths he could not prevent and worked tirelessly to save the world as quickly as possible. He never served anyone. He only felt sorrow because he thought everyone was just like him.

Kalia felt displeasure at the fact that her brother’s fundamental premises were all wrong.

“And I feared that strange man. He shattered all the premises we think are true within just five years. Even without realizing it.”

“So, are you afraid of bringing him over, brother?”

“Well…”

Louis leaned back in his chair, frowning.

“…I am afraid. But…”

Louis fell silent for a moment, thinking, before speaking.

“If we are to summon him, I will cooperate.”

Louis provided no further explanation.

Kalia, on the contrary, thought she couldn’t understand her brother.