Chapter 175

Chapter 175 – With My Brother (2)

“Is it here?”

“Yeah, it’s called Interira’s Guradian Lighthouse.”

With the guidebook Kayone had prepared in hand, Shouhei and I looked up at the lighthouse.

The lighthouse stood tall on a mountain overlooking the city of Inteira.

Inteira is a port city.

It’s not very big, but it has a solid fishing port.

At the foot of the mountain where we are, there were the mansions of the lords of the city, the Inteira family and Atol’s, and from here the city spreads out towards the sea.

“It was big from below, but it’s even bigger up close.”

“You don’t see many lighthouses like this in Japan.”

The lighthouse looked sturdy, built with a lot of red bricks.

The lighthouse’s simple yet somehow solemn atmosphere could be attributed to the fact that its battered exterior walls, which were exposed to the sea wind, had been well repaired.

I see.

On top of this mountain, the light of the lighthouse stands out well even if it is a little far away.

“Did you know? The light at the top is from a magical flame that has been kept alive by generations of lighthouse keepers for hundreds of years.”

“Really? So they’ve been using the same light as a landmark for a long time to guide their ships.”

That’s so romantic.

A magical flame that never goes out and keeps watching over the city of Inteira.

I wonder if that’s where the name guardian comes from.

“Can you go up?”

“The only time it’s open to the public is before the finals of the Sea Dragon Festival. Only lighthouse keepers can enter now.”

The Sea Dragon Festival? You mean the Battle Junkie Festival?

The one that Atol won.

“I wish I could have seen the inside.”

While reading the guidebook in Japanese, Shouhei wiped the sweat from his face with a towel.

We took a bus from the base to the middle of the mountain, and then walked to the top.

It must have been pretty hard for the physically weak Shouhei.

He had been drinking nothing but bottled tea.

The trail was well maintained and had a safety fence, so it was a bit of a steep slope.

My brother’s biggest weakness is that he is not physically strong enough.

It’s not that he can’t exercise, it’s just that he has no endurance.

There’s nothing that can be done about that.

Shouhei has always been a weak person.

When he caught a cold, he would stay in bed for a week, and he also had chronic headaches and stomachaches.

His bronchial tubes were weak and he coughed easily, and he was always too sick to exercise.

Although it got better in his upper years in elementary school, he still complains of headaches when it rains, and he always gets sick in the winter.

The second son of the Kazamachi family is just as sickly as he looks.

“Nii-chan, let’s go over there. Look, you can see the whole city!”

Such a sickly boy is running to the observation space under the lighthouse with sparkling eyes.

“Okay, I get it, so don’t run. You’ll fall.”

You’re awfully energetic even though you’re exhausted from climbing.

Did you want to see it so badly? This lighthouse.

It stands out.

It’s my first time abroad.

It would be a shame if we didn’t visit the famous tourist spots in the area.

There’s a chance that the Kazamachi family’s financial standing will never allow us to leave Japan again, so let’s make sure we enjoy it.

“Hurry up, nii-chan! You can see the ocean! You can see the prince’s house over there.”

“I’ll be right there. Take your time.”

I weaved my way through the noise of other tourists looking up at the lighthouse and setting up their cameras.

I turned on the camera function on my phone and pointed the viewfinder at Shouhei as I walked.

I took a shot of his back as he looked at the scenery happily.

He’s grown up, hasn’t he?

Just a while ago he was only up to my chest, but before I realized it, he’s almost as tall as my neck.

Like Jaja and Nana, Shouhei is growing day by day.

I wonder if he’ll stop acting spoiled with me when he gets a little bigger.

I don’t know much about other siblings, but I think Shouhei and I get along pretty well.

I often get angry with him, but we rarely fight over trivial things these days, and he’s not too selfish.

As the good-for-nothing older brother, I’d like to spoil him a little more, but Shouhei is obedient and smarter than me.

If anything, I feel like I’m taking advantage of him more than he’s taking advantage of me, but I don’t think I should worry about it.

Yeah, let’s not think about it too much.

“I’m glad the weather is nice.”

“Yeah. I wish I could show it to Jaja and Nana.”

Shouhei clung to the fall prevention fence and looked at the scenery.

I stood next to him and looked at his profile as well as the scenery.

The chestnut hair he inherited from mom was swaying in the wind.

“Shall we come back again when Nana is feeling better?”

“Yes. It would be a shame not to see it.”

The two of us looked at the scenery for a while.

I stroked Shouhei’s head for some reason.

I always unconsciously stroke his fine hair because it feels so good to the touch. It’s like a little habit of mine.

“What is it, nii-chan?”

Shouhei looked a little uncomfortable and gave me a protesting look.

“Hmm? Nothing?”

Still, I couldn’t stop stroking him.

That’s good. He might not let me pet him again in a little while, so I’m going to pet him as much as I can while I can.

It’s a big brother privilege.

Is he worried about the tourists around him, he’s embarrassed.

Your ears are bright red, Shouhei?

“… I never would have thought I’d be able to travel abroad last year.”

“Hmm?”

Shouhei muttered in a faint voice.

The strong wind blowing at the top of the mountain made it a little difficult to hear.

“Since we moved here in the spring, it’s been completely different from last year, hasn’t it?”

“That’s true. I never thought I’d have a baby.”

We met Aoi in early spring, Jaja and Nana were born, Rouge came, and then we welcomed Wera and Azui.

In less than half a year, our house has become much livelier.

Even outside of my family, I’m getting to know Mikuma and Saeki sisters even better than before, even though I thought I’d never see them again after moving and changing schools.

I’ve also gotten to know Yuri and Officer Doggy, and even Gasara and the others, with who I had a bad encounter with, are now, well, like my friends…

We were trying so hard to cope with the rapid changes that not only me and Shouhei, but even my dad was very busy.

When I think about it, this is the first time since Jaja and Nana were born, isn’t it?

It was the first time since Jaja and Nana were born that Shouhei and I went out alone.

As a big brother, it’s pathetic.

I can’t believe I’m neglecting my brother like that.

“… At first. I didn’t like it.”

“… Didn’t like what?”

Shouhei, with his arms crossed on the fence and his chin resting on it, looked at the ocean with somewhat distant eyes.

“You know, Aoi-neechan and the little guys.”

“… I see.”

It’s because everything was so sudden.

Maybe it was Shouhei, not me, who was being pushed around the most.

“It’s not like you did anything wrong, but she just suddenly selfishly called you the dad.”

In the early days of living with Aoi and the others, I knew that Shouhei was somewhat distant from Aoi.

At that time, I was so absorbed in taking care of the twins and crying at night that I neglected many things, which may have seemed unreasonable to Shouhei.

I guess he was wondering why his brother.

“She gave birth to the child of the man she fell in love with without permission, and then told nii-chan that you were the father. Now I think about it, it’s really absurd.”

“Aoi was also reserved at first, you know. I was the one who said I would take responsibility for the twins, so don’t blame her too much.”

“I don’t think anything of it now, you know? Aoi-neechan is a good person, and she is a hard worker. Jaja and Nana are cute.”

“I see. Thanks.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

Well, I don’t know.

Lately, I’ve been feeling happy when Aoi compliments me.

It’s a little strange for me.

“Even now, sometimes. Sometimes, when Jaja or Nana cry or act out, I think, ‘Why me’? But when they laugh or act spoiled, I’m like, ‘Oh well’. I don’t know what it is. I can’t really put my finger on it.”

“… When I’m tired or busy, you know. It happens to me sometimes.”

I guess we’re still kids after all this.

“But Aoi-neechan always seem to be fine, doesn’t she? Even after all the crying at night, I think that’s amazing.”

“Yeah, she’s a great mom.”

I’m kind of proud of her.

No matter how cranky Nana gets, or how rambunctious Jaja gets, Aoi will laugh and pick them up.

I often see parenting troubles on TV and in magazines.

My twins are no exception, and every day they have all sorts of little incidents.

Nana throws a tantrum and doesn’t want the baby bottle, Jaja tries to climb on the dining room chair and falls down. Such small problems occur over and over again in a day.

Aoi is always in such a hurry to deal with them that she doesn’t seem to have time to breathe.

But she never complains or whines.

There’s no doubt about it.

There are times when she needs help, and times when she just wants to be alone.

Although she has lived for 250 years, Aoi is still a child compared to the other dragons.

But she’s still a great mother.

It’s not strange to be proud of her, is it?

I want to take care of her somehow.

I’ve been thinking about it, but I don’t know what to do.

“I’m really grateful that you and Yuri-san are here.”

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

Shouhei smiled tantalizingly when I strengthened my hand to pat his head.

We have a lot of people helping us, not just Shouhei.

Compared to other mothers, I think we have a lot of fun.

If it were a normal couple with a child, the husband would have to work to earn money, and the mom would have to raise the child alone for almost half of the day.

In this respect, we have a very experienced mother, Yuri-san, who follows us around, and Rouge, who loves to babysit, is happy to help. Recently, Wera and Azui have also joined us, so we have enough manpower.

Shouhei does half of the housework, and only my dad is at work.

… So I’m the one who’s useless.

I’m the only one doing nothing.

The twins are left to Aoi when I’m at school, and I’m not helping out financially.

I help with the housework, but it’s really very little in the grand scheme of things.

Just cleaning the bathroom and doing the dishes.

If I wasn’t a student, I wouldn’t complain about being called a pimp.

“I should do something about it.”

“What?”

Shouhei looked up at me curiously.

When I brushed the sweaty hair from his forehead, he narrowed his eyes.

“It’s money. It’s getting tougher and tougher for dad to be the sole provider for our family of nine, isn’t it?”

Yes, the Kazamachi family’s finances were already on the verge of the red line.

It doesn’t matter how cute the twins are, money is not something that can be dealt with nicely.

If you don’t go out and earn real money, you’ll never get it.

That’s money.

It’s money.

“Didn’t you say you were thinking about something?”

“Yeah, a little bit. I’ve been talking to Gasara about it.”

If I wanted to get a part-time job in town, I would have to go to the station to find one.

Actually, I’ve been looking for a part-time job since before the summer vacation, but since everyone in the countryside is looking for a way to earn money, I haven’t been able to get a good response.

I mean, I’ve been so busy with Atol and this trip.

“Gasara-niichan?”

“Yeah, a treasure hunter. I was wondering how to become one.”

Yes, I think I can do pretty well.

There is a recently expanded tusk crag dungeon right near our house.

According to Gasara and Seijitsu-san, that dungeon is a typical ‘harvesting dungeon’, the type of dungeon where you can gather dungeon-produced medicinal herbs, spirit plants, and rare minerals.

In order to collect these items, which are sold at a high price depending on the item, it is essential to have a treasure hunter license, which is a qualification to enter the dungeon.

If you don’t have a license, you can’t sell the items you collect to the market.

I’ve been approved by Gasara and Seijitsu-san to be able to handle the dungeon monsters in the surrounding forest area as long as I have the right equipment.

So, if I can get a license, I might be able to make a living in that forest alone.

It may be an easy idea, but if I’m willing to bet on the possibility, I think it’s totally feasible.

When I get back to Japan, I’m going to work it out with Gasara.

“… Are you going to be a treasure hunter?”

“Gasara, who’s the same age as me, can do it, so I feel like I have a chance.”

To be honest, I don’t think I’d lose to Gasara if we were to go at each other with bare hands! Me!

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“The income is worth the risk, and it’s not like I can really become one yet. Don’t worry.”

“Dad’s probably going to say no.”

That’s the thing, isn’t it?

The biggest obstacle is convincing my father.

My father is quite overprotective, even though he looks like that.

“I guess we’ll see about that.”

“I’m against it.”

I patted the pouting Shouhei on the head again.

“Well, it’s still something far away, right? Now, where else are we going?”

“I was thinking of going to lunch. There’s this place.”

Shouhei opened the folded part of the guidebook and happily showed me a picture of the restaurant.

“Wow, it’s nice.”

“Right? We can get some to-go here, so let’s buy some for everyone.”

“Are we going to eat at the house?”

“We have to eat lunch together.”

Really?

Well, it’s better to have a lively lunch.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes!”

Shouhei turned around energetically and hurried to the bus stop.

“It’s not like the store is going to run away, so calm down.”

“I heard it’s going to be crowded, so let’s go quickly!”

It can’t be helped.

He always looks like an adult, but he’s still a kid.

I felt somewhat reassured by the sight of my little brother, and I started walking after him.