Zich went to the Count’s room after he was summoned there. He wasn’t told the reason why the Count was calling him, but it was obvious that it would be about Greig. He could easily imagine the Countess, who had glared at Zich the entire time during his training with Greig, pestering the Count to do something about the situation. Of course, Zich wasn’t afraid, and there wasn’t a hint of worry in his steps.
Zich went inside the Count’s room and saw that there was also another guest: the Countess. She sat right beside the Count and glared menacingly at Zich as soon as he came in. Zich smiled, further infuriating the other party with his response, and the Countess scowled even more. Zich tilted his head in front of the Count. Zich’s etiquette was far too lacking to address a count, but nobody made complaints about it now at this point.
“I heard you called for me.”
“Do you know why I called you?”
“I can only think of one thing. Isn’t it related to Greig?”
“What else?” The Countess, instead of the Count, answered this time. “How dare you abuse the Steelwalls’ heir in such a way! Inside the Steelwalls’ estate too! Do you think we would just look over this matter?’
“What do you mean abuse? It seems like you have a huge misunderstanding about the situation. What I am doing is treating him.”
“Treating? What kind of damn cure is this?”
“This is a very specialized treatment, so I don't think you would know of it, Countess. Think of it like this: the more bitter a medicine is, the more effective it is. And the harsher the medicine is, there ought to be more side effects. This is the case for the treatment that I am using.”
“You blabber on so well…! Quit what you are doing this instant! How dare you call the nonsense you are doing as treatment!”
“I refuse.”
“What…?”
Zich pulled his eyes away from the Countess, and he stared at the Count with dissatisfaction. “Isn’t this a bit different from our promise, Count? I thought I requested you to not meddle no matter what kind of treatment I use. I also specifically mentioned the Countess and asked you to hold her back from intervening. Yet, you ignored all that. To tell you the truth, this is very disappointing.”
“…Do you really think your methods will be effective?” The Count didn’t sound pleased, but perhaps he was maintaining his cool because he had promised before.
“Of course,” Zich responded succinctly, and the Count clutched his head while the Countess looked enraged. However, Zich didn’t care whatever response these two showed.
“If that’s all you needed to ask me, I will be going now. Staying any longer will just be a waste of time.” Then, Zich turned his back.
“Wait! I’m not done speaking!”
“The conversation is over, Countess. Since the Count has already made his promise, talking any more would be a waste of time. If you wish for me to stop the treatment, the Count should cancel the promise on his end. Well, unless the Count wants to partake in this treatment himself?”
“How would the Count be able to treat his son in such a way!”
“Then, I suppose we are done talking,” Zich said. He then opened the door and left the room. Before he closed the door, he saw the Countess clutch onto the Count’s arm and beg. The Count looked deeply troubled, but he didn’t call for Zich again. His silence was already his answer and permission for Zich to continue.
‘Great. I can keep messing with him.’ Zich smiled in satisfaction.
* * *
Zich continued his ‘psychological treatment for Greig’ today like usual. When Zich’s sword clashed against Greig’s, he backed away. He didn’t lose his grip over his sword, but Greig’s sword bounced off to the side because of the might of Zich’s attack, and Greig’s torso came into view.
Punch! Zich kicked Greig’s stomach. Babam! Greig rolled across the training ground. He had rolled countless times on the training ground now. It was to the point that he had probably spent half the day laying on the ground.
“Get up, you bastard!” Zich yelled. Greig staggered upwards. He had held onto his sword after getting hit so many times, showing that he was from a military family after all. However, Zich was dissatisfied.
‘I’m starting to get bored of this.’ Although Zich prided himself for never getting bored of tormenting others, the other party needed to struggle more than what Greig was doing now for him to enjoy it. Yet, the current Greig didn’t show the response Zich wanted. Usually, he would’ve provoked his opponent with another weakness to make them resist again, but since he was trying to cure Greig, he couldn’t use the same method he used on his enemies.
‘Still, he has become used to bloody fights.’ Greig wouldn’t be able to accomplish amazing feats on battlefields, but he was not at a point where he could maintain his cool after receiving severe injuries. Of course, the treatment wasn’t over with just that yet.
‘There’s no way he’ll beat me, but I have to make him bare his fangs.’ Currently, Greig was so unconfident that he only focused on blocking Zich’s attacks. It couldn’t be said that he was used to duels now. For him to really recover from the shock and trauma that stemmed from that one duel, Greig needed to rush at Zich like a crazy dog even at the risk of injuring himself.
‘He doesn’t need to worry about dying, and he can immediately heal himself after getting injured. He won’t have such an opportunity again. He really is one lucky guy.’ Zich thought Greig should consider it the world’s greatest fortune that he had a great brother like Zich—he thought this not knowing that if Greig had heard Zich’s thoughts, he would have dashed at Zich with all he had.
Clang! Zich’s sword clashed against Greig’s again. Greig’s body lost its balance, but he soon regained his stance. Then, Zich showed a slight opening. Greig flinched, but he didn’t dive in. He hadn’t realized that Zich purposefully showed him an opening, but he was simply too afraid to attack Zich.
‘As I thought, I have to use something stronger.’ Zich thought, then said, “Hey, do you even have any intention to try?” Zich hung his sword on his shoulder. “It’s only natural you can’t land a finger on me, but have you even forgotten how to try?”
Greig didn’t answer. He was simply waiting for this hell to be over and was already used to Zich’s provocations. Howver, what Zich said next ruffled him up slightly.
“Tch, tch! Can you even go around saying that you are my brother at this rate? Ah, I guess it can’t be helped since we are half-brothers. Our bloodlines are so different.” Greig stared at Zich, and Zich continued, “We have one father, but since there’s so much difference between us brothers, isn’t it obvious what the reason would be?”
“…Shut up.”
“Huh? So, you do know how to talk. I thought you suddenly forgot how to talk. I still can’t shut up because I don’t think I’m saying anything wrong. Well, even though my mother’s personality is too terrible to be expressed in words, it seems like she definitely had better skills than your mother. If there’s such difference between their children, it’s obvious…”
“Shuuuut up!”
Bam! Greig’s sword collided against Zich’s. Mana poured out from Greig’s sword and his eyes looked bloodshot.
“Haha! What! You angry at me for insulting your mom?”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! “
Bam! Bam! Bam! Greig furiously swung his sword. Instead of using swordsmanship skills, he simply swung his sword in a rage. Due to the heavy force he used, each of his strikes went down with a heavy thud. His stance was also not too crumpled thanks to the heavy training that had been ingrained into him since childhood.
“Do you even know what your mother did to my mother! To me!” Greig yelled. The time when Zich’s mother was alive, his and his mother’s days had been a living hell. Although the Count tried to protect them as much as possible, Sara Steelwall’s shady tricks knew no bounds. Greig could still remember everything as clear as day, especially the sight of his mother crying painfully while hugging him. Even though he had been very young at the time, he would never forget these memories.
It was so bad that Greig imagined Sara Steelwall to be the Demon Lord in the stories that his nanny read to him. A normal person might have tried to kill them by poisoning them or using other methods if they hated another person so much, but Sara Steelwall did everything except for things that would lead them to their deaths. It wasn’t because she was concerned about the Count’s thoughts or because she thought killing them would be going too far. It was because she wanted to keep them alive by her side to torment them as long as possible.
Punch! Zich’s fist landed on Greig’s face. Greig rolled on the floor again, but unlike before, Greig jumped back up and rushed toward Zich again. There was bloodlust in his eyes.
“Are you really expecting me to sympathize with you right now? There’s a part of me who wants to listen to my brother’s first heartfelt confession, but I’m just telling the truth. The difference between us is attributed to this fact. I have a sickness that prevents me from lying, so I can’t tell you pretty lies that you want to hear!”
“Shut up!”
Claang! The two swords clashed again. It was their first time fighting like they were in a duel since that time. Of course, Zich was clearly overwhelming his opponent, but Greig didn’t give up and continued to rush forward. No, rather than not giving up, the description that he lost his sanity would be more accurate.
Crunch! Zich’s sword dug into Greig’s arm. Normally, Greig would have screamed then and backed away, but it was different this time.
Whoosh! Without even glancing at his forearm, he swung his sword with his other hand.
‘He learned that from me. This guy has talent too.’
Ting! Zich deflected Greig’s blade, but Greig gritted his teeth and swung his sword again. The injury on his arm grew larger, but he didn’t care about that. Zich was very satisfied. The situation he had wanted was finally taking form.
‘Yeah! This is how the treatment is effective!’ It also made the feeling of punching Greig more enjoyable on top of that.
‘Thank you, Mother!’ Zich thought and focused on the duel once more.
* * *
Since Zich and Greig started their dueling, there were always onlookers surrounding the training ground. Today, Zich’s companions were also spectating Lyla sat next to Hans, and she asked him cautiously, “Was Zich’s mother that amazing of a person?”
Hans fell into deep contemplation. If he talked about Sara Steelwall, that would only mean that he would have to insult her. Thus, he needed to think whether Zich would leave him alone if he talked about her.
‘Would it not matter?’ Hans thought. Considering the things Zich said from time to time, it didn’t seem like he had much affection for his mother. Furthermore, he also criticized her sometimes too.
“I can tell you about one of my interactions with her. When I was young, I was eating, but she suddenly came and snatched the bread I was eating and stomped on it with her shoes. Then, she placed the flattened bread onto another plate with food and left.”
The mouths of other people listening to Hans’ story hung open.
“However, what I remember from that time wasn’t her bullying, but madam’s expression. You know, when a person bullies another person, they will usually laugh at them or look enraged, right? But there was no emotion on madam’s face. She just looked like she had slightly pushed a rock away to the side of the streets. It was then I realized that madam was a truly frightening person.”