I Was Reincarnated As The Brother Of A Villainous Young Lady, But I Couldn't Use Magic, So I Used My Sword To Slash Down The Doom Flag - Chapter 2

After swearing to become stronger than anyone to protect Tilti, the day took a wild turn. Tilti, exhausted or something, crashed as soon as she got inside the house. We had planned to give her a bath and fix her up some food, but all those plans went out the window as she was carried off to bed—still covered in mud.

At least, the maid figured she needed a wipe-down and showed her the door. Not long after, Dad—Garland Ranger—called me and Mom into his office to explain what was going on.

“Sorry for dragging you in like this, but let me explain the situation first… Mira, can you take that dangerous contraption down?”

“Sure thing—I’ll take it down right off your head,” came the cheeky reply.

“Hold on, seriously—let me get this straight: that kid isn’t some secret baby of mine! I just happened to find her by chance and brought her in because leaving her out in the cold would be cruel!”

It looked like Mom had completely misunderstood, thinking Dad was announcing a secret child he’d had somewhere. There she was, vase in hand, ready to lob it at him. I knew that wasn’t the case, but denying it out loud felt awkward. Besides, according to Mom, Dad used to be quite the ladies’ man back in his day.

“Sold, you’ve got to say something too!”

So all I had to say was just one thing:

“Dad… I’ll take care of Tilti as your cherished legacy!”

“That’s not it!! I mean, it’s fine if you care for her, but—”

Dad then flashed a thumbs-up, tears in his eyes as he insisted on his innocence. I decided not to push the matter any further—after all, hitting him more wouldn’t be fair.

“Mom, let’s hear what Dad’s got to say. Depending on his story, the number of times I hit him might just vary.”

“Fine, you’re right. Now, Garland, if you’ve got any excuses, spit ‘em out.”

“Is getting beaten up just part of the deal, or what?”

Looking all dejected, Dad started explaining his side of the story. Admittedly, it mostly confirmed that the otome game story I remembered wasn’t completely off.

“So, you helped bust up a slave dealer and ended up rescuing that kid who’d been captured?”

“Yeah. There were a few others, and we managed to send everyone back who had a home—but that kid, she lost her only relative when she was caught. I thought about putting her in an orphanage, but she was so shocked she could barely speak. Even an orphanage wouldn’t have been able to care for her properly. So I figured, why not adopt her myself?”

“Oh, come on… A kid isn’t like a dog or a cat, you know? You do realize you’re responsible for her for the rest of her life, right?”

Mom sighed and buried her head in her hands. It wasn’t unusual for nobles to adopt children to keep the family line alive or for other reasons, and I wasn’t exactly clueless—I’d spent the past seven years as Sold Ranger, with memories from my past life still fresh in my head. I knew well enough that few nobles would adopt a child simply because she was on the verge of being enslaved.

“I get it. I’ll take care of her until the day she grows up and leaves. And luckily, it seems like you’re on board too, Sold.”

Dad looked at me, and while welcoming Tilti is great, just doing that would only doom both her and the entire Ranger family. So, to set my earlier plan into motion, I decided to push Dad a bit.

“I’m all for welcoming her, but I’ve got one favor to ask, Dad.”

“A favor? What is it?”

“I wanna get strong enough to protect Tilti! Teach me magic!”

The otome game I know—Noblesse Fantasia (or “NobFan” for short)—was nothing like your typical dating sim; it was a hardcore magical action fantasy. Here in the Albert Kingdom, magic knights band together to fight off invading “magic beasts” from another realm. The story kicks off when a heroine, wielding a special kind of magic called holy attribute magic (which is super effective against these beasts), is given special admission into a noble academy to learn how to take them down. Naturally, in that world everyone fought with powerful magic.

I remembered how, in my past life, my little sister would cry because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t beat the game. In a world like that, if I don’t get strong, I might end up dead any day. In short, to protect Tilti and survive, learning magic seemed like the fastest route.

“Ah—sorry, Sold, but that’s not gonna work.”

“Why not? I’ll endure any grueling training you throw at me!”

“No, I don’t mean it like that… You just can’t use magic. You were born with absolutely no magical power.”

Dad pointed at himself. No magical power from birth—basically, in game terms, I’ve got zero MP. No matter how much training I put in, I’d never be able to use magic.

“No—no way…”

I slumped right there, utterly shocked. Dad started to panic as if he hadn’t expected me to take the news so hard.

“Alright, alright, calm down. Magic might be a no-go, but how about the sword?”

“The sword?”

“Yeah, that’s right—the sword’s awesome.”

With that, Dad launched into his own battle tales—how he dashed across battlefields with a sword in hand, earning himself the title and lands of a baron through sheer grit.

“Back in the day, I was amazing, you know? No magic could stand up to my sword. I’d slice through everything, one enemy after another, and that’s how they started calling me the ‘Sword Saint’…”

“Oh, come on… not that ridiculous of a lie again…”

“I’m not lying—every word’s true!!”

Mom didn’t seem to buy it, but I thought it was at least plausible. Sure, most characters in the game relied on magic, but there were a few who used pure swordsmanship as a backup—and I even heard of some monster players who beat the game using only non-magical sword attacks. If they could do that in a game as insanely hard as that, then fighting with just a sword wasn’t out of the question.

Since Dad actually fought on battlefields with a sword, his skills are the one and only path for me to get strong. I have to learn them, no matter what.

“I believe in you! Dad, teach me how to fight with a sword!”

“Alright, alright, let’s do this! With my sword skills, I’ll make you the coolest big brother ever!”

“Hah… I feel like you just dodged the issue pretty well. But hey, it’s better than doing nothing just because you can’t use magic. Still, Sold, you can’t just focus on the sword and leave her alone.”

“I know, Mom. Getting strong is just a means to protect Tilti.”

“If you understand that, then fine. Since Garland can’t be trusted, I’ll keep a close eye on you.”

“Of course!”

“My family has zero trust in you…”

While Dad wallowed in his own sorrow, I made up my mind all over again. I might as well be locked into this self-imposed challenge, but with Dad’s training, I’m determined to become the world’s greatest Sword Saint—and protect Tilti no matter what!**