WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: nemui
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈
Vol. 1 Ch. 6: Eternal Gluttonous Big Brother
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Theo burst out of the inn where Elbert and the others were staying and ran, putting as much distance as possible between himself and it.
He ran through the crowds, toward wherever there were fewer people. He ran.
A few adults spared a moment’s concern for the child running with his face crumpled up, but they soon lost interest and kept walking. This town never remembered Theo.
Pathetic. Lonely. Sad. Frustrated. Overwhelmed by those feelings, he wanted to punch himself for lying.
“Theo!”
A voice called Theo’s name through the crowd. It was Allen.
Theo stopped. A tall figure with brown hair came running toward him. His familiar childhood friend. Normally, seeing Allen would have made him feel relieved, but now guilt was making his head spin.
“I got worried when you weren’t at the bookshop. Where did you go?”
“...Sorry.”
That was right. Theo had left Allen after saying he would go on ahead to the bookshop.
He had run from Allen and Marina. He had run from Elbert and Beryl. Today, all he had done was run away.
He did not want to hate himself any more than he already did. So Theo made up his mind to tell Allen the truth.
“I met Lord Elbert, the hero. When I got hurt, he healed me.”
“...So you had a dream. Where did you take your nap?”
Theo desperately held back the urge to drive his fist into Allen’s jaw.
“Take me seriously! Lord Elbert knew Dad Duncan! He said Dad Duncan was his benefactor! That’s why he wants to make you, Duncan’s son Allen, his squire!”
“...What?”
It seemed to take Allen a moment to process Theo’s words.
Allen furrowed his brow unusually tightly and appeared to give the matter some serious thought. Then, after careful consideration, he said with a perfectly serious face:
“Then Theo can take the name Allen. Good luck, Allen.”
“Hey, don’t just give your own name away so casually!”
“But you wanted to become a knight more than anything. And becoming a holy knight of the Reyel Holy District isn’t something just anyone can do. You can’t let this chance pass you by.”
“But...!”
The rest of the words caught in Theo’s throat.
His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally forced out a whisper.
“I’m not Duncan Lawrence’s son...”
Theo did not use the Lawrence surname, nor had he gone through the process of being adopted into the Lawrence family.
Allen, Olivia, and even Duncan while he was alive had urged him many times to complete the adoption. But Theo had stubbornly refused.
It was not unusual for people around here to have no surname, and it caused no trouble. They had more or less accepted his explanation that the paperwork would become complicated if his real family were ever found.
But Theo had another reason for refusing to be adopted by the Lawrence family. He did not want to tell Allen what it was.
How long had he stood there biting his lip and staring down?
Suddenly, something moved before him with a rustle. It was a paper parcel Allen held out to him.
“Marina said to eat these with you. Let’s eat over there.”
“...Okay.”
They were baked sweets Marina had given Allen as thanks for yesterday. Theo had thought Marina had forgotten all about someone as easy to overlook as him.
He wiped the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.
The two leaned against a nearby wall and ate the sweets Marina had given them. The cinnamon biscuits were properly sweet, making Theo want some coffee.
“Still, I never knew Dad was Hero Elbert’s benefactor... Maybe he treated him to some Press Bread.”
“You’re the one who’d do that, Allen. Lord Elbert said Dad Duncan injured his leg when he protected him. That’s why Lord Elbert feels indebted to Dad Duncan.”
Allen crunched his biscuit, taking the time to savor and swallow it before replying.
“Dad is Dad, and I’m me. I don’t want him to repay a debt to Dad through me.”
It was such an Allen thing to say.
Even the fact that his father had once been a holy knight did not seem particularly special to him. More than that, he disliked being treated differently or having expectations placed on him because of his father.
“I understand how Lord Elbert feels. Dad Duncan wouldn’t accept that kind of favor. So of course he’d want to do something for his family, at least.”
As he bit into another biscuit, Theo remembered the late Duncan.
Duncan had been so breezy that it was hard to believe he was Allen’s father. Cheerful and big-hearted, he would ruffle Theo’s hair and say, “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” whenever Theo hesitated.
He was the type to raise children with praise. When they trained with swords, he praised them until it became embarrassing. “You two are geniuses! Future heroes! Call yourselves Worg’s Twin Wings!” he would say, always full of grand words.
Allen had inherited his looks and personality from his mother, but his skill with a sword and his mischievously huge appetite were undeniably from his father.
(...That takes me back.)
Talking with easygoing Allen gradually brought Theo back to his usual self.
“Let’s go home, Allen. I’m thirsty.”
“Yeah. Eating biscuits made me hungry.”
“Why would it do that?”
The boy who had been eating nonstop since morning spoke as though there were nothing strange about it.
“When you eat something sweet, you want something salty, right?”
“You just had Press Bread!”
They pushed away from the wall at the same time and started walking.
“By alternating sweet and salty food, I become a perpetual-motion machine.”
“How do you keep coming out with nonsense like that? Besides, you’re getting energy from outside, so you’re not a perpetual-motion machine. You’re just an eternal glutton, Allen.”
“Isn’t ‘eternal glutton’ pretty ridiculous too?”
Walking at their usual distance, with their usual stride, down their usual road. Theo knew how precious that was.
It was nearly noon. Had Olivia already begun preparing lunch?
When the two called, “We’re home,” in unison, a voice unlike Olivia’s answered from inside.
“Ah, welcome back.”
“Hey.”
Seated before the dining table were Elbert and Beryl.
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