“Gahhh!! Who dared to kick me in the face?”

Ashv, who was sent flying by the kick got up and looked around and tried to find the one who kicked him. But the force behind the kick shook his whole brain and it became difficult for him to stand properly.

Everything around him rotated and everything looked blurry to him. But before he could get his misbalanced senses under control, something again hit him.

Punch!

This time, a punch came out of nowhere, crushing his nose as the force behind the punch pushed him, slamming him to the trunk of a nearby tree.

“W-Who is t-t-this? S-Show yourself!!”

Due to hitting the trunk and because of the force behind the punch, he started bleeding. Blood was dripping from his head and entering his eyes, making it even harder to see.

Unable to see anything and being injured on top of that, he could only think about a way by which he can escape his attacker.

“H-Hey, you. Why a-a-are you attacking me?" Ashv rose to his feet and turned in the direction where he believed his attacker was standing, and somehow attempted to gain some time to recover from his attack.

“D-Don’t you know who I am? I am the second son of a famous family of warriors. Y-You think you will be able to escape by merely killing me?”

With heavy steps, he slowly walked towards where he thought the attacker was standing as he secretly took out a dagger from the hidden storage ring at his waist.

“Either reveal yourself and your intention to attack me and kneel now, or.”

“Or?”

This time, the attacker spoke which surprised Ashv. He heard a voice that sounded familiar to him. However, due to the kick and punch to the face, his ears are still ringing so much that he can't figure out who it is. But he didn’t care at all, as he was now halfway recovered and had also fully equipped the dagger.

As he walked, he slowly heard the breathing of the assailant, thus confirming his location. In order to pull off a successful attack, he took a deep breath and channeled all the energy he had recovered into the hands that held the dagger. He then lunged at the enemy in front of him.

“Then DIE!!!!”

He thought that he had caught his enemy, that the prey had become the predator, however.

“I never thought that you would resort to such petty tactics, Ashv.”

The prey Ashv thought he would be slashing grabbed his dagger in his hand as the attacker grabbed Ashv's neck and pulled him towards him while speaking to him.

Nearer than ever, the voice he thought was familiar finally clicked inside his brain. The voice he most heard as a child was that of his brother. Now the same voice is calling him out.

“B-B-Brother?!”

“YES, your brother!!”

He slammed Ashv on the ground with the hand that was holding his neck, which was getting squashed by the strength of his brother's grip. His brother slammed him so hard that the earth around them shattered and a small crater appeared while Ashv coughed up a handful of blood as his ribs and especially, the shoulder blades nearly shattered.

“Gan, tend to those sashs.”

“Yes, young master!”

“And you...”

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Grab

After ordering Gan, the young master grabbed Ashv by his collar once again and lifted him until Ashv began to choke.

“How can you stoop so low, Ashv? Torturing those innocent creatures like that? Who taught you to commit these acts?” The young master asked as he stared at his brother.

"I-I-I have no idea what you are talking about! Brother, please put me down. I... cannot breathe.”

Ashv realized that if he didn't act now, his brother would rip him apart. No matter how much his brother loved him, if he did something that tarnished the name of the family, his brother would become his second father.

So, to escape his brother’s wrath, he acted as if he hadn't done anything and acted dumb. However, he didn’t know that the whole time he was enjoying torturing the sashs, his brother and Gan were listening to him while hiding some meters away.

“We saw everything, ashv. From how you tortured them and enjoyed their cries to how you are planning to kill them. I saw them.”

Eyes now red and face reflecting immense anger, the young master gripped Ashv’s collar even tighter, which further choked Ashv.

“*cough* B-B-Bro..ther, s-s-s-to..”

“Young master!"

As Ashv was about to faint, Gan suddenly interrupted and freed Ashv from his brother’s grip.

Cough, Cough

“Young Master, what are you doing?"

“Do not stop me, Gan. This shameless bastard has crossed all limits by sullying our traditions and principles.”

Despite Gan standing in front of him, protecting Ashv, the young master still full of wrath tried to choke Ashv again. However, luckily, Gan held him back, though with much difficulty.

“Please stop, young master. What he has done is certainly wrong. But please do not commit the sin of killing your own brother.”

“He is not my brother!" This rat has done something that those knights do.”

Again, everything that happened in the previous round started to entail. The talks of the knights, the blame game, the defending to eventually returning to their land.

They are again sitting in front of the bonfire, finishing their meal as everything similar happened. Again, the first to finish his meal was the older brother, followed by Gan. Both of them returned to their respective tents leaving Ashv behind again.

In the face of both of them treating him as an unknown person and distancing themselves from him, Ashv finally had enough and looked at the bonfire. He picked a piece of wood from it as he looked at Gan's tent and his brother's tent.

“You both made me do this. I cannot face my father. He will kill me if he finds out what I have done. And for that to never happen, you both have to die!”

Having the burning wood in his hand, he began to approach his brother’s tent.

“I am so sorry, Brother. If only you wouldn’t have caught me red-handed, I might have spared you.”

Standing in front of his brother’s tent, he crouched down and slowly brought the burning wood near his brother’s tent.

“So long, Brother. I hope to meet you again sometime if you get out of this alive.”

“Magic missile!"

Just as the flame was about to touch the tent, a white ball of energy struck Ashv’s hand. Despite his best efforts, the wood flew off without letting him burn the tent.

"Arghh!"

The hand that was struck by the magic missile was now charred black as blood slowly dripped down. Ashv looked back and saw the one who fired the magic at him with terrified eyes.

"G-Gan?"

***

“Gan, let me go!!”

During the time when both Gan and the young master were venturing into the forest after coming to mutual consent, they found the place where Ashv was. The older brother was eager to run to Ashv and show Gan that what he said was wrong.

“Young master, please be patient.”

But his expectations turned out to be false, as what he saw completely broke him from the inside. A few meters away from them, Ashv was crouching, holding a sash while two more sashs were there, crying and kneeling in front of Ashv.

“Let me go!" Can’t you see what he is doing? He is torturing those creatures. We have to stop him.”

He tried to shake Gan away from him, but couldn’t. Being old doesn’t mean his strength has faded away. Gan might have abandoned his studies of magic, but he dedicated himself to learning various techniques and trained hard while also tending to the needs of his young masters.

“Young master, I want you to calm down. Please!!”

Gan, who had the greater advantage, eventually won after a brief struggle. The older brother couldn’t escape Gan’s hold and got tired. After that, Gan crouched down and talked to the young master.

“Young master, please listen to me carefully.” Said Gan as he looked straight into the eyes of the older brother in front of him.

“Young Master, you have to understand. Young Master Ashv is not who we think he is."

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, you haven’t seen his true colors till now. He has changed, very very much.” Said Gan as he looked towards the crouching Ashv, who was smiling like a devil while looking down at the sashs. He couldn’t see a speck of the innocent Ashv who he raised with love and care.

“I want you to promise me. Do as I tell you to. DO not question me and do not try to talk with young master Ashv in secret. This matter... it has to be dealt with by the Master himself.”

“....Fine. But you have to tell me how you got to know about Ashv later.”

“Yes, young master.”

Though reluctant, the older brother finally agreed to follow Gan's instructions as they waited for Ashv to finally act.

***