Chapter 54: The Laurel in your eyes.

Aisha’s POV

…

"Shh... You shouldn't ask why a man came out in the middle of the night~ It's called privacy."

Says the young man who kept disappearing in the night. He was a quiet person, often fickle, and prone to keeping secrets. Sometimes, he appeared way~ too clean. Yet sometimes, very lightly, the scent of blood or perfume would linger on his clothes when she washed them.

"Uwu... But using my head is tiring; I just want my lovely sister to do everything because she's so smart~"

He acted childishly, like an airhead, in front of her and tossed all the financial management to her – a three-year-old child. But Aisha’s smart enough to know that in no way a clueless airhead could build Vast Expanse in six months.

“Of course, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I’ll just make someone else do it.”

Most likely, he was hinting at her mother Lilia. But Aisha, being the prideful girl she was, refused to back off on a job given to her. She had planned on doing her very best to prove herself, partially to prove herself useful, partially to even out her mistakes.

When asked, she was told that the boss always came back with gold and people, so finance and manpower were never a problem. Funnily enough, every time something bad showed up, the first thing in their minds was to look for her idiot of a brother.

“Bah. Ignore Laurel. Who gives a crap about that guy! If you want something, then go ahead and tell me. After all, if Mommy is so strict, then let this brother of yours dote on you more~”

That was Laurel, her annoying older brother, someone who was willing to ditch his own name and cuss at it just because his younger sister had a slightly bad impression of him. Not that such a thing had any worth since she had already figured out everything from the start.

… She hadn’t told him about the fact that she knew he wasn’t Timaeus but Laurel; The timing had been off as of late. She was going to tell him eventually, though. But still, maybe just for another day.

Just this once. Just to tease him for not telling her his own name.

“Wah, Aisha is so cute~ Cute! Cute! Cute!"

… Honestly he wasn’t even that unpleasant. Surprisingly enough, Aisha kept being swept by her brother’s older whims. Even her mother didn’t bother the two when it happened. It was to the point where Aisha suspected that Laurel was treating her like a stress pillow.

Aisha thought it wasn’t bad to have him as an older brother. Sure, he’s pretty weird and sure is annoying as hell, but she liked him the way he is. She hoped that things would always remain the same, even if he were a pervert. No. Especially if he ended up being a pervert.

“Not the best time, Isela. I’m working over here.”

One of the few flaws her brother had was his lack of self-awareness of his attractiveness as a man. Seriously, how can someone not recognise that the girls were loitering around his room to peek at his shirtless workouts? People don’t always search for you for work, you know?

Laurel was a shady, oblivious, sister-doting, whimsical older brother. Perhaps that might change when he starts dating. But as long as Laurel stayed the same way he was, she too would begrudgingly accept whatever weirdness he pulled up every now and then.

…

It was bad.

On the way to Ranoa, we were suddenly stopped by a strange young man who challenged the War God. Apparently it was the name people had called Laurel by as a mercenary. Most likely a name Laurel made up himself to gain fame.

Laurel looked as if he had seen a ghost, but he naturally declined. The man had rejected Laurel’s declination and attacked. Something in the air whistled in the air, and something had scratched the man’s left cheek. But Laurel’s expression had turned from bad to worse.

And so, in a blink of an eye, it happened.

No one had expected an ambush would occur when the whole company was there, much less someone this powerful. With a single swing towards the sky, everyone had been drawn off the ground, rendered useless. Miraculously, a feeling like an invisible arm caught everyone and pushed everyone away from the sword path.

And then we saw it. The gargantuan crater where we once stood. Everything within that vicinity had been wiped out entirely. If we had been there, we’d all be dead. In the midst of our despair, our gazes landed on the back of a single person. We stared at Laurel.

There stood Laurel, whose right arm was gone, left with nothing but a stub covered in ice as an emergency to stop the blood loss. It was obvious to anyone as to why he lost that arm. He pushed us away. And yet even after losing that arm he didn’t scream. He wasn’t even panicking.

There he stood at the front of the group, blocking off all that terrifying pressure by himself. In the midst of all that terror, he laughed, as if he didn't care about his arm whatsoever.

"Ahahaha! Well, I'll be damned. Looks like I really bit off more than I could chew... A change of plans then.”

An unyielding figure with a commanding tone. The image of his back that day had etched itself onto her memory. Against the opponent, Laurel's figure was small, and yet to her it was the world. His right arm was chopped off, yet the youth's voice was as calm as if he had predicted everything.

“Lilia. You and Aisha would be fine going to Millis alone, right? It's decided then. Hah... Everyone, it was a good run. Those who want to help send these two to Millis. The old man should've got the search organisation built by now. Those who don't can leave at their own volition. I'll hold Kalman down. Now GO!"

If anything, it was deeper and harsher than Aisha had ever heard. Long gone was the kind and gentle side of him; he was like a fierce beast growling against an opponent whose presence was far more intimidating.

“Older brother…”

“Don’t give me that look. Of course I’ll win. Sooner or later, my name would be among the top powerhouses. You just wait and watch.”

He said with a confident smile as he patted her head and handed her his notebook. In the far future, that memory had only aged like fine wine. It was only later that Aisha was aware that the man he had faced that day was none other than the North God Kalman III, the Seventh Strongest being in this world.

That was Aisha's image of her older brother Laurel Greyrat. An Unshakable Fortress.