Chapter 85 The Boy's Struggle
Why did it come to this...?
In his heart, Gray Neithardt murmured.
He was born in the Ortria Kingdom, into the Neithardt Marquis family.
He was the third son born into a prestigious family.
With exceptional magic talent and a sharp mind, it was certain that if he grew up properly, he would greatly contribute to the development of the Neithardt family──and the Ortria Kingdom.
However, the environment of the Neithardt family was far too poor for him to showcase that talent.
His father and brother were both driven by an insatiable desire for power and a need for self-importance, yet they could hardly be called talented.
While they possessed the skills expected of the Neithardt family, they lacked magic talent and were often looked down upon in social settings.
This complex led to a major incident.
The second son, who also had high magic potential like Gray, was killed by his own brother, Roland.
It was a somewhat impulsive act, driven by the fear of losing his position as the head of the family.
They attempted to cover up the evidence, but even Gray, who was not yet 7 at the time, clearly understood who the culprit was.
However... their father, Alvine, did not blame Roland, even though he knew.
He too was jealous of the second son's high magic talent.
He wished he would just disappear.
Understanding this, the young Gray shackled himself to protect his own life.
He made sure he would never be seen as better than his brother or father.
He wanted to be perceived as inferior to both as a engineer and as a magician.
To avoid upsetting them.
Gray's earnest efforts certainly resulted in him "not being killed," but... even so, happy days never came.
Instead of not being killed, he was despised as "useless and incompetent," and was handed over like a half-slave as a gift to secretly connect with the Bezelus Empire.
──What should I have done?
This time, speaking aloud, Gray murmured to himself.
Even after leaving the utterly unreasonable Neithardt family, Gray's hardships continued.
In the Bezelus Empire, results are everything.
There was no time to pretend to be incompetent; if he didn't exert all his strength, he wouldn't even be able to eat, living a life akin to a battlefield.
Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he was never praised even once, and all he received in return was the news of the Neithardt family's downfall.
The only harsh reality for the boy was that there was no place for him anywhere in this world.
"......"
He even considered whether he should just die.
However, he lacked the courage to carry it out.
Feeling so pathetic that he was on the verge of tears, Gray was now in Divine Beast Euphemia.
Right after he somehow met the unreasonable demands of his master, Caide, he was called to assist in the Emerald Cat clan's capture operation led by Coras, the chief of the Golden Fox clan.
He was summoned for help, thinking he would be free anyway.
His reason told him he shouldn't be helping with such things.
But his instincts screamed that if he didn't help, he would just be killed.
Caught in this dilemma, he suddenly realized.
He had completely lost sight of his surroundings and had gotten separated from Coras and the others.
"Wh-what should I do..."
In this unfamiliar country, he had been absent-minded the whole time.
It was only natural for him to get lost.
At this rate, he had no idea what kind of report Coras would send to his master.
In his panic, he even forgot that he was an illegal immigrant and wandered around in despair when... he was spoken to.
"What are you doing here? Did you get separated from your parents?"
A silver-haired girl who seemed to have some difficulty walking.
Although there were slight burn marks on her face, she didn't hide them and spoke to him without fear of the unknown... Seeing Yumie's smile, Gray's heart skipped a beat.
──So cute.
"Um...?"
"Ah... um... well..."
Thinking that even her tilting head was cute, Gray hesitated on how to respond.
He couldn't honestly tell her everything, and he wondered if he should just make up some excuse──when he noticed another girl standing next to Yumie and was taken aback.
The mechanical prosthetic arm and the slight traces of monster factors remaining on her face.
The most important target in this operation is Thea of the Blue Wolf clan.
"......"
Noticing Gray's gaze, Thea hides behind Yumie as if to guard herself.
On the other hand, the other girl, Monica, also looks at him with a hint of suspicion.
This is bad; He was surprised and ended up staring a bit too much.
As he thought of an excuse, his eyes were drawn back to Thea's prosthetic arm.
"That prosthetic arm... it seems a bit poorly fitted. If you leave it like that, it might cause a lot of strain and hurt soon, so... you should fix it."
"Eh..."
All the girls stood there, mouths agape in shock.
Gray's mind was filled with question marks, wondering what was going on.
This is something normal, after all.
"A little more, like this... since the size doesn't match, you should adjust it here..."
He reached out to the prosthetic arm and lightly checked it.
As expected, it was just attached without any fine adjustments.
Fuming at what his engineer skill, Gray made some simple adjustments.
"...How's that?"
"...Hmm, it feels a bit easier to move, maybe."
"Of course, a prosthetic arm without adjustments would be like that. Considering your body size and that you're still growing, something lighter and easier to remake would be better than this sturdy metal one, and also..."
Words flowed from his mouth.
Eventually, it took about 5 minutes for Gray to realize he was talking too much.
"...Sorry for rambling on by myself..."
"No, we didn't know anything about prosthetic arms, so this is really helpful! Thank you so much!"
Yumie took Gray's hand and expressed her gratitude sincerely.
For her, it was just a normal expression of thanks, something expected to say.
However, for Gray, it was the first time he had ever heard such warm praise from someone.
Thump, his heart raced again.
Confused by the unknown emotions overflowing from within, Gray was bewildered.
"But it's amazing, isn't it? Even though there are no more engineers in the Ortria Kingdom, you know so much about Ortria-made prosthetics... Which country are you from? If you have any more troubles, I would like to consult you again, so if possible, could you tell me your name and contact information..."
Gray felt his heart leap in a different way at Yumie's casual words.
Yes, Gray was a survivor of the Neithardt family... a family whose entire clan had already been executed.
He remembered that if his origins were discovered, he might be killed.
"That is, um... s-sorry!!"
"Ah!!"
Without answering anything, Gray ran away as if fleeing.
The girls, unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events, and a maid watched his back.
And── a pair of golden eyes watched from afar.
"This is a bit unexpected, but he seems useful... hehehe, I really am lucky...!!"
As the shadow of the fox's tail swayed, it vanished without anyone noticing.
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