The Extra Wants To Live-Chapter 301: Brothers Beneath the Surface

Chapter: Brothers Beneath the Surface

"War is truly difficult."

There was bitterness in Aric’s voice.

"How many people died for something like this?"

Aric savored the finest tea and discussed its futility.

This was not simply a discussion of tea as a food item. It was a discussion of how much blood had been shed for the trade between Madius and Yusuf, and between Hardion and Tumaria.

"...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that in front of you."

Aric looked at the shaking water, then turned to Carl and apologized in a low voice.

"No, that’s okay. I agree with that too," Carl said calmly.

War was merely a means of politics.

If you could use it well, there was nothing better than this, but if you could get away with it, then not doing it was the best.

It was a rational judgment to the end.

"How have you been, brother?" Carl changed the subject.

"Wouldn’t I always be the same?" Aric said it nonchalantly.

But in fact, Aric had been in a bit of a difficult situation recently.

Because the war had caused Charles’ popularity to skyrocket, the nobles, wary of this, were strongly insisting that the power of the military and the authority of Archduke Charles be reduced.

Aric, who had originally consolidated his position with the support of the central political aristocracy, could not simply ignore their words.

However, this opposition for the sake of opposition was an action that failed to read the turbulent world situation.

What Hardion needed now were sturdy towers and walls built with steel and blood.

Minardi was suffering from a plague, losing territory to the infestation of trolls, while Tumaria had suffered greatly from civil war and schisms in its religious order.

If they were to reduce the powers of Hardion’s army and Archduke Carl at a time like this, everything could come crashing down.

The two brothers enjoyed the precious tea in silence for a while.

"I think I’ll go up north for a bit and come back."

"...To the north?"

Aric raised his eyebrows and asked again at Carl’s sudden remark.

Why was he going there?

"There is a man suffering from the same fever that I suffered from. As you know, brother, isn’t the cure for that fever in the north?"

Everyone in the palace knew that Nero had used Carl as an excuse to go on a trip to the northern Balturan people.

And there was no one in the palace who did not know that he really brought the cure and gave birth to this great Duke.

"...Okay, take care on your way back."

Aric looked at Carl for a moment, then spoke with a bitter smile.

People didn’t know Carl’s true value.

They thought he was only talented in things like combat and war.

But that was only a small part of the power this young archduke possessed.

Who would have dared to imagine that the first suggestion made by Carl—who had been in his sickbed for less than a year—to Aric was a shrewd move to maintain the balance of the great empire of Hardion and free it from the pressure of foreign powers?

Carl’s true fear lay not in military science, but in something as deep as the sea.

Aric, who knew this, couldn’t help but smile bitterly at Carl’s words, which sounded like a vacation plan for an 18-year-old youth.

There was no way Carl wouldn’t know about Aric’s situation.

At this time when his popularity was at its peak, rather than staying within the empire to gather strength and support, he intended to calm the excited political world by leaving the empire to the north and completely distancing himself.

Of course, Aric’s thoughts were only half right.

Carl was too thorough for him to figure out that he was allied with Gasto and planned to get his hands on Curtis.

The two brothers talked some more.

Carl hinted to Aric that there seemed to be a connection between the Church of Universal Equality and the Qua Hadad cult, through the existence of necromancy and the book.

Aric said he would look into the matter closely.

The work had piled up again.

Carl had no intention of staying at the palace for long.

To be exact, it would be more correct to say that he shouldn’t.

He would stay for just one day and then head straight to Gaston.

He would have to stop by Hillfin on the way and check out the situation.

Although they received regular reports through the Bloody Ring Finger, there were also benefits to visiting in person.

"Carl! This guy!"

"Older brother."

While leisurely walking down the palace corridors with Harmon, Carl tried to dodge Nero’s surprise attack, but Nero’s hand—a genius who had reached the level of a master—suddenly burrowed in like a snake raising its head and wrapped around his neck, pulling him away.

"I heard the story! It’s great, isn’t it?"

"Put this aside... tsk."

"How dare you click your tongue at your brother, how insolent you are."

Nero held Carl tightly with his arm around his shoulder, preventing him from running away, and then harassed him by making him groan.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Yes. None."

"You’ve become colder since I last saw you."

"You, my brother, have become even more of a bum since I last saw you. Well, that’s only natural since you’re busy loitering around the palace without doing any work."

"...."

Nero, who was just loafing around doing nothing, had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.

Nero’s daily routine consisted of spending time with his mother, training, and riding his horse around the area.

It was difficult for Nero, who lived like a rich bum, to be proud in front of Carl, who had returned from war as an archduke and was busy with his daily life.

"So, are you going to get married? Are you seeing a woman? You’re in a situation where you can’t even make excuses like politics or anything like that anymore, right?"

"...You are the one...."

"I’m too busy to have time for that, right? Your mother must be worried about her son, a bum. At her age, all she can do is sit around and harass her busy younger brother."

"...You really haven’t changed at all."

"How about you change a little, brother? Isn’t it too bad to be a childish kid at the age of 20?"

"im not childish."

Nero hid his relief by strangling his cocky younger brother with his thick forearms.

After Lily death, Carl seemed the same as before, but there was something empty about him.

But when they met and talked for the first time in a long while, it seemed like he had shaken off a lot of the pain and sadness.

"Let’s talk!"

"Unlike my brother, who has a holiday every day, I am busy every day, so today I will rest."

"Okay, after the story, get some rest."

"...."

Harmon turned around and walked away alone, seeing Carl being dragged away by Nero.

It seemed unlikely that Nero would let Carl go any time soon.

It wouldn’t be bad.

After all, Carl seemed quite comfortable when he was with Nero.