Chapter 3: The Disgrace of the Ancient Family

“Hey, look who’s here, it’s … cute and cuddly little Lambda-chan!!”

Losing everything, and at a loss —- I walked with heavy steps through the long garden that led from the entrance and finally arrived at the gate of the mansion. When I tried to open it, a  nimble and thoughtless man’s voice echoed from behind me.

I turned my head to look at the familiar voice and saw two men and a woman.

“… Zechs-nii-san, Zwei-nee-san…!”

A tall blonde young man in a black knight armor with a distinctive figure. —-【Black Knight】 Zechs-Ancient.

A woman with pink twintails that extends down to her knees with extremely lightweight white armor— 【Dragon Knight】 Zwei-Ancient.

Both were given the knight’s occupational class and skills in the ‘Divine Granting Ceremony’, the honorable knights of the Ancient House of —- my older brother and older sister.

I heard about this from my father. How could this happen to you, a member of the Ancient House, a noble family of knights !?”

“… I’m sorry, Zwei nee-san …”

My usually dignified sister comes up to me with a bewildered look on her face.

My sister was also one of those who were looking forward to my being given the profession of a knight. —- to such words of disappointment from her, I could do nothing but apologize, having been made painfully aware of my own inadequacy.

“Hey, hey, hey, …… don’t mess with Lambda-chan too much, sister. The prestigious knight occupational class was too much for the gentle lambda-chan … right, lambda-chan?”

Quite the opposite of a sister, Zechs-nii-san, who (apparently) has a problem with her behavior, spits out comforting and soothing words to me in a very sarcastic tone of voice.

“Wha…!? No, I’m just … worried about lambda!

“That’s… that’s no good! look, if my sister had said to me, ‘If only… you could have been a knight.’ … Lambda-chan, who could not become a knight, will feel miserable … about himself!”

“—-!”

　An obvious provocation. I couldn’t help but glare at my Zechs-nii-san, who mocked me and even ridiculed my sister’s feelings.

“Whoops, so scary …!” Could it be that you are still upset that you didn’t get the 【Knight】 occupational class? The garbage scavenger … la~mbda~chan … hehehehe, hyahahahahaha!”

“That’s too much, Zechs!　Is that the way to treat your own brother?”

“Hey, hey, hey, …  what are you talking about, sister? This guy was disowned by father, right? Well then, … he is not our brother or anything! He is just a dirty little garbage scavenger!”

Without caring if Zwei-nee-san sides with him, Zechs-nii-san is mocking and laughing at me with a big smirk on his face.

He used to look down on others from time to time, but right now,  I was truly disgusted by his behavior.

“…Haa, if you just want to ridicule me, I will go now. I’ve been told to leave the city by ‘Ancient Frontier-sama’.”

To be honest, I want to punch this b*****d of a brother in the face —- while desperately suppressing such feelings. I turn my back on them and head for the gate of the mansion.

It was that time that –.

“Sorry, Sorry, don’t be so gloomy. And, well, if it’s …………, I’ll give you this in lieu of an apology.”

—As if he had thought of something —-, Zechs-nii-san said he had something he wanted to give me something instead of an apology.

As soon as he saw that I had reacted to his words and turned around just one more time, Zechs-nii-san took out the sword from the scabbard that was attached to his waist and threw it at me.

　The sword thrown by Zechs nii-san dances in the air while drawing a small arc, and within a few seconds it pierces in front of me with a slightly dull sound.

“What are you doing, Zechs-nii-san?”

“I~told~you, it’s a present for you, P-R-E-S-E-N-T! As an apology for ridiculing you, I’ll give it to you.”

I questioned him with a dubious expression on my face. Zechs-nii-san replies that it’s a gift without any hesitation. I look at the sword that is stuck in front of me even though I don’t trust it.

It had been used for quite a long time, although there are some stains and scratches on the blade, it should be usable enough if it is sharpened again, that was my frank impression.

“What kind of wind are you blowing around, Zechs? You were just harping on Lambda just a few minutes ago,……!

“Oh, don’t be so silly, aneki. I’m worried about Lambda too~. Besides, you saw it, didn’t you? You saw how they burned all of Lambda-chan’s personal belongings.

“…… That’s true, but ……!　Father is father, he doesn’t have to burn all his personal belongings too……!”

“Right?　That’s why~, You sweet little b*****d … at least give Lambda-chan a gift.” 

He was able to intertwine my circumstances and what my father did to me to justify his own actions. 

He is sarcastic and vicious, but it was a condescending way to say “I’m worried”.

But even if this was just an act for Zechs-nii-sama to enjoy his sense of superiority—- I, who only have my clothes and a little bit of silver, could not refuse to accept this sword in order to survive by myself.

“I understand. …… I will be grateful for your kindness, Zechs-nii-san. ……!”

The moment he tried to pull out the pierced sword while desperately chewing on the frustration of being ridiculed and saying words of gratitude――――

“No~, it was just right. Actually, that sword got so dirty in my last mission…I was thinking of throwing it away. So, you know, it suits you, Lambda …  you like to pick up …  ‘trash’!”

—I punched him in the face as hard as I could when he provoked me by whispering in my ear.