The Strongest Family Has Arrived!

Chapter 11

—–CROW—– 

* * *

We went down to the passenger cabins.

And I was shocked by the dismal state of the third-class cabin.

‘This is a bit much.’

A short, narrow passage barely wide enough for one person. Two sets of bunk beds placed on either side of it.

That was all.

“Hey. You got child support too, why not get a first-class cabin? We have to be on this ship for a week, what’s with this tiny room?”

Ryan, who was as taken aback by the state of the cabin as I was, said.

“Huh. Is your booger this big, brother?”

“There’s a child, a child!”

“Oh, really? Mr. Folded-Shoulders-for-12-Years-in-a-Cramped-Cell is suddenly concerned about luxury because he has a kid?”

Livan, unpacking his belongings on the lower bunk, clicked his tongue.

“How much child support did you get to be talking about first class? A week in a first-class cabin on this ship costs a thousand gold.  You crawl out here penniless and start acting up.”

“This guy? Are you done talking?!”

“I, it’s okay because of me! It’s cozy and nice!”

Feeling awkward, I quickly went and sat on the bed opposite Livan.

“Oh! The cushioning is pretty…”

Creak, creak.

No way.  The sound of the dilapidated bed immediately followed.

“Sigh.”

Ryan also sighed and sat down next to Livan.  Or rather, crammed himself in would be a more accurate description….

“Once we arrive on the continent, we’re going straight to Rothschild!”

Livan said, folding his clothes neatly, and Ryan frowned.

“Why that backwater town?”

“Ah, I stayed there for a year after I got out, waiting for you, brother. I know someone there, you see? They run a big restaurant.”

“You want to go all the way south just to eat?”

“What are you talking about, man? We need someone to look after the baby.”

“Where is there a baby…?”

“? Here.”

Livan jerked his chin towards me across from him, as if asking what he was talking about.

‘What? He’s leaving me behind? He’s not planning on handing me over as some kind of experiment subject, is he?’

Livan’s crime was illegal experimentation.

That’s all that was vaguely known to the public, but I knew more of the truth, having heard it from my lover in my past life.

To be precise, it was highly unethical illegal “human” experimentation.

“What baby, she’s this big.  There are babies this size? If it’s because of her, we don’t need to go there. I’ll take her with me.”

Ryan said, and Livan’s jaw dropped.

“…Are you crazy?”

“Normal.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Are you insane?”

“No.”

“B, Brother. Don’t worry. It’s someone I really trust. Let’s leave the baby there. They’ll take good care of her, and we can visit from time to time.”

“Leave my daughter with someone? I have to raise her.”

“Stop calling her your daughter, it’s creepy!”

“…….”

“Wow, this is driving me crazy. Are you serious? We have things to do from now on…, huh. No. Forget it. What kind of trouble are we going to cause dragging a kid around? We can’t look after her 24/7, what if she gets hurt?”

“She’ll have to grow up on her own. If she gets hurt, it’s her own fate.”

“Crazy. She’s still a child.”

Livan’s expression hardened menacingly.

“That’s messed up, you trash. You spent half your life rubbing shoulders with criminals in prison and you’ve finally ruined your personality.”

…What? I was confused. Because Livan seemed genuinely worried about me.

I had assumed that Livan would be a person devoid of morality and ethics. And perhaps, even without emotions.

‘Because it wasn’t just any experiment…’

The illegal human experimentation he committed.

The subjects of those inhumane experiments were all ‘children’ under the age of six.

“Alright, alright. I’ll take responsibility. I just have to keep an eye on her so she doesn’t get hurt.”

While I was thinking, their bickering continued.

“You have nothing, how can you take responsibility, brother!  Danger aside, it’s not the right thing to do for the child’s future!”

“…….”

“Let’s face reality. Okay? Brother, you’re not a well-off young master anymore, you’re a criminal, a criminal…”

I saw Ryan stiffen.

“The baby was just kicked out of her home, she’s different from us. We have to live with the label of criminal for the rest of our lives.”

“Then what do you want me to do with her?”

“We should let her be adopted by a normal family. That way she can make friends, get a proper education, and eventually get married. If you put her under your name, she’ll only be known as the daughter of a criminal. Is there any reason to ruin the child’s life?”

Listening to Livan, who was worried about the life of a girl he had met only an hour ago, made me even more confused.

“And the baby doesn’t know about your crimes yet, right? How shocked will she be if she finds out?”

“She knows everything.”

“What?”

“Ah, yes. I know everything.”

Finally, it was my turn to interject.

“I know that Dad went to prison 12 years ago… because of the Conrad massacre.”

“See. She knows. She says it’s okay.”

“What? It’s okay?”

Livan was dumbfounded.

“Yes. I know Dad was wrongly accused.”

“…….”

Livan, who was staring intently at me, sighed and shook his head.

“It’s still not okay. You can’t come with us. It’s a path to ruin your life. We’re criminals, whether we were falsely accused or not.”

…Us?

It sounded like he was saying he was also a criminal with a story.

“Why did you go to prison, Oppa?”

“Me? Ah…. I, um, well.”

Livan’s expression darkened. He mumbled as he folded his clothes again.

“I still don’t really know. Why I had to rot in prison for 11 years.”

“Huh?”

As I was bewildered, Ryan asked indifferently.

“How much do you know about the incident that sent me to prison?”

“Ah, that. Yes…. Well… I’ve read the verdict.”

The horrific disaster that happened 12 years ago.

The Conrad Massacre.

* * *

Around 2:40 a.m. on August 5th, Imperial Year 922, the defendant, Ryan Vasenberk, massacred all the civilians in Conrad in the central region and set fire to the territory in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The reason the defendant visited Conrad for inspection was because he received information that illegal experiments were being secretly conducted in the area, and the defendant’s family launched a direct investigation.

During the investigation, the defendant coincidentally experienced his first manifestation of esper abilities, which went out of control, leading to the massacre of civilians.

The individuals involved in the illegal experiments in the area were identified as ten professors from the Imperial Academy’s Department of Magic Engineering. The details of the experiments will be kept confidential considering the possibility of recurrence…….

* * *

“Then you understand well.”

Ryan narrowed his eyes and spoke as if reminiscing.

“Father returned one day after wiping out an entire territory without a trace. That was Conrad. I still don’t know why he suddenly destroyed it.”

I was surprised to hear that.

He didn’t know the reason? Why?

“Well, Father’s crazy acts weren’t exactly new. But even if our family is powerful, since he wiped out an entire territory, he needed some kind of excuse.”

“…….”

“So, I think it was a scenario Father created. That the Academy professors were conducting some kind of illegal experiments there…? Our family just went there to investigate…, and I, whose esper abilities happened to go out of control at that time, wiped out the entire territory….”

“…….”

“…Chuckle. He also framed the professors he already disliked and eliminated them, and with the lie that my esper abilities manifested that day, he also concealed the fact that he had fathered a powerless child.  His son, who was actually the ‘real’ powerless one, was already a nuisance, but now he became a mass murderer? A justifiable expulsion.”

It wasn’t a funny story at all, but Ryan chuckled, nudged Livan’s shoulder, and added,

“Hey, you have to admit his resourcefulness, right? How much did our Father gain from just Conrad?”

“Is it funny? How many people died because of your father?”

Ryan’s smiling face hardened.

“No, it’s not funny.”

“Kid.”

Livan said, looking at me.

“I was one of the professors accused of conducting those illegal experiments.”

I know.

“I have no idea what those experiments were and I’ve never even been to Conrad, but all the professors were sentenced to death on the absurd charge of illegal experimentation.”

“…….”

“My adoptive parents were among the professors who died then.”

I… didn’t know that.

“And I was the only one. I barely survived because I was a minor at the time.”

Livan stood up.

“There’s no need to hide it since I know I’ll only be ridiculed if I spread this around. I’ll just say it.”

He stood in front of me, bent down, and said,

“Kid, this Oppa is planning to fry every single one of your family members in hellfire. Even if it means falling into that pit of fire myself.”

“…….”

“You know what I mean. I can’t take you with me on the way to my death.”

—–CROW—–