The Supreme Hero’s Younger Brother

"Urgh…"

Rye's head was banged by an intense headache once he woke up the next morning. His body was sluggish all over and he felt like he just crashed down from the sky.

He went too far last night.

Honestly, he was already drunk at his twelfth glass, but he pushed himself. Raking 120 silvers wasn't a bad deal after all. He also didn't want to lose his 30 silvers.

A knight's wage was high as expected.

He opened his eyes to see a blurry ceiling. He remembered walking out of the pub himself, but he couldn't remember where he went.

He pulled the chain on his neck and grabbed his glasses. Once he wore it, he found that he was inside the chapel. He was lying on the carpet of the altar's platform.

He wasn't surprised.

The chapel was on the way back from the pub to the base. It must've been his instinct to enter a chapel when he saw one. It also happened when he drank with Godford though he never got this drunk and entirely slept all night in it.

He hurriedly covered his mouth. The nausea made him want to vomit.

Before he spilled his stomach content out, he cast the hangover sobering spell on himself. He made it a long time ago because Godford always drank until he passed out. He didn't expect he would use it on himself one day.

Once the alcohol in his system was all purified he felt much better. He propped himself up and leaned on the altar to drink some water.

"Hm?" He noticed something on his right wrist.

Pulling his inner sleeve up, he saw that on his right wrist was a drawing of golden sun. It looked identical to the one held by Solistus's statue, leads of light spreading out from the circle at the center.

He tried to rub it off, but it persistently stayed there. Studying it carefully, it wasn't drawn with ink. It was directly carved into his skin.

Did the spirit do this?

He didn't feel any pain or itch from it, so he didn't mind it too much. There must be some reason the spirit did it. But even if he asked, he couldn't hear the spirit's voice.

It was beautifully drawn anyway, might as well keep it.

Once he was awake enough, he slowly got up to his feet. He wanted to take a bath. He remembered seeing a public bathhouse when he walked around 2 days ago.

He found the bathhouse and entered it. It was still early in the morning and nobody was there yet aside from the owner.

"Oh, aren't you, Sir Rye?" The owner recognized him and laughed, "I watched your drinking match yesterday. You got quite the hangover there."

Rye touched his face, "Is it that bad?"

The owner gave him a mirror, "You'll be fine after a bath."

Rye saw that his hair sprouted out all over the place and his eyes were worryingly red. His half-awake state was clearly apparent on his face.

"It's amazing that you can still wake up this early. You sure you can handle a hot bath?"

Rye nodded, "I hope so."

"Once you're done bathing, some cafes will already be open. You should try our town's specialty, the tomato pie."

Rye, "…"

That wasn't a lie by the demon?

Rye went to the changing room and took off all his clothes. He put them into his storage along with his glasses and cast a safety barrier around them.

After wrapping himself with the towel, he entered the bath. He could finally take a nice hot bath.

Just like him, the soldiers also have a habit of waking early. Those who weren't too wasted yesterday managed to wake up around the same time as Rye. They entered the bathhouse half an hour after Rye.

When they were changing, they saw Rye's storage pack protected by a barrier.

"Hey, isn't this Sir Rye's?" One of them pointed.

"Oh, you're right. Then, he must be inside."

"Wait, did you say Sir Rye?"

"Yeah, look."

"…" The soldier canceled taking off his clothes, "I'll wait until he finishes."

He was one of the guilty soldiers that peeked on Rye bathing on their journey here. Although Rye said he didn't mind it since they were all men, he felt like nothing good would happen if they open the door to the bath right now.

"Does Sir Rye not like to bathe with other people?" His comrade asked.

"If he doesn't like it, he wouldn't take a bath here."

"…You guys can go inside first."

The others looked at each other and shrugged. The soldier that wanted to wait stayed behind worriedly.

Inside, Rye has finished washing and soaking thoroughly. He was starting to feel dizzy from the heat, so he decided to get out.

He was walking to the door when it was opened from the other side. He saw there were several soldiers wanting to enter.

He opened his mouth to greet them when they suddenly screamed and covered their eyes with their arms.

"Ahh! My eyes!"

"I can't see!!"

"My eyes are burning!"

Rye, "???"

Is this a new type of harassment?

Rye carefully approached them, "Are you guys alright?"

"Uh…Sir Rye?" The soldier waiting at the back has already closed his eyes before the door opened, "I think they'll be fine if you help them in and close the door."

"?" Rye didn't understand, but he did as the soldier suggested.

The soldier himself took several steps back and fumbled to open the door, "Then, please take your time to change."

Rye watched him leave the changing room in confusion.

What was all that?

Was his body really that unpleasant to see? There was nothing abnormal about his physical body though?

Once he left the bathhouse and walked around to find somewhere to eat, he encountered August and Bell.

"How could you look so fresh after drinking that much yesterday?" August was still sluggish.

"I just took a bath," Rye then remembered, "Right, you also peeped when I was bathing at the river, right?"

"You did what when he what?" Bell couldn't believe his ears.

"Do you really need to bring it up now?"

"Yes…something happened at the bathhouse earlier," Rye hesitated a bit but decided to ask anyway, "Is there something weird on my body? Or is it unpleasant to see?"

"Huh…?" August didn't expect Rye to ask such a question, "No…it's pretty good."

Rye could tell that August wasn't lying. He got more confused.

"What happened?" Bell asked curiously.

"It's nothing serious. When I just finished bathing, some soldiers wanted to get inside and suddenly said their eyes were blinded and burned. One of them didn't, but he also didn't want to open his eyes. Going so far as leaving the changing room to let me put on my clothes."

"Ah…that…" August didn't know how to explain.

It wasn't that they thought Rye was ugly or something…

"It's alright," Rye noticed August was struggling to explain, "I'll make sure to be more mindful in the future."

Without being able to explain anything, August watched Rye walk away. He actually suspected that it was Rye's own doing, but now he knew it wasn't.

At noon, Rosetta teleported everyone who came from the capital back home. They were welcomed with grandeur by the people just like when they have just finished the battle but 10 times larger.

Seeing the people waving at them, Rye felt as if they were a parade attraction. Well, it wasn't completely wrong that they were parading back to the palace.

Rye followed the knights and the heroes to report to the king. They informed the death of the demon general, the annihilation of the demon army, and all the important events they encountered. They also mentioned the powerful spell that was the main key of their success.

The king thanked them for their hard work and handed them their rewards. Once they were all done, he excused them to leave except for Rye. The people gave him various glances, but they left the two people alone.

"How was your first mission, Rye?" The king walked down his throne.

"There is nothing particularly important to note."

The king laughed, "Is that so? I guess the demon general doesn't seem that strong to you."

Rye fixed his glasses, "May I ask just what do you see in me? Compared to the heroes, I am just an average person."

"Then, why do you not want your brother to know the strength you have?"

"If he knows, he will definitely beat me up to show who is superior. Who in this world would want to get beaten up to their death door?"

"You never thought that you can beat your brother?"

"Your Majesty, he is the supreme hero."

"But he is not omnipotent," the king smiled knowingly, "At the very least, he can't alter spells."