Chapter 3 of Almadianos Eiyuuden is here!

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Anyway, here is the chapter, enjoy!

Chapter 3

Once he awakened, Bernst started scanning Kurats’ memories to gather information about this world.
The Laistra continent was composed of many small mixed up countries, centered around five large nations.
Gaura was just a poor village located in the territory of earl Hazel within the Jormugand kingdom, which was one of those five large countries.

This world seemed to have a lower level of civilization than Bernst expected.
The reason why Kurats was not able to use any spells despite having received Bernst’s basic attainments in magic was that there was simply no one who was able to use magic in this remote region in the first place.
While he was Bernst’s alter ego, there was no way he would know how to do something that he had never been taught.

(To think that he never actually got to see any magic. I made a mistake in my calculations!)

However, this did not mean that there was no magic in this world. There apparently were some court mages in the capital.
It just so happened that Kurats was born in a bad place. Bernst could not help himself from being dejected.

Even some third rate mage’s teachings would have been fine. If only Kurats had been given a chance, his talent would have immediately manifested itself. This turn of event was frustratingly unfortunate.
Besides, Bernst did not like his own alter-ego being so weak.

(Seriously, how could he be flustered by a trivial matter like this one–!)

As he extended his awareness around different parts of this world, he was becoming angry.
If Kurats wanted to protect his sister-in-law, then he should have just done so. He had been given plenty enough strength for that.
Rather, he should have been strong enough to retaliate to the point of making that noble regret the day of his own birth.
If he couldn’t do that because it would threaten the safety of his companions in the village, then he should have just abandoned his sister directly without dragging things out.
If that was not an option either, all he had to do was to obtain the power to protect the whole village.
Wasn’t that a fitting resolve to have for a young man?

In any case, what Bernst was saying was that Kurats’ actions were half measures, he wasn’t decisive enough.
However, the fact that Bernst was able to feel such indignation was likely proof that Kurats’ feelings were indeed being shared with him.
Since the immortal Bernst could annihilate anyone who ever made him feel displeasure, it was normally impossible for him to feel this kind of irritation and frustration.

(……Mhm, for the time being, considering that he’s making me recall some of my former human feelings, this is a success in a way. )

As expected, since this alter-ego had the same genes as him, Bernst had a high sense of empathy towards him. That meant that sharing Kurats’ feelings was not far away from having actual emotions.
However, why did those emotions have to be so unbearably unpleasant?
Bernst had not come to a whole new world just to taste these kinds of disagreeable feelings.
The great joy of living! The great excitment of fighting a worthy opponent to the death while shouting and roaring at the top of your lungs!
That feeling of letting your carnal desires roam free when making a beauty your own! That’s what Bernst actually wanted to taste again!

(I suppose they do say that the bigger the obstacle in your path, the greater the sense of accomplishment once you get through it…)

Bernst was a being equal to the gods. Words like self-control, submission and surrendering were completely foreign to him.
Saying that Kurats was a kind man might have sounded nice but the truth was that he was simply weak. It was going to be hard for Bernst to resist the temptation of using his own powers and to stay patient while coexisting with Kurats.
However, if he were to completely take over Kurats’ virtual personality, then his original purpose of feeling raw emotions would obviously end up being a failure.
So, although he was quite irritated, Bernst had no other choice than to help Kurats without intervening directly for the time being.

(…Keep entertaining me, my double! You are the strongest man! You are the successor of the spirit of Almadianos!)

◆　　◆　　◆

Originally, Kurats and Cornelia were not born in this village.

When their father, Kemp, was young, he was apparently a mercenary with quite the reputation.
As for their mother, her name was Frigg, she was the only daughter of a certain mercenary who had entrusted her to an old comrade in arms who happened to be Kemp.
After her father died, Kemp ended up having a relationship with that daughter, perhaps due to fate’s guidance.

【”After I die, Rick will probably kill me for this in the next world.”】

The siblings’ father used to laugh and say that back when he was still alive.
However, it was not hard to understand why their father had been unable to control himself and had taken Frigg as his wife.
After all, Frigg possessed a beauty that anyone would envy.
Yet, she also had a cunning and single-minded personality. In fact, she was the one who had seduced Kemp, not the other way around.
And Kurats’ sister, Cronelia, had inherited her mother’s beauty.
She had the same graceful limbs with the same smooth curves.
She had the same black hair that sparkled charmingly whenever it got wet.
She had the same fascinating almond eyes that men could not help but be attracted to.
All in all, even if she did not exceed her, she was no inferior to her mother, Frigg, who had been a matchless beauty.
―― Except, maybe, for Cornelia’s chest area, which was quite lacking, but that was better not mentioned out loud.

The most important point was that Kemp and Frigg were not Kurats’ actual parents.

When he was only a baby, Kurats had been entrusted to Kemp on a battlefield by a strange young woman who had been about to die.
Normally, Kemp would not have taken such a baby, but not only was he given a lot of money for this, he had a mysterious feeling that he should not abandon it.
Moreover, Frigg had apparently been captivated by the sound of the baby’s healthy laugh.

And so, by some miraculous coincidence, Kurats was welcomed by the family, became Cornelia’s younger brother, and inherited the family name ‘Almadianos’. That was certainly the principle of causality at work.

Ever since he had learned about this story at the age of 12, Kurats had been holding an anguish which was rising day by day.
He did not want to hand his sister to any other man.
He wanted to forever live peacefully together with his beautiful sister, as siblings.
Although he was fully aware that that was an unnatural desire, Kurats could not help himself from feeling that way.

Fortunately, due to the her personality, his sister had never shown interest to any men, so the two siblings’ peace had never been disturbed, however ―― He never thought that the worst person possible would fall in love with her at first sight.

(This means that my sister will…)

Kurats was desperately suppressing the taboo feelings that he had managed to keep hidden within him for such a long time.

『―― When it comes to these kinds of opponents, all you have to do is kill them. What are you hesitating for?』

Bernst spoke like this was obvious since he knew how much power was isolated within Kurats.

【”There is no way I could do that! And even if I could, do you know how much trouble I’d bring to everyone in the village…?”】
『You’ve grown up in a seriously troublesome way. Was it because I was too confident in my genes or because I made light of the influence your environment would have over you? …Either way, this is unnacceptable!』
【”Why in the world are you possessing me? Are you a ghost? A demon?”】

Bernst replied while sulking, with a voice that made it seem like he was really offended.

『I’ll be bothered if you start comparing me to these sorts of puny things. I’m magic king of the Dolmond world, I’m another incarnation of you from a different world.』

Of course, Bernst had no intention to speak the entire truth.
If Bernst told Kurats that he was a being made just for the sake of his play, it was quite possible that he would not believe him. Even if he did believe him, there was a slight chance Kurats would end up doing something troublesome like killing himself.

【”…That sounds like something that came straight out of dream, but for some reason, I can believe you when you say that you’re another me…”】

Kurats did not aceept this truth due to reason or to Bernst’ words, rather, it was due to the unique feeling that came from sharing the same soul with him.
Just like Bernst was sharing Kurats’ human emotions, Kurats was also sensing Bernst’s thoughts, which had reached a beyond-human balance.
However, as one would expect, it was impossible for him to read said thoughts in detail…
This was quite fortunate for Bernst, who had been prepared to have a hard time convincing Kurats.

『As I said, in that other world, I’m the magic king, a god’s equal…. Honestly, with only one hand, I could scatter about all the forces of a rural area’s earl like this one. You should be able to do that too, if you put your mind to it. 』

Kurats was Bernst’s alter-ego. As long as he was given a chance, there was no doubt he would become one of the top mages of the present age, without needing any special training.
If Bernst had been in Kurats’ position, he would have been able remove every obstacle in his way, be it directly or indirectly, by merely using Kurats’ current magic power.

【”…That’s crazy talk. Even if I can repel the earl’s forces, the kingdom won’t stay silent, and they can ruin the village just by blocking the main road that leads to it.”】

Kurats knew all too well how poor the people living in this remote village really were.
If he had been the only one affected by the situation, he would not have been all that troubled.
As said before, Kurats was convinced that he was powerful enough to take on anyone in the world.
So it would not have been impossible for him to take his sister and break through the country’s borders.
The truth was that he had been determined to do so for a short while, and he likely would have actually gone through with that plan if not for his sister’s opposition.

『….But protecting all of those villagers and whatnot is pointless to you if it means that you can’t save that all important sister of yours, isn’t that right?』

Bernst’ cynical words pierced right through Kurats’ vitals.
He was right.
Although Kurats was fully aware that this was an inhuman line of thought, the village’s fate really did not have any value to him when compared to saving his sister.
The problem was that his sister, with her single-minded personality, would never allow him to ignore the villagers.

【”I’ll just bear with my shame and ask you… Is there any method to save both my sister and the village?”】