SHC_C54_Chapter 54: "An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth, Nonsense for Nonsense"

C54

 

EUNIE HERE: EDITED* 06/18: I'M SO SORRY A HUGE CHUNK OF THE STORY WAS MISSING IN THIS CHAPTER AND I DID NOT EVEN NOTICED. 😭 THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE ANONYMOUS PERSON WHO COMMENTED AND TOLD ME ABOUT IT!!!! MAY A THOUSAND LUCK COME YOUR WAY!!!

Chapter 54: "An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth, Nonsense for Nonsense"

Elves are a race that is said to be closely connected to grass, trees, and soil.

When I returned with the ancient flute entrusted to me by Princess Himenomiya, the Elf Trio was playing happily in the garden, where Genzo-san, Regulus, and I were tending to the vegetable patch.

While Regulus and I were visiting the Princess, the Elf Trio had nothing to do.

Bored, Lala-san and Viktor-san decided to take a stroll around the garden. By chance, they ran into Genzo-san and were brought to the vegetable patch, where they found beautiful cabbage growing.

When the two of them decided they wanted to harvest it, Professor Romanov, who happened to be passing by, intervened, saying that they couldn’t without my permission. Since they wanted to help, Genzo-san, in a bit of a bind, asked the Elf Trio to help with making compost.

“It’s not something I should have them do as guests, but…”

“Ah… well, if they’re enjoying it, I don’t mind,” I replied.

“Wow, look at these big worms!” “The soil is so soft!” Lala-san and Viktor-san exclaimed in delight, while Professor Romanov, who was gathering dead leaves, smiled contentedly.

It’s rare to see elves acting so lively, but if they’re happy, I think it’s fine.

I absentmindedly watched the three of them, when I heard the sound of someone crunching through the fallen leaves behind me.

With Genzo-san, Regulus, and the Elf Trio around, I figured it must be either Rottenmayer-san or Utsunomiya-san. But when I turned around, there was a boy I didn’t recognize.

He had thick, determined eyebrows, slightly messy black hair, and almond-shaped black eyes. He was a little taller than me.

“Huh? Who are you?”

“Who the heck are you?”

“Ah! Is that Kanade?!”

The boy, who had a somewhat sulky look on his face, was met with surprise by the others. Genzo-san, in a hurry, raised his voice.

The boy, now identified as Kanade, flinched slightly at the loud voice.

“Oh, that’s my grandson, I see.”

“Wait, what!? Grandpa, is that you!?”

Genzo-san hurried over to Kanade, forcefully making him bow his head.

“It’s okay,” I waved my hand to signal that everything was fine, and Genzo-san released his grip, though his face looked a bit scary.

Kanade, rubbing his head, looked like he was about to cry, and Regulus, who was shy, clung tightly to my waist.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Hōchō, the legitimate son of Kikunoi. This is my younger brother, Regulus.”

The moment I introduced myself, all the color drained from Kanade’s face.

It seems that social status and adult hierarchies are well known even in the world of children.

“I-I’m Kanade. Ah, I’m sorry!”

“Huh? Why are you sorry?”

“Because you called me ‘you’…”

“Oh! Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s fine, you’re older anyway. Oh, is it rude to say ‘you’ to someone older?”

“N-no, it’s fine! Don’t worry about it!”

“Well then, it’s good.”

I chuckled softly, and Kanade awkwardly smiled back.

I remembered that Genzo-san had two grandchildren, one who was older than me and one who was younger than Regulus.

So, Kanade must be the one who is a bit older.

“Did you come to help with the vegetable patch?”

“Well, it’s a bit embarrassing, but…”

Kanade scratched his balding head nervously and explained that he was currently running away from home.

However, he wouldn’t tell us the reason for running away.

I had heard some details from his parents, but Kanade didn’t want to go back. His parents, who were being stubborn, had told him that if he wanted to stay away, they wouldn’t stop him, knowing he was staying with Genzo-san. Rather than worrying, they had taken a firm stance.

“Well, then, you don’t have to go back, right?”

“Well, but… the longer I stay away, the harder it gets to go back…”

“If you go back now and your resentment towards them isn’t resolved, I think it will just keep repeating. Maybe you should stay until you feel better? By the way, are there any financial issues or anything?”

“No, no, I’ve got plenty for living alone. I can take care of one grandchild, no problem.”

“Well then, that’s fine, isn’t it?”

With that, I began doing warm-up exercises with Regulus.

While I was doing some half-remembered radio exercises, Kanade, who had been puzzled, joined me and started exercising beside me.

“What is this...?”

“Just speak normally.”

“But grandpa will scold me.”

“Really? Well, do your best. I don’t mind being normal, but I know there are times when it can be problematic.”

“Problematic?”

“Yeah. I don’t mind, but other nobles might. They might say it’s rude or something. You should practice for the future.”

Kanade seemed to be unconvinced, but Regulus, perhaps getting used to him, started to close the distance little by little.

Then, Kanade suddenly murmured.

“Little brothers… they’re so annoying, right?”

“Oh... So Kanade finds little brothers annoying?”

“W-well... no matter what he does, I always end up being the one in trouble.”

Kanade shot a resentful glance at Regulus, and the perceptive little chick, sensing the tension, flitted behind my back.

It seems Genzo-san hadn’t told Kanade about the circumstances between me and Regulus.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to hide,” I said, guiding Regulus to face Kanade.

“Kanade, Regulus and I are siblings, but it’s a little different from your situation. We only started living together recently.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because our mothers are different. Regulus lost his mother and came here. Before that, I was living here alone, so it’s been so much fun since Regulus arrived.”

“Alone... What about your dad and mom?”

“Well, my father and mother don’t like me.”

Kanade looked shocked, but it wasn’t a big deal to me.

And, despite all that, I find my little brother adorable.

When I said that, Kanade’s face became extremely serious.

“And your side?”

“M-my side...?”

Kanade, flustered, turned his gaze down, and I noticed that the Elf Trio and Genzo-san, who had been enjoying themselves, were now watching us.

The Elf Trio seemed to be simply curious, but Genzo-san looked at Kanade with sincere expectation.

He probably wanted me to find out what was behind Kanade’s stubbornness.

But I didn’t know.

If Kanade wanted to talk, he would. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t—kids are like that.

After finishing the warm-up exercises, I went to get the harvest baskets from the tool shed.

As I did, I noticed Kanade had gone around to the opposite side of Regulus.

It seemed like he was coming along.

“Because that guy… broke the wooden dog I’d carved, the one I really cared about.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But mom and dad, they keep saying, ‘It’s your fault for leaving it out!’ And I’m the only one who gets yelled at!”

“Ah...”

“That was something my grandpa made for me!”

From what Kanade was saying, it seemed that his younger brother had broken a wooden dog toy that Genzo-san had made for Kanade. But Kanade was scolded because he didn’t put it away, while his brother wasn’t reprimanded.

Kanade didn’t seem to realize it, but his loud voice made it clear enough for Genzo-san and the Elf Trio to hear.

“Well, if you leave it out, it’s gonna get broken…”

“But why do I have to be the one yelled at?”

Sighing, Genzo-san spoke, and Kanade, with a face that looked like he was about to cry, shouted back.

I nodded solemnly.

“Yeah, I don’t think you’re wrong, Kanade.”

“Right!? The one who’s wrong is Tsumugi!”

Tsumugi was probably Kanade’s younger brother.

But I shook my head.

“In this case, the biggest problem is your parents.”

Kanade, Genzo-san, and the Elf Trio all stared at me in shock.

“Because, if both are at fault, they should both be punished. It’s not fair to only scold one of them.”

“‘Both at fault’?”

“Yeah. ‘Both at fault’ means both should be properly reprimanded. I think that after your parents scolded you, they should have scolded your little brother, Tsumugi. That’s what I would do.”

Because the fact that Kanade didn’t clean up his toy and that Tsumugi broke it were two completely separate issues.

It’s part of discipline to say, “Clean up your things,” and Kanade deserved to be scolded for not doing that.

On the other hand, “Don’t break other people’s things” is a more fundamental principle, and if Tsumugi broke Kanade’s toy, he should have been scolded too.

It seems that Kanade’s parents scolded him for not cleaning up, but neglected to address the fact that Tsumugi had broken the toy.

“Well, maybe if you had put it away, Tsumugi wouldn’t have broken it, but that’s just speculation. The fact is, Tsumugi broke it, and that’s what should be addressed. If you don’t scold him for breaking the toy, you’re teaching him that it’s okay to break things without consequences.”

“Wha—?”

“Because that’s how it is, right? Now Tsumugi will think, ‘I can break things if they’re not cleaned up,’ and that’s something I think kids can easily use as an excuse.”

“No, no, Tsumugi is only two years old. He doesn’t have that much sense yet. Besides, my parents don’t scold him because they think he wouldn’t understand, being so young.”

“So because he doesn’t understand, they let him do whatever he wants? Well then, let’s say your parents owned a field, and it got ravaged by wild beasts. I would give a donation to other families in the same situation, but not to your parents. They can’t talk to the animals, so they should just accept it. In extreme terms, that’s what’s happening here.”

If they don’t scold someone because they think they can’t understand, but then blame the one who can understand, that’s unreasonable.

The shock from my words was evident as Genzo-san took a deep breath.

The wind rustled, and the trees swayed.

I must have looked terrible right now. As proof, Regulus was tugging at the hem of my blouse, looking worried.

Kanade was staring at me with clouded eyes, and my heart burned with a sense of injustice.

Adults are unreasonable. Yet, when the same unreasonable treatment is returned to them, they cry foul.

But I’m just as unreasonable.

“I’m sorry, Genzo-san. I guess I’m hopeless after all.”

“Young master, what happened?”

“Kanade’s parents are not my parents. But I can’t accept that kind of unfairness... It seems I hate parents more than I realized.”

But this is just me taking out my anger.

EUNIE: I feel like the inner child in me is tearing up. Anyone here who's the eldest or has a younger sibling will know all too well how most parents are quick to scold the older sibling and side with the younger/youngest sibling and how you, as an older kid, should be the understanding one. Even if they broke or destroyed something you cherish so much, since you are older, you are not allowed to feel upset, and in the end, you just end up bottling it inside while the little sh!t gets away with it.

I really hope one day we could get rid of such mentality or behavior. If your kid does something bad, it doesn't matter if he/she is older or younger; as a parent, you should correct them. Just because they're tiny creatures doesn't mean they cannot comprehend. RANT OVER--KANADE HANG IN THERE

THANKS FOR READING!!! 

PREVIOUS.       INDEX.          NEXT.