However, listening to his story, I realized that a certain person had not appeared in it at all.
"Come to think of it, what was Sean-niisan doing?"
"That idiot brother of ours doesn't remember a thing about that incident, even though he was older than me. He just copied Mother and the others by ignoring you, Erik, and stealing the savings you had hidden away."
"...Could it be, Luke-niisan, that you hate Sean-niisan?"
"Of course I do. He's a piece of trash who bullied his own little brother. You have no idea how many times I thought about taking you and running away..."
Hearing Luke-niisan's words, a sudden question arose in my mind.
"You had your ceremony at age ten and got [Space Magic], right? If so, didn't you ever think about leaving the house right away?"
"...I considered it, but I decided it wasn't the best option. Even if I had run away with you, I was still just a young child back then. No matter how rare of a skill I had, I wasn't confident I could survive while looking after an even younger Erik. That's why I decided to stay in that house and build up my strength in secret."
"Still, I almost died in that house, you know? When I was five, I nearly died from a cold..."
"Huh? That's the first I've heard of that! No, wait... leaving a sick child like that completely unattended... Wait, seriously?"
Luke-niisan looked genuinely bewildered by my revelation.
"I'm sorry. At that time, I was training my [Space Magic], so I didn't notice you were sick. Truly... thank you for surviving."
Though clearly shaken, Luke-niisan bowed his head in apology.
To be honest, I hadn't expected him to apologize so sincerely.
"Well, it's all in the past now anyway. Besides, if you had your own circumstances, it couldn't be helped."
"...I suppose somewhere in my heart, I had convinced myself that you were a tough kid."
"I don't think I was that tough, though... I just gradually realized I couldn't survive in that house, so I started getting the villagers to give me work."
"Erik. You were plenty tough long before that. After all, you were already going into the mountains to find your own food when you were just three."
True enough, I had started going into the mountains to gather wild vegetables around that age.
Still, all of that was simply what I had needed to do to survive.
"I used to follow you in secret, watching over you so you wouldn't get hurt, you know? Even though you were smaller than me, you were full of energy and kept pressing forward, so I had a hard time keeping up. It became a lot easier once I obtained [Space Magic], though."
Luke-niisan said as he looked back on those days.
"So, when did you start working as an adventurer?"
"About half a year after the ceremony, I suppose. By that time, I had become somewhat proficient with [Space Magic] and was able to teleport short distances. Once I finished helping out around the house, I'd say I was going out to play, teleport to a nearby town, and operate as an adventurer."
"Which means you started adventuring around the same age I did."
"Well, I was totally useless at first, though. Aside from [Space Magic], I had [Swordsmanship], so I fought on the vanguard, but in the beginning, I mostly fought while running away. It was only after about a month that I learned to fight properly, and that's when things finally started getting on track."
A month meant it was just about the same as my current situation.
I, too, had recently grown accustomed to my life as an adventurer.
"That's surprising. Since you had such a powerful skill, I assumed you would have excelled right from the start."
"It might have been different if I'd had companions, but I was operating in a way to keep my identity hidden. I sensed that if I carelessly made friends or acquaintances and my abilities came to light, it would cause a huge uproar."
"[Space Magic] is definitely a well-known, rare skill, after all."
"Yeah. If people found out I had such a skill while I was still powerless, there was a risk I could be suppressed by force, so I was constantly on guard."
Having said that, Luke-niisan stared intently at me.
"Well, we've talked about a lot of things, but please let me apologize. Erik... I'm sorry for being so harsh to you all this time."
Bowing his head, Luke-niisan apologized to me.
"It's true that you did a lot for my sake, Luke-niisan, but even so, I no longer have any feelings toward the family, and that includes you."
"Well, I made sure you would feel that way. So feel free to take this apology as nothing more than my own self-satisfaction. In fact, that's exactly what it is."
"...Well, I'm still grateful, though. It's thanks to you that I was able to leave that house without any lingering regrets. For that, thank you."
The reason I had been able to completely sever my attachment to the family was because of the role Luke-niisan had played.
For that, I was truly grateful.
That was why I accepted his apology and offered him my thanks.