When I told him that, a smile spread across Luke-niisan's face.
"Phew, I'm glad I got to talk to you, Erik. Now I can set out on my journey with a clear conscience."
"A journey? Luke-niisan, aren't you going to live in the village?"
"Like I said earlier, I can't stand those people. Besides, I left the village right after you did. Once you were gone, there was no reason for me to stay in that house. On top of that, the villagers hated me too, so living there long-term wouldn't have worked anyway."
"You knew the villagers hated you?"
"Well, if they saw how I treated you, it'd be weirder if they didn't hate me, right?"
Luke-niisan stated it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Then, a small doubt crossed my mind regarding what he had said earlier.
"Wait, then why did it take you so long to reach the royal capital? If you left right after me, shouldn't you have gotten here sooner...?"
"...I had no idea where you were headed, Erik, so I was looking all over the place. I even thought you might have left for another country out of disgust for this one, so until recently, I was searching as far away as neighboring lands."
"So you didn't know I came to the royal capital."
"Right. But when I got back to this country and consulted an informant, I was told a kid named Erik was working as a rookie adventurer in the royal capital, which brought me here. I thought you might be someone else with the same name, but I figured I should at least check."
Hearing the tale of Luke-niisan's struggles, I found it amusing and couldn't help but chuckle.
"I'm glad to see you smiling like this, Erik. Are you enjoying your life in the royal capital?"
"I am. Without a doubt, every day is far better than when I was in the village. I have party members now, and we delve into dungeons together."
"...It sounds like you're doing the adventurer thing properly, much more than me. I've been working solo the entire time, you see."
"Still, you made it all the way to Gold Rank on your own, right? I think that's genuinely amazing."
When I praised him, Luke-niisan beamed with delight.
"Well, as long as you're happy, that's enough for me. If you're growing alongside reliable companions, there won't be any need for me to step in anymore."
"...What are your plans for making a living now?"
"Hmm, well, for starters, I think I'll just go traveling. Not quite soul-searching, but looking for what I actually want to do. Honestly, the sole goal of my life up to this point was getting you safely out of that house, Erik. Now that that's done, I don't have a clear goal, so I'm going on a journey to find one."
"With your abilities, Luke-niisan, couldn't you easily get a job working for the state?"
Luke-niisan made a sour face at my suggestion.
"Working for the state is out of the question. I mean, I'd have to learn etiquette and court manners starting from scratch, you know? If I have to deal with something that tedious, I'd much rather keep being an adventurer."
"Do you really dislike etiquette that much?"
"I hate it, and I hate nobles to begin with. They act all arrogant, and even though they're the ones who'd be in a bind if I turned down their requests, they treat me like they're doing me a favor just by giving me work..."
Apparently, Luke-niisan had run into plenty of unpleasant nobles in the past.
Unlike him, every noble I had met so far had been a decent person.
"Having a useful skill comes with its own headaches, huh."
"You need to watch out too, Erik, okay? Even if you have a great skill, flaunting it will only draw weird, troublesome people to you."
"I only share it with people I trust, and I keep quiet around everyone else."
"As long as you've judged their character carefully, that's fine, but stay cautious, okay? Especially if the state catches wind of it—that's when things get truly messy!"
Hearing the sheer conviction in Luke-niisan's voice, I could tell he had really been put through the wringer.
"...By the way, would you tell me what skills you have?"
"...You've got some nerve asking that."
"I-I mean, of course I'd be curious! It'd be stranger if I wasn't curious about what abilities the cute little brother I raised from infancy has!"
Hearing his plea, I paused and considered it for a moment.
In the end, I decided to keep Fixed EXP a secret from him.
From everything he had told me, I understood that he had acted out of concern for me.
However, I had no way of knowing whether his story was entirely true.
That was precisely why I chose to withhold it.
"The skills I have are Swordsmanship and Physical Enhancement—just standard, common skills."
"Still, that's a solid combination. They're reliable skills for holding down the front line, after all."
Luke-niisan accepted the explanation without any suspicion.
Taking advantage of the moment, I asked him a question in return.
"Luke-niisan, how exactly do you use your Space Magic?"
"How? You mean the mechanics of the skill?"
"Yeah. You were pulling things out of thin air earlier, so I was just genuinely curious about how it works."
Very little was known about Space Magic.
Even Olivia-san didn't know how to use it.
Yet here before me stood Luke-niisan, someone who actively possessed and wielded the skill.
I knew this was my chance to learn how it functioned.
"...It's hard to put into words, but if you're that curious, Erik, I'll explain it to you."
Luke-niisan seemed a bit troubled as he pondered it, but he agreed to teach me.
The moment he said yes, I pulled a sheet of paper from my bag.
"Don't tell me you're trying to learn Space Magic? It's an exceptionally difficult skill, so you really shouldn't."
"I'm not aiming for that. I just purely want to understand what kind of skill it is. This is just for taking notes."
"I-Is that so? Hmm, all right, here's how it works."
Looking slightly bewildered by my sudden seriousness, Luke-niisan began to explain.