Pardon the Abduction, Holy Knight - It's an Emergency - Chapter 3.11

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In my previous life, our family wasn’t wealthy, but we were an ordinary family that could eat three meals a day and sleep in a warm house.

When did the peace of our utterly ordinary family start to crumble?

I think it might have been when my only blood relative suddenly borrowed money from me.

“Hey, Kim Ha-yoon. Do you have any money?”

“What money all of a sudden?”

“Well, you know. There’s a lecture I want to take, but I’m short on cash.”

“What? Have you asked Mom and Dad?”

“You know. Even what they give me monthly is barely enough.”

“…Alright.”

My brother was retaking the college entrance exam.

Although our parents weren’t well-off, they invested all their savings in my brother, their only son.

My brother always used to say:

“Just wait and see. I’ll definitely get into medical school and make our mom and dad live in luxury!”

And I thought my brother was really living hard for his dream.

How naive I was.

“Welcome. May I take your or…”

On a quiet weekday afternoon.

While I was working part-time at a cafe, I encountered an unexpected person.

“Brother?”

“…Kim Ha-yoon?”

Even now, I remember it vividly.

My brother’s face was startled as if he’d seen a ghost.

“You, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me this is where you said you were working part-time?!”

“Yes. What about you, why are you here at this hour instead of at the academy?”

“Huh? Uh, well, today’s a day off, a day off!”

“Ah, a day off… What, a self-declared day off?”

“Uh… No?! What do you mean a self-declared day off!”

“Really?”

I slowly looked my brother up and down with cold eyes.

“But brother… You look quite stylish today. Even wearing clothes I’ve never seen before… Did you receive a gift?”

And a luxury brand at that?

“Huh? Uh, yeah. You know, my best friend, Min-jun. I got it from him.”

“Yeah. I know. The friend you said you’d never associate with again two years ago when you cut ties. Right?”

Who do you think you’re fooling?

The more we talked, the more curious I became about whose money bought the clothes and shoes my brother was wearing.

This person said he couldn’t even take the lectures he wanted because he had no money.

Just as sweat was pouring down my brother’s face like rain,

“Honey. Why is it taking so long to order? Is this someone you know?”

“Uh, huh?!”

An unfamiliar woman appeared behind my brother.

“Honey…?”

At my chilling murmur, my brother became restless.

“Honey, who is this?”

“Ah, well, that. My sister. My sister…”

At my brother’s words, the woman dropped her sharp attitude and chattered for a while about how cute I was before leaving.

Then my brother called me aside.

“Don’t tell Mom and Dad. Okay? Hey, I really just wanted to relieve some stress and then go back to studying. It was just today, I’ve been working hard otherwise. S**t. Why did you have to work here of all places.”

I should have stabbed him then.

I should have stabbed his hand or his eyes or done something.

“What did you say?”

“Haah….”

“I must have heard wrong, right? What did you do? Guarantee? Guaaa-ran-tee?!”

“Hey, I really….”

“Brother, are you crazy? Are you insane?!”

He even said he had given all the money he received from our parents, under the pretext of renting an apartment because the dormitory was uncomfortable, to his girlfriend.

“If you want to die, die alone. Why did you drag Mom and Dad into this? What did we do wrong?!”

“Ah, s**t. Hey! Did I know it would turn out like this? Did I?!”

The family’s ruin happened in an instant.

My brother’s girlfriend disappeared after that day.

When Mom found out, she collapsed.

Dad took out loans and even sold the house to help my brother, but it was far from enough to pay off the debt.

One year and three months later, Mom’s chronic illness worsened.

The doctor recommended surgery, and I worked part-time jobs like crazy day and night to cover the surgery costs, but…

Time didn’t wait for us.

Mother passed away without ever receiving the surgery.

After that, my brother came home drunk every day and fought with Dad.

It was literally a war every day.

I didn’t want to remember it again after being possessed.

“…So when I told her I didn’t have any more money to lend, she said she wanted to break up with me.”

To think that a person exactly like my brother would come as a customer.

“But I can’t give up on that woman. I was even thinking of marrying her!”

The man with a messy beard pleaded with a pitiful face.

Sigh…

I strained my neck to keep my voice from trembling.

“But, sir. Didn’t you say you have almost no money left after buying expensive gifts for her? Our guild’s consultation fee isn’t cheap, how will you manage it?”

“The, the consultation fee is…?”

I held up three fingers.

“3… 3 silver? It’s a bit burdensome, but still…”

“At least 30 silver.”

“What?!”

“Also, additional costs may occur depending on the consultation content.”

The man was shocked.

For a commoner like him, 30 silver was an amount he could earn only if he worked for three years without spending a penny.

In other words, I was saying:

I have no intention of taking your consultation, so go back.

“Wa, wait a moment. 30 silver? Where would I have that kind of money…”

“Then the consultation will be considered null. I’m sorry, but I’m not a charity worker.”

The flustered man made a tearful face.

But no means no.

It wasn’t about the money; helping this man who reminded me of my brother from my past life was something I couldn’t forgive myself for.

“I’ll, I’ll try to get it.”

The man, who had been nervously clenching and unclenching his fists, stuttered again.

“If I ask my parents, it should be possible somehow. If not, I’ll borrow money to bring it. Please, I beg you.”

No, that’s exactly why.

It’s because you do things like this that I don’t want to help.

I closed my eyes for a moment and thought.

Thinking about the parents of this man I didn’t even know made me feel uneasy.

I don’t like meddling, but…

I opened my eyes again and looked directly at the man.

Let’s make him give up.

Before dragging his innocent family into the mire too.