The people of Buena Village were very concerned about Shirou's condition. Many came to offer their well wishes, and many more brought food and various items to show their support.
Lilia didn't expect Shirou to be so popular. From the old men and women to the middle-aged men and wives, everyone seemed to respect him.
After all, for the past six months, Shirou had been taking on patrol duties for Buena Village and had been constantly helping the villagers. He earned their respect through his own efforts, and now he was naturally receiving their gratitude.
"..."
Seeing this scene, Rudeus' original anxiety and confusion disappeared without him even realizing it.
He became even more aware of how outstanding his older brother Shirou was. Unlike him, who often fell into weakness and self-doubt, Shirou possessed a true personal charm that drew people to him and earned their respect.
Gradually, Rudeus' last bit of resentment toward Shirou completely vanished.
Because he realized that he might never be able to compare to Shirou.
The difference between them wasn't in their strength or talent, nor in their intelligence or physical size. It was that, as a person, Shirou possessed something he could never have—
A brilliant soul.
From every angle, the brightness of their souls was completely different, like the difference between a firefly and the bright moon.
But Rudeus didn't feel inferior or lost because of this.
On the contrary, he felt happy.
Rudeus had heard a saying in his past life: a fake genius only shows off their talent, while a real genius makes people forget their own.
Now, he felt that this saying could be changed.
A fake strong person only shows off their power, while a real strong person makes people forget their own power.
Shirou was that kind of real strong person. He never saw showing off his power as a sign of strength. On the contrary, he never showed any great power, but at the most critical moments, he displayed courage and ability beyond anyone's imagination.
Without a doubt, this kind of person was the real strong one.
Rudeus hadn't thought about becoming someone like Shirou, because he felt that he didn't even qualify as a fake strong person, but was just a real weakling.
But he was very happy that Shirou had become his older brother.
Being around someone as truly strong as Shirou, Rudeus had even forgotten how brilliant he was, and only felt proud to have such an excellent person by his side.
After understanding this, Rudeus began to genuinely worry about Shirou's safety, hoping that he wouldn't suffer any incurable illness as a result of this incident, or he would be filled with lifelong regret…
He also regretted at this moment why the first magic he learned was water magic, which was useless except for fighting. If he could use healing magic, he could have directly healed the burns on Shirou's body.
"You must be Rudeus?"
Suddenly, a man's voice came from the side.
Rudeus looked up in surprise and saw a blonde, long-eared man standing in front of him.
"You… you are…"
Since this was the first time he had met a strange adult, Rudeus almost instinctively used polite language.
Laws was taken aback for a moment and then slowly said, "You're a very polite child, not like Paul's son at all… Hello, Rudy, I'm Laws, the village ranger. Since your house has burned down, you can stay at my place for the next few days."
"Will big brother Shirou be coming too…?"
"Yes, there's no one in the village who knows healing magic, and no doctor, so he can only stay at my place temporarily, and we'll have him treated when Paul and Zenith return."
"I understand."
Hearing that Shirou would be coming to his place as well, Rudeus couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He didn't want to leave Shirou's side right now and hoped to be able to take care of his older brother, who was seriously injured for his sake, at all times.
So, led by Laws, Rudeus and Lilia took the unconscious Shirou to his house.
As a ranger, Laws' house was naturally located near the forest, far from the village.
This was the first time Rudeus had traveled so far in his life, and he instinctively looked a little flustered, but as things stood, he couldn't avoid it and could only force himself to be brave.
After reaching the edge of the forest, he soon saw a wooden house. The structure of the house was very unique, it nestled against a large tree, and even the second floor was on top of the tree.
Laws saw Rudeus' confusion and quickly said, "My family is of the elf race, although I'm only a half-elf, I've still kept some of their customs."
"I see."
Rudeus had seen elves in books and knew some of their stories, so he wasn't surprised.
"When I built the house before, I wanted to prepare some weapons to protect against monsters, so I specially built a warehouse next to it. You can use that place for the time being."
"Okay."
Rudeus and Lilia nodded as soon as they could, not wanting to be picky at this time.
Laws quickly went to clean up the house, while Rudeus and Lilia waited at the front door.
After a while, Laws had cleaned up the warehouse, and Rudeus and Lilia carried Shirou to the bed in the room.
Lilia changed the bandages on Shirou's body and applied some of the medicine and ointment given by the villagers of Buena Village.
During this process, Rudeus could only stay in the room. He wanted to study magic to pass the time, but he didn't expect a small head to suddenly peek in from outside the door.
"Who are you?"
Rudeus looked over in confusion and saw a green-haired child. He had a delicate appearance and was a frail boy with the potential to be a pretty boy.
If it were his past life, he would probably have had sexual thoughts after finding such a cute boy online.
But the current Rudeus didn't care about that kind of thing, and just curiously asked, "Is there something you need?"
"Dad, Dad said that big brother Shirou is hurt. I'm worried, I came to see him…"
The green-haired kid said in a childish voice. Rudeus was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then felt inexplicably angry.
Good grief, Shirou is my big brother, where did this brat come from, trying to steal my brother!
Due to inexplicable emotions, Rudeus showed great vigilance towards the green-haired kid in front of him, as if he was trying to protect his dignity as the younger brother.