The Mob Noble Who Got Reincarnated in a World Where Men Are Naturally Protected—So I Trained Like Crazy to Protect Girls Instead, But Their Love Got Way Too Heavy - Chapter 44: The Garland Family’s Failure

Act 04: Night Vision Goggles and an Unnamed Blade

Chapter 44: The Garland Family’s Failure

This was a memory from my childhood.

“Ugh… sniff… hic…”

Back when I was still little, I had just finished training. As I was heading back, I heard someone crying from behind some cover.

Even back then, I had already decided to become “a man who protects girls,” so when I heard a girl crying alone, there was no way I could ignore it. I immediately ran over.

And just as I thought, it was my older sister—one year above me.

“Fifth sis? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

In the Garland family, there were ten sisters. The first five were my older sisters, so instead of using their names, I usually called them by their number plus “sis.”

So Vee… the “Fifth sis” sitting there, hugging her knees and quietly crying, was the one just above me.

We normally got along well, but right now, she was clearly in a bad mood.

“Shut up…! This has nothing to do with you, Tec, so just go away…!”

She wiped her tears roughly, trying to push me away.

But I always thought this kind of “go away” was just stubbornness, so I said, “Okay,” while moving closer and quietly sitting beside her.

“…I told you to go away…!”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

I brushed it off lightly and stayed next to her.

After a while, she finally spoke.

“…Tec has it easy. You’re a boy. Even if you’re the weakest, everyone still spoils you.”

“……”

When I looked at her, she was still crying, her voice trembling.

Her lips twisted in frustration, forcing out a bitter, mocking smile.

“In the first place, no one even expects strength from boys. You say you’re getting stronger because you can’t marry otherwise, but… if you’re as cool as you are, Tec, someone will marry you anyway.”

“……”

“But it’s not the same for us…! If we’re not strong, we won’t find a husband. If we stay weak, no one will even look at us…!”

And then she said—

“But me… I’m always dead last in training. A complete failure! In swordsmanship, stamina—everything! I can’t even beat my younger sisters, let alone my older ones!”

The children of the Garland family were, overall, extremely talented.

It wasn’t unusual for younger siblings to surpass older ones. For example, the youngest sister was actually the best among all of them when it came to swordsmanship.

In that sense, Fifth sis really was the “failure.” Dead last in every field. Some of the sisters even looked down on her.

She clawed at her head, almost like she was trying to hurt herself, and shouted.

“So just leave me alone! It’s not like you actually care about your useless big sister anyway! Even if you’re the weakest, Tec, everyone still dotes on you!”

Her words… honestly, they hit me hard.

Not because she pushed me away.

But because they brought back my past life so vividly.

Come to think of it… I was raised being told not to cry too.

And so, I said this to her.

“Yeah, you’re right. Even though I’m a guy, I’m the one being treated kindly… pretty pathetic, huh…”

After letting out a long sigh, she looked at me in confusion.

“…Huh? Tec, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying I’m pathetic. Everyone around me is a girl, and I’m always dead last. And yet, everyone still treats me kindly. It’s honestly embarrassing.”

Saying it out loud hit harder than I expected, and I felt a little down.

Then I looked at her and gave a small, wry smile.

“Compared to that, you’re amazing, Fifth sis. Even though you’re a girl, you’re working so hard. Even when you’re pushed to the edge, you don’t lash out—you just sit here and cry on your own.”

I gently reached out and patted her head.

She stared at me in shock for a moment… and then her tears started spilling out again.

“Ah… eh… w-what is this…”

“Sometimes, it’s okay to just cry your heart out, you know? If you don’t mind using your pathetic little brother’s shoulder, I’ll lend it to you as much as you want.”

“…Uu… ugh… aa… AAAAAAAAHHHH…!”

Just like that, she clung to my shoulder and burst into loud sobs.

A few of my older sisters came to check on us, but when I quietly gestured for them to keep it down, they gave wry smiles and left.

After that, I stayed there, letting Fifth sis cry on my shoulder.

A few minutes later, she finally calmed down.

Her eyes were swollen, but she looked a little more at ease as she leaned against me and said,

“…About earlier… sorry. I said something really awful to you, Tec.”

“It’s fine. Besides, everything you said was true—except the part about someone definitely marrying me.”

“But that part is the most true though…?”

I ignored her, who looked genuinely confused, and stood up.

Then I made a proposal.

“By the way, Fifth sis. I’ve got an idea. What do you think—our big comeback plan as the failures?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

She looked confused, so I explained.

“We’re weak. …But our eyes and ears are sharp, and we’re pretty skillful, right? So I figured—maybe there’s another way.”

I raised my index finger.

“Fighting isn’t just about head-on battles. Before that, there’s information warfare—like hide-and-seek. And mobility fights—like tag. Let’s show everyone that.”

Then I grinned mischievously.

“Let’s blow their minds, partner.”

“P-Partner?”

“Yeah. We’re forming a team. That makes us partners, right?”

—And then, six months later, during a no-holds-barred mock battle, the duo of me and Fifth sis defeated all our sisters, leaving the entire family in complete shock.

…That said, in those same fields, “information warfare” (hide-and-seek) ended up being dominated by the ninth sister, and “mobility warfare” (tag) was taken over by the fourth sister…

Anyway, that was my memory with my older sister—Fifth sis.

The Garland Ten Sisters’ “weakest.” A flickering mirage. A throwaway fighter. A one-woman suicide squad. A “mantis with a tiny blade” who somehow always came back victorious.

…And above all, an extreme bro-con—my Fifth sis, Vee.

That was a memory from my childhood.