I clicked my tongue softly as I looked at the muffin, crushed in my hand.
‘How did I not notice this?’
The Admiral’s face was never known. After all, he always wore a mask. Because of this, rumors circulated that he was cursed, or that his face was hideous, or that he had committed serious crimes in Pharus that couldn’t be covered up.
The Rion I remembered always had a tired face, but his personality was anything but gentle. So, I could never have thought that the Admiral, who was the subject of all those chilling and deadly stories, was the same person.
‘Besides, the clothes he wore were different.’
Each rank in the navy was assigned a different uniform. And back then, what Rion was wearing wasn’t even close to an officer’s uniform—it was the uniform of a trainee.
When I first met him, he was a sergeant, but he remained a trainee until he was promoted to warrant officer. Should I have been suspicious about that? Damn it.
‘I just thought he wasn’t suited to be a soldier at all….’
The problem was quite sensitive, so maybe the fact that I never asked about his promotion was the issue.
Or maybe…
“Do you, by chance, have a brother with the same name…?”
“I-I do have two older brothers, but none with the same name.”
Damn it. Another hope shattered.
‘Well, of course.’
Right, the name Hyperion only became famous after he became Admiral and wiped out the pirates who attacked the island of Lutheon. That’s when people started naming their children after him.
In other words, it wasn’t a particularly popular name at the time.
‘Besides, Rion’s family information matches.’
Rion also mentioned that he had two older brothers. From the subtle tone when he talked about them, I could guess that he didn’t get along well with them, just like this guy.
‘What should I do about this?’
There’s no denying they are the same person. I rubbed my face with the hand that wasn’t covered in muffin crumbs, feeling the warmth on the other hand.
Hyperion was carefully wiping the muffin crumbs off my hand with a handkerchief.
“……….”
“I-I’m sorry. It was messy. I did something without being asked….”
“No, thank you.”
The child’s soft voice melted my heart.
‘What am I doing, getting angry at a kid?’
Anyway, this child was different from both Rion and that Pharus Admiral. Technically, they were the same person, but this was a time before Nereus was arrested.
‘If things go well, maybe later he’ll help us because of his feelings.’
Nereus had some unknown tricks up his sleeve, but his abilities were so great that he could easily escape even from seers.
However, the Pharus family’s ability was to control the sea. That’s why people often speculated that they were the descendants of Cormare, and they were revered by the public. Even the Sole Church viewed members of the Pharus family as semi-divine beings.
In recent generations, their powers had weakened, leading to them being ridiculed by pirates. But once Hyperion Pharus became Admiral, that ridicule disappeared, and the pirates feared them again.
Anyway, they had bad compatibility with pirates. The best option was to run away immediately. However, Hyperion’s abilities were so powerful and extensive that even running was impossible.
‘He’s the kind of person you’d love to have on your side, but you’d never want to face as an enemy….’
But why was this kid abandoned there, all alone? I couldn’t understand it.
“Hey, Rion. I’ve got something to ask you.”
“Ri-Ri-Rion?”
‘Ah, I slipped up.’
Normally, nicknames were only used by family members, close friends, or lovers. After realizing that Hyperion was Rion, the name slipped out of my mouth by mistake.
‘Or maybe I was just enchanted by his face.’
I mean, how could there be such an adorable creature? I wanted to take him to a restaurant immediately and feed him all kinds of delicious food.
“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. You just reminded me of someone I used to know.”
“Six years old, aren’t you?”
“Even a six-year-old can have a past.”
“I-I see….”
Once again, this child just quietly accepted the nonsensical excuse I gave. How could this gentle and soft child later become the cold-hearted Admiral who monopolized all kinds of cruel titles?
‘Perhaps someone else took his name and became Admiral, while this kid was left behind doing odd jobs.’
Nothing else would make sense. How could someone so kind go around catching people? It would have made more sense if he had quit the navy after a week because he couldn’t handle the training.
“Why?”
Hyperion tugged on the edge of my clothes. He blinked and rolled his eyes around before speaking hesitantly.
“It’s just that… it’s the first time anyone’s called me Rion.”
“……….”
“I’ve always wondered what it would feel like…”
Hyperion mumbled, his voice getting quieter and quieter. Only then did I take a closer look at the child sitting in front of me.
‘He’s only two years apart from me’
Even so, despite being six years old, my body was small, and there wasn’t much difference in size between us. This meant that the situation Hyperion was in was highly abnormal
‘Why?’
All members of the 6th family are born as seers. Because of that, they were very protective of their bloodline, and they kept a close watch on it, making sure not to let it spread outside the family. They were also very caring toward their family members.
While other families fought bloody succession battles, the 6th family was different. So, it was strange that Hyperion wasn’t treated well within his family.
“………!”
‘Was this the time when Hyperion started drawing everyone’s attention?’
Just like on our ship, there must have been problems on the ships that docked this time as well.
It was thanks to my knowledge of the future that Caelum didn’t suffer casualties, but I was sure that other places were like funeral homes right now.
Before I regressed, there was something I knew about Admiral Pharus… or rather, Hyperion Pharus. There were rumors among the navy that he had achieved a ‘great accomplishment’ shortly after enlisting.
‘Right, the outside world didn’t know about it, but the navy did.’
No one knew exactly what the achievement was, so I assumed it was just a rumor created by admiration for Pharus….
‘If it was about this, it would make sense.’
If what he had discovered was this disease, later named ‘White Rot,’ then it would explain things.
Hyperion had been abandoned in an orange orchard where White Rot disease was spreading. The original Hyperion, who hadn’t been discovered by us, may have found a way to learn about the disease and how to treat it.
Considering the child’s condition and strength, by the time he returned to the village, White Rot would have caused quite an uproar.
‘I think I’m starting to understand.’
When I studied White Rot, I read that the cause of the disease was discovered thanks to a tip from one person. If I think that person was Hyperion, everything makes sense.
‘I think Hyperion wasn’t on bad terms with the head of the Wita family.’
There were even rumors back then that Admiral Pharus was receiving support from Wita.
Hyperion, at a young age, found an important clue that helped identify the cause of White Rot. Thanks to him, it was possible to control the disease more easily.
‘But Hyperion didn’t get along with Pharus.’
Normally, such achievements would bring widespread fame to the person who made them, unless they refused the recognition. It’s strange. Maybe it’s because medicine was Wita’s domain, and if Pharus, another branch of the 6th family, officially got involved, it would create an awkward situation….
Hyperion had been abandoned in an orchard owned by pirates. We can infer that Pharus didn’t want Hyperion to establish his achievements as ‘Hyperion,’ preferring that his name not be linked to such accomplishments.
No matter how much support Hyperion got from Wita, as far as I remember, all branches of the 6th family, except for one, were closely connected.
Since Hyperion didn’t know much about politics, Pharus likely acted first to pass the credit on to Wita, wearing a good face and receiving rewards in return.
That’s why, before the regression, no one knew why Hyperion Pharus had the support of Wita.
I recalled a conversation I had with Rion before the regression.
“Actually, I don’t get along well with my family. What about you, Lala?”
“Me neither.”
“You don’t get along with Colonel Akera?”
“No, it’s not that… There was someone who was like family to me, but we didn’t get along. We parted ways.”
“…You’re a lot like me, Lala.”
“Seems so.”
“Then….”
“Should I become your family?”
“………!”
“I’ll be your older sister—no, your younger sister? Anyway, I’ll be a sibling more reliable than your brothers.”
“……….”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“…Can’t we just be friends who are like family instead?”
Now that I think about it, he didn’t want to become family. Maybe we couldn’t become real family after all. That’s a bit sad.
‘I could’ve done anything for him.’
Back then, even though I hated Caelum, I still longed for the concept of family because of the memories I had left. But Hyperion might have been reluctant to have a family due to his bad relationship with his brothers.
‘I guess I wasn’t considerate enough.’
At the time, I just thought they had the typical sibling quarrels, but for him to be abandoned in an orchard like that, it must have been a lot more serious.
“Hey, Rion, are you on bad terms with your family?”
I asked Hyperion cautiously and gently.
“Huh? Oh, no. My brothers are really cool and amazing.”
‘Really? Were they on good terms back then?’
It wasn’t unheard of for siblings who were once close to grow apart when one of them started to stand out. I’d heard of that happening. It’s possible.
“I’m just… not good enough…”
‘What?’
“I… I’m not great with a sword. My brothers tried to train me, but I kept failing, always getting hit. They’d throw things at me to improve my reflexes, but I just couldn’t keep up. I’m so slow compared to them… But at least they didn’t punish me too harshly, just left me alone in my room for a few days… nothing too serious.”
‘What?’
“They’re helping me improve so I can do better.”
This is insane. This is child abuse.
