Cedric went and did something stupid.
Not realizing it was a juvenile, he ended up attacking a White Fenrir pup.
(Come on... Is this guy an idiot?)
Watching from a bush some distance away, Rest felt a chill run down his spine.
White Fenrirs were ferocious but intelligent.
They didn't kill needlessly, and as long as you didn't enter their territory, there shouldn't have been any danger.
(But still... who'd have thought there'd be someone who'd go out of his way to step on a wolf's tail...)
That Cedric didn't know anything about White Fenrirs didn't make it excusable.
This was where monsters lived. He should have been far more...
...
...vigilant.
(Typical Cedric, pulling something like that... probably thinks he's the center of the world...)
Rest had been watching them for a while, and he'd seen how Cedric was desperately trying to impress the sisters.
The sisters were clearly not interested in Cedric, but he didn't seem to notice.
Even as his own brother, it was painful to watch — the kind of sight that made him want to look away.
"That said... I can't just leave this as is, can I?"
The sisters were about to be attacked by the White Fenrir.
With no other choice, Rest decided to intervene.
[Wind Ball] "Gyaaan!"
Rest slammed a wind spell right into the side of the White Fenrir's face as it lunged to sink its fangs into the sisters.
The blow wasn't meant to kill—it was a strike meant to send the beast flying. The White Fenrir tumbled sideways across the ground.
"Sorry about that—Cedric's handiwork. You don't need to worry anymore. It's safe now."
"Um, who exactly are you…?"
"Huh…?"
Viola and Primula stared at Rest with blank, disbelieving eyes.
Trying his best not to frighten the two of them, Rest placed a hand over his chest and put on the most gentlemanly smile he could manage.
"My name is Rest. I'm Cedric's… well, half-brother, technically. He's lying over there."
"A half-brother…? But I've never heard that he had any siblings…"
Viola asked cautiously, her voice tentative.
Rest lowered his brow tips just slightly, looking a bit troubled, and began to explain the situation.
"I was born as an illegitimate child, so my existence has been kept hidden. I'm truly sorry for the trouble my brother has caused you all."
"Behind you!"
Primula screamed.
An instant later, the White Fenrir charged.
"GROOOAAAARGH!"
"Oh, right—sorry about that. I almost forgot."
"Gah!?"
The White Fenrir lunged to sink its teeth into Rest's shoulder, only to be deflected by an invisible wall of transparent force.
A barrier born of magic — [Shield] — that was what it was.
"Sorry about that. I invaded your home and even hurt your children."
"Grr...!"
"This is my apology...
[Healing].
"
Rest cast healing magic toward the White Fenrir's body.
Every wound, large and small, on the White Fenrir's body vanished without a trace.
"What—!?"
Viola cried out involuntarily, but Rest looked at her with his eyes, silently conveying "It's all right."
"I'll heal your little one too. [Healing]!"
"Kyuu..."
He also cast healing magic on the young wolf that Cedric had slashed and left crumpled on the ground.
The pup looked puzzled as it climbed to its feet and let out a small whimper.
"Shall we call it even? Neither of us wants to keep getting hurt, right?"
"Grrrrr..."
The White Fenrir growled as it slowly began to back away.
Retreat or fight — the Fenrir's eyes wavered with indecision.
"If you won't back down... I guess I have no choice."
Rest raised his hand and released his mana.
An enormous aura of mana emanated from Rest's entire body.
Blue mana erupted from Rest's body like steam shooting from a boiling kettle.
"Yip!?"
The White Fenrir cried out in surprise like a puppy.
By nature, mana is invisible to the naked eye.
Just as when Rest had his mana measured at the temple as a child, one cannot determine a person's mana capacity without using a specialized item.
However, Rest possessed a seemingly bottomless well of mana, practically infinite.
His mana was so vast and so dense that it had become visible to the naked eye.
"Yip! Yip!"
The White Fenrir seized its pup in its mouth and fled as fast as it could.
Having been this thoroughly terrified, it probably wouldn't come anywhere near the settlements.
"Sorry about that. Did I scare you?"
"E-Eh..."
Rest dispelled his mana and turned to the two sisters, who had slumped to the ground.
Viola and Primula stood with their eyes wide, staring at Rest.
"I'll see you both out of the forest... I know it's a lot to ask, but could you keep what happened today a secret from your father and brother?"
"Th-That's fine, but..."
"That mana was even greater than Father's, and he's the chief court mage. Who exactly... are you?"
Viola and Primula kept pressing him with questions, but even Rest couldn't explain.
He decided to smile his way through it, putting on his best grin.
"I'm not even a noble — just a stable hand. Please don't think anything of it."
After that, Rest led the sisters, who still clearly had something to say, out of the forest.
Cedric and the two baron's sons had been knocked unconscious by the White Fenrir, but they didn't appear to be in any life-threatening condition — just a few broken bones at worst.
He used the magic known as [Levitate] to float the three of them and carry them outside like so much baggage.
Personally, he would have been fine leaving them behind, but he restrained himself in front of the sisters.
And so Rest's encounter with the Rosemary sisters came to pass... but his relationship with the two of them didn't end there.
In time, he would come to deepen his bond with the sisters even further — though he had no way of predicting that at the time.