Chapter 85
“Are you looking for Julian Frontera?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And your name?”
“Lloyd Frontera.”
“What is your relationship with Julian Frontera?”
Relationship.
Lloyd paused for a moment before answering.
“We’re family.”
Blood-related, at least.
But calling him his younger brother felt awkward and strange.
Lloyd had never even seen Julian’s face before.
And back in Korea, he had never had any siblings either.
Fortunately, the dormitory supervisor didn’t question his response too much.
“Very well. Please provide identification.”
“Here.”
Verification was simple.
Lloyd took out the family crest necklace and held it up.
The magical verification mechanism embedded within activated.
Fwaaah—
A holographic image materialized in midair.
It was Lloyd’s own face.
He leaned in, aligning his real face with the projection.
The image matched, and the projection shifted to a blue hue.
“Confirmed. Please wait here for a moment.”
“Thank you.”
Lloyd sat in the dormitory lobby to wait.
The space was a grand, old-fashioned hall, filled with the scent of aged mahogany and ancient books.
As he sat there alone, a creeping sense of unease slithered into his thoughts like a slow-simmering broth.
‘Julian, huh. The novel didn’t mention much about him.’
Julian Frontera—Lloyd’s younger brother.
In The Iron-Blooded Knight, he had never actually appeared in person.
The only mention of him came early in the novel, during the downfall of the Frontera Baronial House.
‘The barony fell into ruin, leaving no way to pay for his tuition. Eventually, he was expelled from the academy. And then he died. That night, after being forced out of the dormitory, he was wandering through the backstreets looking for shelter when a robber attacked him and stabbed him.’
He had stubbornly refused to let go of their mother’s pendant. That was why he had been stabbed.
It hadn’t been an instant death. There had been a chance for him to survive.
But he had missed that chance—because the alley had been completely deserted.
He had collapsed in a dark corner, struggling to hold on until dawn.
Calling weakly for help, desperately hoping someone would come.
But no one did.
And so he bled out in a pool of his own blood, passing away just thirty minutes before sunrise.
A meaningless death.
A waste of potential.
The novel had briefly noted that Julian had been known as a diligent and hardworking student—making his demise all the more tragic.
‘That was all there was to him. Diligence.’
That was the extent of what Lloyd knew about Julian Frontera.
His personality.
His likes and dislikes.
His actual relationship with Lloyd.
He had no clue about any of it.
And that uncertainty made him uneasy.
‘Tsk. But there’s no way he’ll figure it out.’
Julian hadn’t seen him in nearly three years.
Even if he found Lloyd’s speech and mannerisms odd, he would likely just assume it was due to time and change.
‘Good thing there’s a perfect phrase for situations like this—turning over a new leaf.’
Yes.
A reformed delinquent older brother.
That would be today’s persona.
Lloyd was just finalizing his strategy for meeting Julian when—
“What the hell. Why are you here?”
A sharp, no—practically barbed voice stabbed into his eardrums.
Lloyd turned toward the source.
There stood a grown-up child.
Curly orange hair, a freckled face, and a frame that looked no older than fifteen or sixteen.
The petite build made the youthful impression even stronger.
He was short.
Barely past 160 centimeters.
And thin, making him look even smaller.
Even his features were cute, giving off the appearance of a doll-like child.
‘That’s Julian?’
Lloyd simply stared at the so-called “grown-up child.”
Julian—if that was him—furrowed his brows.
“I asked why you’re here.”
Still sharp. Still barbed.
That reaction confirmed it for Lloyd.
‘Yeah, that’s definitely Julian.’
He had heard that Julian was twenty-one, the same age as Javier.
Which meant—Julian looked far younger than expected.
But the openly prickly attitude?
That made it clear.
Lloyd smirked.
“Why do you think?”
He stood up.
Took a step toward Julian.
Julian flinched.
Even so, his green eyes burned with defiance.
No, it wasn’t just defiance—
It was the determination of someone refusing to back down, holding on with sheer stubbornness.
‘Let’s not get too entangled here.’
Lloyd and Julian.
He didn’t know what their relationship had been like before.
And he wasn’t about to make things more complicated.
Once the suspension bridge project was complete, he planned to return to the barony.
Besides, Julian wouldn’t suffer the same tragic fate as in the novel.
So there was no need to get too involved.
‘Let’s just do what the baroness asked and be on my way.’
Lloyd picked up the large bundle he had been carrying.
He held it out to Julian, whose sharp gaze was fixed on him.
“Here.”
Plop.
The sizeable bundle landed in Julian’s small arms—no, more like on top of him.
“Urk—ugh.”
It was heavier than he had expected.
Julian staggered slightly under its weight.
Lloyd asked,
“Is there a place to eat around here?”
“…What? A meal?”
“Yeah.”
“And why would I eat with you?”
“The baroness insisted that we have a meal together.”
“Who said that?”
“Who else would say it?”
It had been one of Baroness Frontera’s most heartfelt requests before Lloyd left the estate.
Julian seemed to pick up on that immediately.
“Ah, seriously.”
His small, rounded nose scrunched in irritation.
“This way.”
Clutching the bundle, Julian turned on his heel.
He walked ahead, leading Lloyd down the hallway.
At the far end of the first floor, there was a visitors’ dining hall—
A place where families and acquaintances who came to visit academy students could have a meal together.
“What do you want to eat?”
Julian asked as he took a seat.
At the same time, he observed his older brother, Lloyd.
‘Tsk.’
No, scratch that.
He should stop observing.
Just looking at Lloyd was irritating.
There was no particular reason. That was just the kind of person his older brother had always been.
“Just so you know, alcohol is not allowed here.”
He preemptively shut down any possibility of Lloyd ordering alcohol—just in case.
And yet, despite his efforts, he still felt uneasy.
Because he remembered.
He remembered what kind of person Lloyd Frontera had been.
‘Even if you dumped him in the depths of hell, the first thing he’d look for would be alcohol.’
Lloyd had once bragged that he would break out in hives if he went a day without drinking.
He had been constantly drunk, wreaking havoc wherever he went.
Breaking furniture was nothing.
Sometimes, he hit people too.
And of course, Julian had not been an exception.
No—if anything, he had probably suffered the most.
As a child, he had been beaten for not running errands.
As he grew older, he was beaten simply for existing in Lloyd’s drunken field of vision.
Eventually, Lloyd had even lashed out at him for being too diligent, for being annoyingly hardworking.
That was how much of a trash human being Lloyd Frontera had been.
One of the worst pieces of trash Julian had ever known.
Which was why…
This entire situation made no sense.
‘How in the world did he manage to accomplish something like that?’
Julian suddenly recalled something from a few days ago.
A royal messenger had come.
They had sought him out.
And they had told him something unbelievable.
The trading city of Cremo.
The capital of the Cremona region, where his homeland was located.
A monstrous Gigatitan had attempted to land there and had rampaged through the city.
A ship, floating in celebration of a completed monument, had been sunk.
The statue itself had been destroyed.
A watchtower had been blown apart.
Even fires had broken out in the city.
‘And yet… no one died. Not a single person.’
Not only that—someone had stepped forward with superhuman courage and self-sacrifice, defeating the Gigatitan.
Julian had been genuinely moved.
He had admired that person, whoever they were.
His heart had pounded with excitement just hearing about it.
At the time, he hadn’t even thought to question why a royal messenger was delivering this story to him.
He had simply been curious.
What kind of person had achieved such a feat?
What kind of life had they lived? What noble aspirations had driven them?
He had wanted to meet them.
Just once.
To look them in the eyes, to learn from them.
To take even a small piece of their greatness and make it his own.
In short—
Julian had been completely captivated.
And then he had nearly choked when he heard the hero’s name.
Lloyd Frontera.
The hero who had saved Cremo—was Lloyd Frontera.
Of course, he had refused to believe it.
But he had no choice.
The information had come directly from a royal messenger.
There was no way it was a lie.
And to make it worse, the messenger had even given him strict orders.
For now, he was to keep this information to himself.
The capital hadn’t heard the news yet.
Soon, Her Majesty would formally bestow honors upon Lloyd Frontera, and only then would the story be publicly announced.
The more Julian had listened, the dizzier he had become.
It felt like he had been struck in the back of the head with a hammer.
‘Lloyd Frontera? No way. This has to be a mistake. There’s no way that’s true. There has to be some kind of misunderstanding. Maybe people are collectively mistaken. Or maybe they were hypnotized, or possessed.’
That had been his first reaction.
There had to be some kind of distortion or misinterpretation at play.
Because otherwise, it just didn’t make sense.
His trash, no-good, delinquent brother had always been the complete opposite of a hero.
Lloyd had been nothing but a drunkard and a menace.
Nothing more.
‘…Or so I thought.’
Julian lifted his head.
Across the table—
Lloyd was skimming the menu.
And oddly enough—
He wasn’t even looking at the alcohol section.
He was genuinely scanning through the food options with a serious expression.
Then—as if by chance—their eyes met.
“What are you staring at?”
“…Huh?”
“If you already know what you want, order first. I’m paying, since this is a paid dining hall for visitors, right?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Then go ahead and pick.”
Thud.
Lloyd casually slid the menu toward him.
Even added a small, amused smirk.
It was all so strange.
Too unnatural.
Too alien.
Julian hesitated.
Without thinking, he lifted the menu and hid his face behind it.
But the words didn’t register at all.
His mouth moved on its own, blurting out nonsense.
“Uh, um… What about Sir Asrahan?”
“Hm? Javier?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I heard he came with you.”
“Were you keeping tabs on me?”
“…Yeah.”
Damn it.
Why was he even having this conversation?
Why was he talking to this guy?
Julian clenched the menu tightly.
Lloyd Frontera—not looking for alcohol.
Lloyd Frontera—having a conversation with him without insults or threats.
The situation was so bizarre, so uncanny, so foreign—
It made Julian question if this man was really his brother at all.
In short—
He was completely confused.
And yet, as if unaware of Julian’s turmoil, Lloyd continued speaking like an actual human being.
“Well, things just turned out this way. Don’t overthink it.”
“…Okay.”
“Oh, by the way—did you want to see Javier?”
“What? Uh, kind of.”
“Disappointed I didn’t bring him?”
“Not exactly…”
“Good. I actually stopped him from coming.”
“You stopped him?”
“Yeah. That guy draws way too much attention. Everywhere we go, people stare.”
“Ugh, yeah. He’s too handsome.”
“Exactly. So I told him to stay behind. He was stubborn about it, but I shut him up by refusing to sing him a lullaby.”
“A… lullaby?”
“It’s a thing. Anyway—”
Lloyd paused.
His expression shifted—serious and focused.
Julian tensed instinctively.
Lloyd opened his mouth to speak.
“Have you decided what you want to eat?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you so startled? I just asked if you’ve decided on your meal.”
“Oh… this one.”
“Pick something expensive.”
“It’s fine. Really.”
“If you’re done choosing, put the menu down.”
“…….”
Julian hesitated.
He wanted to keep hiding his face behind the menu.
Because this Lloyd Frontera was so strange and unfamiliar, it was driving him insane.
He bit his lower lip and lowered his head.
‘Ugh, this is messing with my head.’
It had been a long time since he last saw Lloyd.
And this was a completely unexpected meeting.
So when the dorm supervisor told him that his brother was looking for him, Julian had doubted his own ears.
As he walked to the lobby, he had steeled himself.
He had vowed not to be caught off guard, not to let Lloyd push him around like before.
That was why he had acted as sharply as possible.
He had deliberately made his tone harsh.
He had wanted to provoke Lloyd—
Because in his experience, that kind of response would get Lloyd to lash out first.
‘And then I was going to call the dorm supervisor.’
With the supervisor’s authority, he could have Lloyd kicked out as a disruptive visitor.
That way, he could cut the meeting short before it even started.
But—
That plan fell apart within ten minutes.
All because Lloyd Frontera was acting so bizarrely normal.
‘Should I just ask him outright why he’s acting like this?’
Honestly, Julian had so many questions.
Why was Lloyd acting like a decent human being?
What kind of scam had he pulled to earn his so-called heroic achievements in Cremo?
Now that they were face to face, he considered asking.
Determined, Julian lifted his head and shot Lloyd a serious gaze.
And at that moment—
He saw something completely unexpected.
