Senri Natsume did not become angry upon hearing his son’s mocking words.
After all, this entire matter was his fault.
He had no right to lose his temper.
“That won’t happen.”
Senri shook his head firmly.
That other son was merely an illegitimate child.
Whether in an ordinary household or a prestigious family, such an identity could never be openly acknowledged.
That was especially true for the Natsume family.
As a great house with more than a thousand years of history, its rules and traditions were exceptionally strict.
There was no possibility of casually adding an illegitimate child to the official family register.
The moment they did so, it would mean that the Natsume family had formally recognized his status.
He would no longer be an illegitimate child, but a legitimate descendant of the direct line.
Who knew how the other ancient houses would ridicule the Natsume family if that happened?
There were only two conceivable ways for that child to gain official recognition.
The first was for him to possess such overwhelming talent that the entire family was willing to make an exception for him.
But was that even possible?
No matter how talented that boy might be, could he possibly surpass Suguru?
The second possibility was—
Suguru dying unexpectedly.
In that case, the family might consider bringing the other son back.
“Dad.”
Suguru’s voice was calm, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
“You’d better make sure that woman and my dear half-brother don’t develop ambitions they shouldn’t have.”
“Otherwise, I can’t promise what I might do if they cross the line.”
His gaze settled coldly upon Senri.
“You may not be capable of dealing with them.”
“But that doesn’t mean I’m not.”
There was an unmistakable threat within his words.
A trace of anger rose in Senri’s heart, and he instinctively prepared to reprimand his son.
Then he met Suguru’s icy gaze.
The anger immediately dissolved into a silent sigh.
Suguru was not softhearted.
As the chosen heir of the Natsume family, he had received the finest education available from the moment he could speak.
The Natsume family had survived for a thousand years.
It had not done so solely through the hard work of generation after generation.
There had also been blood.
Ruthlessness.
And overwhelming force whenever the situation demanded it.
Suguru no longer paid attention to his unreliable father.
He placed Aron back onto the floor and turned to leave.
The little Steel-type Pokémon immediately hurried after him without so much as glancing back at Senri.
Aron enjoyed eating all kinds of metal-bearing ore.
Those ores could serve as its primary food, supplemented by the exclusive Pokéblocks available in the System Shop.
Once it reached its final evolution and became Aggron, it would undoubtedly become the strongest shield in Suguru’s team.
Admittedly, Aggron suffered quadruple damage from both Fighting- and Ground-type attacks.
However, there was a famous saying among Trainers—
A quadruple weakness was proof that a Pokémon was truly powerful.
Dragonite: Exactly.
Salamence: I agree completely.
Scizor: Who could possibly argue with that?
…
“Is Hatsumi not coming home for dinner?”
“She’s eating out with her classmate.”
It was a little past six in the evening, and Gardevoir had already prepared dinner.
Only Suguru and Senri were seated at the table.
Because of what had happened that afternoon, the atmosphere between father and son remained somewhat heavy.
Senri looked toward the empty seat that should have belonged to his youngest daughter.
“Does she really dislike seeing me that much?”
Suguru glanced at him.
His expression practically said—
You already know the answer, so why bother asking?
“At least Gardevoir still treats me well.”
His mood immediately improved when he saw a plate of braised Slowpoke tail being placed on the table.
“She even went out of her way to buy my favorite dish because she knew I was coming home.”
“Garde.”
The second little treasure asked me to buy it.
Of course, unless Gardevoir used telepathy, Senri could not understand a word she said.
And when it came to this particular unfaithful man, Gardevoir could not be bothered to communicate telepathically.
Had she not been worried about the three children living in this house, she would have left with Tōko long ago.
Tōko was Suguru’s mother.
She was a gentle, graceful woman—the very image of a refined lady from a prestigious family.
After dinner, Suguru lazily stretched out across the sofa and enjoyed the quiet evening.
Senri had already returned to his room.
“Garde.”
Second little treasure, why hasn’t the third little treasure come home yet?
“I’ll ask her.”
Suguru took out his phone and opened LIME.
[Kekeke: What time do you think it is?
Why aren’t you home yet?]
[HatsuHatsu: Didn’t you say I had to be home by eight?]
[Kekeke: It’s already past seven.
Round it up and it’s eight.]
[HatsuHatsu: By that logic, I can round it down and call it seven.]
[Kekeke: Are you talking back to me?]
[HatsuHatsu: I’m reasoning with you.]
[Kekeke: It seems you’ve forgotten the first rule of surviving in the Natsume family.]
[Kekeke: Never attempt to reason with your older brother or sister.]
[Kekeke: Come home immediately.
Don’t make me go there and drag you back myself.]
[HatsuHatsu: I’m coming!
I’m coming!
Just don’t come here!]
Suguru looked at the messages and let out a pleased little snort.
“Gardevoir, Hatsumi will be home soon.”
The Natsume family operated under the absolute law of sibling hierarchy.
As the youngest, Hatsumi was destined to remain suppressed for the rest of her life.
Resistance was futile.
…
At Seihō Mall in Shirogane City, Hatsumi had just finished dinner with her sworn rival—and close friend—Kasumi Yanagi.
The two girls had been preparing to continue shopping.
However, after reading Suguru’s messages, Hatsumi released a heavy sigh.
“I can’t.
I have to go home.”
Kasumi calmly sipped her milk tea.
Her small lips rested around the straw as she looked at her friend.
Although her features had yet to fully mature, she already possessed fair skin and a beautifully delicate face.
It was easy to imagine how stunning she would become in a few years.
“Big Brother Suguru summoned you home again?”
“Exactly!”
Hatsumi clenched her fists indignantly.
“That horrible Suguru!
One day, I’m going to overthrow his tyranny and become the master of my own life!”
“He controls me far too much.”
“I’m about to enter middle school, you know!”
“I’m not an elementary school student anymore!”
She waved her little fists furiously through the air.
“Big Brother Suguru is only worried about you.”
Kasumi tilted her head.
“It must be nice to have such a caring older brother.
You should be happy.”
“Don’t give me that.”
“I’m not falling for your attempts to defend him.”
She picked up her small shoulder bag.
“Anyway, I need to go.
Let’s meet again next time.”
“Mm.
All right.”
Kasumi nodded.
…
The following morning—
[Ding!]
[Daily Mission issued.]
[Mission Objective: Complete one hundred frog jumps.]
[Mission Rewards: 300 System Points and Rare Candy ×1.]
[Restriction: The Rare Candy may only be used on Pokémon below Level Ten.
It cannot be used to overcome a level limit imposed by the Pokémon’s aptitude.]
Rare Candy
Raises a Pokémon’s level without producing any negative side effects.
This was the first time such a reward had appeared.
After completing one hundred frog jumps, Suguru immediately received the Rare Candy.
He held it between his fingers and examined it curiously.
It looked like an entirely ordinary piece of candy.
“Here.”
He handed it to Beldum.
Beldum was currently Level Nine, making this the perfect time to use a candy restricted to Pokémon below Level Ten.
“Bzz?”
The silver-white Pokémon inspected the candy for a moment before swallowing it.
The instant it did—
Its level rose directly to ten.
Suguru’s eyes lit up.
“This really is an incredible treasure.”
A candy capable of increasing a Pokémon’s level without any harmful side effects was unimaginably valuable.
If he could obtain enough of them, Beldum might quickly evolve into Metang—
And perhaps even Metagross.
Unfortunately, rewards like this were simply too rare.
After sensing the increase in its strength, Beldum immediately turned toward Suguru.
Its single crimson eye was filled with obvious longing.
The meaning was unmistakable.
Do you have any more?
“That was the only one.”
Suguru slowly opened his empty palm.
“I’ll give you another one next time I get one.”
“Bzz…”
Beldum sounded somewhat disappointed.
“All right.
It’s time to train.”
Suguru headed toward the training grounds.
Beldum and Aron immediately hurried after him.
Suguru’s Perfect Steel Heart increased the cultivation speed of Steel-type Pokémon by approximately ten times.
When its effects were focused on a pseudo-legendary hatchling like Beldum, the improvement did not initially appear especially dramatic.
In reality, however, Beldum’s development had already become comparable to that of an ordinary Pokémon.
Without the Perfect Steel Heart, its natural growth would have been many times slower.
When that same enhancement was applied to Aron, the effects became far more obvious.
Less than a week had passed since Aron joined Suguru’s team—
Yet it had already reached Level Six.
Even so, Suguru ultimately chose to continue focusing the Perfect Steel Heart’s enhancement on Beldum.
Aron already possessed a relatively normal growth rate.
Beldum did not.
Without the assistance of the Steel Heart, the pseudo-legendary hatchling’s development would slow dramatically.
For now, his first partner remained the one who needed that power most.