Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

"No matter how close we are as siblings, once I start my own family, we'll go our separate ways. I can't rely on my brother's success forever."

"A noble resolution."

"Thank you, my lord."

"Honestly, I thought you were worried about your future children having to bow down to Nathan's children one day, but it turns out your reason is far more honorable than I expected."

"…!"

Logan's face flushed bright red at my teasing remark. He bit his lip but said nothing, clearly holding back whatever retort he might have had. He knew better than to challenge me on this, aware of the consequences.

"Nathan, what do you think?" I asked, turning to his brother.

"Me?" Nathan blinked, surprised by the sudden question.

"Should I let your brother participate in the defense, or should I keep him safe at home?"

"Am I really allowed to make that decision?"

"Of course. You're part of my personal guard, after all. I'll let you choose. Frankly, I don't care what his motives are."

Logan, who had been silently fuming at my words, suddenly looked up, his face turning pale as he worried about what his brother might say. He was clearly afraid that Nathan might reject his participation.

"Let him participate," Nathan replied without hesitation, much to my surprise.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

His quick answer left me a bit taken aback. "You're sure?"

"It's not like he's going to be in the front lines fighting. He'll just be supporting the defense. If things get too dangerous, we can always pull him out."

"Well, if that's what you want." I shrugged, accepting Nathan's decision to let Logan join the defense effort.

Logan looked bewildered for a moment but then bowed his head in silence. The matter had been settled with surprising ease.

As I was leaving, Nathan walked me out, grinning as he spoke.

"Thanks, Justin. I know what you were doing back there—looking out for me, right? That whole thing with my family."

Sharp kid. I chuckled, nodding in acknowledgment. "It wasn't entirely unintentional."

Back when we were still living in the village, Nathan would often vent during our breaks. He'd complain about how his parents always favored his brother, who was a university-educated elite. In contrast, they treated Nathan like a foolish child, dismissing anything he said.

After becoming a pioneer, Nathan had been able to walk around with his head held high, feeling like he finally had some respect.

"Honestly, I thought you'd give your brother more of a hard time," I remarked.

"I'm not saying I didn't want to," Nathan admitted with a sigh. "My brother always acted like an adult, subtly enjoying being above me."

"Then why were you so quick to accept him joining the defense?"

"Because of our parents," Nathan said, his expression complicated as he exhaled heavily.

"I thought they couldn't interfere anymore now that you're essentially the head of the family."

"That's true. They can't ignore me now. But on the flip side, they're struggling with it. They're finding it hard to adjust to the change."

"Why would they have trouble with that?"

"They had their reasons for favoring my brother all this time, but now everything's flipped. I think they're having a hard time trying to change their behavior."

"Ah, I see."

Their dilemma made sense. If they suddenly changed their attitude toward the two brothers, it might make them look like hypocritical parents. Yet, keeping Nathan beneath Logan didn't make any sense either. After all, Nathan was the reason they were now living comfortably in a nice house with good food. They were stuck between wanting to switch their favoritism and being unable to do so.

"That's why they run off to the civilian district whenever they see the two of us together. I don't mind being respected in the household, but I didn't expect them to feel this uncomfortable about it."

"So, you want to close the gap between you and your brother?"

"Exactly. If the difference between us shrinks, our parents will feel more at ease dealing with both of us."

"I get it now."

Nathan's hope was that if both he and his brother were successful, it would lessen their parents' confusion. If both sons could stand on their own, there would be no need to favor one over the other.

'I suppose if they wanted to avoid all of this, they should have treated them equally from the start…' I thought to myself. But meddling in family affairs wasn't my place. Besides, Nathan seemed satisfied enough with the outcome.

"Thanks for looking out for us. I'll follow you forever, Justin," Nathan said with a grin.

"Don't say it like it's a favor. After all I've done for you, you owe me plenty," I replied with a smirk.

"Now that I think about it, you're right. Haha."

We both laughed, our conversation easing the lingering tension.

With that minor incident behind me, I turned my attention back to preparing for the upcoming monster wave. The preparations weren't anything elaborate—just organizing the pioneers and citizens who would participate in the defense and repeatedly inspecting the wall placements.

Some suggested setting up specific formations, but I shook my head.

"If you get too used to a set formation and something unexpected happens, you'll freeze."

There were only ten days left until the monster wave began, hardly enough time to develop any meaningful strategies. At best, we'd be able to establish one basic formation. But if the attacking monsters didn't match our expectations, all that practice would be worthless.

What was worse, if we drilled too much, people might instinctively follow the rehearsed formation in battle, even if the situation called for something different.

"Say we train for archers, but when the wave comes, there are no archers—just mages. Or we prepare for mages, but all we get are warriors. Then what's the point?"

"Yeah… that makes sense."

"It wouldn't just be a waste of time—it'd kill morale. After all that training, if there's no chance to use it, everyone will feel like it was pointless. Better to let them rest up."

Instead of focusing on formations, I made sure everyone memorized the wall's layout and key points. If someone hesitated or didn't know where to go when ordered, things could get chaotic fast.

Despite my laid-back approach, both the pioneers and the citizens took their duties seriously. After all, their lives depended on it. They even took time out of their breaks to scout the wall and familiarize themselves with the terrain.

Ten days passed quickly, and on the morning of the final day, a system message echoed across the entire city:

"Ding! The Main Quest 'The First Great Migration' has been deleted due to exceeding the time limit."