Chapter 5: Off with it! Path to Metabolism

“Keep going! Keep going!”

While the sun was shining brightly in the sky, I was being forced to run around the house of the Jack Berry family by Riley who now has a big smile on his face. Eldor, who is running parallel to me, hands me a drink.

Sigh, I know that I will keep up, but I could really use a break right now.

Every time I step forward with my foot, I feel the earth trembling due to my weight. I have been running for an hour since this morning. However, in my case, it looks more like dragging my feet, rather than running. My clothes are drenched in sweat, while I limply keep moving forward.

At the beginning, it felt great. I reminisced about my previous life and remember how great the breeze feels on me while running a marathon!

Even though the ground trembled, I felt like a fish in the ocean while doing a light jog. But this feeling only lasted for a second, I was exhausted before I knew it.

My knees are begging me to stop and my arms are only hanging on my sides swinging up and down through inertia. I have given up on moving them some time ago.

Eldor keeps wiping away all my sweat that"s pouring out like a waterfall.

Oh, Eldor, you have it so easy. With a slim body, healthy stamina and a cool face.

I"m slightly jealous of Eldor, but I respect that he is running together with me this morning.

"Nii-san, please do your best! The goal is nearly in sight!"

I hear Fortuna"s voice from afar. She has also been supporting me this morning by waving her small hands and cheering me on while standing in front of the distant gate. Her smooth black hair reflects the sunlight and is accompanied by a dazzling and adorable smile. She looks like an angel.

But, my body doesn"t want to keep going.

"… Gotta… keep… going…"

By now I"m completely out of breath. How did this all happen?

It all started with Riley"s remark.

"How about we both put in an effort?"

He spoke those words after visiting the other day. At the time, I already had a bad feeling. He is a man of his words after all.

This morning Riley appeared in a dashing high-speed magical carriage while holding clothes for me in his hands.

"Riley, I"m sure you already know, but I can"t just wear any run of the mill clothes, can I?"

"Well, just wait and see."

Nodding confidently, Riley starts spreading out the clothing on the table in my room. After he finished, I noticed that I could actually wear all these clothes. They"re not a perfect fit, but by eliminating some of the frills they will end up roughly fitting me.

Their appearance gives off a feeling that they folded a piece of cloth in half, made a hole where my neck is supposed to be and sewed the rest shut. Only leaving an opening for my arms. There"s no doubt that they have been made in a short time. The same goes for the pants, they have a similar rough appearance. They are designed with a string around it, making you able to adjust them based on the wearer’s waist. This way, I can still wear them after losing some weight.

All-in all, they are simple clothes that are perfect for exercising. But I wouldn"t recommend wearing them to any official place. Compared to my usual clothes, they are quite flimsy, but this makes them easier to move in. I believe the fabric is not silk, but cotton or hemp. Since silk has a particular shine to it, but cotton or hemp are inexpensive and easy to obtain after all.

"When I was at the Windy market, I found this design. I"m pretty sure you can wear it if you use a big cloth to make it."

"Did you go incognito again? You"re being too hard on Trian."

Whenever Riley leaves the mansion, he lets his servant Trian take over. Since Trian has the same height as Riley, he only needs to use a little transformation magic to turn him into a clone. This is impossible for me though, considering my body shape.

I wonder how a fat Eldor would look like…?

"Langlease-sama, is there something on my face?"

"No, I was just thinking about something serious. Don"t mind me."

Impossible, he can"t get as fat as me. Or rather, I really don"t want to see a fat Eldor.

"Quickly change to this and we"ll start running!"

Riley pushes the clothes on to me.

"Eh?"

"Well, doing a marathon in the morning is easier, since it"s sunny."

"I understand that, but you want to start right away?"

"Yep!"

The fat on my stomach shakes whenever I move my leg forward. It doesn"t hurt though.

"Five more laps to go!"

"Don"t ask the impossible…"

"Nii-san, Ariana prepared tea. Let"s go together when you"re done."

How can Fortuna be so sure that I can run five more laps…

"You can"t let down Miss Fortuna now, can you?"

"Huh? Are you both trying to torture me?!"

Oh, I feel my vision becoming blurry…

Suddenly, Eldor, who was silently running parallel to me, stepped in front of Riley.

"Riley-sama, I fear…"

"Hmm?"

"I fear Langlease-sama has reached his limit."

"Really? He can"t go on a little more?"

"No, Riley-sama may be able to do it, but Langlease-sama has been bed ridden for a long time, you shouldn"t ask the impossible."

"I guess…"

"No worries, I will run instead of Langlease-sama, let"s go."

"Ah, wait a min-"

Without letting Riley finish his sentence, he dashes off. He really saved me.

And on that note, I collapse on the spot.

"I"m sorry, I didn"t think it was that difficult."

Riley apologizes to me while rubbing my back.

You"re right. It shouldn"t have been that difficult. I only ran about an hour and I was moderately hydrated. I shouldn"t be this weak.

Even though I feel like this, I can"t stand up right now. I probably need to rest before trying to get up again.

"Here nii-san, a cold towel."

Fortuna receives a towel from a red haired servant and places it on my neck. It instantly gave me a refreshed expression on my face.

I will pull through.

"I know your body is aching, but could you try to walk a little?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Let"s move to the shade together, we can"t carry you after all."

That"s kind of obvious. I would be surprised if they could carry me.

While being supported by Riley, I somehow stood up and moved to the shade of a nearby tree. Luckily I collapsed near the gate, if I collapsed further away, it would be hard to return home.

"Langlease-sama?!"

Eldor who ran another lap changed color when he saw me.

"It"s my fault Eldor, it looks like I was a little unreasonable and pushed him too hard, you can hit me if you want to."

While reflecting on his actions, Riley extends his cheek toward Eldor.

"No, I didn"t stop him in time, so I"m equally at fault."

Eldor feeling he made a mistake, hangs his head.

Eldor is really a nice guy. Even though I should be the one to blame since I"m just too weak. I flexed my muscles a little, but all I see is a lump of fat.

Several servants started bringing out a white garden table with a watermark pattern and a couple of chairs under the shade of the tree. It seems they want to hold the tea party here, rather than to return to my room first. But… if it"s a normal chair, I"m afraid I will break the legs when I sit down on it.

The white garden table and the matching chairs have beautiful watermarks, but they are also delicately designed, I don"t think those thin legs can support my weight. In antic.i.p.ation of my anxiety, the red haired servant responds with a "yes, yes" and drags out a heavy duty chair especially tailored to me. Upon seeing this, Eldor immediately rushed over and took the chair from the girl.

"Thank you, Ariane, for bringing nii-san"s chair. You must be tired, you can rest now."

Fortuna thanks the red-haired boy and lets him return to his room.

A red haired girl, Ariane…?

If I remember correctly, she has been with Fortuna for a long time. I wonder if she was her servant all this time. She seems to be about the same age as Fortuna, so I"m sure she"s still a servant apprentice.

Come to think of it, I remember crushing her accessories and breaking them.

The reason for breaking them and the thing I told her, is really awful.

"Servants don"t deserve accessories!"

After saying that, I grabbed her necklace and broke it…

I forgot all about it while I was bed ridden, but I really am sc.u.m for doing something like that. Let alone grabbing it, I also broke it. I might be the third son of the Duke, but I had no right to do that. It makes me dizzy that I did something like that.

I really need to apologize for it later… No, wait, might as well do it right now.

As I try to get up from the chair, I instantly collapse through my knees.

"Come on now, what"s the rush?"

"Langlease-sama, please rest for a while."

As they both encourage me to rest, I decide to apologize some other time. I"d like to fix Ariane"s necklace properly.

I ponder on this while drinking the cold ice tea that Eldor brewed.

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