IRON MAN: BROTHER DON'T CAUSE TROUBLE

A month had passed since John arrived in this world. During that time, after introducing Touya to magic, the remaining days had been rather monotonous — just eating, sleeping, and completing tasks.

However, it wasn't entirely wasteful. Inside John's spiritual sea, the mysterious rune had finally stopped devouring energy. Now, all the energy obtained through meditation was accumulating inside his spiritual sea, steadily strengthening him.

As for their little group, they had grown quite close. The thought of leaving them one day made John feel a little distressed.

But the most surprising event during this time was when Alsie asked John out on a date — something he hadn't expected. Although he refused her at first, Alsie, being headstrong, didn't give up so easily. This worried John a little.

It wasn't that John didn't want to be in a relationship. In fact, Alsie was exactly the type of girl he admired — brave, independent, and strong-willed. The problem was that John knew he would eventually leave this world, and he didn't want to hurt Alsie because of that. So, he had been avoiding the issue for quite some time.

Leaving his relationship concerns aside, John had also gained benefits from mentoring Touya. By now, Touya could perform numerous elemental spells and a fair number of null magic spells as well.

One surprising discovery for John was that he couldn't use null magic like Touya — except for one spell: Recovery. It came as an unexpected yet pleasant surprise, giving him a sense of relief that his body wasn't completely useless. Over the past month, he had also collected quite a few runes.

To aid Touya's growth, John had purchased a Null Magic Encyclopedia and made Touya practice all the spells listed in it. Although 80% of the spells were useless, there were some valuable ones like Gate, Apport, Long Sense, and more. Delighted with his growing collection of runes, John decided to rename his book to Null Magic Rune Encyclopedia — not exactly a creative name, but it would suffice.

---

Today was the day they were set to travel to the capital city to deliver a letter — a task John had deliberately chosen himself. He didn't want to cause any major disruptions in this world. According to the novel he had read, this world's structure was extremely complicated.

If John had to stay here long-term, he knew he would need to take drastic steps to gain more power. But since his stay was only temporary — or so he believed — his sole focus remained on collecting as many unique runes as possible.

"We've been traveling for half a day already. When will we reach the capital?" Touya asked, sounding impatient.

His frustration was understandable. Unlike the novel, which mostly highlighted exciting moments, this world operated in real-time — and mundane moments could become boring very quickly.

"It'll take a few more hours," Alsie replied. "But we can stop by a nearby town for a while if you'd like."

Although Alsie appeared calm on the surface, John always found himself worried when she spoke like this.

'I hope she doesn't get too invested in this…' John thought with a sigh.

Before long, a small town appeared in the distance. After taking a short break, their group resumed their journey toward the capital. This time, they were joined by a new companion — Yae Kokonoe, a samurai who had joined them after a minor incident during their stop.

---

As their carriage rolled down the path, Touya suddenly stiffened.

"Guys, I can smell blood up ahead. Let's check it out," Touya said in a serious tone.

Hearing this, Yae, now in the driver's seat, urged the horses to pick up speed. Meanwhile, Touya kept his Long Sense magic active to monitor the situation.

"There's a group of soldiers fighting lizardmen!" Touya reported grimly. "I can see an injured elderly man and a child inside a carriage — they're in danger!"

"Not good! Can we make it in time?" Touya shouted anxiously.

"I see it!" Lindsey added before quickly chanting her spell.

"Flame come forth, Whirling Spiral — Fire Storm!"

A blazing tornado erupted in the midst of the lizardmen, quickly turning the tide of battle. With Touya's additional null magic support, the fight ended swiftly.

As the group approached the remaining soldiers, the captain of the guards bowed his head in gratitude.

"Thank you… you saved us…" the captain said weakly.

"What's the damage?" John asked.

"Out of the ten guards we had, they killed seven... Damn it!" The captain clenched his fists tightly, guilt evident in his voice. "If only I had noticed sooner…"

---

"Someone! Is someone there?! Jii is… Jii is…!"

The panicked cry of a young girl drew everyone's attention. A carriage door swung open, and a blonde-haired girl, no older than ten, jumped out with tears streaming down her face.

"There's an old man inside — please help him! His chest… there's an arrow in his chest!" she cried desperately.

The group rushed over to find an elderly man with white hair in formal black clothing, lying inside the carriage. Blood seeped heavily from his chest, and his breathing was labored.

John reacted instantly.

"Touya!" he barked. "Use Apport to pull the arrow out safely!"

Touya, startled for a moment, quickly followed John's command.

"Aport!"

In an instant, the blood-stained arrowhead appeared in Touya's hand.

"You pulled the arrowhead from his body!" Alsie exclaimed in surprise.

But John knew it wasn't over yet. Without wasting another second, he placed his hand over the old man's wound.

"Light, come forth, become a gentle solace — Cure Heal!"

A soft glow enveloped the old man's chest, and the gaping wound began to close rapidly. The sight resembled a reversed video, with the torn flesh mending itself until no trace of injury remained.

John didn't have a single light-related spell, so the first rune he inscribed in this world was this healing spell. As for Recovery null magic, John would only use it if the healing spell stopped working.

"Oya…?" The old man gasped weakly, his voice laced with disbelief. "The pain… it's gone… I'm healed…"

The young girl sobbed in relief as she hugged the old man tightly.

"Jii! You're safe… I was so scared…"

The old man smiled softly, resting his hand on her head.

John, watching the heartwarming reunion, let out a long sigh of relief.

"Phew… glad that worked out," he muttered under his breath. Even without him, Touya and his friends would have been able to save him, but with an injured person before him, John couldn't stop himself.

But one thing John didn't know was that if he kept doing things like this, he would find himself in quite a bind in the future.