episode_0068

“What.”

Dien just froze solid.

During my academy days.

My daily routine was to always look for a place to nap where no one would come.

So, didn’t you ask Luke to give you subspace?

But Gaelan has been following you around until now?

I didn’t notice it at all.

Oh, oh, oh.

The hairs all over my body stand on end.

“ga, gailan.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Sister. But I couldn’t help it.”

“… … ”

While Dien was shaking in shock.

Luke tilted his head.

“But I’m a man too.”

Luke was with Dianne quite often.

But why didn’t Gailan show up and stop them?

“Senior, you saw me as a cat or an animal, right?”

“Uh… ….”

I tried to deny it, but the words wouldn’t come out easily.

In fact, I think it was nothing more or less than an annoying pink ball of fur.

“I only dealt with guys who approached my sister in a sneaky way.”

Even if it was stalking, it was stalking with some kind of justification.

“But you could have at least said something. Can’t you see that Senior Dien is surprised?”

When did you take it?

Dien was trembling while holding Elin tightly like a doll.

“I’m feeling stuffy.”

Within moments, Ellen disappeared.

Dien, who has nothing left to hold on to.

It was hidden in the hair again.

“But if I told my sister, she would have hated it, right?”

“I guess it’s time to think about it.”

“I would have protected my sister even if I was hated, but in the first place, I just had to not stand out.”

Then it would be better to take the truth to the grave.

For some reason, the daily life I spent with Dien at the academy feels eerie.

“Why are you trying to protect me like that when I’m not even a child?”

“My older sister is worse than a child.”

“?”

I was embarrassed when he suddenly put down the older sister I liked so much.

“You don’t know how to do anything other than alchemy.”

“He is the best alchemist in the empire.”

“That’s why it’s more problematic. If someone kidnaps you, you’ll be dragged away helplessly.”

That’s true, but… .

“Besides, his vitality is at rock bottom, so if you leave him alone, he might starve to death.”

“I can’t deny it.”

Even when staying in the cabin, he said he paid Lanian money to get food supplies.

Gaelan, who had been stalking and watching her his entire life, had a perfect understanding of Dien.

“You spend your life just sleeping.”

Sigh.

A dagger flies and stabs Dien.

“I have no friends, so I have no one to talk to.”

Sigh.

“I can’t even clean or organize properly.”

Phew.

“How can I live without help?”

“… Stop it. I’m going to die like this.”

Dien lying on the floor, shaking.

I was on the verge of death when the facts hit me.

“Anyway,” added Gaillan, scratching his head.

“How could I not worry about my sister in this situation?”

It is certainly worrisome to hear it.

“But Dien is living well now, right?”

I heard from Victor that she is called the Saint of the North.

Now isn’t he a productive, sleepy pink ball of fur?

“Ma, that’s right. I’ve settled down and am living here, so why are you coming here and doing this? It’s a little cold here, but… sleeping in my hair isn’t so bad.”

At those words, Gaelan’s eyes widened.

“Isn’t this a place I don’t visit often?”

“… … ”

“At least if you work as an alchemist in the capital, I don’t know. But isn’t the north too dangerous?”

“It’s severe, it’s severe.”

Anne clicked her tongue and said what she wanted to say.

Dien frowned as if she was tired.

He grabbed Elin again and hid behind her.

“It just became more certain. I will never follow you.”

“Why on earth do you not understand your worried younger sibling’s feelings… .”

The look of genuine incomprehension is insanity.

If things continue like this, the conversation will go on at a parallel track.

“Just marry Bucklin.”

Luke brought up the solution from earlier again.

“Senior, that’s… .”

“Or is there any clever way to get Senior Dien?”

Gaelan kept his mouth shut.

Even if he was a serious siscon stalker, he couldn’t forcefully drag Dien along.

“The same goes for you, Senior. Is there any other way than getting married and cutting ties with the family? Since your activities in the North have already been discovered, Gailan will continue to come looking for you.”

“… … !”

Dien’s eyes widened at those words.

I wonder if that makes sense.

He slowly nods his head.

“… … Let me at least talk about it.”

“… …! You want to come down with me?”

“I’m not saying I’ll go right away. I’ll prepare myself mentally… .”

Two people who reached a dramatic agreement.

Let the excitement die down and a lull sets in.

What remained was awkwardness.

Victor’s expression in particular looked very uncomfortable.

“… … ”

There was talk of engagement.

I don’t think this is what I wanted it to turn out like.

“Victor Bucklin… you said.”

Gaelan glanced at Victor.

“Yes.”

“I have something I want to say separately. Can I move for a moment?”

Gaelan’s eyes shone softly.

At first glance, you might mistake it for the gaze of a young knight.

I couldn’t relax because I just caught a glimpse of his obsession with his sister.

“Yes, let’s move.”

Victor nodded with a solemn expression.

I went out of the tent with Gaelan.

* * * * *

Elin captured the chaotic scene with her own eyes.

“Ah… … .”

I thought to myself, holding onto the absent-minded Dien.

Is this how noble marriages originally took place?

It’s very different from the book I read with Bena.

A romantic proposal too.

The atmosphere was also tense.

Even without confirming each other’s feelings.

He said he would talk to his family about marriage.

It looks like a simple contract.

Ellen didn’t like that at all.

“Sister.”

He called out to Dien, closing her mouth that was opening wide with his own hand.

“Huh?”

“Are you satisfied with this?”

“… … Well.”

Dien banged his forehead against Elin’s back.

“Honestly, I thought that as long as I could get out of Pirandello, it didn’t matter which family I married into.”

What came out was shocking.

“… Why?”

“Hmm, did you know that the Pirandello family is a swordsman family?”

“Yes.”

I heard it in class.

Pirandello, one of the three greatest swordsmanship families in the empire.

Also called the sharp-toothed lion.

A family that places great emphasis on the basics of knighthood.

“That’s right. Luke taught me well.”

Dien smiled weakly and patted Elin’s head.

In general, Dien was not very strong.

This time it felt a little different.

If he had always felt lethargic, now he seemed somewhat empty.

“They say they value the basics, but they’re the most conservative family. Ah… I don’t know about other families, so I shouldn’t talk carelessly. Anyway.”

Dien added that it is definitely a conservative family.

He began to tell his story naturally.

“I was born extremely weak, unlike Pirandello.”

Pirandello, who trains knights.

Naturally, the first priority required of members of the family was physical strength.

“Haa… No one would like it. She’s the eldest daughter, so she can’t do anything with her body, and she sleeps for more than half a day.”

Dien did not have a very pleasant childhood.

“But Gaelan was different. He was exactly the kind of talent Pirandello wanted.”

Disappointment and pressure passed down from parents.

Jealousy and inferiority complex felt toward my younger sibling without me knowing it.

“Why was I born like this… I always thought about that, and then I came across alchemy.”

It was an incident that truly deserves the word ‘coincidence’.

Dien, who was unable to participate in training due to poor physical condition, read books all the time.

Even so, Pirandello’s library was filled with only books related to swordsmanship.

Just one volume.

There was a book about alchemy.

“I just did it because I was bored, but it suited my aptitude better than I thought… Well, well. That’s how it is now.”

Although I didn’t explain it properly.

At that time, Dien’s genius was difficult to express in words.

Only 365 necessary ingredients.

Among them, there were over 200 materials that were not in the family.

Dien has dramatically shortened the combination method by understanding both the properties and structure of materials.

So, a potion made by mixing only about 20 ingredients was more effective than the original recipe.

-Mom, Dad! Look at this!

It was natural for a child who discovered his talent to run to his parents to show them off.

Maybe it was from that time.

-alchemy?

It seems that Dien did not want to remain in Pirandello.

-It seems like you’re doing such useless things behind the scenes, so you’re not getting any results.

-Huh? No… .

-I don’t want to hear excuses. I already need to put in more effort, so why are you doing something else? Oh my…

Whether you have a talent for alchemy or not.

In Pirandello, it didn’t matter at all.

If you don’t become a knight.

If you can’t handle a sword, you’re just a useless being.

“So I just packed my bags and left.”

“Yes?”

Elin’s hair stood on end as she was deeply immersed in the subject.

“… Is that okay?”

“What could possibly go wrong? I knew I was good at it. I just went to the academy and took the test.”

At that time, what Dien had was not money or connections, but an outstanding self-objectification.

Dien, who caught the eye of the pension department professor, was given special admission to the academy.

I received full support, including dormitory and food expenses.

“So don’t tell me you’re still looking for me… .”

Dien hugs Elin while sobbing.

It felt like things were back to normal.

“I don’t even wonder why you’re looking for me now. I wish you’d just leave me alone. Ugh… .”

Dien trembles.

It was clear that Gailan’s obsession had surfaced.

Little by little.

Elin came out of Dien’s arms and grabbed her hand.

“… Cool.”

“Huh?”

“You’re so cool, sis.”

“Huh?”

The anecdote just now was a moving experience for Elin.

Or the fact that I was discriminated against within my family.

The fact that I couldn’t discover my aptitude quickly.

The fact that you don’t have a good relationship with your family.

If you look at the details, the situation is different.

Anyway, didn’t Dien leave the family and become successful?

“The teacher always said I was a hikikomori, a pink ball of fur. I didn’t know I had this side to me.”

“… … You taught me something really good, didn’t you?”

“Ahem. It was true.”

Luke coughed in vain under Dien’s stinging glare.

“But if you don’t mind marrying anyone, why do you do that?”

If you really don’t care, you can just marry Bucklin.

Dien’s reaction earlier wasn’t that positive.

“Rain, Victor is a little like that.”

“Did something happen?”

Honestly, being the next head of Bucklin wouldn’t be a bad thing.

I couldn’t help but think something was going on while we were together in the North.

“Even if you look so blunt that you wouldn’t bleed even if your older brother stabs you with a spear, you might actually be warm.”

“? You just don’t know, right? ”

Anne suddenly interrupted and scolded him.

Dien, who had been shaking his head, opened his mouth.

“I know how good a person Victor is.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“… Me too.”

Dien’s face turns red.

He buries his face on Elin’s back as if he doesn’t want to show it.

“I, I like you too.”

“Brother?”

“… … Yeah.”

“?”

Victor couldn’t have been more fortunate.

It’s rare for nobles to marry for love.

I don’t know what happened.

There must have been some incident that sparked love between the two.

But then, isn’t there really no problem?

The moment I thought that.

“… I’m sorry. Victor is very versatile. The only thing I can do is alchemy. ”

“Ah.”

“What if I get married and only cause trouble?”

It hit a point I never thought of.

As expected from someone who came from a family with confidence.

Dien was excellent at self-objectification.