Ch.45Oh, yeah, it’s you, Oppa (2)

Two people entered through the door.

One was a mercenary wearing a combat suit with a black sheen. On her shoulder was a bluish epaulette, indicating that she had obtained an A-class swordsman qualification.

This A-class swordsman was supporting a blonde girl. Her hair was completely disheveled, and her eyes were moist with tears.

Her complexion wasn’t good either. The blonde girl’s blue eyes met Seti’s. In an instant, Seti’s mind, which had been focused on the shining stone, went completely blank.

“Y-you?”

A voice breaking into fragments.

Right now, before Seti’s eyes was Rustila in a complete mess.

“Seti…”

Her thoughts were bleached away.

Seti completely forgot about her compulsion to pick up the stone and rushed straight toward Rustila.

With a soft touch against her cheek, Seti fell into Rustila’s embrace.

While embraced like that, she began to sob like an animal.

“You’re alive…! Thank goodness, really thank goodness…!”

She had almost lost her only friend and the person she looked up to as an older sister. The thought of it nearly made her world collapse.

Fortunately, Seti’s wait had been worthwhile.

Rustila slowly stroked Seti’s hair.

In truth, Rustila was exhausted in many ways. Too many things had happened in a single day. She wanted to lie down in bed right away.

But Seti must have been even more tired. Waiting for her, waiting for her brother.

So she needed to comfort her a little more. She needed to tell her everything that had happened.

Drowsiness poured over her. Without realizing it, Rustila rubbed her eyes and then collapsed.

“Unni?”

Seti was momentarily flustered but soon let out a sigh of relief. Rustila had fallen asleep using Seti’s shoulder as a pillow, breathing steadily.

She must have been very tired.

Seti nodded, but then suddenly jumped up.

She heard something rolling.

When she turned around, the mineral was spinning rapidly, bouncing up, and then flying out through the open window.

Seti’s expression turned foolish.

What on earth was that stone?

“Ah…”

There was no time to wonder.

“Brother.”

Rustila had returned. Where had Eidel gone?

Thump, thump. Seti’s gaze shifted toward the footsteps coming from beyond the door.

The person who entered after Rustila was a beautiful girl with skin like white jade, snow-white hair, and grape-fresh purple eyes.

Zernya von Adelbein.

She, like Rustila, had a haggard look in her eyes. An appearance that seemed to be screaming to be allowed to lie down in bed.

Nevertheless, Zernya walked in proudly without anyone’s support. Her steps were haughty, as if she didn’t need anyone’s help to move around.

“What are you staring at?”

Zernya stared blankly at Seti, then let out a chuckle as she passed by her.

Seti didn’t even think she was unpleasant.

She was overjoyed right now. At the same time, anxiety was gnawing at one corner of her mind.

Whether she would ever see her third brother’s face again was what mattered.

The next moment, there was a sound from outside the door.

It wasn’t footsteps.

It was voices.

The sound of two men talking.

At that sound, Seti peeked her head out of the room. In the middle of the corridor, two men were embracing each other tightly and sobbing.

“Oh, student! I was worried about what would happen to my lab if you didn’t return! I was already anxious because we have so few applicants, but thank you so much for coming back alive…!”

“I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get into graduate school. Wow, I really thought I was going to die when I fell from that 50-meter cliff! Your face flashed before my eyes like a slideshow, Professor, and the tears just…”

No, was “sobbing” the right expression for what they were doing?

It gave her goosebumps for some reason.

The two men, who had shared an embrace more intimate than most couples, then held hands and shook them up and down. Seti’s eyes narrowed.

She didn’t recognize one of them, and the other had his back to her, so she couldn’t be sure, but he seemed like someone she knew.

Seti walked slowly.

She needed to confirm.

Yes.

“Then, I’ll see you next time.”

That voice.

That voice, she had heard it for years. She couldn’t forget that irritating tone.

Seti’s hand reached toward the boy who had his back to her.

But before that, the boy who had finished talking turned around.

Tall height.

Black hair.

Golden eyes.

Those fierce yellow eyes changed to a sly expression. He raised the corners of his eyes and lifted the corners of his mouth bitterly. Seti’s expression turned dumbfounded.

Even at a glance, he was a handsome, good-looking boy. But Seti felt no fluttering emotions.

She felt something beyond that.

“…!”

Seti ran at full speed and headbutted the boy who had turned around. Then she clung to his clothes like a cicada.

She inhaled deeply, and a familiar scent came with it. It was the fragrance of the laundry detergent used by the Rheinland family.

Slowly, Seti’s gaze lifted.

“Brother…” said Seti.

“Oh, yeah,” the boy replied.

“It’s you, brother.”

Indeed, it was a familiar voice.

Tears began to stream down. She couldn’t control the flood of emotions that burst forth.

“You bastard… *sob* why, why did you make me worry like that…?”

She didn’t know what to say first, so she cursed. This wasn’t right, other words should have come first. But she couldn’t think of what those words should be.

Then Eidel placed his hand on Seti’s head.

“Sister,” he said, looking down at Seti.

“I’m sorry.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Eidel collapsed as if fainting.

***

Students who had undergone the reclassification test were given at least a week of emergency holiday.

Injured students received treatment, and those complaining of mental distress began psychological therapy.

Before such treatment, Seti needed time to relieve her fatigue.

After sleeping for a short night and waking up, Seti soon recalled what she had done and her face turned red.

“…shit.”

This girl has gone crazy!

No matter how worried she was, how could she behave so shamefully in front of her third brother, with whom she had been at odds for nearly ten years?

She realized that just staying up all night could make a person lose their rational judgment like that.

At the same time, she realized one more thing.

I don’t dislike Eidel anymore.

Eidel had started to change about six months ago. A lot had happened during that time.

At first, Seti had hurled curses at him as if in retaliation. But at some point, they started to get closer.

Especially during the practical evaluation. The way Eidel protected her as his top priority while fighting monsters alongside Rustila was, well, somewhat cool.

That thought was completely solidified this morning.

“Our daughter is going to withdraw. Please don’t interfere.”

Rustila’s parents burst through the hospital room door.

In the four-person room, Rustila, who had been leisurely reading a book, hunched her shoulders as soon as her parents barged in.

“Mother, Father…”

“Rustila, after what happened last time, this school is simply unacceptable. Let’s go somewhere else. You can study law sufficiently even if it’s not at Stellarium.”

After going through such an ordeal, Rustila was in a very exhausted state, both mentally and physically. She didn’t have the ability to deal with her parents’ sudden visit.

“Pack your things and come out. It might be dangerous here too.”

Rustila’s father roughly grabbed her wrist and pulled. Meanwhile, her mother packed Rustila’s clothes and belongings and quickly placed them on the desk.

“Haah…”

Seti could only sigh helplessly.

It was inconsiderate to tell other people’s families what to do. She thought it was something one shouldn’t do.

But wasn’t this too much?

Seti, you girl. You need to change more. Can’t you see the troubled expression on your close friend and sister’s face?

“Excuse me…”

Just as Seti was about to say something—

“Hey there.”

An impertinent voice came from the adjacent bed.

“Don’t you see this is an intensive care unit? There are three patients here who need rest, and if you come in making a commotion like this, wouldn’t I be angry?”

“…Who are you, student?”

“I met you at the entrance ceremony, but it seems you don’t remember me.”

Seti couldn’t help but smile.

That’s right.

Rustila wasn’t the only one in this room.

[Rustila Kersil (Present)]

[Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein (Present)]

[Eidel Rheinland (Present)]

One unpleasant girl and one weirdo.

But the unpleasant girl was currently in dreamland. She had been admitted to the hospital late after submitting a report, and fatigue had finally caught up with her.

So, only one weirdo remained.

An enemy weirdo is the most annoying person in the world, but an allied weirdo can feel like the most pleasant person in the world.

“I am in a very fragile state of mind and need rest. But if you two come in and cause such a disturbance, wouldn’t I be angry?”

“Why are you talking like that, student?”

“Like what?”

At that moment, Eidel was reading a martial arts novel.

Due to his “Thought Acceleration” skill, his reading speed was about ten times faster than that of an ordinary person.

As such, his level of immersion in the book was also ten times that of an ordinary person.

In other words, he was completely absorbed.

“Please leave.”

“Ah, right. You’re that guy called Eidel or something? I remember now! The guy who’s been hitting on our Rustila. What a perfect opportunity to meet you. Let’s have a word.”

“I asked you to leave.”

Eidel warned again as he turned the page of his martial arts novel. In the passage he was reading, two villains were snickering as they approached the protagonist.

What’s more, they were whistling at the young lady accompanying the protagonist.

It was a predictable cliché, but for Eidel, who had just been introduced to martial arts novels, it was a nail-biting situation.

Flip, Eidel turned another page and rolled his eyes.

At his nonchalant attitude, Rustila’s father’s eyebrows twitched.

“Student, are you ignoring me right now?”

“Huh, what? Don’t come any closer! Don’t cross that line in front. If you do, my beloved weapon won’t stay quiet.”

“The more I look at you, do you think adults are pushovers? No manners, and using such strange speech!”

The Kersil couple weren’t completely unreasonable parents. Though they were strict with their daughter, as people working in the legal field, they had no intention of doing anything illegal.

They intended to scold him sternly as adults and make sure he never approached their daughter again.

Just as Rustila’s father took a step forward—

At that moment, Eidel had just laid eyes on a high-quality illustration of the novel’s protagonist drawing his beloved weapon—

And in his excitement, he unconsciously opened his internal energy drive and drew out his calipers.