Ch.68Chapter 68: Evening (2)

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The familiar voice that greeted Shizu and me belonged to my sister, who moved quickly.

Breaking away from her impressive, responsible demeanor as one of the fortress’s highest authorities.

Step, step.

As she approached us with light footsteps,

I could sense a certain lightness about her, as if she had just set down a heavy burden.

Though she had been treading the harsh northern lands for quite some time and would have been justified in showing fatigue,

“If you stay out here at night without thinking, you’ll catch a cold. Let’s go inside.”

In an instant, she slipped between Shizu and me, draped her arms over our shoulders, and tried to lead us somewhere. Her voice sounded surprisingly energetic.

“Sis, aren’t you tired? The weather outside seems pretty harsh. Shouldn’t you go rest instead of looking for us?”

Hearing Shizu’s concerned voice, I turned to look at my sister who had nestled herself beside me.

‘She looks immaculate.’

Despite Shizu’s concerns,

The first thing that caught my eye was the spotless Imperial Knights uniform, without a speck of dust despite having spent considerable time in the windswept wasteland.

Her usual personality—taking extraordinary care to maintain cleanliness wherever she went—was clearly evident even in these harsh northern lands, making no compromises.

After noting her uniform, I observed her eyebrows, which were subtly and gently curved at a delicate angle, even though her expression remained composed.

This is one of the expressions my sister shows when she’s in a particularly good mood.

She seemed quite pleased to hear the concerned voice of Shizu, whom she had always doted on even more than me, her actual younger brother.

“Shizu, I’m so happy that you’re worried about me.”

My sister, who had her arm around Shizu’s shoulder, withdrew it and reached out to pat her head…

“I should be the one doing that.”

…but before she could, I unconsciously reached out first and patted Shizu’s head.

The thought of Shizu melting at someone else’s touch made me instinctively extend my arm to prevent my sister’s action.

[Hahaha. Look at him drooling. She must be quite precious to you.]

Paphnir’s voice erupted with laughter rather than surprise at my sudden action.

My sister’s face showed momentary confusion, but only briefly.

“Oh… I see, she is your fiancée after all? I heard you two have gotten much closer lately, but look at you, saying such things in front of your big sister.”

Her expression changed to one full of mischief, the kind she only shows in front of family, and she was about to make a few teasing remarks.

But knowing that if I kept getting caught up in her pace, she would continue saying things both appropriate and inappropriate, leading to an awkward situation.

“By the way, seeing how quickly you returned, it seems obtaining the magic stone wasn’t too difficult.”

I changed the subject by bringing up the magic stone my sister would have acquired a few hours ago.

If not for trying to avoid an awkward situation, this wouldn’t even be something worth asking about.

With the undead’s command structure collapsing after Pale Sanguin fled, overwhelmed by Lord Nighthart’s martial prowess, they wouldn’t have been able to properly recover even the Behemoth’s remains.

She would have simply marched to the destination with her assigned personnel without any interference, then retrieved the magic stone from the Behemoth’s remains and finished the job.

Still, I thought it would be better to hear about it from the person who had gone to retrieve it, so I asked my sister.

If we were in front of others, I would need to be careful with my expressions.

But with hardly anyone around, I used my usual casual tone.

My sister looked at me with one eye closed and a playful gaze, but then,

“What do you think?”

She soon took out today’s greatest trophy from inside her garment and showed it to us.

Oh… it’s the real deal.

Befitting a magic stone from the remains of a Behemoth, one of the most dangerous magical beasts in the magical realm,

The hexagonal magic stone was faintly emitting a sinister purple energy that was ominous just to look at.

Magical energy (magi).

The transformed mana energy naturally emitted by beings born in the magical realm and heavily influenced by magic gods.

And befitting a magic stone from a Behemoth—considered the strongest among magical beasts with limited intelligence—the concentration of magical energy was extraordinary.

It was such a dangerous object that an ordinary person might have their mind slightly contaminated just by looking at the evil energy emanating from the stone.

But the person holding it now is one of the great heroes who, in the previous timeline, was known as an incarnation of light and a figure of terror to beings from the magical realm.

This means there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.

Sure enough, as soon as the stone left her possession, my sister skillfully suppressed the magical energy trying to emanate from it using her fighting spirit.

If there were insufficient fighting spirit to suppress it, the magical energy would escape from the stone and negatively affect the surroundings.

Conversely, if there were too much, the magical energy would not only diminish but the stone itself might shatter.

It required such delicate control of fighting spirit to regulate the emission of evil energy without damaging the stone’s original value that most wouldn’t even dare attempt it.

“It’s less intense than when I first got it, but this one is still quite temperamental.”

Yet my sister merely grumbled a few words,

And immediately drew upon more fighting spirit to control the magical energy emanating from the stone.

“This much is necessary to make the magic stone craftsman’s job easier later.”

That’s exactly right.

Even though the processing of unrefined magic stones can be left to magic stone craftsmen, even they would be exposed to the dangerous magical energy of unrefined stones.

Taking safety precautions before handing it over is only natural.

And my sister is an expert among experts when it comes to suppressing or purifying magical energy.

In the previous timeline, there were instances where areas extensively contaminated with magical energy could be purified instantly with just my sister present, without needing to dispatch the Light Order’s priesthood.

“Done.”

As she finished speaking, her voice signaled the successful completion of controlling the magical energy emanating from the stone.

The ominous purple magic stone had somehow lost its sinister energy as if it had never been there, now displaying only an elegant luster.

“Hmm. The magic stone craftsmen will be grinning from ear to ear when they see this.”

Though my sister’s voice sounded quite proud, her expression remained composed.

[Your sister seems to be in a very good mood.]

As Paphnir just said, she’s in an extremely good mood.

No matter how well she manages her expression, her slightly trembling eyebrows are evidence of that.

[That woman… even Lumen couldn’t control her eyebrows from trembling when she was in a good mood, no matter how well she controlled her expressions otherwise.]

…Somehow, a physical characteristic of my ancestor that I could never have known through books or minstrels’ epics is apparently the same as what my sister is showing.

I recall Paphnir mentioning earlier that he and my ancestor had saved each other’s lives.

Seeing him recall such a trivial physical characteristic with a voice tinged with nostalgia, it seemed that despite his grumbling, he didn’t think badly of my ancestor.

[Seeing traces of that woman in her descendants after so much time has passed gives me a strange feeling of nostalgia.]

The nostalgia in his voice grows even deeper.

[Even though I chose to fall into slumber voluntarily, finding something to reminisce about in this world where almost no one remembers me is both joyful and, in a way, not entirely pleasant.]

His nostalgia was turning into melancholy.

This dragon seems more sentimental than I expected.

Feeling that way, I thought about saying something to change the mood rather than leaving him in a gloomy state, but,

“Seeing that you’re still here, you two haven’t had dinner yet, right? I haven’t eaten either, so let’s go together.”

My sister, who had already finished the simple purification of the magic stone and put it away, changed the subject, causing me to miss the timing to speak to him.

I didn’t want to appear strange by focusing only on my conversation with Paphnir and not joining in with my sister and Shizu.

Fortunately, Paphnir didn’t continue to make melancholic sounds in my head, as if he had read my thoughts.

“Then let’s go. Today, I’ll treat you both.”

At my sister’s generous voice,

“Wow! Sister, you’re the best!”

Shizu’s voice, elevated by the good mood, filled the quiet fortress town.

Normally, I would have joined in with a comment of my own, caught up in the atmosphere, but,

“Sis.”

“Yes?”

“Can we bring the others who participated in the subjugation festival too?”

When the vice-captain of the Imperial Knights, who led the subjugation festival participants, offers to personally treat everyone,

I thought it wouldn’t be appropriate for only me, as her family member, and Shizu, who is close enough to be family, to enjoy it, so I spoke up.

“Ah.”

A sigh of realization escaped my sister’s lips, as if she had just remembered something.

“I almost forgot.”

She lightly tapped her forehead, acknowledging her oversight.

“If it weren’t for my brother, I might have completely forgotten. Then go and bring the Institute Director’s disciple and the heir of the Border Command.”

…Hmm.

One person is missing.

“Sis.”

“What?”

“What about Excel?”

“…”

When I mentioned Excel, my sister suddenly avoided my gaze.

With a very troubled expression on her face.

“Hmm.”

This time, a playful hum escaped from me as I observed my sister’s expression.

I understand. I know that my sister finds Excel quite burdensome.

But if she leaves him out when everyone else is invited, just because she finds him uncomfortable,

“If everyone else goes but Excel is left out, things will get noisy starting tomorrow.”

As his friend, even I couldn’t predict what that guy, who despite being somewhat frivolous never forgot his demeanor as an heir to a noble house, might do.

“I think it’s not good to avoid him by not inviting him at all; at the very least, you should invite him and then figure out what to do.”

When I addressed my sister with a voice full of gravity,

“I think ignoring someone and not making eye contact after bringing them along is worse than avoiding them altogether.”

My sister tried to avoid Excel by giving her own reasons.

“I also think it’s not appropriate to eat and laugh together cheerfully with someone who hasn’t kept his promise to me yet.”

Wait, this is the first time I’m hearing about this, even from my life in the previous timeline?

“…What kind of promise did you make?”

So I asked my sister with curiosity.

“I don’t accept courtship requests from men weaker than me.”

My sister, who had just moments ago slightly subdued her voice, made a declaration filled with confidence.

“That guy. When I was selecting personnel for the subjugation festival, he deliberately approached me while emitting the Burnstein family’s unique brain energy, and that was why.”

Because he needed to be acknowledged as strong at least once to get close enough for courtship or anything else.

As my sister continued with those words, in my mind:

‘Umm… ah… uh…’

Only inarticulate sounds formed before,

‘I see.’

I quickly came to understand.

Excel, you poor guy. Hang in there.

I could only offer Excel a small consolation.

“But you don’t dislike him, right?”

“…That’s right.”

See, she doesn’t dislike you. There’s still plenty of opportunity. In the previous timeline, it was my sister who missed you terribly.

…This is starting to hurt my heart when I keep thinking about it. I should stop.

“Then I’ll make sure he doesn’t get too close, so I’ll bring him along.”

“…If you say so.”

After my sister reluctantly agreed,

“I’ll go get them then, and meet you with the others.”

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“It’s the Adler, right? I saw it earlier when I was walking around with Shizu.”

“…You’ve been quite busy exploring. That’s right, so bring them there.”

After confirming the location with my sister, I set off to bring the guys to the dinner venue she had arranged.

[Kuk kuk kuk.]

As I started walking, Paphnir’s cheerful laughter echoed in my head again.

‘Why are you laughing?’

Puzzled by the sudden laughter, I addressed him.

[That woman, your ancestor, once said something similar to me. That she wouldn’t marry anyone weaker than her.]

Inside my head, Paphnir was sharing another piece of personal history about my ancestor that only he could tell.

Having Paphnir around might not be as troublesome as I thought.

Especially since high-quality information (?) that can only be heard from him keeps reaching my ears.

‘For someone talking about a person who once killed him, you sound more like you’re mentioning an old friend rather than speaking ill of them.’

[Hmm… I’ll tell you now. It was because I died once that I was able to build a relationship with that woman that could be called friendship.]

‘What do you mean?’

[This is a rather sensitive story. I’ll tell you when the opportunity arises.]

With these words, Paphnir stopped resonating in my head.

Though I was curious, bringing Excel and the others to the dinner venue was more urgent.

So I quickened my pace toward the lodgings assigned to the subjugation festival participants.