Academy Upperclassmen

More than a year had passed since Riel and I had become engaged.

Gransen Academy is a two-year education program.

We had already advanced to become upperclassmen and were spending the twilight of our academy life.

“Brother, over here.”

“Oh.”

On a holiday, having made plans with my younger brother Asta, I met him at a teahouse in the royal capital.

Being a holiday, Asta was wearing casual clothes instead of his uniform, sitting and waving his hand toward me.

“It’s been a while, Asta.”

“Yes. I’m glad to see you’re in good health, Brother.”

It had been over half a year since Asta and Kino had entered Gransen Academy as first-year students.

At the beginning of the semester, we could see each other often, but we were busy preparing for graduation, and the first-year students were busy preparing for their advancement exams.

Despite being family, we hadn’t seen each other for quite some time, so my brother’s face felt very welcome.

“How is Kino doing?”

“Yes, I was worried, but it seems she’s made quite a few friends.”

“Hmm, I guess my worries at the beginning of the semester were unnecessary.”

I had been very concerned because Kino still hadn’t fully outgrown her chuunibyou phase and had a personality that made it difficult for her to deal with people.

But perhaps because she hadn’t fully outgrown her chuunibyou, she seemed to have made many same-sex friends with similar sensibilities(?).

Can this be called a blessing in disguise?

I looked at Asta with mixed feelings.

“Right, you said you wanted some advice?”

“Yes. About that.”

Asta’s expression was unusually serious.

This kid had asked for advice a few times at the beginning of the semester, but most of it was about how to behave around women.

As I had worried, there were quite a few female students approaching Asta.

The problem was that most of them were like gold diggers, clinging to him for the Count Wentos family’s wealth or power.

‘Sigh, I thought I wouldn’t be worth that much as the second son.’

Asta used to grumble like that at the time.

Well, he’s not wrong.

Unless there’s a significant disqualification for the eldest son, succession rights typically concentrate on the eldest son.

Even so, it doesn’t mean that nothing goes to Asta.

I’m not heartless enough to abandon my brother, and Asta is quite capable too.

I think he could secure a fairly high official position, even if a title might be difficult.

And as I just mentioned, it’s not that nothing goes to Asta.

The assets of Count Wentos’s territory can be said to be among the best in the kingdom without exaggeration.

Though most of those assets are invested in territorial development and welfare, the wealth itself is immense.

If he inherits just a portion of those assets, he could live comfortably for a lifetime, so how could people not target Asta?

Me?

In my case, I already had a fiancée named Liliana before coming to the academy, and Riel took her place right after we broke up.

With the second daughter of a duke family firmly holding that position, who would be brazen enough to approach me?

I can say that there aren’t many female students who are personally close to me.

…Well, it’s not like there are none at all, but.

The conversation has drifted elsewhere.

Anyway, I had given him advice several times at the beginning of the semester, but this was the first time he had asked for advice with such a serious face.

I quietly waited for Asta to open his mouth.

“Um… Brother…”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Um… how should I ask a woman on a date?”

“What?”

……

I felt like I had been hit hard on the head.

Ask a woman on a date?

Has this kid finally found a girl?

“Uh… yes, a date…?”

“Yes! A date!!”

…Hmm.

How should I explain this?

No, that’s not it.

“Who is it?”

“What?”

“I’m asking who the other person is.”

“Uh… th-that is…”

Asta’s face turned bright red.

This kid, who used to be so awkward around women, finally has a woman who has conquered him?

As his brother, I should know about the other party.

“W-well… it’s Vaniella.”

“Vaniella? Lady Vaniella Grace?”

“Y-yes! That young lady, the second daughter of the Duke Grace family.”

…Hmm.

About a year ago, I once tossed Vaniella, the duke’s daughter, to Asta to help him get used to women.

I heard she had also entered as a first-year student and seemed to be getting along well with Kino.

But I never thought Asta would fall for her.

“Hmm… since she’s a duke’s daughter, a normal date invitation might be difficult, would my advice be helpful?”

“B-but isn’t Sister Riel also a duke’s daughter?”

“Well, yes, but.”

In Riel’s case, well, it’s a bit of a special case, so my experience might not be helpful.

Of course, Vaniella Grace also had a rather unique personality.

How should I put it, she had a somewhat retriever-like personality.

So honestly, she would probably like any decent date.

But I can’t arbitrarily determine that.

In the end, after giving a few pieces of advice, I could only say this about the details:

“Asta.”

“Y-yes!”

“…Don’t just blindly follow what I taught you, ask Kino too.”

“……”

Asta, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry for being a brother who’s inept at romance.

After parting with Asta, I went out to the streets of the royal capital.

A year had passed, but the streets of the royal capital hadn’t changed much.

The shops, the people, the appearance of the streets all remained the same.

Well, what could change significantly in just a year?

“One, please.”

“Yes, here you are.”

Seeing someone selling food, I paid and bought one.

It’s a taco-like food where ingredients are stuffed into a grilled wheat dough… similar to a tortilla but slightly thicker.

It’s a food that has spread widely in the kingdom and the empire, but because the ingredients inside differ by region, it’s fun to eat.

In the royal capital, it seems the ingredients are mostly vegetables with just a little meat.

I prefer the northern style with lots of meat, so I felt a bit disappointed.

As I was passing by, I heard a commotion.

“Thief!”

A thief in broad daylight in the royal capital?

That’s quite brazen.

As I was thinking that, I saw a man running frantically.

Seeing that he was holding a woman’s bag in one hand, it seemed he was indeed the thief.

Well, it’s not my concern, and I could just ignore it…

“Kyaaa!!”

“Everyone be careful! He has a weapon!”

…Come to think of it, he’s holding a blade in his other hand.

A real lunatic in broad daylight in the royal capital, is he drunk?

Even so, I couldn’t just leave someone walking around with a weapon.

As I stood in front of the approaching man, his eyes turned to me.

The man’s eyes widened as he gripped the blade tightly.

He really doesn’t seem to be in his right mind.

thwack!!

“Guhk!”

The man collapsed with a short cry.

I put the sword, which I had grabbed with its sheath, back on my waist and kicked the blade the man was holding far away.

Well, he seemed to have already fainted, so it’s probably useless.

“Got him!”

The guards quickly restrained the fallen man.

One of the guards bowed and thanked me for my cooperation, to which I casually raised my hand in response and left.

It seemed like it would be tiring to stay outside any longer, and as I was about to return to the dormitory, someone called out to me from the side.

“Wow, a neck chop so frighteningly fast, if it wasn’t me, no one would have seen it, right?”

“You…”

“But why did you hit him with the scabbard instead of your bare hands?”

“If I used my hands, only my hands would hurt, and why are you here again?”

A girl was looking at me, giggling.

A first-year junior, Chloe Elleire.

She was a character who appeared in the latter half of the original work as a junior heroine, with a setting of having excellent combat sense…

Her hair is pink.

Yes, um… pink hair is a color often seen in subculture… but how should I put it.

Seeing it in real life is incredibly awkward.

What’s with the pink hair, I’ve never seen it once since coming to this world.

“That’s what I want to ask. Why are you, senior, stamping your loneliness in a place like this? Aren’t you supposed to be with Senior Riel?”

“Riel had plans with her friends so she went out. I also had an appointment and I’m just on my way back.”

“Hmm… so there are days when you two are apart?”

…What does she think Riel and I are?

Well, we do spend a lot of time together, but we’re still independent individuals?

Anyway, I mentioned earlier that there aren’t absolutely no girls who are personally close to me, and this child is one of those cases.

Chloe Elleire appeared as a heroine in the original work, and naturally entered as a new student when I became a second-year.

In her case, how should I put it, to summarize in one sentence:

“Then Senior, you have plenty of time, right? Won’t you spar with me?”

“…We just did recently.”

“Come on, it’s better to spar frequently when you can.”

She’s obsessed with self-training.

I didn’t realize that the brief setting from the original work, a single line mentioning her devotion to training, meant this.

Perhaps that’s why, unlike girls who hover around with other intentions, this one approached me literally for the purpose of training.

Really, 0% ulterior motives.

Because of this, far from being wary of Riel, she even treats Riel warmly.

“You just ran around so much in the snowy mountains recently.”

“Ah, the snowy mountains were great! I heard that Senior Iris also trained in the snowy mountains during her academy days, right?”

After graduating from the academy, Senior Iris became a knight directly under Princess Aine upon her recommendation.

It’s quite ironic that these two, who were antagonistic in the original work, became superior and subordinate.

Well anyway, they still keep in touch frequently, and we met again recently during the summer vacation training.

And naturally, this Miss Chloe, who was obsessed with self-training, followed all the way to the count’s territory to participate in that training, having picked up the information from somewhere.

…And she got along very well with Senior Iris, they just clicked.

Well, Senior Iris is also a person who is dedicated to self-training, so it makes sense they would get along.

“What? It’s fine~ Senior must be free anyway.”

“No, why do you always nag me to spar with you?”

“Because there’s no proper sparring partner other than you, Senior. Everyone else is too weak.”

“There’s Asta, you know.”

“Your younger brother isn’t weak, but these days he runs away quickly with his tail between his legs whenever he sees me.”

That’s because you caught him for what you called sparring…

Swallowing those words, I scratched my head.

Well, Riel will probably return around sunset today, so it’s true that I have time to spare.

It might be good to hang out with a junior occasionally.

I don’t intend to neglect my training either.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go.”

“I knew it! I knew you would say that, Senior!”

Chloe’s steps toward the training ground within the academy grounds seemed very light.

No, that kid is even humming a tune.

“But why did you come out to the streets?”

“What? I came out looking for you to spar, of course.”

“…You’re something else.”