episode_0089

“Elisabeth, you can’t possibly know how much I cherish and love you. I even remember the number of times you held my hand and fidgeted with it when we were little. 2232 times.”

Time spent with his younger sister Elisabeth, after a long separation,

Turned out to be shorter than expected, leaving Eugene deeply disappointed.

Expressing his disappointment with heartfelt sincerity, Eugene revealed his boundless love for his sister.

It turned out that Eugene wasn’t entirely normal either.

To remember the number of times his sister showed a certain habit when holding his hand,

And even to bring it up shows a remarkable degree of eccentricity.

Perhaps the eccentricity he’s currently showing Jeanne isn’t something that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh my! You remember that? My, my, is our older brother always this romantic… Exactly 2232 times. 1500 times with the left hand and 732 times with the right. Because I’m left-handed.”

And Eugene Schneider’s eccentricity was perfectly proven.

Furthermore, that proof was provided by Elisabeth, who has a genius mind.

That truly crazy woman had been fidgeting with the inside of Eugene’s fingers, counting the number of times,

And accurately pulled out that information, confirming that Eugene’s current words were real.

A normal person would have felt a spine-chilling horror at Eugene’s memory, but Elisabeth was moved, as if it were right up her alley.

“Huh? You don’t need me to come with you to where the academy carriage arrives???”

Because his younger sister was returning, Eugene dressed up.

The reason being that the academy carriage Elisabeth would be riding was coming to the Pangea downtown fountain.

So he was planning to go out to meet her there,

But Elisabeth requested that he only see her off to right in front of the mansion.

“I’m planning to meet Sister Joan of Arc at the fountain before heading to the academy. But she wants me to come out alone? Perhaps… did you two fight again?”

And there was a sufficient reason for that.

Elisabeth had returned earlier than expected, so she sent a quick letter to her second older sister, Jeanne, to inform her of the situation.

Surprised, Jeanne immediately made an appointment with Elisabeth.

It’s true that she was embarrassed to see Elisabeth because she had slept with Eugene,

But as Jeanne, a sister full of passion, couldn’t allow sending her only younger sister Elisabeth, who had returned to the family home after a long time, back without seeing her even once.

So the compromise was to meet Elisabeth without Eugene.

However, Elisabeth, who couldn’t know the background, thought that Jeanne and Eugene were being playfully quarrelsome and sulking, like when they were young.

“Haha! Jeanne and I are both adults now, so there’s no way we’d be like that like we were when we were young. It’s just that since it’s been a long time since we’ve seen you, Elisabeth, Jeanne wants to focus more on talking to each other.”

On the other hand, Eugene, the culprit of the situation,

Used his eloquent tongue to create a justification for the meeting method Jeanne had chosen.

“Hmm… I’m someone who trusts everything my older brother says, but I’m sorry to say that I don’t trust that statement…”

However, the behavior the two showed in front of Elisabeth when they were young was too chaotic for that justification to be convincing. That’s because they were two people who fought and played again several times a day.

“Please be good to Sister Joan of Arc, even if it’s not as much as you are to me, older brother. Sister Joan of Arc also cherishes and loves older brother very much.”

While being so devoted to Elisabeth herself,

So Elisabeth, knowing nothing of the real situation of Eugene and Jeanne who had seen it all, sincerely asked Eugene to treat their foolish Sister Jeanne kindly.

“Don’t worry, Elisabeth. You don’t know it, but I’m taking great care of Jeanne. So much so that she doesn’t have any time to feel neglected.”

Eugene Schneider, who was mixing deeply with Jeanne beyond being kind,

Affirmed that he was doing enough with an expression and voice that were not only full of confidence but also natural.

“Oh, really? It seems that the Magic Tower has also decided to cooperate with the Holy See and the Knights Order due to matters related to magical creatures? Hmm…”

Elisabeth, who had finished preparing to leave, began to head outside, passing through the garden path in front of the Oblean main house.

Eugene, who was pulling her bag next to her, responded to the conversation with Elisabeth in a rather serious tone.

The reason why the Magic Tower urgently summoned Elisabeth, the top genius mage, was related to magical creatures.

It was none other than the collaboration between the Imperial Knights Order, the Holy See, and the Magic Tower.

“Yes, that’s right, older brother. I think they need me more because I have quite a few connections with both the Knights Order and the Holy See.”

Elisabeth slowly nodded and gave a confirming answer to Eugene’s reaction.

Even though Elisabeth is a genius, there was no reason to bring her back so quickly from the Magic Tower, which has a considerable hierarchy.

The Magic Tower Lord trusts Elisabeth very much, but if he openly reveals it, the mages with more experience than Elisabeth will feel offended.

However, there was no need to be mindful of that in this situation.

Elisabeth’s father is the de facto head of the Imperial Knights Order, and her sister is a key bishop nun of the Holy See,

Therefore, it was decided to deploy Elisabeth in order to draw a result that matches the honor of the Magic Tower in the matter involving the Imperial Knights Order and the Holy See.

‘Hmm… it seems that everyone in my family has been caught up in the flow of change in Gaia.’

Eugene Schneider, who heard the situation, was lost in thought for a moment.

When he was performing the Pilgrim’s Path, he felt that the situation of the increased magical creatures on the Fedon continent was just someone else’s business.

But now everyone in his family is involved.

Antoine is the head of the empire, controlling the situation,

Marianne and Charlotte are in areas where diseases seem to be rampant and related to magical creatures.

Also, he and Jeanne faced the Crimson Hair Shaman Goblin as mercenaries, and now even the youngest Elisabeth is caught up in that special situation as part of the Magic Tower’s representative group.

“Huh? Older brother, why are you looking at this younger sister with such eyes?”

When Eugene looked at her with concerned eyes, Elisabeth asked what was wrong.

“I just heard from Sister Charlotte, and I’ve experienced things while living as a mercenary, and I’m worried that you’ll have a hard time, Elisabeth. In my eyes, our Elisabeth looks like the Elisabeth she was when she was little.”

Although they are only one year apart, Elisabeth is just the youngest to Eugene,

When she gets involved in the Imperium Empire’s very big situation, Eugene is worried as an older brother.

No matter how good and capable she is, in Eugene’s eyes, she only looks like the little girl who followed him around because she liked her older brother.

“Hohoho! This Elisabeth is now one of the most renowned mages on the continent, and will be the best mage in the future. You don’t have to worry about that at all, older brother.”

Then Elisabeth gave a cute joke and reassured her beloved older brother Eugene.

“More than your worries, I get more strength and feel more supported by your endless support. So please look at me with those eyes and heart, older brother.”

Squeeze…!

In addition, she held Eugene’s hand tightly, expressing her roundabout gratitude to Eugene for worrying about her.

‘Keuh… our Elisabeth has really grown up. I was just thinking of her as Elisabeth in my arms.’

She had matured. And there was depth.

He had only thought of her as the whimsical Elisabeth who wore that wig and approached him when she was young,

But as he looked at her like this, Eugene deeply felt that Elisabeth had become an adult.

Eugene, an older brother by only one year, was touched as if he were seeing a well-grown daughter.

“Older brother. Give me that luggage. As this Elisabeth has said many times, I don’t want my older brother to carry my luggage just because I’m his younger sister.”

Elisabeth looked at Eugene’s right hand, which was carrying her large luggage, and muttered as if she was dissatisfied.

Elisabeth, who wanted to serve her older brother but always wanted to meet him at eye level,

So she feels a little uncomfortable with acts such as carrying her luggage.

Unconsciously, it’s also a psychology created because Eugene was so frail in the past.

He was grateful and happy for his appearance of working hard to take care of his younger sister despite his frailty, but he also felt sorry for him.

“Uh-huh! I’m not holding it because you’re a woman or because you’re my younger sister. I’m just doing it because I love and cherish you, Elisabeth! I’m such an iron wall against women who aren’t close to me!”

Every time, Eugene said that he only does that for you, Elisabeth.

In fact, Eugene had relied on Marianne and Charlotte since he was young.

But he felt a preciousness for Elisabeth beyond just a younger sister, like a daughter, so he took care of her diligently even though it was difficult for him to take care of his own body.

“And like this, this older brother has become so strong, unlike before. I’m not tired at all. Look at this! Like this! Like this!”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

At the same time, Eugene handled Elisabeth’s heavy bag as if he were lifting dumbbells to show that his current act was a simple task that he would even be embarrassed to call helping.

But perhaps he showed off too much strength.

Clunk!

Excessive pressure was applied to the main lock of the bag, causing it to open.

“Oh, no!”

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

As a result, Elisabeth’s belongings inside the bag spilled out onto the garden path.

“It’s okay, older brother. There’s no need to panic. I’ll pack them.”

Picking up, picking up, picking up,

“I’ll help too, Elisabeth. I think I can clean up towels and stuff like that too!”

Flurry!

Eugene, who was panicked,

Then Elisabeth calmly soothed such an older brother and squatted down.

Then she began to pick up her belongings that had spilled onto the floor.

Eugene, who belatedly came out of his pause, also quickly squatted down to help such a younger sister.

“It’s really okay… You don’t have to help…”

“No, I think even this will be a memory after you leave, haha!”

Elisabeth waved her hand at Eugene’s touch, which was trying to help her with a subtle feeling.

That subtle feeling was neither a feeling of completely rejecting nor a feeling of accepting.

If Elisabeth had tried to refuse firmly,

Even Eugene, who was sincere in taking care of her, would have stopped.

Anyway, since it’s her personal luggage, there must be many intimate items of Elisabeth’s.

But because it was so ambiguous, Eugene reflexively squatted down and continued to help clean up the items that had spilled onto the floor.

So, as he said, he smiled and helped, thinking that this was also a memory.

But soon his expression became

‘Huh?’

It became an expression that doubted his eyes for a moment.

‘It’s underwear?’

He saw some familiar white underwear in Elisabeth’s pile of belongings.