Chapter 13
“So what you're saying is...”
"... ..."
“You threw the ball because you thought my little brother was a freshman in martial arts, and figured I'd block it since I was standing beside him?”
“...Yeah.”
The woman answered Nicole's question quietly, as though Nicole were trying to suppress her anger. For the record, the woman was kneeling in front of Nicole with her head bowed deeply.
I was also standing beside Nicole, looking down at the woman. Glancing around, I saw that we were at the edge of the sprawling training ground, so hardly anyone was watching us. Whenever someone happened to pass by, they only glanced at us once before going on their way.
They seemed more focused on the people sparring in the distance than on us.
While I was thinking that, Nicole suddenly shouted at the kneeling woman.
“Is that supposed to be an answer?! Huh?!”
"... ..."
“I told you not to play that kind of prank, no matter how harmless you thought it was! Do you think my words mean nothing?!”
At Nicole's furious roar, the kneeling woman flinched violently. Having seen only Nicole's gentle side until now, I found the reaction quite unexpected.
Then again, any sibling would have been angry. Her precious youngest sibling had almost been seriously injured.
It only felt strange because Nicole had never once raised her voice before.
“Answer me, Adelia. Am I wrong?”
“S-sorry...”
The woman apologized in a voice as faint as an ant crawling by. Nicole, however, still seemed unable to calm down and exhaled sharply through her nose.
“Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Isaac. If you pull a stunt like that again, I'll file a formal complaint with the professor, so watch yourself. Understood?”
“Yeah...”
“Now. Apologize.”
At Nicole's command, the woman slowly raised her head. Once her face was revealed, I stared at her.
Her light-brown hair was neatly cut in a bob that reached her neck, and she had a prominent nose and long eyelashes. Overall, she was a beautiful woman with a distinctly boyish air.
As I gazed at her pale-blue eyes, she stared quietly at my face as well before opening her mouth.
“Oh. Pretty...”
Was her mouth the problem? When that pointless remark sprang from the woman's lips, Nicole's threatening presence grew even more frightening. Honestly, she had no grounds to complain even if she got hit for that.
When the woman sensed the dangerous aura Nicole was giving off, she quickly bowed her head and apologized.
“I'm sorry. I went too far with my prank. I'll never pull a prank like that again.”
Her husky voice suited her boyish appearance quite well. Apparently, that frivolous way of speaking only came out when she was playing a prank on Nicole.
When she even bowed her head while apologizing, I answered with slight bewilderment.
“Ah, yes. It's all right. By the way, did you say your name was Adelia?”
“Yes. I'm Adelia Cross.”
Since she had no middle name, which was bestowed only upon nobles, Adelia was a commoner. I had assumed she was a noble based on her beauty alone, so I was slightly surprised to learn otherwise.
'She threw a ball at me as a prank...'
That meant she was either Nicole's close friend despite the difference in status or simply thoughtless. Since she spoke informally to Nicole, I presumed it was the former.
I stared at Adelia, whose nervousness was written all over her face, then asked her a question.
“Are you friends with my sister?”
“Uh...”
Adelia began to answer, then stopped and glanced at Nicole. Nicole still looked angry, but answered by jerking her chin.
Adelia gave an awkward smile and answered quietly.
“Yes. We're friends. We've been together ever since we enrolled.”
“Then just speak informally. You're my sister's friend, after all.”
“Really? Is that okay?”
She switched to informal speech immediately. I couldn't help finding it absurd, but I nodded when Adelia asked with a bright smile.
Adelia let out a long sigh of relief, as if she could finally breathe, and then began firing off words like a machine gun.
“I'm really, really sorry. I truly am. Let me apologize one more time. I did it because I wondered who Nicole had brought here. But I never dreamed you were her little brother.”
“I told you, I'm fine. It's already over, and you threw it because you expected Nicole to block it anyway, right? At least you didn't throw a dagger.”
“I still feel bad. If I'd thrown it at someone other than Nicole, I'd have been expelled on the spot.”
“If you know that so well, how can you pull a stunt like that?”
Nicole pressed her with a fierce voice, and Adelia had no proper excuse to offer. She merely gave an embarrassed laugh, fidgeted helplessly, and lowered her head in remorse.
Once Nicole saw that Adelia seemed genuinely sorry, she let out a deep sigh and reluctantly forgave her.
“Phew. Like I said before, don't pull pranks like that from now on. Once or twice would be one thing, but you do this every time I come to the training ground, and I'm starting to get annoyed.”
“Sorry...”
“Sis. Has she always done this?”
“Every time I come to the training ground.”
So that's why her reaction had been so quick. Apparently, this wasn't Adelia's first offense.
Adelia pulled this sort of prank every time Nicole came to the training ground, so Nicole must have been thoroughly fed up. And today, it had been none other than her own little brother who nearly got hurt, making it even worse.
I looked at Nicole as she raked a hand through her hair, then suddenly grew curious and glanced toward the entrance to the training ground. The entrance was shaped like a long passageway, making the interior dim and shadowy. There was technically some light, but I could barely make out more than silhouettes.
Yet Adelia had been certain that Nicole was approaching through that darkness. Even if the approaching figure had been a familiar silhouette, that alone shouldn't have been enough to make her certain.
“Ms. Adelia.”
“Hmm? Were you calling me?”
“Can you infuse mana into your eyes too?”
“Of course. I may look like this, but I'm exceptionally skilled where it counts.”
Her answer was brimming with pride. Seeing that she was assisting as an aide alongside my sister, her skill had clearly already been proven.
If you were wondering what infusing mana into one's eyes had to do with skill, just consider how sensitive our eyes were.
Being able to infuse mana into one's eyes and clearly identify objects even in the dark was proof of outstanding mana control.
I knew this because I had consulted my father when I first wrote The Chronicle of Xenon. He had happily explained various other abilities to me as well. Aside from those, I had created the rest separately by drawing on the memories of my previous life.
I quietly watched Adelia, who seemed to have regained her spirits, and asked her a question.
“Then can you distinguish body temperatures too?”
“What? How could I do that? That's a technique that can only be used by someone at least as skilled as a knight commander.”
Adelia answered in an incredulous voice. Father had said anyone could use it with a little effort, but apparently that was merely his standard.
“You said you were Nicole's younger brother, right? I'm telling you this for your own good, so don't even dream of comparing your father to anyone else. He's the kind of man who can change a map with a single swing of his sword. How could anyone compare?”
“Is Dad really that amazing?”
I already knew that Father was an incredible man, but I hadn't realized he was that extraordinary. When I asked Nicole with an expression that said I wanted to know if it was true, she merely shrugged.
“I don't know either. You know as well as I do. When has Dad ever said anything about himself?”
“He hasn't. But why does he say that?”
“He said that whenever those achievements come up in someone else's words, he sees the faces of the knights who sacrificed themselves. Isaac, you wouldn't know this, but before you were born, he couldn't sleep at night without alcohol.”
Judging by his symptoms, he was a soldier suffering from textbook PTSD.
Moreover, Father had been a knight commander—of the Navy Knights, no less—so he must have had far more real combat experience than most people. I had heard that the Navy Knights, the strongest order of knights in the Minerva Empire, were entrusted with a wide range of missions.
Some of those missions involved subjugating demonkin who had undergone demonization. In fact, demon-hunting missions were carried out in many places besides the Navy Knights, so it was clearly considered a last resort.
Even so, the fact that he had raised three children safely showed how extraordinary his mental fortitude was.
“Anyway, Adelia. You're going to prepare for a spar now, right?”
“I have to. There are a lot of freshmen, so I'll be pretty busy.”
“Then today, you'll do it alone as punishment. I'll take my little brother around.”
“What? Wait. Even so, that's...”
“What?”
When Adelia immediately protested, Nicole simply raised one eyebrow. In the end, Adelia, who was clearly the more guilty party, had no choice but to back down.
“...All right. But only today, okay?”
“I'll think about it.”
“Oh, please. Don't do this.”
“Who was it that almost left my precious little brother with a nasty blue bruise on his face?”
It seemed Nicole had found the perfect weakness to exploit. I looked back and forth between Adelia, who was even kneeling and begging, and Nicole, who stood with her arms crossed, deliberating.
If you only looked at them like this, they really were close friends who had transcended social status. That might have been because my family was generally far removed from formal authority, but Adelia's behavior would have been more than enough to horrify anyone else who saw it.
As she had said herself moments ago, threatening a noble's life would have meant expulsion at the very least, along with a prison sentence.
'How did this person become friends with my sister?'
While I was wondering about that, the situation ended when Nicole agreed to Adelia's request.
“Then go spar. I'll be in the stands, so explain the situation to everyone properly.”
“All right. Your name was Isaac, right?”
“Yes. My name is Isaac.”
“Watch me spar, kid. I'll have you falling for me in no time.”
“Stop saying pointless things and go already.”
When Nicole tossed her the practice iron sword she had brought ahead of time, Adelia caught it lightly. Even as she headed toward the training ground, she waved her arms about in a boisterous manner.
She was as reckless and scatterbrained as an immature child, but strangely, she wasn't unpleasant. I waved to Adelia as she grew farther away, then asked Nicole something I'd been curious about.
“Sis. How did you become friends with her?”
“It just happened. She kept hanging around nearby ever since we enrolled, so I spoke to her, and we've stayed together ever since. Her personality is a little vulgar... No, strange, but I can vouch for her skill. She just went too far with her prank earlier. She's not a bad kid.”
“Nicole?”
While we were talking, someone called out to Nicole from behind. It was a man's pleasant, mellifluous voice in the middle-to-low range.
Naturally, both Nicole and I turned around to see who it was.
'...Oh.'
The moment I saw the man's face, I felt my brain freeze in real time. It was a face so familiar to me that I never wanted to see it again.
While I stood frozen stiff, Nicole greeted the man as though they were already acquainted. Unlike him, who had spoken informally, Nicole's tone was filled with courtesy.
“Lord Leort? You're here early today.”
“This was the week the new semester began. I had nothing keeping me busy.”
His hair shone golden, just like Rina's, and his eyes were a clear blue. While Rina had a pure, puppy-like face, the man before me had a fierce, tiger-like impression.
Meanwhile, the man who had been talking to Nicole shifted his gaze to me and quietly trailed off.
“But who's beside you...”
“He's my younger brother. Say hello, Isaac. This is His Highness Leort, the Crown Prince of the Minerva Empire.”
Apparently unaware of how I felt, Nicole patted me on the back and made me greet him. I faced Leort, tense from head to toe.
The unexpected meeting had left me quite flustered, but I had to greet him regardless. Besides, there was no need to be so nervous. Leort and I were meeting for the first time, and he had no idea that I was the author of The Chronicle of Xenon.
In other words, there was no chance of me suddenly being locked away in the Imperial Palace.
With that thought in mind, I greeted Leort according to the etiquette I'd learned at home. It was important not to arouse any suspicion right now.
“Good day. My name is Isaac Ducer Maishal. It is an honor to meet you, Lord Leort.”
“Ah-ha. So you're Nicole's younger brother. No wonder you looked alike. Nice to meet you. I am Leort Urmi Jaclis, Minerva's rightful heir. By the way, did you say Isaac?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
Why? Why did he make that exclamation? He was making me nervous.
As I was muttering to myself uneasily, Leort asked me with a delighted expression,
“So you're the student Rina mentioned?”
...Fuck. Life.