Academy Admission Begins?
Academy admission? “Arsienne!” “It’s urgent! Lady Serian is in danger!” “Huh?” They were worried about Serian instead of Yurion here? Arsienne grabbed my hand and rushed toward the training grounds. As we passed through the castle, people stared at us openly. Arsienne didn’t seem to care at all and kept sprinting forward at full speed.
With a loud bang, Arsienne threw open the door to the training grounds, and her face flooded with confusion. “Uh…?” She must have expected Yurion to win. Heh. As if that would ever happen.
Yurion was covered head to toe in dirt, his clothes torn in multiple places from scrapes. In contrast, Serian simply stared at him with a completely blank expression. No matter how much of a swordsmanship Doraemon Yurion might be, that only applied when Serian wasn’t involved. In terms of pure talent, she was the undisputed strongest in this novel’s entire world. No amount of desperate struggling from Yurion would ever let him defeat her.
The scene before me looked far more wretched and dangerous than I’d imagined. Countless magic circles floating behind Serian’s back were all aimed directly at Yurion.
“I’ve been apologizing since earlier, but…” “I already accepted your apology. This is just me venting my anger now.” Serian raised her hand toward Yurion again. Just as the magic circle she had created began to swell even larger—
“Stop!”
Only then did they notice us. Serian and Yurion both turned to look in our direction. Their eyes immediately fell on the spot where my hand joined Arsienne’s.
“Um, Arsienne. Your hand…” “Ah…!”
It was going to give me a sweat rash at this rate. Did she sweat a lot? Or had she worked up a sweat while running? As I vigorously rubbed my hand against my clothes, Arsienne shouted toward Serian.
“Lady Serian! What on earth is going on here!” “Ha…”
Whatever had happened between them, Serian let out a sigh as she looked at me and Arsienne, while Yurion kept sneaking glances at Serian’s reaction.
“Yurion, what happened?” “Well…”
Yurion earnestly explained everything that had occurred while we were gone. To summarize, Serian had been anxious, so he asked for the reason, got on her nerves, and ended up making a disparaging remark about me.
Arsienne listened to the whole story with a gradually hardening expression. “I’m sorry, Sister…” “….” “But Lady Serian also said bad things about Sister…!” “Enough. Don’t show any more of this disgraceful behavior.”
Her voice was ice-cold. Even Yurion seemed shocked by her sharp tone and froze completely.
Arsienne turned to me and bowed her head in apology. “I’m sorry, Young Master Lumian. This is entirely my fault. I should have taught him better…” “It’s not. It’s fine. He’s still young, so these things happen.”
Talentless young master. So that’s what Yurion had called me. Well, from his perspective, it wasn’t entirely inaccurate. In the novel, Yurion was one of the standout geniuses. To someone like him, I probably did look completely talentless.
There was no need to drag this out any longer. It was about time for us to head back anyway. Using this as an excuse to return home quickly, neither Arsienne nor Rosalia would have any grounds to complain.
“I’m perfectly fine, so… let’s wrap this up and we’ll be on our—” “No. I cannot accept this.” “Huh?” “I said I cannot accept this.”
What was she talking about? Serian glanced back and forth between me and Arsienne before speaking. “I saw you two holding hands earlier.” “Pardon…?” “I saw you holding my brother’s hand.”
Her speech had gotten awfully rough. When did our Serian start talking like this? As I tried to explain, she cut me off.
“Serian, this is—” “You don’t need to say anything, Brother. This woman forced you into it, didn’t she?” “Lady Serian. Are you suggesting I forcibly took Young Master Lumian’s hand?” “Didn’t you?” “No. There are circumstances…” “What circumstances?” “That is…”
Arsienne gave me a subtle glance. We had agreed to keep the relationship between myself, Arsienne, and Rosalia a secret. If it became known that I had influenced a spirit contract, it would draw all sorts of unwanted attention. Other nobles would definitely come swarming, making my life miserable. Of course, once they realized I had nothing to offer, their interest would fade quickly. Still, even that brief period of attention was something I wanted to avoid.
The three of us—me, Arsienne, and Rosalia—had decided to keep the whole matter confidential.
“See? You can’t even explain it. Who knows what kind of sweet talk you used to seduce my brother?” “Lady Serian! I absolutely did not do anything of the sort.” “How can I believe that! Brother, let’s never come here again.”
The only ones present were myself, Arsienne, Yurion, and Serian. Just as I was about to speak up, thinking I should explain about the spirit after all—
“Ugh…!” “What is this!” A dark, gloomy voice reverberated through our heads.
“Ugh!” Everyone except me covered their ears as Rosalia’s voice rang out. Weren’t spirits only supposed to be able to speak when in physical contact with their contractor? Yet her voice echoed for all of us to hear.
“Who are you! Show yourself!”
Rosalia’s voice filled the entire training ground. It wasn’t merely dark—it was sticky and viscous, like melted asphalt on a hot summer day. Who would hear that and think it belonged to a spirit? No matter how you listened, it sounded like an Evil Spirit.
Serian rushed in front of me. “Brother! Are you okay?!” “Huh?” “I’ll protect you!”
Serian summoned a magic circle in the air and used it like a shield to guard me. I was perfectly fine, but it still felt nice. All that head-patting must have meant something after all. Please keep protecting me like this forever, little sister.
Was the voice different for me than for the others? To my ears it was simply a bit gloomy and dark—not particularly difficult to listen to. Had she adjusted it specifically for me?
“Who else? I’m his little sister!” Serian declared confidently.
“That’s right!”
When Serian answered, the dark atmosphere that had been shrouding the area gradually lifted. A brief silence followed.
“Yes!”
“Of course!” [….] “Who are you!”
Rosalia paused for a moment before answering in a noticeably smaller voice.
Huh? Rosalia, you’re easier than I thought.
“So what you’re saying is that Brother helped with Arsienne and Rosalia’s contract?” [That’s right. Miss!] “Can you stop calling me miss?” [Hehe….]
In the end, we thoroughly explained the relationship between Arsienne and me. The moment Rosalia’s identity was revealed, there was no point hiding it anymore. We left out the part about her originally being an Evil Spirit, of course. Arsienne was perceptive enough not to mention it, and since Rosalia already believed she was a spirit, as long as I stayed quiet it would simply look like a spirit enthusiast had helped Arsienne’s contracted spirit.
“So you called us here to let Rosalia meet Brother?” [Yes!] “That’s correct, Lady Serian.” “Ha….”
Serian clutched her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “By the way, Rosalia.” [Yeah?] “How did you make your voice heard by everyone?” [Ah, that?]
When I asked Rosalia, Arsienne nodded curiously as well. You could do that? In the novel, the female protagonist’s spirit could only converse with others through physical contact.
It was such a perfectly Rosalia-like reason. I didn’t understand the mechanics, but unlike what the novel suggested, it seemed she could speak to others without needing contact.
“Ha…” With her tension finally released, Serian buried her face in my chest. “Brother. Nothing happened, right?” “Of course not. Don’t you trust me?” “I trust you, Brother. You are…” She rubbed her head against me even harder.
“Arsienne. We’ll be heading back first.” “Ah, yes. That seems best.”
All the better. Our departure had been moved up slightly. It was a little unfortunate that others now knew about this, but if it was Serian and Yurion, they would keep the secret.
Serian continued to glare at Yurion, but he stayed hidden behind Arsienne, sneaking glances at us. “Then we’ll be off. Serian, say goodbye too.” “Goodbyeee…” “You have to say it properly.” “Goodbye…”
Serian whispered so quietly it was hard to tell whether anyone could hear her. “Today was fun, Lumian. Let’s meet again next time.” [You have to come next time too!] “Brother isn’t coming again!” “Then I suppose I’ll have to visit instead.” [That’s right!] “Ugh…!”
Arsienne looked at Serian and let out a small laugh. “She’s cute.” “Uwaah…! Brother, move!”
I quickly took Serian and led her to the carriage. Even as I pulled her along, she kept kicking her legs toward the duke’s castle. Why was she picking fights with them here of all places? Even after we climbed into the carriage, she continued hissing like an angry cat while staring at the castle.
“Kyaah! As if I’d ever come here again!” “Haha…”
Yes, yes. I don’t particularly want to come back either.
I sat Serian on my lap in the carriage and stroked her hair. After throwing a tantrum for quite some time, she suddenly went quiet. “…” “What’s wrong?”
Has the yandere phase finally ended? I thought we could finally enjoy a peaceful ride. As I gazed out the window, Serian suddenly stood up, sat beside me, and spread her arms wide.
“Brother…” “Yes?” “Hug me…” “As much as you want.”
Serian hugged me far more tightly than she had at the duke’s castle. I felt like I was going to burst. It was getting a bit hard to breathe, but I endured it. In trying not to become Nobita, it seemed I had turned my sister into an incredibly strong version of him instead.
“I’ll protect you for your whole life, Brother.” “Really? That sounds wonderful.” “So don’t go far away.” “I won’t.”
Don’t worry. Once you graduate from the academy, I absolutely won’t leave your side. Even if you tell me to leave then, I won’t. You’re my meal ticket, after all.
After that, various things happened.
“Brother! Come quickly!” “I’ll be right there.”
How had seven years already passed? Serian was now preparing for her academy entrance. Once she enrolled, the novel’s first chapter would officially begin. My personal Doraemon would meet the female protagonist and start resolving all the problems at the academy.
“Young lady! You need to pack your pajamas too!” “Oh, right!”
Thanks to her upcoming admission, the Cardion Count’s Estate was in an uproar. The moment I sent Serian off to Kronesia Academy, my role would finally be complete. During vacations, I’d just need to give her the occasional head pat when she returned. How exhausting it had been to deal with all her whining until now.
Running away during magic classes was standard. During history class especially, she would use invisibility magic to escape, which always caused me headaches. Whenever Serian hid somewhere, she would come find me so we could run away together.
“Serian, is everything ready?” “Yes!” “Miss Ophelia, please take good care of her.” “Don’t worry, Lumian. I’ll look after her well.”
Ophelia Moonbrier. She was the magic professor at Kronesia Academy in the novel. During vacation periods, she would always stay at the Cardion estate to provide Serian with special lessons.
Wasn’t this networking a bit excessive? Our Cardion family didn’t have any significant connection to the Moonbriers. No matter how much you considered personal ties or blood relations, talent surpassed them all. Ophelia was simply offering her services for free after witnessing Serian’s genius.
The relationship between Ophelia and Serian wasn’t highlighted in the novel, so I wasn’t entirely sure, but they had probably known each other even before enrollment.
“It would be nice if Lumian enrolled in the academy too…” “Haha…. Your jokes are quite something.”
She looked at me with genuine regret. “You could have at least enrolled through swordsmanship.” “Haha…”
Please don’t say that even as a joke. I laughed it off, but her expression suggested she wasn’t joking. My enrollment window had passed long ago anyway. The family had recommended it, but I had refused so vehemently that the idea was dropped.
“I don’t want to go alone…. Let’s go together, Brother!” “You’ll make friends with your classmates.” Even so, she pouted. “Still…” “You have to behave well, understand?” “Yeah…”
Yes, yes. I had perfectly trained this troublemaking magician. I had no idea how the blunt, cynical cheat character had become such a precious girl. Had I raised her wrong? No way. There was no chance that the child going astray was the brother’s fault. If anyone was to blame, it would be the parents.
“Ah, Lumian. Actually, there’s another reason I came here.” “What is it?” “You said you know quite a bit about spirits, right?”
She turned to look at me. “Me?” “I heard it from Arsienne. She mentioned it during my liberal arts class.”
Why was she talking about me in class? I didn’t know the reason, but I needed to escape this conversation as quickly as possible.
“Arsienne is just saying that because she doesn’t know much. I only have a passing interest. It’s not at the level where I could hold a proper discussion with you, Miss Ophelia.” “But I heard you’ve read a lot of related books?” “Haha…”
Of course that was a complete lie. There weren’t even many books about spirits in the first place. Not that many people were interested in them. I was simply repeating things I’d read in the novel.
“So what did you want to ask me?” “Ah. It’s nothing major.”
She pulled a small crystal ball from her pocket. It was a green crystal orb that looked as if thin leaves had been melted down to create it.
“This is?” “The Sky’s Swordswoman. Anemoi.” “….” “It’s a crystal ball containing her soul. I’m currently researching her spirit. Do you happen to know anything about her?”
Anemoi, the legendary Wind Elf Spirit. I knew her very well, of course. This was the crystal ball belonging to the elf spirit who contracted with the novel’s female protagonist.