I, the Return - 6
Suddenly the Academy grew restless. When I had arrived that morning everything had been as usual, yet at some point students and faculty alike were busy whispering about something.
What was going on? I had dozed off for a bit during the break—had something happened in the meantime?
No way.
I shook my head hard, banishing the dreadful assumption. The disgrace of being a noble who missed the news because he was asleep was more than I could bear. Looking closer, though, only a minority were whispering. It seemed the rumors were still spreading gradually, not yet known to everyone.
So what was it? What rumor was circulating? Let me in on it too.
"Erich!"
Just as I seriously considered asking someone directly, Sera's voice came from behind me.
I spun around hurriedly to find Sera panting, as if she had run all the way. Hey—she wasn't exactly in peak health yet. Why was she overexerting herself by running?
"You're going to collapse like that."
I sighed softly and patted her back, and Sera's breathing gradually steadied. Then she beamed at me, and I found myself unable to scold her further.
Fine, look on the bright side. Sera, who used to have trouble even moving around, had improved to the stamina of an ordinary person who simply lacked exercise. If she kept running like this, she would reach normal fitness levels someday.
"What's the matter? You're supposed to be in your faculty classes, yet you came all the way here."
Since her complexion had brightened, I asked about her business. Coming all the way to the training grounds where the Swordsmanship Department was practicing practical skills meant it had to be something urgent.
"Ka-Karl oppa is back."
"Big brother?"
She still hadn't fully caught her breath and stammered a little, but I had no trouble understanding. It really was urgent business.
That said, it was unexpected. Yesterday my brother had contacted us saying he planned to return today or tomorrow, but I figured he would be busy right after coming back from the North. I thought he would be running around the Imperial Capital today and come tomorrow.
Did he finish early?
Or maybe, contrary to my expectations, there was no work.
Whether he was busy or not, it wasn't a bad thing. Family had gone far away and returned—something to celebrate, not dread.
No wonder.
Only after hearing that my brother was back did I understand this commotion. With this war, the North that had been a thorn in the Empire's side had been embraced into the Empire's fold, and the news that my brother had dealt with the Northern rebels had spread far and wide. Of course there would be a stir when the war's greatest contributor returned to the Academy.
...Then the subtle gazes I had been feeling for a while were not just my imagination. They could not approach my brother directly, so they turned their attention to the relatively more approachable me. It was a familiar experience since enrolling at the Academy. I had grown so used to it that it no longer stirred any particular feelings.
"Thanks for letting me know."
I rubbed the back of my head, which still felt prickly, and thanked Sera. If I had not heard in advance, I would have been startled to see my brother in the clubroom. A rather undignified reunion for brothers.
"You could have just told me comfortably through a communication orb."
I added a minor question. Humans had such a convenient means of contact as communication orbs—was there really a need to run over?
At that reasonable point Sera flinched, but then she smiled and shook her head.
"I need to move around like this to get healthier."
"That's true."
It was logically sound, so I accepted it.
As soon as club time began, Luise and Irina vanished. Until recently they had been wandering around with gloomy faces, fretting over my brother, yet they could move this quickly.
The two who had disappeared like the wind were, of course, discovered in the clubroom. And not in any ordinary state, but in a rather peculiar one.
What the...
When I opened the clubroom door, I saw three heads of different colors gathered in one place. Was that what the three-headed guardian from the scriptures looked like? Certainly, thinking of three pairs of eyes staring at one person at once would be quite threatening.
Of course it was not a three-headed guardian—just Luise and Irina sitting on my brother's knees in a perfectly ordinary way.
...Is that ordinary?
The ones sitting there themselves seemed embarrassed, though.
"Ah, Erich."
Meanwhile my brother alone was nonchalant, waving his hand in greeting. It had been months since we had last seen each other, yet his reaction was as if we had met just yesterday.
"You been well? Glad you look healthy."
I burst out laughing at the calm greeting. The one who should be receiving concern was instead asking after my well-being. Anyone watching would think I had been the one off at war.
Still, that reversed concern was the brother I knew, and I was glad for it. If he had made a fuss about how happy he was to see me, it would have felt alien. And with him as composed as usual, I truly felt that he had returned safely.
"I've been fine. Looks like you're not hurt anywhere either?"
As I spoke I glanced at his knees. Supporting the weight of one person per knee, he seemed healthy enough.
"Oppa, I can get down now—"
"No. You just sat down."
But under my gaze Luise flinched and pleaded with my brother in a pitiful voice. Please let her get down.
If she was embarrassed she could just get down herself, but looking closer, my brother had an arm around her waist. If he was holding her, she could not free herself on her own.
"Irina's being quiet. You enjoy it too."
When I glanced over at Irina, unlike Luise she wore only a faint smile, as if she had transcended the situation. Maybe she simply liked it.
Yet as if she had absorbed Irina's sense of shame, Luise kept trying to persuade my brother.
"But showing this to other people is a bit..."
"You were already showing it to other people."
With those words my brother pointed, and I turned my gaze that way to see four prospective sisters-in-law gathered in a cluster.
I had not noticed. My attention had been so fixed on the three-headed guardian right when I entered that I only realized now.
"U-Unnies aren't other people—they're family!"
"Once you marry me, Erich will be family too."
For a moment Luise had nothing to say and closed her mouth. From a spectator's perspective it was now an interestingly petty little quarrel.
But even if they were family, was it not a bit much for my brother to flaunt affection in front of his younger sibling? Especially when one of the sisters-in-law was that sibling's first love.
It was not as if I still had lingering feelings, but the mood was a bit strange. If I had been the older brother instead of the younger, I would have socked him in the solar plexus.
Starting with Erich and Sera, the other club members began gathering one by one.
Each time, Luise's face grew redder and she struggled more fiercely, but of course he did not let her go. Skinship between lovers was not anything strange. If anything, he had to make up for what he had not been able to do.
"Seems there's no need for me to offer a greeting of well-being."
Tanian said with a gentle smile as he watched the scene, softly packaging the meaning of Seeing you flaunt affection the moment you arrive, you must be fine.
"I have heard well of Brother's exploits. Truly, Enen has protected Brother, so how about making a generous donation sometime soon?"
"Wouldn't Enen prefer you looking after yourself more than a donation?"
"Oh dear, that is true as well."
When I rejected the joke-filled proposal with a joke, Tanian chuckled too.
No—it was half-serious, actually. If Enen had any conscience, he would be more grateful for taking care of the Season '77 Tanian than for offering a pouch full of gold coins as a donation.
"Indeed, Enen would value the Saint more highly than mere money."
Ryutis, standing beside him, also burst into laughter as if in agreement.
Don't laugh, you bastard.
If you change the subject from Enen to Armein, it is the same for you.
"Anyway, congratulations on your safe return, Advisor."
"Yeah, thanks."
Still, at Ryutis's congratulations the stream of curses writhing in my heart vanished in an instant. Unlike the imperial citizens Erich and Ainter, Later who lived on the opposite side of the continent, and Tanian who was friendly with the Empire, Ryutis was in a position where it was awkward to purely celebrate this war.
If the Empire grew stronger it would become that much more of a threat to Armein, and many of the legions the Empire had stationed to guard against the nomads would shift to the Armein front. As a prince of Armein, Ryutis would not welcome it.
Even so, Ryutis offered congratulations as a club member. So I had no choice but to temporarily forget the hardships of '77.
"But are your knees all right? No matter how light the ladies may be as feathers, it seems you've had them sitting too long."
"They're feathers, so it's fine."
"Keh, understood."
In the process he added a side comment that made Luise turn even redder, but since it was cute I decided to let it pass.
I offered my congratulations to the Advisor and took a step back. As a prince of Armein, the Empire's prosperity was something to be wary of, but since it was connected to the Advisor I had known for nearly two years, what could I do? It was only right to celebrate a friend returning safely and a warrior achieving great merit.
Strange, isn't it.
And looking around the clubroom, which was lively unlike yesterday, I smiled faintly.
People brightened because the Advisor had come, outsiders who had followed the Advisor into the clubroom, club members laughing along as they got swept up in the clamor. Just one person returning, yet the atmosphere was completely different.
Because the fence has returned, is that natural?
Fence. Yes, no word suited the Advisor better than that.
Of course, creating and maintaining the Baking Club was Luise's doing. We had joined the club looking at Luise, so Luise was as good as the club's pillar.
But it was the Advisor who had restrained us so we would not leave the club. Even after being rejected by Luise, even after other members joined, he remained the fence. When that fence disappeared, the sheep inside scattered in all directions, but once the fence reappeared they gathered in one place again.
Only the Advisor could do it.
Suddenly my gaze went to Lady Erzebet, who had come as a temporary inspector. At the same time I recalled the days I had spent as temporary advisor.
...
Indeed, was the Advisor so sturdy because he always kept subordinates-slash-lovers like that around him in ordinary times?
Amazing.
But I was not envious. Heroic feats are only grand when viewed from afar.
"Ah, just a moment."
Just as a peculiar respect for the Advisor was growing, the Advisor, still with Luise and Irina on his knees, took a communication orb from his chest.
Even then, the delicacy of taking it out with the hand that had been holding Irina's waist drew admiration. If he had used the hand holding Luise, she would have escaped.
"This is Audit Department Chief Karl Crassius."
"Karl."
"Ah, Father."
The Advisor naturally received the contact. I had not particularly intended to eavesdrop, but the distance was close so I could hear the conversation—
Father?
I was briefly surprised by the affectionate form of address. I had thought the Advisor and Erich had a rather awkward relationship with their father.
So they hadn't just been fighting.
Then I recalled that the Advisor's father had also joined the campaign. In the special circumstances of war, the awkward father-son relationship must have progressed.
"When are you planning to come to the estate?"
"I was thinking of going this weekend... Is something the matter?"
"I can't go to the estate until you come."
"What?"
"Your mother kicked me out."
"What?"
...It seemed to have progressed a bit too much, but it was better than being awkward.