90 89. Ichinotsuki Allied General Knights Ball.txt (1/2)

Back in the Oval Office, me and the Reapers are greeted by Rowen's cheerful voice.

'Kanami, I've heard good things from Snow!

Good news?

I heard that there will soon be a competition of strength in this country. If I participate in that and win, I'm sure I will get my wish. It seems that Kanami won't be bothering you.

'Come to think of it, there's something like that: ....... I think it's called ”The Dancing Tournament”?　Sure, just right. Just what Rowen wanted.

Yeah. I'm going to go sign up for it as soon as I can!

No, no, no. It's late. Let's do it tomorrow.

I chide Rowen, who is about to leave.

'Mm, is it nighttime now (・・・・・・・)?　Yes, ......, then I guess I have no choice: ......

Rowen stopped in his tracks, looking disappointed.

I made sure he was quiet and called out to Snow, who looked tired.

'Snow, are you tired?'

...... Umm, yeah. I got a lot of questions.

'Good job on that. But now you know a little more about Rowen's character, don't you?

...... certainly doesn't look like a bad person. But let's just say that there's no guarantee that a bad person will look bad.

That's too twisted.

...... And what's bad for Kanami is surely not the same as what's bad for me.

Yeah, that's right, ....... Hey, is Rowen that unacceptable?

...... No, he's fine. I just don't like something else.

Another thing?

...... That's enough. No problem. But I'm tired. I'm tired anyway. I'm going home.

Snow wavers and goes out the window.

It seems like the window in the Oval Office has been the exit for me lately. ......

I walk away from Snow and talk to Rowen and the others.

It's a good idea to get a good night's sleep. For now, let's head up to my sister's room.

...... Wait, Kanami. You're not going to let me stay in that sister's room too, are you?

What, no?

'Of course not. 'Kanami, you don't have to worry about us. We're not human, you know. It doesn't matter.

What's going to happen to you, ......?

'Just right ....... I'll show you what a monster you are: .......

With that line, Rowen shows me her arms.

The arms made a sound as if the stones clashed with each other and turned into crystals.

”You became a crystal ......?

'I'm a mixture of monsters of the monster-stone (gargoyle) lineage. I'm pretty good at this.

Um, so ......?

”Let me be a stone statue on top of this building. You'll be able to guard your surroundings and rest at the same time. It will keep the evil away.

Oh, so you can rest?

Enough. Monsters don't need their rest as badly as humans do to begin with. Besides, I've been entrusted with your protection. Let me do this.

I stare into Rowen's eyes, searching for the truth of it.

At least, as far as I can tell, he's not lying.

'Okay. That's fine for Rowen. But what about the Reaper?

Why don't you just let him float in the air and go to sleep? Maybe you could do that.

No, that's a bad idea: ......

Even just a stone statue of a man on top of a building is only erected at night. I don't want any more monstrosities to happen in ”Epic Seeker”. You can still make excuses for the stone statue, but there's no excuse for the girl in the sky.

'Oh no, I don't want to!　I'd rather sleep in bed, for God's sake!

The Reapers disagree, as they should.

But if he doesn't deny it, it seems he can sleep in the sky if he wants to.

'Reaper, we're staying here. You need to be a little more modest. And be modest and sleep in the sky.

'No, I don't want you to sleep in the sky with modesty: ......

Rowen interjects, thinking she's off somewhere with Rowen.

'I'm going to sleep with my brother, it's fine!

'In the meantime, Reaper, come up to your sister's room. I don't think I'm going to let the Reaper, a girl, stay in the field.

Way to go, bro!

I beckoned the Reaper over to me.

Loewen looks at it, looking terribly surprised.

Immediately, Rowen's expression returns, shrugs, and walks off in the opposite direction from us.

'Well ....... Then I'm going to go outside. Reaper, make sure you're properly quiet.

Rowen nailed the reaper and climbed with quick gestures from the window to the roof.

There was no time to stop him. Because I didn't expect her to go out the window. But when I thought back on it, both me and Snow were going in and out of the window. Maybe Rowen saw that and mistook the window for a doorway.

I headed up to Maria's room with the Reaper, making up my mind that I would correct that mistake tomorrow.

Nailing the restless Reaper, I move upstairs and make it to Maria's room.

After knocking, I go inside.

Inside the room I see Maria sitting on the bed. Maria notices me and her face lights up. But her bright face froze as she sensed that the Reaper was behind me.

'Maria, I'm home,'

'Oh, welcome back, brother. ......

Maria returns the greeting with a hardened expression on her face.

But Maria's attention remains focused on the Reaper.

Her vision is closed, but she seems to be able to tell from the sound of footsteps that someone is there.

''Well, this is the child who was left in the custody of the 'Epic Seeker'. His name is Reaper. Get along with him.

The Reaper?　What the hell is this kid--

Without waiting for Maria to finish her words, the Reaper interrupts.

'Yay, not an adult!　Mm-hm!　You've got a nice little sister, man!

The Reaper happily approached Maria.

Apparently, Maria was preferable to the Reaper. It seemed like the Reaper wanted a partner who was about his age.

'Oh, Onii-chan?'

However, it was Maria who seemed to have a problem.

Her hardened expression twitched.

'What's wrong, Maria?'

Brother, what's your relationship with the boy?

'Well, um, he was lost in the labyrinth and we had to protect him. Reaper had a strong shock in the labyrinth and his memory seems to be unstable, so being gentle with him would help. ......

This excuse was decided with Rowen on the way home.

By the way, Rowen has become a wandering swordsman in training.

'Heh ....... So your brother picks up a girl who was weak and makes her call him 'big brother'? That's a very noble hobby.

'No, I'm just calling it what I want, I'm not letting you call it anything else, but ......'

There was a cloud of doubt in the air.

Before I knew it, Maria's expression had relaxed and turned into a seamless smile.

It was a smile, that's for sure.

However, I felt an unfathomable pressure from that Maria's smile, and sweat began to gush out of my skin.

'You're not letting me call you?　But you didn't stop when they called you, did you?

Well, well, yes, but ......

'I mean, that means you chose to be called ”big brother --a mortal sin.

You're going to be charged with a crime?

The pressure, similar to the heat radiating from Maria, intensifies.

It's bad.

I don't know what's bad, but my instincts are ringing the alarm bells that it's bad.

I'm about to run my computing power to its limit to make excuses when the Reaper lets out an innocent voice.

''Mmm, um, 'sister'?　Don't tease your brother too much, okay?

Hearing his voice, Maria suddenly lost her fever.

''Oh, sis?　Me?

'Yes, I'm smaller than you. I'm going to call you big sister, but no?

Maria's face loosens up a little bit every time the Reaper calls her 'big sister'.

'Wow, I don't mind. I don't care what you call me. ......

'Yes!　Thank you, sis!

Maria's expression hardens as the Reaper hugs her with a thank you. To be precise, she's keeping her Buddha's face in order to keep her cheeks loose.

There's no doubt that it's because I activated the 《Dimension Decisive Operation (Gradiate)》. Now Maria is desperately hiding her emotions so that the Reapers don't realize how happy she is.

Maria lets out a strangled voice while maintaining her Buddha's face.

'...... I don't mind being your sister. But let's not call your brother 'big brother'.

What? Why?

That's because ...... your brother already has a sister named me, so it's confusing to call both of them brother.

'There's nothing confusing about it!　If you want to, just pretend I'm your sister, and I'll be your sister. Then your big sister will be my big brother!

Wow, my sister--?

Leaving Maria flustered, I solved the Dimension Decisive Operation (Gradient).

Because I no longer feel like I can solve everything if I leave it to the Reaper.

Reaper becomes a crazy reaper when Rowen is involved, but otherwise she's an innocent, innocent girl. Reaper would be a better fit than me making a poor excuse here.

'Hey, sis!　Can I get in that fluff too?　I've never been in bed before!

What?　In bed? ......?　I don't mind that much, but .......

Thank you, baboons.

The Reaper climbed onto the bed and unfolded the picture book he had borrowed.

Maria greeted it with a stained cheek.

The guess was no longer a certainty.

Maria has a weakness for sisterhood ......!

That he was often in the lowest age position. Being slow to develop for her age and being easily seen by children. All of these circumstances combined to make him very happy to be called ”big sister”.

'Wow, what is this ......?'

It's a picture book. My brother borrowed it from Tosho-kan. I'll read it to you.

Then, in a natural progression, Maria begins to take care of the Reaper.

Watching them, I borrow one of the blankets and sit down in the corner of the room.

Leaving the two of us alone, it wouldn't be a problem to sleep like this.

''- Oh, I'll have something to talk to my brother about later,''

But the moment I closed my eyes, Maria's cold voice came through.

I could only nod in response, breaking out in a cold sweat.

It seemed to be an illusion to think that the Reaper had somehow managed to fool me.

But now, the Reaper has managed to be a bulwark. I'll be able to sleep in peace this evening.

With Maria and the reaper's playful voice as a lullaby, I escape into the dream world.

◆◆◆◆◆ ...

And early the next morning--

What a beautiful light!　This is the sun!　This is the sky!　Oh, my God, how beautiful you are!

As soon as the sun comes up, I'm awakened by a cheer that comes from the top of the building.

I turn blue in the face and quickly jump out the window of my room to look out for Rowen on the roof.

'Lo, Rowen. Shut up and be quiet.

The sky!　That ”Blue Sky” or ......!　This is exactly the scene we've all been trying to achieve: ....... Oh, thank God. The world got to the 'blue sky' properly: ......

However, an overwhelmed Rowen refuses to listen to me.

She looks like she has tears in her eyes.

I had no choice but to use the Freeze to cool Rowen's head.

''Sa, it's cold!''

Quietly ......, because it's morning ......

I snapped to attention again.

'I'm sorry, Kanami ....... I'm distraught ......

Rowen becomes sullen and bows her head.

Then, he senses with the Dimension that the members who were sleeping inside the ”Epic Seeker” headquarters are awake.

Just behind me, a reaper who was caught and jumped out of the water is looking at the sky while floating fluffily.

''Hmm, hmm?　What is this? It's really blue, it's really blue. So this is the blue one, huh? This one is more beautiful, Rowen.

'I agree with you, Reaper. It's nothing compared to that stagnant sky.

They're talking casually, but my head hurts.

'Stop chatting and get inside the building. Someone might come up here to see us. And Reaper, I told you not to float outside the labyrinth.

Loewen finally sensed that I was in trouble, and quietly walked into Maria's room. Through the window, of course.

By the way, the Reaper entered me in a fog. When I asked her why, she replied that it's too much trouble to walk around without floating, so it's possible she thinks I'm a vehicle or something.

Maria was surprised by the new Loewen, but when I explained to her that she was like a guardian of the Reaper, she readily accepted it.

Unlike with the Reaper, she didn't feel threatened. After all, it looked like it was a bad idea to let the Reaper call me ”big brother”.

Next, the members will also explain Rowen to the members.

Today, there were only a few people who were sleeping inside the 'Epic Seeker'. All of them had heard Rowen's strange voice, so they needed to be introduced as soon as possible.

I found the members in the Dimension and introduced myself to them with Rowen.

When I introduced myself as a guest, it was surprisingly easy to be accepted. Apparently, surrounding yourself with foreign guests is a common practice in running a guild.

As he repeated this, he sensed Snow waking up with Dimension.

I meet Snow in the corridor and we exchange morning greetings.

'...... Good morning. What are you going to do today?

'Good morning, Snow. I've made the introductions to Rowen's guild members so far, and I'm thinking of going to register for the 'dance competition' with Rowen. So, no work or labyrinth exploration today.

”...... All right. Then I'll be in the Oval Office sleeping. ...... Yeah, this is going to be a good day.

I don't think you'll be able to sleep. I'll leave the Reapers behind.

...... What?　Why?

It's just that having a reaper there is going to take a long time. That's all I'm saying. Here, answer the reaper.

I answer shortly and kick the Reaper out from inside.

'Oh?'　Am I staying at home?

Slimily crawling out of my shadow, the Reaper nods his head.

'That's what I'm talking about. I'll leave the picture book with you and you can read it to your sister over there.

A picture book?　Hmmm, hmmm, I'd certainly rather go with the ...... picture book. Welp, have a nice day. Rowen, big brother.

Apparently, a picture book is better for a reaper than outside.

I reassuringly take the borrowed picture book from my 'belongings' and force Snow to hand it to me.

'Go to ......?　What, a picture book?