I sighed as I stared at Ihwa’s sword.
‘Again?’
She’d been doing this ever since we came back from meeting Father Richter, and I didn’t know why. Sighing once more, I summoned Nira and Aerin just in time and parried her blow.
Utilizing the opening, I slashed at her neck. However, I stopped myself and instead used the flat side of my blades.
Ihwa winced as she fell to the ground. “Owww…”
But I didn’t care for her pain. Stabbing both of my swords into the ground, I asked,
“Unnie…why aren’t you using [Scutum]?”
After all, if she’d used the shield there, then she would have been able to counterattack.
“I-I have to learn my family’s Swordsmanship!” Ihwa stuttered.
‘So that was her family’s Swordsmanship?’
It looked familiar, but I pushed such thought away. I was sure that she was the slow and heavy type, but the Swordsmanship she used was more suited for fast and nimble swordsmen… Yeah, something was definitely wrong.
And, as her friend, I couldn’t just stand there and watch this happen.
“Ihwa, you should use [Scutum] again. It fits you more.”
“B-But Father would be disappointed…”
”Are you sure you want to continue doing this, even if it doesn’t fit you at all?”
Ihwa closed her eyes and then smiled.
“I know where we should go today.”
“But you didn’t answer my ques—”
“Hmm, how about a town? Yes, it should serve as a nice break from the city.”
She was obviously trying to deflect my question. Well, if she didn’t want to talk about it, I shouldn’t press her.
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We soon arrived at the town. It looked just like any other town, but apparently, there was something special about it today.
“It’s a harvest festival,” Ihwa explained. “So, there’ll be many caravans going through it.”
In other words, I could buy a shit load of things here.
I didn’t need anything, so I only bought some food to eat. Similarly, Ihwa and Violette bought some food. We literally didn’t buy anything of value.
Well, I was interested in something. Stopping at a potion stall, I asked,
“I-Is this potion real?”
The owner looked at the dark pink potion on his stall and its label before nodding.
“Of course. Since a genius Alchemist found the way to mass-produce it, its price is becoming cheaper by the day.”
I continued asking.
“Is the effect permanent?”
“No. It lasts only a few hours. Interested?”
“Definitely.”
After all, if this potion did what it said it did then…
‘I can acquire my manhood again.’
Just my penis, though. Everything else would stay the same…
But eventually, I decided to pass up on it. It’d be a hassle to get used to having my manhood again. Morever, I didn’t want to have the weakness back, even if it was temporary.
Well, I still had to buy something since I’d promised Nowa that I’d bring back a gift. But said gift would definitely not be the potion.
So, I let my gaze linger on the potion labeled “Futa potion” for a little bit longer before leaving.
I roamed the streets, looking over every stall, but didn’t find anything that a child would like. After I was sure that I’d explored everything, I decided to stop at a peculiar stall selling…kitchen appliances.
No, I didn’t want Nowa to cook. Not so soon. Instead, I was looking for a weapon for Nowa. She needed to learn how to defend herself, after all.
Considering her fragile body and weak strength, the best thing for her would be a simple kitchen knife.
‘Yeah, I shouldn’t be allowed to raise children.’
That aside, I decided on a knife since it was easily concealable, and its light weight meant that she could swing it around easily…as long as she was taught how to properly use it without cutting herself.
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But she was a smart kid; I was sure that she’d be fine.
Since all the knives were identical, the only thing I could really choose was the design. And, without hesitation, I chose one with a Lily painted on the handle.
Purity and innocence,
That was what I wanted my little sister to be. May she never experience the ugly truth of life…
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After buying the knife, I decided to come back home. However, I was pulled into a purple tent by Ihwa.
Inside the tent was a woman wearing a hooded cloak. Before her was a short table with a Crystal ball on top of it. Immediately, I could tell what this was.
“Unnie,” I whispered. “It’s a scam. She’s not actually reading our future.”
“I know.” She gave me a light jab on the shoulder. “It’s just for fun, though. Come on, it won’t hurt.”
“...Fine.”
With my confirmation, Ihwa excitedly sat down on the ground right before the table and pulled me down with her.
Violette excused herself and sat down next to me.
“What would you like to see?” The Fortune teller said in a mysterious voice.
Jokes on her, however hard she tried to come off as mysterious, I knew that she was running scam.
Though, I had to applaud Ihwa for her amazing suspension of disbelief.
“I want to see my love life!”
“Very well. It’s a very common request amongst young ladies such as yourself.”
Then, the Fortune teller infused a bit of Mana into her Crystal ball. Some fog appeared, and she stared intensely at it. It was probably an act, but it would be douchy to call her out just like that.
“It says here that your love life will be turbulent, but you will eventually find your true love.”
While Ihwa was literally jumping in happiness, the Fortune teller turned her gaze toward me.
“And you, young lady, what would you like to see?”
I avoided her gaze and touched Violette’s shoulder.
“Would you like to go first?”
“C-Can I?”
“Go ahead. It’s not like I care anyways.”
Violette bowed in gratefulness before stating her request to the Fortune teller.
“I also want to see my love life.”
The Fortune teller nodded and began her acting all over again. This time, there was a slight frown on her face.
“Your love will end in tragedy.”
‘Shitty Fortune teller, how can it end like that when Violette is so pretty? Besides, if you’re running a scam, at least make your customers feel good.’
Obviously, this woman didn’t know a thing about customer satisfaction.
Seeing Violette’s ghastly pale face, I squeezed her hand a bit to reassure her.
“Don’t worry, she’s pulling this out of her ass. And even if it’s Fate, you’ll just have to change it.”
Before I could respond to Violette’s thanks, the Fortune teller rudely ruined the moment.
“And you, ‘smart’ young lady. Now is your turn.”
I simply nodded. I wasn’t going to ask about my love life and then giggle like a teenage girl. No, if I was going to waste my money on a scam, I’d have to make sure that it was worth it.
“When will I die?”
“That’s an unusual question."
“Can you see it, or not?”
“What do you take me for, a con-artist?”
‘Yes.’
The Fortune teller obviously knew what I was thinking, but she focused on her scam regardless. She poured her Mana into the Crystal ball, and after the fog inside it cleared, her face contorted into a deep frown.
“Unknown.”
“I knew it,” I sighed. “It’s a sc—”
“But I do know how you’ll get killed.”
Okay, this interested me a bit.
“Then, how?”
“I’m not sure if I should be telling you this…”
Seeing her hesitation, I sighed and flicked her a Silver.
The Fortune teller caught it with her hand. Though, the frown still hadn’t left her face.
“If you want to know so badly…”
“Just tell me already.”
“Alright. Your own sibling will kill you.”
Suddenly, Ihwa slammed her hands on the table and shouted,
“Impossible! Nowa would never!”
Then, she grabbed both my and Violette’s hand and pulled us out of the tent, shouting, “Don’t worry, it’s a scam, like Nova said,” as she walked away.
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After parting ways with an unusually upset Ihwa, I returned to the mansion.
The first thing I saw was Nowa waiting for me at the entrance; her hands placed behind her. Somehow, I remembered what the Fortune teller said, but I quickly shook such thoughts away. Silly me, actually believing her words for a second.
“I have a gift for you.”
“Gift from Nee-san!?”
I chuckled and kissed Nowa’s forehead softly.
“You can’t tell Mom about this, alright?”
“Nn!”
Then, I took the knife out of my backpack and handed it to her.
“Pretty!”
Heh, I knew I chose the right gift.
As I watched her swing the knife around playfully, I realized that something was strange. It was her hands. There were…dyed red.
“Nowa, what happened—”
“Nee-san! Come! Gift for you, too!”
She excitedly tugged on the hem of my shirt, ignoring my question.
I was swept up in her pace and before I knew it, I was at the entrance of the garden.
There, Nowa let go of me and dashed into the garden on her own.
I followed her soon after and saw her jumping up and down in excitement, pointing behind a rather big tree.
“Nowa, what are you doing?”
“Come, Nee-san!”
I sighed and walked up to her with Violette following behind me. Once I reached the tree, I froze.
My stomach churned as I desperately fought the urge to vomit. Despite being on the battlefield more time than I’d have liked, I was still not mentally prepared to see this.
Violette was less lucky. She was so horrified that she began emptying her stomach on the ground.
I rubbed my eyes and stared behind the tree again. Nope, it wasn’t my imagination. The corpse was really there. Although it’d been mutilated beyond recognition, I could tell whom that mass of gray fur belonged to.
“F-Fenris!”
Truthfully, he’d been acting like a pet instead of an actual useful hound in the past few years. Not to mention, neither Nowa nor I had that much interaction with him. But…seeing him like this was just…terrifying.
Most frightening of all was my sister. She crouched beside him; her hand patting his decapitated and bloodied head; her newly-acquired knife digging further into his body, staining its own sheen silver blade red. Then, she looked up to me and smiled sweetly.
“Isn’t my gift amazing, Nee-san?”