Book 1. Shifting Winds. Chapter 1. It all began that day. (Part V)

“Big brother sure is stubborn, he went down to search again.” Sitting next to Siana, Rune tried to somehow strike up a conversation, but he got thoroughly ignored. Yet, this time he noticed that Siana got more gloomy just as he said the words ‘big brother’. Wondering if that was the source of the problem, he decided to simply ask.

“You don’t like when I call Laien ‘big brother’?”

Siana gazed at Rune, revealing no expression at all just like always, however with one exception. The look in her eyes wasn’t lazily-bored, but instead, it was surprised. With a quiet ‘hmph’, Siana looked away from Rune, leaving his question without any comment.

Rune tried not to, but he couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “She’s actually jealous of me? When I am jealous of big brother? This is so stupid!” he thought as he tried to muffle his laughs and chuckles.

After enduring for a short while, Siana turned around, her face strongly blushed, “Stop laughing you idiot! What, am I wrong to be angry at you? You… You…. Aaah!” she shouted, but just couldn’t force those last words out as they were way too embarrassing to say out loud. Pulling her legs tightly to her chest, she hid her face and grumbled. “Stupid… Stupid… Both of you are stupid!”

Maybe he shouldn’t have, however at this moment, Rune was incredibly happy. For the first time, Siana spoke to him and even showed him such a cute face. He had thought that Siana was beautiful ever since he saw her two and a half years ago, but it was just that, nothing more. He actually started having feelings for her only a few months ago, when he had seen her expression as she was talking alone with Laien. That she could reveal so much, look so unimaginably cute… How could he not fall for her? Ice princesses whose hearts could be melted, many boys dreamed about such girls.

“Yeah, I am stupid. I was jealous of big brother when you were jealous of me. Doesn’t it make both of us equally stupid?” Rune said with a smile, peeking at Siana from the corner of his eye.

Siana cooled down a bit, then also peeked at Rune, slowly realizing the meaning of his words. She had more or less guessed that Rune was interested in her, but she would have never thought that Rune could be envious of her big brother in the same way she was envious of Rune himself. Realizing how truly stupid this situation was, Siana laughed, and that laugh was truly a sweet one.

For a long while, Rune was at a loss for words and only stared at Siana with a half-conscious, dreamy gaze.

“Mm? What, you don’t want to talk anymore and are satisfied with just staring at me?” Siana asked with a quiet chuckle, feeling much better disposed towards Rune now than before.

Flabbergasted, Rune shook his head trying to come back to his senses. “I, I was just surprised… are you sure you want to talk with me? You aren’t making fun of me, are you?” he asked rather nervously. He could hardly believe that Siana changed her mind just like that, after refusing to talk with him for so long.

“Well… It’s not like I had any specific reason not to talk with you, apart from you know what, so I might as well do. Big brother likes you, after all,” Siana replied truthfully, but her words only made Rune sigh secretly.

“No way around it, I just need to get used to big brother being everywhere, eh?” Rune wondered silently, reluctantly accepting that Siana really had no one but her big brother in her eyes. “At least you seem more cheerful now, for you to smile when talking with someone else but Big Brother, I am so lucky~” he commented thoughtlessly, only after a second or two realizing that he blurted out something stupid.

Siana pouted slightly, however, the next moment her face sank as she remembered something unpleasant.

“Uh, what is it?” Rune asked, hoping that Siana’s worsening mood wasn’t directly related to that comment of his.

Seeing Rune worry like this, Siana smiled just a little bit. Giving it some thought, she spoke again.

“Hey, if I will tell you something, will you promise to keep it a secret from everyone?” Siana asked quietly, tired of keeping this secret buried in her heart.

“I promise,” Rune replied instantly. His heart skipped a beat when Siana scooted over to him, seating herself close enough for their thighs to be touching each other.

“Is she so clueless, or is she doing it on purpose? Her face is like a mask, I can’t even tell, damn it!” Rune swallowed, giving his best to keep his calm. At his age, he was quite self-conscious around girls, but still, as he was only seven years old, his ‘love’ was still quite pure and childlike.

For those who were living in the far north of the Starlight continent, having a seven-year-old know about the matters that were supposed to be only taught to adults would be unthinkable. However, it wasn’t so in the Sarkcente Kingdom, which was located at the very southern edge of the Starlight continent. Here, in the south, children were considered to become mature at the age of twelve and at the age of sixteen, they would be viewed as full-fledged adults.

In the south, perhaps only some young masters from great clans who had been sheltered throughout their entire lives would be unaware of sexual matters. As for everyone else? Kids of commoners and the very majority of young nobles were generally interested in the opposite gender when they reached the age of eight or so. Naturally, however, their relationships turned more intimate only after they hit puberty a few years later.

“Hey, you sure you are listening to me? You seem to be dozing off…” Siana’s voice brought Rune back to reality, as he truly had dozed off for a moment or two.

“Sorry, I kinda… Um, could you please repeat?” Rune apologized, ashamed of himself. How could he start daydreaming when he finally had a chance to chat with Siana?

Siana chuckled at Rune’s awkward apology and his worried expression. “I didn’t say anything yet, you know, hehe,” she said with a laugh, hiding her smile behind her hand.

Completely speechless, Rune suddenly thought that dealing with Siana might not be as easy and pleasurable as he had thought, even after he finally managed to get her to stop ignoring him.

After a short while, Siana followed through with the talk. “Mm, let’s say that there was someone you hated, and he kept doing bad things to you… and then that someone died, but because of that, bad things would start happening to someone else you cared about… What would you do?” she explained vaguely and asked, troubled over what he should do in such a situation.

Rune was slightly confused by the whole strange setup, so he needed to take a while to think what Siana said through before answering. “Umm, I don’t really know… Was it because of me that this bad person died?” He asked, reasoning in the most simple of ways.

Siana wondered for a second, only now trying to put her feelings into certain words. As she was thinking, even before she said anything, a small smile rose to her lips. “No, it wouldn’t be because of you, that he died, but… you would have wished that he died for a long time… and you would have known all along that if he died, then you will have it easier, but someone else will likely need to suffer as a result…” Siana explained with a sigh but didn’t stop smiling nevertheless. After this simple exchange of words, she understood that it wasn’t her fault. She truly felt like laughing, although just by looking at her appearance, possibly only Laien would be able to tell.

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“Why did I even worry about something so stupid? It’s not my fault that Tei’Ru died, Big brother wouldn’t be angry at me even if I told him that I am relieved he is dead, I am sure,” she said to herself, already feeling much lighter at heart.

“Um, if it wasn’t because of me, then I don’t think I would be too worried about all of that. Maybe it’s not nice to feel good about another person’s misfortune, but if it was your friend, then how about helping him, so he won’t be alone with his problems?” Rune spoke up, not realizing that Siana didn’t need to be comforted anymore. As he finished saying what he did, Rune also realized that he stopped pretending that Siana wasn’t talking about herself. Worried that she will be angry because of that, he hurriedly tried to correct herself, but he got cut-off halfway through his apology.

“Don’t worry about it, I was talking about myself anyway,” Siana said with a laugh and in a very Laien-like manner, shrugged her shoulder.

Rune looked Siana with wide eyes, feeling thoroughly confused. At one time, Siana appeared to be saddened by something, then she would ask for his opinion, only to after all act as if the whole matter wasn’t that important anyway? What in the world was going on in her head?! “Big brother, save me… How come you always talk with her like it’s completely normal and easy? It’s not at all!” Rune groaned silently, the perfect image of Siana he had had slowly beginning to crumble.

After this short conversation with Siana, Rune started feeling that having any relationship with her would be too much for his nerves. Even though the idea was enticing, her personality… simply wasn’t what he thought it was; it wasn’t even close. When in his heart, Rune decided to just leave it as ’being friends with a little sister of his best friend’, everything suddenly became much easier.

“Eh, I don’t really understand, but you seem to be better now,” Rune said with a slight smile. “Can you maybe tell me who were you talking about, apart from yourself?” he inquired, interested in the details. He could guess who Siana referred to well enough by himself, now that his mind has cleared from unnecessary thoughts, but he wanted to hear it from Siana, just to be sure.

“It’s not that big of a secret anyway, others would tell you soon even if I don’t. So, I might as well tell you. The one who died is Tei’ru, and the one who has trouble now is big brother,” Siana stated, sighing a little. She still felt bad about the whole thing, but not nearly as much as before. Now, she could deal with those emotions on her own; she wouldn’t be crying because of them anymore.

“Uuh, as I thought, these wounds aren’t from his training. Big brother didn’t say anything about them, so I didn’t ask either… How come he got beat up? He is close reaching the fourth rank as a martial practitioner, there shouldn’t be anyone our age who could beat him in a fight…?” Rune asked uncertainly, wondering what could have happened. He has had more than one chance to see Laien sparring with Hana and the other disciples of the martial school her parents were running and every time, Laien dominated his fights with ease. Only significantly older opponents were any match for him.

During this brief moment of silence, Siana noticed Laien appearing on the surface of the lake. Since he didn’t go down again but instead began swimming towards the lakeside, she called out to him. “Big brother! Come here for a second!” she yelled, startling Rune and everyone else, including Laien himself. She has never spoken much with Laien’s friends, little to say about shouting to Laien in their presence. Thus, an unexpected behavior of hers caused everyone to become curious. Soon, not only Laien but everyone was gathered at the same spot, waiting for Siana to say what she wanted of her brother.

“Big brother, you only explained vaguely when we talked about why you got yourself beaten up. I am sure everyone is worried, too. How about you just tell us everything?” Siana declared straightforwardly without beating around the bush.

Laien stayed quiet for a second, revealing a surprised expression. “How did it come to this? Ugh, I guess that it was naive of me to think that I can keep it a secret from everyone to not worry them.” Shaking his head, Laien sat down on the grass in front of Siana and Rune and gestured others to sit down, too. After they were all seated, he began explaining.

“It’s actually quite a simple matter. All of you know that I and Jasi do not fare well. The only reason why he didn’t dare to do anything was because Tei’ru had doted on me, strangely enough. Now that Tei’ru is dead, Jasi decided that it’s time to vent his frustration and he sent some of his friends to beat me up this morning. Well, if he stops at that, it will be fine. If no… Eh. I will think about it then. No use worrying about it now, I guess,” Laien shrugged his shoulders, making it look like he wasn’t considering this even to be anything too important and in fact, he truly did not. He fully expected Jasi to bully him after Tei’ru’s death, so he was prepared to though through this period of time until Jasi would get bored with him and would hopefully leave him alone.

The casual tone in which Laien spoke shocked everyone apart from Siana and Genzie. These two understood Laien the best out of their group of friends, maybe with the exception of Rune, who was too young to quickly follow Laien’s line of thoughts. Contrary to what one might think when seeing Laien and talking with him, the ten-year-old was actually quite stern and decisive when needed.

“Letting them beat you instead of fighting back to get the better result in the end? Are you sure you are ten years old, Laien?” Genzie chuckled, asking with a smile. He knew about this matter beforehand, so the news didn’t disturb him. He could face the whole thing with a calm attitude, similarly to Laien himself.

“I wish I could live like a normal ten-year-old, heh. I can’t really afford to do that, though. Anyway, it’s not like any of us here behaves his age, right? That’s why we are getting along with each other so well~” Laien said half-jokingly and managed to ease the tension in the air.

“And you wanted to keep it a secret? You are so cruel, little brother,” Hana commented poutingly, albeit with a smile. She sneaked a quick glance at her little sister and gave her a meaningful smile.

“Yeah, big brother really is daring, how about we punish him a little?” Lina picked on what her big sister intended to do and stood up, taking a step in Laien’s direction.

“Haha, I think I know what you girls are planning! I am with you, how can our little bro not trust us? He needs to be punished!” Dan called out and joined in, fully expecting something amusing to happen.

The remaining four youths also got on board with the idea, scary smiles forming on their faces.

“Ugh… Well…” Laien laughed inwardly as he was being slowly surrounded. He breathed out and a hint of playfulness appeared in his gaze. He leaped off the ground and in but an instant arrived in front of Dan, attempting to rush past him.

“As if!” Dan roared, reaching out with his arm and trying to grab Laien. However, being only a martial practitioner of the second rank and having a bit too much muscle, he failed to catch the swift, smaller boy. In the end, Laien simply passed by him and laughed merrily. Out of everyone here, he was definitely the strongest and the fastest one!

“Catch me if you can!” Laien shouted, jumping on one of the lower branches of a huge, ancient tree. A game of tag might have been a normal game, but when children playing it were all martial practitioners, it truly began looking quite different.

“Little brother really is a monster, I can’t believe I was worried about him for a second, hah. So… do we chase him?” Dan brought the question up, not really looking for an answer. It was obvious that they would chase Laien until they would finally catch and him and punish him for lying!

However, just as Dan turned his eyes to look at everyone, a ball of water smashed at the top of his head. The sudden hit didn’t hurt him at all, but surely enough startled him quite a bit.

“Whaaat, you giving up? Not chasing me anymore?” Laien teased, crouching on the branch of the nearby tree.

“Whoa,” Laien chuckled as he jumped back, dodging a similar ball of water that Siana threw at him. “She sure got good at using those simple spells lately… If only she trained her body more, she could be even stronger,” Laien thought to himself, looking at his little sister with a broad smile.

Making use of his ‘Guardian’ which enabled him to use magic without chanting spells, Laien created three more balls of water and sent them flying at his friends, then ran into the forest. Along with a lot of laughing and fooling around, the game of tag continued for a good half an hour, until everybody got thoroughly exhausted from running around. Although it wasn’t for long, playing like this allowed them all to forget about their daily lives and just enjoy the moment. Each and every one of the eight of them enjoyed the time they were spending together from the bottom of their hearts.

With a very satisfied smile on his face, Laien laid down on the grass near the Blueside lake. “Today was a good day,” he thought contentedly. He was happy not only for himself but also for Siana, who finally played with everyone for the first time and from the looks of it, enjoyed it as much as he did.

“Let’s eat something, then we can rest for a bit before returning to our homes,” Genzie suggested and everybody agreed with him. After all, that was what they were planning to do anyway. Even if the Great Forest was a safe place during the day, it wouldn’t be impossible to meet a magical beast in it during the night. None of them would be reckless enough to take a risk like that for no apparent reason.