Late at night.
Lowell got out of bed and started packing.
Her movements were quiet and cautious, barely making a sound. Unfortunately, Rodelin opened her eyes.
“Sister?”
“Ah… sorry. Looks like I woke you.”
Lowell smiled awkwardly, and Rodelin quietly checked what state she was in.
A travel cloak, a small pack, and her longsword.
Rodelin could tell what she was trying to do.
“…You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
“I have to. I can’t get any stronger if I stay here.”
“The roads are dangerous at night. Wouldn’t it be better to leave when it’s light out? Just three more hours… no, even one hour more…”
Maybe she just wanted to be with her a little longer. Rodelin’s voice came out like a childish whine.
Lowell pulled her into a tight hug.
‘Now it’s going to be hard to leave. This is why I tried to sneak out…’
The two of them had gotten much closer over the past few days.
Of course, they hadn’t gone back to how they’d been as children, with their hearts completely open. Too much time had passed with them keeping their distance.
Still, after sticking together for days, there really was a proper sisterly atmosphere between them now.
What they needed was just time for the wounds to heal and new skin to grow.
That was why Rodelin was being stubborn. But it only lasted a moment.
Lowell had to go. She needed to gain the strength to protect her family. That was her goal.
‘Same for me.’
If they stayed together, they wouldn’t grow stronger. Rodelin understood that better than anyone.
She stepped out of Lowell’s arms and murmured.
“…I’ll miss you very much.”
Lowell let out a short laugh.
Rodelin, who always said soft words didn’t suit a soldier, was talking like this now.
It was only a single sentence, but it was enough to lift Lowell’s gloomy mood.
“Me too. But we’ll have to endure. Well, I do have something that’ll help when I’m feeling lonely.”
Clink.
Rodelin stared at something dangling from the pommel at the bottom of the sword’s hilt.
She knew exactly what it was, better than anyone.
“T-that’s…!”
“Yeah. The stuffed doll you made for me when you were six.”
Rodelin’s face turned bright red.
Calling it a doll was almost embarrassing; it was that poorly made.
‘So Sister kept it all this time. I’m happy, but still…’
Half joy, half mortification.
Rodelin reached out toward the stuffed doll.
Of course, she couldn’t reach it. Lowell tilted the sword away just enough to keep it out of her grasp.
“Throw it away right now! I’ll make you a prettier one!”
“Why? I like this one better.”
“I can make them way better now…”
Rodelin muttered, her face flushed to the ears.
But Lowell knew the truth. Rodelin’s plush-making skills hadn’t improved at all.
“It’s just… such a shame. The doll, and… this farewell.”
“It’s only a short goodbye. So don’t be too sad.”
“Yes… I understand.”
She swallowed back the tears that looked ready to fall at any second.
Lowell called it a short parting, but it would take at least two years.
Lowell rarely showed her face at the family estate.
Which meant Rodelin wouldn’t see her again until after she graduated.
Maybe Lowell sensed what was in her heart, because she spoke up.
“Let’s meet during summer vacation.”
“Vacation?”
“Yeah.”
Rodelin couldn’t help but be surprised. Not only did Lowell rarely visit the family, but there was another reason—
Once the final exams in a month were over, summer break would start right away.
“How am I supposed to handle not seeing you for a whole month? I feel like I’m going to cry already.”
“I-I… I didn’t even know…”
Tears rolled down Rodelin’s cheeks before she realized it.
She was grateful Lowell was making time just to see her, but more than that, she now felt sure they’d truly returned to how they were before.
“And here I thought a soldier never cries… How are you going to stand next to your big sister like this?”
“S-something just got in my eye, that’s all!”
“Sure, sure. Come on, wipe your tears and blow your nose.”
Rodelin didn’t push away Lowell’s hand.
It really felt like she’d gone back to her childhood.
“Then you’ve promised. You have to come during vacation.”
“Of course. I’ll contact you every day, too.”
“T-there’s no need for that. You’ll be busy, won’t you?”
“Even if I’m busy, I have to make time to call my cute little sister. Ah, though if I’m on an infiltration mission, I might not be able to contact you. I’ll tell you beforehand, so don’t worry. Hm… but does that still count as breaking a promise?”
“Of course not. If you tell me in advance… that’s more than enough.”
Lowell and Rodelin smiled at each other.
Now it really was time to say goodbye. When they opened the door, a night sky sprinkled with stars greeted them like a river of light.
“Please be careful.”
“You’re the one who needs to be careful. If you weren’t so cute, I’d worry less…”
“I-I’m not cute at all!”
“For someone saying that, you’ve got a lot of boys hanging around you.”
“T-that’s not true!”
“Alex is one thing, but be especially careful with Zero. Still, if you had to marry one of the two, I’d…”
“Sister!”
“Kya-ha-ha! I’ll hear your answer during vacation! See you then!”
Lowell bolted away. She didn’t look back.
She knew that if she did, she’d end up running right back into Rodelin’s arms.
‘Rodelin must feel the same way. I’m the older sister, so I’m the one who has to endure.’
She forced her heart down and kept walking straight ahead.
Rodelin stood there, silently watching Lowell’s back grow smaller and smaller.
Until she finally vanished beyond the horizon.
“You’re leaving?”
At the entrance of Trash Village.
She’d expected the instructor to be there, but instead, it was Caron.
“Is the watch really that understaffed?”
“I’m just here to see you off. The whole village is shouting that you’re leaving—how could I not come out?”
That never happened.
This was all thanks to the Rat’s incredibly dense information network.
They’d only talked for a bit at the gate, and not only had a report gone in, but Caron himself had come out.
The Rat organization was definitely not something you ever wanted as an enemy.
“I’ll put that demon’s map to good use. Look forward to working with you again. It’s a win-win, right?”
“Do what you want. But don’t you think it’s about time you told me the features of the demon you’re looking for?”
“There are none.”
“Still hard to talk about?”
“It’s because it’s you. Give intel to the empire’s Rats? I’m not stupid enough to do that.”
Caron glared at Lowell, and she didn’t avoid his gaze.
After a moment, Caron slowly opened his mouth.
“…You pass.”
Lowell let out a long sigh.
Some things never changed.
Every word, every movement, every thought—everything was always part of Caron’s test.
“Stop testing me already. I’m not your student anymore, and I’ve been a respectable adult for a long time now.”
“Most people don’t call someone who brawls with her kid sister a ‘respectable adult’.”
“Argh! This old man, seriously!”
She’d grown older and gone through all kinds of battles, but when it came to verbal sparring with Caron, she could never win.
‘If the day ever comes when I beat him, that’ll mean I’ve finally become a real adult.’
Or… it would mean Caron had gotten weak.
Lowell looked him over from head to toe.
The man standing in front of her was closer to a grandfather than an uncle now.
The image of the sharp-tempered middle-aged man who’d trained her in the past was nowhere to be seen.
“You’re not taking care of yourself? You’ll drop dead all of a sudden at this rate.”
“You should tone down your ‘care’ a bit. A face young enough to get mistaken for a kid and kidnapped… You’ll need another fifty years before you can call yourself an adult.”
“Ugh! I told you, those guys just got the wrong idea! No way someone as stacked(?) as me looks like a real kid!”
Lowell stomped past Caron, fuming.
So he hadn’t come to see her off; he’d come to rile her up.
“Lowell.”
“What now?”
“Don’t die.”
“…I’ll outlive you, so don’t worry.”
That was more than enough of a farewell between the two of them.
Whistling, Lowell walked out of the village.
She’d gone about five kilometers when it happened.
Under the starlight in the distance, she saw a familiar silhouette.
“Why are there so many people coming out just to see me off?”
Lowell grumbled and walked closer. She didn’t realize that her steps had gotten just a bit faster.
When they were close enough to see each other’s faces clearly, the other person raised his lone arm.
It was Pleche, her knight.
“Did I get here too fast?”
“I’d say you’re late. What took you so long?”
“Sorry, sorry. Some lunatic broke both my legs, you see.”
“What a bastard. Breaking my knight’s legs… I can’t let that slide.”
Lowell slapped her own cheek with her palm. So lightly that it didn’t even stir the air.
“You think that’s enough to even swat a mosquito?”
“You got a problem with it?”
“Of course not. It’d be a problem if my lord got hurt.”
“Knew you’d say that.”
Lowell resumed walking with a bounce in her step, and Pleche tilted his head as he fell in beside her.
“You look like you’re in a good mood. What happened?”
“I cleared up the misunderstanding with Rodelin.”
“Wasn’t it less a misunderstanding and more one-sided bullying?”
“You want to crawl the rest of the way?”
“What was it I just said again?”
Pleche smoothly changed his tune.
Lowell was grateful for him. She’d settled things with him before coming here, too.
“…Sorry.”
“Hm? For what? For dumping me unilaterally? For all the verbal abuse? Or for breaking my legs?”
“For all of it.”
“…You’re really weird, you know that? You’re not the person I remember. What on earth happened to you?”
The Mad Lion Lowell was apologizing.
It was as shocking as a lion climbing a tree to pick apples!
Pleche stared at her like he couldn’t believe it, and Lowell, feeling embarrassed, changed the subject.
“Well, you know. I made up with Rodelin, and… I found someone useful for our plan.”
“Let me guess. It’s one of the instructors… Urek? Or Ash?”
“A student.”
“I see. A student. Then no wonder I don’t… Wait, what!?”
Pleche sprayed spit as he fired off questions and worries, and after answering them for a while, Lowell finally lost patience and threw a punch.
She glanced back for a moment.
Trash Village was no longer in sight. They’d come quite a long way.
‘Is Rodelin awake by now?’
She wanted to see her even while she was still there; now that they’d parted, it was even worse.
She wanted to turn around and run back to her beloved little sister right that moment.
“…”
But Lowell kept walking forward.
They might have made up, but it would still take time to get back to what they’d once had.
‘It’s fine. We know how each other feels now.’
Lowell had no doubt.
It might take time, but they’d recover their old relationship. No—
They’d come to care for and love each other even more than before.
“Let’s go.”
“As you command.”
Her lion cloak fluttered in the wind, revealing the longsword strapped horizontally at her waist.
The stuffed doll hanging from the hilt swayed gently.
The little plush was smiling.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt
