Chapter : 05
“Oh. My. God—!”
I grabbed both my cheeks and screamed inwardly.
He’s not coming back!
I had been circling the estate since the crack of dawn, waiting for Kallian to return.
But my useless older brother showed no sign of coming back. I couldn’t sense even the slightest flow of mana.
What if he got eaten before he even had a chance to call me?!
“Hey, little Rosi. What are you doing over there?”
The Winyak disciples, who never neglected their morning training even after coming to Delphiam, called out to me.
Little Rosi?
Even though I had lived seventeen years in my previous life and twelve in this one—for a grand total of twenty-nine years.
I glared at the man who had spoken to me, Jake, and answered.
“I’m waiting for Young Master.”
“Young Master? He went out last night, didn’t he? He still hasn’t come back?”
Seeing my worried expression, Jake seemed to understand what was going on. His expression immediately turned serious as well.
“Don’t tell me something happened…”
Exactly! Something must have happened, right?!
“Damn it. It’s only been a few days since I was dragged out to clean up the aftermath. I don’t want to get drafted again—gah!”
Before Jake could finish his sentence, Selman, who was standing beside him, kicked him hard in the shin.
Then, in an unnaturally high-pitched voice, he muttered to himself,
“Ohhh? Is that so? Our young master… No, I mean, Young Master still hasn’t returned, has he? I wonder if the head of the family knows about this?”
“……?”
“I suppose I should inform the head of the family. Our delicate young master, as fragile as a single flower, may have gotten lost in the capital of this unfamiliar foreign country!”
With that, Selman grabbed Jake and sprinted away at full speed.
“……”
I felt my worst imagination gradually becoming reality.
He might look like some noble young master on the outside, but inside, he was as soft as jelly pudding.
Our family heir, who had proudly taken first place in the unofficial beauty contest of the Kingdom of Abuye, beating out all the formidable young ladies.
No! The purity of my little lamb!
“Kal lian Winyak isn’t here?”
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice suddenly cut through my worst imaginings.
I turned around in surprise and saw a boy I had never seen before.
His black hair had a slight curl to it, and his skin was nicely tanned, giving him a healthy complexion. He was almost as tall as Kallian.
Because he was standing with the sunlight behind him, I couldn’t make out his expression clearly. All I could see were his yellow eyes and the sharp glint in them.
“Where is that bastard right now?”
“Who are you?”
At the uninvited guest’s appearance, the Winyak swordsmen stepped in front of me.
I peered up at the boy through the space between Jake and Selman’s arms. He looked about the same age as Kallian.
But unlike Kallian, who had a gentle appearance, the boy before me had a distinctly sharp and cold aura.
That mana…
I knew people with mana like this.
It was different from Winyak’s mana, which was refined with no openings, like a sharp yet sturdy sword.
It was also different from Kirges’s mana, which was densely and flexibly intertwined like a net.
This mana seemed to explode dynamically from within.
There was only one group whose mana had such a distinctive characteristic.
The other of Delphiam’s two Transcendent Families, excluding Kirges.
The Wiesel, blessed by the “Lion of the Aberrant.”
“Luize.”
Just as I recalled the family name, the boy pronounced his own name.
“I am the head of Wiesel.”
The Winyak swordsmen flinched and took half a step back.
Standing behind them, I muttered in admiration.
“Oh my, you became the head of the family already?”
I remembered him.
In my previous life, I had seen the heir of Wiesel at a continental summit I attended.
The last time I had seen him, he had definitely been nothing more than a five-year-old little boy.
So that little brat must have been…
“Was it a jaguar?”
When I muttered that almost to myself, the black-haired boy raised an eyebrow.
So I was right.
Just as Winyak was known as the Sword and Kirges as the Sorcery, the title attached to Wiesel was Transformation.
Those Transcendents who received power from Wiesel’s guardian deity possessed the ability to transform part or all of their bodies into beasts.
And according to my memories, the beast form of the boy standing before me was a black jaguar.
I can’t believe he’s grown this much already…
I was suddenly overcome with emotion.
While I had reset my life and started over from birth, the little boy from Wiesel had already grown into an adult.
I had never encountered Kallian in my previous life, but I had crossed paths with Luize Wiesel a couple of times, so even though he had grown this much, he still looked like a child to me.
You know, your big sister used to pat your head a lot.
I still remember you growling and biting my fingers.
The boy, Luize, looked down at me with a deeply suspicious expression.
“Is that little child a disciple of Winyak?”
“What?”
All the warm memories that had been resurfacing vanished at his outrageous remark.
I angrily stepped forward.
“That was a little rude!”
Little child? Little child?!
Sure, I followed Kallian Winyak around calling him “big brother, big brother” all the time!
But I had lived a total of twenty-nine years…
“Isn’t she? Then again, she is a little small to wield a sword.”
Luize bent slightly at the waist toward me.
Damn it.
With nearly two spans of height between us, I lost my chance to protest that I wasn’t small.
Luize asked in his blunt voice,
“You must be a child working for Winyak. Where is your master right now? I believe he met His Majesty the Emperor yesterday. Has he still not returned?”
“Oh, right.”
Those words brought my mind back to what actually mattered.
My soft little jelly! The heir who’s like a rabbit dropped in front of a starving tiger…!
I glared at Luize warily.
“Why are you looking for Young Master? There’s no reason for the head of Wiesel to seek out the heir of Winyak privately. Especially before the official summit.”
“It’s confidential.”
“You do realize saying that makes you even more suspicious, right? Are you planning to violate a prohibition explicitly stated in international law?”
The influence of the Transcendent Families, who possessed the unprecedented backing of guardian deities, easily surpassed that of ordinary kingdoms.
Therefore, to maintain the balance of power across the continent, they had established five major prohibitions.
First, they would not establish their own nations.
Second, they would not participate in any form of diplomatic conflict, including war.
Third, they would not leave the territory of the nation they belonged to.
Fourth, they were strictly forbidden from learning two or more secret arts of the Transcendent Families.
And finally, fifth, the heads and heirs of the Transcendent Families were forbidden from meeting privately.
The Continental Summit, held once every five years, existed in part to reaffirm these prohibitions and revise or supplement their details.
In other words, there was absolutely no reason for the head of Wiesel to seek out Kallian privately.
Of course, if that soft-hearted idiot were here, he would probably just grin sheepishly and kindly lead him straight to his room.
I showed enough wariness to make up for Kallian’s share as well.
“Why did you come here?”
When I stared at him persistently, Luize reluctantly answered.
“We’re friends.”
“What?”
“Friends with that bastard… No, with Kallian. I obtained His Majesty’s authorization, and this meeting was arranged beforehand. Satisfied?”
No matter how I looked at it, Luize’s expression did not look like someone talking about a dear friend.
His jaw was clenched tightly.
I could almost hear the sound of his teeth grinding.
Did Kallian make an enemy out of him?
That guy could hardly bring himself to fall out with anyone.
“If he isn’t at the estate, then fine. He must be at the river mouth.”
At the end of his sentence, I thought I heard him mutter,
“Damn bastard…”
Hmm.
Surely I must have imagined that.
Kallian was the sort of person who might earn someone’s sympathy, not the sort of person who would randomly get cursed at.
More importantly…
Luize Wiesel.
He seemed to have a pretty good idea of where Kallian was.
Star of Kirges, please help me one more time. Just once more! This really is the last time!
My eyes lit up as I watched the boy’s retreating back.
A rune I had swiftly planted on Luize’s back was glowing.
[ᛏᛖᛚᛖᛈᛟᚱᛏ (Teleport)]
Good.
A short while later.
[…?]
Luize, who had just assumed a position to dash forward, suddenly stopped.
He had noticed the weight resting on top of him.
Luize turned his head and asked incredulously,
[What the hell are you doing right now?]
The body of the beast was covered in sleek, glossy black fur. It was incredibly smooth and warm.
As expected, this distance is still no problem.
I sat between the neck and back of Luize, who had transformed into a jaguar, and pointed ahead with my index finger.
Then I solemnly opened my mouth.
“Let’s go.”
[Where exactly are you sitting…]
“There’s no time. Run, Head of the Family!”
I had no choice.
Before Kallian could be dragged helplessly into the Emperor’s harem, I had to hurry over there and fish him out.
