Chapter 75

Miss You, Big Sis!

Soon after my birthday, a new semester arrived.

After lazing around during holidays, I had to gather the motivation to return back to school. Luckily, doing that was quite easy as going back to school meant I got to see my friends on daily basis again.

On my first day back to school again, I remembered how it would be my “nephew”’s first day at school as well. I wonder if he took after Nicole so much? That’d make school so easy for him.

Anyway, that wasn’t my concern for now! Until the time I suddenly see him again at some noble’s party, I’m free of this nephew flag~

I was just curious...

And they said that curiosity killed the cat, so let’s not be the cat in this story.

Arriving at school, the first thing to do in this new academic year was to see the new class distributio—wait, Special Class only consisted of 1 class each year, so why bother? ...Oh, there might be some additional members, which was a good thing!

Still, no matter if there will be new classmates, there’s one thing I know for sure.

That my circle of friends will remain as it is, because my circle of friends is seen as the eccentric one—the anomalies gathering. Not sure if I should be proud of it T__T

Unless there is another anomaly or eccentric one joining, I don’t see the possibility of expanding my friendship...

But as someone who’s mentally more mature than kids my age, I know that the number of friends means nothing~ It’s the quality that matters!

...So let’s be happy.

At least, I have friends, right? Hahahaha!! This is better than my past life...

No, I’m not trying to cheer myself up because I can’t fulfill my dream of having so many friends. Trust my words, won’t you?

After all, it’s true that quality matters more than quantity!

With this new academic year, I’d get another batch of juniors!

I now have 2 batches of juniors!

...Not like I’m going to come and observe the juniors, anyway.

The opening ceremony went on smoothly, and there was no unexpected surprise or rumor such as a dragon popping out of nowhere... eeh, right, what other surprise might be greater than the surprise I received in my first day of school? Nothing could compare to that.

As I walked to my new class together with my usual circle of friends, we discussed the upcoming semester excitedly.

Carbuncle proudly commented on how we, “the midgets”, had grown taller again—as if she was the one who nurtured us!

Well, we’re all still in our growth period, so that’s a given~ I wonder when will we be as tall as Carbuncle? And then, soon, outgrow her?

I’m surely looking forward to that.

We walked very leisurely because we already knew our destination beforehand, and that there was still plenty of time before the homeroom session.

As we finally arrived in front of our new class, suddenly I felt someone hugging me from behind.

...Huh?

“There you are!”

T-t-t-this voice... D-d-d-don’t tell me...

I slowly turned around as the person who hugged me loosened their embrace.

“I’ve missed you, Big Sis!”

It felt as if storm arrived inside my mind.

The person who just hugged me innocently was none other than... the one person whose presence I felt dreadful of... E-I-N?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!

Thankfully, Ein had let go of his hug by now... as he proceeded to observe my dumbfounded expression.

Upon staring at him in disbelief, I found something unbelievable again. Ein was wearing Harmonia Academy’s uniform...

Wait, does that mean...?!

“YOU’RE ENROLLED HERE?!” I almost screamed these words—or did I just scream?

“Ehehe, surprise!” Ein mischievously stuck his tongue outside.

“Eh? You’re certainly Eine, right?” Carbuncle commented first—which triggered the rest of my friends to comment as well.

“The Loera main family’s only son? You’re enrolled here, too?” Luca said amusingly.

“He must be something else to turn Lyra’s expression like that...,” Kiri muttered.

“...uhm...,” Iris was unsure on the sudden turn of events.

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to be here! I’m enrolled in this year’s Special Class, please treat me well from now on!” Ein cheerfully said.

“Whoa, you’re in Special Class, too?!” Iris was surprised.

On the other hand, I wasn’t the slighest bit surprised after knowing the history of the Loera clan. It would be unexpected to hear that he failed to enroll to Special Class. But my mind wasn’t on that issue.

...HOW AM I GOING TO LIVE MY PEACEFUL LIFE WITH HIM HERE?!

...Okay, calm down, me.

Technically, we shouldn’t be meeting too often with this age gap.

Okay, thank goodness.

I shouldn’t be overreacting like this. Retain the calmness... retain the composure...

“C-congratulations on your enrollment! Could you be lost? Do you want me to show you the way?” I tried to retain my friendly smile even when my heart was still in its panic state.

“Nope, I came here on purpose, to greet you and the others, Big Sis!”

“H-how nice of you...”

“Oh, that’s a matter of course! Big Sis Lyra, Prince Luca, Kiri-san, Big Sis Iris and Kuu, please guide me well from now on.”

This time, Ein bowed properly, so we replied by bowing back—except for Kuu/Carbuncle, of course. She couldn’t be bothered with things like this.

And as the crown prince, Luca only nodded back in response.

Although [Equality] is the norm in Harmonia Academy, it’s natural for the royal family members to refrain from bowing down to others, so everyone kinda overlooks this one gesture. Aside from that, Luca doesn’t really get special treatment for being the royalty. I’m sure there are still some nobles who can’t bring themselves to get used to this equal treatment, but I digress.

“Anyway, I think you should go back to your class soon. The bell will ring after this, so...,” I tried to come up with an excuse to drive him away so I could calm myself down and think things through.

Ein responded by glancing at his arm—geh, he was wearing a watch?!

“Don’t worry, Big Sis! There’s still plenty of time left!”

“E-eh? But don’t you need to see your new class, arrange your seat, greet your new classmates, too?”

“Hee, but I don’t think there’s anyone more interesting than you, Big Sis! ...And your friends, too!” Ein quickly glanced and smiled at my friends when he said that.

But what’s with the pause back then?

In the first place, there’s someone more interesting than me, namely the crown prince... so why don’t you just direct your attack to him? ...Please T__T

“Lyra’s right. You’re going to spend a lot of time with your classmates from now on, so you’d better get to know them well,” Luca added, joining my cause.

...I felt a bit guilty for trying to push Ein to you, Luca...

“Hmm... If Prince Luca says so...,” Luckily, Ein listened to him!

“Just Luca’s fine.”

“...Prince Luca is Prince Luca. Or is it okay for me to call you Big Bro Luca?”

“Nnn... do as you wish, I don’t mind,” Luca shrugged his shoulders.

Luca, I think you put too much trust on Ein, remember how bad Ein decided on Carbuncle’s nickname back then? But well, you’re the crown prince, so Ein might consider that...

“Then, please call me with just Kiri as well,” Kiri added.

Ein put on a thinking expression for a while before he nodded.

“Yup, okay then, Big Bro Luca, Big Bro Kiri! Since Big Bro Luca has given me an advice, I’ll try to do it, then!”

--and finally, the storm named Ein left us to socialize with kids his age.

And we proceeded to enter our class as well.

Hopefully after socializing with his friends, Ein would spend more time with them!

I still tried to think positively on how he wouldn’t hang out with me that often. Maybe every now and then, but I should... be able to survive, right?

But my positivity was thrown to smitheerens right immediately.

As we were going to go home, with me meeting Alt-nii and Clavis, a wild nephew—I meant, Ein appeared!

“Oh, isn’t it Ein? Why are you here? Are you not going to be with your new friends?” I put on my friendly smile once more... At this rate, my face will get stiff...

“They’re boring. I prefer being with Big Sis Lyra and the others!”

Like I said, stop emphasizing on my name...

“That reminds me... Are you living in the school dormitory?” Luca suddenly asked.

“No, I’m commuting to and fro my home!”

“Eh? Isn’t it quite far from your house?” Kiri asked in surprise. No, all of us were surprised!

“Yes, but it’s no problem! We can use the teleportation portal or other high-tech transportations, so it doesn’t matter!”

“...”

Being born in the Hartmann family under its current condition, I began to calculate about the expenses in the Loera family that would swell due to Ein’s transportation...

I started to think that Nicole and Clyde had lost their rationality or intelligence...

“How is the North Riviera like?” Carbuncle asked.

“Eh, Kuu, you have never been there?!” Iris asked back.

“Hmm, I have only flown over the area... I haven’t really explored North Riviera, but now there’s such a good opportunity, hm?” Carbuncle glanced at Ein and smirked.

“By all means, come to North Riviera! You’ll like it there! We have so many nice spots to visit, and nice items to buy!” Ein happily replied.

...Advertisement much, Ein?

“Huh? Isn’t it the Loera family’s son? You’re enrolled here?”

Just right then, Alt-nii and his friends arrived to pick us up.

“Big Bro Alt! That’s right!” Ein smiled proudly.

Alt-nii’s arrival saved the day. Because after that, they were busy introducing themselves. It was Harvey’s first time meeting Ein, and Clavis-nii seemed to be wondering why Ein was tagging along with me and the others—without any single friend his age.

Shortly after that, before there was an opportunity to do anything else, it was about time for us all to go home.

Harvey, Iris, and Carbuncle parted ways to walk to the dormitory...

Eeeh, right! Ein would be walking with us to the same direction—namely the school gate!

And he nonchalantly positioned himself right beside me!!

Things couldn’t get more awkward, right?

Thankfully, the topic we had during the whole way was ordinary. Since we were about to go home, we mainly discussed the topic of “going home”, such as how long would it take, what transportation we mainly used, and so on.

However, I have a hunch that starting from tomorrow, things wouldn’t be as simple as it is now, since we definitely won’t repeat the same topic... Is Ein a spy sent by Nicole and Clyde, anyway? If that’s the case, then you guys are evil. Evil!!!

***

“Lyra, why do you seem to be so tired?”

That night, Mom and Dad noticed my mental fatigue.

“Rururu?” Rurune who didn’t come to school also tilted her head. Yep, Alt-nii would sometimes take Rurune to school with him, for example during Day 5 or [Adventure] period, and when it was time to learn about Familiars or Beasts at school.

“Uh... It’s nothing. It’s just... there’s someone I know among the batch of new students...”

“Oh? Who might that be?” Mom asked curiously.

“Uh... The Loera family’s son... Ein...”

“What?” Dad asked in disbelief.

“Oh, oh! Mom, Dad, guess what?” Alt-nii suddenly chimed in, “It seems like Ein is tagging along Lyra! I feel like getting a little brother that’s so attached to Lyra!”

“...He... did... what?” Dad tried to digest the information Alt-nii just said.

...Uh-oh, Dad got triggered...? But Alt-nii said it felt like Ein was a little brother that was way too attached to me...

“Just what did that kid want to accomplish by chasing after my Lyra this persistently?” Dad muttered as he put his hand on his chin.

...Dad, please! He is just a little kid! If your “danger of romance” sense is tingling, then please remember that kids don’t normally think of romance! That’s something you’ll begin to think of during puberty or after that... right?

..........I have no experience in that area at all, so I’m not sure, but the thing is—I don’t think you need to worry about that, Dad! I also see him as a botherso—nephew-like little brother.

I only feel troubled because I’m afraid I’d show more hints about me being Reinst who was reincarnated, and that he’d convey the whole thing to Clyde and Nicole—and then... Uuh, let’s stop thinking about that worst case scenario!

“Dad, it’s fine! I’m only tired because of the excessive surprise! He’s tagging along with me like a little brother with sister complex... but it’s maybe because he feels safer going along with people he’s familiar with. I’m sure that he will soon get used to the new school!”

However, I didn’t tell anything about why I was bothered with his presence. I couldn’t say that out loud here. So, I made this kind of excuse while trying to convince myself.

Yeah, it was only Day 1. No matter how interested he might be towards me, kids tend to lose their interest after a while, so it was only a matter of time and my endurance. He’d bound to find his new circle of friends as well!

I felt a wave of relief after thinking about that, but somewhere inside my heart, I felt a little bit lonely to imagine that the “little brother-like” existence would stop nagging at me soon.

...Does this mean I actually want to have a younger sibling?

Domi’s child face flashed before my mind, ceasing the thought of wanting a younger sibling. Domi was never attached to me when I was still Reinst. He was so attached of Mother and robbed me of her... That thought scared me a little.

My position in the Hartmann house right now—is that I’m the youngest child—the youngest one is usually the pampered one. While I don’t think Mom and Dad would drastically change in the presence of a younger sibling, I think I’m getting more selfish for wanting to receive my parents and my big brother’s pampering...

Yet at the same time, I felt that Ein and Leti were so cute and that I didn’t mind having someone like them to pamper.

I’m such a bundle of contradiction...

Well, whatever! Not like I’m in a position to decide whether or not there will be a younger sibling!

Let’s just take plenty of rest to prepare myself for the battlefield tomorrow!