Volume 9 - CH 6

Chapter 6: A Troublesome Present 

...Hold on, was Tomoe having fun by teasing Yuriga about being so direct with her emotions? 

Maybe when Tomoe grew up she was going to be the same sort of devilish beauty that Juna was. I felt like I could see hints of it already. 

While I was feeling newfound worry for our beloved younger sister’s future (though I questioned whether it was fair to look at it like that), Fuuga suddenly clapped his hands as if he’d just remembered something. 

“Ohh, Yuriga just reminded me. Hey, Souma.” 

“What is it?” 

“I wanted to ask, can I leave Yuriga with you in the kingdom?” 

““Huh?!”” Yuriga and I cried out in simultaneous surprise. 

What was this guy saying, out of nowhere? 

“Wh-What are you saying so suddenly, Big Brother?!” Yuriga exclaimed. “Sending me to the kingdom...!” 

It seemed Yuriga shared my opinion... 

Wait, even Yuriga, the one most affected, was only hearing this now? 

Wait, hold on! Why were they moving this discussion along without any input from us?! 

“I haven’t said we’ll take her yet, you realize?” I pointed out. 

“Well, do me a favor,” Fuuga said, throwing his arm around my shoulder. 

This position... it was scary because, with Fuuga’s strength, he could easily strangle me to death. 

Even Fuuga was unlikely to do anything to me with the strongest warriors in the kingdom all here, mind you, but... 

I mean, he wouldn’t, right? 

It was a bit scary, so I wanted him to let go. 

When I looked, Aisha had her hand on the hilt of her greatsword, and Juna already had a throwing knife in hand ready to go, while Naden’s hair was standing on end. 

They were expressing that if he did anything funny, they would slash, or throw at, or shock him. 

Fuuga whispered in my ear, “Well, obviously... this isn’t just about Yuriga studying.” 

I whispered back, “She’s your precious sister, right? What are you thinking, leaving her with us?” 

“I’m doing it because she’s my precious sister.” Fuuga gave a crooked smile that showed off his fang-like teeth. “There’s about to be a lot of movement in my country. Internally, I plan to exterminate the hostile races remaining in Malmkhitan, while externally I intend to head into the Demon Lord’s Domain with support from the countries of the Union of Eastern Nations. In that process, I expect things to get wild, if only temporarily.” 

“...You’re serious about that.” 

And so, having had a troublesome present thrust upon us at the last moment, we set out on our return to the kingdom where Liscia was waiting.