CH 33.1

Shopping with Big brother (1)

“I wake up refreshed, but what am I supposed to do with a reality I don’t understand?”

I couldn’t help but check my clothes… they were the same as usual. The négligée must have been put on by Alicia. It’s not like there was any disarray, but when I fumbled around—the little pride I had turned to dust. It appears that I was sleeping on top of Coote, who also reacted to the situation, so I believe that nothing happened. But Mr. Coote, your roar was so loud that it woke me up, too. In the beginning, he was moving all the time. Now, he has gone from being on alert even when everyone around him was asleep to a domesticated dog.

“Guh… so I couldn’t do it. I let my guard down when I thought I managed to outsmart Alicia.”

“Even if you get past me, it doesn’t mean you can touch the Princess, and I will report this matter to His Majesty.”

Alicia’s words caused Big brother to collapse. What on earth did he want to do?

The school starts tomorrow, so my brother, who is off school today, will be with me for the rest of the day. It’s been a while since we have seen each other, so I have no objection. However, I don’t understand why my Big brother is doing such strange things to me, as I don’t have a shred of feminine charm. I’m sure that will come out in five… or ten years, though. I think my Big brother must be so popular with women that he would be able to revive the harem since he could pick and choose, but why is it that there is not a single piece of rumor about him with other women? Does he perhaps swing the other way?

“You have got the wrong idea, but I like women just fine, and I’m not interested in men. You are just too adorable, Alicetia. And I just don’t enjoy being wooed by status-obsessed, wasteful women.”

“Spendthrifts aside, I don’t think you can do anything about the status. You are the next King, so of course their purpose is being your Queen. Isn’t it your job to choose a suitable partner for yourself and the country’s sake?”

It’s not something I can say, as I’m running away from the social scene myself. When I said that, my Big brother laughed bitterly. I’m sure he understands the situation.

Well, it’s his day off, so let’s leave that until he gets back to the country. It’s someone else’s problem, after all. I don’t care who becomes my sister-in-law, as long as she is not a scary person who torments me.

“I’m going shopping today, Big brother. What about you?”

“Of course, I’m going with you. I know the city better than you, and I need to replace this sword.”

Saying that, Big brother knocked the sword on his waist.

Is that so? I wonder why did I forget about that? The sword that I saw for a moment before my consciousness disappeared was a sword with a blade that was badly damaged like a saw.

“I cannot allow my Big brother, the Crown Prince of a country, to carry a sword in such a state. For a warrior, their weapon is their life. How could you pull out a sword in such a state in front of me? As a craftsman, I can’t overlook the fact that you are using a sword like that. Alicia, cancel all your plans for today. I’m going to visit all the weapon shops in the city and look for a suitable sword for Big brother.”

“Ehh!! What about the things we need?”

“Call a merchant to purchase them. If we don’t do anything about Big brother’s sword, he will be looked down on by other country’s nobles. We can stick to the schedule if you are okay with more duels, though.”

If they curse at my Big brother, I will get angry again. And Alicia won’t be able to stop me. Naturally, she had no choice but to accept my request. If you want to resent someone, resent my Big brother for proudly holding the sword in that state. I was planning to buy some accessories anyway, so there’s no problem to go broke. I only look at things like functionality when I shop, so I let this stuff to Alicia, and when needed, I make it myself.

“Ugh… my shopping date with Princess is…”

“If you want, I will go shopping alone with her instead, and you can go to the merchant.”

Big brother tried to separate Alicia from me at this very moment. It’s not that strange for a young noble lady to be accompanied by her maid. I’m sure that Gramps will come along as usual—and even if he does, he’s a stealthy butler, so he will disappear from my perception. I bet he was lying when he said he cannot use magic.

“By the way, why did you leave it alone for so long? Usually, you would throw a sword like that out of the window.”

I glared at my brother.

“Well, the other day I encountered a Vajra Tortoise in an extracurricular class. If I left it unattended, other students would be harmed, so I defeated it, but even a Dwarven Steel sword was left in this state afterward.”

Dwarven Steel is the name of an alloy made by the dwarves of our country, and it is a metal that boasts a hardness comparable to Adamantite, but it was not a good match for the shell of the Vajra Tortoise, which has a reputation for being as hard as a diamond. By the way, the Vajra Tortoise is a tortoise about one meter long, but it is fierce and moves unexpectedly fast even though it is a tortoise, so it is not an opponent that ordinary students can defeat. In addition, it is so hard that even a skilled swordsman cannot defeat it with a sword, so it is a monster that is usually fought using a war hammer like the one my Father has.

“… That’s kinda scary.”

I’m a bit speechless. Normally, you would just offer to buy some time, but to beat it with a sword… I could use magic to steam-roast the tortise in its shell, but defeating it with a sword would be impossible… maybe if I used that…

“Y, your Big brother is not scary at all, okay!! I’m just training with a sword to add a little dignity to myself. I can’t use a war hammer as well as our Father either.”