Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 153: Friends in the Royal Capital
Brother Alex stared at the unfamiliar sword in silence.
This silence was scary.
My heart pounded as I lowered my gaze and cautiously watched him. After a while, he sighed and handed the wakizashi back to me.
“Take good care of it. This is your first time using a sword of this shape, isn’t it? Can you handle it properly? I have a friend who uses something very similar, but his fighting style is rather unusual.”
Oh? A samurai, perhaps?
Was that why Brother Alex had looked so suspicious when he saw the wakizashi? A style centred on a katana was certainly different from the ordinary knight’s combination of sword and shield. With a katana, the same weapon was used for both attack and defence, and it was generally wielded with both hands.
“I thought it would make a nice ornament. It’s a rare-looking sword, after all.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s what you had in mind. The pattern on the blade is beautiful too.”
Brother Alex nodded as though satisfied.
Phew. I managed to fool him. Crisis averted.
“Huh? But Julius looked pretty skilled with it.”
Brother Alex froze.
Then, almost slowly enough for me to hear the creak of his neck, he turned towards Brother Cain.
Damn it! Why did you have to say something unnecessary?!
“Cain. Tell me more about that.”
Brother Cain told him what had happened at the weapon shop. He even summoned the knight who had been with us and had him explain what he’d seen. Perhaps remembering the scene, the knight gave his account with rather too much enthusiasm.
I took advantage of the distraction and fled.
“Hmm. According to Father’s letter, Julius isn’t supposed to visit the royal castle for another seven days, but perhaps we should move the date forward.”
Brother Alex suddenly said that at dinner. He rested a hand on his chin, looking serious.
Was something wrong?
“Why?”
“Because you’ll have nothing to do if you stay here, won’t you? And I’d rather you didn’t cause any more trouble here.”
“…”
I’d already become a problem child in Brother Alex’s mind. It had only been two days since I arrived at the townhouse.
Beside me, Brother Cain was nodding in complete agreement.
Personally, I thought he bore some responsibility too. He hadn’t stopped me, and he had been the one encouraging me to take the wakizashi in the first place.
I’m not convinced by this verdict at all.
“I wish Julius had friends in the royal capital, but he doesn’t really, does he?”
“If we’re counting people I know here… perhaps Princess Chloe and Lady Carolina?”
Brother Alex folded his arms and thought about that.
Either choice would bring trouble, wouldn’t it?
Princess Chloe had the matter of her prospective fiancé, and with Caro there was the awkward relationship between her sister, Lady Hilda, and Brother Alex. Neither of those situations was my fault, for the record.
Besides, Caro was currently serving as Chloe’s attendant, so she would be at the royal castle anyway.
“I still think it would be better to move your visit forward. Both Chloe and Carolina should be at the royal castle.”
Apparently they intended to dump all the trouble on the royal castle.
Or did Brother Alex think I couldn’t cause problems there? Brother, there was already the precedent with Mira. And although you didn’t know about it, there had also been the matter of the panacea.
Yeah. I really was a troublemaker after all.
Maybe I should have stayed quietly in the Heine Margraviate.
Brother Cain was probably planning to meet some of his friends in the royal capital tomorrow. Going with him would be one way to blend in and broaden my circle of acquaintances.
Brother Alex would likely be busy with the student council again, and following him there didn’t seem like a good idea.
“Brother Cain, you’re going to meet a friend tomorrow, aren’t you? Would it be all right if I came with you?”
Whoa. He looked really uncomfortable.
I hadn’t expected that reaction at all. Was he planning to meet a girl? Was that why he’d bought a new sword?
I looked from the uneasy Brother Cain to Brother Alex.
Brother Alex wore the troubled expression of someone who already knew something.
“Cain doesn’t seem to be free tomorrow.”
“I see. If Brother Cain is going to meet someone he likes, I can’t get in the way.”
“N-No, no, no! It’s not like that! Wait a minute!”
Brother Alex and I gazed at him warmly.
Brother Cain looked away.
No doubt about it. Those were the eyes of a liar.
“It’s fine, Cain. You’ll need a prospective fiancée before long too. I’ll find out who the young lady is later.”
“…Yes.”
He seemed to have given up.
I wondered what sort of girl Brother Cain had fallen for. Had I just played Cupid for him? You can praise me, Brother Cain.
Ah. He was glaring at me with pure resentment.
Well, consider that payback for earlier.
“Then I suppose we’ll have to send Julius to the royal castle.”
“You don’t need to worry. I’ll be fine on my own. I’m already ten years old, and I can take care of myself.”
“That may be true, but I don’t want you causing any trouble…”
Oh, this was bad.
They didn’t trust me at all.
Still, it was true that there was very little for me to do at the townhouse. The royal castle already had a compounding room prepared for me, so going there early might at least give me something useful to work on.
But wouldn’t arriving before the agreed date be an imposition?
“All right,” Brother Alex said. “For now, I’ll send a letter to the royal castle telling them you’ve already arrived in the capital. We’ll see how they respond. If they send word asking you to come sooner, then we’ll bring your visit forward. How does that sound?”
“That sounds fine.”
That’s Brother Alex for you.
He never simply forced things on me. He was considerate, and he tried not to make me do things I truly didn’t want to do. That was probably why Father wanted me under Brother Alex’s care in the first place.
And I thought that was for the best too.
I trusted Brother Alex with my life.