Chapter 5: The Children and Video Games
Just as we were finishing breakfast, the village children came bursting into the house to play.
There were three of them in total.
“Eight-nii-chan!! What’re we gonna play today!?”
“Snacks!! I want snacks and juice!!”
“…Eight-nii-chan, can you teach me math?”
“W-Whoa, hang on, one at a time! Calm down, everyone.”
Each child threw out their own demands all at once, leaving me struggling to keep up. As I was trying to sort through the chaos, Raphael, having just finished breakfast herself, stepped into the room.
“Eight, who are these children?”
“They’re kids I look after whenever the villagers are busy. Alright, everyone, introduce yourselves properly one by one.”
“Okayyy!! I’m first!!”
The first to shout was a sun-kissed girl with lightly tanned, wheat-colored skin.
Her dark brown hair was cut short, and with her shorts and short-sleeved shirt, she looked more like an energetic little tomboy than a proper village girl.
“I’m Luka!! I’m ten!! Nice ta meetcha!!”
Incidentally, Luka was the village chief’s granddaughter.
…Honestly, I still couldn’t believe that free-spirited old geezer had a granddaughter this cute.
Next, another girl eagerly raised her hand. She had chestnut-colored hair tied neatly behind her back.
“Saintess-sama!! My name’s Nor!! I’m ten years old!! My dream is to become a Saintess someday!!”
“You should reconsider that. Being a Saintess is hardly a pleasant life.”
“Eh?”
“I was fortunate enough to be born under the blessings of the Six Goddesses, so my life was relatively peaceful. However, one Saintess apprentice I was close to suffered such horrific bullying that she eventually abandoned everything and returned to her hometown. Though, naturally, I made sure to remove those responsible through various meth—”
I hurriedly clamped a hand over Raphael’s mouth.
“Please don’t destroy a child’s dreams like that!!”
“I merely thought it preferable for her to know the harsh realities sooner rather than later.”
“There’s such a thing as phrasing!!”
See!?
Even Nor—normally so lively she constantly demanded sweets and juice—had frozen stiff in shock.
“U-Um… I’m Rio. I’m ten years old… n-nice to meet you.”
“Yes, it’s lovely to meet you too.”
“Saintess-sama… you’re really beautiful. Like… like a princess from a picture book.”
“Eight, this child is exceptionally good.”
Raphael gently stroked the head of the long black-haired girl named Rio with surprising tenderness.
People in this world almost always had colorful hair—silver, blue, blonde, pink, all sorts.
But Rio had black hair just like mine.
Maybe because of that, I felt a tiny sense of familiarity toward her.
Out of the three, she was also the only one genuinely interested in studying.
“My name is Raphael. Please, there’s no need to call me ‘Saintess.’ Simply call me Raphael.”
“Got it!! Raphael-neesan!!”
“H-Hey, Luka, you idiot!! You should call her Raphael-sama!!”
“U-Um… Raphael-neechan?”
“Rio too!?”
As the three noisy girls chattered away, Raphael gently patted each of their heads before murmuring softly,
“I feel as though I was originally meant to be this children’s older sister.”
“That’s definitely your imagination.”
The retort slipped out instinctively.
Still, within moments, Raphael had already become close friends with Luka and the others.
People with high communication skills really were enviable.
“Hey hey, Raphael-neesan!! Let’s play a game!!”
“A game? I must say, I am quite skilled at chess.”
“Nah, not that kinda game!! This one’s way more fun!! Let’s play SmaSis!! SmaSis!!”
“…SmaSis?”
SmaSis.
Short for Great Calamity Smash Sisters, a fighting game where heroines from various games made by a certain famous company battled each other.
Apparently Luka and Nor wanted to challenge Raphael.
Meanwhile, I sat nearby teaching Rio her studies while watching the match unfold.
Though honestly, before the battle even started…
“What is this? Terrifyingly detailed images are moving inside this thin board.”
“It’s a TV!! It only works at Eight-nii-chan’s house, but you can watch anime and dramas and stuff on it!!”
“How fascinating. However, for now, let us focus on this ‘SmaSis.’”
And so, Raphael’s first battle began.
“Yaaay!! I win!!”
“Muuuh, I lost to Luka again!!”
“I have been utterly defeated… however, I shall win next time.”
“Ehhh? But Raphael-neesan was super weak though.”
“Luka, the current me is not the same me from moments ago. If you do not wish to lose, I advise against underestimating me.”
The second match began.
And to summarize the outcome—
Raphael completely and utterly crushed both Luka and Nor from start to finish.
Without changing her expression in the slightest, she quietly pumped her fist in victory.
“Whaaat!? How!? You were awful just a second ago!!”
“I am a genius.”
“That’s cheaaating!! No faaair!! Alright then, it’s Eight-nii-chan’s turn now!!”
“Huh? Me?”
Suddenly, Luka pointed directly at me.
“Oh? So Eight is stronger than I am?”
“That’s right!! I’ve never beaten Eight-nii-chan even once!!”
“How interesting. Eight, I insist you face me.”
“Well, I’m helping Rio study right now…”
“E-Eight-onii-chan, you don’t have to worry about me. I think this problem’s gonna take me a while anyway.”
Rio smiled shyly as she said that.
…Well, I supposed I could avenge Luka’s defeat at least.
“I’m fairly strong, so I’ll use a low-tier character as a handicap.”
“Hoh? Do refrain from making excuses afterward such as ‘I only lost because I used a weak character.’”
“Roger that.”
And so, the third match began.
“Yessss!! Eight-nii-chan wins!!”
“…Impossible. To think I would lose without even having the opportunity to resist.”
“I told you. I’m pretty good.”
“‘Pretty good’ does not even begin to cover it. Have you surpassed human reflexes? Are you perhaps humanity’s strongest warrior?”
“My grandpa was stronger than me.”
At my casual remark, Raphael’s eyes widened in shock.
Originally, Grandpa had never played games.
But after he became interested in the SmaSis matches I played, he gradually started joining in.
The result?
He became absurdly strong.
There had even been a time when he flawlessly defeated the world champion of SmaSis without taking a single hit, causing a massive uproar online.
“…There is always someone greater above you. I must continue improving myself.”
And so, over the next few days, Raphael completely monopolized the living room television and obsessively practiced SmaSis until Grana finally scolded her for it…
But that was a story for another time.
“Hey, hey, Eight-onii-chan.”
“Hm? What is it, Rio?”
“You really are strong after all, onii-chan. You’re cool.”
“You think so? Thanks.”
When I lightly patted Rio’s head, she happily narrowed her eyes with a delighted smile.
Then, completely out of nowhere, she suddenly declared:
“You know… when I grow up, I want to become your bride, onii-chan.”
A surprise confession!!
Still, little kids often became attached to older members of the opposite sex.
I needed to turn her down gently without hurting her feelings.
“That makes me happy to hear. But you might meet someone even more wonderful than me someday. And if your feelings still haven’t changed after you grow up, then tell me again when that time comes.”
“Muuuh… there’s nobody more wonderful than Eight-onii-chan…”
Rio puffed out her cheeks unhappily.
Adorable.
But I wasn’t a lolicon, so there was no way I could respond to those feelings.
As Raphael watched the exchange between Rio and me from nearby, she suddenly froze before cold sweat began pouring down her face.
“…A troubling realization has just occurred to me.”
“What now?”
“If Eight were to marry someone, then a beauty of historically unparalleled magnificence such as myself may very well become resented and cast aside. And should that happen, only ruin awaits me.”
“You’re exaggerating way too much. Also, aren’t you embarrassed saying stuff like ‘historically unparalleled beauty’ about yourself?”
“It is simply an objective fact. However, I have devised a solution to this impending catastrophe.”
Raphael spoke with an utterly serious expression.
“In short, I should become Eight’s bride.”
“Are you seriously listening to yourself right now?”
“I am a beautiful girl, am I not? My figure is exceptional, and I possess flawless, peerless beauty. Even princes of the Kingdom of Elde seek opportunities to grow close to me, you know?”
Well, it was true that Raphael was gorgeous.
But we had only known each other for three days.
Apparently nobles in this world sometimes married people whose faces they had never even seen before, but…
There was no way I could marry someone when we barely knew anything about each other.
Besides, I doubted Raphael was being entirely serious anyway.
I should reject the idea clearly—
Or at least, that was what I intended to do.
“NO!!”
“Mm?”
“R-Rio? What’s wrong? Why are you shouting all of a sudden?”
“Eight-onii-chan is gonna marry me!! I won’t give him to Raphael-oneechan!!”
With that declaration, Rio glared fiercely at Raphael before tightly hugging my arm.
For some reason, sparks practically seemed to fly between the two girls.
“Hey, Nor. Why’s Rio so mad?”
“You’re a girl too, so how do you not understand a maiden’s heart? If some random woman started flirting with the guy you liked forever, you’d get angry too, right?”
“Ehhh? If everybody likes Eight-nii-chan, then shouldn’t everyone just date him together?”
“…Luka says terrifyingly big-shot things sometimes.”
And then—
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The village bell suddenly rang out loudly through the air, its sharp metallic echoes signaling that an emergency had occurred.