Chapter 96: Cross-dressing

“Eek!?”

With that cry, Emma leaped at me.

Unlike General Newsbeck’s version, this was a genuine attempt to capture me, and I could not dodge it.

“Hey!”

“So cute!”

“Quiet! H-Hey, let go of me!?”

Emma was taller than I was.

Once she had me firmly trapped, I could not escape. Naturally, this was after the Frankhalt incident, so the imperial capital’s anti-magic barrier was stringent. I could not use magic to flee.

“Noah, I had no idea you looked so good dressed as a girl! You’re incredibly cute!”

“That is almost an insult!”

I shouted back angrily.

I was aware of it. Unlike my ordinary face in my previous life, my face in this life was well formed.

But combined with my height, it leaned more toward girlish cuteness.

As a boy, I would have preferred to look handsome.

“Hmm, but your voice is still male. Your disguise is so complete that the voice feels out of place.”

“I can change my voice too.”

I raised my pitch and answered in a girlish voice.

“What!? That’s a proper girl’s voice!”

“Disguising myself as a girl is not uncommon, so I can make it convincing.”

Changing one’s apparent gender made for the best disguise.

I had dressed as a girl repeatedly since I was young, so I was thoroughly practiced. It might be different once my voice changed, though.

I was already fifteen and would turn sixteen this year.

When would my voice change? It should have happened by now, but my voice was still high and my Adam’s apple was flat.

“You’re so cute! I want to rub cheeks with you!”

“Let go of me.”

Emma enthusiastically rubbed her cheek against mine. I tried to push her away, but she would not budge.

“Now I understand. This is happiness…”

“Don’t savor happiness while rubbing against me. Set me free!”

“No! And I like that you aren’t using formal speech.”

“Ahem! My apologies.”

“It is fine. It feels more intimate this way.”

“Given our positions, I cannot normally speak that way.”

“But while we’re disguised, we are no longer superior and subordinate, are we?”

“That is true, but that isn’t the situation right now.”

“A superior and subordinate would never get this close.”

“If you understand that, could you move away?”

“…Just a little longer.”

“Aren’t we going out?”

“That’s right! Let’s go!”

Emma finally released me.

“From now on, Noah and I are sisters. Keep that in mind!”

“Yes, I understand.”

Having finally been freed, I stood and headed for the door.

“Come on, let’s go, Big Sis.”

“Ah! Calling me Big Sis while you look like that is unfair!”

“…What are you doing?”

The person who had insisted we act like sisters collapsed at a single ‘Big Sis.’ I stared at her in exasperation.