「So magic or something?」
No idea what half-naked means, though.
「Nope」
Ah, wrong.
「Then a blessing. That would explain the secrecy」
「…You’re surprisingly sharp」
My brother slapped my back hard. I winced.
The scrapes from sliding on the ground actually hurt.
「What? Injured?」
「Maybe scraped?」
「Let me see… a little blood seeping out. Someone, ointment」
「Coming～」
Where did that leftover pull it from?
「What’s that look for? This is horse oil. It works on anything」
「No… the chest part of women’s armor bulges out. Makes sense」
「Ugaa～! Extra consideration for such a tiny armor is infuriating!」
Keeping medicine in the lining is smart. Yeah.
I took off my top and turned my back to the idiot.
「Ever heard of height difference?」
「Ever heard of standing on tiptoes?」
「Ever heard of consideration?」
「I counter with status」
Mische fell silent in total defeat. Complete victory.
Surprisingly slim, cool fingers spread ointment on my back.
Wait? Something about the arm position… the finger angle feels off?
How can someone on tiptoes reach from above?
I whipped around…and the leftover was passionately kissing the ground.
「Turned on by dirt?」
「What kind of fetish is that! I just got suddenly stepped on and used as a stool」
She spat out sand with a 「peh peh」 while fuming.
Wait a second… that definitely means.
「Why’d you let her get away!」
「Unreasonable to the person being stepped on!」
But that’s the amazing part about perverts, right?
「Noie suddenly appeared, spread ointment on your back, then vanished」
「Catch her next time」
「Don’t ask the impossible」
My brother laughed in exasperation, which really annoyed me.
By the way, why did she come to apply the ointment? Could it be…
「To thank her for the ointment, she wants head pats later?」
「You’re sharp but dense. Fine. Think whatever you want」
What’s that supposed to mean? So rude.
If it’s wrong, just say so. Don’t smirk like that.
I put my clothes back on and watched the rising dust clouds. They had moved quite far away.
「About time?」
「A little longer」
「Waiting is boring, though?」
「Then ask Frea about magic」
「Dumping it on her?」
「Ask the expert about expertise」
Despite the sudden pass-off… Frea-san answered with a smile.
The corners of her mouth twitched just a tiny bit, though.
「Hmm～ Can anyone use magic?」
「Anyone with magic power can」
「Can you check if someone has it?」
「Yes. But it’s mostly hereditary. If one parent has the aptitude, the chance is high」
She answered while casually giving orders to her subordinates.
The leftover was… efficiently preparing to head back.
Hereditary aptitude… I wouldn’t know about my parents.
「Neither Father, aniki, nor I can use magic」
Conversation over～.
「But I think your mother had the aptitude. Don’t know details, though」
Mother? Now that you mention it, there was someone like that… but I’ve never even met her?
「She was a concubine, right?」
「Yeah. Currently recovering from illness at her family home」
「Why didn’t you say so?」
Then I could visit at least once… but I’m not the real me inside.
My brother suddenly put me in a headlock, serious face and all.
「Don’t go visit」
「Why?」
「The illness is a lie. I told you before, right? The whole family was executed on suspicion of rebellion」
「…」
「The original you was incited by your mother and her family to have too much ambition. Aniki set it up, I carried it out」
「I see」
Released, I caught my breath.
What’s with all these shady things happening behind the scenes?
「Well, we’ll check your magic power later」
「…It’d be nice if I could get a blessing on the side too」
「Save the sleep-talk for bed, you idiot little brother」
Just sarcasm, idiot brother.
「There’s a way to check for blessings too. Same method as checking magic power」
Frea-san answered everything while handling work one-handed.
She was probably just replying automatically to whatever she heard.
「By the way, is the usual Frea-san the aggressive type? Or passive?」
「Aggressive. I push him down on the bed and… what are you making me say!? Arg-sama!」
For some reason, everyone clapped and cheered. The loudest were the double idiots.
「Mou～! Everyone, get back to work!」
Her face bright red with anger was pretty cute.
If only Noie could show expressions like this… no.
I’ll be the one to bring expressions back to her.
「So, aggressive Frea-san」
「Arg-sama!」
「Just kidding. Magic is array and… what was the other?」
「Mou～! …Magic is broadly divided into array and standard.
Array needs weapons or magic tools, so I’ll skip explaining that here.
Standard splits into three.
First is 『reinforce』. The magic I usually use.
Second is 『release』. Shooting magic to attack.
Third is 『create』. Making creatures or dolls with magic and controlling them」
Wait? Then…
「What about summoning magic?」
「That’s the captain’s trump card. She uses it relatively easily… but that’s isekai magic」
「Isekai magic?」
「Yes. There’s also isekai summoning in the same category」
It exists. Back then they summoned tons of people from other worlds, after all.
「Both are secret arts. In this country, only the captain’s 『summoning』 exists」
「Then other countries might have different ones?」
「I think so. But the only country openly using… or showing them is ours」
I quietly bowed my head at her exasperated words.
My wife really causes nothing but trouble… I didn’t know, but I’m truly sorry!
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