When I told Ralina-chan that Jisrare-san and I would be leaving together on a journey around the world, she rolled her eyes back again and fainted.
For now, I gently closed Ralina-chan’s eyes once more and carried her to the bed.
Then I placed a towel into a bucket filled with water, wrung it out, and laid it on her forehead.
After that, I prepared another cup of Miriam Special 754, this time a bit stronger since it supposedly has calming effects. Just as I was about to replace the towel on Ralina-chan’s forehead again——
「Eek」
「…………」
「A-Are you alright, Ralina-chan…?」
「…………」
「W-Would you like some herbal tea…?」
「…………」
At some point, I realized that Ralina-chan had already woken up.
Or rather… she is awake, right? She has been staring at me this whole time with eyes that somehow feel completely devoid of humanity…
「I had a dream」
「Ah, well, that probably wasn’t a dream…」
Sorry, Ralina-chan… The part where Jisrare-san accompanies me is not a dream. It is reality…
「A dream where onii-chan invites that delusional woman to go traveling with him」
「That part is a dream!?」
Not me! I did not invite her!
「Why, onii-chan? Why would you choose that woman…」
「Wait, Ralina-chan, it’s a misunderstanding!」
「It didn’t have to be her. For example, the village chief would have been fine too. The village chief would have been fine…」
「Well, but the village chief is the village chief…」
He is the village chief, so he probably needs to stay in the village…
Also, the way she said that felt rather disrespectful toward the village chief, did it not?
「Why did it have to be that delusional woman…? If that’s the case, you could have relied on me instead…」
「B-But I didn’t want to put you in danger, Ralina-chan——」
「You can stop saying that now, onii-chan」
「I see…」
This is terrible. My secret strategy, 『I didn’t want to put you in danger』, is not working at all anymore. She stopped me before I could even finish saying it.
Maybe I really used it at the wrong time. After all, this was already the third time…
「Honestly… onii-chan being together with that delusional woman for two whole years. Two years where she gets onii-chan all to herself…」
「It’s not like she is keeping me all to herself…」
「If you have two years… you can do anything…」
「I see…」
You can do anything in two years…
Or rather, what exactly is she planning to do…?
「Anyway, calm down, Ralina-chan. For now, herbal tea. Let’s drink some herbal tea」
「You can stop with that already, onii-chan」
「I see…」
This is bad. She will not even drink the MiriSpec. I had hoped it might become my new secret strategy, but if she refuses to drink it, then it is meaningless.
I am in trouble. I have no moves left. Once again, I have completely run out of options.
「…Now that I think back on it, that’s what those words meant, right?」
「Hm? Those? Which ones?」
「The words you reacted to before. 『Fifteen』, 『Wild Boar』, 『defeat accomplished』, 『Jisrare-san』, 『the forest』, and 『going outside』」
「Ah…」
Those keywords she said I reacted strangely to.
Ralina-chan really remembers them well…
「Hm? Then what about 『swimsuit』, 『female doctor』, 『nun』, and 『swimming』…?」
「…………」
Right, those were also among the keywords she said I reacted to…
Even if she asks what that was about, I do not know either.
If you line them up like that, it almost sounds like a sentence that says 『I want to swim with a female doctor and a nun in swimsuits』… but no, no, that is not what I——
「Anyway, that means onii-chan has been deceiving me this whole time since then…」
「D-Deceiving you!? I was only trying to keep you out of danger, Ralina——wait, wait!」
Perhaps she is no longer even willing to listen. Ralina-chan completely ignored my secret strategy.
Then she sat up on the bed and, for some reason, shifted her gaze toward her magic bag, so I hurriedly stopped her.
「You deceived me, and on top of that you invited that delusional woman to travel with you. I cannot forgive that」
「W-Wait a second. I told you, it’s not like I was the one who invited her——」
「Then who decided it?」
「Eh?」
「Who chose that delusional woman as your companion?」
「Who…?」
Um, who would that be…?
Now that I think about it, I never actually asked about the details. I remember Father suddenly calling for me, and when I arrived Jisrare-san was there, and they told me we would be traveling together… Ah, and at that time Father did say something like 『we discussed it for quite a long time』.
So maybe Father decided it after all? If they discussed it, then maybe he consulted with Jisrare-san herself and that is how it was decided?
「Who? The village chief? That delusional woman herself?」
「Eh, no, well…」
「Both? It was both of them… They teamed up and decided it together…」
It seems she judged that from my expression.
Also, teamed up is a rather strong way to put it.
Still, this might not be a very good sign… Ralina-chan’s anger may have shifted toward Father and Jisrare-san.
It is a little fortunate that the target of her anger moved away from me, but it is not exactly something I can feel happy about either…
「Well, Jisrare-san is a doctor, after all. So if something happens during the journey, it would be reassuring, right? And apparently she is also very experienced with traveling…」
「…………」
「For those reasons, it seems she was chosen. I think it was a very logical and reasonable decision…」
I explained that to Ralina-chan, trying to persuade her.
When you really think about it, I believe it is a reasonable choice that most people would agree with.
So I hope Ralina-chan will calm down and think about it for a moment.
Or rather, anything is fine, I just want her to calm down somehow.
「You are defending those two quite a lot, onii-chan」
「N-No, that’s not really what I’m doing…」
It is just that if I did not, it looked like Ralina-chan might grab her magic bag and run out the door this very moment…
「…………Haa」
「Ralina-chan…?」
「Onii-chan, may I have some herbal tea?」
「Eh? Ah, yes, of course. Let’s drink some」
I am not sure whether my persuasion worked or not, but Ralina-chan suddenly showed a calm expression.
At least she seems willing to drink the MiriSpec now, so hopefully it will help her relax a little…
「Ah, would you like to drink it there on the bed? Or can you get up?」
After preparing the MiriSpec, I turned my gaze back toward Ralina-chan on the bed——
「Huh?」
She’s gone…
Just a moment ago she was on the bed, but Ralina-chan had suddenly vanished without a trace.
「Eh…? Where did she… hm?」
As I stood there confused by the sudden situation, the door to my room opened by itself… and then closed.
「What is this…?」
Some kind of strange phenomenon just happened in my room…
What exactly is going on? Ralina-chan suddenly disappeared, the door opened, and then it closed. What was that…?
「…Ah, I see. That must be the answer」
This is probably the 『Stealth』 skill.
Ralina-chan disappeared, the door opened, and then it closed.
Most likely she activated her 『Stealth』 skill, turned invisible, opened the door, and then closed it behind her.
「So this is what the 『Stealth』 skill looks like. I couldn’t tell at all」
I could not sense Ralina-chan at all while she was opening and closing the door. The 『Stealth』 skill is incredible.
Now that I look, Ralina-chan’s magic bag is also gone. She must have turned invisible, retrieved her magic bag, and then left the room.
「Wait… does that mean Ralina-chan might have gone to see Father or Jisrare-san…?」
The moment I realized that, I hurried out of my room to chase after her.
「Wait, Ralina-chan! Don’t do anything rash!」
Shouting toward Ralina-chan, who might still be nearby even if I cannot see her, I ran outside the house.
Praying that Jisrare-san is safe, and feeling slightly relieved that the invisible Ralina-chan had not stabbed me, I started running toward Jisrare’s clinic.
I have to hurry. Somehow I need to reach the clinic before Ralina-chan… well, that might be impossible, but I should hurry anyway!
At this rate… Jisrare-san might end up in danger!
Ah, wait… maybe it is Father she is heading for instead…
…Sorry, Father! You will have to handle that one yourself!
next chapter: Beloved character Alec-kun
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