Perhaps I don’t understand interpersonal relationships, but I understand family relationships.

31.

What in the world is going on?

“Great Sage-nim?!”

Huh? Great Sage?

Gideon Arbor?

This vomiting old man is the Great Sage Gideon Arbor?

Startled by the sudden vomiting, or rather, the Great Sage’s sudden turn, Angela attempted to steady him, but the Great Sage raised a hand to stop her. He staggered to his feet and spoke.

“I, I apologize for such rudeness upon our first meeting. I am Gideon Arbor. Hmm, may I call you Minister?”

“Erwin Warmuth. Please, you may use whichever form of address feels most comfortable to you.”

After exchanging greetings, the Great Sage grandfather stared at me intently for a moment before speaking.

“I see, so that is how it is.”

“Yes.”

I replied vaguely, but I didn’t quite understand what he meant by that.

Could he have been responding to my offer to call me whatever was comfortable?

I wondered whether I should ask if my assumption was correct, but then the Great Sage grandfather abruptly turned away.

“Very well, then. I shall take my leave.”

Angela, clearly taken aback by this rather sudden declaration of departure, asked, “Leaving? Where to?”

“Ah, well. Might go back to the countryside, try my hand at farming or something…”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, in any case, I must be going!”

With those words, the Archmage turned on his heel and vanished with a speed that belied his advanced years.

This was beyond my understanding, to be honest.

“Angela. An explanation seems to be in order.”

“I… I’m not quite sure myself. He said he wanted to see my brother, so I brought him along…”

Equally bewildered, Angela recounted the events that had transpired at the Magic Tower.

Ah, so that was it.

She hadn’t brought the kind of man I was expecting. After all, even if it was her brother, a centenarian would be a bit much.

“What shall we do now?”

“…Care to grab a bite?”

And so we went to eat.

—

He fled.

Archmage Gideon Arbor sprinted with all his might, running and running.

His heart felt like it was freezing over, the ground beneath his feet threatening to crumble and drop him into an endless abyss of darkness.

He needed to escape the Imperial Capital as quickly as possible.

To distance himself from *it*.

Though it would likely be futile.

“Huk… Huk… Huk…”

Gideon, reaching the limits of his stamina, collapsed in the middle of some unknown forest, leaning against a tree.

Struggling to regulate his breathing, he raised his head.

There was the sky.

Simply a clear, blue sky, perfectly serene.

Gideon stared blankly at it for a long while.

Then, he let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

“I had let myself become complacent.”

Replaying the ‘conversation’ just concluded with the Minister, Gideon felt a hollow emptiness laced with a creeping doubt.

He was born a prodigy.

Never had he been one to slack on diligence.

He risked life and limb to hone his talents and amass experience.

Now, he’d thought he’d accomplished everything.

His competence, his skills, his knowledge, his wisdom – all had reached their ‘end.’

He was certain that, at least in his lifetime, no one would surpass the heights he’d attained.

He was wrong.

A misjudgment.

He’d erred.

“To think, at this age, I would stumble against a ‘wall’ anew…”

It was a sensation he had once felt without end.

A sensation he had been unable to feel for some time.

A sensation he never wanted to feel again, yet, at the same time, even yearned for.

“Heh heh… A frog in a well, indeed.”

While readily admitting the fact, Gideon didn’t feel the resentment he might have in his youth.

Though, facing it head on, it felt as if his entire world was about to be casually devoured, looking back he felt a strange sense of relief.

It was fortunate. That he was ‘one of us.’

He didn’t even want to contemplate the possibility of him being ‘one of them.’

If that were the case, everything would have ended before it even began.

“Seems this old man’s help won’t be needed for the time being.”

Gideon rose and slowly stepped forward.

As he himself had said, his help might not be needed right now, but who knew what the future held.

He had to prepare for that time.

“Well, if, even after reaching the absolute end, he says my help is still unneeded, that would be a good thing in its own right.”

If that were the case, truly retiring to a quiet countryside to live out his remaining years wouldn’t be so bad.

Genuinely hoping for that outcome, the Great Sage began to leave the Empire with a lighter step, only to suddenly stop as if something had come to mind, and turned back towards the Capital with a worried expression.

“But if it is always like this, surely…”

—

“Lisana!”

“Oh, unni!”

Lisana, eager to meet her family after so long, headed straight to their meeting place the moment she left work. There, she met her sister, whom she’d been missing, and greeted her warmly.

Because their jobs kept them so busy, they weren’t able to meet often. The sisters, reunited after a while, expressed their longing through a warm embrace.

“Oh my, unni. Did you gain a little weight?”

“I did not! You’re the one with darker circles under your eyes! Are you even getting proper sleep?”

Lisana and her sister, playfully teasing each other, were clearly a pair of loving siblings, no matter how you looked at it.

To have dinner, the two entered a suitable restaurant that the sister had scouted out in advance. As they ate, they chattered on without pause.

“How’s work going?”

“It’s enjoyable. It can be tough sometimes, but because it’s something I love, I think I can keep working hard.”

“And not because there’s someone you like?”

“Oh, unni!”

Her sister, amused at Lisana’s flushed face, couldn’t contain her curiosity and began to pepper her with questions.

“So, what’s this rumored Minister like?”

“What’s he like, you ask?”

“His abilities, hobbies, tastes, daily habits, things he likes and dislikes, and so on. Seems like you’d have a lot to tell.”

“Well… Ugh?!”

[No, not now.]

A sudden headache gripped her, and Lisana winced, clutching her head. Her sister asked with concern,

“Are you alright? Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Mmm. It’s nothing. It was just a brief throbbing pain. So, what were we talking about?”

As her sister shook her head as if to shake off the headache, her sister offered a gentle smile.

“We were talking about the Minister you’re in love with.”

“Wha, what are you talking about!”

“Then is it not true?”

“It’s not… it’s not that it’s not…”

Her sister waited patiently for Lisana to say it herself, as she continued to hesitate.

“He… the Minister is a very kind person.”

“Kind? The Iron-Blooded Minister?”

“Yeah. Whenever he comes to the archives, he’ll bring me tea, and when I fall asleep, he’ll take off his jacket and cover me with it.”

“Heh,” her sister exclaimed, impressed, as if she had seen an unexpected side of him, and continued to fire off questions.

“Anything else? How is he at work?”

“Other than being incredibly efficient with his tasks, I don’t know him well.”

“Still, you attend meetings, right?”

“I do, but my job is usually just organizing the data, so someone else does the presenting.”

Responding to her sister’s questions without a second thought, Lisana suddenly felt a flicker of unease.

“You seem awfully interested in the Minister, sis?”

[Don’t pry.]

At Lisana’s words, her sister tapped the teacup lightly with her spoon.

“He’s someone my little sister likes. Wouldn’t it be strange if I *wasn’t* interested?”

“I suppose?”

Convinced that she’d probably do the same if her sister had a crush, Lisana nodded.

“Maybe so.”

“Anyway, the Minister really is something, isn’t he? He even received the title of Archduke recently. Did he say anything about what he intends to do with it?”

“I don’t know. And even if I did, I couldn’t…Ugh?!”

[Don’t speak.]

Something was wrong. The headache was intensifying.

“You seem to have a bad headache. Shouldn’t you see a doctor?”

“It’s not that…No, maybe I should.”

Seeing Lisana smile weakly, explaining that she’d been pushing herself too hard lately, her sister spoke with a sorrowful expression.

“What are the Minister’s plans for the future, do you know?”

“Huh? What do you mean?…Ouch!?”

[Nothing at all.]

It hurt. Lisana groaned, her head feeling as though it was splitting open.

“S-Sis, I’m not feeling well at all. I’m sorry, but I think I should head back early today.”

“Yes, you do look unwell. Oh, then, would you do me a small favor in return?”

“A favor?”

“Yes. It’s nothing much.”

Her sister slowly stirred her tea with the teaspoon, recounting the favor she had in mind.

—

As usual, I went to the archives for a quick breather, the moment I saw Lisana’s face, I was flabbergasted.

“Are you alright?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. I, I’m alright…?”

Alright, my foot. You look anything but.

Her dark circles were always pronounced, but today her face was downright cadaverous, a murky grey.

Add to that the bloodshot eyes and clammy sweat, and she looked to be in pretty dire straits.

“That’s an order. Go to the infirmary and get yourself checked out, pronto. Then take three days off, get some rest at home.”

“What?! Ah, no! Everyone’s so busy, I couldn’t possibly…!”

“I said it’s an order.”

I had steeled myself. This time, tears wouldn’t sway me.

But for some reason, Lisana didn’t start crying. Instead, she began to tremble, violently.

“I can’t… My sister asked me to…”

“Sister?”

Had she made a new friend or something?

It wasn’t like I kept tabs on every subordinate’s personal life, and Lisana, besides being a workaholic, was generally kind, so making a new friend wouldn’t be that strange.

Wait a minute.

What did my sending her home have to do with whatever her sister asked her to do?

More importantly, what was she doing?

“Lisana.”

“Yes?”

“I told you to go home for the day.”

“Yes, you did…?”

“So why are you back here, working?”

At my question, Lisana, who had been frantically organizing some documents, stammered, flustered.

“I, I forgot some data…”

“Forgot data?”

Not lost, but *forgotten*?

By her, with her perfect memory?

A chill ran down my spine. I focused my vision back to normal and asked her,

“Lisana. Around 11 p.m. on XX Month, XX Day, what were you doing?”

“At that time… I just went home after work and went to sleep…?”

No. That day was the day of the Intelligence Agency’s company dinner.

My memory is playing tricks on me.

“Lisana. Who is this ‘sister’ you speak of?”

“O-oh, sister? A sister is just… a sister…”

“Her name?”

“B-Bess… Besti…”

“Her surname?”

“Since she’s my sister, it’s Simon, right…? Director, what’s wrong…?”

I surveyed the archives.

Several agents who were also searching for files were glancing this way, wondering what the commotion was.

I beckoned them over and, pointing to Lisana, commanded,

“Restrain Lisana.”

Without hesitation, the agents seized her and pinned her to the desk.

“Agh?! D-Director?! W-Why are you doing this…?!”

“Listen to me carefully, Lisana.”

“It hurts, it hurts…!”

“Silence and listen.”

“Hic?!”

To the terrified Lisana, I sighed and said,

“You are an only child. You have no sister.”