The Three Siblings Get Along Well

Episode 54

Christina fidgeted, watching the Minister serve freshly made, warm French toast and coffee with an unconcerned air.

‘Honestly, even so! A grown man and woman slept hugging each other tightly! Right? Isn’t he being too unresponsive?! His body reacted honestly last night!’

It was as if he were saying that was a natural bodily function, so it didn’t count.

‘If he showed even a little, just a little, bit of awareness towards me, nothing could make me happier than that…’

But Christina was the only one aware.

The Minister, finished with the preparations, sat down at the table without any particular reaction and began eating.

Sighing, Christina decided to be grateful for the good fortune of having the Minister personally prepare her breakfast, and lifted her fork.

Just then, the Minister spoke, continuing his meal.

“Don’t go barging in as you please in the future.”

Christina, unbidden, found herself erupting at his words.

“Then don’t go collapsing on a whim!”

“That is no concern of yours.”

“It *is* my concern!”

Even if she received orders to stay out of it, she wouldn’t heed them.

And if that earned her a punishment, she was prepared to accept it.

“I belong to the Minister! So, the Minister belongs to me! Therefore, I have the right to concern myself with the Minister’s health!”

“The leaps in logic are… audacious.”

“I don’t know things like that! I’m an idiot, so I’ll do as I please!”

Furious to the tips of her hair, Christina crammed food into her mouth before the Minister could say another word, washed it down with a gulp of coffee, and rose from her seat.

“Thank you for the meal! I have a mission later, so I’ll head out first! But remember! I’m always watching you, got it?”

She didn’t wait for a response.

Christina rushed to the window, threw herself out, and vanished.

The Minister watched the direction she had disappeared in, then lifted his cup and sipped his coffee.

After pondering something deeply, he murmured as if struck by a sudden thought.

“…Use the door.”

—

In order to blissfully skip work today as well, I came to the Imperial University where my sister worked, only to witness my younger sister picking up my youngest brother with one hand and swinging him around and around.

It sounds like madness, but it’s the truth.

Have you ever spun a wet towel?

Yes, a wet towel.

If you hold the end of the towel and swing your arm, the towel stretches out long due to centrifugal force.

Now, replace “the towel being held” with “Karl being held by the ankles,” and you have an exact replica of the scene unfolding before my eyes.

What in the world is going on?

“Little brother! Give me that book! I’m going to take it to big brother!”

“N-no! A resolute refusal! I found it, so I’ll be the one to tell our older brother!”

The whirring sound was too loud to hear clearly, but it seemed they were arguing over the book Karl was clutching to his chest.

What to say. Suddenly, old memories are flooding back.

Karl and Angela often fought like this when they were children.

When it came to physical fights, Angela always won.

I was, to add, on Angela’s side, the one pulling her off Karl.

Ah, the memories.

“Ah, Eldest Brother!”

Angela, belatedly noticing me, wore a face of startled surprise.

The problem being, in her surprise, she let go.

Ah, he flies. He flies.

Karl threatens to become a star in yonder sky.

“Huh? What’s over th– oh.”

Pointing at Karl soaring off into the distance, Angela realized what she’d done and hastily manipulated her mana, settling her little brother safely before me.

Thank goodness. We almost went from being three siblings to just two.

“Ugh!… Haa. Thank you, Brother, for sav–saving me.”

I didn’t exactly *do* anything.

More importantly, what book could possibly incite such a brawl between grown children? I looked to see Karl already scrambling to his feet.

“Brother! Please, have a look at this!”

Excitement bubbling over, Karl opened the book, revealing a barrage of sentences that looked offensively complicated.

Heh, are you underestimating me, Karl?

Did you think I’d actually be able to understand this?

That’s a grave miscalculation!

“While researching the disappearance phenomenon of the minor kingdom of Klamohr, I discovered that Klamohr was originally a place that shouldn’t have been able to exist!”

Huh? A place that couldn’t exist? What does that even *mean*?

“This book details the continent’s geography from the mythical era to the ancient era, and according to its records, there are a significant number of discrepancies compared to the current geography!”

I don’t really understand, but wouldn’t that just be because the terrain changes over time?

As if anticipating my question, Karl continued.

“As you know, geography can change as time passes. Places that were once oceans can turn into deserts. So, no one really paid attention to the differences in the geographical records! Yes, and that was the problem!”

I think *your* problem is not paying attention to your brother’s level of comprehension!

I have no idea what you’re going on about!

So what if the geography is different! What does it all *mean*?!

“The area where the minor kingdom of Klamohr was located was originally a glacial zone, uninhabitable by humans. But what we saw was the wasteland left behind after the minor kingdom vanished.”

That’s true.

So?

“On the premise that this wasn’t a natural shift, the discrepancies between the records of the previous era and this one are proof that some powerful force was at play when the era changed. If Oblivion made use of the remnants of that power, then perhaps we can unearth what those false stars are made of!”

Is that so?

Can it be like that?

I still couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but gazing into my younger brother’s shining eyes, only this escaped me.

“Magnificent, Karl.”

Though I’ve no clue what’s so magnificent about it!

Watching her little brother, aglow with the thrill of praise and recognition, Angela clutched at her skirt hem, consumed by agonizing envy.

‘Ugh, I wanted to say that! I wanted to be the one receiving accolades from elder brother!’

It might sound like an excuse, but Angela had also speculated near the conclusion Karl had reached.

She, too, had been investigating the cause of the Clamor Small Kingdom’s demise.

Otherwise, why would she have gone to the trouble of traveling all the way to the Imperial University to gather materials?

But Karl had been one step ahead.

Perhaps it was the difference in their positions as a professor and a developer.

Karl had arrived at the conclusion he just stated before Angela.

‘Darn it. The chance to gain elder brother’s acknowledgment comes around maybe once a year!’

He was family, but at times it felt like he wasn’t even human – knowing practically everything.

To discover something he didn’t know, to gain his recognition and praise, was nearly an impossible feat.

So, understandably, Karl wouldn’t yield the opportunity to Angela, even amidst his own struggles.

‘Haa. These days, it feels like a lot of flies are swarming around elder brother, so I wanted to score some points…’

Just the incident from not long ago proved it.

Unlike herself, who was terrified, believing elder brother had been kidnapped, the royal guards and owls, while concerned, weren’t particularly frantic.

Later, she’d learned they were aware that her elder brother had intentionally followed the head of Oblivion.

‘He didn’t say a word to us, his own family.’

When she learned that fact, she’d been so disappointed that tears welled up, but, considering it was the actions of her elder brother, she figured there was a reason behind it and moved on.

It was also true, however, that she’d wanted to prove her usefulness by offering assistance.

But even that opportunity had been snatched away.

Even the Ice Demon couldn’t help but slump her shoulders.

“Angela.”

“Oh, yes?”

Suddenly, Erwin’s question startled Angela, who had been caught off guard by her elder brother’s loud summons.

“You were the first to react when Oblivion’s leader appeared with the false star last time, weren’t you?”

“Ah, yes. I believe I was…?”

“Do you think you could create a magical artifact that can react to the emergence of a false star, like you do?”

Angela beamed at Erwin’s words.

“Yes! I’m already conducting research in that direction!”

“I see. I don’t intend to rush you, but if you manage to create one, I’d like to know right away.”

Angela resolved to squeeze the development team researchers even harder, then voiced a sudden thought that came to mind.

“Big brother, is that why you didn’t say anything to me, because you thought I’d be the first to react to the appearance of a false star?”

“Of course. If you were prepared in advance, Oblivion’s leader might have sensed something amiss and fled, thinking it was a trap.”

She was being helpful.

Realizing she was being helpful to her big brother, Angela rushed over to him and linked her arm through his, declaring,

“Brother! Let’s go to dinner together after you’re done with work! No little brother allowed!”

“Hey!”

“Hmm. Shall we have a meal together, the three of us, for a change?”

That day, upon the simultaneous appearance of the Barmut siblings, the Golden Gryphon’s manager was forced to urgently seek out some antacids.