Chapter 18: Vol 1 Chapter 18: A Little Brother’s Love

And just like that, I was able to make Marina help me with my training.

Honestly, I was taken by surprise when she suddenly announced how much she’s jealous of me from talking about Sherry in my letters. Well, I did remember how I kept praising how strong and amazing she was. I thought she would be glad to hear that Sherry was advancing really well in her lessons.

And yes, I did indeed not ask about her wellbeing—at least, not as much as I used to. I thought my letters were getting pretty long and I would bore her if I wrote too much. Not to mention that in her letters, she already started to mention her friend. Alincia, if I remembered correctly? Well, that’s only one but it’s progress nonetheless. I hoped with her around, she wouldn’t feel as lonely there.

I never knew that she could be this jealous towards Sherry however. I thought as she grew older, her bro-con attitude towards me would lessen. Apparently not. Now I couldn’t help but feel a little worried towards her future. She would need to get a boyfriend one day and start her own family without me after all.

It wasn’t all just acting though—the sad expression I just made. I indeed felt guilty of bothering her like that, especially since now I knew that she viewed my training as just an attempt for me to impress Sherry. She’s not wrong though. There’s certainly a part of me that wanted that. A pretty significant part, in fact. However, after a certain revelation I just received, the reason for my training had transformed entirely.

Marina had told me about the necromancer incident in her letters, and how it led to the death of several important seniors. I didn’t know why they decided sending a bunch of students, even if they were in their last year, to chase after a criminal dark mage was a good idea. Perhaps it’s because the criminal herself was also a senior in her last year. Not to mention how the leader of the student group was apparently already a Master-level mage, which meant she could already graduate.

So she’s just like Marina, huh?

And then, I realized something horrible.

A mage at the level of Marina, with several of her friends that weren’t slouches in magic either, were all killed by a single necromancer. And she wasn’t even a Master-level mage, or so Marina told me.

It meant that if it were Marina who had led those students, she would’ve lost her life as well. 

All this time, I had thought of her as nearly invincible. She was so good at magic that no one could ever hurt her.

And yet, it still happened. A mage the same level as she was had been murdered. By a mage that by all right should be weaker than her.

A chilling fear appeared on the back of my head. What if Marina ended up the same way? What if, even with all her knowledge in magic, she could not prevent her own death? In her letter, she said that they had been killed in a “cowardly” way. I could just imagine it—my big sister, while sleeping in her room, was stabbed with a dagger right on her heart. Or something like poison. That’s a coward’s way of killing to be sure. Just sneak in a drop to her drink or food and she would be dead without a single drop of blood being spilled.

This world was nothing like the RPGs I used to love playing. There were no save points. No do-overs. And certainly no status screens and levels that guaranteed someone much stronger couldn’t be killed by someone much weaker. With enough trickery and guile, it could be accomplished.

Sherry was the same way. No matter how monstrous her strength was, if she were to be caught off-guard, she would perish the same way.

...There was only one thing that I could do.

I had to become stronger.

If we three ever became a party of adventurers, I couldn’t just let them to most of the work. They would be times that they needed my help, and if I couldn’t deliver then, their lives would be at stake.

If any of them died under my watch… well, I would never be able to forgive myself. Heh, knowing my weak and pathetic self, I would most likely end up killing myself once again as I drowned in my own sense of regret and guilt.

And that’s why… that’s why I had to keep my training up. At the very least, I wanted to be equal to them—the superhuman swordswoman and the genius mage.

----

“Tell me, Hugo. What do you think is the most important thing for a mage in a fight?” Marina asked me with a smile, beginning the lesson. We were now on the hill where we had always trained all this time.

“Hmm… time? To cast their spells?”

“Correct! 100 points!" As usual, she's really good at this teaching thing. "Then, Hugo. How would you give yourself that time in combat, as a mage?"

"Well, I could put a distance between me and my enemy. Maybe use faster spells to create environmental hazards that could delay the enemy further from coming closer. Oh, you can trip their feet too!" I answered with a grin.

"Hmm… a disappointing 60 points. No wonder you still can't beat Sherry," she replied with a smirk.

Ouch. That hurt. She destroyed my confidence just like that.

"First of all, that wouldn't work against a ranged enemy. And don't just think they're only archers and the like. Any swordsman worth their salt can also attack from a distance. You already saw Sherry doing it, right?”

Yep. I saw it alright.

"So, what am I supposed to do then?” I replied. I was starting to get exasperated. Without realizing it, my tone was starting to get pouty. Well, I suppose it’s natural for a kid my age, but as an adult, it would certainly make me look pathetic. And I didn’t want that, of course. Especially not in front of my big sister.

Thankfully, Marina didn’t seem to mind it in the slightest.

“What you’re supposed to do is think harder.” She put her index finger on her temple. “That is not the only way to buy time to cast your spells. First, there’s the obvious solution of just having someone else fight on the frontlines. Someone, or something, if you get what I mean.”

“You mean, using a summon?” I answered.

“Yep! Like this big guy here! Come forth, my loyal Owlbear!”

W-whoa!

I quickly backed away as Marina had apparently decided it was a good idea to cast a summoning spell before warning me first. 

The summoning circle that appeared was large—larger than the ones I had seen before. I immediately knew that this was a big one, that she had obtained an even greater summon this past year.

“Graaaaaaoorrrr!”

I fell down on my butt. It was a miracle I didn't wet myself on the spot.

It was a gigantic purplish owl-bear hybrid, far bigger than me or Marina or even Father. It towered over me. It was right there, not even three meters away. When it appeared, it let out a roar right onto my face. My poor ears were still ringing from that!

Oh God, it’s sniffing me now! S-Sis, you already tame this guy, right?

“Oh Hugo, don’t be afraid,” she said with a giggle. “This owlbear is actually quite friendly, you know. That roar is just his way of greeting people.”

S-since when she’s a lover of gigantic owl-bear chimeras?! Her summons previously were all cutesy stuff. But now, it’s a straight up monster!

A-argh, stop licking me!

“Hehe, I see he likes you, Hugo!” She ruffled one of its front arms. “How about it? You wanna try riding on top of him?”

“N-no thanks!”

----

As I calmed down, Marina explained that the owlbear was also part of the Fey, just like the fairy and dryad she had summoned before. However, unlike the fairies and dryads, it didn’t really have enough intelligence to be able to talk and communicate like them. By all purposes, it was just a normal monster, though as all Fey were, they couldn’t truly die, as when they lost their life, they would just be reborn back in Fey lands, though with a decrease in power.

"And he's a perfect example of a summon you can use on the front line. Big, bulky, and threatening enough that the enemy couldn't just ignore it and attack you instead," Marina explained.

"But I can't summon something as amazing and strong as that, Sis! I only got the high fairy! And you never gave me the chance to learn more summons on my own!" I pouted again. This time however, it's intentional. Knowing that Marina definitely had a weakness towards cute young boys like me, I thought it might pay off, acting spoiled like this, so that she would finally be willing to lend me one of her summoning books.

“Hmm, perhaps it’s time for you to learn a new summon after all. Alright! We’ll get working on that later!” she answered with a smile. I sighed. Yep, still no intention of lending any of those books, I see.

Afterwards, she dispelled the owlbear, though not before giving him a large piece of meat first (that it swallowed in a single bite by the way). Like last year where she brought out my present, she used that spatial storage spell thing to make it appear out of thin air. I imagined it also came with a preserving effect, as the meat certainly still looked fresh to me.

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After receiving his meat, he cooed happily before disappearing (wait, he could make that kind of noise?). Honestly, I think the whole reason he got summoned in the first place was because Marina wanted to stealthily brag to me about him. Alright. Fine. I’ll give you the praise you so desperately crave, my ever so lovable big sister.

"That was amazing, Sis! You really are a magic genius!"

Ha, I knew it! She immediately smiled ear-to-ear after I said that!

“You’re not getting any extra points by flattering me, you know!” She ruffled my hair, but still with that same glee on her face. Oh Sis, you really can’t fool me!

“Alright. Now summoning’s out of the way, we can talk next about pre-prepared magic. Do you know what that is, Hugo?”

“Hmm, it’s about how you can prepare a spell beforehand to be activated instantaneously later on, right? Using magic circles and runes that you’ll draw to the surface?” I had read about it in my magic books, though I never got around to really trying it out. Honestly, the diagrams displayed in those chapters just made my head spin. And Marina never really tried them out either.

“Correct! Another 100 points for you!"

"I don't think I want to use that though… it'll be unfair to her, I feel… in combat, you use them like traps, right? So you lure the enemy into the circle and then bam! You activate the spell! I dunno. That feels like cheating to me…"

Marina paused before giving me an understanding smile.

"I suppose it is. It's basically just a spar after all. However—" Her expression suddenly turned serious. "—In a real fight, there's no such thing as being unfair. There are many cunning and unscrupulous bad people out there that would use any method to achieve their goal, no matter how dirty it is. You remember my story about the necromancer?" I nodded. How could I forget? "She is one such person. Apparently, the way she killed those seniors was through a particularly powerful alchemical poison. She didn't bother facing them in a mage vs mage combat. She took advantage of their pride and took their life with the best tool that she had. Her alchemy."

Ah, that's right. I remember her writing how she had the best grade in the subject in the entire academy.

An alchemist/necromancer. An intriguing combination to be sure.

Marina's expression suddenly turned somber, and she looked away from me as she continued her tale.

"Their leader, Merinda—she used to be my tormentor, you know," she said with a wry smile. "She would do all sorts of unpleasant things to me, from humiliating me in public by lifting up my skirt with a wind spell or making my dress wet by a water spell or even stripping me of my clothes altogether. And occasionally, if she’s in a particularly bad mood, she would even hurt me, to the point of making me bleed. Nothing that I couldn't heal on my own, fortunately enough."

I froze.

The thought that I had stored in the back of my mind for so long suddenly resurfaced, hitting me straight at my chest.

I was right. She was bullied after all.

My face immediately contorted as I listened to her tale. First of all, doing that to a girl, even if you’re a girl yourself? Not cool. Not cool at all! I can’t imagine the sheer embarrassment Marina must feel when it happened to her! A pantyshot is one thing but outright stripping her off her clothes? That’s deplorable! I just hope that she still had her underwear on when that happened!

And that still doesn’t count all the perverts that must take joy in seeing her in that state. I don’t care if they’re ten or eleven year old boys! I was already aware of girls at that age back in my old life! And with how you’re considered an adult at fifteen in this world, they must have matured even more than the kids back in my world.

Grr, to think that a bunch of brats got to see my precious big sister half-naked… how dare they? I never even got such a chance! I’ve sworn to become a gentleman after all, so I never tried to peek when she took her baths. And whenever her dress blew up, I would always avert my gaze!

And when she talked about how that Merinda girl would actually dare to hurt her to the point that she bleeds from it, my blood boiled. Never before I felt this kind of anger. My palms were immediately formed into fists, and my body was starting to shake from the sheer rage that I was feeling.

In my mind, I imagined my big sister Marina, slapped and punched and pushed and even kicked while she was on the ground. Blood leaked out of her wounded forehead, and her face was completely black and blue.

Of course, at the time, I didn’t really know whether it really was that bad or not. But my mind immediately went to the worst possible conclusion. After all, I had been in a similar position in my previous life.

She’s far stronger than me though. She wouldn’t cry like I did, or lower her head and beg for forgiveness to the bullies, no matter what happened. And she certainly wouldn’t soil herself either.

When she finished, there was only a single question in my mind.

“Why didn’t you tell me?! O-Or tell Father a-and Mother?!" I shouted. Without realizing it, my eyes had turned watery, and I started to cry.

“...Because there’s nothing you or them can do to help. She's part of the ruling class there. If I were treated terribly by the Princess of Marchen herself for example, would you still be running to her and 'put her in her place', as I imagine you would?"

"Yes, I would! No one treats Big Sis like that and gets away with it!" 

I didn't even think. I answered just as soon as she finished her hypothetical question. I was done letting me or anyone I cared about be stepped on by anyone, no matter how powerful they were.

"Hmm? Even if the king would execute you afterwards?"

"I won't get executed! I will save you and leave this country forever afterwards!"

"But if you do that, then Father and Mother and even Sherry might be the ones who get executed, you know?"

"Then we'll all leave! I-I'll work if we don't have the money!"

"That's quite selfish, isn't it? Just because of me, our whole family will have to—"

"There's nothing selfish about it! Letting your family helps you—it's not selfish in the slightest! And don't you dare think otherwise!"

At this point, I was panting. I was completely out of breath. I had been yelling all this time after all.

Marina wore a shocked expression on her face. Of course she would. This was the very first time I had ever gotten this angry—angry at that bully, for tormenting my sister, angry at Marina, for seemingly just accepting it and hiding it from me, and most of all, angry at myself, for not being able to do anything to help her.

But then, that expression soon softened, and I noticed a few tears trailing down her eyes.

Without a word, she gave me a hug.

“Oh Hugo… how fortunate I am to have a little brother like you…”

I could hear her sniffling. Now that I thought about it, this was the very first time I had ever seen her cry.

“I promise… I’ll never keep anything from you ever again… so please, forgive this big sister of yours…”

“T-there’s nothing to feel sorry about, Sis! I just… I just want to help you… the same way you’ve been helping me all this time…”

If only… if only I could tell her of my past life… But she’ll think of me as crazy if I did. She’ll never believe such an outlandish story.

Not to mention that my old self… wasn’t exactly someone I could be proud of. Not in the slightest. No matter how kind she is, she'll never be able to like a perverted, overweight loser who constantly masturbates to anime porn.

I… I don’t want her to stop loving me like this after all… This warmth… I’ve yearned for it for so long that it would break my heart and spirit if she ever turns to hate me.

Heh, I am still a selfish human being, in the end...

Sorry, Sis. Even though you just said you would be completely honest with me, I still kept secrets from you—secrets that I would no doubt carry to my grave.

----

A/N:

Finally! The truth is revealed! And more Hugo-Marina bonding moments! I do hope it’s not too cheesy.

Also, the owlbear.

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