“All right, then. Can I leave the design up to you?─Oh, but don’t let Char or anyone else know until the time comes.”
Maybe it’s too much to ask of such a little girl, but Mel gives me a hearty grin and nods, “Okay!” She seems happy.
I did a good thing, I think as I glance over at the sofa.
“Oh?” says a stranger. “I didn’t know you were here too, Haruto. Haha! You have terrible bed head!”
Who is this bubbly and pretty girl?
“Oh yeah,” I mumble, “the mysterious exchange student, Yulia or something.”
“What do you mean mysterious? The Martienna family is an old name in the empire, and I’m the next head of the household. I’ve been in the public eye from a young age─not that I’m high in rank or anything.”
Whoops, was I thinking out loud? First of all, I don’t know squat about the nobility in the empire. And that’s beside the point.
“What are you doing here?” I demand.
She’s even watching some magical girl anime on my big screen.
“I heard about something called ‘anime’ from Char. It made me curious, so I asked her to bring me here.”
You’re already using her nickname? Gee, you guys must be close. I’m a bit jealous.
“Brother Haruto, I’m so sorry! I should’ve consulted you first…”
“Oh, don’t worry. If you trust her, it’s fine by me.”
If there’s anyone I should be worried about, it’s Liza and Yulia’s brother. What’s his name again? Who knows what they’ll do when they think nobody’s looking. I look over to them both in the room and see sparks flying… Seriously, I rarely see Liza like this. She’s really giving him the death glare. Little bro on the other hand is staring blankly at Yulia.
What’s going on?
I beckon Liza.
She marches over to me, still fierce, and I ask her what’s wrong.
“Those two… They’re no ordinary humans.” She leads with quite the unsettling statement.
By the way, I conjured a soundproof barrier around us so they can’t hear our conversation.
Liza continues, “The older sister claimed that she’s ‘somewhat of a magic device.’ Her brother is probably something similar.”
She elaborates, but I still don’t understand. What does she mean by tweaking her body around?
I scan them with my own mana level measuring gadget, which is stuck to my eyeball─Mija’s Crystal (Upgraded Edition)─but I don’t see anything particularly odd. My Mija’s Crystal doesn’t really differentiate demons and monsters, anyway.
If they’re non-human and dangerous, they could be a Devil Lord or devils. I have a vague idea of how to distinguish them.
Yulia is watching anime on the sofa with her back turned to me.
While I stare intently at her backside, I can faintly feel someone’s gaze on me. I ignore it, though.
“Yup, she’s got all of them.”
I have the ability to visualize the conceptualized forms of one’s mana level if I try really hard. They look like threads that grow out of the person’s back. The number of threads on their back is their maximum achievable mana level. Out of those, the threads attached to the ground represent their current mana level.
I don’t know about the Devil Lord, but devils don’t have these threads. Or maybe they do, and I just need to try harder to see them. I’m not gonna bother. It’s too exhausting.
But I’m able to see Yulia’s clearly.
Next, I look at her younger brother who’s facing me. I need him to turn around in order to get a look at his back.
“Hey, can you turn around for a second?” I ask.
He completely ignores my request.
His sister says, “Uranis, turn your back to him.”
She goes ahead and orders him before I even ask her. Her brother turns around without saying a word.
Fine, then.
Without further ado, I get a good look.
Yup, this one’s normal, too. He has the exact same number of threads as what my Mija’s Crystal displays.
“Thanks, you can turn back around,” I say. He ignores me. Yulia tells him, “You’re good, Uranis,” and he faces this way again.
What the hell, man?
“He’s not a devil, to say the least,” I conclude.
If he were a devil in disguise, that’d be a whole other story. But I see no reason to disclose what these kids are. Just like Flay and Liza, they may not be human, but they’re the type you can have a rational conversation with.
“I guess it’s fine if you say so, Sir Haruto.”
Liza lets out an expression of genuine relief.
Just in case my judgment is wrong, I increase Char’s defense with two more layers of barriers.
Moving on.
The way Yulia’s eyes dance and sparkle as she watches anime reminds me of Char.
I doubt she’s a bad kid.
“Hey,” I address Yulia, “do you understand what they’re saying?”
“Yes, I’m finally getting used to it.”
“Is understanding a foreign language a matter of getting used to?”
“Once you grasp the characteristics of the language, the rest is just a matter of getting used to. I can infer what the vocabulary means based on the context. But there are certain nouns I don’t understand as a concept, so I’m still struggling.”
I don’t know what she means by that, but I gather that she’s quite something.
Yulia exclaims, “Oh! Here comes the transformation scene! I love this part! I wanna try it.”
Char responds, “To be honest, I’ve always wanted to reenact it, too! I’ll ask Brother Haruto later─oh, I mean, if he has time, that is.”
“Is this something Haruto can do upon request?”
The two girls turn to look at me.
I mean, I probably can.
“Wow, Haruto. You must be quite skillful. Not even I could pull off something like switching costumes while conjuring lighting effects.”
“Making lights go fwaaah might be something we could manage,” says Char.
“Given my affinity, I’d have to rely on Fire magic. But my Fire magic skills are substandard. Char, you’re good at Light magic, right?”
“I may be able to do it if that’s the only thing I have to focus on… Oh! I could simply infuse the spell into a magic device.”
“Like the armband on the girl who’s transforming right now?” Yulia points to the screen.
Char nods, “Yes. All magical girls have a special item to transform with.”
Well, aKsHUaLly, there are some exceptions… I decide to keep my mouth shut.
In any case, these two are really hitting it off.
“Ooh, transforming is so cool,” sighs Yulia. “Going from an ordinary girl to an extraordinary magical girl at the switch of a costume─my spine is tingling!”
“Indeed, it’s invigorating!”
Yup, I agree.
Yulia seems like an extrovert, but she loves her some otaku-targeted content. I never imagined I’d see one in an alternate universe: the popular cheerleader girl archetype who’s kind to geeks and otakus. Not sure if she’s a popular cheerleader type, though.
“Char, don’t you think it’ll be fun if we do this in the Four Knights Match?”
“You may be right!─Oh, but I don’t know if we’ll be on the same team…”
“We will! Look how wonderfully we get along.”
I’m sorry to burst your bubbles of hope, girls, but there’s no way you two will be on the same team. It’s sad, I know, but that’s the reality.
Just as I’m feeling sorry for them, I remember that it’s too dangerous to mess around with the team roster at this point. It’s already in the headmistress’s hands.
The least I could do to alleviate their disappointment is to start working on their transformation kit.
“For now, I can start preparing the costume for the two of you,” I offer.
“Brother Haruto!”
Char leaps up in surprise and joy. She warms my heart.
“Can you make that four?” asks Yulia. “One for Uranis. And another for Iris.”
Iris? Why her? Did you befriend her, too?
Not wanting to sound like I’m probing, I decide not to ask. And one for your brother? I eye him with utter displeasure.
“I… I have to do that…too?” he whispers.
For the first time, I witness his expression change to a look of utter despair.