Her family’s conduct grated on Allen, but he stifled it with a heavy sigh. “Well, it’s my fault for not asking you earlier... I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Charlotte.”
“Wh-Why are you apologizing?”
“It’s not too late, Sir Allen,” Gosetsu jumped in, putting a paw on Allen’s shoulder. “Why don’t we launch an ambush on enemy territory right now? I’ll do everything I can to back you up.”
“No, wait. Let’s concentrate on the most immediate thing for now, all right?” Allen reasoned with a straight face. The idea of making a raid on the enemy was tempting, but he couldn’t waste another second of his time. He slowly rose to his feet and declared, his voice rising from the pit of his stomach, “All right! I’ve decided, Charlotte!”
“Oh? About what?” Charlotte asked, round-eyed.
“Tomorrow, we’ll hold a grand celebration for—”
“I’m here, dear sister!” The door behind Allen banged open, and a ball of bloodthirsty animosity flew toward him.
“Whoa?!” Allen spun around and parried the approaching knee kick with his palm, using the momentum to knock the assailant back. His opponent landed lightly on her feet with a click of her tongue.
“Not bad, Dark Overlord. It’s tricky to land a blow even when I catch you off guard.” The attacker threw him a sharp glare. Of course, it was none other than Natalia. She was still dressed in the uniform of Athena School of Magic, with a big rucksack on her back.
“You little... What do you think you’re doing?! You can’t just barge in and pounce on your teacher and brother-in-law!” Allen shouted.
“Who are you calling brother-in-law?! I haven’t accepted your courtship yet!”
Charlotte’s mouth was hanging open at her sister’s sudden appearance, but she soon came to herself and greeted her with a bright smile. “Welcome, Natalia!”
“My dear sister!” Natalia flew to Charlotte and hugged her tight, her animosity vanishing instantly. When she was like that, she looked just like an ordinary young girl. She looked up at her older sister with sparkling eyes, apparently forgetting all about how she’d just tried to kill Allen with all her might. “I’ve come to play with you! Is today a good time to visit?”
“Of course, I’m so happy you’re here. But it’s not good to quarrel with Allen, you know. I have to tell you, bad girl.”
“N-No, that wasn’t a quarrel,” Natalia mumbled. “It’s part of the training. There’s a rule that an apprentice can make a sudden attack on their teacher at any time.”
“R-Really? Being a teacher is hard work,” Charlotte said.
“I’m sure that kick had nothing to do with training... More like something much more malicious...” Allen sighed. He still ruffled Natalia’s hair, though. “Anyway, I won’t say I’m not welcoming you. So, how did it go with Chris’s family? Did you pull it off?”
“Hmph, of course I did.” Natalia smacked away Allen’s hand with a scoff. Apparently, her big project to save her friend’s older sister had ended in success. Since Allen had been giving them lots of advice for their scheme, he was relieved to hear the news. Roo and Gosetsu gathered around Natalia too.
“Good to see you, Natalia. How’ve you been?” Roo said.
“You too, Roo. You’re as shiny and fluffy as ever,” Natalia replied.
“You’ve come a long way, young Natalia. You must be tired from the journey,” Gosetsu remarked.
“I’m all right. I had company this time,” Natalia said.
“Company?” Allen asked, cocking his head.
“That’s me,” Eluka said, carrying in a stack of huge boxes. She set them down in the corner of the room with a loud thud. “Phew, that was super heavy. How’d you like riding on the dragon, Natalia?”
“It was very comfortable—just as I’d expect from a dragon raised by Professor Liz.” Natalia nodded in mild excitement. “But I’m still surprised we could fly over here in just a couple of hours.”
Allen’s mother, Liselotte, was a magic beast specialist. The beasts that she hatched and raised had perfect health and discipline, and she always brought home the top prizes at beast shows. Natalia and Eluka’s flight must have been an easy journey with a dragon like that.
But Allen had so many more questions. Tilting his head, he pointed at the pile of boxes. “I get that Natalia wanted to see Charlotte, but what’re you doing here, Eluka? And what’s all this?”
“Oh, that? Hmm, you go ahead, Natalia—you can give her yours first. I’m happy to wait,” Eluka said.
“Well, if you say so...” Natalia exchanged a look with Eluka, then set down her rucksack with a little oof. She rummaged in the bag and produced a rectangular box in beautiful wrapping. She held it out to Charlotte with a big smile. “Here you go, dear sister. It’s a little early, but it’s your birthday present.”
“Oh?!” Charlotte stood motionless with wide-open eyes. Then she timidly took the box from Natalia, looking back and forth between her sister and the box. “M-My birthday... This is for me?”
“Yes. Since I couldn’t celebrate with you in the past, I wanted to give you something extra special this time. Please open it,” Natalia urged.
“O-Okay.” Charlotte opened the gift. Inside the box was a mirror. It wasn’t just any old mirror. Allen could tell at a glance that it was an enchanted mirror with a special spell.
“It’s a magic mirror,” Natalia explained. “There’s an artificial spirit attached to the mirror, so you can ask it about anything you want to know, and it lets you talk to people who are far away too.”
“Wow! It sounds very valuable—are you sure you’d like to give it to me?”
“Of course. I made it myself.” Natalia grinned with pride. Then she looked down meekly and fiddled with her fingers. “And if you don’t mind...it would be nice if you could call me once in a while. I have the same mirror, so...”
“Really?! I’d love to. Let’s call each other often, Natalia.”
“Yes! I’d love that!”
The sisters beamed at each other. The recent incidents seemed to have brought them very close together. This should have been a touching scene, but Allen watched them with a grimace.
Ugh, so she knew that it’s Charlotte’s birthday! It doesn’t surprise me...but I’m falling far behind! Charlotte’s birthday was an important event for him, but he hadn’t been able to prepare anything yet. This was a disgrace as her guardian, let alone her boyfriend. Just as he was getting desperate to make up for the late start, Eluka pulled one of the boxes from the stack.