Early in the morning, a single figure was moving in the courtyard, which should have been deserted.
The young girl carefully moved her petite body, executing a series of moves while throwing her tiny fists.
The girl Lily had nicknamed Sleepyhead—Mule Esse Eisbert—was engaged in endless martial arts practice in the early hours of the morning before the sun came up.
Her face was twisted in pain as she removed her running shoes and used a towel to wipe her bare feet, which were bloodied from burst blisters.
I wondered how long a person had to practice to achieve her level of proficiency.
Frowning from the pain, she continued her early morning training, sweating profusely, with movements that even the untrained eye could see were those of an expert.
“……”
After observing her daily routine, which she never skipped, I returned to my room.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was the day of the welcome party for new students.
The hall at Fraum was packed with new students, and the dorm manager stood there with tears in her eyes. Meanwhile, I stuck my hands in my pockets and slipped out.
I was behind the Fraum building where no one was watching—backstage, enshrouded in darkness, where flashes of purple and blue shone, facing the person who had been waiting for me.
I was covered with blood, and standing before me was Chris, who drew a spiral—and opened her Magic Eye called The Spiral Party Stick.
I listened to the sound of blood dripping from my fingertips and looked up at the stars above.
I exhaled under the cold sky, covered my face with one hand—and opened my Magic Eye, The Tale at Dawn.
All around me, the air became red and black, dyed in an intermittent hell.
The jet-black and crimson dusk entered my limbs and enveloped my nerves, and a vast amount of magic power was released from the depths of the abyss.
It was as if a purgatory had appeared.
The smell of my entire burning body filled the air, and at dawn, a poem about Hiiro Sanjo was etched into the world.
In my hands, the blade of my Masamune Kuki—was dyed crimson.
“Fifteen seconds.”
I turned Hiiro’s eyes toward Chris as she stood stunned.
“I’ll finish this in fifteen seconds.”
I stared at her with my eyes, burned red by the setting sun—and a flash of light appeared.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was a week before the welcome party for new students.
For some reason, I was looking for a tent with my master, Astemir.
We were at a home improvement center, where I was totally enthralled in setting up Tsukiori’s magic. We were out on a Friday for the first time in a while, and I was glancing over the many tents the store offered next to the silver-colored elf.
My master squatted before the products aligned in the outdoor products section, groaning as her braided hair swayed to and fro.
She was looking at a tent for one.
“Hiiro, do you think a tent for one person would be okay?”
“…Um, why don’t you tell me why you want to choose this one?”
She was wearing a cute outfit consisting of a gray jacket and pleated skirt, and she gave me a gentle squeeze. She smelled plenty good and was soft enough to knock out a healthy boy with her charm.
Her breath tickled my ears, and I couldn’t help twitching in reaction.
“It looks good. It helps that you were born in a convenient size to serve as a yardstick.”
My master took a step away from me with a smile.
“Yeah, but please tell me why this one interests you. People can only understand each other through discussion.”
“It’s for practice. Starting today, we’ll be staying overnight for three days—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—to train. I thought we’d need a tent, sleeping bags, your family seal for identification, your organ donation consent card, and other miscellaneous items.”
“You can be declared brain-dead based on what you just said, so why don’t you go ahead and donate your organs somewhere?”
“So, we’re good with this tent… Right!!”
“No, not right. Don’t ignore me and decide on your own. You have to double-check these things.”
“Okay, okay!!”
“I didn’t ask you to say okay twice with gusto.”
I squeezed the index finger she held up, indicating we were taking the tent.
“What’s this about training over the weekend? It’s the first I’ve heard of it. Give me back the excitement I felt when you embraced me a minute ago. Do you think a tent for one would be a perfect fit for the two of us if we cling together? An elf who can’t even keep her brain settled in her head shouldn’t make assumptions like that.”
“Oh, there will be three of us, not two.”
Sporting a beige knit top and leather short pants, Rei peeked her head from behind a shelf in the back and came briskly toward us.
Her head was down as she finger-combed her hair and looked up at me.
“H-hi. I heard you were here, brother, dear, and I couldn’t help myself from joining you…”
“Who’s the idiot who brainwashed my beloved sister?!”
“…A-an internet café.”
The cherished daughter of the Sanjo family had looked up examples of humor at some internet café that killed her brain cells.
“The person behind me chose this outfit. Do you like me in this modern style?”
With her hands clasped behind her back, she showed off her body and caught me with her eyes hidden under her long lashes.
Perhaps because of her Sanjo family upbringing, it was rare for her to show her naked legs when she usually preferred wearing long skirts.
Staring at her thighs, shaded distinctly by the hustling white light that shone from the ceiling lights, I hit myself in the head with a nearby pot.
“H-Hiiro…? Even if you hurt yourself with that pot, the broth you get will be red…”
“It’s a good pot. A single hit blew dark thoughts out of my mind as if it knew exactly what I was thinking. I’d like to give it the title My Heart and display it in a museum.”
I paid for the pot that was now dented and went back to my master.
“Look at this pot. It doesn’t look like it will go back to its original form, right? It’s me.”
“Why did you keep hitting your head with it on your way to the cashier? Did you mistake your head for the bar code scanner and try to compensate with a self-checkout?”
Pressing my head against my mentor’s back, I quietly told her the price: Free of charge.
As I stepped away from my master, Rei came snuggling up to me.
I slowly moved away from her.
Then she came closer to me, and my lips trembled.
This was a track-and-follow destructive missile for guys who got stuck between yuri girls…! I didn’t know they’d finished making it…!!
Still smiling, Rei gazed at me, but she looked away when our eyes met.
A few seconds later, I felt her heated gaze on me again, and my body started trembling involuntarily.
“M-Master… What is Rei doing here…?”
“I asked her if she wanted to come, since she looked bored. What a fantastic master I am, going so far as to even think about your sister. The world must be proud of me. Hee-hee! Hiiro, aren’t you proud of me?”
“So, you’re another enemy of mine, huh?”
She delivered a thrust to my master’s side as she continued to brag, then struck back, playfully tangling themselves up with each other in the outdoor goods section.
Then I heard a thud. My left side felt the impact.
I looked in that direction and saw that Rei was timidly putting her fist into my side.
She had turned her face down but glanced at me quickly, looking worried.
“There you go, that’s one strike. I’m not getting enough training, especially in the romance department.”
I tapped her head as gently as I could.
Rei smiled happily and looked at me with longing in her eyes.
It must have been a while since she’d had this kind of interaction with a family member. That was why The Rei Route depicted how Sakura Tsukiori and Rei Sanjo became family.
Because I knew Rei’s situation, there was no way that I could ignore her now. I patted her on the head and brushed off her clumsy attempts to have me pamper her.
“So, anyway, Master. When did you get to know Rei?”
“She and Lapis are buddies, and I often have chats with her online. I even sent her about a thousand stamps just the other day.”
“Stop indiscriminately bombarding her with stamps. All you’ll have left will be a wasteland of unread messages.”
I sighed and turned my attention to the tent for single use.