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Lineage of Feelings
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At the Barwitch Magic School, there existed an enormous library. Books regarding magic were stored there, but they were not open to the public. There were some valuable books among them. It existed to improve the knowledge of students and to store the magical bibliographies of the entire Barwitch region in the eastern territory of the kingdom. Although lending was not permitted, students were allowed to read inside the library. The fact that I was allowed to enter there was entirely thanks to my connections.
Thank you, Dwayne.
At that moment, there were tons of things I wanted to read. But the first thing I wanted to investigate was the warrior situation in that country. Although I wasn’t well-versed in global affairs, since I had decided to live as a warrior, I wanted to understand what kinds of warriors existed and what roles they played. This was related to my future. I had experienced small-scale conflicts in that kingdom, but I had never properly understood whether there were wars between foreign countries or not.
I was mentally reset after getting my ass kicked by Gnome-sama. I was eager to investigate, but the place was so vast that I quickly grew frustrated. The bookshelves, towering along the walls, required a ladder to reach the top. Furthermore, a platform surrounded the upper part, with even more bookshelves piled up beyond that. It seemed to have an open structure. However, if I were to give up here, my willpower would be far too weak.
I’ll do my best.
—
I spent the whole day in between picking up and dropping off Rinalee. I was originally good at reading books. During my childhood, in the Aldridge Household’s library, I had no choice but to endlessly read books.
Thanks to that, I could somewhat understand what a warrior is.
First, the era when the Elindrowa Kingdom frequently fought wars has long passed. So, the idea of fighting for the country seems outdated. However, the small country of Freidenhen, which was a vassal state of the kingdom in the northeast, had its land taken due to war, and it became a conflict zone. From the neighboring country to the east, Arkerberk, which has a magic university, many warriors and soldiers are sent to Freidenhen, throwing themselves into the battle. In other words, if I want to become a warrior and fight, I should go to that country and fight as a soldier or mercenary. That’s one option.
Another option is to serve in the knight orders or the royal guard within the country. The most elite course is said to be the Royal Palace Knight Order. It is a knight order that serves the royal family in the royal palace.
Other well-known ones include the Melpeque Church’s Holy Order of Knights. Although it seems like a knight order with strong religious ties, it isn’t very closely connected to the Melpeque Church and is quite an independent order. What they do is defend sacred lands and secure holy relics designated by the church, and they are said to be a small, elite force. Well, I know about them all too well. Colin and Giovanni Battista… they’ve appeared as enemies so far, and I don’t have a very good image of them.
Next is the “Royal Guard” of the Elindrowa Kingdom. This is dispatched to various towns, and the name “Royal Guard” is attached to the towns. Normally, their job is to guard the town, and in times of national crisis, they are summoned to somewhere else. I don’t have a very good image of these guys either. The Dali Amor Royal Guard was involved in the kidnapping of children along with the Light’s Droplet Orchestra.
Hmm… There are too many with bad impressions in the books. By process of elimination, I could either fight as a mercenary in Arkerberk or protect the royal family as part of the Royal Palace Knight Order in the capital. Soldier or knight. Mercenary or order.
At this point, maybe I should just create a new secular knight order instead of joining an existing combat unit. No, then it would be no different from forming an adventurer party, right? It’s a tricky thing. Well, I’ve learned something, and it helped me organize my knowledge of what kinds of combat situations exist in the modern day.
—
As usual, I practiced the instrument in the corner of the schoolyard until Rinalee returned.
That day, there was no swordsmanship training. The reason was that I had bought a new instrument and sheet music, so I wanted to focus on playing the instrument. The lute didn’t have enough strings to play, so at that time I was practicing the mandolin. The sheet music was for “Highlander’s Inferno.” It had lyrics, so I could have sung as well. But since I had never sung before, I didn’t.
From the first movement to the fourth movement—the sheet music wasn’t too difficult overall. It seemed that sheet music handled by bards wasn’t very complex because the main focus was on the singing. I continued playing in a frenzy. Since that area was unpopular, I wouldn’t be scolded for making loud noises. As expected of what Medna-san had hoped for, I might have had talent. I didn’t struggle much with pressing the strings.
It was quite fun. It was fun, but I felt somewhat complicated. That was a warrior’s song.
Medna-san dislikes warriors, so why did she let me listen to this?
At first, I didn’t pay much attention, but when I read through the sheet music, I found that the lyrics were strange.
The first movement went like this.
――――Ah, magnificently, the princess laments the tyrant’s invasion.
――――Before the land where even the grass and trees have withered, why does our god Heiler not save us?
――――Submitting, I continued to offer prayers, and in the end, the warrior descended.
――――A mighty hero dressed in jet-black clothes. The color of his eyes, indeed, seems to see the laws of all things.
The lyrics have a sense of tragic heroism, but in the end, the warrior appears like a savior. But the phrase “A mighty hero dressed in jet-black clothes” feels oddly out of place. Heroes are usually associated with white, pure images, but jet-black gives off a dark side impression.
Also, a warrior seeing “the laws of all things”? “Laws of all things” is probably a concept pursued by mages. Is the warrior seeing the same thing as a mage? The more I think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense. Well, poems are like that… But something still bothers me.
―――The sound of rustling leaves reached my ears.
A presence of someone behind me. When I got engrossed, time flew, and it seemed like it was the time for students to leave.
Could it be Patrick-kun again? He’s been sacrificed many times because of my carelessness.
“…Onii-chan?” (Rinalee)
“What is it, Rinalee? You’re early today.” (Jack)
I’ve already gotten used to being called Onii-chan. In the Aldridge Household, I’m the youngest. Now it seems that the second junior is considered the youngest. I’ve been completely erased as a person. I’m treated like air. Ah, I want to somehow get into the Aldridge mansion. And then, I want to assert my presence and meet my father and mother to settle things.
I put the mandolin back into its case and stood up. Rinalee was staring up at the scene, stunned.
It feels odd. Normally, she would stand up and distance herself from me in fear of my pants attack, but today that didn’t happen.
“…What’s wrong, Rinalee?” (Jack)
“――Ah! …N-Nothing at all!” (Rinalee)
But, just a little odd. As soon as I spoke to her, she turned back into the usual angry Rinalee.
It’s a bit different from the sharpness of Yustin. It’s the usual mysterious little girl, always angry. Her body probably feels soft and squishy. Squishy, angry Rinalee. If I were to give her a nickname like with Yustin, it would be “Punary”. Let’s call her “Punary.”
—
And then, Punary repeated the same reaction the next day and the day after. She quietly crept up behind me, silently listening to my performance. It felt like she was hiding behind a tree, observing me from a distance.
She probably thought she wasn’t noticed, but her completely red figure stood out quite a bit against the green scenery. I once pretended not to notice and ignored it, but she just kept observing from afar. Sometimes she’d try to get closer from behind, but her sneaky steps were so bad that I immediately noticed her presence.
When I turned around with a sense of fun, she hurriedly hid behind a tree, but her red fluttering mini-skirt stood out quite a lot in the brushwood. I thought it was cute and left it alone, but somehow, it started bothering me. I couldn’t concentrate on mandolin practice.
“Hmm…” (Jack)
I propped my cheek up with my hand. Today, I came to eat dinner at the Conran Inn where Shia works. I recently learned that Shia works at the Conran Inn. And, in an apron dress. Her appearance reminded me of the maid I saw at the Stride Household. In other words, it could be called a maid outfit. When I found out about it later, it was quite shocking, but it seemed like Shia herself wanted to hide it.
Well, even though it’s a maid outfit, she’s just the food serving assistant. Now that I think about it, Nancy-san wore the same clothes, so it wasn’t really that out of place.
“Wrinkles between your eyebrows” (Shia)
The half-elf in a maid outfit flicked my forehead.
Is flicking becoming a trend lately?
It was already quite late, and the number of customers had decreased a lot. Since her part-time job was almost over, Shia sat down next to my table to take a break. Apparently, the inn was doing quite well because of Shia’s maid outfit. But after all, it was a rural village, a guesthouse, and a restaurant. Once it got late, there were very few people.
I went to the Conran Inn to pick up Shia, who worked late into the night. I was always the one to pick her up. It reminded me of the days at the Simnon Inn in Azarigrad. Shia seemed to be observing my reaction. Shia was almost expressionless, but I could understand what she wanted from subtle differences in her gestures.
“Ah, no, it’s about Punary.” (Jack)
“Who is that?” (Shia)
“Huh? Oh, I meant Rinalee.” (Jack)
I accidentally said the nickname I had only thought in my mind out loud.
“What about Rinalee-san?” (Shia)
I told her in detail about Punary’s recent behavior. I thought Shia might give me some useful advice.
“Are you the type of guy who wants to be friends with Rinalee anyway?” (Shia)
“What’s with that ‘type of guy’?” (Jack)
“Lost-san is a guy, after all.” (Shia)
Where does she get these odd phrases from?
“Well, we haven’t talked much in the past week, and it’s awkward in the mornings and evenings. At least I want to clear up that much.” (Jack)
“You’ll have to approach her yourself.” (Shia)
“I tried, but she ignored me.” (Jack)
“Maybe you did something scary again recently?” (Shia)
I wonder about that. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t Rinalee, but I did scare a boy named Patrick once. I told her about that incident in detail.
“Well, that’s scary.” (Shia)
“I knew it was scary.” (Jack)
“If a sword suddenly flies at you from the front, anyone would be scared.” (Shia)
“That’s true…” (Jack)
What a bad timing. Not just Patrick-kun, but Punary, who witnessed it, would definitely be scared too. I shouldn’t have done such a weird training. But when both hands are occupied, I thought it would be convenient to deflect the sword with a kick.
Have I made it to an irreparable level of being disliked? It’s shocking because she’s Alfred and Lindsey’s child. I get along with those two, but why doesn’t it go well with their daughter? Is it a matter of age?
I lowered my head onto the table in front of me.
“Perhaps Rinalee-chan might want to get closer to Jack-san.” (Nancy)
A voice called out from behind me. When I turned around, Nancy-san was there. She still had her golden, wavy hair lightly tied behind her and was wearing an apron. Even though it had been a while since we last met, she was completely normal.
“Ah, could it be Jack-san?”, it was a light response.
By the way, how old is she now? She hasn’t changed a bit since the old days.
“Eh, no way…” (Jack)
I dramatically waved my hand up.
“Girl’s hearts are like the autumn sky. Her feelings are complicated, you see.” (Nancy)
“Is that so? Even for a 5-year-old girl?” (Jack)
“It might just feel like she stumbled from the start.” (Nancy)
In that case, maybe it’s okay to try approaching her again. I’m not good at handling children.
“I’ll start clearing the table now.” (Nancy)
It seemed that Nancy-san noticed me slumping on the table. She moved me aside and carried the table away. Apparently, cleaning would start early tomorrow.
“Sorry for the trouble. I’ll wait outside.” (Jack)
“Hehehe… Shia-san was very popular again today.” (Nancy)
“Is that so?” (Jack)
“Please don’t be jealous. I’ll protect you.” (Nancy)
“…Isn’t Nancy-san more popular as the poster girl?” (Jack)
“Oh my, you’re saying something nice.” (Nancy)
That seems to be true, though. Shia seems to have too bad of a temper. Some customers like that, but as a staff member, it’s probably not ideal.
I left the Conran Inn. The air around there was clean. Looking up at the stars, a sky full of stars spread out. The sound of insects was loud. It felt like my heart was being cleansed. I liked that rural town, Soltaire. That day, I had been looking for books at the library, so I was more tired than usual. I decided to wrap it up quickly and return to the Liberta Mansion with Shia.
—
Today, I will ask her about her true feelings. Punary, don’t underestimate your Onii-chan. This morning, I didn’t have the energy to talk to her because I was too sleepy, but today, after a good nap, I’m full of energy. I’ll just behave like usual and wait for Punary while practicing my mandolin.
I waited while playing “Highlander’s Inferno”. After a while, as usual, I sensed her presence. No doubt, it’s Punary’s presence. I pulled back as far as I could.
Punary was gradually getting closer from behind. She was moving from shade to shade, holding her breath. She was quite good at it. It was clear that she had been training every morning with Alfred.
Not only had she built her stamina, but she had probably also been taught how to approach an enemy using cover. That was some serious elite education.
“Pun… Rinalee!” (Jack)
“…!” (Rinalee)
I called out when I had pulled her in. I turned around while sitting on the ground and confirmed the girl’s presence. It seemed like I had called out just as she was moving from one tree to the next, and she was standing there, bewildered.
“…” (Rinalee)
We stared at each other. Usually, I would say something like, “Shall we go?” or “What are you doing?” to brush her off, but today is different. I had been consulting with Shia and had thought about the right way to talk to her.
“Have you gotten used to school?” (Jack)
“…” (Rinalee)
She didn’t answer. I had anticipated that she wouldn’t answer.
“I couldn’t go to school, so I’m curious about what it’s like.” (Jack)
“……Hmm…” (Rinalee)
Alright, she’s reacting a bit.
“So, if you don’t mind, could you tell me what school is like?” (Jack)
Rinalee is absolutely confident in her fire magic and has a lot of self-confidence. I confirmed this when she reacted after I canceled her “fireball”. So, it’s possible that she intuitively dislikes the idea of me being the one to break her confidence. If I act humble and lift up the world she knows, which I don’t, she’ll probably start talking and the conversation will expand from there. Yeah, this is like entertaining her. But I have to start from here.
“…Alright.” (Rinalee)
Yes, here it comes. The response I was hoping for. Things are going smoothly.
“But there’s a condition.” (Rinalee)
“Eh?” (Jack)
A trade-off, huh. Ugh, I didn’t anticipate that. I never thought a 5-year-old girl would present such a thing. She really is Alfred’s child. I can’t underestimate her.
“W-What is it…?” (Jack)
Rinalee started to blush and fidget.
It must be something hard to say. Could it be that she’s asking me to forget about the pantsy thing? I don’t care about that anymore.
Rinalee crossed her arms behind her back and began to stir up the fallen leaves with the tips of her shoes.
“I… I want to… you know… have it too…” (Rinalee)
“Huh? What?” (Jack)
I missed hearing her important request. But her voice was so quiet that it couldn’t be helped. Maybe she got irritated because I didn’t understand her, as she suddenly shouted out loudly.
“I want you to teach me too—!!” (Rinalee)
Rinalee pointed at the mandolin that I was holding in my arms.
“An instrument?” (Jack)
“…Yeah.” (Rinalee)
“You’re interested in instruments?” (Jack)
“Y-Yeah.” (Rinalee)
I see, so that was it. Could it be that the reason Rinalee seemed strange was because I was practicing playing the mandolin? She probably wanted to play music just like me, and that’s why she was curious. Is asking someone for lessons really that embarrassing? Rinalee’s face was bright red.
She turned her face away and closed her eyes. It might have been difficult for her to suddenly ask for lessons.
“Ah, of course. I can teach you as much as you want.” (Jack)
“Really?” (Rinalee)
At my answer, Rinalee’s eyes sparkled.
“Do you want to hear more? I’ll play for you, so come over here.” (Jack)
I said that, and then I suddenly realized something. At that moment, a sense of déjà vu resurfaced. The stone-paved plaza of Soltaire. The boy sitting there and the wandering minstrel woman.
—If you want to hear more, I’ll let you hear another song. Come over here.
“Yay!” (Rinalee)
As if all the previous awkwardness had been a lie, Rinalee raised her arms in joy and rushed over to me. Then, she sat down right next to me. She’s such a simple one, I thought, but right now, that made me happy.
“Well, the only thing I can play is this.” (Jack)
Saying that, I played “Highlander’s Inferno”. Just like back then. The positions were reversed, though.
Rinalee listened to the sound happily. From the sorrowful melody to the intense, fiery tones of battle, and then to the orderly rhythm of the song that sang of legends.
I wonder if Medna-sama felt like this.
“Do you want to try playing?” (Jack)
“Is it okay?” (Rinalee)
“Yeah, like this, you hold it and press the strings with your left fingers, and strum with this pick.” (Jack)
Rinalee was struggling a lot with the large instrument, which was almost as big as her. But she was desperately trying to play it. The sound was a mess, far from a melody, but Rinalee was deeply interested in the instrument.
“Wow! Amazing, amazing!” (Rinalee)
A mandolin is a bit too much for Rinalee. It was cheap, so I’ll give her the lute I bought first as a present.
“There are some simpler ones too. I’ll give you that instrument, Rinalee.” (Jack)
“Eh, is it okay?!” (Rinalee)
“Yeah.” (Jack)
“Yay! Thank you, Onii-chan!” (Rinalee)
Rinalee smiled broadly.
That was the same smile as Lindsay’s. Her mother told me to protect her. Of course. It felt like I was finally recognized as Rinalee’s Onii-chan. It started with something small, but I guess it’s important not to miss those chances. And it’s also a joy for me that the way to play the instrument is being passed down like this. The things Medna-sama taught me are being passed on like this.
—What’s important is not to think about playing difficult things, but to play with your heart.
Not to think too hard.
That wasn’t just about playing the instrument. As I looked at Rinalee, desperately holding the mandolin, I thought I should at least pass that on.
I don’t know how much a small phrase like that will get through. But each word and thought gets passed down like this across generations. That’s probably what human endeavors are all about.
“What’s important is not to think about playing difficult things, but to play with your heart.” (Jack)
Thank you, Medna-san.
I pressed my fingers to my eyes and thought of the now-deceased person I admired.
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