I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 105
Inconvenience.
Olivia turned the word over in her mouth once more.
Inconvenience. Whether it was the sharp edges of the characters themselves, or simply because she was rolling it around in her mouth, a sting spread through her chest as if pricked by thorns.
“I, well, that’s why…”
Perhaps for that reason, she stumbled over her words in a way unlike herself, and then nothing more would come. Only shallow breath escaped between trembling lips, devoid of substance.
His words were not wrong. Olivia bit her lip once, hard, then answered on a sigh.
“I’m sorry……”
Whatever she said would be an excuse. That she hadn’t known this would happen, that she’d done her best—there were many things she could say, but none of them made what had happened right, no matter how justified.
An uncontrolled variable. That was, after all, nothing but a danger regardless of the outcome.
Yugin, who had been watching the two of them in silence, said nothing at all. He simply closed the open door quietly and left. Understanding that this was kindness in its own way, Olivia offered him silent thanks.
After Yugin was gone, only Olivia and Aiden remained in the room. A heavy, suffocating silence hung between them.
Aiden’s face was shadowed, turned away from the light. Because of it, his expression carried an unusually cold and resolute glint.
“If you’re going to apologize, stop here.”
“Brother.”
“Let’s not do this.”
Not do what?
At his vague words, Olivia pushed herself up a little higher. Aiden startled and moved to support her back, then jerked his hand away just as quickly and stepped back.
“What does ‘not do this’ mean?”
“I mean, so—”
“Surely you’re not asking me to rehash everything we settled before from the beginning. I won’t listen to that.”
She’d already had to argue about joining the Lux Knight Brigade for some time. Through that process, she’d had quite a few conversations with him. Moreover, their wager was still ongoing.
In response to Olivia’s words, Aiden bit his lip hard and leaned toward her as he spoke.
“Your Mana reversed again today. Did you know that?”
“……I’m aware something similar occurred.”
“Then you know you nearly died once before because of it.”
She did know. She’d experienced it already during the Field Training Exercise.
This time was no different. In the final moment, her Mana had reversed again, and though she’d tried to forcibly control it, she couldn’t completely ignore the backlash.
And perhaps that was a side effect from connecting with Defensor. Olivia sensed it instinctively.
“……But I controlled it better than before.”
“If that were really true, you wouldn’t be in such terrible shape!”
“So what exactly do you want me to stop doing? Withdraw from the mission? Or leave this Knight Order?”
“You felt it yourself today, didn’t you? With your current condition, the Demon King’s Authority? That’s not even the problem—you can’t even properly face a Demon Beast. Do you really not understand that?”
“I understand. But just because I can’t do it now doesn’t mean I won’t be able to in the future!”
There was nothing wrong with what Aiden said. Right now, Olivia was in no shape to face Demon Beasts at all—she’d be fortunate simply not to collapse in their presence.
But this time was different from before. Unlike that day, Olivia had managed to suppress the Mana reversal, and it had been quite successful. This meant she was progressing.
“I can do it. I’ll find something I can manage. You’re against this only because you’ve only seen me fail—”
“How? By throwing yourself in front of it again? How is that any different from gambling with your life?”
“……I’ve thought about it carefully too, and I’ll try to find the safest method I can.”
“Don’t make me laugh. You think I’ll just stand by and watch you experiment with your own life?”
Aiden was unyielding, and Olivia’s determination was equally firm. The voices of two people with no room for compromise grew steadily louder.
“When did I ever say I’d pick up the sword and charge forward right now? I said I’d look for what I can do. Why are you opposed to even that?”
“Olivia, Olivia. Please, please lose interest in this. What exactly can you do? Why, so you can pick up that cursed sword again and train and—and throw yourself in front of it? You know the reversal this time was because of that sword!”
“H-how did you……?”
Olivia had only been guessing about that. But how could Aiden possibly be certain?
Aiden’s gaze fixed savagely on the Defensor standing nearby. His fists were clenched so tightly they had gone white.
“Do you know what you did to that sword earlier?”
“What do you mean, what did I do?”
“That Mana Stone you’ve been hiding. Do you know where it is now?”
Well, that would be in my pocket—
Thunk.
Aiden picked up Defensor and dropped it onto the bed with a dull thud. The blade crackled and sparked in his grasp, but Aiden bore it as though he felt no pain at all.
And in the next moment, Olivia’s eyes went wide.
The grooves in Defensor that should have been completely empty—a red gem glinted there, embedded in place.
Now that she thought about it, before she’d completely lost consciousness, she’d remembered something. Buried memories began to creep to the surface. Olivia’s face went pale.
“A sword that uses the Demon King’s power as fuel. Quite an interesting story, isn’t it?”
“This is……”
“You think you can control this right now, in this state? Do you really believe that’s possible?”
The old Olivia, seeing the Mana Stone, had certainly thought she *should* use it for Defensor. But it was Defensor that had stopped her.
But now it had been installed?
How did this even happen?
Her mind grew too tangled, as if it might split open at any moment. So what she was saying was—the Mana Stone recovered from the Demonized Demon Beast had now become something like the core of Defensor?
“You’re withdrawing from this. I warned you clearly.”
But she could not accept that words alone.
“……This sword is mine. Whether now or someday, I have to be able to control it, and working toward that is only natural. I don’t know how this happened, but finding that out is my responsibility too.”
Aiden stared at Olivia with eyes gone dark as pitch.
“If this sword troubles me, I won’t use it for now. But I can’t withdraw from the mission. And I’m not leaving the Lux Knight Brigade.”
“Olivia.”
She understood what he feared. The emotions flickering across his face were, in the end, the true heart of his concern for her.
“Do you really not understand why I’m saying this?”
“I understand. That’s precisely why I’m doing this!”
This must be his way of protecting her. It was the only way he knew how.
But for how long? Was a life spent in a safe place with all danger removed, sitting quietly and simply savoring the peace granted to her, truly a safe life?
This was the question she had been putting to him ever since their reunion. And the answer had always been no.
She did not want safety for herself alone. She wanted happiness together with him.
“How long will this last? How long are you going to see me as nothing but a sister who needs protecting?”
“Even if you weren’t my sister and I weren’t your close brother, I would have said the same thing.”
“That’s a lie.”
Olivia flatly denied his words. It was certainly a lie.
The blanket crinkled beneath Olivia’s grip, creasing with a soft rustle.
“Even if it’s dangerous and hard, I clearly said I want to endure it together. That’s my decision and my will.”
“What about how I feel watching you suffer and struggle?”
“And what about you? You endure and struggle alone every time, and I know it, but I have no choice but to watch helplessly. You never think about how I feel, do you? Tell me I’m wrong.”
Eyes of different colors clashed fiercely in the empty air. Aiden’s lips trembled several times at her words before he forced out a response.
“……Is that wrong?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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