I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 25

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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 25
The source of the commotion was Bennett and Sirius.
“Stop, please stop it. Sirius! What on earth are you doing!”
“Let go! I’m going to teach that bastard a lesson today.”
“Teach me a lesson? You? Don’t make me laugh, Sirius. You couldn’t even brush the hem of my robe.”
Why on earth were they fighting? Olivia genuinely could not make sense of their behavior.
They were in a forest teeming with monsters. Setting that aside, they were currently in the midst of their final Practical Training.
There was no doubt this ridiculous spectacle was being broadcast to the Command Room, and conflicts between team members would damage their training scores.
She couldn’t afford to lose precious points over something so absurd. Olivia stepped forward to mediate between them.
“Listen, both of you. Let’s calm down and talk about this—”
“You think you’re so great? What’s so outstanding about you that you treat people like this every single time!”
“Bennett. What’s wrong with you? Lower your voice.”
“Isn’t it obvious? Just because we came to the same Academy, you thought we’d somehow become equals, didn’t you?”
“Sirius. What are you even talking about? Stop it!”
“Well? At least in this Practical Training, my skills honed so far seem far more valuable than your precious noble bloodline, wouldn’t you say?”
More than anything, Olivia couldn’t believe that Bennett was showing this side of himself.
Bennett was one of the kindest people in the Knight Department. Not just Olivia, but everyone would think so. During her time as a student, she had never heard a single story of Bennett fighting with anyone. Not even a simple argument.
So why now?
“Hah. As if that changes the fact that you coveted someone else’s possession like a rat.”
“Be quiet, you two.”
“A rat? That’s rich. I was only asking legitimate questions. The real problem is you avoiding them. Did you do something wrong?”
“I said be quiet.”
“Thief. I knew it from the first time I saw you. Not knowing your place—”
They weren’t listening to her at all.
Olivia knew exactly what method to use in situations like this. It was a technique she’d learned surviving among Knight Department students brimming with vigor. And that was—
Clang!
“Yelp!”
“Gasp, wheeze. Hiccup.”
Finally, quiet. A satisfied smile played at Olivia’s lips.
“Y-you threw your sword to threaten us.”
“That’s not it, Daisy. This wasn’t threatening with a sword—it was ventilation of the atmosphere.”
“V-wheeze, threatening.”
“Try repeating after me. Ventilation.”
“Ventilation…….”
Daisy echoed Olivia as if under a spell.
That’s right—it was ventilation. These two, heated to the brink of striking blows, had their ears thoroughly blocked by the moment, and breaking that tension required an even greater shock.
Step, step.
Olivia crossed slowly between them. Bennett and Sirius hiccupped and shuffled backward hesitantly.
“Can you hear me now?”
Scrape, scrape…….
The embedded blade made a sinister sound not just when driven in, but when pulled from the wood. Even Defensor, who had maintained a defiant attitude throughout, seemed to be listening obediently now for some reason.
“I asked, can you hear me?”
Nod, nod, nod!
In the eyes of Olivia, who had turned around after drawing her blade, her companions’ figures were frantically nodding like possessed spirits.
As for why Gilleon and Daisy were nodding along, that was anyone’s guess. But in any case.
“Team members should get along well with each other.”
“T-that’s, that’s right.”
“We need to trust and rely on each other more than anyone. Isn’t that true?”
“Y-yes, that’s right!”
Now they were listening.
Olivia smiled brightly and stroked the flat of Defensor’s blade. It seemed to vibrate with a whimper.
“If our team members threaten one another—”
“Hiccup.”
“And hurl insults—”
“Ah, I won’t.”
“And even hate each other, then I’d be very sad.”
You should care for and love one another. That way the training could end peacefully, and only if the training ended peacefully could Olivia’s hopes be realized without issue. A beautiful smile crossed her face.
“I love peace.”
Everyone present nodded firmly, lips pressed shut.
Sincere dialogue truly solves everything. Brimming with satisfaction, Olivia sheathed Defensor once more.
“This isn’t what peace is—gah.”
“Shut it. Keep that up and you’ll really die…….”
A strange sound seemed to come from somewhere, but—
“What did you say?”
“Ah, no! Team members should get along well with each other. I almost forgot about that!”
“See, I told you?”
The brief disturbance had been resolved so well. Olivia turned around with a satisfied smile.
* * *
Night came swiftly. It was a brutally dark night.
The Camp had been set deep within the forest rather than on the open road. Because of this, the sky was blocked by densely packed trees, and all they could see were shadows of leaves rustling eerily, swallowing the color of night.
Tonight’s Night Watch fell to Olivia and Bennett. Normally, two people standing Night Watch together wouldn’t happen, but this time was an exception.
……Because Olivia had questions for Bennett.
“Bennett.”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you do that earlier?”
Olivia still couldn’t understand the earlier commotion. What had made him so angry?
“Did he do something aristocratic?”
“What? Aristocratic? Haha! Well, even if he did, it doesn’t change anything, does it? The fact that he’s a noble is true.”
“Did he really do something like that?”
As Bennett said, the fact that Sirius was a noble and Bennett was a commoner didn’t change.
But a petty revenge was something she could manage. If Sirius pulled that noble act again, talking about Social Status and such, Olivia was prepared to grind him down for Bennett’s sake.
Even though Olivia was at the Knight Academy rather than the Social Circle now, the things she’d built up moving through the Social Circle as a noble lady wouldn’t disappear.
In the Social Circle, burying someone with words happened regularly enough. Sparks flew in Olivia’s eyes.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll make sure he has no time to spare you a thought.”
“My goodness, Olivia. You really do mean it for me.”
“I’ve always been sincere with all of you. We’re friends.”
“……You can’t just say things like that so casually—you’ll give people the wrong idea!”
“You started it.”
“Anyway!”
The boy was as temperamental as boiling broth. Olivia clicked her tongue softly and asked again.
“So, you’re telling the truth? Sirius ignored you, and that’s what caused all this?”
“Mm. I did provoke him a bit.”
“So there was something else, wasn’t there?”
Now that she thought about it, Sirius had said something strange.
‘A rat coveting someone else’s possession’—was that it?
Things had been too hectic at the time to press him on it, but now was different. Olivia’s green eyes fixed on Bennett, sitting across from her.
Under that gaze, Bennett glanced around once before moving closer to Olivia and speaking carefully.
“He’s got something strange.”
“Something strange?”
“It was suspicious from the first day. Ever since we encountered the Rafflesia Cluster, it’s been like that the whole time.”
Bennett’s story wasn’t long. His quick summary, whispered rapidly, was why.
Within minutes, Olivia understood very clearly what Bennett was trying to tell her.
“……So you’re saying he secretly took a Magic Stone from the Rafflesia and has been hiding and keeping it ever since?”
“Everyone was too busy fighting—nobody would’ve noticed. At first I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but a while back I saw him pulling something that looked like a Magic Stone out of his pocket. The color seemed a bit different, but that’s when I was sure.”
“Why would he take a Magic Stone? Are you certain?”
“I tried to confirm it by picking a fight just now, but you ruined everything, Olivia!”
“Fighting is an automatic deduction. Absolutely. No matter what, it can’t happen.”
“You’re so stubborn. Really. This is so frustrating!”
Did I say something wrong? Olivia tilted her head, her eyes full of questions.
In any case, his words contained rather important information. That Sirius might have stolen a Magic Stone and was keeping it hidden.
……That was a very dangerous sign.

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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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