I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 27

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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 27
Would Sirius really move? Truly?
Olivia had never seen the Magic Stone that Sirius supposedly possessed. She had only Bennett’s memory to rely on.
Someone would ask, no doubt. Why bother with that particular Magic Stone? Whether he’d stolen it or not, shouldn’t one pay the price for one’s actions?
‘That’s not how it works.’
Magic Stones lured monsters. That was essential knowledge they’d learned when they were first-year Academy students.
“Magic Stones interact with their linked entities, but when separated and kept apart, they leak energy into their surroundings.”
“Energy?”
“The source of power itself. Humans crave it too, certainly, but those who follow their instincts more directly… creatures like monsters are far more easily drawn to that energy.”
“You mean it attracts monsters?”
“Precisely. And here’s the thing—when that energy stimulates a monster, it can introduce major variables into any situation.”
If that truly was a Magic Stone, then everything made sense. The waves of monsters that swarmed them even when they were standing still, the far more savage behavior than anything they’d learned about.
And one more thing. That had to be eliminated before they faced the Final Boss, no matter what. They had to cut off the variables.
Olivia clenched both fists tight and muttered under her breath.
“If you ruin my grades, I won’t forgive you.”
“Hm?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s just do well.”
Daisy, who had turned to look at Olivia with a start, nodded with an uncomfortable expression on her face.
What if he didn’t move this time either? Would she really have to tie him up and interrogate him then?
Olivia desperately hoped that situation wouldn’t come to pass. She genuinely wanted to finish this practical exercise peacefully.
Monster slaying proceeded smoothly. Olivia and Bennett managed the flow, preventing both the monsters and their other team members from heading toward Sirius, while they eliminated what remained.
The moment they’d been waiting for arrived when all their teammates’ attention focused on the last few remaining monsters.
“Olivia, Olivia!”
“What?”
“Look over there.”
Where Bennett pointed, Sirius was acting alone, moving independently.
“Looks like what you saw was right.”
“No joke. So we move on him now?”
“Yeah. We don’t have time to hesitate.”
She felt Gilleon and Daisy turn to look at them in bewilderment. But action was what they needed now, not explanation, so Olivia crept toward him, holding her breath.
‘…This Magic Faculty student can’t even tell a Magic Stone from a regular gem.’
Of course, she’d intentionally gotten Bennett to bury it near the Magic Stone.
Watching Sirius fret over the Red Jewel that Bennett had planted, mistaking it for a Magic Stone, was exasperating and somehow almost pitiable. Yet Sirius seemed oblivious to Olivia’s gaze, absorbed entirely in extracting the jewel.
It wouldn’t come out easily. Bennett was one of the Knight Faculty’s strongest students when it came to raw muscle, wielding one of the heaviest swords among them. There was no way an ordinary person without strength could pull it out easily, no matter how forcefully he’d driven it in.
Sirius worked at the stone very diligently with his dagger.
If he’d fought with that much passion, they could have already dealt with the field boss and had time to spare.
“Why won’t this come out…?”
“Looks like it’s buried pretty deep.”
“Who the hell fixed a Magic Stone this deep? No matter how much maintenance—”
“Bennett’s pretty strong.”
“Right, so it’s that bastard’s doing. I should’ve known—”
“Why? Want some help?”
“….”
Thunk!
At that instant, the jewel Sirius was holding gave way. Unable to withstand the recoil, Sirius tumbled ungracefully to the ground.
“What, what is it? Why did you—?”
“Olivia! Olivia, you can’t hit your teammates! Control yourself!”
“What are you talking about, Daisy? Olivia’s so obsessed with grades she’d never rough up a teammate here.”
“Then what’s that!”
Olivia felt somewhat wronged. What did Daisy take her for, exactly?
She hadn’t shown a hint of violence, yet the Daisy in her mind’s eye had apparently become the leader of some band of villains. It was rather disheartening.
At any rate, Bennett was right. Olivia wasn’t the sort to beat teammates without cause. She might have startled him a bit, but…
“What, what, what, what is it?”
“You’ve stumbled over your words three times now. Looks like something’s eating at you.”
“What are you saying!”
“Sirius. I’m only going to ask three times. So you’d better answer well.”
Olivia spoke calmly.
“Where is the Magic Stone?”
“…What?”
“That’s not an answer, is it? I’ll ask once more. Where did you put the Magic Stone?”
“What—what are you talking about!”
Shing.
The Defensor slid halfway from its sheath with a sinister rasp. Olivia maintained her stance and smiled broadly as she asked again.
“This is the last time I’m asking nicely. I can’t overlook anything that threatens my teammates’ safety.”
“Hic.”
“The Magic Stone you took from Rafflesia and hid. Where did you put it?”
With that question, a very long silence fell.
* * *
“Aiden, did you see it?”
“See what?”
“Sirius stealing the Magic Stone. Why didn’t I see it?”
“No. Rafflesia—that must’ve been a monster they encountered early on. We came in after that.”
They’d said they’d go in first, yet here they were! Irritation flickered across Aiden’s face.
They were watching the children’s actions from a distance, standing apart from Team B’s members.
The distance was considerable, making it difficult to grasp all the details, but from what they could hear, it was clear enough that ‘Sirius Arl’ had committed a seriously bold act—stealing and hiding a monster’s Magic Stone.
Sena shrugged indifferently as she spoke.
“Every year one or two students try to steal Magic Stones. It happened in our class too, didn’t it?”
“Yeah. We had one in our team. That idiot.”
“Right, and you caught him like a hawk catching mice, so he dropped out the moment the practical was over.”
“Those kinds don’t deserve to be Knights. They’re the sort who’d sell out their comrades eventually.”
“You’re always so uncompromisingly extreme.”
Aiden brushed off Sena’s remark lightly.
Magic Stones have market value. While it was true that Magic Stones lured monsters, the effect wasn’t so significant as to create a major variable, so year after year a few bold students stole them and leaked them to the outside.
The Academy had engraved serial numbers on Magic Stones to prevent this. Yet Magic Stone theft itself was never eradicated—a truly frustrating state of affairs.
Part of the problem was that the Relay Magic Tool in the Control Room wasn’t sophisticated enough to show situations with perfect clarity.
Aiden couldn’t understand those people. He was closer to the view that they needed their minds thoroughly restructured so they’d never do such things again.
Sirius was no different. Because of him, Olivia went through needless hardship.
“Sirius Arl. Five hundred Penalty Points.”
“Right, he was probably going to get penalized anyway.”
“Why isn’t the one I’m giving included? That’s unfair.”
Sena shook her head as she watched Aiden.
“Anyway… it does make sense if it’s a Magic Stone. This field wasn’t supposed to be this demanding.”
“Right. When Sena and I came in, the monsters weren’t showing up in these numbers. I thought something was off.”
“That Bennett kid has pretty keen eyes.”
Well, that was true enough. Though the real remarkable one was Olivia, who’d calmly found the evidence in the midst of it all.
Throughout the practical, Aiden had lingered near Olivia. He’d been assigned to the Forest’s Cradle field because he’d experienced it before, but if it hadn’t been Olivia here, he would never have come to this place himself.
‘I said I’d prove it. I said, watch me.’
Just three years, he’d thought.
In those three years, he’d agonized over much and learned much, but to ordinary people, three years was merely a short span of time that passed by as one drifted through days of familiarity.
Yet Olivia had changed. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say she’d changed while not changing.
What he’d wanted to change remained the same, and what he’d never even thought would change had flipped one hundred and eighty degrees. That confused Aiden.
“Who said I hated you? Who said that?”
In three years, if something changed, it would be the feelings she held, he’d thought.
The tender, unrefined heart of little Olivia, brimming with love in her eyes, dreaming of their future together.
Of course, that was merely Aiden’s delusion.

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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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