I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 61

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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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Episode 61
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Rochen Village had many alleys. And now, finally discovering this, it also had far more abandoned houses than one might expect.
Since the Melma War, these vacant dwellings had simply been left standing, never torn down.
“There’s still Residual Mana lingering.”
“Even now?”
“Well, that’s why monsters keep spawning in the first place. If you head toward the forest, the Magical Energy gets even worse.”
Even as Aiden maintained distance and pursued the men, he fed Olivia information without pause. He was a more capable instructor than she’d given him credit for.
“Are they really scheming something using Magical Energy?”
Aiden furrowed his brow, his gaze fixed on the men at a distance ahead.
The downpour obscured vision, making the path shimmer and blur. Olivia walked carefully, mindful not to leave footprints.
Fortunately, the careless traces the men had left behind made it not difficult at all to follow their trail.
Their path led them deeper into the village’s most isolated quarter, drawing ever closer to the forest.
Olivia reached back into memory. The village outskirts. A location near the forest…….
‘Wasn’t Zeta’s house somewhere in this area?’
Yesterday, Panya and Bennett said they’d visited Zeta’s home. And the place those two had described was certainly around here.
The thorn beneath her fingernail was driving deeper with each passing moment.
Zeta.
The only person in this village who’d mentioned Leon’s real brother.
A retired mercenary who, student though he might be, had casually trailed and shadowed Knights trained over long years.
And…….
“A man who chose to make his home in a zone where Residual Mana remained.”
“That is rather strange, isn’t it?”
“That man Zeta isn’t entirely above suspicion either.”
If everything Zeta had said was true, why had he kept that knowledge hidden all this time, even knowing someone had gone missing?
Because everyone’s memories had become damaged? Because a suspicious man claiming to be Leon’s brother had begun to unsettle things?
Yet Raven had recognized from the moment he saw the letter that it bore Zeta’s handwriting. That meant there was definitely some point of contact between the two.
Which meant perhaps—
“Olivia.”
“Yes?”
“For now, focus on the task at hand. Leave the rest to the other members.”
Aiden counseled her seriously.
“There’s nothing we can do about it anyway. It might already be too late.”
“But…….”
“This is a long game. If you try to handle everything at once, you’ll end up doing nothing properly.”
He was right. Olivia bit the inside of her mouth once and nodded.
The men were venturing further outward. They were now approaching what appeared to be the forest path itself.
Right. Following them comes first. Suspicious as they may be, there was no solid evidence to haul them in on.
This surveillance was necessary to transform mere suspicions into something more concrete.
“Let’s pursue. We need to close the distance a bit more.”
The two moved swiftly. Two dark shadows crossed the rain-drenched village in silence.
Only once the men’s presence became clear enough to register on Olivia’s senses did they gradually reduce pace. The touch of rainwater falling on her Raincoat felt sharp and distinct.
“……so?”
“What…… ?”
Now Olivia could make out the men’s voices with some clarity. She bent her ear, focusing on their conversation.
“I’m saying it seems like you’re in too much of a hurry.”
“Well…… wouldn’t it be worse to drag our feet and let him slip away?”
“That’s true enough. But there was no need to move today specifically. When you rush, you miss things.”
So there was one mercenary among them capable of actual thought.
Surprise flickered across Olivia’s eyes.
“I’m starting to think we believed those outsiders too hastily.”
“Then why didn’t you say something at the time? Yesterday, I mean.”
“If I’d said anything then, I’d have gotten beaten to death.”
“That’s fair…… But what can we do? We just have to do what we’re told. As long as we keep ‘those things’ alive— wait.”
The men’s footsteps stopped abruptly. Olivia and Aiden froze as well.
“What?”
“Hold on. I’m sensing…… something else nearby.”
Had they been discovered?
The color drained from her face. Of course, Olivia was an earnest student who had studied her textbooks repeatedly and conducted extensive research, so she knew ‘in theory’ what to do in such situations.
But theory and practice were different beasts. Facing her first genuine crisis, Olivia’s mind went blank.
Assessing the terrain and surroundings—she’d already done that. So among those features, find a place to hide……. Where was it?
By the time Olivia found a hiding spot through such deliberation, only the briefest moment had elapsed, yet in such circumstances, even an instant of delay can determine fate.
At this rate, they’d be found. Olivia’s instinct screamed the warning.
Whoosh!
A sharp grip seized her arm. Yet Olivia knew well that this ‘force’ carried no intention to harm her, so she immediately went limp.
With a soft thud against the wall behind her, Olivia’s vision went black. Something had covered her entirely.
“Shh. Keep quiet.”
Aiden Oblion. The distance between them had become far too close, excessively so.
Olivia’s heart pounded against her ribs like it would burst.
“Hey, is someone there?”
“Let me look. What was that presence from before—”
Thud. Heavy footsteps moved toward their location, a hand reaching out.
Mew! Yowwwl!
“It’s just a cat.”
“Ah…… guess I was on edge.”
“I hate rainy nights. It makes people edgy, you know? That’s why I hate rain.”
“Let’s just finish the job. I’ve got a bad feeling about all this.”
It was nothing. A minor incident. Not a mistake on Olivia’s part, not a brush with certain death—just happenstance.
-Knight Olivia. Are you alright? No problems? If anything goes wrong, send the signal we agreed upon.
Yugin’s voice came through the Magical Artifact she wore. But Olivia’s ears heard nothing at all right now.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
Her heart was pounding in her ears, loud as a drum being struck wildly.
“Those guys have better instincts than I thought, or maybe it’s just luck.”
Aiden’s low voice reached her from inches away. Even as he spoke, her vision remained obscured.
Olivia trembled slightly, drawing her hands up to her chest. She needed to calm the frantic beating of her heart.
Her body had gone rigid with tension. She hadn’t intended it. It was just…… this situation was so bewildering and stimulating, so nerve-wracking. The reaction had simply escaped her without her knowledge.
‘Calm down, Olivia. This is just work.’
Olivia breathed slowly and carefully. Fortunately, it seemed to work—her wildly racing heart gradually steadied.
But complications, as always, came from Aiden.
Glancing down at her stiff, frozen form, he began gently patting her back. At his low voice, her heartbeat once more escaped her control.
“It’s not your fault.”
“……I’m sorry?”
“Unexpected situations like this happen fairly often. Let’s just open up the distance a bit more.”
Only then did Olivia realize that what had been supporting her back wasn’t a building wall, but Aiden’s hand.
The rear wall of a scattered row of abandoned houses. A long roof extending overhead and vines trailing beyond it obscuring the view. Hidden there, Olivia and Aiden gauged the approaching men’s presence.
The rhythmic touch of a patting hand on her back.
“You’re alright. This kind of situation is common. That’s why we split into two teams for this.”
A whisper creeping into her ear.
Olivia felt a sudden vertigo.
Outside the roof, rain still poured down, and the droplets carried from Aiden’s bent figure occasionally dampened her cheek…… and yet.
‘I’m hot.’
Yet she was burning. Intensely so. Olivia clenched her teeth and monitored the presence of the men outside. Their presence was slowly fading.
Crackle.
-Entering the forest path. The students should be following with Kunta. I’m going ahead to pursue.
-Much obliged, Sena. Aiden, you take your time and regroup with Knight Olivia.
“Understood. We’re safe for now.”
Aiden replied and opened the distance between them. Only then could Olivia breathe properly.
In the darkness that swallowed everything, a man who alone seemed to gleam looked down at her and smiled faintly.
Her heart constricted.

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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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