Chapter 136: You’ve changed a lot since I last saw you, Leon (7)
“This is the Innocence Academy…!”
Rei’s little mouth opens in awe.
The streets are brightly lit up at night since it was late when we arrived at the academy.
Now that we were out of the forest and fully in the city, Geppeti and Rei strolled slowly down the street, taking in the sights.
“Let’s go buy some clothes first.”
“Clothes?”
Rei, who had been leading the way, turns around to look at me.
“Do you have enough clothes, Rei and Geppeti?”
“Clothes are one of the three essentials, the ritual staples of human life. I agree.”
Geppeti nods.
Then she speaks again.
“I’ve already compiled data on the designs that would make a natural ‘sister’, and if we have the funds, I can take care of picking out the clothes for you, Zetto.”
Rei grabbed Geppeti’s arm in a panic.
“Wait, wait, wait… I get that it’s hard for an ‘older brother’ to pick out clothes, but what’s a natural little sister’s clothes…?”
“It’s literally sisterly clothing. You’re hundreds of years old, so it’s quite possible that you’re unable to read the trends of the current era…”
As Geppeti continues to speak, a person passes by us.
Geppeti notices the person and a smile appears on her face.
“…Anyway, I want you to leave Rei’s clothes to me!”
Geppeti exclaims, putting her arms around her waist and pointing her fingers.
It was a gesture that revealed the source of her learned ‘sister’ data.
A lively, assertive little sister character.
So far, so good.
“Well, then, I’ll ask you to… Uh… big sister……”
Rei, who had gotten used to Geppeti’s character, agreed.
However, the title hadn’t quite sunk in yet.
She had a brother and sister out of nowhere, but it was all for her safety, so she had to put up with it.
‘Well, since I can’t pick out the clothes… I’ll leave that to Geppeti.’
Sierra looked at Geppeti and nodded slightly.
[I’m glad you have Geppeti, she’s a capable girl, even though she’s a little odd.]
I agree.
Ever since I got Geppeti, I feel like I’ve had a very capable assistant, and it’s made everything I do a lot easier.
It’s like a lot of my daily worries have disappeared.
While walking around the city, Geppeti spotted a store that specializes in women’s clothing.
“Brother, this way, this way.”
As I followed her into the store, my senses were tingling as I recognized someone.
‘Why is this person in a store that sells women’s clothes…?’
I couldn’t figure out why that person was in this place, but I was lucky enough to have someone to talk to.
“Wow…”
Geppeti looked around the shop and marveled at the beautiful clothes.
It seemed like she was, but in reality, she was quickly recognizing the designs of the clothes in the store.
“…Ugh.”
Rei frowned as if the place was out of place for her.
“Welcome~, are there any pretty girls here?”
A woman dressed in fine clothes greeted us. She seemed to be the owner of the store.
After her reaction, he spotted me from inside the store.
As soon as he spots me, his eyebrows go up and he says, “Oh?” in surprise.
“Instructor Edwards, what a surprise to see you here.”
I say, bowing my head in greeting.
Edwards turns to me.
“What brings Cadet Zetto to a place like this, and this is…”
Edward trails off and looks down at Rei, who is holding onto my pants beside me.
“…”
Rei looked up at him, too. Edward then makes eye contact with Geppeti.
Introductions first.
“It’s a long story, but… These are my sisters. Rei and Geppeti, this is my instructor, Mr. Edward.”
“You must be my brother’s instructor! I’m Geppeti.”
“…Rei.”
“Ho-ho…”
After the brief introductions, Edward rubbed his chin and smiled.
They might be ‘family,’ but they weren’t officially allowed in.
“Geppeti, why don’t you and Rei go pick out some clothes, I need to talk to the instructor.”
Geppeti nods, takes Rei’s hand, and begins to talk with the shopkeeper.
I let them go and continue my conversation with Edward.
Edward, who had been looking at Rei and Geppeti from the other side of the room with his signature snake-like eyes, speaks up.
“Did you have a sister?”
“…Though not by blood.”
“I assume you have something you need to talk to me about?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… I’ve noticed that Cadet Zetto has been traveling outside of the Academy unusually much, was he looking for his sisters?”
“…Did you know that?”
Even though it was a shocking story, it didn’t seem that strange to Edward.
“Huh… I know quite a bit.”
Edward held up a finger and flashed me a sly grin.
Judging by the lack of attention I’ve paid to him thus far, he doesn’t seem to be planning to stop me from going out.
I let Edward off the hook for the current situation since the “set-up” was already created.
The ‘reason’ why I had to live with his ‘sisters’.
He listened in silence, and then he had some good news.
“In other news, the chairman of the board came to the academy.”
“The chairman?”
“He’s been coming around a lot lately. I don’t know what’s going on, but Cadet Zetto is on good terms with him, and I think you’d be better off talking to him than the headmaster…”
“…I suppose so.”
I did happen to have a good relationship with the Chairman, Hubert Graham.
“I’m afraid it’s not something I can get involved with, but I don’t think he’d say no, either… it happens at the Academy from time to time.”
“Good to know.”
I wondered if this was within the realm of possibility.
As far as I could tell, no matter how closed the Academy was, it wasn’t a hierarchy that felt like it had no head.
“And what brings you here, Teacher Edward…?”
“I came to buy some clothes for my lovely wife. She’s quite fond of this shop and frequents it often.”
“Aha…”
Mr. and Mrs. Klaus’s golden glow seemed to be intact.
“…More than that, your sisters are just as unusual as Cadet Zetto.”
Edward said as he glanced at my ‘sisters’ inspecting their clothes.
What does this mean?
I couldn’t help but feel puzzled by Edward’s meaningful words.
[I wonder if he’s noticed…?]
Sierra’s eyes narrowed as she listened to me and Edward.
“……”
“That’s a compliment.”
Edward flashes another devious grin and shrugs it off.
I’m not sure yet.
Maybe he senses something off about Rey’s aura since even I, with my heightened senses, don’t sense the hero aura.
‘Who doesn’t love a hero who is the antithesis of demons…?’
In any case, her arrival at the Academy was good news. I’d been meaning to talk to Hubert Graham, from the beginning, and I was lucky.
As the conversation was going on.
“Wow…! Rei, you’re so cute!”
I hear Geppeti’s voice.
***
“Ugh…”
I was having the biggest headache since my reincarnation.
For some reason, the gorgeous, colorful clothes I’d seen when I walked into the store felt cheap, and here I was.
“Rei, are you wearing it?”
I hear the voice of the dreaded Geppeti behind the dressing room curtain.
It was all her fault, really.
I hadn’t realized this was what I’d gotten when she offered to help me pick out something for a little sister.
I squatted in the dressing room and held the dress in my hand.
Yes, it was a dress. It was a skirt.
I’d been a girl all my life, but I’d never worn anything resembling a skirt.
When the director asked me if I wanted to try on a skirt, I declared that I’d rather go out in my panties, so he gave up on me.
I might as well have worn panties.
“Ugh…”
I frowned at Geppeti’s choice of clothes when suddenly, a face peeked through the locker room curtain.
“…”
It was an expressionless Geppeti. This was not ‘my sister’s Geppeti,’ I could tell the difference now.
The lips on Geppeti’s emotionless face slowly opened.
“Hero, are you unhappy with your clothes?”
Geppeti whispered quietly to me.
“At least… With the pants…”
“Pants are not sissy, as far as I’m concerned, and for a hero who lacks ‘sissiness’ anyway, I thought the design of the garment might make up for it. Do you intend to give up the charade and reveal yourself as a hero? If so, Lord Zetto will be in trouble, and we have no choice.”
“…”
I shook my head since I couldn’t refute her words and I felt like I’d been beaten to a pulp.
I understood the situation.
I understood that it was for the best.
Maybe I’d been looking down on “little sister” all this time.
‘It’s a very difficult path to be a sister…’
It would be easier if it was easier to blow up a demon’s head.
“When are you going to wear it? The shopkeeper is getting agitated. This might lead to suspicion.”
Geppeti’s nonchalant urging continued.
“Then…could you change the color…?”
“…I’ll change it to black.”
No matter what, a pink dress was out of the question.
I felt like something inside me was going to shatter if I kept moving ahead so fast.
Geppeti took the dress from me and soon returned with a black one.
“Instead, this.”
“What is this?”
It was a short red string, a ribbon.
“…Let me help you.”
Geppeti, who was soon in the dressing room, put the ribbon in my hair.
She says it makes me look more like a little sister.
I don’t know what her definition of “little sister” is, but I don’t think I know any better than she does, so I don’t tackle her.
She helped me put on the dress.
I wasn’t too embarrassed about it, as I had often gotten help changing clothes at the orphanage.
Geppeti, who had been dressing me, spoke up.
“In your past life as a hero, did you have a dedicated armament?”
“Dedicated armament… I had a holy sword.”
“And armor?”
“When I used the holy sword, armor naturally sprouted from my body, so I didn’t wear a separate suit of armor. It was like ‘full body armor’.”
“…So the Holy Sword was both a sword and an armor.”
“I guess you could say that.”
“So when you were wearing the armor, people could tell at a glance that you were the hero.”
“Yeah, it was a cool suit of armor. Hmph.”
“So think of your current outfit as your sister’s ‘armor’.”
“…What’s the deal with that?”
“Well, when a woman puts on a dress and a pair of shoes, she says she’s ‘arming herself.’ For a woman, clothes are armor, they’re weapons, and the effect that clothes have on a person is amazing. So if you wear this, even if you’re a hero who’s not very sisterly in tone, you’re going to look very sisterly in a very natural way.”
‘Sisterly’ armor.
“What are these braids, then?”
I asked, gesturing to the annoying ribbons hanging from the sides of my hair.
“Those are…Holy Sword.”
Geppeti paused, but it was strangely convincing.
As a hero needed the holy sword, a “little sister” needed these things.
When I was finally dressed, I lifted my skirt and glanced at Geppeti.
“…What do you think, do I look like a ‘little sister’ now?”
