༺ Korin Guardians (3)༻
Technically it was a party just for her.
Although there was the rather-shocking announcement from Korin, Alicia moved on with her usual optimistic mindset and enjoyed the party.
“Hmm hmm~. I knew it. The meat of a cow that led a happy life is super tender~”
She thought to herself that maybe she should raise cows once she started living in a mansion with a big enough garden to cater for 13 kids. Out of her 13 future children, at least one of them would be gifted at classical music, right?
“One more…”
It was right when she was about to reach out for another plate of beef that a big shadow was cast over her from the other side of the table.
“S, Sister?”
“Hmm? Alicia.”
Lunia Arden – Alicia’s sister from another mother had reached out for the same dish as her.
“Have it for yourself. This appears to be the last one.”
“N, no it’s okay. Sister, you should…”
“I told you to have it.”
“Okay…”
Alicia immediately lowered her tail and followed her words.
“Follow me. Let us sit together.”
Unable to go against her imperative tone of voice, Alicia quickly chased after her and sat next to Lunia.
“So, have you been doing alright?”
“T, thanks to you, yes.”
“You ran away with your sister’s fiance and yet you have been doing alright, hmm?”
“Hikk…”
In Alicia’s mind was a slight guilt towards her sister. Although Lunia had given her a roundabout advice and had pretty much given her permission, it was still by her own choice that she kidnapped her sister’s fiance from the engagement ceremony.
“More importantly, tell me about your school life. I am theoretically your guardian.”
Because of her status as the illegitimate child, Alicia had to write the name of her sister in the section for ‘Guardian and Caregiver’ instead of her father when entering the Academy. Partially, it was also because Lunia, who fed her ever since she was born, was more of a mother than her stepmother and her father who refused to show any interest.
“Recently, we… had an interim exam.”
“Hoh~. How did you go?”
“For my major subjects… I got B+ and two B’s…”
“Don’t tell me you have zero A’s?”
“I, I did get one A in one of the general education courses!”
“What was it?”
“Love and War! We watched a play at the theater, acted out one of the scenes, and also had to submit a report.”
“Hoh~. A play, huh.”
Seeing that Lunia was interested, Alicia began rambling about the plot of the act. It was about the female lead and her brother-in-law who fell in love after watching a play called Bridge by Richmond County… In the end, the female lead refused to push through with her feelings and eventually gave up on love, as the male lead – her brother-in-law – had to send her off.
“Oh dear… If that was me, I would have openly earned my position.”
“Me too! Love is important after all, right?”
“But what a mediocre man that male lead must be. As a man, one ought to satisfy a few women at the very least. Seems that he was not too confident of his ability on the bed.”
“Ugh… I, it wasn’t an immoral story like that! Well, I… do agree in a way, but…”
Despite blushing fervently from her direct comment, Alicia still whispered her agreement.
“But it is quite fortunate in that sense. My partner – he has acquired the Sun, has he not?”
“Umm… Yes, but is that related?”
“Ah~. Do you not know? Don’t worry about it then.”
“Sorry?”
“More importantly, how are you doing with him?”
“You mean… Mr. Korin?”
“He is your sister’s fiance that you have snatched away. I was expecting you guys to have slept together already at the very least.”
“T, there’s no way we would do something that indecent!”
Alicia immediately reacted with a shout as Lunia lifted the corners of her lips in response. It was because of how rare it was for the child, who was always so down and depressed when with her, to be so adamant and serious about something.
“Well, enjoy as you wish, but you better hurry up unless you want him to be stolen.”
“Huh? W, what do you mean…?”
“I am telling you to stop hiding in a corner like a rat that only thinks about leftover cheese. If you want something, then push open the main entrance, walk in with pride, and take what you wish with your own hands.”
“Ugh…”
Understanding what she meant, Alicia shrunk her shoulders. She still thought to herself that the only reason Lunia could say that was because she was a proud and capable hero who could do whatever she wanted by attacking from the front.
She didn’t have the delicateness of a girl, but her openness was certainly one of her greatest strengths… and she would not be afraid to try again even if she were to be defeated in the process.
‘But… It’s not like I’m going to give up, though.’
‘Well, nothing will change even if he goes to Alicia first.’
The Arden sisters were very much alike.
They were the type to be heavily encouraged by having rivals, and weren’t people that were willing to stop even if the other person were to reach the goal before them.
They truly were a wicked pair of siblings.
****
“…”
Without joining any group, Hua Ran sat by herself in the corner, watching over the events of the garden.
Josephine had started fine-tuning the swordsmen of Arden including Lunia, whereas Yuel and Kranel were bickering with each other for some unknown reason.
The mood-maker of the party was, unexpectedly, a boy with short hair called Jaeger.
“Lo and behold! This here is the cartoon-style beef made by Mr. Jaeger himself!”
“Dude, how many kilograms of meat did you use just to make this?”
“No idea!”
“…”
Korin turned his eyes to Lark, who vehemently shook his hands, saying that he had no part in this. Despite everything going on, they appeared to be enjoying the party.
Everyone was in groups and talking to themselves and Hua Ran, being the most antisocial person here, naturally ended up sitting by herself. This wouldn’t have happened if Ran was the one controlling the body, but she was too exhausted after cooking for an extended period of time.
Ran couldn’t come out for more than 3 hours a day; Hua was the only one who could handle the Extreme Yin Constitution in their body for a long period of time.
“Should I… go closer to him?”
‘It’s alright. You’re embarrassed, right? Take your time.’
“…I’m not.”
Normally, Hua would have snuck close to Korin, saying that she wanted to get a portion of his overflowing Yang energy, and she would have enjoyed the pleasant flow of Yang energy without feeling embarrassed in the slightest.
However, it had only been a few days since she noticed her own feelings, and making her stay right next to her crush would be way too heartless.
‘But these days, I do miss oppa’s warmth. Because we don’t even sleep together at night anymore.’
“…”
Hua lowered her head, unable to withstand the constant reminders from her sister. Looking back, she couldn’t understand just how she was able to do such a thing nonchalantly.
“I’m… not going to sleep while holding hands anymore.”
‘Ugh… You can’t do that! When are we going to have his children then?’
“…I don’t know.”
It was fortunate that storks did not live in this place. Hua hated herself for even thinking about bringing a stork here from their habitat until just a while ago.
‘Look at Sister Marie and Alicia! Our competitors are way too strong.’
“…I’m stronger than them.”
‘That’s not what I mean…’
Even though she was saying that, Hua was still aware of the women that always tried to snuggle next to Korin.
Marie Dunareff.
Alicia Arden.
Despite being dense and slow, she had still instinctively recognized the two of them as her ‘enemy’. Both of them were special to Korin, and were in a relationship where it wouldn’t be strange for them to go to sleep while holding hands.
“Should I… get rid of all the storks?”
Just in case… Hua even thought about something as silly and violent as destroying all the nearby habitats of storks.
“What are you doing here by yourself?”
It was then. A lady walked up to Hua Ran, who was crouching down in a corner.
“…Erin, Danua.”
“I suppose this is my first time seeing you with my bare face.”
Erin Danua. The true body of Chairman Eriu Casarr. The first time she met him was when she had been untouchable in the remnants of one of the cities of the Eastern continent after her rampage.
She was the person who semi-forced her into the Academy, even at the cost of bothering to apply seals on her body alongside Josephine Clara, who also asked Saintess Estelle to put restrictions on her body in the form of a prayer.
In a way, she was Hua Ran’s benefactor, and Hua Ran therefore felt fairly grateful to Chairman Eriu – Erin.
“I can still vividly remember the day I brought you here from the East, and yet look at how much you have grown.”
“Grown?”
There was no way that a jiangshi like her could grow.
“Yes. You have indeed grown. For sure.”
“…”
With the same benevolent, ocean-like eyes as Chairman Eriu, Erin caressed her hair. Even though Hua hated having physical contact with other people, Erin along with Korin were the only two that she was okay with.
It was because she could instinctively tell that both of them held unconditional love and goodwill for her.
“So, how is your life at the Academy going these days?”
“…Not bad.”
“Oh? Is it not that fun?”
“…”
That was certainly not true. Hua wasn’t that good with emotions, but she could still say with certainty that there were times at the Academy that put her in a good mood.
『Are you hungry? Wait one second. Let me cook you a fish real quick.』
『I have a group assignment. Wanna join?』
『Do you want to grab some food after the lecture?』
“…”
After belatedly realizing that each and every one of those enjoyable memories was when she was with a specific person, Hua buried her head in her knees.
Wondering what was happening, Erin was about to continue with her questions when they were approached by Marie and Alicia.
“Hello, Chairman!”
They walked up, carrying a plate with cups of tea. After saying thanks, Erin took a cup for herself and recommended one to Hua Ran.
“Chairman… You are Korin’s master, right?”
Marie asked with prudence and care, seemingly still having trouble linking Erin to Chairman Eriu.
“Yes I am. And we’ve met before, right, Alicia?”
“Have you met Alicia before?”
Back at Nazrea, Alicia had met the Erin from 300 years ago along with Korin and because of that, she had already known about her being Korin’s master.
“It’s a long story.”
Erin explained her relationship with Korin through a short and simple explanation.
“Hmm. I see. That’s interesting. Korin’s master, huh…”
However, she did not tell them about Korin’s regression or the information about the future he possessed. It was because Korin wasn’t very fond of sharing stories about Marie and Alicia, who had both died horrible deaths in the original timeline.
“Please get along with Korin. He’s a strong boy, but needs someone to support him because of that.”
The girls all nodded in response. Each and every one of them had received a large amount of help from Korin, and they were already dying to be more helpful than the others. They had been willing to devote themselves to his cause even without Korin’s master reminding them about it.
“That boy; he’s been getting bags under his eyes. He is a foolishly stubborn and straight-forward man, who always tries hard to help other people.”
Erin voiced her concern for him with a voice of remorse. It was originally supposed to be her job and her job alone, so how could she not be fond of her disciple, the young hero who volunteered to shoulder that by himself?
『I don’t think of you as my master though, Erin.』
“Htt…?!”
“Chairman?”
After suddenly recalling something, Erin accidentally spitted out a bit of her tea, which made Marie turn to her in concern.
“M, my bad. It went down the wrong pipe. Oh dear… That wasn’t very courteous of me. Anyway, that boy…”
『Can I kiss you?』
“Huu… No.”
Her white skin started to be painted red. Every time she thought about Korin, Erin couldn’t help but flush her cheeks so in the end, she decided to get up.
“Ah. He must be washing the dishes by now. He has been doing everything by himself so I will go and lend him some help.”
“L, let me go as well!”
Erin quickly turned around in an attempt to conceal her flushed face as the three girls immediately went after her. Even though Erin had hidden her face pretty well, the three girls instinctively picked up on some strange points.
At the kitchen next to the garden, the four ladies found Korin, who was dozing off on a chair with his head dropped flat on the table.
“…He’s sleeping.”
“He must have been tired. I guess he would have been, because he woke up before sunrise today to prepare the dishes.”
Remembering how he had been diligently preparing for the guests from early in the morning, Marie regretted not helping out earlier.
Although she had helped him out a ton, she still blamed herself, as expected of a girl who wanted to pour out everything unconditionally at the person she loved.
“It’s very rare for him to be so defenseless. It’s my first time seeing Mr. Korin sleeping like this.”
Alicia, on the other hand, seemed interested at the sight of Korin sleeping without a care in the world. She crouched down, rested her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hands, watching him sleep with a wide smile on her face.
“…”
Meanwhile, Hua Ran felt a myriad of emotions. Just by looking at his face, her heart palpitated furiously and that made her feel confused because it was her first time experiencing such a thing.
“You will get sick if you sleep in a place like this. Let me move you somewhere else.”
Erin lifted him up in one swoop and placed him down on the couch in the living room. Instead of a blanket, she cast her robe over him and murmured while gazing down at his face.
“Why is he so handsome, I wonder~”
“……Chairman?”
The girls turned their eyes to Erin, who continued with a big smile on her lips.
“Look at my disciple. Isn’t he handsome? Look at his tall nose, big eyes, and lips… Fufu. I wonder who his master is~”
She sounded like a master who was very proud of her disciple, but…
Her face was extremely bright; her cheeks were flushed in red and her eyes were filled with affection. Looking at her expression… the girls felt an unknown feeling of déjà vu.
“Haht…”
What was with this uneasiness that they were feeling? They wondered.
They did not know the nature of their uneasiness, but what was certain was that all three of them had felt the same thing.
****
With the interim exam over, the Academy was very rowdy and bustling with noise. However, the people in our group had more things to do apart from our lessons.
My master, Erin Danua, became the new chairman and we were going to receive lessons from her in an order in preparation for the raid of the ‘Treasury of the Danann’.
“So today is going to be the first day.”
In the chairman’s office, Lady Josephine said with her eyes on us while standing next to Erin.
Me, Marie, Alicia, Hua Ran, Ren, Ron and six others including Dorron.
Both in the game and in the last iteration, getting lessons from Erin Danua was a quick way to raise the skill level of the party members. After the winter holidays, it was possible to have the party members get much stronger thanks to the teacher, Erin Danua.
It happened in a flash during the game with the text changing from 『They have started their training』 to 『The training has been complete』, but I had first-hand experience from the last iteration on how impactful and meaningful her lessons were.
Erin Danua, my master, was an inborn teacher, who had exceptional talents at teaching.
“Then let’s go.”
As soon as she said that, Josephine activated her dimensional spell and we arrived at the training area of our office in a flash.
“You have come.”
“Miss Lunia.”
When we got there, we saw that Lunia and the Five Swords were already carrying out their training routine.
“Now, before I start teaching you, shall we start with a simple duel between each other? I need to scan through everyone before we begin.”
It was similar to how it went in the last iteration. Erin would see how everyone moved, identify the problem and the reason and give everyone individualized lessons.
Her guidance was surely going to be helpful in raising everyone’s ability including my own.
“Before that,”
Someone stepped up before Erin continued with her words.
“I would like to see how you fight, teacher.”
Lunia Arden.
Unlike the other members of the party, she was a strong named character who would only enter the party when specific conditions were met. She was the Sword Master, who was perhaps furthest away from being taught out of our entire group.
“How about a simple bout of swords before we begin?”
She said, raising a letter of challenge to Master Erin.
