Editor: Poor_Hero, Persona 5!

As for the incident, they could finally deal with the Anti-Kingdom faction n.o.bles that had caused much troubles for the Emperor by exposing their crimes all at once. n.o.bles included Veltor, of course, as well as people who collaborated and were close to him.

That was fast. Father, you were too amazing. Who were you, really?

As for the captured ‘Shadows’, it was covered up by saying that Father had laid a trap and caught them. Ah, that was not a complete lie.

Trap = Me.

For me, I would wish to avoid increasing any troublesome matters coming my way and if an incident like this ever happened again, I could act as the hidden card and mostly, I wanted to live normally.

If it was exposed, I might be seen as a strange child or even be persecuted… No, if I was being treated as a strange one, then people would distance themselves away from me, to which floodgates might open from my eyes.

If possible, I would still want people to like me.

It had been 3 days since the incident happened and already, all the Anti-Kingdom faction had completely went underground. And Father made new fans out of the citizens there.

It was scary how fast rumors could spread. Like how germs spread themselves, or how mice bred. They always said how rumors spread like wind. It just might spread faster than the wind.

[TN: English – Rumors spread like wildfire.]

Oh yes, it had been 3 days when the incident was safely behind us. And now, I needed to face a problem straight on.

” Sensei, they are not waking up. ”

In place of Father, who was buried in paperwork, John-sensei was entrusted with the duty of looking after the arrested ‘Shadows’. As the cover story was said to be Father’s trap, it could not be left to people who did not know the truth. By the way, I was attached as a freebie.

…Because, my feeling of guilt was overwhelming.

I seemed to have made a mistake with my gravity magic and caused them to have almost all of their bones broken and were currently in a deep sleep. I casted healing magic and there were no longer any problem with their health but the trio, who had their collar removed, had not awaken yet.

Sensei said that it must be the mental strain of having their collars removed and was not my fault but still… the feeling of guilt gnawed at me. I could not forget the expression on Onee-san’s face before she fainted. Sometimes, in her sleep, she would have a pained expression on her face.

” Yes… As I thought, they would still need time to recover. ”

Sensei sighed along with me and looked at the trio’s sleeping faces. Sensei rested his chin in his hand and had a complex expression on his face before sitting down on the sofa placed across from the bed. As a habit, I sat beside him.

Ah, that was careless of me!

” By the way. ”

2 hands firmly gripped my shoulders as I was turned towards Sensei. Our eyes met.

…. His eyes were glittering!

” It is about time to tell me about your magic, Will. ”

Ah, that’s right.

I promised to tell him later so there was no way I could run away! Having said that, it was actually the same as j.a.panese from my previous world! If I actually said that, he would rage that I was only a [cheat] b.a.s.t.a.r.d and everything would end. In short, I was very troubled right now. These 3 days, half of it were spent looking after the ‘Shadows’, another half of it were spent thinking of a way to explain.

And so, today was the 3rd day. My idea was to give an adequate reason and skip the rest. As I was not very good at lying, lying to people, like my parents and John-sensei, that had been with me everyday, would get me exposed faster than you could say ‘OBJECTION!’.

That was why I was trying to think of a way to explain without lying. By the way, the only ones who learned about what I did were limited to my parents and John-sensei. As much as it pained me, the maids were kept in the dark. The Beryl was the top family of the Duke cla.s.s so people beneath would enter the house for apprentices.h.i.+p. Apprentices.h.i.+p was…. something like working in a big enterprise as a clerk before marriage.

Ah, and so…

I looked seriously at Sensei straight on.

” I understand. I was just about to give up avoiding. ”

Sensei’s eyes sparkled even brighter so I made it a point to show him how serious I was about this. His face stiffened and looked at me anew.

” I could understand the magic characters since I was born. ”

I was not lying.

I wondered if I came across as creepy… If I did not, then this strategy was a success. Worried, I looked at Sensei and saw that he was frozen in state of shock.

” I was surprised too, when I first saw the magic spells. ”

I gave one more push. This was a bit painful for me but I excluded an aura from my entire body to ‘not hate me’.

Come back! Sensei!

I smiled bitterly.

One part of me thought that Sensei would accept it while the other knew that normally, no one would believe these kind of things. If it was me, I definitely would not. ‘What this 4 year old kid is talking about’ and I would laughed.

As I continued looking at Sensei, his expression, which was one of shock, slowly, bit by bit, melted into a smile.

” Haha.. ”

It slipped out as Sensei laughed, looking as Ikemen as usual while I was only thinking of wanting him to hurry up and give me the verdict.

” What are you so afraid of, Will? ”

Sensei asked, still laughing. Then, in an instant, Sensei placed his hand on my head with a ‘pon’,

” It seems like we are in for a fun time from today on. ”

Saying that, he rubbed my head.

…That’s great, he believed me… I was so glad, my face loosened up.

” ….Nn. ”

A small voice sounded.

…Oh….Someone woke up…?

” Someone is awake? ”

Standing up together with Sensei, we rushed over to the origin of the sound.

” She is awake…! ”

I said, leaning against the bed and looking at Onee-san’s face. Her closed eyelids began to open slowly.

Questions were reflected in her eyes.

And….. Terror.

Of course… It would be better to explain things clearly to her. I leaned in close.

” Onee-san, are you okay? ”

When our eyes met, I was glad she gave a different reaction as compared to 3 days ago. That’s great. She was in control of her own will.

” Is Onee-san forced to wear the collar? ”

” If it’s the collar, I have taken it off~ ”

Hearing that, Onee-san timidly reached for her neck. When she felt nothing attached on her neck, her eyes went wide and she looked at me so hard that she could drill a hole in me. That might be funny if it was not for this situation..

I took her stare straight on and said.

” Onee-san is free. ”

……

……Hm…?

Was this not where she felt happy? Why was there no reaction….

Please, I would be troubled if there was no reaction. As before, Onee-san was staring at me, frozen solid. And when I was about to sigh..

” …….You’re lying……. ”

A tiny voice.

” No, I am not. ”

” You’re lying! ”

She shouted at my words. Since it came all of a sudden, I jumped, surprised by the sudden shouting. Now that I looked at her, she was trembling. I guess it had not sink in yet, which was why she had refused to believe me.

” I am not lying. Onee-san is free… ”

” I can’t be!! I cannot be free! Because… ”

I was cut off mid-sentence by Onee-san who shouted, almost crying. But ‘Because’ what? Was there a reason she could not have freedom? Don’t tell me…. someone close to her was being taken as a hostage?! As I stood ready, Onee-san lifted her hand, and forcefully pulled off her head cloth.

” ….. Because… I am a… Beastman! ”

Ahh.

Just now, when John-sensei treated me as like before, I was so thankful that I could not help but smile.

Saying that, I could see 2 puppy ears on top of her head.

” Why can’t Beastmen have freedom? ”

” Because….We’re revolting. In any case, it’ll still be…. ”

Her ears, as like her emotion now, went down and flattened itself on her head. I wondered how she had lived before. Was she a ‘Shadow’ since she was born? Or…

When I thought about her circ.u.mstances, anger welled up inside me.

But, rather than the past, now was….

I bounced across the bed and used my knees to get closer to Onee-san while not forgetting to smile as much as possible. When I was close to her, I reached out my hand which caused her to flinch.

” How so? I think it’s cute. ”

I wanted to touch her ears!

Ah, I touched it~.

So soft~!!

Fluffy!!

I acted upon a win-win situation; satisfying my desire as well as trying to heal Onee-san’s spirit. I softly stroked her ears.

When Mother and Father stroked my head, I felt very blessed and happy. I had no idea what made Onee-san happy but I was trying to convey my sincerity…. maybe.

” You’re lying! ”

She got a shock from my action and went all red. Once again, the stubborn-headed Onee-san insisted she was not cute. I still think puppy ears on this gorgeous Onee-san were cute.

But.

I knew that even if I said it, it would not mean a thing to her. I once felt the same as her too.

” Onee-san, aren’t your ears just a part of you? ”

I glanced at the blankly staring Onee-san as I continued. Distance memories had awoken inside of me.

” For example, If I cut my hair, I am still me. ”

I remembered the big, winkled hands of my grandpa.

” No matter how I dress up nicely, I am still me. ”

I grinned.

Did I do that because I was about to get immersed in my memories or not, I had no idea.

” Isn’t it just that? It is the inside that’s important. ”

This time, I hugged Onee-san.

… I was still a kid so please give me some leeway.

” I think Onee-san’s ears are cute. ”

Onee-san burst into tears.

I was not thinking that her flattened ears were cute! I was very mindful of the situation I was in right now!

Making used of my child’s body, I patted her back as she cried.

But, it was like looking through the mirror, seeing the past me. I smiled. Grandpa taught me that ‘face’ was not all that mattered. Did Grandpa look at me that day like how I was doing now?

I smiled again and as I was looking at Onee-san, I felt someone staring.

…. John-sensei.

Ah… I forgot all about him….

Don’t look at me smiling like that! Don’t look over here!!

Ahh, came to think of it, I said some really embarra.s.sing things… Now I really wanted to jump into a holeeeee!!!

◆◆◆

TN: I added our lovely puppy ears Onee San in the profile page! She’s cute.

Please take a look at the profile page, located at the end of the main page, I included 3~4 years old cute Will too.

Yes, I like puppy ears instead of dog ears. Although she looks like she had fox ears instead.