The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent – 137
EP.137 Secret (5)
I attempted to redirect the conversation.
“How did you manage to get here?”
“By car, last night.”
“…Did someone drive you all the way here?”
“There are plenty of people in the imperial palace, you know. I couldn’t exactly ask them to run the trains at an ungodly hour—it’s not cheap, after all.”
Driving a steam car all the way here wouldn’t have been cheap either, though. Actually, the journey from the capital to here by “car” wasn’t something anyone could call easy. Sure, the roads were somewhat established, but a lot of them were dirt paths. Even if they were reasonably maintained, it wasn’t ideal.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t come alone. There were knights accompanying me for protection.”
Alice leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Watching her, I once again felt the urge to slap my forehead. If it had been just the two of us, I might have given in to that urge.
“Is this all because I called Jayden ‘big brother’?”
“‘All because’? You don’t seriously think that’s something insignificant, do you?”
One of Alice’s eyebrows arched upward.
“……”
If it wasn’t insignificant, then what was it?
Still, I wasn’t foolish enough to voice that thought aloud. Alice was clearly being very serious right now.
“You don’t usually use such… familiar terms for others. Doesn’t that mean there was something important enough to compel you to come all the way here?”
Well… sharp as always.
But I couldn’t exactly drop the bombshell that the issue involved the possibility of Alice and Claire being actual siblings. That truth, if revealed, was a massive powder keg. If I mentioned the Emperor, Alice would only assume the matter revolved around me, not Claire.
As for the time-rewinding aspect—well, in a world where goddesses might exist, such fantastical concepts wouldn’t entirely blow people’s minds. Sure, it wouldn’t be taken lightly, but it’d be manageable. However, explaining that I was from another world and that this world’s story was merely a game in mine? That was a different matter altogether. Revealing that her existence and choices might not have been her own, that everything could have been preordained—it felt… wrong.
“……”
As I hesitated to respond, Alice let out a deep sigh.
“Fine, whatever.”
Alice, still with her arms crossed, narrowed her eyes at me.
“You’re planning to stay here for a while anyway, aren’t you? Then I’ll stay here with you.”
Smack.
The sound made me turn my head. The Sword Saint, Frederick, was covering his forehead with his hand, his eyes tightly shut. The wrinkles on his face seemed twice as deep as usual.
“So, now I’ve got two kids who aren’t even adults yet planning to stay in my cabin?”
“Don’t worry too much, Master,” Alice replied with a serene smile as she turned to her teacher.
“If Sylvia decides to leave, I’ll head back the same day.”
Then she turned her face back to me, studying my expression.
“Though it doesn’t seem like she’s planning to leave.”
She muttered the words as if talking to herself.
“……”
I stared at Alice in silence for a while before slowly opening my mouth.
Then, just as slowly, I closed it again.
Hmm.
When I had called Jayden "big brother," it was, of course, embarrassing at the time and something I now regretted. But honestly, it hadn’t been that difficult. After all, my plan from the start had been to rewind time once I uncovered the truth.
Of course, there was no guarantee I would find Lucas within these two weeks before the end of the vacation. He could be in another country, or perhaps he had retreated deep into the mountains to train, preparing to strike me down in one blow next time. But if I couldn’t find him, that was fine too. I could simply rewind time, try a different method, or spend the remainder of my vacation relaxing and figure things out later.
However, calling Alice “sister” even if I could rewind time, for some reason, the thought of doing so filled me with immense reluctance.
It was just a feeling, but it seemed like such an act would leave a massive… blemish on my life, something I could never forget.
“……”
Alice continued to look at me, her expression saying, ‘If you have something to say, just say it.’
“Um…”
“Hmm?”
“Uh…”
I inhaled deeply and spoke.
“Sis—”
“Hmm?” Alice tilted her head and cupped her ear toward me, as if she hadn’t heard me properly.
“What are you trying to say? I can’t understand a word when you’re splitting it up like that.”
“……”
I closed my eyes, clenched my teeth, and took a big breath.
Then, as quickly as I could, I blurted, “Sisterpleasejustgohomeandwaitformeinstead!”
“That was way too fast. I didn’t catch that.”
“……”
I steadied myself once more and tried again.
“…Sister.”
Only then did Alice fully turn her head toward me, her face lighting up with a victorious smile. Her eyes sparkled so brightly that they seemed to outshine the stars lingering in the early dawn sky.
“Yes? What is it, Sylvia?”
The deliberate kindness in her voice was like a ribbon wrapped tightly around her words. Watching her, I seriously considered rewinding time to erase the incident with Jayden entirely. But then I realized that even if I did, the shame in my heart wouldn’t fully disappear.
Faced with an Alice who had entered full ‘Just tell your big sister everything’ mode, I reluctantly opened my mouth.
“Can I… ask you a favor?”
“……”
Alice’s smile grew even wider as she listened to my words.
“I understand my little sister’s concern for me,” she said sweetly.
And just like that, I was overcome with an overwhelming sense of dread.
“But that doesn’t mean I could just leave my little sister in a place like this, now does it?”
“A place like this…”
The Sword Saint mumbled in a slightly wounded tone, quite different from the casual demeanor he'd shown earlier.
“I’ll stay by Sylvia’s side,” Alice declared.
“……”
This sparked a different kind of frustration in me, distinct from the irritation I felt when Jayden rubbed his forehead in exasperation earlier.
It was then that I finally understood the unease I’d felt before calling Alice “sister.”
…That’s right. Deep down, I had already known that the approach that worked on Jayden wouldn’t work on Alice.
“Would that be all right, Master?” Alice asked, turning to the Sword Saint.
The Sword Saint stayed silent for a moment before responding in a very serious tone.
“And if I refuse?”
“I’ll let every swordsman in the nation know your whereabouts,” Alice said with a serene smile. “Even if I have to use every resource of the imperial family.”
That would undoubtedly bring a flood of all sorts of people.
Aspirants hoping to learn swordsmanship, challengers seeking a duel, or perhaps even someone with a grudge, still burning with vengeance after being defeated by his sword in his younger days.
It would become an unimaginable headache. Sure, he could always flee, but doing so would mean severing the bonds he had formed late in life. Though he was a reclusive old man who had hidden away in the mountains, declaring he was done with the world, the Sword Saint wasn’t a heartless person.
“……”
He stared at Alice in silence for a moment before letting out a deep sigh that seemed to weigh down the very air.
“Fine, then. Do as you like.”
His gaze shifted to me.
Even without any particular emotion behind it, his eyes felt piercing, as if they could see right through me.
Though he had been adamant about not letting me stay here until yesterday, perhaps seeing me meditate earlier had changed his mind.
“But don’t be a burden,” he said firmly. “I already have one disciple I’m teaching here.”
His eyes turned to Leo, who stood stiffly at attention in front of the three of us.
I had thought his attitude toward us had softened a bit after our interactions at the academy, but out here, it was entirely different.
It wasn’t surprising. Many commoner students felt uncomfortable around noble students, avoiding unnecessary interaction because even if they grew close and dropped formalities during their school years, they’d inevitably have to revert to a respectful demeanor after graduation. Rather than deal with the discomfort of a fleeting sense of equality, they found it easier to maintain a distance from the beginning.
“From now on, the three of you are equals here,” the Sword Saint said, looking at Leo with a hint of disdain. “No one is higher or lower than anyone else.”
“And,” he added after seeing us nod, “there is no difference between men and women here. Training will not be adjusted based on gender.”
Alice nodded easily.
“I’ve already experienced that.”
As for me…
“……”
That’s when I realized how dire my situation was.
It was fortunate that I hadn’t been kicked out, but…
The way the Sword Saint looked at me was deeply unsettling, just as it had been when he watched me meditating earlier.