Chapter 25: Summer Event / The Two "Brothers"

"Why don't you stop hiding and come out?"

In the forest beside the lake, there was one woman calling out at the top of her lungs.

Needless to say, that woman was me.

"Anyone there? You can hear me, right?"

There was no answer, so I called out again.

A woman standing alone in the middle of a forest and talking to herself is mildly horrifying, so I'd really appreciate it if he would answer already.

I knew he was there, so just come out already.

"...To see through my concealment. You are no ordinary person, are you?"

And finally, he revealed himself: a handsome blond man carrying a bow.

His ears were long, making it obvious that he was an elf.

He was "Walt Wanu Waudu, the Sniper of a Thousand Ri." One of the initial SSR characters, and Pahal's older brother.

With his extraordinary hearing and archery skills, he specialized in long-range sniping.

Obviously, "a thousand ri" was a metaphor, but I think the game said he could hit his targets without fail from distances of around two or three kilometers. I don't remember the exact numbers, though.

Of course, ordinary archery skills alone couldn't accomplish something like that. It was only possible because of magic.

From outside the battlefield, he would identify people by the sounds they made and snipe only the most powerful individuals and commanders. And on top of that, he could kill them with a single shot to a vital point.

As expected, SSR characters were just way too monstrous.

"No, honestly, it was just a guess."

"What?"

"A few days ago, I thought I felt something like someone's gaze on me, so I figured there might be someone around. Given the current situation, this forest is about the only place where someone could hide."

"So in other words, I was completely taken in by your bluff."

"Hehe, I suppose you were."

To be honest, I hadn't even felt his gaze. His concealment had been perfect.

It was simply that he was going to appear in Chapter 2, so there was a high possibility that he had already been following us at this point.

If I triggered a special conversation like this, there was a chance it might be reflected in the game, so I was merely taking advantage of the opportunity.

"So? What do you want with me, Tierra As?"

"Huh? Did I introduce myself?"

"I have excellent hearing. Even from a distance, I could hear your conversations."

"Eh...?"

"Wait, what is that reaction? Why do you need to hug yourself and take several steps backward?"

I knew you had good hearing. I knew that, okay?

But...

When you really think about it, that means...

"So you were listening to the sounds of me and the other women bathing and changing clothes and everything... I'm sorry, but that's a little too much for me."

"D-Don't say such ridiculous things...! I was considerate of your privacy when it came to matters like that...!"

"You're not denying that you could hear it. Besides, if you couldn't hear it, you wouldn't have been able to be considerate in the first place."

"N-No! That's not it! Absolutely not! I was merely checking that my little sister was safe!"

Oh, this guy is fun to tease.

He isn't used to jokes and things like that. Messing with him is actually pretty entertaining.

"Your little sister? With those ears of yours..."

"Yes. I'm Pahal's older brother. I saw my sister, who should have been nowhere outside the forest, and decided I needed to understand what was going on."

"So, basically, you were listening in on the sounds of your own blood-related little sister going about her daily life. Honestly, that's creepy. I find it physically repulsive."

"I told you that's not what I was doing!?"

Walt's fair skin turned red as he desperately protested.

His earnestness made it all the more amusing.

"Hehe, I'm joking. About thirty percent of it."

"That's not very much!?"

"...Enough joking around. Could you tell me the details of what happened?"

"To clear up this misunderstanding, I suppose I'll have no choice but to explain..."

"I see. So you left your homeland's forest in order to recover the sacred treasure that had been stolen. However, according to your laws, anyone who leaves the forest is forbidden from ever returning. Is that correct?"

"Yes. I was prepared for that, so I have no regrets. But the fact that my sister is outside the forest is beyond anything I can comprehend. If she follows the law, Pahal won't be able to return to the forest either."

Never being able to return to one's homeland. Never being able to see one's family again. Sacrificing all of that in order to devote oneself to a mission...

I couldn't understand it.

Nor did I particularly want to.

However, the "Elven Sacred Treasure" was also an important object that protected the elves' safety. In other words, his actions would ultimately help protect his sister and family as well.

In that sense, I could understand his motivation.

At least, I found him far easier to relate to than that abnormal Kizuna-kun.

Maybe it was the kind of sympathy that came from being an older brother who cared deeply about his little sister.

"Pahal-san told me that she followed you out of the forest. She said, 'I don't care about some mission. Leaving your family all alone is the worse thing you can do.'"

"That idiot..."

Despite the harshness of his words, there wasn't a trace of malice in them.

The corners of Walt's mouth even seemed to curl upward slightly.

I totally understood that feeling.

"I understand that you're worried about her and using harsh words to hide your embarrassment, but you shouldn't say things like that. She's a wonderful little sister. You must be incredibly proud to have her as your sister."

"...You're right. She's the best little sister I could ever have. Far too good for me."

"Why don't you join up with her? If she has already left the forest and can't return, couldn't you travel together?"

"I can't do that. If I stay together with my family, my resolve to complete my mission will weaken. Until I finish this mission, I intend to continue moving forward alone."

"Is that really how it works...?"

Hmm. I don't know about this.

If Sorane had been beside me, healthy and well, would I have accepted life in another world and given up on returning to my original world?

No. Even then, I think I would have tried to return.

My mother would still be waiting for me back there, and I wanted to see my friends again too. Everything I had built in my original world was precious to me.

"Please wait here for a little while. I'll be right back."

"What? Don't tell me you're planning to bring Pahal here?"

"No, that's not it. Just trust me."

There were certainly differences between us that I couldn't understand, but we were both "older brothers" in our own way.

I wasn't about to let him spend his vacation miserably holed up alone in the forest.

"Here. For now, take this."

"...What is this? It looks like food."

When I returned, I was carrying a plate loaded with meat, vegetables, and other food.

It wasn't the leftovers from the barbecue we'd just had. It was my own portion.

If I didn't set some aside beforehand, there was no way there would be anything left for me to eat. Mostly because of Rene. Though everyone besides Rene had healthy appetites too, so they ate quite a lot.

"Yes, that's right. Please, go ahead and eat. I'm sorry it's just leftovers."

"...I don't understand. Why are you giving me food? That's supposed to be your portion, isn't it? I heard you earlier, so I know."

I had already decided that I would meet Walt, so I had considered preparing a separate portion for him.

But doing that would create the strange situation of me having prepared food from the beginning for some mysterious person hiding nearby.

I didn't want him to become suspicious over such a minor detail, and I absolutely couldn't allow my role-playing to fall apart.

So I simply gave him some of my own food.

Female Teacher Tierra would never abandon the lonely student who couldn't join everyone else's circle!

"It's something like a care package for someone on the front lines. Spending your vacation enduring lonely days in a gloomy forest isn't good for you. It's supposed to be a vacation, after all."

"I'm fine with—"

"It bothers me. It would put a damper on my enjoyment. ...Let's just say that's the reason. If you don't accept it, I'll tell Pahal-san. I'll tell her, 'Your brother was listening to the sounds of your daily life.'"

Honestly, I wouldn't really care.

Regardless of what Walt did, when it was time for me to have fun, I would have fun. With all my heart.

"D-Don't joke about that! Absolutely do not tell her! ...Sigh. It seems there's no point in arguing. I can feel how determined you are not to back down. In that case, I'll gratefully accept it."

"I'm glad to hear that. I'll bring you breakfast, lunch, and dinner while we're on vacation."

"A woman shouldn't casually say things like that. Going back and forth to a man's place in a gloomy forest like this... Take better care of yourself. ...If you absolutely refuse to back down, then I'll come and collect the food myself when the time is right. Would that be acceptable?"

"Yes, that sounds good. It'll make things easier for me too. Thank you for worrying about me."

Oops. Maybe I'd let my guard down a little there.

I used to be a man, plus my mind had various things mixed into it now... Given how complicated my current state was, maybe my sense of personal distance occasionally got a little strange.

It was rare, but I'd have to be more careful in the future.

"Let me ask you one last thing. Why aren't you wary of me? Why did you so easily believe what I told you?"

"One reason is that you matched the description of your brother that Pahal-san had told me about. The other is... empathy, I suppose."

"Empathy?"

"I had a little sister... or rather, someone who was like a little sister to me. So I understand what it's like to be a siscon."

Needless to say, this "little sister" was Sorane.

However, even if this somehow became game text, I could simply replace her with "Piera," the girl I'd spent some time with in the desert, and there wouldn't be any problem.

Come to think of it, I wonder how that girl was doing.

She was a girl who could sing extraordinarily well.

Since she didn't seem to be a character connected to the original story, I'd simply ended up looking after her along the way.

Life in the desert had been pretty difficult, so her singing had been a wonderful source of comfort.

I intended to reach first place and leave before the desert arc began, and she was just an NPC who wasn't an actual playable character.

The chances of me ever meeting her again were practically zero, though.

"Siscon...? I don't understand the meaning of that word, but I don't feel like you're complimenting me."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's a compliment when it comes from an older brother or sister."

"Haha. That makes even less sense."

"Oh, right. There's one last thing I'd like to ask you too."

"What?"

"What do you think about Pahal-san's outfit, as her older brother?"

"Honestly, I don't understand it. As her family, it's beyond embarrassing. I have no complaint about anything the spirit herself has done, but if there were a hole nearby, I'd gladly crawl into it."

"Exactly."