Volume 3 Chapter 59: The Three-Way Meeting

The next day inside the “White Road” shop.

I was sitting side by side with Sierra on one of the reception sofas.

Sierra gripped my hand tightly, staring intently at the door leading to the living quarters at the back of the shop with her usual expressionless face. At first glance, she seemed to be thinking about nothing, but this was her stern face. In other words, she wasn’t in a very good mood. Rather, she was clearly filled with hostility toward the person who was about to arrive.

What was about to take place was, so to speak, an interview. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it an interrogation.

She apparently wanted to speak one-on-one with each woman I interacted with, to ascertain their character. On top of that, she would decide whether they were qualified to associate with me. I didn’t know what would happen to those not approved by Sierra, but that’s how it was.

To be blunt, I couldn’t care less. There was no need for any qualifications to interact with me in the first place. Even without such worthless qualifications, anyone had a free pass. If anything, given my tainted nature, I should be questioning whether I have the qualifications to associate with them. But since I couldn’t stand up to my little sister, I had no choice but to go along quietly with this farce.

The participants in the interviews were the three members of “White Road,” and from “Spirit Wind,” there was Elle, Sophie, and the unfortunate Mina, who was forced to participate.

Everyone except for Mina seemed oddly fired up, which only gave me a bad feeling. When I went to the “Spirit Wind” party house to inform them about this farce, I asked Letto-kun to stay with me, but he said with a straight face, “No way.” That Letto-kun, with a straight face.

I realized once again that this was a crazy event and shed tears at the fragility of friendship.

And so, with no one to rely on, I was left to face this farce filled with nothing but bad premonitions.

Praying that it would end peacefully without any problems, I waited nervously for the first person. Since we hadn’t specified the order, I didn’t even know who would come in first, which made it all the more unpleasant.

“Kon kon kon, kon kon kon.”

Just as the tense atmosphere in the room was starting to make my stomach hurt, a monotonous voice—rather than a knocking sound—resounded inside the “White Road” shop. Of course, it wasn’t from the entrance.

“……Come in.”

When Sierra called out, the door at the back of the shop opened, and Sophie, in her usual maid uniform, quietly entered.

“Excuse me.”

After closing the door, she moved in front of us. Then, she once again lifted the hem of her skirt, bent her knees, and bowed deeply.

“I am Sophie Chalmil. Thank you for seeing me today.”

“……Yes.”

Sierra nodded at Sophie’s greeting. I wondered if we were going to have to go through this overly polite exchange every time. Let’s skip it from next time; this is a hassle.

Silence fell over the room. Sophie and Sierra stared intently at each other without moving an inch. Both of them were too expressionless. I had no idea what Sophie was thinking, let alone Sierra. In any case, nothing would be resolved at this rate, so on behalf of the two tongue-tied people, I awkwardly called out to Sophie with a strained smile.

“Sophie, um… you can sit down.”

“Yes, excuse me.”

Sophie bowed and sat upright on the sofa facing us. I wanted to believe that we had to go through such formalities only because it was Sophie. I didn’t want to do this every time. Or rather, I couldn’t imagine what kind of conversation these two would have. They were similar types, but this combination didn’t seem to have good chemistry. Neither of them talked enough.

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

See, this combination only produces silence. It’s nothing but emptiness in this space.

“……I understand. You pass, for now.”

“Thank you very much.”

“!? “

Was that telepathy?

I couldn’t help but look back and forth between Sierra and Sophie’s faces. What on earth had they understood from that exchange? They hadn’t spoken a word; they had just been staring at each other silently. But somehow, it seemed the matter was settled. No, they hadn’t uttered a single word.

Sophie gave a slight smile, bowed, stood up, and walked out gracefully.

“Well then, excuse me. Noil-sama, Sierra-sama, I look forward to working with you both.”

Sophie bowed once more in front of the door before quietly leaving the room.

All I could do was sit there in stunned silence, watching the entire exchange unfold. To be frank, I had no idea what had just happened.

“…That girl is fine. Safe.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

Once it was just the two of us, Sierra’s previously tense demeanor eased slightly as she spoke. She continued to gaze at me with her usual expressionless face as she elaborated.

“…Massages are only allowed when I’m present.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

“…Adoption is…well, on hold.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

“…She said she’ll support Master.”

No, she didn’t. You two didn’t exchange a single word.

“…She also said she’ll respect your feelings, onii-san.”

Nope, she didn’t say that either. I mean, it’d be nice if she did, but I couldn’t tell at all. What’s going on with you two?

“…Above all, I sensed respect and deep gratitude toward you. So much that it made me happy.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

“…That’s why she’s in the clear.”

Well…I didn’t catch any of that, but if Sophie truly feels that way, then that’s nice to know. Though the respect might be a bit much.

Judging by Sierra’s expression, this wasn’t some fabrication or delusion of hers.

Still, how did they manage to understand each other so well just by silently staring? Was it telepathy? That’s kind of creepy.

I thought these two might not get along, but it seems I was mistaken. If anything, they might be a perfect match. Sophie might even end up becoming my socially inept sister’s best friend. I found myself hoping for that possibility as I patted Sierra’s head.

She narrowed her eyes slightly in contentment, clearly enjoying the gesture.

“…Well, maybe adoption isn’t a bad idea.”

“Hm?”

“…For me and onii-san.”

“Hm?”

Sierra said something odd, but it was probably a joke. Ah, I missed my chance to respond properly. My sister’s jokes are hard to time right, and it always feels awkward when I let them slide. I’ll have to make sure I react better next time.

With that thought, I continued gently patting Sierra’s head.

◇

After the peaceful conclusion of the interview with Sophie, it seems I let my guard down a bit. Even though I shouldn’t have thought so, somewhere in my heart, I harbored a faint hope that things might end without any issues.

Because of that, I allowed the next person’s rampage to happen. I faced the person I should have been most cautious about without any defenses.

As a result, the interior of “White Road” had turned into a living hell.

“Kyaa! You’re so cute, Sierra-chan! Come on, try calling me ‘big sis’!”

“……I’ll kill you.”

“Kyaa! Sierra-chan being all prickly is cute too!”

“……I will seriously kill you.”

“Kyaa!”

It’s not “Kyaa!”—it should be a scream of terror, not delight. I mentally retorted to Fiona, who was hugging Sierra, patting her head with a beaming smile, and rubbing her cheek against hers.

The person who appeared after Sophie was Fiona, inexplicably wearing a beautiful sky-blue dress. The dress boldly exposed her shoulders and neckline, and it suited her well. It did, but her enthusiasm was misplaced. That kind of attire should be worn at more glamorous parties. At the very least, it’s definitely not something to wear to an interview whose purpose is unclear.

Well, if it’s just her outfit, I can tolerate it. It doesn’t suit the occasion at all, but fine. She looks beautiful.

However, Fiona’s behavior was also strange. As soon as she entered the room, without giving us a chance to say anything, she immediately sat next to Sierra and embraced her lovingly.

And thus, here we are.

Fiona, with her inexplicably high energy, was thoroughly doting on Sierra without a care. But Sierra’s expression as she was being petted was alarming. The aura she emitted was alarming too. Even someone who isn’t her brother could tell she was grimacing, and she was clearly exuding an extraordinary killing intent. That Sierra was.

No matter how you looked at it, Sierra seemed to intensely, utterly, from the bottom of her heart, dislike Fiona.

Being both intelligent and rational, she was barely holding it together, but at this rate, she would explode before long.

I decided to intervene and called out to Fiona. Come to think of it, looking again, Fiona was doting on Sierra as if she were a pet, but except for certain areas, there wasn’t that much difference in their body sizes. They’ve really grown up, I thought with an out-of-place sense of emotion.

“Uh… Fiona, you really like Sierra, huh?”

“Of course! She’s your little sister, senpai! Of course I love her!”

She leaned her face toward me, her eyes sparkling as she said that. A vein popped on Sierra’s forehead, who was sandwiched between Fiona and me. The hand she was holding began to tremble.

“And besides, she’s as cute as you, senpai! Right?”

“……Grr!”

Sierra bit Fiona’s fingertip as she tried to poke her cheek. Blood dripped from the finger. But despite what must have been excruciating pain, Fiona didn’t lose her cheerful smile at all. In fact, she didn’t seem to feel pain at all. Seeing such an abnormal Fiona, Sierra frowned irritably, let go, and looked at me.

“……My mouth is dirty, onii-san. Kiss.”

“Eh?”

No way.

No, I’m really sorry, but I can’t do that.

If it were just the two of us, maybe, but Fiona is staring intently, and besides, Sierra’s mouth is stained with Fiona’s blood, making it look rather gruesome. In this situation, even I can’t comply with my sister’s request. Is there anyone who could?

For now, trying to dodge the situation, I took out a handkerchief I luckily had today and wiped Sierra’s mouth.

“See, look… it’s clean now?”

“……Kiss.”

Darn it, she won’t stop.

“S-Sierra… we’ll do it later—”

“Kiiiiisssssss!”

It seems I have no choice but to kiss her. Sierra puckered her lips and leaned her face toward me insistently. I glanced at Fiona.

She was sensuously sucking on her own bleeding fingertip, staring at us enviously.

This is extremely awkward. Awkward, but I have no choice at this point.

I quickly gave Sierra a light kiss.

She broke into a happy smile and turned to Fiona with an obvious look of triumph. Amazing, my sister becomes so expressive in front of Fiona.

Sierra looked at Fiona with a triumphant air as if to say, “Did you see that?” I’ve never seen my sister like this. I don’t know whether to be happy or worried; it’s a complicated feeling.

“……You can’t do something like this.”

Sierra snorted with a “hmph.”

I felt the blood drain from my face at those words.

Fiona stopped sucking her finger with a graceful gesture and looked at Sierra with eyes as if watching something endearing.

“You’re so cute, Sierra-chan. You don’t want your big brother taken away, right? But you know? I can do that too.”

“……That’s a lie—”

“Actually, we’ve already done it. An even hotter and deeper one.”

“Huh…?”

Sierra gaped, her mouth hanging open. Sweat poured down my entire body.

Fiona traced her own lips dreamily with her fingertip. The blood that hadn’t yet stopped stained her lips red like lipstick.

“We did something siblings can’t do—we already did it.”

“………………Onii-san?”

Without turning toward me, Sierra asked in a trembling voice. The room’s temperature seemed to drop suddenly, but the sweat flowing from my body increased.

“……I see.”

As I couldn’t say anything and just looked away into the distance, Sierra murmured in a very soft voice. Since she still wasn’t facing me, I couldn’t tell what kind of expression she had. But I probably shouldn’t look—for the sake of my sanity.

“……In that case, I’ll do it too.”

“You can’t do that, Sierra-chan.”

Fiona gave a gentle smile, as if advising Sierra, who had started saying outrageous things.

“Blood-related siblings can’t have a deep kiss like the one I shared with senpai. That’s something only lovers who are in love can do.”

Then we shouldn’t have done it either, right? Should I not say that? Yeah, better not. Okay, sorry.

“…………Blood-related siblings.”

“That’s right. Senpai and Sierra-chan can’t be lovers—”

“You’re wrong.”

“Eh?”

Ah… Did Dad tell her…? Or did she realize it herself? Either way, it seems Sierra already knows.

As Fiona widened her eyes, Sierra declared firmly.

“Onii-san and I are not blood-related. So we can have a deep kiss.”

No, you can’t.

Even if we’re not blood-related, she’s still my sister. So we can’t have a deep kiss, and we won’t. We’ll keep it to family-level affection.

Well, more importantly right now—

“……What does this mean, senpai?”

Isn’t your attitude changing a bit too much?

I was troubled over how to explain to Fiona, who was now directing a sharp gaze at Sierra as if she were a different person.