Chapter 10: Exploring the Backwoods

I was planning to head to the backwoods in order to discover an unexcavated dungeon all by myself, however…

…For some reason, my brother is following me.

Rather, he decided to come with me.

What’s more, he was holding onto my left hand in a way one might hold their significant other, and my left hand was completely about to sweat.

‘Ah! There’s a UFO over there!’—I couldn’t just run away and say that.

“Brother Lucas…? Do I really need to hold your hand? I’m not a little kid anymore.”

I tried to put up a small resistance, but…

“Do you…hate holding hands with me?”

When he brings his lips close to the hand he’s holding and tilts his head back while saying that…

“…No, I don’t mind.”

How can I refuse!?!?

My heart belongs to Ricardo-sama…

I’m in love with him—!!

“Then let’s just go like this, shall we?”

—So don’t smile at me with such a sweet face!!!

When Brother sees my bright red face and puffed out cheeks, he chuckles.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just thought that Charl was cuter than usual.”

……He did that on purpose!!

Big Brother is so sly!!

Haa~

I haven’t even not done anything yet, but I’m already tired…

Well, I don’t really understand, but perhaps he’s worried about me in his own way.

I did just collapse from drinking alcohol, after all.

“Brother, I want to go that way!”

I point in the direction I want to go and pull on his hand.

I’ll just take him to the place I want to go before I get pushed around any more.

***

I’m pretty sure it was around here…

Relying on my memory of the game, I continued my way through the back mountains.

As I stopped and began to wander around…

“Charl! This way!”

I was suddenly pulled and forcefully pushed into a bush.

“Big brother—what’s wrong?”

“Shhhhh…!”

My mouth was covered by a large hand, and brother held up one finger in front of his lips.

I’m sure that he meant to say ‘be quiet.’

I nodded my head and decided to follow his instructions.

Within a few tens of seconds, something appeared.

—!?!

It was about the size of a cat, with a face like an ape. A creature with thin, muscular arms and legs. It walked on all fours, passed in front of the bushes where we were, and slowly disappeared somewhere else.

***

I wondered how many minutes had passed since then.

“Is everything okay now?”

With that, my brother let me go.

The fear of encountering an unknown creature and the relief of escaping the shock caused me to unconsciously lose all the strength in my body…I don’t think I’ll be able to move for a while.

Even though I felt wobbly, my brother was able to stand up without a care in the world.

I was sure he was still on the lookout because he was observing around the surrounding area.

“…What the hell was that…?”

“That was a ‘Starving Monkey.’ It’s weak on its own, but it’s a type of demon beast that calls for its comrades when in trouble, so it’s a bit tricky.”

A demon beast!?

Oh, so that’s a ‘Starving Monkey!’

In the game, it was a demon beast that was very weak, but when it was about to die, it would call its friends in droves.

It would be dangerous for us to take on the Starving Monkeys all alone.

“I wonder why there are demon beasts here…”

Big brother wrinkled his brow in thought.

“Let’s go back to the mansion. It’s not good for us to stay here.”

He then lifted me up in his arms, who was unable to move.

“Ah, Brother…! I’m too heavy! I can walk! I can walk!!”

I was so flustered by the sudden princess carry that I was flailing all over the place.

Lucas-sama’s princess carry!?!?

That’s what he did in the game!!

I couldn’t help but get excited every time I saw that scene right in front of me.

“It’s okay, Charl is not heavy. I’ve been physically trained for quite a while now.” My brother smiled.

“…But—!”

Even if it was a reasonable distance from the mansion, it was still difficult for a fifteen year old boy to be carrying his younger sister, who was only three years older than him, the entire way…

“Charl, please just let me carry you? I was upset to see that demon beast…being able to hold Charl like this makes me feel relived.”

Big brother then dropped a kiss on my forehead…

…This prince was just so handsome!!

Hey—!!

What was that just now!?

What do you want me to do about this!?!?

If I wasn’t his sister, this would normally have been a love flag, right?

“…Thank you, Brother.”

I wonder if I’ll die of shame before we reach the mansion…

I took several deep breaths to calm myself down.

“Big brother knew about the ‘starving monkeys’ but…have you seen any other demon beasts?”

I tried to change the subject before I died of embarrassment.

“I’m registered with the Adventurer’s Guild, so I’ve been commissioned to kill demon beasts a few times.”

My brother answered without slowing down his walking speed.

The Adventurer’s Guild.

When did he…?

I knew that he had been training since he was a child to become a knight in the future, but I had no idea that he had even registered with the guild.

“Does Father know about this?”

“Of course. Father and I are in a party, so we’ve been asked to take down the enemy together a few times.”

What!?

Even Father!

Ah, now that I think about it, my father and brother did seem leave the house many times together, such as when they were going to visit the territory.

That might have been for the purpose of subjugating demon beasts.

***

“We’ve arrived.”

As I was thinking about everything, it seemed that we had already arrived at the mansion.

I was supposed to be like heavy luggage but…Brother still got here early.

He gently set me down in front of the door of the mansion.

“I’m going to report to Father, though I’m sure the guild will probably investigate.”

After stroking my hair and placing his hand on the door,  he turned around and looked at me.

“If you go back to the backwoods by yourself, I will be very angry, okay~?”

And he pierced me with his gaze.

I had no choice but to nod obediently, after which he disappeared into the mansion.

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