[V9C12] Elder Brother

While walking through the forest, Monica was reminded of the Thorn Forest owned by House Roseberg, which she had visited a while back.

However, the forest of Rainfield felt much more artificial, with relatively even spacing between the trees. This was likely due to forest planning and timber harvesting.

There were also well-maintained paths, so it was perfectly fine to take a stroll through in casual attire.

“Yesterday, we encountered the spirit near this spring…”

Monica had always been good at remembering paths, so she was able to reach the spring without much effort.

This forest should have been Ryn’s old home, but the maid did not seem particularly nostalgic. Rather than taking in her surroundings, her gaze was fixed straight ahead.

Or rather, she was looking at the rustling trees up in the distance. This was the same phenomenon as yesterday.

“So you have come again, human… Accursed Sages…”

The rustling of the trees slowly spread to their sides and rear as well. Detecting a strong sense of malice, Monica readied herself to cast a defensive barrier at any moment.

(I hope there’s room for negotiation…)

Monica had never been good at negotiation, but even she knew that it was best to avoid combat if the other party was still willing to talk.

(The first step is asking for their demands, right…)

After clenching her sweaty hands, Monica called out to the lurking spirit.

“S-So… What is it that you, um, want?”

Lacking the skill for indirect questions, Monica simply asked straightforwardly.

“What are you, um, angry about?”

Her question was answered by a deep growl of rage. In contrast to its melodic gender-neutral voice, the spirit began shouting in anger.

“Arrogant humans… You conveniently forgot all the years you spent under our protection! How dare you come back so casually after taking away my elder brother…!”

“Greetings, it’s me, your elder brother,” Ryn interjected, raising a hand.

The wind that had been shaking the trees came to an abrupt stop, and the air froze over.

Monica went speechless, staring at Ryn in disbelief. Meanwhile, the maid kept her eyes fixed on the depths of the forest as she continued speaking.

“It’s been a while, Rubelmeria.”

Her greeting was delivered in the same tone as one might greet a not-so-familiar acquaintance. She seemed quite detached, as there was no sentimentality in her voice.

“Ah… ah, ah, ah…!”

Agitated grunts echoed from the forest, as the trees in front rustled again.

The next moment, a young man emerged from the bushes. He had long golden hair and emerald-colored eyes, combined with a slim and handsome figure. His clothes appeared to be a set of old-fashioned priest robes, likely an imitation of priests from ages past.

The young man rushed forward with the momentum of a wild boar, his robes flapping in the wind. Then, he crashed into Ryn at full speed and… wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Nii-sama…! Rynzbelfied-niisama, you have finally returned! Ah, ah, waah, weeeeh, uwoooh, uwooh…!”

The handsome young man continued clinging to Ryn while making strange noises. That said, his face displayed an almost complete lack of emotion. Monica could notice a slight furrowing of his brows at best.

Wind spirits lacked the ability to shed tears, so these sob-like screams were likely the most natural way for him to express emotion.

Nevertheless, the sight of a handsome young man shouting with all his might was quite uncanny. Perhaps a more human-like sob could be coaxed out with enough training.

Ignoring the man’s continued sobbing, Ryn turned to Monica and explained.

“This is my younger brother, Rubelmeria.”

“A spirit with siblings…?”

Monica had learned at Minerva that spirits were clumps of mana that naturally acquired an elemental affinity and a physical body. In other words, they did not follow the human concepts of parents and family, so it was impossible for one to have blood-related siblings.

“You see, Rubelmeria and I were born relatively close in time and location. Since I possessed slightly more power, I became the older brother.”

“…Older, um, b-brother?”

Spirits were genderless creatures, so they could choose to take on male or female forms when transforming into a human. In fact, Monica had witnessed Ryn’s male form during the chess tournament at Serendia Academy.

The sight of the male Ryn and Nero dressed in suits and saying, “Do not lay a hand on my woman,” was still a vivid memory.

Nevertheless, the wind spirit Rynzbelfied was strongly associated with the image of ‘a woman wearing a maid outfit’ in Monica’s mind. As the confusion caused Monica’s brain to malfunction, Ryn explained with a hand on her chest.

“I used to take on a male form more often, so he still refers to me as his brother.”

“I-I see…?”

Monica took a step back to observe Rubelmeria, the spirit who was still clinging to Ryn’s waist and sobbing.

In terms of facial features, the two were rather similar. However, Rubelmeria’s exaggerated displays of emotion made him seem like the exact opposite of the constantly composed Ryn.

“…You seem, um, rather different for siblings…”

“The temperament of wind spirits is based on the type of wind they were born in. Rubelmeria is always raging like this because he was born from the raging winds of a storm.

“R-Raging…?”

It sounded strangely fitting. Rubelmeria was still crying, “Uwoh! Uwoooh!” with a fury akin to the incarnation of a storm. Mainly in terms of rushing forward and making eerie sounds.

(Under that logic, I wonder what kind of wind Ryn was born in…?)

Just as humans were different from each other, it was only natural that spirits possessed different personalities as well. Though to be honest, Monica still thought that these siblings seemed a bit too different from each other.

The handsome Rubelmeria paused his sobbing to look up at Ryn, while still hugging her waist.

“Nii-sama, ah, uwooh, Nii-sama…! It has been ten years since that detestable human took you from me…! Yet I have not forgotten about you for a single day!”

Ryn tilted her head forcefully to the side.

“Me? Taken away?”

“When you were kidnapped by that detestable Sage… Carla Maxwell the Starspear Witch! I can only imagine how much you suffered at her hands, imprisoned for ten years!”

Ryn stared down at Rubelmeria for a brief moment, before returning her head to its original position.

“No, I left the forest of my own accord. It had nothing to do with any supposed kidnapping.”

Rubelmeria furrowed his brow upon hearing this, although the rest of his face was still stuck in a neutral position. Apparently, this was the only way for him to express a surge of emotions.

“Then why…? Why did you leave the forest without saying anything to me, Nii-sama!”

“…? But I did tell you right before I left.”

Ryn had said something to her younger brother, and that was…

“I said, ‘I’ll be heading out for a bit.’”

A mournful groan escaped Rubelmeria’s mouth. Monica also let out a silent scream.

Essentially, Ryn had departed the forest after telling her brother, “I’ll be heading out for a bit,” and never returned. Thus, Rubelmeria assumed that Ryn had been abducted by humans and flew into a rage.

And now the truth behind this so-called ‘abduction’ was revealed. Monica held back a headache just thinking about it.

“Ogyuh… Ogooh…!”

Rubelmeria let out a series of wheezing grunts, as if he was being strangled. Needless to say, it was another of his emotional outbursts.

Though Rubelmeria’s voice and gestures seemed very exaggerated, his facial expression hardly ever changed. His strange way of displaying emotion made him feel distinctly non-human.

While maintaining his mostly expressionless face, Rubelmeria posed Ryn another question.

“Nii-sama, what exactly happened ten years ago? What changed you so much?”

Ryn promptly grabbed her brother by the nape of his neck and tore him off her waist. Then, after placing him next to Monica, she continued.

“In that case, I will tell you the story of my first love.”

“Uh, your f-first love…?”

Monica mumbled out a question, but Ryn simply nodded.

“Yes. I once read in a book that humans hold their first love with great importance. Allow me to share the story of how I fell for a human——my encounter with the Starspear Witch, Carla Maxwell.”

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