"Student Kurogane...?"
"Shizuku...?"
Seeing Ikki's expression turn bitter and Shizuku's become so hostile, everyone suddenly found themselves at a loss.
That was only natural, right?
Whenever their biological elder brother was mentioned, Ikki and Shizuku reacted like this. Anyone would have found themselves at a loss.
If it had been Ikki, it would have been understandable.
After all, Ikki's situation was special. The Kurogane Family had treated him as a useless burden, and if he also had a brother who could become the only A-Rank Knight among all Japanese students, it was only understandable that his expression would become so helpless and bitter.
But Shizuku's reaction was so full of hostility that it was completely beyond everyone's expectations.
Although, because of Ikki's experiences in the Kurogane Family, Shizuku—who sincerely loved her elder brother—was also unfriendly toward the Kurogane Family, being unfriendly was one thing. It should not have reached the point of outright hostility.
Yet whenever Kurogane Ouma was mentioned, Shizuku truly became hostile. It was astonishing.
Actually, this was unavoidable.
"I was already isolated by everyone in the family, but in a sense, Big Brother Ouma was also isolated from the family."
Ikki stroked Shizuku's head as he comforted his younger sister and explained.
"Neither Shizuku nor I ever had any contact with Big Brother Ouma. In fact, even the people in the family rarely had any contact with him. We were like strangers. Or rather, in Big Brother Ouma's eyes, whether it was us or the people in the family, we were all no more than weeds."
The reason things had become this way was very simple.
"Because, apart from becoming stronger, Big Brother Ouma had no interest in anything else."
Ikki spoke solemnly.
"He had no interest in a younger brother weaker than him."
"He had no