Who Isn't a Herrscher

After all, one's own happiness is built upon a friend's suffering.

Heh~

"Another big scoop!"

Gagame suddenly pounced in front of Ikki, her eyes shining brightly as she looked at him, as if she had found a headline.

Upon hearing Luo Mio's words, Shizuku's body instantly turned cold, and she looked at Ikki with an extremely amiable expression.

"Splash, Evening Rain."

Shizuku, holding her tachi-shaped Device, pointed at Stella and said, "Now Shizuku will free Elder Brother."

"Come to my aid, Laevateinn."

"Hey, wait! Stella, Shizuku, releasing your Devices in a place like this..."

Before he could finish, Ikki felt two powers emanating from them.

Extreme cold and extreme heat.

Ikki turned to ask Luo Mio and his classmates for help.

He saw that his classmates had already moved far away, watching the spectacle like an audience.

"Miohua..."

Ikki looked at Luo Mio, only to see him with four fingers held to his mouth, but the slight upward curve at the corners of his lips revealed his enjoyment of the show.

Ikki patted his head.

Bad friends.

Chapter 10: Saikyo Neine's Visit

Ikki opened Room 405.

"Hahahahaha..."

Luo Mio was seated on the sofa, holding a bag of chips, with a bottle of drink lying beside him as he watched a movie.

Seeing Ikki enter the room with a sigh, Luo Mio greeted him.

"You're back. Is it resolved?"

"The Chairperson said that since it's the first day of school, severe punishment would be waived. However, I was still punished to clean all the girls' restrooms in the school and confined to my room for a week."

Luo Mio shook his head and clicked his tongue.

Ikki looked at Luo Mio speechlessly and said, "This is all because you poured fuel on the fire, Miohua."

It turned out that after Stella and Shizuku summoned their Devices, they clashed.

To the surprise of all the teachers, Stella, ranked first among the new students, and Shizuku, ranked second, had a conflict on the very first day and were punished.

Luo Mio spread his hands and said, "Even if I hadn't said that, do you believe Stella, with her personality, wouldn't have said it anyway?"

Ikki was momentarily speechless. Luo Mio's words were indeed not wrong.

"Don't worry. Although Stella and Shizuku seem like fire and water, they can become friends after they calm down and talk."

"That's what you say."

"But why did Shizuku become like that?" Ikki asked Luo Mio, confused. "She used to be such a shy and well-behaved girl."

Ikki sighed and sat beside Luo Mio.

"Perhaps it's because she finally understood."

"Understood?" Ikki didn't understand Luo Mio's words and looked at him questioningly.

"In the Kurogane family, you were the only one who didn't treat Shizuku differently because of her talent. You treated right as right and wrong as wrong, truly acting as a brother, caring for her and guiding her."

"But one day, you disappeared and left the Kurogane family."

"Your disappearance, yet no one, not your parents, not your Elder Brother, not even the family members, searched for you."

"This made Shizuku understand your past situation within the family. The existence of someone who was not there. This made Shizuku deeply aware of her own powerlessness and ignorance."

"She realized how much pain her beloved brother had privately endured."

"It was this that prompted her thoughts to change and grow."

"This also made her decide that whether it was the affection of parents, the bond between siblings, the friendship between friends, or the love between lovers. She would give it all herself."

After speaking, Luo Mio looked at Ikki and said, "Do you understand now, Ikki? Shizuku's change."

Ikki clenched his fist and remained silent.

"I never expected it was because of me..."

Luo Mio patted his shoulder.

"It's alright. Just accept your sister's care with peace of mind."

"Although it can't be romantic love, isn't it a very happy thing for you to receive familial affection from someone who loves you?"

After hearing Luo Mio's comforting words, Ikki smiled.

"Yeah, the affection from a family that loves me is truly a very happy thing for me."

"Speaking of which, why is Shizuku targeting you, Miohua?"

Ikki remembered something and asked Luo Mio.

"Ah... this."

Luo Mio's lips twitched slightly, and he said helplessly, "Before you ran away from home, you came to see me one last time, didn't you?"

"Then Shizuku seemed to find out, and after that, Shizuku came to find me."

"She said I encouraged you to run away from home and that I was trying to steal you away, and coupled with the fact that you used to come find me to train together from time to time when we were kids, Shizuku felt like I was stealing you away, and she held a grudge against me."

"Ha... ha..." Ikki awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Creak."

The sound of a door opening echoed.

"Ah, it seems Stella is back."

Luo Mio looked towards the door upon hearing the sound.

Ikki got up and walked towards the door.

"Welcome back, Stella."

"Mhm."

Stella nodded.

Luo Mio saw the exhaustion in Stella's eyes.

"Ikki, go take a bath."

"Huh?"

"Stella just got back, let her rest. You should rest too, you're all sweaty. You didn't shower after your sparring match today, so go take a bath right now."

Ikki rubbed his head and walked into the bathroom.

Sensing Ikki entering the bathroom, Stella spoke, "Even though we're family, why would someone be treated as if they don't exist just because they have no talent? They even try to stop him because of Ikki's dream."

Having grown up receiving affection from her family and the love of the people of Vermillion in the Vermillion royal family, Stella couldn't understand the Kurogane family's actions.

Luo Mio, who had gotten up to start cooking, heard Stella's words and fell silent for a moment, looking in the direction of the bathroom.

"Ikki's father, 'Iron Blood' Kurogane Gen, is just as his name suggests, 'Gen' (strict). He upheld the rules and discipline of this country his entire life, until his very last moment."

"He wouldn't allow anyone to threaten the stability of the current social hierarchy. That's why he pressured Hagun Academy last year."

"And it was within such a family that someone once broke the family's rules and discipline."

"'Samurai Ryoma,' Ikki's grandfather."

"Because of Ikki's grandfather, the rest of the main Kurogane family didn't want another person like Samurai Ryoma, who was outside the rules and discipline, to exist in the Kurogane family. Thus, Ikki's father, Kurogane Gen, was born."

Stella clenched her fists upon hearing Luo Mio's words.

"How could such a family exist?"

Luo Mio sighed and said, "This is the disgusting ideology of the old era that has been passed down through the ages."

His eyes were distant, as if recalling a painful home from an unknown, distant past.

Those without talent were always drowned out by the brilliance of those with talent, living in the shadows beneath the light.

In lonely dead corners.

Luo Mio closed his eyes, pulling his thoughts back, and looked at Stella.

"Stella, perhaps Shizuku can give Ikki the feeling of family, but that is still just the family given by relatives."

"You are different. What you can give Ikki is to establish a brand new home together, one that belongs to the two of you."

"So, keep at it."

Luo Mio gave Stella a knowing smile, offering her encouragement.

"Miohua..."

Stella's face gradually turned red upon hearing Luo Mio's encouragement, but her eyes were filled with renewed vitality.

Looking at Ikki's bathroom, Luo Mio thought of something, gestured to Stella, and whispered in her ear.

"I'll teach you..."

Stella's face grew redder as she listened.

Then, gritting her teeth, she got up, took something out of the closet, and walked into the bathroom with a flushed face, looking at Luo Mio, who had returned to room 404, wearing headphones, standing by the stove, concentrating on chopping vegetables, and humming a song.

Luo Mio, who was chopping vegetables, stopped humming, and a pleased smile curved his lips.

Not long after.

"Wait?! Stella?!"

"What are you doing!"

Ikki's startled shout came from the bathroom.

Luo Mio was happily chopping vegetables.

Ding-dong.

A doorbell rang outside Room 404.

Who could it be?

Luo Mio put down his cleaver, walked to the entrance, and opened the door.

"Who is it?"

Standing outside was Saikyo Neine, dressed in a kimono and carrying a bag with wine bottles. She spoke to Luo Mio with a gruff, uncle-like tone.

"Yo, Little Mio, I'm just dropping by!"

Chapter 11: The Fate of Three

"Little Mio, I'm just dropping by!"

Luo Mio looked at the kimono-clad loli at his door, who looked like she'd never grow up.

Without a second thought.

He slammed the door shut!

Slam!

Luo Mio's hand quickly shut the main door.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding—!"