Little Sister and Sister-in-Law

I walked over to the bed and crouched down.

Norn was huddled behind a blanket, with only half her face and a pair of green eyes showing. Her hair was a little messy, and a stray lock stuck up on top of her head.

She was sizing me up.

Seven-year-olds have sharper eyes than adults.

I had to kneel on one knee to get down to about her height.

Rujierd had taught me to crouch down when facing someone smaller than me, so our eyes would be level.

Norn blinked. She neither retreated nor came out. She just stayed behind the blanket, watching me quietly.

About ten seconds passed.

"Can you cook?"

Her voice was very soft and timid, but I heard every word clearly.

"...Not very well."

Honestly, back on the Demon Continent, Rudeus had done most of the cooking. At best, I could grill meat, and I often burned it.

Norn's eyebrows drew together slightly.

"Can you wash clothes?"

"Not very well, either."

I was even worse at that. My way of doing laundry was basically to soak the clothes in water, scrub them a couple of times, then wring them out and hang them up. Rudeus had often said I washed clothes like I was forging iron.

Norn frowned even harder, and she gave me a strange look.

I might have just been looked down on by a seven-year-old.

Then she asked a third question.

"Um... can you use a sword?"

There was more expectation in her voice than before, probably because she'd noticed the sword at my waist.

"Yes."

Her eyes lit up, and her voice rose a notch.

"...Then will you teach me?"

Paul snorted beside us, the corners of his mouth turning up.

I smiled too. I really couldn't help it.

She's just like me. No interest in cooking or laundry, but mention swordsmanship and she perks right up. I like this kid-no, Rudeus's little sister.

"Sure," I said. "I'll teach you when your father says it's all right."

Norn glanced at Paul, who had his back to us and was looking through some papers. He hadn't noticed.

"Father will agree," Norn said quietly, sounding certain.

I crouched beside the bed and looked at her. She was a very cute seven-year-old girl, but there was a determination in her eyes that didn't belong in a seven-year-old's.

She had probably been waiting in this tent all this time. Three years was a very, very long time for a child.

My chest felt a little tight.

Footsteps came from outside the tent. Rudeus lifted the flap and walked in. There were still tear tracks on his face, but he looked much calmer than before. He paused when he saw me crouching by the bed and Norn leaning halfway out.

"You two..."

"Norn wants me to teach her swordsmanship," I said.

Rudeus looked at Norn, then at me, and the corners of his mouth rose.

When Norn saw him, she shrank back behind the blanket again, leaving only half her face showing as she stole glances at Rudeus.

Is she afraid of him? No wonder. Rudeus left home a long time ago, and Norn must have been very young then. Her big brother is practically a stranger to her.

Paul turned around. He had several sheets of paper in his hands, covered in densely packed writing and lines. He spread them on the table and weighed down a corner with a stone.

"Come here, all of you," he said. "There are some things you need to know, especially you, Rudeus."

Rudeus went over. I stood up and walked to the table too.

Paul pointed to a map on the paper. It was very old, with curled edges and lots of markings drawn on it.

"Zenith... your mother," Paul said to Rudeus, his voice much lower than before, "has been confirmed to be inside the Teleportation Labyrinth on the Begaritt Continent."

Rudeus's shoulders went taut.

"Roxy's search party confirmed her location with Kishirika's demon eye." Paul traced a line on the map with his finger. "The labyrinth is near Rapan on the Begaritt Continent."

Roxy-the person Rudeus has always revered as a god. He calls her his master. I've never met her, but Rudeus has mentioned her many times. Every time he talks about her, his tone changes.

"Father, what about Lilia and Aisha?" Rudeus asked.

Paul's finger stopped on the table.

"They were teleported to the Shirone Kingdom after the Teleportation Incident. I asked people to look into it, but things are chaotic over in Shirone, and no news has made it back." His voice dropped very low. "Their whereabouts are unknown."

Rudeus said nothing, and the tent was quiet for a few seconds.

Paul took a deep breath and gathered up the map.

"We'll go over the details later. Let's eat first." He called toward the tent entrance, "Geese! Is the food ready?"

A cheerful voice came from outside.

"Almost, almost! Don't rush me, Paul. You can't hurry cooking!"

Geese came into the tent carrying a large iron pot. When he lifted the lid, a delicious smell drifted out.

It was boiled beans and salt pork. It looked a little plain, but it smelled good, and a layer of fat floated on top.

...It doesn't look great, but honestly, it smells pretty good?

The corner of Rudeus's mouth twitched.

Paul sighed.

"Geese is a pretty good cook, you know. It's just that it might look..."

"Oh, Paul, you're too picky." Grinning, Geese set the iron pot on a stone beside the fire. "Out in the wild, you're lucky to have a bowl of hot soup. Right, Senior?"

He winked at Rudeus.

"...Yeah, it really does smell good," Rudeus said.

Geese dug a few wooden bowls out of a corner, filled them with soup, and handed them over. I took a bowl. It really did taste good; I hadn't expected his cooking to be this tasty.

Norn sat on the bed, sipping her soup. After a few sips, she looked up at Paul.

"Father."

"Hm?"

"When we rescue Mom... can we ask her to make me a cake?"

Paul's hand froze around his bowl.

"Mom used to make me a cake every year on my birthday. She put lots of wild raspberries on top." Norn spoke very softly, as if talking to herself. "I miss her so much."

Paul put down his bowl. He went over to the bed and reached out to ruffle Norn's hair.

"When we rescue your mother, we'll have her make you a cake."

Norn nodded vigorously, her stray lock bobbing several times.

Geese was clearing up the bowls and chopsticks nearby, and his mouth wasn't idle either.

"Have some too, Senior, don't just sit there watching. We still have to discuss going into the labyrinth tomorrow. Oh, right, Senior, did you know? Back when Paul was with Black Wolf's Fang, he could even burn a fried egg. I ended up teaching Zenith how to cook. But after that, I decided never to teach a woman to cook again, because..."

"Geese," Paul interrupted.

"Hm?"

"Hey, hey, can't you give me a little respect in front of my son?"

"You got it."

Geese grinned and shut his mouth, then went on clearing the bowls and chopsticks.

I watched him. This monkey-faced man never stopped talking and blurted everything out. He'd just called Rudeus "Senior." I'd heard him use that title twice now, and it still struck me as strange. Rudeus was only thirteen, and a grown man was calling him "Senior."

There's probably a reason. I'll ask Rudeus when I get a chance.

It was already pitch-dark outside the tent. The canvas had changed from orange-red to dark gray, and the light that had been coming through the gaps was gone. The fires in the camp were still burning, and voices and footsteps could be heard now and then.

Norn got sleepy after finishing her soup. She retreated under the blanket, her eyelids gradually drooping. Paul tucked the blanket around her, then turned and walked back to the table to continue studying the map.

Rudeus stood in the middle of the tent. He looked at Paul, then at Norn on the bed, and finally at me.

I tilted my chin up at him slightly.

He came over and stood beside me without a word.

The sound of hoofbeats came from outside the tent.

They drew closer at a quick pace. Hooves rang sharply against the gravel path, then stopped in the camp.

Paul lifted the flap and went outside.

I walked to the tent entrance too and lifted a corner to look out.

The moonlight was bright. A brown horse had stopped in the middle of the camp, and its rider swung down.

Blue hair, tied in two braids, flowed like water in the moonlight.

She was very short, a head shorter than me. She wore a khaki-colored robe and a black pointed hat, and held a magic wand in her hand.

A child? No, she's... Roxy?