About half a year has passed since the discussions with the Marquis. We had now gathered at the student dormitory to hold a party celebrating everyone’s graduation.
“Everyone, congratulations on your graduation!”
“““Cheers!”””
Everyone clinks their glasses together in celebration.
By the way, when the maid of the Marquis family was holding the glass, she looked pale, but……I turned to look at all of the students.
Everyone seems carefree. Banging glasses together with no worries.
The students should know the value of glass, but they don’t seem scared of breaking the glass at all. Is it because they know the glass won’t break….
“Leon-sama, thank you for everything!”
Everyone began moving around and eventually Lyanna and the rest of the graduates gathered around me.
“Lyanna, congratulations. And everyone else, congratulations as well. You’ve all worked so hard.”
“E~he~, it’s all thanks to Leon. I’ll do my best in the future, so thank you.”
“Yeah. Please be a good example for the new students coming in.”
It’s been decided that Lyanna, who was one of the best second-year students, will become a teacher next year. The rest of the second-year students will be sent out to the surrounding villages.
“Still, the school year went by rather quickly. It was around this time last year that you joined the school.”
“Well, I wanted to be a student for a little while longer.”
“Actually, starting next year, I plan on extending the time students spend in the school.”
“Eh, what do you mean!? That’s not fair!”
“…..Even if you say that I don’t have much choice with the number of students that will be joining.”
She’s sad to hear that the time spent taking classes will be extended? Is that because she would’ve liked to live as a student for longer? If so, I’m glad to hear that.
“Well, if you have spare time you can take some extra classes with the students.”
“Really? Thank you!”
Like this, I enjoyed the conversation with the second-year students.
I finished talking with everyone, then went to the corner of the table where cake and other sweets were lined up.
Since the sugar cane production is going well, we’re currently able to mass-produce sugar. So, we plan to make a cafe in the city soon.
Joking aside, I feel like this town is almost 100 years ahead of any other in this world.
“Ah, Leon onii-chan.”
“That voice is Sophia……and Milli? That’s a rare combination.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s not so strange~”
They were sitting next to each other eating cake. I thought it was unusual, but they didn’t seem to think that way.
Well, they seem to be getting along well together. Thinking about it, Milli would become Sophia’s mother-in-law, so it’s better if they get along well.
“Hey, hey, Leon onii-chan. Sophia has a favor to ask you.”
“Alright, ask me anything — reasonable. I’ll consider anything reasonable.”
That was close. Recently Sophia has been more forceful. If I said anything, she may ask for the same thing Claire did.
“Why can’t I ask for anything?”
“I will only do something reasonable.”
“Muu….”
Why does she seem so disappointed? What would she have asked for if I had said she could ask for anything?
“…..So, what is your request?”
“Well, Sophia wants to continue to help Leon onii-chan, so Sophia wants to continue going to school.”
“Ah….You’re supposed to graduate this year, but if you wish to stay in school longer that should be fine.”
“Really!?”
“Oh, next year we will also increase the number of classes and we will introduce optional classes for the students. So, you can choose your favorite subjects to study.”
“Yay~! Leon onii-chan, I love you!”
“Woah. It’s dangerous if you hug me so suddenly like that.”
“Ehehe~, sorry~”
She’s sly like usual. For some reason, I can feel Alice at work here. Well, I’ll forgive her because she’s cute.
Alice teaches Sophia strange things, but….It’s definitely thanks to Alice that Sophia has become so smart.
It was probably right to leave Sophia in Alice’s care, probably.
“What are you thinking about, Leon onii-chan?”
“N-Nothing at all. Which type of cake is your favourite?”
“I like shortcake the most.”
“I like cheesecake.”
“I see. Then, I’ll have to try that one as well.”
Like that, I also started to eat some cake. Then, the three of us continue talking amongst one another. I then heard Claire’s voice calling out to me.
I looked back to find where she was and could see her, Michelle, and Tina all sitting at a table together.
I say goodbye to Milli and Sophia and head over to Claire’s table and grabbed a seat.
“Are you three talking about how to best manage the territory?”
“…..Otouto-kun, do you think all I talk about is work?”
“Then, what are you all talking about?”
“Michelle has been busy with teaching these days, so I wanted to ask Tina if she would assist me when she has time.”
“He~, is that so?”
I thought they were talking about work — but I guess I was wrong.
Well, it’s my fault for making Michelle a teacher. I’ll be in trouble if I say anything negative here.
“Leon-sama, can I assist Claire?”
“Please allow her to do this. My younger sister would work her hardest to help Claire-sama.”
I was wondering why they were asking me — I guess they were looking to me for approval.
“If Tina is fine with it then there should be no problem. Please support Claire.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
She looks really happy. I guess she must be happy to be in a similar role as Claire.
Whatever the case, Tina should be more than capable of helping Claire. I know that I can trust Michelle’s sister. She easily had the best grades in her year.
“Oh yeah, Claire. There are some new ideas I’d like to try implementing in our territory. Can we set up a meeting so we can talk?”
“Couldn’t we just talk now?”
“No, this a special occasion. We should just have fun here.”
“Oh, otouto-kun, didn’t you think I was always working?”
“Because I thought that, I want you to relax a little.”
“Thank you for worrying, but I’m fine. If it’s something that you think will improve the territory, please let me know.”
“Alright, if you say so.”
— And I tried to start talking, but Claire told me to wait a moment.
“Michelle, Tina, please enjoy the party.”
“No, I may have been teaching more recently, but I am still Claire-sama’s attendant. I will stay and help in whatever way I can.”
“I feel the same. Starting today I am Claire-sama’s assistant so I will stay too.”
Michelle and Tina say this and try to stay, but Claire just shakes her head.
“I’m happy to hear that, but Michelle, don’t you need to stay and celebrate the students’ graduation?”
“But…..I understand. If you say so, I’ll stay here.”
Michelle smiled and returned to her seat. Claire acknowledged her and then turned her eyes to Tina.
“This party is also for you, Tina. So, please enjoy yourself and you can start as my assistant tomorrow.”
“But….”
“It’s fine. Once you formally become my assistant, I’ll make sure you work hard for me every day.”
“I understand. I’ll enjoy the party today.”
She lowered her head and returned to the party.
“….What are you planning?”
“Sometimes it’s nice to be alone with my otouto-kun.”
“I thought so.”
I could kind of tell by the way Claire was acting, but when Michelle left she seemed to give Claire a meaningful look and I thought it may be possible.
“Do you not want to be alone?”
“Of course I wouldn’t think that.”
“Fu~fu~, that’s good to hear.”
Claire narrowed her jade eyes and smiled while looking down at the ground. She seems to have matured a lot after turning thirteen.
Will I someday see her as a woman and not just my older sister?
…….No, no, no. Of course, she will become a woman one day, but I need to not think about that. I feel like I’m being corrupted little by little.
“So, what did you want to talk about, otouto-kun?”
“Nothing really. We’ve both been busy recently, so this was just an excuse for us to talk alone.”
“Is that so?”
“Recently, we’ve both been occupied with work. I sometimes wish we had time to just talk as siblings.”
“…..Thank you, otouto-kun. It’s kind of you to say that, but I know you actually had something you wanted to talk about.”
I showed a gentle smile. I was a little impatient. Claire was acting cute, but she easily saw through my lie.
I was lying when I said I didn’t want to talk about work.
There are many things I’d like to talk with her about. Creating a separate preparatory school from the regular school, establishing a welfare system for the people, creating an adventurer’s guild in the city, and much more.
However, when I heard Claire’s words, I thought it may be better if we relaxed for a while.
I guess it’s impossible for me to try to lie to Claire.
“Hey, Claire. Are you……happy?”
“Thanks to otouto-kun, I feel really fulfilled.”
“Is that so?”
It’s been seven years since I met Claire and have wanted to protect her. I’ve always wanted to know how I can make her happy.
“That’s why my dream now is to improve the Grances territory with otouto-kun and everyone else.”
“…..Eh? That’s your dream now?”
“Yes, that’s my dream currently. Thanks to otouto-kun, I have been able to gain freedom and now I’ve finally set the stage for me to build on. I’ll do my best to achieve my dreams.”
….I see. That’s right, I’m not done yet. I need to live freely and be happy. I haven’t achieved my own dream just yet.
“Alright, shall we talk about how to make the Grances territory rich?”
In the end, we talked about how to further improve the Grances territory.
After a while, I exited out onto the terrace. I could see Alice standing out here looking up at the sky.
“What are you doing here?”
“Oh, Leon. I was tired after talking to so many students, so I decided to run away for a while.”
“Ah, you’re very popular with your students.”
Though, Milli and Michelle wouldn’t lose out in popularity. Since Alice has travelled all over the country, the students seem especially interested in her.
“Alice is a teacher after all.”
Thinking about the fact that Saya in her previous life wasn’t even able to attend junior high made me feel very emotional.
“Starting from next year, I think I’ll leave teaching to everyone else.”
“Is that because some of the students will now be teachers? There’s no reason for you to remain teaching.”
“Teaching is fun, but I like you more. Ah, I made a mistake. I love you.”
“Why did you correct yourself?”
I think it’s rather strange that she’s comparing me to teaching.
‘That’s because I haven’t made any progress in seducing you yet.”
“Don’t try to seduce a twelve-year-old.”
“In this world, a twelve-year-old is already an adult.”
“Even if that’s so, I’m still the age of a child.”
“Muu~…..”
Alice begins to pout. I laughed a little as I looked at Alice pouting. Then, I moved a little closer to her and looked up into the sky.
A blue, full moon was floating there.
“The moon from our previous world was beautiful, but this one is quite beautiful as well.”
“Muu~, you’re obviously trying to change the subject.”
“I’m not changing the subject. Alice — Saya, you grew up in Japan. You should be able to understand my meaning.”
“What are you saying….Eh?”
There’s an anecdote in Japan that ‘I love you’ when translated means, ‘The moon is beautiful.’ I guess this situation reminded me of that, but Alice just stared at me with a blank expression.
“Eh….Eh? Just now, was that…maybe?”
“Yes, this story ends with that.”
“Eeeeehhhhh!? After all this time, you say it now!”
“I’ve felt that way for a few years.”
“And for so long too!?”
I laughed at the sight of Alice panicking. Every day recently has been filled with work. Sometimes it’s nice to take a day off like this.
“Muu…..a few years?”
“The time seems to have passed so quickly.”
“Maybe that’s because we’re happy with everyone….Hey, Leon. May I lean a little on you?”
“That’s fine, but…”
Alice came closer before I had time to finish my sentence. When we met, our height difference was similar to an adult and a child. Now, we were almost the same height.
Having Alice close to me like this made me feel a little happy.
“Before, I said I ran away from the students because I was exhausted. But, really, I was just envious of them all.”
“I see…”
Because Saya was sick she was only able to attend elementary school. Even after being reborn into this world, she was only able to wear a high school uniform but never attended class as a student.
…..That’s right.
Let’s arrange for Alice to attend school once we get the new school system properly set up. Saya always wanted to attend school and wear a uniform; I’m sure she’ll be happy.
While thinking about this, I continued looking up at the blue moon with Alice.