Chapter 115: Kurogane Shizuku!
"Honestly, Ikki didn't even tell us what his sister looks like. How are we supposed to find her?"
In the hallway, Stella looked at the people coming and going around them and complained quietly.
"There's nothing we can do. Based on what we have, we can only ask the students around us by name. Even Ikki himself hasn't seen his sister in a long time."
Shiro fiddled with his student handbook, which showed the message Ikki had sent him.
"Her name is... Kurogane Shizuku. But since she's from the Kurogane family, she should be easy to ask about."
The Kurogane family, third place in the entrance results, B-Rank knight—the buffs were practically stacked to the limit. She should have been easy to find.
Yet surprisingly, Shiro had asked almost every black-haired girl in the classroom and still had not found this supposed sister of Ikki's.
Just as Shiro was wondering whether to call Ikki again, a petite girl appeared before the two of them.
She had short silver hair, and her pupils carried a jade-like sheen. Bathed in the sunlight streaming through the classroom window, the girl seemed completely out of place among the noisy crowd around her.
"May I ask why you have been looking for me?"
Her voice was extremely cold, carrying the dissatisfaction of someone interrupted while doing something important.
Stella looked at the girl, whose entire body seemed to exude an "unhappy" aura, and asked,
"May I ask who you are?"
"I am the person you have been looking for, Kurogane Shizuku."
"Eh?! You're the legendary Kurogane Shizuku?!"
Stella widened her eyes.
No wonder Shiro and Stella had been unable to find her. After all, who would have expected Ikki's younger sister to have white hair? What kind of strange genes were these?
"If there is nothing else, please leave. I have something important to do next, so please forgive me for not keeping you company."
Shizuku's voice was as piercing as a cold wind from a snowy mountain. She politely chased away the two people who had interrupted her preparations to do something good.
"Um... Ikki asked us to come pick you up..."
Since this was her friend's sister, Stella did not mind Shizuku's somewhat cold attitude and patiently explained.
"Huh? Brother did?"
The moment Ikki was mentioned, Shizuku's attitude immediately performed a complete one-eighty. She quickly walked right up to Stella and stared directly into those fiery red eyes, her expression filled with uncontrollable joy.
"I knew Brother would remember me. He must be busy with something right now, which is why he did not come to find me personally, right? Honestly, Brother really doesn't understand how much his little sister misses him. But there's nothing to be done. Since I'm his sister, I can only forgive him..."
"Forgive me for meddling, but what are you planning to do after finding Ikki...?"
Shiro asked faintly from the side.
Shizuku's current state was very wrong. What kind of person acted like this toward her own brother?
At least in his impression, little sisters were creatures who only acted cute when they wanted money.
'Don't tell me Ikki only looks proper on the outside, but is actually a sister-con who secretly goes after his sister behind everyone's back?!'
"Of course, I'll start with a loving kiss."
Shizuku said it as if it were only natural.
"K-K-K... Kiss?!!"
Shizuku's shocking words frightened Stella. Perhaps because she imagined some strange scene, her face turned red with a puff, like a boiling kettle.
Shizuku glanced strangely at Stella.
"Is there a problem? Siblings are connected by blood and flesh, which makes them much closer than those so-called lovers. If men and women can kiss freely, there is no reason siblings cannot. In some foreign countries, even kissing is merely a form of greeting."
Wait.
Ikki's sister sounded like she had a point.
Although Shiro had never seen it on the sword peak or in this country, in his previous life, foreign countries did seem to have things like cheek kisses. Could this be some custom from a small region?
With that thought, Shiro looked at Stella.
As the princess of Vermillion, Stella should understand this kind of etiquette very well.
"Of course not! The Vermillion Empire has no such shameless greeting custom!"
Misunderstanding the meaning of Shiro's gaze, Stella shouted in collapse. She did not want to be treated as some shameless woman who used that kind of etiquette.
"Hah? Speaking of which, who are you? What does the way Brother and I express our feelings have to do with you?"
Only then did Shizuku notice the relationship between the two people before her and her brother.
Friends were clearly unnecessary.
Brother only needed her.
Besides—
She looked at Stella's ample chest.
Annoying.
Brother was good in every way, but his taste in friends seemed rather poor.
"I'm your brother's friend. I can't just sit by and watch him make mistakes."
"The affairs between us siblings do not need a woman with vulgar breasts meddling in them."
"V-Vulgar?! What are you even saying, you little shorty?"
"Heh... little shorty... I see. I knew Brother must have had a reason for not coming personally and instead choosing to send you to find me. You threatened him, didn't you? There can be no other possibility. I will defeat you and return Brother his freedom. Scatter in droplets—[Yoishigure]."
Stella's words successfully struck Shizuku's landmine.
She murmured softly and summoned her Device, shaped like a small katana, into her hand.
"As expected, I really should teach this rude little sister a lesson on Ikki's behalf. Come serve my body, [Laevateinn]."
Facing the aggressive Shizuku, Stella refused to back down. Flames rose and transformed into a gorgeous knight's sword.
"Um... Stella, Shizuku, you two should stop as quickly as possible. I remember this academy doesn't allow students to summon Devices casually."
The sound of their argument attracted countless onlookers. Shiro looked at Kurono, who was mixed into the crowd, and kindly advised the two girls, who were already sparking against each other.
"Don't worry. It will end quickly. Once I deal with this vulgar woman, you're next."
"Narrow-minded women are always full of prejudice. I'm different. After all, both my heart and my chest are very large."
"You are nothing more than a fat pig..."
"A fat pig...?"
The smile on Stella's face collapsed.
The matter was about to develop in an irreversible direction. The people around them also smelled the thick scent of gunpowder and left one after another, handing the battlefield known as the classroom over to the two girls.
Shiro looked at Kurono, who had deliberately remained in place, and silently withdrew.
Before leaving, he even thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
Not long after he left, a rather terrifying commotion came from inside the classroom.
"Go die!" × 2
"You two should both die together!"
Boom—!!
Shiro, leaning against the wall: 666.
…
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