Let's talk about my sisters.
Now, most of the students associated the title "student council president" with Norn Greyrat.
Of course, the growing number of students who'd never known Ariel's era as president probably played a role in that.
Norn was a popular student council president.
Among the general student body, quite a few called her casually by the nickname "Norn-chan."
Norn seemed to resist it, but it was more of a term of endearment than anything.
Where Ariel had been a president students relied on, Norn was a president students felt close to.
However—
Perhaps due to the influence of the royal guard, she remained entirely uninvolved in any romantic entanglements for the time being.
She apparently also served as something of a school mascot.
Of course, she wasn't slacking on her studies either. The other day, she'd apparently received official recognition as mid-rank in the Sword God Style.
Compared to the people around me, that was a bit slow, but in all honesty, that was a perfectly normal pace.
She was putting effort into magic as well, and seemed to be taking a variety of other classes too.
I didn't know the exact breakdown, but on the rare occasions I visited school, I'd overhear things like "You see the class president everywhere, huh?" She might not have been able to land the top spot in any single field, but she was spreading her efforts across a wide range of disciplines.
Part of it was that
He must have been her favorite.
I wasn't sure what she saw in him compared to the other two children, but lately she'd taken to saying "Ars is just so cute" as if it were a catchphrase.
And of course, that was perfectly fine.
But there were some parts that worried me.
She doted on him a little too much, if you asked me…
The other day, when Ars started crying from hunger, she'd actually undone her own blouse and tried to nurse him.
Her excuse had been that she figured he'd stop crying if she breastfed him…
And sure enough, Ars did look happy when he was wrapped against her chest, so it wasn't hard to understand why Aisha might resort to such measures.
Still, it was a bit worrying.
Especially when I considered that the only person she'd bare her chest to was a baby.
Well, that was about the extent of my worries.
As for the mercenary group, she was handling things nicely.
When I announced my plan to spread the mercenary group worldwide as
She also had a firm grip on the reins of Linia and Pursena.
Aisha was the ultimate brain.
Both of them were doing their best in their own ways.
Now, both Aisha and Norn were about to turn fifteen.
I probably didn't need to explain, but in this world, every fifth birthday was considered a milestone and was celebrated with great fanfare.
Fifteen in particular.
Fifteen was considered the age of adulthood, and nobles often threw large-scale parties.
A coming-of-age ceremony.
For the humans of this world, it was arguably the most important day of their lives.
And again, I probably didn't need to explain, but I intended to celebrate with both of them.
And boy, was I going to go all out.
I'd take a big wad of cash from Orsted, rent out a massive building, invite all my acquaintances and important people left and right, have them bring generous gifts, and treat them like the most pampered princesses in the world.
That was the plan, anyway. I went to consult
"As far as Aisha goes, fine, but Norn would probably prefer something more low-key… Maybe you should hold back?"
She said it wasn't like they were nobles, and that celebrating at home was more than enough.
Afterward, Roxy patted my head and said, "You've never had your fifteenth birthday celebrated, have you,
Personally, I couldn't have cared less about my own fifteenth birthday…
But whatever—Roxy was patting my head, so I might as well enjoy it.
Purrrr.
Anyway, the lesson was clear: anything taken too far was a bad idea.
Thanks to Roxy, I'd had a wake-up call.
"For now, let's get the rest of the family on board and figure out how we want to celebrate."
And so, I called a meeting with everyone except Norn and Aisha.
---
The meeting was held late at night, underground.
Gathered around a single candle, with the room dimly lit, every family member except Aisha and Norn sat face to face.
"Welcome, to the Dark—"
"Um, Rudy, could we have a bit more light? It's hard to read what I'm writing…"
Roxy, serving as secretary, interrupted my opening remarks with a complaint.
I wanted her to appreciate the atmosphere.
"But if we have more light leaking out, Aisha might notice something."
"Why are we hiding this in the first place?"
"If you ask me why…"
Was there really a need to hide it?
For example, apparently Valentine's preparations had to be kept secret from the boys.
"Keeping it secret makes the preparations more difficult, and if there's no particular reason to hide it, I'd appreciate it if you told us," said
From the perspective of the people doing the preparations, it was apparently better not to hide it.
Well, yeah, that made sense. Preparing openly was a lot easier than skulking around.
"Hmm."
But she had a point.
There was no real need to hide it, was there?
Come to think of it, both my fifth and tenth birthdays had been surprise parties.
That had given me the preconceived notion that birthday parties were supposed to be secret.
And after the last time, Norn and Aisha probably already knew they'd be celebrated anyway.
In that case, there was no reason not to tell them.
"Then we'll go with keeping everything open with the two of them."
Better to go all out.
That way, I wouldn't have to worry about being discreet when buying presents.
Aisha was on good terms with everyone in the shopping district. If I was too hush-hush about it, someone might end up saying something like, "That Aisha-chan's big brother came by the other day and bought the cutest pair of panties!"
Of course, I had no intention of buying panties.
It was a figure of speech.
Absolutely not because I'd recently bought a pair intending to have
"But it would be wise to keep the actual gifts a secret," Eris said, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Even so, we should probably decide among ourselves what we're each giving so we don't end up with duplicates," Sylphie added.
She had a point.
On the day itself, both of them—social as they were—would receive gifts from all sorts of people.
Norn from the student council and the royal guard, Aisha from the mercenary group and the shopping district folks.
Overlapping with those was probably unavoidable, but at the very least, we didn't want to give the same thing within the family.
"Then let's each decide now what we want to give."
And so, the agenda for this gathering became: the contents of each person's gift.
That said, most of them seemed to have already decided beforehand.
Lilia planned to give Norn a handkerchief and Aisha an apron.
Sylphie would give Norn a book and Aisha a quill pen.
Roxy had commissioned a custom suit of armor for Norn and a magical gardening shovel for Aisha.
Eris would give Norn a sword belt and Aisha a regular belt.
Everyone had their gifts planned.
They'd all put quite a bit of thought into it.
Of course, I hadn't been idle either.
I'd decided to give Norn a figurine of
Norn had loved Paul, and she'd want to share her milestone with him more than anyone else.
She might give me an incredibly awkward look, but… well, if it came to that, it came to that.
With Aisha, though, I was a bit stuck.
I didn't know what she wanted.
What Aisha loved were cute things.
For someone with such staggering talent, she was astonishingly girly when it came to tastes—she adored frilly outfits with ruffles and cheap, sparkly accessories.
Giving her that sort of thing was always an option.
But lately, with the advisory fee she'd been receiving from the mercenary group, she seemed to have acquired most of the things she wanted.
"Mind if I ask what everyone received for their coming-of-age ceremony? Just for reference."
I decided to ask the women.
Research was important, after all.
"It was quite a long time ago, but I received a hair ornament from my parents. They told me to act more ladylike," said Lilia.
I didn't know what fifteen-year-old Lilia had been like, but I'd heard she'd been rather plain and unadorned.
She was a daughter of a dojo, after all.
"I'd kind of forgotten when my birthday even was, so I got nothing… Oh, but I did get all sorts of things from Lady Ariel—clothes, shoes…"
Sylphie's gifts had been clothing and accessories. She usually dressed plainly and boyish, so they'd probably wanted her to have something nice for private occasions.
"I didn't receive anything special. The Migurd Tribe didn't have such customs," said Roxy.
Right, of course. Though I had given her a hat as a wedding gift—she could've mentioned that.
"I was recognized as a warrior by
Ah, that thing.
Embarrassing to say out loud, but it was the first "that thing" between Eris and me.
The uniform exchange.
Come to think of it, Aisha had been showing some affection toward me. What if she'd be overjoyed to receive "that thing"?
No, I couldn't exactly do the same thing with Aisha that I'd done with Eris.
But what about something short of that? A candlelit dinner at a restaurant overlooking the sea, raising a glass to the stars in your eyes or whatever—I'd reserved a room, but we wouldn't go all the way, just fall asleep side by side.
A once-in-a-lifetime Cinderella night…
I was starting to embarrass myself.
Was I really worth all that?
"Hmm, I can't decide what to give Aisha."
"I mean, Aisha-chan would probably be happy with anything she got from Rudy," Sylphie said with a little laugh.
Maybe so, but that was exactly the problem.
Precisely because of that, I wanted to give her something that would make her truly thrilled.
…Or maybe something absurdly expensive?
A hundred-thousand-carat diamond, perhaps.
If I asked Orsted, he'd probably tell me where to find one.
Even if it meant diving into a Behemoth's belly, I wouldn't hesitate.
"What about giving her the thing you were happiest to receive from someone? Something like that?" Roxy suggested.
I snapped to attention.
That was it!
"That's a great idea… I'll do that."
Having found an answer, I nodded deeply.
The gift was settled.
---
After that, we held several more meetings, and preparations proceeded steadily.
We'd already informed Norn and Aisha that a birthday party was being planned and asked them to keep the day free.
Both of them were happy about it.
I'd half-expected Norn to say something like "There's no need for that!" but instead she simply bowed her head and said "Thank you" with genuine sincerity.
It was rare to see Norn so forthright… or so I thought, but when I reflected on it, Norn's prickly attitude was limited to school.
At school, with the weight of her position and all, it was probably unavoidable.
Aisha, for her part, was even more straightforward—she was practically bouncing with excitement, saying "This is going to be amazing!"
Or so it seemed. But I was wrong.
If anything, she looked startled, murmuring as though just now realizing it: "Oh right… I'm an adult now."
Being the clever girl she was, she must have been feeling something deep down.
If it came to that, maybe I should give some kind of solemn speech about the responsibilities of adulthood midway through the ceremony…
No, better not.
I wasn't confident enough in my own adulthood to pull that off.
If I tried to act wise now, I'd probably end up embarrassing myself down the line.
Anyway, both of them had been informed, and all that remained was to wait for the day.
---
The day of the ceremony.
Norn went to school as usual.
" I'll try to come home as early as I can."
From those words, I could tell she was looking forward to it.
Aisha also left early in the morning for the mercenary group's office.
…But she was back before noon.
She'd apparently wrapped up her work ahead of schedule.
I'd half-expected her to come back with some kind of gift from the group members, but she came back empty-handed.
"Didn't anyone give you anything?"
"Hmm, I told them it was my birthday, but I guess because they're beastfolk, they don't really know much about those customs."
That said, she had received birthday wishes from various people, and she looked to be in high spirits.
But the shopping district folks hadn't given her anything either, huh?
Well, customers were still outsiders, at the end of the day…
Besides, celebrations weren't always about material gifts.
What mattered was the sentiment.
The desire to celebrate was what counted.
"Hey, big brother. Can I watch while you set up?"
"Sure, of course."
Aisha settled herself in the dining hall and watched in silence as we worked.
She watched as Lilia and Sylphie bustled back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room.
She watched as Eris and Roxy returned from the market, laden with mountains of ingredients.
She watched as I moved from task to task, setting up decorations.
Silently, unblinkingly, she watched.
It was hard to work under observation, but since she was the guest of honor today, and since she'd asked to watch, it was hard to tell her to step out until evening.
And truly, she did nothing but watch.
She didn't interfere, didn't comment—just watched with a blank expression as we worked.
At one point,
At one point, Leo rested his head on Aisha's lap. She didn't particularly respond, and simply sat still.
At one point, Ars started crying, so she stepped away—but she returned immediately and resumed watching, still.
At one point, Lucy came up and asked, "Aisha-nee, are you free? Wanna play?" Aisha smiled and said, "Hmm, sorry—actually, I'm a little busy," and went right back to watching, still.
She simply sat there, doing nothing, watching.
I couldn't tell what she was thinking.
Was she contemplating her adulthood?
Or was she simply thinking, "Wow, they're really slow at this…"
I had no way of know.
As I watched her, the time slipped into evening.
Under Aisha's silent gaze, the preparations had progressed steadily and were now complete.
The dining hall was decorated.
In the corner of the room, the presents for the two of them had been wrapped and stacked into a small mountain.
On the table, dishes that would taste fine even cold were laid out.
The main course was to be prepared once Norn returned.
All that remained was to wait.
She was running a little behind schedule. If she got much later, I'd go pick her up.
That was what I was thinking when Norn returned, right on time as promised.
"I'm home."
Norn was carrying more packages than she could hold in both arms.
In her left hand, a massive bouquet.
In her right, a wooden box crammed with bolts of fabric, loose hair ornaments, and bizarrely shaped objects of unknown purpose.
"I'm sorry I'm late.
I got stopped on the way home and received so many things…
I thought I'd leave them at the dorm, but my closet was already full.
I wanted to bring at least this much home, but the bag tore on the way…"
She'd apparently been approached by all sorts of people at school and received a wide variety of gifts.
That showed just how many students wanted to celebrate Norn's coming of age.
She truly was a beloved student council president.
I just hoped she hadn't received anything weird.
Cookies with hair in them or something…
Anyway, with Norn now home, we officially kicked off the party.
---
The flow was the same as the birthday party we'd held for the two of them a few years ago.
An opening speech from me.
I wasn't about to claim that turning fifteen changed anything, but I did feel compelled to say something about how the world would now see them as adults.
I'd told myself I wouldn't make a speech, but I did it anyway.
My mouth had run away with me, and before I knew it, I was saying something self-important.
And as if my example were contagious, the adults in the family each took turns sharing their own thoughts on "the mindset you need as an adult."
From now on, you won't need permission from the family to do things, but you must take responsibility—that was from Sylphie.
Never forget the desire to learn—that was from Roxy.
Have a goal to strive for—that was from Eris.
Lilia, perhaps overcome with emotion, spoke about the early days of Paul and Zenith, and the day the two of them were born, before breaking down in tears and being patted on the head by Zenith.
After that came the gift presentation.
Norn's face lit up like a blooming flower when she received our presents.
She was especially fond of the armor Roxy had commissioned from a blacksmith she knew.
Apparently, Roxy had ordered a custom suit designed to closely resemble the armor of Paul's that currently hung in Zenith's room.
It had been sized to fit Norn's frame and modified with a feminine touch.
When paired with the sword belt from Eris and Paul's beloved blade at her hip, she looked every bit the part of a proper swordswoman—clothes truly make the man, as they say.
Perhaps the two of them had remembered Norn's old declaration that she "wanted to become an adventurer."
The bust of Paul that I'd made had initially gotten a shocked reaction.
I was proud of it, but it was a thirty-centimeter stone sculpture, and I could understand the hesitation.
While I'd been crafting it, it hadn't occurred to me, but by modern Japanese standards, it might well fall into the "gift that causes more confusion than joy" category.
But this world had no photographs.
As she gazed at the sculpture, memories of Paul must have surfaced, because Norn's eyes welled up with tears and she said, "I'll treasure it," accepting it gratefully.
After receiving the gifts, Norn spoke:
"Thank you. From here on, I'll carry myself with the awareness that I am an adult, and I'll do my best. Please continue to support me."
She said it with dignity and strength, as though her heart were overflowing with gratitude.
Those words sent Lilia collapsing into tears all over again.
Norn had truly grown into someone admirable.
Now, while Norn had been overjoyed, how about Aisha?
Aisha had looked happy enough too.
But as I watched her, something felt off.
Of course, she didn't frown or show any displeasure.
Every time she received something, she'd say "Wow, that's amazing! So cute! Thank you!" or "I've been wanting one of these!" and seem genuinely delighted.
On the surface, she was the same bright Aisha as always, seemingly enjoying the party.
But something was different.
"Off" was really the right word for it.
The Aisha I was looking at seemed somehow detached.
Her smiles, her laughter—they felt put on, performed.
Maybe it was because I'd seen her earlier that day, sitting alone and watching us work in silence…
The gift I gave her was a pendant.
A Migurd Tribe pendant.
…Well, I'd already given the original to Ruijerd, so this was a replica.
Handmade, so not expensive, and not the real thing.
"Aisha, this is what gave me the push to grow.
It probably means nothing to you,
but as proof of your coming of age, I'd like to give you this."
I was self-aware enough to know this was somewhat self-indulgent.
But for some reason, I'd wanted to give this to Aisha more than to Norn.
I didn't know why.
But when I'd asked myself what I'd been happiest to receive, this was the first thing that came to mind.
"…Thank you."
Aisha didn't look particularly happy.
She looked puzzled.
And she stared at the pendant intently, as though lost in thought.
---
After that, we enjoyed the party over the main course and cake.
There was a surprise, too.
After night had fully fallen, students from the school showed up at our door and left gifts for Norn.
They'd apparently learned at school today that it was Norn's fifteenth birthday and had rushed out to buy presents.
Quite a few of them came.
When I went to greet them, some looked positively pale, but I flashed them my signature Rudeus smile and smoothed things over.
Smiles truly were a universal human greeting.
…Sorry, I lied.
The moment they saw my smile, they tried to bolt.
Sylphie caught them, and the presents were successfully delivered to Norn, so no harm done.
What a bunch of rude kids.
Between all those visitors, Norn's pile of presents had grown into a mountain.
Aisha, by contrast, had received gifts only from our family.
She was putting on a smile, but—
Whether it was because that smile looked forced, or something else entirely, she seemed somehow hurt.
Was I the only one who'd noticed Aisha's artificial smile? Was everyone else oblivious?
Or was I just reading too much into it, and Aisha didn't actually mind?
Maybe I should talk to Sylphie about this soon.
I was just mulling this over when—
Suddenly, a commotion erupted at the front door.
The presence of many people, and Leo's barking.
"Something's here…"
Eris grabbed the sword in the corner of the room, her expression hardening.
Had Orsted come?
No—the sheer number of presences was too great.
Orsted wouldn't show up with a crowd.
As I wondered what was going on, I headed for the entrance.
When I stepped outside, a rough-looking mob had massed on the street.
Tall, hulking, hairy, with long canines.
Every last one of them wore a coarse black coat.
An intimidating bunch.
But they looked quite ragged.
Some were injured, others had tattered coats.
At the front stood the two biggest troublemakers in town.
They were arguing with their disheveled hair flying everywhere.
"This is Linia's fault—she messed up at the end of yesterday's job, which delayed our departure!"
"Oh, and you're one to talk—you threw that thing at me, didn't you, Pursena?"
"You're always blaming everyone else. It's all Linia's fault."
"Says the one who got distracted by adventurers roasting meat in the middle of the night while we were tracking our prey! That's what took us so long!"
"Guh… w-well, who camps out in a place like that!"
Linia and Pursena.
As always, they were radiating hostile energy at each other.
But it was all for show.
The rest of the group seemed used to it—they stood behind them at attention, hands clasped behind their backs.
"Oh, Boss!"
"Everyone, salute, nya!"
At Linia's command upon spotting me, the entire group bowed their heads in unison.
In that moment, I noticed what lay behind them.
Resting on wooden planks—three massive shapes.
"Boss! A birthday present for the advisor, nya!"
"We went into the forest starting yesterday, and everyone brought these back!"
They were enormous monsters.
Boar-like beasts.
The kind that lived in the nearby forests.
Starting yesterday…
"…You lot weren't at the office today?"
"It's fine, nya. We left the minimum staff behind."
"That's right. We arranged things so there was almost no work today."
So Aisha had come home early because there was no one at the office.
She'd rushed off in high spirits, expecting to be celebrated, only to find an empty building.
No work either.
She'd waited, figuring someone would show up, but even past noon, no one came.
No wonder she'd ended up feeling down.
"Oh, Advisor, nya!"
"Aisha! It's the advisor!"
I turned around and there was Aisha.
She was standing there, staring dumbfounded at the boar placed before her.
"What… is this…"
"Advisor! Happy birthday!"
With Pursena's words as the signal, the group bowed their heads once more.
Congratulations, congratulations—their thunderous shouts echoed like a neighborhood nuisance.
It was like a yakuza gathering.
And the sole recipient of all these bows was a single girl.
"…Ahaha."
Aisha laughed.
Seeing the scene before her, she'd finally been unable to hold back, and burst out laughing.
"There's no way you can eat all of this… ahaha, ahahahaha!"
And once she said it herself, something clicked, and she started laughing out loud.
The group members laughed along with her—
And they must have understood her joy.
Every one of them looked relieved, wearing broad, cheerful smiles.
I'd spent the whole day witnessing Norn's popularity, but Aisha, too, was properly accepted by her own community.
"Hey, big brother—since they're already here, would it be okay to use our yard? Let them eat together?"
At her request, I glanced at the group members and noticed several wagging their tails.
I didn't know the customs of the beastfolk, but normally, when you received game, you didn't just hand it over—you joined the feast and ate together.
Some looked ravenous, drooling or their stomachs growling audibly.
"Of course."
At my words, Aisha broke into the widest smile.
---
And so, with the students who'd shown up for Norn now joining in, a feast erupted in the yard.
The boar the beastfolk had brought was roasted whole.
A man from the shopping district who said Aisha had helped him out before brought along some booze.
The whole thing was probably a nuisance to the neighbors, and it was miles removed from a solemn coming-of-age ceremony—Norn sighed at the spectacle.
That said, she didn't look displeased, nor did she say anything to dampen the mood.
Maybe it was because Aisha looked like she was enjoying herself from the bottom of her heart.
The feast went on for a while, and it broke up once the mercenaries' hunger had been sated.
As people began to scatter in small groups, Aisha murmured softly:
"I still don't get what being an adult means."
Compared to Norn's declaration about living with awareness, Aisha's words sounded childish.
But maybe that was just how it was.
Aisha had her own image of adulthood, and Norn had hers.
As many people as there were, so too were there many versions of "adult" and "child."
All they had to do was keep moving toward their own ideals.
"Yeah, I don't get it either," I answered.
I didn't feel the need to push the pretense of maturity onto Aisha.
And with that, Aisha and Norn turned fifteen.