Idle Talk: It Doesn’t Matter, but the Young Man Has Stomach Troubles

Oh, my stomach really hurts.

From the moment that my little sister was born into this world, my life has been a series of trials.

It goes without saying, of course, that my sister, Rururia, was a very cute baby. All she did was babble and play with the dragon plushie that our mother had made for her.

The trials only began after Ria started acting on her own initiative. The second we took our  eyes off of her, everything started going off the rails.

(She said that she hasn’t done anything, but that definitely isn’t the case.)

The time when she had just learned to crawl was still alright. Our gardener, Tom, had one day found Ria sitting near the flowerbeds. Of course, all he had to do was pick her up and take her back to her bedroom. The solution was simple. And the damage was isolated to the mansion: that is, father’s stomach starting to hurt and mother fainting.

The real troubles came after she could walk on her own…just remembering it hurts my stomach…

As the only daughter of Earl Talbot, Ria, who should have been carefully guarded, managed to smuggle herself onto a merchant ship headed to another country. Father’s subordinates had come quite close to adopting her themselves.

When I asked her what had happened, I couldn’t make heads nor tails of her peculiar way of thinking. All I got was “The hinterlands were frozen” and “I did it with all my might.”

But I’m the one that always has to go collect her?!

At the time, I had seriously considered letting her get adopted, but when I think back on it now, that level of chaos was still cute.

The real test came after Ria made friends with the Demon King.

You might be confused about this name, but she’s a noble girl who is the same age as Ria. The demoness is the daughter of a neighboring Earl. It’s honestly a mystery how such a terrifying girl was born from a knight famed for his straightforward personality.

Yes, everything started getting out of hand after becoming friends with the demoness.

One day – with a simple “I’ve done it—” – she’d gathered a group of vigilantes in our fief that was about twenty people strong. I ended up having to scout people for the organization as well as put out the flames of chaos at our own home.

Then one day, it was: “They were bad people.” When we investigated her words, we found a wreckage that was once a group of pirates. They seemed like they were headed to a different territory, so I’d hurriedly warned those in charge over there. I wonder if we prevented some kind of conflict…

Then, she found some smugglers and said: “They were selling something strange.” We arrested them because they were selling illegal drugs, but let’s be clear that the credit goes to me. I took care of all the heavy lifting while mother and father simply fainted again.

All of that has been settled, however…family meetings became mandatory at our house because of such antics.

After a certain incident happened, everything quieted down for a bit. Though, I started to take certain actions in advance, just in case something occurred. Maybe some events have happened that I’m unaware of, but I’m pretty confident that they shouldn’t affect our territory directly.

“Big brother, are you listening?”

Ria asked indignantly as she threw a piece of chocolate into her mouth…I’m more or less an aristocrat, so I pick one up and carefully chew it instead. Seeing Ria’s happy face as she attended the academy made my stomach clench a little, but it turns out this worry was not misplaced. Somehow after graduation she became His Majesty’s ‘exclusive venting partner.’ She was assigned that kind of honorable role that would allow her to be in close contact with both the King and commander of the knights.

While as a result our family had bettered our relationships with high ranking people, I would personally like for her to stop getting involved in these troublesome events.

Really, I truly want you to stop getting involved.

“Ah, I’m listening, I’m listening. You were just saying that His Majesty, the King, invited you for a consultation and then you were invited to join the knights by His Excellency, the knight commander.”

…From everything she has said, it seems that I’m probably not conscious enough of the current situation.

Please stop, unlike you, I’m quite delicate.

“It was terrible! Don’t you think? I hated it! He directed his killing intent right at me! Even though I’m a lady!”

It was a well-known fact that Ria was not ladylike in the least, but it seems that she’s taken to calling herself ‘a lady’ recently.

…That’s a subject that your brother doesn’t dare interfere with, my dear sister.

There’s no lady in this country who can tolerate the killing intent of the strongest knight in our kingdom. No, not the country, they probably don’t exist in the entire world.

Becoming the daughter-in-law of the Arestant – the knight commander’s – family would be a big deal, Ria.

…Wait, if he’s my sister’s husband then he’d be my younger brother. That knight commander would be my brother-in-law.

Impossible. Absolutely not, my stomach won’t be able to handle it.

My stomach is sure to explode the day that such a powerful man calls me his “big brother.” Father and mother will pass away on the spot.

“Runaway with all you have. Do your best, Ria.”

My sister seemed to support this statement. While I tried to calm my aching stomach, she threw another chocolate into her mouth.

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