Book 5: Volume 5 Chapter 7, Educational Guidance: Riku’s Adventure Time 1

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Afterwards, once the shock of Schrein’s training had settled into something like clarity from exhaustion, Riku remembered…

 

He properly went back to Peach, offered his congratulations without stumbling over his words this time, and then made his way to visit Collete.

 

He had not seen his new Sibilings, Seiya and Shea, yet.

 

“Oh! They’re Twins!”

 

The observation left his mouth before he could reconsider it. A moment later, something struck to his head.

 

“Ow!?”

 

“What exactly did you think they were?” Schrein asked from behind.

 

Riku rubbed his head. “It’s just… when someone tells you you have new Siblings and they’re this small, you don’t quite know what to think…” He trailed off under Schrein’s unimpressed gaze. “…Never mind.”

 

The truth was, before Seiya and Shea, the only Younger Sibling Riku had known was Luca. Luca was only a year behind him. He had no memory of what Luca looked like when he was just a baby. Seeing two small children and knowing they were Family was genuinely strange in a way that was difficult to articulate without sounding like an idiot, which he appeared to have done anyway.

 

Collete, watching from nearby, let out a quiet, fond laugh and turned her attention back to the Twins.

 

“I think they like you,” she said. “You have quite the touch with the women in your life, don’t you?”

 

Riku’s expression shifted into something mildly pained. “I don’t think so.”

 

It was something he was told often enough that it had started to feel like a running joke at his expense. If he were truly popular, he believes he would know it. He would feel it. There would be evidence beyond people simply telling him so.

 

This was, in fact, a misunderstanding on his part.

 

Like Towa, Riku drew people to him in a way he simply did not register. His obliviousness had made him, inadvertently, the source of a great deal of frustration among other young men. That he was also well-regarded by them made the whole thing more complicated, not less.

 

What was undeniable was that he settled into the Twins’ presence with a natural ease, taking turns with them, finding the rhythm of it quickly. He was good at this, even if he didn’t know it.

 

“Looking at them like that,” Schrein said, observing the scene with a thoughtful expression, “you really do look like a small Family.”

 

“Oh.” Collete warmly exclaimed.

 

Riku looked up with an expression of mild horror. “Please don’t say that.”

 

“Are you saying you find me unattractive, huh?”

 

He turned to Collete, whose expression had become a little disappointed. “No. That’s not it at all—”

 

“So you do think of them as Parent and Child, then.”

 

“That’s not what I—”

 

The two of them continued, and Riku continued failing to extract himself, until at last he simply said what he felt/ “Please. I’m begging you. Just give me a break.”

 

Schrein’s expression softened into something almost like amusement.

 

“By the way, Riku. You’re active as an adventurer, aren’t you?”

 

The change in topic was abrupt enough that Riku blinked. “…Yeah?”

 

“Great. Bring me on a quest with you next time.”

 

Riku’s eyes went wide. “W-why? That’s so sudden—”

 

This had never happened before. Members of the management team had never made a request like this, partly because the gap in skill made it impractical. They also understood, without needing to say it, that Riku would have found it uncomfortable. But Schrein, having now sparred with him directly, had apparently decided on something he needed next.

 

Collete seemed to understand before Riku did. She looked at him with gentle encouragement. “It might be nice. I’d have liked to join too, if I could.”

 

“You just gave birth,” Schrein said, simply.

 

Collete accepted this without argument.

 

Riku looked between them, and felt certain that the decision had already been made without him.

 

He had known, for most of his short life, when such moments had passed.

 

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

 

Gereon was the first of the party to see who Riku had brought.

 

He looked at the two unfamiliar figures, then looked at Riku, then put a hand to his forehead.

 

“Hey. Are you alright?”

 

“I think so,” Riku said, with the particular calm of someone who had already processed his situation. “You don’t need to worry about their abilities.”

 

“That’s not what I—” Gereon started, then stopped. “Ah. Fine.”

 

Riku followed his gaze.

 

Angel, with the dedication of someone who had never once been deterred by circumstance, had already approached Schrein.

 

“Beautiful young lady, would you consider joining me for dinner sometime?”

 

Schrein blinked. “Me? Oh. Perhaps another time.”

 

“Don’t say that,” Angel pressed on, undiscouraged.

 

Riku watched this for a moment, then glanced back at Gereon. “Don’t worry. She’s not the type to fall for that.”

 

Kari had sidled up beside him in the meantime, her expression alive with interest. Darya bowed and stood beside her with a more restrained but equally attentive look.

 

“What exactly is your relationship with someone like that?” Kari asked. “And Kokoro-senpai too.”

 

The two Riku had brought were Schrein and Kokoro. Sylvia had asked, more precisely, had indicated that if Schrein was going, Kokoro should come as well. Riku had not found a way to refuse. Kari and Darya, both students at the academy like him, knew Kokoro well enough that her presence at least required no explanation.

 

“Whatever questions you have,” Riku said, with the ease of someone stating a simple fact, “my Stepmother knows best.”

 

Silence.

 

Not just among his own party. The adventurers nearby, who had been watching with varying degrees of interest, had all gone still.

 

Angel paused mid-persistence.

 

Riku registered the quiet a moment too late.

 

“No… wait… she’s my Stepmother, not—”

 

“Riku, stop.” Kari’s voice was sharp with urgency.

 

“She’s my Stepmother! That means she’s not—”

 

“Sjenot—”

 

Kari’s intervention came too late to matter. Schrein, who had been brushing off Angel with effortless grace, turned. The motion was quiet and unhurried. The punch that followed was clean enough that Riku had no time to think about avoiding it.

 

“Ow—”

 

“Stop saying strange things,” Schrein said, with the tone of someone who had expected better, “and introduce yourself to your party members properly.”

 

“Yes,” Riku said, subdued.

 

“You’ve gotten comfortable now that your friends are here, haven’t you?”

 

There was something in Schrein’s gaze that had a weight to it. Riku straightened immediately.

 

“Yes, Madam!”

 

The second punch was harder than the first. He cradled his head and crouched low.

 

His party members stood in silence.

 

The adventurers around them were watching too. Riku’s party had a reputation on the fifth floor. tTey were known among the younger generation as one of the most capable groups working the dungeon. Seeing their leader managed so thoroughly by someone who had arrived in an everyday dress was a great surprise.

 

What waited for them further in, what none of the party had yet begun to anticipate, would turn out to be a greater surprise still.