Chapter 50

Senior

“Elise… Elandia…,” I reflexively murmured when I was contemplating.

“Yes, so you get where El-el comes from!”

No, actually, that wasn’t what I was thinking about…

But I guess she’d think of my murmuring that way.

“…Elandia family… is a noble marquis family, right?” I decided to ask.

“Ah, you know? Yeah, I’m the daughter of Marquis Elandia.”

“The main family?” I decided to ask, as I remembered that almost all members of the branch family that was under Phillip Elandia got stripped off their noble title and exiled. The main family was declared innocent.

The question is… whether it’s true that they’re really innocent… or not?

“Yep! Ah, but remember to not call anyone by title here. We have equality rule here!” Elise said while moving around her index finger, as if she was lecturing us.

“Okay!” Iris obeyed like a good girl. On the other hand, I didn’t respond to it and instead…

“El-senpai, can I ask again?”

“Sure, sure, why not? Fufu, I feel like I’m having little sisters! How nice if it’s true… Ah, you can call me [Big Sister] if you want!” Elise smiled happily.

“El-sen… I mean, El-neechan… don’t you have siblings?”

“Ah, I have older siblings! I have one big sister and two big brothers! I’m the last child… but I’ve always wanted a little sister!” Elise began to answer my question honestly, without speculating anything. …I feel bad to probe for information from a child like her… But since it involves my family, I…

“Are you close to one another? Is your big sister like you?” I asked again.

Dad and the others managed to capture the mastermind and the other underlings, but Trouble-neechan managed to escape. Could it be that…?

“Yup! My big sister and big brothers are always kind to me! My big sister’s the oldest, she’s more like Mommy, though!”

“Oh, how does she look like?”

“Hmm… you see, unlike me, she kept her hair short. The color’s also yellow, like Mommy’s… This year, her age’s twice my age! She’s very kind and she’s always there to help me whenever my big brothers are teasing me!”

…No, this doesn’t tell anything. I can’t tell if she is indeed the Trouble-neechan I’m looking for.

Wait a second. Dad and the other adults have examined them thoroughly, and if one of the Elandia was Trouble-neechan, they would have captured her already.

The main family’s legal wife and daughter… they would stand out too much that Dad and the others wouldn’t have missed interrogating them thoroughly.

I heaved a long sigh as I was running out of idea to fish something out from her. Therefore, I only responded normally.

“Seem like you’re so close to one another, El-neechan?”

“Yup, I love my family so much! They’re all nice! And the one that I like the most is…”

She paused at the right moment, and I reckoned she’d want to add such a dramatical pause to add our tension before finally announcing the one she liked the most.

Unexpectedly, her answer was…

“Ah, that’s my secret, hehe! What about you two? Do you have any sibling?”

Aw, boo, that’s not nice. She’s got me all curious about who she preferred the most… ah, no, it doesn’t even have anything to do with me!! It’s not even important! What the heck, me?!

I think I was carried away with the atmosphere and the dramatic pause she added.

“I have one big brother, and he’s nice!” I answered.

“Uhm… I… it’s… complicated. But I have a sister around my age that’s kind,” Iris hesitated before finally answering.

Oh… Iris comes from a complicated family background?

A sister around her age… Is her background the same as my past background as Reinst?

If that’s the case, I can imagine that it can be very complicated, indeed.

We talked on our way to our special class, and so far, I haven’t sensed anything bad coming from Elise… Could it be true that her family—the main family of Elandia is truly innocent?

I want to probe something from her, but how do I do that?

To make sure she will spill anything she knows about the Chinosato incident, but the bait must be something harmless if she were to know of it… That would be…

As I turned my gaze to Iris… to… Iris?!

“Okay, then after finding Iris—no, after I have to mention that I am one of the Hartmann, then I will call off this disguise and stop postponing the trouble of explaining and so on!”

A flashback of my own voice resounded inside my mind.

Is this the right moment to do it…?

Well, Alt-nii said that my identity would be found out sooner or later. And it’s not like I can hide the fact that I’m his little sister, so…

Okay, then!

“El-neechan… Actually… I feel bad for knowing El-neechan’s full name and family when I keep hiding mine. I’m… Alrescha Lyra Hartmann.”

I purposely put more emphasis on my last name—[Hartmann]. As I said it, I called off my disguise and revealed my heterochromia—my red and blue eyes.

Iris gasped in her surprise and Elise stopped her movements. I focused my gaze more on Elise’s reaction and she…

Leaned her body forward with her sparkling eyes!

“Awesome, you’re one of the Hartmann?! So, your big brother is the famous…?! Ooooh, look, look! Your odd eye color… it’s cool!! It’s my first time seeing it up close!”

“…”

Where did I go wrong?

If her family member had something against my family, then at least her reaction would be quite different… Ah, could it be that because she was a child, that the perpetrator concealed everything from her?

Yes, there’s a possibility…

Ah, but the adults checked every member of Elandia family before, right?

“El-neechan, I heard that my dad has visited your house before, so do you happen to know him?”

Elise stopped examining my every nook and cranny. She put her right hand to her chin and began thinking.

“Hmmm, I think I have seen him before… He came in with many other adults…? Our entire family members and servants were called… I heard it was an inspection?”

This is it!

Time to fish more from her!

“Really? Inspection… for what?”

“Eeeh… I don’t know, it’s like they were looking for a bad guy or something? Nobody has ever told me anything…”

Her puzzled expression told me that she really knew nothing…

Guess there’s no use questioning this to a child…

It’s not like my probing would be better than the experts at the royal court. Why would I be doubting the adults in doing their jobs? I was merely a girl who reincarnated from another girl who lived only 13 years of her life—nothing special.

Which means that the Trouble-neesan… is an outsider to the Elandia family?

I was immersed too deep in my thoughts that I walked as I put my right hand over my chin, thinking—while Iris and Elise continued to talk.

“We’re here~!”

Elise’s cheery voice disturbed my thoughts and pulled me back to reality.

In front of us, there was a classroom’s door with the writing of “S1” on it.

S1… Special class year 1?

I heard that there would be only one special class per year, so there’s no doubt about it.

“Thank you, El-neechan!”

Iris and I slightly bowed to Elise to express our gratitude before she waved her hand and left.

We opened the classroom’s door and saw that there were other students present, including Luca and Kiri. We became the center of the attention only for a while before the others continued their own business.

I observed the whole room before moving any further. In front of the class, there were a whiteboard, a small cupboard, and a teacher’s desk. Then, facing the opposite side were 16 seats that were linked to their own desks. They formed 4 rows and 4 columns. At the back of the class, there were several lockers and shoe racks.

Ah—how could I not mention the comfy and huge carpet the room has? And at the corner of the room, there was a temperature controller. It can be operated by infusing mana—and it can perform 2 functions: heater and cooler. Will the teacher be operating it, or will another school staff be responsible for it?

Anyway, I also noticed how there were only 2 vacant seats beside Luca and Kiri. The other seats were pretty much occupied. Luca and Kiri must have booked those seats for me and Iris! Oh, so these boys can be quite considerate!

However, they picked the first row… can I say that it’s so Luca-like?

“What took you so long?” Luca protested.

Ah—really, if the competitive Luca knew I got us lost, he would be able to have something he could use against me!! He’d finally have something he’s better at doing, compared to me!

Nah, I don’t want to lose!!

“Ah, sorry, we took a slight detour—,” before I could finish my sentence, Luca cut me off.

“Did you take a dump?”

--this brat, don’t you know delicacy?!

Ah, I forgot. He was a normal 6-year-old boy, haha!

“No, you dummy! We only got lost,” I tried to calm myself down and answered.

Yes, calm down, Lyra, your opponent is nothing but a child. It’s no wonder that he has no delicacy at his age…

“See? Kiri, I won the bet. Lyra’s directionally challenged.”

“…”

…Did I slip out there?!

…Wait a second, what bet?!

“Hey, what was that? A bet?!”

“U-uhm, don’t be angry, Lyra… Luca told me that you guys took so long because you lost your way but I didn’t believe it could happen with you around, so we…”

“Why would she take a detour if the first lesson is going to start soon? That doesn’t make any sense. If she’s not lost, then that means she got a stomachache or bumped into some trouble.”

“…”

I guess getting lost is better than admitting that I took a huge dump?

But…

“Objection!! Objection, please!! Indeed, I got lost, but just because I got lost once, that doesn’t mean that I am directionally challenged!!”

“…You got lost the other day when we went to the side of the castle that you rarely visited. You couldn’t even remember the way back…”

“T-that’s because the interior of the castle was confusing!”

“Fine, fine, we will know the truth in the future,” Luca said and shrugged.

I decided to just calm down, pick up a seat, and sleep—no, organizing my stuff at the desk!

Ah, during our quarrel earlier, Iris’ constant, “Uhm…,” could be heard, but we were so fired up that I forgot to reply to her.

Anyway, there are only two vacant seats—one next to Luca, and the other one is situated next to the first vacant seat.

…Naturally, I will be taking a seat next to Luca, as it won’t be good to shove Iris to sit next to the person she just met. But I guess this is the right order of seat for us—from left (window) to right (door): Iris, me, Luca, Kiri.

“If I had known that you would get lost on your own, I would have told you to just come here and go to the toilet nearby,” Luca said after I took my seat.

…Right. To make sure the students could study optimally in the special classes, the classes—which are S1 to S4—are located at a ‘separate’ area, dubbed as the “Special Cluster.” Obviously, there would be a nearby toilet.

“Ah, I was afraid Iris couldn’t hold it until we reached the class.”

“S-sorry, but that was indeed the case…”

“Iris, it’s not your fault, it’s fine~!”

“Okay, noted. For next time, we will be going together then. That’d be faster than having to wait for you to wander off first,” Luca has decided without even consulting anything to us.

But truth to be told, I kinda agree… At least, until I can get used and familiar with the school area!

“Ah, hey, you guys forgot to close the door!”

The kid who sat behind me tapped my shoulders and reminded me.

“Eh? Ah, you’re right. I’ll close it, then. Thanks!”

I already stood before Iris could even react and then went towards the door. I was just about to close the sliding door when I bumped into someone—no, someone bumped into me!

“Oh, sorry, do you want to come in? I forgot to close the door just now—”

I looked up and saw a youthful boy standing in front of me. He looked like a boy who just finished his coming-of-age ceremony. His magenta eyes were so bold and his yellow hair was quite untidy… He put his yellow hair on a short ponytail, but that didn’t stop his hair from covering his ears. I guess that’s just his style…? The ponytail wasn’t intended to keep his hair from falling over so untidily, then.

Did he come into the wrong class? But this is the section for Basic Level, and Special Cluster on top of it…

The building complexes for each level have clear divisions, so…

“Are you looking for your little brother or sister, Senpai?”

Yes, that must be it! His younger sibling must have forgotten something that this responsible older brother came all the way to deliver that forgotten thing! What a considerate older brother—

“…Senpai?”

His eyebrows twitched as he questioned me with an odd expression.

“Uhmm…?”

I stepped back to observe this boy from head-to-toe.

Ah, no uniform… He is not wearing Harmonia Academy’s student uniform…

“Who did you just call Senpai? Me?”

“…”

Before I could even react, the bell rang, signaling that classes should be starting soon.

As the bell rang, my mind went blank even more.

Could it be, could it be that…

“Ah, class is starting, can you go back to your seat first?”

Because my mind was blank, I didn’t even remember how I managed to come back to my seat. I stared blankly at the teacher’s desk as the earlier “Senpai” walked leisurely to the teacher’s desk and positioned himself there.

Yes, Lyra, it’s exactly that ‘could it be’!

He is not a Senpai, but… Eeeh?! This young… boy?!!

Congratulations, Lyra, for getting yourself into another trouble!!

I’m amazed at my ability to stir troubles.

Could it be that I was reincarnated with the cheat of attracting troubles?

I tried to keep my composure awkwardly and gulped. My mind quickly imagined countless possibilities of the bleak future that might happen if this trouble took a bad direction… If this homeroom teacher of mine doesn’t possess a heart as wide as the world…

[Little Lyra has become Thug Lyra: Picking Fights with the Homeroom Teacher, on the First Day of School!]