Chapter 43 – Birthday Present for My Sister
Vegetables have become more expensive recently.
When there is a hint of war, everything in the capital becomes more expensive. The most expensive are vegetables and the second most expensive are fish.
I scratched my head, thinking to myself that this was troublesome. At this rate, we would go over budget.
“War, huh…”
A few days after the announcement at the Duke of Sakuragi, the royal family and the military announced plans for an expedition of unprecedented scale.
A war of aggression against a neighboring country.
By the way, the neighboring country referred to here is the Principality of Ventas, which is located southwest of here and is separate from the Salindorman Empire with which we have formed a joint front with the Amazons.
It is said to be the most powerful country on the continent, amassing wealth and military power against a backdrop of abundant food production.
As I was preparing dinner, which was one level down from what I had planned, Suzuha returned home with Yuzuriha-san.
“Hi, Suzuha-kun’s older brother, I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“Welcome. Would you like to have dinner with us, Yuzuriha-san?”
“I’ll take your offer.”
Yuzuriha is always appearing and disappearing unexpectedly, so recently I’ve started buying ingredients for three people when I go grocery shopping for dinner.
Once when I couldn’t prepare Yuzuriha-san’s portion, she looked very sad.
“By the way, Suzuha-kun’s older brother, what’s for dinner tonight?”
“It’s one whole Pacific saury and some fried tofu for dinner.”
“Hmm, Pacific saury, huh? That sounds quite tempting, but…”
“Nii-san, isn’t it a bit too little for us after our exercise?”
“Then let’s have some pork miso soup too.”
“”Yay!””
Yuzuriha-san, who was happily joining in with Suzuha, didn’t seem like a typical duchess at all.
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After dinner and before Yuzuriha-san left, they told me about their day. This is also a regular occurrence.
“Nii-san, the school is already completely consumed by the war.”
“Are Suzuha and the others going on the expedition by any chance?”
“No, Yuzuriha-san and I will stay at the school. But most of the other students are on the expedition.”
It was only five days after I heard the story privately from the head of the Duke Sakuragi family that the royal family announced their plans for an expedition.
A massive expedition to the neighboring country to the west, the Principality of Ventas, located on the opposite side of the Ogres’ Great Forest from our country.
The royal family claims that it is a “holy war to reclaim the land that our ancestors lost,” or something like that, but everyone knows that it’s just a simple act of invasion.
Yuzuriha-san once said that throughout history, all acts of aggression have been carried out under the pretext of self-defense.
“Nii-san, excuse me for a moment.”
Suzuha went to the bathroom, leaving Yuzuriha-san alone with me.
I decided to take this opportunity to ask her about my recent worries.
“Yuzuriha-san. Don’t tell Suzuha, but I’d like to discuss something with you.”
“A-A secret conversation between just the two of us!? W-What is it? You can tell me anything!”
“Thank you. It’s Suzuha’s birthday soon.”
Every year on Suzuha’s birthday, we have a small party with just us siblings, I prepare Suzuha’s favorite food for dinner, and I give her a present, but…
“Until last year, Suzuha was a sword enthusiast who was only interested in becoming stronger, so we just gave her presents related to that. Like a brand new wooden sword or iron weights.”
“That seems like a rather unorthodox gift for a brother to give to his sister…?”
“But Suzuha has also entered the Strongest Royal Female Knight Academy, and although she won’t tell me, I’m sure she has one male friend or two she’s interested in. Even though I’m her older brother, I have to say that Suzuha has grown into quite a cute young lady, objectively speaking.”
“Well, certainly, Suzuha-kun’s popularity is tremendous. However, even if boys from the adjacent Knight Academy try to talk to her, I think she only recognizes them to the extent of a stone. She said she receives love letters every day but she has never replied to them even once…”
“Perhaps she’s secretly dating a boy.”
“I swear to God that’s absolutely impossible.”
For some reason, Yuzuriha-san kept interrupting the conversation, but anyway…
“…So this year, unlike previous years, I want to give my sister a normal gift that any brother could give to his sister. However, I don’t know what would be good for me to give her. That’s why I thought of consulting with Yuzuriha-san.”
“Fufu, so that’s what you meant…”
After Yuzuriha-san crossed her arms and pondered for a while, her face turned red for some reason,
“I-If that’s the case, why don’t us two go shopping for a present?”
“No, I’d feel bad taking your time.”
“N-No, of course not! Even I want to buy a gift for Suzuha-kun. And besides—This is definitely not a date or anything like that!”
After that, as a result of being pushed somewhat forcefully, the two of us decided to go shopping for presents together.
Yuzuriha-san is a really nice person to be so enthusiastic about helping me choose a present.
