Chapter 804

“Big sisssss!”

Finally, the mansion came into view. Before I could even dismiss Cascador, the mansion door swung open, and a pink-haired girl in a nun’s habit with a fur leather coat draped over it came rushing out.

“Yeah, yeah. Big sis is here. Did you wait long?”

I smiled, stroking Rana’s hair as she crashed into my arms. She seemed taller now. I guess I can’t call her a kid anymore.

“Sniff sniff… Big sis’s smell…”

Watching her nuzzle against my cheek and inhale deeply like a puppy greeting its owner, it was clear that while her body had grown, her heart was still that of a child longing for a mother’s warmth.

Having lived as a lonely orphan, she must be seeking the maternal affection she never received but always yearned for from me.

Though the age gap isn’t huge, so I ended up being more of a big sis than a mom.

“Really, I must smell like sweat. What’s so good about that?”

I chuckled, ruffling Rana’s hair as she kept sniffing me.

If a grown man tried this, I’d have twisted his neck, but how could I do that to a child who couldn’t contain her joy at finally having family? I understood that feeling all too well.

I, too, once longed for something similar.

My homeland wasn’t kind to orphans, so I grew up without ever fulfilling that longing…

But now, I have the ability to indulge this child’s whims, so it’s no problem.

Having grown accustomed to her calling me “big sis,” I, too, had come to see Rana as family.

To the point where I even considered sharing the Median name with her.

Honestly, at first, I jokingly called her a portable potion box… but at some point, I had fully accepted her as family.

They say you can’t fight hormones, so maybe this body’s changes brought out some maternal instincts?

The thought made me chuckle softly as I stroked Rana’s hair.

Maternal instincts? Me? Could there be a more mismatched word?

—

Damien arrived at the mansion just as I handed my clothes to a maid and stepped into the bathroom to soak in hot water.

After descending the mountain range, I had conserved my Life Force Technique by riding Cascador, but since Damien couldn’t ride a unicorn, he had no choice but to use “Sky Step” to fly here.

As a result, Damien had to land periodically to rest when his Power of Feats ran out.

Though he could convert his mana into Power of Feats using the Holy Sword’s power, allowing him to fly much longer than before, once his mana was depleted, he had no choice but to descend and run.

Well, it gave him more practice with energy conversion and using the Heroic Tale, so it wasn’t all bad.

Anyway, upon arriving at the mansion, Damien was immediately dragged to the first-floor bathroom to wash off his sweat-soaked body. His leather clothes, like mine, were handed over to the maids.

After a round of washing and being drenched in Damien’s sweat, the faint peach scent on his clothes was probably gone.

I hadn’t planned to make Damien suffer for that, but the result was satisfying nonetheless.

—

That night, dressed in thin sleepwear, I lay on a soft, fluffy bed, enjoying a comfortable and refreshing sleep.

When I tried to sleep with chains on like last time, Hersela suggested I rest properly this time, promising to stop any sleep-talking herself.

‘You’re not planning to do anything weird while I’m asleep, are you? I warned you last time. Keep this up, and you’ll drop dead one day.’

[How dare you think so little of me! With your sister right beside you, do you think I’d do something so vulgar!]

‘You’re right. Sorry.’

Seeing her point, I apologized and accepted her offer.

Thanks to that, I slept soundly that night. Rana, too, using my arm as a pillow, fell into a deep sleep, oblivious to anything.

It was a warm and peaceful night. No sleep-talking, as feared.

The next morning, as I yawned and pulled up the hem of my nightgown that had slipped down, Hersela told me something.

My sleep habit—specifically, the habit of hugging and squeezing whoever was next to me—seemed to have disappeared.

‘Disappeared?’

[Indeed. As I expected.]

‘What do you mean, as you expected?’

[It wasn’t a sleep habit. It was my body’s defensive instinct reacting to your anxiety.]

Hersela continued her explanation.

According to her, my tendency to hug and squeeze someone to death in my sleep wasn’t just a sleep habit.

If it were a normal sleep habit, I might hug someone, but not to the point of crushing them to death.

[While it looks like sleep-talking, it’s actually an attack to kill any enemy within reach.]

And the reason was that I subconsciously felt anxious when I fell into a deep, defenseless sleep.

Thinking about it, it made sense.

It hadn’t been long since I possessed this body.

Just showing a bit of weakness had led to five warriors ambushing me in my sleep, trying to kill me.

If I hadn’t woken up and resisted reflexively, I might have been torn to pieces and killed.

Looking back now, their claim that I had weakened and betrayed them was just an excuse; they were likely spies planted by Hersela’s half-siblings.

Anyway, after that, I avoided deep sleep for a while.

Plus, memories of the original story, where falling asleep defenseless often led straight to a bad ending, only heightened my anxiety.

So, for me, sleep was both a way to end the day and a dangerous act of leaving myself vulnerable.

[Indeed. That anxiety caused the sleep habit of killing anything nearby while you slept.]

‘That makes sense. So, the fact that the habit has disappeared now means…’

[Your strength has reached a level where you can hardly be called human, so your anxiety has naturally faded. Why fear ambushes now? Even if stabbed while sleeping, you’d barely get a scratch.]

It was a clear and logical answer. Surprisingly so, coming from Hersela’s brain.

[I’ll stay up for a while to confirm, but… you probably don’t need to worry about sleep habits anymore.]

Stay up to confirm?

I hadn’t expected such consideration from Hersela, so I couldn’t help but ask why she was being so cooperative.

[…Though we’re stepsiblings, it’s not bad to see such strong sibling affection.]

After hesitating for a while, Hersela reluctantly explained. As if too embarrassed to continue, her voice grew softer.

[If you’ve taken her as a sister, cherish her. I couldn’t do that.]

Perhaps seeing me and Rana reminded her of her own half-sister. I think her name was Ima-ra.

They were close as children, but after Hersela tore apart Ima-ra’s maid in front of her for insulting Ai-mel-ra, their sisterly bond was shattered.

‘…Wasn’t that entirely your fault?’

No matter how I looked at it, it was self-inflicted.

[So, you’re saying I should’ve let the maid who insulted my mother live? Even if it’s you, do you think I’d tolerate such nonsense—]

‘What are you talking about? Who said anything about letting her live? If you were going to kill her, you should’ve done it somewhere else. Why kill her in front of your sister?’

Though I’d heard Hersela’s sister was quite the handful, she was only about twelve at the time.

Watching her caretaker torn apart in front of her, how could she not be traumatized? Of course, her personality would warp.

[Ah. I see… Yes. That was indeed my mistake.]

Unable to refute such a valid point, Hersela, who had been about to explode in anger, calmed down and sighed in a deflated tone.

—

After filling my stomach with sausages and stew prepared by the maids, I gathered my original equipment left at the mansion and headed to Pailoon Castle. I had messages to deliver to the Grand Duke before returning to the capital.

First, I had to report finding the Holy Sword and that Damien had become its wielder.

Grand Duke Valdemar would guess I’d found the Holy Sword just by seeing me return to the capital. Lying about not finding it would be pointless.

Besides, there were other things to report.

Like how part of the Sky Mountain Range’s gorge had become a wide road, so the borders there needed strengthening, and how monsters would start appearing in the Sky Mountain Range, so we needed to prepare.

Most monsters would wander inside the mountain range and freeze to death or descend the gentler northern slopes to attack the Beastmen’s lands… but that didn’t mean none would come south.

…Somehow, it feels like I’ve become a headache for the north, causing trouble and then leaving.

Well, the Grand Duke would understand. It’s all for humanity’s sake, right?