Chapter 67

“Oh… No, I’m glad you’ve become cute, unnie~.”

“Shut up.”

After Yura came to my house… for some reason, she keeps hugging me.

She keeps clinging to me annoyingly, so I just gave up and quietly let her hug me while I drink beer.

…Something feels a bit off about this picture.

“Unnie, I’m alive because of you!”

“You… Did you pack up and leave right after hearing that because you wanted to cling to me?”

“Gasp, you caught me.”

“You little… Let go. It’s uncomfortable.”

“No~ I want to hug you more~.”

“……”

Sigh~… I can’t hit my younger sister, seriously…

If she were a magical girl, I could’ve legally hit her, what a waste.

“Hey. By the way, I’ll cover the deposit and rent for your place, so just live there, okay?”

“Really?! Thank you!”

Ugh… She’s hugging me again and rubbing her cheek against mine…

If you spill beer on the sofa, you’re cleaning it up, got it?

“By the way, unnie… I heard you’re going to Germany? Is it true?”

“Did Chubby tell you…? Yeah, for now.”

“Lucky~ Germany~ I wanna go too~.”

“No.”

By the way, it’s about time for Diamond Dust to come, why aren’t you leaving?

I need to find an apartment and move her in as soon as possible…

“I’m back.”

“Huh? She has horns! Unnie! What’s with the horned girl?!”

“Stop shaking me…”

“…? Who are you?”

Right on time, Diamond Dust came back from school.

And upon seeing Yura, she put her shoes back on and went full defense mode.

I didn’t know she was shy like that…

“She’s my younger sister. She’s staying here for a few days.”

“……Hello.”

“Can I touch your horns?”

“Don’t do that right after meeting someone.”

“Ouch! Why did you pinch my butt?!”

“Because it won’t leave a mark.”

“Mean!”

Ugh, don’t suddenly pick me up and hug me again.

She really doesn’t listen at all.

“But unnie, who’s this?”

“She’s my junior. Her parents kicked her out because she turned out like that.”

“Ah~…”

“So she’s someone I took in, treat her well.”

“Okay. By the way, can I touch these horns?”

“……No.”

“Aw, why~.”

“No.”

“So mean~.”

Rejected, huh, Yura.

But I’ve never thought about touching them.

No real reason to, and it probably feels the same as animal horns, so…

“…By the way, I’m hungry…”

“…Yura, put me down.”

“Ah, okay.”

Since we’re hungry, let’s eat quickly.

Tonight’s menu is pork bulgogi.

“Mmm, delicious.”

“Lucky… Unnie has someone to cook for her…”

“Then hire a housekeeper after you move.”

“No.”

“Then figure it out yourself.”

“Ah~ Let’s live together~.”

She’s trying to change my mind again…

No, absolutely not.

Just one year… It’s a good time to learn how to live on your own.

These days, there are robot vacuums, washing machines, and even machines that fold clothes… So many convenient things.

Even if you’re lazy, you can live a decent life.

All you need to do is cook and take out the trash… That’s it.

The rest is just going to work and learning how to socialize.

Well, Yura probably won’t have issues with socializing… Facing it head-on will help her grow.

…But honestly, that’s all just excuses, and the most important thing is…

“There’s no room for you to begin with.”

“What about that small room?!”

“…You want that? It’s being used as a storage room. Plus, there’s a cat house.”

“Yeah! Even if it’s small, it’s way bigger than my old room!”

“Ah, is that so…?”

Wait… Let’s see… Yura’s room was this big… That small room is…

…Huh, it’s actually bigger than Yura’s old room.

“……”

“See, I’m right?!”

“…Yeah.”

“Then I’ll live here!”

Damn… Suddenly, I have nothing to say…

Sigh~… Fine, since it’s come to this, I’ll have to change the plan.

“Okay, if you want to live in that room, then live there.”

“Yay~!”

“But you have to work at the company for at least a year. Got it?”

“Okay.”

“Chubby. Teach Yura how to cook and handle household chores. If she ends up living alone, I can already see the mess she’ll make.”

“Got it!”

“Wait?! I don’t want to do that?!”

“Why? You need to prepare for when you live alone. You can’t live under me forever.”

“Ehh~ I don’t want to~.”

“Then I’ll kick you out right now and make you live alone.”

“No~! I’ll learn! I’ll learn!!”

“…Really?”

“Yeah! Really! For real!”

She wouldn’t lie to me like that, so I can probably trust her.

Even though she acts like this, she’s never lied to get out of a situation.

“…Okay, got it. After we finish eating, unpack your stuff here.”

“Phew~…”

“……”

“Why are you just standing there?”

“…Nothing, it’s nothing.”

Sigh~… Seriously… I don’t know how my house became so full of girls.

If I were still a guy, I’d be freaking out, but since I’ve been living as a girl for a while, it doesn’t feel weird.

In fact, it’s starting to feel more comfortable… Why is that…?

…This won’t do, I should meet up with my friends for a drinking party… No, Diamond Dust is here, so I can’t.

“By the way, when’s your school trip?”

“School trip? …Next month.”

“Really? Let me know if you need me to sign anything. And you’re not spending your allowance recklessly, right?”

“Yep.”

“Then that’s fine. Oh, and don’t spend money carelessly on your friends. No matter how close you think you are, there are a lot of leeches who stick to you just because you have money.”

“Really?”

“My friends are all rich, so I know.”

“Ah.”

“Advice from experience…”

Since just occasionally defeating Marquis-Class enemies brings in a lot of money, there are probably a lot of people who pretend to be close to Diamond Dust just for her money.

I hope she develops the insight to weed out those kinds of people.

Otherwise, she’ll keep getting annoyed by people asking to borrow money.

“By the way, when do you start work?”

“Me? Starting next Monday.”

“That’s pretty late. Usually, they make you start the next day after passing the interview.”

“I don’t know.”

“…If it’s a trash company, just quit. Did they ask any personal or stupid questions during the interview? Or did they badmouth big companies while talking about machine parts? Or did they get serious when talking about salary?”

“No? And they never asked about salary.”

“Then if they don’t give you a work contract right after starting, or if they keep saying it’s a family-like company, or if there’s no handover, or if they keep assigning you tasks that aren’t your job, or if they call you by your first name instead of your position, or if they try to hire people through connections… If anything seems off, tell me. I’ll help you figure out if it’s a crappy company or not.”

“What, what’s with all that…?”

“There’s more, but I’ll stop here for now. If anything seems off, tell me right away. You don’t want to spend a horrifying time in the same space as trashy people.”

“Ah, okay…”

Since she doesn’t know much yet, this much should help.

Of course, given her specs, the chance of her ending up in such a place is low… But just in case.

I just want her to experience social life firsthand, not roll around in a dumpster.

But this makes the timing a bit awkward.

I guess I’ll hear about the company after I get back from Germany?

It’s not urgent anyway.

“By the way, unnie, why are you going to Germany?”

“Sausage, beer.”

“…Just that?”

“What other reason would there be?”

“……As expected, that’s so like unnie…”

Of course, the surface reason is an overseas assignment.

Ah~ I can’t wait to go and enjoy myself…

Time always feels so slow at times like this.

When I’m training, time flies by so fast.

The concept of perceived time is just too cruel.

“Then I’ll go train the juniors, so unpack and get settled.”

“Train the juniors?”

“Yeah, training them.”

“Ah~ Got it.”

“Ayun, come with me.”

“Okay~.”

Today’s the day to train Crazy Heart…

Come to think of it, I heard she’s been on short overseas trips with her parents before.

If that’s the case, she’s probably been to Germany too, so it’s worth asking.

“Uryaa!!”

So I went to the training ground, and Crazy Heart was already beating up scarecrows by herself.

She really loves moving her body, huh.

“Already going wild by yourself.”

“Whoa?! You’re finally here!”

“Yeah. But first, I have something to ask.”

“Huh? What is it? Is it…”

“Don’t imagine weird things. I just want to ask about overseas trips.”

“Just kidding, kidding~.”

Sigh~… Every time I see her, I miss the old Crazy Heart.

How did she turn out like this…?

“Have you been to Germany?”

“Germany? Of course!”

“How’s the sausage there?”

“Sausage? It’s amazing! Especially when you make budaejjigae with it, it’s awesome!”

“Wait, you make budaejjigae with that…?”

“It has a budaejjigae vibe but also something different, it’s the best!”

Wait, seriously… You make budaejjigae with that…

…No, actually, that might be good.

Then let’s get some recommendations.

“What kind of sausages did you use?”

“Hmm~… Most of them work, but ah, I’ll show you some pictures! This one and this one don’t really fit… And there’s this minced meat sausage, right? You have to use that one!”

“Really? Got it.”

Oh… This is more useful than I thought.

By the way, there are so many types of sausages…

Plus, I’ll be drinking all kinds of beer and eating pork knuckle… I’ll have to run around a lot.

“And have you tried pork knuckle?”

“That? Ugh, um… It was kind of tough…”

“Really? What color was it?”

“Brown.”

“I heard the golden crispy ones are delicious, so you must’ve gone to the wrong place.”

“Yeah~…”

I’ve already found a place that makes golden crispy skin, so I’m good, but I guess it’s a hit or miss.

Well, even in our country, the quality varies a lot between branches of the same franchise, so it’s not surprising.

I’ll stick to verified places for pork knuckle, even if I have to take risks with sausages and beer.

“Ah, and my dad said pretzels are great with beer!”

“Pretzels? …Ah, those snacks?”

“Yeah! That’s it! Salty, with coarse salt that you can chew!”

“Ooh… Just hearing that makes me think it’s perfect with beer.”

“Ah, and there’s something called schnitzel, like a pork cutlet. It’s an Austrian dish, but there are a lot of places in Germany that serve it.”

“Schnitzel? Is it like the pork cutlets we bake at home instead of frying?”

“…? I’m not sure, but probably similar? Since it’s baked, not fried.”

“Really?”

“And there’s something like a potato pancake, but I don’t know the name. It’s exactly like a potato pancake!”

“Ooh…”

I only thought about sausages and beer when it comes to Germany, but there’s a lot to eat.

I should look up more food before going to Germany.

Hoo~ I’m already getting really excited…

“Um… When are we starting training…”

“Ah, right. Let’s start training first.”

I almost got carried away with small talk.

Alright, let’s work the kids hard today too.