Echidna's Library

1 —The scenery outside the window always looked like an illusion that was out of reach to me.

“—Joshua, what are ya doin’?”

“Wha!?”

Suddenly, a voice called out to him from beside him, making Joshua’s shoulders jump up and down like a child who had been caught playing a prank.

“Sorry, sorry, I startled ya by calling out to ya out of the blue, huh?”

“N-no, that’s not true. It was because I was spacing out…”

As Joshua turned around, adjusting his monocle that had shifted out of place, he responded to the gentle smile of his master—Anastasia.

In truth, it was Joshua’s mistake. Anastasia hadn’t tried to hide her presence, and she probably had no intention of surprising Joshua. After all, she wasn’t Mimi.

“But speaking of intentions, Mimi doesn’t mean to surprise anyone either. She just surprises people with her honest words and actions…”

“Fufufu, it seems like Joshua has gotten to know my children well. I’m very happy that they’re gettin’ along. And…”

“And?”

“Ya seemed to be starin’ intently at them just now, didn’t ya?”

Stroking the white fox scarf around her neck, Anastasia, who was standing next to Joshua, turned her light blue eyes to the outside of the window—to the Iron Fang’s training being carried out there.

The garden of the Juukulius mansion in the royal capital was quite spacious and was now filled with about twenty people, giving it a lively appearance. At the center of it all was Ricardo with a large hatchet on his shoulder, and the people around him—all beastmen—were attacking him one by one.

It was a scene of Ricardo, the leader of the Iron Fang, harshly treating his members.

Naturally, among the people Ricardo was fighting was—

“Hey! Captain, it’s time to finish this!”

“Ya idiot, if you’re gonna surprise me, keep quiet! But you’re energetic, that’s one of yer good points!”

Raising a spirited voice, Mimi also jumped from behind Ricardo.

As per his sound advice, the surprise attack that revealed the attacker’s presence was easily avoided, and Ricardo caught Mimi’s robe with his hatchet and threw her far away.

“Yikes, I can’t watch this. I’m glad they didn’t get hurt.”

“Ricardo is skilled and Mimi is also agile. Besides, I don’t think there aren’t any injuries. Training is about getting hit and getting hit and learning from that.”

“—Hm?”

Anastasia covered her face with her hands and watched the members of the group train through the gaps between her fingers. She gave Joshua a meaningful sidelong glance in response to his answer.

Joshua blinked and said, “Ah.”

“S-sorry! I was being too bold! I’m just standing here watching the training and pretending to understand…”

“What? There’s no need ta panic like that. I’m not angry at all, I’m actually impressed. Joshua is the son of a family of knights after all.”

“The son of a family of knights…”

Anastasia mediated, but Joshua was at a loss for words.

Those expressions and titles were the least suitable for Joshua Juukulius at the moment. He would have preferred to keep his mouth shut if he was to receive such an evaluation—

“Joshua? Why did ya go quiet?”

“Wha!?”

As he slowly lowered his head, the woman peered at his face so closely that he could feel her breath, and Joshua screamed as he crashed into the wall behind him. The crash sounded so loud it seemed as if the window in the hallway would break, and Anastasia put her hand over her mouth.

“Yer such a hectic kid. I think my face isn’t that good-lookin’ though.”

“I-I think Lady Anastasia is cute and beautiful!”

“I feel like I made ya say that. But thanks.”

“It’s just, well, I wasn’t mentally prepared for it…”

Feeling his own heart pounding in his palm, Joshua was busy trying to control his face, which was turning red and blue, along with the emotions that were linked to it.

Of course, what he said was not a lie. Her large, round, light blue eyes brimming with curiosity, her pretty features that were perfectly positioned, and her long eyelashes that could rival Julius’s were all very attractive.

So Joshua’s current panic was due to the thorn that had been stuck in his heart for so long.

“If you’re the son of a family of knights, you should be standing on the other side of the window, not this side. Instead of speaking wisely, you should silently prove your position with your sword…To give me such an evaluation is not only a waste, but disrespectful.”

“——”

“That’s why! My brother who perfectly embodies the ideals of a knight is wonderful! With abilities and achievements like his, there’s no need to be silent. On the contrary! From the perspective of the other person, it’s only natural that they’d want advice on everything!”

Clenching his fist tightly, Joshua emphasized how amazing Julius was, a man who went above and beyond the typical image of a knight.

Yes, Julius was a true knight. The only one who deserved to be called “the son of a family of knights” was Julius, who had accumulated the achievements that one should have. But he exaggerated a bit. The other knight families were also surely striving to be worthy, even if they weren’t as good as Julius.

Unworthy strays were far more rare and far more wrong.

“——. Julius really is important to Joshua, huh?”

“Yes! I think it’s presumptuous to say that, but even if I gave…yes, even if I gave everything, it still wouldn’t be enough; he’s an amazing person!”

Though Joshua felt a slight sense of discomfort at the implication, he answered Anastasia with vigor. Anastasia nodded several times, saying “I see, I see,” and then turned her gaze out the window again.

“Maybe it’s because of that? Joshua seems to have pretty sharp eyes. It seems like ya even saw Mimi bein’ sent flyin’ earlier.”

“That’s… That may be true. I’ve always watched my brother train with my father since I was little. In that sense, I was in an environment that was the envy of the kingdom’s knights.”

Joshua clapped his hands, realizing that Anastasia’s point had that kind of aspect to it.

Certainly, Julius’s training was something that many knights would be willing to pay to watch, as he was one of the elite of the Royal Guard and was even called the “Finest”. If you had watched him improve steadily since he was a child, it was understandable that you would have discerning eyes—

“No one can imitate Julius’s trainin’ anyway, so if we made a spectacle of it, how much…”

“L-Lady Anastasia? I heard some really impure calculation…”

“Oh, sorry, sorry, don’t worry about it. Whenever I see somethin’ that could lead to a business opportunity, I can’t help but think about how I can make money from it.”

“That being said, if you could not include my brother in that…”

Julius was a generous and caring person, so if any knights asked to watch his training, he would gladly accept. Joshua was frustrated that Anastasia had turned this into a money-making scheme, as if Julius’s humanity and cultivated skills were being converted into money.

His inner thoughts must have been more apparent as Anastasia laughed and said, “Don’t make that face.”

“I’m sorry if my bad habit made ya feel uneasy. It’s Joshua’s privilege to be able to watch Julius’s trainin’. I won’t take it away.”

“No, that’s not what I meant! Please don’t embarrass me…”

As if she was enjoying teasing Joshua, Anastasia’s smile deepened even more, so Joshua turned away from her and narrowed his yellow eyes, looking at the soldiers training once more.

Not having learned her lesson, Mimi came running back and jumped on Ricardo again—

“It looks like this time Hetaro and Tivey will join.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Look—”

As Anastasia tilted her head, she looked towards Ricardo, but Mimi, who looked like she was going to jump straight at him, suddenly turned around at the last moment, and while he was distracted, Hetaro and Tivey, who had quietly approached, launched a surprise attack from the side of Ricardo.

However, the brilliant teamwork of the three siblings was ineffective against Ricardo, who was swinging his large hatchet.

“It wasn’t bad! Mimi, yer eyes were wanderin’ too much! Hetaro and Tivey, ya need ta hide yer presence better!”

“You got us! Captain, you’re amazing!!”

The three of them who were hanging from the end of Ricardo’s hatchet were being spun around above his head by a laughing Ricardo, and they could be heard squealing with joy and screaming.

Joshua, watching from afar, smiled at Anastasia beside him and said,

“It turned out just as I said, didn’t it? But Ricardo who didn’t seem bothered by that is incredible. He is worthy of being Brother’s training partner.”

“——”

“Lady Anastasia?”

Joshua was impressed, but then he suddenly noticed that Anastasia hadn’t said a word and became worried that he had upset her somehow.

However, Anastasia shook her head in response to Joshua’s question and replied,

“It’s nothin’, it’s nothin’. …Joshua, ya really have good eyes.”

“I-I’m sorry to hear you praise me so many times, but… Ha! Maybe this is a prelude to a big request or a big scolding!? That’s why you’re being so kind today…?”

“Hey, hey, hey, I’m always kind, ain’t I?”

Anastasia’s hand suddenly reached out and pinched his cheek, and Joshua murmured, “It hurts.” Anastasia laughed mischievously at the answer, leaving Joshua very confused.

It was true that Anastasia was generous and kind to her family. Joshua was relieved to think that not only Julius, but he, too, was included in that group.

However—

“Is it just my imagination that the way Lady Anastasia looked at me just now is the same as when she was thinking about making money earlier?”

2

“—Joshua, that kid, is it possible he could become somethin’?”

After finishing up her day’s work and looking over the firm’s income and expenditure report, Anastasia asked this to Julius, who had invited her over during her break.

Julius was a little surprised to hear his loyal master speak of his younger brother, but he didn’t show it on his face and continued,

“Joshua? I’m glad that my younger brother is being praised, but what did you notice about Joshua, Lady Anastasia?”

“Today my kids were trainin’ in the garden, right? Ricardo was in the middle, and Mimi and the other members of the group were jumpin' on him.”

“I heard the same thing from the members of the household. …Don’t tell me, did Joshua join in?”

“No, it’s not that bad. I just happened to come across him while watchin’ in the hallway.”

“Is, that so?”

Julius sat down, having almost risen from his seat, and played with his bangs with his fingers, smiling bitterly. Anastasia’s cute brow quirked in response to Julius’s reaction.

“Hm~ What, what? From yer reaction just now, there must be somethin’, right?”

“As expected, you have a keen eye. …Did you notice anything as Joshua watched the Iron Fang’s training, Lady Anastasia?”

“I thought his eyes were good. There were other things too, but that was the main thing.”

Anastasia pointed to her own eyes with two fingers, and Julius sighed softly.

Anastasia, a great merchant of Kararagi, had an eye for beauty that could discern not only things, but also people. And if something met Anastasia’s eye,

“As expected, Joshua has something extraordinary.”

“Ya say as expected, but ya weren’t certain of it, were ya?”

“Unfortunately. As you probably know, Lady Anastasia, Joshua was weak when he was young and was unable to receive a proper knight education.”

“It seems so. He seems to be in much better shape now, and apart from bein’ a little too thin, I don’t see any signs of weakness at all.”

“Yes. As he grew, those problems faded away. That in itself is something to be pleased about, but…”

Julius stopped talking and turned his gaze out the window.

In the corner of the garden of the Juukulius mansion, which could be overlooked from the room prepared for Anastasia, there was a tree with appas growing on it. He remembered the day Joshua first asked for that appa.

While recalling those distant days—

“I often heard from my father that Joshua had been forced to give up his education due to his health condition but that he had a natural talent for swordsmanship.”

“…It seems like yer father had a good eye for that too.”

“After all, it was his own son. But that was why he was so frustrated. Because of that, I received very strict instruction from my father.”

“But thanks to that, Julius is who he is today.”

“Yes.” Julius nodded vigorously to Anastasia’s words.

As a child, despite his actions and words, Julius sometimes resented the hardships that befell him, but now he was deeply grateful for them.

His father’s regret and frustration became the strict guidance he gave Julius, shaping him into the person he was today.

“And it’s not just my father’s guidance. If Joshua ever decides to take up the sword, I don’t want to be a big brother who loses so easily.”

“Oh, that’s surprisin’. Ya also have that competitive spirit, huh, Julius?”

“Of course I have pride and dignity. I may not show it much to you, Lady Anastasia, but I’ve always been quite competitive. However…”

“However?”

“The reason I don’t want to lose to Joshua isn’t because of my pride as a knight or a man, but because I want to be an older brother that my younger brother respects.”

Slightly relaxing his lips, Julius defined his feelings for Joshua in this way.

In every sense, he was in a privileged environment. His father taught him the Juukulius way of life, his friends taught him how to be a knight, and his younger brother taught him how to be stubborn.

“So I am happy that Joshua is being praised by none other than Lady Anastasia. Although, I think that Joshua himself is not very keen to take up the sword…”

“—Ya know, Julius.”

Julius was about to continue, saying that it might be difficult, but Anastasia stopped him. Anastasia stoked her fox scarf and smiled sweetly as usual.

“Ya know this, but I don’t like things that are wasteful. It’s not that I particularly think it would be good if Joshua became a great swordsman, but I can’t stand the idea of him livin’ his life with the mistaken idea that he’s not worth anythin’ at all.”

“That’s…Then, what are you going to do?”

“Right. …For now, I’ll give him more work, especially work with more responsibility. Somethin’ that’s closely related to the royal selection would be good. How ‘bout bein’ an emissary to the other candidates?”

Anastasia’s hands were clasped in front of her chest and her eyes were shining as she made the suggestion, and Julius widened his eyes slightly before giving a wry smile. —It seemed Joshua had touched on her troublesome nature.

And that would surely bring about a desirable change for Julius as well.

“Hoshin’s saying! ‘Confidence makes a man. Confidence is created by achievements’! I’ve decided, I’ve decided. Now that Joshua’s part of my family, I have to make him happy.”

This philosophy, so typical of Anastasia, gave Julius a premonition that it would bring a new wind.

It was the same as when Julius had sensed that she was a suitable candidate for the royal selection and a person fit to be king.

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