I Was Reincarnated As The Older Brother Of A Villainess Destined to Die, So I Want To Change The Future By Raising My Younger Sister With My Own Hands. I Am The Strongest In The World, But My Little Sister Must Be The Cutest In The World - Volume 3 Chapter 4.4
Three days later, the day of Nina’s “move” arrived. Well, it’s not exactly a move in the traditional sense. We’re just connecting Nina’s house and a room in Foranda Castle using the “Phase Link Gates.”
In terms of her public position, it would be portrayed as follows: “After the recent mission, Nina established a friendship with Caron and started receiving frequent invitations.” This way, her regular outings and activities would remain unchanged. Only the foundation of her daily life would be transferred to the connected room in the castle.
Now, why go through such a complicated process? One reason is to eliminate any suspicion or unnaturalness. If a simple adventurer like Nina were to start living in the castle, it would raise too many eyebrows. To be prepared for any emergencies, we will openly acknowledge the fact that “Nina comes and goes from the castle.” However, it was necessary to disguise her residence as a suburban house to maintain a facade.
Another reason is to use that house as a decoy. Nina is being targeted by factions that include witches. Since her true identity has not been revealed, it was inevitable that we would be at a disadvantage. Therefore, we devised a plan to use the aforementioned suburban house as a decoy to lure out the enemies.
Well, this plan is more of a hope than a certainty. The enemies seem quite cautious, so it’s unlikely they will fall for it easily.
For these reasons, we proceeded with connecting Nina’s house and the castle using the Phase Link Gates.
It goes without saying that Nina’s information is shared with my subordinates. The trust in Foranada Castle has reached 100 percent. There’s no need to worry at all.
By the way, we solved the issue of leaving the Phase Link Gates connected permanently by developing a specialized magical device.
We couldn’t rely on external alchemists for top-secret magical device development, but the current Foranada has overcome that challenge. Thanks to my contract with Noma, we have achieved the significant accomplishment of being able to prepare magical devices within our own circle.
However, there might be a bit of a problem.
From the day after we made the contract, I had entrusted Noma’s operation to my subordinates in charge of finance and agriculture. But when I saw her after a long time, her expression was intense. Her eyes were clouded like a dead fish, and she emitted a negative aura stronger than her entire body.
I was truly shocked. She used to have a noble and radiant presence, but now she had completely transformed into the opposite.
When I asked her what happened, she simply replied, “Work.” The following words were, “What’s the next task?” It was a situation where I could easily guess what was going on…
Well, yes. I genuinely wanted to consider improving her treatment, but the personnel in charge of her begged me for Noma’s assistance, stating that they needed her power. I couldn’t intervene. I just hope she can hold on until the end of the fiscal year. After that, I will give her plenty of time for a vacation.
But I digressed slightly .
Thanks to Noma’s precious sacrifice, Nina’s move has been successfully arranged.
It’s past noon. In the room prepared for Nina, the three of us siblings and Shion have gathered. We’re going to be the welcoming committee for Nina.
Originally, I wanted to introduce her to the executives, but I thought it might be overwhelming for her to meet a lot of unfamiliar people at once, so I decided to hold off. I plan to gradually introduce her to each person one by one.
“Now, let’s open it.”
The appointed time has arrived, so I activated the magical device.
The magical device for the “Phase Connection Gate” takes the form of a mirror. It is connected to its counterpart mirror, and by passing through the mirror, one can travel a long distance.
As the magical energy began to flow, the mirror part started to glow. It emitted a strong light, not dazzling but enough to obscure the reflection.
Before long, a figure emerged from within the light. Gracefully descending to the ground, it was indeed Nina.
Knowing that she was coming to the castle, she seems to have dressed up as much as possible… Her attire is of a higher quality even though it’s for commoners, and her braided hair, tied into a single strand, seems more carefully done than usual.
She seemed nervous. At first glance, she appeared expressionless, but there was a slight trembling around her cheeks.
Although she had claimed not to hold any grudges, it was a fact that she had been plagued by misfortune due to her connections to the nobility. It’s only natural for her body to tense up, even if to varying degrees.
It seems like it would be best for me to approach her in this situation.
With that judgment in mind, I was about to speak to Nina when…
“Nina, long time no see.”
Before I could take a step forward, Caron stood in front of Nina. She gently enveloped Nina’s hands and offered her a smile. It was a soft and gentle smile befitting her nickname, the “Sunshine Saint.”
Who could resist being captivated by it? No one!
Indeed, Nina’s tension seemed to dissipate in response to Caron’s smile. She let out a small sigh and relaxed her shoulders.
“Long time no see, Caroline-sama.”
“I insist!”
“Huh?!”
As Nina returned the greeting with a calm expression, Karin suddenly shouted. Nina, as well as the rest of us, were taken aback by the outburst.
Ignoring our reactions, Karin continued.
“Since we’re going to live together from now on, please stop using such formal language. You can just call me Caron!”
We worried about what triggered her anger, but it seemed she wanted Nina to change her way of speaking. Our concern was in vain.
“Um…”
Nina looked at me with a troubled expression.
Well, it’s understandable. Despite living together, there is still a difference in social status between the two of them. It wouldn’t be easy to use casual language or call each other by their first names, even if Nina desired it.
But you’re being naive, Nina. It seems you’ve forgotten what I’m known as in these parts.
“It’s fine within the castle. None of my subordinates will mind.”
“What?!”
Her eyes seemed to accuse me of betrayal. Well, well, as a self-proclaimed siscon, how could I not choose Caron when forced to decide between the two?
As I continued to feign ignorance, it seemed that Nina had given up. She let out a disappointed sigh and slumped her shoulders.
“I under…stood, Caron. I will follow your request within the castle.”
“Yes, thank you so much! Shion wouldn’t change her mind no matter how much I pleaded, so I’m really happy about this!”
What? She even wanted Shion to call her by her first name. That’s a bit too much to ask from a subordinate like Shion, I think.
With a wry smile, I spoke up.
“Nina, what about your luggage?”
“It’s in the bag in front of the mirror.”
I’ve already informed her to use the house as a decoy, so she probably doesn’t intend to bring much besides essentials. In that case, it should be fine.
“Got it. I’ll take care of moving that for you, so you can focus on building a friendship with Caron and the others.”
“I’m sorry.”
When I offered to help with the luggage, Nina furrowed her eyebrows.
I can see her hesitation and insecurity. I understand that she doesn’t want to be left behind, but let’s insist on this.
“You’ll be living in the new residence from now on. It’s best to quickly get along with the other residents. With Caron around and even without me, you’ll be able to engage in casual conversations.”
“Alright then, I’ll leave the rest to you. Caron, Orca, Shion.”
“You can count on us!”
“We’ve got it!”
“Understood.”
Having received responses from the three of them, I swiftly turned towards the other side of the mirror. I had a faint sense of hearing Nina’s voice, but I didn’t turn back.
Everything went according to plan. In less than three days, Nina had already settled into Foranada Castle. She casually greeted the working staff and had a good relationship with her siblings. Well, it seemed they immediately hit it off due to a certain shared experience.
That shared experience happened to be the training supervised by me. Apparently, they bonded over the hardships they endured together. It was quite perplexing, considering I was merely teaching them essential knowledge for survival.