Chapter 142 – Overprotective Big Sis and Ted

As autumn drew to a close and the air turned chilly, my big sis invited me to go hunting as a birthday celebration.

I had no idea why a birthday bash meant hunting.

By the way, my birthday was long over.

Worrying about it just means defeat. I’ve gotten plenty used to my sis by now.

We shivered in the early morning cold wind while she stood there like a bouncer, doing a final check of our gear.

“Here, next. Show me inside.”

“Yes.”

My sis had married Gobas-san at the end of summer and become a married woman.

They’d had a big party with her adventurer buddies, stuffing their faces in celebration.

After that, she’d gotten even more overbearing.

Lately, her maternal instincts had gone into overdrive.

And nine times out of ten, I was the target.

“Ted. Take care of Marie, got it?”

“Yes.”

My sis snatched her own bag from Gobas-san, slung it over her shoulder, then chucked my already-checked pack hard at Ted.

“Ah, I can carry…”

“It’s fine.” “It’s fine.”

My sis and Ted spoke up at the same time.

Gobas-san patted my shoulder and gave me a knowing look.

Ted was overprotective too, so I figured I’d graciously bow out here.

“Thank you.”

Bickering like this would just delay departure forever.

The two of them grinned in satisfaction, and Gobas-san and I both sighed in relief at the same time.

“I heard about it, Marie.”

On the way to the forest, Gobas-san muttered beside me.

…That thing, huh.

“Heard what?”

I knew, but played dumb out of embarrassment.

“About you and Heart. What’re you gonna do?”

“Oh. That.”

Even to my own ears, it sounded so disingenuous.

This was my first real-life romance, past life included, and it wasn’t like my fantasies at all.

For one thing, all I’d ever read were light novels about villainesses doing ridiculously evil stuff, then pulling off acrobatic resolutions that defied logic.

Even the romance ones were about this klutz duo of marriage scammers who always got conned instead.

The ending had the guy, smitten by the heroine’s badassery during their team-up with the enemy, proposing…

And her reply was something like, “Keep fooling me into thinking I’m happy right up to the end. I’ll fool you too.”

Me and my classmates had swooned over that line.

“…Hey, you listening?”

Whoops. I’d zoned out into fantasy land and missed everything.

I flashed a grin with just my face, and Gobas-san gave a wry smile, looking exasperated. “I asked what you’re gonna do.”

“I still thought it was way off in the future, so…”

“I figured it’d hit when I saw your coming-of-age parade after you turned adult.”

“Huh?”

I was surprised, but the voice came from Ted walking behind us, not me.

“The age gap isn’t that big, right? Gobas-san and I have even more years between us.”

“True, but he never acted like that at all.”

Ted spoke exactly what I was thinking, so I nodded vigorously from the side.

We were already in the forest, but no one even thought to stop walking.

“Right, Ted. There’s something I gotta tell you.”

“Something to tell me?”

My sis, who’d been walking ahead, spun around, walked backward a few steps, and stopped.

I couldn’t quite read her expression.

“You’re not normal, are you?”

Whoa, sis, what’s with the sudden jab…? Not normal is fine, isn’t it?

Ted’s a psycho, sure, but not a bad one.

“Tally.”

Before I could butt in, Gobas-san called her name in a scolding tone.

“No, what I’m saying is, your obsession is abnormal.”

What the heck were they even talking about?

Ted walked up to face my sis and lifted his chin with a faint smile.

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“You’re just dependent on whoever you’re protecting. Right now, it’s Marie keeping your ego intact. Switch to guarding Lily, and you’ll get obsessed with her next.”

Ted furrowed his brows tightly.

“…That filthy woman?”

Still got a foul mouth on him.

That’s my little sister you’re talking about.

“I heard. You called her a dumb, tyrannical, arrogant bitch with a rotten personality.”

No, I don’t think I went that far…

“Exactly. You think I’d get obsessed with trash like her?”

Trash is a bit much…

“Exactly. And that girl’s not as bad as you think. Not that you’d notice. She got locked up, but watch out for girls like that. Aren’t you Marie’s guard?”

“Both of you, enough…”

“Marie, stay out of it!”

I tried to step in, but they yelled in unison.

“Marie, come here.”

Gobas-san patted my shoulder twice and pointed to a sunny spot ahead.

We sat together and watched the two of them argue in the distance.

“Nobody can stop Tally once she gets like that.”

Gobas-san has it rough too, huh.

My sis drags on forever once she starts in on her theories.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded. “I get it.”

“Back when she was fifteen, she tried to take seven-year-old Marie home. No way hearing about the kidnapping didn’t freak her out. Sorry, but put up with her till she calms down.”

“Hee hee. That’s my sis for you. That’s why I’ve loved her since way back.”

As I said that, Gobas-san gazed at her tenderly and murmured, “Thanks.”

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