They’re classmates, so of course they’re close. I was admiring their rhythmic back-and-forth when Seiad looked at me with quiet eyes.

“I only knew Vice-Captain Rainil was originally from the McFarlane ducal house. But if you’re his sister, I can imagine things will get extremely complicated with that house.”

“Wow. Knowledgeable and quick on the uptake.”

I was surprised. Is the McFarlane house more famous than I thought?

(Because it’s the current queen’s family? Even so, a boy our age knowing about it casually is impressive… What was the current Japanese empress’s family again?)

Sadly, I knew almost nothing about my birth country’s symbolic family. They don’t show up on school tests. I barely remember the prime minister’s name; other politicians are just faces from local posters vaguely stuck in my memory.

Impressed by Seiad’s knowledge, I greeted him properly.

“Um… late, but I just became Rainil-san’s adopted daughter—his sister, Nagi Sheringham.”

“Seiad Jenks. I heard you’re my age. Call me Seiad. No honorifics needed.”

So Seiad’s fifteen too.

“Got it. Call me Nagi too. By the way, you and Soleil are apprentices in the Mage Knight Order at fifteen—that’s amazing. I heard mana kids enter the Royal Magical Academy at fifteen, but there are exceptions?”

“Yeah,” Seiad nodded casually.

“Soleil and I apparently had excessively high mana aptitude. As kids we couldn’t control it at all—tantrums caused mana rampages that wrecked everything around us. In the end both families couldn’t handle us, so the previous Count Livingston took us in and raised us.”

“Yeah yeah,” Soleil laughed and continued.

“So we’re basically like adopted siblings with Isaac-nii—er, the captain. We got special admission to the knight training school’s mage knight course at twelve. Then the ley line disturbances happened, right? Students who earned required credits could graduate early and join the Mage Knight Order as apprentices. We submitted applications instantly!”

“If things were normal, we wouldn’t know which order we’d end up in after graduation. In that sense we were lucky to join the one led by the captain we respect.”

They’re so in sync because they were raised like siblings in the same house. From how Soleil almost said “Isaac-nii,” they’re close like real siblings with him too.

(I wondered why fifteen-year-old Soleil admired Captain Isaac so much. Makes sense now… Both had tough childhoods.)

All the fifteen-year-olds here seem to have thin family ties.

I got a bit sentimental when Seiad sighed softly and said reluctantly,

“My eldest brother back home has decent skill, but his enthusiasm is annoyingly over-the-top. Honestly impressed he’s a knight order captain.”

“…Huh? Your blood brother is a knight order captain too?”

Soleil laughed and answered my head-tilt.

“Yeah! He leads the Third Knight Order guarding the eastern fortress. By the way, the Eighth guarding the southwest is led by my dad! When we were born, borders were chaotic everywhere. Both the Jenks marquisate and Barrel earldom had no one home who could suppress infant mana rampages. My dad cries every time he sees me—‘I wanted to raise you myself!’”

“That’s why you’ve always refused to join the Eighth.”

Soleil turned dead serious.

“Obviously. He’d totally spoil me rotten.”

“That old man has zero trust from his daughter—hilarious.”

“Say that while laughing at least a little.”

Retraction.

Only I have thin family ties here.

Both their families are “shiny-shiny” nobles, so they’re noble kids. Their casual speech made it surprising.

(So for them, both birth home and Isaac-san’s house feel like home… I have super gorgeous awesome Nii-san Rainil, so I’m not jealous or anything. …Just a tiny bit lonely I’ll never see Dad, Mom, and Onii-chan again.)

A fleeting sadness brushed my chest—I hid it with a vague Japanese smile and asked what bothered me.

“But the Mage Knight Order does super dangerous work, right? Even if Isaac-san’s captain, weren’t you scared or reluctant?”

They exchanged glances and answered like it was obvious.

“Too-high mana aptitude usually makes people fear you. But everyone in the Mage Knight Order is the ‘feared’ type.”

“Honestly, it’s way more comfortable here than mixing with ‘normal’ people.”

My eyes widened.

“Better to face scary stuff at work than be feared by everyone around?”

“Nah—honestly we’re just apprentices. We won’t see real combat until eighteen. Being in the Mage Knight Order isn’t especially scary.”

Soleil scratched her cheek with a wry smile.

“Of course I wanted to help the captain I love, but mostly I just wanted a place I could be myself until I grow up.”

“I thought my powers would be most useful here. Plus, with the Mage Knight Order as the country’s strongest force, Saintess protection duty would fall to us if one appeared.”

(Hyo!?)

The sudden “Saintess” almost made me yelp.

“Normal orders might never get close to a Saintess—once-in-decades rarity. Even as apprentice, being here raises the odds.”

“Ehh— you wanted to see a Saintess that bad?”

At Soleil’s surprise, Seiad answered flatly.

“Wouldn’t you want to see a rare creature that appears once every few decades live?”

“Rare beast treatment!”

Soleil’s deadpan tsukkomi made me burst out laughing.

“So you were disappointed Juliane Flockhart was fake?”

“A little. But she barely let anyone near except her personal mages—called others barbaric. Even First Squad guards only saw her veiled from afar. Being in the order doesn’t guarantee close Saintess contact.”

First Squad—the ones with Isaac when they found me in the forest? If so, I’ll greet Sieghart and Rainil’s other squadmates eventually. I’m the real Saintess, after all.

(Calling Mage Knight Order members barbaric—what a snob, Juliane Flockhart. They’re all blindingly handsome! …Maybe she kept distance so her fake wouldn’t get exposed.)

Details unknown, but not important to me.

“What happens to a captured fake Saintess? I have massive grudges—they almost killed me. I really want to punch them both hard.”

Compensation later—with guardian Rainil.

I clenched fists and fumed. The knight-school teens made difficult faces.

“Impersonating a Saintess is unprecedented fraud against the nation. Normally a super serious trial, but…”

“Whole continent watching. Palace won’t half-ass it. Fake Saintess and accomplices will be heavily guarded awaiting trial.”

Seiad said flatly.

“This country’s justice doesn’t allow vigilante revenge. Even as victim, you can’t directly punch them.”

“That’s unfair!”

Rio died for nothing then.

(No no, I’ll definitely punch them! Never forgive Rio’s killers!)

Soleil soothed the fuming me.

“They’ll get death penalty anyway—no need for you to punch. Untrained punching risks hurting your hand.”

“I don’t care about a little injury! They tried to kill me—I should get to punch back! Then borrow livestock blood from Rainil and dump it on their heads—I won’t be satisfied otherwise!!”

My full victim assertion made Seiad stiffen slightly.

“Your first request to Vice-Captain being livestock blood… Have mercy, he’s pitiful.”

“…Then I’ll work hard, save money, and have Rainil take me to a slaughterhouse to buy it myself.”

Soleil’s voice cracked.

“Date destination slaughterhouse is… a bit…”

“Nooo! Everything’s no no no! I just want to punch the people who slapped and tried to kill me myself!!”

I threw a tantrum, squatted, and pounded the floor. Hand hurt. The pain cleared my head a bit.

Heh heh heh—I laughed creepily.

“…I see. Then I just need a position to legally beat them up? I’ll study hard and aim to be executioner—”

“Why that!?”

“Too much murder intent!”

Sieghart and Soleil yelled over each other. Their force pushed me back. Rainil supported my back while pressing his forehead gravely.

“This is… what do we do…”

“Nii-san!? Are you okay? Does it hurt somewhere!?”

I panicked at Rainil’s rare weakened state and peered into his face.

Our eyes met.

“My sister is cute!”

“Kyuu!”

He suddenly squeezed me with insane force—lungs crushed in an instant.

Right after, a dull impact and oxygen rushed back in.

“Idiot! Trying to choke Nagi unconscious!?”

Sieghart’s roar—Rainil must have been smacked again. He bowed his head.

“Sorry, Nagi. I underestimated your attack power a bit.”

“…I think that’s my line…”

My first life-threatening moment in this world came from my only family and guardian. What even.

As I breathed heavily, Soleil sighed deeply.

“I don’t know the details, but it’s clear the vice-captain has contracted terminal Nagi-love. I’ll add him to the threat list for future protection plans.”

“…Terminal?”

Rainil looked openly shocked. I almost comforted him, but having nearly been choked out moments ago, silence was the correct choice. I decided to keep distance from Rainil for a while.

Oswald, who had watched the chaos silently, finally spoke.

“Nagi. You can use healing magic?”

“Eh? Ah, yes. I can’t explain well, but… I instinctively know ‘this will heal the wound.’”

It was different from removing the Pollution Marks by touch. Focusing when facing a damaged body. Gently gathering and warming the vast power inside me. The body already remembered.

Soleil made a complicated face.

“When I helped you bathe, I kinda… probably suspected it was your own healing magic. Your clothes were in horrific condition.”

“Yeah. I’d forgotten a lot then. After sleeping, I remembered being stabbed in the forest. The one who did it was the white mage with Juliane Flockhart… And he was seriously creepy.”

I grimaced hard.

“While stabbing my heart, he deadpan said something like ‘Better than being defiled by lowly scum. Foolish Saintess. Be grateful I killed you pure.’”

Before I could finish “and—”

Isaac restrained Rainil from behind in a full nelson. At the same time Sieghart grabbed Rainil’s face with one hand and pinned him down.

Countless tiny lights crackled like intense static around them, popping with sharp sounds.

I blinked wide-eyed several times.

Very beautiful, but equally dangerous light.

(Um… is this light Rainil-san’s mana?)

This is definitely bad.

Seeing sweat on Isaac’s and Sieghart’s pale foreheads, I turned to Soleil and tilted my head.

She smiled wryly.

“Sorry. Nii-san snapped.”

“No kidding!? More like, why did you think he wouldn’t!?”

Just a tiny slip-up. No malice.

At least Isaac and Sieghart already knew the details—small mercy. Sorry for the trouble, guys.

Nagi is the type who wants her crush to be healthy and safe 24/7 without interruption.

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