A BEDTIME STORY ABOUT THE SWORD PRINCESS AND HER BABY BROTHER

Accompanying Tiara took a while, so when I returned to my new home here in Dradecim, I felt the sudden urge to shower. I feel sticky with those semi-dried sweat all over my back. I bet I smell like rotten gravy too.

Nobody was in the living room, except for the white-haired homunculus girl who was already sleeping on the sofa, hugging her tablet. So I proceeded to the bathroom. I feel like enjoying a bath in their tub.

But when I opened the door, a fair white skin fazed me. Her body was still in a verge of growing, but her back is already molded into perfection! Alas, most critical parts are covered with bubbles.

It was Amy, who was busy rubbing her head with a shampoo. When our eyes meet, her purple eyes glowed with the intention of roasting me alive!

"W-W-What do you think you're doing, you perverted nerd!?"

"I-I'm sorry!" I immediately turned around. Amy sure sound like a growling leopard. I was about to go outside but she stopped me by throwing me an empty shampoo bottle!

"Ouch!"

"Do you really think you can escape without suffering from punishment?"

Back when we were still best friends in junior high, there were a lot of times where I would accidentally see her naked whenever I visit her home, just like those cliches. And every freaking time that accident happened, she would force me to kneel on a basin full of beans. Sometimes my punishment would be to squat in the corner of the room for three hours. I don't have any idea what would my punishment be this time.

If I have to escape from my atonement, I should come up for something really quick!

"I've seen your body a lot of times already. A lot." I said. "So to be fair, I'll let you stare at mine." Then I slowly lowered the towel on my waist.

I was already halfway showing my butt when she screamed again.

"S-S-S-Stop it, you idiot!" She shouted. I'm sure her face is red right now. "Get out!"

I was literally kicked out of the bathroom. I got a peek, and I escaped punishment (maybe) so it was worth it!

It was eleven in the evening after I finished taking a bath. I've also dried my hair, so I'm ready to sleep. There are two rooms in this apartment, one for Heushac and one for Helena. Of course, I'm supposed to sleep with Heushac since he's a boy. The rest of the girls who are already sleeping are in Helena's room.

When I entered Heushac's room, the lights are already off. But Heushac is there sitting on his bed as if he's like a boxer waiting for his own match. It seems that he's been longing for me. And he's dead serious.

"Ric… I want to be like you." He said.

"Being a handsome guy like me is hard, believe me," I said.

"Idiot." Heushac managed to smile a bit. "I mean I want to be like you, a Gate Guardian. I wanted to have the power to protect the people who are dear to me. I want to protect my sister and my friends."

He bowed and clenched his hand. "I don't want to see the deaths of the people I love."

"Me too. I'm powerless, just like you." I looked away to hide my embarrassed face. "I failed to protect anyone that night."

"Huh?" Heushac tilted his head. "You managed to save Macho Steel from the flames of that evil swordsman, right?"

It was not me. It was The Outsider who protected Macho Steel. Why the heck is he remembering wrong? I barely did a thing that night, except hurting two of the most important girls in my life.

"A-Anyway, your sister would be against it." I sermoned.

"I know, but still…" Heushac tightened his grip to his hands. "I want to protect my sister..."

"I don't know how to perform baptism yet." I said with a gloomy tone, but I changed the mood immediately. I cheered him with my smile. "But as soon as I learn it, I'll convert you to a Gate Guardian, so that we can fight and slaughter Diadem together. We will cut his limbs and hear his dying screams as we feast on his beating heart."

"T-That's a little extreme. I want him to pay for his sins but I don't want to kill people." Heushac gave a forced smile and a nod. "... But anyway, thanks, bro!"

Then we made a fistbump. And that confirmation from me gave him hope, and a peace of mind to sleep for this night.

While we take our sweet time sleeping, I'll tell you some story. It's the power of Lord Cthulhu, the <Oneirokinesis>. I can alter and talk to someone while dreaming, and I can even break the fourth wall and talk to the readers.

Today's flashback is Heushac and Helena Efilion.

They were still young when their parents passed away due to an Eidolon attack. Yes, their parents are both Gate Guardians, and a very powerful one, as said by Helena. But there was an incident called the Phoenix Tragedy which leads to the deaths of many Gate Guardians.

Helena was just five, and Heushac was just three when they became an orphan. Nobody knows their other relatives or where they could be found, so they left their home in Dradecim and was adopted in an orphanage in Mirose Grande.

Apparently, the only orphanage in Mirose Grande is the one held by the Black Cross Legion, where most of the children train in order to become a Gate Guardian. They saw the potential in Helena in wielding a Weapon Gem, but his baby brother, not much.

Heushac was assessed to have a very low potential, so all the information regarding Gate Guardians are kept away from him. He was destined to have a normal life, as chosen by the priests and nuns.

They only focused on strengthening Helena until she was a Gate Guardian at an early age of twelve. Her sword training in the orphanage gave her the way to become a kendo athlete in Dradecim. Eventually, she became a player for the nationals.

But Heushac was left out in the orphanage. He was a junior high school boy with no strengths or talents. His only way to escape his frustrating reality is to succumb himself to video games.

That's how we became friends since we both have the same hobby. He became my substitute best friend, next to Amy, who was dating that jerk Kristoff at the time. We share frustrations in life, that's why we easily get along.

It's been years since he last saw his sister, so he planned on entering the same high school in Dradecim once he graduates from junior high. Actually, he was the one who talked to me to enroll in a faraway school, in order for me to move on from my heartbrokenness with that bitch Amy. It took no time for me to be convinced.

On the other hand, Helena worked hard in order to renovate their long-abandoned house. She has her Gate Guardian work, a part-time job at a fast food chain, and a kendo champion. It took little months just to save for the money she needed.

The graduation gift of Helena to her baby boy is their newly painted family house. From there on, they lived happily on the same roof.

I just wish that they can really stay like this for much longer.

Because I feel that Helena will have to say goodbye sooner than she expected.