The Person I Loved Asked Me to Die in My Younger Sister’s Place

——The same face as Bright on that day. The same voice.

“In Rosalie’s place–I want you to go to the <Grey Lands>.”

The bottom of her chest trembled as if her hard-soled feet were suddenly shaking. It was as if her vision was momentarily paralyzed. The urge that welled up from there was strongly held back by her biting her back teeth.

(…This young man has nothing to do with that.)

There was no need to tell him that she had become the Guardian in place of Rosalie. She didn’t want to be suspected of lying, or pitied, or thought to be inviting sympathy.

“This woman is…”

“Salt.”

She suppressed the words of Salutis who was trying to get ahead of her.

The talkative holy sword let out a snorting voice, but it obeyed Wisteria’s will.

Wisteria exhaled quietly and shrugged at the dubious-looking young man.

“Well, I suppose that means there has been a misunderstanding with Salutis. I’m a witch, as you can see. I have resistance to miasma. That’s why I was chosen. It doesn’t matter now.”

She said this to Lloyd, who raised his eyebrows, and refused to speak of this any further.

Lloyd still looked suspicious, but perhaps seeing Wisteria’s obvious rejection, he didn’t hound her further.

“It’s almost the period of time for <night>. You should get some rest early today. I’ll tidy things up a little more tomorrow, so please bear with the storage room today.”

Wisteria’s words marked the end of another day in this world.

The room that had been used as a storage room was assigned as a temporary sleeping place for the duration of Lloyd’s stay.

Lloyd nodded lightly, not complaining, and turned to go back to his bunk. However, when he turned his back to Wisteria, he suddenly stopped. He lightly turned his upper body around. 

“…I’m telling you this just to make things clear. Now that I’m your apprentice, I see you as my master, not as a member of the opposite sex.”

“? Okay.”

Wisteria was puzzled inwardly as she quickly responded.

“To be acknowledged by Salutis, I need to defeat you. From now on, you can’t show any weak spots.”

Lloyd said arrogantly and shrugged lightly.

“But, I won’t do anything like try to intrude into your bedroom. I swear it right here and now.”

Wisteria blinked her purple eyes.

After a delay, she finally understood what he was trying to say in such a roundabout way.

He wouldn’t look at her as a member of the opposite sex, but at the very least, he wouldn’t step into a woman’s bedroom——it seemed that that was what he meant.

“Should I have been worried about that?”

Wisteria expressed her honest opinion without thinking.

Lloyd raised an eyebrows slightly.

“That’s right, kid. That’s not necessary. In any case, this woman might look like this, but she’s actually forty-three years–w-w-w-w-what are you doing, you idiot, don’t draw me from my scabbard, you animal!!”

Wisteria blocked the sword that was about to use Lloyd as an opportunity to make a dig at her by making it scream.

The fact that Salutis was so rude and that Lloyd was so relucant to say what he wanted to say made her want to be a little mean.

“Well, bedroom or not, you can’t do anything about it by force as you are now. That didn’t even occur to me, so there’s no need to worry about it.”

She waved her hand in the air.

Lloyd’s eyes gradually became defiantly grim.

“Good night.”

With that, Wisteria retired to her bedroom.

She put Salutis on its stand, took off her shoes, and lay down on the bed.

Her black hair, loose and wavy, spread out on the sheets.

(…That’s a given.)

She murmured to herself as she stared at the uneven grain of the ceiling.

It was only natural that he couldn’t see her as a member of the opposite sex. She had long forgotten such a thing and wasn’t even conscious of it.

——After all, she was no longer even a normal human being.