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

Wisteria finished taking measurements of Lloyd’s entire body. She concluded that he must have been bored to death, because when she measured his legs and other parts of his body, the wrinkles between his brows seemed to increase.

On the table was a pattern made to match the measurements.

Wisteria raised her right hand lightly.

“<Come, working wings.>”

At the same time she spoke the words with force, she drew a circle in the air with her right hand. A purplish-black light appeared in the circle. From the circle of black light, insect-like creatures flew out one after the other.

Lloyd’s golden eyes widened, and he braced himself at the same time.

The insects that emerged were strange looking. Their bulging underbellies, antennae on their heads, and large eyes resembled bees, but the two pairs of long, thin wings flapping busily on their backs resembled dragonflies’ wings. They had three pairs of limbs, which were finely rubbing together.

The creatures that were a cross between bees and dragonflies were attracted to Wisteria’s white hand as if lured by nectar. They gently touched it with their small, slender limbs and twitched the antennae on their heads.

A slight black-purple sandy substance overflowed from her white fingertips and was sucked into their small antennae.

After receiving small amount of it from Wisteria, the insects quickly left her hand and landed on the clothes pattern on the table. They rubbed their three limbs together and began to spit out threads from their mouths. With the threads, they moved back and forth from one end of the pattern to another.

In the blink of an eye, the threads overlapped, grew thicker and wider, and became a piece of cloth.

It was as if it was a living loom.

“Are those…demons?”

Lloyd’s face remained grim, alarm coming off of his body.

Wisteria answered while staring at the clothes as they were being woven.

“They are demons, but they are harmless. As long as you pay the price, they will cooperate with you in this way. They made my clothes, too. Besides clothes, there are many other things I can ask them to do for me.”

“…What’s the price?”

“<Miasma>. They also seem to like the kind that circulates through my body.”

Lloyd’s brow remained furrowed, and he suddenly made a face of disbelief.

Wisteria thought that it might not be unreasonable for him to think that way.

“There’s such a thing as honey, isn’t there? Bees collect nectar from flowers to make their own honey. I think that for them, the <miasma> that was taken into my body might be similar to that.”

“What a cute metaphor. Irene, you should consider your age. I’m embarrassed listening to…don’t swing me!”

Wisteria turned her eyes to Lloyd after she walked up to the holy sword and swung it to shut it up.

“Now, I’ll leave the clothes to them. And now, we’re going to…”

As she was muttering that, Lloyd closed the distance between them in almost a single breath.

His footsteps were graceful and even light. Therefore, Wisteria was caught off guard.

“Sorry about this.”

Lloyd said suddenly.

Just as Wisteria wondered what he was sorry about, she was suddenly grabbed by the arm, and her body was turned around by a strong push on her shoulder.

“…!!”

In a flash, her hands were twisted behind her back and Lloyd secured her unprotected back.

Lloyd trapped both of her hands with only a single hand.

Wisteria’s eyes darted about at this sudden act.

“You’re full of openings. I can take Salutis by force at your level.”

Wisteria finally understood when she felt Lloyd laugh coldly.

Last night’s words. He had declared without further ado that he would take her on.

——She regretted being too leisurely. But more than that, she felt a quiet, sharp anger.

Therefore, Wisteria slowly turned around.

Then, she smiled gently at the young man. A faint flicker of discomposure was visible in his golden eyes.

“<Relaxation>.”

She let it loose towards those eyes.

“Wha——!!”

Immediately, Lloyd’s hands were released and he fell to one knee.

Wisteria spun around to face the young man and lightly shook both shoulders.

She placed her hands on her hips and bent slightly forward to look down at him.

“That is too much of an insult, young man.”

Lloyd groaned and looked up at Wisteria in frustration.

“How short-sighted, boy. Do you think Irene’s a skill martial artist? She may be unageing, but her physical abilities are average. If we’re talking about her aptitude, then it’s even less than that. But when it comes to using magic from the miasma, you’re no match for her.”

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“Either criticize or praise me, Salt.”

The way the holy sword spoke was still the same, but this time it was accurate enough for her not to argue with it.

——Wisteria was never a warrior, nor did she have the qualities to be one.

In terms of simple martial arts skills alone, she would be no match for Lloyd. However, it wasn’t martial arts skills that were necessary for survival in this other world.

Suddenly, she saw his eyes moving restlessly and reached out a hand in panic.

“No, Lloyd!!”

She quickly pressed her finger to his lips.

His grim eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected to be stopped.

Wisteria looked back into his eyes undauntedly and raised her eyebrows.

“Are you going to force yourself free and bite your mouth and hurt yourself each time? That’s just reckless ans stupid.”

“…”

“Are you listening, young man? Disciple. You have become my disciple. Then listen to what I say. I forbid you from forcing yourself free by hurting yourself. Do you understand?”

Wisteria’s voice wa stern. Lloyd was a young man, her disciple for now, and relationship-wise, her nephew. In many ways, Wisteria was his guardian.

――But Lloyd seemed to have a dangerous tendency to disregard his body.

She must be careful about that.

Lloyd’s eyes were twisted, but he blinked his silver lashes once.

Then, he let out a loud sigh.

The heated breath that flowed between his lips hit Wisteria’s fingers.

That made Wisteria surprised for the first time, and she jerked her hand back as though it had been exposed to boiling water.

“I’m listening. You don’t seem to know that I can’t respond if my mouth is covered.”

Lloyd said, not even hiding his sarcasm.

Wisteria covered her hand that had jerked up spontaneously with her other hand.

“I-I see. I’m sorry. I hope you understand.”

She turned her eyes away from Lloyd, pretending to check the clothes being woven on the table.

(W-What am I getting so shaken about!? N-No, I’m just surprised!)

The softness of his lips and the heat of his breath, which she had just touched under her covered hand, came back to her belatedly and vividly. She felt even more panicked.

“What are you getting so flustered about, you idiot? This creepy maiden-like reaction is…eek! Don’t just suddenly squeeze me!”

“Oh, Salt, your touch is so unsettling. So hard and rugged and not comfortable at all. You’re solid.”

“You lout! Pervert——!!”

Ignoring Salutis, who was screaming like a maiden, Wisteria regained some composure as she gripped the hilt and sheath.

——The young man, watching the holy sword and his master, frowned as he turned bored eyes on them.

“If not a witch, then a female molester…?”

No one answered his murmur.