143 – chromel(2)

“brother!”

When I opened the door to the room, Alphonse ran towards me.

Honestly, until I opened the door, I was very worried about whether he would come to me or Hayley, but it was fortunate.

How much my heart was beating…

“Hey, you must have eaten a lot. Your body has become very heavy.”

I said that as I lifted Alphonse up and put him down.

Alphonse’s body wasn’t chubby, but the overall body was solid enough to be called a child. It meant that he trained hard.

It had been a few months since I had seen him, so I expected how tall Alphonse would have been, but of course, Alphonse wasn’t as tall as I expected.

Even though Alphonse is a growing child, people are not some kind of plant, and it is only two or three months old. It was slightly larger than before. one 2cm? Still, I was able to confirm that the energy of my body had been refined differently from before, as if I had been trained hard by my father Anbonsae.

Come to think of it, I can’t see my father, so I ask Alphonse. He still has work in the south and arrives in Luden a few days late. It was disappointing news for Reinhardt, who was looking forward to meeting his father.

“Alphonse. How are you?”

“Ah! Sister! Haley-san too…”

“Hello. Alphonse. Your cheeks are still soft~”

“Dyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…”

Reinhardt was the only one standing still while Alphonse was harassing Alphonse with a happy heart. There is such a thing because it’s the first time I met him, but like a sword-mad guy, he was checking Alphonse’s level now to see if he noticed that Alphonse had accumulated an aura.

“Huh? You…”

Alphonse found Reinhardt standing belatedly next to Hailey, probably feeling Reinhardt’s gaze since he didn’t hide his momentum at all.

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Moments later, Alphonse’s blue-green eyes met Reinhardt’s ultramarine blue eyes.

“…..”

“…..”

When the eyes of the two meet, silence flows for a moment.

Alphonse and Reinhardt are both looking at each other without saying anything, as if they are having a snowball fight. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about anything.

In fact, it is natural for anyone to be embarrassed if someone they see for the first time just stares at them without saying anything.

Unfortunately, Reinhardt was an ignorant guy, so he didn’t know that and kept looking at Alphonse without sacrificing his momentum. Alphonse, who suddenly realized that he was being searched for, naturally became wary of him.

Just looking at the atmosphere, it wouldn’t be strange if either side pulled out a sword, but I know it won’t, so this is something to watch. It seemed like watching little kids fight.

Alphonse shuddered at the push of Reinhardt, but he still steadfastly glared at him without avoiding his eyes. Although Alphonse is docile, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a competitive spirit, and with Hailey watching this, he didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down.

‘Oh, no way.’

Now that I think about it, it seems that Alphonse’s wariness of Reinhardt wasn’t just because of his momentum.

It might be because Reinhardt is an unfamiliar face, but I wonder if Alphonse is behaving that way now because of Hailey. Since the older sister she likes is with a boy who seems to be the same age, she must be conscious of that. That’s why Alphonse, who would have normally tried to talk first, must be fighting over his nerves.

Of course, Reinhardt’s impression of Hailey would be no more than a classmate in the same Faculty of Engineering.

Originally, if I secretly pointed out to Alphonse that it was fun to see someone else’s house, I could end this confrontation, but seeing that calm Alphonse keeping his nerves on his guard, he looked fresh and cute, so I couldn’t do that.

Elena and Hailey are all watching, as if this is not just me, but everyone else feels that way.

In such a stiff atmosphere, Reinhardt was the first to bring a smile to his lips. Perhaps having finished judging Alphonse, he turned his gaze to me and slightly raised his chin.

“great.”

“I see.”

“to?”

Alphonse is taken aback by the sudden praise. Reinhardt’s words quickly calmed the atmosphere.

Alphonse looked at me with a puzzled face, but I took Alphonse and the kids to my seat and sat them down. Everyone was standing there watching, so we needed to sit down and have a conversation.

***

After clearing things up a bit, we sat down and had a brief talk. Since we are usually together, the conversations with Alphonse were all.

“Ugh…”

Even after clearing up the misunderstanding, Alphonse kept his eyes on Reinhardt, as if he was still bothered by him, but it seemed that he was resentful of being pushed back in the battle of nerves. The fact that he tried to stand up to it with the achievements of his age is great in itself, but the docile Alphonse also had a part that resembled his father like Krauss.

Reinhardt didn’t avoid Alphonse whenever his eyes met. Most of the time, Alphonse turned his head first, but it seems that his way of playing with Alphonse is to make him fit enough to hang out with him.

“How old did you say your brother was?”

“Nine years old.”

“That’s right. I said I was the same age as Lizerote…”

Reinhardt asked Alphonse’s age, confirmed it again, and smiled with anticipation.

This was the anticipation of discovering young talent.

Reinhardt was still young, but his skills were in a position where he had such arrogant thoughts. It seems that he likes Alphonse to the extent that I can see that he is happy to have found a junior who will come after him.

Seeing Reinhardt react like this makes me proud.

Although not yet, Reinhardt is a man who will one day be called the best swordsman on the continent. How could he not be happy that Alphonse was recognized by such a guy? Even though he already knew of his brother’s prominence, he felt good. This was the recognition of authority.

Alphonse looked at Reinhardt wide-eyed, as if he knew that I was in a good mood after seeing his reaction.

After a while, Alphonse asked me.

“Hyung-nim. I… I have a question that might be rude… can I?”

“Hmm? So what?”

“Which of you two is stronger?”

“Pooh-!”

At Alphonse’s words, Haley, who was listening to the conversation next to her, squirted the tea she was drinking. I didn’t know how to ask such a direct question, so I was taken aback.

The fact that Alphonse asked this question must mean that even in Alphonse’s eyes, he couldn’t judge the superiority or inferiority of Reinhardt or me.

Originally, at Alphonse’s level, it would be difficult to tell them apart, but aside from that, Reinhardt felt something extraordinary just like Elena, so even though Alphonse has faith in me, I can’t help but raise my hand saying, “Who is stronger?” It seems difficult.

Haley also hurriedly wiped her mouth, as if it was a topic she had always been curious about, and, like Alphonse, pricked her ears in my direction. I understand that there is no topic as interesting as power balance.

Elena, what… I wonder if you already know the answer, I just look at the two as if this situation is interesting.

Reinhardt and I turned our heads to look at each other for a moment, then smiled and opened our mouths at the same time.

“do not know.” “I do not know.”

Hearing the answer, Alphonse stayed still for a moment as if he was shocked, then nodded as if he understood. What was surprising was Hailey’s reaction, but it seemed like neither of us expected to say we didn’t know.

Perhaps because I had the upper hand in most of the sparring Haley saw, she must have thought that I would be stronger. However, if there is one thing Haley didn’t think of, it was that Reinhardt never had the upper hand, but never lost to me.

Because it was Dalian, there were some cases where we ended up on the right line to some extent, but at the end of the Dalian, both of us were always relaxed.

The reason why I had the upper hand in the beginning was because Reinhardt had a strong tendency to engage in search battles, but even if he seemed to be behind me a little, Reinhardt was the one who knew how to respond to all the attacks I collided with.

I’m not a genius for nothing.

When I first practiced at the Knights Faculty and answered the swordsman, I assured myself that I would win, but just as the swordsman had said at the time, I no longer knew the result. That’s how fast the kid was growing up. They probably won’t be able to give a proper answer to Alphonse’s question unless they both do their best.

Perhaps this is why Reinhardt is looking forward to the Holy Ghost.

Because the only stage where you can throw off the frame of sparring and fight wholeheartedly is the Seongshin Festival, unless it is a life-and-death situation.

Reinhardt added these words to Alphonse, as if my thoughts were correct.

“You’ll find out soon.”