Reincarnated as the Heroine’s Big Sister, but My Little Sister Fell for Me Instead - Chapter 10

The Practical Magic Examination is held once a year, with all grades participating together.

Sections are set up in the academy’s central plaza by grade level, where teachers and student examiners conduct the scoring.

It affects our grades. It’s also recorded in the reports sent to noble families. That’s why the students start acting differently a week in advance. The voices in the cafeteria grow quieter, and the library seats fill up more easily.

I didn’t change anything in particular.

The practical examination for the dark attribute has always been handled ambiguously every year. The evaluation criteria aren’t properly established. The teacher in charge always looks unsure about how to grade it. Only when I heard that Edvard would be added to this year’s examiners did I think the situation might change a little.

On the day of the examination, while waiting for my turn in the third-year section, I glanced sideways at the first-year section.

Lian’s turn was still later. The first-year section was on the east side of the plaza, a bit distant from the third-year section. Even so, I could see it. I could see Lian in line, laughing while talking to the student next to her.

Is she not nervous? I thought.

Then immediately, I reconsidered. No, she probably isn’t. Lian is strong when it counts. Even in the game, her proficiency in light magic was set to increase the more she was cornered.

My examination finished.

The teacher in charge was writing something on the scoring sheet. Edvard said, “Your interference range precision has improved.” I nodded and moved to the edge of the section. I hoped the evaluation would be somewhat better. After that, I thought, Well, whatever.

The first-year examinations had begun.

It was Lian’s turn.

The plaza seemed to grow a little quieter. Maybe it was just my imagination. But it was certain that the surrounding students turned their gaze toward the first-year section.

Lian stepped forward.

The basic light magic examination—three stages: mana expansion, convergence, and control. Standard content for a first-year examination.

Lian raised her right hand.

Light emerged.

Writing ‘light emerged’ makes it sound simple. But it wasn’t. The light that expanded from Lian’s palm was different in quantity. It wasn’t the amount of mana expected for a first-year basic examination. It was bright enough to cast shadows on the stone pavement of the plaza.

The surroundings stirred.

The teachers looked up from their scoring sheets. One examiner said something to the examiner next to them. Several students watching from the upperclassmen sections began talking in hushed voices.

Lian’s expression didn’t change.

She proceeded through the stages: convergence, control. It was meticulous. Not brute force. The control kept pace with the amount of light. I thought that was what surprised the examiners the most.

When she finished, applause broke out.

Applause during an academy examination is rare. To my knowledge, I had never seen it.

Lian returned to the line. The student next to her said something, and she made a slightly embarrassed face.

I’m proud, I thought.

I thought—and immediately, another emotion surfaced from beneath it.

The game is moving.

Lian attracting attention was according to the scenario. Her recognition as a Saint candidate, the love interests beginning to gather—it was all the flow I saw in my previous life. I was supposed to be outside of it.

But now, I am here.

I was looking at the first-year section. Lian was smiling again. The same smile as before. From here, I couldn’t tell if the face she showed the student next to her and the one she showed me were the same.

Edvard came to my side.

“I had heard there was a Saint candidate among the first-years,” he said. “But I didn’t expect it to be to that extent.”

“Is that so.”

“She’s your sister, right?”

“That’s right.”

Edvard looked at me a little. “You look proud.”

“…Do I look that way?”

“You do.”

I turned my gaze back from the first-year section. “I am proud. That’s truly the case.”

“But—”

“I didn’t say ‘but.'”

Edvard said nothing.

He said nothing, but he made a face as if he knew what followed.

I’m proud was true. But just because I didn’t put into words what came after the ‘but,’ it didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

The game’s scenario is moving. Lian is being drawn toward the center. That might be the right thing for Lian. The Lian I loved in my previous life was a person who belonged in the light.

But.

Will she come to the library tonight?

That was all I was thinking about. The fact that that was all I was thinking about was the content of the ‘but.’ That alone was my immediate concern.

The examination ended, and evening came.

When I went down to the library basement, Lian was already there.

She was sitting in her usual seat, a book open. She looked up and saw me.

“Big Sister, how was your examination?”

“No problems. And you?”

“I was nervous.”

“You didn’t look it.”

Lian smiled a little. “You were watching?”

I didn’t answer.

Lian seemed to take that as an answer. “Thank you,” she said. I didn’t ask what for.

I sat across from her. Opened a document.

I didn’t feel like I could concentrate today, but if it was open, it would look like I was concentrating.

“Big Sister.”

“What?”

Lian placed her book on her lap. “Today, an upperclassman spoke to me. After the examination.”

My hand stopped.

“Who?”

“I haven’t asked their name yet. I think they’re a second or third-year. A gentle person. They said they were watching the examination.”

“What did they say?”

“That my light magic was beautiful. That’s all.”

That’s all, but it didn’t seem like just that. Lian’s way of speaking had a tone of trying to confirm something.

“Did it bother you?”

“It doesn’t bother me. But,” Lian paused slightly. “What do you think, Big Sister?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’?”

“About the person who spoke to me… Should I be cautious?”

Cautious. I thought about her choice of that word.

She wasn’t asking if they were a bad person. She was entrusting the judgment to me. It was as if she was seeking some words from me, that kind of tone.

“Ask for their name. Then we’ll talk.”

“…Okay.”

“If it bothers you, it’s fine to refuse. If it doesn’t, you can try talking to them.”

Lian looked at me. She looked a little surprised.

“I thought you’d say something more.”

“Something more, like what?”

“Like ‘be cautious’ or ‘it’s better not to get close.'”

I thought for a moment if I wanted to say that. I might have wanted to. But I had no reason to say it. I’m not in a position to restrict who Lian talks to.

“You decide.”

Lian fell silent again for a moment. Then, she nodded, looking somewhat disappointed.

“I understand.”

I returned to the document. This time, I could concentrate a little.

The sounds of two pages turning overlapped under the dark purple lighting.