Chapter 98: Deceiving His Sister Is Something Lucian Can't Do
As the rest of Blue Roses' compliments kept coming, Lakyus finally lost the battle with herself.
The restraint she had been holding onto — the composure that belonged both to a team captain and to a younger sister — melted completely away under her teammates' praise of her brother.
Her eyes were luminously bright, shining with undisguised admiration.
"How did brother do it? Taking out all of Six Arms in a single night, alone?"
She asked this leaning slightly forward, her whole presence radiating the kind of light that only pure admiration produces.
Lucian had intended to be vague. Gloss over the details, omit the specifics, slide past it. But under the full force of Lakyus's gaze, he found that plan going nowhere.
He'd walked right into a trap.
His eyes drifted, involuntarily, to one side.
Tina and Tia were seated side by side across the table. The ninja sisters were in near-perfect sync, those wine-red eyes brimming with anticipation.
Even Evileye — the magic caster who always stayed hidden behind her mask — had tilted her head slightly in his direction.
Only Gagaran was sprawled against her chairback with her thick arms folded, a particular brand of gleeful "this should be good" expression settled across her square face.
Come on. Even Evileye is doing this. Lucian let out a silent internal groan.
If he revealed now that someone else had actually eliminated Six Arms, Lakyus would be disappointed. She would say "oh, so that's how it was" in that very specific tone she used when she'd figured out her brother had been pulling her leg. That tone.
Lucian found he couldn't quite stomach that image. But he was a person of principle.
Taking out Six Arms was Sebas's achievement. Sebas considered Lucian a friend. Wearing a friend's achievement as his own was obviously wrong.
And if he did, that would mean lying to his sister.
His lips moved. He was just about to set the record straight—
Lakyus grabbed his arm.
Both hands. She took hold of it and gave it a small tug.
She tilted her head back until her chin was nearly resting on his chest, pale green eyes looking up at him from below.
"Brother~"
The syllable was drawn out just slightly, soft and coaxing, the exact tone she had used as a child when she would slip into his room at night with her pillow.
Lucian's psychological defenses were annihilated by a single act of adorableness.
But.
He ran a rapid recalculation inside his head.
Come to think of it — deceiving a friend and his sister simultaneously, that was something Lucian couldn't do. But his sister wasn't his friend. And Sebas wasn't his sister.
So a small amount of embellishment probably wouldn't be a problem.
And furthermore, his thoughts continued at speed, I need to draw attention away from Sebas. Sebas will certainly understand the good intentions behind this.
Lucian gave his own reasoning a private thumbs-up.
He looked down at those luminously bright eyes and felt his principles crumbling, one piece at a time.
*
Tina's first reaction was to stare.
The hand holding her teacup froze in mid-air. Her wine-red eyes were full of something that could only be described as disbelief.
She turned her head toward Tia beside her, wanting confirmation that she was seeing what she thought she was seeing.
Tia's expression was nearly identical — eyes rounded, lips just barely parted.
The ninja sisters conducted a silent conversation in looks and the smallest possible hand gestures.
Is that Ghost Boss?
Seems to be.
Ghost Boss is... doing the please-brother routine?
Apparently.
Tina gently, gently set her teacup back on the table, making absolutely no sound, not daring to disturb something this extraordinary.
Evileye and Gagaran took it considerably more in stride.
Gagaran was leaning against her chairback with an expression that said I knew it.
She had seen that involuntary pride that came over Lakyus every time she mentioned her brother. And then there was that night — she had noticed Lakyus being affected by the [Magic Sword Zilrinel].
The original wielder of the [Magic Sword Zilrinel] had been the Black Knight, one of the Thirteen Heroes, a half-human, half-demon. A cursed weapon of that lineage could absolutely dominate its bearer's mind.
Gagaran remembered Lakyus pressing her right hand down over the sword's hilt, saying things like: "Only a woman whose heart is filled with the conviction to protect her brother can pour everything she has into suppressing this power." And: "Should you let your guard down even slightly, this dark existence born from the very root of darkness shall dominate your flesh, unleash the power of the magic sword, and claim your brother."
When Gagaran had gone to ask about it, Lakyus had gone scarlet and told her not to worry about it.
Gagaran had consulted Evileye. They had arrived at the conclusion: "A cleric who should be removing curses but is instead being dominated by the cursed weapon must feel deeply ashamed. She probably also doesn't want us worrying." Of course, the brother-complex conclusion had come along with that one.
*
Lucian cleared his throat.
He straightened up, replacing the guilt on his face with a carefully produced steadiness.
"In that case," Lucian's voice came out a half-beat slower than usual, "I'll tell it."
All of Blue Roses' attention came to him at once.
Lakyus let go of his arm, settled into the chair beside him, propped both hands against her cheeks, and looked at him with undisguised anticipation.
Tina and Tia sat up straight in unison.
Lucian looked around at all those expectant faces and felt as though he had been placed on an invisible stage.
Well. He'd already decided to embellish. May as well do it properly.
He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip of thoroughly cooled tea, buying himself the last few seconds of thinking time.
"I lured all of Six Arms to the brothel through an intelligence operation."
He laid it out in detail: how he had used his network to plant false information and draw Six Arms in full to the location, then how he had used the terrain and the cover of darkness to eliminate the killers one by one. He told it with specifics. Even Tina, a professional, was nodding along at regular intervals.
"...And so, all of Six Arms was thus eliminated by me."
He set down the teacup and concluded what had been a genuinely impressive after-action report, his expression entirely composed.
Though if you looked carefully, the tips of his ears had gone very slightly pink.
Lakyus's eyes were even brighter now. She had listened from the first word to the last with complete attention, and the image of her heroic brother had slotted back into place with perfect alignment, lighting her up from the inside.
"Brother is so amazing!"
Lakyus's voice rang with unrestrained pride.
She turned to the rest of the room.
Tina led the applause, nudging Tia with her elbow.
Tia clapped too, with the same slightly mischievous look on her face.
"Uh-huh. Ghost Bro is the best."
***
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