**Episode 014: Honest Sister and Unhonest Sister**

“Sei!!”
I infiltrate the enemy’s midst, holding back a bit as I slash through them. They have a slimy appearance like shadows, but they can’t change their body shape significantly.
Creatures resembling humans, they at most extend their head or arms towards me. If you cut off their arms, they won’t regenerate, and cutting off their heads kills them, as I’ve learned.
They are not much different from ordinary creatures.

“Voo…”
The monster receives a fatal blow and collapses to the ground, emitting a resentful sound.
“Yuna, finish it off.”
“Uh, okay!!”
Yuna, bewildered by the fear of these grotesque beings and her aversion to finishing off moving things, approaches the shadow. I stay close, ready to move at any moment.

“Suu-haa, suu-haa.”
Upon reaching the effective range, Yuna takes a deep breath, composes herself, and shouts, “Hiya!!” closing her eyes in fear as she thrusts her spear into the shadow.

“Voo…”
The shadow gives a dying cry, turning into smoke as usual.
“Oh, my level went up.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Yuna’s level rises for the first time after defeating an enemy. It seems an announcement of level-up also played in her mind. It turns out she and Kana have become martial artists (assassin fist) and kunoichi, respectively.

“Big sister is too scared.”
“It can’t be helped.”
“Since Kotaro is watching, there’s no need to be scared.”
“I’m scared of scary things!!”
A sharp-tongued younger sister towards her older sister who earnestly defeated monsters. Kana calls me Kotaro. From her sister, I’m mostly called ‘you’ or something like that. Well, whatever they call me, I’m happy to be able to interact with them.

“Come on, stop fighting and let’s move on.”
Watching the two is fun, but as time passes, the lives of Sato and the others are in danger. I can’t be too laid-back. Once I deliver them to the school, I need to search for Sato and the others immediately.

“Got it.”
“Yes.”
I raise both shoulders, prompting them, and both of them come closer to me to lead the way.

“Hiya!!”
“Haa!!”
“Taa!!”
“Sei!!”
We advance towards Arisugawa Academy, protecting them. Although we encounter dozens of shadows along the way, they pose no threat to me at the moment, so I immobilize them and let the girls defeat them.
Thanks to this, their levels gradually rise, and by the time we are about one kilometer away from the school, their levels have reached three.
At this point, they should have no trouble defeating shadows.

“From here on, I’ll have you fight from the beginning.”
“U-Understood…”
“Roger.”
Just finishing them off won’t help if they can’t use their power when it’s crucial. So, I decided to let them fight on their own so that they could defeat monsters without my assistance.

“Don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll help you.”
“…”
Approaching her, I pat Yuna’s head. For some reason, her face turns red, and she becomes silent, seemingly lost in thought.

“A-Are you okay?”
“…”
I try to speak to her, but she remains motionless with a dazed expression.
Oh no, did I… It might not have been appropriate for me, who is neither handsome nor anything, to pat a girl’s head… If the heroine dislikes me, I might not be able to live…

“Come on, big sister, you’re hopeless… I want you to pat me too.”
“Huh? I-Is it okay?”
Kana expresses her exasperation toward her sister. However, for some reason, she also leans in, offering her head to be patted. Perplexed by the unexpected turn of events, I ask again.

“Yeah, it’s unfair that big sister is the only one getting it.”
“Well, okay.”
Unfazed by her sister’s lack of remorse, Kana extends her head for me to pat. I pat Kana’s hair. Then, she closes her eyes, and her expression becomes so blissful that it’s downright adorable.
Sigh… Real-life Assassin Girls are too angelic.

“Wh-What are you doing, Kana!!”
“Eh? I’m just getting the same treatment big sister got.”
“Don’t let him touch your head, you idiot!!”
Unconcerned about her sister’s scolding, Kana continues to speak. However, it seems Yuna has a resistance to the idea that I, a man, touched her sister’s head.

“So what?”
“Men are all beasts, you know!”
What’s wrong with that? I ask Kana, who doesn’t seem to care at all. On the other hand, Yuna, for some reason, recalls something and squeezes out her words.

“Oh, that’s harsh!”
I am dealt a severe blow to my psyche.
“I’m fine with Kotaro, though.”

“…”
Unable to respond to Kana’s reply, Yuna fell silent. It seems Kana has grown quite fond of me, but Yuna appears to be keeping her distance. It’s painful… It’s truly painful to be disliked by someone I idealize, but since Kana doesn’t dislike me, and our association is brief, there’s no use worrying about it further.

“Yuna, sorry for patting you without permission. You didn’t like it, right?”
“W-Well, it’s not like I…”
“My bad, my bad. I won’t do such a thing again.”

Although Kana forgives me, I feel bad for Yuna. I couldn’t hear what I was saying midway due to apologizing for my wrongdoing, but I apologize.

“I-It’s not a big deal…”
“Huh? What was that?”
“I-I said it’s fine if you want to pat me!!”

However, when I asked again because I couldn’t catch her response, I received a somewhat desperate answer. Despite turning away from me with an attitude, she’s saying something entirely different with her words. Which one is correct… It’s an issue I, with zero experience with women, cannot judge.

“Big sister wants to be patted too.”
“I-I didn’t say anything like that!”

As I ponder, Kana mutters as if representing her sister’s feelings, but the actual person hastily denies it.

“Do you dislike it?”
“I-I don’t dislike it…”

Yuna avoids eye contact, pointing with her index finger and speaking without conviction in response to Kana’s question. However, judging from the conversation with Kana, it seems Yuna doesn’t mind being patted.

“Then it’s okay. Kotaro, if you work hard from now on, you can ask for a reward.”
“Uh, sure…”

For some reason, I’ve ended up with the role of patting them when they work hard. Patting the heads of these two, who resemble heroines from my favorite works, feels so blissful that I might ascend.

Their heads are fluffy, and the relaxed expressions they show when being patted are irresistibly charming. I suddenly look at the two. Maybe in this situation, where they’ve lost their families and have no one to rely on, they want to depend on someone. That’s why they might want to be pampered.

While patting the heads of Kana, who presents her head willingly, and Yuna, who approaches nervously, I make them practice defeating monsters one by one. We finally reach Arisugawa Academy.

Despite some damage, the school building and outer walls stand tall and intact. By this time, I have successfully raised their levels to four by having them defeat monsters one by one.