Kirill stepped into the house where Aldis lived, moving his body in a spirited manner that appealed to him to rest as soon as possible.
　He sat down on a chair as suggested and, knowingly, plopped down on the table with his arms on pillows, knowing that it was rude.

'What's the matter, Kirilu?'

Are you tired, Kirillou?

　A group of girls fluttered over to me and called out to me teasingly.

　When I turned my head to look at them, I saw four bluish sallow green eyes staring at me.
　They were the twins that Aldis had been protecting for four years.

　It's been a quick month since Kirill first met the twins.
　I still can't tell them apart, but 'Filia' and 'Liana' seem to be their names.

　From what I've heard, they are twelve years old.
　It's not surprising that a normal town girl would be able to notice their age, but from what Kirill has seen, the twins' mental age is quite young.

　Kirill is also a boy of his age.
　The girls, who have begun to show their femininity while retaining their loveliness, do not feel bad when they smile at you with a carefree smile.

　Her platinum blonde hair, which seems to shine like it's shining by itself, reminds me of a softness that could be swept away by a gentle breeze and reminds me of a delicacy that would run away if I tried to touch it.
　Their slightly large eyes accentuated their charm, and their small but well-shaped noses balanced their faces.
　Their expressions are rich and cheerful, and if they were in town, they would be sure to receive a lot of attention from the other boys around them.

　If you didn't know that they were twins, it would be difficult to believe that these boys were persecuted beings.
　In fact, their calm demeanor when they first met was such that it was hard to believe they were twins.
　It's the best proof that they are able to live a carefree life under the protection of Aldis.

You can wipe your sweat off with this!

　One half of the twins held out a hand towel with a big smile.

'Thanks. Um, ......, Filia?

　Kirill calls out her name in a somewhat probing tone while accepting the hand towel, and the girl replies happily, showing her white teeth.

''Bingo!

　It seems I was right.

　As I wipe the sweat off my face and neck with the hand towel I've received, the pleasant aroma of steaming herbs flows from the kitchen.

'My Lord, would you like your tea to be warm?'

'I'm good, but can you serve Kirill a cold one?'

Of course.

　A woman appeared with a voice.

　Her name was Nere, who was introduced by Aldis along with the twins.
　She was one of the reasons, or rather the main factor, behind Kirill's decision to be the twins' tutor.

　She was probably a little older than Kirill.
　The ideal proportions that the pretentious artist students in the liberal arts program would want to draw if they saw them.
　Her slight lack of facial expression combined with her long, slit eyes gave the impression of coldness, but this was more than made up for by her good looks.

I added some herbs that help you recover from fatigue. It's a relief, but you should drink it.

Oh, ............ yes.

　Nere's long hair brushes her shoulders as she leans over to place her cup in front of the admiring Kirill.
　With a graceful gesture, she flings her hair behind her back and places the twins and her own cup on the table one by one.
　A sweet scent wafted from her long hair and tickled Kirill's nose.

　Nere holds the empty tray under his arm and leaves for the kitchen.
　Kirill looked away behind him with abandon at his inhuman appearance.

'Don't you want a drink, Kirill?'

'What ......?　Oh, yes.

　Kirill, who came back to himself when Aldis called out to him, hurriedly replied.

　In front of you is the cup that Nere had left in front of you earlier.
　You will find a faint aroma of cool tea with aromatic herbs wafting through the air.

''Yes, I'll have it.''

　The droplets of water sticking to the outside of the cup made its coldness visually appealing.

　Instantly remembering his thirst, Kirill immediately tilted the cup and poured the cold tea into his stomach.
　The cold sensation descended through the center of his body, cooling him from the inside out.

'Feng ......'

　Kirill's long hair, which she had just admired, enters Kirill's field of vision again as she pours out her tea in a breath.
　The hair is a light blue color that is as close to white as possible - the so-called Alice Blue - as possible. The owner, needless to say, is Nere.

'Take the second cup loosely.

　A further cup of tea offered as if the timing was right.

'Oh, thank you.'

　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what he or she calls "Ardis's squire".

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you go to work.
　You can't say that they are witty, but occasionally you will encounter real experts with advanced skills and insight.

　Nere is not inferior to those real ones.
　If you stand beside the Lord, you will be able to use your abilities as an effective follower.

　It's not only that, but if you dress yourself in the right clothes, you can become a flower that shines in the hands of your followers.
　Even the appearance of sitting on a chair with the twins and quietly tilting the cup is reminiscent of an artist's image of the ideal lady in his or her mind, which is expressed on the canvas.
　If you introduce her as an aristocratic young lady to someone you have never met before, you might believe her.

　It was certain that this was having an effect on the twins' growth.
　If you looked closely, you could not believe that the twins' every movement was a very uneducated child.
　Even if it's not so sophisticated as holding up a cup, it's enough to suggest that they've been raised well.

　I'm not sure if this is due to Nere's education or if the twins learned it by example.
　But at least it's because they live with Nere.

Nere, it's hot.

"Don't be in a hurry to put your mouth on it. "Do not be in a hurry to touch the cup. It is not a graceful gesture to be at the mercy of the heat of the tea.

　When one of the twins looks troubled by the heat of the tea in her mouth, she tries to do it with a chiding, yet fluid hand.

"Like this?

Hmm. It's a subtle way of doing things.

　While watching the situation, Kirill whispered an earful to Ardis.

'Who are you, Nere-san?'

...... Come on, nah.

　It was a natural question for Kirill to have, but Ardis' answer to it was very unclear.

''It doesn't seem like there's anything for me to do other than deal with language issues. ......

　Aside from the wording, I feel like everything else should be left to Nere, Kirill.

'I hope so ....... Well, don't worry about it, just teach me the language and common sense, that's all that matters.

Haha. ......

　Kirill, who wasn't feeling quite sure about the role he was taking on, could barely reply to him alive.

'Kirill, Kirill. We have a lot of time today.

　The non-cat-tongue twin leans over and asks.

　Right now it is still mainly the one to be trained, but Kirill's role was originally to educate the twins.
　Even though full-fledged education is yet to come, in order to open up to each other, I would talk to the twins about the town and the academy in the short time before training began.

　They hadn't been out of the forest for four years, so Kirill's stories must have been very new to them.
　This worked, and Kirill and the others were close enough to be forced to talk about the outside world by the twins.

''Yeah, I guess so. I bought a book of stories at the school's store today. There are a lot of stories that the girls would like, I'll read them to you later.''

'Mmm!　Yay!

　It was Kirill's decision that if the story had female characters, it would be good practice for learning to speak in a natural female tone.

　The innocence of the twins' joyfulness relieved some of the exhaustion that had been lingering in his body.

It's a little early, but shall we start preparing for dinner?

''You should eat too, Kirill. The school is closed tomorrow anyway, so it won't matter if it's a little late, right?

　Indeed, Aldis was right, Kirill, whose school was closed the next day, had no reason to go home early.

''Well, yes, you're right ....... Then I'll take your word for it.''

　Knowing Nere's skills, Kirill decided to accept Aldis' kindness without reservation.





　After finishing an early dinner, Kirill was pestered by the twins to read a story to them.
　Nere seems to have taught them at least a minimum level of literacy, but for some reason the twins prefer Kirill to read to them rather than read to them themselves.

'Because Fianna and the others turn the pages too quickly,'

Liana and her friends are just slow readers.

　Apparently, even though they are twins, they have differences in the speed at which they read stories, and they are not happy with each other.
　Kirill's reading to them is probably the drop-off point where they can both get just right.

　Sitting directly down on the carpet on the floor, Kirill opened the book with the twins on either side of him and read slowly.

　How much time had passed since then?
　After reading two short stories, Kirill noticed that the light coming in through the window was getting weaker and weaker.

'Oh, is it that time already ......?'

　The western sun, which had dyed the sky red, has disappeared and the sky seen from the window is a pale silver world.
　While the background is a faint black, the whole sky is covered with tiny lights scattered throughout the space.
　Blinking like a wave, the light that seems to pour down just stands there quietly and continues to gently illuminate the world.

　It is called "Awasora" by the people, a scene that heralds the end of the day and the coming of night.

　Now that Kirill had stopped speaking, the house was wrapped in a serene silence.
　Only the leaves of the trees, swaying in the wind, brought a faint rustle to Kirill's ears.

　At the table, Nere was pouring a cup of tea fresh from the pot.
　A single stream sucked into the cup echoed through the room as the only sound played by a person.
　Aldis, seated across the table from Nere, seemed to be slumbering, propping up on one elbow and supporting her chin with her hand.

　If you take your eyes off that man, he's dozing off," said Kirill. Kirill felt a strange feeling of strangeness welling up in him.

Kirill," he said. Look, the night is coming!

Over there!　It's spreading!

　Turning outward at the sound of the twins' voices, I see the night beginning to spread from the corners of the pale sky.

　The border between the tops of the trees and the pale sky is stained black as if it were fringed, and in the blink of an eye the stain widens and begins to erode the sky.
　It was as if black ink had been dropped on a wet cloth, and the pale, shining sky was dyed jet-black before you could even see it.

　Eventually, when the black domination reached the western edge, the pale sky was only left like a gaping hole in the zenith.
　The light shining from that area barely spared the world from being swallowed by the night.

　People call it the moon, the only light in the darkened night.

Hey, Kirill, why doesn't the moon turn into night? Why doesn't the moon go on at night?

'What?　If you ask me why, ......, it's always been that way.

　Kirill was at a loss for an answer and tried to cover it up, but--

But I wonder why it's true.　That being said, I heard the same thing from the director a long time ago.

　He remembered his younger self with the same question and smiled subtly.

'Well, I guess I don't know Kirill. Then what about Nere?　Do you know Nehle?

　After dismissing Kirill as unreliable, the twins changed their question to Nere.
　It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time with us.

It's a good thing to want something that doesn't exist. But that doesn't stop people from asking for it. Even if you know it's a quid pro quo.

　Is that really the answer to the twins' question?
　Unable to decide, Kirill only raised one eyebrow in thought.

　Naturally, the twins, like Kirill, looked at each other with a question mark hanging over their heads.

'Liana and the others, do you understand?'

I don't know. Where are Filia and the others?

I don't know what happened to Philia and her friends.

　He tilts his head with an expression on his face as if the fox had pinched him.

　Kirill, who had been watching the twins with the same feeling himself, suddenly noticed the golden color slithering even at the edge of his vision and shifted his attention to it.
　Out of the corner of his eye that he casually turned, he felt that Rona, who had been hovering at Aldis's feet, was turning her curious eyes to Nere.