TN: Please read my translations only on my website since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi and Patreon to read several chapters ahead!
Enjoy~
TL: ALT
Chapter 175 – Red Line
I turned around at the sudden voice,
“I’m asking you what you’re making my sister do!”
A boy who looked like a high school student approached me.
He was small for a boy, and his voice was high-pitched.
He looked like a handsome boy with androgynous features.
“! Stop it!”
The woman who had been bowing to me stepped forward to protect me.
“I was just thanking him!”
“Thanking him? He made you bow so low… what favor could this guy have done for you?”
“Stop it! That’s rude! I’m sorry, my brother doesn’t know the circumstances…”
The woman bowed her head at me again.
“Hey, you! What did you say to my sister?!”
Despite her sister’s attempts to stop him, the high school student asked me.
There’s no need to answer.
Besides, even though they’re family, I wonder if it’s a good idea to talk about what happened?
“It’s not for me to say. Ask your sister for the details.”
“Why can’t you tell me? Are you hiding something?”
“Enough of this! Yamato, you go to the room first!”
“B-but…”
“Just do it!”
The older sister wants her younger brother to back off, but he just keeps going.
“…If you’re using this apartment, does that mean you’re a member of the Paladin Knights?”
“…I don’t think I have to answer that.”
If the elder sister had asked me the question in the way we had talked, I would have answered normally.
But if she was trying to get me to reveal my affiliation in this way…
How I evaded her question,
“Hmph… you are a man, but are you satisfied to be dominated by a woman?
The younger brother suddenly said something like that.
Needless to say, I was stunned by his words.
But more than that, the elder sister turned pale.
“W-what are you saying?!”
“It has been the job of men to lead the pack since primitive times. It’s just the way we’re biologically wired! I can’t trust a man who’s weak enough to let a woman lead the pack. What do you think? You’re trying to take advantage of my sister’s weakness and make an unreasonable demand, aren’t you?”
“No, you… are you seriously saying that?”
I was so stunned that I didn’t even feel like giving him a proper answer.
The debate about the biological differences between men’s and women’s minds has been settled long ago.
There are differences between the sexes, but the differences between individuals are much greater, and the idea that “men are like this” or “women are like this” is just an assumption or a stereotype.
In fact, there’s no need to think about whether Serika or I would be better suited to be the leader of the pack, right?
If you compare my logical thinking skills with Haitani-san’s, my result would be pretty abysmal.
As for the point that men (on average) have better physiques and more muscle strength, there are many cases where this can be reversed depending on the explorer’s status.
I also find it odd that high school students today use words like “being dominated by a woman’s butt” and “weak man,” which seem to have died out in the Showa era.
Formally speaking, I should have been offended, but what was said was so outlandish that I felt more confused than angry.
I guess she didn’t expect him to say something like that, and the elder sister is completely frozen.
“If you’re a man, why don’t you show some spirit and take charge of the Paladin Knights? Are you so happy to be treated like a useful dog by Serika Akenojo? It’s because of people like you that the birth rate is dropping!”
The older sister froze, and the younger brother continued.
As a beautiful boy with androgynous features, the distorted expression on his face as he stirs me up is surprisingly unpleasant to look at.
It’s like the expression of a villain in a gambling manga or something when he’s convinced he’s won because he’s trapped the hero.
I continue to give the beautiful boy my best facial expressions, and then,
“You’re young, but you say some pretty old-fashioned things. Besides, it was Serika and the others who created the Paladin Knights. Your reasoning is more than a little rude.”
I don’t think he’s going to listen, but I’ll say what I have to say anyway.
It was the elder sister who reacted to my words.
“I-I’m so sorry!”
She bowed her head with such force that it looked like it might hit the ground.
“What, Nee-san?!”
“Stop talking nonsense and apologize as well!”
“Stop it!”
The older sister tries to hold her younger brother’s head down and make him bow, while the younger brother resists.
What should I do when I’m faced with such a situation?
I shouldn’t have thought of going around to say hello in the first place.
The older sister was a ‘Rakan’ and a member of the Suit Group, so she has power because of her status.
She’s trying to use her status to force her younger brother to bow down, probably because she’s afraid of being rude to me.
The younger brother can resist because he’s also using his status.
If they make a mistake, one of them might get hurt.
…There’s no choice.
“Calm down for now!”
I step between them.
I stop the elder sister by holding her shoulders, grab the younger brother’s wrist, and twist it upwards.
“What are you doing?!”
“I just wanted to say hello when I moved in. I helped your sister out in a dungeon once. She just thanked me for it.”
I explain, but
“Th-That’s a lie! My sister would never bow down to you like that! I see, you’re someone from the ‘Rakan,’ aren’t you? And you’re trying to use my sister again… let me go!”
Even though I was told this, I couldn’t let go of the person who was about to start a fight.
However, I couldn’t hold on to him forever, so I looked at the sister with a worried expression.
But before the elder sister could say anything,
“This is―Let me go!”
The words “let go” were the same as before.
But at the same time as those words, an invisible pressure was released from the younger brother’s body.
It was an invisible pressure that made it seem as if his body had suddenly become larger―as if the younger brother had suddenly become more present.
And I had felt a similar pressure before.
“――Hey, you just crossed the red line.”
I nullified the pressure released by the Intimidate skill with the Demon King’s unique bonus and tightened my grip on the younger brother’s wrist.
If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read several chapters ahead!