We Are A Family

One would naturally wonder what the little girl's wish was. The state of her Personal Dimension reflected its owner, but that was not entirely accurate. People were like coins—they had two sides to their demeanor and countenance. In Freda's case, her Personal Dimension gave form to one side of her—the side that no one knew but herself.

"..." A gentle breeze blew past her, but her countenance remained indifferent.

"Freda," a beautiful voice called the girl's name.

This simple action elicited quite a reaction from her. She turned towards the direction of the voice—as if her heart was pulled taut by an invisible string.

"...Brynhildr."

The beauty standing in front of her smiled a warm smile—her amicable aura was neither beguiling nor coquettish. She sauntered over to Freda's side and patted the dainty girl's shoulder with little strength.

"How's school?" The beauty in an opulent dress started the conversation with a trite question—the two words Freda expected to hear from her parents.

"Nothing much. It's the same thing every day."

Freda turned back to look out through the window and Brynhildr joined her.

"Did you do your homework?" Brynhildr asked another question.

"I don't have any."

"What did you have for dinner?"

"The usual."

"And that would be...?"

"..." Freda sighed in an exaggerated manner. She was hoping that Brynhildr got the hint from this simple action. She didn't want to indulge in a mundane conversation that felt like an interview.

"Brynhildr, have you visited Klaus lately?" So, the girl decided to steer the interview-like conversation to a different path.

"Not as of late. It's been a week since I last met him."

"That's unlike you, Brynhildr." Freda couldn't help but spit out that fact. "You helped me a lot since I came here to my Personal Dimension. I had quite an impression of you ever since you helped me get my Crown. I thought you'd helped him at some point."

Brynhildr's warm countenance didn't wither in the slightest when faced with the girl's remark.

"I suppose I'm a bit biased when it comes to who I want to help the most. I remember how you struggled to fend off a few D-rank Draugrs the first time you encountered them."

"Urgh..." Brynhildr just had to bring up that awful memory. In a way, the entity was taking a jab at her. At least, she felt this way.

"If a C-rank Draugr came here back then, I'm sure it wouldn't end well for you. You needed more help than your brother, and you know that."

"...That reminds me. A C-rank Draugr launched an attack a few days ago, and if it wasn't for you, I would have..."

Brynhildr patted the girl on her head. "But now it's different. You're capable of fighting the Draugrs now that you have claimed your Crown. That being said, your brother fought a C-rank Draugr by himself and triumphed over it."

"Eh?"

Freda couldn't believe what she was hearing. "He fought without an Oubliette? That's impossible! Those monsters would kill him—"

"But he won, Freda. Let me just say that Klaus is an incredibly creative individual. Even in the direst situation, he could conjure various objects to help him fight. He was calm and composed."

"...That's why you didn't help him much." Freda's eyes narrowed to a slit. "Then, what if a B-rank Draugr came to his place, and you weren't there for him?"

The question contorted Brynhildr's expression. Seeing that, Freda regretted asking such a stupid question. Brynhildr had complete trust in Klaus's ability. And by leaving his side, she believed that she didn't have to ascertain his well-being momentarily. Did she make the wrong choice?

"..." Brynhildr was frozen in place. Mixed feelings swirled in her c.h.e.s.t violently, urging her to rush over to Klaus's Personal Dimension. She bit her lip in an attempt to assuage the negative emotions clouding her judgement.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," said Freda, attempting to laugh her question off.

Though her action did nothing to the entity.

"...I'm going to Klaus's Personal Dimension," Brynhildr said in the end.

"Huh?" It was understandable for Brynhildr to feel that way. Freda didn't say anything else and shut her mouth, not wanting to exacerbate the mood.

The beauty's ostentatious dress whirled slightly as her visage disappeared. After a few moments of silence, Freda heaved a heavy sigh. In this Dimension, Freda had no intent to mask her true personality, so more often than not, her remarks would come out sharp and raw with vehemence.

As for what she truly felt about Brynhildr going over to Klaus's side? To put it in the simplest form, she felt relieved. Not because she didn't like Brynhildr's presence but rather she preferred the entity to help her brother.

The girl was ambivalent to a fault—where she would hate someone for helping others and not her, but afterward, she would feel the exact opposite.

This was one of the many weaknesses she had. Her portrayed emotions could be the reverse of an adverse. Sincerity was not integrated into her, in a sense.

Still, she wanted her brother to be safe. In nowhere shape or form did the girl wish for another's demise for her own convenience. She wasn't twisted like so.

"...Klaus," the name escaped her lips as she closed her eyes, wishing that she returned to reality.

. . .

Klaus Weber waved his right hand with little intent; multiple bookshelves flew up into the air from this curt gesture. Compiled literature—books—floated haphazardly without a sense of direction. Manipulating the contents of this space—his Personal DImension—was harder than he'd thought.

A bit more time would suffice for Klaus to become accustomed to the whole process.

For the past few days since he'd claimed his Crown, he'd run a few tests to ascertain the best method to manipulate the Personal Dimension. Euryanthe had her fair share of contribution along the way.

Klaus did a few changes here and there to the mystical library. The biggest change he'd made was the bookshelves' arrangement. Both floors were jammed fit with them, so he took the initiative and got rid of most of them. But what purpose did the library serve without books and bookshelves?

First of all, Klaus had little to no interest in reading the books in the library. All of them were books that he'd read before—both in his past life and his current one. Even if he wanted to read two or three books, he would just conjure them out of thin air anyway.

The many bookshelves in the library took a lot of space, and Klaus hated that.

Now this place looked far too spacious after he'd consigned them.

"There. This should be enough for tonight," said Klaus, his voice came out hoarse.

"There's a fountain in the center—one I painstakingly came up with. You didn't help much in the process, Euryanthe."

"That's a thoughtless remark. I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable as you are. A fountain? As a former Keeper, I could hardly figure out how anything works. The nature of my role demanded me to stay at one place, so—"

"You have access to my memories, right?"

"..."

A triumphant grin appeared on Klaus's face. The former Keeper's attempt to justify her action fell short. The reason was ludicrously simple.

"I did say that and there's not a single falsehood in what you were saying. I just felt like closing the curtains early for you, that's all. In other words, I was reminding you that you can scour for information related to fountains somewhere in my memories."

"I think I only mentioned that once to you. I have to admit you have really good memories." Euryanthe couldn't help but praise him.

Klaus merely shrugged at the compliment. "I read a lot, so perhaps that contributed in some shape and form."

"I suppose—Hm?"

"What is it?"

The very space to Klaus's right shifted—like water in a sink being s.u.c.k.e.d out into the drain. The transparent whorl in the space pulled light and shadow towards its center, and a certain someone walked out of it. She was unaffected by the pull whatsoever.

This woman—Brynhildr—immediately cast a quick glance at her surroundings. She then looked at Klaus all over for some reason.

"Klaus Weber," said Brynhildr in a commanding tone.

"Y-Yes?" Klaus couldn't help but straightened his standing posture upon hearing his name called.