113 – The Ster Baby Sister’s Observations
Part 1
A busy daily life. Although it was mostly the same, Ste couldn''t call it boring.
Especially because of Rudy nii-chan.
There was a lot that Ste didn''t understand or know. Like how Rudy nii-chan kept making a bottle of baby form out of thin air or where he kept getting those baby diapers when the world seemed to be aplete fantasy setting.
But as the days went by, she was more sure in her evaluation of Rudy nii-chan.
He was a cheat.
One day, Rudy nii-chan took Ste out of the house. And when he did, she found out that what she thought was a ''house'' was actually a giant ck tower that looked exactly like where the final boss would wait.
But that wasn''t the important part. Instead, it was the conversation he had with Rika when he took her out.
"*Babies need fresh air, right, Rika?*"
"*Of course! Though Rika thinks that the Magic Continent might be too harsh for a Human infant.*"
"*But not here, right? Since it seems like we captured a microclimate of some sort?*"
"*Rika is unaware of ''microclimates'', but Rika agrees that this area is safe. Maybe since the space was transported from the Human continents?*"
"*Hm...*"
A seemingly ordinary conversation.
From it, Ste learned that they were in a ce called the Magic Continent and that they were lucky enough to be in a hospitable region.
So she thought it would end there. Since her Onii-chan was protective, she thought that he would just return inside and spend time keeping her safe until she grew up enough.
But instead...
"*It''ll be a bit hard to control the weather patterns, but temperature and water should be doable. As for the terrain and fertility... The ambient mana is a bit intense, but if I convert that...*"
Ste had been facing forward at the time. Because of that, she could see it.
Scattered pieces of geography. A lush grasnd suddenly cutting off and reced by a cracked and dried wastnd. A clump of trees that looked plucked from a forest. A pond in the middle of that dried wastnd, already half evaporated. And then the peak of a mountain jutting out from the ground.
For the first time, she saw the aftermath of the incident that sent her and Rudy nii-chan to this foreignnd.
And immediately after that-
"*You! Rudy! Do not lie to This One! You are a demon in disguise- No, the reincarnation of Lace, are you not?! S-Such a feat...!*"
Rika''s panicked and terrified voice.
"*I''m perfectly human. And anyone can do this, you know? All you have to do is create an artificial leyline and connect it to elemental mana streams already present in the area. Then you just direct it ording to what you want and lock it in ce with a few magic formations.*"
Rudy nii-chan gave a nonchnt response that sounded rational.
Yes. ''Sounded'' rational. But the reality...
Ste stared at the utopianndscape that popped into existence in front of her eyes while Rudy was talking.
Shimmering clouds that floated from the mountain peak, blocking out the harsh sun.
Lush green grass and a cobblestone pathway to the pond, lined with colorful flowers.
The forest, suddenly expanded with ethereal trees that had golden branches and fluffy white leaves.
And the wastnd that had separated all the disparate bits of geography,pletely gone and reced with lush greenery.
Not only that, but there was a constant gentle breeze blowing. Even the harsh sunlight had turned into a faint warmth.
Ste turned to look at her Onii-chan.
He noticed and stared back.
"Chi."
''You''re a cheat.''
Rudyughed and then poked Ste''s cheek. "Don''t worry. Like I said, Onii-chan will keep you safe. See? Now we can go walk around outside instead of staying cooped up in the tower all day."
That was nice. And it was good that Rudy nii-chan was considering that. But...
Don''t you think terraforming just to take a walk with your baby sister is overkill, Onii-chan...?
-SNG-
Part 2
After deciding that he wasn''t going to let Mother Nature get in the way of letting Ste enjoy it, Rudy mostly took Ste outside to y.
Random fairytales and giarized Anime storylines treated as fairytales. The asionalnguage lesson with him creating props to teach her the words.
And rants.
Lots of rants.
Rants about how adventurers were stupid muscle-brains who kept wanting to test themselves against Ruijerd and Rnd.
Rants about how annoyed he was at the procedures of rising through the ranks as an adventurer.
Rants about how he wished he had learned the Magic Racenguage earlier so he didn''t have to rely on Rika tranting it bit by bit and getting bored.
And more rants about how everyone on the entire continent seemed to be so poor that even a casual sh of some gemstones were enough to get them to risk their necks to dungeon dive and look for humans they didn''t care about.
Yes. Rudy nii-chan had a lot to rant about.
Enough that Ste wondered if her Onii-chan''s hair had always been white, or if it had turned that way from stress.
...Considering how easily Rudy nii-chan ranted, she was starting to think it was stress.
But anyway, Rudy yed with Ste a lot.
Carrying her around on walks. Laying her on a nket atop the grass to look at the blue-green sky and the sun that was always conveniently blocked by a cloud. Telling stories...
Everything a big brother would normally do with their baby sister.
Which included protecting her from dangerous animals... Or in this world, monsters.
It happened one day after Rika was sick. Mister Ruijerd was home keeping an eye on Rika while Mister Rnd was out organizing a group of people to start constructing some houses in the distance.
That day, Rudy nii-chan was carrying Ste as always while he kept an eye on the construction from a distance.
"...It''s a bit unexpected, but it looks like Onii-chan''s going to be a Guild Leader soon, Ste."
"Ba."
"Yep. It''s pretty bad." Rudy sighed. "Seriously. I keep telling everyone I''m a kid, but they say that it has to be a lie. Even those hardcore Milis followers we rescued think I''m the reincarnation of Saint Milis or something instead of a normal kid."
''Onii-chan. When you can make food out of thin air and reshape thend, I think even a hardcore non-believer will start reconsidering their beliefs...''
Rudy sighed again and then leaned back in his chair, holding Ste up to watch the construction.
And then something happened.
"*Watch out! It''s another distortion!*"
"*Astolfo! Keep the rookies safe!*"
"*Kay~! Whatever you say, Captain Rolo!*"
Loud chatter. The sound of steel being drawn. Crackling lightning and ominous sci-fi sounds likesers or engines being revved up.
And then terrifying roars cut through the air. Simr to the ones when Ste had been born.
She wanted to watch, but her body had a visceral reaction and started crying on its own. Not just crying, but bawling her eyes out.
''Stupid baby body! Calm down!''
Of course, no matter how much Ste told herself that, it didn''t work.
The earthshaking roars and thunderous footstepsing towards her made her baby body shake in fear.
But only for a few seconds. And the reason for that...
"Shut up! You''re scaring Ste!"
A boy''s voice, calling out in a petnt tone.
And then Ste saw it.
The scene was a bit blurred because of her tears, but she clearly witnessed what happened next.
The monsters were dragons. At least, things that looked like dragons. Giant, scaly reptiles with glimmering green scales and leathery wings.
Scary.
Seeing them rush forward reminded Ste of that famous American dinosaur movie.
But before those monsters took two steps, they were struck by lightning.
Crimson bolts straight out of the blue, stunning them in ce. And after that, the ground opened up like a giant mouth and swallowed them whole before mming shut with a loud *crunch.*
And then it was quiet, the terrain back to normal like nothing had happened.
Silence.
But before long...
"*Yatta~! Boss defeated the Grimoire Dragons!*"
"*All hail Lord Rudras!*"
"*Long live Lord Rudras!*"
Rudy let out a deep sigh and wiped away Ste''s tears. After that, he looked at her and said, "See, Ste? These guys are crazy."
Ste sniffed and then let out a smile.
Seeing that, Rudy smiled back and patted her head.
But on the inside, Ste was thinking...
''Onii-chan. I think you''re the crazy one here...''
-SNG-
Part 3
The days continued to pass. As they did, Ste was slowly starting to agree with the people that said Rudy nii-chan wasn''t human.
It took a bit since Ste wasn''t conscious for most of the day. But as time passed and Ste could stay awake longer and longer, she started to realize something very important.
Rudy nii-chan didn''t sleep. He didn''t eat either. Or use the bathroom.
She first noticed a few months in when she woke up with a nightmare.
It was dark, and in the middle of the night, she had a dream about that day.
How Dad said he would being home early. How Mom said they would be having salted salmon and how Ste... ''Shizuka'' hadined about eating something so boring.
Right.
She had taken it all for granted.
Then she remembered having the fight with Aki. Comining about how he was getting too close to that one girl. Watching him storm off, and then...
"Shh. Onii-chan''s here."
Warm hands holding her close and gently rocking her.
"I know, I know. It''s scary, isn''t it? But it''s okay."
Ste sniffed and then nuzzled close to Rudy''s chest.
A familiar luby. A song about a great big dango family.
Singing that to her in his childish voice, Rudy held her close until she fell back asleep.
...And then from that point on, he made sure to hold her throughout the night.
Which was how she noticed it.
There were a few times after that where she had nightmares, but Rudy nii-chan was there every time. Not only that, but he wasn''t tired or drained. Instead, he was always working.
Flipping through reports, sketching out intricate magic formation designs, having hushed conversations with Rnd or Mister Ruijerd about adventurers...
At first, Ste thought he was just pushing himself. That he was being super responsible and forcing himself awake for her sake.
But then she realized that wasn''t the case. And the reason for that...
"Hm... So constantly circting healing mana like I used to keeps homeostasis like I thought. And there don''t seem to be any side-effects... In the worst case scenario though, I''ll need to forcibly reset things with a God-Ranked healing spell... which I don''t have. Fortunately, the irvoyance Demon Eye works both directions and I can memorize the underlying molecr structure enough to fudge a restoration with healing magic... But is it reducing telomeres by constant regeneration? Wait, can I stop aging by restoring the telomeres directly? No, is that how Rika''s revival works? Saving the snapshot in mana and reversing the process?"
A long mumbling rant about something that sounded a lot like research into practical immortality.
No. Onii-chan wasn''t forcing himself to stay awake. He was already staying through the night doing research on topics that werepletely like what a Demon Lord would look into.
...If this is what her big brother was like, what was the rest of her family like, Ste wondered...
-SNG-
Part 4
Ste could finally sit up by herself. Atst, a bit of independence!
For a while, she was worried that Rudy nii-chan was going to keep holding onto her forever, but it seemed like he respected her independence.
...After he broke down crying about how he wished Mom and Norn could see Ste grow up.
That had been an awkward sight. It was especially awkward seeing a bunch of knights, rough looking adventurers, demons, and Rika panic and try to cheer him up.
But Ste earned herself some freedom.
With it, she started to do her own magic research and experimentation.
Mostly because she was burning to try things out after hearing what Rudy nii-chan was doing. But also because she felt really guilty about it.
Before she was reborn, she was already 17. She didn''t know how old Rudy nii-chan had been before he was reincarnated, but she knew that right now, he looked like a kid bearing the weight of the world.
Even if he wasn''t, she still felt guilty for just being deadweight.
More than that... Onii-chan was Onii-chan. Even though Ste could still vividly remember her other family, the affection Onii-chan had for her wasn''t a lie. Even if it was a bit awkward calling a kid her Onii-chan... Even though she had been doing it for a while, the fact was that it was true in the end.
And he was sacrificing a lot to keep her safe.
Ste had seen it with her own eyes, after all.
Rudy nii-chan was the definition of a ridiculous cheat character. If he wanted to, she was sure he could run out there, scour thend, and get all of their family back together.
But he didn''t. Instead, he stayed with Ste and built a safe haven for her. Not only that, but he watched her every minute to make sure she was okay, fed her, cleaned her, and did his best to make sure she was happy and had a normal baby life.
All of that while juggling the role of being a Guild Leader, Demon Lord, and Magic Researcher in his spare time... which he had by staying up through the night.
And it was having a toll on Rudy nii-chan too.
As the time passed, Ste saw her Onii-chan visibly aging before her eyes.
The kid who looked ten at most started getting taller. His cute baby face started getting more defined and his innocent and wide green and white eyes were turning sharp and mature.
A teenager instead of a kid. And all in the span of a few months.
Ste didn''t know if it was because of the stress or what else, but she knew that it wasn''t good. So she wanted to help relieve a bit of his worries.
And to begin with that...
Morning. Ste didn''t know the date, but from the mental count she kept, it had to have been half a year at least. Long enough for some of her baby teeth toe in.
As usual, Ste blinked the sleep out of her eyes and then slowly sat up, taking care to steady her body.
Not that it would matter if she fell. Her overprotective Onii-chan had given her a magical pendant that kept her from getting hurt from falls.
...She learned that the scary way after trying too early to walk and starting to fall before being carefully plopped back on her butt.
But anyway, today was the day.
Rudy nii-chan had been busy recently talking to Mister Ruijerd and Mister Rnd about something. He also left Ste alone a lot with Rika... Who spent most of the time staring off into space and writing things down on a piece of paper.
But right now, Rudy nii-chan was home. Just like every morning.
And just like every morning, he immediately noticed when Ste woke up.
"Morning, Ste." Rudy nii-chan let out a bright smile and then stood up to stretch. His silver hair shifted, catching the sunlight shining through the window on the roof. A handsome face that wouldn''t lose out to anyone staring at her with a gentle gaze.
A perfectdykiller smile. And wearing his ''Demon Lord'' outfit of a fancy white suit and his gray scarf, Ste didn''t have any doubt that girls would be following him wherever he went.
Just like they did with Aki.
...Stupid Aki.
Rudyughed and then walked over to pick Ste up. "A little grumpy today, huh?" He smiled and then started tickling her.
Ste giggled and then iled her arms, trying to get away. "Ba! Ba!"
Rudy''s smile widened and then he held Ste up, staring into her face.
Ste stared back, still giggling a bit from being tickled. But she did her best to keep a straight face.
''Dang it, Onii-chan! I''m not a kid!''
Ah, wait. That was what she wanted to say. So...
Staring at her Onii-chan, Ste took a breath and opened her mouth to talk.
But then Rudy did first.
"...Babies really do grow up fast, don''t they? In just a blink of an eye and you''re already big enough to sit up by yourself. A little bit longer and I bet you''ll be trying to totter around after me, won''t you?"
A bitter smile. One with more than a bit of guilt in it.
"...Sorry. If your Onii-chan hadn''t been so arrogant, we''d probably still be at home with everyone else. Maybe in a bit of a hectic mess, but we''d all be there. Instead, it''s just you, me, and these bunch of misfits that decided to dere me as their Demon Lord of Salvation."
Amenting tone of voice. Eyes that started to glimmer with unshed tears.
Seeing that, Ste reached out to pat Rudy''s head like he did with her. After that, she said, "Is kay. Nii-cha twy hard."
The words were fumbled. She didn''t have enough teeth, but Ste did her best.
Rudy froze.
Ste smiled.
And then...
"My baby sister is a genius! I knew it!"
E-Eh?
Rudy stared at Ste with a weird glint in his eyes and said, "You can talk, so you can understand me, right? Great. This means you can learn magic. And since you can learn magic, we can start adventuring. And since we can start adventuring, we can say goodbye to all of this hassle and just run away to find a way home so I don''t have to deal with all of this stress. Right? You''ll go with your Onii-chan, right?"
Oh. Oh no. Did... Did she just make a terrible mistake?
Ste thought that the stress hadn''t gotten to Rudy nii-chan''s head, but-
"Rudy, no!"
A familiar female voice. Rika-chan.
The stress seemed to have gotten to her too since she had grown quite a bit. Instead of a kid, she looked more like a first year high schooler. And wearing a pair of sses and a suit, she gave off a mature vibe, unlike in the past.
...Though the reason for that mature vibe was-
"Lord Rudras is the core of this kingdom! If you leave, Rika will have to deal with everything on her own!"
"Then deal with it! You were some Great Demon Empress or something, right? Run it for me!"
"Rika did that once! Rika is not doing it again!"
"I''ll be the Magic God Emperor!"
"Rika calls your bluff! If you want to, Rika will start the paperwork and nning!"
"Gah!"
Ste blinked and then looked at Rudy.
He noticed and looked back. "Yes, Ste?"
"...Nii-cha. Baka."
"Kuh! T-That..."
Rudy rigidly walked Ste back to her crib and set her down. After that, he slumped over and covered his head. "Ste called me a baka. My cute baby sister said I was an idiot. It''s over. I knew it. When puberty hit, I''d inherit Dad''s idiot ball. Uuu..."
Rika adjusted her sses and then shook her head. "And Rika was so worried about Rudy turning into that scary Handsome One as the Magic God Emperor... How silly."
Ste sighed.
Yes. This was her life now. Ste Notos Greyrat, younger sister to Rudeus Notos Greyrat. The Demon Lord of Salvation who created a kingdom to house and rescue victims of the worldwide spacetime disaster. Demon King Rudras, leader of the White Knights.
...And a baka Onii-chan who seemed to be the cheat protagonist of an isekai light novel.
-SNG-
OMAKE
"STELLA!"
"Nii-cha! No!!!"
"What the heck is that golden-" (Being W)
KABOOM.