Vol 1 Chapter 15: Victory and Defeat

Sherry

When I first saw Hugo training like that, I wanted to stop him. He just kept falling to the ground over and over again, and it looked completely miserable. I couldn't bear seeing him hurt himself like that.

But when I came to him, he just said, "I-it's alright, Sherry. Mother will heal me afterwards after all." All with that stupid cheerful grin of his.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't get angry at him. Even though I didn't understand why he's doing all of this. That grin of his… it's the same grin that made me become fond of him after all.

...Wait a sec… "Hugo, you're doing this because I beat you yesterday, aren't you? Y-you don't have to worry about that, you know! I only won because of my strength, nothing more! And I didn't train for that!"

He smiled, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Don't feel bad. I'm doing this for you, you know. I… well, I want to protect you, Sherry. So I have to become stronger."

BA-DUMP

The way he blushed as he said that, averting his gaze a little as he was too shy to keep staring at my eyes as he said it—it was immeasurably, unbearably adorable.

Once again, I had fallen in love for him, as much as a nine year old could fall in love, at the very least.

I could not resist. It was his fault for being too adorable in the first place.

I took a step forward and gave him a kiss right on the lips.

As we kissed, I gave him a hug as well. I didn’t care that he was dirty and sweaty. Only that I was now giving my first kiss to him, as I remembered what Nicole said about first kisses when we were still in the orphanage. “A maiden’s first kiss is a treasure that all men chase after.”

I had decided. I was going to give my treasure to Hugo. He already more than deserved it.

He fell down, surprised by my sudden forwardness. That's fine. This position, with me being on the top, was fine.

"Hugo… I want to—"

"Aah, Young Mistress Sherry! Young Master Hugo! Are you two fighting?"

They said that Fate had a sense of humor. I couldn't agree more at this moment.

The new maid, Mary, ran over to us—her breasts jiggling disgustingly as she did. In her naivete, she seemed to be under the impression that we were not getting along, and that I was pinning Hugo forcefully to the ground.

Naturally, I gave her an angry glare. She just interrupted my moment with Hugo after all. Who knew when there would be such an opportunity again?

“Come on, Mistress Sherry! Fighting is no good, you know! Especially since he’s the one who took you in!” She pulled me away from Hugo, before dusting off my dress.

“We’re not fighting, you know.” I still gave her my deadly glare. “We’re in the middle of something and you just rudely interrupted us.”

“O-oh, r-really? T-then please forgive me, Milady!” She bowed again. Hmph, did all large breasts have to jiggle around like that?

I didn’t say anything to her afterwards. I simply left, giving Hugo one last look before I departed. My mood had soured considerably. It wouldn’t do well for me to be with Hugo for the rest of the day. I wouldn’t want to show him my grumpy, disagreeable side after all.

----

Finally! Finally I managed to do it! I could control Wind Step now!

I plopped down on the dirt, taking a deep breath. I couldn't help but laugh for a good twenty seconds. At last! After a grueling training for a week, I finally mastered my very own original magic! None of those magic books had this technique written on them!

! And I did it without anybody’s help!

I couldn’t help but be proud of myself. For a loser like me, who had never put a significant hard work and effort on anything, to be able to accomplish something like this, was like a dream. So many times during my training that I thought I was just wasting my time. I would never be able to use my basic wind spell in that way. However, my mind would immediately return back to Sherry, and how she kissed me right on the lips. When I remembered her, I knew that I couldn’t give up. I didn’t want to disappoint her!

So this is how it feels to be fighting for someone you love, huh? It feels… nice… Now I understand why so many men could work in unfulfilling, dead end jobs with smiles on their faces. It all must be because of their lovely wives, waiting for them back home.

And now—now that I have someone like that, I can truly work hard without looking back! Without feeling afraid that I will just end up as a failure, that I would just waste all my sweat and tears on something that won’t bore any fruits.

And then, it struck me.

Sherry wouldn’t like me forever. She would eventually grow up and mature, and she would think of this little crush of her as a simple childhood thing that isn’t real in the slightest. We would still be friends, of course, but she would stop pining for me like she did now.

...That’s fine. That’s fine by me. Even if she became that way, I would still support her as much as I could. I wasn’t a scummy guy that would only be a girl’s friend just because I wanted to get in bed with her.

...Gah, enough of the depressing stuffI still needed to think of the other techniques and master them, before I could have my rematch with her!

And so I stood up, dusted myself off, and readied myself to resume my training.

----

Two months. Two months were what it took for me to be ready.

And today was the day. I was now staring at Sherry across the field with a determined look on my face. She too returned the same stare. Even if she might be in love with me, she had no intention of taking it easy on me. Father made sure of that. He had told her that she would only belittle my efforts if she didn’t take me with all her might.

Mother was also here, watching from the veranda along with Mary. The maid had a visibly frightened expression on her face—she clearly wasn’t used to violent things like this, while Mother had a serious and calm expression instead. She believed in both me and Sherry, and she knew that this was something that we needed to do, as much as it might break her heart, watching her son and adopted daughter fighting each other like this.

At first, she scolded me for my training when she healed me. But after I told her the reason why I trained, how I wanted to be stronger for both Sherry and myself, she relented with a sigh.

“You really are your Father’s son after all. He once went into this training spree, you know, after we almost died at the hands of a strong monster. Well, to be more exact, I was the one who was in the wrong. My positioning was too forward, giving the beast an opening to attack me instead of him. I… well, I lost an arm on that attack.”

I gasped. I didn’t expect her to suddenly tell a grim story like this.

“In a fit of rage, he killed the monster, before rushing me back to the nearest church. Thankfully, there was a high-ranking cleric there, with the ability to bring back lost arms. We had to pay every single gold that we had for it though. He even had to sell his dear sword that he had been with for years.” Mother smiled as she told this. She no doubt felt really touched by the sacrifice he made for her. “Afterwards, he told us that he was going to leave for a month for training. I tried to stop him but he wouldn’t listen, saying stuff like ‘I’m not strong enough to protect you yet’. He didn’t return until the second month, and when he did, I, well—”

“You proposed to him, didn’t you, Mother?” I guessed with a smirk.

“Oh Hugo, yes, of course I did, you silly boy!” She laughed, messing up my hair. “Sometimes, you really are like your sister. Too smart and clever for your own age.” She then gave me a hug, pleasantly burying me inside her cleavage. “How could I have not? He cared so much for me that my heart just went to him straight away. I still remembered how as my consciousness dimmed, he begged me to stay with him with tears in his eyes. That big man, brought to tears like that. And I wasn’t there since I was still not awake yet, but I heard from Myrilla that he would be with me for every single hour, refusing to sleep until he just fell asleep beside my bed. He would also pray to the Saint with a fervor that rivaled even the most devout Milicis believers for Her to save me, even though he was never the religious sort before.”

“Myrilla?” I replied. “Oh, the mage you used to party with, right? Father told me a while back about her.”

“Oh really? What did he say about her?” Huh, was that a hint of jealousy on her face?

“Nothing. He just mentioned her name and he refused to talk about her any further.”

“I see…” She paused, smiling a little. “Well, hopefully, we’re going to meet her soon.”

“Huh, really?”

“Yes. We… ah, have something we need to consult with her, you see.”

Mother ended the conversation there, telling me to clean up before we had our dinner.

I could just sense it. There was definitely more to her story—something that she or Father weren’t willing to tell to me.

Back to the fight, I was now ready—wooden sword on my right hand, and wand on the left. Sherry, on the other hand, was holding her sword with both hands. She didn’t two-hand her sword the last time we fought, which meant that she was really taking this seriously.

“In three… two… one… fight!”

Sherry bolted forward, exactly in the same manner as her opening move two months ago.

I, however, was ready. With my Wind Step, I dodged out of the way with ease.

She quickly halted her flight, turning 180 degrees to face me. However, as I was flying mid-air, I cast another quick spell. Flame Whip. An intermediate-level Fire spell that I had managed to cast in just a single second. The twin whips reached out to her, aimed at both of her hands.

“Aaah!”

She let out a yelp as the two whips wrapped itself around her wrist, no doubt feeling the burn on her skin. Sorry, Sherry, but just like Father said, I wasn’t going to hold back either.

However, instead of just surrendering, with her great strength, she yanked the two whips back at her, sending me flying towards her as my wand was still connected with the other end of the wips.

“Gah!” I immediately disconnected the whips, dispelling the spell. And then, using my wind spell, I pushed myself away. Must keep my range!

With her wrist freed, she was ready to resume her attack. With her great speed, she quickly closed the distance between us.

However, I was ready, With my Earth spell I dubbed Vine Grip, I conjured a series of short vines to grab onto her feet, tripping her up as she ran.

It didn't work! She just tore through them with her sheer strength!

I wasn't done yet though! I imbued my wooden sword with lightning, with a spell I aptly named Lightning Sword, and tied my feet with the vines from the spell before. I couldn’t dodge anymore. I had to face her head on!

Noticing the lightning however, she cleverly decided not to engage me in melee. She instead swung a powerful overhead slash, sending a sword wave straight towards my direction.

“Aarghhh!”

I blocked it with my own sword, but even with my lightning and vines, I couldn’t win. Not even close. I was immediately sent flying backwards, just from the sheer force of the attack.

Before I could recover, once again, her sword was already on my throat.

“The winner is… Sherry!”

I had lost for the second time.

----

In the end, for the rest of the year, I still couldn’t surpass her.

Neither my spells nor my sword skills or strength were good enough to compete against her. And it certainly didn’t help that she continued improving on her swordsmanship at an amazing rate, or so Father said.

Gah, at this rate, I had to ask Marina for help when she came back in summer. Surely she could figure out something that I could do.

Before that though, I had the birth of my little sibling to wait for.

No major incidents happened before then. Well, except for two. The first, where I discovered that Sherry had a surprising fear towards ghosts. On one winter night, Mother decided it would be a fun idea to get together and tell us some ghost stories. As she did, I noticed Sherry trembling, as much as she wanted to hide it. I comforted her by grabbing her hand, but she was clearly still afraid nonetheless. I didn’t want to insult her pride by bringing her up, so I said nothing.

And then, the next morning, news broke that Sherry had wet her bed.

This led to an entire week of her avoiding me entirely. I wouldn’t blame her, really. I would do the same if I wet my bed. I knew just how humiliating it was, to have an accident when you were already nine. Yes, it was from my personal experience. And no, I’d rather not talk about it, thank you very much.

And when I told her that I didn’t mind her blunder, and that I thought it to be a little cute even, she slapped me instead. Damn it, she probably thought I was mocking her. I was just trying to comfort her! This is why I was never good with girls!

The second incident was when Sherry, who insisted that she had to be the one cleaning up my room, even though we had Mary now, managed to find Marina’s panties behind the cupboard.

Naturally, I never saw her angrier than that night.

“What are these?”

“T-that’s…”

“Whose panties are these?”

“M-Marina’s…”

“Then why are they here, instead of her room?”

“W-well, y-you see, i-it’s because—”

“Ah, I get it. You steal them from her room, didn’t you?”

“N-no, that’s not—”

“I can’t believe this! How would she feel if she knows you’ve been doing this—this sneaking around, stealing her panties from her room while she was away?" She was now visibly shaking with rage.

"I-it's not like that!"

"What else can it be then?" She was now walking towards me, panties in hand. "Don't tell me that Marina gave you the panties herself! If you think I'll believe such a bold-faced lie, then you—"

"It's true! She was the one to give them to me! It was her secret parting gift last summer!"

She stopped in her tracks. Judging from her expression, it seemed she believed that I wasn’t lying to her.

“S-she gave you… h-her panties… a-and a dirty one at that, judging by the smell… s-since last summer?!”

“Y-yes… s-she thought they would be a good way to… to remember her…” Naturally, the ridiculousness of said statement didn’t escape my mind. Dammit, Sis! Can’t you come up with a better excuse in your letter?!

She paused once again. Biting her lip, she looked down, straight to the panties balled up in her right hand.

“Y-you… do you like… keeping girls’ dirty panties like this?”

There it was! The golden question! I gulped. If I answered wrong, I could end up destroying her admiration towards me completely! And I didn’t want that in the slightest! Not at all!

She looked at me, straight in the eyes. There was no anger in them, only curiosity. I knew that she fully expected me to tell the truth. If I lied, she would really brand me as a cowardly pervert and would no doubt start to hate me from the bottom of her heart.

"Y-yes…" I answered, looking down. "I liked keeping them around, and gave them a smell occasionally…" I then looked up, a wry smile on my face. "I'm a pervert through and through Sherry, like I said to you that one time… I wouldn't deny that… And having Big Sis' used panties with me makes me able to remember her scent… and warmth…"

My old self would have immediately denied and lied his way out. He was so concerned with his image, that he didn't realize he was only making things worse for himself. He was too spineless to admit to anything that put him in a bad light, even from himself.

What happened next took me entirely by surprise.

Sherry, not saying anything, bent over and pulled down her own panties. Vaulting them over her legs, she then brought the fabric to me, putting them on my hands before saying, "I-if you like panties that much, t-then I’ll give mine to you too. I-I have worn them all day s-so they should be pretty smelly. J-just the way you like them, r-right?”

After shoving the fabric to me, she immediately ran away—face as red as a tomato.

I blinked. It took me several minutes to process what just happened.

D-did she just…

I looked down to my hands. Yep, there they were. Sherry’s white panties, along with Marina’s pink.

And so, ever since that night, I had two pairs of panties in my secret box.

----

A/N:

Poll’s up, as requested. It’s not binding in any ways though. I just thought it might be a good idea to measure what the public opinion is on the matter. I won’t write anything that I feel won’t be good for the story.

Also, Sherry’s panties.