The Tale of Reichhardt

"… My older brother had a tendency to get full of himself ever since he was a child. He was a big talker, always declaring without hesitation that he was going to become a Garumon Master.

"But back then, that side of him looked at least a little appealing in my eyes…

"However, in March of his fifteenth year, when his debut was finally upon him…"

… From here on, let's render Suzanne's account as a flashback reenactment.

"… Father! Why is my Garumon only Suzanne!?"

The day his debut as a G-Class Master was drawing near, Reichhardt snapped at his father, the S-Class number 4 Master, Leonhardt.

"… Are you dissatisfied with Suzanne?"

His great father, Leonhardt, addressed Reichhardt in his weighty voice.

"N-no, with Suzanne, dissatisfaction… none at all… Entrusting me with the very daughter of Mercheada is a sign of your expectations for me! For that, I am grateful. I shall pour all my strength into living up to those expectations, Father!"

"… Mn, I have expectations of you."

"But when it was my older brother's turn, you sent him off with two, Amira and Safa! Why am I alone with just one!?"

"… Even if you ask why, the fact that the only Garumon your age was Suzanne has been known for fifteen years. Lasheid happened to have Amira and Safa as same-year Garumon. That is all there is to it."

Leonhardt wore an exasperated expression.

"But a G-Class Master sets out with three Garumon in hand! Father, since you didn't send me to school, you have an obligation to prepare three Garumon for me! At the very least, the same two my brother had! At the very least!"

"… Don't carry on like that… Fine. But I have no recollection of treating my sons differently.

"Suzanne is a Garumon worth as much as Amira and Safa combined, or even more…"

Leonhardt let out a sigh.

And so, in the March graduation season, while fifteen-year-old Masters across the land debuted one after another…

Until Leonhardt could secure a Garumon at the shop, Reichhardt and Suzanne kept busy raising Suzanne's level through mock battles with Leonhardt's subordinates.

"Angel Wing! … Vanish!"

Up against HR-Class Garumon thirty levels above her, Suzanne refused to yield a single step, and at times even claimed victory.

As a result of those efforts, Suzanne's level kept climbing.

"Whoaaa! … Splendid. Suzanne… what tremendous strength!

"As expected of Reichhardt-sama, to handle Suzanne to this degree!"

"Hahaha! That's right! As expected of me!"

At his subordinate's flattery, Reichhardt grew haughty.

"… Wedge. Stop fawning over Reichhardt.

"Well, I am the strongest Garumon, after all! No matter how incompetent and useless my brother may be, I, the great Suzanne, will surely turn him into a Garumon Master!"

"O-oh, Suzanne. I'm counting on you…"

… Suzanne glared at Reichhardt.

"… Reichhardt. More importantly, are you still not going to enter G-Class battles? With me here, there's no way you'd lose at the G-Class level. If your level rises too high, you won't even be able to issue challenges anymore, you know?"

"O-oh… but until I receive another Garumon from Father…"

"… Honestly! Pathetic!"

"O-oh, oh, a message from Father. He says he's bought a Garumon! Apparently she'll arrive as soon as tomorrow.

"Adelia… ooh, c-cute… All right, all right! From here on, my road of glory begins!"

"… Honestly…"

There was another reason Reichhardt was so fixated on a Garumon other than Suzanne.

… He was overawed by Suzanne.

They had spent their childhood together, but Suzanne, dazzlingly beautiful and the finest Garumon of her generation, was praised by everyone. The only daughter of Mercheada, the world's greatest goddess. A supreme being…

More than a few S-Class Masters had come bearing great sums of money, pleading to be allowed to take Suzanne in.

Leonhardt had kept on refusing them. Everyone assumed it was so he could give her to Reichhardt one day, and Reichhardt was envied for that.

So Reichhardt grew more and more arrogant… but at the same time, he developed an inferiority complex. Inwardly, he must have sensed he didn't have the worth to deserve Suzanne.

As a result, even after Reichhardt finally became a Master, he couldn't bring himself to issue Suzanne nighttime commands.

… So when Adelia arrived, the first thing he did was,

"Haa, haa… hey! Let me grope your tits! Suck my penis! Suck it! I'll mount you…!"

That was the order he gave, but Adelia scratched him up, and on top of that…

"… Reichhardt. That sort of attitude is shameful for a great noble.

"Adelia has just arrived and is unaccustomed to things. Rushing like that is utterly unworthy of a noble!"

He was scolded by Suzanne, hated by Adelia. Not a single redeeming moment.

… That said, having obtained two beautiful Garumon in Suzanne and Adelia, Reichhardt finally took on the G-Class battles.

… Naturally, in G-Class he was unstoppable.

He even threw away his virginity to an N-Class Garumon he'd taken, and at last gained confidence as a man.

He'd have his way with them, then sell them off, dismissing N-Class Garumon as if they were nothing he needed. By treating Garumon as objects that way, he gained yet more confidence in himself.

That brought him to nine consecutive wins.

Reichhardt, who had based himself out of the town of Amen, was searching for the cutest possible N-Class Garumon to be his last G-Class opponent.

"… How ridiculous."

"It's the commemoration of my final G-Class win!"

So they'd argued, and Suzanne, refusing to humor him, withdrew to rest in her capsule.

Reichhardt wandered the outskirts of the battlefield in search of a good Garumon.

But in a place like that, there were no opponents to be found in the first place. Just as he gave up and was about to head back to town, it happened.

He spotted a rainbow-shining icon.

A rainbow icon meant a Garumon transferred over from another world, one with at least SR-Class talent guaranteed: an excellent addition to one's roster.

Reichhardt, who knew this, called it a stroke of fate and headed eagerly to the spot…

That he was counter-defeated and had Adelia stolen from him is a story we already know.

What Reichhardt did after losing Adelia was…

To go crying to his father.

"Father…! Adelia got taken from me, take her back, take her back for meee…!"

"… Haah."

Leonhardt let out a deep sigh.

"… Reichhardt. Normally, once you turn fifteen, you stand on your own and live thereafter without involving your parents. That is the way of this world. Whatever the result, you must take responsibility for the consequences of your own actions.

"Even if that result is defeat.

"If you wish to take her back, take her back with your own strength."

Whatever could be said about how he raised his sons, the man himself was a fine person of upstanding character.

His parenting was by no means bad either. Sometimes strict, sometimes gentle, he was a very good father… or so Suzanne thought.

But hearing the same words from their father, Suzanne would draw the necessary lessons from them, while Reichhardt thought of them as someone else's business that didn't apply to him.

These small differences in attitude piled up, and Reichhardt grew up without properly inheriting his father's finer qualities. That, at least, was Suzanne's view of things.

That was part of why she had come to look down on Reichhardt as something of a useless brother.

If she were a Master, she'd absolutely be more capable than him.

… But for Suzanne, the figure she admired was her mother Mercheada, and her dream was to become the strongest Garumon, like Mercheada or greater still.

So even raising up such a brother was, she thought, part of the path to making herself the strongest.

"Then juuust! Buy me a Garumon to get her back wiiith! Fatheeer…!"

Reichhardt cried to his father, but,

"Pull yourself together! Stand on your own two feet!"

came the sharp rebuke.

… By the time Suzanne next awoke, it was all over.

The matter of Reichhardt going crying to Leonhardt was a story she heard from one of his subordinate knights.

"… Haah."

Suzanne couldn't conceal her disappointment in Reichhardt.

From Suzanne's perspective, her precious partner Adelia had been taken away while she'd been inside her capsule.

Are you kidding me, go take her back right now! Pick an Out-of-Battle Battle and steal her back even if you have to kill them!

She wanted to scream at Reichhardt and dress him down like that.

… But seeing how crushed Reichhardt was, she gave up, deciding any further reproach would be pointless. It would only break his spirit.

"Let's give it our all from here on, Reichhardt-niisama."

She spoke to him kindly instead.

The rebuke from his father and Suzanne's consolation worked their effect, and Reichhardt seemed to have regained at least some motivation.

He was still on the verge of losing his confidence, but Suzanne's overwhelming strength was a great help in stabilizing Reichhardt's mind.

In F-Class too, he was undefeated. Bit by bit he obtained higher-quality Garumon, and as he embraced each new acquisition for his own pleasure, he grew more and more motivated. By the time he reached D-Class, Reichhardt's mental state had become quite stable.

His past defeat had been a mistake; the strongest of the current generation was none other than himself.

The D-Class town Reichhardt headed to was called Drefus. This town connected directly to Seeds Block.

Seeds Block was the place where Masters confident in their abilities could most easily promote, so it was a block where many talented Masters gathered.

As mentioned before, many of the elite Masters who reach A-Class or S-Class within a year choose Seeds.

In Drefus, swap matches against C-Class were held every month, and for any Master confident in their abilities, it was the fastest town in which to make C-Class.

… Reichhardt observed swap matches there, and saw a D-Class Master suffer a crushing defeat and have his Garumon stripped away.

The gap between D-Class and C-Class was vast, and there weren't many cases where a D-Class Master could win.

So Reichhardt got cold feet. Until he could line up SR-Class Garumon, he reasoned, he wouldn't be able to advance, and he took four months to reach D-Class rank 1, which earned him the right to challenge.

Four months from D-Class to C-Class was not slow at all. Among Masters who couldn't even make D-Class to begin with, it was no exaggeration to call it top-class.

But for an elite who had graduated from school as valedictorian, possessing one UR-Class and two SR-Class Garumon, and who had cleared the F-Class hurdle without being dragged down by the lower-ranked Masters in the post-debut chaos, two or three months to reach C-Class wasn't all that rare.

Even for a Master called a genius, swap match scheduling always imposed limits, but in Drefus, the shortest possible promotion was one month.

Suzanne had a reason for needing Reichhardt to reach C-Class within three months.

Otherwise, he wouldn't make the next B-Class swap match in time.

B-Class swap matches were held twice a year. Early April and early October.

For the early-April one, no matter how talented a Master was, it was impossible to reach B-Class in less than a month from debut.

There simply wouldn't be enough battles, no matter how hard he scrambled.

The next April was already too late. Even if he made B-Class then, he wouldn't make the A-Class Tournament in time.

But the early-October one was within reach for a truly talented Master.

Of course, even being able to genuinely aim for it marked you as a top-of-generation genius.

Among those who could actually pull it off, there was only one every several years.

Even Reichhardt's older brother, Lasheid, had given up on it.

Two years ago, Suzanne and Reichhardt had been present when Lasheid, who had returned home, was conversing pleasantly with Leonhardt.

"… You went to all the trouble of reaching C-Class in three months, but you're not going to challenge the October B-Class match?"

"Father… in the present age, the level of Garumon Battle has risen tremendously.

"It's not an era in which Masters who reach B-Class or A-Class within a year keep popping up one after another, like in your day, Father.

"I'll proceed at my own pace, without rushing."

That was Lasheid's reply.

… In actuality, even in recent years, there had been several Masters who reached S-Class within a year.

Promotion to S-Class within a year was possible.

Debut in March or April. Tear through G to F to E to D to C,

reach B-Class in October. Promote to A-Class within five months.

Place within the top eight at the A-Class Tournament the following March, and win the swap match against an S-Class in April.

Achieving S-Class in a single year this way was the most coveted, super-elite course for new Masters.

Even granting that this was extremely difficult, since several had actually done it, it was only natural that others aspired to it.

Among them was a transcendent supergenius who, in the year-end S-Class Tournament after making S-Class, had even defeated Leonhardt and risen all the way to S-Class number 3.

There was no way Lasheid didn't know of his existence.

But those people were true geniuses, blessed with even greater talent than Leonhardt.

Looking up at the heights, there'd be no end to it.

Leonhardt himself had reached S-Class at nineteen, and even that had taken him four years.

Lasheid was very realistic.

When confronted with the figure of a dazzling genius, the Masters who fool themselves into thinking "I should be able to do that too," rather than looking back at themselves and despairing, outnumber the others.

Lasheid was not one of them. He kept his feet firmly on the ground.

In a Garumon Battle where one loss meant the end, taking risks was foolishness.

"… I see. To be steady is truly a fine thing. There is no need to rush…"

Leonhardt, if anything, evaluated Lasheid favorably and seemed to accept his stance, but…

"Lasheid-niisama, that is pathetic! Why, when the right to challenge B-Class is right there in front of you, will you not challenge it!"

"Just so, Reichhardt-niisama! We will absolutely make B-Class in half a year!"

"Of course! There's no way I can't do what a commoner like Sairas managed!

"I will defeat Sairas and avenge our father!"

"That's the spirit, Onii-sama!"

… Suzanne and Reichhardt had both been indignant in just that way.

"… Have you forgotten the vow of those days! Why, when it's right in front of you, will you not challenge it!"

"Suzanne, I was young back then, too.

"How long are you going to keep saying childish things? Look at reality.

"C-Class is the knight class…

"The knights of Father's whom we trained with before, they were all C-Class Masters too.

"Beating men of their caliber is no easy thing."

"What good does that timidity do! I beat Father's knights too!"

"That was because they were one-on-one.

"Even you, can you defeat six Garumon by yourself? The C-Class swap match in this Drefus is a six-vs-six battle.

"C-Class Masters all have six SR-Class Garumon lined up."

Reichhardt turned a look that all but said "what an idiot" toward Suzanne.

"… T-that's… certainly not me alone. But if we combine our strength with our companions, it's not impossible!"

Suzanne thought that by fully utilizing the current companions to bring out her own strengths, they had a sufficient chance of winning.

In the first half, just stack debuffs on the opponents and switch members early. In the second half, concentrate buffs on Suzanne, defend her, and crush the enemy in a swift offensive with her attacks.

Done that way, against a C-Class Master in the rank-500 range, the chances of winning were far from negligible.

"Hmph, our companions? … I know that you look down on the slaves I currently own.

"Combining our strength…"

"… It's not, that I look down on them… I don't intend to…"

… Composing this sort of strategy was beyond Reichhardt. Of his father's high-level strategy lessons, Reichhardt hadn't understood even half; he'd just played along, mouth running as if he had, to cover it up.

There was no choice but for Suzanne to direct the other Garumon.

… But Suzanne was disliked by them.

Stuck-up, putting on airs.

A defective Garumon who wouldn't listen to her Master.

So they said. They banded together to pointedly ignore Suzanne and refused to even properly converse with her.

But Suzanne, for her part, couldn't deny that inwardly she also looked down on those women.

She was clearly stronger, more beautiful, smarter, and her price was a good five digits different from theirs. She was worth more.

That was the stark, plain truth, and she was a Garumon who carried a pride befitting her own worth.

If they wanted to call her attitude grating after that, there was nothing to be done.

It was hardly rare for an outstandingly talented Garumon to be resented by less talented ones.

The other Garumon ingratiated themselves with Reichhardt, and Reichhardt doted on those HR-Class Garumon of his.

Suzanne giving instructions to such Garumon was meaningless. When all was said and done, their Master was Reichhardt.

… Looking back, the only fellow Garumon who had spoken with her on friendly terms was Adelia.

Back then, she'd been indignant at Reichhardt for refusing to set out until Adelia joined, but the journey with Adelia had truly been fun.

That lisping voice that called her "Suzaa-nya"… she missed it.

"… Honestly… if only Adelia were here…"

Reichhardt did have his strengths. He had a degree of business acumen.

Even while doting on the Garumon he held, he never missed a chance to sell when a high price was on offer.

And he never missed a chance to buy when an SR-Class Garumon could be picked up cheap.

Of course, he sometimes obtained one by winning a battle as well. In this way, over four months, he succeeded in lining up five SR-Class Garumon.

… It was already too late to make the B-Class Tournament in time, but at long last he promoted to D-Class rank 1.

By the end of the month, he was set to face the rank-500 Master of Seeds Block.

Right around that same time, Lasheid was at last going to challenge the B-Class swap match as C-Class number 1.

Reichhardt decided to visit Seeds and converse with Lasheid.

"… I see, you too are coming to Seeds… I'll be B-Class by then. Take charge of Seeds after me.

"If you need advice, I'll give it to you."

"Thank you, Brother.

"… So, Brother, what kind of Master is the one in the rank-500 spot?"

"Reichhardt, if you can't even fight the rank-500 without prior intel, you really do have no future.

"There's no way someone around the rank-500 mark would have a Garumon as strong as Suzanne.

"If you line up some other reasonably-fightable Garumon, you can win even fighting somewhat haphazardly. Go in with confidence."

"… Yes!"

"… Lasheid-san, another tournament entrant!"

At that moment, a report came in from one of Lasheid's supporters.

"… Again? Truly, this town of Seeds has too many fools who don't know their place.

"The only way is to make them withdraw of their own will, and yet…"

"Brother, may I sit in?"

"Yes, do as you please."

"… Good, let's go, Suzanne, return."

"What, just when I was finally talking with Safa-neesama and Amira-neesama after so long…"

And so, he learned that the C-Class number 12 Master who was trying to enter that tournament was the Naoto Akai who had once stolen Adelia from him.

"… Are you kidding! That guy, that guy… that thief who unjustly robbed me of Adelia, is going to challenge Brother as C-Class number 12!? There's no way that could be…!"

Reichhardt raged. Indignant as he was, he was clearly also… despairing.

One day challenging his older brother had been, for Reichhardt, a dream he'd wanted to fulfill.

A dream, a goal, he'd thought of as the distant future, as someday.

… And the new Master who had once defeated him was about to accomplish it right before his eyes.

The man who had foolishly known nothing of this world, whom he had kindly taught, and who had repaid kindness with treachery.

That hateful opponent was about to fulfill his dream, his ideal…

How great a shock must Reichhardt have felt inwardly?

"… There's no way he can win. Lasheid-niisama has spent over a year preparing himself to challenge B-Class.

"There's no way a new Master who's only been at it about four months can beat that!

"… Heh, haha, hahaha! What a fool. Get crushed pitifully by Lasheid-niisama!

"And then, apologize and hand over Adelia, whom you unjustly stole from me! Buahahaha!"

Reichhardt had been excited like that.

"… Naoto Akai… is it."

Suzanne, for her part, felt something at the name. She'd never met him directly until then, but…

When she'd heard he'd taken Adelia, she'd felt the very faintest stirring.

Defeating Reichhardt to take Adelia, and now even trying to challenge Lasheid…

"… If he can beat Lasheid, he might really be the genuine article.

"He may be… the Master that I had originally hoped Reichhardt-niisama would be, the Master of my ideals."

And so she watched the C-Class Tournament from the very front row.

While B-Class swap matches were grandly conducted, C-Class Tournaments were modest affairs. After C-Class Masters formed cartels and the tournaments became a hollow formality, that tendency had grown all the more pronounced. Often there was no tournament at all.

… However, that tournament was very much worth watching.

The first thing that surprised her was the beauty of the Garumon Naoto Akai had with him.

Among the three who took part, Kanan, Adelia, and Lyuka, two were members with whom Suzanne herself had connections.

Those three were splendidly beautiful, dazzling.

"Adelia… she looks well. And… she's gotten stronger, very much so…"

The Adris match was overwhelming, too. After all, three of them shut out six. Of course, given how buffs work, there were plenty of cases where the party that won the first round rode that momentum to a second-round win, producing a result beyond the actual gap in strength, and she knew that.

Even so… a real gap in strength was felt.

And then… the Lasheid match.

Naoto Akai was strong. In terms of the quality of the Garumon he had with him, Naoto had the upper hand. That said, the level gap with Lasheid, who'd built up over a year, was stark. As she watched to see how he'd close that gap…

He held even throughout, or actually had the upper hand if anything; at the very least, you couldn't tell which was the higher tier.

The newly appearing Haru, Yuria, and Maika were also extremely beautiful… and strong.

Without an elemental advantage, they outlasted Amira's drawn-out battle right to the wire; with an elemental advantage, they overwhelmed even that Safa.

And in the end, they actually defeated Lasheid.

"… I see. The otherworld Master, Naoto Akai."

By that point, Suzanne was already convinced: he was the Master she'd been seeking!

… However, by the look of it, he already had eight members, all of them beautiful, alluring Garumon, and there was no room to remove one of them and slot her in.

In other words, she'd join him only after he reached B-Class. She had thought it through that far.

And as for Reichhardt…

"A-ahahaha! Brother, you're pathetic! Losing to a fool of unknown lineage like that, what a disgraceful blot on the name of Leonhardt! Truly pathetic, ahahaha!"

On the surface, he was overly cheerful. But there was no doubt that it was bravado.

… After that came his C-Class match. The result was an easy win. The HR-Class Garumon couldn't seem to grasp it, but the SR-Class Garumon felt the gap between themselves and Suzanne to be a little smaller, and since they didn't defy her, they obeyed when she gave instructions.

… It worked in their favor that Reichhardt could give no proper instructions, only mutter strange things under his breath, and so under Suzanne's direction Reichhardt safely arrived at C-Class.

But did that give him confidence? It did not…

"Naoto Akai… that man, that man took everything from me… It started, in the first place, with his unjust theft of Adelia. That was a match I'd won. He unjustly stole my victory…

"Coward, coward, coward…! I'll have to make him see, I won't forgive him, I have to execute justice.

"I, who possess proper lineage, the proper noble, must win, and take back everything he unjustly stole from me…"

He took to muttering things like that under his breath at all hours. Reichhardt was clearly losing his mental balance.

Even Suzanne couldn't bring herself to abandon a Reichhardt like that. Not that the system would've let her abandon him anyway.

"… Honestly, dwelling on him alone like this won't change anything, will it? You finally made C-Class, so think about what comes next…"

While she comforted him, Suzanne's heart had already left Reichhardt.

… It was just that even she felt it would be too pitiful to let him break any further. Inadequate as he was, he was her brother…

Saddled with an excessively great father, his talent was probably the lowest among the brothers.

Unable to grasp that, he kept clinging to baseless self-confidence.

The blame for fanning that flame was partly on Suzanne too.

But for Suzanne, it was possible. Her talent was on a different dimension from her brothers'. Anyone is liable to expect of others what they themselves can do.

And in fifteen years of the Garumon Battle educational system, no one can ever truly grasp their own aptitude; only at debut is reality thrust upon them.

… And so the Masters who break after debut are, in fact, very many.

In school days, anyone has unfounded confidence.

… A Master who couldn't take valedictorian in school is fortunate, since they can grasp their own true ability.

But a Master who takes valedictorian doesn't doubt their own talent.

They graduate believing they can keep on winning all the way to S-Class…

And then they learn reality.

Through G-Class and F-Class, they'll probably win normally enough. But at E-Class, the clashes between elites, valedictorians from each school, finally begin.

When that happens, they split into winners and losers.

Among the losers, some come to understand they weren't all that great and live life to scale, while others… begin to break.

Only the elites who survive go on to D-Class, where further setbacks await, and the survivors rise to C-Class.

… But for most of them, this is where it ends.

The few who survive even from among the valedictorians, plus the children of nobles who inherited excellent Garumon from their parents: for most such people, C-Class is the end of the line.

Above C-Class, B-Class is genius territory.

… Of course, those who painstakingly build strength in C-Class over ten, twenty, or more years, steadily growing until they finally reach B-Class, are by no means few.

That's why there are many old folks among B-Class Masters.

Aging at half-speed in C-Class, they reach B-Class.

Reaching B-Class slowly in this manner is the territory of those ordinary elites, so saying B-Class is impossible for ordinary people would be an overstatement.

What is impossible is reaching B-Class within a year of debut.

That is purely genius territory, and a Master who can come this far will, even if they stumble somewhat from there, reach S-Class within five years.

Of course, there are cases where talent runs dry and they vanish around there, so it's not absolute.

… Reichhardt was no genius.

Forcing genius on him any longer would be unfortunate even for him.

Suzanne thought that, for her brother's sake too, she should leave.

… So she felt a faint irritation toward Naoto, who didn't come to take her right away.

That said, ever since making C-Class, her brother could only wash away his frustrations by drinking and embracing the trade Garumon.

The only one who could speak frankly to a brother like that was herself.

So while she couldn't go so far as to track down Naoto Akai's home and tell him to come take her, even so…

"… Suzanne. It's finally… happening. I will, I will take back what was stolen from me. I've gathered comrades.

"… And so, we'll do it."

So she saw her brother, with a flame lit in his dark eyes.

While Suzanne herself disliked the very method of gathering a faction and picking an Out-of-Battle Battle…

If, as the weak, he had thought up a means to confront the strong, that itself was a kind of ingenuity.

For the first time in a while, she revised her view of her brother.

And then… she lost even her last hope.

"Aaah… yes, for Yuma-sama's sake, I, the great me, will defeat Naoto Akai!"

"Oh, is that so. Hahaha. Reichhardt's a noble, isn't he? That's right, isn't it? For a noble, a guy who came out of nowhere like that is unforgivable, isn't he?"

"Yes, exactly! Indeed, Yuma-sama, you understand! Indeed, your Garumon are splendid, Yuma-sama…!"

"Hahaha! Yeah. If you keep listening to what I say from now on, I'll let you embrace good women like these, you know?"

"Aa-aa-aa, the greatest! Long live Ishiguro-sama! Long live Yuma-samaaa!"

Seeing her brother embracing the Garumon of B-Class Master Yuma Ishiguro, doing as he was told, shouting "long live" three times…

Suzanne fled the place before she could be ordered to "service Ishiguro" or something like that.

"Why has it come to this…? … It's all, all because of Naoto Akai!

"If only he had been my Onii-sama from the start, I wouldn't have had to feel this way!

"What's all this about transfer to another world! If you were going to do it, then reincarnate as my Onii-sama instead!"

Suzanne despaired in this way.

… The rest is an aside.

Reichhardt, having lost Suzanne, finally came to know his proper place.

He left the harsh Seeds Block, where fierce battles raged, and through the connections of one of Leonhardt's subordinate knights, he entered a knight-order block. There, undergoing strict training, he came to live a steady life, so it's said.