My name is Tiselle.
Tiselle Machio.
I was one of the daughters of the Village Head of the Village of the Great Tree.
Since Big Brother Alfred was the heir, I was in a comfortably relaxed position. That said, if I actually lived a carefree life, my mother would get angry, so I spent my days working hard to support Big Brother Alfred.
Well, most of my efforts went to waste. That was simply because I was still young. My father easily outmaneuvered the schemes of a mere ten-year-old like me. Sometimes his solutions went in an entirely unexpected direction. I couldn't compete with him at all. My father was truly incredible.
Anyway, I was currently staying in the Royal Capital of the Demon Kingdom to attend the academy. But to be perfectly honest, I didn't think there was anything left for me to learn there.
My father and the others told me that making friends was the most important thing, but even those friends had already been curated for us by Big Brother Gol and his group. It was completely unsatisfying. I had been looking forward to some blood-pumping factional warfare at the academy, but there was none to be found.
The reason was simple: the group of students taking Instructor Gol’s classes had united to form the school's Largest Faction. The moment we enrolled, we were automatically absorbed into it. I had placed some hope in the Second Faction, but they were repelled the moment they tried to pick a fight with Big Sister Urza.
It was hopeless. They had no vision. Why did they target Big Sister Urza of all people? No matter how you looked at it, if you were going to pick a fight with one of us, it should have been me. If Big Sister Urza, Big Brother Alfred, and I stood in a line, I was clearly the weakest-looking one. To target Big Sister Urza instead of a small child like me… honestly, some people have no sense.
Considering the academy’s system and the long lifespans of the Demon Race, it wouldn't have been unusual for there to be students with immense political power, but then I realized something. Mother Frau had already hand-picked the most promising candidates and brought them back to the village. Those were the Demon Race women known as the Civil Official Girls. After that, Big Sister Yuri had recruited even more.
Finally, the few remaining talented individuals had been scooped up by Big Brother Gol and the others to be their wives.
Wait.
Now that I thought about it, every single one of those "promising candidates" was a woman. That meant there should have been some talented men left over. So why hadn't they made a move? Were they experts capable of evading my notice?
I held out hope until a student in Instructor Gol’s class finally taught me the meaning of despair.
"When it comes to conspiracies and shadow-plays, women tend to be more active. Most of the men are the type to punch first and think later. And almost all of those 'punch-first' types have been re-educated by Instructor Gol and the others… Hahaha. To be honest, I used to be like that too, but now I prefer to think things through while I'm doing farm work. Oh, by the way, would you like a Daikon?"
There was nothing for me at this academy. I understood that now.
We were living in a house built within the academy grounds. It was a two-story building constructed by craftsmen from the capital. Big Brother… no, Instructor Gol and the others had prepared it for us in advance. It was quite cramped compared to our home in the village, but I did appreciate that the dining hall was close to the bedrooms and the front door was just a few steps from the dining hall.
The six of us—Big Sister Urza, Big Brother Alfred, Earth, Asa, and Mettora—lived there together. The first floor had a kitchen, a dining hall, a bath, and an outhouse. The dining hall also served as our living area. The second floor was divided into private rooms. They were small, barely fitting a bed and a table, but they were sufficient. The walls were thick enough that we didn't have to worry about noise from the neighbors.
"Alfreeeed! Tiselllle! Dinner's ready!"
One could certainly say the house was designed to facilitate communication.
After dinner, I decided on a new plan. If I couldn't find what I wanted in the academy, I would have to look outside its walls. This was the Royal Capital of the Demon Kingdom, after all. Surely there was something interesting out there.
However, just as I was about to rush out with high spirits, Asa stopped me.
"Um, Asa? Why are you pinning me to the floor and holding me in a joint lock?"
It didn't hurt yet, but it was clearly the sort of hold that would cause a great deal of pain the moment I tried to move. I had some reservations about calling myself a "little girl," but the optics of the situation looked suspiciously like child abuse. It was a bad look for everyone involved.
"Asa, did Tiselle do something again?" Big Sister Urza asked as she walked by.
"Tiselle, you shouldn't cause trouble for Asa," Big Brother Alfred added.
Big Sister Urza! Big Brother Alfred! You're both heartless!
Asa was a resident of Village Four. He had spent a long time managing the teleportation gate at the hot spring area before being chosen to accompany us. While our attendants' roles weren't strictly defined, Earth usually looked after Big Sister Urza, and Mettora looked after Big Brother Alfred.
That meant Asa was my handler.
I understood now. It was my mistake to try and sneak out while ignoring him. I decided to explain myself properly.
"I just wanted to go into the capital to make some friends."
"Absolutely not," Asa replied.
He rejected me immediately! Why?
"We know how you usually behave," Big Sister Urza said.
"It's because of your track record," Big Brother Alfred agreed.
Big Sister Urza, Big Brother Alfred, please be quiet for a moment.
"No matter what you say, the answer is no," Asa said firmly. "Nothing good ever comes of your 'friendships.' I will not let you go."
I hadn't even known Asa for that long, so I found the "I know exactly what you're thinking" look on his face quite offensive. Also, I really wished he would release my joints.
"I've seen enough in our short time together to grasp your character," Asa continued. "Please stay within the academy grounds. If anything happens inside the school, we can pull the necessary strings to settle the matter. I won't let go until you say 'yes.'"
Grrr…
If it had come to this, I had no choice. I would use my final trump card.
"I command you as the daughter of the Village Head of the Village of the Great Tree! Asa, release me at once!"
Among us siblings, it was taboo to use our status as the Village Head’s children to issue orders. Our father hated that sort of thing. But I was desperate. I would do anything for my freedom!
"I command you as the son of the Village Head of the Village of the Great Tree," Big Brother Alfred interjected calmly. "Asa, keep Tiselle right where she is."
Big Brother Alfreeeed!
After a very, very long negotiation, I finally won the right to go outside the academy. I fought hard. I fought really hard for this.
Even if I did have a rope tied around my waist.
Was I a toddler or something? Asa held the end of the rope while carrying me as we moved. I wasn't allowed to walk on my own two feet, let alone fly. I had almost no freedom at all. Wasn't this what my father called a "human rights violation"? I didn't quite understand what human rights were, but this certainly felt like a violation of something.
Furthermore, since Asa’s hands were full with me, Big Sister Urza lent us Earth to help. Earth looked absolutely miserable, but that was probably because he was being separated from Big Sister Urza, not because he was stuck with me.
Both Asa and Earth were dressed as butlers. I wondered if people would take me for a young lady of a noble house being escorted by her servants. Regardless, I was finally getting to wander the capital as I had dreamed—
And then we were accosted. Right away, in fact.
We were surrounded by five thugs. As expected of the Royal Capital!
However, I didn't think it was quite right for Earth to just punch them all into the dirt without warning. We should have at least listened to what they had to say. He said it wasn't necessary, but I wasn't so sure.
The thugs quickly scrambled to their feet and retreated. They had no backbone at all.
"Asa, Earth. What are you doing? After them!"
"Tiselle-sama, is there really a need for that?" Asa asked.
Earth seemed to agree with him. They were both being far too naive.
"Do you remember what that thug said right before he ran away?"
"If I recall… he said, 'You'll regret this!'"
"Exactly. That."
"What about it?"
They were both being remarkably slow today.
"'You'll regret this' is just another way of saying 'I’m definitely going to come back for revenge, so you'd better be ready.' Don't you agree?"
Surely I wasn't misinterpreting things. It wasn't as if they meant, "I'm going to come back later to apologize, so please remember the amount of compensation I owe you."
"We can't just let someone go when they've openly declared their intent to retaliate. Besides, they might not target us directly. They could go after Big Sister Urza, Big Brother Alfred, or anyone else from the village. There are far too many vulnerable targets."
The two of them nodded, their expressions shifting instantly. They now had the sharp, cold eyes of hunters eliminating a threat to the village.
"Tiselle-sama, we will pursue them… but have you considered how to settle this? If necessary, we can 'process' them, but the Village Head wouldn't approve of that method."
"It’ll be fine. If you keep hitting them, someone capable of a proper conversation will eventually show up."
"I certainly hope you're right. It looks like they're heading toward a hideout."
"Earth. Make sure at least one of them stays in a condition where they can still talk."
"Understood."
And so, my debut in the Royal Capital truly began. I hoped I would find someone out there who could appreciate the finer points of intrigue and shadow-politics. I was looking forward to it immensely.