Knowledge and Power: Reincarnated Into A Society That Only Values Strength.

We had been through a lot to get there. As the wagon wheels rolled to a stop one final time one of them completely fell off, rolling past the wagon like a runner that was so tired they didn’t see the finish line.

 

Airsidh leaned back in his seat as he dropped the rains and took a moment to relish the fact that the journey had finally come to a close. “Ok girls, we’re here. You know, the trip wasn’t actually that long after all. Time flew by pretty quickly, although… Like everything with you two, it certainly was eventful.”

 

My sister and I both let out long groans as we stood up and planted our feet back on solid ground. I was just happy I might finally get a good night's sleep for once. Lu though… I could tell by the way she slowly stepped onto the ground her knees were still a little stiff.

Before long the crowd around us had grown larger than life, less like a welcome party and more like paparazzi. ‘Don’t tell me we were the only ones that showed up in a carriage covered in monster guts and Kracken bones… Oh… Now I hear it…’

 

Just as I was thinking that Lu rolled her shoulders back and let out another groan, heading off toward a large building with multiple flags waving from its roof. ‘She certainly knows how to carry herself… Even beaten and worn the crowd just parts for her like she’s some kind of legend…’

 

“Airsidh!” a cheery voice yelled from a short blond tuft of hair pushing his way through the crowd. “Man… You show up to school looking like that, it's no wonder you can't find a girlfriend.”

 

I felt all my fatigue almost instantly vanish as I tried to stop myself from laughing, covering my mouth with the side of my hand at what seemed like the first normal interaction I had witnessed in a long time. “Oh, that’s so sad. I didn’t know you were so challenged in the whimsical ways of women.”

 

He rolled his eyes, pushing the man away with a gently closed fist. “Yeah, it’s pretty rough, they're all too busy fighting over me that none of them have time to date me.”

 

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, unable to hide my smile any longer. ‘Honestly… I wouldn’t be surprised.’

 

He tousled my hair before turning back to his friend and exchanging a greeting, grabbing each other's forearm. “It’s been awhile Gild''

 

“And who's this cutie?” he said, looking down at me… I must have been the only one there shorter than him. On the one hand, it was a bit annoying hearing him talk like that… And on the other, my face heated up… So I couldn’t have hated it that much…

 

Without even realizing it I moved behind my brother, instinctively trying to keep my distance as my eyes started to take in every detail down to where each one of his veins ran down his arms.

 

“If your face didn’t scare children maybe you could get them to tell you their names on their own.”

He scowled. “Hey come on now… My face isn’t that bad right?” He looked back at me. “Right?”

 

I felt a chill run down my arms, knowing full well it was my turn to speak, but suddenly feeling nervous about it.

 

“Oh dang… My face really does scare children… He slowly took a step back, “My bad, sorry…” he chuckled, scratching his head.

 

I finally let out a groan, gritting my teeth. “This is stupid, I’m no more of a child than you are anyway.” ‘we're like two years apart… five if you prefer to make fake age…’

 

His eyes widened even more. “Oh… So my face scares adults too…” his eyes went blank for a moment as a gust of wind filled the gap in conversation before he rallied, his tone suddenly shifting entirely back to normal. “You know that actually doesn’t sound so bad, that could be kind of cool.”

 

‘Of course, Airsidh wouldn’t have normal friends…’

 

“Well I know you nobles are sensitive about your names and all so I’ll leave it at that. You two must be pretty tired, I'll help you guys get settled in alright. I'm sure she wants a bath and a warm meal. If she’s with you she’s probably as tough as they come, but she’s still a girl you know.”

 

He wasn't wrong… although his comment about me wanting a bath only made me more self-conscious about how awful I must have smelled… I wasn’t brave enough to bathe in the ocean… Despite it making me a little bit uneasy, I forced myself to allow a little bit of distance between me and my brother, trying to push myself to be less awkward as we walked towards the large building Lu had gone to earlier. ‘I need to try and give off the same confidence Lu does right? I don’t want to get bullied again… I shouldn’t let myself be seen hiding behind my brother, or relying on anyone too much… And I can’t let anyone think I’m weak…’

 

Upon entering the building we were greeted by an older woman at a desk. 

 

“Airsidh and Siyasavide Nayanathulu.” Airsidh said plainly.

 

“Right, your other sister was just here a moment ago. Here are your temporary room keys until after the testing.”She handed us each a separate key, mine was orange, and my brother's was green.

 

“Thank you.” He said before turning and walking back toward the carriage. “Oh…” he turned to look at me. “Your luggage…”

 

“What about it?” I asked.  “I just have my armor case. I think Mom had some clothes for me in another trunk but the spiders tore it apart so we just left that one behind.”

 

My brother sighed. “Well… That explains why the luggage rack felt more empty through the latter half of the journey…”

 

They both crossed their arms, letting out a sigh in unison and thinking deeply.

 

‘It’s like there's two of him…’

 

Gild pulled my brother aside. “What are we supposed to do about this!” He whispered loudly.

 

“Do I look like I know anything about clothes for little girls?”

 

“Honestly I thought you knew something about everything… Well what's she supposed to do, she has to wear something. I’d think you'd be a little more worried about it since it’s your sister. What happens if that dress she has gets torn huh?”

 

He just shrugged. “Well my clothes are too big for her, hey, we could give her some of yours.”

 

“WHAT!”

 

“Well since you’re so concerned about it. Have any better ideas?”

 

“Well no… but… well you know, I’m not a girl so what about the–”

It was starting to physically hurt to listen to them, even more as Gild’s voice started to rise, and my brothers never quieted… “Ok… That’s enough…” I growled, breaking up their little chat. “I'll be fine, I have a change of clothes in my armor chest to sleep in, and I have my armor I can always wear if I have to. Just forget about it. And for the record… If I had to wear boys' clothes I would choose my brothers over some random guy I hardly know… No offense… But… There’s no way I would be comfortable wearing your clothes…”

 

Gild awkwardly reached over his head to scratch behind his neck. “No, yeah, no that… Makes a lot of sense… Sorry. I have a bunch of little sisters back home so I guess I got kind of carried away there.”

 

‘That’s actually kinda sweet… In a… Weird sort of way…’ “It’s fine… Just let me worry about my own girl problems.” I bit my tongue the moment the words left my mouth and quickly started to walk back towards the carriage before my face turned red and made it worse. ‘Why can’t I just talk like a normal person…’