Reincarnated User Manual

“……Both of you, your mothers aren’t… here?”

Inside the shaking carriage, two dissimilar-looking siblings stared intently at Siriel, opening their mouths.

“That’s right.”

“Yes!”

Shiron was the first to answer, followed by Lucia. The two who didn’t resemble each other at all and differed not just in appearance but also in expressions. A somber face and an overly excited countenance seemed to show the difference in their personalities.

“I, I was…”

Siriel stammered, licking her lips. She couldn’t understand why her friends before her were giving her cold looks. She tried to say something but then stopped. She wanted to continue the conversation, but her mind blanked, and she couldn’t think of what to say. She felt stifled as her body refused to cooperate.

Initially, Siriel was just a regular nine-year-old child. She was slow to pinpoint which part of her words had offended them. Nevertheless, she had a faint idea that she might be the cause.

“Uh…”

Having always been around adults older and more experienced than her, Siriel wasn’t accustomed to unfriendly looks from her peers.

The unceasing stares from the two made Siriel uncomfortable. This was all too unfamiliar for her, who had grown up surrounded by the love and protection of adults.

The place, the situation, the friends – every aspect felt foreign and uncomfortable, making Siriel feel even smaller.

“……”

Siriel tightly shut her mouth and looked downwards.

With Siriel keeping her head down and silent, the only sound filling the carriage was its own clatter. Eventually, she realized that she had made a grave mistake in front of them.

She felt sorry towards her friends and couldn’t muster the courage to meet their eyes. But Siriel couldn’t escape. The enclosed space of the carriage cornered her, leaving her trapped.

In such a situation, the actions a 9-year-old child could take were limited. Either cry, stay silent, or act nonchalantly.

Siriel chose the first option.

The girl clenched her chest, trying to suppress the growing tightness.

“……sniffle.”

Tears began to drop onto her cute hand.

“I-I’m… sniffle… sorry.”

The only nine-year-old girl bowed her head, repeatedly apologizing.

“I’m sorry. Really, sniffle… sorry.”

“Huh…?”

Siriel wasn’t the only one at a loss for words. Lucia, who was watching the childishly sobbing Siriel, was taken aback by the unexpected turn of events.

She was worried that Shiron might get hurt, but now it was Siriel whose tears wouldn’t stop.

Lucia waved her hands around, trying to soothe Siriel.

“Don’t cry!”

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

However, she didn’t know how to comfort a child. All she could say was to ask her not to cry.

She tried patting Siriel’s back and stroking her head. But despite her efforts, Siriel’s tears didn’t stop. Siriel kept on repeating her apologies.

‘What should I do?’

Lucia thought the situation had worsened because of what she said. She was the adult here, but instead of mediating the children’s quarrel, she had inadvertently made Siriel cry even more, adding to her confusion.

‘Why, why is she crying?’

Lucia couldn’t understand why Siriel was crying so sadly. Even though Siriel was the one who said something inappropriate, Lucia couldn’t fathom why she was crying.

Just as Lucia was fretting and stomping her feet in frustration,

“Hey, move aside.”

Shiron, with his bandaged hand, gestured towards the flustered Lucia. Lucia shifted her gaze from Siriel.

“……Huh?”

“Move aside, I want to try something.”

“Huh? Oh, okay…”

Lucia vacantly looked at Shiron in front of her and moved out of the way. As Lucia moved, Shiron sat down between her and Siriel.

‘…Is he going to comfort Siriel?’

For Lucia, who had upset Siriel, no comforting words came to mind, so she decided to just watch the situation unfold.

Shiron drew Siriel into a side hug, pulling her towards him. Siriel leaned into Shiron’s embrace. Lucia’s eyes widened at this unexpectedly adept maneuver.

‘That’s new.’

Even though there was just a two-year age difference, Shiron was indeed an older brother. Lucia began to wonder what Shiron would say to comfort Siriel.

“Siriel Prient.”

Shiron, locking eyes with the downcast Siriel, began to speak gently. Hearing his voice, Siriel, wiping away her tears, looked up at him slightly.

“sniffle… Yes…”

“……”

“Why are you crying for doing well? Shouldn’t I be the one crying?”

However, what came out of Shiron’s mouth was not words of comfort.

“I-I’m sorry… sniffle.”

“What are you sorry about?”

‘Is he crazy…!’

Lucia, in surprise, stood up inside the shaking carriage. She looked at the two with a dazed expression. But Shiron didn’t even glance at Lucia. He just gave a seemingly friendly smile.

“I, I… sniffle… spoke thoughtlessly about you and Lucia without knowing the situation.”

“What? I can’t hear you clearly over your sobbing.”

‘Stop it!’

Lucia’s lips quivered. Shiron wasn’t a typical child; no, he was downright trash. Lucia regretted ever feeling a hint of sympathy for him. She contemplated punching Shiron, but…

‘No, if I hit Shiron here, Siriel might become afraid of me in the future.’

Lucia released the tension from her clenched fist. Instead, she gritted her trembling jaw and shouted…

“Shiron! Stop it!”

“Ah, quiet down. Because of you, Siriel’s gotten scared.”

However, despite her protest, Shiron blamed Lucia. The redhead girl felt a rush of anger at his audacity.

“What, what, what are you talking about! You!”

Lucia was flabbergasted. While it wasn’t anyone’s fault that Siriel was crying, wasn’t it Shiron who was pouring fuel on the fire?

“I, I just…”

But even amidst this chaotic situation, Siriel clenched the hem of her clothing to respond to Shiron’s demand.

“…Being with kids my age… I, I got excited. It was the first time I ever had friends. I was so happy. It felt like I was on an adventure from a story, so I, I was thrilled.”

She stammered a bit, but it was better than before. Tears flowed, but Siriel tried her best to speak properly.

“So I got too carried away and spoke about someone else’s family affairs. I was inconsiderate… sob.”

“Ah, I see. It’s admirable that you can admit your mistakes.”

Shiron took a handkerchief out of his pocket and began to wipe Siriel’s tears.

“……”

However, Lucia couldn’t muster a smile watching this tender scene.

It wasn’t anything else that irked her, but it was all because Shiron was wearing an extremely unpleasant grin. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, with her head buried in Shiron’s shirt, Siriel couldn’t see his expression.

Shiron began to pat Siriel’s shoulder.

“So, Siriel, you were happy to have so many friends?”

“……Yes.”

“But, I never said I’d be your friend, did I?”

“… I-I’m sorry. I assumed wrongly.”

“It’s unbelievable. How can you consider an ‘older brother’ with a ‘two-year’ age difference as a friend, huh?”

“S-Sorry… big brother…”

“Oh, you’re so good. Quick-witted, that’s good. Now, cheer up! Cheer up!”

“Cheer up!”

Siriel lightened up, following Shiron’s lead.

‘What’s that…’

Lucia couldn’t take her eyes off the scene.

Lucia, who had only seen Siriel’s clever and bright side until now, found both Siriel’s childlike behavior and Shiron’s way of handling it quite shocking.

After wiping Siriel’s face for a while, Shiron threw the snot-soaked handkerchief out of the window.

“I was going to scold you for saying mean things.”

Shiron put his uninjured hand into his pocket and took out a handful of candy.

Even though Shiron had soaked it in water for a long time, like a wet mouse, for some reason, the candy wasn’t sticky, and it remained soft and fluffy.

Shiron picked a yellow one from the pile of candies.

“Because you’re a good ‘little sister,’ I’ll give you a reward.”

“T-Thank you, big brother.”

Siriel opened her mouth without Shiron saying anything, and he placed the candy inside. After putting the candy in her mouth, Siriel rolled it around a few times before giggling.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yeah, I like lemon flavor.”

“I like lemon flavor, too. It seems we have similar tastes, huh?”

“……!”

“When we arrive at the mansion later, I’ll give you some lemonade.”

“Yeah, thank you, big brother.”

With her cheeks blushing, Siriel smiled bashfully and eventually leaned her body against Shiron’s side.

---

“Hey, would you like some candy too?”

“…No.”

Lucia rejected Shiron’s offer and looked at Siriel, who had fallen asleep in Shiron’s arms.

Siriel had somehow fallen into a deep sleep after causing such a ruckus. Lucia squinted her eyes and glanced at Shiron.

‘Suspicious.’

“Come on, don’t say no.”

Shiron put a red candy in his mouth and chewed it noisily.