Meg and Seron

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<Hello, Maxwell residence. >

<Hello! This is Strauski Kurt! Hiya, Big Bro! How’re you doing?>

<Pardon me?>

<Whoa, since when were you a girl?>

<H-how rude! I’ve been a girl since the day I was born. And my name is Leena. Leena Maxwell. If you’re looking for my brother, he’s not home at the moment. >

<What? But this is his phone number, right?>

<Yes, but this is his home phone. Seron’s at the Capital District for school. >

<I get it! Right! Sorry about that. I forgot!>

<As long as you know. But who are you? Are you Seron’s friend?>

<Uh-huh!>

<…Hasn’t anyone taught you you should use more polite language when you’re talking to a stranger?>

<My teachers did, yeah!>

<Of course. >

<But it’s too hard cause I’m from Sou Be-Il! Take that!>

<Hmph. Are you from cross-river?>

<Uh-huh. Me and my dad and mom and sister and brother moved here across the Lutoni. We’ve been living in the Capital District for two years. >

<Are you attending secondary school with Seron?>

<No way. I’m only 12. Still in primary school>

<What? Then you’re the same age as me!>

<Really?>

<Yeah! I’m a sixth-year in primary school. I’m starting secondary school next year. I thought you were one of Seron’s classmates. >

<Then that means we’re contemporaries!>

<Your name was Kurt, right? Your Roxchean’s really good. And you don’t even have an accent! Are you secretly an Easterner? You can’t fool me that easily, you know. >

<C’mon, do these look like a liar’s eyes to you?>

<Yes. >

<Wow! So Roxcheans can see over the telephone!>

<I have a special power, you know. Nobody else can do it! You should be grateful I decided to pick up the phone today. >

<Huh? So who usually picks up?>

<The butler or one of the maids, obviously. >

<That’s amazing. You must be really rich. >

<My mom’s the amazing one. Anyway, if you really are a Westerner, say something in Bezelese. >

<Hm…all right! —————, —————————————, —————————! What do you think?>

<…Okay, I believe you. What did you just say?>

<Can I trust you to keep this a secret?>

<…No. >

<Your name was Lina, right?>

<It’s Leena!>

<But that’s hard to pronounce. Lina sounds cuter!>

<Cuter?! Ugh, fine! You’re so immature, Kurt!>

<Thanks! I get that a lot. >

<It wasn’t a compliment! Your Roxchean stinks!>

<I was just joking. >

<Ugh. Boys. All right, my super-immature Western contemporary Kurt. What do you want with Seron?>

<Oh, I saw him the other day and he said I could come visit during the holidays after finals, and he’d show me around the Capital District. I was gonna ask him when I could come. >

<You met Seron? Where?>

<The 4th biggest capitalist secondary school. > ƒ𝑟𝐞𝗲𝘄𝙚𝚋𝑛ｏ𝙫𝒆𝒍.𝒄𝘰𝓂

<The 4th Capital Secondary School, you mean. >

<Ding-dong! You’re really good at riddles, Lina!>

<That was too easy. Anyway, when did you meet Seron? Did you get to go on a tour of the school? I’ve only been there once. >

<I went to watch the drama club perform. My sister’s not in the drama club, but she’s in the chorus club so she sang in the play. So my whole family went to see her look cool on stage together!>

<I see. So your sister goes to the 4th Capital Secondary School too. >

<Yep. Her name’s Megmica. >

<But what’s Seron got to do with the drama club? …Oh, I remember now! He went back to school as soon as summer break started to help out with the drama club!>

<Yeah! He was helping out, taking tickets and taking people to their seats. I saw him in real life in person for the first time, and he was really cool and good-looking!>

<‘In real life in person’? …Obviously he’s handsome. He’s my brother!>

<Are you pretty too, Lina?>

<O-of course I’m—it’s a shame I can’t show my beautiful face to a Westerner like you!>

<I don’t mind. >

<Whaaaat?>

<So that’s when I talked with him about that thing before!>

<I see. >

<And I met this muscular guy named Larry Hepburn, too. Do you know him, Lina?>

<Obviously! Larry and Seron’ve been best friends since they started secondary school. He’s slept over a few times. And unlike Seron, Larry’s really outgoing and cheerful. >

<So Big Bro Seron’s not cheerful?>

<Well…not if you compare him to Larry. In a good way, though. >

<Huh. About Big Bro Larry, I heard he’s actually a really amazing guy! He’s from this really famous military family!>

<That’s right. Everyone knows the Hepburn family. There’s Hepburns still serving the country right now!>

<Wow. Now I really want his superintendence!>

<Do you even know what that means, Kurt?>

<Uh-huh! And Johan too—Johan’s my kid brother, by the way. We’re both gonna join the military someday! I’m gunning for the Royal Army so I can join the cavalry and ride all the time! Johan’s gonna enlist with the Royal Navy and command a big battleship. >

<Whatever. You won’t have much to do since there aren’t gonna be any more wars. >

<Doesn’t matter. A man’s gotta be strong!>

<Sure, sure. How was the play? While you’re at it, tell me more about the secondary school. Seron never tells me anything. >

<Hm. Does he not like you, Lina?>

<He does too! Now tell me!>

<It was great! Really fun. >

<Like how?>

<Well, it’s about this king who puts on a disguise and—>

<I know that story. Everyone in Roxche does. Tell me more about the students. How was their acting, and the music and stuff?>

<Oh, that. Let’s see…the acting was awesome! They were like, really realistic! Myheart started beating real fast when the king and the village girl were on stage together. It was like they were actually a couple!>

<As if. They’re just really good actors, I bet. >

<You think? They looked really close, though. That hug at the end when they said goodbye—I was so sure they were this close to kissing!>

<How delusional. >

<What’s ‘delusional’ mean? Anyway, they had a live orchestra playing the music, and they were really good too. It was like listening to a record! My favorite was this one part where this tall girl with glasses played a solo. She was the best! And guess what? After that, she talked to my sister! And it turns out she’s the same age as my sister and she’s a friend of Big Bro Seron too. >

<Hm. So Seron has friends in the orchestra, huh. >

<Her name’s Natalia Steinbeck. Actually, I talked on the phone with her before! And I heard she came over to play before when I wasn’t home. >

<The Steinbecks are supposed to be a famous musician family. Do you suppose she’s related?>

<Dunno. Oh, there was this other cool person. He was this skinny guy playing the evil knight, and he was really good-looking. He was really cool! You wouldn’t believe how fast he swung his sword! I bet he’s a really good fighter. >

<It’s just an act. Good actors can make it look like they can do those things skillfully. >

<You think so? Anyway, he looked like a friend of Big Bro Seron too. I saw them talking—apparently his name’s Nicholas Browning. >

<You have a good memory. >

<Remembering people’s names is my specialty. That guy had long hair like a girl and he was built kind of like one too. Even from up close you can’t tell he’s a guy. >

<It sounds like Seron has a lot of interesting friends. Wish he’d tell me more about them at home. >

<Me and Big Sis and Johan talk about our friends all the time at home. >

<I suppose it’s only natural. For the past three years I’ve only seen Seron over the breaks. >

<Don’t cry, Lina!>

<I’m not crying! Stupid Kurt!>

<Good! Did you know Big Bro Seron and my sister are in the same club? They both joined this summer. >

<Good! Did you know Big Bro Seron and my sister are in the same club? They both joined this summer. >

<Yeah, he told me that much. The newspaper club, right?>

<Uh-huh. I saw the president at the play too, and she was really funny. She’s about my height but she brought in these really expensive cameras and—>

<Took photographs to cover the performance for the newspaper club?>

<Bzzt! She only took one photo of the stage. She was actually going around like a spy taking photos of the people there before and during the performance! I saw her pull out a camera from her bag and secretly press the shutter!>

<What?>

<She came over to see Big Sis too. So I asked her, ‘what were you doing, chief? I thought you were taking photos in secret. >

<And what did she say?>

<‘It might have looked that way, but I was only taking photos in secret’! Now that’s what you call manly! Anyway, she has short red hair and her name’s Jenny Jones. Her family runs the Jones Motors! She’s really really really really super-rich!>

<My family’s pretty rich too, thanks to our mom. Not as much as the Jones family, though. >

<She was really funny and cool! Big Sis Jenny says it’s just the six of them in the newspaper club for now. It’s an exclusive club!>

<Huh. Can I ask you something?>

<Yeah?>

<What kind of person is your sister?>

<Big Sis Megmica? Didn’t I talk about her? Well…she’s scary when she gets mad. >

<That’s it?>

<She gets mad if you pull her pigtails. >

<Who wouldn’t?! You have to show some respect to girls and their hair. Ugh. This is why boys are the worst. What else?>

<She’s a good singer. >

<Obviously she must be, if she’s in the chorus club. What else?>

<She doesn’t have a boyfriend. >

<I see…and just out of curiosity, does it looks like she’ll get one anytime soon?>

<I’ll bet! Big Sis is really pretty, you know. She’s really great!>

<Ah, I see. I see. >

<But she’s too shy, though. She’s never dated anyone—she’d have told us if she did. >

<Mhm. >

<But she’s definitely pretty! Big Sis Lillianne says she’s really popular, too. >

<Who?>

<Oh, Big Sis Lillianne is my sister’s best friend. And she’s really good at Bezelese. She’s better than my family!>

<What? That doesn’t make sense. >

<It does too. Cause there’s lots of different Bezeleses. >

<I don’t get it. >

<Anyway, she says that lots of guys at our school have their eyes on my sister. She doesn’t notice how popular she is, but if she did she could get a boyfriend whenever she wanted!>

<Huh. >

<Huh. >

<I have a family photo here. You can look over the telephone like you did before. >

<Okay. Hmm…there. I see. Yeah, she’s really pretty. >

<Right?>

<I’m gonna ask you one last thing, okay? You don’t have to answer, but—>

<Oh c’mon! Don’t be like that. There are no secrets between us!>

<Wh-what? A-anyway, has your sister ever said anything about Seron? Were they talking with each other after the play?>

<Hm, not really. I introduced him to my parents after the play. He was really polite and mature. Said something about thanks for the embassy something something. Something hard. >

<That’s it?>

<Yeah. Big Bro Larry was talking more with my sister. >

<…>

<What’s wrong?>

<No, nothing. Thanks for telling me all this, Kurt. >

<You’re welcome. There are no secrets between us. >

<Sure, sure. If you want to talk to Seron, I’ll give you the number for the dorms. Ready to take it down?>

<Yeah!>

<It’s 01-xxxx. You don’t need the area code if you’re calling from the Capital District, although you can add it if you want. When the dormitory administrator picks up, just ask for Seron Maxwell. Try to call him in the evening since he’s usually out before then. Seron’s always reading or studying in the library. >

<Sweet! Thanks, Lina! I love you!>

<Wha->

<What’s wrong?>

<Do you mean it?>

<Of course!>

<Ah! I get it! I bet you say that to all the girls!>

<Yeah! Everyone likes it! I became the class hero after I learned that phrase!>

<You’re totally different from what I thought a Westerner would be like. >

<Say Lina, you’re going to secondary school next year, right?>

<I already told you, yes. >

<Then let’s go to the 4th Capital Secondary School together! It’s gonna be a blast! All of my sister’s friends are gonna be there too!>

<…>

<What do you say?>

<I’ll think about it. >

<Can I call you again sometime?>

<…I suppose so, if I’m not busy. Bye now. >

<Bye! See you!>