Brothers Who Care Deeply for Their Little Sister
Stanley’s Point of View
When I returned to the living room, Margaret, Noel, and Gene were waiting.
“My dear, will Joan be alright?”
Of course, it was natural for my wife to be worried.
“Yes, she’ll be fine. She’s sleeping well, though I’m sure she’s still feeling some confusion from the shock.”
“There’s no way Joan is truly a Null attribute; it must be some kind of mistake. Maybe if we have her judged again, we’ll get a different result.”
“Margaret, there’s no mistake. The result from the judgment stone is absolute, no matter the attribute it reveals.”
I, too, wished it were a mistake. But I knew it was a verdict we could not overturn…
“Father, if I may.”
Noel spoke up, holding a book in one hand.
“After the baptism yesterday, I looked into various texts about the Null attribute. Though I haven’t found a definitive answer yet…”
He had been researching for his sister’s sake. Truly, he was a wonderful, caring older brother.
“Go on, I’m listening.”
“Yes. The Null attribute is generally considered undesirable because it lacks any of the primary five elemental strengths. However, one of the books I borrowed from the academy’s library mentioned that, ‘Null attributes may sometimes display average capabilities across all elements.’”
“What? What does that mean?”
“The text explains that ‘individuals with the Null attribute tend to lack strong correlations with other attributes, or if they do have them, these connections are usually very minor.’”
“Wait! So does that mean Jo might actually have all the attributes?”
Gene exclaimed, clearly excited.
I could understand his excitement. Until now, the Null attribute had been considered a dud.
“Who wrote that book?”
I needed to confirm if this was legitimate information.
“Uh… it was written by Dr. Longest.”
“What?!”
“Dr. Julietta Longest. That’s right, Aunt Julietta.”
“Her… of all people…”
Julietta Longest. My sister had always been crazy about magic.
After graduating from the academy, she joined the Magician Division and served as the Vice-captain, like my wife. I thought she’d settle down once she married… but her husband, Gilbert, though a brilliant official, was just as passionate about magic as she was.
So, when she announced her desire to attend graduate school after they married, he happily encouraged her. Eventually, she earned her doctorate.
“Alright, I’ll reach out to Julietta myself and get the details. Gray, could you please arrange a time with her?”
“Understood.”
Gray promptly left the room to make contact.
“Oh, by the way, Father, what skill did Jo have?”
Gene asked.
Neither Margaret nor I had checked in the rush of everything.
“Well, if her skill’s decent, then she might still do well even with a Null attribute.”
Gene had his own thoughts about his sister’s future.
“If it turns out to be an interesting skill, that’d be pretty fun, too.”
He added, his comment a bit more playful than necessary.
“Alright, we’ll look into her skill tomorrow and also talk to her about what she wants to do moving forward.”
We would need to guide her in the right direction, for her sake.
What do you think about this chapter?
