Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Everyone’s Son-in-Law

On my way back after meeting Saintess Bernice.

I was reviewing the conversation I had shared with her just now while stroking the jewel attached to the pommel of “Sierra.”

The conversation may have wrapped up better than expected, but...

“Student Zeto, recently... have you ever killed a demon?”

...the Saintess’s information network exceeded my expectations.

To think she would connect “Krectar” to me.

Bernice had probably only asked as if making a guess, but because she had her “authority,” I had no choice but to speak the truth.

I had planned to build a suitable connection with her through this opportunity and ask for her help when I needed it, yet Bernice tried to recruit me into her knight order.

“...A fence.”

Certainly, considering my future activities, having something like that would not be so bad.

But there was something I was reluctant about.

Rather than a problem of conversation or excuses... it was the action the Saintess had taken toward me.

As soon as Bernice met me, she poured divine power on me out of nowhere.

It seemed she had detected it immediately.

The ominous energies she could feel from me.

Well, they were not things that would vanish with mere purification, so there was no real impact. But even before that, it seemed her divine power had been blocked by the “coat” I was wearing.

After all, “Curtain of Night” had resistance to holy magic.

Thanks to the original owner of the coat, who should have been “Varsium,” being a vampire, its resistance itself was on the high side.

“It was an option I thought would not be very useful, so I had not kept it in mind...”

Fortunately, Bernice did not seem to have approached any of it in detail.

At least not yet.

As for the cursed blade, I could reveal it someday, when the time came.

Bernice was not so inflexible as that.

Remembering the misunderstanding Daidros had when he made the cursed blade, I felt that perhaps the Saintess too might sympathize and understand.

But as for the Tear of the Dead... I had nothing to say.

I could not calmly brush it off by saying, “I killed a lich and implanted what I obtained into my heart.”

Aside from inevitably growing closer to Bernice, belonging to the Saintess’s knight order seemed more convenient in many ways.

While I was worrying like that, “Sierra” suddenly hummed and vibrated.

Soon, Sierra slipped quietly out of the cursed blade and opened her mouth.

[ D-Disciple... Could you stop fiddling with it... ]

Sierra spoke in a shy voice and was twisting her body as if at a loss.

While thinking deeply, I had unknowingly started stroking the sword at my waist, and it seemed to have bothered her quite a bit.

“What part is it connected to...?”

I said that while tapping the jewel attached to the pommel.

“I am sure she was fine with the handle.”

At that, Sierra’s body immediately trembled.

[ Hngh... S-stop... stop it... ]

...Judging by her reaction, it seemed to be an extremely sensitive area.

“...Understood.”

I removed my hand from “Sierra” and showed her my palm.

Soon, Sierra composed herself and glared at me.

It seemed that when Sierra was inside the cursed blade, she was connected more strongly in terms of sensation than when she was outside.

In any case, it seemed difficult to wander around the academy with her for a while.

“Master, could you endure it a little even if it feels stifling? For now, I do not want the Saintess to discover you.”

[...Then does that mean later will be all right? ]

With a pouty face, Sierra placed both hands on my shoulders and glanced sidelong at me as she asked.

“If things go according to my thoughts.”

I answered her that way and walked toward the Colosseum.

Would Bernice’s “authority” work even on Sierra, who had become one of the dead?

***

The climax of the second day of open class was, without question, the spar between the rising star “Eisel Ludwig” and “Yuri Clementine” of the continent’s four elemental families.

It began with Yuri calling her out.

With a confident expression, she summoned Eisel.

Then the two displayed overwhelming skill and plunged the Colosseum into a crucible of excitement.

The result was Eisel’s victory.

Yuri was quite strong, more than strong enough if one had to say so.

Unfortunately, however, she still did not possess the skill to overcome the enormous wall called a “regressor.”

Even so, the spar the two displayed was already far beyond the level expected of first-year students. Thus, even with Yuri’s defeat, the reputation of the four elemental families was not diminished.

Above all, even Yuri’s father, Zeras Clementine, was quite satisfied with his daughter’s skill.

Of course, in ordinary times, he would have scolded her, but his mood was far too good.

While his worries about the First Prince were deepening, coming to know a student named Zeto was an unexpected stroke of fortune for him.

The second day’s event ended like that, and now, for several days, outsiders would have time to observe the students’ academy life.

Thus, Zeras had come to Yuri’s dormitory.

Yuri’s room was not greatly different from her room back at the main house.

There was not a single object left out of place, and it was a tidy room where even one speck of dust was hard to find.

Over there, he could see his beautiful daughter Yuri sitting on the bed with a sullen expression.

At the head of the bed where she sat was one book.

“She still likes fairy tales.”

At the purity of his daughter that had continued since childhood, a pleased smile rose to Zeras’s lips.

“You seem to be in rather poor spirits.”

Zeras asked as he approached Yuri.

“...I lost. There is no way I would be in a good mood.”

Yuri snapped her head aside.

She was barely calming the anger that kept rising. It was not something worth snapping at her father over after meeting him again after so long.

“Hahaha, that is my daughter. Yes, when a wall appears, burn it down and leap over it. That is what it means to be a Clementine.”

Zeras laughed loudly.

It was because he thought he had raised his daughter well after all.

“...What a surprise. Father is not saying anything harsh.”

Yuri said this while resting her chin in her hand.

“Just as I heard from you, Miss Eisel was strong. A ‘Ludwig’ who uses lightning magic... I have never heard of them.”

“I have not asked about her family either. I just thought there must be some family like that somewhere on the continent... Anyway, she is a strange girl. Suddenly coming back injured out of nowhere and everything...”

Soon, Yuri began talking on and on about Eisel.

Watching her, Zeras smiled warmly and stroked her head.

Perhaps Yuri’s only friend was not Zeto.

It was a good thing to engage in good-natured competition with a friend.

Even in his own case, when he was young, he had grown up constantly bickering and clashing with Maxim Caligus every other day.

“...And when did she get so close to Zeto too?”

Yuri said that while touching her red hair.

At her words, Zeras showed doubt.

“...Is Miss Eisel close to Young Zeto as well?”

“It seemed that way?”

“Hmm...”

Soon, Zeras let out a low hum and stroked his beard.

Then he thought.

Perhaps to Yuri, Eisel might not be a friend, but a “rival in love.”

After all, from the brief look he had taken, Zeto was quite popular among female students.

It was not strange for him to think that way.

“Haha, my daughter will have quite the headache.”

At Zeras’s sudden words, Yuri tilted her head.

Then Yuri crossed her arms and glared at Zeras, as if asking what nonsense he was saying now.

“Yuri, my lovely daughter. If this father may give you one word... love, you see, becomes quite painful if you miss the right time.”

“Love...? Father, what are you talking about...!”

Only then did Yuri realize what her father was saying.

“Zeto is... j-just a friend, I told you.”

Yuri stammered while pushing Zeras away.

“Is that so. Then even if Miss Eisel and Young Zeto whisper love to each other before you, you will feel nothing?”

“Th-that... There is no way Eisel and Zeto would do that...”

Even as Yuri said that, she recalled the gaze Eisel wore when looking at Zeto.

It was extremely thick, and yet somehow sticky... a strange gaze.

In the end, Yuri could not continue.

Zeras smiled at Yuri, who had lowered her head deeply, then immediately left the room, throwing one quiet sentence behind him.

“This father would always approve of a son-in-law like Zeto.”

As he left the room, Zeras had no doubt that if he left it at this much, Yuri would take care of the rest on her own.

Yuri, left alone in the room, could not shake off the shock.

“A son-in-law...”

No matter what, was that not going too far ahead?

“Zeto is just a friend... I have not even held his hand, so what marriage...”

Yuri, murmuring that softly, let out an “Ah.”

“Had I already held his hand...?”

Yuri immediately approached the drawer beside her bed and took something out from inside.

In Yuri’s hand as she closed the drawer was a piece of ice.

It was the souvenir Lucia had given everyone when they went to the North.

Then she sat on the edge of the bed and infused mana into the ice fragment.

After that, Yuri spent a long time smiling as she relived that memory, that recollection.

***

Meanwhile, in the same dormitory as Yuri, the pink twin-tailed girl’s hand held the same thing.

It was Kaen.

Every night, her hand naturally went to the piece of ice.

It was when she resolved, “Today I will not get a nosebleed,” and was about to infuse mana into her hand.

—Rattle.

In the dark room, the sound of the window suddenly opening could be heard.

“What is it...? An intruder? There is a rumor going around that a phantom thief entered the academy...”

They had chosen the wrong opponent.

Kaen was the Sword Saint’s disciple.

—Shing.

She immediately drew the sword placed beside her bed and tried to thrust it at the unidentified intruder.

However.

—Ting.

With a clear sound, the sword Kaen had thrust out was flicked away by the intruder’s finger.

“...Your skill has gone rusty.”

The intruder’s voice was one extremely familiar to her as well.

Then Kaen shouted in a flustered voice.

“Grandfather?!”

“Tch, with such a weak thrust, who would ever feel threatened?”

The intruder was none other than Kaen’s master and the Sword Saint, Chris.

After clicking his tongue once like that, Chris calmly began looking around his granddaughter’s room.

Was it because she had wandered with him since childhood?

There were no particular belongings in the room, making it extremely bare.

“No, why come through the window when there is a perfectly good door...”

Kaen, staring blankly at Chris, spoke that way, then immediately understood why he had done such a thing.

For now, her relationship with Chris was being kept hidden, after all.

“Ahem... Grandfather, what brings you here at such a late hour?”

Kaen cleared her throat, returned her sword to its place, and spoke to him.

Then Chris, who had been looking around the room, answered.

“I met Zeto this morning.”

“You met Student Zeto?”

“Yes. While looking over his swordsmanship, I grew curious about something and spoke with him for a while. Only then did I understand why you lost.”

He did not bother mentioning that he had tried to take Zeto as his disciple.

“...If I face him again, I can win.”

Because Kaen thought Chris was scolding her, she said that.

However, Chris’s reply differed from what she expected.

“There is no need for that. It seems best for you to continue hiding that you are my disciple. Especially from that fellow Zeto.”

“...Pardon?”

“...There is a reason for it.”

Chris vaguely brushed aside Kaen’s question.

At this, Kaen narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.

Because Chris was such an eccentric figure, even Kaen could not fully understand his actions or words.

As Chris looked over Kaen, his eyes caught the piece of ice in her hand.

Soon, he grasped her hand and asked.

“What is this?”

“Th-this is... just ice. Eating ice. Eheh... I eat it whenever I get thirsty, I suppose!”

At Chris’s question, Kaen hurriedly put the piece of ice into her mouth and scratched her cheek.

“I swallowed... Zeto...”

With the piece of ice in her mouth, Kaen wanted to look tearful, but she had no choice but to smile foolishly.

She only hoped the ice would not melt.

Chris stared fixedly at Kaen putting a handworn piece of ice in her mouth like that, then wondered whether he had taught her far too little about manners.

In the middle of that, a ring on Kaen’s finger as she scratched her cheek entered Chris’s eyes.

“Hmm? That ring is one I have not seen before.”

Chris asked Kaen.

Soon, Kaen glanced at the ring.

“Ah, this ring is one I received from Student Zeto. Isn’t it cool...?!”

Kaen spread her fingers proudly to show Chris.

In truth, even the clothes Kaen wore right now were clothes Zeto had bought for her before.

Unlike Zeto, who had thought they would be clothes she wore only once, she had been wearing them often.

“You received a ring?”

Chris’s eyes widened.

“Yesh, well... One thing led to another...”

Because Kaen was holding the piece of ice in her mouth, her pronunciation was somewhat slurred as she said that.

She could not say that she had obtained it together with Zeto after catching a blood mage.

This was a secret between only Zeto and Kaen.

Listening to this, Chris was greatly shocked inwardly.

“They were already close enough to exchange rings...?!”

Even if Chris knew little about love between men and women, he at least knew that exchanging rings had an extremely significant meaning.

Soon, the corners of Chris’s mouth rose high enough to reveal his teeth.

Then he placed a hand on Kaen’s shoulder with a thud.

“Good, Kaen! Continue to devote yourself!”

“...Devote myself?”

Kaen had to show confusion once again at Chris’s words, which were very hard to understand, but Chris himself did not care at all.

Chris had come to find Kaen after worrying about how to connect Kaen and Zeto, but unlike his worries, it seemed his disciple had already been handling things smoothly on her own.

He did not think he had made a wasted trip.

Soon, leaving Kaen with her face full of question marks, Chris placed his foot on the window to leave the room and tossed her one sentence.

“...If possible, I would like to see them soon. Grandchildren... no, great-grandchildren, I mean. You have already even received a ring, so there can only be that left.”

He was jumping to conclusions, and far too many of them.

“G-great-grandchildren?!”

Leaving behind Kaen’s bewildered shout that followed immediately, Chris slipped out through the window.

“Kaen is still young, so she is quite shy.”

Chris thought that as he leapt lightly into the air.

“Uweh...”

Kaen, who had suffered through Chris’s sudden visit, spat out the piece of ice.

The ice did not melt.

She had heard that it would not melt, but if it disappeared over something like this, she thought it would feel terribly unfair, and she had worried for no reason.

Thinking that, she rolled her eyes and muttered.

“Great-grandchildren, he said. Surely...”

Kaen wondered whether her grandfather, Chris, might have misunderstood things badly, but the fact that he had said such a thing meant Zeto had pleased him.

“Zeto and... me...”

When Kaen imagined the process of obtaining the “great-grandchildren” Chris had mentioned, heat rushed into her face.

Soon, she covered her mouth with a gasp.

...In any case, washing the piece of ice came first.