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Chapter 143. Grandmother, Mother, Grandson

――Gorirashia apparently belonged to the chief lineage of the Dosrotos tribe.

She married into the Reiju tribe at 40 and is said to have had Platy around 80 years old.

In other words, she’s about 180 years old now. Quite spry, or rather, youthful. Platy has this muscular physique and slight crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes. Upon closer inspection, there’s a faint scar from a sword on her right cheek.

“Well, would you look at that! It’s even better than I heard!”

Gorirashia strolls alongside me, laughing heartily, “I heard she was strong, but I didn’t expect her to be this powerful! Platy wasn’t even close to this level. What’s this? Is this the blood of His Majesty the Demon Lord?”

With raucous laughter, she ruffles my hair. The hair gets stuck in the gaps of her gauntlet, and it hurts! By the way, she’s wearing a heavy armor, but her strides are lighter than mine. This one’s core strength is no joke.

“I didn’t expect to see Grandmother here.”

I casually swatted away her hand while looking up at Gorirashia. I was genuinely surprised by the unexpected visit. I had heard about her from Platy, but I had no prior acquaintance.

“Better than what I heard” — that’s what I wanted to say! It was said that Platy’s spear techniques had a significant influence from the Dosrotos tribe, but I didn’t think her mother would be this powerful.

Could Platy’s barbaric nature actually come from the Dosrotos tribe rather than the Reiju tribe…?

“The Reiju tribe has a neat impression, for better or worse.”

Yeah, after returning home, I realized that the Reiju tribe was more civilized than I imagined. … As far as barbarians go.

Conversely, this old lady—how can I put it?—exudes the classic barbaric vibe.

“Does Grandmother have any knowledge of swordsmanship?”

“Not so much knowledge. I just have a hobby of handling various weapons, so I swing them around by watching and mimicking! I do archery and martial arts too!”

Is that quality really just from mimicking? I thought she might’ve had a teacher—if there’s anyone willing to teach swordsmanship to demons aside from Virosa…

“I wanted to meet you, there’s you!”

Gorirashia calls out to the Sword Saint of the Night, the very person I had in mind.

“You’ve got some amazing skills, just as I expected! I’m in love! Let’s have a friendly match later, I’ll use a spear, and you can use a sword!”

“Uh. If that’s your wish…”

Virosa bows politely. It seems she’s given up on this flow, not looking to me for help anymore.

“Also, Zilba. Calling me grandmother is quite formal. Just call me Gori-nee!”

“Gori-nee!?”

I double-take at Gorirashia. No matter how youthful she looks as a demon, she’s not exactly ‘nee-san’ age, is she!?

“What’s the matter? You got something to say?”

Gorirashia glares down at me with her piercing white eyes.

“No, nothing at all, Gori-nee-sama.”

I answered immediately. There’s no meaning in arguing with this woman right now. “You’re so weak, where’s your pride as a hero!?” Damn, shut it old lady! “What!? Don’t poke my eyes, please… I’m sorry…!!”

“Oh, just call me Legorius! I’m younger than my sister, but unlike her, I don’t mind age!”

The other hero—a guy apparently Gorirashia’s brother, Legorius, points to his face as he speaks.

“Shut up.”

“Gah!”

And then Gorirashia’s backhand smacked into his face. With a loud thud, Legorius went flying, but I saw. Just before her backhand connected, a black blade sprouted from his neck, blocking it—

The Dosrotos bloodline magic, 【Null Spear】.

A spell that solidifies dark magic to temporarily form a sharp blade like obsidian. You can even use it defensively…?

“I like well-behaved kids!”

As if nothing happened, and despite my futile resistance, Gorirashia continues to pat my head enthusiastically.

“… Looks like you didn’t inherit that from your mother.”

I smirked, making a jab at Platy.

“There’s no child raised by a mother who ends up well-behaved.”

Platy simply looked exasperated.

“I decided not to do the things to this child that I disliked when I was a child. Whatever I do, I’ll explain it step by step! I won’t take my frustrations out on them! I’ll trust them even if they are a child! And so on!”

Platy stomped her feet, seemingly still upset. The atmosphere felt tense, not quite hostile—but prickly!

Gorirashia looked a bit in a pinch, pouting slightly.

“Well, it can’t be helped. If you don’t say the finer points to the kids, they won’t understand. If you don’t cultivate habits from a young age, they end up weak.”

“Assumptions are your mother’s bad habit. Zilbagias isn’t weak at all!”

Platy shot a glare at Gorirashia.

“As you know very well, my education was not wrong. So from now on, no need for your input, Mother.”

“Mm, I understand. No need to be so prickly.”

Gorirashia lightly tapped her shoulder with her sheathed sword and shifted her gaze to me.

“So you have no grievances with your mother?”

“None at all.”

I answered promptly.

“She explains everything thoroughly, and conversely, whatever I wish to do, as long as I explain it logically, she’ll understand. My mother always supports me, so… I’m grateful for that. No grievances at all.”

That was—truly from the heart.

“… I see, well, it’s good because she’s strong. But this logical side seems very much like Platy…”

Gorirashia let out a small sigh, looking disappointed. When I glanced at Platy, she had a rare half-lidded expression, looking somewhat fox-like and annoyed. I bet I looked similar.

If this old woman had raised me, I might still be just a boorish fool only thinking about taking the Demon Lord’s head…

As we continued our warm family exchange while walking along the mountain path, the woods’ exit came into view.

At the same time, an aroma wafted through the air—delicious and inviting.

I looked up and saw the servants preparing a barbecue in the clearing. Grilling skewers of meat was Leila, and beside her stood Liliana.

Oh, Leila noticed us. She smiled and waved her hand slightly. I waved back lightly.

“… Is that your rumored girlfriend?”

Gorirashia whispered with a teasing tone, but—

Her eyes weren’t smiling. She was definitely assessing the situation.

“Yes, the White Dragon.”

I stroked 【Cindikaios】.

“She’s the girl with the material of this armor.”

“… You’ve got quite the nerve…”

Gorirashia seemed a bit taken aback by my calm demeanor. Hehe, did I get you there? The connection between our hearts isn’t what you think it is!

“Well then, good job on the training. While there are points to reflect on, let’s eat first.”

Platy said, turning back to us, who were lined up.

“Yay!”

“I’m starving!”

“Meat!”

The three fools were ecstatic, stripping off their armor.

“Oh, Seire. Not for you.”

“Eh?”

However, Platy mercilessly declared.

“I already told you there’s special training for you. Let’s have a match before you eat.”

“Uh… uh…”

Seire Knight wore a face like the end of the world.

“Of course, if you prefer, we can do it after eating, but all the food will go to waste, you know? Are you fine with that?”

Platy was already deploying her magical spear, ready for combat. It’s a bold statement for Platy to engage in training before eating. Seire Knight was sweating buckets.

“Um… Lady… I’m honored, truly, but… that spear from earlier…!”

“I’ll give you a spare. It’s a pretty decent spear, so take care of it.”

“A-Ah… thank you… this is an amazing spear… wow…”

Seire Knight received the high-quality spear from the servant, feeling the despair of joy.

“Let’s begin then.”

“Ah, yes…”

With that, both moved to the edge of the clearing.

Albar Aoril and Oke Knight glanced at their spears with a hint of envy but didn’t voice it. If they were overheard, they’d be in trouble…

“Alright, let’s eat ahead.”

I called out to the frozen duo.

“… Sounds good!”

“Yeah, I’m starving!”

Ignoring Seire Knight’s dramatic scream, we withdrew our weapons and dashed to grab a plate excitedly.

 

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