Time flew by and our 10 day stay pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye.
The first day was a visit to the cathedral.
We took Zenith to the Miko and she used her power to hear what she had to say.
Claire was with us too, and half way she broke down into tears.
I almost did as well, bud seeing that Zenith was happy as always, I held it in.
While we were doing that the children seemed quite bored waiting outside, but we still had to meet with the Pope together with the Miko so we ended up taking quite a while.
The Miko kept bragging about her daily training routine and how slim sheâd gotten and just wouldnât stopâŠ
The kids must really have been bored out there.
Apparently Aisha took Ars, Lara, and Sieg to see the Adventurers Guild HQ.
Going by the fact that they go back so late and Arsâs face when he got back, it looked like some problem had occurredâŠ
But Aisha had probably already dealt with it.
But it didnât seem that Lucy was mad at being left behind.
She and Clive were probably satisfied looking around the Cathedral together.
She might have liked the gardens or maybe Cliveâs tour was quite entertaining.
And seeing that Lucy wouldnât tell me the details it was probably the latter.
If I pressed it I might have gotten it out of her, but I held back.
In any case, Iâd like for Clive-kun to continue to be sincere.
The second, third, and fourth days were spent giving various greetings.
Letting people know that the Dragon G.o.dâs subordinate was in Millis.h.i.+on.
The Holy Knight Captain.
Various members of the Latrea family. And of course among them was my aunt Therese. Sheâs unfortunately still unmarried.
After that was the formal audience with the PopeâŠ
I met with the Millis Royal Family.
The 5th Royal Prince. And although he was a price he was over forty.
It was a real pain, but I eventually managed to secure an audience with the King in several days time.
For a greeting as the representative of the Dragon G.o.d.
Orsted had said, âItâs fine if you put off making relations with the Millis Royal Family,â but I asked him before and a simple greeting was fine.
I donât know why he said that after hearing that we were going there for a holiday, but the original purpose was show the kids different parts of society.
I myself didnât see any problem.
On the fifth day we delivered the doll to Cliff.
When we got there he had some good news for us.
In the last five years he seemed to be evaluated quite highly and they were considering his promotion to Bishop.
Normally that would be impossible as young as he is, but Iâm sure thereâs some kind of ulterior motive.
The parish Cliff is in charge of is in a particularly special location.
The southernmost point of the Great Forest.
When I went through it while traveling, it wasnât a particularly important place.
But it seems that in the last 10 years the scope of the place has increases along with the number of people.
The city isnât affiliated with any particular country or race, but when places get larger like that, people are bound to be interested.
And so, various representatives of different races have gathered there to decide all kinds of things.
The Millis Churchâs representative is an Archbishop known as the Cardinalsâ Dagger and part of the Demon Expulsion Faction.
He follows the Human Supremacy Doctrine, so not only is he against the Magic Races, but the Beast Races too. Heâs a disdainful man, but heâs good at his job.
Iâm sure heâs working to a.s.sure all kinds of things are in his interests.
But considering his personality, putting him there could cause problems with their relations.h.i.+p with the Great Forest.
But there are some especially extreme groups among the Demon Expulsion faction that welcome such a turn of events.
And so thatâs why Cliff was chosen.
Because of his relations.h.i.+p with the Rudo Mercenaries who employ a number of beast races and one of the Beast Race Princesses.
He was well connected, possessed no prejudice and he was of the pope faction.
So they raised his rank and gave him the job of overseer.
Cliff seemed disappointed that he wasnât chosen purely for his ability.
But regardless, after he finishes his work in the city, heâll be a Bishop in both name and rank.
Once he becomes a bishop, his influence will increase, and if he can gain favour with the Elves of the Great Forest, the church may stand for him taking one as a wife.
If that happens heâll be able to invite Elinalise and Clive to Millis.
And after hearing that much I was like âThen hereâs your promotion gift!â
And took out the doll, but he got super mad.
Apparently if they knew he was with a woman at this time, it would be a big fuss.
That said, he didnât completely outlaw the doll, so I think he might have been happy with the idea.
He seemed quite curious as to the details of its Magic Formation.
Well if it comes down to it we can always put some sungla.s.ses on it and dress it as a man, like Sylphy suggested.
It has the strength to act as a bodyguard so Iâm sure it would be helpful for Cliff in his line of work.
Thereâs no guarantee that that Archbishop wonât try to a.s.sa.s.sinate him.
Incidentally, when I returned that day, Claire was in quite a good mood.
Apparently Lara found her locket that she had lost a year ago.
Itâs a good story.
A parent loves to boast about their kids.
âŠAlthough Leo was probably the one doing the searching.
And Roxyâs child raising motivation seemed to have increased.
âAll the children will be at school soon, so Iâm going to have to properly watch over them,â she said.
Roxyâs cute but sheâs the type to worry too much when sheâs enthusiastic about something so Iâm a little worried.
Also, apparently Sylphy and Norn took Lucy and Clive to the Adventurers Guild.
Lucy talked about how wonderful their lunch was with a ma.s.sive smile plastered over her face.
It seemed like she wasnât that interested in the guild itself.
On the sixth and seventh days we walked around with no particular goal.
We went shopping and took the kids sightseeing.
We took a carriage out of the city to look around, we stopped at a nearby farm, we let the kids play in the river we came across.
We basically just did whatever we felt like.
The ninth day was the audience with the King.
The Millis King was a mild old man.
In Millis the Church holds most of the power so the Royal family is comparatively weak.
And because of my connections with the church, the meeting was simply a formality.
I would have liked to show the castle to the children, but I held myself back on that one.
âŠWell it couldnât be helped.
Because we could say that we enjoyed Millis.h.i.+on to the limit.
Part 2
Itâs now the tenth day.
Time for us to leave Millis.h.i.+on.
Weâll head north through the Blue Dragon Mountain Range towards the hot springs.
âThere arenât any monsters until we reach the entrance to the Great Forest, but I hear there are a lot of ruffians near the town stops.
Just you alone would be one thing, but to bring children along too, youâll should be a bit more carefulâŠâ
Right before we left, Claire gave us a good mouthful.
When I was here last, she was reprimanding me for all kinds of things, but when we first arrived she didnât say much, now, by the tenth day, she seems to have no problem scolding us.
Although sheâs not unpleasant about it.
She probably finally managed to get a feel of the distance between us.
But right before we left, she turned to face Norn.
âNorn-san, this time around we didnât talk all that much, but would it be alright if I said just one thing to you?â
ââŠYes.â
Norn had âHere it comes,â written all over her face.
Sheâs been trying her best to avoid Claire these past 10 days.
Even in spite of Ruijerd telling her to treasure her relativesâŠ
But Norn couldnât be blamed.
If they were to talk, Claire might end up bad mouthing Ruijerd.
And if that happened, Iâm sure Norn would fight back in turn.
Claireâs quite stubborn, so Iâm sure she wouldnât take back anything she said and itâs quite possible it could turn into a ma.s.sive ordeal.
âYou are no longer a Latrea or a Greyrat.â
âYes.â
In that instant, Nornâs expression was extremely aggressive.
She probably expected something unfavourable about being a Demonâs wife.
Thatâs just how sharp Claireâs words were.
Even I had a premonition that something bad was going to happen.
âYou are now the wife and mother of the Sperdia Family. Be aware of that and work yourself to the bone for your husband.â
âEh?â
But what Claire followed up with was something quite sensible.
It did sound somewhat like an order thoughâŠ
âI am not knowledgeable of Demon customs but is it a wifeâs duty to protect their children and house, Iâm sure that hasnât changed.â
ââŠâ
âDo you understand?â
âAh⊠Yes!â
Norn looked quite shocked but she eventually meekly nodded.
Claire then nodded in satisfaction.
As if a weight was lifted from her shoulders.
I feel like Claire has changed in these last 10 days.
Maybe because of that, Roxy and Lillia could spend their last few days here relaxing.
Something probably happened in the time I was away.
Especially Claire and Roxy. They seem much closer compared to when they just met.
Sheâs probably happy Claire wasnât discriminating against her.
Roxyâs had more than enough of that in her time after all.
And thanks to that, Norn probably managed to get over a little of her ill feelings.
âŠAisha is the same as ever though.
Part 3
After about half a dayâs travel from Millis.h.i.+on, we arrived at the entrance to the Blue Dragon Mountain Range.
We stopped the carriage and got the children off.
And then we turned around.
ââŠâ
A spectacle opened up before us.
You could see the City of Millis.h.i.+on in the distance.
The river flowing through the city, green as far as the eye can see.
We spent 10 days there.
The Brilliant white Royal Palace, the glittering gold Cathedral, and the Sparkling silver Adventurers Guild.
Itâs the same view I saw together with Eris and Ruijerd 20 years ago.
Although the small building and the people living there might be different, seeing it like this makes it seem like nothingâs changed.
âWhat do you think?â
This kind of ma.s.sive scenery is something you can see quite often in this world, but I would bet thereâs no other place that you could walk around in and then look at it from a distance like this.
It gives a kind of indescribable feeling.
I stopped thinking to myself and turned around to check the childrenâs reactions.
âWow~!â
They were quite varied.
Lucy had a smile of honest admiration.
Sheâs been acting more and more like the eldest sister lately, but sheâs still quite childish in this aspect.
âŠOh, Clive next to her seems to be debating to himself whether or not to grab her hand.
But he didnât get far before Lucy turned and smiled at him. âItâs amazing!â she said, before Clive blushed and threw out âItâs not all that great.â
Heâs so cuteâŠ
Just watching them makes me feel more relaxed.
I remember when I was doing things like that⊠Wait, did I? I have a feeling I didnât.
Oh, and Cliff is with us this time around.
Heâs going to be with us until we get to the post town where heâs going to be inspecting his new church.
Although thatâs just the official excuse.
He had managed to convince the Pope to let him spend some time with Elinalise.
ââŠI wanna live here some day. Itâs full of sweets.â
Lara stared sleepily for a couple seconds and said that.
I had heard from Roxy in the carriage just before, but apparently Claire was pampering Lara quite a bit.
Claire would prepare sweets for her every day, and she spent each one with a smile of bliss on her face.
She does seem somewhat more plump compared to when we got here.
It seems she was silently living in sweets paradise.
âHey, Papa and Red Mama came here a while back right?â
âYeah, but I was a little older than you are now.â
âHmmâŠâ
Ars nodded and clenched his fist.
Heâs probably thinking of becoming an adventurer in the future.
âHey, Hey, Mama! Thatâs the Nicholas River! And over there is the forest where the goblins live!â
âThatâs right. Do you know what that one is?â
âThat one⊠Itâs the Gate of Triumph! The Gate of Triumph is where Saint Millis returned after the war!
Thatâs why itâs bigger than the rest!â
âThatâs right. You sure do know a lot.â
Sieg was pointing at everything he could see, a.s.saulting Roxy with one question after another.
Alek has been telling him stories of all kinds of adventurers so heâs oddly well informed.
He seems even more likely than Ars to get into adventuring.
âPapa, pick me up.â
Chris walked up to me and held her hands up.
ââŠDo you not understand them?â
âYeaâŠâ
After I picked her up, as if she had no interest in the scenery, she buried her face in my shoulder.
Chris is cute as always.
ââŠâ
Lily also got Sylphy to pick her up, and was playing with a Magic Tool we bought in the streets the other day.
She doesnât seem all that interested either.
Itâs probably a bit too early for these two.
I guess thatâs pretty normal.
Or maybe Lucy and the others who can be honestly impressed with the scenery just mature faster.
ââŠIt sure brings me back.â
Eris was next to me before I even realised.
âBack then, I never would have thought weâd end up like this.â
Eris looked over Millis.h.i.+on as if she were embracing it.
Her red hair was fluttering in the wind.
Sheâs still young, but sheâd graduated from childhood into a beautiful woman.
âWhat did you think would happen?â
ââŠI thought, weâd end up with something more simple.â
Our lives really arenât that simple.
Eris doesnât think too hard about many things, but itâs not like she doesnât put thought into anything.
Although sheâs calmed down after giving birth to two children, time changes people.
âI love you Rudeus.â
Eris suddenly looked me in the eyes and said that.
Sheâs making my heart race.
What do I do. Right now, My face is probably bright red.1
âI love you too Eris.â
I managed to calm myself down and say that, and Eris leaned on me slightly.
This would be my chance to get my hands on Eris, but unfortunately, theyâre holding something else important.
Instead I thought to just tickle Chris and she quickly began to giggle.
âPapa, no tickling.â
âWhoops, sorry.â
âYou won't tickle?â
âI won't, I promise.â
Eris began to giggle at our exchange and kissed me on the cheek.
She then kissed Chris on the forehead and turned to the others.
âI guess itâs about time we got moving.â
After she said that, we headed back for the carriage.
Part 4
In the valley that divides the Blue Dragon Mountain Range.
On the proverbial âhandleâ of the Holy Sword Highway.
The cliffs rise up straight from the ground, with only the occasional rock jutting out, producing a gloomy valley as far as the eye can see.
The children were quite excited when they first saw it.
Even Lara let one of her rare âWow,'s slip.
The adventure has begun.
From here on out, we have no idea what we might come across.
Will we see monsters? I had heard that there was a Blue Dragon somewhere near here, but will we get a chance to see it�
Our hopes were destroyed after a few days.
The scenery never changed.
Because itâs not the right season, there were no dragons.
And of course, we didnât see any monsters.
The valley just continued on endlessly.
The children were over it within three days.
Lara didnât even try to hide it and would just shout âIâm bored!â repeatedly. Occasionally she would say âIâm walking Leo,â leave the Carriage, and go off somewhere on top of him.
If she finds a gap she might even be able to climb the cliff.
Ars, Sieg and Clive didnât say anything, but you could see the delight on their faces whenever the carriage stopped and they could practice their combat with Eris, or have mock battles with each other, or practice magic with Roxy.
We wasted our days away in the rocking carriage.
Chris was crying âWeâre trapped!â and Lily had already disa.s.sembled the magic toy she had gotten only a few days prior.
The only quiet one was Lucy, who was still reading the book she had gotten from the Latrea house.
I hope she doesnât get motion sick reading on a carriage.
The carriage was in constant pandemonium.
We all worked together to try to pacify the kidsâŠ
But this is the first time theyâve been out after all, so maybe we should have stopped by some more interesting places.
Although there is the matter of safety.
That said.
Itâs precisely because they were so over it, that when we got to the post town, they were overwhelmed with excitement.
âWeâre heeeeeeere!â
The second they saw the town at the end of the valley, Ars, Sieg, and Lara all jumped straight out of the carriage.
âDonât go running off!â
Eris and Sylphy chased after them.
Ars and Sieg got caught by the scruff of the neck, but Leo managed to slip away and climb onto a rock some way up the cliff.
That said, thereâs no reason to panic.
The Holy Sword Highway is a relatively safe place.
âLara! Weâre all sticking together until we get to the inn!â
Erisâs shout was oddly restless.
She was also quite bothered being cooped up in the carriage.
Sheâs much more mature and calm than she used to be, but you can't change a personâs true nature.
Eris has never been someone able to sit around for a long period of time.
Ars and Sieg reluctantly returned to the carriage.
But Lara didnât.
She stared at the forest that opened up endlessly before her.
âLara, come back.â
Lara turned around to look at Sylphy but Leo didnât move.
She looked at both Sylphy and Leo, got off his back, and tapped him a couple times.
But seeing that he still didnât move, she looked somewhat troubled.
Sylphy, no longer able to wait, began to walk up to them.
But the second she reached out to Leo, Lara stepped in between them.
âWait.â
âYou can look at it all you want tomorrow, so letâs go.â
âThis is Leoâs first time seeing his home like this, wait a little.â
âI seeâŠâ
Sylphy looked like she didnât know what to do and looked towards me.
Iâd like to let him look, a little more, but right now weâre moving together.
Iâd like to get going quickly to keep the children from exploding.
What to do⊠Even if Leo is with her, thereâs no way I can let them catch up by themselves.
Sylphyâs probably thinking the same.
I got off the carriage and walked up to them.
âIâll bring them back, so you go on ahead.â
ââŠOk. Come find us before it gets dark.â
Sylphy took me on my word, nodded, and headed back towards the carriage.
I sat down on the rock next to Leo.
And Lara sat down next to me.
The three of us in a line, overlooking the Great Forest.
Although itâs a relatively flat and straight road, because it pa.s.ses through a mountain, we have a good view from above.
A brown line cuts through green as far as the eye can see.
Itâs kind of magnificent.
Thinking back on it, last time I was here, I never even turned around to take a lookâŠ
âLara?â
âYeah?â
âDoes Leo miss it?â
ââŠIt doesnât, seem like it.â
Doesnât seem like it, huh.
âHuhâŠâ
ââŠâ
Then I wonder what heâs feeling.
Since Iâm not Bowlingual I canât tell, but the one that is, doesnât speak all that much.2
I donât want to ask her too much so I donât make her feel like an interpretation machine.3
Whatever, Iâll change the topic.
âLara?â
âYeah?â
âI was going to tell you when you turned 10, but when you get older, youâre supposed to go to the Dorudia village for some kind of ritual at their Holy Tree.â
âI know, I heard.â
âFrom who?â
âLeo.â
From the Holy Beast himself huh.
âYou know Pursena right?â
âAisha-neeâs dog.â
Thatâs a harsh rating.
Although sheâs not wrong.
âYouâll go together with her.â
Lara looked somewhat puzzled at that.
ââŠPapa wonât come too?â
âIâd like to, but itâs one of the Beast Raceâs special rituals so Humans might not be allowed.â
Or is she thinking something else?
Does she not want her Papa to come because itâs embarra.s.sing?
Although I think sheâs still a bit young for her rebellious phaseâŠ
And then Leo looked at me.
âWoof.â
ââŠLeo says itâs not a problem.â
Sheâs probably talking about me coming along.
Since she took the trouble to translate for me⊠I guess that means sheâs not against the idea.
That said, when she gets older, sheâll probably find every reason she can to dislike me.
Donât wash my clothes with your underwear! Or something like that.
Chris is still saying things like âIâll marry Papa when I grow up,â but iâm sure thatâll change when she gets a little older.
âPapa.â
âHmm?â
âItâs alright, you can look forward to it.â
ââŠThanks, I guess I will.â
I donât know what I should be looking forward to, but for now Iâll agree.
Lara returned my nod looking satisfied and stood up.
Is it time to go now?
But right as I was about to get up,
âWhouâŠ!â
Something suddenly landed on my shoulders.
But when I saw the tiny shoes in my field of vision, I knew that Lara had climbed onto me.
âCarry me.â
ââŠAm I Leoâs replacement now?â
âI want to be pampered by Papa.â
So itâs like that.
Well then, I guess I shall oblige.
Rudeus-san spoils his daughters.
âARH-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOâ
As I stood up, Leo howled.
The sound rang far through the Great Forest.
Translator Notes and References
1. Ok, these lines sound way out of place in english.
But it's actually a joke on Rudeus's part.
"Doki Doki s.h.i.+chau.
Dous.h.i.+mashou. Tabun, ima, atas.h.i.+ no kao, makka wa."
The is a super cliche line that a shoujo heroine would think to themselves after being confessed to.
The tone is super effeminate and he even uses 'Atas.h.i.+' the most effeminate of p.r.o.nouns.
2. This joke was legit there in the j.a.panese.
ăăŠăȘăłăŹă« - Bowlingual (Bow wow the dog noise combined with Bilingual)
It refers to this gimmick product that claims to translate barks into j.a.panese and Rudy refers to Lara as one.
It literally says: "Since I don't have a Bowlingual I can tell, but ours doesn't really speak all that much."
3. Hey! What's wrong with that. I'm offended [Sarcasm]
While I'm here I'd like you guys to give the Editor, King of the End, a thank. He's been with me since nearly when I took over and he's saved me hours of having to read over my work multiple times. He's been doing (almost) thankless work for a while now and he's still always there ready and happy to help. So ket him know he's appreciated.