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No matter how young I am, even if I’m just a ten-year-old kid, Lakius is also just a fourteen-year-old boy, right?
And yet he’s already so overwhelming


That means Lakius must have exceptional talent, right?
But–
“You move too much,” Siegfried muttered with a calm face as he stood there, unmoving.
And with that.
Clang!
The swords clashed, a fierce sound screeching out between them.
With the slightest of movements, Siegfried had blocked the incoming trajectory of Lakius’s wooden sword.
And–
Thunk!
Thrown backwards, Lakius crumpled to the ground in a heap.
Siegfried clicked his tongue briefly.
“Didn’t I tell you that one should minimize movement and use force as efficiently as possible?”
“No, that’s only possible for the Master 

 eh, Tati?”
Lakius, who was muttering while catching his breath, widened his eyes.
He had noticed me belatedly.
Siegfried turned to look at me, his eyes curving with a gentle expression unlike when facing Lakius.
“Tatiana, what brings you all the way here?”
His voice was soft as cotton, unlike the way he’d spoken to Lakius.
Judging by that relaxed demeanor, he must have sensed my presence when I arrived, right?
I rushed over to the two of them.
“I’m here to see how Laki is doing.”
“

..Is that so?”
In an instant, Siegfried’s expression became slightly gloomy.
‘Oh, right.’
I hastily added, “I was also curious to see how my first dad teaches Laki!”
“

.”
Only then did Siegfried’s expression relax a bit.
‘Seriously?’
Internally, I was shaking my head, but I maintained a composed smile.
“Here’s a towel, some water, and some chocolate

.”
I paused as I automatically held out the items I had brought.
“

But Dad doesn’t need these anyway, right?”
He didn’t even break a sweat, let alone have a flushed face.
Upon hearing that, Siegfried frowned and took the items from my hand.
“No, they’re necessary.”
“R-really?”
Well, if the person involved says he needs them

I approached Lakius with a slightly moved expression.
“Here, Laki, take this.”
“Oh, thanks.”
Lakius took the towel and wiped his sweaty face.
He seemed quite thirsty as he drank more than half of the water bottle.
As I watched him with satisfaction, I turned to Siegfried.
“But what about my second and third dad?”
As my question fell with a hint of fear, Kirios, who had been leisurely sprawled in the shade of a tree, raised his hand swiftly.
“What’s up, kid?” His face was covered haphazardly with a magic book. “Did you want to see me?”

That book seems to serve the purpose of blocking sunlight rather than acting as reading material, doesn’t it?
I looked puzzled, but only for a moment.
“Of course!”
I quickly ran over to Kirios’s side.
He pushed the book off his face and grinned at me.
“How have you been?”
“Good!”
“It’s been a while, Miss Tati.”
Cesar, who was flipping through documents by Kirios’s side, greeted me warmly.
“What are my dads doing here?”
“Well, for starters, we’re Lakius’s teachers, too. We were observing the duel between Siegfried and Lakius.” Cesar shrugged his shoulders and added, “Though, it seems like Lakius still needs a lot more training
”
“

.”
A moment later, Lakius, who had been languishing in the distance, shivered and looked around.
I stared at him with a pitying gaze.
‘You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you

’
At that moment, Kirios asked a question with a smirk.
“By the way, is the kid only bringing snacks for Siegfried and Lakius?”
“Oh, no way!”
I reached into the round bag I had slung over my shoulder and brought it forward.
I casually put my hand inside.
“Of course, I have snacks for my dads here, too!”
After years of living with the heroes, I’d gotten into the habit of always carrying extra snacks.
I’d seen first-hand the devastating effects of inadvertently forgetting to feed just one person.
For example

.
‘How can you discriminate like this when we are all your dads?’
‘If you wanted a treat from Miss Tati, you should have behaved yourself.’
‘Cesar, stop being such a jerk. So, Tatiana, where’s my snack?’

Incidents of that sort.
“Do you want chocolate or candy?”
“Anything is fine.”
Kirios held out his hand.
I placed a candy, wrapped in colorful paper, on top of his hand.
Kirios quickly peeled off the wrapper and popped the candy into his mouth. Then he wrinkled his nose.
“Ugh, it’s sweet.”
My goodness, some people don’t even like sweet treats. If they don’t even like sweets, why are they so determined to accept my treats then?
As a side note, Cesar carefully examined the treats and selected a chocolate wrapped in a golden wrapper

.
As they each had something sweet in their mouths, Lakius and Siegfried, who had been resting in the training ground, approached us.
“Lakius, it seems like you need to train a bit more. Your shoulders keep slumping,” Cesar, with a smiling face, casually made a realistic excuse to add salt to the wound.
“Is that all? I’ve noticed that your back also gives out every time you get startled. I’ve been telling you to break that habit for a long time, haven’t I?” Kirios added a sharp remark to Cesar’s words.
“Yes, I will keep that in mind,” Lakius nodded enthusiastically.
I hadn’t even been able to properly see Lakius move.
When did they discover all those weaknesses?
Indeed, the visual perception of the warriors


.
I secretly admired their prowess as we gathered in the shade of a tree and began to converse.
“Hey, Lakius. When do you think you’ll touch Siegfried’s collar? You’ve fallen behind.”
“For once, I have to agree with Kirios.”
“I know it’s hard to break old habits, but shouldn’t you at least show some improvement?”
After lecturing and giving advice for a while, they completely exhausted Lakius’s energy.
Finally, my three dads turned their attention back to me.
“Miss Tati,” Cesar began as he curved his eyes at me. “I hear your business is very booming these days, Miss Tati.”
“Dad, and everyone else’s help has been a great support.” After giving a humble answer first, I smiled brightly. “But you know what? The stickers of my dads are the most popular.”
“I-is that so?” Cesar’s face became somewhat awkward.
“Yes. So, I’m planning to release new stickers featuring the dads as models. Is that okay?”
“If it helps Miss Tati, I don’t have any reason to refuse, but
” Cesar hesitated for a moment and asked me seriously, “
..Will they actually sell?”
“Of course!” I exclaimed as I pumped my fists in the air. “My dads tend to underestimate their own popularity.”
“Miss Tati, that
”
“Perhaps the biggest reason why my business could succeed is because of my dads’ popularity.”
At my firm response, my three dads couldn’t refute it. That was because they had been to the bookstore themselves.
They must have been at a loss for words as they looked at the best-selling biographies and the stickers of the three most popular heroes.
The only thing they could do was exchange embarrassed expressions

.
‘Maybe they’re a little shy?’
I looked at my dads with a mischievous gaze.
Really, my dads have some unexpectedly cute aspects, don’t they?
If I were a warrior who had slain five demon lords and was loved by all of mankind, I would be living a life of privilege.
But even receiving small benefits as warriors seemed negative to them.
Do they really need to possess such a pure heart in order to save humanity?
But then.
“Tati,” Lakius called out to me in a determined voice. “I’ll work hard. I’ll work hard so that

” Lakius declared with authority, “One day, I’m going to be on Tati’s sticker list, so I can boost your sales!”
“

.”
Umm, okay

 I’ll support you

.
I nodded my head with bleary eyes.
Then Kirios ruffled Lakius’s hair with a stern look.
“You think you can rise to our level? Wake up from your dream, you brat.”
“Why not? I can do it too!”
Actually, I found their bickering and playful exchange quite delightful. When I first met Lakius, I couldn’t even imagine him grumbling and acting like this.
Now he just seemed like a normal fourteen-year-old boy

..
“Kirios, what are you doing with the kid?” Meanwhile, the ever-patient Siegfried interjected.
Kirios chuckled, “This kid is fun to tease, you know?”
“Ah, Master!” Lakius exclaimed, his face turning red.
Sighing heavily, Siegfried turned to Lakius and continued, “More than that, Lakius.”
“Yes?”
“Is something troubling you at the palace these days?”