novel(5)
| ← Ch.136 | Ch.138 → |
I was surprised to see Butterfly Mask's face calling my name as she continued, "I haven't seen you for a long time. You can't even say hello?"
With her prompt, I barely managed to come to my senses and say hello with a smile."Long time no see, Aunt Talaria."
Damn it, Aunt Talaria. I had no idea. It had been over a decade since my aunt left our hometown, saying she had something to do with my grandfather. She stopped by the village from time to time, so I didn't forget her face. But honestly, considering I never interacted with her for most of my life, I never thought I'd run into her here.
Damn it. This was the worst-case scenario. I had no choice but to run away. No, I had to run away right now.
"You're thinking of running away, aren't you?" Aunt Talaria grinned and saw through my thoughts.
Although my big sister took my reputation as the smartest, my aunt blocked my action with a single phrase. As it so happens, my aunt was also called the smartest amongst the Crow Tribe in the past.
This could not be worse. At least my sister was weak, but Aunt Talaia was so monstrous that, when she was young, she competed with my father for the position of chief till the end. In terms of skills, she was sure to be stronger than Uncle Bloody.
My father often complained that things became bothersome because he had won the life-or-death battle to determine the chief. In other words, my father and aunt survived a bloody fight with their lives on the line. Even so, I was confident that I could run away unless my opponent were my father.
However, it was inevitable that the capital would collapse in the aftermath. My aunt and I exchanged glances. Then we nodded at the same time.
"Let's get out of the capital."
"Let's get out of the capital."
Having read each other's thoughts, my aunt and I jumped on the spot and crossed the castle wall. The 20-meter tall castle wall quickly passed us as we flew by. We used mana detection disruption magic and concealment magic to avoid being caught by patrolling imperial soldiers.
Aunt Talaria followed behind me using the same magic. Come to think of it, my aunt and I had many similarities. The fact that she learned both magic and swordsmanship at the same time, had extraordinary intelligence, and did not want to become the chief were all akin to me.
Yet, at the same time, I thought my aunt was the complete opposite of me. My aunt was more acquainted with the sword than magic, preferred the whole over the individual, and above all, she was authoritative.
I thought my aunt was more suitable to be the Crow Tribe chief than my father, but my aunt seemed to have thought differently. Neither my aunt nor I wanted to be the chief, but I ran away while my aunt confidently stood against it. Although the results were the same, the process to get there was different.
In the meantime, we landed in an area far away from the capital after flying quickly. It was not a long flight, but because we had flown at full power, we seemed to have traveled to the point where the capital could not be seen.
I clicked my tongue as Aunt Talaria confronted me."Hu-hu. You tried to fly fast and lose me, didn't you?"
I saw my aunt smiling and affirmed."You're so knowledgeable. Then why didn't you go away?"
We could guess each other's intentions anyway, so there was no need to try to deceive each other.
My aunt grumbled as she looked in the direction we flew from."You flew so fast that the girl couldn't keep up."
If my aunt had flown while holding onto her in the first place, there was no way Swan Mask would have fallen behind.
"It's better for both of us to come to a conclusion quickly."
"Well, that's true." Aunt Talaria nodded.
Looking at my aunt's expression, she seemed like she was waiting for Swan Mask to catch up, so I asked her while waiting."Who is that Swan Mask? A subordinate?"
Swan Mask kept giving me a feeling like I'd seen her somewhere before. It felt like if I kept thinking about it, I might remember, but I couldn't quite place the answer.
My aunt smiled vaguely at my question."Who knows? She's a subordinate if you say subordinate and family if you say family."
"Family?"
"Yes, she's a foster daughter."
A foster daughter? Then she's my cousin?
Considering she was struggling even to keep up, she was so weak that she didn't seem to have been taught by my aunt.
"It seems you haven't been teaching her very strictly. Her ability seems a little lacking to be your foster daughter."
Even if you were not a Crow, after going through the development process of the Crow Tribe, you would at least be as strong as Rosellis. That was also the lowest level. Even just by casually learning the Crow's martial arts, you could become stronger by leaps and bounds.
Of course, whether you could endure the martial arts while not being a Crow was another matter. The Crow's martial arts was not their secret art for nothing. An ordinary body would not be able to withstand the martial arts. Even if they endured it, the penalty was sure to be significant.
"She is indeed weak because she's an outside child. You should know because you've been outside, but unlike our hometown, if you clench something, it'll crumble into pieces out here."
It made sense when I thought of Granwell's gangsters that I first tried to pat lightly on the head. I wonder if those gangsters are doing okay.
"That's true, but still...."
"And besides, that child is the same age as you."
I was convinced by my aunt's words. If this was true, it was necessary to revise my evaluation. It seems she's been training her hard.
Considering the age difference between Rosellis and me, the Swan Mask was more likely to be stronger than Rosellis when she turned the same age. By the time she reaches her 30s, she might even be able to pull out something similar to an aura blade. That kind of potential would be good enough to be on par with Alphonso.
When I saw Swan Mask flying towards us in the distance, I took out the magic wand and the sword I was wearing when I ran away from home.
My aunt was surprised to see my magic wand."Oh my. Child. What's with that hideous wand? You're taking that out to deal with your aunt?"
As she said this, my aunt took two swords out of her pocket space.
"Aunt, then what are those hideous swords? They're not the kind of swords you should be taking out to deal with your nephew."
Those two swords were also hideous enough to be comparable to my magic wand. One was the sword of my grandfather, Zendia Blade, the former chief, and the other was the sword of my great-grandfather, who slew the Demon King.
The holy sword and demon sword, which were believed to have disappeared, were part of the four god swords, the most powerful swords in the world.
My aunt and I just smiled at each other, and I said, "Let's get down to business. How you found me is not important. Who else knows that I'm here?"
My aunt laughed at my question."So far, I'm the only one who knows."
"Do you think I'll believe you?"
"No, but it's true." My aunt looked at me indifferently. She was adeptly controlling her gaze and every single one of her facial expressions.
It was impossible to read someone's emotions when they were like this."What is it that you want?"
"There isn't anything in particular. What could I want from my lovely nephew?"
That was a lie. If my aunt's words were true, she would have come to see me with Uncle Bloody, not Swan Mask. If my aunt wanted nothing from me, she was the type of person who would drag me back to Olympus Forest for the sake of the Crow Tribe.
In other words, my aunt wanted something from me. What would that be? What would my aunt be aiming for? Damn, there wasn't enough information.
"And what do you want?"
I answered my aunt's question seriously, "A peaceful life."
My answer broke my aunt's indifferent expression, and she burst into laughter."Puheup!"
"Hmm?"
"Puhahahaha!"
What is it? It's really ruining my mood.
My aunt couldn't stop laughing even when my bitter gaze rested on her.
"Hahahaha! Oh, that was a funny joke. It's really been a long time since I laughed like this."
"I mean it."
My aunt burst into laughter once again."Puhahahahaha!"
Fine. Let's just fight.
When I started to pour mana into the magic wand, my aunt seemed to have realized I was serious and waved her hand."Ahaha, sorry. It was just unexpected. I didn't know there'd be anyone in my family who would want something resembling a peaceful life."
Well, certainly, if I heard anyone in my family talk about peace or stability, I would doubt that my ears were working. I didn't harden my resolve to leave home on a whim.
"And you're even the next chief. Oh right, did the title change to village head? Anyway, I never imagined that Doomstone oppa's successor would say something like that."
It was indeed beyond imagination. I don't want to admit it, but there were some points you just had to concede.
My aunt wiped her eyes and spoke again seriously."If you want, I can move on without telling Bloody or Doomstone oppa."
"Really?" I looked suspiciously at my aunt.
At my glance, my aunt skillfully glossed over it."Instead, I'd like you to help me with a few things in the future."
As I thought, there was also something she wanted from me. What was it? What did she want so much that she wouldn't immediately tell my father after finding my location? Was my grandfather perhaps involved? It was a possibility since my aunt was his right hand when my grandfather was the chief. It was like the relationship between my father and big sister.
"You said you didn't want anything earlier, " I said.
"I just don't need anything right now."
Such a sly person, but I couldn't stop her. Basically, this negotiation determined whether or not I could live a stable life as a civil servant.
"I can't be called on endlessly. I want to specify a set number of requests you can make."
"Are you in a position to negotiate?" My aunt asked.
I shrugged."I'm only going along because it's a waste of my effort otherwise. However, if you get on my bad side, do you think I won't give everything up and interfere with your work?"
"Do you know what it is that I do?"
I nodded."I have my guesses."
Actually, I didn't know a thing. However, my aunt's expression became stiff when she heard me.
Then my aunt closed her eyes for a moment and thought for a moment before smiling longingly."Yes, your mother had that kind of spunk."
Was she trying to gloss over it like this?
"Maybe it's not Hestia who most resembles an anemone, but you." My aunt spoke as she got into a battle stance.
"When opinions aren't in agreement, the matter is decided by strength. It's our village's old tradition, isn't it?"
Of course. I also got into stance as I poured mana into my magic wand and said, "Do we have to do this? I don't know about my father or uncle, but Aunt, you're capable of reason."
My aunt shook her head at my earnest request."In fact, I want to see if you have the required skill for my request. I'm afraid I don't have the confidence to deal with oppa's rage if my lovely nephew goes and just dies while doing a favor for me."
"Ayy, I'm a Crow too. Would I die like a sunfish from doing you a single favor?" (1)
"A sunfish?" My aunt didn't know about the sunfish and tilted her head.
"Ah, an ogre. Ogre."
Ogres were at the bottom of the ecosystem in Olympus Forest.
My aunt seemed to accept my correction as she nodded."Then let's confirm that starting now."
My aunt released enough martial aura to the point of saturating the surroundings. Against the martial aura, I was also forced to release my mana.
Notes: 1) I'm not entirely clear on the sunfish, but I believe it is similar to saying "die like a dog" in english.
| ← Ch. 136 | Ch. 138 → |