成人本色

“Leo, now that the kids are all grown up, I’m going to start working soon.”

“E-Elthea? That outfit is……?”

Seeing Mom in her uniform, Dad was stunned. Mom calmly informed him, not knowing if he could hear a word or not.

“I got a job as an escort for Countess Gillette from today. Call me Sir Elthea in public.”

“You……were a knight, too.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ah.”

Mom leisurely went to work after kissing Dad on the back of his hand and completely taking his soul out of his body.

Escort work was easy.

The castle was very peaceful, and even the few knights that were employed in the Count did not dare to speak up against a top-tier Aura Expert user. The only concern was whether Mom could fit in with the Countess’s picky personality, but…

“Oh my God, Sir Elthea! Look at how the uniform suits you to a tee. It’s so cool.”

“I’m flattered, ma’am.”

“Come here and sit down. A nice tea just came in and I prepared it to have together with Sir Elthea.”

“I’m at duty, ma’am.”

“Don’t do that, will you? It’s lonely, talk with me for a bit.”

“Then one drink, please.”

“Thank you!”

The Countess, Sandra Gillette, was isolated from the aristocracy because of her origin as a commoner.

She had never been invited to a tea party or ever hosted one herself, so she was often beside herself with loneliness.

It was natural to feel affection and envy toward a dignified same-sex person who treated herself with chivalry and respect.

There was even something in common, as both had a son and a daughter.

“I don’t know how to educate my children. I’m worried that the rebellion phase of the first one has gotten worse.”

“Everyone goes through a stormy period. I ran away from home, too.”

“Sir Elthea did? Oh my, oh my. Please tell me more.”

“Whew, it’s a long tale, to say the least…….”

Thus, Mom’s adaptation to the Count’s Castle ended perfectly.

✠

Back to the present

“……Sir Elthea is great. In fact, I’ve never seen my mother being so kind and considerate to anyone.”

“Yes, I didn’t know the Countess would like my Mom so much either.”

“But on the other hand, I think I can understand my mother.”

“Hm?”

“Because I like Eli too.”

“Ah.”

[‘The Eyes that watch over the chaos of all things’ happily smiles.]

Bianca and I went for a walk to the dungeon farm and were talking about lots of things.

The passage of time was three times faster, so winter had already passed and spring had begun in the dungeon.

Helverus, who had been busy with heating work for a while, was now living a carefree life.

These days, he spent most of his time taking a nap in the small fire pit that Epiden had made.

The soft flame increased and decreased intermittently.

While Epiden was placing a tin kettle in the furnace to make tea, water droplets splashed on the little demon, making the startled Helverus’s flames soar high.

Thanks to this, Epiden’s white jade-like white skull was charred.

Krurarararara!

<I-It’s not my fault…! It’s Epi who surprised me, isn’t it?..…!>

The Flame Demon and the Undead Skeleton began to quarrel with each other.

Today, the dungeon farm was also peaceful.

I and Bianca returned to our conversation. We were talking about my mother’s adaptability.

Bianca sensibly asked.

“Eli, I heard that Sir Elthea came from a noble family. I couldn’t ask her properly because she drew a line about it, do you know what family you are from?”

If you are the next head of household, you should know everything about other families. I nodded.

“Will you keep it a secret?”

“Of course.”

“It’s Hispenril.”

The reaction was as expected.

“……”

Bianca opened her eyes wide. She looked like a rabbit because of her red eyes. It was only after three seconds had passed that her head seemed to fully understand the meaning of my words.

“The prin…cess? That…the one that was missing, Prince Hispenril’s……daughter?”

“It’s not a disappearance, it’s a runaway. In fact, I even met my grandfather. He told her to come home, but she refused, saying she didn’t need the family name nor its fortune.”

“No, a title of a princess was…just like that….”

Bianca’s eyes shook, but her confusion was only for a moment.

“By the way, Prince Hispenril has only one child, and that’s the princess, right? Isn’t the family inherited when the time comes anyway?”

“Yes. In fact, after thinking about it for a while, I took Mom’s side between her and grandfather.”

“You did a great job.”

“Right.”

We joked around and laughed.

Bianca asked seriously.

“Later, when you became a princess you won’t pretend not to know anything like the Countess of the outskirts, right?”

“Hey, look at you worrying about all sorts of things. More than that, my Dad and Brother don’t know. Keep it a secret until Mom tells them.”

“Yes. Trust me.”

Just around the time we were having a heartwarming moment. Agnes necklace rang and she lamented.

<Ha, it’s shocking even thinking about it again. I can’t believe I was training the bloodline of Aaron Jake Hispenril.>

At the Knights Academy, Agnes and Grandpa were competing for the same rank. Agnes complained that it was very unfair to lose first place several times.

Well, good educators shouldn’t be swayed by personal emotions.

I smiled brightly.

After the brief break, I and Bianca parted ways to do our respective duties.

I went straight to Dad’s lab. It looks like Mom cleaned up after she finished baking her confectionery, but it was still a mess in my opinion.

I plan to quickly clean it up on behalf of my father, who is in the middle of cooking in the kitchen of the annex by now.

While cleaning, I decided to refill the reagents that are running out. But one extra reagent was on a shelf high enough to reach the ceiling.

I climbed up on the top of a simple ladder and stretched out my arms, but I did not even vaguely reach them.

One Descent and this is nothing!

…It is impossible to use it anyway and while I was whining on my tiptoes, I felt a presence behind me.

“Can I take this out for you?”

“Huh?”

A slightly murky voice rang in my ear, then someone took out a reagent bottle with ease and held it in my hand.

“Oh, brother.”

“Yes.”

As I turned my head, I saw Frintz stepping on the bottom of the ladder and stably supporting my back.

Frintz was growing like a storm these days. Seeing that he had become a tall boy in a month, I thought that growing boys were a very mysterious existence.

“How did you grow so tall? It seems like the height from yesterday and today are different. Brother, aren’t you growing taller every day?”

“It might be. My joints are numb and I can’t get used to it. My voice suddenly came out strangely, too….”

“I know. It feels a little bit like when you caught a cold?”

“It’s not pleasant to hear, right? It’s getting thicker….”

“Not that but, doesn’t your throat hurts when you talk?”

“Not really.”

“Then that’s fine.”

When I looked at Frintz with envy and wondered how big he became, he smiled and hugged me without notice.

“There we go!”

“What!?”

“I’m going to get you off the ladder.”

“Then drop me off.”

“I have changed my mind.”

“Why!”

“Hey, you are so small. I can pick you up this high in a flash.”

Frintz hugged my ten-year-old, not too small, body and boasted about his height and muscles.

He grew up well, but I was still a little kid, so the comparison was quite stark. I could have tried to get out of Frintz’s arms, but I just let him do whatever he wanted.

“When will my little sister grow up?”

“I’ll grow up soon! Starting today, I’m going to eat double the growth-nurturing pills.”

“That’s too bad. Then I have to hug you a lot now. If not now, when would I carry you around?”

Frintz, who became a young lad, laughed like a spring breeze blowing cherry blossoms. I guess his charm has increased since he suddenly grew up.

“Brother, are you happy to be tall?”

“Yes. It looks like I can carry Eli around.”

“Except for that.”

“I like that swordsmanship is easier and more vivid. I feel like I am getting stronger day-by-day thanks to you. From now on, I’m going to protect Eli, so just trust him.”

Um, well, that’s a little…I think I have a higher level of Rigid body right now, but of course, I didn’t say it outright.

“Yes, of course! Brother, you know, because you’re the eldest son of our family, we have high expectations. Good luck, Brother!”

“Yes!”

I gave him the burden, no, the motivation to get a knighthood. I think I’m a really nice little sister.

“But why did Brother come to the lab?”

“I came to pick you up.”

“Oh, come to think of it, it’s already lunch time.”

“Yes. Mom and Dad will be waiting for us. Let’s go, Eli.”

I went out with Frintz, excited about the idea of ​​having a picnic. Mom and Dad went out early to make preparations. Instead of the knight’s uniform, Mom wore a mini dress and held a parasol, she was very pretty.

“How do I look, Leo?”

“It’s dazzling, Elthea……”

Dad couldn’t take his eyes off the sight.

“I’ll carry the picnic basket!”

In the eyes of a growing teenager, a basket full of things to eat was nothing sort of a treasure chest.

Frintz took the lead, flashing the picnic basket.

“Let’s go first, Eli. Mom and Dad, come quickly.”

I diligently followed Frintz.

In the meantime, my eyes were fixed on the lunch box, or the picnic basket, that naturally smelled of food.

Hmm……

[‘The Harsh Commentator who adjusts the balance’ asks why you’re staring at the picnic basket as if he’s an enemy.]