Chapter 114 – Questions

“Earth, how old are you?”

“15 years old”

“Oh my! You’re the same as me!”

“Eh…… is that right?”

Demons are said to have a long life span, so I’ve heard that there was a gap between their appearance and their age.

Even Tre’ainar had lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years.

However, I was a little surprised that there was no difference in appearance and age when it came to Kron.

“Do you go to school like Karui?”

“School? No, I’m not from this country in the first place.”

“Is that so? Where did you come from?”

Kron seemed curious about me and asked a lot of questions.

We’re walking side by side, but the distance was close. I felt shy. I took a breath. So heartwarming…… Anyway, I just want her to be a little more aware of the sense of distance.

“That’s…… the Empire, and it’s a bit far from here.”

“The outside world… a distant land beyond the sea? Ha~~~, wonderful!”

“What?”

“I only know of this world here, so I admire those who know the outside world!”

And, the pace of things got out of control.

On the other hand…

“Fufufu, Fufufufufu”

Lined up behind us as we walked, with her important precious “Lady Kron” next to a bug called a man, as a rule, this kind of scene would usually be met with “Filthy man, don’t dare approach Lady Kron!” and a fit of rage, but there was no such situation from Jamdi’el. Rather, she seemed to be in a good mood, watching over us with warm… no, really distorted eyes.

To be honest, I couldn’t help but feel creeped out.

And……

“So, is Earth’s family in the Empire?”

“Eh…”

“…… Nu…”

Involuntarily, I was struck by a simple question, and Jamdi’el was reacting behind me.

Family. Well, they were.

Father. Mother. And Sadiz. My family was there.

“?”

But I left the family. It seemed my mother came chasing after me… what happened afterwards?

It’s hard for me to say “I don’t care”, even though I’ve put it behind me.

About my mother and the others who were chasing me, Jamdi’el said, “I didn’t do anything”.

“…… Fuh~…”

And Jamdi’el was reacting behind me.

Yes, Jamdi’el has never treated me as a “hero’s son”, as if to say “it doesn’t matter who I am.”

However, that doesn’t mean that my father and mother “don’t matter” to Jamdi’el either.

Although distorted, she’s still someone who worshiped Tre’ainar as “God”.

Then what does Jamdi’el actually think about my parents, who overthrew that Tre’ainar?

“Uoooooi, Goddess~~! There you are!”

At that moment, a huge cloud of dust rose up on the beach.

“Ara?”

“Ah…”

“Dear me…”

Something was approaching with enough force to cause a raging wave.

That momentum wasn’t fitting, considering the insolent voice that resounded…

“Oh, big brother, and the High Priestess is here too!”

It was Karui. No….. Goddess? Oh, I see… her…

“Ufufufu, Karui, very good morning.”

“…… Very? Well, good morning! High Priestess and big brother, good morning!”

“…… ou.”

“Goodness, as rude as ever, aren’t thee…”

Karui gave a cheerful and straightforward greeting, but not very polite.

Kron was smiling, but Jamdi’el gave a little sigh.

I mean, how many people in the world could give Jamdi’el such a greeting during the war… I don’t even know.

“Well, I wake up in the morning only to be surprised that the Goddess wasn’t in her room, so please stop~.”

“I’m sorry, Karui. But something really wonderful happened today.”

“Yes?”

“Look, this here is Earth. I talked a lot with a boy for the first time in a long time.”

“Whoa, well, really!? Uh, with big brother?! Hee~, you don’t say, heh~”

Like Jamdi’el, she apparently came looking for Kron, but as soon as she heard that Kron was with me, Karui turned her terrifying grinning face toward me.

But……

“And like Karui taught me the other day about how to distinguish between boys and girls, I felt his crotch, but Earth got a little angry. What does that mean?”

“…… eh!?”

The next moment, Karui’s smiling face froze.

“Hou~! I hadn’t heard of that…”

“Gyaahh No, I’m sorry, High Priestess! No, I didn’t mean…”

“Fufufufu, I shall hear of it in the confession room later.”

“Hiiiiiiiiii!?”

“Well, but… as the other party is Earth Lagann, this is…”

As I was shocked at what was actually being taught to a young lady ignorant of the world, Jamdi’el showed a very eloquent smile.

This also made Karui tremble in fear.

Well, at the end of the day, Jamdi’el muttered something that was slightly disturbing…

“Anyway, Karui. Take Lady Kron and help her bathe.”

“Well, I understand! Come on, Goddess, let’s go!”

“Yes, Karui!”

Scared, Karui ran off with Kron, as ordered by Jamdi’el.

Kron happily ran along the beach with Karui.

“Hectic fellow.”

“Well, I suppose.”

“But… I heard from Amae of a goddess, but I didn’t realize… that was the rumored goddess.”

“…… Ah…”

Jamdi’el and I were left behind looking at their backs.

“By the way, Earth Lagann”

“What?”

“I have a question to ask.”

As soon as they were out of sight, Jamdi’el asked me in a voice that I could only hear.

When I turned my face to see what the hell was going on…

“When did thou realize… I was Jamdi’el?”

“Eh!?”

The moment I heard the question, my spine suddenly straightened and I realized that I had been too careless.

“I have yet to give thou my name. But when Lady Kron mentioned my name, there was no reaction from thee.”

“Well, that’s…”

“How could Hiro and Mamu’s son… let alone the academy students of the Imperial City, not know the name ‘Jamdi’el’?”

That’s true. I’m not supposed to know Jamdi’el’s name yet.

Tre’ainar told me Jamdi’el’s name and identity, but she doesn’t know that.

In fact, when Tre’ainar first told me Jamdi’el’s name, how shaken up I got…

“Why can you use the Great Demon Spiral… it was a matter of little consequence before the fact that the successor of the Great Demon King was present, so I didn’t particularly pursue it as it would be problematic were thou to be overly vigilant and attempt escape. Say?”

Jamdi’el calmly and slowly put her hand on my shoulder.

From that hand, I felt an unbelievable chill.

“What in the world are thee? And how can thou know I am Jamdi’el, yet still remain nonchalant and train with calm?”

She should ‘not be doing that’ to me, but I could sense that she was able ‘to do that’.

The pressure was so strong that I could instinctively sense that this hand on my shoulder could easily separate my head from my torso with a slight movement

『Child, stay calm.』

「T, Tre’ainar…」

As I was choking on Jamdi’el’s question, Tre’ainar by my side…

『I heard it all from Bro… give that answer.』

「Bro…? Ah…」

That said, I remembered my farewell conversation with Bro.

―― Maybe you… Master’s twisted ambition and ideology… that fellow’s situation…. nuh-uh.

―― Master? Fellow? What are you talking about?

―― Whaaaat, if you happen to meet my Master, who is also my first love… ’Sister’ ――――

Come to think of it. Bro’s master is this fellow… Surely, then that makes sense… huh? Hold on. If so, Bro’s first love is… eh? And by sister… do you mean like Karui and Amae? Or…… No way… him…?

“What’s wrong? Can thou not answer that?”

“Fuh~, I heard from Bro… about you…”

“…… Hou~…”

Anyway, was that enough to fool her? I don’t know what would happen if I were to tell her that I could see the ghost of Tre’ainar, who she revered as God.

“Yes… by the way, I tried to get Bro to help in my search for thee, but thou was found before that, so in the end I never saw him. How’s he doing?”

“Hmm? A, all right… but he’s thinking about getting honest.”

“Fufufu, him? Honest? Because he couldn’t do that, he fell into delinquency… such a moron…”

The moment she talked about Bro, Jamdi’el’s eyes took on a distant, nostalgic look for a moment.

“So … did Bro mention Lady Kron as well?”

“No, nothing…. about that.”

“Is that so… well, that’s fine.”

Then Jamdi’el took her hand off my shoulder, and the next moment the chill that overwhelmed my body subsided.

“Even though thou has heard of me from Bro, that does not explain thy use of the Breakthrough, Great Demon Spiral, and so on… but for now, let’s leave such frightful inquiry. Either way, at thy current level, only slightly stronger than Bro, thou can’t defeat me or leave this country.”

Jamdi’el walked away from me.

“Now, simply train to thy heart’s content and defeat Machio in three months. Then, as a reward, I will grant thee the greatest treasure in the world and even a legendary honor.”

“What, is it…”

“Look forward to it. And if you wish, I can see to thy training for three months…”

“Eh, don’t joke around. I’ll do what I want.”

“I see. In that case, do carry on.”

Jamdi’el didn’t seem to be looking that deeply into it right now, even though her suspicions about me have not been resolved.

It might be simply because she thought that she could do anything to me by force if she felt like it.

When I was touched up close, I was so scared that I couldn’t help myself.

『…… Jamdi’el… by no means did she, Kron and……… the child…』

At that time, Tre’ainar muttered as if he realized something while staring at Jamdi’el’s back with strong, sharp eyes.

“Earth! If you don’t mind, why don’t you take a bath with me and Karui?”

“tte, I’m in!!”

“Hold on, wa, no, Goddess!? No, no, that’s no good! Please tell her, High Priestess!”

“Well… if thou takes responsibility… right? Earth Lagann.”

I was drowned out by Kron’s voice screaming from all the way there, the tense atmosphere seemed to be broken, and I was so tired that I sighed.

“Hmm, why? I want to talk with Earth some more!”

Generally, a bath… a bath together… that? That might be appealing, right? No, no, I’m not taking advantage of someone’s lack of common sense, that kind of thing … I shouldn’t … I…should … not …

Author’s Note

Everyone, as always, I am indebted to you.

As I noticed yesterday, this work was in the cumulative ranking.

Rank 299th from (?), and although it is a ranking on the borderline where I do not know when it will be overtaken by a nova and fall, I am proud because it was the first time that it was listed in the cumulative total.

This is also thanks to everyone injecting hot drills.

Thank you for all the spirit and drills.

I was surprised that the 85,000 drills was the lowest line in the cumulative ranking, but I was able to break through that wall as well.

We will continue to work hard to go further beyond the heavens, so I look forward to your continued support in the future.

Remaining…… 915,000 Drills!