A Wife's Resolve
Germania (6) Franc dashed across the garden soil, her body low to the ground to make the most of her small frame. Honestly, I had been caught off guard. For the first second or so she moved slowly enough that I fell for it completely. The five-meter gap between us vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving less than two meters.
—Shrrk! My battle-honed instincts unleashed one of the counter techniques I had been drilling just minutes earlier. It was a spear art meant to intercept low-approaching enemies. The elastic shaft whipped toward Franc’s shoulder.
Franc parried the shaft with her wooden knife. Even after awakening her mana, her strength was still a notch below mine. The difference between two-handed and one-handed weapons made it easy to deflect, but Franc hurled her other knife straight at my throat.
If I dodged, my stance would collapse and I would lose any chance to counter. I shortened my grip and knocked the blade aside. Franc used that opening to close the distance to a range where swinging my spear became awkward.
‘……I messed up.’ I had to admit it. Even after seeing how serious Franc was, I had still been underestimating her. I never expected our Franc to fight this well in a direct confrontation. In my memories she had always been strong and agile, yet she lacked the skill to apply those traits in actual combat. But while I had grown stronger, so had she.
Franc had trained body coordination with Larilura alongside me. Using the gear I gave her, she had taken on adventurer work even when I was away. She had studied magic diligently while her husband was busy chasing other women. Now I finally understood why she had asked for this sparring match. She wanted to show me, face-to-face, the growth she could never display while only supporting from the rear. She wanted to prove how hard she had worked to keep up with my dream. Perhaps she had also been inspired by the fact that I had finally revealed my hidden secret.
‘I should take this seriously too.’ I clenched my rear and focused.
—Whoosh! I threw the spear away. They say distance means nothing to a true spear master, but I was hardly at that level. If I tried to create a proper stance now, I would just get punished. Bare-handed was the right call.
“Hup!” When Franc saw me discard the spear and swing an elbow at her head, she slipped aside and slashed at my arm with her knife.
—Shpapap! A brief exchange followed—Franc trying to counter while I tried to grab her wrist. It ended in a draw. I had to release her to dodge the thrown knife, and her attack only grazed my arm. Even if the knife had been real steel, the mana coating from Beast Regression would have stopped it.
‘Franc has thrown all her knives!’ The Franc who had carried two knives in each hand was now empty-handed. If we wanted to end this without injuring each other, the best move was to press the attack.
—Shkak! I swiped at her with my hand, claws retracted. Franc dodged and tucked her arms against her sides as though embracing an invisible person.
‘No way.’ The moment the thought crossed my mind, wooden knives materialized from the enchanted armor on Franc’s body.
‘So that’s why she carved them all to the exact same shape.’ The Portable Subspace in that armor could only store knives. Franc had deliberately whittled the sticks into knife shapes because she had been preparing to ask me for a sparring match. Even the fact that she had openly carried only four knives had been a bluff!
—Shushuk! Franc hurled the knives. Dodge? Block? Neither felt right. This wasn’t some kids’ game of Vector Man; getting hit wouldn’t even hurt. Still, claiming “I tanked it anyway” during a spar just looked pathetic. I had to either evade or deflect.
I reached for the mithril spear and activated Geirtýr. The runes carved into the shaft resonated with the Ansuz rune on the blade.
“Saint-Exupéry Parry—!!”
—Whirlick!! I spun the returned spear like a windmill and knocked the knives out of the air. Geirtýr did contain a technique for spinning the spear to block attacks, but if an amateur like me tried it, I would just get smacked like some kid copying a cartoon.
—Tak! After I deflected the delayed fake as well, Franc had already closed the distance again. It was a desperate, silent dash. But I refused to fall for the same trick twice. The muscles along my body tensed. Distance control was something I had mastered long ago. The notion that spears were weak in close combat was nothing but an excuse from weaklings. Because I had stayed alert this time, I still had room to strike.
《Arise as a god (Dd.f xa m nTr).》
Yet Franc had read the move. The moment I stepped forward, she chanted. Muddy hands erupted from the ground and seized my ankles.
“This is!!”
Hands without fingers—like a zombie Doraemon whose fingers had been welded shut. No, this was a golem summon!
‘How without a core?’ I crushed the surprise and focused. No time for distractions. Even though the golem had my ankle, I was still stronger. The problem was I needed solid footing to use that strength. With my foot pinned, I toppled backward.
Damn it! Fixing my posture now would be too late!
“Kkyooooop!!” I kicked off with my good leg as though using a prosthetic and resumed the attack.
—Vwooom! My body became a merciless killing machine with a double-digit kill count and drove the shaft toward Franc’s collarbone. The strike was as ruthless as driving a shovel into frozen ground. Once third gear fully engaged, my combat instincts had fully awakened. At this rate I could subdue her!
Then the realization hit.
‘……Ah, but this will definitely hurt Franc.’
The moment the thought formed, my arm locked up. Our Franc’s shoulders already worked overtime just supporting the weight of her natural big breasts twenty-four hours a day. Even a busty woman couldn’t escape the curse of stiff shoulders. And now I was about to stab those same overworked shoulders with a stick?
“Shit! Impossible!”
I slammed on the brakes. The double-digit-kill killing machine died on the spot. The ice-type slaughterer tore off its mask and revealed itself as the wife-obsessed Kang-something.
“——Eh?”
Franc, surprised that I had stopped, still moved on reflex. She used the golem’s hand to trip me, mounted my chest, and raised her wooden knife high. But she didn’t bring it down. Even she knew this mount position hadn’t been earned by her own skill. The knife she had lifted with both hands slowly descended like a proper lady.
“Haaah—.”
Had she really gone all out? Franc panted heavily, both hands still gripping the knife. That was the price of moving at the absolute limit her body allowed.
“Huff, huff, huff……”
Franc placed a hand on her large chest and gasped for breath. With each inhale, her breasts rose and fell violently.
‘Holy crap.’
From my position on the ground, Franc’s face was hidden behind her own cleavage. But the view was spectacular. Insanely erotic. I wanted to record it and watch it for thirty minutes every night before bed.
Now empty-handed, Franc leaned down. Otherwise our eyes wouldn’t meet. Like an affectionate puppy, she climbed onto my stomach and half-closed her eyes.
“……Nord. I told you not to go easy on me.”
“Huh? No, what are you talking about. I didn’t hold back at all.”
“You think I’ll fall for that? Nord, you’re surprisingly bad at lying, you know?”
Franc pressed down on my collarbone. With my shirt off, I could feel the softness of her fingers. She had known all along that I eased up at the end. I decided to be honest.
“It’s true that I almost lost. Without Beast Regression I probably wouldn’t have won.”
The way she had swept my legs to finish me had been terrifyingly smooth. If I hadn’t been faster than her, the moment the golem grabbed my leg I would have been finished before I could even react.
“Besides, this match was unfair from the start. How could I possibly hit you?”
Just because your wife became a pro athlete didn’t mean a boxing champion could punch her in the face. That was ridiculous. I tried to make up an excuse on the spot, but Franc only puffed out her cheeks.
“That’s even worse. You’re making me look like some awful wife who only beats her husband because she doesn’t love him.”
“You attacked while thinking your husband would handle it just fine.”
“And you couldn’t attack because you didn’t trust me?”
“Uh, no, that’s……………… Referee……”
She had cut off every escape route. Our Franc really was a thief. Damn it, I was caught in a checkmate. How was I supposed to answer? I licked my lips, preparing a defense, but Franc simply pinched my cheeks like it was all a joke. It didn’t hurt.
“So? How was it? I worked really hard.”
“……You were amazing. That’s the truth. Did you practice on your own?”
Had she learned these techniques while traveling separately from me? She wouldn’t have had anyone to teach her. At my question, Franc smiled brightly.
“Hehe. I learned how to use tricks in a fight from you, Nord.”
“Aigoo. They say couples grow alike.”
Well, sleight of hand suited a thief far better than a hybrid druid master’s degree holder like me. After all, psychological warfare was crucial in a straight fight. I had learned that from fighting games. With golems to retrieve her knives, Franc could keep using hit-and-run tactics until the enemy dropped dead. If they got angry and charged, she could just trip them with a golem and finish them off.
“Veronica taught me how to summon golems without a core. They only last a moment, but I figured using just part of one would catch people off guard.”
“Yeah. I got hit while staring straight at it.”
I answered honestly. Come to think of it, the black mage had also raised earthen spears to keep me in check. Had that been an application of golem summoning too? Either way, it was still earth-manipulation magic, so it was probably similar.
Franc rested her head on my chest and spoke.
“You know, I was lucky enough to be the first one you loved, right? You’ve helped me so much too. So I wanted to do as much for you as you’ve done for me.”
“I’d be happy as long as you don’t get hurt, but didn’t we talk about this before?”
“Yeah. When you left me behind to go wipe out that bandit group.”
Back then, after getting beaten by Tabula and returning to the inn, I had lied to Franc that nothing happened and gotten thoroughly scolded. Just as I worried about her, she worried about me. I nodded.
“Got it. I won’t say anything more. But aren’t you misunderstanding something? I rely on you a lot too, you know?”
“Yes~ Please rely on me even more~.”
When Franc acted cute and laughed, I patted her head. Every time my hand moved, her face went slack like a dog getting brushed.
“Auuu, that feels nice……”
“Hehe. Where do you like it most?”
“Anywhere you touch feels good, but when you stroke my head it reminds me of my mother.”
“Really? I’m honored to be compared to a pure-blooded dwarf mother-in-law’s touch.”
I answered with a poker face. Franc had liked and missed her mother even before we started dating. On our first night together she had mentioned that her father passed away before she was old enough to remember him. That was probably why. Yet despite that, I had never seen her write letters to her mother. I lay back on the garden soil. Something I learned when buying this house came to mind. In this world, a house was the greatest asset. People without houses were those who never inherited property and became adults without one. Think of the rural villages I had visited for commissions. Those people weren’t stupid—why would anyone live in a village that monsters attacked? Was it because they lacked safety awareness? No. It was because without the house they inherited in that village, they would have to pay just to sleep somewhere. Poor people who couldn’t afford houses inside city walls lived in those dangerous villages, risking their lives just to survive.
Then what about Franc?
Second wife’s daughter. Raised from childhood learning acrobatics without a home. The way she almost never brought up her parents while we lived together. From those clues alone, I could roughly guess her family situation. Franc was probably waiting for the right moment to talk about it. Since I had already revealed everything about myself, she might still be mentally preparing.
‘……Maybe going to Germania will make it clearer.’
Germania was close to Nidavellir, the dwarves’ nation. It would give us a natural opening to bring it up.
“……Ah.”
Just then, Franc suddenly froze in surprise. I wondered what was wrong when I noticed Larilura and Veronica watching us from the garden. Seriously, this déjà vu feeling again. Larilura, who had been peeking between her fingers, spoke awkwardly once caught.
“U-um…… I finished translating what Senior gave me? I wasn’t trying to spy or anything……”
“……Sorry if we interrupted. Larilura, let’s go.”
“Y-yes!! Have a good time♡!!”
—Tap tap tap! The two beauties fled like a rabbit and a wild horse. They probably ran because I was shirtless with Franc lying on top of me. Honestly, if they hadn’t been there I couldn’t swear we wouldn’t have gone straight to the bedroom. Sorry, Dana.
“……Should I put the knives away?”
“Yeah. I should get dressed too.”
Franc and I exchanged glances and began cleaning up after the spar. We couldn’t leave the garden in a mess right before a business trip. While we were away we would have to hire a housekeeper to clean once a week, and getting scolded or charged extra would be annoying. So we spent our time mixing bodies and blades while being careful not to let the freeloaders notice.
—And so, roughly two weeks later, we crossed the sea and arrived at the port city of Kudoses in Germania.