167. A word that starts with 'shi' and ends with 'ne'?
167. A word that starts with 'shi' and ends with 'ne'?
The justice of the Ares Guild was incredibly simple.
Power.
Might.
A place where everything was decided simply by overwhelming force.
Ganggangyakgang. A guild where everything was forgiven as long as you were strong.
Stole money?
It's the fault of the one who couldn't manage their money.
Got your woman stolen?
It's the fault of the one who couldn't manage their woman.
Got your wife stolen by your younger brother?
An older brother who's worse than his younger brother has no right to have a wife in the first place.
...As they moved into modern society, it became a guild that at least abided by a certain level of business ethics, but the fundamental culture itself still persisted even now.
"I heard the story well from my daughter."
Mars Mama said.
The law of the jungle is, after all, the rule of the world.
Therefore, a strong male taking multiple females is also the natural order of things.
Thus, in Mars Mama's case, she was somewhat willing to tolerate Chrono's harem behavior.
"Bullshit! Until dirt gets in my eyes, not a chance in hell!"
Of course, Mars Papa's case was a different story.
"—Hiyah!"
"Uwooooooog! My eyes! My eyeeeeees!!!"
"I figured something like this might happen, so I brought some dirt from a flowerpot♬"
Now that dirt was literally in his eyes, maybe things would be fine for the moment.
Right about when Mars Papa was clutching both eyes and wailing for Mars, Mars Mama approached Chrono and asked.
"Chrono. Do you wish to have that child?"
"Yes."
"....You don't hesitate at all, do you?"
"It was a question that required no hesitation for me."
"Fufu, it makes me happy to think my daughter is so loved."
Isn't that right, Mars?
At Mars Mama's question, Mars averted her eyes and cursed under her breath.
"...The little bastards who like me are bitches numbering in the double digits, fuck."
"Mars."
"......Ah."
Mars, who momentarily slipped up with her words.
Mars covered her mouth with one hand and tried to silently escape from Mama, but──
"You should use proper words. Kind words. Pretty words, okay?"
"Ah...Aaaaaaagh!!! It hurts! It huuuuuurts!!!!!"
─Mars Mama's Iron Claw.
Though Mama's physique itself was clearly smaller and more frail-looking than Mars, the qualitative intensity of Mama's biceps displayed a force that seemed to surpass Mars's endurance.
In simple terms, she just brought her to her knees and forced eye level to match...?
"Wha...? Papa? Papa, did you say? This son of a bitch has gone mad, daring to touch our daughter Nae-mi right in front of m──Gyaaaaaaaahk!!! This sensation! Intensity! This is, no way....!"
"The same goes for you. I told you to use proper words. Kind words. Pretty words, didn't I?"
"Oh....Oooooooohk!!!"
Ogok! Ogogok!
The father and daughter caught in Mama's two hands.
Seeing them all together with their mouths rounded into an ogok evangelist shape, I roughly got the sense that yep, these were people from the same household.
"Kweeeeeek...."
"Kkieeeeeek...."
"Really, you're both so adorable when you're quiet and still like this."
Ultimately, both were knocked out cold by Mama's hands.
The father and daughter, trembling pitifully in the embrace of the merciful Mama, silently accepted Mama's touch.
"Now...so let's resume what we were saying."
Chrono.
Chrono, you want my child, correct?
"Yes. I want her."
I answered Mama's question honestly.
Then, soon Mama stroked Mars's cheek with her hand and said to me.
"If that's the case, then take Mars away from my arms."
"Pardon?"
"The deadline....3 days from now should be enough, right?"
"........Paaardon?"
What was she suddenly talking about.
In a situation progressing before my thoughts could even catch up, Mars Mama took out a structural map of the Ares Guild building from her bosom, handed it over, and continued.
"My daughter will be on the top floor of our guild."
"Hmm....."
Mars Mama then got up from her seat, dragged the two along the floor, and exited the hospital room.
"....She said 3 days from now, right?"
3 days.
3 days from now, she said.
After watching the Mars family get into the car outside through the hospital room window, I lightly flicked my hand and said.
"With this, time stops."
3 days, my ass.
Not even 3 minutes were needed.
...
..
.
About 5 minutes later.
"Congratulations on passing the first test."
"..........."
This was what Mars Mama said when she came back.
Well...it wasn't that I couldn't understand at all.
'She set it up as a test,'
but I didn't just peek at the answer sheet—I completely stole it.
Since it was over before any sort of differentiation or anything could even begin, like I said before, it wasn't that I couldn't understand, but.
"That's just dirty."
".........."
"Ah"
Did I say that out loud.
As I unknowingly covered my mouth with my hand, Mars Mama let out a light sigh and explained the content of the second test.
"The next test is palm-pushing♬"
"Pardon?"
"You know it's also a son-in-law's job to play along with his mother-in-law, right?"
".......???"
I still couldn't follow the situation.
My mother-in-law, Mars Mama, pulled me up to my feet and then stood before me, showing both her palms.
"One-round match. No take-backs, okay?"
"......Alright."
It was a bit unsettling, but what could I do.
My opponent was the woman who would be my mother-in-law. I was in a position where I had no choice but to play along even if she was being unreasonable.
"Alright then....."
Softly, a gentle smile from my mother-in-law.
She slowly pulled both arms back, taking a stance to gather her strength, and then──
"Ssss───"
".....?"
Why was it.
Something strange. A strange feeling crept up.
A chill ran down my spine.
My vision started to tremble.
My bladder contracted.
My lungs felt like they were shriveling up.
As if I were prey before a predator.
An instinctual alarm, like a rabbit before a tiger, formed into a single sentence.
"──Neeeeeeeeeee!!!!"
"Ner?"
Death God.
A palm-pushing match that began not with a start signal, but with 'drop dead.'
The two hands gradually approaching. Not a simple palm strike, but a martial arts aggregate containing the arcane principles of Ssangsu Hobak.
Soon the overwhelming violence I couldn't resist rushed upon both hands that were clumsily raised to meet it──
─Taaaaaaaang!!!!
"......Fufu."
An explosive sound.
A wave of sound unimaginable from mere palms colliding.
A result of overwhelming violence that even caused the very air to resonate.
"Chrono, you're quite strong, aren't you?"
".......Hiccup!"
I survived.
For now, I was alive.
"I never imagined you wouldn't be pushed back at all....Aha, is it thanks to these gloves?"
You were barehanded earlier, though...
My mother-in-law looked at me with a strange gaze and stroked the gloves.
I quietly exhaled and conveyed my gratitude in my heart.
'This time...I survived thanks to you.'
The full story was simple.
At that fleeting moment.
Just before both hands touched.
Right when I was about to get hit and die without even a gap to stop time, Squite, who was in Rhea's arms, transcended time and clung to my hand.
After that, it transformed into gloves to protect my hands and simultaneously stopped Squite's time, freezing the space itself.
"Well then──yes. That's a pass on the second test as well♬"
"...Thank you."
It reminded me a bit of the sparring on the first day of possession.
Back then too, I scraped together time that didn't exist to stop the dagger's time and freeze space, tried to reverse-tour the situation, and in many ways it was hopeless.
'Like mother, like daughter. How can you act exactly the same way.'
As I marveled at the unyielding laws of heredity, my mother-in-law took Mars again and went out of the hospital room, saying.
"Shall we see the final test in 3 days at the Ares Guild?"
"Pardon?"
"Take good care of your health until the day you're discharged~~~"
"No, hold on a se──she just left."
What did she really want to do in the end.
*******************
"Our daughter brought home an interesting boyfriend, didn't she?"
"Inter...Interesting, he sure is."
The front seats of the sedan.
Mars Mama holding the steering wheel and Mars in the passenger seat.
If you ask where Mars Papa was, he was knocked out cold in the back seat.
Something about it being punishment for failing to protect his daughter.
What kind of Papa lets his child get kidnapped with his eyes wide open, and out he went from a Mama-style Suplex.
Anyway, he was someone who would wake up on his own with time, so they just left him be.
'I was a little, somewhat serious just now.'
Mars Mama quietly reflected on what happened earlier.
Snatching Mars away before the test could even begin was praiseworthy.
Her pride was a bit ruffled since she got caught out, but that just meant he had that much 'skill'.
However, the part she couldn't wrap her head around was the second test. The palm-pushing incident.
"Fufu....fu.....fufuut.....♬"
He didn't budge.
Didn't move even 1 millimeter.
She had only used about half her strength, just for test purposes, but was it even possible that he didn't waver at all?
'Clearly, his muscles didn't move.'
It wasn't physical strength.
Then, was it indeed a 'divine blessing'?
"A human beloved by the gods, huh...."
Good.
This is good too.
A destiny of being loved by someone could also become 'strength' for him.
She wasn't so narrow-minded as to say this had to be blindly ignored.
....However, be that as it may.
"Daughter. Mama wants Mars to live together with a 'strong person'."
".......?"
"Daughter. What Mama considers a 'strong person' is like this."
Mars Mama said.
"A 'strong person' must be a person who is strong in front of 'all people'."
"Ganggangyakgang?"
"Yes. Exactly that."
Strong in front of the strong.
Strong in front of the weak.
Someone who is just strong, and strong, and endlessly strong at all times.
"There's this. It's fine even if they're not simply someone strong in power."
Someone strong in wisdom would be fine.
Someone strong in heart would be fine.
However, they must simply be a 'strong person' at the end of the day.
"Only then will they not abandon our daughter and stay with her when things are tough, when things are difficult."
"....Mama."
At Mama's words, Mars said.
"I get what you're thinking, Mama, but Chrono that bastard is absolutely not that kind of guy."
"You trust your boyfriend, huh?"
"...Trust, my ass."
It wasn't trust.
It was just, he 'was that kind of bastard', that's all.
"Chrono is....yeah. The Chrono I saw by his side was 'that kind of guy' from the start."
"....Mars."
The profile of Mars speaking calmly.
Mama looked at her daughter, and soon she could notice the change in Mars.
"He's strong in front of the weak, but in front of the strong, he's an even stronger bastard."
Our daughter Mars, who had always been young, pretty, and only cute.
"In the first place, he's the guy I fell for, so how could he be some run-of-the-mill nobody?"
"...Is that so?"
Unnoticed, she had started to wear the face of such a 'woman'.
That look was very pretty, and she was grateful, and also a little sad...
'He's that much, is he?'
...Sure enough, I must confirm the bottom.