The Hero's Son is an Abandoned Orphan. (3)
The Hero's Son is an Abandoned Orphan. (3)
Kael.
Kael is an orphan picked up off the street?
Laika's lips went dry for a moment.
'Elves' generally don't want to live comfortably with humans.
Even if there are cases where they have to live together, most don't form attachments.
From the perspective of those who live more than ten times longer than humans, humans are just fleeting connections and could never be on equal footing.
However, Kael was different.
It's not that she cherishes Kael because she's some oddball who likes humans.
Laika truly loved Kael as her son.
She even resented the fact that she couldn't give birth to Kael herself...
She cherished and loved the little boy enough to be jealous of the fact that there were two other moms.
She even lived with the thought that when Kael grew old and died, she would die too.
An eccentric elf.
An oddity whose only skill was hurting people.
Yet he loved even her, came up to her, and hugged her.
He would tell her he was proud of her and always smile brightly.
On nights when the moonlight seeped in, the soft breathing from the soundly sleeping child was adorable.
The soft touch of him coming up to hug her, saying "Mom," and his physique, smaller than his peers, were adorable.
It was also sad when he was considerate of his mothers in a way that didn't fit his young age, or when he nodded at everything his mothers said.
Kael was a child, but he had a mature side.
He was mature, yet he was the most adorable child of all.
In every action, he kept his mother 'Laika' in his eyes, and he did everything for his 'mother'.
Even if she didn't want to love him, she couldn't help it.
For Kael's sake, she could die, and she could kill someone.
Absolutely not, some brat from an unknown Count's family...
No, he wasn't a child that the scum of the empire, who had groveled to us begging to be spared, could say anything about.
Click-.
Laika took a step forward without realizing it.
She knew the young lady of the Count's family didn't mean any malice, but that wasn't something worth caring about.
Malice welled up in the green-haired elf.
No, anger that surpassed malice was tightly coiled, ready to overflow at any moment.
Ppiiii-!
A ringing sound echoed in her ears.
Her eyes became bloodshot, the ground seemed to soar into the sky, and people began to appear as multiples.
The keen senses unique to the Elven race saw and heard everything about Kael's condition.
"... M, Mom-."
The tremor in Kael's voice settled in her ears.
Even though he had been insulted, he couldn't say anything, and she could hear him carefully swallowing.
Thump-, thump-.
The heartbeat, signaling that his emotions were in turmoil, pounded as if it would tear Laika's eardrums.
She wouldn't let it slide just because he was a child.
She had warned them, a long time ago.
She had told the guys who were watching us around Mayhead, over and over again.
'Absolutely, I won't forgive you.'
The moment Laika let her hair down without realizing it.
The moment a dagger was held in her long, beautiful, yet scar-filled hand.
The moment a few nobles realized the problem and tried to approach to stop Laika.
"M, Mom...."
Kael grabbed Laika's hand.
Tearfully, looking somewhat scared-. No, as if blaming himself.
As if he didn't want his mother to get angry just for his sake.
"... I, I'm fine.... I'm scared, p, please don't be angry...."
Laika stood there blankly, looking down at Kael.
His physique smaller than his peers, the way he took care of her first even though he was hurt.
It hurts.
Her heart, it hurt so much.
She felt goosebumps rise all over her body, her fine hairs standing on end.
"I, I don't want to see Mom get angry...."
She hadn't expected something like this to happen.
The same went for Kael getting hurt.
She had told them, she had told the guys from the Magic Tower over and over again to make sure they passed the message on.
But Kael was hurt, and even though he was hurt, he shielded her.
The fact that Kael was sad entered her eyes more than her anger.
Laika immediately hugged Kael and asked herself.
'... Did you really not expect this?'
The reason she practiced acting like a human mother instead of an 'Elf' was because she was afraid Kael would be disliked.
You knew instinctively that something like this would happen, didn't you, Laika.
"... E, everyone is just too young, Mom."
Even though she was an elf who didn't live among humans, she knew the ecology of noble society to some extent.
The reason they wanted to become the heir was to inherit everything from the family.
The reason they ostracized those who couldn't inherit anything was because they knew those people had already been abandoned by the family and thus received nothing.
Kael was so outstanding that she couldn't tell him.
Because of that fucking Prophecy, she had forced herself to endure it, fearing that maybe, just maybe, Kael would replace us.
Even if she didn't teach him techniques, she gave him overflowing love and intended to leave him all the assets she had....
"Kael, are you listening to Mom?"
Laika clenched her fist tightly while looking at the mature child who was looking at her with worry.
She cast aside all thoughts of trying to act like a human.
There's no need to be mature, because I'm an elf.
The Prophecy is scary, though.
Kael being hurt is even scarier.
If she showed just a little, just a tiny bit of Kael's talent....
She believed that at least something like this wouldn't happen again.
"... Kael might not be a genius, but he's better than those nobles."
Laika couldn't stand the fact that her beloved son was ignored right in front of her, more than any insult she had ever experienced.
If the topic of talent comes up later, she could just consistently ignore it, and if they persistently asked, she could just say she helped him.
A dagger is held in her hand.
It moves from Laika's hand to Kael's hand as if flowing.
"Kael, shall we throw it outside?"
"... I, I've never thrown anything before."
"It's okay, Mom will help you."
"M, Mom-. You, you hate holding things like daggers."
"It's okay, just this once. So, follow me."
Laika overlapped her hand on top of Kael's and showed him the grip unique to the Elven race.
Originally, it required practice in flowing mana evenly, but Kael could do it from the start.
He just followed the hand shape, but Laika's mana rippled at the tips of Kael's fingers.
The dagger hummed loftily.
"... Hmm, do you see that big tree outside? You just have to throw it there. When you throw it, if you throw it with the feeling of 'Hiyah! Hit it!', it will fly well."
Of course, the explanation was still abstract and hard to understand.
Kael just nodded as 'Laika' wanted.
Because the sadness in his mother's eyes was reflected in Kael's eyes as well.
Because he realized that, at least for right now, she wanted him to throw the dagger.
"Kael, it's not that you have no talent. Got it? I'm just going to show them that."
"... O, okay, Mom."
A moment of silence, a moment of pause.
Laika shouted loudly to those who had disappeared from Kael's side in an instant.
"... Everyone, atteeeention-!"
There was no one who didn't know that the owner of that ringing voice was Laika.
In the first place, when an elf who doesn't treat 'humans' as equals suddenly steps forward, it's only when they want to cause trouble.
Above all, Laika was just of age among elves, but among humans, she was an old woman.
Mother or father.
Through the generations of mothers, fathers, and even grandfathers, the notoriety she had built up among the nobles made them look at Laika.
Unlike other elves, she liked humans and was always playing pranks and acting lazy, but....
Once she exploded.
Whenever she was hurt even once by the humans she liked.
Everyone knew she caused big trouble.
Of course, this was a fact that Alicia and Aria, who had been her companions, knew best.
"... Laika?"
"That elf is really...."
Aria, who was sipping champagne out of courtesy under the flashy chandelier and chatting with nobles for 'Kael's' sake.
Alicia, who was caught by the mages of the Magic Tower and was annoyed, saying she would never return to being the Magic Tower Master.
The two of them looked at Laika.
"Kael is not a fool or a dunce, you stupid humans!"
At Laika's shout, Alicia dropped her champagne glass without realizing it.
"... T, this crazy elf, I told you not to cause trouble!"
Aria broke her gentle smile and tilted her head.
"Ah-. Laika, really...."
Even without asking, one could tell what she was trying to do.
A dagger was placed on Kael's hand, and Laika was shouting about throwing it or something.
Is she trying to show that Kael is a genius?
We agreed to hide everything about his talent, you know we can't control Kael forever.
If Kael leaves our hands and learns something....
Even for our sake, Kael might end up going to the battlefield himself.
He might have to repeat the same killing and being killed as us.
We are enough!
Alicia and Aria shouted loudly inside, but their inner thoughts couldn't be heard.
In Laika's heart, only one fact was stuck like a dagger.
That Kael had silently endured the insults for her sake even though he was hurt, and that even in the midst of that, he had worried about her first.
"Kael has no talent? Huh? Look closely! I'll show you just how talented our Kael is!"
Laika stood by Kael's side and pointed outside the balcony.
A large old tree that the Elven race had given to humans as a token of peace could be seen.
It was an old tree that 'Laika', the eccentric elf who liked humans, had grown and planted herself.
"Kael, throw it at that."
Kael looked at the big tree at Laika's words.
His hands and feet were trembling, and the words that he was an orphan without 'talent' kept circling in his head, but....
He was afraid that everyone would insult him more, and that his mother would be hurt more, but....
'... I don't want Laika-mom to be sad.'
The fact that Laika's eyes were red was the most painful thing right now.
Cheok-.
He planted his feet and put strength into both hands.
In an instant, Laika's remaining mana resonated with the tips of Kael's fingers-.
The dagger he was holding left his hand and swam through the air.
Since he had never thrown it before, his posture was clumsy, but-.
The dagger went straight, cutting through the air.
Embracing a blue light, leaving an afterimage, and carrying a soft breeze, it went straight-.
Then, at some moment-.
The dagger that had left Kael's hand and was flying through the air hesitated in mid-air as if it had hit an invisible wall.
And, it lost its strength and stopped abruptly.
Taeng-geureureu-.
The dagger fell to the floor in vain.
After flying only a few meters, it fell abruptly, as if it were destined to fall from the beginning-.
Click-.
Aria and Alicia walked out right in front of where the dagger had fallen.
Aria carefully picked up the dagger, and Alicia looked at Laika with sharp eyes.
"... It seems Laika was trying to play a prank, I'm sorry everyone. I'm sorry for causing a commotion."
The commotion Laika had stirred up was settled by the Saintess.
Her gentle smile and benevolent voice echoed to the feet of the banquet hall.
Since the hero appeared and stopped the elf, vitality quickly returned to the banquet hall.
The strange look in the eyes of those who had been watching Kael quickly disappeared at the mention of Laika's prank.
Bewilderment colored Laika's expression, and everyone murmured.
There was criticism, there was sarcasm, and there were words about being surprised by the unexpected maternal love or seeing Laika differently, but.
"That's what I thought."
"... If she loved him that much, she should have taught him something. To say she loves him without giving him anything."
"Isn't it just proof that he's not a child she truly loves?"
"That could be it."
In Laika's ears, only words that insulted Kael and seemed to deny her love were present.
"... Why, why, why on earth...."
A tear welled up and fell from the corner of Laika's eye.
From her clenched fist, the sound of nails breaking was heard.
Blood rushed backwards through her whole body, and both her hands trembled as if she had caught a cold.
Whether she knew this or not, Alicia, who had walked up to Kael and Laika, spoke coldly.
"Are you crazy?"
Laika looked at Alicia and Aria.
Aria's eyes were not filled with divine power, but were dyed black due to a curse.
Alicia's eyes were originally red, but because she had handled mana, they were dyed even redder now.
It was the Archmage's red mana that had blocked the dagger-.
And it was the curse that the Saintess had shot.
"... What on earth are you doing, Aria, Alicia-!"
When Laika shouted, red mana surged around Alicia's body.
The elf was angry, but the Archmage, who hadn't properly grasped the situation, was also angry.
"I would prefer it if everyone didn't look at us."
At Alicia's words, everyone in the banquet hall turned their backs.
To those who had turned their backs, Aria spoke as if apologizing with a smile.
"... I'm sorry, everyone. It seems Laika is drunk. The banquet was enjoyable. Kael must have thought so too, right, Kael?"
"... Yes, i, it was fun."
A time when the banquet hadn't even reached its peak, a moment when Kael had only been ignored and hurt.
"Kael, hug Mom. Let's go now."
Kael had been ignored, and the humans who were his mothers had made him a laughingstock once again.
"I'm asking what on earth you're doing, answer me, Alicia. Aria, hurry!"
Laika couldn't hold back her anger and shouted again, but....
"... M, Mom. I, I want to go home."
Staring blankly at the spot where the dagger had fallen.
'I must be lacking, that's why Laika-mom got into trouble.'
It was just buried in Kael's powerless voice.
'Ah-, K, Kael....'
Laika bit her lip.
Because she realized that she had tried to do something for Kael, but instead had hurt him even more.
She just swallowed her sadness inside, and couldn't shout anymore.
"... Let's go, Laika."
Alicia opened the banquet hall door first and walked out.
Aria followed behind Alicia with Kael in her arms.
Laika, who had been standing blankly, couldn't leave the banquet hall and stayed for a moment.
She wiped away her tears, rolled her eyes, and found the child who had insulted Kael.
The young lady of the Count's family was smiling brightly, enjoying the banquet as if it had nothing to do with her.
Sadness became anger.
And anger soon became hatred.
A child can make mistakes, but the father and mother who gave birth to and raised that child are different.
You shouldn't hurt my child and then laugh and chat as if you're so happy.
Kael didn't do anything wrong.
Why, as if you have nothing to do with it....
Why are you laughing as you please at a banquet where Kael is the protagonist...?
'... Hasla Family.'
Laika's gaze took in the emblem of the Hasla Family.
Fortunately, it was a family located near the road back to Mayhead.