Adoption. (2)
Adoption. (2)
Time continued to flow.
Kael, who was five, turned six, and Alicia and Aria turned eighteen.
Laika turned eighty-one, held her coming-of-age ceremony in the Elf Forest, and became the only adult among the heroes.
"... Mom-ma."
Kael reached out with a soft hand and grasped Aria's finger.
Although the feelings and memories he had as an adult—the memories of his 'past life'—still remained, he was gradually adapting to the body of a six-year-old child, and to some extent, he had begun to truly regard the three of them as his mothers.
"Hm? Kael, what is it?"
Aria replied with a beaming smile, pulling Kael into a tight hug.
Then Kael would always reply with a similarly beaming smile, saying thank you and that he liked her. And the mothers, including Aria, would always wear smiles, telling Kael that they, too, were fortunate to have him.
The affection only grew deeper.
It was only natural.
"... That is why I must take care of our Kael. You senile idiots!"
"... Isn't he an adopted son anyway? How can you not understand that the Red Tower needs you, Alicia!"
"W, what did you say? A, adopted son!?"
As they lived with Kael and nurtured their maternal instincts, and as they grew the sense of responsibility and affection for the 'adoption' they had carried out....
Conversely, they had no choice but to neglect the work they had to do as heroes.
"... Saintess-nim, you must return to the Church."
"Are you telling me to pray for others when I cannot even take care of my own child...?"
"... There are still many people in the world who are hurting, Saintess-nim."
Because of this, Alicia, the Archmage of the Magic Tower, and Aria, the Saintess of the Church, could not stay at the mansion for long.
It was because there was even more work to do now that peace had been restored than immediately after the war had ended.
"... Oh! Kael!"
Therefore, Laika, who had nothing to do as was typical for an elf, mostly stayed at the mansion.
Elves were inherently a lazy race as long-lived as they were, so not much had changed.
But at the very least, it was a clear fact that the house where Kael stayed was now full of life.
There was the smell of food, a warm heat could be felt, and the sounds of giggling and playing could be heard.
However, the biggest change came on the day they decided to make the day they saved Kael his birthday.
It came silently when they were celebrating his sixth birthday, and for the first time in a while, the mother and son all fell asleep together.
On a day when the howling of wolves could be heard outside the window and the chirping of insects settled in.
On a day when he woke up from his sleep because he had a nightmare about horned men, just like fate.
Kael, who was shivering after waking up, felt a strange trembling in the arms of the mothers who had been sharing their warmth with him.
"Di, die-. Plea-se-."
"... A, Aria-. A, Alicia is we, weird-. Bloo, blood-."
"... Why, oh why, do you bestow such cruel trials upon us-."
Like pus leaking from a festering wound, the scars they had hidden behind the name of hero burst out at their most vulnerable moment, the moment they sought sleep.
Kael watched it all.
Fear-soaked sobs leaked from their lips, and within them was buried the guilt over the peace achieved by killing others.
Tears streamed down their eyes, as if to represent the situation at the time, soaking the snow-white pillow.
Ordinary people, no different from himself.
No, perhaps even more unhappy and pitiful than himself.
The actions that were initially just a struggle to survive now began to be imbued with genuine 'compassion.'
It was because he had begun to vaguely understand the pain of these women who had been forced to kill so many people.
Kael at least wanted them to be happy here.
He wanted the wounds of the people who had taken it upon themselves to be his mothers to heal, even if just a little.
That was why.
Today, when Laika muttered to herself that her stomach didn't feel well.
Today, when she fell from the tree she had placed in front of the mansion because she had a nightmare.
That was why Kael was hovering around the kitchen with his small body.
Jalgeurak-.
He had grown into a child, and at first, he had denied it, but now he could not deny it.
Still, what helped were the memories from when he was an adult.
Kael stood on tiptoe, lit the magic stove, and busily busied himself.
Because a gloomy sadness had settled in the young child's heart, thinking that Laika was sick.
"K, Kael! Yo, you made this!?"
"Because Mother seemed to be hu, hurting."
"M, me?"
"... You fell from the tree."
"So you made this for me...?"
Laika looked at the small blister that had formed on the tip of Kael's finger.
She was so moved that she wondered if he was taking care of his mothers more than himself. Without realizing it, she opened her mouth and hiccuped.
Hikkeuk.
"I'll eat it de, deliciously...."
Since she was emotional by nature, Laika ate the porridge while half-crying.
And then, she clapped loudly, told him it was delicious, thanked him, and hugged Kael tightly.
It wasn't because the cooking was incredibly grand or the taste was insanely excellent.
It was the fact that a young child had stood on tiptoe and struggled to cook for an elf who had become an adult.
The precious heart that tried to repay love without taking it for granted.
In truth, it was also because Kael was cute and lovely.
"How are you so smart? Huh? Why do you only show me such pretty sides of yourself?"
Laika hugged Kael slightly and kissed his cheek.
Because he was too cute, it didn't end with just one.
The boy swallowed dry saliva without realizing it and twisted his body slightly in Laika's arms.
His expression darkened slightly.
Even though he regarded her as a mother, it was still burdensome.
"... Kael, is something worrying you?"
Laika, who had been innocently hugging Kael, asked cautiously.
Because he couldn't say that the love his adoptive mother gave him was too burdensome, Kael shook his head slightly, and then, thinking of the mothers who hadn't visited lately, he moved his lips with a proud look.
"... It would have been nice if the other mothers could have eaten it too, but everyone is so busy...."
Ulkeok!
Laika, who had gasped, turned her head, and was about to hug Kael again, but soon shook her head.
Since she couldn't carry her bow around all the time, she took out a small dagger she kept on her, and drew a circular magic circle around the porridge Kael had made.
It looked grand, but it was a basic spell to protect body temperature in regions full of cold.
Even so, as if Laika didn't want the porridge Kael had painstakingly made to get cold.
She even scrunched up her face, gathered all her concentration, and carefully poured mana into the simple magic circle.
Once she confirmed that the magic was working properly, she smiled with satisfaction.
"Let's go, Kael."
"... Wh, where?"
"The Magic Tower. And, the Church."
And then, with Kael in one arm.
And with the porridge wrapped in a cloth in the other hand, she walked out of the house.
"... You want to see Alicia and Aria too, right? That's why, heueuk. You were sad, right? I can't live like this. Kael, you need other moms besides me! If you wanted to see them, you should have said so, who do you think I am-!"
Carrying Kael, she leaped into the sky at once.
Cutting through the firmament like a bird flying in the sky, Laika headed toward the Magic Tower with Kael.
It might have been scary to look down at the ground and see everything looking like dots, but because Laika's hand was firmly supporting the boy.
Rather than fear or terror, he only felt a certain amount of love.
...
Silence hung over the lecture hall of the Red Tower.
Because the owner of the Red Tower, who had red hair and red eyes, had suddenly lost her words.
The woman who, despite being young, had become a hero with her own hands by going to the battlefield because she possessed talent superior to anyone else.
She was staring somewhere with a face flushed red.
"... We, we're fucked."
"... No, they just fought a while ago, why are they bothering Alicia-nim again...."
Silence was fear to them.
Those in the lecture hall were well aware that Alicia had been having frequent friction with other tower masters recently.
Those sitting in the lecture hall couldn't see, but if one looked at the door outside from the podium, one could tell that someone had arrived.
To have her face turn that red?
It was definitely those senile mages from the Magic Tower.
They said they wanted to retire and live comfortably since they had saved the world, but whenever they looked at the high-ranking people who kept them in the Magic Tower by bringing up duties or obligations, their faces would turn red like that.
Whenever that happened, it was a common occurrence for the Magic Tower's property or the lecture hall to be smashed to pieces.
Because only by expressing her anger like that could she reduce the classes she was forced to teach and get a vacation.
It would be the same this time.
They must have kicked open the door in the middle of a lecture again to stop Alicia, who was saying she wanted to take a vacation.
The moment would soon come when she would smash everything and they would have to clean up the mess.
Everyone thought so, but....
"... Ka, Kael!"
Alicia opened her eyes round like an ordinary girl of her age and covered her mouth.
She stomped her feet, bit her lip with a face that didn't know what to do, and wiggled her fingers.
"... Th, that, is that Alicia-nim?"
"I, I don't think so?"
Coming down from the podium and running up the long, stretched-out stairs.
The sight of her hugging the cute boy with black hair just like that came as a kind of shock to the professors of the Red Tower.
"Mo, Mother."
They had known for a while that Alicia had adopted a child.
But the professors of the Magic Tower just thought it was a formal adoption.
Because Alicia was someone for whom liking someone or giggling like a woman didn't suit her at all.
However, Alicia spoke firmly to Kael.
"You shouldn't call me Mother, you should call me Mom."
"Mo, Mom."
"Hi, did you come all the way here because you missed Mom?"
She looked at Kael with a beaming smile and eyes overflowing with happiness.
As if Laika, who had come with him, wasn't even visible.
Alicia kept looking at Kael, but Kael was a little different.
The murmuring felt like the laughter of the demons from last year.
He thought he had overcome it, that he had forgotten it by receiving love, but his expression darkened for no reason.
Alicia smoothed over the situation with an awkward cough.
"... Ah, I apologize. As you know, because of the other tower masters. I haven't been able to leave work lately."
And then, she turned her body so that Kael's face could be seen, and,
"He's my son, isn't he cute?"
Suddenly, she boasted about her son to them.
Everyone knew that he wasn't a son she had given birth to herself, but no one refuted it.
Because it was the first time the owner of the Red Tower, who had only shown a look full of fatigue and annoyance, had shown such a happy appearance.
"Kael, Mom is working, so I'll be out soon. If you go out and turn left, there's a lounge. Play there with Laika for a bit, okay?"
"... Alicia, can't you just leave work now?"
"Elves might be fine even if they laze around because the support funds and subsidies given by the elf tribe pour in, but we humans are different."
"Kael cooked this himself to eat with you.... If it takes too long, it might get cold."
"... Kael, really?"
"... Yes."
Alicia gaped, handed Kael over to Laika, and then,
"Wait 3 minutes."
She closed the door of the lecture hall just like that.
Then, she spoke to the professors of the Magic Tower who were standing in front of the door, staring at her blankly.
"The lecture today was originally about the understanding of magic circles and mana amplification, right? As you know, I'm no longer confident I can explain it perfectly. So, just as I applied theory in practice, I want to give you all an opportunity. Today's class will be changed to a sparring session."
Three minutes later, Alicia walked out of the lecture hall and ran toward the lounge.
She heard from Laika that Kael had wanted to eat the porridge with Aria as well, not just her.
At those words, Alicia created a dimensional gate that would usually require ten mages to pull off.
"Wh, what is this?"
When Kael asked, Alicia took Kael into her arms, and,
Wrapping mana shields around her body in case they got hurt while passing through the dimensional gate, she replied.
"You said you wanted to see Aria too, right?"
The dimensional gate was heading toward the Church.
The Church where Aria belonged as a Saintess.