Lisa Misses Her Family
"Lisa, here—try this on for me?"
"..."
"Lisa, look at this. Come on! Isn't it cute?"
"..."
"How about it, Lisa? Think you can try reading this out loud with me?"
"..."
"Whew! Tonight's dinner is my masterpiece! It's fine, really—just give it a taste, Lisa!"
"...."
The Saintess smiled as she watched us.
"Looking at the two of you, you really do seem like father and daughter. It warms my heart."
"Right?! Anyone watching would think she was his real daughter! Who knew you could turn that stiff Aaron into this? I'm jealous, Lisa~"
"It's true—he's even learned cooking and housework... Is this what fatherly responsibility looks like?"
"I saw him go all the way down to the village to learn sewing! Goosebumps all over..."
By now, making stuffed dolls had become a full-blown hobby of mine.
"Lisa may not be able to speak, but I'm sure she can feel how loved she is. Isn't that right, Lisa?"
...
Perhaps it was the shock from the day we rescued her. Even after living together for quite some time, Lisa still couldn't speak properly.
"Aaron's just a total girl-dad~"
Stella teased me with a peal of laughter, while the Saintess answered with a soft smile of her own from time to time.
"Stop picking on me... You say that, but both of you are completely smitten with Lisa yourselves. Especially you, Stella—I even warned you it wasn't good for her, and still you sneak her snacks in the middle of the night..."
"Ah... No!! That's not—!"
Stella flushed red with embarrassment.
"And you too, Saintess. Every night, worried she might be scared, you sneak into her room and hold her tight while you sleep..."
"I am the Saintess, after all..."
She simply smiled that gentle smile of hers.
We were in the middle of that ordinary, pointless chatter when it happened.
"Aa...ron... Soup. You. Made. Delicious."
"Wh... Wh... What??!! Aaron, Lisa just spoke!!!!"
Lisa. A girl with black hair and deep crimson eyes.
I had always carried a quiet guilt toward her in one corner of my heart. She no longer had parents. As the least I could do by way of atonement, I wanted to fill the empty place they had left. As far as my hands could reach, I wanted her to live a life of comfort. I wanted her to enjoy the happiness that should have been hers by right.
Fortunately, both Stella and the Saintess poured their hearts into caring for her, and once Lisa joined us, we grew so close that outsiders mistook us for a real family. Living together, I would sometimes sink into a happiness that made me wonder if this was what having a family would have felt like.
But there were practical difficulties in keeping that happiness going.
Most of the jobs a guild party took on were dangerous work ordinary people could never handle. And among them, a hero party had to volunteer for the even more dangerous ones. For the time being we had been assigned a long-term mission. Thanks to that, for the past few months I had been able to come home every day and look after her...
Even so, there were still days when I couldn't make it back within a single day.
I couldn't let things stay like this.
We couldn't keep living that way forever. A hero party was often sent out on long-term dispatch quests, or even had to leave for other countries. Camping in forests or open fields was common. If it came to that, there was no way we could drag a little girl along with us.
At least until Lisa grew up—no, at the very least until she was old enough to look after herself—I wanted to be able to care for her. So I submitted form after form to the guild receptionist, asking for permission to settle in the city and operate from there.
"The Guild Master is waiting for you. This way, please."
Long golden hair and a striking face. Perhaps because of the intense workload, dark circles hung heavy under her eyes... and more than anything, the mountain of documents piled on her desk left a strong impression.
She held the dozens of request forms I had submitted and fluttered them lightly as she spoke.
"Aaron, I've received word of your circumstances. With you, you didn't have to go this far—you could have just come to me directly..."
"How could I, just because we have a personal connection?"
"You simply wanted an official answer from the Guild Master on record, didn't you... You really are something~"
Guild Master Silvia. A woman of outstanding ability and exceptional insight. Unlike the usual image of a guild master, she always looked beautiful, of course... but it was her kind nature that earned her such strong support within the guild as well.
In short:
She was a beautiful, capable woman.
"Aaron... considering everything you've done for us so far... if it were possible, I'd like to grant this for you too..."
"So it's... difficult, then."
"Please understand. Technically you belong to our guild, but hero parties are only under our management because the nation handed that authority over to us. We have to watch our step as well. ...Besides, for some reason the shortage of combat personnel in every country is getting worse..."
I understood her position. But I couldn't let this chance slip by.
I felt bad for her, yet if I had to use our personal connection, I still wanted to protect our party. Right now, leaning on her was the only way I could quit being a hero without taking on extra risk.
Wait—she just said manpower shortage...
I carefully tested the waters.
"I understand, Silvia. But these days there shouldn't be any work in the kingdom that needs that many hands..."
Had I correctly read the intention behind the information she had casually let slip? Silvia smiled faintly.
"As sharp as ever, Aaron. The truth is, the nation is currently scouring for materials to craft equipment for the direct-subordinate heroes."
"Scouring for equipment materials...?"
The kingdom's direct-subordinate heroes. I had once taken part in a royal parade for an escort mission and had the chance to see them by accident. Power that defied comprehension... and yet most of them were strangely young, with the uncommon combination of black hair and black eyes, which had struck me as odd even then.
"If it's materials... the nation's stockpiles should be enough..."
"In ordinary cases, yes. But the material every nation is hunting for right now is dragon scales..."
"...Dragon scales, is it."
If we brought back results of that magnitude, we would certainly have justification to protect our party. But...
"Aaron, I'm sure that if it were you, you could subjugate a dragon and also save our guild's performance when it's in danger, right? He-ro?"
"Don't joke around, Silvia."
"I know. Even if you staked your life on it, it's impossible for even you ^ㅡ^ But there is a method only you can use, isn't there, Aaron?"
Silvia smiled with her eyes. Her information network was terrifying. Very few people knew about my relationship with my master. Her skill, her insight...
And... the information network that had made her Guild Master at her age...
"If you don't know who that person is, you'd better not speak carelessly, Silvia."
"Don't glare at me like that, Aaron. It's not as if I want to make an enemy of your master either. It's just... no one wants you charging off alone at a dragon and ending up a corpse. That's all I'm saying."
"...Sorry. To someone who was only trying to help..."
"It's fine. If you're grateful, buy me a meal next time, Aaron."
She winked.
She really was a beauty... If she fixed that sly personality of hers, she'd be popular as a romantic partner too...
"Oh my? You don't know? Even looking like this, I'm quite popular, you know?"
She folded her arms in a way that deliberately emphasized a certain area...
She really was something else.
"Can you read people's minds or something..."
"If it's Aaron's heart, then ^--^"
"Fine. I'll be going now. Thanks, Silvia."
"Mm... Aaron... I'd like to say stay a little longer... but I'm busy with work too ^--^..."
"Looks that way."
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then spoke.
"...You know this already, but even if this matter works out..."
"It's fine... I've already braced myself for all of it..."
Silvia swept her shimmering silver hair back, then pressed both hands firmly against my cheeks.
"...Aaron, once you quit being a hero, marry me. I'll treat you well ^__^ ...I'm relatively serious, you know?"
"I'll keep it in mind..."
"I've got your word on that? ^ㅇ^"
What a coquettish woman...
"Aaron, where did you go?"
"Come sit down, Aaron. You need to eat dinner."
"Aaron. Come. Quickly. We... must... eat... together. Food."
My companions welcomed me home together.
"Is something troubling you, Aaron?"
"Aaron! You have to eat properly—what are you doing!"
"Ah... Sorry, everyone. It's nothing. Let's eat."
The lifetime I had thrown away to become a hero, to make a better world... Even if I stopped being a hero, of course I was prepared for that too...
That was when it happened. While I was briefly lost in thought, the mage threw her arms around me.
She nuzzled her face against my clothes for a moment, then slowly lifted her head and met my eyes.
Beaming, her clear, deep eyes wide open, she spoke in a voice that seemed meant for me alone.
"Aaron... Thank. You... ...Like... Dad..."
I let myself imagine happy things for the days ahead.
She was always so interested in the magic the Saintess used... The Saintess can handle basic magic at least, so once she learns from her and can pull her own weight, it might be nice to take her along on simple quests. Even a mage has to protect her body, so I'll have the knight and me give her basic martial training too... Rest is important, so on weekends we should all go on picnics...
What kind of foolish thoughts had I been having?
To me, the world was already these girls.
The moment the mage called me by a new name, I swore it.
No matter what happened, I would protect this "family"...
To the Saintess and the mage, I made up a reasonable story about how we could give up our hero qualifications and stay in one place.
Our party alone did not have the skill to subjugate a dragon. No matter how much I twisted myself and struggled, that much was beyond me. Even if we tried the subjugation together, it would only end in a pointless death. And yet if I told them, they would insist on trying.
If I don't handle this myself...
What came after was predictable. I went to my master, bowed my head again and again, flattered and cajoled, and finally obtained the dragon scales. Easy to say—there were moments I thought it might have been easier just to subjugate a dragon myself...
When I showed up with the dragon scales on my back, the guild receptionist's eyes went round as saucers.
I had needed my master's help, but somehow I managed to protect the party and Lisa. At the time, that was more important to me than anything else. There was no way I could have noticed the catastrophe that choice would one day bring.
...
"A... Aaron!"
"Lisa...?"