Chapter 156
Chapter 156
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: The Mother's Test 2
As a child, Victoria swallowed her saliva as she looked at Astal with his mask removed.
His vivid green hair fell across his forehead, and his sharply defined nose and jawline were strikingly noticeable.
'...He's like the Hero from the fairy tales.'
The picture books filled with trivial love stories of heroes and saints. Because when she was imprisoned underground by the village chief, who was a demon, young Victoria had endured by clinging to the small hope that a hero would come to save her.
If she didn't have even that hope, the situation young Victoria had to face was so wretched she might have gone mad and given up her own life.
'…….'
To avoid starving to death, she had to eat insects or dead rat carcasses; the reality of being so hungry every day she couldn't sleep; and the fantasy of reuniting with her healthy parents, even if only in dreams, and a hero from a fairy tale coming to rescue her.
Trapped between those extremes, young Victoria barely managed to hold onto her sanity.
'What am I even thinking...! Astal isn't someone who wields a holy sword...'
Her gaze fixed on him as if she might be sucked in, all distracting thoughts vanishing from her head. Victoria shook her head rapidly from side to side.
A small pulse blooming within her heart.
Young Victoria felt a strange sense of dissonance at this curious sensation she couldn't control herself. There was no way she could know that this was the shift from a simple liking to the emotion of affection.
Of course, even if Astal had been ugly or not her type, she would still have felt gratitude.
"...Why were you wearing a mask?"
Young Victoria owed Astal her life, and even her parents had received his help.
But this was just too much. Wasn't he unfairly handsome?
If you lined up the people of the world by appearance, the man standing before Victoria seemed like he would undoubtedly claim the very first spot.
"Because it was necessary."
"Why?"
"...You don't need to know."
Young Victoria kept growing more and more curious about Astal.
What kind of person had he been to possess such looks, and how did he know she, a saint, was imprisoned underground?
Could he actually be a real hero?
If he was someone so strong he didn't need to use a holy sword, then it made sense that he could punch out demons with his bare fists.
"Now that I look, your voice is different too. Astal."
Tingling, prickling sensations, as if a fork were stabbing her young heart.
Hearing Astal's real voice, low and rough, young Victoria even felt a momentary shock, as if electrocuted.
"...Your attitude has subtly changed from before."
"Th-that's...! You hid your mask and your voice, and you haven't told me anything about yourself!"
Only perceptive at times like these, Astal noticed the change in young Victoria's feelings, but she raised her voice in an attempt to excuse herself.
Of course, the reason Astal had hidden his identity until now was due to the potential for time paradoxes.
His actions in the past were affecting his present self, and he thought he absolutely must not disrupt the future.
"That's right. Who wouldn't be suspicious of a mage wearing a robe and a mask?"
Seeing young Victoria's cheeks flush slightly and her tail wagging like a puppy's, Elizabeth reacted.
It was the reaction when a dragon's unique possessiveness was triggered.
Victoria's mother, realizing her daughter had encountered her first love, set the stage to orchestrate a slightly more stimulating situation.
"……!!"
"See, if you just take off this robe, wouldn't you know there are no hidden weapons or other tricks?"
Flutter—.
Elizabeth took advantage of Astal's moment of distraction, grabbed his robe, and pulled it off.
Instantly, young Victoria's field of vision was filled with the contours created by masculine muscles and prominent veins.
"...This joke is going too far."
The combat-compressed muscles forged by Astal's desperate struggle for survival in the demon realm.
They weren't disgustingly bulky, and the lean, sculpted muscles looked as if they had been meticulously carved from stone.
Of course, this also fell perfectly within the scope of Victoria's preferences.
Just as present-day Victoria had completely warped past Astal's tastes, they had unintentionally influenced each other.
"Ah, ahh...."
Young Victoria from the past began uttering only monosyllabic sighs.
At the sight of Astal before her, she felt dizzy enough to stagger from the blood rushing to her head.
"Are you okay?"
"……."
Of course she wasn't okay.
If you suddenly shoved the sun in front of a human who had adapted to darkness after seeing not even a speck of light, wouldn't they go blind?
For the past year, held hostage with her parents, suffering all sorts of humiliations, young Victoria had imagined countless heroes and princes in her head, thinking they would come to save her.
But the one who actually appeared was a mysterious man hiding his face with a mask, his voice cracking as if he had a cold.
'Isn't this way too perfectly my type...?'
To be honest, even if a bearded, ugly uncle had popped out, it wouldn't have mattered.
There was no rule saying only handsome people could be heroes in this world, and he was also her life's savior who had rescued her parents and herself.
So she hadn't had any particular expectations.
Why did someone like this only appear now?
"...I'm sorry for calling you uncle."
Young Victoria took Astal's hand in both of hers and offered a sincere apology.
Ah, a man's hand really is big.
The firm, rough texture of his hand bore the traces of the efforts he had built up until now.
The tiny scars that told of how much training he had done, how much blood and sweat he had shed to become strong.
"Wait a moment, let me heal you."
"If it's a miracle, don't use it from now on."
Young Victoria, seeing those scars, out of habit began to offer a prayer to use a miracle, but...
"Huh...? Doesn't it hurt? Your fingers are twisted, bleeding, scabbed over..."
Astal waved his hands, stopping Victoria from trying to use a miracle.
Creating phenomena impossible in reality, in exchange for body parts turning into flowers.
Calling that a 'miracle' was just a nice way of putting it; in essence, it was no different from holding a child hostage and forcing a sacrifice.
"I need to have scars like these to keep myself grounded. It makes me think that the hard life I've lived wasn't in vain."
In truth, Astal had sometimes thought that each new scar on his body was him paying for the sins he had accumulated.
His hometown village burned down by Durehan; until meeting Victoria, Astal, the sole survivor of that place, had been gnawing away at himself.
"And, as a saint, you should be more aware from now on. People will swarm around you like cockroaches, begging you for just one miracle. Be strong-minded."
"H-how did you know I'm a saint...? Are you actually a hero..."
"The real hero is a much more impressive guy than someone like me, but he's from the Dragon Slayer family, so you might have some preconceptions."
Young Victoria kept misunderstanding Astal for a hero, but each time, he reminded her of the truth.
Objectively speaking, Astal wasn't inferior to Kyle in terms of personality or looks, but...
Before meeting Victoria and reforming, Astal had been a truly pathetic, passive, and negative human being.
To prevent any future changes or troublesome incidents, he was deliberately speaking this way.
"...I've never seen anyone as cool as you before."
However, the more Astal threw up such smokescreens, the more young Victoria's curiosity grew.
Children naturally tended to want to do things more when told not to.
"How old are you? What food do you like...? D-do you have a girlfriend...?"
Thus, young Victoria's sense of distance completely crumbled.
Seeing her already trying to sniff his scent, the situation looked serious.
"……."
Astal remained silent, but that very insistence on keeping secrets was having the opposite effect.
"Madam, might I borrow your back? There's a place I need to go to save someone, other than here."
Unaware of this, Astal proposed one suggestion to meet the present-day Victoria.
"My, are you asking me to transform into a dragon right now and fly through the sky?"
"Yes, I would be grateful. With my magic, you should be able to regain your original power, at least temporarily."
That was using Elizabeth, the Gold Dragon, to fly to his hometown.
Using the same method he used to get to the Holy Kingdom Aurelium wouldn't work, as he didn't know the coordinates of the arrival point.
"Hmm, normally I wouldn't agree to something like this..."
Elizabeth carefully nudged her daughter, pressing her close against Astal, then smiled.
"Since you're the oppa our Victoria likes, I'll make a special exception."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ At that moment, young Astal from the past was creating an illusory dragon under Victoria's guidance.
"This should be enough to fool anyone else. Well done, Sir Astal."
"R-really?! Actually, this is the first time I've tried to create a dragon..."
A size so large it could be called living wrath.
This should be enough to deceive the villagers and evacuate them to a safe place.
"...It's all thanks to you helping me, Victoria! Thank you!"
Of course, there had been trial and error along the way.
Victoria, claiming she needed to explain about tails, would deliberately touch young Astal's sensitive reverse scales, or suddenly barge in naked while he was bathing, saying she needed to explain dragon characteristics, playing pranks.
'Ah, she's so cute I could go crazy. Should I just hug her tight and kiss her? If I handle the aftermath properly later, it should be fine...'
Victoria suppressed her desires while having such wicked thoughts.
"Unnie? Your eyes look scary..."
"No, they don't. I'm just so proud of you, Sir Astal. Want to play house with me now?"
In truth, all those inner thoughts were being heard by the adult Astal who was rushing towards this place.