Please Call Me Mom
* * *
“Well, it worked.”
Even after helping, watching Arin smash a boulder in half left me speechless for a moment. Without skill, swinging a sword at stone was impossible. That was why I had set one month as the benchmark for the students who lacked technique. One month of effort building muscle and know-how, plus a bit of correction, and they should be able to split a stone. Of course, Arin and Kana had talent, so I figured they might manage it in a week or even a few days… But not in one hour and a half. And the sword she used to split it wasn’t even the Carnia I had given her—it was a plain mass-produced blade. She hadn’t gotten equipment assistance; it was pure “skill” gained through my help.
“Talent is scary, too…”
Even with talent, without effort there’s nothing to eat or drink, yet here was Arin, both talented and diligent. It was no wonder she had produced such a result.
“Ah, speaking of which…”
After finishing swordsmanship class and heading down the empty corridor toward the next one, I recalled seeing Kana at the edge of my vision while leaving the practical training ground and let out a sigh. Her face had looked rather downcast. Probably because she felt the difference between her and Arin keenly.
“But that’s all because Kana didn’t use the kitchen knife.”
Their talents themselves were not different. Arin had talent with the sword and poured effort into it, while Kana had talent with cooking and poured effort into that. The idea that she would achieve the same result with a “sword” as Arin was nonsense. Today I had no kitchen knife, so I had simply overlooked Kana using the sword. Tomorrow, when Kana came to the cafeteria, I would have to teach her the combat methods of a chef using a kitchen knife. Using a sword as a chef sounded absurd. Once she truly understood and applied the combat methods of a chef with a kitchen knife, Kana would grow stronger every day. Of course, as a chef she would still fall short of Arin, but she would become ridiculously strong compared to ordinary people.
“Alright, Avatar.”
While thinking about tomorrow’s tasks, I filtered the corridor and slipped into an empty one, opened the Avatar window, and tapped Kama.
[Archer – Select Kama?]
“Select.”
My long hair instantly shortened into a short white bob. Now it was time to head to archery class.
* * *
Riana Sel Moonsgard was trembling.
If asked why, the reason was that the instructor for her most important practical class—archery—was Aria’s younger sister, the sister of the professor who had caused a scene before coming to Phara Kingdom.
Well, it would have been better if it had just been a scene. But she had been so insulted by the elf that she had shot her with an arrow, so that was the problem.
Of course, as the princess of Moonsgard Kingdom she still thought it was justified, but the more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t stop her body from trembling.
She arrived at the practice field where archery class was held, and even though it was right before five, her body was still shaking.
“I-I’m fine… It might be nothing…”
Riana clenched her trembling hands and checked the clock tower. The moment the minute hand pointed to the hour hand, the door of the building connected to the field opened and a woman walked out toward the practice field where Riana stood.
Tap tap.
Her waist-length white hair swayed like a curtain, and her sky-blue eyes sparkled like jewels. She wore a forest-green one-piece dress that seemed tailored from nature itself, and a bow that looked obviously expensive hung on her back.
“Waaah…”
“No way, is that our professor?”
“Amazing…”
Gasps came from the surroundings. And Riana could only agree with that admiration. She was a human being with an appearance as beautiful as her own, so how could she not be amazed? At the same time, the aura she gave off that calmed the heart just by looking made it impossible not to feel affection. But Riana forced a calm expression on her face that was about to relax and looked at the white-haired woman. If that woman was truly her archery professor, it meant she was Aria’s younger sister. Hoping with all her heart that she wouldn’t remember that incident, Riana focused on every movement of the white-haired woman as she approached the practice field and stepped onto the stage, bowing slightly with a gentle smile.
“It’s nice to meet you all. My name is Kama. From today, I am Kama, who will teach you archery. The class will be quite intense, so you might find it difficult to keep up, but please try your best and follow along.”
A perfectly proper greeting and demeanor befitting a noble, matched by a beautiful voice. The other students’ expressions melted under her smile and voice, but Riana widened her eyes at her conduct.
‘That’s elven etiquette…!’
The reason Riana was surprised was that the conduct of the white-haired woman who had introduced herself as Kama was elven etiquette that only the elves themselves observed. Some nobles who had dealings with merchants from human lands or elves knew that etiquette, but Riana remembered every face of those people who had contact with elves. However, she had no memory of ever seeing Kama’s face. Then perhaps she had learned it from someone else? Riana gazed at Kama with a slightly moved light in her eyes, her rare sighting of an elf in the human kingdom, but when she turned her head toward her and their eyes met, the emotion that had filled her heart for a moment was shattered by the words she spoke.
“You must be Riana Sel Moonsgard, right? There’s no need to prolong this. Choose whether to kneel before me or accept the punishment.”
“…Eh?”
Kama’s words sent Riana’s sky-blue hair spinning wildly. Riana desperately hoped she had misheard, but the reality that came back was ice-cold.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t know what you did to my sister, did you?”
“Th-that…”
“Well, I’ll leave it to your choice whether to take the punishment or receive the punishment I give.”
“Ha, haha…”
Her gentle smile was terrifying, and Riana let out a hollow laugh.
* * *
“They’re both dead.”
“Yeah.”
In a place called the depths of the Demon Realm, a dark area thick with damp demon energy, five men and women sat around a round table. The atmosphere was so serious that no one could speak, yet the man sitting at the head of the table, unfazed by them, propped his chin on his hand and spoke.
“They’re a party that has nothing to lose even if they die, so there’s no problem. But did you accurately contact the Magic Parasite?”
“No need to worry. I confirmed that contact was made. There were two usable hosts. The parasite successfully infected them.”
“That’s good. I was afraid it had failed, and then there would have been a problem.”
A man from Lua Academy in the Phara Kingdom let out a sigh of relief and reached out after confirming that the Magic Parasite the two intruders had taken had successfully found and infected a host.
On the tip of the extended hand was a transparent crystal orb. The man pulled magic power from the orb and poured it in.
“Then let’s see the faces of the hosts.”
If the Magic Parasite had successfully infected, their appearance would appear. And just as the information provider had said, the crystal orb showed the faces of two girls. Each was a girl with black ponytails and navy-blue eyes, and another with orange braided hair. And the faint magic energy emanating from their bodies proved the parasite had succeeded, so the man showed that and smiled.
“Good, the hosts are ready. Everyone knows, right? The next place we will move to is the Sky Island. If the plan there fails, we will execute the original plan.”
“Yeah.”
“It goes without saying.”
“Understood.”
The men and women nodded in agreement. After the meeting ended, when everyone stood up, a cold chill hung in the air as if no one were there.
* * *
“Ah, I almost forgot. We’ll also have to use the Magic Parasites planted inside Arin and Kana. I overlooked it.”
With his feet on the back of Riana, who was kneeling with her head bowed while carrying my bag, I murmured quietly. The ones I had found last time. Because Elona’s body was too strong, I didn’t know how to make the parasites that had infected Arin and Kana work. It was a truly worrying matter.