Evrande Date (1)

Evrande was sitting on a bench with her sister, her brother, and her daughter. Watching Ebrote feed ice cream to Evril with a look of pure contentment, she turned her head.

"Ah!"

The expression of a doting mother transformed into that of a teenage girl who'd just run into her first love.

Looking into those affection-filled eyes made even me feel good.

"Work done?"

"Yeah. What are you doing here? Commissioned another crafting job?"

"No. Just…"

Evrande couldn't get the words out and just kicked at the dirt. Ebrote, who'd wandered over at some point, squatted down.

"Evni! Seeing you after so long, you're even cuter!"

"Uncle…"

"Yes, yes. Evni's happy to see her uncle after so long too, right?"

She saw him yesterday and again today — why "after so long"? And he just decided to interpret her look that way.

"No…"

"Unnie! Play with me today!"

"Ah…"

Evril grabbed Evni's hand and yanked her along. Twin half-elves who looked identical except for hair length, holding hands… pure healing energy.

Evni and Evril's cuteness combined and multiplied several times over. Before Evni could even protest, she was dragged off by Evril.

"Brother-in-law."

"Sister-in-law Ebria. What's going on?"

"Evril said it was fun playing with Evni after so long. I brought her so they could play together once you finished work today."

"Ah, I see."

Evni and Lan-lan-i ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had also said it was fun playing with their little sister after so long. Lulu had been delighted that big sister Evni doted on her so much.

"If I'd known, I should've brought everyone. Lulu especially would've loved it."

"Lulu? I like the youngest too! She's so cute!"

Evril doted on Lulu for the simple reason that she'd escaped being the baby of the family herself.

"Unfortunately, she's in the Divine Realm today."

"That's okay! I can just play with Evni!"

"Unnie…"

"I can play with big sister Evni! Seriously. There's barely any age difference, and you're that desperate to be called unnie? Let's just be friends!"

When did Evril get so good with words? Come to think of it, she'd also won her verbal sparring matches with Lan-lan-i.

It was just a bad matchup. If they'd settled things with a war of words, Evril would've become the eldest sister.

"Then let's all play together a bit."

"No. You've been tired from looking after the kids and working, right, brother-in-law? We'll look after Evni for a while."

"Yes! Trust us, brother-in-law!"

I trusted Ebria, but I could not trust Ebrote. Leave Evni with that shameless zoom-happy photographer of an uncle and she'd come back in a single day with cheeks puffed up like balloons.

Then she'd be even cuter, though?

"Brother. I trust you."

"Good."

We sealed our manly friendship. Evrande sighed.

"Men…"

"Of course I trust Evrande too."

"Huh?"

Evrande was noticeably flustered. I'd said I trusted her — why that reaction?

"No, um, we haven't seen each other in a long time either. And we never got a chance to be alone, right?"

"Ah."

Now I got it. Instincts honed by virtual-reality dating sims handed me the answer.

"If you want to go on a date, just say so."

"Eep!!"

Evrande's face went bright red. Her long ears stood straight up.

"Th-th-that's…"

"Was I wrong?"

"…You're right."

Evrande bashfully tried to take my hand. I couldn't help smiling. Normal couples start with holding hands — we'd started with sex.

Impregnating, which skips all the unnecessary steps, really is the best skill.

"You've got a solid date plan ready, right?"

"Huh? Y-yeah. Yesterday with my sister…"

"Evrande!"

My wicked sister-in-law snapped Evrande out of her flustered, adorable reaction. Evrande jumped, ears twitching.

"Brother-in-law! Anyway, we'll take Evni, so have fun with him! We'll contact you when appropriate!"

Before I could even ask how they planned to contact us, the elf in-laws scurried off.

"Dad…"

Evni was dragged along in the chaos. When I waved for her to go have fun, resolve filled the eyes of the teary-eyed Evni.

"Mm…"

"Alright, Evrande. Lead the way."

"Huh?"

"You said you planned the date course all night with your sister."

"Ah!"

Evrande slapped me lightly. Compared to Sophia's smacks, it was pure tickling.

"Forget that!"

"Depends on how you act."

"Forget it!"

Did she plan a date or a murder? I fled from the angry Evrande charging at me.

"Catch me if you can~"

"If I catch you, you're dead!"

I really might die. Better not get caught until her anger cooled.

"Hey, look at that human."

"Only one cheek is red? Is that the fashion these days?"

"Maybe he's a rare race — a Red Person? I've never seen a Red Person before. Let me go ask…"

"He's just a human."

"Ah, yes. Sorry."

The rude beastfolk and lizardman ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bowed their heads and walked past. Evrande, tightly holding my hand, mumbled.

"Sorry…"

"It's fine. You've gotten a lot stronger."

This wasn't the same Evrande who'd been thoroughly crushed by me in practice battles. She chased me wreathed in spirit energy, faster than me — I couldn't escape.

"I was Level 1 back then. I didn't realize until we battled how much weaker I'd gotten. If I hadn't fought you, I would've been in real trouble without even knowing it."

"So you were originally much stronger."

"That's right. And midway through, my sister joined and trained me — she's way better with spirits than I am. Big brother also joined after the season ended and helped me adapt to Level 2. Now I can use my full power."

I suddenly got curious.

"How strong is big brother? I know he was a Level 4 minion, and I saw him bewitch a raid boss and kill it in one hit, but I still don't really get it. Is he having trouble adapting after dropping to Level 2?"

"Not at all. Big brother is a genius type. He was an elf aiming for the Central League, but the moment he saw Evril's photo, he came right over."

"That couldn't be helped."

Not just because she's my daughter — Evril is truly adorable. No wonder Ebrote became a doting fool.

"Still… Ah!"

"What? Ah!"

There was a spirit dressed like a postman. I should contact Cheonsol and tell her I'd be late today. Otherwise I'd get another lecture like this morning.

"There's an ad playing in the central plaza!"

Evrande seemed to have seen something different from me. Honestly, I was a bit surprised.

"This village has a plaza?"

"Of course. You've never been to the plaza? What have you been doing in the Starting Village all this time?"

"Um…"

Ate at the dwarf tavern, met Cheonsol in the back alley, went to the hunting grounds and impregnated people, worked at the workshop.

When I explained, Evrande looked at me with pity.

"You wandered around that much and never once went to the plaza? So this is your first time — with me?"

"That's right."

"Hehe."

Evrande hummed a little tune. She seemed happy to claim my first experience.

I fully understood. I'd also felt pure ecstasy when I had my first experience with Evrande.

"Then let's look around together!"

"Wait. Let me stop by that spirit postman first."

"You want to use spirit communication? Why?"

"I need to say I'll be late. She worries if I'm late."

"I see…"

Evrande looked dejected. Her emotions flipped so fast I was starting to suspect bipolar disorder.

I quickly sent the message, then grabbed the hand of the bipolar-suspect elf.

"What are you doing? You said you'd show me around."

"Right!"

In the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠plaza, groups of trainers chatted in threes and fives, others showed off their minions, and street vendors lined the edges.

Evrande and I bought churro-like snacks from a vendor and shared them. They tasted like churros too.

"You like churros, huh?"

"So they really were churros."

"You heard when we bought them earlier, right?"

"Evrande was so pretty I was staring and didn't hear."

"Ugh…"

A white lie smooths marital relations better than the honest truth that I'd been too busy looking around the plaza to listen.

"Let's look at that!"

"Sure."

In the center of the plaza floated a hologram of the kind frequently seen on twenty-second-century Earth.

The hologram showed footage of Ebrote subduing a tentacle spider.

"It's an ad."

That was my cool assessment after watching the whole video. I'd expected an event, so a plain advertisement was disappointing.

"Isn't it amazing? I was so amazed the first time I saw it. Implementing video with magic!"

"Ah. It was magic?"

I'd thought it was technology from the Machine God side. Finding out it was magic rather than science was interesting.

"Yep yep."

"Big brother Ebrote even appears in ads. Seems like he was pretty popular in the Frontier League."

Setting aside his doting-uncle side, just looking at his appearance made sense. Ebrote was handsome, as expected of an elf.

"Didn't you get any ad offers?"

"I haven't heard anything."

"Ah…"

Evrande gave me a look of understanding. For some reason, that made me feel bad.

Just as I was about to ask why she was looking at me like that, a few gods pointed at me.

"Isn't that minion that minion?"

"Who? Ah… that Piston Play?"

"Yes! Piston Play! What kind of skill is that even? A mere Level 2 minion got chewed by a tentacle spider and didn't die, so it must be a defensive skill, right?"

"He was throwing punches, so maybe it's a broken offense-defense hybrid skill?"

"Where's that minion's trainer? It'd be rude to just ask, so we'd need the trainer's permission…"

Evrande grabbed my body and spun me the other way.

"Evrande. Did I by any chance say 'Piston Play' in the video?"

"Wasn't it a skill?"

Why was she so surprised.

"Then he actually did that with a clear ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mind…"

"Ah. Those gods are coming this way. Let's run before it gets annoying."

I didn't want our time together interrupted, so we left the plaza.

The ad sounds grew more distant.