Chapter 210
Chapter 210
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: Finally, the Time Has Come
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"Finally, the time has come."
Here was a bizarre group that could hardly be called a family.
"You've prepared to show the results of three days of training, right?"
Father: the great mage reincarnated.
Mother: demon sword swordswoman.
Eldest daughter: red true dragon.
Second daughter: yellowish rain dragon.
But they were a family. Or more precisely, today they had to act like the perfect family more flawlessly than any real one.
"I'm okay."
The golden-haired beauty who instinctively drew the gazes of every man around answered.
Her plain attire had no provocative elements anywhere, yet her beauty shone brilliantly.
That appearance and hair color alone proved she was Nen’s biological mother.
"Aboop!"
"Aluwung!"
As Aki energetically reached out her hand, Nen immediately flailed hers in imitation of her big sister.
"Alright, let's go!"
Off in the distance, a hooded figure watched that bizarre family.
The hood was the color of predawn darkness, and the simply worn breastplate and gauntlets gleamed with the light of dawn.
A sinister smile crept up from the shadows beneath the hood.
"Hmm~ So that's the dragon's guardian that Lady Elamas ordered killed? Looks ridiculously weak."
The Ranoa Great Bridge was bustling from morning with travelers crossing between the two continents.
Even with crowds so thick there was no room to step, this bridge never experienced any congestion.
The bridge, built by dragons, was impossibly wide and long, with fully four lanes. Enough for four wagons to pass side by side.
"Super wide!"
Aki let out an exclamation of awe like that.
No need for Aki's judgment—the Ranoa Great Bridge was one of the world's eleven great wonders.
But they weren't here for sightseeing, so she needed a stern scolding.
"Aki, your speech."
"Aki practiced speech for this. Aki can do good."
"Impressively so."
Inspections for frequent bridge crossers were brief, but first-time visitors were summoned by the witch at the entry checkpoint.
"What's this, Goblin Slayer? You were married to an imperial guy?"
But one problem arose there.
The witch on duty today... was quite close with Miria.
"That was six years ago? Six years ago—how old were you even? Why didn't you tell me?"
But such questions were included in the ever-reliable Valensidis 'Guaranteed Pass, Entry Inspection!' script.
"I wanted to play around."
"?"
"I'm too pretty, you know?"
"???"
"But if I'm a married woman, guys won't stick to me."
Miria felt a crushing sense of self-loathing as if tears might spill, but she recited the memorized answers in a mechanical tone.
"This woman's total trash. Married and still so blatant..."
The junior witch beside her, holding papers and a pen, narrowed her eyes.
"Why would her husband marry a woman like this?"
"Because of love."
For a moment, Miria felt her face burning hot, but she quickly calmed her heart. It was just the script, after all.
"So cool!"
"Real man!"
"What a romantic!"
True love! Those eavesdropping from behind the checkpoint burst into applause.
"Must be tough growing up with parents like that. Five years old this year? Pretty tall for five. Nine? Looks at least ten?"
With a sigh, the witch stamped approval on the documents and glanced over. Aki, trembling in place, opened her mouth.
"A-Aki, h-hello. A-Abu and Mama m-married six years ago. Aki b-born like that. Fi-Five? Fi-Fi-five, fi? Fi-fi..."
Aki rolled her eyes as she rattled off the family backstory.
At this point, was it okay to sense something off? The witch stared intently at Aki.
Rain and Miria exchanged tense glances. A suffocating silence fell.
But what welled up in the witch's heart then wasn't suspicion.
'So cute...!'
Damn it, if the juniors weren't watching, she'd have hugged her tight.
"Senior, isn't the name Aki super famous up top? Martial arts tournament winner, right? Looks like her in the Heavenly Flower Sect robes—should we let her through?"
No, she had to pass.
She just wanted to hug her once!
But she couldn't say that, so the witch suppressed her pure desire.
"If there's trouble, Goblin Slayer will handle it, right? She's reliable. Issue the pass and send them through."
The disguised family received the pass with nonchalant expressions as if it were only natural, but hurried through the checkpoint like guilty convicts.
Only once the checkpoint was out of sight did they exhale the breath they'd held in tension.
Miria scooped up Aki with a grin.
"You did great, Aki. Thanks to you."
"Aki tried hard. Aki did good."
"No need for that speech anymore."
"Got it!"
"We'll meet the others on the other side of the bridge, so let's hurry."
The Ranoa Great Bridge boasted a scale that made every other bridge in the world unworthy of the name.
Along both sides stood two- or three-story buildings and stalls selling snacks, glassware, gold and silver, jewelry, and more.
To bear that insane weight—what kind of technology did they use? No idea.
"Alulu!"
Nen eyed the grilled octopus skewers, while Aki blankly gazed up at the dragon statue at the bridge's center.
A dragon gazing nobly at the sky, its majestic wings providing cool shade to passersby.
The erosion was immense, and passersby didn't know about it—Miria said she didn't either.
'Didn't know?'
Three hundred years ago, everyone knew of this dragon...
One of the four red true dragons I'd seen in the chaos era—unlike the other three, I hadn't seen this one myself.
Because this true dragon had died two hundred years ago—from now, five hundred years ago.
'That great name, Shalesaroom...'
The dragon that saved Adrion Continent in crisis and died, now forgotten. Maybe Rista's party would be forgotten in the next era too.
'Not particularly lonely.'
We hadn't jumped into that turmoil to be remembered as heroes in the first place. The other three probably felt the same.
'Still...'
It would've been nice to hear their stories from others.
Proof that the life I lived, the days with my comrades, the battle three hundred years ago—they were real, not lies.
Five hundred years, five hundred...
So no matter what feats I accomplish in this life, someday Aki will remember me alone.
'An immortal life.'
Thinking of Aki walking that endless, arduous path made my chest unbearably uncomfortable somewhere.
Ding...
Around then, a strange melody seeped into the sea breeze crossing the bridge. Truly an odd tone.
Ding, dididing...
A sound I'd never heard before, yet strangely familiar and nostalgic enough to bring tears.
'Go back.'
The melody seemed to whisper that.
'Return to where we belong.'
That tempting voice echoed in my ears, into my ears, deeper into my mind, and began resounding in my brain—
"Lin!"
"It's Lin!"
"Lin's here!"
—and transformed into the voices I'd longed for my entire life.
Not just hearing.
The serene scent of my hometown in the northern pine forest tickled my nose.
'Huh? What was I doing...?'
In the weight of the golden plaque in his hand, Lin felt his eyes heating up uncontrollably.
'Right, I finished the Antarctic journey and returned to the academy's magic tower.'
The sensation of classmates rushing out to hug him felt good.
The patting on his back felt good.
The burst of laughter felt good. The sound of someone sniffling tears felt good. Realizing it was his own felt good too.
It felt like he'd dreamed of this moment for an endlessly long time.
"You're back, Lin."
His senior, who'd said he'd wait only for the day Lin returned, smiled gently and wiped away those tears.
"We were all waiting for you. Took five whole years."
Why, tears flowed endlessly.
Not just from Lin's eyes, but from Rain's on the Ranoa Great Bridge too.
Not just Rain—Miria included, everyone crossing the bridge lay sprawled comfortably on the ground.
All unconscious, but some smiled at the lips, others shed endless tears.
Atop the bridge's high railing sat a woman playing a harp, smirking coldly.
"Ah, humans."
As a fierce sea breeze blew, her hood slipped, revealing long ears. The mark of circumcision, the fairy race's trait.
"They train only their flesh to death, the pitiful race that knows nothing of tempering the spirit."
And the mediocrely strong humans carry sad memories matching their strength.
Those who grew strong using that sadness as fuel.
Thus, their obsession with the past is immense, making it so easy to invade their hearts like this.
"All targets down, Lady Lr'ellaya."
Three shadows appeared at her sides.
Robes of dim light, armor of dawn gleam—the unified attire of the Dawn Brigade's executives (the members number a hundred).
Lr'ellaya cast an intrigued glance.
"Not everyone fell to my art? I'm a bit offended."
The hatchling dragons, absolute lifeforms, weren't swayed by Lr'ellaya's harp and retained consciousness.
As Rain's strength drained and he dropped, Nen hit the ground crying.
Aki scooped up Nen, but when Rain wouldn't wake no matter how she shook him, she stomped in frustration, not knowing what to do.
- Want to learn martial arts? Want to protect Rain with your own strength?
Just then, as the lead executive reached out to Aki.
Left foot forward, shift weight.
Control the qi flow.
Condense mana in the mana heart, explode mana at fist tip.
"Aki punch."
The ferocious flame storm bursting from her fist tip was the red true dragon's roar judging this world's evils.
The executive's arm burned to ash in an instant.
Not just that—the shockwave of that mighty force hurled him to the railing, where he crashed and vomited blood.
'What was that power just now...?'
The remaining executives' eyes widened at the unexpected event. For a moment, they could only blankly alternate between their comrade and the hatchling.
"Don't cry."
Aki, smoothly settling into her form, turned to her suffocatingly terrified little sister and flashed a grin.
"Your big sis Aki will protect you!"
Just like Dad had said to her when she was little.
Exactly the same, just the same.
Yes, children naturally come to resemble their parents, after all.