Chapter 29
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Welcome to Our Family-Like Knight Order! (5)
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I wonder what this situation is.
I shut my mouth. Because there was nothing else I could do. Of course, I had heard about her mother during our counseling sessions. But I never imagined we'd meet this soon.
However, no matter how I looked at it, this didn't feel like a normal family reunion. It was more like a prey animal facing its natural predator. Clara stared at her mother with a face full of tension.
In contrast, Clara's mother was staring right back at her. But unlike Clara, her eyes were utterly frigid. So cold that even I, standing off to the side, felt a chill run down my spine.
Unless someone had zero awareness of social cues, it was obvious that something was deeply wrong between this mother and daughter. Predictably, it was the mother who broke the silence first.
"I've heard the story. The Royal Knights were wiped out, weren't they?"
"They weren't wiped out! We're still here!"
"That's what the world calls annihilation."
She had a point. Annihilation didn't require every last member to die. Objectively speaking, the Royal Knights in their current state were so broken they couldn't function anymore. Yeah, annihilated was the right word.
Not only the captain and vice-captain, but even the regular members—only three had survived, and one of those had deserted. Ha, just reciting the facts made it sound even more of a mess than I'd realized.
"The Royal Knights were veteran knights, even at their worst. Honestly, I think it's a miracle you made it back alive."
"Are you mocking me right now?"
"I'm merely stating the facts."
"You've always been like this, Mother! Always trying to tear me down!"
Their conversation ran perfectly parallel, never intersecting. In elven years, Clara had only just hit puberty. That said, her mother did have a very authoritarian streak.
In fact, during our counseling sessions, Clara had repeatedly talked about needing her mother's approval for everything. From an outsider's perspective, it bordered on obsession.
It wasn't quite gaslighting, but no one could deny it was abnormal parenting. As expected, the mother ignored Clara's outburst and pressed on.
"With the Royal Knights annihilated, there's nothing left for you to do. It's too dangerous—come back to the forest now."
"No, I'm not going back."
"What?"
"I have a duty I must fulfill. Until that's done, I absolutely won't return!!"
Clara's voice trembled with fear. But as if determined to hide it, she shouted at the top of her lungs. The elves around us looked shocked.
Meanwhile, I nodded approvingly from the sidelines. That's the spirit. I'd been worried she might just cave and follow along. Here, as captain, it was time for me to step in and...
"Surely you didn't just raise your voice to me?"
"Urk?!"
"Huh?"
"You wouldn't, would you? My sweet but deficient daughter shouting at her own mother like that?"
Hey, her head's tilting at a seriously dangerous angle here? I knew elves were flexible, but her jaw and the top of her head forming perfect left-right symmetry? That's not right.
No exaggeration—for a split second, I genuinely thought she was a ghost. Clara's face went deathly pale too. I get it; even I found that terrifying. She must be petrified.
I wanted to jump in and do something, but I couldn't move. My body had frozen solid after that display. At that moment, Clara turned and glanced my way.
"Captain..."
"......"
"Yeah, I get it."
"...?"
I hadn't done a thing. So why was she acting like she suddenly understood something on her own? Clara's face was filled with conviction, as if she truly believed she was in the right. She spoke up.
"Sorry, I still can't go back to the forest."
"What?"
"At first, I wanted to. Even if it was for my comrades, for revenge... it was just too scary."
"Of course it was. That's far too heavy a burden for someone as young as you. So..."
"Age doesn't matter. I'm a full-fledged knight. That's what the current captain taught me."
Oh, so he taught her such noble values. Whoever this current captain guy was. I wonder who that captain fellow could be? Wait—Mother? Why are you glaring at me like that?
"It's you. The one who sweet-talked my naive little girl."
"Mother, that's...!!"
"You stay out of this. I'm speaking to the captain right now."
"......"
What the...? Do I have a name tag that says "Captain" or something? How did she clock me as the captain at first glance? Well, duh—Clara had just looked my way.
I took a deep breath to steady my racing thoughts. Whatever the case, I couldn't back down either. We were already short-staffed; I couldn't afford to lose her here.
A battle of words? Could I even compete? She was an elf who'd lived centuries, Clara's own mother to boot. She had the moral high ground, the experience, the silver tongue—everything.
Honestly, what parent would stand by while their kid insisted on staying in a death trap? Especially when the Royal Knights had already been wiped out once before.
"You carry a sword, so you must be some kind of knight."
"Yes, I hold the title, at least."
"Then this will be simple. Draw your sword."
"Captain?!"
Moral ground, words, experience—all outmatched. Half-assed logic wouldn't sway her. No choice but to go with my best shot at victory.
"I knew the former captain. A truly strong, wise woman."
"......"
"Think you can fill her shoes? You, a mere human?"
Oof, brushed off my provocation like it was nothing. Deemed me unworthy of her time? We're screwed—I need to bait her into a wager somehow. I fired back immediately.
"Seeing is believing, better than a hundred words."
"Not bad—for a human."
"Prove it. Or do whatever you want."
"Very well. We can settle this cleanly, no backing out."
Luckily, she took the bait this time. Or rather, she probably wanted it that way. At any rate, she clearly had immense pride in her abilities.
"My name is Cluna. I'm the mother of this young girl here, and the overseer of Eden Forest's guardians."
"Guardians?"
"It's the role that commands the guardians. You could call it one of the top leadership positions in elven society."
Clara. A heads-up like that would have been really nice earlier.
Death always comes suddenly.
It began with her husband. Political marriage or not, they had been a proper couple with good harmony. But that bond shattered in the end.
On the day the demons first appeared in this land, she lost him. A gate opened right where he happened to be. No one's fault.
Just rotten luck. Cluna pushed through the grief. She had to stay strong, or her daughters would crumble. She had two of them.
Her eldest was a genius without peer. She always told Cluna she wanted to become a great guardian just like her.
"I want to be a great guardian like you, Mother! So I can protect you and my little sister with these hands!"
"A splendid idea. I'll support you with everything I have."
"Thank you! Mother!"
But her eldest daughter couldn't keep that promise. The brilliant warrior who always charged ahead to shield her comrades eventually met the demons—and fell.
The last glimpse of her daughter's corpse: limbs torn asunder, guts strewn and mangled. The pharmacist who examined the body said she'd been alive right up to the end.
Torn apart and eviscerated while conscious. Everyone else called her an honorable warrior and mourned her. But what good did that do?
Dead was dead.
All that lingered was grief and despair.
That epiphany twisted into an obsession with her family. She forbade anyone from leaving the forest and banned all interest in weapons like swords.
Even with such iron control, her last remaining daughter slipped out anyway and joined the Royal Knights. Gone to a place beyond even her reach.
Some might say it: How obsessive must she have been to make her daughter run away like that?
True enough. This wasn't healthy family love. Closer to a madhouse. But it didn't matter. As long as they stayed alive and intact.
Because if you're alive, you can do anything.
That's why she led her forces out of the forest. On the pretext of retrieving the surviving kin still at Lionheart Fortress, where the Royal Knights had been stationed. And she waited.
It wouldn't be much longer now.
"You're slow."
A blade hovering near her throat.
"Even drawing your sword."
A cold voice from behind.