༺ After whom does she take her foolishness? (2) ༻
âAn acquaintance of Brigitte?â
âIf heâs an acquaintance of Brigitte then⦠Was he in the Demon King subjugation party?â
The crowdâs gazes were gathered on us.
I had a hunch that staying here would just be a nuisance to everyone involved, so I decided to leave with Naru and Brigitte.
âIs there someplace quiet we could talk at?â
âI know! My lab! But why are you here? Didnât you say that you hated school and studying? D-Donât tell me, you came here to see me?â
âNo! I didnât even know you were here!â
âWhat?!â
Brigitte frowned.
Then began screaming at me.
âI told you at least four times that I was from the Graham Academy! And at least five times that what I wanted to do after defeating the Demon King was to return to my hometown and teach children!â
Did she?
I donât remember, damn it.
It was because everyone was in a frantic state before entering the Demon Kingâs castle.
Itâs hard to describe how I was feeling back then.
I was acting a bit crazy.
Like I was out of my mind.
Thatâs probably why I donât remember what happened then.
ââ¦â
Not a single thing.
Anyway.
Everyone then headed to that so-called Lab with such thoughts in mind.
There were all sorts of magic tools in the Lab.
Naruâs intention seemed particularly focused on all the boiling liquids.
âOoooooooâ¦!â
âDonât mess with that, little girl. Theyâre all scary magic tools, you might turn into a cat or a squirrel if you recklessly touch one!â
âOoooh!â
No, trying to scare her will just make her even more interested in them.
Even I wanted to check them out now.
Would my popularity with girls increase if I got turned into a squirrel?
I want to try.
As I was seriously considering doing that, Brigitte sat on the sofa in front of me after bringing out some tea.
Now that I could get a better look at her, I noticed that her hair was tied up and she had some light makeup on.
She was a bit of a wild person back when we were traveling together, but I guess she looks more like a true member of society now?
âSo, what brings you here? Whoâs that? Your sister? Did you come here to have her enroll in the academy?â
âOh, even so, there was something I wanted to ask you, Brigitte. I donât know much about magic, but you do, right?â
âHa? Who do you think this Brigitte Von Walpurgis is? The number of wizards more knowledgeable than me in this world can be counted on the fingers of one hand!â
She said after proudly puffing her chest.
I wondered if Naru would react to that.
Unfortunately, she was busy laughing at some frogs in a beaker.
She then said.
âDad! Thereâs a frog!â
âYeah, thereâs a frog.â
I guess everything here was interesting to her.
Was I the same at that age?
Just as I was immersed in those memories from long ago, I began hearing a Biiiiiiiâ
along with a bubbling sound.
I wondered if Brigitte had forgotten to take the kettle off after preparing the tea.
But that wasnât the case. Brigitte, sitting in front of me, blushed hard and began puffing white steam from the top of her head.
Biiiiiiiiâ
âWhat the-? Is that Explosion Magic?â
âDadâ¦?! Youyouyou, youyouyou! How could this be?! Daaaaaaadâ¦?!â
âOh, thatâs a bit of a problem.â
âThen you did the thing with the white and gooey stuffâ¦?! This beast! You brute! Savage! Barbaroi! Cannibal!â
No, I didnât.
Sheâs always like this.
And she never lets me say anything.
âYou said you didnât have a girlfriend! How could you have a daughter thenâ¦? Ah, is that it? You didnât have a girlfriend but you left behind a wife in your hometown, is that it? Hohohohoh.â
Brigitteâs tone softened.
Not good, not good at all.
I decided to quickly explain myself.
âListen, whatever youâre imagining is wrong. Iâm honestly confused about this too and youâre the only one I can talk to about this.â
She was the only one I could ask.
Though, honestly, I would have preferred consulting with the others first.
âHmm, well, I guess itâs fine since Iâm the only one you could ask. I know that you have a small circle,â she said while grumbling. Looks like my appeal worked.
Anyway.
I then began explaining the situation to the finally calm Brigitte.
Barbaroi Style.
Chatter, Chatter!
For the record, ãChatter, Chatterã is a speech skill that lets me quickly and concisely explain things. According to my own tier list, itâs a C-tier skill.
âHmmm⦠So, your daughter went back in time and is actually from the future?â
âExactly. As expected of Brigitte, you understand things quickly.â
âI see. I get whatâs going on.â
Oh.
Brigitte seemed to have already figured it out.
As expected of a mage within this worldâs top five.
No wonder she was called theãWise Brigitteã.
I thought she was just a tomboy, but she is quite reliable, isnât she?
But she stood up just as I was about to express my gratitude to her.
She then grabbed the cheek of the Naru, who was entranced by the frogs in the beaker and began pulling it.
âHiiiiiiikâ¦!â
âLittle girl, how could you tell such a ridiculous lie? Magic to go back in time? Thereâs no such thing! Youâre being deceived by this kid, Judas!â
âHiiiikâ¦! Dad, quickly save this Naruâ¦!â
What?
That was too different from what I was expecting.
According to Brigitte, this situation was âa ridiculous lieâ.
In other words, it would be reasonable to assume that Naru was lying.
But I knew.
I knew about Naruâs clover-shaped white spot.
It wasnât fake.
* * *
âIsnât this just a ridiculous lie? Just think about it. Do you think people can casually come back from the future? Do you think you could even marry someone in the first place, Judas?â
âUghâ¦â
She was rubbing salt on my most painful and sensitive wound.
âI know about what youâve been doing lately. I heard you tried to find someone to marry but failed? Thatâs only natural. Not many women would be brave enough to marry a Barbaroi!â
âGuhâ¦â
âWell, of course, you might find at least one if you looked around a bit more. Like a combat wizard that has already slept in the same tent as a barbarian-, well, not me obviously!â
âYes, I donât think itâs you either.â
âWhat?!â
Brigitte blushed.
But my attention was fully on Naruâs sleeping face.
I then touched her cheek, which was swollen from Brigitteâs pinching. âHuuuâ¦â Seeing her sniffle like that, made her seem kind of pitiful.
Still looking at her, I said.
âNaru didnât react to your appearance, so itâs unlikely that youâre her mother. Do you feel a kind of maternal connection when you look at her?â
âO-Of course! Why would I marry a stupid, dull, and heartless savage like you?!â
How heartbreaking.
Brigitte was the kind of a beautiful woman whose charm would work on any man.
So, I was naturally heartbroken hearing her criticize me so harshly.
I feel like Iâll develop a strange fetish if I continue thinking about this, so letâs move to something else.
Brigitte then let out a deep sigh.
âJudas, you⦠Do you believe that little girlâs words?â
Hehehe.
How could someone like me be married to someone as wise as her? Nonsense.
She then said.
âWell, I do feel traces of large-scale magic on her body. Thatâs probably the reason for her memory loss. You said she remembered something about this academy, didnât you?â
âOh, yeah, thatâs what she said.â
âThen going to school for a while might not be a bad idea.â
âMe? How could I still go to school at my age?â
âNot you, Judas! Iâm talking about that little girl, Naruâ
âThen you should have spoken more clearly from the start. And donât get angry or youâll get wrinkles.â
âGuuuh, I really⦠Sigh, letâs drop this subject. It would be my loss no matter how long we quibbled for. Anyway, I can use my authority to accept your enrollment, but sheâll obviously still have to pass the exam.â
Makes sense.
It was then that I remembered how valuable it was to have good colleagues.
Love your colleagues, love your country!
âYouâre really a lifesaver, Bri!â
âWh-What do you mean? Hung, well, I wonder if that little Naru will be able to pass the test. You said she was 6 years old, right? Does she know the table of multiplication?â
âI donât know:â
âDid you not say that you were her dad? How come you donât even know this?â
âNo, itâs only been about a week since we met.â
I spent a long time quibbling with Brigitte like this.
After a while, Naru, who was lying on the sofa, opened her eyes.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âHng? Is it you Mom? Mom?â
Naru looked at Brigitte with sleepy eyes.
Brigitte was startled after meeting her gaze and looked left and right as if confused.
âWhat, what? Why are you looking at me? Why are you calling me Mom? Do we, perhaps, look alike?â
Brigitte replied to Naru.
âAh, now that Iâm not sleepy anymore you donât look like Mom at all!â
â⦠This is going to drive me nuts. Anyway, Iâll make a practice booklet with similar difficulty and feel to the entrance exam for you to try.
âUh, I donât like studyingâ¦â
Naru sulked.
But Brigitte still presented her with the test papers from the booklet like a strict teacher.
Writeâ Writeâ
Then after some time.
âItâs a total of 8 points.â
Brigitte said.
8 points out of 10 is pretty good, right?
Brigitte, then quickly added.
â8 out of 100. Let alone your multiplication table, you donât even know simple arithmetic, do you?â
âN-Naru doesnât know these things. Dad said you donât need to know if you have the powerâ¦â
Why is she looking at me?
But it truly did sound like something I would say.
You donât have to do math if you have the power.
No need to make your brain work hard if you are powerful enough.
And how was a 6-year-old supposed to know the multiplication table in the first place?
And as if she could read my thoughts, Brigitte quickly spoke.
âAre you looking down on the Graham Academy? The Graham Academy has a thousand years of history in training elites. Not just anyone can get in.â
âHmmâ¦â
âWell, if you donât pass the entrance exams, then youâll be kicked out, and you wonât be able to find your mother. The end. Iâve helped you as much as I could, so donât say anything later.â
Brigitte was right.
Whatâs unfortunate is that we⦠No, it was a problem I had to deal with alone.
This was complicated in more ways than one.
Well, I havenât eaten anything since the morning and Iâm starting to get hungry.
Being in a state of hunger would make one sensitive and impede their ability to think.
At such a time, eating a hearty meal usually helps, so I got up from my seat to prepare something.
âCan I borrow your kitchen? I think I saw one when we came in.â
âSure. Are you going to fry eggs? Thatâs all you can do, after all, fry eggs.â
Bridget laughed with her quip.
Well, as she had said, I really am bad at cooking.
The only thing I can do somewhat right is fry eggs.
She then quickly added.
ââI want my eggs, sunny-side-up.ââ
Two voices were overlapping.
Naru and Brigitte crossed gazes for a while as I began pondering.
Did they just order the same thing?
A coincidence? Or�
Note from Painter:
Hello again everyone, I hope youâve been enjoying this novel. Naru is just as cute as always, I canât get enough of her. This is also the first time we see the âStylesâ, these are gonna be a staple of this novel, and with all of them being weirder than the other especially the childrenâs lol.
Weâre gonna release 3 More chapters between today and Sunday, so stay tuned up.
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