༺ Finding A Place Is Hard! (3) ༻
Salome declared.
âIâm Naruâs mother.â
Her tone was decisive, as if she was simply enunciating a fact.
Brigitte scowled at her overly confident voice.
âWhat did you just say?â
âDidnât you hear? Iâm likely to be Naruâs mother. Iâve heard everything, you know? That Naru came from the future, six years from now.â
Salome spoke boldly with her veiled face.
Upon hearing this, Brigitte looked at me and retorted as if it was absurd.
âJudas, we shouldnât talk about Naru carelesslyâ¦! She might be in dangerâ¦!â
Brigitteâs retort was justified.
If the rumor that Naru came from six years in the future spread, it would undoubtedly cause a lot of trouble.
Of course, I knew this well and didnât tell people unless necessary.
However, the situation with Salome was a bit special, so I ended up telling her everything in the flow of the conversation.
And now that I think about it, it really was a foolish thing to do.
I ended up revealing a deadly secret to the one person who should never know.
Salome then added.
âNaru has a talent for thievery. That talent runs in her blood. Wouldnât I, who was once called the Princess of the Back Alleys, be a fitting candidate for Naruâs mother?â
It was a sound argument in its own way.
The talent for thievery that Naru possessed was definitely inherited from her parents.
âYou being Naruâs motherâ¦.â
Honestly, I had never considered the possibility of Salome being Naruâs mother.
But hearing it, it sounded somewhat plausible.
âNaru, what do you think? Does she seem like your mother?â
I asked Naru, who was listening quietly to the adultsâ conversation with wide-eyed innocence. Then Naru circled around Salome and hugged her leg.
ââ¦It feels familiar somehow! If I hug a little more, I think I might remember!â
A familiar feeling?
She thinks she might remember?
Could Salome really be Naruâs mother?
If so, that means I reconciled with Salome and even got married in the future where Naru was born and grew up.
What on earth happened?
Did my future self make progress with Salome again while taking down Jack?
While I was thinking about this, Sifnoi also nodded her head.
âIndeed, are you the thief who was called the Princess of the Back Alleys? Little Kore Naru shows the qualities of a despicable thief⦠Itâs a reasonable guessâ¦!â
Sifnoi seemed convinced, Brigitte on the other hand, asked Naru again.
âNaru, think again. Didnât your mother have a large chest? But this thief here does not have a large chest.â
Indeed, Brigitteâs reasoning was quite sound.
Salome, the agile thief.
Her chest size was not small, but it was also not so large.
âNow that I think about it, they do seem smaller than Momâsâ¦.â
Naru, with her arms crossed, nodded.
She must have looked at Salomeâs chest.
Then Salome spoke from behind her veil.
âDonât breasts grow when you have a child? Thatâs common sense. It seems like mages are so focused on magic research that they donât know about human biology. Thatâs why youâre still not married at 25 years of age.â
ââ¦This bitchâ¦!â
Zapâ
Electricity twirled in Brigitteâs hand.
Brigitte, who could cast up to a 3rd circle magic without chanting, was preparing an attack spell.
Probably a Lightning Arrow containing the three words âLightning, Destruction, Arrowâ.
I canât recount how many villains, thieves and monsters have been ended by that one spell.
Everyone who got hit by it would immediately collapse
I was hit by it in the past, and it really made my hair stand on end.
âReturn my clothes, you thief!â
Zapâ
Finally, unable to hold back, Brigitte fired a lightning arrow at the thief.
Of course, Salome leaped gracefully and jumped to the mansionâs roof in a flash.
âAnyway, I just came to say hello. So, see you later, Judas.â
Popâ
With those words, Salome disappeared into the dim evening darkness.
What did that girl come to do?
* * *
âIâve only cleared about a tenth of it.â
It was late in the evening.
I had cleared the clutter and garbage from the entrance of the gate to the entrance of the mansion building.
It was quite a time-consuming task, even with my transcendent abilities.
âIâll have to do the rest tomorrow. Brigitte, can I crash at your lab for the day? It feels a bit shameless to ask this of you after you helped clean.â
âDo as you like. But, since there wonât be time to cook dinner, weâll have to eat outside.â
âOh, holy shh⦠Naru likes eating outâ¦!â
Naru raised her hand with excitement.
She then spoke again.
âThereâs a restaurant near here, on 5th Street, where I used to go with Mom and Dad! They have a childrenâs menu, and they used to give out small toys if you eatâ¦!â
Popâ
Naru grabbed my hand and Brigitteâs and pulled us.
Soon, the restaurant that she said she used to frequent with her parents appeared.
It was just an ordinary restaurant.
The menu was simple with meat, bread, soup, wine, etc.
âNo childrenâs menu?â
Naru tilted her head while looking at the menu.
Perhaps thereâs a difference between what she remembered and the actual menu?
Well, this is six years in the past.
The world as Naru knew it would be different in many ways.
Naru looked disappointed and puckered her lips.
âThen Naru will have the tomato spaghetti here! Naru loves tomato spaghetti!â
âThis Sifnoi⦠will have pancakes with strawberry jamâ¦! Pancakes that cost 50,000 Arc per plate⦠I will try it myself to see what it tastes likeâ¦!â
Sifnoi and Naru had already decided on their food.
Next, the menu was handed to me.
I ordered a decent soup, bread, and a glass of wine.
A few minutes later.The food came out quickly.
It was surprisingly decent.
As the meal time came to an end.
I asked Sifnoi, who had been chatting about this and that.
âSo, Sifnoi, what were you doing in Jackâs hideout?â
âThis Sifnoi⦠after the dissolution of the Demon Kingâs Subjugation Party⦠was wandering around the world in search of the legendary âSkeleton Keyââ¦!â
âOh, holy shhâ¦! Skeleton Key! Naru knows what it is! I heard itâs a treasure that can pick all the locks and locking mechanisms in the world!â
Perhaps itâs because she had been drinking wine?
Brigitte, whose face was slightly red, added with a chuckle.
âCome to think of it, Sifnoi, you joined the Demon Kingâs Party to find the Skeleton Key. But it wasnât in the Demon Kingâs treasure vault. Isnât it just a thing from a legend?â
âThis Sifnoi doesnât think soâ¦! I thought a famous thief might have it, so I sneaked into Jackâs hideout⦠and ended up⦠somewhat in the middle of a management positionâ¦!â
I see.
She has a good social disposition, after all.
Sifnoi was frankly rather noisy and interesting, maybe he just kept her around like a radio.
Donât famous pirates usually have a parrot or a monkey, right?
Sifnoi mustâve been something like that.
âIn the end, I couldnât find the key⦠But, being next to Judas or Brigitte will increase the chances of a legendary treasure appearingâ¦! Sifnoi is going to be freeloading for a whileâ¦!â
I see.
And thus our meal continued.
Glugâ Glugâ Glugâ
Brigitteâs glass filled up with red wine several times.
I said to Brigitte.
âArenât you drinking too much?â
âDonât worry. I wonât get drunk with this much.â
Her face was flushed as she said that.
Soon, Brigitte banged on the table.
âThat thieving bitch, just wait until I catch her.â
I see.
It seems her anger towards Salome was what made her prone to drinking today.
Brigitte had been unilaterally provoked and harmed by her so that was only natural.
Soon, Brigitte asked.
âJudas, do you think so too?â
âThink what?â
âDo you think Salome could be Naruâs mother?â
âWell, if you ask me, itâs not impossible. After all, Salome is a mature woman who can bear children.â
âThen, that woman. Couldnât that woman also be Naruâs mother? That woman too? That woman too? Arenât all of them mature enough to bear children?â
Brigitte pointed at the women in the restaurant.
I had no choice but to nod at that.
âWell, they all have a chance. Most women are all potentially Naruâs mother. Theyâre in a potentially motherly state.â
âDoes this include this Sifnoi?â
âNo. Even so, definitely not you.â
â⦠That makes sense!â
Sifnoi and I laughed as Brigitte clicked her tongue.
Then she frowned and said to me.
âSo youâre saying any woman will do, you bastard. Just like Cariote and Cecily. And Salome. A thief with no integrity or principlesâ¦â
Brigitte was really angry.
Iâve felt this before, but Brigitte has a surprisingly low boiling point.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
She couldnât easily endure being provoked.
Because of this nature, there were several times when the Demon Kingâs Subjugation Party faced a crisis due to her succumbing to being provoked
Of course, those crises were all overcome by the firepower of an enraged Brigitte.
âUrgh, I didnât choose to age. Time passes quickly. Before I knew it, I was twenty-five⦠But Iâm not old enough to be called an auntyâ¦â
âNaru is sleepy now!â
Naru yawned.
It was getting late.
âShould we get up? Brigitte seems pretty drunk.â
Dragâ
I pushed the chair and stood up.
We stood in front of the counter, waiting for Brigitte to pull out her wallet, because I didnât have money, Naru obviously didnât, and Sifnoi just got out of prison and didnât have any too.
Rustleâ
However, as she rummaged through her pockets, Brigitteâs face gradually changed.
âEhâ¦? M-My walletâ¦â
She frowned as if sheâd realized something.
âThat thieving bitchâ.!â
Is this for real?
I donât have money either.
I thought Brigitte would naturally pay.
We had no choice but to leave a tab at the shop.
It only worked because we were famous.
âThat thieving bitch, just wait until I catch her!â
Brigitteâs anger pierced the sky.
Itâs always been like this between thieves and mages.
Staggerâ
With a mix of anger and drunkenness, Brigitte kept staggering.
I offered my shoulder to her, and Brigitte said somewhat gruffly.
âJudas, do you think the same?â
âWhat now?â
âDo you think itâs too late for me to get married?â
Too late to get married?
Brigitte was the same age as me.
25 years old.
I donât really think itâs too late to get married at this age.
But thatâs my perspective as a 21st-century human, and in this continent of Pangea, most women at 25 would have already been married and had children.
Of course, there were plenty of successful mages like Brigitte, career women who chose not to marry and live alone.
From the start, it seemed mages believed that getting married would lead to a loss of magical power.
So I thought Brigitte wouldnât care about age or marriage, but she seemed more sensitive than I had expected.
I said to Brigitte.
âIâm not sure. And I think you might be Naruâs mother.â
âWhat do you mean by that?â
âWellâ¦.â
I awkwardly scratched my nose.
Before we knew it, we had arrived at Brigitteâs lab.
There was a letter posted outside the lab, on a luxurious-looking purple paper.
There was also a seal with a butterfly pattern on the envelope.
Upon seeing that, Brigitte reached out rather violently.
Plopâ
She dropped the envelope on the floor and began to read its contents.
As her breathing started to become rough, Sifnoi picked up the letter envelope, examined it, and said.
âA butterfly pattern⦠one of the ruling families in the west, the symbol of the Walpurgisâ¦! No wonder the envelope gives off such a luxurious vibeâ¦!â
Walpurgis, was that Brigitteâs family?
I remember that they were a famous magical family.
As I was recalling this, Brigitte finally ripped the letter.
And then she said.
âWhen will they ever learn to mind their own business? Coming here now and trying to play the role of a family? Those damn bastards.â
I wonder whatâs going on.
I wanted to ask, but I kept my mouth shut.
A foreboding sensation crept over me, sending a shiver down my spine just like when the Warrior was injured by a saw trap in the Demon Kingâs Castle.
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