Chapter 108: Reunion With Mother

「Ooh! If it isn’t Aria-chan! Long time no see!」

「T-The one over there! Could it be SWORD SAINT-SAMA!?」

By the time the several-hour-long conference ended, night had arrived. Aria guided Vulcan, Stella, Lily, Faeri, and Alisha around the village, while hugging Tama.

The group heard shocked exclamations now and then from Aria’s acquaintances. Naturally, the most prominent amongst the group was Alisha, the benefactor of the village.

Both Aria and Alisha smiled and waved their hand toward everyone while moving forward.

The group reached their destination a few minutes later.

「Ar… Aria!」

「I’m home! Mother!」

The group arrived at a certain house, and a beautiful elf came out to greet them. As soon as this beautiful elf saw Aria, she embraced her.

「NYA~~~~~~~~~~~!?」

Tama raised a shocked cry.

The reason behind his cry was that he was still placed in between Aria’s twin melons. Moreover, the female elf who hugged Aria didn’t lose to Aria in terms of the size of their melons. Tama was surprised upon finding himself being sandwiched by two pairs of soft yet firm twin melons.

「Oh my! Are you okay, Kitten-chan?」

The female elf quickly separated herself from Aria, then gently brushed Tama’s head.

Tama squinted his adorable eyes. (Fua~… W-what’s with this god-like patting skill. I can’t get enough of this.)

Upon seeing Tama’s expression, the female elf let out a gentle smile, but when her eyes fell on the rest of Aria’s group, a shocked voice leaked out of her mouth.

「… EH? S-sword Saint-sama!?」

Alisha, who stood behind Aria, replied.

「It has been a while. If my memory serves me right, you’re Aria-chan’s mother. Leona-san… was it?」

「Oh my! I’m honored to know that you remember my name!」

「Aria-chan is such an impressive child after all. It’s only natural that I remember her mother’s name. Besides, you have the same name as my mother did.」

Alisha gently smiled toward Aria’s mother, Leona.

（I see… Sword Saint-sama’s mother has the same name as Master’s mother. Both of them bear some resemblance too… Interesting!）

Porcelain white skin, platinum blonde hair, ice-blue eyes, and their gentle demeanor. Both Aria and Alisha had several similar traits, and now their mothers having the same name had piqued Tama’s interest.

Leona was an exquisite female elf, who had the same porcelain white skin and platinum blonde hair as Aria. However, the color of her eyes was deeper than Aria; it was ultramarine rather than ice blue.

「He~! so you’re Aria’s mama!」

「Super beautiful person appe~ar!」

Lily and Faeri danced around Leona.

As expected of Aria’s mother, even though the two fairies were sensitive when it came to malice, they approached Leona without a problem.

「Oh my! Such adorable fairies! You have made other friends too, Aria. Can you introduce them to me?」

「Yes, dear mother! This child is called Tama. He’s an infant elemental cat, and my pet(knight) and adventuring partner!」

「Nya~n (Best regard, Master’s mother)!」

「Oh my! such an adorable partner. Best regard, Tama-chan!」

As she said so, Leona patted Tama once more with her god-like patting skill, and Tama raised another adorable cry.

「I’m Vulcan-nya! Aria-nyan’s comrade!」

「Our’s is Stella! Aria picked me up, and I have become her comrade since then!」

「Lily is Aria’s friend!」

「I’m Faeri~! Aria’s friend too~!」

After Aria introduced Tama, the other four also introduced themselves in turn.

Leona replied to each one of them with a gentle smile on her face.

When she was finished, she asked.

「Come to think of it, why is Sword Saint-sama traveling with Aria?」

So――

「It’s because I’m Aria’s teacher, Leona-san.」

「Eh? … EH!? SWORD SAINT-SAMA iS ARIA’S TEACHER!?」

Leona’s eyes opened wide upon hearing the unexpected reply.

Thereafter, Alisha explained to Leona with a wry smile the chain of events that had led to that result.

Alisha told her about Aria’s achievements including the subjugation of the demon race enemy in Renault, the battle in Gladdstone that resulted in her becoming an A-rank adventurer, getting an invitation to join the Empire’s Hero Squad that became the catalyst for her to be trained under Alisha, and lastly, Aria’s feat in defeating Vassago’s summoned beast.

「Aria, you grew so much in such a short time.」

Leona almost couldn’t believe that her beloved daughter had achieved so much in such a short time. Feeling proud of Aria, she patted her head.

「Dear… mother.」

Even though Aria felt embarrassed being treated like that in front of her friends, she couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. It had been a long time since her mother had patted her head like that.