༺ After whom does she take her foolishness? (2) ༻
“An acquaintance of Brigitte?”
“If he’s an acquaintance of Brigitte then… Was he in the Demon King subjugation party?”
The crowd’s 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.
“Is there someplace quiet we could talk at?”
“I know! My lab! But why are you here? Didn’t you say that you hated school and studying? D-Don’t tell me, you came here to see me?”
“No! I didn’t even know you were here!”
“What?!”
Brigitte frowned.
Then began screaming at me.
“I 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!”
Did she?
I don’t remember, damn it.
It was because everyone was in a frantic state before entering the Demon King’s castle.
It’s hard to describe how I was feeling back then.
I was acting a bit crazy.
Like I was out of my mind.
That’s probably why I don’t remember what happened then.
“…”
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.
Naru’s intention seemed particularly focused on all the boiling liquids.
“Oooooooo…!”
“Don’t mess with that, little girl. They’re all scary magic tools, you might turn into a cat or a squirrel if you recklessly touch one!”
“Ooooh!”
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?
“So, what brings you here? Who’s that? Your sister? Did you come here to have her enroll in the academy?”
“Oh, even so, there was something I wanted to ask you, Brigitte. I don’t know much about magic, but you do, right?”
“Ha? 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!”
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.
“Dad! There’s a frog!”
“Yeah, there’s a frog.”
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 Biiiiiii— along with a bubbling sound.
I wondered if Brigitte had forgotten to take the kettle off after preparing the tea.
But that wasn’t the case. Brigitte, sitting in front of me, blushed hard and began puffing white steam from the top of her head.
Biiiiiiii—
“What the-? Is that Explosion Magic?”
“Dad…?! Youyouyou, youyouyou! How could this be?! Daaaaaaad…?!”
“Oh, that’s a bit of a problem.”
“Then you did the thing with the white and gooey stuff…?! This beast! You brute! Savage! Barbaroi! Cannibal!”
No, I didn’t.
She’s always like this.
And she never lets me say anything.
“You said you didn’t have a girlfriend! How could you have a daughter then…? Ah, is that it? You didn’t have a girlfriend but you left behind a wife in your hometown, is that it? Hohohohoh.”
Brigitte’s tone softened.
Not good, not good at all.
I decided to quickly explain myself.
“Listen, whatever you’re imagining is wrong. I’m honestly confused about this too and you’re the only one I can talk to about this.”
She was the only one I could ask.
Though, honestly, I would have preferred consulting with the others first.
“Hmm, well, I guess it’s fine since I’m the only one you could ask. I know that you have a small circle,” 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, 「Chatter, Chatter」 is a speech skill that lets me quickly and concisely explain things. According to my own tier list, it’s a C-tier skill.
“Hmmm… So, your daughter went back in time and is actually from the future?”
“Exactly. As expected of Brigitte, you understand things quickly.”
“I see. I get what’s going on.”
Oh.
Brigitte seemed to have already figured it out.
As expected of a mage within this world’s top five.
No wonder she was called the「Wise Brigitte」.
I thought she was just a tomboy, but she is quite reliable, isn’t 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.
“Hiiiiiiik…!”
“Little girl, how could you tell such a ridiculous lie? Magic to go back in time? There’s no such thing! You’re being deceived by this kid, Judas!”
“Hiiiik…! Dad, quickly save this Naru…!”
What?
That was too different from what I was expecting.
According to Brigitte, this situation was “a ridiculous lie”.
In other words, it would be reasonable to assume that Naru was lying.
But I knew.
I knew about Naru’s clover-shaped white spot.
It wasn’t fake.
* * *
“Isn’t 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?”
“Ugh…”
She was rubbing salt on my most painful and sensitive wound.
“I know about what you’ve been doing lately. I heard you tried to find someone to marry but failed? That’s only natural. Not many women would be brave enough to marry a Barbaroi!”
“Guh…”
“Well, 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!”
“Yes, I don’t think it’s you either.”
“What?!”
Brigitte blushed.
But my attention was fully on Naru’s sleeping face.
I then touched her cheek, which was swollen from Brigitte’s pinching. “Huuu…” Seeing her sniffle like that, made her seem kind of pitiful.
Still looking at her, I said.
“Naru didn’t react to your appearance, so it’s unlikely that you’re her mother. Do you feel a kind of maternal connection when you look at her?”
“O-Of course! Why would I marry a stupid, dull, and heartless savage like you?!”
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 I’ll develop a strange fetish if I continue thinking about this, so let’s move to something else.
Brigitte then let out a deep sigh.
“Judas, you… Do you believe that little girl’s words?”
Hehehe.
How could someone like me be married to someone as wise as her? Nonsense.
She then said.
“Well, I do feel traces of large-scale magic on her body. That’s probably the reason for her memory loss. You said she remembered something about this academy, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s what she said.”
“Then going to school for a while might not be a bad idea.”
“Me? How could I still go to school at my age?”
“Not you, Judas! I’m talking about that little girl, Naru.”
“Then you should have spoken more clearly from the start. And don’t get angry or you’ll get wrinkles.”
“Guuuh, I really… Sigh, let’s 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 she’ll obviously still have to pass the exam.”
Makes sense.
It was then that I remembered how valuable it was to have good colleagues.
Love your colleagues, love your country!
“You’re really a lifesaver, Bri!”
“Wh-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?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you not say that you were her dad? How come you don’t even know this?”
“No, it’s only been about a week since we met.”
I spent a long time quibbling with Brigitte like this.
After a while, Naru, who was lying on the sofa, opened her eyes.
“Hng? Is it you Mom? Mom?”
Naru looked at Brigitte with sleepy eyes.
Brigitte was startled after meeting her gaze and looked left and right as if confused.
“What, what? Why are you looking at me? Why are you calling me Mom? Do we, perhaps, look alike?”
Brigitte replied to Naru.
“Ah, now that I’m not sleepy anymore you don’t look like Mom at all!”
“… This is going to drive me nuts. Anyway, I’ll make a practice booklet with similar difficulty and feel to the entrance exam for you to try.”
“Uh, I don’t like studying…”
Naru sulked.
But Brigitte still presented her with the test papers from the booklet like a strict teacher.
Write— Write—
Then after some time.
“It’s a total of 8 points.”
Brigitte said.
8 points out of 10 is pretty good, right?
Brigitte, then quickly added.
“8 out of 100. Let alone your multiplication table, you don’t even know simple arithmetic, do you?”
“N-Naru doesn’t know these things. Dad said you don’t need to know if you have the power…”
Why is she looking at me?
But it truly did sound like something I would say.
You don’t 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.
“Are 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.”
“Hmm…”
“Well, if you don’t pass the entrance exams, then you’ll be kicked out, and you won’t be able to find your mother. The end. I’ve helped you as much as I could, so don’t say anything later.”
Brigitte was right.
What’s 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 haven’t eaten anything since the morning and I’m 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.
“Can I borrow your kitchen? I think I saw one when we came in.”
“Sure. Are you going to fry eggs? That’s all you can do, after all, fry eggs.”
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.
““I want my eggs, sunny-side-up.””
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 you’ve been enjoying this novel. Naru is just as cute as always, I can’t get enough of her. This is also the first time we see the ‘Styles’, these are gonna be a staple of this novel, and with all of them being weirder than the other especially the children’s lol.
We’re gonna release 3 More chapters between today and Sunday, so stay tuned up.
As always please rate it on NU if you haven’t already, and join the discord to talk with us. See you all for the next chapter.
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