Chapter 11 : Elia’s Mother

“Oh, by the way, have you heard the news, Master?”

“Hmm? What news?”

It was a late afternoon with the sun slowly setting.

After finishing her training, Elia had just taken a bath and came out, and her question was raised during the dinner with Zenre.

“Ugh…….”

Elia, exhausted from the tough training, was cutting and eating her fried egg with difficulty.

As I watched her cute figure, I turned my head to answer Zenre’s question.

News? What kind of news is she talking about?

With that question in mind, I turned my head, and Zenre, swallowing the salad she had been eating, opened her mouth again.

“Recently, there have been unusual movements in the underworld. It seems many underworld guilds are gathering in one place. Even the underworld guilds that had ties to the surface are showing suspicious movements.”

“Hmm… That’s not exactly good news.”

“Yeah, it’s not a good sign that those scattered like mice are gathering together, right? That’s why soldiers and mercenaries from each kingdom are starting to pay attention.”

“Is that so? Has anything happened yet?”

“Thankfully, no. It’s still quiet.”

However, it feels like it’s quiet before a big commotion.

Zenre added that, shrugging her shoulders, and then she picked up some salad again with her chicken.

I turned my gaze to her eating, thinking for a moment.

‘If it’s the strange signs of the underworld… could it be the Worst gang? It might be forming at this very moment.’

There was a significant difference between the underworld in the game I remembered from my previous life and the underworld of the current time.

That difference was the absence of an organization ruling the underworld.

In the game I knew, there was an organization called the Worst, which was the head of the underworld.

It was an organization that controlled the entire underworld and ruled as kings in the shadows.

But in the current underworld, there was no such organization called the Worst.

There were a few dirty guilds like thief guilds, assassin guilds, and mercenary guilds, but they were small groups scattered around.

But the Worst was an organization that would inevitably appear one day.

So, the fact that these guilds were gathering in one place could be a sign that the Worst is being formed, right?

…… Should I stop it?’

For a brief moment, that thought crossed my mind.

The Worst would eventually become the most notorious criminal organization, as their name suggested.

Composed of individuals with great talents but filled with malice and revenge, they were a group that caused numerous damages and expanded the influence of the underworld.

If these people were the ones forming it, shouldn’t I stop it now, before the problem arises in the future?

‘……No.’

But after a short period of contemplation, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

‘Anyway, I can’t stop it alone.’

The Worst was an organization formed by numerous powerful villains, gathered under the leadership of a person known as the pioneer.

Each individual had strength comparable to Zenre, who was sitting in front of me, eating her meal.

The only way I could stop the Worst would be to invade the underworld and kill all those who would become the central figures of the Worst.

Naturally, it was impossible for me to search and eliminate them all on my own across this vast continent.

At this point, with only suspicions, there was no reason to take such reckless actions.

‘And Elia is with me, so I can’t act recklessly.’

Above all, I had a daughter to raise.

How could I risk my life when I have a daughter, Elia, who can’t even cook on her own yet?

But, I couldn’t just sit back and watch an organization that would destroy many cities and cause massive casualties.

Even if I thought I couldn’t stop it alone, doing nothing would be a betrayal of my sense of duty.

So, the conclusion I reached was simple.

‘When they start causing trouble, I need to strongly advocate for the kingdom to launch a crackdown.’

During the early stages when they reveal themselves to the continent, I would use the kingdom’s remaining strength and influence to lead the suppression of the Worst.

As a war hero, my influence was fairly strong.

If I fully exerted myself to suppress them before they fully gathered, I might be able to prevent the Worst from becoming active.

‘If the Worst starts causing big incidents, even the high-ups can’t just stand by.’

Once the Worst caused major incidents, the kingdom would have no choice but to take it seriously and work to suppress them.

What I had to do was reduce the damage from these large incidents and save people.

And push the kingdom, which couldn’t act immediately, from behind.

I thought I would need to review my memories from the game again soon, and with that thought, I put the chicken from my plate into my mouth.

The day Elia started her physical training.

It was a peaceful dinner time.

It had been a month since Elia started her physical training under Zenre.

Elia’s physical strength had steadily increased, and surprisingly quickly.

Although it had only been a month, Elia, who used to tire out after barely running a kilometer, was now able to run that distance back and forth without trouble.

Her overall muscle flexibility had significantly improved, and her muscle density had increased as well.

Because of that, even though it had only been a month, she was now doing some light strength training.

I watched Elia, with Zenre assisting her, as she struggled to continue her shuttle runs.

“Heheh… Heh……………”

“Miss, you’re almost there! Just one more!”

“But you said that was the last one earlier…!”

“That was just a regular round trip, wasn’t it? Now we’re talking about lunges, and there’s just one more round trip! Why are you whining like that? Hurry up and run!”

Despite the complaining look in Elia’s eyes, she didn’t stop moving her legs.

She knew that this was truly the last time.

So, with great effort, Elia made her way through the line and, with a deflating sound, was helped by Zenre to the window.

“Heeah…………… Dad…………!”

“Haha, good job, our daughter.”

“……”

Elia’s face glistened with sweat under the sunlight after physical training.

I wiped Elia’s sweat-drenched face with a towel that I had soaked in cold water beforehand.

Elia let her face rest in my hand and gave a weak smile.

“Hehe…….”

Her cheeks stretched like glutinous rice cakes every time I rubbed the towel with both hands, which was unbearably cute.

And as I was wiping Elia’s face, Zenre, who had come in through the back door without me noticing, approached me.

In her hands were two wooden swords.

Seeing what she was after was obvious, I let out a low sigh.

“Haah………… Do we have to do this today too?”

“You’re going to train anyway, aren’t you? Practicing together is better than training alone, so just think of it as killing two birds with one stone, Master.”

“You take it too seriously, so it’s exhausting…………….”

“Elia has a good eye for detail, so watching our sparring will be helpful for her.”

“Ugh, if only you’d just stay quiet.”

No matter how sharp Elia’s eye for detail was, it was obvious that she wouldn’t be able to learn anything from watching even a slightly serious sparring match of mine.

Rather than learning something, it was clear that she wouldn’t even be able to follow what was happening properly.

But the way Zenre was using Elia as an excuse to spar with me was so shameless that it irritated me.

When I gave her a cold, unimpressed stare, Zenre awkwardly scratched the back of her head and avoided my gaze.

“Haha…………… When else would I get a chance to spar with you, Master? Do you think it’s common to have the chance to spar with the ideal that every swordsman on the continent dreams of?”

“……Could you please stop using such embarrassing titles? What ideal of all swordsmen?”

“That’s too self-deprecating, Master.”

“It’s not self-deprecation. It’s pure embarrassment, you fool.”

Of course, even as I brushed it off like this with banter, I intended to accept his sparring request.

Since the day I finished Elia’s first training session, Zenre had been requesting wooden sword sparring with me during my own training sessions.

It had already been a month since we started doing it five days a week.

Certainly, compared to just striking at a training dummy alone, the clash of swords in actual sparring gave me more of a feeling of real training, so I was satisfied with it as well.

The only issue was that Zenre took it too seriously, which was a bit exhausting.

But even that served as good training in its own way, so how could I refuse a sparring session that was beneficial to both of us?

Just as I accepted the wooden sword from Zenre and was about to head to the training grounds—

Knock, knock, knock

Suddenly, a knock echoed from the front door of the cabin.

“Hm?”

“Who’s here?”

“At this hour, who could it be…….”

Naturally, the three of us turned our heads toward the door.

My face remained calm, while Zenre seemed readying herself for combat, as if preparing for an attack from an intruder.

And Elia, with a noticeably bright expression, looked toward the door.

Because Elia knew exactly who was beyond that door.

And so did I, as I had sensed their presence as well.

“Mom!”

That’s why Elia called out toward the door with an even brighter voice than when I had been wiping her face earlier.

At the same time, Zenre’s face shifted into one of confusion as she watched the scene unfold.

“Go…..?”

Since Zenre believed that I, her adoptive father, was Elia’s only parent, the word “mom” didn’t make any sense to her.

The confusion and the whirlwind of thoughts racing through Genre’s mind were evident on her face.

And her expression soon turned to shock when Elia opened the door.

Creak—

“Mom!!”

“Oh my, my daughter. Why are you so sweaty today?”

“Hehe, I just did some physical training!”

As soon as the door opened, Elia threw herself at the figure standing there with full force.

The woman embraced Elia as if she couldn’t resist her daughter’s enthusiasm.

And then Zenre, who had been full of questions, saw the woman’s face and shouted with her mouth wide open.

“Ru, Ruina?!”

Because the person standing there was none other than—

Ruina, the legendary archer and war hero of the Demon War, just like me.