“Not that I’ve ever met him before or anything.”
“I know all about it. You’ve really struggled to get where you are, haven’t you? Actually, putting it like that might be a bit rude. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize.”
It didn’t feel real to me or anything anyway.
“How about this? Feel free to consider me family from here on out, too. Calling me ‘Mother’ will do.”
“Now you just sound like Marino,” I said, prompting a laugh from us both.
“Still, gaining another mother or two happens all the time. Don’t let it bother you.”
Uhhh. I didn’t think it happened ‘all the time’…
—Ludie’s Perspective—
After Mother summoned Kousuke, Father called for me—by myself, to his personal chambers.
Father had just finished brewing tea when I arrived. Normally, he had someone else do it, but he did enjoy making it for himself every now and then. My mother loved tea, so I had seen her enjoying the tea Father had brewed for her on many an occasion.
“Take a seat.”
I sat down on the nearby sofa, and Father placed a cup of tea in front of me. I took a sip.
“It tastes lovely.”
“Does it?”
Something appeared to come to Father’s mind, and he stared hard at me. Then he let out a small sigh.
“Not even a year has passed, and you’ve grown so much. You’ve gotten so much bigger.”
I immediately realized he wasn’t speaking about my height.
“…Maybe because of how much has happened.”
Father agreed before taking a sip of his tea. “Did the Arch Elf say anything?”
“…Not a word.”
Father sighed slightly and looked out the window.
“I always thought he was a problem that needed to be dealt with. It was as though a massive bomb had been strapped to our chests this whole time.”
“True…”
Since he had gone completely out of control.
“Even the human supremacist Leggenze came with their heads bowed, asking for help. If someone like him was allowed to go berserk in our country…”
I could only imagine the absolute worst. There was no doubt the damage would have been catastrophic.
“Thank you, Ludie.”
“Please, it just sort of worked out that way,” I replied, and Father took another sip of tea. Then, closing his eyes and thinking something over, he nodded slightly.
“I never would have thought you’d be the one to attain it.”
He had to be speaking about the power of the legendary High Elf.
“Neither did I.”
I had basically just tapped into it because I’d felt an urgent need for it. Apparently, Father had gone through trials and undergone special training to do the same.
Yet, he never obtained the power. In all likelihood, that wasn’t because he lacked the skill or capacity for it. If there was one thing he may have been missing…
“I have my friends to thank.”
“Is that right…? We owe them a large debt of gratitude.”
He was correct. They had helped save the empire from danger. However…
“None of them really think they did anything special, though. We’ve all been through much worse, for one.”
“And what would that be?”
“When we confronted the Book of Raziel, definitely.”
“The Book of Raziel. Hmmm.”
Father began to ponder something. According to what Ms. Sakura had told me, the elven queen had been involved with sealing away the Book of Raziel. This was why I’d mentioned it to my father, since I wondered if he knew something about it. Sure enough, it seemed like he did.
“I’m surprised you made it out of that.”
“I’ve never experienced anything like the fear I felt then.”
“Maybe that’s why I never awoke to the power—I haven’t gone through nearly as much as you have.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Now, this is slightly off topic, but…I have something I’m worried about.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“But I do. You may not plan on disclosing you’ve become a High Elf, but you do understand there’s a chance that word had gotten out somewhere, right?”
“I do.”
Well, though we had no intention of telling everyone, there was always the chance this information would spread.
“Do you not have any plans of coming home for good?”
Father was trying to say he would protect me. But I had found someone I could rely on even more than him. First and foremost, though…
“Do you truly think I’d come back home?”
At this, Father smiled self-deprecatingly.
“No. But depending on how things shake out, someone might set their eyes on that power of yours.”
“I’ll be fine, Father. I’m not alone. I have all of my friends at my side.”
“You mean him, huh?”
I had clearly said “friends,” but even then… Father was still focusing on only one of them. Not that he was wrong, though.
“He’s already protected you several times now, so I’m sure it’ll be fine, but I still can’t help but worry.”
When it was all said and done, he did acknowledge Kousuke after all. But he didn’t need to worry.
“That’s not going to happen again. This time, I’m going to protect him.”
“Oh, I…I see.” Father forced a smile.
“But even then, I don’t know if I can catch up to him…”
“Even as a High Elf?”
“That’s right.”
There was something Kousuke was working his hardest to achieve, something he often boasted about.
I imagined almost everyone had taken his words as a joke at first, but I figured there wasn’t anyone who did anymore. His accomplishments simply made his claims impossible to dismiss.
This time, it was my turn to say the phrase he used so often.
“After all, Kousuke’s going to become the strongest in the world.”