“I appreciate it, Ephy. But it wasn’t enough. I’m not enough.” He bit his lip. He’d tried hard, sure. But it hadn’t even been close to sufficient. “I have to give it more than my all. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to reach their level.”
“...There’s nothing that says you have to reach their level, you know.”
“Of course there is.”
“And what would that be?”
“Everything!” Nozomu shouted. With that sudden outburst, Nozomu ended the conversation. There was no way he could say it out loud—that he wanted to be the type of husband Ephelia could brag about, a man who didn’t lose to his wife’s first love. If he confessed these feelings to the one he loved, he’d die of embarrassment. Some things needed to stay secret—no matter how much seeing Ephelia’s downcast expression hurt his heart.
“Hey, Nozomu, Ephy!” Suddenly, Yuuto, who was walking ahead of them, whipped around to face them. His expression was stern. However, he didn’t seem upset—rather, he looked anxious about something.
“What’s wrong, dad?”
“There’s a bad aura headed toward us. You guys go on ahead to the ship.”
“Oh, really?” Nozomu scanned the area, trying to sense it for himself, but to no avail. He had no idea what his father was talking about. The sky was clear and blue, and the scenery couldn’t be more peaceful. However, when he glanced over at Albertina, Kristina, Hildegard, and Sigrún, each one of them had a grim look on their faces. It seemed Yuuto wasn’t just blowing smoke.
“Judging from the strength of the aura, it’s probably Thutmose again. He’s got...around a thousand men with him this time, by my estimation,” Yuuto explained.
“The accuracy of those senses of yours never ceases to amaze, Father,” Kristina said in an exasperated tone.
Yuuto just gave a casual shrug. “It sure is handy at times like these. I wish I could give Rífa my thanks.”
“Then just thank Big Sis Mitsuki.”
“Ha, I suppose. Guess even after all these years, it still hasn’t fully sunk in for me that she’s Rífa’s reincarnation.”
Even as the enemy army drew closer, Yuuto and Kristina continued their leisurely chat. As odd as that seemed to Nozomu, it was also reassuring. Then he felt another pang of inferiority within his chest. Rather than having to give his all in every battle, his father was strong enough to be reliable only when it counted and could afford to goof off. That stoked the flames of his jealousy once more.
“Well, at any rate. Nozomu, Ephy, you two get back to the ship. It’s dangerous to stay here.”
“What are the rest of you gonna do?”
“Hm? Well, there’ll be a bit of a scuffle, I expect. We’ve got to at least show ’em that nothing good will come from picking a fight with us,” Yuuto said with an impish grin, as though he was enjoying this from the bottom of his heart—as though he was confident he’d win, even with only seventeen men currently at his disposal.
Nozomu steeled his resolve and spoke. “...Ephy, I’m sorry, but you go on. I’m staying here.”
“Huh?!” She looked shocked.
“Hm? What’s the meaning of this, Nozomu?” Yuuto asked in a suspicious tone.
Truthfully, the idea of war frightened him. The idea of dying frightened him even more. But fear be damned—he had something he wanted to accomplish at all costs. “I’ll...fight too. I want to see the way you fight with my own eyes, dad.”
It was the perfect opportunity to witness it for himself—the strength of Suoh Yuuto, the man lauded as a god of war, and in turn, the size of the mountain Nozomu had to scale. There were some things in this world that had to be experienced firsthand to be understood.
“Mm, I don’t think it’ll be as entertaining as you’re expecting...” Yuuto scratched his head in vexation. He didn’t seem too keen on the idea.
“Oh, it’ll be fine, won’t it? The boy just wants to see how cool his father is for himself,” Kristina said, throwing Nozomu a bone.
“I mean, I get that much, and I’d like to show him how cool I can be in other ways... Just not this one.” Yuuto heaved a sigh.
For Nozomu, however, he had already seen more than enough of that in his lifetime. The sight of his dad hunched over his desk with a serious look on his face or issuing orders to men older and more dignified than himself showed up frequently in Nozomu’s memories of his youth. It was why he’d been so disappointed in his father for abdicating the throne and choosing to laze around instead—and why he wanted to take this opportunity to see his dad truly in action, even if it would show once and for all the breadth of the gulf between them.
“Ah, well. This’ll be another good lesson for you in the end. If it’s just a little peek, your old dad can show you how it’s done.”
He was going to finally see the true face of the hero he’d looked up to and idolized for so long!
“Kristina, make sure Ephy gets back safe,” Nozomu asked sincerely.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. Even without you telling me to, I would never let anyone harm so much as a hair on this girl’s head.” With that, Kristina kicked the sides of her horse and took off toward the northeast. As he watched her go, Nozomu felt his stomach tighten. From here on out, he was going to war—a hopeless war, at that, considering it would be fifteen against a thousand. It would be stranger to not be nervous, and yet, as soon as Kristina returned...
“Jeez, why does a pacifist retiree like me have to get involved in a skirmish like this?” Yuuto complained.