Chapter 3:
Nina Britz
IT WAS DECIDED that Rudeus and the others would stay the night at the Sword Sanctum. They were given a room in the main training hall to sleep, while Eris alone was invited to Nina’s house. She’d intended to stay at the training hall with Rudeus, but Nina insisted.
Nina’s house meant Gino Britz’s house. When Eris told Rudeus she was going to stay over by herself, he was worried and tried to delicately talk her out of it. He’d seen how the Sword Saints had acted; Eris had killed Gall, and they were out for blood. The atmosphere had gotten to Rudeus. Eris, on the other hand, remembered that the Sword Sanctum had always been like this. Sword fighters wanted to be seen as strong more than they wanted to be strong. There wasn’t anyone with enough guts to attack a higher-ranked opponent outside the training hall. Only Eris might have tried it, and only when she was much younger.
She left Rudeus and the others at the training hall and went along to the Britz household alone. They lived a short way from the hall in a little house that didn’t look like what you’d imagine for a Sword God.
“Here we are. Come in. This is when Gino does his training, so he’s not home yet.”
“Right, um, thanks.” Eris nervously went inside. Thinking about it, this might have been the first time she’d ever gone to hang out at a friend’s house. She saw Isolde, who lived in the Asuran capital, every time they visited the Asura Kingdom, but Eris had never visited her house. She’d been to the training hall attached to Isolde’s house, but that wasn’t quite the same thing.
“Hellooo!”
As Eris wrestled her nerves, a cheerful voice called out to greet her. There was a pitter-patter of footsteps as two children came bursting out from the back of the house.
“Welcome home, Mom!”
“Hi, Mom!”
One was a boy, full of energy, with a practice sword in his right hand and a big grin on his face. The other was a girl. She was still practically a baby and came hurrying after the boy with tottering steps. The two of them ran to the front door, only to stop short, gaping at the sight of Eris.
“This is my son, Nell, and my daughter, Jill. Kids, this is Eris. She’s a friend of mine.”
“Um, nice to meet you.” When Nina introduced her as her friend, Eris frowned a little, but she bowed her head.
When Nell heard her name, his eyes went wide. “You’ve got red hair! Are you Berserker Sword King Eris?!”
“Wed heah!” burbled Jill. She seemed like she didn’t understand and was just echoing her brother, though it seemed something had caught her interest. She approached Eris, her eyes sparkling. Maybe red hair was rare in the Sanctum. Jill’s little hand reached out for her wavy hair, but before she got there, Nina scooped her up in her arms.
“Stop that,” she scolded.
“Bwight wed!” Jill whined, kicking her legs up and down.
Nell, seeing this, quickly said, “No, Jill! That’s the Berserker Sword King! If you touch her, she’ll gobble you up!”
“Bite?” Jill gazed fearfully up at Eris. At the sight, Eris let out a small laugh. The way they acted reminded her of Arus and Sieg a few years earlier.
“I won’t eat you,” Eris said.
“You’re just saying that to make them let their guards down before you snap them up.” Nina narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Eris. Eris scowled at her, at which point a smile broke out on Nina’s face.
“I’m only joking,” she said, holding out Jill. “Want to hold her?”
“Sure.” Eris took Jill. At first, the little girl looked scared, but she quickly perked up, perhaps sensing that Eris was much more accustomed to holding babies than her own mother.
“Wed! Pwetty!” she said happily, grabbing a handful of Eris’s hair and stuffing it in her mouth.
“Oh, no, Jill! Don’t eat that!”
“Aw…” When Nina told her off, Jill immediately took the hair out of her mouth. Red or not, it was still hair, so it couldn’t have tasted good. Now, Eris’s hair was all sticky.
“Guess I’m the one who got eaten,” Eris said, smiling. She patted Jill’s head.
A look of surprise came into Nina’s eyes. Is this the same Eris?
She’d seen this once before in the Asura Kingdom. Eris was a mother now, just like her; she knew how to handle children.
“That didn’t taste good, did it? So it’s not for eating. Okay?” Eris said to Jill.
“’Kay.”
She put Jill down, and the girl bounced away into the house.
“I’m Nell Britz!” Stepping up to take her place came Nell. He knelt, then bowed. “You’re the real Berserker Sword King, huh? It’s an honor to meet you!”
“I’m, um, Eris Greyrat. You don’t have to bow.”
“Oh, no…! Um! It’s, um…! I’ve always…” Nell looked up at Eris, his eyes sparkling and his face full of excitement as he tried to get his words out.
“Nell, that’s enough,” interrupted Nina. “How long are you going to keep Eris standing in the entrance? At least wait until we’ve had dinner.” She put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair a little more forcefully than usual.
“Fiiine.” Nell cast his eyes down, looking disappointed. He wanted to hear more, to do his sword practice with her if he could…but his mom would definitely say no. She always said no. No matter what famous sword fighter came to the Sword Sanctum, she never introduced Nell to them.
Leaving the disappointed Nell behind, Eris let herself be led inside the house.
“Everyone’s changed, huh?” After dinner, Eris relaxed in the living room while talking to Nina. Gino wasn’t there. After they’d eaten, he’d taken the children to a different room. Based on the sound of children’s laughter, Eris assumed he was playing with them.
“I never expected things to end up like this.”
Out of Nina, Eris, and Gino, Gino had always been one step behind. He was the one who always looked sulky as he swung his sword and couldn’t answer the Sword God’s questions. That same Gino had married Nina and taken down Eris in a single strike. Eris couldn’t hide her surprise. She’d heard about it from Gall, but seeing him with her own eyes, it really was as though he were a different person.
“Nina, back at the training hall, you didn’t even pick up your sword.”
The same went for Nina. After she’d pushed herself so hard to become strong, she’d only watched Eris. Not only that, she’d let Gino do whatever he liked. Eris couldn’t imagine the old Nina ever doing that.
“Our next one is already on the way,” Nina said, stroking her stomach. It was hard to tell, but if you looked closely, the slightest swell was visible there. Ruefully, she added, “Gino told me to take the title of Sword Emperor, but I think I’ll probably retire.”
“And that’s enough for you?” Eris asked before she could stop herself.