by CHIROLU
Dale imbued both of his fists with Dark magic. In other words, he literally brawled with undead monsters. He grabbed, hit, and knocked down the mass of Hell Black Santas. There wasn’t even a shred of mercy to his expression as he mounted one of them and kept on pummeling. His opponents were magical beings, so there was no need for such things. That’s what he would later say with a smile on his face.
The regular rhythm of the dull sound of his blows filled the Kreuz night.
After a little while, Dale turned around, no longer a shred of the harshness he had about him when facing the Santas. At first he intended to have the girl who was seated with trembling shoulders stand, but soon after looking at her, he moved to pick her up in his arms instead.
“Are you alright, Latina?” Dale asked, seeming as if all the tension had drained from his body. Latina started sobbing loudly. Rather than hesitating, he gave a strained smile and hugged her tight.
It was thanks to Chloe that Dale had made it to Latina. She had had her friends stop at key points along the way. It was dark, and they were terrified, not knowing when magical beings may attack, but when she mentioned Latina, who was struggling all on her own, they couldn’t do anything but agree to her plan. On top of that, she had rushed into the Ocelot by herself, where there was a great commotion because they had realized Latina’s absence.
With that notification from Chloe Dale went running, and was led by their other friends along the way until he made it to Latina.
Around now, Kenneth was surely escorting Latina’s friends back home. They’d have to all be prepared for a scolding back in their own homes.
Dale had intended to lecture Latina as well, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so when she was in such a state.
“Latina’s sorry, Latina’s sorry...!”
Before he could scold her, Latina had realized her mistake and was repeating words of apology. On top of that, when faced with a Latina who had suffered such a terrifying experience, Dale had no choice but to comfort her.
“You had me worried. I’m really glad that you’re alright, Latina. You won’t do anything like this again, right?”
“Latina won’t...! Latina’s sorry, Dale. She’s sorry...”
“...was it scary? I’m sorry I got there so late.”
“Dale... Latina’s sorry, for being a bad girl...!”
“You’re not a bad girl... though I think you could stand to act up a little bit more. I just want you to remember that I worry about you because you’re so precious to me, Latina.”
Furthermore, Dale felt truly relieved to see that Latina now felt willing to show some selfishness or get into mischief, at least a little. She was just too much of a good girl by nature. He didn’t want to see her walking around on eggshells around him and everyone else, looking like she was searching for the place she belonged while trying to hold her breath. No matter how good of a kid one may be, they grew while doing the sort of things that adults would scold them for. And it was a guardian’s role to forgive a child for their mistakes, as long as it wasn’t something that couldn’t be undone. If they screwed up, then they just had to do better next time.
“Kenneth prepared a feast and a cake for the Holy Night festivities. He found it strange that you didn’t come down to help, so he went looking for you.”
“...Latina’s sorry.”
“Well, we’ll just have to give it our all so that the apostle comes next year, right?” he said while walking along with her in his arms. As his breath turned white and drifted upwards into the night sky, small snowflakes came fluttering down.
On a certain year, Dale thought back on those events.
Ever since then, it had been Latina’s role to place charms on the front and rear doors to the Ocelot. She made sure they were firmly in place, taking extra special care to make sure nothing could get inside. Immediately after doing so, she turned and looked at Dale with an unusually serious look on her face.
“Dale.”
“What is it?”
“I was thinking of going outside tonight.”
“Huh?” Dale said in an astonished voice. That was because ever since that night, she not only wouldn’t go outside after the sun went down on the eve of the new year, she wouldn’t even go near the door.
Just what sort of sudden change of heart what this?
“Why would you do something like that...?”
“I’m bad with such things, so I want to overcome that! And Chrysos was also saying how purification magic was one of her strong points now!”
...So it wasn’t just Latina, Dale thought to himself.
Latina had been fired up to learn anti-undead magic because she was so afraid of them and wanted a means to deal with them, and apparently things were similar for her sister. Their difficulty in dealing with the undead was apparently the result of trauma shared by both twins.
Of course, Chrysos’s hatred of the undead, just like Latina’s, was rooted in the terrifying experience of being tossed into the graveyard.
“I can use not only Holy magic, but also Dark magic as well, allowing me to master anti-undead magic,” Chrysos had declared with a serious expression. In a way, she had followed her mother’s teachings and conquered her trauma by facing it head on. (Nobody dared touch on the fact that more than conquering it, she had used over-excessive self-defense on even nearly harmless low-grade spirits, unleashing powerful magic upon them.)
“I also had Lady Rose teach me purification magic, so it shouldn’t turn out like before, but I’d still be uneasy on my own...”
“Then you don’t have to go out of your way to do this...”
“But it would be even more frightening to not be able to use it if something happened, so I want to practice.”
That statement wasn’t all that positive. Apparently Latina’s path towards overcoming her fear of the undead remained a long one.
But now that I think about it...
It would be difficult to head out to a graveyard or underground labyrinth for the express purpose of magic practice, and it would be far too heavy a load for a scaredy cat like Latina anyway.
And this time, rather than running off on her own, she was asking him to accompany her. As long as he was by her side, even on the off chance that something happened, he wouldn’t let her face any danger.
“If you happened to run into any undead when I wasn’t around... that’d be a real issue...”
“I may be able to chant the spell, but I won’t be able to feel peace of mind until I do it for real.”
“I see.”
Dale gave a nod, having come to a conclusion. Even if Latina faced a frightening experience at the hands of the undead, it would earn him the side benefit getting to pamper her even more than normal. And so, everything seemed alright in terms of potential results.
“You won’t push yourself too hard, right?”
“Yeah.”
Having finished discussing the matter, the two of them ended up going out for a walk that night.
She had said that she would try her hardest, but Latina was apparently still terrified and getting cold feet. She gripped Dale’s hand tightly, and drew even closer to him than normal as the walked together through town.
That time, which felt warm and passionate in spite of the winter cold, came to an end with them encountering even more Santas than Dale had expected. Seeing the undead continue to utter their curses, Latina hid behind Dale’s back with tears in her eyes. The curses grew even louder, but remained incomprehensible.
Though she was hiding behind Dale’s back, she was chanting a spell. It successfully activated, and several Santas vanished. Seeing that Latina felt relieved, and moved out in front of Dale. For whatever reason, the Santas wouldn’t come within a set distance. Latina cast magic once again. The number of Santas was clearly decreasing.
Latina didn’t understand the reason behind the Santas’ actions, but they were clearly afraid of the bloodlust emanating from Dale. That most terrifying of heroes who
was a demon lord’s retainer was already far outside the realm of common sense. In a way, he was an even more vicious presence than a magical being.
“I did it...!”
“Yeah. You really did your best, Latina.”
Dale stroked the victorious Latina’s head he had when she was little, praising her for her success in battle.
They were near the Ocelot, but it would still be a serious matter if she were to run out of mana and collapse. When Dale sensed that was about to occur, they returned back to the Ocelot at his insistence.
So, this is a dream.
He clearly remembered getting into bed with Latina after that. They didn’t make out or anything. Dale simply hugged the still frightened Latina tight, pampering her like he had when she was young and returning to something resembling his old doting idiot mode.
He recalled falling asleep, so the scenery he saw now was clearly within a dream.
While reaching that conclusion, Dale thought to himself, A situation in which I’m going to introduce myself to Latina’s parents... that should be just plain impossible!
Even though he knew it was a dream, his palms were still drenched in sweat. And the girl with a wide grin on her face by his side was also adorable, even within a dream.
Dale wasn’t aware of the common lifestyle in Vassilios. And yet, he found himself walking through an unfamiliar orderly town, being led by Latina. While walking the stone path, he took a sidelong glance and saw houses made from white-looking bricks, bleached by being exposed to strong sunlight. After turning at countless corners, they entered an area that had a bit of a rougher feel to it. Latina stopped in front of one house in the area, a plain, simple one made of sun-dried bricks.
Latina’s parents were inside. With the sort of confidence in that fact characteristic of being in a dream, Dale was sweating bullets.
What’s with this feeling of nervousness, even though I know I’m in a dream...?!
His whole body felt stiff. It wouldn’t move like he wanted.
While Dale was unable to even call to mind how he should announce his arrival, the simple door opened without notice.
“Oh, so you can also show an appearance resembling a normal person, displaying your nervousness?”
It was Chrysos who suddenly poked her face out from inside the building. Seeing the state Dale was in, she gave a cruel smile.
“Your remarks towards me are as awful as always.”
“Now, you may come inside. Rag and Mov are waiting.”
While it would normally be unthinkable for the ruler of a nation to greet him at the door, Dale accepted the circumstances and came inside as he was beckoned to do.
As he stepped into the shade, the brightness abated, and the heat he was feeling dropped a bit. As if trying to calm his feelings as well, he unconsciously took several deep breaths.
“Ugh...”
“Are you really that nervous?”
“Well... you know.”
Latina tilted her head and looked at Dale, whose expression had grown stiff.
“Latina, you also... well, I guess the circumstances weren’t the same back then...”
When Latina visited Dale’s home village, she was so young that the topic of marriage didn’t come up at all. There was no helping that, though, as Dale wasn’t even thinking of Latina in that way back then. Latina may have been in love with Dale, but her meeting with his family didn’t have that sort of feel to it. She was just so young that she hadn’t really felt anything but the nervousness of being in a new place for the first time.
The circumstances Dale faced now, reporting to her family on their intent to marry (or rather, ask their forgiveness), were completely different.
Completely indifferent to Dale’s hesitation, Chrysos pointed to a room further in. Latina gave a slightly troubled smile, but even so led Dale into the room by hand.
Dale stood petrified upon seeing a man with hair the same platinum color as Latina and Chrysos’s. From his weak-kneed attitude, it was hard to imagine he was the hero who had defeated numerous demon lords.
The man gently smiled, not ridiculing Dale for that in the least.
“Perhaps it’s a little strange to say ‘nice to meet you.’ It’s my first time meeting someone in this way, after all.”
The man’s green eyes were a color reminiscent of gentle, fresh leaves, and he possessed horns like elegant black precious stones, which Latina had inherited.
This man, Smaragdi, who Dale had only met after he was no longer amongst the living, was Latina and Chrysos’s father.
This is scarier than facing off against any demon lord...!
That was how Dale earnestly felt at the moment.
The man before him now didn’t have a very flashy appearance considering he was the father of Latina and Chrysos. He had the look of a gentle intellectual about him, but there wasn’t any conventional beauty to him.
When Dale had met him, a good deal of time had passed since his death, so he no longer had the appearance he had possessed when he was alive. It could be said that this was Dale’s first time seeing the man’s face.
There wasn’t any harshness to the man smiling before him now.
But perhaps because he was so worked up at the moment, Dale couldn’t simply accept his friendly attitude.
“...Nice to meet you, I’m...”
“Rag!”
The instant Dale had pulled himself together and tried to introduce himself, Latina went running up to the man. She hugged him tight and happily closed her hands.
Devils spent a long period of time as adults, so there wasn’t a visible age difference between Latina and her father.
Even so, Dale didn’t feel any jealousy at seeing him pamper Latina.
“Oh, so you are unperturbed?” Chrysos asked with a grin.
“Just exactly what sort of person do you think I am...?” Dale replied with a sigh.
It was no surprise that Dale would be thought of as an incarnation of jealousy considering his words and actions, but he was aware of just how dearly Latina had missed her father. He accepted that it was only natural for him to dote on her after they finally reunited.
“Rag, I’m happy now.”
“Right. Seeing the way that you can truly smile now, I can tell that you mean that from the bottom of your heart... You’ve really worked hard, Latina.”
Latina was wiping tears from her eyes, but she still wore a happy smile as her father stroked her hair. And seeing his daughter like that, Smaragdi also looked truly glad.
Sensing the resemblance in Smaragdi’s gentle voice and smile, Dale thought to himself how this man truly was Latina’s father.
“That’s also because you watched over her with affection, right? I’m truly grateful to you for saving my daughter,” he said, thanking Dale with a gentle smile on his face.
The second he heard that, Dale felt ashamed at letting his nervousness get the better of his manners. He immediately adjusted his posture and expression and looked straight at Smaragdi.
“My sincerest apologies for being so late in introducing myself. My name is Dale Reki. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I’m Smaragdi... You humans have a name that indicates your family too, right? The closest thing devils have is a custom to employ our mother’s name to indicate whose child we are, but... Our race does not have as close relationships to our children as humans do.”
Dale could sense from Smaragdi’s clear explanation that he was skilled at teaching others. Despite his youthful appearance he had the feel of the respected teacher from back in Dale’s home village about him, so Dale maintained his proper posture.
“You don’t need to be so nervous...” Latina said while tilting her head. She was in the midst of laying out the baked sweets she had brought as a gift atop the table.
A woman with long purple hair who Dale was acquainted with was staring straight at Latina as she did so. She didn’t even so much as blink while observing the sweets laid out in front of
her. She seemed satisfied after a bit and so reached out slowly, then took a nibble out of the corner. Then, she silently chewed, looking reminiscent of a small animal.
When Dale had met her before she gave off a dignified, resolute impression, but seeing her nibble away at the madeline she was holding in both hands was very much reminiscent of Latina. Perhaps that impression was unnecessarily strengthened by the flower in her loosely done up purple hair.
After she finished the first one, her golden eyes remained fixed on the tray left in the middle of the table. With a strained laugh Chrysos took a new sweet from there and placed it in front of her mother. The woman took the offered sweet in both hands without hesitation, and started once more nibbling at it.
After watching that chain of events, Dale then turned to face Chrysos.
“...Hey, Chrysos.”
“What is it?”
“My first impression was that Latina took after your father, while you took after your mother... but is it the opposite?”
“Platina was often told that she resembled Mov.”
“Sure enough...”
Latina tilted her head while listening to this conversation between Dale and her sister. Apparently she herself had no awareness of that fact.
Still... I was prepared to be greeted with more open hostility...
Smaragdi had a far more friendly, gentle feel about him than Dale had expected.
I was at least expecting to be told, “I won’t let some mere hero who’s only taken down a few demon lords have my daughter!” I would’ve said it...
Even perusing the annals of history, Dale would still be the first to wipe out nearly all of the demon lords. That was no ordinary feat.
Dale only thought that to himself, not speaking aloud, but Smaragdi smiled and seemed to reply to Dale’s question. “Well, if you had happened to do something unreasonable or unjust to my innocent Latina... I would use any methods needed to drag you down here to the underworld,” he said, the smile remaining on his face as he made such a nasty statement without hesitation.
“Before you desired Latina, she desired you, after all.”