If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord: Volume 3

by CHIROLU

  Latina was now fourteen years old.

  She had worked at the Dancing Ocelot ever since she was young, and she now officially served as Kenneth’s right-hand woman. She was placed in charge of part of the cooking, and beside Kenneth, who was preparing a large quantity of food for the shop, she skillfully started making their own meals.

  She admired that Kenneth could skillfully handle eggs in a single hand. Perhaps because her hands were small, so she couldn’t do it quite as well, so her shoulders drooped a bit.

  After adding some light seasoning, she cooked them with butter until they were soft and fluffy. It had taken quite some time for her to reach this point, where she could whistle and make an omelet in the shape she wanted without worrying about screwing up.

  When she heard footsteps approaching as she was preparing the accompanying hearty soup and toast, she broke out in a smile.

  “Morning, Latina.”

  “Good morning, Dale!”

  After seeing Dale go to wash his face, she ran off to call for Rita on the second floor. The woman already had her hands plenty full taking care of the three-year old-Theodore, and she had a second baby in her belly, so Latina thought that she really had it rough.

  “Good morning Rita, Theo. It’s time for breakfast.”

  “Good morning, Latina,” Rita responded with a smile while dragging a grumpy Theo out of bed. At first, Latina was surprised to see such rough interactions between the mother and son, but after observing it each and every day, she had grown used to it.

  She swiftly turned around and hurried back down the stairs, wanting to spend as much of the precious time she had together with Dale before he left for work as she could. Sometimes Dale wouldn’t make it back until late at night, so if she missed him during breakfast, they wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation that day.

  “Are you exterminating magical beasts in the forest again today?”

  “Yeah. I don’t have to head in too deep, so I might be back pretty early.”

  They weren’t exactly wanting for money, and Dale was actually rather well off, but he continued to frequently accept work and head into the forest as a form of training, so his combat senses and skills wouldn’t dull.

  It was only just recently that Dale had started to talk to her about such matters. She knew that he excelled at combat and magic, but she still held a worry in her heart. She swallowed down her emotions and forced a smile.

  “Don’t push yourself, and take care.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  While enjoying the smile he shot back, Latina chomped into a piece of toast with plenty of jam. She figured it was better to have a proper source of energy to make it through the busy period coming up, so she went a little heavy on it.

  By the time Rita had come down the stairs, Dale and Latina had already finished breakfast. Latina took Dale’s silverware and dishes along with her own and went to rinse them off.

  “Where should I start, Kenneth?”

  “I’m done preparing the soup. Right now, I’ve got the potatoes simmering.”

  “Got it.”

  After that brief exchange with Kenneth, Latina took over work for him.

  The young Theo’s parents found it extremely difficult to watch after him while eating, so they took turns taking care of him during meals. And during that time, all three of them sat happily together at the same dinner table. They were able to spend such time together because they had a trustworthy girl like Latina around to take care of the morning work.

  Latina peeked inside the pot and grasped how far it the cooking had progressed. In the back of her mind, she figured out how much time was left until the potatoes would be done cooking and started working away at what she could get done before then. The large pile of onions she started chopping up were meant to be added to the scrambled eggs. As she still wasn’t fully accustomed to that task, she occasionally had to wipe away her tears as she rhythmically chopped away with her knife. Around when the bowl became filled with a mountain of finely chopped onions, the potatoes at last finished.

  “Oh darkness and shadows, I order you by my name, cut loose the bonds to the celestial bodies. 〈〈Gravity reduction〉〉” She chanted the simple spell like she was humming a tune.

  Latina easily picked up the big pot and emptied the contents into a colander. Enough steam shot up that her field of vision went pure white for moment. She then cut off the water, transferred the potatoes into a bowl, and started mashing them while they were still hot. She added butter partway through, mixing it in while mashing it further. With Latina’s slender arms, it was rather difficult labor. This did worry Kenneth, but the young girl insisted that it wouldn’t be “work” if she avoided all the difficult jobs.

  She added milk to soften it up and then seasoned it. After checking the flavor, she carried out some of the finished mashed potatoes on a small plate to Kenneth, who had finished eating breakfast. Kenneth tasted it and then gave a single nod. She had passed. This was an everyday ritual for them, but Latina still breathed a sigh of relief.

  Theo reached out towards the small plate in Kenneth’s hand. Their exchange had made the potatoes seem somehow special to the toddler, so he wanted them. Latina had expected this, so she had put more than Kenneth needed to get a taste onto the plate.

  A smile naturally appeared on Latina’s face as she watched Theo mimic his father and eat the potatoes with a solemn expression. She tried to play along with the serious boy, but she wasn’t able to keep a straight face.

  Latina had watched over Theo every day since he was a baby, so he was like a younger brother to her. She couldn’t help but find him cute, even when he was throwing a fit.

  Is this how Dale felt when he raised me?

  She was well aware that Dale had given her plenty of affection.

  The current her was the result of the influences of these precious people, this place, and that person whom she adored above all else.

  As customers started streaming into the shop, Kenneth gave his full attention to the kitchen, while Latina took charge of manning the floor. She couldn’t carry out multiple big platters at once like Kenneth could, but in exchange, she was able to squeeze through the narrow spaces between customers.

  “Sorry for the wait!”

  “Hey there, little lady. Looks like you’re doing well today, too.”

  “You too, Mr. Syl.”

  She had a smile on her face during this exchange with the regular, and then she turned towards the neighboring table with the same expression.

  “Is it alright if I take this?”

  “Yeah, I don’t mind.”

  “Excuse me.”

  As she was placing the empty plates on her tray, Rita called out to her.

  “Excuse me, Latina! Could you go grab our stock of salves?”

  “Right, got it.”

  After returning to the kitchen and washing off the plates, she called to Kenneth, “I’m heading to the attic for a bit to grab some medicine.”

  “Got it.”

  She climbed up the steps with a light pitter-patter.

  This was the general sort of scene that repeated each day. Latina was always busy, but that also made it worth doing.

  Once they passed the morning peak, Latina looked out into the shop’s back yard.

  “Theo,” Latina called out.

  “Sis,” Theo, who had been playing, stopped and looked at her. Being called “Sis” was embarrassing, but it made her happy. When she had some free time she’d spend it hugging Theo tight and reading him a picture book or singing him a song. She’d steadily grown used to acting like a big sister.

  “Thanks, Vint.”

  Latina’s precious “friend” had been taking care of Theo. The races of man weren’t able to pronounce his true name, so when he suddenly popped up at the Dancing Ocelot a year ago, he had been given that nickname.

  “Woof,” he replied, wagging his black tail.

  Kenneth poked his head out. “Latina, could
I have you go out shopping?”

  “Yeah!”

  As Latina had grown up, Kenneth had also started entrusting more of the shopping to her. Fresh ingredients had market prices that fluctuated daily and could be negotiated, so she only purchased those when Kenneth was with her, but it wasn’t rare at all for her to pick up items with relatively stable prices on her own.

  It was like an extended errand, but even so, being counted on helped boost her confidence, and just plain made her happy.

  Kenneth caught his son and scooped him up before he could cling to Latina, and Vint approached the girl’s side.

  “Are you coming with me today as well?”

  “Woof.”

  “Thank you.”

  After petting Vint’s fluffy fur, she took off her apron and slipped on a coat.

  “Well then, Kenneth, we’re off!” Latina yelled out, and then started walking off with her light footsteps.

  “Right. Take care.”

  As he saw her off, Kenneth rocked his son back and forth as the boy squirmed in his arms. The child had always listened earnestly to the gentle, patient Latina, but that wasn’t the case for Kenneth, his father.

  Accompanying Latina was a big grey “dog” with black on the tip of his wagging tail. The familiar sight of this animal wearing the outfit Latina had made for him had become somewhat famous in the area.

  Kenneth thought back on how much of a hassle it had been when this “dog” first showed up in Kreuz nearly a year ago.

  The beast had suddenly showed up without notice at the Dancing Ocelot one day when few customers were around. He looked like a wolf with wings. There were a number of folks in the Ocelot who would immediately realize just what he was, so it could easily erupt into a disturbance. You didn’t run into mythical beasts very often to begin with, so nobody would’ve imagined finding one strolling through town.

  Wondering how the gatekeepers and lookouts had missed him, Dale looked into it later and found out that the wolf cub had apparently found a small crack to squeeze through in the town wall. If he were full-grown, it wouldn’t have been a possible entrance. This was a big oversight caused by the way that the repair had been put off because of the cost, since there hadn’t been any serious incidents as of late. Dale obviously urgently pressed the matter so it could be addressed.

  Following a scent, the cub had gotten all the way to the Ocelot without getting lost. It was early morning, so he hadn’t been spotted and it didn’t turn into a panic. That made it all of a more surprise for those inside the shop.

  “What’s it doing in a place like this?”

  Paying no heed to the regulars who were on guard, Latina bent down, scooped up the grey-furred animal, and tilted her head.

  “Get away from it, little lady!” Sylvester shouted bitterly. As a skilled veteran adventurer, he was intimately familiar with the mythical beasts known as soaring wolves.

  With the grey animal still in her arms, Latina tilted her head at the sight of the customers all putting their hands on their weapons and said, “Um, he’s my friend. He probably came here to see me.”

  “Y-Your friend, little lady...?”

  “Latina, smell, came.”

  The customers were already surprised by Latina’s statement, and when the mythical beast uttered her name, that shock only grew.

  “So you came from the mountains? I’d imagine everyone must be worried if you came without asking. Is it alright?”

  Despite being the center of attention, Latina continued the conversation at her own pace. The regulars all just barely managed to hold back a retort of, “No, that’s not really the problem here.”

  “Fine. Go, Latina. Told okay.”

  “I see. Then I guess it’s alright.”

  Dripping sweat, the large men thought, No it’s not! in their hearts, but Latina didn’t notice. With a grim look, Sylvester faced Kenneth, who had at last poked his face out of the kitchen, and said, “Kenneth, that’s...”

  “Ah, Dale mentioned that to me before. He said that Latina had tamed a pack of soaring wolves living near his home village...”

  “The little lady did what?!”

  Even an experienced veteran like him was left dumbfounded. His voice even shot up a pitch.

  “Still, a soaring wolf is a little...”

  “Yeah, that’s a problem.”

  Sylvester and Kenneth nodded to one another.

  Soaring wolves were mythical beasts that lived in packs, with a strong sense of camaraderie. It wouldn’t be hard to deal with this single cub, but if they made a poor move, then the whole of the pack could end up coming after them for revenge. The possibility of that certainly wasn’t slim. After all, the cub had informed them of where it was heading before coming to this town. It said it had followed Latina’s scent here, which sounded ridiculous, but it was possible that the other soaring wolves could use the same method.

  “It was a long way here though, right?”

  “Croots wasn’t far. Slept once, arrived.”

  Traveling by land like Dale and Latina had once done required a big detour, so it took close to a month. But for a soaring wolf that could fly through the skies, it could apparently be done in two days and one night. And he was still just a cub. It was hard to imagine just how quickly a full-grown adult could make the trip.

  The scent he’d followed wasn’t the one left on the road. He didn’t follow the path Latina had taken, so he’d tracked her smell through the air. It may have been one of the magical abilities of this mythical beast.

  Kenneth and Sylvester looked at one another once more and contemplated.

  “It seems he really is attached to the little lady...”

  As the mythical beast wagged his tail and snuggled his head up against Latina, he looked just like a well-tamed dog.

  “We’ll have to consult with Dale... but letting Latina keep him may be the safest option.”

  Sylvester’s expression grew even more strained at Kenneth’s words, but he wasn’t able to deny them.

  Let sleeping dogs, etc. And besides, Latina wasn’t the sort to abuse having a mythical beast around.

  “I’ll have a word with him...” Sylvester wrung out after a long silence.

  “We’re having an emergency meeting! Spread the word!” Sylvester loudly ordered to the adventurers by his side, and seemingly understanding the meaning, several of them left the Ocelot. Apparently those words were meant to be conveyed to someone elsewhere.

  Kenneth figured he shouldn’t butt in and ask just what sort of meeting that was.

  When Dale finally returned home from work, he found his adorable adopted daughter standing beside a single animal wearing clothes.

  “Welcome home, Dale.”

  “Woof.”

  Latina’s smile was cute, but what was with that unnatural, forced-sounding “Woof”?

  “L-Latina...?”

  “Hmm?”

  “That’s...”

  “Um, he’s a dog. Don’t worry about it, he’s just a dog!”

  “Woof.”

  “U-Um...”

  With a troubled look on his face, Dale glanced to Kenneth for help, only for his big bro to also give a firm nod.

  “She says he’s a dog, so he’s a dog.”

  “Woof.”

  “Hey...”

  “It’s not strange at all to have a pet dog in town. So he’s a dog.”

  Turning away from the reality of the situation, the “dog” wondered in the back of his mind just why being called an animal had made him angry, but he didn’t seem to mind getting called a dog at all.

  People tended to grow used to things once they heard the circumstances and got past the initial confusion. Over time, even the extraordinary tends to blend into the ordinary, everyday scenery.

  The title of “mythical beast” wasn’t just for show, as he was an extremely clever animal, so he didn’t require any “training.” Latina taught him many rules, and he remembered them all without any trouble. Latina handle
d his bedding and food, but he didn’t require any help outside of that, and Latina was happy for the physical contact of brushing and petting.

  On top of all that, he also helped out with watching Theo. Perhaps because he’d grown up in a pack, he was good at taking care of small creatures.

  Vint’s greatest job, though, was guarding Latina.

  †

  She’d been cute ever since she was little, and as she had grown, that adorableness had only grown more and more polished. Her young body still looked a little more childish when compared to other girls her age. However, that only added to her growing beauty, giving her a charm that adults couldn’t match.

  Her grown-out hair reached down to her hips, with part of it braided to hide her broken horns, and it gave off a brilliant, platinum shine. Her face now also looked a bit more adult, so she appeared not just cute, but beautiful as well.

  In Laband, one came of age when they turned eighteen. That didn’t mean that was the precise age they became an “adult,” but generally by that point, they were employed and were thought of as being of marriageable age. Depending on one’s position, however, their circumstances could be rather different. In Dale’s village, you came of age at fifteen, and out in the country it wasn’t rare to hear of girls that age becoming brides. It was also completely normal in noble society for girls who still hadn’t fully matured to get forced into political marriages. And though people in towns like Kreuz tended to get married later, it wasn’t like such things never happened.

  As a result, Latina was already plenty old enough to be looked at in “that way.” However, she wasn’t very aware of the danger that she faced because of it.

  Being such a doting idiot, Dale was desperate to protect her, like he was wrapping her up in multiple layers of silk cushioning. And in the Dancing Ocelot, her master, Kenneth, always kept a close eye on her, alongside scowling adventurers and elite guardsmen. Obviously, nobody was foolish enough to make a move on her under such circumstances, and as a result, she didn’t think of herself as a beauty.

  She’d say with a smile, “I mean, Dale always says that I’m cute.” She’d been told that too often, so she didn’t think of it as an honest evaluation.