Chapter 15 (1/2)

Chapter 15 – Father’s Homecoming＊

It was two weeks after that when Luru’s father returned home.

Around noon when the sun was high, his father who was riding a carriage from the neighbouring town was wearing neither sword nor armour, and was lightly dressed like any old villager so from a glance you could not really tell that he was a skilled swordsman.

He had a gentle and calm atmosphere, and in his luggage were a number of heavy books, and even now was reading while wearing the Magus Tool that he always put on when he did so. Because of that, rather than a knight, he seemed more like a scholar.

Alighting from the horse carriage left at the entrance of the village, with a few books and a large-ish bag, he noticed Luru who had come to meet him and leisurely waved his hand.

“Hey… It’s been a while, huh, Luru. Have you been well?”

His father spoke in a kind tone, befitting of his appearance, and though it wasn’t as though they hadn’t met in years, Luru thought that it was something he missed.

“Yeah, I’ve been well… It’s been a while. Will you be able to stay a bit longer this time?”

His father, Patrick, worked in the royal palace in the royal capital, so he didn’t have that much leave. That’s why Luru asked what he did.

Normally his family should have been living together in the capital, but his mother took a liking to this village, and his father didn’t want to take Luru and his mother to the capital either.

It seems that his mother had lived in the capital in the past, but after marrying with his father they came to this village, and she had lived here ever since.

Perhaps it was because the two of them didn’t like metropolises, or perhaps there was some other reason they didn’t mention so Luru didn’t know, but anyway, because of their circ.u.mstances, Luru hadn’t been to a large city yet.

“Let’s see… This time… I don’t think I can stay for too long either. Though it’s not like I have to go back immediately either. So there’s enough time to train you and Rusty.”

Said Patrick with a smile.

Each time Patrick came home, he would teach Luru and Rusty.

There were quite a few people who had learned swordsmans.h.i.+p in the village, but the only one who was skilled enough to teach people properly was Patrick.

Because of that, he would often teach the children of the village swordsmans.h.i.+p when he came home.

While he was in the village, Patrick was completely on holiday without anything else to do, so he had a lot of free time.

Having said that though, there was no way that a knight could let his skill decline, so he trained in the sword every single day, and it seems that the children who saw him do so asked him to teach them, and that was how it began.

There were a few children who learned under Patrick, left the village, and became adventurers, and Rusty was working hard to be the same.

“I think Rusty’s burning up this time. He’s probably frantically trying his best, so… could you tell him not to overdo it?”

“Mn? Did something happen to him?”

“We’ll tell you about that later… There are a whole bunch of things we have to tell you, after all.”

“I see… Speaking of which, where’s Medea?”

“Ah, she’s inside making lunch with Iris. We didn’t know when your carriage would arrive, but she was here up until just a moment ago.”

Saying that, Patrick nodded with a ‘hmm’.

“Iris huh? I read the letter but, adopting her, huh? The letter wasn’t detailed, but just why are we adopting somebody…?”

He was probably talking about a letter that Medea sent.

It was a letter that she sent regularly, that detailed the things that happened in the village, and the conditions of the family and estate.

It took a week at the least to reach the capital, but it seems that this time it had arrived relatively quickly.

But even so, it seems that she hadn’t had time to write about it in detail.

“Iris herself said that she’d be fine being a maid but… Mum[Okaasan], you know…?”

Luru’s tone suggested that he had some things he wanted to say about it, so Patrick made an astonished expression.

However, it seems that he wasn’t exactly against it, and asked Luru a question.

“Medea is being unreasonable again, huh… Well, that’s fine though. Are you all right with it as well, Luru?”

He was probably indirectly asking to see if Luru was in shock about a stranger suddenly becoming family.

From Patrick’s point of view, Luru was a small child.

It was obvious concern for him.

However, that was completely off the mark.

Iris was the daughter of somebody who had been like his family since long ago, and as for Luru himself, he had built up a bold enough personality in his previous life that he would be fine with living with a stranger.

That’s why there was no issue at all.

“I don’t mind at all. Iris is polite, and a good girl…”

It seems that Patrick felt something other than just simple approval from Luru’s manner of speech, so he stroked his chin and said, with his gla.s.ses glittering,

“My, my… Your girlfriend?”

Mixed into his words were a bit of teasing.

It was a bit of bonding between parent and child.

However, Luru had already pa.s.sed the age at which he’d be taken in by such teasing in his previous life, and so it probably couldn’t be helped that he just replied in an astonished tone,

“A person who’s going to be my younger or older sister from now on isn’t somebody I’d be thinking of making into a girlfriend, right…?”

Not only that, but speaking frankly, she was the daughter of his friend.

The mental hurdle for making her his girlfriend was much too high.

However, Patrick reb.u.t.ted with a reasonable argument.

“Marriage between non-blood related siblings is not forbidden by law, you know. Well, in those cases they become the adopted daughter of somebody else in name, though.”

It was the truth.

This was written clearly in the laws of the kingdom’s charter.

However, that wasn’t the problem.

That’s why Luru said,

“It’s not a matter of legality…”

And after all of this, seeing that Luru didn’t seem to be thinking of her romantically at all, perhaps Patrick finally understood because he said,

“Hm… From what I can see, the possibility is low, huh? It feels like you really see her as your little sister…”

They were some oddly sharp and insightful words.

After that, Luru took a few books off Patrick’s hands, and started walking towards the Cadisnola residence.

Patrick followed after him, and after a while, they arrived at their home.

When they arrived at home, Medea and Iris, as well as a maid, were awaiting Patrick.

Patrick greeted them one by one, and hugged them.

The maid as well.

Was it because he was a lower cla.s.s n.o.ble, or was it just unique to him? Luru didn’t know because he hadn’t really met any other n.o.bles, but Patrick treated people without much distinction, and he was social and open with both the villages and the maids.

It was enough that he even said it was fine to address him without honorifics.