Chapter 156: Homecoming as well as Family ※Rifreyas POV (1/2)
My home is in the Siltion city that was made at the mountainside of the holy mountain that is the Lux Mountain as if clinging to it.
It is a city that doesn’t have much of anything noteworthy aside from the Light Great Church. Even so, the grace of the Great Spirit is big. Even though it is clear that this is a city that’s hard to traverse to, the city was thriving decently.
“Haah…”
I don’t know how many times I have sighed along the way.
“I really came back…”
Now that I have arrived at the base of the Lux Mountain, it won’t be taking even a few hours to arrive at my home.
I have stopped countless times before getting here, and have hesitated that I should turn back.
I was in agreement to separate from him, but rather than regret, I don’t even feel as if it is real. I left the other half of me that didn’t want to go away…
That’s the only sense of loss I had.
“Haah…” (Rifreya)
I understood the circumstances of Hikaru…intended to.
Also, I thought that maybe he would get lonely and come meet me real soon after separating from him for a bit.
I myself thought that I can just go back soon after I pass the templar exam. It wasn’t really a farewell of a lifetime.
“Haah…” (Rifreya)
Even when I knew the logic, my heart didn’t clear up.
The longer I am apart from him, the stronger my feeling of longing was.
He is strong, but the dungeon is a dangerous place.
If he dives alone, accidents are possible any time.
If something were to happen while I am not there…
“Uuuuh~~~ Aaaahh~~~” (Rifreya)
I was completely swamped in my own thoughts.
Even though it has only been 4 days since I parted from him, I already feel like I am dying to meet him.
This pain can be dealt with by a single sight of him.
I am sure of that.
Even so, I can’t go meet him at once.
He has his own circumstances, and he doesn’t think ill of me, and yet, even with that, I still chose a temporary farewell.
I don’t think I should throw that decision away.
I cursed my own diligence.
“If I were to return without taking the templar exam, I am sure he would scorn me… I want to meet him… I am dying to meet him, but…I don’t want to be hated even more…” (Rifreya)
I went up the sharp mountain road with my heavy armor while I muttered this.
Anyways, I will show up at my home, take the templar exam, and pass it.
That way, I can wave off and meet him again.
I have absolutely no intention to give up on this first love after all.
◇◆◆◆◇
My home is right by the side of the Light Great Church.
They are adjoined to the point that a part of the site is being used by both the Great Church and us, but maybe it is right at the break time of the Great Church’s cafeteria, there was a nostalgic face smoking tobacco at the bench under the shade.
“Master! Rifreya has returned!” (Rifreya)
When I spoke, Master slowly raised her head and looked at me with eyes as if she were looking at something dazzling and smiled. She put out the fire of the tobacco by rubbing it on the ground, and stood up.
That figure of hers with her hair tied up and left growing, and a cloth wrapped around her head was no different from the time when I left the house 1 year ago.
“Welcome back. I am most glad to see that you are okay. I was worried, you know? It is weird to say since I am the one who suggested it, but the dungeon is a dangerous place after all.”
“Yeah, it really was. I almost died countless times.” (Rifreya)
I laughed, but if Hikaru hadn’t saved me, I would have lost my life in that dungeon against the Mantis.
Master confirmed the muscles of my arm and smiled happily.
“You have become stronger. I don’t think there are many who have this much Tier even in the knights around here, you know?”
“It is thanks to learning the blade with you, Master.” (Rifreya)
“I only taught you the bare minimum. Life is light in the dungeon after all. Just the fact that you survived means that you have the talent.”
She is my master.
In the dungeon city, there was no one who didn’t know about her. The Salamandor Rank Explorer, the Dazzling Canopus.
In the time when I couldn’t use Spirit Abilities well and sulked by swinging a sword the whole time, she taught me battle techniques utilizing a giant sword, and the strength of living.
For me, she isn’t only my sword master but also my life master.
“At any rate, you have a good face now, Rifreya. Did you get a lover over there or something?”
“Eeh~? Ehehe… You can tell? Figures you could.” (Rifreya)
“Yeah, your face has become that of a warrior in the short time I didn’t see you. The dungeon must have been a good training place, right? And so…you can use it now, I assume. The Photon Ray.”
“Yes. Perfectly.” (Rifreya)
“I see… The stigma of dark gray is going to be cleared up then.”
“If in the future there’s someone who calls me that, I will shoot them with a Photon Ray.” (Rifreya)
Actually, not only Photon Ray, but I can use all the way to the 5th ability.
For someone like me who thought I didn’t have talent in Spirit Abilities, the reality that in just a few weeks I managed to get 3 abilities even felt as if it were a dream.
However, the fact that this served as one of the reasons to separate from Hikaru must have been some prank of fate.
“Have you met Flora already?”
“No, I just got back. I still haven’t met my family yet.” (Rifreya)
“I see. Today is the day when the doctor comes. Show her your face. If Flora hears that you can become a templar, she will be more at peace.”
Master says that, but I think my little sister is simply going to be more mortified by it.
The reality is that she should have become a templar faster than me after all.
“Then, I will meet up with her. Master, spar with me later, okay? I think I could get at least 1 hit on you.” (Rifreya)
“Haha, I haven’t rusted out so much that you could overcome me in just 1 year.”
I bid farewell to Master for now and reached the front of my house’s gate.
It is a noble family that has raised many templars for generations, but templars having a good salary was a thing of the past. Now it doesn’t have much meaning aside from it being a tradition of the house.
Even so, my mother has lived with pride being a templar, and thus, a person like me with no talent experienced extreme pressure.
“Alright!” (Rifreya)
I psyched myself up and opened the entrance door.
“Rifreya has come back home!” (Rifreya)
When I declared this, the maid Sasha, who was cleaning the entrance hall, made a completely shocked face and ran over to me.
“Rifreya-sama! You were alive?!” (Sasha)
“Of course I am not dead. Why am I being thought of as dead?” (Rifreya)
“Because you said that you would be returning soon, but you were not coming back at all…” (Sasha)
“Aah…I see. A lot happened. More importantly, congratulations, Sasha. You managed to return to being a maid.” (Rifreya)
“I was lucky. It is because Patra-san retired.” (Sasha)
“So Patra quitted, huh.” (Rifreya)
After we were attacked by the Mantis, I had the girls of my party leave first, and told them that I would return as soon as I thanked my life savior, Hikaru.
And yet, it has been close to 3 weeks since then, so it might not be strange to misunderstand this as me having died.
By the way, my previous party members were 2 maids that worked in my household and a local friend, making for a total of 3 people.
The reason why the 2 maids were fired was simply because, with me now gone, the work that has to be done is less. Moreover, the treatment of Flora requires money.
And so, they came with me to the dungeon city in order to strike it big…or more like, in order to get marriage funds.
At the time when I left, there were only 2 maids remaining who were Wendy and Patra, but according to Sasha, Patra has retired.
Sasha was reemployed, and so it is Wendy and Sasha now here.
“What about Claudia?” (Rifreya)
“That girl is searching for a marriage partner together with Anne-sama and the others. They are apparently going to settle soon.” (Sasha)
“Eeh~, really? Even though that girl was so timid.” (Rifreya)
“Well, that girl didn’t like working either.” (Sasha)
She is the former maid that went to the dungeon with me and Claudia.
She was a Water Spirit User, had a whole lot more talent than me in Spirit Abilities, and was a reliable healer, but to think she would be marrying… I can’t go losing here.