Muil-san’s story was reaching its climax, and as I reached for my teacup to quench my parched throat, an idea struck me.
“Ah, I’ll get you some fresh tea.”
“My apologies.”
“It’s alright.”
Both Muil-san and my teacups had been emptied without me noticing. This meant I had been engrossed in Muil-san’s story. As I pondered how focused I had been, I suddenly heard Himik and Suella talking in another room, realizing I hadn’t even registered that either.
Excusing myself, I headed to the kitchen. I placed new tea leaves in the teapot, poured hot water from the kettle, let it steep for a moment, and then poured it evenly into the cups. I had learned this method for brewing delicious green tea from watching a TV show years ago, and it had become a habit.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Oh, I wasn’t waiting that long.”
Muil-san, casually swinging the rice crackers I had bought the other day, took one and ate it, saying, “There were tea snacks too.” I chuckled, noting how accustomed I had become to Dark Elves eating Japanese sweets, a sight that initially felt quite strange. I gently placed a teacup beside Muil-san.
“By the way, the sweets from this world are quite delicious.”
“I think sweets from your world are also quite tasty.”
We had been discussing heavy topics, so this lighthearted chat about sweets was a welcome break.
“Well, I was talking about the point where the Hero attacked.”
“Yes.”
We returned to the main narrative.
“There was no great reversal victory from that point.”
“There wasn’t?”
“No, all that remained was a struggle to endure the occupation.”
The atmosphere wasn’t somber, but I knew not to take Muil-san’s casual recounting of such events at face value.
“It was three days. Our fortress, built with so much effort, was conquered in just three days. We were barely able to secure enough time to escort the wounded and sick soldiers to the mainland.”
Although I could only imagine the scale of the fortress, the simple gesture of Muil-san raising three fingers to represent the time it took for his fortress to fall left me wondering whether to be astonished by the Hero’s recklessness or to commend Muil-san and his people’s efforts.
“At that time, the leader of the Dark Elves was also killed by the Hero. I was the most powerful person present then, and under the leader’s orders, I was in charge of the rear guard during the retreat.”
Muil-san spoke with self-deprecation, saying all he did was scurry away and barely escape.
“After such a long story, you must understand. I am a defeated general. While I have experience leading an army, the end result was defeat. It’s true that I survived, but I am not capable of supporting a future son-in-law.”
Muil-san offered a weak smile, looking tired. I couldn’t bring myself to say that he was wrong. After all, I only knew about those events through Muil-san’s account.
“I came here this time only to politely decline. I’m sorry, son-in-law…”
Because of this, I couldn’t ask him further after he bowed his head in apology. However, it was also true that I had no one else to turn to.
“Haa, I thought Suella called me, but this is what it was about.”
Just as I was about to resign myself to the situation, a voice echoed from the back of the room, a voice that shouldn’t have been there.
“Mait, why are you here?”
“Why? My daughter invited me, asking if I’d like to see my grandchild. Smilasta is here too, by the way.”
Mait, Suella’s father, chuckled with amusement and sat down next to Muil-san.
“Jiro-, despite my father’s ways, I can vouch for his abilities. Please, would you consider letting him help you?”
“Mait! You can’t just-”
“It’s not that I can’t, but you’re the one who’s not being straightforward. Suella asked me to persuade you in case this matter made Father negative.”
He joined our conversation between Muil-san and me.
“Jiro-, what my father said is not a lie. He may have only been able to escape in the end. He may be a defeated general. But when he led the surviving soldiers back to our country, he was held responsible by a subordinate of the previous Demon Lord for his defeat. However, I know this: my father saved many of his kin. He saved many species. There are many survivors who are grateful to him, and some even offered to come to his aid if he had called for help during that battle.”
It was a son’s earnest plea not to misunderstand his father.
“I wasn’t even born then, so this is what my mother told me. My mother, Suella’s grandmother, said she fell in love with my father when she visited to express her gratitude for saving her brother who had been sent to the battlefield. Isn’t that quite a romantic story?”
“Th-this! Mait!”
He even began exposing his own father’s romantic escapades. The conversation was veering into increasingly strange territory, but my intuition told me that if I let Mait continue, it would turn out to be even more interesting, so I remained silent and urged him to continue.
“After the war, Father was quite depressed. He had lost my great-grandfather and grandfather, his heart was broken by the battlefield, and he was even held accountable by the country. He was physically and mentally devastated. The only reason he didn’t take his own life was his sense of chivalry, his only way of atoning for his comrades who didn’t return from the battlefield.”
It was clearly a bedtime story. Mait spoke with great pride, puffing out his chest. Come to think of it, Muil-san, who had been trying to stop him, was now quiet…
‘Gulp.’
He was being held by a large, humanoid spirit. Muil-san, his mouth and limbs bound, shot a look of accusation at the spirit, but the spirit merely looked at him with an exasperated expression, as if to say, “Give it up.” Noticing my gaze, the spirit unfazed, gave me a thumbs-up with its spare hand? Or tail? as if to say, “Go ahead.” Pretending not to see it, I continued listening to Mait.
“Then, it was then that my mother, ‘s gathered.”
“‘s?”
“Yes, ‘s!!”
“Nn-!!”
Muil-san’s muffled cry to stop him only piqued my interest further. Apologizing inwardly to Muil-san, I eagerly awaited Mait’s story.
“Word spread that Father was suffering, and not just Dark Elves but women of various species gathered to heal him.”
“Oh, various species?”
“Yes! The war at that time was truly horrific, and most of the tribes that invaded Isal never returned. But many were able to return safely thanks to Father’s efforts in defending the dungeon until the very end. As a result, he was later cleared of responsibility, but that’s irrelevant. What’s interesting is what happened next: among those he saved were the sons or leaders of people who held significant status within their species.”
“Hooh.”
“While healing Father, as a thank you for saving them, proposals for their daughters or sisters began to pour in! It was incredible! Once one person came forward, others followed, and before we knew it, the village at that time was, in a sense, acting as a trading hub for multiple species.”
Mait laughed cheerfully, “The aim was all Father, though!” It seemed Muil-san was indeed very popular.
“That’s why Father treated you amicably, with no complaints, even with multiple fiancées like Memoria and Himik.”
“Ah, because you were in the same situation?”
If that was the case, did Muil-san also have multiple wives? I had never heard such a thing, and Dark Elves were known for their monogamy.
“Hahaha! Unfortunately, Father wasn’t that adept.”
When I voiced my question, he waved his hands, denying my assumptions.
“We Dark Elves are basically monogamous. Well, it’s quite common for someone like you to be loved by multiple women and become one of their wives. There are also rare cases where someone was devoted to one woman, but another man also loved her and she became his mistress. In my father’s case, after various twists and turns, he ended up with my mother, and they became a happily married couple. However, because of the debt of gratitude, many tribes still offer him favors. Sometimes, they even send their granddaughters to be concubines.”
The “various twists and turns” bit was very intriguing. Had there been a fierce battle between women, possibly even a bloody one, over Muil-san? Perhaps something like a dramatic soap opera, or in this fantasy world, direct combat?
“And so, thanks to the various women, Father recovered. However, he still seemed to be haunted by the war. He would sometimes speak of those times to Mother with a touch of loneliness.”
Changing the tone from the comically dramatic narrative, Mait lowered his voice and looked at Muil-san.
“Father. I’m not saying this is a chance to start over. This isn’t the war you fought. It’s to support Jiro-. But aren’t you still not giving up?”
Not giving up? On what?
“…”
“You can stay silent, but this is a message from Mother.”
It was getting difficult to respond when he brought up family matters specific to the Hendellberg family. As the conversation constantly shifted, Mait shouted,
“Will you crush the hopes entrusted to you like this? This is an opportunity! What Jiro- brought you is a chance to try again! Are you going to miss it?”
Mait likely had his own feelings about this. Seeing him shout with such passion, so different from his usual gentle demeanor, the spirit quietly detached itself and vanished.
“He speaks as he pleases.”
“I do. I can overlook your usual flippant demeanor and evasiveness, but I cannot overlook this matter.”
What remained was a slightly displeased Muil-san and a sighing Mait, who seemed to think of Muil-san as a difficult person. To an outsider, they might have looked like brothers of different ages.
“Honestly, she had to blab everything.”
“Forgetting your resentment for hundreds of years and complaining about it, even Mother would get tired of it. She’s been waiting for an opportunity for decades.”
“…So that’s why you told me to come and draw a clear line if I was going to refuse.”
“Yes. If you refused, Father would have stubbornly stuck to his decision. That’s why I followed the proper procedure to make it possible.”
“Hmph.”
After decades, or rather, centuries, of their parent-child relationship, they seemed to have a good grasp of each other’s personalities.
“So, what will you do, Father?”
“…Haa.”
With his family having pushed him this far, Muil-san let out a large sigh.
“With my family urging me on, I can’t simply do nothing… Son-in-law.”
He turned to me and bowed his head gently.
“I almost refused based on our earlier conversation, but would you give this old soldier another chance?”
“Please, lift your head! I asked you myself in the first place. Rather, I would be honored if you would join us!”
This was an unprecedented opportunity for me. He had experience in war, the ability to organize, and connections with other species. He was the best talent I could hope for.
“Is that so? I’m grateful.”
“Well, before that, I need to pass the selection process.”
“Hahaha! Son-in-law, you’ll be fine!!”
Having such a person to help me would be invaluable, but where had the dejected Muil-san from earlier gone? Once his spirits were lifted, Muil-san began to laugh heartily. He loudly declared that I would pass the selection with flying colors.
Today’s Word:
It’s truly a blessing to have reliable people join your side.
Thank you as always for your comments and指摘 of typos.
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