제 397화
외전: 마지막 이야기 – 4
I said dramatically that I was going to meet my parents, so they should prepare, but honestly, there weren’t that many people I needed to meet.
Kaiquilia’s parents had been dealt with as blood ties associated with demons, and I had indirectly killed the trash that masqueraded as Aurora’s father by setting a trap.
Minerva’s parents were long gone, and Nix never mentioned anything about her parents even when she existed as a soul guardian, plus Eclipse was a goddess from the start.
And with Floretta, Luna, Stella, and Selene’s cases…
“You know that orphan too, right, Holy One? If she has parents, it’s Sister Lucia, and you gave her rest yourself.”
“Same here. Although it was unbearably tough back then, looking back now, it must have been asceticism for this moment.”
Stella grew up with Lucia essentially taking the role of a mother, and Selene had lost her parents early on and grew up as a battle nun. Both were far from their parents.
“Our parents embraced the sun a long time ago.”
“Yes. Both are likely resting comfortably in the moon’s embrace.”
Floretta and Luna were the same. Their parents had reportedly died of old age a long time ago.
Since the Pope of the Moon and the Pope of the Sun that appeared in Brightest Darkness 4 looked like old men, if Floretta and Luna were of similar ages, it would not be odd.
“Wait a minute. How old are you guys?”
“……”
“……”
Floretta and Luna avoided answering. It seems they were both older than they appeared.
I’ve felt this for a long time, but in a world where the concept of aging doesn’t exist, it’s hard to tell someone’s age just by their appearance.
“One of you should meet with the head of the Isar family.”
“Yes, I will give advance notice so you can meet Lord Delta anytime you wish.”
“The family head isn’t younger than you two, right?”
Their cheeks puffed up. I smiled and poked their cheeks to let the air out.
In the end, after some physical contact, we agreed to meet the head of the Isar family instead of their parents. Floretta and Luna tidied their disheveled clothes with satisfied faces.
With the situation like this, the only ones left were the parents of the Knight Commanders.
“Don’t misunderstand, but I hope you listen carefully.”
“What about?”
“Your parents are still alive, right?”
“……Suddenly?”
I quickly clarified before the Knight Commanders could misinterpret anything. Frankly, upon deciding to meet the parents, except for the four of us here, it was practically impossible for everyone else to be alive.
After hearing my explanation, Lize, Claudia, Erica, and Iris all changed to subtle expressions.
Even without the goddess, there were twelve people altogether, meaning only four actually had living parents. Moreover, two of them were sisters, so the true number was practically three.
“I… no. I get it. It makes sense to ask that.”
“I understand as well. I don’t know how to say this but it feels like if I say something strange, I’d be the bad girl.”
“……Let’s be careful with this matter.”
“I too…”
“Oh my, oh my! Honey, look at our kids! Where did they catch such a wonderful man?”
“Of course. Whose daughter am I? I have an eye for this!”
“Was it the chest after all?”
“Um… It’s not like mine is that small—”
The mother and daughter, who looked remarkably alike, embraced each other and squealed, causing a ruckus. Their overly large chests for their height made their posture a bit awkward, but neither of them seemed to mind.
“Hello, son-in-law! Please take good care of our Lize!”
After a while of causing a scene, Lize’s mother approached me and shook my hand tightly.
“……Don’t you have any questions or anything?”
“Who’s Lize’s daughter? Of course, she brought you well! And our Erica fell for you too, right? With two daughters falling for one man, is my verification really needed?”
To put it simply, Lize’s mother could be defined as someone who looked like an exact copy of Lize.
No, in this case, it should be described that Lize was an exact copy of her mother.
Blue eyes, blue hair, a large chest and a petite height, even their loud personalities and the fact that one of them wore a ponytail hiding an eye matched perfectly.
“There are twelve of you?! Kyaah! I knew I taught her well, our daughter!”
Upon hearing that I had twelve women, including a former empress, a current empress, an eternal magician, and the Popes of the Sun and Moon, Lize’s mother jumped up and down cheerfully.
Their behavior and mannerisms were so lively it was hard to believe they were mother and daughter. Instead, Erica, shaking her head next to them, seemed more like a mother.
Noticing this, Lize’s father admonished his wife to behave a bit, considering their son-in-law was right in front of them. However, Lize’s mother simply brushed it off.
“I’m sorry. As you can see, my wife has that kind of personality.”
“I’m fine with it. And you can talk informally to me…”
“No matter how much a son-in-law you are, I can’t do that. You’re accompanying the Emperor and the Pope, after all.”
On the contrary, Lize and Erica’s father was someone who looked just like Erica. In this case, it should be said that Erica resembled her father.
Their red hair and red eyes matched, and both had calm personalities and subtly used formal language.
Erica looked at her sister, who was squealing next to their mother, with pity, while Erica’s father found himself awkward watching his wife squeal next to their daughter.
“A family full of characters.”
“You could say that in a good way. In a bad way, they’re a family that splits into pairs and plays separately. I wish my sister had inherited only half of my father’s personality.”
“Then you, Erica, would inherit your mother’s personality to half as well?”
“……Thinking about it again, that doesn’t seem too bad.”
Imagining herself acting like Lize, Erica shuddered.
“I may not have much charm and can be a bit brusque, but I hope you’ll take care of my lacking daughter.”
Iris’s mother was quite composed. One might say she had the nature of a true warrior, showing no interest in anything besides swords.
From the start, she was found waiting in the middle of the sparring ground, kneeling.
Iris was horrified to find out her mother was waiting at the sparring ground and rushed over, but as her steadfast will was seemingly unbreakable, she sighed heavily when she came to greet me.
“It is a pleasure to have my child remain beside such a distinguished man.”
Bowing, Iris’s mother lowered her head. Her silver eyes, the same color as her daughter’s, disappeared behind her eyelids, and her silver hair swayed gently.
As I was kneeling, I too lowered my head in return. Iris, who was clinging to me, muttered with a slightly sullen voice.
“Isn’t it okay to loosen up a bit, considering they will be family soon?”
“Because they will be family, you must act with even more courtesy, Iris. If there’s no courtesy, at some point, under the guise of friendship, one will cross lines, and crossing lines will hurt feelings, and once hurt, those feelings may never heal. Always remember that emotions are but mere overlays.”
Even when it was a request from her only daughter, Iris’s mother was firm. This was clear proof of where Iris’s stiff manner of speaking and personality came from.
Still, seeing her warm smile when talking to Iris indicated her affection for her daughter was genuine. Iris also showed much more affection in front of her mother.
Both just had personalities that made expressions difficult.
“Anyway, thank you.”
Unlike the ruckus and chaos caused by Lize and Erica’s mother, my meeting with Iris’s mother went smoothly.
Thanks to her nature, there was no reason for commotion or to prolong the meeting, nor any reason for her to oppose me.
However, it was a bit regretful not having met her father; he was said to be quite free-spirited and was far away in some part of the continent, so I decided to promise for the next time.
“As your future mother-in-law, may I make one request?”
Lastly, Iris’s mother requested a spar. She thought being capable enough to have twelve wives hinted at how exceptionally skilled I might be.
There was no reason to refuse, so I accepted the spar with a wooden sword. Iris scolded her mom, questioning what she was doing to her son-in-law from the very start, but again unable to oppose her mother, she quietly came closer and whispered to me.
“Go all out, Delta. Break her bones to the point where she wouldn’t even think of challenging you again.”
“Isn’t that a bit harsh since she’s your mother, Iris?”
“Because she’s my mother, I can say this. Don’t worry; you can smash her. If my mother is of such a personality, she would certainly be delighted if her future husband defeated her.”
“Got it.”
I thought I couldn’t just knock down Iris’s mother, but if pushed to such an extent, then it would be rude not to.
That said, I really couldn’t give my all, so I decided to demonstrate the gap in our powers. Iris mentioned breaking bones was okay, but that felt a bit excessive; just enough to knock her down would suffice.
“I will take one move, please.”
It was an unexpected spar that unfolded and the kind of situation I had never experienced in Brightest Darkness 4, but it was no issue.
At my current level, I could defeat continental top-tier strong fighters like Kaiquilia, Minerva, Floretta, and Luna through sheer physical ability without the need to memorize patterns.
Iris’s mother didn’t manage to swing her arms properly and ended up getting her head struck in one exchange, collapsing in the middle of the sparring ground. Her forehead turned bright red, swollen from the hit.
“……Impressive, as expected.”
“Isn’t it a bit embarrassing to wake up 30 minutes after fainting and say only that it’s impressive?”
“……Cough. Be quiet, Iris.”
Iris’s mother blushed and cleared her throat. Then she seemed to want to end the situation with advice for Iris.
“Before we are both warriors, we are women. The joy of being loved by those we love is equally important. In that sense, you have indeed found a great man, Iris. Never let him go. If necessary, use your body to ensure it.”
“……”
This time it was Iris’s turn to blush.
The last meeting with Claudia’s mother was quite unique.
“Now, now! Chug it down, son-in-law!”
“Uh, how much more do I have to drink…?”
“Son-in-law, you’re not walking out of here on your two feet! Either get carried by my daughter or sleep here with her, one or the other!”
“………”
No, it wasn’t just a little unique; it was extraordinarily unique.
Unlike the first two mothers, Claudia’s mother had different colored hair and eyes from her daughter, passing down distinct features rather than resembling her.
She had the notable trait of being an enormous drunk.
When Claudia’s mother heard I was coming, she reportedly bought out all the alcohol in the city, so I handed over a considerable amount of gold coins to her father.
It was a hefty expense, but nothing I couldn’t handle; initially, Claudia’s father refused a few times, but seeing his daughter support him, he gratefully accepted the money.
Honestly, if it had been within a reasonable limit, I was planning to pay Claudia back later, but upon hearing the amounts spent on alcohol, I felt I couldn’t postpone it.
“Tonight we drink until we drop! Got it, son-in-law?!”
“……Didn’t you just say there’s no dying from drinking earlier?”
“Don’t worry about trivial things! What’s important is the alcohol!”
Naturally, it was our job to handle that massive quantity of alcohol. The drinking session that started in the morning went on non-stop until nightfall.
By the way, Claudia’s father had already excused himself, saying he couldn’t handle alcohol. When I asked how he could get married, he said it was because she was so cute, trying desperately to impress him.
Claudia’s mother, undeterred by her husband’s absence, continued to drink alongside her daughter and son-in-law.
She drank and drank to the point of having her nose crooked, so much so she ended up looking completely sideways before managing to return to normality. Even I began to find her remarkable.
“If you drink water like that, you’ll pop your belly and die.”
“……My mom is a bit like that.”
“A bit?”
“……A lot.”
Without exaggeration, Claudia’s mother drank enough to fill a layer of empty bottles, and what finally knocked her out were two items.
One was an alcohol concoction with an astounding 183% alcohol content that her daughter allegedly made, and the other was Moon’s Kiss, something almost impossible to find outside of the Holy Kingdom.
Both were things that Claudia’s mother, a drunkard, couldn’t let go of, so it was no surprise her eyes turned completely glassy.
“Hehe… Our son-in-law… is approved… approved… Mom’s stamp, bang…”
After slamming down two bottles of the 183% alcohol her daughter made and then downing Moon’s Kiss, Claudia’s mother, wobbling and tipsy, fell back after confirming that I was fine after consuming the same amount.
Drinking two bottles of that alcohol and still holding out against Moon’s Kiss for a moment clearly indicated that she was not an ordinary human. I sighed and magically tidied up the pile of empty bottles.
When I was almost done cleaning, completely out cold, Claudia cautiously approached me.
“You look just like your mom, Claudia.”
“……Is that a compliment?”
