Chapter 9: Aunties Like Older Sisters – Part One

It was true that I wanted to join Father in training. But, though I felt bad for Father—his steps practically bouncing with joy—my reason for wanting to participate wasn’t only that.

What I really wanted was a chance to interact with Norn-nee-sama, the one within the Greyrat household whose distance from me I still couldn’t quite measure.

Because she was a devoted follower of Milis, and the one who reacted most sharply to my green hair. If not for Ghislaine and Mother’s protection, I didn’t know how many times I might have been killed by Milis believers already. I couldn’t simply ignore that.

Of course, Norn-nee-sama wasn’t unreasonable; she only frowned at Father for taking on three wives, and she still spoke amicably with Mother. That much earned her a degree of trust from me.

Like with Isolte-sama or the Water God, the deity one upholds doesn’t determine everything about them. But it’s also true that one’s god serves as a guiding principle in life.

If I didn’t know her, and if she didn’t come to know me, then I would never truly fit into the Greyrat family.

I had braced myself to be turned away countless times, even struck, but Norn-nee-sama allowed me to join in. She did make a pained face at my hat, but that was all. She was a broad-minded person.

"Haa… haa…! …Hh!! Edith-chan, you really are strong…!"
"It’s only the difference in how long we’ve held a sword. If you mixed magic in, you’d win, Norn-nee-sama."
"Even if a four-year-old tells me that… haa, you really are Onii-san’s child."

I heard she had only been wielding a sword for about a year. Even so, in between her studies and magical training as a student at the University of Magic, she had grown this strong. She must have trained with incredible sincerity.

More than anything, the quality of her strength was remarkable. She bore the pain of being struck, and when she struck others, she did so with a clear purpose and will. It was strength to survive and protect when the time came to wield a sword. Thinking of the resolve it must have taken to beg Father, not a pure swordsman himself, to train her to this point… it made my chest tighten with heat.

Well, Father—who was even more moved than I was—came running up, and that blew away all such thoughts. Ah… Norn-nee-sama is awfully used to dodging him…

Once again, I was smothered with cheek-rubbing and baby talk. I suppose this must be what an egg feels like right before it’s swallowed by a snake.

"Ohh, there there, such a good girl, Edith-tan."

"……………"

"Onii-san, Edith-chan’s making a face like she doesn’t know what to say. Please let go of her."

"A-ah… ahhhh…"

"Please don’t make a face like it’s the end of the world! Let’s go over there, Edith-chan."

…Sorry, Father. I am happy, but I really don’t like being cheek-rubbed forever.

After lightly washing off together with Norn-nee-sama, I was brought into her room.

"This sword, Edith-chan… it’s a memento from our father. Your grandfather. He had plenty of flaws, of course, but… he was a strong, noble man who always protected us. Both I and Onii-san loved him dearly."

She said this with her hands pressed together toward the longsword hanging on the wall, and she told me about Grandfather.

The story of how Grandmother had been pregnant with Norn-nee-sama while Grandfather laid hands on Lilia-san, making Aisha-san practically her twin, gave me a headache. But aside from that, it was the tale of a strong father who kept fighting through disasters, despite being torn from his family.

During the Displacement, Grandfather had held Norn-nee-sama in his arms when the two of them were teleported near the Fittoa Region. From there he rode a horse at full speed to return. Upon learning the truth of the disaster and that his family was still missing, he organized search parties, and time and again clashed with vile men who sought to enslave the victims, exhausting himself.

That was when he scolded Father—and perhaps because he’d been drinking, he lost completely, got pinned down, and beaten. It was thanks to that blow that Norn-nee-sama had such a hard time opening up to Father later. (…I’m sorry for calling you selfish, Grandfather.)

It was with Grandfather’s information that Roxy-mother (separated from Father at the time) went to the Demon Continent, where she encountered the Demon Empress. Using her demon eye, she discovered the whereabouts of the last missing family member—Grandmother.

With the help of Ruijerd-dono, who happened to be nearby, Norn-nee-sama was sent back to this mansion. Meanwhile, Grandfather and the others headed to the Teleportation Labyrinth on the Begaritt Continent to search for Grandmother.

But the Labyrinth was among the deadliest of dungeons, making exploration extremely difficult. They had to call on Father for aid. At the University, where he was researching the teleportation incident, Father had found records written by adventurers who had challenged the Labyrinth. Using his standing from both his adventuring days and his academic position, he was granted permission to borrow the book.

With Father’s help and the precious knowledge in that record, their exploration advanced greatly. They found Grandmother—only to see her trapped within the core crystal of the dungeon. To save her, they would have to defeat the dungeon’s master.

A hydra with countless heads, able to nullify distant magic and sprout new heads where the old ones were severed. They struggled fiercely, but eventually devised a reckless plan—striking from a distance where the nullification couldn’t keep up, they burned and destroyed the severed heads with magic.

Yet… for a mage to stand in the frontlines was practically suicide. When Father was about to be crushed, Grandfather shielded him, and that was the end of his life.

He protected Norn-nee-sama, saved countless victims, slew the hydra that bound Grandmother, and in the end even protected Father’s life.

Before I realized it, my eyes were hot with tears. I was glad—glad to know that, despite Father having no place in his own home, he had been loved wholeheartedly by Grandfather. And glad that Norn-nee-sama wanted to share something so important with me.

"I’m a Milis believer, so I really do hate what Onii-san’s done… but I also understand now that he isn’t a Milis believer, and that he had his reasons. Still, I can’t forgive him for cheating while Sylphy-neesan was pregnant… but maybe that was because we relied on him too much for everything.

I want Onii-san, Eris-san, and you, Edith-chan, to all be happy. So don’t hold yourself back because of me. Edith-chan.

Let’s become a proper family too."

I lowered my hat and pressed my hands deeply together toward the longsword Grandfather once used.

"Thank you very much, Norn-nee-sama."

"You don’t need to call me ‘sama’…"