The Darkness Was Comfortable for Me

“So you are Hikaru-san. Nice to meet you, I am the mother of Rifreya. It seems like you have taken care of her in this city.”

“Ah, so you really were her mother. Nice to meet you, I am Kurose Hikaru.” (Hikaru)

“Can we talk a bit while walking?”

“O-Okay.” (Hikaru)

It looks like the mother of Rifreya isn’t fazed at all by this duel.

Duels might happen often in this world… I haven’t seen any though.

But does this person think I have been cheating on her with Jeanne?

No, it is questionable whether I am even in that kind of relationship with Rifreya… But I clearly told Rifreya that ‘I wouldn’t ever be in that kind of relationship with anyone’, so no matter how much of an irregular existence Jeanne is as a Chosen, it wouldn’t be strange that she would think of this as a betrayal with just the fact that I am together with her.

She even left without disbanding the Love-Love Twin Birds after all.

Then, for this person, wouldn’t I be the man that deceived her daughter…?

When thinking about it in that way, that pretty and cool face of hers is beginning to look scary.

I want to know about why Rifreya returned so fast and is talking about marriage, or about what happened with the templar exam, but I am finding it hard to ask.

“Is it okay…to not stop the duel?” (Hikaru)

In the end, I couldn’t really grasp the boundaries of this talk, so I asked that.

No matter how you think about it, Rifreya is going out of control here, and Jeanne is a bit of a weirdo, so I am wishing for a decent person to serve as an intermediary.

“There’s no need to stop it. Thinking about the future, there’s the need to think about the hierarchy after all.”

Hm?

“Hierarchy…? Of what?” (Hikaru)

“That girl will be troubling you, but I leave her under your care, Hikaru-san.”

“Eh, no…uhm…what do you mean by hierarchy…?” (Hikaru)

“…”

The mother of Rifreya-san falls silent.

Or more like, she casually said ‘I leave her under your care’, but doesn’t that make it sound like the marriage is already settled?

No…there’s no way… This is Rifreya going crazy as usual here…

We walk in silence for a while.

It doesn’t take long for us to reach the plaza in front of the dungeon from the food cart street.

The onlookers were following us from behind.

They must be coming here in amusement when they heard about a duel.

This is a duel between two heavy equipment female explorers. It would be the best show for this world that has little in entertainment.

No, really, why did it end up like this?

◇◆◆◆◇

The duel between Jeanne and Rifreya is going to begin.

I tried to stop them one last time, but it ended in a whimper. Even Rifreya’s mother told me to just keep silent and watch.

In the end, I ended up just watching over them in a slightly separated location.

Well, the two are strong, so it shouldn’t end up in too bad of a situation.

…Probably.

The one who opened up with the first attack was Rifreya.

A greatsword attack that carried unyielding fighting spirit.

Rifreya’s sword is almost the same size as her, and its weight is most likely higher than hers.

Different from the normal swords that have thin tips, this sword practically doesn’t factor being used for stabbing. Thinking about it normally, it is not something you would swing around, but maybe because of the results of her long training, or it might be because she was strong from way before, whichever the case, she has enough strength to swing around something like that.

I have stealthily summoned the Dark Knight and had it on standby so that I can stop the duel as soon as possible depending on the situation.

This is a duel where both sides are going to be doing their all. Even if we have a High Heal Scroll, they might end up heavily injured, and at worst, it might develop into an accident that could bring instant death.

Rifreya’s first attack was a side swing, and it was aimed at the shield of Jeanne.

Despite all she said, she probably still has a composed part in her. If she were to suddenly aim for parts like the head or the neck, I was considering stopping it by force too, but it looks like that was unnecessary worry.

For Rifreya, this attack must have been to utilize the weight of the sword to blow her opponent away and incapacitate her.

But an intense sound of metal clashing rang, and Jeanne managed to block it with her shield without any issues.

The speed of the sword and the weight was abnormal, but it only knocked her back a little.

(Just from the fact that she could take that on puts Rifreya in a disadvantage.) (Hikaru)

Rifreya’s style is a sword dance with a weapon of high attack power, but she is a bad match against Jeanne who has defensive power like that of a turtle, and she will only be showing openings after failing to get her attack through.

Rifreya’s mother must have understood that with one glance.

She muttered: “That girl is still green.”

After that, Rifreya’s attacks continued, but all of them were skilfully blocked by Jeanne’s shield.

Jeanne must be amused by the attacks of Rifreya, it looks as if she is purposely receiving her attacks.

Rifreya’s mother spoke while watching the match between the two.

“Hikaru-san, my daughter doesn’t want to talk much about you with me, so I don’t know your circumstances well. The one who gave her that flower was you… No doubt about that, right?”

“Flower? Aah…the shining flower? That’s right.” (Hikaru)

“What about Flora’s disease?”

I thought she was going to talk about the duel, but it seems like that’s not that important of a priority for her.

If I remember correctly, Flora is the name of Rifreya’s little sister.

“I did hear that she was terribly ill.” (Hikaru)

“I see…”

I don’t see where we are going here, but did something happen with that flower?

I gave Rifreya a Panacea, but maybe she had her drink it, and it didn’t work? Or it showed side-effects and made things worse…? The flower apparently worked for a different disease, so I don’t think there’s much worth on it aside from being a shining flower…

“Why did you give that flower to my daughter? Did you know about its medical properties?”

“No. I did hear that it works for a different disease from the one of her little sister, but there was no worth for me to have it, so I gave it to her as a parting gift.” (Hikaru)

“You are saying Rifreya has that much worth?”

“Rather than calling it worth…at that time, there was something I needed no matter what, and I had her help me out unreasonably. The reality is that we ended up fighting a Demon Lord, she got heavily injured, and was on the verge of death. I don’t think a flower like that can cover everything she has done for me though… Was there any problem with that flower?” (Hikaru)

If she is talking about worth, it must mean that a noble or something must have shown up wanting it.

In that case, they might have sold it at a high price. I heard that they didn’t have much money because of the medical expenses of her little sister. Is that why she came back in the company of her mother?

“With that flower, Flora’s disease got better. As if her long illness was a lie… Today, I have come to tell you my gratitude, and…to tell you about Rifreya.”

Looks like she wanted to tell me the reason for being here today.

But the disease was cured with the flower?

“She was cured with that flower? No, there’s no way…” (Hikaru)

“The day she came back was right at the time when the doctor was coming. And so, it was prescribed to her that day, and we could have her drink it. In just 2 days, Flora managed to recover enough to be able to stand up on her own.”

“I see. Congratulations.” (Hikaru)

No matter how it was, if her disease has been cured, that’s something to rejoice over.

According to the result of that flower’s appraisal, I remember that it said a different disease’s name, but maybe Rifreya didn’t know the official name of the disease. Diseases are normally remembered by their common name.

Whichever the case, I even gave Rifreya a Panacea to cure her little sister, so her disease being cured was within expectations.

However, I didn’t expect her to come back this soon. Meaning that she came back to thank me.

…It has suddenly turned into a duel mess though.

“That’s why she suddenly came back, huh. Rifreya went back not that long to become a templar, so I was surprised. Ah, please don’t worry about the flower. It was merely coincidence that that served to cure the disease of her little sister, and it was something I gave to Rifreya.” (Hikaru)

That flower is a super rare material, so I managed to obtain 3 Points when I got it.

The only other case with God giving out 3 Points for an individual achievement was at the time when we subjugated a Demon Lord.

It must have been a truly rare thing, but I gave it to her.

Nothing more nothing less.

“No, we can’t do that. We of the Ashbird have an insurmountable debt towards you. If we don’t repay that debt, we won’t be able to face the Great Spirit-sama.”

“Eh…no way.” (Hikaru)

I was about to say ‘that’s an exaggeration’, but I do remember Rifreya telling me that that’s a family precept.

Her mother even went through the trouble of coming as well, so it doesn’t sound like a joke.

“Got it. Then, the sentiment is enough for me.” (Hikaru)

I took the initiative and answered.

I already know what this indifferent mother is going to be saying after all.

“That wouldn’t be repaying this debt. Just like Rifreya said before, we are planning on having her marry you—”

“No no no, there’s no need to pay me back like that. It really was just me giving back after being indebted to her. That offsets it.” (Hikaru)

“…Weren’t you and her in that kind of relationship? If you are unsatisfied with her, you could take her little sister Flora—”

“As I said, it is not about that.” (Hikaru)

As expected of Rifreya’s mother. It won’t be resolved with just anything.

Or more like, I feel like she is listening, but at the same time not listening at all. That goes the same for my mother, so maybe mothers are like that?

…No, Nanami’s mother was not like that, so it must be a special case.

Anyways, you shouldn’t treat your own daughters as things. You have to respect the feelings of the people themselves—no, she herself is also into the idea, huh.

Then, does that mean she came back with her parents as allies…?