Chapter 6: Fixing the Blade (part 6)

“Speaking of, did you follow my advice of “Try better” ?”

 

“I did, Amai. Hence I have successfully shortened my swordsmanship practice to 1 billions times.”

 

“That is still inhumanly a lot, but great job nonetheless! Still have a lot I wanted to say though, but that’s for the next counseling session.”

 

As the two casually chat while walking toward the back of the house, Mauve chimes in, wanting to join the conversation.

 

“So, Mo-Amai, what is Code Vermillion, exactly?”

 

“Oh, you’ll see when you get there.”

 

“Can you at least give me a hint though? Not like I came here often at all (in fact, this is literally the first time I came here…)”

 

“A hint, huh...Well, it’s related to my family’s job, at the very least.”

 

“Related to the family’s job, Hm…Violet, can you explain it to me instead?”

 

“Of course, you need to know the basics to be prepared for what comes ahead anyway.”

 

“Muu...and I want to keep it a surprise as well.”

 

While Amai was swelling her cheeks, Violet began to explain it clearly.

 

“As you know, the Rossa family deals with flora for all kinds of purposes, from decoration to security. The security type is the most dangerous type among them, as you can see at the front door.”

 

“Yeah...make me question why would someone need a flower that can punt people to outer space…”

 

“Most of the time, they don’t. It’s just the family’s need for extremely high quality work.”

 

“After all, if they don’t, they would just die needlessly out there. We’re proud to have flowers that’s not only outstandingly beautiful, but also outstandingly strong and durable, with immense vitality that can weather against anything throw their way, and our family all intended to keep it that way.”

 

With a proud look, Amai finally guided them to a heavily-fortified door, seemingly made out of thick steels that’s around a meter thick. While Mauve is stunned looking at the door, Violet continued her explanation.

 

“However, that provides a different sort of problem...mainly, that they’re too strong for the work.”

 

“I would personally call it a feature, to be honest.”

 

“Only you would consider that...Anyway, that means that, while they’re very much known for their reliability and strength, perfectly suited for guarding any sort of housing unit, they also attracted lots of eccentric types of people.”

 

When Mauve suddenly stared at her intensively, Violet immediately replied.

 

“No, not my type of eccentricity, the regular kind.”

 

“...Phew, and I thought you would literally fight these plants for sport…”

 

“I sparred with them once in a while though, as per Amai’s request to train the plants, as well as testing for final adjustment.”

 

(So you do fight them for sport…)

 

“Anyway, from thief wanting to steal these plant for massive amount of golds, to researcher wanting to dissect them for science, to heedless fool who just want to test their mettle against them...Aside from just the regular expected threat to the house, lately they have to deal with more and more of these type of people, who’s generally too stupid to even reconsider not messing around with them.”

 

“Because they beat all of them, right?”

 

“Because they annihilate all of them, of course. Well, their body is still there, but their spirit has been completely wiped away after suffering against the plant.”

 

“‘Leave no loose end’, is another one of our family’s motto.”

 

As Amai slowly unlocked the door, a terrible tremor could be felt from behind the door, as whip-like sound rang across the room, shocking even Mauve. Meanwhile, Violet continued on as if it was the usual thing.

 

“Because of that though, now another problem arose: Thanks to having to deal with so many opponents, with so much interest in not only the house, but also themselves, they have accumulated a lot of stress onto themselves.”

 

“Stress?”

 

“Yes. After all, no matter how strong they’re, plants and flowers are generally peaceful and passive existences, wishing nothing more but to live their life in tranquility. These strengths are used to protect themselves to ensure that way of life, but now these strengths attract a lot more unusual threats onto them.”

 

“Fundamentally gentle as they are, they can’t handle this much conflict constantly battering upon them. Some are even questioning if they should abandon their nature for various reasons…”

 

“Well, most of the time, our family plants have a strong enough mentality to deal with these sorts of things by themselves. We also personally care for these plants as well, both physically and spiritually, so that they can always get the help they need...But sometimes, these measures aren’t quite enough, and some of them end up going Berserk.”

 

“Berserk?”

 

*KLANG-CLA-CLAN-KLANG*

 

As the whipping sound got more and more intense, slamming themselves across the room, Mauve became slightly unnerved, wondering what was happening deep in it.

 

“Yep. Some of our plants end up losing themselves to the stress, and end up lashing out at everything around them as a defense mechanism. In that case, they get instantly teleported back into this room, and we have to deal with it.”

 

Finally, the door is opened, as they then head inside.

 

A small bonsai tree stands in the middle of the room, as it uses its elongated branch to spread and whip across everywhere in the room. 

 

Leaving visible marks all over the floor, walls, and ceiling, is not the indentation of the reinforced steel casing of the room, but the dulled goopy sap of the tree itself, mixed in with pieces of splinters coming from its broken arms.

 

With its leaves turning red, the tree continued to slam its body around, as it continued to spread its sap through its cracking limbs.

 

“Code: Vermilion...named after the color of a tree accumulating too much malice, hostility, and hatred upon itself. Well, some of the time it’s the spilled blood of its opponent though.”

 

“Simply put, it’s when a plant goes out of control and starts lashing out at anything nearby, for whatever reason. Usually with this kind of situation, our family either tried to pacify it...or we kill it.” 

 

As the rampage became worse and worse, one of the branches suddenly lashed out toward Amai, seemingly with enough velocity to break a little girl’s neck. As Mauve became instantly alarmed, he instinctively tried to go right in front of her and stopped it…

 

Only for a giant hand to catch it first, at blinding speed.

 

“Fortunately, we don’t have to kill any of our babies so far...Hi, mom!”

 

“Oh hi, Sweetey~~! So you bring your friend here as well~~?”

 

“Ye, they said they wanted to watch!”

 

Casually talking with her daughter with a gentle smile, Ms. Rossa stood tall and firm with her muscle bulging, as she held the branch like a vice without moving an inch. 

 

In response, the tree then started growing multiple arms to try and surround them on all sides. However, another giant figure immediately comes right in front of them, as he unleashes a barrage of palm strikes faster than the eyes can see, instantly deflecting all the branches out of the way of the people behind him, and into the walls.

 

“Oh~~, they’re very welcome then, I’m very sure~~. Would your new friend be okay standing so close, though~~?”

 

“It’s okay, Dad! Big Little Brother can fully take care of themselves! These trees shouldn’t be anything  he can’t handle. Beside...”

 

With a soft and casual voice, Mr.Rossa relaxedly talked with Amai, as his body stood like a wall, not allowing anything to touch what’s behind his mighty back.

 

Clearly getting agitated by this, the tree then grew more and more branches, until it completely filled the room with leaves and woods. Planning to use the massive weight of its own body, the tree slammed the massive mass of branches right over to where they are like a giant wall, threatening to crush them into paste.

 

“...I want to show off to my guest a performance.”

 

In response, all Amai does is to silently reveal the glitter of the blade in her hand, and simply swing it from left to right.

 

Yet, instantly after, the wall of woods turns into pieces, then from pieces to dust, then from dust to nothingness. 

 

With just a single swing, and a gentle yet fearless smile, what was colliding toward them disappeared like a lie, leaving behind a stunned tree, too shocked to be able to move.

 

“Hm~~? You feel a bit different today~~. Something good happened to you, Sweetey?” 

 

“Hmm...I guess something good did happen to me! Good enough that I revert back a bit...So what happened to this Guardian Bonsai tree?”

 

“Ah~~, that’s mighty wonderful then~~...According to the automatic report, it looks like he has turned berserk, after tirelessly protecting Sakuta from an army of ninja attacking her home, and fully wiping them out~~. Not wishing to harm her, he immediately called himself back to this place, before he fully lost his sanity~~.”

 

“Oh, one of the few noble contacts we did have. I remember that she is such a good and polite kid.” 

 

“That she is~~. All the more important to return this little warrior to full health, isn’t it~~?”

 

“Of course~~. Couldn’t make that sweet kid have a frown on her face for so long.”

 

As the father-daughter pair was having a casual chat with each other, the tree recovered from its stupor, and began to grow greatly. In response to the great danger, it swiftly transformed itself into a knight in full wooden armor glistening like steel, with a greatsword sharpened to a razor edge on his right, and a greatshield thick and adorned with intricate symbols on the left. Still covered in red foliage, its crimson eyes glare cautiously at Amai specifically, as the knight armed itself for a battle to the death.

 

“Oh? Looks like we’re bringing a little bit of sanity back...Go to the corner over there, Mr.Tree, and wait for my signal.”

 

Yet, simply letting the orb roll away, she faced the warrior, prepared to his own doom, with a relaxed gait and a daring smile, as if without a care in the world. Meanwhile, she began to look back at the sibling, then at her parents.

 

“Dad, Mom, could you let me have this one by myself for a while?”

 

“”Sure thing, Sweetey~~!””

 

“As for you two...Well, here is how to use the blade.”

 

While putting the naked blade on her shoulder, she candidly beckons them to watch closely.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Taking the advantage of Amai not paying attention to him, the knight immediately lunged forward at breakneck speed, instantly appeared at her side, with the intent to instantly bifurcate her from head to toe.

 

“There are three points to remember, when using this blade.”

 

Just as it nearly touched her head, instantly it stopped dead in its tracks, as Amai used the flat side of the blade against the heavy edge of the greatsword. Enduring such a great impact, the blade makes a giant metallic cry, as if the blade was suffering from a great pain. 

 

Still, the sword was still blocked, so immediately after that, the knight then quickly lifted the sword away from her blade to slash at her side. After it gets blocked again, the knight then draws back his blade, and instead uses his shield to charge at her, at which she simply deflects the huge shield away and knocks him sideways, at which point he immediately braces himself, and charges forward again…

 

As the knight constantly unleashed a barrage of attacks toward her, of which she deftly and casually blocked every single blow with her blade, without moving an inch, the blade continued to create constant metallic screeching, as its body gradually glowing red hot from friction.

 

As the siblings silently watched, what passed through Mauve's mind wasn't concern, but confusion. After all, he know very well how strong his mom was (his action earlier was due to him being caught off guard)

 

Her skill is unparalleled, as she flawlessly matched each and every single move the knight made, and was able to counter them with grace, and a carefree attitude.

 

Her strength is unmatched, as she easily repels the giant knight with a flick of her wrist.

 

As such, it’s only that her techniques alone are strange.

 

“(She deliberately let her sword be withstanding all of his blow?...Or more like, does she intentionally make it take as much damage as possible?)”

 

While he stand there pondering the meaning of her action, Violet meanwhile look upon her with a deep understanding, as if something finally dawned on her

 

“Ah...so that is what it is.”

“Hm? You know why she does that?”

 

“More accurately, I confirmed an inclination that the blade has.”

 

“Inclination?”

 

“Check at her cries.”

 

Following her instruction, Mauve then focused on the noise the blade made as it constantly got hit by the knight...and soon enough, he also realized it.

 

For gradually, the cries of the blade turn from harsh and painful, to clear and joyful.

 

As if the sword freely chirped with each strike the knight made against the steel of its bone. As if the sword freely makes melody with each sound quenching from deep within its contour. As if the sword sang with pleasure, with each and every single force lay upon it.

 

Seeing that the two of them finally get it, Amai smile a little, before laying out the first point

 

“First, this blade is a masochist. She likes taking in forces violently onto its body, and grows significantly sharper and tougher the more it gets hit.”

 

As the blade freely sings with joy, the red hot glowing of its body gradually turns white, before it explodes outward. The force of this explosion turns into an energy blade, as it flies and pushes back against the knight, desperately blocking it with his shield before slamming violently onto the wall far away.

 

“Also, when her pleasure is at its peak, she will “climax”, and instantly release all of the force storing within her back many times over. Well, so far it’s just more of an early discharge though.”

 

As Amai is waiting for the knight to recover themselves, the siblings are having a quick chat between themselves 

 

“Sis, did you know that the blade will be this...weird?”

 

“Only an inkling of it, since she doesn’t reveal herself to me any often. I only noticed that she gets noticeably sharper, when I accidentally use her a bit rough some of the time.”

 

“When you said you’re using her rough…”

 

“It’s around 10^-6 N deviation. It was quite unbecoming of me back in the day…”

 

“(Again, only you would consider it “rough”...Wait, for her to respond to that slight of a degree...Does she learn edging from being handled too delicately as well…?)”

 

As Mauve’s mind turns to the inappropriate, the knight finally completes healing itself, and once again charges toward Amai.

 

“Second point, she is receptive to any force, including force coming from the user itself. As such, apply enough of it, and you can do this to her.”

Suddenly, the blade immediately bent, before flopping down like a piece of paper, in front of the wondered eyes of everyone. 

 

While both Mr and Mrs.Rossa are clapping at the trick, and Mauve stands there gawking in shock, Amai casually continues.

 

“Also, you can do this as well.”

 

Immediately after, she spun it into a ribbon spiral, before flinging it toward the charging knight, wrapping around it and sealing its limbs. Then, through the sword, she constricts it greatly, simultaneously crushing and cutting at its wooden armor, before throwing it away at the wall again.

 

“Depending on how you apply it, you can transform the sword into any shape and form you want, given enough willpower you put into her. Well, that shouldn’t be a problem for this Big Little Sister over here…”

 

Once again waiting for the knight to recover himself, the siblings once again make comments.

 

“...I have seen Mom do it many times before, but it’s still kind of absurd seeing her doing it.”

 

“To change even the “concept” of the sword itself into her wimp. I see…”

 

“Wait...you’re right!? How didn’t I see that before?”

 

“That just means you’re now vastly more adept at the sword as you were back then. It’s as expected, really.”

 

“...So how long did you already know about this, again?”

 

“Hm...since around when I was 5 years old?”

 

“That soon? As expected of Big Sis I guess.”

 

“I should say I could have seen through it when I was born, but Mother also was great at hiding her skill, as well as applying a lot more techniques than just swordsmanship, and I was also unfamiliar with living back then, and…”

 

“...As expected of Big Sis, I guess. You know, sometimes you can stop flaunting your talent, you know?”

 

Hearing his exasperated comment, Violet suddenly froze, stopping her own thought on the matter. After a while, she looked back at him, with a confused look on her face.

 

“...Why would I flaunt my talents, when Amai is around?”

 

Looking at Amai making some kind of incomprehensible n-dimensional hypercube with the sword on a wimp, Mauve has no choice but to agree.

 

“...Touche. Still though, now you just make me, who is infinitely worse than you, feel bad...  ”

 

“It’s merely my own self-evaluation between me and her right now, which just shows that I still have a long way to go. Also, I always said that you’re much more talented than me, and would have caught up to my level if you even trained 1% as hard as me.”

 

“Aw, now you’re just putting me way too high...Wait, isn’t 1% of your effort something that’s impossible to be achieved by humanity in general?”

 

“Hm? Why would you even need to think about that? Not like you can’t do it.”

 

“No no, not like I am beyond humanity like both of you are and all that, you know…”

 

After quite a moment of casual chit chatting, the knight finally rose up. He then began to grow larger and larger, until he became a giant towering above Amai, his head nearly touching the tall ceiling  of the room. His sword and shield also grow to match, and the edge of his blade now grows to eclipse her shadow.

 

“Hoh, time to wrap it up then...Third point.”

 

In exchange, she then holds the sword tight in both hands, as she instantly reverts it back into a blade, sharpening to its very limit. As her gaze becomes as sharp and thin as the horizon, the smile she reveals toward the knight, seems like fangs threaten to chew him into pulp. 

 

Intimidated by her eyes, threaten to cut him up into woodblock, he then began to tear up the lower part of his helmet where his mouth should be, and create a deafening cry, as he then instantly charge forward again, and slam his giant greatsword onto where she is, with the entirety of his giant body, creating a giant cloud of dust.

 

As the dust settles, in the crater that he made, Amai disappears, and what is left of her is a giant pool of liquid.

 

Except, it is not colored red, but instead metallic. 

 

And as Amai casually came out of the crater without a scratch, she lazily held the sword up, with its blade turning soft and goopy.

 

“Solid to liquid.”

 

Reacting accordingly, the knight tries to raise his sword up, only to find that it’s stuck to the ground, glued by the sticky silver substance. It then began to rise up and covered the blade, and through its translucent liquid, countless cuts were made on its body, eventually chopping any part covered by it to shred. Immediately after, the knight tried to swing it away, but the liquid stuck to it like gum, as it slowly climbed up to the hilt, threatening to touch his hand.

 

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the knight being preoccupied with what’s on his sword, she silently comes up to the legs of the knight, too busy to remember moving. As he then remembers to just let go of his sword, and promptly tries to make another one, she then “spray” her sword all over his body as if she’s holding a sprinkler, as the liquid immediately chops up his hands and feet, forcing him to collapse on the spot.

In response, the middle of his chest immediately explodes, flinging the liquid all over the place, and bursting out of it is the knight in his original size. As Amai casually stepping back to avoid the goop staining her clothing, the knight immediately retreated back far away to avoid the goop from cutting him up, as he watched it immediately dicing his shell into bite-size chunk, before that bite-size chunk completely dissolve into the goop, as if it was enjoying a medicinal meal.

 

With his blood-red eyes, he cautiously looks at both Amai and the goop, now floating around her, before   kneeling down, and jamming his hand and feet below the floor. Immediately after, countless vines, branches and roots rise out of the ground, as it steadily comes from underneath to go after her from all sides once again, dodging the goop and coming directly toward her body, threatening to squeeze her inner out.

 

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“Liquid to Air.”

 

Before it can even touch her though, all of the vine, branch, and root that come after all, all disappear suddenly, as it all suddenly found itself slamming into a silver cloud and got chopped up to pieces. 

 

Amai, now holding the blade made of cloud, then casually swung it toward the knight, leading a massive wave of cloud rushing toward him. In retaliation, the knight took his hand out of the ground, and swung his sword back as hard as he could, generating a vacuum wave large enough to disperse the cloud. With the cloud thinning out and creating a gap which makes Amai visible, the knight then charges straight through the gap to reach her as fast as he can, using the vine around his body to push himself faster and faster…

 

“(Big mistake, I’m afraid.)” (Violet)

 

Suddenly, the dispersed cloud glows with a strange color, as it releases back the same vacuum wave it has been inflicted upon from all sides, cutting up his armor from all sides. Moreover, the cloud also absorbs back the wave into itself, releasing it back with more force toward another cloud near it, and repeatedly reflecting the wave back and forth, gradually growing fiercer and more powerful.

 

And then, as Amai gives her sword a twirl, the clouds then spin together into a hurricane, trapping and twisting the knight up into the air, slashing his entire body apart all the while. The knight is rendered unable to move, as he himself was spinning out of control, quickly disorienting his senses.

 

“Then, Air to Void.”

 

Quickly, the cloud vanishes away from the sword, leaving behind a white, blade-like form, with an edge sharpened infinitely, as if the edge itself was cutting away to nothingness. 

 

Then, all it takes is a single swing, for everything to be cut in two. 

 

The hurricane, the knight inside, the room, even the space itself...It was as if everything in front of their eyes was separated by a thin straight line, and the two half slipped over one another. As if time was split halfway as well, the moment was stopped indefinitely, as all was concentrated on the slash.

 

And in the middle of the slash, something was cut out, cleanly separated from the inside of the armor that was cut in two.

 

That “something” was dark, and wriggled violently. “It” inner was bubbling and red, and hostile and bled and wrathful. “It” screams at everything around, as if “it” wants to make enemies of the entire world. “It '' is constantly sharpening and stabbing itself, as if “it” was killing itself in pain.

 

“It” is the culmination of all ill-will, malice, and unforsakenable thought that the knight has been receiving and bottling up this whole time. “It” is the darkness nestled within its core, laying heavy and painful upon its inner nature.

 

And “it” immediately attacked Amai, charging through the cut itself. “Its” contour began to shape itself into a smile reflecting her own, in hope of dealing back what happened to “it” tenfold.

 

“And finally, Void to Nothingness.”

 

In response, she merely smiled back, and swung her sword, which somehow lost its blade, and drew a line from up to down. 

 

And yet, the blobbing mass stopped, and a cut formed vertically from top to bottom. Then, that cut sucks away all other cuts from its surroundings, from the mark left behind on the knight, to the damage present all over the room, to even the omnipresence cut dominating everything within its reach, inflicting it all over its body instead.

 

It’s not the cut which leaves things open.

 

It’s the cut that gathers things to a close. 

 

The cut that ends, not by leaving the mark on existence, but by removing all traces of “cutting” out of existence, along with the blobbing object that the cut was placed upon. 

 

Rather the cut that inflicts the wound, it’s the cut that seals back, and reverses all wounds. Bringing all back to whole, healing all back to its rightful origin.

 

And with a silent, removing thing that should not be. 

 

“Remember the tenet that has been imprinted upon this blade, and you should be able to become its master quite easily...Oh yeah! Mr. Tree, now you can do your thing!”

 

As the room reverted back to its pristine state, and as the knight reverted back to a little green bonsai tree (though looking a bit weary and tired), she casually made her closing remark, before calling the orb over to heal it back to full health.

 

And as the twin watches over the Rossa family all joining together to nurse the tree to full recovery, Mauve finds himself stuck in place, with his jaw left hanging.

 

Meanwhile, Violet is left deeply contemplating, and deeply understanding what Amai...her mother, left to her.

 

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“I-Is Saibon all right !?”

A certain young lady comes rushing over to the front door of the shop, leaving her magnificent many-layered Kimono messy and disheveled.

 

“Everything is A-OK, Sakuta! He is still a bit weak and unable to work right away, but you can meet him now.“

 

“Aaa...Truly, I am most thankful…!”

 

Crying her heart out and letting her makeup wash away, Amai swiftly cleaned it up with her handkerchief, and took care of her.

 

“Now now, don’t introduce yourself unseemly for him, or else he would feel guilty...Just remember to not let the dark thought get to him, and he should be fine later on.”

 

“Yes...I will be with him forever, and we will elope with each other to a place far away!”

 

“Not what I meant, but...I will wish you two good luck! I have a honeymoon set if you’re interested…”

 

“Oh mind!”

 

As the two young ladies quickly found themselves talking about possible way to “dissuade” the pursuer through absolutely “legal” means, Mr and Mrs. Rossa also came to the front gate, to greet the sibling goodbye.

 

“Here’s your box of the finest vegetables we got at home~~! Remember to share it with the rest of your house~~”

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Rossa.”

 

“And this is for you too, young man~~.”

 

As she handed to him a giant wooden box for him to hold, he immediately feel the weight of a mountain in his arm, as his leg immediately sunk into the ground.

 

“Cast an anti-gravity spell on yourself, otherwise you will sink further.”

 

“H-How many vegetables were in these boxes!?”

 

“Hm...enough for an average-size family to eat for a year.”

 

As he immediately lightened himself using magic, he opened up the box, curious about its content, only to have his eyes be assaulted by the stream of light coming out of the sparkle, of the endless amount of vegetables inside. Looking even more surprised, he asked Mrs. Rossa.

 

“Um...what kind of vegetables are in there, I may ask?”

 

“Oh, just the regular kind~~. Here’s the kind that gives eternal youth, and here the kind that give you the constitution of 10 men, and here the kind that increases your mana tenfold,…”

 

As she listed each of them one at a time, each effect sounded more absurd than the last, he then silently asked Violet with a wide-eyed look.

 

“(Hey Sis, is that why all of our servants and personnel in our house become absurdly strong and beautiful?)”

 

“(Hmph, if they only relied on those vegetable to enhance themselves, they got another thing coming.)”

 

“(Ah, that also explain the occasional dead-fish eyes and thousand-yard stare…)”

 

“And this is for giving you the stamina of a troll, and this is for giving you the beauty of god...Is that good enough for you, my dear~~? I can add more if you want~~.”

 

“No no no, this is good enough for me! Thank you, Mrs. Rossa.”

 

“Oh ho...you can also call me your grandma too, as well~~.”

 

Saying such, Mrs. Rossa's soft smile becomes even softer, as she exudes the aura of grandmotherly-ness, as if practically threatening to spoil them rotten. Really surprised by this, Mauve quickly asked Violet.

 

“(Hey...do you think Mrs. Rossa found out about all this?)”

 

“(With how you keep saying “Mom” over and over right next to them, it’s a wonder they didn’t find out. Count yourself lucky that Mother is willing to let it spilled, by the way.)”

 

“We know that Amai is hiding her lovable daughter from us, but to think she was hiding this adorable champ as well~~. We sure need to give our mischievous daughter a stern talking to.~~”

 

While patting Violet’s head and pinching Mauve’s cheek, her softer-than-usual voice sent a slight chill on Amai’s spine, as she glanced over to her still continued talking with an even-softer smile.

 

“Oh well, you two grandkids better come home safely, you hear me~~? You can also come to our place anytime you want, as well.”

 

“We will keep this in mind, grandmother.”

 

“Y-Yeah, we will definitely keep this in mind, grandma.”

 

 With a smile as big and soft as possible, she instinctively hugged them tight, making Mauve feel as if he was being hugged by a bear. After a while, she let them down, leaving him gasping for air.

 

“Oh yeah, you don’t need to wait and greet Grandpa. He’s busy tending to the plant right now, so he asked me to send you two his regard as well.~~”

 

“Send him our regards as well, grandmother.”

 

“Sure do~~. Well, I will leave you and Amai alone for a while, then. I need to go back to help my hubby as well.~~”

 

Mrs. Rossa then walked back into the house, leading the princess along the way toward the tree, leaving the siblings behind with Amai, now coming up to greet them farewell.

 

“Welp, time to say farewell! Violet, are you sure you’re fine with me keeping the sword for a while?”

 

“Yes, Amai. I’m sure there are a lot of things you two want to catch up on.”

 

“Yes...many things indeed.”

 

As she smiles “sweetly” at the sword she held tightly, the sword seems to shake a little. 

 

“Well, aside from that, I need to do some maintenance on the sword, as well as some adjustment and modification so that it could fit you better. It should take a few days, so can you wait until then?”

 

“Of course, I still have quite a lot of business to do with our estate before I need to go.”

 

“Great! So I will see you there then. Well, if there isn’t anything else…”

 

“Wait!”  

  

Suddenly, Mauve called back to Amai loudly, just as she was about to go back into the house.

 

“Hm? Big Little Brother, what do you need me for? Don’t tell me you reconsider my offer?”

 

With the joking manner, Amai smiles back at him, still shining like the sun, while letting her sword rest on her shoulder like usual.

 

The image that he thought would never be seen again...Even now, it’s still too absurd for him to truly believe it’s real. 

 

Especially since the day has been so weird for him, he was secretly afraid that it has been all a dream.

 

“Um...M-Mo-No, Ama…Mothe-…”

 

As such, when he wanted to say his request, he found it getting stuck in his throat, unable to decide on a word.

 

What should he even call her? Would it be right? Would it be accepted by her? Would it all disappear and then he would wake up?

 

Countless thoughts passed in his mind at the same time, as he found himself frozen.

 

...And seeing that, Amai can do nothing but sigh.

 

“...Mauve, what did I tell you before, you crybaby.”

 

Harsh, but kind. Casual, but thoughtful.

 

“A man should be able to say out his word, with great conviction. Once he decides on the right word, he shouldn’t turn back on it, nor should he find himself stuck in the middle.”

 

The same motherly tone, the same headstrong stand. The same reassuring smile each time he cries his heart out. The same exasperated, yet caring eyes every time she comforted him.

 

The shadow of the figure he knew of in his past, no longer exists. The overbearing, yet warm feeling had disappeared from the earth, no matter how much he longed for it.

 

Yet, the person he saw in the present is definitely there. The sensation he thought was lost forever, now stands in front of him, just the same as it ever was.

 

“So, Mauve, what do you want to ask of me?”

 

...He knows that she is no longer who he used to know. He knows that they can’t go back to how it used to be.

 

He also knows that his request will trouble her as well. He also knows that once he says it, their relationship will turn awkward as hell.

 

Yet, a man should stand on his word. 

 

So, with a voice that seemingly rang throughout the entire capital, he shouted it as loud as he could.

 

“MISS AMAI, CAN I CALL YOU MOTHER AGAIN!!!!!?”

 

He found himself red behind the ears.

 

He found himself wanting to dig himself into a hole.

 

He found himself wanting to go away from here as fast as he could.

 

But, as a man, he must stay upright, and proud. 

 

If he wants to prove that he has also grown, he must not run away from this. He stood strong, waiting anxiously for her answer. 

 

In response, Amai takes another deep sigh once again.

 

“...As long as you don’t say it in public like you did just now, crybaby.” 

 

However resigned she felt, a big smile still stayed on her face.

 

In an instant, he found himself hugging her tight, and found himself impossible to let her go.

 

The small and soft feeling he found, as he lifted her up, felt more real than ever. His emotion, in turn, burst out like a dam, and he found himself uncontrollably sobbing.

 

“UOAAAhhh, Mommmmm!!!!”

 

“What did I say before, Mauve? I don’t want to feel that old already, you know?”

 

“Mommmm, there’re-hic-a lot-hic- of thing I want to-hic- said to you!!!”

 

“Yeah yeah, we will have a lot more time to talk about it later. Stop sobbing out on the street like that, you’re embarrassing yourself as king here.”

 

Can’t help but pat him on his head, Amai found herself stuck floating in the air with snot all over her chest for quite a while. After she was finally put down to the ground, she found herself having to use her second handkerchief to wipe his tears and snot away, while Violet stood beside him with her hand on her face.

 

“Well, I will see you in a few days. Be safe until then, you two!”

 

While using her third handkerchief to wipe away the snot out of her dress, Amai waves the two of them goodbye. As Violet dragged Mauve on the ground with a bump on his head, they both waved back in return, as they walked back to the castle.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“...So Sis, are you sure you’re fine with it?”

 

On their way back home, Mauve asked her something.

 

“If you’re talking about lending her the sword, I am fine with it. It’s originally her in the first place, so I am fine with her just keeping it, as well.”

 

“We both know that she will definitely return it back, so why talk that now… I knew it, you don’t act quite like yourself right now.”

 

“...My apology. Guess I found myself a bit nervous.”

 

Hearing something absolutely unexpected from her, Mauve found himself so surprised, his jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

 

“Nervous!!? You!!? The one so cool, literally permafrost melt before you even raise a degree!?”

 

“Yes, I am. After all, a few days later, I have to face a test from Amai...to prove that I can finally wield her sword, after all.”

 

“Ah...well, I know you can do it, judging from your look. What you’re worrying about is something else, right?”

 

“…”

 

A rare stillness spread across the two of them.

 

For the second time today, Violet used silence as her answer. Though her face is as still and emotionless as ever, her reluctance to answer has reached his mind.

 

(Just as expected, she is still worried about that. But…)

 

“...You know, no matter what, Mom will always reply back with a smile, right?”

 

“...That’s what I’m afraid about.”

 

“Oh, another rare expression you have...Well, all we can do is to just tough it out, right?”

 

“...Mhm.”

 

With a still atmosphere, the two of them continued their walk, without speaking another word. 

 

“...Oh yeah, I forgot to ask Mom for her house password. Can you tell me now, Sis?”

 

“...Did you even behave at all, back then? I can’t give you that, then.”

 

“Guha! Then how can I go back to her house now!?”

 

“Just wait a few days for Amai to come to our place then. You can wait that long, right?”

 

“Hi!!? Yes Sis!...It would be such a long couple of days though…”

 

….Just after Mauve stops sulking loudly.

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