Chapter 32: Chapter 29: Mother Is Slightly Concerned…..

In an unknown location in ruins, Alum and Emerine were looking at what Alum had cooked up. 

“Has Ame… ever had your food?” Emerine asked as she looked at the bowl in front of her. 

She had a concerned look on her face as she awaited his reply. 

Alum wasn’t sure what she was getting at. He looked at the food he had made. It looked like what he usually made, and he planned to cook for Ame someday. He just wanted to get a little better at it first through.

“No…?” he answered, not fully understanding her concerns. 

Emerine had a relieved look on her face as and stared at him. 

“Do you want mother-in-law to… help you develop your skills?” 

(Mother-in-law…?) 

“Oh… that would actually be quite helpful, you see… everything I make tastes a little strange.” 

Emerine giggled at his words. 

“So… it tastes a little strange?” she playfully asked. 

Alum avoided eye contact and glanced slightly to the side. 

“It looks a little strange too…” he added. 

“That was what I first thought when I saw it~!” 

… Alum took some damage, but at least the mood wasn’t as tense as it was when she first woke up. 

“Then, Mrs. Emerine will teach me someday?” 

Emerine had a conflicted look on her face and seemed to be thinking of something. 

“... You can just call me Rine. It feels too formal for a son-in-law to call his mother-in-law that.” 

“... Mrs. Rine.” 

Emerine began thinking again. Somehow it didn't feel right. 

“.....” 

“.....” 

“Can you try ‘Mother’?” she asked. 

“.....” 

She really was pushy like Chely, he thought. 

“Then… Mother?” Alum hesitantly said. 

It was so strange to him. Not even once was he allowed to call his real parents that. But… Emerine had a bright smile and seemed satisfied, so he wasn't going to question it. 

“Yeees~?” Emerine replied cheerfully. 

“... Change of subject…. But did you have a strange dream… Mother?  

Emerine was satisfied and began to ponder. 

“Strange? Hmm, you had one too?” 

He got even more curious now. Were they having the same dream? 

“Was it about the depictions we spoke of before we lost consciousness?” he asked. 

Emerine nodded. 

“It was strange, the world was collapsing, and it was a terrifying place. Everyone was fighting, and there was so much bloodshed.” 

“... Did you ‘feel’ anything?” 

“Huh? Not that I remember… although it was a strange out-of-body experience. I don’t remember feeling anything at all.” 

“....” 

She glanced at the quiet Alum and continued. 

“It was like watching a theater? Except I didn’t understand what they were saying.” 

“I see….” 

Emerine got curious, was Alum’s experience that much different from hers? 

“Then… how did you see the dream?” 

“... I couldn’t move; all I could do was watch. It felt suffocating. And I was watching the events from the perspective of someone, and I felt all their pain, sorrow, and suffering and saw glimpses of different phases of their life.” 

“... We’ll have to ask the others when we meet up,” Emerine said. 

Alum nodded and asked her another question. 

“... Don’t you feel worried about your husband?” 

“Oh? I don’t think there is a need to worry. Although we aren’t gifted in magic, we have many tools at our disposal.” 

She then looked a little sad and stared into the distant corridor. 

“And… I wouldn’t want to think of him not making it.” 

She later smiled cheerfully and ate some of the food Alum made, only to make a strange grimace. 

“... It’s pretty terrible,” she stated. 

Alum tasted it as well, and made a difficult expression himself. 

“... I’ll try my best…..” 

“Ame, Elly, Ethym… I may not live for so long….” 

“... Is it that bad?”

“......”  

— :::: — 

After finishing the quite terrible meal, they walked along the corridor. Alum gave Emerine Depth Cutter in case of an emergency. 

“Are you sure you don’t need this?” she asked. 

Alum shook his head. 

“I’ll manage,” he said. 

“Okay… Alum, what is Ame like nowadays?” Emerine asked in a slightly sad tone. 

“... She’s doing good and currently teaching us wanderers along with big sis and Luna.” 

(Who’s… big sis? Luna? Princess Luna?!) 

“... Do you mean… Princess Luna?” 

“Oh… pardon me, yes, I meant Princess Luna.” 

Alum apologized when Emerine pointed it out. He had used Luna's name without any honorifics since he had gotten used to it.… He usually wasn’t this careless… but he had let his guard down toward Emerine. 

Emerine shook her head. 

“Then… who is big sis?” she asked. 

“Oh… that is Hero Chely.” 

Hearing this, Emerine giggled and started to tease him. 

“Already accepted by Ame’s overprotective sister, I see~ you’re doing great. Son. In. Law.” 

“.....” 

“But… since you call Princess Luna only by her name…. I take you’re quite close with her?” 

“.... Although we’ve only known each other for a month… I feel like we’re great friends,” Alum replied with a faint smile. 

“Do you like her?” 

“Huh? Yes, of course?” Alum replied with a slightly confused expression on his face.

“As a friend?” 

“Yes?” 

“Do you… love her? 

“Of course,”

“... Romantically?” 

Alum finally realized where this was going and chuckled a little. 

He shook his head and gently smiled at Emerine. 

“I love her as much as I love my other friend,” Alum replied. 

He looked into the distance and saw Amethely’s pure amethyst-colored eyes in his mind. Her gentle warmth, smooth, silky hair, and soft hands. Her somewhat awkward and adorable reactions. Her gentle smile. Her loving, comforting words. The way she clung to him and……. To her soft lips. He loved her with all his heart. 

He then looked at Emerine.

“But the only one I love more than a friend… is Amethely. And that won’t change.” 

Emerine’s directed her lush green eyes at Alum. She could tell how serious he was with his statement and reached out and held his hands. 

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Emerine’s hands were warm and felt fragile. And her gentle smile directed toward him was that of a loving mother. 

“Please take good care of her.” 

….. 

This instant reminded him of the first time he met Emely. Kind, friendly and caring. She was the only one willing to adopt him while everyone else turned their heads. 

‘Nice to meet you, Alum!’ was the first thing she said with a cheerful and bright expression. 

Alum, at the time, had no light in his eyes. Just stared at her. He couldn’t see what was in front of him but showed her a cold, lifeless smile. 

‘Nice to meet you too, Ms. Emely.’ he said indifferently. But she wasn’t fazed by it and held his hands. 

‘No need to be formal! You can just call me Emy!’ Emely said with a bright smile and a cheerful voice. 

Although her attempt was met with indifference, it was hard for her to see a child like this. But as his new family, she wasn’t going to give up on him. 

With a bright smile and a gentle grip, she led him to a new life. 

Of course, thinking back on it. He felt guilty about it and only learned how to appreciate it until the later stages of his life. 

“Yes. I will treasure her,” he replied to Emerine's words as he smiled more brightly than usual. 

— :::: —

Alum and Emerine walked deeper into the corridors, carefully looked around the dimly lit hall, and scanned through the area. It wasn’t much of anything, and it was pretty empty, and no monster or trap in sight. 

But that peace wasn’t going to last very long. 

Alum and Emerine heard something coming their way, approaching them fast. Or rather, there seemed to be a bunch of them. 

Alum fired a ball of electricity that sent him information like [Static Field], and what he sensed wasn’t pretty. 

“Mother… are you bad with many-legged creatures?” Alum suddenly asked. 

“..... Yes,” Emerine replied. 

He activated Depth Cutter’s barrier and waited for the approaching centipedes. They were a few meters, and he was sure they were at least C-ranked.  

But it wasn’t a problem; he wasn’t overconfident, but he was sure he could handle it alone. 

Having located them, he began preparing a spell and waited for them to get closer. Shards of ice levitated and were twisted into the shapes of screws. Each bit of Ice was highly condensed with mana and wasn’t easy to break. 

Mana injection and mana conversion were other things they had going for them. This means that once the shards land, they would actively convert and inject mana. 

And once the ice shattered, it would create tiny blades of ice that Alum could use to slice them from within. But since the corridor wasn’t that spacious.

So he decided it would be better to freeze them from the inside instead and shatter them to pieces so they wouldn’t need to concern themselves with the sight. 

And as the centipedes got closer, Alum executed his plan. 

They were struck down one by one, and the hall in front of them turned into a frozen hellscape. He activated [Abyssal Depth] and hit the barrier lightly, and it began to vibrate and shatter all the ice inside. 

Emerine watched it all and was shocked, not by the fact that his magic was strong. But for the fact that it seemed a bit cruel. Unlike the statues, these were living beings. She had just witnessed Alum kill them slowly as their dying screams echoed throughout the hall. 

She felt a little scared, and there was something peculiar about him… as if he was detached, but she knew what kind of person he was after interacting with him.

She shocked her head and walked while she clung to Alum’s arm and looked around uneasily. She wasn’t good with anything that resembled an insect or a monster, but it was just powdered snow when she saw this sight. 

They walked like this for a long while until they reached a large room. 

They looked around them and saw more depictions on the walls. 

“... What does it say?” Emerine asked. 

“... The warlord and the angel became lovers.” 

“What…?” 

Alum felt an odd feeling again and looked more closely. 

“When they were both betrayed… the angel had lost her will to live, and the warlord saw no point in killing her. He cut down anything close to them and defended the angel simultaneously.” 

“He was defending her?” Emerine asked with her head tilted. 

“Yes, I don’t know his reason, but he defended her, but the angel had lost her powers and her will to live.” 

“Do you think that is the reason?” 

“... possibly—” 

And before Alum could finish his words, the environment around them warped, and they were now facing everyone else. 

Everyone seemed confused, and it seemed like no one had gone missing. 

Although… he felt a cold stare from Lyn, Sarie… and a man who was probably Ame’s father…. But Alum was innocent, and Emerine clung to his arm. 

Looking around, Emerine saw her husband and waved. 

“Eeethym~! I found our son-in-law!” Emerine yelled cheerfully. 

Everyone was looking at them; the most shocked one was Ethym himself. He looked at Alum and Emerine, who were waving, and… Alum received a glare even colder than before….

“Huh!? You’re the one seducing my precious daughter!?” 

“What…?” 

“And now you’re seducing my wife as well!” 

Emerine, who was still holding onto Alum’s arm, clung to him and giggled, which flustered him even more. 

“Ethym, I’m sorry… and Ame too… this was fate!” 

“.....” 

“... Rine….” 

Emerine giggled cheerfully and released Alum. 

“But in all seriousness though, Ethym, weren't you the one that wanted to meet son-in-law the most?” 

And at Emerine's words, Ethym became flustered. 

“What! W-who said that…!” 

He then lightly scratched his head…. 

“... Sorry, I’ve always wanted to say that….” 

He looked at Alum and apologized. Alum, who was still having a hard time, suppressed his skills so that he would learn to understand and process these feelings by himself. Just stood there.  

Ethym then continued to speak. 

“You see… in the 23 years… I haven’t had a single opportunity.” 

Emerine nodded….

“That’s right… even though Elly was the firstborn… there wasn’t any news from her! At all!” 

Hearing their conversation, Alum sighed with relief that Ethym didn’t dislike him. 

“I see….” 

— :::: — 

Meanwhile… 

“Ache..….” 

Noel looked at Chely, who sneezed adorably as they had a meal together. 

“Are you cold?” he asked. 

Chely looked at him and turned her head slightly to the side as her cheeks reddened. 

“No,” she replied in a low voice. 

“.... Saint Amethely just went somewhere… did you perhaps want to go too?” 

Chely had been acting weird the whole day, Noel thought. 

She was unusually sloppy during the lecture, and it felt like she wasn’t present. Hence, he invited her for a meal in his room. 

She seemed reluctant at first, but after Noel gently held her hand and dragged her with him, she obediently followed. 

She shook her head. 

“... No, she can handle it.” 

Noel could tell something concerning was happening, but he didn't know exactly what. All he knew was that Saint Amethely had business to attend to somewhere and that Chely seemed worried about something. 

He could tell by the fact that she had fallen asleep when he returned from cooking their meal. Usually, her guard was sky high. But now… her mind was somewhere else, and she wasn’t paying as much attention. 

“... I see, then let’s eat, shall we?” he said gently. 

And looking at Chely’s reaction, she was unusually timid today.

She took a bite and had a slight surprise look on her face. 

“... It’s good,” she said shyly. 

Noel smiled and looked directly into her emerald green eyes. 

“Thanks.” 

— :::: — 

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