The short-cut black haired girl rose her wooden sword and struck out at Belgriff. Her footwork was exceptional. As if she was expertly sliding on ice she closed the distance and struck where Belgriff’s guard was weakest.
However Belgriff merely pivoted on his artificial leg to easily twist his body and avoid the girl’s wooden sword, and in exchange whacked her head with the other wooden sword he held in his hand.
The girl yelped out and crouched down.”You were too focused on the obvious openings I left. Try to predict your opponent’s movements a bit more.”
“Uuu… Daddy, you seriously hit me…”
Seeing the girl’s teary eyes, Belgriff lost his composure.
“Uh. Well, that’s, you asked me to take you seriously…”
Frowning, the girl raised her hands towards Belgriff.
“…Carry me.”
“Jeez… I spoil you too much, Ange.”
Seeing Belgriff indicating that he would carry her, the girl happily jumped into his arms and clung onto him.
It had been twelve years since Belgriff took in the baby he found in the mountains.
The black-haired baby he named Angeline grew up into an adorable young girl. Possibly due to her always being with and watching the former adventurer Belgriff, she had at some point started to admire adventurers.
The swordsmanship Belgriff had taught her for self defence ever since she was barely able to walk was now at the level where even the adult villagers would be no match for her. Though she has yet to land a single hit on her teacher, Belgriff.
Angeline rubbed her head against Belgriff’s chest.
“Daddy, you smell good…”
“What are you talking about… Well, let’s have dinner shall we?”
“Yeah.”
Still carrying Angeline, Belgriff entered the house. It was almost dusk.
Belgriff would turn thirty-seven that year.
Although he was approaching forty, his body was still healthy and he would still exterminate magic and wild beasts and go to the mountains. Completely used to his prosthetic leg now, his movements actually seem more supple than back when he was still young. After continuing to simply honestly work for the sake of the village, the villagers would come to trust him more and more to the point where they now even treated him like a leader of the village.
Their dinner was vegetable-and-salt soup with some small pieces of meat added, and hard bread with goat cheese.
Their dessert would be a large heaping of Angeline’s favourite rock cowberries. Usually they would only have a little, but the dinner they had on that day would be the last they would spend together. Surely that much extravagance could be forgiven for the occasion.
Lately the animals in the mountains had been more active than normal so Belgriff would frequently take Angeline out hunting in the mountains.
And though they too would eat some of the meat, they would share most of it with the other villagers.
Possibly because of that the villagers are all very well nourished, with their complexions healthy and their diligence in work high. Tornela has the highest crop yield out of all the surrounding villages, and they are viewed positively by the lord of the land due to always being able to smoothly pay their taxes.
Although the primary reason for hunting was to obtain meat, it was also to train Angeline. If she were to become an adventurer it would be useful for her to have experience fighting against non-human opponents in different terrain as well.
Belgriff looked at Angeline eating the bread happily across the table.
In the beginning he had displayed disapproval towards Angeline becoming an adventurer.
However it was true that he was also an adventurer, and he also didn’t want to do anything so boorish as to deny a youngster’s dream of leaving to the Capital to stretch their legs and test their own ability instead of rotting in the middle of nowhere.
But even so, he still really felt that a daughter should act cutely and not have to face danger.
After a long time debating with himself over it, he had now decided to give his full support in helping his daughter become a true adventurer.
If she was going to end up as one anyway it would be best to improve her abilities and make sure that it would be as rare as possible for her to run into anything too dangerous for her to handle. That is the answer Belgriff came to.
But even after her abilities improved that much she still acted childish. Belgriff worried slightly whether she would be able to make it as an adventurer like that, but always being fawned upon by her didn’t feel that bad.
His feelings as a parent and his feelings as the teacher of an adventurer would fight frequently like that, but most often his parental side won out. He is human too after all.
“I give my thanks for the food.”
“…for the food…”
The dishes clatter together as Belgriff stacked them and took them away to wash them. Using water taken out of an earthenware pot he began cleaning them when Angeline started tugging on the hem of his shirt.
“Daddy…”
“What is it?”
“I’ll do it…”
“No, you don’t have to. Daddy will do it for you so…”
As Belgriff said that Angeline shook her head.
“I’m going to the Capital tomorrow so… then I won’t be able to help anymore…”
“…Haha, I see. Then would you mind doing them for me?”
Belgriff ruffled Angeline’s hair while stroking it. Angeline narrowed her eyes happily and started washing the dishes in place of Belgriff.
What a good girl she has become, Belgriff thought to himself.
Tomorrow Angeline would leave for the Capital. After only a bit more preparation she would be ready to leave.
Although they had no intention of making this the last they will see of each other, they are still saying goodbye to each other. There’s no way they wouldn’t feel lonely.
As having too large a farewell would just make it all the sadder, Belgriff and Angeline planned to spend their last day as normal, not doing anything special for the occasion. Other than eating more rock cowberries than normal.
“Time sure flies…”
Belgriff muttered, gazing from behind at Angeline washing the dishes. She is turning twelve. Although her short hair is somewhat boyish, her face has the cuteness of a girl. She would have been a great wife for someone had she not become an adventurer, Belgriff started to think before shaking his head and dispelling his thoughts.
“How irresolute I am.”
Angeline came flying over towards Belgriff, still smiling wryly at himself.
“Who”
“Daddy… hug me tightly…”
“Your hands are still wet… oh well.”
As Belgriff tightly hugged Angeline, she continued to act spoilt like a cat.
“…I’ll try my best.”
“Yeah.”
“Even alone… I’ll try my best, and become a great adventurer.”
“Yeah.”
“And then someday I’ll get a hit in on you, Daddy.”
“Haha, I can’t wait.”
Belgriff said as he pet her.
“What do you do when you’re lost in the woods?”
“Look for silver dragon grass. The large petal always faces north, so you can use it to confirm what direction you’re going in.”
“What about when you need to find water?”
“Follow the smell of the onibamisery. They only grow where there is clean water.”
“What do you need to be wary of when fighting magic beasts?”
“Whether there are any other magic beasts in the vicinity. Also whether the terrain works to my advantage or not.”
“What do you do when you run into an opponent you can’t beat?”
“Run as soon as possible. When I can’t run immediately, with escaping as top priority I should attack the opponent’s weaknesses to slow them down as much as possible while securing a path to retreat via. Then I run away.”
“Good,” says Belgriff, nodding satisfied at her answers. “That’s good. An adventurer can only adventure if they are alive, after all. You must never push yourself.”
“Yes… understood.”
Angeline nodded.
“Now then, we’re waking up early tomorrow. We should go to sleep soon.”
“Daddy…”
Once Belgriff stood up, Angeline grabbed onto the hem of his shirt.
“Can we sleep together tonight…?”
“Hm? Aren’t you practicing to sleep by yourself?”
“…You’re acting mean.”
Seeing Angeline pout, frowning, Belgriff let out a hearty laugh.
“I’m just kidding. Come on.”
“Yay…!”
Angeline happily clung onto Belgriff’s arm.