The Day Before the Decisive Battle

“............”

Lairine stopped signing the documents, leaned back in her office chair and stretched, then slowly got to her feet.

This was the office in Lairine's mansion on Vera Kenu.

The warm afternoon sunlight poured in through the room's large window, making the carpet—which depicted beautifully growing young grass—and the glossy, lavishly decorated office desk sparkle.

Previously, she had done most of her work in her office at the Adventurers' Guild Headquarters, so she had rarely used this room.

Lately, that had changed completely; she had taken to bringing most of her work home and handling it there.

The reason, of course, was that she wanted to be with Emi.

Lairine slowly went up to the large window and, masking her presence, looked down at the grassland that spread around the mansion.

There she was: Emi.

The daughter she loved beyond measure.

Down there, Emi kept on moving, endlessly.

Punching, kicking, leaping—she continued her combat training alone.

Her movements were becoming sharper by the day.

Movements that were already impossible for an ordinary person to track were acquiring an even more incomprehensible speed.

Land one hit on Lairine while she is serious.

Since this goal had been presented, Emi's growth had been nothing short of remarkable.

In terms of her current specs, she probably already had, to put it simply, the foundation to put out a power of 1000.

But as she traveled the outside world, though there had probably been the occasional exception, a power of 300 had likely been more than enough to bring down her enemies.

That was why she hadn't known how to deliberately bring out her full strength.

That was now about to change, with the appearance of a wall called Lairine.

Her body was beginning to change so that she could bring out that power of 1000, her full strength, of her own will.

Seeing Emi like that, Lairine smiled in spite of herself.

It was because she was happy.

She had been the spark, and her daughter was growing.

She was influencing Emi.

That made her so happy she could hardly stand it.

◇ ◇ ◇

Since the day Emi told Lairine she wished to set out from this island, the relationship between the two had definitely changed.

Emi had begun to reject Lairine openly, and apart from mealtimes, she hardly ever let Lairine see her.

They didn't talk much, either.

But they had never talked much to begin with, so that was fine.

No more sleeping in the same bed with her, no more taking baths together.

And that was what made her lonely......

But looking at this alone, it seemed that what had changed was Emi's attitude toward Lairine; in truth, what had changed greatly was Lairine's inner self.

The Lairine of before would have hugged Emi without a care, no matter how much Emi rejected her.

Because to the Lairine of before, basically the whole world was something that went just as she wished.

Things she didn't like, she crushed.

Fearing her, everything knelt before her.

Having lived that way, the arrogant Lairine had basically, in every case, taken communication with others to mean “force myself on her.”

That was why Lairine had loved Emi exactly as she pleased, without considering Emi's feelings.

She had kept Emi close at hand, gazing at her on and on.

She had simply kept pouring her own idea of “love” into Emi, just as she pleased.

But still, Emi told her to stop.

That she didn't like her, that Lairine should let her out.

Saying such things, she rebelled against Lairine.

Lairine had been shocked, stunned, and bewildered by this.

She didn't know what to do.

It was her first time experiencing something like this.

Of course, in her long life up until now, there had been more beings than she could count who had rebelled against her.

But to her, they had been beings that didn't matter in the slightest.

So she had just smashed them with a careless punch, and that was that.

By the next day, she would forget all about such people and live a new day.

But Emi was different.

Lairine loved Emi.

She couldn't just smash her and say, there, all done.

In other words, after living for more than 300 years, Lairine was troubled by a relationship with another person for the first time.

She didn't know what to do.

She couldn't think of a good solution on her own.

So she had no choice but to give ground.

She had no choice but to accept the form of love Emi desired: “To be far away, and think of the other.”

But even so.

Lairine had absolutely no intention of parting with Emi right this moment.

That was exactly why she had set Emi the condition “Land one hit on me while I'm serious.”

After that, upon hearing this condition, Emi had immediately attacked Lairine.

......Looking at that attitude alone, Lairine thought that Emi truly was a wonderful child.

Lairine's power, now that she had stopped suppressing it, could potentially reach the level of a god—yes, she had the Adventure God's seal of approval.

A being like Lairine, who had the strength to be a god, yet did not oppose the gods and was not involved in maintaining the world as a god is, was called a “demigod” by a very few in this world.

And Emi challenged that demigod, Lairine, without a shred of fear.

Emi's courage was far from ordinary.

Even so, there was nothing to be done about her lack of real strength.

As explained earlier, Emi's strength was likened to 1000, but even if that power became 2000, to Lairine it would be like 1 becoming 2.

Such a vast gap in strength lay between the two of them.

And in Lairine's view, what would close that gap was, after all, no ‘technique’ or the like.

It was one's specs as a being.

It could also be called basic stats.

And growing those took time.

Lairine provided Emi with ingredients rich in magic power, such as dragon meat (which is a deadly poison to ordinary people), at every meal to encourage efficient growth.

Even so, Lairine estimated that it would take several more decades before Emi could land a hit on her while she was serious.

In other words, even if their relationship remained a bit strained during that time, Lairine could stay with Emi.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Fufu, ufufu......”

Watching Emi beneath the window, desperately polishing her technique, Lairine let out a laugh in spite of herself at the endearing sight.

“Land one hit on me while I'm serious.” On the day she had told Emi that, Emi had challenged Lairine at once, as mentioned before.

Even though she would be serious, if Lairine went on the attack, it would be no contest at all.

So they set a time limit, and during it, Lairine would block Emi's attacks.

It was a fight under those rules.

The result was, naturally, Lairine's victory.

When time ran out, Emi got a light poke from Lairine, could no longer fight, and rolled across the grassland.

“You've still got a long way to gooo”

Looking down at Emi, who couldn't move, Lairine smiled sweetly.

She wondered if Emi's spirit had broken because she had shown too much of the gap in their strength, but she didn't particularly mind if it had.

If that were the case, she could keep Emi by her side forever.

But Emi, desperately lifting her face from where she lay face down, glared at Lairine, her eyes burning with fighting spirit.

“One more...... month.”

Emi shouted.

“I...... I'll polish ‘what I have inherited’! And without fail, one month from now, on you! One hit...... I'll land it on you!!”

And then, she fainted.

“What I have inherited”.

In other words, the “Grim Reaper's” technique, then.

Every time she recalled those words, Lairine's brow furrowed in spite of herself, so loathsome did she find it.

Did Emi think so highly of the “Grim Reaper's” technique that she would declare such a thing?

It was utterly infuriating.

Emi claimed she didn't know any “Grim Reaper,” but there was no mistaking it.

Those movements were the movements of the “Grim Reaper”.

If it was going to come to this, she should have just killed that man the day she saw him in Ashgo.

At the time, she had been impressed in spite of herself by his masterful skill at deftly working with so little magic power, but to think that, in a roundabout way, it would come to disturb her heart this much.

One never knows how things will turn out.

“Suuu...... haaa......”

Noticing that the mansion had begun to shake from the magic power she was releasing along with her irritation, Lairine hurriedly took a deep breath.

It's okay.

From now on, Lairine could live by Emi's side, forever and ever.

Over a long, long time, she only had to fill Emi's heart with Lairine, little by little.

Time was on her side.

Having calmed her feelings, Lairine moved away from the window, sat back in her office chair, and resumed her work.

She had to clear the mountain of work in front of her by the end of the day.

Because the ‘one month from now’ Emi had declared was tomorrow.

To meet Emi's challenge in top condition, she would get through her work for now.

But even as she thought so, her mind wandered to other things.

She couldn't help worrying over how to comfort Emi after she failed the challenge.

She was, as they say, distracted.

Because she was in such a state.

Lairine didn't notice.

That, for some reason, Emi was gazing intently from the grassland at the window of the office where Lairine could no longer be seen.