After digging up the belongings from the grave, we had dinner at Nadia’s house. It was curry, as usual.
「This is delicious!」
「Master’s cooking is the best.」
『Well, it’s mainly thanks to my skill.』
「It’s hard to believe you can cook when you look like that. I never thought a literal sword would beat me at my own game…… I was previously a housewife you know.」
『You were married!?』
「Mrgh!?」
Fran had never heard that either. Her eyes widened even as her mouth was stuffed full of curry.
「Haha, that was more than twenty years ago.」
『So your husband is……』
「The antidemons got him. We had no children, so I’ve been back as an adventurer ever since.」
Nadia shrugged her shoulders, not a hint of loneliness in her expression. I guess she has put the past behind her.
Still, she looked a bit sad to me. Fran felt similarly.
「Auntie……」
「What’s that look on your face? Come on?」
「No, it’s nothing.」
「Hahaha. You’ve become a spoiled child all of a sudden.」
After Fran hugged her, Nadia returned the favor while stroking her head. As expected of a first-rate warrior, she quickly moved aside her plate of curry to avoid spilling any of it.
Actually, Fran was burying her face in Nadia’s chest, but I’m sure she still had some curry on her mouth. Is that okay?
Nadia then continued her story about the failed divine sword and Zechs. The reason her level exceeded 45, the max for black cats, was because she now had the body of an antidemon.
Until four years ago, when there was still little erosion, her level had remained stuck at 45.
I’m thinking Nadia’s “Golden Devourer” skill was the main cause of this, but I can’t be sure her body will return to its original state even if we use Skilltaker to steal it.
It’s obviously a skill derived from Overgrowth, so it’s likely the skill will just be restored immediately.
How can we save Nadia? For Fran’s sake, I hope that there is still a way somehow……
After finishing dinner, it’s time for bed. People in this world tended to sleep early, but Nadia even more so.
In remote areas, fuels such as oil and magic stones were all very precious, so many people went to bed as early as possible.
「You’re staying the night, right?」
「Can we?」
「Of course! The bed is small, but it can fit two people if we squish ourselves in.」
It’s a single bed, but I guess that’s not a problem for the small Fran.
「The bed probably smells a little funny, but it’s better than sleeping in the field, right?」
「Nn.」
Our bed for sleeping out is in our dimensional storage, but Fran made no attempts to take it out. Since it was what she wanted, I didn’t either.
Especially after seeing Fran crawling into bed after using a cleansing spell on herself.
Normally, Fran falls fast asleep right after getting under the covers, but not today.
「Auntie?」
「What’s wrong?」
「Can you tell me a story about this continent?」
「Oh Fran, you’re so studious. Okay, what do you want to know?」
「Anything.」
「Well, let’s see…」
It was more like she wanted to hear Nadia talk than wanting to know anything in particular.
While a normal child would ask for a story, Fran wanted to hear information about the continent.
「In the western harbor――」
「Nn.」
「About Nocta――」
「Nn.」
Nadia was giving us some pretty useful information, but I couldn’t tell if Fran actually heard all this. She responded with her eyes closed, as if she had already dozed off.
An hour later.
Finally, Fran was no longer able to resist her drowsiness. She looked at peace as she breathed lightly in her sleep.
Maybe it’s a bit self-conscious of me, but she seemed as relaxed as when she sleeps with me in her arms.
Nadia watched Fran’s sleeping face with her elbows on the pillow.
『Nadia-san. You can go to sleep since Urushi and I are on watch.』
「Sure. I’ll get to sleep in a little while.」
Nadia said that without taking her eyes off Fran. Her face had a gentle expression, like a mother’s.
The next morning.
Breakfast was an all-you-can-eat buffet of bacon and eggs with white bread.
That was because curry first in the morning would probably be too heavy for Nadia. I piled up a batch of freshly cooked bacon right in front of them.
I thought one serving would be enough, but Fran, Urushi, and Nadia all wanted more. Come to think of it, beastmen consider steak as a teatime snack, and Nadia is one too.
I guess they wouldn’t have minded curry at all.
Fran asked Nadia a question while she was stuffing her belly with meat.
「What are you gonna do now, Auntie?」
「You mean my future plans?」
「Nn.」
Fran looked at Nadia with a somewhat expectant look. Then she discreetly spoke to me too.
（Master… about Auntie…）
『Did you want to invite her to come with us?』
（Nn. Can I?）
『Sure, I’m all for it.』
It’d be best to have another adult watching over Fran. Especially having a woman taking care of her too would be a great help.
But Nadia shook her head, a hint of loneliness clearly evident on her face.
「I’ll be staying here.」
「……To evolve, you have to go to another continent.」
「You’re right. But I can’t.」
『Because you need to guard the graves?』
After watching her for a while, I could see that Nadia had a strong attachment to this village. You could call it an obsession.
But that was not the only reason why Nadia could not go with us.
「I can’t go into any town. Because of this.」
Nadia shrugged, swinging her mutated left arm.
