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“It’s Samantha Samantha!”
“I know.”
“Who are you, little girl, to know of me!”
“Aria.”
“Mmm. Is the food not ready yet?”
That’s Aria for you. She’s not fazed at all. In fact, when she casually took out some dried meat from her 【Shadow Storage】, the old woman showed her disapproval.
“Dried stuff, eh… I’d prefer meat that’s more tender and juicy!”
Oh my, she’s surprisingly picky. But in that case…
“I should have brought those bandits I froze.”
“It’s an oni bride! There’s an oni bride here!”
When did I become a bride…?
But is she genuinely senile? I can’t tell if it’s just an act. Kitty doesn’t even seem to care, just curled up as a black cat on Aria’s shoulder.
“――Grandma!”
Just then, we heard a voice call out from the distance, and someone approached, kicking up an incredible cloud of dust. They leaped sideways and tackled the old woman just as she tried to dodge.
“Who are you to capture me!?”
“I was wondering why you suddenly ran off, and now I find you bothering these young ladies! What are you doing?!”
“I had a premonition!”
“What do you mean by that!?”
The woman, who looked to be in her twenties, turned to us and bowed her head repeatedly.
“I’m so sorry about my grandmother. She must have been a handful, right?”
As the woman spoke as if assuming she’d already caused some trouble, the old woman suddenly clapped her hands as if remembering something.
“That’s right! It’s mealtime!”
“You ate two days ago, didn’t you?”
“It’s an oni bride! There’s an oni bride here!”
“Yes, yes, I’m your great-grandchild. Look, your great-great-grandchildren are here too~”
“Gran-gran.”
From behind the woman who called herself her great-grandchild, a little boy and girl appeared, as if from nowhere, and started clambering all over the old woman.
“Gran-gran, food.”
“Food, food.”
“Alright! Let’s go, great-great-grandkids! You little girls, come eat at our place too!”
No sooner had she said that, the old woman put her two great-great-grandchildren on her back and ran off again with incredible speed, disappearing in a cloud of dust in an instant.
“I’m truly sorry!”
“Understood. It’s food, Snow.”
Aria isn’t fazed either, huh…
“LET’S EAT!!”
With that shout, dozens of people began to eat all at once. Everyone here, from the elderly to babies, they’re all family, apparently.
The entire Samantha clan lives in this castle-like mansion. Despite its size, there isn’t a single servant; it seems like the necessary tasks are done by the young people… no, rather, by those who are able or skilled at them.
Well, in short… it’s very noisy.
“Little girl, is that one the little girl in question?”
The old woman, who was eating across from me, looked at me with a sharp gaze. Her piercing eyes and intimidating aura were truly befitting the name of the veteran adventurer, the ‘Sand Dust Witch’.
…If it weren’t for the several toddlers under three years old clambering all over her.
“Samantha. Can you tell?”
Aria, while cutting up some mutton sausage, responded to the question by asking the old woman back.
“It’s distorted, isn’t it… And you’ve clearly pushed yourself recklessly many times. The ‘War Oni’ examined you, right? It’s somewhat better, but no matter how much you extend your life, it won’t be for long.”
“I see…”
Aria frowned slightly at Samantha’s words and offered a piece of the cut sausage to Kitty… Can a Phantom Image Kitty even eat? Besides, her true form is huge, so would such a small amount even make a difference?
“I don’t regret it, though?”
Aria glared at me for my light tone. …You silly girl. There’s no need for you to worry about my lifespan.
That aside…
“What’s with all this blood sausage on my plate?”
Do I look that deficient in iron?
“That Dolton fellow told me to teach you lot… especially that pale little girl, how an adventurer Magician moves.”
The old woman, while crunching down on bone-in mutton, bone and all, pointed at me with a broken piece of bone.
“However, you lot don’t need something like that, do you? You’re still rough around the edges, but in terms of sheer strength, there aren’t many in this country, let alone on the Searth Continent, who could beat you.”
“Then what will you do?”
Organizing my affinities extended my life a little. In that case, rather than wasting time with strange teachings, I want to do what I can for Aria.
To my words, the old woman grinned broadly while chugging wine straight from the bottle.
“That’s why Dolton entrusted you to me! I’ll personally retrain you and fix your life force from the very core! At the very least, I’ll make sure you don’t die before I do! Uhahyahya!”
“…Should I be happy about that?”
Dying after someone who’s over a hundred years old… how many years from now is that?
Hearing this, Aria nodded deeply, as if impressed by the old woman’s words.
“Snow, she says you can live another hundred years.”
“……….”
You’re kidding, right?
“Well then, let’s go, little girls!!”
“Grandma, take care!”
Right after the meal, we set off, seen off by the entire Samantha clan.
I thought I had trained my Mana Control, but according to the old woman, much more delicate manipulation is needed.
Until now, I’ve focused solely on manipulating vast amounts of mana, but she said that by using delicate control, I can smoothen the flow of mana and even manipulate blood flow itself.
“Little girl, you too! Aren’t you hungry!?”
“Understood. I just ate.”
It seems the old woman plans to train Aria as well. If her mana flow becomes smoother, her mana consumption should decrease, so there’s no downside.
“By the way, where are we heading now?”
It’s all well and good that we’ve set off on a journey, but I hadn’t heard our destination, so when I asked, the old woman’s face turned grim for a moment.
“Where are we going!?”
“Somewhere we can train, right?”
Aria replied to the old woman’s senile moment with a straight face. Don’t tell me she really set off on a journey just with the word ‘training’ in mind? As I unintentionally stared at her with the same deadpan look as Kitty, the old woman clapped her hands.
“That’s right! We’re going to Dandole!”
“Dandole?”
When Aria tilted her head, the old woman puffed out her chest as if it were obvious.
“Because a new mead product was recently released there!”
It really was just an ‘on a whim’ decision, wasn’t it.
It’ll be another journey of about three weeks to the viscounty that is a vassal to Dandole. …We’ve been traveling so much already, wouldn’t it be alright to rest a little?
But Aria didn’t mind, and the old woman was such a strong walker you wouldn’t think she was over a hundred, so my thoughts only resulted in an increase in the amount of medicine Aria made for me.
“Walking is also necessary, pale little girl!”
It seems that by walking for long periods, the body gets used to the blood flow, and by manipulating mana-infused blood with Mana Control, the strain on the heart can be reduced.
Hearing that, Aria also mentioned something about… blood lipids? It’s the first time I’ve heard that term, but apparently, suppressing them improves blood flow, so she decided to increase my meal menu and medicine.
The old woman is a tri-elemental Magician. In terms of health, that number of affinities isn’t a problem, but that’s strictly speaking as a Magician; she said that for a warrior-type, it would only provide enough stamina to get winded during a long battle.
Since the old woman has a combat style where she runs around a lot, she trained her Mana Control for it since she was young, and as a result, her lifespan apparently extended.
“But Grandma? You love meat, don’t you?”
“It’s an oni bride! There’s an oni bride here! Let me eat what I like!”
…Well, if she runs around that much, I guess the fat content gets burned off.
After that, the meals Aria made for me consisted only of herb-like leaves and lean red meat or chicken with the fat removed. I wonder if I’ll be able to eat proper food and drink mead once we reach our destination?
When I inadvertently muttered that, Aria opened her mouth as if she’d remembered something.
“Gelf mentioned it, but apparently, the new product in Dandole was developed by someone from the Dandole Family.”
“I heard about it too! They say the little girl who developed it married the new young lord!”
“Oh…”
That sounds like a story I’ve heard somewhere before.
Marrying into the Dandole Family, to the new lord?
Could that be…
About the former prince and the young lady?
Next time, the viscounty where those people are.
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September 8th: Akuma Koujo Comicalize Volume 2 release!
October 2nd: Akuma Koujo Light Novel Volume 3 release!
Otome Game Heroine de Saikyou Survival Volume 7 release around the end of the year!
I’m happy, but I can’t write new works…