I felt relieved for a short time after I had received the approval of Yae's family. This time, I have to go to Elsie and Lindsey's family to greet them.
[Even though it is entirely okay with us...]
Elsie hesitated for some reason, but just in case, it seems they roughly explained in the letter their engagement to the same partner, that the said partner is a king and so on and so forth.
Their uncle (who is seems to be their mother's younger brother) is managing a farm in a small town called Collet in Rifurisu Empire near its border to Belfast. The two lived there until they were 12 years old, and apparently, they left the house in order to become independent. It seems they thought they couldn't afford to keep troubling the uncle's family forever…..
The people of this world seriously go independent quickly….. In my former world, some continue to depend on their parents even after 20 years of age. Despite that, there are some among of them who would also say "of course, that's natural".
In any case, I will just pay my respects afterwards if the circumstances can be explained. When I proposed "Should we fly there with magic?", both of them rejected it because "it is scary" it seems. And I even went to great lengths just to remember it…
Because I saw that it could not be helped, I had received from Lindsey her memories about town of Collet with [Recall] magic and all three of us moved there using [Gate].
What comes to my view are fields spreading as far as my eyes can see. Is that an orchard in a distance? Some red fruits can be seen growing on the trees. In spite of it having a rural feel, a protective fence is made here and there. I wonder if boars or even monkeys come here. Moreover, a house with a red roof is built a bit further in a separate place. It is an old but considerably big house.
[It has been a long time for this place too]
[…it hasn't change, right?]
We then go towards the house with a red roof while I lead the twins who are looking nostalgically at the fields. That seems to be their uncle's house.
Two people are working in the field just in front of the house. When he notices us as we come closer, the man wearing the straw hat raises his head and turns his gaze at us.
[...? Elise? Lindsey?]
[It has been a while, Joseph-ojisan]
[… It has been a long time.]
Elsie and Lindsey raise their hands and greet the man. And as if reacting to the greeting, the woman next to him raises her head as well.
[Elsie! Lindsey! Waah! You came back! ?]
Her face bloomed at that moment. She then rushed out from the field and embraced the two. She has a long brown hair tied together in one braid, about 20 years old... Don't tell me this person is their Aunt?
[Emma-neesan, we are back]
[… We are back, Emma-neesan]
[Mou, You didn't come home at all! And yet you promised to come back once in awhile!]
When Elsie noticed that I was being left behind, she separated herself from the woman that was embracing her.
[Touya, this person is Emma-neesan. She is uncle's daughter and our cousin]
Cousin? I see. Now that I think about it, she resembles the two of them. Will Elsie and Lindsey become like her in several years?
While I am thinking about it absent-mindedly, Elsie and Lindsey's uncle takes off his straw hat and walks towards them. He looks to be around 50 with mixed white hair and small eyes. It is impolite, but he certainly gives off a countryside peasant feeling.
[How nice for both of you to come back. Everyone will be delighted as well… By the way, who is this gentleman?]
The uncle looks at me and then asks Elsie and Lindsey.
[We have written in the letter, haven't we? This is Mochizuki Touya. He is o-o-our future husband]
[… Fiance, ~desu]
The two become bright red while they introduce me to their uncle. Hey, if you two show this kind of reaction, even I will become embarrassed somehow.
[Letter... you say, so this person is from that "Brunhild Dukedom" place that everyone is talking about nowadays...]
[Brunhild Dukedom King, Mochizuki Touya. I am always indebted to Elsie and Lindsey and…..]
[Haa————-a!!] (TL: I saw that on anime, Haaa and then they kneel or dogaza)
The uncle suddenly kneeled on the ground when I extended my hand for a handshake. Hey, what's with this reaction!?
[Ah, mou!! It really turned out like this after all]
[…As expected]
The twins sighed while smiling wryly. Meanwhile, their uncle is still kneeling down while rubbing his forehead on the ground. Since I am being troubled on how to handle this, Emma-san who was similarly making a bitter smile start talking.
[I'm sorry, my father is weak towards the nobles and their like. Apparently, something happened in his childhood, and he became incredibly uncomfortable when dealing with them]
No, uncomfortable, you say. I feel that it's no longer at the level of being uncomfortable anymore. He must be hiding some sort of trauma you know. I am terribly worried about what happened in his childhood.
[O~, on this occasion, we are especially grateful to have the privilege of having you visit our home! W-we have nothing to entertain you with, but, I kindly ask for your highness to quell his anger and I respectfully request for a tolerant treatment]
Strange, strange. His words are strange. How much of a loose bomb did you think I am? When I turn my eyes to show Elsie and Lindsey that I am troubled, both of them shrug their shoulders and just continue smiling bitterly. No, come and help me.
[Hey, father, the King-sama is troubled, so stop this and stand up]
[T-troubled-!? By no means did I mean you any trouble! Please have compassion and grant forgiveness]
This time he energetically stood up and started explaining desperately. I finally understood what Elsie and Lindsey meant when they said [There is no need to go to our house for greetings]. It is really bothersome!
I have had enough, let's leave him alone and continue the talks with Emma-san.
[This time, I came to greet you because I am getting engaged to those two. But am I, by any chance, disturbing you?]
[Nope~ My father is like that, but everyone will be happy with this news. Please meet my mother and the others as well]
Everyone? When I feel being strangely caught by what Emma-san said, the door of the house opens, and children come out one after the other.
[It is true! It is Elsie-neechan and Lindsey-neechan!]
[Welcome home!]
[Yay! Elsie-ane! Lindsey-ane!]
Oh wow! The bustling children come running and embrace the two. One, Two, Three ... there are six kids! Two boys, and four girls, I think.
Emma-san laughingly explains while my eyes stare in wonder.
[Everyone here are my brothers and sisters. Starting from the eldest: Shiina, Allen, Clara, Kirara, Allan, Reno. I actually have a younger brother Aaron who is a second eldest among us, but he left for the city last year and is no longer here]
Eight siblings, seriously? The uncle surprisingly did his best... Indeed, I can see why Elise and Lindsey thought they could not depend on them in this circumstances for too long. The food expenses are probably not so insignificant as well.
Everyone is a girl except for Allen and Allan, and Clara and Kirara are probably twins. They say there are a lot of twins in families with twin lineage but, I wonder if it is the same in this world as well.
When I incidentally look towards the house, a woman with a large body comes out from the opened door.
[Oya-oya, if it isn't Lindsey and Elsie? Have you come back home?]
[Rana-obasan!]
[… We are home. Rana-obasan]
This time both Elsie and Lindsey run up to that woman coming from the house and hug her. So this person is their aunt, right? She gives off the feeling of a chubby gutsy mother .
Rana-obasan pats the heads of the two people, speaks to them while smiling, and then shifts her attention to me and steps up.
[You are Touya-san, right? You are exactly as how they have described you in their letter. You are quite a good man. I understand it since the two spoke fondly of their sweetheart in the letter as well ~nee]
[R-rana-obasan!]
[… It is a secret. We even wrote about that]
The two raise their voices in protest while they become bright red again behind their aunt. I became interested in what they wrote, but I should stop pursuing it. I have a feeling that it will somehow backfire as well.
[Nice to meet you, I am Mochizuki Touya]
[I am Rana, those children's aunt. For the king, you are considerably humble, aren't you]
[I can't have myself behave haughtily since I just recently became one]
She doesn't seem to have a timid personality, unlike that of her husband. She is talking quite friendly. Wouldn't they divide exactly by two people if we add them?
(TLC: this is a tough one, it appears he is talking about their characters being polar opposite of one another, should one person be made by adding two of them, it will divide by two entirely different persons)
[I was anxious since they wrote that they would be marrying a king, but it seems it was a needless worry. I can see this very well just by looking at the two of them]
[I very grateful when you believe it to be so]
Just when my heart was secretly relieved by Rana-obasan's words, the seven year old boy (he is Allen, I think) pulled his mother's apron.
[Kaa-chan, is this person a king?]
[That's right. He is the king of Brunhild, a country which is far away from here]
[If he is a king, is he strong? Can he defeat Thunder Bears?]
[Thunder bears?]
Thunder Bear... It is a demon beast that shoots lightning from its body, isn't it? If my memory serves me right, it should be a blue rank subjection demon beast. It is two ranks lower to me since I am a silver ranked adventurer.
[Do Thunder Bears comes out?]
[Ah! There have been talks of someone witnessing it recently. There are also people that saw a lightning shine in the mountains during midnight. Because the fields are also being damaged, the residents around here gathered money, and a subjection request was put out in the adventurer's guild]
Are they damaging the fields? In that case, it might become life or death problem. Not just that, there is a high chance that people might be attacked. I don't know how many demon beasts are there, however, they do not form a herd if I remember correctly. At most, there might just be two of them and several cubs.
However, there is a subspecies that has something like a comb spanning from its head to its tail and is one size larger than regular ones. Apparently, It can also subdue other thunder bears. If it is that guy, there is a possibility that he may create a herd as well. By that assumption, the request will become a red rank which is far from being a blue rank.
[When was the request submitted to the guild?]
[Three days ago. We sent a request to the nearby big town, Senka, since there is no adventurer's guild in this town. However, I think it will reach the town by this time tomorrow]
Assuming it reaches the town and is accepted tomorrow,it will be another three days for the adventurer who will receive it to come here, I suppose. It's better to strike before damage spreads and contacting the guild afterwards should be fine.
[I will deal with that thunder bear.]
[The king will do it? Will you be okay?]
[I'm a silver rank adventurer after all even if I look like this]
I take out a silver card from my pocket and show it to Rana-obasan who has a dubious look on her face,. Naturally, I don't plan to get a reward. I should defeat it as fast as possible.
[… Shall we also come as well?]
[No. Lindsey and Elsie have a lot to talk about with your uncle and the rest, so I will go alone]
After declining Lindsey's offer, I float up in the air with flying magic. The children go "wow" and while I'm listening to their voices of surprise, I turn towards the mountains where the Thunder Bears are coming out and start flying there at once.