45 – Engagement
“Ah! Lord Ghaul has come out.”
“Hooh….”
As we opened the door and went out, Evi, who was waiting for us, greeted us.
Next to her was a silver-haired woman of the Langin tribe, who smiled gracefully.
Her elegantly curled silver hair and blue eyes that seemed to contain the sky.
She was a very beautiful woman of the Langin tribe, who looked exactly like Kaia next to me.
It was obvious that she was related to Kaia by blood.
I bowed my head and greeted her first.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ghaul Crude.”
“Oh, thank you for being polite. I’m Lua Riga Ulje. I’m Kaia’s mother.”
The woman of the Langin tribe, Lua.
She looked so young that I thought she was about the same age as her sister, but she was actually the mother who gave birth to Kaia.
Come to think of it, the beastmen were not as long-lived as the elves, but they were also a long-lived race that lived for a long time.
Wasn’t their average lifespan about 500 years?
I felt a bit intimidated as the representative of the short-lived race of the Great Forest.
‘Will I live alone in sorrow?’
I straightened my bent waist and looked down at Kaia next to me.
Her wolf ears were twitching nervously, as if she was uncomfortable with the situation.
As expected, Kaia stepped forward and spoke to Lua.
“Mother. What brings you here?”
“Huh? Does a mother need a reason to see her daughter?”
“It doesn’t seem like you came to see me, though.”
“Well, of course~ Why would I need to see you? I actually came to see the druid’s face.”
“……”
Lua skillfully teased Kaia and walked towards me.
Then she looked at my body up and down and said with a meaningful smile.
“Hoho. He’s quite a handsome man. He’s not lacking as Kaia’s husband material, is he?”
“Uh, mother! Isn’t that rude to Ghaul?”
“What’s the big deal? You buried your face in his tail last night, and you proposed to him today, didn’t you? I already heard everything from Ivy.”
“That’s a misunderstanding! Ivy! Why did you say such unnecessary things?!”
“I, I only told the truth!”
The three women started to exchange some pleasant stories around me.
As I stood there quietly and enjoyed the atmosphere, I felt like I was in a harem.
I felt like I had become popular and my lips kept curling up.
As I smiled so frivolously, Pii tapped my cheek and asked me.
[Did you propose to Kaia today?]
That reminded me of something that bothered me in Lua’s words.
It was true that I buried my face in Kaia’s tail, but I didn’t remember proposing to her.
What kind of crazy bastard proposes to a girl he met two days ago?
I shook my head and answered Pii.
“No? I don’t remember doing that.”
[Right? I don’t remember agreeing to that either.]
I don’t know why Pii’s permission is needed, but it seemed clear that I didn’t propose.
Then why did the proposal topic come up?
As I raised that question on my face, Lua, who heard our conversation, spoke up.
“Hey? Hey, Gaul. You forcibly coveted my daughter’s tail, and demanded her body as compensation. Do you have no intention of taking responsibility for such actions in public?”
[Uh… we only asked for the tail… is that how it sounds?]
“Of course it does. For a human, it’s like you buried your face in her butt and asked for her butt―”
“―Ah, mother!! Please watch your words!!”
Lua’s stormy words were cut off by Kaa’s hand.
But her blue eyes were glowing with a fierce light, containing wild mana.
She looked like she was sincerely angry as Kaa’s mother.
“Is that, is that true?”
I turned my squeaky head and asked Ivy.
Ivy flinched her shoulders and nodded slightly.
Her rabbit ears shook up and down, showing a clear affirmation.
The action I did to Kaa was equivalent to burying my face in her butt.
I immediately lifted Pii and shouted at Lua
“He did it!”
[Yaah!]
“It was all his fault that he grabbed my tail and brought it to his face, and then demanded my tail as compensation!”
[Well, that’s true! But aren’t you being too harsh?!]
Kaa and Ibi nodded their heads fervently at my excuse.
Seeing her daughter’s reaction, Lua looked stunned for a moment.
Then she drooped her ears and tail and opened her mouth with a sigh.
She looked like she had swallowed the bitterness of the world by herself.
“Sigh… Are you saying it was a mistake? Then what about my poor daughter… Everyone saw it, so she can’t get married now….”
Kaa can’t get married now.
At Lua’s words, I unconsciously looked at Kaa.
Silver hair that reached down to her tail and blue eyes that held softness.
A graceful hanbok that she wore and a stunning figure that couldn’t be hidden.
And a pure attitude and an innocent and cute personality.
She had white wolf ears and tail, but Kaa was actually a woman who fit my ideal type.
It had only been two days since we first met, but it didn’t seem bad to hook her up.
As I was thinking that and staring blankly at Kaa, her mother Lua continued with a deep sigh.
“It’s such a pity… I was going to ask the elders to look kindly on you… I even bragged to the neighbors that I got a druid son-in-law….”
“……”
“Sigh… Can’t you just take her with you… She’s a useless girl who sits in the warrior chief position and has no luck with men… My daughter looks like she’ll die alone….”
“……”
Lua looked at me with a sigh, sneaking glances at me.
She looked like she was saying, ‘Are you not hooked yet?’
But when she appealed to me so blatantly, I felt rather hesitant.
As I was just smiling awkwardly, unable to do anything, Lua stuck out her tongue and gave me the final push.
“Then I guess I prepared these for nothing… A special authorization to mobilize retired warriors… A list of talented beastmen candidates from the herbivore clan… And even a permission to visit the Temple of the Wild…”
Oh my. I can’t miss this.
I grabbed Lua’s hand and said.
“I’ll take you as my mother-in-law.”
The result was that the ladies around us flipped out.
“W, w, what are you saying!”
“Gasp! Co, congratulations!”
[You’re really crazy….]
As I put the hook I received in my mouth, Lua smiled like a girl and held my hand.
But there was another person involved who couldn’t stand that sight.
Sure enough, Kaia, who had turned red in the face, came between me and Lua.
“Why are you doing this! Gaul, you’re joking too much!”
Kaia, who showed me her back, had her tail swinging like a pendulum.
Lua saw that and smirked.
“Hoho. First, calm down your tail and talk.”
“It’s because I’m surprised!”
“You don’t hate it, do you? Hoho. This mother is very happy.”
“Ugh!”
Kaa hastily hugged his tail.
Then he pointed at me and shouted at Lua.
“Gaul is a human, even if he looks like that! How can you marry someone of a different race!”
What. What’s wrong with how I look.
When I frowned with that meaning, Lua smiled as if it didn’t matter.
“Kaa. Weren’t you born between a tiger and a wolf? Race is a trivial thing between men and women.”
“Isn’t that a little different!”
“What’s different? And even if he’s a druid, he’s still a man. The child born between the two will be a wolf like the mother. My grandchild will be a healthy child with the mana of a druid. Hoho. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Oh, a child! Why do you keep saying that, it’s embarrassing!!”
Kaa shouted loudly and looked at me with his tail hugged.
Then he was startled and lowered his head.
It was a rare reaction from a water tiger who valued decency.
When I chuckled at that, Kaa bristled his tail fur and yelled.
From Noble mtl dot com
“You keep teasing me, I’m leaving!”
I asked Kaa, looking at his cute reaction.
“Are you going to work?”
“……You’re really mean. Can’t you stop laughing?”
“Sniff! Sorry. I won’t laugh. So you’re really going?”
“……Yes. I have to go back to the front line. Thanks to your hunting, I should be fine, but I still have to be prepared for any emergency.”
I nodded and wished him good luck.
He glared at his mother and turned around to walk away.
They were such a funny mother and son.
As I watched him leave, Lua next to me poked me and said.
“So, shall we talk about marriage? I think it would be better for you to come to Deril as my son-in-law, what do you think?”
“Huh?”
I looked at Lua with a question.
He was gone and she was still joking. She was really a fun personality.
I smiled and told her to stop playing around.
I was a bit disappointed, but it would be rude to him if I kept going along with this joke.
“You can stop joking now. He’s gone already.”
“Huh? What do you mean? Joking?”
But Lua’s mood was something strange.
I lowered my head and looked at her expression.
Her wolf eyes were asking me what I had just said, as if she was looking at a real son-in-law.
“Did you lie to me all this time?”
Her blue wolf eyes started to fill with wild mana.
A chill ran down my spine, and a fierce gaze filled my body with tension.
`Live…’
Ah. This person wasn’t joking. If I say it was a joke here, I’ll really die.
Feeling threatened by my life, I had no choice but to show an awkward smile to Lua… no, my mother-in-law and say.
“Come on, mother-in-law, you’re joking too! A live-in son-in-law! I, I have the ability to prepare a newlywed house too!”
“Oh my! Is that what you meant! I’m sorry, Gaul son-in-law. I must have misunderstood.”
My mother-in-law smiled brightly again and started asking me various questions.
Where are you going to prepare your newlywed house? When are you going to have your wedding? How many children are you going to have?
They were really soul-sucking questions.
I wish someone would stop this person.
As I was sweating coldly, thinking that, Pii, who was quietly watching the situation, muttered softly.
[You’re dead to Siz now.]
No, why him….