88 – Father-in-law, please give me your daughter – 6
In the garden, a thick scream resounded along with a cool blow.
“Evil! Ugh! Sigh! Wait, wait!”
“Dad! The Demon King doesn’t sound so weak.”
“They say so.”
Neil Bass shut her mouth at Louie’s words. I ignored Nilvas’s stern stance and continued to beat him with the broom. Every stroke of my broomstick made a jolly sound. At first, he laughed in front of his son, but as time passed and red marks began to appear on his forearms, he could not laugh anymore. If you had brought something with you earlier, you would have been the opponent. I wonder if I’m an outsider at all, if there’s a difference in reach this much, I can’t do anything and I can’t help but be beaten unilaterally.
“This petty bastard… !”
“Why is that? It’s just play.”
He gritted his teeth. As if it didn’t matter, I hit him with a broom. To be honest, I’m not hitting with all my strength, and if my body was trained to that extent, it wouldn’t hurt that much, but I just think it’s a pity. He seems to be more pissed off at being hit by me in front of his son than being sick.
“Oh, if you come out like that, I have an idea. Then let me show you a little bit of my true strength.”
“Yes? What is that….”
Nilvas suddenly uttered an incomprehensible line in an exaggerated tone, then closed his eyes. Before I could comprehend the situation, a strong aura burst from his body. The grass and trees in the garden shook violently once from the energy radiating from him. Louis, unaware of anything, glared at the splendid phenomenon unfolding before his eyes, but I opened his mouth wide in amazement. Mana?! What is that crazy old man doing now? I asked him with a surprised face.
“Are you insane?!”
“I always do my best. Even if it’s just a game!”
He didn’t even think about capturing the mana flowing from his body. Louis couldn’t take his eyes off him, as if his father, who had suddenly changed something, was curious. He’s ashamed of holding a broom or a tree branch and imitating a sword fight, but he’s not ashamed of spending mana on children’s pranks? It’s a way of thinking that I can’t understand. That of a madman he shouted in a booming voice.
“If you want to try it, try it.”
“After. Then there is nothing you can do.”
I sighed and raised my mana. I wonder what he’s doing to play with the kids, but that guy started it first. It would be suicidal to face an opponent in that state naked. Seeing the change in my momentum, Nilvas hesitated a bit, as if taken aback.
“Why is that?”
“No, he wasn’t just a mouthful. Are you going to do it for real?”
“Look over there.”
He asked me subtly if it was a little too much pressure to bump into him directly. I guess I didn’t expect it to be such a big deal. I replied to his words by glancing at Louis instead. You can’t betray a child who has such high expectations.
To be honest, I had a little bit of a good feeling. To be honest, it was more of a win-win spirit than Louis thought. He’s just a talkative guy, so if he’s cold-hearted even when he hears that he doesn’t know the subject because the little ones pop up on him, that’s not a man. Like Neil Bass, he nodded his head once and raised his arm.
“Come! You won’t even get scratches with a broom anyway.”
“Then whatever you want.”
I prepared a blow with a lot of heart. The broom couldn’t overcome its strength and shriveled up.
One step forward, one more step, one last step. Drive your feet into the floor so that the strength of your lower body passes through your waist so that not even a handful is lost. The arms do not wave, and the breath does not quiver. When the broom and I feel like one, I draw from top to bottom. It is truly the realm of a mysterious union.
The weapon, now called a broomstick, struck Neil Bass with a piercing sound that pierced her ears. His eyes widened. His eyes were as if he was saying, “Isn’t this too much?” And the moment my attack reached him, a deafening roar came from behind us.
“Kyaaagh! Mikhail! What are you doing!”
“Hestia?!”
That’s Hestia’s voice. With all my concentration, I stopped the blow that was flying towards Nilvas. It was an attack that was already full of power, so it didn’t stop completely, but at least it avoided the hit. The broom brushed his arm and hit the ground. The broom, which could not withstand the sudden change of circumstances, was completely smashed at the same time and flew in all directions.
Nilvas was similarly taken aback by the sudden appearance of Hestia. He rolled his eyes this way and that, as if he couldn’t figure out where to put his eyes at the appearance of his nephew.
“Wow!”
Amidst the fragments of the broom that were scattered like snow, only Louis laughed as if he was enjoying this sight.
–
“So, are you saying that you were simply playing with Louie for such a risky job?”
“… “
“… “
“Say something!”
– Bang!
The sound of Hestia hitting her desk made Neil Bass and I shrug her shoulders at the same time. We both bowed our heads at the same time. Because I had nothing to say It was the first time I had ever seen Hestia so angry. And to be honest, there was nothing strange about being angry.
“Sorry….”
“Why did you do something you’re sorry about?”
I kept my mouth shut and put on a face of self-reflection. There was even a chill in her voice. After the uproar, Hestia sent her whining Louis up to her room, leaving behind her scorched garden. And as if she had waited, she started scolding us in earnest. That’s how it got to now.
Nilvas tried to make an excuse.
“Hestia, that’s it.”
“Stay still, Uncle!”
“Okay….”
Of course, I was blocked mercilessly. He was startled by Hestia’s lion’s roar and returned to her original crow’s nest. I lowered my head and glanced at him. It feels like being scolded by a teacher like a friend in school days.
“Didn’t you know that you were playing with Louie, but you didn’t care about him, and fighting like that would be dangerous?”
“Okay….”
“But why the hell is that? When the broom broke at the end, if even a splinter splattered, you would have been seriously injured.”
I know. In the end, this conversation would only end when Hestia’s anger was resolved. When asked why, I have nothing to say. No matter how much I thought about it, there was no good excuse. I couldn’t stand being a man here for nothing, saying things like that would speed up my lifeline. Like Neil Bass, he didn’t say anything and just listened to the nagging of his nephew, who was much younger than himself. In fact, Louis was an excuse, and it was also true that the two of us were blinded by a sense of goodwill.
Hestia continued to work hard on Nilvas this time.
“Your uncle should say something too.”
“I told you to stay still.”
“Are you saying that now?”
Oh my God. I admired his gaze. I don’t know how you choose to only say things that will make Hestia angry. In this case, the quickest thing to do is to apologize calmly until the anger subsides. If you even talk back, you’re a sinner… Retort?! Will the same situation happen?
“Your uncle is the eldest here. You are an adult. The person who needs to step out and stop is the most excited…. Aren’t you ashamed?”
“Sorry….”
After that, Hestia continued nagging at us for another 10 minutes. Ten minutes later, as if having said everything she wanted to say, Hestia let out a deep sigh that came from the depths of her heart and turned around.
“After. Anyway, please don’t let this happen in the future. Do you know how surprised I am?”
“Okay.”
“Because you seem to be reflecting. I will keep it a secret from my mother.”
Nilvas and I stared blankly at Hestia’s disappearing back. As she disappears over the corner of the hallway, I turn to look at him. Nilvas’s eyes met. After a very brief moment of silence, he and I started giggling and laughing for no reason.
“Ha ha ha. This one, it was unluckily wrong.”
“That’s right. I never thought I would get caught there.”
“Isn’t it because you exerted too much force. Even if the broom didn’t break, it could have been crushed properly.”
He rolled up his sleeves to reveal a red, swollen forearm.
“This is because of the last attack earlier.”
“In that case, didn’t you use mana first?”
The two of us met eyes again. And this time I giggled and laughed. To be honest, neither he nor I don’t know why we laughed, but we just laughed. It’s fun to look at ugly guys’ faces, what does that feel like?
After calming down a bit, he glanced me up and down for a moment, then nodded as if he had understood something on his own. What is it all of a sudden?
“Why is that?”
“No. Just in case it was someone else.”
“Do you know that you can see it? Even though it’s the first time I met you.”
You don’t know what I was like before, but what do you know when you see me now? He listened to me and put on an expression of belated realization. Isn’t that really stupid?
He cleared his throat a few times as if he was a little ashamed of his foolishness, then brought up a completely different story.
“By the way, marriage life is visible. It must be a lot of trouble.”
“Married life? That word… ?”
I opened my eyes wide. If you are talking about your married life, is it that you are recognizing me? Neil Bass scratched his nose with his big, sturdy hand.
“What is that, I won’t say that I don’t know the topic because the kids around me popped it up earlier.”
“Yes?”
It was so out of the blue that I thought I heard it wrong. He acted as if his attitude up to this very morning had been a lie. I was in a daze, not knowing how to react to his sudden change in attitude. When he laughed earlier, he thought that something was not right, but he didn’t expect that it would change like flipping the palm of his hand.
I asked him why.
“But why all of a sudden…?”
At my question, he hesitated like a middle school girl about to confess. To be honest, I’m a little offended, so I just want you to tell me quickly.
Neil Bass, who scratched his head and twisted his body for a moment, barely opened his mouth.
“It’s just a funny story, but seeing you for two days, no matter how you look at it, it seems different from what I heard from you. He laughs well, is human to anyone who sees it, and cares for Hestia.”
“Mr. Nilvas.”
“Just call me hyung. It’s funny how you made Hestia cry, and if Hestia herself forgave you, she hates it for that.”
Hyung is a bit. I pretended not to hear what he was saying.
Anyway, something went in a completely different direction from what I initially planned with Hestia, but in the end, it seems that the conclusion is going the way we wanted. I was taken aback by Nilvas’ sudden confession. As he said, the original Mikhail and the current me are completely different people, but that’s it. It’s a bit unexpected that he suddenly becomes so kind after maintaining the same attitude for two days.
Nilvas looked at my expression and said as if he understood what I was trying to say.
“Because people who train radish have something in common. Just by looking at the opponent’s sword, you can roughly tell what it is like.”
“Oh, yes.”
What is that? What the hell did you see I looked at him with a look on his face saying what the heck he was talking about. What do you mean by saying that you can know the nature of an opponent just by looking at them facing swords, even though they are not absolute masters of martial arts? It’s not even sword-to-sword. I was just about to hit it with a broom.
I avoided his eyes as much as possible to avoid showing embarrassment. Honestly, I don’t think I’m okay for that reason, but because it’s me, good is good. The process was a little strange, but in the end, we succeeded in making him our original target, so wouldn’t it be okay?
I have to go report to Hestia later.
–