The White Girl
My jaw dropped. Before my eyes lies a building so ma.s.sive, it wouldn’t be an understatement to describe it as stretching and expanding.
It’s been less than a week since the duel. Taking advantage of the 2 resting days of the week, I am visiting Chester’s mansion.
Although I am just visiting …. this is quite unexpected.
It’s certainly a mansion, but this mansion possesses a size surpa.s.sing common sense. I grumbled,
「……What bad taste」
「Don’t say that, I was young back then, only seeking extravagant things.」
Even as a joke, it may have been impolite to describe someone’s house as “bad taste”, but it was my honest opinion, so there was no choice.
A mansion of that size must house a considerable amount of rooms.
How many of those rooms are even in use? It’s likely that most of these rooms have not been slept in.
I don’t even intend to mention the road made entirely of gold, but this truly is a waste of money.
One of the precepts of a martial artist is to reduce on excess. Although it’s not something that I will say, such a wasteful expenditure is something I’ll never approve of.
「Maa, don’t bother with the details. Didn’t you often say that your time is limited? Enter, enter.」(TLN: まァ家のこたぁ良いだろう)
While nudging my stumped figure, Chester laughs with that foolish face.
…… Uumu, yet he’s actually a master, this old idiot…… having a grandchild makes even someone like him so mellow, huh?
The image of my previous self cradling a grandchild with a stupid look surfaces in my mind.
…… No. At the very least, I probably won’t turn out like that. Rather, I don’t want to become like that.
My spine froze from the disgust I felt of the image of myself,
I walked down the extensive path to the mansion, albeit reluctantly, and caught sight of a woman standing before the entrance.
She was an impressive lady with hair woven with tea and body dressed in the so-called maid attire.
「We have been expecting you, Chester-sama.」
「Oo, my bad. This kid is quite hesitant. ….. Introducing our head maid, Rinetto.」
「Name’s Rinetto Myuu. Delighted to make your acquaintance, Slava-sama.」
While addressing me, she raises the sides of her skirt and curtsies.
…… She knows my name huh? Who else has Chester been divulging this information to…
To this bad friend with the foolish look, I shot a glare at him and interrogated him.
Even then, Chester doesn’t break his smile and his expression remains nonchalant.
「This one is knowledgeable of everything. But worry not, for I have ordered her to never utter a word, even in death.」
「As it is Chester-sama’s order, it is also mine to obey. This time, my master has imposed upon you and has been under your care. Please accept my sincere apologies for all inconvenience caused. On behalf of my master, I would also like to express my grat.i.tude.」
「Not at all, I’ve been in your care.」
How exactly have I been “caring” for him?
….No, after I was defeated, he even took care of me and prepared food…… this is a failure of my lifetime.
But I don’t intend to remain as the defeated one. Someday, I will recompense him.
I admit to my loss here, but I’ll definitely return this debt. (TLN: 負けを認めはしたが、借りを返さずにいられるほど老成してはおらぬぞ、私はな。)
……Oops. Remembering last week’s loss irks me. Let’s return the favour.
「F***ing old man. …… Rinetto-dono probably slaves for his sake, taking care of that guy must be a burden.」
「I’ve gotten used to it, though I appreciate your concern.」
Speaking from appearance, Rinetto would probably be in her mid 20s in human terms.
At the very least, her appearance speaks of an age similar to that of Alma’s. Inferring her age to be older than my true age, I speak with deference to her.
From the Elven perspective, having ama.s.sed a hundred years is still considered youth ….. In human terms, it would be around 20 years at most.
……. Really, it reminds me once again of this peculiar trait of the race known as the elves.
In this world, races like the Beast people and Majin (魔人) (TLN: warlock/magus) that have been cla.s.sified as humanoids are numerous, but the only race that possesses such longevity is the elves.
To squander such a long life, wastefully pa.s.sing each day would simply be such a waste. Or so I thought, but for someone like Chester to appear (?) …. even I am baffled.
I was of the opinion that Elves were full of riddles. Even after becoming becoming an elf myself, I am still full of doubts.
「Now, the young lady is waiting. She’s probably reaching the limits of her patience soon. Chester-sama, please make haste and show your face.」
「Ou ou, say something more pleasant. Where is Cheryl?」(TLN: 嬉しいこと言ってくれるねぇ)
「The young lady is in her room. Rasuba and Nishura are appeasing her, but we shouldn’t keep her waiting too long. Quickly.」
「Those guys work too hard every time. Let’s get going Slava, lest our princess throws a tantrum.」
「No need to push me. I can walk by myself.」
I will probably come to understand it in time.
Since my previous life, I have become a member of a race which I don’t comprehend.
But I have plenty of time to come to understand it. Yes, so much so that my previous life pales in comparison.
Apparently, this grandchild seems attached to the old man.
Unlike Chester, the unknown grandchild has no fault. Let’s try to repay the senile 「Osufu-chan (Grandpa-chan)」.
I shrugged my body while shaking off the annoying hand on my back and walked ahead of Chester.
「Oh? Finally becoming enthusiastic huh?」
It’s just that I’ve made up my mind.
After returning his question with a sigh, he chortled and led me to the room.
….. But well, he must have a spent quite a sum of money.
As I walked, I caught sight of the numerous eye-piercing vases and paintings with poor taste.
Uneducated in the field of arts, I am unsure of the details. But I have an inkling that I have seen these paintings before, and they are likely all genuine pieces.
He mentioned that he practiced martial arts in order to earn money, but most of that gold seems to be spent on trivial things… Fumu (Hmm), if I had an abundance of money, I wonder how I would use it..
A larger house would be nice, a minimum of equipment, and enough s.p.a.ce for a futon would be ideal.
My hobbies…… nothing that requires money. Now that I think about it, other than training, what other hobbies do I have?
Meals are average, I’ve never had lavish meals. In order to achieve a balanced diet as a master, I tended to avoid meat (TLN: does not imply he is vegetarian, but more of a bias), and declined extravagant meals.
……. Uumu, even after thinking about it, I can’t really think of other ways to spend such an amount of money.
In comparison, I guess I am a lonely old man, huh?
At 12 years old, I have no interests or hobbies other than training. I feel a slight existential crisis.
Other than aiming to be the strongest, I have no desire for other ways to spend my spare time – isn’t this really bad?
Reflecting on how bland I am compared to Chester, I leaked a sigh.
「……. Is it that much trouble? Refrain from doing that in front of my grandchild. Hora (here), we’ve arrived.」
「No it’s not like that, maa, I’ll try my best.」
Chester who caught me sigh guessed at what I was thinking but – somehow noticing my state of defeat, he swallowed his words.
This is different. Yes, there’s only one hobby that can excite me. In order to give an excuse, I stand beside Chester. (TLN: これは違う。そう、ただ一つの趣味に夢中になっているだけなのだ。言い訳するようにして、チェスターに並び立つ。)
In that moment.
An intense killing atmosphere bubbled across my skin. (ED: j.a.panese ¯_(ツ)_/¯)
The sudden appearance of strong magic in the direction of the door strengthened my vigilance.
「Aah, we’re late.」
「Is this your grandchild’s magic?」
「Yeah, it’s only 15 but it’s quite strong it’s quite strong isn’t it?」 (TLN: Genderless)
A strong magic stained with anger without any intention to hold back.
For a 15 year old child, this is too huge. But for those who have acc.u.mulated months and years of magic, it’s too sloppy.
It’s like a torrent of magic power was let loose. My face distorted to form a bitter expression.
I see. Certainly, if she’s only 15, she is br.i.m.m.i.n.g with potential.
Truly, this must have excited Chester. It’s a tide of dense negative feelings. The Shijima Style which emphasized flowing silence never had much problems with having successors, but the prime style that is contingent on the intent to destroy might have problems with succession as few with such apt.i.tude appear often.
Shooting a glance at Chester laughing, a sudden crushing sound reaches my ear. Turning my face to the sound that caught my attention – I saw a door flying towards us.
….. Well well, seems like quite a wild-tempered grandchild.
It’s probably the owner of the room (Chester’s grandchild) who shot the door over here with a light punch.
That’s quite a greeting, or so I was about to complain to the master of the house as I saw in my peripheral, hidden behind the door, a person was flying through the air.
Looking closely, a male and a female flew towards us in a similar fashion.
a.s.sa.s.sins, was what I suspected, but these people appear to have lost consciousness. It’s probably the owner of the room who caused that. I composed myself and primed myself to catch the flying woman.
Clad in a maid uniform was a woman slightly younger than Rinetto. This must have been 「Nishura」 of the 2 mentioned earlier. Then the man must be Rasuba, huh?
While the woman was falling, I looked towards Chester, but noticed that Chester did not catch Rasuba.
Shifting my gaze, I see a well-built man dressed in a tailcoat stuck in the wall having fainted.
「Shouldn’t you have caught him? He’s your servant right?」
「If it was a woman, I would have been happy to do so, but I have no interest in hugging a guy. More importantly…. Ooi, Cheryl! Your osufu-chan(grandpa-chan) has returned!」
How very like Chester……. now that I think about it, has Chester always been like that?
Observing their attire, I deployed healing magic on the butler man and maid woman. They probably won’t return to consciousness, but at least it should fix their wounds. Especially the poor man who was abandoned by his master.
Luckily for them, their wounds were minor. Both seemed to have trained their body well, they’re probably used to it already. Poor things.
After offering a silent prayer to the pitiful servants who were stuck with such a callous master, I took a step into the room following behind Chester.
The master of the room who sent them flying and the grandfather who abandoned the servants. I set foot in the room in which those two were waiting.
…….. The appearance of the room was in a nutsh.e.l.l, odd.
Firstly, the most striking thing would be the colour scene that the girl chose.
Pale pink and white, such colours dominated the wallpaper and furnishings, suiting the tastes of a young girl.
If it was only thus, that would hardly be strange. Given a choice, any girl of this age would certainly design their rooms similarly.
What’s bizarre, is that almost all of the furnishings were destroyed.
A stuff-toy rabbit vivisected in five parts, broken pillars, a bed on a canopy. (ED: Canopy in a room?)
With almost everything in a state of disrepair, counting the number of complete furnishings was an easier task.
This… if I didn’t know that she was alone and that she had a violent personality, I would have a.s.sumed that a fight took place. (ED: Inferred)
Can I really become friends with her? I exhaled deeply while observing the grandfather-grandchild pair embracing in the midst of this tragedy.
Not to worry, my acquaintance with this grandpa and grandchild is merely a temporary and casual gesture. (TLN: なんてことない、これから付き合いの長くなる爺とその孫を視界に収める事を目的としただけの、何気ない仕草。)
….. but I’m troubled. The appearance of the young girl hugging Chester, is unexpected.
Brown, black, red, green were colors often seen in the human world. Elven countries had more gold and silver.
People like Alma who had blue hair did exist, but in the Elf’s land, it was mostly silver and golden hair.
The young girl was white in color.
Not silver, but chalk that has yet to lose its shade.
In the human and elven world, it was not uncommon for the elderly to have white hair.
Yet this young girl has white hair at such a young age, and more than anything, it seems to be chalk. Pure, snow white chalk.
Having set foot in the room, the girl who made Chester grin like an idiot, locked her eyes with mine.
Her eyes were bright crimson cherries redder than fresh blood. (ED: Added cherry for imagery) As I thought, there’s no mistake.
…… I see. That explains the ability to release such magic power.
「Osufu-chan…… who is this kid…..?」 (ED: Cheryl)
I never dreamt of such a horrible scene.
The young girl that gave off a broken impression (?) inquired about my ident.i.ty.
「Nnn? This guy…… Osufu-chan’s friend, the one I said you would be meeting, Slava Marshal…… Allow me to introduce you to Slava. This is my granddaughter, Cheryl Prime. My stupid son married a female majin (ED: Magus/Warlock) and conceived her, a half-elf. Naa, Cheryl. Shake hands as proof of friendship.」
Majin. The magic race was hated and despised, painted as a cruel and brutal race. Their speciality was their blood red eyes seemingly stained with their enemies’ blood, and a pure white that rejects the need for any other colors.
In the past, they weren’t known as the majin, but in order to make them appear less heinous, they were crowned the word 「Magic」 (TLN: 魔). They were inherently a war race.
Having heard Chester’s words, Cheryl’s face splits into a malevolent grin.
…… There’s no mistake. As he mentioned, majin blood flows in her veins.
A fragile impression (?) and a s.a.d.i.s.tic smile that seemed to speak 「Where might you be going?」.
Like a sun (?), a natural albino – the young girl that carried a fake evanescence (?), departed from Chester and walked towards me. (TLN: 陽光などものともせぬ生来のアルビノ──偽りの儚さを持った少女が、チェスターの手から降り、私へと歩み寄ってくる。)
「I…… Cheryl Prime……」
With an appearance no different than mine, the young girl had a bewitching (?) smile unsuited for a 15 year old. (ED: The author has weird diction, or it’s j.a.panese.)
I stretched out my hand to shake hers. She grabbed my hand with an unfathomable force.
I’m unable to sense malice, and this only serves to terrify me. There’s no pain, but the overly friendly greeting brings a sense of alarm.
「Slava Marshall. My regards.」
「Handshake…… too long」
Cheryl’s smile seemed to be mixed with childishness.
Unlike previously, she had a girlish smile.
If you were to grab an untrained kid’s hand with such strength, it would have crippled.
Given her age, I wonder just how much she’ll grow. Chester mentioned that she would eventually exceed him and I was shocked but…… it seems like he’s not just a doting grandfather.
To train my grandchild using my formal rival. (TLN: 我が孫の育成に、かつての好敵手を使うとは剛毅な事よな。)
I may have been too rash in agreeing.
「Osufu-chan…… I want to play with Slava-chan…… if it’s this kid, he probably won’t break.」 (TLN: Ooohhhh s.h.i.t) (ED: Hajime!)
「Ouou, it’s fine to use your full strength. Slava won’t mind right?」
Chester paid no heed to his grandchild’s dangerous words.
…… Now that I think about it, I may have forgotten that this guy used to be the manager of the underground martial arts world.
This is bad, the underground world is ……
「Don’t worry about it and come.」
Well, it’s true that I’m eager to clash fists with the genius whom Chester recognizes.
There’s no way I will lose, and seeing a person who possesses talent is not something I dislike.
Also, someone like Chester is around so it should be fine but……
「Fufu, hahahah….! Slava-kun, yoroshiku…..?」(TL: Yoroshiku means something along the lines of “Please take care of me”.)
Wielding polished martial arts but lacking a foe of equal standing, is a lonely thing.
With this amount of latent magic, no one of our age can probably compare.
Unfortunately, I don’t intend to lose on purpose, or produce a “close match” – it won’t achieve my goal.
Similar to the atmosphere felt previously, I sensed her excited agitation. It’s said that children are innocent, rather than killing intent, it’s more of an aggressive feeling.
Standing behind the smiling, sparkling eyes Cheryl, stood a satisfied Chester with folded arms.
Really, old man. You’ve attracted some interesting people.
I revealed a slight smile pondering the future growth of this young sapling.
「Just now, I came so…… hurry up and come….?」 (TLN: 先、行ってるから……早く来てね……？ I think she’s just high) (ED: not to be taken out of context)
Without any mention of her destination, Cheryl flew out of the room.
This is my first time in the mansion, so I’ve no idea where to head to. If I ask this old man, he’ll probably have an idea, maii (TLN: whatever).
However, before I could speak a word.
「Discipline her properly, Chester…… If you pamper her too much, she won’t be able to mature. Also, what’s with the appearance of this room? Shouldn’t you be scolding her for her tantrums?」
I have no inkling about her upbringing but the devastating state of the room is simply abnormal.
There’s no reason to hit the servants because Chester was late.
It unintentionally became a sermon, but what must be done must be done.
「Those words are painfully true…… You……. occasionally, you’re even more of an old man that me aren’t you?」
「That’s only because what I’m saying is obvious. In fact, if it doesn’t, I’ll be troubled.」
My sermon was interrupted and continued by Rinetto.
(ED: I’m as disappointed as you are.)