Chapter 38 Part 4 – Mother’s willpower is an arrow of lightning and her love is my tears. In the midst of despair, where there is nothing I can do but pray, a flying white horse descends along with the moonlight

No!! I don’t want to say goodbye like this!!
I can’t accept it!! Such a cruel ending!!
Please, God, save my mother who loves me so much!!
I don’t need a knowledge cheat!
I don’t mind even if you turn me into a normal baby!!
I don’t need the power of miracles!!
In exchange, please save my mother!!
If you’re going to grant me a miracle, please make it happen right here, right now!!
Don’t take my mother away from me!!
We’ve just vowed to work hard as mother and daughter beginners!!
We haven’t started anything yet!!
I want to live with my mother…!

Suddenly, the dark clouds drifted away and the moon shone brightly across the sky and the surface of the pond.
A white wind blew past me with a whoosh.
I was stunned.

「…A mother’s love for her child is a healing light. The foolish beast that tramples on that light deserves to be terrorized. From here on out, I’ll be your opponent.」

A deep, resonant male voice suddenly came down from the sky.
A pure white horse descended from the sky.
For a moment, I wondered if God had granted my wish and sent an envoy.
I thought I saw wings sprouting from the white horse.
When I looked closely, I found that the flickering moonlight looked like white feathers dancing in the night.
The white horse had just jumped down from the top of the collapsed cliff.
The exceptionally light jump gave off an illusion that the horse was flying.

A young noble wearing a crimson frock coat was riding on the white horse.
The short front length and the fluttering crimson tails of his coat sliced through the night.
He reminded me of a flying swallow covered in flames.
The white trousers and horse shone in the night.
The pure white cravat around his neck flowed like a cloth covering a secret ceremony.
On his left, he wore a jet-black leather breastplate.
The scene was too fantastic to be real and we just dumbfoundedly stared at the sight of his appearance.
The young noble gently smiled at mother from midair.

「Your dignity, your courage, your beauty, you are truly the goddess of the moon. In that case, as a servant of the goddess, I shall become the sword that protects you. …In this reunion of ours, my attack shall be accompanied by the moonlight!!」

Both of his hands tightly grasped a long, cylindrical weapon and connected the overhead moon, white horse, and demon dog Gallam in a diagonal straight line.
It looked like a stunning picture with a well-arranged layout.
The young noble in crimson clothes had an eccentric presence.
Even in a composition of a thousand people, his whereabouts were obvious, reminiscent of the central figure in a painting.
In addition, it was also like a religious painting with vivid colors made with tempera.
「Take this!! Man and Horse as One!! One of the mounted combat techniques!!」

The rod he wielded was as long as a pike used by ground infantry against cavalry.
It resembled a long staff with a sharp tip, but both ends were covered with metal and the middle part of the rod was reinforced with a metal ring.

Although it looked like a slow downward swing, an indescribable sound of wind being sliced reached us.
It reminded me of the way a large waterfall looks like a gentle mist spray from a distance.
The demon dog Gallam welcomed the attack with its neck raised, afterwards its fangs and weapons collided against the attack and caused heavy reverberating sounds and sparks to fly around.
The demon dog Gallam stiffened.
As a reaction to the collision, the white horse and the young noble were lightly pushed back into the air.
The scene reminded me of an elegant moonlit night dance.
In contrast, the huge body of the demon dog Gallam leaned heavily against the dark ground.
The unsinkable monster, which had been unfazed by mother’s special move, the「Thunder Crawl」, had actually lost its balance with just a single attack. Our eyes went wide at the unbelievable sight.

W-what’s going on!?

「First, I’ll take one of your fangs as punishment for baring your fangs at my Cornelia. Then, get down on your knees and lick the ground. Apologize to her…just like this!」

As if it had been electrocuted, the taken-aback demon dog Gallam was slammed into the ground by a second attack from the air.
The white horse and young noble lightly landed on a position where they could protect my stunned mother.
The wind rumbled near my ears and I heard a strange noise on the side of the boat and something stuck out.

「Owaaa!?」

It was the fang of a huge beast that had snapped off as it spun.
I was astonished.
This is because I understood that the young noble in crimson clothes broke the fang of the demon dog Gallam just like what he said.
That fang had been blown over to this distance.

「…Don’t think that you’ll die comfortably. I’m going to make you cough up blood until you make amends for tormenting Cornelia and taking the lives of Grandpa Brian and the others. Then I’ll crush your eyes or tear off your ears…. Guess I’ll start with your paws!!」

This time, the young noble repeatedly poked the scar in Gallam’s wounded paw with a rod to gouge it out.
A blunt, quivering sound rang and the demon dog Garm got up, strengthened itself, and staggered backwards, as if struck by lightning.

Who exactly is this person that could beat the invincible demon dog Gallam in such a one-sided manner!?
I’ve never met such a person in my「previous 108 lives」!?

While we blinked because we couldn’t keep up with the unexpected intrusion and the sudden turn of events, the man on the horse reached out with one hand and hugged my stunned mother around the waist. He smiled gently and whispered close to her ear.

「Cornelia, my love. Are you hurt? Don’t look so surprised and please smile. Or perhaps you are truly the goddess of the moon and I have misunderstood you?」

M-my love!?
This handsome man, whom I don’t know, just referred to my mother, as his love!?
I was taken aback and looked away.
Mother, did you have an affair!?
Is he perhaps mother’s affair partner!?

「Dear… you came…」

Mother’s lips trembled and tears welled up in her eyes.

「I’ll rush from the depths of hell for you. I’m sorry I’m late. You’ve done well.」

The young noble nodded and gently stroked mother’s hair.

Ahhh, you can’t stare at each other with such tear-filled eyes!!

Feeling anxious, I flailed in Mary’s arms.
Mother smiled bitterly.

「I had no idea you could fly in on a white horse… You always have to surprise me with your fairytale-like entrance, don’t you? Wendell.」

Stop ittt!! His name is also Wendell!? Of all things, he just had to have the same name as my father!!!
………Eh? What?

I tilted my head. When I look closely, this young noble’s hair and eyes are red.
Even in my「previous 108 lives」, there was only one person with those features that matched mine.
Well, most of his hair had been replaced with gray hair.
I tried to make the person in my memory much younger in my imagination.
10 years… 15 years… 25 years…!!
When I turned the hands of the clock backwards till that point, the puzzle in my mind clicked into place.

「Young miss!! He’s the Duke!! Your father is here!!」

Mary hugged me and squealed with joy at the same time as I arrived at the surprising answer.

「Owaowaaa!?」

What did you just say!! That guy is my father!?
That father who always either has a sullen or sour expression on his face!? That father who only spoke the bare minimum amount of words and the young noble that acted like rose petals are scattered around him are the same person!?
What!! The difference in before and after is just like a fraudulent advertisement!!
Far from being an Unwanted Duke, he’s really a Crimson Duke!!

Despite my surprise, my father(!?) whispered passionately to my mother.

「My wife, my beloved Cornelia, who makes my heart flutter even more than the goddess of the moon. Tonight you are even more lovely than usual in the light of the moon. I had prepared many greetings for our first meeting in a long time, but all of them were meaningless in front of this throbbing heart. There are only two sentences that I’d like to say. For me, you are a goddess worthy of my whole life. And I love you forever.」

「I love you too… Wendell…」

With earlobes dyed in red, mother responded enchantedly.
My father(!?) nodded in satisfaction.

「I’ve been dreaming about this moment for a long time. On the way here, I couldn’t stop trembling as I imagined that you would disappear. I’m afraid you’ll turn into an illusion and disappear. Let me hug you with all my might for around three days and three nights… Let’s start with a kiss…」

Unknown to others, I’m breaking out in goosebumps because of their intense and passionate love.
Staying beside Mary, who was excited and bounced around, I felt like scratching my body.

Um, Mary, the boat is going to capsize. Stop jumping……