Chapter 42 Part 5 – Reinforcements. When the souls of the living and the dead intersect. Farewell …… and ……

The three old warriors looked into each other’s eyes, choked on their words, and their noses turned bright red.
‘….. Young lady ……!!’

Tears streamed down their bearded cheeks.
They cried and looked up to the sky for a while.
Bradd’s maid uniform fluttered in the wind as he stood with his back against the morning sun.
All three of them stared and gnashed their teeth at Bradd.
Then their gazes met and all of them burst into laughter.

‘…. We’ve been had!! He played dumb and cleverly tricked us!!’

‘What a shame!! And how reliable he is. I never thought a little boy wearing a maid’s skirt like him could cause such a blow that could bring tears to my eyes.’

‘….. The young lady deeply reminds us of the late duke, but when she says things like this, she reminds me of the young lord when he was a little boy. I remember how much he used to miss us. I remember it so well as if it were only yesterday …… young lord.’

‘That little boy Matzo has also grown up big, even overtaking us.’

The three of them squinted happily as they looked at my father pulling his horse up close to the small boat and at Matzo, who had swam to the boat.

‘The members of the Imperial Guards that we raised by beating them up have also grown up. They were just frail saplings back then …. but the young trees have gotten stronger and stronger, and in no time they have become big trees. There is no better gift for those of us who have no children and will now depart on our own journey ….. than seeing the growth of everyone we have worked on.’

The white-bearded Brian glanced at the mounted imperial guards gathering around the small boat and grinned widely.
A sniffled sound came from behind his stern-looking beard.
The three old warriors slowly fade away with a happy smile on their faces.

「….. Scarlet, can you do something about it? After all everyone here knows these three old men right …..」

Bradd quietly whispered to me.
I also understood Bradd’s feelings.

Somehow, I would like to show the old warriors to my father, Matzo, and the rest of the Imperial Guards, so that they can say their farewells face to face ……..

As if in response to our wish, the ruby on my chest shone brightly.
It was so bright that it even pushed away the morning sun’s rays, dazzling the eyes of everyone gathered around the small boat.

「…… Ugh ….」

「…. What’s going on ….!?」

The shine was so bright that even my father and Matzo, who had fought in past battles, involuntarily shielded their eyes with their arms.
Only me, Mary, Bradd, and Seraphy were unaffected.
A flame rose with unprecedented strength.
In that flame, I caught a glimpse of the warriors of the Light Bat Tribe who had served the True Emperor.
They were smiling.
As fellow warriors, they resonated with the souls of the three old warriors.
I realized that they had fulfilled my wish.

「….. Thank you. Light Bat Tribe ……」

At my whispered gratitude, they nodded then turned into flames again and disappeared as one.
The flame moved away from my body.
The Ruby of God’s Eye lost its light as it went to sleep.
The eye in the ruby became dazed and half-closed again.
The illusion of my adult form faded away and I turned back to a newborn.

「….. You did really great ….」

Bradd picked me up from the bottom of the boat.
Mary took me, hugged me tightly, and rubbed her cheek on mine.

「….. The adult young lady was beautiful and dignified, but I feel more comfortable with this young lady. Thank you for letting me meet Joshua ……」

The flame swirled and scattered like crystals.
It fell like snow and delivered the memories and feelings of the white-bearded Brian, the brown-bearded Bill, and the black-bearded Bobby to everyone here.

A magnificent mansion can be seen beyond the snow-covered hills.
The three warriors were training my young father in the middle of the snow.
For my father, who grew up without the love of his parents, these three men, who had been his great-grandfather’s close aides, were like his foster parents.

Like me, father was born with the red eyes of the True Emperor and due to that my Vygod grandparents tried to use him politically and caused a commotion, which brilliantly ended up in failure. The details of that incident will be described later on.

After their plot ended in failure, they were expelled from the Parliament and were struck by my great-grandfather’s thunderous fury, so my Vygod grandparents took their frustration out on my father and began to ostracize him. Unlike them, the talented father was loved by great-grandfather and perhaps they had some jealousy toward him.

The father, who was loved only by his younger brothers and was treated coldly by his parents, always looked lonely at the main house where the smoke of the fireplace rose. Even at a family-friendly supper, the father in the villa was never called and was always alone.
His younger brothers were the ones loved by his parents. Meanwhile father was treated coldly and could only gaze at the main residence with smoke rising from the fireplace with a lonely expression. Even during a family dinner, father stayed alone in the detached residence and was never invited to it.

Suddenly abandoned by his family, father was unable to adapt to the drastic change in his environment and became a child with very little expression.
Which made him look unconcerned about it all, and this angered my grandparents even more.
They even cursed him as an emotionless monster.

The white-bearded Brian who was at his prime covered my young father with his cloak and smiled at him.
That cloak also served as bedding on the battlefield and the warmth was guaranteed.
Still, even from a long time ago, he always had a white beard huh ……

「….. Young lord. Even if you don’t have a family fire here, all warriors have a flame in their chests. Keep yourself warm with it. And if I am not enough to keep you warm, there are two other close friends of mine waiting for their turn.」

The brown-bearded Bill and the black-bearded Bobby waved their cloaks and strike 「cool」 poses with shields and scythes.
Because they knew that the young father would be happy to see them do so.

Eh, although father is clapping his hands expressionlessly, is he really happy to see them do that?….
It’s hard for me to tell, but it seems that the three warriors can clearly see the slight changes in my father’s facial expressions.
To them it seemed that father was in a good mood that day and laughed a lot.
I really can’t tell……..
Then the three warriors quickly took out their mugs, poured some sake, shouted a toast to the young lord’s smile, and downed the contents in one gulp.

「We are drinking alcohol to make the flames of the warriors in our hearts burn even more and to share that fire with you.」

「A warrior does not need words. He speaks with his attitude and his drinks. I look forward to the day when you will become a warrior and we will drink together.」

The young father, who had a blank expression as he looked up at them, suddenly jumped out of the cloak, striking a 「cool」 warrior pose in imitation of the two men.
He strikes a warrior’s pose to show that he is already a warrior.

「How promising!! That’s the spirit!!」

The cheerful voices of the three warriors echoed across the snowfield as they laughed and rolled around.
The three warriors had spent their entire lives fighting and had no children.
That’s why they thought of my father as if he were their own son and they loved his natural talent more than anyone else.