Chapter 27: Axe’s Worst Day (1)

The center of Hydrangea is the heart of politics.
Not only are the nobles’ villas gathered there, but many administrative facilities as well.
And among them stands out a large, round building—

The Hydrangea Grand Hall.

“The main attraction’s the coliseum. Then there are large, medium, and small theaters, conference halls of various sizes, restaurants, shops, and even lodging. It’s a full-blown complex.”

“There’s so much packed in, huh.”

“Feels like they overdid it.”

“Like a stew pot, kinda.”

“…That’s one way to put it.”

Well, it was a clear analogy.
We were walking through the outer terrace on the second floor—rows of temple-like pillars stood evenly spaced, the view from there was breathtaking.

“The letter said to go this way…”

Someone was coming toward us from ahead—a petite elven woman.
Long green hair, large amber eyes, and long, pointed ears.
Her features were beautiful in that distinctly elven way.

Elves, without exception, tend to have refined faces, but even among them, there are degrees of beauty.
By that measure, she would easily fall into the cute category.

And of course, elves’ appearances rarely match their actual age.
Judging by looks alone, she could have been in her late teens or early twenties.

The moment she appeared, both Axe and Mineha shouted—

“Mom!”
“Master!?”

Wait, what!?

The woman smiled brightly, waved at them, and walked closer.
We all froze on the spot at the sight of her.
But she didn’t seem to mind and cheerfully said—

“It’s been a while, Axe, Mineha.”
“Y-yeah…”
“It’s been a long time, Master…”
“And these must be Axe’s friends?”
“Y-yeah.”
“I’m Rell.”
“Name’s Hoss, ‘s’up.”
“I’m Emi, Axe’s mother—and Mineha’s mentor. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“D’be, nice t’meet ya.”

We greeted her politely, but… wait a second.

Axe’s face went pale with shock, sweating heavily as he stammered out—

“M-Mom… that belly… what’s going on…?”

Emi blushed a little, smiled shyly, and said softly—

“I’m pregnant.”

Her stomach was visibly rounded—not in a way that looked like weight gain, but clearly the swelling of pregnancy.

“Eh? Wha—what!?”

“Uh… congratulations…?”

“Ehehe, thank you.”

“C-congratulations.”

“Congrats, I guess.”

“Thank you.”

Emi looked bashful yet genuinely happy.
I turned to Axe—his face was frozen in disbelief. Can’t blame him.

“Wh-what… what the hell is going on, Mom!?”

“What do you mean? I got pregnant.”

“Th-that’s not what I meant! How!?”

“Well… that’s just how it happened…”

Axe. No. That’s not the right question.

“Wh-what do we do, Rell? Master’s pregnant!”

“Ah… yes, it seems so.”

Even Mineha was completely panicking.

“H-how could this be!? Maybe I should have Wof’s baby too!?”
“Calm down, you maniac. You’re saying something insane right now.”
“How many of Wof’s kids should I have!?”
“Calm down! I get that you’re overwhelmed, but what you’re saying is really dangerous!”

Okay, wait—Mineha’s been living with Wof, but I didn’t think it was that kind of living together!?

“She’s ten, and Wof’s thirteen… is that even… possible?”
“Lell, stop and breathe, ‘kay?”
“Ah, y-yeah. My bad.”

What am I even thinking right now…

Meanwhile, Axe was shouting at his mother—

“What the hell, Mom!? What’s going on!? Suddenly pregnant out of nowhere!?”

“P-please calm down, I’ll explain everything.”

“You ignored all my letters for months—what were you even doing!?”

“I’ll explain that too.”

“I was finally ready to face you, to talk to you properly—and then you show up like this!?”

“Axe…”

“And now you go and have a kid with some guy I don’t even know!?”

“I-it’s not like that, please, just listen to me.”

“How could I even listen right now!? Rell, Hoss—we’re leaving.”

“Axe!?”

“Oi.”

“You sure ‘bout that?”

“I don’t care anymore. I’m done. I’m never seeing her again.”

Axe turned on his heel and started walking away.

We had no choice but to follow. There was no getting through to him right now.

And then—

“Wait, Axe.”

A voice called out.

Standing beside the trembling, downcast Emi was a young man none of us recognized.
And the moment I looked at him, I felt something strange.

He had flaxen hair and light brown eyes.
Small white horns grew from his head—he was a faun.
He looked to be in his twenties, of average build.

“Huh? Who the hell are you?”
“Ence. Ens Hylant.”
“You’re the…”

Ens—the explorer who was set to be promoted this time.
But still, what is this strange feeling…?

And then Emi spoke in a weak, trembling voice—

“Your Father.”

“…What?”

“That’s right. He’s your father.”

“Yeah, right. I don’t care anymore. Go live your happy life with your new family.”

“No—you’re misunderstanding. I mean your father.”

“I said go be happy with your new husband!”

“That’s not it! Listen to me! He’s your real father!”

“…Hah?”

And suddenly—it all made sense.
Now that she said it, the resemblance was unmistakable.

The man, Ens—he really did look a lot like Axe.

With a pained, conflicted expression, Ens spoke.

“Axe.”

“W-What do you mean? My old man’s dead.”

“Yes, that’s true. Twenty-three years ago, he went missing in a dungeon and never came back. That’s a fact. But… a few months ago, when I went to visit the grave, I found him. Your father—and his party—frozen deep within the dungeon.”

“Frozen solid?”

“Yes. Somehow, we managed to thaw them. And when we did… they were alive. There were complications afterward, but in the end, he survived—and now, we’re together again.”

“…No way.”

“Master… you mean, he’s really—?”

“Yes. Axe’s real father.”

“Wow, that’s… crazy.”

“That kind of thing actually happens?”

“Master, even if that’s true… you still got pregnant?”

Mineha looked both exasperated and furious.

“That’s because… I just couldn’t stop myself… I just couldn’t…”

“Well, can’t really blame her, huh.”

“Yeah, guess not.”

A husband and wife reunited after more than twenty years apart—
If that reunion led to another child, who could really fault them?

“I don’t care.”

“Axe,” 

Ens said quietly. 

“Emi wanted to terminate the pregnancy the moment she found out.”

“…So what?”

“She said she couldn’t face you. That she didn’t deserve forgiveness. But I stopped her.”

“You?”

“Yes. Ending the pregnancy would have hurt you even more.”

“The hell are you talking about?”

Axe glared at him, fury radiating off him like heat.

Mineha spoke up next.

“Master… why didn’t you reply to any of our letters? If you’d just written a single line explaining, we could have understood. To be honest, it’s hard to accept this.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t go home because of everything happening with Ens and the others. I stopped by before coming here and handed over the letters I’d been keeping. So… it’s not like I was hiding my husband or the pregnancy on purpose. There were circumstances.”

“I see…”

“So you’re saying that makes it all okay?”

Axe’s voice rumbled low with anger.

“No. I’m not saying that.”

“Hey, Ens.”

“…What is it?”

“That contract thing of yours—the Follower’s Oath or whatever. I’m not doing it.”

“Understood.”

“Good. Now let me punch you once!”

Axe swung a heavy punch straight at Ens—but Ens caught it easily.
Even with all of Axe’s strength behind it, his fist was stopped dead in its tracks.

“Axe. Hitting me once won’t make you feel any better, will it?”

“You bastard…”

Axe looked ready to draw his sword at any second, but Ens didn’t even flinch.

“My love…?” 

Emi said softly.

“There’s going to be an exhibition match during the ‘Great of Rounds tournament,” 

Ens said calmly. 

“Why don’t we settle this there—with a proper father-son duel?”

“Fine by me. I’ll take you down. But don’t call it a father-son anything.”

Axe lowered his fist and stepped back.
Hoss and I both sighed.

A little ways away, Mineha and Emi were speaking privately.
Master and disciple—of course they had things to say.

“Mineha.”

“Yes, Master?”

“Do you… despise me now?”

“I think you were reckless.”

“…That’s fair.”

“But I also kind of understand. Still, that doesn’t mean I can accept it. Even so, I won’t stop being your disciple. But Axe… I’m not sure about him.”

“Yes… I know.”

“He tried to reach out to you, you know?”

“Yes. I read his letter.”

“But after all this… are you really okay with how it turned out?”

“Mineha. Even if I’ve become the worst kind of mother—disowned, hated, despised—
even if he never wants to see me again… I’ll always love him. I’ll always be his mother.”

“…Master. I won’t tell him any of this. Not a word.”

“That’s fine. Thank you. And… I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. And Master—congratulations on your pregnancy.”

“Thank you.”

“Oi, Mineha—we’re going.”

“Coming. …Goodbye, Master.”

“Yes. Goodbye.”

And with that, we left—parting ways with Mineha along the way, returning to our hideout.
The mood was… indescribable. I just wanted a drink.

Axe, apparently, felt the same way.

We left the hideout almost immediately and headed to the Cidre Tavern.
If that place was full, we’d find another.

We just needed to drink—
drink, and drink, and drink some more.

When I finally got home later, I was completely exhausted.
Stepping inside was the first time I’d felt relief all day.

“Na?”

“Ah, you’re here.”

“Na!”

Dagaa ran up to me, and I hugged her.
Soft, fluffy, comforting warmth.

Instead of heading up to the tower, I walked straight to Wof’s room.

Lately, I’ve really come to like this place.
Even though it’s small.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been making breakfast here a lot.

Wof wasn’t around—probably in the lab, eating somewhere, or at the witch’s house.

“Convenient as it’s gotten, though…”

It is nice having the bath at the witch’s house connected through the teleport gate.
Still, I don’t actually mind washing up right in front of Wof’s room either.

“Alright, Dagaa. Let’s go take a bath.”
“Na!”

We went through the teleport gate to the witch’s house.
On the way to the bath, we ran into the witch herself.

“Oh my, Mineha. Going for a bath, are we?”
“Yeah. Something really exhausting happened today.”
“Oh? And what might that be?”
“My master told me she’s pregnant… and that Axe’s father is still alive.”

The witch gave a faint, wry smile.
Just from that, I could tell—of course she already knew.

“So, so? What happened next?”
“It got messy. Axe almost cut ties with her for good, and now he and his father are going to fight in an exhibition match.”
“Well, well. At least the worst outcome was avoided.”
“Was it, though? …Hey, what did you think when you first found out?”
“Hmmm. First, I thought ‘congratulations,’ of course.”
“Yeah.”
“And then I thought, ‘how reckless.’ Like you, I figured this time she’d really gone and done it.”
“My master said she was ready for the consequences.”
“Well, she’d better be. Emi isn’t exactly what you’d call a good mother. It’s unfortunate, but that’s just the truth. No doubt she loves Axe as her son—that’s real. And she is a talented explorer. If things hadn’t gone wrong back then, she would’ve been First-Class for sure. But as a mother, she wasn’t good.”
“You’re right. It’s true she ran away instead of facing her son.”

When my master said she’d accepted everything, that she’d never stop loving him, that she’d never forget—
I wanted to slap her. Hard.

Honestly, it’s amazing I held back. Instead, I just glared at her, and I think she understood.

The witch wagged her tail and folded her arms.

“My, my. How harsh you are.”
“Well, someone has to say it. She’s my benefactor, I respect her, but because I respect her, I want to say it. Why? Why did she have to go and get pregnant?”
“Well now, Emi’s been suffering too, you know. If the husband she loved most suddenly reappeared alive, she wouldn’t have had time to think straight.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“Both, both, of course.”

The witch laughed.
Honestly—this woman. I couldn’t help but smile wryly.

“Hey, Witch. Changing the subject.”
“Yes yes, what is it?”
“I’ve been sleeping in Wof’s bed.”

The witch froze. Her reaction was priceless—she started stammering and flailing.

“Th-th-th-th-th—that, that, what do you mean by that!?”

“Exactly what I said. Anyway, I’m going to borrow the bath.”

I ignored whatever she kept shouting behind me.
And for a moment, I felt a little better.

But emotionally, I was still unsettled—foggy, irritated, restless.
After bathing, I didn’t even dry off properly. I just wrapped myself in a towel, threw myself onto Wof’s bed, and burrowed in.

“Pregnancy… giving birth… someone you love…”

Ugh, seriously! Ugh! Ahhh, I can’t stand this!!

I should’ve slapped that woman’s smug, blissful face when I had the chance!
I really should’ve!!

So annoying. I’m going to sleep.