Chapter 20: Becoming Independent

Dragon Era 965
「Everyoone, it’s morning! Time to wake uuup!」

Clang, clang, clang—the thing being struck was bright red metal: a Hihiirokane frying pan that’s been used for centuries.

「Daddy, Nina-san, it’s lovely weather again today!」
「Mm… morning, Chryse…」

With a swish the curtains were drawn, and I squinted against the dazzling light pouring in.

「Good morning, Daddy.」

Bathed in overflowing morning sun, Chryse smiled brightly.

「Hm… huh? Chryse—」

Yawning as she sluggishly sat up beside me, Nina spoke in a puzzled tone.

「Did you grow?」
「Eh, really!?」

Chryse hopped, dashed to the living room, and came right back with a tape measure in hand.

「Daddy, Daddy, please measure me!」
「Alright, alright. No tiptoeing—won’t be accurate.」

Smoothing her excitement, I marked the pillar at Chryse’s height.

「Oh, you did. About two centimeters taller than last time. Let’s see… one hundred thirty‑three centimeters.」
「Yay! I grew for the first time in ten years, Daddy!」

Chryse bounced up and down, brimming with joy.

「These days that’s about average for a ten‑year‑old.」

Nina stretched. Chryse’s actual age turns sixty this year. Her growth is still erratic, but the trend seems to be slowing year by year.

「I thought maybe I’d stopped growing altogether—」
「Maybe the next time will be a hundred years from now.」

Nina chuckled, and Chryse clutched her head with a grumbly “mumu.”

「Your hair’s gotten pretty pink too.」

Taking a strand of her long hair in hand, I murmured. When she was born it was straight gold, but with each growth spurt the pink has grown stronger and it’s turned into fluffy, wavy hair.

It used to look only faintly pink backlit by the sun; now it’s a clear pink‑blonde even in dim light.

「Then let’s have breakfast! I made grilled fish today—Nina‑san’s favorite!」
「Mm‑hm.」

Chryse hopped and tugged Nina’s hand. Nina, languid as ever, let herself be led.

「Then I’ll go rouse the sleepyheads.」

Smiling at the heart‑warming sight, I headed for the rooms of the remaining residents who never seemed to get up.

「Ah, Daddy—」

Her voice was tossed at my back.

「What is it?」
「They’re probably both already awa—」

The warning came a few seconds too late. By the time I heard it, my hand was already turning the knob, and the contents of the newly added room were laid bare.
Yuuka and Rin—and I—froze as if time itself had stopped.

「…You probably caught them right in the middle of changing.」

With Chryse’s words, a shattering sound rang out.


* * *


「I’m sorry, Sensei… does it still hurt?」
「No, I’m fine. I was the one who didn’t knock.」

I forced a smile for Rin, who looked at me with concern.
A chantless, gestureless water shot can’t be avoided. My stomach, which had taken a direct hit, still throbbed dully, but I acted as if nothing were wrong.

「Daddy, I think you’re a little lacking in delicacy.」
「Yeah, no excuses at all on my part.」

Sounding exasperated, Chryse plopped rice into bowls and handed them to us.

「C’mon, Chry‑chan. I don’t mind at all.」
「I feel like Yuu‑nee should be a little more concerned, though…」

In contrast to Rin, who had screamed and fired a water shot on reflex, Yuuka didn’t bother to hide herself and kept on changing.

「We see each other naked in the bath all the time, don’t we?」
「The last time you bathed with Daddy was thirty years ago!」

Nina munched pickles like she couldn’t care less, and Chryse shouted.

Clang, clang, clang—the bell rang out.

「Huh? Is it that time already?」
「…No, that’s not it.」

I told Rin, who had cocked her head, and stood up with a scrape.

「That’s the bell for a disaster alert.」

Glancing beside me, Yuuka already had her sword at her hip, ready to go. She’d even cleared her dishes. When did she do that?

「Let’s go.」

My own meal was still half‑eaten, but this wasn’t the time. I’d eat my daughter’s cooking later—we burst out of the room.

「…Fire!」

The moment we stepped outside, black smoke was already rising, and both Yuuka and I cried out at once.

「Wait, I’m coming too!」

Rin appeared from behind us and, fwip, turned both hands into wings.

「Flight!」

Clinging to her shoulders, Yuuka and I invoked sorcery. That added thrust, letting us race through the air faster than flying solo.

Among urban disasters, fire is the most terrifying. Hiiro’s buildings are mostly brick and resist flame, but there’s furniture and not everything is wood‑free; flames spread in an instant and can cause many casualties.

And if it’s a spirit disaster, the danger jumps enormously. Will‑bearing fire loves destruction and chaos, and will burn brick and even stone.

「…Not good.」

And it looked to be the worst kind. The flames danced, licking at buildings, hopping and skipping as if at play—that was unmistakably a spirit with a will.

「Yuuka, Rin. I’ll handle that spirit. Can I ask you to manage evacuation and cover?」

There’s one sure way to stop a fire spirit: I turn dragon and swallow it. But no burned, brittle structure can support a body tens of meters long. Buildings would come down spectacularly and debris would scatter—there’d be a massive secondary disaster—but that’s still better than letting a fire spirit run loose.

「Wait, Sensei!」

Rin stopped me as I moved to transform without waiting for an answer.

「There!」

Countless black shadows were racing across our path.

「Those are…!?」

Unafraid of the flames, the shadows plunged into the building, then burst out carrying children under their arms. Noticing this, the fire spirit leapt from the roof and blew flame from its mouth.

But a massive lump of metal stood in the way and blocked the fire. From that metal mass, two hands extended, and, standing up on two legs into a human‑like form, it clamped the fire spirit fast in a giant palm.

Then a shimmering wind of light poured down. As the white‑glittering wind swept through, the flames vanished in an instant, as if a broom had briskly swept away fallen leaves.

「Jack Frost‑chan—」

The radiance gathered into a giant snowman and opened its crescent‑shaped mouth wide—

「Eat up—」

The iron puppet hurled the fire spirit, and the snowman gulped it down with a chomp.

By the time we arrived, everything was already quiet—no glowing embers in sight. The buildings were a bit sooty, but not to the point of collapse.

「You got here fast.」

Her sofa drifted in, and Inis said it in a teasing tone.

「Sensei, Jack‑chan’s amazing, right—」

Hugging Jack Frost, now shrunk to plushie size, Mel beamed.

「Rescue complete! From what I saw, I don’t think there are any serious injuries, but we’re taking people to the hospital just in case.」

With countless shadows in tow, Ara reported with impeccable politeness.

「…Yeah. Good work. We rushed over, but it looks like there wasn’t any need for us to step in.」
「No! This is all thanks to your guidance, Sensei!」

“We’ll go confirm we didn’t miss anything,” Ara said, and they returned to work.

「…That was a surprise.」

Shadow magic that produces doubles.
An iron puppet moved by enchantment.
And the ice spirit Jack Frost.

I know each of those techniques well, and I knew they trained for disasters.
But—for them to handle it this smoothly, with their own strength alone…

「No wonder Chryse is growing up.」

Under her breath, Yuuka murmured it.

A complicated expression was fixed on her face.

「We probably couldn’t have cleaned it up this neatly.」
「Yeah…」

Like happiness, like sadness, like loneliness—something like that—

「Maybe it’s about time this village—no, this country—left my hands.」

She was surely wearing the same look I was now.