The first ray of morning light streamed through the window, and the soft, spacious bed thoroughly trounced all the rough living of the past stretch of days—making one want to linger just a little while longer, and then a little while more~
The peaceful, settled life she'd missed for so long had finally returned.
"Lady Nanoda!"
Bang! The door was shoved open by an excited young girl, who came striding in with light, sprightly steps.
Well, things might get a little busy from now on.
"Let me do your hair today!"
"Haah~ just comb it straight and that'll do. There's no need to bother with such a trifling little thing—"
Hair in a disheveled mess, Nanoda pushed herself upright on the bed. Her disciple was as brimming with energy as ever.
"No! This is a disciple showing devotion to her master. Lady Nanoda, you not only saved me, you also taught me your precious magic—I simply must repay you somehow. And besides, you've been away for so many years, I never once got the chance..."
Yuna spoke with such impeccable reasoning that, by the end of it, even Nanoda herself felt a touch embarrassed.
She had only taught her a single spell, helped her with a bit of physical training when there was time, told her the occasional bedtime story when she was small, and gone out together on a few journeys of training and experience once she'd grown up.
Compared to Frieren, perhaps she wasn't all that competent a master.
No, that didn't seem quite right either—wasn't it Fern who had been looking after Frieren since childhood?
By that measure, she'd taken pretty good care of Yuna! Frieren was just better at teaching magic than she was!
"All right, all right, then I'll gladly accept."
Knowing there'd be no going back to sleep, Nanoda padded across the floor over to the little table that served as a vanity—one without a mirror, its surface so bare it held only a single wooden comb.
"Here, a mirror. Lord Aaron was right—Lady Nanoda is always far too careless about these things."
Having come prepared, Yuna smiled as she handed Nanoda a hand mirror.
Deftly, she pulled that head of white hair back, first combing it smooth with the wooden comb, then setting to work braiding it up.
After a little while, Nanoda narrowed her eyes and said, "Sorry, Yuna—I made you worry."
"Mm." Yuna shook her head. "Lady Nanoda must have been through all sorts of troublesome things too. I always believed you'd surely come back. So, Lady Nanoda, you've worked hard as well—there's no need to apologize."
"Next time I come to braid your hair, remember to tell me everything that happened during all this time, okay?"
"Mm, I will." Nanoda smiled, gratified. Her disciple had not only grown up, she was thoughtful too.
She lifted the hand mirror Yuna had given her and glanced into it. Beneath Yuna's billowing locks was her own hair.
"Hmm? Braids? Why two braids?"
There was something rather innocent about the look of it.
"Well? Looks nice, doesn't it? This was my favorite hairstyle back in the day."
With a single braid coiled over her shoulder, Yuna gave a mischievous little chuckle. That slightly playful air was somewhat different from before, radiating a kind of intellectual charm.
At that very same moment, within the Gaderia Lord's Manor, another miraculous reunion was unfolding.
"I knew this place sounded familiar—so it really was you."
The office door was kicked open roughly, and like a stray dog that had caught a scent, Hend came striding in.
"Yo, Aaron."
The nearly middle-aged man flicked back his hair and tossed off a roguish wave of greeting.
Then came a snort of barely-suppressed laughter.
"Pfft—where'd your hair go? Why's it looking so shiny?"
The face was still that same familiar one, only now the morning sunlight was reflecting fiercely off the top of his head.
Aaron recognized the newcomer without even looking up, a vein popping out on his bald, gleaming scalp. Here we go again—it had been a long while since anyone else had ribbed him like this.
"You really do love your coffee, huh. Got any booze? I want a drink."
Before Aaron could even reply, Hend latched onto him like a sticky plaster you can't peel off.
"Just who the hell brought a mad dog like you here?"
His tone was all but grinding his teeth.
"Our great Lady Aura, of course. And—how do you have the nerve to talk about me, you, uh, bandit Hero?"
As though trying to needle his opponent, Hend deliberately dredged up a bit of old, unsavory history. He sat down in a chair near the desk and propped both legs straight up onto it.
"...I only found out recently myself—the Kinton territory's fallen. So now you're a stray dog too, huh? Planning to work under me again?"
Aaron's reply caught Hend off guard.
"Aaron, you've changed. Where's the Aaron who used to grab a blade and come at me to chop me down the second he got angry?"
"Back then we were both still young. Now I've inherited this territory—if it really came to blows, I probably couldn't out-fight you anyway. Still, after all this time, your personality really hasn't changed one bit, has it?"
As if deciding it wasn't worth getting angry over, Aaron loosened the hand resting on the sword hilt propped beside his chair.
"If you could've been this patient back in the day, maybe you'd still be my good big brother." Hend laughed out loud. "So—I'm counting on you to take me in once again."
"Honestly. Getting old has made you sentimental. I really should've given you a good slice just now, you thick-skinned bastard."
"Hahaha, true enough, we're both getting on in years."
The stray dog rubbed the scar on his face, musing over who-knows-what. After a long while, he asked again, "You got any booze around here?"
Schwing! That was the sound of a fine sword being drawn from its sheath.
With two braids perched atop her head, Nanoda couldn't quite shake a feeling of unfamiliarity—especially with Yuna the way she was right now.
"Um... why are you staring at me?"
"Mm, mm, you really haven't changed at all, Lady Nanoda—still exactly the same as before. Ah, I mean in appearance!"
"To confirm my appearance, why do you have to keep feeling around on my body?"
That restless little hand had already crept to her stomach—it was a bit ticklish.
"Heh heh..."
A faint blush flashed across her cheeks, and Yuna drew both hands back.
"It's just... I'm a little envious. The way you never grow up, Lady Nanoda—you get to stay a young girl forever..."
She pursed her lips a little, holding up her two index fingers and comparing them.
"It's you, Yuna—you've become even prettier than before... and your figure too... it's filled out more!"
Nanoda gave a thumbs-up with a perfectly straight face, but what she'd said was truly heartfelt.
"R-really?!" Hearing such praise, Yuna excitedly cupped her flushed, rosy cheeks, a pair of emerald-green eyes sparkling with light.
Just then, another person suddenly appeared outside the door.
"Mother... let's go eat at the lord's manor..."
Jane poked half her head into view, peeking into the room with feigned bashfulness.
"Why? Isn't Aura back? There's someone to cook now, isn't there?"
"But... Big Sister Linie is back too, and she's the one cooking right now..."
Jane blinked a couple of times, putting on a distressed expression.
"Yuna, I think for breakfast today we'd better go eat over at the lord's manor."
____
👻🔥+40 ch on Pátreon: Walnut-chan🔥👻
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📚 Forty chapters of advanced reading at Walnut-chan, and it goes straight into keeping the translations on schedule
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