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A few days had passed since Cloud’s fight with the slave traders. Fortunately, there were almost no after-effects, and he was able to carry out his Adventurer business without problems.

Even Maria wouldn’t be able to do anything about it if he sustained mental scars. There were many Adventurers whose mental scars from grave injuries remained unhealed, making them unable to fight as they used to and eventually retiring.

Maria was currently staying in Cortina’s house while she was absent. This was so she could observe Cloud’s state after his injury.

When I decided to enquire about his state out of worry, she scolded me, saying, “I wouldn’t possibly leave any after-effects now, would I? I get that you are worried about your boyfriend, but stop doubting your mom!”

There seemed to be some misunderstandings which I tried to resolve, but she just laughed off my protests with a meaningful smile. It sounded like she had the wrong idea about our relationship.

Maxwell, Lyell, and Cortina… No, probably even Gaidus, were currently away from the city. Most likely, they headed to investigate the Margrave Serwa of the Stolla domain.

While Maxwell had Teleportation magic, the opponent this time was the dark side of the local nobility. It was impossible to handle the situation in just a few days.

If I was the one leading this mission, I would have Maxwell teleport me around and finish assassinating everyone involved within a day, but Lyell and the rest weren’t like me.

For better or worse, they could only go with the frontal attack. I decided to place my trust in Cortina’s devious schemes.

That day, as usual, I visited Cloud to check on his condition. The World Tree religion, the largest faction in the world, was using part of its church as an orphanage, and there were around ten-odd kids living there now.

The sisters of the church were the ones managing it, but the sight of it forced me to remember the time of my death.

I have been visiting him every day after his injury, but every single time, the sight of the church made shivers run along my spine.

Perhaps this was the work of my death trauma gnawing at my heart.

“Good grief, you don’t have to worry so much. Have some faith in my magic.”

As expected, Maria was misunderstanding my state. She seemed to be thinking that Cloud’s injury was what was making me tremble. I’ve argued about it several times already, so it was too bothersome to correct her at this point.

“That’s not it.”
“Right, right. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Agh, you’re annoying me.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s hurry up.”

We repeated this exchange a bunch of times, too. I had already given up on clearing the misunderstanding, so I decided to just let it go and headed inside the church grounds.

It was still morning, yet I could see children coming out and playing around in the front garden. But the moment they saw me, they stopped whatever they were doing.

On one side, there was me, dressed tidily, inappropriate for an orphanage. On the other, Maria, who was full of youthfulness.

The children couldn’t help but stare at us in wonder. This too was a sight I had already seen several times.

One woman approached us, pushing her way through the kids. She was the sister that operated this church. She had a warm, friendly air around her, just like your average housewife. However, since she was entrusted with running the church in Raum, she must have had quite a high standing.

“Welcome, Lady Maria. Are you here to visit Cloud again?”
“Yes. Is he doing alright?”
“He said that his arm was still a little numb, but he seems to have no problems with movements.”
“So the numbness remains… I have to examine him more carefully then.”
“Please do. There are some circumstances around him, but he is truly a good kid… I am worried for him as well.”
“I understand. Especially because he is—”
“Yes.”

A Half-Demon. Due to that, he was being bullied for no reason. If his arm ended up holding him back, his chances to succeed as an Adventurer would lower. If that happened, his future prospects would turn vague. Even I understood that much.

“Is he feeling down?”
“Not at all. He is desperately swinging his sword to get back into shape as soon as he can. You have nothing to worry about in that regard.”

Even if I called her a sister, she was already near her sixties. The gentle smile of someone of that age being directed at me made me feel relieved in a different way compared to Maria’s.

An older person like her was treating us, who were younger, with respect, so I felt quite obliged.

“He shouldn’t be pushing himself, so I’ll go stop him.”
“That may be true. He might be too eager indeed.”
“Well then, I shall head to the usual room—if you don’t mind, of course.”
“Not at all. That room is for healing injured children, after all.”
“Alright. Nicole, go and bring Cloud there.”
“Okay.”

I left Maria’s side and ran towards the backyard. There were a vegetable garden and such on that side, so it was not a place children visited often.

But when it came to swinging dangerous bladed weapons, it was better to choose a place like that where small children would not come. Cloud was most probably there.

I went around the lodging house, heading towards the yard. There, I saw Cloud swinging his sword in a half-naked state.

“Hey Cloud, good work.”
“Master, you came again?”

Cloud called me by name when we were partying with Michelle and Letina, but when we were alone like this, he called me master. It seemed to be something like a habit that stuck with him.

Not to mention, not calling me by name could get in the way of coordination while in a party.

Cloud was swinging his sword as the sweat dripped down from his skinny and slender—boyish, for the lack of a better word—body. Still, his body was slowly but surely building up some muscle. He might be getting stronger than I was in my previous life.

It was midsummer now, yet he was swinging his sword so passionately he was almost giving off steam.

“Yea, mom’s here too. She told me to bring you to the medical room later.”
“Master, is it me, or do you talk differently when you are in Lady Maria’s presence?”
“Shut it.”

Whenever I was with Maria, I had to keep in mind that I was her daughter, whether I liked it or not. And to play that part, it was necessary to make my tone more childish.

I was using a masculine tone ever since I met Cloud, so he probably found my sudden change weird.

“Still, looks like you are doing fine.”
“There’s still some numbness left, though. Will it go away, I wonder?”
“There’s nothing mom can’t heal.”

You could understand how amazing Maria’s magic was just by the fact that he was able to move his previously severed arm like this. Based on his swings earlier, there didn’t seem to be any serious after-effects worth worrying over.