Selene's lifestyle of traveling between the royal palace and the «Empty Wilderness» every alternate day began, and so the rhythm of our lifestyle became abnormal as well.
Although we decided that Selene would stay on each side for half of the week, a week has 7 days.
So Teto asked Selene what she wanted to do while the King and I were busy glaring at each other, with sparks scattering, to decide where she would spend her 7th day.
"Majou-sama, it seems like Selene wants to continue helping out in the church."
"Voluntary service in the church's clinic huh...... I see, it can't be helped then."
"Elise also used to go there once a week. Alright, I will arrange things."
In this way, Selene was now taking all sorts of lessons three days of the week, while she would spend the other three days idly basking in nature in the «Empty Wilderness» where the restoration had just begun. And on the last day, she would voluntarily help out in the church.
With such a life of Selene commuting to and from the royal palace, I sent her away believing in the King and his knights.
"It will be alright. They are the best knights of our Kingdom. They will protect Selene even at the cost of their lives."
"Majou-sama, your mana is leaking out. Calm down, there, there-nanodesu......"
I suppressed my leaking mana after being told to calm down by Teto.
"It's also about time for us to go back."
We passed through the newly installed «Transfer Gate» after saying our greeting and arrived at the single house we had purchased which was located in one corner of the Iska Kingdom.
The King had suggested we could use the «Transfer Gate» installed in Selene's royal villa and commute back and forth between both locations but I thought that I, Selene's foster mother and adventurer, going in and out of the royal villa where royalty resides might not look good. So we purchased this single house as a necessity and moved to the Iska Kingdom.
On the days Selene would be in the royal palace or in the church to help out, we would spend our time either going to the beastkin nation or wandering around in the royal capital of the Iska Kingdom.
"Ah, these sweets are Selene's favorite."
Our recent favorite pastime was eating delicious food we find in the downtown area of the royal capital and eating them together with Selene in her free time when she returned.
I also spent my time reading a lot of books after getting permission from the King to visit the royal capital's library while Teto would indulge herself in the mock battles she was fond of in the training ground of the adventurer's guild.
----I heard that Princess Seleneril-sama whose whereabouts were unknown up until now has been found.
----You mean the child of Saint Elise-sama whose tracks were lost 10 years ago?
----Apparently, she was being raised by a person connected to the church while protecting her.
----I had recently seen a child resembling Elise-sama treating people in the clinic. Word is that she was entrusted to another Saint-sama by Elise-sama and that Saint-sama taught her. I heard that she seemed to be quite skilled.
----I know, I was also healed by that girl. My fractured arm was perfectly healed.
The news of Selene's homecoming was disseminated among the populace under the lead of the royal palace.
It was easier for the populace to accept that she was being raised by a church-related person rather than an adventurer and Selene's voluntary act in the clinic had also won the favor of the populace which has now set up the foundation for her.
I wandered around the royal capital while feeling that knowledge about Selene's homecoming would become more commonplace before her debut in the aristocratic society in this way.
I would stroll around, accept the routine quests for the downtown area, and watch over Selene's growth during the holiday while waiting for the A-rank promotion test.
And when the promotion test was just right around the corner一
一
"I want to go and see Okaa-san and Teto onee-chan in action."
"Even if you say so......"
It was the day for her to visit the royal palace.
The «Etiquette» skill granted by the skill orb was working fine, but Selene's memory was also quite good so she was slowly getting better at it.
"I had asked Otou-sama and he said it's fine as long as I got your approval."
Selene had begun to use different terms and now calls the king 'Otou-sama' and the late Elise-sama 'Okaa-sama'.
Also, I wasn't aware of when Selene was born but, apparently, she was now 11 years old. And it seemed like her debut day had been set to be on her 12th birthday.
Leaving that aside一一
"You mean secretly? Hmm, so guards will be coming with you?"
"Yes, they will come along with me."
"Oh, Selene is coming to cheer us on? Alright, Teto will give her 200%!"
How should I put it, it's a contest with the A-rank title on the line even though it's a mock battle with fellow adventurers. Not to say adventurers weren't particularly mindful of respectful approaches.
I couldn't think of showing Selene the battle of such people but......
"Hmm. Haaa, I guess you won't give in. You can come."
"Thank you Okaa-san! I'm off then, see you later!"
After saying that, she rushed into the «Transfer Gate»
"I heard the A-rank promotion test might take around several days. Is it really fine for her to come?"
Promotion test evaluation was based on the performance of the B-rank adventurers.
Hmm, she may have received permission but it might be impossible for her to come to cheer for us every day. But there's also a chance that it might be wrapped up in one day.
"Oh well, let's leave it for when the time comes. Teto, we're going out today as well."
"Right after you-nanodesu!"
Teto and I left for the adventurer's guild of the Iska Kingdom while carrying medicine grass harvested from the batch growing around the vicinity of the world tree as well as the potions made using them, just like what I had done in the Gard Beastkin Nation.
"Thank you very much for your effort. It's really a lifesaver to have good quality potions prepared beforehand since there aren't just a few who get injured during the promotion test."
"Oh, I'm glad then. I'm happy that the potion I created would come in handy."
I was only making normal potions or mana potions before but ever since I found the recipes in the library of the royal capital I frequented, I was now able to create all sorts of abnormal status cure medicines or high-grade potions and mana potions.
As we were chit-chatting with the receptionist, someone loudly called out to us.
"Ahh一! Is it you, Chise!? And Teto!?"
I turned around to look at the person who called us in such a loud voice and found a familiar young elf girl pointing her fingers at us.
"You're Refrya-san...... right?"
That person was the elf archer Refrya, the rearguard member of the dungeon city's top party [Sword of the Dawn].
Our last meeting should have been more than a decade ago but hardly anything had changed about her, though I think she had grown up a bit.
"So it's really you! Long time no see! Wait, how come you haven't changed at all? You should have been human, right!?"
"Refrya-san seems to have grown up a bit."
I felt as if it was just yesterday when we first met but I could feel a completely different air around her.
Meanwhile, Teto一一
"Hmm? Who-nanodesu!?"
"Oh my, did you forget about me? Even your speech pattern hasn't changed a bit from the past......"
Refrya-san smiles as she said that, making an exasperated face but even so, she had her eyes squinted as if recalling the past.
"Really, it's been a long time. A lot has happened after that."
"It seems like you had your fair share of fun. I also want to hear about what happened, my treat."
After saying that, we shifted to a corner in the tavern of the adventurer's guild and listened to the story of Refrya-san.
Alsace-san's party [Sword of the Dawn] had continued with the exploration of the dungeon using the magic sword 一 which is now called a holy sword? 一 I had created with «Creation Magic» after we left the dungeon city.
Alsace-san, who was already an A-rank adventurer from the start, was like a tiger with wings when paired with that magic sword and he apparently reached the deepest floor of the dungeon, the 30th floor.
Afterwards, they left without taking the dungeon core since the city's economy had the dungeon as its core and they were now focusing on nurturing the next generation.
"Alsace-san and Lenna-san got married after that and had kids. They have an adorable baby boy and girl in turn."
"Oh my. Those two......"
The marriage of a cool-looking swordsman and a magician in her prime was just like a dream for adventurers.
"The others were一一"
The scout boy left the party and joined another party somewhere it seemed.
That boy's mana wasn't that much and his body had already begun to lose performance as compared to what it used to be in his heyday. Still, the experience and perception he had acquired from his many years of scout job were sufficient enough to support him throughout his old age.
The other clergyman-looking comrade was once an orphan raised by Father Paul so it seemed like he returned to the church to help out Father Paul after quitting being an adventurer.
"I see. I wonder how the kids from the orphanage are doing?"
"Everyone is as lively as ever. Oh wait, it's already been a decade so they aren't kids anymore you know."
"There are even kids who have grown to be that tall", I couldn't help but smile after hearing that there were many kids who have grown a full head taller than the elf Refrya.
I was impressed that they have grown so much but also saddened at my lack of growth.
"So why is Refrya-san here?"
"I'm here for the A-rank promotion test. I'm continuing to work as an adventurer at the dungeon city and I also qualify for the promotion test, I have been coming here every year. This marks my third year."
So sighed Refrya-san.
Refrya-san's abilities as a high-rank adventurer were excellent even ten years ago but even such a person was losing every year so this might be tougher than I had initially thought.
And it seemed that, including me, Teto and Refrya-san, there were 16 contestants for this year's promotion test held in the Iska Kingdom.
Among them, only 2 or 3 adventurers could be promoted but there were also years that went by without anyone having been promoted to A-rank depending on the judgment of the guild.
After hearing Refrya-san's side of the story, I talked about our life over the past ten years.
I explained while blurring out some parts here and there and when she heard about our lifestyle, she quipped jovially,
"My, your stepdaughter sounds cute."
"She's an adorable kid indeed. She's our cherished daughter."
"And Teto's beloved imouto-nanodesu!" (*Imouto - little sister)
Looking at me and Teto asserting ourselves so positively, Refrya-san showed a melancholic smile.
"Haa, I'm so jealous of you. I'm glad that I left my village behind but I haven't encountered anyone from the same race so far and that's not even mentioning the fact that it's hard for elves to have children. I am truly envious."
"Maybe I should return to my village after another decade of adventuring", as expected of long-living species, I smiled bitterly as I heard Refrya-san unhurriedly mutter her thoughts.
Well, I'm immortal now so I might be the same.
A few days after our parting with Refrya-san, the day for the promotion test was finally at our doorstep.
