Chapter 69
After her death, the divine beast that was created by the Great Evil God Caravis, was reborn as Lenia Rufful Blaster Blast, the daughter of the Blaster Blast family, who owned a territory in the northeastern part of Arkrest Kingdom.
Her father was Julius Balka Blaster Blast, the sixth head of the Blaster Blast family, her mother was Lana Lanala Blaster Blast, and she had no siblings.
When Lenia arrived in the western part of the Blaster Blast territory via passenger carriage, the guards waiting there escorted her in the family carriage to the mansion where she was born and raised.
In the center of the city Abam, the largest city in the territory and named after the first head of the family, stood the mansion of the Blaster Blast family, which has been there for generations.
The city was neatly divided into three sections: the commercial district crammed full of independent merchants who don’t own any stores besides the stalls they had here, the industrial district where products were processed and manufactured, and the residential district, where the city’s residents lived. The residential district was also divided into sections between the ordinary citizens and the soldiers and knights.
When the carriage carrying the banner of the Blaster Blast family entered the city, guarded by two knights and ten soldiers, all the inhabitants of Abam knew that the young daughter of the lord and lady of the city had returned home.
After returning to the mansion where she was born and raised, Lenia finished changing into a pure white dress with a simple design without decorations, and let her black hair flow freely.
Taking the souvenir package from Golnev with her, she turned around and called out to Fau Fau and the others standing guard on either side of the door.
Fau Fau’s heart skipped a beat when Lenia, who used to always ignore them without saying a word, called out to them.
「I have come to see those two」
「Yes, my lady」
Fau Fau and Elle both replied in unison and opened the door, and Lenia walked forward with the wind hitting her shoulders.
Although she has the appearance of an innocent young girl, she had an air of arrogance and haughtiness that made it seem like she looked down on everyone around her. And since she definitely had the power to make people think that she was never wrong, there was almost no resistance among the servants and knights working in the mansion against her attitude.
The sunny balcony overlooking the city was a favorite spot for Julius and Lana.
Back when Lenia was just a baby, her parents would often take her out to the balcony, carrying her in their arms.
Unfortunately for Julius and Lana, Lenia couldn’t remember those times, so she couldn’t look back on it as a fun or happy memory.
The balcony, which was often sunny and had a pleasant breeze blowing, was the perfect place to spend time peacefully. Lenia’s father Julius, and her mother Lana were sitting on chairs that had been set out on the balcony, waiting for their daughter’s return and ready to greet her.
Soon after Lenia appeared on the balcony together with Fau Fau and the others, the two parents of the Divine Beast welcomed their daughter warmly, even though she only ever acted somewhat strangely.
Their gaze showed more eloquently than words that their love for Lenia had not lessened at all. In contrast, Lenia had some kind of emotion in her eyes, which contained something different from apathy.
Fau Fau finally realized what felt so off about Lenia.
What in the world could it be? Fau Fau, who was not a god, did not know — although it wouldn’t have been easy even for a god to know that Lenia possessed a soul of the same class as a Great God — but it seemed like the troubled young lady felt nervous about meeting with her parents.
Why would the young lady, who had never felt nervous when meeting her grandparents, other relatives, or even neighboring lords, feel nervous now? This was the difficult question that was held in Fau Fau’s heart.
「Welcome back, Lenia. Looks like you’re doing well, as usual」
Was her father, Julius, a little worn out?
In response to his daughter’s iron mask-like face which did not move in the slightest, Julius felt disappointed and discouraged for the umpteenth time in a row.
This was also proof that Julius still had enough expectations of Lenia to still feel disappointed and discouraged.
Although he had been raising Lenia for over sixteen years, he still had high hopes, which either made him an amazing person, or just an amazing fool.
「Come here, Lenia. Now, please tell us about the Magic Academy. Did you make friends?」
Lana, just like her husband, also looked at Lenia with eyes full of kindness, as she made an offer that had been rejected by their daughter many times in the past.
Her voice and eyes showed that she hoped and believed that just because it was rejected in the past, it didn’t mean it would always be rejected in the future as well. She was what one would call a strong mother.
Normally, Lenia would only come to show her face and then leave, telling them bluntly that she was either going back to her room or going outside, but since the condition for being able to meet up with Dran during the summer break was to show filial piety to her parents, she gave an answer that betrayed the expectations of everyone here.
With a sullen look still on her face, she walked toward the chair placed between the two chairs her parents were sitting in, and she quietly sat down.
No, that wasn’t all—-
「Here… a souvenir」
With that said, she put down the parcel she held in her left hand on top of the table.
The high-ranking maids standing beside the lord and lady of the mansion, and Fau Fau who was standing behind Lenia, as well as the lord and lady themselves, were struck with surprise, which they could not conceal.
Lana was so moved, she even had tears welling up in her amber colored eyes.
Lenia opened with her own hands the package, which she had picked out for them together with Irina, and placed a pearl brooch for her mother and a set of quills made from the feathers of a sea spirit bird for her father in their respective hands.
However, when she saw her parents looking down at the souvenirs with flabbergasted expressions on their faces, she groaned inwardly, wondering if had failed.
Showing filial piety to her parents sitting before her was her biggest concern, and was a task of utmost importance to her at this moment.
From the perspective of others, it may have seemed like this prodigal daughter who has never shown any love for her parents was finally trying to show some filial piety to them, but for Lenia, this was more important than that. That was why, in her heart, there was a raging storm of impatience and anxiety over whether her parents were happy or not.
Right when Lenia’s lips curved into a frown, Julius and Lana noticed that their daughter looked anxious, or at least that’s how she appeared to them, and they spoke up in a panic.
「Le-Lenia, it’s the first time you’ve bought souvenirs for us. We’re just so surprised, isn’t that right, Lana?」
「Ye-Yes, that’s right, dear. I wasn’t expecting Lenia to buy such nice things for us, so I was just really surprised. This pearl is very beautiful」
Lenia was inwardly relieved that the gifts seemed to be well-received, and she thought to herself somewhat haughtily that she should give praises to Irina when they meet again after the summer vacation ends.
Feeling a burning in the corners of his eyes, Julius remembered what had been written in the letter Lenia had unusually sent to them before the summer vacation had started, and then tried to start a conversation with his daughter.
The average length of the conversations between Lenia and her parents were usually just about two words.
This moment was probably the best opportunity he had in a while to finally break that record.
「Oh, right, Lenia. I heard that you’re participating in the Magic Academy’s exchange game this year. You could have participated last year, but didn’t. Did something change your mind this time?
You also went to Golnev together with your classmates, right? Did you make some new friends?」
Since the time he’s had to talk with his daughter has always been very short, Julius was confused as to how to talk with her, and he carefully selected his words so he wouldn’t overlook any changes in Lenia’s expression and mood.
Just as much as her father struggled to talk with her, Lenia also struggled to answer, putting in effort to reply word by word as she had promised to Dran.
「This year, there is a certain person who will participate, so I decided to participate too. I went to Golnev with not only Irina, but also other people who will participate in the exchange battle… No, not just that, they are my school friends… I went with them.
They were Dran from Bern Village, Irina, and Armadia’s concubine’s, uh– I mean, Christina, and Apienia’s family Nelnesia and Dissidia’s family Fatima, and a cheeky Crimson Dra…. Well, that one doesn’t really matter」
The names of some of the biggest families in not only the northern part of Arkrest Kingrom, but in the whole kingdom, came out of Lenia’s mouth, but Julius and the others were so impressed by how long Lenia was talking that they didn’t even notice. They were so moved, it was as if they were up their necks in a sea of emotion.
Lenia struggled with the unfamiliar manner of speaking, but managed to finish replying to Julius’s question.
Lana used a handkerchief to wipe away the tears about to fall from her eyes, and then spoke to Lenia, who she considers to be her beloved daughter, her face glowing with joy that made her seem younger than her actual age.
「Yeah, there’s nothing that makes me happier than knowing that you have such good friends to be with.
It must be a great honor to be selected as the representative of the Magic Academy, but don’t do anything too dangerous.
If you were to get hurt, we would feel as if our hearts would be ripped out of our chests」
Usually, Lenia would have said something like, “The only person in this world who can manage to hurt me is Dran.” But since Dran had told her she must not forget to show her gratitude to her parents for giving birth to her and raising her, she only gave a small snort.
But not all of Lenia’s change in attitude was because of the promise she had made with Dran.
The trigger for this change was definitely still Dran, but if it hadn’t been for Julius and Lana getting married, Lenia wouldn’t have been born as a human being, and she wouldn’t have been able to meet Dran, who she couldn’t talk to even in her past life as well.
The reason why she was able to reunite with Dran, who she loved and revered very much, was undeniably because of her human parents.
The more she thought about it that way, the more she realized that she felt genuine gratitude for Julius and Lana, in her own way, as a Divine Beast made by an evil god.
「As long as I’m participating in the exchange battle, I won’t lose… No, I can’t lose… So you don’t have to worry」
As Lenia struggled to speak, often stumbling on her words, the maids and butlers around her had a hard time understanding what was going on.
It was strange. The last time she had left this mansion, there had been no sign that she would come back behaving like a completely different person.
What on earth was happening? Did an evil spirit possess her, or did her brain get replaced by someone else’s?
Gruof and Fau Fau and the others could have never imagined that she would say such things, that was how abnormal her current attitude was compared to how she used to be.
「Lana, I know you’re happy to talk with Lenia like this, but she just came back today. Let’s let her rest for now」
「Oh dear, you’re right. I’m just so happy right now. Lenia, please tell us the rest of the story at dinner time」
In response to her mother’s offer, Lenia nodded her head slightly.
「Yes, I… I don’t mind」
After that, Lenia drank the cup of tea that had been brewed for her in a single gulp, and then she began to leave that place in a hurry.
As this was far from her usual attitude, Lenia’s emotional exhaustion had grown so great that she had to resist the urge to let out a huge sigh, and then she bowed to her parents and turned to leave.
Dran did the work of god by convincing Lenia to show gratitude to her human parents. Those parents are 5 star parents.