CH 43

A screaming cry echoed in the hall and I saw grandfather running somewhere.

In a place that looked like an altar, there was a salt stone statue in the form of a single person. It was a woman who seemed to kneel with all her might for the last attack.

‘Did you stop the dungeon burst by yourself?’

Even after rubbing my eyes, there was only one stone statue of a single person. She seems like a very strong person.

Oh, this is not the time to be surprised.

“Elthea! No way, Elthea! Why do you look like this……! Arghhh!”

Grabbing the stone statue, I approached the sobbing grandfather. I patted the grandfather’s back, hoping for a little consolation.

“This is the grandfather’s daughter……What?”

I squinted my eyes.

“Uh, huh?”

“……Sniff! Why are you doing this, child?”

“Huh……That’s…….”

Seeing the stone statue up close was unbelievable.

The woman in a modest linen dress did not let go of the weapon from her hands until the last minute.

The two famous weapons she used to defeat an S-class boss alone, was…….

A hoe! And a plow!

Suddenly, I remembered Frintz telling us about his memories.

– She took a hoe and a plow from the yard and went into the forest.

She said that she would catch some black livestock that came out of their cage not knowing their place.

Fascinated by the stone statue’s face that looked exactly like me, I called her out without realizing it.

“M-Mom……?”

“What?!”

Grandfather turned to look at me in surprise.

I tried to calm myself as I looked at his wildly swaying eyes.

“Well, that’s……It’s the same as my mom’s last description that my brother told me.”

“…….”

“I told you that my mom didn’t come back from catching animals that ran away with a plow and a hoe.” 

“Well, you did……”

“Look. Here, a hoe in her right hand, and a plow in her right, and livestock that almost escaped the dungeon up there……the eye monster?”

“…….”

“…….”

For a moment, there was a chilling air current.

The grandfather squatted straight toward me instead of hugging his daughter’s stone statue.

After a while, we attained enlightenment and opened our mouths at the same time, regardless of who came first.

“Then the mother who ran away…….”

“Then the daughter who ran away from home because grandfather was upsetting……”

The identities of the habitual runaway matched to a T.

Grandpa’s eyes widened violently. Sharing the joy of meeting his grandchildren was decided to be postponed for a while.

First of all, we had to help the person who became a stone statue of salt.

“There are no fatal injuries. If we release the petrification, there is a high chance that she will come back to life.”

“Yes, it is. I have to go to the Vatican right now and ask for someone who can lift a curse……!”

I calmed my grandfather.

“You don’t have to.”

“What?”

“Can you promise that you will keep a secret of what you will see from now on?”

“Why do you……Yes, I promise.”

The grandfather who read my seriousness nodded and after a small thank-you, I stood up straight, facing the salt statue who I believed to be my mother. 

“Descent!”

“Oh, child?”

My hair color changed to silver, my eyes turned gold, and my legs floated in the air. Grandpa hurriedly grabbed my wrist as if he was grabbing a kite that was about to fly away.

“it’s okay. It doesn’t go up that high.”

“Wh-what is this…suddenly such a great divine power…Besides, it’s a Descent of Divinity……?”

“I’m deeply religious. Would you believe in God, too? I’m looking for new believers.”

Recalling the forgotten pyramid business, I secretly carried out missionary activities. But grandfather was embarrassed and only muttered.

As expected, there would be no way to get the deal sealed just by talking.

“Omniscience.”

I opened the search engine and looked for a skill to break the curse of the salt statue. I gently placed one hand on the statue’s forehead and solemnly spoke to grandfather, who was full of tension and anticipation.

“With the grace of God, I will undo the petrification. When the petrification is released, I hope you will engrave God’s mercy on your heart for the rest of your life.”

“Oh, I see! God bless you, please hurry!”

“Yes. Omnipotence. The baptism of purification.”

[ Advanced skill ‘Baptism of Purification Lv.46 (+10)’ is activated.]

The light from my hand was absorbed by the statue’s forehead.

Jok! Juk! Jok!

The surface of the stone statue cracked like an egg before hatching.

“……Puha!”

The woman, whose petrification has been released, burst into breath at the scattering salt powder. Her messy, voluminous hair was, as expected, pink.

She snorted and spat out the salt in her mouth and got annoyed.

“Oh, damn it! I made a mistake at the end and opened my eyes! A lot of time must have passed…… Huh? Father?”

“Elthea! Oh my God!”

It seems that he was in a situation where he naturally called for god.

[ Converted atheist to believer.]

As planned, the Descent assimilation rate had risen.

[‘The World-building God’ is satisfied with the spread of faith.]

[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ chews her lips in envy.]

I unleashed Descent and watched the father-daughter reunion. Grandfather hugged my mother, the daughter he had found for the first time in 13 years. He almost locked her on his pectoralis major muscle.

“Elthea! WHUAUAA! Elthea!”

“Wh-why is father here….”

The agitation was only momentary. Mother soon straightened her face, clenched her teeth, and shouted harshly.

“Get out of here. It’s disgusting!”

“El-Elthea!”

“Oh, get out of my way!”

“El……Guha!”

Thud!

I opened my mouth. It was because mother had thrown grandfather far away.

‘A giant that weighs more than 100 kilograms……!’

[‘The World-building God’ whispers to you that you should listen to your mother.]

I-I will.

Mom shook her hand as if it was nothing and swept her hair.

“Huh? Are you…Ellet…?”

She found me

“Ah….”

My name was called, but I couldn’t answer, in confusion.

I’m supposed to say…..hello.

Strangely, that easy ‘hello’ lingered in my mouth. Mother came to me as I was just blankly standing in place.

“Ellet! Eli! You are my babe, right? Why are you so big? Oh, no! This can’t be! Missing all of my daughter’s cute and lovely childhood!”

“…….”

“No, rather than that, why are you in the dungeon? How come you are in such a dangerous place…Are you hurt? Come here, let me have a look, huh?”

“…….”

She squatted down and made eye contact with me. The eyes that scanned my limbs and my face were filled with worry and love.

Why? It’s somewhat hard to breathe.

This is weird.

“I don’t think you’re hurt……. Are you all right?” 

Nod.

“Whew, that’s good. Anyway, this is really crazy. How many years have passed…….How old is my baby?”

Seems like it’s time to give a slightly haunting answer.

“Te… ten years old.”

“Oh, this is mental! It’s been 6 years?! Ah, sorry for the bad words! Oh, how have you been? Did you miss Mom a lot?”

“…….”

“Ma-Maybe you don’t remember mom? It’s mom, I’m your mother….It’s not like you don’t remember me, right? huh?”

“…….”

“Baby, why? Say something. Don’t make that face….”

……What’s my face like?

I patted my face with both hands. However.

I don’t understand.

I don’t know.

The pouring of worries and affection was so sweet, warm, and fuzzy. I couldn’t resist the cotton candy-like kindness I had received from a female adult for the first time.

It was even a little confusing.

Why?

What the hell?

It’s been a while since I’ve taken over the life of Ellet Rodellaine, so why am I so shaken by the presence of my transmigrated body’s mother?

Even at this moment, I put up with something as I was about to cry, holding back my words in my choked throat.

“I’m…..sorry……I-I don’t remember.”

“……Th-that, yes, it can happen. The last time I saw you was when you were four years old.”

Mom was visibly sullen. Did she not want to be caught with a distorted face as if she was about to cry? My mother hugged me again and patted me on the back.

Pat pat….

“…….”

The body temperature that came from her body, which had completely dissolved the petrification, was warm.

Oh, I shouldn’t do this.

I felt like I was going back to being a child.

The happiest thing in accepting the life of Ellet Rodellaine was the presence of a father and a brother. My family, who loved me and is unconditionally on my side, had eaten up all the shortcomings of being transmigrated in an S-class survival novel.

Yes, frankly, I liked my transmigrated life.

I think it was even more so because I felt strangely familiar with my father and brother in here. It’s not the first time I’ve thought that this is what would feel like, if all my family members in the previous life had transmigrated here.

It was ironic that there was no mother even after transmigrated, but since I was used to it anyway, I thought that my father and my brother were enough.

Right, that’s enough. I have a childish body, but what is my mental age? I’m all grown up. The age of needing a mother is long gone….

But it was not.

A mom.

I wish I had one.

‘I wish I had a mother too.’

I needed a mom. I wished I had a mother.

This wish will be the same even if I go back to the age of my previous life, or even if I grow old and have a lot of white hair. For both adults and the elderly, a mother is a mother.

After realizing that, it was as if a child in my heart, who had not been able to grow up due to a lack of it, raised its head.

Then a crying voice was heard.

“E-Even so…… m-mom is back now. I’m in front of Eli now. S-So…Won’t you call me mom… … ? Hm……?”

“Mom… … .”

“Yes! Yes, Eli! It’s Mom!”

I was really curious about something. 

“Mom……Where have you been?”

“……Hm?”

“Why are you giving me a hug just now?”

“…….”

“Can I…… really have a…..mother……?”

“…….”

My mouth eventually moved on its own, and I acted like a child.

No answer was heard. Instead, the hug became a little warmer.

“Mom is sorry, I’m sorry. I’ve been away from home for too long leaving Eli, Frintz, and Dad. I’m sorry! Really sorry! And thank you. Even without me, you grew up so pretty and courageous.”

“…….”

“I will never leave again. Now we will never be separated. We will live together forever. We will be happy. Okay? It’s a promise, hm?”

“Promise……”

I think I got the answer to something I’ve always been curious about.

This is what a mom is like.