CH 239

Her mother had been wearing a rare, serious expression on her face when she imparted this advice, which is why the memory had stuck with Tania. At this moment, she was clear about one thing.

‘Mom! I’ve found him! On top of being able to fight, he even has a pretty face and a nice body to boot! You’re gonna be meeting your son-in-law this year!’

However, just as she began to inwardly rejoice, a blindingly brilliant light engulfed her surroundings. When her senses finally adjusted and she regained her sight, the monster had disappeared, leaving behind what appeared to be an infinite number of twinkling lights in the air.

“It’s gone?” Tania muttered, blinking in a daze.

Walking over to her side, the blond man said, “It was pretty hard after all. I’m really not used to a human body. But that aside, hey! How stupid do you have to be to fall head over heels for a man like that? And to follow him?”

Now he’d gone beyond acting friendly and was straight up criticizing her! Confused as to his chummy attitude, Tania frowned and said, “I’ve been wanting to ask… but do you know me? And… did you just say you’re not used to a human body?”

“Seriously, what’s gotten into this girl?” the blond man muttered quizzically. “It’s me, remember? Girgantia!”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, it’s my first attempt at polymorphing. Do you think it turned out fine? I don’t know how I look in human form. I think I’ve got the right number of eyes, and the nose and mouth seem to be in the right places. There’s nothing off, right? Apparently, dragons sometimes screw up their first polymorph. I hear humans can be a bit sensitive when things like that don’t match?”

Tania felt her face stiffen as he continued to prattle on. At first, she wondered what nonsense he was spouting, but then she remembered how insanely good their teamwork had been. ‘Now that I think of it…’

In the times she’d spent with Girgantia, the two had fought on many occasions. It usually stemmed from minor arguments over who would get to eat the fried chicken leg, or when one of them was demanding the next volume of the comic book or novel from the other person. Eventually what started as a simple brawl morphed into something akin to sparring. They had gotten so used to each other that they could block punches and tail whips without even having to look up.

The color drained from Tania’s face when realized that the harmonious feeling she had fighting in tandem with the stranger against the black monster was the same feeling she had when she sparred with the dragon. But, if this man was truly Girgantia, then…

Tania felt faint as she recalled the many books that she’d read with Girgantia. Raising her eyes up to gaze at the man claiming to be Girgantia, she found a flawlessly handsome young blond man staring back at her. She had read those books with this man?

A distant sound seemed to ring in Tania’s ears—it was the sound of what could be called her social reputation and dignity shattering to pieces.

* * *

Bang! Rumble! A thick layer of dust rose up in the mountains after each earsplitting noise, but a new cacophony would eclipse the first sound before its echoes could even disappear.

“Amazing,” Cecile remarked, as she munched on the snacks beside her.

Richard had cast a magical illumination spell to help make their surroundings clearly visible for a more pleasurable viewing experience. Estian and Ruin were rumored to be the strongest people in the world. Every single clash between them resulted in the nearby mountains being smashed apart.

‘I wonder how many mountains are disappearing. But more importantly…’ Cecile was concerned that there seemed to be no end in sight to their fight. When she turned to glance over at the archmage, she found a seemingly bored Richard playing with the snacks by tossing them into his mouth. “What’re you doing?” she asked.

“I’m tossing five at a time and eating them in one go.”

By the looks of it, the archmage didn’t seem the least bit inclined to assist Estian. Returning her attention to the monitor depicting her husband in battle, she thought, ‘I wish I had power. Magic would be nice. Or even just being physically strong would be good too.’

When the fight started, Cecile had even searched beneath the sofa Richard summoned and in her immediate vicinity—just in case—but this time there was no mystery book to be found.

‘Does that mean the situation isn’t dangerous?’ she mused. After all, those mysterious books always appeared in times of danger, had they not? In that sense, Cecile felt somewhat relieved, albeit a little hollow. ‘Still, I wish I could be of help to Estian.’

While she pondered over whether it would be a good thing to learn a thing or two from Tania when she returned, she offhandedly grabbed a cup of water sitting atop the table Richard had conjured.

“Huh?” Cecile muttered. Just as she was about to take a sip, she felt a sense of incongruity and glanced downwards—the water in the cup was vibrating slowly.