Norn

"Wh... where is this...?"

After that light appeared, I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, I had no idea where I was, but I could feel myself being held in familiar arms... I lifted my head. It was my father. Lilia Mama was standing beside him.

At first, my father's face was filled with terror, but after he looked down at me and at Lilia Mama beside him, it eased a lot. He stroked my head and smiled as he spoke.

"It's all right... I'll take you back."

It took us half a year to return home from that unfamiliar place.

But when we reached our former territory, there was already nothing left...

The village, the buildings, even the grass and trees were gone. A crowd of refugees sat there as if they were waiting to die.

And at the village entrance, guards from who knew where were actually handing out food to everyone.

My father immediately found a noble through those guards. It seemed to be one of his former relatives.

After they spoke, my father's expression grew even uglier.

My father and Lilia Mama found the list of missing people and the list of the dead.

I knew very few words, so I could only recognize my own name and the surname Greyrat, and I searched desperately.

My father and Lilia seemed as if they didn't dare look at the death list. They only searched through the missing list.

"Fo... found them..."

My father's voice trembled slightly, but a smile appeared on his face too.

Although all the news was bad, Mother, my brother, and Aisha all seemed to only be missing...

After that, my father went to find that noble again. I didn't know what they talked about.

When their conversation ended, my father picked me up.

"Norn, Lilia, next I'm going to form a search-and-rescue group to look for the missing villagers... and our family."

"Paul... I believe that if it is Young Master... he will definitely make it back here safely."

"I believe in him too. So our focus now is finding Aisha... and Zenith..."

As I listened to them talk, I only felt that my brother seemed incredibly impressive in their hearts.

He could make it back alone even after a disaster like this? But my brother was only ten...

I didn't dare say that out loud, because my father seemed to believe it with all his heart.

It had been almost two years since the search-and-rescue group was formed, and we still hadn't found any information about Mother and the others.

My father had posted messages at almost every guild within the range of human activity, but there was still no news.

Starting half a year ago, my father began drowning himself in alcohol... Lilia Mama often went to comfort him late at night, and they always thought I was asleep...

I started to feel afraid... If we couldn't find Mama, would Father abandon me just like this...?

What if Father and Lilia Mama had another child...? Lately, my head had been full of thoughts like that.

Until one day, my father picked me up while laughing like he had gone mad. Lilia Mama beside him looked very happy too.

"It's Rudeus! Rudeus sent a letter!"

In front of us, my father opened the letter and began reading it word by word.

[I am very sorry, Father. I have only just seen the message and am replying to you now. For these past two years, I was in the northernmost part of the Demon Continent, and it took me quite some time to leave the Demon Continent.

Aisha is by my side, so you need not worry. In another two or three months, I will arrive at the address you left in your message: the Millis Holy Kingdom, Milishion.

Rudeus Greyrat]

Those few short lines—my father read them again and again.

His smile was the happiest, brightest one I had seen in these two years...

"The Demon Continent... Young Master Rudeus went to a place like that... with Aisha... I hope he wasn't hurt..."

As Lilia Mama spoke, tears fell from her eyes.

My father pulled her into his arms.

"Don't worry. Rudy's way more capable than his old man. Aisha won't have gotten so much as a scratch."

"I am worried about Young Master Rudeus... He always pushes himself too hard..."

Hearing that, my father fell silent for a while, then smiled and spoke.

"Don't think about it too much. Didn't he tell us he was safe?"

"Yes... Then from now on, you cannot drink anymore. Young Master Rudeus absolutely would not want to see you like this."

My father rubbed the stubble on his chin.

"True. Guess I'll quit starting today."

Watching Father interact with Mama Lilia, I really wanted to ask, Then what about Mother...?

But being reunited with my brother was something to be happy about too, because my brother's return meant I definitely wouldn't be abandoned.

That night, Father told me stories about how my brother had grown up.

If this had been two years ago, I definitely would have been too muddled to understand, right? But I believed that the me now had grown up.

So I understood just how amazing my brother was, and I also understood just how dangerous the Demon Continent was.

"Your brother... cares about his family more than you can imagine. If you ever get bullied, your brother will definitely beat up the person who bullied you... Uh... he might just kill them outright."

"H-He's that scary...?"

"That's the kind of person your brother is. In the past, he even wanted to kill the Sword King, and he came very close to succeeding, even though that Sword King had only wanted to test him a little."

"Amazing..."

"Of course. He's your brother."

Father rubbed my head.

It was so warm... That warmth made me feel like my previous thoughts had been so stupid. How could Father possibly abandon me...? He and Mama Lilia had been husband and wife to begin with... It was just that I was still little, and Father couldn't find anyone to confide in, so he ended up like that with Mama Lilia.

Wrapped in that warmth, I closed my eyes and tried hard to recall my brother's face in my mind.

"My brother... is really amazing."