LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 73 - Chapter 73: Justin's Tears
Chapter 73: Justin’s Tears
The next morning, I woke up without having to cut Simon into pieces. I wonder if Jest will come back in the morning; maybe he wants to take it easy after finally meeting his mother again.
Marius, the only squire in my squad, is supposed to take care of me, but he doesn’t really need to. Perhaps that’s why he left the tent early to prepare breakfast.
After getting ready and stepping outside the tent, I was greeted by the fantastical sight of the morning mist illuminated by the sun rising over the mountains. At the edge of the square, squires and holy knights were preparing breakfast.
As I was about to move to help with breakfast since I was already awake, my vision darkened. When I looked towards the sun, I saw two dragons flying in circles. It seems that Jest and his mother have arrived.
When they came directly above us, I could see that Jest’s mother was about twice as big as Jest, who had returned to his normal size. As they were about to land, I worried that they might crush all the knights, but then I heard a spell-like chant, and the sunlight illuminated the square again.
The two of them landed in the square in their human forms. Jest’s figure, which I couldn’t see clearly against the light, became clear as he ran towards me. When I saw Jest in his human form, I couldn’t believe my eyes and instinctively dropped to my knees.
“Justin! Mom taught me the transformation magic!”
Saying that, Jest innocently hugged me, and I couldn’t stop my overflowing tears.
“Hinata…”
While holding Jest, who looked like my deceased brother, I couldn’t move for a while. The question of why Jest looked like Hinata didn’t come out in words, and it took me some time to convince myself that this was Jest, not Hinata.
“It seems that the boy took on the appearance familiar to your memories. Is it someone you know well? It seems to be a common occurrence for a contracted familiar to take on the appearance of someone from the master’s memories in order to attract the master’s attention, especially if they can never meet that person again.”
Jest’s mother, who slowly walked up behind Jest, spoke, and I understood the reason why Jest looked like my brother.
“Gus… Yeah… It’s a very familiar appearance.”
Hinata, my fifth brother, was ten years old. He looked the most like me among my siblings, so it could be said that he resembled me in my previous life when I was young.
“Justin, are you happy that I transformed?”
With an innocent smile, Jest laughed, and his carefree smile was exactly like Hinata’s.
“Yeah, I’m happy.”
“Are you crying because you’re happy?”
Jest wiped away my tears with his hand as soon as I blinked. I couldn’t answer Jest’s question and just smiled to cover it up. I wondered if I would be able to see Hinata’s grown-up appearance when Jest grew up.
As I stroked his head, which still had Hinata’s shape, tears welled up again when I realized something. When Jest and his mother appeared in the sky, everyone, including the squires who were preparing breakfast, the holy knights, and the saint, had been watching them.
In other words… everyone had seen me hugging my transformed Jest and crying. Everyone was frozen in shock. Before I could come up with an excuse, my mouth moved on its own.
“What are you all looking at!! Finish your preparations quickly!!”
I shouted, and everyone scattered to resume their work. However, as if to replace them, more of my subordinates emerged from the tent.
“Oh!? Is that Jest by any chance!?”
“Oh, Simon! Good morning! Look, look! I learned transformation magic!”
Jest ran to Simon and the others while everyone’s attention was on him. As everyone’s eyes were on Jest, I wiped my wet cheeks with my hand and stood up.
“Hehe, the boy seems to be enjoying talking to others. He was talking happily about you and that boy called Simon last night. …Oh, yes, I ate the sweets you made together; they were quite delicious. They have good magical power.”
Jest’s mother licked her lips, and it seemed that the taste of magical power was more important to her than the taste of the sweets themselves. Nevertheless, I had thought that Jest found my magical power delicious because of our contract, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
“In that case, why don’t you come to the royal capital with us? I occasionally make sweets for Jest, so you can come with us.”
“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea… It would allow me to stay close to the boy. Ah, if I were to leave the nest, it might put this settlement in danger. It’s troublesome to fly here periodically. What should I do…”
“Let me know once you’ve decided. I can inform the gatekeepers of the capital, or if you come to the royal castle, I’ll come to pick you up immediately. Of course, I’ll come with Jest. We’ll depart after breakfast, but we’ll be waiting in the capital.”
“In that case, let’s seriously consider it. I’ll need to have a little chat with the chief.”
Saying so, Jest’s mother headed towards the house of the Dwarf chief. During breakfast, knowing that those who witnessed his tears upon seeing Jest in human form misunderstood them as tears of joy at Jest’s overwhelming cuteness, he clenched his fists tightly and endured without revealing the truth.