Chapter 483 – 483: Locke
◈-LANT SIDE
To be honest.
This is incredibly scary.
“Dieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!”
The redness of his face is beyond comparison to Grapha’s father.
To give an example, it was like the face of a red-faced guardian deity with a very fierce expression at the entrance of a temple during a school field trip.
This is the face of a father who thinks his daughter has been taken away…!
Gracia’s father.
As befitting the name of the best knight of Bridan, the speed and power with which he wielded his sword were several times greater than Gracia’s.
His face seemed to be swayed by emotion, but his movements were precise, controlled, and accurate in his attempt to cut me down. It made me think that he indeed had the skills that Gracia respected.
As Gracia had initially asked, I dodged her father’s attacks and threw punches at a speed that he could avoid.
Her father’s attacks became fiercer with each passing moment, and I increased my speed accordingly.
“Uoooooooohhhhh!!!!”
Now, he didn’t even say “die” anymore, and he had completely turned into a small storm, wielding his sword at me while wrapped in wind.
“S-scary… Galph… No, I’ve never seen Sir Linesalot like this before.”
“Father, why…”
“Haa… Seriously, when it comes to Gracia, he doesn’t care about anything.”
“T-that’s the true power of Sir Linesalot, who is said to be the best among the Knights of the Round Table…”
“Wow, his face is so scary.”
“Gracia must be very loved by her dad.”
“He’s even worse than our angry master.”
“S-scary…”
It seems that I’m not the only one who finds this face scary.
“%^@#$%@#$%@!!!!”
Now, her father was even letting out screams that couldn’t be expressed in words.
Is this the rage of having one’s daughter taken away?
I thought that if I dragged out the time like this, her father’s anger would only grow stronger.
Then… let’s show the residents of this society that respects the strong, the knight of Bridan, the overwhelming difference in power.
I dodged the storm of her father’s sword and simultaneously created a distance of about 3 meters.
“!@#!@#$!@#%!@#$!!!!!”
As soon as I created the distance, her father chased after me.
I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I felt like he was saying, “I won’t let you get away!”
Before her father got close to me.
I pulled my fist back and instantly gathered magic power.
The amount I gathered was twice as much as when I faced Lyfa and Gracia.
Wooooooom!!!!
The moment I gathered magic power, her father stopped his charge and tried to dodge.
Father… I’m sorry!
“Hup!”
“!?”
This time, I threw a punch at a speed that her father couldn’t dodge.
Of course, I didn’t intend to hit him.
Her father stopped his charge.
At that moment, I threw a punch and stopped it right before it hit her father’s face.
Pooooooof!!!!
I detonated the magic power I had gathered in front of her father’s eyes.
◈-GALPH SIDE
The moment the demon retreated.
I thought it was an opportunity.
I looked into his eyes.
They were the eyes of a warrior who was about to use his trump card.
He had created distance to prepare for it.
But I wouldn’t let that happen.
The basics of combat are to not give the enemy an opportunity and to eliminate them immediately.
The moment the demon created distance, I immediately closed the gap to eliminate him.
Ah, Gracia.
My daughter.
I will soon eliminate this demon…
Pooooooof!!!!
I couldn’t understand what had happened.
All I could recognize was that a huge explosion of magic power suddenly occurred in front of my eyes and engulfed my body.
An overwhelming magic power that transcended perception.
That magic power enveloped my body and made me realize the absolute difference in power.
My instincts were about to surrender.
In the face of an overwhelming force, my instincts were telling me.
It is impossible to defeat this being.
It is impossible to overcome this being.
Surrender.
Obey.
Submit.
Pay respect to the true strong one.
This being is the true strongest creature.
It is only natural that Gracia would become a female to this strongest male.
Gra…cia.
In that moment, memories of my days with Gracia began to flash through my mind.
My first encounter with Gracia was on the way back to Camelot after completing a mission to subjugate the Cyclops.
At that time, even though I had shared love with Nevia, we hadn’t been able to conceive a child, and Nevia and I had become somewhat estranged.
My love for Nevia was still there, but no matter how many nights we spent together, the fruit of our love did not come to be, which was very painful for both of us.
While passing through the forest, I noticed a baby abandoned by the roadside.
“Stop!”
I stopped the march, got off my horse, and picked up the abandoned baby.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
“Who would abandon a baby in a place like this…”
The baby was an elf.
I didn’t know who had abandoned it.
“…”
I couldn’t just leave the baby there.
As a knight of Bridan, I couldn’t do such a thing.
I thought I should calm the baby down first.
But I was still someone who hadn’t had a child with Nevia.
I didn’t have the confidence to calm a baby down well.
Then, I remembered the time I had briefly visited Sir Gwein’s mansion a few years ago, and how Sir Gwein had calmed Grel, who was still a baby, when he cried.
I held the baby in one hand and moved my fingers so that the baby could see them.
“Ooh, peek-a-boo…”
“Waaah! …Giggle!”
“Oh… It, it works.”
Strangely enough, the baby at that time was an angel who smiled even at my clumsy attempts to soothe her.
After that, I carried the baby back to Camelot.
I was the one who found her, and I was the one who picked her up.
First, I took the baby to my mansion.
“Husband? That baby is…”
Nevia was very surprised when she first saw the baby.
“It’s a baby that was abandoned in the forest on the way back, my wife. I was the first to find her… so I brought her here for now. By the way, my wife.”
“Waaah!!!”
“W-what should I do in this situation? She keeps crying even when I try to soothe her.”
“…First, I’ll see if there’s a maid who can express milk.”
Nevia, the servants, and I took care of the baby.
And as the time we spent taking care of her grew longer… the baby’s smile when she smiled took our hearts away.
Especially… for Nevia and me, who had not been able to have a child for several years, the days of raising the baby were as if we were really giving birth to and raising a child.
That’s why I proposed to Nevia.
“Wife… how about we raise this child as our own?”
“I have the same thought as you, husband. Then we should decide on a name.”
“A name…”
I stared at the sleeping baby.
A baby that was like a blessing that Solisin had given us.
As that thought came to mind, the name was immediately decided.
“Gracia… The baby’s name… no, our daughter’s name will be Gracia from now on.”
“Gracia… our daughter… That’s a really good name, husband.”
We raised Gracia with love, and Gracia grew up to be a righteous and kind child.
“Father, Mother!”
Even if we didn’t give birth to her directly, even if we weren’t connected by blood.
Gracia was our… my precious daughter.
“Father! I want to become a knight like you!”
When Gracia said that at the age of 10, it was the happiest thing I had ever heard.
I was so happy that I would have been willing to hand over the title of Linesalot if Gracia had wanted it.
As time passed, Gracia became more beautiful and more skilled.
But the more that happened, the more my worries grew.
My beautiful daughter, Gracia.
Her beauty was attracting countless flies.
Even the subordinates and servants in the same mansion would sometimes cast lecherous glances at Gracia, who had grown up and become beautiful, and I couldn’t tolerate that.
How dare they cast such filthy glances at my precious daughter…!!!
At first, I thought it would be good for Gracia to join the Knights.
But most of the Knights were men.
If she joined the Knights, she would have to live in the same place as men, regardless of gender, for group training in the early stages.
Gracia was more beautiful than anyone else.
I couldn’t tolerate putting such a Gracia in a den of beasts.
Even if she didn’t become a knight, no, even if she didn’t go through the formal procedures, I had been preparing the procedures to make her my personal knight so that I could always protect her.
Even if Gracia didn’t become a knight and had a different, ordinary future, I was going to support her with all my might.
But when she became an adventurer with Lyfa, the youngest child of Sir Gwein, I felt like my head was going to explode.
Adventurers were even more of a den of beasts than knights!
Ah, Gracia…!!!
But fortunately, this Bridan is a society that respects the strong.
Ordinary adventurer males could not defeat Gracia, whom I had personally taught, and they could not touch her.
“Haa… When will our Gracia be able to become a female?”
My wife had said that when Gracia was 24 years old.
“No, wife, what are you talking about! How can you say such a thing!”
“I can say such a thing, husband. Gracia is now 24 years old. She’s old enough to be a female.”
“No, no! Absolutely not! Gracia becoming a female! I absolutely cannot accept it!”
“…You really become a fool when it comes to Gracia, husband. Are you going to cut off Gracia’s happiness?”
“Gracia’s happiness is to continue living with us! More than that, wife, listen to me! Don’t you think Gracia’s clothes have been too indecent lately? I’m so worried that wolves full of lust are targeting our pretty Gracia.”
“That’s the fifth time you’ve said that, husband. Just go to sleep.”
“H-how heartless, wife…”
Gracia, ah, Gracia.
My precious daughter.
My only daughter.
There is a man who has defiled such… such Gracia.
A man who has made her a female.
Surrender to such a man?
Obey such a man?
Submit to such a man?
Even if… my instincts want it!
I!
I myself!
Absolutely cannot tolerate it!
Do not underestimate a father’s love! Instincts!
I put strength into the hand that was about to let go of Arondight due to the magic power that enveloped me.
Grip!
“Gra…”
“Huh?”
Wooooooom!!!!
I poured all the magic power I had left into Arondight and swung it at the demon that I had to eliminate.
“CIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”
◈-LANT SIDE
I detonated the magic power in front of her father’s eyes.
Of course, it wasn’t physically impactful, it was just a showy display of magic power.
I thought that this was the only way to get her father to acknowledge me, who was attacking me with such terrifying momentum.
Even if I saw her father’s surrender pose, I wanted to be acknowledged by him.
But.
“Gra…”
“Huh?”
Wooooooom!!!!
Her father didn’t faint or take a surrender pose, but instead gathered magic power into his sword.
“CIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”
He swung his sword fiercely.
It was the largest and most refined strike of magic power he had ever unleashed.
The magic power that passed through her father’s body was twice the amount I had used when sparring with Lyfa and Gracia.
Moreover, her father was much stronger than Gracia, so he must have had many more promotions.
According to Tikia, the more promotions you have, the more sensitive you become to magic power.
In other words, her father had experienced several times the magic power that Gracia and Lyfa had felt, but he had overcome it with his love for Gracia.
I was genuinely filled with respect for that.
But.
Grab.
I blocked the strike that her father was swinging by grabbing his arm.
“I don’t want to lose the person I love either. I’m sorry, Father.”
And I punched her father in the abdomen while controlling my strength.
Thud!
“Cuh… Huk…!!! Gra…cia…”
Until the very end, her father called out Gracia’s name and lost consciousness.
