Chapter 62

Even if her daughter had two soft marshmallows, Keena's back was against a stone wall. As a result, she was caught in a sandwich and coughed violently from the impact. In order to get some air, she forcibly peeled her daughter off.

"Cough, cough, huff... puff, M-M-M-Maiii, M-M-Maiiii~"

"A, ahahaha... S-Sorry, Mother..."

Mai Mai, sweating coldly, apologized to Keena, who was complaining with a resentful look. Behind her, three knights stood with their mouths agape. Each of them was fully armed and leading a horse, and they were staring at the two women in shock. Keena thought, 'Is it because of Mai Mai's innocent way of being clingy, or because I naturally make her act this way?' However, the knights' reactions were far beyond her expectations.

"Is the commander's lover Mai Mai's mother!?"

"So, it's a daytime drama kind of unrequited love?"

"Are you surprised by that! ...Huh?"

Keena, who had been about to retort to the knights' unexpected reactions, noticed a strange word in their comments. Before she could question it, Mai Mai started introducing the knights to her mother.

"Since the destination is a dangerous area, I begged Sir Shining Saber to lend me some elite knights. This is the dragonkin—"

"Herau, nice to meet you."

"I humbly present myself. My name is Sfuld."

"A, Arc, please be kind to me."

Herau, a gray-skinned dragonkin woman, bowed to Keena with a quiet grace despite the large two-handed sword on her back. Sfuld, a brown-haired, blue-eyed elf woman, performed a ladylike curtsy as if she were wearing a dress. Arc, a black-haired, black-eyed human woman, who seemed to be stuttering for some reason, hastily placed her hands on her chest and bowed to Keena. Seeing this lineup, Keena concluded that Mai Mai must have made a difficult request to Shining Saber. She grabbed her daughter's cheek without a word.

"H-Humble servant, Mother... "

"I'm the one who will get complaints from Shining Saber later. She's busy with the tournament, so don't make unreasonable requests."

The reason she could say this with certainty was that Keena had used the [Search] skill to investigate the three female knights. Herau was level 180, Sfuld was level 190, and Arc was level 230—high-level characters, all of them. Clearly, they were either players or adoptees, and thus powerful individuals. Moreover, the [Search] skill revealed that Arc, who was from the 'Red Country,' was definitely a player. Keena decided to ask about the strange player information displayed.

"Um, Arc-san?"

"Y-Yes! What is it, Lady Mai Mai's mother?"

Arc, a female knight in her twenties, straightened up while trembling.

"By the way, your name says 'Black Holy Ark.' Is Arc a nickname? Is it supposed to be something like Darkness Arc or Jet Black Arc with ruby text?"

"N-No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, 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