Vol. 15 - Ch. 24 - Post-Competition

Sitri passed out. I asked Ryuka and Seira to take care of healing her, then I stepped down from the arena and faced my mother.

"So, do you acknowledge my strength now?"

"Of course. Actually, I’ve always known how strong you are, Halt."

Eh, is that so?

Then why bother going through all this?

"This time, I just wanted you to know that your mother is strong too. That’s why everyone helped me out."

"Oh, so that’s what this was about…"

To be fair, my mom is ridiculously strong—whether it’s magic, swordsmanship, or skills, she’s got it all.

"I may have lost to you, but don’t forget, Halt. Your mother is strong enough to summon gods. So if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to rely on me, okay?"

Yeah, but you’re way too reliable.

"Oh, by the way, I can’t summon Evil God-sama again. It’s a one-time deal. So, I won’t be able to borrow a god’s power anymore."

Apparently, the skill that lets her summon the Four Great Gods can only be used once.

"Even so, you’re still on a whole different level, Mother. If I ever need help, I’ll definitely rely on you. Thank you."

"Good! And one more thing, I have a request for you, Halt."

"What is it?"

"Come home more often! It’s lonely without you!!"

She pinched my cheek.

It didn’t hurt.

It’s just that I had been avoiding coming home for the past few months. I felt a little guilty about it.

"Sho… showwy… (S-sorry…)"

"As long as you understand. You can teleport, can’t you? So there’s no excuse, you can come home whenever."

Back in the day, I used to stop by every now and then to pick up stuff I’d left at home, usually a few times in a month. Moreover, whenever I have a new person added to my family, I’d bring everyone over to introduce them to my parents.

Lately, though, that has become less frequent. Our family has gotten too big, so it’s hard to travel with everyone. Sure, teleporting took no time at all, but getting everyone ready to go at the same time and coordinating schedules is another story.

"You know, ever since Tina told me she was pregnant, you haven’t come home even once."

"…Oh."

Shocks. I totally forgot.

"I’m gonna be a grandma, you know?! I’ve been so excited to buy clothes for my grandkids!"

Mom puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

We’d been getting gifts from all over to celebrate Tina’s pregnancy, and I’d been busy handling the thank-you gifts. I guess I’d completely forgotten about checking in at home.

But honestly, if she missed us that much, she could’ve just visited anytime she wanted.

"I can’t just show up uninvited! I want to! I really do! But I don’t want your wives to think I’m some annoying mother-in-law!"

"S-sorry… I wasn’t thinking about that…"

To me, she’s just my mom—she can come over whenever she wants. But for Tina and the others, she’s their husband’s mother. I guess it’d be stressful to have her hanging around all the time.

Mom understood that, which is why she didn’t just come over on her own.

"Next time, we’ll all come visit. And I think it’d be fine if you came by once a month or so."

"Once a month?! When my grandkids are born, I want to visit way more than that!"

Once a month wasn’t gonna cut it, huh?

I’ll have to talk to everyone about it later.

"Halt-sama! Sitri just woke up!"

Tina came to get me. I was still worried about Sitri—she had been under the Evil God’s control. Hopefully, she wasn’t suffering any lingering effects…

"I apologize, Mother, but I have to go. I have to go check on her!"

"Go ahead. But make sure you talk to everyone about me visiting, okay."

With those words from my mom, I hurried over to Sitri.

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