## Chapter 1262 – Encounter

“What did you say just now?”

No.

That guy was still alive?

If there’s anyone who considers a Blade Hunter his daughter, it would be Claudie’s father. To hear about Claudie’s father here, of all places. I had considered it might be possible, but suddenly facing this is a bit disconcerting.

“So, that lord… is the Blade Hunter’s father?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Huh.”

Come to think of it, Claudie’s characteristics were already well-known. A female half-elf with purple hair. And her name is known too. When features are this specific, it’s inevitable that someone would recognize her when they hear the news.

But really.

A dark elf lord, huh.

Well… Claudie said she lived with her father when she was young. He was the one who taught her the art of assassination, and he was supposedly quite strong, so if he continued to grow, it’s not strange that he became a lord.

Of course, he’s a nobody by my standards.

“Hmm.”

Let’s recall what Claudie told me.

Claudie’s father suddenly left one day. So Claudie ended up living alone.

Alone, Claudie wandered the desert with no one to trust. She honed her assassination skills while wandering, diligently racking up kills here and there.

She lived like that for almost a hundred years, and from what I heard a long time ago, she didn’t really like her runaway father.

He disappeared without a word, so she has every reason to hate him. That’s why Claudie thought her departed father must have died somewhere.

Therefore, I can’t feel much affection for him either.

Because I tend to dislike what Claudie dislikes.

“Alright. Sit down again. Let’s talk a bit.”

I should tell Claudie about this and have her decide.

“…Ah.”

When I told him to sit, the dark elf, this artificial being, sat down across from me. Then I read the scroll they handed me.

“What’s this? This is for me? Wait a minute, you guys. Are you telling me before you tell the Blade Hunter herself?”
“Yes, that is correct.”

What’s this now?

They’re trying to contact Claudie, but instead of telling her directly, they’re trying to tell me first? Am I a higher priority? What does this mean?

“Why? Shouldn’t you try to tell the Blade Hunter herself first?”
“Yes?”

The dark elf looked puzzled at my words.

“I’m not sure what you mean, but… aren’t you the Blade Hunter’s master?”
“What? Master?”
“Yes.”

What is this?

No!!!

“You son of a bitch!!!!!!”
“Yes? Yes?!”
“Do you think of people as slaves!!!!!!”

Claudie is mine, but she’s a person!!!

What the hell, are you saying you’ll go through the master before talking to a slave?! How dare you summon me and insult Claudie like this!!!

“Gah!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“What!!!”

—Thwack!

Greatly enraged, I scolded them and immediately extended both hands, grabbing their necks and lifting them up. —Wham! At the same time, I kicked the table over so they couldn’t brace themselves with their knees.

“Cough…! Gack!”
“Guh-huh-uh-ack!!”

You bastards…!

“These sons of bitches dare to disrespect my Claudie this much!!! You motherfuckers are treating people like slaves!!!”

Judging from this, these desert dark elves must regard women as slaves subordinate to strong men, but the moment they treated my woman like that, scolding is guaranteed!

“Speak!!! You bastards!! Who dares insult my woman!!!”

—Shake, shake!

Just like shaking a can of cola like crazy with the malicious intent to prank someone, I grabbed their necks and shook them wildly, causing them to roll their eyes and foam at the mouth.

“Kuh… Krrrrb…!”
“Kah! Kah-ah-ah-ack!!”

Such powerless bastards!
Too weak to even resist!

—Wham!

I immediately slammed them into the floor. The released bastards coughed wildly, spewing out pain. The crime of treating Claudie like a slave is by no means light. But they came by order of their lord, so I’ll listen for now.

“Hey. Speak clearly. What did your lord say when he sent you?”
“Kuh-huh…! Th-this crazy bastard dares to!!!”

The sky-blue-haired dark elf, who was suffering, suddenly convulsed and tried to raise his upper body, pulling out a dagger from his chest.

—Tap!

I simply flicked his forehead.

—Kugugugung!!

The bastard’s head broke through the floor as it was, and he was knocked out. He’s a guy who has trained his mana quite a bit, but he can’t overcome my forehead flick.

“You want to get hit too?”

When I asked the remaining guy, he shouted loudly.

“M-my lord wants to meet you! He wants to meet you, the great warrior who possesses his daughter!”
“Oh. Is that so.”

Now he’s finally revealing it properly.

I know very well what Claudie’s father thinks about his daughter, whom he abandoned a hundred years ago. The great warrior who possesses his daughter? Does this bastard just want to get beat up by me? No. He probably did it without realizing it.

“Then you don’t want to meet the Blade Hunter?”
“O-of course, he said she was his daughter, so I think he wants to meet her… but this letter is ultimately sent to you.”
“Hoo. Really.”

In other words, he wants to meet me more than his daughter, but should I tell Claudie this? She’ll probably feel very bad. Specifically, she’ll probably hate it as much as I hate it right now.

“Get up and sit down.”
“…Yes.”

The guy, who was completely terrified, arranged the chairs and table and sat in front of me.

“So let me summarize. The Blade Hunter is my woman, so you want to see me. Is that it?”
“That’s what he meant…”
“Alright. Hey, if you answer well, I won’t beat you, so don’t be scared. Answer my questions.”
“Yes, yes. I understand!”

I asked him about Claudie’s father one by one.

The name of the dark elf lord who claims to be Claudie’s father is Varganel. He is a current dark elf who is over 200 years old, and he became a lord because he possesses considerable power.

This desert is very vast, so there are a lot of dark elves, and there are also a lot of dark elves who claim to be lords. Varganel is one of those dark elves.

It seems like he’s just the king of a small dark elf kingdom, but he killed the previous king with his power and ascended to the throne over 40 years ago, and he seems to be running the country reasonably well.

The size of the country seems to be in the mid-to-upper ranks when compared to the dark elf dynasties that are rampant. The location is said to be down south.

“I’m learning his name for the first time.”

Claudie hardly ever talked about her father. Well, I didn’t really want to know about the bastard who abandoned Claudie, so I didn’t really ask.

“Anyway. I understand the story well. Are you guys going to stay here?”
“…Probably.”
“Then wait here. I’ll come after I decide.”
“…Yes.”

After talking that far, I went outside. You bastards should know that I spared you because you’re envoys. There’s only death for insulting Claudie.

After going outside, I immediately went to the best restaurant nearby, paid the deposit, and made a reservation.

I was originally planning to just eat and go home today, but the schedule will be delayed a bit.

I’ll have to tell Claudie after I finish eating.

“Claudie’s father, huh.”

I don’t know what kind of guy he is, but if he treats Claudie rudely, I’ll have to beat him up… No. But what is it? Whether it’s Winnia’s mom or Karin’s dad, all I remember is beating them up. Could Claudie’s dad end up like that too?

Crazy.

* * *

“Ah, so we’re going home now. It’s been a long one.”
“But we gained so much. Katt-nim also became really strong, it was a really good trip!”
“Except for that crazy dance. Hey, so are we leaving now?”

After finishing the meal, they were about to get up from their seats. Should I tell Claudie the story I heard today?

“Wait a minute.”
“Hmm? Is there anything left to do?”

Karin sat back down.

“I don’t know if I should say there’s something left, but that’s the feeling. This is something that happened before I made a reservation at this restaurant earlier.”
“Katt? What happened?”

Claudie, who was sitting next to me, tilted her head.
I immediately explained to them.

“Suddenly, two dark elves came to find me.”
“Dark elves?”
“Yeah. Dark elves. They came out of nowhere, so I asked them what their business was, and they said they came to find the Blade Hunter.”
“Blade Hunter!”

Hilde shouted.

“What? Is she your customer?”

Winnia said that in an indifferent tone. In fact, it wouldn’t matter even if someone with a grudge came to find her. With the army crushed, what can a single dark elf do?

“Did they come to repay a grudge? You’ve killed quite a few, so it can’t be helped.”
“No, when I asked, it wasn’t a grudge. I don’t think I can call them customers either. Anyway, Claudie.”
“Yeah?”
“The person looking for the Blade Hunter is a dark elf lord.”
“Could that have something to do with something?”
“That lord is supposedly your dad.”

The moment I said that.

—…

Silence fell.

“…”

Claudie’s face remained expressionless, and everyone looked at each other, then at Claudie.

“…Sister’s dad?”

The first to speak was Winnia.

“Yeah. Claudie’s father.”
“U-umm… Is that a good thing…? No. You said you didn’t really like him… I have a bad feeling about this again.”

Liztina looked back and forth between Winnia and Karin’s faces as she said that. In fact, she didn’t have good memories with the two women’s mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law. Xenia was only subjected to my big-boob twirling, and Raiden was beaten to a pulp by Karin.

“Hmm, that’s right.”

Karin nodded with a somewhat satisfied face.

“There are times like this in life. Yeah. Definitely.”

A womanly attitude worthy of someone who has wonderfully crushed her own father with her own hands.

“Claudie? Are you okay?”
“Uh-huh… I’m just a little taken aback. I didn’t think he would be alive.”
“You said that.”
“Of course, I thought he was dead. It’s common for people to die in the desert.”

Claudie’s tone was calm.

“That’s true. So Claudie, what do you think? They want to see you.”
“Uh-huh… What should I do? What do you think, Katt?”
“I’m asking for Claudie’s opinion. You should do whatever you want this time.”

Is she a little displeased?

“To be honest, I don’t care about my father. I didn’t really like him in the first place. Anyway, it’s been a hundred years… no. It’s been a long time.”

It’s been a hundred years.

“Alright. Since that’s what Claudie wants, I’ll have to tell you more of the story.”
“More of the story?”

I recited the story that the dark elf envoy told me as it was. Including the infuriating fact that they treated Claudie like my slave.

“So, it’s more like they want to see me, Claudie’s ‘master,’ rather than Claudie. I beat up those bastards a bit because of that. How dare they treat Claudie like my slave…”
“Hehe, what? You got angry because of that? I don’t really care? Even if I’m Katt’s slave.”
“No, that’s not it.”

She’s acting like it doesn’t matter, but I can’t tolerate this.

“The important thing is that another bastard thought that way and said it out loud. That’s an insult to Claudie. And it’s also an insult to me.”

That is a challenge to me.

“That’s right. In fact, Mama thought the same thing just now. To make Katt angry… I can’t forgive that.”
“Yes! Insults can’t be forgiven no matter what! I can’t stand that Claudie-nim was treated like that!”
“That’s right, Hilde!”

Hilde is right.

“Then everyone? Sorry. I think I have to go.”

Anyway, Claudie seems to have decided to go.

“What are you sorry for? It’s a natural thing. I did too, and so did Winnia.”
“It’s about sister’s dad, so of course you have to go. No. But they treat their own daughter like that? That’s exactly like my mom.”

Winnia, who performed a diss as naturally as breathing, grumbled.

Then let’s decide to go.

Let’s talk to Claudie a little more.