Reborn as the Hero's Daughter

After Cloud and I finished our respective face-offs, it was now time for him to face Gadius, while Finia faced Lyell.

It was his second match without a break, but his role in our party required the most toughness. This was also to see how he fared in terms of stamina.

As for Lyell, since he was facing Finia now, he couldn’t get violent as he did with Cloud, so he was in a pretty awkward state.

While I was observing them, I spotted something strange in the corner of my vision. There, Maxwell was being cornered by Cortina and Maria.

“So, Maxwell. Where did ‘she’ go?” “She? I have not the slightest idea who might you mean?” “I mean that Haumea, the girl that seems to be the reincarnation of Reid!” “This is my first time hearing about this as well. Care to tell me the details?” “I, ehm… She is not Reid’s reincar—” “You really think that excuse is gonna work at this late hour? You can’t pretend that the evidence left in Tarkashire’s mansion doesn’t exist.” “No, that was…”

It was rare to see Maxwell so flustered, but I couldn’t just stand and enjoy it. The contents of their talk were problematic for me too. At this rate, he might end up confessing about me.

I had to shift their target to something else, but I couldn’t think of a good excuse.

Maxwell was sneaking glances towards me and asking for help, but I couldn’t just come up with an excuse on the spot so fast. Thinking wasn’t my forte, in the first place.

I spread my hands out, gesturing at him to drag it on as much as he could, but Cortina and Maria were no pushovers.

“Umm, the truth is…”

Maxwell started while sweating bullets. It was obvious that his bastion was about to fall. Cortina who was pressing him for the answer was one thing, but Maria who held him by the shoulders from behind while smiling sweetly was equally frightening.

Honestly peaking, I had no courage to butt in there. It looked scarier than the fight with the Evil Dragon Colchis.

“Reid is… Umm… Alright, fine!” “Oh, are you in the middle of something?”

Just as Maxwell’s endurance reached its limit and I also resolved myself for the inevitable, a nonchalant voice interrupted their conversation.

The one that butted in their conversation without caring about the tense mood… Was Aste. He was clad in a robe that covered his solid body, and held a package under his arm.

Cortina and Maria who were seeing him for the first time felt suspicious of him.

“I came to deliver your order, but should I leave for now?” “No, no such thing. You came at the perfect time!” “Wait a minute, what do you mean perfect time. Rather, who is this person?” “He is my acquaintance blacksmith. No, let’s leave that for later. We have a guest here, right?”

Maxwell pointed at him while making that appeal. Cortina still seemed to have something to say, but Maria wasn’t so outrageous to keep pressing him for answers before a guest.

Thus, she reluctantly let go of Maxwell’s shoulders and agreed to his opinion.

Seeing Maria that way, Cortina couldn’t keep going either.

“Fine then… But we’ll definitely continue from where we left off, you hear?” “U-Uh, o-of course. Oh right, can I borrow Nicole after this? Aste is quite a capable blacksmith.” “To be accurate, I am a craftsman. No, I suppose that isn’t right either.” “A craftsman? Really?” “Indeed he is! Nicole is a growing girl, so her equipment needs to undergo adjustments.” “Now that you mention it, she’s grown quite taller lately. Sword aside, her leather armor does need some readjustments.”

Maria agreed with Maxwell.

Lyell and the rest finally finished their training by that time. Lyell himself looked fine, but Finia was dripping with sweat and her legs looked wobbly. Cloud was in a similar state too.

“Finia has the skills but her stamina is the problem. Cloud on the other hand has the necessary stamina, so all that’s left are techniques.” “Yes, this lad is quite talented. Explains why your daughter had an eye on him.”

The two briefly commented on their students while heading towards us. Hearing their good evaluation, Finia and Cloud looked quite satisfied.

I recalled my previous conversation with Gadius. Lyell seemed to have been stressed since I was ignoring him.

He was someone irksome for me, but that didn’t mean I hated him. He was the rival that had reached my ideal a step faster than me, so it was a bit unreasonable to ask me to be kind to him. I wasn’t that good-natured.

Still, I didn’t hate him, so leaving him in this awkward relationship with his daughter was also a bit too harsh.

Thus, I grabbed the towels that Maria prepared and ran up to him.

“Good work. Here you go, dad.”

I handed over the towel in a frank but also somewhat shy tone. I also gave one each to Gadius and Finia. Lyell and Gadius almost didn’t sweat at all, but Finia was so sweaty her exercise uniform was completely drenched. Her uniform was clinging to her skin and looked quite erotic. Yeah, not a bad sight to behold.

“Ah, you have my thanks, Nicole.” “Thank you, Lady Nicole.”

Gadius thanked me casually, while Finia was more polite about it. Lyell, on the other hand, was simply frozen in place.

He stood there trembling for a while. I c̲o̲c̲k̲e̲d̲ my head to the side in wonder, but the next moment he suddenly reached out toward me.

“Waaaaaaah, Nicoleeee!” “Gyaaaaaaaaah!” “Look, Gadius, isn’t my daughter simply adorable!”

He suddenly pulled me close and hugged me so tight I couldn’t even move. Though I said he didn’t sweat, it wasn’t like he didn’t sweat even a bit, so he was somewhat stinky.

Moreover, I could feel his bulging muscles from under his thin clothes. I tried to resist with all my might, with goosebumps all over my body, but alas, it was futile.

“I got it, I got it already, so let her go. She keeps her distance because you act like that.” “W-What!? Nicole wouldn’t hate me over such a thing!” “I… HATE YOU!”

Whenever I throw him a bone, he’s always like this. I threw my merciless retort and slipped out of his grasp. I was at least able to escape from him while he was struck by my words.

Then I rushed straight towards Finia and clung to her, securing my safety. Lyell collapsed to his knees and hung his head down in dejection. But he brought that on himself.

“Uh, Nicole. What about my towel?” “How about you go get it yourself?”

There was no reason to appeal to Cloud as well, so I didn’t bring his share. Hearing my words, he also fell to his knees in dejection right next to Lyell.