Chapter 177
Gration’s next word inevitably became ‘Dad.’
“…I can’t believe this.”
Her pride was hurt.
No matter how hard she tried, was being a mom, not an unchanging position? The defeat of Magna and Kalcion far exceeded the ordinary.
“This won’t do. Gration?”
“Ung!”
Now Gration easily uttered simple words.
So, there was one area where Selina could compete—the language field.
Even if it were in the language of the other world, she would make him say ‘Mom’ first.
After all, considering that Gration was conceived in the other world, his original hometown was also there. Learning the language of the homeland was an important task.
Selina, who firmly established the legitimacy of teaching Gration the language of the other world, took a deep breath and took off the bracelet. Except for a brief moment when she washed in this world, the bracelet was never taken off.
Losing it meant losing her point of contact with this world.
Language was a crucial channel that directly connected to thoughts. No matter how strong it was, if communication through words did not work, she could eventually drift away.
For Selina, it was a gap that could never be closed. While she thought about learning this language herself, she never found the time or opportunity to start. Even if she learned it, she doubted she could use it freely like her mother tongue.
There was a feeling that it might not be meaningful.
However, if Gration could freely speak Selina’s language, a link would be formed, even if one day came when the bracelet broke or got lost.
Selina touched her empty wrist, contemplating the day when Gration would be able to speak her language fluently. She looked at Gration with a mixture of emotions.
“Gration. Omma.”
“Onna?”
Remarkably, Gration immediately echoed Selina’s words.
“That’s right, exactly! Omma!”
“Omma!”
“Gration!”
Selina, deeply moved, hugged Gration tightly. Gration, without understanding the meaning, giggled and hugged his mother with his small hands.
“Once again. Omma!”
“Omma!”
Smiling brightly, Selina repeated it dozens of times. Yet, Gration didn’t get tired; he continued saying it over and over.
“Gration, can you do Appa? Appa.”
“Abb-ba.”
“Appa.”
“Apa.”
“Oh my, you’re good at this too! Our Gration must be a genius!”
While he didn’t display the same physical prowess as Magna, he certainly excelled in language. Selina, completely absorbed in teaching Gration to speak, didn’t even notice Kalcion entering the room.
“Now, this time, um, this is called clothes. Oht.” (Clothes)
“Oht!”
Watching the adorable duo, Kalcion approached, taking off his outerwear and placing it on the sofa.
“[ Are you trying to teach him the language of the other world? ]”
“[ Yes, it would be good to learn quickly. ]”
“[ I guess so. ]”
“[ …Huh? ]”
Selina realized something was odd a beat later.
“[ Why? ]”
Kalcion hadn’t noticed yet. But now that she had spoken, Selina could feel it.
“[ Oh… ]”
Selina held up her free wrist, looking confused.
“[ …Oh? ]”
This time, Kalcion had the same confused face.
Staring at each other, they blinked simultaneously, and then both gasped.
“[ What happened? ]”
“[ I… don’t know! ]”
Rather than thinking and then expressing thoughts as if speaking a foreign language, it came out simultaneously, just like one’s native language. The same with listening, instead of translating after hearing, the meaning immediately entered her mind.
Even when putting on and taking off the bracelet while speaking, the phenomenon persisted.
[ What happened? ]
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out the reason.
In the end, Selina started delving into Songtullek’s records again. Songtullek’s records were vast. What she had read before was only a small part related to dimensional travel. She didn’t know the contents of other chapters, having casually skipped over them.
“I should take some time to go through and organize them.”
Songtullek’s records were a valuable intellectual asset, and Selina found it wasteful to let them gather dust. However, only Selina, from the other world, could decipher many of the records.
“Ah, here it is.”
After several days of flipping through the records, Selina finally found something relevant.
〈 The bracelet is connected to the brain’s movements when using language, allowing it to activate. Therefore, conversely, it is designed to naturally acquire language proficiency when worn for extended periods… Is it not cumbersome to wear it every day? 〉
A reasonable point.
He seemed quite humane and affable. In the end, she found the reason for the phenomenon.
“That’s interesting… How did he come up with all these thoughts?”
Although she found the reason, Selina’s interest now turned to Songtullek, the grand wizard. Out of amusement, she continued to explore and stumbled upon what seemed like a diary entry.
“Hoo?”
Diaries that capture the moment’s emotions in their entirety are easier to understand than autobiographies.
With curiosity lighting up her eyes, Selina turned the pages of the diary.
〈 First Day.
I am starting this record since I don’t know what will happen to me in this world in the future. 〉
Songtullek must have been bewildered as he suddenly dropped into this world.
A completely unfamiliar world where even communication was impossible. Not just a foreign country, but a planet where it wasn’t clear where in the universe it was attached. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to think he might die.
〈 I speculate that due to space and time are narrowing from the influence of the gravitational field, completely attaching to the space on the opposite side, a proof of the space compression theory. According to the theory, even doors in the returning direction are likely connected, and links to other worlds, not mine, may have been generated simultaneously. 〉
There was a similar explanation when looking for the door to return to the other world.
Back then, she couldn’t understand it, and even now, it was difficult to comprehend. No matter how she looked at it, the wizard seemed closer to a highly developed scientist than a wizard who conjured fire and water from his hands.
Trying to understand this seemed endless.
Selina skimmed over the incomprehensible parts and started reading only the parts related to personal matters. Songtullek was noted to have an unexpected appearance, to the point that the people here could confuse him with a monster.
His entire body was silver, and his height was even taller than an adult male.
Selina’s hand, which had been mentally sketching his appearance, paused for a moment.
She saw it in the room where portraits of the past Dukes of Renbird were hung—the portrait of the first Duke Renbird and a beast standing beside him. What stood beside them wasn’t a beast that symbolized the family, but…
“…A spouse?”
It was too unfamiliar to consider them the same person, so she couldn’t even imagine that it might be the Duchess.
While the Duke had an appearance almost identical to Kalcion, only the hair and eye color were darker.
In the end, what Songtullek passed on was just the hair and eye color, and the rest of the appearance was all traits of the previous Duke passed down through dozens of generations.
…Truly, it was an incredibly strong, handsome gene.
However, how did those two end up together?
Other people’s love stories were always interesting. Selina eagerly started reading the next chapter.
〈 He’s truly a strange one.
When encountering beings with such different appearances and even different language systems, it’s normal to feel fear because that’s instinct.
But this guy showed curiosity first. It’s strange that he attempts to communicate with me, even though we can’t understand each other. Anyway, he’s a strange one.
He refers to himself as ‘Cyriltes’ or something like that. I’m not sure yet if it’s a profession, a class, or a name.
But is my name that difficult? Ssongduhlet, Shongtooleht… It caused quite a stir.
….
The human named Cyriltes becomes more intriguing the more I observe.
After a few days, it seems like he’s some kind of lord, but he’s powerless and lacks social skills, so he seems to have been pushed to the northern regions.
Cyriltes also seemed to lack sociability, hardly making eye contact or engaging in proper conversations with his castle servants. I, on the other hand, approached him often, even though he didn’t seem to notice or engage with people easily. Thanks to that, I could observe him closely.
Cyriltes was fascinating just to look at.
Every time I saw him, I realized anew that a person could look like that, and each time, I was amazed. In a word, he felt like a creature from a fairy tale or a myth, akin to an angel.
It was interesting to see him fight a huge beast with that beautiful body, but it wasn’t particularly enjoyable. Looking that weak, wouldn’t his neck be snapped with a single glance?
As I watched, feeling a bit sorry for him, I helped him a little. Then, he stared at me with sparkling eyes full of admiration.
Oh well, it’s as easy as catching a mosquito… making a fuss about such a trivial thing.
His gaze sparkled so much that I thought he had brought stars into his eyes. Would his eyes shine like that if they were made with jewels? Although there was no actual luminescence, his eyes seemed to shine like something was glowing.
With that kind of radiance, he would become a target for the beasts.
Since it turned out like this, I thought I might as well help him catch a few beasts before going back. Not many, just one or two a day?
I hadn’t exercised much since coming here, and my body felt stiff. Helping catch a beast or two could be considered exercise.
It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Thanks to that, I could eat and sleep comfortably, but I had to earn my keep. 〉
“…You’re not very honest, are you?”
Selina honestly remarked.
_
T/N: I didn’t know the wizard was a woman!! I didn’t see any pronoun to it, and I didn’t read the earlier chapters T.T I’m sorry for this mishap >.<
__