Re:Zero - Jobless Reincarnation: Succubus Sword God? I don't recognize it!

Chapter 562 Reason and Emotion: The Unseen Appearance of Growing Old
The dream constructed by Hades Bitar using the power of a divine child is the manifestation of Eren's premonition about Hilda's condition.

Alan didn't really believe that Hilda would be furious because he wasn't her child.

—This image depicts the judge, who appears in Alan's dreams as an 'enemy' in his subconscious.

Ellen believes that Hilda is more likely simply grieving, feeling that the child she has cared for for so many years is dead, or that the fact that the person she cares about does not exist is a blow to her, because objectively she is not Ellen Boreas Greirat.

—This character portrays a mother who cries and begs the judge to declare Allen innocent, yet is still emotionally unable to accept the current situation.

Hilda looked at Allen with a gentle gaze today, similar to the way Hilda looked at him.

She didn't even say much to Alan; she simply served the guests her child brought, acting as a mother.

This was so natural that it completely surprised Allen.

Logically, this should be a good thing, but for Allen, who has been repeatedly fighting against gods and men during this period:
The habitual way of thinking is to rely on gathering information to plan and thus control all variables.

Therefore, he was quite at a loss when faced with this unexpected development.

Although they didn't communicate directly in the restaurant, Hilda's gaze conveyed a clear message to him.

Hilda knew that Alan was her child.

Why.
Allen was puzzled, confused, and yet harbored a faint hope hidden deep in his heart.

Hope?

But in his heart, the 'ending' of his relationship with Hilda and her son was already clearly foreseen, just like the dream constructed by Bitta.

He could accept the worst outcome, gradually relinquishing his rights as a child, and privately earnestly asking Hilda's empathetic and long-time companion, perfect white mother, to make up for the lack of affection he couldn't provide.

But at this moment, Allen's intuition still told him:
—Hilda's eyes revealed the answer he had been searching for all this time.

His eyes followed Hilda's figure until she left the restaurant.

The emotional turmoil was so obvious that by the time Allen realized what was happening, he had already stepped outside the restaurant at Hilfi's urging.

Click, the door behind them was closed by the maid standing by.

The commotion made Allen instinctively turn around.

He looked at the restaurant door, sensing the silence inside, and felt a vague unease. His intuition told him that he had overlooked something.

Will the god take revenge on him for the failure of his last plan?
Now?
He has completely become the 'savior'. Who else can He take revenge on but Himself?

Family? Instigating the maid to poison the people in the restaurant? Or summoning a Laplace to blow up the mansion in front of them?
After quickly reviewing his thoughts, Allen felt that the gods and humans lacked motivation.

None of the poisons available on the market can provide immunity to Silphie's current level of detoxification, not to mention that the restaurant also has Rudy and Aisha from the future, whose levels are even higher.

He doesn't deserve it?
Even so, he instinctively stopped, turned around, and tried to follow his habit when facing a crisis by taking his loved ones with him.

Just then, the maid in front of him shifted her gaze from the restaurant door to Allen.

It's Lil.

She performed a maid's curtsy, lowered her eyes, and said respectfully:
"The mistress is in the back garden. Lady Noda has already left the mansion. Young Lady Hilfi asked me to lead the way for you."

You don't need to worry about the restaurant's guests. Although the mistress is not here, the young mistress has grown into a well-respected 'mistress' in the capital during your absence. She will take good care of the guests.

Everyone has missed you dearly these past two years. After receiving news of your return recently, we have already begun preparations for your return to the capital. Please rest assured.

She smiled:

"Finally, given how sudden this is, I still want to say, welcome back to your Bereas, young master."

Allen looked at Lil's face.

The mistress of the house.
The image of Hilda's calm reaction upon seeing her changed appearance, and Hilda's gesture of putting her arm around her shoulder as if she were her own child, flashed into her mind.

Right, memories.

Fragments of memories from the future gave them the psychological expectation to accept themselves properly in advance.

That's why they're so calm.

So that's how it is.
Allen lowered his eyes.

Beside her, Lil wagged her tail and walked away.

"plz follow me."

Allen glanced at the restaurant entrance, then turned and followed Lil to the back garden.

The layout of the Bereas Palace differed from that of the castle in Royana, where the man had stayed for a year; the corridors were incredibly cramped.

But in a daze, he felt as if he had returned to the time when he was in Roya.

-

The back gardens of the noble mansions in the capital were all quite large.

Because the social occasions for nobles in their childhood were nothing more than their own back gardens.

There are many absurd things that happen here day and night. What can the noble young masters and ladies of Yars do when they get together? In an era where entertainment is scarce, it's nothing more than wine and women.

For Allen, who has lived in the main dojo of the Water God School since childhood and has been living in a crisis between humans and gods, this is a territory that has never belonged to him.

The snowmelt from the Yars mountain peak branched off into a thin tributary behind the mansion of Bereas.

The flowers of all colors were carefully trimmed by the gardener, and the evergreen plants still exuded vitality in autumn. However, the broad-leaved trees were deprived of the privilege of having their leaves remain on the trunks by the autumn sun. The yellow and green colors mixed together, appearing desolate but with hidden vitality.

Click, click.

The two followed the stream deeper into the back garden.

Along the way, you can often see thick cloth umbrellas covering the ground, with white stone tables and benches underneath providing shade and a place to rest.

They walked in silence for more than two minutes at a slightly faster pace. At a bend in the stream on an uphill stone path, Lil finally stopped.

She turned her head to look at Allen behind her and said, "We're here. Turn around here and you'll see where the mistress drinks tea."

Allen nodded. "Thank you."

Lil scrutinized Allen's face and suddenly smiled: "Two years have passed, and although the young master's appearance has changed, his personality remains as humble and polite as ever. Even today, I still find it difficult to equate the 'Fox of Bereas' that they talk about with you."

Allen absentmindedly hummed in response.

Lil added, "Recently, we have received two hundred marriage proposals, and even noble families have been visiting us every day, trying to get to know Lady Hilda in advance and make some underhanded moves."

There are even rumors that some nobles have already arranged for people to create opportunities to meet them in important towns along the way south, so as to 'intercept' them in advance.

Although Madam Sylphie didn't say it outwardly, she was certainly quite displeased.

Allen frowned. "Alice? Two hundred letters? They're really something." Lil paused, then said, "...It's you."

Allen was also taken aback: "The nobles of Yars have nothing to do all day long."

Lil smiled: "This is the most important 'matter' in the capital right now."

Allen:
Lil bowed in greeting. She had said what she needed to say and done what she needed to do; now it was time to take her leave.

"Then I shall take my leave."

Allen nodded.

He watched Lil leave until her figure disappeared from his sight, then took a deep breath and turned back along the winding white stone path.

Looking up, high on the hillside, beside a small waterfall, amidst the falling yellow leaves, Hilda sat upright at a stone table for resting.

She held the now-steaming teacup, turned her head to look in the northwest corner, and did not notice Allen's figure in her blind spot more than 20 meters away.

Allen watched her take a couple of steps, then subconsciously turned his head to follow her gaze in the direction she was looking.

After taking two more steps, he stopped abruptly.

Allen stared blankly at the northwest corner of the back garden.

The shadows of the trees swayed in the distance.

In the gap where yellow and green leaves meet, far away, hundreds of meters away, from an angle overlooking the landscape.

The gates of the Bereas mansion are still faintly visible.

The explanations given about the so-called maids in the restaurant are illogical in many ways.

Noda hadn't paid attention to the direction of Boreas's gate, so she was unaware that a 'guest' had come to Boreas's house.

Hilda, who always looked in this direction, only glanced at it casually out of habit while drinking tea and chatting.

Then you can clearly see who the person who has come from afar is.
What's the maid's whereabouts?
It was just an excuse to avoid putting Allen under any psychological burden.

Like Rojana, she always gazed at a tree.

At that time, the tree was planted outside the bedroom's French windows.

Now this tree has been planted in front of the mansion's gate.

"...Allen?"

The voice called out, and Allen turned around.

At some point, Hilda had shifted her gaze from the Boreas house gate. She looked at Allen with the embarrassment and shame of a parent who had secretly followed their child on their first day of driving to work after getting their license, only to be discovered by the child at a traffic light.

Allen withdrew his gaze, stepped forward, and counted his steps as he walked as steadily and gracefully as possible to Hilda.

Hilda just stared at him. Stared at him.
The first thing he said was:
"Why is all my hair white?"

At this moment, as Allen listened to Hilda's words, his throat felt dry, but he had absolutely no idea how to respond.

Hilda looked at Allen's bewildered expression, a hint of barely perceptible annoyance flashing across her face, before she flashed a smile:
"Although his hair has turned white, his face is still very handsome, and his spirit is even sharper. It seems that Allen has been working hard to shoulder the burden of Boreas during this time. Is he tired?"

Allen's Adam's apple bobbed, and he could only say, "I'm not tired. Everyone helped me a lot along the way."

Hilda smiled with satisfaction:
"It seems Allen has made quite a few friends. Please have a seat."

".good."

Allen didn't even brush the fallen leaves off the stone bench before plopping down on it.

The sound of tea leaves crackling filled the air as he looked down at the half-empty teacup on the table and a book lying beside it.

—From "Memory and Marriage Flowers"

Allen frowned, not because he had read the book.

The book's title was so eye-catching that the order of the words was constantly being jumbled and jumping around in his vision, shifting and turning with his wandering gaze, unable to be transformed into information to enter his mind.

There was silence.

Allen, his hands on his knees and head bowed, was unable to meet Hilda's gray eyes with his own black pupils.

After a long pause, he finally managed to utter a sentence with his head down:

"Gray hair is a benign reaction to magic; it indicates that my magic level has risen above that of my peers."

"Ah."

"It is completely harmless to the body, so it only causes the hair to turn white, and there is actually no negative impact."

"Ah."

So Mom doesn't really need to worry.

"Ah."

The autumn wind sweeps away the fallen leaves, bringing a rustling sound.

Feeling the gaze fixed on him, Allen's brow twitched, but he finally looked up at Hilda.

As Allen looked up, Hilda immediately looked away from his hair and at his face.

She smiled:

"Mom wasn't worried. She just seemed a little distracted when she saw Allen's hair."

My mother was thinking that everyone will grow old, and when I am old and frail, I will also have a head of white hair.

So I can't help but wonder what Allen will be like when he's old.

Seeing Hilda's gentle gaze as they looked at each other, Allen felt his mood gradually relax.

But then, he was taken aback.

He looked at Hilda's smiling face, his expression changing rapidly, complex and indescribable.

I instinctively wanted to say something comforting, but I couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

Xilufei and Luoqixi have long lifespans. He has thought many times about how he would feel if he had white hair and was placed among them in the future.

But...
But his mother never got to see him grow old.

(End of this chapter)