A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Aren't we vigilant? Or are we simply unable to spare even such manpower?

Bray didn't know exactly how many people had died in this Silver Seed invasion, but it seemed like a huge number.

Just when Bray thought no one was around, a small dark figure suddenly appeared.

"Break, beak, beak—" the small black figure mumbled.

Before Bray could react, Levy had already shoved herself into his arms.

"Hmm..." Although Levy has grown quite a bit in size, Bray can still barely hug her.

It hurts a little when I get hit.

"Hiss—" Levy replenished her energy with gusto. She had rushed over at a hundred times the speed after smelling Bray's scent.

After Levy had absorbed Bray's energy for a long time, a deafening noise came from above.

"Aaaaaaah! Dead Fish Eyes, you're still alive!!!!" In the sky, Naruko, sitting on the back of the dragon-shaped Xiaoyou, cried out in anguish.

Is it really okay to ride a dragon so casually?

"I thought Nia was going to be a child without a father, I thought I was going to be a widow!" Naruko cried like a child after jumping off the dragon's back with Nia in her arms.

But why... did Bray not feel moved at all when he saw Naruko crying?

"Quick, wipe your nose." Bray took out a tissue from his pouch and wiped Naruko's snot.

So that's how it is... I lost... It feels a little unreal.

But as expected, we had already lost. The battle, which wasn't long at all, was over in the blink of an eye.

But how should I put it? It gave Bray a very strange feeling.

Even though the whole world has reached its end, why does Bray still have the illusion that daily life hasn't collapsed?

The time required to restore order after a disaster is obviously much longer than the duration of the disaster itself.

Before I knew it, without doing anything special, more than two years had passed in the blink of an eye.

There was no saving of the world, nor any slaughter of monsters.

Everyone is struggling to survive, and so is Bray.

Just like that, Bray suddenly felt a sense of crisis as he approached thirty.

During this time, Xiaoxue and Xiaoyou left the capital and went back to find Nicol Bolas.

They are just young dragons, and it is indeed a bit dangerous for them to be inside the magic circle without any concept of what's happening.

For example, if you were to face Bray, you wouldn't even have a chance to fight back. Just thinking about it sends chills down your spine. You might end up being used by Bray to make dragon meat sashimi one day.

Then, Emperor Carrasco became a figurehead, just like the Will Empire.

However, thanks to the large number of loyal subordinates, Carrasco still controlled the capital.

Well, calling it the capital is more like calling it the capital security zone, since the area is only so big.

Bray doesn't object to Carrasco taking the helm; rather, he's more uncomfortable with having someone else in charge.

At least in just two years, Carrasco restored the once-collapsed monetary system, the state of public security, and other aspects of the economy.

When Bray first returned, he had to find his own food and drink, while many others were scrambling for them.

More than two years ago, money was completely useless; even normal transactions were impossible in the entire safe zone.

The conflict between commoners and nobles was extremely intense; the commoners almost slaughtered the arrogant noble lords.

Later, the status of nobility, like that of the emperor, became merely nominal.

Fortunately, Carrasco gradually restored the operation of the entire "country" during this period.

Otherwise, Bray's illusion that daily life hadn't collapsed would probably not exist, and the survival scenario would likely have become "wasteland and anarchy".

At the same time, the work of adventurers also underwent a dramatic change.

Adventurers still exist, but their numbers have become extremely small, and their work has shifted.

Finding resources became the adventurers' primary task, and the people who posted these notices were mainly Carrasco's subordinates.

To prevent monopolies from destroying the hard-won economic recovery, Carrasco implemented many measures.

Of course, none of this has much to do with Bray, because he doesn't understand these things and therefore has no right to interfere.

However, if it were a heartless guy, Bray would probably be in a very bad situation.

It's definitely better to keep Carrasco.

It's worth mentioning that Princess Virginia and Blanche are still alive.

However, there seems to be nothing surprising about it; that princess is far more capable than anyone imagined.

Combat strength is not necessarily related to how powerful someone is.

Most importantly, Lux is safe and sound; her sister's safety is more important than anything else.

To Bray's surprise, Lux was recruited by Carrasco, seemingly to study something.

He didn't understand it, but he still had to say, "No wonder he's a descendant of the Claas family!"

It's remarkable that a mage who just graduated from the academy has become a researcher!

This is a heartfelt compliment from her brother, and she hopes Lux can sense it through telepathy.

Bray stood in front of a dilapidated wooden house, gazing at the sky in deep thought.

The big house in Midtown was completely destroyed, and the materials for this wooden house in the safe zone were brought back by Bray himself from Midtown.

Those were things I did while bringing food to the priest.

However, I estimate that only Bray would dare to travel that far.

I wonder if Father would have starved to death in front of Betley's house if Bray hadn't been there.

Of course, the cabin was enough for four people, and Bray had no complaints.

For someone with slightly less skill, even the roof of the wooden house might leak.

It's not that no one chooses to help each other, but it seems that there are far fewer such warm-hearted people.

There are quite a few more street thugs like that.

I hope Nia doesn't become a female hooligan.

"Bang! Bang!!!!!" Three-year-old Nia circled around Bray in her childish voice.

Along with Nia, Levy, who had grown considerably older, was also circling around Bray =V=.

Rei is almost twenty-something now, which means she should have evolved from a little girl into a loli by now...

Levy seems to have matured quite a bit; her mindset should be that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old.

"Bray~ Bray~" Levy called Bray's name cutely as she circled around him.

Okay, I retract the preface.

"Beep beep! What are you looking at!" Nia, wearing a little dress with auspicious clouds painted on it, seemed to be having a lot of fun.

But is just circling around him considered playing? What kind of game is this anyway?

The world of children is so hard to understand. Was I like that when I was young...?

“I’m looking at…clouds,” Bray said, hesitating before finally speaking.

He couldn't very well tell Nia that he wasn't looking at anything and was simply spacing out.

Nia would think her dad was stupid... so Bray just said he was admiring the clouds.

"Are the clouds pretty?" Nia stopped and asked curiously.

“It doesn’t look good,” Bray replied instinctively.

"..." Bray quickly realized he had answered too quickly; he had indeed been too honest.

"Oh..." Nia was greatly disappointed, then pulled a small silver knife from the pocket of her skirt.

“Then let’s teach Nia how to use a sword.” Because she had seen Bray carrying two swords for many years, she inadvertently developed the idea of ​​wanting to learn swordsmanship.

Kids are always full of curiosity.

Maybe in a few years she'll realize that this is too masculine and give up on it, and become interested in things that are more girly.

After all, many girls are more mischievous than boys when they are young, but they strangely grow into ladylike girls as they grow up.

Therefore, Bray didn't dwell too much on whether or not to teach Nia the sword.

Since my daughter is going to learn it anyway, why not teach her? She can't learn it anyway.

“Okay, let me think about what I should teach Nia.” Bray stroked his chin and began to think seriously.

"Mmm!" Nia nodded obediently =V=.

Levy, with a fireball on her head, stood quietly behind Nia, watching the interaction between the father and daughter, her tail wagging slowly.

She was thinking about when to teach Nia how to sprint in the 100 meters.

"By the way, let's teach Nia some basic things."

“I’ll teach you the ‘Eighteen Styles’ then. There are so many moves… you’re bound to learn one or two. This is a beginner’s guide.” Bray thought his choice must be reasonable, without realizing the problem.

"Hey, Bray, have you seen our fruit knife? The fruit knife we ​​bought for five copper coins!" Naruko suddenly pushed open the wooden door and asked.

"..." Levy, Nia, and Bray all looked at the silver knife at the same time. "No, Mommy, give the knife back to Nia!" Nia kept jumping up and down, trying to snatch the silver knife from Naruko's hand.

"If you're learning swordsmanship, go get a sword, not a knife!" Naruko retorted sharply, taking advantage of her height to bully her own daughter.

“Oh!!!” The three, including Nia, exclaimed in surprise, “I see!”

"Nia, come here." Bray beckoned to Nia, whose eyes were a little red.

"Bang bang." Nia pouted and walked up to Bray.

"Here's your sword." Bray handed the "Soul Resounding" sword from his waist to Nia.

"W-What!? You idiot Master! Even if I'm your daughter, don't give me to her!!!" A girl's voice exploded in Bray's mind.

However, before the "Final Echo" protest, Bray had already placed the sword in Nia's hand.

The next second, Nia showed a wronged little expression.

"I can't lift it." Nia's childish voice was tinged with a sob. Although "The Last Song" was light, it was still not something a small child could lift.

Nia wanted to learn swordsmanship, but why couldn't she? Thinking about this, she felt like crying.

"Alright, Mommy will teach you other fun things." Naruko tossed the sword to Bray, then picked up Nia and said softly.

"What did Mommy teach Nia?"

"How about taking pictures? My kid has an antique camera," Naruko said to Nia, suddenly having an idea.

"But Nia, if you're going to learn, you can't cry, okay?"

"Mmm..." Nia wiped away her tears and nodded gently.

Although she had no idea what photography was, Conya nodded anyway; it must be fun.

“That’s not an antique, I bought it more than three years ago…it’s pretty new.” After hearing Naruko’s words, Bray, who had just received the “Swan Song”, couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

Bray remembers spending a lot of money on that thing... just to take pictures to show his mother-in-law, and then it just sat there collecting dust.

“It doesn’t matter what they teach, as long as they don’t teach how to drive a vehicle.” Bray sighed, then watched the mother and daughter go into the cabin.

Bray glanced into the cabin a few times.

“They’re gone.” Levy stood beside Bray, her tail swaying gently.

“Yeah, they’re gone,” Bray replied.

"Levy, shouldn't we get a bigger bed for the house?" Nia is currently sleeping with her parents, but she'll be growing taller and taller soon, so shouldn't we get her a better bed?

"It has to be a soft, cozy bed that makes little Nia sleep like a princess!" Levy's eyes suddenly lit up at this, and she wagged her tail rapidly, digging a small hole in the ground.

“That’s a bit extravagant,” Bray said with a slight hesitation.

Such a good bed doesn't exist on the market now. As far as Bray knows, getting a good bed is extremely expensive.

Many of them were searched by adventurers who risked being killed by passing Silver-ranked individuals.

Silver-tier beings are quite common nowadays, and almost everyone understands what a demigod is.