The Reincarnated Thirty-Something Woman’s Otherworldly Reform Life
[Interlude: Grandfather, Ants and Me]
Translated by: ME
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Author's note:
This is a side story composed following a request drive held to commemorate 100,000 page views.
The three requests received were:
A story about Servas doting on Magnolia.
A story about Magnolia meeting Dean's siblings or friends and “playing with them” with her usual generous spirit.
A story from the perspective of an ant (Ari-san) challenged to a battle.
I have blended these three requests into a single story.
Thank you very much for sending your requests.
I wonder if this has met your expectations...?
*****
Servas was slumped over.
Everyone in the manor thought he was behaving inappropriately for his age, but everyone also conceded it couldn't be helped when his granddaughter was involved.
He was depressed, looking like the very definition of the word dejected.
The air was heavy and damp, thick enough for mushrooms to sprout on the walls and floors.
About a week ago, a messenger arrived from the Royal Palace, and he was forced to attend a meeting.
Learning that his second son, Claude, and his granddaughter, Magnolia, had gone to Crews in the West during his absence, he was profoundly crestfallen.
Furthermore, the meeting he was forcibly summoned to was utterly pointless (in Servas' opinion) and not at all interesting... no, in fact, it was a ridiculously boring meeting.
Whether an interesting meeting had ever been held remained highly doubtful, but let's put that aside for now.
He had spent a total of eight days—two and a half days traveling there, three days in the Capital, and two days (a forced march!) coming back—and it was truly a case of much ado about nothing but fatigue.
On the return trip, fueled by his desire to see his granddaughter and anger at being summoned for no reason (?), he barely rested and blasted his horse homeward. The carriage he left behind would arrive at the manor tomorrow or the day after, driven by the coachman.
Claude's actions had been born from a thoughtful desire to take his newly relocated niece out for a bit, and a win-win idea that he could show and explain several towns and locations to his niece, who seemed interested in the domain's affairs.
——The result of this trip, however, was the resolution of the Sailing Sickness (thought to be an unknown cause on the continent) and the launch of a major business venture to improve several domain issues. To explain this to his father, the Margrave, Claude had no choice but to start the story from their outing... He sighed, realizing that his non-conformist niece, who had casually admitted to being a reincarnated person from another world, was utterly incapable of keeping things small.
Everyone in the manor turned their gaze toward Magnolia.
「(Eh? M-me!?)」
She shot a protesting look back at the collective gaze.
...But everyone nodded in unison as if on cue.
At this point, only Servas' personal idol (?), Magnolia, could solve the problem.
(Oh, come on! I don't know how to cheer up a sulking old man!!)
The reincarnated toddler, Magnolia (physically four years old), who had the appearance of a cute girl but the heart of a woman approaching thirty—or perhaps closer to a middle-aged man—looked at Sebastian and Claude with an expression full of complaints, but they merely shook their heads. They had no idea what to do.
(…Damn it. I'm just a humble lodger here...)
Grumbling inwardly, she softly placed her small hand on the shoulder of her grandfather, the man with the nickname 'Demon General,' who was currently drawing circles on the floor in the corner of the room.
「Grandpather? It'th warm today, scho chall we have tea in the garden thith afternoon? I will bake a cake jutht for you, Grandpather. Tho, pleathe lithten to Thebastian about your work while you were away, and finith your work quickly, okay?」
She tilted her head and looked up with big, pleading eyes.
「Bake a cake...!? Magnolia will!?」
「Yeth. Thomeone elthe will handle the heat level, but I will make everything elthe.」
(All I have to do is toss ingredients into a mold or pot and mix them, though.)
「Fwaaaaaah!!!!」
Everyone present looked at the Demon General (sixty) with warm, slightly pitying eyes as he flushed, wiggled his body, and expressed his joy at his granddaughter's words...
Wiping the sweat from his face with a handkerchief pulled from his chest, Sebastian dragged Servas toward the study.
(Phew!! It seems to have settled down somehow...)
Magnolia breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her wiggling grandfather being pulled away.
Claude, who also sighed quietly, said:
「...Be careful not to be crushed in a hug from sheer delight.」
「I don't think I can be careful about that!」
Magnolia unintentionally blurted out a retort using words from her previous life.
***
Meanwhile, at the edge of the forest known as the Demon's Forest.
In a nest burrow, an elderly demon insect was telling the young ones a scary story that had recently happened.
(I am merely a humble B-rank demon insect known as a Giant Ant.)
Today was a lesson on the outside world.
It was the role of the elderly demon insect to teach the young ones how to survive in a harsh world.
「Demon beasts and demon insects live in a severe society. If there is an overwhelming difference in power, you must flee immediately. If you misjudge, you will be easily defeated by a stronger demon beast.」
Indeed. Just the other day, while patrolling the forest, he encountered three terrifying humanoid demon beasts.
When a young Giant Ant ran off saying, 「Hyaa-haa!」 he followed and found two S-rank demon beasts (Servas and Claude) emitting a malice impossible for humans, and one A-rank demon beast (Gai).
「Hey, young ant number one! That's not a human! That's a high-ranking demon beast in human form, come back...!」
But his desperate cries were in vain. The young ant was instantly cut in half by a tentacle (sword) extending from the beast's hand...
Seeing this, three of the other young ones became enraged and rushed forward, trembling but posturing.
「Damn it! Get them!!」
「Avenge my brother!!」
The others rushed toward them with sharp cries, prepared to be instantly destroyed, so the old demon insect frantically tried to stop them.
「No! Come back! That one is especially monstrous!!」
The bulky, red-haired demon beast glared ominously and let out a low growl, instantly knocking down two of them.
One had a hole ripped through its body, and the other was slammed against a large tree with tremendous force.
「Young ant number two, number three...!」
「「Heeeee—!!」」
Just then, two humans trembling in the corner caught his eye.
One was a small child. Perhaps paralyzed by fear, the child was trembling with tears welling up.
(Were they brought from the human village as food for the demon beasts?)
While distracted by the human child, young ant number four also fell victim to the A-rank demon beast's venomous fangs and was instantly shredded into pieces.
(…Ugh! What an awful thing to do...!)
Though wracked with powerlessness, the old demon insect yelled out, trying to save the still-young human child.
「Hey, human child! It's dangerous here, run away quickly!!」
The child didn't seem to understand his words. Helplessly, the old demon insect clacked his large jaws and teeth, shouted loudly, and waved his limbs to appeal desperately.
「Those people aren't humans! They are demon beasts! You will be eaten! I will distract them, so escape!」
However. Perhaps confused by fear (?), the human child did not understand his words at all.
The old demon insect grew increasingly panicked.
「Hurry——!! (Panic)」
「Mukkii——!!!! (Anger)」
For some reason he couldn't understand, the human child was incredibly angry.
「Fuuuunn-gah——!!」
(…No, your comrades were killed, and I'm trying to persuade you; I'm the one who should be angry here...)
The old demon insect was bewildered.
Then, the human child picked up a weapon, ran forward unsteadily chi-chi-chi-chi-chi! and struck the old demon insect's hind leg—the easiest target since he was standing upright!
「Touugh!」
Peck.
A sound that was too dull to be a strike rang out.
「Kisha...? (Hmm...? An attack??)」
「Kisha? Don't you dare Kisha, you bastard! (Censored yelling!!)」
The old demon insect tilted his head, but seemed to sense that the toddler in front of him was extremely furious.
The long-lived old demon insect was a demon insect who could read the room.
All the S-rank demon beasts looked at the human child with what looked like sour expressions.
...The younger of the two demon beasts was looking at the child with intense wrinkles forming between his brows... that was the same aura as a queen ant scolding a worker ant.
The A-rank demon beast, perhaps having been poisoned, was kneeling on the ground next to them, trembling slightly with both hands down.
「............(Troubled)」
「............(Angry)」
It seemed the demon beasts had no intention of eating or harming the human child and were quietly observing the situation.
(…Is this child a descendant of a fairy...)
He was too panicked to notice earlier, but he realized the child carried a familiar, gentle aura. Although she was terribly angry right now.
The human child in front of him seemed to be a descendant of a human and a fairy, something rarely seen these days.
...Wait?
Following the malicious aura, he noticed a faint trace of a fairy aura in the monsters, too.
(…Is that guy a subspecies of fairy and demon beast!?)
Concluding that fairies wouldn't harm each other, the old demon insect reached into a hidden compartment in his hard shell and offered a honey crystal he had received from a Giant Bee.
Fearing that his large insect hand would be scary, he dropped it plop onto the small hand from a distance.
「There, if you get that angry, you'll have a fit. Eat this and cheer up.」
「????」
Feeling reassured, the old demon insect quietly returned to the forest——
[Lesson]
Do not waste your life in reckless battles. To live, you must carefully assess the situation.
A brave retreat is sometimes essential.
However, even if you know it's reckless, protecting the vulnerable is a demon insect's code of honor.
If you are not careful, you will become like those foolish humans who lost countless lives in the prolonged killing spree they called war.
***
Before the long-awaited family lunch, Magnolia came to the kitchen. In a corner, she borrowed an empty pot (after asking permission), took ingredients lying around (again, after asking permission), and tossed them in one after another by eye. She ground and mixed them with a wooden spoon, smoothed the surface, and then repeatedly dropped the pot onto the countertop to release the air bubbles.
(I made dozens of these yesterday, so they should bake well.)
She felt like an employee at a specialty cheesecake shop.
The Head Chef peered over Magnolia's hands and nodded with an impressed expression.
「You are quite skilled at this, Young Lady.」
「Yeth. I baked thcoreth of them yethtethday.」
「Scores...?」
He tilted his head suspiciously at the Young Lady's words, but the kitchen staff were all fascinated, watching Magnolia's hands, intrigued by the recipe they had never seen before.
「I will make thome for everyone in the manor too. If there are empty moldth, pleathe lend them to me.」
「...Young Lady...!」
The kitchen staff, flying flowers of delight at the prospect of sharing the treat, were then subjected to another simplified recipe lecture.
(Isn't it bad for such a crude recipe to spread? Is this okay?)
Magnolia resolved that, from now on, she needed to convey things using units like 'tablespoon' or 'cup,' something that could be called a unit.
After a while, the sweet and cheesy baking scent drifted throughout the manor, bringing happiness to everyone.
***
Dean and Lily, who had returned from their week-long assignment, were given special leave for several days to rest their bodies. Lily returned her vacation time, finding she couldn't settle down, but Dean was semi-forced to take it, as she felt he needed time with his family.
He was currently tumbling and playing with children of similar ages.
They looked like a litter of puppies playing, and it was a heartwarming sight.
「Are they all Dean'th friendth?」
「That's right. There aren't many houses nearby, so the servants' children play together.」
I see. The boundaries between social classes seemed somewhat lower in the frontier region, and she felt comforted watching the cluster of commoner and noble children tumbling in front of her.
As for Magnolia, she was sitting on Servas' lap and had been continuously having her head stroked since she sat down.
As an old woman on the inside, she found it mortifying, but she endured it as a form of public service.
「This 'cheethcake' is incredibly delicious. Did you really make this, Magnolia?」
「Yeth. The ingredients are thlightly different here, but it'th eathy to make. I had everyone in the kitchen bake it, thinth baking ith dangerouth.」
He grumbled gnununu while bringing a piece to his mouth.
Even while grumbling, his hand didn't stop stroking her head.
「Thugar ith tho expenthive...」
「I'll import as much as you need! I'll buy enough sugar to fill the entire manor!」
「No, we don't need that much...」
Servas' level of devotion was terrible. Magnolia recoiled slightly on his lap.
「Sugar was originally imported from the southern countries and was introduced as a medicine.」
「I thee, medicine... Tho it'th a ditthtribution ithue. Thinche it'th the chouth, ith it made from thugar cane?」
Servas tilted his head at Magnolia's words.
「I don't know. The only other sweetener domestically is honey.」
「Hmm. If it wath the north, I'd expect thugar maple treeth for maple thirup, or beet thugar, wouldn't I?」
「Is there really that much sugar in 'Earth'!?」
Servas was astonished and raised his voice.
(My granddaughter is too smart! Is she an angel? She's cute, so she must be an angel!!)
「Strictly thpeaking, that includeth thingth that aren't thugar... Yeth. The thugar made from thugar cane could be bought for about one medium copper coin per kilogram when it wath on thpale.」
「Sugar for one medium copper coin...!」
He was stunned again when told that even at the regular price, depending on the type, it would cost only two or three medium copper coins.
Hee, hee, hoo! Hee, hee, hoo! Servas regulated his breathing and his agitated heart.
To calm down, he hugged his granddaughter.
From the side, she looked like a pink, talking body pillow.
Then, he sighed as he looked at the small portrait—or rather, the series of sketches—depicting the recovery process of the Sailing Sickness patients, which he held in his hand.
「This... Did they really get this much better just by being careful about their diet...?」
「Yeth. It wath originally the crew of the Ignith nation'th Champmery who were ill. Apparently, one of the crewmemberth had artistic thkillth and wath thketching the progreshth to obtherve the courthe of the illneth.」
After Ernest departed, Paul came to hand over a copy, saying Ernest had entrusted it to him.
Since there are no photographs, the only way to record things is through pictures and text.
The picture proved to be extremely helpful as a means of documenting the change, a fact that had completely slipped Magnolia's mind.
(You don't miss a beat, Ernest. I wonder who he really is...)
「If this is true, we must certainly commercialize this venture.」
(My granddaughter is amazing! A genius! So cute! I want to shout my love for her from the center of the world: KAWAEEE!!)
It would enrich the territory and save many people. Servas stared at the drawing with a serious expression—the exact opposite of his inner turmoil—when the children shouted and waved from a distance.
「Lady Magnoliaaa!!」
「Yeth! Run over there and back again, then go wath your handth! I'll give you a thnack!」
「Yesss!!」
The children ran off jostling each other, shouting happily.
She had already wrapped portions of the sliced baked cheesecake in clean handkerchiefs. She checked the basket containing them and confirmed the count.
(One, two, three... Wouldn't want them to fight if there aren't enough.)
Servas smiled at his reliable granddaughter, then buried his face in her cheek and squeezed her tight.
「Truly, Magnolia is adorable! You are the best in the world!!」
「Guh-heck!!」
(My breath! My bones are creaking...!!)
Tap, tap! Taaaaap!!!!
***
High above the Azenda territory, a giant ant with its stored wings extended was flying.
Bum-boom. Buhn-buh-booom.
The other day was truly regrettable.
There are dangerous humans called 'Magicians,' 'Wizards,' and 'Sorcerers' in the Holy Montereona Nation, but it seems there are highly dangerous, high-ranking humanoid demon beasts in the Azenda territory.
Since it is dangerous, he decided to patrol occasionally like this to prevent harm to vulnerable demon beasts and demon insects.
Buhn-buh-booom.
(They didn't seem to be able to fly. On the ground, you never know when you might encounter them. You can't even take a leisurely stroll...)
The old Giant Ant demon insect let out a huge sigh.
...He was almost directly above the Margrave's manor.
(Twenty-five years of demon insect life! This Giant Ant has never encountered such dangerous creatures!)
The frontier region of Azenda. It is now governed by the infamous Demon General.
Perhaps it is turning into a demon realm...
*****
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