NBAA Vol. 3 Chapter 4 Part 3
Forty years ago, a pair of twin sisters, the human Aira and the elf Maria, were born in the Great Atlas Forest.
They were born into the aristocratic Hazuki household, an equal match for the Midori House.
Their mother’s name was Aira. In the Four Leaves Kingdom, there was a custom to give the eldest daughter that name.
In the past, the elf kingdom was saved from destruction due to the actions of a certain woman. That woman’s name was Aira. This woman was the start of this naming custom.
The elf race has a high ratio of females. Almost all elves are women. As a result, the eldest daughter frequently inherited the household, and the name Aira came to take on the connotation of heir to the household.
Elves live the longest out of the six races and often live between three and four hundred years. However, a race composed of only females cannot reproduce, so it’s common for elves to proactively seek relationships with other races.
When two elves have a child, women are more common. But, if they have a child with other races, men are more common. As such, many different races live in the Four Leaves Kingdom.
Aira was born a human, and Maria an elf.
Although she was a human, it was customary for the firstborn to inherit the household. As such, she was designated as heiress.
Humans with elf blood in them live longer as well. Further, elves have medicine to help humans live longer. Aira was raised to be a proper head of the family from birth.
~
“You got that? Outside of this forest, there is a kingdom where only humans reside. Your father is from there. He is what the humans call an ‘adventurer.’ It’s a tough job, but it’s also a fun and respectable one.”
“Adventurer?”
“What’s an ‘adventure’?”
Before long, both Maria and Aria would come to want to be adventurers, just like their father Kyle, who told them about the profession in the first place.
Kyle was a former adventurer who taught them about the fun and danger of being an adventurer.
~
However, their mother was not one.
“You two don’t have time to be bored. Study hard and become an excellent member of the elf race.”
Aira and Maria had an aristocratic education beaten into them by their mother.
While other children would be out playing, the two of them were studying or practicing swordsmanship or archery. Every time they saw their mother, she would teach them the ways of being an aristocrat.
On the other hand, their father spoiled them.
“You two studied really hard today. I’ll tell you a story about my old days as an adventurer as a reward.”
“Yay!!”
“Your stories are better than any picture book!!”
Kyle told them a story of his adventuring days while they were taking a break from studying. The two of them deeply trusted and respected him.
~
But, Kyle was met with an unforeseen accident.
It happened on their tenth birthday.
Kyle had used a connection from his adventuring days and gave the two of them a charm worn by a large number of adventurers, the “bronze hairpiece.”
The two of them were overjoyed. Their mother was displeased with the two of them flaunting something made of low-price like copper. She confiscated the hairpieces from them.
“You are aristocrats!! You can’t go around wearing shoddy hairpieces like this!!”
“G-, give it back!!”
“Don’t throw it away!! It’s a present from papa…”
The two of them cried at their charm being taken away, and they complained to Kyle.
Kyle pacified the two of them and promised he would get the pieces back. He asked a servant to take care of it and found out the whereabouts of the hairpieces.
It was being used as a necklace by a monster called a “Shell Beast” kept on the estate.
Shell Beasts are raised by elves from the moment they’re born and are trained to not attack elves.
However, humans were different.
The Shell Beast was caught off guard by Kyle and suddenly attacked him. The Shell Beast was as fierce as a red-hair bear.
Kyle was killed before he had time to react. When his body was collected, he was holding the hairpieces of the two girls in his hand.
Their mother blamed them for the loss of her husband. The two of them thought it was her fault that he died.
A deep rift was born between them.
At that time, Aira said to her younger sister, “Maria, we can’t stay here anymore. Let’s go somewhere… Let’s go to our father’s kingdom.”
“What?”
~
When Aira and Maria came of age, they realized that plan.
The two of them left their family behind, saying goodbye to the Great Atlas Forest.
They started working as adventurers in the Baltros Kingdom.
“We are finally free!! We can live and grow as we please, all by our own strength. It’s great, Maria!!”
“Y-, yes… But, I wonder if we’ll be able to make it.”
“Don’t go soft on me!! We’ve got to become a wonderful adventurer, just like our father!!”
Aira and Maria found their way to the Baltros Kingdom and became adventurers.
Aira took up Warrior and Martial Artist as her profession. Maria took up Blast Magic Specialist and Spirit Magician as hers.
Aira would fight on the front with Maria behind her as support. The two of them raised their reputation overnight and climbed their way up the ranks.
~
“Hey, are you two the ones making all that noise in the adventuring world? Fight me!!”
“Who are you, some kind of gorilla?”
“I don’t know who you are, but I’ll give you a fight.”
The two of them had been adventurers for over two years. Plenty of adventurers who heard about their reputation challenged them to fights.
The parent who raised Bal, Moju, was amongst those people.
In the midst of their frequent fights, Aira and Moju decided to form an adventurer party.
Moju told the two of them, “I like you two!! How about you two hang out with my daughter?”
“Daughter? You have a daughter?”
“What’s there to be surprised about? She can’t properly hold a sword yet, but if you train her, I’m sure she’ll be a great swordsman in her own right.”
“What kind of girl is she?”
“She’s a girl whose parents were killed by a vampire. They had asked me to watch out for her if they ran into any trouble. I figured they wouldn’t die!! Little did I know,” she laughed heartily.
Moju revealed the existence of her adopted daughter. Moju would spend time with Aira and Maria before she was caught up in a certain incident and passed away.
The young Bal was left behind, and Maria followed through on her promise to take care of her. Bal avoided relying on Maria and sought to be as independent as possible.
“I will not rely on anyone!! I have lived this far all on my own. I’m going to avenge my parents! That was my promise with Mama Moju!!”
“Do as you please,” Maria said to Bal, whose eyes were red with tears. She deeply respected Bal’s determination. Maria left Bal to live alone.
That being said, she couldn’t very well leave her best friend’s child in the dust, so she would regularly check in on her. Bal was making good on her word and was active as an adventurer. She was polishing her skills to defeat her parent’s mortal rival, the Vampire Gain.
~
Three years had passed since Aira and Maria had become adventurers.
The two of them had risen to S rank upon completing their promotion exams. S rank adventurers have the right to establish their own guilds.
The two of them easily passed the exam and took the S rank for themselves.
King Baltros XII called them to the royal capital and held a grand party for them.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m King Baltros XII,” he said with the voice of an old man.
“I’m Aira.”
“I’m her little sister Maria.”
The two of them were in awe at the presence of King Baltros XII.
It was like running into a dragon for the two of them. Despite his enormous aura, he was actually quite the kind character.
He had called all the aristocrats and generals to celebrate the birth of the two new S rank adventurers.
“Nice to meet you. I’m the king’s little brother, Shinji.”
“Shinji? That’s a weird name.”
“It was a name given to me by heroes called from another dimension.”
“Huh… Heroes, you say.”
“Big sis?”
Shinji would later go on to become King Baltros XIII.
Shinji was King Baltros XII’s little brother. King Baltros XII’s private name was Kain. They got along swimmingly. Shinji was famous for being the one who lost out on the throne.
Their father, King Baltros XI, had the two of them as twins and always had them compete against each other. Kain came out ahead in every field. Shinji was very talented in his own right, but he was no match for his brother.
From the time they were little, Shinji came to have an inferiority complex because of his little brother. Aira also had parental issues – a rift with her mother on account of her father.
The two of them had a certain sympathy for each other, and they hit off instantly.
No one could have predicted at that time that the child they would have together would tear them apart.
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