I was heading deep into the depths of the hiding place with Matelus and Mucha.

　Eventually, we come to a heavy door.
　It's a door of thick magical ore (mithril).
　As usual, it has a complicated seal on it.

　The moment I touched the door...

　The moment I touched that door........

　An extremely deadly air leaks out of the door that has not even been opened yet.
　It turned into a thousand knives that pierced my body and passed through my body.

''Hm. That's pretty good.''

　I twist the corners of my mouth.
　On the other hand, it was Mucha who fell on his buttocks with a flop.
　Beside me, Mattelus was holding his head and squatting.
　Both of them are blue in the face and their bodies are trembling.
　Occasionally, they screamed, ''Hiccup.

''Ma, mama.''

Mom is mad at me.

　It was an uncommon fear.
　Just the fear alone is blowing away the solid reasoning of the two of them.
　Mattels and Mucha, who can dare in front of me, are trembling so much.

　Mom - №0 must be a very good witch.

　Hmm.........
　I'm really looking forward to it.

　I lick my tongue and undo the complicated seal carved on the door.

"Mattelus, Mucha......... You guys are done here.

　I admonished them gently, trying my best.
　The two of them nodded honestly.
　They watched me silently as I walked into the room.

　As I entered the room, the door closed by itself.
　Apparently, Mom wanted to be alone with me.
　I go further, and see a bizarre scene.
　There were large glass cases lined up in a row, as if there was room for at least one person.
　A light green glowing liquid is poured into the case side by side.

''Spirit water........''

　It is water that is made by dissolving the spirit itself with magic and liquefying it.
　It contains more magical power than high-purity magic stones, and is a magical water with various medicinal properties.

　More than six glass cases filled with it are lined up in the room.
　With just one case, you could afford to buy at least a small country's land.

　However, according to the books I've read in the literature, the spirit water refining technology should be obsolete by now.
　Why is this amount of spirit water stored in the depths of the Sou Trading State?

''Well, it's easy to ask the person who made it.

　I paused.
　I stared at the glass case in front of me.

　Inside the light green liquid was a girl about ten years old.
　She had long silvery white hair and white skin as smooth as porcelain.
　Her breasts and lower abdomen were still immature, but glimpses of them were already visible in her thin and even more nubile limbs.

　At first glance, she looks like a dignified aristocrat's daughter trapped in "The Numbered Child (Numbers)," but my eyes cannot be deceived.

　This is him.

　This is Mama.

　My long eyelashes flutter.
　They open slowly to reveal purple eyes like amethysts.

　When our gazes meet, her lips move like cherries.
　Then, in a case filled with spirit water, he said with certainty.

'You have come well, wise man (sic).'

　It was a husky girl's voice, but it propagated with a rather inorganic sound.
　Of course, it's hard to say it's appropriate for her age.
　There's also a sense of oppression that seems to be holding me down without my head.

　No, rather than that, there was something else that bothered me.

''Wise man...?''

　Only a few people know that I'm the man who once saved the world.
　Did the information leak out from somewhere?
　Then the most suspicious person would be Zelman, the head of the Adventurer's School, who I met at the Nine Dragons Cup two years ago.

''You heard from Zelman?''

Zelman?　Oh..... You think you got your identity from one of our people, don't you?

Isn't it?

Of course. I know you well. Perhaps it is fair to say that I understand you better than most here in Galveer right now (I wish you were here, I wish you were here, I wish you were here).

I don't know what you're talking about. Straight to the point.

Yeah. Cut the crap, wise guy. You'll find out what's going on at the bottom.

You.....

　I focus on my eyes.
　I thought I had a sharp look in my eyes, but Mom only smiles a cool smile.

If you want to know my identity so badly, you can use [appraisal] or whatever you want.

You're a pain in the ass. You're a pain in the ass. I'm going to expose you.

Free me.

　I activate my magic.
　Using 【Appraisal】, I examined the girl in front of me in every detail.
　After all, she is a mere girl in appearance, but her basic abilities are high.
　It far surpassed the upper number of demons.
　What should be noted is probably her magical power.
　It far surpassed me, this me, by far.

　However, this was also as expected.
　I've been thinking about that countermeasure as well.
　There's no room for doubt about the odds of victory.

　If there's a problem, it's my mom's body.
　At first glance, she is no different from a normal human.
　She doesn't seem to have undergone any of the physical treatments seen in demonization.
　In other words, she naturally shrugs off the bodily functions of a demon, and has a latent ability that is greater than my magical power.

　However, even this is only a trivial matter.

　This mama doesn't have what normal humans naturally have.

　I looked at Mama's face once more.

'Are you really from this world?

''Ho......... Hmph..................kuhahahahaha!

　Suddenly, my mom started laughing in front of me.
　Inside the glass case filled with spirit water, she is bobbing and spitting out air.
　Living in the water must have [denatured] its own body to be able to adapt even in the water.

　Hmm?　Wait a minute...

　No way...

　I was about to arrive at one truth.
　Mum, on the other hand, asks me curiously.

'What makes you think that?'

''My [appraisal] isn't just about looking at the other person's abilities. I can even divine a blood relative based on their body composition and their minute patterns.

Hoho..... I see. You mean?

Yes. You don't have what people deserve.


　It's roots.


Our roots are enormous. "Man's roots are vast, and they may go back as far as 10,000 years. But yours are only five or six hundred years old. There's no way someone like that could be in Galveer right now.

"Hmmm......... That's a wise man. You know it well.

Don't be a fool, nigga, I know what you are. It's really hard to believe.

Okay. Well, let's see if we can't come up with some answers.

You're a [blacksmith].

That's right.

　Mom nodded hawkishly.

''In your body, there were traces of your own [denaturation]. And there aren't that many people who come up with the idea of using the magic of a [Blacksmith] to change your body and not a weapon or anything else. Hence, I thought of one possibility.

　I went down one memory.
　It was a long time ago.
　I realized that the possibility was not zero.

"Let's start with the conclusion.


　You are me......


　I was a 【Mage(Wizard)】 300 years ago.
　Further back in the world about 500 years ago, I was a Blacksmith.

"In the world 500 years ago, I used [Duplicate] on my body, just like today. But there was a time when that one duplicate didn't come back. At that time, I thought it must have been killed by a demon race by accident, but that was not the case.

　I urge my conviction.

　At that moment, Mum grinned and the corners of her mouth lifted.

'You're right. No, not exactly, a little differently, but I'd say it's almost right.'

　My silvery white hair swayed.
　Then Mom stared at me in front of her.

'Yes. I am you, wise man. I am the 0 of the Children of Numbers, whose ancestor is a duplicate of you, who was a [Blacksmith] at the time,

　A husky voice sounded horrified in the darkened room.