Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 4 - Chapter SS5

Saint Corrin

Some time had passed since Miledi and the others had left the new village they’d made for the Liberators displaced by the demon king’s invasion of the Reisen Gorge. The villagers were still unused to their new surroundings, and there was one among their number who seemed to be far busier than the others. Oscar’s younger sister, Corrin. She ran to and fro across the village, carrying baskets of laundry from place to place. Oscar and Vandre, who’d stayed behind to finish getting things set up, watched her as they took a short break from their work. As she ran about on her errands, she accidentally bumped into Marshal.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Marshal-san.”

“Don’t worry about it. That’s an awful lot of laundry you’ve got there. You sure you can carry it all, Corrin?”

Marshal gave her a worried look, but Corrin just smiled cheerfully and nodded. It was obvious from her reaction that she wasn’t pushing herself too hard.

“Yep, I’ll be fine! Oh, but...”

“What do you need? If there’s anything I can help with, just let me know.”

“Okay then, umm... Marshal-san, please stop putting your laundry inside-out. It makes it harder for everyone to wash it.”

“Oh, uh, sure. Sorry, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

Marshal was well into his forties, but he still looked contrite as a seven-year-old girl scolded him. Suddenly, Corrin blinked in surprise as a realization hit her.

“Could you hold this for a second, Marshal-san?”

“Huh? Sure, I don’t mind, but...”

Confused, Marshal took the laundry basket from Corrin. Once her hands were free, she took her sewing kit out of her pocket and stepped closer to Marshal.

“Stay still for a second.”

She grabbed one of the loose buttons on Marshal’s cuff and sewed it back on properly. She worked quickly, and in seconds she was finished. After that, she clapped her hands together and declared, “Okay, all done!”

Smiling, she put away her sewing kit and took the laundry basket back from Marshal. He looked down at his sleeve, then at Corrin, then blushed. Just then, he spotted Mikaela, who happened to be passing by.

Wait, don’t tell me Marshal-san’s into girls as young as Corrin!? Mikaela thought, looking shocked. Corrin noticed Mikaela as well, then looked from her to Marshal and back again. Nodding to herself, she tottered over to Mikaela and started whispering something into her ear.

No one else could make out what she said, but once she finished, Mikaela’s expression brightened up instantly. Corrin gave her an angelic smile that felt like it was coming from someone much older than seven, then ran off to deliver the dirty laundry to the washers.

“She’s a nice girl,” Vandre muttered.

“I know,” Oscar replied.

The two of them didn’t have anything to do for a while, so they decided to continue observing Corrin for a bit longer. They followed her as she went to the village entrance to greet Margaretta, who had just returned from patrol.

“Welcome back, Margaretta-oneesan!”

“Thank you, Corrin.”

“Dinner’s almost ready. The bath’s warm too, if you want to go wash up first.”

“In that case, I guess I’ll take a bath first.”

While they talked, Corrin took Margaretta’s coat and neatly folded it up. Once she’d put it away, she ran off to go make dinner. Humming, she put on the apron Jinglebell had made for her and started cooking. The whole time, she made sure to see off the Schnee warriors who were going on patrol next as well as greet the fighters who were in charge of protecting the village gates.

“Stay safe! It’s important to work hard, but don’t overdo it!” Corrin said to the warriors going on patrol as she handed them her handmade meals. Everyone smiled kindly at her as she ran back and forth. After that, she paid a visit to the patients in the village hospital.

“Sorry for making you do this every time, Corrin-chan.”

“You promised to stop apologizing, remember?”

Smiling cheerfully, Corrin went around helping the patients with their needs. Even when the other kids of the village, or even Katy and Dylan, did something bad, she didn’t get too angry.

“Jeez! If you don’t stop that, I won’t give you any dinner, okay!?”

Of course, she still scolded them, but when they helped, she also praised them.

“Hehehe, you did such a good job. I’m so proud of you!”

Time passed, and before long, it was the day before Oscar and Vandre were scheduled to depart. It was a cloudy day in the village, but there was a single ray of light that broke through the clouds and fell directly on Corrin, who was sitting in the center of the town’s main plaza. One of Vandre’s familiars, the silver wolf Kuou, was resting in her lap. It closed its eyes and growled in contentment. Vandre’s wyvern, Ururuk, was embracing both of them with its large wings. It nuzzled its head against Corrin’s back, looking as content as Kuou did. Sitting atop Corrin’s head was Batlam, who looked as pleased as the rest of Vandre’s familiars. Many of his weaker familiars were also lying down around Corrin.

Corrin gently patted Kuou and Ururuk’s heads, her expression full of love. The whole scene looked beautiful, and the artistry of it was enhanced by the fact that a lone ray of light was breaking through the clouds to reach them. Many of the villagers were watching her from the shadows and sighing in wonder. Oscar and Vandre were watching as well, and Oscar turned to his partner and said, “Hey, Van. You sure your familiars don’t belong to Corrin now?”

“Ngh... Honestly, I’m not sure. Even Batlam’s been prioritizing Corrin’s requests over my orders...”

“I see...”

Vandre looked forlornly off into the distance, and Oscar looked unsure of what to say to his friend. After a few seconds, it looked like Vandre suddenly remembered something and he said, “Did you know, people have started giving Corrin a nickname.”

“Huh? Really? First I’ve heard of that,” Oscar said, sounding surprised.

Everyone was hiding it from you because they know you have a huge sister complex, Vandre said, then took a deep breath before continuing with, “They’re calling her Mommy Corrin.”

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Vandre nodded, not expecting Oscar to understand. He launched into a more detailed explanation.

“Mommy is a term people use for girls who are younger than them, but have really motherly instincts. They use mommy because it’s more childish than mother, but still has that same feeling. Anyway, people are saying Corrin’s momminess is so great it has to be some kind of special magic or something.”

“I still have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“There’s even a bunch of guys who’ve been saying things like, ‘I wish Corrin-chan would be my mommy’ and shit too.”

“Okay, it looks like I can’t afford to be ignorant here. Please enlighten me.”

“These guys want Corrin to spoil them rotten. Kind of like what she’s doing to Kuou and the others right now.”

“I see.”

Oscar adjusted his glasses and summoned his umbrella, his gloves, and his Shadow Knights.

“Looks like I’ve got some work to do before we leave. I need to teach the guys of this village that none of them are allowed to lay a hand on my dear sister!”

Afterward, a mini-war broke out between Oscar the siscon and the guys who wanted Corrin to be their mommy. Naturally, Corrin put a stop to it by scolding both parties. Shortly thereafter, she came to be known by the nickname Saint Corrin as well as Mommy Corrin.