The Reincarnated Extra

Chapter 252: Mediator Oshiras Listens to Lairine's Story

1. Mediator Oshiras Listens to Lairine’s Story

* * *

“‘Ridiculous’, you say…”

The first to react to those words Lairine spat out was Arcus.

After being dumbfounded for just a moment, Arcus furrowed his brow and made a visibly displeased face.

“Yes, it is ridiculous.”

In contrast, Lairine’s expression was cool.

Without hiding her bored emotions, she sent a cold gaze towards Arcus.

“Your feelings and background, honestly, I couldn’t care less about them.”

Twirling her hair with her fingertips, Lairine began to speak.

“So what if you’re Emi-chan’s blood relative? If blood ties are so important to you, hurry up and make your own child. It doesn’t have to be Emi-chan, right? Ah, but I guess that’s impossible for an unpopular old man like you in the first place.”

“Huh?”

A heavy voice leaked from Arcus’s mouth.

His face gradually turned visibly red.

“Also, you proudly say you have a bit of childcare experience, but that was really only for a short time, wasn’t it? And yet, you’re so confident in your childcare abilities with just that? You’re truly shameless… Ah, I guess that’s why you can shamelessly wear such a gaudy golden armor.”

This was provocation.

That’s what Oshiras understood.

It was not a good development.

Arcus’s armor started clattering again in small motions.

His body was trembling with anger.

“Emi-chan will become my daughter. Because I have decided so.”

Lairine said that languidly and let out a big yawn.

“That’s why your story is ridiculous, boring, and truly just a waste of time to listen to. Ah, but seeing your face as you desperately talk about it was kind of funny and made me laugh. I’ll give you credit for just that.”

“You…!!”

Arcus muttered that like a groan… and then took a deep breath.

Then, the clattering sound of his armor stopped.

Did he calm down?

Oshiras thought so at first, but when he checked Arcus’s expression, he instantly realized that thought was wrong.

Even Oshiras, who was not used to rough situations, could tell at a glance.

In that man’s eyes… murderous intent was burning.

He slightly lifted his hips from the chair and took a forward-leaning posture.

It was like the atmosphere of a beast about to pounce on its prey.

In contrast, the woman, seeing that man’s expression, was grinning.

The tension in the quiet room swelled rapidly.

And it was about to explode.

Right before that.

“PLEASE WAIT!!!”

BANG!!

Yes, slamming both hands on the table with force.

Oshiras stood up with all his might, tipping his chair back, and shouted with the loudest voice he had ever used in his life!

Slowly.

Arcus, whose face was dyed with anger like a beast, and Lairine, who was grinning, stared at Oshiras, who was trembling with a pale face.

Oshiras desperately glared at the two of them.

“This is… a place for mediation, for discussion. Please refrain from violent words and actions… Arcus-san.”

Quietly, lowly, lowly… but clearly, Oshiras spoke to him as if confronting a bear encountered on a mountain path.

“…Sorry.”

Arcus, who had regained the light of reason in his eyes, quietly gave a small nod and sat back deeply in his chair with a thud.

“You too… please refrain from provoking the other party… Lairine-san.”

“…Ufufu, sorry about that.”

While saying that with her mouth, Lairine directed a beautiful smile at Oshiras.

And then.

“You got lucky, boy.”

While sending a cold gaze to Arcus, she muttered those frightening words.

A chill ran down his spine.

Oshiras had thought that Lairine’s earlier provocation was… a trap to make Arcus commit an act of violence and then denounce him as unfit to be a guardian because of it.

He was wrong.

When she said “you got lucky,” in other words.

Lairine might have been trying to physically eliminate one rival.

Having calmed down and sat back in his chair, Arcus’s face was pale.

That indicated that Arcus had reached the same conclusion as Oshiras’s speculation, and that even Arcus, a top-class adventurer, was an opponent Lairine could easily slaughter.

* * *

Intuition.

That was the reason Oshiras heard from Lairine, with a pale face, suppressing his desire to run away with his pride as a mediator, for why she wanted to become Emi’s guardian.

While directing a passionate gaze at Emi sitting next to her, as if she were in love, Lairine spoke.

The person she had been searching for for many years, who could become her equal.

That person was Emi.

This encounter was fate.

Anyone who tries to tear apart this fate, even if it were a god, she would never forgive them.

That’s what she said.

…Even if you say it’s intuition.

Oshiras wanted to hold his head in his hands.

Even if you say that you intuitively felt you should become her mother.

If he were to just say “Yes, I see” and grant her parental rights based on that, Oshiras would be a failure as a mediator.

But Lairine is definitely not saying that as a joke.

This crazy woman is serious.

Surely, if someone here were to say that she is unfit to be a guardian, this woman would kill that person by tearing them into eight pieces with a smile.

This woman is that kind of monster.

She hasn’t actually gone on a rampage in front of Oshiras.

But the aura of a strong person she exuded made Oshiras understand that as well.

But!

But, however!

As a mediator!

It cannot be allowed!

To acknowledge Lairine’s claim here and recognize her as Emi’s guardian would mean yielding to her unreasonable pressure!

Oshiras’s pride as a mediator absolutely would not allow such a thing!

Oshiras was an excellent, serious, and foolish person to the extent of agonizing over that.

How should he conclude this discussion?

Oshiras desperately, desperately thought about it.

Thinking desperately, desperately.

And then, he suddenly noticed.

Overwhelmed by the fear of Lairine, he had completely forgotten.

In this place.

There was one more person whose opinion he absolutely had to hear.

That person.

As if not caring at all about the room being on the verge of exploding with tension earlier.

Simply, silently.

Continued to devour the mountain of Mekena Sandwiches in front of her.