"Eventually we found you, s.h.i.+n, who had survived in a situation that could not be described as anything but a miracle. We didn"t know who you were. I then thought it must have been fate who had put such a miraculous baby in our arms. We thought to ourselves that this time, we would do our best to raise this baby without letting him die."

"I see…"

"…Is that so? But didn"t you foolishly go and teach s.h.i.+n about magic?"

"That"s true. Certainly, I couldn"t deny feeling s.h.i.+n"s memories running wild, but… The reason for that was that I wanted s.h.i.+n to be strong enough so that no one would be able to harm him."

"Is that what you wanted…?"

Huh?

Before I knew it, Grandma let out a sigh when it came to my story.

But why!?

"Umm… Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Ask us anything, dear."

Sicily said she had a question while feeling skeptical about the point of the conversation being s.h.i.+fted to me.

I wonder what is it?

"Normally, people who find an orphaned child become their foster parents. In short, you"d think that you would become his foster father, but… why have you raised s.h.i.+n as grandparents and grandson instead?"

"Ah, well… Grandpa is well, grandpa. So I"ve never had a problem with that."

After that, Grandpa smiled bitterly and began to talk.

"If Slaine and Ekaterina had gotten married, I dare say they could have definitely given us a grandchild like s.h.i.+n… Or at least that"s what I"d like to think."

"Yes… I think so too… I"ve never had any doubts either, and have always seen s.h.i.+n as my true grandchild, not an adoptive son."

From the beginning, they had raised me as their own grandchild because it wouldn"t have been strange to have a grandson like me.

If they hadn"t lost their own son, they would have probably gotten a grandchild of their own.

That"s why they raised me as their own grandson…

I have been called "the hero"s grandson" and "the magi"s grandson", but I didn"t know there was such a sad backstory to it…

"Which reminds me, didn"t Ekaterina get drunk yesterday and called herself "mom"?"

"Ah… but that doesn"t make much sense now, does it?"

"But it"s the same as us."

"Huh?"

"s.h.i.+n is our grandson by all rights. So Ekaterina must feel as if she had given birth to him as well."

"Ah…"

『If you"re Master"s grandson, can I call you my own child too?』

She was drunk so she was hard to understand, but she had definitely said that.

Hmm… So Ekaterina thinks the same way as them…

She wasn"t just speaking nonsense out of her feelings of loneliness due to being unmarried, huh?

"Oh well, do you think I should start calling her "mom"?"

"You can"t do that."

"Don"t do that."

"Why?"

"There"s too much influence involved."

"You are referred to as an emissary of the G.o.ds by many, so imagine Ekaterina being seen as some kind of Pope mother. That"s going to cause quite the stir, don"t you think?"

"Ah, right. It"d be better if you don"t do that."

That was close. I was about to do something really dangerous just because I was moved by her emotions.

"Though I must say, it"s a real shame that Slaine and Ekaterina never had any children. But I"ve never seen s.h.i.+n as some kind of replacement or anything like that."

"That"s right. s.h.i.+n is always going to be our s.h.i.+n. Make no mistake."

"Grandpa… Grandma…"

These two took me under their wing without hesitation as soon as they found me, perhaps because of this story of their lost son and the grandson they would never have.

I understand now, Grandpa, Grandma.

I have never felt like I don"t belong here.

You"ve always been and will always be Grandpa and Grandma to me.

"We wouldn"t be able to find another child like s.h.i.+n in this world, no matter how much we try."

"Hoho! That"s right."

"Ah… I see…"

I"m so emotionally moved that I could almost cry!