My Daughters Are Regressors

Fights.Quarrels.Conflicts.

There were many types of discord in the world.There were large-scale ones, like when two massive groups clash over irreconcilable ideologies.And there were small, personal disputes that arose from trivial matters.

Often, fuel for conflict would accumulate slowly, only needing a tiny spark to ignite.The quarrel between Salome and Cariote was like that.Normally, Salome and Cariote paid little attention to each other.It wasn't that they deliberately ignored each other. Rather, it was as if their habitats were different, so there was no need to clash.Like how tigers in the jungle and lions on the savanna don't fight each other.

But what would happen if you put two predators from different ecosystems in the same cage?

That's right.Conflict was inevitable, just a matter of time.

The only question was when and where the switch would be flipped!And today, that switch was finally flipped!

At first, the two had a normal conversation.There was a sense of being housemates living under the same roof, after all.After bathing in their respective bathrooms, they exchanged light nods.That was usually the extent of their communication.But on this day, Salome spoke up first.

"I'm taking Hina to the park today. With all the travel, Christmas, and New Year's, we've fallen behind in her studies. I need to ask Brigitte to teach her magic too."

Salome wanted to raise Hina to be the perfect young lady.If she succeeded, Hina could inherit a large fortune from Judas, and it would prove that Salome was the most outstanding among the women.

- Hina is the smartest and prettiest. That means you, Salome, as Hina's mother, are the smartest and prettiest. You're my true wife.'Hehe, just like that.'As Salome was lost in such thoughts, Cariote seemed to be thinking quietly. Her expression was quite serious, so Salome was also coming out of her reverie when Cariote opened her heavy lips.

"Salome, I don't think your educational policy of only looking after Hina is good."

"What? What about my educational policy? Did you just comment on my educational policy? You?"

Salome wondered if she had misheard.She was a capable educator who could even take on a teaching position at Graham Academy. Though not a formal educator, she was certainly more impressive than Cariote.

At least, that's what Salome thought of herself.So for Cariote to criticize her educational policy here?

"Salome, if Hina was the only child you were responsible for, your policy might not be wrong. But our family structure is polygamous. We need cooperative child-rearing."

"Cooperative child-rearing?"

"It means raising and educating all the children together, regardless of whose child they are. That's how we raised children in the Iscariot plains."

Cariote was from a nomadic tribe of the plains called the Barbaroi. Most of the men went hunting, and even women would go hunting if they were capable.So they didn't have time to look after their own children individually, and it was tradition to gather all the children in one tent and raise them as equally as possible.This was a time-honored educational method for the nomads of the plains, and Cariote herself had been raised this way. Salome had also heard of this educational approach before.She had heard of it, but thought it was an outdated and barbaric method of education.

"What are we, penguins? Doing cooperative child-rearing?"

Didn't penguins that live in the cold south gather their chicks in a communal nursery and look after them all together?Cariote's opinion was on the same level as penguins.Come to think of it, with her pale skin and black clothes, and black hair, Cariote did resemble a penguin.Of course, Cariote didn't mind.

"Penguins are cute."

Though she didn't show it much, Cariote liked cute things.Penguins were cute animals.That's why she thought Naru, Cecily, and Hina were all cute and liked them all.

She was confident she could raise them all like her own daughters.Of course, she might pay a bit more attention to Cecily, her own daughter, but the other mothers would probably do the same for their own daughters, so it would be fair in the end.

"I've already discussed this with Brigitte, Naru's mother. We agreed to take turns looking after Naru and Cecily whenever we have time. Salome, it's not mandatory, but you should participate too."

"What?"

Salome frowned at this conversation that had progressed without her knowledge. They had made an agreement on cooperative child-rearing?

'When? During New Year's? They went ahead without me? Did they know I would oppose cooperative child-rearing so they proceeded without me? Was it Brigitte? Did Brigitte do this?'

Salome thought about Brigitte.But then she corrected her own thoughts.

'No, Brigitte isn't the type to think so complexly. Unlike a typical magician, she's simple, which makes her less tiring to deal with. This must be Cariote's doing. That barbarian woman...'

There's a saying that the quiet cat is the first to climb onto the kitchen counter. It means that the one who seems most docile and innocent might actually cause the biggest problems.And proverbs are like a collection of human experiences gathered over a long history.They tend to be correct.

'Cariote, that woman...'

Ever since Cariote had claimed to be the official wife back in the Marduk Empire, Salome had viewed her unfavorably.Since then, Salome had been consciously or unconsciously paying attention to Cariote's every move, and now her dissatisfaction with Cariote had been steadily accumulating in her heart.Of course, Salome wasn't the type to openly show it.So, after calming her anger, she pretended to be nonchalant and said with a chuckle.

"So you've already come to an agreement with Brigitte. If I don't agree to this, Naru and Cecily will look after each other, and only our Hina will be left out, right? You say it's not mandatory, but it's practically forced already."

"You can think that way if you want. But it wouldn't be a bad thing for you either, would it? Salome, you want to raise Hina to be a high-class lady, right? Then it would be right to seek teachings from me as well."

"What? What nonsense are you talking about? Cariote, what do you have to do with being high-class? To be honest, among you, Brigitte, and me, you're the least high-class, Cariote."

Cariote wore a disinterested expression at Salome's mockery. But inside, a quiet flame was burning more intensely than expected.Salome and Cariote's relationship had always been lukewarm. Cariote vaguely felt that this was because Salome didn't even care about her.

'She probably doesn't even consider me a rival. Cecily was born last among the three, and my relationship with Judas is the shortest.'That's what Cariote thought.

But now it seemed that Salome had been completely dismissing Cariote as a 'woman'.Cariote found this quite amusing.

"There's a story in Iscariot. There was a great chieftain who led ten thousand sheep, and he had a son who was of age to marry."

"......"

Salome decided to listen to what story Cariote was going to tell.After all, the best time for a counterattack is when the opponent is overconfident.

#         #         #

The great chieftain Migmig of the great plains had a son.This son had come of age to marry, and he was excellent in both ability and character.The problem was what kind of match to make for the son.Since the duties of a great chieftain were not to be taken lightly, making the right match was a very important matter.

"Good. Daughter-in-law candidates."

Soon, the great chieftain selected three women from among the daughters of neighboring chieftains.They were all outstanding young ladies, equal in character, personality, and appearance.The great chieftain called them together and gave each of them a small coin.Then he said.

"I'll give each of you one coin and one tent. I'd like you to use this coin to fill the tent. You have one year."

It was a strange riddle.

But the wise women understood the great chieftain's intention and spent the year busily thinking and moving to come up with their own answers.The first woman said.

"I bought a chick with the coin. I raised the chick into a rooster, sold its meat to buy more chicks, and as their numbers grew, I exchanged them for sheep..."

The first woman showed amazing business acumen through barter, filling the tent with a flock of sheep. To the great chieftain, who had been a shepherd, this was very impressive.

"Wonderful. To be the wife of a great chieftain, one must excel in business and livestock management."

The first woman received high marks in evaluation.So what about the second woman?

The second woman showed the inside of her tent.But there was nothing there.As the great chieftain was puzzled, the second daughter-in-law candidate lit a candle.Whoosh—Soon light filled the tent brightly, and seeing this, something seemed to dawn on the great chieftain.

"I see, you've filled this tent with the light of a candle! There's even a scent from the candle. Filling the tent with light and fragrance, how wonderful."

Although there was no financial gain like the first woman, this was also quite a wise answer. So the second woman also received fairly high marks.However, the great chieftain's eyes kept going back to the flock of sheep of the first daughter-in-law candidate.Now for the last daughter-in-law candidate.

"I couldn't prepare anything."

The last daughter-in-law candidate honestly said and returned the coin to the great chieftain. There was really nothing in her tent.That's the end of the story.Cariote asked Salome.

"Do you know who became the great chieftain's daughter-in-law?"

"Logically thinking, wouldn't it be the first woman?"

Multiplying wealth through barter.Salome was quite impressed with the first woman.She thought that if she had been in that position, she would have done something similar.

'If there's a rival, it would be the second woman. Filling the room with fragrance and light. That's something Brigitte might do. Is the second woman Brigitte? Then the third woman must be the clueless Cariote.'

Salome thought this and chuckled.Just then, Cariote said.

"The chieftain chose the third woman as his daughter-in-law."

"What!? What kind of nonsense is this? Why? What's the reason?"

Salome couldn't understand this result at all.How could the third woman, who hadn't done anything, be chosen as the daughter-in-law?

"There must be a convincing reason, right?"

As Salome protested, unable to understand, Cariote calmly explained.

"The third woman had the biggest breasts."

"...What kind of nonsensical, idiotic story is this!? You just made that up!"

"No, this actually happened on the great plains. This big-breasted daughter-in-law later gave birth to the conqueror Kublai, and Kublai made the world fear the black-haired people."

"What kind of ridiculous story is this!?"

"If everyone is similarly pretty and beautiful, having big breasts is truly a woman's weapon. Salome, your breasts are relatively small. Someday, when Hina runs out of milk to drink because of your meager breasts, you won't be able to borrow breasts from Brigitte or me since you refused cooperative child-rearing, so Hina will go hungry."

"......"

Salome's whole body began to tremble, and her fingertips and toes started to tingle as if ants were crawling on them.She was so angry she could hardly breathe, her hair stood on end, and she felt like she might cry.

'I've never been insulted like this before!'

"Cariote, you barbarian woman! Today is your funeral!""Fine, I've been wanting to deal with you for a while too, you cowardly thief."

That's how it happened.Brigitte was barely able to stop the fight between the two, and after dinner that evening, she told Judas, who was resting, about what had happened that day.

"Cariote and Salome fighting? That's unusual. But well, when people live under the same roof, it's natural to fight and argue. So what did you decide to do?"

Salome and Cariote.If the two had fought, surely one of them would have been hurt.But Brigitte said she managed to stop them well.Judas was curious about how she had mediated between them, and Brigitte sighed and said.

"You know about the big party for Princess Ordor's birthday, right? And how the guests vote on who should be the star of the party? The person chosen by vote becomes the main character of the event.""I know."

"We decided that whoever gets the most votes will win. They say they'll follow the educational policy of the winning side. Because of that, even the kids are in a cold war now. I heard Cecily and Hina fought too."

She had always thought they got along well, but now there was conflict.Brigitte felt a bit dizzy.She was also angry.

'Cariote, Salome. You're saying Naru and I don't even matter?'

The more she thought about it, the more she felt ignored.So while she was stewing over this, Judas muttered.

"The story of the three daughter-in-law candidates is interesting."

The man chuckled.Suddenly curious, Brigitte asked.

"Judas, who do you think you would have married? The woman with the biggest breasts?"

As she said this, Brigitte became newly aware of the weight of her own chest. Brigitte had been feeling quite good lately as her breasts had suddenly been growing larger.Judas soon answered.

"Do I have to choose just one of the three? Couldn't I just marry all of them?"

"......"

Brigitte frowned.