It was another father-son day. This time, however, Isaac and his father had set up camp in the living room.

Robert was being as productive as always. Sitting on a lounge chair, he sipped on a cup of tea while flipping through a book.

As for Isaac, well, he wasn't going to lose out to his father. He rolled over on the shaggy carpet so that he was on all fours. Making sure he was steady first, Isaac slowly pushed his upper body up.

Slowly, slowly... And then Isaac was standing.

He smiled, raising his arms to celebrate. But the moment he did, his body started tipping forward.

"Aah!"

He flailed and stuck out his hands to stop his fall, but it was too late. With a thump, he flopped to the floor. Thankfully, he fell belly first so he was fine... but it still hurt.

Robert took a sip from his cup. "Nice try, Son. But it still might be too soon for you to try standing."

Isaac glared at his father through his watery eyes and then slowly pushed himself back on all fours.

He wouldn't let something this simple beat him! It was just standing! Something every person was able to do with ease!

Gritting his teeth... or mentally, at least, considering he didn't have molars yet, Isaac pushed himself up again.

This time, he didn't celebrate and focused on maintaining his balance. As a result, he managed to stay standing.

And then his legs gave out and he fell flat on his butt.

It didn't hurt. Isaac had taken much more painful falls before. Heck, he'd died because he fell to the ground trying to save someone. So this pain was nothing. Nothing!

Even while Isaac told himself that, his body didn't listen. Before he knew it, his eyes started to water.

Isaac let out a sigh and then flopped onto his back. From there, he managed to get a glimpse of the scenery outside the window.

It was getting late, the sun sinking below the horizon in the distance and the sky changing from blue to red.

The trees swaying in the distance were also different now. The once green leaves were completely orange or brown. Not only that, but half of them had already blown away in the wind to places unknown.

So much time had passed since he was born again in this world. Realizing that made him a bit sentimental. Hopefully that girl was doing well along with her own baby.

Suddenly, a door slammed open somewhere in the house. Not long after, Hilda's voice echoed. "Argh! It's not fair!"

Before Isaac could process what was happening, his mother had plopped down on the ground beside him

"I'm on maternity leave! Don't those old fogies get that? They're taking away my precious mommy-baby time!"

Robert paused in the middle of turning a page and then glanced over. He raised an eyebrow and then said, "Are five days a week not enough for you?"

"Of course not!" She rolled over and started tickling Isaac's belly. "Mommy wants to stay with her little baby forever!"

Against Isaac's pride and dignity, he started giggling. He tried to stop, putting on a serious face, but that only made his mother tickle him more.

"Who's a cute little baby boy? Isaac is!"

Isaac rolled around and flailed his arms, trying to knock Hilda's hands away. "Sta! Sta!"

Hilda laughed and then drew her hands back. "Fine, fine. Mommy's stopping." After that, she let out a sigh and sat up, plopping Isaac in her lap. She leaned her head against him and then said, "Mommy wishes she could have as much fun as you do every day..."

"Simple." Robert glanced over and said, "Just give up on the Silverlight project."

"And lose the chance to prove those old fogies wrong? Never!"

Isaac looked up at Hilda. "Sil lai?"

"Ah." She shook her head and said, "It's nothing to worry about, Isaac. Mommy's just having some hard time at work."

Robert took a sip from his tea and said, "Something you brought upon yourself."

"Oh hush, you!" Hilda set Isaac down on the ground and then plopped backwards, letting out a deep sigh.

Freed once more, Isaac quickly crawled away before his overly affectionate mother could scoop him up again. As he did, he noticed a bookshelf placed against the wall. It was pretty high, but there was a level conveniently in reach of his crawl height.

He was fairly confident on understanding the language now, so this was a good as time as any to get started on reading.

With that thought in mind, Isaac crawled towards the bookshelf and reached out to grab a book.

"Hm?" Hilda rolled over and looked at Isaac. Seeing what he was doing, she sat up and pouted at Robert. "Look at what you've done to our little baby!"

Robert blinked and looked up from his book. "What have I done?"

Hilda pointed to Isaac and said, "Our little baby boy is trying to read already! That's not cute! He should be playing with toys, not trying to be a scholar already!"

Robert set his book down and then calmly said, "Dear."

"Yes?"

"You run a research lab and I oversee the combat protocols as well as tactics for Artus."

"...And?"

"I would think that it would be more troublesome if our child did not have a desire to read when we both do it on a daily basis. Am I wrong?"

Hilda blinked. "T-That may be true... But it's still too early! I'm not ready for my baby to grow up yet!"

Seeing that his wife couldn't be reasoned with, Robert shook his head and went back to his book.

Meanwhile, Isaac managed to pull out a book for himself. He plopped it on the floor and stared at its cover, trying to read the title.

The letters were weird. Definitely foreign. They were loopy, with lots of geometric shapes. Still, the way they were arranged looked like they should read like ordinary words.

Unfortunately, Isaac couldn't tell what sounds the characters were supposed to represent.

Hilda rolled over on the ground again and then propped up her face to stare at Isaac. Seeing him read, she muttered, "Maybe I should curse those guys out so that they do more work for me. Or beat them up. Yeah, beating them up sounds like a good idea."

Isaac glanced over at his mother when he heard that. Seeing the dark expression on her face, he felt some sweat run down the back of his neck.

Isaac stared at his father.

Robert stared back.

Like that, the father and son shared a private conversation with their eyes.

...Dad. You've married a dangerous woman.

I know son.

Isaac shook his head and then went back to staring at his book. Since the title wasn't making any sense, he decided to open the book instead and see if he had any luck understanding the pages inside.

Carefully moving his still clumsy hands, Isaac cracked the book open. It was to a random page in the middle, the consequence of lacking fine motor skills, but that was fine.

Now with more words to look at, Isaac plopped the book back down and stared at the pages.

At first, it didn't make any sense. But then, whether it was because he watched his dad write a lot or because of the infant mind's learning capacity, he found himself slowly able to pick out some words.

Kingdom... Republic... War?

Isaac furrowed his brow. Was this a history book?

"Argh!" Hilda huffed and then crawled over, snatching the book out of Isaac's hands.

He blinked and stared at his mother. "Wah?"

Hilda pouted and said, "Mommy is much more interesting than that stuffy book. Here, look!" She stuck out her empty hand.

Isaac looked at it and then looked at his mother's face. Seeing her expectant gaze, he wondered if this was another baby game that she wanted to play. But just as he was about to shake his head and say no, something happened.

A glowing ball of light flickered into existence in the palm of Hilda's hands.

Isaac's eyes widened and he reeled back in shock. However, since he was so close to the bookshelf, that meant that he smacked his head against it.

Hilda screamed and quickly scooped him up. "Mommy's sorry! Mommy didn't mean to scare you!"

Isaac felt a splitting headache. He also could feel his consciousness getting faint, just like how it was talking to the girl the last time he died. It seemed this would be the end of him.

Hilda sobbed, her face filled with regret and guilt.

Seeing that, Isaac held out his hand and placed it on her cheek. "Ma. No cry."

Hilda shook her head, trembling. "D-Don't worry! I'll make the pain go away!" Saying that, she started to frantically move her hands over his head.

Isaac sighed. Some delusional hocus pocus wouldn't do anything at this point and they wouldn't arrive at the doctors in time either. Still, he hoped that his parents wouldn't feel so guilty when he... died?

An array of lights filled the air. Geometric shapes, stars, and runic characters floated around Isaac's mother.

Was it a delusion on the brink of death? Maybe his infant mind was trying to comfort him by making it seem like his mother's actions were having an effect.

That was what Isaac thought at first. But as his mother continued moving her hand around his head, the lights started spinning together and getting brighter. Then, when it almost became too much to bear, the lights vanished... along with his pain.

Isaac blinked. Wasn't he dying?

Still in his chair, Robert turned a page from his book. Without even looking over, he said, "Using the highest level healing spell for a concussion... As excessive as always, Dear."

"And why are you so calm?!" Hilda stood up and glared at Robert. "Isaac could have died!"

"That would never have happened."

"It could have! Or don't tell me that you really don't care-"

Robert's book snapped shut. He placed it aside and then stared at Hilda, his eyes frosty.

Hilda stepped back and bit her lips. Still, she stood her ground.

Seeing that, Robert sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dear. Have you forgotten who I am?"

Hilda blinked. "Of course not. You're my husband, Robert Frostblade."

"Correct." Robert nodded and said, "And what is my title?"

"Timeless Sword- Oh."

"Yes. 'Oh'." Robert sighed and said, "We would have had plenty of time to head to Vivian even if Isaac was mortally wounded. Setting the painful fact that you think I am a heartless father aside... What are you going to tell everyone tomorrow when you show up incapable of casting a single diagnostic spell because you used all your mana to heal Isaac?"

Hilda winced. "U-Um... Sorry?"

"Haah." Robert shook his head. "And this is why I keep telling you to think before you act. Honestly, what will you do if Isaac inherits that bad habit of yours?"

Hilda fell silent.

During that time, Isaac glanced between his parents. He got that there was an argument of some sort. After all, he did almost die. But what they talked about... "Ma jik?"

Robert glanced at Isaac. "Hm... Well, since your mother showed you her magic, I might as well show you my own so that you are aware of it in the future." He picked up the book he set aside and tossed it into the air.

Isaac blinked. Was his dad going to do a magic trick?

The moment the book reached its peak, Robert held out his hand.

Blue light flashed... and then the book froze, suspended in mid-air.

Seeing that ridiculous sight, Isaac nodded his head.

Right. It made sense then. He was fine because his parents could use magic.

...His parents could use magic?

Wait! He was reborn in a world where magic existed!?

Why did no one tell him!?