"Well, that aside, I'm relieved that you guys are okay. Still, this does not mean that you three are off the hook, especially you Riel." (Mother)

"Huh? M-me? Why?" (Riel)

"We need to have a talk regarding your use of language." (Mother)

'Ah, shit.' 

"U-uhm..." (Riel)

"Yes?" (Mother)

'Fuck! I have to find a way out of this somehow!'

"W-well, Weiss-nii says them a lot so I thought it was okay." (Riel)

"Weiss-kun~ Is that true~" (Mother)

"Y-yes ma'am–I meant no, no ma'am! Riel's lying!" (Weiss)

"Weiss-nii's lying again! Weiss-nii always says fuck, shit, and bitch." (Riel)

'Okay, always is a bit of a stretch, and he doesn't say it in front of us, but it's still technically the truth that he says it a lot. Even I didn't swear that much when I was his age. I wonder where he got that from.'

"I'll be having a talk with your mother about your bad influence." (Mother)

"N-no!!! Anyone but mom!" (Weiss)

---

Shortly after, Mother let us go. Well, for now. As she told us that we could go, I heard her muttering something along the lines of 'Fufufu, looks like it's punishment time'. Oh well, let's worry about that another time. For now, let's just head back to my room. I'm pretty exhausted.

As I lay down in my bed, a strong surge of pain coursed throughout my entire body. I couldn't move my muscles, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't even make a sound.

It hurt. Everything hurt. This, this was the same sensation I had felt when I *#$%. 

I feel a part of my *$%^ being *^p%&d, *o&n #pa%&. And soon, everything went black.

---

"M-MOTHER! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH RIEL!" (Leila)

When I opened the door to our room, I saw my younger brother on his bed shaking in pain. I want to rush to his side, but I'm scared I might hurt him even more than he already is. 

"Leila! What's wrong?" (Mother)

"M-mom..." (Leila)

Without saying anything else, I point to Riel. Soon, Papa came as well. Both Mother and Papa told me to go outside. Right before exiting, I saw Papa make a serious face that I had never seen him make before.

---

This, if I'm right, this isn't good at all.

"Reina, you told me you saw Riel defeat the wolf by himself, right?" (Lyle)

"What does that have to do with anything?" (Reina)

"Please, answer me." (Lyle)

"...Yes, he did." (Reina)

"Did he perform weird actions? Did he look like he was experienced?" (Lyle)

"He did. He looked like a veteran. It looked as if he'd been fighting his entire life." (Reina)

"Reina, this is a miracle." (Lyle)

"A miracle? Honey, our son is in tremendous pain. How is this a miracle?" (Reina)

"No, you misunderstood. What I'm saying is that he experienced the phenomenon called a miracle." (Lyle)

"What are you talking about?" (Reina)

"A miracle is when an individual does something that would normally be impossible for them to do." (Lyle)

"You aren't making any sense. How does this relate to Riel?" (Reina)

"Don't you get it? Riel wasn't supposed to beat that wolf. Under normal circumstances, ten out of ten times, he would've gotten killed, or at the very least, severely injured. And look, he comes home without a single scratch." (Lyle)

"Give it to me straight. What does all of that have to do with Riel?" (Reina)

"Simple. He is facing the backlash of a miracle." (Lyle)

"If you know all of this, then why are you so calm!? Are you not worried about Riel's condition?" (Reina)

"No, not at all. He isn't in a life-threatening situation. In fact, even if we leave him alone right now, he should wake up by tomorrow." (Lyle)

"You should've started off with that!" (Reina)

"Well, judging by the fact that I'm calm and collected, you should've inferred that everything was going to be fine. But alas, I suppose it was too much to expect from a musclehead." (Lyle)

"Well, this musclehead may not be able to draw such inference, but I sure can crush your head like it's paper." (Reina)

"If you're going to crush this fragile head of mine, might I request you use your thighs for this job?" (Lyle)

"You–Ah, forget it. Anyway, care to explain what exactly a miracle is?" (Reina)

"Well, as I said, a miracle is a phenomenon wherein an individual gains abilities for a short period of time during moments of crisis. However, there are certain conditions that need to be met in order for a miracle to happen. Unfortunately, these conditions are still unknown since there isn't much research on the topic. Well, there are two things that those who experienced a miracle have in common. One is that all of them were unskilled and had little to no experience in about anything. This one was common between children and adults." (Lyle)

"And the second one being?" (Reina)

"Well, they all went through the same thing Riel is right now. Each and everyone who experienced a miracle experienced the backlash. The backlash happens whenever the individual's state of mind stabilizes. In Riel's case, he was tense the entire time you were scolding the three of them. Ah, don't worry though. After the backlash, every one of them woke up the next day perfectly healthy, some in greater shape than they were before the miracle." (Lyle)

"What's the catch?" (Reina)

"Catch?" (Lyle)

"Don't play dumb with me. I can tell from your voice that there's something wrong." (Reina)

"...You got me. Well, it is true that none of them suffered any permanent physical or mental damage. However, there was something wrong with them. It seems that after the incident, they all became talentless." (Lyle)

"Talentless?" (Reina)

"Yes. According to the only study performed concerning miracles, all of the individuals who experienced a miracle were unable to improve in any aspect of their lives. No matter how much they trained, they were never able to get anywhere. And so, it was hypothesized that these miracles were an individual's talent that was forcibly manifested during times of crisis in order to aid the individual in such times." (Lyle)

"Why aren't there any more studies?" (Reina)

"The study was deemed unethical." (Lyle)

"Unethical? Just how unethical is it that even these nobles who would willingly sacrifice commoners for their own desires deem this as unethical?" (Reina)

"If it were limited to commoners, I'm fairly certain that this study would've been approved. However, the study required nobles as well. Considering the main aspect of the study was talent, those of noble bloodline became a point of concern. After all, bloodline and talent are very much intertwined, or at least it's said here in this kingdom. Point is, the nobles were angered especially since the one who headed this study was a commoner. Not only was his study rejected, but he was also stripped of his duties as a researcher. They also made it so that it was near impossible for him to ever gather any support from anywhere, including the neighboring kingdoms." (Lyle)

"As unfortunate as it is, maybe it was for the better. The study was unethical after all. I couldn't imagine how difficult it must be to be talentless." (Reina)

"Not exactly. While it is true that ending up talentless is a tragedy, he did everything in his power to help them out. He also proposed in his study that all individuals that ended up talentless were given hefty compensation. In fact, he used money from his own pocket to support the livelihoods of the ones he investigated for the study. But it seems that the moment he mentioned nobles his career was already doomed." (Lyle)

 "I see. So, if I'm not mistaken, Riel is..." (Reina)

"Talentless." (Lyle)

"...I see." (Reina)

"Well, it's not like this ruins our plans, right? I mean, you are the kind of person who spoils people rotten to the point that they're useless. I mean, look at me. I'm basically just lazing around while you do the work. Even if this didn't happen, you were bound to make him useless anyway so I reckon it was about time." (Lyle)

"Honey..." (Reina)

"Well, you can go ahead and get to bed with Leila. I'll watch over Riel tonight." (Lyle)

"I can do it–" (Reina)

"No, I insist. In fact, if you were doing it, you'd probably end up breaking one of his arms." (Lyle)

"That's rich coming from someone who almost drops Riel while carrying him." (Reina)

"Pshh, so what if a baby gets dropped, nothing to worry about. Besides, you know full well I'm the better option for things like this." (Lyle)

"Fine." (Reina)

"Good night honey." (Lyle)

"Good night." (Reina)

We then share a goodnight kiss. She leaves the room and shuts the door. I put my ear right next to the door and heard her sobbing.

'Ah, Reina. I knew you'd end up bawling your eyes out. Well, of course she'd be devastated. After all, she was planning on personally training him. Then again, what kind of parent wouldn't be devastated after finding out their child is doomed to be talentless.'

"Riel...I'm sorry..." (Lyle)

'Maybe if I hadn't been useless, maybe if I was more responsible, maybe if we stayed there, then maybe...'

"You wouldn't be suffering like this. I'm sorry you had to have such a pathetic father." (Lyle)

'A miracle, huh. How ironic. Well, I'd rather have a talentless son than a dead one.'

---

'Hmm? What is this? Why is it so wet? Why is everything so white? I can't feel my legs, no, my body. It's getting cold. It's growing darker. I'm scared. Help me...anyone...please......he...lp...'

"Gasp! T-that!" (Riel)

"Oh, good morning Riel. Looks like you slept pretty well, seeing as you're making a fuss so early." (Lyle)

"Papa? Why are you here? And about last night–" (Riel)

"Oh, that? Well, that's exactly why I'm here. Did you think that we'd leave you alone while you were hurting? Oh, I didn't know you saw us like that. My poor heart, my own beloved son sees me as a heartless man who cares not for him. Oh my, what did I do to my son where he feels not an ounce of my overflowing love for him–" (Lyle)

"Papa!" (Riel)

"Hahaha! Okay okay, I'll stop." (Lyle)

"Anyway, about last night." (Riel)

"Don't worry about it. You're perfectly fine right now. It was probably the stress from fighting that big scary wolf, right?" (Lyle)

"Y-yeah." (Riel)

"Well, I'll be heading out first to make breakfast." (Lyle)

"Okay. I'll head out in a while." (Riel)

"Ah, before I forget. Do you feel strange? Like, do you feel a sense of emptiness? Or maybe you feel like a huge part of you is missing?" (Lyle)

"...no. Why? Is there something wrong with me?" (Riel)

"Huh, interesting. Well, it's nothing important. I guess I'll be heading out now." (Papa)

With a face of perplexion, Papa left the room.

"Well, technically I wasn't lying." (Riel)

'Rather, instead of having a huge part of me missing, it feels more like only a tiny bit of me is missing. I don't feel empty, but I do feel like a small part of me was taken away.'

"Oh well, at least I'm still intact." (Riel)

---

"Master." 

"Yes?" 

"I found signs of a miracle. However..." 

"However?"

"It's quite far from us. I estimate that it would take us four months to get there." 

"Four months? That's too far. It isn't worth my attention at all. Why would you even inform me?"

"M-master! I apologize for wasting your time!" 

"Silence! The next time you disturb me, I will cut off one of your fingers! Now, leave!" 

"Y-yes Master!" 

'Miracles, huh. What use is it studying a cripple? Hmm, considering that foolish assistant of mine usually has keen insight, maybe it's worth checking out. However, four months... I'll keep it in mind. Well, let's just focus on the study and slowly make our way there. And when I'm finished...'

"They'll all pay."