Chapter 36

Uncomfortable happiness

"Oi! Come back here you Little Rat!"

"Ah! The she-zombie tried to hit me!"

"Wa! She-zombie!? Come back now and I will show you what a zombie is!"

Now...you might be wondering why I was chasing a boy three years younger than me. Well, right now I stay in the daycare for the children of the Warrior.

And this little piece of shit just stole my underwear while calling me a zombie. The other children seeing this thought that this was some kind of game and started to steal my thing while waiting for me to chase them too.

One stole my sock, my boot then my freaking bra. I have been running around like this since I came back from talking with Lemes.

Rest for a month he said, you will feel better he said. Tch annoying. But I can't do anything. He has my sword hidden somewhere I don't know and I don't want to leave without the Blackheart by my side.

I could probably make some sword using Earth or Ice but that would not be nearing as good as the Blackheart. I know my skill with magic. I certainly can make a good makeshift weapon but not a permanent one.

Plap!

"Haha! The zombie can't even dodge that!" The boy who stole my panty said.

Breath in Lucy...breath. you can't murder him...not right now.

Plap plep thub!

"Hahaha! She really doesn't dodge!" The girl who stole my sock was giggling like mad. The other boy who stole my bra also giggled. He is still too young, probably around 3 or 4.

That...right...Fuu...they just a kids-

"Gah!"

"Ahaha! She stupid!"

"Ok, you brat! You want to play like this!? Fine!"

I quickly rush toward them and pick them up one by one. Each one gives out a yelp and giggle of their own as I pick them up.

They can't outrun me. I just walked through the door and saw Sylva with another old woman. She notices me and the bunch of children I pick in my arm and hang on my back. The one I didn't pick up just walked with me while pulling on my leg.

"Where are you taking them?" She asked.

"I'm going to teach them a lesson," I answer her while keeping a straight face.

She just shrugs and tells me to bring them back before the sun goes down.

I walk through the house to one of the relatively flat sand fields while ignoring the stares of many adults and teens who think we are cute. The one on my back starts to become bored and plays with my hair by yanking it.

I put the children down on the sand.

"Alright, ya brat. You guys wanna play right?"

"Yes!" They all answer with energy.

"Then I will show you a magic trick. Stand back! If you don't wanna get hurt."

I shoo them all back and then oblige albeit reluctantly. Now having a space to myself I start on drawing a magic circle on the ground.

During my free time back in Roa I use it to either research into Magic Circle or mana controlling. And this is what I get from all the research.

When I finish drawing the magic circle, I create a knife using ice and slam it into my hand. I wince at the pain for a bit but it soon goes away as my blood starts pouring into the circle.

It was one thing I found while researching. My blood has a high density of Mana in them. It was a perfect ink for a magic circle.

Once the circle is filled, I activate it by pouring my mana inside.

"OK, brat. Watch this!"

All of them watch with expectation. But after more than a minute of nothing happening, they start to cry out.

"There is nothing! The zombies fool us!"

"Yeah! She just lied to us!"

One after another, everyone starts complaining except for the girl who is around 12. She was a quiet girl and seemed to be the leader of these kids.

"Tch brat." I let my complaint out loud before healing my hand. It was shiny and new with no scar. I smirk at myself. Who would have thought that I would be able to heal things perfectly like this?

"Alright! This time for the real thing. Just get back."

I shoo them away again and then touch the ground. Soon ice starts slowly forming around the circle and expanding.

Focusing more than I ever have, I slowly create the shape of the ice. Each one starts to resemble what I once saw on a TV in my previous life.

First is the giant ice castle in the middle. On the left is a swingset, with a seesaw and a slide. On the right side are a jungle gym, a chin-up bar, and a trapeze ring.

Once it finishes forming I feel almost lightheaded. Headache storms into my head and my nose starts to bleed a little. I heal myself and wipe my bloody nose.

Oh, I need a lot of rope...

All the kids watch in awe and their voices leak out. Then without my word, they all jump into it without a second thought.

But once their feet touch the ice tho? There was no reaction. That's right. A magic circle that keeps the ice at the same temperature as if it were a brick. What's more, it will keep feeding my ice the mana it absorbs through the surroundings. Meaning the ice will never melt.

A new kind of magic circle, using my blood as a conduit for mana. Well, once it reaches about fifty years or so it will go away...maybe?

"Hey! Why isn't this moving?"

"Huh? How do you play this?"

Voice from children who go for the swing or jungle gym voice out. Oh right...rope.

"That needs to wait a bit! I will go find some rope so just play the other one first!"

Well, with that said. I just dump the kid there while I go get some rope…

What am I doing? Why am I out here having fun while my family is possibly dying?

Me out here and making kids a playground I never got to play on? What the…what happened to my thought?

Just an hour ago I was ready to lash out against Lemes for keeping my things and forcing me to stay here!

Shit! Something is influencing me? Grandma? No...this was not her. The feeling I feel when I lash out against Lemes is the feeling of hatred.

Grandma never hated anyone for real, well except whoever she calls a man-god and his associate.

Something that is in my blood...Laplace's blood. Yeah...that makes sense. In history, at least the one I know. Laplace has a hate boner for humans. In the first Laplace war, he managed to get the beast person and Ocean people, making the humans lose much of the land in our procession.

Not only that he bred those succubus and let it out in bergaritt. Many of the warriors fell to those succubus and they still fall to this day.

Then in the second Laplace war, which is the war that almost destroyed humanity. He not only managed to kill off 4 of the heroes before getting sealed.

Then...memory from grandma. Our blood, the blood of Laplace. I don't have her full memory right now but there is one thing I know. The Laplace in history and the Laplace in Grandma's memory is a different person altogether.

But then how can he influence me? My blood is from Grandma and that should be diluted over many generations of our existence. Except they are inbreeding…

Incest...there is one in my memory. It was the sibling Grandma mentioned to Laplace.

But still...Shit, I don't know anymore! I just know that Laplace is influencing me. That is step one.

The next step is for the future me to figure it out. Now then for that damn rope…

"Did you finish standing around?"

"Gah! What the! When did you get here!?"

Karas just looked at me with her usual blank face.

"I came to look for the children but they are not here. Then I saw you standing still for the last 10 minutes."

"Oh...I will take you to the children. Just let me grab some rope."

"There is none here. If you need rope you can buy it at the guild. I know you don't have a lot so I will lend you some."

She then threw me a bag full of Shinsa.

"I will wait here." She leaned against a wall and shooed me away with her hand.

I glared at her for a bit but the older woman just straight up ignored me at this point. So I just walked out of the daycare.

On the way to the Guild, I saw Lemes walking out of the building but I just ignored him and walked inside.

Getting the rope I needed, I walked back and met up with Karas. Her usual blank face is still there.

"I got it so let go." She just nodded and followed after me. We stay silent the whole way. Only after we arrive at the playground does she make out some voice.

"What is this?" She seemed surprised and confused.

"A playground," I Answer her. "Something I made because I was bored and a way to experiment with some of my research."

"While you were bored? This...is amazing. I have never seen something like this before."

Ah...right. they probably have never seen a playground before. Come to think of it, there was never a playground in Buena or Roa either.

"That so? Well, go and play something with the kids. I will need to install some of this rope." I shoo her away. Which she greatly obliged.

The kids saw her and they began to cheer up and take her to many of the things I created. Playing around together.

Meanwhile, I was installing the rope on the swingset, trapeze ring, and jungle gym. When I finish installing all of the ropes and checking their durability. I just let the kids play it out.

Sitting out on a chair I made from earth, watching all the kids playing in the playground. They seem happy.

Happier than I thought. At first, it was just to experiment with something and get them to stop bugging me but... saw their happy face.

Is making me somewhat happy too. Well, maybe it is not bad. It's not bad to stop for a bit. To rest for a bit. Just for a bit, that's all.