Chapter 8:
Preventing a Disaster

 

I laughed at myself. I had believed that Sylph was a boy for the better part of an entire year. I didn’t let the surprise show on my face for long. If she realized that I thought she was a boy, she might get self-conscious about her appearance. That was the last thing I wanted. So, we took a bath together. 

“Hey, Sylph,” I began, stepping into the steaming bucket that served as our bath, trying to push down any expression that might’ve given away my surprise.

“Hmm?” Sylph–err, Sylphie hummed, kicking away her clothes and following me into the bath.

“Could I wash your back?” I asked. 

Now that I had somewhat of an opportunity to show Sylphie that I truly appreciated her as a friend and student, I didn’t want to pass it up. It didn’t seem like it was a strange concept here in this world since Paul had done the same to me. Although that might’ve been because I was his child, I figured that it wasn’t a problem anyway.

“Um, sure!” she agreed, smiling at me. 

I found myself filled with a pleasant feeling, something akin to pouncing into a warm, freshly dried blanket after a long day of school. It seemed our relationship wouldn’t change even after this misunderstanding of mine. At the end of the day, she was still the same person I had rescued from those bullies. That reassurance put a smile on my face, despite her doing nothing to intentionally incite one.

“Alright, get ready!” I exclaimed, holding up a soapy towel.

“Ah~!” Sylphie squealed in surprise after I pressed it on her back.

I had a feeling that whatever happened, Sylphie would be by my side. Or at least, I’d be by her side whenever she needed me to be. 

---

A few weeks went by after that. I decided to catalog some of my experiences in a diary, which I had purchased from a vendor one day in the village. I did a little investigating to find out how I should date my entries, only to find out that the calendar system was already a bit arbitrary. Instead of having separate months like what Earth had, this world simply had the ‘first month of spring’ or ‘last month of winter.’ There was also no weekday system in place which was a bit surprising to me. In this world, the number 7 was a bit of a lucky number. You could see it everywhere, from the seven tiers of magic to the seven levels of magic proficiency. 

However, there was one thing that did stay similar between the two worlds, and that was the way years were counted. There was something known as the Armored Dragon King Years, dating back to the end of a massive war said to have required the help of three legendary heroes to put a stop to it. One of these heroes was the Armored Dragon King Perugius Dola, the one who established this simple calendar system. I silently gave the man some post-humous thanks for making something easy to use. These years had a prefix that came before the count, similar to B.C.E. in my old world. This prefix was ‘K,’ standing for King. As it turned out, it had been 413 years since the establishment of the calendar system. So that’s what I used to mark my entries. 

 

K413 - Third Month of Spring. Skill log. 

Swordplay - No skill

Offensive Magic - Fire: Advanced; Water: Advanced; Wind: Saint; Earth: Advanced (All Incantationless)

Recovery Magic - Healing: Intermediate. Detoxification: Intermediate. (All Incantationless)

 

I was off to a great start. With this level of know-how, I figured I could tutor Sylphie for years to come. There were a few more things I could learn here in the village, but there weren’t many. For example, my mother said she’d wait until I was seven years old to teach me Advanced-tier recovery magic. My mother came from a country that held all advanced and above recovery magic behind a firewall. Since she came from a noble family, she got exclusive rights to learn it. 

I closed the diary with a sigh. I placed my diary inside of my desk and sat on my bed, peering out at the night sky.

“I’m… kind of bored,” I muttered. Sure, tutoring was fun, and hanging out with Sylphie was a great time too. However, I had started to get used to this schedule. The days were more or less the same. I wondered if there was something I could do to pass the time.

As for the present, I sort of needed to go and use the restroom. I pushed myself off of my bed and entered the hallway. As I was stepping through the hallway shrouded in darkness, I noticed something was off. After I listened to the permeating silence for a few seconds, I found out what it was. My parents weren’t going at it. I shrugged. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had another one of their small arguments. 

Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see a figure on the other side of the hallway. It was peeking into Lilia’s room. Whatever it was doing, it seemed to be stalking Lilia while she slept. I walked closer and got a rock bullet ready in case it tried something. As I got closer, however, I noticed that the figure was a lot more defined than just a black shadow. It was distinct, even familiar…

It was Paul. Of course, it was Paul. What was he doing peeking into Lilia’s room? I tip-toed closer, peering into the room that my father was looking into. And for whatever reason, Lilia was naked? Surely Paul didn’t have anything to do with it. 

If he were walking out of the door, I’d accuse him of having an affair. But he was just staring like a creep. I ran up to the door and shut it. 

“Huh?” My father gasped in fright. I could play around with him. ‘Papa, why was Lilia naked?’ Hehehe. I decided against it, though.

“Psst. It’s Lumi.” He stared at me. “I won’t tell Mom you peeked at Lilia, but if you get any ideas, you’re probably gonna be kicked out.” He scratched his head and averted his eyes. 

“I… But–” I raised a finger. “No buts. You’ll tear the family apart. Please think about it, Father.” I said all of that in my most serious tone. 

I loved my parents. I considered both of them to be my real parents, more so than the ones from my past life. Those two had completely stopped caring about me the moment I got depressed. As a result, I was willing to do anything to keep my mother and father safe. Keeping my father's hands off the maid was, saddeningly, one of those things. 

“I… Alright. Sorry about that,” Paul muttered, skulking back into his room. 

‘Phew. Crisis averted.’ I thought, as I relaxed my body and nearly ended up pissing myself. I’d forgotten why I exited my room to begin with. 

---

A few weeks later, I discovered the real reason why my parents weren’t going at it recently: Zenith was around three months pregnant. For several years now, Zenith had been constantly complaining about not being able to conceive. It had been six years since she had me and she worried that her fertile years were ticking away. She still had, admittedly, around two decades until that happened, but she was the type to worry about that. 

She was growing increasingly worrisome every year that passed. Fortunately, she had finally gotten the telltale signs of pregnancy. She went to the village doctor, and they confirmed that she had conceived once more. 

The Greyrat family was the most excited it had been in quite some time. Sylphie was overjoyed that she’d be able to babysit and take care of children. I wasn’t too keen on that idea, but I let her have her moment. There was discussion of whether or not it was going to be a boy or a girl, and discussions about hand-me-downs and living space.

We were all happy, and smiling. There were honestly no problems in sight. 

 

Lilia

 

I was trying to keep a smile on my face. Seeing Zenith and the rest of the house being so happy made me feel extremely guilty. I could’ve ruined all of that, just because of some emotion I had lost control of. 

I tried to seduce Paul. I wasn’t intending on doing such a thing when I showed up here some 8 years ago. However, having to clean Zenith and Paul’s room after they had satisfied themselves and hearing the passionate moans while I tried to sleep was getting to me.

I’d even watch him practice the sword occasionally. Watching him kindled an emotion inside of me. A dirty, raw one. Lust.

I remembered our first time, back at the training hall. I didn’t hate him back then, but I didn’t love him back. It was a pretty horrible first romantic encounter. I had even cried back then. However, when a fat minister in the Royal chamber set his eye on me, I nearly wished to have Paul over that man. 

When I saw his name on the job listing, I decided to take it and maybe haggle up my salary by bringing up the old acts he had committed. When I saw him again, I remember thinking how kindly the years had treated him. He had a wife and settled down in a pastoral village of all places. There were many things we talked about before he hired me.

At first, he didn’t do anything to me. But when he began to occasionally grope me, I laughed internally at how he didn’t seem to have changed much. I was able to resist that. As I got closer to Zenith, the less I wanted to ruin their happy marriage.

But, when Zenith got pregnant, I was the first to hear about her speculations about her potential pregnancy. So, knowing that Paul would get pent up, I tried to make a move on him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him staring at me changing. I was just about to invite him in when the door suddenly shut. 

Was he caught by Zenith? I thought. I moved closer to the door and pressed my ear to the crack. What I heard was something I would have never expected. I heard his daughter, scolding him. Telling him that he would never be able to go back if he crossed the line with me. The words resonated with me. Why had I tried to put my hands on a man that had a child, and with more on the way? I was disgusted with myself. 

Lumina was a strange child from birth. I took a liking to her explorative nature and even kept her private, self-teaching magic sessions secret from her parents. It was scary how intelligent she was, and I thought she could be possibly possessed by a demon. But she treated me with respect and thanked me for every chance she got. Even if she were possessed, she’d never do anything to harm the family.

When she caught Paul leering at me, she told Paul what would happen if he put his hands on me in a calm and collected manner. She persuaded him to reason with himself and to think about the consequences of his actions. No ordinary six-year-old could pull something like that off. She was so level and calculating about it, it was as if she had some similar prior experience to go on. 

Thanks to her, we avoided disaster. I would owe her a debt, one which I had no way of paying. From now on, I would pay her as much respect as she did to me, if not more. I would do everything in my power to make sure she was happy. 

 

Lumina

 

Several months went by without anything too eventful happening. 

Sylphie was growing exponentially and now was Intermediate-rank in all schools of magic—all without incantations, if I may add. It was the first month of fall, prompting me to use the jacket that my father had bought me for my 6th birthday to shield me from the decreasing temperatures.

I noticed that Lilia was treating me a lot nicer than she ever was before. She'd rub my head, ask if I wanted anything in particular, or tie my hair into a ponytail. I created a makeshift mirror using water magic to see how it looked on me.

This look fits me too well. I think I’ll keep it. I showed it to my father, who was outside.

“Hey, father. Lilia made my hair into a ponytail, and I wanted to see what you thought,” I said.

 He smiled warmly. “Hey, ponytails are my thing! She’s got to be more original than that,” he said, patting my head softly.

 I pouted. He didn't say his opinions on it. “I-I mean, it looks great on you, sweetie.”

 He patted my head and went back to training. “You know, you’ve been eyeing me training with the sword. If you want to train with me, I’m up to it. I was joking before because you were small. But now you’re pretty grown up. You’ll probably be a tall woman when you’re an adult.”

“Nah, I was just interested in how weird you looked. I don’t want to wield a sword all that much,” I explained.

He sighed. “Can I at least teach you Touki?” 

Eh? Touki? I don’t think I’ve ever so much as heard of that in either of my lives. I looked at Paul with a puzzled expression.

“C’mon now, don’t you want to be a strong woman? You could protect your husband when you grow up,” he offered. 

I didn’t know what he was going on about with that last part, but I was intrigued. I was all for learning new things about this world, so I decided to take this opportunity in stride.

I asked, “Touki?” 

Paul nodded. “It’s sort of like armor, but made out of your mana.” I see. I wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of wearing hot, uncomfortable armor, so maybe this was the way.

“How do I learn to use it?” I asked him, expecting a serious answer. 

---

Several minutes later, there I was, grunting in concentration and trying to cut a rock with a sword. Evidently, It didn’t work. Paul was a lousy teacher. “No, you have to step with a hngh, and then strike with a fwam! There’s a huge difference!” 

I sighed. I dropped the sword and bowed Asura-style. I theatrically said, “I regret to inform you that Lumina Greyrat will be dropping out of this class indefinitely. The reasoning for this is as follows: ‘My father sucks at teaching.’ Please understand.” 

Paul scoffed. “Be like that, then. I’ll get you to learn someday,” he said, a look of fiery determination in his eyes.

I exhaled. “You should be more simple with your teaching, Father. Maybe you could take a page out of my book,” I smirked, poking him in the gut. He smiled back at me and sat down on a smooth rock.

“That reminds me, how’s it been going with you and Sylphie?” he asked, wiping the sweat off of his face.

“Oh, she’s a great student. For one, her brain’s like a sponge. I barely have to review things because of how good she is at remembering stuff. Plus, with a student as diligent as her, I feel like my time isn’t wasted when I’m writing up our lessons, She deserves all the praise in the world.,” I prattled off, catching myself before I continued yapping about how good of a student Sylphie was. 

He smiled, and said, “You seem to take a liking to her, you know? While I’d like to see some grandchildren one day, I don’t discriminate if you have certain tastes in women.” He winked. 

“I-I’m not planning on that sort of thing…” I stammered out.

He looked at me. “Are you certain? You seem to sing her praises a lot.” I could feel my face flush at his comments. 

“Sylphie’s just my student! She’s great, cute, actually adorable, no wait, that’s…!” I cupped my cheeks to try to cool off my embarrassment. 

“Hehehehe…” He stared behind me. I turned and saw Sylphy there, with her ears twitching. She was blushing ever so slightly and was fidgeting with her hands. 

“I… I think you’re cool too… Lumi.” She said hesitantly. 

I gave her a warm smile. I was conflicted about my feelings right now. But for now, we were just good friends. About relationships between the same gender, it seemed people here were fine with that sort of thing, or at least tolerant of them. Someone in my old world might not be so lucky. But that wasn’t what was on my mind for the most part. 

“All right father, we’ll be off then.” 

He smirked at me, and said, “Just don't go rolling around in the hay, won’t you?” 

I kicked him softly in the shins to deter him from continuing. Sylphie had no use for that sort of knowledge so young, and I wanted her to stay blissfully ignorant. I was practically her big sister, so it was my job to protect her.

And so, life went on. 

---

Soon after that, Zenith gave birth. It was a scary situation at first since it was a breech birth. Lilia was there to help out, so thankfully it turned out okay. It was an ordeal, with both mother and child at risk. With the use of healing magic, we could dull the pain the way a painkiller would in my world. All told, our efforts worked, and the birth was a success. The baby came safely into this world, letting out its first, healthy cries. When it was over, we all breathed a sigh of relief. It was a baby girl. She had beautiful green eyes.

And then, Zenith started yelling out, saying, “There’s another! Another one of my babies!” She had twins. The house was frantic. This one was visibly bigger than the girl, but thankfully it passed quickly as the child was born safely. This one was a boy. He had blue eyes, similar to Zenith.

Zenith began to sob in joy, holding her new twins. Paul was ecstatic and was pumping his fist in the air at the fact that he could finally train up a boy in the sword. I, for one, was looking forward to being called “Big Sis.”

Zenith gave them both names right then and there, seemingly having discussed names beforehand. The girl was given the name “Norn,” and the boy was given the name “Sirius.” 

That day, the Greyrat household grew by two.