Chapter Text
Rudeus:
A year had passed since we defeated Geese and Badigadi. There were still no signs of the Man-God, but seeing as we took out everyone he had under his control, I wasn't expecting to see any signs of him soon.
After we returned back, Cliff stayed with the Superd tribe a while longer to make sure that everyone was safe before returning back to Millis, though he came back quite recently, to the joy of Clive and Elinalise.
Zanoba's been the same, spending every day fanatic about dolls while Julie and Ginger help him.
Other than that, everyone else returned to their own places. Ghislane was appointed one of Ariel's guards which was pretty cool I guess...
Well, my family's been doing great too.
"Papa!"
Speak of the devil.
I heard a voice come from behind me and once I turned around, I was greeted by my adorable daughter.
"Lucie!"
She was now 8 years old.
I looked over to two of my wives. From the looks of their bellies, it was clear that I had two more children on the way very soon.
With Lucie on my shoulders, I walked over to Eris and Roxy, "Morning, you two!" I then patted them on their heads before dropping Lucie onto the sofa.
"Morning." They both replied in a slightly out-of-sync unison.
Just then, my third and final wife, Sylphie, came down, carrying Sieghart in her arms. From her direction was the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen where Lilia and Aisha were.
"Rudy, good morning."
"Morning Slyphie."
<><><>
About an hour after we finished breakfast, I headed off to meet with Orsted like usual.
He sat in his chair like usual, with the same menacing glare.
Is he gonna kill me?
No. Probably not.
"Rudeus. You see, there's someone I'm indebted to."
Me?
"Her name is Luicelia."
Nope.
"I see..."
"She is the daughter of your sister, Norn Greyrat."
...
...
What did he say?
My precious Norn's... Daughter?!
"She-"
"This is of course, in one of my previous loops."
Ah. So she won't be getting married...
"But I do require Luicelia in the future. She carries the power to help me defeat Laplace when he returns."
"So who is the father?"
I swear he was glaring at me harder than usual.
"Ruijerd Superdia."
What?
What?
What?
"Rui- Ruijerd?"
"Yes. So your next mission will be to cause the birth of Luicelia."
I'm playing matchmaker for my sister...
No.
I might need to kill Orsted here.
"Grr. Okay!"
I swear he chuckled at me as I opened the door to leave.
"Good luck Rudeus."
I don't need that.
<><><>
The next day, Norn was visiting.
Perfect.
As soon as I found her in the living room, I sat down next to her.
"Norn."
"Brother?"
"Do you possibly have any... Love interests?"
Her face blew up in red, giving me my answer...
"Can you give me some hints?"
"Wah-"
She tried to stand up, likely out of embarrassment, but tripped on something, falling over.
Cute.
Anyways, "So, Norn, could you describe this 'dream' man to me?"
"But... Why do you want to know..."
She pouted.
"Well, since I'm your older brother, and since you're getting to that age, I thought I'd take Paul's role for him and check up on you."
She turned her head slightly.
"He's older than me."
Someone my age?
"By how much?"
"Quite a lot older... And he's married."
Cliff?! Or... is it me?
"Rather, he was married..."
Did the three of them divorce me or something behind my back!? Maybe I should warn Cliff too...
"And he... he helped me a lot when I was younger."
...
Hm...
Maybe I should tell her not to pursue this.
"Norn-"
"-It's Ruijerd."
No way.
Of course, it's him. Who wouldn't want Ruijerd. I mean, I'd gladly take him as my fourth, but... No, I'm getting distracted. Maybe Orsted's wish will come true.
"I see... Norn, you see... Orsted actually gave me a matchmaking task."
"Matchmaking? For me? But why?"
"There's someone who he needs to be born in the future to help him."
"And that person is..."
"Your child."
Her normal smile seemingly disappeared, turning into a frown.
"I... See... Well, if that's what must happen then-"
"Are you giving up on Ruijerd?"
"There's nothing else I can do. It's an impossible love after all."
Not quite.
"Actually, the person I'm matchmaking you with just so happens to match your criteria. Maybe a bit too much."
I swear her face glowed like the sun for a moment. Too bright.
She stood up quite quickly, almost knocking something over, "Wait! Is it Ruijerd!?"
I looked to the side. I didn't want to give my Norn to anyone. Not yet!
But I had to tell her the truth.
"Yes."
<><><>
The next day, following my meeting with Norn, I went back to the Superd village to find Ruijerd.
"So, how's it been, Rudeus?"
I nodded, "It's been great, we actually have two more kids on the way soon."
"Ah, congratulations. Oh, but they haven't been born yet. You must tell me when they're born. I'll come visit."
Hehe. With the news I tell him soon, he might even be living here.
"- Ruijerd... Do you possible..."
I gulped, "Have any love interests?"
He looked slightly confused, "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you see... I actually have a marriage request for you."
"Me?"
That's right. You, Ruijerd. Please reject this.
"Yes. It's from Norn."
His face looked quite puzzled before turning upwards, "I see..."
"She said she's fine with it, but..."
"Rudeus. Can we have a fight?"
Did I piss him off? Did he realize I didn't want this to happen? Oh crap.
"Uh..."
But I can't say no in this situation. His face is serious. I'm dead.
Leading me outside, Ruijerd left his spear in his house, taking me to a small patch of grass, "Here should be fine... Now, Rudeus, come at me!"
"Can I make a sword before we start?"
I stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do. There wasn't a chance I could get close to Ruijerd with my bare hands.
"Yes, that sounds fair enough."
At his command, I conjured up a generic stone sword. It was the same one I'd used so many times before.
"Shall we begin then?"
He nodded.
I prepared myself, though I guess that just means I held a fighting position because I couldn't cast Battle Aura.
I activated my Eye of Foresight and waited. As soon as I saw an attack, I dodged, rolling to the side before jumping up and trying to land a hit with my sword.
The blade got knocked back so I evaded again. I didn't know whether I wanted to make distance or not, but right now I had no chance to think. Ruijerd was too fast to let me.
Rather than a counter attack, this time I went in as fast as I could but my speed wasn't enough. Nor was the Demon Eye.
I guess countering is all I can do!
His hand reached out extremely fast, but I was able to parry with my sword, creating a loud noise. With my sword now raised high, I swung down, using gravity to support my attack. It didn't make it far before the sword was stopped.
Letting go, I tried to make an escape, but I wasn't fast enough.
I could feel my stomach clenching as I was launched a couple of meters.
"Thank you, Rudeus."
Huh? It's over?
"I accept the offer."
And just like that, Norn was engaged.
<><><>
A week or so later, we held a small ceremony for the two. It was simple yet nice, with some small decorations hung up around the Superd Village.
Norn, despite being part of the Millis faith, wanted to hold a wedding to honour Ruijerd, and so we all came together to do exactly that. Cliff acted as the officiant, helping to sort out everything.
I could've sworn I cried two times the amount I should have when I saw Norn standing there.
If Paul were here, he would be overjoyed. But he wasn't, so I had to get twice my fulfilment for him.
Seeing Norn's smile that day...
Was this what my brother's wedding was like? Maybe so, but I'd never know. At least now, Norn's smile was all I needed to see. It gave me the answer I wanted.
Enough crying.
Once the ceremony finished, they celebrated with a large cake. Sadly Roxy and Eris couldn't make it to the wedding; they were close to giving birth, so both weren't in a condition to go through the teleportation circles.
There were quite a lot of people here, though since we couldn't disclose the usage of teleportation circles, none of Norn's fan club could witness this moment.
Good.
Anyways, as soon as Norn had finished talking with Sylphie, she came over to me, full of joy. Be careful Norn, that smile might kill someone one day.
"Brother... I just wanted to say... Thank you for this! It'd always been my dream since I was young, but I didn't think I'd be able to marry Ruijerd."
"It's fine, I didn't do much. All I did was put the idea into both your minds. In fact, without Orsted, I wouldn't have even asked, so maybe thanking him would be-"
I looked over to the man standing by a tree. His face might scare children, but I knew what he was like inside. Though thanking him... I don't know how he'd respond to that.
"Never mind..."
"So what are you planning to do now? Since you've married."
"Well, now I've graduated, I've found some work in the Magic Guild, so I'll focus on that for now. But once everything settled down, I plan to move in with Ruijerd. Hopefully within six months."
Ah, she's truly grown. My Norn.
<><><>
About a week later, within two days, my wives gave birth to my fifth and sixth child.
The one born first was Roxy's child, who we named Lily.
A day later, Eris' child, Christina, was born.
All of our children swarmed around the two in curiosity, but of course, we couldn't let them get too close for the time being.
Another week after Christina's birth, Roxy returned to work at the University while Eris stayed at home like usual, trying her best to take care of the children, though in reality, it was all Sylphie.
Gently brushing her hair with my hand, I watched Sylphie play with the kids.
"Hey! No eating that!"
As Lara was busy trying to eat Sylphie's comb, I heard a snap come from behind me, followed by the table falling down.
Sieghart had somehow snapped the table leg in half. Luckily he wasn't harmed, but damn, I might need to be a bit more careful around him.
Repairing the damages, Sylphie laughed slightly. She moved Sieghart closer to everyone else and continued to play.
A couple hours later, Roxy returned home.
"I'm back!"
The two newborns were still in their cribs as I greeted Roxy at the front door. She placed her hat onto the hanger and sat down on the couch.
"How was today?"
I came from behind, wrapping my arms around my wife.
"I got lots of gifts from the other teachers for the birth."
She raised her arm up, showing a bunch of small boxes of confections. They may be sweet, but Roxy's even sweeter.
I hugged her, giving her light kisses before feeling a small tugging sensation at my feet.
"Papa!"
Lucie came from under, raising her hands up and forcing me to let go of Roxy. Ah, such a struggle. To choose between my wife and my daughter is such a predicament.
But Lucie was too adorable.
I lifted her into the air, placing her on my shoulders. From the side of my view, I could see her small finger pointing forward, followed by a simple, "Forwards!"
I did as my master commanded, walking over to the couch opposite Roxy before placing Lucie down there. Taking a sweet from her large selection, Roxy handed one to Lucie, "Do you want to try this?"
Her face glistened with joy, taking it as quick as she could.
"Tank you!"
Too adorable.
As soon as she finished eating the first one, Roxy handed her another, seemingly also enjoying her reactions as much as I was. Fair enough.
But from behind her, Roxy felt a presence looming over her. Obviously from my side, I could quite easily tell who it was, but it was funny to see Roxy turning her head around to see an angry Sylphie scolding her for giving Lucie too many sweets.
"That's too many Roxy! She's going to get cavities at this rate."
"But- but- sweet things taste so good."
And so they do.
"No buts. They're not good for you if you have too many."
True also.
Roxy lost the argument, slumping over slightly, followed by Lucie doing the same. Despite being Sylphie's child, at that moment, Lucie seemed almost matching with Roxy.
All I did was laugh, though that landed me a hit by Sylphie's hand.
Following our little interaction, I went upstairs to visit my newly-born children. Already, Christina had started to call me 'Dada' which was adorable. On the other hand, Lily looked at me like some sort of monster she was too scared to go near, though, she did that to anyone who walked even remotely close to her.
Even Sylphie's natural mother-like aura couldn't combat Lily's social anxiety. In fact, I might be a bit worried she inherited too much from me, or rather, my past self.
But either way, no matter how it goes, I'm sure they'll grow up to be great kids.
<><><>
Lucie:
Today was my tenth birthday.
Normally I should be happy, but ever since Lara and Ars' fifth birthday, I've constantly been feeling inferior to them.
Or rather, when I look at the gifts that I got compared to what they got, it feels like my Dad has zero expectations of me. While they got all these fancy equipment in swords, staffs and other magical devices, all I get is things for normal people.
For my fifth birthday, all I got were clothes and accessories.
I could tell that all my parents loved me, but it never felt like they expected me to do anything. They never thought I could do anything.
"Lucie, here's my present."
Dad handed me a small box. It wasn't too light, but it certainly wasn't anything like a magical device.
I opened it, looking at his excited face.
It was a necklace. Attached to it was a small locket and when I opened it, there was an image of me. I'm not sure how he managed to do that, but it was a really good gift.
Though in the depths of my heart, it wasn't this that I wanted. I mustered a smile, "Thanks Dad!"
Following that, I received gifts from everyone else: a green dress from White Mama, a hat from Red Mama, a bracelet from Blue Mama, a handmade blanket from our maid, a really nice-looking pen from Older Sister Norn, and a mug from Aisha.
All in all, my gifts were nice, but again, somehow I felt that it wasn't what I really wanted. Just looking at my Dad's face, I can tell how much he loves me, but I never wanted a gift like that. I just want him to believe in me.
I spent that entire day not knowing whether I wanted to cry or not.
<><><>
It's been a couple days since my birthday.
Today, I was playing with Ars, Sieg and Lara in our backyard.
I had the necklace given by Dad to me around my neck. Even if it wasn't what I really wanted, it was still a nice gift.
We were playing tag.
Ars was chasing me around the area when suddenly he tried to use magic to push himself forwards, accidentally knocking into me.
"Ah. Lucie! Are you okay?"
He quickly got off of me as I rubbed my head.
"..."
His eyes looked down at my shirt. Was there something on it... Was he...
"Lucie! Your necklace! Er... Ah! I'm so sorry!"
Lo and behold, the necklace my Dad had given me had broken. Well, not all of it, more like just a small part, causing it to come off of my neck. I was sure that I could fix it quite easily and even if I couldn't, Dad certainly could.
"It's fine. No need to worry about it."
"But it's a special gift from Dad, there's no way you don't feel sad. I'll do anything to make it up."
How does he get to say something like that?
"No, I'm serious, it's fine."
"But..."
Ars gets everything that I've wanted. All the attention and praise for his battle skills yet I'm treated like this.
Lara and Sieg are the same!
"Ah! Shut up!"
I felt something in me break.
"Why do you care so much about this!? You lot are all so lucky. Dad expects so much out of all of you yet with me its like I'm transparent! Why?!"
I was supposed to be the big sister.
"Why is it that you're the ones getting what I want!? Who asked for these dresses and necklaces? Just praise me and look at me! I worked so hard everyday-"
Tears were forming.
"-Everyday... I spent so long practising magic and the sword..."
I didn't need to look up to know their reactions.
"Just... Give me some attention..."
"I-"
I could tell that Ars was trying to hug me but didn't know how to go about it. I wanted to laugh but there were only tears.
Looking up, both Lara and Sieg were in shock. They came closer but stopped at a certain distance.
And in that moment, I felt the warm embrace of somebody.
Looking up, it was Clive.
He was the child of one of my Dad's friends and somebody I played with quite a lot, but I didn't know why he was here.
All I knew was that I was glad he was here.
Still crying, I accepted his embrace.
<><><>
Sieghart:
A day passed since Lucie's outburst. I couldn't do a thing for her... None of us could. She was always the strongest out of all of us whether it came to academics, magic or sword fighting yet none of us could realize what she actually felt.
But the more I thought about her words, the more I felt them resonate with me.
When I was younger, I always adored my father. Even now, I felt the exact same... Probably even more than I did back then.
We were told stories by our mothers about him and every time I went out with him, it felt as though he knew everybody.
His magic was also insanely strong. From what I heard, he had a mana capacity on par with Demon God Laplace. Even without those stories, just watching his spells and his magic drew me towards his power. He could cast off some of the most lethal spells faster than I could even see and without even breaking a sweat.
Magic was literally as simply as breathing for him.
Yet he never let that power get to him. I've seen him talk to the most powerful people in the world and he was even one of the Seven Great Powers.
At the same time, it made me feel a bit worthless.
<><><>
Lara:
Growing up, I always looked up to Lucie as the stronger one. The one I can always rely on to help me. Maybe I was relying on her a bit too much though, since Ars once called me out for using her as my gofer.
She was always way more enthusiastic than me about practically anything and never really showed anything else, so when Lucie suddenly broke down, it completely shocked me. I'd never seen her like this.
What hurt me more was her words.
I'm a lazy and selfish person. I know that. So for her to say that our family valued me more than her shocked me.
There's no way that's true.
Today I woke up early. Looking to my right, Lucie was sleeping by my side. The night before, I saw that her eyes were still red so thought I'd sleep with her. She had Clive to rely on, but even he couldn't sleep with her.
Considering I was the second oldest, I had to do my duty at times, so I comforted her as she wept in my arms... Even though she was the one to insult me yesterday.
Nevertheless, I'm an all-loving being, so those insults won't hurt me at all...
Yeah, no. I'm nothing close to that.
A couple of minutes after I woke up, Lucie also rose up. Her hair was messy and her eyes were a disaster from crying. She rubbed those very eyes before realising where she was, "Lara... Uhm. I'm sorry for what I said yesterday!"
"No no, it's fine. I get what you meant."
Pushing her apology aside, I got out of bed, taking off my night clothes and getting dressed. She quickly did the same, or so I assumed based on the rustling behind my back.
Once we were both done, I opened the curtains.
The sun was now coming up, though it didn't sound like anybody was awake besides Aisha and her mom.
It's the first time in ages since I've woken up before everyone else. Even I was slightly surprised.
That wasn't the main problem though. I had to focus on my older sister...
But I wanted to go back to sleep.
"Lara?"
"Yeah?"
She clung to my back. I'm really not built for this sort of-
"Lara..."
Some tears were coming out again. I placed my hand on her head, though I was stretching quite a bit. Luckily her eyes were full of tears so she couldn't see my feeble attempt...
I really shouldn't be making fun of her crying.
"Do you think he loves us?"
"Our Dad?"
She nodded. Oh God, please don't say that sort of thing, you're gonna start scaring me.
"He does."
This is the one thing in life that I'm 100%, no 1000%, certain of. There's not a person in this world able to convince me otherwise, and that's coming from the lazy one.
"Our Dad loves us. More than anybody will ever. He loves all of us too much, in fact. So why do you think that?"
"I..."
The tears were starting to clog her eyes and the back of my top. I didn't think she was going to be capable of saying what she wanted to say, though I had a rough enough idea.
"Lucie... Trust our Dad."
<><><>
Rudeus:
It's been a year.
Since Lucie's birthday, she felt a bit more distant to me, but I couldn't tell why. Maybe she's getting to that age where you're embarrassed to be close to your parents. I guess I can understand, but as a father, it's a bit depressing to see.
Though, I suppose that's life.
Besides that, Ruijerd and Norn had their first child named Luicelia, just as Orsted had said, and we still had no signs of the Man-God returning which was great news. Aside from that, Lara started her schooling.
We had plans to visit Millis once again. It'd let Claire meet all of her grandkids too. Orsted had also been wanting to meet with the Miko there as well, so he'd be following along with us. All the kids seemed to be quite happy with it; they all loved Orsted, treating him like a second father.
None of them were affected by his curse which was relieving, but it also meant that Lara's pranks could be targeted towards him too. Just the other day, he told me that he found an assortment of spikey fruit waiting for him on his chair, though he took that in goodwill, laughing about it.
I'm glad.
The journey to Millis was quite simple, using the teleportation circles we had set up.
Once we arrived, I led the way to the household.
Claire was already outside, waiting for us. It looked as though she'd been waiting for quite some time too, with all the maids wandering around her, trying to bring her inside. Truly a tsundere.
She didn't have many years left, so I wanted to make this as enjoyable for her as possible.
"So here are the kids. Lucie, Lara, Ars, Sieg, Lily and Christina."
I spoke, pointing to each one as I introduced them.
Aside from Lily and Christina, the others tried to do a bow, though Lara's was slightly sloppy and Sieg very almost tripped up on himself. Even so, Claire laughed to herself at it. I was glad to see her still quite energetic.
Norn came from behind me, introducing herself, "Hello Grandmother, it's... Been a while." She followed up by doing a Millis-styled greeting.
"Ah... Norn."
It looked like she didn't know how to talk to her, given how anxious she looked. Neither did Norn, though. She'd grown up a lot since the last time they met, but given their past, I couldn't blame her for feeling awkward.
I guess I have to cut in.
"So, how's everything been since we last saw you, Grandmother?"
"Yes, well, as you can see, nothing changed since then. All I've done is age."
She sighed before noticing a small figure tugging at her leg. A small Lara held onto her leg, looking up at her as though she wanted to be hugged.
"But I am glad that I've got to see them," she spoke gently, bringing Lara up onto her lap.
Whilst Sylphie, Roxy and Norn helped get all the children into their already-prepared rooms, I sat down with Zenith and Claire. Eris was somewhere outside, wanting to explore the city a bit.
Though we'd sorted out our differences years ago and Claire's motive was already revealed, her face certainly showed that she still felt extremely sorry.
"Rudeus."
"Yes, grandmother?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being here."
I...
Before I could think of a reply, Zenith grabbed onto me, hugging me. I didn't even realize it, but I started to cry.
I see...
Thank God I didn't leave her.
<><><>
A day had passed and after finishing breakfast, I headed out to meet with Orsted.
"Morning sir!"
"Morning Rudeus."
"Shall we get going?"
I gestured towards the church, leading the way as my boss followed me. He simply nodded in response, keeping his usual cold face.
Scary.
Or so I would say if Lara wasn't clinging onto his head.
She'd stubbornly clung to Orsted as we were about to leave, but since there wasn't any danger in bringing her, we simply let her stay.
Ah, why can't you do the same to your father?
Quickly, we arrived at our destination and I was greeted by a frightened Therese.
We still hadn't yet perfected Orsted's curse-lowering item, but the effects of his curse were certainly less potent.
If it were in full force, Therese would've already fallen to the floor in fear.
"W... Welcome back, Rudeus."
"A pleasure to be here again, Therese."
"I assume this man is the Dragon God Orsted... And the one on top of him is?"
"Ah. She's my daughter, Lara."
"Oh right..."
She stared blankly at the unusual sighting before carrying on, "Well, the Miko is waiting for you two, so I'll bring you over now."
After a short thirty-second walk, we arrived at a bench outside with a cherry blossom tree looking down on it.
"Rudeus!"
I heard a voice coming from the table. It was the same chu-
Never mind.
At second glance, it looked like she lost a lot of weight already.
"Miko, it's been a while. I brought Orsted with me this time."
Her face lit up with joy.
"Orsted, sir!"
"I've heard you've joined us."
His expression didn't change, but it seemed as though the Miko could see through his stern face.
"Yes! Ever since I heard of you, I've been infatuated with your work."
"Haha! I see."
I hadn't heard him laugh that strongly before. Even Lara looked slightly surprised.
"So I see you've lost some weight. Miko."
Maybe that was a bit rude.
"Ah, yes! I was inspired by Eris after she saved me that fateful day. Is she here?"
Ah, I'd completely forgotten that they'd met before.
"She's probably out with the kids at the moment, but I can bring her to you tomorrow maybe."
And her eyes lit up once more, "Really! Please do! I'll prepare lots of cookies."
"Cookies!"
Lara shouted out from the top of Orsted's head. Ah, I guess I can't say no to that.
"I can prepare some now if she wants..."
"Oh... It's fine, Lara will probably be back tomorrow too, with Eris."
<><><>
Norn:
I came along with Rudeus to meet my grandmother again, but it still felt really awkward considering the last time I saw her, I absolutely despised her.
But now, I'm a completely different person. Not only have I grown up over the years, helping me earn my place in the Student Council and eventually become Student Council President, but I'm also a mother now.
I think, if it wasn't for that - for the birth of Ruicella - I wouldn't have agreed to come back. Initially, when I first heard Rudeus speak about grandmother, I couldn't quite understand her feelings, but now, it started to make sense.
Since becoming a mother myself, her feelings towards my mother made a lot more sense.
While I couldn't agree with what she wanted to do, for that matter, I don't think anybody would agree, I could at least see why she wanted to now.
"Ah, Norn... Welcome back."
She looked as though she wanted desperately to say something. Her eyes were on the cusp of tears.
"Yes, Grandmother. I've come back."
"I heard that you'd gotten married and had a child..."
"Oh, yes. That's true."
The conversation stopped for a moment. She wanted to say something, but it looked as though her pride was stopping her.
"Norn. For all the things I'd done to you as a child, I'm sorry."
I was slightly taken aback by how sudden this was, especially since she'd gotten onto her knees with her forehead against the ground.
"Grandmother! There's no need for that."
I knelt down to reach her, but as I got closer, I heard her tears. She was already about 70 and was nearing the end of her life, yet she still wanted to do this.
Deep down, I know I can't change the past. Nor can she, but somehow, it feels like I've completely forgotten the incident from when I was younger.
As much as I'd changed, grandmother had changed too.
So the least I could do was acknowledge that.
Kneeling by her side, I held my grandmother's frail body in my arms. It was the body of someone with so many regrets, yet it was so obvious the pain she was going through.
"Thank you."
Whispering those words felt like I'd lifted an entire weight off my shoulders, and from the looks of her face, she felt the same way.
<><><>
Ars:
Today, Lara left with Orsted and Dad to meet with somebody. I heard that she was a special person.
But other than her, we were told to stay in this house to play.
There's nothing to do!
"Lucie, Sieg, do you want to escape?"
I had a master plan in mind. A plan to have fun!
Jumping into the air, Sieg cheered with me, though Lucie didn't seem to want to. She never wanted to go against our parents, though I guess I could see why. Red Mama was so scary when she got angry.
But Lucie seemed more afraid of Dad for some reason...
"Isn't that dangerous? We should just do as Dad told us to, and besides, Blue Mama and White Mama are still here."
"That's why-"
I started to walk backwards.
"We-"
I grabbed Lucie and Sieg.
"Do-"
Prepping my feet on the ground, my legs bent.
"This-"
And we all jumped out of the window.
The wind blew across our faces as I barely landed on the ground outside. I could feel a couple of stares at us, so I decided to bolt off into the streets.
"Hold-"
Abruptly, Lucie used wind magic to stop my running, knocking me back while Sieg safely landed on the ground himself, with a pose similar to one of Dad's stories.
"Wait a second, Ars... Where do you even plan on going?"
Good point...
"I don't know!"
Her face looked at me like I was an idiot. So rude.
"Anyways, let's go!"
I heard that there was an Adventurers Guild nearby, so maybe we go there first. I've always wanted to see how they work, and Dad also used to be an adventurer.
"That way!"
It didn't take long before I found where it was, dragging my two siblings along the way and into the building.
"Woah..."
Sieg's eyes were glowing with interest. I know right. I'm so cool!
A woman at the front desk came our way, "Are you kids alright? This is the Adventurer's guild, you know. Where are your parents? It's not safe to be here alone."
Lucie looked a bit scared, but I was here to save the day, "We're fine! We wanted to become adventurers, so could you do that for us?"
The lady's eyes looked confused. Meanwhile, my eyes were focused on the two huge melons attached to her.
I think she noticed though, seeing as she walked away with a bad look in her eyes.
"Hey! Ars. It's rude to look at girls like that!"
Lucie was getting mad. Maybe its cos she's still flat there.
"Anyways, we should head back now. It looks like it'll rain soon.
I felt my hand being tugged and quickly I was dragged back outside by Lucie. Looking left then right, I could tell she'd lost her way.
I was just as lost.
"Uhm... Where..."
Turning around, I saw Lucie panicking. Normally I'd be laughing in her face, but just like her, I realize how bad this is.
Wait...
"Lucie?"
"What? Did yo-"
"Where's Sieg?"
In the distance, I saw two men running off with a familiar face in tow. It was my brother Sieghart. Oh no, Red Mama's gonna kill me.
"There!"
I picked up a nearby stick and ran off, using wind magic to propel me ahead. I heard Lucie do the same.
My enemy was fast, but I was faster.
Landing on top of him, I started to attack with the stick. But it broke.
"Get back! Ars!"
Hearing my sister shout, I pushed myself away, just barely dodging the sword that the attacker had. That was close...
"I'll deal with this. Ars, can you support?"
I nodded.
But even before that, Lucie jumped forward, creating a dust cloud with Earth magic, then freezing the ground. It didn't take long for the kidnappers to slip on the floor, to which Lucie fired two stone bullets at them, knocking them out.
"Sieg! Why didn't you resist?"
I was completely overwhelmed...
"You could've gotten out of there yourself, you know. I've seen your strength."
Lucie was so much quicker and smarter... If only... If only I could be like her. Yet anytime she looked at me, it felt like she was trying to hide herself away...
But right now, I don't have the time.
"Ars, Lucie, Sieg? What happened?"
White and Red Mama appeared.
<><><>
Rudeus:
"Eris!"
The same voice which I heard yesterday came ringing in my ears the moment we stepped back into the church. She must really love Eris... Huh.
Anyways...
After I left them two to talk and the Miko gave Lara her promised cookie, I headed back to find Sylphie, Roxy and Norn. Today, we'd be taking the kids around the town with their grandmother.
Apparently, the day before, Ars, Lucie and Sieg had gone out and caused some trouble, but Lucie helped clean everything up. I didn't exactly know what to say to them as their father, but given that it all went okay, I just figured it'd be a lesson for them not to wander about on their own.
Especially Ars. He looked the most different despite Sieg being the one who was targeted. Since then, we agreed to monitor them 24/7.
But anyway, we quickly left the house, with everyone in tow.
As both of my wives took care of the younger Christina and Lily, I made sure that the rest of them were close by, holding the hands of Sieghart and Ars while Lara clung to my shoulders.
Lucie, the oldest and most responsible, led us forward, marching as though she were heading to war.
So adorable.
However, in reality, she was also being led by Claire, who was the one at the very front of us all.
Once we arrived at a small open field, Sylphie brought out some picnic mats, rolling them out for the kids to sit on. Claire had prepared some food beforehand, taking out baskets of sandwiches and other small snacks.
At Lucie's request, she handed the sandwich basket to her, allowing her to hand out all of the sandwiches.
"Here!"
Oh, she's giving one to me too.
I graciously took the sandwich, watching the open sun shine down on this beautiful scene. As Roxy and Sylphie fed the younger ones with baby food, I took the rest to play in the field.
With magic, I created a chair for Claire to sit on, letting her watch the kids play, while Norn stood beside me.
Sieg and Ars seemed to be enjoying this quite a lot, rolling around the grass and jumping up and down while Lucie looked as though she wanted to scold them for acting like children.
It was kind of funny, considering her face showed her desire to do the same.
"Lucie, you can join them if you want. This is the time to let go and have fun, y'know."
Suddenly, her face lit up, and without responding to me, she ran towards those two. On the other hand, Lara looked like she was having the time of her life, sitting on top of Leo.
While the scene was certainly a bit peculiar, Claire seemed to enjoy every second of it.
"Rudeus. Thank you for this."
Again?
"I'd always thought that what happened with Zenith when she ran away from home was a mistake - that what mattered most was to fall into the roles we gave them, but when I look at them... When I see my grandchildren so free, I can't help but feel happy. Rudeus. When you next see Aisha, can you tell her I'm sorry? Sorry for the way I treated her. I probably don't have long left, so I want to make amendments for everything."
"Grandmother..."
That came as a shock - the usually so stern Claire saying something like this. But I gained some respect for her. Or rather, I feel slightly ashamed for once wanting to get her locked up. I could already tell from how Norn was acting before that they'd spoken about something similar to this, so her wanting to apologise to Aisha didn't come as a surprise.
Nonetheless, it was still great to hear from her mouth.
"I think it should be me saying sorry. Sure it wasn't obvious, but I didn't understand you back then. Even with the case of Aisha... I'll tell her you're sorry, but don't beat yourself up about it. As long as you and I both understand now, isn't that what matters?"
"Haha. Well said. Mhm. I trust you to tell her my apologies then. She's a really good child..."
"She is."
I stood up, looking at the scenery.
How far I've come...
Since being hit by that truck, who knew that this sort of thing would have happened.
Maybe now...
Maybe I can say I've lived my life to the fullest.