It has been 3 months since Kei started living in the manor. The leaves are yet to fall, but the greens are slowly turning gold and orange. The sun is hidden by the gray clouds. It hasn’t rained, but the smell of wet soil is in the air. Today’s lessons are ‘what to expect when taking quests in the adventurer guild’. Malicra explains that there will be many herb collections for beginners. To get first-hand experience, we are in the unprotected territory of the southwest forest, Tileager Forest.
“How about this one?” Halinia says as she shows a plucked herb in front of Malicra. Halinia and Malicra are wearing a cloak for the chilling weather.
“No, but close,” Malicra says. “That's a paralyzing herb. See how the blade of the leaves seems hairy; the healing herbs don’t have them. And these fruits are green, just like the healing herb, but see where the stem is attached. These ones have some black. Don’t eat them. There are odds of children like you dying,” Malicra talks like an encyclopedia. “But… Halinia… I have told you not to touch plants without making sure, DIDN’T I…?” Malicra says, gritting her teeth as she shoves a herbology book at Halinia's head.
“I thought I was sure…” Halinia explains.
“You are lucky you didn’t touch any poisonous plant that can kill you,” Malicra comments.
“I memorized those! Kei told me it would be a safe idea. Right, Kei?” Halinia chirps enthusiastically as she looks behind Malicra. Kei is carrying a cloth bag on his right shoulder over his chest full of books while holding a small leather notebook in one hand. Behind him was a knight with light metal armor carrying a spear and a woman guard with leather armor. Malicra looks at Kei with skeptical eyes. Kei avoids eye contact, pretending to be writing something in his little book. Malicra takes a deep breath.
“Well, let’s test that out, shall we? Even poisonous plants can be useful if used properly." Malicra rummages in her cloak and takes out a pair of thick rubber gloves similar to mittens with a separated index finger and thumb and hands them to Halinia. Halinia gives a disappointed expression.
“But I already have some,” Halinia says, raising her hand to show knitted brown gloves with a gold plant pattern on the back.
“You want to cover your mother’s gift with poison?” Malicra says. Halinia hesitates, but she decides it's for the best. She is an open book. Kei is honestly worried about her future.
There is something that catches Kei's attention. It’s obvious that there are human footprints on the ground that aren’t their own. Kei turns to the guards behind him. “Do people come here often?”
“Oh, I’m surprised you noticed, kid,” the lightly armored woman says.
“It’s not that unusual, we guards have to eat something too, you know?” the metaled armored man says offhandedly.
“You don’t have to say it like that, Kith,” the woman says with a sharp look towards her companion.
“So, monsters are common here?” Kei asks rhetorically. The woman giggles.
“You don’t have to worry. It’s not that dangerous here, with us around,” she says as she hits her armored chest lightly with her fist proudly. “But~ the deeper you go, the more dangerous it will be,” she says ominously. “But of course, you shouldn’t go to the unprotected territory on your own anyway…” The lady says while lightly poking at Kei’s cheek. Looks like he’s become quite infamous.
“That’s enough out of you too, Selis,” Kith says. “The lady and the professor are getting away.” Malicra and Halinia are in view but a distance away.
The three walked over and rejoined the group. Though, nobody noticed; In the mix of footprints, there were very few, but a few too many, barefoot human-sized footprints on the ground.
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After a few tests about extremely dangerous plants, Halinia passes with flying colors.
“Why didn’t you recognize the paralyzing plant?” Malicra points out.
“Because I wouldn’t eat fruit that small,” Halinia says, as if stating the obvious. Malicra’s right end of her lips twitches in annoyance, but she moves on.
“Fine, if you know so much, you won’t die in the most unfortunate ways. Now let’s move on to hunting,” Malicra says. Halinia isn’t that enthusiastic, but Kei is.
“Can I join?” Kei asks. Everyone looks at him with a mix of emotions. Malicra lets out an exasperated sigh.
“You are to support, ONLY support, got that?” Malicra says.
“What can this brat do?” Kith asks bluntly.
“He can cast barriers,” Malicra answers.
“This little boy? That’s impressive.” Selis says.
“Yeah, don’t be… His barrier… is a little dangerous.” Malicra says. The two guards look questioning, while Halinia nervously smiles, already knowing. “Not likely to happen, but when things go south, I suggest getting behind him rather than in front. You might end up losing a limb.”
“How can you lose a limb from a spell that’s supposed to protect you?” Kith asks while looking at Kei as if he is looking at an unknown entity.
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After traveling into the busier side of the forest, it was difficult to find any monsters due to the season and the noisy footsteps on the forest floor from the two amateurs in the group. They slowly learned to be stealthy, but when they were about to give up on the hunt for the day, they finally were able to come upon an unaware monster, a rabbit with a horn. It was rubbing its horn on the bark of a tree like it was a sharpening knife.
“Do I really have to do this?” Halinia whispers as everyone hides behind bushes.
“Yes, they are quite the nuisance for the farmers,” Malicra whispers.
“That makes sense,” Kei thought.
“And they multiply like there are no seasons,” Malicra added.
“Not that different from my world,” as Kei thought. Halinia had a wandering look, not completely understanding what Malicra said. “I hope she learns the meaning before she leaves.”
“These rodents will be common hunting requests even in the kingdom,” Kith says. “It’s better to get used to it than to hesitate when the moment counts.”
“Yeah… knowing what kind of world I’m in now, I have to get used to it too,” he thought to himself while thinking of people he will have to kill in the future, but this will be easier said than done.
Halinia contemplates while hesitating, but she knows it's something she can’t avoid forever. She takes out her wand and takes a deep breath. “Form water and drown my enemy,” she whispered. The rabbit's ears perk, noticing something is amiss.
The horned rabbit jerks its head up, searching around, and starts rubbing its belly, then looks down. It was getting really wet. It tries to rub itself dry, but it is too late; it is engulfed by the water and starts floating into the air. It tries to swim out, but the normally complimented leg strength is nowhere to be found. It struggles and struggles. It kicks and kicks. Its cute first impression is gone. Its screams are unheard with their monstrous expression of desperation. Its black eyes turn red from lack of oxygen and look as though they're bulging out of their socket.
Halinia looked without breaking eye contact, but she wanted to. She squints, wanting to close her eyes to turn such an adorable creature into what she’s seeing now, but she doesn’t. She held her resolve till the end.
The horned rabbit stops struggling, but instinctually, trying to survive, its leg kicks twice more times.
Kei tries to leave the hiding spot to go get their spoils, but Malicra stops him. He looks at the two guards, who are still quiet and checking their surroundings cautiously.
“Monsters have friends or family too,” Malicra says, her voice just over a whisper.
“Or predators,” Kith adds. After a few seconds of scanning…
“All clear,” Malicra whispers.
“All clear here,” Kith whispers
"All is clear here too,” Salis says. Malicra taps Halinia on the shoulder twice. Halinia finally blinks and takes a deep breath, as though jumping out of the water herself. The spell is canceled, dropping the large water and the still rabbit. She has a cold sweat dripping down her cheek from the experience. As for Kei, he was not bothered.
They approach the dead rabbit with its horrifying expression, but nobody notices Halinia’s bothered demeanor.
“Now for the dismantling, Halinia, do you remember what to do?” Malicra asks as she faces Halinia.
“Ah… yeah, I remember." Halinia obviously feigns confidence.
“Can you do it?” Malicra noticed. Halinia faces down, she slowly forms a fist with both hands.
“Yeah,” Halinia says.
Selis throws a rope over the closest branch. Meanwhile, Kith decapitates the rabbit. Malicra was preparing Halinia to dissect the rabbit’s head. Kith walks to the rope and hangs the corpse upside down, leaving the head all alone on the ground. Kei looks at the head and tells himself, “Yeah, I’m ok,” confirming something.
Halinia is ready. She has taken her cloak off, wearing a dirty apron, rubber gloves, and a makeshift mask made out of a scarf.
“I just want to remind you, you may not have those on hand at all times,” Malicra says.
“Well, she can just take the head, you know?” Selis says.
“This is a necessary experience,” Kith says sagely as he checks the surroundings.
“Just get it over with and you won’t ever have to do it again,” Selis whispers. Halinia nods.
She starts dissecting the horned rabbit’s head. Now, why is a 10-year-old doing this? There are three main reasons. Reason one: there are many and all ‘forms’ of monsters in this world. Some look harmless, like this rabbit, but even these creatures have the ability to kill children. She must not hesitate from gore and blood from enemies, friends, or even oneself. Reason two: meat. Hunger is a hindrance to the mind and body. Being an adventurer requires traveling long distances without a town or city. So having protein on hand would be wise. Reason three—the main reason and the most crucial and useful reason—will be explained soon.
Kei thinks it would be wise to watch for the above reasons. He watches Halinia work and is deep in thought. In the games, there were no details like this. After defeating enemies, it would just disappear, with no blood or corpses left behind. If a quest required defeating a certain number of monsters, it would just register for every number of defeats and completions.There was no reason to dismantle or dissect for proof of completion, and food had different needs than for survival. The stamina points in the game were mainly for fighting, not for long travel. Players would use food to raise or speed up the recovery of their stamina in the middle of battle to continue to fight. Traveling in the game was much more convenient because of the fast travel points, making the game much less time-consuming.
While Kei was in his intellectual mind and absorbing all the information, Selis avoids the gruesome sight by looking at Kei instead but this bothered her in a different way; he was just standing there like a doll or a machine, looking intently. Blinking at times reminding her he is alive. It unnerved her.
Then suddenly, Halinia jumps away from the head and starts vomiting on her makeshift mask. From witnessing this Kei intellectual switch turns off and his emotions clicks on. The images of what he saw rush through his mind in seconds. The blood, gore, and worst of all, the rabbit’s contorted and deformed face. He covers his mouth but can’t stop his guts, he discharges as well while standing.
While Selis is comforting Halinia, she notices Kei’s distress, and she sighs in relief. He is a human too, not some doll. Malicra sighs as well but with a straight face and continues where Halinia left off.
“You did good, Halinia,” Malicra says.
Halinia starts tearing, takes off the dirty scarf from her face, and uses it to wipe her mouth but the smell reminds her it is dirty. She throws her scarf and takes off her glove and pulls out her wand.
“Water form,” Halinia orders with some shakiness, nothing. She calls out again. Nothing.
“Lady Halinia, please calm down. It’s ok, breathe…” Selis says while rubbing Halinia’s back. When Halinia’s breath becomes more steady, Salis takes out an extra cloth and leather pouch full of water. She wets the cloth and hands it to Halinia and she cleans herself in a hurry.
“There, you were really close. You pass Halinia; you don't have to do this again,” Malicra says as she lifts her hand, holding something in the tip of her thumb and index finger. It was so small that it was difficult to notice. Then, with her empty hand, she swings her hands down. A large amount of water started to fall from thin air, like a small waterfall. She takes this chance to clean both the object in her hand and her bloody hands.
“Halinia, come over and wash yourself off, and have a look. Kei, you too.” and they do, with some trouble. Trying to avoid eye contact with the dead. After cleaning up, Malicra cancels her spell with a wave of her hand and waves for them to come closer. They both lean in to see what she is holding. It’s a gem. It was as small as a fingernail and black as obsidian. This is the third valuable and useful reason.
“This is a mana stone, or mana gem, or mana core, as people call it,” Malicra explains. “It is in all living things’ head. These are where our mana is kept. These come in all shapes and colors. As for the sizes... The biggest I have seen was the tip of my thumb. These things help us make artifacts like the warming and cooling orbs in the manor. But this one alone would be useless..."
“Alone?” Kei asks. Halinia slouches in disappointment. Noticing this Selis put her hand on her shoulder trying to comforts her.
“Don’t be so discouraged, Halinia,” Malicra continues. “It’s just because of its size. About 10 of these might be able to make an accessory. 20 to make a temperature-tempering orb. Or much, much more for something with a more complex mechanism in an artifact. So what I wanted to teach you through this is… Taking the whole thing can sell its meat and fur, but just taking the head is fine too. It’s sufficient for financial survival. But lugging 10 heads around will get heavy, and the head itself is not that valuable. It’s these,” Malicra says as she shows the puny gem again.
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Still cloudy on their way back, nothing eventful happened. Kei is somewhat relieved and disappointed. First-hand experience of his own would have been valuable indeed, but after what happened to him and Halinia, he also hoped for no more blood and gore for at least another week.
They crossed the bridge over the river, and a carriage awaited them. Everyone gets a lift in complete silence. Halinia is hugging Selis inside the carriage on their way back, and then the silence breaks with the sound of sniffles. Halinia starts crying, burying her face into Selis’s lather-armored chest, trying to hold back. When she calmed down, she spoke.
“Are you disappointed?” Halinia asks. She was looking at Kei, trying to smile, but still sniffling and teary-eyed.
“About what?” Kei asks while thinking, “I mean, I threw up too, and I’m an adult,” on the inside.
“I… I don’t know… I just hope… you don’t hate me.”
“I’m not disappointed… I still…” Kei chokes out; he didn’t know what the right thing to say was, or he did but didn’t want to say it.
Does he say it here and now? But he had a hard time saying it, even in his past life. He always believed the word must not be spoken lightly. One must say it when they truly mean it. ‘Love’ is a simple, boundlessly meaningful word. He has never heard the word spoken in his past life other than from the media. Not from friends, not from neighbors, not from his parents. From his indirect experience, the word has caused more trouble for them and the people around them than happiness.
But this is for Halinia. Does he say it? Just to make Halinia feel better? He does care for her. Even love her, like a sister, big or small. He decides to say it; she deserves it, she needs it now, and he does love her.
“I… You are and will always be… dear to me…” He didn’t say it, but it didn’t seem like it bothered Halinia.
Actually, she found it humorous. Seeing Kei struggle to find the word, just to say that, and to hide his embarrassment by looking out the window, she and Selis find him adorable and giggle.
When they get back to the manor Halinia’s family greets them. They realize what has happened from Halinia’s and Kei’s tired and gaunt expressions. Salishia hugged Halinia and Halakar pats Kei’s head. For dinner was rabbit stew… Halinia and Kei had trouble eating that night…
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Three more months have passed, and winter has arrived. Fortunately, Kei's parents had relocated to the inner village and to a more well constructed wooden house before the harsh winter arrived. They were also given a warming orb for Kei’s birthday. But tonight is Halinia’s birthday.
Halinia’s 11th birthday is being celebrated outside of the manor with all the villagers. Normally, the birthday celebration is smaller, held only by family within the house, and the gifts are given by the people who can remember and afford to.
Of course, there are guards taking turns patrolling, but this is a special occasion. Today will be her last birthday here in the village for a long while. In the coming spring, she will head to the kingdom and be away for six years. So the celebration is for her acceptance to the Grand Magic Academy, her birthday, and saying goodbye.
She is indeed the main focus of the celebration, but there are three other children who were accepted into the kingdom and celebrated with her: two boys and another girl. If it weren’t for Halinia, these children wouldn’t be able to have this sort of grand celebration. They are sitting on wooden chairs like thrones while watching people dance, play music, act, and feast around a bonfire in the open square of the village. There is a line of people to hand gifts to the children. The butlers accept them and stack them behind the rightful child. Obviously, Halinia had the largest pile, but she doesn’t notice while the other children look on with envy.
Kei was one of those in line, holding a present covered in parchment, almost as big as he was. By the time it was Kei’s turn to hand his gift, Arden waited to take it off his hand, but instead…
“Do you want to hand it to her personally?” Arden leans down and whispers to Kei. Kei contemplates for a moment; his gift has a special function to use to its full potential. Kei nods.
Arden gestures with his hand to go ahead to the front. Kei felt a bit out of place walking in front of the stars of the night, but he did. He walks by in front of the two boys who stare at him, and Kei tries his best to ignore them. Halinia notices and is surprised and happy to see him.
“Hey, Kei! Where have you been?” Halinia asks. He was putting the finishing touches to her present while he was away. Which he lifts and shows to her.
“For me? From you! I’m really happy!” Halinia takes the large present. “It’s lighter than I thought it would be; what is it?”
“Go ahead and open it,” Kei says, and she does just that. She rips away the parchment wrap in excitement. Inside was a large leather bag, which Kaber might fit in with side pockets and a front pocket. But Halinia is confused. It was definitely light for its large size, but for an empty leather bag, it was unusually heavy.
“Why is it so heavy?” Halinia asks.
“Try pulling the handle up,” Kei suggests, but there are two handles. Kei points at the one in the back, and she pulls.
It extends up, but not all the way while sitting. She stands, puts the bag gently on the ground, and extends the handle further. The handle extends a little below her chest. She is still confused. Kei takes the handle and starts dragging the bag on the ground, but to Halinia’s surprise, it was almost gliding, not scratching. There was a pair of wheels on the back bottom of the bag. It is the very first wheelie bag in this world. Halinia gives it a try too.
As she wheels her bag around, the three other children look on with wide eyes. They're not the only ones; even the adults who take notice look in awe. Even Arden widens his narrow eyes. Malicra was drinking alone in the back. She smiles, seeing Halinia happy with her gift. Her efforts were worthwhile. Kei looks around and finds a man with tools on his leather vest, and he looks back and holds up his drink, in silent cheers to the success.
“It’s a gift from me and Malicra, and some of the guards helped out too,” Kei made a blueprint for the wheelie bag, the guards offered unused or extra metals and leathers, and Malicra and the blacksmith in the village helped make the bag, “I thought it would be useful for traveling long distances and carrying books for school.”
“I love it!” Halinia hugs Kei, “Thank you so much, Kei.”
Halinia had Kei join her and watch the festivity. They would even dance together, but Kei has two left feet. Kaber joins them at one point. The three-year-old was a better dancer than Kei…
It was a very good day but it wasn't over yet.
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The party is drawing to an end, and everyone is walking back home. Guards are accompanying farmers on their journey. Even in these joyful settings, alcohol was not supplied, which honestly surprised Kei. The purpose for this is so that everyone is always aware and alert, especially in such an open area of the village as this. Despite this, Kei still notices a few intoxicated bodies scattered across the area.
Kei and the noble family are the last to go home. It’s so everyone can give their thanks and goodbyes. It’s already pretty late, but it gets even later for the nobles. Kaber is already asleep and was taken in by Gallia. Malicra is already in her room. Kei is also getting tired, but he had to endure for someone’s turn.
It’s finally Kei’s parents' turn. It’s no surprise, but it still puts a smile on Kei's face. The parents smile back.
“Thank you for the feast, Lord Kalador,” Kei’s mother, Jei, says as they both bow. “And thank you for taking care of our son.”
“It has been our pleasure. He has taken very good care of our daughter too,” Halakar says.
“Yes, he has, and even for Kaber as well. He invents all sorts of games for him to play. I really hope to have a mother-to-mother talk in the future,” Salishia says.
“I would really love that… I might… I don’t know how to say this, but… I might be having a second too,” Jei says.
“What?” Kei thought.
Salishia gasps realizing what Jei meant. Salishia walks toward Jei, almost skipping
“Did it not come?” Salishia whispers. Jei nods. Kei heard. Salishia gasps again and she and Jei slowly turn to face Kei.
“You're going to be a big brother, Kei,” Jei says.
“I've never been a big brother before…” Kei thought
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