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. Well, time to never mention it to anyone ever. They'd probably laugh even harder.

A few weeks went by. I decided to catalogue some of my experiences in a diary, which I had gotten from a vendor one day in the village. I asked my mother what year it was, and she responded with K413. I don't know what the K stood for, but I went with it. I began to write.

K413 - Late 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 these skills, I was already in the top percentile of people all over the world, not to mention my use of Incantationless magic. My mother said she'd wait until I was seven years old to teach me Advanced-tier recovery magic. Apparently, my mother came from a country which held all advanced and above recovery magic behind a paywall. Since she came from a noble family, she got exclusive rights to learn it.

I closed the diary with a sigh. "I'm… kind of bored." I said. Sure, tutoring was fun, and hanging out with Sylph–err, 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 what I could do to pass the time.

It was late at night, so I put away my diary. I sorta needed to go and use the restroom, so I decided to do that. I walked down the hall and noticed my parents weren't going at it. That was odd, since they'd used to it every day up until around a few weeks ago. I shrugged. Maybe they just had a fight.

Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see a figure. It was peeking into one of the rooms, specifically Lilia's room. It seemed to be stalking Lilia while she slept or something. I walked closer, and got a rock bullet ready in case it tried something.

It was Paul. Of course it was Paul. What was he doing peeking into Lilia's room? I walked closer, and I could see inside of the room. 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. 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. Not to mention, if she gets pregnant, she might be kicked out and forced to give birth elsewhere. 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 had barely loved me. As a result, I was willing to do anything to keep mother and father safe. Keeping my fathers hands off the maid was one of those things, apparently.

"I… Alright. Sorry about that. Almost let my emotions get the better of me." Paul walked away, skulking back into his room.

'Phew. Crisis averted.' I thought, as I almost pissed my pants.

A few weeks later, I discovered the real reason why my parents weren't going at it recently. Zenith was 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 her fertile years were ticking away.

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 her pregnancy test came back positive. Or however those things work.

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. Hopefully, it'll stay that way.

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 really wasn't intending on doing such a thing when I showed up here some 8 years ago. But 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 definitely 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 this man.

When I saw his name on the job listing, I decided to try it out, and maybe haggle up my salary by bringing up the old stuff he had done. When I saw him again, I remember thinking how kindly the years had treated him.

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. 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 at myself. And yet, Lumina treated me no differently that morning.

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, thanked me 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 everything that 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, as if she had some similar prior experience to go on.

Thanks to her, we avoided disaster. I would owe her a debt, and 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 serious 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 beginning of fall, and it was getting colder out. My father had bought me a jacket for my 6th birthday out of the blue, and I had never used it.

Anyways, I noticed that Lilia was treating me a lot nicer than she ever was. She'd rub my head, and tie my hair into a ponytail. I looked at myself in a water mirror, and really liked how it looked on me. I showed it to my father, who was outside.

"Hey, dad. Lilia made my hair into a ponytail, and I wanted to see what you thought." He smiled warmly. "Hey, ponytails are my thing! She's got to be more original than that." I pouted. He didn't say his opinions on it. "I-I mean, it looks great on you, sweetie." He pet my head, and went back to training. "You know, you've been eyeing me training with the sword. If you really 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 have no intention of wielding a sword." He sighed. "Can I at least teach you Touki?" Eh? Touki? Never heard of it. "C'mon now, don't you want to be a strong woman? You could protect your husband when you grow up." I didn't know what he was going on about with that last part, but I hesitated.

This Touki thing sounded kind of interesting, and he was making it out to be pretty 'cool'. So I decided to ask what it was.

I asked, "Touki?" Paul nodded. "It's sort of like armor, but made out of your own 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. 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. On a completely different note, how's it been going with you and Sylphie?"

"Oh, she's a great student. She deserves all the praise in the world." He smiled, and said, "You know, I don't discriminate if you have certain preferences." He winked.

"I don't think I'm that interested." He looked at me. "Are you ceeeertain? You seem to sing her praises a lot." I could feel my face flush, and I stammered out, "Sylphie's just my student! She's great, cute, actually adorable, no… wait, that wasn't what I meant!"

"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 perked up at that. "Really? Thank you." I gave her a warm smile. I was conflicted about my feelings right now. I had basically no prior relationships that worked out, but I thought one with Sylphie might. But that aside, she was only 6, and she was my student. I wanted to have her graduation first and then sort out any feelings. Thankfully, it seemed people here were tolerant of such relationships. Someone in my old world might not be so lucky.

"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?" Be so for real, Paul.

"Mother! Father is–" I began to call.

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, and so 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. 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 deciding it without Paul. The girl was given the name "Norn." The boy was given the name "Sirius."

That day, the Greyrat household grew by two.

Authors Note: Thank you for reading. You may be questioning my idea to introduce a new character in favor of Aisha. If you are upset, remember that after Volume 1, the next time Aisha appears is Volume 6. I have a ton of ideas for Sirius, so stay tuned. Planning on an 'extra-long' Extra Chapter or 2 at the end of the volume, which should be in one or two chapters.

Side note: Not set in stone but I may be getting a Lumina Greyrat illustration done soon, and I'll use it as the fanfiction cover if it does end up a reality. Thanks in advance to Monsoon.