The mansion:
“You 2 are here”- Senri and the others were waiting in the living room
“What took you guys so long?”- Senri reached for a teapot, filling 6 cups with tea in her vicinity
“Well, I was a little stuck on what to tell the king as he had spies almost everywhere, Daisuke lied his ass off to save me, well he didn’t lie too much, he twisted our motives and end goal a bit. We can keep helping the demi-human village in peace from now on”
“We shouldn’t rush, we need to keep faking it”
“By the way, where is Akari?”
“She is asleep, she used too much magical energy to perform wind magic, so she is taking a rest now”
“We shall see tomorrow”
The next day we went to the same plateau
“So, Senri, do we need to teach her advanced techniques too?”
“We should”
“Well, let’s see what can we teach her?”
“Well, you can teach her how to control the ball in midair or to move it faster”
“Yes, we can teach her midair control or to train her speed”
“That’s a good idea”
“So, what are we doing?”- I always keep Akari far away when I talk with Senri
“We will teach you how to move the ball faster or control it from midair”
“Here”- Akari extended her hands, giving Senri the ball
“So”- Senri moved further away from Akari with the ball in her hands
“Why are you moving away?”
“Ok, this should be enough distance”
“Akari, Senri will pass you the ball you will have to try and control it using wind magic, try to do it faster and keep it floating longer all right?”
“I will try Daisuke”- Akari got ready to cast magic, most magic casters in this world put their staff or hands forward when they want to cast, they plant their feet deep in the ground
“Ok, here we go”- Senri threw the ball at Akari using her hands, the first few hours Akari didn’t make as much progress, but she was starting to control it well.
“Great Sage, does she use less energy now?”
“Yes, it’s still more than normal but less, I would say about 5 times as much now”- That’s still a lot
“It’s a lot”
“I know, I already said that it’s a lot, she will keep optimizing everything on her own, no need to worry”
“Akari, I think you know how to control it well, now you should try to fly it faster than before”- Senri and Akari kept kicking the ball back and forth for a while until Akari began to throw the ball faster back at Senri
“You are doing great! A little more”
After 2 more hours, Akari mastered the basics of wind magic.
“That was good, congratulations Akari!”- Senri walked near Akari grabbing her off the ground
“So what shall we do next?”- Senri turned towards me
“I don’t know, for now let’s just go to the tavern again”
“Well what will it be tomorrow?”- I am Senri picked up pace, it was pretty late
“Well, maybe teach her water and earth magic next, they go hand in hand.”
“Can I ask you something?”- Akari touched our shoulders
“Sure”
“Why are you 2 doing all this?”
“I don’t get the question, sorry”
“Why are the 2 of you so nice to me?”
“Shouldn’t we be nice to you, Akari?”
“I don’t know”
“Look, don’t stress yourself, ok?”
“I still don’t understand. Why are you so nice with me?”- Akari turned her head to stare at me
“Well, to be fair, I don’t know why yet. For me, just seeing you happy is enough, should there always be a reason to be kind or nice to someone. Should there always be underhanded reason just to be kind with other or to want others to feel happy or make them happy”- Akari extended her hands towards me
“Do you want Daisuke to carry you?”
“Yes”- I grabbed Akari from Senri carrying her on my back
“Daisuke is right about this, you should talk more with us Akari, we won’t judge or scold you, it’s ok to tell or ask us anything you want”- Senri was getting closer to me and Akari looking at her
“This feels like my mother and father, it’s like they are here again”- Crap, what should I say now?
“Take a gamble, you know what you wanted to say”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“The 2 of us can be like your parents if you want ”- My hands reached behind my back for Akari holding her in front of me
“But you won’t die or leave me, right?”
“Well, speaking about me, I will have to leave after a few more weeks here, it’s important”
“But I will stay here with you”- Senri grabbed Akari from my hands
“Why are you leaving Daisuke?”- Akari turned again to look at me
“It’s important, very important”
“What is it?”- Akari had her hands extended towards me
“I might be gone for a few years even, it’s tough because the mission is hard, I am forced to go, there is no other choice”
“Don’t think about this now Akari, let’s just enjoy our time together while it lasts”- Akari’s began to tear
“Ohh my, what the hell have I done?”- Placing my hands on my head, what the hell, why did I have to say that?
“Daisuke, you still did ok. She to face things as they are”
“Thanks Great Sage”
“Akari look, things will turn out ok in the end, let’s just enjoy the time we have now, you shouldn’t be worrying about things like these now, ok?”- Senri grabbed Akari from my hands holding her
“Senri, can you promise me that at least you would stay?”
“Of course, I will stay with you Akari, why wouldn’t I?”- Senri smiled at Akari, looking at her hands Aroma Magic was being cast
“It’s to relieve stress Daisuke”- Thanks again Great Sage
“Where are we going now?”- Akari began to stabilize
“We are going to the tavern now, we are going to eat pancakes again or whatever you want, we can stay in the city a little more”
“I want to try something new, I read that there is an option for Kopa Bread in the menu, maybe they still have it”
The Tavern:
We took a seat in the corner of the tavern again, I don’t like to be seen as much even if this tavern is demi-human friendly the attention is not that welcomed. Akari was sitting in Senri lap, I was sitting next to Senri, looking through the menu, what should I get
“Senri, is there something similar to ketchup, mustard or Mayo here?”
“Yes, mustard here is called Musk Sauce, Mayo is called Egg Sauce and Ketchup is just Soft Tomato sauce”
“What are Mustard, Ketchup and Mayo?”- Akari turned to look at Senri
“In other countries these sauces, musk, egg and soft tomato are called differently then we call them here, in Daisuke’s language musk is called mustard, egg sauce is mayonnaise and soft tomato sauce is called ketchup”- Akari turned staring at me
“How does she know your language?”
“Well, we are from the same country”
“You knew each other before?”- Akari turned back, looking at the menu, the waiter was waiting for us
“Yes, a kopa bread, potato salad with egg sauce and”
“And salad with meat, and I would also like musk and soft tomato sauce along with them”
“Very well, you need to wait about 40 minutes”- The waiter left
“No, we didn’t know each other before, it’s a bigger world where we are from.”
We waited a bit for the waiter. Eating with them felt, I can’t describe how I felt exactly, it was like feeling accepted by them, it seems that the 4 heroes were the only ones to accept me the way I am
“If you are wondering why you don’t have any speech impediment, it’s because I removed them when you were reincarnated.”
“Thanks again, Great Sage”
“Don’t thank me every time, it gets boring”
The Mansion:
“You 3 are back awfully late”- Okura was waiting for us in the living room
“Yeah, sorry. Akari you should get some sleep”- Senri grabbed a sleepy Akari off my arm
“Daisuke, come here, I need to talk with you”
“Yes”- This is giving me a bad feeling, Okura’s voice never had that much emotion in his life
“Hurry!”
“Yes, what is it?”- He leans closer to me
“Look, I found new info about Emiko”
“Really? That is good”
“No, it ain’t that good, she is currently north of the demi-human village, 150 km from here, she won’t be able to come in a month or so, we will need to train Akari in hand-to-hand combat, hurry and teach her earth and water magic already. We need her to be trained. And then we need to discuss on who will go after Emiko, it’s very important Daisuke”
“Okura, I will be the one going after Emiko, it’s too dangerous for all 5 of us to go along after her”
“But Daisuke, it’s dangerous”- That’s the biggest amount of concern I ever heard from Okura
“Look, Emiko will kill all of us, it’s better for the 4 of you to let me handle it, you will stay here, I already promised Akari and Senri I won’t leave them. I know Okura, but you got to understand me as well, it’s too dangerous if we go in a group, I will be ok, trust me”
Okura grabbed a piece of paper, gave me a glance before he started writing something in Japanese
“Daisuke, please stay safe. How much do you estimate this should last?”
“I don’t know, I hope it won’t be long, but you never know when on missions like these. All I want is for everyone here to stay safe no matter what happens. It’s better this way”
“I don’t doubt your judgement, but foremost let’s settle some things”- Okura handed me the piece of paper, he wrote in Kanji, disguise
“Your identity for this mission”
“I will use my name, Daisuke Suzuki, but I have to deny any affiliation with the 4 of you.”
“That won’t be enough. Emiko will get suspicious from the start if you say you have a noble reason for helping her, it may have worked in Japan but not here, Emiko is a battle-hardened warrior, she can see through people’s bullshit easier than most people, if you lie to her, you give her even more chances to kill you”
“What am I supposed to do then?”- If Emiko can detect if I am not sincere, then how am I supposed to talk to her, or convince her.
“My suggestion is that you need to twist the truth a little, my suggestion to set up a fake exile for you when we imprison the king, you can say you were exiled by us for misbehavior or something, it’s more believable”
“What if she wants to hear the whole story?”
“You can tell her how you meet us and that we betrayed you, it would be a half-truth then.”
“Look, I will make something up until we have more data, I have a bad feeling about the king”-Okura slammed his fist against the table, it was very rare to see Okura react like this
“Are you ok?”
“No, we can’t afford to lose you Daisuke, you don’t realize how important you are to our party and to us, especially Senri, she had never been happier since you bought Akari and started taking care of her.”
“Okura, please, stop insisting. I know what’s going to happen if all 4 of us go after her, remember. I will be ok, I promise I will return safely”
“Fine, but try to keep in touch with us”
“I will see what I can. It’s later, we should get some sleep”
The next day me and Senri continued to train Akari in using the rest of the magic elements, nothing worth saying about this day, she ended up using less energy this time
“Great Sage, did something change with Akari?”
“Yes and no. Yesterday it sure did, you made her trust people less.”
“I mean did she warm up to us or did she become colder, I couldn’t understand her today at the training”
“She confused, stuck in between wanting to trust you and not trusting you. She already sees Senri as her new mother, you on the other hand, she still sees you as a master rather than a father or someone familiar”
“How do I get her to see me as someone familiar?”
“Talk to her more. Can’t you see what Senri does, try to be more involved with her? The next day is a little less full, so you should try and go out with them, and this time take proper care of her”
“Thank you, Great Sage”- It was true, but how exactly, in which situation should I involve myself in Akari’s life, I mean in all of them, she is my responsibility since I bought her