“Why are you guys doing this?”
“I adopted, well bought Akari a few days ago, she was in a bad condition. I couldn’t leave a kid in conditions like this, even adults have a small chance of survival but kids, it may kill them sooner. A few days ago I found out she was the daughter of the village chief, she told me about her parents, well everything she could remember from her details I could make out this much. I decided to return Akari to her family but finding out the news that they are dead, I took it upon myself to help her. The 4 heroes, aside from Senri tagged along to help the village a little, we got a break from our missions, so it can’t hurt can it?”- Hope this lie would work, it maybe will, maybe not, but it’s worth a shot, it’s a half or quarter truth, but these cat people might have great bullshit detectors
“You said 4 heroes, but after that, you referred to them as we, like you, are included in those 4”
“Yes, I became friends with them, we battle a high leveled monsters. I acted as the bait as they killed it, afterward we had gone exp farming every day with them and after a few weeks I was hired as an aid to them”
“Explains a lot, what is your level?”
“You are around level 25 now, those plants gave you a lot of exp, those gold star plants contributed the most”
“I am level 25”
“Level 25? That seems like a far cry from your skills, those plants on the top are only gold quality, those at the middle are at silver quality and the bottom ones are bronze, no one without the forager or associate skill can gather them”- The cat-people gripped their spears with force
“Calm down you guys, Daisuke has a special ability, he was born with the ability to grow skills and level very fast. But the condition is to do something he enjoys, he enjoyed gathering, and he evolved his skill very fast”- Okura had my back, thank god, didn’t know that they possessed the skill to see the quality of plants
“Well, it’s rare, but that’s the only skill that they have, it’s called Quality estimation”
“That’s an impressive skill for you kid, you might surpass even the heroes if you keep training, you can even help other people around the village with that skill”
“For now, Daisuke and Senri are training Akari to be the next village chief, you 2 agreed with this”- Okura with a straight face turned at the Cat-people, his gaze is sometimes unsettling, and even the guards got scared
“Yes, it’s important to have our village chief ready”
“Can you now leave us to train here, we don’t want interferences”
“Ok, you heard my sister, let’s go”- Okura left with the cat-people guards
“So, what will you teach me now?”- Akari walked close to me clinging to my left side
“Well, potions, Senri where shall we go to train her?”
“Here, it’s good, we have a cauldron, mortar and pestle, a small knife, a table, and some chairs. I bought some wooden bottles from home, we should be able to make all the potions we need”- Senri move the table, chairs, and the tools closer to us
“So, how are we going to light the fire?”- Akari poked the cauldron with her fingers
“I will teach you later, now you should learn about plants and how to make potions, follow me alright, Daisuke will help you “- Senri grabbed a pile of bronze quality plants that she has gathered
“So, what shall we do first?”
“Look at this plant, it is called Corely, it is used in healing potions”- Great Sage, I hope you plan works, what do you exactly want of Akari?
“Auto-pilot”
“What was that, Daisuke?”
“Anyway, let’s get back
Great Sage put me in autopilot mode again
“To answer your question about Akari, if the village lacks a leader it will crumble to the ground, even if you defeat Luxor it will be vulnerable to attack from other nations. Akari just happens to be the next chief. I might sound cold, but I am not like that”
“You sound both cruel and cold the way you spoke in the last days or months”
“Yes, kid, I am not that way. Looks like I care about Akari as well, about everyone, I want everyone to live their best life, some people make it harder for others to live, king Luxor is one of those people. Akari was just a child who was sold into slavery, her parents got killed, she lived in hell for a good part of her life, you wanted to buy Akari as well, I just solidified that impulse, took control of you. Well, Akari was a responsibility I brought onto you by force, I am sorry for this, Daisuke.”
“No problem Great Sage, I also want Akari to live a happy life, all of this is for her, even now. Now, it’s too late to turn back”
“Well, it’s not too late, there is one more choice, if Emiko does not arrive here at the end of the 2 months maybe you should go after her or let the 4 heroes handle it and stay here with Akari”
“Great Sage, that is though, if they go, Emiko might kill them as they are known worldwide as it is, Akari will grow with my support, but the village will go undefended. If I go, Akari won’t have any other parent figure aside from Senri, but the rate of Emiko not killing me is lower.”
“So what do you choose, kid?”
“No time to contemplate on it, I will go after Emiko by myself, the village will be defended, Akari will be safer with them, there is no other choice”
Snapping out of the autopilot the lesson was almost over, I was packing the stuff that with Senri
“What was it?”- She stopped packing the stuff, put her right hand on my right shoulder, her left hand extending to the back of my forehead
“What do you mean?”
“What did you talk with Great Sage?”- Senri leaned her head forward
“Should I tell you now?”
“Yes, Akari is sleeping”
“Where?”
“On the table”
“Well, it was about Emiko, if she doesn’t arrive in 2 months here, then someone needs to go looking for her”
“Look, we will go, all 5 of us”
“That’s a bad idea, Senri. You are known worldwide as the 4 heroes allied with king Luxor, Emiko will try to eliminate all of us.”
“What are you suggesting then?”- She leaned even further, her forehead touching my forehead
“That I will go alone, she won’t know who I am, she won’t be able to know, think about it, the village will be safer will all 4 of you're here, if it ever falls under attack the troops aren’t enough to defeat the threat the whole village will be destroyed, everyone including Akari will die”
“Well, let’s get there first, ok? Let’s focus on what’s in the present”- Senri stood looking at me, I can feel her warm breath, we locked eyes for a few seconds staring at each other, and after a few seconds she leaned back
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
“Let’s get back home”
That was the whole week, we just trained Akari in making potions, well, I don’t know too much about crafting items but at least we thought her how to craft potions. She got the hang of it pretty fast, even tho she couldn’t do it on the first try she kept trying again and again until she got it right, never giving up. I was always by Senri’s side this whole week, she always tried to get a lot closer to me every time, kinda like flirting
“Well, she is flirting Daisuke, can’t you tell Senri likes you?”
“Don’t be stupid, Great Sage, why would she like me?”
“You are the one who is stupid now, you were by her side for not that long, but she feels understood by you, and it’s normal for most people to attach to someone who understands and cares for them. You took care of Senri, stayed up the entire night for her to recover from the curse. You are a liked by all 4 of them, the reputation you made is very good with them, but there is one person you got to watch out for”
“Who?”
“Petra, if she sees you with Akari, you will break her trust, but if you say the right words, she might even help you with this”
“Yeah, I forgot about Petra, I mean I forgot about her stance on this, she was the one that pushed me to help the demi-humans, I got that motivation from her”
“Well, Daisuke, the next week you will teach Akari Magic, am I right?”
“Yes, Great Sage, thanks for everything, you are working so hard for me, I never told you a sincere thank you until now. If it weren’t for you, it will be a lot harder for me to live in this world.”
“That’s the first time I hear it from anyone. Thanks, kid, I wish I had a body to be here, things would have been done in a second, but there are some limitations for me as of now, I can’t enter the world currently, maybe one day”
“Maybe one day”
Back in the village, the place where her former house was is being rebuilt, Akari seems happy about it.
“So, this place is under renovation for now”- The same 2 cat-people were guarding it
“So, is there a spot safe of monsters we can train Akari in doing magic?”- Behind them, different demi-human races, harpies, fox-people, druids, goblins, ogres and Oni’s
“Yes, there is a plateau where low level fruit monsters spawn all day, she shouldn’t be in danger if you 2 are there”
“Thanks”
The plateau, well, it was flat, not much to say or see, a big flat ground, it was perfect for spell casting
“Now, for a spell to be cast, you need a skill, you can gain it if you perform the spell once, for that you need to focus all of your magic into your main hand, look at me”- Senri raised her right hand up
“What does the main hand mean?”- Akari got both of her hands up looking at them
“The hand you use the most in writing, cooking, opening doors”
“I don’t know which one?”
“Wait for a bit Senri”
“Great Sage?”
“Yes, Akari is ambidextrous like you, she can use both hands”
“I am left-handed, I can’t do anything with my right”
“No, the moment I blessed you, I gave you this ability as well. My combat style involves ambidexterity, so if you activate auto-battle mode, I wouldn’t be able to fight correctly. I know what a pain scissors and can openers are in real life, I had enough of them as a human”
“You were a lefty as a human?”
“Yes and no, but I preferred to use my left more, Akari is also leaning to using her left hand more”
“Ok, found the solution. Akari, cast a spell from both hands, both of them in front!”- I raised both of my hands for Akari to have a model to go after
“Ok, what now, Daisuke?”
“Focus your magic power in both hands, your hands will tingle a little when you succeed”- Time to test if what Great Sage said was right
*Use skill; Water Manipulation: Water Ball*- It worked, all the magic energy flowed through my hands, the Water ball was twice as bigger and damaging, it hit the ground creating rain for a short amount of time
“Try it now, Akari.”
“Here it goes!”- It took a minute for Akari to gather magic energy, she created a big fire bolt, well for her level, it was smaller than my water ball, but it did a lot of damage
“That was impressive, I have never seen magic cast with both hands, it’s like casting 2 spells at once. You have a lot of potential as a mage Akari, now let’s continue with fire spells since your first spell was a fire spell. Now when you cast a spell you will get it as a skill. We need to repeat it until you level it up”
“I will help you 2 out”
This whole week I had to expand a lot of energy, well it is infinite, but I still get tired, yes the spell cast by me are infinite but nothing more than that. This whole time Akari seemed to devote herself to magic more than I could think of her doing. It has been 2 or 3 weeks since I was taking care of Akari, she seems to accommodate fast with us
“Daisuke, Akari adapts faster, she was a slave, new master might mean new rules. She still sees you as a kind master, nothing more than this”
“Well, I am taking care of her the best way possible. Is there a way for us to grow a stronger bond, to make her better?”
“Yes, you can take her out at the tavern, buy her clothes, try to play with her etc., give her the life of a child”
“Thanks Great Sage!”
The next day I brought Akari over to the tavern with us, I try to make her happy, Great Sage was right, we put too much emphasis on her training
“Let’s take a seat here”
“Why did you bring me here?”- Akari sat on a chair, the table I choose is in the back, free, no one can hear us
“Well, we trained you too hard these past 2 weeks, things were tough the first 2 weeks, but from now one you should have more free time”- I took a seat near Akari, patting her head
“Thanks for teaching me. So what will I eat?”- Akari, still without reaction, looked me in the eyes
“You choose. It’s up to you to choose. We won’t mind”- At every table of the tavern there is a menu, it has quite a selection, there are pancakes in this world as well.
“Senri, are there any bananas in this world?”
“Yes, they are called Kopas”- Senri pointed at the menu option, pancakes with Kopas sauce. Coming to think of it, the 3 of us look like a family going for dinner after a long night of work
“What did you choose Akari?”- Senri leaned towards Akari to see what she chose
“Hmm, if it isn’t too much to ask. Wrapped fruit pancake with strawberry and plum sauce”- Akari’s tail started going left to right slowly
“That means she is feeling comfortable, Daisuke. Keep treating her like this, tomorrow after training, no I have a better idea, you want to teach her wind magic next right? Fire is easy to counter so why not 1 more type of magic, the idea is that you need a ball to do it, play with her while she uses wind magic to throw or control the ball in the air, that should be fun for her”- That’s the greatest idea Great Sage came up with
“What do we have here”- That sharp voice, Petra?
“Yes, she caught you. Petra knows about Akari being a slave, you got a lot of explaining to do”- Well, fuck me.
“Hello Petra”
“Mind if I take a seat?”
“Of course not, we don’t mind”
Petra sat down near me
“Who is she?”- Akari turned her head staring at Petra
“She is Petra, she works at the guild next door”
“Can I talk to her?”
“Of course, you can”
“Akari, please stop asking us for permission. I already told you if we know a person you can talk to them, that applies to strangers only”
“I understand”
Akari is light, grabbing and putting her near Petra didn’t take long
Petra rose up from her seat, walked up to Senri leaned down and whispered to her. Senri nodded her head, Petra had gone into a corner to talk with Akari
“What did she say?”
“Don’t worry, she wants to know if we treat her all right. She doesn’t trust you at all. She takes my word as law most of the time, I am her best friend after all”
“Do you want to order something Senri?”- The soothing voice, Mitsude?
“Ohh you are here as well Daisuke, what do you want to order?”
“We would like one wrapped fruit pancake with Strawberry and Plum syrups, 2 portions of pancakes with Kopas and Kopas sauce”
“Thanks for the order, it is coming in shortly”
Mitsude walked towards the kitchen area of the tavern, giving our order to the chef
“It should come shortly”- Mitsude came back to our table, and sat on the opposite side of us
“So, I heard about you know the mission you have”
“Don’t worry about it too much, all 5 of us have this covered”
“Yes, but Akari had been missing from the slave pen for a long time”
“Well, Daisuke bought her. She is now talking to Petra”- Mitsude, by her loose facial expression seems to be more open to what I have to say
“So, what will happen to Akari?”
“Well, we chose to do the mission a little differently since the king sent us off after Emiko, he wanted to get us killed. Emiko tried starting some sort of uprising for demi-humans to gain rights, Luxor wants her dead in prison but if we do that we would be killed by her, and even if we can defeat her, all the demi-humans will be in slavery. We plan to train Akari to be the village chief. I am Daisuke had taught her magic and self-defense 2 weeks, and now she knows how to do basic stuff and signal for help, so we take it easy today”