“Did you not just tell me that only young mortals may attend the academy? Can you reverse your age?”

Ever since he had shared the idea of 『the strength of a greater god』with her, the woman had been very useful and even a little fun.

She had introduced him to the human sport of sword fighting. It was a little stupid and nowhere near as profound as godly sports. Then again, he had never been allowed to play the latter.

‘After father drags me back home, I should try it on that annoying ferret of his.’

“I cannot. I can, however, assist you outside of it. Additionally, you will need a guardian to enroll…”

“What?”

Ferrudion had semantically understood the word guardian since it was formed from the verb for guarding, but…

“Greater gods do not require guardians, duh!”

“Of course not!” Lemme om Apox quickly agreed, “But do you intend to reveal your identity for this?”

‘That is true. I did tell her that I, the great Ferrudion, am undercover as a powerful and respectable mortal, the great Pelou Dean!’

Later, when he shared his exploits in this mortal world with Barrion, it would not do for him to have revealed his identity so early. Barrion would surely claim that he could have awed the mortal world without revealing his powers.

In fact, Barrion had done just that when he had expounded on his own recent exploits in a mortal world.

“I will not reveal my identity. But does a powerful and respectable being like myself truly require a guardian?”

Once again, he felt Lemme om Apox's hesitation through the soul link.

“Tell me.”

“Those visions you showed me when trying to find out the word ‘respectable’… They were of your father's estate, were they not?”

“And I am my father's son! The son of a greater god! And not just any greater god, the God of Iron!”

Iron was not a trivial concept to perfect. The qualities that would make a material be considered a kind of iron were very nuanced. And the materials encompassed by the term went beyond what denizens of a certain dirt ball might expect.

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“Having sensed what I have, I would never doubt your strength.”

“Then why mention a guardian?”

“Since you do not wish to reveal your own identity, you likewise cannot reveal the identities of your parents. In mortal society, parents or other guardians are held responsible for their charge's actions. It might not be possible to enter the academy without one.”

Ferrudion slowly shook his fist in agreement.

‘No mortal is qualified to be my guardian. But if I do not have a guardian, I cannot go to the academy.

‘Should I just do something else? Maybe do a little more falling? That was fun. I can also try doing the opposite and…

‘No, a greater god always stays true to their goals. I can force them to accept me. But can I do it without revealing that I am really Ferrudion, a greater god?’

“What exactly does a guardian do?”

“They usually take the role of your parents. It is common for parents to send a guardian if their child travels far away or they are too busy to fulfill their roles.”

‘The role of my parents, huh?’

For the very first time, Ferrudion pondered the nature of parenthood.

‘What do parents do? Barrion's father let him go on two excursions to the mortal realms but mine did not.

‘Mother and father are different, too. Is there really some role they all have in common?’

“What is this role of parents?’

Lemme om Apox did not respond immediately.

“Aside from taking responsibility for their children's actions, mortal parents are expected to see to their children's… honappenne. The word means everything they must have to live and grow.

“Parents are also expected to educate their children. That is why they take responsibility if their children do something bad. It is usually accepted that it shows a lack of education if children do something bad.”

Ferrudion shook his fist. His parents had certainly seen to his education. Both his mother and father provided him with many teachers and one decennial lesson plan each.

His mother had nurtured his soul with her own soul energy; and his father had provided a managy-rich realm for his first managed binding.

They had also shared a great many of their concepts with him, his mother more so than his father.

‘Maybe father will finally share his concept of pain with me after this. I am not weak! And it cannot possible be worse than mother's.’

Lemme on Apox took his silence as an invitation to continue,

“One often overlooked aspect of honappenne is that it covers both the material and the spiritual. Parents are expected to take care of their children's souls. That is why academy's usually require absent parents to assign a guardian.

“Consider Kalou Dan. His father cannot leave their land, so he assigned Kalou Saha as his guardian.”

‘The soul… How would mortals do that when they cannot share concepts with each other?’

“Okay. Then I need a guardian for this academy? Can they be anyone?”

“The only requirement is that they must be an adult and acknowledged as your guardian by your homeland.”

“How would they know?”

“They often do not. Most places only register noble households. The Palevine Empire being a notable exceptions.”

Ferrudion ignored the fact that he did not know what exactly a “noble household” was supposed to be. He knew the words that made up the phrase, but the meaning did not seem to matter.

“Then I can just pretend any random mortal is my guardian?”

“Yes. Though that will grant him lepalanne power over you.”

“What strange power is that?”

“The power to make other mortals believe that they are a person who can tell you what to do.”

Ferrudion grinned.

“You mortals consider everything a power, huh?”

“We take what we can get,” she grinned back at him.