“Okay, great! Now all to do is convince your parents to… wait did you just say no?” John said bewildered by my response.
“It sounds like a pain so no thanks… In the end you’re asking a child to go into a guard like position? What’s wrong with you?” I stated clearly
John and Halt’s jaws hang open in shock and look at me. Tom and Kaya roar with laughter as does George. John looks at Tom and Kaya with anger in his eyes but Halt taps his shoulder, his anger disappears.
“Aero, you may be young but you are quite strong correct?” George said
“Hmm… I think I’m pretty weak actually I haven’t even scored a hit on Father yet and I just learned to sense intent. I am confident in my magic as long as it not in a battle. I guess I don’t have any experience in fighting so I don’t know how I’ll do in an actual combat situation.” I answered after giving it a little thought.
“I see but being able to sense intention is a high level technique. Most sword schools don’t teach it until a student has reached Master rank in sword skill.” George said with amazement in his voice.
Could I actually be amazing? If I had thought that in this world I was pretty average in strength and talent. I mean I hadn’t actually even touched Tom in training and every day I seem to end up with more and more bruises. Could Tom just be ridiculously strong for a knight and that strength made me feel weak?
“I’m actually talented at sword play…” I pondered
“Of course the princess also practices the sword. She is very talented and would make a good sparring partner. In exchange you could teach her that silent magic you do?” John said watching me hopeful that I would change my mind.
Halt is also starring at me with hope filled eyes. It not a bad deal for me in all honesty but for them to be this desperate for a guard is very worrying. John must be very fearful for the princess’s life if they had to come this far out to find her someone who couldn’t be a double agent. I mean if the nobles are rising against the king then a perfect strategy to kill his only heir would be to let her play with a noble child who is told to kill her. That poor girl must be lonely because of the power struggle with the nobles. I just don’t feel right being asked to be someone’s guard as I have no experience with it. Then again it’s every man’s dream to save the damsel in distress and be the hero. Can I still call myself a man if I refuse to help a girl?
“I have changed my mind I will guard the princess to the best of my abilities but only on three conditions. First and foremost I will try to befriend her but not because you asked me too. If she wants to become friends then I will gladly do so. If that happens I will be her friend first and a guard second. Secondly, one guard will always be in shouting distance in case of emergencies. Lastly if I feel like my life or the princesses is in danger I will respond with lethal force before considering possible information they may possess. I think these points are fair and would happen in any case.” I said threading bloodlust on the final condition to make a point.
John and Halt cringed when I spoke but Tom and Kaya looked at me beaming with pride. George seemed to notice it but wasn’t bothered by it because he could tell it wasn’t directed at him. John recovered from not only the shock that a child had laid down conditions but had also had the skill to send out killing intent.
“Ha-ha I think you're beaten, John stop acting like such a military man and agree to Aero’s conditions. You can’t force people to become friend anyway so Aero is right. Now, Aero stop teasing your uncle with that cheap bloodlust and we all know you're smart but don’t show off too much.” Elena said while cuffing me on the head.
“Mother… fine… Okay nephew, you have a deal.” John said
“But sir…” Halt said before John gave him a look.
“Now that, that’s settled I have one more thing to be said. Tom and Kaya are going as well those two couldn’t leave Liz and Kira alone even if you hadn’t come. Even this far from the capital we still get information. Tom has been talking about when to move the family for weeks. Of course I am going as well I’m particularly fond of both of those girls.” Elena explained
“Elena, why did you have to go and ruin our fun?” Tom exclaimed
“Mother, brother would have finally asked us on his knees and might have even paid us!” Kaya said slightly disappointed.
“You two… Argh” John said as he stood up.
“Kya! Tom, let’s run away together!” Kaya laughed
“But course!” Tom said as he picked up Kaya and ran outside quickly followed by John.
My parents are children. I thought my mother was normal but to fall in love with my father I guess that she had to have some quirks. After a few minutes all three file back inside after running around the house for a while. While they were outside messing around I had set out the remainder of dinner and a few drinks. I also cast a quick detox spell to remove the alcohol from Elena so she will be able to join the conversation. George and Halt have started to eat already so they must be used to their captain’s erratic behavior.
“I’ll get you… two next time…” John said out of breath as he collapses in a chair.
“Of course you will dear elder brother” Kaya said while smiling
“So you all are coming with us to Celu then?” John said after his breath had returned
“Ha-ha of course anything for Kira and Will!” Tom laughed
“You mean the king and queen? Please refer to them as such sir!” Halt said with an astounded look on his face.
“No… don’t expect that from Tom or the rest of my family. The king and queen consider us part of their family.” John casually waved him off.
“Why do you still call them that then Captain John?” Halt asked
“Regardless of my personal relationship with them I am the Captain of the Royal Guard and must set an example to the rest of the men. When in private and not working I happily call them by their given names.” John said nonchalantly
“You always were rather good at separating work from personal life. I think it would be okay to be a little less formal with them.” Elena sighed
“Sir, are these people really the best we could bring?” Halt whispered to John
“They may all seem pretty laid back but Tom is Saint Rank in both Forest-style and the rare Sea-style sword fighting. My mother is King Rank in Forest-style and my younger sister is Master ranked in every kind of magic and Master Rank in Forest-style. The most amazing is that child, Aero, has been a Master ranked magician since he was 6. In the letter’s I was sent he also taught himself to read and according to Tom he is already Advanced Rank in a mixed style that Tom created from Forest-style and Sea-style Techniques.” John whispered quietly
“Sir, certainly you're joking he is such as small child… No, I can believe it from the intent he spread from just words earlier.” Halt responded
I was praised, well I think I was. My family seems to be constantly becoming more and more amazing. I am curious as to why our family is allowed to call the King and queen by their names though.
“Father, why can we call the King and Queen by their first names?”
“Hmm, want to know?” Tom said playfully
“Of course!” I said playing along
“Very well! It’s because your Father is amazing!” Tom said overflowing with pride
Mother and Grandmother immediately hit him at the same time on the head.
“Tell the truth, what if he believes you?” Kaya said sternly
Like anyone could believe that ridiculous statement. I contain that remark and wait for Tom to recover from the double hit.
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“Fine… When I was an adventurer I was in a party called Flying Wolves. The party originally consisted of four members, John, Liz, Gill and me. One rainy day we were walking down a road and we found a muddy child laying in the road. The child was covered in so much mud that we almost didn’t catch the large gash across the back. Luckily, Liz saw it and quickly treated the child as we set up camp.
After cleaning of the child we discovered it was a young girl so I was ushered out of the tent with John. Liz told us of all the broken bones and said it was amazing that the girl was still alive. Liz came out of the tent with Gill after the two had spent several hours treating and healing what they could. John and I were about to go looking for the person who did it but Liz and Gill convinced us to wait for her to wake up. After all of the injuries were either healed or dressed we were allowed back inside the tent. The girl appeared to be around 13 or 14, just a few years younger than us at the time. The girl slept for two days before she awoke, although we had healed all of her injuries she had forgotten everything about herself. She knew not what had happened to her or even her own name.
After all the swelling had gone down she was discovered to be quite pretty and a very bright person. We called a meeting and decided to that anyone who would do that to or allow that to be done to their child shouldn’t be responsible for a cat much less a person. We took her with us to the Adventurer’s Guild and signed her up to join our party. Liz decided to give her the name Kira and shared her last name with her thus Kira Moonlight came into being. We traveled for 4 more years together and we all became like Kira’s Big brothers and sisters but none more so than Liz. I taught her some forest-style fighting and Liz taught her not only magic but math and many other things. She learned very fast and quickly became very skilled. Then when we accepted a job from the king and when we reported to the castle that Will had fallen in love with Kira. In order to spend more time with her he began to give us lots of jobs. Eventually Kira fell in love as well and accepted the Will’s offer of marriage.
After the wedding Liz gave up being an adventurer to stay with Kira. Your Uncle John was in love with her so he begged Will for some position so he could provide for Liz and marry her. Will gladly granted it and he became Captain John. The best part is that it took him 3 more years to propose to Liz. Gill and I left the capital behind and split up as we both decided to return home. On the way I stopped by the Elven wood’s and met your mother and that’s that.” Tom said
“Oh no, you don’t get off that easy and it only took 2 years and 11 months. Your father came to the capital and begged Will for a job out in the country. Will gave him the job of Knight and granted him this estate. Then he begged my sister to marry him and took her home and out of the woods from under my mother’s nose.”
“Oh… I knew about it! Kaya fell in love with Tom when you brought him home with you.”
“Oh really? That long ago?” Tom teased
“Mother! You promised not to tell him!” Kaya with puffed out cheeks
“Oh, come on. He already knew! He came to the village and asked me if he could take you and I said of course as long as I
could tag along and help with the kids. He said sure and I followed a week later.” Elena laughed
“Oh my, Tom what a gentleman!” Kaya teased
“Elena, you said that you weren’t going to tell her that!” Tom exclaimed
I start laughing shortly followed by George then the remainder of the table erupted into loud laughter.
“Ha-ha… hmm… Now back to the serious things… We had planned to depart as soon as possible for the longer we are
away from Celu the more worried I am for the Royal family. How soon can you all be ready to leave?”
I thought about my belongings in this world and realized that I only had a few items to bring. If it was my previous life being asked to pack up all of my things and move would have been a project. I have two sets of clothes and my cloak along with a few books, my swords and Fi’s amulet. It would take me all of 5 minutes to throw it in a pack and leave. Of course Elena and Kaya might have more things but as for Tom and I packing would be simple.
“Kaya, Elena can you both be ready by tomorrow morning?” Tom asked
“Yes, I have already asked someone to watch the house and we can just buy stuff we need in Celu anyway.” Kaya said
“Where are we going to be staying?” Elena asked
“Hmm… You’re all welcome to stay with us of course. However, we can also purchase a house in the middle district for you if you would prefer.”
“I think it would be good to stay with you and Liz until the baby is born. We can look for a house but we shouldn’t rush to buy one.” Kaya said thoughtfully
“Oh I see… Wait, you said baby?”
“Oh, didn’t they tell you that Kaya’s pregnant?” Elena said surprised
“Since when? I mean… congratulations on your second child, sister.”
“Thank you, Elder Brother, I am about a month in and just found out a few days ago.”
“Should you be traveling? No, wait, I shouldn’t even be bringing you to Celu it could become dangerous…” John panicked
“Calm down, John. She traveled fine when she was pregnant with Aero. She’ll be fine and if something does go wrong there are more doctors in Celu. Also, it’s not like there would be a sudden eruption of violence upon our arrival it should be fine.” Elena explained to calm down John.
I didn’t think of that but it sounds like I’ll just have to do my best to protect my new sibling.
“If anything happens I can always escape with the child. I’m pretty strong after all!” Kaya said as she jokingly flexed her muscles. A surprisingly large bulge appeared under from under her sleeves.
“Well, I guess it will be fine… Now, John what would you like me to do in Celu?” Tom said with mixed feelings
“Tom, I would like it if you could continue training with Aero but also train the princess… All of the other instructors we have used have… retired.” John said hesitantly
“Well, I planned on continuing training regardless but I’ll do the best I can with the princess.” Tom agreed
“Aero, other than guarding the princess you will be taking lessons alongside the princess.” John said half expecting me to say no.
“Sure, sounds like fun.” I agreed.
I always enjoy learning and I still don’t know a lot about the world I currently live in so this is a great chance. I learn from the royal tutors and they are bound to know of the general state of things. I can also find out about current technology in this world and see if I could create anything using my old world’s knowledge. My main goal is to insure my survival in this world but I also would like to contribute to it.
“Okay, then I guess that’s that.” Tom said while clapping his hands suddenly.
“Yes… We will go get a room at the inn. We will see you tomorrow…” John said as he tries to stand up to leave but Elena pushes him back in his chair.
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AN: Grandma wouldn't let John escape!!