The two children kept asking for Ryuji to show them a spell, even though Karen told them to stop. The third time that he was asked the same request Ryuji relented. “Okay, but only after we get you two dressed and are ready to go to the bakery. I’ll show you a special spell I only learned yesterday. However, it’s not fair to show you and not your sister, so hurry up and finish getting ready. The two had done the same as their sister and simply began stripping without reservation.
Ryuji was sure that if he weren’t here that Karen would be just as unreserved as her younger siblings which gave him an idea and he got a grin. “So, weren’t you going to change too? Were you going to strip like they did?”
Ryuji’s words made Karen turn bright red and she tried to stammer out a reply before noticing the grin in profile. She got to her feet and thumped the tip of his right ear again. This made him wince and the children laugh. Then she brushed up close so only he could hear before whispering in his ear. “Maybe later.”
It was his turn to blush and he was about to stammer out a response when he saw the malicious grin that was easily the match for his own plastered across her entrancing features. Ryuji knew that he had been played and turned a deeper shade of red and Karen joined her siblings in laughing. “Oh, very cute. Off with you now if you’re all finished getting dressed.”
When they went out into the hall, Rin was just finishing up the last of the lamps on the second floor. She looked imploringly at her older sister but Karen just pointed at the stairs and she trudged up them with a clay jug in one hand and a lit lamp with a long nose in the other. “We’ll wait for you to finish at the bottom of the stairs.”
Rin brightened at that and ascended the stairs a little faster. The rest of them went down the stairs and waited there. Ryuji noted that the regulars were gone but Dorn was still there. The problem was that he was laying on the floor, prompting Ryuji to wonder if there was any of that silver left on his tab. Maybe he took it as a challenge to finish it all in one night? Either way, somebody, probably Teresa, had draped a couple blankets over his sleeping form and stuffed a pillow under his head. He actually looked quite peaceful and amazingly, he wasn’t snoring!
Karen seemed conflicted about something and Ryuji asked about it. “What’s wrong? You look like you want something but don’t want to say it. Just tell me.”
Karen looked abashed and turned away before explaining. “I need to get the fire started in the oven and start a pot of water boiling for the patrons to wash up with. I also need to set something out for breakfast but I guess that could be some of the bread we had delivered yesterday if I just make some sweet cream butter to go on it. It’s just… well… I don’t want to miss your spell either! I really want to see too, you know?”
Ryuji leaned over and kissed her deeply and he could hear three gasps, two from beside them and one from the stairs behind them. He didn’t let her go just because of that and when he finally did let go of the back of her neck, she had her eyes closed and was panting and shuddering with a big smile on her deeply flushed face. “How about that for timing. Now I guess you can see the spell with your brother and sisters. I even had an idea. This is going to save you some time, I think. Go put the wood in the oven and then I’ll light it with the spell I was going to show you. Then you can put the pot on it and I’ll fill it up with water too.”
Karen looked like she was too out of it to register what he had said but she turned after a moment and headed for the kitchen. Ryuji looked around and the two girls were both looking at him with their hands clasped together under their chins and looked to be lost in romantic fantasies. More startling yet, Ken seemed to have a look of hero worship written on his features with his wide eyes glued on Ryuji just as much as his sisters’ eyes were.
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Ryuji just smirked and waved for them to follow him and Karen to the kitchen. Once Karen had piled a few log wedges into the oven, she went back to get the smaller stuff to put under it. When she came back with the branches, twigs, and kindling, Ryuji told her she wouldn’t need the smaller stuff at all. She just sat it aside in favor of not delaying his show of spells.
Ryuji had to concentrate to pull the hydrogen and oxygen into a point on his fingertip but then he began drawing his spell. Immediately, all four of them gasped or oohed. Ryuji didn’t realize at the time because he was so focused on spell but Karen was suddenly watching him like a hawk. When he quickly completed the spell circle and it flared a brilliant blue in flame and the small but very intense blue-white flame appeared on his fingertip, there were a chorus of cheers and chatter.
Ryuji played with the spell on his fingertips for a couple seconds to amuse the children then he lit the wood in the stove with it. The heat of the small hydrogen, oxygen flame was so intense that the fire sprang to the wood almost at once. And Ryuji heard Karen gasp.
She was looking at the flame on his fingers and hadn’t moved from where she was a moment ago. Ryuji wondered from her rapid breathing if he had done something wrong. His worry was proven to be well-founded a moment later. As he closed his hand and the flame went out, Karen looked from his hand to his face with wide eyes. Then she voiced her concern in a hesitant whisper. “Ryuji, How is it that you can make fire with a wind spell? I may not have seen a lot of magic and I’m not a mage but I’m certain that that’s not how it’s supposed to work.”
Ryuji grinned at her and put his finger across his lips and shushed her. He was a little confused when she just looked at him confused. He soon discovered that the local equivalent of shushing someone was pinching your fingers shut in front of your mouth. Karen had gotten over her shock and was very grateful when Ryuji filled the pot with water. She explained that the water pump had to be primed and it was a lot of pumping to get a big pot of water full.
With the show over, Karen shooed them all out the door. Ryuji then took them all to the bakery where Lizbet happily set out the two freshly baked loaves of berry bread. She got quite cross with Ryuji for trying to pay her. She and her daughters were all only too happy to fawn over Karen’s siblings. Ryuji just regretted that they had to walk around in what amounted to rags. Lizbet produced some butter from somewhere and they all laid into the freshly baked berry bread. Ken said his goodbyes while wiping the butter from his face and the rest of them prepared to head back to the inn.
Once they were back, Ryuji and the children all went back upstairs to bathe while Karen put the slices of berry bread away with great relish. The rest, she plated for Teresa and Dorn as per Ryuji’s instructions. Ryuji was greeted by a line waiting to get to the privy and the steaming hot water. As they stood in line, one of the people closer to the pot remarked how the water seemed different from normal, like it had no smell of the river in it. Ryuji and the girls smirked at one another.
Just about the time the three of them made it to the privy, Karen topped the stairs. Teresa must have awakened and he guessed it was time that he woke Dorn up, once his bath was done. He couldn’t wait to take a real bath again.
After bathing, as much as one could call it that, Ryuji changed into a new outfit. He chose the blue one because he thought it looked more elegant and expensive than the rest. He put on his wizarding belt and filled a few of the vials with various reagents and even powdered a couple real quick to fill out the spaces left. He didn’t have a dedicated spell book so he just used the notebook that he had been ripping pages out of. That reminded him of the pages strewn all over the table downstairs and he rushed down after locking his door.
Dorn was already sitting at the table with bleary eyes and a queasy greenish face. Ryuji came over and sat down gathering up all the loose pages. There were already people chattering about The pair of them at other tables. Ryuji ignored it and went about putting the research papers away in his book. Karen came out and seeing his attire, just whistled and shook her head approvingly. Dorn hearing the whistle clutched his head and she winced.
Ryuji suggested going to the privy and Dorn grimaced. He then said that going in there would likely make him puke and Ryuji replied that was the idea. Dorn almost puked at that and then ran upstairs to the privy anyway. Shaking his head and grinning, Ryuji went to leave but stopped to tell Karen that she should wait to give Dorn’s stomach time to settle down before putting food in front of him. She agreed readily to that idea!