Chapter 10: The Offer

Four months passed, and it was the afternoon. Lumi and I were playing in the yard of the house, which was the plan, but right now, all Lumi was doing was trying to catch this butterfly flying all around her, and I was distracted by looking in the house window and seeing Taren trying to make the babies stop crying. Yep, it’s been at least a day since Ria and Seris gave birth, and they had one kid each.

Somehow, Ria and Seris gave birth on the same day, Ria in the morning and Seris in the night, so it was a rough, long day for Taren. Ria and Taren named their daughter Tara, and Seris’s child is Sara.

Seris also had the same last name because she was technically Taren’s second wife, and the reason is that Ria thought it was fair since they had a child together.

Tara had black hair, yellow eyes, a mole on her cheek, and was wearing an all-white layette, while Sara looked the same but with green eyes, no mole on her face, and they both had at least one cowlick like Taren. "Come on," Taren said. He sighed as Tara and Sara kept crying, but Sara was crying the most. "Not even Tenshi cried like this while I was around."

Ria walked over and moved Taren aside. "I’m sure they will come to like you eventually," Ria said as she reached out to carry Tara in her arms. "Besides, Tara and Sara are just newborns; not every baby will be like Tenshi." Ria smiled.

Taren just scratched his cheek. "Well, I guess you're right."

Seris quickly moved Taren and Ria aside. "How is my little girl doing?" She said with excitement in her eyes. She took Sara out of the crib and carried Sara in her arms. Sara laughed as Seris carried her. "Yes, you're my sweet girl. Hmhm."

Taren had a poker face as he watched Sara giggling as Seris cradled her in her arms.

Seris looked over at Taren. "Oh Taren," Seris said. "Do you mind going out to the well to get some water? I was planning to wash some clothes, but of course, there was no water left."

Taren looked at Seris with a small hint of confusion. "You sure we don’t have anymore?"

Seris nodded.

Taren sighed. "Fine, I’ll go out and get some."

Ria also looked over at Taren and said, "Oh, and get some more bread and some veggies that should already be grown in the garden beside the bread, obviously."

"Okay, okay, I-I got it."

I sighed, thinking about how much of a struggle this would be for Taren.

"Jeez, Dad already made several tons of mistakes with me, and Aunt Seris barely knows how to take care of herself, and Mom usually isn’t here so often since she does the groceries, gardening, and all that. Mainly, Dad, I worry about" Hey, I guess this also means I can show my skills as a good sibling. I mean, my younger brother and I were quite connected those days, and me having sisters... Eh, same thing. Guess I’ll be the big brother they can always rely on if they can’t talk to our parents, and I know I will be.

I had a small smile on my face, and Lumi accidentally slapped my head. "Ah!"

I looked behind me, and Lumi quickly put her hands behind her. "Oops, Sorry, sorry, Tenshi! I saw a butterfly. I didn’t mean to do that." Lumi said as she freaked out a little.

"Oh, no, no, it's fine. Lumi, it really isn’t that deep. You can calm down, haha," I said with a smile.

"Oh, okay," Lumi said with a bit of embarrassment.

I looked back at the window. But yeah, that's who I am now. Big brother Tenshi.

***

A day has passed, and I have been helping around the house a lot more recently ever since my two little sisters came into this world. Seris was currently cleaning around the house, and she was cleaning the living room window as Tara and Sara were crying in the guest room upstairs, which was the same one Larah had when she lived here as my tutor. Taren was busy swinging his sword outside, and Ria was currently out in the yard getting water from the well.

I just went downstairs and saw Seris cleaning the windows, but she didn’t look like she was enjoying it as much as she always used to.

"Aunt seris?" I spoke.

Seris looked behind and saw me behind her. "Yes, Tenshi. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Let me clean around the house. I think you should go see my little sisters."

Seris looked a little surprised. "Really, you’ll clean the whole house?" I nodded.

"I think you deserve to see your daughter and Tara. Without a doubt, they want some company."

Seris looked at me with a smile. "I guess I gave you a head start... All right, thank you so much, Tenshi, but if you get tired, don’t bother coming back to me."

I saluted. "Understood, ma’am," I put my hand back beside me. "But I don’t think I will anytime soon; just enjoy your time with them."

Seris chuckled. "All right then, I trust you." Seris walked away to head upstairs.

***

Hours passed by, and I finished cleaning and went out to train Lumi some more. It turned to night, and I was sniffing Larah’s hair, which I had in my hands, as the small chest that was in it was beside me. I also had my own sword hook that Taren made for me for my short sword, and it was near the corner of my wall.

"Barely smells like you anymore, but it's still smooth as always." I started rubbing the hair on my cheek and stopped to look at it. "Just wish we could meet each other now. I keep saying it, but I really wanna see you again, master..." I mumbled.

As it went silent, I heard my door creek, and I was startled as I accidentally dropped the hair behind me, and it fell right under the bed. It was Taren who came in. I looked to my left, and I saw Taren. "Hey! It would be nice to knock, you know?"

"Oh, my bad. Is everything all right?" Taren asked as he held the door open.

"Uh... yeah, yeah."

"Really? I could have sworn I heard some heavy breathing," Taren said, sounding curious.

He could hear that!? I started to look a bit shocked. "Oh no, it was nothing," I replied, trying to brush it off. "Did you need something?"

"Well..." Taren lifted his right hand, revealing an envelope he was carrying.

I tilted my head, feeling confused. "Is that from Lumi or something?"

"No, but I think you’ll most definitely like this," Taren said as he grinned. He walked over to me to hand the envelope.

I grabbed it.

"Im just going to go use the toilet now, I’ll be back." Taren then walked away and left the room.

I looked at the envelope right as he left. My eyes grew wide as I saw who it was from. Speaking about her! The envelope had ink on it that spelled ‘Larah Shirasu.’ "Oh, no way, master!" I sniffed the letter. "Yeah, it's from her, all right..." I mumbled as I smirked.

I quickly took out what was in the envelope, and it was a letter. "Let's see what she said..."

Larah’s letter

Dear Tenshi,

I'm hoping this letter finds you. It's probably been three months since I wrote this. Anyway, if you're wondering how I'm doing, I am doing just fine. I'm currently in the Zelwesla region and in the country of Shelfala. The capital here is quite nice and lovely, and its forest is quite filled with beasts, so the guild here is quite full of adventurers.

I'm currently a tutor for one of the princes here, and let's just say he is an interesting one. he kind of compares to you with that perverted spying side and sniffing my clothing, just much more disrespectful and quieter.

However, I did have the opportunity to meet a remarkable child with immense potential like you. However, I didn’t have the chance to see him often because the knight, aka his father, was not particularly keen on having anyone near his child. The boy genuinely reminded me of you during some of your own challenging times.

Sorry if I'm saying almost everyone reminds me of you. I guess my favorite student has always been on my mind, and I'm hoping you still remember me.

I'm actually already a master class and at the edge of king class; by the time you get this, I might already be a king class, but that's probably nothing special compared to you. You are probably king or emperor class by now, and congrats if you are.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

After I'm done with this, I’ll come visit again, and after that, I plan to do this only two more times. If you still remember me, I’ll come back to see if you kept your promise, okay? Oh, and if you are still a saint class, that probably means you have been doing something wrong or have been lazy during your training. So, if you have felt that limit every time you tried, I'm going to ask you again.

Go to the Seria University of Sword and Magic. Good luck, and I’ll write again if anything important comes up or if you write back.

From your dear master Larah.

"Master..." I murmured.

"King class, is it?" Taren remarked as he looked at the note, standing near the bed and observing me from behind.

I jumped, taken aback by his sudden presence. "Ah! Knock for goodness sakes!"

Taren looked back at me. "Oh, right, I apologize again." Taren looked back at the note. "But she's all the way in Shelfala in the capital. Hmm, that really isn’t that far; it would probably only take a couple of small months to get there."

"A few Months isn’t that far?" I looked back at the letter "Jeez." I looked back at Taren. "What was Larah again? Saint or master class when I first met her. I mean, it's only been a year. I didn’t know getting king class would be that easy."

Taren shook his head. "No, Nononono, no. I mean, for sword, it's even tougher than you think, and I’d say the same for other mages. Once getting up to the master level, trying to reach king is much harder than the others. When I heard about this from someone myself, I thought there should be a class in between master and king class. But guess that's how it is."

"Really... Wait, what rank are you?"

He grinned and pointed his thumb at himself. "Well, I myself am Master class. I just reached it only a year ago, and I don’t think I’ll ever get up to be king class since I have to be here to be a normal father, too." He said later, putting his hand back down,

"Wow, but if I have the potential to go that high or more, then maybe..." I pondered as I stared at the ground.

"Oh, and one more thing."

I looked up at Taren. "Oh, what's up?"

Taren smirked. "The whole... sniffing, what's up with that?" As he said that, I got so embarrassed that I felt like I had one of those manpu faces. Oh shit... He was here that long, huh...

***

Several minutes passed by, and I was alone in my room. I just got done putting the tied-up piece of Larah’s hair back in my chest and set it under my bed. I hopped on top of the bed and pulled out the envelope in my pocket with the letter placed back in it.

I noticed something in the envelope, and I raised an eyebrow, wondering what it was. "Hm?" I dug through the envelope and took out another piece of paper that was in it. I looked at it and saw some writing, and I read it. "Seria University of Sword and Magic..." It said as I read it.

I looked under that and didn’t know what the rest of the writing was, but then I realized what it could be. This must be the address to where it is; well, that's useful. I continued looking at it for a couple of minutes. "The Seria University of Sword and Magic... I mean, she is right; I am still in saint class, but if it's a university far from here, how am I gonna contact the others? And Lumi..." I laid the hand that was holding the envelope beside me. I do want to get stronger, though, and what if I get more answers to this weird light power. I stayed there thinking for several seconds. "Ughhhh!"

***

Two days passed, and Taren and I were swinging our wooden swords at each other. "Come one," Taren said. "You can push harder than that." Both me and I had a light clash with each other.

I quickly backed away before he could do anything else.

"Ha!" I shouted as I swung my sword at him again, but he blocked once more.

"You're getting slower. Come on; you are right there on being an advanced class. You can’t stay like this for long."

"I know, I know, I'm trying!" I backed away and ran at him to swing again, but I accidentally dropped the sword. I tried to pick it up, but Taren aimed the sword right at my neck.

"Annnd, gotcha." He said as I lost.

I sat on the ground and crossed my legs. "Ughhhh. You know you can be more childish than me sometimes, Dad."

Taren chuckled. "I like to think of it as me staying young. I'm not that immature, am I?"

"...I'm not even gonna answer," I said as I looked Taren right in the eye. In my opinion, he really is more childish. I mean, this guy is a horny freak and not knowing how to use his fatherly powers. I still have a few respects for him. But I can’t be talking; I was probably worse than him in my time. Besides, the guy is training me to be stronger and still protect us no matter what, and those are the parts of him that I aspire to be.

Taren raised an eyebrow, wondering why I was staring at him. "Is there something on my face?'

I snapped back to reality. 'Oh, nothing. I'm just thinking how much of an interesting person you are, and I wouldn’t take that too much as a compliment."

Taren chuckled again and stopped, sitting on the ground beside me. "I guess we can use a bit of a break."

Seris then came outside to hang up some clothes to dry, but Taren and I didn’t focus on that.

Taren looked right at me. "So, how are things between you and that girl? What was her name again... Oh, yeah, Lumina." I looked away and closed my eyes. "She's all right. I've been teaching her a bit of magic lately and just having normal playtime fun, I guess."

"Oh really? Well, how come you haven’t brought her around the house? I mean, I've seen you two in the yard, but barely. You should bring her in; I'm sure she wouldn’t mind coming over for some dinner." I looked over at Taren as he spoke,

"Yeah, see, here is the problem. Lumi isn’t much of a sword person..."

"Well, that's a shame to hear, but it’s not like I'm going to teach her sword right when she gets in the house or something."

I made a light chuckle. "No, no, no, like she is afraid of swords... very, even just the sight of one."

Taren raised his eyebrow and, confused by what he heard me say, "Afraid of swords...? That's... not what I expected to hear, but why is she?"

I made a nervous-sounding chuckle. "So, remember that little incident between me and that one crazy lady?"

Taren sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I remember that." Taren wasn’t a fan of hearing that since Herrick was involved in it.

"So, I'm sure I told you how Lumi was kidnapped by her for a while, but the reason why she is scared is what I guess is because everyone there was a swordsman, especially that crazy chick. So maybe anyone she sees holding a sword she thinks of her or those men."

He looked up into the sky. "Wow, poor girl."

It went silent for a bit, and Taren looked right at Seris as she continued hanging up her clothes. Taren looked right at her breast as she did what she was doing.

"So, how are you and Aunt Seris huh?" I asked.

Taren looked back down at me. "Hm? Why do you ask?"

I made a small smile and looked up into the sky. "Nothing, just making sure you aren’t planning on making the same mistake as last time."

"Hey, come on, it was just once and never again. I'm still a cool guy. I mean, Seris has better breasts than Ria, but still, I'm a changed man now."

I looked at Taren with my eyes half-opened. Man, you are not helping your case. As a melon observer myself, I can see exactly what you were looking at... I thought to myself as I glanced at him.

Taren noticed my expression, knowing I wasn’t taking him seriously. "Oh, come on," he said. "I'm trying here, all right. besides, if I told you to stop being friends with Lumi, I'm sure you wouldn’t listen, ah?" Taren said with a grin as he poked his finger on my arm.

"And that's beside the point. If or when I do marry Lumi, she will be my only wife and no one else while you," Taren stopped poking my arm as I spoke. I poked my finger on Taren's arm. "Went to cheat on Mom."

Taren sighed and looked ahead of himself. "All right, all right, you got me there," Taren looked right back at me. "But look, I really am trying, all right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I understand. I just hope you understand the consequences."

Taren smiled. "Don’t worry, I do,"

I smirked. "But now that you’re saying all of this, maybe it would be cool if I get another wife, too."

Taren patted my back. "See, now you're getting it," Taren said as he didn’t understand my sarcasm, but I was starting to feel like it wasn’t.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t much sarcasm, but still, damn it, I hate this guy for speaking my language sometimes. I said to myself with a small smile.

"But I think you should go for one; the main target you’ll decide, Lumi or not. Just whomever you connect with most." Taren stood up. "Now, let's get back to it."

I looked up at Taren. "Yeah..." I said as I was thinking.

***

A few hours passed, and it was the middle of the afternoon. I was currently on the hill, sitting on the ground as I laid my back against the sapling that turned into a small tree after training my earth magic on it most days.

Lumi was also on the hill with me, but she was using my wand to learn some more wind magic, making the wind go in different directions and watching the leaves follow those directions.

I was currently throwing a rock up and down on my hand as I was thinking back to the letter Larah gave me. Seria University of Sword and Magic. Man, I really did forget about that. I mean, that offer was a couple of years ago, and I remember it now from the letter... Should I go? I mean, like I said last time, maybe someone there has more info on this light stuff, and I could even reach king or emperor class and be a total badass... But I’d be leaving this place for a while... I threw away the rock. "Ugh! This is just stupid." I was starting to get a bit frustrated by the two decisions I had to make.

Lumi got a little tired, and she sat next to me.

Her tail moved slowly as usual, and she placed the guidebook back on my lap and wand. "I'm tired now," Lumi said. "So, what should we play, Tenshi?" She asked with a small smile on her face.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm not really feeling like it. Sorry, Lumi."

Lumi’s tail stopped wagging. "Oh..." She looked down in front of her. "Okay..." As it went silent for a bit, Lumi looked back at me. "Are you okay, Tenshi? You have been... Quieter..."

"Really? I thought me sitting and watching you was normal," I said as my eyes turned to her.

"That's the thing. Don’t you and I play after, or would you teach me magic? Now, it's just been me for a while. Is there something wrong?"

I turned my head to face Lumi and stayed quiet, and I looked back down, scratching my head.

I stopped and took a deep breath. "Two days isn’t that long... Fine, but there isn’t something wrong, wrong. I just been... having a mind block, if that's how you say it."

"A mind block?" Lumi said as she was confused.

I looked at Lumi. "Uh, er, a... I’ve just been thinking about a lot, I mean."

"What was it about?" Lumi said, wanting me to continue.

"...Just... It feels like I haven’t really been growing my magic," I summoned lightning that sparked around my hand as I continued talking while looking at it. "I mean, I should be master or king class by now, and here I am, making zero progress."

Lumi looked at me with disbelief. "Huh? But you're the reason why I'm this strong, right? If I got strong this fast, then you can too, right?"

I shook my head as the lightning was gone from my hand. "Nope, most ranks are harder than others, and I barely do much training with my magic myself ever since my master left... I get that I'm still young, but someone with my potential should continue young, and I was offered to go to this university in another region a little far from here."

Lumi’s ears droop down, and her chest gets a little heavy. "How long will you be gone if you go...?"

"If it's a university on the other side of this region, then years like five or more, I’d say," I said casually as I looked at the sky.

Lumi didn’t say anything, but she looked a little sad.

"But hey, if I do go, it's not like it would be forever, but the decision isn’t made yet, but it's likely..."

Lumi shook her head. "No..." She said with a shaky tone

"Hm?" I looked at her as she grabbed my sleeve and did not make eye contact with me

"Don’t go... That’s not fair..." She mumbled.

I could tell Lumi was sad, but I couldn’t tell how much. "Lumi, come on, I'm not sure y—" Lumi quickly got on top of me before I could finish my sentence. "Ah!" I yelped as I fell over.

She hugged me tight, not showing a sign of letting go. "Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go!" Her tears started streaming down her face, going on my shoulder. "Friends don’t leave, right? Friends don’t leave!" Lumi started sobbing.

"Hey, hey, hey," I started stroking the back of her head as I continued. "Relax, maybe I shouldn’t have said it like that. I meant..." I tried choosing my words carefully. Maybe there is no right way to say it; all she cares about is just me being by her side, and I don’t blame her." I smiled. "I meant I’d stay, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

Lumi slowly stopped sobbing.

If Larah was here, she would probably say, ‘You can learn magic, but would it be worth the ones you leave behind? Let them understand before you leave.’ So, I’m sure she understands that, and that's what I will do. I'm not going to have this girl sob while I'm gone... She's coming with me, I said to myself and held Lumi tight.