Chapter 11: A Good Father.

Two weeks passed, and just in a few months, I would be eight years old. It was a cold sunny day, and I’d been trying to build up the courage to ask my family if I could go to the university. I was currently at the dining room table with Seris, Ria, and Taren. Sara and Tara were in the living room, sleeping in one large wooden crib there.

While Ria, Taren, and I were eating brunch, which was just bread, fruit, beans, and chicken. Seris was just having Tea. As I finished my food, I was thinking about how to approach this.

I was looking at my wooden plate and tapping my finger on the table. I stopped and took a deep breath. Guess I'm just gonna have to go for it. I looked over at Taren, who was munching on a second plate, and the reason why he was eating a lot was because he thought he needed more protein. "Uh, father, I have a question."

Taren swallowed what he had in his mouth. "After this," Taren said and continued eating, and Ria pinched Taren's leg. "Hmm!" Taren shouted inside as his mouth was closed and full of food that he later swallowed.

"Oh," Ria said. "Don’t worry, sweetie, I'm sure your Father has plenty of time," Ria said as she looked at me. She looked back at Taren. "Isn’t that right, honey?" she said as she twisted the pinch.

Before Taren could speak, Seris looked over at me. "You could always ask me to," Seris said with a comforting smile.

"Eheh, I would appreciate it if you all listened, but I would really like to ask Father."

"Yeah, yeah, fine, go on..." Taren said as he felt the pain of the pinch, and Ria let go. Taren sighed with relief. "So, what's up, kid?"

"Well, you see..." I looked down at my plate and got a little silent as I tried to figure out what I wanted to say, and I looked back at Taren. "So, do you remember that letter master gave me last month?"

Ria looked at me with a hint of curiosity. "Master? Do you mean Larah? Your tutor? She sent a letter?"

Taren looked at Ria and nodded. "Yup, it was just about how she is doing and other stuff. She seems to be down in the country of Shelfala, and from what I saw, she seems to have gotten stronger. And..." Taren looked over at me with a small smirk. "Nostalgic memory reminders..." Taren muttered as he looked at me with a smirk.

"Uh, uh yeah, just all that," I said, feeling a little embarrassed since I didn’t want Taren to have the others know about me sniffing Larah’s clothes. I calmed myself down. "Anyways, back to it. So, you know how I want to be a mage and all of that, and I’m still only saint class with lightning."

"Yeah, what about it?” Taren asked as his smirk was gone.

"Well, ever since Master left, I don’t think I’ve gotten to the point where I want to be. I mean, I’ve been learning fire magic, earth magic, air magic, and the list keeps going on, but now I just feel like I haven’t been getting any stronger no matter what I do."

Taren was moving his fork in a circular motion around his nearly empty plate. "And you want a new and better tutor?"

"Well, of course not! No master could ever beat Master Larah. Either way, I don’t think I’ll get much from a tutor either, and Larah had asked that I should think about going to this university during the month of when the final exam happened and now back to the letter, so I was thinking... Maybe I could actually take her advice and... And go to the Seria University of sword and magic?"

Ria and Seris looked at me with surprise, and all Taren did was take a last bite of his chicken and set the fork down on the plate.

He looked right at me. "So, you would like to attend the Seria University, huh?"

"...Well, yeah, that's the plan. But I would also like to bring Lumi with me."

Taren’s eyes went a little wide, and he was surprised, as did Ria and Seris again. "Your little friend, right?"

I nodded. "I did tell Lumi about it, and she didn’t really agree to go, and the main reason is that she wouldn’t see me for a long while. I mean, I can’t just be there thinking about Lumi crying. So, my solution was to bring her with me, and she does have a good potential for magic, almost as much as me, so it made it even more of a perfect decision."

Taren has a small grin. "Seems like a love story at play here. I guess all that came from me..." Taren muttered, and only Ria would hear.

Ria looked at Taren with doubt in her face and had her normal expression back on again.

"And I did get her parent’s permission," I said. "Just the only problem is they don’t have the right amount of money to pay for her tuition, so I was hoping maybe you could help with that."

Taren was thinking about it and later spoke, "Maybe, but right now, I'm gonna say no."

I was shocked. "Huh? But—"

"Ah," Taren said before I could finish. "Before you argue with me, let me explain why. First of all, that's quite far off, so there would need to be a lot of planning. I could have someone in a carriage take you there, but that does cost, and I still have to pay for your tuition. Second, you're still a kid, so why go now? Third, you already have gotten so far with your sword training, and I refuse to have you stop now. And before you say you can attend both, it's like what I said last time: being a swordsman and mage are more than titles. Meaning they would only let you choose one. So going there would take weeks of planning, but here's the main and last problem: Lumi's tuition. I’m not exactly a noble or royal, so it would take a lot of work to pay for her."

"So... either way, there isn't much that can be done."

I glanced down with a sigh before looking back at Ria and Seris. "Come on, Mom and Aunt Seris, isn't there anything you both can do?"

Ria shook her head. "He's right about part of it. I truly wish I could do something; I’m really sorry, sweetie."

"Same here. I apologize," Seris said, both feeling a bit guilty.

I looked down, not knowing what else to do. Dang it, it was worth a try. As my left hand was in my pocket, I felt one small silver coin and took it out. I just looked at it, and an idea flashed in my head. "Wait, I have one more idea!"

Taren was about to get up to put his plate in the kitchen but stayed as he looked at me. "What is it?" Taren asked.

"How about I get a job?"

"A job?"

"Think about it. I can help make more money to speed up the process. Come on, I have some good intelligence, and I'm good with magic. There must be something I can do, please, Father, please!"

Taren would be thinking about it.

"Any," I said. "As long as it pays well."

"...Any, you say?"

I nodded. "Just as long as it pays well, like I said."

Taren pondered and continued to think about it. "Well, are you sure you trust me picking?"

I nodded.

"Very well then, I’ll get to contact an old friend of mine. I'm going by your word with well-paying, so don’t worry."

My mouth opened with a big smile. I stood up from the chair and bowed. "Yes, Father, thank you so much! I promise I’ll do my best!"

Taren smiled back. "Don’t mention it."

Ria glared at Taren with worry on her face, but she also looked like she was trying to say something.

***

A day has passed, and it was morning. I was running to the hill with my short sword and the guidebook and wand in my pocket, as usual, when I came to see Lumi.

As I got to the top, Lumi was looking around, trying to find me, and I sneakily got behind her and carried her.

"Ah!" Lumi shouted as I spun her around.

"Lumiiii, my best frieeeeend!" I let go of her. "My bad, haha."

Lumi wouldn’t be mad, but she would look curiously at me. "Why are you so happy? What happened, Tenshi?" She asked.

"You would not believe it!" I said with excitement showing.

All Lumi did was tilt her head.

"Long story short... My father is going to be getting me a job. I'm gonna say it in the most understandable way possible. Basically, I make money from that job, which means I am able to pay for something called tuition, aka yours, and you will finally be able to come with me to the university!"

Lumi’s fox ears perked up, and her elf ears wiggled on their own. "Really!?"

I nodded. Lumi’s tail wagged fast. "I knew you could do something, Tenshi!"

I looked back into the distance. "I think this deserves a little celebration." I looked back at Lumi. "How about I teach you more interesting magic? Or we can play together; let's just have almost the whole day to ourselves! We could even go to the village. This is gonna be our day, Lumi!"

"Yay!" she said as she jumped on me.

"Ah!" I shouted as she did so. We both fell to the ground. "Maybe some warning next time so I don’t accidentally hit my head on a rock."

Lumi used her hands to push herself up, and she looked directly at me. "Oh, sorry!"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"No, no, it's fine." I hugged her back, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the moment. Man, in just a few months, Lumi and I will go together... A girl so committed to having me as a friend. I might’ve said this before, and I'm gonna say it again. I'm glad to have a good friend like Lumi. Just in a few weeks... My day starts.

***

Two weeks passed, and it was the afternoon. I was currently training with Taren outside, and we were near the yard exit. He was currently testing my reaction time by throwing rocks at me, sometimes stopping, sometimes not.

He had some fast throws, but fortunately, I easily deflected the three rocks with my wooden sword. "Smooth, Tenshi," Taren said as he stopped throwing.

"My God, you're fast!"

"Heh, deal with it!" He threw another rock at me, and I deflected it.

"Ah!" I fell to the ground after that fast throw, and Taren continued, but I kept deflecting as I was on the ground. I quickly got up and slashed the four that came at me all at once.

"Nice! Just a little longer, Tenshi."

I stood strong. "Hah! Little did you know I understand it now—"

Taren threw more rocks, and I deflected one, but one easily hit me on the head. "Ow!" I said as I fell back with a bruise on my forehead.

"Haha, understand it now, huh?" He said as I started rubbing my head.

"Not cool..." I hovered my hand above my forehead and used healing magic.

Taren put his hand out to help me up, and I grabbed it and stood back up. "All right, we aren’t done yet; there's another one that—" Before Taren could finish his sentence, a horse was heard outside the property of the house, and it was a carriage. Both Taren and I looked at it as it stopped moving.

"What the?" I questioned.

"That must be them," Taren said with a grin. Taren turned his head to face the house. "Ria! Seris! They are here!"

I looked up at Taren with confusion. What's happening? I looked ahead and heard the door of the carriage open. someone stepped out of it, and she looked like one hell of a warrior mommy-type gorgeous woman with a mild expression. She had lion ears, blonde hair covering her right eye, red eyes, a tail, E-cup size breasts, a blue bra, and a blue jacket with fur on the hoodie, black pants, and brown boots.

I was flustered and shocked. Her breasts looked as big or even bigger than my head. Holy shit! Maria and Seris can suck it because I think someone took their title! The woman just stood a few feet in front of us, waiting after Taren as he called out to Ria and Seris. I waved at her, trying to keep a normal smile, but my face was too smug to keep it normal. Her eyes turned down to me and back at Taren as she kept her tough expression. Guess someone isn’t in the mood.

Taren turned around to face the woman. "Sorry, they should be out in a minute. So, Desha, how's it been, huh?"

"Not too bad. I see that boy is your child?" She said.

"Yup. He-"

"Save it. You don’t need to explain it. I couldn’t care less. Besides, I can already tell with the expression he gives on his face," Desha said as she interrupted Taren.

Well, this emo-ass-looking chick is a bit rude. And is it really that noticeable? I said to myself.

Desha looked down at Taren’s waist and looked right at the sword. "Huh, you continued carrying onto that thin-?"

"Hm? Oh, right." Taren took out the sword from his waist. "I had mixed feelings about it at first. After the others and I lived here, it was mainly just put up on the wall, and it wasn’t my main sword because it felt too heavy for battle, but I got used to it. Plan to give it to Tenshi when he is an adult."

"Hm, interesting." She said.

Ria came out the door and ran over to us. "Desha, long time no see!"

Desha looked over to Ria as she stopped in front of her. "Ria, it’s been a while. You look more grown than the last time we met."

"I see you are looking as fierce as ever," Ria said with a smile.

Seris also came out the door, holding Sara and Tara in both her arms. "Sister," Seris said. "You randomly left me alone while I was gone to the bathroom—" Before Seris could finish her sentence, she saw Desha up ahead. "Oh my, Desha! It's so good to see you again," she said as she walked over to the others.

"Seris, what a pleasure. I didn’t expect to see you still living with Taren and Ria. Are those your children? I have to admit, I didn’t expect you to find your own mate."

"Uh, well..." Seris flustered.

Ria rolled her eyes to Taren. "You see, the one with yellow eyes is mine, and her name is Tara. The one with green eyes is Sara, who is hers. Unfortunately, I caught Taren in a small affair with her, so Sara is actually his child..."

Desha side-eyed Taren. "Unfortunately, ay...?" She muttered. Desha turned her eyes back to Sara and Tara, and she stroked their hair with both her hands. "Well, just be careful how Taren will influence these two girls. Can’t have them taking over his perverted side."

Sara giggled, and Tara was just confused. Ria giggled, and Taren rolled his eyes. Seris felt a little embarrassed.

"All right," Taren said. "That's enough, you two. Anyways, Desha, I’m guessing you’re not here for a visit."

Desha took her own hands off the two, looked at Taren, and nodded. "Terits told me about it. Yes, I'm just wondering if the boy is ready unless it was some other kid I don’t know that you have."

"It's just him."

I looked up at both Taren and Desha while tilting my head with confusion. What are they even talking about?

Ria went on one knee and looked me in the eye. "Tenshi, I just want you to know that I love you, and we’ll try to visit someday, maybe on your birthday." Ria hugged me. "You're my sweet boy, and I always want you to remember that. But once you come back, you better stay with us for a few months before you go to that university." Ria let go of the hug, and I was confused. Ria stood up.

Seris looked down at me. "Tenshi, I’ll always remember you, and I too will be waiting. Maybe once you come back, I can teach you a bit of archery if you're still up for that." She winked.

"Uh..." I mumbled as I was confused. "I’m confused—"

"Ah, ah." Taren interrupted. He looked up at Ria and Seris. "You two should go get his stuff now. We’ll be waiting out here."

Ria nodded. "Good idea," Ria said. Both Ria and Seris walked back to the house.

I looked up at Taren. "Why did you interrupt me? And are we going somewhere or something?"

Taren stayed silent and just cracked his head. "You see..." Taren looked down at me. "This is more about you. It's your new job."

"Really? A carriage is a bit fancy for somewhere out in the village."

Taren would set his sword on the opened shutters of the carriage. "Well, I wouldn’t say it's exactly in the village."

"Huh?" I said as I was confused again. "Then where is it?"

"...What if I told you, you have to stay away from Lumi for a while for this job."

"Well, it depends on how long it is a while. How long will I be doing this job for?"

"Figures. I'm not telling you, sorry," Taren said casually.

"Huh, but why?"

"Because you would argue with me about it and talk about how Lumi is gonna be mad and all of that."

"Huh? Wait, what's going on?" I asked as my stomach felt heavy. Before I could say something else, Taren quickly tried to slash his wooden sword at me, but I quickly used air magic to dodge and get far distance from Taren. "What the hell!? Are you crazy!?" I shouted.

Taren ran right towards me with his wooden sword. Okay, I said to myself. I don’t know what the hell is happening, but I'm terrified! Okay, I mean, I got away from Flurisa once, so I can probably figure this out. Just try doing what you did to her, just without limb cutting. Oh wait, I have another idea." I waited for Taren to get close, and as he was about to swing at me again, I quickly touched the tip of the sword and zapped it. The electricity shocked Taren and pushed him far back, but it barely affected him.

"Not bad, not bad at all..." He muttered as he got back up from the ground.

"Damn it," I said as I stood in fear.

Taren ran towards me in a zig-zag, and before he could get close, I used wind magic to dodge, but he immediately went in my direction and swung his sword. "Ah!" I shouted after being jump-scared by Taren’s random appearance. I quickly blocked it with my sword. Oh god, he's right with me, he's right with me! I tried using wind magic to dodge again, but Taren quickly grabbed the back of my shirt and threw me up.

"Sorry, Tenshi!" He exclaimed.

"Ahh!" I screamed as I started falling, and all I saw was Taren getting ready to slash right at my face. Damn it! He used maneuver grab. Well, guess this is how I lose. I’m still wondering why Taren is doing this, but hey, at least it's a wooden sword and not something that could actually kill me. Well, guess I’ll see what happens soon.

"Ha!" Taren shouted as he swung right at my face, knocking me unconscious.

***

A day passed, and all I heard was the wind blowing, the sounds of a carriage moving, and the birds chirping.

I slowly opened my eyes and felt tired, and the back of my head was a little sore. I rubbed it as I slowly got up. "Oww, what the heck, that hurt, Dad..." As I sat on the bench, I opened my eyes and saw someone in front of me.

My vision was a little blurry, so I wiped them and saw Desha right in front of me. What the hell!? I stood up and looked around, confused and shocked, and realized I was in a moving carriage.

"Everything all right, kid?" she said. I looked right at her and sat back down on the bench.

"U-uh, y-yeah, I'm good. Sorry for my sudden get-up."

"Hm, manners? Well, that wasn’t expected coming from one of Taren’s kids."

"Yeah... Uh, I have a question," I said.

"Spill it."

"Where exactly am I, and where are we going?" I asked with a nervous smile.

Desha looked at me with a hint of surprise. "You don’t know? Thought Taren already told you. Well, we are currently going to the capital. I'm not sure much else, but I do know that we will be working together."

I looked down, confused, and I was about to say something but stopped. Shoot. If that's the only thing she knows, then what can I say? But the whole capital, though? I looked back at her. "Sorry, you said the capital?"

Desha nodded. "Mhm."

I didn’t know how to react after all of this was happening so fast. "Well then... I guess it will be a pleasure working with you..." I said as my eye twitched. "Wait, we left just a few minutes ago, right?"

"Nope, we left yesterday. We should be there in a couple of hours, so get comfy."

"A-a couple hours!?"

***

An hour passed, and I looked out the open shutters and took in a breath of air as the carriage went through a pathway in a forest.

Man, this sucks Im far from home, and now I'm here with big tits, demi-human lady. I sighed and smirked a little. Not really complaining, though. My expression went back to normal, and I sat back down, facing Desha. "Uh, miss, what was your name again so I don’t get it wrong?"

"Desha. Just Desha. Also, take this," she answered, then threw an envelope at me.

"Ow!" I exclaimed as the envelope struck my head. At this rate, I'm going to end up with brain damage, I said as I rubbed my head. I grabbed the envelope that fell on my lap, and I read what was on it. Of course, it's from Taren. I opened up the envelope and pulled out the letter.

It said: "Dear Tenshi, I am sure you are reading this since Desha doesn’t know a single letter. I am sure you are confused, so let me explain. The woman with the huge breasts, aka Desha, is going to be your new teacher for the sword." Desha made a small growl. I sweated a little from her growl but continued reading. "Y-you are currently going to the capital to take a job there from my brother. You did say any job, right?" Screw you, Taren! I had an annoyed look on my face. "So here it is. Till you have enough so you can go to Seria with Lumi which may take a few years, you can come back unless you give up on that. Anyway, be careful making Desha mad because it isn’t fun. And She isn’t so fun yet also is in bed, so I suggest not going for her because her ass is stone hard, but her breasts are soft and comfortable, so that's not to worry about."

Desha looked away like a tsundere and grabbed the end of the bench so hard that she broke a piece off.

"Ahhhh," I whimpered and gulped as I looked at Desha. Seriously? Her? Who did he originally lose his virginity to, and why was putting the necessary? I glanced back at the paper, my eyes widening at a particular section. "But I do know how much you’ll earn in this job, so I estimate that in about four to five years, you’ll be back, unfortunately, without writing any letters. Why? Well, I cannot say. Another reason is that you were getting too close to Lumi. Look, I understand she might be the one for you, but I’m concerned about how deep that connection could go. I spoke with her parents regarding her anxiety with swords, and they might assist her in addressing it, as your approach seems to have led her to keep hiding. Anyway, I can’t wait to see you and see how much of a man you’ll become. I hope you make an adventure for yourself and tell that hottie Desha I said hi. From your amazing father, Taren." I punched the bench. "Damn it..." I whispered.

"Seems like you're not so fond of him either."

I stayed silent and said nothing.

"...If it makes you feel better, we can send that back to your mother. He also left his sword here by mistake."

I gasped and looked up at her and to my left. His sword was lying beside me. I grabbed it and set it on my lap. Wow, so this is what it feels like... I looked back up at Desha with a smirk. "What did you say about the letter?"

Desha grinned.

***

Another hour passed, and I was laid down on the bench with my eyes closed. I opened them again and started to think to myself. Maybe I am the twenty percent wrong one. Lumi doesn’t deserve to hide from her fears. I basically made her do an old me," I said to myself as I sighed. And I did say he could pick any job, but seriously, I could’ve been warned about this stuff.

"Hey, kid," Desha said.

I looked at her and sat up. "Yes?"

"We should be there in a few minutes. Be ready."

"Oh?" I turned around and had my knees on the bench as I was looking out the shutters. "Holy crap! That's it!?" I said as I saw the gated city from a far distance, and a river was flowing around it.

Desha nodded. "Yup, that right there is the city of Celine."

***

During the time I left, a woman was walking all alone with two swords on her waist as she walked, and it was Flurisa walking in a forest as she was all healed with her sleeve ripped.