The sun is going to set pretty soon, huh? We had arrived at the camping spot around an hour ago, but so far there wasn’t really much for me to do honestly. I was sitting on a log near the campfire which Maia led on fire with her magic, before she went to play with the twins. Lyanna was doing the same as me while also holding Lara. She sure was a cute baby, but just looking at her wasn’t really that entertaining…

I wonder when I’ll finally be able to shoot a getsuga Tenshou around or something…

The timing of this outing was definitely suspicious, and I did think this might’ve been just some way to get us out of the picture honestly, but was there really a point in questioning it? It was definitely possible that I was just overthinking it, since while the attack clearly had a possibility of happening today, that didn’t necessarily mean it was the case. Plus, the twins had been pestering them to go out sometime, this was probably just their way of silencing them.

“They sure are happy about it.”

“Hm?”

“I mean your siblings, haha.”

They’ve been playing with Maia for a while now, I guess the twins really did look forward to this.

“Yeah, I honestly have never seen Rune as excited as today. He’s usually just going wherever Nala is and is clearly pretty shy by nature. I’m glad he’s enjoying it as well”

Them being happy was nice and all, but no matter how much I tried to not further question it, the more my mind ended up going back to it. Why was Lyanna the only adult with us? Maybe dad and Aldric were just busy with work while mom took this as an occasion for a short break. She’s a mother of 4 children after all. Why today? It’s a Monday, they probably just wanted to get this done as quickly as possible. Why this far? It’s just a place where the twins haven’t been yet, to make it more fitting for an adventure like camping experience. Any question I asked myself had a logical answer that wasn’t even remotely close to that of the possibility of the attack happening today.

Maybe this is just building up my great moment where I’ll awaken my powers and save everyone. .. or something like that.

The thought was definitely there but either way, I wasn’t delusional enough to actually believe in it. (I definitely am) but even if I did, there’s nothing wrong with dreaming of some action with a moment of glory when you’re reincarnated into a fantasy world, right? While I was trying to cope with that, we all suddenly heard a sound coming from the bushes behind the log I was sitting on. I quickly got my guards up as I backed away a bit, but it ended up being unnecessary. To everyone’s surprise there, since what came out of that bush wasn’t a monster, but… mom?!

“What are you doing here?! And why are you coming out of a bush?”

I quickly let my guard down as I approached her, but it was then that I noticed. Blood. All over her clothes there was blood, but she didn’t seem to have any injuries, which only meant that it wasn’t hers, but someone else’s.

“There’s no time for explanation. Maia, come here and listen very carefully.”

She remained composed, but I could feel that even she was shaken inside by whatever had happened. Maia quickly did as she was told and approached us.

“I can’t explain everything, so I’ll make it short. Our village is under attack, and we cannot hold our own. Your father told me that in case he and Aldric fail to save the village, your orders are to take Lyanna and the kids and get them far enough away for them to hide, and to be safe. Then you have to go back to the village and help them.”

“Huh?! Wait a second! When you say kids do you also mean me?”

Somehow my thoughts actually came out to not be just paranoia, but instead of being happy that I was right, at the moment I was focused on a single thing. The fact that even though I’ve spent years training already, I was still seen as useless. I know better than anyone that I probably would in fact be just dead weight, but it simply didn’t feel right to me to have all of my hard work dismissed like that. Mom looked down for a second, avoiding my eyes as I was desperately waiting for an answer.

“Yes. That includes you, Cael.”

I turned to face the one who answered my question, and it wasn’t mom.

“Why… why?! You’ve seen it better than everyone, you know better than everyone how hard I’ve been training, Maia!”

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Her demeanor was still extremely, no. It was scarily calm. The way she was able to remain so calm under these circumstances was honestly just terrifying to me.

“Yes, you’re right. However, that also means that I know better than everyone here, that you’d be nothing but dead weight.”

“… what the hell is that supposed… to mean? Dont fuck with me!”

I’ve completely lost it at that moment. Was it the shame of still not being able to use any mana even after all this training? I don’t think so. Was it hatred towards Maia for being so blunt? That wasn’t it either, if anything I’m glad she wasn’t trying to delude me. Was it a mere attempt to protect my fragile ego and whatever little pride I had? That was also not the case. The reason I was so mad that I ended up walking up to her, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt and losing my cool was simple. I was with myself. Not at Maia, but the weak Cael that couldn’t even… save his family when needed.

“Cael!”

Mom shouted and she tried to separate us, but Maia stopped her from it, then turned towards me and while looking me dead in the eye, she was seemingly going to listen to what I had to say.

“I know better than anyone here that I’d be nothing but a burden! Do you think I’m stupid?! Do you think I haven’t noticed something is wrong with me?! Not only was I born without elemental magic, I even have so little mana that the basic energy every single human body has flowing into their flesh is larger than my actual mana pool, I know that!”

“You’re just proving my point. Cael, you’re weak. There’s no reason for you to need nor want to fight.”

I let go of her collar. Her reply was so painfully logical that it honestly just crushed me, alongside any kind of strength I had to even try to oppose her. I fell on my knees as tears ran down my face. How pathetic I am… crying in front of not just my mother, but even my younger siblings after getting completely humbled… it wasn’t fair. Why was it her? Why wasn’t I the prodigy? Why am I the useless one? It would’ve been a blatant lie to say that I’ve never felt jealousy towards her, but at that moment, that was the only thing I felt.

“Why… Why are you the prodigy? Why can’t I be the one everyone relies on? Why can’t I be the one to protect everyone when dad can’t? Why am I… the weak one?”

Screw it… I once again lost my cool and caused a scene in front of everyone. I could hear the twins crying. Did I cause them to cry again?… I’m sorry, for being such a terrible older brother. At that moment, my jealousy turned into shame. Shame from not being able to protect them, shame from not being able to keep my cool, and shame from making my younger siblings cry again, but unexpectedly…

“…?”

I felt not one, but 2 people hug me from behind as I was on my knees. Their hands were wrapped around my neck and both of their faces were leaning on top of my shoulder. I could feel it very clearly. The tightness of their embarace, the warmth of their touch… and their tears falling down on my shoulders.

“Don’t cry…Cael!”

“N-nala?”

“D-don’t be mean to Cael, Maia!”

“Rune?”

“Leave our big brother alone!”

They both have said the last line at the same time, and that was my breaking point. I turned around, and as tears started streaming down on my face even harder than earlier, I held them. As tight as I could, but making sure not to hurt them. I thought they were scared of me, just like the last time I had my cool in front of them. I thought they resented me for being so aggressive towards Maia, but neither of those were true. They were crying, out of concern towards me.

“…”

Maia couldn’t say another word as she alongside mom and Lyanna simply watched, waiting for us to calm down.

“I’m sorry, Maia.”

It was my responsibility to apologize now that the twins had also calmed down, and so without hesitation I walked up to her and did so.

“It’s fine, I was also a bit too harsh, to which I apologize as well. Ignoring your hard work like that was extremely disrespectful of me, please forgive me.”

A small smile appeared on my face as I gladly accepted her apology.

“You’re right at the end of the day though, I’m weak. It’s probably better if I just know my own limi-“

It was then that out of nowhere, I started glowing green which actually both creeped and scared me out, causing me to instinctively twitch as I looked down on myself. My entire body was glowing for a good 10 seconds, before it finally stopped. It didn’t take long to actually understand what had happened though.

“Alright, alright. That’s enough siblings bonding time there. I’ve told you, we don’t have time.”

Mom calmly talked as she walked over to the twins, picking them up in her arms before continuing.

“If he wants to try and be useful that badly, let him be. Either way, he’s most definitely going to get injured in some way, which will be his punishment for acting the way he did.”

“Huh?! Aren’t you worried I might die or something?! What kind of parent just sends their kid on a battlefield knowing they’re going to get injured?”

“Why are you acting like I'm a terrible parent here? You’re the one who wants to go. I’m just letting you find out on your own that it’s probably a terrible decision. Kids need to learn how to face consequences, how else are you going to become responsible adults?”

“No matter how you look at it, that’s just crazy! Are you seriously going to just send me off like that?”

Her logic was very flawed, but at the same time it made sense to a certain (and extremely unnecessary) extent, so I didn’t further question it, but she was still sending me with nothing but a dagger I had with me when we left earlier today just in case, and some ridiculously scary words.

“Were you so startled by it earlier that your brain sealed off the memory of it already or something?”

“What are you? Talking abo-… oh.”

“That’s right. You were glowing because of my enchant. I gave you enough speed boost for you to get there in around half an hour, and also enchanted all of your general stats, though that doesn’t include mana unfortunately.”

“Does that mean?”

She started walking in the opposite direction of where I was supposed to go, and Lyanna followed alongside Maia..

“How long do you plan on standing there? Your father is waiting for you, you know?”

“Make sure to also take care of my Aldric while you’re at it.”

“Just try not to die until I come back. I’ll take care of the rest. But until then…”

Then in unison, all 3 of them said just a few words, but those few words were enough to get me ready to go.

“We’re counting on you, Cael.”

I started sprinting as fast as I could, which thanks to moms enchanting was a lot quicker than any speed I’ve ever ran at, and without looking back, with a smile on my face I kept pushing forward.