As I looked at this child in my arms, I had a clear feeling of: 'Gravity pulls you down as you get older.'
Watching her play around with toys in the living room made feel nostalgic about my childhood.
Wasn't I too as carefree as this little one?
"Tell me what happened from the beginning."
"Why would you want to know?" Bob asked while evading my eyes, not wanting to say a word.
"Fine then, you... How did you change his gender anyway? There's no Magic that can do that."
"There is one though?" Dorothy tilted her head.
"There isn't." I should know as someone who had been more interested in the limitations and strength of Magic at an early age. Different Attributes had various effects except... this...
It was then I came to a logical conclusion:
"You have an Origin Shard, don't you?"
"Is that what this is called?" She showed her arm that had a pink magical gem embedded into it.
Although I suspected as much, I didn't expect her to show it to me so easily. What does she want?
"Give it to me. The actual owner of the Origin Shard asked me to take it back." I glared.
"And if I decide not to?"
"You wouldn't want to do that..."
"You think you can snatch it from me?"
"I consider this 'retrieving a lost item'." I grabbed her arm, showing clear intent to roughen her up.
"You know..." As she was speaking, a smile curved on her face that showed a great confidence.
"-no one can take this from me." She grabbed onto my arm as her words ended and crushed it.
Her strength in that moment was overwhelming to the point I now understood a little about how Bob had fallen prey to her. Pain assaulted me as this Puppet Body of mine felt like it 'broke a finger'.
Normally I would have been able to react in time through instinct alone. However, it seems like I underestimated her too much. By the time I wanted to parry, her hand was already grabbing my head.
"Even if you're her mother... I'll kill you if you go any further!" Although I hadn't screamed, the clear crunching sound of my bones alerted Bob, who had already pulled out his sword and placed it next to Dorothy's neck, all while hiding his killing intent from his daughter nearby. I gritted my teeth as the woman I now realised was insane stopped in place.
"This bimbo better behave herself, or else I don't care if you consider her your mistress. You better get that arm checked out later by a Healer before you have no choice but to cut it off entirely."
"You mean this arm?" I showed her the same arm that had miraculously regenerated back perfectly.
Dorothy widened her eyes in disbelief as even the best Healer wouldn't have been able to piece back a shattered arm and reconnected the injured nerves without a considerably long amount of time.
"...You're actually a 'Barbarian'."
"Why would you say that?"
"I've heard only THEY have the consumable technique to regenerate wounds on the spot."
"You just witnessed an exception~"
"Bull-"
"Mom, what are you doing?" The kid who was playing at the side turned to see her dad who had already retreated back to where he was sitting at the other side of me and Dorothy holding my neck.
"Oh~ I was just joking with my friend~!"
"Great friends, we are." I did a Yoda impression while going along with the clearly blatant lie.
Also, I guess I must thank her a little for allowing me to better understand how to use 'Moon Mana'.
Just like how Sun Mana allowed my human body to exert the power of a Druid, this monster body of mine could show the power of a 'Fiend' as long as I was able to control the Moon Mana within me.
E Rank... I realised that was the current level of my Magical Talent as a 'Monstrous Beast'. It was what was known to others as the base level of power for a 'newborn' Monster. Once I started to 'evolve', my Magical Capacity would grow along with me.
I wonder, when that starts to happen: Would Damian be able to keep up with my level?
Anyway, getting back on tangent... I couldn't murder this crazy piece of work yet. Even though she pissed me off, I had enough self-control to not leave this child next me me motherless.
"I'm thinking you and your mother should leave early today." Bob spoke to his daughter kindly.
Hmmm, has he ever smiled like this before?
"But I want to stay longer!"
"Madeline, I'll come visit you later."
"...Promise?"
"Promise!" He locked pinkies with her.
Dorothy gave me a death glare as she nodded at this proposal, getting up without a second thought.
"We'll meet up tomorrow."
"I'd rather you just leave her here."
"How can a mother leave her daughter?" She laughed, and I, knowing who actually gave birth to this child, had a complicated expression as Bob ate his emotions and sent them off peacefully.
It's not that I didn't want to rip off Dorothy's arm and retrieve the Origin Shard embedded into it, it's just that I realised that doing so would implicate Bob and turn me into his family's worst enemy.
"So no one else knows of what happened?"
"Not really..."
"How? You must have lived in a female form for some time before you could actually give birth."
"I was out of this village and didn't know where she had kept me captive after turning me into a girl..."
I feel like I heard another outrageous fact.
"Does she hate your guts or something?"
"I don't really know. She calls it 'love'." Bob's whole body shivered as he seemed to get flashbacks.
Using the 'Darkmetal Buff' that was still a part of my nerves, I could feel his body stiffening up.
What had this crazy woman done to him...?
Also, why am I feeling so guilty?
I didn't do anything to him. Clearly, it was Sylphy's fault for letting her Origin Shards fall into the wrong hands. Even if I wasn't summoned- No, me being summoned to this world wasn't my fault as well!
I have nothing to feel guilty about!
What I'm feeling right now is definitely-
"Do you want to talk about it?"
-sympathy with a capital 'S'.
"...It's a stupid story."
"I'll decide that after hearing it."
"You won't find her weaknesses through this story if that's what your banking on." He laughed blandly.
"Bob-" I grabbed his head and forced this idiot to make eye-contact with me after so long...
"-don't avoid my eyes when you're talking." The expression on his face fluctuated for a moment.
Various and complicated emotions flashed by until he finally started to break down in tears.
I could tell from experience that... he had been holding in these emotions for a long time.
He had so much to say, but no one to speak his heart to. Who other than me would believe him?
For once, I started to feel... empathy.
Is this how normal people experience it?
"I'm sorry... for being like this all of a sudden...!"
"It's fine."
"No one would believe me if I talked, they would say that I'm talking crazy. They would shout at me."
"Mmm-hmm."
"Even though I went through so much...! No one would ever know, or believe me at all. Not even my own mom...! She'd call me crazy! I know it... but I can't blame her. What was I supposed to do?!"
"Don't worry. I'm here... Just let it all out." I spoke while letting him cry on my shoulder pathetically.
They say that men aren't allowed to cry, and that's what causes young boys to bottle up their negative emotions or turn it into something worse. Even when they turn into adults, they become so used to bottling things up that they lose touch of feelings.
I knew something was up the more I started taking to Bob. His reactions, they were too 'mild'...
He has lost touch with his heart and doesn't even know what to feel anymore... What can I do?
What SHOULD I do? The only thing I am capable of right now is give him a shoulder to cry on.
Only when he was able to start regaining his composure did he get his head off my shoulder.
"Sorry..." He spoke after seeing how the clothes on my shoulder became a snot-filled rag of teardrops.
"It's fine. I've been through worse." You know, I may try to make Merilin look good, but she too was once a girl who only knew how to cry and become a snotty baby brat when she wanted something back then... That's just how siblings operate.
As someone VERY experienced, my opinion is that a true sibling relationships aren't anything like that you see on TV. In truth, most real-life siblings normally only talk to each other when they want something... Small talk is a rare commodity.
Of course, there are exceptions to this, but most siblings are people who you just have to deal with.
"She happens to be my childhood friend."
"You have my attention." I thought she was his jealous ex-girlfriend or something, to think she would actually have such a deep and intimate relationship with him... What a scary girl...!
"Even when we were children... She had always been quite average without any high talent in her Fire Affinity. We had a good relationship and I was actually quite talented... so I thought I'd guide her as an Adventurer after getting older. After all, I was competent compared to others my Rank."
"You sound like you were spoiling her." If only I met a childhood friend, or maybe even tried back then.
Hah... The 'gravity' that comes with age, it is only something you understand as you get older. One day as a child you are able to jump a great height easily, but once you become an adult, a mountain of worries stop you from having enough courage to jump. One day, you find out you can't bring yourself to jump anymore out of internal fears.
Once he started explaining their childhood, my mind could picture the 'ordinary friends' they were.
Though truthfully, considering I now live in a nearly-medieval fantasy world where all residents are magic users, it was probably likely that his mother saw them as sweethearts at the time and probably wanted to arrange their marriage.
"I was. No one else would form a team with a incompetent girl who couldn't even kill a Horned Rabbit properly. As her childhood friend, I wanted to help her become independent by herself. That's why I helped her out when I saw her troubled."
"That's sounds comparatively normal." I was expecting a breathtaking development of sorts.
"But when she saw how she was reliant on me and I could 'abandon her' anytime, she snapped."
"So easily? Why does she sound so mentally handicapped? And I don't mean that as an insult by the way, I mean that in 'why the heck did she act so drastically' kind of way." Things escalated too quickly! Why would her friend abandon her?!
"Actually... I was starting to think of leaving her to someone her gender and age after some incidents started happening." Bob started to tremble once again as he seemed to remember his past vividly.
"I don't see a reason why to-"
"She started to harass the female receptionist I always did business with, stalked me on a consistent basis, injured one the female members of my actual team back then, and there was even a time I saw her room filled with pictures of me that I had never taken before. You tell me, wouldn't YOU be creeped out by her even if she's your friend?"
"Oh! When you put it like that, I definitely wouldn't want anything to do with such a crazy woman."
I remember a time in my past life when media considered this kind of behaviour from a beautiful woman to be 'cute'. However, when you're on the receiving end, things become totally different.
I think this called this archetype a 'Yandere'? A girl who is flat-out a total lovestruck psychopath...
I'm not sure how to comfort him... The girl who liked him spiked his drink, kept him captive for a few months, and did a lot of messed up things to him... Should I promise to kill this crazy stalker...?
No, I can't kill anymore. I've already started holding a no-killing code like a particular 'Dark Knight'.
Though I can rip her arm off right, or would that act of violent make my no-killing rule redundant?
"She's a complete lovestruck psychopath..."
"I know. And from what I heard, that thing she used on me was that 'Origin Shard' you're looking for?"
"One of them anyway... I just don't know how to take it from her." I creased my eyebrows together.
"I won't be able to split her from my daughter."
"Even though you gave birth to her?"
"She doesn't know that was me. Dorothy herself has been keeping her as a hostage to meet me."
"This is a pain..." It would be so much easier if some other Dark Specialist got that Origin Shard-
Wait, I just realised I could sense she was a Dark Specialist as well! Why didn't I notice this sooner?
Even though my 'Magic Sense' could tell what were the expertise of opponents, I hadn't used it in a way to derive information before. It hadn't occurred to me hoe suspicious her mastery over Shadowlight Mana was thanks to being with Anna...
Someone... I... also abandoned with Sapphire.
I won't abandon a friend again. I'll protect this guy properly! Since he considers me a friend, I'll do whatever I can. No whining and no acting like this has nothing to do with me. I have to help him.
"You know... she can't have confined you alone."
"What do you mean?" Although my conjecture was logical, it made him think of something terrific.
"I think... that she has allies." This was my first step to figuring out what this secret organisation of Dark Specialists was up to and ruin their plans. Oh Dorothy, you won't live peacefully anymore...!