Our trip to the Academy was done using, what else, a carriage, although this time around we rented the entire thing, unlike Marina who had to share it with strangers. That made it quite a lot more expensive than the usual cost, but it was totally worth it. It wasn't like we were wasting our money and time going back and forth from our home to Mira willy-nilly after all. This was our very first trip as a family to the Magocracy capital.
Urgh…
It's only been three hours since we boarded, and I was already bored out of my mind. There wasn't anything unique on the road, only green plains to the left and right of us as well as some mountains far away.
"Big bro, is Mira still far away?"
Erika, who was sitting on my lap, looked upwards and back towards me.
"It still is, Erika." I answered with a forced smile, patting her smooth blonde hair. "Two weeks trip, remember?"
"I'm bored."
"I know. I'm bored as well."
Silence then fell between us, before she suddenly decided to turn around and hug me, burying her face on my chest.
"Be my pillow."
I sighed with a smile, placing my hands around her little body as gently as I could.
"Oh dear, if you want a pillow to sleep on, then Mother would make a much better one, you know."
I looked forward and saw Mother giggling at the scene. Father, on the other hand, was asleep, with his head outside the window. I couldn't help but think how dangerous that was.
"Because of your breasts, Mother?"
"Ah. So Hugo is already old enough to know about such things." She giggled again.
I intended to embarrass her a little but she clearly knew very well just how attractive her two jumbo-sized funbags were. Even now, they seductively jiggled every time the carriage hit a bump, threatening to burst out of the white button-up shirt she was wearing.
"Maybe you can ask for your own pillow once Sherry returns." She smiled mischievously.
"I'll look forward to that," I answered with a dry smile. To be honest, I cannot imagine Sherry having huge breasts like Mother's. She seems to be the type of girl that will have small ones instead. She doesn't have to worry though! Unlike Father, I don't discriminate between large and small. They all have their own charms after all. In fact, I'll massage them for you every night, if you want them to be bigger!
"... Your grin is creepy, Big Bro."
W-what? I looked down and saw Erika frowning at me.
"Hehe, he's thinking about her for sure," Mother commented with her own grin. "Really, you are such your father's son. Same fondness of girls, and same desire for adventures as well. You know, I originally wanted to send you to the Academy as well once you're old enough, but if you want to go being an adventurer right away, then I won't stop you. Wouldn't want you to end up running away like your father did after all."
My ears perked up. Running away? I knew that he left home to become an adventurer early in his life, but this running away part was certainly news to me.
"Oh, I haven't told you this yet, have we? Only Marina. Well, I suppose we can spend our time in this stuffy carriage talking about it."
With a nostalgic smile, she began her story.
"Do you know about the Ferus Kingdom, Hugo?"
"Ferus? If I remember correctly, that's the kingdom on the far northwest of this continent, right?"
"That's the one, yes. And it's your father's homeland. He might not look like it, but he's the son of one of the nobles there."
My jaw dropped. "F-Father… is a noble?"
"Not quite. He's been disowned, you see. So he's just a common man these days."
She paused and took a deep sigh.
"It all started with an argument between him and his father. He wouldn't tell me what it was, saying that, 'It's just some stupid thing.' He was a hothead when he was young, so he did the most outrageous thing possible and bolted out of his home to become an adventurer. He never returned or sent any letters since that day."
"...Wow, Father did all that?" I wasn't sure if I should be impressed or be stupified by his rash decision.
"Yes, he did. You see, unlike the usual noble kids, he had always been too rough and adventurous for his own good. He always said that it was his destiny to become an adventurer, and not to become a good, noble gentleman like his father wanted him to be."
"...Yeah, I can definitely agree with that." I said, nodding my head. Mother simply giggled lightly in return.
"And that's why we don't want to push you to do anything that you don't want to do, Hugo. And besides, you're already much stronger than Father was back when he started his adventures, so we feel safe enough to let you and Marina go on your own adventures once she finishes her school."
"I see… So that's how it is… " I looked up straight at Mother's eyes. "Don't worry, Mother! I would never leave you or Father like that!" I gave my brightest smile. "You two have been really good to me after all!"
"Aaw, you're making your mother blush, Hugo." She giggled again, covering her mouth in the process. "I'm glad you feel that way. I try my best every day to be the best mother that I could, you know!" She reached forward and ruffled my hair.
"How about you, Mom? Where did you come from?"
Suddenly, her smile disappeared.
"I… would rather not talk about that, if you don't mind."
Seeing her reaction, I immediately decided to halt my curiosity.
"... That's alright, Mom." I put my hand on hers, rubbing it gently with an understanding smile. "If you don't want to, then I won't force you."
"Oh Hugo…" Her smile returned. "No doubt Sherry is going to be one happy wife in the future. Make lots of children with her, alright? I want lots of cute grandkids to play with," she said with a little smirk.
Hey, hey, did you just tell your nine-year old son to have sex? And lots of it?
Not that I mind though. When I imagine Sherry's adult self, who certainly will be much cuter, more beautiful, and with a dash of that adult sexiness in bed with me on top of her, what kind of sane male wouldn't want to ravage her every night?
"...Hugo, you're fantasizing again, aren't you?" She huffed. "Really, you haven't even hit puberty yet but you're already like this. Now I can't help but be worried."
"Don't worry, Mom. I was only fantasizing about her after all," I replied back. Normally, I would be flustered but I had gotten used to her teasing over the years.
"Oh, poor Sherry… " She shook her head. "I hope you wouldn't be too harsh on her in bed, Hugo."
Somehow, I felt that it would be the opposite instead.
"Oh look, little Erika's sleeping. Hehe, good. She's still too young to be hearing about that kind of stuff yet."
Indeed she was. I didn't notice when, but she had drifted off as we were having our conversation. She was now snoring lightly, drooling a little bit onto my shirt.
"Here. Let me take her instead. You must be tired, having her on your lap all these hours."
I did as she told, gently handing over my currently sleeping little sister to her. Damn, she's in her most adorable state when she's sleeping like this.
"You take a nap as well, Hugo." She then told me. "I'll wake you up once we arrive at our stop."
Naturally, the carriage wouldn't go all the way to Mira without stops—either on the small villages they would find on the road or on little coachhouses built simply so that the horse and the travelling guests could rest.
----------
On the fourth day, we arrived at the border town Paigtef. Just like back on Earth, travelers would need to get checked first by the border guards before they were allowed to pass through.
We, of course, passed the check with no problem. In this world, passports or visas weren't really a thing yet, it seemed. The check itself was pretty lax, though I noticed one of the guards give a perverted leer at Mother's chest, until Father's glare scared him off. I imagined these guards would ask for higher tolls if we were a merchant carrying our goods across.
For the rest of the ten days, we traveled between the two mountain ranges to our north and south. And then, after some more villages and stops, we finally arrived at our destination, Mira.
"Uwaaaaaahh! Look, big bro! It's so huge!"
The moment the driver announced that the capital city was right ahead, Erika bravely popped her head out the window to look at it. I immediately held her body, just so she wouldn't end up falling to the outside.
"You know, I can't look at it when I'm right here."
"Those walls! They're all black and shiny!"
I sighed. We remained in this position for a good while before she got bored and told me to pull her back in.
Mira, the City of Magic, as they called it. It's located on the plains right after the two mountain ranges ended, and it was practically a crossroad to the rest of the country.
When it was my turn to see it, I couldn't help but be awed as well. Naturally, Marina had already told me about how huge it was and how it had a tall obsidian wall surrounding it, but seeing it in person was a completely different experience entirely.
Once we were inside, as Marina instructed, we were told to go find an inn, preferably one that's near the academy.
The place was full of people, as you would expect from the capital of a country. And not just humans, as I immediately took notice of elves, hobbits, and even a girl who had sheep-like characteristics on her—a sheep beastkin, if I had to guess.
"Enjoying the view, Hugo?" Father asked with a grin. "It's fun traveling around to new places, isn't it?" He patted my back.
Just like Marina said however, there was nothing particularly "magicky" about the city. No flying carpets, no cute witches flying around with their brooms (allowing me to peek at their panties from underneath), and no magic automatons or golems. It looked relatively mundane inside. The only special thing that I noticed was the tall tower in the middle of the town.
Oh, that's right. That's the Council Tower, isn't it? Marina told me about it once. It's the place where the top tier mages running the country would meet up for their meetings. I imagine a place like that would be heavily guarded by all sorts of magic. Though from here, it just looks like a normal tower. Tch, how boring. I expect floating crystals at the sides or something.
We settled on an inn just outside the academy complex. Reflecting how prestigious it was, it was separate from the hustle and bustle of the city, even though technically it was still inside. You would need to take a road through a tiny forest to get to the academy proper.
Like how we slept for the past two weeks, Father and Mother shared a room while Erika and I shared another. And yes, Erika hugged me every single night as I slept. I would perfectly be happy for it, if not for the fact that she still had bedwetting issues. Twice in those two weeks that I woke up soaked just like our sheets.
Of course, she immediately cried when she realized what she did, apologizing for what she did to me at the same time. And, like a good and understanding big brother, I told her that it was all right. Kids normally only stopped wetting their beds entirely around six or seven after all, if I remembered my little sister from my previous life.
Still, it led to Mother forcing her to wear diapers every single night since then, as she didn't want to inconvenience the innkeepers. And boy, she wasn't happy for that.
Since we arrived a day earlier than the date Marina told in the letter, I now had a choice. Should I go visit Marina or explore the city first? It didn't take me long to decide. It's still noon so Marina should still be busy with her classes. So the city it is.
Thankfully, Erika immediately fell asleep in our room once we arrived at the inn, so I wouldn't have to bring her along. Since I definitely knew that she would demand to go with me.
"Father, Mother, I'm going to the city. Erika's sleeping in our room." I told them.
"Be careful, alright?" Mother said with a smile, looking at me as she paused unpacking our luggage.
"Do you need me to go with you, Hugo?" Father then offered.
"No thanks. I'm fine on my own."
"Try not to get arrested like your sister!" He shouted as I left. Oh Father, always with his sense of humor.
----------
My first destination was the Council Tower, or, as the locals called it, The Tower of the Sages, as a form of respect to their wise ruling overlords who had their seat of government there. Hah, now that sounds like a proper fantasy tower!
I wasn't planning on trespassing or anything, of course. Like Father said, I wasn't going to get myself arrested. I'd be screwed if I did. This wasn't Aarom where Father had a pull with the local lord.
As I arrived, I realized just how massive the whole place really was.
First of all, just like the Academy, it was surrounded by greenery for a good amount, and you had to go through it first before you could get to the tower proper. And by a good amount, I meant there must be at least one kilometer squares of it, all protected from outsiders by tall steel fences—a fact that I found out by actually circling around it, like someone with nothing better to do with his time.
And judging from what I could see from the outside, it's a complete jungle in there. I could barely see anything inside through the thick trees.
This is magic, right? There's no way a jungle like that could grow naturally in the middle of a city like this. Not to mention that there are only plains outside for miles.
...Wait, hold on, we do have something like this back home! City parks! Like the Central Park in New York! So it might not be magic after all?
Doubt it. This is the land of the mages after all. They would be dumb not to abuse the hell out of their magic every chance they could.
I noticed something peculiar about it though. Mainly, how light the security was. I could only see two mage guards standing half-asleep in front of the closed main gate, relying on their staves to nod off while standing (which was quite the impressive skill by the way, at least to me). No other guards walking on the sides of the complex. This immediately made me infer that the steel fences must be enchanted with magic in some way as well. Maybe an alarm that triggered when a person touched it. Or even a thunder enchantment, making them essentially amount to electric fences.
Whew, now I'm glad I didn't get close to them.
Though that only makes the jungle even more suspicious. It must be another layer of protection after the fences. Dammit, now I'm even more curious about what could be hiding inside.
And then, suddenly, the gate flung open. Out walked a figure that I didn't expect in the slightest.
It was a maid—a teal haired one, the same color as her dress. She also wore a white apron over it. The most peculiar thing about her however was the pair of objects attached to the sides of her head.
That's… those are finns, are they not? That makes her a sea-folk then?
As the name suggested, the sea-folk was what us land-dwellers call those who lived on the sea. Yep, mermaids are real in this world, along with other mythological sea creatures as well.
Unfortunately however, they were quite hostile, or, at the very least, isolationist and highly protective of their borders. The majority of the oceans in this world was off-limits for any ships to travel, as the sea-folk would attack and sink it on sight. Only specified routes to cross continents were allowed by them, which made travel a lot more difficult than how it could be.
Behind her was another peculiar figure. This time, it was an adult woman, perhaps around Mother's age, or a little bit older. She was dark blue from top to bottom, from her long hair to her long dress, and that staff of hers she carried with her. Only her light skin was not blue.
The two guards were immediately jolted awake by their presence. Naturally, they scrambled to fix their stance, bowing as deeply as they could to the woman.
"M-Madame Brine! T-this is really unusual! Y-you don't usually take this route!" One of them spoke.
"Oh, I simply wanted a change of pace, that's all," the woman replied with a tiny, barely unnoticeable smile.
Madame Brine? That means she's—
"Boy! What are you doing there? Move out of the way!"
Ah, that's right. I'm standing right in the middle of the road. And I must be staring at them like a deer in the headlights.
I quickly did as I was told. The woman then resumed her walk with who I assumed to be her maid leading the charge. As she went past me however, she gave me a glance, before smiling. And it was a beautiful smile… if not for the fact that said smile didn't reach her cold eyes.
This feeling… it's fear, isn't it?
I would have gone for my wand, but I stopped myself. She or her maid would end me immediately if I drew it in front of them.
"Master, are we going to take a walk through the city as well?"
"That wouldn't be necessary. We shall go home right away."
The maid's question broke her gaze at me. And then, before I could do anything, something unbelievable happened right in front of her eyes.
It was a giant jellyfish, appearing right above the two of them out from thin air. It then carried them to the inside of its transparent, watery body with two of its many tentacles.
And then, the giant jellyfish fired off a jet of water from its bottom, sending it flying to the skies. I immediately covered myself with my hands, expecting the water to splash onto me, only to find that it never came. The water… had just dissipated into thin air—the same way the jellyfish had appeared.
T-that was… that was a summon, wasn't it? T-to think there could be a summon like that…
Selendia Brine… one of the members of the Council… just being in her presence makes me feel like this…
I quickly went back to the inn afterwards, wanting to tell Father and Mother on what just happened. And I'll tell Marina too, of course! She'll be excited to hear that I've met one of them for sure! It's like having a face-to-face meeting with the Prime Minister!