Chapter 4 — I was adopted by the rich.
... Lady who the fuck now?
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It was at that moment Ligaya realized that the identities of the people around him weren't as simple as he had first thought.
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Seiryu Capital was as lively as I've heard from Botan.
Several flying beasts flew in the sky. Numerous races intermingled with each other in harmony. On top of humans, there were several Beastmen in the crowd as well as people from the Giant Clan. What surprised me the most was the number of Elves in the capital.
It had to be known that the Elven Race was described as detached from all other races. They were as aloof as the clouds and cold as ice. If one were to meet an elf, one would feel like they were talking to a brick wall with how dry their responses were.
Yet the ones I've seen were rather friendly. Instead of icy expressions, the elves had smiles on their faces. From the looks of it, they were one of the friendliest bunches in the crowd.
Meanwhile, each side of the street had numerous shops lined up and almost every one of them were filled to the brim.
And almost every one of them... turned and waved at Mama Sima.
"Lady Sima, you haven't gone back for years!"
"How was your tour outside? You must have met the Underwater Folks in your travels, right?"
"Are they really as beautiful as the rumors?"
"More beautiful than elves?"
"Hey!"
"Ouch, I was just asking. My wife is still the prettiest."
"Lady Sima, did you bring back some souvenirs?"
"Lady Sima, I'm looking forward to watching one of your plays again!"
"Lady Sima!"
"Lady Sima!"
Oh my god, Mama Sima is a fucking celebrity.
After that little incident where that tiny young master tried to burn me, I found out that Mama Sima was the youngest child of a prominent family in Seiryu Capital.
Unlike other places, the capital had no royal family to rule it. Instead, powerful families allied together to manage this place.
And one of those families was Mama Sima's.
Her full name was Lin Sima; her ancestors came from the north of Seiryu. The Lin Family was well-known for its diversity in all sorts of arts and business. Mama Sima is a one of a kind talent with respect to arts.
What she loved the most was acting for other people.
As the youngest child of the Lin Family Head, she treated other children as if they were her own because Mama Sima was unable to bear children after an incident in the past.
When I first heard this, of course I was stunned.
And Botan...
Crap.
Even Botan's identity is ridiculous.
He was the family head of one of many prominent families; the Fern Clan of the Giant Race. Despite his clumsy self, he seemed to have the ability to perform his duties well. Especially when Benjiro, his brother, stood by his side.
The Fern Clan specialized in medicine; a rather unusual thing for the Giants to take an interest in. After all, medicine and potions were something the Elven Race took pride in. Then again, the Fern Clan seemed to have an affinity in this direction.
Thus, they were considered the black sheep in the Giant Race.
Botan and Benjiro only had half of the Giants' blood coursing through their veins. It was why they weren't as big as full blooded Giants.
Apparently, interracial relationships were quite normal, much to my surprise.
"Hey, Aya, let's go fish!"
Lo and behold, a certain young master barged into my room while waving a pair of rods in his hands.
After arriving in Seiryu Capital, Mama Sima told me everything, officially adopted me, and gave me my own room in the Lin Family Mansion. Fortunately for me, her family wasn't present at the moment. It seemed like they were away on business.
This young master, however, didn't want to stay wherever they were headed. Thus, he went back on his own, only bringing one servant back with him.
His name was Lin Feng; the only child of Mama Sima's fourth older brother.
"I don't like fishing."
Who would want to fish with you?
"Hmph," Lin Feng stomped his feet. "C'mon, Aya! I wanna fish! With you! My. New. Cousin!" By the end of it, I heard how excited he was. I couldn't help but be swayed by his stubbornness.
I wouldn't admit that it was because I found his pouting face cute.
I'll keep that secret with me to my grave.
"But you tried to burn me a few days ago." Of course, I couldn't help but tease this cousin of mine. As expected, the second I mentioned what happened back then, Lin Feng's face turned bright red, almost resembling a freshly picked ripe cherry tomato.
The urge to pinch his cheeks bloomed inside my chest.
I wanna pinch him.
"That—" Lin Feng stuttered and lowered his head. "I-I didn't mean it, cousin. You-You ignored me so..." He paused before raising his head and looked at me in the eyes. "But you're not allowed to ignore me in the future, cousin! We're cousins from now on so we should always play together!"
See?
See?
Oh my god, I think I'm growing fond of this brat.
Although he tried to make me go bald, I would let him off just this once. Lin Feng was probably deprived of affection from the looks of it. I heard from Mama Sima that her fourth brother was like a block of ice and his wife passed away when she gave birth to Lin Feng.
"Alright, alright, I'm not going to ignore you in the future if," I emphasized so that he would keep it in mind. "And only if you follow everything I say."
At first, Lin Feng appeared conflicted but he still ended up nodding quite furiously.
Thus, I gained a little follower.
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A few months had passed ever since I got officially adopted by Mama Sima.
Ever since we arrived in Seiryu Capital, I lived a life of nothing but sleeping, eating, and playing all day long. Mama Sima was busy running the household whereas Botan — he didn't want to be called papa since according to him, it sounds weird — went back to his family first to deal with some things.
Which was why I spent most of my time with Lin Feng.
When Lin Feng wasn't around, I spent my time in the library to further know what kind of world I've been reborn into.
It would have been great if god shoved some knowledge inside my head when he threw me here.
It would have been greatly appreciated, thank you very much.
After reading about a fourth of the books in the library, I figured out several things about this world and one of them was that it had two kinds of schools.
One was for those born with no magic core and those born with it.
Since their constitutions were different from each other, children with magic cores had to be specially taught. If they couldn't grasp how mana works in their body, it could lead to different negative scenarios. The worst result would be worse than death.
If a child with a magic core decided that he didn't want to learn magic after stabilizing his core, he would be allowed to change schools.
But that rarely happens at all.
And I, who had no magic core, would probably go to a normal school soon.
... how am I supposed to find Brother Yuu if I'm normal?!
"Aya." A finger poked my side, pulling me out of my misery. I pushed away the book covering my face, and I saw Lin Feng staring at me in confusion. "I thought you wanted to visit my school? Why aren't you ready yet?"
Hearing his words made me think. Were my clothes weird that Lin Feng would be embarrassed to be seen with me?
But all I was wearing was a pair of black shorts, a white shirt, and a pair of black knee-high socks coupled with dress shoes that Mama Sima bought for me.
Wait.
It was probably the hair.
I allowed the maid to play with my hair and they ended up braiding them.
... I probably looked like a girl.
I have to thank my mother's genes. Forget about that bastard father who left us. At least mother was a beauty and I inherited it from her.
"Duh, I was waiting for you to get done."
"... you're going to my school looking like that?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Look. Like. What?"
"..." Lin Feng blinked and perhaps his survival instincts kicked in because he clasped his hands together, looking at me as if I were an immortal. "L-Looking pretty!"
Aw.
Look at this brat.
He has a good pair of eyes.
If he said I looked weird, I might have gouged them out.
... since when the did I get so violent?
It must be the influence of this world.
Yes, I blame this world for getting rid of my good temper.
Before being reborn, I never once cussed nor have I thought of violent ways to resolve things. In fact, I used to be a recluse and would prefer to solve things in a rather civilized way. Well, in my own civilized way. Was keeping a poor man — who tried to sabotage my experiment — in a cage so small he could barely move a limb, be called civilized?
Anyway, when god threw me here, perhaps he kind of fucked me up in the head and I ended up this way.
Sigh.
Sometimes, I miss the old me.
But most of the time, cussing does feel great.
It was much better than dissecting a live human.
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Blue Dragon Academy is the most prestigious school in the capital. Although it could rank high when compared to other schools, it's definitely not the best one on the continent. Unlike other academies, Blue Dragon combined both students who have magic cores and those who don't.
The academy had a ridiculously huge quadrangle at the center. Four tall buildings surrounded this area, each one as high as five floors. On top of that, the rooftops were open for all since several activities would often be done at the quadrangle.
Lin Feng's class was at the first floor of the building at the west; Room 1-7.
When we arrived there, I was surprised to see an amphitheater styled classroom.
It reminded me of the stories the Doctor, who raised me from Before, had told me during childhood.
Come to think of it, I've never really been to school before. All that I know about them were from word of mouth. The plague that humanity feared first happened even before I was born.
Which sucked.
Badly.
Seriously, couldn't the virus wait until I died of old age before it terrorized the world?
Fuck other humans.
If I wasn't cultivated by the Lab, I wouldn't even care if humanity perished.
"That's where I sit, Aya!"
Lin Feng's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
Just as I expected, Lin Feng sat at the very bottom, near the podium where the professor teaches. I'm not surprised that his seat was basically face to face with his teachers. Lin Feng lacked attention from his father so he probably made up for it here at school. From the looks of it, Lin Feng must be this class' troublemaker, just for the sake of attention.
Look at him, sitting cross-legged on the seat, placing several snacks on the table as if this was his room. If someone told me he was not a troublemaker, I would cut up that person's head to see just how it functions. How could this kid, Lin Feng, not be the troublemaker? When more and more students arrived, they stayed clear of where Lin Feng and I sat.
All of them threw looks of fear his way, and many of the kids tried their best to be as silent as possible. If one of them even made a sound, they look like they were about to bawl their eyes out on the spot. Others even looked ready to faint if it came to it.
Just how much of a terror was this brat?
But remembering how he tried to burn my hair off for ignoring him when we first met, I kind of understood why his classmates were afraid of him. If Lin Feng could do that to some stranger he met on the road, I fear for these children's lives who had to be in the same room as Lin Feng five times a week.
"Aya, Aya~"
... keep poking me and see what happens to your little finger.
"What?"
"I'm bored."
"So?"
"Let's go terrorize the bunnies in the training grounds?"
"..."
I was sure I heard someone gasping in terror somewhere in this room the moment Lin Feng suggested that. Bunnies... I prefer terrorizing human scums, really.
But bunnies... I suppose Lin Feng is still young.
I shouldn't expect him to be as fucked up as me.
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Lin Feng was young?
Let me correct myself.
Lin Feng was fucking crazy.
When he mentioned bunnies, I thought it was the kind of animal that was small and soft, adorably cute and squishy. Like the bunnies I have seen in pictures in my previous life. I have heard from some of my co-workers that they used to have bunnies in their research lab. For destressing, of course. Not for experiments. I had seen them gushing over pictures of their pets and I once did have an urge to go and find a bunny of my own.
Or, you know, doing resurrection biology to bring back bunnies. Ever since the virus ran rampant, many animals became extinct, after all.
But back to the point.
Lin Feng was fucking crazy.
A brat with a loose screw in the head.
The bunnies were not the bunnies I know of. Instead, they were beasts that have some semblance of bunnies. These beasts, however, were twenty times bigger than a regular bunny, with glowing red eyes and furs that can cut like swords. Teeth sharper than knives, and its two front teeth seemed to be twice as big as an adult man's thigh. When it roared, the stench of blood and carcasses even lingered in the air.
This was not a regular ol' cute bunny.
It can maul a human to pieces in five seconds.
So, when Lin Feng said to terrorize bunnies, he meant this kind of bunnies?! No wonder this brat seemed a little wild. If this was his type of fun, no kid — or any sane person at that — would want to associate with him.
"Cousin, let's go!" But when he grabbed my hand as he practically vibrated in excitement; how could I let him down? Like I said, I seemed to have grown fond of him, and I've never been sane to begin with. As a researcher with messed up morals, and as a street rat who had to do anything to survive, what were bunnies to me — though, they were beast-like bunnies. I've never been a good person.
In all honesty, all I wanted was to be a salted fish — a term I've heard from my co-workers. Now that I'm officially adopted by the rich Mama Sima, I don't need to work hard to survive anymore. All I need to do is focus on getting stronger just to find Brother Yuu.
But —
"Wait, what are we going to do with them?"
"Duh," Lin Feng beamed, a ball of flame suddenly flickered into existence on his other hand, giving Lin Feng a very dangerous air. "We burn their furs, of course!"
"..."
Fuck, how could I grow fond of this psycho?
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That day, Ligaya discovered how much of a menace Lin Feng could be.