We stood in front of Kale's home. The brown house seemed to be in shape…not sure why it wouldn't, maybe I was thinking of it being destroyed in some way to avoid having Sarah entering the home. Ever since I caught up with Lilith and her, she's been giving me a watchful gaze as I guided her to the house. Lilith hasn't said anything as well. I could feel the awkwardness envelope as we stood at the gate.
I don't know, what the hell am I supposed to say in this situation? I lived…Eighteen years in another life and thirteen here and somehow never got into a situation like this in any of them. Not everyday someone feels my nether region.
"Is this Kale's home?" Sarah asked, uncertain that I've brought her to the right place.
"Yes…seems he hasn't gotten back."
Judging by the sunlight was quickly diminishing, it was almost nightfall. So where the hell were these two? No, I shouldn't be putting them on any sort of curfew. That's something they would be putting on me and Lilith…
"Why don't we just walk in? Doesn't kale always keep the door unlocked?" Lilith chirped in.
"He keeps…the door open for strangers?" Sarah asked, concerned.
"Not like anyone would want to fight a fire King teacher."
Hmm. Fair enough. To be honest, I never felt I was in any sort of danger when inside the house. No one really comes by or visits besides close people. And if anyone did come in, well they'd have to kill two highly sophisticated swordsmen and a mage who can silent cast. So…yeah, they'd have to deal with that.
Without speaking, I approached the gate and opened it so I could get to the main door. Lot of the grass here was somewhat tall, and the kale hadn't found the time to actually trim them, much to Tera's dismay. You know, I think Tera is actually getting into the idea of being a housewife with all her demands and such.
"Hm?" Once I made it to the door, I noticed it was slightly open. Usually it's closed. Hmm, perhaps me and Lilith forgot to close it? No…ok, maybe I don't have the greatest memory.
"Lilith? Did we close the door when we left?"
Lilith peered behind me as she squinted at the door. Sarah was curiously looking around the house, was she nitpicking what was supposed to be the garden?
Lilith then frowned. "Mmm…I don't remember us going out last. I think Kale or Tera left after us."
"Oh…" Now I was feeling uneasy. That means someone was in the house. "Lilith, you brought your sword, right?" I didn't have my staff along with me this whole day, but I could easily cast with my hands.
Lilith hesitated, I wasn't sure why until she unceremoniously lifted the skirt of her dress to show the shortsword along her right leg. The harness wrapped tightly against her thigh an-
Hey-hey! Focus, Travis! No Horny!
I started knocking on my head for a moment before I looked up at Lilith and nodded. My hand gently opened the door to the house, the stench of alcohol enveloped me as I made my way into the living room. Since no one was home, the candles and light were out. So I quickly casted a fire spell in my hand.
"Hey, doesn't that burn you?" Lilith asked.
"No, I'm holding the flames high enough that it wouldn't burn my palm. I used to hold it on my palm or just barely above it. This way, I don't get any burns from it." I explained to her. I didn't have my magic gloves on, so there was no magic resistance that would've stopped any burns. But now my hands were warm as hell.
Sarah entered the house, eyeing the room. "Seems quite nice. Not what I expected."
"What'd you expect?" I turned to her.
"Mm…More disorganized and more alcohol lying around. The way he writes in his letters made it seem he was somewhat of a…Tough guy."
Kale, a tough guy? Well I guess in fighting. but when it came to socializing and talking, he was alway approachable and charming. Makes me wonder what he wrote to Gerald and Synthia.
"Well, judging by the bottle of liquor…I'd say someone is in the house. Smells of sweat and puke…" I said, analyzing the room. "Perhaps kale did co-."
"Ah!~"
The sudden noise stopped me mid-sentence. I looked up towards the ceiling to where the sound was coming from. Maybe we didn't hear it when we came in, or it just started. But that noise was obvious that someone was definitely here.
And Lilith was already holding her sword in hand as she turned towards the stairs.
"Intruders!" She yelled going upstairs, leaving me and her mother confused.
What was that noise just then? It sounded like a woman's?…hold on, listen to what you just said, Travis.
"Kota, follow Lilith!" Sarah blurted out, red faced. "Do not let her do whatever she intends to do!" Then she bolted to the stairs.
I quickly followed her instructions, pacing myself behind Sarah as we heard Lilith seemingly barge into the room with the noise. Kale's room.
"Hyrraaah!"
"Lilith, stop!" I yelled, but it was too late as I heard her running into his room. Once I made my way up the stairs with Sarah, I entered Kale's room to only see Lilith standing at the front of Kale's bed.
The room was rather stylish, with a layout that reminded me of Gerald and Synthia's room. Treasures and whatnot were held on the walls. There was a table of sorts near the window that held some makeup and silk, that seemed to be something of Tera's. Clothes laid on the floor and in baskets. Little more messier than that I thought it'd be.
But the only reason for that was because of what was on the bed. In front of Lilith, was Kale and Tera who were underneath the bed sheets, looking at us all with embarrassment. The two were obviously naked underneath it as Tera tried to cover herself up. Kale eyes were wide and in shock as he looked at me and then Lilith.
The two were having sex.
"U-uhm…ho-What?" Lilith sputtered out, now fiddling with her shortsword in hand. "You guys are home?"
Tera tried to say something, but closed her mouth out of pure embarrassment as she looked at kale.
Kale was sucking his lips in, unsure of how to say anything. It took him a moment before he finally answered.
"Didn't…expect you guys to be home early."
"…it's almost night outside. Of course we'd be back by then." I said.
"…maybe you guys could've stayed out a little..longer?" He said in a higher pitched voice.
Sarah seemed to have had enough of this and brushed past me, looking quite angry. "Kale."
"Ah." Kale's eyes went wider, finally taking notice of Lilith's mother. "You…must be Liliths mom." There was an awkward pause as Sarah kept looking at him with dead eyes. I don't think Kale was dumb enough to understand why this woman was here with us. I'll probably have to let him read the letter I got to let him know more.
"Seems you were busy." Sarah said in a monotone voice.
"Haha…well, we were out and about during the festival and Tera thought it'd be nice to…relax in bed! Hah…ha…Sorry." Kale then lowered his head.
Sarah still didn't let him off the hook. "Perhaps you should apologize to Lilith." She pointed at Lilith who was gawking at what she was looking at.
Kale looked like he was screaming internally as he turned to Lilith, once again lowering his head. "Sorry for what you saw, Lilith."
Lilith didn't seem to respond to that, only staring off into the abyss now. Perhaps she's been scarred for life for what she had seen before we came in.
Tera then finally spoke, clearing her throat. "Ahem…forgive us, as we were under the impression that these two would be there for the whole night and thought it'd be nice to…spend quality time together. Allow us to get dressed again so we can have a more formal greeting with each other."
Sarah sighed deeply, showing Annoyance in all this but nodded. "Alright."
***
"So you're the one that's been teaching my daughter?" Sarah sat on the chair near the fireplace. While the rest of us sat on the couch. Kale and Tera dressed up once again, having me and Lilith separating the two on the couch. Kale seemed to be sweating and fidgeting while Tera only looked at Sarah with calm eyes. Lilith was still looking off to the side, still trying to figure out what she saw. Which I'm pretty sure she'll figure out. I mean, I don't see people having sex alll the time and I'm normal.
Sarah eyed Kale in a way that reminded me of a boss eying an employee in a job interview. There seemed to be a lot of pressure on Kale right now as his hands fidgeted even more.
"Uh-yes. I am Kale Goodman. King ranked in Fire king style, trained Gerald and now Lilith. I've been showing Your daughter the ropes of the aggressiveness of this style. I've taught her multiple things like Using a blade and Magic cloak. I've been taking good care of Kota as well, the two have been such a big difference in this household th-"
"Kale, stop rambling. She only asked who you were." Tera stopped him. Kale instantly shut his mouth.
Sarah then looked at Tera. "And you must be Kota's teacher."
"Tera Cereal. Magic teacher At Prusha's university. King ranked in fire and intermediate in the rest. I teach Kota along with some other students." Tera formally introduced herself.
"A pleasure. My name is Sarah. Sarah Esheram."
"I've been keeping a close eye on the two as well. I've even taught Lilith some tips on living and dressing up."
"Oh, did you?"
Now it seemed that these two sparked a whole new conversation. Tera went on to talk about how Lilith was doing and such. It really seemed to put Sarah at ease.
As they were talking, kale nudged me.
"Hey, so is she really Lilith's mom?"
"Yes, I think it's pretty obvious now with her new hair color."
"New hair color? Oh, from her mana exhaustion."
"Yeah, I thought Gerald and Synthia would've said that in the letter?"
Oh, right. The letter. Rummaging through my clothes, I pulled out the letter and handed it to kale. "Forgot about this."
Kale began to read it. Nodding his head as he did. Maybe we should've headed straight to kale once we got the letter, but I feel like we would've ended up taking longer.
"Lilith? You ok?" I turned to her. She hasn't said a thing once we got downstairs. Her eyes just kept staring at the fireplace.
"…what did I just see?"
"Uh…erm…how do I put it?" I scratched my head. Did I really have to tell her?
If I don't, I feel she'd be stuck in this weird state she's in and be traumatized. But if I did…well she'd be traumatized still and possibly ask more questions about it. And I don't want to answer any of those questions.
"Me and Tera were having sex, Lilith. That's it. Some point you'll need to learn that." Kale suddenly said. "One thing you can learn about sex is that…you don't do it at such a bad timing. Learn from me."
"Kale!" I heard Tera snap at him. His sudden explanation seemed to have snapped the two womens out of their conversations.
Sarah frowned at Kale, perhaps she was thinking about what to do with him?
Instead, she sighed and leaned back on the chair she was in. "Hm…Tera, you said you were teaching Lilith things, right?"
"I did."
"Then at some point, I'd like you to teach her about…This."
Tera immediately stood up out of the couch, looking confused. "Excuse me?!"
"I will not be able to give that sort of teaching to Lilith at this time. Which brings me to my other reasoning of being here in this kingdom."
Lilith seemed to snap back to reality, looking at her mother with concern. "Other…reasoning?"
Sarah made a sigh, taking a deep breath as she stared Lilith dead in the eye.
"I assume Tera would've told you about Mana Exhaustion. Once someone's mana is depleted to its very limit, they may possibly lose their ability to use magic. A mana blockage. Ever since I used up all of my own mana, I wasn't able to use magic ever since. " Sarah then extended her hand and chanted a fire spell, to which nothing happened. "Mana blockage can cause serious issues with the body. But the main one is-"
"Resulting in death…" Tera finished her sentence. "Are you being serious?"
"I'm certain that I have mana blockage…"
The room fell silent as Sarah focused on Lilith. The poor girl was trying to wrap her head around all this now, eyes tearing up at the news. This whole day went from having fun to dread in mere second, shit.
"Lilith, the other reason I came here to visit was to…Say my final goodbyes. Once the festival is over, I will hand you over to Kota and his Family. I already asked his parents, and they are more willing t-."
"What?!" Lilith shouted, her hands clenching her black dress. "What do you mean goodbye?!"
"The mana blockage has already taken its toll on me, Mana shouldn't be building up like this for months. At a certain point, I will succumb to it and die. And I feel my time is already ticking its last moments right now." Sarah said in a more wary voice. "I would say in a few weeks, I will pass."
All Lilith could do was clench her dress and lower her head, tears falling down her face as they dropped onto her dress.
"I Will stay here for the festival, and hopefully make it home. In the meantime…" Sarah stood up from her chair, walking slowly to Lilith. "I will be putting my efforts into being with Lilith." She simply put her hand onto Lilith's head, rubbing her gently.
"Why?! Why?!" Lilith then buried her face into her arms and chest, sobbing.
As the two consoled each other at the sudden news. Kale nudged my shoulder once again, I turned to him assuming he was going to ask another question, but this time he had a somber face.
"Comfort her." He said, Patting my back now.
I couldn't even fathom what was happening right now. Lilith's mom was dying, her dad left her. Jesus, what other hell does she have to go through? I couldn't help but clench my own fist against my leg. What else could I do? What can I do?
Then I took a glance back at Lilith. Oh yeah. I'm supposed to be there for her, I promised. To protect her.
I quickly reached for her shoulder, pulling myself closer to her as I began to comfort her. Sarah took notice of it, giving me a faint smile. She then wrapped her arms around me and Lilith, still rubbing Lilith's head.
"We shall make this last week unforgettable for you, my love."
And for the rest of that night, I spend most of it comforting Lilith along with her mother.
A/N: sorry for the shorter chapter! I do like switching the tone in an instant for some reason. Anyways, next chapter will be somewhat big due to it being a more action oriented one. I'll most likely have it uploaded next week! Hope you enjoy this chapter!