"It's…Almost night time?" I slowly said. "Where's everyone?"
As I said that, Tera's face popped into view. Her black eyes looking at me with sincerity, her large blue Mage hat obscuring some of the sunlight off my face.
"Lilith is with the two girls right now. You know, when me and kale came back home, She had you laying on her lap. She said that she was just keeping you company while guarding the house." Tera chuckled as she continued. "So I decided to swap places with her."
Her thighs and the fabric of her outfit rubbed against the back of my head as she adjusted herself on the couch. Her scent reminded me of Vanilla and lavender. Feels like I woke up in heaven.
"Kale is out cold at the moment." Tera looked towards the man. "I heard about what happened when you left the university."
"Yeah…The kidnapper managed to follow us on the way back." I said.
"Well, I'm glad you're safe." Tera gently placed her hand on my forehead. "I've brought the exemption card to the Principal. At first, he didn't seem pleased until I told him it was for King Lucian. Seems that changed his mood and accepted the exemption."
"So I'm good then?"
"Yep, In fact…He gave you a few months off extra. Consider it…a Bonus for being a part of the Unique class." Her gaze went up and drifted across the room.
"Are you alright with that?" I asked Tera, her face expressed concern when she finished her sentence. Considering that everyone in the house was going on this journey, I'd understand her concern.
"Course I am. Considering all of you are leaving, that just leaves me here alone…Stuck with keeping the house clean." Tera sighed. "The lack of Kale around me will surely make me go crazy."
"Well, at least you have the whole house to yourself."
"I suppose…Well this could be a great time to practice my cleaning skills. Sweep the kitchen, maybe Water the front yard. Oh, who am I kidding…I'm probably going to be holed up at the university." Her tone shifted to a more annoyed one as she turned and looked at Kale. "If only I could go."
Tera then tapped my forehead. "Alright, let's go wake up Kale." Listening to her, I lifted myself off her lap. Tera smoothly pulled herself off the couch and walked towards the sleeping Kale.
"He wanted us to have a talk about how things will go. Instead he's gone and dozed off." As she stood in front of him, she leaned forward and poked him on the cheek. Kale groaned and swatted her hand.
With a simple sigh, Tera whisked back the hand that was swatted. Aiming it at him, she quietly casted Air blast.
I watched as a blast of air punched Kale in his chest, instantly waking him up in a daze.
"Uwaahgh! H-hey, who-Intruder?!" Kale clumsily waved his hands around, his gaze looking around for something before he slowly looked at Tera.
"Had a good nap?" She asked.
Rubbing his eyes, Kale looked alert and cautious. "W-what? Asleep? No one came to kill us? No pink haired girl?"
"No, I haven't seen anyone. Look, Kota's awake." Tera gestures towards me.
"Oh, sleepy heads awake." Kale smiled. "We can get down to business."
"Weren't you asleep?" I pointed out, But Kale waved his hand.
"Nah. No…Maybe…." Kale hesitated for some reason, perhaps it was because Tera was eyeing him. "…Ok, maybe I was. But That's because I almost got beaten by a girl and I had to walk. A lot."
"Pfft, talk about having no energy." Tera scoffed.
"Hey! I've been out all day, doing my work and fighting! Cut me some slack!"
Tera rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Kota, can you bring the girls down from upstairs? You all need to talk."
Not wanting to be a part of their squabble, I simply nodded and headed my way up the stairs. Their conversation going back and forth I climbed up the stairs. It was dark upstairs, none of the candles were lit besides the ones in the rooms. A dim light came from underneath the door to my room.
As I went to open the door, I hesitated. For some reason.
On the other side of this door…were three girls who I have no idea what they are doing. They could be doing nothing, they could be doing something insane. Maybe Amelia is actually waiting for me to come up here to do a prank on me, maybe throw her bag at me again. Maybe they're all changing, who knows.
Ah, who cares. It's my room, why should I be afraid of what's in it? I should just man up and put my foot down. I'm a young man now in a boy's body, I got this.
As I was in my train of thoughts, I heard voices coming from inside the room. Now leaning into my curiosity, I put my ear against the door and listened.
"Lilith, I think you need to be better with managing yourself…" That was Claire who I heard. "Hearing you talk about Kota makes it seem like you depend on him too much."
"Yeah, why have that bozo clean up for you? Especially if he's touching your clothes!" That was Amelia that I heard.
I heard Lilith give out an awkward laugh. Sounded like she was right next to the door. "Ehe…But Kota is pretty good at managing our room. To be honest, I'm much better at doing the hard work when it comes to fighting."
Not wrong. I mean, I got my ass kicked during my fight with Mandy. I'm like ninety percent sure that Lilith would've beaten them. Also, I'm good at managing? I literally only pick up our clothes and put them in our basket, that's it.
"I think Kota should be doing more hard work. Step it up!" Amelia's voice rang. "He's too much of a sissy to fight, I saw it myself! I had to fight back the kidnapper because of him!"
Bullshit. What is this blatant lie?
"Well it was a mage against a person who would use a close quarters weapon, not sure that would be a really good battle. Besides, Kota knows how to fight since he's practiced with me."
Then I heard Claire speak.
"Perhaps you should have him teach you about housework? Learning to live on your own is quite important."
"…Not like I'll be living by myself. I have Kota and everyone in this house." Lilith paused for a moment. "And kale is like a father to me now, so I'm sure he'd be able to help if Kota can't."
Oh, Well I don't think it's coming off as a surprise to me. Lilith has been with Kale for some time now, and he's nice to her. Kind of a far cry to what Emmit was, though it's weird she never brought it up to me…
Just then, I felt a hand grip my shoulder.
"Are we listening in on something?"
I turned around to see Kale, crouching with a confused look. I'm not even sure when he came up the stairs.
"Kale?"
"What's the hold up? I told you to get them." He gently pushed me off the door and went for the door knob. "What? Are they talking about you? Now your acting like your fath-"
"Kale treats me nice, he might be a little tough on me when we train or when I do something wrong. But he's just trying to make sure I'm doing right." Both of us heard Lilith speak. Kale froze, his hand still on the door knob as Lilith continued. "I've grown more than I have before and it's thanks to him."
Everyone who was listening fell silent. Kale letting go of the door knob and taking a step back. The floor creaked beneath him as he moved. I took a look at his face as I noticed a somber look on it, like someone who was disappointed.
At first I was confused by his look. Then I remembered some time ago when he told us about his past, How he ran off when told of his child. He must feel like he doesn't deserve to be one.
"Erm…I'll be heading back down. Kota, knock on the door…" Kale awkwardly backed away from the door and slowly headed towards the stairs. "…Don't tell her I was up here."
The stairs creaked as he went downstairs. I was still crouched as I saw him go down.
Lilith's comment sure rattled him. Hopefully this doesn't cause too many issues in the house now…
"Hey! Hey! Who's at the door!?" The door swung open, Hitting my left leg hard as it did.
"Yaaah! Ow!" I jumped back and landed on my butt. I held my leg as I looked up. Amelia glared at me as she peered out the door.
"What the?! Were you listening in on us? How long were you here?" Amelia paused and gasped. "Haah?! Did you hear us when we talked about our bodies?"
I rubbed my leg. "Ow! No! I came up here to tell you to come down! Kale wants to talk to us!"
"Bah! Now you're just lying! I bet you were peeking through the cracks to see us!"
Lilith came out of the door and quickly flicked the back of Amelia's head. I quickly noticed that she had taken off her armor, leaving only a white shirt and her black pants.
"Yeow! What was that for? He was looking in on us!" Amelia cried out, she rubbed her head in pain.
"Kota isn't that perverted. Kale and Tera were downstairs with him when he was sleeping, so there's a good chance that he did come up here to tell us." Lilith said. She then looked at me. "Right?"
"Yeah! I don't wanna hear your girl talk! Just wanted to tell you Kale wanted to have us all downstairs to talk with us." I stumbled back to my feet as Claire peered out the door. All three of the girls were now out of the room.
"Ugh, Alright. Claire!" Amelia looked back at her, still rubbing her head. "Let's head down."
"Ok…" As Amelia walked down the stairs, Claire followed in suit. However, she paused for a moment. "Sorry if we…are being rude as Guests." She took a Glance at me.
"Oh, you've been nice. It's just that Amelia is just a little brat." I simply waved at her. I don't think Claire has done anything wrong ever since she came here. Well maybe putting the extreme cleaning measures into Lilith's head could be bad…
Seemingly pleased with my response, Claire nodded and headed her way downstairs, where I overheard Kale and tera greet her.
"How much did you hear?" Lilith's hushed voice whispered into my ear. I quickly moved away from her out of shock when I heard her.
"Gah! Hey, don't need to be all quiet when talking to me!"
When the hell did she get so close to me?
Lilith didn't seem to care as she moved towards me again. "How much did you hear?" She repeated. She had a serious look on her face.
"Uh…not much? I just came up the stairs and Amelia swung the door at me." I kept in mind Kale's request as I spoke. If I told her now, it's probably make whatever Kale wanted us to talk about be more awkward.
And I'm sure kale would be mad. And I haven't made kale mad before so I'd rather keep that streak going.
"Hm…You didn't hear about anything? Are you sure?" Lilith asked.
I stared at her. "…huh? W-what do you mean? Elaborate."
She didn't respond, rather than talk, she simply brushed up my shoulder and shirt and smiled. And when she was finished with brushing any dirt off me, she simply strolled her way down the stairs.
Wait, were they actually talking about me before I got there? Ah, of course they would. I feel like Lilith would've brought it up…wait, but why would she bring it up?
I rubbed my head for a moment, thinking more deeply about this.
Did…she know that I was already at the door listening in? Maybe she thought I came by much earlier and heard all of it. That would mean she knows that I've heard about kale. But then why didn't she bring that up? Maybe she was testing me, considering that-No wait…what if she thinks I'm a liar now? Oh no…
"Kota! Hurry up and get down here!" Kale's voice echoed up the stairs.
"I-Coming!" I shook my head of those thoughts and made my way down the stairs. As I descended, I could see everyone in the living room looking up at me as I came down. Amelia and Claire sat on the couch, Kale sat in his chair while Tera stood next to him, and Lilith stood behind the couch.
I walked my way besides Lilith as Kale clapped his hands together and stared at us.
"Alright…Let's talk about our plans. I had a talk with the king about identifying the kidnapper. Believe it or not, that pink haired boy got away from the guards."
"What?! Didn't we have like a bunch of guards follow them?!" Amelia was the first to respond. "You're telling me that they are still out there?!"
"Ok, no need to shout." Kale casually said. "This means they are not In The kingdom anymore. The guards have checked every district and found no traces."
"So what does that mean for us? Aren't we supposed to be traveling to Ozoth at some point?" Claire asked.
"…About that." Kale slowly said. "The minotaur we captured earlier today, he confessed."
"That quick?" Lilith seemed surprised. "I kind of thought he'd be a bit tougher to break."
"Well, once he was told about his leader, he sort of crumbled and spilled the truth to us. It seemed like he lost all hope when talking to us, as if he was already a dead man." Kale sounded surprised as he said that.
Well Mandy had already left the kingdom, so I don't think he's coming back to rescue him…The minotaur probably assumed he already sealed his fate once getting caught.
"The Demont family. Lilith, you remember that older gentleman from earlier today? In the red district?"
Lilith scratched her head for a moment before nodding. "Oh! That old dude! He had an insignia that looked like the one on the letter!"
"Yep, turns out that he was indeed the one who asked for the kidnapping. As of right now, the guards are storming the Demont House to arrest them." Kale rubbed his hands in satisfaction. "With that out of the way, we can focus on the other two things. One, The king's task. Two…" Kale looked at Amelia and Claire. "You two girls."
"You're bringing the both of us back to Ozoth?" Claire questioned.
"You came here to get your sister and oddly enough, The king's son has requested that you two come along as sort of a specialized escort. So…Using one stone to kill two birds, we'll be able to have you two return home as we do our duty."
No, I think Chris just has a crush on Claire. But he's not wrong. We are practically doing two things at once. Amelia and Claire will have some sort of protection while leaving back home and Chris will be able to do his kingly duties at Ozoth.
"Specialized Escort?" Claire asked.
"Yeah, meaning you'll have the full protection of the king's guards when you'll be traveling. That means Me, Kota and Lilith."
Wait, Isn't that kind of low? In total, that's like Six people on this journey. I thought we'd get like a whole bunch of guards escorting us? Considering how…King Lucian works, I'd assume that he thought that Me, Lilith and Kale were good enough to be the Escort. Wouldn't want to leave the kingdom without their guards…
Thinking about it harder, isn't this what King Lucian already offered to us? He let me go because he thought I'd be interested in the library there…
Did he really just pull me into this so that he didn't need to send any guards? No…I'm starting to think I just pulled myself into this.
"When do we go?" Lilith asked.
"Well…I'd say in a couple of days. We'll need to pack and make sure we're prepared. Things like this take time and preparation…something I think you and Kota didn't get when traveling here." Kale said. "We'll be taking the Bridge to Prusha back to Shanford for resting. That'll be a three day trip there."
"And how long will this journey be?" Tera asked, she had her hand resting against her face as she gave him a look of concern. "You know how long these sorts of things take?"
"Pfft, of course!" Kale waved dismissively before slowly awkwardly rubbing his hands. "Ah well…usually it's a week or two trip. Though with how things are…maybe a month?"
"Mmm." Tera only responded with a hum.
"What's that? You sound mad." Kale looked at her.
"A month sounds good. Gives us space from each other. I can finally focus on work and get to cleaning this filthy house."
"You made that last sentence sound very hostile. This house is clean!"
"I've wiped the top of the drawer in our room and noticed that my finger was printed black just from wiping. This house needs cleaning." Tera pointed a finger at Kale. What she was saying was true as I noticed a smidge of black
Coloring on her finger. "We had this conversation while coming back here."
"I-Alright."
"Maybe you can listen to my advice and find a way to clean your own filthy mind in Ozoth."
"Woah, look who's talking." Kale pointed at Tera. "Queen of flirting here is telling me to cleanse my mind."
Claire then spoke up with awkwardness surrounding her voice. "C-can we get back to topic?"
Frankly, I had to agree with her. It's always a pain to see these two end up having a completely different conversation whenever we are talking about something else.
Seemingly everyone agreed with Claire, and Kale and Tera cleared their throats to continue the conversation.
"Ahem…ok, This is possibly a two to Three week long trip. We get to Ozoth, have Claire do whatever she needs to do with Amelia. Meanwhile, we'll need to have Chris in Ozoth's castle so he can speak for King Lucian. We already know who the person is that doing the Kidnappings for slavery, or at least one of them. If we can bring this up to Ozoth, we can find a solution with them to eliminate this issue."
"If it could help, I could ask our family if you could stay at our secondary home." Claire had a faint smile to her face as she said that. "It's a cottage just outside of the kingdoms where we store goods for trading."
"Ok, Thanks! Don't need to spend Rubees!" Kale said happily. "Alright, that's the plan at the moment. Now, it's been a very long day for us all. We need to get Dinner ready!" Kale swiftly got out of his Chair. "Kota, come help with the food. Give these two girls one of those…Potato thing you made before!"
"Potato?" Amelia said, confused. "What, Kota can cook? I'm not eating whatever he's making."
"Well. You'll starve. Because Kota makes some pretty good food whenever he gets the chance to be in the kitchen." Kale strolled his way into the kitchen.
"Fine! I'll eat his food! As long as it's good. If it isn't, I'm throwing the plate right at him!"
As Amelia was complaining, Claire looked at Tera.
"Do you know where we'll sleep?"
Tera rubbed her chin for a moment, a sly smile formed. "Well there is the couch here, but it's crowded. However, Kota and Lilith's room is quite spacious. I'm sure three of you can fit onto the bed."
"Then I shall sleep on the couch then." Claire said.
"Gah!" Amelia seemed surprised. "Wha-I don't wanna sleep in the same room as him! Who knows what he's been doing there!"
Lilith laughed. "Kota doesn't do much in the room besides studying or using magic! And when we sleep, he usually cuddles with m-."
I simply put my hand over her mouth. "Ok, that's enough. You're traumatizing her."
"Buf I'm swaying the truf!" I heard Lilith said muffledly. I removed my hand from her mouth and strolled past her to the kitchen.
I'm going to simply ignore that and get to cooking. Judging by the way the sun was slithering down, it was about to be night.
Without much effort and with the help of Kale, I managed to make some French fries with ease. Kale watched with absolute interest as I made it, it was like he was seeing something be done that had never crossed his mind. Even though he's seen me do this many times.
The rest of dinner really just compiled up to having beef and Eldesche Milk, something that Tera had bought. We all ate in the living room. It was kind of awkward at first as Amelia and Claire took their first bite of the fries. Soon dinner became talkative with Lilith and I chatting it up and everyone else talking and making conversation.
It ended up being Amelia who ate the fries the most. And as she ate them, she eyed me with an angry look. Seemingly displeased with herself that she was enjoying them.
A/N: Hey all, unfortunately we got some bad news. Work has been taking such a toll on me that I've been unable to write due to either being completely physically exhausted or mentally exhausted. I'll be keeping the upload when I can schedule until further notice. I'll have the next chapter out before the new years, hopefully.