[Kota]
Today was the last day I'll be in Shanford for some time. It was a good sunny day today, no clouds and the heat was setting in. I awoke this morning feeling quite sore, maybe because I spent the majority of yesterday just chopping wood and listening to two men teach me about boners. Once I got out of my nap yesterday, Lilith and Synthia were gone, so Kale and Gerald decided to take me outside once more and rinse and repeat.
Never have I felt more exhausted from swinging a damn axe. But hey, at least I know how to properly cut wood now.
You know what I didn't need to learn from them? How to handle boners, or how to control myself. Things I've learned a long time ago. Still…Didn't expect cold water to actually help that much. I Couldn't really bring myself to reject their offer. With how Passionate Gerald sounded, I didn't want to bum him out. Kale just watched in amusement, the older blonde hair man didn't say much to me.
Anyways, we basically cut a shit ton of wood and got some nice drinks from Claire while doing it.
I found myself sleeping once I got back just due to the exhaustion of being outside again, and I woke up to Lilith sleeping next to me. She probably didn't want to bother me so she never woke me up, she even stayed on her side of the bed for once! I hopped out of bed, avoiding awaking her before I noticed how tired she looked. What time did she come back?
Ah, I shouldn't bother her. I should let her rest and get her beauty sleep, I should help with handling the wagon and getting it ready. So I got my usual clothes on and set off downstairs.
Upon heading downstairs, I saw Kale and Gerald readying a tan bag near the front door. Must be some supplies for the trip that Gerald readied for us, I decided to head to the kitchen where Amelia and Claire were at. The two blue haired girls were prepping and washing dishes, Claire was prepping what I assumed were some grains and fruits for our journey while Amelia was grudgingly cleaning the dishes.
"Oh, Kota! You're awake!" Claire Greeted me. He had her hands full with a wooden spoon and a bag of oatmeal. "I'm just prepping our rations for our trip! Earlier this morning, Gerald went out and got us this bag of Oatmeal! You know oats are good for your health?
"Oatmeals gross! They're plain and bland!" Amelia chirped in. "Who eats that kind of stuff? Why not get us some dried meat?"
"Amelia, Having some grains and healthy food would make your body better." Claire looked back at her.
Amelia didn't reply back to her, only the sound of her grumbling and washing the dishes grew angrier.
Looks like someone woke up grumpy.
I turned back to Claire and eyed the Oatmeal. Back when I was alive in my other world, I actually had a thing for oatmeal. Not sure what about it that made me crave, but everyday during high school I'd eat it. Like every morning, whether it was just the original or one of those flavored ones. I'd pour milk into it and maybe some fruits along with it to make it better. Seeing it here made me hopeful that I'd get the same thing. But I also remembered that in this world, things taste different or worse. I'm really making a gamble right now about them.
"You want some, Kota?" Claire noticed my interest in the oats. She dug her hand into the tan bag and put the handful of oatmeal into a bowl that was near her. "Wouldn't hurt that you have some right now, We have enough for the whole ride and a couple of days after."
"Ah…Don't mind if I do." I grabbed the bowl from her. "Looks like you guys were up all morning helping, huh?"
"Well, it's only been two hours since we woke up." Claire said as she grabbed some dried berries and fruits and tossed them into the large bowl of oats. "Most of the stuff we have are already packed into the wagon, though you can help Kale and Gerald outside. I think Chris is out there as well…"
"Got it." As I said that, I went to look for the milk so that I could use it. I eventually found it stashed in a glass bottle near where Amelia was and began to pour it next to her.
As I was pouring it, Amelia looked at me with disgust.
"Gross!" Amelia said with distaste. "Do you really enjoy eating grains like an animal?" As she said that, she finished washing a spoon and laid it alongside all the dried dishes and utensils.
"Hey, better than extremely dried meat." As I finished pouring my milk into the bowl, I went and grabbed the spoon she just cleaned. "Plus, Eating these also helps with your Mana. Makes it more…Potent?"
I'm pretty sure I was pulling lies out of my ass. And unfortunately, it seemed like Amelia was buying it. She gave me a pondering look before giving me an intrigued one.
"Are you being for real?"
"I-uh…I mean, I've been eating oatmeal since I was a kid! Look at how much mana I got, and notice how strong my spells are!" I waved the spoon in my hands to incentivize my lie. I then took a bite of the oatmeal.
To be honest, I expected this to taste much worse than what I've had in my past life. But…This was Exactly how I remembered, Actually…Probably better than what I've had! Maybe it was the milk that was helping this, but the oatmeal had a much sweeter taste to it. There was no bland taste, it was like someone poured sugar along with this. If I had some fruits along with this, It'd be miles better…
I continued to feed on the oatmeal as Amelia looked on as she cleaned. It wasn't long before I finished my bowl and placed it in the dirty pile of the dishes. Amelia gave me a look of disdain.
"Hey, wash your own bowl and spoon!" She angrily said. "I ain't no maid of yours!"
"Alright, fine. Move aside." I said, scooting her aside. As I washed my bowl, Amelia watched me with squinting eyes.
"Someone wake up wrong?" I asked, not looking at her.
"More like someone was forced awake! Chris thought it'd be really nice to wake me this early!"
"Ah, well it's good to be waking up this early. Sleeping too long can be an issue…Look, I need to head outside and help the others." I placed the bowl and spoon with the rest of the dry ones. "Uh, make sure Lilith gets up. She can't be oversleeping too."
As I moved away from the kitchen, I heard Amelia calling to me.
"Wha-Hey! I told you I'm not a maid of you-Oh nevermind…"
Sorry Amelia, but I'm trying to be a bit productive today. Even with my sore body, I have a weird sense of urgency right now.
I noticed as I walked towards the front door that my staff, Incongruity, was placed neatly against the wall. I grabbed it by its leather handle in the middle and made my way outside. Heading outside, I saw Synthia standing idly near the front gate before she noticed me coming out. The black haired woman tilted her head as her Blue eyes gazed towards me, she had a hand gently placed on her stomach.
"Good morning, Kota." Synthia said warmly, her free arm opened wide for a hug.
I went in for the hug, pressing myself against her aside as I noticed the more noticeable bulge on her stomach. Shouldn't Synthia be Five months into her pregnancy at this point?
Also, am I getting taller? Maybe I didn't notice when I first arrived, but now I'm just over her waist when I hug her.
"Morning." I simply responded to her, still looking at her stomach.
"Heh, worried about your sibling already?" Synthia laughed, she started to rub her stomach. "Still got a few more months before they come out."
"Just curious. That's all." I said.
"Hmm…That girl hasn't woken up yet?" Synthia glanced up towards my bedroom window. "Ugh, our trip to her house must've taken a toll on her. Poor girl."
"How'd it go?" I asked, curious.
"…Lot of buried emotions and memories. I wouldn't go asking her." Synthia looked down at me. "Just wait until she's able to say it herself."
With a nod, the two of us pulled away from our hug. Over the fence that separated the front of the house from the dirt trail, I heard multiple groans and laughter. Sounded like Chris was the one that was groaning…Unless somehow kale or Gerald made very high pitched sounds.
"Kota, go help your father. He and Kale had Chris help, and it seems like the two men can't handle him." Synthia then proceeded to nudge me forward.
Making my way to the gate and the wagon on the other side, I saw that Kale and Gerald were casually standing behind the wagon. That was where the storage was, and the two men were idly watching something…
"Good morning." I Greeted them, opening the gate and walking towards them. "Uh…What's the problem?"
"LumberJack, we were just watching Chris trying to figure out how to place the bag into the storage without taking too much space." Gerald said, chuckling.
I stopped him for a moment. "Wait, why'd you call me Lumberjack?"
Gerald paused before he raised his arms and flexed. "You know…Cutting wood, you chopped some wood and got rid of your thoughts? Like you chopped your own morning wood?"
I stared at him, dumbfounded. "Ugh…That's dumb." I turned to Kale, The older blonde man was looking at the back of the wagon. "Anyways, what's the problem?"
"He keeps putting it horizontally instead of vertically. And when we tell him to put it in flat, he ju-" Kale began to say before he was hardly interrupted by a younger boy.
"Shut up! A noble isn't-ugh-Suppose to be doing this sort of thing! I'm an eight year old carrying a-Carrying a bag full of rations!" Chris, his breathing heavy. "Why do we need this much food?!"
"For the trip back and for the day we use today." Kale explained. "Most of that stuff in the bag is just dried food or oatmeal. Those last quite a bit. Now lay it flat!"
"But I don't wanna crush the food inside!" Chris argued.
"Wha-you aren't going to! What, you think oatmeal will just become…Even smaller oatmeal? Or like the fruits will be smaller and crushed?"
There was a slight pause from chris. "…yes!"
Kale groaned. The blonde hair man used one of the back steps for the carraige to lift himself up. "Alright, move. I can't take any more of this."
"I'm concerned about the rations! Seems like you ain't!" Chris said, hopping down to the ground. "You like crushed things!"
"Yeah, and you like writing fantasies about us. What's worse?"
"Ah-erm…" Chris went quiet after that remark.
I walked close to the back of the Carriage, looking inside to see Kale already fitting the bag neatly into the back. The back had a compartment that seemed to open up, allowing us to fill it up. Once Kale finished up, he hopped back down from the wagon and gave me a head rub.
"Forgot to say morning to you. Morning, Kota." Kale said, letting go of me.
"Morning. Are we leaving soon?"
"Just about. We should be in Ozoth by tonight. Hey, where's Lilith?" Kale looked back towards the house.
"She's still sleeping. I guess she had a rough night after coming back from her house."
"Mmm…By the looks she gave me last night, yeah I'd say so." Kale frowned. "She looked like she saw some ghost or something in there."
"Was it that bad?"
"Man, you should've been awake. Too bad we tuckered you out."
"You made me chop wood to get over my wood."
"Did it work?" I heard Gerald say. The brown haired man stood behind me. "No more weird thinking?"
"Ugh…yeah."
"Yahoo! Gerald's thinking did something right!" Gerald slapped his knee with joy. "That's how we do fatherhood!"
That is not how we do fatherhood.
"Anyways, keep check on Lilith when she wakes up. Make sure she's in good enough shape." Kale continued, ignoring Gerald. "I'll need both of you outside of the wagon with me when we hit the road."
"Why do you need both of us?" I asked.
"Because the forest to Ozoth is kinda dangerous? You got bandits out there who creep up on unaware people and then you got other animals out there that could hit us." Kale explained. "If we're lucky, we might not see anyone out there…"
Guessing we'll need to be more alert once we hit the forest. That's something I didn't really do the last time I went through a forest…Almost killed for that one. With the three of us outside the wagon, I think it'd be less likely we'd get attacked.
Hopefully.
"Yeow!! Why'd you jab me?!" I overheard screaming coming from my room. All of us turned to face the house and wondered who yelled that.
"Eh-Sorry! I thought you were Kota for a moment!" Another voice came from my room, it sounded like Lilith.
Oh shit, I forgot I told Amelia to check up on her…She must've taken that jab to the rib then…
****
Once Lilith had finally woken up, Claire went ahead and helped her with packaging our clothes and bringing them out. I saw Claire come out the house first before Lilith shortly came out as well.
It seems like Lilith didn't have much time to change and rushed it since she wasn't wearing her guard outfit. She wore a long white sleeved shirt and black pants, the leather chest plate she had for her guard outfit was on her as well. However, she was missing her gloves and…Boots?
Lilith casually walked outside, carrying a bag. She paid no mind to the fact she was barefoot at the moment, I think. Once she spotted me across the fence, she quickly waddled her way towards me.
"Hey…Why's she barefoot? We aren't in that much of a rush." Kale noticed as well.
"Maybe Amelia waking her made her think we were." I shrugged.
"Hm, maybe." Kale folded his arms as he watched Lilith. "Lilith!" He barked at her. The silver haired girl stopped on her tracks immediately, freezing up at his voice. "Put your boots on! Don't walk barefoot out here!"
Lilith paused, I could see her head tilt down to see. She then quickly turned around and waddled back into the house. As she did, Amelia came out of the house. The blue haired girl looked more annoyed than the last time I saw her, she rubbed her left side which I presumed was the part where Lilith hit.
Claire waited patiently alongside the fence door, the bag she held was placed in front of her legs. She watched as Amelia walked towards her.
"You should let Kota heal that for you." Claire suggested. "You can't walk around with a hurt side."
"I don't want that boy touching me! Besides, I can do healing magic too!" Amelia snapped at her.
"I don't find that believable." Kale immediately responded.
"No, you can't." I too also put in my thoughts.
"I thought you were a one trick pony?" Gerald added in.
"You sure about that?" Chris asked, his hands on his hip.
Amelia looked at us all, Annoyance plastered on her face. "You guys are immature!"
"Then do it." I suggested.
Amelia gave me a deathly look. With hesitation, she lowered her hand to her side and began to chant a healing spell.
"Divine Grace, let your light shine upon me and my heart! Heal!" Amelia shouted.
"…"
"…"
We stood idly as Amelia stared at me blankly. There was no Green aura emanating from her hand nor was there any sign of her recovering from anything. She just stood there, menacingly.
"…Well first of all, you didn't ev-" I began, but I was instantly cut off by Amelia.
"Shut up! Don't mock me for only using Wind spells!" Amelia pouted as she said that. Aw, she looked like a cute blue gremlin.
"Hey, hey, We ain't mocking you." Kale butted in. "We just know what you can do…But also you didn't even say the healing spell correctly. Kota, go fix her up." Kale gestured at me to help.
I held my staff out and aimed it at Amelia. Been quite a while since I actually used healing spells towards someone and not myself, I mean…I could easily fuck this up. Maybe.
"Oh great Nebus, Lend me the strength to aid those in need. Protect the weak and aid the strong. I ask that you give me the power to heal!" I chanted. A green light illuminated from the end of my staff, it then beamed itself towards amelia. The green aura wrapped around her as it began to heal her. I noticed it as she lifted her hand away from her left side, indicating that it was working.
Once I saw that she was well enough, I stopped the spell. Just as I did, Lilith was walking back outside with Synthia. This time, Lilith was wearing her boots alongside her black cloak. Her black Shortsword holstered along her waist. Lilith was still holding our bags in her hand as she walked, the bags blocking her view with their sheer size. The two seemed to be chatting along the way, With Synthia smiling and leaning towards her.
Getting closer to the gate, Claire and Amelia moved out of Lilith's way as she waddled her way to the carriage. Claire and Amelia followed in suit as Synthia stood at the gate. It was then I noticed she had something in her hands.
As Lilith waddled her way to the carriage, Gerald brushed past her.
"Morning, Lilith. Don't push yourself." He gave her a pat on her back before heading to the other side of the gate.
I watched as Lilith made her way to the back of the carriage, the baggy eyes she had were more apparent to me now and that made me worried. So I walked to her and offered my help.
"Lilith, you need help? That is our clothes you got there. Be kinda mean if I let you handle it all." I asked.
She stopped in front of me and peered past the bags. Her amber eyes looked more dull. "Yeah, that'd be nice."
I quickly grabbed one of our bags and placed it into the storage, Lilith doing the same after me. Once we finished, Lilith let out an exhausted sigh. Her lips curled into a frown as her thoughts seemed to take her to a different plane.
"Lilith?" I tried snapping her out of it. This was somewhat concerning seeing her like this. "Are you alright?"
Lilith shook her head, focusing once more as her gaze turned to me. "I'm fine. Just couldn't get enough sleep." I gave her a worried look, so she waved her hands in an effort to calm me. "B-but I should be fine for the road, honest!"
I'm trying to give her the better doubt, but after hearing what Kale and Synthia said…I'm thinking something in her house gave her some bad memories. I don't recall what happened in her house when we used to live here, but I do recall that Lilith saw her mother collapse out of Mana exhaustion. Maybe that's what's keeping her mind occupied. And I can't push her to talk about any of this as Synthia said I'd have to wait for her to do that, and Synthia is probably right…Ugh, I gotta keep my mouth shut until Lilith opens up.
"If that's what you think. If you do get tired, you can use my shoulder as a rest." I finally said. "We're going to be outside the wagon alongside Kale."
Lilith tilted her head. "That'd be nice. But why do we need to be outside with him?"
"You can ask him. But it's supposed to be more dangerous in the forest."
"Hmm…ok, I'll ask him." Lilith paused for a moment, thinking of something else. And then it came to her. "Oh, Your mom wanted to give you something before we left. You should go get it." She pointed past me. "It's important."
After hearing that, I turned and walked my way to the gate. Gerald and Synthia stood close to it and looked at me as I approached. In her hands, Synthia had a brown pouch that she held to her chest.
The two standing across from me vaguely reminded me of something else. Back in my past life, when I was kicked out of my house…My parents stood at the door as I walked off from them. My dad yelled at me and my mom couldn't even look at me…But here, it was different. Gerald and Synthia were looking at me with happiness and didn't look away. They weren't mad at me or upset at anything I did, they knew what I was. I was their kid.
Synthia was the first to speak. "Kota, me and your father prepared something for you." She glanced at Gerald. "I gifted you my cloak when you left for Prusha, and Gerald gifted you your Staff. And we decided to get both you and Lilith something for the journey."
Presenting the Brown pouch to me, I grabbed it and opened it. Inside the small pouch were two rings, both silver with Red linings that wrapped around the middle of the rings. Kinda looked like these two rings were supposed to go together.
"What are these?" I asked.
"It's a treasure we got from a Dungeon near Bulbec. It signifies unity, or connection." Gerald explained. "It's also handy with amplifying your magic, the same thing applies to when you use weapons. So it'll fit both you and Lilith nicely." He held up his hand, using his other one to point at his ring finger. "See me and your mom have a similar ring to that one. It also signifies our Unity and love."
"Think of your ring and Lilith's ring as a way to remember each other. Something that connects you both when you are separated." Synthia added in. "Make sure you put on Liliths ring for her as well."
"I can do that…But why would I need to put it on for her?" I asked, confused. But then I thought about it more. Rings, marriage…having me put the ringer on her finger. Something here is strange.
…Wait a minute, is this them telling me to use this to marry Lilith?
"…is this a plan to have me and Lilith officially together?" I looked at the two adults. I noticed Gerald stifled a laugh as Synthia used her hand to cover her mouth.
"Pft…No…" Gerald then leaned against the Gate door and whispered. "Look, I'm trying to set you up. You know how long it took me to coax your mom into going along?"
"I thought we had this conversation?!" I hissed back at him.
"Not about this particular thing, I was glad you didn't push any boundaries. But making it official is completely different, you both basically admit at this point to everyone!"
Shit, he's kinda right about that. Pretty sure everyone I talk to knows that me and Lilith are extremely close now. Putting a ring on her would solidify that-wait a minute, I'm falling right into this man's hands right now!
"I'll only put that ring on her if Lilith agrees to it!" I proposed to him. "If not, I'll keep hold of these rings until then."
"Fair enough, my baby boy can wait for something like that. Unless a certain husband…" Synthia creepily peered behind Gerald. "Pushing something that should wait would cause some issues. You gotta stop using that playboy kind of yours and use your fatherly one…"
"Gah! Alright, yeah! I'll back off!" Gerald quickly pulled back from the gate and held his hands up in surrender. "Got me there."
Synthia then looked at me. "Now…I'm sure when the time comes, you two will be ready. But I'd have you two of those for the benefits they give you. So maybe you can put yours on right now."
Obliging to her request, I grabbed one of the rings from the pouch and put it on my right ring finger. I held my hand out to view and admired it. It looked quite well over my gloves. I didn't feel any different, but I'm guessing it applies once I start using magic.
"Looks nice on you." Synthia complimented me. "Just make sure you don't lose it, those rings can slip off at any moment."
"Hope you enjoy that gift of ours. And don't get too comfortable with us giving you gifts…We'll be doing that with your sibling." Gerald added.
Besides their main reasons for giving me this, I was glad that they were giving me another gift to use. Especially if it helped me with my duties in the world. I wouldn't really mind if they showered my sibling with this sort of stuff…
"Thank you. I'll make sure I keep it with me at all times." I looked at them. "That's a promise."
Synthia smiled and leaned over the gate door, Kissing me on my cheek. "Then I'll leave you to your journey. Just make sure you get home safe. And tell Lilith the same."
"And make sure you don't get into any bad business." Gerald chimed in, peering behind Synthia. "Don't wanna make anymore problems for anyone."
"I got it." I proceeded to turn back to the wagon. "No problems when I get to Ozoth. I'll be on my best behavior there, Father."
"Do well, Kota." I heard Gerald say his farewell.
Everyone else had gotten into the carriage. Amelia, Claire and Chris all inside of the carriage as Lilith and Kale sat at the front waiting for me. I walked my way to the front with the pouch in hand, Lilith leaning into view with interest.
"Did you say goodbye to your parents?" She asked, she then looked towards the gate where the two stood.
"Yeah, and they said goodbye to you too." I proceed to hop up onto the front of the carriage. I had to stop myself for a moment as the soreness in my arms stopped me, luckily Lilith grabbed hold of my black cloak to help me up. "Agh-Let's make sure we're on our best behavior."
"But I always am?" Lilith answered confused. "When have I gotten into trouble?"
"You punched Amelia in her side, I don't know how That's supposed to be your best behavior." Kale commented, he had his hands on the reins of the horses. "Anyways, is everyone ready?"
"Yep, Ready for another trip on the road." I answered.
"I object that we go!" All three of us turned to the carriage, it was Chris that voiced his concern. "I'm missing a couple of pages for my stories! We cannot leave until w-."
"Ah, too bad. I'm sure you could remake those pages on the way to Ozoth." Kale quickly said, He then quickly whipped the reins. "Yah!"
At his commands, the horses began to move. A slow trod as we moved away from my house. Soon enough, we were passing Lilith's house. As we passed it, I turned to look at Lilith.
Lilith didn't seem to even look at her own home. Though I could see past her tired body language that there was a sense of stress alongside it, she let out a long sigh and looked down. It wasn't long before she noticed I was looking at her. Her amber eyes held sleepiness within them.
"What is it, Kota?" She asked me.
"Uh…Just making sure you're alright again. You seem more tuckered out now than before."
"No…I'm fine…" She hesitated on what else to say, but decided to do something else. She leaned towards me and rested her head on my shoulder. "I'll take your offer that you gave me earlier though."
Once again, she avoided talking about what was troubling her. Why? I thought I was one she'd be talking to about these things? I shouldn't pry too much on this, otherwise I'd make things worse…
"Give her the rest she needs. It'll be until afternoon when we head into the forest." Kale said, looking out towards the trail. "Best you two take some naps while you can. I'll need you two awake when we're in there."
"I can stay awake. Don't mind me." I promptly said. "I'm pretty energized right now."
"Are you? I thought we'd exhausted you yesterday. You aren't sore?" He asked.
He's right there. My whole upper body was still sore, even climbing up here was a hassle for me…If only I could get rid of it.
…Wait, wouldn't a healing spell work to relieve my sores? If I can heal wounds and get rid of other physical conditions, I should be able to relieve things too.
Holding my palm against myself, I chanted a Healing spell. The green aura emanating from my hands began to spread over my body. Soon enough, I was right. The soreness that I felt began to fade away and quickly I felt brand new.
"Huh…Forgot you mages can do that." Kale looked at me. "…Though I'm pretty sure Tera uses that on me when I don't notice…During our fun times."
"Sounds like torture."
"It is."
Time passed and soon enough, we were on the outskirts of Shanford. We were using the same trail that we used when we went to hunt the wolves, all grass plains. But out in the distance, there was a wall of forest that seemed to go in for miles. That was where we were heading into. A sign we were passing even had its name as a point of Guidance. "Ozoth's Trail" etched into its wooden board.
Lilith was now taking a nap, her left arm wrapped around my right one as she snoozed away. I'd expect she'd be awake by the time we actually enter the forest. If not, then I'd have to wake her…which means I'm sharing the same fate as Amelia.
Looking past that painful reminder, I looked out into the grass plains. It went on for miles and in the distance, I could see small dots that I'd assume were either houses or a village in the distance. Some point, I'd need to venture out here and just explore. Maybe when I get back, I'll have Gerald take me out here again. I turned my gaze back to the forest that was in the distance. Something stirred in me that pushed some buttons.
Here we were, leaving Prusha because of some kidnapper and for Chris. A lingering question was rolling in my head, one that I didn't like the answer to.
Where was that Pink haired boy?
A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back to a new Volume, the one where I believe will be the most action packed! I don't know if you noticed, but the Cover art has changed as well! I had a professional Artist create it, and it supposed to be Lilith! Hopefully it gives you a good idea of what the characters look like.
This Volume should be more intense, as some stakes that will be seen are pretty high. I think this will be my most action oriented Volume! Hopefully you guys enjoys what's coming!