My life had been quite the disaster. Meeting a guy like Farhon early on and having my body tainted.
That's not to say he was the one who did that to me. The cause and effect was a bit different.
Sadly, it didn't change the trajectory of my life.
Despite having been wanted by the nearby Vermilion Kingdom as a sinner, I was working here.
Trying my best to hide myself from the world.
It was a bit harsh to do this to someone simply because my magical abilities were too absurd.
Hah…
Guess I felt a bit bitter about it, after all.
But the past was in the past. Now that I was just a maid of the Thornebrook House, that was all I was.
A regular maid with no noble background.
After having used my 'connection' with our little Farhon Thornebrook, I made my home here.
Working at the residence of two former Adventurers who hunted Demons for a living.
My life was peaceful with them to a certain extent.
Farhon and mine's relationship had started off rocky now that he was happily married to Garcia…
…but we eventually found the place we stood.
With him being a master and me being a maid. The only bond we could admit existed between us.
I had worked at the family's residence for over a year at the time. Until Garcia became pregnant.
Oh dear… Farhon's smiling face amused me.
With me in the house, the delivery of the baby had no risks. Though subpar as a maid I may be, the powers of magic in my body was strong enough to keep her safe. Even cure her should she get sick.
Having an Archmage as a maid had its benefits.
But sometimes, nature takes what it wants.
I remember that day vividly. The day Steve Thornebrook came into the world, and a child left.
"This… This can't be right." Farhon had made an expression that'd forever leave an deep scar in me.
The despair in his eyes were evident.
Garcia, who had just given birth, almost died from the sheer shock of her first child being a stillborn.
But she couldn't say anything.
The both of us could only watch in melancholy as Farhon was speaking. Not grasping the situation.
It wasn't that he couldn't, but that he didn't.
How could he accept this?
The child they had been expecting was being held in his arms. How could he believe it was stillborn?
"Diana, please… Do something. Our baby isn't breathing. He's hurt. Heal him… HEAL HIM!" He begged me to save his child, but there was no way I could heal a baby that was born without life.
Garcia understood this too.
We exchanged a glance, and it was decided that since she couldn't bear to speak… I'd talk to him.
Calm him down for her.
But then, something happened…
Perhaps this was Farhon's luck, or the blessing of the Lord that Garcia worshipped as a Cleric.
Even without me doing anything, a light enveloped the stillborn child not from the outside… but within.
A change had taken place.
The warmth of life started to flow through the veins of the infant. It made noises and moved around.
"Diana… Thank you. Thank you…!" Farhon and Garcia couldn't even breath when the child revived.
The baby started crying along with the two of them. Not noticing what appeared in the garden.
I didn't tell them about it either.
Merely watching the family grow from afar.
Sometimes, I'd come down to the basement to study that strange meteor that'd appeared then.
Trying to figure out the mysteries behind it.
As someone who had done a lot of odd jobs before coming to the countryside, I had some experience.
Garcia and Farhon may be new parents, but I was aware of the differences between kids and adults.
Their mind's developed differently from each other.
It wasn't a matter of simply 'knowing nothing'.
To test this fact, I checked Steve's pulse everyday and evaluated his understanding of the world.
Leading me to surprising findings.
This wasn't an act. The child was surprisingly versatile and had great learning capabilities…
…but it wasn't some kind of celestial descent.
Like a normal human, the child had no Magic Pathways or circuits relating him to Sage Blooded.
Simply having higher intelligence.
Watching the boy grow had become a hobby of mine over time. He was truly an interesting subject.
The only doubt in my mind had cleared…
"Why are you with Steve all the time?" Someone who knew my personality had brought this up.
It was his mother, Garcia.
"Because SOMEONE keeps making excuses to do housework. He'll catch on sooner or later if you keep doing this." I told this 6 year long friend of mine. We had become quite close in recent times.
"…I don't know what you're trying to say." The only bad part was Garcia wasn't the type to open up.
She was truly a responsible and sensible mother.
But that was also her worst shortcoming.
"Do you love him? Steve, I mean." There was no choice but for me to ask her this for clarification.
"Of course, he IS my one and only son." Garcia gave a proper answer that was 'right' for a mother.
The only thing wrong was the lack of any emotion in her voice. She was hiding something deep.
And I could guess what that was at this point.
Farhon might have completely accepted Steve due to the misunderstanding of me 'reviving' him, but as a Cleric and Magic User, Garcia was aware I hadn't done anything to heal her stillborn child.
It just magically revived all on its own.
I'm sure that if she found out about the meteor I'd found in the garden, she'd be more certain here.
The only thing stopping her from completely finding Steve disgusting was the small hope in her.
Believing on the off chance that the Holy God above had heard her prayer, and granted a miracle.
"Aren't you going to tell him about 'that'?" I leaned closer and stroked her stomach area intimately.
She slapped off my hand, and pretended to not have heard me. Why was she hiding this?
"I'll tell him later." Garcia gave a distant look.
As someone who had encountered a 'miracle' in her family, she shouldn't be acting like this.
There was only one explanation.
And I was hoping that wasn't the case…
Steve was a cute child. Sensible, obedient, and kind to his family. Always worrying about them.
I see that in how he talks to his father.
Even though Farhon gets distracted easily, he had been much closer to his son that his wife ever had.
Trying to teach the wonders of 'swordsmanship'.
On the other hand, Garcia here had been using housework as an excuse to avoid her own son.
Even distracting Farhon so he'd forget the responsibilities of a father. Keeping the two apart.
Hoping her husband wouldn't get too attached.
"Enough nonsense." Rather than let her have her way, I pushed up my glasses and got a blanket.
Covering her as she rested.
"…What?" She didn't understand what I was doing.
"No more house work. You hired a maid for the purpose of doing less, right?" I made my stance.
"That… Then-" She meekly avoided my eyes.
"I don't know much about having a family. I never had one to begin with… but you can't avoid him for the rest of your life." I gave some advice. Trying to get her to have some peace of mind about this.
She didn't answer me. Covering herself to sleep.
Seeing that it was noon, I went out to see what my little lab rat was doing on this perfect weather.
Farhon was excitedly trying to teach Steve.
Sitting him on a stump made from a dead tree he had to cut down. Turning it into something usable.
Ah… So this was that.
"Listen up! A man doesn't need no hocus pocus or waving hands. You have to learn swordsmanship if you want to protect someone in the future." If these words were coming out of someone else, they would have been slapped across the head.
Competent magic users were considered much more important that meat shields like Warriors.
But Farhon had the ability to talk like that.
He wasn't exactly stronger than me personally, but his skills were something I admit were useful.
Which is why I didn't stop what I was seeing.
Maybe if I took Steve at my student, I would have taught him my way of getting strong from scratch.
But this was Farhon's child.
If he wanted his son to learn swordsmanship, a maid like me had no right to take that from him.
I watched the demonstration.
"When you grow up, you'll be learning the basics of Nature Swordsmanship. I might only know about three of the five styles, but even that will be enough to make you recognised as a Knight down the line. The stronger you are, the less the nobility can mess with you." It looked like the father was projecting his suffering onto this ignorant child.
He then turned to the target dummy next to him.
With my heightened magic senses, I could see the flow of inner magic imperceptible to the naked eye.
Although I say 'magic', this was far different from the Mana flowing through me. It was a degraded version that brawler types dared to compare to the greatness of Mana, which exceeded it on all levels.
They called this power 'Qi'.
Once a person sensed their Vital Gem and used it to draw Artes Lines throughout their body, the foundation for any Class of this world would be made… Econ if there were individual differences.
I couldn't help feeling enamoured by the grace in Farhon's appearance. How he stood above all.
His wooden blade kept in his imaginary sheath.
His stance was of the Iaido Style, and his blade was silently being covered by his innate power.
Even though there were no changes outwardly.
'Internal Qi' didn't really make that much changes outwardly, but it was useful for self-enhancement.
This was part of the three Nature Styles that he had been practicing, but had yet to fully master.
The swordsmanship of the ancient Sword God.
From there, Farhon used the 'training wheel' Sword Arts that were taught more widely than Nature Styles. It was to the point even farmers used these techniques to help themselves in day to day life.
A distinct tattoo formed on his hand momentarily.
'Surge.' I thought the name of the technique he used to slash the dummy in half with his strength.
The biggest contributor being the Lightning Style reinforcement he'd done to his blade beforehand.
If not, the wooden sword would've snapped itself.
To me, this wasn't much of a flashy display. He had a lot better moves that mixed with feints and stuff.
But Steve's reaction was nice.
"Oh? Oooooh! Wow! Dad, that was so cool!" His eyes were gleaming after seeing such a scene.
Around as much as he did when seeing my magic.
"Can I do that too?" Steve asked a hard question.
"Err…" Farhon seemed like he had expected his son to want this so badly. Yeah, the boy was abnormal.
His sheer passion for these things were high.
Hmmm, makes me feel proud.
Rather than letting the boy get disappointed. I decided to come forward to help him do just that.
"Let me give that opportunity." When I walked forward, my master gave me a look of disapproval.
"Just tell him the truth. You can't do this without Artes Lines, and he isn't old enough to get a feel for his Vital Gem. Even if you did manage to send him power somehow, he doesn't have any way to circulate energy." Farhon didn't like my conduct.
Giving him false hope.
Steve looked really disappointed…
Only I knew that he had been awaiting for his time to learn how to use magical energy, even as a baby.
If he was rejected, I fear he'd become dejected.
Maybe lowering that passion inside him to learn.
There was no way I'd allow that to happen? How could I study my little lab rat if he doesn't want to?
So I gave my opinion.
"He can't use the Elemental Sword God Styles, but he CAN use the Clear Sky God Styles. Especially since he has 'that' innately in him too." I pointed at the hand that had its tattoo vanished just recently.
"…Can that really work?" Although he said that, my muscle-head master really seemed eager now.
"Absolutely." Once I finished speaking, we both turned to look at Steve with gleaming eyes.
Ready to teach him about the more intrinsic style of humanity that no longer simply 'Sword Arts'.
These skills were the same as breathing now.
Everyone knew it even more than the style made for killing Demons… like the Nature Styles earlier.
Looks like I'll be having fresh new data to record.