Part 1: Tutor
One day Thews is just chilling on top of a tree branch, as he usually does, when Rena comes to talk to him. She says "Thews, you got a minute? I have a favor to ask." To which Thews says "Though I'd like to spend it slacking off, I've got nothing but time on me."
Then Rena asks "You were a swordmaster in your previous one, correct?" To which Thews says "That's something some people started calling me one day, but I guess so."
Rena asks "Then do you think you could take on dad in a duel if you put some effort into it?" To which Thews says "Cakewalk."
Rena then asks "Then… Can you teach me swordsmanship?" To which Thews pondered for a moment and then said "Nah, I'm good." Rena asks "I'm serious. I don't want to regret not being able to win one day." To which Thews says "It's just too much of a bother. I'd have to actually show you some moves and stuff and make corrections and stuff. And… stuff… so I won't bother helping you get better."
Rena is saddened by this news, says "Is that so" and starts to leave, until both her and Thews hear Echo's voice saying "How about I'll be your new teacher?" Rena is shocked by this and Thews asks "Are you sure you want to deal with all that hassle?" To which Echo said "I can impart memories to people as I see fit, the rest of the effort is made when trying to adjust the body to those memories. To make it in terms that you understand master, it is like making the memories of the head head go to the memories of the moving parts."
Then Thews says "I see, I see. Memory thingies inside the head go to moving thingies like splash, woosh and pow. I get it. Yes. I get it! You have my permission to teach big sis these thingies. I leave it to your hands." Echo answers "Thank you master."
Then Echo appears next to Rena and says "Your excuse here was to get Thews to training I presume?" To which Rena says "Ye- Yes." Then Echo said with a smile "Great. Let's go find your father and tell him I'll teach you from now on."
When Echo told Thias about her being Rena's new teacher, Thias' answer was a blunt "No." Then Echo said "I'm perfectly aware of my appearance, but let me assure you that I'm more than capable of teaching your daughter. And if I may be so bold and say that… Even more than you are."
Thias throws a training sword at Echo and then says "Proof to me that you are a better swordsman and then we can talk little miss." To which Echo said "It would be my pleasure to experience what you can do with those manly hands."
Thias and Echo stare at each other for a moment. The battle's victor is Echo and she says smugly to the defeated man "It seems your swordsmanship also requires some work, but my offer only extends to Miss Rena."
Thias then rises slowly from the ground as he says "We… First… Alice…" To which Echo said "I think you need to catch your breath some more before we do whatever you are saying."
Then after a quick break, Thias, Rena and Echo go into Alice's office. Thias explains the situation to Alice, to which she says "Who sent you and what is your group after?" To which Echo states "No one sent me here and I don't technically belong to any group. To which your next question will be, "Then what are you after?" to which I have to say that I merely want to see someone rise to their full potential. Also my name is Echo by the way."
Alice then says "And you, a child, think that you can bring out that potential?" To which Echo says "Contrary to what you think, I'm actually much, much older than you." Alice gives a doubtful "hmmm" and then says "Then by what means can you look so young? Magic? Sorcery?" To which Echo said "I suppose that you can blame magic about my appearance, but that is not fully right either. You see, I'm a sword."
Alice says "A sword?" To which Echo says "Yes. A sword. One that you can hold with one arm. Look." Then Echo changes into her original form and says "This is how I was created and thus, this is my true appearance."
Both Thias and Alice are a bit stunned by this and then Alice says "How can… sword turn to… Magic? Yes, it must be magic." Echo then corrects her after changing into her human form "While my consciousness might be traces back to some form of magic, in its nature, the existence of a sword having its own will is similar to that of a human having a soul."
Alice then says "So you are a talking magic sword that can turn into humanoid form, huh. Anything else you might want to add?" To which Echo said "I'm also from another world."
Alice just smiled and said "Yep. Got it. You are hired. What's your price?" This made Thias ask in a very surprised tone "Are you just going to believe what she says?" To which Alice says "In these kinds of moments, you will only get more questions than answers when you pry in deeper, so it's better to just stop sooner rather than later, say "Yep. Heard enough. When can you start?" and move on."
Thias is flabbergasted at this and says "You… You are just going with your gut, aren't you?" To which Alice says "I'd describe this as "Knowing less is best." and stop giving an f."
Thias says "I know that we are only considered nobles now thanks to what you did and you can act all lady like when you want to, but can you at least take things seriously when it comes to the future of our children?" Alice responds by saying "Oh I am taking this seriously. If what the sword says is true, then Rena might both of us. Speaking of our children, Echo was it, can you extend your teachings to our other two children as well?"
Echo said "I'm not quite sure about little Lucy, but I won't teach that boy Mathews. I'll have to think about little Lucy for a while longer." Then Alice said "I understand. My husband shall be in charge of his training as usual. Although, he might have to start looking for him by himself in the future. So what do you want as compensation?"
Echo said "I want a drop of your blood." To which Alice said with a smile "Am I making a deal with a devil here or something?" To which Echo answered "Depends how you look at it. You see, my speciality is to get information from those whose blood has touched me. This means that the moment your blood touches me, I'll know every piece of your memories that you hold and have held until the moment the blood has left your body."
Alice thought for a moment and said "So in other words, you hold memories of many different people." To which Echo replied with "That is correct."
Alice asked "Do those memories you hold have memories of those who knew magic in some capacity?" To which Echo answered "While there are differences in what you consider magic in my old world and this world, I can say yes. Though I must say that those from the old world might not work as intended in this world."
Alice then says "No problem. I accept your conditions if you promise to consider giving some of the knowledge to Lucy as well." To which Echo says "I'll consider it, though I'm surprised that you didn't ask for any knowledge for yourself."
Alice just smiles and says "While it would be tempting, I don't want to poke a dragon with a stick any more than necessary. I'm satisfied if you manage to influence my children positively. Though I would love that you would do something about Mathews." Echo giggled and said "Is that so? I wouldn't describe myself as a dragon, but I'll accept your flattery. While I'm here, I might give you some of my assistance in some matters if you so desire. Within moderation of course. And as for Mathews… I consider giving him some of my time."
Alice said "Thank you" and she and Echo made some proper documentation for Echo becoming Rena's tutor. Alice also gave a drop of her blood to Echo as promised, and to this Echo responded by saying "I must say, women in this world, or in this country at least, are much more straightforward than what they were in my original world."
Part 2: A new year
One day when the year is nearing its end, Alice is looking at three letters in front of her at her table. Each of them contains a wishlist that her children had written as it is a tradition to give people who you care about presents at the new year's eve in this world. (Basically christmas and new year mixed together)
On the left, a letter that is written neatly and with good consideration being put into writing it. It is written as such:
"I wish for only three things from the great gift giver.
Good fortune for my family.
Good food and sweets. Especially sweets!
That someone would tighten the screw in my brother's head a little so all of us won't suffer the embarrassment he brings on a constant basis.
Thank you for your consideration, oh great gift giver. I wish you a good new year."
Then in the middle is a letter that is written little roughly but it gives the feeling of great effort being put in every stroke. It is written as such:
"Great gift giver! It's me! Lucy Witsur! It is my first time writing a wishlist to you, so I'm super excited to do it! I want many things, but mommy told me to only write the most important things that I want as a gift from you. I thought long and hard and these are the things that I want the most."
I want sweets! Lots and lots of sweets!
I want books that are a little harder than the ones I read now. Magic books would be nice, but I'd like to get books that tell a romantic story. And if you are going to give books that contain romantic stories, please give me ones that have something about forbidden love. Especially ones that tell love stories about two siblings. I don't know why, but this has become something I want to read about. I don't know why everyone doesn't want me to have big bro's or papa's children, but I think that if I limit it to only big bro's, then I might get what I want. Come to think of it, I think I like my brother much more than papa.
Then I want my big bro to stay the same. He's funny and I want to always see what he's up to.
I want that mommy would spend more time with us rather than staying at her desk all day.
I want papa to stop being so hung to honor and stuff. He would be less annoying that way. I still love him very much though, but it gets a little annoying from time to time.
I want that new girl Echo to also teach me more about stuff that mommy and others won't teach me. I want to become a super powerful mage like mommy and be able to be pampered by my family because they can relax. I think that in combination with mommy's and Echo's teachings, I would be able to become an even more powerful mage than mommy.
I want my big sis to become a great swordsman… swordswoman? I need to ask mommy later which is more appropriate.
I want the people that help my family get more free time on their hands so that they can relax and give me more sweets! Especially Ana since she takes so good care of me. She even has told me some of mommy's secrets that mommy won't tell me. Like how mommy's sneeze once leveled a building by accident. Ana told me that mommy was super embarrassed at the time, but played it cool like she intended to do it from the start.
Anyways, then I want some cute plushies. Favorably fluffy ones.
I also want a puppy of some sort. I don't really care what kind of dog, but as long as they are cute, I don't mind.
And then, but this is a secret that mommy and papa shouldn't find out. I want to have a baby with a big bro as soon as possible. I don't still understand how it is done, but I expect your guidance in the future so that I may one day have that baby. Something about big bro's penpen touching my pimpim, but when I get the knowledge from you, I'm sure I can make it happen. I'm sure that baby will be cute.
With kind regards from yours truly.
Lucy Witsur."
Then lastly, Alice looks at the rightmost letter on the table. It is from Thews and it's written so horribly that Alice can barely read it.
After a while of deciphering, Alice finally understands what Thews wrote. In few short words, it said:
"Swords and disownment."
Then Thias comes to Alice's office to talk to her a little. He said "Are you about done with your work?" To which Alice said "I'm mostly done. Now I only need to figure out what gifts the great gift giver should bring to our children."
Thias asks "What did they wish for?" To which Alice says "Rena's is most normal out of the three, though I wish she would be a little more lenient on herself. She has only three wishes and two of them involve the well being of our family."
Thias asks "What was her one wish that didn't involve our family." To which Alice says "Sweets." Thias is surprised by this and asks "Sweets? Her?" Alice says "You haven't noticed that she likes sweets and hates bitter things? You should be a little more observant for your children."
Thias says "I can't say I have ever seen her react in different ways when taking something in her mouth. Even as a baby, she would eat whatever was given to her." Alice reacts by saying "She is a good kid in a sense that she doesn't want to bother us two by complaining. By itself, it isn't a bad thing, but as she sacrifices her own happiness by doing so, she doesn't know how to keep herself happy. In a normal aristocratic household, having that kind of child is a blessing, but in this household, I see it as something we need to correct sooner rather than later. The only thing she seems to be lenient in is when it comes to her siblings and some of her friends."
Thias "I feel disappointed in myself for not noticing all of this sooner. I need to better myself and make sure she can live a happy life." To which Alice says "You sound like a boy trying to marry a girl." Thias stutters a little and says "I- I didn't mean it like that!" To which Alice says "I know, but that is a good place to move into Lucy's wishlist."
Thias asks "What about Lucy's wishlist? Did she ask something strange?" To which Alice says "While she has given up on the idea of you giving her a baby, she seems to not have given up on that idea when it comes to her brother."
Thias says "I'm sure it's just childhood fantasies. When she grows older, I'm sure she will forget all about it and we think of it as a funny part of her past." Alice responds by saying "I hope that will be the case, but my mother senses are telling me that she is only going to get deeper to the idea and eventually do something inappropriate."
Thias says "I think you are overexaggerating the issue, but sure, let's keep an eye out. Did she have any normal wishes?" Alice answers by saying "She wants sweets, books, plushies, a puppy and Echo's tutoring."
Thias says "Those are something we might be able to manage. And if we manage to get Echo to also be her tutor, then she can try to correct the little idea about the baby. Speaking of Echo, have there been any talks about her also becoming Lucy's tutor?" Alice says "So far she has stated that she will focus on Rena first and when she is ready enough, Echo will consider tutoring Lucy."
Thias then says "If only we could get her to tutor Thews as well." To which Alice says "Don't get your hopes too up with the Lucy situation just yet. We still aren't sure if Echo will take the job. But still, she seemed quite adamant on not teaching Thews. And speaking of him. What will we do with him?"
Thias asks "Are you talking about his wishlist? What did he write?" To which Alice answered "He said he wanted swords and disownment." Thias asked disappointedly "Are you serious?" To which Alice said "I'm dead serious."
Then Alice smirked and said "Also his handwriting looks like magpie's toes," an expression from her hometown. Thias sighed and said "I swear, he must be doing all of this on purpose." To which Alice said "I don't think that he knows what he is doing by trying to get disowned. And as for his handwriting, I hope that it is that bad on purpose. Just look at how well Lucy's handwriting is compared to his."
Alice shows the two wish lists side by side to Thias and then says "Granted, Lucy is quite skilled for her age, to the point some call her a genius, but still, someone who has just recently picked up the pen can write better than someone who's been practicing for two years."
Then Alice puts the two pieces of paper back to her desk and says "Then again, teaching Thews anything takes a lot more effort. It also doesn't help that he is mostly unwilling to learn."
Thias says "I think we should find a solution to this issue as soon as possible." To which Alice says "Agreed, but how can you reprimand a child who doesn't take anything, and I mean anything other than slacking seriously?"
Both parents try to think of something for about ten seconds and then Alice smiles childishly and says "Okay. I don't have any ideas. But who cares as long as he's cute." Thias shouts "Don't give up just yet, dear! We have to find a solution! At this rate, who'll marry our good for nothing son?! We are just barons and he has nothing to bring to the table other than that!"
Alice then says "Don't worry dear. I'm sure there is a woman out there who'll want someone harmless to fit the shoes of a husband. And even if no one is willing to take him, I'm sure we have the money to feed our cute boy for the rest of our days." Then Alice says all mushy mushy "Just remember his cute carefree face when you are feeling down and your mood moves up drastically."
Thias shouts "Don't go there, dear! Don't let your motherly instinct lead you astray!" To which Alice responds by saying, still in the same mushy mushy manner "Come ooon. Just think about it. That cute carefree face just sleeping in the bed. Then feeding him all kinds of foods and seeing his happy face as he thanks us for being the best parents ever."
Thias shouts "NOOO! I can see it! I can see it!" Then Thias starts hitting his head at the table repeatedly. The maid named Lilith, who has been standing there this whole time, just thinks to herself "This house is hopeless. Well at least I won't get bored here."
Part 3: Caching!
While lazing around, Thews comes up with an idea of how he'll get by when he gets disowned and by doing nothing. He tells his idea to the people who can make it happen, and Echo responds with a strict "That's not a good idea."
To which Thews says "Come ooon. By doing so, I can just laze around, protect my family in the shadows, and laze around." Matrix says "You said lazing around twice papa."
Thews says "That's because it is the most important thing in my bucket list! To laze around, doing nothing while still making sure I take care of my family." Hime says "How does this differ from the way you lived your life in our previous world?" To which Thews says "Back there people were constantly there to kill me. I don't want to deal with all that hassle anymore and just do the thing I want."
Matrix says "That was because you were too stubborn to live in the garden of swords where no one could bother you." Echo said "That is correct. If all you wanted in life was to laze around, then you could have done it in our original world. But you didn't come here to just laze around, right? You know it better than anyone." Hime says "To live a peaceful life with a family."
Thews says "I know that, but by doing it this way, I can achieve my goal while still being able to laze around." Then a sword named Lioppe says "You want to live a peaceful life with a family and you try to do that by getting disowned by them." Thews says proudly "That is right!"
Lioppe says "I wouldn't call that living peacefully with your family." To which Echo, Matrix, Hime and couple other people responded in unison "Agreed."
With a flustered voice, Thews said "Leaving that aside, I don't see why the method I'm proposing causes any issues." Echo answers by saying "You are trying to find an expensive item, cut it into pieces, use Matrix' power to make each individual piece into its own item, sell the rest and repeat the process."
Thews says "That is the gist of it, yes." Echo sighs and says "Even if we find different kinds of items to multiply, there is still the issue of giving too many of the same item to the market. The first issue is finding someone who is willing to buy many of the expensive items from unknown origins. The second issue is that if we sell too many of the same item, the price of that item will decrease due to there being too many in supply and not enough demand. Granted, if we do this with not so expensive items in little quantities, THEN we people would buy it more easily. But even if we start little, the livelihoods of those people who make those items in the first place will be at risk."
Thews says "So?" Echo repeats in astonishment "So? SO?! Are you… You know what, forget I said anything. I give you my stamp of approval if you promise to start little, try not to make people question the origin of the items, and generally don't multiply many hot items."
Thews says "Hot items? You mean something that is warmed up? Like a torch? Candle? Magic stone?" A sword named Hoppipopi says "Yes. It means items of great value that would get too much attention."
Then Thews asks "Then why didn't you say so?" Multiple people sigh and then Echo says "Can I trust you to keep it low Matrix?" To which Matrix says "I do my best, though I don't know the value of most items."
Echo says "Then can you also keep an eye out, Rilith?" To which the sword named Rilith says "I'll look around the market of this world if master gives me the permission." Echo says "Master?" To which Thews says "You have my permission Rilith. Do well enough and I might let you be the one who sells all the items that Matrix makes. Yes, you might be able to become the face of our little… our little…"
Hoppipopi says "Are you looking for the word "company"?" To which Thews asks "What's a company?" Hoppipopi then says "Yes. It is the group of people that work together. Most often associated with merchandise but can be associated with other kinds of groups."
Thews says "Yes! Let's go with that! … What was I saying again?"
Then a sword named Lori says "You were talking about Rilith being our mascot." To which Rilith shouts "No he wasn't!"
Thews asks "What's a mascot?" To which Hoppipopi answers with "Yes. In simple terms, mascot means the face of the group. Mascots are often made to look "cute" or "child friendly" to attract a broader audience. Mascots don't necessarily have to do any other work than to "look good" but it isn't only limited to that."
Thews says "Sounds complex. But whatever, Rilith can be the mascot or face or something in this thing we call company if she does a good enough job. Was there anything else we should discuss?"
Then a sword named Pip says enthusiastically "Yes master! I have a proposition!" To which Thews says "I don't know what this "proposition" means, but go ahead."
Pip said "If you let some of us roam the world, then we might be able to raise your fame and fortune." To which Thews said "I mean, some of you are able to fight by yourselves, so maybe I could do that. Sure, it's decided. Echo, could you gather a few people to… wait a minute Pip, when you say you are raising my fame, does that mean you are going to spread my name around?"
Pip answered "Of course! If you spread your great name, then your life will be…" Echo cuts Pip off and says "I believe that master wants to remain anonymous when we are going to sell the items. I propose that while we send Rilith to investigate the market in our company's name, we'll also send some of our people around the world to garnish our company's name through achievements. Our leadership will be our master, but outside of master, the hierarchy of the company will work the same way the hierarchy between master's swords works."
Thews says "Sounds complicated." Then Hoppipopi clarifies "Yes. To make it simple, the swords in the master's garden of swords will make their presence known through this world by using the name of this company. In other words, nothing really changes other than we go public in this world."
Thews says "Then why didn't Echo just say so?" and then Lioppe asks "So what are we going to call our company?"
Then Lori says "How about G.o.S Company? Or GoS for short" Thews asks "Why Gos?" To which Hoppipopi explains "Yes. I believe what Lori was going for is the first letters of the Garden of Swords."
Thews says "I see. If no one has any better ideas, then we go with that." After which Pip shouts "How about Centipede company!?" To which no one spoke for a moment, until Lori broke the silence by saying "I get what you were going for, but that doesn't sound good for the public image."
To this, Pip said loudly "But it was our master's name in our original world!" To which Rilith said "No one said that the name "Centipede" was a good name to begin with. It was just a name that our master was given without a thought."
Then Pip said "Well what do you think master?!" To which Thews said "I don't give a shit what you call it. Sort it out between yourselves."
Then Lori says "Everyone in favor of GoS says I." Then the other swords said "I".
Then Lori says "Everyone in favor of Centipede says I." And then Pip says "I."
Then Lori says "I think that settles it if no one else has other names."
Everyone waits to see if someone has anything to add, and since there isn't any, Echo says "Now that that is done, let's discuss who are the ones to go and explore and who stay inside the garden of swords. Master, you can leave the rest to us if you don't have anything else."
Thews says "Cool. Now I feel like owning a pet. What kind should I pick? In fact, how do you tame a creature? Hmmm… Oh well. Too much bother. If I see some interesting creature, I'll try to tame it. Not that I'll go looking for it."
Lioppe says before she cuts the connection "If you want to take care of another living being, perhaps you should learn how to take care of yourself first." Thews responds with a face that says it hurt a little but he approves "Good hit. That was a good hit. Never change Lioppe."