After playing for the entire day, the group of children returned back to their home when it was getting dark.
"Bye! See you after this!"
The children said their parting before walking back home. Ardent walked side by side with both Curt and Frank, who looked at the black-haired man with scrutinizing gazes.
"What?" Seeing them looking at him like that, Ardent started to feel uncomfortable.
"Oh nothing. Just that you are really close to the girl." Curt said, his voice oozing with slight annoyance.
"That annoying girl." Ardent snorted, "She's really annoying. Seriously, how did she always find me. I mean, we always think about the same hiding spot for some reason but to find me not even minutes into the game, it's get ridiculous after a while-" as Ardent complained about Catlin, he did not notice the look shared between Curt and Frank.
'Married couple?' Frank asked with his eyes,
'Married couple.' Curt agreed.
Since the exchange was done without speaking, and in mere seconds due to the two being in sync, Ardent missed the exchange, as he complained about a certain annoying blonde.
-x-
"That boy is so annoying!" Catlin let out her own frustration, her face turning red.
She called it from anger, but those around her believe it was because of embarrassment.
"I don't think I see you so annoyed by anyone before, Catlin." Celine said, the light brown-haired girl looking at her best friend with a slight smile.
"It's because I never meet someone as annoying as him!" the blonde replied, as she continue to throw out complain of a certain black-haired boy.
-x-
"I'm home." Ardent announced. He looked to see his parents already preparing a light dinner.
"Ardent, you are so dirty. Clean yourself first before having dinner." his mother lightly scolded him.
Ardent nodded, not planning on disagreeing with Grace. After all, he was thinking of the same thing.
-x-
'I'm glad for indoor plumbing.' Ardent thought to himself. He was sure if he was back during this period of time in his Earth, he will need to go outside and use wellwater to clean himself.
In this Alternate Earth, it was a more familiar sight, with pipe being used. Sure, there are no shower but at least he could bath with some privacy.
After washing all the dirt and sweat clinging to his skin, he changed his cloth while putting the used one into a wooden basin. His mother will wash it for him, but it is better to make things easier for her.
As he walked to the kitchen, both the kitchen and dining room being the same place due to the lack of space, he could see his parents giving him questioning gaze.
"How are you so dirty today? Sure, you always play with your friends after lesson, but never get that dirty before?" Grace asked.
"We play with the girls, and things escalated." was his reply.
His parents looked at one another, before both realized none of them could understand what he actually meant.
"Really, playing with girls get you that dirty. Whenever you are playing with other boys it did not get that bad." Rowan said, skeptical of his son words.
"It's true!" Ardent insisted, "Me and one of the girls get to into playing until we hide in all sorts of places!"
His parents shared a glance, both likely wondering what should they do with the new information.
"And what is this girl's name?" Grace asked.
"Catlin. We we-" Ardent shut his mouth before he could tell his mother of how he and Catlin get stuck inside a barrel. His friends teasing is bad enough. His mother added, yeah, no way he will throw himself into that fiery pit.
"... Catlin? Where have I heard that name?" Grace mused, a hand on her chin.
"Maybe you meet her mother when Ryker was still an infant. Or something similar." Rowan suggested.
Ardent agreed, even if he did not voice it out loud. In villagers like theirs, even with population more than 1000, it spread out between different age groups. For his age alone, there should be maybe 30 to 50 children born the same year as he did.
While it is a lot, the population of children can still be managed, but it would mean half of the workforce will be removed from the village.
To prevent this, a conjoined daycare have been build. A child of one month old would be put in the daycare while the mothers take turn in caring for the babies.
This allow the effect of reduced workforce to be mitigated while building a strong sense of community. Though, it can only work for small villages like theirs, as the number of children is still on the smaller scale.
"..." Grace was still in deep though. Seeing this, the father and son looked at one another before returning to their meal.
"If I remember correctly, one of the village's Mages has a child your age, Ardent." Rowan suddenly said.
"Maybe you can be friend him or her. It would do your good for your future." Ardent nodded, hiding the excitement welling in his heart.
He had thought the Mages did not have any children in his age group. To think someone the same age as his could be the Mage's child. He needed to befri-
"Oh, now I remember. Catlin should be the name of Marian's daughter!" his mother exclaimed, popping whatever daydream he had.
"Marian, why did that name felt familiar?" his father asked before his eyes widen, "Isn't that the daughter of the previous village's chief, and now the wife of the village's strongest Mage!?"
Ardent almost choked, and he was not eating anything.
'That annoying girl is the daughter of a Mage?!' he could never thought of such thing.
'Wait, doesn't that mean I have to build good relation with her if I want access to the Mage's knowledge?!' slight horror formed in his face, as he realized whatever goof relation he could build between the two of them likely ruined by his action.
Ardent wondered if there is a spell to get him back in time so he could punch his previous self in the face.
"Wow, you are so lucky. You befriended a daughter of the village's Mage, and you don't even know it." Rowan exclaimed.
"Yup, befriend." 'Yeah, befriended alright.'