Chapter 80: 80 – Child – A New Norm

It was a long and lively evening. With Mom and Dad's old friends over, a lot of stories were exchanged and a lot of laughter had.

Most of that over Dad's overly affectionate PDAs with Mom and Mama Lily after having one too many drinks.

While the adults chatted, us kids hung out and did our own thing. Mostly just getting to know each other and playing some board games that I helped Sylphy make.

I'd been meaning to do some before to play with Aisha and Norn, but even with healing magic, I didn't want to risk them swallowing something.

My baby sisters were big girls now though (their words) so I made a few simple board games to play.

One with chutes and ladders, another with a bunch of colored disks to line up four in a row...

Like that, we managed to preoccupy ourselves and my baby sisters.

Master Roxy even joined in later, eager to try out Conne*t Fo*r.

...Or so she said. But it looked more like she was feeling out of place with the adults and joined us instead.

It was great though. And while I thought that Eris would be trouble, she seemed to be playing nice.

Still wasn't sure if that was because we caught her in a bad mood at Roa, if she was trying to change, or if she was actually a good person like Dad said.

I was... tentatively giving her the benefit of the doubt on that.

Still didn't forgive her for beating up Sylphy for no apparent reason, but since Sylphy wasn't showing any bad feelings towards Eris, I decided to not judge her too harshly.

Besides, Norn and Aisha seemed to have like her. And Eris technically was family, like I mentioned to her.

But anyway, time passed and night fell.

...Which meant we had to find a place for everyone to crash for the night.

Mostly the adults.

Which also meant that Sylphy's little remark about building a house came true since our house was definitely too small to fit everyone.

And so a conspicuous stone mansion suddenly appeared next to the humble Greyrat household-

Not.

Sylphy was all for making a fancy house and even carving things out with ice.

And Master Roxy wanted to make it mobile, able to transform and fly on a whim with a bunch of magic circles and the help with her new now-confirmed metal spirit.

Apparently, the little guy was like mercury and could amalgamate all sorts of materials together along with mana... or something.

Master Roxy rattled on a bit too much in her excitement and started talking in the Magic God language halfway through her explanation so I didn't catch everything. I did suddenly realize that people actually spoke different languages not though. The more you know, right?

Anyway, I put my foot down and talked them out of it, creating a simple one-story ranch-style house instead. Well, I helped them create it. Mostly by doing floor plans and sketching things out.

Fortunately, all those hours watching Mi*ecr*ft builds on Yo*T*be paid off, so we ended up with something fairly practical.

Which was good, since it turned out that Ghyslaine and Eris were going to be more like live-in guests rather than short-term visitors.

Apparently, my dear uncle Philip said it would be unacceptable for my betrothed to live apart from me for so long since it would show that it was a sham marriage... or something.

I called BS on that. And it also pissed me off at how aggressive that guy seemed to be throwing his daughter away... but considering that he drew a line in the sand, and since Eris really didn't have anywhere else to go if we turned her away too, she stayed.

And of course, that meant Ghyslaine stayed as well, since she was both Eris's sword tutor and personal bodyguard.

And that meant that the second and separate house was definitely needed since there was some history between Ghyslaine and Dad.

I still remembered the look Dad gave her when he was trying to tick me off back then. It was acting, sure. But there was also something to it, so separate house it was.

Like that, we did a bit of reshuffling in living arrangements.

Going forward, me, Ghyslaine, Eris, and Master Roxy would sleep in the new house while Mom, Dad, Mama Lily, and my baby sisters would sleep in our old house.

Well, technically I didn't have to stay in the new house. But I knew what shenanigans my parents planned after mentioning all of that, so it was better for my mental health to not think about it too much and just move out a bit.

That aside, the morning after the reunion/celebration party for my new baby sibling, things were pretty normal.

Gisu left, saying he had some quests he had to complete if he wanted to maintain his S-Rank adventurer status. He promised he would come visit every now and then to catch up though, and that he would send letters.

...Still thought the guy was shady, but since it turned out his actual written and accepted job as an adventurer was a thief, that made sense.

This world's common sense was weird.

Anyway, after that things settled down to a new normal.

It was a bit awkward at first with the addition of Ghyslaine and Eris to the Greyrat household, but things settled down soon enough. Especially when Master Roxy impressed Eris by making a bunch of golems for her to fight and occupy herself while we did our thing with Sylphy and my sisters.

Mom and Dad went to work as usual, though Mom came back early since she was pregnant.

Mama Lily still did chores, but since Ghyslaine was around and Eris was having fun fighting the golems Master Roxy created, Mama Lily and Ghyslaine trained together when Mama Lily finished the chores.

Well, it was more like Ghyslaine was training Mama Lily... And accidentally becoming the victim to all the protections I had placed inside of Mama Lily's protective bracelet.

Fortunately, Ghyslaine took it like a champ.

I think.

It was really hard to read her.

Like that, time passed. Spring turned to summer. I turned eight to little fanfare... mostly because we were all too busy having fun.

And then, a few weeks before Midsummer...

"...And that's why I want to head out with Philip and Uncle Sauros to the Milbotts Region."

...Dad mentioned something ridiculous again.

-LIV-

A family meeting in the afternoon.

Aisha and Norn were fast asleep, tired out from running around all day and playing around with mana. Even so, Sylphy was keeping an eye on them with Eris and Ghyslaine.

That left me, Mom, Mama Lily, Master Roxy, and Dad sitting around the dining room table in our old house.

Dad shook his head and said, "It's dangerous, but if things go well, we can settle this without resorting to bloodshed."

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I tapped my fingers on the table, frowning. "So you say. But are you sure this will work out right, Dad? I mean, you're strong right now, but..."

Since Dad had kept up with his training... and since he kept being pummeled by me and Laws to get Zenka- to get stronger after healing up, he was strong. Stupid strong.

But not Orsted strong.

If we kitted him out right with proper equipment and magical artifacts, I was sure Dad could handle pretty much anybody that popped out of the woodwork.

Even so.

"...How do we know this isn't a plot by Being W?"

That was the key question.

Uncle Philip got intel from a mysterious magician about a potential kidnapping occurring at a well-known noble gathering in a foreign land. And it just so happened that the orchestrators would be the Notos family.

It was fishy. Too convenient.

Mama Lily nodded. "It is too dangerous, Paul."

Mom nodded as well. "I really don't want you to go. And I'm pregnant! You aren't just going to leave your helpless wife like this, are you?"

A guilt trip. The leverage that Mom always used to make Dad do things for her.

It definitely had an effect. Dad's face twisted into a grimace and he looked hesitant. But even so, he shook his head and said, "I know it's bad timing. But it's something we have to do."

I frowned. "Is it though? The Asuran Kingdom or whatever never followed up, and we never got any assassins or troublemakers from the Notos family."

The worry that we would get branded as traitors or hunted down never came to fruition.

It still could. But considering how much time had passed, it really didn't seem likely.

Which was unfortunate since I was itching to test out a few defense measures I had installed, but it was probably for the best.

Master Roxy nodded. "Rudy has a point." She looked at my dad and said, "Even if your brother may prove trouble in the future, or if the Asura Kingdom sends forces this far out, we have nothing to fear." She glanced over to her floating silver spirit and smiled. "Isn't that right, Mercy?"

*sching*

Dad pursed his lips and said, "Even so... We can't just let this happen. If I'm not there, something terrible will happen to an innocent young girl."

"So what?" I shrugged and said, "It doesn't involve us. And it *will* involve us if you go. Terrible things happen in the world all the time. Who cares if another gets added to the list?"

Silence.

I blinked and looked around. "What? Did I say something weird?"

Mom and Dad shared a look.

Master Roxy covered her face and sighed.

Only Mama Lily looked at me. She frowned and said, "That... is true, Rudy. But..."

"But what?" I frowned and said, "It's just a random girl."

Dad glared at me and said, "What if that girl was Sylphy? Or Norn? Aisha?"

I shook my head. "I see what you're getting at, Dad. But she's not. And this isn't a world where we have the luxury to go around saving everyone in sight, right? I mean, that's why you ran all the way here to Buina village, isn't it?"

Mom pursed her lips and said, "Rudy."

I looked at her. "Yes, Mom?"

She stared at me and then carefully said, "Do you... not care about other people?"

"Of course I do." I nodded and said, "Everyone's lives are important. But it's not our business to get involved when it means putting our own lives at risk. Especially for a random stranger. Besides." I looked at Dad and said, "Why do *you* have to go? Can't Uncle Philip or your uncle find some other strong people to help out?"

Dad hesitated. "They could, but-"

I pressed on. "And if it's that important, why don't I just come along? I'm completely healed and stronger than before. Not only that, but if this is as much of a trap as it appears, it'll be better if I'm there to help out."

"You can't-"

"And if not me, since Orsted wants to team up with me, why don't we just ask him to help out? If this mission or whatever means saving a member of a noble house, that means he could get a favor for helping out, right? And since it seems to involve Being W, he would probably be happy to help."

Dad was quiet. "True. Even so..."

"Even so what, Dad?" I frowned and said, "This doesn't make any sense. You know the risks. We shouldn't get involved, but even if we have to, there are better alternatives than you going in alone." I stood up and said, "What if an army of Sword Kings show up? Or a group of Emperor-ranked magicians?"

Dad laughed and said, "I think your sense of scale is off, Rudy. There's less than a dozen King-ranked swordsman in both the Sword God and Water God style."

"But not for the North God, right? That's just basically whoever can fight." I shook my head and said, "You're good, but you don't scale in combat. In the worst case scenario, you'll be going up against an entire hostile house in a hostile land without any back up. This is a *terrible* idea." I crossed my arms and said, "Either you let me come, you let Master Roxy tag along, or you don't go at all."

Dad smirked and said, "Wow. Talking for Roxy now, are you? My genius son works fast."

I slammed my hand on the table and said, "This isn't the place for jokes, Dad!"

He stared at me and smiled. "It seems you're forgetting about someone, Rudy."

"Who?"

Dad stretched and said, "Well. There's a certain swordswoman who's pretty free right now. And she also has ties to the Boreas family, so she's going to come along anyway."

I shook my head and said, "Even with Ghyslaine, it's still too dangerous. We don't know what tricks Being W is pulling or what pieces he has in store. Going out like this is-!"

"Necessary."

Dad gave me a stern look.

I bit my tongue and stared back.

"Rudy." Dad stared at me and said, "I know it's dangerous. I know it's risky. And I know that it could be a trap. But it's something that I... we have to do."

"Why?" I frowned and said, "Why do you have to go out of your way for something like this? We're fine if we just stay here at Buina village and-"

"Son."

I flinched and stared at my Dad.

He stood up too and looked down at me. Crossing his arms, he said, "Do you want to live your entire life in a cage like this?"

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