XD Yeah, would appreciate it if you got free time, though I already edited the earlier chapters on the row site
He likes novels, so he's sad that he thinks he isn't in one~ Everyone who likes novels would want to be in a novel you know? Like me~
But the death flag in the sentence changes everything you know? Unless you know, you like death flags.. Which is totally cool, yeah, if you're interested in those things..
Well, he already died once, and doesn't give a crap about it. What's the point of fearing a simple death flag ~
He's not really your average guy. His past life will be mentioned in the upcoming chapters, as it is important in the plot~
Side Story Three: Childhood and Library Magic - Part 2 "I guess I should start by inspecting the contents placed on the table, as they might be magic tools, like my glasses." I said while looking at the contents that are placed on the table. I haven't got to explain it yet, but my glasses is a magic tool, at least that's what I'm going to call it, for now. Because I don't have enough information about magic tools to make a definite conclusion. I only noticed the capabilities of my glasses when I tried experimenting by imbuing mana into the glasses, but it didn't work, as I couldn't feel anything changing. Though I still imbued the glasses with mana, with the hope of finding out what its capabilities are. The power of the glasses showed when I started reading a book. It accelerated my reading speed by three folds, it also lets me understand unknown languages, but I'm guessing it is just limited to reading and not hearing, as it is a magic tool related to the eyes. There is another ability that the glasses have, I can read words even up to 100 meters of distance, regardless of the size of the characters and even when there are light obstacles in the way, like a curtain, as long as you can see that there are supposed to be words on it, you can read it. For example, my father is reading a book on his room although I can't see him very clearly, because the windows in this age are not as clear like in my past world, the fog on the window because of the snow also lowers the visibility, and to top it all off, there was even a thin curtain in the way of the book, even with all that, as I knew there were supposed to be words on the book he was reading. I could read the words on the book as if it is right in front of me. Though it was a hassle, as my father isn't really as fast as me at reading, even without the magic tool glasses. I had to wait a while before he was finished reading the page and he flipped to the next page before I had the chance to continue reading. Although it was really pretty stupid of me to do that, as I wasted a whole morning of my practice time, only to find out that what my father was reading was an erotica. I almost want to facepalm myself because of the stupidity of my action, but I held myself back because of the glasses on my face. I didn't really know if it had a self-repair mechanism on it, but I didn't want to try it before I even have the chance to use it to its full potential, that is, in the 《Library》. I was thinking of such thoughts, as I realize that I am getting into my bad habit again. This is really annoying, as I noticed that I already wasted another 10 minutes, making it a whole 15 minutes of time wasted of my precious 2 hours. Though I can't really complain as I can replenish all of my current mana pool in just a matter of an hour. I started on the bookmark, it looks like a large wooden ruler except it doesn't have measurement numbers on it, there isn't really anything special about it. I don't really understand its purpose as I can already read very fast and I have a good memory, I don't think I would need a bookmark to know where I stopped reading at. I imbue mana into it anyway and it suddenly emits a faint white light onto the edge of the bookmark. If I look at myself from a third person's perspective, I certainly look like a certain bespectacled young wizard with a lightning bolt scar, and is getting ready to chant 'expecto patronum'. Ah, I really miss reading some of the fictions from my world, there should be a book about that story here, with what I requested to that God, I will have access to both Earth's and Isaiah's book. Although he/she said that there will be restrictions, I don't think he/she will change the power to mess with the expected effect that I requested. I will check that book out when I have the time. Now to check what the bookmark's effect is, as it is a bookmark, I think I need to use it on a book. There is a book on the table, but it looks like it's important, I don't really know what the effect of this bookmark is, so I should probably hold on using it on an important looking book, as the bookmark could have an effect of burning the book into ashes. I grabbed the candleholder so that I can explore this dark room. I was walking straight when it came in front of my sight. The first thing I see here except for the table and its content, was a bookshelf filled with books, as I predicted, this place really is a library. It would have been embarrassing for me, naming the place 《Library》, if it was just a dark room with nothing in it except for the table and its content. There were many bookshelves coming into my field of vision as I continue to move forward. After 30 minutes of advancing, there were still no signs of me getting into a dead end. I started to run with all my might, only to see the end of the room a minute later. If my calculations are right, I should have traveled about 10 miles, and if the table is at the center of this place, then it should have a radius of 10 miles. Though I'm not really sure if it has the same distance if I go in a different direction, but if it really has, then this whole room should contain thousands of bookshelves. Even if that sounds a lot, there is no way that is close to the number of books that exists in two worlds, especially in my world, where there should be tens of millions of books created throughout the whole history of humanity, and from what I know of Isaiah, this world should be larger than Earth by a lot. They also seems to have a good way to produce paper, as there are a lot of books in my house, and not counting the books and hidden spell books that my father and mother have in their rooms, so it means that this world shouldn't have much of a gap when it comes to the numbers of books, as Isaiah has a much more longer history than Earth. Though it's a baseless assumption, as I don't know if other household has as many books as mine too. Because my household is very wealthy and is influential in Rolen. Still, I don't even know why we have this many books in our house, the only book I've ever seen seen father read is erotica and adventure books, and as for mom, she just read romantic types of books and occasionally some cookbooks. "I should check how high the ceiling is, if my assumption is right, there should be another floor up there." While getting ready to jump up I asserted to myself. I jumped and reached the ceiling, and it was about 15ft high. It should be the right height, as the bookshelves are pretty big themselves reaching up to 10ft high. It would kill a normal person if those things fall down on them, though if it was me, with my current mana filled body, it would just hurt me a little. The problem is, it will have a domino effect, when one falls down, they will all fall down. Though there is something familiar about this place, it's like I've been here before, and I mean earlier than the first time I came here when I was 5 years old. If my guess is correct, the middle of the room should be open for me to jump up. I moved a little closer to the middle of the room, when I judged that it's already enough of a distance, I concentrated my mana on my foot and jumped with all my might. 20ft, 30ft, and when I reached my limit of 50ft, I still didn't see a trace of the ceiling. There should, at least, be 5 floors in this place, if every floor shares the same height. It seems my guess was correct, I already knew of this place before I even started to use 【Library Magic】. The question is when? My memories is a bit hazy, which is weird as I have perfect memorization, is this that God's doing? I should probably stop trying to recall those memories, as I'm starting to get nauseous. Maybe I should try going to the 2nd floor by jumping. As I jumped up I started by putting a small amount of mana on my feet, as to not go overboard, I jumped directly to the 2nd floor and safely landed. That is what I'm supposed to say if I didn't just hit some kind of barrier in there before I got the chance to cross over. I started to fall down to the 1st floor and I directly stepped on top of a bookshelf to use as a foothold. I gently jump down the bookshelf, as I look up at the invisible barrier closing off the second floor. I guess I need to use the stairs to go to the 2nd floor. Though I know where the stairs are, I should probably do what I was supposed to be doing until I got sidetracked, and that is to test the power of the bookmark. I picked up a random book close to me, it was titled 'How to train your Nekomimi slave'. "...What the hell. I don't even know if this book came from Isaiah or it came from Earth, as I can imagine that this kind of book can exist even on Earth." I mused to myself as I started to read its contents. Strangely enough, it really is from Earth. It was a novel about a guy who bought some stuff about summoning a dragon to rampage in the city he was currently living in because he was humiliated in frontof his crush, but what he summoned was a Nekomimi with a big bust and golden hair, cat ears, and tail. Well, I should probably stop reading it, as I only have 3 minutes left before my consciousness get transferred back to Isaiah. I started to imbue mana on the bookmark and placed it on the page of the book where I stopped reading. Nothing happened when I did that, so I took it out of the book and started to point the glowing end of the bookmark towards the book. It finally showed its effect, the book started to glow bright red and had the glowing words 'unfinished' imprinted on it. I tried changing the words with 'Nekomimi' and also tried changing the colors into yellow, and it worked! I am content with the effect, as I think it will be useful if I can take it out of the 《Library》. The countdown to when my consciousness gets transportedback to Isaiah started, so I proceeded to put the book back into the same position where I took it from. But when I look at the space that I was going to put it, there was a pair of creepy eyes staring back at me as if it wants to devour me. I stared back at it frozen from surprise at the scenario that is currently happening, until I felt my vision started to distort. I was back in my own room where I used 【Library Magic】 when I came to. I was still frozen from shock at what I saw in the 《Library》. The only words I could mutter were... "What the -" End of Side Story three Side story four
Side story 4: Childhood and Library Magic - Part 3 "What the hell was that?" I said to myself while trying to recall the memory of the thing that I just saw. Was I just seeing things. Or was it an illusion? I was contemplating as such, only to dismiss the thought as there should be no reason for that to happen. Is there really another person or creature, other than myself, that is living in the 《Library》? I should explore more of the 《Library》 later after I replenish my almost depleted mana pool. I started to absorb mana from the surrounding so that I can replenish my own mana, only to discover that I was holding the bookmark magic tool that was in the 《Library》. I guess this means that I can bring out the magic tools that was on the table, to the outside world. This bookmark magic tool should be useful to me, in a lot of ways. As I was having such thoughts, I have begun to imbue the bookmark magic tool with mana and aim it at a nearby vase in my room. I shot the orb with a faint light that came out of the bookmark magic tool at the vase, and it landed successfully onto the vase. After that, the vase shined with a color of red and was labeled with a name of 'experimental vase' as it was according to my will. Although it is shining with a red color, the original color of the vase, which is blue, is still the same only covering it with a faint shine of red. After that, I left my room to find a nearby maid or butler to test my hypothesis. Only a few seconds after, I found a maid that is currently wiping the windows clean, based on my memory, I think her name is Gillian. She should be around the age of 20-21 and is of the beastmen race and the tribe of the cat race. She has yellow cat ears and tail, her face is not bad either, on a scale of 1-10, if talking about her beauty, then she'll pass as a 7. Though it is just a judgment from me, who hasn't really met a lot of girls in this world. If she was on the Earth, then I would have given her a 9, but based on the girls that I had met in Isaiah, mainly mother and Meria, who I graded a 9 and 9.5 respectively, then she really is a 7. Although I am measuring her beauty, I don't have the slightest bit of interest on the topic about love or romance, as in my opinion, those things are just a nuisance. I just appreciate the beauty, that's all. "Good afternoon Young Master, can I help you with anything?" She inquired from me, as she noticed that I was looking at her. "Ah, there is one thing that I need your help with. Can you look at this vase to see if there is anything weird about it?" I said, holding out the vase with one hand to her. "I am sorry for this servant's incompetence, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary about this vase. Please forgive me." She bowed to ask for forgiveness. "It's alright, please rise. May I ask you to concentrate your mana into your eyes and look at it again to see if there's any change." She started to gather the mana in her body and concentrating it to the eyes. "There's still no change, Young Master." "I see. Thank you for your cooperation Gillian-san, please continue with your work." I stored the vase in my storage ring. "Please ask this servant if there is anything more that I can help Young Master with. I will help with my utmost effort." She said, bowing. The experiment was a success. I left the hallway after that, so she can continue to with her work. Although I don't like people who talk too much but she is too stiff, I don't think I can talk to her for too long. But I guess it's because of the master and servant relationship that we share she is acting like that. The first time I saw her, coincidentally it was my first time seeing a Beastman, I thought that she will speak with 'nyaa' at the end of every sentence, it wasn't like that though, I guess it was kinda racist of me. I should reflect on that. When I see her talking with the other maids, she is more cheerful than that. Though she is gentle too, kind of like a big sister type. Though I can't really judge her work personality, as my overall personality among other people is as a quiet and eccentric child. I am a bit of an anti-social person even when I was still on Earth. Other people even say that I have a scary and hard to approach aura, and combine it with my always emotionless face, almost no one would even approach me, much less talk to me. Though there were people that talked to me even with all that, most of them are those are the people who can't read the mood and the meddlesome type of people. As I was reminiscing about the past, I have already arrived at my destination, which is outside the house. The reason that I came here is to find a monster so that I can test the bookmark magic tool to see if it works on living beings as well. Although I could've just tested it on Gillian, there could be a possibility that it is harmful or even deadly, so I refrain myself on doing so. I concentrated my mana to enhance my senses and ran into the nearby forest. About 10 minutes later, I found a suitable prey to experiment on. It was a Snow Leopard. They are the main predator of this forest, even I can't win against it, though that is only if I fight head on. It should be perfect to test it on, I could even practice my fighting after, and the 'Snow Leopard' is delicious after it is cooked. I could give it to Martha so that she could cook it. It's practically killing three birds with one stone. Time to start on the first phase of the experimentation. I slowly imbue mana into the bookmark magic tool and aimed it at the Snow Leopard while standing at the top of a tree so the Snow Leopard can't spot me. I need to do this in one shot because the Snow Leopard is a cautious monster. Snow Leopards only attacks when they have a proper plan to ambush their prey. If a Snow Leopard is caught off guard they will run away. Even if it knows that I'm weaker than it, it will still run away the moment it senses my presence. The most annoying part is, the Snow Leopard can camouflage to the surrounding snow and it will ambush me after I let my guard down. I fired the bookmark magic tool towards the Snow Leopard and it hit the mark in one shot. The Snow Leopard now have an aura of the color orange and is labeled with the word 'Prey'. Although it hit, the Snow Leopard is still not aware of what my actions. The first phase of the experiment is complete, now to start on the 2nd phase of the experiment. I took out a crossbow and a back quiver that has 25 bolts. I aimed the loaded crossbow near the Snow Leopard and fired it. It pierced the ground near the Snow Leopard. The Snow Leopard finally noticed my presence because of that, and it started to take a battle stance. I started to reload my crossbow with another bolt, when it noticed that I was gonna shoot at it again, it started to flee to the opposite of my direction. I waited for a minute before pursuing the Snow Leopard. I can still see the orange aura and the word 'Prey' is tagged on it. With this, the second phase of the experiment is also complete. It's time for the hunt! I started my pursuit of the fleeing Snow Leopard, based on its speed it should be in a 3-mile radius from where I am. I concentrated my mana on my legs so that I can run faster. I caught up a minute later, the Snow Leopard had traveled about 5 miles before stopping. The Snow Leopard is now camouflaged in the surrounding snow and is practically invisible, even father will have a hard time finding the Snow Leopard in this place. Although I said that, the Snow Leopard is now sticking out like a sore thumb with its orange aura and the 'Prey' tag on it. It's time for the third phase of the experiment to begin. I imbue mana on the bolt and loaded it onto the crossbow. I aimed at the head of the Snow Leopard and fired it. The Snow Leopard monster instinct was top-notch, so although the bolt was just inches away, the Snow Leopard still managed to move its head away. The mana imbued bolt pierced through the shoulder part, only missing the head by a hair's breadth. NYAAAAAWR!!! "I guess you won't go down that easily, huh?" I muttered while I took another bolt from the quiver and reloaded it onto the crossbow. Before I got the chance to aim, the Snow Leopard already pounced towards me. I tumbled sideways to dodge the incoming Snow Leopard, I imbue mana onto the bolt. Aiming at its stomach, I fired the bolt. Before the arrow had the chance to pierce the Snow Leopard, the Snow Leopard suddenly disappeared from my sight. The Snow Leopard reappeared behind me and swung its right claw at me, at the same time as that, I swung the crossbow at my hands towards its head, full force. My attack connected first and I used the momentum of the attack to get some distance away from the Snow Leopard. I noticed that my right hand was scratched and is now bleeding, but it should just be a shallow wound. It was close one, if not for the orange aura due to effect of the bookmark magic tool, then I wouldn't have seen its movement at all and my injury would have been worse than a mere scratch, possibly it could have even killed me with that attack. NYAAAWR!!! The eyes of the Snow Leopard is glowing crimson red, its body also enlarged. This should be the skill of the Snow Leopard, the 【Predator's Rage】. From what I had read at the library in the house, the only Snow Leopard that can use this skill is the Alpha Snow Leopard. They don't have any visible differences from a normal Snow Leopard except the fact that they have the skill 【Predator's Rage】. It must be my fortune, for my experimental prey to be an Alpha Snow Leopard. Well, there's no meaning with regretting what's already happened, I should focus on the fight. The Alpha Snow Leopard is encircling me while growling, looks like it's become even more cautious now. I took out two swords from my storage ring and adopted a defensive stance while paying attention to the movements of the Alpha Snow Leopard. It again suddenly pounced towards me. I used the two swords to block the attack while concentrating my mana into my arms and legs. I redirected the attack before it got over to me. I slashed both of my swords towards its defenseless behind, but it suddenly disappeared from my sight again. I saw a blurry orange aura go upwards, so it should've jumped. I imbue mana into my left sword and concentrate my mana towards my left arm. I tumbled forward to dodge the incoming attack. The Alpha Snow Leopard attacked connected with the ground where I was supposed to be. I hurled my left sword towards at it. The Alpha Snow Leopard once again disappeared and dodged the incoming sword, but I was expecting that move. I saw the blurred orange aura move towards my right, so the Alpha Snow Leopard should be there. I used 【Black Ball】 and shot it towards the ground where I was standing. The surrounding area where I am is now filled with mist-like smoke. I got out of the way just in time for the Alpha Snow Leopard landed into the area. Its field of vision should now be blocked, wasting no time I imbue mana into the sword and concentrate all my mana in my body towards my arms, then I slash with all my might towards the Alpha Snow Leopard. Even though the place was full of black mist-like smoke, I could still tell that my attack was a success, as I felt the resistance when I slashed. Blood was spurting everywhere, did I struck an artery? I took some distance from the area because I still don't know whether the Alpha Snow Leopard is still alive. After a minute or so, the mist-like smoke disappeared. It was then that I saw that the part I slashed was the neck. Although the neck was not severed, it was still a fatal wound. "Haa, I won huh?" I muttered while panting tiredly. Although I want to rest for a bit, unfortunately, I don't have the luxury. Because, other predators should come here after they smelt the blood. I guess the 3rd phase of the experiment is a success as well. I look at the corpse that is still glowing with an orange aura and a tag. "There's too much blood. I don't think I can carry this all the way home without having a troublesome encounter. I should probably give up on bringing it home. I guess I only killed two birds huh?" I mused while I cut off the fangs of the Alpha Snow Leopard. This should be a good alchemy ingredient. I put it in my storage ring for future uses. I returned home after that. I got a scolding from my mother when I got home with an injury and blood all over my body. After that, I tried to use【Library Magic】 but to no avail, it looks like I can only use it once a day. I guess I have to wait until tomorrow to use it again. Such things came to my mind, before I succumbed to a deep slumber because of fatigue. End of Side Story 4 Chapter Eleven: Precognition Footnote: He was 7 here by the way. And I'm not very good at sound effects NYAAAAAWR!!! Author's Note: This was my first battle scene, forgive me of it wasn't clear enough. This will be the end of the side stories for now. Also this is my longest chapter, yay me! I'll try to increase the chapter length in the future chapters. Thanks for reading~
1 problem (there are some minor mistakes, but that isn't it); I am not from America nor UK, so I don't even know what 1 foot is (I can search it, but...). The story is going great btw. Ah. I have 1 question; "Why is the [Storage Ring] not used?" If your answer is "Because the [Alpha Snow Leopard] is too big", why couldn't the MC just cut the carcass into pieces?
The lack of cutting tools, he used a full power slash with his sword towards the neck, and it still didn't get severed even though it should be a soft spot, imagine him cutting the rest of the body, that will take a whole lot of time.Based on the speed of Snow Leopards, when they smell the blood, they will be there in a matter of seconds.
Chapter Eleven: Precognition After we finished eating our dinner, we moved on to the topic about the recent events and why Meria knows about the attack. We were discussing this topic in the living room that Raul repaired. On how he did this in such a short time, apparently he is a Summoner, he summoned some contracted monsters to help him with his repairs of the living room. The monsters he summoned, by the way, were 3 Burly Goblins. Burly Goblins are 10 Ft Goblins that have a muscular appearance, they are even bigger than some of the Ogre and Oni race, who are mostly just 7-9 Ft tall, excluding a few variants. Although they are bigger than them, it doesn't mean they are stronger. Even one member of the Hobgoblin race can defeat them as they are the evolution of the Goblin species. They're stronger than average humans, though, and also, they release a foul odor stronger than most Goblins have. Raul's Burly Goblins' were not releasing a bad odor, though, and they also look stronger than the Burly Goblins that I've fought and read about. It must be because they're summoned and they can get stronger according to the summoners' strength, and maybe they were also trained by Raul. "So shall we get to the point? Do you know who ordered those people to attack our house, Meria?" Father inquired from Meria. "...Sadly, I do not. I only know that an attack was going to happen to your family, forgive me." Meria answered, looking apologetic. "Then may I inquire as to why you knew in advance of the event that had happened recently? It wasn't just a day or months advance, it was a whole 12 years in advance that you gave the warning to us." Father questioned. So it really was like that. The reason that Meria keeps visiting here was to warn us about this event. Although it's just a guess, I think I know how Meria knew about the event that happened recently. Those were my thoughts while looking at Meria, waiting to hear her answer to my father's inquiry. "This... Can you all promise first that you will not leak a word of what I'm going to say next. The answer that I'm going to give is a secret that only me and my mother knows. Even my father does not know of this, and my mother and I had planned on keeping it that way as long as possible." All of the people in the room, which was me, father and mother, all nodded and promised to not leak a word of what Meria was going to say. Raul, Martha and the other servants of the house were outside. It was for the sake of this secret discussion so it will not leak out, even if most of the servants here are trustworthy, it was still a necessary thing to do. Still, I don't know why Meria is getting so secretive about this, I mean even though Fate Magic was a lost and forgotten magic like my Origin Magic, which consists of 【Mana Manipulation】, it was still not to the point that you need to be this secretive, like you are gonna get punished for knowing how to use it. Fate Magic, like the name suggests, was a magic pertaining to fate. It was a mysterious magic, even the books on 《Library》 has little information about it, but, of course, it was just the information on the 1st floor, there must be more information about it on the higher floors. According to the books, the people that have Fate Magic were said to be blessed by the Gods. Although it was just a conjecture, there were many people who believed that it was the truth. It may have to do with the fact that only known magic that was written on the books are, 【Clairvoyance】, 【Oracle】, 【Blessing】 and 【Change of Fate】. Even the information on the said magics were very limited. 【Clairvoyance】 is a magic that enables you to see the future events. This is my guess on the magic that Meria used. 【Oracle】 is a magic that lets you speak with the Gods, occasionally you will even hear them reply. I wonder if that God is the one they're talking about. 【Blessing】 is a magic that increases your luck or fortune. The information on the subject was sketchy at best, as you don't have a definitive way to know whether it really does increase your luck or fortune. Coincidentally, there is a spell called 【Blessing】 in Holy Magic, which is used by the church, it clad your body with the holy element and increase your resistance to curses. Lastly,【Change of Fate】. The information on this magic is almost non-existent. The only clue you have is basically the name of the magic. As I finished going over such thoughts, the discussion continues. "I have an ability called 【Precognition】, it gives me visions of future. Events like the one that happened recently." Meria said with a serious expression. Hou, so I was wrong on my guess huh? It was not Fate Magic, instead, it was an ability. I wonder what abilities are? "An ability huh? Yuki, you seem confused. It's probably because it's the first time you've heard of the term [Ability], am I right?" My mother's first words on this discussion were this. She was looking a bit proud because she finally had the chance to join in on the conversation. "Yes mother, I believe it is my first time hearing of such term, could you please enlighten your son on this matter?" I inquired while looking humble to please my mother who was looking prideful of her success in entering the conversation. "Then allow me to inform you on the term called [Ability]. Abilities are powerful magic, although I said magic, it isn't like magic at all! It doesn't use external and internal mana like magic, instead it only uses the mana inside the body to function. Abilities are very rare, only 1 in a 100 million could have an ability. Abilities are said to be bestowed by Gods upon birth." Father followed up before the mother could explain. Hou, so it really isn't Fate Magic, instead, it's just like my power 【Library Magic】 based on its function. So it was called ability huh? I wonder if the people that have abilities are reincarnated from Earth like me. It shouldn't be the case because the first time I talked to Meria I used honorifics, which only resulted in her being puzzled. Not being able to recognize why I called her name with it. Which reminds me, I think I'm slowly forgetting the habit of using honorifics, it should be good as I don't really want to be looked at weirdly because of my strange habits. "Hey, Sirius! Why did you steal my spotlight? I was supposed to be the one who explain that to Yuki!" Mother shouted angrily at father. "Does it matter whether it is you or I, who explain it to Yuki? Besides, you stole my chance to show off to Yuki this morning too!" Father answered, nonchalantly. "Of course, it matters! And you're still upset about that? Aren't you being a cry baby for just a simple reason?" "Simple reason? Isn't what you're complaining about, a simple reason? And don't call me a cry baby, you old woman!" Father argued. "W-wha-? O-old woman? Who are you calling an old woman? Are you looking to be incinerated? You girly man!" Mother shouted, looking angry while pointing at Father. "Bring it old hag! I'll take you on anytime! Be careful not to break your back while we're at it." Father mocked. They were glaring at each other, to the point where you could even see sparks. How does that even work? Anyway, even though they sound like they're having a serious fight, it's just playful bickering of a married couple. It's sweet, almost to the point where I feel like I'm gonna puke. I wish they could refrain from doing such things in the middle of a conversation, or better yet, stop doing it in front of me. Ah, I feel like using 【Shadow Walk】 to get out of this room. Such were my thoughts while releasing an annoyed sigh. Meria POV After Yuki carried me to his house they invited me to dinner. Even though I'm supposed to be under suspicion as an accomplice of the assassins in the recent attack, they didn't restrain me or cast hateful glares. Although Sirius was looking at me with wary eyes, there was no trace of malicious intent. Yuki was also looking at me with his usual gaze, although it was usual for him to do so, as he is always in a state of deep thought, I wish he would, at least, refrain from doing so after he carried me like that. It might cause a misunderstanding, you know? While having a beet red face and avoiding eye contact with him, I entertained such thoughts. "You should eat more. You need some fat on your body, you're too skinny. Boys don't like a girl who is too skinny, you know? Maybe it could also fix that flat chest problem that you were complaining to me about." Big sister Rena proclaimed loudly so that everyone at the table could hear. "W-w-wha, Big sister! W-what are you saying? I didn't complain about such stuff at all! It's not true at all!" I shouted with a face as red as a tomato. I almost jumped out of my seat. "Haha, I was just jesting. Calm down. If you don't want me to reveal some real personal secrets, you better eat more!" Big sister Rena said while grinning mischievously. "Uuh, you're a bully, big sister Rena. I'll tell mom about this!" I complained. "Haha, that should be good. The last time we fought was decades ago, she should have gotten stronger by now. It would also be great if she could visit here, at least once." Big sister Rena said gleefully. Big sister Rena and my mom were born in the same generation. Based on family relations, technically Big sister Rena should be my aunt, but because Devils are basically immortal, they don't use it. Members of the Devil Family still use Mother and Father when addressing the birth parents and everyone else in the Devil family, they will use Big Sister/Brother if older by a century. They were also rivals back in those days, they were very famous as well. They were called 'Cold Flame Duo' when they were still adventuring around the continent. Big sister had, at least, an S adventurer rank and was given a title of Lvl 3 High Mage only one level before she could reach the Royal Class Level. As for my mom, because she is still adventuring, she is now an SS class adventurer and a Lvl 2 Royal Mage. We finished the meal after 30 minutes. It was very shameful, but the one who ate the most food was me. It was because of Big sister Rena threatening me, and absolutely not about the breast thing, alright? While I was making excuses inside my head, Yuki was still staring at me with a deep gaze that can even swallow you whole if you're not careful. Although it is impossible, is he possibly thinking perverted things about me while looking at me with those black eyes? I mean he is at that age of puberty... No, no, no! That kind of thinking from him is really impossible. Why am I even thinking of such thoughts? While I was arguing with myself, he was still looking at me with that deep gaze which you'll most likely mistake for a gaze filled with love and lust if you only met him recently. Those were my thoughts which only caused my beet red face to turn crimson red. It looks like my head was gonna release steam if this continue anymore. "Meria, wait a moment. Stay where you are." Yuki ordered while he stood up from his seat at the table. Right when I stood up, he suddenly told me those words. He was also coming to where I am standing. Awawa, what is he going to do? He was slowly reaching his right hand towards me. Huh? D-d-don't tell me he is... No, no, no, that is impossible! Yet why is he reaching for me? It looks like he's reaching for my head. T-then he really is g-going to k-k-kiss me! B-but why? Should I move away? But it would hurt his feelings, and I don't want him to misunderstand that I don't like him... not that I like him or anything, nope I don't like him at all... maybe just a little? A-anyways, this is too fast! I mean he is still young, and I'm not even that beautiful... Aaahh, whatever! I don't care anymore! My head is a mess at this moment. I just closed my eyes and prepare for whatever happens. I only realized that it was a bad idea as it only made me even more nervous. And my heart is beating so loud I was afraid that it was audible to everyone in the room. BADUMP!! BADUMP!! BADUMP!! "Your temperature is above the normal. Do you want some medicine? We can postpone the discussion after you're feeling better." Yuki suggested worryingly, putting his hands on my forehead to check my temperature. Eeeehh? Is that it? Where's my kiss... not that I was waiting expectantly for it. Right, I'm not waiting for it, I'm not a pervert who is waiting for a 13-year-old boy to kiss me, yup I'm definitely not a pervert! "N-no I'm fine. I just need to go to the bathroom for a moment. Excuse me for awhile." I said while I saw Big sister Rena trying to hold her laughter. I need to refocus myself. The matter that we will discuss will be a serious one. It won't do if they don't take me seriously on a matter of such importance. End of Chapter 11 Chapter Twelve: Unknown Enemies