19 Chapter 19: Despite the Downside of my Gift, I Met a Surprise Visitor

[Author's Pre-Chapter Note: If you haven't caught up with the latest chapter in my other story, 'A Cheap, OP Brawler,' then you must know that I'm dealing with a bad cold while in the process of moving. Compared to that story, I don't think this will change much from the usual 1 chapter/week update at whatever time seems convenient, but I thought I'd point it out here just in case. I'll keep you guys posted on that while I try to update both stories the best I can.

[Otherwise, enjoy the chapter.]

With the celebration over, party decorations cleaned up, the restaurant-owned spouses bidding good-bye while wishing me luck, and my plans for the next morning set, me and the guys took the bath that Mom warmed up beforehand. Public bathing is a pretty common thing in Manara's culture, sort of like what's seen in Japan as well as ancient Greece and Rome. Most commoners would go to a public bath owned by a city or inn, but actually owning a bath in one's home is a sort of symbol of how wealthy a person is. It's kind of like seeing chubby guys back in ancient times, but that showed how well off they were to afford the food that filled their stomachs to such a degree (whether that's an attractive feature of theirs is another story). With that said, my family is in a sort of upper-middle-class of commoners since Dad bought the place that was previously an inn, which already had its own bath at the time.

The procedure of taking a bath is similar to what I've seen in Japanese culture shown in anime and manga: cleaning yourself comes first, then you soak and unwind for some time either by yourself or others around you sharing the same bathwater. I've thankfully experienced this over a college program back on Earth that involved a homestay in Japan to not get too weirded out by it, but the exposure also helped me acclimate to Manara's norms to some degree. I'm just thankful there was a decent amount of hygiene that existed.

I preferred to soak by myself or with my Companions in peace, but with the older guys there trying to pull me in conversation—Weiss was especially notorious that night for bringing up the topic of the new 'girlfriends' I made—it was difficult to ignore it all. Considering what had happened that day though, it was sort of understandable I was the center of that attention.

After I soaked enough, I went up to my room with all of my gifts and decided to relax a little while. I was honestly so eager to get started reading the Book of Ancient Practices Claire gifted me that I had to cut my bath time shorter than usual. All of my Companions were already there, finished with their own bath that Mom prepared before ours, which didn't take long as it was only taking a few wooden tubs of hot bathwater. Everybody's fairies in the building had their own cleaning and soak first before me and the guys went in the bath afterward. In public baths, there were usually separate small kiddie pools for fairies to soak themselves into if they prefer to bathe that way than sharing a bath with their Chaperones. Their admittance is free, of course, as we owe them a lot for helping us live all of that time.

"Well, I'm bushed after that hectic day." [Breezy]

"And I thought the time with my previous Chaperone was exhausting enough." [Cinder]

"It was nice to finally talk with everybody, though. I got some good compliments on my looks, too~." [Shadina]

"Mist preferred to keep Soar to herself, but this fine, too." [Mist]

"Seriously, a lot of stuff happened, some more aggravating than others, but it turned out surprisingly okay. I'm sort of glad everyone knows about you guys now, but we still have to keep you hidden from the townsfolk and the public. On the bright side, we can shop for materials to set up your new beds suitable for your sizes after my business in Brightlas," I said as I set up my new hunter gear for the next morning. I then pulled out my Companions' 'beds' that were in a box that looked more like a diorama for an elementary school project—which was actually something I did during my time in Class 1—and made some last-minute adjustments to be suitable for that night. Up until that day, I always made sure their beds were well hidden and I kept my room clean enough so Mom wouldn't do it herself and discover my secret on accident. Since everyone in the building was aware of them then, I could leave it out in the open and I wouldn't have to worry about hiding it again. The night before was an exception with how crazy things got with the bandits and I was too exhausted to pull their beds out.

"Aside from the occasional naps, it's a shame we aren't big enough to sleep with you and not worry about being squashed." [Breezy]

"Hey, maybe if we continue to level up and receive power from e-stones, we can grow big enough to make that possible." [Shadina]

"I wouldn't really get my hopes up." [Cinder]

I jumped onto the bed with the new book in hand. "Well, we can still work hard and see what happens, right? In the meantime, I'd like to get through a chapter or two of this book before heading to bed."

"Oh~, Mist want to read with Soar, too," Mist started as she flew up to my lap while I have the book in hand. Despite how bored they got from books, the others also expressed similar interest from how excited I got after receiving the Book of Ancient Practices from Claire. They occupied whatever spots on my body were open and took their seats. They were slightly heavier with their new grown-up sizes, but even with the latest addition, Cinder, in my fairy harem, it wasn't much to give me discomfort.

"All right, everyone comfortable? Let's get started." With eagerness swelling inside me, I flipped the cover and glimpsed at the first page … and then the next, and then the next, and then the next, and then the next ...

~~

"W-Whoa! Soar! Slow down! We haven't even started on the first page!" [Shadina]

"…"

"Soar?" [Breezy]

"He's just flipping through the pages with that weird blank look in his eyes now! Is that normal?!" [Cinder]

"No! Mist never saw Soar like this!" [Mist]

"Sh-Should we call his parents over?!" [Shadina]

"Soar?! Can you hear us?! Say something!" [Breezy]

<"Information input, completed. Content from the Book of Ancient Practices has been successfully stored in the Great Sage gift. Scanning for consistency to facts and credibility may now commence."> [Mona]

~~

"Soar! Answer me, please!"

"Huh?!" Breezy's shout in my ear made me jump in place, dropping my book to the floor in the process. The room went quiet.

"S-Soar? Are you back with us?" she asked again.

"Uh, yeah? I've been here the whole time. If you needed something, you didn't need to shout in my ear."

"Dude, we've been trying to get your attention, but you were in some sort of trance while flipping through those pages," Cinder pointed out.

"Wait, what? I was? But I hadn't even started reading yet? How long was I in that state?"

"Almost a minute. Soar start slow, then flip pages fast until end," Mist answered as I picked up the book from the floor. I sat there and stared at the cover.

"…"

"Soar? What's wrong?" Shadina asked.

"I don't think … I actually read anything yet, but I feel like I already know everything in this book now."

"Huh?"

I set the book aside on the bed, got up, and paced around the room. As I thought deeply about the book, some subjects automatically came to mind. I focused on one subject to start with before words started spilling from my mouth.

"When summoning a familiar, one must first draw a magic circle that acts as a gateway between realms. There are a variety of factors that play into what kind of familiar is summoned, including how the summoner pronounces and annunciates the chant to call them forth in Shimmerlin. Then there is the intention, the idea of what kind of familiar the summoner desires, the clarity of what they can do, their character, all while keeping a stable state of mind. Once the summoner has these clear in their mind as they pour their mana into the magic circle, their character, performance of the chant, as well as the qualifications for their familiar are judged by the Two Fathers: Nodem of Mind and Order that rules the realm of Zaleese, and Garem of Emotion and Chaos ruling over the realm of Zalecks.

"Only one of them can judge the summoner worthy to form a contract with a familiar suited for them. Should they be worthy, the familiar that appears will be the representative of their 'father,' the realm of their homeland, as well as the character and 'heart' of the summoner that they will forever be bound to by the contract, until death do them part."

<"This information has yet to be analyzed as consistent to the facts provided by the Great Sage gift. Results of scan may differ from the content's original source,"> Mona then stated in my mind.

""…""

"… What the fuck did I just say and why did I know that?"

"It like Soar read straight out of a book aloud," Mist commented.

"Is it perhaps the work of the Great Sage gift?" Breezy asked.

"Was that your doing, Mona?"

<"Yes. I am able to collect any information recorded in books and the like that you touch and see instantly. Depending on the contents, I may compare it to the true facts about the world and see whether it is accurate and legitimate.">

"Huh, and that can be with any book I pick up and the gift will do the work automatically?"

<"Once the contents are in contact and viewed clearly, yes.">

"I see … I don't think I can ever 'read' books the same way again if this thing can't be controlled to restrain itself. Even if I tried reading something again for the fun of it, it wouldn't be the same because I already know what to expect in it with 100% certainty. It also means I have no further use of the book Claire went so far to get for me as a gift… this kind of sucks."

"Well, look on the bright side. If you're going to take the test that goes over everything you learned in school, you just need to skim through your books and notes and you can ace it with a perfect score. Students going in higher education would kill to have a gift like that," Cinder said.

"That may be true, I guess …"

"Ah~! Finally, I got a moment alone with you… well, as 'alone' as I'll ever get, anyway."

"Huh?" I utter as me and my Companions jolted up from the sudden new voice in the room.

"Over here, by the window."

We all turned to the source and our eyes widened. Sitting on the windowsill was a fairy, one that's shorter for her size than what I had seen, sporting wild orange locks that stretch past her shoulders, matching eyes, gem on the chest, and a 'dress' that consisted of a bikini-like top and a daring loin cloth, letting her toned midriff bare for all to see as well as her sculpted legs and thighs. Fairies are usually simplistic in their design choices for attire, some more minimal than others, and this one was on par with Cinder of wearing the most revealing clothes so far. She gave a sort of easy-going, nonchalant 'warrior' air from how she leaned on the windowsill while letting one of her toned legs dangle over the edge.

I saw many fairies with different clothes, looks, and how they behave themselves over the years that are far off the norm of what humans and demi-humans would appear. So much so that I had grown accustomed to it enough to easily forget them like the customers I checked out back in retail, aside from a select few that I would remember after seeing them again because of how they stood out to me in some way. It was the same case here with the new fairy in the room.

"Wait … aren't you the Earth Fairy who was with another one watching our magic demonstrations earlier?" I asked, recalling her appearance that I saw while Fila and Flomi were excitably hugging me out of the former's success of casting Earth Magic for the first time.

"So, I wasn't mistaken. You did see me back then," she said while flying off of the windowsill and hovered in front of me. "You may not have noticed, but I was also there when you completely floored that girl in that sword spar earlier, too."

"… May I help you with something?" I asked, having no idea how else to respond.

The Earth Fairy then looked at my other Companions in the room. "… These are all the Companions you have, right?"

"That's right."

"Are you capable of casting Earth Magic?"

"Nu-uh."

"And yet, you were able to explain how to cast Rock Shot to that rabbitkin girl perfectly. How did you know that Earth Magic spell would work like that when you couldn't do it yourself?" she asked while crossing her arms and tilting her head in confusion.

"Well, I've seen my dad who's an expert on it cast it and other spells on multiple occasions. He … couldn't really explain it well, but going by what I watched and what I've learned in my studies, I just came to that conclusion." By 'studies,' I mean my experience in science classes over the course of my education on Earth. While I love magic, science would also be up there on my top list of favorite things. It's really helpful with improving my magic knowing how I could apply the concepts of general science into practice.

"To be able to pull that off from observation and studying only, even teaching that girl to do it while not making any chants, and then there was that power you displayed with Wind Needle … your name is Soar, right?"

"That's right, Soar Osmis."

"Your performance with that sword spar caught my attention, and while I was impressed with the rabbitkin girl's first attempt to casting Earth Magic, I'm more interested in the potential you have for even being able to teach it to her without doing it yourself, especially after what I had seen from your own magic demonstration. Do you want to be able to cast Earth Magic?"

I couldn't believe where it was going so I tried to stay calm and not get my hopes up. "Well, I'd like to do as much as I can from what I have learned, sure."

"And from the looks of your Companions here, you look like you'll have a lot going for you in the future, hmm … and no other Earth Fairies came before me?"

"Nope."

"Well, I don't know what the heck they were thinking, but I want in on this bandwagon."

Before I could react, I was met with a tiny pair of lips pressed against my cheek.

"And with that, my dear Chaperone, our contract is set. Just grant me a name and you can count on me for Earth Magic assistance at any time. Let's have as much fun as we can together from now on, 'kay?"