2 Adopted

Arc 1(Prologue Arc)

Chapter 2: Adopted

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"This is my home, kid," Takayuki said in a rather monotone voice. "Also, I don't live by myself. I have a wife and a daughter, so please don't say anything weird that would agitate them." He had a strange expression, and Douglas, now K', almost chuckled.

"Alight. By the way, Are you some sort of a rich bastard? Your compound gives me the impression of a rich playboy."

"Thank you." Takayuki breathed, relieved. "Well, although the way you worded it isn't very likeable, I am the son of a rich family, so...ah, but let's not talk about such topics, shall we? I will introduce you to them. Again, please don't say anything weird."

"Alright, I get it."

'A rich bastard living out here near the slums, living a normal life, unexpectedly. You would think they would get sucked dry by those beggars, but they must be fairly strong to avoid it. And they probably are running away from their family, while also living as a married couple. Cliche. Life must be hard for him. Grandma was such a chore to have as a wife, that's what Great Grandpa told me.'

He didn't particularly show pity for Takayuki, though.

'More importantly, I need to find out more about the world. From a simple gaze, this City looks rather peaceful, but I can smell it, the corruption that is being suppressed. And we are close to the slums, where shit starts most frequently. I'm not getting good vibes at all.

If I'm not wrong, races other than humans exist. If they don't, then there must be a hell of a lot of Cosplayers. The city I lived in in my past life was fun, it was full of bloodthirsty delinquents, thugs, and more. They are just about everywhere on the streets, so I can beat up some losers every day. Grandpa's ways were effective, so I was unbeatable around the neighborhood.'

K's musing was cut off as they both faced the door right now.

Takayuki took a few deep breaths and knocked on the door...

*Knock!* *Knock!*

...which was soon opened by a beautiful woman. She was carrying a baby, or more like, a kid.

The woman was beautiful, as mentioned. She looks like every other Japanese woman, but her charm is undeniable. She gives off the vibes of a mother, which she is, as she is carrying a 4-year-old child. She seems like the busy Housewife type as she was wearing an apron, seemingly busy.

???: "Welcome home, darling~!"

"Ah, I'm home, honey, also..."

Then, Takayuki eyes K' seemingly trying to convey a message that only men would understand.

'Do your thing, K'!'.

'Are you a child? Why don't you handle it yourself? Such a hassle. Not worth my time. Moreover, you only told me to not act suspiciously, and since you're the one who did despite being the one who told me not to, you take responsibility, man up, and face your wife.'

However, K' wasn't having any of his shit.

Takayuki quickly pulled him away from there and was panicking a bit. They were far enough to have a secret conversation.

"Fine, how about we make a deal?"

"What deal?"

Now K' was a bit interested in this deal, so he at least wanted to hear him out.

"In the past, during my golden days, I encountered a One-Time Use Artifact which allows anyone, even those who are abysmally talentless in magic, to create a Mana Core of any element, essentially giving said person the ability to use Magic. I noticed that you haven't a Mana, which is normal, and you don't have any talent which isn't normal, but I can make it easy for you and I can give you the Artifact. How does that sound?" Now Takayuki was smiling. He was sure he would win K' over.

"What are you, a Chinese old man? But I suppose that's a fair deal."

And win over he did.

***

"Takayuki-san, is this your wife?"

K' asked. Now he needs to clear up Takayuki's mess.

"Yes, she is."

Takayuki replied truthfully.

"And who is this child, darling? Don't tell me...is this your secret love child...?"

The woman who looked kind and caring slowly took out a frying pan and pointed it at Takayuki...with her hair covering her eyes. Looking at the frying pan, Takayuki started shivering uncontrollably.

"Although this is an amusing situation, I am not his secret child, and I wouldn't wanna be a secret love child of anyone. Takayuki here hit me with his Truck and now he is repenting for his actions by taking care of me. For future reference, my name is K'."

'What the...why is the bastard looking at me like he found his long-lost savior? Well, now the situation is resolved and Takayuki has to stay true to his words. Was it an item that will grant me the ability to use Magic? Well, I guess that sounds interesting.' It seems K' has something to look forward to now.

"Oh my, so that was the case. I apologize, darling. Since you've introduced yourself, I shall as well. My name is Kujou Miyuki. I'm a Housewife!"

"Hm." K' just grunted to the polite gesture, which gave him two pairs of twitching eyes.

"*Ahem!*And you're saying that this idiot hit you with his Truck? Is there any permanent injury or anything like that?"

"Eh...ehehehehe..." Takayuki could only laugh wryly, after all, he also felt quite guilty.

"Yeah, that's right, he hit me. However, there are no permanent damages. Instead of paying compensation, chose to adopt me. I am an orphan, so there isn't any problem. That is, as long as he fulfills his part of the deal."

"Fufu, you're very mature for a kid your age." It seems that she was quite surprised by his answer. "But well, if you're fine with it, I have no say in this matter. And you, be sure to fulfill your part of the deal, okay?"

"Yup, I'm intending to commit myself to it." Although he is a wimp, he does seem like the type to keep his promises.

"Although I'm curious about this deal you two are having, I won't pry into it. So, K', I noticed that your body is much stronger than your average child, don't tell me you're using Morph Magic and you're secretly an Old Man?"

"Magic? No, it is still a foreign concept to me. Takayuki here is gonna teach me how to use it–which was part of the deal–so I will soon be able to use it."

"So you're saying that your body is naturally stronger than normal?" Mrs. Takayuki was a bit doubtful and asked.

"Not really." His answer as well as his tone was blunt. "I don't like to be compared to a genius because I achieved this body through hard work, not something like an innate physique or talent. This is the result of my hard work and Grandpa's teachings."

"I see. Hmm...but I thought you said you don't remember anything about your Family?" This question bugged her a little for a while now.

"Yeah, I did, and it is true. I don't remember who my Grandpa is, just that he is a War Veteran and he taught me how to Fight. Though, I don't remember him teaching me anything about Magic." Everything he said was true, he doesn't remember anything, and the fact that he transmigrated is still only a guess.

"Nothing about Magic? That's not very smart of your Grandpa. No matter how strong your body is, you won't be able to take on Magic Spells. There are exceptions, but not everyone can be an exception."

"Well, I didn't learn martial arts to tank Magic Spells, I learned it for...let's not talk about why I learned it. Even if it doesn't allow us to tank it, Martial Arts is useful. You train your body with it and it makes your reaction faster."

K's expression changed, he became serious.

"The average human reaction time is 0.25s and martial artists should be able to bring that down to at least 0.15s or even 0.10s. I'm gonna bet that Magic Spells aren't cast below a second because I think there is a thing called Casting. If so, I should be able to easily kil---I mean, defeat that person."

"Ohhh. When you put it like that, it makes all Magicians sound like sitting ducks, but I suppose that's true. You sure know your stuff, K-kun. Anyway, let us go in, shall we?"

'So she's saying that Magic Spells need time to Cast before they can be launched? How typical of a Magical World. I can easily kill Magicians during the time they are casting...kukukuku. Maybe I can even kill multiple Magicians since I can feel that my body is as strong as my past life in peak condition, and my reaction time before is 0.01s, so my reaction time is faster than most of humanity, bringing me to the little 1%. I came to this conclusion because I've outdone many Top-Class Athletes in terms of Reaction Speed. Well then, I guess I have a plan for now. My main goal is to reach the level where my Reaction Time is 0.00s, in other words, an Instant. Even after that, I will train till I feel confident that I can Solo every single Magician of this world.'

For the rest of the day, K' moved his body around and tried to get used to his small body. It works partially, but it doesn't make him gain the level of control he wanted. However, he is already at a stage where normal humans can move their bodies.

His standards are high, he would only consider it his normal control when he can move any joints in his body freely. He did some pretty insane things with his Joints, and Takayuki managed to see a glimpse of pain in K' face. This new body isn't used to pain as his previous body.

"Uhh...K, are you alright? Do you not like this place? You've been spacing out the whole day. Just tell me if you don't like it, and I'll figure something out, alright?"

Well, it seems he is concerned about K. Useless concerns.

"Tch. Mind your business." K was not delighted with his situation, and it doesn't help that he is a high-strung person.

"Hey Hey, you're a rude little bastard, huh?" He doesn't seem to be angry though, and continued, "Well, how do you like your room? I tried to decorate it, but I don't know your taste, so I refrained from it."

"I don't need such things, it's a hassle. If all my needs are here, then that's enough. Anyhow, I'm a growing boy, and I need lots of rest, so I will be sleeping now. Goodnight." He raised his hand and bit him goodbye.

"Alrighty then, goodnight K!"

*Plop~*

'Oof, I didn't know beds could be this comfortable. I'm more tired than I thought. I guess being killed and waking up in some unknown place while being adopted took a toll on my body and mind. Ugh, I can barely keep myself awake. Maybe this is a dream and I will wake up tomorrow, who knows? If that's the case, this sure would be anti-climatic...'

*Snore~*