21. Magic(?)
A week later, the family of three made their way to the capital.
Taking a ride by car was actually a hassle, but because of the demonic zergs flying around, this continent didn't have them and travel was mainly done by underground metro rails or simply by car, even trade by sea was not feasible because the threat was still there.... Hiring guards could help, but the soldiers were in the end nobles while the merchants were commoners, there is no way they will 'guard' and work for them!
Of course, the nobles used them for their own business from time to time, as a result, the difference between the commoners and nobility had only widened with time...
The capital city of Agape, Ode was located in the far south of this southern empire.
The water body was only 1/3rd and most of it was concentrated in the extreme ends of southern and northern ends, Ode at the south end faced the southern ocean... the business was among the richest here because of exotic marine products produced by the ocean. Well, Ode being the capital with nobles teeming around, it was also easier for business too.
Yuki had read a lot about them in the past and was actually interested in this thing called ocean, she had seen some videos, but everyone spoke about how you can only get the feeling by being there in person.
They were Winterdale was the Dukedom farthest away from Ode by land so, it will take them around 3 days to reach there.
If the Duke wanted he could actually strengthen the engine with his magic to increase its speed like he did when he came to Winterdale, but because Aki was here who still hadn't reached puberty and developed his magic, this may become detrimental.
The magic they possessed was actually peculiar, nobody knew why they had it, or why only the noble alphas and betas had it... if it was given them to protect their land, with the absurd disparity in numbers and also most of the population being commoners, it was really hard for them to protect it, well, this also made things easier between the empires in a way, as there has been no war among themselves.
There were demonic zergs already and firepower was too low as the commoner soldiers were used as meat shield many times to drive away the threats or, give more time to the nobles. So, it would be meaningless to fight against a fellow human, plus, they were content with their own lands.
But here is the weirdest thing, Yuki had read and even searched a lot... but as weird as it gets, nobody actually knows where magic originated or, why were there zergs around? Nobody knew, nor did anybody cared for it.
If Yuki had to choose a word, she would most definitely choose the word, 'setting'... Yes, it was like the setting of this world was written like that so, nobody asked this question and without even knowing what zergs are, they just acted on their instincts and killed them, because according to this setting, they were humanity's 'enemy'.
Yuki knew that something was wrong, but with everyone treating it to be normal, she started to feel like she was thinking too much or maybe, she was not 'normal' in this world.
Yuki had again wandered off in her thinking and in the process was looking out of the car without actually 'looking' at anything... she was simply in a daze.
Aki was sitting beside his Onee-chan and didn't disturb her a lot, but with nothing to do, even the shy little kid started fidgeting.
He was told that they will relocate to a new place and it would take a long drive to the said place. Aki didn't understand much, but because he was told that he will be with his Onee-chan he eagerly accepted it... but after more than 12 hours of the ride with very short stops to get some fresh air, and sitting without much to do... he was BORED! VERY BORED!
The Duke who was going through some news looked at the kid who was very restless as he took glances at his sister and then he looked at the young girl who hadn't spoken a word since the start, she was still in the same position looking outside.
Though Winterdale wasn't in a remote area, due to the fear of the demonic zergs, the population was concentrated in a few areas protected inside huge walls so, the vast roads that connected the different areas were actually very alienated... The area beside the roads was covered by grasslands or sometimes mountains or even deserts at other places without another soul in sight... there was not much to look at.
Still, he didn't want to ask her to do something else, he didn't want to interfere more than needed.
He took his eyes off her and looked at Aki, who by now, was also looking at him.
Aki found that his Onee-chan didn't even look at him and was a bit disheartened, but then he looked at his Papa.
His Papa looked a bit strict and stern, but having spent a lot of his time with him in this past week, he was very fond of him too.
When he looked at his Papa, who was also looking at his Onee-chan, he thought that he was also lonely because Onee-chan was not paying attention to him so, Aki being the good and sweet kid, decided to play with him.
"Papa, can you teach me something about magic", he was still a child, he was just 4 years old, but he was spending a better half of his time beside his Onee-chan and so, he was also turning into a nerd(?)
Since his Onee-chan was so amazing, he couldn't lag behind a lot!! He can't embarrass his Onee-chan, he will also try to be awesome~
He was still not aware of this gender system because Yuki didn't read a lot of those theories, but he had seen her read a lot of books on Magic theory and hence, he was interested in them.
The Duke thought that they had still a long journey to cover and since the emperor had given him two weeks of leave, he didn't have any emergency to handle so, he could satisfy the child's need.