2.2 A Grim Reminder

Now that I thought about it, she never even questioned why I asked her for training in the first place. She just looked at me with a curious eye before leading out here with two swords under her arm. Then again, if this was truly the medieval period that I imagined it was, it would be normal for a guy like me to have fighting experience. Still, the fact that she was more than willing to teach me meant that there might be some form of enemy out there that was willing to fight us. Because why else would she even consider teaching me how to fight like a soldier when it was clear that I was a Nenner, and thus not really expected to fight?

Or maybe she just wanted her son to know how to defend herself. It was expected of me, after all. Really, the fact that Mother even knew how to fight was already an anomaly for this time period.

"Mother?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you teach me how to fight?"

Mother slowed her pace at my question, her brows scrunched up in thought as we passed another boulder in our path. It was good a time as any to learn why she even humored me. I might forget to ask later, so I might as well ask now.

"Rouge," Mother started, her calm voice still soothing to my ears. "You asked."

It was my turn to furrow my brows in befuddlement.

Wait... That was it? No shadow enemy that I might have to get away from? No reason as to why she was working me to the bone just to drill all the basic movement stance into my head beyond me just asking for it?

"That's really it, little Rouge~" Mother chuckled at my expense. She must've notice my expression. "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't teach my son what he wanted?"

I blinked at the straightforward answer. Then again, what did I expect? My parents here were nothing but supportive of me. Even if I supposedly wasted a few materials trying to invent a few things to help us out, they didn't really mind it too much. In fact, even though I was practically failing at every turn to reinvent a few machines, they didn't really ask me to stop. And if that was the case already, why wouldn't Mother not teach me something that she already saw was necessary?

"Rouge?"

I fought the urge to chuckle as I struggled to keep on walking. Really, why did I even ask? I should've expected this.

"Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," I choked out. "I just... I really forgot that I have the best parents I could ever have."

A tear began forming in my eyes now. Damn... Was I really going to go full sentimental now? I had a decent life back then, sure, but somehow, knowing that I had good people as parents again just rubbed on me...

"And I'm glad I have such a wonderful son," Mother smiled, a few tears also in her eyes as she rubbed my head affectionately. "Do you want to stay out a bit later? I'm sure your father won't die if we stayed out a bit longer past sundown."

I chuckled at the joke, noting that the sun had indeed set while I was being sentimental. With one final sniffle to clear my nose, I gave my mother the brightest smile I could ever give; a smile that I was sure I've never even thought of showing in my first life.

"You never know," I joked back. "Father did teach me how to smith at age eight."

We walked and talked under the guiding light of the full moon. A mother and son sharing a couple of laughs at the man of the house's expense.

I guess some things never changed throughout history.

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"I should've used it a while ago."

I heard Mother mutter to herself as I followed her lead. The moon was fully covered in clouds, a sharp contrast to just a few minutes ago when it was lighting our path as brightly as a fluorescent lamp. For just a few minutes, we walked almost blindly through the rocky plains before Mother finally decided to light a flame in her hand as a light source. Still, the damage had already been done by the time we could finally see.

Somehow, we had gotten ourselves lost in our own extensive backyard.

I followed her dutifully as she tried to show us the way. Mother had stayed silent ever since she conjured up her ball of flame, with myself simply following her lead since she had the light source. It's been a few minutes already, but she seemed to just not find the way back to our house. At this point, we should've been sitting down at the table eating dinner, but Mother just refused to let me help her.

Why? Well, Mother did have a bit of a prideful streak to her. Still, this couldn't go on for much longer.

Letting out a sigh, I tried to at least get my opinion out. "I don't think the house is-mmmphhh!"

But before I could finish my sentence, a hand had suddenly covered my mouth. To my surprise, Mother had extinguished the flame in her hand, her movements sharp and precise as she held me down.

What was happening?

I strained my eyes in the dark, trying to assess just what or why Mother decided to pull us down onto the ground.

...

...

*tap... tap...*

The light tumbling of rocks pierced through the calm silence of the field.

Movement... from the rocks a few meters down... My ears picked up a strange chirping sound from them... the sound of... electricity?

I felt myself being dragged lower onto the ground as Mother quickly dragged us behind a large rock. She gave me the universal sign to keep quiet, then she pulled out her sword, her blade glinting at what little light there was in this moonless night in preparation for what was to come.

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