Slice of Life

Roxy stared at her summoned spirit companion and hummed. "What in the world are you?"

*sching*

Mercy floated over, hovering in front of Roxy. The shimmering silver blob shaped itself into a humanoid form and then tilted its head, as if it was confused.

Roxy patted its head and said, "You clearly have a mind of your own. But you were also summoned, meaning you came from somewhere. But there are no records of a metallic spirit ever being summoned. Were you created? Formed by my magic circles and granted life? Or were you pulled from a separate space?"

*sching?*

Mercy shook its little head.

Roxy sighed and said, "Well, whatever the case, I'm grateful for your aid."

*sching!*

Mercy shaped itself into a smiley face and then turned back into a silver blob, hovering over Roxy's right shoulder.

Roxy smiled as well, but then she took a look around her surroundings.

As always, she was patrolling around Buina village. Specifically, she was patrolling in the forest, leaving the other areas for Laws to cover.

"Hm." Roxy checked the trees, underbrush, and canopy around her.

Colorful lights floated about, the threads of ambient elemental mana. But there wasn't a sign of anything amiss. No strange white mana that would be a sign of Being W or any other mana disturbance.

Even so, Roxy didn't lower her guard.

As usual, she made her way through the forest to check on the magic circles she placed.

Barrier magic, holy mana, converting external mana into ambient mana... It was a modification from Rudy's initial design, but it was effective. And it was working as well.

Assuming that Being W could only interfere through mana and mental manipulations like before, it would be hard for him to affect anyone in Buina village. And in the worst case, the forest could serve as a refuge as well with all the protections Roxy had placed.

*sching?*

Mercy floated in front of Roxy.

She blinked. "Is something wrong?"

Mercy bobbed up in the air before drifting over to something hidden in the underbrush.

Roxy looked over and then saw an old stone slab pulsing with a pure golden mana.

Mercy bobbed up and down over the slab before moving close to it, as if trying to read it.

Roxy smiled and walked over. "Curious?"

*sching!*

Roxy chuckled and then crouched down to look at the slab. "Let's see... This should be one of the Seven World Powers monuments."

Unlike the color of the mana, the slab glowed with a soft blue-green light, emitting seven symbols that surrounded the number '7' written in the Fighting God language.

Roxy recognized them. During her stay in the Shirone Kingdom, she spent a lot of time doing research in the library. Not only that, but as an adventurer, you inevitably ended up knowing the symbols for the big seven.

A pair of jagged wings representing the Technique God.

The side profile of a dragon head, representing the Dragon God.

A geometric design that looked like either a shield or a complicated box that represented the Fighting God.

A symbol that looked like an eye representing Demon God Laplace.

A strange abstract symbol with a lot of curves that represented the Death God.

A sword representing the Sword God.

And then an image that looked like a sword in front of a shield, representing the North God.

Those were what were on the slab, starting just over the '7' and going clockwise, representing the order of power.

In short, the Technique God was first, the Dragon God Orsted was second, and so on.

It was the same that Roxy had seen on all the other slabs since becoming an adventurer. At least, that was what she thought. But...

"Hm?"

The order was different.

The Technique God and the Dragon God were still first and second. But Demon God Laplace had moved up to third.

Not only that, but its symbol was a bit different. It was still an eye, but it looked twisted. The left half of the symbol was erased, and a symbol that looked like a bent sword covered it.

Roxy frowned. "...That's troubling."

There was a shift. Not only that, but the shift was in Demon God Laplace.

"Is this a result of Rudy? Or is it that Being W?" Roxy mumbled and placed a hand on her chin, thoughtfully staring at the slab.

*sching!*

Mercy moved in front of Roxy and then turned into an arrow, pointing at something off to the side.

Roxy straightened and then looked over to see a half dozen wild boars slowly emerge from the underbrush.

*sching*

Mercy moved to Roxy's side and turned into a crescent blade.

She lifted her staff and said, "Well. I suppose the girls would appreciate some more food. And Rudy should eat more as well."

The largest boar squealed and then charged at Roxy.

Mercy blurred, charging to meet the boar.

"Make it tidy, Mercy."

*sching!*

-LIV-

"Rui!" Norn giggled and ran over to hug me.

I hugged her back and looked around. "Heya Norn. Have you been a good girl?"

"Mmhm!" She giggled again and nuzzled against me.

Aisha ran over as well, her eyes lighting up. "Big Bro!"

I smiled and then reached over to pat her head. "Heya Aisha."

She giggled and hugged me too.

I was back at our old house. And it seemed like that was where everyone else was as well.

"So sleeping beauty finally woke up?" Rostelina smiled, leaning against the edge of the gate. It seemed like she was the one watching my baby sisters at the moment.

I nodded and said, "Yep. And I have a lot of questions for you, Miss Rostelina."

Like how and why she regained her past memories. Not only that, but who she was with considering that she hadn't met that Cliff person Rudeus mentioned.

"But we can talk about that later. Right now..." I hugged Norn and Aisha and said, "I haven't played with you two in a while, have I? How about we have some fun?"

Aisha gasped and then clapped her hands together. "Big Bro! Magic!"

Norn's eyes lit up and she quickly nodded. "Rui! Play magic!"

I laughed and said, "Magic, huh? Sure. I have a few fun ideas we can play with."

"Yay!"

"Big Bro, super cool!"

Pure admiration. From both Norn and Aisha.

Norn was a given, but even after I treated Aisha a bit callously, she still cared for me that much...

"Rudy?" Mom's voice called out from inside the house. "Is that you?"

I flinched.

Norn noticed and held me close. "Rui! I protec!"

Aisha gasped and started tugging me. "Run! Mama Zenny scary!"

"What was that, Aisha?" Mom walked out of the house, wiping her hands against her apron. "Calling me scary?"

Aisha trembled and then let go of my hand before standing in front of Mom. She looked back at me and said, "Big Bro! Run!"

Norn tugged on my hand and said, "Rui! Gogo!"

Mom huffed and then walked forward, scooping Aisha up into her arms. "You little rascal!"

Aisha shrieked and then squirmed around in Mom's arms. She looked at me with a brave look and said, "Big Sis! Go!"

"Rui!" Norn kept tugging me, determination in her eyes.

And then laughter echoed. Miss Rostelina, smiling as she watched everything unfold.

I laughed as well, seeing the ridiculous antics my little sisters were pulling. "What are you two making Mom do? She's in no condition to be chasing after you two, you know?"

Norn looked guilty.

"Eh?" Mom paused and then looked at me, confused.

I cleared my throat. "Sorry for the trouble recently, Mom."

She blinked and then looked at Rostelina.

Rostelina placed a finger over her lips and winked.

Mom narrowed her eyes. "Lina. I said no flirting with Rudy."

She blinked and then rolled her eyes. "What do you take me for, a shameless cradle robber?"

...Cradle robber?

Mom gave a serious nod to Rostelina and said, "Yes."

Rostelina laughed and then said, "Don't worry. I have my man and I'm plenty satisfied these days. Now, is Rose inside?"

Mom still looked skeptical, but she nodded and said, "Rose is helping with lunch-"

"Wonderful." Rostelina waved and walked inside. "I'll take over for you. Go rest and have fun with the kids, Zenny."

The door to the house closed, and then it was just me with my mom and my sisters.

At that time, Aisha broke free from Mom's grasp and darted over towards me, grabbing my hand. "Big Bro! Gogogo!"

I laughed and then poked her in the forehead. "Stop being so silly, Aisha."

"Owie!" Aisha placed her hands over her forehead and started tearing up. "Big Bro! Meanie!"

Norn walked over and patted Aisha's head. "Ai! It's kay!"

Aisha hugged Norn. "Big Sis nice!"

I looked at the two and then back at Mom. "...Are they always like this when Sylphy and Eris aren't around?"

Mom sighed. "Yes. Your sisters are a bit of a handful. It seems like they picked up your dad's wild energy..."

Aisha's eyes lit up and she said, "Yay! Da cool! I like!"

...It's a good thing Rudeus vanished. That guy probably would have had a heart attack at how different things were right now...

Mom sighed and then walked over to me. She seemed a bit hesitant, but she reached out to brush hair out of my eyes. "...Are you feeling better now, Rudy?"

There was a trace of worry there that she tried to hide, but couldn't.

I smiled to reassure her and said, "I'm fine now, Mom. And sorry for being a brat."

Mom smiled and then put on a stern face. "Well it's about time you realized it, Mister. Now for a punishment..."

I flinched and lowered my gaze.

"...You have to stay here and play with us the rest of the day, alright?"

I blinked and then looked up to see Mom give me a warm smile. As if she didn't care about anything other than the fact that I was back to normal.

I smiled back, my vision blurring a bit.

Norn gasped. "Rui! Why crying?!"

Aisha gasped too and then hugged me. "Big Bro! No cry!"

I laughed and brushed away my tears. "It's happy tears, okay? And it's okay to cry when you want to."

Mom nodded. "That's right. Although, you've always been a bit of a crybaby, haven't you, Rudy?"

"I am not!"

"I said 'have', but it seems like you still are?"

"Argh... whatever." I grumbled, but I couldn't hide the smile on my face. "Anyway... let's go sit down somewhere. You shouldn't be standing so much, Mom. I don't want my new sibling to be as hectic as Norn was when she came into this world."

Norn blinked and looked confused.

I ruffled her hair. "Don't worry about it, Norn. Now..." I focused on the corner of the courtyard.

That guy said magic was omnipotent. Not only that, but it wasn't just 'willpower' and 'logic.' If you had a good enough mental image, then mana would move to that image.

In short, a confirmation of how Sylphy used her magic.

So it should work. If I envisioned it clearly enough and focused my mana, the outcome I wanted should just work.

Of course, there was the prerequisite that I had enough mana, but mana wasn't a concern for me.

In that case...

I imagined it. A cheap and colorful plastic table/bench combo for the kids to sit at. A comfortable beanbag chair for my mom.

And then they blinked into existence, wobbling a bit as they landed on the ground.

"Wao!" Aisha clapped her hands and said, "Big Bro cool!"

Norn gasped and then looked at me. "Rui! Awsum!"

I smiled. "Thanks you two." After that, I looked at my mom.

She stared at the new furniture and then sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "My genius son doesn't know when to stop upending magic, does he?"

...What am I, some light novel character? Come on, Mom, it's not that serious...

-LIV-

"And don't bother us anymore, twerps!" Eris glared at the bunch of rowdy kids running away from her and Sylphy.

Sylphy sighed and said, "Did you have to be so mean?"

Eris turned her head to the side and tossed her hair. "Hmph. They should feel lucky I just yelled at them and didn't beat them up. Calling you a demon... If Rudy was here, he would have broken their legs!"

Sylphy shook her head. "No he wouldn't."

Eris gave Sylphy a blank look. "You're kidding."

Sylphy smiled. "Rudy would have broken every bone in their body and then healed them to make it look like nothing happened."

"...Sylphy. You're really scary."

"But I'm cute, right?"

"I... I guess...?"

Eris looked around the surroundings.

They were wandering around the outskirts of the village, helping out farmers where they could and beating up any wild animals that got close. Because of that, they also got a bit of pocket change.

Sylphy said it was a lot. Eris wasn't so sure, but Sylphy was smarter than her, so she trusted what Sylphy said.

She was also scary when she was mad, so Eris decided to just go along with it.

Sylphy looked at the sky and said, "It's getting late. You want to go home, Eris?"

Eris carefully adjusted her coin bag and then nodded. "Yeah. If we don't go back, stupid Rudy will forget to eat again."

Sylphy furrowed her brow. "Yes. Rudy's been doing that a lot..."

"Right? So let's go! We need to make him stop being a boring book reader and do some more fun things too!"

"Boring books?" Sylphy gave Eris a blank look.

Eris froze and said, "N-Not that books are bad! But R-Rudy is reading too much, r-r-right?"

Sylphy was quiet and then nodded. "Right! Eris is thoughtful as always!"

"H-Haha..."

Was this how the servants felt around Grandpa? Eris could never tell how Sylphy was going to react...

"Hold on tight, kay~?"

"Wait. Sylphy wai- KYAAAAAAAAAA!"

A giant wind kicked up and then the two girls flew through the air, heading back to the Greyrat household.