Chapter 14

Time waits for no man.Eris and Ghislaine's classes were going well. Better than I could have hoped for, even. After figuring out how to force Eris to put effort into math by making it fun for her, I did the same with reading and writing."Rr.""Quickly Eris! If you can't solve the riddle before the sand in the hourglass runs out, we all die!" I wailed, overacting it as I flipped an hourglass that started a countdown, simulating when our characters would be buried in sand after being caught in a trap room."You have to hurry, Eris. You're our leader. Please don't let us down," Ghislaine murmured, reading over the text of the riddle herself."Fine!" Glaring at the text over the small door, she complained, "But I don't recognize any of the letters!"Ghislaine frowned, nodding her head as she examined the door as she looked up at me. "Nor do I."Humming quietly, I looked at the door before snapping my fingers. "Ah! What if it's backwards?"The pair quickly began transposing the lettering into their correct positions. After a few minutes, Eris haltingly read, "Ri-te. Fr-ie-nd. Friend! Write friend and… en-ter? Write friend and enter? What's that supposed to mean?""A password," the beast-kin nodded. Pointing at a little section beside the door, she suggested, "Try writing the word 'friend.'"Eris shifted her stone pen over to the raised section and hurriedly wrote out F-R-I-E-N-D. A little application of magic had the door clicking open and I moved our characters through."Whew. Good job, Eris! We're sa—""No! Don't jinx us!""—fe. Uh oh. Is that a troll?""Rudy!""How many times do you think we'll have to cut this one up before it falls? Oh hey, is that another riddle on the wall?" It was a math problem in written form and only the right answer would kill the troll."Arg! I hate you!"I rolled my eyes. "Bullshit. Admit it, you're having fun."The girl crossed her arms with a 'hmph!' before turning away and sulking."Oh, here it comes. Eris, what do we do?!""Jerk."As for magic lessons, well… after the kidnapping incident, Eris had been pushing herself hard to learn. So far, she had mastered Elementary-level casting in every school of (normal) combat magic and even healing magic. Ghislaine lagged behind, having learned only fire and wind so far. I tried to push, I tried to encourage her, but for whatever reason the woman just sucked at earth and water spells. I didn't think she was stupid, unlike what Paul claimed. My best guess was that she just had some sort of mental hurdle she needed to cross first.I went out just after visiting Sylphie and made a pair of wands for the two of them, each one personalized and ending in a brass and silver handle. I never realized just how expensive what Roxy had made for me was until I had to make two of my own. I almost regretted leaving mine with Sylphie, but unless I wanted to make a third and swap with her for sentimentality, it was being put to better use in her hands.As far as silent casting…I dodged as Eris swung, a wave of fire trailing her sword. "Get back here!" she yelled, kicking off the ground with Air Running, following me up.I countered by dropping like a stone, kicking off an air platform and meeting her much closer than she expected, hitting her in the gut with a blow from my sword that came with a line of water across her stomach. She hit the ground and rolled, coughing as she gasped in air. "And you're dead. Cut in half.""Not. Fair," the girl wheezed."And what was lesson one?"Glaring up at me, Eris cast a silent heal spell on herself. "No such thing as a fair fight."I nodded. "That's right. Now, get up here and fight.""Raaa!" she screamed, once more launching herself at me. I met her with a volley of Water Balls that she had to duck, dive, and weave through to close the distance, occasionally throwing out a Fireball or Water Ball of her own.In a purely physical fight, Eris could win nine times out of ten these days. She had finally advanced past me in terms of skill, so given her longer reach and greater physical strength even without using touki, she had been kicking my butt pretty soundly. I made her work for every victory though. Occasionally, I even managed to turn the tables on her and win one for myself. The problem was, the same dirty tricks or unexpected moves from breaking out of Sword God or Water God styles didn't tend to work more than once or twice.She really was a prodigy, when it came to the sword. My ability to watch, learn, and adapt only went so far and couldn't close those basic gaps that two more years of growth on her part had given her.Oh well. It didn't bother me too much. I wasn't expecting myself to fill every role in a party. I would always be a mage at heart, even if I was a passable magic swordsman."Stop dodging!"I laughed, flitting out of the way of a lance of water. "Why in the world would I do that? No one's going to just stand still and let you hit them, Eris! If you want to hit someone moving, learn to lead your target.""Rrrr!"Eris was getting good at the magic swordsman thing. She joined me in the afternoons now for practice, when I worked on casting Elementary-level magic with every swing.Ghislaine could cast silently, but not in combat yet. She was close, though. She almost had Air Running usable. I was kind of afraid to see what a Sword King would do with that skill.After seeing me and Eris riding the electric motorcycle, Phillip had basically thrown money at me, practically shouting "shut up and take my money," when I told him I needed resources if I wanted to make them self-powered so that someone other than me could operate one. That was how I wound up with a small cache of magic stones (monster cores) and a book on enchanting. With the electric bike project finished for now and my studies of summoning going well, that left me some time to delve into writing out spells.I'll be honest, it was complex and probably the most difficult thing I'd come across in terms of magic. And yet… disappointingly, advanced math, physics, or chemistry were about as difficult. After the first month or so reading through the book and trying out a few things, I came to realize that enchanting was essentially magical coding. They didn't use the same terminology, but they shared many of the same concepts. So, I pulled out paper and started translating, either swapping words here and there or defining terms they understood but hadn't bothered to name.Variables, objects, conditional expressions, arguments… Once I made the mental connection, my learning speed improved. It had been a while since my days of learning code and writing out my own scripts and programs—going on twenty years now, counting the time spent in this world. But as I worked, it started coming back to me in bits and pieces. Sure, I couldn't remember the complicated stuff to save my life, but then I don't actually think I needed anything complicated here—or if I did, I could work up to it later. Right now, I was satisfied mastering the basics. I translated the entire book into something I could better understand for later reference. Then, as with all my spells, I set about mastering it silently—or in this case, without writing out things.That is how Edena found me one night, looking between my new book and a magic stone with a bit of copper wire looped around it, leading to a light bulb (natural quartz shaped with magic, vacuum sealed with more magic, filled with an inert gas, double-coiled filament of tungsten, aluminum reflector coating in the bottom).Where did I get the tungsten? Phillip. I asked for tungsten—well, wolframite—by description, when I was first making the motorcycle. By then, he knew that if I started asking for something weird, I was likely making something that would make him money, so he didn't hesitate to put out the request. I had a few big lumps of the stuff that I was slowly taking parts off of and turning into pure tungsten by stripping out the impurities as needed now."Excuse me," Edena called, opening the door.Of course, she picked the exact moment I would give the magical stone juice. "Shit!" I yelped as I got zapped, jerking my hand away as the bulb lit up red. This particular model was filled with neon, instead of halogen. Something I was playing with for fun, since I'd figured out how to isolate individual elements of the atmosphere with wind magic."My apologies, Rudeus. Did I come at a bad time?"I sighed. "Did I have the sign up?"Edena checked the door. "Ah, my mistake."After Eris kept bursting in at the worst possible times, I made a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign and told her that if it was up, she'd get a spanking if she entered without knocking and waiting for an answer. Eris had yet to test that particular threat. Although, from the blush on her face and the way she went absolutely silent when I gave the warning, I suspected she might have conflicting feelings about it. Ah well, she was still young, maybe when she got older she'd want to explore that avenue."It's fine. No harm done," I smiled at the woman, looking away from my red lamp. "So, what did you need?""I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I'm having with the young lady…"That was how I got roped into helping Eris learn how to dance before her birthday, and in the process learning how myself. My idea of dancing from Earth was of the 'hold a girl and sway' variety. I almost said no, but Eris was… surprisingly polite in asking for my help and letting me know she expected me to dance with her at her party. Surprisingly serious, too—given that she didn't even break out the fake animal ears and actually asked like a normal person.I couldn't say no to that face, so I adjusted my schedule to give up a couple of hours an evening to learning to dance.Edena… I'll be honest here, she was a shit teacher. To the point that I had to take her aside and very politely ask her why she thought her way was working. Her excuse was that it had worked for countless children before. I gave up and just asked her to show me the dance, then memorized the motions just as I did with martial arts or sword practice. Basically, I treated it like a kata. The memorization method worked so much better that, within a few days, I had all the dances she wanted to teach down.Then came the hard part. Herding the redheaded cat in the direction I wanted her to go.I figured out the problem pretty quickly after that. Just like in our spars, Eris set her own pace. You've heard the saying, 'marching to the beat of your own drum,' I'm sure. That described Eris to a 'T.' And Eris' pace was inconsistent and fast, to make it harder to read her movements in combat. Once I figured that out, I had Edena clap out a simple rhythm the songs being played would typically have and worked on correcting Eris' timing. Eventually, I broke down and told her to imagine she was fighting to the beat and if she missed a step she took a hit.Problem solved. Mostly. It was definitely better, anyway.Why didn't I just use the Puppet spell to make sure Eris didn't fuck it up? Because then she wouldn't learn.After getting her dance lessons done for the afternoon the night before the big day, I went back to my lab and worked on finishing up her present. Needs a more personal touch, really, I mused as I stared at the mostly completed bike, having finished installing and charging the power source. I'd tested out a simple throttle design on my own bike using the power source and fine tuned it so that it wouldn't burn up the wiring, but would still haul ass. It burned power at a pretty reasonable rate, but according to the book I'd gotten, magic stones could be refilled indefinitely and the technique it taught for filling them was so simple that I felt Eris could have it down within a… month or so. Maybe less, if I told her that I wouldn't charge her bike up and she was forced to do it herself.Unlike my bike, Eris' actually looked like a racing motorcycle with dirt bike tires, minus a few components. Yeah, the fairings and so on were all mostly decorative, but it looked a hell of a lot cooler than mine. I say mostly decorative, because I'd pulled a page from the Final Fantasy playbook and added a sheath for Eris' sword that ran through where the gas tank and engine would normally occupy. Mostly because it looked cool, partly for practical reasons of having a place to store a weapon.So why not add to the cool factor?That was how I found myself heading into town the morning of Eris' birthday and buying a bucket of red paint that came close to matching the color of her hair. I spent most of the morning using water and wind magic to apply and dry the paint, after taking some time to add in the neon red light bulb and modify the design a bit. When I was satisfied, I collected the key, painted and dried the end (not the end that goes in an ignition), and made my way up to my room.You may be wondering why I even bothered with a key ignition, in this case. The answer is simple: because I'd added a power source anyone could use, that meant anyone could climb on and ride off with it too. Maybe not well, but well enough to get away if it was left sitting somewhere. Most thefts are crimes of opportunity—that is, someone saw an opportunity and took it. A key removed the opportunity. It wouldn't stop someone from loading it onto a wagon, but it would stop some random idiot from walking up and hopping on. Yes, I could summon it back to me if need be, but I'd really rather not have to in the first place—regardless of how much imagining some stupid shit riding off into the sunset suddenly having it disappear out from under him in a scene reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff made me giggle. That was why I was going to be focusing on hammering summoning and sending into Eris' head, as soon as possible.Once I was finished, I headed for the bathroom to clean up then got dressed and made my way downstairs.The ball was about what I expected, really. A bunch of nobles crammed into a room and trying to out-peacock each other, while the star of the attraction moved between them nervously. Well, I could tell she was nervous. I doubt they could. How could I tell, you wonder?Eris was being polite.As per the plan, Eris and I shared the first dance. She was still nervous, but a few quiet words and a soft tapping of my fingers against her waist to give her a beat had her back in the right frame of mind to not blow it. After the dance, we parted and I headed for the food table since I hadn't eaten all day. A glance back at Eris showed her dancing with an older boy and I frowned. Studying the boy, I grew more annoyed when I found he was behaving himself appropriately.Turing back to the food and loading up a pair of napkins, I pondered over what I was feeling. Am I jealous? Really? I mean, this is Eris. Not Roxy or Sylphie. Not my waifu.She was… a brash, violent, rowdy, uncouth, tsundere. And yet, at the same time, my student. Someone I could call a friend. Someone who I felt just might have my back, if the shit hit the fan.So, not jealous. Just… concerned.That she was turning into someone with a surprisingly cute dere side didn't factor into it. Or the fact that Hilda was hot and Eris looked to be taking after her mom in terms of looks as she grew. Honest.Nodding to myself, I headed over to Ghislaine and passed her a napkin full of food. Before I could even say anything to the woman, or she could thank me, a voice called out from behind me. "Excuse me," a female voice said from behind. I turned and found a pretty young woman smiling behind me. Older than myself or Eris, but probably not by much. Thirteen, maybe fourteen. Brown hair. Decent figure. "Would you like to dance?"I blinked, before smiling and pocketing the second napkin in my dress coat pocket. "I'd love to."And I really would, if it meant getting close with a pretty young thing. Sure, I wouldn't be doing anything lewd or untoward, but it had been a while since I'd had someone sexy in my arms. Not since Roxy left.She was warm, soft in all the right places, and smelled wonderful. It was nice.I take it back. This isn't nice. This is hell.Apparently, I was popular. Every unattached female under the age of thirty took a turn. A few attached ladies took a turn too. Even one particularly pleasant thirty-something noble lady. And as the night progressed, I did my best to commit names and faces to memory. To get each one talking and fish out a few personal details, such as about their families, or as to their likes and dislikes, favorite foods, and that sort of thing.Basically, I networked. In between dances, I summoned my journal, wrote down the person's name, a brief physical description, and everything I'd learned from her before sending it back to my lab.I blame Sauros. Apparently, the old man got drunk and ran his mouth when someone asked who I was. Not only that I was a Greyrat, but my profession as Eris' magic tutor and my rank as a mage. And then, the horny old goat had introduced them to one of the toilets I'd made and invited them to sit down and 'shit like a king upon the throne.' At least he didn't tell them who made it, but apparently the idea went over well, if what I'd heard in passing was anything to go by.Eventually, I gave up and called it a night, making my escape… only to be captured at the last minute as Eris slipped in and grabbed my hand. "May I have another dance?"Well, with her actually being polite and looking all dolled up, and this being her special night and all, there was only one answer I could give. "I'm going to bed."Eris blinked. "Wha—"I laughed, turning my hand around in her grip and gripping her own before leading her to the dance floor. "I'd be honored, Eris."Aww, look at that. She's flipped to dere!I wisely refrained from commenting. I knew that any mention of it, any hint that I found it amusing, would see her flipping back to tsun so hard it would make my head spin. Possibly literally, if she got violent and I missed a block.Eris' smiling face and laughter was worth the extra abuse to my poor feet, I felt. When the dance ended, Sauros picked us up onto his shoulders and ran laps around the courtyard, like the drunken fool he was. Well, everyone else enjoyed it, so I didn't mind too much.Finally, finally I managed to grab some more food and slip away, dragging Eris with me—and because she was tethered to Eris' hip most days, Ghislaine as well. I lead them up to my room and dropped into a seat at my table with a tired sigh, after shucking off my jacket and throwing it over the back of the chair."Ghislaine, would you open up the cabinet there and bring out that bottle?" I asked, fishing the napkins I'd purloined out of my pockets and spreading them out on the table. "And the box beside it.""This," Ghislaine murmured, coming out with a bottle and three glasses, before going back for the small metal box. "Rudeus, are you certain? This is expensive—""Yup. I figured I'd get a bottle for special occasions. Should last me pretty much forever, since I won't touch it otherwise," I shrugged. "And it is a special occasion. Not only is it Eris' birthday, but today's the day I officially recognize the two of you as mages." I popped open the box and spun it around, before pushing it towards them. I'll be honest, after making them, I had kind of forgotten about the wands but now was as good a time as ever.As for the liquor, I wasn't entirely sure what it was but it wasn't wine. It was amber and when I'd asked about it, it was described to me how I'd heard spiced rum described back on Earth. Not that I had any experience with alcohol whatsoever. Never touched the stuff before except to try a beer and a Jack and coke and decide it wasn't for me. Now, I figured once every great now and then wouldn't hurt.The pair reverently took their wands from the box before Ghislaine poured and handed a glass to Eris. The redhead grabbed a seat and moved it closer to me before sitting down. "It's really okay to have this?""Mm," the beast-kin nodded, dropping into her own seat and sipping at her glass as she played with her wand in one hand, a satisfied smile on her face. "That's nice. And it's fine, just for tonight. Thank you for this, Rudeus." She tucked away the wand and eagerly dug into the napkin in front of her with glee."Okay then," Eris nodded, then sipped at her own glass as she studied her wand. She immediately choked and coughed, putting the glass down and looking at it like it had betrayed her. "Hot!""Yeah. Good stuff," Ghislaine reiterated, leaning back into more of a relaxed lounge or sprawl than a sit. The position did absolutely amazing things as it put her massive breasts and long, muscular legs on display. It only took a few seconds for me to pull my attention away, but given the woman's amused look, she had caught me staring and didn't seem to mind."Oh, right. Almost forgot." I sat my own glass down and fished around in my pockets. Not finding the key anywhere, I focused on it and cast summoning magic. The key appeared in my hand in a flash of light and I presented it to Eris. "Happy birthday.""A key?" Eris asked, taking the piece of painted metal from my fingers. "What for?"Smiling, I sipped at my drink before popping a small sandwich into my mouth. She grew more and more impatient as I chewed, but held her tongue. Good girl, I mused when I finished my sandwich. You can learn."It's a surprise. It'll have to wait for tomorrow. Don't want the guests to see it."Eris pouted, but tucked the key away below her dress. I didn't ask where. She turned to Ghislaine and I yawned, only paying half a mind as Ghislaine gave Eris a wooden ring passed down in her tribe and told a story about how it had once saved her from a ravenous wolf—"The wolf was Paul, wasn't it?" I grumbled, and Ghislaine nodded. "Of course. Why did you think it was a good idea to sleep with him?"Ghislaine shrugged. "I was horny. He was there. It wasn't my idea. Our friend and fellow party member Elinalise convinced me to join them.""The elf?" I asked, getting a nod.Was I jealous? Fuck yes. I was well beyond jelly and into preserves. Well, maybe I'll just have to find a way to top that later."A threesome with an elf and a beast-kin. Lucky fucker. Anyway, let's get off that subject."We talked for a while longer and Ghislaine poured us each another glass before putting the bottle back where she'd found it. Eris yawned, before standing up and moving over to my bed where she promptly collapsed face first.With a chuckle, the beast-kin woman patted my head and headed for the door. "I should get back. Good night, Rudeus. Look after Eris.""Sure," I agreed with a wave. If I had to, I could carry her to her room with telekinesis.The door closed and I turned towards the redhead laying on my bed. Come back in a few years and we'll try this again.Shaking my head, I said, "You should really head back to your own room.""Don't wanna."I sighed. "If you're sleeping here, get out of that before you ruin it."Amusingly, Eris quickly did just that, stripping off the blue dress she'd worn and leaving her in nothing but a matching silk slip. Then, she slipped under my covers, hogged my pillow, and closed her eyes. "Goodnight.""You realize I'm going to sleep in the bed too, right?""Of course," Eris frowned, before yawning. "Just hurry up."Rolling my eyes, I left the room long enough to go to the restroom and brush my teeth with magic. Slipping back into the room, I locked the door and stripped down to my underwear. I blew out the candles and crawled under the covers. Not too long after that, the redhead shifted around until her side was pressed into mine."You're warm," Eris murmured sleepily. What felt like maybe a minute later, I felt her twitch in the beginnings of sleep and heard her breathing even out.If we were just five years older. No, I'd settle for three at this point.The next morning, I got up and got dressed before waking Eris. I kind of half expected her to try punching me or something, but she simply stared up at me for a moment before looking around and sitting up. "Go get dressed and meet me outside," I instructed, before leaving the room.I swung by the kitchen and grabbed breakfast for three, knowing Ghislaine would tag along. Making my way out to our usual stone table, I took a seat and set out the spread. This morning, it was fresh milk (that I chilled with magic until the glass bottle frosted over), bacon (that I would be giving my share of to Ghislaine because I was a heathen who hated the stuff), and fruit scones. Actual scones, because I had gone out of my way to make sure the kitchen had the recipe for them, along with muffins, pancakes, and waffles—and a few other things that this world hadn't seemed to have developed. I was still the only one here who could make ice cream reliably, but that was mostly down to the lack of ice without having a mage on tap.Eris and Ghislaine showed up shortly after and tucked into their seats. As we ate, Eris asked, "So, what's the key for? You said you'd tell me once all the other nobles were gone.""I did, didn't I?" I asked, before taking a bite of my scone and sending her an amused smile.The girl huffed, but got the message and went back to eating. When we were finished, I stood and stretched, dragging it out just long enough to watch Eris start getting frustrated. "Okay Eris, close your eyes."Eris sent me a skeptical look but did as I asked. Focusing on the new bike, I summoned it from the lab. Ghislaine's eyebrows went up to her hairline. They went up a little further with I hit the switch for the internal neon light, setting the body glowing red through the slits I'd made in the fairings to let the light through and giving it an eerie look with the way it reflected off the paint. I put the kickstand down and stepped away from it. "Okay, you can open them."Eris's eyes opened and locked onto the bike. Her eyes went wide before she squealed and launched herself at me. My back popped as she squeezed, before letting go and running over to the bike. "It's beautiful! Thank you, Rudy!""You're welcome," I wheezed."Can I ride it?"I snorted quietly. "I'd hope so."Moving over to her, I showed her where the ignition was—a simple switch that only turned with the key to connect the (magical) battery with the electric motors on the front and rear wheels. "So, this one is a bit different from mine. I've been playing with the design. Both wheels are powered.""What kind of difference is it?" Eris asked curiously."Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't use the front motor. If you're going up a steep hill, or through mud, or in any situation where the rear wheel might lose traction you would turn the motor on for the front. The switch is here," I pointed it out to her. "That turns the front motor on. The throttle for the rear motor is on the right handlebar, while the one for the front is on the left…"I gave her the rundown of how the throttles worked, along with front and rear brakes, the interior light, and the headlights. Then, I turned her loose with it. Eris zipped off immediately with a squeal, her hair a red streamer behind her as she flew across the lawn."Ah, Rudeus," Ghislaine began."I've got enough material to make one in your size too." The less said about trying to share my bike with her, the better. The sizes just didn't work out. "What color would you like?""I'm not sure. I'll think on it."I nodded. "Fair enough. I can put it together and leave it unpainted for now. I still have to make one for Phillip and Sauros anyway."Eris zipped by, weaving between us with a mad grin on her face, laughter trailing after her."You seem troubled."I looked up from the book I was slogging through, looking over to see that at some point, Hilda had sat down beside me and I hadn't noticed. She had been slowly opening up over time as we got to know each other, but she had always kept her distance before. This was the first time I'd been alone with her since Eris's birthday, and she was sitting basically in my pocket—close enough that I could feel her warmth through my shirt. She smells nice.She brought up a good point, though. There was a reason this was a slog and not just research. Considering the woman and what I knew of her, along with what I suspected, I wondered how to word this. It was a bit strange that Eris had no siblings. I had written it off to miscarriages initially, but… Well, I had sharp ears and walked softly, so even the beast-kin servants had trouble tracking me around the manor sometimes and occasionally I caught snippets. I knew she had brothers and I knew they weren't here, and not by choice—this mostly from overheard mutterings of whether I would have been like one brother or the other. It explained a lot about why Hilda was so prickly initially.Deciding to just come out and say it, I decided to explain the situation and get a fresh set of eyes on things. "I went to visit my friend in Buena Village shortly before Eris's birthday.""The day you snuck out," she said, a smile pulling at her lips.I nodded. "Yeah. You know, it's not hard to ride one. I'm making a spare for the house and I could teach you if you want.""I think I'd like that," the woman agreed. "But please, continue. How was your friend? Sylphiette, wasn't it?""Sylphie was fine. A bit lonely, since the only company close to her own age is my sisters, and they're not really to the point where they make great conversationalists yet—even if you lower your standards. Well, maybe. I don't actually know, and that's part of the problem. She told me about some weird rumors that have been going around the village and it's got me a bit worried that they're going to grow up with the wrong idea about me."With a frown, Hilda asked, "What sort of rumors?""From what I understand, the general consensus is that the story that I was sent off to 'teach a young noble' is just a lie to cover up being exiled by my father for molesting his best friend's daughter. And while I don't really care what the village thinks of me, I do care what Norn and Aisha will grow up to think, and having their view of me tainted by hearing something like that around the village.""I see," Hilda murmured, biting her lip and looking away."Then there's the fact that, considering my father told me not to come back until I was done here, they're not exactly wrong about this being an exile. I asked for help finding a job, nowhere in that did I agree not to visit my sisters when they were growing up. I don't want to be the guy who left them alone to go on to things that I felt was more important than them—which is likely what they'd think, even without the rumors."Humming thoughtfully, the woman suggested, "I've seen the figurines you've had Phillip sell for you. They're of excellent quality. Have you considered making them toys and sending them home? I'm sure they would appreciate it. Some simple animal statuettes, for instance."I honestly had not considered that. I had sent them (encoded) spellbooks because I wanted to see to their magical education, and because magic was the most amazing and entertaining part of this world. But that was coming from someone for whom magic wasn't an everyday, normal thing and who would have spent his time nose-deep in books regardless. Norn and Aisha weren't me—may not even be like me as far as being inclined towards reading or magic went. Most children aren't going to thank you for making them learn something, either—because for most, learning was synonymous with work in an adult's vocabulary.And to be fair, I never saw the point of getting much in the way of toys for children who won't remember them later—at least, not until they're old enough to. Two or three is still young, four is a maybe. But… they're made of stone and I doubt they'd be able to break them easily, it costs me nothing but time to make them, and it comes out in terms of pure profit in the end. I was creating figurines anyway because I need the control exercises, my sisters get something out of it that they can play with, and they'll have something to remember me by that they don't associate with 'learning.' I could go out into Roa and pick up some paint and glaze, and color them properly. I'd need to find or make brushes though.Doesn't change the fact that I'd feel like I'm trying to buy their affection. Or solve the problem of not seeing them."I'll do that," I agreed. "But it doesn't fix not being there for them.""Mm." Hilda considered the problem for a few moments. Eventually, she asked, "Why not visit them now?""Paul," was my flat response. "If they knew about the bike and that I was only an hour away now, he'd probably do something stupid. Like convince his friend Laws that it'd be a good idea to send Sylphie away somewhere that I can't find her. That, and I don't want to stoop to his level. If I came back, odds are good he'd try to run me off the same way he tried to throw me in the back of a carriage last time—by force. I don't want my sisters growing up with the idea that their older brother bullies their father and just uses magic to get his way for everything. And doing that would mean that in the end, I'm just like my father in that if I can't get my way, I'll just use force to do it anyway."I let out a quiet 'urk!' as Hilda reached over and put her arm around me, before pulling my against her side. My face was squished against the side of her breast. Her long fingers found my hair and started running through it. "Then it seems there is no simple answer. You're caught between a rock and a hard place. The only answer I have there is to send them letters and presents, then when you turn ten make the trip to Buena and see them. Surely Paul wouldn't turn you away on or around your birthday.""I don't know, he can be pretty stubborn," I said, my voice coming out a bit muffled from where I was pressed into the warm softness of Hilda's boob. I was right. They're really nice."You won't know until you try."I was tempted to make the argument that no, I could in fact know—because I knew Paul and how stubborn the man could be. On the other hand… She's right. Worse comes to worst, he'll try to get physical again. I can beat him in a fight. Probably. Depends on what he's picked up from Sylphie. Best to assume I'd need to lead with the alpha strike. Pretty sure that no matter what he's learned, he can't dodge lightning. The only problem there is, again, potentially scaring off my sisters by giving them the impression I'm some kind of violent thug.It wasn't the solution I was looking for, but it seemed like it was the best I was going to get. "Thanks, Ms. Hilda.""Just Hilda is fine, Rudy," the woman murmured. "Now, what are you working on?""Here, let me show you." The woman didn't let go, so I pulled the book closer. "So, I think that with a little work, I can set conditional triggers for normal spells using a variable taken from here," I pointed at the page, "and create enchantments that are only triggered by certain actions. IF/THEN statements. If X happens, do Y. If someone is injured, cast healing magic. If someone tries to cross a boundary without some form of identification, cast fireball. It'd open up warding and a few other fields of automatic magic…"