The Old Days with Mike and Eric

It was a toy car made of wood. Painted in the color blue and had a few scratches.

"This will do."

Christina used [Restoration] to fix its condition. Although she could use [Time Reversal] so it would be as good as new, she didn't. Aside from the fact that it was a waste of mana, there was a secret hidden underneath.

"Hehehehe…"

Under the main seat, there were words carved carefully and discreetly with a dining knife.

Mike loves Tina.

Tina as in Christina.

Christina shook her head in amusement.

Over the years, Christina took care of several successors of the guilds before since they were five. But in general, they had the same trait or repeating characteristics.

Either they gained immense ego or pride, or they became narcissistic. Each one of them experienced the same phase once in their childhood that they spent with Christina.

As a result, they did not dare to oppose Christina. Aside from being their master, she held their deepest and darkest moments in their lifetime.

Christina wasn't as bad as they portray her to be. In a nutshell, it would come to that one way or another if she became desperate.

Pfftt?!

She remembered the day when Mike and Eric came to her house for the first time. Seeing her angelic face after the door opened, both of them turned around and blushed hard.

"This will be your master from now on."

The Merchant Guild Master at that time, Eric's father came to her doorstep presenting the two kids in the front door. Both of them couldn't believe that the pretty girl was their master. First to retaliate was Mike whose father didn't come with him.

"HER?! Can she even hold a sword? That stick of a hand? I don't believe it!"

While Eric, on the other hand, was tamed by his father's hand holding him but low-key agreed with Mike's statement.

Christina's veins popped out of her head. She was insulted without reason, who in their right mind would like it?

Eric's father nervously glanced at Christina's expression. He instantly became stiff and cold sweat poured out of his skin.

Urk! Son, you're on your own!

"E-ehem, no matter what, this is a tradition of our family. She'll be your master whether you like it or not. I'll go now."

After slightly pushing the kids towards Christina, Eric's father rushed to get out of the situation without making it obvious.

"What was that?"

Mike was puzzled at Eric's father's actions that he looked at Eric to ask. Eric shrugged saying that he didn't know either.

"Tch, running away as fast as possible. What a bummer."

Both of their attention was captured by the lovely voice of someone who said something rude. They didn't know how to react to her words and just looked at her.

Big black lines formed on the kids' heads when they saw her smile. It was a smile that didn't reach her eyes. The fangs of her teeth were showing their sharpness in the broad daylight.

Both of them looked at each other—

Am I going to die?

A sudden hand laid on one of their shoulders making them shivered down their spine.

"Now~ Let's enjoy our time together, shall we?"

That's the first time they tasted the seduction of the devil. A fox with a wolf's den. Truly a deceiving and horrifying day for the two. But it wasn't as bad, after all, little Mike fell for that same devil during his childhood.

After some days, Christina got to know the ins and outs of the two kids.

A prodigy and a muscle brain.

The muscle brain Mike had a pretty dangerous way of a growth phase. Since he was little, he tended to destroy everything that did not comply with his rhyme or reason.

The righteous hero that he wanted to portray got destroyed by fate. It was the moment he challenged Christina.

"If you really want to be my master, you have to defeat me!"

Puffing his chest out, Mike confidently declared his stand. That day, they were outside in the garden to have a bit of physical training. Unable to understand what happened on their first day, Mike thought it was just nothing.

Christina looked at the gloating face of Mike. A fleeting playful smile formed on her lips. Eric saw but was unable to stop the disaster from befalling his friend.

"Ooohh~ I see. Sure!"

Groans and pleas of a certain kid were heard for the following days. Eric was on the side, turning blind eye to his friend. He was more interested in books and manipulation than using his body.

Since young, he hadn't tasted defeat when it comes to knowledge. Everyone called him a prodigy and that no one would be able to defeat him in this century. That's what he also believed, when—

"Reading again?"

A certain lady appeared out of nowhere and disturbed his reverie. She was resting her head on her hand and had a cheeky smile that greeted him. He looked back at her unwilling to answer.

Christina sensed his aloofness and saw him reading about magic. She then had a great idea to solve her boredom.

"What about magic?"

She grabbed the book in his hands.

"Give it back."

Eric got angry while secretly casting without chanting. Christina noticed his advances and snapped.

"Eh?"

Stunned, Eric blinked repeatedly while staring at his hands.

My magic is gone?!

With a snap, Christina stopped the flow of mana in his hands. He couldn't do anything magical no matter what. Eric then realized who else was there with him. It was Christina.

It must be her…

"...But, how?"

Christina smirked when she heard his murmurs. She got closer to him, eye level.

"Interested?"

Eric unconsciously nodded eagerly. But went to a stop when he realized that he had been played. He clearly saw a fleeting playful smirk on the woman's lips.

"Well then, come here~"

Eric wanted to take back his words but it was all too late. Christina was already dragging him towards her laboratory. All he could do was pray that he went easy on him.

He held it in pretty much easier because he had ambitions. But his belief and pride as a prodigy was repeatedly trampled on by Christina.

Months of training passed by, both of them suffered mentally and physically in the hands of Christina. But they also felt complicated because of their obvious improvement.

One day, Eric and Mike had the time alone. Mike was pouting in grievance.

"Ugh, this is horrible. I can't stand it anymore. Why did our parents leave us here? I'm going insane!"

He grumbled all by himself while Eric observed him. He looked left and right, up and down. When he felt it was okay, he started to speak out his mind.

"Ah. I believe we can achieve the same results even if we live our days the same. I can't even understand why am I here. Tradition? Bogus!"

Letting out their grievances for a few minutes, they didn't notice someone behind them.

"Seriously? That face of an angel must be that of a devil. I won't believe in beautiful ladies from now on!"

Mike yelled out for last and someone spoke behind them.

"Hoo~"

Cold sweat dripped down their little backs. They shrunk the instant that they heard of her voice.

"Come on here~"

Without waiting for their response, Christina dragged the two against their will.

Years later, Mike grew up and turned out to be the best loyal dog there ever was raised by her. The world was vast and still unexplored to its deepest secrets. Therefore, Eric became pretty tamed and worked without fail by Christina's will.

Christina opened the door while holding the re-fixed wooden toy car. She saw Elysia on the other side. Christina did not know who exactly said that saying but when she saw Elysia and compared her to those boys, she knew this proved it to be true.

Elysia was quick to uptake things taught to her. She understood Christina's words despite not being able to speak them.

Christina set the toy car aside. She helped her grab the pieces that were too far. Elysia took her time to solve the puzzle when—

Ding dong!