Chapter 101 - The First Son

— Leon Greyrat —

A few months had passed since Roxy, Ariel, and I went on our little adventure to the Demon Continent, and luckily, nothing had gone wrong during our time away, as well as the month after returning.

As it turned out, it seemed that my daughter had inherited the Migurd tribe's unique ability to use telepathy amongst themselves, which was definitely a shock.

She was only three, so obviously I wasn't able to know everything about what it felt like from her childish explanations, but according to Roxy's parents, it's a mix of language and feeling being transferred between different Migurd's heads.

What did this mean?

Well, it meant that even though Aria didn't really know the Demon God tongue, she was still able to make some friends during our week spent there, and luckily, the ability was instinctual, so there was no need for her to train it.

Now that we were back home, it would probably not get any use for the rest of her life, but then again, she would be welcomed in that village if she ever wished to visit, and perhaps she would share a special connection with her sibling once Roxy gave birth again.

Anyway, after that shocking discovery, the five of us sat down as Roxy and I explained her life since leaving home up to when she returned, with Aria taking the boring talk between grown-ups as an opportunity to get acquainted with her grandparents.

It was a nice talk, as I got to learn a few bits about Roxy I hadn't before about her adventure after leaving home, and I got to learn even more about the child Roxy from her parents, though my wife was quite embarrassed about some stories.

Anyway, as the talk came to rescuing my mothers from the Begaritt Continent, it was then that we revealed the true nature of our family. That being the fact that I had taken three wives, with a fourth on the way.

Well, suffice it to say, I got a slap from Rowin, and since it was both deserved and quite weak, I didn't put up a resistance.

I did, however, promise those two that I would make their daughter happy, which they accepted, especially after hearing how pleased Roxy seemed with her new life.

Anyway, after our week spent getting familiar with each other, it was then time to go, as we couldn't stay all the way in the Demon Continent forever.

Roxy's parents both told us to visit again, but with Laplace and the Man-God making things difficult, unfortunately, I likely wouldn't get the chance for another five years, if we were lucky.

They waved off my concern pretty easily, however, telling me that even in thirty years would be fine.

That's the power of longevity, I suppose.

But yes, it was a peaceful trip, and in the month preceding it, nothing big really happened.

Ah… well, that wasn't quite right.

There was one event that had happened.

And quite a significant one at that.

"Agh!"

Looking down at the bundled-up baby in my arms, I smirked as I slowly rocked in the chair, the movement seemingly calming down my new baby boy before he could break into a set of cries.

Nearly exactly a month after we returned, on the seventh month of the year K424, Eris had given birth, granting us the miracle of one Ars Greyrat, the first son of the household.

I suppose Eris' predictions were correct in saying she would give me a boy.

Not that it mattered, though.

With him inheriting both his mother's red hair and matching set of eyes, Ars was born without any difficulty, as Eris simply pushed him out without much of a fuss.

It was such a shockingly easy birth, that even Lilia was impressed.

That's my Eris for you.

Though it also helped that, unlike with Sylphy and Roxy, the child having my human side didn't make things difficult for her in terms of size.

I do wonder if he'll follow his mother's footsteps and become a swordsman, or if he would take on my side of merging magic and martial might, but for now, he was just a cute, defenceless baby.

And a baby that had also unfortunately inherited Eris' impressive set of lungs.

While I didn't really care about the crying, I did feel a little bad for Aria and Anna.

Maybe I should get some insulation to block off the sound between walls.

Not only would it help my kids with their siblings cries, it would also nullify any sounds from… other activities.

But speaking of magic and martial might… I needed to start training Aria soon. Probably by the next year.

I promised myself to let my kids choose their own path, and I still stood by that, but I still planned on having them learn how to defend themselves before letting them go into the world.

And ignoring swordsmanship, it was better to start training their magic as early as possible so that their capacity could grow, and they could easily learn chantless casting.

Looking at it now, our family was quite impressive in terms of fighting power, at least amongst my wives and I.

I myself was at the pinnacle of the Emperor rank, and Eris was at the pinnacle of the King rank, and as for Roxy and Sylphy, while they weren't as impressive as that in combat, with their chantless casting, and impressive battle experience, both of them I could confidently put in the heights of the Saint rank in terms of prowess.

Of course, that only left Ariel, who had no strength to speak of, but according to Orsted, her 'fate' was quite strong, meaning she was very unlikely to die from random causes, so I wasn't too concerned about her.

Plus, she had her incredibly powerful family here to defend her now.

It was at that moment that Eris walked in, her stride confident and firm, even though she had given birth only a few days ago.

Yeah… she was really damn impressive.

Even with healing magic, being completely recuperated after three days was quite a feat.

"How was training?" I asked.

"Fine. Now that this bugger is out of me, I feel back to full strength," she said, reaching down to tussle Ars' hair, even though it was only a few strands.

"I see. Tell me if you need any healing, okay? Sylphy said there were some pains afterwards as her body went back to normal," I said, smiling at her.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," she said. "Anyway… Leon."

"Yes?" I said, looking at her.

"I'm going to be Ariel's guard now," she said.

Well, that was blunt.

"That's… wonderful," I said, smiling. "That will lighten my load a bit. Thank you, Eri."

"Hmph. We're family, so don't thank me," she said, looking away with a bit of a blush on her cheeks. "But anyway… I just wanted to say that while I'll be doing that… I want to be a mother too."

"Uh… yeah, that's obvious, no?" I replied, tilting my head.

"I just wanted to tell you!" she said, frowning a bit as she reached over to pull my hair. "By the way… are you planning to cut this soon?"

"It is getting long… why, is it bothering you?" I asked.

"N-No, it's just…" she said, reaching up to fiddle with her hair that now reached her breasts. "Well… I want you to be prepared for tonight, is all."

For tonight?

What's happening… oh.

"Yeah… I'm prepared," I said, nodding a bit.

"Good," she said, eyes narrowing as her voice turned into a slight growl. "It's been nine damn months, so don't think you'll be sleeping tonight after keeping me waiting for so long."

I did want to say that it wasn't me keeping her waiting, but rather Ars, here, but I decided to ignore that.

"Yeah… I'm excited," I said, smiling back at her.

And from that look in her eyes, it almost seemed that she wanted to get started on baby number two.

Though, considering how annoying she thought pregnancy was, I doubted she wanted to go through that again for a while.

So tonight… it would simply be expressing our passionate desires that had been held back for so long.

I didn't know exactly what was in store for me, but something told me that I would definitely need a sound barrier.

— Leon Greyrat —

Year K424, Eighth Month, 17th Day

'It's been a while since I wrote down an update on life, save for a few moments I decided to record, but with Ars fast asleep in my arms, I decided that now would be a good time.'

Looking down at the sleeping boy in my arms, I smiled as I dipped my quill in the bottle of ink.

The two of us were currently outside, sitting in the table and chair that had been set up near Mom's grave, and while I wasn't one to relax that often, this was a nice place to write in my diary, as long as the wind wasn't too strong.

But then again, even if it was, I could always control it to go around me so it wouldn't disturb the pages.

Now, what to write…

I guess I should go over the biggest change to the household that has happened recently. Aside from Ars, that is. 

That being a certain golden-haired woman entering our family.

'It has been five months since Ariel and I became lovers, but considering I went to the Demon Continent for a couple, it was really only our third month together.

In all honesty, not much has changed since the beginning of our new relationship, since she had been living with us before then for her protection, but there was a new sense of genuineness that she revealed both around me and my wives that wasn't there before.

Oh, and the kisses and the sex too, of course.

Back to the genuineness, I was happy that Ariel felt so comfortable and loved, and even though she joined late, she had well and truly become part of the family, even pitching in with some household chores now and then.

Who would have thought that an Asuran princess would be ever seen doing dishes after dinner?

But that ability to want to contribute to the family, completely casting away her royal pride… that was what I loved about her.

Either way, things had been going smoothly, and I was incredibly glad that my selfishness hadn't ruined my precious family.'

I decided to leave out the nighttime activities that Ariel had brought into the relationship, even though they were… very satisfying, to say the least.

Under the guise of 'efficiency', or perhaps their own affection, Sylphy and Ariel often bedded me together more than by themselves, leading to some very stimulating experiences.

It seemed that I was wrong in my assumption that Ariel was a masochist.

While she definitely was one with me, when Sylphy was involved… well, let's just say that I have learned that women could have two sides to them in bed.

For everyday life, Ariel treated Sylphy as her equal even though she was her liege, but in bed, she took on a more controlling personality.

But it was incredibly arousing to watch, and Sylphy didn't seem to mind, so I had no complaints.

But anyway, I should purge such impure thoughts from my head before I accidentally wrote down something embarrassing.

'Yes… I was glad, and I was also lucky. I had to ensure I was the best husband I could be to my women, considering I didn't really deserve them.'

Though with Ariel, I suppose that assumption didn't hold up, as her and Rudy had no intimacy in the alternate timeline.

But still, it was an unfortunate thing that had been constantly plaguing my mind.

I had briefly thought of talking about it with my wives, but… I was also scared.

What if they changed how they felt, after reading the diary?

There were enough details for them to know that in Roxy and Sylphy's cases, they were happy with Rudy… or at least they were before he became scum.

So knowing that… of course I would be a bit afraid.

But ultimately, aside from my slight insecurity, it wasn't all that bad.

After all, there was no better motivator to remind me not to rest on my laurels.

I already knew those four deserved the best man in the world, but knowing that I wasn't the only man who could make them happy made my fire of determination burn brighter.

Now… what else to talk about…

There was nothing much to say about Ars, since he was only a baby and hadn't shown any of his personality yet, but he wasn't my only child.

Oh… right, there was that.

'I built a swing in the expanded orphanage last week, so that is something interesting. Rudy even joined in, with him building a 'playground', something from Shizuka's world, which was a set of nets and 'slides' to climb up and slide down.

It was quite the fascinating structure, and the children at the orphanage, as well as Aria and Lana, absolutely loved it. Even Anna was happy, but she was a little shy and scared of the loud kids, so that was when I got to have some important daughter-father bonding time as I helped her up and down the thing.

And on the topic of my kids… first, there was Aria.

Even though she was over two years old now, she still cried a lot. Often out of nowhere, throwing a tantrum when things didn't go her way, even if they were insignificant.

Some would call it overdramatic, and in some ways they were correct, but I was able to look past that when I considered that every bad thing she experienced was one of the worst things that had happened in her life. She was experiencing all these emotions for the first time, so it made sense that she would react so horribly.

Luckily, the fits and tantrums didn't last long, and I was able to calm her down quite quickly. Whether it was due to her being a 'Dada's girl', or simply her base personality being that of a happy, excitable child, I didn't know, but I hoped it was a mix of both.

And then there was Anna.

She was nearing her first year of life, and she had hit all the milestones to show for it. She was now able to say her first words, which consisted of 'Mama', 'Dada', 'No', and 'Yes'. She was also now an expert at crawling, and had recently begun to walk, albeit with the help of furniture holding her up.

I was happy to see that my little girl was growing, but unfortunately for me, it seemed that Anna liked her mothers a bit more than her old man.

I wasn't too upset, as she was still plenty happy with me, especially when she and her sister played with me during bath time, but I couldn't help but be a bit fearful at how she might act once she became a teenager.

If she ever said 'Dada, I hate you!', I don't think I could recover.

In that regard, perhaps Paul was a bit stronger mentally than I thought, being able to take Aisha and Norn's hatred for so long.

Then again, he did say he had experience with women who were upset with him, so maybe it was a trained skill… if you could even call it a skill.

I hoped that I never needed to get good at that.

But yes, all three of my children were shaping up to be the healthy and happy kids that I had always hoped they would be.'

And with the family side of things written down, it was now onto the other side of things that I liked to update.

My abilities and also those of my allies.

With the plan to get Ariel on the throne, and the consequent beginning of the plan concerning Laplace, as well as the ever-looming threat of the Man-God, it was important to ensure that my strength was recorded, as well as the progress of it.

After all, it would be unfortunate if there was a spell or technique that would easily take down Laplace, only for me to not use it do to forgetting having learned or creating it in the past.

'Over the past few months, I have been focusing on training with Oldeus' magic. That being gravity, telekinesis, as well as his impressive abilities with lightning magic.

It's been very difficult, and I still can't quite get a grasp of gravity and telekinesis, but I have gotten very skilled at lightning magic.

If I were to explain it, before, I was able to generate lightning, but once I set a path and released, I had absolutely no control over the magic, but with some techniques that Oldeus' revealed in his diary, I could now use lightning like any other element, with absolute control.

I was hoping that with enough practice, I could merge my lightning magic with my fire magic and create pure plasma, being able to send out beams of concentrated energy as my main attack.

But that still seemed quite far away, and at the moment, it was tough for my magic to hold a candle to my swordsmanship, especially now that I could merge my touki and mana together in combat, for the most part.'

I still wasn't near Orsted's level, but I was getting better at it.

I was aiming to be able to use it seamlessly before the fight against Laplace, as he very likely had just as strong of a defence, so I still had time to grow stronger.

And hopefully, after Ariel gets to the throne, I'll be able to fill in any gaps in my understanding of the technique once Orsted starts training me.

But I wasn't the only one growing.

'With Eris no longer pregnant, she had gotten back into training with an intensity that was completely foreign to me. She must have learned that from the Sword Sanctum. We have been training together quite a bit in the morning, where we would spend half the time sparring while I tried to bring out her touki so she could actively control it. 

For Eris, her touki was extremely strong and fluidly controlled, likely due to her determination and practised skill, but she still didn't know how to control it to the point of moving it outward or performing technical Water God techniques. But she was great at instinctively using it with her body, which for the Sword God style, was all she needed. She also had a knack for improving after being shown how, so while her overall swordsmanship was still weaker than mine, if it was the simple movement of the Longsword of Light, she was already at my level, or at least close to it.'

She was damn impressive, that wife of mine.

I could honestly see her becoming a Sword Emperor pretty soon, if she wasn't already. 

The titles for that school were a bit useless, considering how it relied on spars overseen by the Sword God, but I suppose we would be able to test her skills a little better once Ghislaine returned from the Great Forest.

And then finally… there was my brother.

We still had our weekly meetings at the bar with our father, but other than that, we didn't interact much, save for whenever our kids visited each other.

But that was fine.

We both had our own families to take care of, and while I was focusing on helping Ariel and improving my Elemental style, he had his time taken up with helping Shizuka with her experiments and getting better with his Magic Armour.

We had been having a few spars now and then, both so he could see what needed to be improved with his new weapon, and getting used to using it, and I could now say that my brother was nearing the level of an Emperor-rank combatant.

Still… it was a bit hard to tell how strong Rudy was in a fight.

If we were going by pure power, he was already stronger than me, as if he focused intently on a spell and used enough of his insane mana reserves, he could probably decimate an entire city in one move.

But combat wasn't just about power.

His previous weakness of being unable to use touki, which had made him extremely fragile, had been fixed with his Magic Armour, but there was still the trouble of his combat instincts being sub-par, especially once someone got close and his previously made plans went off course.

Hopefully, a lot of that would be fixed with experience, but considering a warrior's battle sense heavily relied on enhancing their senses with touki, which he couldn't do, he was always going to be a bit slow in combat.

But that was fine.

He would have his big brother here to defend him from the front, so he could focus on casting his magic from the back, where his strengths were suited best.

But yes… everyone was growing, I was getting stronger, and our family was quite happy.

Life was… good.

Yes. It was very good.

"Angh!" Ars cried, his face morphing into one of intense discomfort.

"Ah, are you hungry?" I asked, closing my diary. "Let's get you to your mother, then."

Getting to my feet, I looked back one last time at Mom's grave, giving it a small smile before I began heading inside.

To think I had already grown to the age of nineteen… time really does fly.