I have one mission, fly to the outskirts of Limguard, drop off the baby, and retire. It was a simple job, so why am I looking after two babies.

It all started last night after, a very successful looting.

“Stork! I have an important job for you, will you accept?” Said my red-haired boss. He was a lean man with fiery red hair and a short goatee of the same shade. On his head was a tricorn hat and at his waist a whip.

“Aye captain!” I replied.

“Good, you’re a good egg. Meet me in my quarters shortly. Be ready to travel.” Captain left the topside and headed to his room.

I went to my room and packed my travel satchel. Jobs like this were common for me as message and parcel delivery were my talents. Not many spirit masters gain the ability to fly before expert, due to control. But I can transform into a bird, and not just any bird but a Vermilion Stork, known for its swift flight and ability to carry prey long distances. I tied back by black braids and changed into my traveler’s clothes.

I made my way to the captain’s quarters, ready to take off, when I heard a small voice babbling on the inside. Probably the captain’s infant daughter. I decided to knock.

“Come on in.” I heard a feminine voice say.

I entered the room and saw the baby swaddled in a blanket, reaching for her parents. The feminine voice belonged to a short woman with blonde hair. The captain’s girlfriend and the little one’s mother.

“Miss Aisha, didn’t expect you to be here as well.” I told the women.

“It’s an important mission we have for you. Believe it or not, Samantha, I recommended you for this job.”

The captain watched with a confused look on his face before jumping in. “We will be going into some rough waters soon. It’s going to be too dangerous for a baby to take along. My aunt has had quite a few kids over the years and they turned out fine. For the most part anyway. She is experienced in more ways than one. I wrote a letter that should explain everything, the trip should be an easy one. Outskirts of Limgard just a simple farming village, my aunt isn’t able to use mana anymore so there shouldn’t be anyone too dangerous to deal with.”

“So you want me to drop off a baby and return?”

“You don’t have to return, in fact it may be better if you stay in hiding for a bit. Not sure how much heat we’ll have on us after this. I have sat aside quite a few gold for you to take along with you. Enough to retire and live out your days quietly. After things blow over then finding us again should be quite easy.”

“Should I bring the child with me?” I asked.

“No, I’d rather she not be raised along with pirates, no offense but I want her to live a safer life.”

“Aye captain! I will accept this mission.”

“Great, take this, it’s enough supplies to keep my baby girl fed for the next few weeks. I’m sure Cordillia knows what to do when it runs out.”

“Captain… Isn’t Cordilla.”

“Yes that one. She doesn’t fight anymore.”

“Is it because she’s hiding?”

“No, she got sick after her last one was born. She can no longer bear children because of it. It also took away her ability to use mana. Though I’m sure she could still best you in combat with a pitchfork or machete.”

“Should I try not to be seen?”

“The approach is up to you, just know even if you can’t see them doesn’t mean they can’t tell if you’re there.”

“Good bye little Asela. I hope you live a happy life away from this bloodshed.” Aisha kissed the baby on her forehead before swaddling her tightly.

The captain kissed his baby, and the child was soon wrapped around my chest. Then, I slowly transformed into a giant bird. Wings of a reddish-orange, a beak black as night with talons to match.

I soon found myself flying away from the ship, my home away from home. I left the crimson leviathan behind for the last time.

The flying was easy; hardly anything naturally flew at the speed I did. The little pit stops were tedious but not something I hadn’t done before. I fed, burped, and changed the baby when necessary, and she seemed to enjoy the ride.

I was the oldest child in my family and learned how to care for my younger brothers and sisters while my parents worked.

It took two days of flight to make it to the location provided. However, I wasn’t given an exact address.

“The biggest house, they said. These are all just farms. Not a single tavern either. Probably the biggest farm then.”

I made my way to the largest plot of land, where there seemed to be a barn, fruit trees, and various fields of crops. The house looked nothing special, so I decided to circle around it from above.

While hovering, I saw a red-haired woman leave the house, haggard from a long day. Her red dress was covered in various stains and splotches, and at the moment, she was wearing house shoes.

“Kyrion?! Where are you? It’s time to eat dinner.” She looked around only to see nothing. The woman left the porch and continued to look around.

I took a few glances but couldn’t see anyone that small running around.

“I look away for five minuets and you go waddling out the door.”

A man with sandy red hair walked out of the barn. A gardening hoe rested over his shoulder and a bemused look on his face. “I told you he’s a slippery one. Nothing seems to have triggered any of my alarms or traps so I doubt he’s outside of the fields.”

“Jr. are these deadly traps?” The woman looked at the man with suspicion.

“No, the ones he could trigger were made for him, and uninvited guest. Nonlethal, at worst he may get some dirt in his eyes and we can find him by his whining.”

“Why include him to begin with?”

“He’s a fast one sometimes. Once you lose him he could be anywhere. I know from experience, spending all my attention on watching him limits productivity. If I look away and he’s off to the races.”

“How many times has he gotten away from you?”

“Out of my reach? Never, out of my immediate sight I lost count.”

“Any tips for bribing the little troublemaker?”

“We could try to use tangerines, it’s a bit low considering.”

“Just like his grandfather in that regard then.”

The two picked made their way to a tree with tangerines growing from it. The one called Jr knocked down two fruits and handed one to the women.

“Let’s put one on the porch and leave it there. We leave it here and have you wait behind the door leaving it ajar.”

The two separated from each other, with Jr roaming around the perimeter.

I watched Jr make it behind the house and looked back to the porch, noticing that the tangerine was gone.

“When did that happen?” I mumbled to myself. There was no better time to land, so I made my way to the porch, gently landing before setting the baby down in their basket. I moved to knock on the door when I heard some surprising words from behind me.

“Big! Bird!” I turned around to see a tiny boy fearlessly standing on a tree branch.

How did he get up there? His arms aren’t developed enough for… Before finishing the thought, I saw the boy reaching for me. His foot began to move forward onto the air, and I instinctively lunged forward to catch the falling toddler.

I lunged forward to catch the boy who seemed to have an impish grin on his face. Upon catching the boy, I felt a pluck as one of my feathers was pulled out.

“Hey!” I yelled in surprise.

“Bird talk! Bird talk!” The toddler repeated. He then moved to pull out some more feathers, probably thinking that is how you make birds talk.

I was holding the boy straight up when the front door opened up. The woman from earlier, Cordelia, almost stepped on the baby on her doorstep. Looking down with a confused expression.

She picked the child up, examined it, and then positioned me in my prone position. Her eyes rested on the laughing toddler who was swinging around his proffered feathers.

“I’d ask you to put my son down, but I currently have my hands full, and he’s a runner.” Cordelia eyed the trouble maker, who seemed to realize he had somewhere to be, and started squirming.

“Slippery too it seems.” I replied, standing up with the child in my feathered arms.

“Slippery too!” The toddler replied.

Jr eventually made it back to the front of the home and examined the scene.

“Is that a stork holding my brother?” He asked, a confused look on his face as he looked at his mother, who seemed to be holding a baby.

“Stork! Stork!” Kyrion yelled.

“It seems to have delivered a baby as well.” Cordiella looked at her oldest son.

“Baby?” Kyrion pointed to himself.

“This is not going to confuse the little one is it?”

“It should be fine, he only pays half attention to things.”

“Oh. He’s going to be really confused then.”

Cordilla read the letter and sighed. “Come on in, I just finished dinner, we can talk over that.”

I entered the house immediately, noticing that it was bigger inside than the outside. Having given up escaping, for the time being, the toddler hung limply in my arms, snoring. I took a moment to break my transformation.

The dinner was a mess. It looked edible. The 3 girls at the table had a resigned look on their faces. A man resembling Jr had an excited look on his face eating his hash with practiced ease.

“You need to eat if you want to grow big and strong.”

“Should I wake him?”

“No. He’s exhausted himself, he’s sick in a sense.” Cordilla told me.

“He holds mana too powerful for him in his body and it’s a drain on him. When he runs off like this its normally when he’s exhausted. Most of the time we find him passed out napping. Other than that he doesn’t cause trouble.”

“How old is he?”

“He’s been two. Unless you count the first two years of his life that was spent comatose.”

“What?” I was surprised.

“He’s a bit behind the physical growth curve In the sense that he seems to age half as fast as he should normally. Side effects from the mana running rampant and messing with things.”

“How did he get up a tree with all that going on?” I asked, confused.

“He did what?” Said the second oldest girl at the table.

“He fell from a tree that he seemed to be standing on.” I informed them.

“His arms are too stuby for tree climbing.” Bill Sr. blurted out.

“Apparently not.” Cordelia sighed.

“Anything else I need to know?” I asked.

“You should know that we have been lying to this boy for a while. I will continue to do so for a bit longer if it keeps him alive. I plan on teaching him the bare minimum, no fighting syles, no prior spirit mastery knowlege and none of my training. He can’t use an awakening plate when he’s of age since it would only cause problems for him. It will be easier for him to enter the academy if he believes he’s the age he thinks he is.”

“So you need an actor?”

“I need someone who can help me keep up the ruse.”

“Why me?”

“A hunch. Do you have any experience caring for children?”

“Yes my younger siblings, it’s why I was. Tasked…” I partly knew why I was chosen, but things seemed to be fitting into place.

“My captain knew, didn’t he? So I’ve been set up .”

“I’d like to say you have a choice. I’m not fit to look after two little monsters.” Cordelia coughed into her hands, red liquid coating them.

“So, your guilt tripping me now.”

“Maybe father could raise Asela, Laferal turned out fine.”

“I don’t think captain would want his daughter ending up like him.”

“Then you will have to help.”

“Probably, your younger than my oldest daughter Curella and the hair is a bit wrong but other than that your just what I need.”

“A babysitter?”

“An older sister, one that just returned from schooling. My younger girls will be going to the academy soon and won’t be returning for a while. Curella is busy with her experiments most of the time and isn’t free to help.”

“So you want me to pretend to be his sister.”

“Yes. I need all the help I can get. It’s not like it’s the first time you did something in the gray area Ms.Pirate?”

“You got me. I have to lay low anyway. Will I be getting paid?”

Laughing came from the older man’s mouth. “We can’t afford to pay, how about free room and board?”

Cordillia looked at her husband with a scowl. “Bill?”

“I’ll be quiet.” He got back to eating.

“If this is the food then I’d rather move on.”

“How about our first born son?” Cordilla throughout.

“Mom!” Jr seemed exasperated.

“I want to pay, whether it be a portion of the crops or coins. I can fly pretty fast and deliver goods if necessary. Getting to and from the capital is child’s play to me.”

“It could work. 25% of what you deliver goes to you in coins.” Cordelia stated.

“That sounds like hard work.”

“It’s optional work, for customers that need things delivered quickly. You make more of course, from what I know you don’t need to worry about coins anyway so what’s the problem?”

“There isn’t one.” I sighed. “A place to lay low and a job when I need one.”

“Where do you spend coins here?” I pushed the plate forward and began to stand up.

“There aren’t any shops worth buying from here. Though I’m sure the capital has plenty of things to spend gold on.”

“Incentive to make deliveries then. So should we make introductions now?”

Cordelia nodded to her husband, who spoke first. “I guess it’s age before beauty, my name is Bill Mosely, and the man who’s been eyeing you on the other side of the table is my son Jr.”

I looked at the man with sandy red hair and waved. He waved back before eyeing his empty plate.

Cordelia spoke next, “As you may no I’m Cordelia Mosely disowned noble. Or that’s at least what’s been spread around. Can’t exactly make myself known in this weakened state. My oldest daughter over there is Curella.”

A dark red-haired woman with pale skin looked at me and grinned. Shivers ran down my spine, and I looked away.

“Your sisters now play nice.” Cordellia sighed and looked at the other two girls.

“My next two girls are Dwen and Thalia. They are a year apart but look almost like twins, don’t get them mixed up or they will mess with you.” Cordellia told them sagely

“I’m Dwen.” Said the one on the right.

“I’m Thalia.” Said the one on the left.

“Got it.” I did not, in fact, get it, but I did understand that they had already tried confusing me.

“Now, who are you?” Cordellia asked me.

“I am Samantha Mosely.”

“Good good. The little one you’re holding is Kyrion. The baby is Asela.”

Cordellia looked at the baby in her arms and almost teared up. “Your family lives on, brother don’t worry.”