Chapter 15: Mama's Boy! / A Story Of Healthy Food...Tch.

There was a chime from the door of the restaurant.

A woman with a regal aura glanced at Evan with puzzlement.

“I didn't know you liked restaurants like this, gramps.” She said, walking over to their booth.

“Wait, what are you doing here?” Evan asked flatly.

“How rude, I like eating here.” The woman said, turning up her head in mock anger.

She had two guards behind her.

One reached for his sword.

Evan noticed, and pointed.

“Hey, you. If you're about to do something dumb, like point your sword or yell at me, I suggest not doing that. Especially with my daughter around.” Evan said, smiling.

The guard trembled.

“Evan, knock it off. It’s fine, right?” The woman said, bashing him on the head with her palm.

“Y-yesh! Knocknit off! I don’t know who you are, but who do you think you’re talk-“ the guard started.

“I’m talking with Akane. My niece. What’s that gotta do with some random guard? Are you her family? No? Didn't think so.” Evan asked

“Wh-impossible! You can’t be. Do you know who her uncle even is? You have your daughter with you, please refrain from rash action.” Another guard asked, actually genuinely concerned for them.

Evan smirked.

“Akane. Give that guy a raise. Demote this pile of human garbage… no…. Rin, I’m going outside with the nice gentleman here for a bit. I’ll be back soon. Also, nice sword, loser.” Evan said, walking past the sword, casually breaking it.

He reached the door.

“Hey. You. I said we’re going to go talk....I’m just going to use force, so that warning was useless, I guess.” Evan sighed.

He lifted the man and made him float down a nearby alleyway.

For the next ten minutes, all they heard was the guard begging to not be killed again through the restaurant's thin walls. He shouted apology after apology until Evan calmed down and let the man finally croak.

He walked back inside and sat at the table.

“Sorry about that, it was a bit of a long talk. He had to leave so he won’t be coming back.” Evan said, smiling.

“Dad. You're covered in blood.” Rin said.

Evan froze.

“No, I’m not.” Evan said, flat out denying the obvious.

“Dad…” Rin rolled her eyes.

“It’s just paint. Ketchup.” Evan replied.

“We heard his screams, Dad...why exactly are you hiding it?” Rin asked.

Evan raised an eyebrow.

“Um. Are you not… scared?” Evan asked

“… maybe do it less violently next time? I’m not sure how I feel about it. You have taught me a lot of things. I’d need to sort through those first. So hurry up. I realllly wanna know what it’s like to have my mana valves clear like you said.” Rin said.

“Oh, I get it. She’s in the middle of learning magic? How is it on a level compared to a kid her age here?” Akane asked

Evan whispered in her ear.

“Oh, dear. Her growth is going to be a lot slower, but that is strong for your world.” Akane said, impressed.

“Nowhere near my nephew in strength, though. Where is lil’ Yukio anyhow?” Evan asked.

“He’s going to be meeting me here. Anyway, so this is your daughter?" Akane asked.

Evan nodded.

"Hi Rin. It’s nice to meet you. I’m your cousin, Akane.” Akane said, sitting in an empty booth on the other side of the table.

“Rin, this is your cousin. Just call her special in the head lady. Or Akane.” Evan said in Rins ear quietly.

“Hey! I heard that!” Akane said.

A chime jingled again, and a young boy walked into the store, putting the stuff in his hands on the floor.

“Hey, mom!” Yukio said, sitting next to her.

“Who are these two?” Yukio asked, pointing to Evan and Rin.

“Aw. He doesn’t remember me?” Evan asked, pouting.

“That was when you were in Akihiros body. He hasn’t met you when you looked like this.” Akane said.

“What do you-“ Yukio started.

“Let’s see. Silver hair, red eyes, pale skin, fangs, and a pretty face. Ring a bell? Here’s another hint. Twin sister.” Evan said.

Yukio thought for a moment.

“Ah! You’re my grandma's brother!” Yukio exclaimed.

“Akari isn’t my sister. She’s…… ah, hell. A ton of things. She’s the wife of one of the people I hung out with a lot. So she is technically related to me, yes, but I am not her brother. In the first place, Haruto's my descendant. She’s a friend of mine and a friend of limes. She’s someone we have known for ages at this point. I guess you can say that all of the strongest things throughout every reality are a part of one friend group. I guess I’m a lot older than Akari is, though.” Evan said.

“Where did ma go, anyway?” Akane asked.

“How ironic, You asking that. Tell me if this rings a bell. Runs away for 15 years, ‘oh hey I’m back with a child with whom I have somewhat romantic relations. Praise me’.” Evan said, laughing.

“Mean. But not wrong. It was a long time, I admit. But again, where’s ma?” Akane asked.

Rin tugged on Evans shirt.

“Dad. She didn’t deny the second part.” Rin whispered.

“Fine. Akane, do you have any idea how to explain your relationship with Yukio? Other than the kinda iffy thing.” Evan asked, sighing.

“Oh. I’m all for it, Yukio isn’t really able to choose yet. He also isn’t sure what is or is not what he wants. But that's fine.” Akane said.

“So…. basically, it’s a mother waiting for her child to come of age so she can date him, and a boy who is very confused?” Rin asked, scrunching her face up in confusion.

Evan nodded.

Rin sat up straighter and frowned, addressing Yukio.

“Mom says something often. Yukio, think about what it would be like if you didn’t have one or if you didn’t have the other. Which do you want to lose less? What do you want to keep more?” Rin said, lecturing him.

“Um. What if what I want to keep more isn’t acceptable?” Yukio asked nervously, shifting his eyes towards his mother.

“Is it impossible? Are you hated? What will happen? Isn't this a world of magic?” Rin asked.

“That…. I get it. I think I know what I want. Yeah. But I think I want to say it when it’s time.” Yukio said, nodding.

Akane stared at Rin with squinted eyes.

“Evan…. your daughter just did something literally nobody else I could find could do. How the heck do you always raise good children?” Akane asked, slightly disturbed.

“Well…. I always wanted to live a normal life. I don’t mean I want to lose all the power I have now, rather the life I’m living with my family and my friends is what is important. It’s normal because I’m happy. I always try to be happy as a family. Also, I’m not insane. That's a pretty important one.” Evan said.

“How many times have you and lime settled down to live a normal life?” Akane asked.

“Honestly? It’s our favorite thing to do. We have people like Rin come into our lives, and Renji to care for. We have friends and family like I said. I guess we do switch things up a little. In many ways. It can be going from a 21st century home to living as a noble family in a medieval world. Sometimes we choose to reincarnate. Though we aren’t doing that for at least another century. family is family, though.” Evan said.

“Having a life like yours sounds like it would be incredible. Isn’t the trope usually something like, ‘yes, but it isn’t as good as you think’, though.” Akane said

“Well, I like it. I’ve had a lot of luck in my life. And I will continue having it. Again, the reason other people usually get annoyed or hurt by immortality is because they are pushovers. For me? I’m a pretty happy guy most of the time, I’m with or near lime throughout eternity. Even in our deep slumber it was together that we slept, though we were not together with our temporary bodies. I have positive emotions around me, because most of those immortal guys got disheartened by someone dying." Evan said.

He chuckled.

"Whoopty doo. I am omnipotent. Magic! Despite our power conflicting, I can still always revive lime from the dead. The opposite as well. All I need is lime. All she needs is me next to her, having fun. Be it walking in space, strolling through a park, getting exhausted by living a normal kind of life. Or be it going on vacations around the world. I can go back to the same place time and time again, and understand what people mean about getting tired of things. That’s because there aren’t any secrets left or interest to be had in the form of action. But, I could sit still in the middle or end of the universe for the rest of time, and as long as I merely know that lime is next to me, I'll be fine.” Evan said

“Wow. That’s…. impressive. And confusing. I get what you mean though.” Akane said, patting Yukio on the head.

“Yeah, always the doting mother. Foods here!” Evan said.

Akane looked at the plates that the waitress had laid on the table with wide eyes, staring back and forth between them and Evan.

“You didn’t get desserts? Are you sure you aren’t sick or something?” Akane asked.

“I’m opening Rins mana valves.” Evan explained, waving a fork at her.

“Oh, right. It just clicked in my head. Of course. But milkshakes are still desserts, aren't they?” Akane asked, pointing to Evans drink.

“Nope,” Evan said, denying it.

“Dad, they are,” Rin said.

“I agree,” Yukio said.

“Even the indecisive boy said it,” Rin said, pointing

“....Rin, it’s rude to point.” Evan said, looking away.

“Don’t deny the obvious!” Rin said.

“Hmph. I’m god, right? I demand milkshakes no longer be considered a dessert, then. They're now part of a full course meal!” Evan said childishly.

“Got it, I’ll ask them to put some radish in it. It’s fine, right? Since it isn’t a dessert.” Rin said.

Evan's eyes bulged.

“I concede! It is dessert. But it doesn’t count in this case. Technically, it’s the meal, not the drink, that’s important.” Evan said.

“What are you talking about?” Rin asked.

“Oh. Well, usually I stick to the same kind of foods that the person whose mana valves I’m opening is eating. Food is actually important for mana. It synergizes well. Basically, it’s like the milkshake. It can thicken and also soften different kinds of mana so that it flows through the valves at just the right speed to not clog up. I don’t need to diet myself, I just find that it helps the other person stick to a certain diet. It’s not the food itself, exactly, but rather it’s the physical condition of the body. We’re going to be exercising also. You will be strengthening your body with mana and exercising it to the physical and magical limits. This should cause them to even out, your stamina and magic being on an equal level. It should easily flow through the body, having the ability to channel it almost perfectly. You can circulate all of your mana in your body, and it won’t overflow causing disruption, and it won’t have too little, causing you to not have enough magic for spells. Once they open, it will start to automatically do it, so you don’t really have to exercise to keep it even. When I open your valves, your control over your magic will greatly increase, allowing you to open or close the valves at will. You have been using a small trickle of the mana you have, that’s been spilling from your valves for spells, until now, and it gets released into the surrounding area if it isn’t used. You can store it due to your massive mana capacity, but usually, it also overflows from a person, limiting how much they can use and how much they can restore. That’s one of the reasons bad mages can’t just learn higher-level spells. Desserts aren’t healthy. That’s why.” Evan rambled, nonstop.

Rin groaned.

“Cousin Akane, Yukio, why aren’t you stopping him from speaking? He will probably continue lecturing even more if you let him.” Rin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Rin, you may get lectured about this all the time, but we don’t know any of this stuff, and getting the chance to learn from really old gramps is pretty lucky for people who study magic. Yukio goes to the academy here and is really interested in magic. I didn’t understand much of that, but Yukio probably understood at least a little. If not, he probably is taking notes." Akane said.

Yukio held up a voice recorder.

"Yeah, see, he’s taking an audio recording. Your father is the creator of magic itself in the first place, so just meeting him is considered a great honor to many mages. Almost everyone at the academy would gladly cut off a hand to meet him even once.... No, they would do that to meet my mother. I can’t imagine what they would do to meet Gramps.” Akane said, scratching her head with concern.

“Oh. Now that I think about it… dad, why didn’t you teach at the academy or something?” Rin asked.

“Your father unfortunately sucks at teaching things. Rather than teaching what he’s talking about, it would become a decoding class to decipher his lecture. He explains it, but other than that, he can’t easily do much else.” Akane said, sighing.

“He teaches me magic, though. Why can I understand him?” Rin asked.

“Oh, don't get me wrong. He’s gotten much better at it, so he does occasionally teach a class at the academy, but that’s about it. It’s also only one time every year or so. But, still. The waitlists probably have almost every single student on it.” Akane said.

“Really? What about the students that just don’t care? The ones going just because they have to?” Rin asked.

Akane shook her head.

“You can’t join the academy unless you truly want to pursue magic. If you show a continuous disinterest in magic, you are basically forced to leave the academy. So it would be rare to not have millions of questions to ask Evan. If they found out that your father was here, this place would be swarmed. Not everyone recognizes him though. He does look kinda generic right now.” Akane said, pointing.

“Rin, did you never wonder what the business trips I take are? It’s stuff like this. But let’s go work on getting your valves open. It’s a holiday, so we should have enough time. The schedule I have is to eat, train, wander around town looking for interesting things, and go back to the tower for the night.” Evan said

“Where are you taking Rin? You aren’t training in the tower?” Akane asked.

“Nope. Funny enough, there’s a magic waterfall which helps with practice and discipline. So it’s like an old school martial arts movie training. We’re going to be taking the mountain pass.” Evan said, grinning.

“Huh? The mountain pass has monsters on it! Oh, wait.... I guess she can handle them though. But I don't understand what you said after that. What waterfall?” Akane asked.

“It’s a little magic stream that flows from a source which is connected to the endpoint of the stream, to the endpoint and back out the beginning. It has a small waterfall that’s perfect for training, and I built a small house there. It has supplies for surviving the next few days.” Evan said.

“You aren’t-“ Akane started.

“Yup. She has a routine to follow so it should be decently easy. And I'm only including a small adventure.” Evan said.

“Dad? Why do I have an … ominous feeling? What’s going on?” Rin asked.