[Onelri]

The young dark elf girl was in a state of internal conflict. This started when Onelri saw Soar stepping outside, making her one of the few people at the party who first noticed his actions after Carol’s pregnancy was announced. She saw how he was hiding his presence through magic, too. As she was about to follow him, though, Sarise and Zalena headed out in the same direction, likely for the same reason she had.

The moment the promiscuous light elf left, Onelri’s intention to check in on Soar was thrown out the window. Whatever. He would probably rather open up to those two than me, anyway, she thought while sulking. Every minute since then, though, her gaze had shifted to the three mana signatures sitting together outside, checking to see if they had moved somewhere out of her gifted sight. By the time they finally came back, the adults had already decided who’d take the bath first, and it wasn’t long until the three of them parted ways. Onelri’s mind has been drawing blanks over the situation ever since then.

After the men had finished their time in the bath and it was the girls’ turn to take over, Onelri noticed one particular boy was missing. She went to her father, Darida, and asked what happened. Going by Darida’s testimony, Soar had left a little over ten minutes before the other guys left the bath. As Onelri and the girls were now starting to soak in the bath after washing each other, this meant Soar had been gone for half an hour, and there was still no sign of him returning.

Onelri’s gift allowed her to naturally perceive a person’s mana signature without needing to magically enhance her silver eyes. Even if the person she was watching tried to hide, through some spell or otherwise, she would know someone or something was there. This went for all beings, elves, humans, and even fairies, the last of which she was very aware many were ‘partying’ up in the attic of Soar’s home. As for what those fairies were doing up there, well, Onelri had seen a lot of things in her life, whether she wanted to or not. And boy, did she not want to. Seeing the many colors of mana signatures moving and shifting through the ceiling above her like a broken kaleidoscope, she knew what those fairies were doing up there, and it was taking everything she had to play dumb. Yet, despite her gifted sight, Onelri saw no hint of Soar anywhere on the premises, which meant he had to be quite far away, and that made her all the more confused, concerned, and conflicted.

“Something on your mind, Onelri?” her mother, Zalfes Gulzu, asked her daughter in their native elven tongue as they soaked in the bath together.

Onelri furrowed her brow, “Just how annoying Soar has been tonight since the news of his new sibling came out. He’s been acting so weird since then. I also just cannot believe Soar would get so chummy with that homewrecker of a light elf after one trek through a dungeon,” Onelri complained in the elven tongue while crossing her arms, “And from what I understood from their story, she hardly did anything! I don’t know what is so great about her other than that chest and her good looks!”

“Onelri, I understand you’re worried for Soar, but no matter what background or race they are from, it’s not right to gossip about other people like that,” Zalfes lightly scolded.

“I-I am not … I am not worried over that jerk!” Onelri stuttered with reddened cheeks and ears, “And why shouldn’t I gossip over someone who is clearly no good?! It’s not like I’m the only one doing it! Other kids, even adults, do it, too!”

“That doesn’t give you more right to badmouth someone, especially if they hadn’t done you wrong,” Zalfes argued before rubbing her daughter’s shoulder, “I know how perceptive you are, Onelri, so I will say this straight. A lot of us adults did not understand this when we were young, but we came to learn as we grew older that if we don’t stop perceiving and judging others negatively, we’ll eventually regret defiling their name down the line. It would be wise of you to change that attitude now while you’re still young and free of old regrets.”

“What could I possibly lose by badmouthing someone who deserved it?” Onelri asked with a skeptical quirk of her brow.

Zalfes’ stare hardened, as did her next words, “But you don’t really know if they do, and if you don’t change, you will not make more good friends like Soar, Fila, Agnes, and Claire, possibly none at all.”

Onelri’s rebuttal got stuck in her throat. Despite the hardships she had with each of the girls her age, no matter how big or small, her life had been more interesting during the last few days than it had been in her hometown. Back there, no one around her age made any attempt to talk to her directly. If it weren’t for Claire and Fila being there with her as they waited for Soar’s and Agnes’ return, Onelri would’ve been more bothered by how long they were gone than she was back then. She was certain the same would happen if the roles between pairs were reversed. They may have had their flaws, but Onelri was not so harsh as to gossip about her new friends who have been mostly kind to her.

If anything, I don’t want things to go back to where they were back home, Onelri thought, admitting that much to herself.

“Take it from someone who didn’t learn that harsh truth until much later,” Zalfes continued in elven tongue, making Onelri jolt to her in surprise. The dark elf woman then stared up, looking back to her past, “It is almost a miracle I got together with your father and had you. If I had learned it much earlier, we might have had a second mother for you, as well as a sibling for you to love and enjoy. I don’t know how much of my history contributed to other kids avoiding you, but if I played any part in it, then I must apologize for not being as good of a mother as I should have. You deserve much better than what you were given, Onelri, I guarantee that.”

“N-No, Mother, I do not blame you in the slightest, I had no idea …”

Zalfes smirked and rubbed Onelri’s shoulder again, “This is nothing for you to worry over. Right now, while we live with Soar’s and Fila’s families, Lunargrove will be our new home. This will be a fresh start for all of us, so we need to make the most of it. That includes making new friends. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Hey, Onelri! What’cha talking about?!” Fila exclaimed as she suddenly hugged Onelri from the side.

The rectangular bath in question was large, about the size of a small swimming pool, capable of holding a little over a dozen people stretched out with their hands barely touching along the edges, and deep enough for one to submerge themselves in the water to their shoulders. As such, there was plenty of room for four adult women and four young girls to sit and bathe together. Since Soar’s home was previously an inn, the bathing area was used by all patrons who stayed for the evening, with schedules for when the men and women would occupy it. There was even a washing area for people to clean and scrub themselves before submerging into the bath, the standard for bath house etiquette across the continent of Dustarga.

“We were just speaking of Onelri’s worries for where Soar has gone,” Zalfes teased in Dustaran.

“Ugh, Mother! I said I was not worried!” Onelri exclaimed in the common tongue before crossing her arms, “He is a C-rank Hunter now, yes? Even without taking that into account, his magical ability is ridiculous. Whatever he is doing, he can handle it himself.”

“I don’t know, he seemed a little closed off since his parents made that announcement,” Fila said while staring into the water, “And Sarise and Zalena are talking with them and Ms. Renne right now in another room, right? Could that be why Soar went off on his own?”

“That is highly likely,” Agnes said as she waded through the bath water and joined in the talk, with Claire following behind her, “Demonic familiars have a bad reputation throughout the entirety of the Reskondant Kingdom. There have been many reports in the past where criminals used them as accomplices for their crimes. Not that I would lump Sarise with them. Even so, I can see why Soar’s parents would be worried for his future if he does keep Sarise by his side, as that would affect his own reputation by leaps and bounds.”

“You mean if Soar keeps Sarise, he might get into more trouble than he has already?” Fila asked.

“With how things are right now, yes, but he might improve his situation in two ways,” Agnes started while keeping up two fingers, “There is one thing I should point out, however. If Soar was planning to keep himself and his magical prowess on the down low, even if all of us in this building agreed to not blatantly spread the word out in the open, he can kiss his chances of that being a success good-bye.”

“Is it because of how powerful he is?” Claire asked as she also joined in.

Agnes nodded, “Among other prodigies like myself, Soar is too powerful to be put on the same level, and that was before he dove into Myron Dungeon with me. Now, after clearing it with a new devil familiar and a Light Fairy added in his personal roster, it would be much harder for him to not stand out. I am sure right now, as we speak, Brightlas’ citizens are already spreading word about a high-class demonic familiar serving a Fairy’s Child. That is more than enough reason for the general populace to direct some, if not a lot, of attention at Soar.”

“True, even if he started out as an H-rank Hunter at the bottom like I did, it wouldn’t take long for him to quickly rise up the ranks,” Claire commented with a hand to her chin, “And that’s with or without Sarise. It would be different if he was in a different occupation, but whether or not he knew what he was getting into, Soar’s fate was sealed the moment he decided to become a Hunter.”

“Why does that sound like he signed a death wish when coming from you?” Onelri asked with a quirked brow.

Claire blinked in confusion, “Huh? Is that really what it sounds like?”

“Back to what I was saying before, Soar has two ways going forward,” interrupted Agnes before holding up one finger, “One solution is to summon another familiar from Zaleese and pray they are on the opposite end of the spectrum from Sarise in their reputation. The other …”

“Soar completes as many difficult quests as fast as he can and rises up to S-rank?” Claire asked.

Agnes nodded, “Correct, this would not only benefit him, but his connections, that is, us, too.”

“Wait, it sounded like Soar getting a lot of attention was a bad thing, now you think he should get even more by becoming an S-rank Hunter?” Fila asked while tilting her head, her floppy bunny ears hanging down and dipping in the bathwater.

“I think I get it,” Onelri said while looking down in thought, “It is bad for him to get the attention he has now because adults would be skeptical that a kid could jump up to C-rank all of a sudden. Being such an exception from others of the same rank and even those below that, it is likely he will receive some harassment from other Hunters. They may think of him as a brat with an inflated ego that needs to be taught a lesson and know his place.”

“For adults to be like that towards a kid … doesn’t this go beyond what could be called bullying?” Fila asked.

“It sounds cruel, but I’ve unfortunately heard gruesome stories where things like that actually happen,” Claire pointed out, “Some rookie Hunters resigned from the job immediately after being put through a rite of passage brought on by those with more seniority. There are even a few cases where those rookies were left barely alive. What makes this even worse is that the Hunter’s guild has a policy of not interfering affairs between registered Hunters, unless one or both of them does something that makes the Guild look bad or poses a danger to Non-Hunters around them. At that point, the guild would step in to stop it before things escalate further, but lots of damage and loss would’ve already happened.”

Fila’s floppy bunny ears drooped, “That’s horrible … and Soar will be put through the same thing?”

“Not if he proves himself,” Onelri answered, “Which brings us back to Soar becoming an S-rank Hunter. If he becomes one of the greatest Hunters in the country, not even those with more experience would dare challenge him. He would be almost untouchable like that promiscu—I mean, like that light elf. And that protection would then apply to us as well. Since we personally know Soar, if they knew we are associated with him, they would not want to risk their hide to harass one of us if it meant receiving his wrath.”

“Exactly. Proving his strength in this manner would drastically decrease the harassments he, and others with him, would face, and with Soar’s magical prowess, I daresay he could become a legend,” Agnes concluded while crossing her arms. Her chest swelled with pride over the talented boy she’d befriended, along with some other strange, unknown feeling tightening her chest as she recalled Soar’s performance in the dungeon. She tried to push that unfamiliar emotion down, though.

“There is one thing he would have to be careful of,” Claire interjected as her eyes suddenly hardened and turned sharp, “If he does become an S-rank Hunter, sure, he’d less likely be challenged by those beneath him in rank … the others who are the same as him, however, are another story. Can you imagine how things could turn out if a Magician as strong, if not stronger than Ms. Zalena Vaxine, approaches Soar and challenges him to a duel? The end result may not be pretty for either or both of them.”

Aside from Onelri and Agnes, none of the other girls had any idea of what Zalena was capable of. Despite what Onelri heard about Zalena only supervising the examinees from the sidelines, she was certain Agnes had witnessed at least some of the light elf’s power back in the dungeon. Meanwhile, the young dark elf had known for some time that the light elf was contracted with four Fairy Companions thanks to her gifted eyes. One or two of them were as big as Soar’s Wind Fairy, Breezy, and elves, be they light or dark, are well-known to be the most attuned with magic of all the races. It was practically guaranteed that elves of both kinds would become prosperous Magicians in whatever occupation they desired. If Zalena could pull off a Wind Needle spell of the same caliber as Soar’s back in his demonstration yesterday, then Onelri couldn’t fathom how strong the light elf was with magic of higher tiers.

The mere thought sent enough chills down the young dark elf’s spine to ignore the high temperatures from the bath water. Great, now I am worried for that big jerk, Onelri thought.

“Well, even if Soar does face someone like that in the future, we can be at ease knowing Sarise is by his side,” Zalfes intervened, “I know that most demonic familiars have stood out negatively in history due to their involvement in crime. However, there have been some well-renowned leaders back in our birthplace, Moonaura, who had high-class demons like Sarise as their familiars.”

“Really?” Onelri asked with widened eyes.

Zalfes nodded, “Oh, yes. Before making contracts with fairies became commonplace, our race had a hard time surviving. I cannot fathom what would have happened if our heroes and their high-class angelic and demonic familiars were not around to help pull us back from the brink of destruction. If today’s high-class demons have not faltered in strength and/or magic since then, then Soar is very fortunate to have a capable ally like Sarise by his side … that is, if his parents allow her to stay with him. I do not know if this discrimination against demons is shared by all humans, but I cannot fathom why Soar’s parents would not let her stay. If I was Soar’s mother, I as well as everyone back in Moonaura, would welcome Sarise with open arms.”

“I don’t know about being that enthusiastic, but I wouldn’t be that harsh towards Sarise, either,” Flomi, Fila’s mother, commented as she rested a hand on her generously full and wet breasts as they bobbed on the surface of the bathwater, something that drew impressed and envious attention from Onelri and the other girls, “This might be biased coming from me and my previous line of work, but I wouldn’t turn someone like that straight away if they don’t mean any harm. Plus, I … as well as Fila—unfortunately enough without my knowing—have seen plenty of other women who dressed similarly where we came from. Seeing Sarise like that on a daily basis wouldn’t be much different for us. Right, Fila?”

“Ah! That’s right!” Fila exclaimed while splashing water in excitement, “When I saw Mama working outside in pretty dresses, I saw other women dressed in lots of different outfits! They were so unique and cool-looking! I thought the same for Sarise when I first saw her! You think I would look as cool and grown-up if I wore them, too, Mama?!”

“Sweetie, you’re already well on your way to become a cool and grown-up woman just the way you are. Zalfes can agree on me on this, right?” Flomi asked as she shifted glances between Zalfes and Fila.

“O-Oh! Yes! Darida and I agree that you are a delight to be around, Fila. Onelri thinks so, too.”

“Really?!” Fila exclaimed with her eyes sparkling with joy while turning her full attention towards Onelri.

I know where you two are going with this, but did you have to drag me into it, too, Mother?! Flustered to be put on the spot, Onelri blushed and had trouble where to lock her eyes while forming coherent words, stumbling and lisping while briefly forgetting how to speak Dustaran, “Y-Yesth. P-Pletty … Fila, isth.”

Moved with emotion, Fila glomped Onelri once more, “Aww, I think you’re pretty, too, Onelri! I still want to try on those cool outfits, though.”

Flomi could only wear a strained smile while patting Fila’s head,“We’ll talk more about that when you’re older, sweetie, when you’re older.”

It was no surprise to Onelri that Agnes looked confused with no idea what the rabbitkin mother and daughter were talking about. The young dark elf knew Agnes wasn’t just a crimson Fairy Child, but the young lady of a noble household with little knowledge of a commoner’s lifestyle, after all. Onelri, along with the other girls who were listening in, however, had mixed, awkward expressions. The adult women in particular had a clear idea what Flomi’s previous line of work was from Fila’s description alone.

Awkwardness aside, Onelri looked down on her reflection in the bathwater as she took in her mother’s words, So, some heroes had demonic familiars, huh? she thought.

History was one of Onelri’s least favorite subjects, so this was the first time she had heard that Magicians with demonic familiars were heroic figures among dark elves in their district-capital of Moonaura. From that perspective, having a high-class demon like Sarise was a perfect fit for Soar, seeing how he had saved her and Fila’s families a few nights ago. The topic actually shed new light on the dark elf girl’s perspective of familiars, since she had seen more kids around her age contracted with fairies than familiars.

Since Soar was able to summon a familiar on his own … “If I somehow do not form a contract with a fairy, would he help me summon a familiar of my very own?” Onelri thought aloud.

Zalfes couldn’t help but smile and rub her daughter’s back for finding other possibilities to prosper as a Magician. Whether her daughter ended up with a fairy or a familiar, the most important thing to her as a mother was to see Onelri happy being whatever kind of Magician she wanted to be. If one fairy, or a single familiar, or even a whole bunch of them, could help do that for her, then Zalfes would wholesomely welcome them to her family.

Meanwhile, Lilia of the Platinum Arms Hunter party, the one Soar’s father was formerly the leader for, and Rala, the pantherkin Hunter that observed Soar and Agnes as their examiner down Myron Dungeon, were talking among themselves from another area of the large bath. Onelri and Fila couldn’t help but pick up their conversation while the others in their group were conversing with each other.

“I don’t know. I may not be a mother, but I can get where Carol’s coming from over her worry about taking Sarise in,” Lilia started, “I would be reluctant in keeping a demonic familiar, no matter what their class … it might be another story if he was handsome, though. I’ve heard of a few girls who happened to have summoned incubi in the past, and they saw no point in seeing another man ever again after that. Based on how attractive Sarise looks, though Soar’s still young, I can see him wanting to keep her around for similar reasons. As a familiar owner yourself, what do you think, Rala?”

“Uuuuuuugh, all I know is that I am so done with this,” Rala groaned as she slouched back in the bath, still flushed and drunk from the binge drinking she went through that night at the party.

“Aren’t you overreacting a bit?”

“You don’t understand, Lilia. Soar and Lady Agnes? Those two are Not. Normal. Kids. Yes, they’ve been raised by a well-renowned Hunter and the freaking knight general of the Reskondant Kingdom’s guard. Both of them likely incorporated their own disciplines and martial schools into their roles as both parent and trainer of those kids, but my issue is what those two have gone through to get like that! Lady Agnes, I can get from her intelligence, talent, and who her father is, but Soar? I can’t make heads or tails of him! Even if you put him being a Fairy Child aside, his level of control, quantity, and the repertoire of magic he’s able to do is outside of common sense for a kid his age! Don’t even get me started on his blade work with that dagger of his!”

Rala then held her chest that was tightening from recalling her time in the exam, “It was the first time I saw him taking out three lower-imps on his own that got me. His movements were so quick, fluent, and had no wasted energy. That intense concentration in his eyes that were cold as ice, as if he forgot we were there. He didn’t even flinch when the blade made contact with the monsters’ flesh or when their blood spilled on his clothes. All my hairs were standing on end like I was watching a natural-born killer do his work. That is something I never want to see from a child! It was like he has seen and experienced as much as an adult has, or even more!”

“Oh, come on, Rala, it’s like you’re making Gullivan, and me, into villains who put Soar through an awful ordeal,” Lilia finally interjected, “Yes, I have also been on the receiving end of his training methods while he was still leading our party, and I admit they were harsh, but he would never force me into something as bad as what you might be imagining, and that goes double for Soar while he’s still so young. If you ask me, he’s not how he is now solely from training with his father, or all of us from Platinum Arms.”

“You all trained him, too?” Rala asked with widened eyes.

Lilia nodded, “Yes, but no more than a couple times a year whenever we visited Lunargrove. We’ve actually been told that Soar would go off on his own whenever he didn’t have his lessons with Gullivan or schoolwork to worry about. I imagine it was around those times Soar did his own training, but as to whatever he did to look like, in your words, a ‘natural-born killer’, in battle mind you, your guess is as good as mine.”

Rala sighed heavily, “Yeah, no, I’m not risking myself to put up with that again, no matter how unlikely it is that another kid like that would come around. I think I lost more cat lives from that one trek in the dungeon than I had throughout the entirety of my time as a Hunter! It might be about time I finally step down from the job,” Rala concluded while nodding her head.

“Seriously? After just that one time? What would you do for a living then?”

“Hey, you would not be that lax if you had the same experience I had,” Rala argued before doing a very cat-like stretch of her arms and slouching back in the bath, “As for what I’ll do from now on, I’ll just settle for being a guild receptionist. This way, my chances of meeting an interesting guy will go up, and I could help the adorable children from behind the counter, too.”

“Still looking to help young rookie Hunters, huh?”

Onelri and Fila decided to stop listening in from there and pondered a similar thought, A natural-born killer … was it because of those bandits?

~~

[Claire]

Unknown to the dark elf and rabbitkin girls, one human girl among their group was also listening in to Lilia’s and Rala’s private talk. Her way of hearing such gossip, however, was as natural as if she was right there next to them, even if they were many yards away from her. That was just how Claire Galloway gathered such information after training her hearing and other senses over the years. She moved her black locks behind her ear while getting lost in her thoughts, A boy who is a natural-born killer, and who also not only has six fairies, but was able to summon a high-class demonic familiar with the magic circle in Myron Dungeon? I didn’t see him go into a sanctorium at any point in our trip to Brightlas, and it’s impossible to purchase the translations from them ahead of time, since the special parchments they’re written on turn to ashes after one day.

The only way he could have known the lines to chant the summoning spell was by translating the Shimmerlin language etched into those walls with the help of that book I gifted him. The problem with that answer, however, is how easily he translated it when it takes the bishops managing the sanctoriums two years to become somewhat fluent in the language. Even if the familiar selection is random, the chances of summoning one from a higher class is raised the more fluent you are in Shimmerlin. I would be a little more at ease if Soar had read the Book of Ancient Practices before, but from how he reacted seeing that book—

a male voice exclaimed in Claire’s mind through telepathy, interrupting her thoughts.

Claire asked, calm and collected.

Claire gulped as her throat suddenly went dry, cold sweat mixed with the droplets of bath water on her back, Soar Osmis, just who … or what … are you?