We had dinner prepared by our mothers again later that night, and getting a taste of Flomi’s and Zalfes’ cooking was quite delicious. The breakfast my familiars and I made this morning was quite large to accommodate all the people that were there, so we were let off the hook for cooking the rest of the day. We were told that the adults would organize how to split up the chores soon though.

I reminded Sarise through Telepathy Magic to eat plenty enough to make up for the nutrition she used to make milk this morning. Gripping both of her large jugs hard, I warned her not to expend herself to such degrees again, for her own safety. As fun as this morning was, I’d rather keep such risks to another person’s health to a minimum. Obediently, Sarise took my light scolding to heart and swore not to worry me like that again.

Instead, with a beaming smile, Sarise thrust her huge rack towards me more, her tough body clearly experiencing no discomfort. I took this as a challenge and played with her orbs and peaks roughly with one hand and a bit of Levitation Magic. Telepathically, I warned my Devil to be a good little maid and not vocalize, or otherwise react, while we ate our meals, as part of an impromptu, daring game. My Demonic Familiar glowed with delight, over the moon that I’d indulge her both in her personal preferences and her Demonic culture. Melody also seemed happy for Sarise, and I was glad to see there was no jealousy on the Angel’s part. As a reward, I switched over to teasing her super fun bags once I declared Sarise the winner of our little game. Though I was much more gentle with my Angelic Familiar’s far more delicate skin.

Outside of the private telepathic bubble around me and my familiars, dinner was much more subdued. While the food was good, there were some areas around the table that had an awkward air. Specifically, around Zalena. Last night might have been different as it was a party and everyone was focused on Agnes and I. With everyone gathered around a few tables put together for a proper dinner, though, the fact that this would be a regular thing was starting to set in. Zalena seemed to have read the room, however, as she excused herself after finishing only one serving. I don’t know what kind of past she had with my parents, or how bad the feud was between Light Elves and Dark Elves, but I hoped the awkwardness would be overcome quickly and that everyone would be able to get along in time.

Once dinner was done, my parents and Ms. Renne went to warm up the bath before we decided who would use it first. Since we wanted to reduce wait times, it was most efficient for us to do it in groups. There were eleven of us—plus Claire, who got the okay from my parents to stay another night for the sake of convenience due to her trial tomorrow—and splitting us off by families alone would be inefficient. Zalena, for instance, would wind up bathing alone. Fila suggested I bathe with her and Onelri, but I shot that idea down immediately, for obvious reasons.

My parents wanted the three of us to bathe together first, being the original owners of the place. I turned down that idea also, even though they said that my familiars could join us as well. It wasn’t like I had anything against my parents, especially after that moment we shared together when they announced they were going to let my familiars stay. But bathing with them made me very uncomfortable.

The thing is, when you’re an old man reincarnated in a new body from birth, your new parents that come with your second life never really feel like your parents. Though you’re technically related to them by blood, they can never really replace the first parents you had. Instead, it feels more like, “These are this body’s parents, not mine,” if that makes sense. With that being the case, there are some normal moments between parents and their child that you can’t help but feel awkward about.

Point in case, bathing. I don’t mind washing with my new dad, it was my new mom that made the experience awkward for me. Though her affections were those of a loving mother to her son, I couldn’t help seeing her as a woman with a hell of a beauty about her, which made said affections give me feelings I knew I shouldn’t have. In fact, when I started becoming more independent a couple years ago, Mom became more clingy during bath time. Don’t even get me started on the occasional nights Dad didn’t get home until later, leaving Mom feeling lonely and needy. This resulted in her hugging me in the bath for even longer periods.

I had brought up at one point that I was capable of bathing by myself, but Mom was insistent of sharing these ‘family baths’ with me for the sake of being efficient with water and heat. She also used the fact that kids aren’t allowed to bathe in public without adult supervision, stating that, as a former Inn, that rule also applied in our house. Out of respect for parental—and maybe public—authority, I had given in, shoved my mixed feelings aside, and put up with bathing with Mom for now.

Now that I’d be bathing regularly with two totally hot familiars, I didn’t think I could keep my mind pure while bathing with both them and my Mom. I also couldn’t let Mom’s overbearing nature get between us. In fact, now, while we had more people staying with us and I had a new sibling coming later, was the perfect time to use our new circumstances to my advantage.

So, I reasoned with my parents on why it was important that I started bathing more independently now; so that they could direct more needed attention to the baby when it arrived. I noticed Dad had let Onelri, her family, Fila, and Claire off to take the bath first during my explanation. It seemed he felt this ‘talk’ was going to take a bit, and didn’t want the bath water to go to waste. Mom tried to argue that I didn’t have to start bathing alone now since it would still be a while before the baby arrived, and I still needed adult-supervision in the bath. Though my parents had let me keep my familiars, Mom didn’t feel like they counted as proper supervision. I was a little deflated at that, as I had hoped I could use my familiars for just that.

Zalena once again tried to come to my rescue, offering to supervise me and my familiars in my parents’ place. I emphasize ‘tried’, because Mom was being unreasonable and insisting that I bathe with her and my dad instead. I was both surprised and stunned, having not experienced this before with my own mother in my previous life. Before this point I hadn’t fully understood the curse that came with being a ‘momma’s boy’.

My chances of bathing independently was growing slim, until Flomi unexpectedly came to my rescue and offered to keep Zalena company while supervising me. The fact that she was a mom too seemed to make the difference for my own mother. I was honestly surprised the Rabbit-Kin was still here, as I had thought she had gone along with her daughter and the others earlier.

Apparently, Flomi had urged Fila to go by herself so she could get closer to her new friends. In fact, the Rabbit-Kin was hoping to give her daughter this chance to gain some independence and learn to not be so reliant on her. While waiting for her own turn, she quickly realized Zalena couldn’t really bathe with my parents or the Dark Elves without things getting awkward. Simultaneously, Flomi also noticed how hard of a time Mom was having letting me go. As a mother herself, she felt I needed the chance to grow and become more independent, while Mom needed to learn to give me space. And so the Rabbit-Kin sought to fix both problems by offering to bathe with Zalena and supervise me for my mother’s peace of mind.

After some convincing from both Flomi and Zalena, Mom reluctantly gave in, giving me the okay to bathe with them and my familiars, but she was still disappointed. Attempting to lighten her spirits, I hugged her and reminded her of our talk earlier at breakfast, repeating that I still loved her. She grew a wry smile and visibly strove to live with the arrangement in response. While I tried to comfort my Mom, I was honestly having a hard time containing my excitement. Not only was I going to get to stop bathing with my mother, but I’d get to bathe regularly with both my familiars and Zalena and Flomi as well. This wouldn’t have been possible without the Light Elf’s and Rabbit-Kin’s support, so I had to make it up to them somehow, soon.

With that settled, we just needed to wait for the first group to get done with their bath. It was decided that my group would go next after them, while my parents and Ms. Renne—who was spending another night with us after the long day—would go last, so we hung around a bit and chatted while waiting.

I took this chance to catch up with my Fairy Companions and asked them how their party was last night. They all went over the happenings with details that were well into the TMI range. I knew I shouldn’t be too bothered by their open sexal nature at this point, but there were still some things in other people’s lives that I’d rather not know about. I knew they meant well and had no ill intentions behind sharing it all with me, though, so I just tried to just bear with it. In fact, I should probably take this chance to try and numb myself to these sorts of discomforts in case I have to deal with Demons other than Sarise in a social setting.

Once my Companions were done sharing the highlights of their party, they went off to take their own bath, having made plans to visit some other Fairies later. All the Fairy Companions that were in the building would bathe at their own discretion, either with their Chaperones or by themselves in groups. There were a few buckets made specifically for Fairies to bathe in after scooping some of the hot bathwater. This was for their safety, as it protected them from drowning or getting washed away by a sudden change in water level as people moved about or got in and out of the bath.

After I bid my Fairies goodbye, I noticed Dad was still in the room with us. Remembering Claire’s predicament, I felt this was a good time to bring it up, so I approached him and briefly filled him in on the situation.

“Claire’s having family trouble at home?” Dad asked.

My familiars, Flomi, and Zalena, who were all nearby, perked their ears up upon hearing our conversation. Ms. Renne, meanwhile, was currently comforting Mom after our exchange in another room.

I nodded, “It seems like she and her grandpa, who she’s staying with, haven’t been on good terms for a while, bad enough to not speak to each other. Claire’s even working as a Hunter so she can pay for her own necessities.”

I didn’t want to give too much away without Claire’s permission, especially her family’s background, so I tried to narrow the situation down to the main point. Since she had meant well all this time and we had, finally, become friends, I figured I’d try to help her out.

“Hmm …” Dad crossed his arms and thought deeply, “And what exactly is it that you want to do for Claire, Soar?”

“I don’t think having that kind of relationship with your own family is very healthy, especially living together under combative conditions. It sounds like Claire has been through a lot for a long time. I just want her to be able to live a little more comfortably and happily, whether she patches things up with her grandpa or not.”

Dad pondered some more, “Claire’s grandfather … Hanneman Galloway, was it?”

“Hanneman Galloway … when I heard Little Bob-Cut’s last name, I thought it sounded familiar,” Zalena added, looking down in thought.

“You two know him?” Flomi asked.

“I get around in this town, but I’ve only seen him a few brief times, as well as heard some things,” Dad explained, “He tends to close himself off from everyone during the day, not even participating in any local events. The few times he’s made an impact was when the town was in the middle of a Monster Wave. These were long before you were born, Soar, before your mother and I even settled in.”

“Whoa …” I said.

Monster Waves are one of the few natural magical disasters in this world. In random parts of Dustarga, mana gathers at one point, concentrating until it produces a massive surge of creatures that immediately spreads out like a plague of locusts. However, they seek not plants, but comparatively lower leveled humanoids and fairies to feast on and grow stronger. Some waves included large, dangerous monsters that you’d only normally see as bosses in dungeons. These monster waves destroy everything in their path, turning towns into desolate ruins before dispersing in multiple directions to find their next banquet.

Somehow, Lunargrove had faced and survived two Monster Waves. In both, my dad explained, Hanneman Galloway had taken up arms and helped turn back the tides. This meant that not only had he been living in Lunargrove for a long time, but he was practically a renowned hero to the locals. I supposed he distanced himself from the town so as to not garner a lot of unwanted attention, something I could relate to. Still, for a Monster Wave to appear in the same area twice usually meant something far bigger was going to happen sooner or later down the line. That’s what I read in books that describe this phenomenon, anyway, and I wondered if Hanneman had been sticking around this whole time to spring into action when that inevitable event came calling.

“I tried to look at Hanneman’s profile with the guild out of curiosity, but there were no mentions of him as a Hunter in their local records,” Dad continued, “I can only guess this means he’s originally from Onora, because that’s the likeliest place that talented Magicians would come from, whether they be Hunters, knights of the royal guard, or something else. Even at his age, if I were to have a duel with him, I’m not confident I could win against him in an even fight.”

“I actually have crossed paths with him a couple of times, myself,” Zalena added, “Once was in the labyrinth with a few others, the other was in Onora. Both of those times, I could sense a dangerous air about him, something I’d rather not mess with, if I had the choice, and this was before I took Gully under my wing. I’m honestly surprised he even had kids later, let alone grandkids like Little Bob-Cut.”

“So, there’s nothing you could do to help improve Claire’s situation?” I asked, my hopes dimming.

Dad rubbed his beard in thought, “Let me see if I can have a chat with him while you five are out tomorrow. I’ll explain the situation, see what he says, and you’ll hear something from me when you get back. How does that sound?”

I nodded in understanding, “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate this.”

Dad rustled my hair with gusto, “Anytime, kiddo. Just leave the complicated adult stuff to me for now and have fun with Claire during her test tomorrow.”

Well, technically, I’m pretty much the same age as you and very capable of handling this ‘complicated adult stuff,’ but I’ll let it slide.