I’m on my way back home to the eastern border castle while riding the wolf, uncle Victor and my cousin Michael decided to come with me and visit my family.

The queen probably wants me to go straight to the capital, but I decided to temporarily neglect my duty to the crown. I really don’t want to travel for so long ever again, I’ll go down to the capital when I make an airplane.

The wolf is behaving well, although he growls at people from time to time and I’m pretty sure he wants to eat the war-horses.

Maybe I need to take him for a walk from time to time? “Hey, uncle.” I call out. “I think I should go hunt something with the wolf.”

“Hunting, huh?” He answers. “That sounds like fun, mind having some company?” Uncle has the same red hair and violet eyes as mother, although he keeps his hair short and has a little bit of sideburns.

That might be a good idea, maybe if the wolf experiences hunting together with other people he will consider them ‘part of the pack’ or something like that? “Sounds good, but remember to leave some prey to the wolf.” That’s the whole point of doing this, after all.

“I can come too, right?” Asks Michael. He has similar violet eyes to his father, but his hair is more on the auburn side.

“Hmm, as long as some of the knights stay with you as guards, it should be fine.”

~~

“Well, that was pointless.” Says uncle while watching the wolf tearing apart a boar. “It was over before it started.”

“I did tell you he was fast, didn’t I?” I say. “Stop that, you’ll ruin the meat!” I push the wolf’s mouth away from the boar before I start to skin and bleed it.

“Aren’t you afraid he’ll bite you?” Asks uncle.

“He knows better.” I say, before I throw the wolf his share of the meat.

By then, Michael arrived. “How did you manage to tame such a strong wolf, Lance?”

“Carrot and stick.” I answer.

“You tamed him with carrots and sticks? Do wolves even like carrots?”

“No, silly. Carrot as in reward and stick as in punishment. When he does what I want him to do, I give him food and scratches. When he does something I don’t want him to do, I give him a disruption bolt and a stern scolding.” I explain calmly.

“... You think I can tame a monster too?” Michael asks.

“... Maybe when you’re older.” I answer.

~~

Right now, we’re passing through Turin. Due to the mountains and hills in this northern area of the country, if you want to go anywhere, you have to go through Turin.

I’m alone with grandma in her office, reporting on what happened that day on the south. Normally I would report to the inquisition, but grandma is fine too since she’s, you know, my grandmother.

“So this one shot a fire bomb with all her mana and you used one of the water spears to take the hit?” She points at one of the pictures I drew while asking. I nod. “And the shockwave knocked you out?” I nod again. “Were you not strengthening yourself properly?”

“Of course I was!” Does she think me an idiot? “I’m just too small and light, strength wasn’t enough, I needed to use telekinesis to counter the shockwave, but it was just too fast. While strengthening myself and controlling the spears, I didn’t have enough concentration to use telekinesis that fast.”

“Hmm… Well, what happened after that?”

“Oh, well… I woke up on a shipwreck in the western monster territory looking a little… Different.” I didn’t feel comfortable showing uncle, since I just met him, but grandma should be fine. “Let me show you.” I turn off my disguise. My pupils change, my hair gains a little bit of maroon and thin scar-like lines appear on my slightly tanned skin.

Now grandma seems surprised. “Well, that’s… Something.”

“And when I move mana around, this happens.” I show her the red lines.

“Intriguing… The ship you woke up in was the one with the ritual, yes?” She seems to be going towards the same conclusion I had. I nod. “The ritual must have triggered a change in your bloodline… Do you have any changes to your magic instinct?”

“I think my mana quantity, control and sense just increased, together with using magic inside my body becoming easier, like healing and strengthening. So it might just be like the royal bloodline, but slightly more?” I say while shrugging.

“Fire didn’t become easier?” She asks.

“Not any easier than anything else, thanks to mana sense and control, everything became a little easier. I even had a breakthrough in enchantment.” I detach my knife from my belt and hand it to her.

She removes the knife from its scabbard, looks at it a little, runs a little bit of mana through it and stabs her wood table with it, shouldn’t have done that. The knife goes straight through the table and only stops when it reaches the guard. You just ruined a perfectly good table.

“... Is this made of those ‘alloy’ things you spoke about?”

“No, just steel. Didn’t have the time to search for specific ores to make the right kinds of alloys.”

“... Can I keep it?” Goddamnit. Whatever, I nod. I was going to make a better one later, anyway. “Ahem, anyway, It’s possible the differences between your new bloodline and the normal royal bloodline will only appear when you reach puberty. That’s when bloodlines really kick in… You might want to keep your new characteristics hidden temporarily while I discuss this with the other elders and the royal family, but it’s not that big of a deal if someone finds out, only a little annoying.”

Yeah, I thought the same thing. “So, what happened that night?” I still don’t have the complete picture.

“What you’d expect from what you already know, a Chevalier elder caused a distraction and another one didn’t allow for anyone to stay behind. While all the operatives were on a wild-goose chase, they had their hired thugs kidnap kids all over the island.”

She continues. “Our men only realized something was up when Eleanor checked your tracker and saw you were on the sea. Sadly, when they arrived on the ship, the second ship was already gone. Since you still had your tracker then, they tried to chase it, but it had too much of a headstart on them, and then your tracker disappeared.”

Lets see, uncle already told me that the kids were fine, but let’s ask anyway. “What about the kids and the books I left on the bigger ship?”

“The kids were fine, if a little scared. The ship was enchanted and protected them from the fight. We got the books as well. Oh, you keep calling them cultists, but there was nothing religious on their diaries, so they were actually just rogue sorcerers.”

Good to know, what else do I want to know?... Oh, right. “Why did the surviving rogue only take me? And why would he use the ritual without making sure it was working?”

“The current theory is that there was something wrong with his life force, he needed to use the ritual, and fast, if he wanted to live. And according to the books, children with a lot of mana are the best sacrifices for this ritual.” She explains. “These rogues weren’t taught by a master, they only had a couple books and had to figure things out by themselves, they probably hurt themselves by accident when trying to perform the ritual using their previous victims.” Huh, so they were just improvising with what they had, what a mess.

Well, if I had any other questions, I don’t remember them.

“What’s with the wolf?” Grandma asks suddenly.

I look at the huge dark-gray wolf that’s lying down on the carpet nearby, his ears flutter as he notices my look, but otherwise, he’s not doing anything. “What do you mean? he’s not doing anything.”

“No, I meant why is he here?” Oh that.

“Because I’m afraid he might eat the war-horses if I leave him in the stables.” Good thing this place has big doors almost everywhere.

“This is why I… Nevermind...” She stares at my hands. “The enchantment on the forearms feels different from the rest...”

“Grandma, If you want me to make stuff for you, you can just say so.” Is that a blush on her face? What are you, an anime schoolgirl?

~~

When grandma was escorting me out I remembered something important. “Grandma, I want to try healing lost limbs, do you know anyone who would be willing?”

“...” She just stares at me with a poker face for a few moments before saying. “Sure, why not? Follow me.”

She leads me to a tall and muscular young man without his right forearm. “Hey, big guy, my grandson wants to try healing a limb, how about it?”

The big guy looked confused for a moment before he becomes interested. “You’re the kid- er, young master that healed the whole town, right? I’m up for it, what do I need to do?”

“Um, first I need to reopen the wound, do you want me to make you sleep with a spell?”

“No need, I want to see it and I’ve been through worse.” He says while waving his arm stump around.

“Well, here goes nothing.” I use force cut on the end of the stump right then and there and do as I remember. As you might expect from monsters, they don’t know any runes, so this is healing done completely with raw magic.

I can see the big guy grinding his teeth, but I ignore him.

It feels different from the troll, slower, like I’m stretching something beyond its limits, but it’s working, his elbow formed properly and I'm halfway done with his forearm, but it’s taking too much mana.

So I concentrate my mana sense on his arm, I look for places where bits of my mana is being wasted, I also find that the bone is the hardest part to regenerate, so I send the mana that was being wasted there.

There we go, now it’s both cheaper and faster. I finish healing his hands without running out of mana, but only barely. “Damn, that was harder than I expected, I still have a long way to go, huh?... Well, thanks for helping, you two, I will go take a nap now, see you next time.”

They just stay silent, how rude. Well, whatever, I have a comfortable bed awaiting me, let’s go wolf.

~~

While on the way to the eastern castle, I detected a small group of highwaymen. I decided this was a good opportunity to teach the wolf that it’s okay to kill humans too, sometimes.

That was a pretty grisly scene… Aside from that and going on a small hunt here and there, I arrived home uneventfully.

“Uncle, I’m running ahead.” I say when we get close to the castle.

“Sure, just make sure they know it’s you.” He answers with a smile.

I nod and tell the wolf to run. While on the way I shout with magic “I’M HOOOME!”

The soldiers get spooked by the wolf, but some of the knights recognize me, so the bridge is lowered and the portcullis raised as I pass straight through, I wave to the knights as thanks.

By the time I arrive at the main keep, my family is walking out from inside. “Lance!” shouts Athena.

“I’m home!” I answer as I dismount from the wolf.

“I expected you to grow taller, but even then, aren’t you too fast?” Asks mom, as she hugs me. “It’s good to see you in one piece.”

“Weren’t you so sure he would be fine?” Oh? Uncle caught up when I wasn’t looking.

“I was, and it’s still good to see I was right.” Answers mom as she looks at him with narrowed eyes.

Dad was the next to hug me. “Your new sibling is taking a nap right now, his name is Noah.” I just nod. Thankfully they didn’t give him a silly name.

Then Athena who looks relieved. “Don’t disappear like that again.” It’s not like I did it intentionally…

“I’ll have someone show you your room, Victor.” Says mom. “Knowing you, you must be dead tired from the journey here.”

“You’re the same as always, Isabel.” Says uncle. “I’ll let you catch up with your son.”

~~

“...And when I woke up, I looked like this.” I finish telling them what happened and show them how I look now, red lines and all. “Grandma said to keep it a secret for now.”

“Oh, you showed this to mother?” Asks mom.

“Yeah, I gave her a report in person.”

“That might be troublesome, then.” She furrows her brows.

Uh-oh, what does that mean? “How so?”

“She’ll probably look for a fiancée for you earlier than normal and push you to have kids as soon as possible.” When mom says that, father smiles and athena looks at me with pity.

Oh, it’s just that. I sigh with relief. I was already prepared for something like that, so I’ll just run away from home when that time comes… It depends on the potential fiancée as well…

Only fools face their problems head-on.

I’m not a ‘one true love’ kind of guy, but marriage can have a big impact in one’s life and if it’s with someone you dislike, that impact will probably be negative.

“... You’re thinking of running away, aren't you?” Uh-oh, mother figured me out.

“Uh, not at all.” Damn, acting skills, if you could get off your ass then it would be nice.

After that I had to listen to a lecture about responsibility to one’s family and country.

“I get it mom...” I need to change the topic. Oh right. “What about Athena? Is there any potential fiancé you have in mind?” When I ask that, Athena’s face cramps up.

And mom’s face darkens. “No, all the young men worth anything are already taken, and I’m not about to allow my eldest to be a second wife or concubine, nor will she marry a suspicious foreigner.” Haha that’s the same situation as the crown princess.

Huh, wait a moment. “If finding a good match is so hard in this generation, then won’t it be the same for me? Then I don’t have to worry about it, right?”

She looks at me like I’m dumb. “While your sister can’t BE a second wife, YOU probably should have one… or three, so it’s fine.” Yeah, no thanks.

The situation of polygamy in this country is a little bit jumbled up and changes depending on the standing of the individual.

While women aren’t allowed to marry multiple men or to publicly keep a lover, when the wife has a much higher standing than the husband, it’s normal for the existence of a lover to become something of an open secret. And if the husband dies or doesn’t succeed in making an heir, it’s normal for the woman to remarry.

When it comes to men, in most cases it’s the same as the women, but when magic bloodlines and instincts become involved, the man’s love life can become a social war zone of people trying to use him as a stallion.

While a harem might sound all fine and dandy on paper, in practice it’s just making your home a cold and awkward place. Just imagine being on the other side of that kind of relationship, that’s how the women you’d share a bed with would be feeling, except with pressure from their families to have a child as an extra on top.

And then there’s the idea that I would be expected to care for my in-laws or be seen as a dishonorable man. No thanks, running away sounds less problematic. I could travel until I find a nice girl to marry and only then come back with the excuse that I’m already married.

I nod to myself, that sounds like a plan. “You’re thinking of running away again, aren’t you?”

Shit. “No! I was, uh...” I look around for something to talk about. “Right! I was thinking of asking to keep the wolf.” I point at him. He’s just lying down nearby.

Now dad is the one that speaks. “Right, I wanted to ask about him.”

“Does he not have a name?” Asks Athena.

“No, I found him while traveling in the monster territory, he was fast so I tamed him. I didn’t know if I’d be allowed to keep him, so I didn’t give him a name.” I look at mom. “So? Can we keep him?”

She stares emotionlessly at the wolf for a while before answering. “Sure, why not?”

Nice! “You hear that boy? You can stay!” He understands that I’m referring to him so he comes to me and I pet him. “Now you just need a name.”

“How about Graymane?” Suggests mom. What?

“No, call him Nightwind!” Suggests dad. Why?

“... Dark Steelfang.” Even Athena?

“What are you guys doing? What’s with those names? Are you joking?” I ask. “I was thinking something more like Harry.” When I say that they all look mildly disgusted.

“Why would you give him such a bad name?” Asks dad. What do you mean? Your suggestion was only better than Athena’s.

“You should call him Dark Steelfang.” Says Athena.

“No way, that’s a terrible name! So is Nightwind!” What’s wrong with these people?

“So his name will be Graymane, then?” asks mother.

“No, Harry is bet- ” “As the head of this family, I declare his name to be Graymane.” Interrupts mom.

“You can’t do that!” I object.

“I just did.”

“That’s not fair, Isabel. Nightwind is clearly better.” Says dad with furrowed brows.

“You heard Lance, it’s a terrible name.” Answers mom. What?

“Now my opinion matters?! You can’t just pick and choose when to listen!” I object again.

She ignores me and walks up to the wolf, he seems a little guarded but relaxes when she pets him. “Nice to meet you, Graymane.”

Athena follows and does the same. “Nice to meet you, Graymane.”

I sigh. “At least shorten it to just Gray so it’s not a mouthful.”

“Gray can be his nickname.” Says mom.

I roll my eyes.

~~

After that I met Noah, all I have to say is: Babies are ugly, huh?

He’s a normal, healthy baby boy. I tried teaching him simple magic but didn’t receive much of a reaction, his mana is perfectly still.

At least he has the eyes of a Chevalier, so he should be able to learn magic later. I should make some toys for him too… Maybe I can teach magic using enchanted toys? An idea for later.

Then I spent the next two days just resting.

It's good to be home.