After the departure of almost all the personnel towards the eve dominated regions, there were hardly any people left behind in Evanair. Even the able bodied eves from the newly moved in village had left with the respective units when they heard about their goals.
Ciel, on his way to the training area beyond the village, walked through the nearly empty roads of the newly constructed village.
"With this little people, if someone decides to attack, or if there are stray demons, won't we be screwed?"
"It's fine, Verdalite and I cleared this area beforehand when Jadiel had informed us of his granted land's location. I also dug a natural barrier around the borders."
Azar looked at the small child hopping to keep up with him. Erin, a bona fide natural eve, had lived true to his background and was now the size of a boy in his early teens. Cedric, from a noble family, was well fed, and was a tall child with chubby baby fat on his cheeks. Even Jadiel's brother had fattened up after being rescued, becoming a fluffy and well groomed cub. Next to them, Ciel naturally seemed too small and malnourished.
Resisting the urge to pick him up, Azar looked at Erin, who, despite his height, looked just as scrawny as Ciel minus the thin layer of muscles on his body. Compared to them, Cedric was only a few years older than the both of them, yet he had a strong and healthy physique far surpassing the two children from his family.
'Did that kid really properly feed them?'
(Jadiel: I did, really. My wife and my kids will be fed even if I'm not. Please don't doubt that. TAT)
As a newly granted territory without clearly established borders, it took little time for the group to arrive at the natural barrier Azar had created earlier.
Ciel, sensing a large flow of mana particles, stopped.
Listening closely, the crashing rumbles was unmistakably the sound of a large moving body of water.
"...Grandpa, by natural barrier, did you mean you made a river?"
"Of course, the children have achieved their long cherished wish. Their responsibilities aren't finished yet, but in later history books, getting acknowledged as a high ranking family of Anatol would be enough to conclude a happy ending. It's natural for me to give them a proper barrier to guard proof of their achievements."
Wow, he talked as if he's seen this happen before.
As Ciel wondered about his grandparent's actual age, Erin bent down, sticking his hand into the water before putting it in his mouth.
Hmm, salty.
Remembering the nearby beach he had seen near the estate, Erin looked at Azar.
"Did you use the seawater?"
Azar nodded.
"I stabbed several ice walls into the ground around the territory connecting the ocean, and after the ice melted, the seawater naturally flowed in. "
Erin furrowed his eyebrows, barely remembering the contents of a geographical class he had been forced to attend in the past.
"How deep did you dig? What about floods? And land erosion?"
This youngling was pretty thoughtful.
Azar felt that this cub was becoming more pleasing to the eye.
"The delegation to the reptilian clan will be bringing some young trees from Medusa forest to stabilize the banks. I also made your other grandfather throw a few chunks of rocks onto the riverbeds. As for floods, there are plenty of useful flora around the continent."
Though, from the scale of things, poor Verdalite probably didn't have to throw in just "a few" rocks.
On the other hand, a dragon wouldn't get tired from throwing rocks.
Shifting his thoughts, Azar snapped his fingers, and a fox formed from his fingertips, frost falling from its body.
"This is a snow avatar, your first task is to cut its head off."
Ciel: …Wow, how pretty. Such a pure shade of grey.
Erin: …Pretty big.
Looking at the fox thrice their size, the two silently took out their weapons.
Cedric: …
He backed away, placing the little cheetah on a stone slab far away from the dangerous objects.
*
A few moments later, Azar speechlessly looked at the pile of water and blood on the ground.
"I told you to cut its head off, not decimate it."
He had been planning to use that snow for some snow cones later…
Ciel scratched his head, willing the blood on the ground to return to the cut on his wrist.
"I just wanted to see if my blood could melt it."
When his blood was manipulated with mana, it would be preserved and shielded from external influences such as dirt, viruses, etc. so it could return to his body safely. That also meant that its initial warmth and viscosity would be retained unless manually changed through the use of mana.
Ciel shrugged.
"I didn't actually think it would work."
How would he know that producing enough friction with mana would accidentally set the blood on fire? He only wanted to heat it up a little bit.
Erin passed him a bandage, looking at the bloody water with pity.
So much blood, just squandered like that. He needed to ask Ciel if he knew of any recovery artifacts from the novel later.
"You can't recover the blood you burned, so use it sparingly."
Azar expressionlessly formed five new snowballs, filling them with some fruit syrup.
'Verdalite, you've picked up quite a gem for sons.'
This wasn't simply two children with outstanding talents.
They were both a proper mage and combatant who could be deployed in actual combat right now.
Just… why was their combat style reminiscent of a suicide squad during wartime? No, even the suicide squads he had witnessed during the past few wars hadn't been acted in such a aggressive manner.
Just look at the Norama boy, clumsy with mana, skilled with guns. Compared to his peers, he was talented, but at a level a child should have. As for the two from his family, they could probably compete with full time knights.
He sighed, passing the fully saturated snowballs to each boy. For the kitten, he formed a small bowl.
"Meow!"
Jadiel's younger brother, having sunbathed the entire time, happily ran up and licked the sweet ice.
Azar absentmindedly rubbed his furry head.
This was worse compared to his older children, who had been complete amateurs when they had been taken in. There would be a lot to change if he didn't want to worry when sending these two out.
"Take a break."
Ciel licked the snowcone.
Oooh, tasty.
On the other side.
Verdalite, deprived of his work buddy and his grandchildren, looked around for a new mode of entertainment.
"Lily dearest~ How is your research going~"
Who the heck is your Lily?
Lilian expressionlessly turned around, a cloth mask on his face and two tubes in his hands.
Damn, he sent away the two young disturbances and now a big one came along.
(Ciel: is he talking about us?)
(Erin: Look into your conscience and ask that question again.)
(Ciel: Looked, couldn't find it. ^-^ )
(Erin: - . - )
(Theresa: Big brother, out of the three of us, only you have something resembling a conscience. ^.^)
(Erin: …)
Used to interacting with cold faced people, Verdalite was undeterred by Lilian's unwelcome aura. Smiling carelessly, he plopped down on an empty chair next to Lilian.
"So what's my second eldest child doing~?"
Knowing that if he went into too much detail, his adoptive father wouldn't understand, Lilian's words were short.
"...Mixing something useful."
Verdalite looked at the red, blood-like liquid.
"Is it for Ciel?"
Lilian nodded.
'Yep, it's for your grandchild, so stop bothering me.'
Verdalite ignored his pointed look, slumping deeper into the chair. It was too idle with no one here, he needed gossip.
"Where did you guys kidnap Erin from anyway?"
Lilian paused, eyes blanking.
Uh, when the eldest child had been found, he… was in the lab.
Then, he hadn't bothered to ask.
Verdalite laughed, getting up to leave.
"I should've known that you wouldn't know any gossip. Work hard, my little ram~! I'll go poke at the eldest's kitten. Azar wouldn't have taken him along for training right?"
(He did.)
The stirring rod in Lilian's hand broke, and Verdalite laughed, quickly making his exit.
This was only a small episode in the coming months of peace that ended abruptly right before the scattered Fatalite caravans returned.
Mini Theater:
Lanae: As brother stays in the lab for indefinite periods of time, he takes any changes that happen for granted! :D
First time Lilian exits the lab: His younger siblings have created a mercenary group called Fatalite.
Lilian: Ok. - _-
*Reenters lab*
Second time Lilian exits the lab: Fatalite is now the second prince's exclusive knight division.
Lilian: Ok. - _-
*Reenters lab*
Third time Lilian exits the lab: The second prince was dead, and Fatalite is now a merchant company—and also has taken in two children.
Lilian: Ok. - _-
*Reenters lab*
*Attempt failed*
Jadiel: No ok! Haven't you heard that it takes a village to raise a child?! Let's go, our kids got injured again!
Lilian: …T_T