"Yuuuukina! Yuuukina!" Allisa exclaimed my name in such an exaggerated and loud way. She was skipping way ahead of me, she was also looking at me with a gigantic smile. She was wearing a priestess's robe that covered her entire body. She looked incredibly cute. "Let's do our best to help out dad, okay?!"
"M-Mhm…" So for today, we'll be capturing some creatures. Allisa has some healing properties like her father, though way less effective. Granted, he's level I don't know and way older. Currently, we're walking on the field, yet again. But way further out, the carriage couldn't leave its path so it dropped us off as close as it could.
"Careful, Allisa, you'll trip." James let out a chuckle, he was right behind us. He's treating this as some father daughters bonding time as he went out without the other guys. I wanted to ask him if we'll be fine, but he just waved off my fear with his hand. Just after that, he rolled up his long sleeve revealing a fair skin but toned forearm.
He must be pretty strong, I keep forgetting that. Stop flashing me with those muscles already.
"Dad, dad, you never told us! What're we going to catch today?"
"Sweetheart, I'll tell you when we get there, alright?"
"Why not nowww!"
These two went on for so long, managing to keep it going till we spotted some creatures over the horizon. They looked like the slimes I saw when I first came into this world. Aside from their different color, they were blue, same square shape.
"Slimes, we're going to be capturing slimes. Specifically these blue slimes." James explained, walking in front of Allisa and me. "They're not hostile beings, though they're highly invasive." Classic. I tried to show interest in what he was saying. Another slime species, huh. Blue slimes, they slid around the grass without much care.
James demonstrated their nature by walking near them. None of the slimes reacted, merely slithering off to another area. Just as I was curious how we were going to capture these slimy bastards. I do not forgive that beginning slime! That hurt, and walking around was a pain… Still is.
He pulled out a jar, then multiple. Looks like we had to shove them in there somehow. How are we going to do that when each individual one was twice the size of the average jar? That first slime I met kept using its ooze, making it smaller.
Hm? What's he doing? Alissa and I watched as James grabbed a slime. It began to be pulled to the ground; with it dangling around, he started to wave it rapidly then inside it, it started to bubble. "You need to get them to react in self defense. Careful, it will hurt." He said just as he dropped it. Yeah, I kinda know the 'Hurt' part alright.
Smoke bellowed out of the top, whilst the grass under it started to burn.
"And it looked like I wasn't careful enough…"
"Dad, are you okay?" Alissa asked worriedly, she watched as James shook his hand around. "Did you get hurt?!" Upon seeing his hand turn a bright shade of red, she ran over, forcing his hand to meet her gaze.
"Hm? Wait, this is actually the perfect time for you to practice your mana. Use your spell on my hand sweetie, it'll help ease the pain."
"Are you sure it'll help? This looks like it hurts…"
Well… Time to leave them to do their own thing. I thought whilst looking at these slimes with a bored look. They looked so soft and squishy, but seeing if they get agitated, I'd rather not touch them. I had enough of that on my first date here… Hold on, what is their point in this world if they don't do anything but just slime around?
That green one was more like a predator, eating small rodent remnants. Do these just meander around and act as an experience farm for people? I'll test that out after filling these jars… I wonder if there's another way to shrink them…
Ignoring the back and forth from those two, I began to rack my brain; I can use a stick, but there isn't a tree that close by, at least one for convenience sake. Y'know, with my foot and all. Oh… Wait, how about I try this?
If I can't touch them without getting hurt, I can just… Use my palm of flames carefully. Don't want to cause a plains fire, eh? Carefully I positioned my hands above this slime. Hm? Is it working? The slime doesn't seem to be moving, nor is it boiling like it did to James.
I guess they might be immune to heat? I shook my hands whilst deactivating my spell. Or my actual spell doesn't do anything to them. After scrutinizing it some more, I said screw it. But, before I could follow these actions again, I heard James's voice.
"Wait! Yukina! Don't do that!"
"E-Eh?"
"Did you not hear me?! It'll hurt you if you're not careful! Let me do it!"
Then what is the point of me being out here? Isn't this training for Alissa then? I couldn't help but comment to myself. His face contorted into a guilty expression, seems like I was right. Oh well, this was going to be boring anyways. Actually… "A-Are these sl-slimes immune to fire…?" He really didn't explain much else other than them being prickly.
"Y'know… That's a good question." He mumbled with a hand on his chin. However, his face said otherwise. They were immune to it, I wanted to tell him to stop being nice with all this crap. "They're immune to magic in general. Only physical attacks work on 'em."
Welp… Looks like I'm out of the fight here. Which is what happened exactly, I just watched from a comfortable seat on the ground. Allisa helped him grab slimes, he had put some spell on her skin to protect her. You may wonder, how did I know? She grabbed them carelessly after he had casted a spell on her. Her excitement sure knows no limit huh?
Heck, she looked like she was having a blast! She chased after these little slimy bastards, with a jar in hand. At times she fell to the ground, getting back up and continuing. I felt something in my heart seeing this girl run around. No, I am not a creep. I wish I could run around like that, it was in part why I was sitting.
With each level I could feel a bit more energy in myself, like I was going back to normal. Yet I'm slowing everyone down. Yet, I can't do anything about it. If magic was so great in here, couldn't James heal my feet? I did ask him this.
"Unfortunately there are some things magic cannot heal." He explained previously with a downtrodden look. That's enough of me feeling jealous. At least these two are having fun. I wonder how my parents are doing back home?
Huh, this is the first time I thought about them… Did I have some kind of funeral? Do they know their son is gone? Our relationships were pretty close, I never was rebellious, to some extent… Are they okay?
I hope they don't get too sad…Dad must be pretty angry… I don't know about Mom- I hope they're okay… If by some divine intervention, can some being tell them I'm doing okay? Not really, okay but doing the best I can with what happened to me.
I wonder if Sayuu will grow up fine. She always asked me to help her with school on a constant basis. I'm sure she'll be fine, if not a little slow with schooling.
I can't believe I forgot about them. What kind of son was I when I forgot about them? Hah… What am I doing sulking here? I can't do anything, I'll just keep their memories in my heart. It looked like they caught me sulking in my own self pity. I didn't realize I was holding my legs,
After a bit of reassurance they went back to their own thing.
Even though they filled their jars, they kept going. It looked like James had her practice her own magic, he's not a bad father. If she wanted to become an adventurer, he'd try to make sure she was prepared.
Instead of wallowing in my self pity, I guess I'll have to practice too. Palms of flame won't do me any good, it truly is a support spell. Support with cooking! That's what it is. As soon as I got up, they wondered where I was going.
So time to learn this new fireball spell. My target was the sky, like I wanted before; I didn't want to cause a fire.
First, let's see the range! Quickly, I sent one out of my right hand. It flew at the same speed as before, going high in the sky… I can't measure, but it was pretty far. No creature or monster that is the target of it will be hit.
"Okay… That's good to know. I'll just have to be a backliner. I wonder if I could use [Palm of Flames] for close quarters if it's high enough…" I curiously mumbled to myself. If that plan worked, I would be able to protect myself in close quarters if they rush through the front. "Yet, I could powerlevel if possible [Fireball]"
After a bit, I wanted to test my mana level. It's strong enough where I could keep it going for a couple minutes now. Specifically, palm of flames. I feel fine after the first fireball, heck I felt nothing.
After the second, I felt the same. Third, I started to feel a little bit of my energy getting lower. Fourth, it felt like my energy level hit three-fourths. This kept on going till I felt like my body felt like it was getting weighed down by lead.
I tapped out then, eight. Sitting down once again, I held my hand to my chin. If I only had fourteen INT, I could theoretically throw almost one more at sixteen, that increases as I level. Am I actually cut out for this?
"Alright! I think we're done here!" I heard James yell after a long time. He was sweating all over, whilst mud littered his entire body. Allisa had a beaming smile, despite being a complete mess too. I guess I can see where she got it from. They held all jars high in the sky as if they just seized an entire raid.
"That was a lot of fun, can we do it again Dad?!" Allisa asked in a squeal. Her dad just gave her a glance.
"Sweetie, another time. But your mother will kill us if you come back even dirtier…"
By us, she means you. Don't drag me in your issues. I shook my head slightly, accidentally crossing my arms at his words. Melinda is a strict wife when it comes to her daughter… Somehow me too. After a total count, totalling to six jars full of slime, we left the field.
Turns out we all learned a lot today, Allisa couldn't keep quiet about what she learned about her spell. It can heal burns, even slime burns. According to James, it is incredibly hard to burn away the poison that lathered a slime's body. Much like jellyfish stings in real life; it irritated the skin and left a huge burning sensation. I didn't need an explanation, I already experienced it.
First things first when we made it back into the city, we went straight home. I could see a little fearful frown on James's mouth. That slap may have made me think Melinda was abusive, she wasn't. She apologized profusely after making sure I was fine.
But, I think like any man, the fear of their wife's wrath. She was on a tirade once they came back home, instantly ordering Alissa to take a bath. Whilst her attention turned to James. He went into a seiza position, with his head hanging.
"I told you to be careful with her, didn't I?"
"Yes ma'am."
"WHY DID YOU TWO COME BACK MESSY THEN?" Melinda asked in a loud voice. She stood tall above him, with a scary glint in her eyes. Even I, someone who was not the focus in this felt a shiver go down my back. "You swore, you swore on your entire family that you wouldn't put her in danger. Did Shaun and Verd teach you to do this?"
"No, ma'am…" James slightly looked at me in a pleading manner. 'Please help me Yukina! You were there!!' I could read off his face. Sorry man, this is your marriage. Not mine. I'll pray for your safety though. I turned away from him, and left into a different room. Though, that did not matter, I could still hear her tirade.
"Then why the hell did you do something so dangerous? You didn't even mention what you did with them! I'm your wife, what kind of man would do that?!"
"I wanted to keep it a surprise…."
"A surprise? Oh, great. A surprise from me and-"
"You would've spilled it to Alissa and Yukina…"
Ouch- Wrong saying James! For the next hour or so all I heard was Melinda's scolding to James. Half way through that, Alissa came into the room whilst covering her ears. I could see tears rolling down her cheeks.
"W-What's wrong?" I asked her with a head tilt. Yes, even with her I'm keeping this act up. She wouldn't be able to keep this lie if she found out. "A-Are you scared?"
"Mom- She's scary when angry…" Alissa choked out, bingo! That was an easily seeable thing on her face. "I'm scared that she and dad… Will not be happy together." Aha… A common fear for children with their two parents.
"I thi- think they'll be okay." Seeing how 'lovey dovey' they are at night, I'm sure they'll be fine. I will have to buy earplugs if they exist. They're probably going at it tonight too. I'm sure a slight bead of sweat formed on my face. Thankfully, she didn't notice as she sat down next to me.
"It's scary… I don't like it. Mom's so loud… D-Dad didn't do anything wrong…" Her voice started to break, even more tears welled up in her eyes. "I-I just want mom and dad to be okay…" Sigh… she's way too naive at this age… Nevermind, I'm way too old to deal with kid stuff like this. Time for a big sibling thing to do, I've had experience like this.
With false hesitation, I brought Alissa into a warm hug. I could feel her body shake, in either shock, or just crying. Although it was majorly awkward for me, she's pretty much a stranger to me; and she was a bit taller than me so I wasn't able to bring her into my shoulder.
"W-Will they be okay?? Do you think they will be okay? Will mom and dad be okay?!" She begged for answers whilst crying immensely into my shoulder.
"T-They'll be fine…" Melinda already seems to be calming down. Her screams and yelling had already quieted down, they're talking it out now. After some more time passing by, and my shoulder now being soaked due to no cloth covering it, Alissa wriggled out of my grasps.
A little bit later, she and I exited the bedroom. As soon as she saw Melinda and James hugging it, she ran to them in a sprint.
They really are just a happy family. I couldn't help but smile softly at them, but a small twinge entered my heart. This reminded me of my own family, that I won't be able to see again. I don't know what happened, I just fell to the ground.
Everything blurred as I felt something warm run down my own cheeks. I thought I was okay, and that sorrow was gone. It wasn't, I missed them with my entire being. I never thought I wouldn't want to see someone again this much…
I don't know how much I bawled my eyes out, it must've been long. So long, that James reappeared again, who I was only able to see over Melinda's own shoulder.
****************************************************
In a kingdom a middle aged man with short brown hair and a lavish coat sat at a desk. He seemed to be reading a report on his desk, his gaze stayed fixated on it, till a knock at his room resounded.
"Come in!" He yelled out without looking up. Within a short period, a butler stepped inside, in his hands was a neat letter that kept the words: adventurers guild on it. A sword stamp sealed the letter shut. "What is it?"
"My liege, the adventurers' guild has sent a letter to you."
"Is it another case about a reincarnator?"
"Your intuition is spot on, the name that is on it will catch your interest. That is what they had said, whilst handing this to the queen."
"Just put it on my desk, bastion. I'll take a look at it after this report." He said without looking up further. His butler quietly and briskly, and lightly set it on the desk. "Thanks, you may take your leave."
"...My liege, may I ask you a question?" Bastion asked with a slight bow.
"Hm? Ask away."
"Why do you ever so vehemently gather the names of reincarnators? They are rare, and are special cases."
There was a slight sigh coming from the middle aged man, a mixture of exhaustion and a tough explanation exuding from it. "To find someone. Someone that was dear to me back then, to me and my wife." He explained whilst leaning back. "You can take your leave, I can already see the tiredness on your face, Bastion."
"Thank you my liege, please take care of your health."
"I will, and you as well, Bastion."
'He worries about me too much…'
"Man… It is exhausting being a king. I do not understand how my father had done it for so long." The king mumbled whilst looking towards the ceiling. Ever since the previous king fell due to exhaustion, he took the mantle. Twenty years had passed, ever since that happened. Most of his day consists of staying in his study, signing papers or doing meetings.
"Tomorrow, I'll take a break. I know they must be missing me." He mumbled with a smile. He took the report and read it over once again, then set it down. "Now time for that, although it may just be a false report."
He ripped the folds of the letter, and unfolded it. Inside consisted a detailed report.
[Greetings, Frederic II. The adventurers' guild of Untergrant has received a report about another reincarnated individual. Their name is Yukina with the surname Gabri. A thirteen year old animal-kin with the origin wolf. She has long black hair with an intriguing eyecolor. Pink with purple.
The examiner had caught her soul's origin. She is a reincarnator with the name **** *****. Please do what you think is best with this information.
Regards, Guildmaster of Untergrant.]
"Did they make a mistake in this?" Frederic rubbed his eyes and squinted at the second "name". It was completely smudged out, he couldn't make out any letters in it. It was as if someone was concealing the name, which was impossible. The guild used a special type of ink that could never be smudged or erased.
As he stared at with wide eyes, a certain wolfkin who slept peacefully on the floor sneezed loud enough to wake herself up.