A golden light spread across the plains of Madalena, like a promise forgotten by the madness of the night.
Cool, clean air washed away the sadness in the heart and awakened life in the sleeping tree branches where birds sang happily.
Windows and doors of houses were closed, their inhabitants sleeping in invaluable safety and peace, and almost empty streets preparing to welcome a new day.
Two beautiful girls in French maid outfits, as one of the manifestations of the extravagance of the nobility from the culture of the Migrants, walked. They were Lusihar and Brihan, in addition to Lusihar's daughter, sitting on her shoulders in a gray children's outfit. They were heading to the market, which was still opening its shops. Life faded beneath Brihan's half-closed eyes, as if they were searching for a dream Lusihar had stolen from them. Perhaps it was punishment for what she had done earlier. She kept pace with Lusihar's fast steps until they reached their destination, and the shops there were still closed. Brihan spoke, annoyed, and said:
"Well done, Saleen... Let's go find a place to sit."
They moved away slightly and sat on a chair, then she continued:
"I told you they wouldn't open early. Now I've slept fewer hours, and..."
Lusihar replied:
"Then sleep on the back of the chair. I don't want to hear your protests this morning."
Brihan glared at her in annoyance, then Lusihar slapped her thigh twice. Brihan pulled herself back slightly, then put her head on her left thigh. Lusihar began massaging her scalp while Lusihar's daughter played in front of them. Lusihar said to Brihan:
"You look very cute. I want to bite those white, jelly cheeks."
Brihan tried to lift her head, and Lusihar continued:
"I'm joking."
Then she prevented her from lifting her head. Brihan surrendered and boarded the dream train while Lusihar massaged her head, engrossed in her thoughts.
After a while, Lusihar saw the bird shop opening and decided to wait a little longer...
Lusihar's daughter slapped Brihan on the cheek with her small hands to wake her up. Then they stood up towards the shop. A beggar came, in a deliberately dirty state. His facial skin was worn out like an old drum, his teeth were crooked, with a heavy gait and a severed arm from which a Prototype Aura emanated, announcing that he could not regenerate it. He recited some verses from the Bible about the importance of helping others, then he burst out speaking in a clear voice like a scandal:
"Ladies, please, for the love of God, help me. May God protect your daughter..."
Then he started blocking their path, diverting their course. His breath was like the smell of bread yeast as he told his life story. The little girl clung to her mother, afraid. They tried not to answer him, so his stubbornness increased, and he began blocking the road with provocative begging. Brihan felt Lusihar's arm tense and tremble, wanting to dig her fingers into his eye and rip out his face. She knew she couldn't do that in front of her daughter, and also because it would cause her legal problems. Instead, she composed herself and released her Sixth Aura. At this point, if this beggar had an atom of intelligence, he would have started running and begging for his life, but he continued his stubbornness. How could a Sixth Root wear a maid's uniform?! He felt it was a trick.
Lusihar corrupted his brain and struck him with severe depression. She saw his confident bones shrink as if they had lost faith in carrying his body, and his speech began to slow down until he turned and left in silence. Brihan said:
"What did you do?"
"You'll tattle on me, so I won't tell you, heheh."
They headed to the store after Lusihar ruined his life in a second. He no longer had the motivation to move or do anything. He walked away, disconnected from his body, feeling as if life was an illusion designed to make him miserable. It was a feeling similar to an awakening, but in hell.
Brihan and Lusihar entered the store, staring at the strange animals, ranging from intelligent birds with hands that could make primitive tools or help humans, to other birds that unintentionally greeted visitors, and other types of hybrids like ¹kemono and ²juujin, in addition to slaves of ³shikōjin. Some were caged, and others were flying freely in and out of the store. Lusihar approached the young salesman with glasses and a sparse beard:
"Hello... How much is the thunder bird?"
"Welcome, M-M-Ma'am. A pair is one thousand five hundred Flint."
Lusihar's features tensed slightly, and she looked at the indifferent Brihan and said:
"Give me 3 pairs."
The salesman used a special whistle to call them. Flocks came, a total of about thirty birds. Lusihar chose from them and said:
"We will take them for 3700. What do you say?"
"M-M-Mrs. Lo-Lusihar, I bought one pair for 1300. If I sell at this price, I will lose money. As you know, transportation costs have recently increased due to the encroachment of the Crimson Forest and its monsters."
"I also don't have the full amount. I only have 3900."
The salesman thought for a while and said:
"You are a customer of the shop. Well, okay."
Then she said with a seductive look:
"Thank you, Jordi."
"No problem."
Lusihar's daughter also placed a stone on the table amidst Lusihar's blushing cheeks from her cuteness.
"Is this your daughter?"
"Yes."
"She is very beautiful. What is her name?"
"I am still thinking. I have exhausted all the beautiful names."
"What is her Root?"
"The Sixth."
The salesman's eyes widened in worry and confusion because it is impossible for parents to conceive the same number under normal circumstances, as the children's root is the root of the number obtained by adding the parents' numbers together. Brihan intervened:
"Lusihar is joking. Her root is 2."
Lusihar completed, laughing:
"Heheh, you should have seen the look on your face."
The salesman said:
"Heh, you got me."
Then they left. Brihan said:
"Did you want him to know about the Ninth?"
"He wouldn't have believed it in the first place, heheh. Rather, I think he will masturbate after this conversation. Frankly, I don't care. Just get those 4000 Flint ready, spy."
Then they headed to buy some clothes for the little one and returned to the palace after a few hours.
In the palace, Farid was still sleeping, and next to him, delta sigma was snoring like a wall drill until he woke up. He entered the secret bathroom in his room, which was opposite his bed. He showered, changed his clothes, and went out. He found Lusihar at the door with her daughter and said:
"Good morning. Who is this child?"
"This... she is your daughter. She was born yesterday while you were playing and sleeping."
Farid's eyes popped out of their sockets, and he did not believe that in just two or three days, a complete human baby who could walk was born. He did not know what to say or do. He looked into her crimson eyes, and a deep fear struck him, he did not know why, perhaps because she was a fertility goddess. The child approached him, looking at him, then hugged his foot. Farid felt a shiver, but he quickly melted into her cuteness. Lusihar said:
"She knows you are her father from the aura, just as she knows I am her mother. The Six and the Nine give a Six in the law of update inheritance, and currently, you, the Ninth, are the most obvious father in the world."
"Does she have a name? I mean, have you named her?"
"Not yet. I will name her on her birthday today. I have tasked Brihan with sending out the invitations."
"Do you trust her?"
"Not entirely, but there is nothing suspicious about sending invitations, is there?"
Farid shook his head from side to side, confirming her words. Then he carried the cute one who was holding his foot and hugged her. Lusihar felt jealous, so she also joined the hug. Lusihar said:
"Dear,
Did you take your medicine?"
"Not yet."
"I think we don't need it. delta sigma said she has the medicine. Let's see and try to treat you today if possible, but first, you must eat your breakfast."
Farid went down and found breakfast ready—juice with shades of light blue and topped with a white cloud, pastries resembling croissants filled with slices of meat and what looked like cheese and other things that have no equivalent on Earth. Soft, hexagonal pies topped with something resembling chocolate decorations, and banana circles were the strange thing because it resembled Earth. Do they grow bananas here? Farid tasted it, and it was not a banana, of course, but something unnatural, but its taste alone was better than all the fruits of the Earth combined in terms of flavor and clarity of taste.
Farid placed the child on a chair, but Lusihar said:
"She is a baby who is still breastfeeding milk. Do you think she will eat this... It's all for you, dear."
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"I ate early."
Then Lusihar sat down to breastfeed her. Lusihar took out her other breast, filled a cup with it, and gave it to Farid, saying:
"Here, drink."
Farid's face flushed, and he felt strange. He did not object and sucked down the cup. Its taste was not like milk but something completely different, a taste unlike anything on Earth. He felt his fatigue leaving and his body becoming healthier, more active, and more alert, saying:
"It seems I will become a little one too. There is still an empty spot for me."
Lusihar blushed and said:
"Sir, don't say that. It's for our children. Know that the taste changes every time I give birth to a new son. Do you want another son? I am ready."
Farid felt shy and embarrassed when he remembered what he was saying...
They headed to Farid's bedroom while the latter carried the little girl, and they entered amidst the sound of the drill that delta sigma was emitting. Farid put down the little girl, who hid behind her mother. Farid shook delta sigma and woke her up. The latter woke up annoyed:
"What's wrong???"
The little one saw the three-eyed delta sigma and burst into tears of terror and tried to climb her mother. Lusihar quickly took her out, and Farid followed her. delta sigma wondered who this little one was, so she changed her shape. Then an idea flashed in her head: Is she Lusihar's daughter?
Lusihar tried to go out with her to make the girl forget what she saw, and she began to calm down. Lusihar said nervously:
"Tell your failed, handicapped, poop-faced friend to change that disgusting appearance. I haven't seen my daughter cry until this moment. Tell her to cure you and clear out."
Farid sat and thought.
"Are you still thinking, you fool? Go tell her to cure you. What are you waiting for?!"
Then she pushed him to enter and sat down to calm the little one. When Farid moved away, she stood up and went inside with her. Lusihar searched for Miral until she found her and said:
"Take her to the basement or for a tour outside. She loves to leave the house, and don't let her see what will happen. I don't want her to notice my absence. I will help Farid get rid of his illness."
Then Lusihar stood up. Her daughter did not want to leave her, but Lusihar insisted on it. The child had seen Miral before, so she felt some safety with her.
Lusihar blinked 3 quick blinks as a sign, which made Miral concentrate well. Then she left, saying:
"Take good care of her."
Miral remained standing, listening to Lusihar's coded footsteps that said:
"delta sigma is watching us."