A faint scent of the ocean, mixed with the refreshing fragrance of some body wash, lingered around Tike's nose.
The little boy blinked, and the scene before him shifted from blurry to clear, finally settling amidst steaming water vapor.
(Is this... a bathroom?)
He saw a young girl with short emerald-green hair kneeling before a white porcelain bathtub, her back to him, scrubbing the back of someone inside.
"Lady Aquarius, is this pressure okay?" the green-haired girl asked softly with careful respect.
"Mmh... very comfortable... continue..."
A lazy and slightly husky response came from the bathtub. At this moment, Tike noticed that the being in the bathtub wasn't human, but a creature with the plump and mature upper body of a human woman and the lower body of a fish tail.
(Mermaid? Wonder if she tastes good... No, no, this shouldn't be edible!)
Tike shook his head, throwing these unreliable thoughts out of his mind. Just as he was about to speak up and ask, the green-haired girl paused her scrubbing motion abruptly, as if sensing something.
"Hey, Brandish, I didn't tell you to stop."
Aquarius opened her eyes discontentedly, turned her head, and pinched the green-haired girl's cheek.
"Uwah..."
The green-haired girl's cheek deformed slightly from the pinch, emitting a cute whimper.
Simultaneously, Aquarius shifted her gaze and discovered Tike, who had suddenly appeared here. Her already fierce face revealed an even more displeased expression.
"Where did this brat pop out from?"
"I don't know either..."
Brandish shook her head innocently.
"Tsk, daring to sneak into a girl's bathroom at such a young age, truly audacious! Watch me flush you out!"
Aquarius raised her eyebrows, holding up the urn in her hand. A powerful stream of water instantly gushed out from the mouth of the urn, heading straight for Tike.
"Torrent!"
(Just happen to be thirsty.)
Tike stood still, opened his mouth slightly, and swallowed all the oncoming water.
Gulp gulp gulp...
After drinking, he even licked his lips, still wanting more.
"Mmh... tastes good, got any more?"
"So that's it, you're a Water-attribute Slayer Mage."
Aquarius narrowed her eyes. She put away the urn, exercised her wrists, joints making crisp cracking sounds, and then swung her fist fiercely.
Seeing the mermaid's fist about to smash onto him, Tike directly used Space Magic to teleport Aquarius far away.
The bathroom instantly quieted down, leaving only Tike and the green-haired girl named Brandish.
Brandish watched Aquarius disappear before her eyes. The originally calm eyes suddenly surged with a trace of dangerous aura.
"What did you do to Lady Aquarius?"
"I sent her back to the sea."
"...?"
Brandish tilted her head, her emerald-green hair swaying gently.
(This child doesn't look like a bad person... Lady Aquarius is a Celestial Spirit; even if teleported away, she should be able to return to the Celestial Spirit World, right?)
Brandish didn't worry too much about Aquarius's safety. She collected her thoughts and asked coldly, "Who are you? Why did you suddenly appear in my house?"
Seeing Brandish's attitude seemed to have softened, Tike answered hurriedly, "Big Sis, my name is Tike. I was entrusted by someone to come here specifically to bring a message to an aunt named Grammi."
Brandish was slightly stunned, then blurted out, "You're here for my mom?"
"Huh? She's your mom?"
Surprised, Tike couldn't help complaining inwardly.
(Future me, if you could locate their home directly, was it necessary to send me?)
"But this cannot be a reason for you to trespass into a girl's bathroom." Brandish huffed lightly, crossing her arms and raising her chin slightly. "This matter absolutely cannot be let go easily. I must punish you a bit."
Tike put his palms together, apologizing repeatedly.
"Don't, Big Sis, sorry, really very sorry! Please forgive me!"
Looking at Tike's sincere admission of mistakes, Brandish's attitude softened slightly.
"Forget it, seeing you're still young, I won't hit you. Come out with me."
Saying this, Brandish took Tike's wrist, led him out of the still somewhat steamy bathroom, and walked straight to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, a woman who looked gentle and simple was standing in front of the counter preparing a meal, a faint aroma of food drifting in the air.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she stopped what she was doing and turned around doubtfully. Seeing a completely unfamiliar boy following behind her daughter, the woman's face immediately showed obvious surprise.
"Brandish, weren't you bathing with Lady Aquarius? How come you came out so soon? And who is this little friend?"
Brandish let go of Tike's hand, stepped aside slightly, gestured for him to step forward, and explained, "Mom, he has something to say to you."
Tike composed himself, looked at the woman in front of him, and confirmed, "Excuse me, are you Aunt Grammi?"
"Yes, I am Grammi. Little friend, do you have something to tell me?"
Tike took a deep breath and relayed the message from the future word for word: "Someone asked me to bring you a message: 'It's time to fulfill the contract with Layla Heartfilia.'"
Grammi, who originally had a gentle face, changed color abruptly upon hearing this sentence, her voice even carrying a trace of trembling: "Did... did Lady Layla send you here?"
(No, it was the future me.)
Tike answered silently in his heart but maintained silence on the surface, neither admitting nor denying.
Watching her mother's drastic reaction, Brandish tugged gently at the corner of Grammi's clothes and asked curiously, "Mom, what contract? Who is Lady Layla?"
Grammi recovered slightly from the initial shock, looked at her daughter with complex eyes, and reached out to stroke Brandish's short emerald-green hair gently.
"This is a very important matter." Pausing, she made a decision and continued, "Brandish, Mom might have to go back to Ishgar in a few days. Do you want to go with me?"
A trace of interest flashed in Brandish's eyes but quickly dimmed. The girl clenched the corner of her clothes with her small hand and whispered hesitantly, "I want to... but Grandpa August said he's coming to pick me up tomorrow..."
Listening to her daughter's slightly disappointed words, Grammi bent down and hugged Brandish.
"Then you stay here. The opportunity to learn from Lord August is rare and shouldn't be missed because of other things."
"Mm."
Brandish nodded sensibly, her small face still carrying a bit of reluctance.
At this moment, Tike raised his hand silently.
"Um, the message has been delivered, so I'll take my leave first."
"Trying to run? Not so easy!"
A sudden flash of light appeared beside Grammi, and a familiar figure emerged out of thin air. It was Aquarius, who had just been teleported away by Tike using Space Magic.
She yanked off a few strands of green seaweed still hanging on her long blue hair, her gaze toward Tike almost spitting substantive fire.
"I'm going to teach you a good lesson!"