Noticing how he looked like he had a headache, Fern also seemed a little troubled and tilted her head slightly as she hesitated, "Lord Ash..."
"Ah, ah, are you done washing?"
"Yes, thank you very much," With her hair still wet, Fern unconsciously placed both hands between her thighs and bowed slightly in a reserved, stiff manner.
She had looked like a little beggar before, but now that she was clean, she actually looked unexpectedly cute. Maybe she would become a pretty girl when she grew up. He casually glanced at her, did not think too much, and simply pressed a towel onto Fern's hair.
He rubbed it around to dry it a bit, then let slightly warmed air flow out from his palm to dry it, and then took her to his room.
"You will stay here tonight. I will be next door. If anything happens, just call out to me."
"I understand. Thank you... Lord Ash."
"No need to be so polite~"
Fern was still looking nervous and reserved, making him shake his head a little helplessly before he went to the next room by himself.
He had originally planned to spend this night worrying properly about where to place Fern.
But when it was late and quiet, he heard suppressed crying coming from the next room while lying on his bed.
That made him smile in slight trouble. He then threw off the blanket, flew out the window, and quietly pushed open the next room's window.
Looking around inside, he immediately found the child curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, hugging her knees, sobbing and trembling nonstop.
How long had this child been wandering outside? What had she been through? That question could not help surfacing in Ash's mind, but he did not intend to ask it, and instead quietly walked over.
After struggling with it for a while, he squatted down beside Fern and gently stroked her purple hair, which was especially dry from lack of nutrition.
Startled, the girl trembled and reflexively looked up. When she saw it was him, she calmed down a little, but did not say a word and buried her face back between her knees.
Only her crying, as he kept stroking her, gradually became harder to suppress.
But Ash stayed silent beside her and simply pulled her into his arms.
After all, even he understood that at a time like this, compared to words, a warm hug was more reassuring.
Even though he did not know whether his hug was actually warm, it was all he could do now. But... for some reason, after he hugged her, Fern's crying instead grew louder, and she even started wailing without holding back at all.
No matter how frantically he tried to comfort her, it was useless, and instead only made her sobbing grow more intense.
Other guests even came knocking to curse them out in annoyance, but just one look from him sent them fleeing in fear.
That crying did not finally stop until Fern was exhausted and fell asleep.
"Kids these days are really hard to deal with... this is even harder than training Serie's cooking skills."
On just the first day of taking care of a child, he already felt extremely troubled, and his clothes around his chest were soaked wet, making him sigh for who knew how many times today.
But even so, he did not let go. Those two little hands had, at some point, grabbed onto him.
———
Considering a child's physical limits, and the fact that even though humans can use flying magic now, it severely consumes stamina. Even someone like Frieren cannot fly for too long.
So for the sake of secrecy, even though Fern was just a child, Ash did not keep flying with her.
Along the way they rode in carriages, then at night when she fell asleep, he quietly sealed her and turned her to stone.
Then, carrying that extremely hard stone, he flew at a suitable speed across mountains and rivers, and in just one month arrived at the magic city.
"So the north of the continent is actually this close? It only took one month by carriage."
Every time she woke up she would be in a different carriage, and she could never seem to sleep enough. Fern looked at the bustling big city before her and could not help shivering from the cold, her sleepy eyes full of surprise.
But that was only natural. She had not noticed anything strange at all during that time.
Ash casually made something up, "Because this is just the Oisast in the northern lands, relatively close to the south. You were already almost at the central nations before, so of course it is not that far."
"The Oisast... I have heard of it from traveling merchants before."
"Heh, you have?"
"It has been getting more and more prosperous in the last hundred years, challenging the Empire and rising rapidly among the nations, right?"
Even though she did not really understand what an empire was, Fern still said what she had heard.
But hearing that, Ash immediately looked proud.
"Pretty impressive, right?"
"I do not know. Probably impressive."
"That is right!"
'All those years of me working hard managing the state were not for nothing,' Ash felt full of pride and accomplishment inside.
Over these years he had carried out a series of modern reforms suited to this land. Of course, it was not democracy in this era, but rather strengthening central authority, though local systems still changed quite a bit.
He had even used Aura to absorb two neighboring kingdoms, achieving peaceful conquest.
In the process, he had also used various long lost agricultural magic he had learned from that drunk elf a thousand years ago to train a group of agricultural mages, making it the first country among the nations to wipe out hunger.
When the country became rich and strong, he formed a magic knight order, sparing no expense to train mages and knights as organized units, letting them show performance in conflicts with neighboring countries that was not inferior to the Empire's ace forces.
Even though Fern did not know the details, the fact that even children in the far south knew his achievements made him want to brag some more, but...
"What is wrong?"
Fern's expressionless face made it look like she was not that interested in this country.
That gave him a sudden sense of emptiness, and he shook his head and led the way, "It is nothing. Let's just go in first."
"??", Fern tilted her little head in confusion, then hurried to catch up.
.
.
.
Before long, the two of them arrived at the house Ash sometimes stayed in inside the city. It was not a noble mansion.
After all, if a house is too big and no one cleans it, it feels more like living in ruins.
So it was just a relatively decent private home, with only three rooms, and only one was actually in use.
"It feels like, no one has used this place in a long time?", Fern brushed her finger across the tea table in the living room and frowned slightly when she looked at the dust on her palm.
He did not really care and pushed open his bedroom door.
"You will stay in the same room with me tonight. Tomorrow I will have someone come and clean up."
"Okay," Fern nodded lightly, then curiously peeked into the room. There were basically no extra things, only a simple bed and blankets, and she could not help asking, "So this is Lord Ash's home?"
"Kind of."
"Kind of?"
"I do not have a fixed residence."
"I see."
For Fern, this "evil mage" had far too many secrets. At least, there were many things she did not understand, but she did not ask.
Instead, being very well behaved, she went inside on her own and clumsily tried to air out the bedding.
"You do not have to do that. Tomorrow... no, later I will have someone do it."
"It is fine. I am not busy right now."
"Then do whatever you want. I will go out for a bit. I should be back before night."
"Okay. Be careful on the way."
Not knowing how to interact with a child, Ash scratched his head and left by himself. The child behind him obediently lowered her head slightly, expressionless, watching him go.
After he disappeared, Fern looked around, rolled up her sleeves, and started working on house chores she was not familiar with.
———
On the other side, when Ash arrived at the Magic Association, he remembered that it happened to be the time when Serie was staying in this magic city, giving lectures to her nominal disciples, the first class mages here.
He quietly went up and asked each of them whether anyone wanted to adopt a child. After all, compared to being raised by a demon like him, being raised by humans would definitely be better.
If anyone was willing, he could even provide lifetime support, but unfortunately, those first class mages were not very interested in raising a child.
When it was afternoon and the crowd had dispersed, he looked up at Serie and asked directly, "Serie, do you not plan to raise a child? Being alone all the time must be lonely, right?"
"You... what kind of nonsense are you suddenly saying?", Serie looked at him like he was an idiot, "Am I supposed to raise a human child just so I can send them off at their death?"
"So it really is not okay?"
"If you know the answer, do not ask."
"You have to try everything at least once. Even if the chances are slim, maybe on a whim you would take one in," After saying that, he could not help adding, "After all, you raised Flamme before, did you not? And the child I met also seems to have good magic talent. Do you really not want to consider it?"
"Flamme was just a whim. I have no intention of raising another," Serie refused without a second thought, then looked at him and sneered, "But really, helping orphans on your own initiative, that does not sound like you at all."
"What are you saying? I am not as cold blooded and heartless as you. Of course I would lend a hand to a child who might starve to death on the roadside."
"Cold blooded and heartless? Is that how you think of me?"
"Just joking. Do not take it seriously."
"It is fine. I will not. But since it is about time anyway, let me see how much you have improved recently."
When Ash showed a wary expression, Serie's smile turned frightening.
What followed was not surprising at all.
Even though he was no longer the ignorant novice from a thousand years ago, Ash once again suffered Serie's "unreasonable" violent attack in the magic city.
Of course it was not just pure violence. Over these years she had always wanted Ash to succeed her, so she deliberately used this process to have her subordinates owe him favors, making his eventual rise smoother.
With that in mind, whenever she wanted to renovate the area, she would choose to strike when Ash spoke without thinking. Of course, she might also strike when he said nothing.
And so dancing lights, flying debris, collapsing beams, and crumbling side halls all played out almost simultaneously at this branch of the Magic Association.
This kind of thing happened once every ten or so years. The older mages had long since fled, and those who were slower to escape... had to rely on Ash to save them.
———
After Serie's barrage, the area scheduled for demolition was completely reduced to ruins.
Amid the dust filling the sky, Ash, his body bent as he held up a collapsed wall, stood in front of a trembling mage.
His face was covered in blood as he protected her without a scratch. But when he saw the girl beneath him clearly, he showed a depressed expression.
"What is this even supposed to be. By the way, Denken, you should have the strength to protect yourself, right?"
"N... no! My arms and legs are shaking..."
With super long brown hair, looking like a girl but also with a shorty feel, her age a mystery, the shorty type girl Denken, usually expressionless, now could not hide her fear.
Even though Ash's warm blood kept dripping onto her face, making her pupils tremble, she still could not move at all.
It was at this moment that Serie's dissatisfied voice came from the dust.
"Denken, does this count as being a first class mage?"
"Isn't it because you used too much force and accidentally let this child feel your mana?"
"But you felt it too, and you not only escaped, you even protected someone in the process, did you not?"
Serie glanced at the still trembling Denken, and with a tone full of contempt, left behind the words, "Even though you have become a first class mage, in the end this is all you amount to," before swaggering off.
That scornful attitude made Denken lower her head in dejection, being hit hard by it.
This left Ash with no choice but to clean up after Serie. He pushed aside the collapsed wall behind him with one hand, wiped the blood off his face with a loud crash, and squatted beside Denken.
"Do not take it too much to heart. Serie's mouth is harsh, but she actually does acknowledge you, otherwise she would not have made you a first class mage."
"Really?"
Even though he said that, the doubt on Denken's face was still obvious, but the way she looked at Ash unconsciously carried admiration and longing.
Noticing the unspoken admiration in Denken's eyes as she sat on the ground, Ash basically became certain that Serie's plan, though old fashioned, was indeed very successful.
But even though he was being admired, he somehow could not feel happy about it. He really did feel like he had been played by Serie.
[T/N: There's a monthly discount ongoing on my P@treon page for the next three days. You can get 20% off on your membership. Enjoy~
p@treon. cum/AmbitiousTranslator ]