The price of bronze turned out to be cheaper than any of the available metals, and at Roxy's suggestion I figured the footage for just the pipes and skipped the tanks. Instead, I asked for a couple of bars on top of the piping I would need. Since Earth magic could shape metal, even if it was expensive in terms of mana cost, I could make the fixtures and thread everything myself. Additionally, part of the two bars would go into each tank for their germicidal properties—all I really needed to do was spread it thin and apply a layer to the inside.
While I was making plans as I exited the smithy, on my way to find Roxy where she had been mobbed by villagers with requests for healing, something drew my attention. A flash of color in the corner of my vision. Green hair?
I caught the tail end of a white jacket, followed by a group of four boys running into an alley. I almost turned away, but something about the situation seemed wrong. A nagging feeling in my gut. After a moment thinking it over, I realized what it was. I knew those looks. That wasn't a group of kids at play, that was a group of brats chasing after someone. Having been on the receiving end of that before…
Roxy's busy, she can wait a few minutes. Let's go see what's up, I decided, and hurried after the group. It didn't take long to find them after I entered the little alley between buildings, barely big enough for a large kid to squeeze through, let alone an adult—less of an alley than a crack between buildings because whoever built them hadn't just put them right up against one another. All I had to do was follow the laughter. And the sobbing. Back behind the buildings, in a little space made where a shed and a stable backed up against them for easy access, I found them.
It was pretty dark, but I could make out what was going on well enough. Four boys throwing rocks and what looked like petrified chunks of horse shit from the stable at a fifth, all the while laughing and jeering about 'demon' this and 'demon' that.
I'll admit, I reacted without thinking. Luckily for them, as pissed as I was at what I was seeing, I wouldn't indiscriminately open fire on kids. My line of fire wasn't clear, after all. No, I was going to be very discriminate in my choice of targets and the weapon tool I used to get the job done.
A wall of earth sprang up between the brats and their target. "What the—?!" one of them had enough time to react, before a deluge of water from a Waterfall spell set off overhead soaked the four of them.
They panicked and looked around, finally spotting me. "Run home. Now."
"Demon lover!" one of them pointed and yelled. I raised my hand and sent a Water Ball flying at him. It landed at his feet, exploding and throwing up a shower of mud and freshly wet horse shit that coated all four.
"I'm not throwing horse pucky, you little shit buckets. If I hit you, you aren't going to get back up without a healing spell. Now, fuck off and stay fucked off."
They fucked off, at speed.
I allowed the wall to crumble into a line of dirt, that quickly became mud in the mess I had made. On the other side, I found the boy? watching the kids run. I stepped closer and found myself questioning whether this was actually a boy—hair slightly too long for a boy, small sculpted nose, small cute lips, pointed chin, porcelain skin, facial shape. Yeah, that's a girl. Cutie patootie, really.
"You okay?" I asked, checking her over as I got within reach. She was dirty—her clothes, half her face, and her hair covered in small cuts and bruises, dirt, and dried horse shit.
"I-I'm fine," she murmured.
"Alright, stand up and come over here," I said, offering her a hand and helping her up when she took it. For some reason, the girl actually followed my directions. "Now, lean forward a bit," I instructed, moving to the side.
"Like this?" she asked. Once she had, I conjured a Water Ball. Not wanting to just douse her with cold water, I cast a fire spell in the other hand and used it to warm the water sphere up to a comfortable temperature. She watched, wide eyed, as I worked. "Okay, hold still. Close your eyes and hold your breath."
As soon as she had, I doused her. Instead of releasing my control over the water and letting it fall, I instead used it to gently scrub at her hair and face. It was only a few seconds, but that's all it really took. When I was done, I pulled away the muddy water, leaving her hair and skin slightly damp but otherwise clean. Now that she was clean, I could see her hair was an emerald green color. I distinctly recalled Roxy had said something about running away from people with green hair because they're all murder hobos.
No, wait, it's green hair and a red gem in their forehead. She doesn't have a gem. Red eyes though. Pretty. Nice elf ears, too. Bet she'll be a real knockout in about ten years. Prime fantasy waifu material. And adorable, to boot. Protecc!
Discarding the water behind me, I smiled down at her. "Much better," I praised her, casting an air spell in one hand and a fire spell in the other to create a warm breeze and dry her hair and face after hitting her with a silent heal. "Hey, there is a girl under all that dirt!"
The girl in question blushed. "T-thanks."
"Don't worry about it. Those guys were assholes. I'm Rudeus, but you can call me Rudy."
"Syl…ph," she whispered, trailing off at the end.
I thought I heard something more there, so I asked her to repeat herself. "Sorry, didn't catch that. Could you speak up?" I didn't want to embarrass her about being shy, but it couldn't be helped.
"Sylphiette."
I sent her a grin. "That's a pretty name. So, do you prefer Sylph, Sylphie, Fie, or Sylphiette?"
She considered it for a moment before bashfully asking, "Sylphie?"
"Sylphie it is, then," I nodded. "So, where were you headed, Sylphie?"
Sylphie hesitated before answering, "I-I was just going home from taking my father lunch."
I hummed quietly, considering her. Bullied by the village kids for her hair color. Probably doesn't have any friends her own age. Roxy is great, but she's not going to be around forever. That girl has a serious case of wanderlust, and I don't blame her. Better for me if I make a friend in the village that I can talk to after she goes, and if those other idiots are any indication then I think most of them will be a lost cause until they get older. Sure, I imagine it's not exactly going to be the sort of adult conversation I'm used to with Roxy, but I need to start dealing with people 'my own age' sooner or later.And there's always the fact that if things work out, even if she's just a kid now, I can give her a nudge or two in the right direction and make a friend I can relate to.
Better for Sylphie if I introduce her to another 'demon.' Better for Roxy if I can convince her to try tutoring Sylphie too, maybe—if she turns out to be any good. I know she enjoys teaching. There's just the issue of pay… Eh, fuck it. I'll ask. Worst that can happen is she says no. With that decided, I beamed a smile at her and took her hand. "Come on, let's go find my errant master. I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Probably got distracted. I'll introduce you, you'll like her. We can talk on the way.
"E-eh?! O-okay. But why? Why would you want me to come with you?"
This age and already starting to doubt others' intentions. Clever girl. If she didn't, I'd worry I'd found a naif. Still workable, but I'd have to fix that too.
"Because I think you two will get along. Also, in case those brats come back. Let me guess, they were bullying you because of your hair resembling the Superd?" I asked, earning a nod in answer.
"It doesn't bother you?"
I shook my head. "Nah, it's pretty. Could stand to be a little longer. At least shoulder length." I had preferences. Short hair only worked on certain builds, but long hair worked on almost any girl. I ignored the dirty old man in me complaining that you couldn't make handlebars with short hair. "Besides, my master is a Migurd with pretty blue hair." Naturally blue, not that fugly dyed crap of old Earth, that tended to work the same way coloration on frogs did. "So no, your hair color doesn't bother me."
Turning to look at her more closely, I asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what race are you? Elven?"
Biting her lower lip, Sylphie murmured, "I'm mixed. Beast-kin and half-elf. My mother is human with beast-kin lineage and my father is half-elf, the other half is human."
"Neat," I hummed quietly, earning a surprised look from Sylphie.
Sylphie worried at her bottom lip for a while as we walked through the village in somewhat awkward silence, drawing the occasional curious look from the villagers but not much else. Awkward on her part, I was perfectly happy to just enjoy the company. Yeah, Roxie's bookish nature and my own clicked really well and when we weren't talking each others' ear off about magic, both of us were perfectly happy just sitting and reading a book for hours. She had gotten into our small supply of them fairly quickly and devoured what she hadn't already read.
"May I ask… why are you protecting me?"
I blinked, pulled from my thoughts. Sending the young girl a confused look, I said, "It's the right thing to do."
"But the others will shun you. They might even gang up on you!"
Rolling my eyes, I created a Water Ball and fired it up into the air, where it exploded a hundred or so feet up before coming down over the village as a short sprinkle. "I can take care of myself if they gang up on me. And I don't care if they shun me. I wouldn't want to hang around those idiots anyway. As long as I have at least one friend I can talk to, I'm happy." Turning back to her, I found Sylphie looking wide-eyed and awed at the display of magic. "So, want to be friends?"
"Y-yes!" she squeaked. "How did you do that?"
I chuckled, holding out a hand and conjuring another ball of water. "Oh, this?" Sylphie nodded. "Well, I've been learning magic from Roxy—"
"Rudeus!" the woman in question called, hurrying over from one of the few side streets in town. "I saw the spell. Is something wrong?" she asked, looking around with a somewhat concerned expression as she held her staff ready.
Chuckling quietly, I engaged anime protagonist idle animation number 1: sheepish head rubbing. "Sorry, Roxy. No, everything's fine. Well, mostly. There was some trouble, but I took care of it. I was just showing Sylphie here magic. But hey, it's great that you came! I was looking for you anyway." Clearing my throat, I pushed Sylphie out ahead of me, between me and Roxy. "Sylphie, this is Water-saint Mage Roxy Migurdia. Roxy, this is Sylphiette. I found her being beaten up by a couple of brats and sent them packing."
Roxy examined the girl briefly before nodding. "Pleased to meet you." Meeting my eyes, she asked, "Did you hurt them?"
I shot her a hurt look. "Do I look like the kind of idiot who beats up kids?"
"Paul is your father," she pointed out, and I winced.
That is a very fair point. The man's a meathead, very much an 'act first, think later' type, and she's been here long enough to figure that out. And even if I've got years on him, the saying that you are the average of the five people you know still holds true. Somewhere in here, I'm an average of Paul.
"No, I didn't hurt them. Cast an Earth Wall to separate them, then cooled them off with a Waterfall. Scared them off with a Water Ball when it looked like they were still feeling froggy."
Roxy silently mouthed that last part in confusion before shaking her head. Looking at Sylphie, she asked, "Where are your parents?"
"Fa-father is on watch at the forest. Mother should be at home."
Humming, the bluenette nodded. "Take us to her, please."
Sylphie turned away, heading down the street Roxy had just come from and I found myself pulled along when she didn't let go of my hand. Chuckling quietly to myself, I turned a look up at Roxy. "So," I drew the word out and Roxy raised an eyebrow. "How would you feel about a tagalong for our lessons?"
The little mage fell silent as we walked, following Sylphie as she lead us to her home. Eventually, she gave a single nod. "I'll test her."
"Great. I have a theory," Roxy sent me an amused look. "If she can cast, I want to see if I can teach my way. My line of thinking on this is that it may just be easier for kids to do it my way, because they haven't learned the other way yet and it's not set in stone in their minds."
"A psychological hurdle, as opposed to an inability on the part of an older caster?"
"If that word means what I think it means, yes," I agreed.
"A problem in the mind."
I sent her a smile. "Yeah. That's what I'm thinking. One test case isn't enough to prove it, but it won't hurt to try."
"See what her mother thinks first," Roxy murmured as Sylphie turned to a specific house and began pulling us inside.
"Mom! I'm home! I brought," she glanced over her shoulder at us before those red eyes found my green, "friends."
As it turned out, Sylphie's mom knew Roxy—or at least, they had met in the village on occasion. Roxy explained the situation and I wound up getting a hug for my trouble. When Roxy asked if she could take on Sylphie as a student, the girl's mother happily agreed. And that was how my second future waifu joined us as Roxy spent the day teaching her the basics while occasionally giving me direction or the odd suggestion. Not that I actually decided that on the spot like I did with Roxy.
Years down the line, she confessed that she decided it herself that day.
That evening, we returned home late, to find Paul waiting on the porch. He stood as he saw us approach, his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. "Roxy, please go inside," he requested, but it came out as a command. "Rudy, do you know why I'm angry?"
"No?" I asked, shooting Roxy a confused look.
The mage sighed, stepping between me and Paul. "Paul, listen."
"This is between me and—"
A whispered phrase left Roxy's lips and a microburst filled the yard, shutting Paul up as the wind slapped him. "Be silent." Paul's jaw flexed and he glared, but he shut his mouth. "There was an incident in the village today. Laws' daughter, Sylphiette, was attacked by a group of older boys. Rudeus broke up the fight and brought her to me. I confirmed what happened and he acted within reason. I've taken her on as a second student. Let this be the end of it."
As she spoke, Paul visibly deflated. "What? But no, Mrs. Ada came by looking for me earlier. Rudy hit her boy, Somar. What's this about Sylphiette? Somebody is lying here—"
"Who is more likely to lie to you? Your son's teacher, or a young boy who doesn't want his crime known?"
Paul's hand scrubbed over his face and he sighed. "I guess you're right. I was wrong to doubt either of you."
I reached up and tugged on Roxy's sleeve. She looked down and I quietly asked, "Who's Mrs. Ada?"
Roxy jerked her head in the direction of the closest house. "Neighbor."
The neighbor? The one always watching Paul when he's out practicing? I blinked, before frowning. Ah. I see. Pretty face and a nice set of tits. Glad to know you'll trust a stranger's word over giving your own son the benefit of the doubt, just because she's your type.
Sure, I was a little angry, but mostly I was disappointed. It felt like he just didn't trust me.
Before I could dwell on the thought, Roxy's hand found my shoulder and she pushed gently, following along as she guided me inside. "What happened?" Zenith asked, upon seeing my surly expression and Roxy's own annoyed face.
The little mage explained as she directed me to the table, where places had already been set. When she finished, Zenith's eyes twitched. "Excuse me a moment."
The blonde's chair scraped as she stood, before heading outside where Paul still hadn't come back in. The door closed and shortly after, we heard a smack
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