The Hero's Adopted Son is a Genius of All Time. (2)
The Hero's Adopted Son is a Genius of All Time. (2)
The mothers' argument simply wouldn't end.
Starting with the racially discriminatory remark that it would be better to learn from a human first rather than an elf.
The elf's plea, listing the evils of religion and asking if they were going to turn the child into a religious zealot from a young age.
And finally, Alicia's violent assertion that since she was the strongest, she would just do as she pleased.
In the end, the choice had to be passed on to Kael, not the mothers.
"No going back on your word."
"... Heh, right. No going back on our word."
"I said I got it, so be quiet. You're going to wake Kael up."
They didn't want to burden him, so they agreed that whoever Kael looked for first upon waking up would be the one to teach him first. They agreed to spend time with him first.
"Phew-."
The mothers crowded around Kael, who was sleeping peacefully, unaware of anything.
It was because they wanted to see if Kael might be having another nightmare before preparing for the bet.
However, Kael was fast asleep with a peaceful expression, just like a child.
"I'll take here."
Laika moved first, sitting at the foot of the bed.
She took a spot where she would be the first thing he saw when he woke up, and leaned her face against the bed.
"... Laika, isn't that too close?"
"We agreed that anywhere except right next to Kael was fine, didn't we?"
"... Hah, geez. So typically elf-like."
Laika didn't care much about the racially discriminatory remark about being "typically elf-like."
"Then should an elf act like a human instead of an elf?"
After answering Alicia briefly, she covered her pointed ears with both hands as if she didn't want to hear it.
The smug, smirking expression was a bonus.
'Kael likes me the best, so what are you going to do about it? When you two neglected Kael because of work, I was the one who played with him the most.'
For a moment, a ticked-off Alicia clenched her fist, but she couldn't shout because she was afraid Kael would wake up.
They had agreed to teach Kael, and making a scene to wake him up?
That was something she couldn't tolerate as a mother, regardless of the bet.
When he wakes up, the sunlight will pour in, so wouldn't he look at the window first?
When Alicia hurriedly changed her mind and looked around.
"... Heh, Alicia? I've already claimed this spot, haven't I?"
Aria was already sitting piously in front of the window, as if to prove she was a 'Saintess.'
In the end, Alicia took a spot in front of the door, thinking Kael might go to the bathroom or brush his teeth when he woke up.
Tick-, tock-, tick-, tock-.
The sound of the clock rang out indiscriminately.
In between, it was covered by the sound of her lovely son's breathing, "Phew-."
In a whisper quieter than that breathing, Aria asked cautiously.
"... By the way, Alicia, what are you going to teach him first?"
Deep down, she wanted to teach him herself, but...
She was also curious about what the other mothers were going to teach Kael.
"... I, hmm. Maybe the mana resonance method? What about you, Aria?"
"Kael is the most lovely and precious person in the world, so.... Naturally, shouldn't it be how to feel divine power? Since the world loves him so much, it should be easy for him to feel divine power, right?"
"I, hmm, was thinking of starting with tree climbing, then archery or assassination techniques, something like that."
"Will Kael like that...?"
"P-it's necessary. He needs at least one way to protect himself!"
Aria looked at Laika with eyes full of worry, but Alicia was a little different.
She nodded, saying, "Hmm."
"That's right. I was planning to teach him long-range magic if the resonance finishes quickly. If he doesn't do close-quarters combat, the chances of him getting hurt will drop significantly."
They talked about teaching a seven-year-old boy 'magic,' which ordinary people only learn a few spells of after graduating from the academy.
And 'divine power,' when most people can't even wield a speck of it despite praying for over 15 years.
They talked about teaching the Elf tribe's archery and assassination techniques, which require manipulating mana, let alone just resonating with it.
No matter how you looked at it, these were difficult things for Kael to learn, but....
"... But, will it be too easy?"
"It might be easy. Magic, assassination techniques. Hmm.... The basics are easy, right?"
"Isn't it important to learn step by step?"
Since they were geniuses who had reached the pinnacle in their respective fields and were people with innate talent.
It seemed they couldn't even imagine that it would be difficult for others.
"... Hmm-."
As Kael tossed and turned, the mothers covered their mouths.
Since it was a silent agreement not to make any noise, they didn't continue the conversation.
'Please, I prayed so hard. Please, let Kael look at me first-!'
'You're going to play with me first, right? Kael, you're closest to me, right? So, you'll see me first when you wake up, right?'
'... Should I use magic?'
They just swallowed hard and focused on every single gesture and movement of Kael.
Swoosh-.
Kael sat up with his eyes closed.
He pulled off the blanket and let out a yawn, "Hwaaam."
As if under a spell, the three mothers smiled broadly and chuckled without realizing it.
They felt the urge to run over and hug him as he sat on the bed, dozing off, but they tried their best to hold back.
'... Oh God, is Kael this cute because You blessed him?'
'Once he learns to climb trees and hold a bow, he'll be tired. Then, I'll take the sleeping Kael and show him off to the elves.'
'... Look at Mom, Kael.'
Just as they were holding their breath.
"Hwaaaam-."
Kael yawned loudly-.
And looked at Laika in front of him first.
Only after that did his eyes move to Aria, and finally to Alicia.
"Kaeel-! As expected, you like me the best...!?"
Laika opened her arms, full of nasal tone and even acting cute.
Aria hung her head in despair.
"... Alicia-mom."
But strangely, Kael called for the Archmage, not the elf.
Laika and Alicia were so flustered that they gasped, "Hup."
"... Eh!?"
"I, I thought he looked at Laika first...?"
The tips of Alicia's fingers were glowing faintly red.
If she was a 12-Circle Archmage, she could manipulate perception itself without anyone knowing.
'... Laika is the one who's bad! Being right in front of Kael like that...!'
In the end, it was the victory of Alicia, who had secretly cast magic out of impatience.
"Kael, let's play with Mom first today. Okay?"
Alicia smiled happily and glanced at Aria and Laika.
"I was the furthest away, yet Kael looked for me?"
And she covered her mouth with one hand.
"... Pfft-."
Alicia, who laughed as if teasing them, took Kael and left the bedroom.
The face of the left-behind Aria turned red, and she even teared up, perhaps because she was so frustrated.
It was no different for Laika.
Honestly, she was sad and felt slighted....
"Th, thiiis-, did you, did you see her laughing? She's, she's so annoying!"
"... I agree one hundred percent."
As soon as Alicia left, the two started badmouthing her.
However, since an agreement was an agreement, they didn't try to stop Alicia or make a fuss.
Just like when they went on adventures, the two went out to the balcony and vented their sad feelings while watching Kael and Alicia.
...
Alicia didn't go straight into the lesson.
She sat in the field with Kael on her lap and messed up his hair.
"Ugh, Kaeel-!"
How did such a cute and lovely child come to her?
She was always a cold and rational Master of the Red Tower, but now she was just a mother whose gaze was stolen by love.
Alicia giggled as she pinched and stretched Kael's cheeks.
"Mom, aren't we going to be with Aria-mom or Laika-mom today?"
When Kael asked back, Alicia finally came to her senses.
"Kael. We have to study starting today."
"Study? Okay."
Kael got off her lap and sat facing Alicia.
Honestly, studying wasn't fun, but if it made his mothers happy, there was no reason not to do it.
"What should we start with? Hmm.... Ko, Korean, and math, and.... Elf language, do, do I have to do that...?"
"... Have you heard of magic?"
"That's what Alicia-mom is the best at in the whole world!"
She had always thought that being the strongest mage was a title bound by responsibility and duty.
Alicia smiled contentedly without realizing it.
Because her son liked it, for some reason, the title of Archmage felt nice too.
"I'm going to let Kael learn magic like Mom. Is that okay?"
"If I can be like Mom, anything is fine."
"Now, do you want to sit here?"
Kael walked to where Alicia pointed and sat down naturally.
It was a place where the flow of mana drifting in the air naturally gathered.
"To use magic, you have to feel mana. First, we need to perceive mana. I feel it as red, and Laika as green. I'm not sure about Aria, but she probably feels it as white. Close your eyes, take a deep breath in and out, and try to feel the mana?"
"Ho, how do I do that...?"
"Close your eyes and think that 'mana' actually exists."
The location selection was excellent, but the problem was that Alicia's explanation was extremely abstract.
Since Alicia was the one who could feel mana from the beginning, the fact that she didn't know the methods for beginners was a reason, if you could call it that.
Kael closed his eyes after listening to Alicia and sat for a long time until he was sweating, but.
Naturally, he couldn't even feel the existence of mana, let alone mana resonance.
"... I don't know."
This was something Alicia couldn't even imagine.
Flustered, she couldn't even imagine what to explain first.
Her lips were parched, and just as she was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"... When I woke up, the thing that glowed red at the tip of your finger. Is that mana?"
"... Huh?"
Kael mentioned the traces of magic that even Laika and Aria hadn't noticed.
'... Ho, how?'
Alicia wondered for a moment if she had seen it wrong, so she asked Kael again.
"... You saw my fingertips glowing red, Kael?"
"Yes, I saw it."
"... Do you remember where Laika and Aria-mom were?"
"Laika-mom was lying at my feet.... And Aria-mom was sitting by the window praying."
Alicia swallowed.
The red mana that bloomed from the tips of Alicia's fingers had cast 'Perception Interference Magic.'
Perception interference meant that it should have made it impossible to see Laika or Aria in the first place.
Magic that she had put so much effort into that even the two heroes who killed the Demon King couldn't notice it.
And yet, he saw through it...?
Alicia felt dizzy for a moment, as if she had been hit on the head with a blunt object.
And then, thinking that she must have made a mistake with the magic, she held Kael in her arms-.
Wooooong-!
She reached out and re-cast the Perception Interference Magic to make it impossible to see Laika and Aria, who were watching Kael and herself from the balcony.
She was more immersed and put more effort into it.
"... Can you see the mansion?"
This time, he definitely wouldn't be able to see them.
Even Alicia herself could only see her own mana.
The shape of the mansion was just blurry, remaining like an afterimage.
"... They're over there, right? I can see Laika-mom and Aria-mom too...."
However, breaking her expectations, Kael found the mansion again, piercing through the magic.
Goosebumps rose along Alicia's spine.
He saw it, exactly.
How on earth did Kael?
Why?
In the midst of the confusion, a serious and solemn voice flashed through Alicia's mind.
It was the voice of the Great Sage, Alkest.
She didn't believe in prophecies or anything like that, so she had been living forgetting about it lately-.
It suddenly came to mind.
- To escape being heroes, the three of you must adopt one child together. That child will bear your fate in your stead.
Alicia hugged her lovely son, whom she was holding in her arms, tightly.
She fell into fear and anxiety.
Because bearing our fate in our stead.
Means living the same life as us.
It was hard to believe, so she asked again, like grabbing at a straw.
"... You're not lying, right?"
"Yes, I can see them well. Uh, Mom. Did I, did I do something wrong...?"
"Hm? No. It's because Kael is so amazing. I'm, I'm just surprised."
Alicia wiped the sweat running down her cheek and patted Kael's back immediately.
And she walked up to the mansion to ask the other mothers for help.
"Laika, Aria!"
Alicia called the two while holding Kael in her arms.
The two mothers, who had been wondering if it was their turn now.
Roll-, roll-.
Dropping several chopsticks or twigs they were holding full in their hands.
And, while holding crosses and Bibles full-.
"Kael, now with me!"
"Kael is going to spend quality time with me, Laika. Don't cut in line!"
They came running down with a clatter.