Elf Sisters and Big Sister (7)
Lan-lan-i hid behind the rocks that had erupted across the arena from the aftermath of the spirits' clash, surveying the state of the battle.
—Please just get away from me!
—How old are you? You're totally my type—wanna get real cozy with this big sister?
—There are kids here! What are you saying?! Get lost!
What's so bad about getting cozy?
Lan-lan-i had seen Mom and Mad Demon getting cozy plenty of times. They thought they hadn't been caught, but clever Lan-lan-i—who had every qualification to be a big sister—had noticed everything.
When Mad Demon got cozy with women other than Mom, little sister Lulu had been born. So getting cozy was a good thing!
The spirit aunties shouldn't interfere.
If the aunties got cozy with each other, Lan-lan-i might get another little sibling! The thought of a spirit sibling instead of those cocky elf little sisters made her happy.
"Hiya!"
"Yap..."
The two little sisters were so busy brawling they had forgotten Lan-lan-i even existed. Weaving between the rocks and closing the distance, Lan-lan-i wore a smile of pure triumph.
Lan-lan-i...
She thought of how Mom controlled blood. As just a kid, Lan-lan-i couldn't handle blood well—but as a big sister, Lan-lan-i had to pull it off!
The breast milk from Mom that Lan-lan-i had snacked on surged back up. She combined a pea-sized drop of blood with the energy she had learned by drinking the slave uncle's blood. The blood drop, infused with earth energy, became harder than rock.
"...Entrance!"
—Contractor!
—Evril! Watch out!
The spirits noticed too late and warned them, but the elf children, busy fighting, were slow to react.
Thud.
Crack.
The dark crimson blood drop struck Evni and Evril square in the solar plexus. Thanks to the divinity protecting the children, they weren't badly hurt, but more than half their divinity was depleted. Evril, who had already taken Evni's counterattack, was so damaged that even a light graze would eliminate her.
"Lan-lan-i! You were hiding like a coward!"
"Watch how you talk to your big sister!"
"Watch how you talk" was a phrase Mom often used on Mad Demon. She hadn't understood it before, but now she got it. Being called a coward by her little sister was a little... annoying!
"If you're the little sister, you should use honorifics!"
Lan-lan-i made a demand she would never follow herself, then kicked off the ground. The lightning spirit tried to protect Evril, but Krista's interference blocked it.
—Kh... Move...
—You have to cut down the competition when you can.
—We should team up and—
—How is a kid barely born supposed to beat a spirit?
The lightning spirit thought Krista had a point, but still tried to break free. Lan-lan-i was far faster, though.
"Evril is the little sister!"
The punches she had copied from watching Mad Demon's battles flared from Lan-lan-i. Clumsy as they were, the fists carried the essence of martial arts and broke through Evril's defense.
"Kyaah!"
"Evril. Confirmed little sister."
Sophia declared it and summoned Evril out of the arena. Evril made a teary face.
"That's not fair!"
"Even if it's not fair, too bad."
Lan-lan-i declared to her little sister stomping her feet outside the arena.
"This is what a battle is."
Clap clap clap.
Cheonsol clapped without thinking, then received a scorching glare from Evrande.
"What? Realizing the true meaning of battle already. Is she not precious?"
"Did you take the kid with you when you battled?"
"Of course. Early education is important."
"I should have let our Evril watch some battles too. Evril, Mommy's sorry."
Lan-lan-i tuned out her third little sister and looked at Evni. At that very moment, Evni was looking at Lan-lan-i too.
"Lan-lan-i..."
"Call me Big Sister!"
Fists clenched, Lan-lan-i charged at Evni.
—Not happening.
With the interference gone, Krista unleashed power befitting a high-ranking spirit. Raising earthen walls all around Lan-lan-i, Krista declared:
—I built the dirt walls so you won't get hurt. You can't break through, so just give up already.
Lan-lan-i was furious. She was the big sister, and some woman with an even smaller chest than Mom's master was getting in her way!
What would Mad Demon do?
He'd smash through the dirt wall and give that cocky spirit and the little sister knuckle sandwiches! Lan-lan-i had Mad Demon's Iron Man and self-healing. And she had the blood domination power from Mom too. Lan-lan-i found the solution to break this situation.
"Yaaaaaaaah!!"
As she screamed, the slave uncle's blood still being digested scattered through her whole body. Lan-lan-i poured the energy surging through her into her fist and swung.
CRASH!
A hole just big enough for Lan-lan-i to squeeze through opened in the thick earthen wall.
—What?
"Evril is the little sister!"
"No..."
Lan-lan-i threw her triumphant punch. Krista, trying to protect her contractor, realized her mistake.
—Oh no. The contractor's mana is all gone.
Being in a divine realm overflowing with the divinity of the contractor's master meant using power wasn't a problem, but intervening when mana was completely depleted was against the rules. A spirit mage without spirit assistance becomes powerless. In the end, Lan-lan-i beat Evni down.
"Lan-lan-i is! The big sister!"
"Hngh..."
Lan-lan-i climbed atop the earthen wall towering in the center of the arena.
"Lan-lan-i is! The big sister!"
The ecstatic Lan-lan-i only calmed down after nursing from Cheonsol.
At first I thought pitting the kids against each other wasn't a good idea, but after watching them fight, I changed my mind. The kids fought way better than I expected. Lan-lan-i's breakthrough was especially amazing.
I'd been worried she'd be the first eliminated since she was the only one who couldn't use spirits, but she claimed the eldest sister position. The essence packed into her fists was especially impressive. Lan-lan-i, who had never learned martial arts or played games, was imitating me.
So this is why dads can't help but love their daughters.
"Isn't she really amazing?"
"Brother-in-law... that's the third time you've said that."
Ebria shuddered. Three times wasn't that many, though.
Having just drunk her fill of breast milk, Lan-lan-i was showing off in front of her little sisters.
"Ahem! Who is Lan-lan-i?"
"Big Sister Lan-lan-i..."
Evni quickly accepted reality. Maybe because there was someone below her.
"You little—! Rematch next time!"
"Evril. 'You little' is a bad word."
"Hiiing..."
Evril, now the youngest, still couldn't accept it. Typical little kid stubbornness, but what can you do.
"Ahem. Evril. No bad words. You should use nice, proper words like Lan-lan-i."
"I hate you!"
"Hate me? I hate you more!"
With the even more stubborn Lan-lan-i as big sister, well. They'd just have to accept it.
"Shouldn't you stop them?"
"Kids grow by fighting. Sisters especially fight a lot more."
"Is that so?"
Cheonsol glanced briefly at the elf sisters.
"I see."
"Anyway, Lan-lan-i is first. Evni is second. Evril is third."
Evril, who had been fighting with Lan-lan-i, flinched and looked at me.
"Dad? I'm not the youngest?"
"Evril really doesn't know anything. Lan-lan-i will show you the real youngest!"
Lan-lan-i ran into the house and came out grunting, carrying Lulu. Lulu nestled in Lan-lan-i's arms wiggled contentedly.
"This is our youngest, Lulu!"
Wiggle wiggle.
—It's an egg?
"It's not an egg! It's the youngest!"
—Uh, uh. Sorry.
Krista apologized to Lan-lan-i. Evril, whose tears had already stopped, carefully touched Lulu.
Wiggle?
"Wow. Amazing. How does it move when it's still an egg?"
"Because Lulu is a good little sister!"
"Yeah... Lulu is good..."
As the kids gathered around the egg, the adults moved in to look at Lulu too.
—Why is an egg a half-vampir and half-elf's little sibling? Hey slave. Not you?
—How would I know. And calling me slave...
Evrande, who had been marveling at Lulu's appearance, shot me a look.
"Whose kid is that one? Did you make another woman besides Cheonsol?"
"I had sex with a beautiful Death Knight and she gave birth."
"Mad Demon! There are children present—can you not watch your language?!"
What's wrong with saying sex. Being direct is better for children's education than awkwardly talking around it.
"Our Evrande's eggs gave birth to Evril and Evni."
"And our Cheonsol's egg gave birth to Lan-lan-i."
The goddesses fell into nostalgia as they examined Lulu.
—Were half-elves originally a species that hatched from eggs?
—No. I can't even believe half-vampirs come from eggs.
—Why are you talking casually to Master's contractor?
—Ah, come on...
The spirits had been spouting nonsense for a while now. One of our country's ancestors, Park Hyeokgeose, was also born from an egg—so elves and vampirs can come from eggs too. This is why short-sighted people are no good.
"What. I'm not the youngest."
Evril excitedly stroked Lulu. I thought she'd be upset about losing the big sister spot, but she just didn't want to be the youngest.
The atmosphere turned warm and friendly, and we had dinner together to feed the hardworking kids. Krista ate spirit food too.
—I know how to eat, you know.
—The table-slash-chair, be quiet.
—...
Everyone was satisfied except Lirota.
"Brother-in-law. Did you know Evrande's community nickname is EvrilMom?"
"I just found out."
"Read the posts EvrilMom wrote on the board. They're so poignant and desperate and tragic and... hilarious!"
"Ah, seriously, Big Sister! I told you not to!"
While red-faced Evrande squabbled with Ebria, I searched for EvrilMom's posts.
"Yohan! Don't read them! Don't you dare read them! Argh!"
Evrande started deleting posts too late, but she couldn't beat someone trained by gallery surfing. After saving every post, I showed her a victor's smile.
"Too slow."
"What do you mean too slow! Why are you tormenting Evrande! Delete them this instant!"
Thud thud.
"Mommy's hitting Daddy."
"Daddy..."
"It's fine. Mad Demon gets hit all the time."
"Why?"
"Because she loves him?"
"I also... like Daddy..."
Poke poke.
"Lan-lan-i likes Daddy too!"
"Me too!"
Thump thump.
"Lan-lan-i? Evni? Evril? Why are you hitting Daddy?"
"Because we like Mad Demon!"
Startled, I asked the kids why they hit when they like someone. Then I made the kids and Cheonsol kneel.
"You must not hit someone because you love them. You should treasure them and cherish them."
"But Mom hits Mad Demon all the time?"
"Cheonsol."
"I apologize... I shall restrain myself..."
Though my back hurt, it was a productive time—since I could fix Cheonsol's bad habit of hitting.