The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 295 - Trains Around, Knowledge Bound, A Will To Hug Found
Chapter 295: Chapter 295 - Trains Around, Knowledge Bound, A Will To Hug Found
The station in the eastern plains was filled with activity in the morning as cultivators and some remaining mortals alike prepared for their departure. Multiple train cars were lined against the platforms, ready to carry passengers and their belongings to the next hub - where most would go on to various nearby regions and fortifications.
Elua stood with a raven haired Yecine ’heir’ at her side, the couple watching as porters loaded the last of someone’s luggage onto this first-light train. The evening walk yesterday had been a quiet affair. As had the half hour of the small brunette just laying curled in her arms... when the swordswoman woke up to the pre-dawn ’intruder’.
Though there had been some talk toward the end before they made their way here.
"Are you sure about this arrangement?"
Qatrand asked the heiress, who held a carefully wrapped package in her hands. The parcel was one of the things she finished taking care of the other morning with a visit to the craftsman she’d found in the markets. Small fingers traced the edges of the gift as she waited for the others to arrive.
Mint eyes turned and locked on the approaching Talcres couple. The pair walked with Nohre and Fusand a few steps behind them. Even knowing they would come together, seeing that grouping made the girl smile.
"Entirely certain. They’re safer keeping with Zyris and Meyran, who I know will keep them in line. And this way, their education on building connections continues despite the disruption."
The reincarnator’s tone was light, but there was the usual intensity underneath her words that Qat had come to recognize. Sending them with the older, childless cultivators was just as about safety as it was her wife positioning pieces and plans for whatever came after the Descent.
The orphans kept approaching closer after the Talcres stopped a polite distance away. Both of her disciples looked somewhat subdued compared to their usual selves - because they knew they would not see their master for quite a while.
The braided haired teen’s typically confident stride seemed hesitant. With something other than wariness, as she hid a little behind the sandy haired boy. Fusand himself stood with his shoulders hunched as if bearing an invisible weight.
Both of them had lost family due to the aftermath of the cycles and had grown up with other orphans who’d lost more directly. Separating from someone they cared about was depressing, even if they were trying not to be childish about it.
"There you are. Just in time to chat before you board."
Elua smiled brightly as she stepped forward, her ’sweet’ voice plenty familiar to the two... though they knew the young miss had a lot more facets than that. She extended the package in her hands toward the ’shy’ Nohre diagonally behind her companion, who accepted it with a questioning look.
"What’s this?"
"Open it. Consider it my way of occupying your studies while we’re separated."
The green eyed girl carefully unwrapped the paper parcel to reveal a leather-bound volume with intricate embossing on the cover. Without a doubt in her heart, the slightly older teen was sure that the hide had been worked by the Goltbred personally. But it was opening it to the middle that made her eyes widen.
Detailed anatomical illustrations were packed inside. Each was labeled in her master’s precise handwriting, with pages and pages of notes following each set. It was clearly, to the orphan, something that must have been in progress for a very long time.
"I finally had it bound together by an interesting binder I located."
"This..."
"Every diagram is drawn to scale. Learning and memorizing a human’s physiology will not happen overnight, but..."
The mentor’s voice softened, but kept her words careful. Even with her abilities preventing eavesdropping, it would be unwise to get in the habit of mentioning her true Aspect in public.
"The potential of your ability deserves proper guidance, even when I’m not there to provide it. Just don’t do anything reckless and focus on building up your foundation, okay?"
Nohre’s fingers trembled as she traced one of the drawings. Then she closed it and hugged the item to her chest, stepping forward closer to the other girl.
"You really made this yourself? For me? How long..."
Mint eyes darted away. The time scale would sound ridiculous, so she had no intention of revealing just how little time it took. Combining her illusion blueprinting technique with her essence etching for sigil work had allowed her to spend very little time preparing plates.
’Still, I’m glad I made them. Just in case she loses this book, I can prepare another quickly.’
Inking the copper surfaces and laying pages carefully without smudging was the touchier part. As well as doing it all in relative secrecy, though her illusions helped there too when her personal servant was being too attentive to her comings and goings.
"Well, don’t worry about that. Instead I have to wonder if you are really asking if it is for you - who else would I trust with something so important? Besides Qat."
Elua replied with a hint of her typical ’successful relationship’ smugness. Fusand leaned over the dark haired teen’s shoulder to peer at the book. Then scratched his cheek and looked expectantly at the Goltbred heiress.
"And what about me? Did I get forgotten in all the excitement?"
The brunette gave him a mischievous smirk that made him step back. It was rarely unbearable, but often suggested something mildly unpleasant when she aimed that at him!
"Who said I haven’t already prepared something for you?"
Confusion crossed the young man’s face before Elua turned to the other girl with a conspiratorial look. Her stage whisper was clearly meant for the sandy haired teen’s benefit.
"Did I or did I not already entrust you with something? An item that depends entirely on whether you deem him deserving of it?"
The other girl’s cheeks colored immediately, remembering the moment of girl’s talk last night. Of all the ways she could make her partner earn the gift while having her own fun making him work for it. Her eyes darted between her master and her...
’No, no, it isn’t right! I should just... but...’
"I... that is... y-you didn’t ultimately say when to give it to him. Just teased me about it."
"Give me what?"
Fusand’s voice rose in excitement now that he knew there really was something.
"Perhaps a few equally detailed diagrams of crabs? I wonder how hard she’ll make you beg to offset how jealous she feels at your attention to the creatures..."
The illusionist suggested ’innocently’ and made both disciples flush deeper. The muddy brown came out in force at having their little *lover’s squabble* aired out in public. Especially because he heard a bright laugh from Zyris behind them.
’Oh no, I thought she was doing that thing with her Element!’
"I’d love to see them whenever Nohre allows you access. Actually, I wonder if I should just ask to see them before you, hm?"
Meyran placed a calming hand on his wife’s shoulder. He wasn’t unhappy to see her mirth or how she was letting herself be loose with the young cultivators. But now that their private discussion was over, he felt the need to address the young daughter of their friends.
"During the defense period, we’ll ensure they continue their studies appropriately without getting tunnel vision. If our home region calms quicker than yours, our estate has adequate space and privacy for any of their cultivation practice and academic pursuits."
"Yes, I’ll help make sure they don’t spend *all* their time on blushing red as a boiled crustacean,"
The woman piled on with a wink that made Fusand look like he wanted the platform to swallow him whole. He had just been curious if he had been thought of especially by the mentor he owed so much to - he hadn’t been looking for all these jabs!
Luckily for him, the first warning of departure whistles ended their ’fun’ conversation. Elua’s expression shifted abruptly as she turned to address the couple directly. While she had not grown especially close to the couple herself, she was more than willing to drop her facade - she knew her mother and father confided in their friends about it.
"Thank you again for accommodating my request. I know it wasn’t part of your original return plans."
The Talcres both waved off both her formality and monotone.
"Nonsense. We’re delighted to have them as company. Besides, I think we’re the ones who needed to say something first."
"Indeed. We should apologize for making you the one to suggest parting from your friends. It’s something we should have considered and offered to our temporary disciples on our own."
Meyran agreed with surprising warmth that made Zyris grab for his hand and look at the pair of orphans.
"What he means is that the temporary state of mentorship can be considered indefinite, as long as the two of you want to stay connected with us. We have not regretted meeting either of you."
The reincarnator gently gauged the teenagers’ spirits, the pair at a loss for words to express themselves, when Yatrel arrived. An unusually quiet Onya was in her arms, the toddler sleepily observing the busy platform. The Goltbred Patriarch followed behind, carrying a small personal traveling case.
"I see we’re just in time for tearful goodbyes."
The reddish-blonde observed with mint eyes taking in the gathered group dynamic. As Elua physically turned, her sister reached out to be taken from her mother’s arms with a dazed call for ’E-wa’.
The toddler buried her face against the ancient cultivator’s neck, small chubby fingers pulling at the silver fabric of her dress collar. Clothing was a detail she never hid from her sibling - just like for Qat - but it meant she often had to rewrite the perception of the little girl’s behavior to others nearby...
Especially times like now when she wasn’t supposed to have anything on with such a high neck! The hand that was once so afraid to even touch the little girl stroked the hair that matched their mother as she murmured an early farewell.
"Life is long and this will only be a short part of it, Little River Bend."
Hearing the (literal-translation from the Old Tongue) nickname always made Qatrand’s heart surge with tenderness. Knowing that her El did so many things around her infant sibling, things that could be directly compared to the same sort of openness and love which the reincarnator showed to the swordswoman, brought a sort of fullness to the Yecine.
’I can’t help but picture that she will be a good mother when I see her so gentle. And knowing that just like Yatrel...’
The thought remained unvoiced in her head as the final boarding call echoed across the platform. Calloused hands received a sister-in-law, the Talcres couple began to turn to gather their belongings, and the book clutched to one girl’s chest was unexpectedly crushed tighter... to the surprise of everyone but Qat.
Elua er Goltbred had hopped up to firmly hug her taller disciple of Water, who found she had to quickly widen her stance to stabilize the lightweight looking girl.
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