It seemed Air was solely focused on dinner. The mouth-watering Ukok was one thing, but I didn’t think fried rice was the kind of food worthy of serving to a god. Still, this was what I made, so it was too late to regret it now.
I brought a few distilled drinks from the shelf and offered him some alcohol, hoping it might improve his mood. But instead of Air, Dad and Lico seemed more interested in the ale.
I always warn them they drink too much. I should warn them not to get plastered in front of Air.
“Hmm, this is delicious,” Air said as he tasted the meal. “This bird goes quite well with the alcohol.”
“It does?!” Dad and Lico perked up in perfect unison.
“It’s satisfying to chew on and makes for a good snack to drink with. That said, my body breaks down toxins in seconds as it is, so it’s hard for me to get drunk,” Air sighed.
“Oh, you can’t get drunk? Now that’s a pity,” Lico remarked.
“That’s just how my body works. Not much I can do about this,” Air answered, taking a sip nonetheless.
Dad and Lico filled their glasses with alcohol and started drinking alongside Air. But they weren’t the only drinkers here, it seemed.
“Maybe we should participate too, mm?” Mirage said, picking up a glass.
Dad and Lico invited her over, glad to have someone else to party with. Jiril joined in, too, bringing in a barrel of ale while saying it couldn’t possibly be enough.
Oh, boy…
“Do you make alcohol, Holy Woman?” Air asked me.
“I haven’t come of age yet, so I can’t drink,” I said.
“Of age…?” Air parroted me, looking baffled.
“Hmm, I mean the age where I’m legally considered an adult. In the human continent, you’re only considered an adult who can drink and get married when you turn eighteen.”
“Oh, humans do have this tendency to want to distinguish children from adults,” Air remarked.
That’s a pretty big generalization…
“But I’ll admit setting a clear point where one leaves the protection of their parents and becomes independent is a good thing,” Air said. “For my race, it’s conditional. It happens when one’s third eye opens, armored fur starts growing, and we become capable of fully taking on a human appearance.”
“Huh…”
“That’s how Cerberi handle this matter of adulthood. Renge clears all those conditions, but half of his blood is human, and he’s never left this world. Many of my nephews hate humans, and none of them have come to see him or acknowledge him as part of our clan.”
“…They don’t?”
Renge’s an adult, but he’s not acknowledged as part of his own race?
“I acknowledge him, though, so it’s fine,” Air shrugged and sipped on his drink. “And I acknowledge you becoming his mate, Holy Woman. Albeit, I’m not sure if a Spherit Folk like you will be able to have children with him.”
“W-We haven’t even started thinking about having children!” I said, going red in the face.
“Even if you can have children, they’d probably count as a new race of demi-human,” Air carried on, undisturbed. “Since they’ll draw on Renge’s blood, they’ll probably be categorized as beast-type, and if they are able to wield the black flame, it’d make it tricky to raise them on the human continent.”
“Erm…!”
Isn’t this going too fast? I’d like to have kids with Renge someday, yes, but we’re not even married yet…and I do want to do that properly!
“Oh, yes, Holy Woman, how have things been going between you two, mm?” Mirage joined in.
“What?!” My voice cracked.
“Your father and stepmother are heeeere, so why don’t you tell uuuuus?” Jiril asked. “You’re turning eighteen next year, which means you’ll be of aaaaage. You’ll be alloooowed to marry, and you want to have children someday, yeees? And even if there’s a while before that haaaaappens, like Air saaaays, your children will be a new species. We don’t know what they’ll be liiiiike, and maybe you won’t be able to raaaaaaise them on the human continent. Will you move to one of the other continents theeen?”
“M-Move?”
Jiril barraged me with questions, all of which were things I hadn’t considered. Children with Renge, the difference in the continents, what will happen when we get married.
“I, em, uh…” I stuttered, lost for answers.
“You never considered any of that, have yoooou?” Jiril grinned.
I groaned. My excuse was that it always felt like a long way off, but she was right, I would be of age next year, which meant marriage was on the table. Not that I had to marry as soon as I came of age, of course, and both Renge and I were long-lived species.
“Won’t letting the right time slip by make you keep putting it off?” Mirage asked.
That is…a very convincing argument.
“Maybe I should warn Renge about putting it off,” Dad said.
“That’s right, we can’t let Tinaris get married late. Let me tell you, getting married when you’re old is shameful,” Lico said sagely.
I squeaked. It was convincing, coming from her…
“But don’t you think Renge gets a say in this, too?” I asked awkwardly.
“We can call him over and ask. You there, dryad lady, go get Renge,” Air ordered.
“Understoooood!”
“What?!?”
They’re actually calling him over?!?
Jiril teleported away with a pop, and then appeared in front of us again with Renge a few seconds later.
“Y-You came that fast?! Renge, what about the Great Curalius?!” I asked.
“She’s fine. I’ll be heading back when I’m done here, though. But I heard that Air’s been making absurd demands of you. Are you all right?” He looked at me, worried.