“Whew. In the end, there wasn’t much for me to do...”
I was taking a walk through the village while holding Lalanoah to get a break. Efil had already planned out most of our wedding details, so with how excited she was, preparations proceeded smoothly and quickly. There was really no room for me to butt in; the only thing I could do was make appropriate noises to let her know I was listening. Hrm... I claimed to be doing my best, but it’d been like this with everyone. Seriously, all my wives were so reliable—too reliable. I’d have liked to see Efil relax at a time like this while we were having tea with Wial.
“Buh!”
“Oh? What’s wrong, Lalanoah? Are you hungry?”
“Woogh...”
Oh, guess I’m wrong. I see. Hm... Her diaper’s not dirty, and she shouldn’t be sleepy because she just woke up. I remember the moment she woke up, Elder Nellas and Wial-san were charmed by her all over again, causing another fuss. Ah, wait, now’s not the time for that. Lalanoah wants something.
“You don’t look unhappy. In fact, you look...interested?”
“Mah!”
It seemed something about the village interested her. Uh... I think babies are supposed to be basically blind for a while after they’re born, right? And yet she’s responding over and over to buildings and trees and stuff. Is this an elf thing?
“I wonder if she’s responding to something instinctively. Either way, Lalanoah’s cute when she’s absorbed in something too!”
“Bah!”
“Gah!”
Lalanoah slapped my cheeks. Was that supposed to be a retort? I see, so you already understand the roles of fool and straight man at your age, and you succeeded in ambushing me. My kid really is a genius!
“You’ve been grinning this entire time, master. Are you okay?” came a new voice.
“Huh? Ruka?! When did you get behind me?!”
Ruka’s voice had come out of nowhere, shocking me. I couldn’t believe that she’d managed to ambush me as well. Still, I made sure not to let my shock affect Lalanoah. For her, I could remain still as stone no matter what state my heart was in.
“I’ve been behind you the entire time,” Ruka replied. “I know you knew, and you’re still saying that?”
“Ha! Ha! Ha... Just take it as a joke meant to let off some steam.”
Ruka had accompanied us on this wedding preparation trip. Efil was fired up about work, but it was also true that she was very busy with wedding preparations. I figured having a trustworthy subordinate nearby would lighten her load, which was why I’d brought Ruka. Also, a nonzero part of it was also for Ruka herself, since she’d been staying behind in Parth all this time. I wanted her to experience someplace different while we were at it.
“So, what’s wrong?” Ruka asked again. “I mean, I know it has something to do with Lalanoah-sama already, but I figured I’d ask anyway.”
“Ah, yeah, how observant of you... It’s just that it seems she’s been interested in the village for a while now. She shouldn’t be able to see well yet, so I was just amazed.”
“Really? Wow, you’re right. Maybe she inherited the chief maid’s Farsight skill?” Ruka wondered.
“Hm...maybe? That would be the effect of a skill, but she shouldn’t have any in her stats yet... Well, if it’s not a skill and is just an ability she has, then that would be different. Like how it’s possible to be good with a sword through brute strength even without the Swordsmanship skill.”
“Then I guess it’s a real possibility? She’s still just a baby, but Lalanoah-sama is already showing such promise!” Ruka gushed.
“Isn’t she?” I couldn’t help but feel elated, letting out a proud chuckle.
“And it looks like Lalanoah-sama is interested in whatever is there,” said Ruka.
“Hm?”
She was pointing to what looked like an archery training area. An elven man who looked like an instructor was teaching several children how to use a bow.
“Oh? Looks like Lalanoah is definitely Efil’s daughter. She’s interested in bows already! She’s such a lump of ambition that her papa is gonna burst into tears of joy...”
“You’re way too emotionally unstable, master,” Ruka said teasingly. “So, what do you want to do? It’s obviously impossible for her to shoot, but we could ask them to let her touch a bow at least.”
“Aghbth!”
“That was a hearty agreement! She really is extremely talented!”
It was starting to become a worry of mine that I was acting too much like my father-in-law recently, but right at this moment, that didn’t matter to me. If Lalanoah wanted it, I would happily bow to anyone. I begged the instructor to let her have a taste of the bow.
“Uh, aha ha ha... Yeah...sure. I don’t mind. It’s just a practice bow, so the arrows don’t have heads on them anyway,” the instructor replied.
“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen an adult so desperate...” one of the kids remarked.
“Me too...” said another.
Since I started off negotiations by prostrating myself (only possible because I had transferred the role of Lalanoah-carrier to Ruka), the instructor easily lent me a bow and arrow set. It felt like he was more than a little creeped out, but I decided to ignore that because it was obviously just a feeling. The stares from the children he was teaching also hurt, but once again I was sure it was just my imagination.
“This is a bow, Lalanoah-sama,” said Ruka. “Master threw away his pride and all sense of shame to borrow it, so in a sense it’s a very precious item.”
“Agfh, wah!”
“Oh, she’s happy!”
My heart leaped when I saw Lalanoah happily touching the bow and arrow. It felt more than worth the prostration and begging, and I was starting to worry that my heart would actually burst straight out of my chest due to sheer joy.
“Wuuagh... Awooh!”
“Heh heh! This kid’s imitating us! So precious!”
“The sizes are completely off; it’s gotta be impossible.”
“But isn’t it impressive that she got so far when she’s so small? Maybe she’s really smart or something.”
Lalanoah was popular among these children too. Naturally, the entire scene was heartwarming. It was only made even more so by the fact that Lalanoah was at the center of it all.
“Bawoo!”
Right after that adorable cry from her, I heard the whooshing sound of an arrow cutting through the air. The sound was so sudden that I looked toward the targets, wondering what had happened, and...
Oh...that...
The teacher and students burst into excited chatter.
“I... What? The target split in two by itself?”
Indeed, the wooden target had split cleanly in two. It was very smooth, as if the target had been cut by a swordmaster.
“Hey, hey, is that target an old one?”
“It’s your fault, teacher! You need to properly maintain the equipment here or the elder will yell at you!”
“But...that’s weird,” said the teacher hesitantly. “I just made a new one this year since the old one was no good anymore. Maybe there was an old one left over? Ha ha...ha ha ha...”
Though he had technically replied to the children, the instructor’s face was stiff and spasming. It seemed he had just realized what Lalanoah had done.
“Master, that was...” Ruka started.
“Yeah. That was definitely Lalanoah’s doing. She just acquired Green Magic and shot a wind arrow through observation.”
“Babuh babuh!”
I peered at my child’s hands as she happily burbled. Ah, yes. I knew it, I thought as I confirmed my suspicions. There were traces of magic that told me that for an instant, a bow had formed in Lalanoah’s hand. She had most likely improved the Rank F Green Magic spell Wind to be easier to control. When I checked her stats again, Green Magic was listed under her skills.
“Now then, what should I be surprised by first? The fact that she acquired a skill on her own without having to be taught by anyone?”
“That’s definitely an option, but...” Ruka started, “can a child’s first magic really be that powerful? It feels like she combined master’s magic with the chief maid’s bow.”
“Right. But you can’t be thinking about this with common sense. I was shocked at first too—improving a spell with no instruction is a dream within a dream, at least normally.”
“Normally, you say...” Ruka mumbled, trailing off as she pondered. Then she gave up. “Erm, meaning?”
“In other words... Lalanoah is such an overwhelming genius that she can do such a thing so easily! All hail Lalanoah! All hail!” I raised Lalanoah high as I praised her from the bottom of my heart.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but it looks fun!”
“All hail Lalanoah!”
The elven children seemed amused by my cheering, so they joined in. With that as the spark, we had a fairly large crowd cheering in the end.
“All hail Lalanoah! All hail Lalanoah!” we shouted in unison.
“Mah!”
Lalanoah gave her best smile of the day. She must have been having fun being praised so much.
“Erm...could I be reimbursed for that target?” the instructor ventured.
“Ah, sure. My deepest apologies...”
I sincerely apologized and reimbursed the instructor with a specially ordered target.