I'd like to give you some advice: never, ever approach a madwoman, especially if she's holding a sword, and even more especially if your body isn't enhanced on Aina.

The thing that caused a sharp pain in my stomach was the pommel of her sword slamming against me.

If she had just stopped there, I would have let it go.

After all, I was partially to blame.

I instinctively raised my hand as she walked past me and I called her.

The manner in which I did it could easily be misinterpreted as an attempt to grab her.

Although it doesn't excuse being attacked unexpectedly, as a merciful man, I would have let it go. If she had just stopped there and said, "Sorry," I would have rolled with it with a "It's nothing, it was my fault."

But Non~non~non, Mademoiselle, had deemed me deserving of a second blow.

A not-so-girly punch landed squarely in the cheeks.

My body was launched two meters from where I stood. I didn't pass out, but the punch had an effect on my body; there was a buzzing sound in my ears and a salty taste in my mouth.

I stood up and spat on my side, spewing a flask full of saliva, blood, and the remains of two of my molars.

When I looked at her, she seemed surprised, as if she hadn't been the one who started it all.

If you need to apologize, sweet sister, it's now or never because I'm not currently debating whether to punch you or not, but rather whether to punch you once or twice.

Suddenly, I heard a series of hurried footsteps approaching.

"Ronandt!" A voice exclaimed.

The voice belonged to Mael.

I was about to turn my head when I noticed him on my left.

There was a visible mark on my face because the moment he saw my face, his face shifted and he noticed the gory flask on the floor.

"Are you all right?" As he rested his hand on my left shoulder, he said.

"Yesh, I'm perfectly fine," I said, raising my thumb.

"What have you done?" Mael asked in a tone I'd never heard him use before.

"Nothing, I just punched him by accident."

Why not just say I ran right into your punch while we're at it?

"Then, apologize!"

"Eh... No, it was not my fault; why should I apologize for something I did not intend to do?" Ramia stated as she held her arm outstretched, as if stating the unmistakable truth.

"Don't make me force you to apologize!" Mael said as he stepped forward.

Although there was no visible change in his body, I had the impression that something was different about him now.

The first thing that came to mind was Aina.

I've never seen anyone else use Aina; I once begged Syrus to show me a glimpse of how he uses his Aina, but he flatly refused, and I was too afraid to ask Maa.

So, aside from myself, the only other reference I had for using Aina was High-beasts I encountered in the forest on occasion.

And there was a big difference between a human and a monster using aina, so I couldn't really tell if he was using aina or not; all I had was speculation.

"I'm not going to." Ramia yipped.

She, as Mael, has begun to exhibit an imperceptible but slightly palpable change.

Mael was about to approach her when a hand touched both of our shoulders.

"Calm down, you too," Grandfather Emilien said calmly but authoritatively. "No fighting, at least not today... Understood?"

"Yes, grandpa," Mael said, evidently regaining his composure.

"Ramia?"

"Yes, grandfather." She turned her heels and was about to leave when she bumped into someone standing behind her.

When that person crept behind her, I didn't even notice.

The man snatched her head from the top and yanked her back in our direction.

Then they both bowed their heads toward me, which is more of a forced bow in Ramia’s case.

"I sincerely apologize for my daughter's actions," the man said, his voice deep but apologetic.

I could finally see his face when he raised his head.

The man speaking had short, golden hair with bangs that swept over his crimson eyes, which Ramia and I both have.

I immediately recognized his face because it was the same one, I had seen exactly nine years earlier. My memories of that day were hazy, but I'm sure his current face exuded a certain maturity that I assumed had come over time, that he didn’t have that time.

This man was Luke Aubrecht, the heir to the Beaumont Ducal ruling family and a father to Ramia and me.

"It was insignificant." Simply put, I said.

After all, it was only two molars; I'll have new ones in no time.

Luke then leaned in to look at Ramia, whose head he was still holding, and shouted.

"Leonore!"

"Yes, My Lord," said a voice from behind us.

The woman Syrus was worried about passed through us and knelt in front of Luke, head bowed.

"Take Ramia to her room. Later, I will personally deliver her back to the castle. "

Ramia, true to his word, resisted, but she was quickly silenced by an intense glare from Luke.

Oh, I'll have to learn how to do that.

"Yes, My Lord," said the woman named Leonore, who then turned to face me and bowed slightly, saying, "We're sorry for what happened."

With that, she led her away, accompanied by the crazed dog Ramia and her entourage.

Grandfather called Luke's attention once that they had vanished from our sight.

"What a pleasant surprise! What brought you to your old uncle's castle?"

"I was in the castle when I heard that Ramia had made her way here. I took-" he said before being interrupted by Mael.

"I apologize, my uncle, but we have more pressing matters here," Mael boldly intervened, adding "Grandpa," before casting a glance in my direction.

When he said "pressing matters," I had no idea what he meant, but I knew it had something to do with me.

Grandfather, on the other hand, appeared to fully comprehend the significance of his words, as he immediately followed with a "Aaah, I almost forgot."

He then walked up to me and said.

"Could you show me your injury, boy?" With a gentle tone, he said.

I complied by widening my mouth.

"Ouch, she didn't go easy on you," he said as he peered inside my mouth. He then added, "Do you remember that I promised to show you a very unique magic once we arrived at my castle?"

Oh, yes, I had completely forgotten about it.

I nodded in response.

"I never got the chance to show it to you, and I certainly didn't expect to have to use it on you."

He placed his hand on my head, and I noticed that something was glowing above my head.

After a short while, Grandfather removed his hand from my head, revealing his palm to be a dazzling light.

"How is it?"

I didn't know what he was talking about, but then I felt it.

My two lost molars were back.

When I looked over to where the ones I'd lost were, I saw them still scattered on the floor.

"This is the specialty of our Edouard family; every direct descendant of our family possesses the extraordinary ability to perform a rare type of healing magic." Our family's unique talent for healing magic has inspired us to broaden our medical knowledge generation after generation. " Grandfather declared proudly.

"I'm confident in putting anyone back together as long as they're not completely dead."

"This is very impressive," I said, massaging my cheek, slightly and confusingly bothered by the pain's sudden disappearance.

"For sure it is." After that, he then turned to Luke and said. "We were having a birthday banquet for this boy, and since you're here, why don't you join us?"

"I…" He said, then looked at me as if waiting for confirmation from me, to which I responded with a nod. "Yes, my uncle." He finally conceded to Grandfather.

We then went back to the banquet room and picked up where we had left off.

The atmosphere in the room has shifted slightly since we were joined by someone else.

I couldn't have an honest conversation with "father" while Mael and the servants and attendants were present. So we had to act as if we were complete strangers to each other, which was easy to do because, in a way, that was exactly the case here.

If I had to sum up our entire interaction, it would be a few random questions here and there, and a few discreet glances at each other there.

This isn't how I envisioned our reunion.

Instead of a touching but awkward father-son reunion, I got to celebrate my birthday with my bully's father.

Oh, fate.

Despite the fact that things were not exactly as I had imagined, I knew that today would be the day we had to confront each other.

❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

Mael has tried several times to explain why Ramia was so upset, even going so far as to apologize on her behalf, but I have asked him to refrain from mentioning her for the time being. He finally agreed, after some reluctance on his part.

I wanted to ask him a question that had been bothering me for a while, but decided against it because it was about someone we had just agreed not to discuss.

After we finished our lunch, he demonstrated how to use the book he had given me earlier. "The reality figer" is a magical item that can only be used by one person; that's what the blood dripping thing was for, to make me the owner of it. Its application was simple and clear. All I had to do was think, and the book would interpret what I was thinking.

Well, I said interpret, but it could only do three things: take its book form, take its spherical form, capture whatever is in sight in its sheet, and fly midair.

Personally, I thought the flying feature was fascinating since it completely bypassed the concept of gravity with a simple thought from me.

When I asked Grandfather Emilien and Luke if they knew how these book things were made or what they were made of, he said they didn't.

In fact, no one knew these book creators were unknown, but it was common knowledge (at least for Mael and nobles who hadn't spent the majority of their lives completely cut off from civilization) that the majority of these book exemplars were owned by church officials or individuals associated with the church. Mael had received three of these books from his parents, making him, the cleric in charge of the local church, and a certain someone the sole owners of these books in the entire Duchy.

That was the worth of these books. When I asked if it was okay for him to give me something so valuable, he said it was fine.

I felt a little guilty about receiving something so valuable because I knew I'd never be able to repay him with anything comparable.

I wasn't referring to the monetary value of the books, but rather to what they represented to him; these books were gifts from parents he only sees once a year, and he was willing to give them to me in this situation.

This "reality figer" he gave me, as well as the fact that he stood up for me against someone he was very close to, were proof of how much he valued our friendship.

It may not be much in comparison to what he has given me in these last two weeks, but I will do everything in my power to be worthy of his kindness.