Chapter 32 - Putting a smile on her face

My clear exclamation had quickly made Vi aware of what I wanted.

She opened the bag containing our meal, then sat at the only chair of the table, courtesy of Ophelia’s thoughtfulness.

She opened the oiled skin package, and the soft smell of Dad’s cooking, more cold than warm, started conquering the air.

“Dad cooking is the best!” Exclaimed Vi, happy about her father’s commitment to his craft.

“Abubu!” I added, in total agreement with the words of my dear sis’.

I could have fed myself, but I let Vi do it, both because she liked it and because it was fun and cosy for me.

Mufufu~~ Pamper me more big sis’!

Yes, big sis’ pampering is the best!

My meal was composed of tiny cubes of soft, fat meat, with a mix of mashed potatoes and broccoli, a bit of butter and one raw egg blent into it, a bit of garlic, pepper surprisingly, a bit of salt and some ground nutmeg.

Vivianne’s wasn’t that different from mine, if for the meat, that was in the form of round slices of pork loin. The Broccolis and potatoes were mixed less finely than mine, too, but other than that, it was the same, and we both enjoyed it a great deal.

As we finished, Vi cleaned everything, and I went back to work, with the ever-present and curious gaze of my little sister hovering on my every move.

Let’s make her proud, shall we?

Hell yeah.

We put the cast iron away, along with the heaps of wood, all under the table, and started working with the pig iron in earnest.

Each ingot was a rectangular block of 3 by 3 by 10cm. We took one, making it float gently before creating a poor void around, for insulation’s sake, and very, very slowly, we started heating it.

We couldn’t go any faster, as the amount of mana I could use was limited, but we just exchanged power with time and, after half-an-hour of heating, we started straining it, stretching and working the metal until it was a circular rod with a diameter of 1cm and a length of 30cm.

I was focused on the process most of the time. Yet, each time I took my eyes off the metal to gaze at Vi, you could see that she was entirely fascinated by my display (which made me a little proud, to be honest).

The speed and the way used to process it made it look like a plant growing in fast forward, even if it was somewhat clumsy, and she seemed unable to take her eyes from it.

We repeated the process with another ingot, Vi still as mesmerised and, once finished, we fused the two iron half-circles into one whole circle with a radius of more or less 10cm (a bit less than 10 I think).

Next we hollowed the inside of the now circular rod, taking out 6 mm of matter inside of it, creating a tube which walls were 2mm thick. The excess metal was led outside, creating hundreds of tiny, 5mm tall and imperfectly distributed, needle, all over 66% of its surface, the remaining 33% of it turned toward the centre of the circle, baren to let place to the anchors of the reactor itself and the Mana Extractor in between the two.

We quickly created the three anchoring spots needed, if roughly, then started building the extractor.

Putting the circle down to free our soul from the load, we took a new ingot and started to slowly inject mana into its molecular matrix, giving it the Mana conductivity properties.

The whole process up till now took nearly three hours, and as such we took a break.

Vi took on herself to give me some milk using a baby bottle, on which I sucked eagerly. As usual, we looked in each other’s smiling eyes, and Vi took advantage of the occasion to slowly stroke my short hair, using the front of her left arm in place of an actual hand, my body lying down on her diagonally-positioned leg.

...I may want to grow, but this is something I will miss for sure.

Me too. It’s so reassuring and peaceful to just lie in someone’s embrace as they tower over you, and feed you with a soft and loving smile on their face.

Yes… Hey, when we’ll be older, maybe we can be the one doing it?

...You mean, having children?

Maybe? Why not? We have plans to give you a body after all. Before that, I could try to have a child, to see how my body reacts to pregnancy and all? And, admit it, you too would find it lovely to take care of a baby, no?

...oh. Yes? ...Yes. Yes! This prospect does indeed sound enthralling! I was surprised at Psaï’s reaction but, you know, even the people you know the best can show peculiar aspects of themselves when facing something new. Still, I was happy she felt the same as me.

But back to reality.

Just like last meal the milk was lukewarm, but good nonetheless. I always loved milk, even before my reincarnation. On the contrary, being in the body of a young child only reinforces this feeling toward the white liquid, and I always found myself eagerly drinking it, a simple yet potent pleasure for a still-limited body.

Too tired, I took a nap in Vivianne’s arms as the young girl inspected my creation so far, gently touching it with her sole hand. Due to its strange form and its sheer mass, she did not actually take it in her hand, as the needles covering it would have pierced her skin. This circle was weighing around 1,5 kg after all, with the whole lever of its bizarre form to boot, there was no way she could lift it without being wounded with only one hand.

Sometime later, I woke up to a soft yet freezing breeze caressing my nose. I was still in Vivianne’s arms, but we were now outside, my sister slowly walking in this tiny warehouse district, enjoying the lack of people.

“Abu?”

“Hello sleepyhead.” She whispered softly, patting my head in an enjoyable motion.

Seeing that I was now awake she quickly went back to our warehouse.

Let’s get back to work.

Yup yup, quickly now. We were both eager. It was good to work on something again, like stretching first thing in the morning, when you just woke up.

Picking where we had left it, we used a mould of compressed air to keep the whole form intact as I pushed red-hot mana iron into it, creating the base circuitry of the mana extractor. Linking mana iron with each needle of the structure was like, eh, needlework. It ended up taking a lot of time and, by the time I was finished, Vi asked me if we could go home, a request I could comply to, both because I was tired and because Vi seemingly needed the warmth of our home (and, maybe, of our parents).

Each time I looked at her face, I remembered why I was working. Not because I liked crafting things, no. Oh, I liked it, for sure, but I was driven by something else.

Hey, Psaï?

Yes?

Let’s put a smile on this face.

Yes!

***

“Well, you’re back already?” The time was only 5pm, but we were both tired. This led to us coming back home way before the others, who were surely still training like the madman and woman they sadly seemed to be already.

Not that you’re any different.

Hey, I take life slowly no?

...Compared to before, yes. Compared to how idle you could be? No.

Sophistry. I do way less than I could.

If you say so. If Psaï did have a body, I’m sure she would have been rolling her eyes out of mock despair.

“Cris and Noa are training differently from me for now. I have difficulties with the new training.” She answered, not actually lying, only not telling the truth.

“I was tired, so I stopped training a bit earlier.”

“Okay. Do you think you have a bit of energy left to help and cook with your old Dad?” He asked in a bad imitation of an old man’s voice, even bending his back and resting a hand on an imaginary walking stick.

The proposition made a smile bloom on Vi’s face, smile that only grew larger as her Dad was clowning around. “Of course! But I don’t do the potatoes.” She answered with a condition, trying to make her face firm but failing in face of her Dad’s foolishness.

“Ahahah okay, come with me little heart.” He nodded at her to follow him, and quickly helped her wash her hand, all the while putting me into my high chair.

And so I watched father and daughter happily cooking. Those were parts of my new life that really filled my heart with love.

Look at that: Dad was making a gigantic effort to actively have useful chores that Vi could do single-handedly to help him and, during the whole process, he did not once stop explaining things to her, showing how and why he was mixing aromatic herbs and spice, why he cut potatoes like that, what was his technique to keep the meat tender with slow cooking on a covered pan, and tens of other tiny details Vi was eagerly absorbing.

He knew that his daughter was curious and needed to feel useful, and he gave her those two things a well as he could with his abilities and resources, in this case his knowledge and his kitchen.

***

“Well well if it’s not my beloved daughter helping my dear husband.” Said Mom as she entered the kitchen, put a kiss on mine and Vi’s forehead before kissing Dad for a loooooong time.

So long, in fact, that he backed away from it, pretending the need to focus on cooking. In reality, you could see he was out of breath, while Mom wasn’t, and a mischievous smile crept on her face just before she kissed him again. And again.

“Dad? I need your help.” Said Vi at some point, the two lovers so lost in their exchange that they hadn’t seen time pass.

“And what is my lovely daughter doing here without the two others?” Asked Mom as Dad ran away from her, too happy that his daughter gave him a good reason to escape from the succubus that I called Mom.

We may have…

Overdone it? I don’t know. Her sex drive shouldn’t have been affected by our modification…

Is it just that, now that she’s full of energy, her normal sex drive is expressed in its entirety?

It may be that. Now I fear for Dad’s life, I wouldn’t want him to die of overwork because of Mom.

Me neither, though he doesn't really seem to mind.

Lucky bastard. Okay, modifying him is now priority number three on the list.

Yeah~~ and this way, I may have more siblings to care for, that would be nice~~

“Your lovely daughter…” Dad started to answer, all the while showing Vi once again how to ground the particular herb he wanted her to prep for him. “...came back home early because her training is, for now, dissociated from the two other. Seems like she’s having some difficulties with the training they’re doing.” He was slowly but surely moving a pestle in a mortar.

“Oh?” Mom looked at Vi.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry.” Vi flashed a genuine smile at Mom. “What I’m doing now is very thrilling too! I love it!”

“And what would you be doing?” She asked her, Dad lightly slapping her hand as she tried to grab him once again. She backed away a bit, feeling that right now, her husband wanted to focus on cooking.

“Uuuuuuh… It’s secret? You’ll need to ask Elody if you want to know.” She nodded one or two times.

“Okay~” She took what she had come for, and put a last kiss on each of us before exiting the room, surely going back to her workshop for the time being, as Dad and Vi were clearly focused on their present task.

***

The meal went greatly, the children using their Shi as usual to do… erhm, to try and do everything, failing most of the time.

“You cooked this?” Noa asked Vi, an impressed spark lingering in his eyes.

“Well… Dad did most of it?” She looked at her Dad, biting her lips and shying away from the compliment.

“No no, Vi helped a lot, I mostly did the meat so everything else is from her!” Dad shot back.

“It’s amazing! I want to cook with Dad too!”

“Cooking… could be nice?” Crisnée said softly, more for herself than anyone else, cocking her head slightly.

Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!

Too cute!

“Oh? Then you could maybe end your training earlier someday. This way, all three of you could help?” Asked Dad, before a smile appeared on his face, an idea blooming in his mind.

“You know what? Let’s invite Charlotte tomorrow, and all three of you will cook us a great meal under my guidance. What do you think?”

“Yes, please.” Crisnée had answered with a neutral voice but a face full of light. She seemed to really love this Charlotte.

“Sounds fun!”

“Yes!”

“Then it’s a deal. Just don’t forget to end your training earlier.

“””Yes!””” Even Crisnée answered that cheerfully.