บท 19: Chapter 19. Paul’s perspective and bullies strike back
[Paul's POV.]
I almost made a mistake and scolded my kid unjustly.
Things started this afternoon when Mrs. Eto came by our house, furious. She brought along her son Somal, considered one of the neighborhood's brats; his clothes were drenched and he was covered in mud all over.
The mother's story was long and rambling, but the gist of it was that my boy attacked hers with magic.
When I heard that, and saw that the boy was actually safe, I was inwardly relieved that Seraph had acted more like a brat at one point.
Ordinarily, a parent might assume their son had been playing outside, caught sight of Somal and his buddies playing, and tried to join them, but it resulted in a scuffle.
But my boy isn't like the other kids; he is already a Water Saint-ranked magician and he never showed interest in other kids his age.
He probably ignored the village kids and they approached him with some words instead. As he continued ignoring them and hushing them away, he might have appeared high-and-mighty and they probably said something mean that made him overreact and use magic to shut them up.
My boy was pretty clever and mature for his age, but he was still a kid, after all.
Mrs. Eto continued to get red in the face as she tried to make this out to be a major bust-up, saying that her son nearly lost his life, but it was in the end just a quarrel among children.
I'd scold my boy for using magic, and that would be the end of it.
Children are bound to get into scuffles that turn to fights at some point, but Seraphim was far more powerful than other children.
Not only had he been the disciple of the young Water Saint magician Roxy, I'd been training him since he was three. Any fight he got into was sure to be completely one-sided.
Things had gone okay this time, but if he ever got too hot-headed, he might end up overdoing it. Using magic came so easily to him that it wouldn't take much for him to take someone's life. And once he crosses that line, he might go down the wrong path.
A smart kid like Seraphim ought to be able to deal with someone like Somal with just words.
I needed to teach him that attacking someone with magic was a rash thing to do, and he needed to give it more thought before resorting to it.
I needed to thoroughly teach him this lesson.
That had been the plan, anyway.
But then Lilia stopped me.
Zenith was still working out in the clinic at that time, but Lilia had been present and listened in on the conversation I had with Mrs. Eto.
She told me that this woman's attitude was upsetting and her story at a single glance was quite exaggerated. Seraphim was not a kid that would get into a meaningless fight so easily, she said. It's possible that the other kids resorted to violence first or said something unforgivable.
Even if he was in the wrong and used magic against someone first, I should still first let him explain himself and find out what caused all this.
Feeling that she might be right, I agreed.
As we later discussed this matter with Zenith, she also took Lilia's and Seraphim's side.
So I decided that I would first listen to my boy's story before getting angry, giving him the benefit of the doubt.
In the end, I'm glad I did.
Seraphim explained everything to me. He told me that he came across Law's kid getting bullied and stepped in to help. Rather than to hurt someone, he just hurled some water balls to chase them away; it could hardly be called a fight or bullying.
When he was telling me his story, he also seemed nervous and his eyes were wavering. I don't think he was lying, but he seemed to be aware that he might have gone too far with using magic and expected me to reprimand him.
Still, he told me about everything without using any excuses and was ready for a punishment.
Don't tell lies is what I taught him.
If what he said was true, then what he'd done was a laudable thing. I had to warn him about using magic, but what he did was still something to be proud of.
But instead of praising him for his actions and for being honest, I almost got angry and scolded him instead.
When I was young my father did the same thing to me so many times, never listening to my side of things and always blaming me for not being a perfect son. Each time it happened, I felt so miserable and helpless.
On the day my child was born, I decided that I would never be a father like mine.
I had to be patient. Hadn't I learned from experience, after all?
Yet, although I thought all that and Seraphim never gave me reasons to be angry, when this matter came up, I almost, almost, did the same thing as my father.
I wanted to scold him harshly and I thought I was doing the right thing.
I was itching to act as a father for once.
How laughable.
Luckily, thanks to Lilia's warning everything turned out well.
I'm also glad that I had a chance to act as a proper father.
I think I did pretty well.
Seraph is a good kid. Almost too good.
Was this Zenith's blood?
Man, I never expected my seed would bear such strong fruit.
…
Next day.
I watched in the morning as Seraph got up, then some time after eating breakfast, he moved to do his daily training.
I delayed my visit at the watchtower a bit today to watch him.
Even though I trained him in swordsmanship each day, Seraph was still doing his own physical training every morning.
The first time he started training by himself and doing all kinds of weird movements, I found it a little funny.
But his training form for the exercises he copied from me had no faults. It even looked more perfect.
Eventually, I saw that there was strong logic and reason behind everything that he was doing in his training. He wasn't just doing random things.
That stone bench that he made, for example.
One day he asked me to order him a metal bar from a blacksmith.
Not wanting to stifle my kid's creativity, I got it for him.
He then added stone weights at the ends of it.
With it, he did an exercise when he laid down on the stone bench and started pushing the bar off his chest.
It looked weird to me.
I only understood what he was doing when he explained it.
Basically, he was doing the same thing as push-ups, except that in reverse. Instead of pushing his body away from the ground, he was pushing the metal bar away from his chest.
I was puzzled why he would do that when he could simply do push-ups, but he explained that push-ups were too easy for him now and thanks to what he made, he can continuously make the exercise as hard as he wants by simply adding in more weight.
I then told him that he could simply do more push-ups, do them until he gets tired.
But he told me that it isn't the same. As we continued arguing, he said that he's simply experimenting.
As a pretty tough guy, I had an urge to correct him, so my kid wouldn't waste his time and effort doing weird training… but I decided to back off.
The boy was a genius, that goes without saying.
Over time, he came up with new training equipment and tried different kinds of exercises.
He kept noting things in his notebook, continued experimenting.
As a matter of fact, he was growing stronger too.
When it came to things like push-ups or squats, he was much stronger than I was around his age and when I began attending school, or any kids his age for that matter.
I once saw him testing himself recently and he did 25 pull-ups.
Of course, as a 5-year old kid he weighed little, but it was still impressive.
Over time, he grew quite muscular for a kid as well.
I knew that I made a good decision. It was better to let him do his thing.
If as a father I made my genius kid lose confidence in himself and his inventions, it would be the worst thing I would do.
Even if he makes mistakes, he will learn from them. He's a smart kid.
At this moment, Seraphim sent me a weird and surprised glance, and seemed to hesitate whether to start his training.
I just ignored it and slightly smiled.
I knew that he was ironically a rather shy kid.
He got close to Roxy and got along with everyone in the family very well, but he liked privacy and gravitated toward being alone.
For example, he didn't like taking baths with others and also became embarrassed when others watched him train.
Once he reluctantly told me why he doesn't like others to watch him, and I found it quite silly. He told me, he's afraid I'd ridicule him if he does something that turns out to be silly or a failure.
I then understood him.
He hadn't failed at anything he tried yet. He was an outstanding kid.
Yet despite his ability, or perhaps exactly because of his talent and ability, he was especially afraid of failure.
(He totally didn't say it because he didn't want all of his overly complicated and innovative modern-age training methods to be constantly observed by others when he did them at 3 years old…)
I reassured him then that it's fine to fail and gave him more space with his experiments by not watching him so closely, so he could gain more self-confidence.
At this moment I saw him start with a warm up.
After doing a few light rounds around the house, he then started swinging his legs and doing different kinds of stretches. As he told me, he called these 'dynamic' stretches.
Throughout, he glanced at me a few times, but I simply smiled and relaxed in my chair.
He then prepared for his first exercise.
A second iron bar that I got for him recently was in front of him. Circular stone weights were attached to the ends of it.
He used some Earth magic to create small blacks and raise the bar slightly from the ground, as he seemed to have had trouble reaching it in a way he wanted.
Then he stretched out his hand and started lifting the weight off the ground while straightening his body, repetition after repetition.
I saw him doing a similar thing with a round stone weight before. Is it something new he's experimenting with?
Either way, after he was finished with his exercise, I stood up and approached him.
Yesterday I decided to spend more time with my son. More quality time that wasn't just me attacking him with a wooden stick during sword practice.
I realized that I didn't know my child as well as I thought and also realized that Seraph was really still a kid, no matter how brilliant he was.
He was growing up fast. In the future I might not have many chances to interact with him like this.
After coming up to Seraph who began scribbling something in his notebook, I coughed, "Ehem. Can I try it?"
"O-oh. Okay…" Seraphim looked surprised, but didn't decline me.
I approached the iron bar and bent down to pick it up, the same as Seraph did.
Or at least I thought I did it the same way.
Seraph quickly said, "No, this isn't a good height. You need to be able to reach it without rounding your back. If you round your back, it isn't a safe and strong position."
"I see…"
"...Something like this."
My boy created stone blocks at the sides to increase the ground level below the weights a bit.
I put down the iron bar, and thought I'd pick it up again.
"How do I do it?" I asked.
Although it was a simple action of lifting something from the ground, I allowed my boy to explain.
"Let's see. First, feet spread at less than shoulder length are fine… Don't round your shoulders and your back, stay tight. Now extend your arms and bend down to grab the bar, slightly squatting… Something like this. Remember to not round your back and stay tight."
"Like this?"
"Yeah… Now bring it up in one movement... Like this. Pull back your shoulders and push your hips forward… That's too much, just be straight... Good. You can bring it back down and go again."
I did the exercise a few times while Seraph was correcting me.
Then I finally let it down, smiled and asked him, "So, why are you doing this?"
Seraphim looked a little surprised, then thought for a moment and explained, "Well… For this exercise, I noticed it works the lower back and the muscles at the back of the legs. It also seems like a good exercise to train the entire body's lifting strength overall."
"I see… Don't squats also exercise the legs?" I asked a random question to keep the conversation going.
"Yes… But I think squats focus more on the muscles at the front of the legs. And also on butt muscles. The back of the legs is neglected, so I thought of this exercise that stresses the muscles at the back and also the lower back."
"I see…"
I grinned.
Yeah, this kid is a genius.
The things he does are completely innovative in this world.
I never even thought much about what each exercise does and simply did the same thing everyone did - push-ups, squats, sit-ups, some running and sword swinging. Push-ups train arms, squats work legs, and that's it.
But Seraphim didn't take the common methods for granted and carefully tested each exercise himself.
I asked, "So how do you know which exercises work which muscles?"
"... Some of it is guesswork, but after I do hard training focused on a single exercise, I can see which muscles burn the most."
"I see… So, uh, can I train with you from now on?"
Apart from my daily watch and some sword training, I had quite a lot of free time.
I haven't made much progress these years, so I felt it might not hurt to try doing the training Seraph does.
"I guess… But you would need to get more iron bars for yourself."
"Sure thing!"
"Mm. It's better if they're stronger too. Something like hardened steel."
"Got it. Thick enough to fit into the hand and strong enough, so they wouldn't bend because you'll make them heavier for your old man, right?"
"Yes."
Steel is not exactly free in this world, but for our family of ex S-rank adventurers these kinds of expenses are nothing much.
I said, "Now, I'll need to go to do my watch. I'll visit the blacksmith too. See you later on sword training, Seraph, yes?"
"Y-yeah… I'll go play with Sylphy after this, then come back in the afternoon."
"Good. Try to avoid getting into a fight if possible."
"Yes…"
"Listen Seraph, I want you to be careful with overusing your strength, but it doesn't mean you should let yourself be bullied. Behave in a way that would not bring our family shame. As long as you follow what I taught you, remember that your dad will always stand on your side," I added those words, thinking back to my time in the Notos family.
"Yes…"
After saying my lines, I turned to leave.
But then Seraph called after me. "Dad, I was thinking of something."
"Yeah?" I turned back.
From Seraphim's expression, I could see that he wanted something.
"I have a request. I thought that it isn't really the best if I spar only with you. I mean, you're so much bigger and stronger than me, it's like fighting a giant. I think I should train with someone that's around my age."
Ah, so it's about sword training.
Well, what Seraph said is true.
When we are sparring, I can never take him seriously because of how small he is. At best, he can strike my ankles like a goblin or cut my legs and stomach, but he can't properly reach my chest or neck with his sword.
If he could also train with someone that's more his age and stature, it would be much better.
His swordsmanship would progress faster.
Was this something he thought of after getting into the fight with those three?
Anyway…
"I see. You're right. But you won't find anyone who's a good match for you in the village."
Even if there are youngsters in the village who know some basic swordsmanship, they would be a lot older than him.
"Can you do something?"
"Mhm. Yeah… There'd be no one like this in the village, but I could ask around. Just leave it to your dad!"
At that time I thought of Philip.
In Roa there ought to be some kids that are into swordsmanship.
Because Seraph had already reached the Elementary rank in Sword God and Water God Style at 5 years old and was a talented and strong kid, he would need someone more in the 7-9 year old range to spar with.
'When I'm in town, I'll send Philip a letter,' I thought.
***
[Seraphim's POV.]
After eating my second breakfast, the post-workout meal, I went out to meet with Sylphy as I planned.
This time I brought along the Magic Guidebook with me as well.
But when I approached the hill, I saw that there were people already there.
I heard voices.
"Statue worshiping a demon. Break it!"
"It's a demon summoning! We have to stop it!"
A few people were striking the stone statue of Sylphy I made yesterday with stones, sticks and mud balls.
These were the bullies I faced yesterday, plus some new additions.
Apart from that, someone was crying.
The person crying was of course Sylphy.
She was curled up next to the tree, sobbing, and covered in mud.
"No, stop it! Seraph put a lot of work into making it!" Sylphy cried.
"Be silent, demon! We won't let your summoning finish!"
It seemed that Sylphy was trying to stop the bullies from destroying the statue, but she was too scared and couldn't do anything, and just kept crying.
I frowned.
These barbarians! Destroying a piece of art like this! And making my magical girl cry!
They're really courting death.
"It's him!"
"It's the knight's kid!"
The kids finally noticed me.
Today there were seven of them in total. Apart from the three from before, two older kids seemed to have joined them and also the two kids that lived near the Greyrat house.
When I appeared, they all became alert.
"Seraph…" Sylphiette also looked at me with a pitiful and apologizing expression, her eyes full of tears.
I looked at her carefully.
Although it was slight, she was bleeding from her lip.
Was she trying to stop them from destroying the statue and they fought back?
My expression darkened.
No. These guys are the definition of courting death.
This young master cannot forgive you anymore.
Perhaps they detected my anger, because one of the kids looked at the other and said, "Somal, your mom said that he won't use magic again, right?"
"Y-yeah! That's what the knight said!" a chubby kid answered.
At this answer, the pack seemed to have regained their spirits.
They all looked at me and pointed their sticks at me.
"Demon-lover!"
"Demon-wizard, we challenge you to a duel! Without magic!"
What? What is this?
A duel seven against one?
And, as a magician, I'm forbidden from using magic?
Because I can't use magic, they came for revenge?
But why would I need to agree to any of this?
I stretched out my hand and formed 8 waterballs in the air.
"Wh-what?"
"You're using magic, you're cheating!"
"You-you can't use magic!"
I calmly said, "... You guys have no right to tell me what I can and can't do."
Maybe these guys thought that it was a game, but it wasn't for me.
I was here to groom my trusted magician girl assistant. It was serious business.
Besides, in the process of their game they were ruining someone's life.
Sylphy didn't view it as a game either. For her, it was a living nightmare.
Aside from what they were doing to Sylphy, for brats with no power or status, these guys were going way too far by messing with a knight's kid anyway.
They were asking for a beating.
If anything, this was a beneficial experience for them.
Like this, I shot out my water balls at the seven of them without a care.
"Wha!"
"Watch out!"
The water balls hit most of them.
Some of them fell back, some of them resisted it.
I formed another round of cold water balls and sent another salvo at them.
The kids were screaming in a panic as the balls of water hit them again.
"Aaah!"
"It's cold!"
"So cold!"
"Damn it!"
I made the water volume rather large, but held back on the power to not actually cause any lasting harm.
I formed a third wave of water balls and called out, "You imprudent fools! Haven't you learned your lesson?! Not only is what you're doing wrong, you're messing with someone you shouldn't have!"
"!!!" The seven drenched guys glared at me as they listened, with expressions dominated by fear.
"Don't think you can do whatever you want and get away with it. In this world there are people you absolutely can't mess with... Keep this in mind. And now get lost before I get too angry! I don't want to see you bullying Sylphy again!"
As I finished my scolding, I dispelled the water balls and glared at them.
"Got it?!" I asked again as I saw the seven of them simply stared at me with wide eyes.
"Y-yeah."
"L-let's leave, this isn't fun."
"Yeah."
"Let's just leave him alone."
"He's crazy," one of them whispered.
The brats, one by one, turned around and then began leaving in a hurry.
As they began leaving, I turned to look at Sylphy who had already gotten up from the ground and was slowly approaching me with slight apprehension and a shocked look.
"Are you fine?" I asked as I approached her.
"Y-yeah. But I-I'm sorry… I couldn't stop them… They-they damaged the statue you made. Waaahaa…" Sylphy started crying, tears rolling down her face.
I could see that rather than being concerned about herself, she was crying because she failed to protect the statue I made.
Through her crying, I felt it was useless trying to speak to her, so I simply placed a hand on her cheek and cast a healing spell. "Healing."
As I whispered the name of the spell for comfort, I sent healing mana into Sylphy's body to get rid of any wounds and pain.
Perhaps due to the pleasant and strange feeling, but Sylphy mostly quietened down as she looked at me.
I said, "Don't worry about the statue. I can always make another one."
If I really didn't want something of mine to be damaged or stolen, I wouldn't simply leave it out in the open.
This was also good. It was a chance for me to act heroically again.
I made that statue mostly for practice anyway.
After healing Sylphy, I gave her a handkerchief, then while she began clearing her face of tears and whatnot, I inspected the statue.
Sylphy's statue was made in a kneeling position and it was too heavy for the kids to flip it around.
After checking it out, there seemed to be basically no damage. I could not go all out on hardness while sculpting it at the same time, but the statue made by my Earth magic was not something that some kids could break.
The only exception was the ears that were sticking out.
One of Sylphy's long elf ears was broken off.
I searched and picked up the ear from the ground, then mended it.
Done.
What was left was washing the statue and it would be like new.
As I finished, Sylphy quietly spoke up while slowly approaching me, "Umm, Seraph…"
"Yes?"
She handed me the dirtied handkerchief which I carefully took into my fingers at the corner and said, "How do you make it fly? The water… I tried earlier, but it only came out and plop, fell to the ground…"
Ah, this.
She probably tried to use magic against the bullies, but it failed.
I haven't taught Sylphy how to use her magic to attack yet, but for good reasons.
Firstly, Sylphy didn't even have enough mana to practice it yesterday, but the main reason was the same for why the method was not included in the magic guidebook - it was a safety concern.
That's how we figured it was with Roxy.
The magic guidebook listed all kinds of spells, but the method of firing them them was not there probably to prevent the practitioners from accidentally harming themselves or someone else.
In this world, if someone was rich enough to afford a magic guidebook and his status was high enough to be able to read, they would also be able to afford a magic tutor.
Practically, you normally would only learn magic if you had someone to teach you.
"Okay, I'll teach you. But you have to promise me that you won't use your magic to bully others, yes?"
"Yes."
"Good, then let's start."
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