Chapter 21: Scholarships P6
~21.6~
*****
"Mind if we talk for a bit? I've got an offer for you. I'd say life-changing, but I think we've already crossed that line." She nodded and Kye began explaining her plan and offer.
"Miss, I'm afraid. I've been a slave since I was born. I don't know how to... live by myself."
This is part of why I absolutely despise slavery. It's absolutely disgusting.
"I... I will accept any offer you have if you save my little sister. She's a slave, owned by my master's brother. I'll do anything for her. Please save her!" The dog girl was on the verge of tears. Suddenly, being freed after a life of slavery is a lot to take in, especially with family still enslaved.
Kye placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I will save her, and we will provide you with a place to live together. Are there any others you want us to save? I'll save anyone you want. Your parents maybe?"
She looked down. "My parents are dead. My little sister is the only family I have, but I don't get to see her often. My master's-"
"That man is not your master any longer," Kye said, reassuring the girl. "You are free. And someday, there will be no slavery at all. I promise I will abolish it entirely."
Tears were streaming down the dog girl's face. "Miss, who are you? I can feel your mana. It's so... much. It's like looking into a bottomless pit." The girl's eyes glowed like using aether, which in fact she was unconsciously channeling. "I can hardly believe my eyes. Your soul, your mana, your... everything... is beautiful."
Kye smiled and patted her head, then wiped her tears away. "Thank you. What is your name?"
"I... I don't have a name. I'm just... sorry, I was just a slave. My sister doesn't have a name either."
"Do you want to choose a name now?"
The girl shook her head. "I don't know what to pick. I only know a handful of names. I wasn't allowed to interact with people."
Kye and company blinked and exchanged glances. Kye looked back at her. "What about the restaurant? He took you there, and you were all dressed up. You were beautiful."
She nodded. "Yes. My former master wanted to show off to someone who didn't even show up."
"I see." Kye closed her eyes and gave it some thought. What kind of name would suit her? She's very pretty. The Japanese word for pretty is 'kirei'... maybe something to do with that. "Hmm..."
"Shi-chan?"
"Huh? What?"
"Mishiro Inukami."
Kye blinked and stared at her pink haired partner. "Uhh..."
"Mishiro for beautiful and white. She's very pretty and has gorgeous white hair, like Lily! And Inukami for dog and divine... or god or whatever. She's a dog person, and I was thinking either divine or mountain, so Inukami or Inuyama."
Kye accepted Alethea's reasoning with a smile and turned back to the girl. "What do you think?"
She was taken aback. "Umm... well... if you really think I deserve the name Mishiro, I will accept it. I'm not so certain about Inukami. I don't deserve a name related to divinity."
Alethea shook her head. She was very adamant. "You certainly do. You've been through so much and you're still here. You're very strong."
Mishiro didn't know what to think. She was so shocked by Alethea's insistence. She could barely mumble.
"I believe in you, Mishi-chan. You will do great! And your sister will be right there with you. We will save her, too."
With tears flowing anew, Mishiro nodded and accepted their feelings and intentions. "Thank you so much!"
*****
With that wrapped up, Mishiro Inukami was officially registered with the Slayer Academy. Her little sister, Kiyomi Inukami, is too young to enroll. BUT, she will live with Mishiro. They'll be staying in the academy's family-oriented dorms thanks to a certain Sword Saint's influence.
There are separate dorms for individuals and families, so Kiyomi won't be alone. The family dorms are basically a suburban neighborhood. There are plenty of houses and apartments with parks and small youth-oriented shops around. The best part? There is an elementary school near the academy and Kiyomi can enroll there, graduate in a few years, then begin the academy if she wants. They're such a cute pair of sisters. Their white hair is beautiful, just like Yami's and Lily's. Hehe.
With that done, everyone I wanted to recruit for the Slayer Academy is in place. We just have to wait for Lestia to decide to finalize things. She was really surprised to find out about Luma being a black cat. Hell, I was surprised, too, when I found out.
"Holy shit, you're a cat girl?" I had said. Haha, it was a funny conversation. I picked up on her illusion magic right away, but I did admit that her application was veeeery advanced. Enough that only immortals should notice and not even all of us.
I wonder if there are more of us here. There's four more realms I haven't explored, and even Realm 5 with Daemonheim and this realm with Elea... I've only seen one planet. They said there is a race of angels in Realm 5 that live on another planet. But that realm doesn't have proper space travel... how the hell do the demons even know about that? I need more information. Ah, here I am digressing.
Anyway, with my goals accomplished on Elea and my daughter safely recovered... it's time to return to relative normalcy. My students are progressing quickly. I'm definitely raising the standard. As a system operator, I can adjust some numbers in the system. Mana and capacity numbers are out of control, to be honest. Even teenagers can output millions of motes per second, and Allison takes ridiculous to a whole other level.
She's on par with some of my strongest incarnations. She'd win against Shiori Sakaguchi and Catherine Lancet. Elise Arbelle would win by a long shot. But... Elise so far has been my most powerful incarnation, with no others even close. That was also my longest life.
She balled her left hand into a fist and nodded. Kye has the potential to surpass Elise, though it will take a long time to build up this body. Of all my lives, I told Allison about only my favorites. But even then, I barely told her anything about Elise.
She felt a few tears flow down her face. I went into that life with absolutely nothing. I gained so much in that life... and lost so many friends and family. I've found several of those souls here. Liliana, Aliana, Yami, Zen, Louise, Isabel, Alaira, Rika, and so many others. I... I'm so glad I've gotten to see them all again.
"Shi-chan? What's wrong?"
Kye smiled and wiped her tears away. "I was just recalling a happy memory."
Her pink haired partner held her hand and smiled.
*****
Revision: 2024-8-2