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Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 9




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Chapter 9:

The Party

WE’D SCHEDULED the surprise birthday party for a day when Norn would be staying at home and Roxy wasn’t working. Sylphie would usually have been at work as a bodyguard, but Ariel had given her a special day off.

All the preparations were complete; it was just a question of execution now.

I got things started by calling Norn, Aisha, and Roxy to the living room.

“Hey, I’ve got something in mind for today. How about you three come along?”

“Come along…for what?” 

My sisters tilted their heads curiously. 

The main purpose of this outing, of course, was to get them out of the house for a few hours so that my accomplices could pick up the presents and get all the food ready.

“Of course, Rudy. I’d be happy to come.”

We’d planned all this out beforehand, so Roxy wasted no time in agreeing to the proposal.

Little did she know that she was going to be surprised herself! Mwahaha!

“Hey Mom, can I go?” asked Aisha, turning to her mother. “I’ve still got some work left to do.”

“You were invited by Master Rudeus himself. Of course you can go,” answered Lilia. Aisha nodded happily.

Norn, on the other hand, didn’t respond immediately. She was looking over at Sylphie with an anxious expression on her face. After a moment, she turned back to me and spoke up. “You’re inviting Roxy, but not Sylphie?”

“Huh?!” said Sylphie, jerking her head toward us. She seemed a bit flustered by this sudden turn in the conversation. “Uh, well, you know…I have to look after Lucie!”

“Didn’t you both go out with Rudeus the other day? Are you really all right with this?”

“Uhhh…” Sylphie glanced over to me uncertainly. But then she looked over at Roxy, and seemed to hit on an idea of some kind. “A-actually, this whole thing was my idea.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, Norn…you haven’t really warmed up to Roxy yet, right?”

“I guess not, no.”

“Yeah. And it’s not much fun having that sort of tension in the house. I thought it might help if you spent some time together, you know? It can’t hurt to get to know each other better.”

“…Oh, I see now. All right then.”

Norn seemed convinced by this, but Aisha looked a little dubious. After all, she already got along with Roxy. I’d seen her bringing Roxy tea and snacks when she was up late preparing for the next day’s classes.

After a few moments, though, Aisha seemed to decide these details weren’t too important. She shrugged her shoulders slightly and then smirked to herself.

Please don’t tell me she’s figured it out already…

“So that’s that,” said Sylphie with a satisfied smile. “You guys go have fun, okay?”

“Okay!” chorused my sisters.

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” added Roxy.

It had been a bit of a close call, but we’d gotten over the first hurdle.

The preparations for this party were going to take some time.

There were only two people to pick up the presents, cook the food, and set up all the decorations. To give them some breathing room, my goal was to kill time with the girls until early afternoon.

However, I couldn’t risk taking them to the Commerce District. There was a chance they’d bump into Sylphie as she was picking up the presents.

That still left the Lodging District, Workshop District, and the University itself, but I had a different idea in mind.

“Fishing, huh…?”

The four of us were outside the city entirely. Out here, it was quiet enough to hear the little stream below us gurgling softly. And the water was clear enough to see the fishes darting around beneath the surface.

“Yep. Seems like a good family bonding activity, don’t you think?”

“I see. So Sylphie wasn’t completely making all that up earlier…”

Chatting quietly with Roxy, I started to unpack the fishing gear I’d prepared for this expedition. We didn’t have anything as convenient as a reel or lure on offer, unfortunately. Our rods were simple wooden things, with lines made of braided Giant Spider silk. We also had floats made from Radiata Frog sacs, iron hooks, and earthworms for our bait.

“I’ve never fished before, you know,” said Norn a little nervously.

“Me either!” said Aisha. “I always wanted to give it a try, though.”

Despite their inexperience, the two of them didn’t hesitate to grab their share of the gear. Aisha quickly put the float and hook on her line, jammed an earthworm right on there, and went running off toward the stream. Within seconds, she’d tossed her line into the water with an exaggerated motion.

I was a little impressed despite myself. Was this really her first time doing this?

“Um, Rudeus? How do I put these on properly?”

Norn, on the other hand, was staring at her float and hook with an uncertain expression.

“Heh heh. I don’t know either! I’ve never fished in my life, you see.”

In my previous incarnation, I’d been a strictly indoors type of guy. I’d never gone fishing, and I’d never felt any interest in doing so. And of course, I’d never felt the need to try it in this world, either. When I wanted fish, I could get them easily enough by freezing the water solid.

“Would you like me to teach you, Norn?” offered Roxy hesitantly.

It sounded like she had some actual experience. That was a stroke of luck. We could always have fumbled our way around by trial and error, but it was always faster to learn from someone who knew what they were doing.

“Yes, please.”

Norn ultimately took Roxy up on the offer, but she looked a bit conflicted. The kid was a faithful member of the Millis Church. I had to assume she felt a little awkward around Roxy, since she was my second wife.

Still, it didn’t seem like she actively hated her. Not on a personal level, at least.

“…All right, now you try.”

“Like this?”

“That’s right. You’re good at this.”

“…Thank you.”

Roxy showed Norn the ropes patiently and politely. Norn returned the favor by listening carefully.

It seemed like a good sign. I really wanted them to get along, at least.

Soon, all four of us had taken our places along the stream. 

Roxy’s experience was immediately obvious. Perched on a little “chair” I’d made with my Earth magic, she squinted carefully down at the water, holding her rod firmly in one hand. When she sensed the slightest vibration, she pulled the rod up with remarkable speed. 

I hadn’t seen her catch anything particularly huge yet, but she’d caught more fish than anyone else so far.

Her pose and total concentration reminded me of a monk meditating on the mysteries of the universe.

“You’re certainly good at this, Miss Roxy.”

“Well, yes. Back when I was on the road alone, it was important to find my own food whenever I could.”

“Come to think of it…Ruijerd used to catch us lots of fish when we were travelling together.”

“Oh, was he a fisherman as well?”

“No, he used his spear. He would just thrust it into the water, and then pull it back out with a fish on all three prongs…”

Norn had taken a seat next to her, and they’d been chatting on and off for a while. The conversation was still a little hesitant, but it seemed like progress.

“Oh! Norn, you’ve got a bite. Pull up on it.”

“Huh? Wha— O-okay! Ah…”

“Don’t worry; it happens all the time. Let’s put a new bait on.”

Norn was having some trouble staying focused on her task, though. This wasn’t the first fish that had slipped away from her.

Still, her expression was cheerful enough. She seemed to be enjoying her conversation with Roxy in itself.

“Hee hee hee. What’s the matter, Rudeus? You haven’t been hooking anything.”

On the other hand, Aisha was already producing impressive results. She’d lost a few pieces of bait, but she’d also brought home three fishes.

“Don’t forget our little bet! The loser has to do anything the winner says, no matter what!”

A little while earlier, I’d foolishly agreed to compete with her on who would catch the most fish. At present, my score was a big fat zero. This wasn’t looking promising.

We were both first-timers, right? Why was she this much better than me?

“Okay, kiddo. Just try to make it something I can actually do.”

“Hmm, whatever shall I choose? Maybe I’ll make you hug me all night long while whispering how cute I am. Oh, or you could teach me some of the stuff you do with Roxy and Sylphie…”

“Yeah, nothing too adult, please. I don’t want Dad getting angry at me.”

“Hey! It’s no fair bringing Dad up!”

I wasn’t too worried, really. For all her outrageous teasing, she’d probably settle on asking me for a slightly expensive little trinket.

That said…wasn’t losing to my little sister a problem in its own right? Wasn’t it a bit too early for her to be surpassing me like this?

Indeed it was. I had my dignity as the head of this household, and I needed to defend it!

It was good to be a beloved big brother, yes. But it was better to be a feared big brother!

“All right, Aisha. I’m taking the kid gloves off now.”

“What? Were you taking it easy on me or something?”

“That’s right. From now on, I’m going to use my Demon Eye!”

“Heeeey! That’s not fair!”

Complain all you want. This is what I’m really capable of! By peeking a second into the future, I’ll obliterate every fish in this stream!

With a little smirk, I activated my Demon Eye of Foresight and stared down at my float.

No movement.

No movement.

The float twitches slightly.

“Fiiiiiish!”

Thanks to my regular practice menu, my arms were strong—and accustomed to swinging things up and down. And now I had the added power of my artificial hand to work with. No fish known to man could hope to resist me.

With one quick, violent motion, I yanked my prey up out of the water.

“Yeees! It’s a big—”

My prey being, in this case, a large boot.

“…”

Almost everyone in this world wore shoes and boots, of course. And this stream was connected to a river that flowed past the bustling Magic City of Sharia.

The inhabitants of the area used that river regularly to wash their clothes or fill their water buckets. Adventurers made use of it all along its length, as well. Someone probably fell into it and lost their footwear every once in a while.

All that said…

“Rudeus…”

Aisha was looking at me with pity in her eyes.

Hmm. Perhaps I needed to change the way I looked at this. This thing wasn’t a boot. It wasn’t a boot at all!

Yes, it was starting to look like something else entirely now. Perhaps even a fish? Perhaps! It sort of looked like one, in a way. And wasn’t that good enough? Didn’t that make it a fish, in some sense?

Indeed it did. This right here was a fish!

Nodding to myself, I tossed the boot into my bucket.

“All right, Aisha, that’s one. I’ll catch up to you in no time!”

“What?! That was a boot, Rudeus!”

“I’m sure it looked that way to you, but it’s actually a boot-like organism that lives in the water. I call it…the Bootfish.”

“Not even creative! That doesn’t count, okay? That really doesn’t count!”

Reaching down into the bucket, Aisha grabbed my prize and hurled it back into the water.

“Nooo!” You’re not supposed to throw trash in the river!

Well, so be it. We’ll just say that was a catch and release. That boot was still a baby, right? Now that we’ve returned it to its natural habitat, it’ll swim out to the ocean and come back nice and plump.

Yeah. Let’s go with that.

“Ah! Hngh…yes! That’s number four!”

As I was pondering these matters, however, Aisha caught her fourth fish of the day.

Maybe I wasn’t going to win this battle after all.

I’m sorry, Sylphie, Roxy… I guess I’ll be my little sister’s plaything tonight…

“That’s it, Norn! That’s the way! Pull it in! Pull it in!”

“Ugh…hnngh… Ah!”

“Keep going! Carefully, now!”

Things were getting noisy off to my other side. I looked over just in time to see Norn pull home a fish.

It was a big one, too—about the size of a colored carp.

“Yes! I did it! I caught my first fish!”

“Wow, look at it! That’s a big one, too!”

Norn celebrated with a big smile on her face, and Roxy clapped her hands in delight.

It was a heartwarming moment. Putting everything else aside, I was glad we’d come.

We kept it up for a couple hours longer, but once the sun started to sink, it was time to call an end to our expedition.

“Okay, everybody. I think it’s time we went home.”

My sisters didn’t take this announcement too well, though.

“Whaaat? Already?”

“…I was hoping to catch just one more.”

Time flies when you’re having fun and all that. I could understand how they felt. Still, the real fun was coming up a little later.

“Sorry, girls. Monsters might start sniffing around once it gets dark.”

“You could just blast them for us!”

“We’ve got Miss Roxy here, too…”

It was a fair point. The monsters in this area weren’t much of a threat, even in groups. With both myself and Roxy here, it was hard to imagine a scenario where Norn or Aisha could get hurt. 

That was no reason to give in to their demands, though. We’d be out here all night. 

Even if I hadn’t planned something for this evening, I would have dragged them home about now.

“Sorry, but the answer’s no. We can always come back another day.”

“Hmph. You’re just mad cause you didn’t catch any yourself.”

“Hey, c’mon. If I got serious, I could catch all the fish I wanted…”

This was true, in a sense. Maybe I wasn’t the best with a rod, but I could always electrify the water or set off an underwater explosion!

I definitely wasn’t just being a sore loser.

“Anyway, the decision’s final. Let’s get going.”

“All riiight…”

“Okay.”

Before we left, I took a moment to freeze the fish we’d caught with my magic. We could bring them home for later. I’d thought about grilling them for a snack on our way back, but you’re supposed to show up to a party hungry, right? The fish could wait a day or two.

As we made our way back home, Norn and Aisha chattered happily, bragging about how many fish they’d caught and how big they were. Roxy and I followed just behind them. 

Roxy had a look of quiet satisfaction on her face as well. Things had been awkward between her and Norn for a long time now, but today felt like a big step in the right direction.

“We’re home!”

“Congratulations!”

The instant we set foot inside the house, we were greeted by a burst of applause. It was a sparse but enthusiastic ovation. Sylphie, Lilia, and Zenith had all been standing in the foyer, waiting for us.

Zenith didn’t join the clapping itself, of course, but I thought I saw a hint of a smile on her face.

“Huh?!”

Norn let out a little yelp, and Aisha froze up completely.

Taking that as our cue, Roxy and I joined in on the applause from behind.

Norn turned back to look at us, her eyes wide with surprise, and murmured “Huh?” a second time.

She clearly hadn’t figured out what was going on just yet.

“All right, everyone! Let’s go to the dining room!”

Stepping forward with a smile, I pushed a confused Norn and a dubious Aisha forward.

The dining room was full of simple but attractive decorations. There weren’t any big banners hanging across the room or anything, but we did have some very nice flowers on the walls, and there were candles gleaming all around the place.

The table was covered in a very nice white cloth, with plates and vases of flowers sitting on top of it. The drinks had already been poured, but there wasn’t any food yet. They’d presumably be carrying that out a little later.

At the far end of the table—the customary seat of honor—two chairs sat snugly next to each other. I brought Aisha and Norn there and offered them their seats.

“Wait, but… Huh? What’s going on?”

Norn still looked completely nonplussed.

“Ahaha. So that’s what this was all about…”

Aisha, on the other hand, was smirking knowingly. The girl was sharp, all right. She must have sensed that we were up to something.

After my sisters took their seats, Lilia helped Zenith into hers. Sylphie and Roxy followed suit.

Once they’d all settled into their places, I cleared my throat loudly, and then began to speak.

“It’s been seven years now since the Displacement Incident. It wasn’t easy by any means, but our family’s finally back together again. We lost our father, yes, and our mother’s memories might never return. But I don’t think Dad would be too pleased if we moped around forever.” I paused for a moment to look around the room. “And that’s why I want us to try to smile again. When we can, at least. It might almost seem disrespectful, in a way…but Dad wanted us to have a party once we made it home, you know? I think we owe it to him to have a good time tonight.”

This whole thing had been Paul’s idea, in a sense. He’d even put it down in a letter for us.

It was sad that he wasn’t here with us to see it happen. It made my chest ache to think about it. But for his sake, as well as ours, I really wanted us to enjoy ourselves. 

Norn and Aisha had their whole lives ahead of them. I didn’t want them to be hung up on the past forever. Of course, giving a long sentimental lecture wasn’t the right way to set the mood that I was going for. We could save our memories of the painful, difficult times we’d gone through for the darker moments we’d run into down the line. If nothing else, it can help to know: I’ve been through worse before.

Right now, though, it was time to look forward to the future. And so, I cut myself off and lifted my glass.

“Cheers, everyone!”

“Cheers!”

Everyone except Norn—who was still staring wide-eyed at me—quietly raised their glasses as well. Aisha was smirking even more widely than before. She’d obviously figured the whole thing out.

In any case, I wasn’t sure how well that toast had gone. My goal was to set a cheerful tone, but it ended up sounding a little…emotional.

That was no good at all. I needed everyone smiling.

“Sylphie!”

“Oh! Right.”

I simply called Sylphie’s name, and she bent down to retrieve something from under the table. That felt kind of nice. We were operating on the same wavelength! 

A moment later, Sylphie re-emerged with two large boxes, both beautifully wrapped. She passed one of them to Roxy. They promptly rose from their seats, walked up to the head of the table, and handed the boxes over—Roxy to Norn, and Sylphie to Aisha.

“Happy tenth birthday, Norn and Aisha!”

“Happy birthday.”

Neither of them seemed to understand at first. Not even Aisha. “Um, but…we’re already eleven, you know?”

This had to be the first time I’d ever seen that clever little girl look so totally bewildered. She might have figured out the general plan, but she clearly hadn’t been expecting a present.

This was exactly the expression I’d hoping to see.

“Yeah. We couldn’t be there with you on your actual tenth birthday, right? I know it’s a little late to celebrate now, but Rudy said a year or so is no big deal.”

“He did…?”

Tearing up a little, Aisha clutched the box tightly in her arms. After a moment, she looked over to Lilia, who smiled and nodded gently.

A big happy grin spread across her face as she turned back to Sylphie. “Can we open these?!”

“Of course you can.”

Aisha was moving before Sylphie even finished the sentence. Norn, who’d been looking from her box to me and back again with a stunned expression on her face, quickly followed suit.

At first, they went at it vigorously, ready to tear the wrapping paper off. But then they both stopped, reconsidered, and took things more slowly. They untied the ribbons and opened up the paper carefully, trying not to rip it.

It was a little eerie how synchronized their movements were. They didn’t look that much alike, but sometimes you could really tell they were sisters.

“Oooh! It’s a new pair of boots! What did you get, Norn?!”

“Look, Aisha! I got a coat!”

The two of them compared their presents gleefully. It was nice to see we’d done a decent job picking out the gifts.

“My goodness. You both got very nice gifts, didn’t you?”

Lilia, who’d been watching from the sidelines with a smile, approached the two of them with Zenith at her side.

“Oh, Mom! Look at this!”

Norn spread out her coat to show Zenith, grinning from ear to ear. She didn’t react in any obvious way, of course. That made me feel a little down despite myself.

Zenith had always been the type to get all worked up about this sort of thing. I still remembered how enthusiastic she’d been at my fifth birthday party, and how proudly she’d presented me with her gift of a carefully selected book. If not for her condition, she’d probably be yelping with excitement with her daughter right now. Seeing her so expressionless made me sad.

Of course, if she recovered and learned that Paul was dead, there was no guarantee she’d ever smile the way she used to. Still, it was painful seeing her like this—not sad, not happy, just emotionless. 

But just as this thought crossed my mind…

Zenith smiled.

“Wha—?”

The expression vanished quickly. It had only been there for an instant. Were my eyes just playing tricks on me?

“Did she just…smile?”

No. Everyone had seen it.

Lilia, Aisha, Sylphie, and Roxy were all looking at Zenith in surprise.

“…Mom?”

And Norn, at whom the smile had been directed, was about ready to break down in tears.

“…”

Zenith reached down and stroked Norn on the head, then did the same to Aisha. Her movements were even more gentle than usual. She was happy—happy to see her girls growing up.

“Oh, Madam…I’m so glad…”

Lilia softly wrapped her arms around Zenith’s shoulders. Her face was as emotional as I’d ever seen it. With her usual blank expression, Zenith reached up and stroked her hands. Lilia had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying.

After bringing Zenith to her seat, Lilia came back to offer Norn and Aisha another present.

“This…is for the two of you, from myself and Miss Zenith.”

It was a set of handkerchiefs, beautifully embroidered with floral designs—one for each of them.

“Thank you very much, Miss Lilia,” said Norn, accepting hers. “It’s beautiful.”

Aisha, on the other hand, hesitated. It probably had something to do with getting the same present as her sister.

“Um, Mom? Are you sure I can have one too?”

“Yes, I’m quite sure. You’re Paul’s daughter too, you know.”

This seemed like…a change. Hadn’t Lilia spent years drumming the words you’re only a maid into her daughter’s head?

“Of course, I still expect you to show Madam Norn and Master Rudeus the respect that they deserve. Understood?”

“…Okay, Mom.”

Hmm. I guess she’s still Lilia after all.

Still…despite what she was saying, I hadn’t seen her badgering her daughter much lately. Not even about her tone of speech.

I had to assume she’d been thinking things over a little herself these last few months.

When Lilia returned to her seat, Zenith reached over to place a hand on her shoulder.

“Madam…”

“…”

Lilia squeezed that hand in her own, and softly spoke the words “Thank you.”

It almost looked as if they’d just held a wordless conversation of some kind. 

Roxy seemed particularly moved by that.

As I was studying her face, though, someone tugged on my sleeve from behind. “Hm?”

I glanced back to find that it was Sylphie. She was carrying a third box—the one that wasn’t for my sisters. Right, can’t forget the next part…

“Roxy.”

When I called her name, Roxy turned… and blinked in surprise at the sight of Sylphie standing next to me with the box. “Uh…yes?”

Sylphie spoke up before I could. “This one’s from us for you, Roxy.”

“Wha— Uh, why? For what?”

“It’s a wedding present. Congratulations!” said Sylphie, handing the box over to Roxy before she could object. “Go on, open it.”

Roxy did as she was told. And when she retrieved the hat from inside her present, her eyes went wide as saucers. “Um…Sylphie? Rudy? Is this…”

“Welcome to the family, Roxy. Let’s try our best to be like Zenith and Lilia, okay?”

The smile on Sylphie’s face as she delivered that line could only be described as angelic.

In the face of its overwhelming power, Roxy bit her lip, looked down slightly, and squeezed the hat to her chest. After a moment, she managed to squeak out the words “Th…thank you, Sylphie.”

I could see tears glimmering in her eyes.

I wouldn’t hear about it for some time, but according to Roxy, this was the moment she felt that Sylphie had truly accepted her into our lives.

With the main event behind us, the rest of the party went off smoothly.

First of all, Lilia carried out a big cake. It was a fluffy sponge cake type of thing, although there wasn’t any cream involved. Instead, there was dried fruit on the inside. The batter itself was on the slightly bitter side, but the sweetness of the fruit balanced that out beautifully.

I’d eaten cakes like this before, back in the Kingdom of Asura. They’d made one for my fifth birthday, and I seemed to remember it being served at the party for my tenth as well.

Ah, that brings me back… I wonder how Eris is doing these days?

Wherever she was, I had to assume she was merrily chopping her way through life. Maybe she’d even gotten married, like me?

Nah, probably not. There wasn’t a man in the world who could handle that girl.

When I asked Lilia about the cake, she explained that it was a traditional Asuran treat. Many families had one every time there was something worth celebrating. Paul hated the taste, though, so we’d almost never made one. It was a little amusing to hear the man had been a picky eater at his age, but it did seem in character.

Sylphie had helped out with this cake, and seemed confident she could make one by herself next time. Norn seemed to be really enjoying it, and I kind of liked it myself. 

Aisha was less of a fan, though. I could see her picking around the chunks of fruit as she ate her slice. Lilia scolded her a little, but undermined herself by murmuring “That reminds me of Master Paul” with a smile on her face.

After a while, Aisha started cuddling up to me and begging me to eat the rest for her. But I decided to hand the job off to Roxy, who apparently had a sweet tooth. I was sort of hoping they might end up feeding bites of it to each other or something.

Unfortunately, Roxy took her assignment somewhat more seriously. I think she might have misunderstood what I was looking for.

“Listen carefully, Aisha. You’re a very fortunate girl, so it might be hard for you to understand this…but sometimes, when you’re truly desperate, you might need to eat anything you can. Even a poisonous scorpion.”

“Ick! Uh…right.”

My poor sister found herself on the receiving end of a lecture.

I seemed to remember getting a similar talk from Ghislaine at some point, actually. Maybe this was just something adventurers felt strongly about.

I’d put up with some lousy food myself in my journey across the Demon Continent, of course, but I was fairly sure I’d never resorted to eating poisonous monsters. Maybe I was “fortunate,” too.

“This cake, on the other hand, is sweet and delicious. It would be wrong to leave it unfinished. Eat it, please.”

“Okay.”

Roxy’s tone hadn’t been too harsh, but her arguments were intense enough that Aisha actually looked a little freaked out for once. True to her word, she started eating her cake in solemn silence.

It felt like the first time I’d ever seen her just do what she was told.

Well, no. That wasn’t fair. She did listen to me…for the most part.

Anyway. Now that I thought about it, getting past the picky-eater thing probably was important. Maybe I was the one who’d mishandled the situation.

Good thing I had someone around to set things straight. Well done, Teacher!

“That said, you don’t have to force yourself to finish if you’re so full you can’t take another bite. I’ll eat the rest if necessary.”

Incidentally, Roxy had already finished all of her cake. Well done, Teacher.

“I’m so full I can’t take another bite!” 

Aisha’s reply had come quickly. Too quickly.

“Were you even listening to me? Eat your cake!”

Hmm. Maybe this is a good thing…

Sylphie and I didn’t scold Aisha very often, and I felt like Lilia was taking it easy on her because of that. Aisha was a very clever girl, but she was only eleven years old. She probably needed someone to lecture her from time to time.

In any case. Roxy seemed to be getting friendlier with my sisters. The two of them weren’t fighting with each other anymore, either. And we’d just seen proof that Zenith’s condition was improving. I felt like our family had grown closer in general.

The celebration was a success, in other words. And I’d enjoyed every minute of it.

I made a mental note to throw an even more elaborate party when the girls turned fifteen.

 Legends of the University #9: The Boss is merciful to fish.



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