I Turned 14 (2)
Looks like I still haven’t been called, so please bear with me a bit longer~
Hugo and Lyla turned 8 and started practicing their respective attributes. They’ve been training in martial arts since they were 6, and now they can train alongside the private militia. The militia leader, Elle, says they’re very promising. By the way, Hugo is laid-back and loves plants. Apparently, he often has tea with the Giga Treant in the courtyard. Lyla, on the other hand, is quite the tomboy. During training, she tries to mimic my pro-wrestling moves, only to get stopped by Nat and the others.
Brother Aran turned 24 and is still in the Royal Guard. He sometimes gets to meet the Queen. The maid trio says the “Ice Prince” is still going strong.
Vee is 18 and in the final year at the academy, maintaining top marks in the Knight Course. Despite being scouted for the Royal Guard—partly because of Aran—he turned it down flat to join the Monster Subjugation Corps, which was the talk of the academy for a while.
Sarah and Anny are 21. They graduated from the academy long ago but are staying with me in the dorm as maids until spring. I’m thrilled to have them around—they’re like big sisters—but I wish they’d start thinking about their own happiness. I know Ben confessed to Sarah and Mike to Anny when they graduated. How do I know? Because Ben and Mike came to me for advice. Both pairs worked out successfully.
Arthur is in a long-distance relationship with Sailor, one of the maid trio he met at Abe’s wedding. He recently went to meet her parents, so marriage might be just around the corner.
Ken doesn’t seem to have much luck in love, but he reunited with Adam, the South Capital Guildmaster. Apparently, Adam came to General to use up his vacation days. Ben told me they drank until morning at a General tavern, and Nancy scolded Ken when he got back.
Outside the family, the person who’s changed the most in the past three years is Nikki. The underwear idea I suggested was a huge hit, shaking up the fashion industry and making her a famous designer overnight. There was talk of opening a shop in the capital, but she turned it down to stay at “Glossy Butterfly” in General.
By the way, Nikki and Ken knew each other from their adventurer days, and they drank together when Adam came to General.
The wandering craftsman Gandarl is still in General. He finally moved out of the inn and rented a place. He works from home and consigns his creations to “Glossy Butterfly” for sale. Turns out, Gandarl can use alchemy too, so he enchants accessories. When Ijok, who made my magic sword in Phantasmo, visited Gandarl in General, they were thrilled to reunite after so long.
… Man, I’m bored. Still not time?
Oh, maybe I’ll do my annual self-Search.
—-
[Joan Lampail]
Eldest daughter of the Lampail family.
14 years old.
Null attribute.
Status:
Perfectly healthy.
Note:
Finally, mental age matches her body.
Contracts:
Pegasus [Snowy]
Pegasus [Blau]
Fenrir [Pearl]
Carbuncle [Rosso]
Cultivation:
Mandragora [Dora]
—
… Yup, mental age matches, as expected.
I’ve been noticing I can’t keep a poker face as well lately.
My familiars are, as always, adorable, energetic, and fluffy.
Snowy and Blau are currently helping Hugo and Lyla with their riding practice. By the way, right after returning to General, Blau found a beautiful chestnut mare named Noin. In a rare occurrence for horses, Noin gave birth to twins—a chestnut filly and a white colt. Noin apologized to me for them not being pegasi, but I praised her for safely delivering the twins. The chestnut filly, named Win, became Hugo’s horse, and the white colt, named Light, became Lyla’s. Maybe because they’re twins, they seem to understand each other despite not speaking the same language.
Pearl is always with me, like Belle. She’s my partner, best friend, and sometimes a reliable big sister. Right now, she’s napping by the room’s fireplace, never far from me.
Rosso loves napping but, surprisingly, enjoys combat. When we take on subjugation quests together, his eyes sparkle. I used to think his speech was 80% gentle and 20% sharp-tongued, but lately, it’s 40% gentle normally and 60% sharp during combat. Even as his contractor, I’m a bit taken aback sometimes…
Dora is pure healing. When she’s sunbathing—aka photosynthesizing—she hums a cheerful tune, swaying her leaf. At night, when I place her on my headboard, she hums a soothing lullaby-like melody.
By the way, when Aunt Julie saw Dora, she begged for one. While I was panicking, Dora suddenly bloomed. She told me to put her in storage, so I did for five minutes. When a *ding* sounded and I took her out, her fruit had withered, and a seed was at her base. I planted the seed in a new pot, watered it with Aqua, and put it back in storage for ten minutes. Another *ding*, and it had grown properly. When I pulled it out, the new mandragora called Aunt Julie “Mama,” instantly winning her over. Then it called Uncle Gil “Papa,” and he was smitten. Finally, it called Vee, who was watching in disbelief, “Big Bro,” and he fell for it too.
Its name is Mika, inspired by the angel Michael. A magical plant named after an angel…
*Knock, knock, knock.* "Joan, sorry for the wait. Everything’s ready, so please come to the training grounds."
Sarah arrived.
"Okay! Let’s go, Pearl."
(Alright… Hehe, looks like everyone’s gathered.)
I thought Pearl said something, but I didn’t catch it.
"Huh? Did you say something?"
(Nope, nothing. Let’s go. Hop on.)
"Huh? I’m not too heavy?"
(What are you talking about? You’re still plenty light.)
"Really? Alright, up I go."
(… Can you not use that old-lady grunt?)
"Okay~"
(Keep your answers short.)
"Yes…"
Ugh… Today’s Pearl is in full mom mode…
What do you think about this chapter?
