✧ Chapter 9 ✧
Aura noticed a crack at the bottom of the orb’s surface and slightly moved her lips.
“There’s…… a crack on the surface.”
“What?”
And not long after—
Crack! Crack!
The cracks spread in all directions.
Small glass fragments that had broken off from the orb fell to the ground one after another, and thin smoke began to leak out through the cracks.
“W-Wait a second. Isn’t this thing about to explode?!”
“That can’t be! The orb has never exploded before……”
And then—
Crack!
“!!!”
“!!!”
Aura and Nox sensed the danger at the same time.
Aura quickly spread a sky-blue barrier around Nox and the children.
Bang!!
With a loud explosion, the orb finally exploded.
Fortunately, the fragments from the broken orb were blocked by Aura’s barrier and did not reach them. Only the shining silver smoke floated in the air before slowly falling down.
“……”
Silence filled the room.
Breaking through that silence, Aura spoke in an unusual tone.
“Nox, I don’t think your child is simply extraordinary.”
Back in the reception room, Nox sat with his head lowered and could not hide his serious expression.
It was partly because the orb breaking had been shocking enough, but it was also because of what Aura had said afterward.
—Nox. Your child may have two attributes. One is the same attribute as your hair color. And the other one…… must be the same as your daughter’s eye color.
The color of the smoke had been exactly the same as her eyes.
—Hmm. So that’s why her eyes were that color.
—No, two attributes? How can there be such a thing…… Ah!
—Yes, there is. Of course, the previous cases only applied to humans, not us.
Humans who possessed magic power as strong as dragons, appearing perhaps once every hundred years. There had been a few such cases among those who were called heroes, and the protagonist of Fantasia was one of them.
—Anyway, there is one thing we can be certain of. Your daughter’s magic power is overwhelmingly stronger than anyone here, including you and me.
The orb cracking was extremely rare, but even Nox and Aura had experienced it before.
But for it to shatter into pieces so completely that it almost turned into powder……
That was on an entirely different level.
‘Stronger than me…… My daughter is stronger than me.’
So was that why she had been able to break the barrier?
It felt like all the pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place.
But he didn’t feel relieved at all.
The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt.
He had no idea how he should take care of a child who had greater potential than himself, how he should help her, or even whether he would be able to help her at all.
‘What am I supposed to do……?’
Just as he was deep in thought—
Tap!!
Something struck Nox hard on the forehead.
“?!”
When he raised his head, Aura was sitting on the sofa across from him. She withdrew the magic gathered at her fingertip and looked at him as if he were hopeless.
“How long are you planning to keep sitting like that?”
“……”
Nox let out a deep sigh and lowered his head again while holding his forehead.
“I just don’t know what to do. Raising a human child is already difficult enough, but the power this child possesses is far greater than mine.”
And he could not even guess what the other power was.
“……So, are you unhappy about that?”
“I’m not unhappy. I’m worried.”
“Phew-”
Aura let out a deep breath and spoke firmly to him.
“It would be strange if you weren’t worried. Do you think being the parent of a child with extraordinary talent is easy?”
Compared to an ordinary child, nothing would be easy, from beginning to end.
“But overcoming those difficulties and raising the child well is the role and responsibility of a parent.”
“……”
“So even if it’s difficult, you have to do it. One step at a time.”
“Haah- It’s easy for you to say.”
“Easy to say, huh…… Yes. But does that mean you’ll just keep worrying like this? If the father is like that, your daughter will feel the same way too.”
Only then did Nox quickly turn his gaze to the side.
Rivera was looking up at him, with her tiny hand resting on his thigh.
‘Ah, Dad.’
Even though Rivera had read the novel, this was a situation even she knew nothing about.
Her own power was far greater and more dangerous than she had expected, and she too felt uneasy about it.
Still, she had thought that everything would be okay because her reliable father was beside her, and she had felt somewhat reassured.
But seeing him even more anxious than she was made her pupils tremble slightly.
“R-Rivera.”
“Auua.”
Nox looked at Rivera’s eyes, which were filled with worry, and clenched his teeth.
‘Yeah, what am I doing right now?’
He had only made that little child worry for no reason.
Instead of becoming a support for her as a father—
‘I really have acted like a useless father.’
Nox pulled himself together, gently stroked his daughter’s head, and gave her a faint smile.
“I’m sorry…… I’m sorry. Daddy made you worry.”
“Au-u.”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about anything. This daddy will help you with everything. Okay?”
Only then did some of the worry in Rivera’s heart begin to fade.
Watching the two of them, Aura gave a faint snort.
“At least now you’ve gotten rid of that pathetic-looking face.”
“Pa…… pathetic?”
Aura soon raised the corner of her mouth into a grin and held something out in front of him.
“Then now, let this adult help you a little.”
“What is this?”
“It’s the thing I was going to give you earlier.”
What Nox received was a small bracelet made of a dark brown cord.
It was a Magic Restraint.
The Magic Restraint was mainly made from the bark and leaves of the World Tree, and it prevented the wearer from using their magic dangerously.
Adult dragons would sometimes make one by putting their own magic into it to stop young dragons who were not yet used to controlling their magic.
“The first thing we need to do is keep the child safe. Until she learns to control her magic properly, I think it would be best for her to wear this.”
Nox took the bracelet and held it tightly as if it were a lifeline.
“Thank…… you.”
He bowed his head.
For now, at least, Rivera would not be in immediate danger because of her own magic, so he felt relieved.
After that, if he could steadily help her—
‘Yes, if I do that……’
Everything would definitely be okay.
It would.
Nox comforted himself that way and strengthened his resolve.
Nox returned home and sat Rivera down on a chair that was much bigger than her body.
Then he picked up the bracelet.
“Come here, baby. Shall we put this on?”
Rivera already knew what the bracelet was.
She obediently sat there, relaxed her arm, looked at her father, and thought quietly.
‘Yes. Nothing serious has happened yet. But if my magic suddenly comes out on its own later, I don’t know what might happen.’
Besides, she had absolutely no idea what the other attribute was.
So……
‘Until I properly learn how to control my magic……’
This would be better.
Of course, it wasn’t as if she wasn’t disappointed that she could not use such powerful magic.
Still, it was better than accidentally hurting the dragons.
She was worried about losing control and dying herself, but what Rivera hated even more was the thought of hurting others.
‘I heard that they usually teach children how to control magic when they’re around seven years old.’
Until then, she would stay like this for safety.
When Nox put the bracelet on Rivera, the loose bracelet changed its shape to fit her tiny wrist.
It had a vine-like shape with small leaves attached here and there, making it look like an accessory.
“There. This should keep you safe for a while.”
After putting the bracelet on her, Nox caught his breath and quietly looked into Rivera’s eyes.
“So that’s what the color of your eyes meant……”
Strangely, the colors also seemed to be mixed together almost perfectly half and half.
‘Yes, just like mine and hers……’
The expression on Nox’s face as he looked at Rivera’s silver eyes seemed as if he were searching for something.
There was also a strange sense of longing in his eyes.
‘Yes, perhaps it really could be……’
But then he noticed Rivera staring straight at him as well.
He pulled himself together and muttered.
“E-Either way, there’s no reliable information about this attribute, so I’ll have to find out more about it from now on.”
For Rivera, that was wonderful news.
If someone as knowledgeable about this world as Nox was searched for the answer, perhaps he really could find out what this power was.
“It may take some time, though.”
That was okay.
She could wait.
Rivera, trapped in this body with a heavy head and bottom, could not do anything herself right now.
If he worked hard to find out the answer for her, she would actually be very grateful.
Swoosh.
Nox carefully grabbed Rivera under her arms to pick her up.
Her legs dangled in the air.
But at that moment—
“Hm? What is this……”
Nox’s gaze moved back to the bracelet.
More precisely, it was focused on the tiny words engraved into the bracelet.
