“So… The school uniform and gym clothes I can buy in the designated store… The shoes… Where was it? Wasn’t that decided too…?”
Half the reason why I went to see my parents was to say that I’m back and to introduce Ririi, but there’s more. There was a lot I wanted to ask my mother in preparation for Ririi starting magic school.
I have a list of things she needs in the enrollment guide.
It starts with a uniform, then gym clothes, shoes, a hat… Then things I have no idea where to get.
But with my mother’s advice, I have a good idea where to get almost everything.
I guess normally the mother could ask her friends about it too, but I have no one else to ask.
“…All right.”
I start circling items on the list that I think I can get, and manage to circle them all.
I’m probably going to the clothing store tomorrow, because I hear uniforms take some time to prepare. Miss Esmeralda and Romero should be making the magic items right now, so… Well, I guess I should be able to go get them next week. There’s still three weeks until Ririi starts school, so I’m sure we’ll make it.
“Ririi?”
I look up, and don’t see her. I just hear her voice echoing all the way to the living room as she goes ‘tah! Yah!’ in her room. She sounds fired up, but what is she…
“Ririi, what are you… Guoh!?”
I talk while opening the door… And something hits me in the face. I immediately realize it’s not an object, it’s some sort of magic energy, and it leaves me on the ground looking at the ceiling.
“Daddy!?”
I can feel from the vibrations on the floor that she’s running out of her room, and then she sits next to my head.
“Are you all right daddy!?”
“…Hn? Ah, so that’s your magic energy. I’m fine, it’s nothing.”
It actually kind of hurts, but not that much.
I reach out to Ririi, whose face is pale, and pat her on the head.
“Uu… Daddy…”
Ririi hugs me, probably feeling relieved because I’m all right.
“There there. What were you doing?”
I rub her back, but instead of calming down, she starts sobbing.
“Sniff… Hum… Practice…”
“Practice?”
Judging by the magic energy that came flying at me… She was practicing using magic. But I didn’t even teach her any magic.
“…Ririh wants to be a sorcerer fast… And Ririh was practicing making magic come out…”
“Ah, so you want to be able to make magic energy come out any time you want?”
Thanks to Miss Esmeralda’s advice, Ririi can now sense her magic energy. But that’s basically just the starting line on the road to becoming a sorcerer.
Generally speaking, in order to be recognized as a sorcerer, one has to be able to make magic energy come out at will, and convert it into magic. I’m pretty sure I told this to Ririi at some point, and that’s why she’s practicing making magic energy come out.
Apparently she can only make it come out sometimes.
“…”
Ririi looks flustered.
More than half the students go into magic school not knowing magic, so it’s fine if she learns magic after school starts. She’s all set if she can feel her own magic energy.
But for some reason, Ririi is all fired up to become a sorcerer.
“What kind of sorcerer do you want to be?”
For most people, that doesn’t matter. They use fire magic because that’s what they’re good at, or water magic because that’s their strong suit, etc.
But Ririi might actually be able to do what she wants. Elves have higher aptitude for magic compared to other races, and she’s a superior variant of elf. She’s probably second to none when it comes to magic.
I was able to choose for myself too, but Ririi is definitely above me. That’s why I have to guide her, and help her become the sorcerer she wants to be.
“Ririh…”
“Yes…”
“…Ririh wants to be a sorcerer that helps daddy…”
“…Me?”
“Yes…”
I squeeze Ririi’s hand, as she’s still lying on top of me and hugging me.
“Thank you, Ririi.”
I remember when we went to Miss Esmeralda’s store for the first time, and she said ‘Ririh’s gonna study lots! And then help daddy’. Of course I do, I almost cried.
…I wonder how much she remembers from when she was a slave. How much of her circumstances of being sold as a slave and bought by me does she understand?
Her heart was broken back then. The cheerful Ririi I know now is like a completely different person, so maybe she doesn’t remember anything.
But when I hear how she feels in this way, it makes me wonder if she actually understands everything.
Maybe she knows I saved her from that terrible life, and feels more thankful than a normal kid.
That’s nice, but at the same time sad. I want Ririi to grow up without anything like that tying her down, and I definitely don’t want her feeling like she owes me.
“All right. How about we go have an adventure tomorrow?”
“Adventure?”
I know there’s no point in telling her any of that now. If I tell her not to worry about me, it’s just going to make her sad.
So… For now, I’ll just let her do what she wants.
“I’m talking about going out of the city and practicing using magic. What do you think?”
“…! Let’s go adventure!”
Let’s stop it with the sad thoughts.
I hold Ririi, and jump up using my abdominal muscles.
I’m not going easy on my daughter. By the end of tomorrow, Ririi’s going to be a sorcerer.
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