The Average Day

Education.

In Lys, the quality and type of education people receive varies depending on where you’re from.

In Ereden, boys are taken from their parents at the age of 5 and trained to become warriors, only permitted to see their parents once a month; the girls are left in the sole care of their mothers to raise and nurture them into adults.

In Tythe, children from as young as 5 can attend school, but there are public, private and religious schools, with the last two being where all the young lords and ladies of the realm go, as well as a few wealthy or highly intelligent commoners.

In Patha, children graduate school at 13 and basically become full-time workers the moment they step out the door.

None of those were futures I wanted to give to my two little angels at the moment.

Alex and I agreed together what the best way to raise them would be and settled on a somewhat complicated solution.

First, Alex would set up and run a small school in the village, something that she was more than happy to do.

“I’ve received the finest tutoring from the greatest instructors!” She proclaimed. “I’m sure I can be a good teacher to them.”

And, from what I’ve heard, she is.

Then, each day before their baths, we trained them on how to use swords and magic. Just for an hour or two, nothing too much. Though, on the weekends, we spent about 6 hours a day training them.

Our kids needed to be strong.

No matter how much we didn’t want them to be bound by our legacy, our children would always have to live in our shadows. People would expect much from them and watch their every action closely; at least, they would the moment they left our village.

Here, no one looks at them as anything other than just normal children.

With us carefully watching over them, I’m sure their levels will rise quickly and they’ll get lots of useful skills.

As for me.

I opened my status screen to confirm that the Grey Basilisk hadn’t poisoned me, before I walked around its corpse.

My level was maxed, my skills were numerous and I had plenty of experience under my belt.

My HP and MP were higher than that of the Elder Dragons, beings comparable to Gods, and I had some unique perks and abilities that only heroes from other worlds could get. I also had the Appraisal skill and used it to check on Yelena and George’s status screens, but I couldn’t see any of my skills listed there.

Alex said there was a chance our skills could be inherited by our kids but that didn’t look to be the case.

“Well, they’re still young, so it’s fine,” I murmured as I walked deeper into the dungeon.

Now, normally, in RPGs, you would only really go into dungeons to complete quests, collect loot or level yourself up. I wasn’t here for any of that; I had come here simply to practice and get some exercise.

The dungeon was a mid-tier one, meaning most monsters were between level 50 and 60, so I didn’t have to worry too much for my own safety. Just in case, I’d brought a load of talismans, potions and salves to check against Poison, Paralysis or anything else I’d rather not have slowly chipping away at my stats.

That’s how I used to play all my characters in RPGs and that experience had rubbed off on me in this world too.

I paused outside one of the 4 boss rooms and checked the current Lys time with one of my skills. “Alex’s lessons finish in about an hour, so I’ve got plenty of time.” With a small smile, I swung my sword around a few times, before kicking the boss room’s doors wide open. “If I keep up this pace, I should be back before school ends.”

***

“So, when we use this X symbol, we’re no longer adding numbers together, but timesing them together.” I wrote two sums on the board and turned back to the children. “Now, can anyone tell me what the answers are to these questions? Yes?”

“5!”

“Very good, Petey.” I smiled which made Pete grin happily. “Yes, 2 + 3 does equal 5, but now, what about this one?” I underlined the equation beneath it. “Stacy?”

“…5?”

“Sorry, sweetie, but that’s not quite right,” I said gently. “You aren’t far off, but we’re no longer adding - we’re timesing. Anyone?” Two hands shot up. “That aren’t my children.”

When no one else put their hands up, I started drawing on the board. “On my right, I have a pile of 3 sweets and I have another pile on my left. If I add those two piles-”

“6!”

“Yelena, that’s right, but I-”

“Don’t yell at mummy!”

“G-George, you aren’t helping, dear.” I sighed a little before explaining the differences between multiplying and adding.

A school that was made of a single room and a decent sized garden, tables and chairs that were quite old and generously donated by the families of Kappen and a class of twenty-three students.

It wasn’t quite what I’d envisioned, but I’d grown to love our little school all the same.

“I think you’d be a great teacher,” Haruki assured me as he patted my head.

“Really?”

“Really, really. It’d also be good for the kids to make friends and it’d help everyone around the village, too. I think it’s a wonderful idea, Alex.”

Some days, I wish that Haruki had decided to join me here and play with the children during their breaks and lunch, but then I remembered how much of an idiot my husband becomes when it comes to our babies.

He dotes on Yelena, even if he doesn’t realise it, and George always wants to hear the same stories of bravery and courage again and again.

In those moments, it sometimes feels like Haruki forgets that the rest of the world exists. It was cute at first, but now it can be quite irritating, especially if the kids are trying to get out of something and they start buttering him up.

Well, not that I’m entirely innocent of that crime either.

My smile continued to grow across my lips.

This - this quiet, peaceful life with Haruki and our children, is exactly what I dreamt of back when I was a child.

Thank you, Haruki, for everything you’ve done for me.

***

“…You stink.”

“Wha-?!”

Yelena’s cold words cut her father in two. He collapsed and teared up as his daughter stepped away from him.

He’d rushed over, sweaty, panting and covered in monster blood - obviously, he’d gone out dungeon diving again and forgotten to keep a close eye on the clock.

Despite having a skill that would not only tell him that but also set alarms for him, Haruki always lost track of the time when he was in dungeons.

When I asked him why, he just shrugged and said, “I’m always losing track of time when I’m playing RPGs.”

Even after he explained to me what they were, I still didn’t really understand it.

I bent down and took a few quick sniffs. “Basilisk blood - honey, you know that’s difficult to clean.”

“It wasn’t like I wanted it to vomit blood on me as it died,” Haruki protested. “Hey, Alex, you don’t think I smell bad or anything, do you?”

“No.”

“Ah, thank-”

“You’ve smelt a lot worse than this before.”

He fell onto the floor.

Oh - I think the shock might have been too great for him.

Still.

I leant in close to him and whispered, “I love you.”

Haruki hadn’t expected that and turned bright red.

Ah, how cute.

I would have kissed him, if his cheeks weren’t covered in green slime.

This was our everyday, comfy life in Kappen and I sincerely prayed every day that it’d continue forever.