Chapter 42
42 . Mother and fathers feelings
We all gather in the kitchen while dinners being made .
“I’m sorry for asking you to help me . You must be tired from the exam but the store was very busy today so I didn’t have time to prepare dinner . ”
My mothers preparing mushroom gratin while speaking .
“Don’t worry about it . Your food is always a feast . ”
“Cooking’s fun”
Misha’s washing a large quantity of mushrooms and then Sasha is cutting them into bite-sized chunks .
“Alright . I’ve washed all the vegetables . Do you want me to start on the potatoes?”
I put the potatoes that my dad had washed in a bowl and carried them over .
“Because its curry just peel them and cut them into bite-sized chunks . ”
“There’s quite a few . Should I help you? Ah, there’s only one knife though…… . . ” Misa says .
“Oops, is that so? There’s one in the workshop though . I made it for a customer but he never came for it . ”
“It’s okay . Can you lend me your kitchen knife?”
Ray stops my father and borrows his kitchen knife before grabbing the bowl of potatoes and throwing them into the air .
“……Fuu……… . . !”
Rays hand glittered and the skins from the large amount of the potatoes instantly peeled off before the peeled potatoes fell back down into the cooking pot while the skins landed back in the bowl .
“Fumu . Not bad Ray . Shall the next bout be with the carrots?”
I point to the bowl I was carrying which was full of carrots .
“How about we see who can peel more carrots?”
“Fine . ”
Misa who was listening in smiled wryly .
“There’s still only one knife . ”
“This is enough . ”
I picked up a peeler .
“I think you might regret it . ”
“Shall we start?”
Mine and Rays glances connected and sparks scattered .
With a signal, I scattered the carrots in the air .
“…… . Here……!”
“Naive”
The knife and peeler flash and in the next instant all the peeled carrots fall onto nearby plates .
“Misa . The count . ”
“Errm let’s see . Arnos-sama has…… . ten . Ray-san has……10 . It’s a draw . ”
Ray flashes his refreshing smile and holds his plate full of carrots out to Misa .
“Look closely . ”
Misa stares at the carrots .
“… . . Ooh!”
She raises her voice and touches the carrots which promptly fall apart .
At first glance, the carrots just looked peeled but they were also chopped into bite-sized pieces . All ten of them .
“They’ve…… . . been cut into heart shapes as well…… . ”
Misa louts out a surprised voice . Instantly peeling, cutting and carving carrots in bite-sized chunks while in the air is not an ordinary skill .
“How about mine?”
I offered the smiling Ray my plate of carrots . His smile said he thought he’d won .
“…… . . They’re…… . . star-shaped……”
Yes, all the carrots I’d peeled were cut into star shapes .
“How did you carve them with a peeler…… . . ?”
Misa’s face had an amazed expression . It’s no wonder, I mean a peeler only really has one job . You wouldn’t think you could cut and shape carrots with one .
“Don’t be so surprised . If you can only use a tool for its original purpose then you are not fit to be the founder . ”
Well, it was more of a necessity 2000 years ago to use tools for other purposes but now its peaceful and knives are readily available you don’t need to be able to cut and carve items with a peeler .
“That’s one each . ” Ray mutters while picking up another bowl .
“Hou . Are we going to settle this with the onions?”
Many onions fly into the air and me and Ray move at the same time .
“What stupid things are you doing over there……?”
Sasha looks up from preparing the mushroom gratin and turned her gaze our way .
“Fufuu . Arnos-chan is good at peeling . It’s amazing you’ve prepared the onions so quickly . ”
Sasha casts a doubtful look at my mother who’s praising me .
“……Mother-sama, why does nothing shock you? What’s with your impregnable guard?”
Bit by bit Sasha’s getting used to talking to my mother and is not minding her words so much .
“Aren’t you surprised?”
My mother smiled at Sasha and Misha .
“Fufu . I am surprised . Every day brings astonishment . He grew so big after just being born, he can use amazing magic, he’s so smart, telling us he wanted to go to the demon king academy and bringing so many classmates home . ”
“………Did you never find it scary……?”
When Sasha asked her my mother’s face took on a tender expression .
“Ah…………”
My mother’s expression caused Sasha to forget what she was about to say .
“Sasha’s power was very strong and scared people . ” Misha says .
“Your parents?”
“Nn . ”
“I see . ”
My mother pulls Sasha’s head to her and hugs her tightly .
“It must have been painful Sasha-chan . ”
“… . Not…not really……… . it wasn’t a problem…… . . I had Misha…… . . ”
*Pat pat* Sasha buries her face in my mother’s chest while she pats her back .
“……I was told by the doctor that due to my constitution I could never carry a child to term…… . ”
“Eh… . . ?”
“……When I became pregnant with Arnos-chan I was examined with magic and was told that even if by some miracle I gave birth the child would not be normal and healthy . I was told it would be best if I gave up on having children…… . Even if that child would be happy…… . ”
My mother smiled gently .
“But Arnos-chan was in my stomach and was living so I couldn’t give up . Even if he was different from other people, even if he couldn’t study, even if his body was weak . I thought I would love that child as much as possible and make them happy . ”
When I noticed my father was standing by my mother .
“My dear said that we would have this child and would never cause him unhappiness . There would be no such thing as it couldn’t be done or unable to find happiness . ”
My father nods .
“But when Arnos-chan was in his mother’s stomach his state was worse than we thought . He was already close to death . ”
“The doctors couldn’t do anything with magic . I prayed to God every day . No matter what, I wanted him to be born . As long as he was born, no matter what happened, he would grow up completely happy . That was all I asked . ”
“… . . What happened?” Sasha asked .
“While he was sleeping his heart stopped and the doctors said he was dead but I couldn’t give up . It didn’t have to be a god . Even a demon was fine as long as they helped my child . I prayed and prayed and then his heart started to beat again . ”
To be precise the child in my mother’s stomach was dead or perhaps it might be better to say it never really lived from the beginning . According to the doctors, my mother’s constitution would not allow for an origin to fully form and thus a consciousness could not appear .
It was already decided the child would die before being born, however, due to me reincarnating into it I breathed life back into the vessel .
At times willpower can greatly affect magic .
Rarely, even humans who cannot use magic or have very weak magic can, by sheer force of will, effect magic and attract a demon .
It’s very possible the strength of my mother’s prayer called to me .
“After that Arnos-chan regained his energy and grew bigger and bigger . The doctors said it was a miracle . ”
My mother laughed while crying a little .
“Therefore, I have never once been scared because Arnos-chan is living so energetically . There’s nothing I want more than that . ”
Both Misha and Sasha are crying at my mother’s story while Misa wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and even Ray had a solemn expression .
Everyone must be thinking the same as me .
That’s why my parents accept even two-timing, bigamous homosexuality .