Chapter 66 – Weiss watches over his daughter

“Hey, wake up. And get out.”

“Hn…”

“Kuh, my head…”

It’s morning.

I wake up the hungover Kaya and Sieglinde and drag them out of the house. They groan, but head their separate ways with unsteady steps.

…Sieglinde is headed to the super high class residential district, while Kaya is headed to the lower area. It’s like a representation of their actual standings in society.

Kaya doesn’t have a job, so she doesn’t have to worry, but was it all right for Sieglinde to stay here until morning? The position of assistant to the chief of the ministry of magic isn’t some do-nothing job.

“Munyari…”

As I get breakfast ready, I pray that everything goes well for her with her morning duties, until Ririi comes to the living room wearing her pajamas. She looks sleepy, probably because we were noisy until late at night.

“Good morning Ririi.”

“Good morning daddy…”

The pajamas I got from Horo a year ago still fit her perfectly, but they’ll be too small for her soon enough. I’m looking forward to that. After all, today is Ririi’s first day in school, and everything’s connected to her bright future.

“Go wash your face. Breakfast is almost done.”

“Yes…”

She heads off into the bathroom while still half asleep. You wouldn’t think this was her first day in school, considering how low energy she is, but I’m sure that’ll change when she fully wakes up. I think it’s safe to say no one’s more excited about magic school than her.

“Tooh!!!”

See?

“Daddy! It’s school!”

“Are you looking forward to it?”

“Yes!”

I need to be careful not to bump into Ririi while carrying breakfast to the table, because she’s running around my legs.

“Ririh will take it♪.”

She starts hopping and stretching her arms, so I hand her the basket with the bread.

The moment she takes it, she puts her face inside it and starts smelling it.

“It smells so good.♪”

“It’s getting cold, Ririi.”

I call her to the table, and she comes right away. Today’s breakfast is bread, bacon, and eggs.

I take the basket from her, put the bacon and eggs on the bread, and that should be enough. But of course, I also put in some lettuce. You can’t raise a healthy kid without vegetables.

“Daddy, Ririh doesn’t need vegetables.”

“No. You can’t be a good sorcerer if you don’t eat your vegetables.”

“Buh…”

I put two more pieces of lettuce, and Ririi looks like she really hates it.

She used to eat vegetables without complaining when I first took her in, but the better she became, the more she started to not like it. Well, it’s nice for a kid to be picky like that. Not that I’m soft enough to let her get away with it.

“All right, let’s eat then.”

“Let’s eat…”

I watch Ririi as I eat without caring about the lettuce. At first she tries her best to eat around it, but eventually she gives up, closes her eyes, and starts eating it too.

Good girl, Ririi.

◆

“Here I go!”

“Have a nice day.”

I see Ririi leave full of energy, and go back inside… Of course I don’t, I’m following her.

She thinks of this as an adventure, and was adamant that she wanted to go by herself, but does she even remember the way to school? I’m sure she doesn’t.

I’m sure she won’t even get there without my support.

Apparently it’s even recommended for parents to take first year students to school. Even if we overlook the fact that she’s a high elf, there’s no way I can let her go alone.

“I haven’t used this in a while.”

Transparency, and all sorts of presence disruption.

It’s all S rank magic, the highest ranking among the many spells I’ve learned.

It goes without saying that students aren’t taught this in school. Information about it can only be found in high level magic books in a special library of the ministry of magic, that only people that go beyond a certain level of power can enter.

It’s the sort of thing that once you learn it, you’re guaranteed a special job as a spy for the ministry of magic.

“…And while I’m at it, I’m going to make sure Miss Esmeralda hasn’t lost her step.”

Only top class sorcerers can see through this transparency. You need to be able to detect not the presence given off by people, but the very minute flow of magic energy in their bodies.

But Miss Esmeralda should be able to notice my transparency magic. Going into the classroom and checking that should be fun.

And I get to check on Ririi too, and see if she’s getting along with the other kids. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried.

And so, as I use this transparency for the first time in about a year, I follow Ririi’s increasingly smaller back.

…Now that I think about it, the last time I used this magic was when I killed those dirty nobles that operated a human-trafficking business.

It’s because I killed them that Ririi was taken out of that basement, was handed over to Gess, and ended up becoming my daughter.

You never know where life will take you. Who would’ve guessed that a year later I’d be using that same magic to sneak into my old school.