Chapter 34 - 『OnGuard』

The next morning, Jack's eyes slowly slid open, welcoming dim light which traversed through the soft blue curtains in the windows. He lay there, on the end of the bed. The sound of quiet shallow breathing of those asleep around him could be heard.

Stiffly, he turned his head to the side and rested his gaze on Arche who was laying with her sisters enveloped in her arms and beneath the comforter.

A smile crept across his lips as he took in the scene. In her sleep he could see the smile on her face. The warmth that she had been so longing for was right there. She had her sisters.

Jack's brain though felt like it had been fried from all of the conversations he had the night before. Especially the ones from Fluder, and that researcher friend of his, Sophia. They were all about magic this, magic that. It was hard to get any time to just talk with Arche at all.

"I knew I should've just turned the other way..." He uttered quietly as he rested a palm on his face.

As he sat up, he looked over the three girls. The twins were hugging one another and Arche had her two arms around both of them. When he decided to slip off the side of the bed, he would pull the quilt over the trio's shoulders before walking to the bedroom door.

His eyes rested on the iron rod which Arche had been using up until now as a Magic Staff.

Plucking it from the wall it was rested up against after he had taken its place on the bed. He tilted his head to the side slightly, lightly squeezing it. It was rather light for an iron piece, but it was clear to him that it was not really the case. Jack was just no longer human.

"Cute," He muttered as he gazed over the loose wrapping around the top of the medium. His gaze then turned back to look at the three blondes and kept that small smile that had crept across his lips.

"Perhaps we will be able to do something else today..." Resting the staff back against the wall, he would step out of the room and close the door softly behind him.

Looking both ways, he pursed his lips at the silence which ensued. Turning his head to the side though as he heard rustling in the bed in the room he had just left. He raised a brow and rested his ear against the door.

"Oneesama~"

"Oneesama~"

"Mmmm… What is it?" Arche's eyes opened slightly as she looked over her little sisters which she still held in her arms. She then glanced down towards the end of the bed and blinked. Jack wasn't there.

"Oniichan woke up."

"He said your staff was cute."

Arche blinked a few more times as she looked to the staff which was resting against the wall. How was an iron staff cute? "Are you sure?"

Sitting up she would release her sisters who took turns scaling off the side of the bed and jumping to the floor. They were wearing little white underdresses and full leggings.

Arche on the other hand was revealed to just be dressed in a large brown tunic which she had been wearing under her robes, along with some long socks. The rest of her attire was folded and placed on the dresser. As she slipped off the side of the bed and glanced around the room, she tilted her head.

Why he had left the room? She was already curious of why he had slept at the end of the bed. It kind of reminded her of a guard dog, protecting whomever it sought to protect.

"Jack?" She called out as she walked over to the dresser and started pulling on her other articles of clothing until she was fully dressed again. The pink turtleneck covering her robes, and a fine mantle on her back.

Padding on over to the door, not bothering to put her thigh high boots on, she grasped the nob and opened the door. Jack was standing right in front of it.

He was looking right down at her with a small smile across lips. "Morning," Jack placed a hand on the top of her head as she was looking up at him with her blue eyes.

Arche relaxed slightly seeing him standing there. Though he was back to his normal seven foot tall appearance. "What time did you invite Jet to come over by the way?"

Jack shrugged slightly, "I only gave him an address. I didn't give him the time. I thought we'd have the kids play outside." His eyes shifted towards the girls who were both staring blankly at one another.

No, they weren't staring at one another, but the stickers which were placed on their foreheads.

"Sister, sister. What's on your face?"

"No, what's on your face, sister?"

Jack just stared at the two five year olds as they were trying to figure out what the stickers were stuck to their faces. "That was definitely Shizu," his smile vanished though it didn't seem as if his mood changed. He held out a hand for Arche's.

Arche's eyes traveled him up and down before giggling, placing her index finger thoughtfully to her chin. "And where exactly would you be taking me?"

"When was the last time you had a hot bath?"

"B-b-bath!?"

Jack's brain felt like it just fried itself for a moment, all of his thoughts stopped for a few seconds, like a computer rebooting. Once he regained his center, he coughed slightly, "No, I didn't mean with me."

Clearing her own throat, "Oh." Combing her hands through her head as a tingling sensation moved about her scalp from the miniature feeling of anxiety. "I see… I don't need an escort to the bathing area.."

Rolling his eyes, Jack lowered his hand. "In that case, I'll wait for you in the foyer." His eyes wandered over towards the girls who were pulling at the stickers pasted to their faces.

"You might as well take them with you, so they can get those stickers off."

Arche looked over at her sisters, noticing the stickers on their foreheads and raised a brow. "That's what you were mumbling about Shizu doing?"

"When we first agreed to get your sisters, she had that look in her eye. She puts stickers on anything she likes or thinks is cute."

"Stickers…?"

"Pieces of parchment or paper, with a sticky acidic paste on it that makes it stick to things. I was actually allergic to that stuff as a child. Burnt my skin and left marks for a long time." Jack nodded slowly before scratching the back of his head. "In any case," he closed one eye still looking her over, "Lets go clothes shopping later?"

"Clothes shopping?" She never had a man ask her to go shopping for clothes before.

"Yes," Jack raised a brow slightly, lightly reaching over to poke her on the nose.

Arche almost instinctively swatted his finger away from her face, but ended up capturing his index finger with her own hand. "I… Guess that would be alright." She raised a brow in contemplation, "I'll need a dress, wouldn't I..."

She had sold all of her dresses in order to support her parents, to save her sisters from the hardship they were creating. Now she only had her traveling clothes and various other items.

Since then, she had hardly been home, but now she had a place to live! She wasn't going to need to pay rent, or at least for now anyways. In a way, she was finally free as long as those loan sharks didn't come after her for payment that her parents couldn't put forward.

She almost went blue in the face at the idea of people coming in the night to snatch them away.

Arche's eyes dropped to the ground before she furrowed her brows. Jack had been laying at the end of their bed last night. Had he thought of the same thing? Looking up towards him, she could hardly see a trace of emotion anywhere on him except for that gaze which was stabbing right through her.

That look he gave her, it didn't necessarily let her see his soul, let alone anticipate his thoughts. She couldn't tell if those eyes were claiming her as his, or if they were treasuring her in the moment.

Thinking about this just confused her, as she wanted to know what he was thinking.

"Shizu and Eve can watch the Kids, I'm sure they'll be fine here."

Arche nodded in agreement, he wasn't wrong. "And don't forget the training!"

"How about we start training after you do your bath?"

Cheerfully, Arche seemed to light up like a florescent bulb, "Really?"

With a simple nod, she went to gather the girls before pausing. "Do we have any towels?" Looking back towards Jack who raised a brow at this. He had no idea if they had any towels.

"『Triple Magic』『Create Item』," the moment this spell combination was recited, three white and blue towels materialized along his arm as he would then shift them to his hand. Holding them out to her, she smiled at Jack before taking them and closing the door with her toes.

'Thank you~" Her petite form vanished as the door came to a close, clicking into place.

Jack stood there silently for a good minute, listening to her clothes plop systematically to the ground. Then he turned away from the bedroom and started to walk down the hall, placing two fingers to the right temple of his forehead.

『Message』

"Momon, how's the front in Re-Estize?"

"Huh, Oh? Hey Jack, it's good to hear from you. It seems after you killed those individuals at the Magician's Guild. A Syndicate, called the Eight Fingers, had their operations slowly became exposed by Workers under their employ. Adventurers are being hired to take them out..."

"Hm? Sounds exciting!" Jack was pretty sincere about that, taking down a criminal syndicate sounded like something from one of those old secret agent games from the twenty first century.

"I've also cleared out an entire base owned by the Death Spreading Brigade. It seems only one person got away however..."

"That still sounds rather impressive for this world, wouldn't you think?"

"It is, I was rewarded for taking out SEVENTY bandits along the way."

"Just you and Nabe? That would impress just about anyone..."

"Actually I've met up with some friends of yours it seems. You recall the Swords of Darkness?"

"Oh?" Jack pursed his lips at the idea that he was utilizing the silver ranked adventurers. Perhaps he was going to use them to make a name for himself? They had pretty much the best name to work with too. Out of all the others that were called something strange like Red Drop or Sky Wolf. The Swords of Darkness reflected on Momon's entire being too!

"I was surprised, when I saw a boy that looked just like Eve."

After a short pause hearing Momonga mistake Ninya for a boy, Jack let out a sigh.

"That's not a boy."

"Eh!? So that's how it is..."

"She's a humble one, isn't she?"

"She sometimes says things she shouldn't, but she has knowledge that will be useful to us. I'm rather surprised though…" There was a slight dip for some mediocre suspense before he spoke again, "That you didn't make a move on her."

"Sounds like you're enjoying yourself," Jack said as he tilted his head to the side slightly, pressing the side of his head into his fingers. "Fitting in the role of the Dark Hero...?" He almost ignored his friend's observation. "She seemed to be having problems of her own."

"The whole pretending to be a man, rather than just dressing like one, and searching for her older sister who was taken by nobles. That does seem… Troublesome."

"Besides, I think I found someone of talent on my way to the Empire."

"Oh? Well, go on, tell me more."

"She has a talent to see a magic user's tier casting level, her name is Arche, and she's introduced me to another person who has a similar talent to see through illusions."

"See through Illusions? Wait, does that mean the one you typically use to hide--"

"Yes, he saw right through it."

"...They sound rather dangerous..."

"I've come to liking Arche," his eyes shifted towards an open door, peering inside to see Imina and Termite spooning on a bed, only partially dressed. Reaching into the room, he grasped the nob and closed the door, slamming it.

"I see."

"And the other?"

"His name is Jet, apparently his mother who has worked for Arche's has an incurable disease. I plan on using her to get his allegiance." Jack was planning on offering to cure his mother's ailment in exchange for him working directly under him whilst attending the Academy.

"Though I do have to say… I've also met with the Court Wizard and the Emperor of the Baharuth Empire. It seems the Emperor has no problem talking casually with an unknown like me."

"Interesting, how is the state of the Empire?"

"Other than the not so subtle use of slavery and indentured servitude, it's prosperous. Commoners see a bright future for themselves and it seems the Dukes are directly related to the Emperor."

"The Dukes..." Momonga took note of how the Emperor was known for purging the nobility and yet his blood relatives held noble titles. "How are slaves treated?"

"I can only assume it depends on the buyer, or their masters. Some of them however had apparent evidence of abuse. When I first entered the capital, there were plenty of Elves being auctioned off in the market district, their ears were clipped."

They both came from a world where slavery wasn't apparent, but it was always there right out of the sight. No matter how hard one tried to get rid of it, there was always an upstart in the shadows.

"..."

"I'm also going to be preparing to host a ball… I'd like to invite the Swords of Darkness, you and Nabe to attend as Adventurers. I'll let you know the exact date when it's all arranged."

"I… Don't know how to Dance."

"You never attended a school formal before, when you were in high school?"

"I didn't Dance."

"… So… What rank are you now, in the adventurer's guild?" Jack quickly changed the subject, not necessarily knowing what to say to his friend. He didn't know how to dance, so it would probably be hard to mingle. Especially if he were just standing idly by in a suit of armor.

"Mythril," it seemed that he was able to increase his rank pretty quickly. Jack could definitely foresee seeing that one team leader being jealous of Momon's ability to raise quickly with his talents.

"Climbing the corporate ladder pretty quickly there," Jack smirked to himself, using magic to teleport himself outside and into the Courtyard. His eyes immediately turning towards the front gates.

A young man dressed in an Imperial Academy uniform could be seen entering through the front gates, pausing at the sight of Jack in the distance, before soldiering forward.

"And you're climbing the 'social ladder' abnormally fast, aren't you?"

"You could say that." Jack watched as Jet was making his way towards him with a sturdy stride in each step. "I'll have to talk to you later. The boy from yesterday has arrived."

"It was a good talk, Jack. See you soon?"

"Yup."