"Young master, Don't run too much"
Lina told Free, while he played with flowers in the ignoring her words.
Free examined the flowers in the garden. Unlike those in his old world, these flowers were strange—beautiful enough to seem as though they were glowing.
He placed a hand on one of their stems and tried to pull the flower out from the soil. He pulled with all his strength, or at least all the strength his tiny body could muster.
Thwack!!!.
The flower plucked out from the ground, and Free fell backwards into the dirt, butt first.
"Young Master!"
Lina yelled, helping him to stand up.
"Please be more careful when playing"
she scolded, wiping the mud from his back.
"sowy..."
He apologized, his face down and a little pout on his face.
'I just wanted to see it's roots.... '
"If you understand, be more careful next time"
She finished crossing her arms.
"Lina, it's bathtime for Free now"
Hina's voice came from inside the house.
"Young master let's go now, it's your bathtime"
She picked him up on her arms, Free nodded, letting Lina lift him into her arms.
"yehh"
He said, as Lina calmly walked to the house.
Lina entered in the house with Free in her arms, and headed straight the bathroom where Hina had already prepared the hot water.
"Time to wash up~"
She smiled, taking him from Lina's arms.
Lina stayed there for a few seconds, then left.
While Hina start to take Free clothes off, a chuckle escapee her lips seeing Free's clothes covered in mud.
"Look like you had so much fun outside. Dirt is all over your clothes"
Chuckling as she poured warm water over Free's head, Free closed his eyes feeling the water, not too cold nor too hot.
"I had fun wif Lia!"
Free said, Hina washed his back, now laughing.
Outside the bathroom, on the second floor, Lina sat in her bed after entering her room, and took a seal out from her drawer, staring at its chants she applied.
'This high-tier seals aren't enough to hold young master 's enormous mana now'
she thought, looking at the scripture she wrote in the seal.
Meanwhile–
In the bathroom, Hina finished washing Free, pouring the warm water over his head one last time.
"Now you look cuter"
She complimented, taking him out of the tub.
"Yehhh"
Free cheered, while she clean his body dry with the towel.
'This is very embarassing'
He flinch slightly, and stared outside the room, with his face a little pink.
After Hina finished bathing him, she then fed him lunch, which Free ate silently without complaining about the vegetables. After the lunch, she picked him up and gently swayed side to side to make him sleep.
"Time for a nap"
She muttered.
Staring at Free's eye slowly closing as he drifted to sleep, she then laid him on the bed.
After a short period of time.
Lina entered the room with Hina, Hina picked hom up and held him gently, while Lina carefully applied the new seal, and removed the old one, and the seal she removed had crack from top to bottom, Lina didn't lift an eye brow because it was just normal for her.
"His mana is growing day by day"
Hina stated, concern clinged to her face while one hand was on her chest due to terror.
"But it's growth is a little slow now"
Lina added, observing the new seal in Free's back.
"Free's mana is growing everyday, yet i have never even once saw him use magic"
Hina muttered, sitting on her bed trying not to be worried.
"I know that too, lady Hina. Mana growth depends on how young you start to learn magic yet young master's case is very different"
Lina finished examining the seal, her jaw tightening.
"lady Hina..."
Lina called, hesitating to say it.
"What is it Lina?"
Hina asked, raising an eye brow.
"I-I was thinking..."
"Maybe, we should seal young master's mana using the permanent seal of eternity"
She suggested, gripping the hem of her skirt tightly.
"B-but why!"
Hina yelled, jolted up from her bed.
"I know it's hard but, i am scared that the day isn't far when even the saint-tier seal will be useless"
Lina answered, hesitating to make direct contact with Hina in the eye.
"But we can't do that. A-also that seal can take 2 or 3 years to be made!!"
She said, her hands tightly cleanched, her face turnning ashen.
"I know but we had to. even the seal are cracking, each day i had to create stronger seals just to hold young master's mana for an hour or two"
Lina stated, staring at the seal now slowly cracking and releasing thick energy.
"I know it will be hard but a permanent seal can hold any mana so it might be the best option to do that...."
She added, and left the room leaving Hina alone with Free sleeping peacefully beside her bed.
'A permanent...seal'
Hina thought, and left room afterwards.
After some time–
Free's eyebrow twitched, and he slowly opened his eye, looking left and right then at the door, nobody was around.
"Okay no one is here"
He chanted the healing spell again after making sure nobody was around. His hands slowly release a radiant green light, shining brighter with every passing second.
Meanwhile in the garden Lina was hanging the clothes beneath the clear sky, when footsteps reached her eras.
She glanced behind and saw Hina approaching her.
"Is there a problem lady Hina?"
Lina askef turning to Hina.
"N-Nothing"
Hina answered with a tight heart.
"Lina..."
She softly called, Silence hung between the two for minutes when Hina finally gathered enough courage to finish her words.
".....Make the seal...."
She finished, barely holding herself and left.
Lina silently watched Hina entering the house, and a faint smile appeared om her face.
"You really care about young master's future, lady Hina"
She mumbled, and finished hanging the clothes, then walked toward the house with a new goal...
Create the seal of eternity.
3 years later.....
"Mom! Where is my story book"
Free's calls came from the living room.
He was now taller, no longer pretending to make pronouncation mistakes and older, now 4 years old, his dark shiny hair reflected the sunlight that entered through the window, his eye scanned the room for his book.
"Stop reading books all day, go and play outside sometimes"
Hina replied, coming out from the kitchen with a ladle in hand.
"I don't want to play outside"
Free denied still searching for the book around the living room, even thought his child instincts sometimes took over, he still had an adult's diginity which nobody knows.
"Young Master, you should play with the other children. It'll be good for you."
Lina's voice came from the exit, she cleaned the floor.
"...Fine"
Free replied and ran outside the house.
"Be careful while playing with other kids, also if they cause you some troubles, beat'em up!!!"
Philip adviced, eating his breakfast but suddenly a cold object touchhed his neck.
"Honey~"
Hina's voice reached his ears, and worst, it reached with a sweet tone.
"You should stop telling our son to fight beat up kids you know. Or else....."
She darkly whispered, smiling too sweetly her voice threatening.
"No! I-i mean okay, i won't tell him to beat other kids anymore....but maybe two or three hit is allowed right? "
The moment he finished those sentences.
Clang!.
The ladlelanded on the back of his head, and he fell flat on the table.
"Idiot.... "
Hina said, fixing the bended ladle, she actually hitted him too hard.
Meanwhile outside–
Free was alone underneath a tree, watching other childrens playing happily.
"This is so boooring...."
He watched the kids falling into the dirt then standed up to run, and he himself laid on the grass.
Staring at the blue sky and clouds formung various shapes when he drifted his gaze to his right hand.
He looked left, then right, no one was around. He grined and chanted the usual spell, radiant light green gleamed beneath the tree, turning the plants around him lean to his direction of.
'I don't need to chant anymore'
He thought to himself, now chanting was like breathing for him.
The other children's happy giggles reached his ears, and Free's eye twitched slight, envious of their joyful moments while he was here using his healing magic in secret. He clinged his tounge when someone approached him
"Hey kid!"
A deep loud voice called out, Free quickly deactivated his healing magic and looked back, looking behind to see who called him.
A man in armor stood firm, a large bag in the ground with tents, spare swords and other things for travelling, red hair, red eyes, a scar on his chin that reach his lip, his body was broad and muscular, his shadow towering over him, the man had a big grin on his face, he trudge closer to Free and kneeled down.
"Hey, kid. Do you know where I can find—"
10 minutes later...
At Free's resident, Lina cleaned the dirty cups and plates, Philip had left to his duty only Hina and Lina were at home.
"Lady Hina"
Lina's hands stop brushing the plates and she cleaned her hands with her handkerchief.
"What is it?"
Hina replied, cleaning the dining table.
"The seal is near completion."
Lina informed, her voice was barely above a whisper but Hina heard it clearly.
Her hands stopped, and she turned to Lina, which Lina responded with a clear nod.
"How many days? "
She asked quietly, as if afraid someone might hear her.
"2 more weeks..."
Lina told.
"Okay then, please tell me when the seal is ready"
Hina requested, and left the room after cleaning the table.
"Ye-yes"
Lina nodded, before going back to washing the dishes, her gaze drifted outside the window, and landed on the forest behind their house.
"Mom!"
Suddenly Free called out from outside, the muscular man was beside him standing tall and firm with his large bag.
Hina opened the door, licking her lips too ease the dryness, then her eye landed on the man and she froze. Lina came out right after and she too froze on her steps
"Oh no"
she muttered.
The man responded with a wider grin.
To be continued...