POV: Zenith Greyrat
Some moments etch themselves into your memory, but rarely in the way you expect. They aren't perfect recollections or crystal-clear images. They are fragments: the smell of damp earth, or the sun burning the back of my neck because I'd been kneeling in the weeds for too long.
It was the day before the tutor arrived. Or maybe two days. No, it was definitely the day before; I'm sure of it because that night Paul and I... well, anyway. The important details are the ones that stick.
Daiki had approached me without a sound.
"Oh!" I jumped the moment I felt his small hands tugging at my apron.
"Mom..." He paused. Then a longer silence. "I want to learn magic... Healing magic."
I froze with my hands covered in dirt, not knowing what to do with them. Had I heard that right? My son, who barely spoke to me, who looked at me like a puzzle he couldn't quite solve, was asking me this?
"Healing magic?" I asked, my voice pitching higher than usual.
He nodded.
"I want to be able to help. I don't want to rely only on the sword... And I want to learn from you. With Father, I'll learn the sword style, but what about you?"
"Oh, sweetheart..." I couldn't help myself. I hugged him.
He went rigid for a second before relaxing. He hugged me back, and just like that, I couldn't help but weep into his hair.
"...Mom? Are you crying? I'm sorry if—"
"They're happy tears, sweetie. The best kind I've had in a long time. Just like when you two were born."
I felt foolish having to clarify, but seeing his serious face relax, I couldn't help but smile. Yet, the truth I kept to myself was that I was scared, too. I didn't want this to be temporary. I was afraid that tomorrow he would go back to being that distant child who looked at me like I didn't understand him. And if that's what his eyes were saying, he was absolutely right, because I never had.
With that said, I picked up a torn leaf and showed him the basic incantation. The truth is, I expected him to fail... No, that sounds horrible. But a part of me, a small, selfish part, wanted him to need more time, more attempts, more afternoons with me in the garden.
"Oh, merciful mother of the gods, please heal the wounds of this being and allow them to recover their health!"
He recited it with that voice of his. Part of me was proud. Another part, the one I didn't want to admit to, hoped he would stumble over the words, even just a little.
The leaf regenerated completely. Even so, his face wore that characteristic frown he gets when he's thinking too hard.
"I used too much mana." Daiki stared at the leaf. "I can control it better..."
"But son... You don't decide how much mana the spell has; that's what the incantation is for."
"I know, Mom."
After Rudeus's incident with the intermediate-level spell, I realized Daiki was always dismantling every spell in his head, trying to understand the why of everything.
We practiced.
Two hours? Three? The sun moved across the sky, I remember that much. My left foot fell asleep at some point, and I had to shift it without him noticing. Daiki didn't stop. Question after question. "Why does the mana flow like this?" "What happens if I modify the intent?" I told him he didn't need to understand everything, that the incantation was a guide, but I could see in his eyes that wasn't enough for him.
At some point, we moved on from magic. I pointed out plants, explaining which were for ointments and which were poisonous. And Daiki...
Daiki was smiling.
It was small. Barely visible. But it was there.
This. This is what I needed to see.
That night, I couldn't sleep. Paul asked me what was wrong, and I told him everything all at once, out of order.
"Daiki? Our Daiki?"
"Our Daiki," I confirmed.
I told him about the progress, the questions, the smile. Paul stayed quiet for a moment.
"It's like he carries something we can't see." I settled against his chest. "Like he's afraid to be happy."
Paul hugged me tightly.
"I will protect them..."
Then he kissed me. First gently, like years ago. Then with more urgency.
We were always like this. Any excuse would do. Good news, a hard day, a moment of peace. It didn't matter. We had each other. And that night, after seeing our son smile in the garden, giving myself to the man I loved felt like the only right way to end the day.
*
POV: Daiki Greyrat
I held up my hands to examine them. Today, I had channeled mana for healing. I had touched the "power of life," and it felt different.
We had mastered offensive magic without incantations because the elements are, in essence, simple. Water is water. Fire is fire. Their properties are direct, and we could replicate them based on a clear mental image.
But healing magic... that was a complete enigma.
Perhaps one needed to understand anatomy, but Mother hadn't mentioned anything about that. She only spoke of "healing intent": "The incantation knows. Your only job is to guide it with good intentions."
Maybe the incantation wasn't a biological instruction manual... or maybe it was. However, in my past life, I had dedicated myself to studying the human body, as it was a crucial area to develop if I wanted to handle myself in combat.
Still, perhaps I could use the incantation as a "catalyst"—a tool to concentrate the abstract concept of healing into a concrete action.
Here, the image of healing isn't a wound closing up. That was just the result.
The image is the state prior to the injury... the image of "perfection."
I stood up carefully and approached the small plant we kept by the window. Gently, I plucked one of its leaves and placed it on my palm. I closed my eyes. I didn't think about plant cells; I didn't think about chlorophyll or sap.
Perfect. Whole. Green and full of life. Exactly how it was before I tore it. I held that image in my mind.
Next, I gathered mana. I didn't push it; I guided it. I gave it a single command, not with words, but with the sheer force of my will.
Fix.
I opened my eyes. In my hand, the leaf was whole.
[SUCCESS]
It wasn't impossible. It didn't even take decades of study. It only required a different perspective. An understanding that, perhaps, most people never reached because they leaned too heavily on the crutch of incantations. My analytical mind hadn't been a barrier. It had been the key that allowed me to decipher the true mechanism in a single afternoon.
I went back to my bed, holding the healed leaf.
Protect, heal, fix.
Now, those weren't just words. They were skills I could begin perfecting starting today. I closed my eyes, remembering the strange warmth I felt in my chest when Zenith hugged me.
"A beautiful heart," she had said.
Maybe, if I worked hard enough, if I used this understanding not just to be strong but to help... I could become someone who deserved those words. With that last thought, I finally allowed myself to rest.
***
Third Person
The next day, the tutor arrived... and the surprise was enormous.
"I am Roxy. Pleased to meet you."
Expecting a tutor, they had surely imagined someone of a certain age and experience. But standing there was a very young girl.
"S-so you are, um... the tutor, right...?"
"Um, y-you... you look quite..." Since their parents didn't even know how to address her, both brothers decided to be direct.
"You're pretty small," Rudeus and Daiki said in unison, unplanned.
"You two aren't exactly in a position to talk..."
She shot the comment back without hesitation. Had they touched a nerve? Roxy let out a sigh.
"Haa... So, which students am I supposed to teach?"
She looked around with an annoyed expression.
"Ah, they are right here."
Zenith introduced them both while holding their hands. Rudeus responded with a cheerful wink. Daiki simply bowed his head slightly, observing her with those expressionless eyes.
Roxy's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Rudeus... and she sighed again. But when her gaze landed on Daiki, there was a pause. Something in those eyes unsettled her for a second.
"Haa... every now and then, you know, there are those types of foolish parents who think their children have talent just because they developed a tiny bit faster..."
She muttered it as if it were nothing.
"Is there a problem?" Zenith asked with a smile, making Roxy nervous.
"No, although honestly, I don't believe children of this age can comprehend magical theory."
"Don't worry, our children are incredibly bright!"
A comment born of blind maternal love, courtesy of Zenith.
Roxy sighed again, resigned.
"Haa... fine. I will do what is within my power."
Paul intervened then, crossing his arms.
"By the way, Roxy. Rudeus will be your primary student. Daiki will train in swordsmanship with me in the mornings, so you will only be able to give him magic lessons in the afternoon."
Roxy blinked, confused.
"One in the morning, the other in the afternoon?"
"Daiki shows a natural interest in swords," Paul explained with barely contained pride. "He's going to be a swordsman mostly. But Zenith insists he learns some magic as well."
Roxy looked at the two children in front of her. Rudeus seemed excited, practically bouncing in place. Daiki remained still, watching her with an intensity that didn't fit a three-year-old child.
"I see..." Roxy murmured. "This will be... interesting."
Apparently, she concluded that arguing would be useless.
And so, in the mornings, Rudeus would have magic classes with Roxy while Daiki trained in the sword with Paul. In the afternoons, they would switch: Rudeus would train with Paul, and Daiki would receive his magic lessons.
"Alright, first this magic manual... no, before that, let's test how well you can use magic, Rudy."
In the first class, Roxy took Rudeus to the garden. Daiki watched them from his bedroom window, holding a book as a disguise.
"First, an example. Let the great blessing of water answer your call, let the clear current of a stream spring forth here and now... Water Ball!"
A water bullet appeared in her palm. It was the size of a basketball. It launched at high speed toward one of the garden trees...
Crack!
It snapped the trunk like a twig and soaked the entire fence.
From the window, Daiki watched with interest.
"Yeah. That tree is one Mother has been tending to carefully, so I think she's going to be angry."
"Eh? Really?"
"I have no doubt."
Daiki smiled faintly from his position.
The scene unfolded just as Rudeus had predicted. Roxy panicked, used healing magic, and Rudeus praised her effusively. From the window, Daiki observed the interaction with a mixture of amusement and analysis.
"Alright, Rudy, you try."
Rudeus deliberately skipped the incantation, launching a water ball slightly smaller and slower than Roxy's.
Holding back. Smart.
The tree fell with a crack-crack-crack.
"Did you skip the incantation?"
"Yes."
"Do you always skip it?"
"I always... skip it."
From the window, Daiki saw Roxy's expression shift from surprise to fascination. He knew that look. It was the same look people had given him in his past life when he demonstrated "impossible" skills.
"...This boy is definitely worth training."
And then came the scream.
"Ahhhh!"
Zenith. The broken tree.
Daiki closed his book and walked down the stairs calmly. He arrived just in time to see Roxy receiving the scolding, with Rudeus looking guilty off to the side.
"Miss Roxy! I ask that you do not use our trees as a testing ground!"
"Eh? B-but that was Rudeus who did it...!"
"Even if it was Rudy, it was you who made him cast the spell!"
Roxy slumped mentally, defeated.
Zenith repaired the tree with healing magic and went back inside the house, but not before noticing Daiki standing nearby.
"Daiki? What are you doing here, honey?"
"Just observing," he replied in his neutral tone. "I wanted to see how Sensei Roxy teaches. To understand her method before my own lesson."
Zenith smiled with that warmth that always made him feel strange inside, stroking his black hair.
"Your turn will be later, after lunch. For now, let Rudy finish his lesson. And tomorrow you'll start sword training with your father... If you get hurt, just yell, okay? Your mother will heal you immediately."
Daiki was about to mention that he could heal himself now, that he had achieved voiceless healing magic the night before. But he stopped when he saw his mother's expression.
"Yes, Mom..." Daiki's voice sounded odd, carrying that nervousness that still appeared automatically when he received direct displays of maternal affection.
He didn't argue. He just nodded.
Zenith kissed his forehead before leaving, leaving him standing there with slightly flushed cheeks.
After lunch, it was Daiki's turn.
Roxy was still visibly affected by the morning's incident. She was sitting on the ground in the garden, in the shade of the same tree that had been snapped in half twice, wearing a defeated expression. She looked like she was about to start drawing spirals of despair in the dirt with her finger.
"Hello." Daiki's quiet voice snapped her out of her mental spiral.
Roxy looked up slowly. Daiki was standing in front of her.
"Daiki...?"
"The lesson. It's my turn." He spoke calmly, almost expressionless. But there was something in his eyes that made Roxy straighten up automatically.
"Ah, yes. You're absolutely right." She stood up quickly, dusting off her robe. "Right, then... I suppose we'll start the same way as with your brother. First, let me see if you can—"
"I can," he interrupted calmly.
He extended his small hand forward.
A water sphere appeared floating above his palm. It was the exact size of the ones Roxy had demonstrated that morning. It shot up into the sky.
Roxy froze, eyes wide.
"I... also skip incantations. Have been for months."
He extended his hand again, but this time it was different.
Healing magic. Beginner level, clearly, but functional.
Roxy's eyes went round as saucers.
"Is that...? Healing magic? WITHOUT an incantation?"
"Yes. I learned it yesterday with Mom." Daiki let the light fade. "It's still basic. Beginner level according to standard classification. But it works."
"YESTERDAY!?" Roxy grabbed her head with both hands, clutching her blue hair. "Wait, wait, wait a moment. Are you telling me you learned healing magic YESTERDAY and you can already cast it without an incantation TODAY?"
"Technically, I achieved voiceless casting last night," Daiki corrected. "Yesterday I only learned the basic incantation."
Roxy opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. No words came out.
"Since... since when can you do elemental magic without an incantation?" she finally asked, her body on the verge of collapse.
"Since I read the book. Months ago."
"How long have you been practicing regularly?"
"Since then. Daily practice when no one was looking."
Roxy sat back down on the ground, but this time it wasn't from emotional defeat. It was from pure, uncontrollable shock.
"Two brothers," she muttered to herself, staring into the void. "Two absolute prodigies. Both with voiceless magic. One of them with voiceless healing after a single day..." She looked up at Daiki. "What kind of family is this...?"
Daiki watched her with a neutral expression, tilting his head slightly.
"Sensei, are you alright? You look pale." Although she was already very pale to begin with.
Roxy blinked several times, processing.
"'Sensei'?" she repeated slowly. "What does that mean?"
"A word my brother and I invented," Daiki explained with an excuse he had just come up with. "It means 'teacher,' but with a deeper level of respect. For someone who teaches us something truly important, not just information but wisdom."
Something warm and completely unexpected shot through Roxy's chest. That serious, analytical child, who looked at her with eyes far too old for his face, had just addressed her with a special term of respect.
Not "Miss Roxy" as his mother had politely instructed, but something he and his brother had created specifically to show genuine respect toward those they considered worthy.
And she had been included in that category from the very first moment.
"I see..." she murmured, feeling a small smile form on her lips despite the shock. "I... I really like that. You can call me that."
"Understood, Sensei."
Roxy covered her face with both hands, taking several deep breaths to process everything. Then she lowered them and looked at Daiki with renewed determination.
"Alright. If both you and your brother can use voiceless magic at this level, then my job here is completely different from what I anticipated." She stood up. "I'm not going to teach you the basics you already master. That would be insulting your intelligence and wasting valuable time. I am going to teach you advanced control. Surgical precision."
"Understood. I appreciate the appropriate approach."
"But first..." Roxy looked at him with professional seriousness. "I need to know something important. Why do you want to learn magic if your father has already decided you will be a swordsman?"
Daiki considered the question carefully. He couldn't tell her the full truth about their past lives, about death, about the desire to never be powerless again. But he could give her something real.
"Because the sword has inherent limits," he replied calmly. "Magic has them too. But together..." He paused, choosing his words with precision. "Together they can cover each other's fundamental weaknesses. A swordsman who cannot attack at range. A mage vulnerable in close combat."
Roxy blinked several times. That wasn't an answer she would expect even from an advanced University student, let alone a three-year-old child.
"I see," she said slowly, reevaluándolo completely. "You are... very different from your brother."
"We are twins." Daiki nodded. "But we are not the same in personality or approach."
"Clearly." Roxy sighed, but this time it was a sigh of acceptance. "Rudeus is enthusiastic and expressive. You are..." she searched for the right words "...methodical. Analytical. Quite polite."
"My father says I think too much. He is probably right."
"No." Roxy shook her head. "For magic, thinking too much is exactly what you need. Theory requires deep analysis." A small smile appeared on her face. "I think you are going to be an excellent student, Daiki."
Something warm moved in Daiki's chest. Genuine recognition. Not for being "special" or "different," but for being exactly who he was.
"Thank you, Sensei."
"You're welcome." Roxy adjusted her robe.
*
*
*
That Night
After Zenith tucked them in with motherly care, kissed each of them on the forehead, and closed the door softly, Rudeus and Daiki remained awake.
"How did it go with Roxy?" Rudeus asked in Japanese.
"I showed her voiceless magic immediately. She was surprised."
"Did you tell her you've been practicing for months?"
"Yes. It seemed appropriate to establish context."
Rudeus let out a soft, amused laugh.
"Now she thinks we're both unprecedented prodigies."
"And aren't we, technically?" Daiki asked with a subtle touch of irony that only appeared when talking to his brother. "You used to faint with just three consecutive spells at the beginning. Now you can cast more than thirty in a row without fatigue." He paused. "Although I must admit you have surpassed me by far in total mana capacity. Your reserve is considerably larger than mine."
In the dark, Rudeus smiled with genuine pride at his older brother's words of recognition.
Silence settled between them for a moment, comfortable and familiar.
"Rudy" Daiki said finally. "Roxy is genuinely a good teacher. She has real combat experience, practical applied knowledge, not just book theory."
"I know." Rudeus nodded. "I'm going to learn a lot from her. More than I could ever learn just from books."
"I will too. Her methodological approach complements my learning style well."
"But..." Rudeus hesitated for an instant. "Be careful, brother. Don't reveal too much at once. You already showed voiceless magic on the first day. If you show progress too quickly or skills that are too advanced..."
"Too late for that warning." Daiki sighed. "I showed her that I learned healing magic... also without an incantation. On the first day."
"WHAT!?" Rudeus sat up abruptly in his bed, turning to look toward where he knew his brother lay. "I told you to be careful about revealing too much!"
"I got too excited... I wanted to demonstrate that I had understood the fundamental concept."
"That is VERY suspicious!" Rudeus scolded him in a low voice. "Voiceless healing magic after a single day! What were you thinking?"
"In retrospect, I wasn't thinking with enough caution."
Rudeus let out a long sigh, dropping back onto his bed.
"It's done now. We can't go back. Just... try not to show any more 'miracles' for a while."
"Agreed. I will be more careful."
A slightly awkward silence settled between them.
"Rudy..."
"Yes, Brother?"
"Try to be more subtle with your... observations."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I saw where you looked when the wind lifted Roxy's robe."
"I-I... that was..." Rudeus blushed. "That was an involuntary reflex!"
"I'm just warning you." Daiki kept his tone neutral. "We have the bodies of children. We must act as such before outside observers. That kind of... interest is characteristic of someone much older."
A deeply uncomfortable silence.
"Daiki. Am I a good brother? Do I make you feel... alive? Like this life is worth it?"
The question took Daiki completely by surprise. He stayed silent for several seconds, processing the raw vulnerability in his brother's voice.
"Of course you do," he replied without hesitation. "I'm still getting used to all this, it's true. To having a family, being loved, everything. But... it feels good. Really good. To have a family that cares again."
"I think exactly the same." Rudeus fixed his gaze on the ceiling. "I thought I had lost everything forever. That my life had ended in that dark, pathetic room. But with you here, in this new life, I realize that even though life takes away brutally, sometimes it also gives back. And it even gives back twice as good as what it took."
"If I had known you in that life... Believe me, I would have done everything possible to break that barrier of emptiness that consumed me. I would have wanted to help you. I wouldn't have given up on you."
"I know." Rudeus turned toward the wall. "But you arrived late. Too late for that life. Big brother."
The bitter irony of those words hurt in a strange and deep way. Big brother. Only by a few minutes difference at birth, but the title felt significant in ways neither of them could fully explain.
Daiki grabbed his pillow and threw it with calculated precision.
It hit him directly in the face.
Rudeus let out a breathless laugh, wiping away the tears he didn't want to show even in the darkness.
"Now go to sleep." Daiki retrieved his pillow and arranged it carefully. "Tomorrow I have to officially start sword training with our father. I've been practicing in secret, you know. I'm sure he'll react similarly to how Roxy reacted today when she found out about us."
"That, or he'll throw a huge celebratory party in honor of his swordsman heir." Rudeus turned back around. "You took a burden off me that I never wanted to carry. I'll always be grateful to you for that."
"I know." Daiki smiled. "That's what big brothers are for, right? Carrying the heavy expectations. Even if it's only because of a few minutes difference."
"The best minutes of my life. The minutes when I was born second."
"Goodnight, little brother."
"Goodnight, big brother."