Harbingers of Change

Chapter 25

There were fewer opportunities for solitude as of late. Between his work, duties, his sister, the five children his mother was taking care of, and the two Demon Lords, Mare was not left alone for long. Milim's attention alone was a tad overwhelming but for some reason, Ramiris also decided to spend time with him when Milim was around.

Since today was his day off, he decided to help out Nazarick's librarians to add more books to Tempest's libraries. Combining Creation Skill with auto-translation spells made the process trivial. The harder task was choosing the books.

The rest of the Manga Club members easily covered the manga section, but when it came to regular books, none of them cared that much. The librarians on the other hand mostly concentrated on practical literature, ignoring the stories Mare was fond of.

Picking a few series at random, he quickly made copies of each book and safely stashed them in his inventory, then after a quick cast of gate, he stepped through and into Tempest's royal library to distribute the books.

After making enough copies and giving them to the librarians, he retreated to a quiet corner, pulled out a puff from his inventory, and sat down with his book of choice.

However, his solitude was not as lengthy as he would have wanted.

"Mare! There you are!" Milim's loud voice startled him.

The boy looked up seeing the pink-haired girl running in his direction followed by Ramiris.

"H-Hello. I thought you would be p-playing with Aura today." Mare greeted both.

"She and Buku are busy choosing new clothing and my uncle is nowhere to be seen," Milim explained. 'I hope he doesn't ask additional questions. I don't want to seem too eager to spend time with him.' Milim thought as she sat down beside Mare on the puff, took the book he was reading out of his hands, and replaced it with a manga. "So… I was thinking we could read this one. And don't mind Ramiris. I couldn't get rid of her." Milim said.

'Oh, I'm not losing out to this brute! Mare is too gentle to be left to her.' Ramiris flashed Milim a condescending smile and landed directly in Mare's lap. "I just want to spend time with my friends, and I am a far better company than someone who uses fists for thinking and talking."

Milim scowled at her boldness and audibly gritted her teeth. She pressed closer to Mare and asked. "Do you like this one?" She pointed at the manga book with her index finger.

"I have not read this one." Mare quietly responded. The girl's presence was a tad overwhelming. Milim was a beautiful girl and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't deny her charm.

"Me neither. Let's read it together and hope Milim doesn't spoil the story." Ramiris said as she sat down on his left leg and rested her arm against his for balance.

"S-sure." The boy said with a forcefully calm exhale. 'Why are they glaring at each other?' Mare couldn't help but observe that there was some animosity between them.

He carefully opened the first page and with his reading speed as usual waited for them to do the same. Three of them reading together was becoming a common occurrence.

After a few pages, Ramiris spoke up. "Mare, can you please relax your leg? Your muscles feel like sitting on a rock."

"Sorry." Mare stammered and tried to relax.

"Don't be such a crybaby. I'm sure Mare's lap is soft enough!" Milim exclaimed and used the opportunity to prove her point. She quickly hopped in Mare's lap and pushed Ramiris out.

Mare clamped his legs together and bit the inside of his lip to calm down. Milim was careless before, but her just sitting down in his lap was a new extreme.

"You are such a brute!" Ramiris screeched.

"I am not!" Milim raised her voice. "Mare, do you mind if I sit like this?" She asked, her domineering demeanor all but disappearing mid-sentence.

"N-N-No." The boy somehow managed to get out.

Ramiris, not wanting to back down, flew up and sat on Mare's shoulder, resting against his cheek. 'I will not lose to that brute!' "I have finished the page." She said brushing her face against the boy's soft cheek.

"Me too. Turn the page." Milim said.

While Mare turned the page, she carefully wiggled in to find a more comfortable position and leaned to the side to not block his view. Mare clamped his teeth together, tasting the blood in his mouth and holding the manga, praying that his hands didn't shake too much.

Like Atlas, who held the world upon his shoulders, the boy used all his willpower to keep a calm demeanor while the three of them read page after page.

How long the wondrous torture session went on was impossible to tell, but as with all struggles, it mercifully ended. Milim finally stood up and stretched. "That was fun." She said with a big smile. "Up for reading the next volume tomorrow?"

'What should I tell her!? Her sitting in my lap for half a day was so… so…' His cheeks became beet red. "I have to work tomorrow."

"Aww, Mare, you don't want to spend time with me?" Ramiris asked.

"You? Why would he want to spend time with such a small child? You should grow up first." Milim laughed at her.

"I am older than you and will be back to my old self in a few decades!" Ramiris shouted back.

"Ha, like that will last! Mare, when can we continue?" Milim turned her attention fully to the blushing boy.

"I h-have to work for the next six days. I-I'll be free only in the evening."

"So tomorrow evening?" Milim asked as she held her hands together and shuffled around.

"S-S-Sure." Mare said.

Once both girls were gone, he teleported right to Nazarick's bar and climbed up to one of the tall bar stools. The dimly lit place didn't give an impression of being child friendly but with a wide assortment of non-alcoholic drinks, no restrictions were set on who could visit the establishment.

"What can I get you, Lord Mare?" The mushroom headed bartender approached him.

"Milk… chocolate… with marshmallows," Mare said with a long tired sigh.

"A rough day huh?" Bartender asked as he made Mare's favorite drink with a professional ease, roasting the small marshmallows on top of the drink.

"You could say so." He quietly responded.

As he took a large gulp from the drink, another patron entered the bar.

"Hey, my favorite nephew is here. How are you doing buddy?" His uncle came in and sat down on the stool next to him.

"I'm doing fine, uncle Pero." Mare said with another sigh.

"Aha. You know that your mom created you with me in mind. I know that expression." Pero carefully patted the boy's shoulder doing his best to not scratch him.

Mare let out another sigh and whispered to his uncle the day's events, getting redder by the second.

Pero chuckled and said. "Already having girls chasing you. You'll have to blame the family charms. So you don't like them?"

Mare leaned in and whispered. "I do like them… especially Milim. She is… she is… cute."

"Oh my, then it's time to teach you the ways." Pero motioned at the bartender. "Another glass of milk for my young student and a double sake for me."

"At once, Lord Peroroncino." The mushroom-headed bartender replied.

With great enthusiasm, his uncle explained how to talk with the girls, how to notice what parts of her appearance they are trying to show off, and how to come up with proper compliments.

Finally, despite not having human lips, he went into great detail about kissing and which parts of a girl's body are appropriate to touch. He finished his lecture with a promise to be available whenever Mare had more questions.

The only thing he couldn't explain clearly was how to deal with someone of Ramiris' size. Her body proportions were that of a girl in her early to mid-teens, but her minuscule size made physical interaction mildly problematic.

Armed with the new knowledge and calmed by the delicious drink, he returned to his and Aura's home. Teleporting to the main room he was assaulted by the loud arguing.

"I do not want to wear this, mom!" Aura loudly exclaimed and tossed a schoolgirl costume into the pile of clothes.

"It looks so cute on you. If I can wear cute things, so can you!" Buku shouted back.

"I will not wear a dress, or a skirt, or whatever this is." Aura tossed another piece of clothing aside.

"You are impossible! Do you have any idea how much money I spent on your outfits? Here, at least try this one on." Buku grabbed another piece of clothing from a pile and tossed it at her daughter.

Aura reluctantly accepted the costume and inspected it with an unhappy expression. "Fine, I'll try this one for you, mom."

"And you'll be pretty and make mommy happy." Buku said with a calmer tone.

Mare shifted around, unsure if he should interrupt their moment. Only then did they notice Mare standing at the door.

"I was starting to wonder where you had gone." Buku said. While Aura could lose her sense of time while playing around with friends, Mare never got that distracted. She approached Mare and kissed him on the forehead with a smile.

"I was in the library, reading with Milim and Ramiris, and after that, I went to the bar to get myself a glass of milk and talked with uncle Pero." Mare dutifully reported his activities.

"What did you both talk about?" Buku asked.

"Girls."

Buku's eye twitched. "And what did my brother tell you?"

Mare retold the whole conversation without hiding anything. If his mother wanted to know something he wouldn't even think to lie.

"That's nice." She hugged her son. "Go put on something nice. We are going to the restaurant today."

{ So you talked with Mare? } Buku messaged her brother.

{ H-hey… let's not overreact ok? My nephew needed that information. } Pero responded like he was about to be interrogated with torture.

{ I'm not mad. I wanted to say thank you for handling the topic so delicately. }

{ Who are you and what did you do with my sister? }

{ Take a compliment, birdbrain! }

{ There is my sis. Sure, I couldn't leave my nephew in the dark and I was rather sure I would get murdered if I revealed all the knowledge I could share. }

{ Can I trust you to continue guiding him without going off the rails? }

{ Sure, sis. He doesn't need to know the hardcore stuff yet. That we can keep for his mid-teens. } Pero responded with a laugh.

{ Do you want to die!? } Buku shouted in his mind.

{ Relax, I'm joking. Unless he asks, I won't go into the deep end. After all, remember who you based him on. } Pero messaged, practically hearing that something snapped inside Buku after the realization.

{ He is not you! Mare is a good boy! } Buku responded in clear denial.

{ I'm sure his girlfriends will tell you how good he is. } Pero continued his assault.

{ Stop! } Buku pleaded.

{ Face the facts, sis. He will grow up to be a popular man. But I guess he will be the good boy, compared to your copy. }

{ Good try, but I have come to terms with Aura's personality. Can you not be a bastard for once and not ruin Mare for me? At least for a few years? Please? }

{ Sure, we can pretend that he'll always be a sweet innocent boy. But you better not ask for details about his personal life in a few years. }

{ I know… anyhow, thank you for giving him advice. }

{ Sure thing, sis. }

'He is already interested in girls. But Milim… or Ramiris… hmm, why do I have a feeling that she is more interested in competing with Milim for Mare's attention than my boy. I will have to watch both of them carefully. If either of them hurts my precious boy, I will bury them!'

‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›

"Why are you so mean to me?" Ramiris asked her friend.

After having dinner together, they were hanging out in Milim's quarters. Milim was laying on the sofa, tossing roasted hazelnuts in the air and catching them with her mouth while her tiny friend sat on the coffee table and swung her legs over the edge.

"I'm not mean to you." Milim responded, barely catching the hazelnut which tried to hit her nose.

"You are! Especially around Mare!" Ramiris protested.

"Eh? Really?" Milim asked, surprised.

"You pushed me out of his lap and told me to go away multiple times!"

"I just wanted to spend some time with him, that's all," Milim responded defensively and then went into the attack. "And why do you suddenly want to spend time with him?"

"Ehh… I mean… I like him." Ramiris stammered. 'Why am I doing this? I could just let Milim have a relationship… But I haven't had one either so why should I just give up for her sake?'

"So we are rivals now. I like him too, you know." Ramiris exclaimed. 'I prove to that brute that I am much better than her. A sweet, gentle boy like Mare should go for someone like me.'

"He is alright, I guess. But I like Aura more. She is more fun to play active games with and spar and we like the same manga…" Milim went into a long tirade.

'She has no idea what is happening to her. Poor girl.' Ramiris smirked. 'I can't lose to her. Sure, Mare will grow up much faster than me but…' Ramiris grew concerned with the logistics of any sort of relationship.

As a spiritual being, she never had a relationship of that kind even though many spiritual beings in the past had taken elven and human forms or even modified their spiritual bodies on an occasion.

Her past duties prevented her from following suit but now as a fallen spirit, the only thing she had to worry about was losing power which would not happen if she was careful about it.

'All I have to do is to find a way to accelerate the growth.' She mused as she half-listened to her friend trying to oversell how much better a friend Aura was.

Proofreading by I AM THE STRING CUTTER, Dtrackt, Sad_Smiles, RottenPizza, and Alassandro.

AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (Link is in my profile) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader.