Walking towards the exit of the now burning building, I cast a quick face-obscuring spell just to make it a little bit harder for people to identify me. I had no doubts that some people were watching and observing everything right now, so I didn't need to give them my image too…
I sensed most of these people by now, and I say "most" because I had this nagging feeling that there were more I couldn't sense—some gods, maybe? Eh, at the moment, I couldn't find it in me to give a flying fuck about anything other than leaving this place…
Thus, I did the only logical thing I could in this situation: I added more magic to the flames and created a firestorm, obscuring the immediate field of vision. I also started casting any and all disguise spells I knew while simultaneously casting the most powerful protection spells on the baby—just to be on the safe side—and then apparated away with the intent of finding a hospital.
If I didn't have a large magical reserve and incredibly fast magical energy regeneration, I have no doubt I would have depleted myself by now—that's just how much magic I spent casting all those spells.
Spells tended to take more magic here for some reason, not that I am complaining…
My apparition brought me to a place I thought I wouldn't go to anytime soon, but I guess I was wrong because here I was, standing in London Bloomsbury—I recognized the area as soon as I looked around—and of course I would; I passed these streets daily on my way to college…
'I definitely know where to find a hospital here,' I thought as I hurriedly walked towards the hospital, arriving at my destination in minutes.
I didn't care about the looks I received as soon as I entered the hospital, nor did I bother asking questions—I just cast a wide-area compulsion spell to take care of the flies, followed by a quick 'Imperio' on the closest nurse, whom I instructed to take the baby for a thorough check-up. Then I went to another nurse, did the same, but asked her to bring me as many bottles of breast milk as she could for the baby…
Sigh~ now I can relax a little~, I thought as I slowly exhaled and sat down…
Now that I had a few moments to breathe and think, I needed to decide what to do next…
I also needed to think about what happened today, but that was still too fresh for me to process now…. so maybe later.
How should I continue from here? Do I find a home or an orphanage for the baby? Do I leave her here in the hospital? What do I want to do?
I asked myself a lot of questions, not because I didn't know what to do but because I did; I just wanted to stop for a second and actually think about it…
A part of me was telling me that I'm a teenager and I can't tie myself down with responsibilities, that I haven't enjoyed life, and haven't even had sex yet…
Another part was thinking about the baby herself, going like, 'What if I mess her up? I'm not qualified to raise children—I can barely take care of myself...
No matter how different parts of me struggled with the idea, in the end, all of this was pointless. I already knew what I'd do the moment I laid my eyes on that little ray of sunshine…
Taking a deep breath and exhaling loudly, I calmed myself down and took control of my emotions again—allowing my emotions free rein when I am not used to it is not a good idea…
As for the baby, I am taking her with me. I made a commitment the moment I saved her, so I'll ensure she grows up healthy and strong…
If she grew up to be like me, then that's great because no matter how messed up I believe myself to be, at least I am not ordinary, and that's enough …
Plus, the baby isn't fully human either, and I can't, in good conscience, leave her with other kids because what if something happens and she unintentionally harms another child? I can't have her live with that kind of trauma. Or what if a supernatural being finds her and takes her?
Yeah, the cons outweigh the pros here, and that's all the justification I need…
'It might even turn out to be fun,' I thought, feeling a little gleeful~~
I refocused and started sensing around to locate the nurse who took the baby. I soon found the baby's energy signature moving away from the hospital before I could even locate the nurse.
WTF????
She was being carried out by someone with an above-average magical reserve—that's definitely not a hospital staff member; I checked…
I appeared in front of them instantly. I had never used apparation as fast as I did just now. As soon as I arrived, I made sure there was no escape inside my domain, making the glowing magical circle that was on the ground fizzle and dissolve into glowing motes of magic…
I looked at the man who dared to touch my baby—he was a black-haired man in a three-piece suit. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, with a trimmed beard and all that, but I didn't keep my focus on him for long. I just froze him in place and slowly walked up to him, carefully taking the baby out of his hands and casting a few diagnosis spells just to be safe…
She was fine, peacefully sleeping, seemingly oblivious to everything around her, which, upon reflection, is exactly how it should be… she was a baby…
On the other hand, the kidnapper was trying his best to free himself. He tried releasing his magic, reinforcing his body, but to no avail… he was inside my domain, and unless he was a god in disguise, then he had no chance of opposing my authority…
I didn't have time to question him, so I just used 'Legilimency' to dive straight into his mind.
Mind magic sure is convenient…
Upon searching his memories, I discovered that all of this was a coincidence. He was already in the hospital before I arrived, looking for a child with magical potential so that he could take it and try to raise it in hopes of restoring his fallen house to its former glory—and that's when he found her. I didn't bother with him any longer; I just had my Grimoire copy the rest of his memories and struck him with a quick killing curse…
He dared to lay hands on what belongs to me, and that was enough reason for me to un-live him…
Soon after, I returned to the hospital as if nothing had happened, found the nurse I had tasked with finding milk, took the bottles she had, and left.
It was already clear that today was not my day, so I planned to check on her myself when I got home; I just had to transfer all the information I have on healing magic directly into my mind.
But before that, I went about controlling some people to buy baby clothes, diapers, and other necessities before heading home.
As soon as my foot touched the ground, the baby started crying. Even though I had cast protection on her when I apparated home, I didn't use as much magic as the first time, which made her voice her discomfort very loudly—that or she was hungry—I didn't know… I don't speak baby…
Still, I took the milk, cast a warming charm on the bottle, animated the teat to provide a realistic nibbling feel, and put it in her mouth—that quickly silenced her as she began her meal.
Now I had new clothes, diapers, and two more bottles of milk. I just needed to secure more breast milk for her—from a human, a devil, and a vampire.
She was a tribrid, so I wasn't sure if drinking only human breast milk would have any adverse effects on her….
'This baby thing might turn out to be more stressful than anticipated,' a thought passed through my head, making me sigh…
Anyway, I got back to work and transfigured one of the chairs into a bassinet, added some temperature regulation and cushioning charms, and placed her there.
Now, I just needed to quickly transfer whatever knowledge was urgent: medical spells and enchantments?.
'Yeah, let's focus on that first'.
I sat cross-legged, took a deep breath, and entered my mindscape. I retrieved my Grimoire, repeating the same process as before—this also meant the consequences would be the same, and judging by just how quickly my mental energy was being consumed, I knew I would have one hell of a headache—and I was right…
I could alleviate the severity of the headache by converting some of my magic to mental energy, which I did…
I'm gonna have to find a better way to do this soon…
The cries of the baby brought me back to reality; her loud cries didn't help with my headache, but what can you do…? I quickly stood up and went to see what had happened, only to find out the answer to that by the smell alone.
I undid the dirty diaper and vanished it, then cast a 'Scourgify' followed by a dozen more cleaning and air-freshening charms. I then put a new diaper on her and clothed her with her new clothes—which I didn't forget to cast more than a dozen cleaning and sterilizing spells on—just as a precaution. Then I just rocked her for a while, and she went back to sleep.
'Ugh, now I need to learn how to take care of a baby aside from everything else, don't I?' I asked myself….
x_
-Sairaorg-
I was on my way to take a shower after a very hard training session that may or may not have involved wearing weights while Liban used his Gravity Jail Sacred Gear on me while I fought Bulga, Ladora, and Regulus in hand-to-hand combat…
'I wonder if Harry finished the gravity chamber; that would make our training much more fruitful…'
Hearing hurried footsteps coming my way, I looked back and saw Kuisha heading my way with her hand stretched forward, showing me her devil phone. Raising an eyebrow, I stopped and walked back to meet her halfway to see what was so urgent that she was hurrying like that.
"Sai, read this!" Kuisha urged me.
With a puzzled expression, I took the phone from her grasp to see what was happening, and that's when the headlines caught my attention.
* [East Territory of Tapes Vampire Faction is Up in Flames]
* [The Elusive Sage Has Finally Made His First Move: Sources Confirm That the Elusive Sage Was Behind the Attack]
* [New Type Demonic Flames: Satan Leviathan Denies Devil Race Involvement]
* [The Tapes Faction Representative Announces a Bounty of 10 Kg of Gold for the Elusive Sage's Identity]
'What in Satan's name is this?' I thought as I read the headlines…
I started reading the articles, which were more speculation than actual news. I couldn't help but frown… I started wondering about what actually happened and why Harry would do this…
Sure, they were vampires, and no one was going to miss them, but this situation was also out of the ordinary for Harry. He was someone who would rather stay in his hut and research than actually go outside…
Everything in here was either speculation or veiled accusations, but the one thing everyone seemed to agree on was that "the Elusive Sage" was behind the attack on the vampires.
'Sigh, I need to warn Harry about the consequences of his actions,' I thought as I handed the phone back to Kuisha.
I already knew who the Elusive Sage they were speculating about was, but the rest of the world didn't—at least, not yet.
I didn't want to be the one to announce Harry's identity either, so I'd just keep the information about his identity to myself, as would my peerage.
Still, I needed to visit Harry later and ask him about this...
I looked at Kuisha, who was still standing there waiting for me to decide what to do, and said,
"Go and get some more books on magic, along with the books he asked about last time. We are going to visit Harry and ask him about this ourselves after I get ready."
Kuisha, however, didn't move to execute his order. Instead, she looked worried and asked, "Sai, don't you think it's time to inform the Satans about him?"
"No. If we do that, we'll only aggravate him and earn an enemy we don't need. You've seen the results of our investigation. Even though the world thinks differently, we certainly know that he didn't know about the supernatural side of the world for long, and yet when we first met him, he was already at the peak of high-class...
Even though his control over his magic is superb, you could still feel it—this begs the question: how has he not been found out yet? The most likely answer is that he is being hidden from the supernatural side of the world by someone very powerful, and I don't want to make an enemy out of whoever it was that can hide him from the world." —
I took a deep breath and continued with a cheerful tone: "Besides, I like him, and I want to be friends with him, so I won't inform anyone about him unless he says it's okay. I might even succeed in making him our contracted magician."
"Sigh, as you wish,"
'She sounds tired,' I thought as I saw her head back…
Still, the real reason for my caution was the fact that I didn't want him to be an enemy of the devil race. I had seen the results of the background check we did, and the last thing the devil race needed was a prodigy with a grudge…
Plus, Harry liked to keep to himself. He was a prodigy who had already finished his advanced education and enjoyed researching things. There's also the fact that Harry wouldn't go out of his way to make enemies, so why would I do it for him?
I am a devil, so I knew just how arrogant and foolish most of my race is. I had no doubt that if they learned Harry's identity, some would try something stupid like trying to force him into their peerage, and that would only get them killed, which, in turn, would spark a conflict that could drag the entire devil race into war—and I didn't like wars…
— — — — —
**-Harry-**
I had decided to name the baby Elizabeth Potter because I couldn't think of another name, but hey, it worked.
'My daughter,' I gleefully thought as I watched her sleep with her cute little hands wrapped around the milk bottle…
She had little hair on her head, very cute crimson and white. Her skin was still a little bit wrinkled, but that would go away in a few days if my estimate about her growth was correct…
'I think I need more data on babies to make more accurate estimations…
Now that she was asleep, it was time I started making my mindscape better and more efficient.
I had procrastinated for long enough, but now that I had a working theory that would solve most of my current problems, it was time I tried it…
I relaxed and dove into my mindscape and started looking around. I knew how to go about improving it; I just wasn't sure if it would work... My mindscape looked like I had an office in the middle of the void, which was cool and all, but it was not efficient—now, I needed to change it.
This was what happened when you just wanted something to be a certain way just because it looked cool…
I started slowly circulating my magic and converting it into mental energy first because I was going to need more mental energy than I currently had to create what I was planning… So after I had enough, I rested for about five minutes for my magic to fully regenerate and to get used to the feeling of having an excessive amount of mental energy inside my mindscape.
I started by drawing a little bit of my null energy to use as a base, then added mental and magic energy to it, and began by transforming the wall-less, cool office representation of my mind into a full-blown building-like structure…
Then I added three smaller ones and connected them to it, marking my first step into having parallel minds…
I couldn't add more because I still needed to get used to this first. There was also the fact that I couldn't just change stuff and expect everything to function the way I wanted; I needed more information, insights, and experience.
Anyway, creating the new rooms established representations of prototype information processing centers that were linked to the main one as a way to offload the stress of information overload. Plus, more than one information processing center made it so much easier to get things done simultaneously…
I returned to the central room again and started making some changes. I created bookshelves all around the room, made a new book that functioned like an index, and placed it on my desk. Then I organized the books into different sections on the shelves of the new library, labeling their contents, such as stories, magic, science, etc. Each had its own section.
I couldn't do more because this was the most I could safely manage at the moment. I still needed the rest of the energy I had to actually create these prototype minds and strengthen the connection between them.
…After I was done, I exited the central room and began walking around to get a better look at what I had built.
Looking at it now made me wonder: if anyone ever entered my mind and tried to navigate through this void, would they even find this place? I didn't think they would. If I didn't know that the rooms were there because I built them—and of course, because it was my own mind—I wouldn't find anything. Everything they would see here was just void-like blackness.
I thought it was a great idea to have these minds built with this void-like exterior because no one but me would know where they were; all they would see was void.
Hehehehe.
*Knock knock knock…*
*Waahhh~*
A door-knocking sound brought me back from admiring my handiwork and woke my daughter up too. I sensed Sairaorg and Kuisha together at the door, but they could wait. I had to take care of my baby girl first, so I went and carefully picked her up and tried to calm her down while making my way to the door.
I opened the door distractedly as I rocked my daughter back and forth slowly…
"Make it quick; as you can see, I have a baby to coax back to sleep, so I don't have time for anything else," I told them while trying my best to calm my daughter down…
"What? Harry!! Where did you get a baby? Why? How? When?…." Sairaorg was the first to speak.
His voice was loud as he started freaking out a little, so I glared at him, casting a noise-canceling spell around the baby.
"Are you an idiot? Why are you yelling around a baby?" I yelled at him, making him stop his panicky fit and scratch the back of his head while smiling sheepishly.
"Ugh!! Just come in and close the door behind you," I said as I went inside. I found the milk bottle that was still unfinished and gave it to her.
"Hey, you can't give a baby stale and cold milk," Kuisha said and started moving toward me.
'Thanks for the information, Miss Obvious,' I thought sarcastically.
"The charms I put on the bottle are still active, so the milk is still fresh and warm!" I said while holding the milk for the baby to drink—I would have made it float like before, but I just didn't want her out of my hands for now…
I conjured two armchairs for the guests while I sat down on my own sofa, still holding my baby and her milk in my hands…
"So, what do you want, Sairaorg? As you can see, my time is limited for the foreseeable future, so make it quick…" I started the conversation without even looking at the guy...
I was focused on the baby, who, by the way, had suddenly started to stink…
'Oops, looks like we have a stinky situation.'
"Ah, right… Harry, first of all, could you tell me where you got the baby from?" he asked—it was clear from his tone that he was still on this…
'He is going to keep pestering me for answers, isn't he?' I thought as I looked at him…
I didn't answer right away, though. I stood up, made my way to the table, cast a Cushioning Charm on it, and laid the baby on her back.
"The baby? Well, I stumbled upon a scene I didn't like yesterday, killed about twenty vampires, give or take a few, and she was the only survivor, so I took her," I started talking, answering his question while casting a charm to make the bottle stay upright so she could keep drinking her milk. I summoned a diaper from my room first and put it aside…
"That too, why did you go to Romania in the first place?" he asked again.
"Huh, I was in Romania? I didn't know that. As I told you, I just stumbled there," I replied distractedly while taking the spoiled diaper and casting a Vanishing Spell on it—making it disappear.
"Can you give a straight answer to a question just this once? You can't stumble halfway across the globe, Harry. So stop stalling and tell us what happened, please?" It was Kuisha's turn this time. From her tone, I could tell she was getting impatient, so I decided to tease her a little more.
"How would you know that? Did you try? Were you spying on me again?" I asked sarcastically.
I cast an Air Freshening Charm first and then started to clean the baby using a Water Charm, not forgetting to keep the water warm, and then vanishing the dirty water afterward.
"Sai, you talk to him. I don't want to waste time arguing with him," she told Sai in a resigned tone.
Not cool, girl—not cool. I was starting to enjoy our little game.
"Ahem, Harry, I'm still confused. What happened? Why did you have to kill them in the first place? You could have just left," Sairaorg's inquisitive voice sounded…
I had just finished wiping and drying the baby down and was holding the baby powder in my hand, debating whether to put it on her or not.
I mean, I hadn't applied it on her before, so maybe I should?
His question, though, made me unconsciously squeeze the powder bottle, causing it to shoot baby powder everywhere. I reacted quickly, though, casting a Tidying Charm, which, by the way, worked fabulously in clearing the powder and making everything around tidy and neat.
I turned my head and looked him dead in the eye, telling him in a deadly serious tone: "They killed children; there wasn't another option for them."
I then returned to my task, casting more cleaning charms on the baby just to be safe and putting a clean diaper on her.
"Did you at least make it painful?" he asked back in a deadly serious voice—Hah, I knew I liked him for a reason…
"Like you wouldn't imagine. They died in soul-shattering agony," I replied calmly while changing the baby into new clothes—what? I didn't know how many times I would need to change a baby's clothes—I figured I'd just do it every time she made a mess.
"That's good," Sairaorg said, sighing in relief.
"Ask him about the demonic flames he used," Kuisha's not-so-hushed voice interjected.
I had just finished dressing Elizabeth when he relayed her question to me.
"And what about the demonic flames that kept burning any and all vampires around the city while ignoring most of the humans? Do you know how many articles were written about them?" he asked. His second question sounded sarcastic to me for some reason.
I picked up Elizabeth and headed back to my seat, sitting down and starting to rock her slowly so she would go back to sleep.
"Oh, that was my 'Diabolica' flame, a spell of mine designed to disintegrate anything I consider an enemy and protect whatever I tell it to. I don't know when a magician capable of extinguishing it arrived, but it should have at least tripled its basic power in an hour," I explained to Sairaorg while still watching the baby drift off to sleep.
"Well, it was Satan Leviathan who extinguished the flames. She didn't comment on how strong it was, but people at the scene said it was extremely powerful," he told me.
I raised my head to look at him and found him staring at his devil phone, clearly searching for something—I still hadn't used mine because the nerd in me decided to open it and study it first—I still hadn't put it back…
"Anyway, what are you going to do with the baby? Are you really going to raise her yourself?" Kuisha asked, clearly unable to stay silent for long.
"Well, yeah. How hard could it be to raise a baby when you have magic that can do everything?" I answered her question with a question of my own.
"Well, if that's what you want," Sairaorg cut in, adding, "We brought you the books we talked about last time and more… Are you sure you will have time to fulfill your end of the deal? It's okay if you can't; we can figure something else out…"
"Oh, nice. Well, just leave them there, please," I said, pointing towards the counter, and then continued, with a voice filled with confidence, saying: "And yes, don't worry; I will be done in two days at most."
The baby was already asleep, so I stood up and went to let her continue her sleep in her bassinet. I didn't forget to cast a Noise-Cancelling Charm again so our voices wouldn't wake her. Then I returned to my seat.
"Okay, Harry, now that the baby is asleep, let's get into the most important thing—you should know that the whole supernatural world is searching for you at full force again, especially the Yokai faction. Try not to do something that attracts more attention to yourself—it wouldn't take long for them to find you this time because whatever method obscured your identity before might not work this time, and I thought you should know," Sairaorg informed me in a serious tone.
"Don't worry about it; I'm designing a new ward scheme to tackle this issue. It should buy me a year or so to get my shit together," I told them, making Sairaorg raise an eyebrow in surprise and Kuisha look at me with doubt written all over her face.
"Well, if you're so sure, then have it your way. We should get going now," Sairaorg said, and then added, "Oh, and I am going to have Kuisha leave a summoning paper for you to call us when you're done preparing, so that she can bring you to our house."
"Hmm, okay," I answered.
I watched them as they went out before I used my Grimoire and had it copy the books I just received. I should thank them later; they did bring me a lot of interesting books this time.
—————
Here's your chapter
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