by CHIROLU
“Guru,” said an outsiders voice, intruding on this space shared by the father and his daughters. Apparently the voice’s owner, Smaragdi’s pupil, had been watching and waiting for an appropriate point in the story to interrupt.
“Ah, it’s been a while, Aspida.”
He was amongst the few priests serving the temple who were aware of the presence of Smaragdi and the twins. Aspida looked at his former teacher and the two girls he was holding.
“It seems you’ve grown fully accustomed to raising children...” Aspida said with a strained smile, even though he had always thought of Smaragdi as someone who could handle anything smoothly. Hardly any devil men were ever involved with raising their children.
“I never imagined my own kids could be this cute, y’know?”
“Y’know?” Chrysos said, mimicking the end of her father’s sentence, causing Platina to give a cheerful laugh. Seeing his two daughters behave like a pair of frollicking kittens, Smaragdi looked incredibly pleased, and placed the girls down on the floor.
“Rag?”
“Huh?”
“I’ve gotta have a bit of a difficult conversation. You two go play for a bit, alright?”
Platina had tilted her head in confusion, but Chrysos took her hand and the two walked away, and they soon forgot about the matter.
They were being raised in secret in the depths of the temple, but it wasn’t as if they were living crammed into a single room. This great temple of Banafsaj was vast enough of a structure as to give the impression of a small town. Its various sections were segmented, and as one approached the center, security grew strict. It was an area deep within that place where Smaragdi, Mov, and the girls lived.
They weren’t able to freely go outside, but the young girls were able to live happily and healthily without feeling completely restricted. One place they especially liked to play was the inner garden, where they could spend time beneath the open sunlight. The girls pitter-pattered along in that direction, hand in hand.
Seeing them, Aspida muttered, “They really do resemble the Lady Oracle...”
Their mother, Mov, had a pretty face ever since childhood, but after maturing, she had developed a composed manner about her that only added to her beauty. The otherworldly feel about her that made her feel separate from the world of the temple only strengthened the mysterious impression she gave off.
If you were to ask Smaragdi he would say that it was because she was something of an airhead who knew nothing of the outside world, but he wouldn’t deny that Mov was beautiful.
The twins had identical faces, and they both inherited their mother’s looks. Their father, Smaragdi, had a rather ordinary face. But apparently, the twins had inherited his genes as well in the best possible manner. Compared to Mov’s beauty, which made it hard for others to approach her, their two daughters had a cuteness to them that charmed friendly strangers.
Even without Smaragdi’s perspective as a doting idiot, they really were adorable children.
“No matter how cute they may be, I won’t ever forgive you if you sleep with them.”
“They’re still way too young to be saying such things, no matter how adorable they may be.”
Aspida’s rebuttal was absolutely the proper reaction. But even so, after responding, he sensed a cold air of intimidation hiding behind Smaragdi’s smile. He trembled a bit as he felt a chill run down his spine. As someone who didn’t have children, he couldn’t understand the bloodlust coming off this father, as if to say he wouldn’t let anyone take his daughters away even after they were all grown up.
“Did something happen?” Smaragdi prompted in his normal, calm manner.
“Well, the truth is...” Aspida started, composing himself, and informed Smaragdi of the latest state of affairs in the temple, which was the purpose behind his visit.
Even though Mov was the top-ranking priestess, she was still young. As if looking down on her for that reason, those troublesome elders who had become nothing but narrow-minded in their old age dealt with her by making sure the workload was heavy for Aspida and the other young priests who assisted her. As someone with tight lips who was far from a stranger to Mov, those young folks had come to rely on Smaragdi as someone to confide in.
Just like how he had once dealt with those men who tried to lay a hand on Mov, Smaragdi was steadily helping to solidify Mov’s position. When he saw a twisted smile cross Smaragdi’s face as he thought that those annoyances who had done nothing but live a long time couldn’t be “wiped out” as easily, Aspida did his best to pretend he saw nothing.
The way that Smaragdi could still act so mercilessly despite having racked up years of experience himself earned him even further respect from his students.
“Rag!”
“Hmm? What is it?” Smaragdi asked, turning to face his daughters and cutting of his conversation with his pupil. Chrysos and Platina came running up to him hand in hand with a pitter-patter, each holding a small flower in their other hand. With a satisfied grin, Platina offered hers to Smaragdi.
“Flowers!”
“Fow you.”
“You’re giving it to me? Thank you. It’s beautiful.”
Seeing Smaragdi kneel and accept it, the twins looked at each other and smiled.
“What about Chrysos’s flower?”
“Mov’s!”
“Fow her.”
“I see. I’m sure that’ll make Mov happy, too. Should we put them in water, so they don’t dry up?”
“Yeah.”
“Water!”
Seeing the twins look even happier with this praise from their beloved father, Smaragdi’s expression grew even more blissful, too.
“Oh water, mother who nurtures all life...”
Smaragdi’s daughters watched attentively as their father smoothly chanted the lengthy spell. Normally, as a chant grew longer, the resulting magic grew more powerful in turn. Furthermore, it would also take a great toll in terms of mana and become more difficult to control.
The level of mana Smaragdi was born with wasn’t all that great. It wouldn’t be strange at all for him to run out of mana and faint if he cast powerful magic. However, he was able to carry it out by concentrating his mana to the tip of his finger and limiting it to the smallest area of effect possible. That was an incredibly difficult exercise in magic control, but he made it look deceptively simple.
“《Healing Water》”
The shallow dish was filled with water called forth from this magic. Smaragdi gently placed the small flower he had received from his daughter within it. That flower, which had started to wilt after being grasped tightly in her small hand, regained its liveliness. Chrysos then mimicked her father and placed the flower she had been holding into the water too, only for Smaragdi to stroke her head in order to tell her she had done a good job.
Only Aspida gave a sigh at the sight of his teacher’s highly skilled use of magic. Normally, after it manifested the healing effect of the magic in the water would fade away, but he had maintained it by overwriting part of the spell, something no ordinary magic user could manage.
His tiny daughters watched the magic their father carried out with sparkling eyes filled with curiosity, but they didn’t seem to have even an inkling that society at large would consider such a deed to be impossible. And their mother, the Lady Oracle, was a talented woman who had born with a great deal of mana and received training under Smaragdi. They were completely out of touch with the norms of the world.
By the by, the story his teacher had been telling his daughters was a “fable” of a real event that had occured in the past. Though it sounded like the sort of allegory aimed towards children, it covered both the era of a wise king, as well as the chaotic age of a feeble-minded ruler. In terms of content alone, it didn’t differ all that much from the sort of subjects Aspida and those other members of the temple involved with governing examined in study groups.
The children of the guru and the Lady Oracle... Just what sort of upbring
ing will they have, before one of them becomes king...?
Seeing the twins beg their father to pick them up again, only for his teacher to break out in a wide, sloppy grin, Aspida gave another sigh.
†
When they thought on how their daughters had to live in such a confined world, Smaragdi and Mov felt truly blessed that they were born as twins. As they didn’t know anything of the outside world, neither Chrysos nor Platina understood that the circumstances they were growing up under were unique. They didn’t seem to think of themselves as unfortunate, either.
What brought their parents the greatest relief was that they had someone to grow alongside and share all kinds of things and experiences with. Relative to other races, devils had very few children. And when it came to a child raised in secret in such a confined space, that meant there was no guarantee there would be any other children they could play with.
The presence of one another clearly had a great, positive influence on these girls, who possessed great sensitivity and were very expressive.
To start with, twins were very rare for devils. They would live for a long time, and neither their parents nor themselves wished to categorize them as the “younger” or “older” sister based solely on who was born just a tiny bit sooner.
For the two of them, they spent more time looking at one another than looking into a mirror. There was always someone who looked identical by their side. The young girls even gave off the impression that they didn’t even realize that they were separate beings, and that their upbringing had done little to disavow them of the notion.
Platina would tilt her head, and then a moment later, Chrysos, who was sitting across from her, would do the same. Then it would happen the other way around. If Chrysos suddenly rolled, Latina would mimic her. The pair’s game of copying one another headed towards a conclusion of sorts as they laughed simultaneously.
It was the sort of play where no one but the two of them would know what’s so amusing. Even so, watching them, Smaragdi found them so adorable that it only stressed the point that they were the apple of his eye.
“Rag?”
While Smaragdi was busy feeling all warm and fuzzy, the twins came up to his side and looked up at him, holding hands as always.
Chrysos and Platina were both bundles of curiosity, so it was difficult to tell who would have been able to walk first when the time had come. However, Chrysos turned out to be a little cautious, while Latina had been afraid.
Whenever Smaragdi noticed a difference between the twins that they themselves were unaware of, his gentle smile softened even further.
“What is it?”
“What?”
“Whaat?”
The two sisters were tilting their heads and pointing at the documents Smaragdi had spread out for work. Smaragdi’s personality could be seen through the methodical letters there.
“It may still be a little tricky for you two,” Smaragdi said with an awkward laugh.
“Hm?”
“Hmm?”
The twins tilted their heads.
The letters written out on the documents were complex in form, composed all sorts of different symbols.
Devil letters were incredibly difficult to understand. Each letter had its own meaning, and that meaning could change when combined with other ones. Each letter wasn’t based on a sound, and if you didn’t understand the meaning of each one, then it would be impossible to understand.
The words of the devil language were the same as those used in magic chants, and the characters were said to be a graphical representation of the mana fluctuations caused by each word.
“I’ll teach you when you’re a little bigger, alright?”
Until one understood a certain degree of words, they wouldn’t be ready for learning letters. As such, there was a tendency amongst devils to learn them when they were a bit older. But due to their long lifespans, they didn’t find that anything worth fussing over.
Children this young were essentially never taught how to read. However, Smaragdi got out a blank piece of paper and wrote two “letters” on it. Those two letters included similar parts to them. Like those two adorable girls in front of him now, they were very similar letters that were still different.
“This one is “Chrysos,” and this is “Platina’... Ryso, Latina, this is how you write your names.”
Even for a country with abundant mineral resources like Vassilios, gold and platinum were considered precious metals, and thanks to the colors associated with them, they also included the meaning of “sun” and “moon” in their characters.
“Ryso?”
“Latina?”
“That’s right. They indicate your names.”
“And Mov?”
“And Rag?”
While staring intently at the characters, the girls asked about different names at the same time. It was rather heartwarming, and at the same time, he also felt relieved that they hadn’t both asked about their mother.
“My name... is like this. And this is Mov’s.”
Smaragdi’s pen slid along, writing out the characters for “Smaragdi” and “Mov.” Seeing them, the twins both made a look of dissatisfaction at the same time. He felt bad for the girls, but the sight of them puffing up their cheeks in sync a bit was just so adorable that he couldn’t help but break out in a smile.
“What’s wrong?”
“Different!”
“Dun like!”
“I see. So you don’t like how our names aren’t similar, the way that yours are, huh?”
Smaragdi wore a strained smile, having immediately figured out the nature of his daughters’ complaint. He gently stroked their hair.
“You see, the two of you share a special bond that no one else does... You look just alike, but you’re two different people. And both of you are our precious children.”
The girls were still young, and they didn’t seem to really understand what he was saying. But sensing the love in their father’s kind voice, they both gave a happy giggle.
Their beloved father hugged them both tightly at the same time, thinking this was no time to be working. However, rather than getting in his way, they simply sat there and stared as Smaragdi worked away, seemingly enjoying themselves.
Apparently even Smaragdi just smoothly writing away was enough to fill them with curiosity. His letters being lined up so methodically that it was like it was only natural for them to be there was just as mysterious a sight to them as magic.
“Dat’s amazing.”
“So pwetty.”
The two girls shared their feelings and exchanged smiles with one another.
Sensing his daughters’ gazes on him, Smaragdi felt a bit more nervous than usual, and his pen started to move faster. They were so interested in the matter...
It was still too soon to teach them their letters, but Smaragdi thought that teaching them how to use a pen would work, so he naturally ended up trying to finish up his work for the day early.
He had his daughters sit atop his knees and had them grip the pen, supporting their hands with his own from behind. After doing so for each of them in turn, he distanced himself a bit and watched over them, not lending a hand more than was necessary. Platina was the first of the two to manage to hold it well.
“Good going, Latina.”
Platina looked proud, having heard her father’s praise. Beside her, Chrysos puffed up her cheeks a bit as she re-adjusted her grip on her pen again and again. These two were so similar to each other, but one would always naturally learn to do something first, inspiring the other to acquire the skill too.
With a gentle expression in his eyes, Smaragdi thought that it would be good if that slight desire not to lose became one of their strong points.
“You’ve got just a little more to go yourself, Ryso. Ah, just like that... Yeah, that’s the way.”
“Did it!”
“Yeah. You did a great job too, Ryso.”
There was a somehow serious
air about his daughters as they scribbled freely on the paper laid out before them with a look of accomplishment on their faces. Apparently they were mimicking the sight of their father doing work in their own way.
It was a completely and utterly adorable sight, so even when they overturned the ink bottle soon after and ended up dyed in its blue-black contents, he wasn’t particularly bothered.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
“Rag, Rag!”
They cried out in panic for their father to help them, hopping down from their chairs and running over towards him. In the process, the ink bottle was knocked down to the floor, and the resulting sound caused them both to jump.
The ink from the bottle had spread on the floor in addition to the tabletop, and having stepped in it the twins had had left footprints scattered all over.
“Calm down, you two, it’s alright, so...”
Smaragdi’s words didn’t reach the two girls in their panicked state. They left handprints on their father’s clothes when they went to hug him, and when they grabbed all over due to how flustered they were, the number of little “stamps” all over only grew.
It was only natural that ink-stained hands would leave behind ink. But apparently that was not something the young girls had been able to see coming. As the number of handprints continued to grow, Smaragdi thought on how he could stop his daughters from crying.
“...And so, these are those handprints. It was just too adorable, so I was thinking I’d leave them there, as a memento.”
It was an important job of Rag’s to report on how the girls were doing after Mov finished her official duties for the day.
It was now late at night, and the sound of the pair snoozing away atop the bed sounded somehow out of tune. But even so, the timing of their breathing in their sleep and the way that they tossed and turned was the same, reminding one all the more of the fact that they were twins.