175. Ayl

The sun was up, and Colt was watching Liron teach Hylda the way of the Spear.

Though there was an odd sight mixed in from the corner of his eyes as Shickly instructed Arte with correcting his stance, it was still a good day, nonetheless.

There was even Reis, cheering for the hardworking Hylda, ‘They’ve become great friends, those two.’ Colt said as he watched the ball of feathers jump up and down.

When Colt saw this, he felt somewhat disappointed as he lowered his head and saw Fluff with its tongue out on the side of its mouth while he, the Human Partner, rubbed its belly.

When Fluff noticed Colt, it merely gave him a thumbs up as if to say, “You’re doing a good job, now… more.”

Colt didn’t even need to speculate as he already knew that this cat was actually thinking that.

Incensed, Colt pinched its fat, but that only got the cat purring with happiness. It was enjoying the new form of massage, ‘Tsk, if you’re not pleasant to touch, I would have tossed you already.’ He complained while showing no sign of stopping.

The outside area was actually chilling as winter had yet to pass.

But, being an Aura Masters, they were able to cope with the chilly breeze.

Colt felt his pocket watch vibrating as the time hit 7:30 am. Colt decided to stop his hand and had Fluff roll off his laps, “Nya!” it protested while demanding for more.

“Later, I’m going to check on Mina now. According to Miss Cille, she might give birth any…” while he was talking, Colt heard hurried steps coming his way. He turned to the side and saw Filla running with frantic expressions.

“PAPAAA! MA-MAMA, sh-she’s about to give birth.” Filla’s voice echoed in the area, everyone stopped what they were doing and quickly rushed inside the manor.

However, Colt ran in the opposite direction.

Shickly saw his strange actions and called out, “Where are you going!?”

“Miss Cille needs an assistant, I’m going to get her one!”

Colt soon left the Edgeworth Manor’s premises, and as Colt used the movement technique, Neun taught him, he beelined towards the Light Orphanage.

Sister Mary was busy with hanging the clothes and sheets, she and Sister Fer washed before the sun had risen. While doing so, she felt a Rank-9 Warrior quickly coming her way.

She turned to its direction and saw Colt flying moving with incredible speed.

“Oh, Young Master Colt, what brings you—”

BOOM!

Colt made a rough and haphazard landing as a cloud of dust appeared, dirtying the newly washed clothes and sheets… when Sister Mary saw this, her anger rose without a limit!

“What the!? Young Master Colt, what are you doing! We just washed that. It took three hours in this cold temperature, dammit!”

“I’m sorry, I’ll wash it for you later, but for now, please come with me and help Miss Cille — Mina’s about to give birth!”

Sister Mary’s words stopped as Colt’s frantic voice pierced her ears. Before Sister Mary could give a response, she was already rushing towards the direction of the Edgeworth Manor. She left Colt in the dust.

Only her distant voice could be heard.

“I’ll be going first, Young Master Colt!”

===

In the Edgeworth Manor, three men were walking in a circle as their faces reflected anxiousness.

Two of them were Generals, and the other was a relatively well-built, handsome Young Master and hailed as one of the New Heroes of the Era.

It was Liron, Shickly, and Colt.

There was no child allowed around them as Mina’s pained screaming might scare them. As for Miss M, Sera, Risa, and Vyra, they were with the children as they tried to distract them.

The current situation was that Mina was in the middle of labor, and they were pushed outside, and only the women with experience were inside.

No man was inside the room… any man who enters would likely be strangled to death by Colt. Then while they were pacing around like an animal that had heard fireworks, all three of them listened to Mina’s pained voice.

Colt quickly turned to the heavy doors with a worried expression, inside his head, he repeatedly screamed, ‘No, no, everything is all right… Lucille and Sister Mary is inside; nothing will happen. They are Healers! Miss Cille is the greatest Healer on the Continent!!”

Fluff was watching the three men with passive eyes. Like these three, it was also worried about Mina as it considered her as a friend. But it was far calmer as it could control its emotions with the light.

It could help Colt… but it chose not to because it was sure that having Colt live through this would be much better than not. This was one of the peaks of human life, so for it to inhibit Colt’s emotion would be Fluff robbing its friend of this joy.

It wished Mina good luck.

“Young Master, Count Shickly, and Marquis Liron, please have some of the calming tea that I made. It should calm your nerves a little. You’re too much on edge.”

All the while the three were panicking, Jin appeared with a tray of tea.

The three looked at him and then at each other, they knew what they were doing and just accepted the tea without saying much. They took a seat as they did so.

Colt took a sip of the tea, and although it was somewhat bitter, it had a pleasantly sweet aftertaste, “This is rather nice.” he praised.

The other two General nodded their heads as they praised and thanked Jin, “Thank you, Jin, this helped a lot.”

“I agree. What kind of tea is this, boy? I would like to take it to me when I return to the frontlines.” Liron added as he felt the tea already taking effect. His nerves had calmed down, and he even managed to clear his mind a little bit.

“That tea is not available anywhere, I fear. It’s one of my creations that I based on Vyra’s very traditional concoction… if I give it a name, I suppose it is [Calm Forest Tea] as I used various herbs from the forest to create that.” Jin said with a smile.

“Is that so? When did you have the time to create this?” Colt asked as he took another sip.

“Well… I made it so I can prepare for when Vyra also goes to labor… I think I’m going to pass out if I don’t have that.” Jin’s weak laughter echoed, but no one laughed at him as they could sympathize with him.

Nine hours since the active labor started, Colt and the others heard a weak cry… the child had been birthed! All of them stood up with haste.

Hurried steps echoed inside the room. Faerith opened the doors, and Colt was already waiting right outside.

Faerith was smiling as she had lost her ability to even speak. She looked at Colt with a nod, and that was enough to convey the message.

Colt rushed inside the room and saw Mina, who was glowing green from the light of Healing Magic.

He saw Mina holding their child… Colt trembled from the plethora of emotions within him.

Mina noticed his presence and smiled at him. She was tired from giving birth, but Mina was smiling despite being so… she was happy, “Darling, come here and look at our daughter.”

Colt approached her and extended his hands. He received his child from Mina. He carefully took their daughter with great care, and as he did so, he felt the fragility of life. Without Colt noticing, he was already smiling.

As he held onto his newborn daughter, Colt smiled and was asked by Lucille, who had just finished healing Mina, “So, what are you going to name her?”

Colt looked at Lucille and then at Mina. When he looked at his wife’s eyes, the two of them nodded their heads, “We already decided on a name after we got married… Ay – from Maya, the mother who protected her, and L – coming from Lucille who guided her — her name would be Ayl.”

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