(MC POV)
It was sunset when I returned to the beach carrying Diao Chan in my arms, the witch having fallen asleep after our play session.
I brought her back to the beach mats and laid her down on one of them, letting her rest for a bit.
I sat down beside her, taking the time to enjoy the view of my dear disciples playing in the water.
Lian Li and Eris were particularly having fun with just swimming around, enjoying their newfound freedom within the water after learning to swim.
Cai Hong was also splashing around in the shallow part of the pool under the supervision of Manami and Kiyomi who were sitting nearby in the sand, the waves just barely reaching their feet while they enjoyed basking in the late afternoon sun.
Odriana had found a spot a distance away from them and had buried herself in her sketchpad, most likely putting the entire scene on paper.
Just as I noticed that Elaria was nowhere to be seen, she came up from behind and plopped down right beside me, our sides touching.
"Ehehehe~ As I thought, being beside Onii-sama is still the best!" She giggled, rubbing her face on my arm.
I sighed but decided to let it slide, we are on vacation after all and Elaria was indeed working quite hard for our sake. If it wasn't for her, I fear the war my girls were involved in would have taken a bad turn.
"So, it's been awhile since we last spoke properly," I noted, turning back to watch the other girls.
Elaria stopped her rubbing and sighed, "Mmhmm… We used to be so close you know? But you don't remember that anymore do you?"
I shook my head, "I'm sorry, but I don't."
She went quiet for a while, letting the silence stretch for a bit before continuing, "They always thought the things I made were because of my own genius… But that was all a lie. The real genius was you, Onii-sama. Had you not been there to teach me all these things, none of what I made would have become reality."
From what I saw in my hometown, I'm not sure if that was a good thing...
"We used to play a lot together you know?" Elaria sighed. "Like how You and Cai Hong are doing now… I am honestly a little jealous of her and watching you pamper her like that… I… I miss those times, Onii-sama…"
I reached up and patted her head. It's easy to forget that she's still a young girl under all of that and the amount of burden she had to shoulder from a young age was quite immense.
"Ehehehe~ Onii-sama's headpats are still the best! You used to always do it to praise me, you know? I miss it so much~"
"Hmm… Sorry about that."
"It's ok, you're here now, after all~"
If I could, I would have told her to take it easy with her life but I know she wouldn't listen anyway.
But still… Something tells me that she might do something outrageous if she's left unchecked.
"You know… I wouldn't mind conquering the whole world just for us. Then Onii-sama doesn't have to worry about all these complicated things anymore," she proclaimed in a non-joking manner.
Oh, there it is...
"I no longer worry about those complicated things," I stated bluntly.
"Ehehe~ But those complicated things always manage to find you somehow, don't they?"
Well, I can't deny that. Makes me wonder if I just have naturally abysmal luck or something? Or is something conspiring against me?
I continued patting her head, "Even so, don't just go around declaring war and stuff. It's bad if people die you know?"
"Buuu… There's too many bad people in the world, we could do with a lot less of them."
"Still doesn't mean you should go on a warpath." I sighed, letting my hand fall to my side. "Don't you know the saying? If you kill a murderer, the number of murders in the world remain the same."
She looked up at me and grinned, "In that case, just kill a lot more murderers and there'll be less of them!"
"Mmhmm, what about their friends and families? They might come back for revenge and start a never ending cycle of violence, which makes the number remain the same anyway, right? If anything, it might even increase it."
She smirked at me, "Heh, isn't that simple, Onii-sama? Just kill everyone!"
I chopped her on the head, causing her to let out a yelp of pain.
Instead of being upset like I thought she would, Elaria hugged me with a broad smile on her face.
"Ehehehe! Onii-sama used to whack me just like that for being naughty too! We should do this more often!"
I shook my head, "How close were we? In the past, I mean."
She sobered up a little, "Umm… I followed Onii-sama everywhere back then. You know our family was entirely patriarchal, they never expected anything from me or Onee-sama. I was only around as a bargaining piece for our family's business."
Ah… A sad fact but such is the case for most of the influential Houses. It's hard to change an established tradition, after all.
"Only Onii-sama didn't agree with them, even fighting against them just to get Onee-sama back…" She hugged me a little tighter. "Without Onii-sama there… I wouldn't have learnt so many wonderful things… And I would've lost Onee-sama too…"
Not expecting the conversation to turn so somber, I was at a loss of what I should say to change the atmosphere.
Unexpectedly, my hand moved before I knew what I was doing, giving her cheek a pinch before stretching it.
"Uguu! Ow, ow, ow! Onii-sama!" Elaria cried out in pain.
I quickly released her, "Ah! Sorry, sorry! I don't know why I did that, my hand just moved on its--"
"Onii-sama! Did… Did you remember?!" She interrupted me before I could finish my words.
"Re… Remember?"
She pressed her face closer to me, her eyes sparkling, "Yes! Whenever I get sad, Onii-sama would start to pinch my cheeks and make me forget about the sad things! Your memory is coming back?!"
"Err… Can't say that it has… I think it's more of a muscle memory perhaps, I'm not sure why I did what I did there."
"Ehehehe! But this means that your memories must be dormant somewhere if your body can still recall it! Maybe I just need to find the right trigger for Onii-sama!"
Well… She's not wrong and I am rather interested about the truth of my past anyway. I still don't know why I have access to this Star Power in the first place and from what I've learnt, I might have been a Fallen God of some sort too.
Seriously though, what the hell happened to my simple life plan? This is like the complete opposite of what I had in mind...
All I want is to stay at home, teach my disciples, drink tea they made for me and relax.
But now, I've gotten involved in Dark Sect rituals, world ending dragons, fallen gods, Abyssal monsters and all other types of things that are the literal furthest things you should find in a simple life.
Speaking of which… I really think I should keep my sister in check now, she's definitely planning something and I'm afraid she might really go overboard if I don't rein her in soon...
In that case… I should subject her to the same teachings I've been giving my disciples. It worked well for them didn't it? They even mentioned how adverse they were to killing during the war so this would definitely help prevent my sister from being a future warlord.
Yep, yep, great plan. I just need to take her under my wing again and teach her the right things!
"Master, dinner will be ready soon." Alpha announced, the wolf girl appearing behind us.
Hmmm I guess dinner comes first then.
