19 Chapter Nineteen

"That's fifteen."

Gray pointed out with a bland tone, staring at Eris while playing with Norn and Aisha at the same time, the two letting out happy noises as the two figures of water preformed an intricate dance in the air.

His hand shot up and snatched the pen that was thrown at his by the red head and with an unimpressed look, he threw it back. Seriously, just keeping her here was a chore, teaching her arithmetic's and magic too?

At least Rudy was being paid for it.

For some reason, since Ghislaine informed her that he, indeed, used magic to put her on the backfoot during their match, she has been obsessed with it, finally accepting to actually study in exchange for learning magic spells.

The funny thing was that he had no idea there was an offer to teach her in the first place.

So far, if she took longer then two dances that small figures completed, he would say the answer to the question, annoying her and motivating her to do the next one faster.

Pursing his lips, Gray looked over at the door of their house where the four siblings father walked through after knocking on the door.

"Hey Gray, Rudy, I'm going to the town for a few days, came to say goodbye."

He said with a slight smile as he bent down to pick up Aisha and give her a kiss on the cheek, then repeat the same with Norn.

Gray narrowed his eyes in thought, he has actually never been to town before... It would be useful to actually go there a few times to see what's going on, after all, not knowing the prices was quite the disadvantage.

"Can I come with you, dad?"

That got a raised eyebrow from the older man and a curious tilt of the head from Rudeus.

"Uh, Sure, I won't be doing anything interesting, though, are you sure?"

The boy just shrugged and stood up, walking towards the stairs that led to the second floor and into his room to change. Without putting much thought into it, he threw on a black shirt and brown pants, folding the clothes he wore previously and putting it on his bed to wash after he came back from town.

Walking back down, Gray absently snatched his sword out of the air and stretched his arms, getting satisfying pops from his back. With a groan, he rolled his shoulders and looked expectantly at his father who just chuckled at him, putting Norm and Aisha down that were sitting on his biceps.

Responsible father, everyone.

"Okay, okay, we have to go now, girls. Daddy and brother will be back in a few days-"

He put both down on the chair next to Rudeus and turned to the said boy, putting his hands on his waist.

"-Rudy! You're the man of the house when me and your brother are gone! Protect the women, you are the first and the last line of defense!"

Gray deadpanned, followed by Rudy and Ghislaine. Eris just sent Paul and annoyed glance, not wanting to get reminded that a boy two years younger then her was actually stronger.

"Actually, dad, I think the first like of defense is Ghislaine..."

Paul just looked at him for a moment before nodding and placing a hand on the eight year old boy's shoulder.

"Knowing you're limit's is also a part of being a man, the fact that you acknowledge it, shows your maturity!"

Bitch, he just pulled that out of his ass! There was no way Gray was going to believe that this was his goal the whole time. Thankfully, Rudy seemed to think the same thing, but Ghislaine was absolutely amazed... Oh god, the fell for it.

Sucking in a breath, he released it through the nose, turning towards the door and walking out, ignoring the stupidity that was happening inside his house and walked towards the stands. He was going to get the horse prepared.

Caravaggio was a loyal steed, Gray in color, beautiful main. Honestly, it was a miracle this horse survived the adventurer life Paul had before he and mom settled down.

Grabbing an apple from the apple tree he and his mother planted when he was little with application of some pure mana manipulation, he offered it to Caravaggio, the horse eating it eagerly.

Smiling slightly, Gray walked over to the saddle and took it off the small fence that was used to keep the horse inside the stand and walked back to the animal.

Letting the mana take the saddle away from his hand, he slowly floated it up to it's back, careful not to startle the horse. After it was placed on it's back, he put the belt that would keep it secured in place inside the metal part and tightened it enough to stop it from sliding and not to make it too tight to hurt the horse.

"Alright, Are you ready for a day on the road?"

Gray's lips thinned as he slowly looked back at Paul.

"Can't I just... Fly us there?"

He offered tentatively, trying his best to pull off the Puppy dog eye's look. Needless to say, he failed.

"...You can fly?"

Gray tilted his head at the dumbfounded look on his fathers face and just shrugged.

"No. But you can't blame me for trying."

Yes, yes he could. Paul just sighed and moved to check over the saddle and the straps, to make sure everything was secure. Nodding in approval at the job well done, he patted Gray on the head and picked him up, getting an indignant "Hey" in return as he sat on the saddle and placed Gray in front of him.

With a jerk of Paul's leg, Caravaggio moved slowly to walk out of the horse stand and towards the fence door, where Zenith was waiting to close it after they exited. Her eyebrows rose when she spotted Gray on the horse too.

"You're taking Gray, too?"

Paul just shrugged in answer.

"He said he wanted to come, the little guy must be getting bored in the village."

Gray dutifully ignored the ruffling of his hair in favor of pouting and turning his head to the side.

"I'm not little."