Chapter 44 - Pouting Times

"Honey~ don't pout so much~" Gabriel tries coaxing her daughter Cebrail who was sitting comfortably on her lap as she sat on the couch.

Gabriel liked that she was being excessively clingy while she was upset; however her being upset in general was hurting her soul as a mother!

She didn't know what to do really either, all of the parenting books she's read have never worked on Cebrail. She wouldn't cheer up with presents because she already had access to everything she could want. Hugs would only make her inflate her cute little cheeks more. And she didn't have any activities she particularly seemed to enjoy doing enough to get her mind off of what she's annoyed with. Well before she had Roygun's rating games but now that she was on break to be a teacher it wasn't an option.

"If you keep your eyebrows like that you'll get wrinkles~" Gabriel pinches her daughters cheeks while speaking in a baby voice.

"Hmpf." Cebrail just huffs childishly, her ahoge completely unrestrained and bobbing along with her irritation.

"Ahhh~ honey why don't you go out and have fun with your friends to get your mind off of things~ they've been training really hard while you've been going to school."

"Unfortunately It's impossible for me to train with them." Cebrail states simply though she still keeps her frown planted directly on her face.

"You could still help them train. Even if it's just by giving them encouragement, you don't want to neglect your little friends." Gabriel coaxes her daughter further, one of her hands rubbing her little head and the other rubbing her chin like a cat.

"Mmm…" Cebrail seemed to enjoy the patting and leaned into it. "Puu~ Puu~ I need to find them a trainer."

"You can leave that to me honey, just go watch them. It's good to see the people's hard work first hand."

"Mmm, alright." Gabriel smiled at her daughter and stood up with Cebrail in her arms and the two made their way towards the yard opening the side door.

They saw two girls, one with a spear and one with magic. They seemed rather aimless in their actions as they attacked training dummies.

"No good." Cebrail said, catching the other two's attention.

"A-Ah miss Cebrail, how are you?" Tosca greeted her master politely.

"Cebrail, good morning and good morning to you as well Gabriel." Reginleif greeted as well a bit more professionally.

"O-Oh right! Hello Mrs. Gabriel!" Tosca greeted Cebrail's mother hurriedly only getting a giggle from the woman who liked her cuteness.

"You guys are doing it all wrong."

"What do you mean Cebrail?" Reginleif questioned with a bit of a head tilt. Cebrail hadn't taken any special interest in their training so far so they mostly had to make due with just practicing what they knew.

Though Reginleif had somewhat seen how the Valkyrie trained she wasn't privy on the details since she herself was never really allowed to train with them.

"You guys should be starting with physical training first and foremost." Cebrail said tapping her mother so she would put her down.

"O-Oh! Y-You're right! We should train our bodies first!" Tosca agreed quickly. "Umm, but I'm not sure how?"

"100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and 10 kilometers of running every day. That is the path of the strongest."

"Ohhh?!?!" Tosca looked at Cebrail as though she were the wisest person in the universe; however Reginleif put a hand on her chin, pondering for a moment.

"Well I think it would be best if we got someone to personalize our training regiments."

"Is that your suggestion Reginleif?"

"Yes?" Reginleif was a bit confused and felt like perhaps she did something wrong by completely denying what was basically her boss.

"Then we'll continue waiting until we can find someone." Cebrail agrees quickly since Reginleif was the one she'd trust in making better plans than herself, though she had already had the idea of waiting until they found a teacher anyways.

Reginleif felt quite validated by this instant acceptance of her words as it was even more clear now that Cebrail took her words seriously.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Tosca asked a bit desperately.

"Go fight opponents in the wild to get EXP." Cebrail said. "Like when you fought the werewolf."

"We almost died." Reginleif said, pushing up her glasses.

"No you guys definitely weren't even close to dying."

"I'm pretty sure we were."

"I have an idea~" Gabriel pitched in happily. "Tosca you can answer prayers to enhance your Angelic powers along with your body!"

"Hmmm? That's not how it works for me though?" Cebrail said in confusion.

"That's because you aren't a fully spiritual being. You still have to abide by some of the rules of flesh and blood, however Tosca is an Angel and can gain power through faith." Gabriel explained to her daughter with a smile, it wasn't very often that she could be a proper parent and teach her child things. Plus it seemed like Cebrail wasn't as upset anymore.

"And what about me Gabriel?" Reginleif asked hopefully, she had felt her progress stagnating already and it was really putting a damper on her motivation levels.

"I believe normally mages would train in their magic efficiency and control. You should try using a spell that you always have to keep on and focus on while you're doing everyday life activities."

"Like an enhancement spell?"

"Indeed."

"You know about magic mama?"

"Well a bit… you should know about heretics if you want to kill them~" Gabriel avoided mentioning the fact that she learned about magic due to her time with Cebrail's father with a small joke.

"I see as a wise man once said 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.' That makes sense." Cebrail nods to herself in understanding.

"I see, I hadn't thought of that." Reginleif considered the idea and quickly wrote a rune on her hand.

"Oh M-Mrs. Gabriel where do I get prayers from?" Tosca asks timidly.

Gabriel gives a blank stare with a smile and stops as though someone just hit the pause button on her.

"..."

"Mama?"

"Uhh… hehehe~ Cebrail darling how have you been answering prayers?"

"I take the letters off of your desk since you let them pile up lazily."

Gabriel sweats a bit, "It seems I completely forgot to give you guys a prayer phone. Tee hee~"

"Prayer phone?"

"Yes Raphael thought that letters were too old fashioned so now we use phones."

"Can it play games?"

"I think so."

"Give."

"Adriel." Gabriel calls to her secretary who appeared instantly as he was incredibly used to Gabriel calling him to do a bunch of her work for her.

"Yes Lady Gabriel?"

"Get three prayer phones."

"What? For the kids? Weren't you supposed to give those to them a while ago?"

"I don't pay you to ask questions like that Adriel."

"You don't pay me at all." Adriel said a bit snarkily but left and instantly reappeared with three phones and handed them out to the children.

"I'm not an Angel though…" Reginleif said as she hesitantly took the phone.

"We'll just call you an honorary Angel and call it an exception~" Gabriel winked.

Cebrail instantly opened the phone and was receiving notification after notification. Some of them under the name Gabriel.

"I think people are confusing our names mama." Cebrail said opening the phone and going into the app store.

"It's fine~ you're my representative you know?"

"Is that your way of saying I should continue running errands for you?" Cebrail downloaded a gacha game called 'Doki Doki Harem Life Love' Cebrail didn't exactly enjoy the girls, the guys, or the H scenes but instead the flashy colors of the gacha and her perfectionist instincts drove her to gain everything and complete such a stupid game.

"Muuu~ what does my daughter think of me as~"

"You aren't denying it mama."

"..."

"Reginleif let's go for a walk while Tosca handles a good prayer." Cebrail dropped the topic not actually caring about the extra prayers, she already handled her mothers prayers before so it wouldn't be much different.

"W-Wait miss Cebrail!" Tosca called out as Cebrail took Reginleif by her hand and the two vanished.

Tosca stared at the spot the two girls had been at before a bit desperately. So far she had never been alone as she always had either her senior Reginleif or Cebrail nearby.

"Don't take her leaving so suddenly too seriously. I'm sure you've noticed by now that my daughter can be incredibly dense." Gabriel comforted the child while patting her on the head softly.

The gesture didn't really help Tosca at all as she knew better than to take Cebrail's actions too seriously, the girl was horribly blunt so if she didn't want Tosca around she would simply say so.

Instead what Tosca was afraid of was her own ineptitude. She didn't feel ready at all to go out and do a task on her phone.

*Ding~*

Tosca's phone sounded with a text reading, "King of Hearts has sent you a prayer, Love Love Quest! A teenage girl is struggling with a boy she likes being taken by some wretched succubus!"

Tosca was confused but she could very much tell that this was supposed to be the task she was meant to accomplish.