14: Tele... scope?

Back home at the inn, Eliza was combing through the book of magic.

So far, what she had learned was that magic towers were closer to colleges on Earth than they were places to learn how to fight.

The book she was reading went more into the concepts of thermodynamics than it did about how to use your imagination for magic. Learning magic clearly relied on knowing a lot before you can deconstruct what you know, quite similar to high-level courses in her former college classes that she had taken.

But… the book was surprisingly in depth, and correct about more things than she realized.

It wasn’t until the end, where she learned that the less you understand about a topic, the more mental strength it consumes to forcefully cause a reaction anyway.

“I see…” She said, sitting down with Lily on her lap. “So, they effectively have a method of knowing that they’re learning more and more just by using magic.”

Eliza thought for a moment about the history of the world, and how it took until the steam engines before people started realizing the laws of thermodynamics.

Yet, in this world, people just had to make assumptions about what they didn’t know and use a spell to act on it.

They could simply learn the truth by measuring the amount of mental energy their spells consumed when cast.

‘Isn’t this fucking busted…?’ she wondered.

Eliza was confused why this world didn’t yet have highly advanced technology when any single person who reached certain criteria can freely learn anything about the world just by knowing this method…

“Maybe the lack of limitations in learning is actually a bad thing? If anyone can understand the laws of the world with very little effort… Maybe people won’t think of applied uses for those said laws?”

Lily, on her lap, was subtly listening in, not understanding anything at all that was being said. 

Eliza couldn’t help but feel a little melancholic. In recent days, she had been comparing so many things to Earth that she felt like she was maybe missing things from it.

“I miss videogames… And television… And pizza… Maybe I could ask Olivia to make a pizza if I got the ingredients…”

Lily looked up at Eliza, curious.

“What’s a television?” Lily asked.

Eliza smiled. Whenever Lily got curious about things, it always brightened her heart, even if just a bit.

“Well, it’s something from your mom’s hometown. It’s made up of two parts of a word. There’s tele, which means from a distance, and then there’s vision, which… well, you know what that one means. It was a device that let you see things other people wanted to let you see. You can see from really far away, using it.” Eliza said.

“Really far away…” Lily said, looking off into the distance. She got up from Eliza’s lap and looked outside from the window.

And then, she made up her mind.

“I’ll be back later, momma!”

After a few minutes, Lily ran off on her own. At first, Eliza wouldn’t let Lily run off on her own when the two first arrived in The Shelf, but Lily had since learned to keep safe and stay with people Eliza could trust, like Olivia or Lucas.

So, considering she needed something to do, Eliza decided to go train in the forest. Her custom-made arm weights had just recently been finished after having ordered them recently, once she realized her growth had slowed down quite a bit. Though, compared to a normal person, she was still growing at an absurd pace.

So, Eliza made her way to a hideout she had created in the forest in the past three months. Once again, her old habit of making a camp filled with traps had come in use.

“So… Restrictions force creativity. So if I use these to tie my hands behind my back before I try to cast magic… Maybe it will make my creativity stat go up?”

Once again, Eliza was acting in a way that would confuse most of the people of this world.

But back at the Honeyed Bee Inn…

Lily was running around in one of her blue dresses, trying to find her best friend.

“Mary! Mary!” Lily shouted, looking around.

Many of the inn-goers had grown to know Lily in the past three months. All of them knew her as Mary’s much more outgoing best friend, who never seemed to get tired.

Lily eventually found Mary on the first floor, helping Olivia peel potatoes in the kitchen.

“Mary!” Lily shouted excitedly. “Have you heard of a television?”

Mary, who was wearing a big oversized apron on her normal clothes, tilted her head.

“No… I haven’t.” she responded calmly. 

Mary by now was quite good at cutting potatoes for a five-year old. But nowhere near as good as Olivia was.

Lily smiled.

“My mom says it’s something that lets you see really far away! She said she was missing having one!”

Olivia paused.

“A television, lettin’ ya’ see from far away?… Do ya’ mean a telescope?” She asked. “I guess Teddy’d be the person ta’ ask if ya’ were lookin’ for one o’ those. He knows all the shops in the area.”

Mary looked up.

“Uncle Teddy was still in bed. He said he was sleepy after doing a… mission?” She said to Lily. “He’s probably still sleepy in there now.”

“Oh! Thank you Mary!” Lily said, hugging Mary’s arm, then running to the room where Theodore normally slept in.

“Teddy!” Lily shouted at the door.

When nobody got up, she started slamming her tiny fist against the door.

“Teddy! Wake up!”

She continued for some time, and after a while, Theodore finally opened his door.

“Yes…? Huh?” He asked, not seeing anyone. Then, looking down… “Lily…? Why are you here?” He asked in a daze.

“I want to get my mom something! A tele… Tele…” Lily counted on her fingers for a moment. “Telescope!”

Theodore looked at her, still barely awake.

“I… Yeah, I know where to find one of those… there was that place next to the guild. What’s this about, Lily?”

Lily gave a wide grin, then smiled.

“I wanna get my mom a gift!” she said happily.

Theodore blinked three times.

“Oh... is Eliza’s birthday coming up?” He asked, his face reddening a bit.

Theodore was blushing, not knowing that within the past three months he had developed a small unrequited crush on Eliza.

“No! Mom said her birthday was a day in… um, November! Yeah, November!”

Theodore was confused… And also a little sad that he didn't get Eliza a birthday gift back in November.

“This isn’t a birthday gift, then?” he asked.

Lily shook her head. 

“No! No! It’s not! Mom misses home, so I want to give her something she can use to look at her home!” Lily said, waving her arms as if to show how far away Eliza’s home was.

Theodore looked at Lily, remembering the place he found Eliza at. It… wasn’t a place he himself thought he would miss.

“Home… Is that… the small village you all lived in?” Theodore asked.

Lily shook her head.

“No! It’s not! I’ve never seen any of the things that mom mentioned there!” Lily said in an almost shouting tone.

Theodore nodded. “You’re a good kid, Lily.” He said, smiling.

The two returned to the bottom floor of the inn and began returning to the kitchen, when all of a sudden they spotted it.

Sorin and Olivia arguing as Mary was in the corner, pretending she was reading a study book that Eliza had left her.

“As I was saying… I am more than fine, Olivia!” Sorin said.

“Fine my ass!” Olivia shouted, jabbing Sorin in the gut.

Sorin immediately began clutching his stomach, for much longer than a normal, healthy person would, let alone a sword expert.

“Gramps! I’m telling ya’ ta’ just retire already! Thanks ta’ Eliza and Teddy, you’ve got more than enough money to live a nice life! Why can’t you just see that already?!”

Mary looked at Sorin, a bit sad. She didn’t understand why her mom always was upset at her gramps, but she wanted them both to get along. She knew they both loved each other, she just didn’t understand why they fought, despite loving each other.

Theodore, being a bit cowardly, hung by the entrance with Lily and him being just out of sight.

“Olivia… The war is constantly getting worse… I just want to be right there to protect you if I need to! I need to be in my best shape to make sure you’re safe. If I don’t fight for the ones I love, who will?”

“Then quit yer’ drinkin’! Gramps, I love ya’ and it kills me to see ya’ hurt yourself like that! Either retire, or quit your drinkin’! Both are hurting ya' so much, an' I hate it!”

Sorin looked down. He paused for a while.

“I knew it, you’re-” Olivia said.

“Okay.” Sorin interrupted. “I’ll… stop drinking. I… I know you hate it. I know Theodore hates it. And you’re… always telling me to stop. I’ll do it. I’ll stop.”

Theodore, who was watching this, widened his eyes. And then, he felt someone behind him. It was Lucas, also watching the scenario, also with wide eyes.

“I-” Olivia stuttered. “I’d… Does this matter to ya’ that much, gramps? I don’t need protected! I ain’t a kid anymore!”

Sorin looked up.

“Olivia. You’re more important to me than my own life. I’d die for you. I mean it.”

Olivia paused, and her breath hitched. Tears rolled down her cheek for a moment.

“Gramps, I don’t want ya’ to be saying stuff like that! I want you to value yourself just as much as ya’ value me!”

Olivia’s vision was getting blurry, so Sorin felt like he needed to stop. If he continued… He might end up hugging his granddaughter in front of some prying eyes.

After a moment, he sighed.

“I know you four are watching this.” He said, looking at the entryway. “Come out. All of you.”

Slowly, the three watching the situation all looked behind them, a bit tense… But nobody was there.

Lucas, Lily, and Theodore entered the kitchen, all seeming a bit ashamed of what they were doing.

Seeing only the three of them come out, Sorin was a bit confused at not also seeing Eliza. Sensing Lily was easy, but sensing Eliza was hard, so he usually just relied on observing where Lily was to know where Eliza was if he needed to, thanks to Eliza being near Lily nearly all of the time on her days off.

‘Are my skills really getting rusty?’ Sorin wondered to himself. ‘A decade ago, I’d have found them in an instant…’

Olivia looked at them. And then, with tears in her eyes, she laughed. Olivia saw her husband, and was seeing the way this argument was making Mary tense... And she realized she understood Sorin.

“Damnit, gramps. I think I get it… Fine. You win. I ain’t gonna argue anymore. I love you... If you're really determined to keep us safe... I ain't gonna force you to stop.”

None of them knew what Olivia meant by that... except for Sorin.

After a moment, Olivia wiped her tears off her face and looked at Lily.

“Well, didja find out what ya’ needed?” she asked.

Lily nodded.

“There’s a shop! Next to the adventurer place! It has a telescope!” Lily shouted happily, as if she didn’t understand what she had just seen with Sorin.

Olivia chuckled. “C’mon, Gramps. Let’s go.”

Sorin was confused.

“Wait, what do you mean?” He asked.

“Well, with the money I’ve saved up, feels like the perfect time for a gift. Ey, Lucas, ya’ okay with that?”

Lucas, who had understood the gist of it, nodded calmly.

“Eliza is good to you. She helps us both. And she pays rent. Of course I’m okay with it.” He said.

The group left the inn, all together, and eventually arrived at the shop in mind.

It was a large shop, mostly meant for adventuring and exploration, but they also had scouting equipment there. Theodore used this shop on most days when he was going out on a mission for the adventurer’s guild, so he knew that this place had quite a wide variety of items.

And most importantly, it had the telescope in question.

After a long moment of arguing and haggling with the shopkeeper, Theodore managed to buy the four gold arrow telescope for three gold arrows and 50 silver flints.

And then…

Theodore was the one made to carry it.

“I’m the one who saved us money, so why am I carrying it?!” He complained.

Olivia grinned.

“Well, I ain’t forcin’ my husband to carry it, and Gramps is too old to carry somethin’ so heavy! That leaves you, tough guy! Plus, you never know! Maybe it’ll impress Eliza!”

Theodore blushed at her words, and Lily chimed in too.

“Yeah, yeah! Impress mommy!” she said.

And then, after a moment, Olivia spoke quietly, only letting Lucas hear.

“Dunno if you’ll have any luck based on the rumors I’ve heard ‘bout her, though…”

The group made their way back to the inn, carrying a tripod telescope with a purple metallic coating and a blue ring at the end of the scope.

Getting it up the stairs to Eliza’s room was quite awkward, with Sorin barking orders at Theodore, who for once, took the orders without complaining.

And then, they made it to the front of Eliza’s room, not knowing what was inside.

Covered in sweat and drenched from her exercise, Eliza was reading the other book she got at the magic tower that day, having only taken the barest minimum of steps to dry off her hands and arms.

On a normal day, she’d go to the nearby bathhouse and have a bath while trying to be respectful of the other women there, but on this day she didn’t. The book she happened to read a small line of made her stay home.

“The Angel of Battle… The strongest human in history, and she was a girl with white hair…?” Eliza read aloud.

Eliza, who was wrapped up in a book, felt like she was on the cusp of a realization that she needed to make.

“A swordsmaster with yellow eyes and white hair. The rumored Angel of Battle from a hundred years ago… This book reads as if she’s a real person, not some fictional story told to kids. But… could anyone in the world defeat an entire army by themselves? Even Grant said he wouldn’t be able to do such a thing…”

For a moment… a picture of her daughter as an adult flashed through her mind. She could somehow imagine it.

The Angel of Battle… Lily.

The white haired yellow eyed swordsmaster who was able to take on an entire army on her own.

Her train of thought was interrupted by four small knocks on the door.

Four very familiar knocks from a little tiny hand that she knew very well. 

‘Speak of the devil.’ Eliza thought, opening the door.

At the door were six people, most seeming a little awkward when they witnessed Eliza’s disheveled state from her recent exercise.

“Surprise!” Lily shouted, clapping her hands. “Teddy!” Lily shouted. “Put it down, show her, show her!”

Theodore awkwardly walked into the center of the room, trying not to look at Eliza. Then… he went right back to where he was before.

Eliza looked at the telescope in front of her. She didn’t understand what was going on at all.

“Mom! I got you the telescope!”

Eliza sat still for a moment. Confused. Thinking. 

And then…

After some time…

“Ahaha! Ha… Hehe.” She laughed, tears in her eyes.

And then, she reached down, grabbed Lily and pulled her into a hug.

She let out a big breath, as if her body unwillingly relaxed itself.

“I love you, Lily. I hope you always stay exactly the same person as you are now.”

Sorin, Theodore, Olivia and Lucas all smiled 

“Thanks.” Eliza said, looking up from the hug. “All of you. Thank you for thinking about me.”

And with a genuine smile from Eliza, Theodore blushed and nodded, leaving the room.

Everybody there, except for Eliza, Lily, and Mary, knew what Theodore was feeling then.

Eliza chuckled, then picked up the telescope and moved it quite easily to the window, where she could use it to look outside.

“Thank you all. I mean it.”

Later that night, Lily watched as her mom was looking through the telescope.

Eliza kept looking at the sky, hoping in some way that through this miniature telescope that she would somehow be able to see the blue planet she once lived on, however unlikely it was.

‘Why is mommy looking into the sky? Didn’t she say she wanted to look at her home?’ Lily wondered.

Then… her eyes widened.

‘Is momma’s home… in the sky?! Is momma an alien?’

Yet another casual mystery was added on to Lily’s life that day.