LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 10 - Why Would You Ever Blame the Baby?
[Expressed Reversal] was definitely a mistake.
Malwine's first target yielded results on the first try, as did the third. She had eaten the [Integrity] cost from five tries to see the details of the second, if reluctantly, but when the would-be fourth target failed to give her results twice, Malwine just stopped counting. She was annoyed enough as it was by the dumb 50% success rate.
[Integrity] 586 → 531
Only after it was done did it occur to her to reread the description of [Identify]…She'd held it back out of fear of detection—it hadn't taken long to see someone with certain masked details, so she wouldn't put it past her Skills to be warning her of a legitimate risk of detection—but she was now pretty sure [Identify] didn't rely on a coin-flip to work. That was the trade-off.
Dammit Malwine, she cursed at herself for not having noticed that sooner. Almost all I got from [Meditation], down the drain just like that…
At least she got the information she wanted, even if she might have to squeeze every detail out of her abilities' descriptions in the future. Her new guests were too busy yelling at each other, and all Malwine could do was her best impression of a crying baby. If they started paying attention to her, it might be worth just redeeming whatever that [Situational Autopilot] Skill was. This language barrier's gonna be so annoying.
Among her guests, one looked considerably older than the rest, if only by virtue of actually looking like a mature adult. On the flip side, he also appeared quite fond of screaming at the others instead of acting like one.
Yep, just a normal family was too much to ask for…though I guess, maybe tensions are high because I just showed up out of nowhere, right?
Suppressing a grumble, Malwine looked over the results that so many of her [Integrity] points died for.
Kristian Rīsan - Human - Level ???
Boons: [Bonanza of the Hero's Party (Lancer)]
Hold up, what? Malwine didn't bother to keep her eyebrows down. Someone not only over Level 100, but a different, presumably higher core stage—with a 'boon' like that, though, it was no wonder. That implies summoned heroes exist, too. Oh, boy.
So far, there were at least two other core stages, though all Malwine had were their colors. She would be tentatively noting them down as 'eraser-board green' and 'crispy copper' until she learned their proper names, though she guessed both had to be higher than Early Esse.
The one fond of yelling—Kristian—pointed a finger to Thekla's chest. "How could you keep this from me?"
"Father, we only just learned of this ourselves!"
"No way!" a squeaky voice joined in, prompting Malwine to check that result next. "You just wanted to keep it from everyone so you wouldn't get in trouble!"
Alaric Rīsan - Human - Level 37
Buffs: [Governess's Support] | Debuffs: [Sprained Ankle (Right)]
Ha, weak!, thought the Level 35. Still, he'd given Malwine a highly specific kind of first impression, the 'hits you in the playground then calls the teacher if you fight back' sort of vibe. She supposed he might be younger than the rest, if only because of how short he was, but she couldn't see his face.
"Will you all hush it? You're terrifying the poor thing."
The other woman approached Malwine's crib, her hair in a tight, dark bun. Her eyes were light, though drowned out in the green light as almost everything else was. That was the next result Malwine reviewed.
Bernadette ‡ - Human - Level ??
Buffs: [The Grace of a Gentlewoman]
…What??? Malwine's carefully orchestrated cries stumbled. She'd never seen that used with regards to a living person before, even in all her years. This line has ended?
The woman in question only seemed to have eyes for Malwine. "Shh, shh, it's okay, dear. We're here for you, yes? Mm."
Credit where credit was due, this Bernadette's voice was quite soothing, enough that Malwine momentarily forgot how the tension between the remainder of her family members could be cut with a knife.
The final addition chimed in from the corner in which he stood, arms crossed. "If this is Beryl's kid, where is Beryl?"
Kristoffer Rīsan - Human - Level 42
Debuffs: [Low Integrity]
Bernadette's hands hung in midair, close as they had gotten to Malwine. Her little old heart broke at having the rug pulled from under herself again—somebody pick me up already!
"It matters not," Bernadette's tone grew firm, yet still as melodic as this unknown language of theirs allowed. "The child needs to be cared for, and the system itself has stated that Beryl cannot attend to her affairs, wherever she is."
"Are we to just ignore the matter of Beryl, then?"
Thekla moved to stand between them. "No, Father. I informed Otto, and he confirmed he will look into it with haste."
"YOU TOLD OTTO?"
To Malwine, it appeared as though Kristian's veins were trying to flee from his body, tense as he looked. Were it not for some of the others showing a measure of interest towards her, she might have started worrying about being unwanted. Though if Mom thought Anselm should be in charge of her and me, then maybe I can at least trust that guy.
The aforementioned man appeared to choose that exact moment to collapse, hitting the floor with a loud thud.
…You know what, fair.
Thekla, Bernadette, and even that Kristoffer who looked like he would rather be anywhere but here ran to the fallen man, the latter pulling him up. Anselm remained unconscious.
"[Integrity] failure," Thekla was telling the others. "Kris, help me get him back to the manor."
Could I get a language Skill, I wonder? Then again, Malwine wasn't sure how she felt about committing an entire Skill slot to that. There might be more to explore in this world than she ever got to see in her first life, so individual language Skills struck her as something unaffordable, with her limited Skill slots. Or would that other social Skill help?
Hmmmm…
You have gained [Situational Autopilot]
Seeing as social interactions and expectations take far more time and effort to handle than anyone should be expected to dedicate to the matter, you shan’t waste any indeed. Harness the collective knowledge of all around you to react accordingly when involved in interactions with others.
Trait: None
Aspect: [True Autopilot]. Pay for true automatic upkeep of this Skill once enabled either via a steady expense of [Integrity] or steady accrual of [Toll], the first calculated from your combined Acclimation values and the latter from your combined Control values.
[Situational Autopilot] defaults to max level 50 but may never evolve!
You have reached Level 40 [Banked levels: 10]!
Great. Vague, but great. Malwine was glad to have been right about what to expect from this. I wonder how it'll work at this age.
She snuck a glance at her updated Skills panel while she was at it.
Skills
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x5)
Locked
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x5)
Locked
UNUSED
Home Sweet Home
50
Homeward Roads
Identify
Cool Head on Your Shoulders
50
Expressed Reversal
UNUSED
Unpacifiable
50
Implacable
Locked
Learning By Reading
50
Remote Reading
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x4)
Locked
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x4)
Locked
UNUSED
Meditation
3
Undeveloped Aspect
Blank Panel
Write Anywhere
1
Undeveloped Aspect
UNUSED
Once and Forever
50
Mana Reclaimer
UNUSED
Situational Autopilot
50
True Autopilot
Locked
Nosy Old Lady
50
Purpose
UNUSED
Close to my Chest
50
Reveal Nothing
Kristian sniffed before snarling some more words that were incomprehensible to Malwine. "Who just leveled up?"
"What?"
"I heard the chimes."
"No one, husband. No one's leveling up right now, and I have heard no such chimes. Do any of us look like we're training Skills in the present moment?"
Alaric snickered. "Maybe it was the baby."
Whatever the boy—definitely a young boy, now that Malwine got a better look at him—had said got Kristian frowning. "Do not play games right now, child. My patience runs thin enough already. Either speak when your words are useful, or keep your peace."
Alaric gulped audibly and nodded.
Damn dysfunctional families. She enabled [True Autopilot] and let it start eating [Integrity] up. Had her [Toll] not been so high she might have given into the temptation to go for that instead, just to see what a Control of 5 would do.
Malwine started crying in earnest. So their collective knowledge—expectation, I guess—is that I should be crying more? Okay…
With her new Skill running in the background, somewhat accidentally diffusing the arguments on account of the loud baby cries, Malwine moved to run [Once and Forever] on the three remaining people. It was a shame that she'd neglected to do it earlier, since now she'd be missing results for Kristoffer.
(❗) Error: Parent unknown to child.
(❗) Error: Parent unknown to child.
Oh, my, my. That was the result Malwine had also gotten when trying to seek Beryl's paternal grandparents. So Kristian is my grandfather. A grandfather who was in a hero's party. Malwine was just guessing, but being part of the team of a summoned hero—or who she at least assumed had to be a summoned hero given the context—sounded like a big deal. I wonder if he's famous? And is the hero around?
Alaric was next.
(❗) Error: Target living.
(❗) Error: Target too recently deceased (136 months).
Huh. An uncle that young. Maybe cultivation means people live longer? Though Malwine had to admit she had no idea how old her mother or other relatives were. Older-Beryl had died some 41 or so years before, and this grandmother of unknown name—who'd be the daughter of Older-Beryl—some 11 years ago. That at least gave her an estimate for how old Alaric had to be. He looked much younger than 11, so Malwine doubted he could be much older than that minimum age.
All her aunts and uncles so far were Kristian's children, as she could replicate the same chain of results if she tried to seek their paternal grandparents, too. Hm. Malwine tried Kristoffer anyway.
Yep, also an uncle. She wanted to slap herself for the momentary lapse in judgment there. She'd known they didn't need to be anywhere around her for [Once and Forever] to work, and as it turned out, the Skill would still work even if she didn't know what the connection to herself was. Presumably, the name was enough.
Bernadette—who was now once again moving closer to her—gave Malwine a result she hadn't expected.
(❗) Error: Ineligible.
Huh? Does that mean she isn't related? Malwine could have guessed as much from the surname, or more accurately lack thereof. Now she knew that such a result kept her from pressing onwards, though, so she couldn't aim for Bernadette's ancestors to clarify anything.
A bit miffed at that, Malwine switched her focus to examining the results of [Situational Autopilot] so far. She remained peripherally aware of her actions while it was running alongside [True Autopilot], not unlike walking to a set location without having to consciously think of every step. She suspected there was some loss of detail for the moments in which she hadn't been actively paying attention, but seeing as she'd mostly been crying while they spoke in a tongue unknown to her, she supposed she hadn't missed that much. Malwine wouldn't have garnered anything from paying attention anyway.
In a rush, she cut off [True Autopilot], seeing what was about to come. It hadn't been as costly as she'd have expected—or maybe [Expressed Reversal] was too expensive.
[Integrity] 531 → 520
Finally! Malwine let out some happy coo noises as Bernadette picked her up, the woman's embrace quite warm and sturdy. Malwine sunk into her arm, the dress a bit too crisp, but she hadn't realized the extent to which she craved physical contact until she all but hugged this woman she 'met' minutes ago.
"Aw, aren't you a cute little thing?" Bernadette was looking at her with glistening eyes, her smile small but seeming genuine. "Let's get you to the manor, alright?"
As much as she wanted to keep trying to cuddle the former stranger, Malwine understood she should probably try to take the chance to examine her surroundings some more, especially if she was about to leave…wherever it was that her crib had been in.
She snuck a glance back as Bernadette carried her away, confirming a plain wooden crib had been in an otherwise empty room. Once they were out, however, Malwine's mood soured. Was I in a shed?! That's just rude!
Oh, well, at least they had left her new histrionic grandfather and the little kid behind.
Now Malwine's main difficulty was how Bernadette kept adjusting her grip every time Malwine tried to crane her neck to get a better view. Let me practice contortionism in peace, lady! I need to see the sights!
Once she managed to actually see anything, however…Malwine was stupefied, for a lack of a better term.
Bernadette was taking her through a path that initially reminded her of a simple gravel path, but the rocks were too large and in an assortment of blue to near-black shades. Pale grass grew at each side of the path, motes of sea-green light flowing from those closest to where they'd moved. The already-faint image of the shed faded into darkness. Colorful flowers rose in seemingly random patterns between blades of grass, starkly visible despite the otherwise low visibility. Malwine shuddered at how utterly out-of-place those were, and an exceeding paranoid part of her wanted to think said flowers were rotating, their petals following Bernadette's stride.
Similar specks of light shifted through the air above them, and only then did it strike Malwine that there seemed to be neither stars nor a sky at all—a cave like Nightsky?
Malwine wasn't anywhere near ready to unpack that, if that was the case. She'd died soon after learning about isekais while on her way to the Moon that held the Nightsky Cave System, and had immediately—well, as far as she knew—gotten not only isekaid, but dropped off somewhere that looked just like that? The only difference she could pinpoint between this place and the images she'd seen of the Nightsky caves was the undeniably greenish shade of the light. Reminds me of that lamp Thekla had.
At last, something distracted Malwine from the shifting flowers that she was growing convinced might eat them if they strayed from the path. Amber light shone from a structure in the distance, the form of which grew clearer as they approached. It reminded her of what one of those nebulous past-life contacts insisted on calling a gutshaus, and she had to assume that the shed she'd all but spawned in was part of the property.
What Malwine could only presume was a footman ran towards Bernadette, speaking in what she thought sounded like a polite but somewhat rushed tone. Bernadette didn't miss a beat between wrangling Malwine back away from her latest twisting and answering the footman. "Have them bring out one of Adelheid's spares. Yes, to the same room. I will speak with Marie shortly."
The footman disappeared into the building while another one held the door open for Bernadette as they finally arrived.
An ornate arced roof greeted them within, adorned with interspersed mosaics of emerald green and amber. A similar design followed the columns of the foyer, though Malwine didn't get to see if it continued throughout the rest of the house, as Bernadette soon carried her up the nearby stairs. Even the banisters were a shade of amber, not unlike the light she'd seen from the outside. Now she could tell it came from the elaborate sconces that speckled the cream-colored walls, each brighter than any sconce had any right to be.
Bernadette hummed as she rocked her, lingering in front of a closed door, and despite her best efforts, Malwine found herself leaning in. Ugh, why is this actually comfortable enough to fall asleep to…?