Volume 2: The Temucha Region—Aunt in Flames
Chapter 26.5: Special Chapter—An Exhaustive Investigative Documentary! Uncovering the Secret of Lou, the Mysterious Unidentified Creature!!
This story takes place approximately one hundred years before Brendan enrolled at Magias.
Once upon a time, there was a creature named Lou.
“I’m Lou.”
Lou said:
“I wanna go to a mixer!”
Lou resembled a stuffed hamster. Surprisingly, however, he possessed an intense desire to socialize and constantly watched for an opportunity to attend a group mixer intended to begin a romantic relationship with women aged eighteen to twenty-two, or twenty-two to forty-six, or perhaps forty-six to one hundred.
No one knew where Lou came from or why he had been born. Lou himself had little interest in anything other than pretty girls.
Lou had one problem.
He hadn’t met a wonderful woman in a very long time.
Apparently, the neighboring countries were fighting a major war, and at some point the area surrounding Lou’s territory had become a burned wasteland.
“Hey, you over there! Would you like to play with Lou? Kyak-kyak-kyak! If you play with Lou, I’ll treat you to a delicious dinner!”
Even when he occasionally spotted a human figure, it was an unresponsive corpse.
Burying them deeply enough that they couldn’t be dug up had become part of Lou’s daily routine because leaving them exposed was unsanitary.
Lou hated flies.
“There haven’t been any pretty girls around lately.”
Lou hadn’t managed to hold a mixer with pretty girls for the purpose of dating in several years. That was how long the war had continued. Some country was fighting some other country, but none of that concerned Lou.
Then, one day, Lou’s wish was finally granted when he discovered a girl.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
More specifically, she was a baby.
The woman who appeared to be her mother had died while still holding her.
Lou said:
“I wanna go to a mixer!”
Even Lou didn’t consider minors part of his dating pool.
However, the child would probably die if left there, so Lou reluctantly took the baby home.
Lou’s house—with twenty-four bedrooms, living room, dining room, and kitchen—was fully equipped with every variety of protective barrier. It was an oasis on the battlefield, untouched by the war.
Lou buried only the body of the child’s probable parent near his house and prepared a grave. It was a nuisance, honestly.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
“You’re so looooooud! You creature! You’re far too noisy!”
A baby’s cries are generally said to reach between eighty and one hundred decibels. This noise is comparable to being on a construction site, and real-world evidence indicates that prolonged exposure to sounds above eighty-five decibels increases the risk of hearing loss.
This proves that parents throughout the nation endure harsh childcare environments. Whenever one encounters a person caring for a baby—regardless of sex—it is important to remain conscious that “this person is tired.”
Naturally, “being tired” is not limited to guardians. It is a social burden shared by people in many circumstances. Perhaps recognizing such burdens without discrimination and treating others kindly within reasonable limits is essential to shaping a sustainable society.
“I’ll raise this shabby brat to independence as fast as possible and throw her out of Lou’s house!”
Lou fed the baby lipids, protein, iron, several forms of calcium, vitamins and other micronutrients, and quality fatty acids—most notably omega-3s. He changed her nappy every few hours, sang lullabies so she could sleep securely, and spent the remainder of his time attempting to arrange mixers.
He found no participants.
One day, while organizing the baby’s belongings, he discovered what appeared to be a name tag.
The baby’s name was Anastasia.
Lou thought it was an impressive name and a little presumptuous.
“Anastashia! It’s time to eat!”
“Okay, Mama.”
“Lou isn’t your mama!”
By the time the baby learned to speak, Anastasia had grown into a girl who, despite being a mere brat, carried a strangely divine air. In hindsight, her mother had also been well dressed, but Lou wasn’t the sort to dwell on the past.
“Anastashia! You aren’t holding your utensils properly! You mustn’t make noise while eating!”
“Okay, Mama.”
“People hate messy eaters! There’s an extremely high chance unpopular people at mixers eat like slobs! It’s true! Seriously!”
Anastasia genuinely ate like a slob, so the first thing Lou hammered into her was proper table manners.
The impertinent Anastasia learned quickly and soon acquired manners that would put adults to shame.
“Mama, you mustn’t make noise while you eat.”
“You—shut up! Don’t talk back to your parent!”
Lou despaired at Anastasia’s poor communication skills. He taught her to observe the smallest changes in people’s emotions and mind her language while speaking with them.
“Communication is the most important all-purpose tool in life! Actively interact with lots of your own kind and make as many friends as possible!”
“Why?”
“Because life is more fun that way!”
Beginning the next day, whenever Anastasia spoke with another person, she swiftly read what they were thinking, determined what words would please them, and simultaneously prioritized calculations of profit and loss.
However, she performed the process more naturally and skillfully than Lou. To preserve their hierarchy, he resorted to complaining, “You know, people are really going to hate you for that.”
“A lady must also attend to her behavior and appearance! Learn beautiful manners from childhood and remain sensitive to the latest fashions!”
“Yes, Mother.”
Anastasia remembered things quickly, so Lou taught her many subjects.
“The secret to popularity at mixers is expressing your ‘good upbringing’ as naturally as possible! Anastashia! What does it mean to be well brought up!?”
“The way one speaks, one’s conduct, appearance, and education—and above all, a heart that cherishes others, Mother.”
It remained questionable whether Lou needed to go this far, but Anastasia ultimately grew into a splendid lady whom one could introduce anywhere without shame.
Time passed, and Anastasia turned twelve.
The flames of war only intensified. They had become so noisy that Lou was considering emigrating to another country with Anastasia.
“Mother, I have something to tell you.”
One day, Anastasia began speaking with an unusually grave expression.
“I must fulfill my mission. Only recently have I finally come to understand that.”
“Your mishion?”
“You may believe you have concealed it from me, Mother, but I already know my true identity.”
They were in the middle of an important conversation, but Lou suddenly wanted to attend a mixer.
“My true name is Anastasia Luze Dravenia. I am the daughter of Grand Duke Diego and Grand Duchess Melanna of the Principality of Temucha, and the sole person with the right to inherit the position of the next grand duke.”
Really?
“If I appeal to Temucha’s moderate faction, I may be able to end this long war.”
Really?
“I considered living peacefully with you, Mother, but I choose the path of fulfilling the duty carried by one of noble blood. I will cherish others and preach love and peace to my neighbors. With your teachings, I will surely guide our people and bring this war to an end.”
I wanna go to a mixer.
“Mother, thank you for raising me all these years. I will never forget this debt for as long as I live. You are, beyond any doubt, my true mother.”
“Ah… Lou’s coming too because I’m worried about you.”
On the Day of Harle, April 7, 1918 of the Dragon King Calendar:
The Kingdom of Griefia and the Principality of Temucha were engulfed in war.
To end the conflict that would later become known as the Continental Unification War, a single girl set out from the borderlands.
She was Anastasia Luze Dravenia, later celebrated as the “Princess of Salvation,” accompanied by the mysterious unidentified creature Lou.
One girl and one creature.
No one yet knew that their exceedingly small and fragile wills would profoundly alter the destinies of the Kingdom of Griefia and the Principality of Temucha.