Mage Manual-Chapter 627 - 503: The Sound of the Flute

Diya suddenly felt a pain on her forehead; she emitted a sob-like sound and pulled the covers over her head.

But soon, her blanket was thoroughly swept away, and the blazing, glaring sunlight struggled to pry open her eyelids, dancing on her lenses. Diya lay face down on the bed, covering her eyes with a pillow, and then, with a snap, she rolled over, clutching her butt and giving Ash a resentful look.

"Time to get up."

"Do you know how impolite it is to burst into a young girl’s boudoir, throw off her blanket, and spank her bottom?!"

"But the problem is this is also my room, my blanket, my..."

Ash cocked his head, glanced over there, and said, "At least half of it is mine, right?"

"It’s yours my foot!" Diya threw her pillow at him, which Ash caught and tossed back, "Get up quickly, you’re always the lazy sleeper."

"It’s actually me who’s accompanying you in sleep; I can manage without it..." She muttered and, after washing up, walked out the door, just in time to see the white queen dragging the little witch out of the next room.

The white queen still looked pretty upset, while the little witch was drowsy, eyes closed.

"What’s wrong with her?"

"She stayed up all night playing games."

"Then just let her sleep."

"No, if we let her sleep, then she will surely dare to do it again," the white queen said. "I will be supervising her studies later, and no matter how sleepy she gets, I won’t let her sleep. She needs to learn her lesson."

Diya touched her own bottom, "Why not just spank her?"

"When I pulled back the covers earlier, she actually stuck out her bottom for me to hit," the white queen’s mouth twitched. "Ash has healed her too many times; she has developed a resistance!"

The little witch muttered, "Daddy, save me..."

"Even if Ash comes today, he has to join you in studying!" The white queen said angrily as she carried her downstairs, while Diya followed, seeing the Black Butler making breakfast in the kitchen.

Noticing her gaze, the Black Butler said, "It’ll take a bit longer for Lala Fat to be ready; you go and soak with Ash for a while."

"Mhm."

Diya left the main house and saw the Red Death Cultist doing her morning exercises in the yard. From time to time, white mist and whip-like shock waves formed in the air. Only upon closer inspection was it apparent that water threads were whipping the air at supersonic speeds. The originally supple and sharp water threads were being used with a firm and fierce force by her.

The Red Death Cultist nodded at Diya as a greeting and continued immersing herself in the wonders of magic. Diya walked to the back of the yard, spotting a steaming hot spring pool in which Ash, only in his swim trunks, was lying back with his eyes closed.

"Don’t turn around," Diya warned, then took off her clothes and used water threads to weave herself a swimsuit—she had long learned the weaving technique from other mages’ handbooks, and making a swimsuit was a breeze. She tested the temperature with the tip of her toe, stepped in with her calf, and used both hands to balance on her thighs as she slowly sat down in the hot spring.

She didn’t lie back like Ash but sat up, with not only her shoulders above water but even her milky-white ovals still above the waterline.

Ash sat up and looked at the distance between them, practically the diagonal of the small hot spring, "You’re sitting quite far away."

"Whose fault is that, the way you woke me up?" Diya huffed, staring at Ash’s abdomen which was only barely visible in the water, "You really like soaking in the morning, making sure even in seclusion that you find a place with hot springs."

"A bad habit I picked up from Igula."

Ash looked at the sky, "I wonder how they are doing now."

"They will definitely be okay."

"It’s hard to say; we only escaped Nabistin with great difficulty, and they were not behind us at that time. Their only chance was to head into the underground city." Ash sighed, "Too bad I can hardly even call myself a mage now, self-protection is an issue, let alone going to save them."

"As the price for rejecting the Gospel System, this is already quite a bargain." Diya smiled, "As long as we don’t use magic power or go to the Void Realm, divine beings can’t find you, and we can settle down here."

"Actually, other Technique Spirits are fine, it’s just the Substitute being unavailable that’s a bit troublesome." Ash complained, "With other Technique Spirits, I simply need to resonate with them to use them, but it’s the laziest—after resonating it still takes a long time to get it to move... just like you."

"I’m not lazy!" Diya splashed water at him, and Ash playfully retaliated.

After a round of playful water magic, Ash suddenly came up close to her, and Diya instantly stiffened. She heard the splashing of water at the inlet of the hot spring, accompanied by a heartbeat that was half a beat behind the splashing—her own.

"Although I can still use the Technique Spirits, I basically can’t fight anymore," Ash said, "Does that bother you?"

"Bother me about what?"

"The fact that not only will I not be able to protect you in the future, but you will also have to protect me." Ash said, "Even though the Gospel System has collapsed and it’s difficult for others to find me, Magic Factions like Prophecy and Fate might still be able to track me down. There must be countless people wanting me to return to the throne and get the Gospel System running again, yet I can’t even protect myself..."

"It doesn’t bother me," Diya interrupted him, "And I have been looking forward to it for a long time."

"You’ve been looking forward to me becoming useless for a long time?" Ash stepped back in shock.

"What I mean is I’ve been looking forward to protecting you!" Diya firmly grabbed his hand and pulled him back, "How could I possibly mind? Back when Liss was merely a trouble magnifier in your life, you didn’t mind it."

"Hey!" A discontented voice came from the main house, followed by a slap from the white queen.

Ash blinked, lowering his voice, "To be honest, I was a little bothered at first, but... I don’t know when it stopped mattering."

"Because you started thinking of us as family," Diya said. "I feel the same."

She had a sudden thought, "In a few years, when things outside calm down, let’s blend into a small town, shall we? We can’t stay hidden forever, and the little witch has to grow up in a normal environment... As long as we find two mage professions, we should be quite welcome."

"Mage professions?" Ash blinked his eyes.

"You have healing abilities, so you could become a Healing Mage, while I’d like to try being a clothing designer," Diya said. "I feel like I have a talent for it. A Weaving Mage and a Medical Mage, what do you think? Then we can also have a pet, plant some flowers and plants, and when we’re free, go on outings with everyone near our home." freewebnoveℓ.com

"It sounds so ordinary."

"Compared to the office, the Princess, the First Gospel, of course it’s ordinary, but isn’t that a good thing?"

"Of course it is." Ash laughed. "That’s the peaceful life I’ve been longing for."

"Red Sister loves adventure, she probably wants to join Bluebeard in exploring the Abyss; White Sister and Black Sister don’t like going out or seeing other people, we can just take care of them; in a few days, we can find the right Magic Faction for little witch..."

"At first it will definitely take some getting used to, but for the future, it’s all worth it."

"The future, huh..." Ash murmured.

"Of course, for the future," Diya laughed. "Our lives have just begun, it will be many years before we can retire in the Void Realm."

Ash smiled at her, and Diya looked a bit puzzled. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, I just realized that my life planning skills are not as good as yours." Ash scratched his head. "I didn’t expect you to take care of even our lifestyle..."

"Hmph, I’ve read a lot of Mage’s Handbooks, this is just a minor strength for me," Diya said with her hands on her hips. "You better apologize for your rudeness just now!"

"Alright, alright, Your Highness Princess, please forgive my previous impertinence towards your forehead, the quilt, your butt..."

As she listened, Diya’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she leaned in with great expectation. "Say it one more time."

Ash hesitated for a moment. "Your Highness Princess?"

"Mm!" Diya hugged him with a beaming smile. "Say it one more time!"

"Your Highness Princess, can you stop being naughty?" Ash said helplessly. "I thought you didn’t like that identity."

"I just don’t like being the princess of Yisu." Diya giggled, climbing onto Ash.

The hot spring pool was not slip-proof, and Ash lost his balance for a moment, sinking into the hot spring, holding Diya.

"Time to eat now."

"Woo... every day I have to watch Sister Diya attack Dad..."

"Brush your teeth properly!"

Diya felt a bit shy when she heard her sisters’ voices and tried to grab onto Ash to surface, but she caught nothing.

She couldn’t rise to the surface.

Nor could she sink.

She just stayed beneath the water, floating aimlessly, in a daze.

"Diya."

The voice came from above the water, and Diya looked over.

Through the ripples formed by raindrops hitting the water, she saw a little girl with white hair squatting.

It was still raining, it had always been raining.

"Sister Liss..."

"You can still change your mind now, I can’t compete with you," Sleeping Beauty said. "But once you fall asleep, you will never wake up again, including the other sisters—as you’re worried about, the First Gospel won’t allow other ’noises’ to exist. When I succeed as the Gospel, your personalities and wills will be completely erased, and even I can’t escape it. My personality was created to bear the Gospel."

"Just now..."

"While I was asleep, I seem to have learned some strange abilities," she said. "So I’ve composed a fairy tale for you, a beautiful dream, an opportunity for you to confess your regrets..."

Diya: "... all words of regret I never managed to say out loud."

Sleeping Beauty: "So, have you made up your mind?"

Diya suddenly asked, "Can I hide in your eyes?"

"You can’t." Sleeping Beauty shook her head. "Only one of us can be awake, so when I’m asleep, you can enter the Void Realm; and when you’re awake, I must be asleep. When the drowsiness in my mind fades, you will fall into your last sleep."

Diya was somewhat disappointed by the answer but seemed to let out a sigh of relief, smiling and saying, "Then I’ll leave it to you."

"Alright." Sleeping Beauty stood up. "Goodbye, Diya."

"Goodbye, Liss."

As Lissdia stood up, the river submerged the phantom in the water.

At the same time, everyone’s Gospel Book popped open again.

The name of the first rank on the Gospel List twisted, altered, and finally took shape.

「First Rank on the Gospel List: Diyan」

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢