“Don’t get discouraged.” Roland gently grasped Mia’s right hand that was holding the pen. “Just follow along with me, take it slow and you’ll get there.”
With her help, Mia began to sense each stroke of the syllables bit by bit.
Roland was like a patient teacher, imparting knowledge to her student in the gentlest way possible.
Mia, who had been feeling a bit down, quickly shifted all her attention to this.
After guiding her for a while, Roland let go and said, “Now, try doing it yourself, just like I showed you.”
This time, Mia made significant progress. Although her handwriting was still crooked, compared to the messy scribbles from earlier, it was much improved.
“You’re doing great,” Roland encouraged.
Hearing this, the dust-covered yellow gemstone eyes of Mia lit up, mixed with a joy like a child receiving candy.
“If you can write down all the syllables from the book, I’ll give you a special reward.”
She nodded and began copying from the book.
Finally getting Mia to study on her own, Roland didn’t want to waste this golden opportunity—she had to quickly accomplish the purpose of this trip.
She opened the book and started reading as well.
No one knew how much time had passed. When she felt someone tugging at the hem of her skirt, she put down her book to see Mia holding up a completed sheet of paper, her face full of anticipation.
With a wry smile, Roland took the paper to check it, and was genuinely surprised by the result.
She’d thought Mia was the sort of person who was extremely talented in magic but not in other areas, but it turned out her ability to learn was also impressive.
From the messy scribbles at the beginning, to being able to write decently after a few tries, and now to neat handwriting—Roland couldn’t help but wonder if Mia had secretly eaten a printer behind her back.
“You’re really amazing, Mia. Here’s your reward.”
Roland took out a smooth, shiny red apple and handed it over. Just from the looks of it, it was already mouthwatering.
This was originally set aside by the Maid Chief to stave off Roland’s hunger, and it was at least twice the size of a regular apple. Now it ended up going to Mia.
The girl accepted the apple, which was larger than her palm, and held it carefully as if she’d found a treasure. Even though it looked no different from those she’d picked from fruit trees herself, its significance was entirely different.
This was… a reward she had earned for herself, and also a gift from someone else.
In Mia’s memory, people only gave her gifts on very special days, and nothing she’d received before had looked this beautiful.
Since that was the case, she decided to treat today as her lucky day, and from now on, she would eat an apple every year on this day.
“Wash it before you eat when we get back,” Roland said, reaching out to gently pat Mia’s head. She’d lost count of how many times she’d done that by now.
There was no helping it—Mia was simply too lovable the way she acted, and it naturally stirred a protective feeling in Roland.
“Since you’ve learned to write, now I’ll teach you how to read. You don’t have to go too deep, just get a general idea. This will help you better understand what others are saying.”
Roland pointed at a triangular diagram and the words inside, reading them out again: “This house is called home. The person inside is called Mia. Above Mia is Mother. Mother’s name is Roland. Can you remember that?”
…Mother?
That strange word sent ripples through Mia’s heart. She felt as if she had seen this so-called Mother before, but her memories were too hazy, like a thick layer of opaque ice—she couldn’t break through it, nor see what was beneath.
Had those children who were taken away all gotten new mothers? Was it her turn now?
Mia looked up to meet Roland’s eyes, her lips moving silently.
Even without sound, Roland immediately recognized she was saying “Mother.”
It was clear that Mia had picked up some lip reading from what she’d just learned, which filled Roland with pride and satisfaction. She replied gently, “Yes, I’m here.”
[Congratulations to the host for establishing a mother-daughter relationship with Mia! Congratulations!]
The System panel popped up at the worst possible time, completely blocking her view.
“System.”
[Here I am, dear.]
“Get lost.”
[Alright, dear.]
The System sensibly retracted the panel, not daring to disturb the warm moment between the two any further.
When Roland could see Mia’s dirty little face again, she realized that Mia had started crying at some point, and she panicked.
When it came to comforting children, Roland wasn’t what you’d call experienced—in fact, she had zero experience. Watching Mia wipe her tears, she began to wonder if maybe she was being too hasty.
As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. Roland suddenly thought of a way. Without hesitation, she hugged Mia and patted her back, coaxing her in a tone usually reserved for small children: “Good girl, Mia, good child, Mia, don’t cry, don’t cry, Mother is here.”
Although it was a bit embarrassing to speak that way as a man, the effect was surprisingly good.
Mia’s turbulent emotions actually calmed down, and she gradually fell asleep.
“Being a mom is really exhausting.” Roland couldn’t help but complain before calling out to the System again: “I remember something about getting a reward when that progress reaches 0%, right?”
[Congratulations, host! The bond with your first daughter has surpassed 0%, and you’ve gained 70% of her Magic Talent!]
“Magic Talent? You can actually get that?”
[Yes, the power of motherly love knows no bounds.]
“I don’t really feel any different. How does this reward actually work?”
[You’ll notice when you start learning magic, host.]
“I have to study it myself? How troublesome.”
Even so, Roland still planned to study magic. Who knew—maybe one day she’d be flying around on a broomstick.
Since magic existed, this world was definitely far from ordinary. From the history she’d just read, Roland now knew for certain that there were gods in this world.
These gods weren’t simply made up by people to inspire faith; they were truly powerful beings capable of destroying worlds.
The book mentioned the Antalia Continent, which was where this world was, and that there were currently seven gods. Only the Hope Goddess, symbolizing light and life, and the Demon King, symbolizing war and death, were specifically named. The church that worshiped the Hope Goddess was called the Church of Light, and it was one of the largest organizations around.
The Demon King had been vanquished only a few centuries ago, and the legendary Hero was so mysterious that even the location of their grave was unknown.
Roland was quite relieved to have transmigrated into this peaceful era. If she’d arrived a few centuries earlier, she might have been dragged to the front lines as cannon fodder against the Demon King’s army—her blood and head left on the battlefield.
However… the term “Hero” did sound strangely familiar…
Other than seeing it in the book this morning, she felt like she’d heard it somewhere else, too.
No matter how much she thought about it, Roland couldn’t recall anything, so she simply gave up on it.
“Forget it, let’s go back. I’ll settle Mia in first.”