Foxtails and Fairytales: Reckless Adventures in Another World

Arc 5

Arc 5

Ch. 1 Seventh Birthday

Sebas

My seventh birthday comes up and it's nothing special since the kingdom is in a state of crisis and everyone is busy with the babies at home.

I almost let it pass me by, but while on one of me-and-Julie's job hunts we end up at the restaurant papa took me to that one time. It has gotten a little bigger since it became so successful. The cook learned from his past mistakes and created a menu that is both tasty and uses the minimum ingredients. That makes it cheap, delicious, and popular.

We arrive, and my entire family is there. It's the first time I've ever seen mama in the town. But all the babies are here too. Papa, Paul and many people from Papa's office are here. Tilfa, the bunny girl and an older bunny woman showed up too. Many of the people I've met or helped have showed up too. Since it isn't reasonable for everyone to give gifts like when I was five, many people help throw a party.

It's the first surprise party I've ever gotten. I guess I started tearing up because Julie uses a handkerchief to wipe my cheeks. While enjoying the festivities there is a stage set up where people take turns telling stories about me.

Mama's starts out fine and then, because it's mama, the waterworks keep her from finishing. Papa's turn happens, and he tells the story of how I met Julie and chasing me into the forest to save me from Rollo. There he found me in the midst of the carnage shrugging like it was only natural while Rollo's head was nearby. He added humor and really played up the hero side as I watched over Julie until she got home.

Julie scooted closer to me and was blushing furiously when papa mentioned I carried her like a princess all the way to her mama and then walked them home.

Zorlo got on stage and gave me a wink. He then began to tell humorous stories about when I was training my magic when I believed nobody was watching. He acted out the scene where I kicked myself in the nose and then had everyone in stiches as he explained my most embarrassing crashes when I was perfecting wind walking, now called winking.

He finished with the story of saving the cubs and opening the fox gate. Explaining what fox gate was and that my hair was only partly white because I gave a portion of that power to save Cheshire's life.

Hilda gets up and starts with how she doesn't how I ended up as normal as I did with how overprotective mama was. She tells a few stories about how much I worried her. And how many handkerchiefs mama chewed through adding that she'd really good at making them if anyone wanted one. She mentions my third birthday when I got my third tail and the first time she saw my magic. She had grown up in this town since it was a village and it had been her first time seeing such wonderful magic.

She talked about how excited she was when she was able to introduce me to Julie and then how many different ways mama was going to skin her and Julie after she scratched Sebas's face. She described my apology to Tilfa when I brought Julie home safe and sound while my clothes were torn to shreds. She finished with the exact number of clothes I had managed to ruin and how good she had gotten at mending my clothes.

Iliza got up. Iliza was a proper maid in almost every definition of the word. She had a neutral face, proper manners, and faded perfectly into the background. Today she revealed being a mother of four, three of her own and added myself to that number. She mentioned how small I was as a baby. How she worried about how she worries about my future. She tells of watching me sleep in mama's lap while mama read to me.

How I was a splendid student, a scholar, and a gentleman. She begins tearing up. I don't think I've seen her cry once since I met her. She makes a joke about needed one of mama's chewed up handkerchiefs.