The Greatest Celestial Summoner

'I get why Annalise is forced to do this, but why me?' Ain wondered.

As the small group left the building, both of the children were forced to hold Core's metallic hands.

Turning back, Ain admired the place he called home. It was a large building with pillaring sides reminiscent of the Gothic architecture he had seen so long ago.

They barely took a few steps out, and Annalise was already jumping around.

"Woah! What's that place over there!" She questioned, pointing to a building with a large sign.

"A drug store… They sell medicine for when you get hurt."

"Woah! But why do you need the uhm… Medisi… Medicsi…" Annalise tried and failed to take medicine until she got mildly upset.

"Why do you need that when you get hurt? Granny can just heal you?" She asked.

"Miss Maria's ability is very rare. Alumni capable of using abilities themselves are already uncommon. Those who can heal are even rarer." Core explained.

The grating sound of his voice made Ain's ears twitch. It felt like someone was rubbing sandpaper on them.

At the same time, Annalise's eyes managed to grow wider.

"Woow! Granny is really amazing!"

'I've never paid much attention to children, but aren't her sentences quite clear? She's also never seemed to have any problem with her Ls or Rs. How is she getting stuck on Medicine?' Ain inwardly hummed.

Annalise had begun just about everything early, from crawling at two months to walking at a measly five months. She even started talking in basic, complete sentences around the time she turned one.

Ain had casually been following behind her. When she walked, he started walking. Primarily out of curiosity but also simply because it was nice to have Maria more focused on Annalise than him.

However, now he thought such an endeavor was pointless. That old woman was so busy that Core usually took care of them.

'If anything, she's the real genius. Meanwhile, I'm just a cheater.'

Annalise continued to ask questions left and right, even as she asked what the same building was several times.

At the same time, they passed a group of people that Ain overheard.

"Haha… I'm sure the Mayor couldn't possibly say no to you, boss! Especially if she knows what's good for her!"

Their words caused Ain's eyes to gravitate toward them.

It was a group of six people. Each was well dressed, but rather than in a high society fancy way, they looked more like mobsters. 

He couldn't tell much since they were facing away, but he could at least see that the frontmost one, the one they called "Boss," had a large scar on the side of his face.

'Mayor… They're talking about Maria, right?' Ain hummed to himself.

Maria, their caretaker, was the mayor of the town they lived in. Her house doubled as the town hall, which is why it was so massive.

"Ain? Is something wrong?" Core asked.

Ain briefly turned back to Core, where he freed his hand and pointed at the group.

"Are they Granny's guests?" He asked.

Core casually nodded.

"A group of merchants from a nearby island."

"Merchants… I see."

'Core seems uninterested, so she'll probably be fine. Not my problem anyway.'

"Hey, Ainie! Core! What's a merchant?!" Annalise asked excitedly.

Ain let out a small chuckle before the group continued moving.

While they moved through the town, they saw a lot of faces—people who seemed to know Core quite well. Most gave their greetings before they busily scurried off.

Setting up decorations and stalls. Some appeared to have everything prepared already and were showing off their wares.

'Are they preparing for something?' Ain wondered

"Are they preparing for something?" The words escaped his mouth at the same time.

'Oops.'

He didn't mean to say that, as he imagined the thought might've been too complex unprompted, but he let an old habit of his escape.

"A festival. For Kindred Awakening… And for a God."

"God?" He pondered

"Ah, Ascernix!" He blurted out as he remembered.

The God of Reflections and Mirrors, who supposedly guarded this island. One of the books he read was all about different gods.

They were like local deities that guarded the surrounding islands. Unfortunately, none of the picture books that Ain had read mentioned if they had any real divinity or if they even existed in reality.

If he knew anything about Gods, it was that people loved making them up for their own agendas.

"That's right. It's said that this island is the resting place of Ascernix. Thanks to that, we hold a yearly festival alongside the Kindred Awakening ceremony to help generate revenue for the island."

Now it was Ain's turn to be excited with wide, starry eyes, regardless of how real this God was. All he really knew was their name and domain. Learning more would be a treasure trove of information!

Ain was rarely full of energy like this, so Core let out a small laugh.

"Would you like me to find and read you a book about Ascernix when we return home?"

Ain turned to Core, holding the picture book in his arms tightly.

"Yes, please!"

Annalise didn't understand what they were talking about, but whatever it was made Ain happy, which made her happy!

Happier, at least. As far as Ain could see, she didn't have a single sad bone in her body.

"Uhm! Can you read it to me, too?" She asked.

"Sure." Core nodded with a smile.

Seeing his helmet's facial expression change, Ain nearly fell over on himself.

He had seen masks that could change expression with magic, but those were sudden changes from one state to another. With those, there was no in-between state where one began to smile or frown.

You were either smiling, frowning, angry, or whatever other preset was created for it.

But Core… Core's face changed like that of a human.

'Is his helmet made of tin or something? That might be easy enough to mold into different expressions. What a fascinating place this is.'