Markets and Multiverses (A Serial Transmigration LitRPG)
Chapter 351: Four Reunited

After Anise and I took a few more moments to admire the staircase with some kind of powerup on it, our parents seemed to get tired. They took us on a leisurely stroll around the greenery, before we finally settled in a secluded garden area. Unlike most other parts of the green field surrounding the trunk, this one had a higher density of flowers, and also had a few statues overlooking the area. 

Two of the statues were old, worn out, and more than slightly charred looking. The third statue was of an elven woman smiling at us as she raised one hand into the distance, and held a book with her other hand.

“Why are two of the statues scorched black?” I asked.

“They’re recreations of the original three heroes,” said my mother. “During the flight to the sanctuaries we lost a lot of things - including records of what two of them looked like. There were still some old statues of them, but they were very worn and faded… such as the two in this garden. Since nobody knows what they look like, we decided to leave the statues as-is. Sadly, they got even more ruined a year ago during a high level incursion.”

After Anise and I took a few more moments to admire the staircase with some kind of powerup on it, our parents seemed to get tired. They took us on a leisurely stroll around the greenery, before we finally settled in a secluded garden area. Unlike most other parts of the green field surrounding the trunk, this one had a higher density of flowers, and also had a few statues overlooking the area. 

Two of the statues were old, worn out, and more than slightly charred looking. The third statue was of an elven woman smiling at us as she raised one hand into the distance, and held a book with her other hand.

“Why are two of the statues scorched black?” I asked.

“They’re recreations of the original three heroes,” said my mother. “During the flight to the sanctuaries we lost a lot of things - including records of what two of them looked like. There were still some old statues of them, but they were very worn and faded… such as the two in this garden. Since nobody knows what they look like, we decided to leave the statues as-is. Sadly, they got even more ruined a year ago during a high level incursion.”

My father sighed. “It really is a shame. Losing the faces of two of the original three heroes makes it easier for us to forget our past. But there’s no turning back time.”

I nodded. As much as I knew the ‘heroes’ were probably semi-complicit in the problems of this world, I could still feel the way this world’s history had slipped away after the Market’s collapse. It was a state that was more than a little depressing, and it weighed heavily on my mind as I turned my gaze away from the old statues.

It seemed that I wasn’t the only one inspecting the ruined statues. There were two other families also present in this flower field - luckily, there was enough space that it wouldn’t feel too cramped.

“I’m glad they rebuilt this area,” said my mother, as we moved to sit directly under the statue of the elven woman. “It was such a shame that it got ruined during the raid.”

My father grimaced. “Along with several swathes of city,” he said, shivering. “I thought we were going to lose the bakery for a few hours when I heard that our portion of the city got ruined by several blasts of magical fire. I’m just glad we were visiting your parents at the time, or I would have been worried about losing you and the girls, too.”

My mother laughed. “That really was a stroke of luck.”

My interest was piqued. My mother’s father?

Come to think of it, I hadn’t had much interaction with ‘grandparents’ in most of our previous lives. Life was just too short in most of them for grandparents to stick around - or too likely to come to a swift, violent end. At least so far, I had yet to be in a family with living grandparents. However, while this world appeared to be beset by violence, it was also far more resilient against it. Otherwise, life wouldn’t have continued on for thousands of years after the Market disappeared. While monster attacks were common, our city didn’t seem to have a hard time beating back most of them. Did I actually have grandparents this time?

My mother’s smile grew. “I think a big part of it is because we got married so young. In my Grandfather’s time, kids didn’t start dating until they were at least sixty or seventy. For us to start dating at only fifty must have been a huge shock. My father always complained that the two of us lacked patience.”

My father snorted. “I can definitely imagine that.”

My mother laughed. “When you asked me to join you in the rite of flowers and formalize our relationship, he started yelling about how we should wait another decade. That way I could kick you to the curb if I changed my mind.”

“Mama, we have grandparents?” I asked.

“We’ve seen all of your grandparents before! You must have been too young to remember,” said my mother. “My parents live in the leaves, so we usually see them once or twice a year. You father’s parents live in one of the island’s other two cities, so they’re even harder to visit.”

I blinked in surprise. So my parents and my grandparents were all still alive? That was genuinely surprising for me.

My mother laughed. “It’s part of why we can live so well, despite running a simple bakery. We might not live with my father, since he’s on the leaves layer and I’m married, but he still loves me very much. It made it far easier to get the initial money for the bakery, and since my food is good, things grew from there.” My mother looked very proud of herself, and actually puffed out her chest a bit with pride. Meanwhile, Anise and I shared a look.

So grandfather lived on the upper layer of the city, in the leaves? That meant he was also a spellcaster, or directly related to one. it seemed that our birth was also pretty lucky this time - even if we hadn’t been born directly into the upper crust of society, we were in pretty good shape.

“Grandfather does magic?” I asked.

My mother nodded. “I don’t have any affinity for any of the four essences, sadly. But grandfather is a competent manifestation essence user of the Hylian spellcasting system. I’m sure we’ll see him again soon - we usually visit sometime during the astral tides, although we occasionally visit at other times of the year. If he doesn’t send us an invitation soon, I’ll send him a letter.”

I nodded, and stopped asking my parents questions. Instead, I thought about the conversation.

So grandfather was also a spellcaster. We could gather more information from him when I got a little older. I doubted he would take any questions from me seriously when I was this young - but later on, he might be more open to a serious talk about spellcasting. I was also more than a little amused by the cultural differences longevity could grant. In our last world, at fifty years old, someone was usually settled down with grandchildren. In this world, fifty years old was a bit young for dating. The difference in expectations was mind-boggling..

I glanced at Anise, who chuckled softly.

<Cultures in each world sure are different, huh?> she said.

<They sure are,> I said.

Since our parents shooed us away while they started setting up the picnic, Anise and I did our best to weave some flower-crowns. It wasn’t exactly my favorite activity, but I didn’t hate it - and more importantly, it was something a normal kid was likely to do. Anise’s flower-crown turned out far better than mine, since I had a harder time visualizing how to keep the whole thing together. 

Right as I was starting my third attempt at weaving a nice flower crown,  a mental communication interrupted me.

<Hello?> Said Sallia.

I resisted the urge to grin.

Our fourth member was back! All four of us were awake again!

<Sallia! You’re the last one to wake up! How are you?> I said. <What’s your situation like?>

<Oh, Miria! Umm… not too sure about my situation yet. I smell earth, and vegetables. I might be on a farm?> said Sallia. <There is no immediate danger near me. I don’t think this room is just for me - I see two other beds, so I probably have siblings? Or my parents sleep in different beds and we only have one room. It’s hard for me to guess right now,> she said.

<What do your stats look like?> asked Felix.

A moment later, Sallia showed us her Status Screen.

<Your perception is terrible,> said Felix.

<Yeah, it is,> said Sallia. <My runes could fix that, but it’ll always be a bit of a low number. Hey Felix, I remember that in the market, we were trying to see if your Factory could hold on to items in between lives, right? I remember we found a few items that can boost Perception. Did those items stick around? If so, I can toss out my noodle bowl after I finish using it, and adopt some stat boosters afterwards.>

Felix paused. <I forgot to check. Give me a moment.> A few minutes passed by, as we waited for Felix’s response. Finally, he mentally sighed. <Nope. It didn’t work. It looks like the factory rebuilds itself from the ground up when we reach a new dimension. Interestingly enough, it does still have a few bits of metal for me to play with. However, most of my dimensional factory is filled with different types of stone, and I don’t see any of the items we stored from the Market. I wonder where they ended up.>

<Hmm. Well, that’s a shame.> Sallia sighed. <Well, what else do we know about this dimension? Since I’m the last one up, I hope you four have made some progress in learning more. Also, what do your family situations look like? And what about your status screens? Bring me up to date on your situations!>

The three of us started working to fill Sallia in on what we knew, while Anise and I watched our parents set up our picnic. Even though Sallia’s stats were on the weaker side, I still couldn’t help but smile.

It was nice to have all three of my friends awake again.

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