Chương 10: Childish Conspiracy Theories

Ren had a working flow now, and the first change was that he stopped trusting only his body. The body lied constantly. It screamed for sleep before Stamina was truly empty, demanded milk in the middle of practice, and treated mild soreness like a formal complaint to the gods. The System was colder, but it at least gave him the numbers. But he also couldn't exhaust himself too much, or his sleep-grind cycle would suffer. So his morning began with both.

Ren woke, felt the heaviness in his arms, the scrape in his throat, and the dull ache behind his eyes, then called up Status before deciding what the day could afford. Stamina full meant crawling first. Mana full meant Appraisal before the room grew busy. A raw throat meant no goblin practice until after milk, no matter how much his pride objected. Low everything meant sleep again, which felt like surrender until he remembered surrender recovered resources faster than heroic stubborn uselessness.

The grind still looked ridiculous from the outside. It looked like a baby crossing the rug, slapping wood, drooling on his sleeve, falling asleep, waking angry, drinking milk, and doing it again. … Which it essentially was. But he was getting better every day, and it showed! Outside appearances were adult business, and adults had already proven they could watch a warning campaign and call it teething.

Ren reached the window, checked the thin tremble in his arms against the Stamina number, and decided he had one return trip left before the next nap. Elna glanced over from the table.

"Are you stuck?" No, mother. Your infant son is conducting endurance work under hostile anatomical conditions. Ren slapped the floor once. Elna smiled.

"Very determined." Determined was generous. Damp was more accurate. Elna let him struggle a few breaths before lifting him. Ren checked the tremble in his arms against the Stamina number and accepted the rescue. The return trip would have cost too much. Crawling until collapse only made the next attempt worse. Sleeping belonged in the rotation now, he had to remember that. The day became smaller loops inside the larger one. Door and back. Nap. Road, forest, goblin, until the sounds started fraying. Milk.

Focused Appraisal targets if Mana allowed it. Many more if he didn't try too hard. He found his first target. [Road Cloak] Then tried again, with smell, mud, damp wool, Bren's shoulders, and the way adults came back from outside carrying pieces of the lane on them. [Road Cloak - Travel-Worn Outerwear] The label sharpened. Ren let the pressure settle before turning to the window latch. [Window Latch] Then again, with iron, thumb marks, frame, height, and the memory of glass breaking inward.

[Window Latch - Interior Locking Bar] [Skill Level Increased: Appraisal Lv. 3 -> Lv. 4] Ren stopped there. The room still held plenty of tempting targets, but the faint pressure behind his eyes had begun tapping its little warning finger against his skull. He had gained the level. Spending the rest of his Mana celebrating would be the kind of triumph that ended face-down in a blanket. Nap again. It was hardly heroic. It was simply… Baby logistics, yes. Unfortunately, baby logistics worked.

His old memories told him of research that claimed so too, but nobody ever had time for that! He readied himself for another cycle. [Skill Level Increased: Sleeping Lv. 3 -> Lv. 4] The message arrived after that nap, proving his approach even more correct. Ridiculous sleep logistics actually worked. And he planned to use them to their fullest potential. He woke against Elna's shoulder with his limbs lighter than before and hunger still a few breaths away.

"Ro," he whispered. Elna looked down.

"Road?" Ren slapped her shoulder once. Elna paused long enough for the word to stay in the room. Then his stomach growled. Ren accepted milk with all the dignity available to him, which was not that much at all. Babies did what babies had to do. He was still struggling to fully accept that. After breakfast, Tessa sat at the table with her slate half hidden behind her cup. She was meant to be copying letters, but the marks were not in neat rows anymore. Ren could not read this world's script yet…

But he could read Tessa. She had drawn a crooked door, a square window, a line of trees, and a road that bent toward the edge of the slate. Between them sat clusters of letters he did not know, repeated in the same places each time her chalk returned. Door shape. Window shape. Road. Trees. Unknown words acting like labels. Tessa saw him looking. She lifted the slate a finger's width and touched the road drawing. Ren slapped once. Her mouth pressed tight around a smile. Elna turned from the hearth.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Tessa said. Elna looked at the slate. Tessa looked at Ren. Ren looked at the door and kept his hand still. Elna stirred the pot more slowly than before. Tessa tucked the slate closer to her chest.

By afternoon, Tessa had decided secrets required witnesses. Ren knew visitors were coming before anyone said so. Elna swept the front room twice. Bread cooled near the hearth. Tessa brushed her hair so hard one side lay flat while the other escaped in offended wisps. She also promised Elna she would not make a mess in the tone of someone defining mess very narrowly. Voices arrived outside the door.

"I am not asking first," a boy whispered.

"But you always ask first!" a girl said.

"I only ask when questions need asking."

"You asked if nettles could sting through boots."

"They can."

"They did not."

"My boots were thick!" Another boy said, "My boots have holes." A girl answered, "Then stand behind Corin and let him be useful." Elna opened the door before the argument could mature. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"All mud stays on the mat," she said. The first child through the door was all elbows, wet boots, and the offended dignity of a boy waiting for the world to admit he was nearly grown.

"Corin, mat," Elna said. The boy looked down at his boots as though mud had betrayed him.

"Yes, Mistress Marric." Behind him came a narrow-faced girl with a slate tucked under one arm, then two children in matching brown coats. The first twin looked at everything. The second looked wherever the first looked just a heartbeat later.

"Lysa, Pella, Davi," Tessa said quickly, pointing in order before Ren had to decide which twin was which.

"That is Ren." And now he knew the names of those sudden interlopers. His sister was the best! Lysa held the slate tighter. Pella stepped closer. Davi leaned around her and frowned at Ren as if expecting him to do a trick. Elna kept pointing until all four children obeyed the mat. Then she returned to the hearth with the listening posture of an adult pretending not to listen. Tessa stood beside the table with her wooden horse in both hands.

Ren sat on the rug with a cup, a cloth ball, and the insulting assumption that he was decorative. Pella saw him first.

"That's the baby?"

"That is Ren," Tessa said again. Davi leaned around his sister.

"He looks like a baby."

"He is a baby," Corin noted, matter-of-factly. Tessa lifted her chin.

"Ren is not just a regular baby! He knows things!" Elna's knife paused over the bread. The children heard the sentence with their whole bodies. Corin stopped arranging his face into pretend-boredom. Lysa tightened her grip on the slate. Pella stepped closer. Davi copied her, then retreated half a pace when Ren stared at him. Ren assessed them. They had voices, legs, and no adult caution. They could carry news through cracks adults never saw. …

They could also ruin everything by turning his warning into a ghost song before supper. Those potential little helpers had teeth. Tessa crouched beside him.

"Ask him." Corin snorted.

"Ask the baby?"

"Yes."

"What does he know?"

"I dunno, but he answers!" Lysa came closer.

"How?" Tessa touched the floor beside Ren.

"One slap means yes." Pella whispered, "Babies slap everything."

"Ask him," Tessa said. Corin folded his arms.

"Is Davi a goat?" Davi shoved him.

"I am not." Ren did not move. Corin waited, while Ren continued not moving. Pella's mouth opened slightly. Tessa looked unbearably pleased.

"He knows stupid questions too!" Corin flushed.

"That proves nothing."

"Ask a better one then!" Lysa knelt across from Ren with the seriousness of someone approaching a locked shrine. She set her slate on her lap.

"Is your name Ren?" Ren slapped once. Davi made a small sound. Lysa's eyes narrowed.

"Is Tessa your sister?" Ren slapped once.

"That is still easy," Corin said, though he had leaned closer. Lysa ignored him.

"Is Mistress Marric your mother?" Ren slapped once. Pella whispered, "Ask one where the answer is no." Lysa thought for a moment.

"Is Corin a goat?" Ren held still. Pella clapped both hands over her mouth. Davi shook with silent laughter. Corin's ears went red.

"Hmph! He could have just missed it!" Tessa leaned toward Ren.

"Is Corin loud?" Ren slapped once. Davi fell sideways laughing. Elna turned from the hearth.

"Quietly, please." All five children froze with impressive speed and sheepish faces. Elna looked at them for another moment before returning to the pot. The first adult inspection passed. Ren almost respected the operation. Then Pella whispered, "Ask if he is a ghost." Tessa stiffened.

"He is not a ghost."

"My aunt says fever can let spirits look through babies!" Corin made a face.

"Your aunt also says cheese curdles when liars enter a room."

"It curdled when Master Hobb came in."

"Master Hobb smells like old socks. That proves nothing." Davi looked at Ren with new caution.

"Are you a spirit?" Ren held still. Pella leaned closer.

"Are you cursed?" Ren held still. Lysa frowned at them.

"Those are bad questions. He might know the answer and still refuse." Ren approved of Lysa. Pella whispered, "That makes it worse!" Corin said, "It makes him stubborn." Ren approved of Corin less. Tessa snapped her fingers softly near the rug.

"Ask the actual questions." Pella kept watching Ren as if he might begin floating. Davi shifted so Pella stood between him and the potentially haunted infant. Corin pretended he was not interested in the ghost possibility. Lysa placed chalk to slate and waited. Tessa touched the door. Ren slapped once. She touched the window. Ren slapped once. She pointed at the hatchet near the wood box. Ren slapped once. No one laughed this time. Corin's arms loosened.

"But why those?" Tessa looked at Ren instead of answering. His sister was learning to listen first, speak later. Good, very good! She joined the right side! Ren turned toward the road-facing window. Lysa wrote. Pella followed his gaze.

"Road?" Ren slapped once. Davi whispered, "Maybe he wants to go outside." Tessa shook her head.

"Not like that." Corin looked from the window to the hatchet.

"That is weird." Lysa tapped her chalk against the slate.

"Say the word." Tessa swallowed.

"Goblin." The hearth popped. Ren's body tightened so fast his fingers dug into the rushes. Pella stepped back. Davi stopped hiding behind her and stared. Corin's face lost its practiced boredom. Lysa wrote faster. Tessa's voice dropped.

"He does that every time." Corin looked toward the door, then toward Elna's back.

"That is not funny."

"I know," Tessa said. Ren forced his mouth to work.

"Gah-bin." Pella went pale. Davi whispered, "That sounded like it." Corin frowned with effort rather than dismissal.

"Maybe he heard someone say it."

"He points at the road," Tessa said.

"And the forest." Lysa looked up.

"Show us." Tessa pointed toward the road-facing window. Ren slapped once. Tessa pointed toward the dark line of trees beyond the lane. Ren slapped once. Lysa wrote road and forest. Pella hugged herself.

"My brother said Tovin found prints by the west ditch." Corin snapped his head toward her.

"You were not supposed to hear that!"

"But you heard it too!"

"This and that are different things!" Davi looked offended.

"Why is it different?"

"I am older."

"You are not older than Pella."

"I am older than you."

"You are older by like seven breaths!" Elna turned again. The children fell silent so quickly Ren wondered whether fear of mothers should have its own skill. Elna's eyes moved over them.

"What are you plotting now, hmm?"

"Nothing, Mistress Marric!" Corin said. Tessa said nothing, which was somehow even worse. Elna looked at Ren. Ren sat very still. Baby silent. The pot hissed. Rain ticked against the shutter. Elna wiped her hands on her apron and came closer.

"Tessa." Tessa's shoulders rose. Lysa hugged the slate to her chest. Elna saw that.

"What is on the slate?" Lysa glanced at Tessa. Tessa glanced at Ren. Ren looked at the door and kept his hand still. Elna followed his gaze anyway. Her face changed by a finger's width.

"Show me," she said. Lysa turned the slate around. The words were crooked, smudged, and too large for the space: door, window, hatchet, road, forest, goblin, and tracks. Elna read them once, then read them again. Corin shifted his weight.

"Mistress Marric, Pella said her brother heard Tovin talking about prints." Pella hissed, "Corin."

"What? You said it first." Davi nodded.

"She did." Pella kicked him. Elna did not scold them this time. Ren noticed, Tessa noticed too. Elna crouched in front of him. She moved slowly, as if every child in the room had made the air fragile.

"Ren," she said. He looked at her. Elna touched the slate where Lysa had written goblin. Ren's breath caught. He slapped once. Nobody laughed. Elna touched road. Ren slapped once. She touched forest. Ren slapped once. The room pulled tight around the small sounds. Elna closed her hand around the edge of the slate.

"Who else heard about tracks?" Corin looked uncomfortable.

"My uncle said Tovin was at the ditch. He said it was probably dog or deer."

"Dogs do not make everyone whisper things!" Lysa said. Corin scowled at her.

"You do not know that."

"I know adults whisper before they lie to children." That silenced him. Tessa stared at Ren with fierce, frightened pride. Finally, the warning had grown legs! Perhaps unreliable legs. Children dropped pieces. Children added ghosts. Children turned fear into dares and rules and secret names. They could miss knives already raised while arguing over whether spirits ate their bread. But children also heard many things adults never expected them to hear. Saw things nobody expected them to see.

They saw things from below, the world and frowny adult faces one and all. They remembered whispers adults thought had floated over their heads. Elna stood with the slate in her hand.

"I do not want any of you frightening younger children," she said. Corin opened his mouth. Elna looked at him. He closed it.

"I also do not want any of you going near the west ditch, the forest bend, or Tovin's road post." Every child in the room looked guilty in a different direction. Elna's mouth thinned.

"Those faces tell me I was right to say it. You will stay where adults can see you. Do you understand?" Pella whispered, "Yes, Mistress Marric." Elna looked at the slate again, then she looked at Ren.

"I will speak to Mara." Ren slapped once. Elna went still, and so did everyone else. Ren had answered too quickly. The sound had jumped out of his hand before caution could stop it. Tessa's eyes widened. Lysa's chalk fell into her lap. Uh oh. That might have been a bad move… Whoops?