Anime, starting from Re:Zero (Zero - Starting Life)

Elina Lijie lowered her head and entrusted:

"Then I'll leave this child in your care."

Gawain looked as if it had nothing to do with him. He just looked around and asked:

"Would you like jam on your bread?"

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ps. The name of Sylphy's mother did not appear in the original work. The name Debbie was taken from the mother of Mark, the protagonist of "The Invincible Boy".

Chapter 4

September of the 410th year of the Jialong calendar

"It's been over four years since I found you, kid. It's almost time to say goodbye."

On the muddy road in front of the Roltz family's house, Elina Lijie squatted in front of Gawain and combed his messy hair.

She reluctantly warned:

"It's probably impossible for you to be a good son. After all, even I can't control you, kid. But at least be a good brother and protect and take good care of Sylphiet, how about that?"

If the child had grown up and left her side, Elina Lijie might not have been so reluctant and entangled, but in her opinion, sending Gawain away was more of a helpless choice. Gawain needed a stable and normal family environment to reshape his distorted ideas and personality, which was something she absolutely could not provide.

Gao Wen nodded without hesitation:

"Okay."

Elina Lijie felt helpless again. Although she often couldn't understand what Gawain was thinking, at least she could guess accurately sometimes:

"Don't think of repaying a favor. Since I chose to adopt you, as a child, you don't owe me anything. Raising you is my obligation, not your debt. Do you understand?"

"Similarly, Lolz and Debbie chose to adopt you, so as a child, you still don't owe them anything. They took the initiative to embrace the responsibility of raising you, rather than seeking rewards after you grow up."

"I don't know about the others, and not all parents are the same, but Roltz and I definitely didn't raise you for investment."

"Never forget, when I found you and planned to raise you, you were just a hapless little kid covered in blood and nearly dead. When Lorze and the others decided to adopt you, they only knew you were a mere burden that your bitch mother found annoying. Even when we couldn't see any value in you, we were determined to give you a happy life. That's love. Because we've received love from others, we want to give it to you, so that you can escape misfortune and find love and happiness."

"Foolish boy, so, if you want to repay me or Lortz in the future, you can do so. But it can't be out of a deal or repayment. It has to be out of love, understand? Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to draw my sword and tell you, a hopeless wretch, to get lost."

Elina Lijie held little Gawain in her arms and whispered:

"Gawain, my child, please don't forget what I've taught you over the years. I can't say everything I've said is absolutely correct, but at least don't forget it. When you encounter a problem, think about it more and don't always dwell on it."

Gawain remained silent for a long time.

In the end, he closed the [Vitrum Empire Emperor Training System] page in front of him, nodded in obedience, and accepted it:

"Okay, I'll listen to you, Elina Lijie."

After receiving a positive answer, Elina Lijie finally let Gawain go with a look of relief. She smoothed Gawain's beautiful black hair again, which had been slightly messed up. She gave him one last instruction:

"Remember to ask Lorz to accept those things. Besides this winter coat, I have another gift for you."

Elinarize unsheathed a platinum-colored dagger from her waist. It was a magical add-on she'd acquired in the maze a few years prior. Its only effect seemed to be [Sturdiness], so she'd never been able to sell it for a reasonable price, so she kept it as a backup weapon. Gawain had long coveted the dagger, but while Elinarize had taught him swordsmanship, she had never allowed him to wield a real sword.

Elinarize handed the dagger to Gawain, and saw a rare expression of surprise in Gawain's eyes, which made her burst into laughter.

"Take it, but I hope that by the time you reach adulthood, you will be able to wield it solely to protect your family, friends, and loved ones."

Gawain held the dagger and nodded:

"I'll listen to you."

Elina Lijie stood up and smiled gently:

"Little Gawain is always very obedient! Although he often simply doesn't listen."

There are still so many things I want to tell you, so many things I want to teach you, and so many things that I am worried about, but the time has come.

She waved to Gawain, then looked towards the door and waved to her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.

"See you again, everyone."

Gawain held his sword and watched the familiar figure disappear around the corner. He looked into the distance again, but he could no longer see the person who had been with him the longest since he was born.

Elina Lijie left.

Gawain felt an inexplicable emptiness in his chest, and a sour pain flowed through his body. The education system provided to him by his subjects did not mention this feeling, and Elina Lijie had not taught him anything related to it.

He didn't understand what was happening to him.

After a long time, he vaguely heard what Roltz and the others were discussing, but he didn't care whether they wanted to drive him away or something, so he didn't listen at all.

Then the door opened and Lorz and the others returned to their cabin.

If they abandon me, can I go after Elina Lijie?

Gawain never fantasized, but he couldn't help it at this moment.

Until the sound of small footsteps approached, a timid little hand grabbed the corner of Gao Wen's sleeve, and a childish voice with a babyish voice and unclear pronunciation:

"Brother, let's go home."

Gawain turned his head and saw Sylphiette, who had short, smooth emerald hair. The girl's face had a slightly distant, yet expectant expression. Her little face was chubby, and it was obvious that she was well-fed by her parents. She was wrapped in several pieces of clothing sewn by her mother, and was cared for like a little penguin.

With just one hand, no, one finger, a mere flick of his little finger, he could kill this adorable little creature before him, right? So fragile, yet bearing so many similarities to himself, Gawain rarely felt a sense of superiority from this comparison. Instead, he felt pity for Sylphiet.

He naturally began to worry that such a weak cub might die inexplicably, for example, it might turn around and fall to the ground and die.

Aren’t humans just such creatures?

Just like potted plants in a greenhouse, they will die in large numbers without you noticing.

But he didn't want her to die so suddenly.

Gawain took Sylphiet's hand, just as Elinalize always did for him in the past, paying attention to whether the girl could take the next step steadily, whether her body posture was safe when being held, and whether there was any risk of sprains.

A strange emotion suddenly arose in Gao Wen's heart.

He once tried to protect Elina Lijie, but Elina Lijie proved to him that she had the power to protect herself, so Gawain recognized Elina Lijie's maturity, and the emotions mixed with worry, tension, and concern naturally died early.

But Sylphiet is different.

This fragile cub was different.

Gawain subconsciously used the gentlest tone possible, as if worried that his usual cold attitude would hurt the child:

"Well, let's go home."

Chapter 5 Family

Lolz and Debbie weren't discussing abandoning him.

This is crap.

But after returning to "home", this was indeed Gawain's first thought.

When he brought Sylphiette into the house, he saw Lolz and Debbie interacting affectionately and busy preparing dinner together. The only topic they were discussing was the distribution of the firewood in stock.

This was a scene Gawain had never seen before.

Seeing the children returning home together in good terms, Roz and Debbie couldn't help but smile at each other, clearly quite happy and satisfied. Roz, as the head of the family, spoke at the right time to make arrangements:

"Gawain, I'll take you to your room. Sorry, the snow season is coming soon, so the expansion of the house can only be put off until the spring when the snow melts. You will sleep with Lu Fei for the next few months, right?"

Gawain picked up his bag and followed. He let go of Sylphiet's hand, but his new sister insisted on holding it back. Considering that he would have to take up the child's room, Gawain obeyed.

Sylphiette's room was the one at the inside. Probably considering safety and warmth, the Roltz couple reserved the best position in the house for their daughter, and of course, now also for their son.

Of course, Sylphiet was only three years old now, and the small room was completely empty. Unlike a wealthy family's wardrobe, she didn't have that many clothes. Boxes of miscellaneous items were piled in every corner of the room, clearly lacking a clear distinction between personal space and family communal areas.

Roltz also seemed to realize that something was wrong:

"Mother's previous letter said that you can read and write, Gawain, right? Tomorrow I'll help you clean out the extra things in your room and move the beds. Then we can go to the market in town and pick out a desk to put in front of the window. Oh, and buy some more wood planks. When we have to stay home during the snowy season, I'll make you and Lu Fei two storage cabinets."

Hearing this, Sylphiet's eyes lit up, and she jumped up and down, cheering:

"Yeah! Dad is awesome!"

Gawain also had a slightly different view of Roltz. Considering the level of civilization in this world, it was considered quite good for Roltz, who was in his early twenties, to have mastered various abilities at his current level, at least among pure mortals.

Of course, after all, they are just ordinary mortals. There is no difference between a king and a beggar.

Gao Wen simply put down his bag and counted his luggage.

"I'll listen to you."

Roltz seemed to realize that Gawain didn't like to talk much. He touched his head and smiled. He wanted to say something else, but he saw Gawain took out a big bag and a letter from his bag and handed them to him.

Lorz was surprised:

"This? And, the letter?"

Gawain thought for a moment, then led his sister and Lorz back to the living room. He then gently placed the letter and the bag on the table. He first slid the letter in front of Lorz and explained:

"I haven't read what Elina Lijie wrote to you. According to what she told me to relay, it contains information she felt was inappropriate for you to know before you decided to adopt me. In short, it's probably the [Instructions Manual for Gawain], right?"

Lortz picked up the envelope blankly. It had no sealing wax and was very thick. It was obvious that the content of the letter was quite bloated. He was just anxious to take out the letter to read it when Gawain untied the rope of the cloth bag, and the golden light attracted everyone's attention.

Gawain grabbed the contents of the bag and spilled them again. Amidst the crisp and pleasant ping-pong sounds, he continued:

"This part, according to what Elina Lijie asked me to relay, is my living expenses until I turn fifteen."

A full bag, all of which are Asura gold coins.

The two adults and two children present had never seen so much money.

Until the meal officially started, the atmosphere in the house was a little hazy.

"Roz, you're such a fool! Why don't you let Mom stay for dinner and the night?"

The black-haired mother Debbie distributed stewed meat to everyone's bowls. It was the meat of a low-level rabbit-shaped monster stewed with some forest tubers, and some cheap local spices were added. It smelled very fragrant. The staple food was the coarse bread that had been placed on the table before, which could be soaked in the broth and eaten together.

Gawain took a bite and thought that this dish would be good enough to be served in an adventurer's tavern. It was about fifty times more delicious than Elina Lijie's wilderness barbecue.

Lorz said helplessly:

"Debbie, you know that Mother and Mr. Paul don't have a good relationship, right? She probably left in a hurry because she was worried she'd run into Mr. Paul if she stayed any longer, right?"

He glanced towards the basement. He had just buried the money in the corner of the basement and covered the traces with a bucket. He couldn't help but sigh.

"And you're worried that we'll return the money, right?"

Lorz looked at Gawain and promised earnestly:

"Since Mother said it's money for your living expenses, we won't embezzle even a single penny. Gawain, just tell me what you want to buy. As a father, I will supervise your use of this money until you come of age and then return the rest to you."

Debbie also chuckled and touched Gawain's head, jokingly saying:

"Little Gao Wen, Mom will help you supervise that idiot Luo Erzi, so that he won't use the money to buy alcohol."

Lorz protested:

"Debbie! I told you I don't like drinking. Last time I was just forced to celebrate after we got something good!"

Debbie, who was probably not even 20 years old, hummed in dissatisfaction:

"Then why did you get drunk before going home?"

Lorz hurriedly explained, and the atmosphere suddenly became chaotic. However, Gawain simply ate his own food calmly, occasionally tending to Sylphiet, who had just learned to eat on her own. His parents' flirting had no effect on him at all. To Lorz and Debbie, this was clear proof that Gawain was integrating into the family.

But what they didn't know was that in Gawain's view, this planet would sooner or later fall under his rule, and every inch of land and every living creature would become his private property. Naturally, there was no need to be afraid anywhere or on any occasion.

After Gawain had refilled his broth twice and was about eight-tenths full, he explained to Lorz:

"Please use the money as you wish, but at least spend it on Sylphiet. Uncle Lortz, you'll understand the specific reasons after you read that letter."

He thought for a moment and added:

"Maybe it's something like compensation for mental damage?"

Gao Wen always felt that Elina Lijie regarded him as some kind of troublesome and dangerous guy. In fact, he did. Entrusting him to the Lorze family, he must have thought that he was not capable enough to discipline him, right?

Naturally, in addition to the money that Elina Lijie wanted to give to her own son, a large part of it should be out of so-called "guilt". It was probably compensation for Elina Lijie thinking that she could control this bad guy, but failed to do so and even shirked the responsibility.

Before Lorz could respond, Debbie raised her hand to stop the conversation, which seemed unimportant to her. She looked at Gawain with concern and asked about the more important part:

"Little Gao Wen, is your dinner tonight to your liking?"

Gao Wen nodded and told the truth: