Chapter 354: Remain Sane
By now she'd managed to walk, although not very confidently, and she could say a few words. They were the typical baby words, like hungry, mom, and dad.
My own mental health on the other hand was deteriorating. I was bored beyond what words could possibly describe. I know it sounds like I'm whining, but this was just a plain horrible experience. No one should be forced to experience what it is to be an inactive baby while having the mind of an adult. What's more was that my situation was even worse since I couldn't even move, only follow along with whatever Iris wanted. If I could, I would've grabbed a book, even a children's book, and read it or something like that, but even such actions were forbidden from me.
To cope with this hardship I've basically moved back into my mental shell where I replayed memories of both my current primordial and past human life on repeat.
Furthermore, from Dragnar's information, I could tell that in trials like mine, retries were more than likely possible. However, that would mean that I would again become a newborn Iris. If that happened I would truly become insane and fail the task which was to literally 'Remain Sane'.
If I were to become insane, no matter how many times this simulation were to be rewinded, I would still fail, since my mind was already a goner. That would be like Dragnar having to scrape the Goddess' weakened replica without the Soul Records providing him with a weakened replica of the Goddess or something like that.
"Sister! Come, let's play!" Damian cheered. He was a little more than a year older than Iris, so he was further along in his body's development.
Thus far, I saw no signs of him being an evil child or anything of the sort. He was just a normal little kid like all the others. Through my mental connection with Iris, I could sense her feelings, thus I knew that she was overjoyed each time her brother came to visit her.
This time was no different; "Bruwder Damian!" She cheered cutely.
"Brother." The boy corrected with a small smile.
"Bruwder!" His teachings had very little effect on Iris. "Play!"
"Sure. How about we go to the courtyard to play some ball?"
"Play ball!" Iris vehemently agreed with his proposal and rushed up to him in order to grab onto his hand. Well, when I say 'rushed' what I truly mean is 'walk slowly with unsteady steps'.
She then grabbed onto his hand and greedily pulled Damian toward their destination. This was a small mansion, thus it took them little time to arrive.
Through our shared feelings I could tell how overjoyed the little Iris was to play with her beloved brother.
They were not allowed to leave the home's premises without supervision from armed staff, so on the way the pair were noticed by the servants, thus they found themselves flanked by a guard on each side, and a maid walking behind them. She was there in case they got dirty or needed special attention.
"Hiya!" Iris shouted as she focused her entire existence into kicking the ball toward Damian who was standing a short distance from her. She was ultimately quite unsuccessful, though, since she missed her target entirely as she whiffed completely with her leg flying right by the stationary ball on the ground, after which her feet shot up into the air, resulting in Iris finding herself falling comically onto her back. "Ouchie..." She grimaced as she massaged her spine with her small baby hands.
Through our shared sensory receptors I could also feel the same thing, though after getting shot in the face by that water Kamehameha attack falling to the ground didn't feel that bad in comparison.
"Sister!" Damian shouted as he rushed to her, followed by the maid's "young lady!" yell.
"I ok." Iris decreed heroically, though the tears in her eyes told an entirely different tale.
"Urgh!"
"Argggh!!"
Two gurgles suddenly erupted from behind Iris. She turned her head rapidly and came into view with a harrowing sight.
I couldn't help but instantly think to myself; this is where it all begins, huh…
The two guards who were meant to protect us were backstabbed by men in black robes. They lost their lives instantly after their death grunts left their lips.
"Ah! Intruders! Damian, grab your sister and run!" The maid shouted as she stood to be right between us and the assailants.
"Bruwder…?" Iris asked. I could tell that she was utterly confused. She had no clue what was happening at all, and sadly, the same could be said for Damian as well. He was a good kid, but that was all he was; a less-than-4-year-old child. He froze where he stood and was unable to move or even respond to the maid.
"No! Don't you dare come any closer! These are a noble's children, harming them will cause you to be hunted down like a dog!" The maid was a truly brave woman, but she was just a servant. Her neck was severed without her even being able to react. Commoners faced a truly ugly disadvantage against combatants in the world of Thalorind.
Although Iris had no clue what was going on, even she understood that people shouldn't be bleeding profusely from their necks, nor should they fall to the ground while desperately clutching at the red wound on their throats.
Her little body began trembling as she moved closer to Damian, behind whose back she attempted to hide from the intruders. I could see them clearly, they were three men dressed in ninja-style masks and robes. Due to my sharing Iris' entirely untrained and undeveloped senses, I couldn't properly estimate their levels. To her, all their moves seemed to be momentary blurs, but that might've just meant that they were level 5 Agility-focused builds. It was really hard to tell.
One of them approached Iris and Damian. The boy finally seemed to come to his senses as he punched the man on his thighs since that was the highest he could reach. "Back off!"
He was unceremoniously kicked in the stomach and sent flying a short distance, where he landed with a loud thud.
The assassin then squatted in front of the cowering Iris who put both of her hands on top of her head as if that would protect her from the bad men. This way, he could be at eye level with her. "Little lady, you'll be coming with us, m'kay?"
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