By the time evening arrived, the estate had become much noisier than usual.
The visiting family had settled in, and the children had spent most of the afternoon running around the courtyard.
Now, after all that playing, everyone had one thing on their minds.
Food.
Nagisa sat beside her siblings at the long dining table, her tail occasionally brushing against Sato whenever he moved too much.
Across from them sat their cousins.
Kaito was staring at the dishes with barely contained excitement.
“Can we eat now?”
His mother laughed.
“You’ve asked that three times.”
“I’m hungry.”
“You’ve been running around all afternoon, like you had limitless energy.”
“Exactly. That made me hungry.”
Sato nodded seriously.
“He’s right.”
Nagisa looked at him.
“You’ve been eating snacks all afternoon.”
“Those don’t count.”
Hirata immediately joined in.
“They count.”
“They don’t.”
“They do.”
“They don’t!”
Celeste gently placed another dish on the table.
“Enough, you two.”
Both cubs immediately became quiet.
Nagisa tried not to laugh.
The table was filled with food.
Roasted meat sat in the center, surrounded by vegetables, fruits, steamed grains, soups, and several dishes Nagisa couldn’t identify.
The aroma alone made her stomach growl.
Her grandmother noticed.
“Someone’s hungry.”
Nagisa’s ears twitched.
“Maybe.”
Her grandmother smiled.
“Don’t be shy. Eat.”
That was all Nagisa needed to hear.
She picked up a piece of meat and took a bite.
Her eyes widened.
It was delicious.
She quickly took another bite.
Sato looked at her.
“Big sister, slow down.”
Nagisa paused.
“Why?”
“You’ll choke.”
Nagisa stared at him.
“I’m not that reckless.”
Hirata snorted.
“You fell into the pond yesterday.”
Nagisa’s ears lowered.
“That was an accident.”
Kaito immediately laughed.
“You fell into a pond?”
Nagisa looked across the table.
“Don’t start.”
Kaito grinned.
“I’m not saying anything.”
He continued smiling.
Nagisa narrowed her eyes.
She knew that smile.
The adults continued talking while the children ate.
Nagisa occasionally listened to their conversation.
They discussed family matters, recent events around their territory, and the upcoming visit of another relative.
Every so often, one of the adults would glance toward the children.
Her grandfather seemed especially interested in watching them.
He leaned back in his chair.
“They’ve grown quite a lot.”
Celeste smiled.
“They’re four now.”
“Four already?”
“Time moves quickly.”
Nagisa looked up.
Four.
She still found it strange to think about.
She remembered being born.
She remembered learning to walk.
She remembered discovering Spirit Speech.
And now she could sit at a table surrounded by her family and hold an actual conversation.
Yet there was still so much she didn’t understand about this world.
Nagisa looked at her father.
“Father?”
He turned toward her.
“Yes?”
“When can we start learning about cultivation?”
The adults exchanged amused looks.
Her father smiled.
“You’ve been asking that for months.”
“I want to know.”
“You’ll start learning properly when you’re older.”
“How much older?”
“You’re four.”
Nagisa frowned.
“I know.”
“Your Awakening Ceremony won’t happen until you’re nine.”
She sighed.
“Five more years.”
Her grandfather chuckled.
“Five years isn’t very long.”
“It feels long.”
“You’ll understand when you’re older.”
Nagisa lowered her ears.
Everyone kept telling her that.
You’ll understand when you’re older.
It was becoming one of her least favorite sentences.
Kaito suddenly spoke.
“What happens at nine?”
Nagisa looked at him.
“The Awakening Ceremony.”
“What does it do?”
“It reveals our spiritual roots and elemental affinities.”
Kaito’s eyes lit up.
“So we become strong?”
“Not immediately.”
Nagisa explained what she had learned from her books.
Sato looked disappointed.
“So we don’t become powerful that day?”
“No.”
Hirata laughed.
“You thought you would?”
Sato crossed his arms.
“I was hoping.”
Ren looked at Nagisa.
“What do you think you’ll get?”
She paused.
“I don’t know.”
She genuinely didn’t.
Her siblings had already shown signs of their elemental tendencies.
Nagisa hadn’t.
That mystery made her even more curious.
Her grandmother smiled.
“You don’t need to worry about it yet.”
Nagisa nodded.
She knew that.
But curiosity was difficult to control.
Especially when it involved something as interesting as the power system of her new world.
Dinner continued.
The adults talked.
The children argued over who had eaten the most.
Rina quietly shared some fruit with Airi.
Mei tried to convince Ren that her favorite dish was better than his.
Daichi mostly listened to everyone.
Kaito challenged Sato to another race immediately after finishing his meal.
And Sato accepted without hesitation.
Nagisa watched all of them.
She smiled.
The scene felt strangely peaceful.
She had once spent years believing that life was nothing more than an endless cycle of work and disappointment.
Then she died.
She spent four thousand years in the Celestial Realm.
And now she had been given something she never expected.
A family.
Not the family she had been born into on Earth.
A completely new one.
Nagisa looked toward Celeste.
Her mother was laughing at something one of the adults had said.
Her father was quietly listening beside her.
Her grandparents were watching the children.
Her siblings were causing trouble.
Her cousins had already become part of the chaos.
Nagisa felt a warmth in her chest.
She lowered her gaze toward her plate.
I think I like this life.
She smiled.
Five years remained until the Awakening Ceremony.
Five years before she would discover her spiritual root.
Five years before she would learn what kind of power slept within her.
For now, however, Nagisa was perfectly happy being a four-year-old cub sitting at the family table.
There was plenty of time to worry about becoming powerful.
Tonight was for eating.
And judging by the way Sato was reaching for another piece of meat, apparently it was also for seeing how much food five cubs could possibly consume.
Awakening ceremony, the grand day.