"So, when is he going be here!?" Syla asked her father who's still taking his equipment off.
"He said the fastest he can do is 3 days, dad went to the human town today instead of hunting, that's how i met with the instructor, since he needs to be preparing for his journey to this village, he'll need some times to prepare." Her dad replied, his whole body was covered in sweat, when he took off his shirt, Syla could see the rough body that her father had, there was a lot of scars around his waist, and his abs was proof of his combat skill and intense training from a young age.
'Damn, no wonder mom fell in love with him–' Syla unconciously mumbled in her mind.
Her dad walked away from her sight, and Syla was left alone yet again in the house while her mom was in the kitchen, cooking.
"3 days— That's sooner than i expected." She said while clenching her right fist tight.
.
.
3 days later, 10:30PM—
Inside of Syla's house, in the late morning approaching noon, she was sitting on the couch, re-reading a book that she used to struggle in the past, it was the toxicology book, the first book she reads when she was born. At first she wanted to go to the playground, but remembered that the magic instructor will be here if her dad's words are correct, in the end, she chose to read a book instead to kill some time.
'Dad said the fastest he can do is 3 days, that means there's a possibility he won't be arriving today– If there's a trouble on his way here, then that'd be bad..' Syla thought as she reads the texts inside the book pages.
'I've been reading for an hour now, surely he'll arrive soon right?'
A few minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and Syla, who regained her focus onto the book, was abruptly startled by a knocking sound from the front door.
Knock knock!
The timing couldn't be any more perfect, Syla immediately got up from the couch and was about to open the door, but from behind her, her mother appeared out of her bedroom and opened the door before she can do it herself.
"Yes?" Her mom said, she looked outside and saw a man that is approximately in his 40's, he had a short beard and dark red hair, he wore a pretty elegant outfit, like someone from a wealthy family and is holding a wooden staff that looks exactly like how a magic staff would looked like.
After looking at the man for a second, both Syla and her mother quickly knew exactly who that man was.
"Mr. Hensen?" Her mother asked, to which the man responded with a bow and then proceeded to introduce himself.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Hensen Erefield, is this the house of Mr. Hargal?" Hensen said calmly, his polite demeanor gave a good first impression on Syla and her mother.
"Ah, yes‐ That's right, you must be the magic instructor!" Syla's mom opened the door wide and shook Hensen's hand.
"Nice to meet you." Syla intervened the two adults with her greetings. "You're the one that'll teach me magic right?"
When Hensen saw how small Syla was, he almost couldn't believe his eyes, he took a second look at Syla, making sure that his eyes wasn't deceiving him, but she's still the same.
"Umm.. If i may ask– Is this girl– My soon-to-be apprentice?" Hensen politely asked to Syla's mother.
"Oh, yes! Her name is Syla, she's 4 years old, she'll be the one that will learn from you." She replied.
Hensen's face turned from excited to worry in a matter of a second, and it seems obvious as to why he reacted like that.
"Ma'am, may i have a word with you?" Hensen requested.
"— Uhh, sure.." Syla's mother replied.
Soon, both of them walked inside the house and into the other side of the house, where Syla couldn't hear them.
"Ma'am, are you sure this isn't a joke?" Hensen asked, his tone sounded serious. "Maybe you have a second child that i didn't know about?"
"— Are you worried about Syla?" Yulia reluctantly responded.
"Why wouldn't i? Learning magic is not something that should be taken lightly, i hope you already know that– And to put a 4 years old child, not considering that she's a girl! The consequences will be severe." Hensen tried his hardest to warn Yulia about the danger that she was about to put into Syla, reminding her that magic is not an easy practice that anyone can learn.
Yulia can't say anything about Hensen's warning, she doesn't have anything that can be used to argue back, everything he sad was correct, and it would be stupid to keep pushing forward. However, Yulia knew something that Hensen didn't, and that alone gave her enough courage to continue.
"I know it's dangerous, that's why– Im willing to risk it, if it meant my daugher can have a future where she can shine the most with her talent." Yulia said, her eyes were determined. "Would you sign a contract?"
"Are you serious?.." Hensen hesitantly asked.
"Yes." Yulia responded with firm resolve. "We'll observe Syla's lesson, and if we think that she can't handle it, we'll stop the magic lesson entirely, however, if Syla showed no sign of giving up, then i want you to keep teaching her— Lastly, everything that you will see while teaching Syla must be kept a secret, how about that?"
"— This is insane, aren't you overestimating your daughter?" Hensen tried to make Yulia reconsider, but it was useless.
"I know im not overestimating her, she showed me time and time again, that she was destined to be great– And i don't want it to be just a mere dream." Yulia stood her ground for the last time. That final sentence nailed Hensen to the ground and he had no choice but to agree, after all he already got paid for it.
Hensen sighed and scratched his head in a dilemma.
"Fine, don't hold me responsible for whatever happened alright?"
.
.
Back to Syla, she sat on the couch for the entire time, looking at the various angle of her house, and nervously waiting for the conversation between her mom and Hensen to be over.
A few minutes later, the two of them came out and they greeted Syla again.
"Fine, i'll be your instructor." Hensen said. "But— If i deemed you unfit or not enough, then we'll stop immediately, don't wanna have a body nailed to my name– Nice to meet you, kid."
"– Same goes for you." Syla replied, bowing her head down as a sign of respect.
"We'll begin our first lesson as soon as tomorrow, so i hope you're prepared."
While Hensen was explaining the schedule to Syla, she had a thought about his sudden arrival here.
'Wait, if Hensen came from a human town, then does that mean he'll come here everyday? Or will he live here until the end of my lesson? Why did no one paid any attention to him!? Isn't it weird that a human appeared in a demi-human village out of nowhere?' She wondered, thinking it was a bit strange considering that her dad previously thought it would take Hensen 3 days to get here, she assumed the journey would've taken him about a day using horse carriage, if that's true, it'd be inefficient if he comes and go everyday.
"Ah one more thing, i don't want to go back and forth from my inn and this village, so i'll stay here, is there any inns that accept humans here?" Hensen asked.
"Well, i don't know about that, but you can ask the village chief, if he asked you why you need a place, just tell him you're here as a tutor" Syla's mother said. "And– I suggest you change your outfit to be more humble, if you go as you are now, people will surely assume you're not an ordinary instructor."
'Woah woah, is this really okay? Is our village really that generous? I've seen a few humans entering the village for the past 2 years, but most of them are adventurers that only passes by and doesn't plan on staying here, will he be alright?– Umm, I guess interspecies racism is not as frequent as i thought.'