#598 Junior’s Growth

“Thwoughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one.”*

“Look at our little chatterbox go!” says Platy as she nuzzles Junior.

Our son has grown drastically since the day he was born.

He can now do things he couldn’t do when he was still cradled in his mother’s arms. 

He can now stand and walk by himself, and his speech has become proficient, just like now.

At nearly two years old, he has outgrown being called a baby.

He will soon be a big brother and is making steady progress with his growth.

“Ahh, you’re sooooo, so, so, sooooooo cute!”

His mother can’t get enough of his cuteness.

Unfortunately, growth isn’t always about rainbows and unicorns.

For some, it also means running into new obstacles.

The three of us stand before a looming wall... And that’s...

“But I wefuse.”*

“There it is, his terrible twos!”

...This is the period when children say no to everything, giving us a glimpse of how they weave their self-consciousness.

In rejecting various things, the child discerns his likes and dislikes, thereby establishing his ego.

Knowing its theory is all well and good, but that still doesn’t make it any easier for us parents.

It’s that time when an irresistibly adorable baby develops into a spiteful little daredevil!

Our Junior is finally in his Terrible Twos!

“I wefuse despair, abandoning hope, giving up, or take a pause.”

“It really is his terrible twos...”

Platy takes the situation very seriously and stares at Junior, who is now refusing to do many things.

“But that doesn’t diminish a mother’s love! I’ll still take care of Junior, even after he has established himself!”

“With no gweed, no deceit, no thirst, no hypocwisy—delusion and blemishes blown away—with no inclinations for all the world. Evewy world, wander alone like a winocewos.”*

Is this really what terrible twos in toddlers look like?

On the other hand, we can look at this from a different perspective—the fact that Junior’s in this stage means he’s turning two soon! His second birthday is just around the corner!

We need to get the celebrations underway ASAP!

That’s right, a child’s birthday is a significant event.

We must celebrate it with all our might.

Huh? Did we celebrate his first birthday, you ask?  

Of course we did.

We did have the wedding bash last year, but we still celebrated Junior’s first birthday with the rest of the residents.

Since it was his first birthday, we followed the tradition of having a first-year-old step on mochi to commemorate their growth.

We made Junior wear straw sandals and step on the mochi to pray for good health.

It was an event that surprised everyone because it’s not part of this world’s tradition. But since it’s only limited to the baby’s first birthday, we’re not doing it this year.

I have to plan what to do for his birthday this year...

“Placing the mochi.”

“Squish!”

Then, I heard a shout from somewhere.

Orcs are pounding mochi.

It’s not even New Year anymore...

“Hyup.” “Ha!” “Hyup.” “Ha!”

Squish, squish, squish...

Orkubo swings the mallet while another orc turns the mochi. 

Their movement is rhythmic and well-coordinated.

“Oh, My Lord! The mochi is coming along nicely!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it in time for the young master’s birthday!” shout the orcs.

Don’t tell me...

Not far away from them, Gobukichi and the rest of the goblin team are weaving straws.

I know they specialize in straw weaving, but why at this time of the year when we’ve crossed winter since our last harvest?

Are they trying to make sandals out of it?

A large mochi and straw sandals...

These two items are indispensable for mochifumi, a tradition to celebrate a child’s first birthday.

And now, they’re making those very two items?!

Gobukichi looks like he’s having a lot of fun making the straw sandals too.

“Paranoia! Form blue basis! Dai idol! Heaven ‘n’ hell! Dai Omni! Gizeh! Ozzy...!”*

He invokes an incantation with every straw he weaves...?!

What spell is that?

Does it repel the wearer’s bad luck or something?

To tell you the truth, our goblins and orcs were taught by the Sensei and are far more knowledgeable in magic than the average mage!

Gobukichi, in particular, is Sensei’s direct pupil. With the magic he has mastered, he’s more than a match for any dragon or Lifeless King out there!

The sandals he weaves will be considered first-class enchanted armor if it’s powered by his magic!

“Oh, My Lord. Preparations for the young master’s birthday are steadily progressing. I will ensure his second birthday will be grander than his first, so please look forward to it.”

...I knew it.

They’re preparing the necessary items for Junior’s mochifumi!

Two-year-olds and above don’t do that anymore, though!

What on earth should I do?

I can’t possibly tell them, “Mochifumi is a one-year-old-only event, so we won’t be doing it this year,” when they’re zealously going about their preparations for it!

My conscience is not strong enough to spoil their enthusiasm!

...Oh well.

It’s not like the whole ‘mochifumi is only done on the first birthday’ idea is a set rule anyway.

Let’s just go ahead with it and come up with a good excuse next year to dissuade them.

Next year, Junior will be three years old.

I’ll just tell them it’ll be Shichi-Go-San (shrine visit by children aged 7, 5, and 3) next.

In any case, I can tell Junior’s birthday will be a blast.  

“Ngh...I can’t let this happen.”

“Oh, hey, Veil.” 

I suddenly find Veil the dragon standing next to me.

What’s up?

“I’m the one who should celebrate Junior’s birthday with the biggest bang. I won’t let the orcs and goblins beat me in terms of luxurious presents!” 

She thinks mochi and straw sandals fall under the birthday present category?

Still, I won’t deny that Veil is one of the best on the farm when it comes to caring for Junior.

Junior’s birthday is a special occasion that she absolutely doesn’t want to miss. She’ll go all out to take part in it. 

“In short, I’m going to prepare the one and only awesome gift for Junior! You’re coming with me, Master!”

“Huh? Me?!”

I need to prepare my own birthday present for Junior too!

I was thinking of making him a new wooden toy with 1470 pieces!

But before I could do that, Veil took me by her dragon claw, and we flew away!

I know she said we’re preparing for her gift to Junior, but where are we going?

When we arrived at her destination, she beat the crap out of one of the dragons wandering on the outskirts of the world.

Why though!?

Isn’t that dragon one of you, Veil?!

“Great! Got the materials now! I’m going to use it to make Junior’s birthday present!”

A dragon as a material?!

What in the world is she going to give to my son?!

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a belated happy new year everyone! here's to more chapters with you guys :)

today was a reference-heavy chapter, and some were quite obscure, so i asterisked them. here are their explanations:

• 'throughout heaven...honored one' is apparently a statement uttered by the Buddha at the time of his birth. It was also referenced in Jujutsu Kaisen (i uh, don't read or watch the series, just came across a manga panel while doing my research for this)
• 'but, (the pause here is significant) i refuse' is most likely referencing Jojo (daga, kotowaru).
• 'with no greed...like a rhino' is a reference to the Buddhist Pali text, the Rhino  Sutra.
• 'paranoia...ozzy' is part of the incantation for the spell Black Sabbath from the series Bastard!!

these are all the references i noticed. if you think i missed anything, please let me know and ill add it here!