Dylan watched Frank helped George onto the couch where the other children were already seated. Sherry had gone into the kitchen to get a George an icepack, leaving him alone with the children.
When George accidentally moved his ankle, his face winced with pain. The boy grit his teeth and endured it. Dylan had an impression that the boy was timid and weak, but seeing him endure the pain without a sound, he felt that he needed to change his opinion of the boy a little.
Dylan sat beside the boy and smiled at him. George looked at him with eyes of confusion but nodded in response.
"May I?" Dylan pointed at George's ankle and asked. The boy understood the he wanted to see his ankle and absentmindedly nodded. Dylan smiled again and held the boy's leg. As expected, his ankle was already a little swollen. Dylan gathered mana and concentrated it to his hands when he remembered Sherry's words, 'We can't use magic here.', healing magic probably fell under that spectrum too.
Dylan shook his head helplessly and apologetically smiled at the boy. He lightly set George's leg back down and introduced himself. "My name is Dylan Von Kaiser. Call me Dylan." He habitually placed his right hand over his chest and slightly bowed.
The children then began to introduce themselves rapidly one after the other.
"M-my name is George." As the one closest to Dylan, George was the first to respond.
"I'm Frank." A goofy smile appeared on the boy's dopey face.
"Fiona! My name is Fiona." A bright smile was planted on her innocent face as she enthusiastically raised her hand and waved it around.
As if to compete with her, Diana raised her voice and named herself to the handsome man. "I am Diana."
Yasmin shook her head at their immature display and calmly introduced herself. "My name is Yasmin. Nice to meet you."
Nice to meet you. Dylan had not yet learnt of this phrase, but from context, he was able to discern that it was a greeting of some sorts. Just as he was about to reply, Sherry had returned with an icepack. She held the icepack with one hand and her phone with another. As she spoke, she gestured for Dylan to take the icepack from her and give it to George.
Dylan nodded and got up. He retrieved the thing with curiosity. It was cold and made of a strange material that seemed weak yet durable. It was similar to the material the bottle he drank from this morning had. Dylan took the icepack and knelt down on one knee in front of George. Grabbing the other's leg, he used his thigh to support it and wrapped the icepack around George's ankle. George slightly flinched from the cold but was otherwise calm.
"Yasmin, do you mind getting a stool from under the coffee table?" Sherry covered the phone with her hand and asked. Yasmin nodded and pulled a chair out of the coffee table. She pushed it to where Dylan was. Dylan then rested George's feet on the stool.
After awhile, Sherry finished speaking to all five parents. "Your parents said you can stay over as long as your back before dinner. As for George, your mum said that she'll pick you up so you'll have to stay a little longer."
The children nodded.
"Sherry, do you have any chips?" Diana asked. The little piggy was leaning back against the couch and leisurely watching TV.
"Unfortunately no. But I do have some juice if you'd like some." Sherry smiled and asked.
"Yes, please!" Diana shouted. The other children also nodded in agreement and tuned back into the episode.
Sherry and Dylan walked into the kitchen. Dylan helped Sherry grab the cups while Sherry got the juice out of the fridge. "They seem like good kids." Dylan said as Sherry poured the juice into the glasses.
"They are. Their parents are always working so they visit quite often. Even so, they never complain and are always so cheerful." Sherry smiled and praised.
"They're better than most noble children." Dylan laughed.
Sherry also laughed. She had some experience with the children of noblemen. Their pride was taller than the mountains and skills practically non-existent. Even despite this, many of them were arrogant and looked down on children of a common background. Even children of lower nobles could not escape from their bullying. As they grew up, the nobles would gradually mature and realise that this behaviour was not acceptable. Many turned over a new leaf but some remained idiots.
"Here's your drinks." Sherry and Dylan made their way back to the living room and handed out the drinks. The children accepted them with gratitude and thanked the two.
"You kids want to play a game?" Sherry proposed. She wanted Dylan and the kids to get know each other and figured a game was the way to go. Dylan also didn't understand them so games that didn't require much thinking was easier.
"Yes!" The children chimed. Sherry smiled and fished out a game console from the TV stand. She plug all the things in and set it up. "Dylan doesn't know how to play and so go easy on him, okay?"
The children nodded. A remote was given to Dylan, Diana, Frank and Yasmin. Both Fiona and George preferred to watch so they sat aside with Sherry. Sherry sat beside Dylan and gave him simple instructions on how to play the game. Like always, Dylan was quick on the uptake.
Dylan spent a few rounds getting the gist of things and from then on, he childishly beat the children and remained first for the remaining consecutive rounds. A mischievous grin was on his face as he teased the children by slipping to and fro from the first place before zooming past and landing first. He felt like his worries were vanishing and had never felt so carefree before. From the side, Sherry smiled and shook her head.
As he played, Dylan relished over the possibilities of science. It was like magic but unlike magic, it did not discriminate. Anyone could make use of it and it made lives easier. And from what he heard from Sherry, it was also readily available. He admired this and thought back to what it was like in Frin and the rest of Diva. Magicians were not rare in Diva, but they were not common either. The most common type of magician was those who could only use life magic and the stronger, more skilled ones were the most rare.
Unlike nobles, most households could not afford to hire a magician to take care of their daily needs. Instead, they opted for a more financially stable chose of using magic circles. They were made by magicians and artisans who would pulverise magic crystals, crystallised magic found inside monsters and dungeons, and inscribe them into tools. These circles could replace the need for a magician and was able to be used by inserting mana into them.
Naturally, not everyone could afford it. Poorer families and those who lived in the slums could only resort to scavenging for discarded magic circles and going to the river for water. Many of them spent the night in darkness and cold. If this technology and knowledge was to be brought back to Diva, then surely, the people would have to suffer less. But Dylan shook his head at the thought. It was naive and wishful. People would probably reject 'science' and opt for magic instead. Having grown used to it, there is no way the magicians or anyone would want this unknown technology. Besides, magic was also developing and living standards were also improving. Each world had their own culture and beliefs, their development was best left alone, undisturbed by foreign factors.