“You’re really getting them new names? I understood when you did it for the little one, but the boys are old enough to remember their old names.” Rowboat asked her boss with skepticism while navigating the busy streets of Swaan. She was thankful that Quick and Baby were calm and easy horses who wouldn’t get spooked by the hustle and bustle of the town, even if they had horrible names.

  “They wanted new names, so I don’t see why not. It will be a bit difficult to get used to, but I’m not going to force my children to have slave names if they don’t want to.” Her boss, who was writing about 101 names on his wax tablet, responded earnestly. Speaking of. Do you want a new name, too?”

  The half-giant woman laughed heartily at his earnestness. She really liked how he included her in everything despite only being an employee, and it made her feel like family. “I’ve had this name for 27 years, there’s no way I’m changing it now!” She patted him on the back, accidentally knocking the air out of his lungs. She kept forgetting how frail he was.

  “You’re 27? I thought you were much younger. You look good.” Rowboat had known her boss for long enough that she knew that he was just making an observation without any deeper meaning, but she couldn’t blame the giver of the flower for getting the wrong idea. The boss should be more aware of how eligible of a bachelor he was. His features weren’t particularly striking, but his wealth and the way he carried himself had a lot of appeal. Not to Rowboat, though. She preferred buff guys with big beards.

  “Papa! How old am I?” Pail, who had somehow crawled onto Norman’s lap without him noticing, asked for the ninth time this week. Ever since he met Jasper, who was eight, he had been really obsessive about getting older and, therefore, cooler. The coolness factor between seven and eight was astronomical to a grade school boy.

  “You’re still seven. The same as yesterday.” Norman responded over the cloud of yellow feathers that suddenly took up a majority of his vision. He had gotten used to getting a face full of fur or feathers at this point, but it wasn’t any less unpleasant than the first time. At least he wasn’t allergic.

  “When am I not seven anymore?”

  Norman didn’t know. He wasn’t their biological father, so it wasn’t like he was there when they were born. They were former slaves, and a wild animal, so they didn’t have any paperwork either. Wouldn’t not knowing his children’s birthdays make him a terrible father? That wasn’t good. How would he know when to celebrate?

  [I CAN CHECK THEIR MANA IF YOU WANT. MANA HOLDS THE TRUTH OF A PERSON.]

  “That’s convenient. Please do.” This wouldn’t make up for the whole noble incident, but he was thankful to his brain parasite for letting him avoid the ‘worst dad of the year’ award.

  [PAIL PERSSON’S BIRTHDAY IS JANUARY 18TH]

  [PRIMROSE PERSSON’S BIRTHDAY IS OCTOBER 9TH]

  [SHIMMER’S BIRTHDAY IS JULY 16TH]

  [ROWBOAT’S BIRTHDAY IS DECEMBER 1ST]

  “You’ll be seven for four more months.” What followed was a conversation about how long a month was, if months could go by quicker, and who decided that he couldn’t be eight yet. Whenever Pail asked a question, at least ten more questions followed. Norman felt like his son would be a great researcher someday.

  “I think I have narrowed the list down to two good names. How do I go about getting them acknowledged as their names?” Norman asked his soulmate. It had been easy with Primrose, but Pretty was more of a nickname than an actual name. The boys had lived with their names their entire lives, and Pail even had his written on an ID.

  [AS THEIR FATHER, YOU ACKNOWLEDGING THE NAMES IS ENOUGH. AS LONG AS THEY SEE YOU AS A TRUSTED FIGURE AND WANT THEIR NAMES CHANGED, THE MANA WILL COMPLY.]

  Mana seemed more like a government worker than a mythical force of the universe, but Norman didn’t complain. It was really convenient. Imagine how easy life on earth would be if you could skip all the tedious government paperwork and just tell your new desired name to an electrical outlet or something. It’s almost like it’s a convenient plot point so the author can condense the name change into a single chapter.

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  While Norman and the boys were inside the kingdom guild, sorting out the name changes, the girls were left outside with the horses. Primrose had fallen asleep on the ride there, so Rowboat was keeping watch of both her and the horses. Rowboat preferred staying outside on guard duty. Due to her size, she found indoor spaces a bit suffocating. She often had to hunch over to fit through doors, and it was a miracle if she didn’t knock anything over. Giants almost exclusively lived in the demon empire, so Lux architecture wasn’t very accommodating. Because she was a hybrid at only a head or two taller than an oni, she got by fine enough, so she didn’t see any reason to complain.

  The sleeping toddler in front of her was awoken by the excited chatter of her brothers returning. Both of them were clutching their ID cards like they were precious treasures. They were, in a way. Getting rid of your slave name meant you’d have a lot more opportunities in life, it meant getting rid of the sense of inferiority you felt whenever someone called your name. The cards in their hands were a ticket to respect. To humanity.

  “Aunty! Look! Look! I got a name! A real one that ain’t just bucket but fancy!” The boy proudly showed off his card, struggling to hold it still in his excitement.

  “Papa said it means noble! Ain’t that cool? I can’t wait to brag to Jasper that I’m named after something cooler than him!”

  “Mine means guard,” The older boy said sheepishly, showing off his own card. Having a male name was so comforting. It reminded him that yes, despite how they mutilated him and dressed him up in women’s clothing, he was still a boy. A regular teenage boy just like everyone else.

  “I’m happy for you both! It’s gonna take a while to get used to, but we’ll get there!” Rowboat’s large hands rested on the boy’s heads and ruffled their hair lovingly. Seeing slaves like her gain their own identity for the first time warmed her heart. She wasn’t lucky enough to be saved as a child, but she was overjoyed that these boys got the childhood they deserved.

  The names Shimri and Paien would go down in history in the future, but that’s a tale for much later. Right now, it was time for lunch.