Non-Canon Omake: The Little Spider, Part 1 (Patreon)

“Student, you collar is not straight.” Scáthach grabbed Wilhelm, gently, and adjusted it with a small smile on her face. “There, you look presentable for your first day of schooling.”

 It felt odd for him to be doted on in this regarded by her, but he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed it.

Things calmed down a lot over the past two years. Less and less had Wilhelm been running off on an adventure that required his dedicated attention. Less and less were there foes that required him to put his life on the line to defeat.

The Grand Order had been completed.

Alduin had been slain.

And Trihexa had been defeated.

Among other threats to the various worlds he travelled, things had become peaceful. Obviously, there would always be conflicts, and he was far from rusty at this point in time due an idiot here or there that wanted to destroy the hard gained peace. But at the end of the day, his life had become more relaxing and normalized.

And most importantly, he was happy.

His family had grown in size over the years, though children was still something he and his lovers were working on, but there wasn’t any great rush there. Perhaps in a couple more years, they may start taking increasingly assertive measures to facilitate pregnancy. But once more, they were content to simply live their lives as they were.

Amidst this peace, Wilhelm had been discovering more of himself. Taking time to smell the proverbial roses without a looming threat allowed him to evaluate himself in a different light.

There were things he felt like he was missing, regrets he didn’t realize he had. When you don’t have to worry about a Demon God destroying all of human history, it’s amazing what you can understand about yourself.

One such regret he found was that he wished he finished schooling.

It was funny, in a way, for him. How quickly and happily he abandoned school in favor of adventure and freedom.

But part of growing up was looking back and acknowledging that many of your decisions when you were younger came not from mature and levelheaded places.

Sure, he didn’t regret leaving that school. But he regrets that he abandoned school altogether.

Maybe he was an odd one, but he didn’t dislike school even as a kid.

Wilhelm liked to learn new things, to discover and explore.

At his core, he was a researcher.

So, he broached the idea of returning to ‘school’ to his lovers and they had been exceedingly supportive.

However, and surprisingly, Scáthach had been the most supportive. When it was merely an idea, she was the one who pushed him to do it, to not let him abandon the idea nor procrastinate.

Even with all his girls around him now, about to see him off to college, it was Scáthach who looked at him with the most pride.

Wilhelm was happy.

It wasn’t just his own desire, his mom always told him how she wanted him to go to college. She even tried her best to save money when they have very little, even if that didn’t turn out well.

Wilhelm also wanted to do this to honor the memory of his mother.

And he wanted to do it properly.

That is to say, at this moment in time, he was no different than how he was before that stray Exorcist stabbed him through the heart with a holy sword and awakened his past memories.

To nearly everyone who wasn’t trying to peer deep inside of him, he looked like an average human.

Well, there were a few things that were impossible to hide away. He was far more healthy and had a bit more strength and such than a normal human his size and shape should possess, but that wasn’t worth mentioning.

He had sealed away all his powers and abilities and mythical items.

“Take care of this for me.” Wilhelm slid his storage ring off his finger and placed it into the hand of Scáthach.

He would never allow anyone but someone he loves take care of that and all his treasures. It was his Devilish nature, he was far too greedy to allow others to touch his treasures without a good reason. The only thing that outweighed that was his love for his friends and family.

Though, even with everything sealed, he felt a twinge of anxiousness as it was the first time that ring left his finger in years.

That wasn’t to say he was without protection. However, there was just nothing he could facilitate on his end.

He wanted to be truly ‘human’ for awhile to experience it properly.

Obviously, he made sure everything was set up beforehand.

He chose a world that he hadn’t experienced yet. He didn’t want any ‘distractions’, no people looking for him there even by accident. No world where he was already a known variable.

Eventually, with the help of his Grandfather, they found a world-line not too dissimilar from his home. Supernatural existed in modern day, Gods walked the Earth, but there was a strict divine between normal and abnormal. Some sort of Magical Mist that covered the world and hid the supernatural behind a guise.

If a human saw something they weren’t supposed to, the Mist automatically made an illusion to cover it up, or obscured it in their subconscious.

Wilhelm had no intentional to get involved in anything there, so it proved to be the best choice out of all the world-lines they looked at.

He was no longer the Red Dragon Emperor, the Godslayer, the Magician, etc.

Simply, he was Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg, College student who happened to take a few years longer than most kids there to enroll.

The goodbyes were difficult as they always were.

Not that he would be spending a ridiculous amount of time away. Atleast from the perspective of his girls, each semester would only be a couple weeks and he would even come back and visit quite often. But from his own subjective time, he would be going without seeing them for long periods.

With the last portal he created still open and no longer having access to his magic for the next few years, he walked through to begin a new, albeit temporary, life.

@***@

Wilhelm stepped out of the house he bought beforehand, one of the many preparations he made before diving off the proverbial cliff.

Maybe someone might think him foolish for willingly discarding all his substantial power and accumulated wealth, even temporarily.

However, this was important to him.

It helped keep him ground, and it was a milestone in his life.

He took a deep, still getting used to being basically ‘human’ again.

His reaction speed was sluggish, his senses were dimmed, and he honestly felt….weak.

It was a strange, but good weak.

He took another deep breath, forcing himself to smile because he had one realization after leaving.

“I forgot to get my wallet before handing over my ring.”

At the very least, he was thankful he set up mundane bank accounts and what-not to facilitate his mundane life. Not to mention, he had a bit of cash and other emergency necessities on hand in the house already until he sorted that out.

He most certainly wasn’t playing the part of a poor college student, merely a human college student. He had a substantial amount of money available to him by ordinary views.

Thankfully, the house he purchased was within walking distance of the campus, somewhat.

Harvard was big.

Big enough that he needed some method of transportation to reach one side from the other.

He momentarily contemplated buying a bicycle. The thought was novel to him who used to fly around like it was nothing.

He never had a bike when he was a kid, they were too expensive. And now….well, perhaps it was time to explore other long forgotten dreams and desires of his.

It was the start of the year, so the roads were packed with both students and other people. There were even some stalls set up, people looking to hawk whatever random crap they thought they could convince some naive kids to buy.

Wilhelm basically ignored it until he found something that piqued his interest.

He was quick to hand over an absurd Ten dollars for a pack of playing cards.

He knew it was overpriced by a large margin, but he didn’t even care to argue. He couldn’t help but smile with glee as he opened it up and flicked the cards between his fingers.

It had been many years since he played around with the street magic he picked up on a whim early on in his ‘career’ as a runaway Magus.

It actually helped him with utilizing his Talismans when he was still starting out. Finger dexterity was an important facet in many things…..not all of them combat.

He absentmindedly shuffled the pack of cards in his hands as he walked across the Harvard Campus.

Classes hadn’t started yet, everyone was still moving in, thus he had free time. The first place he decided to visit was of course the famous Harvard Library!

There shouldn’t be very many people there this time yet, so he figured it would be enough for him to explore without gaining too much attention.

He heard an old story that there’s a hidden secret room filled with a bunch of lost books that no one can find and it’s not on any maps or official schematics.

Wilhelm honestly didn’t know if there was truth to that story or not, but he wanted to find out.

Ascending the steps, he couldn’t help but admire the architecture either, he put a hand on it, inspecting it thoroughly. It was an elegant mix between some old Greek influence and a more modern interpretation. Of course modern is relative when the building is about a century old.

“It’s impressive, isn’t it?”

Wilhelm turned to look at who was talking to him, a woman,  and rather beautiful at that, perhaps around his age, with brown hair and interestingly gray eyes.

“The library itself or are you referring to the Greek inspired columns?” He asked.

“Well, I think any library is impressive inherently. But I do admire the way they stuck to a more traditional design. It doesn’t merely pay homage to the ancients, but it’s also a very convincing replication of early techniques.” She spoke.

“Ah, fake Greek designs. At a distance they look magnificent, but you only have to get into a few feet of it to see that it’s all appearance and no substance. You can easily tell the difference in the handiwork. Of course the time period makes it easy to differentiate. Even the attempts at replication deserve praise considering they lacked the same scale of industrialization that trivializes the process and likewise removes the human element in sculpting and design. It’s the imperfections that give it character even if it’s not completely adhering to its ancient counterparts.”

The Girl’s eyes flashed in surprise, but a strange happiness in them. “You seem to be quite knowledgeable.”

“As much as one can be for simply visiting various historic sites still standing.”

“Well travelled then? That’s still impressive.” She nodded, sounding oddly pleased. “Your accent, I can’t quite place it, where do you come from?”

“Japan, actually. I’m half Japanese from my mother’s side. Otherwise, I could be considering German as well.” He politely swept his arm infront of himself. “Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg, at your service.”

She raised an eyebrow with a smile. “Sophia Pollis.”

“Pollis?” Wilhelm hummed. “Greek?”

“A bit on the nose?” She chuckled. “My family has Greek ancestry dating back very long.”

Wilhelm understood, he was used to old families using certain naming conventions even when they branched off over the centuries.

“Not many incoming students come to the library this quickly.” She changed subjects easily.

“I suppose my wide-eyed tourist-like behavior was a give away.” He made a little fun of himself. “It’s their loss, I suppose. The library was one of my first stops as I recently moved into the area for school. I wanted to explore a bit, maybe see if I can find the fabled hidden room in the library.”

“That’s just a myth.” The corners of her lips twitched as she brushed her hair behind her ear. “But it’s admirable to visit the library so soon. You wouldn’t believe how many people here don’t make full use of such a wonderful resource. What’s your major? By your insight before, it has to be something to do with architectural design, right? Or is that simply a passing hobby?”

“My major? I’m sorry to say you wouldn’t be able to guess it.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “That sounds like a challenge.”

“Oh? Very well then, be my guest.” I gestured for her to give it a go.

Wilhelm was happy, it seemed like he already made a new friend here!

She tapped her chin. “I’ll rule out Architecture based on what you said, the insinuation was obvious. Hmm, visiting the old world with an adept understanding….guessing you’re a history major feels too easy.”

“Is that an answer? I’ll give you three guesses.”

“What do I get if I guess it right?” She seemed amused.

“How about, I’ll show you my world famous magic trick?” He took out the deck of cards from his pocket, flicking one of the cards out of the middle and catching it with his other hand.

“World famous?” She snorted. “That’s a bold claim.”

“Alas, the world simply doesn’t know it yet.” Wilhelm sighed exaggeratedly.

“Okay, let’s use History as my first guess.” She waved her hand flippantly.

“That’s a good guess, and I genuinely considered that, but I’m afraid you’re wrong. I’ll even give you a handicap, if it’s my minor, I’ll call it your win.”

Sophia felt a little twinge inside if her, she was competitive by nature, even in small unseeming contests, she didn’t like to lose.

“Arrogance is often man’s downfall.”

“Arrogance is also the reason that humans can achieve sublimation.”

“An interesting thing to say. Do you believe humanity has achieved this sublimation?”

“It’s a process. Can you say that a thousand years ago man would ever dream that humans could step onto the moon, the domain believed to belong solely to their gods?” He countered.

“A valid point.” She conceded, though she would normally have something to say about that specific example. “You have an interesting viewpoint. Very well, I’ll choose literature.”

“That’s a rather broad guess, isn’t it? Literature encompasses a very wide spectrum. It’s like saying science when it both holds engineering and social sciences.”

“Do you want to give up?” Her eyes nearly twinkled in amusement.

Wilhelm held his hands up. “Fine, fine. I’ll let you have this one, but be a little more specific in your next guess.”

“Not literature either?” She picked up that she was wrong even if he didn’t outright say it. “You’re not giving me much to go on. Why not give me a hint?” She said, playfully.

“A hint?” Wilhelm hummed. “I’ll let you ask me a couple questions.”

Sophia originally didn’t intend to be wasting this time here, she approached the library for her own goal. However, seeing the strange man staring so intently at the column of the building, her curiosity was piqued.

One thing led to another, and her attention had been thoroughly grabbed by him.

It was….rare for someone to grab her attention so thoroughly with such little effort. He had a strange….charm about him.

“Why did you enroll in Harvard?” She finally asked after a moment. “You said you’re Japanese. This is far from home for you.”

“That’s a good question. You see, Harvard had a resource I could make use of that I couldn’t anywhere else.”

Sophia was intrigued. “What resource?”

“Nepotism.”

It took her many years of life experience to not immediately choke at that answer. “Nepotism?” She deadpanned.

“The lifeblood of the world.” Wilhelm nodded sagely.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard it be called that….” Which was a feat in her long life. “You enrolled in one of the most prestigious institutes in the world for….nepotism?”

She was now questioning any further interest.

“You asked a question, I answered. If you want a more thorough explanation, use another question.”

Curiosity got the better of her.

“Fine. Why nepotism.” To her, he seemed quick witted and intelligent enough to succeed in other places.

“I dropped out of highschool.” He smiled, making her go wide-eyed. “I was in a bad place when I was younger. In a sort of…rebellious phase, I forwent school and decided to travel. It took me awhile to find myself and one of my regrets was that didn’t finish a proper education, so here I am.”

Sophia mulled that over and found his decision to be somewhat admirable. It was praiseworthy for someone, in her eyes, to pursue higher education. But hearing what he said, she could accept that perhaps it was even more so for someone who so quickly abandoned education in the first place to return.

“How does Nepotism play here?”

Wilhelm coughed awkwardly. “My transcripts were not exactly…. exemplary.”

Sophia blinked in realization what he meant by that.

“….I had a family member graduate some time ago.” He added.

Nepotism indeed.

It was, however, part of the backstory that Wilhelm fabricated to not draw attention to himself. It was true, in some regard. Zelretch had actually gone to Harvard for a few years for some personal matter. Here, however, before he sealed everything away, he made sure his identity wouldn’t raise any flags.

Thus, somewhere in the archives, he had a grandfather alumni.

It took some….hypnosis and a lot of money to secure his enrollment considering everything.

“One might say it’s wise to make use of any resources available for you to get ahead in life.”

“I would thank whoever says that, but I’m not under any delusion as to how I’m here. Though, I’m fairly confident that I will excel regardless. The important point is what one does with the opportunities they’re given.”

Sophia could accept that logic and approved of it.

“Art.” She finally said after awhile. “That would cover a great many things you’ve said. It includes many branches such as criticism, and conservation.”

Wilhelm opened his mouth dramatically. “Nope.”

Sophia pursed her lips with a little huff. “Fine, tell me.”

“My major is in Theatre.” Wilhelm chuckled. Well, technically, it wasn’t specifically Theatre. Is Theater Dance & media, but the point still stood.

“That is….surprising.”

“I said you would never guess.” Wilhelm shrugged. “My minor is astrophysics though.”

Sophia blinked in surprise again. “That’s even stranger.”

She didn’t know what to make of him in all honesty. Who majors in theatre then minors in astrophysics!

Not to mention she didn’t peg him as a theatre person. He didn’t seem to be the ….type.

Her brother cemented the ‘type’ in her mind that made it hard to differentiate others from it.

Wilhelm let out a dramatic sigh again. “It seems you’re forever doomed to never witness my magnificent magical performance.”

“I take back what I said, you’re very much a theatre boy.” She snorted. “It all adds up now, you have that unearned confidence that they all seem to possess.”

“I’ll have you know it’s very much earned.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure.

“You know what? I’ll prove it. How about I recite some poetry.” He grinned.

She rolled her eyes. “Please, woo me with your mastery of words.”

Wilhelm cleared his throat.

“Roses of red, violets of blue.”

“You’re never going to see my card trick.”

“Let the envy consume you.”

“That’s the worst poem I’ve ever heard.” She said dryly. “My brother could learn a thing or two from how bad that was.”

“You have my permission to be swooned.”

“Oh, I have your permission?” She snorted again. “How arrogant, are you about to fly to the moon now? I would hate for the moon to fall from the sky because it can’t handle the weight of your ego.”

“What’s that sound?” Wilhelm held a hand up to his ear.

“What sound?” She furrowed her brow in confusion.

“It’s the distinct sound of a sore loser.”

Sophia’s lips twitched uncontrollably. “Did you get beat up a lot in school? Is that why you dropped out? I have a feeling that a lot of people wanted to hit you.”

Wilhelm considered that, the latter half. A lot of people have said many things over the course of his life.

“Alright, I’ll show you my magic trick.” He finally relented.

“Who wants to see your dumb magic trick?!” She was ready to stomp her foot, but she caught herself.

It was strange, she had never met someone outside of her family that could poke her buttons so easily.

“….so you don’t want to see it?”

She let out a sigh. “Fine, show me your magic trick.”

She would admit, not out loud, but he did expertly handle the cards with a strange precision as he shuffled them.

“Alright, pick a card.” He held it out for her.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed one in the middle, looking at it.

A King of Hearts.

“Alright, put it back in and don’t tell me.”

She had seen this a million times, she didn’t even have to look to know what he was doing.

He reshuffled and tapped the top. “This is your card!” He pulled it up.

“No.” She looked at the 7 of diamonds.

“Woops, my mistake.” He then pulled from the bottom. “This is your card.”

She shook her head at the 5 of hearts.

“This one?”

“no.”

“This one?”

“No.”

“This one!”

“Are you sure you’re world famous?” She found the turnabout rather enjoyable as she looked at him struggling. Truthfully, it didn’t ruin her perception of him in her eyes. It was rare that she found someone she genuinely enjoyed conversing with in this kind of way

“This one for sure.”

“Do you want me to take pity on you?” She asked, looking at him and the several cards he tossed on the ground previously.

“Alright, fine. I give up.” He surrendered.

“A wise man knows when to fold them.” She said, pun intended.

She didn’t care what the others said, she most certainly had a sense of humor. She looked at his defeated expression and did take a little bit of pity on him regardless. “Give me your contact information, we can study together sometime.”

He perked up immediately. “Got a pen?”

She held one out for him to take and he grabbed a random card to write it for her and she casually accepted it.

He already waved her goodbye and started to walk off.

She glanced down at the card to memorize the information written on it then was about to toss it away before she did a double take.

King of Hearts.

“Arrogant bastard.” She huffed, with a small smile playing at her lips.

@***@

The years passed by quickly.

Wilhelm was enjoying his time in school even as the end was approaching. These years had done him a lot of good for him. He hadn’t needed to draw his sword against an enemy in so long that he was starting to feel a little antsy.

He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.

He promised himself that he would make sure to wipe off the dust afterwards, but for the present, he simply enjoyed living a mundane life.

There were already plans in his head.

First and foremost, he was going to visit his mother’s grave and leave her a copy of his diploma.

That was going to be the very first thing he does after graduating.

He just needed to graduate….well, that wouldn’t actually be difficult for him. He was graduating near the top of his class. He couldn’t claim to be the best in a structured academic setting, sometimes he simply dislikes doing busy work and forgoes it. His flippant nature is a part of him just as everything else is, if he’s not forced to do something with minimal downside, he will sometimes not do it.

But, he made sure that he was passing everything with flying marks.

He was at one of the happiest points in his life.

He even managed to make several friends over the course of his school years! Some more acquaintances, but they were friends regardless.

He got to experience somewhat of a normal school life. His previous experiences, well, they made certain things about college life less exciting.

Still, he would join with friends, go out and meet people, do random and perhaps unwise things under the influence of cheap beer.

Speaking of friends, someone knocked on his door, he could barely see a reflection of his friend Sophia, but he was confused why she was here this late.

He was about to head to bed as it were.

He opened the door without hesitation, he had gotten lose to her these past few years, she’s been in his house plenty of times at this point.

“Sophia what’s – “ He looked at the sleeping baby in her arms. “That’s a baby.”

“How astute as always, Wilhelm.” She deadpanned, walking inside. “It’s your child.”

“….no it’s not.” He immediately denied with a blink.

“It’s your child.” She reiterated again.

He opened his mouth to deny it again, but clamped up with confusion because the child had the same red colored hair that he did. “Sophia, I havn’t had sex with anyone since coming to Harvard.” Well, anyone in this world. “Do I need to tell you how babies are made?”

She smiled patiently, not reacting to his verbal jab like normal.

It was a back and forth between them usually, one of them trying to get a rise out of the other.

“I’m going to miss your wit Wilhelm. Even if it was infuriating a lot of the time.”

“Sophia, explain clearly.” His expression hardened.

“This is the only expression of love I can give. This is the child between us, Wilhelm. I admired your intelligence for a long time now, you’re a good person even if you can be rather arrogant at times. I know you’ll raise her well, her name is Annabelle.”

“Sophia –“

“My name is not Sophia.” She spoke and the world shifted unnaturally. Even her looks slightly altered, and a wave of power crashed over the house. “I am Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. I created this child by combining our essences. She is a Demi-God, your child and mine.” Her whole demeanor changed more commanding.

No physical proof needed to be given, it was as if the idea she wasn’t a Goddess was rejected from any thoughts.

Wilhelm felt something inside of him as well.

A flurry of emotions he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Rage was at the forefront.

There were only two things that stopped him from destroying the apparent Goddess infront of him.

One, that his powers were sealed at the moment.

Secondly, ignoring everything else, he looked at the child the Goddess forced into his arms, and all the anger and desire to rampage dissipated.

He was still utterly furious, but it was all reined in to a controllable degree because he immediately fell in love with the little girl sleeping soundly in his arms.

To Athena’s viewpoint, he was dumbstruck, understandably so.

She didn’t treat his silence and surprise with any aggression. If anything, she found him keeping a level head proper and admired him for it.

She didn’t just give her children to anyone.

There were some, some she misjudged that she had to threaten a few months later as they tried to abandon her children in some far off corner.

But in this case, she didn’t feel like she would need to.

“There is a camp for others like her. You will receive a messenger when she gets older, make sure she goes to the camp. And don’t tell her about her heritage. The more she knows about her heritage, the more danger she’ll be in. Monsters hunt Demi-Gods by a specific scent they give off. I know this may be a bit overwhelming to you, but I can’t stay for long. Certain ancient laws don’t allow me as a Goddess to interfere with mortal affairs. Myths and legends are real, tread carefully and keep our daughter safe.”

Wilhelm didn’t even have the chance to utter a word before she disappeared from that spot.

Nor did he find the will to rage at her still.

He felt lost, unsure of what to do. There was a part of him that felt taken advantage of and it made a knot in his stomach.

Regardless of how it happened, without his consent….he had a daughter.

Another Daughter.

A baby.

He was holding his infant daughter.

A few tears began to swell up in his eyes because this was something he wanted to share with the women he loved, and it was stolen.

He wasn’t thinking straight, his mind clouded. He made perhaps the best decision he could in that moment, and he went for one of the emergency backups in the house that upon activating, it pull him back to his home world.

He abandoned his schooling and mundane life without hesitation.

He collapsed onto the couch of his true home.

Immediately, everyone in the vicinity knew about. It only took moments before everyone nearby poured into the room, the sounds of a crying infant reached their ears.

“Wilhelm!?” Yasaka was the first to look at him in confusion.

“Student, who’s child is that.” She was the first to notice the similarities.

“It’s mine.” Wilhelm said softly, rocking her in his arms. “She’s my daughter.”

@***@

It took awhile for Wilhelm to fully explain.

The others recognized how uncharacteristic his attitude was.

“Kunou, come meet your little sister.” Wilhelm said quietly as his other daughter finally entered the room at Yasaka’s side.

Despite the strange situation, there was also an atmosphere of warmness as Kunou looked at her younger sister.

The not-so-young fox smiled. “Hey there, I’m Kunou. I’m going to be your older sister.” She stretched out a finger, letting the young girl who was wide awake now grab onto it.

Wilhelm found himself smiling.

She was so old now, his little Kunou was almost an adult.

“Dad, what’s her name?” She didn’t ask about how she came to be, Yasaka already told her.

No one wanted to mention it seeing Wilhelm’s expression. The anger wasn’t just with him either, they all were utterly furious and had their own ideas about finding that supposed Goddess.

Meridia was present as well as Izanami, both of them had to be talked down from personally going to beat some sense into the supposed Goddess of Wisdom.

“Student.” Scáthach said softly, holding the young girl in her arms. “Come, there is something you should see.”

Wilhelm, not sure what she was talking about, stood up to inspect his newest daughter.

Scáthach moved the beanie-like hat the infant was wearing to keep her head warm and then rubbed two particular spots on her forehead. “Feel here.

Wilhelm silently did so and his eyes widened with tears forming again, this time, they were accompanied by a different emotion than before. “She’s going to have little horns.”

They didn’t show just yet, but he could feel them beneath the surface.

She inherited his Devil blood.

That raised a great many questions that he didn’t care to find answers to just yet. The turbulent emotions were still running wild.

“She’s adorable.” Jinn cooed, playing with her while Scáthach still held the baby.

“We should give her a new name.” Venelana looked on. “A Devil name?”

“She has master’s hair color.” Raikou equally was enthralled by the infant.

It just made Wilhelm more angry, he wanted one of his girls to experience this first with him.

“Wilhelm.” Artoria out a hand on his shoulder.

She recognized that his anger was flaring up.

“We should have her baptized.” Jeanne eventually blurted out.

Everyone paused, looking at her before the room erupted in laughter, easily easing a lot of the tension in the room.

Artoria Alter had been silent, not offering words of encouragement, but she was sitting at his side, tightly grabbing his hand.

She knew part of what he was feeling, as did regular Artoria.

Both of them went through the experience of giving life to a child against their will and knowledge. Despite the fact that both of them accepted Mordred as their ‘son’ albeit in different regards, it was an experience they didn’t like to recall.

“Shall we hunt down this Goddess? We can write your daughter’s new name in her blood.” Salem drawled.

Despite the bloodthirsty manner in which she said that, Wilhelm found himself smiling a little again seeing how many people here agreed with her thoughts.

“Arachne.” Kunou blurted out. “Let’s call her Arachne.”

Wilhelm blinked snorting with barely held back laughter at the thought.

After a moment, he let out a sigh. “I never wanted one of my children to be without a parent. I wanted one of you to share this with me.” He trembled slightly.

“Student.” Scáthach said again, seemingly monopolizing the infant for herself. “The mother of this child cannot be changed.” She spoke smiling softly as she looked down at the child. “I will be her mom, I will adopt her.”

No one made an effort to refute her, nor did anyone believe the need to.

Mostly, they were surprised with how quickly she came to this decision.

Once more, Wilhelm felt tears swelling up in his eyes as the woman he loved said he would be the mother to his daughter. “Give her a name.” He managed to get out.

“I like the suggestion.” Scáthach smiled. “It was in jest, but I believe it feels appropriate. Arachne, my little spider. It is common for ‘middle names’ these days? I also have a name I have wanted to give a daughter if I ever had one. In my own myths in various worlds, many Scáthach’s have birthed children and used the same name. Now, I wish to do so as well.”

It didn’t take long for the Immortal Witch to come to these decisions. She had long said she gave her everything to Wilhelm, she would have accepted the child regardless of if it came from within their group or not. But to know that she was without a proper mother…..and casting her eyes upon the spitting image of her student, Scáthach as well fell in love with the child immediately.

“She will be Arachne Uathach Schweinorg.”

@***@

A/N

An Omake I had been casually working on for most of the week, mostly on my phone. It was a random idea I had, then someone in my discord posted a small snippet of it on QQ and it gave me the motivation to write it out properly. I’ll most likely be doing follow up parts to it. I don’t know how many parts in the series it’ll have, but enough to constitute a numbering in the title.