《Life in Vain: Jobless Reincarnation》


 1 – Prologue

    1 ¨C Prologue


    It was a tragedy.


    "We can''t do anything to save him."


    Those quiet words dered my fate. The end.


    ...It wasn''t fair.


    I had just started my career. I had everything in the world to look forward to. After working so hard, suffering so much, failing to meet so many expectations... I had finally stepped foot on my path. The skills I sharpened after all those years failing were finally being put to use.


    And it was over...? Just like that?


    One moment. It was a single moment.


    I was supposed to celebrate Christmas. It was the first year I could finally buy gifts for everyone. The first year that I could hold my head up high after a decade with nothing to show.


    So... why? Why did it end up like this?


    A single turn. A bright sh. The shrill screech of tires and the re of car horns...


    And then I was like this.


    I couldn''t see. I couldn''t move. I couldn''t talk.


    All I could do was listen. As if I was already dead, the only thing left to me was helplessly hear the world around me, unable to interact.


    It was cruel. If it was going to be that way, why not take my hearing as well? Why leave me like this?


    What did I do to deserve this fate?


    "...I understand."


    A different voice from the first. My father''s.


    It was cold. Monotone. But not because he didn''t care.


    No. It was like that because he cared too much. Because he didn''t want to show himself breaking down, he shut off his emotions and kept a level tone.


    And that hurt.


    It hurt because he had just started being lively again. After I started getting my life back together, he started adding some cheer back into his words when he talked to me. He started being proud again of his son.


    But... But now...


    A soft sigh echoed. After that, I felt a presence draw near. Not the doctor''s but one that I knew well. My father.


    The powerful presence that I relied on all this time. The one who I thought would always be there to protect me. The one who I used as an excuse to run around wasting my life on random skills, trying out all sorts of get rich schemes, testing all the shortcuts in the world... And the one whose expectations I kept betraying.


    Until recently. Just recently, I could finally hold my head up high and meet his gaze. Could proudly face him and say that he didn''t have to worry about me anymore.


    But... now...!


    "You worked hard, Son." A soft and tired voice. With it, I felt a rough but gentle hand brush my forehead. "I''m... I''m so proud of you."


    Clipped words. Again, cold.


    But I knew the truth behind them. How he was just holding himself back so that I wouldn''t hear him cry.


    And then he was gone. Footsteps drifted off to the distance, leaving my side.


    A long sigh echoed in the room. The doctor''s. And then after that... a long drone echoed. The sound of a tlining heartbeat monitor.


    I was dead.


    It was the end.


    My life was over. A life hailed as a genius, failing to live up to that name due to myziness, being humbled by countless failures from trying to ride on talent, and only realizing at the end that diligence was key. That it didn''t matter if I didn''t look good, but that if I tried, there would be people to help support me.


    But it was toote.


    I wanted to make them proud. Mom. Dad... I wanted to live up to the expectations they had of me. I wanted to make up for wasting so many years and causing them so much pain.


    I... I didn''t want to die!


    I didn''t want my life to end like this!


    I don''t want my life to end in vain!


    I...!


    -LIV-


    ...I suddenly woke up.


    My vision that had been stolen came back. Along with it came my sense of smell, taste, and touch. In exchange, it seemed like my hearing was blurred now. No, my vision was a bit blurry too and my body didn''t really obey me.


    I swept my gaze around to gather my bearings. And when I did, I realized that there was someone looking down at me. A beautiful young woman with clear blue eyes and blonde hair.


    Was she a doctor? No, she looked too young to be one. Then... who was she?


    As I was pondering that, another person came into view. A tall and handsome man with short brown hair, matched with a short ponytail. Unlike the woman, his eyes were a light green color. And as those eyes looked at me, the man smiled and they lit up.


    The woman looked at the man and smiled as well.


    Happiness, joy...


    But I didn''t get it. What were they so happy about?


    And where was I? No, where was my dad? The hospital?


    The man reached out to grab me, a wide grin on his face. As he did, I felt myself lifted through the air.


    I wanted to squirm and break free. But before I did that, I noticed my surroundings and paused.


    It wasn''t a hospital.


    First of all, the walls were wooden and the furniture looked a bit rustic. Mostly Victorian style.


    Second of all, there was a beautiful woman standing in the back wearing a maid outfit. It would have been one thing if she was a nurse. I could have epted the weird room as being a home hospice if she was. But that was clearly a maid outfit,plete with the white frills.


    Third of all... and most importantly...


    When I looked down at the man who picked me up, I noticed that my hands were in front of me. And I noticed that my hands were tiny. Small,pared to the man''s face. In fact, only big enough to barely grab his nose.


    And with that, I understood.


    I was dead.


    And now, I was alive again.


    Reborn as a baby.


    When that thought crossed my mind... When I had that realization, I did what any reasonable person would do.


    I cked out.

 2 – Infancy Period – I

    2 ¨C Infancy Period ¨C I


    A month passed by. Eventually, I came to terms with the fact that I was reincarnated. No, I was forced toe to terms with that fact.


    No matter how hard I tried to deny it, no matter how much I closed my eyes, the reality that I was reborn as a baby didn''t change.


    Even if it was ridiculous. After all, what kind of person was reborn with all of their memories intact?


    ...No. That was wrong. My memories weren''t intact. At the beginning, I could remember everything. But as time passed, more and more of my memories were starting to fade.


    Not everything. I still remembered random trivia, how to count, various bits of knowledge... but memories about my past life were starting to disappear.


    Who I was. What my family was like. The life that I had been living up to this point...


    I still remembered the broad strokes. I still clearly remembered my regrets. How I was held out as a genius since I was young and never lived up to that. How I died with nothing but regrets on how I never once made my parents proud. How my father finally told me how proud he was... but was forced to do it on my death bed without me able to reply and apologize.


    I knew it for a fact. I could never forget those things.


    But everything else was beginning to fade.


    I remembered reading about something in the past that knowledge was built up of semantic memories. And that semantic memories were stored in a separate ce from the episodic memories that made up life experience and what we usually called ''memory.''


    Was that why? Semantic memories were more automatic and episodic memories were active.


    Now I wasn''t a very religious person, but it seemed like ''knowledge'' persisted across my life and death while ''memories'' were scrubbed away. Maybe since the ''soul'' was a record of everything you experienced? But then why were my past life''s memories being slowly erased while my knowledge wasn''t?


    And why was I still aware of the fact that I *had* a past life in the first ce?


    I didn''t think I was very special... No. I knew I wasn''t special. My past life was proof of that.


    In that case... I was just lucky. Somehow or another, I was lucky enough to keep my memories... Or at least, part of them after I died.


    Maybe it was good fortune due to my sincere attempts near the end of my life to make up for my past mistakes. Maybe it was because someone prayed for me in the afterlife.


    I didn''t know. But I knew that this was my reality.


    I had another lease on life... and I had another chance.


    So cheer up! Have fun! Enjoy being a kid again!


    ...That was what I tried to tell myself. But I just couldn''t.


    No matter how hard I tried to cheer myself up and act like a normal baby... No matter how much I tried to just live in the moment and forget the past, I couldn''t.


    Thankfully, since I was a baby I wasn''t expected to do much other than eat, sleep, and repeat.


    ...I had to admit that it was more than a bit awkward being breastfed though. While not my first time seeing an attractive woman''s breast, it was definitely my first having it shoved in my face and sucking on it.


    Good thing that hormones weren''t a thing yet. Though the mental fact that the woman was definitely my new mom helped me get through the weird bit.


    A little.


    It was still freaking weird. But that was my life now.


    And speaking of my life, since I was reborn, I realized a few things.


    First, my new parents were young. Younger than I had been when I died, at least. From their looks, they seemed to be in their early twenties at thetest. I would probably put them more towards thete teens though.


    Whatever the case, I was the first child of a loveydovey newlywed couple.


    Second, it looked like I was reincarnated into the past. The clothes that my parents and the maid wore had more inmon with a Renaissance fair or cosy than modern casual wear. Also, the house... what little I could see of it from being carried around, at least, looked to be a rustic wooden house like in the old Victorian days. Like something from Pride and Prejudice.


    Third... Everyone was talking in a weirdnguage that was almost like English, but a bit distorted. Or maybe they were actually talking in English but my baby brain just couldn''t process the words yet.


    Probably that.


    Fourth, and most important of all... I was bored.


    Was this why babies cried so much? And why they always looked around the room with wide eyes?


    It would exin a lot...


    What I wouldn''t do to have my body listen to me again and let me walk around...


    -LIV-


    Another month passed. And with it, another month of the usual life for a baby.


    My body wasn''t cooperating with me. While I could il my limbs around, I didn''t have any coordination or ability to move on my own. Because of that, I spent most of my time lying on my back in a crib or carried around by my mom or the maid.


    I *did* have control of my mouth though. A little at least. So, since I was bored, I started making random sounds. Gurgling, bubbles, raspberries... You couldn''t do much without any teeth. But something magical was happening with that.


    Somehow, the more I did that, the more it felt like my brain was linking up my thoughts to the words I was hearing. And because of that, I felt like I could just about understand what my parents were saying.


    Just about.


    But I couldn''t, and that was seriously frustrating.


    Honestly. It was like listening to a video while you were on the verge of falling asleep. Or maybe a college lecture after an all-nighter while you tried to keep yourself from nodding off.


    On the bright side... No. That was a lie. There was no bright side. But there was something interesting.


    Since I was somehow fully conscious as a baby, I was fully aware of the weird changes that were happening to my body as I grew. Like, I could *feel* how my limbs were growing steadier with every passing day. How my will and my movements were slowly lining up.


    And I could even feel how the blood flowed through my veins as my tiny heart pumped it throughout my body.


    ...And how I could weirdly control that a bit. Not much. It was just like how you could hold your breath for a little while. For some reason, I could make my blood ''wiggle'' a bit in my veins and even stop moving for a little while.


    It was probably dangerous and unhealthy, but I was bored. And I had already died once, so... why the hell not, right?


    Fortunately, all it did to me was make me tired and fall asleep from exhaustion. So all in all... pretty much just a normal baby life.


    But seriously. Could all babies do this? No wonder so many randomly dropped dead...

 3 – Infancy Period – II

    3 ¨C Infancy Period ¨C II


    Another month passed. Still couldn''t move very much, but I was starting to get the feeling that the thing I was messing with wasn''t my blood.


    Since I didn''t have anything better to do, I spent the days paying close attention to my senses and doing just whatever I could to pass the time.


    And that''s when I noticed it.


    If I listened closely, whenever I moved what I thought was my blood around, I could hear another ''flow'' beneath it. A second pulse. And if I paid attention, I could also feel another pulse.


    After some testing, I was sure of it.


    There was a slow and steady pulse in my chest and my veins. That was my heart and blood. But there was something else there too, separate from that steady pulse. A ''flow''... or something that I could move around in parallel to my blood.


    Well, I said ''in parallel'' but I couldn''t really control my actual heartrate or blood flow.


    I tried.


    But I could control this weird flow. If I focused on my hand, for example, I could gather a sort of ''pressure'' and put it there.


    After a while, that pressure would fade and the flow or whatever would go back to normal against my will. But it was there.


    I wasn''t imagining it. I was sure of that. But then... what the heck was it?


    -LIV-


    Yet another month passed. The fourth month since I was reborn.


    Maybe since I was big enough to be safely left alone, my parents moved me to a separate room at night.


    I thought that was seriously irresponsible... but I was objectively a really trouble-free baby, so I couldn''t me them. After all, I didn''t cry for attention, didn''t cry for food in the middle of the night... and overall, I just didn''t cry or bother anyone.


    ...Well, if that was the case then I would seriously be worried about my kid, but it seemed like my parents were fine with it. And our maid came in to check on me at night too, so it was probably fine.


    That didn''t bother me.


    What *did* was that my pretty mom and handsome dad were going at itte into the night with loveydovey times.


    Thankfully, I still didn''t understand a single word. So while there was clear dirty talk going on, my sweet and innocent mind didn''t understand it.


    But it was hard not to understand the other sounds echoing throughout the house.


    My parents weren''t very quiet, you see?


    So I distracted myself with trying to figure out what the heck that weird thing I could sense and move was.


    Did I have heart arrhythmia? Was it just an irregr heartbeat and pulse?


    No. It wasn''t that. If that was the case, I''d be tired all the time. And I wasn''t. In fact, I was only tired after I started moving whatever the heck it was that I felt in my blood.


    Then was it a weird synesthesia?


    I remembered that there were people who could taste colors, see tastes, and other weird things. There was also a guy who could see numbers as colors...


    Maybe this was something like that?


    Babies didn''t have properly separated senses when they were born. The brain was just a giant mass of neurons and nerves that got pared down as they started making sense of the world around them.


    So it was possible that I was sensing something like that. Maybe an ovepping sensory input. Or maybe since I had a developed state of mind, it was causing my imagination to have a tangible presence?


    After all, a strong enough mental image was enough to fire the same neurons as a real image. And didn''t children have strong imaginations?


    It was possible that this feeling I had was just my brain reacting to me directing my attention to my body.


    Possible. But it still felt *real* in a way that didn''t seem like just imagination.


    And to test out the synesthesia thing, I tried doing some mental math. Basic arithmetic, then multiplication, division, algebra...


    Numbers didn''t have different colors, but I *did* find out that I had a weirdly strong short term memory. Unlike in my past life, I could do a lot of mental math and follow through the steps without forgetting any.


    I also tried imagining things. Like trying to see images ovepping the space around me.


    That... kind of worked?


    It was hard to see anything in clear definition, but I could at least visualize colors drifting around the room.


    ...Though none of that really helped block out my parents having their loveydovey pillowtalk.


    Back to moving around that weird thing...


    -LIV-


    Half a year had passed since I was reborn as a baby.


    Good news! I could move!


    It was only crawling, but my body was coordinated enough for me to move about. And boy did I move about.


    I was already itching to move since that ident where I was stuck in the hospital. And after spending so long on my back or carried around, it was absolute bliss to be able to move where I wanted to go.


    At the same time though... I was bit worried.


    Maybe it was because I kept practicing imagining them, but I seemed to have developed a weird thing where I could see random colors floating around in the air.


    Nobody else ever looked at them, so I might have identally developed some kind of synesthesia... Thankfully, it didn''t seem like my brain was broken or anything.


    And the proof of that was...


    "Heh. There he goes again. Seems like Rudy couldn''t wait to get started on moving around, huh?"


    "That''s good. I was getting worried that something was wrong... Our son''s a bit too quiet. I mean, aren''t babies supposed to cry a lot?"


    "Eh. Don''t worry about it. I''m sure the kid''s just fine."


    "Dear..."


    ...I could understand my parents now. And listen to their loveydovey flirting.


    Seriously. I didn''t fault them for being so in love, but basically every conversation they had ended with them flirting.


    Our maid seemed to be annoyed too since she always gave the two a deadpan stare when they did that.


    Still... It seemed like I worried my parents quite a bit. But it couldn''t be helped.


    It wasn''t like I was going to cry out just for attention or because I was bored. Even if I was reborn as a baby, I was still a grown adult. It''d be embarrassing if I cried out about everything all the time.


    ...Well, I might have quietly cried a bit the first few days after I was reborn due to my regrets, but I never cried out. Just silent tears streaming down my face and all.


    Anyway.


    Movement skill obtained! Now, to explore the world and figure out what to do with my new life...

 4 – Infancy Period – III

    4 ¨C Infancy Period ¨C III


    Work your body! Move your body! Go work out and be somebody!


    ...Yeah, affirmations weren''t really helping. It was kind of hard to get over the fact that you died with tons of regrets and got reborn as a baby with those regrets still clear in your mind. Especially when you had all the time in the world to dwell on those regrets and the fact that nothing you ever did would make it up for those you disappointed.


    Not to mention the scary fact that those memories were slowly slipping away while leaving just the emotions and vague details behind.


    But hey, new life!


    On the bright side, crawling around a lot was helping me with my coordination. And it also meant that I was out of the crib more often instead of lying around like a little wrapped up bean.


    I even got into this little neat routine that let me forget the gnawing pain and regret, you know?


    Crawl around in the day to work out. Get fed. Get changed. Nap.


    Crawl around some more in the afternoon while trying mess around with that weird thing in my blood then copse from exhaustion. Wake up. Get fed again. Get changed again. Nap.


    Wake up tucked in bedte at night. Do a bunch of visualization exercises, math, and other mental gymnastics to ignore the pillowtalk, moans, and dirty talk that I could actually understand now... Copse from mental exhaustion.


    Wake up, rinse and repeat.


    A pretty boring life, but it was something to keep me busy.


    I also found out a bunch of interesting things during my daily crawl sessions too.


    First, it seemed like I was born into a pretty well-off family.


    Our house was a nice two-story wooden building. There were five rooms I could crawl to on the first floor, and there looked like a few more upstairs. But since I couldn''t actually climb those stairs... at least not without risking an early second death, I didn''t know what was up there.


    Either way, it was a nice house. A bit rustic since it was mostly wood, but in the fancy European Victorian way. Or something.


    Not only that, but from the glimpses I could see whenever someone lifted me up, we were living on a tall hill in the countryside too, with a vige in the distance and lots of scenic farnd.


    It made me wonder if my dad was the town mayor or something. Maybe we were some kind of hotshot bigwig?


    ...Nah. My dad was too irresponsible for that. He was ripped and looked like a fairly decent guy. But whenever he was at home, all he did was flirt with my mom or go swing a sword outside in the courtyard.


    Maybe he was a low-ranking knight or something? That would exin the house and the maid. And knights *did* have some fiefdoms andnd. Or something. I think.


    My mom spent most of the day with me when I was younger, but these days she left the house a bit more often as well. And from what I could gather, she seemed to be helping out at some clinic?


    Either way, it turned out that I was wrong. She *was* a doctor. Of sorts.


    That meant that I was mostly just home alone with the maid who handed me bottles whenever I was hungry and changed me when I needed it.


    She was a bit weird though. First of all was the fact that she was really pretty. Like she had a kind looking face, pretty red hair and nice amber eyes. She also had a sweet smile.


    But whenever she looked at me, her expression turned weird.


    I thought at first that the jig was up about me being reborn since the first few months she stared at me like I was possessed or something. But these days she seemed to be more rxed and treated me like a normal baby. For the most part. Her expression still twitched a bit whenever I made eye contact with her.


    Anywho, she was weird. For the most part, she was professional. Prim and proper, like a maid should be. But I noticed that she felt... off? Like her emotions were dampened. Or that she closed herself off a bit?


    It was hard to describe. But it seemed like she had a bit of trauma. At least, I felt like she did.


    Maybe it was one of those things where misery lovedpany? Like could recognize like?


    Dunno.


    Anyway, more about me.


    Those weird colors I was seeing? Yeah, they definitely weren''t illusions. As the days passed by, they got clearer and clearer. I also noticed that people were starting to emit colors too.


    My mom seemed to always have some calm golden light around her. Dad had this weird rapidly shifting silver light. The maid had that too, but hers was really soft. But she had some bright violet colors floating around her legs.


    It was weird. But babies were weird in general.


    Oh, right. I also got names for everyone.


    My dad was called Paul. My mom was Zenith. And the maid was Lilia.


    As for me... Well, I was apparently Rudeus Greyrat, aka Rudy.


    Definitely my mom who named me. I didn''t see how a guy with a in name like ''Paul'' could pick out a fancy name like Rudeus.


    But that was life. My life.


    Anyway, time passed. Boring days, but busy days. Mostly just me hanging around with Miss Lilia and crawling around while she did various chores.


    But one day, an ident happened.


    It was morning. My mom was home that day and busy knitting a small sweater. Probably because winter was getting close. My dad was outside training as always, and Miss Lilia was cleaning the upstairs rooms.


    In short, people were busy.


    But that day, I was feeling confident.


    My mom had plopped me in the living room with a kiss on my forehead before she started working on her project.


    Since she was so preupied, I wanted to surprise her a bit.


    Probably not the smartest idea.


    I''d been crawling around a lot, so I was confident in my leg strength. And I was fairly attuned to my body''s coordination, so I tried standing up.


    That went fine. I didn''t crawl around for nothing.


    But then I learned a very harsh lesson.


    Just because you knew how to do something didn''t mean your body could keep up.


    Feeling haughty from easily maintaining my bnce, I took a step.


    And then my legs promptly did a whole noodle thing and buckled beneath me.


    "E-Eh?!"


    I gasped and quickly iled my arms to try and block my fall. You know, the reasonable thing a person would do.


    Unfortunately, I underestimated the fragility of a baby''s body. I also overestimated how much coordination I really had.


    *SNAP*


    A loud crack. My arm bending at a reeeally weird angle. My legs too. And pain. A lot of it.


    When I put it in perspective to getting crushed before I died and tossed in that helpless state... it really wasn''t too bad.


    Still hurt though. And embarrassingly enough, my eyes started watering.


    Though maybe that was better considering it let me not see the disturbing twisted baby limbs.


    A scream cut through the air. My mom. Immediately after, I heard stuff fall to the ground and then her run over.


    "Rudy! Oh no. Oh nonono... Okay. Okay. Calm down Zenith."


    My vision was blurry, but the panic was still clear on her face. Seeing a beautiful woman like that in such distress... well, I felt pretty guilty. Especially since this was my mom. Well, my mom now.


    That was still a weird mental thing to get over.


    But anyway... Yeah. Sorry, new mom. Seems like your son was an idiot.


    Thankfully, she seemed to know what she was doing.


    My mom didn''t try to pick me up or anything. Instead, she carefullyid me down on my back to check the damage. "Alright. I can fix this. This is fine."


    ...Not sure how I can avoid being a cripple after this, but if that helped her feel better, I wasn''t going to judge. Still, maybe I should try to make her feel better?


    I tried to smile. But when I did, I felt a sharp pang of pain and involuntarily sniffed.


    My mom patted my head and said, "Don''t cry, Rudy. Mommy''s here. Mommy will make the pain all go away."


    I don''t think that would really help, but-


    "Let the power of God be converted into a bountiful crop and bestowed unto those who have lost the strength to stand once more! <HEALING!>"


    Eh?


    A sudden sh of light. At the same time, the golden light usually floating around my mom gathered and flew into my broken arm and legs. Then, before my eyes, the twisted limbs snapped back without any pain.


    ...Wait. What?


    My mom let out a sigh and then gave me a bright smile. After that, she picked me up and poked my nose. "See? Mommy was a renowned adventurer, you know? I healed a lot worse before... Mostly your dad." She furrowed her brow and said, "He''s good, but seriously reckless at times..."


    Wait. Back up. What was this about healing? Was that magic? No, what''s this about an adventurer?


    The door mmed open and my dad ran over, his muscr body drenched in sweat. "Zenith! What happened!"


    My mom bobbed me up and down a bit and then turned to face my dad. "It seems like our son inherited your reckless streak. He managed to stand up and walk. But then instead of falling on his butt, he tried to stop his fall with his arm and broke it. And his leg."


    My dad blinked. And then heughed. Walking over, he grabbed my hand and shook it. "You''re a lively one, aren''t you? Looks like we''ve got a natural swordsman on our hands."


    "Hmph." My mom shook her head and said, "You don''t know that yet. Maybe our son has a better affinity with magic?"


    My dad frowned. "Yeah. But you promised. If we have a son, he''s going to be a swordsman."


    "...Well, you break your promises all the time. And besides." My mom looked back at me and smiled. "Rudy''s such a smart baby." Sheughed and said, "Maybe he''ll be casting spells on his own before we know it?"


    "Heh. As if."


    "What? Don''t have faith in your son, Paul?"


    "Of course I do, Zenith. Just as a swordsman."


    My mom rolled her eyes and then set me down on the floor again. When she did, she smiled and said, "Be careful, okay, Rudy? Mommy doesn''t want you to hurt yourself."


    Still processing that bombshell of info that I got, I absently nodded.


    "Kyaaaaa!" My mom ced her hands on her cheeks and said, "See? See?! He understands us!"


    Oh crap.


    My dad shook his head. "I think you''re just reading into things too much, Zenith."


    "No! I''m sure!" My mom picked me up again and said, "You understand mommy, right Rudy?"


    I started to sweat. My dad... No. Paul.


    Paul sighed and said, "Just leave him be, Zenith."


    "...Hmph." My mom... Well, I guess ''Zenith'' put me down and then turned to look at Paul. "Since our son is so naughty, I''m worried about what will happen if i leave him alone for too long..."


    Paul walked over and wrapped Zenith in a hug. "It''ll be fine. After all, you can just heal him."


    "But what if I can''t?"


    "You can." Paul smiled and then kissed Zenith.


    She blushed and turned to look at me. "P-Paul. Not in front of-"


    "You''re the best healer I know. There''s nothing that can go wrong."


    And to emphasize how sure he was, Paul kissed Zenith again.


    I gave the two a nk look and then crawled away. Might as well give the two love birds some privacy before they forgot about mepletely and started going at it.


    After crawling out of the room, I came across Miss Lilia wiping down some vases in the hallway.


    She paused and turned to look at me. Tilting her head, she walked and crouched down to look at me. "Exploring the house again, young master?"


    I started to nod. But then a noise echoed from behind me. A low moan.


    Miss Lilia looked over and sighed. "To not have restraint in front of their child... Well. I suppose they love each other that much." She gave me a faint smile and picked me up. "Since they are upied, I shall apany you for a while, young master. But first, let us give your parents a bit of privacy..."


    Yeah. That''s... probably for the best...


    "Ahn~!"


    ...

 5 – The Expressionless Maid

    5 ¨C The Expressionless Maid


    Lilia watched Rudeus quietly crawl around the office floor and poke at the books on the shelf. As she did, she reflected on her life and how she reached that point.


    It was a strange twist of fate. Before bing the maid for the Greyrat family, she had been serving as a guards-maid for the Asura Kingdom''s concubines. A maid who was a maid, but also one who would take up the sword to protect their master if something happened.


    And she did her job well... until that ''something'' happened.


    It was an assassin, targeting a newly-born princess. Because she was careless, Lilia was injured in the leg by the enemy''s dagger.


    Since it was meant to kill royalty, the de was coated in a vicious poison without an antidote.


    Fortunately, because of quick treatment and doctors trying out various methods to cure her, she lived. Unfortunately, side effects lingered.


    Everyday life wasn''t an issue. But she would never be able to run or stomp again... which meant she would never be able to fight again.


    As a result, she was promptly sacked. But that was expected. Her job required her to be able to fight, and she had lost her qualifications.


    She wasn''t givenpensation money, but the fact that she was saved and not silenced was enough. So she quickly left the capital before that changed.


    In the end, she arrived at the Fedoa region near the border, an area filled with farnd. Rolling wheat fields, and scenic grasnds with the only exception being the fortress city of Roa where the ruler lived.


    That was where Lilia nned to work.


    Lots of things happened, but eventually she came across a recruitment letter in Buina vige. A tiny and extremely rural vige on the edge of Fedoa.


    And one from a man she knew.


    Paul Greyrat. Lilia''s junior at the dojo where she was learning swordsmanship... and someone who was banished from the dojo after making a mistake. A man who came into and left her life like a storm.


    Seven years had passed since then and now he was looking for someone with experience in taking care of children or knowledge of midwifery. Not only that, but the sry was decent, and Paul had be a lower ss knight, meaning he had some prestige as well.


    A job that was seemingly tailormade for her circumstances. And one where she was received with a warm wee for helping the young couple through the birth of their first child.


    ...But there had been a problem.


    The child was born without issue. But he didn''t cry when he was born. Instead, the child had looked around with an expressionless face. No, notpletely expressionless.


    Now that Lilia thought back on it, she recalled that it looked more like confusion. Confusion and careful observance, slowly taking into ount his surroundings.


    Either way, it had been terrifying. And for a while, Lilia thought the child might have been possessed.


    She had heard stories of it. Of monsters and demonic spirits possessing children. Lilia had even heard whispers about a prince in a distant kingdom who ripped apart his caretaker with unnatural monstrous strength.


    So, when Lilia saw how the child was unnaturally silent and carefully observant, she felt sheer terror. Terror that she too might share that unfortunate caretaker''s fate.


    But as time passed, Lilia realized that she was mistaken about the child.


    He was quiet. Unlike most children, he didn''t cry when he was hungry or needed to change. At most, he would wave his tiny arms and look at them. All the while, there would be a strange expression in his eyes. Like he was at a loss about the world around him.


    There was no terrifying emotionless gaze. No monstrous or sly look. Instead... It reminded her a bit of herself. Of how she felt after she was forced out of the dojo and had to keep herself afloat in the world of lustful nobles and arrogant people with too much power and far too few repercussions for that power.


    The look of someone lost and confused in a brand new world. Someone who didn''t know what to do.


    At least, that was what Lilia thought. But it was ridiculous. Why would a child, let alone an infant recently born, have such an expression?


    Paul and his wife, Zenith, didn''t notice. Or rather, they believed that it was the norm. Instead of worrying, they simply thought that the child was quiet.


    But Lilia''s concerns faded after the child was named.


    Rudeus. Rudeus Greyrat. That was the child''s name. Chosen by Zenith, of course. As brilliant as Paul might be with the de, he was never the brightest in other affairs.


    And as if that name was a spell, the child started acting like a normal child.


    Rudeus still never cried or fussed. However, the silent child was no more. Instead, he turned into a curious and energetic child. Constantly babbling and mimicking the sounds around him, Rudeus''s lifeless eyes gained a bit of light and curiosity, taking in the world around him.


    And when he learned how to crawl, that curiosity manifested in him energetically crawling around the entire house.


    It was a healthy change. A reassuring one as well. But for a while, Lilia was afraid that Rudeus might hurt himself in the process, so she kept a careful eye on him.


    And as she did, she realized something strange.


    Rudeus was a very careful child. As if he had an innate sense for danger, he was extraordinarily patient and cautious about his movements. While he moved around a lot, each action was deliberate and coordinate... in so far as an infant could be coordinated at least.


    Eerie. Even while Lilia wasn''t afraid of Rudeus, whenever she met his gaze and saw those clearly analytical eyes stare back, she involuntarily flinched.


    But odder still, whenever he made eye contact, that analytical gaze would fade away, reced with a pure smile and cute babbling.


    Abnormal and yet normal.


    A child who was curious about the world around him, taking in as much information as he could. One who was very much aware of potential dangers. And yet an innocent child who would reach out to anyone nearby with a sweet smile as well as crawl around until he exhausted himself and went to sleep.


    So Lilia reevaluated him.


    Rather than a terrifying monster... Rudeus was still terrifying. But in a different way.


    And today, Lilia would test her hypothesis.


    A soft thud echoed. The sound of a book falling off a shelf.


    Lilia looked up, drawn out of her thoughts by the sound. When she did, she saw Rudeus sitting in front of the bookshelf with a book in front of him.


    He frowned, furrowing his brows as he stared at the book. After that, he smacked the cover with his hand.


    Lilia pretended to not notice and watched him for a little while longer.


    Rudeus narrowed his eyes and waved his arms around, trying and failing to grab the corner of the book. The book fluttered a few times, flipped open part way by his actions. But it always mmed shut afterwards.


    It was cute. And seeing that, Lilia couldn''t help butugh.


    Rudeus paused and turned to look at Lilia. But then he turned back to the book and smacked it. "Ba boo! Ba!"


    Lilia hid her mouth with her sleeve andughed a bit more. But then she walked over and opened the book to the first page. "Here, young master. Does this help?"


    Rudeus''s eyes lit up and he smiled at Lilia. After that, he turned to look at the book... and then his smile vanished. In its ce, a small pout formed. "Bah!" He smacked the book and then crawled away from the bookshelf, slumping down in the middle of the room. As if he was fed up with failing and just decided to stew in misery for a while.


    Lilia picked the book up and smiled. After that, she walked over to Rudeus and sat beside him. Holding it up, she said, "Should I read this to you, young master?" She opened the book and flipped through.


    It was a simple book. A fable about the three swordsmen who entered a magicalbyrinth in the past. The same three who would go on to found the three major sword styles present in the world. A story of swords and magic, monsters and adventure... and a perfect story for a child to listen to.


    Rudeus lifted his head and then smiled. After that, he quickly crawled over and reached up with his hands.


    Lilia smiled and picked him up, resting Rudeus in herp. After that, she opened the book and rested it in front of herself and Rudeus so that they could both see the letters. And then she started to read. "Now then... Once upon a time, there were three men who were skilled in the de..."


    "Ooh!"


    A genuine excitement. And one too well-timed to be coincidence.


    In that case...


    Lilia stopped reading.


    Rudeus blinked and then turned around to look at Lilia.


    Lilia stared back into his light green eyes.


    It was a curious gaze. Innocent and childish... but also one that seemed wise beyond his apparent age. And so...


    "Young master. Could it be that you understand what we are saying already?"


    A casual question. Lilia perfectly kept her tone light, as if she didn''t expect an answer. But at the same time, she carefully watched Rudeus''s expression.


    If he was truly just a simple child, then there would simply be confusion. But if he was not...


    Lilia was skilled in reading expressions. She had to be in her former job. And so she was confident in reading Rudeus''s expressions. Even more so since his face was naturally so expressive.


    And so she saw it.


    A faint flicker of fear. A tiny shake of his head that was quickly stopped.


    It was impressive. If Lilia hadn''t been paying attention, she might not have noticed. Especially since he slowly tilted his head and feigned ignorance with bright wide eyes after that.


    But Lilia wasn''t fooled. Instead, she lightly patted Rudeus''s head and said, "I thought so."


    The moment she said those words, Rudeus started to tremble. Without realizing it, his eyes started to tear up as well, genuine fear in his face.


    Seeing that, Lilia put on a gentle smile and patted his head. "Worry not. This will be our little secret."


    Rudeus paused, tilting his head. It looked like he didn''t believe her, since his face still seemed apprehensive.


    That only confirmed Lilia''s thoughts.


    Rudeus waspletely aware. No, he was likely born aware of the world around him. Unlike other children, he waspletely cognizant. But at the same time, he was also a child.


    How terrifying must it have been to be born fully aware of the world around you? To be in a strange ce without a name, without thoughts, without knowing a single thing about who or what you are?


    Lilia saw it firsthand. When Rudeus had been born, he had been dazed and alert. But he had also seemed lost. And that had persisted until monthster. Time where he finally realized that he was safe and protected. That he wasn''t among some terrifying strangers.


    ...Yes. Rudeus was terrifying. But he wasn''t terrifying because he was a monster. Instead...


    Lilia patted Rudeus''s head again and said, "Even if a genius, a child should still be able to y as a child."


    ...He was a genius. A prodigy born to a pair of talented parents. But a prodigy that was still just a child and barely knew anything of the world around him.


    Rudeus blinked. And then he smiled and hugged Lilia. "Dah chu."


    "No need to thank me, young master. Now..." She lifted up the book and said, "Where did I leave off?"

 6 – Infancy Period – IV

    6 ¨C Infancy Period ¨C IV


    Miss Lilia was nice. A bit scary, but nice.


    Because of my little slip up and panic... stupid baby body and uncontroble expressions.


    Anyway, because of that, she realized that something was up with me.


    Thankfully, she just thought I was a natural born genius instead of a reincarnator. But the fact that she picked it up was impressive.


    Or maybe my parents were just oblivious.


    ...That was probably more likely. I didn''t think I was that great of an actor either, so it was definitely that.


    But anyway, Miss Lilia and I started spending a bit more time together after that. Unlike with my parents, I could rx around her.


    I wasn''t too sure why. Maybe since she also seemed a bit ''broken?'' Jaded?


    Either way, Miss Lilia was super nice to me after that. And she also helped me out whenever I wanted to do something, like reading a book or practicing how to walk.


    Right. I learned how to walk. Properly this time.


    Turns out that the whole parents holding the baby''s arms while they toddle around wasn''t just for show. After a week or so of secret practice with Miss Lilia''s help, I managed to be able to walk around by myself.


    ...I also learned that baby''s butts were very squishy and that it was definitely the best way to break your fall.


    My mom was super happy about my newly obtained walking ability when I surprised her with it. And Paul was even more adamant about me being some sort of natural born genius that would turn into some master swordsman.


    As if. I wasn''t a genius. I just had a leg up on everyone here since I had time and not a single concern in the world. Not only that, but I had to work super hard to get to this point, you know? Most other babies would just get it without thinking. *I* had to actually think about how to make things work!


    But that was just meining.


    And like that, time passed. Nothing too exciting other than the fact that my dad left the house more often on patrols or something and that my mom spent more time in the clinic.


    Or something.


    I had a feeling it was more like they wanted to just be loveydovey outside of the house since I was starting to get a bit more independent, but I wasn''t about to test that hypothesis.


    Speaking of hypothesis...


    Magic was real.


    I was convinced of it now. Especially after Lilia read me that story book.


    Three swordsmen who dove into a magicalbyrinth with a hundred floors and leaving with crazy sword styles that could do things like sh at light speed... Paired with the fact that my mom definitely healed my shattered limbs with a magical chant and all the weird colors floating around, I was about 95% certain this ce wasn''t Earth.


    Well, unless magic existed back in the day on Earth and the records were just erased. But I saw a map hanging around my dad''s office and unless the world had changed *a lot* or we had been kept under a giant lie, this wasn''t Earth.


    Anyway, I was apparently reborn in a fantasy world. Who''da thunk it?


    Then this weird thing I kept feeling was... probably mana? And the colorful lights were probably mana too.


    I was really tempted to try to mess with those floating colors. But considering that I had bad enough luck to get killed on the way home for Christmas in a freak ident, I didn''t want to tempt fate.


    Instead, I just focused what I had floating around my body.


    Now that I knew what I was looking for, I could actually see it. Like everyone else, I had a weird color floating around my body too. But unlike the others, it was... different? A lot denser. Not only that, but where theirs was like a mist that hovered around them, mine was mostly in my veins and blood vessels. Or at least, it traced out something that looked like my veins and blood vessels.


    I had to squint to see it though, so I wasn''t too sure about that.


    What I did know was that the light was a bloody crimson color and that it moved in sync with wherever I focused that ''flow'' or ''pressure'' I was used to feeling.


    Conclusion: 90% probability that it was my mana.


    And since it was mana, it was probably a malleable energy source that I could use at will... which meant having more of it was probably a good thing.


    So, between doing some daily exercises, hanging out with Miss Lilia, my mom when she came back, and Paul whenever he wasn''t flirting with my mom, I spent my free time focusing on figuring out what I could do with my mana.


    Well, that and practicing math. Also some memory techniques.


    Since magic existed, I was sure that memory was going to be importantter. Especially if it was something like the Dungeons and Dragons system where you only had specific spell slots.


    I didn''t *think* that was the case since my mom''s spell didn''t seem to work like that. But either way, memory was useful.


    As a result, my daily routine looked something like this:


    Get woken up and taken out of bed by my mom or Miss Lilia.


    Walk around while babbling and trying to get these developing vocal chords to work.


    Get fed.


    Try manipting my mana in different ways to get better control of it. At the same time, hang out with whoever wanted mypany at the time. Usually either Miss Lilia or my mom. Though Paul brought me outside once to watch him swing his sword around.


    That was pretty cool. Especially with how the silver light kept swishing around with his body and sword.


    Anyway, after that, more food. Hanging out with Miss Lilia or my parents in the evening. And then I got tucked in by my mom... or Miss Lilia.


    Seriously, she was basically like my second mom. And she reminded me a lot of my real mom too...


    Ah. There''s the familiar gnawing regret.


    Moving on... after being tucked into bed, it turned into a frantic race of me practicing mental math, memory techniques, and manipting my mana to wear myself out enough to fall asleep before I had to listen to my parents and their ''pillowtalk.''


    And that was pretty much it. Peaceful days hanging out with my new parents, spending time testing out various hypothesis, rxing by following Miss Lilia around and watching her do chores... An easygoing fantasy life.


    And like that, two years had passed since I was born.


    -LIV-


    "Hm." I looked at the stairway and ced my hand on my chin. "Should I go take a look?"


    I was two years old now. A toddler that could walk around the house with ease.


    Because of that... the formerly big house wasn''t that big any more. I''d seen all of the rooms in the house now, at least on the first floor.


    They weren''t much either. A dining room/kitchenbo. A living room. A master bedroom for my parents. Miss Lilia''s room. And then a bathroom.


    Ah, I slept in the living room by the way. It was in the middle of the house, so it had easy ess for everyone in the house in case of an emergency.


    That was... probably why I was put there.


    I''d like to think that was the case anyway.


    But anyway, the second floor.


    I knew there was at least my dad''s office. Miss Lilia took me there sometimes. And I knew there were a few spare guest rooms since I''d seen Miss Lilia clean them out.


    And there was a storage room.


    That was what I was curious about.


    I remembered seeing a dusty thick tome there when helping Miss Lilia clean one time. And if I remembered right, it was definitely something about magic.


    So... today was the day.


    Paul was out on patrol. Mom was helping out the doctors in the vige with her healing magic. And Miss Lilia was doingundry outside.


    Technically, she was supposed to be watching me. But we had developed a bond and mutual understanding that I was free to do whatever I wanted.


    And today I wanted to seriously try to figure out magic.


    My coordination was top notch. After that mistake when I was younger, I made extra sure to improve my coordination.


    Always when Mom was nearby though. Always had to have that safety.


    Anyway, my coordination was top-notch... at least for a toddler. I wasn''t clumsy, and I was very skilled in moving around.


    Well, that''s what I told myself. Affirmations were key to a positive mental attitude!


    So, climbing the stairs was a cinch. Should be a cinch.


    ...Will be a cinch?


    I looked at the dozen steps leading up and sighed. "Here goes nothing."


    One.


    Two.


    Three...


    Six...


    And I made it.


    Nice!


    ...I didn''t know how the heck I was going to get down, but that was ater problem. Right now...


    I walked over to the storage room and fiddled with the doorknob.


    It was unlocked. Good.


    The door slowly swung open to reveal... a mostly empty room.


    There was a wooden box in the left corner of the room with some old clothes and what looked like adventurer gear. Leather armor and stuff.


    I ignored that. It was cool, but I was too small to do anything like that anyway. Instead, I looked at the right corner of the room.


    There, a leather-bound tomey forgotten on the floor.


    Well, notpletely forgotten. Considering how there wasn''t a speck of dust in the storage room, it meant that Miss Lilia probably left if there after cleaning it up.


    Or maybe mom used it as reference and ced it on the floor? She seemed kind of ditzy at times, so I wouldn''t out it past her.


    Anyway, I walked over to the book and plopped myself down. After that, I picked the book up and turned it over to examine it.


    "Guide... to... magic? Magic."


    I was pretty sure that''s what the book was called. Letters in this world were still a bit weird, but at least they were letters instead of characters like with Chinese or Japanese. It was basically the alphabet. I just... wasn''t very fluent with it yet.


    Yet.


    "Let''s see..." I opened the book and started reading.


    And then I realized that I needed to do a lot more practice before I could even begin to think about magic since I didn''t understand a single word of what I was seeing.


    "...Okay." I closed the book and put it back. "...Maybe some easier ones first."

 7 – The Irresponsible Father

    7 ¨C The Irresponsible Father


    Paul yawned as he walked back inside. He utched his sword from his belt and hung it on the wall before taking a look around.


    It was the afternoon, just after lunch time. The n had been to do a patrol and then keep watch at the guardtower in the forest. Typical routine measures to make sure no wild beasts or magical creatures sprang up to attack the vige.


    Today though, one of the vige guards offered to take over for him. A half-elf man named Laws. That meant that his day was freed up.


    It would have been nice if Zenith was around too, but she was busy helping out at the clinic today and would be out untilte.


    So...


    "Looks like it''s just me, Rudy, and Lilia, huh?" Paul muttered and then walked inside, closing the door behind him.


    "Hm?" A light female voice echoed from the side. Shortly after, Lilia walked over. When she saw Paul, she let out a faint smile and bowed her head. "Wee home, Master Paul."


    Paul''s neck felt itchy on hearing that and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I keep telling you, Lilia. Just Paul is fine."


    "I could never do that, Master Paul."


    Paul sighed at the t denial.


    He had been happy to run into Lilia again after all these years... and happier still that she didn''t seem to hold ''that'' against him. Also happy that she was as big as ever, but that was a different matter.


    Still, since they were living together, he was hoping they could be a bit more intimate at least. Notpletely. As tempting as Lilia was, Paul still loved Zenith and didn''t want to do anything to hurt her.


    But at least a first name basis...


    Well, there was time. He was grateful enough that Lilia helped out around the house and helped watch Rudy.


    In all honesty, without her... He sure as hell didn''t know how to raise a kid. And he was sure that Zenith didn''t either. Then there was the fact that the pregnancy was so unexpected and sudden...


    "Well, that''s fine." Paul smiled at Lilia and said, "We''re just grateful you''re here."


    Lilia bowed her head again.


    Paul looked around and said, "Where''s Rudy? He''s usually with you, isn''t he?"


    That kid was pretty clingy, so it was rare to see him away from Lilia. And Paul couldn''t see him around anywhere.


    "Young master is reading in your office, Master Paul."


    Paul wrinkled his nose. "Reading, huh?"


    Lilia tilted her head. "Is that a problem?"


    "No. Just..." Paul scratched his head and said, "Well, Rudy''s been a bit different from what I expected my son to be."


    Setting aside the worrisome first few months where he was disturbingly quiet and didn''t cry at all, Rudy was surprisingly bookish.


    That definitely wasn''t from him. Paul only read when he had to. And even then, he preferred jumping into things and figuring it out along the way.


    It definitely wasn''t from Zenith either. His wife was good at magic and healing, but she also wasn''t an avid reader.


    Maybe it skipped a generation? Paul remembered that his cousins spent a lot of time cooped up reading while he was practicing swordsmanship. And Zenith''s parents were nobles back in the Holy Country of Milis, so maybe Rudy inherited some of that noble blood?


    Still, it seemed like it wasn''t apletely lost cause. After all, Rudy was a genius who managed to crawl around at a couple months and then start walking when he was barely half a year old.


    "Papa will make a swordsman out of you yet, Rudy."


    "Hm?" Lilia tilted her head.


    "Ah. Nothing, Lilia." Paul shook his head and then stretched. "Did you feed Rudy yet?"


    "Not yet. I was just about to prepare lunch for us. Would you like something as well, Master Paul?"


    "Yeah. That''d be nice." Paul rolled his shoulder, stretching out his arm, and said, "I was nning to wait for dinner, but since I''m back already some food would be good."


    Lilia sighed and said, "Some concern about your health would be good, Master Paul. It isn''t good to skip meals like that."


    "Meh. I''m used to it."


    Being an adventurer would do that to you. It wasn''t umon to go a week with just minimal rations, after all.


    "Yes." Lilia nodded. "But think of the example you are setting for the young master." She frowned and said, "These days he only remembers to eat when someone brings him food."


    Paul started to sweat. "G-Gee. Where''d he pick that up, haha?"


    Lilia gave Paul a nk stare and then sighed. "I am going to cook. Would you go keep an eye on the young master?"


    "Of course! I''ll just leave you be then, Lilia."


    Lilia nodded and headed back to the kitchen.


    After that, Paul looked upstairs and muttered, "My office, huh?"


    Was Rudy missing him that much that he spent time in there to make up for it?


    ...Maybe he should take Rudy out for some patrols then-


    Ah, no. Zenith would throw him out of their room if he did that. She was still too worried about their cute little son to let Paul take Rudy out of the house.


    Paul shook his head and then walked upstairs. Heading towards his office, he saw that the door was open. And inside, Rudy was lying on the floor, flipping through a book.


    From what Paul could see, it seemed to be <Fedoa''s Monsters, Ecology and Weaknesses>.


    The book was rtively new. Paul didn''t need it, but he was given it to use as a reference along with his post after his cousin Philip pulled some strings to get him his current job.


    Which reminded Paul that he owed the guy. Still hated the Greyrat family and the stuffy nobles, but at least Philip was decent.


    But anyway, Rudy was quietly flipping through the book.


    If it was any other toddler, Paul would have thought that he was just flipping through and looking at the pictures. After all, those were pretty details and well drawn.


    But when it came to Rudy, Paul knew better.


    His son''s light green eyes were narrowed in focus. Not only that, but they were carefully scanning the words first before flitting to the diagram, as if matching up what he read with what was drawn.


    It was an odd sight. But it also made Paul proud.


    He was sure. If Rudy was like this already, when he got older...


    Thest time Paul took Rudy out to watch him practice, he noticed that Rudy was staring at him just as focused as he was right now with the book.


    If Rudy was like that while still just a toddler, Paul couldn''t wait to see how he was when he got older.


    But for now...


    "Papa''s home!" Paul walked in the office and held out his arms. "Come on, Rudy! Give Papa a hug!"


    Rudy paused and looked up at Paul. He blinked and for a second, his eyes were sharp. As if annoyed at being interrupted.


    Seeing that made Paul flinch. But then he got excited. It wasn''t quite killing intent, but it was a good sign.


    Paul definitely had a natural swordsman for a son. Argh... if only he could grow up faster! Why did kids have to be so tiny?


    Rudy''s eyes softened and then he pushed himself up to his feet. After that, he let out a cute smile and ran over with his arms out. "You''re home!"


    Paul scooped Rudy up andughed. "Yep! Papa''s home a bit early today because a friend helped out with work." He ruffled Rudy''s hair and said, "Looks like you''ve been studying a lot though. You interested in monsters and adventurers?"


    "Mm!" Rudy nodded and said, "It''s cool!"


    Paul sat Rudy around his shoulders and then said, "You bet it is! Running around looking for treasures, fighting monsters and getting stronger, living life on the edge... and then all of the hot babes too!"


    "Babes?"


    Paul coughed. "I-I mean... Um, don''t tell Mama that. Anyway... Let''s go have some fun! You''ve been cooped up inside the house for a while, so how about you let Papa take you out on a stroll?"


    "B-But, my book-"


    "You can readter."


    Dammit. Maybe that conversation a while back about Rudy learning magic left an impression.


    Paul would have to fix that.


    "Right now... Let''s head outside. Papa will show you something a lot cooler than a dusty old book like that."


    "...Kay..."


    Rudy sounded dejected.


    Hearing that made Paul feel a bit guilty. If Rudy really wanted to just read... No. Rudy clearly liked watching Paul do sword trainingst time, so Paul would just have to do some more to keep him interested in the sword.


    "Let''s go!" Making sure Rudy held on tight, Paul ran off.


    "Gah! Papa! Too fast!"


    Paulughed and said, "Don''t worry, Rudy. I''ve got you."


    Now... there was a giant boulder lying around somewhere, right? Thest time he cut one in half, he got a bunch of chicks impressed and gotid.


    That meant that it would definitely impress a kid too, right?


    Right. So... sword shing time, go!

 8 – Toddler Period – Magic Experiments

    8 ¨C Toddler Period ¨C Magic Experiments


    I quickly understood that my new dad was definitely a yboy. I thought as much from the fact that he had kept his hair in a short ponytail, but that was 100% confirmed after ourtest father-son bonding time.


    After bringing me out to a giant boulder and chopping it to bits with a tree branch... something that still didn''t make any sense to me.


    I think it had something to do with how that silver light floating around my dad flooded the tree branch when he swung it.


    Though, my dad had swung the sword around faster than I could see anyway, so maybe it was just some super secret martial arts technique that I didn''t get.


    Anyway, setting that aside, the entire time he kept telling stories about his old adventurer days. Diving into magicalbyrinths with his friends, meeting chicks, getting magical treasures, meeting chicks, drinking and eating good food, meeting chicks...


    The entire time I wanted to question him if he understood that I was practically still a baby and didn''t understand a single thing. Not only that... but those sorts of stories would definitely be a bad influence on any other kid.


    Seriously. What if I grew up wanting to be a hero and chased after dungeons just to pick up girls? I mean, it isn''t wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon, but isn''t it dangerous?


    Though, considering that my dad looked really young, I didn''t me him for not realizing that. He was still practically a kid himself. Hell, I knew for a fact that I didn''t know what the heck I was doing when I was around his age.


    Even then, he was trying. Just like my previous dad, he was doing his best to be reliable.


    Though, Paul didn''t really seem to know what ''reliable'' meant...


    Anyway, my new dad was a yboy.


    ...That made me a bit worried that he mighty his hands on Miss Lilia and cause some problems. I''d seen the two give each other some rather ambiguous looks... and they seemed to have a weird history too.


    I really hoped he didn''t though. My new family was nice and cozy, and I didn''t want it falling apart.


    ...Maybe I should give my dad a hand then? Make some preparations for the inevitable mistake? Probably a good idea. But it looked like it wasn''t happening anytime soon since he and Mom were still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage and very, very, very much in love... very active in ''loving'' each other too.


    Setting that aside...


    Today was the day.


    A few weeks had passed, and I properly brushed up on my reading skills and alphabet literacy.


    Turned out that it wasn''t thatplicated. The writing system was mostly the same as I was used to, but the letters were just different. Kind of like if someone took the Roman alphabet and squished them together.


    Made my head spin for a while, but the wonderful benefits of having a rapidly developing brain meant that I picked it up pretty quick.


    Huzzah!


    So, with that done, I returned to challenge the magic guide book again.


    Dad was out, Mom was busy at the clinic, Miss Lilia was doingundry outside... so it was the perfect time to experiment.


    In secret.


    I didn''t want my parents to make false expectations out for me. It''d be bad if they thought I was a genius and that suddenly ran out-


    ''It was so easy for you in high school! Why are you failing university courses?!''


    ...Yeah. It''d be bad.


    Anyway...


    While everyone wasn''t paying attention to me, I made my way back to the storage room upstairs, closed the door, and then grabbed that book again.


    "Guide to Magic... Yep. Definitely a magic textbook." I plopped myself down and then started flipping through the book.


    First impression from a brief skim: the magic system here seemed pretty basic. From a nce, it looked like magic spells could be cast using either incantations or magic circles.


    The key part here was the ''or'' bit. Below every spell, there was a picture of the magic circle that would cause the corresponding effect.


    That was interesting. Usually, it was abination of both, wasn''t it? Like saying an incantation would cause the magic circles to spring up and enact the spell.


    Seemed like that wasn''t the case here though. One or the other was sufficient.


    Apparently.


    I was suspicious about it though.


    From my quick skim, most of the spell incantations sounded like prayers. And the magic circles weren''t thatplicated either. They were literally circles, with concentric rings and bits of incantations written along the outer edges with a geometric figure in the middle.


    My memories from my previous life were fading, but I remembered seeing much moreplicated magical arrays before in some novels and Anime. This seemed way too simple.


    And that made me wonder.


    ...Was it possible that these were just memory techniques? Or maybe visualization techniques?


    If what I could freely move around was mana... and if all of those colors I saw was also mana, it didn''t make sense for things to be so simple. I mean, so simple in terms of casting that is.


    If mana was like a natural extension of the body, it should be possible to directly manipte it without having to go through the hassle of makingplex symbols or incantations.


    If it wasn''t, then the prayer-like incantations made sense. But that didn''t exin the magic circles.


    There was a saying that there was genius in simplicity. And it was possible that some magical genius reducedplex calctions into simple forms. But something that required external help to manifest certainly wouldn''t be that simple.


    Not only that... but I remembered seeing how the golden light flowed when my mom cast the healing spell. The light had just gathered and then *bam* healed.


    ...Well, I guess that debunked my hypothesis a bit. If mana really *was* that easy to manipte, then the magic circles could be basic too.


    But in that case... what would happen if there were moreplex magic circles?


    If the magic circles were so basic, then was it because ''mana'' was so stable that it only required minimum bncing to shape the spell? Or was it like a cookie cutter that cut out a shape to cast the spell? And were these magic circles even optimized?


    The most stable shape was a triangle. If these magic circles were a way to bnce the mana output to shape a spell, there should be one at the core to prevent copse. Or if not a triangle, then a hexagon.


    No, that was operating under the assumption that mana would resist being molded into a shape and have to be bnced by the magic circle in the first ce. But then why...?


    "Argh. Let''s not get ahead of ourselves." I muttered to break off my train of thoughts. If I kept thinking, I''d be here for the rest of the day. I didn''t have that much time to experiment.


    For now... let''s get the basics.


    ording to the book, magic was broadly ssified into three groups.


    1. Attack magic


    2. Healing magic


    3. Summoning magic


    From that alone, it seemed like magic in this world was morebat oriented. That, or this was abat oriented book... But it made sense. If monsters existed, and if people like my dad could cut up rocks with literally just sticks, it''d be natural for magic to develop more towardsbat uses.


    War was the mother of invention, after all.


    But anyway, the categories were basically what they said. Attack magic was stuff that attacked things. Healing magic was stuff that healed things. And summoning magic was stuff that summoned things.


    Basic stuff.


    Next, magic required using mana. And you could use mana by either pulling out the mana your body possessed or drawing out mana from something else.


    Again, basic stuff. Either use fuel you owned or find fuel from somewhere else if you didn''t have any or didn''t have enough.


    The interesting part was the next bit.


    Apparently, there were only two ways to activate magic.


    The first was incantation. Those prayer-like passages I saw in the book. By verbally chanting those incantations, you could cast a spell. Provided you had enough mana, of course.


    The second was what the book called "Magic Arrays" but what *I* called magic circles. Because these simple things were definitely *not* magic arrays.


    Though, this *was* a beginner''s book, so maybe the moreplex ones weren''t shown. Even so...


    Anyway, the more popr method of casting was incantations for obvious reasons. After all, you couldn''t just stand around and draw a magic array inbat. And apparently magic arrays were preset and couldn''t be modified on the fly. Once you drew it, you could only cast a spell with a set level of effect.


    On the other hand, it seemed like you had a bit more leeway with incantations since you could pump out more mana to make it stronger, or less mana to make it weaker.


    Summing it up... Magic arrays were like casting magic in a game. And magic that inflicted true damage at that. If you didn''t have enough MP, it wouldn''t work. But if you did have enough MP, it would only ever do the preset amount of damage it was meant to do. No more, no less.


    Magic incantations were more flexible than that. It was kind of like baking, actually. There was a same basic recipe, but you could add more of this and that toe out with a custom result to your liking. And even if you put in the bare minimum, you still got *something* back out at the end. Or if you put too much, you''d get a disastrous result... but you''d still get a result.


    Probably.


    The book didn''t go into that much detail, but that was my brief analysis.


    After that... the book said that a person''s mana was set the moment they were born, but that sounded like the old fixed mindset/nature v. nurture dogmas that used to be passed around, so I ignored that.


    Now then, with that out of the way...


    I closed the book and then stood up. "Time to see how this works."


    I memorized the incantation for the basic water spell. I also memorized the magic circle for it too.


    The book said that magic circles... No, magic arrays? Whatever, I was calling them magic circles.


    Anyway, magic circles were supposed to be written down on things that could conduct mana in order to work. But I was curious.


    Since I noticed that I had mana in my body... even if I didn''t know that was it at the time, I had been moving it around. And I hadn''t stopped since then.


    By now, I could freely pull out a faint thread of mana from my body and shape it however I wanted.


    Nothing ever happened from my tests, but I also never made anything substantial or with the intent to cast magic.


    So I was curious what would happen. If magic circles were meant to shape and channel mana into a spell, if I directly shaped mana *into* that magic circle...


    But that waster.


    First, incantation.


    Ah, but safety first.


    I took a look around the room and then made my way to the window.


    It''d be terrible if I tried casting the spell and a giant water bomb went off inside. And considering that I had absolutely zero metrics to work with... and that if mana was anything like muscles I''d have a crap ton of explosive power... yeah, aiming outside was for the best.


    So, after tossing open the window and revealing the clear blue sky and rolling green hills, I held up my right hand and aimed out the window at the clouds.


    ...The book didn''t say anything about whether that was necessary, but if my hypothesis about the incantations and magic circles being just memory and visualization aids was correct, then this would probably help as a memory anchor too.


    So... Time to test things out.


    Taking a deep breath, I slowly started saying the incantation. At the same time, I focused on how it was affecting the mana in my body and the mana around me. "Bestow the protection of water on the ce thee demandest..."


    A strange sensation- no, a familiar one. The same as the ''flow'' I originally thought was my blood.


    I raised an eyebrow and stopped chanting.


    The moment I did, I felt the ''flow'' change. My mana started receding back to its usual flow around my bloodstream.


    But before it did that, I pulled my mana back into the flow of the spell and kept chanting. "...Let thine crystal clear flow here. <Water Ball>."


    *ba-dump*


    A weird sensation. A pulse, spreading from my heart outwards before cycling around my body. And with that, a crimson thread pulled out from my hand, like silk being unwound from a spool.


    And one that was being pulled out of control.


    Immediately, I felt a wave of fatigue. Just like if I had spent all night manipting my mana.


    My eyes widened and I quickly reeled the thread back.


    When I did, the fatigue vanished. But I didn''t manage to pull all of it back.


    A tiny sliver snapped off and floated into the air. When it did, the crimson thread shimmered and turned a light blue color. And the moment that happened, water swirled, forming a floating water ball at the end of my hand.


    "Huh."


    I pulled my hand back. When I did, the water ball came floating with me.


    It was weird.


    The crimson thread... No, my mana snapped off and changed, but I still felt a connection to it. And just like how I could move the mana around in my body, I could move the blue thread too. And when I did, so did the water ball.


    It was harder, sure. Kind of like trying to pick up a fragment of eggshell that broke off into the egg white when you were trying to make scrambled eggs. But it wasn''t impossible.


    I shifted the water ball over to my left hand and then just observed it for a bit.


    It looked pretty stable. The water ball wasn''t going anywhere any time soon. But if I squinted, I could see that the blue thread was burning away like a candle wick.


    "Weird." I tried tossing the ball between my hands, carefully keeping an eye on the thread inside of it. With each pass, the thread disintegrated a bit more. And after about a dozen times, the ball turned into a puddle of water in my hands and sshed onto the floor.


    Wait.


    I frowned and stared at the puddle of water.


    "...Is it turning mana into water, or converting water from the atmosphere?"


    It didn''t seem to be the first one since the blue thread didn''t disperse. If it was, I would have expected to see a cloud of blue vapor or something. Then, if it was the second...


    I knelt down to the ground and focused.


    Instead of chanting the spell again, I pulled out a thin crimson thread of my mana and snapped it off.


    Again, it felt weird. Like trying to grab a piece of eggshell in yolk. Slippery and moving just when you least expected it.


    But I managed.


    Now, if I remembered the feeling of how that thread changed color... Ah.


    I lost control of the crimson thread.


    Thankfully, it immediately shot back to me, as if drawn like a ma. But I didn''t manage to do what I wanted.


    "Hm... Then let''s try again."


    I chanted the spell again, this time paying extra close attention to the process. Instead of letting it loose, I carefully regted the flow, purposefully snipped off a bit of the thread... and then slowly observed and felt how the thread changed colors.


    It was weird. All of this was weird. But I managed to get a feel for it.


    This time though, before water could swirl, I brought the blue thread down to the water puddle.


    And like I thought, the water leapt up and floated around the blue thread like iron shavings to a ma. Or maybe more like iron shavings to an electromaic field...


    "Huh."


    I spun the blue thread around and watched the ball spin in ce. At the same time, I stretched the thread and tried moving it around in weird ways.


    As expected, the water moved along as well.


    Then, just as the thread started topletely disintegrate, I tried to pull it apart into a small cloud. If it was disintegrating anyway, I might as well try to vaporize it.


    The blue thread scattered... partly. I didn''t have very good control over it, so some parts of it didn''t change like how I wanted. But some did. And when it did, about half of the water ball disappeared.


    But not really.


    Faint blue sparkles filled the room. And at the same time, I felt a soft spray of water.


    "...Interesting."


    I looked back at the book and said, "Seems like I might need to make some notes."


    The book said water ball was a spell that converted mana to a ball of water to send flying at a target. But it didn''t seem to be that way-


    Ah. Wait. I never actually let the spell go the way it was meant to.


    Maybe it really did convert mana to water if I let it go all the way?


    I turned back to face the window and started chanting again. This time, I didn''t resist.


    The familiar reverse flow, sending my mana out to my right hand. All of it, spinning out like an out of control spool of thread.


    It worried me, but Miss Lilia was outside and Mom should being home soon. In the worst case... well, having ''dead by magic exhaustion'' was more respectable than ''dead by freak car ident.''


    Wait. If I died now... that''d be twice then. Twice that I disappointed my parents. Twice that I would die without aplishing anything.


    I narrowed my eyes and focused.


    If this spell was trying to make that happen...!


    A wave of fatigue. At the same time, my blood felt like it was starting to boil, my mana flowing out of control.


    But I mped down on it, focusing. "Like... hell...!"


    A ball of water started forming in the palm of my hand again. But this time, it wasn''t water being drawn to a blue thread. Instead, the crimson thread was dissolving into a mist of clear blue. And with that mist, water was forming.


    Like the book said, converting mana to water.


    But it was tiring. I could hear the blood pumping in my ears. And I could also feel my senses dimming.


    Was I going to faint? I was going to faint.


    But before then...


    "Stupid... spell! Stop already!"


    Dangerous. The spell was a fire and my mana was gasoline. But the problem was, I couldn''t stop the flow. Not anymore.


    "God... dammit...!"


    I grit my teeth and then wrenched my hand back, physically trying to snap the connection.


    But it didn''t work. Like a feather stuck on my hand with static electricity, the thread wouldn''t budge. Not only that, but it kept spilling out of me.


    How the hell was I going to-


    Wait.


    I held out my left hand and quickly spun out another thread.


    Only a tiny bit came out. About a palmful. But it was enough.


    I quickly moved that over to the water ball and then started shaping it.


    Circles, letters... Working as fast as I could, I recreated the magic circle I saw in the book.


    And the moment I did, the water ball shrank. The spell stopped pulling mana from me as well.


    I let out a deep sigh of relief.


    "Damned book. You need to warn people about this stuff."


    I grumbled and then focused on the magic circle.


    It was small, but with it I could finally feel a connection to that out of control water ball.


    And I could also feel a connection to the mana it stole from me.


    "Yeah, get back here."


    I spun the magic circle in reverse and slowly pulled the string back into my body. With it, the mana converted into the blue mana turned back to my crimson mana and went back into my body. At the same time, the water ball dissolved, turning into mist.


    I waited, making sure nothing else happened. Then I walked back over to the book and kicked it into the corner. "Dumb author. What kind of idiot wrote this book and left out such a crucial detail?"


    Was it a genius? It had to be a genius. The dumbass skipped such a critical and dangerous detail! What if some other kid tried the spell, huh? They''d drop dead! Seriously!


    A door mmed open downstairs and then a familiar female voice called out. "Rudy~! Mommy''s home!"


    I flinched and quickly put the book back. After that, I toddled out to the center of the room and stered a smile on my face.


    "Hm?" My mom''s voice echoed from downstairs and she said, "Rudy?"


    "Upstairs, Mama!"


    Footsteps rushed upstairs and then the door to the storage room swung open.


    I immediately held my arms out for a hug.


    My mom looked around and then scooped me up. "Kya~! Rudy''s as cute as ever!"


    Iughed and hugged her.


    ...Yeah. Let''s forget about magic for a little while. That was *way* too scary.


    "Come on!" My mom turned around and started walking out of the room with me. "Mommy''s missed you! Let''s chat again and you can tell Mommy all about your day! And then we can read your favorite book about Perugius again! Does that sound nice?"


    "Mmhm!"


    It wasn''t my favorite book... but Mom always got super into it, so it was fun watching her. Besides... she worked hard and looked forward to spending time with me. It was only fair to be grateful, right?


    ...Right. I didn''t want to regret not being able to spend time with her in the future after all. Not like-


    ''I spent all of that money so that we could spend time together on this vacation! Couldn''t you at least enjoy it? Why are youining so much?!''


    I flinched and then hugged my mom tighter.


    "Rudy?"


    I shook my head and buried my face in my mom''s chest. "...Love you, Mama."


    My mom tensed. But then she rxed and hugged me tight too. "Mommy loves you too, Rudy. Sorry that I have to be gone so much..."


    "It''s fine. Story time?"


    "Story time." My mom patted my back and then carried me downstairs.


    ...Was it because of the spell? Or the memory? For some reason, I felt really tired. And Mom was really warm...


    ...Maybe a tiny nap would be good...

 9 – The Gentle Mother

    9 ¨C The Gentle Mother


    Zenith smiled and patted Rudy''s back while walking back downstairs. "You must have been ying hard today, weren''t you, Rudy?"


    She didn''t get a response. Instead, all she got from her son was a soft snore.


    Cute. Well, Zenith thought that Rudy was always cute, but it was only when he was fast asleep like this that he really looked like a cute baby. Her baby.


    Most of the time, her son was so bright and curious. Eager to learn, eager to try new things... that had a charm in itself. But it made her wonder at times whether she was even needed.


    Zenith had been panicking after finding out she was pregnant and was unprepared to have a child... but she was starting to think that she wouldn''t be prepared at all for the son she got.


    He never cried. Even when he broke his arm and leg in that ident, the most that happened was his eyes watering. Not only that, but he learned to walk and talk on his own... and read too.


    Sure, she and Lilia read stories to Rudy when he asked, but he picked up the letters on his own.


    A genius. That was her cute little son.


    ...But a tiny little genius who still needed her mom, it seemed.


    Zenith hugged Rudy a little tighter and walked into the living room. As she did, Lilia walked in.


    Lilia took a look at Rudy and then smiled. "Did the young master tire himself out again?"


    "Mmhm." Zenith sat down on a chair and held Rudy in her arms, brushing his hair. "Geez, Rudy. What do you even do all day when Mommy''s gone?" She looked up at Lilia and said, "Do you know?"


    Lilia wiped her hands down and pulled a chair to sit next to Zenith. "For the most part, young master follows me around. After that, he amuses himself by wandering around the house and reading."


    "Hm?" Zenith looked at Lilia and said, "Just the house?"


    Lilia nodded. "Yes." She looked at Rudy and said, "Young master has an innate sense for danger and doesn''t seem to go outside very often. He is also very fond of reading."


    "Oho~?" Zenith grinned and tousled Rudy''s hair. "Looks like we might have a little magician on our hands soon then."


    Lilia smiled and said, "The young master does seem quite suited for it. Though I would hope that Miss Zenith does not force him into anything."


    "Please, Lily. Just call me Zenith. Or Zenny!" She smiled back at Lilia and said, "You''re already part of the family you know? I bet little Rudy here even sees you as his aunt, you know? Or maybe even a second mommy!"


    "M-Me?" Lilia blushed and shook her head. "I could never. And a mother..."


    Zenithughed. "I''m just kidding. But seriously, you''ve helped a lot you know?" Her smile faded and she looked down at Rudy. "I don''t know what we would have done if you weren''t here to help out. I mean, Paul''s hopeless and me..."


    Zenith was born as the second daughter of the earl family in the holy country of Milis. But although she might have been raised up to be a perfectdy and eventually having children, but none of that prepared her for actually being a mother.


    ...It probably also didn''t help that she ran away from home when she turned 15 and reached majority because she was sick of that life and the path set out in front of her.


    Lilia shook her head. "I am sure that you and Master Paul would have managed."


    Zenith frowned. "Lily."


    "Y-Yes?"


    "When I''mplimenting you, just ept it, okay? You''re a great help and basically my sister, so don''t go putting yourself down like that."


    Lilia''s eyes widened and then she let out a faint smile. "Of course, Miss Zenith."


    "Zenny!"


    "Zenith."


    "Zenny!"


    "...Zenny."


    Zenith grinned.


    Liliaughed.


    Rudy shifted in Zenith''s arms, moving around to rest his head against her chest.


    Seeing that, Zenith let out a soft smile and patted Rudy''s head. "Sorry, Rudy. Mommy will be a bit quieter."


    "Mm... kay..." Rudy mumbled and then went back to sleep.


    Zenith sighed and then shifted Rudy to be morefortable. After that, she looked up at Lilia and said, "Really though. I''m grateful you''re here to help us, Lily." She frowned and said, "There''ve been a lot more injuries recently at the vige from monster attacks, so it helps a lot for someone to be home to watch Rudy."


    Lilia shook her head and said, "It is my pleasure, Zen-"


    Zenith narrowed her eyes.


    "...Zenny. Besides, the young master isn''t much trouble at all."


    "That''s true." Zenith let out a sigh and said, "I''m really grateful for that. I''ve been talking with some of the other women in the vige and from what I hear we haven''t even seen half of what parents are supposed to go through."


    "I would weigh it closer to a hundredth, but yes. The young master is fortunately a very problem free child."


    Zenith giggled. "Yes. I guess me and Paul were just lucky."


    Yes. Lucky.


    If she hadn''t decided to run away from home when she turned fifteen.


    If Paul hadn''t taken her by the hand that day when she was about to ept entering an adventurer party as a healer without knowing anything about proper wages or expectations.


    If she hadn''t given into her heart and let Paul sleep with her after making him promise to not sleep with any other woman again, even while knowing he would probably break that promise.


    And if she hadn''t gotten pregnant after that one time, none of this would have happened.


    She wouldn''t have gotten a caring and loving husband who gave up his wild ways to be by her side. She wouldn''t have a friend like Lily who helped support her. And she wouldn''t have Rudy.


    Her sweet, smart, and silly son who was childish and tried to be mature when he wasn''t.


    Her good luck charm- No, the source of all her happiness today.


    It was a hectic and series of stressful events up to that point... but she wouldn''t give it up for the world.


    Zenith stared at Rudy''s sleeping face and then nted a small kiss on his forehead. "Mommy is really lucky to have met you, Rudy."

 10 – Toddler Period – Magic Experiments V2

    10 ¨C Toddler Period ¨C Magic Experiments V2


    Time passed. To be exact, a week. After gathering up my courage again, I snuck back into the storage room to take a look at the magic textbook again and do some more experiments.


    I would not let fear keep me down! I would not! Not when the promise of cool magic was in the future!


    ...Yeah, needed to work on those self-affirmations still. Definitely helped me to keep my mind off of other things though.


    Anyway, I got busy trying a lot of different things and testing various hypotheses.


    To sum things up... the magic textbook was bullcrap.


    I was sure of it. Some magical genius or prodigy definitely wrote the damned thing. There were steps missing, exnationspletely unexplored other than a single line... it was like the author expected you to just figure things out rather than exin things. Not only that, but he seemed to be just parroting information too!


    Like that bit about mana being set at birth. Yeah right! If that was the case, then why was my mana continuing to grow, huh? And why did Dad''s silver mana get more dense and increase a bit when he trained, huh?


    A bunch of baloney. Hogwash.


    ...Though I guess I couldn''t me them too much. I was pretty sure that there weren''t many people out there who could directly see mana like I could. And I could only do that because I managed to somehow develop a sort of mana synesthesia due to messing around with my mana shortly after I was born.


    If someone else had my ''eyes'' I was pretty sure they''d realize why that w'' was messed up too.


    Anyway... back to research notes.


    First of all, summing up what I got fromst time.


    Incantations were dangerous. They were definitely meant forbat use since they pulled out the max mana you had in you when you chanted it. If you let the spell go the way it wanted to go, it was easy to overload the thing and cause an explosion.


    ...Well, that might be due to my mana being abnormal because of my constant training in manipting it, but I didn''t have any metrics on that. Either way though, if it could happen to me, it could definitely happen to someone else.


    I had a feeling that was why my mom wasn''t teaching me mana right now. After all, if magic was that convenient, there''d be no reason not to start training as soon as a kid could read. There was probably a real danger that the spell would overdraft on the kid''s mana and drain them dry. And considering that mana seemed to be linked to blood in some way or another, that might actually cause them to drop dead.


    So, incantations dangerous. It was helpful if you knew how to regte it, but letting it go the way it wanted? Bad idea.


    Next off, magic circles.


    I still had my doubts about whether the ones in the book were optimal, but I had to admit that they were really useful. Even with the rampaging incanted spell, a tiny magic circle spun from my mana was enough to not only calm the spell down, but even draw back the excess mana for me to put back in my reserves.


    Not only that, but for me in particr, magic circles were probably better to use. I didn''t know for sure yet, but since I could make them with my mana, I had a feeling that I could offload the energy cost to ambient mana as well as chain a bunch of them together. And at the far end, it was probably possible to do some pseudo programming with magic circles too and makeplicated spells by finding out the individual elements...


    But that was for another time.


    The main takeaway behind that whole disaster was that magic wasplicated and that mana was very malleable.


    I still wasn''t too sure *exactly* what mana was. But from what I saw, it could adopt some properties of basic elements... at least, the traditional elements in magic, and attract that to itself.


    In other words, you could take a piece of mana, change it to an element, and then use it like a ma to draw that element to the mana. And then you could go on to shape that mana to manipte the element.


    Kind of like that element bending in... What was that show called again? Avatar? Some show where there was a monk guy who could control all the elements.


    It was like that. But that wasn''t the only way to use mana. From that disastrous conclusion, it looked like mana could be directly converted into elements too. But doing that seemed really inefficient for some reason.


    Maybe since thew of conservation of energy was still a thing? I wasn''t sure if it dissipated into heat like most chemical reactions, but maybe mana turned into some other sort of energy in the process of creating whatever the spell called for.


    Anyway, that was what I learned from my first mess. Incantation, bad. Magic circles, useful. Mana... weird.


    So it was time to try some more experiments.


    I sat back down and grabbed the book again before rereading the description about water ball.


    I had the incantation and magic circle memorized, but I wanted to be extra sure I wasn''t forgetting anything.


    Let''s see...


    A spell to turn mana into a ball of water. It was possible to use it to attack by sending the water ball flying... And that was pretty much it.


    Oh, the book mentioned something about the spell being elementary water magic too, but that was about it.


    But sending the ball flying, huh?


    I frowned and held up my right hand.


    Forget the incantation. Instead...


    Pulling out a thread of mana, tracing out the magic circle...


    In an instant, a tiny water ball floated above the palm of my hand, shining a pure blue.


    Not only that, but the mana I used to make the magic circle wasn''t dissolving or disintegrating like when I tried to control it directly.


    "Interesting..." I held the water ball up, staring at the magic circle. After that, I imagined the ball bouncing up and down.


    The magic circle red and the ball did just as I imagined.


    "Huh."


    Was I right? Were magic circles and incantations really just memory aids?


    ...No. It couldn''t be ''just'' memory aids. If that was the case, then my water ball wouldn''t have started going out of control. Not only that, but the magic circle also wouldn''t have stabilized the crazy spell.


    But I wondered...


    I dissolved the magic circle and drew my mana back.


    The water ball immediately fell down, turning into a puddle of water.


    Seeing that, I held out my hand to it.


    This time, I didn''t pull out any mana. I didn''t recite the incantation or imagine the magic circle either. Instead, I simply envisioned it. Closing my eyes, I imagined the water flying back up to form a floating water ball.


    ...Nothing.


    I blinked and then imagined it again. But this time, I tried circting my mana. Not outside my body, but just moving it around my body. Because if mana could attract elements-


    A small ssh. Water droplets slowly rising from the ground and floating in mid-air.


    But it wasn''t a single water ball. Instead, it was a bunch of tiny ones. Like I froze time during rainfall.


    I lowered my hand and stood up, looking around at the suspended water droplets. "...Huh." I frowned and ced my hand on my chin.


    Weird. This was really weird.


    So it was enough to just ''will'' an event to happen? Or rather, having a sufficient mental image was enough to cause things to happen if you focused on your mana at the same time?


    ...I didn''t get it. Was it a sort of imprinting thing? By moving the mana around, you imbued it with your will and intent, therefore you could enact a phenomenon on the world by envisioning it? Maybe through a sort of resonance?


    I didn''t remember all the details, but I knew that string theory was a thing. Maybe there''s an invisible and intangible connection between mana and the world as a whole? And by focusing your will, it was possible to use mana as a bridge to turn the imaginary into real?


    But that didn''t make any sense! How was that-


    Wait.


    Assuming that thews of physics still applied here and that mathematics were an axiomatic truth...


    ...Wasn''t there something that allowed that? A sort of mathematical function that converted a ''real'' function into a plex'' function that included imaginary elements?


    What was it called again... Lapless Transform? Le use Transform?


    I didn''t remember it''s name or all of the details... but I knew that it existed. In that case... Yes, that would definitely exin a few things.


    Assuming that magic was nothing more than a particr ''form'' you used to create a result by inputting mana, there would definitely be multiple ways to go about getting the same answer.


    Incantation was like trying to solve a system of equations with pure algebra and substitutions. By crunching in all the numbers (saying all the words) you could get the right answer. But it took up a lot of work and a single misstep could result in apletely wrong answer.


    Magic circles were like geometry. By turning that equation into a picture, you could clearly see the answer by finding where all the lines matched up. It was super easy once you knew how it worked, but it also was a one-time deal. After all, you couldn''t reuse the same picture to solve multiple equations. That would also exin why it was so rigid.


    But you could skip all of that. Like how people could figure out 2+2=4 without actually counting out the numbers, it should be possible to just directly get the result.


    That was harder though. It required you to have the natural intuition for numbers and a repository of ''answers'' to build up that intuition.


    Applying that to magic... If you knew exactly what phenomenon you wanted to ur, it should be possible to just brute force it. To intuitively skip all the steps and arrive at the result.


    "...That''s dangerous though." I couldn''t help but mutter my thoughts about that approach.


    Intuition was dangerous. There might be some geniuses out there who could use it unfailingly, or some crazy guys who experienced enough to build up a reliable gut instinct, but for the average person it was a recipe for disaster.


    After all, how many people failed physics because their thoughts about how reality and math worked didn''t line up with the actual problem?


    No. I wouldn''t slide into that mindset.


    Didn''t I experience it before? Trusting your talent and intuition and hoping to ride on it to the end... that was a recipe for disaster. For a lifetime of regrets.


    No. It was better to take things piece by piece. To meticulously build things up and take notes on the process to double and triple-check.


    And to start with...


    "Let''s try this again and break things down. Now, were all the words in the incantation necessary...?"

 11 – Toddler Period – Curse of Genius

    11 ¨C Toddler Period ¨C Curse of Genius


    A year passed. During that time, I continued to take notes on magic and explore different hypotheses.


    But it was hard to do research.


    First of all, I couldn''t write things down. Obviously. That would give the whole jig up about me being a normal, if not a bit precocious baby- Well, child now.


    Second of all... magic was reallyplicated. And I was also sure of something.


    The incantations and magic circles were different magic systems. They led to the same result, but they were definitely different paths.


    The incantations themselves weren''t just a memory aid. Instead, it was actually a prayer for power. I didn''t know the mechanics, but I did know that it caused mana to get automatically shaped the moment that the incantation wasplete unless I stopped the flow.


    Interestingly enough though, if I mimicked the flow, I could reproduce the same result as the incantation.


    But that result was different from using a magic circle.


    When using a magic circle, I would always get the same result. ALWAYS. Same output, shape, amount... even temperature.


    I think. Hard to measure that part, but I was fairly certain.


    The magic circle *was* the flow of mana. But it was a different flow from when an incantation was used.


    Comparing it to math... if incantations were like 2+2=4, then magic circles were like a long string ofplicated expressions to get back to 4. Something like (((1+3)/2)+6) * 0.5 ... or something.


    There were a bunch of extra parts in there that seemed to be unnecessary. But removing one part made the whole thing copse.


    It was weird. And ad hoc.


    I couldn''t fault the person who developed magic circles... but I really felt like I could do something better. It was needlesslyplicated and convoluted. Stable, sure. But there were a lot of moving parts in it.


    Ah, and then there was the other thing about mana dissipation that I found out.


    If I let the spells finish the way they were intended, I would lose control of the bit of mana I used to cast the spell. But if I took over and manually directed the flow in the same way, I could pull my mana back after causing the physical event.


    And that made me wonder if I was doing something wrong. Or if the person who developed the magic system was doing something wrong.


    Was magic resistance a thing? If it was, then casting magic the way the spell was meant to be done didn''t seem very effective. While mana turned into whatever the spell conjured up, it was still mana. I didn''t know for sure, but my gut told me that someone with a mana force field or something could block the water ballunched by the incantation because it was mostly water mana.


    On the contrary, if a water ball was made the way I did it with my mana serving as the core of the spell... or better yet, with the magic circle, then it would be hard to block that.


    Well, unless the magic force field was a straight up kic energy nullifier.


    But then what about wave energy? Radiation?


    You could probably stop mes, but you couldn''t stop the heat. If mes were hot enough and you burned up the oxygen, then it didn''t matter if the mes were stopped.


    Same with water. If you made the air damp enough, it would get harder to breathe and then-


    Ah, that was a side tangent.


    In any case... I got better at magic. Specifically, water magic.


    Using water ball as a base, I managed to figure out how to make multiple water balls, create a mini water gatling gun by having a spinning gauntlet of magic circles, and a bunch of other cool things.


    But it was just elementary level magic.


    ording to the magic text book, this world had a ranking system on things. Seven levels, used for both magic and fighting. And from lowest to highest, it was:


    1. Elementary


    2. Intermediate


    3. Advanced


    4. Saint


    5. King


    6. Emperor


    7. God


    ...Or something like that. The book said that Saint could also be Saintly, God could also be Divine, etc.


    But the long and short of it was that each rank meant stronger and wider effects. At least when applied to magic.


    The book didn''t go into too much detail, but apparently Saint-ranked spells were enough to destroy a small city while God spells were enough to destroy... at least a continent?


    Basically a nuke. Probably.


    So I was curious again.


    By this point, I had thoroughly mastered the water ball spell and broken it down to the basic parts... and figured out how to link a few different casting types.


    It would take a while to exin, but basically I figured out how to use a magic circle to start a base, use the flow from an incantation on top of that to adjust various features, and then use multiple threads to add even more attributes. Things like temperature, rotation speed, density, etc. With each ''thread'', I could add more things and tweak various parts.


    Exciting stuff.


    Ah, all of that was done in secret, of course.


    Most of my training was de at night while my parents were ''sleeping'' or in the storage room on the rare asions that I could sneak off alone.


    That was getting harder these days. Miss Lilia seemed to have realized something was up since she asked me to help her with chores more often. And my mom was also spending more time at home with me, either cooking stuff or reading stories. Then there was my dad who kept dragging me into the courtyard in his free time to demonstrate his ''peerless sword skills...''


    I didn''t mind. In fact, it was pretty fun. Spending time with them without having to worry about being judged or having any expectations was rxing. And it helped me not think about ''that'' too.


    It did put a limit on my research time though.


    But today I was free!


    There was apparently a disturbance in the forest, so Dad went out on patrol early this morning and Mom went with him for back up. Not only that, but Miss Lilia had a lot ofundry to do, so she would be outside for most of the day.


    In short... a perfect opportunity to try out more stuff from the book.


    So once again, I returned to the storage room.


    As always, I pulled open the window and then picked up the book, flipping to an intermediate spell for once.


    "Let''s see... <Ssh flow> sounds interesting."


    It looked like a direct upgrade to water ball. Basically a water cannon using mana.


    Perfect to test out the difference in ranks.


    I nodded to myself and walked up to the window. After that, I aimed my hand towards the sky and started chanting, paying careful attention to the flow of mana.


    "Supple spirit of water and princess of streams that flow through the earth..."


    So far, so good. The same sort of flow I got with water ball. No difference at this point. Then moving on...


    "...Sweep away all things with your hidden inner might..."


    A thrum of power.


    I could sense it starting to get out of control, but I was prepared this time. Instead of letting the spell run wild, I mped down on the flow of mana and focused, purposefully controlling it instead of letting it spill out.


    But it was the same still.


    Was it just that then? Were all spells just the same basic core with more power?


    But that didn''t make sense.


    Confused, I finished chanting the spell. "<Ssh flow>."


    Silence. At first nothing happened. At least, nothing new.


    Water gathered at the palm of my hand, forming a water ball.


    Seeing that, I frowned and started to pull my mana back to cancel the spell.


    But then everything changed in an instant.


    A roiling surge of energy. My mana suddenly jerked out of control and took on a life of its own.


    At the same time, the carefully controlled water ball erupted into a swirling mass of frothing liquid, growingrger by the second.


    "Argh, I knew it!"


    Like before, I quickly formed the matching magic circle with my left hand and oveid it with the swirling mass of water.


    But it didn''t stop.


    "Eh?"


    Wait. That''s not supposed to-


    *BOOM*


    A massive explosion. The swirling mass of water erupted, flying forward like a giant cannon ball.


    The wall blew out. Debris flew through the air.


    And the ball only got bigger as it flew instead of shrinking.


    A giant swirling mass of water that looked almost like a crystal sun. It flew far above the sky, glistening in the air...


    Then with another deafening boom, it exploded, sending water flying everywhere in a sudden downpour.


    Like a heavy rain, the sky suddenly turned dark as water fell.


    I froze.


    My body condition was fine. The spell didn''t actually drain much mana from me because I carefully regted it. Not only that, but my constant practice had increased the amount of mana I had too.


    No, I wasn''t worried about that. Instead...


    This was bad.


    This was really bad.


    I made a mistake.


    I made a really big mistake.


    Now, like this...


    The magic textbook fell to the ground. But I ignored it.


    Impossible.


    It was impossible now.


    If my parents found out, they''d treat me like a genius. They''d think that I was one of those child geniuses who could do anything. They''d pin their hopes and expectations on me.


    Me, who made my parents live with their heads bowed down in shame for two decades because I never met those expectations.


    ''What happened to you!? You were a genius! You were supposed to change the world! Now look at you!''


    I screamed and copsed on the floor, clutching my head.

 12 – The Parents’ Expectations

    12 ¨C The Parents¡¯ Expectations


    Paul stared at the bear corpse in front of him and let out a sigh.


    Zenith slowly walked towards Paul and then said, "Is it dead?"


    Paul sheathed his sword and nodded. "Yep. But that''s weird..."


    There was dense mana in the forest, but it shouldn''t be enough to create a monster like this.


    It wasn''t muchpared to the monsters that Paul faced in the past. After all, you came across a whole slew of deadly creatures when you were an adventurer. But if Paul wasn''t here to fight it, that monster could have wreaked havoc on the vige.


    A man with pointed ears jumped down from a watchtower nearby and then nodded. "Good job, Paul."


    Paul grinned and said, "Not too shabby yourself, Laws." After that, he smoothed his expression and said, "But was this the only one you saw?"


    Laws shook his head and put his bow on his back. "No, but that should be thest of them. But this is odd." He looked towards the bear corpse and said, "I''ve never seen so many magical creatures born in such a short period of time."


    "You think so too, huh?" Paul frowned and said, "...Is this ce bing a dungeon or something?"


    It was unlikely, but apparently there was a buildup of magical energy in the heart of the forest... Maybe that was the cause of the recent monsters?


    Zenith frowned. "That''s impossible. A dungeon? Naturally forming? And all the way out here?"


    "...Yeah." Paulughed. "Maybe I''m just reading too much into this. Anyway..." He looked at Laws and said, "We''ll be heading back first, Laws. It''s about time I get Rudy started on his swordsmanship lessons."


    Laws blinked and said, "Isn''t your son only three years old?"


    Paulughed and said, "He is, but Rudy''s a genius, you know? That kid''s already reading books on his own."


    Zenith smacked Paul''s head and said, "And that''s why he''s going to be a magician!"


    "Ow! Geez, Zenith. Do you have to do that every time?"


    "I''ll do it as many times as it takes to get it into that thick skull of yours!"


    Laws chuckled and said, "Well then, have a good day, you two."


    Zenith waved and said, "Same to you, Laws! Let''s have a y date between Luffy and Rudy sometime!"


    Laws smiled.


    After that, Paul and Zenith started walking back home.


    Zenith nced back and said, "Laws is a nice man."


    Paul pulled Zenith close and said, "But not as nice as me, eh?"


    "Pft." Zenithughed and said, "What, jealous?"


    "Just asserting my dominance. Can''t let other guys think they can take you away from me, you know?"


    "So you''re jealous."


    "...Maybe a little?"


    "Hmph." Zenith poked Paul''s chest and said, "Now you know how I feel."


    Paul cleared his throat. "Anyway..." He looked across the ins towards their house and said, "I really do think we should get Rudy started on swordsmanship."


    Zenith frowned. "That again?"


    "Look, Zenith. Rudy''s a genius! You know that, I know that. Imagine how good he''ll be if he starts training now! And he''s got great coordination and everything too! We didn''t even need to teach him how to walk or use the bathroom!"


    Zenith pursed her lips. "Even so... it''s a bit early, don''t you think? And also, what about magic?"


    "What about magic?"


    Zenith shook her head and said, "Rudy''s smart. And if he''s inheriting anything from me, he should be able to use at least a little bit of magic."


    "Well, magic''s just the luck of the draw though, isn''t it? Even if he could, he''ll probably only be able to be Advanced-rank at best."


    "Paul!"


    "What?" Paul shrugged and said, "I suck at magic, and you''re above average. On the other hand, if he started now... Rudy''s got a natural sense for danger and these things, you know? And he''s not just our son, he''s my son too. And since I''m a genius, it''s only obvious that our son''s a super genius."


    Zenith rolled her eyes. "You''re as arrogant as always."


    "I''d like to call it confidence. Let me know when you find another guy who''s Advanced-rank in Sword-God, Water-God, and North-God swordsmanship."


    "You don''t have to unt it so much. Or are you trying to ovepensate for something?"


    Paul pulled Zenith close kissed her neck. "I think you know that I don''t need any of that."


    Zenith blushed and swatted Paul. "Not in public!"


    Paulughed and then scooped up Zenith into his arms. "Well then, let''s hurry on home then."


    Zenith rolled her eyes. "I''m not some dainty princess, Dear."


    "Well, to me you are."


    Zenith blushed and then she swatted Paul''s head. "Shameless flirt."


    Paulughed and started sprinting back home.


    The wind at his back, the golden wheat fields, rolling green hills... and a loving beauty in his arms.


    It was a bit boring, but Paul couldn''t really ask for anything else-


    "Hm?"


    A faint shadow from above. Paul looked up and then was instantly met by a sudden downpour of water.


    "Kya!" Zenith screamed and said, "Why is it raining?!"


    "It''s not." Paul frowned.


    The sky was clear, but there was rain.


    No, was that even rain to start with?


    Paul narrowed his eyes and then noticed something. A faint trail in the sky leaving behind a streak of mist. And the source of it...


    "Hold on tight, Zenith." Paul tensed and then lowered his body.


    "Dear- KYAAAAAA!"


    Paul kicked off the ground, blurring across the terrain in a single pounce. Consecutive dashes to close as much ground as possible as quickly as possible.


    The sprint that should have taken a half hour was closed in a couple of minutes.


    And as Paul arrived at the gate, he heard it. A muffled scream from upstairs, along with footsteps already running up.


    Paul quickly set Zenith down and ran upstairs as well. As he did, he ced his hand on his sword. "Lilia?! Rudy?!"


    The footsteps stopped.


    Paul saw the person who was running up the stairs. Lilia. But then if that scream wasn''t her...


    "Master Paul!" Lilia ced her hand on her chest and said, "That scream-"


    "Rudy?" Paul ran past Lilia and towards the source of the scream. When he reached it... he came to a stop. "What the-"


    It was the storage room. Emphasis on ''was.''


    The wall had been blown out. Not only that, but water was sprayed all over the room.


    But Paul ignored all of that.


    Instead, he focused on the one screaming.


    It was Rudy. He was huddled up in the middle of the floor, clutching his head.


    "Rudy!" Paul quickly ran to his son and picked him up. "Hey! Papa''s here! What happened?"


    When Paul held Rudy, he stopped screaming. But Rudy immediately started trembling instead and muttering something under his breath.


    Paul frowned and then noticed that there was a book lying on the ground next to Rudy. Zenith''s old magic text book.


    And it was open to an intermediate level spell.


    Wait.


    Then was this because...?


    "Rudy?!" Zenith ran into the room, followed after by Lilia.


    Zenith saw Rudy and then gasped. "What happened?"


    Paul shook his head. "I don''t know. But..." He nodded his head towards the book on the ground.


    Zenith frowned and then walked over to pick it up. When she did, her eyes widened. "Ssh Flow? But this is...?" Zenith looked around the room with excitement in her eyes and said, "Did Rudy do all of this?"


    Paul started to answer. But before he could, Rudy shoved him and broke out of his arms.


    "R-Rudy?!"


    Paul reached out, but before he could do anything, Rudy ran towards Lilia and clung onto her, shaking like a leaf. "Miss Lilia! Tell them! Tell Mom and Dad! I''m not a genius, I''m not a genius! I''m not! It wasn''t me! It''s not me!"


    Panicked and hysterical outbursts. And after that... he burst out crying. A deep and full-out cry,pletely unrestrained.


    Paul froze.


    Zenith did as well.


    What in the world was going on...? Rudy was saying that he wasn''t a genius...?


    "There, there." Lilia knelt down and patted Rudy''s back. "Everything will be alright, young master."


    Rudy shook his head and then hid his face in her chest. "Don''t let Mom and Dad treat me different. Please. Please..."


    Lilia kept patting Rudy''s back. At the same time, she looked up at Paul, a judging look on her face.


    Paul flinched.


    "...I am certain that your mother and father will do nothing of the sort. They love you very much, you know?"


    "...But now they know..."


    Now they know...? Wait, then did that mean that Rudy was always like this?


    No,e to think of it, Rudy picked up how to talk, read, walk... all of that he learned by himself. Then... He thought that it was just coincidence at the time. But did Rudy already understand them back when he was only a few months old?


    Zenith walked over and held her hands out to Rudy. "Ru-"


    "NOOOOOO!" Rudy screamed and then ran behind Lilia. "I didn''t do anything! I''m normal! Don''t make me!"


    Zenith flinched.


    Lilia sighed and then turned around to hug Rudy. "Nothing will happen, young master. Your parents are just excited to see how brilliant you are."


    "I''m not!"


    Lilia patted Rudy''s head. "Ah. Yes. You''re not. You''re just an ordinary child. Right?"


    She was talking to Rudy, but from how she nced back to look at Paul and Zenith, it was a clear chastisement.


    Paul was confused. And then he realized what had happened.


    Didn''t he notice it?


    Rudy''s intuition was top notch. His son was smart. Smart enough that Paul sometimes wondered if Rudy was really his kid. But he knew Zenith, and their first time had been her first time as well... and she had also clung onto him all the time after that.


    So Rudy was his kid. Then that meant he also inherited his blood. That sharp intuition towards people around him and also the disdain to meet forced expectations.


    But he was a kid. Rudy was still a kid who didn''t know malice or anger or anything like that. But he probably sensed it. That both he and Zenith were expecting him to walk a certain path.


    And he didn''t want it. He didn''t want it, but he didn''t know what to do.


    Then of course.


    It was just like Paul. He didn''t know who to turn to, so he ran to someone he knew he could trust who wouldn''t judge him for it. For him, that was his cousin, Philip.


    For Rudy, it was Lilia. The one who quietly kept an eye on him and treated him as he was without any expectations.


    But...


    Paul frowned and looked towards his wife.


    -LIV-


    Zenith didn''t know what to think.


    Her son... Rudy. A child barely three years old was able to cast an Intermediate-ranked spell. That meant that he was a genius! A once in a lifetime prodigy!


    But...


    Zenith lowered her hands and stared sadly at Rudy clinging to Lilia.


    ...He didn''t want it. And not only that, but he was terrified of being thought to be one.


    It hurt. Zenith thought that she might face heartbreak from Paul choosing another woman, but to see her cute son run away from her and Paul in fear and into Lilia''s arms...


    Zenith was jealous. She was jealous, but she was also mad at herself.


    Because she realized it now.


    Rudy had always been watching. She didn''t know what miracle Milis granted them, but she knew for sure that Rudy must have been born fully aware of what was going on around him.


    And he had always been watching. Scared, lost, and alone, he was always watching the people around him. Eventually, he opened up and started trusting her and Paul. He must havee to the understanding that they were his parents and that they wouldn''t hurt him.


    And he enjoyed that. Spending time with them, ying together...


    He was just like an ordinary child.


    But he wasn''t.


    Zenith was sure. Rudy was a genius. Not just in magic, but a real, true genius. The sort that could understand things without being taught, one who could figure out everything for himself.


    But he was also a child. Her sweet, cute, and smart child who was afraid that they would look at him differently because they knew that he was a bit different.


    ...And that made Zenith angry. At herself.


    A change. It was just brief, but Zenith saw Rudy differently. Instead of just her son, she thought about how great it would be for him to be a master magician. Of how great he could be in the future, and how great it would be for her to be the mother of someone like that.


    But then... that was the same.


    Expectations. A directed path.


    It was just like how her parents wanted her to be a proper noble and marry some firstborn son of a high-ranking noble.


    Rudy must have instinctively sensed that. But he was still just a child. No matter how much of a genius he was, he was still just a child. And when he saw how Zenith acted, he was terrified of it. Of seeing his mother look at him like an object instead of her son.


    So he ran away.


    Instead of his mother or father, he ran to Lilia.


    And Lilia gave them a knowing look.


    ...Right. She knew. Since Lilia was the one who found Rudy every time he went off alone, she must have known that he was a prodigy.


    For a split second, Zenith felt jealous. Lilia knew all this time and didn''t tell them.


    But then she realized why.


    He was just a kid. Rudy was just a toddler who hadn''t even turned five years old. A baby still. One who just wanted to be with his parents and sought emotional support.


    And that broke Zenith''s heart. Because she knew why he thought that.


    Back when he had that ident, Zenith was excited that he might be a genius. She was excited at the thought that her son could understand them at just a few months old.


    And he had seen it. No, he probably saw her change. How his kind and sweet mother suddenly was different.


    It was just pride. She was proud of her son and what he could be. But Rudy couldn''t understand that.


    And it seemed like he never forgot it.


    Zenith let out a long sigh and then walked towards Rudy.


    He flinched and then hid behind Lilia again.


    "Young master." Lilia gave him a gentle remark and ced him back in front. "Don''t be afraid. Your parents won''t hurt you or treat you different just because you can use magic."


    "...Promise?"


    "Of course."


    From behind, Zenith heard Paul let out a long sigh too.


    She shook her head and then knelt down in front of Rudy. "Mommy''s sorry, Rudy. I didn''t mean to scare you."


    Rudy stared at her, his eyes sharp.


    Zenith sensed it. She had seen those eyes before. A type of discerning gaze that was trying to find the truth. And she also could tell. If she made the wrong decision here, something would be changed forever.


    Zenith was quiet and then she carefully asked, "Do you like magic, Rudy?"


    "...Yes."


    "Wait, Zenith-" Paul tried to interrupt.


    Zenith turned to re at him.


    Lilia did as well.


    Paul wilted and lowered his gaze.


    Zenith turned back to Rudy and said, "Would you like to have a teacher?"


    "...Why?"


    A simple question. But one that carried a lot of weight.


    If Zenith answered wrong...


    She paused to think about it. Seriously think about it.


    It was nice. It would be nice for her son to be a powerful magician. If he could already cast intermediate magic now, then bing a Saint-ranked magician wasn''t a pipe dream. It was inevitable. And if he was properly trained, then a King-ranked, Emperor-ranked... And maybe even God-ranked.


    But.


    Zenith stared into her son''s eyes. Pure green eyes that glimmered with intelligence. But at the same time, pure green eyes that didn''t show a hint of ambition. Merely a child''s gaze. Soft and innocent.


    "...If you don''t want one, then it''s fine. Mommy will support whatever Rudy wants. Okay?"


    So she gave it up.


    If her son didn''t want to be treated as a genius... then that was fine.


    It was enough that he was happy. And seeing how terrified he had been... She didn''t want to see that expression on his face ever again.


    "Mommy''s sorry, Rudy." She held out her arms and said, "Will you forgive me?"


    Rudy was hesitant. But then he slowly nodded and walked over to hug Zenith. "...I''m sorry too, Mommy."


    "Hush now. There''s no need to be sorry." She picked Rudy up and held him. "No matter what, Rudy is Mommy''s baby, okay? I''ll love you no matter what you do." She paused and then looked at Paul. "As long as you don''t be a shameless flirt like your father."


    "H-Hey!"


    Rudyughed.


    Zenith smiled.


    In the corner of her eyes, Zenith saw Lilia nod and then quietly set about drying the room.


    Like that, the incident was over.


    But then...


    Zenith felt a slight poke on her shoulders. Rudy. "Yes, Rudy?"


    "...Can I have a magic teacher?"


    Zenith''s eyes widened and then she smiled. "If that''s what Rudy wants-"


    "Wait!" Paul ran over and then grabbed Rudy''s hand, desperate. "Rudy! What about swords? You like watching Papa fight, right? Papa can teach you too!"


    Zenith narrowed her eyes. "Paul!"


    He looked at Zenith and said, "It''s not fair! We promised! If it''s a guy, he''ll take up a sword! If it''s a girl, she''ll learn magic!"


    Zenith frowned. "And what if he doesn''t want to? Are you going to be like your father now and force him?"


    Paul froze. "T-That''s..."


    "Hm?" Rudy blinked and looked up. His eyes grew wide and he said, "You''ll teach me sword fighting? Really?!"


    Zenith froze.


    Paulughed and patted his chest. "Of course! Papa''s the strongest around, you know?"


    "H-Hey!" Zenith interrupted and looked at Rudy. "Don''t be fooled by your father, Rudy. Sword fighting is good, but magic is better! You can make it a lot further in life if you study hard."


    Paul frowned. "Zenith-"


    "...Can I learn both?"


    Paul froze.


    Zenith froze.


    "T-That... Huh." Paul frowned. "That''s right. I mean, there''s no reason why he can''t."


    Lilia spoke up. "Let him learn magic in the morning and than swordsmanship in the afternoon when Master Paul has returned from work. That would be fine, would it not?"


    Zenith looked down at Rudy.


    Seeing his excited smile, she sighed.

 13 – Toddler Period – Misfit Student and Teacher

    13 ¨C Toddler Period ¨C Misfit Student and Teacher


    It was an embarrassing mess. Because I panicked, my body''s instincts took over and I blubbered like a child. Devolved into hysterics like an insane person.


    What was wrong with me?


    Ah, right. I was still just a kid, and kids weren''t good at controlling emotions.


    Also, seems like bottling up all of that regret and self-loathing really wasn''t a good idea.


    Whoda'' thunk?


    Maybe I should start a journal... y it off like, "I''ve been having these weird thoughtstely. Like, is any of this for real? Or not?"


    Anyway, it somehow worked out. I didn''t really mean to force them to change the way they treated me, and I also didn''t care *that* much if they treated me differently.


    ...Well. That was what I *said* but it seemed like my emotions were different.


    Stupid kid body.


    Right. Mom and Dad.


    They didn''t put any high expectations on me. They couldn''t get around the fact that it was clear I wasn''t a normal kid now, but they weren''t pushing me to go be a world-ss swordsman or magician. Instead, they were supporting me in whatever I wanted to do.


    Good parents. Definitely not like some other parents that I knew. Not that it was a bad thing either way. It was just... that had been a lot of stress. It also caused a lot of mental problems that I apparently never worked out.


    Great.


    Let''s hope I don''t have a mental breakdown again in the future.


    Anyway... Because they knew that I was a ''prodigy'' now, my parents treated me a bit more formally. It was a bit more rigid. But at the same time, it was also more rxed.


    ...It was hard to exin. They were a bit more hesitant now in expecting me to do things. But at the same time, they were more rxed in how they treated me and didn''t seem as worried as much.


    But overall, it was clear that they still loved me.


    I had to thank Miss Lilia for that. It seemed like she had a conversation with my parents at some point, causing them to rx.


    She was really nice like that... In fact, it was almost like I had two moms.


    If Zenith was the kind and bubbly supportive mother who wanted the best for her kid, Miss Lilia was the quiet and unconditionally supportive mother. The sort who would still love her child even if he turned out to be a criminal, probably.


    ...And also a lot like my previous mom. Maybe that was why I gravitated towards her a bit.


    Still, I loved both of them equally.


    In any case, since I asked nicely, it was decided to get a magic tutor for me.


    I was a bit worried at first considering how far out in the rural area we were. Also because I didn''t know how to react to my tutor.


    If he was someone who wanted me to walk a certain path, if he wanted to push me to be something I didn''t want to be... that would be bad.


    I didn''t think my parents would allow that, but I also didn''t want them to waste their money...


    Eventually though, we found one. Someone epted the job offer as an in-house tutor.


    My parents said they would receive her. And since I was nervous, I decided to go calm down like how I always did: with magic.


    So, while my parents grabbed my tutor, I walked out to the back of our house and practiced.


    Maybe I could figure out why the heck <Ssh flow> was so different from <Water ball>...


    -LIV-


    Roxy Migurdia had found a job offer. Because she was running low on funds, and because it was a secure job, she decided to take it.


    A simple task. Be an in-house tutor for a low-ranked knight''s child.


    It was out in the countryside and while it paid decently well, it wasn''t enough to entice too many adventurers or proper magicians other than the old ones.


    But it was perfect for her. She had just graduated from the Ranoa Magic Academy and had trouble finding a job. She was also tired of adventuring, so she wanted to try her hand at teaching for a while. And the job seemed like an easy one, so she decided to take it.


    So, wearing her brown magician robe and gathering up her belongings in her bag, she set off to the vige.


    But the parents were strange. A handsome young man with built muscles. A beautiful young woman with a kind and sweet smile. And bothing out to meet her like they were out for war... before bing shocked when they saw her. They quickly got over that though and startedying out some ground rules.


    But those rules were even stranger then they were.


    "First of all," the mother said. "You shouldn''t push Rudy. He''s very smart, but he''s self-conscious about his talent. Teach him the basics and what he wants to learn, but please be patient and don''t rush him, even if he picks it up right away."


    From that, Roxy thought that the child might be slow. Or that this might be a pair of parents who didn''t know how to spend their money. Especially after the father talked.


    "On paper, you''re a tutor. But think of this as more of being a resource for Rudy. Even if you''re just here to answer his questions, that''s enough. Ah, and we''ll be training swordsmanship in the afternoon, so try not to exhaust him too much."


    Paul and Zenith Greyrat.


    Roxy thought they were a bit too ambitious. Hiring a magic tutor for a child who might not even have a talent for magic...


    Well, it was their money. And if it was just teaching theory or answering questions, she didn''t mind. It was a bit disappointing, but a job was a job.


    Or so she thought.


    The parents brought her around into the courtyard. As they did, the mother, Zenith, looked at Roxy and said, "Now remember. Don''t treat him any differently than a normal child, okay? And try not to have too high of expectations for him."


    "Yes, Miss." Roxy bowed her head. "I will keep that in mind."


    In other words, treat him like an idiot child and be patient. Or rather, be a babysitter.


    ...It was a bit frustrating, but again, a job was a job.


    And then they walked into the courtyard and she saw the child she was supposed to be tutoring.


    They called him a child, but in truth, he was more of a baby. Short, a bit chubby. Perhaps no more than three years old.


    Objectively, it seemed like it really was just a babysitting job.


    ...If not for the ridiculous sight before her eyes.


    A hundred floating orbs of water, floating all around him. A pudgy and cute face fixed in concentration. Fingers spinning like a conductor, moving the orbs here and there. And making some orbs freeze and shatter while others turned into snowballs.


    Then the child brought his hands together, spinning the balls as one.


    A swirling mass of water. Not just a giant water ball, but a water cannon. No, <Ssh flow>. But wasn''t that an intermediate spell...?


    The child aimed it at the sky and then swung his hands out. With that, the water shot into the sky with a loud bang. But before it went too far, the water cannon dispersed, turning into droplets of water. Like rain.


    But before the rain reached the earth, they dissolved, turning into a faint mist.


    Impossible. A level of mastery and control that Roxy had never seen before.


    Not only voiceless incantation, but the sheer mana required for such a feat...


    And the child was only three years old...?! No, the kid was insecure about his talent?!


    What did that make her then!?


    "Rudy!" Zenith called out and waved. "We brought your new tutor!"


    As she did that, Paul walked to Roxy and said, "Remember. Treat him normally."


    Casual words. Even so, it was said with a sharp tone. Not a threat, but a severe reminder.


    With that, Roxy calmed down.


    Right.


    Even if he was like this, he was still a child. And that''s why Mister Paul and Miss Zenith were like that.


    He was a talented, god-blessed talent... but he was also a child.


    And it was her duty to teach him properly.


    When she thought about it like that... Roxy rxed.


    The child, Rudy turned around and tilted his head.


    Roxy froze when she saw his gaze.


    Sharp and clear green eyes. A gaze with focus and analysis that seemed like it was taking apart everything in front of his eyes.


    An expression that didn''t belong on a three year old.


    But that expression quickly faded, turning into pure childish excitement. He ran over and then held out his hand, smiling. "Hello! I''m Rudy!"


    Ah.


    Roxy realized it then.


    It was like that.


    Seeing that uncharacteristic expression switching over to such a childish one...


    It was like her. A child born different from his parents and surroundings. But one who wanted to be epted and get along regardless.


    Roxy adjusted her hat and let out a soft smile. Holding out her hand, she said, "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Rudy. My name is Roxy."


    "Nice to meet you, Miss Roxy!" He grinned and shook her hand. After that, his eyes widened and he said, "Are we starting right now?"


    Paulughed and said, "Excited to start already, huh?" He waved Rudy off and said, "Go learn your magic, Rudy. Dad will just go out to work then."


    Zenith smiled and then patted Roxy''s shoulders. "We''ll leave you two to get to know each other." She waved at Rudy and then left. "Bye Rudy! Have fun!"


    "Bye Mom! Bye Dad!"


    And then they were alone.


    Roxy stared at Rudy, unsure of what to say.


    Rudy stared back, his eyes sparkling with expectation.


    "So." Roxy eventually spoke up and said, "...What would you like to know?"


    Rudy nodded. "Miss Roxy''s a really great magician, right? Could you go over the basics with me? I have an old textbook, but I think it might be outdated."


    Roxy let out an internal sigh of relief.


    Good. The basics. That was fine.


    "Also, is it true that mana pools don''t increase? Mine keeps growing. At the beginning, I could only make a few water balls, but the more I practice the more I can make. And it''s not just me being more efficient. I can feel myself using the same amount for each water ball, so there''s definitely more in me. Ah, and why do magic circles and incantations do the same thing with different methods? And why does no one ovep the two? Oh! And do you know any of the magical theory behind the magic circles? I was curious about the pieces and..."


    ...Okay. Maybe this job wouldn''t be so simple...


    "...Miss Roxy?"


    Roxyughed and then stood up. "Let''s go inside first. This might take a while."

 14 – Toddler Period – Lessons

    14 ¨C Toddler Period ¨C Lessons


    So. After a quick discussion with my new teacher, I learned a few things.


    First, Miss Roxy was a genius. But not only was she a genius, she was a hardworking genius who knew everything from the ground up and could answer all my questions.


    Like, why the hell <Ssh Flow> suddenly erupted even after I used a magic circle to try and stabilize the incantation.


    It turned out that I was mistaken on the purpose of the spell. Though, it should have been obvious from the name...


    <Water Ball> was a spell that created a ball of water. That was its primary use. Launching it and moving it around were auxiliary functions.


    <Ssh Flow> on the other hand... There was another name for it too. <Water Cannon>.


    The reason why it suddenly exploded when I added the magic circle instead of calming down was because <Ssh Flow> was an attack spell. Like, that was its primary purpose. Gather a crap ton of water and then explode it.


    I was right in thinking that it built off of <Water Ball>. The flow and everything was the same because it seemed like the base process of gathering water was the same. But there was an additional step at the very end that changed it from just gathering a ball of water to erupting into a high-pressured water bomb.


    But of course, the book didn''t say anything like that.


    I couldn''t me it, really. It was my bad.


    When I asked Miss Roxy about why intermediate-ranked spells were so powerful, she exined that they were mostly meant forbat. And that it wasmon sense for people to be careful when casting anything beyond elementary-ranked spells because it was dangerous.


    Putting it in other words...


    Elementary-ranked spells were basically like shooting a Nerf gun. The targeting, aiming, shooting... all of that was the same as the real thing. And you could hit and hurt people with it too, but it was mostly just for fun.


    Starting from Intermediate-ranked spells and onwards though, you were handling a real gun. There was kickback, recoil, and a lot more energy to deal with. The same basic principles applied, but there was more ''weight'' to the firing that you had to watch out for.


    Well, Miss Roxy didn''t exin it like that, but that was basically it.


    The long and short of it was that it was a *really* good thing I didn''t start off my magic experimenting with fire. That would have ended really, really, really poorly.


    Anyway, the second thing I learned was that Miss Roxy got sidetracked really easily. We were supposed to go over the basics, but after I asked a few questions we delved into a really deep and esoteric discussion about the purpose of magic and its origins.


    Somehow.


    I didn''t remember all of it since Miss Roxy started getting excited and sped up talking, but it was something like elves did it first, humans copied them, and the method got refined by all the races in the world after a while.


    Oh, and apparently there were a bunch of different races too. Like actual races. Elves, Angels, Demons, Dragons, Humans, Beastkin, and Sea creatures.


    Or something.


    Miss Roxy talked too fast for me to catch everything.


    ...Though maybe that was because I asked her if it was possible that mana could be directly shaped into a spell instead of using incantations or magic circles as a medium and she started talking out loud to go through that hypothesis.


    Well, a hypothesis to her.


    I already knew that it was possible, but I didn''t want to spill that just yet.


    But anyway, our first morning lesson ended... kind of fruitfully?


    I picked up some information on what went wrong in my spell along with some background info on magic and my new teacher.


    Miss Roxy also seemed to get something out of the lesson since she holed herself up in her guest room and started writing out a bunch of notes.


    And that was how my first lesson with Miss Roxy went. But immediately after that...


    "So you want to learn swordsmanship, huh, Rudy?"


    ...It was time for sword lessons with my dad.


    We were outside in the courtyard. My mom and Miss Lilia were watching from the side... probably to make sure Dad didn''t go overboard and hurt me.


    That was good. If I was alone, I had a feeling he''d probably forget...


    I slowly nodded. "Yes. But, um... Are you sure you can teach me, Dad?"


    At the time, I was super happy. The thought of being able to chop up a boulder with a stick was too cool to pass up. And since Dad could do that, it''d be great if I learned from him.


    Except, now that I was standing out here with him, I was having second thoughts.


    ...Mostly because he really didn''t have any ns on where to start.


    My dadughed. "Of course I can! The sword styles aren''t that hard to pick up, you know? But... hm..." He frowned and rubbed his chin. "Rudy is still pretty small. We definitely won''t be able to spar for a while... Not to mention your mom and Lilia will definitely beat me up if you get hurt."


    My mom immediately chimed in and said, "You bet we will, Mister! And no bed for you if Rudy gets hurt!"


    My dad scratched the back of his head. "Yeah... So no sparring. Hm... but there''s no point in me watching you for just body work, and you already do that on your own."


    Oh. Right.


    Since I saw my dad training a lot, I used it as an excuse to start doing basic exercise by copying him. Mostly jogging, push-ups, sit-ups... etc.


    Though you really couldn''t do much of that when you were just a baby... and even now I couldn''t do much of that.


    "Well." My dad shrugged and said, "I guess you can just follow along with me and practice the forms. Let''s see..." He looked around the ce. "Hm. There''s not really any good tree branch, so..." He waved at my mom and said, "Sorry, Zenith! I''m going to clip your tree a bit!"


    "What?! But-"


    Before my mom could finish saying anything, my dad drew his sword and cut off a thin branch. His sword sh a few more times, trimming off the leaves, and then he sheathed his sword. After that, picked up the branch and swung it around a bit. "Mm... Yeah, this should be light enough."


    Off to the side, my mom slumped. "My tree..."


    "There, there, Zenny. This is for young master''s sake."


    "R-Right. For Rudy. If it''s for Rudy, it''s... it''s fine..."


    ...Note to self. Don''t use trees in the courtyard as target practice. Mom worked really hard on raising them and she''ll be super sad.


    My dad walked back over and handed me the stick. "Here, Rudy. Let Dad know if it''s too heavy, okay?"


    "''Kay."


    I grabbed the stick and swung it around a bit.


    It wasn''t too big. Probably only the width of an adult finger. But in my tiny hands it was the perfect size. It also made a nice *swish* sound when I swung it around.


    My dad looked at me and said, "Think you can do it?"


    "I think so."


    "Great! Now, we''ll start with the Sword God style. It''s super fast and perfect for attacking. Let''s see, the basic attack... what was it again?"


    "...Dad?"


    "Oh yeah! It''s like this." He ced his hand on the hilt of his sword and then lowered his body. "You kind of go hrrrgh and then-"


    A silver sh. Dirt flying into the air. And suddenly my dad was on the other side of the courtyard.


    My dad turned around and said, "Swoosh! Just like that!"


    I blinked.


    ...So. Dad was definitely a genius at the sword. Now... how the heck did he do that...?


    Let''s see.


    It looked kind of like a quick draw iaido thing. Holding the sword by his waist... the ''hrrrgh'' thing was probably tensing up his muscles for explosive power. And the ''swoosh'' was probably releasing that force and unwinding with a sh.


    Easier said than done though.


    "Your turn, Rudy!"


    "O-Okay...?"


    Squat. Hold the stick like a sword, step for-


    "Bwa-ha!?"


    Dirt, grass, the sky and ground spinning around and around. And before I knew it, I was staring at fluffy clouds floating past.


    Laughter echoed. My dad. "Okay... Maybe we should start with even more basic stuff. How about swinging the sword around to get used to it?"


    ...Hoo boy. Let''s hope I inherited some of his talent because *none* of that made any sense...

 15 – The Hard-Working Genius Teacher

    15 ¨C The Hard-Working Genius Teacher


    Roxy flipped through her notes, preparing for her next lesson.


    It was sunset, an orange glow starting to settle in from the light shining through the window.


    A week had passed since she started up her new role as a private tutor for a certain Rudeus Greyrat.


    Objectively, it should have been a boring and tedious job. After all, Rudeus was only a little past three years old. Most children that age were still fumbling around trying to make sense of the world around them. Learning magic? Ha!


    But her cute little student was different than that.


    It was just a week. A single week, but already Roxy was starting to rethink everything she knew about magic.


    To start off... Rudeus''s way of using magic was weird.


    Since he wanted to start with the basics, the first few lessons... after the initial one where she went off on a tangent because she got too excited.


    Ahem.


    Anyway, the first few lessons were spent on Roxy exining the basic casting methods and the fundamentals of how magic worked. Drawing mana from inside or from an external source, using incantations or magic circles...


    Roxy was a little worried that she didn''t exin things properly, but Rudeus was smart. Thankfully, he understood everything she said.


    And then he asked a single question.


    "But can''t you just memorize the flow of mana and copy that instead of chanting or using magic circles?"


    Her initial reaction had been ''no.''


    But then she thought about it.


    Every time she chanted a spell or used a magic circle, her mana flowed through her to form that spell.


    It was something she took for granted. A fact as simple as breathing.


    But when her student asked that question, she started to be aware of it. Like how thinking about breathing made you manually control it until your body took over again.


    So she tried it out. During Rudeus''s sword lessons with his father, Roxy tested her student''s hypothesis.


    It was hard. Even using a basic <Water Ball> was difficult. Because Roxy was so used to incantations, she had to fight herself to not speak and just focus on the flow of magic.


    But it worked.


    It *worked.*


    The axiom that all magicians followed saying that you needed to use incantations or magic circles was wrong.


    ...No. There had been research and strides towards that conclusion. Shortened incantations an established phenomenon, after all.


    But to think that it could be excludedpletely...


    Was the reason why this was never attempted because of its difficulty? Or was it just the so-calledmon sense overruling reason?


    Roxy didn''t know, but what she did know was that she had just as much to learn from her student as he did from her. Especially when she stopped to consider how much of what magicians took as mon sense'' to be true could actually be false.


    Like the thought that incantations were more effective than magic circles.


    Extrapting from Rudeus''s thought about memorizing the flow of mana... what if it was possible to shape a magic circle with pure mana?


    From what Roxy knew, Demon Empress Kirisis Calisis invented the method and passed it along to others. But for the most part, that involved using specially prepared ink or carvings.


    But was that necessary?


    The ink and carvings were used to hold mana so that the spell could be performed, but if it was possible to directly shape mana into the magic circle... And if a person was able to memorize that shape and instantly recreate a magic circle... would that not be faster and more effective than incantations?


    True, it was more difficult. Not to mention the fact that memorizing such aplicated pattern would be an incredible feat on its own, let alone recreating it in a single moment by directing mana... but what if?


    Did Demon Empress Kirisis Calisis use magic that way? It would exin the legends about her being able to cast magic in an instant and with such ease...


    But then there was the deeper question as well.


    The elves were the origin of modern day magic, and the current methods were refined by humans replicating and expanding upon what they saw.


    Yet there was something that nobody really considered. It was taken for granted that magic *had* to be structured. Either by incantations or by magic circles.


    But did it really?


    Rudeus had asked that, and now that Roxy had spent thest week mulling it over between their lessons... she was starting to think it didn''t.


    She wasn''t sure yet, but her instincts told her that Rudeus was right.


    And that was a ridiculous thought. Her, thinking that a child not even to his first major birthday was correct about magic when she graduated from the famed Ranoa Magic University at the top of her ss.


    But Rudeus was different.


    She wasn''t sure what miracle or curse made him this way, but her student saw the world differently. She was sure of it.


    And she was curious- No, she couldn''t wait to find out where his path led.


    But before then, they had to cover the basics. The foundation.


    Even if the foundation might be incorrect, they still had to know the apparent rules in order to know where to break or bend them.


    And for today''s lesson-


    Roxy''s bedroom door slowly creaked open. After that, tiny footsteps echoed, followed by a tired young voice. "I''m back, Miss Roxy."


    Roxy closed her journal and turned to look at the door.


    It was Rudeus. Her cute young student... who waspletely disheveled and covered in dirt.


    Roxy smiled and said, "Did you get carried away again in sword lessons, Rudy?"


    "Dad got carried away." Rudeus sighed and said, "He said that I was getting the hang of swinging a sword around and said it was time for target practice."


    Roxy''s smile widened and she said, "Well, you''ve worked hard. You were bound to advance to something else eventually."


    "Yeah. But I''m not a genius like him, you know?" He sighed and held out his right hand, gathering all the dirt on his body into a small clump. After that, he reached out his hand and sent the clump out the window. "He tries really hard, but Dad takes a lot of things for granted and doesn''t exin it to me." He frowned and said, "Just because he can do it doesn''t mean I can do it that easily. Well, at least he understands..."


    Roxy slowly nodded. "Yes. Well... geniuses are something else."


    Like you.


    ...But Roxy didn''t say that.


    Even if it was true, it wasn''t good. Not to mention it also invalidated all the hard work Rudeus put in.


    And Roxy knew firsthand how that felt.


    Stupid Shishou.


    "Anyway!" Rudeus jumped onto Roxy''s bed and looked towards her with sparkling eyes. "What are we covering today, Miss Roxy?"


    "Well..." Roxy nced at her notes and hummed. "I think we can move onto intermediate spells if you want. But is there anything in particr you want to study first?"


    "Ooh! Yeah!" Rudeus nodded and said, "I was wondering if you could teach me healing magic. I''ve got a feeling I might need it at this rate..."


    Roxy smiled. "Well, let''s hope you don''t. But it is better to be safe than sorry." She reached over to her bag and rummaged around for her healing tome. After pulling it out, she opened it and said, "Now, we''ve covered the basics already, but healing magic is primarily used for healing injuries and removing toxins. The simplest spell in this branch of magic is <Healing>, which can heal minor cuts, fractures, and nts-"


    "How does it do that though?"


    Roxy blinked and looked at Rudeus. "Pardon?"


    Rudeus frowned and said, "Does it erase the wounds? Spin time back? Add in stuff that isn''t there to plug the hole?"


    Ah. There it was again. Questions that Roxy didn''t know the answer to.


    But if she thought about them...


    "...<Healing> isn''t that impressive. I''m sure that the Saint-ranked spells and above can do those things, but I doubt that''s true for such a basic spell." Roxy frowned and said, "I don''t know exactly how it works since I''m not a healing magic expert, but if I had to guess... I would say that it helps the body help itself in healing the wound."


    There. A bit of a convoluted exnation, but a cohesive one.


    And as expected...


    "If that''s true, then can''t you use <Healing> to make training faster? I mean, training makes your body get worn-out and you get stronger after you heal, right? So wouldn''t <Healing> help you with that? And what about fatigue? Does <Healing> get rid of that too, then?"


    ...A series of follow-up questions.


    "Mm..." Roxy stalled a bit to think. "Well... when you put it that way..."


    Does that work?


    Rudeus wasn''t wrong. There were studies about how the body adapted to stress and training, and it was established that the strengthening process urred after taking damage. That was true in magical creatures as well.


    But using <Healing> to speed that process up...


    "...It should." Roxy slowly nodded. "<Healing> only helps the body heal itself and doesn''t go beyond natural healing. It should also be able to help with fatigue. But Rudy." Roxy narrowed her eyes and said, "Don''t underestimate how much mana healing magic uses. There''s a reason why healers are so valued and why most adventurers use potions."


    "Oh. Got it, Miss Roxy!"


    Phew. That somehow worked out. Next...


    "Anyway." Roxy turned back to her book and said, "The incantation for <Healing> is..."

 16 – Toddler Period – Practical Applications

    16 ¨C Toddler Period ¨C Practical Applications


    So. It turned out that I found a cheat.


    Well, probably anybody in my position would have realized it if they knew even the most basic thing about how the human body improved.


    You see, muscles got stronger after getting damaged and healing up.


    And <Healing> didn''t erase the damage your body suffered, but instead helped it heal itself.


    You see where I''m going with this?


    After I learned <Healing> from Roxy... making sure to have her nearby while I used the spell with both the incantation and the magic circle to make sure nothing terrible happened, I pretended to go to bed early. But instead, I started experimenting again.


    It was a simple test. I would do pushups until I couldn''t anymore, heal myself up, and try again.


    Summing up my results:


    Baseline: 10 pushups


    Healing round 1: 11 pushups


    Healing round 2: 12 pushups


    Healing round 3: 14 pushups


    ...It was very incremental. Doing some quick math, the gain seemed to be about... 10% improvement each time.


    Almost nothing.


    But it cost almost nothing too.


    Miss Roxy warned me about the mana cost in using <Healing> too much... but that wasn''t a problem for me for a few reasons.


    First: I had a crap ton of mana.


    I wasn''t sure if I had more than Miss Roxy since her staff shined as bright as the morning sun if I stared at it too long, but when I tested my limits one time, it took me converting my mana into a hundred water balls to get anywhere near tired.


    Second: I could see mana and use it more efficiently.


    I didn''t try it out in the beginning since I was afraid of causing an explosion or some other catastrophe, but since I had a teacher to keep an eye on things, I started trying to cast magic from the floating mana I saw.


    I couldn''t actually grab it, but I could use a bit of my mana to attract it over and use it that way. For example, if I wanted to use some ''blue'' mana to cast water spells, I could cut off a bit of my mana, turn it blue, and then use that to gather up all the floating mana to use for my spell.


    Miss Roxy had a weird way of just summoning all that mana whenever she needed it with her staff without using a thread of mana like me, but I still didn''t know how to do that. And I couldn''t really ask either without spilling the beans that I could see mana...


    Right now, Miss Roxy and I had a good working rtionship. She was nice and seemed like she had fun answering all my questions. Even if they caught her off guard at times.


    But I didn''t know how she''d react if I suddenly told her that I could see mana... Maybe I should bring it up subtly first to make sure it wasn''t anything crazy. I remember that ''Mage Sight'' or something was prettymon in the stories and games I used to enjoy, so there was bound to be something simr.


    But just in case there wasn''t, I''d keep quiet about that. For now.


    Anyway, long story short: it took a lot for me to run out of mana. In game terms, I basically had a bunch of MP reduction passives that made simple spells free.


    Which meant I could abuse the crap out of healing and buff up!


    And that was just by casting <Healing> by the book, too.


    I had a feeling that if I messed around with it properly, I could tweak things and maybe do crazy stuff like refine my nerves and reflexes... but I could also break something, so I didn''t do that.


    While I''d love to bounce those questions off Miss Roxy to see her thoughts... I was pretty sure that she didn''t know enough about the human body to tell me. She could guess, but guesses were dangerous when it came to this stuff.


    On the upside, the Holy Country of Milis was a thing, and Mom''s side of the family lived there. That country was famous for healing magic and had tons of experts there.


    Maybe in the future I''d swing by and bounce some ideas off of them to see if I could do proper superhuman tweaking.


    But at the moment, I was just stuck with basic supplements essentially.


    Still, continuous 10% improvement was better than nothing. And considering that I was still only three years old...


    "I can''t ck now." I pushed myself off the ground and focused.


    I didn''t have an excuse this time. If I squandered my life away after getting this head start... I wouldn''t be able to live with myself. Even if I miraculously got a third chance after that, I''d just quit then and there.


    I pped my cheeks and muttered, "You''ve got this, Rudy."


    I was lucky. I was lucky enough to be born fully aware and able to see mana. I was lucky enough to be born to loving parents who supported me without expectations. I was lucky enough to have a kind and caring maid that was essentially a second supportive mother. And now I was lucky enough to have a magic teacher who was a hardworking genius who could exin and help me work through questions I had on magic.


    If my life ended in vain again after all of this, I might as well never have been born in the first ce.


    So...


    Fire. Water. Wind. Earth... Fire was too dangerous to practice inside, but the other three I could work on.


    A ball of water, wind, and dirt.


    Splitting my attention to each of those, I started slowly training my body. Push ups, sit ups, squats, jumping jacks...


    Move your body! Work your body! You can go and be somebody!


    "That''s right!" I grit my teeth and started doing push ups. "You''ve got this! You can do it! One! Two! Three! Fo-"


    "Ahn~!"


    A sudden load moan, followed by a squeaking mattress.


    I stumbled, dropping to the ground with a thud. At the same time, the water ball fell on my back and the wind ball exploded, sending dirt everywhere.


    "Geez..." I brushed myself off and held out my hand, cleaning up the mess by sending out a blue thread and a brown thread, gathering up the water and dirt. After that, I tossed it all out the window and let out a deep sigh.


    "P-Paul. Oh Milis! N-Nnnn~!"


    "...Mom''s definitely a loud one, huh?" I let out another deep sigh and walked to the door.


    I didn''t judge. Mom and Dad loved each other very much. And considering how often they did it, I was looking forward to a younger brother or sister soon.


    But they *did* know that they weren''t the only ones in this house, right?


    My room was the furthest from theirs, and I could still hear them going at it. If that was the case, what about Miss Lilia and Miss Roxy, huh?


    Did my parents not care, or did they like the thrill of that?


    ...Actually, I didn''t want to know.


    All I knew was that I wanted to have at least one quiet night for once. So...


    "...Yeah. Let''s y that card."


    The bathroom was along the way to their room. It''d be embarrassing for everyone involved, but if I groggily opened the door and asked what they were doing, they''d definitely quiet down a bit.


    ...Though considering how into it my mom got, that might just involve some kinkier stuff like gags to keep her quiet...


    Ew.


    Anyway, n formted. Now to execute.


    I opened the door and started walking over. It was dark though, so I held out my hand and conjured a tiny me. Not a big one, but just about the size of a lit candle.


    With that done, I yawned to get in the proper state of mind to pull of my act.


    And then I saw something ahead of me that shouldn''t be there.


    At first, my mind didn''t register it.


    I saw blue. I saw some pale skin tinged pink. And between my mom''s voice, I heard some soft feminine panting ovepping it.


    But then I blinked and realized that I wasn''t dreaming, nor was I hallucinating.


    My parents'' room was in the middle of the hallway. The bathroom was at the end.


    And I realized why the sound carried so much. The door was open just a crack. The door to my parents'' room, that is.


    But that wasn''t important. Instead...


    There was someone sitting there. Right beside the door and leaning against the wall. One hand buried in her blouse and the other much lower, buried in her thighs.


    Miss Roxy.


    I blinked.


    Miss Roxy noticed me and froze.


    I blinked again and slowly turned around, walking back into my room.


    ...I didn''t see anything. Yep. Definitely didn''t see anything tonight.


    Even if I did... I wasn''t going to judge. Miss Roxy was about that age, right? Right. And since the inte wasn''t a thing here, she had to work with, um... whatever source material she could find.


    Right.


    So...


    ...Let''s just dump all of my mana and knock myself out. Yeah, that''s probably for the best.


    I closed the room behind me and then slipped into my bed. After that, I held out my right hand and spooled out all of my mana as fast as I could.


    For a split second, I saw it floating around in the air as a crimson haze. And then I cked out.

 17 – Toddler Period – A Genius Magician

    17 ¨C Toddler Period ¨C A Genius Magician


    The morning after.


    Despite cking out, I woke uppletely refreshed and bubbling with energy.


    ...Though that was mostly because I grabbed back the mana I left floating in the air.


    Oh, right. That was probably something I should ask Miss Roxy too at some point. I was just dumping my mana and reiming it every night, but maybe it would be more worthwhile to put it in a medium of some sort.


    That was probably what Miss Roxy did with her staff, now that I think about it...


    Maybe that sapphire in her staff is a special one that could hold mana? Or maybe gemstones in general could hold mana?


    ...Wait. Could I make gemstones? If earth magic controlled dirt, if I refined my control enough, could I pick out certain minerals and shape them? No, could I just turn mana into pure crystals? That was a thing, right? Most settings had a way to convert mana into gemstones or stone of some kind.


    Maybe I could do the same... Though my mana control definitely wasn''t good enough for that yet.


    I could barely handle the recoil from the Intermediate-ranked spells. Trying to bite off too much... yeah. That was a project for much, muchter. Maybe after I got a handle on Saint-ranked spells or something. Surely by then my mana maniption would be good enough, right?


    I hummed, lost in thought, and then conjured a ball of water to wash my face. After rinsing my mouth and casting a healing spell on it to clean up and disinfect so that I didn''t have to brush my teeth, I left my room.


    Thankfully, Miss Roxy wasn''t still in the hallway. And judging from the fact that the master bedroom was wide open, my parents weren''t home. They probably left for work already.


    From what I remembered, they mentioned something about monsters showing up in the forest and were busy working on it. Miss Roxy was also supposed to go help at some point, but maybe it hadn''t reached that yet?


    Anyway... it seemed like I woke upter than expected. Hopefully Miss Roxy didn''t mind. And speaking of Miss Roxy...


    I walked over to her room and knocked on the door. "Miss Roxy? Sorry for waking upte. Are we still doing lessons this morning?"


    "R-Rudy?! Um... O-One moment!"


    Frantic scrambling. Footsteps pacing around the room. And then finally, the door opened.


    Unlike yesterday, Miss Roxy was fully dressed. Her pointed hat, brown magician robe... she was in full teacher mode.


    Except that she looked super flustered. Her eyes kept avoiding me and her face was red.


    It was pretty cute, actually.


    Miss Roxy was quiet for a bit, and then she cleared her throat. "U-Um... R-Rudy. Last night..."


    Ah. So it was that after all.


    Well... time to y the innocent and naive kid card.


    I tilted my head and said, "Oh. Sorry, Miss Roxy. I wanted to use the bathroom, but I saw you asleep in the hallway so I just went back to sleep." I frowned and said, "You shouldn''t stay up sote. If you''re tired enough to fall asleep in the middle of the hallway like that, it''s bad, you know! Miss Roxy is growing too, so you need to get proper rest."


    "Y-Yes." Roxy cleared her throat and said, "I-I will. It... It won''t happen again, Rudy."


    Under her breath, I heard her mutter something like ''next time I''ll just stay in my room.''


    ...But thinking about Miss Roxy doing something like that made me feel weird, so I just quietly ignored it.


    Thank god puberty didn''t hit yet.


    "A-Anyway!" Roxy grabbed her staff and said, "Let''s go."


    I blinked. "Go? Go where?"


    Roxy patted my head and said, "Your father, mother, and Miss Lilia went to the vige today, so it''s just us until this evening. Since that''s the case, how about we get some practical experience for you. Does that sound good?"


    "Practical experience... You mean like practicing outside?"


    "Mmhm. We''ve been practicing Elementary-ranked spells so it''s fine, but starting with Intermediate-ranked spells, it''s best to test them out in a ce without potential for coteral damage. Like say a certain storage room wall?"


    I felt my face heat up and I averted my gaze. "T-That was one time! And it won''t happen again!"


    Roxy smiled. "I''m just teasing you, Rudy. But it really would be best to get outside. It''s no good to just sit around and read books all day."


    "...But don''t you do that, Miss Roxy?"


    Roxy cleared her throat and averted her gaze. "Yes. Well... I also have a special task to do today..."


    "Ah." I nodded and said, "Is it that time of the month? Mom and Miss Lilia get that too. Did you need more supplies?"


    "...Rudy?"


    "Yes, Miss Roxy?"


    "Here''s a very important lesson." Roxy let out a wide smile. But it didn''t reach her eyes.


    I flinched. "U-Um... yes?"


    "Never ask that of ady unless she tells you. Okay?"


    "O-Okay."


    Scary! Scary! And what the heck!? Those mana threads were converging by themselves! Is that a spell? It''s going to cast a spell! Oh god!


    "Good!" Roxy leaned back, letting out a real smile.


    I let out a deep sigh.


    Note to self: Miss Roxy is scary when mad.


    Second note to self: Never let Miss Roxy know you actually saw and knew what she was doing yesterday.


    Third note to self: Explore the potential avenue of emotions affecting mana and magic.


    "Now." Roxy grabbed my right hand with her left and said, "Let''s go, Rudy."


    "Okay! Adventure time!"


    Roxyughed and said, "Yes. Adventure time."


    -LIV-


    A farmer took off his straw hat and bowed to Roxy. "Thank you so much, Miss Migurdia!"


    Roxy shook her head and said, "It''s fine. Something like this isn''t too much trouble."


    The farmer raised his head and smiled before digging into a bag by his side and holding out a few copper coins. "This isn''t much, but I hope it helps."


    "Of course." Roxy took the coins and tucked them away into her own bag. After that, she smiled and said, "Let me know if you need any more help."


    "We will, Miss Migurdia!" The farmer let out a friendly wave and headed back to work.


    To sum up what just happened...


    Like Miss Roxy promised, we went out on a little adventure to the vige. Along the way, she taught me a bit more about the differences between elementary-ranked spells and intermediate-ranked spells. Mostly how there was a big difference in the way you handled mana while casting the two.


    It was mostly like what I figured already. Elementary-ranked spells were just the fundamentals teaching you the basic flow while Intermediate-ranked spells were enacting ''things'' with elements.


    Put it another way... Elementary-ranked spells let you manipte the basic element and concept. Meanwhile, Intermediate-ranked spells and above were causing you to do things with those elements.


    Like my <Ssh Flow> mishap, the spells were usuallybat-oriented and meant to do damage. They could be fine-tuned for auxiliary purposes, like using <Ssh Flow> to water crops. But that was like trying to use a high-pressure hose to water flowers. You *could* make it work, but you really shouldn''t.


    But that was a side-tangent.


    While she was exining that, farmers came over to Miss Roxy and asked for some help. They were basic things, like converting giant rocks back into mud, healing some batches of crops that were withered because pests, etc.


    It wasn''t for free though. Although it was just a simple task, the farmers paid Roxy for it.


    Roxy walked back to my side and smiled. "A practical demonstration of what can be done with Intermediate-ranked magic. What do you think, Rudy?"


    I frowned and ced my hand on my chin. "I think that being a magician is a very profitable job..."


    Most people would be tired out casting magic all day, but I had grinded out my efficiency enough for that to not be a problem.


    It probably wouldn''t be a good thing to make a ce revolve around magic to grow crops, but it might be possible to use magic to turn infertilends fertile. Especially if it was possible to convert rocks directly into soil like that. And then it would be possible to divert waterflow, maybe create an underground water well...


    "Ah." Roxy spoke up and said, "Don''t get too carried away. Tasks like these are just pocket money, Rudy. It really isn''t profitable to go around doing magic like this."


    "But it helps people, right? Ande to think of it, Miss Roxy doesn''t need to help them..."


    She said it was for pocket money, but Miss Roxy wasn''t spending any money at all from her sry. Not only that, but she didn''t pay for any food, lodging, or materials...


    In that case...


    I looked at Roxy and said, "Miss Roxy."


    "Yes, Rudy?"


    "You''re really a nice person, aren''t you?"


    There were only two possible reasons why she would do something like that.


    The first was that Roxy was extremely stingy and pinched every penny she could get.


    And the second was that she took payment so that the farmers didn''t feel indebted to her.


    Roxy blushed and tugged her hat down to cover her eyes. "...Like I said, it''s for pocket money."


    "Kay~"


    Roxy frowned. "Are you making fun of me?"


    "No, Miss Roxy. I would never. Miss Roxy is too nice and pretty to make fun of."


    She huffed and bopped my head with her staff. "Don''t get snippy, Rudy. I might not treat you like a kid, but I will if you act like one."


    I rubbed my head andughed. "Okay, Miss Roxy. I''ll stop."


    "Hmph." She turned around and kept walking.


    I hopped after her and said, "So where are we going, Miss Roxy?"


    We had been walking for a couple hours now and just made our way past the vige with all the farmers. Now, the only thing in sight were just rolling grasnds and the distant mountains to the north.


    "Here is fine."


    "Here?"


    Roxy nodded and turned towards me. "You''re already capable of casting Intermediate-ranked spells."


    It wasn''t a question.


    I let out a nervousugh and said, "...Yes, Miss Roxy. But only for water."


    She nodded and said, "That may be. But you don''t seem to have a weak system at all, so there shouldn''t be a problem with casting other elements."


    I blinked. "Weak system?"


    Roxy blinked and said, "I forgot. We didn''t cover that. Um..." She paused and closed her eyes to think for a bit. After a while, she nodded and opened her eyes. "Every person has their innate talent towards certain types of magic."


    "Oh! Is it like how dragons are good at fire magic and elves are good at wind and earth magic?"


    "That''s prejudice. Please don''t assume that in the future, Rudy."


    "A-Ah. Got it, Miss Roxy."


    Prejudice, huh? Right. That exists here too... No, it was bound to be worse considering there were clear differences.


    "Well..." Roxy hummed and said, "It''s not necessarily wrong either. Records show that the Dragon race were good at fire magic, and most elves really are good at wind and earth magic. But that''s because they''re familiar with the elements from where and how they live, not because of their race."


    "Oh." I blinked. "Wait, really? So a person''s affinity towards magic can be affected by their life experiences?"


    Roxy blinked as well and then sighed. "You figured that much out already, huh?"


    "Ah. Sorry, Miss Roxy."


    Roxy smiled. "No. It''s good. That just mean that you''ve been paying attention."


    I smiled back.


    "In any case... Yes. A person''s affinity towards magic can indeed be affected by their life experiences. For example, someone burned by fire would find it harder to use. Someone who can''t swim would find it difficult to handle water magic. A person afraid of heights may struggle with wind magic... Something along those lines. And conversely, a person familiar with a particr element would find that easy to use. For example, a cksmith who spends all day in a forge would be very attuned to fire magic."


    "That... makes sense." I nodded.


    Mental imagery and beliefs seemed to have some effect on magic overall, so it seemed usible.


    ...And maybe that would exin my affinity towards all sorts of magic? I *had* been messing with pure mana since I was born. Did that cause me to develop in some weird way...?


    Well, setting the ''seeing mana'' thing aside.


    "In any case." Roxy stepped back and pointed at the open sky. "Go ahead, Rudy."


    "Go ahead?"


    Roxy nodded. "Give it your best shot. If we want to start Advanced-rank spells and beyond, it''s important for you to get a feel for how each element is at the Intermediate-rank so that you can prepare."


    "Um... Are you sure?"


    "I''m sure."


    "...Miss Roxy will be there to put out any fires and damage I might cause?"


    "..."


    "M-Miss Roxy?"


    "T-Teacher will do her best."


    That''s not very reassuring!


    "A-Alright." I took a deep breath and held up my hand to the sky. "...I''m starting. I''ll be using fire first, Miss Roxy, so please get ready."


    "Oh great water spirit, the son of the lightning emperor who ascended to the skies..."


    A giant surge of water mana gathered around Roxy and her staff started to shine.


    ...W-Well. If she was going to go that far... I didn''t know what level spell she was using, but it seemed strong enough to put out a wildfire, so...


    I held up my right hand and started chanting. "Oh great spirit of mes who lends your light and warmth to thisnd. Gather before me and ignite my foe. <Great Fireball>."


    A surge of ming orange mana erupted in front of me. A more wild and raging flowpared to water. But I was prepared. And also, I knew what would happen.


    Carefully controlled. Tightly focused. I let the spell draw out my mana, convert it, and form a fireball. And then I braced myself.


    A sudden and rapidbustion. The converted mana raging and letting loose.


    The giant fireball suddenly shot forth from my hand and into the sky. At the same time that happened...


    "...Cumulonimbus!"


    Miss Roxy held up her staff and shouted the name of a spell.


    My fireball flew up into the air and started bubbling. Just like with <Ssh Flow> it was going to explode.


    I grit my teeth and tried to control it... but it was still a bit too much for me.


    Thankfully, it wasn''t a problem.


    A thundercloud suddenly formed. And the moment it did, a torrential downpour snuffed out the fireball.


    And just as suddenly as the thundercloud appeared, it dispersed.


    "Phew." Miss Roxy wiped her forehead and said, "I thought something like this might happen. It''s a good thing I took that into ount."


    I blinked and looked around. "...What was that?"


    Roxy smiled. "That''s your teacher''s secret Saint-ranked spell. If you work hard, then someday you''ll be able to cast it too." She paused. "Though at the speed you''re advancing, that some day might be less than a year away..."


    I didn''t pay attention to what Roxy said. Instead, I took a look around.


    A swirl of brilliant blue mana. Threads of green mana woven in. Some sparking yellow mana. Streaks of ming orange mana...


    It was a tapestry of colors filling the sky.


    They were slowly dispersing, but I could still see it.


    "...That''s a Saint-ranked spell...?"


    Beautiful. There was no other way around it.


    I thought that the different ranks were just pumping more mana into the equation and sorting things out. But this...


    It was predominantly a water spell. I could see that. But there were other things mixed in. And mixed in so splendidly I couldn''t even begin to describe it.


    But the most incredible part of it was the control Miss Roxy had.


    I could tell. If she wasn''t careful, that spell would have erupted and destroyed the surroundings. At least a small crater would have been formed if that spell let loose.


    But not only did it remained controlled throughout, but Miss Roxy even dispersed it. Not just dispersed the spell though, she sent the clouds flying, got rid of the ambient static electricity forming the lightning, and quelled the winds used to whip up the air pressure to form the spells.


    In other words...


    I turned to Miss Roxy and said, "Teacher. You''re amazing."


    Roxy blinked and tugged her hat down. "...You''re giving me too much credit, Rudy. I''m sure the day wille where you''re doing something even more incredible."


    "...No. Miss Roxy... Miss Roxy is definitely more amazing than me."


    I stared at the dissipating mana threads and couldn''t help but sigh.


    This was my teacher. She was someone who could do this sort of incredible thing without seeing mana. Someone who could use an incantation, let it run its course, and then snatch back control and perfectly direct every portion of the spell.


    "...Even if I get to this point, I don''t think I can ever say that I surpassed Miss Roxy."


    She reached the level she was right now without any help. No, she said she had a teacher, but from the way she acted whenever it got brought up, it seemed like she didn''t have a good experience with that person.


    Either way, this was the result of Miss Roxy''s efforts. Constant polish and refinement... all while essentially probing around in the dark with just ''feel.'' Not with the ability to clearly see the shape of a spell and the mana going into it.


    A real, bonafide, hard-working genius.


    A strange expression crossed Roxy''s face. But then she sighed and walked over to pat my head. "You''re a sweet kid, Rudy."


    I looked up at her and smiled. "And Miss Roxy is a kind, beautiful, and brilliant young woman."


    Sheughed again and pulled her hand back. "Save those words for someone your age, okay?"


    "Ah." I blinked, realizing how flirty they coulde across and then nodded. "Understood, Miss Roxy."


    Roxy smiled again. "Now, onto the next spells. Thankfully, wind and earth aren''t quite as destructive. I hope. Um... let me know the moment you feel like you''re losing control, okay? Not that I think you will, but-"


    "Just in case. I know, Miss Roxy."


    "Good. Then... Go ahead."


    I took a deep breath. "Oh great spirits who dwell within the humble earth..."

 18 – Progress Report

    18 ¨C Progress Report


    A bright and sunny morning. Back in her room, Roxy sighed and started scribbling down her thoughts in her journal.


    A year and a half had passed since the time that Roxy began her job teaching Rudeus. And during that time, she came to one conclusion: she wasn''t qualified to teach him.


    The magic lessons progressed smoothly, of course. Rudeus was a bonafide genius. And Roxy was certain that he would have reached an incredible level even if he didn''t have a teacher. He was just that talented... No, not just talented. Rudeus was incredibly diligent as well.


    No matter what Roxy said, Rudeus took it upon himself to faithfully listen to every word and memorize it. And when she quizzed him, not only did he repeat what she said verbatim, but he always rephrased it afterwards in simpler terms.


    He said it was because he wasn''t smart enough to understand theplex things... but it was the opposite.


    Rather than being unable to understandplex concepts, Rudeus was able to distill everything down to its essence. Well enough that Roxy was sure he could exin it to another child and that child would understand.


    If Roxy wasn''t sure about how innocent Rudeus was, she would almost think that he was being patronizing. But he wasn''t.


    And that was the most incredible part about it. He was this incredible, and yet he still thought he was nothing special. No, he thought that Roxy was more incredible. He thought that his teacher was better than him and would always be better than him.


    Roxy set down her pen and held out her right hand. As she did, she focused.


    Carefully, slowly... she called forth her mana and traced out a familiar pattern...


    And then a ball of water formed in her hand.


    Roxy gave it a strange look and then sighed, dispersing the water ball. "One year, and I''m only this far?"


    Following her student''s line of questionings, Roxy started to do more research into direct spellcasting. Ignoring the chant and magic circles and directly forming the spell with mana.


    It was difficult.


    The main obstacle was the fact that she couldn''t see the flow of mana. Since she used it so much, it was possible for her to recreate <Water Ball>, but moreplex spells were definitely impossible.


    No, not impossible, but infeasible.


    Perhaps if she had a Demon Eye of Magic Power... No. Even then, it would be difficult.


    But Rudeus could do it.


    He always made sure to diligently cast the spell with the incantation and the magic circle at least once. But afterwards, he would be able to cast the spell with just a thought. Not only that, but he could freely manipte it as well.


    ...In fact, it was strange.


    For Rudeus, it seemed to be harder for him to use incantations than to just directly cast the spell.


    Since the... rather disastrous trial run of intermediate spells that will never be mentioned again, Roxy discovered that Rudeus wasn''t suited for incantations.


    If he used magic circles, there were no problems. And from what he said, he could directly trace out the magic circles with his mana as well by memorizing the picture.


    And *that* was another thing that made Roxy doubt her qualifications.


    Rudeus''s memory was unreal.


    The first few times, Roxy had doubted Rudeus''s im of being able to copy magic circles. So, under the guise of memorization practice, she had him draw out the magic circles of the elementary-ranked spells by hand outside in the dirt.


    The result?


    wless. Not a single part of the magic circle was missing and when Roxy poured mana into them, it even cast the spell.


    Roxy stared at her journal and the notes for the next day''s lesson and sighed. "...I''m running out of things to teach you, Rudy."


    Even with the strange quirk in having difficulty with incantations, Rudeus was easily able to cast up to Advanced-ranked spells in every element. And Roxy was certain that if she had the material for Advanced-Rank healing magic and Summoning magic, he would be able to use that as well.


    But most importantly... all of this was without a wand.


    Yes. In all the excitement, Roxy had forgotten the most important tradition of making a wand for her student to help cast magic-


    Wait.


    Roxy blinked and then she groaned. "That would exin the difficulty..."


    Spells weren''t meant to be cast without a focus. You could, but it was dangerous. Starting from the Intermediate-ranked spells onwards, there was a high possibility of a spell going awry without something to control it. That was why all magicians had at least a wand.


    But this entire time, Rudeus had been casting spells without one. And Roxy had just let him. She let him, and he somehow managed to not only get over that trouble, but he could control chanted Intermediate-ranked spells now without a wand.


    "Hah. Roxy, you dummy..."


    She had to fix that. It would be a bit awkward presenting him with a wand thiste, but it was her duty as his teacher to make one for him.


    The problem was that she didn''t have a magic crystal to use as its core- Ah wait.


    Roxy looked over to her bag and rummaged around. "There should be a few around here, right...?"


    Because of the recent surge in magical creatures in the forest, Paul hade across a decent amount from killing them. He had also given some to Roxy see if she could make some use out of them since she was a magician.


    And so...


    "Here they are."


    Six magic stones. They weren''t too big. All six of them together barely covered Roxy''s small palm. They were also pretty low quality... and not very pretty. But they would work.


    "...The wood will be a problem, but if the forest is as dense in mana as Paul said..." Roxy hummed.


    Rudeus''s fifth birthday wasing up, wasn''t it? In that case...


    A knock on the door. After that, a male voice called out. "Roxy? Are you decent?"


    Roxy put the magic stones back in her bag and then said, "Yes. Did you need something, Paul?"


    The door opened and Paul walked in. "Yeah. Rudy''s tagging along with Lilia today to run some tasks down at the vige. Are you free to help Zenith and I clear out the monsters in the forest?"


    Roxy stood up and frowned. "More monsters?"


    Paul sighed. "Yeah. We think that there''s a magical item buried somewhere causing all of this, but we aren''t too sure exactly what it is. We were hoping you could help us find it."


    "Hm." Roxy grabbed her staff and nodded. "I can do that. But strange... Why would something like that be out here in Buina vige?"


    Paul shrugged. "Beats me. But it is, so we need to deal with it before things get out of hand." He frowned and said, "The rate of magical creatures being created is increasing these days too. It''s every other day now instead of every week."


    "That bad?" Roxy frowned.


    "Yep? But we can talk more on thatter." Paul left the room and said, "How''s Rudy been doing? We haven''t had a chance to talk much about his progress recently, have we?"


    Roxy followed after Paul and sighed. "I''m beginning to think that I''m unqualified to be his teacher. Rudy is... Rudy learns very quickly."


    Paulughed. "Tell me about it. If you told me a pipsqueak like that could pick up the basics from all three sword styles before he turned five before I met him, I''d think you were drunk."


    Roxy blinked and said, "Does that mean that Rudy is elementary-ranked then?"


    "Not quite." Paul adjusted the sword on his side and said, "He''s still too small to actually practice, but it looks like he has the forms down. I''m thinking of starting up on actual drills soon. But I wanted to talk with you about that first. Rudy has a habit of going a bit overboard in training..." He sighed. "Honestly. He''s a bit too earnest. Since he''s that good, it''d be fine to rx every now and then, you know?"


    Footsteps approached and then Zenith appeared, dressed for travel as well. Her blonde hair was tied up in a practical ponytail and she wore leather armor. A typical adventurer outfit.


    She frowned at Paul and said, "Andze around like you, Paul? If you really practiced instead of just swinging that sword around to look good, you''d probably be at Saint-ranked by now."


    Paul shrugged. "Training is boring. Besides, there''s no need to get stronger if I''m the strongest, right?"


    "Hmph." Zenith shook her head and said, "That thinking''s going to make Rudy catch up to you in no time. Is your dignity as a father going to remain in tact when that happens, Dear?"


    "Grk... W-Well, that''s still a few years out, right?"


    Roxy hummed. "Well. If Rudy uses magic, I think he can beat you right now."


    Paul froze.


    Zenith blinked and said, "Really? My Rudy''s gotten that strong already?"


    Roxy nodded and looked towards Paul. "I think that Rudy inherited yourbat sense, Paul. He stumbles over incantations still..."


    Mostly because he didn''t have a wand yet, but Roxy decided to keep that bit quiet.


    "...But if he uses magic circles, he can cast everything below Saint-ranked."


    Paul''s eyes widened. "Really? Ah, but it''s with magic circles..." He frowned and said, "That''s not really useful. ...Is it?"


    "It is when you can form them purely from your mana."


    Zenith gasped. "Really?! You taught Rudy how to do that?"


    "I-I don''t think I can deserve the credit for-"


    Zenith ran up and hugged Roxy. "I knew you were a great tutor, Roxy!"


    "Z-Zenith... I-I don''t-"


    "Oh! Sorry, sorry." Zenith stepped back and pped her hands together. "I just can''t believe it! Rudy''se so far!"


    Paul chuckled. "As much fun as it would be to praise our son all day, Zenith, we should really get going."


    "Oh! Right." Zenith smoothed her face and then looked at Roxy. "Thank you for helping today, Roxy."


    "It''s fine. I was nning on heading to the forest anyway."


    "Huh?" Paul blinked and said, "Why''s that?"


    "...Secret. But if you find a decent piece of wood when we''re there, I would appreciate you pointing it out."


    Zenith gasped. "Oh! That''s a great idea!"


    Paul looked between the two women and said, "...I''m not following."


    Roxy tugged her hat down and said, "Don''t worry about it. Now... Let''s go. It''ll be dangerous if we waste time."


    Paul nodded. "Alright. Then... follow medies! The dashing Paul Greyrat will lead the way!"


    Roxy blinked and looked at Zenith. "...Is he always like this?"


    "Yes. But don''t worry. He won''t make any passes at you if you''re concerned about that. Paul likes them a bit... you know?" Zenith emphasized her chest.


    "...I wasn''t asking that. But thank you for the information, I suppose."


    "A-Ah. Sorry."


    Roxy sighed. "...Let''s just go."

 19 – Young Child – Outside the Box

    19 ¨C Young Child ¨C Outside the Box


    "Thank you for helping me with this, young master."


    I frowned and said, "I keep telling you, Miss Lilia. Just Rudy is fine."


    Lilia shook her head. "As much as I appreciate your request, young master, I cannot do that."


    My frown deepened and I muttered, "Formalities are stupid. Miss Lilia''s just as close to me as Mom is..."


    Lilia''s eyes widened and then she gave me a warm smile. "Thank you, young master."


    I smiled back.


    Today was a break day for me. Dad said that I was working too hard and told me to help out Lilia in running some tasks down at the vige.


    It wasn''tplicated. We just needed to grab some more supplies. Sausages, grains, bread, flour, fruits... basic groceries.


    I looked over our cart and nodded. "That should be everything, right Miss Lilia?"


    Lilia walked around the cart and checked everything against a list. "...It should be. But there is one problem."


    "Hm? What problem?"


    Lilia sighed. "We don''t have a horse to pull the cart back."


    ...Oh. Right. We only had one horse. His name was Caravaggio and he was Dad''s longtimepanion... but because of that, he was also with Dad today.


    The n had been to grab a cart and a horse here and bring everything back, but...


    "There isn''t a spare horse around?"


    Lilia shook her head. "It seems that the vige protectors have gone to the forest with them to meet with Master Paul and the others."


    "Hm. That is a problem..."


    Miss Lilia was fine walking over here, but her old injuries would make walking back and carrying this stuff difficult. Not only that, but while she hid it well, I could tell that she was already tired out from the walk too.


    Lilia shook her head. "My apologies, young master. If I had anticipated this-"


    "It''s fine, Miss Lilia. We''ll just have to get a bit creative."


    "Pardon?"


    I stared at the cart to think.


    It wasn''t a full carriage with a cover and everything, but there were ces to sit down on it. We had organized the groceries in the middle and everything was secure so stuff wouldn''t go flying if the cart moved. But the source of that movement, the wooden axel thing for the horse to carry was empty. Mainly because we were out of a horse and all, you know?


    But that wasn''t too big of a deal.


    "Miss Lilia, would you sit down on the cart?"


    Lilia blinked and said, "Pardon?"


    "I think I can get us back. It''ll be a bit ad hoc, but it should work."


    "...Very well." Lilia nodded and got on the cart. "I will leave it to you, young master."


    I smiled. "Don''t worry, Miss Lilia! I''ll make sure we get back with everything in tact!" With that said, I turned around to check our surroundings.


    The cart was already set up on the outskirts of the vige.


    There were a few people staring at us, but for the most part we were left alone. Well, a few people waved at me. Mostly people who saw me going around and helping with Miss Roxy on her ''pocket money'' trips.


    I waved back at them. But then I focused.


    We were out on the rolling hills. Our house was about... five miles away, give or take.


    The path back, thankfully, wasn''t very rough. In fact, it was just a straight shot back. But the problem was that we were out of propulsion.


    "Hm..." I walked around the cart, thinking.


    Two wheels. Top heavy with wooden sticks to attach to the horse to bnce.


    I thought about just using wind, but that wouldn''t work with the way the cart was shaped-


    Wait.


    "Mmm..."


    "Young master?"


    "It''ll be rough, but it should work." I nodded and held out my hand to focus.


    First, I needed some earth mana. To make that, I spun out some of my mana and converted it.


    Next, I needed some dirt. I *could* use the dirt nearby, but I didn''t want to ruin the scenic terrain, so I summoned a giant glob.


    In the corner of my, I saw some people looking at me, but I ignored them.


    The proper thing would be to make an engine or something like a golem to drag the cart along, but I wasn''t skilled enough to make that. Maybe in the future, but not now.


    But something that I *could* make was a giant spinning wheel. And since I could hold everything together with a string of mana...


    I waved my hand, causing the clump of dirt to flow towards the cart. Parts of it extended past the two axels before hooking up to a perpendicr axel. And then around that middle part was a treaded wheel.


    ...Well, a shoddily made treaded wheel. My control was still a bit sloppy so the treads were more like random cuts rather than a uniform pattern. But it should work well enough for grip, and I could always clean it up if it got full.


    So with that done...


    "Alright." I hopped into the driver''s seat at the front of the cart and held out my hands. "Turning''s going to beplicated, but this should work out... Yeah. It definitely will."


    Positive affirmations. Mama Lilia- I mean, Miss Lilia is watching, so you can''t mess up here, me.


    Lilia gasped. "Young master... that''s incredible."


    "It''s nothingpared to Miss Roxy, but it''ll do."


    If Miss Roxy was here, I was sure she could do something ridiculous like just send us along on a wave of water. That or make a b of dirt underneath the cart to fly along.


    "...Should I hold on?"


    "Yeah, it''ll probably be a bit bumpy. Keep an eye on the groceries, would you?"


    "Understood."


    I waited for Lilia to get ready. And then I nodded and turned back to the front. "Here goes nothing... I mean, let''s do this!"


    Liliaughed.


    I smiled.


    And then the cart started moving.


    Slow at first, creaking like an old skeleton. But eventually I got a hang of the proper rotating speed and we were good to go.


    ...Braking might be hard, but I''d just have to remember to slow down before we got back.


    Wind in my hair, sun at my back, and a clear blue sky... Things were a bit wild with me having to improvise, but other than that, today was a good day.


    I smiled and leaned back a bit to rx. As I did, Lilia spoke up.


    "You''ve worked hard, young master."


    *ba-dump*


    ''I''m... I''m so proud of you.''


    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.


    It was a casual remark. No, not quite casual. But it was heartfelt. Sincere.


    An acknowledgment of what I''d done up to this point.


    ...It was a bit silly, actually. This wasn''t much. I could do so much more.


    But. Just that little bit.


    "...Thank you, Miss Lilia. That... Th-that me-means a lot to... Dammit! N-No crying!" I sniffed and brushed my eyes.


    Stupid kid body. Making me all emotional like this.


    "Argh." I forced a smile on and nced back at Lilia. "Thank you, Miss Lilia. That really means a lot."


    Lilia smiled back. But then she frowned, looking away. Conflicted.


    I blinked. "Miss Lilia?"


    "...It''s nothing, young master. I''m just..." She sighed. "Time flies quickly, doesn''t it? In the blink of an eye, you''ve turned from a tiny baby to a young child."


    "Um... Miss Lilia doesn''t look that old if that''s what you''re worried about. You''re still very pretty."


    She blinked and thenughed. "Thank you, young master. It''s good to hear. Not what I expected, but I appreciate it."


    "O-Oh. Um... I stand by what I said?"


    Miss Lilia really was still pretty. I remembered thinking that she was really beautiful already when I was younger, but she hadn''t changed a bit since I grew up. If anything, she was more beautiful because she had a more mature look around her.


    "Well." She hid her smile behind her sleeve and said, "It looks like your mother''s going to have to keep an extra close eye on her son in the future when ites to women."


    "Huh?"


    "Nothing." Lilia tucked a strand of her crimson hair behind her ear and stared out at the horizon. "But... this truly is a wonderful life. To think that my life would end so peacefully..."


    I frowned. "You''re not leaving, are you Miss Lilia?"


    That didn''t sound good. Weren''t those types of words always said by people in movies before they died? Like the old veteran who finally made his way home only to sumb to old injuries-


    Wait.


    I turned back to look at Lilia.


    She looked back at me and shook her head. "Of course not, young master." She smiled and said, "You still need me here, don''t you? I have no intention of leaving any time soon."


    "...Good."


    I gave an absent-minded reply. As I did, I stared at Miss Lilia. Specifically, I stared at her legs... though I made it a point to pretend to look at the groceries instead.


    But even then, I could see it.


    A bright purple light, twisting around her legs.


    Before, I thought it was just her own mana. And since I''d never seen anything like it, I thought it was just a natural color for her. But now that I thought about it...


    Miss Lilia said that she quit her previous job because of an old injury. She couldn''t walk or put much weight on her legs. Even when carrying me, she was always super careful and patient.


    "Keep an eye on the fruits, would you, Miss Lilia? I''m not sure how bumpy this will get when we cross the hills."


    "Of course, young master."


    Saying that, I looked away. But when I did, I frowned.


    Purple mana... an old injury...


    ...Was it possible?


    A poisonced with mana? No, mana that turned into a poison in and of itself?


    ...It seemed like I''d need to do a lot more serious research on that healing magic of mine...

 20 – Young Child – A Big Event

    20 ¨C Young Child ¨C A Big Event


    I hadn''t noticed it... mostly because I hadn''t celebrated it much in my previous life either, but this world didn''t have a custom of celebrating birthdays. At least, not every year.


    Instead, there were three major birthdays celebrated: five, ten, and fifteen.


    The first was probably because that was around the time that parents could be reasonably certain the child would survive to adulthood.


    The third was the age of majority in this world. Basically the age you would get treated as an adult and set free to do whatever you wanted.


    ...A bit younger than what I was used too, but when the world was apparently filled with dangerous monsters, it made sense. History showed that back on Earth too.


    I think.


    As for the second at ten years old... that was just the midway point between childhood and adulthood. The half-time show, so to speak.


    Anyway, it was my fifth birthday all of a sudden.


    ...Well, I thought it was all of a sudden, but I guess in hindsight I should have seen iting.


    Like Miss Lilia mentioned, time did fly.


    So, today was a busy day. Mom, Miss Lilia, and Miss Roxy were busy preparing for the party. Turned out, that was what all the ingredients were for.


    They were all hard at work preparing a wonderful feast to celebrate my birthday.


    As for me and my dad...


    "Hah!" I stepped forward and swung my stick.


    A fast sh, whipping through the air at my dad''s face.


    "Not bad, not bad!" My dad grinned and casually tilted his head to the side. "Looks like we''ll need to bump up to real sparring soon instead of just you trying to hit me."


    I clicked my tongue.


    It was annoying. I''d been secretly training my body and abusing healing magic to try and catch up to my dad... but he was just too good.


    Right now we were doing target practice. Except, the target was my dad''s face.


    Apparently, he said he had super great reflexes for dodging attacks to his face from past incidents.


    I didn''t believe him.


    Well, I believed that he had good reflexes from past incidents because my dad looked like a pretty boy flirt in the past who just got buff, but I didn''t believe that he could dodge each of my attacks.


    But dammit, he did.


    I brought my stick back and frowned, staring at my dad''s stance.


    "What? Give up already, Rudy? Can''t even hit your old man?"


    I stared at my dad, assessed my past performance... and then I seriously nodded and said, "You''re right. I can''t hit you like this."


    It had already been four hours. Four. Straight. Hours. Four hours with me running at full speed and wildly swinging my stick around at random while using <Healing> to constantly restore my stamina and get better, bit by bit.


    I was hoping for Dad to tire out a bit. Enough for me to whack that insufferable face at least once.


    But he didn''t get tired at all. He was sweating sure, but that was it. Instead of slowing down or getting worn out, he got more excited as we progressed and started doing some crazy evasive maneuvers.


    Jumping on all fours and crawling around like a dog. Cartwheels. Rolling on the floor. Crazy footwork that looked like breakdancing. Some more footwork that looked like ballet...


    It was annoying. And if it wasn''t for the fact that he was my dad and that I was practicing my sword skills, I would have smacked him in the head with a water whip. Hell, if this was a random guy I met on the road, I wouldn''t have hesitated to just open up a pit beneath him and let loose.


    Because screw that noise.


    My dadughed and wiped his face with his shirt. "Don''t feel bad, Rudy. I told you, didn''t I? I''m a genius. No matter how smart you are, it''ll take you time to reach my toes, let alone hit my face."


    I sighed and lowered my stick. "Seems like it."


    My dad was a bit too arrogant for my liking, but he had a right to be.


    Handsome, muscr, a bit cocky but with the skills to back it up. Not only that, but a natural intuition to predict moves and the ability to react fast enough to them that it didn''t matter what you tried...


    He was stupid, but he was a genius. An oxymoron almost, but it was true.


    If I had topare, my dad was just like a harem shounen protagonist who retired with the main love interest. Stupidly strong and talented for no reason, no brains, but the looks and charm to pull it off even while having an annoying demeanor.


    Well, I guess it helped that he was also a genuinely decent guy at heart.


    ...You had to squint a bit at times to see it though between his trash talk, ego, and puffery.


    My dad walked up to me and ruffled my hair. "Don''t worry, Rudy. Luckily for you, you inherited the smarts from your mom''s side of the family and a decent amount of skill from me. I''m sure that you''ll get to where I am in a few years."


    I smiled. "You really mean that, Dad?"


    "Of course! Though, by that time I''ll probably already be Saint-ranked. Hahahaha!"


    ...Ooh. Just you wait. Give me two years, and I swear-


    "Boys!" My mom waved from the front door and said, "We''re ready!"


    "Coming Mom!" I looked at my dad and said, "You want a quick rinse?"


    "Yeah. That''d be grea- bwaha!? C-C-Cold!"


    "Ah. Sorry." I gave him a nk look and sent a wave of warm air to dry off the cold water I dumped on him. "Don''t want to keep them waiting, you know?"


    My dadughed. "Yeah, yeah... Guess I deserve that anyway. Ah, but go ahead, Rudy. I''ll air out for a bit first. Can''t show up reeking like a pig, right?"


    "...Alright. I''ll see you soon then, Dad. Don''t stay out here too long."


    With that said, I headed inside.


    -LIV-


    Paul watched his son walk back into the house. The moment Rudy''s back was gone, Paul doubled over and rubbed his legs and arms to get out the cramps. "Argh... what a crazy son I''ve got..."


    It seemed like Rudy didn''t notice, but that was close. Waaay too close.


    "Four hours and he didn''t even break a sweat... Rudy sure as hell inherited the good old Greyrat stamina..."


    Insane.


    Was it because Rudy was determined to catch up to him? At first, Rudy didn''t have any talent for the sword. Or for working out.


    But then he started improving.


    It was slow at first. Barely noticeable. But these days, it was impossible not to notice.


    Paul stretched and then shook out his limbs. After that, he looked inside the house and said, "The power of youth sure is scary, huh?"


    Was this how his father felt back then watching him run around with a sword in his hand?


    Thinking about that brought a bitter smile to Paul''s face. "...The old man would have definitely liked Rudy."


    He was everything that Paul wasn''t. Smart, polite, and humble. In exchange, his talent with the sword wasn''t that good... but it was getting better with every day.


    Paul wasn''t sure if that was just because Rudy was growing, Paul was that good of a teacher, or Rudy just worked really hard because he hated being shown up.


    Probably thatst bit. The look in Rudy''s eyes got pretty mean near the end there.


    ...Almost like him when he was getting smacked around by those noble brats back in the day.


    "Ah." Paul rubbed his chin and muttered, "Guess Rudy has more of me in him than I thought..."


    Now that Paul thought about it, he only ever started getting better at the sword after he got thrashed a few times. After that, he worked his ass off to shove it in their faces.


    Never could beat his dad though. The old guy was too strong... so he left instead after a big argument.


    Butter...


    Paul sighed. "Well, enough of that."


    He regretted it. Paul regretted it a lot.


    At the time, he was just a brat who didn''t understand what he was doing or what other people thought. But now that he had Rudy...


    Paul looked up at the sky and muttered, "...I''ll at least try to be better than you, Dad."


    "Dear!" Zenith leaned out of the door and said, "What''s taking so long! Did you get knocked out by Rudy?"


    Paul grinned and crossed his arms. "As if! I''m just reveling in my victory, obviously."


    Rudy''s sigh echoed from inside the house and he said, "It''s my birthday, isn''t it, Dad? Could you at least tone it down a bit?"


    "Fine, fine. I won''t gloat about how you couldn''t even hit my face once in the past four hours."


    A long suffering sigh echoed.


    Paulughed.


    -LIV-


    A cozy and warm family dinner, with a delicious spread of food.


    Carved hams. Sausages. Stews. Fresh greens. Baked potatoes. A whole pig''s head, slow roasted and sed while garnished with fruits that looked like apples, cherries, and grapes. Giant loafs of bread, a whole roast chicken, pitchers of various fruit juice...


    They really went all out.


    Seated at the head of the table and staring at all of the home cooked food before me... dishes that Mom, Miss Lilia, and Miss Roxy spent all day preparing...


    No! I was not about to cry! Not today! Dammit body, I will not lose to you!


    "T-Thank you." I sniffed and rubbed the tears from my eyes. But the moment I did, I stered a wide smile on my face and said, "Thank you! I love you!"


    ...Gah! What the hell did I just say!?


    Silence.


    The warm atmosphere was cut in a single instant.


    But then...


    "Kyaaaaa! My Rudy is so cute!" My mom screamed and hugged herself, a sappy smile on her face.


    "Young master...!" Lilia sniffed and dried her eyes with a handkerchief, a bright smile on her face.


    "Rudy..." Roxy''s eyes watered as well and she smiled. "It''s an honor to be your teacher."


    "Dammit!" My dad averted his gaze and said, "Come on Paul! You''re a man! You''re a man! Men don''t cry!"


    Ah. Okay, I thought it was just me, but maybe my self-affirmations were gic too...


    After a moment for everyone to gather their bearings, it was time to eat.


    The food was great. Even if it wasn''t super seasoned or fancy, thepany, the fact that it was home cooked with love and care...


    ...It was nostalgic.


    I hadn''t felt anything like this in a long, long time.


    When even was thest time someone threw a birthday party for me...?


    ...I couldn''t remember. And not just because my memories from my previous life were pretty much gone now. I ''knew'' that it had been a long time. That years and years had passed since I had a proper birthday party.


    And so it was good. Even if this wasn''t the fanciest party, it was definitely the warmest.


    That was enough.


    A lively atmosphere. My dad, pulling off some neat sword tricks for entertainment.


    ...Like somehow ramming his sword down his throat while being perfectly fine.


    I got that sword-swallowing was a thing, but I couldn''t help but wonder just how and why he picked that skill up...


    But anyway, time passed while we enjoyed ourselves. The sun fell past the horizon and its light had to be reced by candles.


    And then it was present time.


    My dad knelt down before me and held out a sheathed sword. "Happy birthday, Rudy. Here''s my present to you."


    I held out my hands.


    The moment I did, he dropped it.


    "Paul!" My mom gasped and quickly ran over.


    But it was fine.


    The sword was heavy, but it was only a couple pounds. And since I''d been continually working out with my <Healing> exploit, it didn''t feel that awkward in my arms.


    Other than the fact that it was as tall as I was.


    My dadughed and said, "It''s fine. Rudy''s a strong kid. Right, Rudy?"


    I nodded. "With all the training you do with me, I''d better be."


    Seriously.


    But anyway, let''s check out my new gift... Eh?


    I blinked and looked at my dad. "Is this a real sword, Dad?"


    "Yep." My dad nodded and stood up. Looking down at me, he said, "You might be too small for that sword right now, but a man has to at least carry a sword in his heart." He gave me a faint smile and said, "One day, you''ll have a wife and kids of your own someday. At that time, Dad won''t be around to help, you know? It will be your duty to protect them. And you can''t get full of yourself just because you know a little magic."


    Despite his nonchnt words, it was a serious talk. A heartfelt speech, from father to son.


    Realizing that, I held the sword close to me and nodded. "I understand, Dad. I''ll work hard."


    "Mm?" My dad blinked and then he let out a sigh. "...Geez. I keep forgetting how serious you are." He rubbed the back of his head before cing his hand on mine. "Rudy."


    "Yes, Dad?"


    He smiled and said, "I won''t ask you to choose only the sword or magic. But I want you to not regret whatever you do and be serious about it, alright? A man..." His gaze turned a bit distant and said, "If a man chooses his path, he has to stick with it to the end. No matter what anyone else says. Got it?"


    An uncharacteristically serious tone. When my dad said those words, they were definitely heartfelt... and also tinged with a familiar emotion.


    Regret.


    I didn''t know what he went through, but...


    "...I got it, Dad." I nodded and said, "I''ll make sure to be someone I can be proud of."


    "Mm- Wait. That *you* can be proud of? What about me?" In an instant, my dad''s jovial demeanor came back. He poked me in the forehead and said, "What am I now, chopped liver?"


    Iughed.


    He smiled back at me and then stepped away, looking to the side.


    After him was my mom.


    She had her hands behind her back as she walked over, hiding my present. "Happy birthday, Rudy." She smiled and then pulled out what she was hiding. "Here you go!"


    It was a book. But it wasn''t just any book.


    "No way...?"


    "Heehee." My mom grinned and held the book out to me.


    I gingerly took the book from her and flipped through it.


    "I know how much you like magic, so Mommy pulled some strings to get you a primer on healing magic!" She grinned and said, "Do you-?"


    Before she could finish, I rushed forward and hugged her. "Thank you, Mom! It''s just what I wanted!"


    "Of course!" My mom patted my back and said, "Mommy knows her cute son best."


    "I love you, Mom! Thank you so much!"


    "Mommy loves you too, Rudy!" She patted my back again and then stepped away.


    I walked back and carefully set the healing primer down by my sword and then headed back.


    Next was Lilia. She walked forward and bowed her head. "I''m sorry that I don''t have much to give you, young master. But I hope that you enjoy this small gift." After saying that, she held out her gift.


    It was a cozy gray scarf. But it wasn''t just any scarf. It was one that I remembered seeing Lilia work on from time to time.


    "...This is for me?"


    I carefully held it up and took a look.


    Tightly knit weaves. My name woven in on either side in ck.


    Lilia nodded and said, "It isn''t muchpared to your other presents, but-"


    Before she could finish, I ran up and hugged her. "...Thank you, Miss Lilia."


    Lilia tensed. But then she sighed and patted my back. "No, Rudy. Thank you."


    My eyes widened and I leaned back to look at her.


    Lilia smiled and then gently patted my head.


    "Miss Lilia-"


    "Now, now." Lilia gently pushed me away and said, "You have one more person to receive a present from." After that, she stepped back.


    And then it was Roxy''s turn.


    She walked forward and knelt down, holding out a small... staff? Wand? "Here, Rudy."


    I blinked and took it from her. And the moment I did, my eyes widened.


    A carefully carved base. A metal container at one end, holding six polished gems that looked almost like spiralingets in a cage. But more importantly than that...


    I could see it. Miss Roxy''s mana, etched throughout the entire item and carefully circting around tightly knit magic circles. A beautiful soft blue, the same color as her hair.


    "Miss Roxy?" I turned to look at her and said, "This is...?"


    Roxy sighed. "It''s customary for teachers to give their students magic wands once they mastered beginner magic, but since you could already use it, I forgot. But this should help solve your issue with incantations." She pointed to the sixets and said, "These aren''t high-grade magic stones, but I''ve arranged them with some magic formations to help stabilize any magic you might use."


    "Whoa..." I turned the wand over, marveling at its structure. "Miss Roxy... No. Master. Master is amazing."


    "E-Eh?!" Roxy gasped and said, "M-Master?" She blinked and quickly shook her hands. "No. I''m not-"


    "No. Miss Roxy is definitely my Master. And not just my Master, but a Master of magic." I stared at the glittering magic array and sighed. "Master took my questions and found the answers. Not only that, but you applied them and made this to help me. If that''s not a Master, than what is?"


    It was a work of art. Not only that, but itbined everything that I had subtly suggested and inquired about in all of our lessons.


    Did magic circles have to be engraved? What would happen if you chained magic circles together? Could you stabilize spells by creating an ovepping chain of magic circles with elemental foci?


    They were just random throwaway questions that I didn''t expect Roxy to know or answer.


    But she did. Not only that, but she put the answer into practice and used it to make something to help me with my own magic instead of hers.


    I couldn''t even imagine how long it took to make the wand.


    ...No. Considering how Roxy holed herself up in her room the past few days and postponed my lessons, I could probably guess.


    Blood, sweat, tears, and wishes were woven into the wand. I was sure of it.


    Gingerly holding the wand to my chest, I bowed to Roxy and said, "I''ll cherish it forever, Master."


    Roxy sighed. "There''s no need to be so reverent over it. That''s just something I made in a rush..."


    "So Master could make something even more amazing if you had the time?!"


    Incredible! I knew it! She was definitely a genius- No, a super genius! A real one that didn''t just pretentiously skip all the steps but worked from the bottom up!


    "U-Um... Y-Yes?"


    "I knew it! Master is amazing!"


    "...No." Roxy sighed and shook her head. "Rudy is amazing." She stood up and reflexively reached for her hat. But when she realized it wasn''t there, she lowered her hand. After that, she turned to look at me, a serious look on her face. "Rudy."


    "Yes, Master?"


    "...There''s very little left I have to teach you."


    "...Huh?"


    Wait. What?


    Roxy smiled and said, "You''ve worked very hard. Because of that, the only thing I have left to teach you is my super secret spell. Do you remember?"


    I remembered. There was no way I could forget that masterful spell or the way Roxy controlled it.


    But.


    But...


    "...Really? Then... Then are you going to leave?"


    "Mm." Roxy nodded.


    A sudden cold pit in my stomach.


    ...Right.


    That was right.


    Roxy wasn''t here forever. She was my magic tutor. Someone who was here to help teach me magic.


    But it was temporary.


    Roxy had her own life too.


    ...That was right. Someone as brilliant as her, someone as bright as her would no doubt get fed up by someone like me.


    "Rudy." Her quiet voice called out.


    I looked up to stare at her.


    A soft smile. A young and beautiful face that I had gotten used to seeing. Used to having around in my life.


    "I''ll hold your graduation exam tomorrow."


    "...Understood."


    Tomorrow.


    The day where I would have myst lesson with Roxy.


    The day where I would learn all that she had to teach me.


    The day where these fun lessons and happy days with her would end.


    ...In that case.


    If it was really going to be the end of it all.


    I should at least...

 21 – Young Child – Bidding Farewell

    21 ¨C Young Child ¨C Bidding Farewell


    My room. Since everyone was caught up in the festivities and had a bit too much alcohol, they were all knocked out and already slumbering in dreand.


    The only person left awake in the house was me.


    Just me, myself, and I.


    "Master..."


    I sat at my desk, idly twirling around the wand that Roxy made for me.


    ...A lot. She had given me a lot throughout this time period. My cute, beautiful, and intelligent teacher... No, Master. My magic Master taught me and gave me so much during our time together.


    I... really didn''t want it to end. If I could, I would love for her to be here forever.


    "...Heh. Is this what puppy love feels like?"


    I''d heard about it before, but it was something else feeling it in person.


    But I suppose it was inevitable.


    Roxy... Miss Roxy was young. Beautiful. And she was smart. Really smart.


    In all honesty, a person would have to be stupid to not at least have a crush on her.


    And considering how young I was too, whether I wanted to or not, I definitely had feelings for her.


    ...Well, I probably would anyway if I was grown up. A cute and intelligent young woman like that was definitely my type. Not to mention that it was really rare to find someone you could just bounce and test ideas off of or get sidetracked into long esoteric conversations exploring the depths of the universe...


    ...Man, it was going to suck after tomorrow, huh?


    I shook my head and then ced my wand off to the side. After that, I picked up the healing primer my mom gave me for a present.


    It was from the Holy Country of Milis, as expected. She mentioned pulling some strings to get it, so I could be assured of its quality.


    Then...


    I flipped through the book and stared at the pages with a discerning eyes.


    Not like this. I couldn''t let Roxy leave like this.


    I needed to pay her back. To give something to her that would help her as much as she had helped me.


    And the only thing I could think of was...


    "Why are my eyes like this? Are they really my ''eyes'' or is it something else?"


    I mumbled and flipped through the book.


    ...Yes. Like I thought, the book wasn''t just incantations and formations. It also showed some pictures of anatomy and talked about some theory behind why healing spells worked the way they did.


    ...But there wasn''t a concrete answer.


    There wasn''t a concrete answer to my question.


    If it was possible to see mana, why was that? And could the eyes be tuned to perceive mana as a wavelength? Or was it something else entirely?


    But of course. It was a question no one could answer or test.


    The most I saw was a reference to something called ''Demon Eye'' which was apparently a special ability that could be granted by some Demon Lord. But the book called it heresy and only warned against it. It didn''t describe it.


    But that was a start.


    I leaned back in my chair to think.


    Why could I see mana?


    It wasn''t a fluke. I knew for a fact that I couldn''t when I was first born. It was only after I started manipting mana more that I became able to see the floating ambient mana.


    Then that had something to do with it.


    Manipting mana built up familiarity with it enough for the body to register mana around it.


    ...Yes. That was probably it. Simr to how martial artists could ''sense'' presences because of how familiar they were at moving their body. Because I was so familiar with moving my mana, I could ''sense'' outside mana.


    But that wasn''t the end of it. ''Sensing'' shouldn''t have evolved into ''seeing.''


    So how did that happen?


    It had to be that. Since I was a baby when I was doing everything, my senses were all mixed together. So in sorting out that information, my brain jumbled it up- No.


    Now that I stopped to think about it, I had been moving my mana around my body like it was blood. And a few times, I focused it around my eyes.


    Could it be that simple?


    ...No. It couldn''t be.


    Think, Rudy. How and why did this happen?


    How could you recreate it?


    How could you test it?


    ...Wait.


    I flipped through the book again.


    Didn''t I see something about barrier magic... Yes. There it was.


    One of the four subsets of healing magic was Barrier Magic. Also known as Protection Magic. It was a support magic that basically acted like buffs. And one that could create a bounded field to bestow or prevent certain characteristics.


    Just what I wanted.


    Then, the most basic one...


    I grabbed my wand. "If my hypothesis is correct..."


    Every branch of magic was the same at its core. The initial process was the exact same each time, with the changes urring only afterwards.


    So then if I casted the barrier spell... and if it was possible to skip the incantation and magic circle of a spell with enough ''will'' and ''imagination...''


    No. One step at a time.


    First, the barrier spell.


    I held out my wand and started chanting. "Divine protection shields us from sorrow and misfortune. It bestows upon us powerless the means to defend against tragedy and pain. Great spirits, grant this weak vessel your protection. <Barrier>."


    A surge of mana. Like always, the spell drew out my mana and changed it. But unlike the other mana I had seen, this was different.


    A regal and dark violet, almost ck. Like the night sky.


    It spun out and then shed around me. When it did, I felt a small shell. Thin, but fairly sturdy. As if I had some stic covering my body.


    A few pokes showed that it wasn''t just my imagination either.


    So test sessful.


    Then...


    Time to experiment.


    First... sealing my vision. If that worked, then I could gauge the state I was in from there and work backwards. And if it didn''t...


    No. It had to. It would.


    Gritting my teeth, I stared at my hand with bloodshot eyes and went to work.


    -LIV-


    The soft *clop* of horse hooves. The warm sunlight and the gentle breeze.


    I closed my eyes and leaned back against Roxy, riding on top of my dad''s horse with her.


    Roxy sighed and patted my head. "...Are you that upset about me leaving, Rudy? Enough that you couldn''t sleep?"


    "...No. I was just studying to make sure that I passed the exam."


    It was true... in part. I *was* upte studying. But it wasn''t to make sure I passed the exam. At least, not just that.


    I wanted to show her. I wanted to show my Master all that I learned from her. Where her teaching led me... and also how much further she had left to go.


    I could see it, after all. I pretended not to notice, but I saw her discouraged she was at how easy I picked things up.


    But that was a lie. Unlike her, I wasn''t a genius. All I had was a cheat that let me see mana.


    If she had that, I was sure. She would be able to go much further than me.


    So... So that she could keep shining even after she left...


    I cracked my eyes open and looked to my left. There, ''something'' floated just out of reach. A carefully and meticulously crafted self-perpetuating three-dimensional magic circle contained andprising of a barrier spell.


    Something created with blood, sweat, tears, and a wish. Just like the wand Roxy made for me.


    But that was forter.


    Right now... Right now I just wanted to enjoy the little time left with Roxy.


    Roxy sighed and said, "It will be hard for you if you aren''t well rested, you know?"


    "Don''t worry. Healing magic is OP."


    "OP...?"


    "...Don''t worry about it."


    I was fine. Despite getting literally zero sleep, I casted <Healing> throughout the night.


    ...It probably wasn''t healthy, but it was enough for today.


    Roxy sighed again and brushed my hair. "You are childish at the most surprising times, Rudy."


    "And Master is mature at the most important times."


    "...Hold on. Does that mean you think I''m immature all the other times?"


    "Master said it, not me."


    "Geez. Not even graduated yet and you''re talking to me like that. What an ungrateful student of mine."


    Harsh words. But considering the soft tone she said it in and how she brushed my hair, she didn''t mean it.


    I knew she didn''t mean it.


    ...It still kind of hurt though.


    "Sorry."


    "Don''t apologize. If you''re going to be my student, you should hold your head high, you know? After this, you''re probably going to be the youngest Saint-ranked magician around."


    "...Yes, Master."


    "Honestly..." Roxy sighed again. "...Do you really want me to not leave yet, Rudy? If you don''t, I can stay a little longer."


    I opened my eyes and sat up, turning to look at Roxy.


    She gave me a soft smile and said, "I don''t mind watching my cute little student grow up a bit more."


    "...No." I turned around and said, "All thingse to an end sometime, Master."


    "...I suppose they do, Rudy."


    The rest of the trip continued on in silence.


    Since Roxy was going to use the spell in full this time, we headed far out past the vige so that no one could be hurt.


    ...Unlike thest mess we caused where I tried out the Intermediate-ranked spells.


    "We''re here." Roxy stopped the horse by a tree grove and then got off. She turned around to reach for me, but I jumped off by myself.


    "Ah." Roxy paused and then pulled her hands back. After that, she tied the horse to the tree and walked a few paces away.


    I followed after her.


    Roxy held out her staff and then turned to look at me. "Watch closely. Because I''m just demonstrating, I''ll only hold it for a minute. But you pass if you can hold it for an hour."


    "Understood."


    Roxy paused and turned to look at me.


    Did she sense my reservation?


    She smiled and said, "There''s no need to be nervous, Rudy. I believe in you."


    That wasn''t what I was nervous about... and that was what made me feel like this in the first ce.


    A cute, kind, caring young girl who patiently taught me this entire time. Someone whose smiles I had burned into my memory. Whose diligence and patience I could never forget. Whose knowledge and brilliance I not only respected by admired...


    And after today, she would leave.


    ...Man. To think that I''d have a crush like this...


    Still. I quietly locked the feelings away. Facing her soft expression, I stered on a smile and nodded. "Thank you, Master."


    Yes. The only words I had to give her.


    "Then I''ll begin." Roxy turned away and waved her staff. As she did, she started to chant.


    "Oh great water spirit, the son of the lightning emperor who ascended to the skies! Fulfill my wishes, rain down your ferocious blessings, and show me your strength to this tiny existence! Let your godly hammer strike the anvil, and demonstrate your authority an devour the earth with water! Ah, the rain! Destroy and wash everything away! Cumulonimbus!"


    A long chant that sounded like a prayer.


    With it, the surroundings immediately darkened. A few secondster, heavy rain fell from the sky. Hurricane winds whipped up and lightning crackled in the midst of the dark clouds.


    It was familiar. The same spell that I sawst time. But this time, I watched closer.


    How the blue threads spun into existence. How the green wove into it, along with crackling yellow. The faint streaks of red...


    And then a mistake happened.


    Lightning shed, striking down on the tree where our horse was tied to.


    A shrill neigh.


    Roxy''s panicked rush to heal the horse.


    A clumsy, but hardworking appearance...


    Dammit. If we only met at a simr age...


    I sighed.


    Roxy managed to heal the horse... and after wrangling a promise out of me to not tell my dad, it was my turn.


    I slowly walked out, holding my wand in my right hand and staring at the clear skies.


    Learning from her mistake, behind me Roxy encased herself and the horse in earthen walls.


    So there weren''t any distractions. It was time. Time to show the result of my lessons. To finally show to the one who believed in me what I could do. What I had obtained.


    I waved my wand, spinning out the threads in the same way Roxy did.


    ...A genius. A prodigy.


    In my previous life, I was held to those expectations. And I always fell short.


    In the end, I picked myself up and managed to aplish something. but just as I did, my life was cut short.


    So I was afraid.


    Afraid to meet those expectations and disappoint the ones I loved.


    Afraid the world would cut me down again if I tried.


    But...


    For the one who taught me everything. For the one who let me be who I was without reservation or judging.


    For the brilliant and cute Master of mine who made my days fun and let me believe in myself a little again...


    "...I''ll give it my all."


    Roxy called out to me. "You can start anytime, Rudy."


    I nodded. "Understood, Master."


    ...Let''s do this.


    -Cumulonimbus.


    It was a spell that used mana to gather clouds, generate electricity and winds, and then make an artificial storm front.


    A long chant to visualize that image. A power that required a prayer to visualize it.


    I didn''t need that.


    I took a deep breath and then focused.


    The hypotheses that I quietly tested. The theories I slowly built up.


    Mana filled the sky. And mixed in with that, I could see the remnants of Roxy''s spell.


    I ignored them. Instead...


    I swept out my wand. "Winds, gather."


    Not a prayer. Amand. At the same time, a magic circle sprang into being.


    The result of my tests.


    A tripleyered approach that dered your intent, crystallized it with a magic circle, and then bound it by directly channeling mana into the form envisioned.


    "mes, warm."


    A formation to control the heat.


    "Lightning, crackle."


    Another to manage the static discharge.


    "Water, vaporize."


    And thest to manage the clouds and vapor.


    "E-Eh?" Roxy sounded surprised. "Wait. Rudy-"


    I held out my left hand and dered my spell onto the world. "Cumulonimbus."


    A fifth formation erupted in the air. The control module to direct andbine all the other elements as one.


    ...The answer to the question we both wondered.


    It was a given that it was possible to shape mana to your will and cast spells with just intent and a clear image. But how could you do that with something superplicated?


    Below the Advanced-rank, it was possible to just imagine things. But beyond that, it was difficult. Possible, but difficult.


    So how could that be made easier? How could it be tranted so that even an idiot could use it?


    There was a simple answer. And someone who was familiar with it from Earth could have figured it out.


    Magic was a form. But it was a pain to derive the result by hand each time.


    Back on Earth, the same was true forplex equations.


    So how did we solve that?


    Programming.


    Taking individual pieces, abstracting them out, making interlinked modules...


    The result was in front of me.


    I thought about it back in the past. That these magic circles were too simple. That I could do it better. That there was definitely a way to make it optimized for particr results.


    And here it was. <Magical Arrays>.


    -LIV-


    It was a ridiculous sight.


    Roxy knew just how talented Rudy was from teaching him, but she never expected this.


    Five glittering magic arrays. But not inscribed in anything. Instead, they were floating in mid-air. Self-inscribing with mana.


    A shortened chant that sounded more like an activation than a proper incantation.


    And Rudy did it. He cast Cumulonimbus. But it wasn''t just a simple cast.


    Her mind shed back to questions he asked in the past.


    ''Is it possible to draw magic arrays with mana, Teacher?''


    ''Can''t you control a spell by adjusting it with formations?''


    ''A spell is just aplicated puzzle of mana, right?''


    ''Aren''t chants just visualization helpers? We can use better ones if they make a more vivid picture, right?''


    Roxy shook her head and turned to look at Rudy.


    A casual gaze. Alert, but not too focused. Enough to where he could continue to respond to threats if he needed to.


    It was a ridiculous feat. Even Roxy had to take care to control everything to make sure nothing went wrong.


    But she could see it.


    Lightning struck down, but before it did, it was dispersed. Rain flew, but it stopped before it hit the ground. And the wind howled, but it flew around them, like the eye of the storm.


    An absolute control.


    Rudy turned to look at Roxy, his eyes glowing a bright and enchanting green.


    At that time, Roxy couldn''t help but think.


    -Ah. What a pity. If we had met when you were just a little older...


    Still, she put that thought away and focused. "Rudy. Can you control that?"


    An obvious question. But to be sure, she asked.


    Rudy nodded. "Of course."


    "And can you dismiss it?"


    Rudy waved his hand. And with it, the clouds dispersed. As if the weather was just a lie, everything turned back to normal.


    "Like this?" A casual remark. No, he was trying to y tough and arrogant like Paul.


    But Rudy always had a bad poker face.


    Still...


    Roxy smiled. Walking over to him, she ced her hand on his shoulder and said, "Congrattions, Rudy. From know on... You can consider yourself a Water-Saint ranked magician."


    Rudy tensed. At the same time, Roxy heard a small sniff. But that was all.


    "...Thank you, Master."


    "No, Rudy. Thank you."


    -LIV-


    "You don''t have to leave, Roxy." My mom held Roxy''s hand and said, "It''s fine if you want to stay. There''s still a lot I haven''t cooked for you yet!"


    My dad nodded and said, "Right. Even if your job as a tutor is over, you still have a ce here. With all that you''ve done, the people from the vige will definitely wee you."


    I stayed quiet.


    Roxy smiled and shook her head. "Thank you. But..." She looked at me and said, "Teaching Rudy has showed my just how far I have to go." Sheughed and said, "I can''t hold my head up high in the future if I don''t work hard now. Since Rudy calls me his Master, I have to make sure I live up to that title."


    I clenched my fist.


    My dad noticed then looked at me. "Well... Rudy. Are you going to say anything to Miss Roxy?"


    It was a chance. An opportunity to express my feelings. To let her know how I felt.


    Roxy turned to look at me as well.


    Seeing her kind gaze...


    I bowed my head and said, "Thank you for everything, Master! I will always, always, always remember what you taught me!"


    "Rudy!" My dad let out a hushed whisper and nudged me in the ribs. "At least try to make her stay!"


    But I didn''t waver.


    It was better like this. A clean farewell. Yes. It was better like this.


    But against my will, my eyes started to tear up and I started sniffling.


    Roxy sighed and then I felt a hand ruffle my hair.


    I looked up to see Roxy looking at me. "Master?"


    "Congrattions on your graduation, Rudy. I didn''t have time to prepare... but here." She held out an amulet to me, tied on a ribbon.


    I grabbed it, eyes wide.


    Another gift...?


    "It''s Migurd''s protection amulet. If you meet up with a hostile demon, you can present this and my name. Things will... probably work out if you do. But don''t rely on it."


    I brushed my eyes and smiled. "Thank you. Then... if we''re giving parting gifts, I have something for Master too."


    "Hm?"


    I stepped forward and then grabbed her hand. "I''ve kept it a secret from Master and wanted to tell youter... but if it''s going to be thest time, then..."


    Tracing out the pattern of mana. Connecting it to the eyes, a self-sustaining formation written out in my own mana. The magical array that I formed just for this through a sleepless night of constant testing and debugging...


    I was worried. Worried that it wouldn''t work. That it would fail at thisst step.


    But when it connected to her mana, Roxy''s eyes widened. She gasped and looked around the surroundings. "Rudy. This...?!" She turned back to look at me, and then her eyes widened even more.


    I smiled and said, "Master opened up my eyes to the bright future... So with this, I hope Master can see her own way forward as well."


    After that, I let go and then ran away.


    I couldn''t let Master see me crying.


    -LIV-


    Roxy sighed and took a look back at the town she left behind. The ce she had been living in for over two years. As she did, she looked down at her hand and at the world around her. "What a ridiculous student I taught."


    A swirl of different colors that weren''t there before. No, they had always been there, but just invisible. As to what they were... Mana.


    -Mana sight. It was a theory. Something possible, but that hadn''t been achieved. Simr to how Demon Lord Kishirika Kishirisu was said to possess and to grant a Demon Eye that allowed people to perceive magical power, mana sight was a theoretical ability that would allow individuals to perceive mana itself.


    And now Roxy possessed something simr.


    Yes. ''Simr.''


    Roxy could tell right away. What she had now wasn''t just mere ''sight''.


    Out of curiosity, Roxy reached out to a thread of dark brown mana on the ground and pulled it up. When she did, she felt a thrum of power in her hands. And when she released it, a surge of stone spires erupted.


    "...How can you not call yourself a genius, Rudy?" Roxy muttered.


    It was a ridiculous magical array. She couldn''t even begin to fathom how it worked, but it seemed to self-perpetuate itself by drawing in ambient mana to supplement her own. And as a result, it adjusted her senses to be more sensitive to mana.


    But it wasn''t just a mere spell. Instead... it was a training mechanism.


    Roxy could tell. While there was some help letting her see the world like this, her own mana was bing attuned to it as well. Given time, this would be her natural vision. But even then, it would be a state she could shut off at will.


    It was something that went beyond a mere Demon Eye and sight. Instead, it was a supplementary spell that allowed a magician to be leaps and bounds above any other by possessing it. Direct maniption of mana as well as the ability to perceive it.


    Roxy sighed and started walking again. "I''ll have to work hard."


    It was a gift with the heartfelt feelings and work of her first student. She couldn''t squander it.


    Smiling, Roxy adjusted her hat and walked off, the wind blowing behind her back.

 22 – Young Child – Setting off

    22 ¨C Young Child ¨C Setting off


    The morning after Roxy left, I got up, washed my face and then headed over to her room. But halfway there, I stopped, remembering that she was gone.


    "Right... I graduated."


    After casting <Cumulonimbus>, I was officially a Saint-ranked Magician. The creme de creme of magic users. And on paper, I was on the same footing as Roxy- No, as my Master. She had nothing left to teach me... so she left.


    But I wasn''t. Not really.


    I could still remember it. Thatplete ease she had in controlling Cumulonimbus. The way that she went about and directed each part of it like a conductor, perfectly manipting each part-


    Ah. Except for when that lightning bolt hit Carravaggio and almost killed the horse. But that was because Roxy was lost in thought about leaving too, so it didn''t count.


    Staring at the empty room, I sighed.


    At that time, a voice echoed. My dad''s. "Oh?"


    I turned around and saw him walk out of his room.


    He was already dressed for the day, wearing his usual long-sleeved shirt and pants, along with his sword sheathed at his left side.


    I gave him a half-hearted wave and said, "Morning, Dad."


    "You''re up early, Rudy- Oh." He shifted his gaze to the door in front of me and chuckled. "Suffering from heartache already, huh, kiddo?"


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about." I quickly turned away from the door and started walking outside.


    My dadughed and then followed after me. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he said, "Cheer up, Rudy. The first one always holds a ce in your heart, but there''ll be plenty of other girls out there to heal the heartache. You just gotta find them."


    I rolled my eyes and brushed off his arm. "It''s not that, Dad. I like Master, but not like that."


    "Really now. She told me that she''d wait a couple years for you, but I guess I should tell her-"


    "Master said what?!"


    My dad grinned.


    I blinked and then kicked him in the shin.


    "Gah! What was that for?!"


    "You''re a jerk, Dad."


    Dammit. Can''t believe I fell for that. And what was I even thinking? Roxy''s much older than me anyway... It wasn''t like she''d be interested in a kid like that. Even if she was, the age difference would be a bit awkward.


    ...And now I''m thinking of dumb stuff again because of Dad.


    I sighed and headed back to my room.


    "Where are you going, Rudy?"


    "I''m going to grab my book, my wand, and then go exploring."


    My dad blinked. "Exploring?"


    "Yes. Exploring." I walked into my room and started prepping. "I think I need some fresh air for once."


    "Ah. Don''t want to be reminded of your cute Master. I got it, Rudy."


    "I hate you, Dad."


    "You didn''t deny it."


    I grabbed the scarf that Miss Lilia made for me and wrapped it around my neck. After that, I picked up my wand and the healing primer. Staring at my sword, I was tempted to grab that as well... but I wasn''tfortable enough to use it properly. I decided to just leave it behind.


    Besides, if things got hairy, I could make a sword with ice magic using <Ice de>.


    My dad was still waiting outside of my room when I finished prepping. Seeing that, I sighed and said, "Don''t you have anything better to do, Dad?"


    "Nope! It''s my day off today. I figured that my son would be heartbroken and told everyone I''d spend the day to cheer you up."


    "...You know. Sometimes I wonder why Mom even bothers with you, Dad."


    "Ouch! I''m not *that* bad."


    "So you know that you''re bad."


    "Guilty as charged. Which is why you should be better."


    I rolled my eyes.


    My dad smiled. But then his face turned serious and said, "But Rudy. Are you really fine? I know that saying goodbye for the first time is pretty painful, so if you want Dad to do anything to cheer you up..."


    Ah. Right. Dad really didn''t know how to be serious. Him cracking jokes was just his way of trying to lighten the mood.


    Realizing that, I gave him a genuine smile. "Thanks, Dad. But I''ll be fine."


    Yes. This was just a passing phase anyway. Puppy love was like that. It was just this growing body''s reaction to someone who I was close to and admired. That was all.


    So to get past that... Yep. Let''s get busy.


    My dad stared at me and then let out a soft smile. He patted my shoulder and said, "You''ll get through it Rudy. Remember, time heals all wounds... and distance makes the heart grow fonder. If you really want to win Miss Roxy over then just grow super strong and wow her when you meet again."


    "And I told you, it''s not like that... but thanks Dad." I waved at him and said, "I''m heading off now."


    "Alright, Rudy. Have fun- Wait! Where are you going?"


    "Around. Don''t worry. If something happens, I''ll send up a signal re. And I''ll be back by dark."


    "Er... Stay out of trouble?"


    I waved my wand and left.


    Now... there should be monsters in the forest, right?


    -LIV-


    Paul scratched the back of his head and then let out a sigh. Watching Rudy''s small form wander off in the distance, he frowned and said, "Is this really fine...?"


    Rudy had never wandered far from the house. Then again, he never had a reason too.


    But it would be fine. Rudy had really goodbat intuition. His son might only be above average with a sword, but in terms of magic...


    Advanced-ranked magicians of a single element were already rare enough. Saint-ranked magicians were rarer still.


    And his son was a jack of all trades that could use all spells at Advanced-rank in every element as well as use a trump card of a Saint-ranked water spell.


    There was nothing to worry about. Rudy was smart and knew how to fight. Not only that, but there was no monster around that could hurt him... and even if there was, Rudy could heal himself.


    Even so, Paul was surprisingly worried.


    Watching Rudy walk off, Paul let out a sigh. "...Dammit."


    If Paul was feeling like this after Rudy just went out to y... how did his Dad feel when he left?


    Rudy wasing back. And he was strong enough to where it would have to be someone or something that Paul had trouble with to hurt him.


    But when Paul left home, he hadn''t been like that. Paul was older, yes. Since he left at 12, he wasn''tpletely helpless.


    Even so, Paul left without a single coin to his name, and with just average sword skills. He didn''t have the right to hold his head up high without worry. And he had struggled a lot afterwards too.


    If Paul was this worried when Rudy was much better off than he had been... Then what about his dad?


    ...Was that why he died right after Paul left? Did the guilt and regret from the argument affect him that much? Did the worry about whether Paul was still alive finally push the old man over the edge?


    Paul remembered. He threw away the Notus name and his noble ties to try and make a name for himself. Because of that, he didn''t make contact with anyone from his family... Not until recently when he asked for help from his cousin Philip.


    So that meant that his dad never knew. He never knew that Paul was still alive, or that he managed to make a living for himself.


    And he died like that. No doubt regretting his decision to the very end and rethinking what ifs. Rethinking what would have happened if he hadn''t tossed out that ultimatum.


    Paul grit his teeth and subconsciously clenched his hand around his sword hilt.


    ...It was the old man''s fault in the first ce. If the guy hadn''t tried to force Paul to follow his path-


    Ah. But did the old man know any better?


    Paul was an only child. Not only that, but there hadn''t been anyone to help the old man out. The guy had been working hard every day, but... didn''t he also try to spend time with Paul?


    That time was in the form of crappy noble etiquette lessons or history... But now that Paul thought about it, the old man enjoyed that sort of stuff. It was all the guy really knew other than the sword.


    If Rudy didn''t like training... If Zenith and Lilia weren''t around...


    ...Wouldn''t Rudy have acted the same way that he did? Called Paul an old man who kept trying to force him to do something he wasn''t good at? Start getting annoyed at Paul and then decide that he had enough and run off?


    "...Hah." Paul let out a deep sigh and muttered, "I''m really a lucky bastard, aren''t I?"


    Rudy was different from Paul. His son was kind and patient. Not only that, but he was smart. A real genius, unlike Paul who was really only good at chasing girls and using his sword.


    Paul could understand it a bit now. The father that he hated and didn''t get along with because he thought they were too different... When it came down to it, the guy was just trying his best.


    Like Paul. Except, unlike Rudy, Paul had been an ungrateful bastard who didn''t think about his father at all.


    Not like Rudy who enjoyed spending time with his parents. Who kepting back to train with Paul even though he got made fun of him and beat up each time instead of being taught. Who didn''tin when his parents went out to work and just enjoyed the time they had together. Who was happy when they were happy... who panicked because he was worried he couldn''t fulfill his parent''s expectations.


    Because of all that...


    "Damn. Guess people really do change when they have kids, huh?"


    "Master Paul?" A polite voice called out from behind. Lilia''s.


    Paul flinched. But he yed it off as a yawn and turned around. "Morning, Lilia."


    Lilia nodded and then turned to look after Rudy. She raised her hand to block the sunlight from her eyes and then said, "Is the young master going out to y?"


    Paul nodded. "That''s right. Seems like he''s too tired of being cooped up at home... Or he''s missing his cute teacher too much."


    Lilia sighed and put her hand down. "I hope nothing happens. This is the first time young master set out alone. He''s mature andpetent, but..."


    "It''ll be fine." Paul turned to watch after his son''s shrinking back and said, "I bet Rudy wille backter today with a bunch of fun stories. Just you watch."


    Lilia paused and then let out a warm smile. "Yes. Knowing the young master, he will." Saying that, Lilia turned back to see Rudy off.


    Paul nced over to look at Lilia. And when he did, he froze.


    ...Paul had never really noticed it until now. But seeing that soft and motherly smile on Lilia''a face instead of her usual carefully crafted expression...


    "Beautiful."


    Lilia nced at Paul and then nodded. "It really is, isn''t it?" She looked up at the sky and said, "A wonderful day for Rudy''s first adventure."


    "A-Ah. Yeah." Paul quickly nodded and stared after Rudy. "I hope he has fun."


    Dammit, Paul! Stop that! You have Zenith already!


    Besides... Didn''t you forget?


    What you did to Lilia that day... Even if you liked her like that, what you did...


    ''Well, why don''t you take responsibility?''


    An idle thought echoing in his head.


    Paul stopped to think about that.


    ''You did with Zenith too, didn''t you? And doesn''t Rudy like Miss Lilia a lot? Won''t he be happy to have two moms?''


    ...No. Paul couldn''t do that. And even if he did, Zenith would never forgive him. Plus, he promised.


    ''But Rudy likes Lilia more anyway, so does it matter? He spends more time with her than with his real mom. He''ll be a bit sad at first, but don''t you think he''ll be happier?''


    That''s-


    "Master Paul?"


    "Ah." Paul shook his head. "Sorry, Lilia. I was... thinking about something. What did you say?"


    "I asked if Miss Zenith is aware that Rudy is going out alone?"


    Paul froze. "A-Ah. Well-"


    "Rudy! Are you okay, Sweetie? Mommy''s here to give you a hug if you''re sad! ...Rudy?"


    Lilia gave Paul a nk stare.


    Paul broke out in cold sweat.


    ...Maybe he should have woken Zenith up first...

 23 – Young Child – A Strange White Mist

    23 ¨C Young Child ¨C A Strange White Mist


    "Oh! It''s the young master!"


    "Hi there!"


    "Greetings, young master!"


    I smiled and waved at the vigers I passed. Most of them were people I became acquainted with after helping Roxy out, but there were some new people who called out to me as well.


    It seemed like I was starting to get a reputation for myself. Though, being called young master...


    It wasn''t wrong, but it felt weird. I mean, Dad was technically a knight so it was urate. But...


    "Social sses are weird." I muttered under my breath and kept walking.


    It was always a thing. I mean, it was hard to not notice how our house was the nicest. Not only that, but then there was the fact that I could have a magic teacher personally instruct me for over two years... and that there was Miss Lilia there as well...


    But seeing it first hand...


    The vige wasn''t terrible. The houses were well constructed and nobody looked underfed or in bad shape. But everyone around looked used to the sun and hard work. Even the kids were tanned.


    They were happy, but it was also a stark difference.


    I nodded to myself and said, "You were lucky. Don''t forget."


    I somehow got a second chance at life. Not only that, but it was a second chance in a recently well-off family with loving parents. One where they supported me and gave me the resources I asked for to help me go along.


    I had to remember. This was a world simr to medieval times. Nobility existed and was a real thing. Not only that, reading was a privelege of the elite. Books were expensive.


    So I shouldn''t waste it.


    "...I''ll need to look into itter."


    Right now, magic was just used forbat. Not only that, but it wasrgely determined by luck whether a person would have the potential for magic


    At least, ording tomon sense.


    But I doubted thatmon sense. Not only that... but magic would be an equalizer.


    If it could be systematically distilled and granted to everyone-


    Ah. Wait. That would immediately cause a power struggle.


    ...Let''s leave this issue aside forter. Democracy and republics had their fair share of issues.


    Not to mentionplicated.


    I was already sick of politics in myst life. I really didn''t want to get involved in it in this one.


    I stretched and took a look around. I was passing through the vige on my way to the forest. Since I had a book of healing spells to y with, I needed things to test it out on.


    From what I knew, healing spells also worked on nts. We had a few trees and flowers back at home, but those were nts that Mom carefully cultivated for these past five years. She''d be really sad if they got hurt, so I didn''t want to mess with them.


    Forest it was. Not only that, but there should be some animals and monsters to experiment on too.


    I wouldn''t be cruel, of course. It wasn''t like I was going to catch a squirrel and dissect it.


    But if say a wild boar or wolf attacked me... it was fair game for what happened to them afterwards, right?


    Right.


    I wasn''t a psychopath, I swear. Or a serial killer. Or a sociopath.


    Maybe.


    Probably?


    Well... I didn''t have any voices in my head telling me to murder anything and I didn''t particrly want to go kill things... so it should be fine.


    Anyway, adventuring.


    After walking some more and greeting the farmers along the way, I arrived at the forest. And when I did...


    "Huh?"


    I blinked and looked around.


    "That''s... weird?"


    The air was dense and covered in mist. At least, it looked like it was covered in mist. But that ''mist'' felt too energetic to be simply ''mist.'' And it also felt like someone was watching me.


    I frowned and then ced my right hand over my eyes. After that, I muttered, "Barrier, seal my gaze."


    A faint flicker of dark violet mana, followed by a pair of magic formations blinking into existence.


    It wasn''t really a spell. At least, not anything official. I still needed to work out the kinks on making it a real spell by fixing up the magic circles so that anyone could replicate it, but right now it worked.


    ...Maybe I shouldpile my notes and send them off to Master Roxy. She would definitely be able toe up with something useful out of it.


    Ah. And I should probably send her it anyways so that she could figure out what I gave her...


    Wait, I was getting sidetracked again.


    I lowered my hand and then opened my eyes.


    I could see a faint violet magic circle ovepping my vision. The inevitable result of that barrier spell sealing my mage... mana... or whatever sight.


    But I couldn''t see anything else. The forest was just beautiful greenery. Trees softly swaying in the wind, birds chirping in the distance, sunlight filtering down through the foliage...


    I frowned and dissipated the barrier spell. And the moment I did that, the surroundings turned misty again.


    "...Is it a monster?"


    I frowned and made a makeshift stone backpack to hold my book. After cing it there and securing it, I pulled out my wand, quickly tracing out basic magic circles for each of the magic stones. Fire, water, wind, earth... and for good measure, lightning and healing.


    With those up and running, I could instacast anything Advanced-Rank and below, as well as Cumulonimbus in a pinch.


    For good measure though, I traced out the basic <Magic Barrier> spell in my left hand and formed a magic circle to keep it in ce.


    Whatever the source of this mana was, I could tell that it wasn''t friendly. Not only that, but it seemed... slippery. As if it was trying to pretend it wasn''t here.


    And it was doing that pretty well. If I couldn''t see it, I would have just thought that there was a bunch of mana in the area.


    But I could, so I had to handle it.


    Dad said that he, Mom, and Master Roxy went to go check out the forest, but they didn''t find anything other than monsters. But they couldn''t see mana like I could so they probably just took out a strong monster and thought that was the end of it.


    But if the mana was this thick already... and if it had been growing denser like my dad said, I had a feeling things would get out of hand soon if no one resolved it.


    "...Well. I suppose I did want to experiment with barrier spells..."


    I was fairly confident. Even if it was a powerful monster, I could run away.


    In the worst case scenario, I could just swap over all my magic circles in my wand to barrier magic and do a times six magic barrier.


    In theory.


    "I''d rather not have to test that theory though..." I muttered.


    Dammit. Maybe I should have just got over myself and told Master Roxy about me seeing mana earlier. I''d been scared of her treating me differently, but knowing her she would have just epted it and help me research it.


    ...Actually, she probably would have been ecstatic.


    And probably stick around longer.


    And then... maybe...


    "Ugh." I shook my head and started walking into the forest. "Dad''s such a bad influence."


    Got me thinking about Master Roxy like that... There was too much of an age difference anyway.


    ...But maybe a few yearster...


    ''Why don''t you just go on an adventure then? I bet if you be an S-ranked adventurer or conquer a few magicalbyrinths, she''d be pretty interested you know?''


    I flinched and spun around. "...What the hell?"


    It was a clear voice in my head. It sounded like mine too. If I hadn''t been paying attention, I might even have thought it was.


    But it wasn''t.


    I frowned and kept walking, slowly keeping an eye out. And as I did, I started thinking.


    I wasn''t a genius anyway. I worked hard, but there was a wall I couldn''t surpass. Like Roxy, like my dad... No matter how hard I worked, there''d be a limit I''d face one day. If both of them worked as hard as I did, I''d never be able to catch up.


    ''So then why not just live it up? You''re a Saint-ranked magician and you''re young. Even if you can''t catch up to them, you''d live a pretty good life anyway, wouldn''t-''


    "Got you."


    I swiped my left hand through the air. At the same time, I swept my wand up, swapping out the magic circles for six barrier spells.


    Like a fishing reel being unspun by a giant fish, my crimson mana poured out of me to fuel the magic circles. But at the same time, that misty mana started to converge on the barrier spell.


    ''There you are.''


    A voice. Not mine, but someone else''s. A greasy male voice that sounded like a used car salesman. Charming too. Enough to where a person might get caught unaware if they weren''t already suspicious.


    And one that responded to my words with simr ones.


    My eyes widened and I quickly finished my barrier spell.


    But it didn''t matter.


    As soon as the voice said it found me, the white mana vanished. Completely dispersed like it wasn''t there.


    I squinted to make sure it wasn''t just ying any tricks.


    That... thing was slippery. It was possible that it was just hiding from me and biding its time.


    So I waited.


    Carefully scanning the surroundings, constantly keeping up a barrier spell...


    But nothing.


    "...A ghost?"


    I muttered and took a look around.


    It was possible. That mana certainly felt like a malevolent spirit.


    But to vanish so suddenly...


    I frowned and grabbed my book again. It was a healing magic primer, but there were other spells in there too. I remembered something about ''Divine Attack'', right? Spells meant to target spiritual beings?


    ...Ah. There it is.


    "Oh holy spirits of light and fortune, heed my prayer and y the evil before me. <Light Ball>."


    A sh of white light. Simr color to the mist that just attacked me, but more pure. Not sinister like the mist I saw earlier, but ''holy.''


    I carefully observed the flow and the way it converted my mana. And then after that, I pulled back my mana from the barrier spell.


    Almost immediately, the sinister white mist came back, as if it was waiting for that chance.


    But I acted first.


    Taking about half of my total mana, I converted it into that holy mana and spread it out, wreathing my body with my own personal white mist.


    The moment I did, I heard a voice talking. But it was covered in static, like I was hearing it off a distorted radio.


    ''You... Lace? ...possible! ...can''t see... Future...?! ...Have to...!''


    That white mist vanished again. This time though, instead of disappearing it flew up into the air and shot off somewhere.


    I frowned and then pulled my mana back. This time though, the white mist didn''t return.


    "What was that about...?"


    The voice said a bunch of random stuff and then left. Did I spoil its n or something? It mentioned something being possible, Lace, and then the future...


    I frowned.


    ...Maybe it would be a good idea to ce down some self-perpetuating barrier magic circles in the area.


    Just in case.

 24 – The Doubting Mother

    24 ¨C The Doubting Mother


    It was just a small change. Zenith didn''t notice at first, but as time went on, it was hard not to notice.


    At the start, it was just Rudy. Since Roxy had left, Rudy had started leaving the house more. He always took the book that Zenith gave to him for his birthday... but he also always wore the scarf that Lilia knitted for him.


    That was fine. Her son cherished whatever he was given and he adored Lilia as well, treating her like part of the family. And for all intents and purposes, she *was* family.


    Unlike Zenith''s real sister who she didn''t have any meaningful connection with, Zenith felt like she had a true bond with Lilia. They both loved Rudy, cared for him as he grew up, and supported him in whatever he did.


    But Zenith started to notice it.


    Every time Rudy came back home, his scarf would be perfectly unscathed. On the other hand, the healing primer that Zenith gave him came back a little bit more beaten up each time.


    The pages in the corner were bent and dog-eared. The cover was a bit scuffed, as if dropped a few times. A few pages were torn and ripped...


    Zenith knew that it was a magic textbook. Because of that, it was bound to go through some wear and tear, especially if Rudy was using it to actually practice out on his adventures.


    And yet seeing how Lilia''s gift was in pristine condition each time while hers was beat up... Zenith would be lying if her heart didn''t ache a bit when she saw that. Or that she didn''t feel a bit jealous.


    But that was fine. Zenith knew that Rudy loved her. Whenever he came back, Zenith was the first one he hugged. And whenever she cooked dinner, he would always thank her for the food.


    So it was fine.


    But then she started to notice something else.


    Paul.


    Her husband loved her. Zenith knew it. And he made that more than apparent with his very... intimate touches whenever they had the chance. And he made a good show of that at night too.


    But she noticed that he was a bit different now. And not just around her.


    Since Zenith wasn''t really a morning person... and because Paul was so enthusiastic at night, she usually slept in.


    Because of that, she tended to miss when Rudy set out for the day.


    But Paul had stamina that was just as dumb as he was sometimes and could get up early. And since Lilia didn''t have to deal with her husband''s enthusiasm, she also got up early.


    Zenith hated to doubt him. And she hated to doubt Lilia as well.


    But she couldn''t help but feel worried.


    She and Paul had been doing it every night for the past five years. But in spite of that, there weren''t any signs of another pregnancy.


    He didn''t seem to mind. And Zenith didn''t either. They had a happy little family together with Rudy and Lilia. Maybe Rudy had actually been a divine miracle granted by Milis and she was fated to not have any more children.


    That was a bit of a sad thought, but it was fine. She was happy enough as it was.


    And she thought that Paul was as well.


    But one morning she got up early. Paul had been a bit worn out the previous day because he went a bit harder on Rudy during sword training. Due to that, he stopped a bit early into the night. And as a result, Zenith wasn''t as wornout.


    So she got up early.


    It was nice. For once, she could see Rudy off.


    It still took her some effort to get up, but she managed to get dressed and head to the door to watch her son leave.


    But before then, she saw her husband and Lilia.


    It wasn''t anything intimate. Paul didn''t embrace her and Lilia didn''t show any signs of crossing that line.


    But Zenith could feel it.


    The two stood there and watched Rudy set off with a warm atmosphere. Like a proper married couple should be.


    There wasn''t anything physical between them, but the air was soft. Gentle.


    Not like with her and Paul.


    Seeing that, she quietly went back to her room and pretended to sleep for a while.


    ...It was fine. It was just her imagination. There wasn''t anything between them.


    But after that morning, Zenith started to pay more attention. Both to Rudy and to her husband.


    She took a few more days off from the clinic to stay at home and spend time with Rudy. And when she did, he stayed home with her to have fun and talk healing magic.


    But one time she snuck home early to see how Rudy interacted with Lilia.


    When she did, she saw her son happily sitting on Lilia''sp and chatting away while she patted his head.


    A clear difference.


    Whenever Rudy talked with Zenith, he always sat across from her. And he hugged her a lot, but he was always embarrassed when she tried to hold him like that.


    Zenith thought that was just because he was growing up. But seeing how easily he did it with Lilia...


    But fine. Zenith had to admit that Lilia spent more time with Rudy than she did. And Zenith had to admit that Lilia was the one who supported Rudy the entire time with unconditional love.


    So she could ept that. And Rudy didn''t show any signs that he loved Lilia *more* than Zenith. Just that he also loved her a lot.


    So it was fine.


    But then Zenith started to notice it.


    Subtle. It was very subtle, but Paul started paying more attention to Lilia.


    He gave her more smiles. He asked how she was doing. His eyes lit up just a bit when she smiled back. And when he watched Rudy and Lilia interact, Paul seemed to hold his head up a tiny bit more.


    But it was fine.


    Yes. It was fine.


    But try as she might, a small voice kept whispering in her head. Thoughts she tried to ignore but couldn''t.


    ''Why is he acting like that?''


    ''Are they having an affair?''


    ''Rudy thinks Lilia is like a mom too, doesn''t he?''


    ''What if you really can''t have any more children?''


    ''Do you really belong here?''


    It was a picture-perfect happy family.


    The supportive mother. The happy child. The proud father.


    ...But the woman in the picture wasn''t her.


    ''If it continues like this...''


    Zenith loved Paul. And Paul loved her.


    ...But Paul didn''t *only* love her.


    Milis taught that marriages were only between one man and one woman. And when Zenith married Paul, she tied him down with that. She said that she would only sleep with him if she was the only woman he looked at after that.


    But this was Paul. He was a guy who had more lovers than she could count before she met him. And he was a guy whose nature was to be wild and chase after women.


    If it wasn''t for her, Zenith was sure of it. That guy would probably have a whole harem of lovers and over a dozen different children. No, he probably *did* have some bastard children somewhere in the world out there.


    Yes. If it wasn''t for her.


    And seeing how Lilia and Paul were together. How perfect they looked...


    ''Why don''t you just leave? They don''t need you, right?''


    "Mom?"


    Zenith blinked and took a look around.


    ...Right. She was spending time with Rudy today. He wanted to talk with her about something and grabbed her to sit down at the dining room table. Her on one side and Rudy on the other, with the healing primer between them.


    Rudy frowned and tilted his head. "Are you alright?"


    "...I''m fine, Rudy." Zenith forced a smile.


    "...You don''t look fine."


    Zenith sighed and said, "Mom''s just... tired. There''s been... a lot going on recently."


    "...Are you really alright?"


    Zenith looked at her son and then flinched, looking away.


    They were there. The sharp and analytical green eyes that seemed to peer into people''s souls.


    Zenith couldn''t face them at the moment, so she averted her gaze. "...I''m fine."


    "Master Roxy told me that when girls say they''re fine, they''re not really fine." Rudy frowned and then walked around the table to sit next to Zenith.


    Zenith let out a weakugh and said, "Roxy taught you that, did she?"


    "Mmhm. So..." Rudy tugged Zenith''s shirt. "What''s wrong, Mommy?"


    Zenith flinched and looked down at Rudy. His sharp gaze was gone, reced by one filled with soft concern. Those light green eyes were wide and round, almost like a puppy''s.


    "...Did I do something wrong? Do you want me to not go out anymore?"


    Zenith let out a deep sigh and hugged Rudy. "...No. It''s not that, Rudy. Mom... Mommy''s just being stupid."


    Rudy hugged her back and said, "You''re not stupid, Mommy. You''re my mom and I love you."


    Zenith trembled.


    They were just little words.


    *My mom.*


    *I love you.*


    They were just a soft and gentle reminder.


    Even so, to her who had been worrying so much...


    Zenith hugged Rudy a little tighter and said, "Thank you, Rudy. Mommy loves you too."


    Her chest felt warm. A cold chill she didn''t realize she was feeling until that point faded away.


    ...What was she even worried about?


    Rudy loved her. Zenith''s sweet and smart son loved her.


    ...But...


    "...Rudy."


    "Hm?" Rudy looked up. "Yes, Mommy?"


    The question was on the tip of her tongue.


    ''Do you love Miss Lilia like your Mom too?''


    But she couldn''t ask it. Whatever the answer was, Zenith knew it was something she shouldn''t hear. So she shook her head and let out a soft smile. Patting Rudy''s back, she said, "It''s nothing, Rudy."


    "...Alright, Mommy. But don''t be sad, okay? I''m growing up a little, but Mommy is still Mommy. Nobody can rece you, okay?"


    Zenith''s eyes teared up a bit. She took a deep breath and then patted Rudy''s back again. "...Okay. Rudy."


    "Good. Then..." Rudy reached over and pulled the primer close. "Can Mommy look at this with me? I don''t understand what the difference is between <Healing> and <Healing X>..."


    Zenith brushed her eyes and smiled. "Of course. Now, the main difference is that starting from <Healing X>, mana itself heals the body..."

 25 – Young Child – A Sinister Presence

    25 ¨C Young Child ¨C A Sinister Presence


    The day after I had a heart-to-heart with my mom, I stayed home to interrogate- I mean, have my sword lessons with my dad.


    Mom was out with Miss Lilia on some errands in the vige so it was just us two guys at home until evening.


    Which meant I had all the time in the world to get my answers.


    I swung my wooden sword, parrying my Dad''s attack. After that, I frowned and said, "Hey Dad."


    "Yeah?"


    I stared at the white mist swirling around him and said, "Have you noticed anything strange recently?"


    My dad swung his sword again and then frowned. "Not really. Why?"


    "Because Mom''s been acting weird around you, and I wondered if you knew why."


    My dad stumbled, missing his next swing. After that, heughed and said, "D-Don''t worry about it, Rudy. It''s just-"


    "You haven''t done anything with Miss Lilia, have you?"


    My dad flinched.


    I narrowed my eyes.


    My dad stared at me and then sighed. "No, Rudy." He let out a strained smile and said, "I haven''t done anything."


    He hadn''t done anything ''yet.''


    My dad didn''t say it, but I could hear it in his tone of voice.


    This was a problem.


    I knew that there was something between my dad and Miss Lilia a while back now, but it hadn''t seem like anything would happen because of it. After all, if Miss Lilia had heard the same things I did for the past five yearste at night, washed the sheets afterwards, and still didn''t do anything, I was pretty sure that nothing would happen.


    Until recently.


    It was a slight change. A faint longing in the way Miss Lilia looked at my dad. The way my dad''s gaze lingered a bit more on Miss Lilia when he looked at her.


    It didn''t seem like anything had happened yet. As irresponsible as Dad was, he was also honorable. And he cared about our family too much to do anything to ruin it. Not to mention that Miss Lilia was too respectful to let that line be crossed.


    But all it would take was one mistake. And the way things were headed, it seemed like that mistake was inevitable.


    Mom had noticed too. She tried to hide it from me, but from how frantic Mom and Dad''s night sessions were recently, as well as how clingy she had been with me, she was starting to get worried.


    My frown deepened and I raised my wooden sword.


    My dad flinched.


    "...That''s the sign of a guilty conscience, Dad."


    He blinked and thenughed. "Rudy''s as smart as always." He shook his head. "But don''t worry. Nothing''s wrong. And nothing''s going to happen, okay?"


    "...Okay. Then before we get back to it..."


    "Yes?"


    "Is Miss Lilia your first love? And is that why you said time heals all wounds?"


    "Gah?!" My dad stumbled.


    At the same time, the white mist started swirling more around him.


    I narrowed my eyes and then shot out a cloud of my mana to wrap around my dad.


    Like before, I heard static. And in that static, I heard another voice.


    ''Norn... Dead end. Get rid... Affair?''


    After hearing that, the sinister white mist vanished again.


    I frowned, mulling over those words.


    Norn and dead end...


    Norn was the name of a Norse goddess of fate, wasn''t it? And dead end... then there was "get rid" and affair...


    Did someone curse my dad? No, was there someone trying to break up our family?


    Lilia seemed to have a mysterious past of some kind and there was clearly a history of some sort with her and my dad. Then there was the fact that my dad never talked about his side of the family other than that he was some noble...


    "Y-You''re imagining things, Rudy."


    My dad''s voice drew me out of my thoughts.


    Heughed and said, "I knew Lilia from a while back, but t-there definitely wasn''t anything like that."


    "Really?"


    "Really."


    "I''m going to ask Miss Lilia too, you know?"


    "Gah!? Really?! T-That... I mean... B-But I haven''t even told your mom yet!"


    "...So there is something."


    "Kuh..."


    -LIV-


    Long story short... My dad was a piece of shit. Lower than low. One of the worst scumbags to ever walk the Earth... or whatever this world was called.


    For once, he didn''t bother dodging and let me smack him around a few times with my wooden sword.


    I healed him, of course. But then he went back inside, downed a giant mug of mead and knocked out.


    Didn''t me him though considering all that he admitted.


    But now...


    I sat at the kitchen table and rubbed my face. "What the heck do I do?"


    To sum up the current situation...


    When my dad was 14, he joined a dojo where Miss Lilia trained. Since she was pretty, he started messing around trying to flirt with her. But since Miss Lilia wasn''t used to that sort of attention, and since my dad was even dumber than he was now, he thought she was into him. Then, at night, he snuck in and had loveydovey time with Miss Lilia.


    Non-consensual loveydovey time.


    My dad thought it was great. And Miss Lilia didn''t push him off or anything, so he thought she was into it. But when he finished, he realized that Miss Lilia was sobbing. And not happy tears.


    So of course my dad did the right thing and stuck around... not.


    Like the dumb kid he was, he bailed.


    He was lucky too. It seemed like Miss Lilia kept quiet about the incident and she didn''t get pregnant.


    It was a story that would make anybody think he was the worst scumbag to ever walk the.


    Of course, since my dad had a hell of a guilty conscience, he just dumped all of this info on me without thinking about the fact that I was still just a kid who would probably be crushed by the revtion.


    Again, my dad was lucky since I wasn''t just an ordinary kid.


    If I was though, I probably would have left with Mom, told Miss Lilia, and then never contacted Dad again.


    But I wasn''t, so it was fine.


    Still... what a freaking mess.


    My dad admitted that he loved Mom, but that he was starting to get feelings for Miss Lilia. Or rather, that his feelings from back then wereing back. And from what I could tell, even though theirst encounter ended in a crime, Miss Lilia still had a soft spot for my dad.


    Maybe that thing about never forgetting the person who you had your first time with was true...? Even if they were scum?


    ...No, that scum had been cleaned up over the years, so I guess it made sense.


    I didn''t know how he was back then, but right now my dad was also fairly attractive. Not to mention he was about 10000000000 times more mature and responsible than that asshole who pumped and dumped Miss Lilia back then after attacking her in the middle of the night.


    At least, he better be unless he wanted me to beat the crap out of him again and not heal him up.


    But now we had a big problem.


    My dad said he wouldn''t do anything... but this was my dad. He liked women, food, women, alcohol, women, swordfighting, and women. The fact that he''d held out this long considering his apparent wild youth was actually incredible. Still, it would take just one slipup for our family to copse.


    Miss Lilia was professional... but she also loved me like her own kid. And I didn''t doubt that she had started to wonder what it would be like to raise a child of her own... and especially a child with my dad. Not to mention all of her pent-up sexual frustration from the past five years from hearing my mom and dad go at it every night. And since she had a soft spot for my dad, if he asked her... No, if he showed up in her roomte at night, she probably wouldn''t resist.


    Well, I was pretty sure it would be 100% consensual this time around though.


    But then there was my mom.


    I could already see how worried she was about my dad and Miss Lilia. Not to mention the fact that it had been five years of nighttime intimacy and there still wasn''t a single sign of a sibling for me.


    Considering how young my mom was, that fact definitely weighed on her. Then there was the fact that I had subconsciously run to Miss Lilia way back when I panicked and blew up the storage room with <Ssh Flow>... Yeah, my mom was definitely having some self-esteem issues as a mother and wife.


    I was trying my best to help keep her spirits up, but words could only do so much. She was happy, but that didn''t get rid of her worries.


    Then there was this damned sinister white mist that seemed to spring up when I least expected it and tried to drive a wedge between everyone.


    I noticed. Each time it showed up, whoever it swirled around started having weird thoughts.


    First it was me, then my mom, then my dad... That sinister white mist was definitely trying to break us apart. I didn''t know why it was trying to do that, but I knew for a fact that was what it was trying to do.


    The problem was, I couldn''t keep dispersing it like this each time. And I definitely couldn''t watch my parents and Miss Lilia 24/7.


    Not only that, but that sinister white mist... person... entity wasn''t *actively* doing anything. It just seemed to be highlighting certain thoughts and fears.


    But that was worse.


    If it was something solid, I could fight it. If all I had to do was just block it off, I would.


    But even if I did... the damage was already done. The fuse on this ticking timebomb was already lit and just waiting to go off.


    If my dad gave in just once. If Miss Lilia didn''t refuse. If my mom found out...


    There was no way. I wouldn''t be able to salvage it.


    But then... if that happened-


    Wait.


    ...Maybe.


    My mom was someone who cared a lot about principles and responsibility.


    My dad... well, it didn''t really matter what he thought. It was his goddamned fault we were in this mess, so I''d make him deal with it.


    Miss Lilia... she was professional, but she also had a soft heart. And if my mom approved, she would fall in line quick enough.


    ...I was going to need to do a lot of acting.


    Fortunately, with this cute face of mine and mypleteck of pride, I''m a natural scammer!


    ...God I hoped this worked. If it didn''t...


    No, no. Positive thoughts, me. Let''s not start nning world domination and plotting to overthrow the heavens just yet.


    Remember, you like this world. It hasn''t done you wrong yet, so there''s no need to burn it to the ground. Besides, Master Roxy is a good person, and you don''t want to make her disappointed, right? What would she think if her precious student went around destroying everything in sight? Not to mention the disappointment Miss Lilia and Mom will have if you be a tyrannical demon lord... So there''s no need to go overboard, right?


    Right.


    So let''s not test those particr magical theories we have about creating God-Ranked magic by chaining three-dimensional magic circles in an Archimedes Spiral with a Lace Transform to integrate imaginary energy with real energy into aplex magical form that could potentially create a space-time copse.


    Definitely no need for that.


    ...And definitely *do* need to forget about that. Because if mind reading was a thing, we definitely don''t want anyone else figuring out how that works...

 26 – A Child’s Love

    26 ¨C A Child¡¯s Love


    A few days had passed since the minor mental breakdown Zenith had after spending time with her cute son. During that time, she had managed to cheer herself up a bit and calm down.


    ...Even so, she started a habit of getting up when Paul got up now.


    It wasn''t because she doubted him or Lilia. It was... just in case.


    But today, Paul left immediately after waking up because there was an incident. Apparently, some children had gone missing, so he and the vige guardsmen were going out on a search in the forest and surrounding area.


    That left just Zenith and Lilia home to see Rudy off on his usual adventure.


    Zenith was worried though. Even if her sweet son was capable and smart, she couldn''t help but think about the what-ifs of him disappearing...


    But she didn''t need to worry.


    The living room area. Zenith had just started preparing some breakfast and was heading over to Rudy''s room. But he was already awake.


    Walking up to Zenith, Rudy grabbed her arm and said, "Mommy. Can we y today?"


    Zenith''s heart warmed and she pulled Rudy into a hug. "Of course we can, Rudy!"


    As she said that though, Zenith caught a glimpse of Lilia standing in the back.


    It was just for a brief moment, but Zenith caught the maid looking sad.


    Seeing that, Zenith flinched and said, "But it''s a bit boring with just us two, right? So-"


    "No. I want it to be just Mommy today."


    An instant shutdown. It seemed like Rudy knew exactly what Zenith was going to say and stopped it before she could speak the words.


    A childish response. Anding from Rudy, it was a bit out of character.


    ...But it seemed like he had realized that Zenith was feeling down and was trying to cheer her up.


    Zenith felt her eyes water again at that thought, but she took a deep breath and stopped that. Instead, she smiled and patted Rudy''s head. "Fine, fine. Mommy can''t win against Rudy after all."


    Rudy let out a bright and wide-eyed smile. "Yes! Then let''s go outside right now! I have something I want to show Mommy... Ah!" He turned to Lilia and said, "Miss Lilia! Can you help finish Mommy''s cooking? It''s going to take a while!"


    Lilia let out a warm smile and bowed her head. "Of course, young master." She raised her head to look at Zenith and said, "Please, have fun with the young master, Zenny."


    A sincere and genuine send-off. One without any ulterior motives, spite, or jealousy.


    Zenith felt a pang of guilt when she realized that. But before she could think too much on that, Rudy dragged her away.


    "A-Ah." Zenith blinked and waved at Lilia. "Thanks, Lily."


    Lilia smiled back and bowed her head slightly.


    Rudy frowned and tugged Zenith''s arm. "Come on, Mommy!"


    Zenithughed. "Fine, fine. Mommy''s hurrying up."


    -LIV-


    The hills just beyond the gates of their house. That was where Rudy dragged Zenith to.


    Zenith looked around and then said, "So do you have something big to show Mommy, Rudy?"


    "I do. But there''s also something really important I want to talk with Mommy about."


    "Of course." Zenith smiled and said, "Mommy''s all ears, Rudy."


    Rudy smiled and said, "Then first... the big surprise." He grabbed a tiny acorn from his pocket and ced it on the ground. "I know Mommy likes trees, so I wanted to show this to you."


    "Hm?" Zenith blinked and said, "An acorn?"


    Rudy drew his wand from the holster on his waist and said, "Just watch. It took me a lot of experimenting to get it right, but..." He swept his wand across the air.


    A sh of golden light. For a split second, Zenith saw the six magic stones on Rudy''s wand shine. And she thought she saw a brief glimpse of six magic circles floating above each stone.


    But just as quickly as she saw them, they vanished. And then the ground started shaking.


    "R-Rudy!?" Zenith''s eyes widened. "W-What''s going on?"


    Rudy smiled and said, "The miracle of life... Well, one miracle of life." He walked over to stand beside Zenith and held her hand. "Like Mommy said, <Healing X> uses mana itself to heal. So I thought really hard about it and wondered what would happen if I used <Healing X> and mixed it with <Healing>. It didn''t work really well on already living trees, but for new ones..."


    A tiny sprout peeked out from the acorn. Then roots pierced into the ground, swiftly spreading. After that, the sprout began to grow before their very eyes.


    Rudy looked at the tree and said, "But I did some more thinking after that. If <Healing X> used mana itself to help heal, I wondered if I could shape the mana to ''heal'' in a certain way. It was really hard and I don''t think I know enough about people to make it work, but for nts..."


    The tree''s branches spread out. As it did, leaves started to unfold along the edges. But instead of a pure green, they were an ethereal fluffy white with a golden tinge around the edge.


    "...I managed to figure something out." Rudy spun around and smiled. Waving his arm out to the tree, he said, "This is my present to you, Mommy. A gift for being my mom and loving me this entire time."


    Zenith''s eyes were wide, slowly taking in the sight before her.


    It was an oak tree. But at the same time, it wasn''t.


    Bark that looked like it was carved from bronze, fluffy leaves that looked like clouds with golden linings... and the familiar warm radiance of healing mana.


    "...How did you do this, Rudy?" Zenith drew her eyes away from the incredible sight and then looked at the incredible person responsible for it. "Was there a spell like this in the book I gave you?"


    That was the only exnation. But even so... she didn''t remember a spell like this existing...


    "Hm? No." Rudy shook his head and said, "I think there would be a lot more cool trees if there was. But I read and reread Mommy''s gift a lot to figure it out. Do you like it?" A childish and shy smile. Rudy shifting in ce with his head slightly lowered, as if waiting for praise.


    Zenith stared at Rudy and then realized it.


    The reason why his book was so worn out. Why so many pages had been dog-eared.


    It was because of this. Because Rudy had been working hard on this project in secret to surprise her.


    He was working so hard for something so sweet. A secret gift just for her to show how much he appreciated and loved her.


    And she thought...!


    Zenith''s vision blurred.


    "E-Eh?! Mommy!? Why are you crying!?"


    Zenith covered her face and started sobbing. "Mommy''s sorry! Mommy''s so sorry!"


    "U-Um... I forgive Mommy?"


    Zenith wailed and pulled Rudy into a tight hug. "I''m sorry! I''m so sorry!"


    "I-It''s fine! Don''t cry. Please don''t cry, Mommy!"


    Zenith hugged Rudy and cried for a while. Eventually though, with Rudy hugging her back and saying that he loved her and forgave whatever she thought she was feeling sad about, Zenith calmed down.


    "...Are you okay now, Mommy?"


    "...Mm. Thank you, Rudy." Zenith brushed her tears aside and let out a weak smile. "I''m sorry."


    Rudy smiled back and patted her head. "It''s fine, Mommy."


    Zenith''s eyes started to water again. But she held back her tears and let out a long sigh. "...I don''t deserve a son as good as you."


    Rudy really was a miracle. A smart, sweet, and caring son. Someone who could tell how worried she was and tried his best to cheer her up...


    Rudy shook his head and said, "That''s wrong." He gave Zenith a soft smile and said, "Mommy deserves the best for being the best mom ever."


    Zenith doubted that. But seeing that bright and adoring gaze, she couldn''t say anything in response. Instead...


    "...Can I hold you, Rudy?"


    ...She felt a bit selfish. She wanted to hold her son just like Lilia did.


    "Of course!"


    Zenith smiled and then stood up. "Here. Let''s go sit under your tree."


    "That''s *your* tree, Mommy."


    Zenithughed, her heart feeling a bit lighter with Rudy''s childish insistence. "Alright. Then let''s go sit under my tree."


    Rudy grabbed Zenith''s right hand with his left.


    It was tiny. Even though Rudy had grown up a bit, he was still just a child.


    And yet it was that child who was making Zenith''s troubled heart calm down.


    "Mommy?" Rudy tilted his head.


    He was waiting for her. Like the child he was, Rudy didn''t move. Instead, he was waiting for Zenith to lead the way.


    Zenith smiled and walked forward.


    A soft wind blew, causing the tree''s branches to shift. At the same time, the soft and sweet scent of vani filled the air.


    Zenith sat down against the tree and then pulled Rudy into herp.


    For a brief moment, she thought he would squirm away, embarrassed.


    But Rudy didn''t move. Instead, he leaned back to look up at Zenith with a soft smile.


    Zenith''s heart warmed. Seeing that expression, she held Rudy tight and ced her head against his. "...Mommy''s little baby grew up so fast."


    "That''s not true." Rudy shook his head and said, "I''m still a kid. I''m not grown up yet."


    Zenithughed and then started smoothing down Rudy''s hair. "Even after bing a Saint-ranked magician, my Rudy is still childish, isn''t he?"


    "Of course. Master Roxy told me about it, you know? It''s a pain to grow up. Everyone starts looking at you different and expecting you to be things you aren''t." Rudy lowered his head and looked out at the distant hills. "If I could, I wish I could just live like this forever. You, Dad, Miss Lilia... it would be nice if these peaceful days could keep going."


    Zenith was quiet.


    ...Miss Lilia, huh?


    Did Rudy sense her difort? He looked up and said, "Mom."


    A change in the way he addressed her. Seeing that, it seemed like it was serious.


    Zenith sighed and said, "Yes, Rudy?"


    "Are you mad at Miss Lilia?"


    "...No." Zenith shook her head. "I''m not mad."


    And she wasn''t.


    Lilia did nothing wrong. Not only that, but she had only ever been good to them. To her.


    Helping Zenith raise Rudy. Doing house chores when Zenith couldn''t because she had to work. Preparing food for them, running errands even though she had an old injury that made it hard to walk...


    Not to mention that she neverined about how often Zenith and Paul were intimate either.


    No. Zenith wasn''t mad at Lilia. She could never be. But...


    "...It''splicated, Rudy." Zenith patted Rudy''s head and said, "It''s just-"


    "Is it because Dad has been looking at Miss Lilia different now?"


    Zenith flinched and looked down at Rudy.


    His innocent gaze was gone, reced by that analytical and judging look.


    Zenith wanted to look away... but she sighed and nodded her head. "...That''s right, Rudy." She hugged Rudy tight and muttered, "I don''t want to worry, but..."


    Paul was still young and handsome. And Zenith knew that if he walked out to the vige, he could take any of those women out for a roll in the hay. Even the ones that were married.


    Lilia was still young too. While a bit older than Zenith, she had a mature beauty that would draw anyone''s eyes. And whenever they went down in the vige together, Zenith noticed that more people looked at Lilia than her.


    Then there was the fact that all this time, Zenith never got pregnant once...


    She was worried.


    Was it because she tried to tie Paul down? Was it because her love was selfish and didn''t ept him for who he was? Was that why she couldn''t have any more children?


    Was that Milis saying that they weren''t meant to be together?


    ...Was Zenith not good enough? Was that why Paul started looking to Lilia?


    Zenith had to admit that she wasn''t the best mother, but she tried. And she wasn''t the best wife either, but she loved Paul. She really did.


    So... So why was he...?!


    "There''s a reason why Dad''s like that towards Miss Lilia, you know?"


    Zenith froze.


    "...What?"


    She looked down at Rudy.


    Rudy looked back at Zenith and said, "I know why Dad''s been acting like that around Miss Lilia, Mom. Do you want to know?"


    Zenith''s heart throbbed.


    A dozen different scenarios ran through her mind. But she didn''t stop to think about them. No, she felt that her heart would break if she did.


    So instead...


    She held Rudy tight, as if he was her lifeboat while she was lost at sea. Then, lowering her head, she quietly said, "...Tell me, Rudy."


    "Well..."

 27 – The Maid’s Hesitation

    27 ¨C The Maid¡¯s Hesitation


    Lilia quietly set up the food at the dining room table. It wasn''t anythingplex. It seemed like Zenith wasn''t feeling well since she only made some soup.


    That wasn''t enough though, so Lilia baked some bread to go along with it.


    After slicing the fresh loaf, Lilia arranged everything neatly around the table and then walked over to the window to check on the mother and son pair outside.


    Seeing the majestic new tree in the distance, Lilia let out soft smile and said, "Rudy is amazing as always."


    She had always been impressed by him since the time he was an infant. But watching him grow up into a kind-hearted and humble child despite his innate genius, Lilia couldn''t help but be proud.


    But because of that, she was also troubled.


    Lilia shifted her gaze down towards Zenith and Rudy.


    The two were seated together beneath the tree, having a tender discussion. It was a picture-perfect scene. A lovely mother quietly tending to her sweet child.


    And that reminded Lilia of her recent conflict.


    She noticed that Paul had been looking at her differenttely.


    When she first took the job, Paul stared at her with an indecent gaze. He tried to hide it, of course. But that man couldn''t help but eye beautiful women... especially women withrge breasts. That part of him hadn''t changed.


    But Lilia didn''t mind. After dealing with the fat nobles in the Asura Kingdom and all of their harassment, she felt that Paul was much better. All he did was look, after all.


    Well, he did much more than just look with Zenith, but that was a mutual thing, so it wasn''t indecent.


    In any case, Paul had been staring at Lilia with an indecent gaze since the time she took on the job as their maid.


    But that gaze had changed recently.


    Instead of the lecherous eyes that seemed to be undressing her at every turn or imagining her bare body, Paul''s gaze these days was soft. Not only that, but she noticed that he lingered a bit more on her these days, cared just a tiny bit more. Looked at her like a person instead of as another girl toy with.


    And that made Lilia''s heart throb.


    Five years. It had been over five years of her listening to Paul and Zenithte at night. Over five years of entering their room that reeked of their love and cleaning the aftermath. Over five years of doing her best to not think about her first time with Paul and how different he would be now that he became a responsible and thoughtful man instead of that reckless and inconsiderate youth.


    So when Lilia noticed that Paul''s emotions were starting to change, she was tempted. She was starting to reach her limit. And she thought that it wouldn''t be so bad if it was just once.


    But then she thought about Rudy.


    Rudy, the sweet and intelligent child who loved her as much as his own mother.


    It had been a long time since Lilia believed in anything like love orpassion. Especially when directed towards her.


    As a guards-maid for the Asura Kingdom''s concubines, she was just another tool. An object to be used by whomever and thrown away as needed. To take whatever was given without question and quietly ept it.


    And after she lost her purpose, she was thrown away. After losing her ability to fight, Lilia could be considered lucky to not lose her life.


    But she was luckier than that.


    After losing her purpose, she found a new life. Not only a new life, but she rediscovered emotions she thought had been wornout and gained things she never had.


    Unconditional love and support from Rudy. What it meant to have someone believe and ept you just for being you.


    Friendship and fun from Zenith. What it meant to have someone to talk to about idle things and spend time together.


    ...Desire and appreciation from Paul. What it meant to have someone want you not just for your body, but as a person.


    Thest emotions were new. And with them, she experienced new emotions as well.


    A longing. A yearning.


    Lilia couldn''t help but imagine it. Herself with a child of her own and a loving husband to take care of that child...


    She remembered the tender gaze that Paul had given Zenith at the moment Rudy was born. The sheer joy and happiness in both of their eyes.


    If she could experience that for herself...


    It would have been fine if it was someone else. Lilia was sure that Paul and Zenith would support her if she found a man and started her own family.


    Except, the only man she could imagine herself being with... was Paul.


    He was different now. The brash, arrogant, and reckless young man had turned into a calm and responsible father. He still had his faults, but he became a respectable man.


    And Lilia wanted him.


    Try as she might to deny it, she couldn''t.


    The one who took her first time. The one who reached out his hand to her again after she no longer had anywhere else to turn. The one whose sweet son cared for her as his own mother...


    But she couldn''t allow it. She drew a line and held herself back. She purposefully kept that distance because she loved Rudy and Zenith as much as she wanted Paul. She cared too much to destroy the happy family they had right now.


    Yet, she couldn''t ignore it. The fact that Paul wanted her as well...


    Lilia clenched her hands and lowered her head.


    "...This is fine." Lilia purposefully spoke her thoughts out loud. Like an oath, she said, "I won''t wish for anything else."


    This was her lot in life.


    A maid.


    That was all she could be. All she would be. Someone to be used and someone who would only support. Not someone who had her own value.


    It was enough.


    It had to be enough.


    Even if she never started a family of her own.


    Even if her heart ached every time she had that fantasy of herself with Paul and her own child...


    ''Even if Rudy forgets about you when he grows up and leaves?''


    Lilia flinched and looked around.


    That...!


    "Lily?"


    Another voice. Zenith''s.


    Lilia blinked and then noticed that Zenith had returned with Rudy quietly trailing behind her.


    Lilia also noticed that the atmosphere was different. She blinked and looked at Rudy.


    Rudy met her gaze and then looked away.


    <em>*ba-dump*</em>


    Lilia''s heart raced.


    Did... Did Zenith notice? No, did Rudy notice and tell Zenith?


    That...


    Before Lilia could think about anything else, Zenith sighed and said, "Can we talk? Just the two of us."


    Lilia turned to look at Rudy. "And the young master?"


    Rudy walked up to Lilia and gave her a hug. "It''ll be alright, Miss Lilia. Just be honest with Mommy, okay? ...I don''t want you to leave."


    Lilia tensed.


    ...It was certain than.


    Lilia looked back to Zenith.


    Unlike her usual carefree smile, there was a neutral and thoughtful expression.


    That only made Lilia more worried.


    But to reassure her, Rudy patted Lilia''s back and said, "It''ll work out, Miss Lilia. Now..." He stepped back and looked at Zenith. "I''ll go out to y in the forest and leave you and Miss Lilia to talk. Is that okay Mommy?"


    Zenith nodded. "That''s fine, Rudy. But be back before dark."


    Rudy smiled. "I will. ...I have to make sure you don''t kill Dad after all."


    Zenithughed. A cold and mercilessugh. "Don''t worry, Rudy. I won''t do that to your father. He still has to take responsibility after all."


    ...Responsibility?


    Lilia blinked, confused at the turn of events.


    Rudy waved and said, "I''ll be backter, Mom! Bye, Miss Lilia! Love you both!"


    And with that, Rudy left.


    That meant it was just Zenith and Lilia.


    "...Let''s sit down first." Zenith walked over to the dining room table and sat down.


    Lilia quietly sat down across from her.


    A tense silence.


    And then...


    "Lily." Zenith looked at Lilia and said, "Do you love Paul?"


    Lilia froze.

 28 – An Impossible Decision

    28 ¨C An Impossible Decision


    Paul came home early.


    The situation was dire, so he wanted to keep searching. Especially since Laws'' kid was still missing despite all the others being found.


    But the guys forced him back. Since he was their mainbat force, they wanted to make sure he was in top shape in case anything happened.


    At first, Paul didn''t want to agree.


    It was too dangerous. And every second counted.


    But then he remembered something. Or rather, someone.


    Rudy.


    Paul might y around as being arrogant and overconfident, but he knew his limits. While he was Advanced-rank in the three major sword styles, that was only good for fighting one-on-one and cutting down enemies in front of him. Finding and protecting people who might be in danger... he wasn''t good at that.


    ...And it pissed him off.


    Zenith was right. If he had trained a bit harder and reached the Saint-rank. If he could be that much faster...


    No. It wasn''t good to think in what ifs.


    Besides, there was still a chance.


    Laws'' kid, Luffy... No, ''Sylphiette'' was her full name.


    Sylphiette and the other children had gone missing since noonst night.


    Right now, they had found everyone except for her.


    They had been wandering around in the forest, dazed and confused. And when questioned, they said they didn''t know what happened.


    Of course, Paul could guess.


    Sylphiette had green hair. And because of that green hair she was different from other children. While she didn''t have the signature jewel eye in the middle of her forehead, Sylphiette did have the same hair color as the feared Supard Demon race. And children wouldtch on to that as an excuse to bully her.


    Paul knew. He''d seen the same things done when he was younger by children and for less.


    Considering the way the kids mmed up when questioned about why they were out in the forest as well...


    Paul didn''t want to fear the worst. But whatever the case, he knew that he needed help.


    Stopping outside the gate to his house after sprinting back from the forest, Paul let out a sigh and muttered, "Dammit. I hate having to rely on him, but..."


    Rudy was perfect for this.


    Paul didn''t know exactly what spells his son had learned from Roxy, but he knew that Rudy was smart. A real genius. Even if he didn''t have the right spell to sort things out, he''d be able to figure out a way to make things work.


    Unlike Paul, who could only cut down what was in front of him and sweet talk women, Rudy could think things through ande up with a n.


    So that was why Paul came back.


    He didn''t know what to do, but his son would be able to help. He was sure of it.


    Like that, Paul entered his house and called out. "Rudy? Are you home? I need to-"


    "Wee back, Husband."


    A cold and sharp voice. A familiar one, butpletely unfamiliar in the tone.


    Zenith''s. His lovely wife.


    Paul blinked and noticed that she was seated at the dining room table across from Lilia.


    Lilia looked at Paul, but she quickly looked away, lowering her head.


    And more than that, there was a whole arrangement of food left untouched on the table. Bread that had turned dry from being left out, along with soup that looked like it turned cold a while ago.


    While the house was warm and well-lit by the afternoon sun... Paul couldn''t help but notice that the atmosphere was a bit frosty.


    Shutting the door behind him, Paul put on a smile and let out a nervousugh. "Y-Yeah. I''m back, Zenith. Um..." He looked around the house and said, "Is Rudy home? There''s something I wanted to talk with him about."


    Zenith shook her head. "Our son is out ying in the forest right now."


    "The forest?"


    Paul blinked.


    Was it coincidence? No, knowing his son, Rudy probably figured that something was up. And Paul did briefly mention that there was a situation to Rudy before he left the house...


    Anyway, that was good. Paul didn''t have the chance to exin the situation, but if Rudy headed that way, the others would fill him in.


    Great.


    Now... Paul just had to deal with the situation in front of him.


    Zenith looked mad- No. That wasn''t anger. She looked... not just disappointed either. Instead, it was indifferent. Apathetic.


    That sight wasn''t new to Paul. He''s tried out enough approaches with enough women to be familiar with the entire range of reactions. But it was definitely a first time seeing it on his wife.


    Zenith stared at Paul and then pointed to a seat at the head of the table. The side between both Zenith and Lilia.


    Paul gulped and then sat down. His throat felt dry, so he grabbed a bowl of soup and slurped down a bit. After that, he looked at Zenith and said, "S-So... What''s this about, Honey?"


    Zenith red at him and said, "Don''t ''honey'' me, Husband."


    Oh. That wasn''t good. Calling Paul by ''husband'' instead of by name or another nickname... and not affectionately like she had in the beginning...


    Paul''s first instinct was to crack a joke and y it off. But he had a feeling that would end poorly... not to mention that Lilia was sitting there looking depressed. So instead, Paul held up his hands and said, "I haven''t touched another woman! Promise!"


    Zenith narrowed her eyes and said, "That''s the sign of a guilty conscience, Husband."


    The same words that Rudy said to him before.


    Paul flinched and instinctively looked at Lilia. "T-That''s..."


    Lilia looked up at Paul and then looked away.


    A tense silence.


    It was eventually broken by Zenith tapping her fingernails against the table. Looking at Paul, she said, "Rudy told me something very interesting earlier, Husband."


    Paul froze.


    That...


    Dammit! Rudy! That was a man-to-man talk! You weren''t supposed to spill the beans!


    Paul wished he could grab Rudy and shake him at that time. But whether because his son made a tactical retreat or because he wanted his old man to suffer a bit, the kid wasn''t around.


    ...Probably a bit of both, knowing him.


    Paul let out a nervousugh. "R-Really now?" His eyes scanned the room and then noticed a new tree out in the distance. He ran past it, not thinking much of it at the time. But now that he was there... and looking for anything to change the topic, Paul said, "Does it have to do with that new tree we have?"


    "Paul."


    Paul flinched and lowered his head. "...Yes, Zenith?"


    "You''ve been stealing nces at Lilia."


    Paul lowered his head more. "...Yes, Zenith."


    "You''ve been paying less attention to me."


    ...Had he? Paul hadn''t realized it, but that might be true. "...Yes, Zenith."


    "...You''re falling in love with Lilia. Aren''t you?"


    "Ye-" Paul''s eyes widened and he forcibly bit his tongue to stop his words. But it was toote.


    In the corner of his eyes, he saw Lilia turn red.


    And in front of him... he saw his wife''s expression dim.


    Paul immediately mmed his head down on the table and kowtowed. "I''m sorry, Zenith! I didn''t mean to! I love you, I really do! But... But Lilia...!"


    Silence.


    Paul didn''t dare look up. Instead, he quickly started talking, fearing that Zenith woulde to the wrong conclusion.


    "I love you the most, Zenith! But I did something really bad to Lilia when I was younger. I thought I could fix that by giving her the job and everything was fine. But the more I thought about how lonely she might be and then the fact that she took such good care of Rudy, I felt really guilty. You always told me to be responsible and I''ve been trying to change since I married you but then this came up and I''ve been really conflicted and Lilia''s just so damned hot and sexy, plus she''s so beautiful when she has that motherly gaze just like you were when Rudy was born and I-"


    "Enough."


    Paul flinched. "Y-Yes Ma''am!"


    Zenith let out a deep sigh and said, "Look at me, Paul."


    Paul did.


    Zenith had turned her chair to face him. Her arms were crossed and her usual ponytail was gone. She was beautiful as always. But she also seemed a bit distant.


    Paul had a bad feeling.


    "Do you remember what I asked of you when we first did it?"


    "...Yes."


    "I said that you could sleep with me only if you never sleep with any woman again."


    "...Yes."


    Paul remembered that. At the time, he was going to break his promise. But when it turned out that she was pregnant... he couldn''t.


    As much as he hated his dad and the lessons he tried to beat into Paul''s head, there were three rules that Paul agreed with.


    1. Treat girls nicely.


    2. Use your strength to protect the weak.


    3. Take responsibility for your mistakes.


    They were good rules. The proper rules that all men should follow.


    And so when he found out that Zenith was pregnant, he took responsibility. He decided to make up for his mistake and not run away.


    ....Not like with Lilia.


    So he made a promise to himself. Even if he wanted to flirt with other women. Even if he felt like chasing skirts again... the only woman for him from that day forward would be Zenith.


    ...Though he had to admit that he had fantasized about taking a few of the vige maidens for a run every now and then.


    But it was only a fantasy. And that promise he made to himself was even stronger after Rudy was born. Because he wanted to set a good example.


    He didn''t want to be like his dad whoid down all sorts of rules but didn''t follow them. He didn''t want to be someone that Rudy would be ashamed of saying was his father.


    Paul could ept being made fun of. But at the least he wanted to have some good parts to make up for it.


    But then there was Lilia. The girl who he broke all three rules with. Someone who he treated the worst, used his strength to take advantage of, and then ran away from his mistake.


    It didn''t cross his mind at first when he hired her to help out in the house. But now as the years had gone by and Paul started to rethink his life with seeing Rudy grow up...


    Zenith tapped her fingernails on the table and said, "Milis teaches that a couple must only love each other. And since we''ve been with each other, I''ve never loved anyone else. Right?"


    Paul nodded. "Right."


    That was true. Even though Paul was a scumbag like that, Zenith still loved him. And ever since that first time together, she had never looked at anyone else. Even when she was panicked and didn''t know what to do, she still turned to him. And only him.


    ...That was part of the reason why Paul wanted to change.


    A beautiful, naive, and innocent noblewoman like Zenith believed in him that much. No, she loved him that much that she swallowed her pride and gave herself to him even knowing that it might be just a lie.


    She didn''t think about the consequences. No, she did, but she talked herself into ignoring them.


    Paul saw that firsthand when she realized that she was pregnant.


    And he couldn''t take advantage of her like that. Not when someone like that believed in him.


    ...And like that, Paul had fallen in love with her as well. He fell in love with the innocent and naive healer who turned to him even when she knew he was lying. Who had nowhere else to turn, but still reached out her hand and believed in a piece of trash like him.


    Who thought he could be better.


    "...But I''m not the only one you love."


    And that was the kicker.


    ...Zenith was right.


    He loved her. He loved her more than anything else in the whole world... Well, other than Rudy.


    If Paul was being honest, if it came between Zenith and his son, Paul would choose Rudy every time.


    ...Though mostly because Zenith would beat him up for not choosing Rudy.


    Anyway, Paul loved Zenith. And only Zenith.


    At first.


    But after spending so long around Lilia again... After being used to her gentle presence and her soft smiles. After seeing how Rudy relied on her as well... and how she had forgiven Paul after doing the worst thing a man could to her...


    Paul couldn''t help it. Before he knew it... Lilia had already taken a piece of his heart. No, she had taken one ever since he ran away from her, even if he didn''t know it. While it had been guilt at first, now...


    Paul lowered his head and said, "...That''s right, Zenith."


    He loved Lilia. It wasn''t the strong and bright love he had for Zenith where he wanted to be better and do better. But it was a gentle feeling. A soft presence that he wanted to support and protect.


    If he had topare it... if he had topare them...


    Zenith was like a star, bright and inspiring. He wanted to hold her close and run after her. He wanted to make sure that light continued to shine bright forever.


    But Lilia... she was like a soft campfire. Dim but warm. Someone that was always there and supporting. Unlike with Zenith where Paul wanted to run after her... Paul just didn''t want to leave Lilia.


    No. To be more exact, he didn''t want to leave Lilia anymore.


    He had done that once already. And while she never talked about her life before taking on her job as their maid, he could tell that it hadn''t been pretty.


    ...And it was probably his fault too. She had been the star of the dojo until he arrived. And after what he did... he didn''t know, but it seemed like she had been forced to make ends meet one way or another.


    Paul clenched his hands on his knee and lowered his head. "I''m sorry, Zenith. I love you, but... I love Lilia too. I know it''s wrong. I know it''s betraying our wedding vows. But... But I can''t just ignore it."


    It made his heart churn.


    He loved Zenith. But he loved Lilia too.


    He loved them both.


    But he couldn''t love them both.


    And he had already chosen Zenith.


    He had chosen Zenith, so he couldn''t choose Lilia.


    But Lilia had suffered so much. And she also didn''t have anywhere else to turn. And he didn''t want her to leave either.


    So...


    So...!


    A long and deep sigh. Zenith''s. "I guess Rudy was right."


    Paul froze.


    ...Rudy? What did he say?


    Paul heard Zenith stand up, but he didn''t dare to look at her. He couldn''t bring himself to after admitting that.


    He also felt guilty.


    ...It was because of him. Because he couldn''t control his emotions, their family would be broken up. Either Zenith or Lilia. He had to choose. But no matter who he chose... someone would leave.


    How was he going to exin it to Rudy?


    The kid already knew just how much of a piece of trash from what he did to Lilia. What would he think if he got back and they had to exin that someone was leaving?


    ...No. Paul knew what he would think.


    It''d be the same.


    If Paul was in Rudy''s shoes, he would have left. Forget his dad and the maid, he would have clung to his mom and left them both. He''d be hurt, but he''d be more upset at how the two betrayed his mother. His innocent mother who did nothing wrong.


    So...


    Paul covered his face.


    It was over.


    Everything was over.


    All because...!


    "Geez." A soft voice. Zenith''s.


    Paul looked up and realized that his vision was blurred.


    Zenith let out a sad smile and brushed away Paul''s tears.


    "...Zenith?"


    "You know, Paul. You''re a lot like Rudy." She pulled her chair over and sat on his right side. After that, she leaned her head against his arm. "You''ve grown up, but you''re still childish at the weirdest times."


    "Z-Zenith?"


    What was going on? She... wasn''t mad?


    She grabbed Paul''s right hand andced it with her left. When she did, her wedding ring shed in the light. After that, Zenith looked over at Lilia and said, "Lily and I talked for a long time about you. About what you did to her. About how her life ended up after that. And about how you are nowpared to how you are back then."


    Paul flinched and lowered his head, ashamed. "...I know." He looked over at Lilia and said, "...I did something unforgivable to you, Lilia. That-"


    "It''s fine." A soft response. The first time Lilia had spoken the entire time.


    Paul looked up and saw Lilia giving him a gentle smile. "L-Lilia?"


    Lilia shook her head and said, "The bastard who attacked me that night disappeared a long time ago." Her smile widened and she said, "Isn''t that right, Master Paul?"


    She didn''t say it outright. But she didn''t need to.


    ''You''ve changed.''


    ''You''ve done enough already.''


    ''I forgive you.''


    Paul''s breath caught in his chest and he lowered his head. "Lilia...!"


    An arm wrapped around Paul''s shoulder. He blinked and looked over to see Zenith hugging him with a yful smile on her face. Poking his nose, she said, "Well then, Mister Scumbag. If you''re feeling that guilty about it... how about you do something to fix that?"


    "Eh?" Paul blinked. "...What are you talking about, Zenith?"


    "Oh... I dunno." Zenith stood up and crossed her arms behind her back, walking away from Paul. "You basically ruined Lily''s life and stole her happiness... so how about you work hard to give it back?"


    "...Zenith?"


    Zenith''s paused, her back turned on Paul.


    Silence.


    And then Zenith said, "...I hurt a lot, you know? I was really worried that it was because you didn''t love me anymore."


    Paul jumped out of his chair and said, "That''s not true! Zenith, I-!"


    "I know." Zenith turned around and let out a soft smile. "My husband is just like that." She walked back over and then hugged Paul. "A wild, dashing man whoes and goes like a storm. A hero who''s more like a thug, but someone who does his best to take care of the people he loves. And someone who wears his heart on his sleeve... just like our son."


    Paul froze. "Zenith..."


    She stepped back and let out an exasperated smile. "I thought I could handle you, but it looks like one woman isn''t enough to keep you in check. So just this once, I''ll make an exception."


    "...Zenith?"


    She... she wasn''t saying what he was thinking she was saying, right?


    Zenith stared into Paul''s eyes and said, "You. Me. Lily. And Rudy. We''re already like a small family... so why don''t you make it official?"


    "...I don''t understand. No, I think I''ve been knocked in the head a few times today." Paul shook his head and said, "Can you say that again, Zenith?"


    "Geez." Zenith sighed and pulled Paul over to Lilia. Once there, Zenith grabbed Lilia''s hand and said, "I''m telling you to take responsibility and marry Lilia, you dummy." After saying that, she ced Lilia''s hand in Paul''s.


    Paul''s eyes widened.


    Lilia blushed and averted her gaze.


    "W-Wait!" Paul looked at Zenith. "Seriously?! Z-Zenith... Y-You aren''t divorcing me or something, are you?"


    Was this a setup? A polite way to say to live happily together?


    No, Zenith didn''t look like she was upset enough to leave. And she didn''t seem like she had any intention to leave either. And then she mentioned making the family official...


    Zenith rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Dummy. Though I did think about it..."


    Paul gulped.


    Zenith sighed and looked at Lilia. "Both of us decided that it''d be too cruel to break our little family up though... especially to Rudy. So we made apromise." She poked Paul''s chest and said, "You''re not marrying Lilia. She''s marrying you, okay? It''s one-sided. You''ll be her husband, but she won''t be your wife."


    Paul blinked. "Wait. How''s that going to work? No, what do you mean she won''t be my wife? How? Why?"


    Zenith walked back around and hugged Lilia. "Isn''t it obvious? That''s because Lily''s going to be *my* wife. We''re just... sharing her."


    Sharing... Zenith and Lilia...


    Two? Both?


    ...Together?!


    Wait?! How did it end up like this?!

 29 – Young Child – Gambit

    29 ¨C Young Child ¨C Gambit


    "I swear to god, Dad. If you mess this up after all the work I did, I''m going do some training from hell just so I can beat your ass with a sword."


    I muttered under my breath as I used wind magic to dash across the grassy ins and head towards the forest.


    It was a big gamble. And the lynchpin to its sess was on my dad''s sincerity and love for my mom.


    To sum things up...


    I told my mom about Miss Lilia''s situation.


    Well, about what I could infer from Miss Lilia''s situation.


    Basically, I came up with a story about how Dad told me that he stole Miss Lilia''s first time and ran off. Also that he regretted it to this day and that the guilt was eating him up on the inside.


    After that, I spun a tale about Miss Lilia''s life after that encounter from what she had told me throughout the years.


    How Dad''s actions resulted in her being kicked out of the dojo.


    How since she was disgraced there was no guy who would take her.


    How she had nowhere left to go and turned in desperation to work at the Asura Kingdom''s inner pce as one of those maids.


    How she was forced to do unsavory things and how her eyes always turned nk when she brought it up before quickly changing the subject.


    And finally how even now her family didn''t ept her, but she still sent money back as a way to apologize for their daughter ending up that way.


    Then I turned on the waterworks and said how Miss Lilia had nowhere to go and no family. But I thought of her as family... and I thought of all of us as family. And I told her how I wanted us to be a real family. All four of us... and then how I''d be the luckiest kid ever to have two moms.


    Finally, to top it all off, I yed the guilt trip about how Miss Lilia loved Mom a lot too and was doing her best to not let it bother her. But that it wasn''t fair. Mom looked so happy with Dad, and I wanted Miss Lilia to be happy too... so wouldn''t it be okay? They already were like sisters, so wasn''t it fine?


    ...Logically, it made zero sense. Well, the reasoning behind Mom epting Miss Lilia. After all, while I didn''t know the customs about marriage in this world, I knew that Mom had every right to just send Miss Lilia packing if it put the marriage between Mom and Dad at risk.


    But emotionally...


    Well, I didn''t have to pretend very hard to turn on the water works.


    I really didn''t want Miss Lilia to leave. And I really did think of her like another mom.


    ...If I was being honest, I always did want to call her Mom too. But I couldn''t do that to my real Mom.


    Ah, Zenith, I mean.


    But anyway... I dropped a tactical nuke on my mom''s emotional barrier to the whole monogamy thing. She was still resisting it a bit, but I was about 90% sure that she would fold unless my dad did something astronomically stupid.


    Which wasn''t that unlikely...


    But I believed in him.


    And if things went super bad... I could always throw a giant temper tantrum and lock them together in a room until they made up/made out.


    Considering how horny Dad was, how thick the sexual tension was between him and Miss Lilia, and how into it Mom got after just one kiss, it''d work out somehow. Plus, this was all taking ce before the worst case scenario where Dad already snuck in with Miss Lilia and got her pregnant.


    If *that* had happened, I didn''t even know what the hell I''d do.


    Maybe make up some BS about Dad attacking Miss Lilia in the middle of the night and pin the me on him? But Mom would definitely bepletely heartbroken, so I didn''t even know where to begin fixing that. Especially since Mom still didn''t have any signs of being pregnant despite all her... ahem. Hard work.


    Anyway, it should work out. Even if there was a heated argument and someone decided to leave, they''d never do it until I got back. I was sure of that. All of them loved and cared for me too much.


    ...Which was a strange thing to think about considering that I was probably just making their livesplicated and didn''t really do anything that they could be proud of yet. But they did, and I loved them back.


    ...What was I doing again?


    Oh, right.


    Dad mentioned this morning that some kids had gone missing in the forest.


    I didn''t think too much of it at the time, but I noticed that the stupid white mist was hovering around Miss Lilia earlier and shot off after I put my n into action.


    Maybe since that holy tree I made repelled spirits. It was a work in progress since I didn''t know how to properly imbue mana traits into objects, let alone living things... but it worked. Kind of.


    That tree''s make up was simr to a blue rose in that it had changed because I pumped a particr type of mana into it. Like how a white rose changed blue after feeding it dyed water. Because I fed the acorn mana, that mana being the ''Divine Attack'' or ''Holy'' mana and healing mana, it grew up with a changed nature.


    ...To be honest, I didn''t really know how it worked. Kind of like with Master Roxy''s gift, I just cobbled together a bunch of things and prayed it would work. And somehow it did.


    Though that was making me think real hard about the nature of magic again considering that it was the second time something like this worked...


    Anyway, the forest!


    There were kids missing, and that sinister white mist... entity... thing.


    You know what? Let''s just call it Whitey. No, the voice had been male, so let''s call ''him'' Whitey.


    Anyway, Whitey had flown off towards the forest after I dispelled him from Lilia. Because of that, and because it seemed to be targeting me and my family for some reason, I chased after it.


    I didn''t know what it was doing or what it nned, but it couldn''t be good. And while it didn''t seem able to influence anything directly, that whole mind reading/possession thing was spooky-


    Huh. Actually, maybe Caspar was a better name?


    ...Nah. That guy definitely wasn''t friendly like the good boy ghost.


    Ah, sidetracking again.


    Right. So after the whole emotional appeal to my mom and leaving her to sort things out with Miss Lilia while waiting for Dad, I chased after Whitey with my wand in hand.


    Wind at my heels, the blue sky above... and a dense white mist slowly shrouding the forest.


    Damn.


    Whitey was plotting something. I could feel it.


    Seeing that, I sped up my pace... making sure to keep a bunch of barrier spells up just in case I missed and smacked into something.


    And after a few minutes, I arrived at the forest.


    ...I think I saw my dad run past me, but he seemed to be lost in thought, so he didn''t notice me.


    Good luck, Dad! I''m kicking your ass with magic if you mess this up!


    ...Anyway, Inded on the ground at the edge of the forest.


    There were a bunch of people around. All guys and all armed.


    "Who''s there!?"


    A male archer immediately turned towards me, notching an arrow on his bow. Said archer was also an elf.


    Realizing that and definitely not willing to risk finding out if that elf was as good as most elves were said to be at shooting, I held up my hand and said, "Rudeus Greyrat! I''m Paul''s kid!"


    "Rudeus... Rudy?" The man... elf... Elf man? Anyway, the guy lowered his bow and sighed. "Sorry. I''m just... I''m just a bit stressed." He let out a tired smile and held out his hand. "I''m Laws. Your dad and I do patrols in the forest every now and then."


    I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Mister Laws!" I took a look around and tilted my head. "What''s happening though? My dad said that there was something this morning, but he didn''t say much else."


    "Hm?" Laws tilted his head and said, "Didn''t you run into Paul on his way back?"


    "I think we missed each other. But..." I drew my wand and looked into the forest. "Do you need my help? I''m not Master Roxy, but I''m pretty good at magic now."


    Laws hesitated. "That''s..."


    "Laws!" A vige guard walked over and said, "We think we''ve found it, but we can''t get in! There''s a strange mist that keeps sending our guys out. But a few people said they''ve seen a small figure running through the mist, so..."


    "Luffy?!" Laws ran up to the guy and grabbed the man''s shirt. "You''ve seen her? Where?!"


    I blinked. "...Luffy?"


    And a her? That was a weird name for a girl...


    Laws looked back at me and hesitated again. He seemed like he wanted to ask me something.


    And then a shrill scream cut through the air. A young girl''s.


    Laws'' eyes widened and he started running into the forest.


    "Wait! Laws!" The vige guard tried to grab him, but Laws brushed the man''s hand off.


    "I don''t care! It''s because of your kids that she''s in there!"


    The vige guard flinched. "That''s..."


    Because of their kids...?


    Wait.


    Whitey, elf girl, kids...


    "Argh, thinkter, dummy!" I scolded myself and waved my wand, gathering wind at my feet.


    There was someone''s life at stake here! I could think about how and whyter!


    After that, I kicked off the ground and flew into the air,nding on the tree branches.


    Laws noticed me. This time he didn''t hesitate. "Rudy! Please! Please save my daughter!"


    "Don''t worry, Mister Laws!" I waved at him and said, "I''ll find her!"


    Now... that vige guard said that there was a strange mist.


    Whitey was usually invisible, so that meant that it had to be an area where his mana was particrly thick. And so...


    "There."


    I saw it.


    A small patch deep in the middle of the forest,pletely nked out by white fog.


    Every second counted, so...


    "I sure as hell hope these barrier spells work... and that if they don''t, that <Healing X> works on broken bones..." I gulped and then waved my wand with my right hand.


    Six magic circles shed. All of them wind magic.


    At the same time, I held out my left hand and formed five barrier magic circles on each finger, before activating each. And then...


    "Here goes noth- AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

 30 – The Young Elf Girl’s Dilemma

    30 ¨C The Young Elf Girl¡¯s Dilemma


    <em>*Get out of here, you demon!*</em>


    They were words Sylphiette heard over and over again.


    <em>*Haha! Look! The demon''s so weak!*</em>


    Ridicule. Pain. Humiliation.


    She couldn''t understand it. Why did they make fun of her? Why her?


    <em>*Oh! Let''s throw the demon into the woods!*</em>


    <em>*Yeah! The others will thank us!*</em>


    <em>*Let''s go!*</em>


    They took her. Carried her against her will while she struggled and ran deep into the forest. Then they left her there and ran away.


    Cold. Hungry. Thirsty.


    Sylphiette was lost and scared. The day turned to night and night turned to day again. And if not for the fact that she had her father''s lunch with her, she would have starved.


    She didn''t understand.


    Why were they like this?


    Her father said that they were just afraid. But she couldn''t do anything to them, so why were they afraid?


    Her mother said that she would find someone who would ept her for who she was one day.


    And Sylphiette believed her.


    But it looked like that day wouldn''te.


    Her clothes were caked with mud and grime. She was hungry because she finished all of her food.


    And she was terrified.


    Something was following her.


    She wasn''t sure what, but something was following her through the forest.


    At first she thought it was just something small. A tiny animal.


    But it wasn''t.


    She could see it through the mist.


    A towering shadow slowly moving after her.


    So she ran. She ran away from the shadow, hoping to lose it. But no matter how fast or how far she ran, the shadow didn''t disappear. And it was always slowly approaching her. Slowly getting closer.


    "Please, go away. Please go away...!" Sylphiette muttered under her breath as she sprinted through the forest.


    It was misty, white obscuring her vision except what was directly in front of her.


    A few times, she heard people nearby. Vigers calling out for her. But every time she answered back and ran towards them, they would suddenly run away.


    She didn''t understand.


    Were they with the other children? Did they want her to disappear too?


    It was cruel.


    It was scary.


    She didn''t want to disappear! She didn''t want to leave her mother and father! It wasn''t fair!


    A crack. Sylphiette didn''t see a tree branch and then tripped. But since she was going so fast, her foot bent at a weird angle.


    Pain.


    Sylphiette collided on the ground and rolled a few times beforeing to rest against a tree.


    It hurt all over. She cried and then huddled up against the tree. "I want to go home...! Mommy! Daddy!"


    She cried out. But no one came.


    Instead, the shadow got closer.


    And when it did, Sylphiette could finally make out its features.


    A bear. And not an ordinary one. This bear was the size of a small tree, lumbering through the forest. Crimson eyes and a maw with foaming drool dripping from it... The bear looked feral.


    But there was a light in those eyes that showed it wasn''t mindless.


    Looking at Sylphiette, the bear trembled. Its shoulders heaved up and down, as if it wasughing. And then it lumbered forward.


    Sylphiette tried to back away. But she couldn''t. When she moved, the pain in her ankle stopped her.


    Even then, she knew.


    She couldn''t escape it.


    Despite the heavy fog, despite Sylphiette running away the entire time, the bear caught up with her.


    There was no oneing to save her.


    There was nothing that could save her.


    "No...!" Sylphiette backed up and then screamed. "I DON''T WANT TO DISAPPEAR!"


    A shrill and desperate plea for help.


    The bear''s shoulders shuddered again. The bear... No, the monsterughing at Sylphiette''s plight.


    And then it froze.


    "...So Hitogami is this desperate, is he?"


    A cold male voice.


    "E-Eh?" Sylphiette turned to look towards the voice.


    It was a man.


    A long white coat and silver hair. Sharp eyes and a stern face... He was a man that seemed set to go against the entire world. And there was a presence around him that gave off that aura. That he would cut down any and everything in his path.


    Sylphiette gulped.


    He was scary. The man was scary.


    ...Butpared to the bear, he didn''t seem that scary...?


    The man turned to look at Sylphiette.


    Sylphitte froze, afraid that the man would be like the others who wanted her to disappear. But a strange emotion shed through his eyes.


    Before Sylphiette could figure out what it was, the man turned towards the bear.


    "A magical creature this powerful shouldn''t exist here at this time. Are you a result of an apostle''s meddling?"


    The bear stiffened. No, it went on guard. Rising up to its hind legs, the monster snarled.


    The man held out his hand causing and said, "No matter." He nced back to Sylphiette and said, "Sylphiette Greyrat... No. At this time you are just Sylphiette... and I suppose you may not be a Greyrat in this timeline. That will depend on his decision..."


    "...Mister?" Sylphiette tilted her head, confused. "Um... A-Are you saving me?"


    "...No." The man shook his head. "I can''t save you. Not this time. But someone will be here soon that can. For now..." The man swept his left hand across the air, causing a crimson katana to emerge.


    The bear snarled and ran forward.


    The man smirked. "You should try something else, Hitogami. Direct attempts to change the future like this won''t work." He swung his sword.


    Sylphiette gasped.


    It was beautiful. A crimson arc swept through the air. And where it moved, space cracked.


    Like the area in front of the man was a picture etched in ss, hundreds of crimson lines spread out, tracing out what looked like a tree.


    And then it broke.


    The sound of ss shattering echoed in the air, followed by a muffle explosion. With those sounds, the man vanished, along with the fog.


    But in his ce...


    "Owowowow..."


    ...A young boy appeared.


    Light brown hair and bright green eyes. A handknitted gray scarf wrapped around his neck and fluttering in the wind. Neatly tailored white dress shirt and ck pants, tattered around the edges. A wand with six glittering stones held on his waist.


    He stood up from a small crater in the ground, shaking his left hand. As he did, light spilled down from the hole he made in the forest canopy.


    The boy was different from the man. Compared to that person, his demeanor was lighter. Friendlier. And not only that, but where the man looked invincible, the boy looked weak and small.


    But he was warm.


    The boy lowered his hand and looked back at Sylphiette. When he did, his eyes lit up and he let out a bright smile. "You must be Luffy!" He turned around andughed. "Great! I made it in time."


    "U-Um..." Sylphiette blinked, unsure about what was happening.


    First there was the bear, then the man, then the boy... Was any of this real?


    She was starting to think that it was all just a dream. That this was just an illusion she was seeing from not being able to eat or drink for a day.


    But then the boy reached her and held out his hand. "Here. Let''s get you back to Mister Laws... Oh wait. You''re probably injured. One sec." He lowered his hand and then grabbed his wand, waving it.


    The moment he did, Sylphiette felt a warmth spread through her body. The pain in her twisted ankle vanished. Not only that, but the chill and fatigue she felt disappeared as well.


    "There." The boy smiled and held his left hand out again. "Nowe on."


    Sylphiette looked at the boy''s hand, hesitating. And then she saw the bear behind the boy and pointed. "Behind you!"


    "Oh. Right. Should probably take care of that thing." The boy muttered and turned around.


    And in that time the boy turned, the bear arrived, swinging its ws at the boy''s head.


    Sylphiette screamed and covered her eyes, not wanting to see the boy get hurt.


    But nothing happened.


    There wasn''t any tearing sound. No sshing of blood. No scream of pain.


    Even the bear''s snarls were gone.


    Realizing that, Sylphiette slowly opened her eyes. And then they widened when she saw what was in front of her.


    The boy was fine. The bear''s ws were inches away from his head, but no more. And the reason for that...


    "...Whoa. Stacking ice magic is scary."


    ...Was the dense icepletely enveloping the bear''s body.


    The boy walked forward and then reached out with his wand, lightly tapping the ice on the bear. When he did, the ice shattered, turning into white dust.


    But that wasn''t the only thing that shattered.


    The bear broke apart as well, turning into red mist that flew off into the distance.


    "...Yeah. Definitely scary." The boy shook his head and then turned back to Sylphiette. "Anyway, danger''s gone." He smiled and held out his hand. "<em>*Now*</em> let''s go."


    Sylphiette blinked.


    The bear''s attack happened in an instant. So fast that Sylphiette thought for sure the boy would die.


    But he didn''t. Not only that, but he easily beat the monster without being scared. Throughout the entire thing, he waspletely rxed. If anything worried him, it was Sylphiette. But he was never worried about his own life.


    Seeing that, Sylphiette could only say one thing.


    "...Cool."


    "Huh?"


    Sylphiette blushed and turned away.


    The boy blinked. And then heughed. "Nice. I like puns. They''re fun."


    Sylphiette giggled.


    The boy smiled and said, "So... Youing with? Ah, I''m Rudy by the way."


    "...Sylphiette."


    "Eh?" The boy... Rudy blinked. "Wait, so you''re not Luffy?" He started to panic. "W-Wait. Th-Then... Did I get the wrong person? Oh crap. Um..."


    Sylphiette giggled again and took his hand, pulling herself up. "No. My parents call me Luffy too."


    "Phew." Rudy lowered his hand and sighed. "Almost gave me a heart attack there, Luffy. ...Luffy?" He frowned and said, "...Know what? I''m calling you Sylphy. Luffy is too weird for a cute elf girl."


    "C-Cute?"


    "Anyway, let''s go." Rudy started walking, leading Sylphy along. "Mister Laws- I mean, your dad should being this way... Wait. Maybe not? I ran off without him... Er... Let''s send a signal re. That should let him know."


    Rudy held up his hand, causing a magic circle to appear. And then a loud *boom* echoed, along with a surge of mes.


    But even though they were in the forest, the mes didn''t touch a single leaf.


    Seeing that, Sylphiette... No, Sylphy nodded to herself, confirming something.


    Rudy was amazing.


    And like that, she forgot all about the strange silver-haired man who appeared before Rudy did.

 31 – Young Child – A New Friend

    31 ¨C Young Child ¨C A New Friend


    "I can''t thank you enough for this, Rudy." Laws lowered his head and said, "Truly. Thank you."


    Sylphy bowed her head as well and said, "Thank you for saving me, Rudy."


    "I-It''s fine!" I raised my hands and said, "I wasing out to y in the forest anyway..."


    Laws raised his head and chuckled. "Coming to the dangerous forest to y... I guess Paul and Zenith weren''t exaggerating when they said you were a genius."


    I frowned and said, "I''m not a genius, Mister Laws. I just work hard."


    After all, a real genius would have anticipated something like this happening... I should have realized that something was up already after I got attacked by Whitey in the forest.


    If Master Roxy was here, she would have ced down barriers all over and made sure that it worked against Whitey before leaving it alone instead of just thinking it was fine like me.


    And if that had happened, Sylphy wouldn''t have been terrified and forced to suffer like that for a whole day.


    Dammit.


    Laws smiled and said, "You are also as humble as they say."


    My frown deepened. But it would be rude to say anything in response to that, so I just kept quiet. Instead, I took stock of the situation.


    After picking up Luffy... or rather, Sylphy and saving her from that weird bear...


    Seriously. That thing had like a giant glowy white core in its chest and then moved super fast.


    Not as fast as Dad when he got serious, but it was still pretty dangerous.


    Fortunately, it wasn''t that scary or dangerous to me. I mean, it was a giant moving target after all. It might be fast, but Dad was faster, and I''d been hit enough times to build up my reaction speed.


    Not to mention that constantly using <Healing> was a cheat that made me super OP in terms of physical skills and reflexes.


    ...Though not as OP as Dad.


    Freakingbat genius. You''re supposed to get slower when you get older, not faster...


    But anyway, the bear wasn''t that scary and the rescue mission was a sess.


    Though the secondary mission of figuring out Whitey''s... No. Considering that he tried to get a cute little girl killed, that name was too friendly.


    Let''s call him... Well, he probably wasn''t the devil. And demons were nice people like Miss Roxy, so that wouldn''t work.


    Hm... Guess I''ll stick with Whitey for now. If I ever met the guy in person though, I definitely needed to remember toe up with a name to tick the guy off for all that he tried to do.


    That and punch him in the face.


    ...What was I thinking about again?


    Oh, right. Whitey''s motives.


    I didn''t know what he was doing, but I did know for sure now that he was up to no good.


    Also, my barriers really weren''t helping. Needed to tune those up with some holy mana now that I knew how that worked. Maybe nt a few of my mom''s special trees too...


    Ah. And I needed to look into magic items to protect them from Whitey.


    Thankfully, there was probably going to be a reason to give gifts to everyone soon. Assuming Dad didn''t royally screw up.


    I hope he didn''t royally screw up.


    ...He''d better not have royally screwed up.


    No, no. Positive thoughts. PMA. Positive mental attitude. No need to stress about things you can''t control.


    Right.


    Anyway, lots of things to do.


    For now though...


    I looked at Sylphy and said, "Are you going to take Sylphy home, Mister Laws?"


    Laws frowned.


    Sylphy looked up at her father and said, "Father?"


    Laws looked at me and then he looked back into the forest at the approaching vige guardsmen. He looked thoughtful and then said, "Rudy. Do you think you could take Luffy out to y at your house?"


    "F-Father?!" Sylphy blushed and tugged at her dirty clothes. "...I need to change."


    I blinked. "I mean... I don''t mind, Mister Laws."


    It had been a while since I met anyone my own age. And Sylphy seemed nice... and pretty smart.


    Maybe I coulde up with some fun games we could y using magic?


    "...But wouldn''t it be better to take her home? Sylphy''s mom is probably worried too, right?"


    Laws shook his head and smiled. "Thank you for your concern. But I''ll tell her myself about Luffy. Besides, I''m sure that she''d be happy to hear that Luffy found a new friend."


    Sylphy blushed. "F-Friend?! U-Um..." She turned to look at me and then poked her fingers together. "...Are we really?"


    Iughed and said, "Of course we''re friends. Well, unless you don''t want me to be your friend?" I paused. "...I guess it would be kind of weird-"


    "No!" Sylphy immediately spoke up and shook her head. "I do! I mean... L-Let''s be friends!"


    An innocent and cute request. Seeing that, I couldn''t help but smile. "Alright. Then we''re friends now."


    Sylphy smiled back.


    "Laws?" Someone called out from the distance. One of the guardsmen.


    Laws narrowed his eyes.


    It was just a brief moment.


    Laws immediately rxed and put on a smile.


    But I could tell. The guy was holding himself back. He was forcefully suppressing anger and irritation.


    ...It made me wonder what exactly went down. But I didn''t want to get involved in the adult stuff if I didn''t have to.


    Not to mention adults tended to look down on kids, and I''d probably just muck things up.


    So instead...


    I grabbed Sylphy''s hand and started walking back home. "Let''s go, Sylphy! It''s a long walk, but we can chat on the way back and get to know each other."


    "U-U-Um...!"


    "What''s your favorite color? Mine''s red. Well, it''s actually a toss-up between red and green, but I think that red''s a pretty cool color. A little bit of it makes everything pop, you know?"


    "R-Really?" Sylphy looked thoughtful and said, "...I guess that''s true. It''s like how wildberries stand out in the greenery, right?"


    "Er... Y-Yeah. Like that."


    I wasn''t expecting her to seriously analyze my response... Was Sylphy secretly a genius too?


    ...Well, she did manage to survive a whole day in the forest by herself. And there were monsters too...


    ...Nah. It wasn''t like she was some secret genius who was both smart and good with magic too, right? I mean, what were the odds of that?


    -LIV-


    Paul leaned against the doorframe, staring out towards the forest. As he did, he frowned. "...Rudy''ste."


    It was turning dark. The sun was already half below the horizon in the distance, and the orange sky now had streaks of purple across it.


    Lilia walked out from the house and stood beside Paul. "The young- I mean, Rudy will be fine, Mas- ...Paul." She blushed and said, "My apologies. This will be a hard habit to break..."


    Paulughed and said, "Don''t worry. I''m still... trying to wrap my head around how it ended up like this too."


    "Hmph." Zenith scoffed and then snuck up behind Paul, wrapping her arms around his shoulder. "Don''t get a big head about it. If you start looking at any other women, I''m not the only one you have to worry about. Right, Lily?"


    Lilia nodded. "Yes, Zenny." She tucked a strand of her crimson hair behind her ear and gave Paul a sideways nce. "...A scoundrel who is greedy after all this time does not deserve a happy ending."


    Paul let out a nervousugh. "C-Calm down you two. I''d never do that."


    He was already living the dream. Two beautiful busty women who loved him and were even willing to share... And did share for a bit just a couple of hours ago.


    Remembering that brought a silly grin to Paul''s face.


    And then Zenith pped him.


    "Ow!" Paul flinched and said, "What was that for!"


    "For being a pervert." Zenith shoved Paul and stepped back.


    He staggered a bit and then turned around. "I said I''m sorry. I didn''t realize that I was aiming higher than usual and-"


    Zenith gave Paul a cold stare.


    He gulped and then bowed his head. "Sorry! Please don''t throw me out!"


    "...I''ll think about it." Zenith looked at Lilia and said, "But spending a girl''s night with just Lily is sounding pretty tempting right now."


    Lilia blushed.


    Paul looked between Zenith and Lilia and then pouted. "Hey! I''m the man of the house here! That''s not fair!"


    Zenith crossed her arms and said, "Well, maybe the man of the house should have been more gentle earlier and double-checked where he was nting his sword instead of being all excited like a horndog."


    That 100% wasn''t Paul''s fault! Lilia was the one who brought Zenith around for that part...


    But Paul knew when to stop pushing his luck. Not to mention he really did hurt his wife a lot recently...


    So instead of saying anything, he bowed his head and said, "Yes Ma''am."


    Zenith smiled and then walked over to pat his head. "Good doggy."


    Paul''s heart pounded when she did that.


    W-Was this it? The so-called humiliation y...?


    Zenith was usually submissive, but this side of her...


    "Disgusting." Zenith reared back and then looked down on Paul. "...Don''t show that face around Rudy. If he picks that up from you, I''m divorcing you right away."


    Paul quickly nodded and cleared up his expression. "Understood!"


    Zenith shook her head, seemingly exasperated. But the slight smile and warm gaze she gave Paul showed that she didn''t really mind.


    ...Damn. Paul really owed his son a lot for this.


    He seemed a bit lonely, so maybe Paul should just work hard to get him some younger brothers or sisters. Hehe...


    A smack on his head.


    "Ow!" Paul turned to look at Zenith.


    "What?" She blinked and said, "It wasn''t me."


    Paul paused and then looked over at Lilia.


    Her hand was outstretched, showing that she was the culprit. But she also didn''t have a shred of remorse or embarrassment. Instead, she calmly lowered her hand and said, "I will not forgive you if Rudy bes a lustful viin like you are, Paul."


    "...I''ll try to hold it back when he''s around. But it''s fine in bed, right?"


    Lilia blushed. "O-Once in a while."


    Yes!


    Zenith rolled her eyes and then looked out towards the forest. "You''re right though. Rudy is taking a while to get back... Do you think something happened?" She looked back at Paul and said, "You mentioned that kids went missing, right?" She looked worried and said, "Rudy is fine, right?"


    Paul turned serious and thought about it.


    There was a strange mist in the forest preventing people from going deeper... and there had been a lot of magical creatures, but Paul took care of most of them. Not to mention that they were all weaklings.


    If that was all, then his son who had be a Saint-ranked magician should be fine. Especially since he was a Saint-ranked magician who could dodge Paul''s attacks every three of four hits.


    Which reminded Paul that he seriously needed to start training again. Couldn''t let Rudy catch up before he was even halfway to being an adult...


    But anyway, it should be fine if that was all.


    There was that strange mist though... It had been there when Roxy was around too, but she couldn''t find anything off with it.


    It seemed harmless... but if the reason why a Saint-ranked magician couldn''t find anything was that the source was *stronger* than the Saint-ranked magician...


    Paul rested his hand on the sword sheathed at his left side and muttered, "Should I go check?"


    He wasn''t sure what he could do if it was actually that strong. But at the least he''d be able to get Rudy out. He was confident in that at least.


    Even if it cost him his life.


    Zenith nodded. "I think we should... I''lle with you."


    Lilia frowned and said, "...I wille as well."


    "Huh?" Paul looked at Lilia and said, "But your legs-"


    "Are fine." Lilia cut him off and said, "They are still a bit weak, but it seems that the peaceful days in the countryside have helped them heal quite a bit. I am still not at the level I was, but I should be able to fend off some simple monsters."


    Zenith shook her head. "No way, Lily. What will Rudy think if you get hurt?"


    "And what about you, Zenny?" Lilia frowned. "You are Rudy''s birth mother. If you get hurt, he will cry. I know it."


    "And you''re the one who supported him all this time!" Zenith grabbed Lilia''s hand and said, "If something happened to you, he''d break down!"


    Lilia hesitated.


    Paul looked between his wife and his... Well, his other wife wasn''t quite the right word for it... Lover? Partner? ...Partner. Partner was a better word. Lover sounded like he just used Lilia for her body, and he definitely wasn''t doing that.


    Anyway, Paul looked between the two women and shook his head. "No. You two stay here. I''ll go take a look. Besides, if-"


    A gentle breeze blew, carrying a young girl''sughter.


    ...A young girl''sughter?


    Paul spun around and saw a young girl with light green hair and pointed earsnd on the ground nearby. Her white hooded sweater and slightly tattered gray shorts shifted with the wind before settling down.


    The young girl tidied up her clothes and then let out a wide smile. Turning back to look at the sky, she cupped her and shouted. "I did it, Rudy!"


    Paul blinked. "Rudy...?" He looked up at the sky as well. The moment he did, Paul saw a gray blur fall down and crash into the ground beside the young girl.


    "Owowow... Need to work onnding..."


    A familiar young boy''s voice. Rudy''s.


    He shook his left hand and then fixed up his gray scarf. After that, he looked at the young girl and said, "How did yound so gently, Sylphy?"


    "I don''t know? But it was fun!" She twirled around and smiled. "Rudy''s a great magic teacher!"


    Rudy let out a wry smile. "Yeah... I guess I am..." He shook his head and then noticed Paul and the others. "Oh. Hey Dad. Mom. Miss Lilia." He waved and said, "Sorry I''mte. But I brought a friend."


    "...I can see that." Paul shifted his gaze to the young girl. "Sylphy, is it?"


    "A-Ah." Sylphy reflexively ducked behind Rudy. But then she paused and stepped out. "U-Um..." She bowed her head. "N-Nice to meet you, Mister and Misses Greyrat. M-My name is Sylphiette... U-U-Um, my father is Laws and-"


    "Wait!" Zenith stepped out from behind Paul and said, "<em>You''re</em>Luffy?"


    Sylphy''s eyes widened and she nodded. "Y-Yes?"


    Zenith squealed and ran up to hug Sylphy. "by Milis, You''re so much cuter than I thought! And you''re Rudy''s friend? That''s great! How about youe live with us? You seem like a nice girl, and-"


    "MOM!" Rudy swept out his hand and sent a gust of wind, knocking Sylphy away from Zenith. After that, he sent another gust of wind and set Sylphy down next to him. "Stop that! You''re scaring her!"


    Sylphy immediately ducked behind Rudy, quivering in fear.


    "Eh?" Zenith blinked. "What''d I do?"


    Paul chuckled and then gave Rudy a thumbs up. "Bringing home a girl already... Seems like the Greyrat blood''s running strong- Grk?!"


    Lilia sighed and dragged Paul inside by his cor. At the same time, she grabbed Zenith''s arm and pulled her inside as well.


    "L-Lily? W-Wait. I want to talk more with Rudy''s cute friend!"


    "You two are far too much." Lilia looked back at Rudy and said, "Have fun with your friend, Rudy. I will make sure these two do not interfere."


    "Um... Alright...?"


    Lilia smiled and then mmed the door shut, taking Paul and Zenith inside with her.


    Sylphy blinked and turned to look at Rudy. "...Did I do something wrong, Rudy?"


    Rudy let out a wry smile. "I think my parents are just happy that I finally have a friend."


    "O-Oh." Sylphy blushed and lowered her head. "...I''m happy too."


    Rudy smiled and then patted Sylphy''s head. "You''re a cute girl, Sylphy. Please, never change."


    "Heehee..."


    At that time, a pair of loud smacks echoed from the house.


    "I knew you''d be a bad influence on Rudy from all your flirting!"


    "Master Paul''s shamelessness has be a bad influence! How could you?!"


    Sylphy turned to Rudy and blinked.


    Rudy sighed. "...Let''s just y in the courtyard, Sylphy. Here, you said water mana felt easier to use, right? How about we try bouncing some water balls around?"


    Another smack.


    "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"


    Sylphy winced and turned to look at the house. "Um... Are they-"


    "It''s fine." Rudy grabbed Sylphy''s arm and said, "Let''s go y by the tree. I think my parents need some time alone..."

 32 – Young Child – A Pair of Geniuses

    32 ¨C Young Child ¨C A Pair of Geniuses


    After chatting with Sylphy about random things for a while... Mostly our favorite foods, colors, and hobbies-


    Ah. For the record, Sylphy''s were honey, blue, and reading. She was fond of sweet things and she really liked blue because it reminded her of the sky. And she liked reading because she didn''t have any friends and reading books let her pretend to be someone else.


    If I didn''t have a reason to be Sylphy''s friend after that, I sure did now. It was just too sad for a cute young girl to be spending so much time on her lonesome. Especially since she seemed to be a natural extrovert and was super bubbly when chatting with me.


    ...What was I thinking about again?


    Oh, right.


    So after chatting with Sylphy for a while and ignoring my parents... which now included Miss Lilia, thankfully. It seemed like my dad managed to pull it off.


    Though considering it was a clear pass to the goal, I would have throttled him if he messed it up.


    Anyway, after chatting with Sylphy, Mister Laws came by and had a chat with my parents before escorting Sylphy back home. Although not before extorting a promise from me to pick her up every morning and y since I was now her one and only friend.


    A promise that was triply enforced by my parentster that evening saying that I had to take responsibility for my promises. Especially to innocent and naive girls.


    And both my mom and... Miss Lilia... No, I suppose it was Mama Lilia now. Mama Lily? Mama Lily.


    Both Mom and Mama Lily gave my dad a pointed look as they were lecturing me about responsibility.


    So it was decided that I would spend my mornings ying with Sylphy, my afternoons training with Dad, and then my evenings ying with Sylphy again before she got picked up by her dad when he was done with work.


    I didn''t mind. Sylphy was fun to spend time with. And she wasn''t an annoying brat despite being a kid... unlike some of the other vige children I''d bumped into in the past.


    Maybe that was why Sylphy didn''t have any other friends...? Food for thought.


    Anyway, Sylphy was fun to hang around with. But as I spent more time with her and yed some makeshift games with her by teaching her some magic, I realized something.


    I seemed to have a natural talent at jinxing myself.


    "This is incredible, Rudy!" Sylphyughed and ran around, waving a makeshift wand I crafted for her from a fallen branch.


    I didn''t have any magic stones to use like Master Roxy did for mine, but the branch was from the special tree I made for Mom, so it conducted mana just fine.


    ...Not that Sylphy needed help for that.


    I let out a wry smile and watched Sylphy twirl around giant streams of water before scattering them into rain.


    Rain that stopped in mid-air before turning into snow.


    "...Yeah. It definitely is incredible."


    It had been a few weeks now since I''d started up my new routines. And as always, we were ying by Mom''s tree. Mostly so that Mama Lily... Lily Mama? Needed to get used to that still...


    Anyway, it was so that she could keep an eye on us while doing chores.


    And as always, I decided to teach Sylphy a bit about what I knew of magic before we started ying some makeshift games using mana.


    It was a good way for me to get in some magic training and solidify my foundations while Sylphy had fun and also got better with magic. A win-win.


    Except for one problem.


    Sylphy''s way of using magic made no sense.


    I stared at the mana that Sylphy was using to cast her spell.


    It was blue, as expected. After all, it was water magic. But it wasn''t threads.


    Whenever Sylphy waved her wand to cast a spell, she sent out her own mana, just like I did. And it had a unique color too. A weird greenish blue hue.


    But unlike my mana that came out in threads, hers was a blob. A diffuse and intangible blob that floated around like bubbles.


    Bubbles that popped and then immediately did whatever she put her mind to.


    Sylphy tucked her wand into her sweatshirt pocket and then twirled around, holding her hands out to catch the snow. "It''s so pretty...!" Sheughed and then ran over to grab my hand. "Come on, Rudy! Let''s dance in the snow!"


    I sighed on the inside, but outwardly I smiled and let her lead me around. "As youmand, my princess."


    Sylphy let me go and then giggled. "Since when did Rudy be a knight?"


    "When my dear friend became a magical princess who could call in the snow." I paused and said, "Aren''t you cold though?"


    Sylphy blushed and said, "Not when I''m with Rudy."


    I frowned. "That''s no good." I waved my own wand and dismissed all of the snow, turning it back into ambient mana.


    "Aw..."


    I shook my head and said, "It''d be bad if you got sick."


    Sylphy huffed and said, "It would be fine! My parents wouldn''t mind."


    "Yeah, but mine would. But anyway..." I rubbed the back of my neck and said, "You really have a knack for magic, don''t you?"


    Sylphy shook her head. "Only because Rudy is such a great teacher. And also because Rudy taught me how to see mana!" She looked around and said, "I never knew the world was so colorful!"


    While Sylphy was happily twirling around and taking in the sights, I quietly muttered. "I didn''t though."


    She was a genius. Probably more than Master Roxy- Ah, no. It wasn''t fair topare them since Sylphy had a better head start with me here.


    But anyway, Sylphy was definitely a genius. One of those crazy people who just had an intuition for mana and a natural creativity for magic.


    For example. That ''seeing mana'' thing she mentioned? I didn''t teach it to her. I didn''t give her that fancy magic circle I gave to Master Roxy to let her see mana.


    Sylphy did that herself.


    After I let it slip that I could easily move mana around and cast spells because I could actually see mana, Sylphy stared into space for a while lost in thought... and then she could suddenly see mana.


    And it wasn''t a fluke or imagination.


    I tested it out very, very, *very* thoroughly. Asking her the color of fire mana, water mana, wind mana... even my recently acquired holy mana.


    And she scored 100% on each color.


    I guess some people were just built different...


    I felt kind of bitter at that. Here I was thinking I was special for managing to figure out mana sight, but Sylphy just pulled it off like that after thinking about it.


    No, no. I shouldn''t be envious.


    And I shouldn''t treat Sylphy like she was special either. Having a big ego and thinking you were a genius were both dead-ends.


    Instead... Let''s encourage her.


    Right.


    If Sylphy managed to make things work just by thinking it was possible, I should see what else was possible.


    Maybe I was approaching magic in the wrong direction. It could definitely be logically broken down and rationally analyzed, but it seemed like there was definitely a whimsical and imaginative aspect to it as well.


    ...Which would exin how I made Mom''s tree and the magic circle for Master Roxy.


    Wait.


    Rational... Imaginary...


    And if magic spells were like math forms, then-


    "Yo!" My dad''s voice called out. "You kids done ying? It''s time for Rudy''s sword lessons!"


    "Oh!" Sylphy stopped looking around and then turned towards my dad. "Mister Paul! Sorry for keeping Rudy!"


    My dad walked out from the gate of our house and headed over. As he did, he waved his hand and said, "Nah, don''t worry about it. Rudy needs some time to be a kid too or else he''ll be too serious and grow up too early."


    I frowned. "And what''s that supposed to mean?"


    "See?" My dad pointed at me and said, "He''s already talking like an adult."


    My frown deepened.


    Sylphy giggled and then said, "Well, that''s what makes Rudy cool."


    "Oho?" My dad turned towards me and raised an eyebrow. "A cute girl thinks you''re cool, Son. What do you think about that?"


    "I think that my dad''s a busybody who should stop looking at the world in terms of beauties, boobs, and booze."


    My dad blinked and then heughed. "You got me there."


    Sylphy tilted her head, thinking. "...Boobs?"


    I froze.


    My dad froze as well.


    Sylphy turned towards me and said, "What do you mean by ''boobs'', Rudy? I know beauties and I know booze, but I haven''t heard about that... Is it something adults like?"


    I red at my dad and held out my left hand, conjuring a crimson y sword. I whipped it towards him and pointed it at his head. "This is your fault!"


    My dad grinned and pulled out the wooden sword at his right side. Resting it over his shoulder, he said, "*My* fault? Whose mouth did those wordse out of, hm?"


    "And who do you think I learned them from?!"


    My dad paused and then started to sweat. "U-Um... Not me, right?"


    "Who else would it be, Dad?! Argh!" I charged and swung my sword at his head.


    He easily parried it and thenughed. ncing at Sylphy, he said, "Zenith and Lilia finished lunch inside, Sylphy. You can go ahead and eat with them. Rudy and I... Well, it seems like my dear son has a lot on his mind right now."


    "Shut up and let me hit you, dammit!" I growled and kicked forward, swinging my sword low to smack his shins.


    "Hey! No using grown up words!" My dad pulled off some fancy footwork and spun around my sword before smacking my head and knocking me to the ground.


    "Gah!"


    I pushed off and tried to pounce back on my feet. But before I could, a boot pressed my head back to the ground.


    "Mmmph! MMMMMPH!!!!"


    Freaking-!


    Dammit! I hate geniuses! It''s not freaking fair!


    Stupid Dad! Just wait! Another two years! Just you wait until I figure out how to do the same mana empowerment thing you''re using, you cheater!


    "Um..." Sylphy''s voice echoed. "...Are you sure it''s okay to do that to Rudy, Mister Paul?"


    "Meh. He''ll be fine. Rudy''s a tough kid. He doesn''t need me to take it easy on him anymore. Right, Rudy?"


    "MMMMMMPH!"


    I''ll beat you up! I promise! I''m going to figure out how to smack that grin off your face if it''s thest thing I do, Dad!


    "See?"


    "...Okay Mister Paul. Then I''m going inside. Um... Good luck Rudy."


    "Nice. He''ll need it."


    Small footsteps echoed. And as they did, I felt Sylphy''s presence fade away into the distance.


    When it was gone, my dad stepped back, taking his boot off my head.


    I sted myself back to my feet with a gust of wind and spat out the dirt in my mouth, ring at him. "I hate you."


    "Lots of people do, Rudy." My dadughed and then held out his sword. "Now-"


    I kicked forward again, swinging my sword at a blinding speed. A basic attack from the Sword God style, simr to iaido.


    My dadughed and stepped to the side. "Pretty good, but- Hm?"


    Ast minute change. Before my sword struck, I stomped on the ground and forcefully adjusted my attack. Melding the speed of the Sword God style with the flowing taichi like style of Water God, my sword whipped out to stab his chest.


    "Hoh~"


    But it was easily blocked.


    My dad stepped back and said, "That''s a pretty nifty idea. Hm... So if you go sching and swish, butbine the two into a schwish..."


    Wait.


    Wait, wait, wait!


    My eyes widened and I quickly stepped back, recovering my stance.


    I forgot. Ipletely forgot that my dad was a genius. I forgot that he was a genius and pulled off abination technique I was keeping as a trump card to catch him off guard.


    And now he saw it.


    Which meant...


    My dad grinned. "Let''s try this out."


    A sudden blur.


    It was a straight line. My dad definitely charged at me in a straight line.


    ...So why the hell was that swording at me from behind?!


    *SMACK*

 33 – A Chat Between Fathers

    33 ¨C A Chat Between Fathers


    A couple weeks had passed since Sylphy starteding over to y with Rudy at the Greyrat household. And during that time, Paul realized something.


    Sylphy clearly had a crush on his smart son... but it seemed the part about smart people missing the most obvious things was true. Despite Rudy''s intelligence, the kid kept missing all the obvious signs that Sylphy was crushing on him.


    The bright smile whenever they talked. Laughing at whatever Rudy said. Making excuses to get close and hold hands...


    And his son just ignored all of it!


    ...Well, notpletely. While Rudy wasn''tpletely like the average Greyrat male who appreciated the female form, he did seem to have a natural talent for winning girls over.


    Whenever Rudy was with Sylphy, his eyes were always clear and sincere. He smiled whenever she did something well. He praised her efforts. He always found a chance to call Sylphy cute or adorable. He naturally patted Sylphy''s head and grabbed her hand to lead her around... And he was also super defensive of Sylphy, even to Zenith.


    If Paul didn''t know any better, he would have been worried for Sylphy.


    After all, those were all things that Paul would definitely have done to steal a girl''s heart if he could. And with the way Rudy did it so naturally, it''d be impossible for Sylphy to not fall in love with him. Especially when he was going out of his way every day toe up with more fun games and interesting magic projects to do with her.


    But of course, Rudy didn''t think about that at all.


    It was enough to where Paul wondered if Rudy knew that Sylphy was a girl... but Paul quickly threw that out. Or rather, he wanted to throw that out.


    It would be awkward if Rudy was doing all of that while thinking Sylphy was a guy... Though it *would* exin quite a bit-


    Ah, wait. If that was the case, Rudy wouldn''t have been so down after Roxy left.


    He probably just had a thing for older women. Yeah, that was probably it. Compared to them, Sylphy *was* just cute and adorable.


    But in a few years-


    "You seem lost in thought, Paul. Care to share?" A male voice called out from the side.


    Paul blinked and then remembered that he was still on watch duty in the forest with Sylphy''s father. Heughed and said, "Sorry, Laws. Just thinking about our kids."


    Laws adjusted his bow around his back and then leaned against the railing of their lookout perch. He scratched the back of his head, ruffling his golden hair, and said, "I still can''t thank you enough for that, Paul. Especially allowing Luffy to stay over at your house all day to y with Rudy."


    Paul walked over and leaned on the railing to the left of Laws. After that, he pped a hand on the elf''s shoulder and said, "Don''t worry Laws. We''re patrol buddies, right? Besides, the kids are having fun too."


    "And I am forever grateful for that." Laws let out a deep sigh and said, "It had been far too long since Luffy had a genuine smile on her face when she returned home."


    "Hm? Really?" Paul frowned and said, "Someone as cute and lively as her didn''t smile?"


    That was weird. Paul didn''t remember a time seeing Sylphy where she *wasn''t* smiling. Even without Rudy.


    Laws looked at Paul.


    "What?"


    Lawsughed. "Nothing." He smiled and said, "I was just surprised. I had gotten used to how others viewed Luffy that I forgot there were kind people out there as well."


    Paul snorted and crossed his arms. "What? You think I''m some Asuran thug who''d get upset or fear someone just because they had green hair? Please."


    Laws smiled. "Yes. I suppose that would be silly. Though..." He sighed. "You would be surprised at how many believe otherwise." He frowned and said, "The number of people who think that a spirit possessed Luffy or that she was swapped at birth... And the number of usations towards my wife..."


    Paul narrowed his eyes. "...Do you need me to step in?"


    Even though he took a hands off approach to governing, Paul technically *was* the ruler of Buina vige and the surrounding territories. It wasn''t to the extent of owning thend or anything, but he did have the authority to resolve conflicts and settle disputes. And if something was interfering with one of his men... which would include Laws by definition due to the half-elf aiding with patrolling...


    Laws shook his head. "It''s fine." He sighed and said, "The problem was solved. The children who harmed Sylphy won''t do so any longer... and even if they tried now, Sylphy is learned enough in magic to defend herself." His eyes turned sharp and he said, "Especially if a child is cruel enough to attempt another abduction."


    Paul clicked his tongue and said, "I still can''t believe those kids pulled that off. I thought their parents were good people, but after everything that happened..."


    It was inexcusable. A group of four children grabbed Sylphy, restrained her, brought her deep into the forest and left her there while running away for their lives.


    They didn''t admit it, of course. And their parents didn''t either. Especially the women.


    In fact, there was one nosy bit-


    No. That wasn''t good. Paul needed to break that habit of cursing. He already got scolded by Zenith and Lilia about Rudy starting to curse now too.


    So... Nosy bimbo. Right.


    There was one nosy bimbo who insisted that her son was the purest saint ever and would never do something like that. In fact, she even used Rudy of setting the entire thing up as an excuse to y hero and wanted somepensation for having their good name pulled through the mud.


    Obviously, that wasn''t true.


    And obviously, Zenith immediately beat her ck and blue until she apologized.


    Zenith healed her afterwards, of course. But after that no one bothered trying to pin the me on Rudy.


    And Paul didn''t believe it either.


    After all, his genius- Ah. ''Very intelligent'' son had been spending that morning working over both Zenith and Lilia toe around to the idea of both sharing Paul and epting a rtionship between the three of them.


    ...What was he thinking about again?


    Right, the weird bit about the kids.


    Even if they were malicious, Paul didn''t think that kids would go that far just to bully someone. Even if that someone was supposedly a monster.


    He had made it clear throughout the vige and to every viger that the forest was dangerous and had been getting more dangerous over the years due to an unknown mana build up.


    And while kids were stupid, they weren''t dumb enough to-


    Ah, no. Kids were that dumb.


    Hah...


    Laws sighed and said, "What is done is done. But again, thank you." He smiled and said, "You are a good friend, Paul."


    Paulughed and wrapped an arm around Laws''s shoulder. "d to hear it! So don''t be mad when you call Rudy son-inw in the future, alright?"


    Laws''s eyes widened before he let out a bright smile. "It would be my honor."


    "...You know, this is the part where you''re supposed to reject ever having Rudy as a son-inw and say that you''d never hand your cute daughter over, Laws."


    "Hm?" Laws blinked and said, "But Rudy would be a wonderful son-inw."


    "...Hah." Paul slumped over and said, "This is karma, isn''t it?"


    Paul had to elope with Zenith without her parents'' blessings. Even now, he never got a letter or hint of eptance from her parents despite the fact that he saved her from a terrible fate and helped her stand on her own feet in a rough world when she became an adventurer.


    And then here was his son, doing the same thing. But instead of being rejected by the girl''s father, he was already thinking of Rudy as a son-inw! No, considering he walked over the girl to their house every day, didn''t he already consider her a part of their family...?


    Lawsughed and then shook his head. "Well, it is still a bit too early to be considering such things." He smiled and said, "Although I must admit that it would be nice to have family outside of just my wife and child for once."


    "Hm?" Paul frowned and said, "What do you mean?"


    Laws fiddled with a wooden pendant around his neck and said, "I was a bastard abandoned child. My mother left me with the church and I grew up in an orphanage. By Milis or whatever other divine deity, I survived and managed to obtain a decent life and loving family... but I do wonder at times what it would be like to have other rtives. A father, a mother... siblings." Laws sighed.


    Paul clicked his tongue and leaned back against the rail, staring at the sky. "Well, they aren''t all they''re cracked up to be. Your family can turn out to be your worst enemies."


    Like his cowardly uncle Pilemon who tried to block Paul''s requests for help in the Notus family at every turn and forced him to reach out to his cousin Philip in the Boreas family instead.


    Or the Notus family in general who were perfectly fine with Paul being out in the countryside but who would no doubt make a fuss and try to oust him and his family if he tried moving in closer to the Asura Kingdom-


    No. Considering how bright Rudy was, they''d probably try to get rid of them instead.


    Heh. That''d end well.


    Paul might have been cking a bit around the time Rudy was born, but years of trying to fend off his smart son and his wily tricks made him improve. He was confident that he could take a Sword King and he could at least stall a Sword Emperor. Everyone below that though...


    And then there was Rudy to consider. He was a polite and kind kid. And he also had a weird thing about not being called a genius... but Paul could tell.


    Rudy had a temper. One probably worse than Paul''s. And considering how much Rudy knew about magic and all of the crazy things he was teaching Sylphy, like chantless incantation and directly manipting elements...


    Well. Paul wasn''t a person who wanted to tempt fate, but he was kind of curious to see just how his son would react if those idiots tried something against his family.


    Just a bit.


    Laws sighed. "I suppose that''s true. Well. Better to focus on what we do have than what we do not, right, Paul?"


    Paul pushed himself back to his feet and said, "Sounds like a n. And speaking of what we have versus what we don''t..." He scanned the forest and said, "It looks like we''ve got another boring day. I don''t see or sense any more magical creatures. And from what Rudy told mest time, the weird mana causing the trouble should be gone now too since he set up his barrier spells."


    "Mm..." Laws looked out and nodded. "Yes. I don''t see any threats either."


    Paul nced at Laws and then said, "Well then. Let''s say you and me hit the pub and turn in a bit early?"


    "E-Excuse me? The pub?" Laws shook his head and said, "I-I don''t think that I should. After all, I still have to pick up Luffy and then return to my wife-"


    "Bah." Paul waved his hand and said, "She''ll understand. You''re the most responsible man of the house I''ve ever met. A night out is fine. Besides, you''re due for a bit of unwinding after all of that stress."


    "...That is a good point. And I suppose it would be nice to rx with a friend for once."


    "Right? Soe on. Let''s get going and then chat over a nice mug of mead. Share stories... like how good your wife is in bed."


    "EXCUSE ME!? T-That is *much* too private to-"


    "Zenith''s great. She seems uptight and traditional, but when she''s in bed, hehehe..."


    "T-That..." Laws looked around the surroundings and then whispered, "Is that true?"


    "Oh yeah. And Lilia too. You''d never think it from how polite she is, but..."


    -LIV-


    A massive headache.


    Paul opened his bleary eyes and rubbed his temple. "What hit me?"


    Thest thing he remembered was talking with Laws in the forest- No. They made it back and to the pub. But then-


    "I did."


    "Hu- Bwaha?!"


    A sh of pain struck his face, making the headache even worse. But then a warmth spread throughout his body and the pain went away.


    Paul blinked again and then realized he was home,ying on the floor in the living room.


    He also wasn''t alone.


    Zenith was standing directly in front of him with her arms crossed and her eyes frosty. She was also the one who hit him.


    Lilia was standing next to her, lookingpletely disappointed.


    Behind those two was Laws, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head while standing next to his wife... who also looked extremely upset.


    Meanwhile, Sylphy was standing by her mom and dad, lookingpletely confused.


    And then thest person in the room, the one standing right next to him and who cast the healing spell...


    Rudy lowered his left hand and then held it out to help Paul up. "You are a terrible influence, Dad. Seriously. What made you think it was a good idea to go drinking with Mister Laws without telling anyone?"


    "Ugh... Thanks, Rudy." Paul grabbed Rudy''s hand and pulled himself up.


    ...Huh. Rudy was stronger than he thought if he could do that, actually. Was the kid doing secret training somewhere?


    Bah, he could think about thatter. For now...


    Paul looked to Laws, trying to see if he could get an exnation from the guy.


    When Paul did that, Laws immediately bowed his head and pped his hands together. "My apologies, Brother Paul! I couldn''t lie to them so I told them everything!"


    Paul froze.


    Everything.


    ...Everything? That meant...?!


    Even all that stuff about the different positions and sweet spots?!


    Paul nced at his wife and partner.


    Zenith red at him.


    Lilia gave him a cold stare.


    Paul groaned and rubbed his face. "Dammit, Laws. You didn''t have to take my talk about family being your worst enemy so literally..."

 34 – Young Child – Personal Progress Report

    34 ¨C Young Child ¨C Personal Progress Report


    Time passed by in azy fashion. Peaceful days spent ying with Sylphy, trying my best to abuse my youth and <Healing> to catch up and smack my arrogant Dad with a sword, either seeing Sylphy off by handing over to Mister Laws or walking her home, and then working on various magical experimentste in the night.


    And doing my best to ignore the three who were releasing about five years worth of pent up sexual tension.


    Seriously. I thought that my mom was kinky and loud, but Mama Lily...


    Well. Your first time of anything had a big impact on your life afterwards. It seemed like she, uh... had a certain inclination towards certain roles. And ropes. And other things that I tried my best to pretend I never saw.


    Fortunately for me, I figured out a way tobine barrier and wind mana to dampen sound.


    Only took me like... five years.


    Hah...


    But anyway, time passed and before I knew it, I had turned six.


    In that time, I figured a few things out.


    First, Sylphy was a certified genius who could do whatever the heck she wanted with mana as long as she had enough. And while she didn''t double her mana every day like I did from dumping my mana and reabsorbing it every night, her growth rate was still exponential.


    Not to mention she could somehow pull in water and wind mana whenever she was running low and naturally use those as easily as if they were her own mana.


    Meanwhile I had to actually send chunks of my own mana out to manipte ambient mana...


    Was it because I thought too much? Master Roxy was simr to Sylphy too... She just waved her wand and things worked.


    Whatever. The point was, Sylphy was a magical genius.


    Of course, I didn''t let that show. Instead of being amazed, I praised her hard work and creativity. I also told her a little white lie about magic being able to do whatever the user imagined just to see what she could pull off.


    As to the result of that little white lie?


    ...Well. Turns out that might not have been a lie.


    Seriously. When I told her that incantations were just memory aids and that magic circles were just special shapes to help imagine the spell working, she came up with her own incantations and shapes.


    For example. <Ssh Flow>?


    ''Water, bubble up and ssh!''


    <Water Ball>?


    ''Water, bounce!''


    ...It was one thing for me to be able to shorten incantations like that because I developed a whole new magical system that took advantage of thebined elements to structure things.


    It was another thing entirely for a child to be able to shorten it just because they didn''t know better and had it work.


    I wasn''t envious. Not at all. Nope.


    Still, it was interesting. And since it worked for Sylphy, all the power to her.


    Us mere mortals though had to figure out how to make it work in a way that made sense instead of just taking leaps in logic and creativity and... however else she just willed things into existence.


    But that was fine. It was more fun trying to figure out how to break something down and exin it in a logical fashion than it was to just wibbly wobbly make it work.


    Like that magic circle formation I gave to Master Roxy. And the magical tree I made for my mom.


    Both of them were basically bundles of mana pped together with ducttape and wishes, but they worked. I just had to reverse engineer them and find out *why* they worked.


    Well, an alternate exnation why they worked. Because ''I said so'' seemed to be a viable path for magic spells apparently...


    Anyway. That was the first thing I figured out: magic could be brute forced with a strong enough will, belief, or image a Sylphy.


    The second thing I figured out was that I... identally turned into a monster. Well, in terms of mana.


    As I exined earlier, I kept doubling my mana every day by dumping it and then reabsorbing it the next day. It was handy since it put me right to sleep to avoid the awkward intimate noises filling the house at night. It was also handy because reabsorbing it the next morning made me wide awake and fully rested.


    Which made me think that there might be a visceral connection between the body and mana... like magic circuits or something simr.


    And so I was curious and paid careful attention to when I reabsorbed my mana.


    Part of it flowed into my blood vessels, flowing around like it was actually blood. But a lot of it just... disappeared. At least until I pulled it back out. Then it mysteriously showed up out of the blue.


    I was confused for a while... and then I realized how that was happening. Or rather, what *must* have been happening.


    Somehow or another, the excess mana I drew back in was folding back in on itself.


    I hadn''t thought too much of it since I made it a habit a long time ago. Not only that, but I never really tried using up all of my mana with spells anymore. Plus, when I drew out my mana I always made it into the same floating crimson orb that never changed.


    But one day I decided to do a bit of testing with my mana. While my parents were going at it, I snuck outside and did some experimenting.


    It wasn''t much. I just wanted to see how much water I could make if I converted my mana. So, I pulled out a tiny thread as always and did the ol'' convert directly to element thing like usual.


    And then I had to think fast as a literalke started to fall from the sky.


    Thankfully, seeing Sylphy mess around with water mana so much and cleaning up her mistakes trained me on how to quickly convert water back into mana and disperse it. But if it wasn''t for that... Well, I was pretty sure that my moms weren''t nning to get as wet as they were going to be that night if ake fell onto the house.


    Anyway... I was starting to think that I might have done something ridiculous with my training.


    I didn''t know what happened exactly. It could have been because I constantly cast <Healing> on my body whenever I was training, because I was cycling mana my entire life, or because drawing out and reabsorbing mana like I did had a weird synergy effect on my body.


    All I knew was that it was probably a really good idea for me to keep a careful check on my temper and definitely not use incantation magic any time soon. Opening the floodgates with my mana as it was now *really* wouldn''t be a good idea.


    Fortunately, there was a third thing I discovered that helped with that: I could create magic circles from scratch.


    To put it simply, while the magic circles I learned from Master Roxy and the books worked, as I thought they weren''t optimal. In fact, they were super convoluted with a lot of redundancies and extraneous elements.


    To borate... it was like somebody used calculus to try and solve an addition problem. Like trying to solve 2 + 2 by breaking it up into 1 + 1 + 1 + 1, using trigonometric identities to turn each into sines and cosines to get something like (sin^2 + cos^2) + (sin^2 + cos^2) + (sin^2 + cos^2) + (sin^2 + cos^2), reducing it to 4(sin^2 + cos^2), reducing *that* to 4(1) and then ending up with 4.


    Or you could have just, you know, put two and two together.


    In short, it was inefficient and also difficult for an average person to use.


    Which would exin why no one bothered with them anymore except for superplicated spells that had chants that could be printed as a whole book by themselves.


    So I fixed that.


    My <Magic Arrays> approach already kind of did that by breaking the fundamentals of a spell into abstracted elements, but I took it a step further.


    To sum up my new magic circles into steps:


    1. Draw a containment circle out of mana to resist internal pressure from the spell


    2. Determine the shape that would convert mana into a designated element and inscribe it in the center of the circle


    3. Layer a shape that tweaks one aspect of the output of the mana, like the size or speed


    4. Repeat step 3 until the desired oue is achieved


    5. Direct said circle to the target


    6. Remove the circle


    The hard part was figuring out all the shapes that tweaked the aspects of mana in different ways... But there was a shortcut.


    By using my mana as the source of said magic circle, and cheating a bit like Sylphy and just imagining the result, it automatically shaped the circle, so all I had to do was just record it.


    Thankfully, the years of visualization and memory practice paid off for that. I didn''t even want to think how much of a hassle it would be if I couldn''t perfectly recreate-


    Wait.


    ...Oh.


    Okay. I take it back. Maybe I wasn''t that smart after all.


    Come to think of it, the magic circles I saw could just be the result of sloppy recording.


    And if I think about the magic circles I knew and the ones I made... Yeah, if you squint and tilt your head funny...


    I sighed and then flopped back onto my bed. Staring at the ceiling, I muttered, "Dammit. And here I thought I was onto something..."


    Well... At least I could make a better record for people in the future-


    Ah. There wasn''t a printing press to make books widespread. Gotta remember to make that at some point too...


    "Hah..." I rolled over in my bed and muttered, "So much to do..."


    There was sorting out all of my magic research, trying to figure out a way to stop Whitey from showing his ugly mug around here again, figuring out how to smack the crap out of Dad and wipe that arrogant smirk off his face, helping Sylphy be the best magician she could be...


    Where should I even start?


    "...Alright. Starting tomorrow, we work on crafting things. Magic items, alchemy, 3D printing... we''ll start there. That and figuring out how to beat Dad. Then we need to make some protective charms for everyone... Yeah. That''s good enough for now."


    So with that in mind... let''s get some rest.


    "Oh Milis. Oh Milis! OH MILIS!!!"


    ...And improve my sound dampening magic barrier to sound cancetion because GODDAMMIT DAD! Could you just<em>not</em> make Mom moan so much!?I do *not* need to hear that!


    I groaned and then pulled my pillow over my head.


    ...If only the morning came as fast as my parents did...

 35 – Young Child – Keep it Cool

    35 ¨C Young Child ¨C Keep it Cool


    It was the dead of winter. The clear blue sky was nowhere to be seen and the sun was hidden behind a veil of gray clouds. The wind howled, carrying with it a flurry of snow as well as reducing visibility.


    And in this terrible weather... I was on the run.


    An unexpected result. It had been fine in the other seasons, but the moment that snowfall came down, a monster was born.


    A sh of white from the corner of my eye.


    I tumbled to the right, narrowly avoiding the monster''s attack.


    An explosion erupted in front of me, white powder exploding in every direction and obscuring my vision.


    But I didn''t stop moving. While I couldn''t see, the monster could.


    And I felt it.


    Faint ripples in mana. A tiny breeze from my left. Barely visible bubbles that were the same size as the snowkes falling from the sky-


    Wait.


    My eyes widened and I flung out my left hand, quickly forming magic barriers.


    Loud cracks echoed. Rapid-fire attacks from the monster, pelting hundreds of icy barrages at me in the span of a few seconds.


    This wouldn''t work. At this rate-


    "Got you!" A cute girl''s voice echoed from behind me.


    I jumped and quickly cast a wind spell tounch me away. But the moment I tried to gather the mana to do that, a gust of frosty wind pushed me backwards and into the monster''s arms.


    Sylphy giggled and then pulled me in for a hug. After that, she stepped back and smiled. "That was fun, Rudy! I had to think real hard on how to catch you!"


    Iughed. "Yeah. I had to think real hard on how to run away too. Good job!" After saying that, I ruffled Sylphy''s hair.


    "Heehee..." She smiled and then leaned into my hand, shifting beneath it.


    Since some time had passed, Sylphy''s short green hair had grown out a bit. Instead of being a tomboyish haircut like the past where she could be mistaken for a pretty boy, it was shoulder length, making her an unmistakably cute young girl.


    Which also made me wonder why she was hanging around a boring guy like me all the time. But since she hung around and happily yed along with my makeshift mana training, I wasn''t about toin.


    I drew out the snow and water from the scarf that Mama Lily knitted for me. After that, I looked at Sylphy and said, "Are you cold?"


    "Hm?" Sylphy blinked and said, "No? I feel fine, Rudy. Are you?"


    "...No. I''m good."


    ...Or so I said. But of course I was cold!


    I was wearing my scarf, a full fur coat, and thick trousers along with boots. But even then, I had just been running around in the freezing wind trying to dodge an endless barrage of ice attacks from a monster of a magician who was practically invincible in the winter! Who the heck wouldn''t be cold after all of that?


    Seriously!


    I knew that Sylphy was good at wind and water magic. And she definitely had a natural affinity for wind and water mana too. But I absolutely did not even think about the fact that she could just casually use literally ALL THE SNOW IN SIGHT to attack me.


    Even I couldn''t do that! Me! The guy with enough mana that I was about 90% sure I was a walking nuclear bomb!


    Was she part ice elf or something? Or the reincarnation of El*a from Fro*en?


    Like, what the hell?


    Sylphy was only wearing a thin white blouse, a pair of trousers, and boots. No coat, no hat... nothing.


    But she was fine. Completely fine.


    And she wasn''t lying about not being cold. Nope. I could actually see that.


    It wasn''t that she was radiating a bunch of heat or warming herself up. It was just that the cold refused to touch her.


    Like *HOW*?!


    Was it because her mana was blue and green? Was she innately attuned to wind and water, and inbination ice and snow? Did she be attuned to it because those were her favorite magic branches and she kept using that sort of mana?


    Argh! Why did mana have to keep *NOT MAKING SENSE!?*


    It was like some asshole kept changing up the rules the moment I got close to figuring something out just to throw me off.


    "Rudy?" Sylphy leaned in close and stared into my eyes. "Are you alright?"


    I blinked and then sighed. "I''m fine, Sylphy." I smiled and patted her head. "Thanks for worrying."


    Sylphy looked a bit disappointed. But then she smiled and said, "As long as you''re fine. But, um..." She looked around and said, "Should we clean this up?"


    I followed her gaze.


    It was a mess. No, it was a warzone.


    Because Sylphy kept sending all the snow after me, there were swathes ofnd where it was just the yellow and frozen grass without a speck of white. And then there were others where there were giant hills of snow tall enough to bury like a dozen bodies.


    Then there were also a bunch of craters and dirt piles where I tried to make some bunkers that Sylphy couldn''t just rip apart with her absolute control over snow...


    "...It''s fine." I shook my head and said, "My parents will probably get a kick out of seeing it anyway."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "That''s true. Your dad will definitely make fun of you when he gets back from patrolling. Though..." She frowned and said, "Won''t your mom be mad? She likes things neat and tidy, doesn''t she?"


    "..."


    "Rudy?"


    "...It''s fine. If it''s really a problem, I''ll fix it upter."


    "Mm... If you say so." Sylphy grabbed my right hand with her left and then started swinging it back and forth. "So what now?" She looked around and said, "Should we head back home? We went out pretty far to y today. And I think it''s gettingte?"


    "I-"


    A faint breeze from behind. Not just that, but killing intent as well.


    My eyes widened and I pulled Sylphy close before leaping back, kicking off the ground with a gust of wind.


    "R-Rudy!?" Sylphy clung tight to me as we flew through the air. "What''s going on?"


    I touched down and then quickly formed a de in my right hand from the snow around me, packing it tight. After that, I made sure to reinforce it with my mana, causing the de to vibrate and turn red like a certain infamous sci-fi weapon.


    Of course, it wasn''t that dangerous or effective of a weapon, but it wouldn''t break at least.


    After arming myself, I said, "Nothing serious. Seems like someone got imp-"


    A flicker of brown rushing towards my skull.


    I clicked my tongue and then swung my de to intercept it.


    A *swoosh* echoed as my sword cut through the air. And then a loud tter echoed as the projectilended on the ground beside me.


    A wooden sword. A familiar one too.


    "Eh?" Sylphy stared at the sword and blinked. "Um... Isn''t that your practice sword, Rudy?"


    "Yep." I nodded and scanned the surroundings, holding my sword up in front of me to guard against sudden attacks.


    There was low visibility. Because of the snow, I couldn''t see anything-


    No. I could see something. A silver blur, flickering amidst the flurry.


    It shed, suddenly shooting towards me.


    Sylphy gasped and said, "Rudy! Watch out!"


    A brown blur shooting towards my head. Sword God style, a blinding sh to take me out.


    But I wasn''t fooled.


    Instead of blocking it, I leaned back to avoid it and swung my sword to the side.


    "Oho~?" An annoyingly familiar voice and figure. But before I could think any further on that, I got face full of snow.


    "Gah!" I quickly got rid of it by using mana, but the moment I did a fist was flying towards my face.


    I tumbled back, using my left arm to do a back handspring. At the same time, I swung my sword up at the fist.


    But I didn''t feel any resistance. There was a faint brush as my sword touched my attacker''s sleeve, but that was gone in an instant.


    And then right after that, the same annoyingly familiar voice called out. "Nice, nice! Getting better reflexes, Rudy!"


    Inded on my feet and pointed my sword at my attacker.


    My dadughed, shaking snow off his left hand.


    "Eh?" Sylphy walked over to me and then said, "Mister Paul? Why are you here?"


    "Well." My dad brushed his left hand off against his brown fur coat and said, "You two were out for a while and Rudy here is officiallyte for his sword lessons." He shrugged and said, "Since you seemed to be having fun, I thought I''d join in."


    I sighed and then lowered my sword. "You couldn''t have just said hello like a normal person? What kind of dad rushes at his six year old kid with killing intent like that?"


    My dad hung the wooden sword he was using at his side. After that, he walked over to mine, stillying in the snow.


    And then promptly chucked it at my face.


    I tilted my head to the side to avoid getting hit and then grabbed it by the hilt with my left hand as it flew past. "Seriously? I thought you hated North God style, but you seem to be using it more and more often these days, Dad. Didn''t you say it was just a way to fight with a sword and not sword fighting?"


    Heughed and said, "Well, when my smart son is scary enough to take obsessive notes on every single swing I make in our little spars, I have to change things up a bit somehow, right?"


    I clicked my tongue and then crossed my arms. "Mama Lily showed you my notebook, didn''t she?"


    I knew I shouldn''t have left that lying out in my room...


    My dadughed and said, "Don''t worry. I didn''t read through your diary that much. Just the parts about your secret techniquesbining the different styles." He grinned and said, "You don''t mind if I take some notes, right?"


    I sighed.


    ...Well. Back to the drawing board.


    ...And back to trying to desperately dodge my dad''s attacks for the next few week while I figured out whatever new BS he came up with.


    Like that impossible simultaneous triple sh thing he didst time.


    Dammit. I still hadn''t figured that out yet, and now I had to prep for some other crazy attacks.


    What, was he going to suddenly figure out how to stab at my foot and then suddenly shift to stabbing at my heart within a split second or something?


    ...Actually, scratch that. Knowing him, he''d probably figure a way how to make that work...


    Sylphy frowned and said, "That''s rude, Mister Paul. Even if you''re Rudy''s dad, you shouldn''t be looking through his belongings like that."


    "Fine, fine." My dad waved his hand and said, "Since a pretty girl like Sylphy asked me to, I''ll stop."


    I rolled my eyes and dissolved my snow sword. After that, I made a makeshift holster for my wooden sword and hung it on my waist. "Even now you''re only doing things because pretty girls tell you too, huh, Dad?"


    My dad shrugged and said, "What can I say? Your mom and Lily trained me well." He crouched on all fours and said, "Now I''m just a good little doggy. Arf."


    Sylphy giggled.


    I sighed and said, "You have no shame."


    "And I''m proud of it!"


    "That doesn''t- Never mind." I sighed and then waved my hand, wrapping myself in a thread of fire mana.


    That helped get rid of the cold. Unlike Sylphy who I was now 100% sure was just built different from the rest of us and my dad who was used to extreme weather conditions from his time adventuring, I was still just an ordinary kid.


    ...Well, I was pretty shredded for a kid considering all the <Healing> that I abused growing up, but still, just an ordinary kid. And one who didn''t have the luxury of fat to keep me insted because I was so shredded.


    Fire mana it was.


    My dad stood up and brushed off his hands. After that, he said, "Anyway... You kids actually have been out for a while though. Zenith and Lily made some warm stew and bread for lunch, so how about we head back to eat? Or are you two too cool to hang out with this old man now?"


    I groaned. "Really, Dad?"


    Sylphy nodded and said, "That''s fine, Mister Paul! U-Um... I think it would be pretty n-ice."


    Paul snapped his fingers and pointed at Sylphy. "I see what you did there! Hi-five!" He walked over and held out his hand.


    Sylphy giggled and then hi-fived him.


    "...I''m leaving."


    "A-Ah! Wait for me, Rudy!" Sylphy ran to my right side and grabbed my hand.


    My dadughed and then walked over to my left side. As he did, he plopped his hand on my head and said, "You shouldn''t be in so much of a rush, Kiddo! Snow way you''re ever going to look cool in front of girls when you''re plowing ahead like that."


    "Don''t make me drench you in water."


    "Rudy!" Sylphy tugged my hand and said, "That''s dangerous!"


    "Dad''s been through worse."


    "Still!"


    I sighed. "Fine. I won''t."


    "Oho? Whipped al- Ga-hah!?"


    "...I''ll just chuck a snowball at him instead."


    Sylphy shook her head in disapproval... or what seemed like disapproval. But she wasn''t hiding that smile from me.


    My dad rubbed the snow off his face and sighed. "Rudy''s growing up so fast, already treating his dad like chopped liver to impress a girl..."


    "You''re just going to get worse as I grow up, aren''t you?"


    My dadughed and then rustled my hair. "Dad''s just trying to get you to loosen up, Rudy. You know that, right?"


    I sighed. "I know, I know. Love you too, Dad."


    My dad suddenly stumbled and face nted into the snow.


    Sylphy gasped and said, "Mister Paul! Are you alright? Here!" She pulled out her wand and waved it, sending my dad back on his feet and removing all the snow.


    "T-Thanks, Sylphy." My dad shook his head and then turned towards me.


    "What?"


    "Ohe here you little bastard!"


    "H-Hey! Stop that!"


    My dad pulled me into a headlock and said, "Guys don''t say that to other guys, alright? Especially so casually! It''s weird! Weird, I tell you!"


    "Okay, okay! Sheesh!" I squirmed out from his grasp and straightened out my clothes. "Fine. I''ll just tell Mom and Mama Lily how much I love them instead. Jerk."


    "Ah, wait. I take it back."


    "Toote, Dad." I stuck out my tongue at him and then ran off.


    "You little bastard! Get back here!"


    "I''m telling Mom~!"


    "Don''t you dare!"


    Iughed and then kicked off the ground, sting myself into the air with a gust of wind.


    "RUDY!"


    Sylphy''s giggles echoed from beneath me.


    I smiled and then decided to head back home first.


    That was fun... but seriously. It wasn''t good for me to be out in the cold for this long.


    So, with a few more gusts of wind... and carefully ced barrier magic spells to make sure I didn''t turn into a red paste if I made a mistake, Inded back at the gate to our house.


    Walking to the front door, I pushed it open and said, "Mom! Mama Lily! I''m back!"


    Silence.


    I blinked.


    That was weird... They always answered me when I got back.


    I pulled off my scarf and then walked over to the kitchen. Dad said they were cooking, so they should be there, right? "Mom- Hm?"


    My mom was standing there, her hands sped over her mouth while tears streamed down her face.


    Mama Lily was knelt down on the ground, leaning against Mom''s stomach and listening to something with a serious expression.


    Seeing that, I felt a pit form in my stomach. I tossed off my coat and then walked over, looking between the two. "W-What''s wrong? Is Mom sick? Something wrong with her stomach? What''s wrong? Can I help?"


    My mom looked at me and then shook her head. "N-No. Mommy''s fine, Rudy. I-It''s just..."


    "It''s just what? You''re not dying are you? Please tell me you''re not dying!" I looked at Mama Lily and said, "Mom''s not dying, right? Right?"


    Mama Lily stood up and smiled. "Everything is fine, Rudy."


    "Then why were you so serious?! Don''t lie to me! I''ll know if you lie!"


    My momughed and then walked over to me, pulling me into a hug. "Calm down, Rudy. Mommy''s fine."


    A warm and rxed hug.


    Feeling that, the pit in my stomach started to fade. But still...


    "...Then why were you crying?"


    My mom patted my back and said, "That''s because Mommy''s really happy. You see... Rudy''s going to be a big brother now."


    Eh?


    ...Eh?


    ......EH?!?!?!

 36 – Young Child – Dad’s Bad Influence

    36 ¨C Young Child ¨C Dad¡¯s Bad Influence


    I shouldn''t have been surprised.


    In hindsight, it was super obvious. But I guess I was just so used to nothinging of my mom''s hard work for all of my life that I didn''t think it was going to happen any time soon.


    But it seemed like my mom was pregnant. Not only pregnant, but more than a few months pregnant.


    Since she had been eating more, she thought she was just getting fat. But while we were out today, she felt a sharp pang in her stomach. She was worried at first, but then she remembered how it was when she was pregnant with me and had Mama Lily double check.


    And it turned out my mom''s suspicions were correct. She was pregnant.


    Which meant that I was going to be a big brother.


    That was... a strange thought.


    And terrifying.


    I was the first born child. Meaning I had to set a proper example.


    But... could I even do that in the first ce?


    I was well aware of the fact that I wasn''t a normal kid. And I was also 100% sure that my birth as a reincarnator was a fluke. Meaning that the next child born to the Greyrat household would be a normal one.


    Meaning that they''d be facing up to the standard I already set.


    Meaning that they might hate me for setting the bar so high.


    A gnawing sensation in my heart. My stomach churning with the thought.


    It was a familiar sensation, but one I hadn''t felt for a while. The regret from my past life, slowly creeping back in.


    I sat down on a chair by the firece, watching as my dad leaned down to press his ear against my mom''s stomach. A happy and silly grin was on his face as he did that. Standing next to him, Mama Lily looked happy too. And a bit expectant.


    "What are you thinking about, Rudy?"


    Sylphy''s voice.


    I blinked and realized that she had pulled a chair to sit next to me. And at the moment, she was staring at me.


    Sylphy tilted her head and said, "Are you not happy about being an older brother?"


    I reflexively opened my mouth to deny that. But then I heard them.


    ''It was because of you! Because you set the bar so high, nothing I did matched up! Nothing!''


    ''Why did you have to be so talented, huh? All I wanted to be was normal, but because of you...! Because of you Mom and Dad want me to be some genius!''


    ''Yeah, look at you now! Washed up and wasted! How does it feel walking on the Earth with the rest of us, you haughty bastard?''


    Faint whispers. Phantoms of remnant memories I couldn''t remember. Voices from siblings I could no longer see, even in my mind.


    Hatred. Despair. Scorn.


    I couldn''t remember the reason. I couldn''t remember the details. But I could remember that much.


    Because of me, their lives were twisted forever. Because of me, they had to live in shadows of impossible expectations. Because of me, they were forced to run after me, never able to walk a path of their own choosing.


    But...


    I lowered my gaze and muttered, "I did it for you guys, you know?"


    "Rudy?"


    "A-Ah." Iughed and shook my head. "It''s nothing, Sylphy." I smiled and said, "I''m just a bit nervous. I don''t know what to expect from being a big brother, you know?"


    Sylphy stared at me. Her amber eyes narrowed, peering into my own.


    I stared back, keeping my gaze steady.


    ...Right.


    Because as much as I regretted it, I also epted it. It was my fault in the first ce for not thinking about the people who couldn''t keep up with my pace. Especially the people closest to me. But this time...


    "...Are you sure you''re fine, Rudy?" Sylphy grabbed my right hand and frowned. "You can tell me, you know? If you''re sad, it''s fine to say you are. You don''t have to always be happy and cool around me." She rubbed my hand and then smiled. "I''m happy with you just the way you are."


    I smiled back and then patted her head with my left hand. "Thanks, Sylphy. You''re a really good friend." I sighed and said, "I don''t know what I''d do without you."


    I really didn''t.


    While it was a bit ridiculous how good she was with magic... and while it was ridiculous that a cute energetic girl like that enjoyed spending her time with a boring guy like me who just spent his time grinding away at various tasks, I appreciated her a lot.


    If it was just me spending these days alone training with Dad and working on my magic... I probably- No. I definitely would have gone insane.


    Between Master Roxy leaving, dealing with Whitey who kept showing up again at random times, and the random mental breakdowns that happened whenever I slipped and thought about who I was before I was reborn as Rudeus...


    Mom, Mama Lily, and my dad were all helpful and supportive people. They were also my family, so I could lean on them when I felt weak.


    But because they were my family, I didn''t want to disappoint them.


    It was hard. They didn''t treat me like a genius, but I wanted to make them proud. But I knew that if I did too much, they might start expecting more-


    No. That wasn''t true. That was just my past regrets creeping up again, the doubts carrying over still to this day. The regret that I never managed to pay back my family to the bitter end. The regret that I actually continued to be a burden up until my death.


    So I knew it. If it was just me at home like that, I would have broken.


    Master Roxy was the first person to break that negative feedback loop by being someone outside who supported me for me. The first person who expected great things from me, but who also supported me unconditionally. Who showed that it was okay to be me.


    That was something that I would always be grateful for.


    And Sylphy... she was the first person outside of Mama Lily who didn''t expect anything from me. Someone my own age who didn''t judge, didn''t scorn, and didn''t condemn me for being different. Who wasn''t jealous of my abilities or talent.


    I stared at Sylphy.


    Her eyes were closed, and she smiled happily as she nuzzled against my hand.


    Seeing that, Iughed.


    Sylphy froze and then leaned back, her face blushing. "S-Sorry, Rudy! U-Um... I-It''s just, your hand was so warm and..."


    "It''s fine." I gave Sylphy a gentle smile and ruffled her hair. "Thank you. You mean the world to me, Sylphy."


    "E-E-Eh?"


    I pulled my hand back and then wrapped it around hers that were still holding onto my right hand. "I don''t know what the future holds, but I promise that I''ll always support you. If anything happens, make sure to tell me, okay? I want you to always be smiling."


    It was the least I could do. For her who made my days happy and carefree instead of solemn and serious. For my dear friend who let me forget about the past and focus on just being Rudy-


    "A! Aren''t they so cute together?" My mom''s voice.


    "Hahaha! I knew Rudy would be interested in girls sooner orter!" My dad''s voice.


    "...Yes. And it seems that he took after you a bit too much, Paul." Mama Lily''s.


    I blinked, wondering what the heck they were talking about. And then I noticed Sylphy''spletely beet red face. And the fact that I was holding her hands. And the fact that I just said some really heavy words that could be taken the wrong way...


    I felt my face heat up and then I quickly let go of Sylphy''s hands. "S-Sorry! I didn''t mean that!"


    Sylphy''s face froze. As it did, her cute amber eyes started to water. And when they did, I could practically see her heart breaking.


    I panicked and quickly waved my hands. "N-No! I meant what I said! I just meant... Argh!" I red at my dad and said, "This is your fault, Dad! I knew I shouldn''t have listened to your stories about flirting with female adventurers!"


    My dad froze in the middle ofughing, suddenly sweating. "W-Wait a minute, Rudy! I-I never told you-"


    I ran over to grab my coat and scarf I tossed on the ground earlier and ran outside. "I''m going to practice magic!"


    Argh! Dammit! If I knew that listening to my dad''s stories about him flirting around with so many girls would make me subconsciously repeat those lines when I meant to be serious, I would have done everything I could to ignore him!


    Now things with Sylphy were going to be awkward...


    No. It would be fine. My friendship with Sylphy was definitely stronger than that. This was just a small hup.


    Right. A tiny hill to go over.


    So... let''s just forget about this whole thing and let time do its trick. For now... we try and figure out how to use earth mana to make metal so that we can make trinkets to graft with magic circles to repel Whitey.


    Especially since that guy was bound to show his face around my new younger sibling''s birth...


    Right. So, since earth mana governed dirt, stone, and basically all sorts of minerals, it should be possible to draw out trace minerals and sift them apart.


    And maybe it''d be possible to convert metals directly by brute-forcing with mana. Elements were just different amounts of protons and electrons, right? And with mana, I could manually adjust different energy levels as long as I came up with a proper working model-


    Ah, wait. Neutrons were a thing too, and if they weren''t bnced things could get messy.


    ...And if I split an atom by ident, wouldn''t I cause a nuclear explosion?


    ...Yeah, I think it would.


    In that case, maybe we save that experiment for a different day. Preferably when fighting against a monster that other things don''t work on and when I learned teleport magic to get away from the fallout. But for now, Minecr*ft time!


    Let''s see how far we can dig down before we hit bedrock...


    ...And let''s try our best to forget about the absolute cringe we just did in saying that to Sylphy and how awkward things are going to beter because of it.


    ...And now I''m thinking about how cute Sylphy is and how beautiful she''s going to be when she grows up.


    FML.


    Freaking Dad. I knew listening to all of his stories was going toe back to bite me...

 37 – Young Child – Family Emergency

    37 ¨C Young Child ¨C Family Emergency


    My ns to dig around the ground looking for rare minerals like in Minecr*ft was thwarted by a simple reason: it was too damned cold.


    I was starting to think that it might be a bad idea being so shredded when I was just six years old...


    No. I couldn''t stop now. Remember how easily it was to gain fat when you got older? I had to make my body naturally burn fat when I was young to get it ingrained into its functions for the future.


    ...Actually, I was fairly sure that I was wrong on how that worked, but goddammit I was not going to have to spend three years straight of heavy training to get into shape in the future when my health slipped just because I didn''t build a good enough foundation when I was young!


    But anyway, after that embarrassing event with Sylphy, I spent about an hour digging for minerals before I called it quits because it was too cold.


    I *did* find a few chunks of gold, silver, and iron though. And a few pretty looking chunks of rose quartz. Enough to experiment with some crafting.


    By the time I cleaned up and went back inside with my findings, everyone had calmed down. Sylphy blushed a bit more, but because she was considerate, she didn''t bring it up.


    That was good. I didn''t think that I could take being told to just be friends from her.


    I mean, I didn''t like her *that* way, so it wouldn''t be too bad. But it would still rain on my parade.


    But anyway, we had a happy and cozy dinner after that, and then Mister Laws showed up to pick Sylphy up.


    After that, we all turned in for an early night''s rest.


    Mom was pregnant, so she was making sure to take extra good care of herself.


    And because she was pregnant, my dad wasn''t having loveydovey time with her since it could hurt the baby. So of course he had loveydovey time with Mama Lily instead.


    ...But also because Mama Lily was being considerate about potentially being pregnant at the same time as my mom and the huge mess that would be in terms of logistics, they weren''t going at it like rabbits.


    Instead...


    Well. I tried really hard to ignore it andid out my sound dampening barriers. But apparently the cold weather threw off my calctions in cancelling the sound waves, because I sure as hell could hear all the sucking and sloppy squicky sounds echoing from down the hall.


    And my mom''s usual moans.


    I didn''t hear any smacking or bed creaking, so they weren''t doing *that*. But it seemed like they were doing *that* instead.


    Ah, and I also learned one of the downsides of casting <Healing> everyday to incrementally improve my body for the past few years.


    I had super sensitive hearing. Enough to where I could hear every drip in the house if I was paying attention to it.


    And when I was in my roomte at night and knew what was going on across the hall, it was goddamned near impossible to *not* pay attention to it-


    Oh wait.


    I''m dumb.


    Didn''t I make a barrier spell to shut off my vision? Then if I kept the same basic principles and shifted it to my ears instead of my eyes-


    Silence.


    Complete, perfect, absolute silence.


    I let out a sigh of relief. Didn''t hear it, which meant it worked.


    Good. Then... time to get to work.


    I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out my materials.


    Iron, gold, silver. A couple chunks of rose quartz...


    Now, if I followed the logic that Master Roxy used to tie all of those magic circles together in my wand to enhance casted spells, it *should* be possible to make a chain of holy magic that would automatically re up in response to foreign mana.


    My wand was specifically programmed... somehow, to react to just me using it. At least, it was now.


    If someone else used it, I think that it might be possible to cast a few spells. But since my mana was as dense as it was, it passively rejected any foreign influences. Meaning that it''d be hard for anyone but me to use my wand unless they had as much or more mana than me.


    ...I didn''t know if my mana was still increasing or not every day with my routine habit of dumping it and reiming it, but I did know that even if it wasn''t, I had an amount that could flood the entire country with water if I let loose.


    I think.


    Better to not test that theory any time soon.


    But I was getting sidetracked.


    The point was that it was possible to program a magical item... specifically a sequence of magic circles to trigger only based on an initial start up pattern of mana.


    For me, that would have to be manual. Since I didn''t naturally radiate mana like other people and kept it contained within my blood for some strange reason, I would have to actually use things to make that connection with a magic item.


    It seemed like other people could just pick them up and use them though. Sylphy, for example, managed to connect with the wand I made her after just grabbing it.


    ...Huh. That seemed like a useful tidbit of knowledge, actually. It might be possible for me to nullify the connection people had with magical items by coating it with my mana since it was so dense.


    ...And since my mana was so dense, it might also be possible to use it to suck away all the nearby mana like a ck hole and make a mana vacuum-


    Wait. Vacuum...?


    I facepalmed.


    A vacuum! I could use that for sound proofing! Goddammit!


    Argh... Needed to make a note of that as well.


    ...Let''s just get started on crafting...


    -LIV-


    Time passed. Winter went by with the end result being that Sylphy got super scary with ice magic and could make a literal castle out of snow before everything started melting.


    Seriously. Was she or was she not a certain Disn*y ice princess''s reincarnation...?


    That aside, while things got awkward between me and Sylphy for a while due to my parents being overly intrusive, after a scolding by Mama Lily, they stopped being busybodies about me and Sylphy. And as a result, we managed to go back to the way things were.


    Which was good. I didn''t want my fun times with Sylphy to turn weird because of something like that.


    Spring came by, with Mister Laws and my dad bing real good friends. After thatst incident though, it seemed like they stopped going to the pub together.


    ...I said ''seemed'', because Sylphy confided in me that her dad kept talking about how happy he was that he finally had a friend to bond with over drinks and how happy her mom was about that.


    Ah, and I also finally met Sylphy''s mom. She was a pretty brown-haired woman who was super kind and sweet. And considering how much of a straightced and serious guy Mister Laws was, that exined where Sylphy picked up most of her personality.


    Though, I still never got her name... Mister Laws called her Honey, and Sylphy called her Mama. To avoid making things awkward since I had been Sylphy''s friend for a while, I ended up just calling her ''Sylphy''s Mom.'' But now that it got to this point, it was too awkward to ask...


    But anyway.


    Whitey seemed to stop showing his face. But knowing him, I *knew* he was going to pop up when my younger siblings were born.


    I didn''t know why he was doing what he was doing, but considering the fact that he tried real hard to make my dad break up with Mom and Mama Lily, he would definitely try hard to cause something to happen during Mom''s delivery.


    ...I wasn''t sure why he wasn''t trying anything to upset her pregnancy, but I decided to spend my brain power working on ways to stop him rather than consider why he might be doing it.


    The end result?


    A pair of alloyed gold and silver bracelets with polished rose quartz beads.


    After some experiments, I learned that gold was just as good of a mana conductor as it was for electricity, meaning that whatever spell I stuck on it stayed stuck if I made a loop.


    Silver was too, apparently.


    I won''t go into the details, but after hammering my head against the wall for months while being nervous that Whitey would try something... and by subtly getting Sylphy to be on the watch for his mana and to shove it away with a torrent of wind mana if he showed up, I managed toe up with those bracelets.


    A chain of tightly linked <Healing X> magic circles knitted out of healing mana that I converted from my own mana was embedded in the gold. And for the silver, there was a chain of tightly linked <Magic Barrier> magic circles. And finally, in the three rose quartz beads on each bracelet, I threw in a giant glob of holy mana as well as a ton of counter-attack Divine Attack spells programmed with my <Magic Arrays> to trigger the moment that either the barrier or healing spells fired.


    ...Plus a few basic elemental spells like <Water Ball>, <Fire Ball>, <Rock Bullet>, etc.


    I made them both for Mom and Mama Lily to use as well as exined how to use them... but when I did, the two got a zed look in their eyes.


    Since that was the case, I just summed it up as a good luck charm for a gift. But I also insisted that they always wear it or else I''d be mad.


    They did, of course. And... that was probably the best I could hope for.


    I kept forgetting that not everyone knew as much about magic as Master Roxy did...


    Ah, and for my dad I made a simple gold heart-shaped pendant that opened up with an etching of Mom on one side and Mama Lily on the other. I put some holy mana in there as well, but I wasn''t too worried about him.


    Mostly because if Whitey tried anything on my dad, I would just stop holding back with my magic and beat sense into him.


    And by him, I meant Whitey and my dad.


    I was very, very, *very* eager to see if creating a mana vacuum would allow me to pull whoever that person trying to break apart my family out from hiding.


    And I also wanted to chuck some spells at my dad''s face for once.


    But that was that.


    And before I knew it, spring had turned into summer.


    It was azy morning. As usual, I got up, reimed my floating orb of mana that I drained before I went to sleep... which was now an eerily dark color of red, almost like clotted blood.


    It was creepy, but I didn''t feel anything wrong when reabsorbing it. Just the usual uplifting surge of energy and good mood wiping away my fatigue-


    Hm.


    Come to think of it, if my mana was like blood, then wasn''t I self-performing dialysis on my mana every day like this? Or something like that?


    I was basically filtering my mana out of my body and letting it replenish itself before reabsorbing my mana... which had been sitting out and collecting ambient mana...


    Huh.


    ...Well, I hadn''t suffered any symptoms or died yet, so it was probably fine.


    Anyway, I got up, stretched, did a quick hundred push ups, sit ups, and jumping jacks, and then walked out of my room.


    And then the door to my parents'' room mmed open.


    I blinked and looked over.


    The moment I did, my dad ran out in a panic.


    He noticed me and then charged at me with enough that the force closed the door behind him. "Rudy!"


    I took a step back, panicking. "W-What?!"


    "RUDY!" My dad shouted and then lunged towards me.


    I started backpedaling and reached for my door to m it in his face. But before I could, he scooped me up and started running back to his room.


    "H-H-HEY!" I squirmed and turned to look at my dad. "What the heck is-?!"


    "Mom''s going intobor and the baby''s facing the wrong way! We need you to help with healing magic!"


    I froze, processing that bit of information. And then my eyes widened. "WHAT?! Wait, hold on-!"


    I rubbed my temple trying to sort things out. "So Mom''s having a breech delivery, Mama Lily''s helping, but right now-"


    My dad kicked the door open and ran inside, tossing me on the ground. "I got Rudy!"


    "Gah!" I rolled and then jumped to my feet. "Oh for fuc-"


    "No cursing!"


    "Whatever!"


    A traumatic sight.


    My mom sitting in bed, sweating with her lower half visible and a pair of tiny legs stick out of ''there'' while screaming in pain.


    Mama Lily holding her hand and reassuring her.


    My dad running around the room in circles, tearing his hair out.


    ...If this world has a god, I am *absolutely* going toe after you in the future for making me deal with this BS first thing in the morning...

 38 – Young Child – A Big Emergency

    38 ¨C Young Child ¨C A Big Emergency


    My mom screaming in pain. My dad''s panicked screams echoing with hers. Mama Lily reassuring my mom and ring at my dad.


    It was a mess.


    A loud, painful, stressful and giant mess.


    First order of business? Kick Dad out of the house.


    He was making things worse, so I promptly tossed him out with some wind magic and told him to go pick up Sylphy or something.


    Next up... resolving the current situation.


    Breech births were bad. Since the head wasn''ting out first, an extended delivery would be dangerous for both the mother and the baby. Oxygen deprivation, bleeding out, potentially broken bones... I didn''t know a lot about it, but I knew it was dangerous.


    If the baby was still in the womb, then maybe trying to turn it around would be feasible. I was pretty sure that doctors could do that. And Mama Lily had training in deliveries, so she would have tried that.


    But it seemed like we were past that point. Or rather, my new sibling... and sister, judging from theck of ''that'' down there, was already past that point.


    "Nn...! L-Lily...! I-It hurts...!" My mom''s pained gasps.


    "C-Calm down, Zenny. Everything will be fine." Mama Lily held onto my mom''s hand and stroked it, trying to reassure her. But I could see panic welling up in her eyes as well.


    I took a deep breath and then looked at Mama Lily. "What should I do?"


    I had ideas, but they were all risky. In a situation like this, it was important to defer to the expert. And that expert was Mama Lily.


    Was it because of my calm voice?


    Mama Lily started to rx. She stared at me and then nodded. "It hasn''t been long, so the situation isn''t too bad yet. But..." She looked back at my mom and bit her lips. "...If your mother cannot deliver the baby soon..."


    "It hurts." My mom''s breath hitched and she said, "It huuurts, Lily!"


    "It will be fine, Zenny. Just push."


    "I''m trying!"


    My stomach churned at hearing my mom in so much pain. But I forced myself to stay calm. I had to stay calm. And I had to stay focused.


    ...Because a familiar visitor was floating around outside the window.


    I could see it. A faint white mist swirling around outside. Whitey. And I could almost imagine that guyughing at the situation- No. I could actually hear it.


    A faint low chuckle, muffled and taunting.


    But I ignored him. Instead, I focused on Mama Lily.


    Mama Lily bit her lips, her eyes flitting between my mom and my unborn sibling before saying, "Rudy. How confident are you in your healing magic?"


    "Very."


    Considering that I used it every day on myself, it was actually the one I was most confident with next to using holy mana for Divine Strike spells to keep Whitey at bay.


    "Then..." Mama Lily stood up and let out a deep sigh. "...Listen closely to my instructions."


    -LIV-


    Paul kicked off the ground, running towards Buina vige. "It''s fine. It should be fine. Everything''s fine."


    His heart pounded in his chest and his stomach churned. But even so, he forced himself to calm down by repeating those words.


    Well, he tried to.


    It should be fine. Lilia was there, and she was an experienced midwife.


    ...Well, she had extensive training in delivery at least.


    And there was Rudy too. His son was a Saint-ranked magician. Well, in just water, but Roxy had said that his son could easily use anything below that. And his son had also been pouring over the healing primer that Zenith got him for his fifth birthday each day for the past year.


    So it was fine.


    In the worst case scenario... In the worst case scenario, they would just cut Zenith open and then heal her after the baby was delivered.


    ''... ... ...?''


    A muffled whisper in his head. Like his subconscious trying to get him to worry.


    Paul shook his head and then grabbed the pendant hanging from his neck. The gift that his hard-working son made for him. He clicked it open.


    On the heart itself was Zenith''s picture. In it, she was smiling with kind eyes. A loving and tender gaze that she... honestly hadn''t shone him for a while, but that Rudy managed to perfectly reproduce.


    Seeing that calmed Paul down a bit. And then he looked at the back of the opened door. There, another picture was etched into the metal. Lilia, smiling with a gentle and calm gaze. Soft and tranquil, with quiet reassurance... Again, an expression that Paul hadn''t ever seen directed towards him.


    Still, seeing that made him rx.


    "...It will be fine." Paul nodded to himself and then closed the pendant, focusing on the path ahead.


    Laws''s house was on the far end of Buina vige, away from most of the others.


    Part of that was because Laws enjoyed tranquility and silence. Most of it was because the vigers didn''t get along with the half-elf and his family. Especially not after what happened to Sylphy.


    It was tense, but things eventually settled back down after Rudy started to escort Sylphy back to their ce and Paul spent more time with Laws.


    After all, no matter how much the vigers didn''t like the guy, if Laws was Paul''s right hand man, they''d tolerate it.


    They had to, considering that he was the one both in charge of defense and in charge by the kingdom over the area-


    "Hm?"


    Paul noticed something in the distance. He was still far away from the vige, but he could see that there was something off.


    A group of carriages were by the gates. And there was a small crowd around them as well.


    "Merchants? No, that emblem..."


    It was familiar. One that Paul had beaten into his head in the past by his old man. Not to mention one that he saw whenever he made his formal reports.


    Two unicorns rearing on their hind legs. A sword pointed downwards in the middle and a crown over its hilt.


    The Asura Kingdom.


    Except, that was odd.


    While the overarching authority for the Fedoa region was definitely the Asura Kingdom, the Boreas Family was the region lord. Therefore, if there was an incident, or if there were peopleing by to check on him, those people would bear the Boreas emblem, not that of the Asura Kingdom.


    But those carriages didn''t. Which meant that these people hade straight from the capital.


    Paul frowned and rested his hand over his sword. It was a reflex. And rationally, he knew there was nothing to worry about. Hell, he was doing a better job than most people with his position considering how often he patrolled and cleared out the magical creatures.


    ...But something told him this was off. That things could get hairy, especially if he was slow.


    And his instincts hadn''t failed him yet.


    Paul lowered his body and then focused.


    One of the meticulous diagrams that he saw when flipping through Rudy''s notes. A fragment of an exnation he read by chance.


    Using the Sword God''s speedy attack as propulsion, mixing in the fluid movement of Water God to sheathe the sword and then pivot while maintaining speed, using North God''s haphazard footwork to maintain bnce...


    He didn''t get the written exnation, but he got the gist of it. So...


    Draw the sword, sh, sheathe, and repeat.


    A flurry of dashes to rapidly close the gap.


    The distance that should have taken Paul a while to cross was covered in a few minutes. And when he did, he saw them.


    A group of a dozen knights standing in the middle of the vige za. One man in particr looked out at the crowd with a condescending expression. Short and greasy ck hair parted to the side. A sword on his left... and the Notos emblem on his armor, showing that he was the guy in charge. Themander leading the knights.


    The familiar faces of the vigers filled with concern and worry as they huddled around the knights in a crowd.


    Paul stopped at the edge of the vige and then started walking over. Idly resting his hand on his left hand on his sword, he made his way through the crowd of vigers and then raised his right hand to hail the knights. "What a surprise! It''s not often we see men from the capital all the way out here."


    The vigers immediately parted, clearing a path to Paul. And as they did, three people remained. Laws, his wife, and Sylphy, huddled behind the two.


    Laws reacted first, turning back. When he saw Paul, he let out a sigh of relief before turning back to face the knights. "I told you already, there isn''t anyone like that here!"


    The knights didn''t respond, remaining at attention. But themander, the man bearing the Notos emblem scoffed. "That is exactly what vigers hiding a fugitive would say."


    Seeing that Paul was ignored, he frowned and walked up to Laws. Keeping a steady eye on the knights, he tilted his head and said, "What''s going on?"


    Laws looked at Paul and said, "These knights said that the Prime Minister issued a warrant for a dangerous criminal here." He pursed his lips and said, "They were just about to start barging into people''s homes before you arrived."


    "Really now?" Paul rested his hand on his sword and stepped forward. "Rude."


    The knightmander wrinkled his nose and said, "I should say that to you. Daring to step forward while-"


    "Where''s the warrant?" Paul narrowed his eyes and said. "Even if you''re knights from the capital or some high-ranking noble, you don''t have the right to search people''s homes without proof. So unless you guys can pull one out right now, I''m going to have to ask you to leave."


    The knightmander narrowed his eyes. "You dare?"


    Paulughed. "And you cocky pricks say the same lines even after all this time, huh?" He grinned and idly fiddled with his sword.


    An easygoing and arrogant attitude. But at the same time, his heart was racing.


    The situation was weird.


    If the warrant was real, then why weren''t members from the Boreas family here? They were the ones in charge of this region, not the Notos. And while it was a longshot to expect his cousin Philip to be here since that guy was restricted to his role as the mayor of that fortress city, Paul''s boisterous and unyielding uncle Sauros was the lord of Fedoa. He wouldn''t let some arrogant men from the capital trounce all over his territory, even with an official warrant. In fact, that guy would march off himself to see if it was true.


    But then if the warrant wasn''t real, why were they here? It was a false pretense... to do what?


    A chill swept through Paul''s heart. At the same time, he heard a muffled whisper in his head.


    But it was inaudible. Just a faint murmur.


    He ignored it and focused.


    The knightmander drew his sword. "Hmph." He pointed it at Paul and said, "Obstructing justice is a crime."


    "Yeah, and so is drawing your de against civilians."


    "Hah! As if their lives matter. And since it seems you vigers won''t cooperate..." The knightmander looked at the vigers before stopping on Sylphy.


    Laws''s eyes widened and he stepped in front of her.


    The knightmanderughed. "Well. This area *has* had magical creatures acting up..."


    Paul tensed.


    Laws pushed Sylphy back and said, "Luffy. Go to Rudy''s house."


    "D-Dad...!"


    "Luffy!"


    Sylphy pursed her lips and stared at the knights, hesitating.


    Paul shifted his stance, taking a step back with his left foot. Looking at Sylphy, he said, "Listen to your Dad, Sylphy. And get Rudy- Fuck. I forgot."


    Zenith was giving birth. Paul forgot about it in this mess, but... "This fucking day..." Paul muttered.


    Terrified muttering echoed from around.


    Tension filled the air as the knightmander swept his gaze around, a sadistic grin on his face. And then...


    "Men!"


    The knightmander shouted.


    With that, the sound of swords being drawn filled the air.


    Paul drew his sword as well, narrowing his eyes.


    ...It''d be tough. Thirteen guys, one of him.


    If Sylphy helped- No. He couldn''t ask her to. Even if she was as good at magic as Rudy, she was softer than him. She didn''t have the samebat edge that Rudy did and only barely restrained.


    Should he have opened with him saying he was Paul Greyrat and the knight in charge?


    ...No. His brother Pilemon was the current head of Notos, but Paul was still notorious. And there were people who were more than willing to find someone to rece Pilemon.


    Someone like Paul, who was actually the proper heir. Then if they found out about his talented son Rudy...


    ...Maybe he shouldn''t have been so curious about how Rudy would react if those bastards tried something, because it was sure as hell looking like he was going to find out.


    Dammit.


    The knightmander grinned and said, "You know the drill."


    A sudden sh in the distance behind the knights. Coming from the direction of the path to the fortress city Roa.


    Paul''s eyes widened.


    A rapidly approaching silhouette. One he knew well... and one who he knew the ins and outs of.


    And from what he recently heard from the letters that he and Philip had been exchanging... someone who was just the right person to fix this mess.


    If *she* wasing, and separate from these knights, then Paul''s uncle definitely didn''t approve of them being here. And if Paul''s uncle didn''t approve of them being here, he was going to make a ruckus in the capital. And if Paul''s uncle was going to make a ruckus in the capital...


    "...Well." Paul cracked his neck. "Might as well see how good I''ve gotten then."


    He''d been pretty stressed out with this morning''s events. This would be a good distraction.


    ...Beating them all might be hard. But he didn''t need to do that. All he had to do was buy a few minutes of time.


    Andpared to his monstrous son who was slowly reaching Paul''s level, somezy and arrogant Asura nobles ying as knights were a breeze.


    The knightmander paused and looked at Paul. "...Are you resisting?"


    Paul ignored him and said, "Sylphy. You can fly, right?"


    "A-A little...? At least to your house?"


    "Good. Then head back to our ce and tell Rudy toe here as soon as he''s finished. And that we might be moving soon."


    In the best case scenario, his old friend was arriving to stop the knights and resolve this... probably not peacefully, but without having to run a coup on the Notos family to resolve it.


    In the worst case scenario, Uncle Sauros was pissed off enough to not help Paul... which meant he was on his own. ...Which also meant that he''d have to unleash his son on the world.


    His monstrous son who definitely had a killer instinct from how viciously he sparred with Paul. Who was only six years old but a Saint-ranked magician. And a Saint-ranked magician who could silently cast spells in an instant... while also fighting with a sword.


    Huh. Good thing Rudy liked ying fair against him.


    Probably wouldn''t against these assholes though, especially if he knew how that pervert was staring at Sylphy.


    "...Okay, Mister Paul. Th-Then... I''m going." Sylphy nodded.


    A gust of wind, sting her off into the air.


    The knightmander narrowed his eyes. "You-"


    Paul stepped forward and swung his sword. "You talk too much!"


    The knightmander raised his sword to block and shouted, "REBEL! Men, raze this-"


    "And you guys are too slow!" Paul spun around the de, pivoting with his heel.


    "Water God style? Hmph! Usele- Impossible!"


    A rapid eleration without losing speed.


    Steel shed against steel and a body flew through the air. "Again! Talk too much!"


    Screams filled the air. Panic and worried voices. Footsteps fleeing in every direction.


    In the corner of his eyes, Paul saw some knights break off to chase them. But the moment they did, a flurry of arrows shot towards them, forcing the knights to stop.


    Laws lowered his bow and said, "I hope to Milis you know what you''re doing, Paul!"


    "Don''t worry!" Paul avoided a de swung at his head and then flung his sheath at the guy in return.


    "Gah!"


    A knight crumpled and fell to the ground.


    The knightmander roared and ran towards Paul, swinging his sword.


    Paul easily parried it andughed. "My six-year old son fights better than you."


    "I will *gut* you where you stand and-"


    The knightmander froze.


    Paul grinned.


    The reason for that...


    "And you call me a muscle-brain, Paul. I thought bing a knight meant you''d be smarter than this." A cool and suave female voice echoed.


    The source of the voice was a wild beauty standing behind the knights. Lightly tanned skin, the signature furred coat and treasured sword of a Sword King, a pair of fluffy ears, a tail... and a smoking hot trained body that Paul still thought about sometimes when reminiscing about the past.


    Paulughed and said, "I''m guessing Uncle Sauros isn''t happy about this if you''re here, right Ghyine?"


    "Hm. And you must be in a pinch if you''re not calling me muscle-brain." The woman... No. Ghyine Dedoldia, the Sword King personally trained by the current Sword God and also the woman currently employed by the Boreas Family household in the Citadel of Roa.


    She cracked her neck and said, "Well. I can understand why considering who these guys are. Now..." She gave the knights a feral grin and said, "Lord Sauros expects a proper exnation why the Notos Family sent men across his territory under the g of the Asura Kingdom. You will oblige... will you not?"


    -LIV-


    In a dark void unreachable to any being currently alive, a figure wreathed in white mist clicked his tongue. "None of that worked either, huh? What a weird kid... Just what is it that keeps twisting fate to his favor the harder I push?"


    Silence.


    Then...


    "Hm. Well, if direct attempts on and around him and his immediate surroundings are no good, let''s try something more subtle..."

 39 – Young Child – Past the Stressful Delivery

    39 ¨C Young Child ¨C Past the Stressful Delivery


    I slumped into my chair and let out a deep sigh of relief.


    Mama Lily wiped her hands clean and gave me a fatigued smile. "You did a wonderful job, Rudy."


    "Please don''t talk to me right now, Mama Lily. My head hurts."


    Note to self: emotions directly corrte with strength of magic spells and ability to manipte mana. High tension greatly improves efficiency and effectiveness... at the cost of SEVERE mental fatigue.


    I was still topped up on mana and I barely did any physical exercise this morning. Even so, I felt more exhausted than I was after sparring all day with my dad AND dumping all my mana out.


    ...Maybe it was justing down from an adrenaline high? No, it couldn''t be that because my passive <Healing> would wipe that away.


    Meaning this was all mental... and something I''d have to get over myself.


    Great.


    I shook my head and then looked over at the result of dealing with all that stress.


    My mom was fast asleep, propped up on her bed against a stack of pillows. Cradled in her arms was a beautiful baby girl, also fast asleep. My new younger sister,pletely oblivious of all the trouble she caused.


    Damn. Wish I could do that. A nap hugging mom sounded great right about now.


    Mama Lilyughed and then walked over to pat my head. "You worked hard, Rudy." She looked back at my mom and my new baby sister before frowning. "...I don''t think this would have ended up as well if you weren''t here."


    "I''d rather not imagine that, Mama Lily."


    "Ah. Of course." She frowned and then rubbed her belly.


    I paused and then narrowed my eyes. "...PLEASE tell me that you aren''t going intobor or something too, Mama Lily."


    She smiled and then said, "Don''t worry, Rudy. That''s still a few months away."


    "Great. I''m d I- Wait, what?" I quickly nced at Mama Lily''s belly.


    ...I hadn''t noticed since she usually wore her loose-fitting maid uniform. But now that I focused on it... Yeah, her belly bigger than usual.


    Which meant...


    "...I''m going to have to go through this again in a few months, aren''t I?"


    Mama Lilyughed and patted my head. "It will be fine. At that time, your mother will be there to help. All that you''ll need to do then is to distract your father so that he does not run around like a headless chicken again."


    "Ugh. Don''t remind me."


    You''d think that this was Dad''s first time seeing a child being born-


    Ah. Wait. I was an unusually quiet and problem free delivery.


    ...Okay. I guess I could understand the panic whenparing my little sister''s birth to mine.


    But speaking of Dad...


    "Well... I should probably grab Dad now that everything''s settled. Knowing him, he might do something stupid from all that stress."


    Like getting into a bar fight with the vigers with Mister Laws.


    Mama Lily smiled and said, "That would not surprise me."


    I nced back at Mama Lily and said, "Do you still need me here, Mama Lily?"


    She waved me off and said, "I will take care of your mother and your new sister."


    I nced out the window to check on Whitey.


    ...Nope. That guy was gone.


    Knew it. He was probably just waiting for a chance to screw things up here.


    That outta show you. Can''t make me panic that easily, you dick.


    ...Hm. Maybe I should stop trash talking with Dad in our spars. Might be getting a bit of a temper...


    I shifted my gaze back to Mama Lily and said, "Then... I''m going to take a walk to clear my head. Er..." I nced at Mama Lily''s belly and said, "...You don''t feel any pangs or any signs that my other baby brother or sister is getting impatient either, do you?"


    Since I had healed Mama Lily''s legs a while back now, she had been starting up sword practice and staying in shape so I wasn''t worried about her health. But...


    "It will be fine, Rudy."


    "That''s not a no or a yes."


    Mama Lilyughed and said, "Well. Even in that worst case scenario..." She lifted her bracelet and said, "I paid careful attention to your instructions on this gift. I am at least confident enough to hold on until you return."


    I hesitated. "...Maybe I should-"


    "RUDY!"


    A panicked young girl''s voice. No, not just any young girl''s voice. Sylphy''s.


    I narrowed my eyes and ran out of my parents'' room.


    My room was still open. It seemed like my dad never shut the door after grabbing me.


    Since that was the case, I reached out with a thread of earth mana as I ran past my bedroom and used it to summon my sword from my room.


    My real sword.


    A silver sh flew through the air as I pulled the unsheathed de into my hand.


    Heavy. It was still a bit too big for me to use properly.


    But that didn''t mean I couldn''t use it.


    I tossed it in the air and then focused, drawing out a thread of earth mana and weaving it into the sword.


    Metal could hold mana. Steel wasn''t the best for all types of mana, but if it was earth mana.


    A faint vibration and a low hum. The de and mana bonding together and abiding by my will.


    Good.


    I ran out the house, five barrier magic circles primed in my left hand and six attack magic circles primed with the wand in my right. Earth, fire, wind, ice, lightning, and water.


    Sylphy was never panicked. So if she was shouting my name like that, something happened.


    And since I told Dad to go grab her, that meant the something involved my dad.


    And also since she was panicked, that meant the ''something'' had to be dangerous.


    "Sylphy!" I looked up, scanning the area for her. "Where are you? What happened!?"


    A gust of wind blew from above and then Sylphynded on the ground. She ran up to hug me and said, "It''s scary! Some strange men wearing armor showed up at the vige and said they''d burn it down if we didn''t show them where a criminal was! But then Mister Paul showed up and then they started fighting and I don''t know what to do!"


    Sylphy trembled against me, tears streaming down her face.


    "Shhh. It''s fine. It''ll be alright." I hugged her and then patted her back.


    Calm. I had to stay calm about this.


    Alright, me. Think.


    Strange men wearing armor... that had to be knights. Probably from the capital.


    But Dad was the one in charge, so that was weird. And apparently, he was cozy with the one in charge of this region, so they wouldn''t send knights over to audit him.


    Unless the kingdom were suspicious of the region lord and wanted to get a closer look at things? There *had* been an uptick in magical creatures apparently-


    No. Not important.


    Think about what to do.


    Sylphy was crying in my arms. Mom and my new sister were both exhausted. Mama Lily was keeping an eye on them, but she was apparently pregnant as well and close to the end of the second trimester from what she implied.


    Dad was dealing with things in the vige, and there were knights attacking with the pretense of looking for a criminal.


    Was it real? Fake?


    I didn''t know, but either way, there was a fight going on.


    The problem was...


    I grit my teeth and looked around.


    I didn''t see any signs of Whitey. But that was obvious. From thatugh I heard earlier, he was satisfied with this result.


    Dammit. That guy was smarter than I gave him credit for. He pulled off a Xanatos gambit while I was thinking I had pulled one over on him.


    If I ran over to help Dad, he could try something here with Mom and Mama Lily being defenseless. And since Sylphy was a crying mess from terror and anxiety, she wouldn''t be able to stop his maniptions. And since he pulled a fast one on me, I *really* didn''t want to test if my protective magic items were enough.


    If I stayed here though and the situation was bad enough in the vige, people could get hurt. And if the knights were being as cliched as the setup seemed to be, they were here to cause as much destruction as possible and hush things up.


    Maybe to use the increased magical creatures as an excuse to raze the area.


    But even if nothing happened here and I ran over to help my dad... if we won and took care of the knights, that was an even bigger problem.


    My dad was a low-ranking knight in charge of Buina vige. While he had some say, he really didn''t have anything at all.


    And while my mom was technically a noble from Milis, she had run away from home and was probably disowned. Meaning that we didn''t have any sway there either.


    And since Mama Lily was supposed to be a disposable maid in the Asura Kingdom''s concubine pce...


    "R-Rudy!" Sylphy looked up at me and said, "What do we do?"


    I patted her head and frowned, thinking. "...How many knights were there?"


    "U-Um..." Sylphy started to calm down. "I... I think thirteen?" She took a deep breath and then shook her head. "No. I''m sure. There were thirteen knights there."


    "Was Mister Laws there with Dad?"


    "Y-Yes. My dad is there too. But..."


    "When you saw the knights, how strong was the silver mana in them?"


    "Eh?" Sylphy blinked. "Silver mana?"


    I nodded. "Right. Silver mana. They''re knights, so their mana should be silver."


    That was what I figured anyway. People who specialized in sword fighting instead of magic had their mana turn silver, like Mama Lily and my dad.


    Well, mine didn''t. But I was an exception to a lot of things.


    "How bright was it? More than Mama Lily''s? Less?"


    "U-Um..." Sylphy stopped to think.


    At that time, footsteps echoed from behind me. "Rudy?" Mama Lily''s voice called out. "What''s wrong?"


    Sylphy looked over and then her eyes lit up. "Oh! They were about the same."


    I nced back to look at Mama Lily. "About the same, huh?"


    Mama Lily was around an Intermediate-ranked swordfighter when she was working at the pce. Since then, she had gotten weaker, but because she was also training again recently, she should roughly be on that level.


    "Then that should be fine then."


    Thirteen Intermediate-ranked swordsmen... that wasn''t a problem for my dad. Especially if he had back up.


    ...Although there was the chance that Whitey was nning something still...


    "...No. I trust my dad."


    He was silly and immature, but he pulled through when it counted. And he was also a ridiculous genius when it came to the sword... and if he really did flip through my sword notes journal, then he would probably be pulling off some ridiculous stunts right about now.


    ...I just hope he didn''t flip far enough to read my notes about ultra instinct andbat flow though.


    I *really* hope he didn''t flip far enough to read about ultra instinct andbat flow.


    Because dammit, that was going to be a pain to have to deal withter if he did.


    -LIV-


    "I''m impressed." Ghyine crossed her arms and looked at the knights rolling around on the ground, moaning. "You got stronger, Paul."


    Paul sheathed his sword and frowned. "...I guess so?"


    Ghyine blinked. "You guess so? What, have you not been training?"


    "I don''t know if you can call sparring with Rudy training... Ah. No, I guess he''s seriously trying to smack my face all the time, so it pretty much is. But huh." Paul looked at his sword and at the dozen knights sprawled out on the ground. "Guess the secret really *is* to just not think."


    Trust in your body, trust in your training, trust in your instincts and then just move.


    That was what Rudy''s notes said at the end.


    Paul didn''t get it, but just that little nugget of info was enough for him to clear out that group of knights.


    Ah, no. There was still one person remaining.


    "I-Impossible!" The knightmander pointed at Paul and said, "Why is there a Sword Saint stationed here? No one told me-"


    A sh of steel, followed by a low thud.


    The knightmander crumpled to the ground, knocked out by the hilt of Paul''s thrown sword.


    Ghyine raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated using North God techniques?"


    Paul walked over to pick up his de and sheathed it. "Yeah, well. I''ve had to get over a lot of things in recent years." He looked over at Laws and some of the other vige guard quelling the panic and then shook his head. "If it can protect the people I care about, I don''t mind being shameless."


    Ghyine paused and stared at Paul.


    "What?"


    "...Heh. Seems like Zenith really reined you in, huh?"


    Paulughed. "Well, her and Lilia."


    "Lilia?" Ghyine blinked. "...Seems like I''ve missed out on a lot."


    "Well, if a certain muscle-head bothered to learn how to read, I might have sent you letters to keep you up to date."


    Ghyine rested her hand on her sword and narrowed her eyes. "Say that again."


    Paulughed. But then he turned serious and looked to the fallen knights groaning on the ground. "So Uncle Sauros sent you here, huh? Meaning these guys were sneaking around like actual rats."


    Seeing Paul shift tone, Ghyine turned serious as well. "That''s right." She looked at the knights on the ground and said, "I don''t know what got in the head of these idiots to think they could just run around like this, but Lord Sauros wants them back at the Citadel of Roa for questioning." She frowned and said, "It seems like there might be some turmoil down in the capital."


    Paul rubbed his chin, frowning.


    He didn''t like this. The fact that Asura Knights went all the way out here... and the fact that there was even an arrogant prick from the Notos family...


    It was weird. No, not just weird. It was dangerous.


    Paul thought he left all of that behind, but if those guys showed up here of all ces... "Seems like I might need to pay a visit to my cousin and uncle."


    Ghyine blinked and then lifted the eyepatch over her right eye to stare at Paul.


    Paul blinked. "What are you doing?"


    "Huh. Not an imposter." She lowered her eyepatch and said, "Looks like being a parent really does change you."


    "Well, like I sa-" Paul froze


    "Hm?" Ghyine frowned. "Did I say something wrong?"


    "I FORGOT ABOUT THE BABY!"


    "What do you-"


    "Thanks Ghyine! Tell Uncle and Philip I''ll visitter." He spun around and started sprinting back home. "Agh... Rudy''s not going to let me live this down, is he?"


    "Wait! Exin-"


    Before Ghyine could finish, Paul dashed off, using the same technique he did earlier to go back home. Swing the sword, sheath, gather speed, repeat...


    -LIV-


    Ghyine watched Paul hurry off and then clicked her tongue. "I thought he was retiring with Zenith. What the hell has he been doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"


    That technique Paul was using... since when could he perfectlybine <Flow> from the Water God style and the <Longsword of Silence> from the Sword God style? And when could he use that as a movement technique?


    She nced back at the fallen knightmander and said, "That guy called Paul a Sword Saint, but..."


    It wasn''t technically wrong.


    Using the <Longsword of Silence> didn''t require consciously using Battle Aura. But the fact that Paul could repeatedly use that technique to move meant that he had to be using Battle Aura in order to not wear himself out. Especially since he was continuously speeding up by redirecting that force with <Flow> to move faster.


    "...I think Paul''s a bit stronger than that?"


    Ghyine was curious. She wanted to see just how much stronger Paul got... and she was also curious about the kid that he and Zenith had.


    "Well. Let''s save that for next time."


    First off, she had to get these numbskulls back to Lord Sauros. And then she had to deal with that feisty youngdy she was teaching who kept trying to do night ambushes to get out of lessons. Then there was helping Philip find a proper tutor who wouldn''t run away like a chicken after meeting the youngdy...


    Ghyine sighed. "Working a proper job sure is hard..."

 40 – Young Child – Changing Winds of Fate

    40 ¨C Young Child ¨C Changing Winds of Fate


    Dad came back in a nervous wreck... but that was mostly because he was worried about Mom and my new baby sister. When it came to the events in the vige... it seemed like things worked out.


    Apparently, an old friend came by to help sort things out for him, so we didn''t have to worry about anything. Though Dad mentioned that he''d be making a trip to the Citadel of Roa in the future.


    Something about meeting with the family and talking about his job.


    That was a red g. And I tried asking more to find out exactly why... but Dad kept brushing me off and saying that he would handle it.


    I really wanted to know... but a nosy kid like me would only make things worse. And he also seemed to be doing his best to y cool and not make me worry, so I let it be.


    Didn''t mean I wasn''t worried though.


    Considering all that Whitey did in the past, I was *really* concerned that he might be trying to do some sort of political scandal thing where he pinned me on my dad somehow and tried getting us exmunicated from the kingdom by being branded as traitors.


    At least, that was how these developments usually went.


    I think.


    Past life memories were pretty much gone now with only random bits of knowledge popping up like a search engine in my head, so I could only trust that I wasn''t misremembering stuff.


    Hopefully I wasn''t.


    ...Well, even if I was, that seemed reasonable enough.


    Which meant that I needed to prep more. And think about what the heck Whitey was trying to do.


    But I set that aside for the moment.


    After my dad came back, my new baby sister woke up and started crying. Because of that, my mom woke up as well.


    Dad got all super warm and fuzzy and actually looked like a dad for once when he hugged and congratted Mom. And Mama Lily was proud too.


    They tried to pull me into the happy atmosphere, but since Sylphy was still here, I dragged her outside to y.


    Well, I said y, but it was mostly to get my racing mind to calm down.


    Right. Let''s not think about the fact that there might be a mounted toon of knights or somethinging our way soon. Or that Dad might go visit his formerly disavowed family and then get roped into trouble or epting me for something he didn''t do. Or the fact that this might be about people trying to silence Mama Lily for not actually dying in that assassination attempt and that there might be people out for her. Or that-


    A cold ssh of ice on my face.


    "Pwah!?" I spat out the snow in my mouth and then red at Sylphy. "What was that for?!"


    Sylphy huffed and said, "Rudy''s ignoring me! I thought you said you wanted toe y!"


    "A-Ah. Sorry, Sylphy." I took a deep breath and wiped the snow off my face. After that, I took a look around, purposefully taking in my surroundings to cut off my train of thoughts.


    Our house, without a trace of Whitey''s mana floating around. Mom''s tree in the distance, now emitting holy and healing mana to the surroundings after growing for a year. Our courtyard, filled with beautiful flowers and saplings that my mom and Mama Lily were carefully growing over the past year.


    A faint baby''s cries echoing from inside the house, followed with my parent''s panicked chatter and Mama Lily''s calmed reassurances... and asionalugh.


    It was fine. We were fine. Everything was fine.


    Even if it might not be in the future, right now things were fine.


    So... calm down.


    And the best way to calm down...


    I walked over to Sylphy.


    "E-Eh?" Sylphy blinked and tilted her head. "W-What are you doing, Ru-"


    I gave her a hug and said, "Thanks, Sylphy. You''re always the best at calming me down."


    Sylphy tensed and then sheughed and hugged me back. "You''re wee, Rudy. Feeling better?"


    "Feeling better." I stepped back and smiled. "Sorry about that."


    Sylphy tucked a strand of her green hair behind her ears and then let out a bright smile. "It''s okay! So, what are we going to y today?"


    "Well..."


    I thought about it.


    ...Sylphy had been terrified today. She saw the knights and didn''t know what to do or how to react. And I hadn''t been there with her, so she panicked.


    That wasn''t good. So...


    I grabbed Sylphy''s hand and walked her towards the open grasnd through the gates and past our courtyard. "I want to practice manipting some earth mana today, so how about I make some mud dummies and you try to cut them up?"


    "Ooh! That sounds fun! What are the rules?"


    "You win if you manage to make my dummies stop moving. I win if I tag you with one. Got it?"


    "Kay~!"


    "Great. Then..." I stepped back and held out my left hand, causing five earth magic circles to spin. "Let''s get started."


    -LIV-


    In the middle of the Strife Zone within the Central Continent, far to the southeast of the Fedoa region and Buina vige.


    There, a single young woman walked out from a copsing cavern. She adjusted her pointed hat with her left hand, her blue hair billowing in the wind from the destruction behind her. As she did that, she held up her right hand, idly staring at a small floating crystal above her palm. "Interesting..."


    Roxy Migurdia. Wandering adventurer, Ranoa Magic University Alumni, the <Runic Thousand Master>... but most importantly to her, Rudy''s Master.


    She stared at the glowing crystal and then clenched her hand. When she did, the crystal dissolved before turning into blue threads, briefly flickering into a magic circle. But then that circle vanished.


    Roxy looked out into seemingly empty space and said, "That''s one more hypothesis confirmed." She let out a wry smile and said, "Though I wonder just how my cute disciple is doing...?" She looked up at the blue sky and said, "It''s been almost two years now, hasn''t it, Rudy? Master''s doing her best with this gift you gave, but... It''s kind of lonely." She sighed and then rummaged in her bag before pulling out another map. "Well. I''ll just have to keep working hard. Knowing you, you''re probably already trying out Emperor-ranked magic, so Master''s gotta keep up. Though..." She looked up and then waved her hand.


    Space rippled before something emerged in the air around Roxy. Something invisible to most people in the world, and understandable to only two.


    Hundreds- No, thousands of magic circles intricately woven in an borate pattern. Control modules, elemental circles, broken down magic spells replicated inposite melded magic circles...


    Roxy reached out to her right and then grabbed the magic circle she made from the magic crystal and fit it inside the intricate magical array.


    After that, she sighed and said, "Masters really are the worst, aren''t they? Taking credit for their disciple''s works and then stealing their ideas..." She flicked her left hand, dismissing the magical array. When it was gone, she adjusted her hat and said, "Well. Master will just have to make sure to give you a proper present for your tenth birthday then... Ah. But if I want to do that, I should probably have a stable job- Hm?"


    A faint flicker of color far in the distance. A pure white mist... and one that only showed up when Roxy looked at it through her <Mage Sight>.


    "...Odd. That should be in the direction of the Shirone Kingdom..."


    An unknown mana phenomenon. Not only that, but one that probably only Roxy and Rudy could see considering how slippery that mana felt.


    "...Well. I suppose working as a court magician for a few years should be a nice change of pace. And it would be great to be able to try out some new spells instead of creating new ones." Roxy adjusted her hat and then started walking off.


    As she did, monsters and bandits lurking nearby lunged out to attack her from behind.


    Arrows, swords, ws and talons... various attacks shot out to try and cut her down.


    But Roxy didn''t notice, still lost in thought.


    She also didn''t need to notice.


    On its own, the magical array activated, immediately repelling the attacks with ten-fold magic barriers before sending out a counterattack barrage of spells.


    Screams and death cries filled the air.


    But Roxy didn''t even notice that, still wrapped up in her thinking. "Shirone Kingdom is small, but it''s fairly old. A ce like that should have some deep resources in terms of knowledge, but thebat forces should be low. There''s a high chance of at least some King-ranked spell books. Maybe one or two Emperor-ranked...? Then if I take note of those... It would be good to start exchanging letters with Rudy andparing notes. Ah, but what if someone reads them? Hm... I should look into mana conducive material. If I write a normal letter on that but write my notes in mana..."


    Like that, Roxy Migurdia... Wandering adventurer, Ranoa Magic University Alumni, the <Runic Thousand Master>, Rudy''s Master... and the <Callous Witch of Destruction> made her way to Shirone Kingdom, looking for a new job.

 41 – The Young Elf Girl’s Thoughts

    41 ¨C The Young Elf Girl¡¯s Thoughts


    Rudy was worried. He tried to keep it from Sylphy, but he wasn''t very good at hiding it.


    That made Sylphy sad.


    It wasn''t fair. Ever since Rudy showed up to save her in the forest, he made every day fun. He taught her how to use magic, showed her how beautiful the world really was after helping her see mana... and he made her have confidence in herself. Made her see that she wasn''t some demon freak who didn''t have any value.


    Not only that, but Rudy went out of his way to cheer her up. Whenever she felt sad, whenever she was worried... even earlier, when she was terrified about the knights, he was calm and tried to reassure her.


    Patting her head, he carefully thought about the situation and then told her everything would be fine.


    But it wasn''t.


    She could see it. Before, he always smiled and gave his full attention to her as they yed. But now... he still smiled, and he still paid attention to her. But there were moments where his smile dimmed just a bit. Where he got a bit distracted and missed what she said or what she did.


    And considering how smart and cool Rudy was, that meant it was serious.


    ...Sylphy didn''t understand it. She didn''t know why those knights came to the vige or why that one man stared at her with those scary eyes. She didn''t know why her father or Mister Paul seemed so worry.


    But she knew that something had happened. And even though Rudy was just a kid and the adults said they would take care of it, Rudy was still worried.


    Sylphy wanted to help. She wanted to grab Rudy and say to tell her what''s wrong. She wanted to pat his head and tell him that everything would be okay too.


    But she couldn''t. So instead...


    "Good morning, Sylphy''s Mom!"


    Sylphy blinked, drawn out of her thoughts by Rudy''s voice.


    It was the usual cheerful greeting. As always, Rudy showed up at their house in the morning and greeted Sylphy''s mom who was tending to the garden outside.


    "My." Sylphy''s momughed and said, "As early as ever, Rudy?"


    "Of course! I can''t keep Sylphy waiting for me!"


    A bright and cheery voice. Again, the usual.


    But it wasn''t.


    Sylphy could tell. It was just a bit too bright. A tiny bit too cheery.


    As if he was faking it so that he would believe it himself.


    Sylphy would know. She used to do the same thing.


    But...


    "Well, feel free toe inside. I''m sure Sylphy will be out in a bit."


    "Thank you, Miss Sylphy''s Mom!"


    Sylphy''s momughed. Shortly after that, the front door opened.


    Sylphy took a deep breath and then took a look around the room.


    The intricately carved white wand that Rudy made for her. The handsewn sweatshirt her mother made. The carved wooden pendant by her father...


    Grabbing her precious belongings, Sylphy put on her clothes and then walked out of her room. As she did, she smiled and said, "Good morning, Rudy!"


    "Sylphy!" Rudy waved at her, a bright smile on his face.


    Like always, he wore the carefully knitted scarf from Miss Lilia. Beneath that, he also wore a fancy blue pendant that he received from his Master, Miss Roxy. The healing book from Miss Zenith was secured on his back in a stone holster... Just like with Sylphy, he carried his important belongings on him wherever he went.


    As for his outfit, he wore a loose white shirt, simple gray trousers, and boots. The wand he received from his Master hung on his right side, clipped to a holster on his belt.


    It was the same outfit that he had been wearing since summer started.


    But there was a difference today.


    On his left side, opposite his wand, there was another weapon. One that Sylphy had seen a lot, but one that she had never seen Rudy carry.


    His sword. The real sword that Mister Paul gave him for his fifth birthday, not the practice one that he used to spar with Mister Paul.


    The one that could really hurt things.


    "Rudy...?" Sylphy tilted her head, staring at the sword.


    Rudy noticed andughed. "Oh, this?" He rested his left hand on the sword hilt and said, "It''s cool, right? I thought that since I''m getting bigger, it might be fun to carry it around like Dad. I''ve gotta get used to wearing it sometime, you know? Can''t just let it gather dust in my room all day."


    That was a lie.


    Rudy was tricky like that. Whenever he was trying to avoid telling the truth, or whenever there was something he lied about, he always talked a lot more to cover it up.


    It was something Sylphy noticed after hanging out with him for so long.


    There were a few things like that where Rudy acted the same way.


    Like whenever Sylphy asked how he knew so much, Rudy rambled a bit about how he read a lot of books and asked a lot of questions to Miss Roxy when she was teaching him. But instead of just saying that, he went on to say how anyone else could have known as much as he did, and that Sylphy probably would have known as much too if she had a good teacher...


    A long story. Whenever Rudy was ufortable or wanted to not say something, he said a bunch of other things instead that the other person wanted to hear.


    The adults didn''t notice it. Maybe because they were smarter than Sylphy, they were tricked by Rudy''s words and believed him.


    But Sylphy knew better. Part of it was because she didn''t understand everything Rudy said... but most of it was because she knew Rudy.


    Her best friend was someone who didn''t really like talking. He was super thoughtful and made sure people knew he appreciated them with his actions instead.


    Like for her, Rudy always made sure to pat her head or hug her or do hi-fives when she did good. For his mom and Miss Lilia, he made sure to hug them whenever he left and when he got back. For Mister Paul... Well, recently Rudy had been saying bad words to him a lot, but he still hugged Mister Paul when he got back from work too.


    So for Rudy to talk a lot, it either meant that something was really important... or that he was trying to hide something really important.


    "Sylphy?" Rudy blinked and tilted his head. "Are you not feeling good?"


    Sylphy smiled and then went up to hug Rudy. "I''m feeling great, Rudy! I just can''t believe how cool you look like that!"


    Rudy stiffened.


    It was just for a little bit.


    But then he rxed and hugged her back. "I know, right? I finally look like a real swordsman! Well, even though I keep getting beat up by my dad."


    Sylphy let go of Rudy and then smiled. "That''s because you aren''t using magic."


    "Well, yeah. That''s the point of practicing my sword skills. If I use magic, that''s cheating." After saying that, Rudy turned around and started walking out of the house, taking the lead as always.


    ...And this time, also resting his left hand on his sword instead of keeping it loose like he usually did.


    But Sylphy ignored that. Instead, sheced her hands behind her back and started walking behind Rudy. She hummed and said, "Well, maybe you *should* cheat. Mister Paul''s been beating up on you too hard recently, hasn''t he?"


    Rudyughed. "As tempted as I am to do that... I don''t think that''s a good idea." He frowned and muttered, "Dad might do something crazy ande up with a way to cut mana or something if I do- Ah wait. Maybe I should then? Oh yeah, and maybe I should get around to finishing <Mage Vision> for everyone else too... That''ll make things easier to exin. But I already tried giving the magic circle to them and it didn''t stick... Does it depend on mana affinity? But then why can''t Mom..."


    Hearing Rudy trail off into a long train of thought again, Sylphyughed.


    "A-Ah." Rudy flinched and then rubbed the back of his head. He let out an embarrassed smile and said, "Sorry, Sylphy. Got lost in thought for a bit again."


    "It''s fine, Rudy. I like that part of you anyway."


    Rudyughed and patted Sylphy''s head with his left hand, forgetting about his sword for a moment. "And I like you too, Sylphy."


    Sylphy smiled.


    As they passed by the garden, Sylphy''s mom called out and said, "Oh? Leaving already?" She stood up and brushed off her hands on her dress. "Are you sure you don''t want to stay for breakfast, Rudy? And you, Sylphy? I''m nning to bake an apple honey pie today, you know?"


    Sylphy gasped. "Really?"


    Sylphy''s mom nodded and said, "Really." She smiled at Sylphy and said, "I have to do something to congratte Zenith on the new baby girl, so I was going to bring one overter when your father got back. But if you two stay, you can help me taste the practice one!"


    Rudy hesitated, cing his left hand back on his sword hilt. "...I don''t know-"


    Sylphy grabbed Rudy''s left hand.


    He blinked and said, "Sylphy?"


    Sylphy stared into her best friend''s eyes.


    ...He was worried. He hid it well, but his expressive green eyes couldn''t hide it. At least, not to her.


    And he had been worried and stressed out for so long now. So...


    "...Let''s y here today."


    "Sylphy?" Rudy blinked. "Um... you want to y here?"


    Sylphy nodded. "...Rudy takes me to his house all the time to y, but that''s not fair. I don''t have as many things as Rudy does... but I want Rudy to befortable at my house too." She looked down and then said, "...Is that no good?"


    "...Geez." Rudy let out a longugh and said, "Fine, fine." He ced his hand on Sylphy''s head and said, "We''ll y over here today. Ah, you said you had a lot of books to read, right?"


    Sylphy''s eyes lit up. "That''s right!" She dragged Rudy back inside the house and said, "I have a lot, but my favorite one is about a dragon and an elf princess!"


    "A dragon and an elf princess, huh? Seems like some story."


    "Mmhm! You see, a long time ago, there was this dragon that everyone thought was evil. He was really lonely and got used to being by himself. But then one day, he met a beautiful kind elf princess..."

 42 – Child – Inversion Impulse

    42 ¨C Child ¨C Inversion Impulse


    Time passed. For a few weeks after the incident, I was stressed out of my mind that knights woulde marching in branding Dad a traitor and trying to execute everyone in the vige.


    Because of that, it seemed like I was neglecting Sylphy a bit... At least enough to where she got worried.


    So after the one day where she quietly held my hand and asked me to y over at her house- No, to just quietly read together... After that, I decided to take it easy for a bit.


    It wasn''t good to be acting like this. First of all... First of all, I was still just a kid. Even if I might have ess to a bunch of random bits of information that made me smarter than I was... and even if I was technically a reincarnated adult... Er, I didn''t have any of the life experience to go along with it.


    Well, other than the soul-rending regret that asionally still gnawed at my heart. But that was getting better. Helped a lot that Mom and Dad and Mama Lily were all proud of me. Also helped a lot that my sisters were super cute and didn''t look at me like I was the source of all their misery and despair.


    Oh, right. I got another sister now.


    Unlike my first sister''s dramatic birth, my second sister was born a few monthster without much hassle.


    I went out to y with Sylphy one day reading some more books with her, and when I came back home, Dad was there crying tears of happiness with a baby girl in his arms... and Mama Lily already back on her feet.


    Mama Lily was definitely built different, just like Sylphy it seemed. At least when it came to giving birth.


    And judging from how in disbelief my mom was when I got back... yeah. Definitely built different.


    My first baby sister was named Norn. By Mom, of course. Dad wanted to call her a boring name like Jane.


    Seriously. Not that there was anything wrong with the name ''Jane''... but considering we lived in a world where the norm seemed to be fancier European style names, a in name like that...


    Well, Mom wasn''t having it, so Norn it was.


    ...Though it didn''t seem like she knew the part about Norns being goddesses in charge of fate. A bit ironic considering that Whitey seemed to be doing his best to get rid of-


    Wait. Norn, dead end... Affair...


    Huh.


    I thought that guy was just talking about random gibberish, but...


    Note to self: investigate the hypothesis that Whitey might actually be simr to a certain Being X and trying to influence things in this world.


    Also investigate the hypothesis that Whitey might be trying to ruin my life in some way and make me blow my lid.


    ...Actually, that seems pretty reasonable.


    In that case... Yeah, ''Being W'' was more fitting. Also gotta work on memory pce techniques in that case. In the off chance that Whitey- I mean, ''Being W'' was a divine being and tried to contact me through a mental connection, I definitely needed to show him just what a *real* god could do when given absolute authority over a world.


    Just like in lucid dreams-


    Oh wait. That might actually be handy.


    Second note to self: See if you can figure out a way to induce lucid dreaming. That would definitely be a way to add more hours to the day for magic research and save me time fleshing out hypotheses.


    ...What was I talking about again?


    Oh, right. Sisters.


    Anyway, first baby sister was Norn. She was a beautiful, normal, and very loud baby girl. Also didn''t seem to be a reincarnator like me. Well, unless she was a world-ss actor. In that case, kudos to her. Wish she wouldn''t though. It''d be nice to chat to someone about Earth and see if I was actually remembering real things.


    My second baby sister, born to Mama Lily, was named Aisha. Unlike with Norn, Dad actually came up with the name. It seemed like he took Mom''s disdain to heart and thought hard about it.


    ...Though Mama Lily told meter that she was originally going to go with Jane since she liked it, but went along with Dad instead since my mom seemed to be happy about it too.


    But anyway, Norn and Aisha. My two new baby sisters. With them born, the days became much shorter by virtue of having to take care of two very needy additions to our family.


    ...Mostly because my mom and dad were terrible at actual parenting. Thankfully, Mama Lily wasn''t, and I had baby siblings in my previous life, so I somehow remembered how to hold, entertain, and feed my new sisters.


    Somehow.


    Memory was weird.


    Anyway, more time passed.


    My time with Sylphy somehow turned more into story time as we teamed up to y with my sisters to give my parents some rest.


    My mom and my dad were sleep deprived and mostly zombies in the day until I jolted them awake with some light healing magic.


    ...Not sure if it was healthy, but they looked like they''d drop dead from sheer exhaustion otherwise, so hopefully it was.


    Though Mama Lily was actually super energetic even while waking up in the middle of the night to take care of Aisha.


    Again, built different. Though maybe it was because she really enjoyed the unconditional love that Aisha gave her in return and was high off of being a mother and all the feel good hormones considering how terrible her life had been up until now.


    Probably that.


    Dad was out of the house more often these days, having to put in extra work to make up for the new mouths to feed. He also seemed to be hard at work trying to convince his boss of something since I noticed him using his office more often both writing and reading letters.


    But things seemed to be fine. He was the same as usual during our training sessions... Ah, no. He was annoyingly stronger than usual.


    To make sure that didn''t happen in the future, I destroyed my notebook. Couldn''t risk another genius finding that and bing as stupid broken as my dad. I had memorized everything anyway, so I could always recreate it if I needed to.


    But anyway, time marched on. Peaceful days once again.


    I turned seven years old, the seasons came and went... And then when winter rolled around my dad made an announcement.


    It was during the evening. Dinner time.


    Laws had alreadye to pick Sylphy up, so it was just our little family. Me, sitting next to Dad. Mom across from him and Mama Lily across from me. Then Norn and Aisha fast asleep in cradles next to Mom and Mama Lily.


    After my dad finished eating, he set down his silverware and said, "I''m going to the Citadel of Roa to talk with my uncle and cousin."


    Silence.


    My mom responded first. She frowned and said, "Why? I thought you cut all ties with your family, Paul?"


    Mama Lily nodded and said, "Yes. And the Greyrats in general are infamous for being despicable nobles. Is it not better to disassociate from that crowd?"


    Paulughed and said, "Yeah. We Greyrats... speaking about my side of the family, at least. We''re pretty bad. I mean, look at me, right?"


    I frowned. "Dad. You''re a good person. Stop that."


    Paul paused and then a weird expression crossed his face. Kind of a smile, but also kind of a frown. Like he wasn''t sure what expression to decide on. But then he sighed and settled with a faint smile before patting my head. "Thanks, Son."


    That was a red g.


    I felt my stomach churn and said, "You aren''t going to turn yourself in or anything right? Or admit to crimes? I thought you said that the knights situation was settled? Is it not settled?"


    "Rudy-"


    I stood up. I felt my heart pound in my chest, but forcibly kept it calm. No, I tried to keep it calm. But I couldn''t stop thinking about it.


    What if?


    If something happened to Dad...


    "No." I shook my head and then grabbed his hand, pulling it down. "NO! I won''t let you go!"


    Norn sniffled and then started crying. Shortly after that, Aisha started crying as well.


    My mom stood up and walked over to grab Norn. Cradling Norn against her chest, my mom cooed and said, "There, there, Norn. It''s fine."


    Mama Lily picked Aisha up as well. Cradling her, Mama Lily smiled and said, "Calm down, little one. Everything will be alright."


    When I saw that, I flinched. But I didn''t back down. I red at my dad and said, "I won''t let you go. If you''re going, I''ming with you."


    My dad frowned and then he cocked his head towards the front door and said, "Let''s have this talk outside. We shouldn''t wake up your sisters."


    "...Fine." I stood up and walked out first.


    As I did, I heard my mom call out to my dad. "Paul-"


    "It''s fine, Zenith. We won''t be long."


    A gust of wind, carrying with it powdery snow.


    I scowled and then swung my left hand, batting it all away.


    At that time, my dad walked out. He stared at me and said, "You seem pretty pissed about my little field trip, Rudy."


    "Don''t joke around with me, Dad!" I red at him and said, "Why are you going to meet them? Tell me."


    "Maybe your old man just wants to catch up and make amends? Why are you so worried?"


    "Because that''s not why." I narrowed my eyes and said, "If it was, we would all go."


    My dad raised an eyebrow. "In this weather? When your sisters are barely a few months old?"


    "If you know that, why are you going now? They need you here more than ever! Mom does! Mama Lily does! ...I do!"


    ''I''m... I''m so proud of you.''


    A phantom of a memory I didn''t have anymore. A soft and tired voice I couldn''t even remember.


    I felt my stomach churn and then clenched my fists. ring at my dad, I said, "If you''re going to try and talk things over because the incident with the knights caused problems, I''ming with you."


    I couldn''t allow it. I couldn''t lose my dad again. Not like this.


    My dad fiddled with the sword he always carried on his left side. "And what makes you think I''d let you?"


    I grabbed the wand I always carried on my right side and said, "What makes you think I''d let *you*?" I swung it up, causing the winds to howl and ice to scatter. "I''m not letting my dad do something stupid to get himself killed."


    "...Karma really is a bitch, huh?"


    "Wha-?"


    A sudden burst of killing intent from behind.


    But it was different. Not my Dad''s.


    I flung out my left hand and threw up a wall of barriers. Five magic circles stacked on top of each other.


    The sound of shattering ss. All of them broken in a single blow. And then a crimson sh aiming for my head.


    My eyes widened and then I instinctively sent out a gust of wind, sending me up. When I did, I caught a brief glimpse of my attacker.


    A woman with tan skin and a fur coat. A long mane of silver hair, reminiscent of a wolf. One eye was dark, but the other was an eerie green color shining even in the snowy night. But that wasn''t all. Unlike my dad, her mana was like a silver sun, zing throughout her whole body and lighting it up.


    A split second. That was how long I had to examine her. And in the next, she was gone.


    No, not gone. If she was that fast-!


    Five in my left. Six in my right. I quickly formed magic circles and stacked <Magic Barrier> on top of itself. The moment I did that, I saw a crimson arc from above.


    A heaving impact. The sound of shattering ss. But this time, it didn''t make it all the way through. Nine broke, but two remained.


    The woman pressed against me with her sword, sparks flying as she tried to break through myst two barrier spells. But as I stared at her, I noticed that she wasn''t focusing on that.


    Instead, she was staring at me. Specifically, at my eyes. "...Natural Demon Eyes?"


    I clicked my tongue and then swept my wand out again, sting her with a six-fold <Wind Ball>.


    At least, that was what I nned.


    But before I could even start that, she pulled her sword back and then kicked me to the ground.


    "Kuh!" I got the wind knocked out of my lungs, but I smacked my chest with healing mana and quickly stood back up, ring at her.


    The woman fell to the ground,nding with a soft impact. After that, she sheathed her sword and tilted her head, examining me.


    My dad walked over to her and said, "What do you think, Ghyine?"


    "Not bad." The woman... No, Ghyine nodded her head and said, "Another year or so and he''d be a monster. I''ve never even heard or seen a magician able to block an attack with barrier spells and react so quickly."


    "Right?" My dad turned to look at me. "...But it''s still not enough."


    "Yeah. If you want to do ''that'', he''ll get killed before you walk through the front gates."


    I grit my teeth and said, "What the hell is going on here, Dad?"


    My dad sighed and said, "It''ll take too long to exin. And knowing you... No. Knowing your temper, if I do, you''ll probably do something reckless. So let''s make a deal." He pointed at Ghyine and said, "If you beat her, I''ll tell you what''s going on. If you lose... Well, you stay here to protect your moms and sisters while I make a little trip with this busty big sister."


    A lecherous grin. A sly gaze at the woman filled with lust.


    The woman noticed and then growled back at him. A yful sound.


    I saw red.


    "STAY AWAY FROM MY DAD YOU BITCH!"

 43 – Child – The Wheel of Fate is Turning

    43 ¨C Child ¨C The Wheel of Fate is Turning


    I didn''t know who she was. I didn''t know why she was here.


    But I knew one thing.


    It was because of her. It had to be because of her. My dad wouldn''t act like that unless he got tempted by her.


    -So kill her then.


    Right.


    I just had to kill her.


    If I killed her, then everything would be fine.


    If I killed her, then my dad wouldn''t have to leave-


    No. Why stop at her?


    She might be the reason why my dad was leaving right now. But the purpose was that trip.


    Then... Kill them too. The stupid nobles who thought they could do everything because they had power. The stupid corrupt knights who ran rampant taking advantage of their authority in the name of ''justice.'' The king who allowed all of this.


    ...Yeah. Let''s do that.


    But first.


    The red in my vision vanished. At the same time, my heart calmed down.


    No. Not calm. It ran cold.


    Like the regrets lingering in the depths of my soul. A chilling, biting sensation in my heart.


    I held up my left hand and tilted my head, thinking.


    *tick*


    Time slowed to a halt. At the same time, I heard a soft tick in my head. Like a mechanical pocket watch being wound back.


    And like that, I had time.


    ...She was fast. Faster than Dad. Faster than any person should be able to move. That sword sh was as fast as light. If I hadn''t reflexively acted, I would have been cut.


    ...No. She was holding back. By all rights, I should have been cut by that attack.


    *tick*


    I couldn''t move that fast. Even though I had been speeding up my body''s adaptation to the intense training to try and catch up with my dad, it was far from enough. It was just toorge a gap to close, even when pushing my body to its limits. Toorge because my body was still just that of a child''s and far before its major growth period. Maybe that would be differentter, but for now, it wasn''t enough.


    I could kill her. I had more than enough ways to kill her. But I would be cut down before I could use any one of those. Her glowing eye seemed to be able to detect the flow of mana. I wasn''t sure if it was the same as how my eyes worked, but it was simr enough to where I couldn''t pull off any big spells. There just wasn''t enough time for it.


    *tick*


    So then I had to slow her down. Change the battlefield to one I could move in. If no cards I had were strong enough, I just had to chain them to make it work.


    A ''2'' and a ''3'' in poker couldn''t beat a pair of aces on their own. But if you lined things up...


    Not a big blow. But a series of cuts to whittle her down. Then...


    *tick*


    Time resumed.


    The woman turned to the side, idly resting her hand on her sword''s hilt.


    I stepped forward.


    -Magic circles weren''t enough. Incantations were too slow. I had been neglecting <Magic Arrays>, so that wasn''t an option either.


    Using a sword... also wasn''t enough. She was better than me. Probably better than Dad too, at least in sheer speed and strength.


    ...I hated resorting to it. The point of magic was to create a system of spells that could be replicated. To allow for magicians to advance upon a path by following the steps of their predecessors.


    But this wasn''t the time for considering other people.


    Direct mana maniption. Converting the imagination directly into a magical form through the integration of theplex field. A Lace transformation that allowed supplemental imaginary elements to add in and ount for what the rationalponents left out.


    A gust of wind blew my dad away from thebat field. The moment that happened, water flooded the surroundings around me and that woman. An artificialke formed in an instant and wrapped the two of us in dark water, eliminating light and free movement.


    But it wasn''t enough.


    That woman was slowed down and I could see shock on her face for a split second because of the light radiating from her silver mana. The fact that I could see that shock even for that split second was good though. It meant I had time to act.


    But her leg was moving to kick off against the ground. And seeing how much silver manaced her muscles, I had no doubt that would just take the battle back to ground zero.


    So the next step.


    A current. Not just one. Any deviations from her attack vector would be able to be corrected by a single kick. So it had to be continuous. A field of shifting torrents, perpendicr to every movement of her limbs to prevent her from making effective forward motion.


    The woman slipped. No, she didn''t slip. She was knocked off course. And she couldn''t find any purchase to regain her bnce for an attack.


    I could see it. Unlike my dad, she specialized in Sword God. Strong, fast attacks. Not a fluid and shifting motion.


    Meaning she couldn''t react to this-


    No. She could. She was reacting to an unknown attack that was meant to bind her.


    I could see her mana swirling, getting ready to explode around her.


    It was the correct answer. The solution here was simple if you were that strong.


    Just smash all the water around you.


    And in another second, she would do just that.


    But that was toote.


    She couldn''t reach me, but I could reach her.


    And one second was enough.


    I reached out my left hand. With the movement, space rippled, distorting as my mana instantly appeared around the woman in a crimson bubble, just like how Sylphy did. And with that, I imagined it.


    Hyper pressurized water. If that wasn''t enough, fully charged lightning. If that wasn''t enough, an instantaneous vacuum. If not that, a fog of poison. If not that, ripping out the raw iron in her blood with earth mana. If not that...


    Well, I''d find a way. Because...


    -Kill her.


    Right. I had to kill her.


    That was the only way to make sure my family stuck together. To make sure I didn''t lose anyone else.


    To make sure that Norn didn''t cry after I carried back my Dad''s corpse.


    To make sure that Aisha got a chance to reconcile with Dad instead of treating his death with indifference.


    To make sure that my mom could live her life and not be trapped in an endless dream.


    To make sure that Master Roxy didn''t die during childbirth because of an unknown viral infection-


    Wait.


    A headache. A massive headache. Something wasn''t right. Something wasn''t right with me.


    Static. For a split second, a glimpse of Dad, slumped against a wall and missing his lower half.


    No. He was actually there in front of me, staring at me with shock and concern in his eyes.


    I clutched my head, grabbing at my skull and trying to w out that foreign presence before ittched onto me any more.


    A crack. *Something* broke. At the same time, I heard a familiar damnable voice echo in my head.


    ''Tch. It was worth a shot. But they''re too different, huh?''


    Before I could think about it, my dad let out a deep sigh and said, "Sorry, Rudy."


    "Wait-"


    A blur. My dad shing his sheath at the front of my head- No. Not just the front. Also from behind and above. Space breaking for a split second just to amodate his movement.


    And then I cked out.


    -LIV-


    "Are you fine with this, Paul?" Ghyine nced to the man at her side and said, "Won''t your kid hate you after he figures out why you went through all that trouble?"


    Paul nced back at his house and then shook his head. "It''s better like this." He rested his hand on his sword hilt and said, "Parents should solve their own problems and keep their kids out of it. Besides... With Rudy''s temper, I''m pretty sure he would end upmitting regicide within the week. ...Probably by blowing up the entire Asura Kingdom."


    "Heh." Ghyine nodded and said, "That kid really did inherit your stubborn temper... Though it seems like he cares about his dad a lot more than you did."


    "...Yeah. Karma''s a bitch like that."


    It was the opposite. As if fate wanted to be funny, instead of going all out to try and get away from his dad, Rudy was doing everything he could to try and keep him there. And while Rudy was still manageable at first, when he was getting desperate at the end there...


    "...Hey, Paul." Ghyine looked over and said, "Rudy... He''s really your kid?"


    Paul red at Ghyine and said, "Are you using Zenith of cheating on me?"


    "No. But..." Ghyine frowned and said, "I''ve heard some stories before. Things that drunkard adventurers ramble in taverns. ...Stories about how malevolent spirits and ghosts sometimes possess infants and take over to get a second chance in life."


    Paul scoffed. "And you believe that?"


    "No. But one of those drunkards was Geese."


    Paul stopped.


    Ghyine turned to look at him.


    "...That guy mentioned that story?"


    Ghyine nodded. "That guy showed up in Roa a few months back and we shared a couple drinks. Exchanged some fun stories... and that one came up. Also..." She nced back at the house and said, "...I don''t doubt that he''s your kid, Paul. But something is wrong with him. You can''t see it, but his magical power ispletely tangled up. It''s like there''s three different things mixed up inside of him."


    "...It''s fine." Paul kept walking.


    Malevolent spirit? Ghost?


    ...Paul might have believed it if someone told him about it when Rudy was still a baby. Back then, it was definitely eerie and unnatural how fast he picked things up.


    But there was no way he could believe it now.


    And even if it was true...


    That desperation in Rudy''s eyes telling him to not leave. The anger at Ghyine when he thought she was trying to break up their family. The broiling killing intent and chilling gaze... which stopped the moment Paul stood in front of Rudy.


    "Rudy is Rudy. Whether he''s a normal baby, a possessed spirit, or whatever crazy thing. That doesn''t change the fact that I''m his dad. And since this is a mess I caused by stupid mistakes I made in the past, it''s up to me to fix them."


    Ghyine stared at Paul.


    Paul blinked and tilted his head. "What?"


    "...Master said that it takes more than just instinct to reach the level of a Sword King, but it looks like that doesn''t really have to be smarts, huh?"


    Paulughed. "That''s riching from a muscle-head like you."


    "It''s because I''m a muscle-head that I can say it. I''m a bit jealous. Though." Sheughed and said, "You were always someone who got stronger when you were showing off for someone else."


    "Heh." Paul looked forward and said, "That''s right. I''ve gotta set a good example for Rudy now. I''d never forgive myself if he turned into a bastard like me, you know? He''s the only decent male Greyrat born in like... ever."


    "Here''s to hoping it stays that way and he doesn''t start chasing tail like you did when you were younger."


    Paul let out a nervousugh.


    Yeah... if that happened, Paul was a dead man. He was 100% sure both Zenith and Lilia would kill him for that considering how mad they were already at Rudy so naturally flirting with Sylphy.


    But that was ater problem. For now...


    Paul turned serious and said, "Are you sure Uncle agreed, Ghyine?"


    "Mm." Ghyine shrugged and said, "Even if he doesn''t want to listen, he can''t help it if a genius triple Sword Saint that can tie with a Sword King like you has popped up in his family, can he?"


    Paulughed, but it didn''t reach his eyes. "Right. So... Let''s hope the reappearance of Notos''s wayward son in the royal court is well received. If not... Well." He cracked his neck and said, "Considering how might makes right over in the Asura Kingdom, if I pile up enough corpses, I should be able to win a noble title and stop that stupid younger brother of mine, right?"


    "...I thought the point of not bringing your kid was to avoid killing nobles."


    "It was to avoid killing ALL the nobles. And you''re lucky that you spooked Rudy and I caught him off-guard. I''m pretty sure I saw him messing around with poisons when he was younger. If he had time to seriously think how to kill you, it might not end well. Especially considering how meticulous he normally is."


    "...Are you *sure* that he''s-"


    "My kid? Yes. Now let''s hurry up. It''s cold."


    "You''re the idiot who wanted to leave in the middle of night when it''s snowing."


    "Which is why we should hurry up. Now, I''ll go first." Saying that, Paul shifted forward and then drew his sword, dashing across the ins.


    Ghyine sighed and then kicked off the ground to run after Paul. "Idiot. You''re lucky that I''m fast enough to catch up. Not everyone''s a monstrous genius like you and your son..."


    -LIV-


    "...Hitogami is getting reckless in this timeline. But that''s inevitable considering his future is severed on every path."


    A man with silver hair and a billowing white coat floated in the sky above the Fedoa region. The same one who rescued Sylphy. He watched Paul and Ghyine leave before shifting his gaze over to the Greyrat home.


    Resting his hand on the crimson sword sheathed at his left side, he muttered, "You have a rough path ahead of you, Rudeus Greyrat. But be patient and work hard. As long as you do, things will work out. Even if Hitogami moves his apostles and tries to disrupt the future-"


    A sh of golden light from the distance.


    The man nced back before muttering, "It''s too soon for this." He drew his de and then swung it in the air.


    Space cracked. And when it did, hundreds of crimson lines spread out, tracing out a tree. The same that Sylphy saw before Rudy saved her.


    It was different now. Three major branches were missing, making the tree slightly lopsided as if pruned. But countless others remained.


    The tree shattered, dissolving into shards showing brief scenes.


    One, showing an older Rudy standing watch at a campfire as a young girl with crimson-hair slept behind him. His green eyes sharp, he nced around the surroundings, clutching a silver staff with a crimson diamond set at the end while a sword was sheathed at his left.


    Another, showing Rudy as a teenager leading an army of armored soldiers and magicians against the Great Church of Milis, his green eyes frosty.


    Another still, showing Rudy as a young man with crimson eyes,ughing amidst a world of ash and rubble. Blood dripped off his gray coat and terrifying creatures of twisted flesh and bone marched behind him.


    The shards vanished. And when they did, the man was gone.


    But in his ce, another appeared.


    Golden hair, something that looked like a white student''s uniform with a buttoned shirt and long pants. A yellow fox mask covered his face while his right hand held onto a dagger.


    He paused, floating in the air where the first man just stood. "...Nothing?"


    Arumanfi of the Bright cautiously looked around the surroundings and said, "...Lord Perugius is never wrong. To have sensed the Demon God''s presence in this area twice, it cannot be a mistake or coincidence. But..." He looked around. "...There truly is nothing here. No traces of teleportation magic or abnormal mana."


    Silence.


    Arumanfi shook his head and then turned back, vanishing in a sh of golden light.


    -LIV-


    The Crimson Dragon mountain range. One of the world''s most dangerous locations where the sky was continuously filled with swarms of Crimson Dragons. Each, a monster requiring scores of adventurers to coborate in order to beat even just one at full strength.


    But a single man walked across the mountain range. Silver hair, a stern face and a white coat... but one with a dark fur hood wrapping around his neck and attaching to a billowing white cape.


    He was unarmed. Considering the danger of the surroundings, it appeared to be a suicidal act.


    But not one of the dragons floating above him dared to attack.


    Because they knew. While monsters, they were intelligent creatures. And they could tell. The one walking below was an existence that defied the world''smon sense. One that no one should fight.


    The 100th generation <Dragon God> Orsted paused and then looked off into the distance. "Hm?"


    It was a brief moment. For a few seconds, a familiar presence appeared in the sky over the Fedoa region.


    But it was impossible.


    "...Lace? This early?" Orsted frowned and muttered, "Did I change something without my knowledge...?"


    An arrogant young crimson dragon without any sense took his distraction as an opening and dove down from the sky to attack.


    Orsted didn''t even look at it, simply swinging his hand out, instantly turning the dragon into red pulp.


    "...Well, I''ll know if I go there."


    Tucking his hand back beneath his cloak, Orsted continued on his path, heading towards the Fedoa region.


    And time marched on.

 44 – Child – Lingering Regrets

    44 ¨C Child ¨C Lingering Regrets


    I saw it.


    A familiar but unfamiliar sight.


    It was a traditional style funeral. One with an altar bearing an ornate temple and a single portrait in front of it.


    I couldn''t see the face. re against the ss prevented me from getting a good look at the person. But I could tell. That person wasn''t old. He wasn''t young either, but he wasn''t an elderly person. At most, he was in his early thirties, but realistically in histe twenties.


    Buddhist chanting echoed in the background as a crowd of people in ck clothing sat before the altar. Most looked apathetic. But there were five who weren''t.


    An older man that looked in his fifties knelt down before the altar, his head bowed as tears quietly streamed down his face.


    An old woman around the same age knelt beside him, quietly patting his back while trying to hold back her own tears.


    A man sat in the front row of the seats covering his face in shame. On hisp, there was an insurance policy. One with a payout sum reaching nine digits in yen.


    A woman shook her head, sobbing as she held onto a clumsily wrapped present and handwritten note card.


    And a young man, just out of his teenaged years sat there in numb shock, staring down at a shiny new phone while holding a small gift card.


    ...Ah. I recognized them.


    Right. They were my parents and my siblings.


    And this... This must be my funeral.


    A gong echoed through the room.


    ...Hey. Dad. It''s not like you to cry like that, you know? And you too, Mom.


    Big bro. You should hold your head up high. You''re the one who has to set an example now.


    And big sis. Sorry I couldn''t get you the fancy bag you wanted back then. I''m d to see that you got the one I bought though.


    ...And little bro. I know how much you like ying games, so I got you a new phone and a gift card. Don''t spend it all in one ce like I did, alright?


    ...No. They couldn''t hear me. Even though I spoke up and wanted to tell them, they couldn''t hear me.


    No one could.


    ...Right. I remembered this now.


    I didn''t want to leave. I didn''t want to end things like this, so I stuck around. No, I desperately clung on even while everything started to fade.


    But something pulled me away.


    As thest gong echoed and the funeral rites concluded, I was forced out of the building. When I was, thest bits of my memories were ripped away from me. I forgot who I was, who they were, all the memories from this life.


    But I held on.


    I didn''t want to forget it.


    The fact that I ended up this way because I kept trying to take shortcuts.


    The fact that everything fell upon them even at the end.


    The fact that the only thing I brought my family was misfortune and sorrow.


    So I fought back. I didn''t care what happened to everything else, but that much at least... That much at least I wanted to remember. To not make the same mistake in my next life, whatever it was.


    And just when I was going to fade into the light far above... Just as I was pulled out over an intersection and towards the sky.


    A crimson light enveloped my body. And then-


    -LIV-


    "Rudy." A quiet and pleading young girl''s voice. "Wake up, Rudy. Please... wake up. Please..."


    *tick*


    I gasped and sat up, opening my eyes in a panic.


    A young girl''s face was right in front of mine, her amber eyes glittering with tears. And when she saw me stare at her, she let out a relieved smile before hugging me. "Oh thank Milis! You''re finally awake!"


    Her silver hair tickled my nose, letting off a scent of flowers-


    Wait. Silver hair?


    I blinked and then the silver color faded, turning into a beautiful light green color, reminiscent of the grassy fields I lived by.


    The girl... No, Sylphy. Right. She was Sylphy.


    Sylphy leaned back and then brushed her tears away, sniffing. "I-I thought that you''d never wake up! Miss Zenith said you were fine, but you just wouldn''t...!"


    I reached out and patted her head. "There, there. It''s fine, Sylphy. I''m fine."


    Sylphy let out a teary smile and nodded. "O-Okay! I-If Rudy says he''s fine..."


    Iughed and said, "Really, I''m fine. I guess..." I frowned, trying to recall my dream. "I guess I was just having a long dream that I didn''t want to wake up from."


    Considering that it happened after Dad hit me in the head with a stick, it was pretty ironic. But I was sure that it wasn''t just brain damage.


    ...No, I was pretty sure I got some of that. Dad hit me pretty damned hard.


    ...Actually, maybe he sent me halfway to heaven again when he did that in order for me to see that dream.


    But whatever the case...


    "A dream?" Sylphy paused. "...Was it a happy dream?"


    I paused to think about it and then said, "I guess you could say it was a happy dream."


    It wasn''t in vain. At the end... At the end, I meant something to them. Even though it was twisted... Even though I felt guilty at being happy from seeing their tears... I was d.


    Because that meant they cared for someone like me. That my frantic efforts near the end weren''t meaningless.


    *tick*


    Warm arms wrapped around me. Sylphy.


    I blinked and thenughed. "What''s that for, Sylphy? Miss me-"


    "Promise me that you won''t choose a dream over us, Rudy."


    I froze. "...Sylphy?"


    "No matter how happy the dream is... I-I''ll make sure you''re happier here! So... please don''t leave again. Please don''t disappear."


    Her tiny arms held me just a bit tighter. As if she was afraid I would disappear if she didn''t.


    "...Don''t worry, Sylphy." I smiled and ruffled her hair. "This is my life now. Even if that dream was important... Everyone needs me here."


    I still regretted it.


    Because of me, my family had to suffer so much.


    My parents had high expectations and pride when I was younger, but were forced to lower their heads in shame when I grew older.


    My older brother was always thoughtcking whenpared to me even while he managed to secure a stable job and start up a happy family.


    My older sister was ignored by my parents who gave more attention to me and eventually ran off to be a career businesswoman, cutting all ties.


    And my younger brother was expected to follow in my footsteps as a ''genius'' and was put in every sort of program possible to give him a head-start, only to fumble through, miserable and anxious.


    They hated me. No, I thought they hated me. But at the end... It seemed like I managed to make up for the pain I caused just a bit.


    And that was enough. Knowing that was enough.


    So...


    *tick*


    I closed my eyes and muttered, "I''m sorry, everyone. But thank you. And goodbye."


    ...I said farewell to the life before. This time, for good. As I did, I felt something lighten up a bit inside me. A weight I didn''t know I was carrying suddenly lifted.


    Just kidding.


    I felt the same, but I did feel a little better about myself. It wasn''t like the regret and pain would just disappear in an instant like that.


    But I was sure that it wouldn''t be paralyzing anymore... And that I wouldn''t snap again because of it or have it as a weakpoint able to be exploited like by that bastard Being W.


    Seriously needed to figure out a way to kill him. If that guy was a god, this world didn''t need them.


    Still patting Sylphy''s head, I took a look around.


    It was my room. My sword was propped up against the wall while the worn-out healing primer Mom gave me was resting next to it. And then wrapped around the sword''s hilt was Mama Lily''s knitted scarf.


    "Just how long was I out anyway?"


    "U-Um..." Sylphy leaned back and poked her fingers together. "W-Well..."


    "It''s fine." I gave her a warm smile and said, "You can just tell me. I won''t get upset or anything."


    "...Are you sure? It... It might be a bit shocking."


    Iughed. "What? That makes it sound like I was out for like a year or something."


    "..."


    I froze. "W-Wait. I-I was just joking. Y-You can''t be serious."


    "...Um."


    "...What season is it?"


    "It''s-"


    A giggle echoed from outside my door. At the same time, the door opened and a toddler walked in.


    A cute little girl with blonde hair and bright green eyes.


    She tilted her head and then pointed at me, a wide smile on her face. "Rudy wakey!" She giggled and then ran over to jump on me. "Hug!"


    "Norn! Where are you going you littledy?! You can''t just..." My mom walked into the room.


    She was a little different now. A few gray hairs mixed in with her gold, no doubt from stress. A few more wrinkles on her pretty face.


    But it was definitely my mom.


    Covering her mouth with her hands, she slowly walked forward, tears dripping down her cheeks. "...Rudy?"


    "Um..." I shifted over the little girl... No, my baby sister Norn. I shifted Norn over to sit on myp and then looked at my mom. "Hi Mom?"


    Norn giggled and then said, "Rudy wakey! See?" She turned back to me and then said, "Hug!"


    "A-Ah. Yeah." I hugged Norn. "So, uh..." I looked at Sylphy who was still shifting in ce. Then I looked at my mom who was crying happy tears... at least I hoped they were happy tears.


    "How long was I out again?"


    *tick*


    Footsteps echoed from the hall outside my room. After that, a familiar calming voice echoed. "You have been asleep for over a year and a half now, Rudy."


    Mama Lily walked into the room, carrying a cute young girl in her arms. One with short red hair and light green eyes. And also someone who shyly looked away from me.


    Wait.


    A year and a half...


    A year and a half?


    A YEAR AND A HALF?!


    I shifted Norn to the side and then jumped out of my bed, running to the window.


    My baby sister giggled, thinking that it was funny.


    But I ignored her. I didn''t have the time to think about that.


    I shoved the curtains to the side and threw open the window.


    There was no way. No way I just got put out like that for a year and a... half.


    The tree was still outside. The one I grew for my mom. But thest I remembered, it was still covered in snow. Now, it was in full bloom, not a single bit of snow in sight. Not just on the tree, but anywhere around. And more than that... the tree was even taller than it was before. Noticeably taller, meaning that it definitely wasn''t just a few months.


    ...No. I didn''t believe it.


    "Rudy." Sylphy grabbed my hand and said, "Please, calm down-"


    "I''m calm. I''m perfectly calm. There''s no way that I wouldn''t be calm after waking up after such a nice long nap. In fact, I''m so calm that I''m going to calmly walk to Dad''s office and write a letter. After that, I''m going to very calmly pack my bags and-"


    "And leave before even saying hello to your dear Master? Really, I''ve waited all this time just for you, you know?"


    I froze.


    A familiar and nostalgic voice. One that I hadn''t heard for what seemed like an eternity.


    Master Roxy''s.


    *crack*

 45 – Child – Mana Transfusion

    45 ¨C Child ¨C Mana Transfusion


    Before I could respond to Master Roxy, reality broke down, turning into a ck void. Nothingness.


    But then something appeared.


    A dark crimson orb, pulsating with energy. Broken shards of a magic circle orbiting around it, written in an indecipherablenguage.


    At the same time, a faint silhouette was crouched before it. An old man with a well-trained body. He turned back to look at me, showing a stern and tired expression. After that, he let out a deep sigh and muttered, "Multiverse theory is a bitch. Damned Hitogami."


    Hitogami?


    The old man stood up, revealing that he was missing his entire lower half. No, that meant that he didn''t stand up, but that he raised himself up with an unknown force.


    ...Who the hell are you?


    "Heh. Wouldn''t you like to know? But..." He turned back to the orb and said, "This way''s a dead end. You have three left after this. Use them well. I won''t be here to pull you back next time."


    I felt a pain in my chest. Like someone had stabbed me in the heart with a knife and was twisting it around.


    But I couldn''t move. I couldn''t do anything about it. My body froze, as if time for me hade to a stop.


    The old man looked at me for a while longer and then shook his head, sighing. "So that''s how it could have ended up, huh? If I had picked myself up back then instead of hiding away, maybe-"


    Before he could finish talking, crimson light exploded, wiping everything away in red.


    And then-


    -LIV-


    "What a troublesome disciple I have." A nostalgic female voice muttered from nearby. "Hah... But what was Paul thinking hitting you in the head like that? It''s a good thing that I was patient enough to wait another day before I quit. It would have been bad if I missed his letter and arrived here toote."


    I knew that voice. No, it was one that I could never forget... and one I just heard a bit ago. At least, one that I thought I heard...


    "Master... Roxy?"


    I tried opening my eyes. But I couldn''t see.


    "Eh? Rudy?"


    I was lying down, so I sat up. And I felt myself sit up. But everything was still dark. Not only that, but I couldn''t feel any mana.


    "Calm down." A pair of slender hands grabbed my shoulders and gently rested me on my back. "Leave everything to Master."


    I took a deep breath and nodded before rxing. At least, I tried to rx. But...


    "What happened?"


    It didn''t make sense. One moment, I was fighting Dad and that woman... Ghyine? One moment I was fighting them, and the next I was suddenly back on Earth seeing my funeral. And after that, I woke up... but it was a year and a half-


    I felt a well of panic. "How long?"


    "Pardon?"


    "How long has it been, Master Roxy?!"


    I already lost a year and a half. So much time had already been taken from me. Did I lose more? No, did I lose my sense again?


    The ident. Was it because of the ident? Was I... Was I going to have to repeat all of that? Was I going to have toy down here and not be able to do anything again?


    Was I-?!


    "From what Zenith told me, it''s only been about a week."


    Eh?


    "Honestly... Both you and your father are so reckless. Him trying to provoke you to get stronger and then you going all out with your mana like that... You *do* know that mana exhaustion is a thing, even for you, right?"


    "...Mana exhaustion?"


    "Yes."


    I calmed down a bit. "You mean I''m like this because I used too much mana?"


    "Well, you tell me."


    I felt the ground shift... No, since it shifted, I was on a bed. I felt the bed shift, and then after that a delicate hand brushed away the hair on my forehead.


    "For your hair to turn silver like this... you must have tried something incredible. Just what did you do, Rudy?"


    A stern but patient voice. Just like all those years ago, slightly chastising but also probing to find out more.


    I let out a nervousugh and said, "I... might have tried to directly manipte elements and break space?"


    My memory was a blur near the end there, but I remembered being mad enough to preload a series of scary attacks. And I *was* using mana directly instead of trying to form it with magic circles or incantations, so-


    Wait.


    "Master Roxy. Um..."


    "Yes, Rudy?"


    "I have a dumb question."


    Roxy sighed and said, "How many times do I have to tell you? There are no dumb questions."


    "...But it''s going to sound really dumb."


    "It''s fine. I won''t judge you."


    "...When you say I''ve been out for a week, do you mean a week plus a year and a half, or just a week?"


    Silence.


    I felt a small wave of panic starting up.


    And then Roxy sighed. "Paul really did hit you too hard in the head if you''re getting those mixed up."


    I felt something warm brush my forehead. The familiar sensation of healing magic.


    "Hm. There''s no internal injuries. Your mana seems a bit unstable, but that''s because it''s still recovering. There''s a build up of mana in your eyes... probably what''s stopping you from seeing anything. But I''ve already started draining it with some magic circles, so you should be able to see in a few days once things go back to normal. Though how did that even happen in the first ce? Were you attempting to create artificial Demon Eyes? Or were you just attempting to reinforce your vision? Thetter is possible, but the former is risky. If even one thing goes wrong..."


    A rambling tangent. Master Roxy getting sidetracked after finding something interesting.


    Realizing that and hearing her nostalgic voice, I couldn''t help butugh.


    "O-Oh. Sorry, Rudy. Seems like your Master got too used to talking to herself."


    I reached up my hand to wave it off... only to idently brush against something squishy.


    Roxy flinched and jumped up.


    "A-Ah." I realized what I touched and coughed. "S-Sorry, Master Roxy."


    "I-It''s fine. You can''t see right now, so I''ll excuse it. ...You can''t see right? How many fingers am I holding up?"


    "You''re holding up fingers?"


    "...Never mind."


    The bed shifted again, meaning Roxy was sitting next to me.


    I turned to look at her... Well, where I thought she was and said, "Why are you here, Master Roxy? Weren''t you going on a trip to improve yourself?"


    "Isn''t it enough to say that I just wanted to visit my cute disciple?"


    "...Did Master get lost and somehow wander back here?"


    Master Roxy had always been a bit of an airhead... Even when she was teaching me- No, just now, she had a habit of trailing off into long tangents and ignoring the world around her.


    I wouldn''t put it past her to identally loop around or something.


    Roxy cleared her throat. "L-Lost? Me? Of course not. Master just... took a detour around the mountains to explore some magical dungeons."


    "Uh-huh."


    Roxy poked my forehead and said, "Disrespecting your Master already? Hmph. Seems like you haven''t learned much manners since I left."


    "Is it disrespect if it''s the truth?"


    "Maybe I should just call you Rude instead of Rudy."


    Iughed.


    Roxyughed as well before saying, "But no. I really did take a detour around the mountains. For a while, I was exploring the dungeons in the Strife Zone to the east. Then I took a job for a few months as a Royal Court Magician in the Shirone Kingdom. I also tutored a prince there for a little bit, but he was an annoying pervert with absolute no manners who thought way too highly of himself when he wasn''t even close to my intelligent, polite, calm, and cute disciple. Seriously, stealing my panties, trying to peep on me when I was showering, running up and trying to grope me... Compared to you who pretended to not see anything when you caught me in the hallway that night, he was the worst."


    "Um... Master Roxy has had it rough?"


    Considering how long she was rambling about that prince, it seemed she had a lot to vent-


    "Wait. He tried harassing you?!"


    "No, Rudy. We are not going tomit regicide."


    "...I wasn''t nning to."


    "You would. But rx. I already handled it. Well, my new student handled it."


    "New student?"


    "I''ll bring you to meet him sometime. He had a very interesting sort of mana around him. Also some fairly decent talent with earth magic. Not as much as you, but he''s decent. He makes up for it with an incredible memory for magic circles though."


    "Really now?"


    A guy with mana that Master Roxy found interesting, along with a guy who also had an incredible memory for magic circles... That did sound like an interesting person.


    Though...


    "You never exined why you''re here right now, Master Roxy. I think I heard you talking about a letter Dad sent..."


    Roxy let out a deep sigh. "Oh. You heard that, huh? Well..."


    "Well what?"


    "...Your father is plotting a coup against the Notus family and wanted me to be here to make sure your family is safe in the meanwhile."


    "WHAT?!"

 46 – Child – So many questions, So little time

    46 ¨C Child ¨C So many questions, So little time


    Dad was nning to run a coup against the Notos family?


    ...Notos family?


    "Wait." I frowned and said, "Who are the Notos family? They sound important but-"


    Footsteps suddenly echoed from the distance, followed by the sound of a door opening. Shortly after that, a familiar female voice called out. Mom''s. "Roxy! I thought I heard Rudy! Is my son finally awake?!"


    I blinked and looked towards her. "Mom?"


    "Rudy!"


    I felt a rush of air and then I was wrapped into a warm hug. My mom held me tight and said, "Thank Milis! I was... I was starting to get worried that you would never wake up...!" She sniffed.


    I quickly patted her back and said, "I-It''s fine, Mom! It was only a week, right? It''s not like a year or something."


    Right. It wasn''t that.


    ...I still wasn''t sure if it was a dream or if I really got pulled back in time after some magic that old man used, but I could still clearly recall it.


    My mom, her beautiful blonde hair already graying with stress wrinkles on her face. The sheer relief on her face when she saw me awake...


    I felt my mom pull back.


    After that, my mom said, "Hmph! This isn''t the time to y it cool for Roxy like your dad would! A week is a long time, you know? Even for adventurers, most people are only unconscious for a day or two max! To be out for a week... Ugh! Just what did that stupid father of yours do?!"


    My mom stomped and then huffed.


    "Wait." Roxy spoke up and said, "...You mean other adventurers don''t fall unconscious for weeks at a time?"


    I turned towards Roxy and gave her a nk stare. ...Well, what I thought was a nk stare. I was blind right now, so it probably was pretty authentic.


    "D-Don''t give me that look, Rudy."


    I heard something faint shift. Probably Master Roxy''s hair from shaking her head.


    My mom let out a deep sigh. "Roxy."


    "Y-Yes, Zenith?"


    "You need to take better care of yourself! What would your mother and father think if they knew you were copsing like that? Especially when you''re such a cute girl?"


    "...It doesn''t matter what they''d think. And it was fine. Each time was within a safe environment."


    "Roxy-"


    "In any case." Roxy turned to look at me... probably.


    I heard some clothes and hair rustling, so it seemed to be the case.


    "I was exining to you what your father was doing-"


    My mom huffed. "That guy... Just what was he thinking? Hitting his son on the head like that while running off to say he was protecting us all..."


    Iughed and said, "Well. Dad''s never been the smartest."


    Sword genius, yes. A guy who thought through the future consequences of his actions... No.


    I mean, he knew how to take responsibility for them, but it would definitely be nice if he picked up a bit of foresight...


    I felt the bed shift beside me before a soft hand ruffled my hair.


    After that, my mom''s voice echoed from my right and said, "I know. He''s always been rushing off before thinking. But something this big... I wish he would have told us more about it before he left. Stupid Paul... letters only exin so much."


    I sighed. "That definitely sounds like Dad..."


    "Um." Roxy spoke up and said, "Should I continue exining?"


    "Oh." My mom spoke up and said, "I''m sorry, Roxy. I didn''t mean to interrupt."


    "It''s fine. You and Miss Lilia have been worrying for a while now about Rudy, so I understand."


    I raised my hand and said, "Before that though... Um, what time is it?"


    Everything was dark and I couldn''t sense anything with mana. It was almost like after the ident.


    Almost, but the only sense I was down was sight, so I managed to not panic.


    Barely.


    ...No, I was definitely feeling a bit of panic starting. But Master Roxy and Mom were here, so I managed to keep it down.


    "Eh?" My mom spoke up and said, "What do you mean, Rudy? It''s morning?"


    "Is it?"


    Silence.


    Master Roxy cleared her throat. "Zenith-"


    Before she could say anything else, I felt a pair of hands grab my cheeks and slowly turn my head. I also felt a presence draw near.


    "...By Milis. Rudy... Can you not see me?"


    "Um..."


    "You can''t." The hands... No, they were my mom''s hands. She dropped them. And then the bed shifted as my mom (probably) stood up. "My son is blind."


    Master Roxy quickly spoke up and said, "Zenith. Please calm down-"


    "My son is blind! How can I remain calm!?"


    "It''s temporary. And it wasn''t from Paul. You should know best since you were the one who treated him."


    "Even if he''s fine and it''s temporary, he''s still blind! All of this because of that idiot! Argh, I''m going to kill him!"


    I cleared my throat and said, "Please don''t. I''m sure that Dad-"


    "And you! Stop protecting your father! I can ept Lilia, but this is unforgiveable! Hitting my precious Rudy in the head hard enough to cause blindness... I''m going to give him a piece of my mind! And I''ll tell Lily too! Ooh, when he gets back..."


    ...Well. I tried.


    I heard someone pacing around the room... probably my mom. She paced around and said, "Honestly! Bringing Ghyine along to try and test Rudy and then push him to his limits... He''s lucky Rudy woke up! If he was still asleep after today...!"


    "Um... Dad means well though?"


    My mom let out a deep sigh and then walked back towards me before sitting on the bed next to me. I felt her pull me into a one-arm hug and said, "Rudy is too nice. It''s okay to get mad at your dad, you know?"


    "Oh, don''t get me wrong, Mom. I''m mad at him."


    Saying that he''d exin only if I beat that Ghyine woman... No, purposefully trying to provoke me like that...


    Who the hell did he think he was? G*ku? I wasn''t some half-alien prodigy who had hidden powers that would suddenly burst forward if I was mad or something like Goh*n.


    I wasn''t stupid. If he sat down and exined, I would have helped him out. But noooo. That guy just had to try and be a proper dad for once...


    "Good." My mom patted my head and said, "Then when you''re better, we''ll take a trip down to the Citadel of Roa and give your dad a piece of our minds."


    "Um." Roxy spoke up and said, "I can''t allow that."


    I turned to look at Master Roxy... Well, where it sounded like she was.


    I felt the bed shift, so it seemed like my mom was doing the same.


    "...And why not, Roxy?"


    "If Paul is seriously attempting to overthrow the current head of the Notos family, you two will be walking into the ho''s nest and create a liability."


    "Well then, Roxy should juste with us!"


    "And leave everyone else unprotected?"


    Silence. And then my mom let out a deep sigh. "...Dammit, Paul." I felt the bed shift again. My mom standing up. After that, I felt her ruffle my hair and said, "Well then... For now, just rest up, Rudy. Mom will just send Dad an angry letter with Laws tomorrow. ...And a few other letters too. Just to be sure."


    "Try not to be too mad at Dad?"


    "...Mom will do her best. But this time your dad made a big mistake. Even if it was for the right reasons." She let out another deep sigh, her voice trailing away as she walked off. "Honestly, what was he going to do if Roxy missed the letter? Or if Rudy never woke up? Is making sure the Notos family and Asura Kingdom won''te after us worth it...? We could have just moved back to Milis..."


    Silence. And then Master Roxy spoke up. Her voice hesitant. "...Rudy doesn''t n on marching out to war any time soon, do you? Because if you are, I am going to have to restrain you. Even if you are an Emperor-ranked magician, it would be too dangerous. And... I don''t want my cute disciple dying in vain."


    I sat back up and frowned. "Just how dangerous is it, Master? What *is* the Notos family?"


    "Ah. I suppose I never exined that properly. You see-"


    A door opened in the distance. Shortly after that, a pair of babies crying echoed.


    "Miss Zenith! I think it''s time to feed Norn!"


    Sylphy.


    "My apologies, Zenny. But Norn seems to be fussy today..."


    Mama Lily.


    Roxy was quiet for a bit and then sighed. After that, she ruffled my hair and said, "How about we put this off for a little bit? Right now, I think that there are quite a few people who wish to see you."


    "Is my cute baby girl hungry? Here, Mommy''s got you... Oh! And let''s say good morning to your big brother! He''s finally awake, you know?"


    Sylphy gasped. "Rudy''s awake?! Really?!"


    Rapid footsteps approached before the door to my room mmed open.


    "Rudy! You''re okay!"


    Before I could respond, a pair of thin arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a tight hug.


    It was familiar. Not long ago, the same thing had happened... at least, something simr.


    "You were asleep for so long, that I thought...!"


    I reached over to pat her head, nning tofort her just like I did before.


    But I missed.


    "Eh?"


    I felt Sylphy lean back. After that, she gasped and said, "Rudy! Your eyes! What happened?! Is it like your hair? Why are they a different color now?"


    "Wait. What do you mean a different color?"


    "They''re a pretty blue now!"


    "...What?"


    Master Roxy coughed.


    I have. SO MANY QUESTIONS!


    -LIV-


    In the Citadel of Roa, about a day''s ride away from Buina vige. Specifically, in the castle housing the Region lord and the city''s mayor.


    A small meeting room with ornate wooden benches and a thin table between them.


    There, Paul stared at a contract lying on the table in front of him, frowning. A ss of wine was set off to the side, untouched.


    Across the table, a man with reddish brown hair smiled. Unlike Paul, who was wearing a typical adventurer outfit, the man was dressed in a posh ck suit.


    Philip Boreas Greyrat. Paul''s cousin, and the one who gave Paul his job as a knight in the first ce.


    "Well?" Philip smiled and leaned his arm against the side of the bench, resting his head against his hand. "You''ve had a week to mull it over now. What do you think, Cousin?"

 47 – A Contract between Fathers

    47 ¨C A Contract between Fathers


    Paul frowned and looked up at Philip. "...Are you sure this is necessary?"


    "You heard Father. Even though you''re strong enough to beat every other Greyrat out there right now, you''recking political strength. If you march in and start killing people to try and oust Pilemon, the royal family won''t take kindly to it. In the worst case, they might pull some strings and send the Sword God over, you know?"


    Paul''s frown deepened.


    Philip leaned forward and then opened his eyes, staring at Paul. "You know how this world works, Cousin. Give and take. It''s true that we''re rted... and it''s true that you''re strong. But strength isn''t enough in this world. At least, not at the level you''re at. If you were one of the Seven World Powers, things would be different. But you''re not." He tapped the table and said, "But this will change things. If you sign this, we won''t just be rted. We''ll be family. And that gives Boreas a reason to move."


    Paul crossed his arms. "What if I don''t want to? What if I decide to just gather forces on my own and go at it alone?"


    Philip leaned back. "Well, you can do that. Like my father said, since you''ve grown enough of a spine to fight back against him, he''ll at least stay neutral. But." He narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you can protect everyone like that? Are you confident that you can stop another even like before? Ghyine says that you''re on par with her, but you''re still one person."


    Paul was quiet.


    That was true. He was just one person. Even if he was strong enough to tie against Ghyine now, he was far from confident to fight off the entire Asura Kingdom.


    ...But Rudy wasn''t.


    Paul was sure of it. Given time, Rudy would definitely reach that level.


    Rudy hated being called a genius, but Paul''s son was a monster that could turn the entire world upside down if he had time.


    Probably literally considering what he saw the kid experimenting with in his free time.


    Then there was Sylphy who was just as much of a monster.


    And Roxy... who thankfully got the letter in time.


    But that meant pulling him into this mess. Instead of letting his son live a normal life like he wanted, it would mean dragging him into a world of backstabbing and death at every turn.


    No. At this point, that was inevitable.


    Since Pilemon had sent that goon and the people dissatisfied with his rule learned that Paul was a triple Sword Saint from that knight''s report, it was only a matter of time.


    ...They could leave. Zenith had family back in Millis-


    Ah. But then that meant Aisha and Lilia couldn''te. Since that ce was strictly monogamous, they would be actively shunned and discriminated against.


    "Dammit."


    Paul grit his teeth.


    It was because of him. If Paul had trained harder when he was younger, he might be a Sword King right now in all the sword styles. Or if he stuck to one, he could be a Sword Emperor, maybe even a Sword God.


    And if he hadn''t so thoroughly gotten rid of his family ties... No, if he had sent even one letter back after he left to check up on his father...


    Philip gently rested his hands on hisp and said, "Come on, Cousin. This deal doesn''t hurt you at all, you know? It''s a win-win. You get our support... and I get to build up a reputation to get a second run at things to be the next head of Boreas."


    Paul red at him and said, "I''m not someone who''s okay with using their children as chess pieces, Philip."


    "I''m not." Philip leaned forward, turning serious as well. "You''ve met my daughter. I don''t mind her taking after Father, but at this point I''m worried for her future. With this, I can at least have some security."


    "And what about Rudy? What if he doesn''t like her? No, how do you know that Eris will like Rudy?"


    Philip hesitated and then said, "I don''t. But if your son is as brilliant as you are in sword fighting, I''m sure they''ll get along fine. And even if they don''t, it''s fine if it''s just on paper. After all, you''re like that, aren''t you? Married to Zenith, but with that maid on the side?"


    Paul narrowed his eyes. "Lilia is not just a maid. She''s just as much my wife as Zenith is."


    Philip stared at Paul.


    Paul red back.


    Philip sighed. "You really have changed, huh?"


    "Of course. Being a father does that to you. At least." He narrowed his eyes and said, "It should. Though it seems my cousin is fine throwing his children to the wind."


    A fist mmed against the table.


    Philip''s. His normally closed eyes were wide open in fury. "You have *no* idea what that is like, *cousin.* Unlike you, I had to fight the session battle. And I lost. I lost, and lost both of my sons to my damned older brother. So don''t you *dare* lecture me on what it''s like to be a father. You haven''t even tasted a *hint* of powerlessness yet."


    Paul was quiet.


    ...That was true. He didn''t know what it was like to have his children taken away from him. And if that happened... he was sure that he''d snap.


    But Philip hadn''t. Even after all that happened to the guy, he didn''t snap or lose his cool.


    Paul used to think that was just because he was a coward. But in hindsight...


    "...I''m sorry." Paul let out a deep sigh and then bowed his head. "I''m in the wrong. I didn''t think about your circumstances, Philip."


    Philip paused and then let out a sigh as well. He waved his hand and said, "It''s fine. And stop that. It''s not like you to lower your head, Paul."


    Paulughed and then raised his head. "That''s true. But I''m not above showing respect for people worthy of it." He stared at Philip and said, "Plus, you''re right. I haven''t tasted powerlessness. But I''m also not as strong as you, Philip. I''m not the type to sit by and endure while my family suffers. And even if that means I go down swinging... as long as I know they''ll be fine, it''s alright."


    Philip nodded. "I''ll be sure to tell that to your wife."


    "Grk. You know what I mean!"


    Philip smiled. "Yes. I do. It''s why I gave you the job, after all." He picked up Paul''s untouched ss of wine and started sipping on it. "My dear cousin, showing up on my doorsteps and begging me for help because he became a father... I was surprised, you know?" He took a sip and said, "I heard about you from Father. And there were times I envied you for being able to run off like that. If I had even a *shred* of your talent..."


    "I''m sorry."


    "Don''t be." Philip sighed and said, "That''s just how life works." He set the ss down and looked at Paul. "We all have our own talents. Yours just happened to be a set that could let you run off alone. Mine... Well, I''m weak. But because I''m weak, I learned how to cut people out from underneath. So." He gave Paul a serious look and said, "I''ll stop beating around the bush. Since you''ve gone out of your way to throw your pride away, I''ll throw away my pretenses and say it directly."


    He pushed the paper towards Paul and said, "Sign it. I want Eris to have someone she can turn to in case something happens in the future. Just like you, I want to protect my child. And if you do this, we can work together to protect your children as well since we''ll be proper family instead of distant rtives."


    Paul hesitated. "...I understand where you''reing from, Philip. I really do. But..."


    Paul thought about his son. And he thought about the girls in his son''s life.


    Rudy wasn''t aware of it yet, but he already had two girls in mind. His smart and cute Master Roxy as well as the sweet and caring Sylphy.


    If Paul signed this, that meant the door on that would be shut-


    Wait.


    Would it?


    Paul frowned and carefully reread the contract. "...Just to double-check. This doesn''t mean that Rudy has to *only* have Eris, right?"


    "Of course it doesn''t." Philip let out an exasperated sigh and said, "I know my daughter. And while it''ll be a Milis sanctioned marriage, it isn''t like it''s binding to only have a single wife. You would know that better than most, wouldn''t you? Besides, my daughter has a bit of a... reputation, shall we say? Outsiders would only see it as a negotiated term to have any chance for the contract to go through."


    "And your wife agrees?"


    Philip suddenly looked weary. "Hilda... Well. She also wants the best for Eris, but she''s be resigned to the way things are."


    An expression of heartache and regret.


    Seeing that, Paul subconsciously brushed his pendant.


    And then he decided. "Alright."


    Philip blinked. "Alright?"


    Paul nodded and held out his hand. "If you promise to help me protect my family, I''ll promise to help protect yours. And we''ll see about taking your sons back from those older brothers of yours too."


    Philip gave Paul a nk stare. And then heughed. A genuine, deepugh that shook his whole body.


    "Hey!" Paul frowned and said, "I''m trying to be serious here!"


    Philip waved his hand. "I know. It''s just..." He let out a genuine smile and then shook Paul''s hand. "...It''s been a while since I''ve met someone stupid enough to have faith in me."


    "Well, I can say the same thing, so I guess we''re both idiots. Must run in the family."


    "Heh."


    Paul finished the handshake.


    Philip looked down at the papers and said, "Then I''ll file these for us. I''ll leave a copy with you afterwards."


    "Don''t I need to sign it?"


    "A handshake''s enough. Unless you''re worried about me betraying you?"


    "No. I trust you. Well, I trust you being a proper father at least."


    Philip stared at Paul and muttered, "I see what Father was talking about. He really has changed."


    "What was that?"


    Philip waved the papers and said, "Don''t worry about it, Paul." He stood up and said, "Just musing to myself."


    Paul stood up as well and said, "If you say so. But then..." He frowned and said, "What should I do now? You got a n on how we''re going to do this?"


    "Give me a few months. The next major gathering will be in the spring. Father said that we''ll head off then if you''ve signed this. In the meanwhile... I suppose you should get acquainted with your daughter-inw."


    "Right. ...Right." Paul muttered. "Oh crap. Daughter-inw... How the heck am I going to exin this to Zenith and Lilia? And Rudy?"


    "Your problem, not mine."


    "H-Hey. You don''t think that I could-"


    "Deal''s done."


    "Philip!"


    "Paul."


    "Oi!"


    Philip cracked a smile and then chuckled. "Rx, Paul. I''ll help you exin thingster. A-As long as you help me exin to Hilda."


    "...You didn''t talk to her about this either, did you?"


    Philip cleared his throat.


    Paul groaned. "Whatever. Now, who''s the girl that my son''s going to marry?"


    "Ah. Eris should be training with Ghyine in the courtyard right now. If you''d follow me..."

 48 – Child – Pressure

    48 ¨C Child ¨C Pressure


    I froze, suddenly feeling a shiver run down my spine.


    "Rudy?" Sylphy called out to me and then pulled me into a hug. "Are you cold? Here."


    I felt something wrap around me. A cloak or a nket. I couldn''t tell exactly what, but it was warm.


    I looked towards Sylphy... Well, towards where I heard her voice and smiled. "Thanks, Sylphy. And no. I just had a weird feeling."


    It was apparently noon. Since I couldn''t see, Sylphy was serving as my eyes and helping me move around.


    ...It was a bit embarrassing when I had to use the bathroom earlier, but she thankfully didn''t follow me inside.


    But anyway, we were just sitting in my room now on my bed.


    Mom and Mama Lily were taking care of Norn and Aisha upstairs with Master Roxy''s help.


    ...Well, Master Roxy said she wanted to help, but I also heard her mumbling something about testing whether infants naturally had mana sight or could develop them with enough exposure to mana.


    Hopefully I was just imagining things.


    It was a neat hypothesis though. I mean, considering the melded senses and my own experience being a baby, it was possible. I didn''t think there was anything really special with me anyway in terms of my body.


    Plus, I did seem to recall Norn and Aisha looking around vaguely in the direction of where some colorful bits of mana floated...


    But anyway, that meant it was just me and Sylphy together hanging out.


    The only real change that had happened was that we were inside now instead of ying outside in the snow or at her house.


    Well, that and the whole me being blind. Doing my best not to dwell on that though.


    Or the crippling anxiety that Being W might be trying stuff in the background that I couldn''t see.


    Or the fear that Dad might be in over his head and end up dead somewhere I couldn''t see while trying to protect me.


    Oh yeah. And those vivid memories of his bisected corpse, a grown up and teary Norn, as well as an indifferent Aisha kept ying on loop when I wasn''t careful.


    One of the perks of having a photographic memory! When you can''t see with your real eyes, your mind''s eye takes over! Huzzah!


    The only thing that was keeping me calm was the knowledge that Master Roxy was around and that she would definitely know if something was off and how to react to it.


    That, plus the knowledge that everyone I cared about was here with me and were here to support me too.


    Like Sylphy.


    I felt a soft hand grab my right hand before gently rubbing my palm.


    "Are you sure you''re okay, Rudy? Do you need me to get you anything?"


    I ced my hands over hers and smiled. "It''s fine, Sylphy. Just knowing that you''re here with me is enough."


    Sylphy was quiet for a bit. Probably giving me a happy smile back.


    That was another thing I was sad about. I couldn''t see Sylphy''s cute and happy smiles now.


    Or my cute baby sisters. Or my cute and smart Master. Or my warm and supportive moms.


    ...Man. Being blind sucks.


    No. ''Turning'' blind sucks. It probably wouldn''t be too bad if you were born blind since you would get used to it being the norm. But suddenly having a major sense taken away... I thought I was used to it already after the ident, but this was something else.


    Really wasn''t looking forward to going to sleepter. And speaking of sleeping...


    "Um. Sylphy."


    "Yes, Rudy?"


    I felt my face heat up, but I pushed on and said, "D-Do you think you could convince your parents to sleep over? I... kind of don''t want to be alone at night. I mean, Master Roxy is here, but..."


    Silence.


    "...Sylphy?"


    "Of course I will, Rudy! You can count on me!"


    Iughed and then reached around to pull her in for a hug.


    I missed, but I felt her move into my arm to let me hug her.


    "Heehee."


    "You''re the best, Sylphy."


    "No, Rudy''s the best."


    I felt Sylphy''s gentle hands trace my cheeks before tousling my hair.


    After that, she said, "You tried really, really, really hard to stop your dad, didn''t you?"


    A pang in my chest. The familiar stab of regret.


    But this was new.


    The ovepping images of my dad''s corpse along with his shocked face as he stood in front of me...


    "Rudy?"


    Sylphy''s concerned voice.


    I realized that I was trembling. At the same time, I felt some sweat running down the side of my face. Iughed and said, "I''m fine, Sylphy. I guess that being blind is just hitting me harder than I thought. Who knew that missing out on seeing things would make things so weird, right? I mean, it''s just like closing your eyes. Except they''re always closed. And except that you can see things you don''t want to see when you never wanted to see them in the first ce, as clear as if your eyes were actually open and-"


    A warm hug. After that, a soft pat on my back. "It''s okay, Rudy. You don''t have to pretend with me."


    A quiet reassurance.


    I paused.


    "I like you for you. You don''t need to be cool or strong, Rudy. I just want you to be happy, okay? So you can cry if you want."


    "I-I''m not going to cry."


    *sniff*


    Dammit!


    Sylphy patted my back. "Okay. Rudy''s not crying." She pulled away.


    I instinctively started to lean towards her, but I pulled myself back.


    If she noticed, Sylphy didn''t say anything about it. Instead, I heard the pages of a book turning before she said, "Then should I keep reading?"


    "...Yes. I''d appreciate that, Sylphy."


    I turned to the side and brushed the tears out of my eyes.


    "Okay. Then... The Great Hero Perugius finally sealed the Demon God Lace away. Unfortunately, despite the sacrifices of the other heroes, that was all that could be done. Even so, it was enough. Like that, the long war against the demons was over and peace returned to the world. But Perugius continues to watch over the world, waiting for the day that Lace returns. Roaming the world in the sky castle Chaos Breaker with his familiars, he continues his long vigil in preparation for the day the Demon God arises once more."


    The sound of a book closing echoed. And then Sylphy said, "And that''s the end of the story. Did you like it, Rudy?"


    I frowned and said, "I think it''s a bad story. What kind of author writes one where all the heroes die and the big bad is only sealed away? Then there''s the fact that Perugius is all alone waiting to get revenge for his friends..."


    "Um. It''s a real story though?"


    "Eh?" I blinked and then said, "It''s real?"


    "Mmhm! My dad says that it was a while ago, but Perugius is a real person. And the battle is real too. Sometimes, if you look up at the sky, you can even see Chaos Breaker drifting pass."


    "Huh."


    I paused.


    "...Wait. Then doesn''t that mean that there''s a chance that a Demon God is just lurking and waiting for a chance to be resurrected?!"


    Silence. And then Sylphy said, "Maybe? But it should be fine, right? Rudy''s strong, so when you''re all grown up, you can be the new hero and help Mister Perugius!"


    I nodded and said, "I''m definitely going to need to talk with that guy at some point..."


    If there was really a Demon God just lurking around in spirit form trying to resurrect while his body was sealed away, then I definitely needed to start making-


    Wait.


    Sealed Demon God, malevolent spirit...


    "Rudy?"


    ...Holy crap. Is Being W the Demon God Lace?


    Ah. Wait. That can''t be right. Lace''s colors were silver and green. It wasn''t white. And Being W''s mana was a milky, pearly white, not silver or green.


    ...Well, maybe it changed after he got wrecked by the heroes?


    Possible.


    Except... I faintly remembered Being W mentioning Lace. Right? I think it was the first time he tried something on me. What did he say again...?


    Something like...


    ''You... Lace? ...possible! ...can''t see... Future...?! ...Have to...!''


    ...Right. Something like that-


    Wait.


    "Rudy. Are you tired? Is something wrong?"


    "A-Ah. No." I shook my head. "I just had a scary thought."


    Right. There was no way.


    I wasn''t some reincarnation of a Demon God or something. And Being W wasn''t a reliable source of intel anyway. Not to mention that I didn''t even hear everything he was saying...


    Yeah. It was just coincidence. Maybe he was talking about how the way I was using mana was like a Lace Transform.


    Definitely it. After all, Lace was the name of a mathematician too. Not just a Demon God.


    The door opened. With it, noise suddenly reemerged. The sounds of my baby sisters babbling in the distance. Mama Lily calmly reading a storybook while my Mom hummed a tune. The sounds of pots and pans and the smell of savory stew.


    And then Master Roxy''s voice. "Sorry to disturb you two, but lunch will be ready soon."


    "Thanks, Miss Roxy!" Sylphy answered back and then stood up. "Come on, Rudy!"


    Iughed and then stood up as well. "No need to be in a rush, Sylphy. It''s not like the food''s going anywhere."


    Sylphy grabbed my hand and started gently leading me forward. "I know! But it sounds like Norn and Aisha are awake now, so let''s go say hi!"


    I smiled and followed her lead. "Well, if you put it like that, I guess I should show my face, huh? It''d be bad if my cute little sisters didn''t recognize their older brother when they grow up."


    "Rudy." Master Roxy''s voice echoed from behind. "You should be careful. You don''t want to jinx it, do you?"


    "A-Ah. Good point, Master. You''re as insightful as ever."


    Considering the weird circumstances, that might actually happen...


    Note to self: think positive.


    "And you still need to learn to hold back on praising girls."


    "...Understood, Master."


    "Oh!" Sylphy spoke up and said, "Miss Roxy! After this, do you think you could help me with magic? I wanted to try something new and show Rudy, but since he can''t see..."


    "Of course. There are a few things I want to test now as well. Especially after seeing how you use magic, Sylphy."


    "Great! I wanted to test some things out too after seeing your magic!"


    I turned towards Sylphy and Master Roxy. After that, I frowned.


    Yes, frowned.


    I definitely wasn''t pouting. Definitely not upset that I couldn''t see how they were using magic. Nope, not at all.


    ...Dammit. Just how much longer am I going to be blind? It''s only been a few hours since I''ve been awake like this and it''s already feeling like forever...


    Definitely need to remember to not try to reinforce my eyes with mana in the future. Or at least, make sure to set up a drainage system first, because this suuuucked.

 49 – The Young Elf Girl’s Resolve

    49 ¨C The Young Elf Girl¡¯s Resolve


    Night time. The lights had gone out, and the Greyrat household was quiet.


    The same was true for Rudy''s room.


    After a long day, it was time for bed. And since Sylphy''s parents let her sleepover, that meant that she was sharing one with Rudy.


    If it was any other time, Sylphy would have been excited. She had never had a sleepover before, and she would have loved to just chat with her best friend until the morning.


    Except this wasn''t any other time.


    "...No. Sylphy. I''m sorry. Don''t... Don''t leave me...!"


    Another nightmare.


    Rudy''s face scrunched up in terror and agony, sweat matting his silver hair. At the same time, he started shaking.


    Seeing that made Sylphy''s heart ache.


    Rudy was always happy and smiling around her. So seeing him terrified and panicked like this made her feel terrible.


    Especially knowing she couldn''t be there with him in those dreams. Even so, that didn''t mean she couldn''t do anything.


    Sylphy reached over and pulled Rudy into a hug. At the same time, she leaned his head against her chest like she saw Miss Zenith do in the past tofort Rudy and said, "It''s okay. I''m here. I won''t leave you."


    Silence. For a split second, Rudy tensed. His eyes opened, revealing a sh of bright blue. But then he blinked and then slowly closed his them, calming down. In a groggy voice, he muttered, "Thanks, Sylphy."


    Sylphy smiled. Even if he couldn''t see it, she liked to think it''d help him rx.


    And it seemed to help. Rudy''s breathing slowly turned steady and the tension in his body faded.


    Seeing that, Sylphy leaned back a bit and stared at Rudy''s face.


    He was different now. Different, but the same.


    His light brown hair had turned a pretty silver color. The beautiful light green eyes were a clear blue for now because of Miss Roxy''s magic circles helping them go back to normal.


    But he was the same as always. He looked a bit different, but he was still the same Rudy.


    Except he also wasn''t.


    Sylphy didn''t know what happened. Her father wouldn''t tell her anything even though he knew and seemed really mad recently. Her mother wouldn''t say anything either, even though she looked worried.


    Miss Zenith said that it was just a little training ident. And Miss Lilia said that Rudy would be back to normal soon enough.


    Even Miss Roxy said that nothing was wrong with Rudy.


    But something had changed.


    Mister Paul was missing and Rudy''s moms seemed really mad whenever she brought up Mister Paul. But at the same time, they also looked exhausted, as if there was something weighing on them too.


    That meant that something important happened.


    Was it because of the mean knights that came to the vige? Because Mister Paul fought with them?


    For a while, it seemed like everything was fine. But Rudy had started getting worried since after that.


    Did Rudy try something then? Did he talk to Mister Paul and try to learn what was happening? And then did Mister Paul not listen, so Rudy tried to beat him up? And lost?


    That made sense.


    Knowing her best friend, Rudy must have tried really hard to get answers from Mister Paul. And since Mister Paul left...


    Rudy probably tried really hard to make him stay too. But he lost, and Mister Paul left him behind.


    Even if Mister Paul was really mean to him in their training, Rudy still liked his dad a lot. And Rudy didn''t admit it, but he was really happy whenever they were together. So for Mister Paul to leave him... Rudy must be really sad.


    Sylphy knew that she would be if her father suddenly left her behind. And she knew from her father telling her that he was really sad when he learned that Grandma suddenly left him behind too.


    So Sylphy was angry at Mister Paul. He shouldn''t have done that to Rudy. He shouldn''t have forced Rudy to stay behind and make him sleep for a week.


    And he should have seen just how hard and sad Rudy must have been for him to try that much to keep Mister Paul here.


    But adults were stupid. They just kept thinking Rudy could do everything. But he wasn''t a legendary hero like Perugius. And even people like that couldn''t do everything.


    Sylphy sighed and brushed a strand of Rudy''s silver hair out of his eyes. "It''s not fair, Rudy."


    He worked so hard. Out of everyone, he was the person who worried the most. He saw how the adults weren''t taking things seriously or couldn''t do the things he could and tried to make things work. He wanted to just keep ying and having fun, but since he was the one who was the strongest with magic, when things happened he was the one who had to fix things.


    And he didn''t tell anyone. Not because he didn''t want to, but because he was afraid. He didn''t want them to worry. He didn''t want anyone else to be afraid too.


    But that wasn''t fair.


    Sylphy pouted her lips and said, "I want you to rely on me too, Rudy."


    Rudy was her best friend. He didn''t just save her, but he took her out and showed her how pretty and kind the world could be. He gave her the strength to stand on her own two feet and made her feel like she could be her own hero. And he made every day super fun and happy.


    But he gave her too much. Even while he was worried, he put on that fake smile and tried to trick her into thinking everything was fine. That he waspletely okay.


    Even now when he couldn''t even see anything, he was putting on that bright smile and carefree attitude.


    But he didn''t notice it. Because he couldn''t see anymore, Rudy was a bit more honest, even if wasn''t aware.


    There were times when his confident maskpletely shattered and he looked scared. There were times when he started to panic because he thought nobody was around. And there were times when he looked lost and confused. Like nothing made sense.


    Sylphy didn''t know what it was like. She could imagine it a bit by closing her eyes, but she knew that when she opened them, she could see again. But right now, Rudy couldn''t do that. Even when his eyes were wide open, he couldn''t see anything.


    And it wasn''t him ying a trick either. She had secretly tested it a few times by getting really close to his face when he was looking around.


    That, and he was a lot clumsier than normal.


    So Rudy was terrified. He was probably feeling like Sylphy did when she was lost in the forest.


    Unable to see where she was. Not knowing what to do. Wondering just what happened to lead up to this...


    In that case...


    Sylphy quietly stared at Rudy and then nodded. Reaching down to his hand, she grabbed it with both of hers and ced it against her chest. "Don''t worry, Rudy. I''ll be strong for you. I won''t let you be the only one people rely on. So... So lean on me a bit in the future, okay? It''s fine to pretend to be strong around other people, but let me be strong for you when you feel weak."


    A quiet vow. After saying it, Sylphy felt her face heat up.


    But Rudy didn''t respond. Fast asleep, he didn''t hear Sylphy''s words.


    Seeing that, Sylphy let out a slightly regretful sigh. But she put on a soft smile and then nuzzled close to Rudy. Feeling his warmth next to her, she closed her eyes and then drifted off to sleep.


    As she did, faint thoughts flickered through her mind. Dreams slowly blending with reality.


    Standing back to back with Rudy, her wand in hand as they faced off against an army of knights. Miss Roxy supporting them from behind while she and Rudy ran forward to fight.


    That would... be nice...

 50 – The Young Lady’s Anger

    50 ¨C The Young Lady¡¯s Anger


    Eris Boreas Greyrat. The favored granddaughter of Lord Sauros, the only child between Philip and Hilda to still remain with them in the Citadel of Roa... and now the betrothed of one Rudeus Greyrat.


    Well, a soon to be Rudeus Notos Greyrat.


    Which meant that Eris would soon be Eris Notos Greyrat as well in a few years.


    That was what Eris learnedst night after her pathetic father walked with the strange man.


    Apparently, she didn''t have to bother with her lessons anymore. She didn''t have to deal with the stupid math or whatever. She also didn''t have to do that boring etiqutte with Edona anymore.


    That was great! Except, she was apparently going to be married to some kid called Rudy. And the strange man she met yesterday who knew Ghyine was going to be her new father in the future too.


    Or something.


    She didn''t understand everything because it was tooplicated, but Eris could figure out two things.


    First, she could spend all her time practicing sword fighting with Ghyine now.


    Second... she was apparently going to belong to some boy in the future and have to leave home. Some kid that she didn''t even meet who was younger than her by a couple of years.


    Like she would let that happen!


    It was alreadyte when she met that man... Paul or something. She didn''t remember. But because it waste, Eris didn''t do anything.


    But the first thing she did when she woke up was march up to Grandpa''s office.


    Eris kicked open the door to the office and crossed her arms. "Grandpa! Why do I have to marry some dumb kid?!"


    Sauros paused in the middle of writing a letter and then looked over, narrowing his eyes.


    Eris instinctively flinched.


    A stern and harsh face that only softened when he was taking Eris around with him. ck and white hair slicked back and carefully controlled. A sharp suit with medals and badges adorning it.


    Lord Sauros Boreas Greyrat. The head of the Boreas family, one of the four noble houses of the Greyrat family that had served the Asura Kingdom for eons.


    Usually, he rxed when Eris came in. Usually, heughed at her mimicking his usual actions.


    But today he was serious. As serious as he was to other people.


    "G-Grandpa?" Eris frowned and lowered her arms.


    Sauros sighed and shook his head, for a moment looking soft. Completely different from his usual self. But then his eyes hardened and he stood up. "Eris!"


    Eris straightened. "Y-Yes, Grandpa!"


    "The betrothal contract is final! If you want to annul it, then go solve it with your own hands! If you don''t have that strength, don''t bothering to ask me!"


    "G-Grandpa?"


    This was different. Grandpa usually gave whatever she asked for. But...


    Eris shook her head and said, "I don''t want to! I''m not a toy to be given away! Are you just going to let my weak father do what he wants?!"


    "Weak? Hmph." Sauros waved his hand and said, "If that''s what you see, then there''s no point talking."


    Eris stepped forward. "Grand-"


    "Leave!" Sauros pointed at the door, ring at Eris.


    She flinched, gritting her teeth. But then she bowed her head, muttering, "Yes, Grandpa." With that, she stepped back and quietly closed the door behind her.


    She also quietly walked down the stairs. But the moment that she reached the first floor, she stomped on the ground and screamed. "It''s not fair! Why do I have to listen to some stranger and belong to some weak kid!"


    At that time, a low chuckle echoed from behind her.


    Eris spun around and then red at the person, raising her fist. But then she paused.


    It was him. That strange man that showed up with her weak father the other day.


    If Eris was being honest, he looked pretty strong. Unlike her pathetic father, the man had a lot of muscles like Grandpa. He also carried a sword around with him everywhere and Ghyine seemed to respect him.


    But his face, stupid brown hair tied in a ponytail, and green eyes just made Eris want to punch him.


    The man... Paul, walked over to Eris and waved his hand. "Yo. How''s my future daughter-inw doing?"


    "Tch." Eris ignored him and started walking towards the courtyard.


    "Ooh, doing some neglect y, huh? Fine, fine. It''s probably going to be something I''m experiencing a lot in the future anyway."


    A grating and arrogant voice.


    Annoying. For some reason, it reminded Eris of her father.


    ...Was that why he was going to be her father-inw or whatever? Because he was simr to her father?


    "Anyway. We''re strangers right now, but we''ll be family soon enough- Ah, wait. That''s creepy." Paul frowned and said, "Makes me sound like I''m going to kidnap you or something."


    Eris red at Paul and then looked away, continuing her march to the courtyard.


    ...It wasn''t ''like'' he was going to kidnap her. From what she understood, he *was* kidnapping her. And Grandpa let him. Just because he showed up and talked with Grandpa and her father.


    Eris grit her teeth and then kicked open the doors to the courtyard.


    Some maids just behind the doors leapt away in fright. After that, they dropped whatever chores they were doing and sprinted off.


    Paul whistled and said, "I saw that you were feisty, but I didn''t think you were *this* fiery."


    Eris ignored him. The man wasn''t important anyway. Instead, she focused on the only person in the courtyard who didn''t move.


    Leaning against a pir supporting the courtyard overhangs, a busty woman with tanned skin and silver hair waited. A ck eyepatch covered her right eye while a crimson sword hung at her left side. There were a pair of wooden swords leaning on the pir nearby as well, the usual for their morning lessons. And like usual, Ghyine wore her fur coat.


    Which reminded Eris that she forgot to bring hers.


    The courtyard was covered in a freshyer of snow. And it was cold too.


    But if she went back, that man would probablyugh at her again. And Eris would rather be cold than have to deal with that idiot.


    So instead, she ignored the cold wind nipping at her and called out. "Ghys-"


    "Morning, Ghyine."


    Eris froze, ring at Paul.


    This time, Paul ignored her, walking forward. "I didn''t take you for a morning person."


    Ghyine cracked her left eye open and said, "And I didn''t take you for one either, Paul."


    Paulughed and said, "Yeah. Well... I figured I''d be getting an angry letter any day now, so I wanted to be up to grab it."


    "Heh. Already preparing to apologize to your wives, huh?"


    "Hey, it''s necessary!"


    "Keep telling yourself that. And get ready for that kid of yours to smack you in the face."


    Paul winced. "Aha... Yeah. That''s going to be... an interesting conversation."


    Eris looked between Paul and Ghyine and then stomped her foot. "Stop hogging Ghyine, you creep!"


    "Kuh!" Paul stepped back and clutched his chest. "C-Creep?"


    Ghyineughed. "Seems like your future daughter-inw saw through to your nature, Paul."


    "I am not a creep! ...Anymore!"


    Ghyine raised an eyebrow. "Anymore?"


    Paul coughed. "Long story."


    Eris growled and then walked up to Ghyine, tugging her arm. "Ghyine! Teach me!"


    Ghyine smiled and pushed off from the pir. "Well." She looked at Paul and said, "Seems like I''m going to be busy now, Paul. We can chatter."


    Paul frowned and said, "Is a musclehead like you even capable of teaching someone?"


    Ghyine''s eye twitched.


    As for Eris...


    "Don''t make fun of Ghyine!"


    ...The moment that Paul finished talking, she jumped forward and threw a punch at Paul''s head.


    "Oho?"


    It missed.


    Paul stepped back, easily dodging Eris''s blow.


    She grit her teeth and then ran over to the pir, grabbing one of the wooden swords leaning against it.


    After that, she kicked off the ground, swinging the sword at Paul''s shins.


    "Pretty vicious, aiming for my shins like that."


    It missed. No, Eris felt her sword brush against the man''s legs, but they didn''t connect. Instead, the man vanished.


    No, if he wasn''t in front of her, then-!


    Eris''s eyes widened and she quickly spun around, pointing her sword in front of her.


    Paul hummed, rubbing his chin. "Not bad." He nced at Ghyine and said, "How long have you been teaching her?"


    Eris stomped on the ground and said, "Stop ignoring me!" She growled and leaped forward again, swinging her sword again.


    This time for sure! That Paul guy was fast, but if she aimed for his chest, there was no way he could-


    "Whoopsy daisy. Getting a bit too close there."


    A faint blur. The man''s hand moving forward and then lightly tapping Eris''s sword.


    And suddenly Eris was stumbling off to the side, missing while the man hadn''t taken a single step.


    Eris spun around and growled.


    Paul tilted his head. "A bit like a rabid dog... Seems like you''ve found a good student, Ghyine. She''s just like you in the old days. All muscle, no brains. Well, I guess right now she''s not even muscle."


    Eris stomped on the ground and then looked at Ghyine. She pointed her sword and Paul and said, "Why aren''t you doing anything, Ghyine?! I thought you said I was your student!"


    Ghyine nodded. "You are. But this is a good learning experience." She nced at Paul and her eye twitched. "This man''s a master at breaking someone''sposure. Try tond a hit on him if you can."


    "Ooh. That''s a good idea." Paul nodded and said, "Even Rudy hasn''t done that yet. If Eris manages it, I can say that he lost to a girl. Here." Paul leaned forward and said, "You get one hour. Try to smack me-"


    A brown blur. Eris whipping her sword at Paul''s face.


    But it missed.


    "Hah! Nice try, but Rudy''s done that a hundred times already."


    Eris growled and then grabbed the other wooden sword next to Ghyine. "Shut up! You''re annoying!"


    Paul grinned. "So I''m told. Bute on." He nced at Ghyine and said, "I need to get in some training too, so I''ll take over for your teacher here today-"


    "I don''t want you to teach me!"


    "Well. To borrow something that Rudy would say... It sucks to su-"


    Eris kicked off the ground and swung her sword at Paul''s head.


    It missed.


    Paul did some fancy footwork and was suddenly on the other side of the courtyard. But then he paused and stared at Eris. "Huh? Are you not chasing me? Rudy would have done a follow up sh-"


    "Stop talking about that guy!" Eris roared and ran after Paul, her sword raised high.


    Paulughed. "That''s the spirit."


    Eris stomped on the ground and kicked off to sh again.


    And once more, Paul was suddenly far away.


    "STOP RUNNING!"


    "Oh, sorry about that." Paul sincerely apologized and then rested his left hand on his sword. "Keep forgetting that normal kids can''t suddenly clear a courtyard in a single kick."


    Ghyine sighed and said, "Just what kind of monster is your kid again?"


    Paul walked towards Eris andughed. "One who I need to really apologize toter... and also get ready to get beaten up by."


    Eris ran forward, violently swinging her sword as fast as she could.


    But she missed. Each time, it looked like Eris hit him. Yet she didn''t feel anything on her sword.


    Eris growled and said, "Stop ying around!"


    "Well, get serious and hit me then."


    "I HATE YOU!"


    "Join the queue."


    Eris screamed and ran forward again, swinging her sword.


    Paul yawned and then ced his hand on his chin, lost in thought. "I wonder how Rudy''s doing... I hope I didn''t hit him in the head too hard."


    Ghyine gave Paul a nk stare and said, "You hit him with abined <Flow> and <Longsword of Silence>. I''m surprised that he survived that."


    Paul coughed, casually dodging another of Eris''s blows. "I made sure to hold back. Besides, Rudy''s a tough kid. I''ve hit him with a lot worse in the past."


    "...Are you sure that you''re human, Paul? I thought your people were supposed to cherish children."


    Paul ducked under one of Eris''s shes and said, "We do! And I cherish Rudy a lot! But I also know what he''s capable of. And he''s a lot stronger than me, you know?" He leaned back, dodging Eris as she charged at him. "I say give him like two more years and he''ll be better than me in sword fighting. After all, unlike his old man, Rudy is smart and thinks over things a lot."


    "STAY STILL!" Eris screamed and swung her sword again.


    Paul stepped back, suddenly clearing a gap. "Whoops. Did it again."


    Eris let out a strangled cry and threw her sword at him.


    Paul grabbed it andughed. "Good effort. But I think you should stick with Sword God, Eri."


    "IT''S ERIS!"


    "Sure, Eri."


    "I HATE YOU!"


    "Again, get in line."


    "AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"


    Ghyine sighed.

 51 – The Lawful Elven Man’s Journey

    51 ¨C The Lawful Elven Man¡¯s Journey


    "Thank you so much for doing this for us, Laws." Zenith let out a deep sigh and said, "With Rudy like he is now and with the babies..."


    Laws tucked the letters into his side bag and smiled. "There is no need to thank me, Zenith. After all this time, I would like to think that our families are close enough to not need such formalities."


    Zenith smiled and said, "That''s true."


    It was early morning, before sunrise. Since the trip to the Citadel of Roa would take half the day on horseback, Laws arrived early to make sure he had plenty of time to spare to reach it before sunset.


    At the moment, he was standing in the living room, meeting with Zenith before heading out on his journey.


    Laws adjusted his coat and checked his bag one more time before ncing over towards Rudy''s room. "How is he now?"


    Zenith let out a strained smile. "He''s better, but I think he''s still recovering. Mentally. Physically, he''s fine. But it seems that he''s been more shocked than we thought he''d be at losing his sight."


    Laws frowned. "That Paul... What was he thinking?"


    That guy mentioned it to him. Since they talked every day, Laws knew that Paul was nning on heading back to the Asura Kingdom to resolve things with his family. But Laws didn''t think that his friend would be crazy enough to knock Rudy out for a whole week just to prevent him from running after Paul.


    And then there was the fact that Rudy was blind now too.


    Laws''s frown deepened and he said, "...You will not mind if I punch your husband in the face a few times, will you?"


    "Go for it. And make sure it''s at least three times- No. Six."


    Laws smiled. "Understood."


    The door opened. After that, a gentle-looking woman with light brown hair walked in. Laws''s wife.


    Zenith''s eyes lit up and she said, "Rose! I didn''t know you wereing over!"


    She smiled and said, "Well. Since my daughter is here and since Laws is going to be leaving for a while, it would be too lonely at home. I hope you don''t mind if I impose?"


    "No, no!" Zenith smiled and said, "I could actually use the help. Lily is great, but since we can''t count on Rudy to help watch the kids or help with chores... I mean, Roxy helps, but she''s a bit clumsy."


    Roseughed. "I understand."


    Laws looked at the two women and nodded. "Well then. I should depart before the sun rises."


    "Oh!" Zenith waved and said, "Thanks again, Laws."


    Rose walked over and gave Laws a soft peck on the cheek. "Stay safe, Husband."


    Laws smiled and gave Rose a warm hug. "You as well, my Rose."


    Rose blushed.


    Laws waved and said, "Then I am off. I will make sure to bring back news as soon as I can... Ideally with your husband at my side for a proper ounting."


    "I''m counting on you, Laws!"


    Laws smiled and then left the house.


    Rose had already fitted the horse for travel. His rations were ready and packed, and he was properly equipped. A warm fur coat, his bow, spare knives for closebat, along with his good luck wooden pendant.


    Laws mounted his horse and then nced back at the Greyrat household. Specifically, he looked towards the window where his daughter and Rudy were still fast asleep.


    A faint thought crossed Laws''s mind. A minor worry.


    His cute young daughter sleeping in the same bed as Rudy...


    But he quickly brushed it aside.


    Unlike his father, Rudy was a pure and innocent child. And the same was true of his daughter. There was nothing between them but a strong and pure friendship.


    ...Though Laws was beginning to wonder how much longer that wouldst.


    The elven man spurred his horse forward and then frowned, thinking to himself.


    Rudy was seven, and the same was true for Sylphiette. That meant there were eight more years until they were adults.


    But it wasmon for love to bloom before then. And while Laws himself did not find his Rose untilter in life, he knew that it was unusual. And from how his daughter looked at and cared for Rudy, it was only a matter of time until that pure friendship turned into something more.


    "...Perhaps I should make it official?"


    He and Rose were already considering it.


    Rudy was a well-mannered and talented young child. He also cared for Sylphiette a great deal and genuinely enjoyed being with her. Not only that, but around her, he acted like a proper child and had a rxed appearance that he didn''t show around anyone else.


    At the same time, Sylphiette adored him and had gradually be more independent and strong-willed since spending time with Rudy.


    They were good for each other. And while they were both still young, it wasn''t too early to startying the foundation for marriage.


    Although... There was one problem.


    "...Is it fine?"


    Laws looked up at the surroundings.


    A sliver of the sun had started to peek out over the horizon, giving just enough light to see by.


    Snow covered ins. The silhouettes of Buina vige in the distance. The towering mountains... and the barely visible Citadel of Roa in that direction.


    It was quiet. Not a trace of wind, leaving Laws with just his thoughts.


    Which meant that he couldn''t be distracted from the troubling problem that came with allowing Sylphiette to marry Rudy. One that he would have to deal with in the future as well.


    "...Will you be able to let him go, Sylphiette?"


    They hadn''t noticed it. Rudy and Sylphiette were best of friends and treated each other without any prejudices or preconceived notions. It didn''t matter to Rudy that Sylphiette had green hair or was part elf. And it didn''t matter to Sylphiette that Rudy was human.


    But it *would* matterter.


    Ten years... fine.


    Twenty, it was alright.


    But after thirty, forty, fifty...


    Even if Rudy trained all his life, he was human. And humans had a short lifespan.


    A hundred years, max. Realistically, eighty.


    Meanwhile, Sylphiette wouldfortably live to be at least 200. All the while looking the same as she did when she was 20.


    Laws was already dreading the day that he parted from Rose. While they were the same age... While they were both 26 right now, he was already starting to see it. The ravages of time weighing down on his beautiful Rose while he stayed the same...


    "No. It is her choice." Laws shook his head and focused on the path ahead.


    For now, Laws would just leave them be. As much as he would love to have Rudy as a son-inw and know Sylphy would be well taken care of, he also didn''t want to give them a tainted happiness when they still weren''t aware of the future that waited.


    So instead-


    "Hm?"


    A brief sh. In the distance, he saw a pair walking through the snow, barely visible in the morning light.


    A man with silver hair and a white coat, bearing a crimson sword on his left side. And walking beside him...


    A strange sense of nostalgia. A tightness in his chest that he couldn''t exin.


    The source of that was a woman walking beside the man. An elf woman with curled blonde hair and amber eyes. She carried a sword and shield with her and wore a revealing short skirt and tunic, even in the cold.


    Laws pulled on his horse''s reins, slowing its gallop to a trot, staring at the pair. At the same time, he found himself subconsciously brushing his wooden pendant.


    The woman paused, turning to look at Laws. When she did, a flurry of emotions passed her face. Regret. Sorrow. Happiness... and then resignation.


    "You...?"


    A flicker of a memory. A hazy recollection that Laws could barely remember.


    A beautiful woman holding him while letting out a sad smile.


    The woman turned away, saying something to the man. And then the man turned to look at Laws.


    Bright green eyes that seemed to be unfathomably deep and ancient.


    "Wait!"


    Laws turned his horse towards them.


    He didn''t know, but he had to find out.


    Find out why that woman was so nostalgic. Why his heart hurt when he saw her.


    And why that man... why that man also seemed strangely familiar. As if he had seen him before as well.


    Laws spurred his horse into a gallop.


    The man shook his head and then rested his hand on his de.


    Laws tensed, subconsciously reaching for his bow.


    And then the wind kicked up, sending a flurry of snow across in front of him.


    Laws was forced to bring his horse to a stop. And when he did, the man and the woman were gone.


    But that didn''t mean he was alone again.


    "Laws Dragonroad?"


    A stern and sharp voice called out.


    Laws froze.


    It was another man. Different from the first.


    Silver hair. Harsh golden eyes. He wore a white coat as well, but this man''s coat had a fur cor, framing his head as it attached to a billowing cloak.


    But more than that... he was dangerous.


    A primal instinct screaming at Laws to run.


    One that even the horse seemed to feel as it trembled in ce.


    Laws gulped and then called out. "W-W-Who are you?"


    "Mm. Odd." The dangerous man muttered to himself and said, "There should be no reason for Laws to leave Buina vige. Especially with Sylphiette being trained under Roxy Migurdia..."


    Laws froze.


    Sylphiette? Roxy?


    Hearing the familiar names, Laws forced down his fear. He red at the man and then drew his bow, notching an arrow. "Why do you know those names? What are you doing here?"


    "...And Laws should not be this fearless as well. Interesting..." The dangerous man shook his head and looked at Laws.


    Laws forced himself to not flinch.


    "I would not ask you to believe me... but I am just passing through on a whim."


    "Your name!"


    "...I am Orsted."


    "Orsted... Fine." Laws lowered his bow. "...But behave. A King-ranked Water Mage is protecting Buina vige, so don''t get ahead of yourself."


    "King-ranked? Interesting. So Roxy Migurdia reached such a level...?" After muttering that, the man looked away from Laws and started walking off.


    The moment he did that, Laws felt a weight lift off of him.


    And at the same time, his horse started bolting away.


    "H-Hey!" Laws quickly dropped his arrow and ced his bow on his back before grabbing the reins. "Calm down!"


    The horse whinnied and kept running.


    Laws nced back at the dangerous man, still worried. But he forced himself to stay calm and focus on his horse instead.


    It would be fine. Roxy was there to protect everyone.


    Right now... Right now he just had to get to Paul.


    Get to Paul and warn him about the dangerous man who showed up the moment he left to go settle his personal affairs.


    "...Curses. Why is it that all your good intentions always result in such trouble, Paul?"

 52 – Child – I see.

    52 ¨C Child ¨C I see.


    I saw nothing. Only darkness.


    When I first woke up after being knocked out by Dad, I didn''t think it was that bad. I''d dealt with being blind before, after all. Well, being blind and immobile. Compared to that, being able to move around, interact with people, and still live a rtively normal life was great.


    Especially since Sylphy was here to help me through it. Not to mention that Master Roxy was nearby so I didn''t have to worry about Being W''s maniptions. She would definitely figure out something was wrong and blow that guy away if he showed up.


    So it was fine. While I was fumbling around, both in terms of my mana and my body because I couldn''t see, I was alive and healthy. Nothing was *really* wrong with my body. Mom gave me a clean bill of health, and Master Roxy verified it.


    So it was fine. I was fine. And as the day went out, I managed to forget about being blind. Well, kind of. Still sucked, but I got over it.


    At least, I thought I did.


    And then it was time to sleep.


    Sylphy''s parents let her sleep over. And while it was embarrassing to ask her, Sylphy was willing to sleep nearby and hold my hand to let me know I wasn''t alone while I slept.


    Really, I didn''t know what I would do without her...


    But anyway, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.


    Nothing changed. After all, the world was dark either way.


    ...Or so I thought.


    But it wasn''t.


    shes of images I couldn''t remember. Only terrifying distorted impressions seared onto my mind.


    I couldn''t remember the details. No, it was like my mind was rejecting the details. I couldn''t remember what I saw.


    But I could faintly remember what they were about.


    Dad, dying while he shoved me away, saving my life while giving his in exchange.


    Mom, forever trapped in a dream-state.


    Me, drifting away from Norn and Aisha.


    Despair. Regret. Grief. Loss...


    And then cold wrath as I indiscriminately massacred countless people.


    ...It was a nightmare. A nightmare that I couldn''t distinguish from reality because nothing changed even when I opened my eyes.


    No. One thing did change.


    And that was Sylphy.


    I didn''t know why. But in my nightmare, she wasn''t there. So because I could feel her nearby, I knew when I was awake and when I was dreaming. Because I could feel her handsced with mine and her warm presence, I could tell that the nightmare was just that: a nightmare.


    ...But it was still terrifying.


    What was the dream and what was reality? Was the world going to change again when my vision came back, like it did before? Was I going to suddenly get sent to a different time again and lose all that happened here? Was this all just an illusion that Being W dreamed up for me? Or was I actually dying from Dad''s attack?


    I didn''t know. But I clung onto the hope that this was real. That the time I was living with Sylphy and Master Roxy wasn''t a dream. That the terrifying scenes my mind rejected were just nightmares. That the ''future'' I saw where I was in aa for a year and a half, as well as the scene with the old man and the broken magic circle was just a delusion from my mind connecting random bits of information.


    And then I saw it.


    Faint light, drifting in from a nearby window. The familiar walls of my room, with my sword, book, and scarf leaned against the wall nearby. Sylphy nuzzled up beside me with her beautiful light green hair, now long enough to reach her shoulders.


    But not only that... the familiar lights of elemental mana drifting around. And because it was winter, more green and blue of wind and water than brown and red of dirt and fire.


    My vision was back.


    I blinked, slowly bringing my left hand up to my eyes.


    I could see it. My hand, rough and callussed from training with Dad. And then within it, my crimson mana, glowing as usual- No. A bit dimmer than usual. It seemed like whatever I did had sapped a lot of it away.


    As for my right...


    I turned over to see Sylphy quietly sleeping with my hand held in both of hers, hugging it to her chest.


    Seeing that, I smiled and brushed her hair. "Thank you, Sylphy."


    She was fast asleep. Probably exhausted from helping me through the night.


    I carefully uced my hand from her and then got out of my bed.


    Sylphy frowned, as if unsatisfied with me leaving. And for a bit, she sleepily reached over to grab me.


    Seeing that, I felt my heart warm up. I carefully fixed her hair and pulled the nket over her. Patting her head, I said, "Sleep well, Sylphy. You deserve it."


    Sylphy''s ear twitched, but then she rxed, her breathing slowly drifting back to a regr rhythm.


    After another once over to make sure she wasfortable, I left the room.


    The moment I did, I heard the faint sounds of cookinging from the kitchen. Pots ttering, water simmering... the usual.


    I rubbed my eyes, making sure I wasn''t just dreaming. And for good measure, I subtly case a few spells just to make sure. Fire, water, wind, ice, lightning, earth... I pulled a tiny bit of my mana to conjure tiny balls of each element before dispersing them.


    No problem there.


    In that case...


    I conjured a tiny ice dagger and then pricked my left pinky.


    A quick sharp pain. But then my mana drifted over to my pinky and converted into a spark of gold healing mana. With that, the pain vanished and the wound sealed, leaving just a drop of blood as trace that it happened.


    So... about 75% chance I wasn''t dreaming.


    I''d take those odds. Better to be on this being reality than actually go insane doubting whether I was awake.


    Considering what I knew how to do, it would be for everyone''s benefit that I remained lucid and in full control of my mental faculties.


    So anyway, probably not dreaming. Because I wasn''t, I walked over to the kitchen to see what was going on and maybe- No, definitely hug Mom and Mama Lily.


    Except, when I walked over there, I didn''t see who I expected to see.


    "Eh?"


    A kind woman with brown hair and brown eyes. Not a world ss beauty, but still pretty. And also someone who I still didn''t know the name of.


    "Um... Good morning Miss Sylphy''s Mom?"


    She froze in the middle of stirring something in a pot and then quickly turned back to look at me. "Rudy?" Seeing me standing there, she let out a bright smile and then walked over. "Good morning! And since you''re here... I''m guessing you can see again! That''s wonderful!"


    I rubbed the back of my neck and smiled. "Yeah... Sorry for making everyone worry. Um, are you here to help out because of me?"


    Sylphy''s Mom smiled and said, "A little. It''s more because I''d be all alone at home though."


    Oooh. Right. If Sylphy was here and Laws was out sending the letter to Dad, that meant Sylphy''s Mom would be home alone.


    Wait.


    I blinked and said, "Did Mister Laws leave already then?"


    "Mmhm." Sylphy''s Mom turned back to the stew and scooped up a bit with thedle she was using to stir. After staring at it, she seemed to be satisfied and put a lid on the pot to let it simmer. After that, she brushed her hands off against her dress and walked over to me. Smiling, she said, "Hopefully your father will be back with him tomorrow to give a proper exnation."


    "Right. An exnation..."


    I doubted that he had a good one, but I was open-minded about it.


    Well, assuming he let me practice my healing magic on him.


    Master Roxy was here. I was sure that she could keep Dad from dying. And a guy like that only really learned a lesson if it was ingrained in his body. His head was just too dense to hold anything for long.


    Wait.


    "Mister Laws is bringing back Dad with him tomorrow?"


    Sylphy''s Mom ruffled my hair and said, "That is the n. At least, that''s what your mothers hope for." She pulled her hand back and sighed. "Though, Laws seemed pretty upset. It''s rare for him too... Hopefully nothing goes wrong."


    I quickly walked over to the wall and knocked on it.


    Sylphy''s Mom blinked and said, "What are you doing?"


    "A good luck charm."


    Because goddammit, I was not about to tempt fate on something like that after all the BS that just happened.


    Which reminded me. Needed to start working on countermeasures and ns to avoid future setbacks like this ASAP.


    Being W was a sly, sneaky, conniving son of a bitch. And it looked like I definitely underestimated that bastard.


    Plus, I needed to take inventory of everything. Whether there were changes to my body, how much mana I lost, if any. Whether my mana had changed...


    I also needed to redo my mana training. Considering that I waspletely helpless just by being blind, it seemed like I had been relying way too much on my <Mage Sight> to use magic and manipte mana. Needed to start practicing on moving it like a natural extension of my body in case something like this happened again.


    After all, there wasn''t anything actively preventing me from using mana while I had been blind. I just... didn''t know how to do it.


    Well, there were incantations, but considering how those always blew up in my face, they weren''t on the table.


    So training to use mana like an extension of my body... definitely priority 1.


    Priority 2 was training my senses enough to work without my eyes.


    No, more than that. I needed to do some serious research into ultra instinct.


    Drag*n B*ll overexaggerated it a lot, but it was based on a real thing. The body''s senses were more than just the basic five. Humans had an innate sense of space and time as well.


    Proprioception was the sense of perceiving how we moved our bodies, so improving that would let me be able to move around in rtion to everything else. Probably. Needed to do testing on that.


    As for time... I could remember it.


    Was it because I was juiced on adrenaline? Mana? Or was it the high-tension mana rtionship I figured out?


    Either way, I clearly experienced time slowing down when I was pissed off enough to kill Ghyine.


    Ah. Needed to apologize to her sometime too. She was clearly roped into all of this by Dad because he wanted to pull a G*ku on me like when G*ku made Goh*n fight Ce*l. Trying to pull out my inner rage and power probably to see if I could help him in the coup.


    Apparently not. Though I knew where I stood in rtionship to the average swordsman now.


    Still fairly sure I could kill them. But I wasn''t fast enough to do it other than in an ambush. A straight fight still ended with me dead...


    "Rudy?"


    Sylphy''s Mom called out to me.


    I blinked and realized that I had just trailed off into my own world.


    I smiled and said, "I''m fine, Miss Sylphy''s Mom. Just thinking."


    Sylphy''s Momughed and said, "You know, Rudy, you can just call me by my name. There''s no need to be so polite... Though it''s cute."


    I started to sweat.


    "Rudy?"


    "...Um..."


    "Is something wrong?"


    "...I-I don''t know your name though?"


    Silence.


    And then Sylphy''s Momughed.


    I felt my face heat up and averted my gaze.


    Sylphy''s Mom shook her head and then said, "My. I suppose that''s true. I never did properly introduce myself." She walked over to me and then knelt down to my eye level. After that, she patted my head and said, "I''m Rose. But you can feel free to call me Miss Sylphy''s Mom if you want."


    Rose.


    Alright. So Sylphy''s Mom was called Rose. Got it. Easy to remember.


    ...Which made it all the more embarrassing that it took this long to learn it.


    Ugh.


    What was this, gic?


    Maybe I inherited a bit more from Dad than I''d like to think...


    At that time, I heard footstepsing over from my parent''s bedroom.


    "Rose? I thought I said that you just had to get things ready, not start cooking." My mom walked over, hugging a groggy and bundled up Norn in her arms.


    Another pair of footsteps. Mama Lily, walking over with a bundled up and gurgling baby Aisha in her arms. "Yes. It''s appreciated, but you are a guest. It would be rude of you to cook."


    Sylphy''s Mom- I mean, Miss Roseughed and said, "It''s fine. I''m happy to take a load off for you two."


    My mom frowned. But then she noticed me and said, "Oh! You''re up already, Rudy?"


    A forced cheery voice.


    My mom let out a strained smile and then said, "I''m holding Norn right now, so Mommy can''t give you a hug. But I''m not ignoring you."


    Mama Lily let out a silent sigh and then put on a forced smile as well. "The same is true for myself, Rudy. I am currently holding Aisha, otherwise I would also hug you. But know that you are appreciated and loved."


    Kind and thoughtful consideration. To make sure that I wasn''t worried, my moms kept things normal as best as they could while going out of their way to amodate my blindness by saying what they were doing.


    But they were also clearly worried. The stress was already weighing on them.


    Realizing that... against my will, my eyes started to tear up.


    "E-Eh? Rudy?" My mom''s eyes widened and she walked over. "What''s-"


    "I-I''m sorry f-for making you two w-worry." I sniffed and then brushed my tears away.


    Dammit! Stupid kid body! You''re not supposed to show my emotions like this!


    Cool! Stay cool! Calm down and-


    "Ah."


    Speaking of calm... a nostalgic and recently familiar cool female voice echoed from the distance. Shortly after, Master Roxy walked over. Wearing just a simple blue nightgown, she blearily rubbed her eyes and looked over. "Is that Rudy?" She yawned and said, "Good morning. How are your eyes-?"


    "MASTER ROXY!"


    I couldn''t help it. Seeing her familiar reliable figure after just hearing her voice for a day and dealing with all the stress... Like with my tears, I reflexively ran over to hug her.


    "R-Rudy?! W-Wait a moment, you are much bigger than you used to be so- G-Gah!"


    A loud thud. Both of us falling onto the floor...


    Is what should have happened.


    But instead-


    A blinding light. Thousands of magic circles suddenly ring to life.


    Seeing that, my eyes widened. "Holy fu-"


    "NO!" Master Roxy quickly swept her hand through the air and said, "Bad magic circles! No attacking Rudy!"


    The magic circles suddenly dissolved, fading back into ambient mana.


    ...No. They were still there. Just mostly invisible. Translucent enough to where even I could barely see them.


    Master Roxy sighed and scratched her head. "Sorry, Rudy. I usually leave that active when I sleep. Forgot to deactivate it."


    "I see." I nodded and said, "As expected. Master Roxy is still an unsurpassed master of magic."


    Master Roxy froze. And then she let out a deep and suffering sigh.

 53 – Child – Devotion and Support

    53 ¨C Child ¨C Devotion and Support


    "Are you sure I can''t just-"


    "No, Rudy. You are still recovering from mana exhaustion."


    "But I just want to-"


    "No."


    "But I feel-"


    "No. And my answer will not change even if you continue nagging me for another hour."


    I pouted and crossed my arms.


    Sylphy giggled and then patted my head. "It''s okay, Rudy. Just rest up until you''re back to normal, okay?"


    "...Fine."


    It was noon. After that mishap with Roxy and seeing the insane magical array that she developed I dragged her outside and politely requested that she taught me what she did to make it.


    Politely requested meaning I nagged her about it for an hour.


    I had some ideas on how she did it, but it was alsopletely different from the way I would have implemented something like that.


    If it was me expanding on <Magic Arrays>, it would have been a stack ofpressed and 3D magic circles that freely swapped out as needed to be configured into the spell needed. With that, a magic circle could be used as a core and then serve as a control module.


    In programming terms... I would have predefined the interface and ss for each spell, then instantiated a new object for each spell in a main method before running input through a UI to activate methods on that object.


    In normal terms... I would have built up a toolbox of spells to be used at a moment''s notice and pulled each out as needed.


    But as expected, Master Roxy took my idea and ran with it, making something even better.


    My way of doing things would have been reliant on me as the user. Kind of like how an idiot wouldn''t be able to use aputer, my idea was something that only someone specialized in it would have been able to use, like me or Master Roxy.


    Sylphy didn''t really understand magic circles... or rather, she didn''t see the point in them when she could just make things work, so she wouldn''t be able to use it.


    But Master Roxy''s... It was ridiculous.


    Her version of <Magic Arrays> was basically a clockwork mech made of magic circles. I couldn''t even begin to see how and where it all began and ended, but it was set up to automatically react to outside events, chain together to cast spells using ambient mana, and then disperse or reform as needed.


    Not only that, but it wasn''t centralized. Instead of having a control module, it just... kind of worked all the time when it was there. Like a permanent loop with feedback built-in to update it and churn out new pieces. And because of that, Master Roxy was free to move, chant spells, or cast separate ones from those that her <Magic Arrays> had.


    I wanted it. Like, real bad.


    But I didn''t want to be annoying, so I let it be for now.


    ...Definitely needed to secretly start experimenting on making something simr though. It would be the perfect countermeasure to surprise attacks against people faster than me, like Ghyine had been.


    But for now...


    I took a look around.


    We were sitting outside by Mom''s tree. As always, it stuck out from the surroundings because of its bronze bark and fluffy white leaves with golden lining. And as always, it emitted a familiar warmth from the radiating healing mana.


    That didn''t mean that warmth was actually there though. The leaves were covered in snow, and the area around the tree had snow drifts as tall as I was.


    Emphasis on ''had''.


    Sylphy, being the resident Queen of Winter had shoved all of the snow away and left everything cleared for us to rx.


    And then Master Roxy, being super cautious about my health had ced down a big magic circle to warm the surroundings, making it feel like spring despite being the dead of winter.


    All of that to say... magic really was incredible.


    And I *really* wanted to start practicing again.


    But since Master Roxy insisted I didn''t... and since mana exhaustion was apparently a super serious condition, I would listen to her.


    For now.


    But tomorrow...


    Roxy sighed. "I''m starting to think I really should have stuck around longer now, seeing as my precious disciple is so nonchnt about his health."


    I gave her an innocent look and said, "But I learned everything from Master Roxy. Didn''t you stay upte a lot to practice and study magic?"


    Sylphy narrowed her eyes at Roxy.


    Roxy cleared her throat and said, "Y-Yes. But I''m much older than you, Rudy. Growing children need their sleep more than someone like me."


    "...But Master Roxy''s still growing, aren''t you?"


    Roxy blinked and then walked over to pat me on the head. "Stay cute, Rudy. But also start watching your tongue. You don''t want to be like Paul and be a no-good heartbreaker."


    My eyes widened and I quickly nodded. "U-Understood, Master."


    Right. I couldn''t be like Dad.


    He was lucky that Mom and Mama Lily had a good rtionship together, and that I was there to convince both of them to get along. If not for that... it would have been messy. People would have been crying and resentful on both sides.


    Nope. Definitely had to stay single or pick a singledy. Besides, I wasn''t like Dad who liked more than one girl anyway. Heck, I didn''t even think I actually liked a girl like that yet anyway.


    ...


    ...Right. D-Definitely not yet.


    "Rudy?" Sylphy tugged my shirt.


    I flinched. "Y-Yes, Sylphy?"


    She pointed at my sword, leaning against the tree and said, "Are you going to practice sword fighting instead of magic then?"


    I sighed and slumped my shoulders. "I guess so. Since Master Roxy says I can''t practice magic, I might as well work on that instead."


    Sylphy frowned and said, "Why can''t you practice magic?" She looked at Roxy and said, "Miss Roxy doesn''t seem that special. And it''s your mana, isn''t it? Don''t you know better than anyone else how you feel?"


    Roxy''s eye twitched.


    I noticed and quickly said, "I do. But Master Roxy has a lot of experience with these sorts of things, so-"


    "But she''s not you." Sylphy looked back at me and said, "Miss Roxy might know a lot, but Rudy''s a lot smarter. You think that Miss Roxy''s magic circles... thingy is cool, but it''s nothing that you can''t do, right?"


    "I-I mean... Technically...?"


    If I sat down and took notes about Master Roxy''s <Magic Arrays> I could probably replicate it. Though it would take a few years at least... it was technically possible?


    Roxy cleared her throat and said, "It may be true that Rudy has a much sharper mind than I do-"


    "I don''t."


    "-But that does not mean that he should march ahead without consulting anyone else, especially after suffering such drastic consequences. You may not be aware because you are a child, but mana exhaustion is nothing to scoff at."


    "And you might not know because you''re an adult, but knows a lot about mana! More than you, I bet!"


    I looked between Sylphy and Master Roxy.


    Sylphy crossed her arms and moved in front of me, as if protecting me.


    Master Roxy frowned and adjusted her hat with her right hand.


    "Um..." I raised my hand and said, "You know, I don''t mind-"


    Roxy lowered her hand and said, "I am happy that Rudy found a friend to support him. But there is a difference between support and blind devotion that allows reckless actions."


    Sylphy nodded and uncrossed her arms, lowering her hands. "And I''m happy that the Master who Rudy cared so much about came back to help protect everyone, but you don''t get to say what Rudy can or can''t do. He''s already worrying about enough things already."


    ...Should I be stepping in on this conversation? I feel like I should be stepping in on this conversation.


    But I also had a feeling that things would get messy the moment I did. Just a sort of gut feeling.


    So instead...


    Execute diversionary tactic!


    "Hey." I pointed off randomly into the distance and said, "Who''s that?"


    "Hm?" Roxy paused and turned to look over there.


    "Eh?" Sylphy paused as well and also turned to look.


    Good. Tactic, sessful- Wait.


    I blinked, realizing that neither Roxy nor Sylphy were moving. Instead, they were staring in the direction I pointed with serious expressions.


    Roxy, pursing her lips and reaching for her staff.


    Sylphy, trembling a bit but then forcibly standing her ground by taking a step forward.


    I frowned and then turned to look where I pointed.


    And then I froze.


    It was a man. One with silver hair and golden eyes. A harsh, no nonsense gaze, a white coat with a fur cloak that concealed his entire body beneath it.


    But more importantly than that...


    A dense and familiar white mist radiating off of him. Not holy mana, but instead...


    "Being W...?"

 54 – Turning Point 1

    54 ¨C Turning Point 1


    Master Roxy immediately stepped in front of me, holding her staff. "Rudy. Stay back." Sweat poured down her face. At the same time, the magic circles from her <Magic Arrays> system red to life.


    Sylphy grabbed me, wind mana flowing around her, ready to fly away at a moment''s notice. "Let''s go, Rudy."


    Sheer panic suppressed with pure resolve. From both Roxy and Sylphy.


    "No." I shrugged Sylphy off and stepped forward.


    "R-Rudy?!"


    Master Roxy nced back and red at me. "Rudy! Stay. Back!"


    "Have you met Being W yet, Master Roxy?"


    "What?" Roxy blinked, caught off guard by the question.


    I stared at the man approaching and said, "That guy''s been messing around my life for a while... and I need answers."


    The man approaching us wasn''t Being W. That sinister white mist was extremely dense around him and seemed to be casting a spell of sorts, but there was another mana beneath it. A regal gold and silver mix that waspletely invible.


    But more than that, the man approaching seemed hazy. As if he was a person that wasn''t really here. Like a mirage, his silhouette was a bit blurred.


    Though whether that was a result of Being W trying and failing to interfere with him, the man''s natural mana, or some other thing... I didn''t know.


    But I did know one thing.


    The man''s face was harsh. His golden eyes were narrowed, and overall he had the appearance of the end game secret boss from some old JRPG game.


    But because of that, I was suspicious. Not about him, but about his circumstances.


    Moreover... I felt a connection between us.


    It wasn''t rational. It wasn''t anything concrete. But it was a gut feeling. Something deep within me that said this was a person who wasn''t against me.


    I nced back.


    Since we were at Mom''s tree, we were a fair distance from home. But still close enough to where everyone could get caught in the crossfire if things went south.


    The man was still far off in the distance. We had about ten minutes before he arrived.


    So I took the time to think.


    He was an unknown factor.


    There shouldn''t be any visitors.


    Master Roxy and Sylphy were put on edge by him.


    Being W seemed to be doing his damndest to try and affect the man. But failing that, Being W seemed to be casting a spell around the man instead.


    I felt a strange connection with the man. A faint familiarity like I met him once, a long time ago.


    The man looked harsh and dangerous, but he didn''t actually have any hostility. Even so, he had a demeanor where he would be ready to fight at a moment''s notice, as if he was used to suddenbat.


    The timing was weird. Showing up right after I woke up and got my sight back... It was too coincidental.


    And the man was powerful.


    Like my current state, the man''s regal gold and silver mana seemed to be a bit dim. But even so, I could tell.


    His mana was equal to- No. It was better than mine. Not just in quantity, but in quality. Like how my mana was dense enough to fold in on itself and dominate other mana, his was simr. But rather than folding in, it seemed to just continually produce light.


    Put in other words... if my mana was like a huge with intense gravity, his seemed to be a bright star with equal pull but constantly emitting light.


    In other words... strong. Stronger than anyone I had seen or even imagined.


    The Strongest.


    I would go so far as to call the man that.


    So the question remained. Why was he here?


    I walked forward.


    "R-Rudy! No!" Master Roxy called out after me, but she stood in ce. As if frozen by fear- No. She actually was frozen by fear.


    "Rudy!" Sylphy called out as well and tried to walk after me. But she stumbled and then copsed on the ground, her legs trembling.


    I nced back at the two and then smiled. "I think that guy''s here for me. Don''t worry. I''m just going to have a small chat with him."


    "You''re lying!" Sylphy desperately pushed herself to her feet and shouted. "You''re lying, Rudy! Stop! Don''t go!" She tried to take another step with her shaky legs. But again, she copsed. And when she did, her eyes welled up with tears. But not because she was sad. Instead, they were tears of frustration.


    Master Roxy grit her teeth and tried to move as well. But she couldn''t. Her entire body shook with the effort, but it didn''t move. "Why...?" She looked down and then red at her legs. "Why are you like this now?! Move! MOVE!" She grit her teeth again and then looked at me. "Rudy! Stay back! Listen to your Master and stay back! That person''s dangerous!"


    "I know. That''s why I''m going to talk with him."


    "Are you stupid!? An idiot?! Just what have you been doing these past few years?!"


    "Not enough."


    I walked forward, ignoring Roxy and Sylphy.


    I could see their point.


    The man was strong. Unbelievably strong. Enough to where you could probably sense it without seeing his mana. But since Roxy and Sylphy could see what I saw, I was sure that they were even more affected.


    Paired with the fact that I had been unconscious for a week and blind for a day after, me walking out like this was probably their worst nightmare. Considering how much they cared for me, this was like their worst fearse to life.


    ...But I had to.


    The man didn''t seem hostile, but there was a chance he was. And if we waited for him to approach us, then there was a possibility of hostilities breaking out close to home. To where Mom, Mama Lily, Sylphy''s Mom, and my two cute and vulnerable baby sisters were waiting.


    I couldn''t risk that.


    The man was strong, so it was highly likely that even a casual blow could destroy everything at close range.


    So to mitigate it, I had to engage first.


    In the best case scenario, this was all a misunderstanding and we went on our ways.


    In the worst case... I had to buy time. No, I was the one who *could* buy time.


    Master Roxy''s magic circles wereplex, inventive, and powerful. But her mana wasn''t dense enough to face this storm.


    Even a basic Water Ball from the man would blow her away.


    Sylphy''s way of using mana was creative and diverse, but she wouldn''t be able to control this. Not only that, but she didn''t have any fighting instinct. To begin with, Sylphy was a peaceful and kind young girl. Expecting her to enter the dragon''s den was sending amb to ughter.


    I had been training with her with mock battle games to give her reflexes to help in actualbat, but this wasn''t the time or ce to test those.


    To begin with, the man wasn''t someone you could react to.


    I adjusted my gray scarf around my neck and walked forward, forcefully resisting the urge to prepare magic circles or gather mana.


    The man continued his approach, snow blowing around him as he walked across the field.


    I stepped beyond the boundary of Master Roxy''s warming magic circles and instantly felt a chill fall on me. But I ignored it and continued walking.


    One minute. Two. Three... Ten.


    And then we were standing across from each other.


    As if we came a mutual understanding, both of us stopped at a distance of about ten feet. A gap that could be crossed in an instant if things got serious, but one that showed respect for space.


    The man gave me a sharp look, his silver hair shifting in the wind as his golden eyes narrowed in thought.


    I felt my hair shift as well, and had to resist the urge to shiver from the chill. Instead, I just stared back at the man.


    "...You aren''t looking away." The man muttered and then looked past me. "Roxy Migurdia and Sylphiette Dragonroad... that''s the same. But you." He looked at me and said, "I don''t recognize you."


    Roxy Migurdia? Sylphiette Dragonroad?


    I could understand him knowing Master Roxy. She had be pretty famous after her antics and exploits in Shirone Kingdom and the Strife Zone.


    But to know Sylphy''s full name-


    Wait.


    Sylphy didn''t have ast name though. Laws never took one up. And most people didn''t havest names unless they were noble...


    So why did he call Sylphy "Sylphiette Dragonroad?"


    ...Was she actually a secret princess or something? A long lost heir to some fallen kingdom?


    The way the man said it was like reciting a fact, not spection. So it was strange.


    Even more questions to consider.


    But before I had time to consider them, Being W started to act up. The sinister white mist suddenly stirred and shot out to affect me.


    But I was ready this time.


    I learned from my mistake before. That bastard took advantage of my anger to sneak in and influence mest time, causing me to end up in this whole mess.


    So to prevent that, I made sure to continually cycle my mana through my body. Just like how certain ninjas channeled chakra to break out of illusions.


    And like I thought, Being W''s mana dispersed.


    But unlike before, I didn''t hear anything. No staticky words or his familiar and damnable voice.


    Instead, it was just silence. Silence and the man continuing to look at me.


    "...Are you finally frightened into silence?" The man spoke again, his voice cold... but also a bit fatigued. As if he was weighed down by an incredible burden.


    It was a tone I recognized.


    After all, I heard it all the time in the past.


    Not expecting anything, but not giving up. Taking on all the harsh judgment from reality but continuing on your way until the end.


    Recognizing that, I rxed a bit and shook my head. And to put him off ease too, I smiled and said, "How could I be scared of someone as cool as you?"


    "Cool?" The man''s mouth twitched. A genuine flicker of amusement. But that was all. As if he had forgotten how to smile or show any other emotion but ''serious'', that twitch was all there was.


    "Yep! Cool. And you seem super strong too... Did youe to help keep us safe while my dad''s working?"


    A casual test. Praise, mixed with childish innocence and expectations.


    He wasn''t a bad guy. If I judged him right, then he actually should be simr to how I used to be. At least, up until the end.


    So then...


    "...Who''s your father?"


    "Paul Greyrat. Ah, but I guess he''s technically Paul Notos Greyrat?"


    "Hm?" The man frowned and said, "Paul should only have two daughters... You''re his son?"


    Oh crap.


    Did I make a mistake?


    ...Right. Dad was running a coup. Since he was apparently the proper heir, the focus would be on him. And since girls weren''t given any weight in terms of inheritance, the enemy would focus mostly on my dad since he was the one who actually had the chance to take over.


    That was, unless they knew about me.


    And it seemed like Dad had been trying to hide who I was... and the man just learned my existence.


    If he was an enemy...


    No, better to not jinx it.


    I smiled and then nodded. "Yep! Though." I frowned and said, "I''m trying real hard to not follow in his footsteps. Dad''s a bit... well, not the best role model?"


    "Mm." The man gave a nomital response and then became quiet.


    I stared at him.


    He stared back.


    After a bit, I tentatively asked. "Um... Is there a reason why you''re here, Mister?"


    "Lace. Did you sessfully resurrect?"


    "Eh?" I blinked.


    Lace? Why was the Demon God''s name suddenly being brought up?


    "...No. You''ve strongly inherited his traits, but you aren''t him."


    Wait, what? I inherited Lace''s traits?


    "Um-"


    The man spun around. "...Ignore me. This was nothing but whimsy."


    Forcefully ending the conversation, he started walking off.


    Our interaction was over.


    I didn''t know why he came... and he brought more questions than answers. But we dodged a nuke.


    Satisfied with what he learned, the man left us behind.


    ...So I should have been satisfied as well.


    But I was worried. No, I was hopeful too.


    ...Or maybe I was just desperate.


    "Wait!"


    I called out to the man.


    He paused and turned around to look at me, silent.


    I stared at the white mist drifting around him. At Being W still trying and failing to interfere.


    "Do you know who Being W is?"


    The man''s golden eyes turned sharp and hepletely turned around. "Being W?"


    I nodded. "Right. The sinister presence who''s like white mist and keeps influencing people."


    A breeze blew past, scattering the snow.


    The man was silent, carefully observing me. And then he said, "No. I don''t."


    "Ah." I frowned and said, "...Maybe you know him by another name? I think..."


    A faint memory. That old man in my dream, cursing someone out.


    And that someone''s name...


    "...He might be called Hitogami?"


    A faint blur. White from the snow drifting past as a breeze blew.


    My eyes widened.

 55 – Continuation of the Story

    55 ¨C Continuation of the Story


    The man vanished, reappearing directly in front of my eyes. His white coat billowed, still fluttering from his rapid movements. At the same time, his hand reached, aiming to grab my neck. A sudden attack.


    I was caught off guard.


    But my body wasn''t.


    Instincts that I picked up from fighting Ghyine took over, catapulting me away from the man with a gust of wind while forming stacks of magic barriers to stop his attack.


    The sound of shattering ss.


    The man paused, tilting his head in thought. "Those reactions... And chantless magic? No, instantaneous magic circles..." He lowered his hand and stared at me. "As I thought, you truly did inherit a lot from Lace. However-"


    "RUDY!"


    Master Roxy''s scream cut through the air. The moment it did, blinding light surrounded the man. Her entire <Magic Arrays> sent and primed to fire a magical bombardment.


    At the same time, she shot herself forward, catapulting towards me with a gust of wind.


    "Wait!" I nced towards her and shouted, "Master, no!"


    The man''s eyes flicked towards me for a moment, frowning. "Master? Hm." After that he looked towards the magic circles and said, "For Roxy Migurdia to reach this level... Interesting. So if-"


    An eruption of mana and an explosion of force and sound. I reflexively covered my eyes. And when I did, I felt someone grab me, pulling me back.


    "Stupid! Are you stupid? You must be stupid! What did I tell you about being stupid?!"


    Master Roxy''s panicked voice.


    I opened my eyes and saw her standing in front of me, staff pointed at the man.


    The magical bombardment was still continuing. Ambient mana was sucked in through the magic circles and converted into a barrage of spells.


    But-


    "Impressive. Layering magic circles to amplify basic spells to higher ranks of power while creating synergy in each attack due to the arrangment... And then to use ambient mana as a power source instead of your own mana... How efficient."


    Master Roxy''s eyes widened and she started to shake. "I-Impossible."


    A gust of wind from behind. Sylphy. She quickly moved to my side and held out my sword. "Rudy! Here!"


    Master Roxy noticed and she snapped. "What are you doing!? Run!"


    "No!" Sylphy turned to face the man and said, "I won''t leave without Rudy! And... And I''ll fight too! If Miss Roxy is going to fight, I will too!"


    "Are you stupid!? You''re the one who can run away the fastest! Take Rudy and go back to-"


    "<Disturb Magic>."


    A pulse. Distorted ripples spreading through the air, like jagged des. Everywhere they touched, mana ripped apart.


    Including Master Roxy''s <Magic Arrays>.


    "Kuh!" She winced, stepping back and clutching her head. "H-How...?"


    I quickly took my sword from Sylphy and drew it. "This is stupid. This was extremely stupid. Should''ve just kept my damned mouth shut... Gah."


    I should have realized it. I was already thinking that guy was like a secret end game boss. Just like in the old JRPGs, those people tended to show up in the first arc and be unbeatable boss fights just to show the yer that life was cruel and that the hero couldn''t always win.


    And also that sometimes the best choice was to not fight.


    If this was a game, it would be the point where I turned off the console and reloaded myst save.


    Except this was reality, so I couldn''t do that. Instead... I had to figure out a way of this impossible fight. Not a way to win... Just a way out. I had to end this encounter before it became a power struggle that we would lose.


    But how?


    The man swung his arm out, sending the shards of Roxy''s magic circles flying and causing his white cloak to flutter. His pristine white cloak.


    Master Roxy started trembling again. But she grit her teeth and stomped on the ground, holding out her staff. "Who are you? Why are you here?!"


    "Roxy Migurdia."


    Master Roxy tensed.


    The man looked at her and nced over to Sylphy. "Sylphiette Dragonroad."


    Sylphy trembled. But after ncing at me, she took a deep breath and red at the man.


    The man noticed and looked at me. "And then the unknown variable who knows of Hitogami and inherited Lace''s powers while remaining human. The son of Paul Greyrat that should not exist..."


    ...Yeah. This guy definitely knew stuff. And it seemed like he had calmed down a bit.


    We survived the first phase somehow- No. He wasn''t going seriously in the first ce. That was the only reason why we weren''t blown away.


    But that was enough. As long as we could end this without him going all out, that was a win.


    The man stared at me and then said, "My name is Orsted. You. Tell me your name."


    Master Roxy red at me. "Rudy. No."


    Sylphy shook her head as well, but kept her eyes on the man- No, on Orsted. "Don''t tell him, Rudy! That man... That man is bad! He''s definitely a bad guy!"


    I frowned.


    It was an odd reaction.


    I could understand them being cautious. I could also understand them being intimidated.


    But the desperation in Master Roxy''s gaze didn''t match up. And Sylphy''s words were too forceful. As if she waspletely certain Orsted was a viin.


    I mean, I didn''t me her considering his actions up until now and his appearance.


    ...But at the same time, she should be able to sense it.


    Orsted wasn''t emitting any killing intent or hostility. He was prepared forbat, yes. But he wasn''t intending to fight.


    Instead...


    Wait.


    Out of character actions. Influencing thoughts to align towards a certain conclusion...


    Being W?


    I looked over Master Roxy and Sylphy.


    I didn''t see any of Being W''s mana. But at the same time, that guy had proven himself to be slippery.


    It was possible. My ''eyes'' weren''t omniscient. I could see mana, but it was possible that I couldn''t see *all* mana.


    No, it had to be the case.


    There was something here that was affecting Master Roxy and Sylphy that I couldn''t see.


    Something that was making them paranoid and terrified of Orsted.


    I stared at Orsted and then said, "If I tell you, will you kill me?"


    Orsted was quiet and then said, "That will depend. Will you swear allegiance to me?"


    "Rudy." Master Roxy looked at me and said, "Don''t be stupid. You''re smart! Think this through!"


    Sylphy nodded as well and said, "Don''t trust him, Rudy!"


    Like Master Roxy asked, I thought it through.


    Orsted was a force of nature. We couldn''t beat him. Even Dad... Yeah. Even Dad couldn''t beat him.


    If we provoked the guy, we would die. He didn''t seem like a bad person, so he probably wouldn''t go after my family.


    But there was a chance he might in order to tie up loose ends.


    Run?


    Even if that guy was the strongest, he seemed to have a n in mind. And if we ran away while throwing enough spanners in the works, it might be enough to deter him from pursuing us.


    ...But it could also tick him off enough to strike back when we least expected it.


    Buy time and have Master Roxy and Sylphy evacuate the others?


    That would be ideal. Except Master Roxy and Sylphy absolutely wouldn''t ept it. Not to mention that Mom and Mama Lily would definitely run out to try and stop Orsted too in order to protect me.


    That was no good.


    Fight?


    Impossible.


    That guy stood through Master Roxy''s barrage like it was nothing and then broke apart her <Magic Arrays> with ease. Not only that, but he had that weird <Disturb Magic> spell that shredded mana.


    Master Roxy couldn''t face him. It was the absolute worst matchup possible.


    Sylphy... potentially could. Rather than casting spells, she was actually just directing elements.


    But considering how that guy weathered all of Master Roxy''s spells, most that were enhanced ten times over...


    No. That was a dead end.


    As for me...


    ...If I was at top form, I might be able to stall. No, I was sure I could stall.


    In a sh of mana, I was confident I could match him, or at least only lose out a bit. If he tried that <Disturb Magic> on me, it would just be an opening for me to exploit.


    But.


    ...If that guy could stand through Master Roxy''s barrage, I wasn''t sure if I had anything to take him out.


    Well. There was ''that.'' But the guy was fast. That casual attack from him was on the level of Ghyine. If he got serious... which he would if he detected the attack I had in mind, I would be dead before it finished.


    It was possible, but I needed time and preparation. Both things I didn''t have.


    But even then... That was probably a bad move.


    If I thought about the circumstances, it was too weird.


    I was out for a week, but my body was perfectly fine. Meaning that something was keeping me unconscious the entire time.


    It was usible that I was just recovering from the aftereffects of my fight, but even then, a week seemed too long.


    At the same time, I had been blinded for a day. Unable to see the world around me... which included any potential trapsid down by Being W... Or Hitogami. Whatever that guy''s name was.


    And then this guy showed up out of the blue. Orsted. A man wreathed with Being W''s mana and who instinctively attacked after hearing Being W''s real name. Or what was probably his real name.


    ...Which was a whole can of worms in itself considering that it was Japanese when this entire world had anguage simr to English. And especially considering that Hitogami meant ''human god''...


    But anyway, this entire chain of events reeked of a setup.


    Just like when the knights invaded after Mom gave birth to Norn and was vulnerable.


    Everything pointed to trying to fight this guy or antagonize him. And I was being pressured to go against him.


    It made sense. Objectively, a powerful person like this showing up out of the blue and attacking for no reason was dangerous. Trying to talk and get along with him was suicidal.


    Not only that, but he was suspicious. The way he talked like he knew things and expected things to unfold a certain way... The way he called Sylphy by ast name I never heard. And him making all those references to Lace by saying I was simr... He knew too much.


    So a powerful person who knew too much and seemed to have a secret agenda showing up at a time when I was still recovering and when Dad wasn''t around to help protect my family.


    Not only that, but a person that only I could match. And even then, it was only a faint hope of matching. One that would rely on me straining myself again and relying on that rtionship between emotional tension and mana in order to bridge the gap.


    I looked at Orsted and said, "My name is Rudeus Greyrat. But I''m sorry." I raised my sword at him and said, "I won''t swear allegiance."


    "Rudeus Greyrat." Orsted nodded. "I will remember that name. But to not swear allegiance to me... Very well." He stared into my eyes and said, "I hope that we can be allies in another life."


    With that short statement, he vanished.


    But I expected that.


    *tick*


    Magic wasn''t enough. I learned that already. Trying to cast spells against an opponent like this was suicide.


    But I also wasn''t skilled enough to fight him off with my sword. To begin with, I could barely match Dad, and Orsted was leagues above him.


    *tick*


    Even so, I had to fight.


    Orsted was upromising. He was used to having things go his way- No. He was a person who forced things to go his way because the entire world was against him.


    If I wanted to live, I needed to convince him. That I had value in staying alive. That I wasn''t going to be an enemy. So to do that...


    *tick*


    I couldn''t fight like Dad. For some reason, I couldn''t flood my body with mana like him to reinforce it. Every time I tried, it slipped out like water running through cloth.


    But that didn''t mean I had no way of fighting back.


    The techniques, the principles, the theory...


    Dad''s sword movements, the rhythm ofbat, the reach...


    And now Orsted''s own movements and attacks.


    Right. If magic wasn''t enough, then sword fighting. And if my body wasn''t sufficient to use my sword yet...


    Then I just had to let the sword fight in the ce of my body.


    *tick*


    A crimson blur shed to intercept the white blur in front of me.


    "Hm?"


    Orsted suddenly shot back, his golden eyes narrowed in caution. "That sword...?"


    A faint hum. A crimson de, vibrating in the air in front of me and phasing in and out like a mirage.


    "I knew it." I red at Orsted and said, "Being W *did* send you."


    A bluff.


    That was the only way out of this.


    Orsted hated Hitogami. Enough to where he attacked me the moment I said that name.


    Orsted blinked and tilted his head.


    "Argh..." Master Roxy groaned and then raised her staff again. "This is stupid. I''m stupid. I should have taught you better so you wouldn''t be this stupid."


    Sylphy held up her hands, causing all the snow in the area to swirl around her, creating a blizzard. As she did, she looked at Master Roxy and said, "Stop calling Rudy stupid and focus on protecting him, Miss Roxy!"


    Master Roxy red at me and said, "I expect a full exnation on who this ''Being W'' is after we''re done here, Rudy."


    "Absolutely."


    Master Roxy swept her left arm through the air and then frowned. "The array is broken... Should be fine, but it''ll take a while to regenerate." She shifted her gaze to Orsted before looking at me and saying, "I hate to say this, but I have to leave this to you, Rudy. Your master isn''t capable of beating him." Sheughed and said, "I told you that you should have picked a better one."


    "That''s fine." I kept a steady gaze on Orsted and said, "This is just a bad match up for you. Master uses mana directly instead of channeling elements and can''t fight in close range. For now... leave it to me."


    Sylphy stepped moved to my right side and said, "You mean leave it to us. I won''t let you fight alone, Rudy." She looked at Orsted and said, "I don''t know who this Being W person is... but if that guy''s your enemy, then he''s mine too!"


    "...Don''t follow me. Stay back and support from a distance. Understood? He''s too fast for you."


    Sylphy frowned, but then she nodded. "Fine. But if you get hurt-"


    "Then I''m relying on you to buy me time to heal. Can I trust you on that?"


    Sylphy''s eyes widened. But then she let out a bright smile and nodded. "Leave it to me, Rudy!"


    Master Roxy spoke up and said, "I''ll cast barriers on you. But... be careful."


    "I will."


    It was a heroic and determined y.


    ...Well, Sylphy and Roxy were being serious about it, but I kept my words carefully tailored to lead the conversation.


    And it seemed like it was throwing Orsted off.


    His serious face vanished, confusion taking its ce. "To face me directly just from his words... Did the curse lift? No, rather than lift-"


    I held out my left hand, pointing it at Orsted. With that motion, my sword flew out in front of me, tilted to the side as if an invisible warrior held it at the ready, point aimed at Orsted''s head.


    "Orsted, or whoever you are!" I narrowed my eyes and said, "If you think that I''m going to join forces with a person who was sent by Being W... Or Hitogami, or whatever his name is, you''ve got another thinging! I''m not going to team up with someone on the same side as a guy who tried to break up my family and kill my baby sisters!"


    Orsted blinked. And then he ced his left hand over his face andughed. A giant, sincere, full-bodyugh that had him shaking in ce. "I see... I see! Lace... So this is why you attempted it. Even crippled with madness from your broken soul, you prayed for a miracle in the end..."


    Er.


    Wait. This wasn''t how the script was supposed to go.


    Orsted slowly lowered his hand and grinned. On his face, it looked sinister. But I could tell. It was an expression of relief. No, of anticipation.


    "Very well." Orsted took a step back and held out his left hand. "Come! If you deem me an enemy, defeat me! If you cannot do even that, you cannot hope to reach Hitogami- No, the Being W who you despise." His golden eyes glimmered and he said, "Rudeus Greyrat... Show me your might! Give me a reason to fight at your side!"


    @#$@! I yed myself!


    "Rudy!" Sylphy looked at me and nodded. "I believe in you!"


    "Don''t get in over your head, Rudy." Master Roxy''s calm voice, carrying an undercurrent of worry.


    Crap.


    Crap, crap, crap.


    Well.


    ...Guess we''re doing this now.


    I took a deep breath and then narrowed my eyes. At the same time, I remembered it.


    The notes I took while fighting Dad. The hypotheses that I wanted to test but didn''t get a chance to yet.


    "...No time like the present."


    Magic barriers sprang to life around me. Master Roxy, buffing me with her mana.


    At the same time, a torrent of snow shot towards Orsted, directed by Sylphy.


    But Orsted''s gaze didn''t waver. Even as the snow surged towards him, he stared at me. Waiting for my move.


    Seeing that, I kicked forward, running towards Orsted.


    ...This was a bad idea. This was a super bad idea. This was a supremely bad idea.


    But at the same time...


    "...Dammit. Definitely inherited some of Dad''s bad traits."


    ...I couldn''t help but wonder how I matched up.


    -LIV-


    In the outskirts of the Citadel of Roa, the snow-covered grasnds leading to Buina vige.


    There, a strange sight unfolded.


    From a distance, it seemed like random bursts of snow were erupting. As if a magical bombardment fell upon thend, leaving craters every few paces.


    But in truth, the source of it was a man. One who Rudy would know very well.


    "Dammit! Should have known some bullshit like this would happen. Fuck."


    Paul cursed and quickly unsheathed his de before sheathing it again. When he did, he blurred, suddenly appearing a few paces in front of where he had just been. A series of sword dashes, conserving- No, increasing momentum with every pounce.


    As Paul advanced, he mulled over what he learned.


    Rudy being knocked unconscious for a week and waking up blind.


    A mysterious man who had Laws terrified enough to drive his horse to death and reach the Citadel of Roa in time to warn Paul.


    But more than that...


    A vaguely familiar magician with silver hair who requested a meeting with Paul and used a magic item to show what was going on back at home.


    Paul thought it would be peaceful... Well, rtively peaceful. He knew that everyone would be pissed at him... and *was* pissed at him from how Laws punched him in the face after the guy finished his warning.


    But anyway, he thought it would be fine.


    It wasn''t.


    A man who weathered Roxy''s magical barrage. One who emitted a terrifying presence even through the magical item. And one whose name Paul knew very well from his youth spent idolizing the Seven World Powers.


    "Orsted, the Dragon God. I don''t know why you''re in Buina vige or why you''re fighting Rudy, but..." Paul narrowed his eyes and said, "...You won''t hurt my family."


    A firm deration and resolve. With that, Paul forced himself to move faster.


    Every minute- No. Every second counted.


    So just a little bit faster. Just a little bit more refined...


    "Hold on, Rudy. Dad''sing."


    -LIV-


    "...Are you fine with this, Master?" A beautiful elf woman with curled blonde hair looked into the distance, staring at Paul dashing across the ins. She averted her gaze and then looked to the man standing beside her. "Do you not want to speak with him a while longer?"


    The man, stared at Paul''s vanishing back. His emerald eyes flickered for a moment and nostalgia crossed his face. But then that emotion vanished and he shook his head, causing his silver hair to shift. "It''s fine. However..." He looked towards the Boreas Manor in the center of the Citadel of Roa where a certain half-elf man was waiting. "Do you not want to speak with your child, Elinalise? "


    "...It''s Rostelina, Master."


    "Ah. So it is."


    A slightly awkward silence passed between the two.


    After a while, Rostelina sighed and said, "You''ve changed, Master."


    "Well. I''m not entirely the same person I was back then. I guess you could say I''m not even half the man that you remember."


    "That isn''t funny, Master."


    "I''m aware. But it''s important to have levity in situations like these." He turned around and rested his left hand on the hilt of the crimson sword sheathed at his left side. "Nowe. There are some rats we need to clean out while your old friend and my younger brother have their first meeting."


    Rostelina furrowed her brow.


    Her Master noticed and raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"


    "No. Just... I have a feeling that we''re going to have aplicated family web in the future to untangle."


    "...Try not to think about it too much. Things get messy when you involve time travel, different temporal dimensions, resurrection, and reincarnation."


    "Hah. Even now Master saysplicated stuff that I can''t understand..."


    "Really? It seems like the adjustments might have damaged your brain. I could have sworn my dear Rostelina was more intelligent than this."


    "And whose fault is that, huh?!"


    "Heh." The man shook his head and started walking into the Citadel of Roa. "You were the one who said you would bear it."


    "And Lace-sama said that you would watch over me! It''s your fault for leaving me alone in that dark ce for so long."


    The man... Technique God Laceughed and said, "I suppose that is my fault. But what did you expect? No story is as miserable as those of the Dragon World''s."


    Rostelina moved to her Master''s right side before saying, "And the Human World is filled with heroic tales, so Master has no excuse!"


    "Heh."


    "Heehee."


    Lace ruffled Rostelina''s hair and said, "Well then. Enough ying around. Let''s get ready." He turned his gaze to look at the sky, particrly at a tiny crimson orb being dragged over the city by a white mist. "It seems like Hitogami is bing impatient."


    Rostelina let out a happy sigh. But then she turned serious. "My body is yours, Master."


    "...Please stop."


    Rostelina put on an innocent smile and said, "What are you talking about, Master?"


    "...Well. I suppose if I didn''t have enough reasons to kill Hitogami before, this would definitely be one of them. To think that my cute and innocent Rostelina would turn into someone like this..."


    "I''m still plenty cute!"


    "So you admit you aren''t innocent?"


    "Even if I were, Master is an infamous Demon God now, so I would be wicked either way, wouldn''t I?"


    "...Let''s just get going." Lace sighed and muttered, "Damned Being W. Just you wait until we hit the point where I can properly smack you in the face again..."

 56 – Child – Unwinnable Fight

    56 ¨C Child ¨C Unwinnable Fight


    White crashed against Orsted as Sylphy''s icy attack reached him.


    At the same time, a crimson blur shot through the air and shed towards Orsted''s neck. My sword, flying out at close to light speed just like the attack Ghyine used on me.


    It connected. But instead of doing any damage, sparks flew out. The edge of my sword bit into Orsted''s neck, but nothing happened. As if he was made of steel, all my sword did was bounce off.


    And the reason for that was clear.


    Faint silver and gold threads, barely visible beneath the already bright glow of Orsted''s mana.


    I didn''t know how it worked, but he was reinforcing his body with mana. And not in the way Ghyine and my dad did when they fight.


    Those two flooded their muscles with mana to move faster and hit harder.


    But Orsted...


    I could see it. Myriads of tiny mana threads, just like silk or spiderweb. Those wove around every strand of muscle in Orsted''s body and into his bones in an intricate mesh. And while I couldn''t see all the details, I was sure that there were more than a few tapping into his nerves as well to increase his reaction speed beyond the ordinary physical limitations.


    My sword flew through the air and back into my hand.


    Orsted didn''t move, only watching me with his golden eyes.


    But that made sense. He didn''t need to move if he had that level of insane defense.


    ...Though it was an insane level of defense that could only be done because he had so much mana. If his mana wasn''t so dense, it wouldn''t even be a tenth as effective as it was now.


    After all, woven string wasn''t as strong as woven steel.


    But while impressive, it was a problem.


    I grit my teeth and continued running forward, sword in my left hand. As I did, I wracked my head on what to do.


    My sword skills were far from enough to engage in closebat. But at the same time, he was definitely too fast for me to take the time to cast spells. And while I was... about 70% sure he couldn''t see mana, he definitely could sense it in some way.


    So I had to distract him. Engage him enough to where I could use that time to set up powerful spells to pierce through that protection.


    Except... Did I even have anything like that?


    Unlike us mere mortals, Orsted didn''t seem to have a squishy human body.


    And as if to prove my point, Orsted raised his right hand in the midst of Sylphy''s blizzard and formed a fist. After that, he swung it down. The moment he did, the snow copsed, falling down to the ground in a heap around him.


    It wasn''t like before with <Disturb Magic>. No, this time was pure physical strength. A shockwave that shoved everything down because of his attack, not a dispersal of the mana behind it.


    And that was what I had to match.


    Not beat, match.


    Because there was no way I could beat him right now. In a few years, maybe. If I had time to set up a trap andy down formations, yes. But a straight fight-


    A white blur. Not from Sylphy.


    The sound of shattering ss. At the same time my body instinctively moved to the side and swung my sword.


    Sparks flew as my crimson de bit into Orsted''s outstretched hand- No. It didn''t bite into the hand. Rather than my sword''s edge piercing Orsted''s skin, his hand was eating away at my sword''s edge.


    My eyes widened and I quickly flooded my sword with mana to counteract it before blowing myself away with a gust of wind.


    Orsted straightened, ncing at the sword in my hand before looking up to me. He didn''t say a word, but the faint glimmer in his eyes showed he was... mildly impressed.


    But that was it.


    He gave me a break, as if waiting for my next move.


    But we both knew it. If he pursued, it would have been over.


    I saw a few more magic barriers form around me to rece the few that Orsted shattered. And at the same time, I saw icicles fire towards him from behind. Sylphy, trying to get in some sneak attacks.


    Orsted didn''t move. Again, he didn''t need to. The icicles shot towards him like bullets, but they just exploded into glistening dust, not even scratching his coat.


    He just waited for my next move. Ignoring Sylphy and Roxypletely, he looked just at me.


    I took a deep breath and then focused. My sword flew out in front of me again, held as if an invisible warrior was fighting alongside me.


    ...It wasn''t enough. Against ordinary humans, probably. An attack that fast with my sword as reinforced as it was could cut through the average person. Maybe sufficient to fight off against a small toon.


    But it was a simr issue with Master Roxy. While good against numbers, it wasn''t enough raw might to counteract someone like Orsted.


    So I needed to think outside the box. Just like when fighting against Ghyine.


    No. I had to be smarter than when fighting with Ghyine.


    Because while Orsted was humoring me right now, tides could turn in a single moment. He was someone who was entertaining a whimsy right now. But he was also someone who could change that whim at any time and go back to just eliminating me because I knew about Being W... or Hitogami. Whatever that guy was really called.


    So think.


    How do you beat an invincible opponent like this with your limited resources?


    In terms of mana density, we were about equal. Since I was still recovering, he had the edge, but even at full, it would be a stalemate.


    I was outssed in terms of physique and physical range because I was still just a child. And in terms of technique... that wasn''t even a question.


    Orsted could freaking use his hand as an actual sword. He was a guy who took Bruce Lee''s philosophy about training every part of his body literally.


    Like seriously. I could even see faint traces of mana threads in Orsted''s hair, meaning that even *those* could be lethal weapons if he decided to use them. Like, he could probably rip one off and throw it as a projectile.


    And from his casual stance... and the fact that he didn''t have a weapon on him, I really didn''t want to test that hypothesis.


    The only advantages I had on him were that he wasn''t going full force against me.


    Yet.


    And that I had a repository of knowledge about various techniques and physical phenomena in my head as well as theories and systems that weren''t conceivable in this world due to a divergence in technological advancements.


    ...Only, considering how strong that guy was, the number of things I could use...


    "Well," I muttered. "Let''s start with what I can see."


    I didn''t have time to waste. If I wanted more, I had to buy more with effort. So then, to impress him enough to give me more time to think...


    I focused inward.


    My mana wouldn''t cling to my body. I could hold it in ce, but it was basically like water spilling through cloth.


    But seeing Orsted gave me an idea.


    I couldn''t replicate that intricate meshedwork he had. That would take up way too much time.


    But I *could* do something simr. At least in theory.


    Pulling out countless threads, weaving them together through and over my muscles. Off-setting the physical load my body had to deal with by adjusting in real-time with a control module, simr to how I did noise cancelling...


    A faint thrum of power. My body immediately felt lighter than before. More limber.


    At the same time, there was a synergy between me and my sword. Maybe it was because I was wreathed in my own mana... or maybe it was that weird effect where tension improved mana power and control, I could feel the sword as if it was an extension of my own body.


    But I didn''t have time to think.


    Perhaps recognizing the flow of mana as a threat, Orsted immediately shot forward again.


    This time though, I could see it.


    A faint ripple as his coat fluttered behind him. His entire body barely moving while his fist was outstretched to strike my head, giving the illusion that he was teleporting.


    In a fraction of a second, his fist would connect.


    I... probably wouldn''t die. But I would definitely be incapacitated.


    So before then.


    My de shot forward. Crimson blurred at the same time as Orsted''s body, aiming for his eyes.


    He noticed and then subtly turned his head so that the de would strike the left side of his temple instead of his eyes.


    But he kept moving. His eyes continued to track me as he continued advancing to attack.


    It would still connect. I would still be struck.


    So I moved as well.


    -The circle and the line. The underlying principle in martial arts. And a principle that I had seen repeated in the Water God style since I started learning sword fighting with Dad.


    A linear attack was defeated by a circr defense. And a circr attack was defeated by a linear defense.


    Of course, like could sh against like, but that required equal force and skill.


    I didn''t have that, so I had to take advantage of the difference.


    Orsted''s attack was force directed in a single attack vector.


    So, like when I stalled Ghyine in water, I had to divert that attack vector.


    I pivoted on my back foot and grabbed Orsted''s outstretched arm. At the same time, muscle memory from practicing Water God and half-remembered memories of tai chi flickered through my mind. I bent down, twisting my body forward with Orsted''s momentum but also diverting it an angle to toss him over me.


    It worked.


    Whether because Orsted wasn''t expecting me to act like that, or because he allowed it, the guy flew over me and spun through the air.


    As he did, I shed out with my sword again, directing it with my mana. A flurry of rapid shes performed at supersonic speed, aimed at Orsted''s weak points.


    Upper arm, corbone, windpipe, temple, diaphragm, rib, groin, thighs, and then a stab through the heart.


    Those were my targets.


    Targets that were immediately blocked as Orsted''s limbs blurred in mid-air to parry all of them. And with thest, my sword was knocked back towards me, spinning like a top to cut me in half.


    But I wasn''t worried.


    Instead of stopping my sword, I whipped it around me to attack Orsted again.


    This time, he smashed it directly with a fist and shattered the sword, sending steel shards falling to the ground.


    All of this, within the span of a single second while Orsted was still falling down to the ground.


    Insane.


    The fact that I could perceive him moving at all, and the fact that he was freely moving on such miniscule time intervals.


    I couldn''t stop and marvel at it though.


    My movements were straining my body. As trained as I was, and as much as my rough copy of Orsted''s mana reinforcement technique helped, Icked the years of experience and time to be proficient at fighting like this. My body just wasn''t ustomed to fighting at such a level.


    But I had bought time.


    Like how Orsted was moving in fractions of seconds, my awareness had expanded as well. Instead of perceiving in seconds, I was perceiving things on a smaller timescale.


    ...Wasn''t entirely sure how this was all working though. Probably abination of mana and nerves aligning and creating an extrasensory phenomenon to shift perception in a subjective manner, giving the illusion of time slowing down.


    But that didn''t matter.


    What did was that I could move faster. And that didn''t just mean my body.


    I didn''t know how it was for others, but for me mana moved at the speed of thought.


    That didn''t help much when my opponents moved faster than I could perceive. But when they didn''t...


    I focused.


    One wasn''t enough. Five wasn''t enough. Ten wasn''t either.


    If I wanted to break Orsted''s protection, I needed an attack that could go beyond it. And something like that...


    My sword was already moving at a supersonic speed, and Orsted didn''t even care. He moved faster than it and even managed to shatter the de.


    So a ''sh'' wasn''t enough. The force was too diffuse to cut through his mana reinforcement.


    Maybe if I was bigger and had more mass to weave with mana to generate more force... but I didn''t.


    But sheer mass wasn''t enough either. If I tried to send a block of iron at him or some giant boulder, even at high speeds, Orsted would just cut it apart.


    No. The only hope I had to break through that reinforcement was to focus everything on a single point.


    Except, focus what?


    Metal, stone, and other physical matter wouldn''t be sufficient. Maybe if I could create something like tungsten, it might work. But I didn''t know how to make iron, let alone tungsten. Manipte it, sure. But make? No way.


    Wind? No. Too diffuse.


    Water? Same issue.


    Fire? Maybe. Except that I didn''t think I could make one hot enough for it to be a problem to the guy.


    Lightning? Possible. But my gut was telling me he would just bat it away.


    Not only that... but Master Roxy had tried it all when she attacked earlier with her <Magic Arrays>. And I was sure that I couldn''t do much better than her in that regard.


    Plus, even if I did... it would be my loss if I somehow managed to seriously injure or kill Orsted. That guy seemed to be against Being W as well, and the only person who would win if one of us died was that insidious bastard.


    So those were out.


    The lethal techinques I had in mind like creating a vacuum and filling it with poison gas, diamond dust, and other things to attack the guy on the inside were out too.


    No, I needed something else. Something that showed power without being pure lethality. I just needed a proof of concept. A way to show him that I was someone worth fighting alongside. That I had the potential to grow to be an ally against Being W.


    So.


    A repeated magic circle, spiraling in a a three-dimensional pattern. At the center of it, a single crimson bead. My mana, slowly condensing to form a single bullet.


    It was the same basic principle as the first spell I learned. <Water Ball>.


    But instead of forming water, it was my own mana. And instead of one magic circle focusing on converting mana to water, it was a myriad of magic circles focusing on solidifying my mana to a physical form.


    It was possible. Mana crystals and mana stones existed, so it was definitely possible to crystallize raw mana into a physical form. And when it did, that physical form carried the properties of the mana that made it.


    Time seemed to slow to a crawl. In the corner of my eye, I saw Sylphy frozen, snow flickering around her as she prepared another attack. A few steps away from her, Master Roxy held out her staff, watching with fear and trepidation in her eyes as she stared at Orsted.


    But even as time was slowed to a crawl, Orsted moved at normal speed. Hended on the ground and then turned to look at me, his eyes widening in shock.


    I dashed to the side, maneuvering so that my projectile would shoot out towards the mountains instead of anywhere important.


    Orsted turned as well and quickly started to chant. And as he did, I felt a ripple of the disruptive magic he used earlier.


    But before the second word coulde out, I fired.


    A single beam of pure red light aimed at Orsted''s right arm.


    A sure hit. It definitely was on target and faster than anyone could react. The moment it fired, my attack was bound to connect.


    But Orsted still managed to dodge. Notpletely, but enough.


    Instead of the center of his right arm like I nned, Orsted moved enough to where my attack struck the side instead.


    Blood sprayed from where my mana bullet connected, shredding through Orsted''s mana reinforced muscles and flesh.


    And then, off in the distance, I saw the peak of a mountain explode, snow tumbling down in an avnche.


    But that was all.


    With all my prep, all I could achieve was a ncing blow.


    I heard something crack. At the same time, the limberness I felt in my body and the hyperfocus I had slowing time to a crawl vanished. In its ce, I had a pounding headache and felt like my body was made of lead.


    Orsted nced at his right arm, watching as crimson spread along his pure white coat. After that, he slowly turned back to look at me, a thoughtful expression in his gaze.


    I felt my body start to give out, but forced myself to stand, ring defiantly at Orsted.


    I couldn''t show weakness now. Not after putting on that y. So-


    "The mana in that attack was on par with Lace." Orsted started walking towards me.


    "Rudy!"


    Sylphy called out and tried to attack again with a barrage of snow.


    But Orsted just flung out his hand.


    A sonic boom erupted and then Sylphy flew through the air.


    "SYLPHY!" I screamed and tried to run towards her. But I couldn''t. My limbs didn''t cooperate and just copsed beneath me, forcing me to kneel.


    Fortunately, Master Roxy was prepared and quickly moved to catch Sylphy as well as heal her.


    But this fucking guy! Hurting Sylphy...!


    Should I just off him?


    No, that was definitely what Being W wanted. But...!


    "The ability to reproduce the Saint Dragon Battle Aura, even in part, also shows your worth." Orsted took a step forward again, looking down on me.


    I raised my head and red at him.


    "Rudeus Greyrat." Orsted stared at me and said, "The one who inherited Lace''s abilities and will." He held out his hand and said, "Join me. Not as a follower, but as-"


    A sudden silver sh. A knife, thrown through the air at Orsted''s back.


    It crumpled, bent like it was made of tinfoil.


    Orsted paused and turned around.


    I did as well and saw Mama Lily standing there, holding knives in both hands and a sword sheathed at her left side.


    She wasn''t alone either. Mom was standing there as well, her hands out and chanting.


    It seemed like the two ran out after all themotion.


    My eyes widened. "Wait! Mom! Mama Lily! Don''t-!"


    "...<Water Ball>!"


    A water ball shot out from my mom''s hands. At the same time, Mama Lily threw her knives.


    Orsted turned to face both and muttered, "Lilia and Zenith Greyrat... are the same. But to not fear me at all... It seems to not be a coincidence. Then-"


    The knives and water ball collided with Orsted. But like with everything else, they had no effect.


    ...What the heck even was this guy? A Po*emon? Did he have <Wond*r Gua*d> or something?


    My attack *definitely* disrupted his reinforcement. But he still shrugged those off like it was nothing.


    Mama Lily pursed her lips and then drew her de.


    At the same time, Mom pointed at Orsted and said, "Stay away from my son!"


    Mama Lily nodded and said, "I will not let you harm my child!"


    Orsted blinked and then turned back to look at me. After that, he smiled and said, "It seems you are well-loved. Enough to unite those two women who were fated to be at odds with each other."


    It was a genuine expression. Like he received a pleasant surprise.


    Of course, on his face it just looked like a sinister smirk.


    Mom and Mama Lily ran forward. In the back, I saw Master Roxy finish tending to Sylphy and then look towards Mom and Mama Lily. Her eyes widened and then she let out a sigh before resolving herself, holding her staff out to fight as well.


    Faint cries echoed in the distance. Norn and Aisha, probably disturbed by all the ruckus.


    A mess. This was a giant mess that wouldn''t end well.


    It seemed like Orsted realized it too since he started to frown.


    And then to top it all off... From the direction of the Citadel of Roa, a silver blur approached at blinding speed before colliding with Orsted.


    He quickly stepped back, shoving off his attacker and moving to the side.


    At the same time, his attacker moved to stand in front of me, physically blocking Orsted from moving towards me.


    And as for the identity of Orsted''s attacker...


    "Sorry I''mte. Dad had to tie up some loose ends first." My dad rested his sword over his right shoulder and looked back towards me, his face uncharacteristically serious. "Are you alright, Rudy?"


    "No. I''m not alright." I red at him and said, "What kind of Dad knocks his kid out for a week after forcing him into a life-or-death fight with some unknown swordsman and thinks the kid will be fine?"


    "Haha... Yeah. Messed up pretty big there. Dad''s never been the smartest, you know? But you can yell at meter. Right now..." He looked at Orsted and said, "What are you doing here, Dragon God Orsted?"


    I blinked. "Wait. Dragon God?"


    Orsted stared at my dad. After that, he nced at my mom, Mama Lily, Sylphy, and Master Roxy... and then he turned to look at me. Staring straight into my eyes, he said, "This is my mistake. It seems that the situation has turned hostile, so I will seek you out once more in the future. Until then, think carefully on my words, Rudeus Greyrat."


    With that, Orsted vanished.


    No, it wasn''t that he vanished. Instead, he quickly dashed away, heading towards the mountain that got its top blown off from my attack.


    Seeing that, my dad lowered his sword and frowned. But he quickly put on a smile and turned towards me. "Well look at that, Rudy. Seems like your old man''s strong enough to send even the Dragon God running away with his tail between his legs!"


    "Uh-huh." I nced towards Mom and Mama Lily slowly walking towards us. "Then since my dad''s so great, he won''t do the same now that his lovely wives areing to have a long talk, right?"


    My dad blinked and then finally noticed my moms approaching. Sweat started to form on his brow and heughed. "Ahaha... Right. Definitely won''t. But, er..." He looked back at me and said, "This ispletely hypothetical. But say that Dad managed to hook you up with a super hot wife for the future. Do you think your moms would be mad?"


    "Wait, what?"


    "Think like double Ds, top-ss noble beauty... and unlike most noblewomen, she''ll be super fit and actually good to tumble with. Ah, and of course you can still have Sylphy. Just like your old man, you know? If it''s you, I''m sure you can handle at least two women."


    I blinked, scattered bits of info slowly starting to connect in my head.


    My dad running off, showing back up after saying he was running a coup... now rambling about a ''hot wife''...


    Strength came back to my worn-out body and I stood up. After that, I reached out to grab my dad''s shirt and said, "You fucker! Tell me you didn''t sign a betrothal contract or something to some noble family to help you run the coup!"


    "Ahaha... M-Maybe?"


    "YOU DID WHAT!?"


    That wasn''t me. That was my mom.


    It seemed like she heard him.


    My dad turned to look at her and held up his hands. "L-Let me exin-"


    Mama Lily red at my dad and said, "Paul. I''m disappointed in you."


    "L-Lily. Honestly, if you just let me-"


    I let go of my dad and stepped back, ring at him as well.


    But the moment I stepped back, Mom stepped forward, grabbing his shirt just like I did. "What about Sylphy!? Who gave you the right to decide that!?"


    "U-Um..."


    Mama Lily stepped forward as well, crossing her arms. "I thought that you had matured, Paul. No, that at least you were better than those Asuran nobles who sold their children off to curry favors. But to think you would do that with Rudy as well..." Her eyes turned cold and she said, "What of Aisha? Did you sell her off as well?"


    Mom''s eyes widened and she red at Paul. "You had *better* not tell me you signed a betrothal contract for Norn as well."


    "I didn''t! I promise! And really, it''s not that bad! Just... let me exin." My dad looked at me and said, "Come on, Rudy. Help your dad out a bit. Rudy? ...Rudy?!"


    I turned around and waved the back of my hand at him. "We''ll talkter. I have a lot of things I want to say to you, Father."


    Silence. And then my dad let out a sigh and muttered, "Well. Guess I should have seen thising."

 57 – Child – Reflecting on Mistakes

    57 ¨C Child ¨C Reflecting on Mistakes


    While my dad was doing his best to exin away the mess he caused this time to Mom and Mama Lily, I headed back to the house with Sylphy and Master Roxy.


    Holding Sylphy close to my side, I brushed her hair aside and carefully scanned her body.


    Her clothes were a bit ruffled and she was a bit wet from being flung into the snow, but she didn''t look injured.


    Still, I looked back at her and said, "Are you *sure* you''re fine, Sylphy?"


    Sylphy sighed and said, "I''m *fine*, Rudy." She smiled and said, "That person knocked me away, but he didn''t hurt me much."


    I frowned and cast <Healing> on Sylphy. Seeing the healing mana run out to settle in her body to heal, my frown deepened and I said, "So he did hurt you after all."


    Orsted was an ally since he was against Being W, but the fact that he hurt Sylphy...


    Master Roxy tapped me on the head with her staff and said, "Worry more about yourself, Rudy."


    I huffed and rubbed my head. "I do worry about myself."


    Sylphy gave me a nk stare.


    "What?"


    I did worry about myself. Everything I did earlier was a calcted risk.


    ...I might have been a bit off on the answer, but it was definitely calcted to make sure that things ended up the best way possible.


    Master Roxy sighed and said, "Running headfirst to fight off against an opponent like that... Tell me honestly. Did your brain get damaged after your father struck you in the head? That''s the only exnation I have for doing something that stupid."


    Sylphy nodded and said, "I''ve been wondering about that too." She looked at me and said, "Are you sure that you''re okay, Rudy? If you''re worried, you can always tell me."


    I smiled and pulled Sylphy into a one-armed hug. "Thank you, Sylphy. I appreciate you. And I will."


    And I would. Because I had a feeling that if I didn''t, Sylphy would do something even more reckless than I would to try and keep me safe.


    After all, she was already willing to fight against Orsted to try and protect me even though he was a terrifying opponent. And considering that she couldn''t do anything against those knights and had been shaking in fear when she came to tell me before...


    Yeah. Definitely needed to start opening up a bit more in terms of thoughts.


    Didn''t want to be like Dad who ran off to do stupid things without letting anyone know and piss everyone off.


    Definitely didn''t want to turn out like him. Well, not like that anyway.


    But as to Master Roxy''s question...


    I looked over to Master Roxy and said, "And I''m not sure, Master Roxy." I frowned and said, "I''ve noticed that too. Maybe I actually did get hit hard enough to have lingering effects... Well, that or I inherited a lot more from Dad than I thought and those traits are showing up more since I''m getting older."


    I was seven now, after all. Still a kid, but swiftly approaching the teenaged years. And not only that, but I was fairly sure my growth was being elerated from my passive <Healing> spell that I constantly kept going.


    Now, if only that included a growth spurt... Despite everything I was still pretty short. Muscr, but short.


    Master Roxy frowned and then gave me a cautious look. "...You don''t feel the urge to look through women''s underwear or flip skirts, do you?"


    "Why the heck would I do that?"


    Even if I *was* interested in girls like that, I wasn''t going to run around to harass them.


    ...Well, it might be different if it was someone who liked me back and was okay with it for some light teasing, but random women? No way. I wasn''t some crass pervert.


    "Ah. Right. Rudy''s the type of person who wasn''t even aware that I was-" Master Roxy cut herself off and then cleared her throat. "I-In any case..." She looked at me and said, "You seem to have an idea about what happened back there. Do you mind telling us, Rudy?"


    Sylphy frowned and then looked over to me. "Right! You and that scary man talked about someone else. Being W, I think?"


    "Yeah. It''s a long story though. Still not entirely sure what that guy wants or even what he is..."


    We arrived back at the house. In the distance, I could hear Mom and Mama Lily yelling.


    Definitely didn''t bode well for Dad. He was probably going to sleep in the living room for a while. Then again, he deserved it.


    I was fine, but it didn''t change the fact that he tried to provoke me into ''showing my full potential'' as well as knocked me out by smacking my head with a super high level sword attack that hit three times within a split second.


    Not to mention the fact that being hit in the head like that while I was channeling so much mana was one of the main reasons why I got blinded... Yeah. Dad''s affection meter from everyone around definitely plummeted to zero.


    I sighed and then opened the door to the house, walking in with Master Roxy and Sylphy trailing after me.


    Warm air drifted over as I entered, the house heated by a me crackling in the firece.


    I smiled at the warmth and then carefully unwound my scarf, setting it on a shelf nearby.


    Master Roxy walked in and took off her hat, hanging that up on a stand nearby.


    And Sylphy just waved her hand, wicking off the water and ice to chuck it outside. After that, she closed the door and walked back to my side.


    ...Seriously though. Was Sylphy the reincarnation of a snow spirit or something? The way she used water, wind, and ice was just so natural and fluid...


    The door to the master bedroom opened, and then Sylphy''s Mom, Rose, walked out.


    She looked tense as she exited. But when she noticed us, she let out a sigh of relief. Walking over with a smile on her face, she wiped off her hands on her dress and said, "Did everything work out? It was worrisome for a moment there..."


    Sylphy hugged my arm and smiled. "It went great, Mom!" She looked up at me and said, "Rudy''s super strong, you know?"


    I coughed and averted my gaze.


    Master Roxy met my gaze and then shook her head, walking over to the dining table. "Super strong, yes. Super smart... Not so much."


    I winced.


    Sylphy noticed and then red at Roxy.


    I gently pried Sylphy off my arm and turned towards Rose. I nced back at the master bedroom and said, "Are Norn and Aisha sleeping?"


    "That''s right." Rose sighed and then walked over to the kitchen, tending to some steaming pots on the stove. After lowering the mes, she turned back and said, "Your poor sisters tired themselves out from crying so I put them to bed in the other room. But don''t worry, Rudy. They''re fine."


    I sighed and then smiled at her. "Thanks for taking care of them, Miss Sylphy''s Mom."


    Roseughed and said, "Still calling me that, Rudy?"


    Sylphy walked over to the kitchen and started rummaging around the pantry. "Is there any tea, Mom? Something warm to drink would be nice."


    "Oh, let me, Luffy. I think Zenith keeps some honey and tea leaves over here..."


    While Sylphy and her mom went to prepare tea in the kitchen, Master Roxy beckoned for me to follow her to the living room. And from the serious look on her face, it wasn''t just for a casual conversation.


    I sighed and followed after her.


    -LIV-


    Roxy stared at the young child sitting on the couch in front of her.


    Rudeus Greyrat. Her first student and only disciple.


    He was small. Roxy was conscious about her height and size, smaller than the average woman. But Rudy was even shorter than her by a whole head.


    Of course, he had been even smaller when she first met him, so it was more urate to say that he had grown up now.


    But he was still a child. A child who was only seven years old... and yet a child who stood off against Dragon God Orsted without fear.


    Roxy hadn''t known who the person was at the time, but after hearing Paul mention the man''s name, it made sense.


    That primal fear she felt when facing the man as well as the monstrous mana that shone as bright as the sun...


    Ah. But Rudy''s mana was about the same.


    Realizing that made Roxy remember once again just how ridiculous her disciple was.


    Rudy shifted on the couch, avoiding Roxy''s gaze. His hair, still a pure silver, moved as he did. A stark contrast from the lovely light brown hair he once had. And paired with his bright green eyes, in a certain light, Rudy could be mistaken for a ghost.


    He was different now. Older, for sure. His body was also more trained, showing honed muscles beneath the few remaining traces of baby fat.


    Roxy was sure of it. In just a few years, he would be ady killer. Rudy''s maturity, cute face, intelligence, and talent. In a short time, all of it would explode and make him an irresistible force of nature.


    And the fact that Sylphy clung onto Rudy''s words and supported him so much showed that he was already starting on that path. Especially considering that the young elf girl was willing to throw herself into a life and death fight on Rudy''s behalf.


    But it was reckless. Both her actions and Rudy''s.


    Right. While Roxy''s disciple was a monstrous talent born with gifts that were enough to make even the great legends envious, the fact didn''t change that he was still just a child.


    A child who didn''t know right from wrong and recklessness from bravery.


    ...Though that was partially her fault.


    Roxy hadn''t realized it. Because Rudy was so smart and had god given talents, she thought he would pick up on it.


    And after Roxy heard how he managed to somehow keep his family together despite Paul''s lustful nature and affection falling towards Lilia as well as Zenith, Roxy thought he was mature enough for it to not be an issue. That growing up had solved it.


    After all, if he had the ability and insight to somehow convince the staunch believer of Milis that Zenith was into epting Lilia in their family, Rudy was surely mature enough to at least havemon sense.


    But he didn''t.


    Calling out to the Dragon God while he was leaving and earning the Dragon God''s ire with a few words. Actually going to *fight* the Dragon God in closebat instead of relying on magic or trying to talk him down. ying the role of a hero and trying to taunt the Dragon God...


    It was infuriating. The Rudy she remembered was more mature and calcting.


    ...And it seemed that Rudy realized it as well, considering how he was avoiding Roxy''s gaze.


    Roxy sighed.


    The past was the past. In hindsight, Roxy should have treated Rudy a bit more harshly and emphasized how talented he was instead of treating him like it was normal. If she had done that, perhaps he wouldn''t have grown up so distorted as to think he could challenge the second strongest World Power.


    And perhaps he would have been a bit more responsible and cautious as well.


    But that couldn''t be helped. So instead, Roxy fixed a stern gaze on Rudy and said, "What have you been keeping to yourself, Rudy? Who is this Being W and Hitogami? And why did you ask Orsted if he knew about him?"


    Rudy flinched. And then he sighed and said, "Well... It''s a bit hard to exin. But since Master can see mana now as well..." He paused and said, "It started in the forest shortly after you left. I was out exploring because I was feeling a bit lonely when I noticed a weird white mist drifting around..."

 58 – Child – Transparency is Key

    58 ¨C Child ¨C Transparency is Key


    I stared at Master Roxy, waiting for her response.


    I told her everything. How I noticed Being W, who I called Whitey at the time. How he tried to break up my family by subtly influencing their thoughts. How he was around and appeared to be the cause of why Sylphy was kidnapped and abandoned in the forest. And how he seemed to be pulling strings in the background around Norn''s birth,ughing and putting me in that Xanatos Gambit at the time.


    And also how he recently tried to directly influence me in that fight against Ghyine, feeding into my anger to make me see red before trying to do something to my mind.


    ...Which in hindsight was probably why I was a bit off.


    I didn''t know what he did or exactly what happened, but I clearly remembered seeing that other ce. Not to mention the nightmares I had about Dad''s death and the scenes I could barely recall.


    Then there was that weird old man and the broken magic circle I saw just before waking up.


    But anyway, I told all of that to Master Roxy.


    As I did, I felt a huge weight lift from my shoulders. One I didn''t even realize I had.


    It was simr to what I felt in that dream after seeing my past life''s final moments and bidding farewell to my old family.


    Well, except that I physically felt better after telling everything to Master Roxy.


    Probably because I knew I could rely on her.


    After all, Master Roxy was a real genius. Not only that, but she was someone who polished up her natural genius with hard work and experience.


    So if there was anyone who could help me sort this stuff out and help me protect everyone, it was her.


    Except, Master Roxy looked troubled.


    I frowned and said, "Um... Did I say something wrong?"


    Roxy sighed. "No, Rudy. And thank you for telling me." She patted my head and said, "You''ve had it rough, haven''t you?"


    I felt my eyes watering and quickly looked away, blinking through the tears. "I-It''s fine. I''m Master Roxy''s disciple, so it was fine."


    Roxyughed and said, "Hey now. What did I teach you about when people say they''re fine?"


    "...That it''s usually a lie and that they''re upset. Also that something sweet helps them feel better."


    Roxy coughed and said, "T-There''s thatst part, yes. But focus on the first part in the future, okay?"


    "Okay."


    She nodded and then crossed her arms, thinking. "But how insidious. To think that there was something like that... Well, I suppose that exins why things unfolded the way they did in Shirone. Maybe I was too harsh on that prince then."


    "Master?"


    Roxy shook her head and said, "Don''t worry about it. But I take it you haven''t told your parents about this?"


    "I haven''t." I rubbed the back of my neck and said, "Even if I did, since they can''t see mana they can''t really do anything about it, right? Ah, but I did make some essories to make sure they aren''t affected anymore. Holy mana repels Being W''s mana, so I made some jewelry and wrapped a lot of magic circles together out of that. Kind of like what you did for my wand."


    Roxy blinked and then she covered her face. "Why are you like this, Rudy? Am I just a bad teacher? Or is this just Paul''s blood finally showing up?"


    "M-Master?"


    I tilted my head, confused.


    Did I say something wrong? Ah. Maybe she was upset at me copying her work...?


    Before I could ask about it, Master Roxy shook her head and then said, "Rudy."


    "Y-Yes?"


    "You see me as your Master, right? Meaning that you''ll listen to what I tell you to do?"


    I immediately nodded. "Of course!"


    "Then from this point onwards, don''t keep things like this to yourself. Even if you have a good idea about how to solve things, talk to me or your parents about it first. Or even Sylphy, like she asked you to. No matter how much you know, one person can only see so much at a time. It''s important to have multiple perspectives on things, especially when ites to potential dangers."


    "...So you''re telling me to not be like my dad then?"


    Roxy paused and then let out a deep sigh. "Right. Please do your best to avoid being like your hot-blooded father who runs off to try and run a coup on the main branch of an ancient Asuran noble family."


    "Got it."


    In other words, more transparency, less acting on my own. I could do that.


    ...Hm. Maybe that was what this was all about?


    Did Being W want me to start doubting people and then start acting on my own? No, that I knew better than everyone else and so my opinion was the only one that mattered?


    ...Scary.


    I could see it ying out like that. In that dream I saw... Yeah. I would definitely never have forgiven Dad in there or trusted him to do anything ever again. And since he was out of the picture, I''d gradually start taking on more responsibilities to care for Mom, Mama Lily, and my younger sisters.


    There was Master Roxy around too, as well as Sylphy... But Sylphy supported me no matter what I did. And while Master Roxy was a genius and someone I respected, she also wasn''t family. If push came to shove, after being upset at all that Dad did...


    Yeah, I''d push her away too.


    After that, I''d probably be obsessed with growing strong enough to make those things a non-issue in the future.


    And then, haughty with mana and magic, I''d suddenly get the rug pulled out from under me by Being W when I least expected it. Probably by taking advantage of how I kept to myself more than other people and then using that to drive a wedge between me and my family.


    Maybe even have Norn or Aisha grow to hate me and me me.


    A soft bop on my head.


    I blinked and realized that Master Roxy was staring at me.


    "What did I just say, Rudy?"


    Iughed and rubbed the back of my neck. "Sorry, Master. I was just thinking about how close it was to having all of this ruined." I frowned and said, "When you keep things to yourself, it''s really easy for other people to start mistrusting you. Especially since they can''t read your mind. And in that silence, misunderstandings start growing... and before you realize it, you mistake love as indifference and disdain."


    I could definitely see it.


    Well, it helped since Dad was doing his best to serve as a negative role model...


    Which reminded me that I needed to beat that lesson through his thick skull as well.


    And that I also needed to patch things up with Mom and Mama Lily for Dad too...


    This was his second big mistake now.


    ...Well, I guess that falling in love with Mama Lily really shouldn''t be considered a mistake.


    A better thing would be that this was his second big ''event'' now. A major event that tested not just my mom''s patience this time, but Mama Lily''s as well.


    If there was a third... I had a feeling that would be it. Things wouldn''t ever be the same.


    After all, trust was both easily given and easily lost.


    I paused, suddenly realizing that Master Roxy hadn''t spoken for a while. "Master?"


    Roxy blinked and then let out a wry smile. "Sorry, Rudy. I was just thinking about my family." She sighed and said, "As always, you have better insight than I do."


    "Hm? But Master''s a genius."


    Roxy poked my forehead and said, "A genius isn''t perfect. And the moment that a genius thinks they are, they''re bound to fall from grace."


    Yeah. I knew *that* lesson all too well...


    "But in any case..."


    Master Roxy took a seat to my left and then reached out to hook my chin, pulling it towards her. After that, she leaned forward.


    "M-Master?!"


    I felt my face heat up and instinctively leaned back.


    "Don''t move."


    A serious voice.


    Hearing that from Master Roxy, I stopped being embarrassed and did as she asked.


    She stared into my eyes with her own, frowning. And then after a few seconds, she muttered, "You really keep on doing ridiculous things, Rudy."


    I blinked. "What do you mean?"


    Roxy shook her head and leaned back. After that, she said, "Did you notice something strange when fighting the Dragon God? Maybe in how you saw the world?"


    I paused to think and then nodded. "Now that you mention it..."


    There was a point in the battle when time slowed to a crawl. Near the end there, I could perceive Orsted even though he was moving at a normal speed in the slowed time.


    Wait.


    Seeing mana as different colors, temporarily losing my vision, suddenly being able to track superhuman speed...


    Did I suddenly awaken something like the Shar*ng*n?


    I mean, it *was* a moment of high emotion and tension, but this was *mana*, not chakra!


    Ah. But wasn''t chakra originally divine power distilled down to mortal men or something? And in this world, magic was originally something that only elves and spirits could use until humans figured out to replicate it.


    ...Maybe it was better to just not think too hard about it.


    Just like the fact that the freaking Dragon God of all people said that I inherited a bunch of traits from Demon God Lace.


    At least, for now.


    Roxy nodded her head and said, "As I thought. It seems like you managed to awaken a set of Demon Eyes."


    I frowned and said, "It seems like it, yeah."


    And now I really wanted to test if I actually had the infamous pinwheel eyes.


    ...It would definitely exin how I could so easily copy magic spells. And why my memory seemed to be so good. And why I noticed Being W influencing my parents. AND why I could keep up with Orsted.


    ...Though a few of those things were also because I had been training for a while on those specific traits...


    Ugh. Why was mana soplicated? It would be really nice if I just had a handy guide or someone around to tell me exactly what it was so I knew its limits and properties...


    At that time, Sylphy walked over, carrying a stack of cups and a small teapot. She smiled and said, "I got tea, Rudy! Ah, and for you too, Miss Roxy."


    An ice table suddenly formed in front of where I was sitting.


    Sylphy set the teapot on the table and then poured a cup of tea. "It''s honey and berries, so it''ll be sweet and yummy!" She blew the cup a bit to cool down the tea and then handed it to me. "Here you go!"


    I took it from her and smiled. "Thanks, Sylphy."


    "Mmhm!" She poured a cup for Roxy and handed it over.


    Roxy took the cup with a small nod. "Thank you, Sylphy."


    Sylphy nodded back and poured herself a cup before sitting down to my right. Sipping her cup, she let out a content sigh and leaned against me.


    Master Roxy stared at me and raised an eyebrow.


    I blinked and tilted my head. "What?"


    Roxy shook her head and then looked at Sylphy. After that, she looked at the ice table and said, "I have to say. You truly utilize mana in a way that I never even imagined possible, Sylphy. To directly manipte elements to your will..."


    Sylphy sipped on her tea again and said, "Rudy is just that great of a teacher."


    I sipped on my tea as well and then sighed. "You give me too much credit, Sylphy. Most of what you can do you taught yourself."


    "That''s not true!" Sylphy frowned and said, "I learned how to do all of my magic from the games we y. So I learned from you."


    "I don''t think that''s how teaching works..."


    "Well, I say it is. So there!"


    Iughed and then shook my head. "Fine, fine."


    Sylphy smiled.


    Roxy let out a sigh and muttered, "To be young and carefree again..."


    I tilted my head and said, "Master is still young, aren''t you?"


    Even after the past few years, Roxy still looked the same as she did before.


    ...Which meant she still looked like a young teenager instead of the twenty-something woman she should be right now, but that was a good thing. Aging gracefully was something all women wished for, after all.


    Roxy chuckled and then said, "And you still need to remember to ease up on thepliments. What will you do if your dear Master falls in love with you, hm?"


    "U-Um..."


    Master Roxy? In love with me?


    I felt my face heat up and thenughed. "Master sure likes to tease."


    Roxyughed as well and then said, "Well. Someone has to keep you on the straight and narrow."


    Sylphy frowned and then hugged my arm. "Hmph."


    I blinked.


    Roxy smiled and sipped on her tea. After that, she said, "In any case... It seems like we''ll have to wait until tomorrow to begin our magic lessons again." She sighed and said, "I''ll have to spend some time fixing up my magic circles again after they broke."


    Sylphy leaned over to look at Roxy and said, "Well maybe you wouldn''t have to if you learned how to use mana directly, Miss Roxy?"


    Roxy sighed. "True. But not everyone can be born a genius at mana maniption like you, Sylphy."


    I nodded and looked towards Sylphy. "That''s right. Different people pick up on different things quicker, Sylphy. Besides, Master Roxy has only recently started being able to see mana. It''s really hard to break long time habits, you know? Imagine if you suddenly had to use magic with chanting instead of just using it."


    Sylphy blinked and said, "But Rudy can do everything, can''t you? Chanting, magic circles, and imagining like me? Aren''t you even more of a genius then?"


    Iughed and said, "I just take really good notes and work really hard. I bet anyone else could do the same thing if they had the same start I did."


    Sylphy frowned and said, "Rudy. You''re looking down on yourself again."


    "Hm? But it''s the truth?" I looked at Master Roxy and said, "Right, Master? If you could see mana from the start, you''d be about the same that I am now, wouldn''t you?"


    "No."


    I blinked. And then Iughed. "Master''s being humble again... I got it. I''ll do my best to not get a big head."


    Roxy frowned. "That''s not what I-" Her frown deepened and she looked at Sylphy, as if to ask a silent question.


    Sylphy nodded in response.


    Roxy sighed.


    I frowned. "Hey. Didn''t Master just say to not keep things from people?"


    Roxy nodded. "I did. But this is a girl''s secret, so I''m afraid you''ll have to just ept that fact."


    Sylphy nodded as well and said, "That''s right, Rudy. It''s a secret understanding between me and Miss Roxy. Sorry."


    "...Right. In any case-"


    The front door mmed open, letting in a frigid wind.

 59 – Child – All-Time Low

    59 ¨C Child ¨C All-Time Low


    That wasn''t a good sign. For the front door to m open...


    I frowned and then got up, walking over to the entrance.


    Mom and Mama Lily walked in, shaking snow off from their coats.


    "Oh?" Rose''s voice echoed from the kitchen and she said, "Zenith? Lilia? I finished making lunch, so-"


    Mom looked at me before letting out a deep sigh and shutting the door. After that, she looked towards Rose and said, "Is Norn sleeping?"


    Rose wiped her hands on her apron and said, "She is. I tucked her in bed with her sister in your room." She looked at Mama Lily and said, "I hope you didn''t mind, Lilia..."


    Mama Lily shook her head and let out a thin smile. "It''s fine, Rose. Thank you for watching them." After saying that, she turned to look at me. "Are you well, Rudy?"


    "I''m fine... Why are you asking?"


    Did I worry them that much? Ah, wait. If they were talking with Dad, they probably found out who I was fighting.


    And I had just recovered from being blind... and I was still recovering from mana strain...


    In hindsight, it was obvious why Mama Lily was asking.


    Okay. Maybe I did get a bit rattled from recent events after all if I didn''t get that.


    Mom sighed and shook her head. After that, she looked at me and said, "Don''t let your father off so easily this time, Rudy. He did something really stupid. Scold him properly, understand?"


    "Um... Okay?"


    "I''m going to cuddle with Norn." Mom looked at Mama Lily and said, "Will you keep mepany, Lily?"


    "Of course, Zenny." Mama Lily nodded and said, "It should be time to feed Aisha soon as well, so it works out perfectly."


    Mom nodded and then headed down the hallway to the master bedroom where Norn and Aisha were sleeping.


    And the bedroom where my dad wouldn''t be sleeping for a while, judging from how frosty Mom and Mama Lily were.


    Mom and Mama Lily left to go stay with Norn and Aisha.


    Sylphy walked over to my side and then peered down the hallway. "Did Miss Zenith and Miss Lily go to sleep?"


    I nodded. "I think they''re pretty exhausted, so-"


    The front door opened again and someone walked in. Dad.


    Except, it didn''t look like Dad. Mostly because his face waspletely swelled up and red.


    Rose gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. After that, she walked over and said, "Paul! What happened to you? Did another enemy attack?!"


    Sylphy gasped as well and then ran over to my dad. "Mister Paul! Here, let me heal you!"


    My dad waved and muttered something iprehensible.


    Sylphy frowned and then held out her hands. With that, blue-green mana flew out in bubbles before gathering around my dad. When they did, the bubbles flickered and turned gold. After that, they burst, sshing my dad in gold sparks. And with that, his swollen face turned back to normal.


    He sighed and said, "That wasn''t really necessary, Sylphy. But thank you."


    "Not necessary?" Sylphy frowned. "What do you mean?"


    Rose blinked. And then she seemed to realize the cause of Dad''s injuries and sighed. "You really did it this time, didn''t you, Paul?"


    My dadughed and said, "Yeah." He paused and then looked at Rose. "Um. You aren''t going to hit me too, are you? Laws already pummeled me, s-so that''s fine, right?"


    Rose shook her head. "I''m not such a violent person, Paul. And besides, you were only thinking of Rudy''s future, weren''t you?"


    "Y-Yeah."


    "Then it''s fine."


    Hearing that, my dad winced.


    Sylphy noticed. And then she looked at my dad with a stern gaze. "Mister Paul. What did you do?"


    It wasn''t really my ce to chime in, so I just leaned against the wall to watch.


    As I did, I noticed Master Roxy walk over as well and stare at my dad.


    Dad noticed and cleared his throat. Looking at Sylphy, he said, "I didn''t do anything, Sylphy. Promise."


    "That''s a lie." Sylphy kept staring into my dad''s eyes and said, "You''re hiding something. Just like what Rudy does when he thinks it''ll hurt us."


    "Hey!" I spoke up and said, "I don''t do that. Often."


    My dadughed and looked towards me. "Looks like I''m not the only one in the hotseat, huh, Rudy?"


    "Mister Paul." Sylphy continued her stern gaze.


    Dad flinched and then looked away.


    "Aren''t you an adult, Mister Paul? Why can''t you answer me?"


    I crossed my arms and said, "Yeah, Dad. You''re a responsible adult who makes decisions. What exactly did you do to make Mom and Mama Lily beat you up?"


    Paul rubbed his neck and said, "Well, Lilia''s the one who beat me up, actually. But, um..." He nced at Sylphy and then mumbled. "...can''t marry Rudy anymore."


    Sylphy blinked.


    Rose froze.


    Master Roxy let out a deep sigh and rubbed her face.


    My dad cleared his throat and then looked Sylphy in the eye. He looked guilty, but he faced her and said, "You can''t marry Rudy anymore, Sylphy. He''s... promised to someone else now."


    Rose gasped and then ran up to p my dad. "How could you?! You know how she feels about Rudy!"


    My dad took the p and sighed. "There''s the p. Laws mentioned you''d act this way after he pummeled me." He rubbed his jaw and said, "Your husband should consider a career in barefist fighting along with archery by the way."


    "How can you joke about something like this?!"


    Sylphy tilted her head, looking confused. "Um..." She turned towards my dad and said, "What do you mean, Mister Paul?"


    My dad let out a deep sigh. "It''s...plicated."


    I spoke up and lowered my arms. "Not really. You just acted without thinking again. Just like with everything else in your life. Right, Dad?"


    He flinched and lowered his head. "...I thought it was a good idea. And this way you won''t have to fight, Rudy. B-Besides!" He looked up and said, "You can just break it offter! It''s a betrothal contract, but-"


    "A betrothal contract!?" Rose pointed at my dad and said, "Didn''t you say that it was too early to talk about that? Why in the world did-?!"


    Master Roxy walked over and said, "Miss Rose. Norn and Aisha are sleeping right now and both Zenith and Lilia are exhausted. How about we head outside for now?" She looked at Sylphy and said, "You haven''t showed your mother much magic, have you?"


    Sylphy blinked and said, "U-Um. No?"


    "Then now''s a perfect opportunity. There''s also something I wish to discuss with you and your mother."


    With that, Master Roxy expertly cleared the room, leaving just me and Dad.


    He stared at me and then looked away, clearly feeling guilty. Not only that, but he looked regretful too.


    But of course he did. After all, he just got scolded by both of his wives, beaten up by one, and then pped by another woman who had respected him up until that point.


    His confidence was probably at an all-time low.


    And to be honest, I was feeling pretty pissed off at him too.


    Signing a betrothal contract for me without talking to me, Mom, or Mama Lily. Running off to start a coup with the excuse that he was going to ''talk'' with his family. Not evening back once in this past week to check up on us or send any letters. And to top it all off, that was after knocking me unconscious by hitting me in the head and then sending me into a week-longa.


    ...Though I was pretty sure thata was more Being W''s doing than my dad. At least, in terms of being so long.


    Didn''t change the fact that my dad was the one who put me in it though by smacking me in the head.


    Altogether, it was more than enough cause for my mom to divorce him. All of that showed that my dad was irresponsible at best and no different than the corrupt nobles who used their children as pieces at worst.


    ...Two perspectives that Mom and Mama Lily probably had right now regarding my dad.


    As for me... I thought Dad had grown up and be a bit more responsible. With how he had been taking his job more seriously and working long nights sending letters, I thought he was finally being like a real dad should be.


    Of course, it was hard to break old habits. Especially if you were working on a wed model.


    My dad tried hard. He really tried hard. But he was just in dumb.


    ...No, that was being a bit unfair. My dad might be a bit thoughtless at times, but he wasn''t stupid. He just didn''t know any better.


    After all, he was a guy who ran away from home at twelve years old, did an unspeakable thing to Mama Lily in his teens, and then was forced into being a family man after I was born.


    More than that... He had only been neen when I was born. Which meant he was only twenty six right now.


    Around the same age that I had been when I was off running around doing stupid things to try and make it big.


    So I couldn''t be angry at him. At least, not too angry.


    Because I could understand him. And because I''d done simr stupid things in the past.


    ...Huh.


    Alright. Maybe it wasn''t *entirely* inheriting bad traits from my dad.


    "Rudy?" My dad hesitantly called out to me and said, "Are you mad?"


    I sighed and said, "Let''s have a seat first. This isn''t a chat we should have standing around." After saying that, I walked over to the dining table and sat down.


    Dad followed after me and then sat down at the chair across from me.

 60 – A Worthless Father’s Reflection

    60 ¨C A Worthless Father¡¯s Reflection


    Paul had messed up. He realized that. Hell, even an idiot would realize it after all that he''d gone through.


    Zenith screaming at him at the top of her lungs about how he was selfish, stupid, and reckless. How she thought he was better than those nobles and how she couldn''t believe she married such a hypocrite.


    Lilia not saying a word, only silently pping him over and over. As if that would knock some sense into him.


    ...And probably venting a bit of pent up fury she had from the past as well, now that Paul thought about it.


    Then there was how Laws had pummeled Paul after finding out about the betrothal contract, Sylphy''s confused and disappointed gaze, then her mother pping Paul just earlier.


    So Paul knew he messed up. And he regretted it. He wished he could say that it wasn''t his fault... but he knew it.


    This was all him.


    Zenith was right. He had been selfish. Since he was worried, he let himself get talked into the betrothal contract so that Philip and Uncle Sauros would help him take over the Notos family.


    No, it all started because Paul thought the only option he had was to take over the Notos family before his brother sent people after them.


    And because he was worried that Rudy would do something reckless, Paul brought Ghyine over to try and show him how far he still had left to go.


    Except he didn''t expect Rudy to actually be that strong. Or that Rudy loved him enough to go into a blind rage at Ghyine because he thought it was her fault that Paul was acting like this.


    Right. Rudy loved and believed in his father enough to forgive Paul''s misstep. Enough to focus his irepletely on the woman who appeared to seduce Paul instead.


    Rudy trusted and cared for Paul that much. No, from how he handled the situation with Lilia and Zenith. From how Rudy arranged everything and left it in Paul''s hands to settle... he should have known already. Paul should have known already how much Rudy loved and respected him.


    And yet Paul had gone ahead and ignored all of that. No, he took advantage of that fact while saying it was for his own good.


    Just like Paul''s father had done to him.


    Paul stared at Rudy.


    Rudy stared back, his expression unreadable and his arms crossed.


    It was funny, actually. That was just like how Zenith looked when she was upset. Well, before she became inconsble from rage.


    Except, Rudy didn''t look like her. Instead, it was like Paul was looking into an old mirror. Staring at his younger self being frustrated at his dad for not understanding anything and trying to force himself into something he didn''t want.


    The only difference was his hair, which was now a stark silver color.


    ...The result of mana strain from going all out trying to protect Paul.


    That sent another stab of guilt into Paul''s heart.


    Rudy''s hair would always be that color now. From what Zenith mentioned before she started screaming at Paul, Rudy had used up all of his mana and then some trying to kill Ghyine. And then he tried drawing even more mana after that.


    ...In short, it was a miracle that he survived. And it was another miracle that he woke up at all.


    They hadn''t mentioned it to Rudy, but from Roxy''s examination, there was a time when Rudy''s mana didn''t recover at all. His body was fine, but his mana wasn''ting back. And it seemed like it wouldn''te back. But then all of a sudden, it came flooding back in.


    Paul was lucky.


    Despite everything else, Zenith and Lilia didn''t me him for that, at least. They med him for knocking Rudy unconscious and leaving, but they didn''t me Paul for Rudy''s mana not recovering.


    Except, Paul knew why that had happened.


    Rudy hadpletely fallen to bloodlust in the fight against Ghyine. He was letting off enough killing intent that even Paul was frightened.


    So in a panic, Paul had subconsciously gone all out and hit Rudy with everything he had to stop him. Thank Milis and whatever other divine forces were out there that Paul didn''t draw his actual de.


    But he had hit Rudy with everything he had.


    The fact that Rudy''s mana didn''t recover... was probably because it was being spent healing the damage to his mind and the bacsh from suddenly having that tremendous spell forcibly cancelled.


    Rudy had looked fine at the time, so Paul thought nothing of it. There weren''t any wounds, and his hair hadn''t changed colors at all.


    ...But apparently it had changed while Rudy was unconscious.


    Which confirmed Paul''s theory.


    It was because of him. He did that to his son.


    Paul had vowed to not be like his father. To not be like the old man who made Paul''s life miserable. And yet now, he hadn''t just done the same as his old man. Paul had done worse. He had forcibly changed Rudy''s life forever. To always draw stares because of his unnatural hair color from that point forward.


    And that was only because Paul... No, because Rudy was lucky.


    If it had been anyone else. If it was any other kid, Paul was sure they would have died.


    Paul would have gone to Roa all happy-go-lucky and then gone home to a grieving family. And one who would have chased him out.


    And for just cause as well.


    That...!


    A sigh echoed. Rudy''s. "Geez, Dad. What are you making that face for?"


    Paul blinked and then reached up to grab his chin. "W-What am I...? What about it?"


    He wasn''t making a weird face... was he?


    Rudy shook his head and then walked around the table to sit next to Paul.


    Paul flinched and scooted over. "R-Rudy?"


    "Don''t get me wrong, Dad. I''m mad at you." Rudy frowned and looked up at Paul with cold green eyes. "This time, you messed up a lot."


    Paul flinched and looked away. "I know."


    "If it was any other person, they''d be dead right now."


    Paul felt the stab of guilt in his heart again and lowered his head. "...I know."


    "And it wouldn''t be odd for Mom and Mama Lily to leave you behind now. It''s enough for her to justify a divorce. And when that happens, she''ll leave with Mama Lily and have a happy family with her instead."


    Paul closed his eyes and muttered, "I know."


    Their rtionship was already a bit precarious from the beginning. After all, the only one who did anything wrong was Paul.


    Meanwhile, the rtionship between just Zenith and Lilia was strong as ever. In fact, it had grown stronger since they started being intimate with each other.


    Then there was the shared motherhood and raising children together, along with Rudy...


    In short, Paul was already an outsider. No, he was someone who just marched to his own beat and thought he was always in the right, dragging everyone along with him.


    That was fine when he was an adventurer. And that was... okay when it was just Zenith.


    But now he had a whole family to consider. Not only that, but friends too.


    That was why Paul left in the first ce with Ghyine. To try and head off the problem in the future so that his family could continue to live that peaceful life.


    ...Except Paul wasn''t like his son. Sure, Paul was good at fighting. And he was confident that, at this point, the number of people who could definitively beat him in closebat could be counted on two hands.


    But he wasn''t smart. He wasn''t cut out for all the politics and strategizing that came along with handling nobles.


    That was why he wanted Philip''s help and why he wanted the backing of Uncle Sauros.


    Rudy was perfect for that. With how smart Paul''s son was, and with how skilled Rudy was at reading people, Paul was sure that he would easily handle whatever plots came their way. All Paul needed to do was buy time until Rudy was ready.


    Except.


    Except he hadn''t been thinking about Rudy at all.


    Would he want to do that? Even if it was necessary, was it right to force that on Rudy?


    The answer was obvious.


    It wasn''t.


    Paul had gone ahead and made a loud mess, talking big about doing a coup on the Notos family. And he said that it was all about taking responsibility for his past.


    But he was just running away again. Like when he was a kid.


    Paul clenched his hands over his knees and grit his teeth.


    And then he felt a light tap on his right arm.


    Paul blinked and looked over to see Rudy pulling back his right hand, clenched in a fist. "Rudy?"


    "There." Rudy nodded and said, "Now we''re even."


    "W-What?"


    Rudy stared at Paul and said, "We''re even. Since Dad was stupid, I punched you. So now we''re even for you making a dumb mistake."


    Paul blinked and then he shook his head. "No. Rudy..." He narrowed his eyes and said, "You should be mad! You should be angry! I... I''ve been a terrible Dad! A-And-!"


    "And that''s just the way Dad is." Rudy reached out and poked Paul''s head.


    He blinked.


    Rudy sighed and leaned back. "Dad''s dense. Well, when ites to anything other than women and fighting. But that''s not a bad thing. You just have to remember to talk to other people first to make sure you don''t mess up while focusing on your strengths."


    "...I don''t get it."


    Paul couldn''t understand.


    Rudy had every right to be upset. And he *had* been upset. That anger Rudy had when he found out about the betrothal contract was real. Real and burning red hot.


    But it was gone now. Instead, Rudy just seemed disappointed. Disappointed, but not to the level of disavowing Paul.


    So Paul didn''t get it.


    Rudy sighed. "To be honest, this is my fault too. You''ve been worrying about a lot of things ever since I was little haven''t you?"


    "That''s not-"


    "But it''s true." Rudy nodded and said, "You''ve always been a bit unsure how to treat me ever since that incident when I was small, right? And while you know how to show off when you''re training me, you don''t really know how to treat me when you''re not. You love me and care for me, but you don''t really know how to show it."


    Paul wanted to deny it. But there was also a bit of truth in it.


    He knew how much of a genius his son was. But at the same time, since Rudy had such a fear of being a genius and broke down in the past, he didn''t want to push him.


    Yet, Paul couldn''t help but see what Rudy could be. What he would be able to do, and what he *could* do right now.


    That was proven in how Rudy beat Ghyine, and how he earned the respect of the Dragon God.


    So Paul was at a loss.


    Rudy was a genius, but he couldn''t see it. And while Paul had tried to imply it a few times, Rudy just brushed it off.


    He was someone that Paul wanted to rely on. But at the same time, he was a child. And not just any child, but Paul''s son. Someone who Paul wanted to grow up happy and free, unlike him.


    Eventually, Paul sighed and nodded. "That''s right." He let out a wry smile and said, "How can a dumb old fart like me understand his super smart and charming kid, you know?"


    "You''re not that dumb or old, Dad. And I''m not that smart and charming either."


    Paul rolled his eyes and said, "Says the kid who has a beautiful elf girl who only has eyes for him. And a beautiful elf girl who knows how to use chantless magic because you taught her."


    "Some people are just built different, Dad. And what do you mean Sylphy only has eyes for me? She spends time with her parents, Mom, Mama Lily, and my sisters too you know? And recently with Master Roxy too."


    Paul blinked and then muttered, "Alright. Maybe you''re not as smart as I thought you were..."


    Was Rudy just pretending to be dense, or was he actually that dense? Even if he''s a kid, he''s *got* to know how much Sylphy likes him, right? And he knows what a betrothal contract is, so...


    Rudy rolled his eyes and said, "And I keep telling you, I''m not a genius. You''re only going to be disappointed if you ce your expectations on me, Dad."


    Paul shook his head and said, "I could never be disappointed in you, Rudy." He rubbed his face and said, "If anything, I''m the one disappointing you."


    "That''s true."


    "You''re not supposed to agree!"


    "But it is, isn''t it?" Rudy smirked.


    Paul sighed, feeling the edges of his mouth twitch in a smile.


    "But anyway." Rudy wiped the smirk off his face and turned serious. "Dad."


    Seeing that, Paul turned serious as well. "Yeah, Rudy?"


    "This is the second time. I managed to help the first, and I... think I can help sort out this mess. But if there''s a third, I can''t help you. Mom and Mama Lily are already sick and tired of your antics."


    "...Yeah."


    Rudy leaned back and said, "You need to apologize. But that won''t be enough. Words are cheap, so you need to show that you''re sincere too."


    Paul nodded, listening to everything Rudy was saying with his full attention. "So what do I need to do?"


    "First... you need to exin everything to Mom and Mama Lily. From the beginning. Everything."


    Paul winced, but he nodded. "Alright. What else?"


    "Second... Well, is the betrothal contract final? And do we need it to stop people from trying to attack us?"


    "That''s..." Paul hesitated and said, "It... technically can be called off at any time. But it would look really bad. And while we don''t *need* it to stop people from the Notos familying after us, it helps."


    Even though it meant that they were a threat to Paul''s brother by joining hands with the Boreas family, because they were a threat, people from Notos couldn''t move easily either.


    Especially since Ghyine had started working there under Uncle Sauros as a personal guard and tutor to Eris.


    It was hard to move against a family with one of the few Sword Kings in the world under its direct employ.


    "Hm..." Rudy rubbed his chin and said, "In that case... It might be good to go through the motions. Well, I''d prefer to just walk up and kill every person aiming at us instead. Maybe keep some people half-alive with festering wounds continually being healed with healing magic to set an example. But that would y into Being W''s hands, I''m sure. Too easy to twist public opinion if we do that."


    "Wait, what?" Paul held up his hands and said, "Go back a bit. What did you say about killing people?"


    Rudy blinked and thenughed. "Don''t mind me. I was just musing a bit, Dad. I''m not *actually* going to go and kill off a bunch of nobles or torture them to set an example."


    "No, hold on. Why were you even considering that in the first ce?!"


    Did Roxy teach him that? No, she wasn''t the sort to do that.


    Then Zenith? No, she was too soft-hearted.


    Lilia?


    ...Actually, that made sense. Lilia worked in the inner pce of the Asura Kingdom, so she was bound to know all the dark and gruesome methods to quell uprising and other resistances.


    But even then!


    Rudy tilted his head. "You said it, didn''t you? A man has to keep a sword in his heart and protect the people he loves. And if people are afraid of you, they won''t dare trying to go against you. It''s only natural. Ah, but don''t worry. That''s more of a hassle than I want to deal with, so I won''t ever do that."


    ''More of a hassle than I want to deal with.'' Not ''something that goes against what I believe'' or ''something I would never stoop to.''


    While Paul couldn''t say he wouldn''t do the same, to hear ite out of Rudy''s mouth so casually...


    Paul groaned. "I''m a terrible father."


    Rudy reached over and patted Paul''s shoulder. "It''s okay, Dad. Since there''s Norn and Aisha now, you have a second chance. Besides, it''s better that you got all the real bad mistakes out of the way with me instead of with my cute baby sisters, right? Imagine them growing up and saying that they hate you or something."


    Paul winced, clutching his chest. "I don''t even want to."


    "See? But anyway... We should probably have me go meet my fiancee. Putting it off is a bad idea. And I need to introduce Sylphy too."


    Paul nodded. And then he froze. "Wait. What do you mean, introduce Sylphy?"


    Rudy gave Paul a nk stare and said, "Sylphy''s my best friend- No. The most important person in my life other than Master Roxy, you, Mom, Mama Lily, Norn, and Aisha. Even if I end up married to someone else, or if she marries someone else, that won''t change. So it''s better if my future wife learns about it now rather thanter, right?"


    "B-But...!"


    Paul could already see how the meeting was going to y out.


    That explosive and fiery Eris meeting Sylphy and getting told to deal with it. No, that her fiance cared about another girl more than her...


    Not only that, but since Sylphy was so good at magic too, there was only one way this was going to y out.


    Not to mention how Uncle Sauros would react too...


    "Don''t worry about it too much." Rudy waved his hand and said, "From what I heard about the Asura Kingdom from Mama Lily, it''s filled with a bunch of perverts and people who have affairs all the time, isn''t it? Considering that Sylphy isn''t human, those prejudiced idiots will just think I''m an early bloomer and not even bat an eye. Right?"


    Paul blinked.


    Rudy... wasn''t wrong. But even then...


    "...I feel like I should disagree on principle here. But I can''t find anything to disagree with."


    Rudy blinked. "You mean that you can''t disagree with the fact that they''re prejudiced idiots who think the only reason you''re taking a non-human with you is because they''re your toy?"


    A frosty tone of voice. Just like Zenith before she *really* got mad.


    Paul quickly held up his hands and said, "No! I disagree with that too! I meant about you taking Sylphy with you to meet your fianc¨¦e."


    "Oh." Rudy nodded. "Yeah. It''s probably not a good idea. But I''m not budging. So it''s either we do this, or I go find Orsted and we force everyone to listen by threateningplete annihtion."


    "...You really take after your mother, Rudy."


    Offering ultimatums and choices that weren''t really choices... Definitely like Zenith.


    Rudy rolled his eyes. "I take after you too, Dad. Sometimes a bit too much." He frowned.


    Paulughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... Sorry about that. And... sorry for messing everything up, Rudy. Really."


    Rudy nodded. "Apology epted. Well, on the condition that youe with me to exin all of this to everyone."


    Paul started to sweat. "Y-You mean just youing back with me to Roa, right?"


    "No. Everything. Especially the part about me having a fianc¨¦e now and taking Sylphy to meet her. And exining what a fianc¨¦e and the betrothal contract means to Sylphy."


    Paul lowered his head. "Guess I can''t get out of this..."


    "Yep. Can''t run away from your mistake this time, Dad."


    Paul sighed. But then he put on a brave face and nodded. "Alright. Then... should we get started?"


    "Ah, hold on. There''s something else I wanted to talk with you about before we chat with everyone else."


    Paul nodded. "What is it?"


    "It''s about someone I like to call Being W." Rudy paused and then said, "But I think this is going to take a bit of exining to understand the context. Let''s see... I guess we can start with the fact that I''ve been able to see mana since I was a baby."


    "Wait, what?!"

 61 – The Fiery Fiancee’s Impatience

    61 ¨C The Fiery Fiancee¡¯s Impatience


    "What do you mean he left!?" Eris stomped her foot on the ground and said, "He can''t do that! I still need to beat that stupid face of his to a pulp!"


    Ghyine chuckled and said, "That''s great enthusiasm, Ojou-sama. but Paul went back home. Some urgent business came up."


    Eris ground her teeth together, silently fuming.


    It waste in the afternoon, the sun passing the highest point in the sky hours ago.


    Like usual, she had woken up that morning and dressed herself in a loose white blouse and tan pants. After that, she threw on a warm cloak and a pair of fur boots before heading out to the courtyard with her wooden practice sword.


    It was routine now. Sure enough, the annoying man who called himself her future father-inw would be waiting there with his smug face to help her ''train.''


    At least, that was what he called it.


    Eris was sure he just liked annoying her since all he did was run around and make her mad.


    But when she arrived, he wasn''t there.


    That didn''t surprise Eris though. That man... Paul or whatever. He was an unreliable sort of guy.


    Just like their butler, Thomas, who just disappeared the other day.


    But anyway, Eris wasn''t surprised that he waste. If anything, the fact that he had been awake early these past few days was more surprising.


    So Eris wasn''t surprised that Paul was missing. But she *was* surprised that Ghyine wasn''t around.


    Then again, Ghyine seemed to be friend with that Paul guy. Because of that, Eris thought they might be training or somethingtest night again.


    They usually did that. Even long after the sun set and the moon took its ce, the sound of swords shing echoed in the night as Paul and Ghyine fought.


    It seemed pretty intense too from the one time Eris spied on them.


    That was the main reason why Eris tolerated the guy. Despite his smug face and irritating personality, Paul was strong. Strong enough to dodge Ghyine''s attacks and fight her to a draw each time.


    So Eris waited.


    After getting up in the morning, she stood around in the snowy courtyard and waited for Paul to show up.


    One hour passed. Then two. Then three.


    And still no Paul.


    But Eris was patient. She thought it was a test. That guy was super infuriating and liked toe up with new ways to annoy her while calling it ''training.'' So she thought this was just another one of his games.


    But she wouldn''t lose. She was better than that.


    And then Ghyine showed up and said that Paul left early that morning to meet a friend and headed back to Buina vige.


    "ARGH!" Eris growled and then picked up her wooden sword, swinging it through the air. "It''s not fair! First he takes away my lessons with you and now he runs away after saying that he''d teach me! Stupid! Idiot! Liar!"


    With each name she called Paul, Eris''s sword whipped through the air, letting out a loud crack.


    Ghyine nodded and said, "That''s what you should expect from Paul. He''s reliable when it counts, but when ites tomitment..." She paused and then said, "To be honest, it''s a miracle that Zenith managed to tie him down... and that he changed so much."


    "I don''t care!" Eris swung her sword and said, "And I don''t care about that stupid kid he keeps talking about too! ''Rudy'' this and ''Rudy'' that... As if someone two years younger than me could be that strong!"


    Ghyine hummed and said, "You''d be surprised."


    Eris paused and then looked at Ghyine. "What do you mean?" She frowned and said, "He can''t seriously be that strong, can he?"


    "Mm. I don''t know if Paul is exaggerating or not about his sword skills, but his son is definitely strong." Ghyine frowned and said, "I fought him a bit to teach him a lesson, but almost lost my life since I underestimated him."


    Eris blinked and thenughed. "That''s a good joke, Ghyine."


    "I''m not joking."


    Eris paused.


    Ghyine crossed her arms and then said, "Paul''s son... I want to call him inhuman. The amount of magical power he radiated when he got serious and the killing intent he let loose... If I knew that Paul''s blood was that good, I might have seriously took him as a mate."


    "What?"


    Ghyine turned to Eris and said, "You''re lucky. Although he''s a bit extreme, with a man like that as your mate, you can run as wild as you want in the future."


    Eris growled and said, "I''m not a dainty princess, Ghyine! I don''t need someone to help me do what I want!"


    Ghyine shook her head and said, "It''s fine to rely on other people, Eris."


    "You don''t!" Eris crossed her arms and said, "Ghyine''s already super strong, right? You can do anything!"


    Ghyineughed and then reached over to pat Eris''s head. "Those are kind words, but I''m not that strong. Even I rely on other people... Like Paul. It''s been a big relief to have someone that strong around to help protect you."


    Eris scrunched up her face and said, "That disgusting guy? Strong and helpful?"


    Ghyine pulled back her hand andughed. "Disgusting, huh? That''s pretty urate. But he''s a lot better now than he used to be."


    "Hmph." Eris shook her head and said, "He''s still disgusting."


    There was just something about Paul''s face and mannerisms... No, his very existence that made Eris dislike him. Maybe it was in the way he looked at women.


    Eris never saw him actually do it, but her gut told her that he was staring at them like pieces of meat.


    He never showed it, but Eris was sure that he did it.


    Especially when he looked at Ghyine.


    "In any case." Ghyine pulled out her sheathed sword and said, "Since Paul won''t be back for a while, I''ll take over."


    Eris huffed and said, "You''re the one who''s supposed to teach me in the first ce, Ghyine!"


    Ghyine paused and then chuckled. "I suppose that''s true. Then let''s get started with a proper lesson. Now, attack-"


    Before Ghyine finished talking, Eris stepped forward, swinging her sword towards Ghyine''s neck.


    A brown blur. In an instant, Ghyine parried with her sword and sent Eris sprawling.


    At least, that was what would have happened if Eris hadn''t been constantly trying to hit Paul and gotten used to being sent sprawling.


    As soon as Eris felt her attack parried, she spun on her heel and swung her sword for another attack, copying the way Paul moved when she tried to send him sprawling.


    "Hm?" Ghyine''s eyes narrowed and she swung her sword again to parry.


    A loud *thwack*.


    Eris felt her hand go numb from the heavy blow. But she didn''t let go of her sword. Instead, she kicked on the ground and flew backwards.


    A blur cut through the air where she had just been standing. Ghyine, stepping forward with a sh.


    Eris''s heart pounded in her chest when she realized that.


    She was doing it. She was seeing Ghyine''s attacks.


    ...Okay. Maybe Paul wasn''t *that* bad. It looked like getting used to hitting someone that unpredictable was paying off.


    Eris grinned and raised her sword. "See, Ghyine?! I''m-"


    A light breeze.


    Eris''s eyes widened and she quickly spun around to try and parry.


    But nothing came. Instead of an attack to her head or torso, she felt something brush against her legs and then the world spun. The next thing Eris knew, she was staring up at the blue sky.


    Ghyine looked down at her and said, "Not bad. Though for you to be able to fight like that... Is this what Master said? How two idiots could get along like oil and fire to burn bright?"


    Eris quickly jumped to her feet and growled. "I''m not stupid! And that was a cheap shot!" She pointed her sword at Ghyine and said, "Again! I won''t fall for that trick twice!"


    Ghyine tapped on her sword hilt and gave a serious nod. "I know you won''t. So... let''s see just how far you can go."


    Eris tightened her grip on her sword.


    -LIV-


    The snowy ins outside of Buina vige, a few hours past noon. There, a strange sight could be seen.


    A haggard looking man with slight stubble on his face, a young boy with silver hair, and a young elf girl with bright green hair sat together in a sled.


    Except, it wasn''t an ordinary sled.


    First, the sled was made of stone. Instead of being put together from wooden nks or carved, it waspletely formed from sleek gray stone.


    Second, even though the ins had a few slopes, it was mostly t. Despite that, the sled glided across the snow with ease, even gaining speed as it cut across the white powder.


    Third, and most important of all... an invisible bubble of warmth covered the sled''s mainpartment, keeping everyone inside warm.


    Abination effort from Rudy and Sylphy. With her mastery over snow, Sylphy controlled the sled by constantly shifting the snow to push it forward. And with his general magical ability, Rudy kept the group warm by heating the sled, blocking the wind, and preparing magic barriers in case they somehow went flying.


    Roxy watched the trio and their sled slowly shrink in the distance before turning to look at Zenith and Lilia standing beside her.


    Roxy frowned and said, "Are you certain that you two are fine with this?"


    Zenith sighed and said, "I''m not fine with it. After our talk and learning about that Being W, all I want for us to do is stay here. Stay and train while we still can in case something goes wrong."


    Lilia nodded. "I agree. Rudy and Sylphy are both powerful magic users." She looked at Roxy and said, "And you are a masterful magical researcher. Then there is Paul who continues to improve..." She shook her head and sighed. "If only we had time."


    Roxy reached up to adjust her hat. "Time..."


    Yes. Time. That was their biggest concern.


    They didn''t know how much time they had until that Being W attacked or tried something else. And they didn''t know how much influence that Being W had.


    It was clear that he had enough to infiltrate kingdoms unnoticed, judging from how only Roxy had noticed that the prince in the Shirone Kingdom had been odd. And even then, she discounted it as just an oddity.


    That was her mistake. Something she would need to make amends for in the future... but that was in the future.


    But either way, it was a hidden danger.


    Being W had the ability to influence minds without anyone noticing. Subtle enough to where even someone watching for it could mistake the influence for their natural thoughts.


    Rudy had managed to create some safeguards, and with Roxy there to help, they were certain that Being W wouldn''t be able to do anything to them directly.


    But only as long as they remained at the Greyrat household and by the tree Rudy grew for Zenith.


    Roxy sighed. "What a mess."


    Zenith nodded, and then she frowned. "I just still don''t get it. What does that Being W want with us? Why is he trying so hard to harm us?"


    Lilia looked at Zenith and said, "Isn''t it obvious?"


    Zenith paused and then she sighed. "I guess it is." She let out a wry smile and said, "Our Rudy is just too special. To think that he could see and use mana ever since he was that young... Milis truly blessed us. Truly."


    Lilia hummed. "Well. Considering that a divine being is attempting to inflict harm upon us, perhaps such a blessing is more of a curse."


    "...Maybe." Zenith mumbled.


    At that time, a pair of cries echoed from the house. Shortly after, Rose''s calm voice echoed. "Hush, little ones. There''s no need to cry. Your mothers will be right here."


    Roxy nced at the house before looking over to Zenith and Lilia. "You two should head tend to the girls. I''ll keep an eye on them until they arrive."


    Zenith hesitated. "Are you sure? We can see mana now too, so if you''re tired..."


    Roxy waved her hand. "Norn and Aisha need their mothers. And besides." She swiped her hand through the air, summoning a massive integrated magic circle. "...I might have lost to the Dragon God, but I won''t lose to some nameless divine being who won''t even show his face."


    Lilia smiled and lightly bowed her head. "Then we will count on you, Roxy."


    Roxy smiled back.


    After that, Zenith and Lilia headed inside, leaving Roxy alone outside.


    Once the two left, Roxy turned back to focus on the Citadel of Roa. And as she did...


    "Hm?"


    ...For a split second, she thought she saw a red orb shing in the skies above it. But when she looked towards it, the red orb was gone.


    Roxy frowned. "...Was it my imagination?"


    She kept staring for a while longer, but the orb didn''t return. Even so, Roxy made note of it.


    After all, Being W could apparently vanish even to their eyes. And when that person seemed sinister and intelligent enough to y the long game...


    "...I suppose it''s about time I looked into <Summoning Magic>."


    Roxy muttered to herself and quietly started making a mental checklist of things to research.


    Just in case.

 62 – Child – Arriving at Roa

    62 ¨C Child ¨C Arriving at Roa


    As the sun started to set, our sled came to a stop right outside the gates of Roa. When it did, I hopped off and then held my hand out to help Sylphy get off. "Here, Sylphy."


    She smiled and then took my hand to steady herself as she stepped off. "Thanks, Rudy!"


    Dad jumped off and then frowned. "What? Not going to help your old man out?"


    I rolled my eyes and said, "Just be grateful I talked Mom and Mama Lily out of making you our sled dog." I paused. "Though you''re probably going to have to do that the next time when we bring the whole family."


    Dad chuckled. "Well. I guess I have been a bit of a dog recently..."


    I reached into the sled and picked up the healing tome Mom gifted me as well as my wand. After securing both on my waist, the tome with a stone holster and the wand on its usual leather holster by my right side, I looked over at my dad and said, "I hope that''s only talking about messing up with me and not messing around with other women. Like Ghyine. Because if you have, you''re dead. Like, actually, and not from me."


    Dad wiped the smile off his face and gave me a serious nod. "Don''t worry, Rudy. Your mom and Lilia are the only two for me. I''d rather die than betray them like that."


    "Good." I nodded and said, "Then if you do, just be aware that I''m going to pull you back from hell to apologize."


    "Isn''t this where you say ''Dad''s so cool''?! Why are you talking like it''s going to happen?!"


    I grabbed Sylphy''s bag from the sled and held it out to her. As I did, I looked at my dad and said, "Just letting you know ahead of time. I won''t forgive you if you drop dead on us. And I won''t let death take you from us either."


    Dad''s eyes widened and then he let out a faint smile. "Don''t worry, Rudy. Your old man isn''t going anywhere anytime soon. Especially not with some white misty bastard ruining things for us."


    Sylphy took her bag and then slung it over her shoulders. After that, she looked at my dad and said, "Language, Mister Paul. What will you do if you keep talking like that and either Norn or Aisha picks it up?"


    Dad started to sweat and then he let out a nervousugh. "Ahaha... you''ve got a good point." He reached into the sled and pulled out his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "I''ll try to stop cursing so much."


    I grabbed my bag from the sled as well and then said, "There is no try, only do or do not. And speaking of do not..." I ced my hand on the sled and then focused.


    Mana spread from my hand and into the stone sled. When it did, I saw crimson lines trace the sled before it crumpled, dissolving into a clump of dirt.


    Dad rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword and muttered, "I don''t think I''ll ever get used to seeing that. Is this what Ghyine sees all the time without her eyepatch?"


    I waved my hand, sending a bit of snow to cover the dirt. After that, I looked at my dad and said, "Maybe. Maybe not. How do we ever really know if we''re seeing the same thing? If your ''red'' the same as the ''red'' that I see?"


    Dad blinked and said, "Now you''re just trying to confuse me."


    Iughed. "A little."


    Sylphy moved to my right side and then grabbed my hand. As she did, she smiled and said, "You''re in a good mood, Rudy."


    "Mm." I nodded and said, "I can''t help it."


    I came clean to my friends and family about everything.


    ...Well, mostly everything. I wasn''t too sure about how to address the whole reincarnating thing just yet, but it wasn''t important anyway.


    But I came clean about Being W, how I was aware since around the time I was born, my ability to see mana... Everything.


    I also managed to refine the magic circle granting <Mage Sight> with Master Roxy''s help and gave it to Mom, Mama Lily, Dad, and Sylphy''s Mom.


    Which meant that it would be a hell of a lot harder for Being W to try and sneak some BS intrusive thoughts now.


    Not to mention that Master Roxy was around and also armed with all of my recent magical hypotheses and notes...


    Yeah. I felt good. Super rxed and relieved.


    Which was probably a good thing considering we were heading into a crowded ce to meet my arranged fianc¨¦e.


    My dad walked over and ruffled my hair. "Well, that''s good to hear, Rudy. Keep up that positive attitude, alright?"


    Sylphy gave Dad a disappointed stare and said, "That doesn''t excuse your actions, Mister Paul. Just because Rudy''s forgiven you doesn''t mean that I have."


    Dad let out a deep sigh. "I know, I know." He rubbed the back of his neck and started walking forward. "I don''t think your dad will either any time soon..."


    I followed after him and said, "Where is Mister Laws anyway?"


    "He''s staying at an inn right now waiting for me toe back. I wanted him to stay in the Boreas Manor, but..."


    I sighed. "Bad image, huh?"


    "Huh? No." Dad shook his head and said, "Laws just didn''t want to ept any handouts from me." He paused and said, "Or maybe he was just angry? ...Actually, he was probably just angry considering he threw the coins back in my face."


    Sylphy frowned and said, "Just how bad of a fight did you and Papa have, Mister Paul?"


    My dad rubbed his chin and said, "...We had a conversation with our fists. And your father decided to talk in paragraphs instead of sentences."


    I blinked and then narrowed my eyes. "Who are you and what have you done with my dad?"


    Dadughed and ruffled my hair. "I might be dumb, but I''m not entirely stupid, Kiddo. Besides, it''s not like I''ve just been twiddling my thumbs for the past week." He raised his head and said, "Your old man''s been studying hard."


    I nodded. "Alright. Then you clearly won''t need my help talking your way out of your next big mess."


    My dad started to sweat. "N-Now let''s not be too hasty, Rudy."


    Sylphy giggled.


    I smiled.


    My dadughed. And then he turned serious. He looked at me and Sylphy and said, "Now. You two remember what we all talked about, right?"


    Sylphy nodded. "Stick close to you and keep an eye out."


    I nodded as well and said, "That, and if anything goes wrong then go all out and blow up the city."


    Sylphy poked my arm and said, "Bad Rudy! That''s not what we said!"


    Iughed and said, "Fine, fine. Send up a signal re. And *then* blow up the city block."


    "Ruuudy!" Sylphy started pouting. "No explosions! You already blew up a mountain!"


    "It was just the peak of a mountain Sylphy. But fine. If you say so..."


    My dad started to sweat and said, "You''re joking, right, Rudy?"


    I rolled my eyes. "Obviously. I''m not the sort of person to kill a bunch of people just because it''s convenient."


    That was exactly what Being W would want, after all. Not to mention having to deal with all that bad PR... I really didn''t want to get dered a Demon Lord so young.


    Not to mention that there was that big question mark regarding me apparently inheriting a bunch from Demon God Lace... Yeah. Too risky.


    "...Maybe this betrothal is a bad idea after all. I forgot how much of a short temper you have."


    My eye twitched and I said, "I don''t have a short temper, Dad. You''re just a master at getting on people''s nerves."


    Heughed and said, "True."


    We walked through the front gate, passing by the armored guards without question.


    They gave me and Sylphy some weird looks, but when they saw my dad, they looked away.


    I noticed that and said, "Are you some sort of big shot here, Dad?"


    "Mm, kind of." He shrugged and said, "I gained a bit of a reputation these past few days. Not to mention that my boss is the mayor... and your future father-inw."


    "Potential future father-inw." I crossed my arms and said, "I still think we should find Orsted and team up with him. That would solve all of our problems."


    After all, what was a king to a god?


    My dad shivered and said, "Teaming up with that scary guy? It would probably work... but do you really think that''ll be enough if that Hito whatchamacallit guy is pulling the strings from the shadows like we think he is?"


    "True. It would be a bit of a gamble..."


    It was weird that the Asura Kingdom sent out knights and amander from the Notos family on a fake criminal warrant. And considering recent events, anything weird definitely had Being W''s mark all over it.


    Which meant that publicly dering ourselves his enemy by teaming up with Orsted probably wasn''t the best y when we didn''t know what forces he had.


    And if he really was a god, there were probably a lot.


    I nodded and said, "I guess we''ll do that after you grind up your skills and endurance a bit more, Dad."


    He winced and said, "Do I *really* have to train like that? Can''t you just give me your notes like with Roxy?"


    "I could. But you''re the sort of person who learns best with his body. At least, that''s what Mom said."


    "Why do you keep listening to your mom? Don''t my words mean anything to you, Rudy?"


    "They do. But considering how we''re always dragged into a mess with your good intentions..."


    "Oh. Right. Good point."


    Sylphy poked me.


    I blinked and looked towards her. "Something wrong, Sylphy?"


    "No. But you cause messes with your good intentions too, Rudy. Remember how worried you made all of us by staying quiet?"


    "...I me Dad."


    "How is this my fault!?"


    "Gics."


    "Gene- What?"


    Sylphy giggled.


    Dad sighed and then shook his head. After that, he started walking down a road towards the center of the city. "Whatever. Follow me, you two. The manor''s this way. Let''s drop our stuff off first and then we can look for Laws. Ghyine should be able to find him..."


    "...She won''t try to attack me again out of the blue, right?"


    "...You aren''t going to try to kill her again, are you?"


    "Depends. You really aren''t in love with her?"


    "Of course not! She might have a smoking hot bod, yummy looking choctey abs, and super soft squishies, but I haven''t done anything and won''t do anything!"


    Sylphy gave my dad a nk stare. "Mister Paul? Are you telling the truth?"


    He quickly nodded and said, "Cross my heart and hope to die."


    "Mm... Fine." Sylphy nodded and then looked towards me. "No killing people, Rudy."


    "I didn''t n to."


    "Even on ident."


    "...I wasn''t going to."


    Sylphy gave me a ''look.'' The same sort that Mom gave Dad.


    I rolled my eyes. "Fine, fine. I promise I won''t identally hurt Ghyine. Though you don''t need to worry. I have to apologize to her anyway."


    She was just helping out Dad as an old friend by following his dumb idea, so she was meless in that whole fiasco.


    My dad nodded. "Good- Wait." He blinked and said, "You didn''t say you wouldn''t kill other people."


    "What about other people?"


    Sylphy tugged my arm. "Rudy. No."


    "Even bad guys?"


    Sylphy hesitated and then said, "Make sure to bring me to help."


    My dad groaned. "Laws is going to murder me..."

 63 – Child – Powder Keg

    63 ¨C Child ¨C Powder Keg


    After joking around a bit with Sylphy and Dad about me going overboard and creating a lot of coteral damage... and after realizing that Sylphy seriously would follow through on me walking down a path of rampaging violence, I carefully steered the conversation towards the surroundings instead.


    The Citadel of Roa... or just Roa for short, was essentially the capital for the Fedoa region. As a result, it was lively and bustling even with the cold winter weather.


    But it was also a city primarily designed for defense, encircled by towering walls and with a castle in the center for a final line of defense.


    A practical design. There were plenty of roads and alleyways to use as fallbacks to lead into the center. It was meant to be strategic, designed with everyone''s safety in mind.


    Over time though, the nobles and rich moved to live in the center while themon folk lived out in the perimeters. A clear stratification that was evident with the more fancy and ornate buildings we came across as we moved towards the castle in the center.


    My dad noticed me looking around andughed. "If you want to explore, you''re going to have to wait, Rudy."


    I looked away from some shops selling expensive jewelry and then shook my head. "I was just curious." I frowned and said, "Are all nobles like this?"


    It couldn''t be, right? Even if power was important in a world like this, there had to be good people out there who cared for the powerless.


    "Ah..." Dad''s face turned serious and he said, "This ce is better than most. Since adventurers stop by a lot, Uncle Sauros and Philip run a tight ship to maintain order. Nobles here are a bit snooty, but they at least havemon courtesy. ...For the most part." He looked at Sylphy and said, "At the least there won''t be idiots trying to kidnap Sylphy just because she''s a cute girl."


    Sylphy flinched and then moved closer to me.


    I held her close in a one-armed hug and then red at my dad. "Could you *please* not tempt fate, Dad? After everything that''s happened, I''d appreciate you not begging for more things to go wrong."


    He held up his hands and said, "Sorry. Bad habit- Wait." He pointed at me and said, "Aren''t you tempting fate by saying I''ll die all the time for messing up?! Do you seriously hate your dad that much, Rudy?"


    I snorted and said, "It''s a figure of speech, Dad. Though if you mess up again, after what Mom and Mama Lily put you through, you''ll probably wish you *were* dead." I paused and then added, "Especially if Norn and Aisha decide you''re a worthless adult when they grow up."


    My dad immediately copsed on the ground and bowed his head to me. sping his hands together, he said, "Help your dad out, Rudy! I don''t want your cute baby sisters to hate me!"


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Mister Paul is really desperate these days, huh?"


    I panicked and immediately grabbed my dad''s arm to pull him up. "What the heck are you thinking, Dad?! Don''t you have any shame!? Stop embarrassing us in public!"


    My dad hopped to his feet and grinned. "So you *do* care! Great. That''s all I wanted to see."


    I froze and then kicked him in the shin.


    "Ow!"


    "Dumbass."


    Sylphy gasped and said, "Rudy!"


    "Ah. Right." I nodded and then stared at my dad. "Idiot."


    Dad brushed the dirt and snow off his clothes and grinned. "Only once in a while. Most of the time I''m a cool swordsman, you know?"


    I snorted and said, "Keep telling yourself that, Dad. Maybe it''ll speak it into existence. But anyway..." I looked up at the castle.


    The sun was already sinking, tingeing the castle orange with its fading rays of light.


    "What''s the n? Am I just going to head in to meet this ''fianc¨¦e'' of mine? Or are we going to rest up for the night first?"


    Sylphy pursed her lips and then grabbed my hand. "If you''re meeting this Eris girl, I''ming with you."


    I nced at Sylphy and then nodded. "What she said. I''m not going to meet Eris without Sylphy, so... What''s the n?"


    My dad frowned. "Well..." He crossed his arms and muttered, "Eris is probably super annoyed that I suddenly left this morning... But Ghyine''s here, so it''s probably fine."


    "...That''s not a n, Dad."


    "I know, Rudy." He frowned and said, "Just... Give your old man a bit to think."


    "You had the entire trip here to think! You were just sitting there not doing anything!"


    "That''s not true. I was thinking. It''s just..." He frowned and said, "This is moreplicated than I thought."


    I covered my face and groaned. "Dad. I appreciate you and all, but if I have to keep sorting out your messes like this, even I''m going to lose my patience, you know?"


    My dad gave me a serious nod and he said, "I know, Rudy. But trust me this one more time. I''ll make it work. And for a n... Well, just leave the talking to me and y dumb." Heughed and then said, "Shouldn''t be hard considering you''ve got me as an example, right?"


    "That''s not something you should be proud of, Dad. But... fine. I guess it''s probably better to y the cards close to our chest."


    We arrived at the entrance to the castle. Like at the main entrance to the city, there were two armored guards standing watch. And like before, they let us in without question.


    The interior of the castle was surprisingly modest. There were a few paintings and tapestries along the walls, as well as the asional decorative vase and ornament. But for the most part, it gave off an austere atmosphere rather than an opulent one.


    In other words, it seemed more serious than mboyant.


    But before I had time to admire it, a maid approached us. One with cat ears. And a uniform that showed a deep cleavage, one that was even more clear as she bowed towards us. "Wee back, Master Paul nya."


    I blinked and then turned to look at Dad.


    Sylphy turned to him as well and gave him an usatory stare.


    "H-Hey!" He held up his hands and said, "I''m not the one who hired the maids! A-And that''s not the standard uniform!"


    The maid straightened and then giggled. "Master Paul is as fun to tease as ever, nya."


    My dad ducked behind me and pushed me forward as a shield. "I''m a married man! With kids!"


    "O-Oi!" I tried squirming free and said, "What the he- heck do you think you''re doing, Dad?!"


    Sylphy frowned and then jabbed Dad in the ribs.


    "Gah!" He winced and then clutched his side. "What was that for!?"


    I managed to get free and quickly moved back to Sylphy''s side, ring at my dad.


    Sylphy smiled at me, and then she turned to my dad and frowned. "That was for not acting like an adult, Mister Paul. Honestly." She sighed and said, "No wonder Miss Zenith keeps telling Rudy to not be a worthless man like his father."


    My eyes widened and I turned to Sylphy. "Mom said that? When?"


    My dadughed and waved his hand. "Don''t worry about it, Rudy. Your mom still loves me. That''s just how she shows it these days since we got into neglect-"


    "And that''s officially too much information Dad. Stop."


    "Right."


    The maid smiled at us. But then her smile faded and she turned to my dad. "Master Philip said that he wants to talk to your son in private, nya."


    My dad turned serious as well and he said, "It''s alreadyte. And we''re going to head out in a bit to the city to meet someone. We''re just here to drop off our belongings."


    The maid nodded and said, "If it''s about Mister Laws, Master Philip has already invited him as a guest, nya. He''s waiting in one of the spare bedrooms, nya."


    "Huh?" Dad blinked and said, "Laws is here? But I thought... Ah. Crap. If he''s here... No, Philip''s smart, so he probably figured out-"


    I jabbed Dad in the ribs.


    "Ow!"


    "Exin more, talk to yourself less."


    My dad coughed and said, "Right. Anyway, it looks like Philip already anticipated we''d be showing up with Sylphy and had a chat with Laws. Not sure what it''s about... but that''s probably what he wants to talk with you about." He paused and said, "...And that means that he probably knows what you can do considering Laws''s personality."


    I blinked and then covered my face. "Right. Mister Laws can''t keep a secret..."


    Well, he could. But silence could tell just as much if not more than actual words...


    Sylphy tugged on my sleeve, frowning. "...Are you going to be okay by yourself, Rudy?"


    I smiled at her and said, "Don''t worry, Sylphy. If anything bad happens, we''ll just blow up the city and run away together, okay?"


    Sylphy''s eyes lit up and she nodded. "Okay! But you have to promise to get me first!"


    I held out my pinky and said, "Pinky promise."


    Sylphy smiled and wrapped her pinky around mine.


    My dad started to sweat. "Could you not resort to violence as a first option?"


    I tilted my head and gave Dad an innocent stare. "I don''t know what you''re talking about, Dad. I''m just doing what you''d do."


    "...You''re not going to let me live down hitting you in the head, are you?"


    "No. I will not."


    My dad sighed.


    The maid looked nervous and said, "Um... Shall I guide the young master then, nya?"


    Dad looked at her and said, "Go ahead. Just be careful. He''s got a bit of a temper."


    I snorted and said, "That''s because you keep raising my blood pressure with how many messes you cause, Dad. It''s not like I''m going to suddenly snap with insane bloodlust or something."


    My dad gave me a nk stare.


    Sylphy frowned.


    I paused, suddenly remembering what happened when I fought Ghyine. And the fact that Orsted said I inherited a lot of traits from the Demon God Lace.


    "...Okay, fair. I''ll be careful and keep calm."


    The maid started to sweat. "P-Pardon?"


    It seemed like she was nervous enough to forget her verbal tic.


    Iughed and said, "Don''t worry about it, Miss." Doing my best to put on an innocent face, I walked up and grabbed her arm. "Please lead the way."


    She rxed when she saw my face and then let out a soft smile. "Of course, nya. Right this way, nya."


    From behind, my dad muttered, "Damn. What a natural scammer."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Rudy''s really good at being cute, isn''t he?"


    ...I guess I should take that as apliment. Not sure how I feel about that though...


    -LIV-


    Erisughed and said, "See! See! I told you that I got better!"


    Ghyine smiled. "It seems so, Ojou-sama."


    Eris pouted and said, "You promised! I beat you, so you have to call me Eris, not Ojou-sama!"


    Ghyine chuckled and said, "As you wish, Eris."


    Eris beamed.


    The two were walking back from the long training session in the courtyard.


    Eris''s clothes were drenched in sweat and her precious wooden training sword was cracked and tattered, but she didn''t care. Instead, she was excited.


    She did it. After a long time trying different things out, she managed to hit Ghyine.


    It was just a grazing blow. A light tap to the Sword King''s shoulder.


    ...Well, Eris cheated a bit. Ghyine was worried about hurting her, so Eris took advantage of that fact and purposefully moved to get hit.


    Ghyine panicked and had to stop, but it let Eris hit her.


    ...Unlike Paul who would have just smacked Eris away before handing her a healing potion.


    Stupid Paul.


    But anyway, Eris did it. She felt on top of the world. The happiest and proudest she ever was. Nothing could ruin-


    "Eh?"


    A familiar and detestable male voice.


    Eris''s mood immediately dropped, along with her smile.


    At the end of the hallway, opposite her and Ghyine, a familiar man with an annoying face appeared. Paul. He smiled and said, "You''re working pretty hard, huh, Eris?"


    Eris snapped and then immediately whipped her wooden sword towards Paul''s face.


    A surprise attack. Even if he was stupid strong and talented, he wouldn''t be able to dodge that.


    But Paul didn''t need to.


    Before the wooden sword got anywhere close, it froze in mid-air.


    And not just as a figure of speech.


    Frost enveloped the wooden sword before it spread into a glistening ice cube and locked the sword in ce.


    Eris''s eyes widened. "What the heck?!"


    At that time, someone stepped out from behind Paul. A young girl that Eris hadn''t seen before.


    Light green hair, falling to her shoulders. Slightly pointed ears.


    She was dressed like amoner, but she was pretty enough to be mistaken for a princess.


    But the harsh expression on her face showed that she wasn''t some dainty princess.


    Eerie glowing green eyes stared at Eris, judging.


    Seeing that, Eris narrowed her own eyes and swept out her hand. "What are you looking at, huh?!"


    The young girl stared at Eris a bit before looking up at Paul. After that, she said, "I won''t let her."


    Eris stepped forward, rolling her arms up to loosen them. "Won''t let me what, huh?"


    Paul started to panic and he quickly moved between the girl and Eris. "C-Calm down, Sylphy. That''s just how we greet each other, haha..." He looked towards Ghyine and said, "Help me out here, Ghyine. That''s just the usual, right?"


    "It doesn''t matter." Sylphy kept staring at Eris and said, "If she''s that mean to you, she''s going to be mean to Rudy too. I won''t let her."


    Rudy.


    Hearing that name, Eris''s eye twitched and she growled. "Rudy this, Rudy that... I don''t care! I don''t need a stupid guy like that!"


    "Rudy is *not* stupid!" Sylphy growled back and stepped forward. "And you need to be taught a lesson, you mean girl!"


    "*I* need to be taught a lesson?!" Eris ran forward and smashed the block of ice around her wooden sword. After that, she grabbed the freed de and ran towards Sylphy, growling.


    Paul''s eyes widened and he stepped forward to intercept Eris. But before he could, a gust of wind blew Paul back. At the same time, Sylphy flew forward, light flickering around her body.


    -LIV-


    I sat down at the table where the maid directed me and waited.


    It was a small conference room with twofy sofas. A sturdy oak table sat between the two sofas. As for the decor, it was different from the rest of the mansion. Fancy paintings, lush furs from exotic animals, porcin... It was clearly a room to meet important guests. Probably nobles.


    The maid had left me with a small bottle that she said was juice along with a cup. But I didn''t touch it, leaving it on the table.


    Instead, I waited, reflecting on the situation.


    Philip. Full name, Philip Boreas Greyrat.


    Dad''s cousin, and supposedly a guy good enough at politics and plotting to where Dad was either tricked into signing the betrothal contract, or signed it because he thought it would be worth it.


    I wanted to see for myself which it was.


    If it was the former... Well. Rted or not, he wasn''t family. And considering that Dad''s own brother was the source of our concerns, to say I didn''t care about Dad''s rtives was putting it lightly.


    If it was thetter... Well, we could work with that. The problem would be making sure Being W didn''t try any shenanigans, but if we could be certain that this Philip guy was an ally... And if he really was good at politics and working behind the scenes, then we could team up with Orsted too and give Being W a major headache.


    At least, that was the ideal.


    One person could only do so much, and allies were always good.


    At that time, the door opened.


    I looked over, putting on my best innocent smile and said, "Greetings-"


    "So you''re the brat that Paul keeps talking up."


    A gruff voice. One that reminded me of a military general. A guy who didn''t take any nonsense.


    It wasn''t Philip.


    That guy was around the same age as my dad. The man who walked in was older than that.


    A stern and sharp face with steely eyes. Dark brown hair that was starting to gray on the sides. A thin and twirled mustache jutting out to the sides like spears, paired with a carefully trimmed patch of hair on his chin.


    Paired with his clothes that looked simr to what an actual general would wear, a buttoned up overcoat and a fancy suit, he looked every part the general he sounded like.


    And he also looked annoyed- No, judging.


    Lord Sauros Boreas Greyrat.


    Dad''s uncle, Philip''s father... and the most powerful man in the Fedoa region in terms of military and political strength.


    I could tell immediately.


    I didn''t get along with this man.


    His demeanor, his words, that expression... All of it just pissed me off.


    Even so, I kept on my polite smile and tilted my head. "I''m sorry? I''m not sure what Dad has said, but-"


    Before I could say anything else, a fist flew towards my face. Sauros, clearing the room in a single step.


    "Father, wait!"


    I narrowed my eyes.

 64 – Frosty Young Elf, Fiery Young Maiden

    64 ¨C Frosty Young Elf, Fiery Young Maiden


    Sylphy stepped forward, mana flickering around her as she did. Magic barriers covered her body, mimicking the way that Roxy did for Rudy when he fought against that scary man.


    It wasn''t enough to fight alongside Rudy. Sylphy was sure of it. She didn''t have anywhere near as much mana as even Roxy, let alone Rudy.


    But against someone like the girl running with that sword in hand, it was enough.


    "You''re too arrogant!" The girl... No. Her name was Eris.


    Eris, the one who Rudy was supposed to marry.


    Eris, the one who was supposed to be Rudy''s wife.


    Eris, the one who was supposed to take Sylphy''s ce to make sure that Rudy was happy... Was like this?


    Calling him stupid. Attacking Mister Paul without hesitation. Brutishly swinging a sword around as if it meant anything.


    Facing Eris''s charge and her yell, Sylphy charged back and shouted too. "You''re the arrogant one!"


    Eris swung her wooden sword at Sylphy''s face.


    Behind Eris, Sylphy could see a tall woman with silver hair, wolf ears, and a trained body. The woman who Paul had called ''Ghyine.''


    Ghyine''s eyes widened and she dashed forward. "Ojou-sama! Don''t-"


    Sylphy flicked her wrist, sealing that end of the hallway with walls of ice. And for good measure, she sealed the hallway behind her with ice too so that Mister Paul wouldn''t interrupt her.


    All the while, the wooden sword continued moving towards Sylphy''s face.


    Eris smirked, looking smug.


    And then Sylphy swung her hand out to intercept it.


    A clear chime echoed. Nothing like the sound that would havee from the wooden sword striking flesh.


    Eris''s eyes widened. "That''s..." She blinked and then leaped back, ring at Sylphy. "Where did you get that sword?! That''s cheating!"


    Sylphy red right back and raised the ice sword she formed from mana. "Cheating? You''re the one who attacked me with a weapon! I didn''t even have anything!"


    "Then you shouldn''t have talked to me like that!"


    An immediate and unyielding response, not acknowledging that it was her fault to begin with in the slightest.


    That made Sylphy mad.


    ...She still didn''tpletely understand it. Mister Paul said that Eris was going to be Rudy''s wife. And he also said that it meant Sylphy couldn''t anymore because it would make the nobles look down on both Rudy and that girl.


    Sylphy didn''t care what happened to Eris or whoever. But she cared a lot about Rudy. And she didn''t want to trouble him, so she was fine with it.


    Besides, if that girl was going to make Rudy happy, then that was all Sylphy wanted. And from what she knew from the books she read, a wife would make her husband really happy.


    ...It made Sylphy a bit sad to think that one day Rudy might not spend as much time with her. But she was fine. Just like how the elven maiden in the Old Dragon''s Tale waited for her Master, as long as she could help Rudy and make him happy, she would stay by his side.


    At least, that was what Sylphy was thinking. And that was what she had quietly resolved to herself. As long as Rudy could be as happy as he had been since they left Buina vige... As long as he wasn''t as scared or stressed out like he had been when he was blinded, Sylphy was willing to give him up.


    It was why she hadn''t said much since they arrived. Why she agreed with Rudy and teased him only a little bit. Because she wanted to enjoy what they had while there was still time.


    But now that she met the girl who Rudy was supposed to marry- No, who was supposed to marry Rudy, she couldn''t ept it.


    Eris. That was the girl''s name.


    She was a bit taller than Sylphy. And she looked a bit older too.


    But she was mean.


    Sylphy could see it. Eris was just like the other vige children. Bullies who liked picking on weaker people.


    Especially in the way that Eris smiled when she was about to hit Sylphy.


    Sylphy narrowed her eyes and pointed her ice sword at Eris. "I''m not letting you have Rudy! I''d rather Miss Roxy take him than you!"


    "Who the hell is Miss Roxy?! Argh, whatever!" Eris swung her sword up in a ready stance and said, "If you want a fight, then shut up and fight!"


    "I will!"


    Eris narrowed her eyes and then kicked off the ground, flying towards Sylphy.


    It was fast. Much faster than when Rudy yed sword fighting with Sylphy.


    Butpared to that scary Orsted, it was slow. And while Sylphy didn''t know how to really fight with a sword, she knew how to move with the wind.


    A slight breeze brushing across Sylphy''s face. Another on her corbone. And then a slight tap over Sylphy''s chest.


    Sylphy swung her ice sword to intercept the wind.


    Two chimes and then a crack.


    Sylphy blocked the two shes, but the stab sent cracks all over her sword.


    Eris stepped back and then grit her teeth. Afterwards, she nodded and said, "Fine. You''re pretty good for someone smaller than me. But I''m not losing!"


    Sylphy red at Eris. "You''re so full of yourself! Someone that selfish doesn''t deserve someone as selfless as Rudy!"


    Eris paused. But then she grinned and said, "Oooh. I get it." She pointed her sword at Sylphy and said, "You''re jealous! That''s why you''re mad!"


    Sylphy felt her face heat up. "I-I am not jealous!"


    "No, you''re definitely jealous! What, are you mad that I''m taking this Rudy guy from you? Well, too bad." Eris crossed her arms and looked smug. "I''m so great that his dad signed a contract. So he''s *mine*, not yours."


    "RUDY IS NOT YOURS!"


    Sylphy screamed and then ran forward, blindly swinging her sword.


    Erisughed and easily blocked Sylphy''s attacks. "Jealous! You''re jea~lous."


    "Shut up! I''m not jeal-"


    A brown blur aimed at Sylphy''s head.


    A loud *crack* followed by a sudden impact.


    There wasn''t pain, but Sylphy reeled from the sudden blow.


    And then she felt something brush her legs.


    The next thing Sylphy knew, she was lying on the ground and that Eris girl was standing over her, pressing the wooden sword against Sylphy''s neck.


    "Hmph." Eris grumbled and said, "It''s definitely cheating. But I guess I see why Paul keeps talking when we fight. It''s so easy when the other person gets annoyed."


    Sylphy red at Eris and tried to get up.


    Eris pressed the sword down harder and said, "Give up. I''m better than you."


    "You''re *not.*"


    An arrogant older girl who had a temper and acted like that...


    She didn''t deserve it. She didn''t deserve to be with Rudy. And she *definitely* wasn''t better than Sylphy.


    Eris tilted her head and said, "I don''t know. It looks like I won our fight. And it looks like I''m going to keep this Rudy guy... And away from you."


    Sylphy froze.


    Rudy would be with this girl? And... Sylphy wouldn''t be able to see him again?


    Erisughed and said, "Who''s the arrogant one now?"


    -LIV-


    Eris stared down at the elf girl and grinned.


    Hmph. That would show her. Acting so haughty and arrogant in front of Eris when she couldn''t even fight... And when she got riled up so easily too.


    Eris didn''t even care about that Rudy guy, but it looked like the elf girl did. And it looked like the elf girl cared a lot, considering how easily Eris got under her skin with just a few words.


    Really, Ghyine had a good point in telling Eris to fight with Paul.


    That man was the most annoying, disgusting, and irritating person that Eris ever met. But it turned out that it was for a reason.


    After all, if the other person was annoyed, they got sloppy. And when they got sloppy, you could take advantage of it.


    Like Eris just did with the elf girl.


    Eris still didn''t know who the elf girl was. And she didn''t know how the elf girl pulled that beautiful crystal sword out of thin air... Or how she dodged Eris''s first attacks so easily.


    But Eris did know that the elf girl seemed to be jealous of Eris. And Eris used that to win.


    The elf girl''s emerald eyes turned icy. As they did, she muttered, "I won''t forgive you."


    Was she still annoyed by that?


    Eris snorted and said, "What are you gonna do about it, huh?" She lifted her sword up a bit and tapped the elf girl''s cheek. "If this was a real sword, you''d be dead."


    "...So you want to see the real thing?"


    A strange sentence.


    Eris blinked, confused at the elf girl''s words.


    And then a giant st of wind sent Eris away from the elf girl and rolling on the floor.


    It disoriented Eris, but she quickly scrambled to her feet. "That''s a dirty-"


    A glimmer of lights. Faint bursts like shooting stars in front of Eris.


    It was short. Eris could barely make out what they were.


    But ''barely'' meant that she could. And what she saw...


    A dozen icicles, sharps and pointed directly at her. Staggered so as to prevent Eris from dodging.


    Eris''s eyes widened.


    That...


    Oh.


    The elf girl was a magician.


    And a magician who could use magic without chanting.


    Eris''s heart raced.


    Dodge. She had to dodge.


    But it was too fast.


    The elf girl was seriously trying to kill Eris.


    Eris realized it. A bit toote, but she realized a very important lesson.


    If you wanted to talk like Paul did, you had to be strong enough to deal with how angry the person was going to be.


    Like how he easily avoided all her attacks and even ambushes.


    Eris wasn''t to that level yet. And she had also never fought against a person who could use magic.


    And like that, it was going to be over.


    All because she couldn''t keep her mouth shut.


    Eris''s eyes started to tear up and her vision blurred. But she grit her teeth and stomped on the ground.


    She had to try. Even... E-Even if she was going to get hurt and die, at the least...!


    Thunder roared as the icy wall behind Eris shattered and then silver lightning raced out to intercept the icicles.


    A crimson line swept through the air and then glistening powder filled the hallway.


    Ghyine stood in front of Eris, her sword drawn. Her eyepatch was raised, and her eyes were narrowed in focus, carefully staring at the elf girl.


    "Ghys-"


    "Shut up, Eris."


    Eris flinched and then nodded, turning her attention to the elf girl as well.


    The elf girl was smiling. But it wasn''t a happy smile. Her head was tilted slightly to the side and her eyes were vacant. No, they still flickered with an eerie green light. But they were nk. As if she wasn''t looking at them, but something else.


    The ice wall behind the elf girl shattered and then Paul ran forward. "Sylphy! Calm down-"


    "I am perfectly calm, Mister Paul." A quiet but clear voice that carried through the hall. Shortly after that, the elf girl... No, ''Sylphy'' giggled. A pure and childish sound.


    Except, paired with her expression, all it did was send shivers down Eris''s spine.


    Ghyine looked at Eris and said, "Apologize."


    Eris blinked. "What?"


    "You were wrong. Apologize."


    Eris huffed and said, "I didn''t do anything wrong! I''m not apolog-"


    A brief sh.


    Ghyine swung her sword.


    A loud *ng* echoed, and then a giant icicle pierced the wall next to Eris.


    Eris''s eyes widened.


    Paul ran up to Sylphy and said, "H-Hold on, Sylphy. Eris isn''t that bad, promise. You just got off on the wrong foot, so how about we-"


    "Go away, Mister Paul." Sylphy flicked her hand.


    Wind kicked up, surging towards Paul.


    Paul swung his sword.


    Eris wanted to call out and call him stupid for trying that. You could swing your sword all you want at the wind, but even someone like Ghyine couldn''t stop it.


    But then she had to swallow the words she wanted to call out.


    An explosion shook the hallway as Paul''s sword violently dissipated the wind. But then it instantly became quiet, as if all of that was a lie.


    Paul sheathed his sword and then covered his face. "Dammit. Laws is *definitely* going to murder me when he finds out how his cute and sweet Luffy changed... Is this my fault? ...It''s probably my fault. If Rudy was never knocked out, maybe-"


    A flicker of light. Another icicle aimed at Eris.


    Ghyine moved again, swinging her sword to intercept it. This time though, the icicle shattered.


    ...And then promptly reformed into a dozen smaller ones, all aiming at Eris.


    Eris panicked and quickly brought up her sword to try and block them.


    Ghyine spun around to try and help. But she was half a second too slow.


    Time seemed to slow down in front of Eris''s eyes. She saw the icicles flying towards her. And she saw how they would rip her apart, just like before.


    But this time, Ghyine couldn''t help.


    Eris grit her teeth and then closed her eyes, ignoring the tears streaming down her cheeks.


    Stupid! She was stupid!


    Why did she try to annoy that girl?! Eris didn''t have any reason to!


    Sure, Eris thought it was annoying having someone talk back at her, but she knew how it felt being on the other side from Paul. So she should have known better!


    And now...!


    A sudden explosion, followed by the sound of shattering ss.


    Eris flinched and instinctively opened her eyes.


    And when she did-

 65 – Child – Bias and Projection

    65 ¨C Child ¨C Bias and Projection


    *tick*


    Time slowed down. No, it wasn''t that time slowed down, but that my perception has surpassed time. The same phenomenon that happened when I fought against Orsted.


    Now that I was aware of it, I could use it at will.


    It wasn''t hard. Just focus mana into my eyes and then time slowed down.


    Still wasn''t sure exactly *why* it was happening, but it seemed to be some sort of Demon Eye that I naturally awakened that made my thoughts go at light speed... or something.


    But I couldn''t waste time thinking about that.


    Instead, I focused on the situation.


    Sauros was attacking me. I wasn''t sure exactly why, but from the first impression I got and the words he said, it was something along the lines of ''I must test this arrogant child that uppity Paul brought!''


    Or something.


    And this was supposed to be Dad''s uncle.


    Seriously, was Dad''s family all off their rockers? My grandpa let Dad walk out from home at 12, Dad was... well, Dad, and now it seemed like my great-uncle was so action-oriented he didn''t even think about the fact that he was an old man throwing a full-force punch at a child.


    ...Maybe stupidity was gic in this world. Definitely needed to keep a check on that for me then. Probably should start a journal to monitor things.


    *tick*


    A soft tick echoed. The signal that my bullet time/light-speed thinking or whatever was running out.


    From what I remembered, I had four ticks. Which meant there were three left.


    ...It also seemed pretty arbitrary in how long they were, but research on thatter. For now, analyzing the situation was key.


    There were only two people in the room right now. Me and Sauros.


    However, someone had called out from the hallway. That person was out of sight right now, but from the fact that it was a male voice and called Sauros ''Father'', it was probably my Dad''s cousin, Philip.


    Was this a setup then? A bad cop, good cop routine?


    Since the betrothal contract was in ce, I *was* technically part of their family. And if that Philip guy was as sly as he seemed to be, this could be a trap. Maybe a way to probe my abilities.


    *tick*


    Yeah. That made the most sense.


    Dad liked to run his mouth a bit when talking about his family. And apparently when talking about me.


    It was a bad habit, but I couldn''t really me him considering it was because he was proud and happy with the family he had.


    He knew better now though. As reckless as he was, since he was aware Being W was out there and waiting to mess with us, Dad wasn''t going to do anything to put his family at risk.


    That was his best trait after all. When it came to things endangering his family, he took things seriously. Sometimes a bit too seriously and also sometimes a bit too quickly without thinking things through... but since me, Mom, Mama Lily, Miss Rose, Mister Laws, Roxy, AND Sylphy scolded him about the results from doing thatst time, he wouldn''t repeat it any time soon.


    But that still left the problem in front of me.


    How did I deal with this?


    *tick*


    The final tick.


    With it, I saw time slowly speeding back up. Everything slowly ramping up to normal speed.


    Meaning I had to think fast.


    Sauros annoyed me. And I *really* wanted to beat him up. But was that the best thing to do? This guy *was* the Region Lord of Fedoa. That meant he was a pretty powerful guy too.


    But if he was going to be my grandfather inw, I also couldn''t let him push me around. And if this *was* a bad cop, good cop routine, and if that Philip was a schemer, I couldn''t show any sign of weaknesses.


    After all, I had enough on my te with that damned Being W throwing his schemes at me. I didn''t want to deal with another guy too.


    In that case...


    Sauros''s fist flew towards my face. A fast strike. Almost as fast as Dad''s sword had been when I was still a baby.


    Considering that it was while he was unarmed as well, it was impressive.


    But not anything I couldn''t react to.


    Orsted had done the same thing. Andpared to the Dragon God, Sauros was nothing.


    I stepped to the side, moving away from the couch and table to get room. In the same step, I grabbed the sleeve of Sauros''s outstretched arm and bent down, twisting my body to go with Sauros''s momentum, but also diverting it to throw him over me.


    "Wha-?!"


    A loud crash. Sauros bounced off the floor and tumbled over a few times.


    Huh. Didn''t think that I threw him that hard. Then was he seriously charging to hit me with that much force? If I was a normal kid, I''d be dead!


    At that time, footsteps echoed and someone ran into the room.


    I nced over to see a man around my dad''s agee in.


    He had a slender body, like someone who spent all day insidebing over books instead of training. His hair was also a bit darker than Dad''s, a brown instead of the dirty blonde color Dad had.


    And it seemed like he wasn''t used to physical activity since he waspletely out of breath, with sweat pouring down his face and staining his fancy overcoat and dress clothes.


    Philip Boreas Greyrat. Dad''s cousin and my potential father-inw. By process of elimination, that was the only person that man could be.


    ...Though he didn''t seem as collected as I would expect from a supposed political schemer. While he had the face of someone who did those sorts of things, at the moment his eyes were wide in panic.


    Philip noticed me staring and gave me a quick nod, but then he turned his attention to Sauros and said, "Be reasonable, Father! Even if one tenth of what that man said is true, then we should-"


    A growl. Sauros grit his teeth and then punched the ground, forcing himself back to his feet. After that, he stepped forward again.


    I turned to the side, preparing for another ambush. But this time, I wasn''t the target.


    "Gah!"


    A sickening blow.


    Sauros crossed the room in a single stride again and punched Philip directly in the stomach. Not only that though, silver mana gathered around the old man''s fist as he did, amplifying the force of the blow.


    Philip flew through the air, crashing into the wall. ss-framed portraits fell to the ground, shattering. At the same time, Philip actually left an imprint in the wall from where he struck it.


    A scene that looked just like a reckless idental murder.


    Except Philip was fine.


    Right before Sauros hit him, silver mana wrapped around Philip as well, softening the blow.


    And as if to show that, Philip stood up and brushed off his clothes before looking at Sauros. "Father!"


    "Hmph." Sauros clicked his tongue and ignored him. "Be silent. Whatever that forteller said, I''ll verify with my own eyes." He turned back to face me and then gave me a serious expression.


    ...Forteller?


    Hold on, I think I''m missing some *very* important context here-


    Sauros stepped forward again. This time, he attacked while that silver mana wreathed his body. Not only that, but there was clear killing intent in that blow.


    My eye twitched.


    This time, instead of dodging, I stepped forward and swung my elbow to meet his fist. I wrapped my mana around me like in my fight with Orsted and then growled. "Is everybody in Dad''s family this stupid?!"


    A loud explosion echoed, along with the sound of shattering ss. My blow, overpowering Sauros''s and breaking his mana reinforcement.


    "Kuh." He stepped back and shook his fist. "Hmph! Arrogant brat. With just that strength, you expect to survive in the Asura Kingdom?"


    My eye twitched again and I growled. "That''s it. I''ve had it up to *here* with everything. First Dad being stupid, then being attacked, then finding out about the betrothal contract, and now this bullshit..."


    I was having a great time chatting with Sylphy, messing with Dad... and I was even going to approach everything civilly. After all, it wasn''t good to burn bridges. And these people were technically family.


    But.


    I cracked my knuckles and said, "Fine. You want to see how strong I am? I''ll show you how strong I am." I looked at Philip and said, "Watch closely *father-inw*. And think carefully if you want to try and scheme around me and my family."


    ...Forget all of this.


    If they were going to treat me like this, I wasn''t going to pull my punches. And since I was nning on thrashing Dad anyway, what a perfect opportunity to test out my new training method...


    Sauros spat and raised his fist. "I knew it. You''re just like your father. It seems that I''ll have to disci- Gah!"


    I mmed my fist into Sauros''s stomach, just like he did with Philip. "THINK before you act!"


    "You insolent-"


    I spun around with a roundhouse kick, wreathing it with gold healing mana before whipping my foot at Sauros''s ribs. "Nobles are supposed to set an example for people, not be tyrants!"


    I could see it. This guy was used to lording his power over other people. A tyrant who ran around doing whatever he wanted because he could. Someone like that...


    Sauros clutched his side and then red at me. "You dare-"


    "I DARE!" I kicked off the ground and threw a punch at his stomach again.


    ...I wanted to smack his face instead, but I was still too short.


    Sauros grabbed my fist and opened his mouth to spout some more nonsense.


    I spun around and smacked him with the heel of my left foot.


    Sauros staggered back and then growled, wiping blood from his mouth.


    But there wasn''t a wound.


    Of course. Since I was wrapping my limbs with healing mana, any damage would be immediately healed. And technically, it should be improving him as well. Marginally.


    At that time, Philip stepped forward. "H-Hold on a moment, you two. I believe we started off on the wrong-"


    "SILENCE, BOY!"


    "DON''T INTERRUPT!"


    Philip sighed and muttered, "Well. I suppose that exins why Paul said they would be a perfect match..."


    I ignored Philip and red at Sauros. "You need to be taught a lesson in humility, Old Man!"


    "And you need to know when to bow your head, Child!"


    -LIV-


    Philip pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered, "So this is what Paul meant."


    Rudeus Greyrat. Paul''s first child and supposedly exceptional son. Someone that he was willing to take extraordinary measures to protect... and who he took drastic measures to keep from following to Roa.


    Someone who was an unbelievable child prodigy in magic ording to Paul''s friend, Laws.


    ...And someone who would hold the key to ensuring the Fedoa region didn''t fall intoplete chaos. At least, ording to the magician who revealed Thomas''s scheming to kidnap Eris.


    Also, someone with a stubborn streak miles wide and a temper that burned bright hot.


    "Running rampant like this is exactly why your father is not the current head of Notos!"


    "He''s more qualified than an dumb asshole like you! What the hell do you even think you''re doing, fighting a kid like this?!"


    "Children must learn their ce!"


    "And old men should get with the times! Set a proper example, dammit!"


    "You know nothing of what it means to set an example, Child!"


    "More than a stubborn old man who would hit his own kid like that! Fuck, are the Greyrats all this bad? No wonder Dad ran away from home!"


    "Your father ran because he was selfish! He med others instead of taking responsibility!"


    "What the hell does a tyrant who ignores the plights of themoners struggling to just live know of responsibility?!"


    Philip let out a deep sigh and then rubbed his face. "...I''ve got my work cut out for me, don''t I?"

 66 – The Responsible Father and the Voice of Reason

    66 ¨C The Responsible Father and the Voice of Reason


    Paul resisted the urge to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Instead, he held his sword out and analyzed the situation.


    The ss-framed pictures on the walls hadpletely shattered. The porcin vases had broken as well. Not only that, but the explosion that resulted from Paul canceling Sylphy''s magic spell created a hole in the wall, letting in a chilly breeze from outside.


    It was a gigantic mistake. Paul COMPLETELY misread the situation.


    Thankfully, he had been keeping up with his training so he managed to get there in time before Sylphy made a mistake she would regret for the rest of her life.


    "P-Paul?" Eris''s voice echoed from behind him. "W-What are you doing?!"


    Ghyine stepped forward. The wolf beastkin rested her hand on her sword hilt and frowned. She nced at Paul and said, "It seems like you really don''t know your kid or his friends, do you, Paul?"


    "I know Rudy and Sylphy very well, thank you very much! I just... Uh. Didn''t expect them both to have such explosive tempers."


    Rudy, Paul understood. After all, while Rudy took a lot after his mother in terms of disposition and personality, he *definitely* inherited Paul''s temper and stubbornness.


    Though for some reason, not Paul''s natural talent with fighting.


    That was probably a good thing though, otherwise things would have been even messier when Paul was trying to leave.


    But anyway, Paul understood why Rudy had an explosive temper.


    Sylphy on the other hand...


    Paul frowned and stared at Sylphy.


    The cute young elf girl *looked* the same as ever. But there was a clear difference in her demeanor.


    A bright but chilling smile. Shining green eyes that were almost blinding to look at. Not only that, but there was a strange sh of silver and green flickering within her mana.


    Sylphy giggled and then said, "Mister Paul''s strong! Suuuper strong. No wonder Rudy trusts you so much."


    Paulughed back. "Y-Yeah. You''re pretty strong too, Sylphy."


    "Mmhm!" Sylphy leaned back. As she did, she suddenly floated in the air, sitting on an invisible chair and idly kicking her legs.


    "Um." Eris spoke up and said, "Is... Is that a normal thing for magicians?"


    Ghyine shook her head. "No. And Paul." She stepped forward, blocking Eris from view and said, "That girl''s weird too. Just like your kid."


    "Yeah. Got the message, Ghyine." Paul muttered and wracked his brain on how to resolve the situation.


    It was simr to how Rudy reacted when he first saw Ghyine.


    Sylphy was still Sylphy. But she also wasn''t. The peaceful, polite, and sweet young girl was mostly there. But there was a harsh edge to her now. Unnatural and twisted.


    Which could be seen in how her mana seemed to be inverting a bit, spinning in on itself to emit that strange green and silver sh.


    Paul didn''t know much about mana. And he especially didn''t know much about what it was supposed to look like since Rudy just helped him learn how to see it earlier in the day.


    But his instincts were telling him that Sylphy was dangerous right now. Like a powder keg waiting to blow.


    Sylphy giggled again and said, "Mister Paul is so responsible. Running out to protect Rudy''s wife like that... You''re very responsible these days."


    Paul slowly nodded and said, "That''s right. So as the responsible adult, I''m going to ask you to stop fighting Eris, okay?"


    Sylphy tilted her head. "But I''m not fighting that girl?"


    Paul blinked. "You''re not?"


    "Nope!" She smiled and said, "I''m just waiting for an apology. She was really mean to me, you know? I was just worried about you, but then she started going crazy and ran towards me with that sword." Sylphy giggled. "That could poke someone''s eye out, you know? Or stab someone''s heart and make them bleed out."


    Eris growled and stepped forward, pointing her finger at Sylphy. "You''re the one who attacked first! Who asked you to use magic and mmph?!"


    Paul quickly covered Eris''s mouth and let out a nervousugh.


    Eris growled and bit Paul''s fingers, but he didn''t budge.


    After all, Paul had a very, very, very vivid memory of what happened when Rudy snapped. And he was *not* about to let his cute but dumb future daughter-inw run her mouth and cause Sylphy to snap right now.


    "Don''t mind her, Sylphy." Paulughed and said, "Eris is a bit older than you and Rudy, but she''s a lot less mature, you know? Just treat her like a little kid."


    Eris screamed, letting out muffled words that sounded something like ''I am not a little kid!''


    "Oh I know." Sylphy nodded, slowly drifting forward. "But that''s no good, you know?"


    A subtle shift in atmosphere.


    Paul nced at Ghyine and muttered, "Go find Laws and bring him here. Rudy too."


    Ghyine kept staring at Sylphy and muttered back. "And Ojou-sama?"


    "If we try to take Eris away, Sylphy will snap."


    A gut feeling. Paul sensed that the moment they did anything overtly trying to take Eris away, Sylphy would go all out.


    Which meant that Rudy would notice and then ALSO go all out to save his best friend who he either was pretending he didn''t love or was too dense to realize that he loved.


    ...Which meant that the two of them would actually cause that explosion they joked about earlier and wipe out all of Roa.


    Not good, to say the least.


    Zenith and Lilia would never let him live that down.


    No, better to nip that little problem in the bud.


    Sylphy giggled, focusing her gaze on Eris. "Someone that childish and selfish is only going to be bad for Rudy. He''s already stressed out enough from worrying about everyone. Someone like that who only adds more stress..." She held out her left hand. As she did, icy wind blew in from outside before gathering behind Sylphy, forming a pair of skeletal wings. "...She''s not necessary."


    A cold and ruthless voice. Completely devoid of Sylphy''s usual kind and sweet tone.


    "Ghyine!" Paul called out and stepped forward.


    Ghyine clicked her tongue and then jumped out of the hole before dashing off towards the other parts of the castle.


    Sylphy nced at Ghyine for a brief moment, but then she turned her gaze back to Paul and said, "Let me talk to her, Mister Paul."


    "...I''m going to ask you the same thing I did Rudy. You aren''t going to try and kill her again, are you?"


    Eris tensed, her crimson eyes flitting to look at Sylphy.


    Sylphyughed and said, "Of course not! But I can''t help it if her heart suddenly stops while we''re talking in the cold, right?"


    Paul let go of Eris and groaned. "Laws is *definitely* going to try and kill me after this."


    Eris trembled and quickly ducked behind Paul again. "D-Do something! She''s insane!"


    Sylphy''s eye twitched.


    That was the only cue Paul had.


    In the next moment, a storm of icicles flew towards Paul.


    Eris screamed.


    Paul stared at the oing wave of icicles and tracked the mana fueling it.


    A haphazard pattern of blue-green bubbles. Roiling, but also delicate.


    Then...


    Paulced his sword with mana and then swung. Silver light shed, piercing the bubbles.


    And then the icicles shattered, crumbling into white powder.


    Sylphy frowned and said, "That''s not fair, Mister Paul. Adults should just do adult things and let kids y by themselves."


    Paul shook his head and stood firm. "Sorry, Sylphy. But adults are also responsible for stepping in when kids are throwing temper tantrums, you know?"


    And especially when one of those kids was letting out enough bloodlust to send the average adventurer running for the hills.


    "I AM NOT THROWING A TEMPER TANTRUM!"


    Sylphy screamed. And as she screamed, snow spontaneously formed, covering the hallway in white.


    Paul nced at Eris, still trembling behind him, and said, "Would you *please* just apologize, Eris?"


    Eris paused. The fear in her eyes faded a bit, reced by a stubborn re. After that, she shook her head and said, "No! She started it!"


    "For the love of-"


    A faint breeze.


    Paul clicked his tongue and then spun in ce, swinging his sword.


    Silver shed and another explosion erupted. Icicles,pletely shredding the halls all around them.


    Icicles that would have shredded them if Paul hadn''t reversed the flow of mana.


    Eris paled.


    Paul groaned and said, "I should never have left Buina vige. Should''ve just kept my damned mouth shut and let Philip handle the situation."


    Who cared about Paul''s brother Pilemon showing up with troops and the backing of the Asura Kingdom? With how stupidly powerful Rudy and Sylphy were, it would take the Sword God, Water God, and a whole cast of other insanely powerful figures to pose a threat.


    No, the real worry was the fact that there was something wrong... or maybe ''right'' with both Rudy and Sylphy''s mana that let them give into bloodlust and wrath more easily. As well as grant them insane strength when they-


    A faint breeze.


    Paul instinctively grabbed Eris with his left hand and threw her into the air. After that, he pivoted and swung his sword again.


    Eris''s scream was drowned out by the sound of screeching wind. The result of Paul''s sword crashing against invisible des that tried to rip apart the ce where Eris had just been standing.


    Paul reached up and grabbed Eris again before setting her down beside him.


    Eris growled and said, "What was that-"


    "Look, Missy. If you want to not die, it would be best for you to either bow your head and apologize or shut the hell up."


    Eris flinched and looked at Sylphy. But then she tossed her head to the side and pursed her lips.


    Paul groaned. "What the hell did I do to deserve this?"


    Sure, Paul had been a pretty terrible person in the past. And he had done a lot of bad things to a lot of good people. But he was doing better. And he *was* better.


    But even *he* didn''t do anything bad enough to deserve this headache, right?


    Ah. Wait.


    He knew the answer to that question, and it was ''yes.''


    Dammit.


    Paul looked up towards Sylphy and raised his sword.


    The sweet young elf girl who wore her heart on her sleeve was gone, reced by a cold-hearted killer. And one who looked like she didn''t care what happened to Paul as long as Eris disappeared.


    Paul started to sweat, wracking his mind for a solution.


    Fighting was no good. If he actually hurt Sylphy, Rudy would kill him straight up. At least, that was what Paul would do in Rudy''s situation. And Rudy was even more murderous than Paul was considering how casually he mentioned keeping someone half-dead to set an example to other people.


    But that was all that Paul knew how to do-


    Wait.


    That wasn''t true.


    There were two things Paul was good at.


    The first was fighting.


    And the second was sweet talking girls and getting out of tricky situations involving them.


    Since the first option was out, he''d have to try the second.


    Now, obviously he couldn''t flirt with Sylphy. That would be a dead end for Paul from more than one person.


    But he could still talk her down.


    Paul sheathed his sword.


    Eris''s eyes widened and she said, "What in the world are you doing?!"


    Paul ignored her and looked at Sylphy.


    Sylphy paused. It seemed like she was confused by Paul''s action. Enough to stop and think about what he was doing.


    Which meant there was an opening. So-


    Paul immediately jumped forward and then mmed his head on the ground. "I''m sorry, Sylphy! I was stupid and should have thought about your feelings! I''ll cancel the betrothal contract between Rudy and Eris! And instead, I''ll make one between you and Rudy! You love him, right? Right. And I''ve always thought of you like a cute daughter-inw too, so it''s fine!"


    "E-Eh?" Sylphy''s voice turned back to normal. Not only that, but she sounded a bit flustered. "M-Mister Paul?"


    Paul kept his gaze lowered and said, "I''ve always thought that you and Rudy are a perfect match! And you''re already like a part of the family, so we can just make it official!"


    "T-That''s...!"


    Paul looked up.


    Sylphy wasn''t floating in the air anymore. The ice wings were gone, and she was standing in the middle of the hall, clutching her red cheeks. But not only that, her eerie green eyes had gone back to normal, their usual ga color. She fidgeted in ce for a bit and then looked at Paul. "R-Really? R-Rudy and me... Married? I... can be Rudy''s wife?"


    "Y-"


    Before Paul could say anything else, someone flew through the air andnded on the ground outside.


    Sauros.


    The old man left a crater in the ground. He also groaned. But he wasn''t injured.


    Paul didn''t have the time to think through why that happened though.


    Before he could react, someone tackled him from behind. And then that someone threw a flurry of punches at his ribs.


    "You inconsiderate, irresponsible, inconceivably *stupid* man!"


    "Gah!" Paul quickly rolled away and held up his hands. "I''m sorry!"


    As he said that, Paul''s attacker drew near.


    At first, Paul thought it was Rudy. But it wasn''t.


    A handsome man with blonde hair and eyes the same color as Sylphy''s. The person that Paul was heading out to meet in the first ce when returning to Roa.


    Laws growled and held up his fists. "You were right! Family really is your worst enemy! To think I considered you as a brother...!"


    "N-Now hold on, Laws-"


    Paul stood up and held up his hands. "I-I can exin."


    Ghyine was leaning on the ruined wall behind Laws. It seemed that she was the reason why Laws managed to reach him so fast... Did she toss the guy to attack Paul?


    Probably. Paul wouldn''t put it past her.


    Laws cracked his knuckles and said, "There is nothing to exin! You said it before, did you not? Real men speak with their fists!" He stomped on the ground and held out his fists. "Prepare yourself! I have an entire epic that I wish to recite!"


    Paul gulped.


    But before Laws could attack, a small impact echoed from outside. After that, a familiar voice called out.


    "Hold on a bit, Mister Laws."


    Rudy.


    Paul nced over and saw his son idly walking through the snow.


    Rudy''s clothes were disheveled. There were also a few blood stters on him... and on his fists.


    Paul let out a nervousugh and waved his hand. "H-Heya, Kiddo. H-How did the chat with Philip go?"


    "Peachy. Just... peachy." Rudy grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Now. What was this bullshit I heard about you canceling and signing another betrothal contract?"


    "Ahaha... I... can exin?"


    Paul started scanning the surroundings, wracking his mind on how to solve this mess.


    And then someone walked out from the broken wall. A familiar face, and the only lifeline he had in this situation.


    Paul threw out his arms and smiled. "Philip! My cousin!"


    The man paused and smiled back. "Paul." Philip''s usually closed eyes opened and his smile started to twitch. "You... really know how to treat a ce as your own, don''t you?"


    Ah. Well, there went hisst lifeline.


    Philip let out a deep sigh and then said, "Well, so be it. For now..." He took a look around at everyone and said, "It seems like we''ve caused enough mayhem for the night. I am certain that the help is frightened out of their minds... And Hilda is absolutely going to throttle meter for this mess. But for now... Let''s have dinner. We can air our grievances peacefully then over some delightful food."


    After saying that, Philip turned to look at Paul. A look that seemed to say, ''you owe me.''


    Paulughed and rubbed the back of his neck.


    ...Yeah. He definitely wasn''t cut out for politics, huh?

 67 – Child – Yeah, no.

    67 ¨C Child ¨C Yeah, no.


    I was mad. No, I was pissed off. And that was putting it lightly.


    The trip to Roa was supposed to be normal. Fun. Maybe a bit of back and forth as we sorted things out with Dad''s family. At worst though, I thought it would be annoying.


    And this happened.


    I go to meet my potential future father-inw, and then that tyrannical old man showed up to attack me before ranting stuff about children not knowing how things worked and some other bullshit.


    Out of the kindness of my heart and in consideration for Philip who seemed to actually be upset at his father''s actions, I didn''t just make the old man kick the bucket. Hell, I even made sure to put him in better health than he started by healing him up while I smacked him and knocked down all the BS points he was bringing up about how life worked.


    But that was fine. I could handle that much. After all, Dad himself said his family was bad in the past, so I didn''t have high expectations.


    And then Ghyine showed up to tell me that Sylphy had snapped, and that I needed to get there as fast as I could. Also that she was going to get Laws to try and calm Sylphy down too.


    So, as expected I immediately bailed on the situation. Knocked the old man out a window (making sure to keep a barrier on him to not drop dead), and then jumped after him with Philip along for the ride.


    And then here we were.


    A devastated hallway. Dad rushing ahead on everything and spouting nonsense about cancelling the betrothal contract with that Eris girl and starting one with Sylphy. Philip trying to calm everyone down by trying to get us to stay for dinner.


    But I ignored all of that and focused on two people.


    The first was Sylphy.


    My best friend noticed me staring and then flinched, averting her gaze.


    Her pretty green hair was disheveled and windswept. And her cute face had a red mark on her left cheek. The same size as a wooden sword.


    Not only that, but from the tons of wind, water, and ice mana floating around, plus the absolutely destroyed hallway, it seemed like she had been pushed enough to go all out.


    It wasn''t Dad who caused that. He knew better.


    And it probably wasn''t Ghyine. From what I knew about the wolfdy from Mom, she was actually an honorable and upright swordswoman. So she definitely wouldn''t attack Sylphy for no reason.


    Which meant the culprit was...


    I turned to stare at the girl standing next to my dad. Eris Boreas Greyrat. My fianc¨¦e.


    She was taller than me and Sylphy. And she also had a decent face. Aristocratic features, a bit of a haughty beauty. When she grew up, I didn''t doubt that she would be a bombshell that most guys would go out of their way to try and impress.


    Not only that, but her body was trained. And from the casual way she held a wooden sword in her right hand as well as the faint shine of silver mana in her body, she knew how to fight.


    In short, someone who looked good and could fight. Apetent, strong, independent young girl.


    ...Who I didn''t give a damn about considering she hurt Sylphy.


    Eris noticed me staring and then flinched. A strange mix of emotions crossed her face as she looked at me and the blood on my body. But that mix of emotions quickly settled into a haughty look as she crossed her arms and raised her head. "So you''re Rudy."


    I kicked off the ground.


    Eris flinched and quickly raised her wooden sword. "I won''t-"


    I blew past her and stopped in front of Sylphy.


    Sylphy looked up at me and then lowered her face. "...Sorry, Rudy."


    I shook my head and smiled at her. "It''s alright. It''s my fault for not noticing."


    Just how much stress had she been under? Hearing that her best friend was going to be taken away. Seeing me get hurt earlier and her not being able to do anything to help in the fight against Orsted... Then there was the fact that she had to watch me helpless and unmoving in a bed for a week too...


    I pulled Sylphy into a hug and said, "You didn''t do anything wrong, Sylphy."


    Sylphy trembled and then she hugged me back, holding me tight. She didn''t say anything, just quietly holding me.


    I patted her back... And then I noticed something odd.


    Her mana was weird.


    There was something mixed in that wasn''t there before.


    Sylphy''s mana was a pretty blue-green color. But now there were shes of silver and green mixed in.


    Those shes were fading. But the way they were fading was weird too.


    Usually when mana was used up, it dissolved into a mist of colors and spread around the area. If it faded, it just straight up vanished, like when I converted mana to elements.


    But that silver/green mana mixed in with Sylphy''s mana wasn''t dissolving or fading away. Instead, it was... turning back into her normal mana?


    I frowned.


    That was weird. Was it because of Being W? No, it seemed to be natural... and the ''feel'' I got from that mana wasn''t foreign. It felt malevolent, but it was also Sylphy''s. So-


    "Hey!" An irritating female voice from beside me. Eris.


    Sylphy tensed and then buried her head into my chest, as if trying to hide from Eris.


    I frowned and then turned to look at Eris. As I did, I made sure to keep a tight rein on my emotions and said, "Yes?"


    Eris stomped on the ground and pointed her sword at me. "Stop ignoring me! You''re Rudy, right? My husband or whatever?"


    Sylphy''s arms tightened around me.


    I narrowed my eyes at Eris.


    Before I could respond though, a brown blur shot towards me- No, onto the ground in front of me.


    Philip... and in a familiar pose that I just saw Dad take.


    Dad''s cousin smacked his head against the ground and said, "Please excuse this transgression, Rudy! My daughter hasn''t had any good role models and learned proper manners yet, so she made mistakes and attacked your friend! I''ll punish her ordingly, I swear on my name and life!"


    I blinked.


    Eris froze.


    And in the background, I saw Dad let out a wry smile... Before getting smacked in the face by Laws and having to avoid the guy''s onught of punches.


    I felt a headacheing on and then shook my head. "...Whatever." I pulled my arms back and then wrapped Sylphy in a one-armed hug. "We''re done here."


    Philip raised his head. "P-Pardon?"


    I ignored him and looked over at Dad and Laws. "Dad! Mister Laws! Get your stuff! We''re leaving!"


    Laws stopped in the middle of punching Dad in the face again and then shoved him instead. Brushing off his clothes, he nodded and walked over. "I am already prepared, Rudy. And Luffy..." Laws ced his hand on his daughter''s head and said, "...Are you well?"


    Sylphy sniffed and then nodded, moving over to hug him too.


    Laws hugged her back and let out a soft smile.


    As for Dad...


    "H-Hold on, Rudy!" He jumped up and ran over. "We just got here!"


    I nodded. "I know." I red at Eris and said, "And I''ve seen enough."


    She flinched, but then she gnashed her teeth. "Y-Yeah?!" She pointed her sword at me and said, "W-Well I''ve seen enough too! Wimp!"


    Philip stood up and red at Eris. "Eris! Apologize!"


    "NO!" Eris crossed her arms and said, "It''s not my fault! I was having fun practicing with Ghyine and then that guy and the elf girl ruined everything! I was happy and then they made me mad!" Her crimson eyes glimmered with tears and she said, "It''s not fair!"


    Philip crossed his arms and said, "Even then, you shouldn''t have done that! Rudy''s family now, and-"


    "SINCE WHEN DID YOU CARE ABOUT FAMILY?!" Eris red at him with teary eyes and said, "Stupid Dad! You don''t understand at all!" After screaming that, Eris ran off into the house.


    Philip sighed and then looked over at Ghyine. "Could you-"


    "I''ll keep an eye on Ojou-sama, Lord Philip." After saying that, Ghyine vanished, following Eris.


    Philip shook his head and then turned back to look at me. "Sorry about that, but-"


    "No need to apologize. We''re leaving anyway." I looked over at Dad and said, "Right, Dad?"


    Dad frowned. He looked at Philip. Looked at Sauros still unconscious on the ground. And then he looked at where Eris and Ghyine left.


    I narrowed my eyes.


    Dad sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "...Are you sure you don''t want to try and get to know Eris, Rudy? She''s really not as bad as shees across. I''m sure if you got to know each other, you''d get along well."


    "...Is it my turn to knock you unconscious and drag you back home, Dad? Because I''m ready. And I won''t hold back this time."


    My dad stared at me and then let out a long sigh. "Fine, fine. Let''s go home for now."


    "Paul?"


    Dad waved his hand and said, "It was bad timing, Philip. We can have the kids meetter when things aren''t so stressful."


    Philip pursed his lips.


    Dad turned to face me and then ced his hand on my shoulder. "Alright, Rudy. Let''s head home... Er." He paused and then said, "How are we going to do that thiste at night?"


    "By not giving a fuck about how wee across anymore."


    "E-Eh?"


    I looked at Sylphy and said, "Are you okay to use magic, Sylphy?"


    "U-Um... I think so...?"


    I frowned and then looked at Mister Laws. "Hold on tight to Sylphy. It should be fine, but just in case something happens."


    My dad blinked. "Wait. Hold on, Rudy. What are you-"


    I grabbed my dad''s arm with my left hand. I grabbed Mister Laws with my right hand and kicked off the ground.


    My mana surged and winds gathered beneath my feet. At the same time, those winds wrapped around the people I was holding and lifted them along with me.


    "Holy fu-"


    And then we were gone, flying out through the hole in the wall and heading back home.


    Because screw all of that.


    -LIV-


    Philip watched Rudy and the others fly off in a gust of wind and then covered his face. "I miscalcted."


    The fact that Father would try and test Rudy. The fact that Eris would attack Rudy''s best friend. The jealousy and immaturity that went into being children...


    All of it resulted in the worst case scenario.


    Rudy wouldn''t ept Eris. And Eris seemed interested in Rudy, but she was too proud to apologize for what she did or even acknowledge him properly.


    Sauros groaned on the ground nearby.


    Philip turned to look at his father and clicked his tongue. "That stubbornness of yours does no one any favors, Father..."


    It was because that guy valued power and order over family that things ended up this way...


    But there was no use dwelling on things.


    Philip nced at a few servants peeking out from nearby and waved his hand. "Go help Father and take him back to his room."


    "Y-Yes, Master Philip!"


    After that, Philip started walking back to his office. As he did, he passed his wife''s room. When he did, he hesitated, wondering if he should go in.


    But considering everything that had happened recently, she would just kick him out anyway.


    Eris''s temper didn''te from him, after all.


    Philip sighed and then continued on his way.


    Walking in his office, he closed the door behind him.


    And then he paused, staring at two individuals waiting for him in the middle of the room.


    A silver-haired man with golden eyes and a white long coat standing next to a blonde female elf with crimson eyes and a revealing outfit.


    Philip locked the door and said, "I wasn''t expecting guests. Particrly you two." He walked around the pair and sat at his desk. "What is it this time, Pierre? Another prophecy? More information about traitors?"


    ''Pierre'' materialized a chair for himself and the elf woman before sitting down. "You could say that. But I would call it more friendly advice. You see..."

 68 – Child – Hook, line, and sinker

    68 ¨C Child ¨C Hook, line, and sinker


    It was dark when we got back. And all of us were tired, so we just went inside and went straight to sleep.


    ...Well, there was a bit of a situation with some automated magic circles activating when we stepped in, but Master Roxy was awake and managed to disarm it all in time.


    But anyway, we turned in early for the night.


    Laws went to the guest room to sleep with Rose.


    Dad went to go sleep with Mom and Mama Lily... before getting tossed back out to sleep on the couch.


    And as for me and Sylphy, we went to sleep in my room. The usual routine by now. Though Sylphy seemed to still be worried since she hugged me tighter than usual. But other than that, nothing happened.


    ...Well, Norn and Aisha woke up crying in the middle of the night, but that wasn''t my problem.


    I had a bunch of other ones to deal with first.


    But sleep was important, so I set those aside and then let myself slip off to slumbend, Sylphy hugging my arm next to me.


    -LIV-


    "I''m sorry." Dad lowered his head and said, "This is all my fault."


    The dining room table. And one that was extremely lively because of all the people present.


    Sylphy''s parents were seated on one side of the table, with Sylphy between them.


    Mister Laws was upset, and understandably so. And Miss Rose looked mad too, her eyes uncharacteristically narrowed in anger.


    Sylphy didn''t seem that upset about it all. But since her parents were like that, she stayed quiet.


    Behind Sylphy and her parents were Mom and Mama Lily, sitting in rocking chairs.


    Mom''s eyes were frosty. But maybe since she had a bit of time to think about it... Or maybe because she was cradling a sleeping Norn in her arms, she didn''t seem like wrath incarnate.


    Mama Lily''s eyes were cold too. But instead of being angry, she looked disappointed. And because of that, she focused most of her attention on Aisha, who was awake and happily gurgling.


    Five people who were seriously affected by Dad''s actions and five people who he needed to apologize to the most.


    ...Well, technically seven since Norn and Aisha were there, but they were going to punish Dad every night from now on anyway since they kept waking up randomly, so they didn''t count.


    Facing those people, Dad bowed his head, sitting across from them all by his lonesome.


    And I watched the events unfold from off to the side as an objective observer.


    It was kind of pitiful. And I was tempted to go over for moral support.


    But it seemed like Mom and the others anticipated that since Master Roxy was standing right beside me and holding my right hand to prevent me from going forward.


    Also, I never realized it until now. But Master Roxy had surprisingly rough hands for someone who seemed so delicate...


    "Paul." After a long silence, Mom spoke up.


    To his credit, Dad didn''t raise his head. Instead, he kept his head down and said, "Yes, Zenith."


    She checked on Norn, smiling at my baby sister''s sleeping form. And then she looked back at Dad and said, "You''ve realized your mistakes now, right? Every time you go off to do something on your own, you''ve caused issues."


    "...I know."


    Mister Laws ran his hand through his hair and muttered, "I still do not understand it. You are more than capable whenever you take the lead and anticipate potential dangers duringbat situations. But how is it that you are this terrible in life decisions?"


    Mama Lily snorted and said, "It appears that old habits die hard." She looked down at Aisha and then smiled, tickling my baby sister''s chin. "You won''t be like your father, will you, Aisha?"


    Another tense silence passed.


    I sighed and rubbed the back of my head with my left hand, muttering, "This is more awkward than I thought it''d be."


    We already had a mini intervention earlier after exining the situation with Being W, but since that was the focus on the conversation, as well as making sure to start countermeasures, we didn''t talk that much about Dad''s recent actions.


    And now they wereid out front and center, along with the FUBAR situation that urred in Roa.


    Plus Mister Laws was here now too.


    Dad pressed his head against the table and said, "I won''t ask forgiveness from any of you. But I promise that something like this won''t happen again."


    Mom snorted and said, "You''re always breaking your promises, Paul. That doesn''t mean much."


    "U-Um..."


    Rose spoke up and said, "That''s right. What about the promise that we''d let Sylphy and Rudy grow up a bit before talking about marriage?"


    Sylphy blushed and then turned to look at me.


    I coughed and looked away, feeling my face heat up.


    ...W-Well. I guess I knew where we stood on that.


    B-But this was probably just puppy love, right? Like how I had a crush on Master Roxy... Still had a crush on Master Roxy...


    Ah.


    This would be a problem.


    I was suddenly very aware of the fact that Master Roxy was holding my right hand and instinctively jerked away.


    She blinked and looked at me. And then she noticed Sylphy andughed. Turning back to me, she poked my cheek and said, "Rudy''s being extra cute today, aren''t you?"


    "S-Shut up!"


    Master Roxyughed again and then gave me a teasing smile.


    I ignored her and focused back on the conversation unfolding in front of me.


    Dad cleared his throat and said, "T-That''s something else I wanted to apologize for. I wasn''t thinking about what Rudy or Sylphy might want and I just did what I thought was best for Rudy..."


    Laws''s eye twitched. "Even though you said you thought of Luffy as your own daughter? Even though I called you Brother?"


    "...I''m stupid, okay? Please don''t hold it too much against me."


    Silence.


    And then Laws let out a deep sigh. "...Yes. I suppose you are."


    Rose crossed her arms, still upset.


    And Mama Lily still wasn''t looking at Dad.


    ...It seemed like this might take a while. We weren''t getting anywhere.


    Mom seemed to realize that as she let out a deep sigh. Turning to my dad, she said, "Alright Paul. Look at me."


    Dad did.


    Mom stared at him and said, "This is thest time." She looked at Mama Lily and said, "We''ve talked it over and we can forgive you acting like that since there was someone else pulling the strings and causing everything in the background. And we won''t me you for overreacting since it''s about the only time you tried acting like a responsible father..."


    Dad winced.


    Didn''t me him. The fact that it was true probably hurt more.


    "...We''ll let it slide this time. But this is yourst chance, got it?" Mom gave Dad a frosty re and said, "If you mess up again, I''m moving back to Milis. It''ll be annoying having to deal with my parents again and my show-off sister, but we can make it work."


    Mama Lily looked up and nodded. "As Zenny said. And we will take Norn and Aisha with us."


    I nodded.


    That was reasonable. Lay down the ultimatum and-


    Wait.


    I blinked and looked over at Mom and Mama Lily. "What about me?"


    Mom gave me a nk stare and said, "Do you really think you''ll be able to leave Sylphy by herself, Rudy?"


    I paused to think about that.


    Milis was an entire continent away. A perilous long trip across the ocean, or a perilous and long trip overnd and a shorter one across a tiny sea.


    Much further away than if I were just in Roa, for example. Or even the Asura Kingdom Capital.


    Far enough that it would probably be a half-year to a year each trip.


    And that was how far I would be from Sylphy? Not only that, but she''d be that far away and all by herself too?


    And if I didn''t leave her behind, Mom, Mama Lily, Aisha, and Norn would be that far away?


    "...Don''t worry about it, Mom." I cracked my knuckles and turned to look at Dad. "That won''t happen."


    At that time, I felt a soft tap on my head.


    I blinked and turned to look at the source.


    Master Roxy pulled her hand back and said, "No violence, Rudy. That isn''t the answer."


    I nodded. "I know." I turned back to look at my dad and said, "It''s the question. And the answer is yes."


    Master Roxy let out a deep sigh and muttered, "Just where did that cute Rudy run off to...?"


    Dad started to sweat.


    And then Mom nodded and said, "Alright. That''s settled."


    Dad blinked. "T-That easily?"


    Mom smiled. "That''s right. Just as easily as you''re getting tossed to the side if you mess up again. So do your best, Honey. But for now... How about we all have a nice breakfast to rx?"


    -LIV-


    "Alright Mister Laws." I gave Sylphy''s Dad a once over, making sure that the golden healing mana waspletely covering his limbs. "You''re good to go."


    "Excellent." Laws smiled and turned to look at my dad.


    Dad gulped and turned to look back at me. "A-Are you sure we need to do this, Rudy?"


    I nodded. "Absolutely."


    We were outside by Mom''s tree. By ''we'', I meant me, Mister Laws, and Dad.


    After breakfast and catching Mister Laws up on the current situation with Being W, it was decided that the most productive use of our time would be to train.


    Since I managed to give <Mage Sight> to Mister Laws as well, it would be a lot harder for Being W to do anything with us.


    ...Which meant that he would definitely be working on things behind the scene else where to try and trap us.


    So to make sure we were prepared for that, Master Roxy was going over magic with Mom, Mama Lily, Miss Rose, and Sylphy.


    Meanwhile, us guys were working on our melee skills.


    At least, that was the excuse. But in actuality...


    I wreathed more healing mana around my limbs as well and did my best to keep a straight face. "Since Dad seems to always be involved in troublesome events, we have to make sure you''re prepared for anything, you know? And besides, while you''re a fighting genius, your body''s still a bit too weak. So we''re speeding that process up."


    My dad nced at Mister Laws and then gulped on seeing how eager that guy was. After that, he turned to me and said, "A-Are you sure we can''t just work on dodging practice? That Auto Nomos Instinct or whatever?"


    "We could. But reflexes don''t mean anything if your body''s too slow to react to them. But don''t worry." I grinned and said, "I''ve been steadily improving by getting beaten up and healing for over three years now. I''m sure that my genius Dad will get even stronger than I will. Right, Mister Laws?"


    Laws smacked a fist into an open palm and said, "Of course, Rudy. Paul is that incredible, after all."


    My dad stared at me. Then at Mister Laws. And then he sighed and forcibly calmed down. "At least not the fa- Bwaha?!"

 69 – Child – Nice…

    69 ¨C Child ¨C Nice¡­


    After the training session with Dad, Sylphy and her family went back home.


    It was a bit lonely since I had gotten used to having Sylphy and Miss Rose around, not to mention how fun it was to hang out and bond with Mister Laws.


    But while we were as close as family, we still weren''t family. And even if we were, it seemed like they wanted to have a private conversation among themselves.


    So, after making sure everyone was properly guarded from Being W''s interventions with some magical essories, it was just me and my family at the Greyrat household.


    Me, Dad, Mom, Mama Lily, my sisters... and Master Roxy.


    Just like old times... plus my baby sisters.


    Well, minus my baby sisters since they were having their afternoon nap.


    Which meant it really was just like old times.


    "Here you go, Rudy." Mom set down a bowl of stew in front of me, along with a loaf of bread. "Make sure to eat up well, okay?"


    Mama Lily set down a cup of juice next to me and nodded. "That''s right. Your body is still recovering, so make sure obtain the proper nutrients."


    I smiled and slid both the food and the drink towards me. "Thanks Mom, Mama Lily. Love you."


    My momughed and then kissed my forehead. "Love you too, Rudy."


    Dad gave me a nk stare from across the table and said, "What am I, chopped liver?" He pouted and said, "Where''s my reward? I spent an entire afternoon getting beaten up!"


    Mom rolled her eyes and said, "Please. As if you don''t enjoy getting smacked around."


    Dad pouted and said, "Only by my beautiful wives, not my best friend and my son!"


    Mama Lily nodded. "Understood. Then we will begin training in earnest tomorrow." She rubbed her legs and said, "Since my old wounds havepletely recovered and due to recent events, I believe it is time to continue my training."


    Dad''s face immediately turned serious and he frowned. "Lilia... Are you sure you want to? Didn''t you leave Asura Kingdom to get away from fighting?"


    Mama Lily rolled her eyes and said, "Considering that our family seems destined for conflict in some manner or another, it would be better to be prepared than not. Furthermore." She frowned and said, "I seem to have no talent in magic."


    Master Roxy walked over from the kitchen with her own food and sat down next to me. After cing the bowl of stew and her loaf of bread on the table, she looked at Mama Lily and said, "That isn''t true, Lilia. You have talent. It''s just that you would be better served putting your time training what you already have than starting from scratch. Especially when a certain someone was overprotective and created a magic tool with every elemental spell primed to fire at a single thought."


    After saying that, Master Roxy gave me a pointed gaze.


    My face heated up and I coughed, averting my gaze. "I-It wasn''t that much..."


    "Ah. Of course." Roxy nodded. "Compared to the wand you crafted for Sylphy that continuously grows and adapts with her mana usage, I am sure that such a trifling magic tool pales inparison."


    "Huh?" I blinked and said, "But I didn''t really do anything special for Sylphy''s wand. I mean, I used my mana and copied your magic circles in my wand, but other than that, it''s just a branch from Mom''s tree. ...That I grew. With my mana. Ande to think of it, I made the wand with the intent to have Sylphy use and learn magic easier..."


    Did I subconsciously create something ridiculous? Again?


    ...Actually, in hindsight it would exin a lot. Maybe a fragment of my mana dwelled in Sylphy''s wand and affected her own mana and magical development? It would exin why she could suddenly pick up <Mage Sight> without my help.


    And from the way Master Roxy was talking about the wand... Maybe I should take a look at it some time?


    Dadughed and said, "And my genius son strikes again."


    I rolled my eyes and said, "You keep using that word, Dad. I do not think you know what it means."


    He frowned and said, "And you keep denying that word. I think that you''re the one who doesn''t know what it means, Rudy... But sure." He shrugged and then gave me a sly smile. "Whatever makes you happier... Little Genius."


    My eye twitched.


    Mom sat down to the right of Dad with some food and then shoved a loaf of bread in his mouth.


    "Mmph?!"


    "Stop teasing him, you horndog. Rudy''s already been through a lot recently. And because of you."


    My dad bit the loaf of bread and then swallowed a chunk. After that, he sighed and said, "Fine, fine. I''ll take it easy on him for a bit... Even if he didn''t take it easy on me." He rubbed his chin and muttered, "My jaw still doesn''t feel right. Laws really knows how to throw a mean hook."


    Mama Lily sat down with her food on Dad''s left and said, "Of course. Unlike a certain noble runaway, Laws had to experience countless hardships in his youth." She ripped off a piece from her loaf of bread and dipped it in her stew. "With a past like that, it would be more odd if he did not know how to brawl."


    Dad nodded and said, "True. Although..." He rubbed his chin and muttered, "His fighting style seems really familiar for some reason. The footwork in particr. He''s surprisingly fast on his feet..." He shook his head and said, "Well, it doesn''t really matter." He shrugged and then dipped his bread in Mom''s stew.


    "Hey!" Mom huffed and pulled her stew back. "Get your own!"


    My dad let out fake puppy eyes and said, "B-But we always share...?"


    Mom rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. But don''t think you''re getting forgiven that easily, Mister. You''re still on the night watch for baby duty."


    "Fiiine..."


    I decided to ignore my dad''s antics and focused on my food.


    It looked good. Steaming stew with a fragrant scent. Fluffy bread...


    My stomach growled.


    Since it did, I dipped my bread in the stew and took a bite.


    Tasty. Not too salty or savory. The meat was soft and perfectly cooked. Then there were some fresh herbs that were probably ones Mom grew inside in her small indoor garden...


    I smiled and took another bite.


    Mom noticed and said, "Does it taste good, Rudy?"


    "Mmhm!" I nodded and raised the bowl to take a bigger sip. After that, I let out a content sigh and said, "Mom''s cooking is always tasty."


    Miss Rose was good at cooking too, but there was something about Mom''s cooking that was just different.


    Momughed and said, "I''m happy to hear that, Rudy. But you know, it was your Mama Lily who cooked this time."


    "E-Eh?" I blinked and then looked over at Mama Lily. "R-Really?"


    She smiled and said, "Indeed."


    I quickly bowed my head and said, "I''m sorry, Mama Lily! I didn''t mean anything by it!"


    Silence. No, not just silence.


    Mom clicked her tongue and muttered, "That''s no good."


    Shortly after that, Mama Lily sighed and said, "Paul''s blood runs a bit too strong after all..."


    "E-Eh?" I raised my head. "What do you mean?"


    Did I do something weird?


    My dad groaned. "I definitely need to be more careful about what I show to Norn and Aisha, don''t I?"


    Mom nodded. "Definitely."


    Mama Lily nodded as well and said, "Absolutely."


    I tilted my head, still confused.


    Roxyughed and ruffled my hair. "Don''t worry your little head about it, Rudy."


    "...If you say so, Master Roxy." I muttered and then went back to eating.


    As if my actions were a cue, everyone else did the same. It was quiet, but a rxed atmosphere hung in the air. Just like old times.


    Nostalgic. And that nostalgia made me happy.


    But then my dad asked a question. "So Rudy. What do you think about Sylphy?"


    I paused in the middle of finishing my bread and then looked at my dad.


    It wasn''t a casual question. No, the tone was casual, but my dad''s expression was serious.


    Seeing that, I set my bread down and looked at Mom and Mama Lily.


    I expected them to interrupt, but it seemed like they wanted to hear my response as well since they just kept quiet and watched.


    Since that was the case, I turned my attention back to Dad and said, "Sylphy?"


    "Right." My dad leaned back and ced his right arm over the back of his chair. "Your best friend. The cute elf girl who you rescued and taught magic... and the cute elf girl who supported you and followed you even when she knew she would have to give you up. That Sylphy."


    My heart raced.


    I frowned and ced my hand over my chest, trying to calm it down. That didn''t help, so I cleared my throat and tried to y cool. "W-What about her? She''s my best friend."


    It wasn''t a lie. Sylphy was the one who knew me best in the entire world. Someone who would support me no matter what, and someone who I would support all the same.


    Not only that, but she was cute, pretty, and smart. She also made every day fun, and the way she smiled brightened up my mood. And then there was how her hugs were so warm and-


    Ah.


    My dad raised an eyebrow. "*Just* your best friend?"


    I huffed and said, "W-What are you trying to get your son to say, Dad? What, do you think I''m like you who thinks about girls all the time? I have more important things to do with my time, you know? Unlike you, I''m busy working on projects, magic, and figuring out how to do things. I don''t have the leisure to waste my days flirting or chatting up pretty girls and... and stuff."


    My dadughed.


    I flinched.


    He shook his head and said, "You know, Rudy? I''m d."


    "Huh?"


    Dad smiled and said, "You might have inherited a lot of my bad traits. Being reckless, stubborn, short-tempered... and the random bouts of stupidity..."


    I nodded and said, "Absolutely."


    Gics were a hell of a drug. Chemical. Thing... Whatever the saying was.


    "...But unlike me, you''re a terrible liar."


    I froze.


    After that, Dad leaned back, as if he was finished talking.


    And then Mom spoke up. Looking at me with a soft gaze, she said, "Rudy, sweetie. Do you like Sylphy?"


    Iughed and averted my gaze. "L-Like? What do you mean, like? Of course I like Sylphy. She''s my best friend and we y together a lot."


    There.


    It wasn''t a lie.


    "I see. Then..." Mom turned to look at Mama Lily.


    Mama Lily nodded and then looked at me. "Rudy."


    "Y-Yes, Mama Lily?"


    She stared at me for a little while and then said, "Does your day seem brighter when you are with Sylphy? Does your heart race a bit faster when you think of her? Or perhaps you feel happy seeing her smiling face?"


    "Of course! I mean, that''s how I feel with Master Roxy too-"


    I cut myself off, suddenly realizing the trap my parentsid out.


    And then I saw the shit-eating grin Dad had.


    Dammit.

 70 – The Genius Teacher’s Dilemma

    70 ¨C The Genius Teacher¡¯s Dilemma


    Roxy froze.


    Rudy was sitting next to her, fidgeting in his seat while doing his best to avoid looking at her. But try as he might, Rudy kept ncing over with his pure green eyes. Not only that though, his face was red with embarrassment.


    Cute. Super cute.


    And then there were his words.


    Rudy''s day was brighter when he was with her. His heart raced a bit faster. He felt happy when he saw Roxy''s smiling face.


    It was different.


    That prince in the Shirone Kingdom proimed his love for Roxy all the time when she was there, but his gaze was always lustful. Because of that, Roxy felt disgusted whenever that child spouted out about how he loved her.


    But hearing Rudy say it was different.


    That child had always been intelligent. Mature beyond his age. A genuine genius. And not just in magic, but in terms of understanding the world around him.


    So his words weren''t light. They weren''t something trivial that a child would say and grow out of. And Rudy wasn''t a person like that anyway.


    So when he said that he liked Roxy, Rudy meant it.


    And... if Roxy was being honest, she felt the same way with Rudy. Her days were more fun and they could talk to each other on equal terms without judgment or prejudice. She enjoyed seeing Rudy''s cute face light up in understanding whenever he learned something new. She was sad whenever he was frustrated with himself... and when he didn''t take pride in the skill that was rightfully earned from hard work.


    Roxy remembered the thought she had back during his graduation. That if she had just met Rudy when he was a bit older...


    She cut it off then before that thought got any further. But now hearing Rudy''s words, she couldn''t help but think on it more.


    If Rudy was a little older. If he was a teenager maybe. If Roxy had met him then... Wouldn''t she havepletely fallen in love?


    Someone skilled with magic. Someone who was intelligent and talented but remained humble. Someone who not only worked on his own path, but made sure to take meticulous notes to spread that knowledge for others. And furthermore, someone who cared a great deal for his family.


    Perfect. She was sure of it. Rudy would be perfect. The man she dreamed of.


    Except... He wasn''t.


    Rudy was a child. He was still just a child. A seven year old child who was more mature than most, talented, and capable. But still a child.


    Not only that, but there was the age difference to consider.


    Roxy was already a woman and had been a woman for a long time. In fact, she was 41 this year. While her body was still youthful and petite due to her being a member of the Migurd Magic Race, she was far from a child. In truth, she was almost old enough to be Paul''s mother.


    So this was bad.


    Roxy was well aware of her emotions. And she was aware of what it meant to fall for someone else. She had experienced it countless times in the past, only to be turned down due to her apparent youth.


    And she remembered the heartache that brought when she learned it was impossible. When she realized it was a one-sided love with the other side only seeing a strong friendship.


    This time was different.


    Roxy was sure of it. Rudy liked her. And... she liked him.


    But that couldn''t be.


    She could see Paul, Zenith, and Lilia staring at her. Smiling and teasing, as if waiting for her to point out how ridiculous it was.


    Friendly smiles and expressions.


    Of course. They were her precious friends. Her peers.


    ...So what would they think if they knew that she was starting to fall for a child? Their child? Or worse, if she started lusting after him?


    No. She couldn''t allow that.


    Rudy nced up at Roxy, embarrassed but also secretly hopeful. Genuine affection and emotion.


    Just like her in the past when she fell in love.


    So it would be painful for him. And it would be painful for her too. But...


    Roxyughed and ruffled Rudy''s head. "That''s cute, Rudy. But I can''t ept your feelings you know? Your Master''s a bit too old for you."


    A casual but light-hearted dismissal.


    It was easy to do because she had experienced them countless times before.


    And as expected, Rudy looked crushed. But also as expected, he quickly gathered himself andughed. "I know, Master. You''re out of my league anyway."


    A brave face. While he tried to keep hisposure, his voice wavered a bit at the end there.


    Enough to where Roxy wanted to say that wasn''t true.


    But thankfully before she could say that and make things awkward, Paul chuckled and said, "Well. I guess that''s fine." He looked at Rudy and said, "You''re still a bit too young to be thinking about that sort of thing anyway."


    Rudy red at Paul and said, "Then why the hell did you bring it up?!"


    "Rudy!" Zenith crossed her arms and said, "Language!"


    "Ah. Sorry, Mom." Rudy nodded and then looked back at Paul. "What, did you just want to embarrass me to make up for getting smacked around earlier?"


    "A little, yeah."


    "You''re apletely grown adult! Why am I the mature one?!"


    Paul waved his hand and said, "Oh lighten up, Rudy. At this rate, your hair will turn gray before- Oh wait."


    Rudy jumped out of his chair, growling.


    Before he could go too far though, Roxy grabbed his shirt and held him back. As she did, she frowned. "Rudy. Calm down."


    "I AM!" Rudy paused and then took a deep breath. After that, he slowly sat back down and said, "I am calm. At least, I''m calm now...?" He trailed off, mumbling under his breath.


    Roxy frowned, carefully staring at Rudy.


    It was odd. He had always been level-headed. But recently...


    At that time, a baby girl''s cry echoed. And shortly after, another one did as well.


    Zenith sighed and said, "And now your sisters are awake."


    Rudy winced, suddenly looking guilty. Lowering his head, he mumbled, "Sorry, Mom. Sorry, Mama Lily."


    Lilia smiled and said, "It''s fine, Rudy. You haven''t yed with Aisha in a while, have you? How about we all spend a bit of time together?"


    "Ooh!" Zenith pped her hands together and said, "That sounds great! We can even read Rudy''s favorite story together!"


    "Perugius''s story isn''t my favorite story, Mom... But okay. Um... Can I take turns holding Norn too, Mom?"


    "Of course!"


    Watching all of that unfold, Paul slowly raised his hand and said, "Er... What about me?"


    Zenith looked at Paul and hummed before saying, "You cane after you clean the dishes."


    Norn started crying harder. And because of that, Aisha started crying harder too.


    Zenith started walking off to the bedroom. "Don''t cry, Sweetie! Mommy''sing!"


    Lilia followed after her and said, "Calm yourself, Aisha. I''m almost there."


    Rudy walked after Lilia and said, "Um. Mama Lily. I don''t think Aisha understands you yet. Telling her to calm down-"


    Aisha''s cries suddenly cut off, reced by a soft sniffle.


    Rudy blinked.


    Lilia looked proud and said, "Your baby sister is quite intelligent as well, Rudy."


    Zenith pouted and said, "Well, Norn''s cuter!"


    Lilia sighed and said, "They are both cute, Zenny. It won''t do topare them. Sibling rivalry is no good."


    "A-Ah. That''s right..."


    Rudy hopped forward and stood between Lilia and Zenith. "Well, it doesn''t matter. I love both of my sisters just the same."


    Zenith smiled and then pulled Rudy into a one-armed hug. "You''re sweet, Rudy. But be careful not to spoil your sisters too much, okay?"


    "Um. I-I''ll try?"


    After that, the trio entered the bedroom, leaving just Paul and Roxy at the dining table.


    Roxy sighed and went back to eating her food.


    Paul noticed andughed. "Jealous that your cute disciple got stolen away, Roxy?"


    Roxy waved her hand and said, "No. Just... a bit envious. You, Zenith, Lilia... all of you have such a close rtionship with your children. Even though Rudy was so different, you loved him all the same." She paused and then said, "...Perhaps I may be a bit jealous."


    It was different for her. Because she didn''t inherit the natural ability to use the magical telepathy spell tomunicate with the other Migurd in her vige, she grew up in silence. Her parents raised her with kindness, but love... They would always give her a strange look. They supported her, but there was never any warmth. No kind words spoken or shared...


    Paul shrugged. "It''s only natural. Even if your kid turns out weird, that''s still your kid. And also... There''s something magical about it, you know?" He turned to look towards the bedroom and said, "When you be a parent, all you want is the best for your kid. And it changes you too." Heughed and looked at Roxy. "I mean, look at me."


    Roxy nodded. "I suppose that''s true. If an inconsiderate and shameless flirt like yourself can settle down, there must be something to it. But even so..." She rubbed her arm and muttered, "I wish that my parents had been as warm as you all are to Rudy and his sisters."


    Paul liked messing with Rudy. Take a few moments ago for example. But even so, he always made sure to not go too far and assure Rudy with that warm and supportive smile.


    ...Though it always seemed a bit smug as well, but that was Paul''s natural looks, so it couldn''t be helped.


    Anyway, Paul made his affection clear. And both Zenith and Lilia were even more explicit in that with how they hugged and cheered Rudy up.


    It wasn''t like her home. Not like that eerily silent ce where everyone seemed to barely have any emotions.


    "Mm." Paul stood up and stretched. "I don''t know your parents, Roxy. But you shouldn''t me them too much. Especially if you''re the first child. I mean, you''ve seen us raise Rudy, right? Zenith''s been a great mom, but I''ve been a terrible Dad."


    "You have."


    "You aren''t suppose to agree!"


    Roxy chuckled.


    Paul shook his head and then said, "Anyway... I''m sure your parents love you just as much as we love Rudy, Norn, and Lilia. Maybe more. So cheer up a bit, okay?" He paused and then said, "Actually... They''re probably really worried about their teenaged daughter running around the country by herself."


    "Ah." Roxy spoke up. "That''s not true."


    Paul blinked. "You mean they''re not worried?"


    Roxy felt her face heat up. "N-No. I... They probably are worried."


    After all, it had been decades since shest returned home. And decades without her sending a single letter as well.


    ...And now Roxy felt guilty. Maybe she should head home to pay a visit? After all, with <Mage Sight> and her new research, she might be able to finallymunicate with everyone.


    But that waster.


    Roxy shook her head and said, "Not that. I meant that it isn''t true that I''m a teenager."


    "...Huh?"


    Roxy gave Paul a nk stare. "Did... I never mention it? This year, I turned 41."


    "...You definitely didn''t mention it."


    "Oh."


    "...Man. Zenith is going to be *so* jealous."


    Roxy blushed and mumbled. "I-I could have sworn it was mentioned when you hired me...?"


    "To be fair, we were distracted by Rudy and it never really came up again."


    "...True."


    Paul shook his head and walked over to the kitchen. "Anyway... Um. Could you give me a hand? It''s cold and I really don''t want to have to pump and melt water just to wash the dishes..."


    Roxy rolled her eyes and then waved her hand, conjuring up a metal bucket filled with water.


    "Thanks, Roxy!"


    "Thank me by not doing anything reckless and involving your entire family in cleaning up your mess again."


    "Cross my heart and hope to die!"


    "...I''ll prepare a eulogy."


    "...Fair."

 71 – The Genius Teacher’s Observations

    71 ¨C The Genius Teacher¡¯s Observations


    As if the hectic events were a lie, time marched on with nothing but peaceful days.


    In the morning, Roxy woke up and prepared lesson ns for the day while Paul and Rudy headed out of the house.


    ...Roxy wondered just what Paul nned to do after the mess he left in Roa as well as the situation with the Notos family. But he kept sending letters to his cousin Philip and it seemed that things were fine there.


    Apparently, Philip mentioned that he would ''handle the situation'' in order topensate for the mess his daughter and father had caused. And that Paul could just go back to his usual job.


    Roxy personally thought that was suspicious. And the others did as well... but better that they were safe out in the countryside where they could prepare the battlefield and avoid casualties versus the packed inner cities.


    But anyway, Paul and Rudy left the house early in the morning. Paul left to go on patrol with Laws while Rudy left to pick up Sylphy and head back.


    That was another thing too. Ever since the conversation about how Rudy felt regarding Sylphy... No, ever since the two came back, there was a bit of an awkwardness around them that hadn''t been there before.


    Both of them were always happy to be around each other. In fact, Roxy would go so far as to call them glowing... especially with how it seemed to affect the two enough to have their mana sh and resonate with each other.


    Which was another strange phenomenon.


    Those seemed to happen a lot around Rudy these days...


    In any case, while awkward, the two were still close. And after a short while spending time together, that awkwardness vanished as they engrossed themselves in fun and games.


    With Roxy supervising and joining in, of course. Even though she wasn''t officially hired as a magical tutor anymore, since the Greyrats were gracious enough to let her stay and also feed her, it was the least she could do.


    So that was how her morning went. Rudy devised a new ''game'' to y that was really a new form of mana maniption or training. Roxy furiously took mental notes while mixing in some proper magic exercises so that they could get some traditional training as well.


    ...Even if the traditional method might be wrong.


    Then in the afternoon, Paul and Laws returned with Miss Rose.


    After that, Rudy left with Paul and Laws to practice swordsmanship and overallbat skills outside while Sylphy went to watch.


    In the meanwhile, Roxy went to teach magic to Zenith and Rose indoors while Lilia tended to Norn and Aisha by reading them storybooks.


    By the time evening rolled around, Sylphy and her family waved goodbye and headed home, Rudy came back to watch over his baby sisters while Zenith prepared dinner, and Lilia went to train her swordsmanship with Paul.


    Roxy got a bit of a breather to collect herself while helping Rudy take care of his sisters.


    And then it was dinner time, where they all shared a happy and warm meal before turning in for the night.


    Well, everyone except for Rudy and Roxy. Like in the past, the two of them talked about magical theory, what ''mana'' truly was and its limitations, as well as potential hypotheses to test in the future.


    Altogether... It was just like the happy days back when Roxy was first hired. The rxed and carefree days where she taught her brilliant student. Where she felt like part of the Greyrat family.


    ...Minus the intimate affairs and moans that used to take ce. Those had been reced by Norn and Aisha''s cries as well as a fatigued Paul moving around the house to calm the girls down.


    But all-in-all, peaceful days continued and time passed by.


    And like that, winter turned to spring.


    -LIV-


    The faint sounds of birds chirping outside.


    Roxy blinked and blearily rubbed her eyes. "Morning already...?"


    Sunlight poured in even through the blinds Roxy put up.


    Which meant that it was probably already a fair bit into the morning.


    Roxy sighed and then started getting ready for the day.


    A ssh of water on her face to wash off the sleep, a st of healing magic to get rid of the lingering fatigue, changing into a fresh pair of clothes... and then she was good to go.


    After stifling a yawn and doing some light stretches, Roxy nced at the notes she left on her desk.


    Cross-sections of magic circlesced together in a three-dimensional structure. Scribbled notes on the margin with various calctions...


    "Oh. That''s why I woke upte."


    Roxy walked over to tidy up her notes and flipped through them. "Summoning magic... Right. I was working through various hypotheses."


    It was something she had been considering ever since Rudy had left with Paul and Sylphy to visit Roa.


    That time, things were fine. The mysterious Being W didn''t attempt to start any insidious plots or interfere with them. And neither were there any enemies that arrived to try and harm them.


    But Roxy couldn''t stop thinking about ''what if?''


    Paul was fast. Enough to clear the distance between Roa and Buina vige in the span of an hour at full speed. And both Rudy and Sylphy were fast as well. Especially since they had started seriously working on flight spells together with Roxy to refine it.


    But even then, that took time.


    Time that they might not have if a terrifying enemy like Orsted reappeared.


    Not only that, but there were too many people to protect. Zenith, Lilia, Norn, Aisha...


    Both Paul and Rudy trusted her to protect them. And both Zenith and Lilia had faith in her ability as well to keep them safe.


    But Roxy didn''t.


    She realized itst time. While she was certain that she could hold her own and at least survive against anyone below the Emperor-Rank, that was all.


    "Pft." Roxy realized the ridiculousness of that thought and shook her head, tucking her notes in a drawer. "To think the day woulde when I would consider being able to survive against King-Ranked opponents as insufficient..."


    If it was her past self, she would have been thrilled to think that she had be that powerful. Ecstatic that her magic had grown enough to where the only ones she had to fear were the elite few that barely numbered a hundred in the entire world.


    It was a wishe true.


    Roxy was certain that if she walked out and offered her services, she could get epted as a Royal Magician in any kingdom. Barring that, she could go adventuring and be an S-Ranked adventurer in no time due to the versatility of her refined <Magic Arrays>.


    Her past self would be over the moon. It was the recognition that she always wanted. The des she could take back to show her Shisho how she knew better after all.


    But she had a different wish now. Different goals.


    Roxy wanted to protect them. The family she had gained, the friends she made. The reckless genius disciple of hers who always pushed himself too hard and needed to be reined in at times.


    But she was aware of her limits. Unlike Rudy and Sylphy who seemed to be able to store boundless amounts of mana within their bodies as well as use ambient mana, Roxy could only store a small amount.


    More than the average magician, for sure. And she made up for it with her carefully constructed <Magic Arrays> system that took full advantage of ambient mana and external mana sources.


    Still, it wasn''t enough. The amount of effort she would need to be able to use elements as freely as Sylphy or to manipte raw mana like Rudy was astronomical.


    Roxy could see how it would be done. But she didn''t have enough time to achieve that level before chaos unfolded.


    After all, while Being W had been silent, there was no assurance that he wasn''t plotting and making moves behind the scenes.


    Roxy was worried. If that Being W had been plotting since the time she first met Rudy... which seemed to be the case as the monsters near Buina vige started acting up around the same time. And if that Being W had as many resources as Roxy feared judging from how he had been present in Shirone Kingdom...


    The odds were high that something would happen soon. Something big.


    Rudy had continually foiled that entity''s ns. And it seemed like that entity was determined to either break up Rudy''s family or get rid of them all entirely.


    Which meant they were short on time. There wasn''t enough for Roxy to waste trying to reach the same level as Rudy and Sylphy. Perhaps if she had started what she was doing now when she was a child... But whatever the case, she didn''t have time to waste.


    So Roxy thought about it. How could shepensate for theck of mana? Theck of innate affinity? No, what was the best way to utilize her abilities?


    She was smart. Roxy was confident in her intelligence. While not to the level of Rudy who made leaps in logic that werepletely unfathomable, she was certain that she didn''t lose out.


    She was also diligent and meticulous. When it came to magical studies and research, Roxy had graduated top of her ss.


    So when taking those two major strengths into consideration... what could she do? What could she work on that would provide the most value and aid?


    And so far, the answer seemed to be summoning magic.


    Aplicated magical system that was heavily reliant on magic circles instead of chants. One where a single error could mean disaster. But also one where sess could result in something miraculous.


    Like summoning a powerful spirit to protect them from Being W''s influence.


    Or like being able to send everyone away to a safe location through a reverse summoning by using a magical circle as an anchor point.


    It was possible. Roxy was sure it was possible. And since she managed to take a summoning magic primer with her from her time in Shirone Kingdom, she was making progress.


    But she just didn''t have enough *time*!


    A soft knock at Roxy''s door, along with a soft giggle. After that, a cute baby girl''s voice called out. "Rossy! No seep! Up, up!"


    Another baby girl''s voice echoed afterwards. "U-Up?"


    Roxy blinked and then smiled. Walking over to the door, she carefully opened it.


    Two cute baby girls were standing there.


    One had soft blonde hair tied up in twin tails. Her clear green eyes shyly looked away when Roxy stared at her.


    The other had wavy red hair tied up in a short ponytail. Her crimson eyes shone with mischief and she confidently met Roxy''s gaze, unlike the other girl.


    Norn and Aisha.


    Roxy bent down to eye level with the girls and said, "Did you two naughty girls sneak out again?"


    Norn''s face turned red and she shook her head, hiding behind Aisha. "N-No..."


    Aisha giggled and said, "Yeah! No seeping! Up!"


    Roxy put on a stern face and said, "That''s no good. It''s dangerous to go around by yourself."


    Norn tilted her head, confused.


    But Aisha shook her head and hugged Norn. "Got big sis!"


    Roxy poked Aisha''s head and said, "You might be younger, but you shouldn''t drag your big sister into these sorts of things, Aisha."


    "Kay~"


    Roxy sighed and then reached out to carry Norn.


    The blonde baby girl shyly clung onto Roxy''s shirt.


    Aisha pouted and said, "Me! Me!"


    Roxy shook her head. "Bad girls don''t get rewards. Nowe on." She took Aisha''s hand and started walking off. "We should find your mothers... Where are they right now anyway?"


    "Norn? Sweetie?! Where are you?" Zenith''s concerned voice echoed from outside.


    "Aisha!" Lilia''s sharp voice called out. "Where have you gone, you little gremlin?"


    Norn''s eyes widened and she trembled, holding onto Roxy tighter.


    Aisha just giggled.


    Roxy sighed.


    ...Well. At least Rudy''s sisters were just smart children and not monstrous geniuses who overturned the known rules of magic.


    Hopefully.

 72 – The Genius Teacher’s Headache

    72 ¨C The Genius Teacher¡¯s Headache


    Roxy called Zenith and Lilia inside and then handed off the baby girls to their mothers.


    Norn went quietly, immediately clinging to Zenith just like she did with Roxy. But as for Aisha...


    "Nooo! Rossy!" Aisha teared up and held her hands out to Roxy. "Wan go!"


    Roxy shook her head. "Not this time, Aisha. There''s something important that I have to do with your big brother and Sylphy today."


    Lilia huffed and shifted Aisha in her arms so she couldn''t squirm. "You are being a bother to Roxy, Aisha. Honestly, you have as much energy as your older brother did when he was a baby..."


    "No!" Aisha shook her head. "Wan watch Ruty an'' Sifi!"


    Lilia walked away and said, "You can watchter. For now,e keep Mommypany while I do some chores. If you behave, I''ll tell you stories about your big brother."


    Aisha gasped and gave Lilia a bright smile. "Yay!"


    Lilia sighed and then headed outside with Aisha.


    Zenith shifted Norn in her arms and then smiled at Roxy. "Thanks for watching out for the girls, Roxy. And sorry if they woke you up. I know howte you study..."


    Roxy waved her hands and said, "It''s fine." She smiled and reached out to poke Norn''s cheek. "The girls are cute, so I don''t mind."


    Norn flinched and then buried her face in Zenith''s chest.


    Zenithughed and said, "Seems like Norn''s still shy."


    Roxy pulled her hand back and said, "She might just feel a bit guilty. Aisha seems to keep dragging Norn into a lot of trouble."


    Zenith looked down at Norn and patted her back. "Yes, well at least she''s being a responsible big sister. Aren''t you Norn?" She cooed and then tickled Norn''s sides.


    Norn giggled and then let out a bright smile.


    Roxy smiled as well but then she looked outside. "Well, I should prepare for Rudy and Sylphy''s return." She nced back at Norn and waved. "Bye Norn. I''ll see youter."


    Norn shyly looked at Roxy and then waved. "Bye Rossy..."


    Zenith let out a happy squeal and then hugged Norn tight. "You''re so cute Norn! Mommy loves you so much!"


    "Luv Mama too...?"


    Zenith squealed again.


    Roxy shook her head and then walked outside.


    It was a beautiful day. Clear blue skies, a bright and warm sun... that was getting close to the highest point in the sky. At most two hours away from that point.


    Roxy covered her eyes at the bright light and said, "I slept in more than I thought."


    She usually woke up at the brink of dawn, so quite a few hours had been wasted today.


    Roxy sighed and then made her way across the courtyard and past the gate surrounding the Greyrat household to the open fields outside.


    The vivid green grass shifted as a breeze blew past, making it look almost like an emerald ocean. Altogether, a perfect and picturesque setting, just like a pretty painting.


    That would be ruined as soon as Rudy and Sylphy arrived. And speaking of those two...


    The gentle breeze shifting the grass grew more intense and then light giggles drifted from above.


    "You''re too slow, Rudy!"


    "Well sorry for not being able to make the wind my best friend like you, Sylphy!"


    Sylphy and Rudy.


    The young elf girl did a loop in the air before gently touching down on the ground next to Roxy. Smiling, she waved and said, "Good morning, Miss Roxy!"


    In contrast, Rudy plummeted to the ground. Just before he collided though, a pir of magic circles red to life and slowed his descent, letting himnd lightly. Of course, because hisnding was much more violent, his silver hair waspletely windswept and spiked up in random ces.


    "Gah." Rudy scowled and quickly conjured some water to wet and fix his hair. "How do you stick thending so easily? Even if I skip the magic circles to slow me down, I either crash or bounce off the ground a few times."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Well maybe Rudy just needs to believe more? Mana can do whatever you imagine, you know?"


    Rudy gave up on fixing his hair and started smoothing down his clothes and tidying up his usual gray scarf instead. As he did, he said, "Yeah, but still... And morning, Master Roxy. Sorry we''rete." He sighed and said, "Some Terminate Boars tried spearing us on the way back so we had to deal with those first."


    Roxy walked over to tidy up Rudy''s hair and said, "It''s fine, Rudy. I woke up a bitte today anyway."


    Rudy''s face turned red as Roxy fixed his hair.


    Off to the side, Sylphy started to pout.


    Roxy noticed andughed before leaning back. "Rx, Sylphy. I won''t take Rudy away from you."


    "I know, Miss Roxy. But I wanted to fix Rudy''s hair..."


    "Oh!" Rudy immediately walked over to Sylphy and turned around. "Could you check to see if my scarf is on right, Sylphy? I think I fixed it, but it might be messed up."


    Sylphy immediately brightened and said, "Of course! Here, Rudy. Move this, tuck this in... and done!"


    Rudy smiled and said, "Thanks, Sylphy. You''re the best."


    "And Rudy''s my best!"


    "H-Huh?"


    Sylphy blushed and said, "I-I mean, y-you''re my best friend!"


    "Y-Yeah!" Rudy blushed too and said, "Y-You''re my best friend too."


    Watching the two interact so cutely, Roxy felt a slight pang of yearning in her heart.


    But she quietly tucked it away and instead let out an exasperated sigh. "You two are still like this, huh?"


    "W-WhAt do yoU mean, M-Master Roxy? Hahaha..."


    "Y-Y-Yes. I-I don''t know what you''re talking about, Miss Roxy?"


    Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.


    Then again, they were still children and probably didn''t understand the emotions they had...


    But that was a talk that Paul and Laws had to give, not Roxy.


    She decided to ignore the usual awkwardness those two had and instead focused on what they were doing today.


    "So Rudy." Roxy focused on her disciple and said, "You mentioned yesterday that you pinpointed an oddity in the mana of both you and Sylphy and wanted me to look at it?"


    Hearing Roxy''s professional teaching tone, Rudy calmed down and nodded. "That''s right. It''s something that I''ve been thinking about since we got back from Roa but only just ironed out. I think it''s a bit dangerous though, so I wanted you around before I tried anything with it."


    Roxy blinked. And then she slowly turned to look towards the house. Specifically how close they were to the house.


    "...Is this dangerous in the abstract sense? Or is this dangerous as in ''the incident'' dangerous?"


    Rudy''s ears turned red and he said, "T-That was ONE time! How was I supposed to know Advance-Ranked spells blew up for me if I chant them?"


    Sylphy giggled and said, "So Rudy makes mistakes too, huh?" She looked at Roxy and said, "You know, I''ve never heard how Rudy was learning magic from you, Miss Roxy."


    "Oh, it was a disaster whenever he tried applying it." Roxy looked off into the distance, recalling how she had to cast <Cumulonimbus> just to stop Rudy''s fire spell from burning up the entire farnd. "I wondered sometimes if it was worth the trouble."


    "I-I wasn''t that bad!"


    "How many times did you make your master apologize that day again, Rudy?"


    "..." Rudy cleared his throat and said, "A-Anyway." He looked at the house and said, "...It should be fine. But, um... Put up a lot of magic barriers just in case?"


    Roxy rolled her eyes and then waved her hand. Her <Magic Array> red and the magic circles flew out, encircling the house to form a giant magic barrier formation.


    Seeing that, Rudy let out a sigh of relief.


    But the moment that happened, Zenith''s voice called out. "Rudy! Don''t blow up the house or I''m making you build a new one from scratch!"


    Rudy flinched and said, "I-I won''t, Mom! Promise!"


    "You''d better! Don''t be like your father!"


    Rudy started to sweat and looked at Sylphy. "U-Um... Could you keep an eye on it too, Sylphy?"


    She paused, tilting her head.


    "S-Sylphy?"


    "But building a new house for everyone sounds fun. And I think we can do it, right?"


    Rudy started to sweat some more and said, "W-We can do thatter. But I''d be happy if you kept watch too. I don''t want to scare Aisha and Norn, you know?"


    "Oh." Sylphy nodded. "That''s true... Okay~ I''ll make sure Rudy doesn''t cause a mess like Mister Paul."


    "...Please don''t tempt fate."


    "Hm?"


    Rudy sighed. "Never mind. But anyway, Master." He turned to Roxy and said, "I''m going to recreate it, alright? Let me know what you see. And if I start doing anything weird, um... Scold me a bit? I think that should be enough to pull me out of it."


    Roxy blinked and then slowly said, "You aren''t making a good case for why we shouldn''t do this experiment far away from your house, Rudy."


    From the sound of it, Roxy was starting to feel like this was a bad idea.


    Rudy paused. "...It probably is. But at the same time, if this works like how I think it does, this is probably the safest ce to test it as well. The thought of identally hurting my cute baby sisters should be enough to stop it. And if it isn''t... ''That'' should work to fix it."


    Roxy blinked and then narrowed her eyes. "What did I tell you about keeping things to yourself again, Rudy?"


    "I know, I know. It''s bad. But it''s something that I''d also not rather ever want to test... or have a way of easily exining it. I''ll think about it more and tell everyone when I sort it out. But for now." He held up his hand and focused. "Let''s get started."


    Roxy sighed. "Alright. But after this, no more magic studies for a month."


    Rudy blinked. "Wait, what? Why?"


    "Because a certain someone haspletely forgotten that he''s still recovering and has yet to restore his mana reserves to full ever since he got back."


    Sylphy gasped and then rounded on Rudy. "You said you were fine!"


    "I am! I just, uh... Haven''t taken the time to refill yet." Rudy paused and then looked at Roxy. "Wait. I thought I was doing a good job of hiding that? How could you tell, Master?"


    Roxy shook her head. "I couldn''t. But I figured that you would be doing something like that. And it would be impossible for you to have rested with how often you have been using magic."


    "...As expected. Master Roxy can see right through me."


    Sylphy pouted. "I could tell something was off with you too!"


    Rudyughed and patted Sylphy''s head. "Then sorry to worry you, Sylphy."


    Sylphy blushed.


    Roxy cleared her throat. "The anomaly?"


    "Oh. Right." Rudy stepped back from Sylphy and said, "Anyway... I''m starting now. Let me know what you see, okay?"


    Roxy focused, carefully staring at the bright and vivid crimson mana circting throughout Rudy''s body. "I''m ready."


    "Sylphy, you watch too, okay?"


    "Okay, Rudy!"


    Rudy nodded. "Then..." He took a deep breath and said, "On go. Three. Two. One... Go."


    At first, nothing happened.


    But then Rudy''s expression shifted. As if he was recalling unpleasant memories... No. As if he recalled something that angered him to his very core.


    And with it, there was a pulse.


    Roxy''s eyes widened. "What in the world...?"


    Around Rudy''s heart, the flow of his mana started to invert. And the moment it did, flickers of silver and emerald mana started to appear.


    It was foreign.


    That mana didn''t belong to Rudy. It didn''t look or feel like Rudy''s either.


    And yet... it was. It had to be, since it wasn''t being rejected by Rudy''s mana and perfectly melded inside of it.


    But that-


    "Heh." A cold voice. "Like I thought. So this is the power of a Demon God."


    Rudy grinned.


    But it wasn''t a happy expression.


    Sylphy''s eyes widened. "R-Rudy?"


    Heughed and said, "What was I so worried about? Like this... Yeah. If it''s like this..." Rudyughed again and then looked up at the sky. "Let''s try it. That bastard''s sitting in another dimension, but if I do *this*..."


    A ripple. Rudy''s crimson mana continued to change to that eerie silver and green. At the same time, it started to reach out,cing with something invisible.


    Roxy panicked.


    She couldn''t understand it. She couldn''t understand it, but she could sense that something unthinkable was going to happen if she let it happen.


    Then she remembered what Rudy said to do if he started acting up and quickly ran towards him.


    "Hm?" He looked at Roxy and smiled. "What is it, Master? Is it impressive? Do you finally-"


    Roxy lightly chopped Rudy''s head and said, "Dummy! Stop being like your father! I hate that!"


    Rudy''s smile froze. And then his mana immediately changed back and he started to tear up. "B-B-But I didn''t do anything?!" He sniffed and then ran over to Sylphy. "Sylphy! Master Roxy''s being mean to me again! I need hugs!"


    "E-Eh?" Sylphy blinked, still confused. "U-Um... T-There there?"


    "Uu..."


    Roxy pinched the bridge of her nose.


    ...And here she thought she couldn''t get any more headaches...

 73 – Check, riposte

    73 ¨C Check, riposte


    In the Crimson Dragon mountain range, a strange sight was urring. The area was infamous for the hordes of crimson dragons that surrounded the peaks. Hordes dense enough that, at times, it appeared as if there were crimson mists surrounding the peaks.


    Each crimson dragon was powerful. Enough to where it would often take coordination between teams of A and S-ranked adventurers to fell even a single one.


    In short, the crimson dragons were peak predators. Beings of enough power that they could go practically anywhere with impunity.


    Fearless.


    They knew caution and could tell when they were outmatched. But there was no being alive that they feared.


    But that changed.


    On one particr mountain peak... Or rather, on the teau that had formed after the mountain peak was cut by Rudy''s spell, crimson dragons scrambled, frantically smacking each other back to the ground as they tried to escape from a predator beyond even them.


    "How interesting." A quiet but stern voice. With it, an invisible pulse of power welled up, suddenly dragging a crimson dragon towards the center of the teau.


    It roared, frantically pping its wings to try and escape. But before it could, a white blur crossed the teau. From that blur, a hand reached out, tiny inparison to the crimson dragon''s giant form.


    And then the crimson dragon exploded, erupting into red mist.


    But not blood. No, the crimson dragon hadn''t been turned into a mist of blood. Instead, it had been ripped apart into raw mana.


    The one responsible for that stepped forward, walking into the mist.


    A white fur coat. Silver hair and golden eyes. A stern face that seemed like it hadn''t smiled in centuries.


    Orsted.


    He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, drawing in the crimson mist. And as he did, he felt his mana reserves fill. It was a miniscule amount, far from enough to help him cast any of his higher level spells or techniques. But the fact that it replenished at all...


    Orsted opened his eyes and thenughed. After that, he nced at the glimmering crimson crystal in his left hand and said, "Hitogami- No. As Rudeus would call you, ''Being W.''" The Dragon God smirked and said, "You have made a fatal blunder. While I know not what circumstances led to this oue... It appears that this timeline shall be yourst."


    A mere byproduct from Rudeus''s spell had the ability to reduce living creatures into raw mana. And while Orsted was still researching the crystal''s properties, his intuition told him that it could potentially serve as a catalyst to convert other mana as well.


    If this was what Rudeus could create by ident, then what could that child do in the future? No, what *would* that child do in the future?


    Orsted shook his head and then looked at the quivering crimson dragons around him.


    They stared back, frozen in fear.


    Orsted thought for a few moments and then nodded. "You all have be too arrogant."


    With just those words, he stepped forward and grabbed another crimson dragon, converting it into mana.


    Roars filled the air. But unlike the usual fearless battle cries the dragons usually sent, they sounded more like strangled screams.


    -LIV-


    In the Citadel of Roa, Technique God Lace, currently under the alias of Pierre Simon, stared out at the Fedoa region from the highest tower of the Boreas Manor.


    ncing at the Crimson Dragon mountain range and then at Buina vige, Lace clicked his tongue and said, "Both my little brother and that little rascal are getting a bit too excited."


    His emerald eyes shed, turning a pure gold. And with that, he could see it.


    Distortions were forming. Tiny ripples that were insignificant right now but would quickly swell into unstoppable tidal waves if left unchecked.


    Lace rested his hand on the hilt of the crimson sword sheathed at his left side. As he did, he thoughtfully rapped his fingers on it and said, "It was only a moment, but Perugius would definitely move now that Demon God Lace''s mana red up again. And Being W''s bound to have realized the ''dead end'' he created by trying to rush things to avoid ''fate''... Not to mention that the future is narrowed even further now."


    One of Lace''s eyes turned green again. But instead of a normal pupil, it was a spiral.


    "...At this rate, it''s checkmate. Even if he moves his apostles, things won''t change. He can try to rope Perugius in, but I can handle that. And my little brother Orsted should have fixed his mana situation from that radioactive mana waste that little rascal identally created... which means it''s over."


    The end. The way that the flow of destiny was going, all the paths led to Hitogami''s demise. And the more he tried disturbing it, the more that events would speed up.


    Since that guy could see the future too, he was bound to be panicking. Especially after Lace dismantled the source of the uing metastasis event that guy tried to trigger early.


    Which meant this was the critical time period. After all...


    "A cornered beast is the most dangerous." Lace muttered and continued gazing at the distortions. "What will you do now that you''re mortal, Being W? That side''s battle already ended in our win, so this is yourst shot."


    A soft wind blew past, ruffling the white coat that Lace wore. And then soft footsteps echoed from the stairway behind him.


    "Master? Are you still up here?" Rostelina''s voice.


    Lace deactivated his magic eyes and then turned around with a soft smile. "Just keeping an eye on things. Did you have fun-" His words stopped in his throat when he saw what Rostelina was wearing.


    Or rather, what she *wasn''t* wearing.


    Rostelina let out a coy smile and said, "You''ve been using a lot of mana recently, so it''s time for a mana transfer, isn''t it?"


    "..."


    -LIV-


    "Dammit. Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!"


    In the Void World, the boundless space between the former six worlds, Hitogami roared and thrashed about.


    "How?! How does that kid keep having things work in his favor!?"


    Hitogami gnashed his teeth and then growled, "Rudeus Greyrat...!"


    He swept his arm through the empty space and then gazed into the future again.


    A split stream. The river of time that was originally one branched off into countless streams.


    A few of them had dried up, but that was fine. The others were still going, so Hitogami didn''t think of it much.


    But it suddenly changed.


    In an instant, Hitogami had a vision of his end. But not just one end.


    Two, three... Ten, twenty. A hundred. A thousand.


    In the infinite possibilities he could see, all of them led to his end. But not only that, in each end, he sent a message back to his past self.


    ''Don''t provoke him. Rudeus Greyrat must not be your enemy.''


    "What the fuck do you mean, ''don''t provoke him''?! If I leave a dangerous kid like that alone, I''m going to die anyway, you dumbass!"


    If he could, Hitogami wanted to reach out and strangle his future self.


    "How did this mess even happen!?"


    A sudden change. Seven years ago. Before that kid was born, everything was great. He had his apostles all over the world and was free to manipte things as he wished.


    There was a weird anomaly around that he couldn''t see throwing things off, but it wasn''t a big deal. That guy couldn''t move ''fate'' much anyway.


    But then that kid was born.


    Rudeus Greyrat.


    The moment that kid was born, the future blurred. Not only that, but the river of time split into two main streams, one split into countless more streams, each showing his death. The other showed himself wrapped up and chained before a group of people he didn''t know, forced to a fate worse than death.


    The singr future broke. Time itself shattered and distorted, split in twain.


    And now Hitogami was caught in the flow, just like everyone else.


    "Dammit. DAMMIT!"


    A dead-end. His death. After all that he worked to aplish? After all the careful ploys and gambits he executed to take out the other gods and get his role as the one true god?


    "No. I won''t ept this."


    Hitogami gnashed his teeth and red back at the river of time.


    He was stuck now.


    If he could, he would have chosen the stream leading to being chained since there was a margin of sess. Since he managed to pluck that lost soul adrift in time and nce at his memories, Hitogami knew what he had to do to prevent falling into that trap.


    But he missed it.


    The moment Hitogami grabbed that soul, he locked himself into the other path. The one with numerous dead ends.


    Meaning...


    "Subtlety didn''t work. Direct interference didn''t work either because there''s a cheating bastard hiding from me here. Then... fine. If you want to cheat, I''ll cheat too you son of a bitch."


    There were cracks.


    Since time fractured once already, it was easily fractured again. And because it was easily fractured, the established ''fate'' was one that could crumble at the slightest interference.


    Which meant that he could act. The distortions unfolding meant the spell that damned Dragon God ced on Hitogami to keep him in the Void World were slipping.


    "...I''ll let you have your fun for now."


    He watched Rudy y around with his baby sisters. He saw the ripple of power from an invisible source at the Crimson Dragon mountain range. He observed Perugius set off with his servants to strengthen the seal on Demon God Lace.


    The distortion that he nned to use to change the board wouldn''t work anymore. That cheating bastard hiding from his view had erased it.


    But that wasn''t the only one Hitogami had in store. No, no. Fate had changed a fair bit around Roa, but not as much as a certain other area.


    Hitogami let out a chilling smile as he stared at Buina vige. Focusing his gaze back on Rudy, he said, "Have fun. Get stronger. Grow up, make friends, fall in love... Enjoy your life and make beautiful memories. That''s going to make it all the more satisfying when I take it all from you, Rudeus Greyrat."

 74 – Child – Greyrat Family Time

    74 ¨C Child ¨C Greyrat Family Time


    A lot happened.


    First, it turned out that using the powers of a Demon God was really intoxicating. Enough to where I felt unstoppable.


    Except that it gave me a pounding headache afterwards. Probably because it was literally getting drunk off power and mana... or something.


    Or maybe Master Roxy hit me too hard too.


    Anyway, that was a can of worms we had to work out sometime. But far from home next time.


    Can''t believe I actually started trying to create an extradimensional gateway by brute-forcing a wormhole while I was using that mana...


    Not only that, but I was grounded. Grounded and forbidden from using mana.


    Mom and Mama Lily weren''t happy to find out that I was using magic when I still hadn''tpletely recovered my mana. Not only that, but they also weren''t happy about me tapping into what definitely seemed to be fragments of a Demon God''s power that was lying dormant in my mana somehow.


    Dadpletely agreed with them. He also took me asideter and gave me a long lecture about how even if I had the power of a Demon God at my disposal, I was forbidden from going around and demanding virgin sacrifices or ughtering the general popce.


    That was good. Dad was at least trying to instill ''some'' morality. Though, considering his track record and the fact that he nned to kill not only his own brother but a whole bunch of other people to take over the Notos family if push came to shove, he probably wasn''t the best person to have that lecture.


    Long story short, grounded because of using Demon God powers and lying about my mana being topped up. That was the first big thing.


    Second... Sylphy. Sylphy and Master Roxy.


    It wasplicated.


    Sylphy was my best friend. I liked being around her. She made me happy. I liked seeing her happy.


    And it seemed that I made her happy too. Enough to where she was seriously considering what my dumb dad said about her bing my fiancee.


    But she didn''t understand what that meant.


    Well, that wasn''t entirely true. She understood a little bit. The whole fairytale part about being together forever, love, and the whole shebang that came with being married.


    Except it was on the same level as a girl imagining being swept up by Prince Charming.


    Probably.


    I wasn''t sure. Sylphy was smart and mature for her age, but I didn''t know if she really understood still the full extent of what that meant.


    Fortunately, Mister Laws and Miss Rose were putting a pause to all of that talk.


    Yay for ying the ''they''re still just kids you dumb asshole'' card on my dad.


    ...That didn''t save me from the awkwardness between me and Sylphy since that possibility had been dropped by Dad, but Master Roxy was doing a great job of smoothing things over by keeping things to a normal routine.


    Norn and Aisha helped too. My cute baby sisters were a perfect distraction for Sylphy since they loved seeing her do magic tricks.


    So things were mostly back to normal.


    Dad came back home and continued his normal job. There weren''t any signs of issues cropping up from our exploits in Roa. There wasn''t going to be any ramifications from the capital for what Dad did to the knights... ording to Philip, at least.


    Not sure if I entirely believed that considering I was 99% sure that Being W had been involved.


    But whatever the case, things were back to normal. ying with Sylphy and Master Roxy in the morning, lessons with Dad in the afternoon, watching my cute baby sisters in the evening while Mom and Mama Lily prepared dinner. And then at night, chatting with Master Roxy until I started nodding off and she tucked me in for bed.


    Happy times. Peaceful times.


    But-


    "You''re distracted, Rudy!" Dad''s voice.


    A brown blur. Dad''s training sword, swinging towards my head.


    I pivoted on my heel and parried with my own training sword. After that, I clicked my tongue and swung my sword at his outstretched arm. "Why do you keep aiming at my head?! Haven''t you learned your lesson yet?"


    Dad stepped back, moving just beyond the range of my sword. He chuckled as the sword brushed just in front of his shirt and said, "As a Greyrat male who''s inherited all of my looks but your mother''s smarts, it''s even more important for you to learn to dodge blows to your head, you know?" After saying that, he stepped forward and swung his sword again.


    I crouched and tilted my sword over my head at an angle.


    A soft *ck* echoed as Dad''s attack was stopped by my sword, sliding off to the side instead of smacking my head.


    I quickly jumped back and took stock of the situation.


    We were outside in the grassy ins just past the gates of our house.


    Sylphy wasn''t here today since Mister Laws said there was going to be an important guest over at their home.


    Master Roxy said she was feeling anxious just staying at home all the time, so she was taking over Dad''s job of patrolling today.


    Which meant the only people at home right now were my immediate family members.


    And speaking of my immediate family members...


    "Go big bro!"


    "G-Go Rui!"


    Aisha and Norn cheered...


    "You had better not hurt Rudy again, Paul, or I swear to Milis you''ll regret it!"


    Mom scolded Dad...


    "Smack your father in the face a few times, Rudy."


    ...And Mama Lily calmly supported me while giving express approval to teach Dad a lesson or two.


    Dad flipped his sword around caught it in a reverse grip with his left hand. ncing over to our audience cheering from the gates, he sighed and ran his right hand through his hair. "Man. I really am chopped liver these days, huh?"


    I shrugged and said, "You pretty much cashed out all your trust at once, Dad and then went into the negatives. It takes a lot to climb out of debt."


    He chuckled and said, "True, true. It''s my just desserts, so I guess I can''tin too much. You still trust me though, right?"


    "Barely. Mention anything about a betrothal contract, fianc¨¦e, or love interest around me again and that trust is gone."


    Dad sighed and said, "I still think that it was a good idea. Besides, Eris really isn''t a bad girl, you know? You two would probably have a good effect on each other."


    Me? And that crazy girl who attacked Dad on sight and made Sylphy desperate enough to tap into the same Demon God mana that I had somehow?


    I narrowed my eyes and then stepped forward, swinging my sword.


    Since his sword was in a reverse grip, it would take too long for him to bring it around to block so-


    *ck*


    The familiar sound of wood ttering. Dad, somehow spinning around in time to parry even with the reverse grip.


    I clicked my tongue and stepped back, carefully analyzing him.


    "Whoa there, tiger. You don''t need to be that mad." Dadughed and then tossed his sword through the air, winking at Aisha and Norn as he did.


    An opening.


    I immediately whipped my sword towards his face and ran forward.


    As I did, I focused.


    Dad was skilled, but he was still an instinctual fighter. So I could take advantage of that.


    Since the attack was fast, he would dodge. But since he was being cocky by trying to show off, he would also be unarmed.


    So it was my chance.


    Dad was definitely a better sword fighter than me. He was also a naturalbat genius.


    But he wasn''t someone who coulde up with new things.


    Like he admitted, Dad was dumb. If he saw it once, he could replicate and improve on it. But he wasn''t the sort of person to sit around and think up a new technique.


    Not like me. And speaking of new techniques...


    After running a few steps, I dug my right heel into the ground and kicked off, flipping through the air.


    A feeling of weightlessness. Almost like I was flying.


    And then when I was just about to reach the top, I spun around and mmed my left heel down on my dad''s head.


    -At least, that was the n.


    "Whoa! You''re getting pretty creative these days, Rudy!"


    A light push. That was all I felt before the world flipped again, my vision swiftly filling with green grass as I flew towards the ground.


    But I was expecting that.


    I anticipated the possibility of Dad intercepting. An aerial attack was ripe for counterattack or redirect. Since it was thetter...


    Impact. But not with my head.


    I mmed my hands on the ground and then forcibly twisted my body, swinging my legs around.


    "Hoh?"


    An impressed sound from Dad.


    I ignored him and instead focused on my next actions.


    A sweep of my legs parallel to the ground to divert the momentum, tracing out a circle with both. And as they came back around, I pushed off the ground with my arms,unching myself towards Dad with a full-body force kick.


    "Whoa!"


    I missed.


    As expected, Dad dodged the blow.


    But also as expected, my attack ended right where my sword hadnded.


    And so as the trajectory brought me back to earth, I rolled and grabbed my sword along the way before springing back to my feet.


    Dad didn''t pursue. Instead, he stared at me with a proud look on his face and said, "You almost got me there, Rudy! See? You''re just as good as your old man was at that age!"


    "Oh shut up." I grumbled and walked back over to him. "Dammit. Now I have to figure out countermeasures for you working that into your footwork somehow in the future."


    "Ooh, thanks for the idea. That would definitely solve a few problems with Sword God techniques... Maybe dual-wielding would work then?"


    I sighed and walked back to the gate. As I did, Aisha giggled and ran towards me. "Big bro! Up!"


    I smiled at her and did as she asked. "You have fun watching, Aisha?"


    "Yeah! Swoosh, swoosh!" Aisha mimed swinging swords around and then gave me a bright smile. "Big bro, cool!"


    Dad walked over and then snatched Aisha from me. "But Daddy''s cooler, right, Aisha?"


    "Oi!"


    Aisha giggled and said, "Dadi zoom!"


    "That''s right, Aisha! Daddy goes zoom!" Dad smiled and then spun Aisha in the air.


    "Spin! Whee!"


    Mama Lily stared at Dad with nk eyes. And then she turned to look at me. "Rudy."


    I walked through the gate and nodded. "Yes, Mama Lily?"


    She nced at my wooden sword and said, "Do you mind if I borrow that for a while?" She shifted her gaze back to Dad and said, "I believe it is my turn for some practical training with your father."


    "Knock yourself out." I handed it over to her.


    Mama Lily took it with a smile. And then she quietly walked after Dad... who had started running around the outside of the gate again with Aisha around his shoulders.


    At that time, Mom walked over while holding Norn. "That father of yours still doesn''t know a shred of caution, does he?"


    I stretched and said, "Give Dad *some* credit. He knows better than to do something stupid with Aisha and upset Mama Lily."


    Mom giggled and said, "That''s true. She''s got him on a tighter leash than I do these days."


    I nodded and said, "Guilt is a very powerful noose."


    Especially for Dad. For him, the more responsible he became, the easier it was to guilt-trip him into doing things. And since he was doing his best to be a respectable and responsible Dad since Norn and Aisha were at that impressionable age... Well, guilt-trip was super-effective.


    "Mmhm." Mom let out a content smile and said, "It''s also very good leverage for getting your father to do what I want."


    Aaand that was officially too much information.


    Though it did exin why Mom was so insistent on learning wind and barrier magic.


    And why they moved Norn and Aisha to the room near me.


    And why Dad seemed so energetic and rxed these days-


    Oh.


    ...Guess Aisha was going to officially be a big sister sometime soon?


    I shook my head and then reached over to ruffle Norn''s hair. "How about you, Norn? I couldn''t beat Dad, but did I do good?"


    Norn giggled and said, "Rui, cool!"


    Momughed and said, "That''s right, Norn. Rudy was really cool, wasn''t he?" She tickled Norn''s chin and smiled.


    Norn giggled harder and then held out her arms to me. "Rui! Hug!"


    Mom''s smile widened and she held Norn out to me.


    "Geez." I picked Norn up and held her close. "You really are too cute, Norn."


    Aisha was like a little firecracker with how much energy she had, but Norn was like a giant ball of sunshine.


    She nuzzled against me and said, "Luv Rui."


    I paused and then looked at my mom.


    Mom blinked and tilted her head. "What is it, Rudy?"


    "...I know Dad says it''s bad to kill people, but hypothetically-"


    "No, Rudy. You can''t kill your sister''s future boyfriend."


    "I-I wasn''t going to ask that."


    Mom rolled her eyes and then grabbed Norn again. "No means no. Nowe on. They''ll probably be a while, so how about we get started on cooking dinner?" She shifted her attention back to Norn and said, "You want to help with that, Norn?"


    "U-Un!"


    Mom let out a happy squeal and hugged Norn tight. "Ooh, my Nornie is just the cutest!"


    "R-Rui..." Norn looked panicked and reached out for me again.


    I sighed and said, "Mom. You''re scaring Norn."


    "Oh! Sorry Nornie!" Mom set Norn down and said, "Here-"


    The moment Mom let Norn go, she ran and ducked behind me.


    Mom blinked.


    Iughed and then gently led Norn out from behind me, holding her hand. "Come on, Sis. I''ll protect you from our scary mom."


    "...Rui pwomise?"


    Kuh.


    "R-Rui...?"


    "Forget Mom." I straightened as much as I could and said, "Your big brother promises that he''ll protect you against the entire world, okay? So don''t you worry about a thing."


    "...Kay." Norn smiled and then moved closer to me and pointedly away from Mom.


    Mom huffed. "Fine. Mommy will just be sad by herself..."


    Norn tensed, ncing at Mom.


    I patted Norn''s head and said, "Don''t get fooled, Norn. The hug monster will get you if you aren''t careful. If you want to run around free, you have to know when she''s pretending. Like now."


    Norn looked at me with wide eyes and then gave a serious nod.


    Mom gasped. "Rudy!"


    "What? It''s true. Your happy hugs are dangerous."


    Especially with her generous assets. Those were enough to kill, you know?


    And apparently enough to kill for too, judging from Dad.


    ...Ah. Puberty was going to suck, wasn''t it?

 75 – Divergent Future

    75 ¨C Divergent Future


    "And that''s another one." Roxy picked up the magic stone from the corpse of the boar monster she killed and tucked it in her bag. After that, she wiped her forehead and took a look around.


    The forest by Buina vige. Since she was getting restless... and since she didn''t want Rudy to get inspired and start messing with things while he was recovering, Roxy headed off to experiment by herself using the pretense of patrolling to give Paul a day off.


    A gentle breeze blew past, causing the trees to sway and their leaves to shift, sending a few drifting down as they broke free.


    Roxy plucked one out of the air and smiled before letting it free. After that, she nced back at the corpse and sent out a burst of mes, incinerating it.


    There probably wouldn''t be an issue with just burying it or leaving it for other creatures to take care of it, but Roxy would rather not risk the chance of a mutated undead Terminate Boar emerging and wreaking havoc. So to make sure of that, she didn''t stop until the corpse was a pile of ashes.


    After it was though, Roxy continued on her way, moving deeper into the forest. As she did, she saw bright crimson lights scattered about. Rudy''s magic barriers.


    They worked fine. Since the intent was to keep Being W away from the area, the magic barriers flooded the area with holy mana to prevent Being W from using his.


    But that created a problem that Rudy didn''t ount for.


    A roar echoed from nearby and a lumbering brown mass charged towards Roxy. A bear... and one that had turned into a magical creature judging from the mana rolling off it.


    "Well." Roxy nced at the bear and pulled out a magic stone from her bag and held it out towards the bear. "As good a time as ever to test this out."


    Aplicated magic circle peeled away from Roxy''s <Magic Array> and wrapped around her hand.


    "Come forth, my magical guardian."


    A simple chantbined with aplicated magic circle. Then, with the magic stone as the fuel...


    The magic circle flew out from Roxy''s hand, along with the magic stone. Brilliant lights sshed, mana distorted... And then a silver blur shot out towards the bear.


    A soft *schnick* echoed. The sound of something being cleanly severed. After that, a pair of thuds. The two halves of the bear''s corpse.


    And then something flew back towards Roxy, gently floating around her and emitting a soft chime.


    "Hm?" Roxy blinked. "Are you what I summoned...?"


    A floating bundle of silver shards, rotating around a bright blue orb.


    "I didn''t have anything in mind when I cast the spell... but what are you? A spirit? An elemental?"


    The spirit pulsed and then let out a soft chime. After that, it floated over Roxy''s shoulder.


    "...Well. Whatever you are, I appreciate you answering my call."


    *sching*


    Roxy smiled and then looked around at Rudy''s magic barriers. "In the meantime... let''s go fix my disciple''s work. It''s no good to have it leak mana like this." She nced at her summon and said, "I''ll be counting on you to watch my back, okay?"


    *sching!*


    -LIV-


    A cozy home on the outskirts of Buina vige, close to the forest. There, a group of four people sat around the dining room table in a tense silence.


    Three in that group were a family. A beautiful mother, a dependable father, and a cute young daughter.


    The fourth was a visitor. Someone who sent a letter earlier to announce her presence. And someone who had just arrived that morning from Roa.


    "..."


    "..."


    A tense silence filled the room as Laws stared at the elf woman seated quietly across from them.


    She was the same as he remembered her. No, considering that he had been an infant at the time, Laws couldn''t be sure. But the fact that she wore a carved wooden ne that matched his own, and the fact that he felt nostalgia and happiness just from seeing her...


    A female elf with curled blonde hair. Beautiful crimson eyes that were currently filled with a strange emotion. A mix between happiness, regret, and pride.


    She was dressed modestly, wearing a simple gray robe. However, the robe hugged her figure, leaving nothing to the imagination.


    A fact that Rose had definitely picked up on but was carefully ignoring considering who their guest was.


    ...Sylphy seemed to be interested in the robe though for some reason.


    And that was the cue for Laws to break the tension before his cute daughter could get any more strange ideas into her head.


    "So," Laws said. "What brought you back here, Mother?"


    ''Mother.'' A simple word, but foreign to Laws. Because of that, as he said it, he instinctively pursed his lips, ufortable with the word.


    The elf woman let out a wry smile and said, "If it makes you ufortable, you can call me Rostelina. And I can just call you Laws, if you prefer."


    Laws shook his head. "No. It''s fine. I will... get used to it, Mother. Although..." He frowned and said, "The priest told me that my mother''s name was Elinalise?"


    "Ah." Rostelina let out an awkward smile and said, "It''s a long story. One that exins why I gave you up instead of raising you like I nned... but for now, would you introduce your family to me? I''d like to know the name of my son''s beautiful wife and daughter."


    "...Of course."


    Laws felt weird. Happy at the woman... No, at his mother''s eagerness to meet his family. But at the same time, it was odd.


    She was a stranger. She should be a stranger. And yet it felt like Laws had known her for his entire life.


    Was that just the natural bond between a parent and their child?


    If Luffy was separated from them at birth, would she recognize them if they reunited?


    Laws hoped that she would. Even if she didn''t, Laws would be happy just to see her again and how she had grown up.


    And that must be how his mother was feeling right now.


    Knowing that made Laws rx a little.


    Right. Even if he resented her a bit for abandoning him. Even if he had to grow up and sort things out for himself without parents to rely on, she had her own circumstances. And she was here now with the intent to reconnect.


    That was all that mattered.


    Besides. Rostelina was still better than Paul''s family in Roa.


    Laws wrapped one arm around Rose and said, "This is my beloved wife, Rose."


    Rose looked at Rostelina and bowed her head. "It''s nice to meet you, Miss Rostelina."


    Rostelina smiled and said, "It''s my pleasure. But Rose, is it?"


    "Hm?" Rose tilted her head and said, "Is something wrong with my name?"


    Rostelina waved her hand and said, "No, no. Just... a strange coincidence. Our names are fairly simr."


    Rose nodded and then smiled at Laws. "Then perhaps meeting Laws was fate?"


    Laws smiled andced his hand together with hers.


    Rostelina looked over to Sylphy and said, "And who is this beloved child?"


    "Ah." Laws looked over at Sylphy and said, "Luffy, why don''t you-?"


    "Miss Rostelina." Sylphy interrupted her father and tilted her head, carefully staring at Rostelina''s body.


    Laws frowned. "Luffy."


    Sylphy flinched, realizing that she spoke out of turn.


    Rostelina waved him down and said, "It''s fine, Laws." She looked back at Sylphy and said, "What is it, Dear?"


    Sylphy was hesitant, but then she nodded and said, "Are you really my grandmother?"


    Rostelina blinked and then sheughed. Letting out a warm smile, she said, "Yes. I suppose I am."


    Laws poked Sylphy and said, "Don''t be rude, Luffy. At least introduce yourself."


    "Oh." Sylphy bowed her head and said, "I''m sorry, Grandmother. My name is Sylphiette. But, um..." She looked back up and said, "Are you the reason why I have Demon God mana like Rudy? Because you have a little bit of it floating around inside of you too..."


    Silence.


    Laws narrowed his eyes and stared at his mother.


    He hadn''t noticed it earlier since he was still getting used to seeing mana and everything it meant. But now that it was pointed out...


    His mother''s mana was mostly an enchanting pink color. But there were flickers of silver and green mana flowing through her body as well. Especially centered around her abdomen.


    Rostelina blinked, confused as Sylphy and her family suddenly stared at her. And especially when they started staring at her abdomen.


    But then she turned a deep red and covered her face. "Oh my. I-I didn''t expect you all to be able to see it. This is embarrassing..."


    Sylphy frowned and said, "...Are you a vessel for the Demon God, Grandmother?"


    Rostelinaughed and said, "No, no. I didn''t expect that his mana would be visible or mistaken like that... But you''re mistaken. And quite a bit too young still to hear about the cause."


    Sylphy blinked, tilting her head in confusion.


    Rostelina pressed her hands on her red cheeks, letting out a shy smile.


    Laws''s eyes widened, suddenly realizing what his mother was implying. "Ahem." He cleared his throat and said, "I-In any case. It is great to finally reunite with you. Now, what brings you here to Buina vige after all these years?"


    "Well..." Rostelina lowered her hands and said, "I was nearby and I heard that my son had settled down with a family, so I wanted to visit. And... I wanted to apologize for not raising you like your siblings."


    Laws blinked. "Pardon. I have siblings?"


    Rostelina looked embarrassed. "Ah, well..." She nced over at Sylphy and said, "...This story may not be appropriate for my cute granddaughter?"


    "...Oh."


    Sylphy tilted her head.


    Rose stood up and grabbed Sylphy by the hand. "Let''s go practice some magic together, Luffy. Let your father and grandmother have some time to catch up in private."


    "But I want to hear what Grandmother has to say!"


    "It''s not a story for children-"


    "I''m mature enough! Mister Paul said that Asura Kingdom girls can be women when they''re ten! I''m much more mature than that!"


    "...It seems like I will need to have another chat with Paulter. But this isn''t a matter of maturity, Sylphy. It''s a secret between your father and grandmother, just like the secrets we keep."


    Laws blinked. Wait... What secrets?


    "Oh!" Sylphy nodded. "Okay then. ...I still want to know though."


    "No worries. I''ll wheedle it out of your fatherter. For now, let''s go y outside."


    "Okay~!"


    And like that, it was just Laws and his mother.


    An awkward silence filled the air.


    Laws stared at Rostelina.


    She stared back at him.


    Time passed. And then Rostelina sighed. "Well. I guess I should just say it?"


    Laws blinked. "Say what?"


    "You see. Your mother... That is, I..." Rostelina blushed and fidgeted in her chair. "...This is harder than I thought. I didn''t think I would be this embarrassed."


    Laws let out a kind smile and said, "It''s fine, Mother. I promise I won''t judge you harshly."


    After all. She couldn''t be any worse than Paul''s family, right?


    "Really?" Rostelina''s eyes widened and she let out a relieved smile. "Alright. Then up until when you were born, your mother was a whore."


    Laws''s smile froze. "P-Pardon?"


    Rostelina paused and said, "No, I guess that''s wrong since I paid them?" Rostelina tapped on her chin and said, "Well, I slept around a lot, did this and that with both men and women, spread my legs as a hobby-"


    "H-Hold on." Laws rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache starting. "I-I must be hearing you wrong. C-C-Could you start over?"


    T-There was no way, right?


    Even if he didn''t have a good opinion of the woman who abandoned him, something like this...


    "Oh, sure." Rostelina nodded and said, "Since we got that awkward bit out, I can say it easier this time. Put it bluntly, Laws... Your mother''s a retired slut."


    "...Perhaps I''ve judged Paul too harshly."


    "Ooh! Right. Before that kid got married to Zenny-"


    "STOP."


    Rostelinaughed.


    Laws covered his face and groaned.


    -LIV-


    In the Boreas Manor, three men sat around a round table, looking at each other.


    The first was a stern older man with graying hair. Lord Sauros Boreas Greyrat, the one who governed the entire Fedoa region.


    The second was a younger man with light brown hair and a genial smile. An expression that contrasted with his sharp narrowed eyes. Philip Boreas Greyrat.


    And the third was a man with an ambiguous age. His handsome face seemed young, but his silver hair and the wisdom in his deep green eyes were well beyond an ordinary youth. Pierre Simon.


    Sauros growled and said, "I still disapprove. That upstart brat... I just wanted to test him a bit because my arrogant nephew boasted so much. Then the kid runs his mouth and denies all my effort, saying the world isn''t so cruel... Bah."


    Philip chuckled and said, "Well, Father. I can''t deny that Rudy was a bit much that day. But I also heard that Father was quite wild when you were younger as well? And that you also shouted about changing the world and protecting the peasants?"


    "Tch." Sauros crossed his arms, growing silent.


    Philip smiled.


    The man who called himself Pierre looked at both Philip and Sauros before saying, "It seems that Rudy made quite an impression on you two."


    Sauros''s eye twitched and he said, "Shut up, fortune teller. You are already pushing your luck with the fact that I haven''t thrown you out the window by now, let alone allow you to stay in my home."


    Philip waved his hand and said, "Ignore Father. His ego is still a bit bruised at being beaten by a child."


    Sauros immediately jumped out of his chair and ran around to punch Philip. But right before he did, he paused.


    Philip blinked and said, "What? Are you not going to discipline me for my impertinence, Father?"


    "...I don''t feel like it anymore." Sauros grumbled and then walked back to sit in his chair.


    Pierre stared at Sauros and muttered, "So that''s where Eris inherited it."


    Philipughed and said, "Yes. My daughter does take after Father. A bit too much, I would say."


    Sauros huffed and looked at Philip. "If you set a stronger example instead of being a pushover, perhaps she would look to you instead."


    Philip gave his father a sidelong nce. "And if you didn''t pass over my efforts all the time and discipline me while letting my older brothers off, perhaps I would, Father."


    Sauros flinched and looked away.


    Philip smiled and turned back towards Pierre. "Well. Enough pleasantries. You said that you had something to report, Pierre?"


    "Mm." Pierre nodded and said, "I resolved the mana disturbance floating above Roa and routed out the rest of the rats Prime Minister Darius sent to try and abduct Eris."


    Sauros uncrossed his arms and turned serious. "So you confirmed it then?"


    Pierre nodded. "I did. But there isn''t enough proof to connect him. However..." He tapped his fingers against the table and said, "I did learn of another ploy. I am sure you are aware of the Purplehorse house?"


    Sauros''s eyes narrowed. "...Are you implying that fat bastard is going to try it on another ancient noble house?"


    "I''m not implying. I''m saying." Pierre leaned on the table and said, "Tristina Purplehorse, the first daughter of Viscount Freitas Purplehorse. Within the year, she will be kidnapped by Prime Minister Darius and forced to be his sex ve." His face twisted in disgust and he said, "If I could, I would go there right now to end that scum''s life. But if I show up, a powerful protector might spring up out of nowhere."


    Philip let out a dryugh and said, "Yes. I suppose if an Emperor-Ranked magician like yourself were to appear in the capital it wouldn''t be strange for people like the Sword God or Water God to emerge."


    Pierreughed as well and said, "Right? It wouldn''t be dangerous, but things would get pretty hectic. Not to mention that the puppetmaster behind the scene might decide to flip the table."


    "Hm..." Philip tapped the table, tilting his head in thought. And then he nodded. "You''re certain of this?"


    Pierre smiled. "Why? Do you not trust me, Mayor Philip?"


    "I don''t." Philip''s already narrowed eyes turned into slits. "Showing up at at time like this and giving advice while perfectly solving our key issues... I would be a fool if I were to trust you."


    "That''s fair. But advice is just advice." Pierre stood up and stretched. "You are more than free to ignore it. Of course." He looked at Sauros and said, "There are consequences. You would know that well, would you not, Lord Sauros?"


    Sauros rose to his feet and red at Pierre. "You are too arrogant, Magician."


    "If you think so, so be it. But regardless, my job here is done." Pierre stood up as well and looked off into the distance at a floating castle fortress in the sky. After that, he shook his head and walked off, his white coat trailing behind him as he did. Waving his hand, he said, "Send Eris on a trip to Buina vige with Ghyine. It''ll do everyone some good. Or don''t. At this point, it doesn''t really matter."


    The door shut behind Pierre.


    And then it was just Philip and Sauros.


    Sauros gnashed his teeth and said, "That arrogant bastard." He looked at Philip and said, "Don''t tell me you n on listening to him?"


    "Mm." Philip slowly nodded and said, "I don''t. It''s just too convenient. But if it is true... And if the Notos family are truly wrapped up with the Prime Minister as well..." He nced at Sauros and said, "Are you nning to run wild, Father?"


    "Of course!" Sauros growled and said, "That Pilemon is betraying his father''s memory by stooping to such depths. And for that fat bastard to dare...!" He gnashed his teeth.


    Philip chuckled. "Well. It seems that this is a perfect opportunity for my cousin. Weren''t the Notosining about Pilemon being a terrible leader? And if what Pierre said is true, with the Midsummer Festival being hosted by the Notos family this year and weing all the ancient noble houses..."


    Sauros paused and then said, "Those bastards are going to try and get away with it during the celebration. How sly."


    "Mm. All the more reason to get a foolishly honest person like my cousin at the helm, is it not?"


    "Hmph." Sauros spun around and started walking off. "...Keep it up, Son. Weak as you are, you show some promise."


    Sauros''s footsteps echoed before fading away. And then it was just Philip alone in the room.


    He sighed and said, "Weak... Yes. I''m as weak as ever. But..." He stood up and walked over to the window, staring out at the sky. "...Even weaklings have things they want to protect, Father. And if it takes underhanded tricks and relying on outside power to do so-"


    "Husband."


    A stern female voice.


    Philip turned around to see a beautiful woman with crimson hair walk in the room. Her violet dress trailed behind her as she entered.


    Hilda, his wife.


    Philip put on his usual genial smile and bowed his head. "Hilda. I''m sorry, the meeting went longer than-"


    "I heard from that man. Are you truly sending Eris away as well?"


    Silence.


    Hilda, staring at Philip with an unreadable expression.


    Philip turned around. "...You don''t need to go about this in such a roundabout manner, Hilda. If you are dissatisfied, you are free to leave." He waved his hand dismissively and said, "Take what you desire. You are young. Beautiful. And you have proven to be able to produce heirs."


    A cold and clinical speech.


    "I am sure that any man would-"


    Before Philip could finish, he felt someone grab his hand.


    Philip tensed and looked over to see Hilda standing there.


    She stared into his face and then sighed. After that, she let out a strained smile and said, "This is why Eris doesn''t respect you." She ced her hand on his cheek and said, "Husband. You promised me, didn''t you?"


    "..."


    "You said you would protect me and our family even if it cost you everything. But..." She lowered her hand and then reached down to grab Philip''s left hand, fiddling with the wedding ring he always wore. "You shouldn''t sacrifice your happiness so easily like this."


    Philip looked away and said, "That Pierre said some useless things to you, didn''t he?"


    "Only because my husband wears a mask too well. So... talk to me. Don''t hide your pain behind that smile and let me share it."


    "...Tch." Philip blinked away his tears and muttered, "That meddlesome bastard."


    -LIV-


    Lace rested his hand on the hilt of his sword as he walked out of Roa. "Hm..."


    Crimson light spread in front of him, tracing out a tree. But most of the branches were gone now, leaving just the trunk. Yet, even that was flickering, on the verge of blinking out.


    "...Seems like Being W''s made a reckless decision. Stopping future sight entirely can prevent the future from being locked-in, sure. But this is a pretty big gamble, you know?"


    Silence.


    Lace tapped on his sword and then shrugged. "Well. That guy''s probably going to try something big, but it''ll take time. For now..." He nced at Buina vige and muttered, "I''ll let my beloved assistant reconnect with her family and leave Rudy alone. Since we''re running off-script now... I should make some preparations. I managed to stop ''that'' for now, but it still needs to happen in order for the way to cut that bastard down to open. And with the distortions the way they are, it''s inevitable... but there''s no reason as many people should die this time around."


    Silence, with nothing but the sound of Lace''s footsteps as he walked off.


    "I should probably prepare for the worst case scenario of Rudy developing Viral Magic and Necromancy as well. That was a mess to clean up... The Magic Knight probably won''t happen, but the Conqueror might emerge at this rate. Demon Lord is unlikely, but I should make sure to clear things up with Perugius-"


    Lace paused and then let out a sigh. "...And I need to stop this habit of talking to myself." He shook his head and then swept his sword.


    Space cracked, for a moment scattering crystal shards that showed various incarnations of Rudy in each one. But then Lace stepped through the crack in space, vanishing along with the shards.


    -LIV-


    I paused, suddenly feeling a strange sensation in my chest. A flicker of anxiety. I frowned and then looked out the window of the living room.


    "Rui?" Norn tugged my shirt and said, "Okay?"


    I smiled and patted Norn''s head. "I''m fine, Norn. Now, I was showing you some magic, right?"


    Norn smiled and pped her hands. "Bubble!"


    Iughed and held up my hands. "Alright, bubbles it is. Now, watch closely... Nothing in my hands. Nothing behind my back. And now... sploosh!"


    I waved my hand, causing thousands of tiny water balls to float in the air.


    Norn giggled and reached out to grab them.


    I smiled, releasing my hold on the water balls so that they would turn back into water when Norn grabbed them.


    Except, they didn''t.


    I froze, staring at Norn.


    She gave me a bright smile and held up her hand, holding a bundle of unpopped water balls. Water balls with mana maintaining their shape.


    Mana that was clearlying from Norn.


    "Rui! Did it!"


    "Y-Yeah. Ahaha... You... You certainly did..."


    Alright.


    So either Norn was aplete magical genius that put even Sylphy to shame when it came to mana maniption...


    Or mana radiation was a thing and my stupidly dense mana was affecting the people around me in ways that I didn''t expect.


    I wasn''t sure which was worse.


    "Rui! Cach!" Norn giggled and threw the water balls at me.


    Iughed, doing my best to keep a straight face, and caught the water balls. "Good job, Norn! Now, how about we-"


    Before I could finish, Norn let out a deep yawn and then started rubbing her eyes. "Rui. Seepy..." She reached out to me and said, "Hug?"


    "Of course." I pulled Norn into a hug. And then she instantly fell asleep.


    Which of course caused all the water balls to fall on the ground with a soft ssh.


    Wait.


    "Rudy." Mom''s voice echoed from the kitchen.


    I lifted Norn up and then looked towards the kitchen. "Y-Yes, Mom?"


    "I know you love your cute baby sister... But what did we say about using magic?"


    I sighed. "I''m not allowed to. But it was only a little!"


    "Then it''s only a little bit longer that you''re going to be grounded."


    "...That''s fair." I sighed again and then walked Norn over to her room to put her to bed. "...At least I can work on magic circles in the meanwhile."


    Technically that wasn''t using any of my mana, so it would be fine.


    ...Technically.

 76 – Ticking Clock

    76 ¨C Ticking Clock


    "Big bro! Up, up!" Aisha giggled and then held out her hands to me.


    I smiled and lifted her up in my arms. "You really like being carried, don''t you Aisha? Aren''t you scared that I''ll drop you?"


    "Big bro, strong! Nah scared!"


    "That''s quite a bit of faith. It''s hard to live up to such high expectations, you know?"


    "Is kay! I trust!" Aisha giggled and then nuzzled against my chest.


    I smiled wider. And then I realized someone was staring at me. My dad, giving me a nk stare.


    I shifted Aisha around to make her morefortable and said, "What, Dad? Jealous that Aisha likes me more?"


    "...No." He slowly shook his head and said, "I''m just still surprised at how many genius kids I have."


    "Mm." I nodded and looked at Aisha before bopping her nose. "Little Aisha really is a smart little bean. Aren''t you Aisha?"


    "No!" Aisha squirmed and said, "No poke nose! Bad Big Bro!"


    Iughed and then took a look around.


    A bright and sunny morning, with clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds drifting past.


    Because of me using magic to have fun with Norn the other day, I was grounded even longer. Meaning that I had to find other ways to preupy myself.


    At first, I started delving into magic circle designs and potentially working out synergies between spells and seeing if I could make essentially a magicputer that powered itself with ambient mana.


    But that led to a dead end real quick since I didn''t have any material that could draw mana in to use for itself. And I couldn''t manipte it without using my own mana.


    Nobody would notice if I did. And it technically wasn''t using my mana since I was just moving stuff by using mana resonance... or whatever was letting me move external mana.


    Still needed to research that too and why it was a thing.


    But anyway, I would know. And considering how easily I was slipping up these days, I decided it was better not to risk it.


    Anyway, magic research was no good and I didn''t feel like doing it anyway if I couldn''t apply it right away. And since I passed off some ideas to Master Roxy the other day, she was out of the house all of the time and lost in her own magical research.


    Like that cute floating blob of steel following her around that she summoned while patrolling in the forest.


    ...Totally wasn''t jealous at all.


    So. I thought about training with Dad. But that guy got a jump in abilities since he picked up <Mage Sight> and was busy experimenting on his own now that he could see his own mana.


    That, and Mama Lily was hogging Dad''s time by insisting that she got training as well.


    By the time they finished, Dad was tired and just wanted to y with my cute sisters... Like we were doing right now.


    Pretty much everyone else was out of the house on various errands.


    Mom had her work at the clinic that she had been putting off for a while, Mama Lily needed to pick up groceries, and Master Roxy was ying around with the spirit that she had summoned the other day.


    Sylphy wasn''t here today because her grandmother apparently showed up to visit and they were going to spend a few days to reconnect.


    I was pretty curious about it, actually. Since Sylphy was a half-elf and that good at magic, I wondered if it was gic.


    ...Or if my whole hypothesis about mana radiation was a thing and resulted in her being able to use magic like that.


    Still hoping mana radiation wasn''t a thing, because that was a giant can of worms and a massive headache I didn''t want to think about.


    But anyway, it was just me, Dad, and my baby sisters back at home. And since it was nice out, we were ying by Mom''s tree instead of cooping ourselves up inside.


    Norn tugged Dad''s shirt and then pointed at me. "Papa. Up?"


    Dad let out a bright smile and then swooped Norn up in the air. "There you go, Norn-"


    "Kyaaaa!"


    Norn screamed and then started squirming! "No! Down! Down!"


    Dad froze.


    Aisha giggled and said, "Big sis scared!"


    Norn quickly nodded her head and said, "Scared! Down!"


    With a stiff smile, Dad set Norn down. The moment he did, Norn dashed over to me and hugged my leg.


    Dad sighed and said, "Seems like my genius son is more interesting than this old man."


    I set Aisha down and then pulled Norn into a one-armed hug. After that, I looked at my dad and said, "While that''s probably true, it''s more like you don''t know how to be careful around children."


    "But Aisha likes it when I spin her around!" Dad looked at Aisha and said, "Don''t you, Aisha?"


    Aisha giggled and then ran over to him, holding out her arms. "Spin! Da, spin!"


    Dad grinned and scooped her up, twirling her around.


    Aisha giggled even harder and let out happy screams.


    Norn trembled and hugged me tighter. "...Rui. No spin?"


    I patted her head and said, "Don''t worry, Norn. I''ll keep you safe from the spin monster too."


    Norn giggled and then looked up at me. Smiling shyly, she held out her arms and said, "Rui hug?"


    "Of course!" I smiled and then gently lifted her up, making sure to hold onto her carefully.


    Norn smiled and then turned around to look at Dad and Aisha.


    ...Who were still spinning.


    I frowned and said, "Dad. You do know that Mama Lily is going to be mad at youter, right?"


    Dad slowly came to a stop, hugging Aisha to his chest.


    My youngest sister kept giggling, her cute crimson eyes moving from side to side, still stuck in spinning mode. "Speen. Heehee..." She giggled again and then started swaying back and forth, almost like she was drunk.


    I sighed.


    Dad put on a proud smile and said, "It''s fine! As long as my cute daughter''s happy, I can take any punishment! Right, Aisha?"


    "Yeah! Happy!"


    "See?"


    I shook my head and then sat down, shifting Norn to sit on myp.


    Seeing that, Dad walked over to sit beside me and set Aisha down on hisp too.


    ...And then she promptly started to tilt, her eyes still spinning.


    "Whoops!" Dad quickly caught her and leaned back. "Just close your eyes and rx until things stop spinning, Aisha."


    "Kay~!"


    Aisha closed her eyes and then leaned back against my dad, her body still subtly swaying.


    Dad made sure to keep a firm hold of her though so she didn''t tip over.


    Seeing that, Norn''s eyes widened and she looked up towards me.


    I patted her head and said, "Rx. Your big brother''s here to protect you from our reckless father."


    Dad pouted and said, "I''m not *that* reckless. Besides, kids are tough, you know? A little spinning around along with scrapes and bruises won''t do any harm."


    "...Well. I can see where Aisha gets her mischief from."


    Dad stuck out his tongue.


    I rolled my eyes and said, "Aren''t you supposed to set a proper role model, Dad?"


    "Meh." He started tidying Aisha''s hair and said, "It''s fine. Both your moms are strict enough. I figured that I might as well be the cool and fun parent." He tickled Aisha and said, "It''s no good to be serious all the time. Right, Aishy-poo?"


    "Heehee!" Aisha giggled and the started squirming. "Stop! No tickle!"


    Dadughed and then stopped, carefully hugging Aisha against him. After that, he put on a serious face and then looked at me. "I''m surprised though. I didn''t think that you and Norn would be so close."


    "Hm?" I frowned and looked down at Norn. "...I don''t think I''m particrly close with her though? Not more than Aisha, anyway? Right, Norn?"


    Norn blinked and tilted her head, confused.


    "...Never mind." I smiled and patted her head. "Don''t worry about it, Norn."


    "Kay, Rui."


    Dad pointed at me and said, "See. That. You''re really protective with Norn and not Aisha. Could it be... is my responsible son ying favorites?"


    I rolled my eyes. "I''m not ying favorites. It''s just that Aisha can take care of herself. Right, Aisha?"


    Aisha gave me a wide smile and nodded. "Aisha smart! Big bro, trust me!"


    "See?"


    Dad gave me a nk stare and said, "...Weren''t you the one who got upset at getting expectations put on you for being a genius?"


    "Yep!"


    "And you''re saying you don''t need to worry about your smart baby sister... because she''s a genius?"


    "Hey now, I''m not like you. I''m not having unreasonable expectations that Aisha is a genius. She''s just smarter than your average two year old and knows how to not get hurt."


    Dad nodded and said, "That''s true. When you were around her age, you somehow broke your leg and arm, after all."


    I felt my face heat up and said, "That was an ident! I overestimated myself."


    Norn tugged on my shirt and said, "Rui, hurt?"


    "It''s fine, Norn. Nothing a little magic couldn''t fix."


    Norn frowned but then nodded.


    Dad chuckled and said, "Well. It''s good that we have so many magic users around now, don''t we?" He ruffled Aisha''s hair and said, "A little gremlin like you''s going to need it. Aren''t you, Aisha?"


    "No! Bad Da! No mess hair!"


    Iughed, watching Dad and Aisha mess around.


    -LIV-


    Thezy and happy days continued to pass.


    Maybe since I had gone through a lot recently, my parents and Master Roxy left me alone while they went about their own things.


    They still kept me informed, of course. Being W didn''t just disappear, even if he was being quiet.


    But for the most part, it settled into a routine where I spent my days like a kid would and just yed games or read stories to my cute baby sisters.


    Master Roxy joined us every now and then to show off some new magic and her new spirit friend... Who she still hadn''t named yet.


    She also used the time to not so discreetly check to make sure I was letting my mana and body rest properly.


    Other than that though, she was cooped up in her room or roaming around doing research into summoning magic.


    ...Maybe I shouldn''t have casually mentioned how space and time were interconnected and that you could probably use mana as a marker to bridge the gaps?


    Still, the fact that I wasn''t seeing Master Roxy as often was helping me to pull my act together regarding my feelings towards her.


    Sylphy too. Since she was busy showing her grandmother around, she hadn''t been around recently. Because of that distance, I was able to get a handle on sorting all of my emotions towards her.


    Which meant I needed to talk with her about it soon.


    That... would be a conversation.


    But it would be fine.


    Right, Rudy?


    Right, me.


    ...Anyway, about a week passed. We were in the middle of spring, with blooming flowers and budding tree leaves.


    My mana was fully topped up. The minor aches and pains that I didn''t even realize I had from straining my body fighting against Orsted werepletely gone. As a result, I felt stronger than ever. Top of the world.


    Of course, I was still grounded from using mana or magic.


    But that was fine.


    To be fair, I had been on full-tilt grind mode since I was born, so taking it easy for a while was good. It also meant that I was ready to tackle whatever curveball life or Being W threw at me.


    It was morning, with a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On a day like this...


    I threw off my nket and hopped out of bed. After that, I pped my hands on my cheek and nodded. "Alright. No more procrastinating."


    I''d had my fun ying with Norn and Aisha. I was healed up. My mana was topped off. And I felt the best I''d ever felt.


    So there weren''t any excuses anymore.


    Grabbing the gray scarf Mama Lily made for me and the wand Master Roxy made for me, I walked out of my room.


    The house was quiet. My parents were still fast asleep, and it was too early for Norn and Aisha to be awake yet. Even so, I could hear the faint sounds of pages turning and a quill scratching across parchment.


    Master Roxy, taking meticulous notes as always.


    Hearing that, I walked over to her room and said, "Master Roxy. I''m heading out to visit Sylphy."


    Silence. And then Master Roxy''s groggy voice called out. "Be careful. If something happens, send out a fireball. Master wille running right away."


    "I''ll be fine, Master... But I''ll be careful. Let my parents and my sisters know, okay? I''ll be back by noon."


    "Don''t pull a Paul, Rudy." Master Roxy yawned and then said, "Love you and stay safe."


    I felt a sharp barb in my heart at the casual way she said that. The way that a sister would say to her kid brother heading out for the day.


    Iughed to clear up that pain and then said, "I will. Love you too, Master Roxy. See youter!"


    With those words, I quickly ran out of the house.


    Gah. Stupid.


    Can''t even me hormones or anything since you''re not in puberty. Nope, just you.


    Saying ''I love you'' so easily back to Master Roxy... What are you going to say if she brings it upter to tease you, huh?


    I sighed and pulled my scarf up to hide my face. After that, I started my trek to Sylphy''s house.


    She actually lived pretty far away from us on foot. We usually flew back super fast so it only took a few minutes, but it was still a decent chunk of time to walk over.


    Which meant it was just me, myself, and I.


    I wrapped my hands around the back of my head and looked up at the sky. "Seven- No, almost eight years, huh?"


    My birthday should being up soon in the summer.


    That meant it had been eight years since I was reborn in this world as Rudeus Greyrat. Eight years since I got my second chance at life.


    "...I haven''t thought about it much, but I''ve changed quite a bit, haven''t I?"


    I had made peace with my past life. While I didn''t know the exact circumstances of how I saw it, I knew that my parents and siblings in my former life would be fine.


    The regrets I had from then were cleared up too... Mostly.


    Making my parents proud. Taking care of my siblings... While I didn''t have any older siblings in this life, I could at least make sure to not let down my cute baby sisters.


    Not only that, I felt like I had aplished things. All the research into magic, making friends with Sylphy, keeping my family together through all the rough times... Even dealing with Being W.


    There were still a lot of things up ahead, but like this...


    "Yeah. I''m pretty satisfied."


    A sense of fulfillment I never experienced in my past life. Unconditional love from everyone around. A strong supportwork I could lean on and trust to have my back. And maybe even...


    I shook my head, ignoring the heat in my face from thinking of two girls. "Gah. This is the problem with too much spare time."


    I needed to get busy again soon. Rxing was good, but at this rate I''d turn into an old man who would just sit contentedly and watch life past.


    That wasn''t good.


    There were still dangers out there. The sense of urgency was gone since nothing had happened, but that made it more dangerous.


    I couldn''t ck. While I had others I could depend on, if I wasn''t careful, I would slide back to my old habits and leech off of them.


    No good. Definitely no good.


    I pped my cheeks and then nodded. "Alright. Let''s hurry up and go talk to Sylphy."


    After that conversation... Well, I didn''t know how it would end up. But life should get a lot more fun.


    Maybe?


    Hopefully?


    ...Either way, things were going to change around here, and I couldn''t wait.


    W-Well, I could since I didn''t know what to do really, but...


    Argh, whatever! Let''s just get this over with!


    I shook my head and then started sprinting.


    Maybe that would get rid of some of this nervous energy.


    -LIV-


    A horse-drawn carriage, making its way from Roa to Buina vige.


    Inside of it, Eris crossed her arms, scowling as she stared at the grassy ins passing by. "...I still don''t understand it. That guy doesn''t like me anyway, and he definitely doesn''t like me after I hurt that elf girl, right? Why does Dad still want to send me to him?"


    Ghyine shrugged and leaned against the side of the carriage. "Whatever the case, on paper you are still engaged to Paul''s kid. I''ve heard that those sorts of noble engagements are pretty important, so Master Philip might just be worried about how it will look for you if you aren''t with him."


    "Hmph." Eris uncrossed her arm and started fiddling with her sword. "Well... I guess it''s fine. You''re sure that he''s strong, Ghyine?"


    "With a sword... Decent. With magic... a monster." Ghyine frowned and rubbed the eyepatch over her right eye.


    At that time, a good-heartedugh echoed from the front of the carriage. After that, the carriage driver turned back to look inside at Eris and Ghyine.


    He was a man with a monkey-like face, wearing a fur vest and ck trouser outfit that made him look more like a bandit than an adventurer. The appearance of someone who couldn''t be trusted. But the warm and amiable smile on his face softened that appearance.


    "Careful now, Ghyine. You don''t want to cause a jinx."


    Ghyine shook her head and said, "You''re still on about that sort of stuff, Gisu?"


    The man, Gisu,ughed and said, "A jinx is a jinx. You shouldn''t take them lightly, you know? Like how everything always went right when you made decisions and wrong when you didn''t."


    Ghyine''s ear twitched and she said, "Then are you saying this is going to end poorly because I would have chosen to stay in Roa with Eris?"


    Gisu turned back to look at the front and shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not." He chuckled and said, "If you''re lucky, there might be some divine intervention to make things work, you know?"


    Eris huffed and said, "Stop talking about weird stuff I don''t understand, monkey man!"


    Gisuughed. "Whatever you say, Red."


    "My name is Eris!"


    Gisu paused and then turned around to look at Eris.


    Eris red at him. "What? Something funny?"


    "...No. But talk about a major jinx." He shook his head and turned back to face the front. "Having a name that means ''strife'' is about the worst jinx you could get."


    Eris started gnashing her teeth and reached for her sword.


    "Eris."


    She paused and looked over at Ghyine.


    Ghyine shook her head and said, "Do you remember what you promised?"


    Eris leaned back in the carriage and crossed her arms. "...No violence. But he started it!" She pointed at Gisu and said, "What am I supposed to do about idiots who run their mouths like that?"


    Gisu chuckled. "An idiot, huh? Well, I suppose that''s kind of true."


    Ghyine shook her head and then looked at Eris. "Listen closely, Eris. As an adventurer, you''ll end up meeting all sorts of people... Like this gambler who likes swindling people of their money." She pointed at Gisu.


    "Rude! I always made more money than I took from you guys, you know?"


    Eris frowned, but she focused on Ghyine. "So?"


    "So you''ll need to learn to tolerate them. Especially people like Paul. You see, when I was your age..."

 77 – Child – What is love?

    77 ¨C Child ¨C What is love?


    I came to a stop, slowly catching my breath.


    A simple log cabin house. Since it was early, Mister Laws should be home... Or so I thought. But the usual bow that he kept by the window was gone, so it seemed like he left out for patrol early today.


    Maybe he wanted some time to think for himself before dealing with Dad? The few times I had seen Mister Laws recently, he *had* looked pretty haggard. Almost like he had his world shattered.


    Well, not that serious. But it was the expression that was kind of like seeing your favorite anime get a live action Netfl*x adaptation and then ruining your childhood memories.


    Or something.


    It looked like Miss Rose was up though. I could hear pots ttering, and there was the yummy scent of cooking stew in the air.


    ...Or maybe it was just meat. I wasn''t too sure about these sorts of things.


    ...And I was procrastinating again.


    I adjusted my scarf and then closed my eyes to take a deep breath and calm down.


    This was important, Rudy. You can''t just go and rush in. Don''t be like Dad. Make sure to be calm and collected and-


    The front door mmed open and then a happy squeal echoed. Shortly after, a mature female voice spoke up, saying, "Oh my lord! You *are* cute!"


    Eh?


    Before I could process what was going on, someone ran forward and swept me in a tight hug, pressing my face against something soft.


    A familiar experience. It happened whenever Mom got too excited and hugged me.


    ...Of course, it also meant that I was being smothered and couldn''t breathe.


    "Mmph! Mm, mm!" I tried squirming to get out of the woman''s grasp.


    But as expected of someone who gave a hug to rival my mom''s, she was surprisingly strong.


    Fortunately, it seemed like she didn''t have as big of a chest as Mom so I could manage to get a few breaths in by turning to the side instead of getting a face full of squishiness.


    But seriously, who was this? She seemed vaguely familiar for some reason, but...


    "Grandma! No! Let go of Rudy!"


    Sylphy''s voice called out, and then I heard light footsteps rush over. At the same time, a gust of wind formed between me and the oppressive deadly assets, giving me some air.


    Light peals ofughter echoed, and then the tight grasp around me suddenly vanished, sending me flying back.


    I quickly righted myself, trying to steady my body. But feeling the wind pull me away, I decided to just go with the flow.


    Sure enough, I was swept away to gentlynd beside Sylphy... Who hade outside sometime between me getting smothered by the mysterious overly affectionate... elf woman?


    I blinked and stared at the person who had been hugging me.


    She was pretty. Light blonde hair, crimson eyes and cherry lips. Her skin waspletely pristine too, without a single blemish or wrinkle. Paired with her revealing outfit, a light green blouse and too short skirt, she gave off lewd ''onee-chan'' vibes.


    Wait. This was Sylphy''s grandma?


    I blinked again and tilted my head, still trying toe to terms with that fact.


    I mean, I got the fact that this was a fantasy JRPG type world a long time ago. Kind of hard not to what with magic and Dad being able to do stupidly superhuman feats with just a stick.


    But this beautifuldy who could walk down the street and pick up literally any guy... was Sylphy''s grandma?


    Wasn''t Mister Laws around Dad''s age? That would make him... 25 or something, right?


    Low-balling it...


    Oh. Thedy was probably only around 40, so that made sense.


    I felt a sharp jab in my side. I blinked and turned to see Sylphy looking away, pouting.


    The elf woman... Sylphy''s grandma raised her hand up to her mouth andughed. She smirked and then said, "My, my, Sylphy. Are you jealous that your grandma''s going to steal your Rudy away from you?"


    "N-No." Sylphy quickly shook her head and looked at me. When she did, her face turned red and she looked back at her grandma. "But... You''re being too clingy. Maybe you''re trying to corrupt him with that Demon God mana!"


    I blinked and then said, "I... feel like I''m missing a lot of context here, Sylphy."


    Sylphy''s grandmaughed and said, "Don''t mind her, Sweetie. I think I''ve just been teasing her a bit too much these past few days."


    A deep sigh echoed from inside the house, shortly followed by Miss Rose''s voice. "Between you and what Paul has said, I would be surprised if Sylphy wasn''t feeling a bit insecure. Honestly, trying to teach about ''that'' to a girl this young..."


    Miss Rose stepped out of the house and then looked at me, smiling. "It''s nice to see you again, Rudy. How are Norn and Aisha?"


    I smiled back and waved. "They''re doing fine, Miss Rose. Norn''s actually been asking about you a bit. It seems like she misses you."


    Miss Rose smiled and said, "Well then. I''ll have toe visit soon."


    "You should! But, um..." I looked towards Sylphy''s grandma and said, "Who are you again? I''m Rudy, but I don''t think we''ve met...?"


    Sheughed and said, "You look a lot like him, but you''re pretty different, aren''t you? But I suppose you haven''t had as many life experiences, so it makes sense... And you''re only half of him too."


    Miss Rose snorted and said, "Thank Milis for that. If Rudy was anything more like his father, I''d be worried."


    Sylphy''s grandma smiled and then walked over to me, stooping down to eye level. Smiling, she patted my head and said, "My name''s Rostelina, Rudy. But you can call me Mommy if you want."


    "What?"


    Miss Rose red at Sylphy''s grandma and said, "No flirting with children!"


    "I''m not flirting, dear. But fine. I''ll tone it down a bit." Rostelinaughed and then stood back up. After that, she smiled and said, "Just call me Lina, Rudy. That''s what your father and mother called me anyway."


    "Huh? Mom and Dad know you?"


    Rostelinaughed and said, "Well now. It seems like Paul''s number two as always. But he did seem to like being on the bottom more than-"


    "AHEM." Miss Rose cleared her throat and red at Rostelina.


    Rostelina pouted and said, "Fine, fine. Geez. No wonder Lawsy is so uptight. And no wonder Sylphy''s an only child. You seriously need to loosen up a bit more, Rosie."


    "And Mother-inw needs to be more proper." Miss Rose sighed and then looked at me. "In any case..." She smiled and said, "Are you here to take Luffy out to y, Rudy?" She looked over at Sylphy and said, "Luffy has been a bit lonely without you around, so that would cheer her up."


    Sylphy pouted just like Rostelina did and said, "I haven''t!"


    Miss Rose gave Sylphy a nk stare and then turned to look at me. "...Her grandmother has also been a bad influence, so I would greatly appreciate you taking her away from here."


    Rostelina rolled her eyes. "Come now, Rosie. We both know girls mature sooner than boys. Not to mention that having so much mana can speed up the process and-"


    "And I would greatly appreciate mother-inw helping me cook this lovely meat pie so that we can have dinner together with the Greyrats this evening."


    "Fine, fine... Geez." Rostelina shook her head and walked back inside the house. "Making these old bones move around like this... Some daughter-inw you are."


    "If a beautiful woman like you can be considered a bag of bones, then every women in the world has no meaning, Mother-inw." Rose sighed and followed Rostelina back into the house.


    Rostelina''sughter echoed from inside the house. Shortly after, she said, "True. I *am* gorgeous."


    "...How did a woman like you produce my beloved and upright husband...?"


    "Funny you mention that. Laws''s father was-"


    The door mmed shut.


    And then it was just me and Sylphy standing outside.


    I turned to look at her and said, "Uh. Your grandmother is... interesting?"


    Sylphy let out a deep and exasperated sigh. "Ignore her. Grandma is weird."


    "Yeah. I can see that."


    Rostelina was definitely a lot different from both Mister Laws and Sylphy.


    ...Though I could kind of understand how Mister Laws grew up as an orphan if the vibe I was getting from Rostelina was correct.


    Then again, she seemed to know Mom and Dad.


    And Dad specifically.


    ...Let''s not open that can of worms.


    Sylphy smiled at me and said, "So are we going out to y, Rudy?" Sheced her hands behind her back and moved to my right side. "Are you finally not grounded from using magic?"


    Iughed. "No. I''m fine now, but I''ve been worrying everyone a lot too, so I think I''ll dy that a bit longer."


    "Mm... If that''s what you want. But it''s okay to be a bit more selfish, you know? If Rudy wants to use magic, I''lle help you argue to be ungrounded."


    I smiled and then pulled Sylphy into a hug. "Thank you, Sylphy."


    "You''re wee!" Her smile widened and she leaned into me. But then she broke away and spun, turning around to look at me. "So what are we doing on this pretty day, Rudy? Tag? Treasure hunting?"


    "Um... We can. B-But there''s something I wanted to talk with you about today, Sylphy."


    "Hm?" She tilted her head and looked at me. "...Is something wrong?" She frowned and walked over, cing her hand over my forehead. "Are you still sick?"


    I felt my face heat up and stepped back. "N-No. Not at all. Just... Um. H-How about we walk first? We can talk as we go."


    Sylphy frowned, staring into my eyes. But then she slowly nodded and said, "Okay. But if you''re pushing yourself again, I''m going to punish you."


    Iughed. "Who do you think I am, Dad? Besides." I poked Sylphy''s cheeks and said, "My best friend''s too nice to do anything mean to me, right?"


    Sylphy''s eyes widened and then she blushed, turning away. "Rudy''s the mean one. It''s not fair to tease me like that. You know I can''t hurt you."


    Iced my hands behind my neck and started walking. "Right now, maybe. But in a few years, I''m pretty sure you''ll give me a run for my money."


    Sylphy moved to my side and huffed. "I was being sarkestic!"


    "It''s sarcastic. And I think you''re using that wrong."


    "Hmph." Sylphy huffed again and then crossed her arms, walking beside me in silence. She looked angry with a frown on her face. But from the way she kept looking at me and the way her lips kept twitching up, she really wasn''t.


    I smiled and then continued walking.


    Afortable silence. A gentle spring breeze blew past, ruffling my scarf as well as Sylphy''s light green hair.


    It was nice. As usual, spending time with Sylphy made me happy. Hearing her voice, seeing her smile... Just seeing her in general.


    And from how happy she looked, it seemed the same was true for her.


    But...


    Sylphy nced over at me, suddenly catching my gaze. Her eyes, a beautiful crimson hue like glittering rubies. A pretty face that was sure to be a great beauty in the future.


    I wasn''t like my dad who saw girls for their appearances first. ...Specifically two big appearances up top.


    But I couldn''t deny the fact that Sylphy wasn''t just pretty, but she was really pretty. Enough to where I was sure any person who saw her would look twice.


    That, paired with the fact that she always supported me and was such a big part of my life...


    "Rudy?" Sylphy tilted her head, frowning. "Is something on my face?"


    "Only beauty- I-I mean, no! Nothing''s on your face!"


    Dammit, Rudy! Stop it! No flirting! Bad!


    "H-Huh?" Sylphy''s cheeks turned red and she started shifting in ce. "T-Thank you?"


    Look! You made things awkward!


    I coughed and said, "A-Anyway... U-Um..."


    W-What do I say now?


    Come on, Brain. Don''t fail me here! You can calcte theplex integrations and transformations necessary to create three-dimensional models of 4D space, so figure out a way out of this mess!


    ...


    ...


    ...


    I coughed again and said, "N-Nice weather we''re having?"


    @#$@#%!


    Sylphy giggled and then nodded. "It really is nice out." She covered her eyes with her hand and stared out into the distance.


    Phew! Crisis averted. Now to think about how to bring up that chat-


    Sylphy turned back to look at me, a bright and warm smile on her face. "But every day with Rudy is nice."


    ...


    "R-Rudy?! You''re not breathing! Did something happen again?"


    I coughed. "N-No. I''m fine-"


    "You''re coughing a lot too! Did you get sick?" She frowned and said, "You haven''t been staying up superte with Miss Roxy, have you? I know that you like magic research, but rest is important too!" She lowered her gaze and said, "I don''t want to see Rudy sick again."


    *badump*


    Gah! Dead! Critical hit!


    I was not prepared for this!


    Is this why they emphasized EQ more recently before I died? Because no amount of studying prepared me for this direct feels attack. Holy crap.


    "...Rudy?"


    I closed my eyes and held out my hand. "H-Hold on. I need a moment to gather my thoughts."


    "E-Eh? Um... okay?" Sylphy sounded confused. But she stood still and waited.


    At least I think she stood still and waited. Couldn''t see because eyes were covered and all.


    But that helped. Since it was dark, I could think things through.


    Alright.


    Okay.


    So.


    Definitely liked Sylphy. My heart''s definitely pounding after all of that, and I definitely andpletely scatterbrained right now because of how happy I''m feeling.


    No, no. That''s just the burst of feel-good chemicals scattering your brain, Rudy. Serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine.


    Remember, emotions are just a construct of the mind. Humans are rational machines that can ovee such feeble and fleeting phenomenon by-


    ...Gah, who am I kidding? This isn''t working.


    I like Sylphy.


    I like Sylphy a lot.


    It was different than with Master Roxy.


    With Master Roxy, my heart definitely raced. And I definitely liked her too. I appreciated how kind she was in listening to me and how smart she was. I also enjoyed talking with her about magic and spending time together.


    But I always felt a bit ufortable with her. Mostly because we weren''t equals.


    Master Roxy was Master Roxy. I liked her... maybe even loved her, but there was a distance there that I couldn''t cross.


    But Sylphy...


    We started off as friends.


    ...No, I guess it was more like me swooping in to save her. But Sylphy wasn''t a maiden in distress. At least, not after that.


    Picking up magic with ease. Chatting with me about various things and supporting me as much as I supported her.


    We were both alone and friendless, but we became each other''s best friends. And we made each other better too.


    I was sure of it. If Sylphy wasn''t here, I would have devolved into a person who did nothing but study magic. Who knows what kind of rabbit holes I would have delved into?


    But she was here. Sylphy, my supportive best friend who yed games with me every day. Who invited me over a few times to read books together and just spend the day chatting. Who stood by my side when I was unconscious and then continued reassuring me even when I was terrified from being blind and the residual nightmares of whatever Being W tried to do that time.


    Someone who I couldn''t imagine life without.


    ...But someone who was still just a child.


    Like me.


    It was still too early for this.


    We were both young. Barely even eight years old. And while I knew my feelings for Sylphy wouldn''t change, what about hers?


    Right now, the only person in her life around her age was me. Hell, the only guy around her age was me. She never met any other person.


    Not only that, but we were kids.


    Who was to say that she wouldn''t fall in love with someone else in the future?


    At that time, could I let her go? Would I let her go? Or would I be clingy and try to hold onto her even when it made her unhappy?


    That...


    ...No.


    That was quitter talk.


    I liked Sylphy. No, like was too light of a word.


    I was sure. I loved Sylphy. I was serious about it.


    ...I didn''t knowpletely what ''love'' entailed, but I did know that I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn''t at least try to hold onto Sylphy.


    Not only that, but after all the effort and feelings she showed towards me...


    She probably didn''t understand it yet.


    I didn''t understand it yet.


    But I liked Sylphy. So...


    I opened my eyes, nodding.


    Sylphy stared at me.


    I turned serious and called out her name. "Sylphy."


    She blinked and then slowly nodded. "Yes, Rudy?"


    "I like you a lot. Do you like me?"


    "E-Eh?" Sylphy blinked.


    @#$%@! Why did you have to say it like that?! Who the hell do you think you are, some VN protagonist or something? Besides, does Sylphy even-


    "Y-Yes!" Sylphy''s face lit up and she hugged me. "I like Rudy too! I like Rudy a lot! More than anything in the world!"


    Eh? EH?!


    Sylphy let out a bright smile and said, "So... Rudy can''t leave me behind for a mean girl like Eris, okay?"


    I hugged Sylphy back and said, "Of course, Sylphy. I promise. I won''t ever leave you."


    "Pinky promise!" Sylphy stepped back and held out her pinky. "If Rudy disappears, I won''t forgive you. I''ll fly to the ends of the world just to find you again. And... And I''ll even be a Demon Lord if I need to."


    Iughed and wrapped my pinky around hers. "That won''t ever happen, Sylphy. But I promise. I won''t leave you."


    Sylphy let out a warm smile.


    I smiled back.


    The two of us stood there for a while, just happy to be with each other.


    But then it started getting awkward.


    I coughed and said, "S-So..."


    Dammit. It was that simple? No, Sylphy liked me that much already?!


    Was I... Was I some dense Shounen MC? Even Dad wasn''t like this, right? No, he definitely wasn''t. That guy was like a shark with blood in the water when it came to sensing women attracted to him.


    Definitely wasn''t gic then. Was it that? Smart people tended to over think things and miss the little stuff, right?


    I didn''t think I was that smart, but considering all the cues I missed...


    ...Damn. Maybe I was a genius after all. Because I sure as hell was as dumb as my dad was in other things when it came to girls.


    Sylphy giggled and then said, "Let''s hurry up, Rudy. Norn and Aisha probably miss their big brother, right? I''ll fly us back."


    "Oh." I nodded. "That''s probably a good idea." I held out my hand and said, "Sorry to trouble you, Syl-"


    Before I could finish, a gust blew me off my feet. "W-Whoa! Hold on-"


    A pair of thin arms wrapped around me. Sylphy, holding me close. After that, she looked down at me with a bright smile and giggled. "This time, it''s my turn to be the hero! Just leave it to me, Rudy!"


    I felt my face heat up and said, "W-Wait a bit, Sylphy. C-Can I at least hug you properly instead of you holding me like-"


    "Nope! I want to carry Rudy like a princess too! It''s not fair being carried all the time!"


    "B-But-"


    "We''re going!"

 78 – One of Those Days

    78 ¨C One of Those Days


    It was an embarrassing arrival back at home. Not because I was embarrassed by Sylphy carrying me-


    Okay, that was a lie. I was a little embarrassed at that. But she seemed really happy doing it and it was also nice being carried around. So I didn''t mind that.


    No, what I was embarrassed at was my family''s reaction.


    Apparently, since I left in a hurry that morning, Dad and Mom decided to wait a bit until I got back before heading out to work.


    Which meant that when we arrived, everyone was waiting outside to greet us.


    Which meant that everyone saw Sylphy carrying me like a princess whilending on the ground like a certainic book character from Krypt*n.


    ...Which meant that Dad teased the crap out of me, that Mom almost smothered me with a hug squealing how cute I was, and that Mama Lily teased me about secretly wanting to rely on someone else.


    Then there was the confusion that Norn and Aisha had about whether I was a hero or a princess... And Master Roxy trying her best to hold back herughter...


    But anyway, we arrived back at my home. After that, Mom and Dad went to work and Master Roxy went on her usual patrol.


    That left me and Sylphy with Mama Lily and my two cute younger sisters.


    Since it was a beautiful day, we decided to go outside and enjoy the weather instead of cooping ourselves up inside.


    And like that, we made our way into the courtyard outside, with me taking the lead.


    ...Mostly to try and regain some dignity andposure. But before I could take two steps out the door, I felt a light tug on my shirt.


    "Rui?" Norn looked at me with her wide green eyes and then held out her arms. "Up?"


    I smiled and then lifted Norn into my arms. "You really like being carried around, huh Norn?"


    Norn just gave me a happy smile and then nuzzled against me.


    I shook my head and walked out of the house.


    Sylphy''s giggles echoed from behind and she moved to my right side. As she did, sheced her hands around her back and smiled at me. "I think Norn just likes her big brother." She looked at Norn and said, "Don''t you, Norn?"


    Norn let out a bright smile and then nodded her head. "Un! Luv Rui!"


    Gah. Baby sisters were dangerous weapons. Especially ones as cute as Norn and Aisha.


    Sylphy noticed my reaction andughed. Poking my cheek, she said, "Someone''s happy~!"


    I felt my face heat up. Which meant that I was definitely blushing. But I kept cool and kept walking, ignoring Sylphy.


    But then Mama Lilyughed as well and walked over to my left side, leading Aisha along with her left hand. Looking at me, she said, "It is fine for you to be more honest with your feelings, Rudy."


    Aisha nodded from Mama Lily''s side and then leaned over to look at me. "Yeah! Big bro happy ok!"


    I coughed and said, "I-It''s a bit embarrassing, okay?"


    "And it is fine to be embarrassed, Rudy." Mama Lily smiled and said, "You do not need to be perfect or strong all the time."


    I sighed and said, "I know, I know. But it''s hard to not want to show off for my cute sisters, you know?" I smiled and then poked Norn''s cheeks.


    She giggled and then nuzzled against me.


    Sylphy pouted and then leaned against me too.


    Seeing that, Mama Lily sighed and muttered, "The future is going to be difficult."


    "Huh?"


    "Nothing, Rudy." Mama Lily smiled and then walked over to a grassy part of the courtyard before sitting down.


    I walked over as well and then set Norn down. The moment I did, Aisha ran over and grabbed Norn''s hand.


    "Big sis! y!"


    "P-y?"


    "Yeah! y! Cash me!" Giggling, Aisha started running away.


    "A-Ai! Too fas!" Norn tried to run after Aisha, but she stumbled andnded on the ground. Her eyes started to tear up and she started to sniff.


    I frowned and moved over to pick her up. But before I could, Aisha ran back and helped Norn up. "Big sis hurt?"


    Norn sniffed and rubbed her tears, nodding.


    Aisha patted Norn''s head and nodded. "Kay. y pah cake!"


    "Pah cake?" Norn blinked away her tears and tilted her head.


    Aisha nodded and then started pping. "Pah! Pah! Cake!" She smiled and then held her hands out to Norn. "Big sis, pah!"


    Norn looked confused and then hesitantly held out her hands. "Pah?"


    "Pah!" Aisha giggled and then pped her hands to Norn''s.


    Norn was still confused. But seeing Aisha giggling, Norn started to giggle too and then copied Aisha.


    Aisha looked over at Sylphy and waved. "Sifi! y!"


    Sylphy smiled and walked over. "What do you want me to do, Aisha?"


    I watched Sylphy ying with my younger sisters and smiled. Seeing that they were having fun together, I made my way over to Mama Lily and sat beside her.


    The moment I did, Mama Lily looked over and gave me a strange expression. A wistful smile that seemed almost like she didn''t believe what she was seeing.


    I frowned and then shifted closer to her. "Is something wrong, Mama Lily?"


    "No." She shook her head and then nced over at Sylphy and my sisters. "I''m just grateful."


    "Grateful?" I frowned. "For what?"


    "Well." Mama Lily pulled me into a one-armed hug and said, "There are many reasons. But above all..." She smiled at me and said, "I''m happy that my Rudy is growing up along side Aisha and Norn."


    I blinked and said, "Well of course. Why wouldn''t I?"


    Mama Lily paused and then shook her head, seeming confused. "There''s no real reason. I just... felt a bit anxious. With you being unconscious for so long... Well." She smiled and said, "It''s in the past now."


    I leaned against Mama Lily and said, "Don''t worry. I''m not like Dad, you know? I won''t cause any trouble any time soon."


    Sheughed and then poked my cheeks. "Of course. It''s that adorable face of yours that''s going to cause trouble in the future."


    "H-Huh?" I frowned and rubbed my face. "...I guess I do have a spooky appearance now."


    Since my hair had turned silver and my eyes were a bright green, I could be mistaken as a ghost. Or maybe even a member of the demon race... somehow.


    Prejudices were a thing, and since this ce was fantasy-based, probably worse.


    Mama Lily blinked and then let out an exasperated sigh. "Perhaps I should have treated you more sternly after all. Coddling you seems to have dimmed your wits quite a bit over the years..."


    I frowned. "What do you mean, coddled? Weren''t you the one who made me do chores, Mama Lily?"


    "And I should have made you do more to appreciate your genius."


    I rolled my eyes.


    Mama Lilyughed and then looked over at Sylphy and the girls with a fond gaze. "Still. I''m d. My Rudy seems to have found some happiness and contentment these days."


    I coughed and said, "I don''t know what you''re talking about."


    Mama Lily simply smiled and patted my head.


    Since that was the case, I turned my attention back to Sylphy and my sisters.


    At some point, Sylphy had gone to performing fun magic for the girls instead of ying patty cake. Floating water bubbles, spinning leaves and drifting des of grass...


    Aisha and Norn both watched with rapt attention, carefully staring at it.


    ...Which made me wonder if they could see mana. The fact that their eyes seemed to be tracking the mana bubbles seemed to imply it, but-


    "Rui!" Norn waved at me and said, "y!"


    I smiled and walked over. "Alright. But remember, big brother can''t do magic right now, so..."


    -LIV-


    The day went by. The sun flew past its highest point and began to sink into the horizon. Morning turned to noon, and now noon was turning into evening.


    Which meant that Paul''s patrol was over. He stretched and then let out a grin as he looked at his patrol buddies.


    There were two people with him. The first was Laws, his best friend and fellow father. The second was Roxy, their practically adopted magical prodigy of a daughter... who was actually older than him.


    Still a weird thing to wrap his head around, but Paul didn''t mind it too much. Weirder things had happened in life.


    Like literally everything since Rudy was born.


    But anyway, the trio walked out of the forest, finishing their patrol. As they did, Paul turned to the others and grinned. "Finally! We can all head back home and have some rest and rxation now!"


    Laws shook his head and said, "Speak for yourself. These days, my home has been far from rxing..."


    "Oh yeah." Paul nodded and said, "Your long lost mother came to visit, right? How is she?"


    "You would know better than I, Paul."


    "Huh?"


    Laws groaned and covered his face. "Please don''t inquire further. I have been doing my utmost best to not dwell much about the potential ramifications of all of these rtionships and how convoluted things are going to be due to how you and my mother know each other."


    Paul blinked. "...I know your mother?" He frowned, thinking.


    There had been a lot of women in his life before Zenith and Lilia... but he didn''t really remember any that could be Laws''s mother.


    Well, there was Elinalise. But a woman like that having an upright guy like Laws? Yeah right.


    Roxy sighed and said, "Please refrain from reminiscing on past exploits with other women, Paul. Especially when Zenith is pregnant with your next child. Considering how adept she is with magic now, she may just decide to end any potential of future heirs with her new capabilities."


    Paul paled and said, "Y-Yeah. Good point."


    Things were on the up and up, so there was no point thinking about it too hard and ruining everything.


    Like what Rudy mentioned to him one time. If something wasn''t broken, don''t try to fix it.


    After all, all of Paul''s mistakes had been trying to fix something that was going fine.


    ...Well, his recent mistakes.


    Laws blinked and said, "Zenith is pregnant again?"


    Paul winked. "There''s been a lot of stress built up recently, if you know what I-"


    Roxy interrupted and said, "Do I need to remind you of what happened thest time that you talked about your bedtime exploits with your wife, Paul?"


    Paul instantly shut up and started to sweat. "N-No need, Roxy. I won''t-" He paused and said, "Wait. How do you know about that?"


    Roxy patted the silver blob floating over her right shoulder and said, "Us girls talked about quite a bit while you were gallivanting in Roa nning a crusade against the branch of an ancient noble family."


    Paul coughed. "R-Right."


    Yeah. Zenith and Lilia probably did a lot of venting around that time...


    Laws shook his head and smiled. "Well. In any case, congrattions, Paul."


    Paul smiled back and said, "Thanks, best buddy."


    Laws nodded. "Of course. Though I hope that you have considered the financial burdens thate along with another child and set aside the appropriate funds."


    "U-Um..."


    Laws blinked. And then he let out a deep sigh. "You did not think that through, did you?"


    Paul rubbed the back of his neck and said, "I-I''ve got a decent amount saved up for us! I think... R-Right, Roxy?"


    Roxy sighed and said, "Considering that you''ve cut back on your drinking, there should be enough. But you should be more careful. Despite it all, you are still just a low-ranking knight."


    "Well, all the more reason to go take over the Notos family then, right?"


    He *was* the rightful heir, so-


    A sharp thud on his head.


    "Ow!" Paul rubbed his head and red at the person who hit him. "What was that for?!"


    "I am simply reciting some psalms to push out those ingrained noble beliefs, my dear friend." Laws cracked his knuckles and said, "Reason seems to enter your mind only through violence, so I figured that a few more lines from my hands would help you see things straight."


    Paul rolled his eyes. "Fine. I won''t go run off on a bloody rampage... Not like I was going to in the first ce." Paul turned serious and rubbed his stubbled chin. "I can''t let Rudy think that''s an okay option. That kid''s too eager to jump to bloodshed. I mean, I knew that he had a hell of a natural tendency towards killing intent, but..."


    It was dangerous. Rudy was a genius, no matter how you looked at it. But at the same time, he was a child. The two led to a weird mix where he understood things at a level that was unthinkable... but also took other things for granted.


    Like the fact that he was a genius.


    His own intelligence blinded him to the fact that there were things that just weren''t true for other people. But not only that, there were things that he took as facts and didn''t question at all.


    Like how he thought that it was perfectly fine crushing people under your feet if they stood against you.


    Paul would be a hypocrite if he didn''t agree with that line of thinking. After all, he would be the first to jump and attack scum.


    But Paul was also just above average. He could fight with a sword and maybe take out a small troop at this point. But he wasn''t on the level of Rudy who could and would ruin an entire kingdom if he wasn''t kept in check.


    After all, his son was someone who could impress the second World Power. Someone who might even be on the list at this point.


    And Rudy was still just eight.


    What about the future? What about when he turned twelve, like Paul? If Rudy inherited Paul''s temper and stubbornness which he definitely did, considering how he had acted in the past. Since that was the case, it was possible Rudy might decide to do something impulsive like Paul did when he was around that age.


    Rudy cared for them all too much to do anything that would hurt the family. But that was a double-edged sword. For his family, Rudy would do anything.


    Paul rubbed his chin and muttered, "Maybe I should send Rudy to school or take him adventuring..."


    Laws blinked. "Rudy? School?"


    Roxyughed. "Sending Rudy to school... Do you want to cause a bloodbath, Paul? It might be fine if it was a ce like my alma mater, but a noble academy..."


    Paul winced. "Yeah. That... wouldn''t end well, would it?"


    As smart as Rudy was, he would find a way to justify killing people who annoyed him or rubbed him the wrong way.


    Hell, hadn''t he beaten Uncle Sauros up to a pulp and kicked him out a window back in Roa?


    If Rudy was willing to go that far to the Region Lord of Fedoa, he wouldn''t bow his head to anyone.


    He didn''t even bow down to Orsted of all people, so...


    Not to mention that there was that mysterious Being W involved in everything as well. And if he was as maniptive as he seemed to be, it would be easy for everything to be used to turn Rudy into a demon lord.


    Especially since he seemed to actually have some Demon God mana of sorts, ording to Roxy.


    Roxy hummed. "Adventuring though... Rudy certainly is powerful and mature enough. But I''m not sure that''s a good idea." She frowned and said, "We still don''t know if Rudy''s trigger is linked to violence, anger, or bloodlust. If his mana flow changes again like before..."


    "Well, Rudy likes you, so you could probably just stop him with a kiss, right Roxy?"


    Roxy''s eyes widened and she turned red. She smacked Paul''s arm with her staff and said, "W-What in the world are you suggesting, you dimwit?"


    "What?" Paul rubbed his arm and said, "It''s true, isn''t it? Even if he turned to some demon lord or something, I''m sure a kiss from his beloved master would either stun him enough to knock him out or just pull him out of it entirely."


    Laws sighed. "Your mind continues to go to the strangest ces, Paul."


    "And I still think you guys are all too uptight about these sorts of things."


    The trio arrived at Laws''s house.


    The n was to go in and say hi to Rose and Laws''s mother before heading back to the Greyrat household. An ordinary turn of events.


    But something was off when they arrived.


    "Hm?" Laws frowned and stared at the carriage near by his home. "I was not expecting to receive visitors today..."


    Paul frowned and rested his hand over his sword. He nced over at Roxy and said, "Any sign of our meddlesome white guy from on high?"


    Roxy blinked. "That... is a strange way of addressing that person. But no." She looked towards the house and said, "There do not appear to be any signs of that person around."


    "And I don''t sense any battle aura or mana being used, so... I guess we''ve just got some guests. Though." Paul stared at the carriage and frowned. "That''s a pretty fancy carriage..."


    There weren''t any markings on it. However, there were a few luxurious chests in the back of the carriage that Paul could see.


    Laws frowned and then nodded. "I will leave my back to you two then." With that, he quickly walked over to the front door.


    "O-Oi!" Paul went after him and said, "Hold on there, Laws! You can''t just-"


    Laws threw the door open and walked in.


    Paul dashed after him. And then when he saw the people inside, he froze.


    "Yo!" A familiar man with a monkey-like face and wind-swept dark hair. Gisu Nukadia, the thief in Paul''s former adventurer party.


    "Mm? So you were out on patrol, Paul." A beauty of a warrior with a perfectly honed body, with skin the color of chocte and a mane of wild silver hair. Ghyine Dedoldia, the vanguard swordswoman in Paul''s adventurer party.


    "My, my. Long time no see, Paul. It''s good to see that the cute boy finally learned to be a man." An elven beauty with curled light blonde hair and crimson eyes. A thin but provocative body that hid immense strength... isn''t what Paul saw. Instead of her usual lewd attire, the woman was wearing a modest grey robe that covered her entire body. Even so, Paul recognized her.


    Elinalise Dragonroad, the frontline tank in their party.


    Half of the <Fangs of the ck Wolf> were sitting around Laws''s house, rxing. And with Paul there and Zenith at home, that meant that only one person out of their whole party was missing.


    But while that was curious, it wasn''t what caught Paul''s attention. Instead, it was the frowning young girl with crimson hair and a sword sheathed at her side sitting next to Ghyine.


    Eris saw Paul staring and said, "What? Aren''t you my father-inw or something? Why are you so surprised to see me?"


    Gisuughed and said, "So Red says, Paul. But you know, I''m starting to think that you Greyrat males have a jinx with beautiful women. Things never seem to go well, eh?"


    Elinalise sighed. "You and your jinxes, Gisu... Superstitions are good, but they can trap you into doing things you don''t like, you know?"


    Gisu looked at her and said, "Maybe. But considering how even you changed so much after I taught Zenith how to cook, I think that they have *some* weight."


    Elinalise smiled and ced her hand over her chest. "Changed? Me?"


    Ghyine nodded and said, "Gisu is right, Elinalise- Ah, it''s Rostelina now, isn''t it?"


    At that time, Rose walked out of the kitchen, brushing flour off her hands. "Please stop ying coy, Mother-inw. And wee back Dear. And you two as well, Paul and Roxy." She smiled and said, "The house is a bit lively right now, so pardon the mess."


    Paul waved his hand. "I-It''s fine. Just..." He looked at the group of people scattered around Laws''s home and sighed. "...It''s going to be one of those days, huh?"

 79 – Fangs of the Black Wolf

    79 ¨C Fangs of the ck Wolf


    Sometime past noon, a loudmotion echoed from the distance. Lots of voices, along with the sound of a horse and a carriage.


    Frowning, I walked out of the house and looked to see what the hubbub was about.


    It turned out to be a group of people. A group of people walking towards our house, with a carriage in the back. A group of people that included Mom, Dad, and Master Roxy. Mister Laws, Miss Rose, and Sylphy''s grandma... and then Eris, Ghyine, and a strange monkey-faced man I didn''t know in the back with the carriage.


    Norn walked over to me and tugged my right pants leg. "Rui? Twuble?"


    I ruffled her hair and said, "No. Just..." I frowned and said, "It''s odd."


    Sylphy walked over towards me and looked confused as well when she saw the group."Um. Were you expecting this many people today, Rudy?"


    "No." I frowned and then turned to look back in the house. "Mama Lily?"


    She hugged Aisha to her chest and then walked out to take a look. When she saw everyone, shook her head. "No. I was not aware that we were entertaining guests either..." She sighed. "It appears that your father may have done something again."


    "I don''t know if that''spletely true... but I guess we can me Dad for this. Especially since that Eris girl is in the group."


    Sylphy narrowed her eyes.


    I poked Sylphy and said, "Be nice, Sylphy."


    Sylphy blinked and gave me a bright smile. "I''m not nning anything, Rudy."


    "Uh-huh... Just remember that it''s best to y nice. For now."


    Sylphy nodded. "Okay. Since Rudy isn''t nning to be the Demon God yet, I''ll be nice."


    Aisha gasped, her eyes sparkling. "Big Bro is Demon God?"


    "I''m not!" I poked Sylphy''s forehead and said, "Look what you''ve got them thinking now, Sylphy!"


    "Heehee..."


    I sighed and then looked at the group more carefully.


    Mom was there. It seemed like Dad went to pick her up. And she was happily chatting with Sylphy''s grandma, Rostelina in the front.


    Mister Laws and Miss Rose were nearby as well, standing behind Mom and Dad. Mister Laws look exasperated, but Miss Rose looked really happy and was chiming in every now and then talking with Mom and Rostelina.


    But they weren''t the only guests.


    Ghyine and Eris were sitting in the back of the carriage, one driven by that man with a monkey-like face.


    Master Roxy took up the rear, thoughtfully ying with her silver elemental spirit thing. Though I noticed that she kept ncing at the monkey-faced man.


    And I couldn''t me her. The man seemed shady. His equipment, amiable smile, and his face practically screamed ''bandit'' or ''thief.''


    But there wasn''t anything off about him. He barely had any silver mana, meaning that he didn''t train at all. And while he was fit, his body wasn''t trained like a warrior. In fact, he didn''t even have any weapons on him.


    ...So why did staring at him give me the heebie-jeebies? Like I was missing something?


    Before I could sort out why that was, my dad waved at me, letting out a nervous smile. "Hey, Rudy! Some of Dad''s old friends came by to visit. You don''t mind, right?"


    I sighed.


    -LIV-


    "So you''re Paul''s kid, huh?" The monkey-faced man, someone called Gisu apparently, looked at me while sipping on a mug of juice. "Funny. You look pretty sharp. Guess you took more after Zenith than Paul, huh?"


    I shrugged. "Maybe." I paused and then said, "Hopefully. I don''t want to be making mistakes all over the ce like my Dad does."


    "Hey!" Dad chimed in, waving a mug of foaming beer at me. "I''m doing better!"


    "Better is not good, Dad. But I appreciate you trying."


    A lively party outside in the courtyard.


    Since this was the first time most of Dad''s adventurer party got back together, we were having a big party to celebrate.


    Well, to celebrate that and apparently to celebrate the fact that I was going to have another baby sibling soon.


    ...Maybe I should bring up family nning to Dad sometime. Money wasn''t a problem, but at the rate things were going...


    I mean, I would love having a bunch of cute younger siblings running around. But I would also not rather have to yell at dad about us being broke all the time...


    Which reminded me that I needed to work more on that mana to magic crystal conversion process. And alchemy.


    Always good to have a way to make more money. Especially since coins in this world held value mostly because of the material and not the symbol.


    Anyway, we were all outside except for Mama Lily, Master Roxy, and Miss Rose who were all cooking inside.


    I took a look around the courtyard and saw that people had grouped up to chat.


    Mom was hanging out with Ghyine and Rostelina, the women happily chatting together and gushing over Norn and Aisha who were sitting with them.


    Me, Dad, and that Gisu guy were hanging out.


    Laws was with Sylphy... and Eris.


    My red-headed cousin seemed irritated at being there. But it seemed like she had grudgingly apologized. Well, that or she was being worn down by Sylphy''s kindness.


    Wasn''t entirely sure which, but it seemed like things were going well over there.


    Probably helped that there were two responsible adults around this time instead of Dad and Ghyine.


    Not that I had anything against Ghyine, but she seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Dad in being good with a sword and pretty much nothing else.


    "Hey, Paul. Does your kid always space out like this?"


    "Don''t worry about him, Gisu. My genius son''s got a lot of different projects in his head."


    I blinked and realized that I was doing the thing again. I coughed, feeling my face heat up and said, "I-I don''t space out that often, Dad. Not as often as you stare at women."


    Dad leaned forward, taking arge swig out of his beer. After that, he said, "Rudy. Have you *seen* your mom and Mama Lily? If we were in the Asura Kingdom, I''d be fighting people off left and right to stop people from trying to flirt with them."


    I narrowed my eyes.


    Dad quickly added. "A-Ah. I''m just exaggerating, Kiddo. No need to get your panties in a bunch."


    I sighed and said, "I don''t wear panties, Dad. And I hope you are." I frowned and muttered, "If not, maybe I really should start plotting a social revolution."


    If the kingdom was really as bad as Dad kept subtly making it out to be... and if it churned out nobles like Sauros and left people as mentally scarred as Mama Lily was when we first met, it might be good to pay a visit.


    Though, considering that the Asura Kingdom had thergest military force in the world, it might not be the best thing to do right now...


    "Huh." Gisu sipped on his drink and said, "You''ve got a pretty scary kid, Paul."


    Paulughed and said, "Yeah. Rudy''s pretty scary. Did I tell you about the time he almost killed Ghyine?"


    "Oi!" I cut in and said, "That was your fault, Dad. And I wasn''t going to... Probably."


    "Hoh?" Gisu stared at me and said, "Scary. Maybe I should be careful about smart kids in the future? Seems like a pretty bad jinx..."


    I blinked. "Jinx?"


    Gisuughed and said, "Yep. A jinx. Mm... Think of it like a good luck charm. If something went wrong before, it''ll probably go wrong again, right? Then it''s better to just avoid situations where those things can go wrong."


    Dad snorted and said, "That''s just being superstitious."


    "Hey." Gisu shrugged and said, "It''s what''s kept me alive all these years while not havingbat skills, Paul."


    "And I keep saying that you should have picked some up." Paul shook his head and said, "Isn''t it a worse jinx being unable to defend yourself if something happens?"


    Gisuughed. "True. But that''s what my buddies are for. It''s a jinx going on an adventure alone, you know?"


    I stared at Dad and Gisu being chummy and then frowned. "How do you know Dad anyway, Mister Gisu?"


    Gisu waved his hand and said, "It''s a long story."


    Dad chuckled and said, "It''s not that long." He reached an arm around Gisu and pulled him close, saying, "This guy was the source of half our troubles and half our funds, Rudy."


    Gisu brushed Dad''s arm off and said, "Yeah, and you were the other half of our troubles."


    "And the funds!"


    "Only after Zenith joined and you stopped chasing tail. Before that it was all Elinalise." He paused and said, "Though I guess it''s Rostelina now?" He shrugged and sipped on his juice. "Whatever the case, it''s good that she finally got her memories back. Though..." Gisu looked at Rostelina and said, "She''s pretty different, huh?"


    "Meh." Dad shrugged and said, "We''ve all changed a bit over the years. Even you. Since when were you sentimental enough to track down Ghyine of all people to say hi?"


    Gisuughed and said, "That''s true. But it''s a bit lonely by yourself, you know? Most people turn to god or go crazy."


    I frowned and stared harder at Gisu.


    I couldn''t help but feel that something was off about him. It didn''t seem like his camaraderie with Dad and the others was fake, but...


    Gisu noticed me staring and winked. "Sorry, kiddo. No matter how hard you stare at me, I''m not giving up my tricks. You''re going to have to figure out how to handle your Dad on your own."


    I rolled my eyes. "That''s not what I''m bothered about."


    I was worried about his slippery response. He never answered my question, and he was pretty good at directing the flow of the conversation too.


    But it was odd. Something didn''t feel right.


    I stared harder and then I saw it. A faint flicker of white mist floating around Gisu''s head.


    Dad noticed too and then instantly frowned.


    "Eh?" Gisu blinked and said, "What''s wrong, Paul?"


    Dad nced at me and thenughed. "Nothing, Gisu. But it''s pretty wild that you happened to show up in Roa... Have things been going alright for you?"


    "Mm..." Gisu looked thoughtful and he said, "I guess it was a bit weird. I got this urge to suddenly visit and-"


    I focused and quietly dispersed the white mist, converting it into ambient mana with a magic circle formed out of holy mana.


    "Huh?" Gisu blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. "That''s weird. Felt like some wool got pulled out of my head."


    Dadughed and said, "That''s what you get for being a bachelor so long." He raised his beer mug to Gisu and said, "You gotta settle down with a nice gal, Gisu."


    Gisu chuckled. "Maybe. But me and girls don''t mix well, Paul."


    "What?" Dad tapped Gisu''s arm and said, "Got a jinx on that too?"


    "Something like that." Heughed.


    I quietly dispersed the magic circle and kept a close eye on Being W''s mana.


    It was gone. But the fact that it didn''t show up until now... He was getting sneakier. Latching onto one of Dad''s old friends too... If I wasn''t paying attention, would he have made the guy do something ridiculous like kidnap Norn or Aisha?


    No, if I wasn''t cautious and noticed how weird Gisu felt, I might have missed it.


    Sneaky bastard.


    Gisu looked at me and said, "That''s a scary face you''ve got, Kiddo." He reached over and ruffled my hair, saying, "You should rx more. You don''t want to jinx things by being too scary, you know?"


    Dadughed and said, "Yeah. Most of Gisu''s jinxes are ridiculous, but he does have a point. Take it easy for a bit, Rudy. Here, do you want to try some-"


    "PAUL GREYRAT!" Mom''s voice cut through the air and she said, "If Rudy sips any alcohol, you get the floor!"


    Dad instantly leaned back and said, "I''m kidding! Geez, Zenith." He looked at me though and winked.


    I sighed.


    Gisu chuckled and said, "Some things never change, huh?" He looked at Dad and said, "I thought you were all grown up, but you''re still that childish horn dog at heart, aren''t you?"


    Dad drained his beer and set his mug on the ground. After that, he said, "I''ll have you know that I was a wolf. Especially after-"


    "Ahem." I cleared my throat and gave Dad a pointed look.


    Heughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... It''s the legacy of a misspent youth, Rudy. Don''t be like me, kay?"


    "Considering how things seem to blow up whenever you do something, Dad, I really don''t want to be like you at all."


    Dad nodded. "That''s smart. Though you really could take a few pages from my ybook on girls. With how dense you are, I''m starting to worry I won''t see grandchildren until I''m in my fifties."


    "W-What?" I felt my face heat up and then kicked my dad''s shin. "What are you even trying to teach to your eight year old kid?!"


    "Ow! You aren''t eight years old yet, Rudy!"


    "I might as well be eighty with all the stress you''ve caused me!"


    "Heh. You know, you sound a lot like your mom when you get angry."


    "Should I be like Mister Laws instead and use my fists then?"


    "H-Hold on. No need to go that far."


    Gisuughed.


    I noticed and then paused, backing off. After that, I crossed my arms and huffed. "Whatever." I looked over at Sylphy and then said, "I''m going to chat with Sylphy and the others."


    Dad looked at me and said, "Please y nice with Eris. Her dad basically kicked her out here to the boonies, so she''s feeling pretty irritated. But she''s a nice girl."


    "You keep saying that, Dad... But we''ll see." I shook my head and then walked over to Sylphy, Mister Laws, and Eris.


    -LIV-


    Eris was in a bad mood.


    Ghyine ditched her to talk with some other women, that elf woman Rostelina or whatever and some other woman with blonde hair. Actually, both of them had blonde hair... but whatever. Wasn''t important.


    What was important was that she was stuck with that elf girl who tried to kill herst time and an elf man who seemed to be her father.


    But that was fine. The elf girl had been scaryst time, but she calmed down. Not only that, but her father was polite at least.


    After getting some chairs for them all, the elf girl''s father... Law or something left to get some snacks and drinks.


    That left Eris alone with Sylphy for a bit.


    She was worried the elf girl would flip again and try to kill her. But that didn''t happen.


    Instead, the elf girl was calm. In fact, she was even smiling at Eris. And not a fake smile either, but a soft and confident one.


    Eris frowned and said, "What are you so happy about?"


    "Mm?" The elf girl shook her head and said, "There would be too many things to list. But I guess I''m just happy that it''s so lively here. And that I have a chance to see you again."


    Eris blinked and pointed at herself. "Me?"


    ...Was the elf girl crazy or something?


    "Yep!" The elf girl nodded and held out her hand. "We didn''t start off rightst time, did we? Sorry. My name''s Sylphy by the way."


    ...She was definitely crazy. Eris would never have forgiven someone who talked to her the way Eris had to Sylphy back then.


    Ah. But this *was* the elf girl who snapped and actually tried to murder her, so...


    Eris suppressed the shiver of fear running down her spine at the shback of those countless icicles and instead forced a smile on her face. Grabbing Sylphy''s hand, Eris nodded and said, "It''s... fine, Sylphy. I ept your apology. And I''m..." Eris swallowed her pride and said, "I''m sorry for what I did too."


    There. She did what Ghyine asked her to. But she still didn''t-


    "Wow!" Sylphy pped her hands and said, "You actually apologized?"


    Eris felt her face heat up and crossed her arms. "What''s that supposed to mean, huh?! Is my apology not good enough or something?"


    Sylphy shook her head. "It''s great! I just... didn''t think that a princess like you would apologize."


    Eris blinked and said, "Princess?"


    "Mmhm." Sylphy nodded and said, "You''re a princess, aren''t you? I heard from Papa how all the servants in your house listened to you and gave you all you want. It must be nice."


    Eris''s face darkened and she looked away. "...You only think it''s nice because you have a good Dad."


    That Law guy seemed to actually care about Sylphy. No, he was nice enough to get something for Eris as well, so he seemed to be a decent person. And he didn''t seem as strong as Paul or Ghyine, but he gave off a reassuring aura. Not like Grandpa Sauros who would break everything apart, but someone who would show up no matter what.


    "Eh?" Sylphy blinked and said, "Mister Philip didn''t seem that bad though?"


    "Tch." Eris shook her head and said, "Who cares about a weakling like that anyway? All he does is spend his days in the office writing letters or getting smacked around by Grandpa and ignored by Mom."


    Sylphy blinked again and said, "That doesn''t seem like someone weak though?"


    Eris paused. "What do you mean?"


    "Well." Sylphy started swinging her legs back and forth on her chair and said, "A weakling wouldn''t be able to do all of that with a smile. And it was only a bit, but Mister Philip was smiling even after you made that big mess, wasn''t he?"


    Eris furrowed her brow.


    ...It was true. Her father was always smiling that annoying fake smile. Even when Grandpa hit him in the face, or when Mom pped him, he didn''t respond. Instead, he put on that smile and bowed.


    ...No. When Eris hit him too, all he did was smile at her.


    Maybe she was wrong? Grandpa said that her father wasn''t weak too, didn''t he?


    Then...


    "Argh. Whatever." Eris crossed her arms. "It doesn''t matter if he''s weak or not. I still hate him for sending me all the way out here. Who cares if I got a fancy new sword or whatever. Do you know how annoying it was sitting on that bumpy carriage for so long?"


    Sylphy shook her head. "I don''t. But it''s not that bad, right? At least you could still see and move around a bit."


    Eris rolled her eyes. "Of course I could! But it''s still cramped."


    "Mm." Sylphy nodded. "It must be nice though. You don''t have anybody to worry about but yourself. You''ve even got that strong big sister Ghyine to escort you all the way here."


    Eris frowned. "That''s not true. I''ve got a lot to worry about! Like... Like Mom! And Grandpa!"


    Right?


    She would definitely be mad if something happened to them.


    ...Would she?


    Eris paused to think about that.


    And then she stopped thinking about it and huffed. "It doesn''t matter." Eris took a look around and said, "How are you not bored around a ce like this anyway?"


    All that Eris could see was grass, grass, and more grass.


    Well, there was a forest in the distance and some farnds too. And that tiny vige. but that was it.


    Sylphy shrugged. "I''ve got a friend to y with so it''s never really boring."


    Eris felt a pang of jealousy but she did her best to not let it show. Instead, she turned up her nose at Sylphy and said, "Who needs friends anyway? That just means you''re weak."


    Sylphy nodded. "Yep. I''m pretty weak. I mean, you beat me, didn''t you?"


    Eris flinched. She wasn''t expecting Sylphy to acknowledge that so easily.


    Sylphy continued talking like nothing happened though and said, "But even if that''s true, I''d rather be weak and have someone to make my days happy and fun than be strong and live sad and lonely days."


    Eris felt a jab in her heart at those words.


    Sad and lonely days...


    Until Ghyine showed up, wasn''t that how she felt? That no one cared about her and that she was all alone?


    Before Eris could think too much on that, Laws returned.


    "Here you go, Miss Eris." Laws smiled and held out a small wooden cup to Eris. "Sorry it took so long. My wife had a lot to say to me when I went inside."


    Eris took the cup with a meek nod and said, "It''s fine."


    Laws''s smile widened.


    Eris looked away, feeling ufortable at the warm expression.


    Sylphy smiled at that.


    Laws handed a cup to Sylphy as well and said, "I got you some juice too, Luffy."


    "Thanks, Papa." Sylphy took the cup and sipped on it.


    Laws sat down and then looked at Eris. "I hope that you haven''t had too rough a time, Miss Eris. I know that it may seem like a drastic changeing from Roa, but Buina vige has its charms as well."


    Sylphy nodded and said, "Right! And since you''re here, we have a new friend to y with! Oh, and we can introduce you to Norn and Aisha too. They''re really cute, you know? And I''m sure they''d like to have a new big sister to y with."


    "B-Big sister? Me?" Eris blinked.


    ...Weird. These people were all weird.


    They didn''t know her. And Eris didn''t do anything good to them.


    Even so, they were being nice. Weing.


    ...She was sure of it. Everyone here was crazy. Even so...


    Eris took a sip from her juice.


    ...It wasn''t bad.


    "Oh! Rudy." Sylphy spoke up and waved to someone in the back.


    Eris paused and turned around to look.


    Rudy. That boy Paul kept talking about. The one that Ghyine called a monster with magic. The one who her dad said would be her husband in the future.


    Before, Eris didn''t have a good chance to look at him. But she did now, so she took advantage of that.


    He was young. Shorter than Eris too. His face was still a bit chubby and gave off a cute look. Paired with his bright and wide green eyes, he looked like aplete pushover.


    But he wasn''t.


    His silver hair showed that. From what she heard from Ghyine, Rudy''s hair turned that after using a crazy magic spell that almost killed even Ghyine.


    Not only that, but his body was trained. Instead of chubby kid arms, they were clearly muscr and defined.


    Weird, considering how he was still a kid. But it showed that he took training seriously.


    ...Or that Paul was even worse on him than he was on her.


    Maybe both?


    Rudy let out an easygoingugh and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Sylphy. I wanted to talk with Mister Gisu for a little bit, but Dad kept bringing up the past..."


    Laws sighed. "Of course. Paul is the sort to run his mouth when he''s had too much to drink..." He shook his head and stood up. "I will make sure he remembers to keep it in moderation." He smiled and said, "Have fun, you three."


    With that, Laws left.


    And then it was just Eris, Sylphy, and Rudy. And when that was the case, Rudy turned to look at Eris.


    Eris felt her breath stop.


    Sharp eyes. The innocent and wide-eyed look vanished in an instant. Those bright green eyes suddenly turned dark and menacing, shing with a bit of crimson light.


    The mocking words Eris nned to say suddenly vanished as she felt her heart race in fear.


    And then that sharp gaze was gone, as if it was just an illusion. Rudy let out a warm smile and said, "Sorry about that. I don''t think we''ve properly been introduced, right? I''m Rudy."


    "E-Eris..." She mumbled her name and averted her gaze.


    Scary. Even now her heart was pounding in her chest.


    Ghyine was right. Rudy was definitely a monster. Just looking at him made her body freeze up.


    Rudy smiled and then held out his hand. "It''s nice to meet you, Eris."


    A warm and sincere greeting.


    One that definitely didn''t make sense considering what happened thest time she saw him.


    ...Crazy. She was sure of it now. Everyone here was crazy. Still...


    Eris took Rudy''s hand and shook it. "...It''s nice to meet you too, I guess."


    Eris suddenly felt a sharp gaze from behind Rudy and flinched.


    "Hm?" Rudy frowned and took a look around. "Did something happen?"


    Sylphyughed and said, "Maybe Eris is just seeing things? She *has* been on a carriage ride all day. Isn''t that right, Eris?"


    Eris started to sweat. "Y-Yes. That''s... probably it."


    Rudy''s frown deepened and he said, "That''s no good." He lifted Eris''s hand up and then ced his other hand over it.


    Eris was confused, but then she felt a sudden warmth spread from her hand to her body. When she did, fatigue she didn''t even know she was feeling was swept away.


    "There." Rudy smiled and said, "That should have helped."


    A bright and warm expression.


    ...One that Eris barely acknowledged considering the chilling gaze she felt from Sylphy, standing just behind Rudy.


    "Hm?" Rudy tilted her head. "Did that not work?"


    Eris quickly shook her head. "It did! I''m fine! I think. Just... still a bit tired."


    "Oh." Rudy nodded. "Probably some mental fatigue then. It''s probably your first time on a long carriage ride, right?"


    "Y-Yes."


    "Thought so. Then... how about we just sit and chat for a while to get to know each other? I overheard Ghyine mentioning that you two will be in Buina vige for a while, right? And since we *are* family, I guess we should get to know each other better."


    Family? Her and Rudy?


    Eris felt her face warm up.


    Rudy blinked. "What?"


    Sylphy let out a deep sigh.


    "Huh?" Rudy looked at Sylphy and said, "Did I say something wrong?"


    Hearing that, Eris sighed as well.


    ...For someone supposedly smart, Rudy sure seemed to be an idiot...


    -LIV-


    Ghyine looked at Zenith and smiled. "It''s good to see you again, Zenith."


    Zenith hugged Norn against her chest and nodded, smiling. "It''s good to see you again too, Ghyine. And you too, Elinalise- Ah, I mean Rostelina."


    Rostelina smiled while braiding Aisha''s hair. "Just call me Lina, Zenith." Sheughed and said, "And it''s fine. I didn''t expect things to end up this way either, so I don''t me you messing it up."


    "I''m happy that you got your memories back though!" Zenith smiled and said, "I know you said you started remembering things a while back, but it''s good that you remembered all of them now!"


    Rostelina let out a wry smile. "It''se with its own fair share of challenges. But it''s been nice, yes. Though I''ll admit things have turned a bit awkward as a result..."


    "Lina? Hair pwetty?" Aisha looked up at Rostelina.


    Rostelinaughed and said, "Almost done, Sweetie. Wait a bit longer."


    "Kay~"


    Ghyine looked at Aisha and shook her head. "I''m still surprised that Paul''s whelps are so well-behaved."


    Zenith snorted. "Don''t take Aisha as the standard. She''s just ying nice right now because she wants to be pampered."


    "Noooo." Aisha pouted and said, "Mama lie! No lisen! Ai good girl!"


    Ghyine hummed and then looked at Norn. "Considering how you seem to be pampering your child..."


    "Hm?" Zenith tilted her head while preening Norn''s hair. "I don''t know what you''re talking about."


    Norn struggled to get out from Zenith''s grasp, looking at Ghyine with pleading eyes.


    "...Or perhaps you are smothering her instead with your love."


    Zenith gasped and let her grip loosen. "Sorry, Nornie! Did Mama hug you too tight again?"


    Ghyine blinked. "Again...?"


    Norn squirmed away from Zenith and then moved to Ghyine, holding up her arms. "H-Hep me? Up?"


    Ghyine let out a warm smile and then lifted Norn up to sit on herp.


    Norn let out a sigh and then leaned back, relief on her face.


    Zenith pouted. "Why does everyone keep stealing my cute Nornie away from me?"


    Rostelinaughed and said, "Too much love can smother a child you know? You''ve got to give just the right amount of care, love, and attention. Take it from an experienced mother."


    Zenith blinked and then looked at Rostelina in confusion. "What do you mean experienced-" She paused and then said, "Oh. Of course... Wait. You raised your children?"


    Rostelina huffed. "Rude. I''m no heartless vixen. Even if I like..." She nced at Aisha and Norn and said, "Even with my past, I made sure to raise my children up well to adulthood. The only one who I didn''t was Laws, but there wereplicated circumstances around that."


    Zenith''s eyes lit up and she said, "Then... Do you n on staying in Buina vige longer? Because Lily and I could use some help and pointers on how to raise children."


    Rostelina finished braiding Aisha''s hair and set her down. "There you go, Sweetie."


    Aisha giggled and said, "Tank you! I show Mama!" With that, she ran off back into the house.


    Zenith frowned and said, "Be careful, Aisha!"


    "Kay! I kayful Mama Seni!" Saying that with a small wave, Aisha continued on her way.


    Zenith sighed. "That girl has too much energy sometimes."


    Rostelinaughed and said, "Children tend to be that way, yes. And I didn''t n to stay very long, but my man''s busy with his own thing right now..." She tapped her finger on her chin and said, "I suppose it''s better if I stay in a ce where he can pick me upter."


    Ghyine looked over at Rostelina and raised an eyebrow. "You have another mate, Elina- Lina?"


    Rostelina giggled and ced her hands on her cheeks. "He''s a very manly man. But he''s also very private... Maybe I''ll bring him to meet everyone after the kids are grown up."


    Zenith blinked. "You have more kids already?"


    Rostelina paused and then puffed her cheeks. "No. Though not forck of trying... I meant your kids."


    Zenith blinked again. "...Huh?"


    Rostelina waved her hand. "It''splicated. Magic and a bunch of other things are involved, so we''ll have that conversationter. But anyway..." She leaned forward and said, "So I heard that you''re pregnant again, Zenith?"


    Zenith blushed.

 80 – Child – A New Norm

    80 ¨C Child ¨C A New Norm


    It was a long and lively evening. With Mom and Dad''s old friends over, a lot of stories were exchanged and a lot ofughter had.


    Most of that over Dad''s overly affectionate PDAs with Mom and Mama Lily after having one too many drinks.


    While the adults chatted, us kids hung out and did our own thing. Mostly just getting to know each other and ying some board games that I helped Sylphy make.


    I''d been meaning to do some before to y with Aisha and Norn, but even with healing magic, I didn''t want to risk them swallowing something.


    My baby sisters were big girls now though (their words) so I made a few simple board games to y.


    One with chutes anddders, another with a bunch of colored disks to line up four in a row...


    Like that, we managed to preupy ourselves and my baby sisters.


    Master Roxy even joined inter, eager to try out Conne*t Fo*r.


    ...Or so she said. But it looked more like she was feeling out of ce with the adults and joined us instead.


    It was great though. And while I thought that Eris would be trouble, she seemed to be ying nice.


    Still wasn''t sure if that was because we caught her in a bad mood at Roa, if she was trying to change, or if she was actually a good person like Dad said.


    I was... tentatively giving her the benefit of the doubt on that.


    Still didn''t forgive her for beating up Sylphy for no apparent reason, but since Sylphy wasn''t showing any bad feelings towards Eris, I decided to not judge her too harshly.


    Besides, Norn and Aisha seemed to have like her. And Eris technically was family, like I mentioned to her.


    But anyway, time passed and night fell.


    ...Which meant we had to find a ce for everyone to crash for the night.


    Mostly the adults.


    Which also meant that Sylphy''s little remark about building a house came true since our house was definitely too small to fit everyone.


    And so a conspicuous stone mansion suddenly appeared next to the humble Greyrat household-


    Not.


    Sylphy was all for making a fancy house and even carving things out with ice.


    And Master Roxy wanted to make it mobile, able to transform and fly on a whim with a bunch of magic circles and the help with her new now-confirmed metal spirit.


    Apparently, the little guy was like mercury and could amalgamate all sorts of materials together along with mana... or something.


    Master Roxy rattled on a bit too much in her excitement and started talking in the Magic Godnguage halfway through her exnation so I didn''t catch everything. I did suddenly realize that people actually spoke differentnguages not though. The more you know, right?


    Anyway, I put my foot down and talked them out of it, creating a simple one-story ranch-style house instead. Well, I helped them create it. Mostly by doing floor ns and sketching things out.


    Fortunately, all those hours watching Mi*ecr*ft builds on Yo*T*be paid off, so we ended up with something fairly practical.


    Which was good, since it turned out that Ghyine and Eris were going to be more like live-in guests rather than short-term visitors.


    Apparently, my dear uncle Philip said it would be uneptable for my betrothed to live apart from me for so long since it would show that it was a sham marriage... or something.


    I called BS on that. And it also pissed me off at how aggressive that guy seemed to be throwing his daughter away... but considering that he drew a line in the sand, and since Eris really didn''t have anywhere else to go if we turned her away too, she stayed.


    And of course, that meant Ghyine stayed as well, since she was both Eris''s sword tutor and personal bodyguard.


    And that meant that the second and separate house was definitely needed since there was some history between Ghyine and Dad.


    I still remembered the look Dad gave her when he was trying to tick me off back then. It was acting, sure. But there was also something to it, so separate house it was.


    Like that, we did a bit of reshuffling in living arrangements.


    Going forward, me, Ghyine, Eris, and Master Roxy would sleep in the new house while Mom, Dad, Mama Lily, and my baby sisters would sleep in our old house.


    Well, technically I didn''t have to stay in the new house. But I knew what shenanigans my parents nned after mentioning all of that, so it was better for my mental health to not think about it too much and just move out a bit.


    That aside, the morning after the reunion/celebration party for my new baby sibling, things were pretty normal.


    Gisu left, saying he had some quests he had toplete if he wanted to maintain his S-Rank adventurer status. He promised he woulde visit every now and then to catch up though, and that he would send letters.


    ...Still thought the guy was shady, but since it turned out his actual written and epted job as an adventurer was a thief, that made sense.


    This world''smon sense was weird.


    Anyway, after that things settled down to a new normal.


    It was a bit awkward at first with the addition of Ghyine and Eris to the Greyrat household, but things settled down soon enough. Especially when Master Roxy impressed Eris by making a bunch of golems for her to fight and upy herself while we did our thing with Sylphy and my sisters.


    Mom and Dad went to work as usual, though Mom came back early since she was pregnant.


    Mama Lily still did chores, but since Ghyine was around and Eris was having fun fighting the golems Master Roxy created, Mama Lily and Ghyine trained together when Mama Lily finished the chores.


    Well, it was more like Ghyine was training Mama Lily... And identally bing the victim to all the protections I had ced inside of Mama Lily''s protective bracelet.


    Fortunately, Ghyine took it like a champ.


    I think.


    It was really hard to read her.


    Like that, time passed. Spring turned to summer. I turned eight to little fanfare... mostly because we were all too busy having fun.


    And then, a few weeks before Midsummer...


    "...And that''s why I want to head out with Philip and Uncle Sauros to the Milbotts Region."


    ...Dad mentioned something ridiculous again.


    -LIV-


    A family meeting in the afternoon.


    Aisha and Norn were fast asleep, tired out from running around all day and ying around with mana. Even so, Sylphy was keeping an eye on them with Eris and Ghyine.


    That left me, Mom, Mama Lily, Master Roxy, and Dad sitting around the dining room table in our old house.


    Dad shook his head and said, "It''s dangerous, but if things go well, we can settle this without resorting to bloodshed."


    I tapped my fingers on the table, frowning. "So you say. But are you sure this will work out right, Dad? I mean, you''re strong right now, but..."


    Since Dad had kept up with his training... and since he kept being pummeled by me and Laws to get Zenka- to get stronger after healing up, he was strong. Stupid strong.


    But not Orsted strong.


    If we kitted him out right with proper equipment and magical artifacts, I was sure Dad could handle pretty much anybody that popped out of the woodwork.


    Even so.


    "...How do we know this isn''t a plot by Being W?"


    That was the key question.


    Uncle Philip got intel from a mysterious magician about a potential kidnapping urring at a well-known noble gathering in a foreignnd. And it just so happened that the orchestrators would be the Notos family.


    It was fishy. Too convenient.


    Mama Lily nodded. "It is too dangerous, Paul."


    Mom nodded as well. "I really don''t want you to go. And I''m pregnant! You aren''t just going to leave your helpless wife like this, are you?"


    A guilt trip. The leverage that Mom always used to make Dad do things for her.


    It definitely had an effect. Dad''s face twisted into a grimace and he looked hesitant. But even so, he shook his head and said, "I know it''s bad timing. But it''s something we have to do."


    I frowned. "Is it though? The Asuran Kingdom or whatever never followed up, and we never got any assassins or troublemakers from the Notos family."


    The worry that we would get branded as traitors or hunted down never came to fruition.


    It still could. But considering how much time had passed, it really didn''t seem likely.


    Which was unfortunate since I was itching to test out a few defense measures I had installed, but it was probably for the best.


    Master Roxy nodded. "Rudy has a point." She looked at my dad and said, "Even if your brother may prove trouble in the future, or if the Asura Kingdom sends forces this far out, we have nothing to fear." She nced over to her floating silver spirit and smiled. "Isn''t that right, Mercy?"


    *sching*


    Dad pursed his lips and said, "Even so... We can''t just let this happen. If I''m not there, something terrible will happen to an innocent young girl."


    "So what?" I shrugged and said, "It doesn''t involve us. And it *will* involve us if you go. Terrible things happen in the world all the time. Who cares if another gets added to the list?"


    Silence.


    I blinked and looked around. "What? Did I say something weird?"


    Mom and Dad shared a look.


    Master Roxy covered her face and sighed.


    Only Mama Lily looked at me. She frowned and said, "That... is true, Rudy. But..."


    "But what?" I frowned and said, "It''s just a random girl."


    Dad red at me and said, "What if that girl was Sylphy? Or Norn? Aisha?"


    I shook my head. "I see what you''re getting at, Dad. But she''s not. And this isn''t a world where we have the luxury to go around saving everyone in sight, right? I mean, that''s why you ran all the way here to Buina vige, isn''t it?"


    Mom pursed her lips and said, "Rudy."


    I looked at her. "Yes, Mom?"


    She stared at me and then carefully said, "Do you... not care about other people?"


    "Of course I do." I nodded and said, "Everyone''s lives are important. But it''s not our business to get involved when it means putting our own lives at risk. Especially for a random stranger. Besides." I looked at Dad and said, "Why do *you* have to go? Can''t Uncle Philip or your uncle find some other strong people to help out?"


    Dad hesitated. "They could, but-"


    I pressed on. "And if it''s that important, why don''t I juste along? I''mpletely healed and stronger than before. Not only that, but if this is as much of a trap as it appears, it''ll be better if I''m there to help out."


    "You can''t-"


    "And if not me, since Orsted wants to team up with me, why don''t we just ask him to help out? If this mission or whatever means saving a member of a noble house, that means he could get a favor for helping out, right? And since it seems to involve Being W, he would probably be happy to help."


    Dad was quiet. "True. Even so..."


    "Even so what, Dad?" I frowned and said, "This doesn''t make any sense. You know the risks. We shouldn''t get involved, but even if we have to, there are better alternatives than you going in alone." I stood up and said, "What if an army of Sword Kings show up? Or a group of Emperor-ranked magicians?"


    Dadughed and said, "I think your sense of scale is off, Rudy. There''s less than a dozen King-ranked swordsman in both the Sword God and Water God style."


    "But not for the North God, right? That''s just basically whoever can fight." I shook my head and said, "You''re good, but you don''t scale inbat. In the worst case scenario, you''ll be going up against an entire hostile house in a hostilend without any back up. This is a *terrible* idea." I crossed my arms and said, "Either you let mee, you let Master Roxy tag along, or you don''t go at all."


    Dad smirked and said, "Wow. Talking for Roxy now, are you? My genius son works fast."


    I mmed my hand on the table and said, "This isn''t the ce for jokes, Dad!"


    He stared at me and smiled. "It seems you''re forgetting about someone, Rudy."


    "Who?"


    Dad stretched and said, "Well. There''s a certain swordswoman who''s pretty free right now. And she also has ties to the Boreas family, so she''s going toe along anyway."


    I shook my head and said, "Even with Ghyine, it''s still too dangerous. We don''t know what tricks Being W is pulling or what pieces he has in store. Going out like this is-!"


    "Necessary."


    Dad gave me a stern look.


    I bit my tongue and stared back.


    "Rudy." Dad stared at me and said, "I know it''s dangerous. I know it''s risky. And I know that it could be a trap. But it''s something that I... we have to do."


    "Why?" I frowned and said, "Why do you have to go out of your way for something like this? We''re fine if we just stay here at Buina vige and-"


    "Son."


    I flinched and stared at my Dad.


    He stood up too and looked down at me. Crossing his arms, he said, "Do you want to live your entire life in a cage like this?"

 81 – Child – With Great Power…

    81 ¨C Child ¨C With Great Power¡­


    A... cage?


    Dad looked at me and said, "You''re scared. We''re all scared. We don''t know how strong this Being W guy is or what he has in store. But we have to check. It''s fine training here in safety, but that won''tst forever. You saw Gisu, right? Being W tried to pull a fast one on us. We caught it, but what if we don''t next time?"


    "And what does that have to do with you running off by yourself?" I red at him and said, "It''s stupid. You''re stupid. Why are you stupid?"


    Mom narrowed her eyes and said, "Don''t talk like that to your father, Rudy."


    "What? It''s true!"


    Dadughed and waved his hand at my mom. "It''s fine, Zenith." He looked at me and nodded. "It''s true. I''m stupid. But Rudy. Didn''t you know?" He grinned and said, "Even masters have to be careful in front of absolute fools. Not to mention that an idiot who doesn''t know or fear the enemy''s ns is the best one to ruin them."


    Master Roxy tapped her fingers on the table and slowly nodded. "That... is a fair point. If Being W has been quiet because he is working ns behind the scene to spring them when we least expect it, then it would be wise to throw some chaos into the works to disrupt them."


    "Right?" Dad pointed at Roxy and then looked at me. "See? Your beloved Master Roxy gets it."


    "But that is assuming that is not his intention." Roxy continued and frowned. "The problem we face is that we do not know the extent of Being W''s abilities. If he is a god, is he omniscient? It appears that he is not, but how far below that bar is his gaze? Can he perceive the future? The past? And what are his capabilities? What if he directly manifests?"


    I pointed at Roxy too and said, "Do you see? It''s too risky for you to go alone. But if Ie, we won''t have that risk."


    I was confident. If Being W tried anything, I would be able to thwart it. And even if we were surrounded by enemy forces, I could mow them all down and get us out of there.


    In the worst case scenario... Well, no matter how strong a person was or how good the magic was in this world, that was only to the level of what they knew about the world around them.


    I had an entire repository of knowledge from a separate world because of my past life. And while I didn''t recall much, if any, of that past life anymore, I still remembered what I had learned.


    And if push came to shove, I had enough mana to brute force phenomenon like Sylphy did.


    Unraveling the molecr bonds of the person in front of me and turning them into a puddle of goo. Modifying healing magic to override the body''s homeostasis and cause rapid cell-division to induce either aging or cancerous tumors...


    Barring that, I could also create a gue or virus. Something that spread rapidly and mutated quickly. Non-lethal at first, but then quickly adapting. And one that spread through the air.


    Or maybe one thattched onto mana and self-empowered through that?


    I had countless ways to end things if Being W flipped the table or crossed the line.


    So it didn''t have to be like this. Dad didn''t have to risk his life by going alone. And if I was there, we didn''t have to worry.


    Dad stared at me and then let out a deep sigh. "It seems like I messed up, huh?"


    I blinked and stared at my dad. "...What do you mean?"


    Dad shook his head and walked around the table towards me. After that, he ced his hands on my shoulder. "Rudy. Listen to me very carefully."


    I looked up at him and slowly nodded. "I''m listening."


    "You''re still young... But these are the years that will determine the man who you''re going to be the rest of your life."


    I gave him a nk look and said, "Dad. I''m eight years old."


    "The fact that you can say that means it''s even more true." Dad gave me a serious look and said, "Rudy. You''re young, but you aren''t a kid. Hell, you''re more mature than I was when I ran away from home."


    ...I couldn''t really argue with that.


    It was true. I was young, but I wasn''t a child. I knew better than most and I had the capacity to understand the world around me since I was born. And I technically had lived a life already, even if it was cut short and I couldn''t recall it.


    Dad patted my head with his left hand and said, "I know how much you love all of us. I know how much you worry about seeing us get hurt. But you can''t focus on just your family."


    "Why not?" I brushed his hand off and said, "Who cares about everyone else? I''m fine as long as everyone here is safe."


    Dad sighed. "Rudy." He shook his head and said, "If someone like you doesn''t care, who will?"


    I froze.


    That...


    Dad looked at me and said, "All it takes for the bad guys to win is for the good guys to stand back and do nothing. Now, Dad isn''t a good guy. I''m doing better, but I grew up in a ce where doing bad things was normal. Expected." He nced at Lilia and looked away in shame.


    I noticed and frowned. "But you changed, Dad. You''re a good person now."


    Heughed and said, "Well. If my genius son says it, maybe it''s true. But then... if it''s true, I have to show it. And if I''ve be a good person... If I''m a good guy now, then I can''t let the bad guys run free."


    I stared at my dad and said, "But that''s stupid. You can''t stop all of them. Saving just this one girl isn''t worth it."


    "Maybe." Dad nodded and said, "But it''s who I''m trying to be. And it''s probably a bit toote for me to change." Heughed and said, "Hell, your dad has a lot of bad habits that he keeps falling back to. I''ve kicked a bunch of them, but a few stille back every now and then. But you''re different." He stared at me and said, "You can be good or evil, Rudy. Hero or viin. You''re this young, but you already have more power than almost everyone else in the world. I would bet my life on that-"


    "Please don''t."


    Dadughed and said, "Right, right. But it''s true. You have power, Rudy. Enough power to change the world for better or for worse. But with that great power, there must alsoe great responsibility."


    I was quiet.


    I knew those words.


    ...I didn''t know if Dad was just subconsciously drawing on them or what, but I remembered those words.


    Right.


    ''With great poweres great responsibility.''


    It was famous. A quote that pretty much everyone knew.


    And something that I knew too. But I hadn''t thought about it at all.


    After all, I didn''t have great power before I died.


    But I did now.


    ...Dad was right. For once, he made a good point.


    The only thing that was required for evil to prevail was for good men to do nothing.


    And people didn''t wake up one day deciding to be evil. It was a gradual eptance. Letting one small act go because it was convenient. A cascade ofpromises until there was no where left to fall and you relished where you stood.


    Dad made good points. Even so...


    "That still doesn''t exin why you have to go, Dad."


    ...It was just a distraction.


    Dadughed and said, "Fine. If that didn''t convince you, I guess I can''t." He sighed and stepped back. "You''re young, Rudy. But I guess you grew up before I realized it. And it seems I set the wrong example. So I won''t stop you froming along. But... I''m asking you." He looked at me and said, "Let me do this. I''ve messed up twice already... but third time''s the charm, right?"


    I clenched my fists.


    He was stupid. His reasoning wasplete garbage and he was being reckless again.


    I didn''t want to let him do this. At least, not outside of my sight.


    But before I could say anything else, Mama Lily spoke up. "It''s fine, Rudy."


    "Huh?" I looked over at Mama Lily. "What do you mean?"


    Mama Lily looked at my dad and said, "Your father is reckless when he runs off on his own. So we can''t let him do that... But you''re the same. So that won''t do."


    I blinked and then pouted. "What do you mean? I''m nothing like Dad!"


    Dad clutched his chest as said, "Ah. My poor heart. My beloved son is rejecting me out of hand... So this is how my father felt..."


    They were serious words, but the light-hearted smile on Dad''s face showed that he was joking.


    I red at him, but then looked at Mama Lily. "Setting aside me being like Dad... What do you propose then? Master Roxy going with Dad?" I looked over at Master Roxy.


    Master Roxy hesitated. "I would, but..."


    Dadughed and said, "I''m afraid your beloved master''s reputation would make that difficult. Especially considering how much she stands out."


    I blinked and looked at Master Roxy. "What reputation?"


    She coughed and said, "I-It isplicated. And involves quite a few misunderstandings." After saying that, she pursed her lips and looked away, making it clear she wasn''t going to say anything else.


    I sighed and then looked at Mama Lily. "That''s what Master Roxy says. Miss Ghyine is going, but I still think it''s not enough..."


    Mom hummed, twirling her blonde hair. After a while, she nodded and said, "Ghyine''s always been good at picking the right oue... but you''re right. She and your father have always been a ma for trouble."


    Dad pouted and said, "That''s not-" He paused and then frowned, eyes moving as if counting something in his head.


    "See?" Mom sighed and then looked at Mama Lily. "We really do need someone to buffer them in this. From what I''ve heard about Philip and Sauros, they don''t seem much better than Paul." She frowned and said, "We really need someone with a cool head about all this..."


    Mama Lily nodded. "Yes. Which is why I will be going along with Paul."


    Silence.


    And then everyone started talking at the same time.


    "No way!" Dad crossed his arms.


    "You can''t, Lily!" Mom protested.


    "It is far too dangerous, Lily." Master Roxy frowned and shook her head.


    "I don''t want you to go and get hurt, Mama Lily!" And I tried talking her down too.


    Mama Lily smiled and then shook her head. "I appreciate the sentiments from everyone. But Paul was right in part." She frowned and said, "We must probe Being W''s actions. If too many of us go, he will be cautious. But if we present a tempting opportunity..."


    Master Roxy ced her right hand on her chin and said, "He will take the bait."


    Mama Lily nodded. "That is so. And in doing so, we will buy more time through dying whatever plots he has set afoot."


    I shook my head. "No. No way. Absolutely not. You''re going to get hurt! Or worse!"


    "I will not."


    I stared at her and said, "And what makes you so confident, Mama Lily? You might have healed from your old wounds and trained a bit more, but you''re not a fighter!"


    She nodded. "This is true. But I am confident that I will be fine."


    "How?" I frowned. "...Do you know something we don''t?"


    Mama Lily smiled. "No. But I have faith." She looked at Paul and said, "My beloved husband is a person who fights the hardest when there is someone he must protect within his sights. And..." She turned to look at me. "My beloved Rudy is a genius who can defy even the heavens above and perform miracles. So... Why don''t we try it once? Or... is my faith mistaken?"


    I felt my heart tremble.


    It was there.


    The same as my past life.


    Towering expectations that I couldn''t hope to meet.


    Not only that, but they were from the one person who I thought would never have them of me. The one who supported me unconditionally this entire time.


    Mama Lily was quiet, just staring at me with that soft smile.


    Dad clenched his fists, but he turned to look at me, not saying a word either.


    I nced at him and looked at Mama Lily. And then...


    "Fine."


    I decided.


    It would be different. I would make sure that this time would be different.


    With great power came great responsibility.


    ...And with that quote, there always came a death in the family. ALWAYS.


    But I wouldn''t allow that. Not this time.


    So...


    "Master Roxy." I looked at her and said, "You. Me. Your bedroom tonight."


    "P-P-PArdOn!?" Master Roxy turned a deep red and her voice cracked.


    I paused, realizing how that phrasing sounded. But I ignored it and said, "We''re going to create an absolute defense field. And we''re going to make a sword that can cut through anything."


    "O-Oh." Master Roxy cleared her throat and said, "Of course."


    I stared at Dad and said, "You''re forbidden from dying or letting Mama Lily die. Got it? If anything happens, I''m ending this world. I''ll be the Demon God, murder everything in sight and then recreate everything."


    Dadughed and said, "Well. I guess I''ll have to work hard to prevent that, then."


    A light-hearted reply. But Dad''s eyes were firm. Determined.


    Seeing that, I gave a curt nod and walked off.


    There were preparations to make.


    -LIV-


    The depths of the forest by Buina vige. There, Technique God Lace knelt down beneath a tall tree and dug through the soil with his bare hands. And after scraping away a few handfuls of dirt, he pulled something out from the ground.


    Lace stared at the item he dug out and muttered, "Your life wasn''t in vain, Rudy."


    As to what that item was...


    A small urn made with magic. And also one that had flickers of powerful mana coursing through it. Mana that seemed to not belong in that world, distorting the space and gravity around it.


    Holding the urn in his hands, Lace gave it a solemn look and said, "You lost everything you had, but you''ve set things up for us to win everything back. Well, I guess you could never have predicted this would result after your trip to warn your past self, but that''s what happens when mortals attempt time travel..." He shook his head and then looked up at the clear blue sky. "You can rest easy now. Your past self couldn''t finish the job, but I will. Well, ''we'' will."


    Silence. There wasn''t a response.


    But of course there wasn''t. It was just a strange urn, filled with the ashes of someone long dead.


    ...At least, that should have been the case.


    But then a deep and bone-weary sigh echoed. When it did, the urn shattered and the ashes inside dissolved into ambient mana.


    Lace watched it fade and then nodded.


    After that, footsteps echoed from the distance, shortly followed by a mature female voice. "So you''re here after all, Master."


    Lace looked over to see Rostelina walking towards him, wearing a gray robe.


    "I thought I sensed you." She looked over towards the tree and then frowned. "But what are you doing here? Weren''t you making preparations?"


    "I am." Lace nodded and said, "There was an item here that was slowly turning the area into a dungeon, so I wanted to make sure that was settled first."


    "Hm?" Rostelina tilted her head and said, "That phenomenon wasn''t from Roxy or Rudy''s magic circles?"


    "It wasn''t." He nced at the tree and looked at the surrounding area.


    It was where he saved Sylphy. Or rather, where ''Rudy'' saved Sylphy. Lace simply bought time and broke open the veil Being W made to conceal her.


    But even if he hadn''t, someone else would have.


    Lace shook his head and then rested his hand over his sword. As he did, a crimson tree flickered to life... and continued flickering.


    Most of the branches were gone now, leaving only the main trunk and a few tiny offshoots.


    Seeing that, Lace clicked his tongue. "No point relying on the future anymore if that guy''s given up on it as well."


    The past couldn''t be changed, and now the future was a nk te.


    Lace had a few sketches of what it could be, but clinging to those would lead to trouble down the line.


    Still, he knew what to prevent... and what to allow to pass.


    And the first of those...


    Lace ruffled Rostelina''s hair and then said, "Be good and watch over the kids for a few years. It''s going to happen soon and they''ll need your moral support."


    Rostelina huffed and said, "I''m not a child anymore, Master. And I already know. Although..." She frowned and said, "Are you sure this is fine? If Hitogami''s stopped using his <Future Sight>, can''t you directly intervene now? ...Can''t you save them?"


    Lace stopped and then slowly shook his head. "I can''t. And even if I could, I won''t. After all..." He looked back at Rostelina and said, "I told you, didn''t I?" He looked away and said, "I am not Rudeus Notos Greyrat."


    And he wasn''t.


    Lace had the man''s memories. Lace saw the man''s potential futures. And Lace knew the man''s regrets.


    But he wasn''t Rudy. Not anymore.


    "Great! Then I don''t have to worry about stealing my granddaughter''s man away from her when I do this, right?"


    "Hm? Do wha- Mmph?"


    Rostelina pulled her lips back from Lace and then let out a sly grin. "If you''re going to work hard for a few years, you''re going to need a *lot* of mana. So... I''ll do my best to top you up, alright? Ma-su-tah?"


    Lace sighed. "You lewd woman."


    "Only for you! Now... let''s get started."


    -LIV-


    On the destroyed mountain in the Crimson Dragon mountain range, Orsted clenched his hands, marveling at the thrum of power coursing through his veins. After that, he nodded and said, "This should be sufficient." He stared into the distance at the Milbotts region. "...Rudeus is still young, so I should wait. But for now... Tristina Purplehorse''s abduction should be around this time. Let us see if this is enough to defy Fate."


    Muttering to himself, the current Dragon God descended from the mountains, his white coat fluttering behind him.


    -LIV-


    In an endless void, a certain misty white figure calmly stared at a floating model of a t world beneath him. As he did, his eyes flitted towards certain white lights shining across the major continents. "...Let''s see how you handle this, you cheater. You''re not the only one who can flip the board over."


    A pair of lights flickered from the Holy Land of Swords, slowly moving towards the Milbotts region. A bundle of lights blossomed within the Milbotts region itself, focused around the Notos territory. And with that...


    Cracks formed across the model. Tiny tears in space, forming a web over the entire world.


    "I didn''t get to where I am today by ying fair. Just you wait. We''ll see how your neat tidy ns hold up when I throw absolute chaos into the mix. He. Hehe. Hehehe!"

 82 – Child – …Comes Great Stress

    82 ¨C Child ¨C ¡­Comes Great Stress


    It was stupid. I still didn''t see the point of why Dad and Mama Lily needed to go along to save just one girl in basically an entire different country.


    Family was the most important thing. Who cared about the rest of the world or ''innocents?'' Sure, it was good to help out every now and then, but to risk your neck for aplete stranger...


    I didn''t get Dad. But I wasn''t going to try and change him. The only way that someone would change would be if they decided to change for themselves.


    And Dad seemed to be trying at least.


    Wish he actually *would* change instead of just try, but this was the situation I had to deal with. No pointining about it.


    Anyway, there were a lot of preparations to make, so I got busy with Master Roxy. I had to work really closely with her in order to make sure everything was in order.


    Fortunately, I had stupid amounts of mana to work with and my mana also seemed to be extremely malleable.


    Kind of like Master Roxy''s summon. The metal blob... Mercy? I think that was what Master Roxy called it.


    Mercy could pick up random minerals, objects, and mana and amalgamate with it. Essentially take in the properties of whatever itbined with.


    Only for a short while though. It would be pretty broken otherwise.


    Ah, but it didn''t like my mana. When we tried giving it a bit, the spirit ran away like my mana was the gue.


    Maybe it had to do something with the whole potentially being the reincarnation of a Demon God thing. Or just having traces of said Demon God in my body?


    Or maybe my mana was stronger and it would assimte Mercy instead?


    I didn''t know, but whatever the case, Mercy stayed far away from me while we experimented.


    And as for experiments...


    There were two objectives.


    The first was a defense for Dad.


    I knew Dad. While he was a genius in sword fighting... Well, in just fighting in general, he also fought recklessly. He was fast and basically had the first stage of ultra instinct, but we couldn''t rely on that.


    After all, he wasn''t Orsted fast.


    I could still remember it. In what was essentially frozen time, that guy could move at normal speed.


    He was an anomaly. Orsted was basically an unbeatable boss fight.


    But who was to say that Being W didn''t have people like that in stock?


    This world was big. Dad was a genius, but geniuses were a dime a dozen when there were billions of people in the world. Especially when there were races other than humans and even mixed race hybrids.


    Like the Sword God and Water God.


    Even though they weren''t Orsted, I was sure of it. People on those levels...


    Taking each style to the extreme, the Sword God could probably move at light speed and do crazy stuff like split space. And the Water God probably had the real ultra instinct thing. Or maybe an ''Absolute Domain'' where they could control and sense every iing attack?


    No, since it was ''Water'', we had to assume it was based on that.


    Water could flow or it could crash. It was also formless and shapeless... and it took on the form of whatever you put it in.


    In that case... there was probably an absolute counter where it took the iing attack and revolved it with added force.


    Then there was the North God that was basically the mixed martial arts of sword fighting...


    But that was a rabbit hole that wouldn''t end.


    Focused preparations. That was what we needed.


    Dad and Mama Lily would leave within the week, so there were seven days to work with.


    And during those seven days, like I thought, we needed a defense for Dad. And we also needed a strong sword for him and Mama Lily.


    Mostly Mama Lily.


    If she was going... Well, the bracelet I made for her had been upgraded with a bunch of features, but a trump card was best. And she was trained to be more of an assassin type of fighter anyway.


    So again, two tasks. And we had to factor in crazy BS wildcards.


    First, we started with the swords.


    Mama Lily wasn''t very strong and didn''t use much mana to reinforce her body, so the sword had to be light. At the same time, it was probably better for her to have it concealed.


    After all, no one would expect someone as beautiful as Mama Lily to be able to fight, right? And even if they did, with all the magic that would trigger from the bracelet, they would assume she was a magician and rush in to attack instead of run away.


    Which would be the perfect time to counter.


    So a proper de wouldn''t do. It should be innocuous. Mundane.


    After a bunch of brainstorming, I remembered the story about a water nymph giving her pin to a hero to create a magic sword, so we went with that.


    Kind of.


    We still used a pin, but it didn''t turn into a sword. Instead, it turned into a sword-hilt. One etched with millions of magic circles that would make aposite mana/sma de when activated. Also tons of magic circles with all sorts of traps for people who tried to take it away from her.


    We could have made the same thing for Dad, but considering his style it wouldn''t work. Instead, the focus was on making a de that could handle his mana and ridiculous improvisation. also one that wouldn''t break under high stress, like when I fought against Orsted.


    Which reminded me that I never did recover the pieces of my sword...


    But anyway, there was a simple solution for Dad''s sword.


    Since I figured out how topress my mana into a magic stone to use as ammo against Orsted, I just applied the same logic to make a hyperpressed mana sword out of ambient mana.


    The result was an ominous looking crimson sword that seemed like something Muramasa would make, but it was definitely sturdy enough.


    It also *really* didn''t like other mana and repelled it like a ma.


    Which reminded me again that I needed to do more research into the fundamental nature of mana still.


    But those were finished.


    Now came the hard part.


    ...How do you make an absolute defense?


    -LIV-


    Sylphy stared through the window at Rudy pulling his hair and scribbling into a notebook.


    "Rudy''s still at it?" A bratty female voice echoed from behind.


    Eris walked over, her arms crossed. Her crimson hair trailed behind her as she did, along with the coat tails of the haphazard fur coat she made to copy Ghyine.


    Sylphy resisted the urge to scold Eris for talking about Rudy so casually. Instead, she just nodded and looked back at Rudy. "That''s right. It seems like he''s stuck on a hard problem."


    They were outside the other house. The new one that Sylphy helped Rudy and Miss Roxy build a while back.


    It waste in the afternoon. The day had mostlye and gone... and most of that was spent indoors for Rudy.


    Like always, it seemed as if Sylphy''s best friend... No. Not just best friend. Rudy was the one she liked the most and made her happy, just like she made him happy.


    But right now he seemed really frustrated.


    Through the window, Sylphy saw Roxy walk over to Rudy and then peer over his shoulder, staring at the diagrams. She ruffled Rudy''s white hair with a gentle smile and then started tapping certain parts of the diagram, making some suggestions Sylphy couldn''t hear.


    "Ugh." Eris shook her head and said, "I still don''t get how he can sit down for so long. My eyes would be spinning just looking at that stuff."


    Sylphy looked away from Rudy and stared at Eris. "That''s because all you can think about is sword fighting."


    Eris puffed her chest out and nodded. "That''s right! And I''m the best at it!"


    "Only because all you do is train." Sylphy frowned and said, "Have you even yed with Norn or Aisha recently?"


    Eris huffed. "I try! But those two brats keep making fun of me!"


    Sylphy blinked. "...How?"


    Norn and Aisha were still toddlers. They were smart and Eris *did* have a lot of ws to poke fun at, but...


    Actually, Aisha was smart enough to notice those sorts of things. And she definitely had a little mean streak to her. And Norn as the responsible big sister would go along with Aisha and protect her...


    Eris pouted and said, "Aisha keeps calling me a muscle-head! What even is that? My head isn''t made of muscles! Isn''t it stupid?"


    Sylphy''s mouth twitched, but she did her best to not let it show. "I-It is a bit ridiculous."


    "Right?" Eris looked proud and said, "I knew you''d get it, Sylphy! Nowe on!" She grabbed Sylphy''s hand and said, "Let''s go fight some monsters in the forest!"


    Sylphy nced at Rudy and hummed. "...I guess some magic stones *would* be useful for Rudy..."


    "Oh, yeah. I guess we could remember to get some for him too. But let''s go!" Eris jumped up and down and said, "If you fly us there, we can go and be back before dark!"


    Sylphy blinked and tilted her head, staring at Eris.


    Eris stared back. "What?"


    "...Nothing, Eris." Sylphy let out a warm smile and said, "Hold on tight, okay? Rudy would be sad if you got hurt."


    "O-Oh. Okay then." Eris hugged Sylphy tighter.


    And with that, the two flew into the air.


    Eris screamed and hugged Sylphy a bit tighter still.


    For a split second, Sylphy considered causing an ident. It would be so easy to just say she didn''t know what happened. And since Eris liked Sylphy now after all Sylphy did for her, Sylphy would never get med for it.


    And if Rudy got sad, Sylphy could cheer him up about it too.


    But that would be mean. And besides, even if Eris was annoying, bratty, and took everything for granted, she really liked Sylphy for some reason. And Sylphy didn''t want to hurt someone who really liked her. Even still...


    ...Maybe Eris was just stupid? It seemed like she hadpletely forgot about the past between them just because Sylphy said some nice things and showed her some magic.


    Oh well. It just meant that if Eris liked Sylphy more, Sylphy didn''t have to worry about Eris stealing Rudy''s time with Sylphy.


    Now... her Rudy was working hard so Sylphy should work hard to bring him something nice, right?


    Maybe they should go hunt down some Terminate Boars so they could grill some meat and have fun with a campfire...

 83 – Child – Support Conversations

    83 ¨C Child ¨C Support Conversations


    "Rui! Bubble?" Norn stared at me with wide green eyes, giving me a shy smile.


    Aisha nodded her head next to Norn and grinned. "Big bro! Magic! Magic!"


    I blinked and then looked over at the person who brought them over.


    "What?" Dad crossed his arms, leaning against the door frame. "Too good to y with your baby sisters?"


    "Of course not." I held out my hand and made a small water ball before handing it over to Norn.


    She giggled and held it in her hands, easily manipting the mana in it. "Pwetty!"


    Aisha pped her hands and said, "Big sis, cool!"


    "Heehee!"


    ...I still had MANY questions about why Norn could handle mana so easily. But that was ater problem.


    I nced out the window.


    It was dark now- No, notpletely. There was a small fire glowing outside on the ins. Master Roxy with Sylphy and Eris. Ghyine was there too... and chopping up a giant pig?


    That much time passed, huh?


    "You''re doing the thing again, Rudy."


    I blinked and looked at Dad. "That''s because I have to use a lot of brain power to try and figure out your problems, Dad."


    Norn handed the water ball off to Aisha and then looked at me. "Rui pwobem?"


    I ruffled her hair and said, "Don''t worry, Norn. Big brother''s just thinking."


    Norn furrowed her brow, as if she was trying hard to figure out what I said. But then she slowly nodded and said, "...Kay."


    She definitely didn''t understand. But it was cute, so it didn''t really matter.


    I looked back at Dad and said, "What are you guys doing here anyway? Was Mom and Mama Lily worried about me or something?"


    "Yes, and yes. Also Norn and Aisha missed their big brother so we came by to say hi."


    I winced.


    ...Yeah. I had been kind of holing up in my room for a while now.


    I sighed and then looked at Norn and Aisha ying catch. "...Maybe I do need a break."


    Dad nodded. "Even geniuses like us need time off, you know?"


    I rolled my eyes and said, "You take too much time off, Dad."


    "Better that than not enough and missing out on my lovely kids growing up, right?"


    I gave Dad a nk stare and then sighed. "You are raising so many death gs."


    "Death-" Dad blinked and said, "What are those?"


    "Don''t worry about it." I stood up and did some stretching. After that, I looked outside and said, "I''m guessing they''re doing a little barbecue or something?"


    "Mmhm." Dad nodded and said, "Looks like Eris and Sylphy worked hard to get some meat to grill for our hardworking genius."


    I watched Sylphy idently turn a b of meat into charcoal with a st of fire and sighed.


    "Well. I guess I''ve been working hard enough for the day."


    And I was still stuck on trying to make some defense equipment for Dad.


    It couldn''t be too heavy since his main style was Sword God which relied on fast speeds. But if it was too light then it''d be pointless.


    Unless it was made out of some mana mesh that would protect that?


    Ooh, that was an idea. Maybe-


    Before I could finish my thought, my world suddenly turned on its end.


    Dad, lifting me up and tossing me over his shoulder.


    "Hey!" I squirmed and said, "Let me down!"


    "No can do." Dad turned back and said, "Right, girls? Your big brother''s been working too hard, so we need to have some fun."


    "Rui! Stwong! No scare, kay?"


    "Big bro y! I wan see more magic!"


    ...It seemed like Norn got a misunderstanding and Aisha was way too focused on magic.


    But whatever. I *could* use a rest.


    Though...


    "...Man." Dad started walking out of the room with me and said, "You''re pretty heavy though, Rudy. What have you been eating?"


    "..."


    "...Don''t tell me you''ve been skipping meals?"


    "I-I eat lunch with the others every now and then. And I get some snacks too... I think."


    Sylphy popped in every now and then with random treats when she was over. And Eris rambled on about random stuff before leaving bowls of food for me too when Sylphy didn''t.


    So I was fed properly.


    ...Was it a bad thing that I didn''t remember what I ate though?


    Dad sighed.


    -LIV-


    "Rudy!" Sylphy ran up and hugged my arm. Smiling, she said, "Did youe to eat with us?"


    I scratched the back of my head and let out a wry smile. "I couldn''t just leave you guys alone when you''re doing such a good job cooking."


    Eris walked over and crossed her arms, huffing. "About time you showed up. For someone who''s supposed to be smart and good at fighting, you really don''t know what''s good for you."


    We were outside. Or rather, my dad tossed me on the ground after we left the house and I booked it before he did anything more embarrassing.


    Sylphy looked at Eris and giggled. "Rudy can be kind of dumb sometimes, right?"


    Eris nodded. "Right! Aren''t boys supposed to help girls out?"


    I shrugged and said, "I believe in gender equality. It''s not like you''re any better than me."


    Eris instantly glowered and pointed at me. "You''re only better because you''re faster! Your sword techniques suck!"


    "I won''t deny that. But who needs technique when you have raw ability?"


    If I could see attacksing and block them before they hit, it didn''t really matter if I knew how to do it properly or not, right? It wasn''t like I was trying to be a magic swordsman anyway. That was dad''s thing.


    "...I hate you." Eris red at me.


    I waved my hand and said, "You''re not very endearing yourself, Princess. Fix that attitude of yours and we might get along."


    Eris''s eyes widened and she started tearing up.


    Sylphy tugged my arm and said, "Be nice. Eris is trying hard too."


    I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Right." I looked at Eris, put on my best puppy dog look, and said, "Sorry, Eris."


    "A-Ah." Eris blinked a lot and then frowned. "I-I... This time." She averted her gaze and said, "Only because Sylphy asked you."


    Huh. Needed to keep that tidbit in mind. Maybe my puppy dog face leveled up...


    Master Roxy cleared her throat and said, "Are you three going to just keep talking over there?"


    She looked up from the fire nearby.


    Ghyine was sitting nearby too. "That''s right. If we want to eat, we should all help in cooking this before it spoils."


    Eris walked over and said, "How am I supposed to help anyway? I don''t know how to cook."


    Ghyine pointed to the boar carcass behind her and a giant ice tter with cuts of meat. "Practice your cutting technique."


    "But Ghyine can do it really fast!"


    "Which is why you should practice."


    Eris sighed and walked over.


    In the meantime, I walked over to Master Roxy and stared at her grilling the meat. Mostly at the slightly burnt and overcooked kebabs next to her.


    She noticed me staring and her ears turned red. "W-What? It''s edible!"


    Sylphy nodded. "It''s better than what I did..."


    Master Roxy patted Sylphy''s head and said, "It''s fine, Sylphy. You didn''t know that cooking takes time."


    Sylphy pouted and said, "It doesn''t make sense. Why can''t it cook faster if we use hotter fire?"


    I plopped down besides Sylphy and said, "Because cooking isn''t about the fire or heat, but about the thing changing with the heat. And the change can only go so fast."


    Cooking was just aplicated series of chemical reactions, after all. And those required certain parameters and time... along with certain energy levels. Adding too much energy would just trigger a different chemical reaction... a charcoal.


    Sylphy picked up a skewer of raw meat and looked thoughtful.


    I got a sudden bad feeling and said, "Sylphy no."


    She flinched and looked away, feigning innocence. "I wasn''t going to try anything, Rudy."


    "Trying to speed up cooking with magic is no good. You might create something the world isn''t prepared to fight."


    Master Roxy nodded and looked at Sylphy. "Rudy''s right. There are instances where scraps of meat or bones left in dungeons have turned into monsters. If you make a mistake, you could create a terrifying monster, Sylphy."


    "Hmph. Fine." Sylphy held her skewer out to the fire. "...This is annoying though."


    At that time, Dad jogged onto the scene with Aisha clinging onto his head and Norn held in his arms.


    Aisha let out a happy giggle, clearly excited by the speed.


    While Norn was wide=eyed in terror.


    I sighed.


    -LIV-


    After sorting out a bunch of things and scolding Dad for being reckless with my baby sisters again, we all huddled around the campfire and rxed.


    A few makeshift stone chairs, some soft woven grass mats for Aisha and Norn to y on, and we were good.


    Eris sat next to Ghyine, both happily chewing on some kebabs.


    Dad sat with a few kebabs of his own while Norn and Aisha sat on the mats beside him, blearily staring into the fire.


    And then there was me, sitting next to Master Roxy and Sylphy.


    I nibbled on my kebab and frowned.


    ...I still didn''t get why we couldn''t just stay like this. Or why Dad had to go out of his way to another country for some n.


    The pros just kept getting outweighed in my head the more I thought about it.


    Ghyine nced at Dad and said, "Paul. It seems like your kid''s not enjoying the food. Are his tastebuds messed up or something?"


    Dadughed and said, "Nah. He''s still just thinking about the trip."


    I frowned and took a bite out of my kebab.


    It was a bit dry, more like jerky than anything else. But it tasted pretty good.


    I just couldn''t really enjoy it because of what Dad said.


    Eris finished her kebab and grabbed another. As she did though, she looked at Ghyine and said, "Why *do* you have to go, Ghyine? Did Grandpa and Dad really need you to go along too? Paul is just as strong as you, isn''t he?"


    Dad puffed out his chest and said, "I''m stronger!"


    Ghyine chuckled and said, "For now. But we''ll seeter." She rolled her shoulders and said, "I''ve been considering revisiting North God techniques, so we''ll see how you fare after I do a bit more training."


    Dad''s eyes lit up and he grinned, seeming eager.


    And then a groggy Aisha smacked his leg. "Da. No y wolfdy."


    Dad flinched and he let out a nervousugh. "I-I wasn''t thinking anything like that, Aisha."


    "Tellin Mommy. Big sis tell too."


    Norn blinked and looked over, confused. "Tell Mommy?"


    "Un!"


    "...Kay."


    Dad groaned.


    Erisughed and stuck her thumb up towards Norn and Aisha. "That''s right! Go tell on your creepy dad!"


    Aisha nodded and said, "Kay Auntie."


    Eris froze.


    "Pft." I bit back myugh.


    Sylphy didn''t though. She giggled and then said, "I-I see what you mean, Eris."


    Eris''s face turned as red as her hair and she looked away, going back to eating.


    Ghyine shook her head and spoke up again. "Anyway..." She looked at Eris and said, "I have to go to make sure this guy doesn''t get wrapped up in anything too dangerous. It turns out that he''s more of a muscle brain than I am."


    "Hey!" Dad spoke up and said, "I''m not a muscle brain. I just don''t like thinking."


    I groaned and said, "Even as a joke, you shouldn''t say that, Dad."


    "Oh. Right." He rubbed the back of his head and said, "I''ll be more careful, Rudy."


    "*Please*. Especially if you''re going to be dealing with nobles." I paused. "Unless you changed your mind about me helping with-"


    "No means no, Rudy." Dad turned serious and he said, "Killing is no good."


    Aisha blearily waved her hand in the air and said, "Yeah! Big bro no kill!"


    Norn tilted her head and looked at Aisha. "Kill bad?"


    Aisha''s head bobbed up and down. "Yeah. Kill bad. Hurt bettah!"


    I red at Dad.


    Sylphy did the same... Alone with Eris and Master Roxy.


    Ghyineughed.


    Dad held up his hands. "T-That wasn''t me! I didn''t teach them that!"


    Aisha nodded. "Mmhm! Mommy say."


    ...What in the world is Mama Lily teaching Aisha...?


    Or has she been overhearing Mom talk to Mama Lily?


    Since it was getting tense, I decided to change the subject.


    "Anyway... I still think this is a terrible idea, but we''ve gotten most of the equipment finished for you and Mama Lily." I paused and then looked at Ghyine. "...I didn''t really think about it until now, but did you need some too, Ghyine?"


    Being W seemed to be targeting mostly my family, but considering how much time Ghyine had been spending here...


    She waved her hand and said, "It''s fine." She patted the sword at her side and said, "This will be more than enough." She nced at Dad and said, "Unlike Paul, I have a keen sense for danger."


    "...I can''t deny that." Dad sighed and then shook his head. Turning towards me, he said, "I''m counting on you to keep everyone safe, Rudy. And you too, Roxy. Make sure Rudy doesn''t go overboard."


    Master Roxy nodded her head and said, "Leave it to me, Paul. I will ensure my disciple doesn''t erase the Fedoa Region by the time you return."


    I frowned and said, "I wouldn''t do that. I like this ce."


    Master Roxy ced her hand on my head and said, "Then behave and don''t go overboard. Or rely on your ''Super Human'' transformation."


    I felt my face heat up and said, "W-Who told you about that?!"


    I could have sworn I didn''t tell anyone about me calling that Demon God form ''Super Human''...


    Sylphy giggled.


    I stared at her in shock.


    Sylphy shrugged. "It was cute! And you still talk in your sleep."


    I groaned.


    Laughter filled the air.


    Well. I guess it was better than worrying all the time...


    -LIV-


    Time passed again. Since I was so busy researching how to keep Dad and Mama Lily safe, the days went by in a blur.


    Miss Rose and Miss Rostelina practically moved in to y with Norn and Aisha and help Mom watch them. Also to keep an eye on Mom in case something happened with her pregnancy.


    Apparently, she was already past the first trimester and well into the second, so Mama Lily was worried about that since she would be gone.


    Miss Rostelina had a lot of experience though, and Miss Rose would be there to help out.


    Sylphy and Eris were getting along well. It seemed like Sylphy''s kindness won over even that bratty and arrogant girl.


    ...Well, it seemed like my first impression of Eris might have been a bit wrong too since she *did* seem to be nice and caring since Norn and Aisha liked her. That and she also barged in to check on me.


    Still didn''t really like her though.


    ...Though I guess I didn''t really spend much time with her either, so I couldn''t say that I knew her enough to judge her.


    Not really important though.


    All that did was that she was getting along with Sylphy. Well enough that Sylphy even started teaching Eris a bit of magic... although Eris didn''t seem to have any talent at all except for a bit of fire magic.


    Anyway, time passed and the preparations were finished.


    And then it was time to see everyone off.


    Early in the morning, me, Mom, and Master Roxy stood outside of the first house and faced the carriage waiting there.


    Dad helped Mama Lily into the carriage where Ghyine was already waiting. After that, he hopped on the horse leading the carriage and turned back to wave at me. "You be good now, Rudy."


    Mama Lily turned to look at me as well and let out a reassuring smile. "Worry not, Rudy. I will make sure that your father does nothing idiotic."


    Beside me, my mom sighed and said, "Juste back safe, okay?" She looked up at everyone and said, "If things get even the slightest bit dangerous..." She looked at Ghyine and said, "I want you to get them out of there. Okay, Laney?"


    Ghyine smiled and said, "Don''t worry, Zenith. I''ll bring them both back safe."


    I nodded and said, "You''d better."


    Master Roxy bopped my head.


    "Ow!" I frowned. "What was that for?"


    "Threats are bad."


    "It wasn''t a threat. It was a promise."


    "...Hah." Master Roxy sighed and looked at my dad. "You know how to utilize the magic tools?"


    Dad patted the dark red sword at his side and then showed off the silver ring on his left hand. "I got it, Roxy."


    She looked to Mama Lily. "And you?"


    Mama Lily nodded as well and said, "I have practiced. There will be no issues."


    Silence.


    And then Dad nodded. "Alright. Then... we''ll be off. At thetest, we''ll get back by the start of fall."


    Mom let out a joking smile and said, "You''d better hurry. It''d be embarrassing if our new child got here before you returned."


    Dad smiled back. "That would be embarrassing. Guess I need to hurry then, huh?"


    "...Be safe, Paul. And you too, Lily."


    After that and another round of farewells, they were off.


    And then it was just me, Mom, and Master Roxy.


    Watching them shrink into the distance, I muttered, "I still think this is stupid."


    Mom sighed and patted my head. "I know, Rudy. But there''s no talking your dad out of something he''s decided. And he''s decided to do this."


    "...Which I think is the dumbest thing in the world. Like, *why?*"


    Master Roxy hummed. "...I don''t agree with it, but I suppose I can see why."


    "Huh?" I looked at Master Roxy and said, "Is there something I''m missing?"


    Master Roxy nodded. "There is. And the answer to that question... is you."


    "Me?" I blinked. "...What does this have to do with me? I mean, I get dad''s moral point and concerns about us being trapped in Buina vige out of fear, but we were going to do that anyway, right? And if there really *are* bad guys, why not just go murder them all and purge the corrupt nobles?"


    I didn''t get it. It was such an obvious solution. And if not that, then go team up with Orsted to do it. There were just so many more options...


    Besides. Bad guys didn''t respond to respect or kind words. Fear was the onlynguage they understood, so we might as well make an example to set them straight.


    Master Roxy and Mom shared a look.


    I blinked and then frowned. "Hey! I thought we agreed to no silent conversations!"


    Mom smiled and patted my head. "Sorry, Rudy. It''s just... both your Master and I think you might be missing something important."


    "And what''s that? How all lives matter? That it''s important to be a good person? To set an example for other people?" I frowned and said, "Why should I care about people I don''t know?"


    Mom let out an exasperated sigh. "This is what I get for not teaching Milis''s words."


    "What?"


    Mom gave me a stern look and grabbed my hand. "Come on, Rudy. It''s about time your mother taught you some proper manners."


    "I know manners!"


    "Not enough if you''re talking back to me, young man."


    "...Tch."

 84 – Child – No you

    84 ¨C Child ¨C No you


    A wooden sword blurred, trying to smack my head.


    I stepped back and parried it with one of my own before stepping in with a stab.


    My attack was parried as well, and then my attacker leaped back, clearing the space.


    Eris clicked her tongue and scowled at me. "It''s not fair!" She stomped on the ground and pointed her sword at me. "You''re only beating me because you''re faster!"


    I shrugged and said, "The whole point of the Sword God style is speed, so it doesn''t really master if my form''s sloppy, right?"


    Eris stopped to think about that.


    Wait.


    Before I could react properly, there was a sh of silver by Eris''s feet and she crossed the distance, her sword flying up at an awkward angle.


    My eyes widened and I leaned back, barely dodging the strike.


    And then she spun around to kick me, whipping her leg around just as fast as the sword.


    "Oi!" I threw myself back with a gust of wind and then pointed my sword at Eris. "What the heck has my dad been teaching you! That''s not sword fighting!"


    Eris spun around a few times, her momentum leaving her dizzy. But then she shook her head and gave me a smug look. "Hah! I made you use magic! I win!"


    "...Sure. You win." I sighed and rubbed my nose. After that, I took a look around.


    Everyone was busy today... is what I would like to say. But the truth was that I had snuck off by myself.


    Of course, it was just my luck that I got caught by Eris and forced into sparring practice. She dragged me all the way to the fields by the forest and tossed me a wooden sword before starting a fight.


    Even so, that was better than the alternative.


    Ever since Dad left, Mom had been ranting various scripture to me from the Milis religion or whatever. The usual ''thou shalt treat thy neighbor with kindness'' stuff like in the Bible. Except, unlike in the Bible where the words came from God and had a theme of self-sacrifice, the Milis religion was just based off a master swordsman who killed some Demon Lord or whatever.


    Apparently, since they were words that came from some strong guy who saved a bunch of people, they were supposed to mean something.


    Seriously. All it meant was that strength was power. And going by that logic, if I went to kill a giant monster or something, I could say whatever I wanted and it would be treated as gospel truth.


    I mean, they were good moral guidelines. But morality was overrated anyway. They were just shackles that made the strong act ording to what the weak thought.


    There was no good and evil, only power and those who were too weak to seek it. Social constructs created as a check to those who society deemed as threats to the social order.


    What mattered was what you did with that power.


    "Are you ignoring me again?!"


    A sudden shout broke me out of my thoughts.


    Eris growled and crossed her arms. "I don''t get it! Am I really that boring? Or do you just hate me or something? What did I ever do to you!"


    I blinked and said, "Hate is a very strong word. But yes, I don''t really like you."


    She was technically family. But she was also someone who just got plopped into the happy family life we had already. And if not for her, we would all still be doing just fine. Or at least, life would be lessplicated.


    Eris flinched and her lower lip started trembling. But she stepped forward anyway and said, "W-Well I don''t like you either! Sylphy''s much nicer to me!"


    I nodded. "I agree. She''s really patient and kind. I just don''t have the capacity to deal with someone like you."


    "Capa- What?" Eris furrowed her brow and said, "Stop usingplicated words to make fun of me!"


    I blinked. "...Aren''t you older than me? And a proper noble? How do you not know what capacity means?"


    Eris huffed and said, "Why are you pretending to be an adult? Isn''t it boring sitting and reading all day?"


    "...Is this how a kid usually acts?" I frowned and ced my hand on my chin. "Maybe I was mistaken on something..."


    Could it be that Dad''s genes just gave birth to geniuses or something?


    Norn and Aisha were much smarter than the average two-year olds and I was... well, me.


    I didn''t think I was a genius since Norn and Aisha seemed to be following on simr tracks as me while not being reincarnated, but seeing Eris now...


    Sylphy was smart, so I thought that most people around my age were like that. But maybe we were special?


    ...No way. I was a hundred percent sure that anyone else from Earth in my situation would be able to do what I did.


    Right?


    ...Then again, I *had* always been pretty smart. I think. The exact details were blurry, but I remembered being able to easily pass exams and everything with just attending ss. And it was only after I stopped showing up to ss that grades started to slip.


    Hm.


    Still not sure if I was a *genius*, but I guess I was definitely gifted?


    "Stop that!"


    Eris''s voice broke me out of my thoughts again.


    I blinked and said, "Stop what?"


    She pointed at me and said, "That! You stopped talking and ignored me again!"


    "Ah." I shrugged and said, "It''s a bad habit. I''m not trying to ignore you."


    Considering her personality, I couldn''t even if I wanted to.


    Eris pouted and then crossed her arms together. "I still don''t get it. Why does Dad want me to marry someone like you anyway?"


    My ears perked up at that and I quickly crossed the space to grab her hand. "You don''t want it either, right? Great. Let''s dissolve the contract then. Since you don''t like me, it''s a win-win, right?"


    Eris''s face suddenly turned red and she quickly backed up, wrenching her hand back. "W-W-What are you doing?! Don''t grab me so suddenly like that!"


    "Oh. Right." Iughed and rubbed the back of my head. "Sorry. I got a little excited."


    Dammit. Wasn''t going to be that easy, huh?


    Eris frowned and then said, "...Do you not want to marry me that bad?"


    "Hm?" I blinked and said, "What do you mean?"


    Eris''s frown deepened and she said, "I apologized to Sylphy. I y with Norn and Aisha. And I get along with everyone. But... Why don''t you like me?"


    I blinked again and said, "I mean, it''s not that I don''t like you, but-"


    "But you said it!" Eris stepped forward and red at me. "You said you don''t like me earlier!"


    "I said I don''t ''really'' like you. Not that I don''t like you." I stared at Eris and said, "I mean... I think our personality types just don''t match?"


    I hadn''t spent much time just chatting with Eris... in fact, this was pretty much the first time I got alone with her since she got here. From what I could see though, she was impatient, stubborn, and quick to anger. She also had a habit of acting first and thinkingter. Not only that, but I could see that she was physically resisting againstshing out when she was angry. Like she had to visibly hold herself back.


    Granted, she wasn''t all bad. She was definitely hard-working considering how she spent as much time swinging her sword around as I did studying. And she got along with Sylphy and my younger sisters, like she said. That, plus considering how even Mom seemed to be warming up to Eris meant that there were parts of her I didn''t know.


    Like Dad said, she was probably a good girl if you got to know her.


    I just... didn''t really want to know her?


    Eris flinched and bit her lips. "...We don''t match...?"


    I nodded and said, "I mean, take right now. You''re the one who dragged me out here, weren''t you?" I frowned and said, "I just wanted some peace and quiet for myself, but you grabbed me and made me spar with you."


    "T-That''s..."


    My frown deepened and I said, "Do you want to show that you''re better than me that much? Because you are, you know?"


    "H-Huh?" Eris blinked, confusion in her red eyes.


    I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Honestly... What''s with all the geniuses around me? Are people stealing my talents or something? Or am I radiating experience buffs?"


    Everyone that I had met seemed to either be a genius or suddenly improve. Just a bit of advice and help from me and BOOM, instantly stronger, smarter, or faster.


    Eris red at me.


    I blinked. "What?"


    "Don''t do that!"


    "Don''t do what?" I frowned, confused. "Thinking out loud?"


    "No! You keep saying that you''re not a genius! Do you think the rest of us are that stupid?"


    "No...? I''m saying that everyone else seems to be a natural genius except for me. Like you." I pointed at Eris and said, "Just earlier, I said something and then you suddenly got better. It just clicked for you and then you could do it. That''s a natural genius, you know? I have to actually think about each and everything thing I do."


    Eris stomped on the ground and said, "That''s what a genius does!"


    I nodded. "I know. And I agree. A genius just gets it."


    Eris gave me a nk stare and then got really angry. Gnashing her teeth, she said, "You... you''re making fun of me!"


    "But I''m not?"


    She grabbed her wooden sword and jabbed me with it. "You are! You think it''s fun pretending to be dumb like that?"


    I blinked and said, "I... really don''t know what you''re talking about? What do you mean, pretend to be dumb?"


    Eris red at me, staring into my eyes. But then she blinked and lowered her sword, looking confused. "Huh?"


    "Don''t ''huh'' me." I frowned and said, "What do you mean I''m pretending to be dumb?"


    I mean, I was kind of doing that a bit with Master Roxy since it would make things awkward, but I didn''t think I was doing it with anything or anyone else.


    Eris blinked and then said, "You... Do you not know what a genius is?"


    "Of course I do." I rolled my eyes and said, "It''s someone who''s naturally good at something. A genius. Like how you''re naturally good at the sword."


    Eris''s face turned a bit red, but then she shook her head and said, "You''re doing it again!"


    "Doing what?" I frowned, starting to feel a bit frustrated.


    Eris pointed at me and said, "You''re a genius!"


    "No. You''re a genius. I''m just smart."


    "That''s a genius!"


    I frowned and said, "Being smart doesn''t make you a genius."


    "But you''re not just smart!" Eris kept pointing at me and said, "Rudy can look at something and figure out how it works! Fighting, magic... even the big things the adults talk about!"


    "Well, yeah." I nodded and said, "But that doesn''t make me a genius. Anyone can do it."


    "I can''t!"


    "Mm, true. But Sylphy can."


    "Because you''ve been friends with her for a long time!"


    I paused.


    ...Now that Eris mentioned it, I did talk about a bunch of random things with Sylphy when we first met. And I did make sure to keep her curious and question a bunch of things... but she was already pretty mature.


    Plus...


    "She doesn''t count. She''s a half-elf."


    Right. I bet there was some magical DNA thing going on that helped with that maturity of hers.


    Eris growled and said, "Why are you like this? Stupid! Idiot! Dummy!"


    I rolled my eyes. "What? Since I don''t think I''m a genius, I''m suddenly dumb?"


    Eris spun around and ran off. "Why do I even think you''re cool anyway?!"


    Wait, what?


    "I''m telling your mom you ran away!"


    "W-Wait!" I ran after Eris. "We can talk about this!"


    "No! You''re stupid! I don''t want to talk to you anymore!"


    "Fine, I''m a genius! Please don''t tell-"


    "MISS ZENITH! RUDY''S OVER HERE!"


    "Argh!" I ran my hand through my hair and said, "See! This is why we can''t get along!"


    Freaking bipr tsunderes... Definitely needed to spread mental health awareness and train some therapists in the future to fix this...

 85 – The Concerned Mother

    85 ¨C The Concerned Mother


    Zenith absently hung up some sheets to dry.


    It was another peaceful day. But even so, Zenith couldn''t enjoy it. Not after yesterday when Rudy ran away in the middle of Zenith telling the story of Saint Milis and then had to be dragged back by Eris.


    She was sure of it now. Something was wrong with Rudy.


    At first, Zenith thought that it was just the shock from everything that happened since Paul''s dumb mistake. Then she thought it was just because her baby boy was growing up. And then she thought it might be due to the supposed Demon God influence Roxy mentioned... but it wasn''t that.


    Zenith knew. Her mother''s intuition told her that something was wrong with her son, and that it wasn''t natural.


    It wasn''t anything ''bad.'' At most, he was acting like a rebellious child should in running away from her lectures and spending the day doing what he liked. But even then, he made sure to take care of his baby sisters, y with Sylphy, and even start to get along with Eris. And he was studious as well, continuing to study magic with Roxy in the evening.


    On the surface, nothing was wrong. But Zenith could see it in the way he talked and responded to Milis''s teachings that she recited.


    When Zenith told the story of Saint Milis and the teachings he passed down, Rudy brushed it off and said there was no need to follow the words of someone who was just strong and good with a sword.


    Aplete rejection. Not only that, but Rudy said that Saint Milis only had the right to say those words because he was strong.


    Instead of being enthralled with the story like he used to be, Rudy hadpletely ignored Zenith. And not only that, these days he was spending a lot of time out of the house and away from Zenith.


    He came back during meal times and acted normally then. But if Zenith brought up even a suggestion about discussing Milis''s teaching, Rudy blocked her out.


    She could see it. The way his usually bright face turned stony and his emerald eyes turned sharp.


    Was it the way she brought up the teachings? Zenith thought that might be the case, but she told Milis''s teachings through story and his heroic feats, simr to how she told him Perugius''s tale in the past.


    So it wasn''t anything on her part.


    Zenith thought that he might simply be upset at Paul''s actions. But that wasn''t it either.


    Her genius son wasn''t someone who would just throw away another person''s opinion like that. He was caring andpassionate. Someone who carefully thought about the others around him and did his best to make sure everyone was happy and got along.


    So then why had he changed so much?


    Zenith knew. The Rudy who set the n to keep their family together would never have said it was fine to abandon a girl who would suffer a terrible fate. And considering how he risked his life to save Sylphy, he was being a hypocrite as well in saying that.


    And it was bad enough that even *Paul* had sensed it.


    Before they left with Ghyine, Paul and Lily had a talk with Zenith about the reasoning behind the departure.


    Paul thought that Rudy was taking life too lightly. That being in Buina vige all this time without seeing the broader world had resulted in him seeing everyone outside of his family as worthless. Because of that, Paul wanted to set an example of how one person could make a big difference.


    Zenith and Lily didn''t agree. After all, if it was just that, then all it would take would be a reminder about how Rudy had saved Sylphy for no reason as well.


    And that conversation went nowhere.


    Still, Lily felt that Rudy was being crippled by fear that they would be hurt. That he had changed because of anxiety, so she wanted to go with Paul and return safely to prove that there was nothing to fear. And also to trust in his abilities to keep them safe.


    That reasoning was one that the three parents could agree on.


    If Rudy was acting that way and being so callous because he was driven by wanting to protect his family, then having concrete proof that they would be fine should be enough.


    But now that Paul and Lily had left, and now that Zenith spent time watching Rudy interact with the others... she was sure that it wasn''t just that.


    Rudy was worried. From how hard he was studying and the number of magic experiments he ran, it was clear that he was worried he would fall short. And to prevent that, he was scrambling to be as strong as he could get.


    If it was just that, Zenith could ept it. But Rudy was still... off.


    He was super protective of Norn and did his best to carefully teach her whatever he could. Reading, writing, magic... even swordsmanship. When Rudy was with Norn, he was patient and doting. The perfect and kind older brother.


    With Aisha though... Rudy was a bit more distant. He still doted on her, but Rudy seemed to be subconsciously favoring Norn. And while he taught her just like Norn, he didn''t go into as much detail. As if he expected Aisha to understand with just a brief exnation.


    Which she did, considering how smart Aisha was, but even then it came off as negligent. Like Rudy was purposefully trying to not get too attached.


    At the same time, Rudy talked up Paul.


    Zenith knew that Rudy was close to his father. That much could be seen from how Rudy forgave Paul even after all his blunders. But even then, when Aisha asked questions about Paul, Rudy would go out of his way to paint him in the best light possible.


    Which would lead to Aisha asking Zenith questions about Paul to confirm what Rudy said.


    It was odd. Rudy''s actions didn''t match what they should be.


    With how close Rudy was to Lily... As much as Zenith didn''t want to admit it, Rudy should be doting on Aisha over Norn. After all, Lily was the one who believed in Rudy and first noticed he was different. She was also the one who gave him the freedom to live as he wanted without any expectations.


    And yet Rudy was treating Aisha the exact opposite, expecting Aisha to be a genius and trying to make her believe her father was the best.


    It didn''t match up.


    Rudy wasn''t like that. Not her Rudy.


    If anything, Rudy would have treated both of his sisters the same, showering them both with love and affection. And while he was definitely doing that, he was doing that more with Norn.


    Was it because he felt guilty about making Zenith worry so much in the past by spending time with Lily?


    Zenith thought it might be that... but instead, it seemed more like he was worried that Norn might not like him and was acting to make sure that didn''t happen. To be the best brother and one Norn could always rely on.


    It didn''t make sense.


    Even if he was worried about that, Rudy was the one who helped during Norn''s delivery. And ording to Lily, he was the first person who got the chance to hold Norn, casting healing magic to make sure she was healthy.


    And Norn seemed to be subconsciously aware of that considering how the first person she turned to was always Rudy.


    So Rudy should know. Norn adored her big brother already and would never hate him.


    But he kept acting like he expected that to change at any moment.


    Not only that...


    Rudy didn''t smile anymore.


    He had always been a serious child, but these days he seemed much older. Almost like a dour old man who believed the entire world was against him.


    The only times he rxed was when he was with his sisters, Sylphy... and half the time with Eris. At least, when he wasn''t bickering with her about inane topics.


    But even then, the bright and cheerful smile he used to have was gone.


    "Coin for your thoughts, Zenny?"


    Zenith flinched and spun around. As she did, she lost her bnce, starting to tip.


    "Careful there!" Thin but firm arms held Zenith close and steadied her. Elinalise- No, Rostelina.


    The beautiful elf woman smiled and said, "Being active is good and all, but you should be careful about the little one in your belly, you know? Leave the chores to me and Rose."


    Zenith sighed and said, "I know. But... Doing chores helps calm my mind." Saying that, Zenith started to squat to pick up another sheet from a basket full of wetundry.


    "Bad Zenny." Rostelina grabbed Zenith before she could grab any sheets and pulled her back up. After that, she gently patted Zenith''s belly and said, "Squatting is dangerous when you''re this far along. Trust me."


    Zenith frowned. But then she sighed and said, "Fine." After that, she brushed off Rostelina''s arm and looked around.


    The sun was high in the sky and in the distance Zenith could see Rudy sparring with Sylphy and Eris. And from inside the house, Zenith could hear the sounds of cooking. No doubt Rose, preparing lunch for everyone.


    Zenith turned to look at Rostelina and said, "Are Norn and Aisha napping?"


    "Mmhm!" Rostelina nodded and said, "Those cute babies got tired out after I told them some stories and went straight to sleep."


    Zenith smiled and said, "Thank you again for helping to take care of them, Lina." She sighed and looked back at Rudy and the others. "I''m not sure how I would handle things without your help." She looked back at Rostelina and said, "Roxy and Rose are nice, but it''s really reassuring to have someone as you around to help."


    Rostelina smiled back and said, "It''s the least I could do for one of my closest friends, Zenny." She pulled Zenith into a one-armed hug and said, "Don''t mention it, alright? Just rx and make sure to stay healthy so you can deliver another cute baby for me to dote on, alright?"


    Zenithughed and said, "I''ll do my best."


    Rostelina nodded and then waved her hand. As she did, the ground stirred before grass grew andced together, forming afy chair. "Then have a seat and rx. I''ll take care of theundry."


    Zenith did so. But as she sat down, she frowned and said, "Since when can you use magic so well?"


    Rostelina pulled a sheet out of the basket and hung it up on theundry line. As she did, she shrugged and said, "It came naturally to me after I reunited with my Master."


    Zenith rested her hands over her belly and said, "You never did mention who this mysterious ''Master'' of yours is, Lina. Or why you call him that."


    Rostelina giggled and said, "It''s a long story, Zenny." She pulled out some shirts from the basket and started hanging those. "I''ll tell you... Mm, let''s say after Paul gets back. But forget about me for now." She nced back at Zenith from over her shoulder and said, "What''s got you so upset to get up and doundry to calm down, Zenny? Didn''t you hate doing it in the past?"


    Zenith smiled and said, "Like I said, doing chores helps me to calm down. And I''m a mother now. It would be a bad example for my kids if I hated them, wouldn''t it?"


    "Mm." Rostelina hung up some pants and said, "I don''t think liking chores has anything to do with being a good parent, but sure. Now, what''s troubling you, Zenny?" She turned around and said, "Is it Paul? Lily?"


    Zenith shook her head. "It''s neither of those." She looked off in the distance and said, "I''m worried about Rudy."


    "Rudy?" Rostelina turned to look at him and hummed. "...I suppose he does seem extra serious for a kid. Should I try to get him to loosen up?"


    Zenith''s eyes turned sharp and she said, "No, Lina."


    Rostelina held up her hands and said, "Rx! I''m a taken woman now. And even if I wasn''t, I like real men, not boys. But I do know how to calm children down."


    Zenith looked skeptical, but she slowly nodded. "...If you say so."


    "It''s the truth. Besides, the only man who can satisfy me these days is- Ah." Rostelina cleared her throat and said, "Sorry about that. We can talk about the dirty stuffter. Anyway... If you''re worried about Rudy, I think I know how to cheer him up."


    Zenith shook her head. "It''s not a matter of being cheered up, Lina." She looked back at Rudy and furrowed her brows. "Something''s wrong with him. I just know it. But I don''t know what''s wrong or how to help him." She sighed. "...But maybe I''m just imagining things."


    Rostelina turned to look back at Rudy before her crimson eyes turned sharp. "No. You should always trust your mother''s intuition. And... Hm. He didn''t mention this, but I guess he thought I could fix it...?"


    "Lina?"


    Rostelina smiled and then patted her chest. "Leave it to me, Zenny. I''ll have Rudy back to normal in no time. But for now..." She lifted a pair ofcy ck panties from the basket and said, "Do you really want to hang these out to dry, or...?"


    Zenith blushed.

 86 – Child – Poison Pill Tactic

    86 ¨C Child ¨C Poison Pill Tactic


    I stared at the magic circles written out on the paper in front of me and then let out a deep sigh. After that, I flicked my hand, sending them to join the rest of the failed diagrams in the corner of the room.


    It was... probably noon, considering the sunlight.


    Mom had stopped bothering me about her religion and today I managed to have time devoted to just me.


    While it was nice teaching Norn and ying with Aisha, I needed some me time too. Sylphy understood that and had tactfully taken Eris off to y. And Master Roxy was out on patrol as usual.


    Which meant I had time to gather my thoughts and focus on research.


    I could feel it. And after seeing my mana shift into the Demon God''s mana... at least, seemingly shift. I still wasn''t *entirely* sure if it was Lace''s mana, but that seemed to fit considering what Orsted mentioned about me inheriting a lot of that person''s traits.


    But anyway, recent events were confirming hypotheses I had and coalescing into a cohesive theory.


    The reason why mana spontaneously shifted into magic circles. Why emotions and tense situations amplified mana. How it was possible that multiple casting systems coexisted. And how different people had different color mana, as well as how that mana could have different traits based on the person''s experiences.


    Mana was an information carrier- No. Mana was the bridge between mind and matter. The link between thought, energy, and reality.


    Probably.


    I didn''t have a good way to test that theory just quite yet. But it exined a lot of things.


    The reason why Sylphy could control the elements and will events so easily was because she had a vivid imagination and belief that it would work. And I was fairly certain that it was more the ''belief'' part of it that was making it work.


    Master Roxy''s <Magic Arrays> was essentially a constantly running magic program kept up with mana. Not only that, but it was one that could adapt and react to the surroundings without her thinking about it. Something that couldn''t be possible if mana was just pure energy.


    ...Well, it would be harder at least.


    Anyway, if mana was the bridge, then it exined why the different casting systems could coexist.


    If mana stored information, then it was likely that the collective consciousness yed a role in how magic worked. The reason why chants enacted certain phenomena and logic was because it had been repeated enough that it was impressed into the world''s mana... which was basically like the inte.


    Various bits of information, stored forever in the cloud... except, here it was mana instead of a web of cables or waves of electrical signals.


    The reason why magic circles worked were exined by that theory too. If the originator of the circles thought it was an easier way to represent and think about spells, a logic could slowly build up over time and be cemented in the collective consciousness as another means of casting.


    Mental shortcuts. Heuristics that had be epted with constant use and refined over time so that people could easily utilize magic just by casting.


    But those heuristics weren''t necessary. They were useful, but in the end they were tools someone else developed. And while they represented the way mana worked properly... It was also missing things.


    I had a feeling. Magic wasn''t thatplicated, but it also wasn''t that simple. It should be possible to do whatever you wanted with mana and create whatever magic you could envision. But ''will'' wasn''t enough. It was possible by pumping enough mana, but the conversion rate wasn''t good.


    Kind of like solving a multiplication problem with repeated addition instead of just multiplying. If you had enough ''MP'', you could pump it all to try and answer the question. Diverting valuable resources to brute force a solution, like those old superputers.


    But some things couldn''t be solved like that. At least, not within a feasible time period.


    I was fairly sure that no amount of mana in the world could bring someone back to life, for example. Or turn back time-


    Wait.


    ...But that was possible.


    I ced my hand on my chin and leaned back in my chair to think.


    I was sure of it. I definitely experienced a time leap of some sort after Dad knocked me out.


    I hadn''t thought about it for a while since it seemed to be a fever dream. But...


    ...Right. There had been an old man. He mentioned something about the multiverse... And that I had three more times?


    I leaned my chair back, rocking it on its legs and hummed. "That didn''t seem to be just a dream, but I haven''t sensed anything off..."


    My mana waspletely restored, and I had spent a long timebing it over for anything wrong.


    After all, Being W definitely did *something* to me during that fight with Dad. Well, mostly with Ghyine.


    But I didn''t sense anything. I didn''t see anything off either.


    There was the weird fact that my mana could change into Lace''s, but I was pretty sure that it was always like that.


    ...Maybe. Needed to note that down to make sure, but I had a feeling that guy wouldn''t have purposefully made me able to tap into Lace''s mana since I felt even more motivated to take that guy out when I was using it. Not to mention the fact that I almost tore open a dimensional gateway to god knows where before Master Roxy snapped me out of it.


    Also something to note.


    I was... 99% sure that I wasn''t the reincarnation of the Demon God since I was reincarnated from a different world. But considering that I seemed to have been a vengeful or at least earth-bound spirit before my soul got sucked away... Well, if that memory I had of the future/not future was urate.


    Time travel was weird. Especially if multiverse theory was involved.


    Anyway, nothing... seemed to be wrong with my mana. But Being W-


    "Knock knock." A cheerful and mature female voice echoed. "Am I interrupting anything private?"


    I looked over to see Miss Rostelina walk in the room.


    She was dressed like she usually did. A grey robe that hugged her body. Something modest that covered her body... and something a bit lewd with how closely it covered her body.


    Pretty sure that Dad would be eyeing her up if he was around. The guy tried, but he was very much a creature of instincts.


    "Like how you''re a creature of thoughts?"


    !@#$@$!?


    I fell out of my chair and rolled on the ground before staring at Rostelina. Then I stared harder, trying to see if there was a spell being cast or something. But there wasn''t. So how the hell-


    Rostelinaughed and shook her head. She walked over and picked up the chair before ruffling my hair. "My cute granddaughter was right. You really do wear your thoughts on your face."


    I frowned.


    She bopped my nose with her index finger and smiled. "Don''t worry about it too much, Rudy. I''m sure there''s only one other person in the world who can read your thoughts as well as me."


    I rolled my eyes and then leaned against the wall, crossing my arm. "What are you doing here, Miss Rostelina? Shouldn''t you be helping my mom with something?"


    "I am!" She nodded and said, "I''m taking care of you."


    "Me?" I tilted my head. "...Did I miss a meal again?"


    Rostelina''s smile faded and she frowned. After that, she stared at me, muttering, "Taking after him, too? Or is he taking after him?"


    I sighed and said, "I hope Dad''s taking after me more than I''m taking after my dad."


    After all, he could do with a bit more responsibility and insight... and I could do with a lot less of dropping the ball.


    Rostelinaughed and said, "Yes. Paul could take after his smart and mature son a bit more. But you could learn a bit from your father''s yfulness, you know?" She looked around the room, eyeing the pile of magic circle diagrams in the corner. "All work and no y isn''t good for a cute kid like you, Rudy."


    I walked over to clean up the stack of papers and said, "I''ll y when there''s time for it. Right now, there''s too many things to do."


    Especially with Being W in the picture.


    I didn''t know what could happen. How he might manipte things.


    What if he arranged things so Sylphy died?


    What if Dad got killed because of a plot Being W did?


    What if Norn hated me because Being W made me not get along with Dad?


    What if-?


    "Rudy?"


    I broke out of my train of thoughts and looked at Rostelina. "Yes?"


    She stared at me, humming. Tapping her finger on her chin, she said, "Master wouldn''t want me to spill his secrets, but it''s not good to leave you like this either..."


    I blinked. "Master? You have a Master too, Miss Rostelina?"


    Rostelinaughed. "Of course. It''s nothing like you and Miss Roxy though. After all." She winked and said, "My Master and I arepletely loveydovey, you know?"


    I felt my face heat up and looked away.


    Rostelinaughed again. But after that, she looked at me thoughtfully and said, "But anyway... Hm. Since it''s making everyone worry, I guess I can point you towards it. And it''s probably better to make sure you don''t go crazy like that one guy Master mentioned."


    "Wait." I frowned and said, "*Is* there something wrong with me? But Master Roxy and Mom didn''t see anything..."


    And I didn''t either.


    Rostelina nodded. "Right. Because it''s not something you can see from the outside unless you know what you''re looking for. Plus you have to be familiar with how mana flows and collects in the body... Or at least that''s what Master said."


    Something felt off. Something about the situation wasn''t right.


    ...But there was nothing wrong?


    I felt a headache start, along with a small pulse in my heart. A familiar sensation, like another heartbeat beneath my own.


    "Yep. Looks like it''s that." Rostelina nodded, but her face started to blur.


    -She''s dangerous. She knows too much.


    My left hand moved. At the same time, I felt a chilling and biting sensation in my heart, just like when I got mad at Ghyine-


    Wait.


    My eyes widened and I grabbed my left arm with my right hand, yanking it away. At the same time, I felt my mana roil, wildly fluctuating.


    My heart ached, feeling like it was getting shredding in my chest. At the same time, I felt a headache like my head was being split in half.


    And then it calmed down.


    A soft finger, tapping the middle of my forehead. With that, the turmoil stopped. And at the same time, I felt a wave of drowsiness hit me.


    Miss Rostelina smiled at me and said, "Sleep for a bit, okay Rudy? When you wake up, those nightmares clinging to you will be all gone."


    "Night...mares?" I blinked, suddenly feeling drained. "Wait... How...?"


    I blinked again, darkness slowly creeping around the edges of my vision.


    In my fading vision, Miss Rostelina waved and said, "Remember. Those are all nightmares, okay? They haven''t happened and won''t happen. So when you wake up, Rudy, remember who you really are."


    Easier said than-

 87 – Id – The Future Past

    87 ¨C Id ¨C The Future Past


    A familiar looking young man with brown hair and green eyes. Someone who looked a bit like Dad. Except, with an expression that I had never seen on him.


    Despair. Complete and utter despair.


    I didn''t know why. All I could see was his face twisted in agony. And then I saw it.


    *****''s corpse tied up in the corner of avish city. Her arm missing with arge cut on her face.


    There was a crowd. People throwing stones at her along with other corpses.


    -Why?


    -I''m tired of it all. Why did this have to happen?


    I heard a voice echo. A familiar voice that I didn''t recognize.


    The young man who looked a bit like Dad stood up and slowly walked forward. As he did, mes gathered, wreathing around him like they came straight from hell.


    The crowd screamed. Knights ran forward to stop him.


    And then the messhed out, turning everything into ash.


    -LIV-


    A flurry of scenes. The young man gradually grew older, engrossing himself in research. Unfamiliar faces and people walked in and out of his life.


    I saw snippets of scenes.


    Him standing in front of an automaton that looked like *****. Standing in front of a mass-produced army of sentient automatons.


    Him furiously doing research and training...


    -How can I get stronger? Should I train my magic?


    -...Dammit. If I had been serious when I was younger, it wouldn''t have ended like this.


    -LIV-


    The blur of scenes stopped.


    A burnt down mansion. ck scorch marks in front of the door to a cer. And inside, three corpses chopped to pieces.


    I didn''t recognize two of them. But the third.


    A young woman who looked a lot like Mama Lily. *****.


    -By the time I killed them, there was already no point. ...For what reason have I gained all this power? I''m powerless.


    -It''s because of Hitogami. I have to at least kill Hitogami.


    My heart throbbed.


    ...Yeah. If it turned out like that, I''d do the same.


    -LIV-


    An old man stared out at a devastated wastnd. A tattered gray robe billowed behind him while his mismatched green eyes swept across thend.


    His eyes sharpened.


    There were still survivors. Some feeble figures picking themselves out from the rubble.


    The old man raised his left hand. When he did, a distortion emerged over the wastnd. A dark void of light, bending space.


    And then it erupted, leaving a dust cloud.


    After that, the old man turned on his heel and walked away.


    ''...It''s still not enough.''


    There was no questioning the power of the spell. But it wasn''t enough for what he wanted. In order to aplish his goal, he needed to do more than just bend space.


    But it was impossible. He didn''t have enough time left. So then-


    The scene blurred.


    A vaguely familiar sight. The old man sat in front of a worn-out desk, scribbling down various magic circles. Teleportation circles with notes and various differential equations jotted along the edges with arrows.


    "There''s only one way. I can''t reach that bastard, so this is the only hope. If it fails..." The old manughed. "I''m a dead man anyway. So..."


    He shook his head and focused, causing countless magic circles to re to life around him.


    -Let''s stop thinking about the difficult things. I don''t have anything left anyway. Even if I fail and it be the cause for some other incident, I don''t care. I''m already fine with whatever. But if I manage to seed, then...


    -LIV-


    Nothing. After thatst scene, I didn''t see anything else.


    But I understood now.


    It was a ck void. A dark expanse where the only thing that existed was ''me.'' The only source of light here was myself.


    I stared out into the void, the scenes that I just saw flickering through my mind.


    It was terrible.


    A miserable life that waspletely spent in vain. Gaining everything and losing it all in a single moment.


    The scenes... No, the memories blurred together. But I got the gist of it.


    That was me- No. That was another ''Rudeus Greyrat.''


    He was simr to me. Met the same people, walked roughly the same path-


    No. For a little while, we were the same. But we were different people.


    I didn''t see everything, but I got the vague sense of it.


    That Rudy was someone different from me. Someone who suffered because of that difference. He had talent and intelligence, but he was toox about things at the critical moment. Because he subconsciously looked for someone to rely on, he was fooled by Being W and lost everything.


    I remembered it now.


    Dad''s death, dismembered by the attack of a magic-resistant hydra. Nornpletely disengaging. Aisha barely acknowledging Dad''s death.


    Mom bing an invalid and losing her mind.


    Then there was Master Roxy''s death. Falling into a depression and losing Sylphy. Erising back to save me again and again before dying at my feet after taking a blow meant to end my life.


    ...No. That was wrong. It wasn''t ''me'' those memories belonged to. But rather...


    I turned around.


    There was someone standing there. An old man that I had seen once before. One whose identity I didn''t realize at the time.


    He was tall and had a well-honed body. A man who spent his entire life training both his body and magic. His back was turned and his gray robes were tattered, revealing countless scars littering his skin.


    Rudeus Greyrat. One from a future that ended in a dead end. A man who struggled to the bitter end seeking vengeance on Being W but failed at thest step and tried a desperation tactic to change fate by going back in time.


    And also one who Being W tried to use to pull one over on me.


    "Heh." The old man chuckled and said, "Even after I''m dead, I''m causing troubles for my younger self, huh?"


    I didn''t say anything and simply watched him.


    It was different. I remembered thest time I met him, he was missing parts of his body. This time though, while his body was battle-scarred, it was whole.


    Altogether... He kind of gave off the impression of an older Sauros. A man with a tyrannical presence that could crush everything in his way. Sharp eyes that wouldn''t yield to anything... but eyes that were also weary.


    He raised his left hand, causing a crimson orb to form. Fragments of a broken magic circle flickered around it as well, containing strange characters. Glyphs. Different from the usual geometric figures I knew and understood.


    "You''re lucky." The old man... The older Rudeus stared at me with a look that contained equal parts envy and respect. "It was just one change. The difference between you and me is one event in our past life. Because of that, you have everything now. You lost everything before, but right now you have everything that I did and more." He gazed into the orb with a bitter smile and said, "Lucky bastard. I knew the multiverse allowed countless parallel dimensions, but to think that me going back would let this happen..."


    "You''re the reason, aren''t you? Why everything changed so much?" I red at him and held out my hand towards the orb. No, towards my mana.


    It resisted for a moment. The older Rudeus clenched his hand around the orb, as if reluctant to let it go. But then he released it.


    My mana came back to me. And when it did, I felt a clear change. Something that I didn''t realize was ''off'' fixed itself.


    And as I stared at the man''s left hand, I realized what that was.


    He was still holding an orb. It was a lot smaller now, barely the size of a pebble. But it was dense. A clump of mana that was crimson, but slowly changed colors, turning into separate hues.


    The blue of water mana. The red of fire mana. Light brown from earth mana. And then a hazy dark violet color that I could only guess had to do with how this entire phenomenon was possible.


    Rudeus sighed and then clenched his hand, dissolving the mana. The colors flew out like ribbons before wrapping around him and fading away. "You should know why. I wasn''t the only one who died with regrets, right? ...But I guess that''s why we''re different." He stared at me, his left eye shing a bright green to reveal a spiral pattern.


    My eyes widened and I instinctively wrapped my body with mana, blocking whatever he was doing.


    Rudeus chuckled and said, "Yeah. Since you''re that cautious, I don''t need to worry. Like that guy said, you''ll definitely be able to finish the job."


    When he said that, his body started fading away. Starting from his feet, he started dissolving into golden particles.


    "Hey!" I pointed at him and said, "You don''t get to be all mysterious and vanish like that! After all the bull crap you pulled and tampering with my head, you think you can leave just like that?"


    I was NOT about to let this bastard run off like in some Shounen anime after dropping some mysterious hints and monologuing. So, ring at him, I focused and forcibly dragged those particles back into ce.


    "Hoh?" Rudeus stopped dissolving and thenughed. Staring at me, he shook his head and said, "Fine, fine. It looks like I have more time than I did with the other ''me.''" He waved his hand and formed a pair of stone chairs. "Here. Let''s have a chat then."


    I stared at him and then walked over, sitting down on the chair opposite of him.


    He sat down as well and smirked. "Well, kiddo. What do you want to know?"


    "First of all. Why the hell are you an edgelord? And why are you trying to make me an edgelord? Don''t you have any shame as an old man?"


    Rudeus''s face distorted.

 88 – Decoy Protagonist, Supporting Protagonist

    88 ¨C Decoy Protagonist, Supporting Protagonist


    Paul stifled a yawn and looked around the fancy wooden carriage. Ghyine on his left. Lilia on his right. And then across from him, Philip and his wife, Hilda.


    It had been a couple days on the road now. After meeting at Roa, they immediately set off in a luxury carriage with silk cushions, a giant window at the back to look at the scenery, and a fast horse.


    As to the driver of that carriage...


    "You guys still not talking to each other?" Gisu nced back from the front of the carriage and said, "Silence might be golden, but gold draws danger, you know? Am I going to have to keep track of another jinx?"


    Paul snorted and said, "You''re the jinx here, Gisu." Paul furrowed his brow and said, "Why were you still around anyway?"


    Philip spoke up and said, "I called for him."


    Paul blinked. "You?"


    Philip smiled. "In a situation like this, an S-Ranked adventurer skilled at scouting and avoiding danger is invaluable, is it not?"


    Hilda rolled her eyes and said, "And I told you that you''re worrying too much."


    Philip looked at her and said, "Since you insist oning along, I have to be certain. When we arrive, Father will likely run wild..." He shifted his gaze to Lilia and said, "And my dear cousin will be upied protecting someone else."


    Lilia smiled. "Do not worry, Philip. I am no dainty noblewoman."


    Paul rubbed his face and muttered, "That''s for sure."


    Lilia might not be as good as fighting with a sword, but she definitely knew how to take advantage of openings and throw cheap shots.


    Maybe that was why she sucked at using Sword God and Water God style. If she had been training in the North God style from the start, she would probably be pretty scary...


    "Paul." Lilia looked at Paul and said, "Are you thinking of something rude again?"


    Paulughed and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "N-No, Lily. I''m just worried... about Rudy."


    Philip looked amused, realizing Paul''s intentions to change the subject.


    Lilia looked like she realized it as well, but she sighed and let it drop. Instead, she nodded, fiddling with her bracelet. "I''m concerned as well. We need to return safely without issue."


    Paul nodded.


    This was their only chance. Paul wasn''t sure, but his gut told him that. If he wanted to make sure that his son didn''t turn into someone like a Demon Lord who valued only the people around him and threw away everyone else, Paul needed to show that Rudy had the luxury to rx.


    His son was too logical... No. He had be too logical recently.


    Paul wasn''t sure what had changed... Well, it was probably his fault considering that it happened after that incident, but the end result was that Rudy was weighing everything on a scale against his friends and family. And that scale would never budge.


    Rudy was already starting to close his eyes to the outside world. And because he managed to fend off Orsted, Rudy believed that he was the most qualified person to make decisions. That it was his responsibility alone to take care of the family.


    But he was still just a kid. Barely eight years old.


    Paul might have been a bad father... and he still wasn''t sure what a ''good'' father looked like. But he knew that he had to step in for at least this.


    Rudy shouldn''t have to be the one to deal with everything. He might be a genius, but even a genius could be overworked and fall apart.


    ...In hindsight, maybe Paul shouldn''t have made that lecture about great power having great responsibility then? Rudy was already worrying about a lot of things so that might not have been the smartest thing to do.


    ...Yeah. Paul should definitely just stick to showing instead of talking. Well, at least in trying to convince?


    But then if he just went and did things without thinking...


    A smack on his right arm.


    Paul blinked and looked to see Lilia staring at him with a nk expression.


    "What?"


    Lilia sighed and said, "I know the saying is like father like son, but you two seem to be picking up each other''s traits more frequently these days."


    Ghyine chuckled. Shifting the sword sheathed at her waist, she smirked and said, "Right? To think the day woulde when Paul would shut up and use his brain... Is the worlding to an end?"


    Gisu''s voice called out from the front. "Hey! Don''t jinx it, Ghyine!"


    Ghyine''s chuckle turned into a fullugh. "Fine. But it seems that everyone is a bit different these days." She looked at the front of the carriage and said, "You would never have risked your neck on something like this before, Gisu."


    Gisuughed back and said, "Well. I always wanted to try ying the hero. Never got the chance with Paul hogging the spotlight."


    Paul straightened and said, "That''s because you were always running away from it, Gisu. Didn''t you say that taking the initiative for yourself was a jinx?"


    "Now that you mention it..." Gisu made a show of hesitating, as if he would run off. But then heughed and said, "I''m just kidding. And I didn''t take the initiative for this trip, so it''s fine. It''s more of a jinx to turn down a favor from a benefactor anyway."


    Paul blinked. "Benefactor?"


    "Of course!" Gisu nced back at Philip and said, "After all, I can''t turn down the request from the guy who got my pal a job after retiring from adventuring, could I?"


    Philip smiled and said, "Yes. Paul *was* fairly desperate back then." Heughed and said, "I definitely did not expect my cousin to show up at my doorsteps and beg for a handout." His smile faded and then he gave Gisu a serious look. "But thank you for your aid in this matter, Mister Nukadia."


    Gisu shrugged. "It''s fine. I''ve got a lot riding on this too. After all, if it turns out that the Notos are really helping the Prime Minister of Asura to kidnap noblewomen and we stop them, the name ''Gisu Nukadia'' will suddenly get a lot more value, you know?"


    Paul rolled his eyes. "Still thinking about money, huh?"


    "Hey." Gisu looked at Paul and said, "Unlike a certain someone, I''m a poor bachelor. Money''s the only thing I''ve got."


    Ghyine watched the interaction between Paul and Gisu with a faint smile. But then she turned serious and looked at Philip. "Lord Philip. Are you certain that it is fine to bring Lady Hilda. I know that we''ve gone over it, but-"


    Hilda spoke up and said, "Do you think I am a dainty noblewoman, Ghyine?"


    "Considering you are Eris''s mother, I doubt it." Ghyine shook her head and then frowned. "But among all of us, you are the only one who does not know how to defend herself."


    "Hmph." Hilda tossed her hair and said, "...Be that as it may, my dear husband will keep me safe. Won''t you?" She looked at Philip and smiled.


    Philip looked tense. "...I will. But please do not start arguments with the other noblewomen at the festival."


    "Of course I won''t. What do you take me for, some warmongering harpy?" Hilda poked Philip''s head.


    Philip sighed.


    Paul looked between the two and said, "Seems like you patched things up pretty well, eh, Philip?"


    Hilda''s gaze turned sharp and she red at Paul. Pointing at his face, she said, "You shut up. Husband is only doing this because it helps you. Be grateful."


    Lilia''s gaze turned sharp and she red at Hilda. "I would watch your tongue. The only reason that this mission has a sliver of sess is because of Paul."


    Hilda nced at Lilia and then scoffed. "I''ve been polite until now, but is a mistress like yourself even in a position to talk back to me? Were you not a mere milk maid until Paul took pity on you?"


    Paul''s eyes widened and he quickly grabbed Lilia''s left hand. "Lily, dear. Please don''t get upset at her."


    Lilia looked at Paul and smiled. She ced her other hand over Paul''s and said, "Do not worry. It would be terrible to set a poor role model for our children to follow. And besides, Eris is a good girl. I would never harm her mother and make her sad. No matter how much that mother deserves it."


    "You-!"


    Before Hilda could get any more riled up, the horse brayed and Gisu called out.


    "Whoa there! Calm down!"


    The carriage came to a stop.


    Paul frowned and stood up, resting his hand on his sword.


    Ghyine stood up as well and flipped up her eye patch, staring out from the carriage.


    A tense silence, broken only by the horse braying. But when it calmed down, Gisu''s voice echoed. "You''re pretty brave to be standing there in the middle of the road, friend. Especially considering that you''re stopping a carriage of the Boreas family."


    Paul nced at Ghyine.


    She nodded and quietly opened the back window, slipping out.


    At the same time, Paul peered out the front. stering a smile on his face, he said, "What is it, Gisu?" Heughed and said, "A highwayman causing you trouble?"


    Gisu let out a strained smile. "I think this friend is more than a highwayman, Paul."


    Paul looked towards the person that stopped them. And then he froze.


    "Excellent. I stopped the right carriage. It would have been a pain to deal with Sauros."


    A vaguely familiar voice, along with a vaguely familiar face.


    It was a man with silver hair and a long white coat. His golden eyes flickered with a mysterious green hue... Or was it green eyes flickering with gold?


    Either way, he stood there in front of the carriage, hiding his hands beneath that white coat.


    Paul had only seen the guy once, but considering what happened afterwards, he definitely wouldn''t forget the guy''s face. "You''re-"


    "Pierre?" Philip''s voice echoed from the carriage and he peered out. Looking at the man standing there, Philip frowned and said, "I thought you said you weren''ting along?"


    "Change of ns." The man, ''Pierre'' stared at Gisu for a while and then shook his head. Looking back at Philip, he said, "I heard you were bringing your wife along and were short on people, so I figured that I would help out."


    Philip frowned. "...Sorry to disappoint, but the carriage is full. As much as I would appreciate your assistance-"


    "Don''t worry about me. I just wanted to make sure I caught you before..." Pierre''s gaze shifted towards the carriage, focusing on Paul and Lilia before he shook his head. "Anyway, you guys keep going. I''ll follow behind you."


    "...If that is what you wish, I will not stop you." Philip looked at Gisu and said, "Please continue, Mister Nukadia."


    Gisu nced back at Pierre, giving him a thoughtful look.


    Pierre stared back with a genial smile and waved his hand. "Go on. There''s no need to concern yourself with me."


    After a tense silence and everyone getting back in their ces, the journey continued.


    And as it did, the people in the carriage nced back out the window to see Pierre casually jogging behind the carriage. But even as the horse went up to speed, the distance between Pierre and the wagon didn''t change, the man easily keeping pace.


    Paul nced at Philip and said, "You know the guy?"


    Philip stared at Pierre, frowning. "...In part. And if he is here after all he said before... It seems this trip may be more trouble than it is worth."


    Paul frowned and nced at Lilia.


    Lilia frowned as well and held Paul''s hand.


    Well. Paul didn''t know exactly what was going on. But he knew one thing.


    They would get over this and get back home, no matter what Being W or whatever threw at them.


    Didn''t Rudy say it one time? That Paul was like a dumb protagonist from a story book?


    Well, Paul didn''t know if that was true. But if Rudy thought Paul was the protagonist right now, then Paul needed to make sure to pull his weight. Pull his weight, protect Lily, and return home safe and sound to his happy kids. So that they would know that things would be fine. So that they could grow up safe and happy without worrying about always looking over their shoulders.


    So to make that happen...


    Paul closed his eyes to think.


    -LIV-


    I opened my eyes.


    It was my room in the new house. After putting me to sleep, it seemed like Miss Rostelina left me alone.


    I sat up and slowly looked around, mulling over everything that I had just learned. And as I did, I sighed. "Why''d you have to go and make things soplicated?"

 89 – Child – Introspective

    89 ¨C Child ¨C Introspective


    It didn''t look like much time had passed. The sun was still pretty high in the sky from what I could see through my window.


    It seemed like the chat I had with Rudeus... My future self? No, our timelines were definitely different. I would never be him, and his past was different than mine.


    While we had the same starting point, our lives split off in junior high school. Where he was fascinated with tinkeringputers and assembling them to the extent of neglecting his studies, I had been fascinated with programs and doubled down on my studies to try and recreate a bunch of things in code.


    There were a few more differences, but it wasn''t important. Interesting, considering that he seemed to get dragged down by ''sloth'' while I get held down by my ''pride'', but that was all.


    What was important was the information he gave me. The ''future'' he came from.


    It wouldn''te to pass. The paths we walked had diverged early on.


    First of all, by now he was already teaching Eris back in Roa and living in with the Boreas family as her tutor. Not only that, but the guy was literally the scum of the Earth. A shameless pervert who was worse than Dad and was aplete lecher.


    It looked like he mellowed out over time, but still... I could have turned out like that?


    The multiverse really was a thing where we knew frighteningly little...


    But in any case, there were a few things to keep out for. Key regrets that Rudeus wanted to make sure didn''t happen to me.


    First was the so-called ''metastasis'' event. A mana incident that caused the entire Fedoa region to get teleported across the world.


    Rudeus didn''t know exactly why it happened, but he suspected that Hitogami had a hand to y in it. Hitogami meaning Being W.


    Interestingly enough, that guy never showed up to talk to me. Apparently, in Rudeus''s timeline though, he did.


    That begged the question of why Being W was ignoring me. And why he tried to directly intervene with me instead of taking the subtle approach like he did with Rudeus.


    Was it because he knew that I wouldn''t buy it? That I would figure out his intentions and so it wasn''t worth the time?


    Something to note and bring up with everyone else.


    Anyway, long story short: Being W was bad news. I knew that already, but he was *really* bad news. On the upside, he seemed to be limited. After all, he was never able to directly intervene in Rudeus''s time. Not only that, but he wasn''t omniscient. If he was, then Rudeus would never have been able to develop his time travel magic.


    But he was strong and had a lot of yers on the board.


    Rudeus didn''t know exact details, but he had suspicions. And he also said that Orsted was the key to reaching that guy.


    Normally, at least.


    I was pretty sure I knew how to get to that bastard.


    If this was a game... It was basically like Chr*no Tr*gger. I could jump to the final boss and beat him up at any time really, but the problem was the fallout and stat check.


    No one knew how strong Being W really was. So we couldn''t just n this willynilly.


    But that was a goal for the far future. For now, it was better to y the long game. Bide my time and slowly gather things.


    Definitely was going to be a doozy exining this to Master Roxy, Mom, and the others though.


    I stretched and then headed outside. As I did, I sorted out my thoughts some more.


    Definitely needed to apologize to Mom. I definitely hurt her feelings a lot by brushing off what she was saying. Especially since she was probably just worried about me.


    Didn''t me her at all. Rudeus had been super edgy... with good reason. But that had started to bleed over to my thoughts and actions too. The worry and anxiety aboutcking strength. The rush to pursue power. The callous disregard for life...


    I basically had a horcrux deal going on, so things were definitely messed up. And this was a giant mess too.


    ...And from the timing, that metastasis incident was due any day now.


    I ran my hand through my hair and muttered, "Always so much to do, huh?"


    It was already going to be a lot because I caught Being W''s attention that day, but after Rudeus started messing around things definitely got worse. The question was what I would do about it now.


    ...Well, there was one thing that I knew I should do.


    That guy suffered a lot because he kept things close to his chest. Well, that and he wasn''t serious about training until it was toote. Since he had been depending on others so much and thought they were infallible, he ended up getting blindsided.


    I could learn from him.


    He wasn''t wrong. At least, in the beginning. It was important to trust other people. To depend on them. And he also wasn''t wrong in wanting to make himself strong too. In wanting to be strong enough to stop whatever threats emerged.


    But that wasn''t enough. No matter how strong you were, if the people you cared about weren''t able to protect themselves, you would always be in trouble.


    Rudeus experienced that first hand. Because he sought more power for himself, the people he cared suffered the price.


    I couldn''t have that happen.


    ...But it seemed like I subconsciously started to act to avoid that already.


    Like he said, we were different. It was a fundamental change that stemmed from our past.


    I trusted and valued my family from the beginning. I didn''t want to see them hurt and so took active steps to make sure nothing happened.


    That guy didn''t realize how much he cared until it was toote.


    ...Though that probably resulted from him thinking he was better than everyone else since he was technically older.


    ...And that guy had memories of his past life still.


    Maybe that helped too? Rudeus was still more his past life than his current one whereas I had definitely be ''Rudy'' more than anyone else.


    Well, until that guy came in and started changing me.


    But anyway.


    I scratched the back of my head and looked around.


    The fields were empty. I thought that Eris and Sylphy might be ying outside, but it looked like they might have headed off together somewhere. Maybe helping to y with Norn and Aisha?


    I didn''t know, but whatever the case, it seemed like I was alone right now. Alone with nothing but my thoughts and worries.


    Even so...


    "You know, you worried too much, Rudeus."


    That old guy wasn''t around anymore. After our chat, it seemed like his lingering regrets faded away and he vanished. Even so, I still had some things to say to him.


    I looked up at the clear blue sky and said, "I''m not like you. And this world isn''t the same as the one you lived either."


    It was different. WE were different.


    Some tough things might stille in the future. And Being W could still be a bastard and ruin things.


    But I was sure of it.


    "I''m doing my best, and everyone is stronger. No matter what, this won''t be a bad end."


    Everyone could see mana, so if that teleport incident happened they would be prepared.


    Dad was stronger now than he was in that timeline. And I had countermeasures for my countermeasures prepared, so a situation like the one Rudeus had where his powers were ineffective should never ur. Not to mention the trump card that I somehow snagged due to the shenanigans Rudeus pulled and the shenanigans I did in expanding my mana.


    Mom had that protective bracelet I made for her. Not only that, but she was also better at magic from Master Roxy teaching her.


    Then there was Mama Lily getting stronger too...


    It was just different.


    Not to mention the fact that I was on Orsted''s good side.


    ...Though there was also the weird bit about me having Lace''s traits...


    Whatever the case, we would be fine.


    I was still worried, but I trusted in everyone. Just like before with how I let Dad handle the knights.


    And speaking of that...


    "Being W is probably operating under the assumption I''m like Rudeus, isn''t he?"


    Since that guy tried to force the override with Rudeus and probably knew all about Rudeus, he would be moving with the premise that I would act like that guy did.


    Micromanaging, striving to obtain power at all costs and holing up to keep my family safe... That was definitely what he was nning.


    Because of that, I had to be careful, but I also shouldn''t be someone who was too worried.


    Like Dad said, this would be a cage. And if I wasn''t careful, it would be easy to devolve into a sort of Demon Lord who locked everyone he cared about up inside some castle and then re and dere the world my enemy while working to fight some unseen god.


    Then there would be lots of wars, people that I would massacre without worry or concern because they were aiming towards me and my family. And in the end, I''d probably get backstabbed by someone I cared about because I had changed, or they thought that it would be a mercy instead of a betrayal.


    Yeah. Lots of bad ends that way.


    I didn''t want to end up like Rudeus, after all. While that guy had good intentions, he was the embodiment of the phrase ''the road to hell is paved with good intentions.''


    Well, that and the whole ''live long enough to see yourself be the viin'' schtick.


    "But enough of that."


    I had been living in a funk for too long now. Made a bunch of people worried too. And also definitely probably resulted in Sylphy developing some unfortunate yandere tendencies...


    "Hah..." I ran my hand through my hair and muttered, "So many things that I need to fix and prep for. I really need to start that journal..."


    Note to self: start recording thoughts and daily events in a journal. Considering how much of a JRPG my life had be, it might actually help ''save'' me in the future by seeing where things went wrong.


    But for now...


    "Let''s check in with Master Roxy and get her thoughts on this first."


    And do my best to not think about how one version of me married her in the future. And Sylphy. And thatplicated rtionship history with Eris...


    ...Dammit, Rudeus. There''s something called TMI, you know? Sheesh.

 90 – Slice of Life

    90 ¨C Slice of Life


    Roxy stared at her summoned spiritpanion and hummed. "What in the world are you?"


    *sching*


    Mercy floated over, hovering in front of Roxy. The shimmering silver blob shaped itself into a humanoid form and then tilted its head, as if it was confused.


    Roxy patted its head and said, "You clearly have a mind of your own. But you were also summoned, meaning you came from somewhere. But there are no records of a metallic spirit ever being summoned. Were you created? Formed by my magic circles and granted life? Or were you pulled from a separate space?"


    *sching?*


    Mercy shook its little head.


    Roxy sighed and said, "Well, whatever the case, I''m grateful for your aid."


    *sching!*


    Mercy shaped itself into a smiley face and then turned back into a silver blob, hovering over Roxy''s right shoulder.


    Roxy smiled as well, but then she took a look around her surroundings.


    As always, she was patrolling around Buina vige. Specifically, she was patrolling in the forest, leaving the other areas for Laws to cover.


    "Hm." Roxy checked the trees, underbrush, and canopy around her.


    Colorful lights floated about, the threads of ambient elemental mana. But there wasn''t a sign of anything amiss. No strange white mana that would be a sign of Being W or any other mana disturbance.


    Even so, Roxy didn''t lower her guard.


    As usual, she made her way through the forest to check on the magic circles she ced.


    Barrier magic, holy mana, converting external mana into ambient mana... It was a modification from Rudy''s initial design, but it was effective. And it was working as well.


    Assuming that Being W could only interfere through mana and mental maniptions like before, it would be hard for him to affect anyone in Buina vige. And in the worst case, the forest could serve as a refuge as well with all the protections Roxy had ced.


    *sching?*


    Mercy floated in front of Roxy.


    She blinked. "Is something wrong?"


    Mercy bobbed up in the air before drifting over to something hidden in the underbrush.


    Roxy looked over and then saw an old stone b pulsing with a pure golden mana.


    Mercy bobbed up and down over the b before moving close to it, as if trying to read it.


    Roxy smiled and walked over. "Curious?"


    *sching!*


    Roxy chuckled and then crouched down to look at the b. "Let''s see... This should be one of the Seven World Powers monuments."


    Unlike the color of the mana, the b glowed with a soft blue-green light, emitting seven symbols that surrounded the number ''7'' written in the Fighting Godnguage.


    Roxy recognized them. During her stay in the Shirone Kingdom, she spent a lot of time doing research in the library. Not only that, but as an adventurer, you inevitably ended up knowing the symbols for the big seven.


    A pair of jagged wings representing the Technique God.


    The side profile of a dragon head, representing the Dragon God.


    A geometric design that looked like either a shield or aplicated box that represented the Fighting God.


    A symbol that looked like an eye representing Demon God Lace.


    A strange abstract symbol with a lot of curves that represented the Death God.


    A sword representing the Sword God.


    And then an image that looked like a sword in front of a shield, representing the North God.


    Those were what were on the b, starting just over the ''7'' and going clockwise, representing the order of power.


    In short, the Technique God was first, the Dragon God Orsted was second, and so on.


    It was the same that Roxy had seen on all the other bs since bing an adventurer. At least, that was what she thought. But...


    "Hm?"


    The order was different.


    The Technique God and the Dragon God were still first and second. But Demon God Lace had moved up to third.


    Not only that, but its symbol was a bit different. It was still an eye, but it looked twisted. The left half of the symbol was erased, and a symbol that looked like a bent sword covered it.


    Roxy frowned. "...That''s troubling."


    There was a shift. Not only that, but the shift was in Demon God Lace.


    "Is this a result of Rudy? Or is it that Being W?" Roxy mumbled and ced a hand on her chin, thoughtfully staring at the b.


    *sching!*


    Mercy moved in front of Roxy and then turned into an arrow, pointing at something off to the side.


    Roxy straightened and then looked over to see a half dozen wild boars slowly emerge from the underbrush.


    *sching*


    Mercy moved to Roxy''s side and turned into a crescent de.


    She lifted her staff and said, "Well. I suppose the girls would appreciate some more food. And Rudy should eat more as well."


    Thergest boar squealed and then charged at Roxy.


    Mercy blurred, charging to meet the boar.


    "Make it tidy, Mercy."


    *sching!*


    -LIV-


    "Rui!" Norn giggled and ran over to hug me.


    I hugged her back and looked around. "Heya Norn. Have you been a good girl?"


    "Mmhm!" She giggled again and nuzzled against me.


    Aisha ran over as well, her eyes lighting up. "Big Bro!"


    I smiled and then reached over to pat her head. "Heya Aisha."


    She giggled and hugged me too.


    I was back at our old house. And it seemed like that was where everyone else was as well.


    "So sleeping beauty finally woke up?" Rostelina smiled, leaning against the edge of the gate. It seemed like she was the one watching my baby sisters at the moment.


    I nodded and said, "Yep. And I have a lot of questions for you, Miss Rostelina."


    Like how and why she regained her past memories. Not only that, but who she was with considering that she hadn''t met that Cliff person Rudeus mentioned.


    "But we can talk about thatter. Right now..." I hugged Norn and Aisha and said, "I haven''t yed with you two in a while, have I? How about we have some fun?"


    Aisha gasped and then pped her hands together. "Big Bro! Magic!"


    Norn''s eyes lit up and she quickly nodded. "Rui! y magic!"


    Iughed and said, "Magic, huh? Sure. I have a few fun ideas we can y with."


    "Yay!"


    "Big Bro, super cool!"


    Pure admiration. From both Norn and Aisha.


    Norn was a given, but even after I treated Aisha a bit callously, she still cared for me that much...


    "Rudy?" Mom''s voice called out from inside the house. "Is that you?"


    I flinched.


    Norn noticed and held me close. "Rui! I protec!"


    Aisha gasped and started tugging me. "Run! Mama Zenny scary!"


    "What was that, Aisha?" Mom walked out of the house, wiping her hands against her apron. "Calling me scary?"


    Aisha trembled and then let go of my hand before standing in front of Mom. She looked back at me and said, "Big Bro! Run!"


    Norn tugged on my hand and said, "Rui! Gogo!"


    Mom huffed and then walked forward, scooping Aisha up into her arms. "You little rascal!"


    Aisha shrieked and then squirmed around in Mom''s arms. She looked at me with a brave look and said, "Big Sis! Go!"


    "Rui!" Norn kept tugging me, determination in her eyes.


    And thenughter echoed. Miss Rostelina, smiling as she watched everything unfold.


    Iughed as well, seeing the ridiculous antics my little sisters were pulling. "What are you two making Mom do? She''s in no condition to be chasing after you two, you know?"


    Norn looked guilty.


    "Eh?" Mom paused and then looked at me, confused.


    I cleared my throat. "Sorry for the trouble recently, Mom."


    She blinked and then looked at Rostelina.


    Rostelina ced a finger over her lips and winked.


    Mom narrowed her eyes. "Lina. I said no flirting with Rudy."


    She blinked and then rolled her eyes. "What do you take me for, a shameless cradle robber?"


    ...Cradle robber?


    Mom gave a serious nod to Rostelina and said, "Yes."


    Rostelinaughed and then said, "Don''t worry. I have my man and I''m plenty satisfied these days. Now, is Rose inside?"


    Mom still looked skeptical, but she nodded and said, "Rose is helping with lunch-"


    "Wonderful." Rostelina waved and walked inside. "I''ll take over for you. Go rest and have fun with the kids, Zenny."


    The door to the house closed, and then it was just me with my mom and my sisters.


    At that time, Aisha broke free from Mom''s grasp and darted over towards me, grabbing my hand. "Big Bro! Gogogo!"


    Iughed and then poked her in the forehead. "Stop being so silly, Aisha."


    "Owie!" Aisha ced her hands over her forehead and started tearing up. "Big Bro! Meanie!"


    Norn walked over and patted Aisha''s head. "Ai! It''s kay!"


    Aisha hugged Norn. "Big Sis nice!"


    I looked at the two and then back at Mom. "...Are they always like this when Sylphy and Eris aren''t around?"


    Mom sighed. "Yes. Your sisters are a bit of a handful. It seems like they picked up your dad''s wild energy..."


    Aisha''s eyes lit up and she said, "Yay! Da cool! I like!"


    ...It''s a good thing Rudeus vanished. That guy probably would have had a heart attack at how different things were right now...


    Mom sighed and then walked over to me. She seemed a bit hesitant, but she reached out to brush hair out of my eyes. "...Are you feeling better now, Rudy?"


    There was a trace of worry there that she tried to hide, but couldn''t.


    I smiled to reassure her and said, "I''m fine now, Mom. And sorry for being a brat."


    Mom smiled and then put on a stern face. "Well it''s about time you realized it, Mister. Now for a punishment..."


    I flinched and lowered my gaze.


    "...You have to stay here and y with us the rest of the day, alright?"


    I blinked and then looked up to see Mom give me a warm smile. As if she didn''t care about anything other than the fact that I was back to normal.


    I smiled back, my vision blurring a bit.


    Norn gasped. "Rui! Why crying?!"


    Aisha gasped too and then hugged me. "Big Bro! No cry!"


    Iughed and brushed away my tears. "It''s happy tears, okay? And it''s okay to cry when you want to."


    Mom nodded. "That''s right. Although, you''ve always been a bit of a crybaby, haven''t you, Rudy?"


    "I am not!"


    "I said ''have'', but it seems like you still are?"


    "Argh... whatever." I grumbled, but I couldn''t hide the smile on my face. "Anyway... let''s go sit down somewhere. You shouldn''t be standing so much, Mom. I don''t want my new sibling to be as hectic as Norn was when she came into this world."


    Norn blinked and looked confused.


    I ruffled her hair. "Don''t worry about it, Norn. Now..." I focused on the corner of the courtyard.


    That guy said magic was omnipotent. Not only that, but it wasn''t just ''willpower'' and ''logic.'' If you had a good enough mental image, then mana would move to that image.


    In short, a confirmation of how Sylphy used her magic.


    So it should work. If I envisioned it clearly enough and focused my mana, the oue I wanted should just work.


    Of course, there was the prerequisite that I had enough mana, but mana wasn''t a concern for me.


    In that case...


    I imagined it. A cheap and colorful stic table/benchbo for the kids to sit at. Afortable beanbag chair for my mom.


    And then they blinked into existence, wobbling a bit as theynded on the ground.


    "Wao!" Aisha pped her hands and said, "Big Bro cool!"


    Norn gasped and then looked at me. "Rui! Awsum!"


    I smiled. "Thanks you two." After that, I looked at my mom.


    She stared at the new furniture and then sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "My genius son doesn''t know when to stop upending magic, does he?"


    ...What am I, some light novel character? Come on, Mom, it''s not that serious...


    -LIV-


    "And don''t bother us anymore, twerps!" Eris red at the bunch of rowdy kids running away from her and Sylphy.


    Sylphy sighed and said, "Did you have to be so mean?"


    Eris turned her head to the side and tossed her hair. "Hmph. They should feel lucky I just yelled at them and didn''t beat them up. Calling you a demon... If Rudy was here, he would have broken their legs!"


    Sylphy shook her head. "No he wouldn''t."


    Eris gave Sylphy a nk look. "You''re kidding."


    Sylphy smiled. "Rudy would have broken every bone in their body and then healed them to make it look like nothing happened."


    "...Sylphy. You''re really scary."


    "But I''m cute, right?"


    "I... I guess...?"


    Eris looked around the surroundings.


    They were wandering around the outskirts of the vige, helping out farmers where they could and beating up any wild animals that got close. Because of that, they also got a bit of pocket change.


    Sylphy said it was a lot. Eris wasn''t so sure, but Sylphy was smarter than her, so she trusted what Sylphy said.


    She was also scary when she was mad, so Eris decided to just go along with it.


    Sylphy looked at the sky and said, "It''s gettingte. You want to go home, Eris?"


    Eris carefully adjusted her coin bag and then nodded. "Yeah. If we don''t go back, stupid Rudy will forget to eat again."


    Sylphy furrowed her brow. "Yes. Rudy''s been doing that a lot..."


    "Right? So let''s go! We need to make him stop being a boring book reader and do some more fun things too!"


    "Boring books?" Sylphy gave Eris a nk look.


    Eris froze and said, "N-Not that books are bad! But R-Rudy is reading too much, r-r-right?"


    Sylphy was quiet and then nodded. "Right! Eris is thoughtful as always!"


    "H-Haha..."


    Was this how the servants felt around Grandpa? Eris could never tell how Sylphy was going to react...


    "Hold on tight, kay~?"


    "Wait. Sylphy wai- KYAAAAAAAAAA!"


    A giant wind kicked up and then the two girls flew through the air, heading back to the Greyrat household.

 91 – Child – Playtime

    91 ¨C Child ¨C ytime


    "Bubble! Bubble!" Aisha pped her hands together and then giggled.


    Norn nodded and said, "Rui! Bubbles!"


    I smiled and said, "Fine, fine. Here you go." I conjured a few small water balls and sent them over to Aisha and Norn.


    We were seated on the y set, with me on one side and my sisters on the other side.


    Mom sat on the beanbag chair, watching us with a warm smile on her face while resting one hand over her belly.


    ...Hopefully my new sibling wouldn''t cause any trouble by showing up early or something.


    I cut that train of thought off and focused on Aisha and Norn.


    Aisha easily plucked the water balls I sent her out of the air and started spinning them around in the palm of her hand. And then she merged them into a bigger one, looking like a certain signature technique of a blonde ninja from a vige hidden in the leaves.


    Yep. Even if things changed, Aisha was still a natural.


    And considering how Rudeus said that she managed to pick up magic easily even while learning it when she was older, since she started now...


    "Rui! Look, look!" Norn held out her hand to me and said, "Piggy!"


    Unlike Aisha, who I was sure was secretly walking on a path to be a kunoichi or something from her antics, Norn did something more normal with her water ball.


    The sphere had been smushed and deformed, some parts pulled out and others tucked in to form a rough four legged creature.


    It really didn''t look like a pig to me, but if you squinted... it probably did?


    I smiled at her and patted Norn''s head. "Good job, Norn."


    Aisha looked at me and pouted. After that, she stuck out her hands too and said, "Big bro! Speeen!"


    Iughed and patted Aisha''s head too. "That''s right. Spin. Be careful not to get water on you now, okay?"


    "Kay~!" Aisha nodded and then leaned back, spinning her water ball in different directions.


    Norn giggled and then let go of her water sculpture. And surprisingly, it didn''t turn back into a sphere or copse. Instead, it floated around her, awkwardly iling its limbs.


    ...Yeah. These two were definitely going to do crazy stuff with magic in the future too, huh?


    Though, it was a bit weird.


    Rudeus told me to keep an eye on Norn and to help her out a bit since she wasn''t very talented. But from what I could see, she was just as talented as Aisha was in magic...


    Was that guy mistaken? Or was I just that good of a teacher? Or maybe Norn trusted me enough that she put more effort into things?


    That guy hadn''t gotten along with Norn, so maybe that made the difference?


    Well. Whatever the case, I was going to make sure my baby sisters grew up to be able to take care of themselves. And I was going to make sure not to make them hate me in any way.


    That would probably throw me for a loop.


    The thought of Norn and Aisha looking at me in disgust...


    I didn''t even need to imagine it. That guy had experienced it firsthand and made a point to make me relive those memories with him in his long retelling of his ''jobless reincarnation.''


    ...And I had to remember to not rely too much on that information too since the future was bound to be different due to our differences...


    What a mess.


    But something forter.


    I smiled and watched my baby sisters y. And then I noticed that Mom was staring at me.


    I looked over at her and tilted my head. "What is it, Mom?"


    She shook her head. "Nothing. Just..." She smiled and said, "I''m happy that you''re back to normal. I was starting to think I would never see your cute smile again."


    Norn blinked and looked at me. "Rui? No smile?"


    Aisha looked at me too and said, "Big Bro sad?"


    I waved my hands. "No, no. Mom''s just saying that I''ve been frowning too much."


    Norn tilted her head. "Fwown?"


    Aisha pointed at me and said, "Big Bro! No frown, smile! Kay?"


    Iughed. "Got it, Aisha."


    She smiled and then went back to spinning her water ball.


    I looked back at my mom and said, "But anyway... I''ve been in a bit of a funk because of... things." I frowned, remembering everything that had happened along with the entire can of worms that meeting Rudeus had opened up.


    Especially the part about Elinalise now being Rostelina and decidedly much less lewd than she was supposed to be.


    I shook my head and then smiled. "I''m sorry to worry you though. And both Mama Lily and Dad too."


    Mom stood up and then moved her beanbag chair to my side. After that, she reached out to hug me and said, "It''s okay. Mommy forgives you."


    I smiled.


    And then there was a loud shockwave as something flew down from the air and collided against the ground.


    "Wah!" Norn flinched and started tipping back.


    "Big Sis!" Aisha dropped her water ball and quickly grabbed Norn, trying to pull her up. But she wasn''t strong enough.


    Before either of them toppled over though, I conjured a small breeze to push the back forward and then grabbed their arms. "Careful now. Crazy things happen in the middle of nowhere. You''ve got to always be ready, okay?"


    Norn sniffed, but nodded. "K-Kay, Rui."


    Aisha looked determined. "Got it, Big Bro!"


    After seeing that they were okay, I turned to look at my mom.


    Only to see her standing up with a stern look on her face and ring at the source of themotion.


    "Miss Sylphiette and Miss Eris Boreas Greyrat! What did I tell you two about doing those sorts of recklessndings?!"


    Eh?


    I turned to look and saw a strange sight.


    First of all, it was Sylphy and Eris. That wasn''t strange. The two had be close friends... Well, Sylphy had be a close friend to Eris. I wasn''t sure if it waspletely mutual considering how often Sylphy messed with Eris...


    But anyway, it wasn''t strange to see them together.


    What *was* strange was that Sylphy hadnded on the ground in a giant crater with Eris held in her arms, princess style.


    Which, considering Eris''s background, was pretty fitting.


    But still... odd.


    Mostly because Eris waspletely red-faced and super embarrassed instead of angry.


    She jumped out of Sylphy''s hands and then spun around to point at her. "I-I told you that I can handle myself! You didn''t need to carry me like that!"


    Sylphyughed. "Okay, Eris. I''ll let Rudy carry you like a princess next time, then."


    Eris''s face turned even more red and said, "L-L-Like I want that!"


    Sylphy''s eyes lit up and she said, "Great! Then I''m being carried next time! Thanks Eris!"


    "W-Wait! I didn''t-"


    Before Eris could finish, my mom red at them and said, "Girls!"


    Eris flinched and lowered her head. "Y-Yes Miss Zenith."


    Sylphy''s ear turned red and she lowered her head too. "Sorry, Miss Zenith."


    Mom sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Honestly. And here I thought that Rudy and Sylphy were already trouble with their crazy magic games..."


    Ah. It seemed like Mom never really got over that, huh? But it was just one winter where we caused an avnche of snow...


    At that time, the door to our house opened. Miss Rose walked out carrying an iron skillet. "Who''s the one causing all that ruckus out there?! You ruined my pie!"


    Sylphy paled. "U-Um..."


    Miss Rose looked at Sylphy. And then she saw the giant crater in the ground.


    "Sylphiette Dragonroad! What did your father and I tell you about damaging the surroundings when you use magic?!"


    I blinked.


    ...Huh. Okay. So maybe I''ve been a worse influence on Sylphy than I thought if even the sweet and patient Miss Rose was snapping at Sylphy.


    "Now, now." Rostelina walked out after Miss Rose and said, "Let the kids be kids, Rosie. It''s no good to force them to be polite."


    Miss Rose red at Rostelina. And then she let out a deep sigh and lowered her skillet. "...I suppose." She shook her head and then looked up at everyone. "Now, how about we enjoy some-"


    At that time, blueet flew down from the sky-


    No. It wasn''t a blueet. That was-


    *BOOM!*


    Another explosion just outside the house''s courtyard.


    Norn screamed in fear and scrambled around the table to hug me.


    Aisha screamed too, but out of excitement. Unlike Norn, she pped her hands and then smiled at the explosion.


    And as for the person who caused that explosion...


    "Owowow." Master Roxy winced and then rubbed her legs. "Is it because they''re younger...? That''s not fair. Landing like this hurts a lot..."


    *sching...*


    Shortly after the explosion, a few more thuds echoed as frozen bs of meatnded on the ground.


    Master Roxy nced over and then let out a relieved smile. "At least that worked. But why are my knees so sore...?"


    Silence.


    *s-sching...*


    Mercy rippled and then flew over to Master Roxy''s shoulder and tugged on her cor.


    "Hm?" Master Roxy looked up and then froze.


    Mom''s eye started twitching as she looked at the devastated scenery.


    Rostelina covered her face, holding back augh.


    Seeing Master Roxy suddenly turn red in embarrassment, I couldn''t help it. Iughed.


    And then everything got quiet. Not only that, but everyone turned to look at me.


    I felt my face heat up and looked to the side. "W-What? It was funny."

 92 – Go with the Flow

    92 ¨C Go with the Flow


    After that hectic afternoon, things went back to normal peaceful times.


    I made sure to y more with Norn and Aisha while secretly teaching them magic disguised as games.


    Eris got more clingy since I wasn''t super edgelord anymore and insisted that I sparred with her.


    It was still a bit awkward considering that she was Rudeus''s first lover and most definitely not mine.


    But she was also a lot less rough around the edges than the Eris that guy knew too.


    Probably because she hung around Sylphy so much.


    Instead of being a super tsundere that like beating people to a pulp, Eris was about the level of R*n To*saka from F*te/St*y N*ght.


    In short, dishonest about her feelings and a bit bratty at times, but good at heart.


    Still didn''t mean I liked her. She was still a bit too grating on my nerves... But I could at least be friendly with her. She *was* my rtive, after all.


    ...On Dad''s side.


    And also part of the reason why everything hit the fan...


    Okay. Maybe I still hadn''t gotten over that part just yet. I was doing my best to be the bigger person and not judge her too harshly though.


    But by GOD was that hard some days...


    Sylphy was Sylphy. Maybe because she was jealous of Eris, she was more clingy these days too.


    Not that I minded. It was always nice when Sylphy was around.


    ...Though I was starting to get worried about her yandere tendencies.


    I was fine now since Rudeus had left... Ah. Well, I suppose things might still get a bit hairy if I used Lace''s Demon God mana. But for the most part, I didn''t have those edgelord or psychotic/sociopathic/yandere tendencies anymore.


    I think.


    Part of the reason why I was starting up a journal was to keep track of that though, so hopefully that worked.


    But anyway, Sylphy.


    These days, she was getting really good at using a sword. A short sword too. And her favorite attacks with it were stabbing. Then there was the fact that she somehow picked up the viiness ''ohohoho''ugh... Though that part was apparently Rostelina''s fault.


    And speaking of Rostelina.


    At first, she avoided me. She made some excuses about having to take care of my mom and helping out around the house. Then when I had free time in the evening, she said that children should get some rest and refused to talk to me.


    But it was time.


    A couple of weeks had passed.


    Master Roxy, Miss Rose, and my mom were heading to Sylphy''s house to go check on Miss Rose''s garden. They also took Norn and Aisha so that my baby sisters could get out of the house some more and get fresh air.


    Sylphy and Eris were out on an adventure together in the forest and said I couldn''te with them... something about a girl secret.


    Slightly concerning, but as long as they were getting along, it was fine.


    Which meant that it was just me and Rostelina alone.


    It would have been fine with just me, but I managed to pull a ploy about being tired and convincing everyone that Rostelina would be fine.


    ...I think it got some concerned looks from Mom, but awkward misunderstandings aside, it was time to make sure *I* wasn''t misunderstanding anything.


    And to find out the truth.


    Inside our house, I was sitting at our dining room table, sipping on a cup filled with fruit juice.


    And seated across from me was my target.


    Rostelina giggled and said, "My, my. Asking a woman like me out on a date..." She gave me a sly smile and said, "It seems you really did inherit a lot from Paul. Should I be worried that you''ll eat my granddaughter up when we aren''t looking?"


    I rolled my eyes. "As if. I''m not a pervert like Dad."


    Besides, the longer I could avoid thinking about the mess that would probably ensue when hormones kicked in, the better.


    Although...


    I stared at Rostelina andpared her to the ''Elinalise'' that Rudeus knew.


    Her appearance was the same. A beautiful elf woman with lightly curled blonde hair and scarlet eyes. A lithe but curvy body and a naturally seductive atmosphere paired with mannerisms that were just barely proper instead of lewd.


    Her way of teasing was simr too. But it was different. More reserved, with a bit of distance. A proper distance instead of the way too familiar and inappropriate innuendoes she made with that guy.


    But the biggest change was her attire.


    The Elinalise Rudeus knew always wore a revealing outfit. Even when adventuring, she was the sort of person to actually wear bikini armor.


    But I had never seen Rostelina wear anything except modest clothing. A full body robe, long dresses, a gray coat... She never showed anything more than necessary, as if thoughtful and aware of how lewd her usual clothing was.


    Which was weird.


    Well, weird considering what she was supposed to be like.


    I already thought that Miss Rostelina was weird even before knowing that. Mostly from how she acted around Sylphy and her family. Also from how Mom and Dad acted around her too.


    But anyway, Elinalise and Rostelina were the same person, but also not. And thetter seemed to know a lot more than she was letting on, so...


    Rostelinaughed and then leaned on the table. Laying her left arm t against the tabletop, she supported her head with her right and tilted her head to the side, smiling at me. "You two really are simr. It''s funny, really."


    I frowned and then moved my cup of juice to the side. "What''s that supposed to mean?"


    Rostelina shook her head. "Nothing~ Just that it''s cute how you trail off into thought." She smiled as she looked at me, a tinge of nostalgia in her eyes.


    My frown deepened and I said, "Dad was like that too?"


    I didn''t take him to be a thoughtful person. I mean, he did that now, but that was because he knew how important it was to avoid jumping in. But when he was younger...


    I imagined a younger Dad.


    He probably looked like me. But his actions...


    ''Ehehehe.''


    ''Yep! Definitely a B cup!''


    ''What''s that dress hiding...?''


    ...Yeah. Couldn''t imagine him being simr to me.


    Rostelina blinked and thenughed. "Oh, I''m not talking about Paul. He was the same then as he was now." She paused and said, "Well, he''s definitely more considerate and thoughtful than he was back then. But mostly the same. I was talking about my beloved master."


    Beloved master.


    That was new.


    Elinalise had always been alone. At least, in terms of actualpanionship and not just her transactional flings.


    But the way she talked about that ''master'', her actions, and the fact that she seemed to be knowing more than she let on...


    I grabbed my juice and took a long sip to gather my thoughts. And then I set it off to the side and looked up. "Miss Rostelina."


    A serious tone of voice.


    ...Well, as serious as I could make with my childish voice.


    I looked at her and said, "Who are you?"


    She wasn''t rted in any way to Being W. My gut told me that, and it didn''t seem to fit her actions either.


    ...Well, Rudeus had made a big fuss about how Being W like ying a wolf in sheep''s clothing and make a bunch of helpful tips that really weren''t. But assuming that Being W knew the future Rudeus belonged to... and he would have to, considering how Being W tried to force things back on course. Anyway, assuming that, his goal should be to get me off guard and then spring a trap on us all.


    Which made Rostelina unlikely because she was just waaay too suspicious. And that wasn''t Being W''s style. That guy liked being subtle and maniptive.


    But that begged the question of who Rostelina was.


    She looked like Elinalise. She was apparently Elinalise. And Elinalise *was* amnesiac ording to what Rudeus said. And she never recovered her memory from what he knew.


    So why did she now?


    Rostelinaughed and then reached out to flick my forehead.


    "Ow!" I flinched and covered my head. "What was that for?!"


    She smiled and then said, "You''re thinking too hard, Rudy. Rx. Grandma Lina will always be on your side."


    I pouted and said, "Don''t pull that on me!" I pointed at her and said, "You''re being weird! I want to know why! Like that magic thing you did!"


    Okay. Being serious didn''t work, so I''ll just vent my frustration out like the kid I am.


    Rostelina stuck out her tongue and said, "Secret~ But if you really want to know... How about I tell you on your tenth birthday?" She tapped her finger on her chin and said, "He won''t mind then, right? It should be long enough. And it really is annoying having to keep secrets from my cute grandchildren..."


    ...


    I sighed. "You''re just going to keep dodging the question, aren''t you?"


    Rostelinaughed and then said, "Well, it''s rude to make ady spill her secrets, Rudy. Besides, my granddaughter might get jealous. But I guess I can give you a hint."


    "Hm? A hint?"


    Rostelina nodded and then winked. "I''m like this because of you, you know~?"


    "...Shotacon."


    "Huh?"


    I sighed and then shook my head. "Never mind."


    At least nothing was going wrong over here. And even if there was, Miss Rostelina seemed to be here to help us. And she was sincere in caring about all of us, so... I guess it''s fine.


    But first-


    "Do you know anything about time travel, Miss Rostelina?"


    She blinked and thenughed. "I might know a lot of things, Rudy, but time travel''s a bit out there." She gave me a sly smile and said, "Why? Are you embarrassed about the looks my cute granddaughter has been giving you?"


    I blushed. "N-No, that''s not why-"


    "Oh my. Should I tell Zenny? Her cute son is growing up faster than expected and is already starting to pay attention to girls~"


    "W-Wait. Don''t do that. Miss Rostelina-"


    "Ooh, Paul would be so proud... Here!" She stood up and then reached over to grab me, swinging me around in her arms.


    "W-Whoa! Stop that! Hey! Let me down!"


    How is a such a slim woman so strong?!


    "Don''t worry, Rudy! Grandma Lina will teach you all the right things to know about girls. I''ll make sure you don''t end up like your dad, kay? But first... We need to get you some sunshine. Right now, you look like a ghost... Ooh, and we can style your hair a bit to make it cool. Even Eris will be impressed!"


    ...Okay. Maybe I shouldn''t have tried teasing information out from a woman who experienced countless hardships and had over a century of life experience. Might have been a *bit* too cocky there.


    I sighed and let Miss Rostelina lug me around like a sack of potatoes over her left shoulder.


    Nothing to do but have fun, I guess...? I wonder how Dad''s doing?


    -LIV-


    The sound of shing steel filled the air. Metallic ngs, resounding statto notes.


    And then Paul flew back. Landing on the ground, he clicked his tongue and nced at his sword.


    The de that Rudy made for him was fine. The crimson edge was as pristine and honed as ever.


    But if it had been an ordinary sword...


    "Hoh?" A man with blue hair and strong, wolf-like features lowered his sword. He grinned, an expression that emphasized the scar below his left eye and the scar at the tip of his right eye.


    The man gave Paul an approving nod and said, "That''s a good sword. And you''re not half bad too."


    Paul ignored the sweat running down the back of his neck and grinned. "And that''s all the Sword God can do? For a guy so famous, your swordsmanship is pretty in."


    The Sword God, Gal Farion, chuckled and said, "in, huh? Yeah, yeah. I guess it seems that way to a guy with fancy swordy like you." He lifted his left hand and grabbed his head, cracking his neck. After that, he raised his sword and said, "Let''s keep going. We can''t disappoint the crowd now, can we?"


    Paulughed and raised his sword as well. But at the same time, he took stock of the situation around him.


    A makeshift stage in the center of the Milbotts region capital city. A crowd of people watching them, cheers filling the air.


    ''...How did I end up like this again? Oh, right. Because that bastard younger brother of mine was being stubborn about letting us in.''


    "Don''t you dare lose, Husband."


    Amidst the crowd''s cheers, a calm and collected voice cut through. Lily''s.


    Hearing that, Paul straightened and focused.


    Gal noticed and grinned. "Hoh? Got an admirer watching?"


    Paul grinned back. "Yep. And you know what they say."


    Gal shifted his body, moving into a loose stance. "I don''t, actually."


    "You can''t look bad in front of your girl!"


    Paul kicked off the ground, swinging his sword at a blinding speed.


    A fast strike. Faster than anything Paul had done before in the fight. An ambush.


    But instead of cutting flesh, steel reverberated.


    Gal bared his teeth, easily parrying Paul''s sword with his own. "Well then. Show me what you got." After saying that, he leapt back.


    A flicker of danger. A faint prickling on his neck.


    Paul''s eyes widened and he turned, bringing his sword up.


    Steel shed again, and Gal''s de barely missed Paul''s neck.


    ...Damn. If this was the mess they were getting into right out the gate, this was going to be a long trip, wasn''t it...?

 93 – Lampshades

    93 ¨C Lampshades


    "I think it looks cute, Rudy!" Rostelina giggled and said, "You look like a tiny hero off for war!"


    I frowned and resisted the urge to smooth down my spiked hair. "I think it looks stupid."


    After that chat with Miss Rostelina, she dragged me over to her room and pulled out a bunch of make up equipment. Powders, brushes, and all sorts of things I didn''t know anything about.


    Apparently, I never bothered doing research into make up products in my previous life, so it all came up nk.


    Fortunately, I didn''t get the typical cliche ''dress a guy up as a girl'' treatment.


    But considering how I looked, I might have preferred it...


    First of all, my bangs had been messed up into a windswept style that any typical Anime or JRPG protagonist would have. The sort of spiky and gravity defying hair that somehow flowed in the wind.


    Second of all, Miss Rostelina had either bought or made¡­ Probably made, since she was always around. Anyway, she handed me a tiny adventurer¡¯s outfit. Again, the sort that you¡¯d see in a typical JRPG setting.


    A beige colored tunic and pantsbo. Some leather padding at the elbows and knees. A mini dagger strapped on my belt at my left side, with a satchel and my wand looped on my right side. Leather boots¡­


    And finally, there was the carved wooden pendant that she made me wear along with the talisman that Master Roxy gave me during my graduation.


    I gave the hand mirror back to Miss Rostelina and shook my head. "Where did you even get all of this stuff anyway, Miss Rostelina?"


    "Just grandma''s fine, Rudy." She smiled and patted my head. "And think of it as ate birthday gift for my cute granddaughter''s best friend. Besides, it''ll be useful soon, right?"


    I gave her a nk look and then carefully said, "Useful how?"


    Was she a regressor or something? Or did she have info about events stirring in the background I didn''t? Maybe that mysterious past of hers involved some secret truths about the world? Being W doing a mindwipe on her to prevent her from stirring things up, but in this timeline he somehow messed it up?


    "Hm?" She tilted her head and said, "Well, Sylphy''s been talking about wanting to go adventuring soon with you and Eris. Shouldn''t you look the part?"


    I blinked and said, "What?"


    She has? She didn''t mention anything to me...


    Oh. *Oh.* That''s probably what she and Eris were doing by themselves. Probably some training to get used to each other''s fighting style and working out some past frustrations or something.


    And that was a thought. Maybe we should be adventurers. Being W seemed to want to screw me over in particr, so if I moved around he wouldn''t focus on my family but me. Especially if I was going around with Sylphy, Master Roxy, and Eris.


    What other way to cause an ident than on a dungeon dive, right?


    Though, that guy also seemed to not know just how strong we all were. Especially with the countermeasures and trump cards Iid down.


    There was also the fact that Orsted liked me and there wouldn''t be any chances of misunderstanding like Rudeus had.


    But I was still just eight. Heading out from home so early...


    Ah, that guy did too, didn''t he?


    Hm...


    At that time, a knock echoed in the distance. Shortly after, my mom called out. "Lina? Rudy? We''re back!"


    I froze.


    Rostelinaughed and then said, "Come on. Let''s show your mom how cute you are."


    "I thought you said I was cool!"


    Rostelina grabbed my hand and pulled me along. "You are. But a cute hero is still cute even if he''s cool, you know?"


    I sighed. "Well. I guess Mom would think it''s alright..."


    I reluctantly followed after Rostelina.


    We walked through the house to the living room. As we did, I mentally prepared myself to exin things to Mom.


    And then I saw all the people around her, and I remembered that Mom didn''t leave alone this morning.


    Miss Rose gasped and said, "Rudy! You''re so cute!"


    Norn gasped as well and looked at me with sparkling eyes. "Rui! Cool!"


    Aisha pped her hands and then nodded. "Super cool!"


    "Kuh." I felt my face heat up and averted my gaze. "I-It wasn''t my idea." I instinctively reached up to smooth my hair down. But before I could, Mom was already standing in front of me, patting it all down.


    "M-Mom?"


    She leaned back to look at me, her face grim.


    I blinked and said, "I-Is something wrong?"


    She stared back and then let out a deep sigh. "Like I thought. It''s too dangerous for you to be an adventurer. I might be a grandmother before I''m forty at this rate."


    Rostelinaughed and said, "He''s cute, right? Don''t you think so too, Roxy?"


    Master Roxy looked at me, her face flushing red. "T-That is... Rudy does appear to be suited for an adventurer''s life, but..."


    I coughed and then looked towards the bags that Miss Rose and Master Roxy were holding. "Did you find what you were looking for?"


    Mom nodded and let out a bright smile. "Yep! We got a lot of herbs and spices! And now, with all the meat that Roxy brought back the other day, we can have a party!"


    "A party?" I blinked and said, "What for?"


    "For my son finally being normal again, obviously. Nowe on, there''s a lot to get ready!"


    -LIV-


    Sylphy hummed to herself as she looked around the frozen forest. Gently walking through the frosted undergrowth, she stopped in front of a frozen wolf before lightly tapping it.


    The wolf shattered into red mist before it dropped a glittering blue crystal onto the ground.


    Sylphy picked it up and then smiled. After that, she turned around and said, "What do you think, Eris? Will this make a good gift for Rudy?"


    Eris hugged her arms and shivered. "P-P-Prob-bably."


    "Oh! I''m sorry." Sylphy waved her hand, causing a warm wind to blow around the surroundings. In an instant, the frozen forest turned back to normal, as if the ice was just an illusion. "I forget that you aren''t good with magic."


    Eris gave Sylphy a nk stare and then sighed, shaking her head. "It''s... fine." Eris nced at her side to check her sword, making sure it wasn''t damaged by the cold. After that, she nodded and looked back at Sylphy. "What do you want that for anyway?"


    Sylphy tucked it into a small bag at her side and said, "Well, Rudy needs a new weapon now that his sword is broken. And since he''s just like a hero from a story, we should get him a magic sword, right? And a magic sword needs a good magic crystal." She turned around to look at Eris and smiled. "Isn''t it a great idea? He''ll be so happy for us to give him a cool sword!"


    "Um. Sure?"


    Sylphy frowned. "You don''t seem happy about that Eris."


    "A-Ah." Eris quickly held up her hands and said, "It''s a good idea! I think. Just..." She frowned and said, "Does Rudy need a sword? He can use his magic to make one whenever he wants, right?"


    Sylphy paused. "Oh. That''s right. But we already spent all this time adventuring to make it..."


    Eris started to sweat.


    She already kind of thought it since she arrived in Buina vige to stay with Rudy''s family... but it really seemed like everyone here didn''t have anymon sense...


    Sylphy sighed. "Well. Since we''re here, we should at least get a few more. Maybe Rudy can find a good use for them? It would be a good gift anyway, right?"


    "Maybe- Wait." Eris blinked and then said, "You want to find more magical creatures?"


    "Of course! Nowe on, Eris." Sylphy grabbed Eris''s hand and said, "There should be stronger monsters deeper in the forest. You can practice fighting more too!"


    "H-Hold on. S-Sylphy, I''m exhausted. Why don''t we-"


    Before Eris could say anything else, she felt warmth spread throughout her body. After that, her fatigue vanished. Not only that, but she felt filled with energy. Like she had just woken up after a long night''s sleep.


    Sylphy smiled. "There! Now you''re in top shape, right?"


    Eris gave Sylphy a nk stare and then pulled out her sword. "...Yes."


    "Great! Now... Adventure!"


    Was this what Dad meant? What goes aroundes around?


    Eris really should have treated their servants in Roa better...


    -LIV-


    It was a bit awkward but fun day.


    I didn''t think that it was a big deal, but apparently I had been acting a lot more differently than I thought.


    Mom had to pretty much be physically restrained by Miss Rose and Miss Rostelina to not go overboard cooking. But in her ce, Master Roxy went a bit overboard and tried using magic to cook things.


    It... kind of worked? Minus a few piles of ash from the first few barbecue slices.


    Sylphy and Eris came backter in the day with a bunch of magic stones. And as a result, they promptly got scolded by the adults for doing reckless tasks and setting bad examples for Norn and Aisha.


    But altogether, it was fun. Lazy summer days where I rxed with everyone. Productive nights where I kept track of my research in my diary as well as sorting out future events and potential issues.


    Brainstorming with Master Roxy about anti-teleportation/summoning measures...


    In short, preparations and living as normal of a life as I could to stick it to Being W trying to get me riled up.


    Like that, summer slowly passed by.


    It was a bit concerning because of how calm things were, but I didn''t dwell on that.


    Too much worry was paralyzing. But not only that, things were different.


    I was sure of it. Unlike Rudeus, Being W couldn''t directly see what I was doing. Neither could he see what the people around me were doing.


    Instead, he was probably pulling things in the distance. Setting up unforeseen dangers in foreignnds.


    Like where Dad was right now.


    *That* part was a bit concerning. But Dad was strong. Stronger still than in Rudeus''s timeline, and there he had been strong enough to be the ace in the hole against a hydra.


    Still. I did wonder a bit how he was doing...


    He was probably fine, right?

 94 – Abridged Questline

    94 ¨C Abridged Questline


    Paul was not fine.


    There were a lot of reasons for that, but the main reason was the new friend he had made. Or rather, the person who dered himself Paul''s friend after their public bout.


    "Bwahaha!" Gal Farion pped his hand onto Paul''s shoulder and grinned. "Did you see the look on that guy''s face? It''s like he was seeing a demon from hell or something!"


    Paulughed and did his best to ignore the white mist wreathed around Gal''s body. "Yeah. Pilemon was always a bit of a scaredy cat."


    Gal chuckled and took a long swig from a mug of mead. "No wonder you bailed. Hanging around a bunch of stuck-up nobles like this... If it was me, I would''ve cut them all down, you know?"


    "Mm... I''d be lying if I said I didn''t think about it before."


    A private manor in the Notos territory, set up specifically for the Boreas faction. Late at night.


    A lot of things had happened since Paul and hispanions arrived in Milbots region.


    Enough that Paul could probably pen a whole book about the events in the past week alone.


    But to sum things up... It was a typical cliche, like some of the trashy novels those Asuran maidens enjoyed reading.


    Paul showed up at the gates with everyone else. Things went fine until it came time to check-in, where Pilemon noticed Paul and demanded something happen.


    Then the Sword God and Water God popped up out of nowhere and a spontaneous sword tournament happened.


    Paul ended up in the finals with said Sword God... and then it ended with a draw and Gal Farion dering Paul his sworn brother.


    Which promptly led to the man crashing with Paul and taking advantage of the Boreas family''s hospitality.


    Though, considering that he *was* Ghyine''s teacher and that he was the Sword God, there wasn''t much anyone could say about it.


    Thankfully, the man had the sense to not hang around all the time. And overall, he seemed like a decent person who also knew a lot about sword fighting. A fact that Paul would love to take advantage of to get some tidbits back to Rudy.


    Except there was the problem about him definitely being controlled or observed by that Being Whatchamacallit from that white mist following him.


    A knock echoed, followed by a soft voice. "May Ie in?"


    Paul did his best to not let out a sigh of relief. Instead, he looked over to the door and smiled. "You don''t need to be shy, Lily."


    The door opened, revealing Lilia standing with a tea tray. Since it waste, she was wearing a simple ck nightgown instead of her usual maid outfit.


    Lilia walked over to sit beside Paul. After that, she started pouring a cup of tea and said, "Would you like some, Lord Farion?"


    Gal waved his mug around and said, "I''m fine. And just call me Gal. Lord Farion..." He rubbed his chin and said, "Hearing that makes me feel itchy."


    "Understood." Lilia nodded and then looked to Paul. "Husband?"


    "Thanks, Lily." Paul smiled and took the cup from her. After that, he looked at Gal and said, "But being called Lord Farion makes you feel itchy? And you don''t care being called a girl?"


    Galughed and said, "Of course not." He let out a savage grin and said, "If they can live after saying it to my face."


    ...Alright. Paul had to admit, he was starting to feel like he got in over his head a bit here to just try and prove a point to Rudy.


    Gal Farion was dangerous. Unpredictable too.


    He was fine now... but the man was a wolf in disguise. Sharp and feral.


    Paul had the sense that the only reason Gal was here at all and ying nice was because the Sword God was practicing some self-restraint... or listening to that Being W.


    "But anyway!" Gal pointed at Paul and said, "You''ve got a kid, right? Rudy? nning on sending him to practice in the Holy Land of Swords any time soon? If he''s even half as good as you are, he''ll be a god by the time he''s through." Heughed and took another swig from his mug. "Nina needs a good rival. Jino is alright, but the kid''s a bit too dull."


    Lilia poured herself a cup of tea and then said, "Rudy will not be going anywhere in the near future. At the moment, he is still far too young to be considering anything."


    "Right, right." Gal nodded and said, "Guess a kid does need some time to y a bit. Though Nina''s y always involved her copying me instead of ying with dolls." He drained the rest of his mug and nced out the window. After that, he stretched and said, "Mm. Think I''ve overstayed my wee a bit today, so I''ll leave it at that." He pped Paul''s shoulder again and said, "Nice chatting with you, Paul. Take care of yourself in the festival tomorrow, alright?"


    With those words, Gal left.


    Silence. Both Paul and Lilia waited until his footsteps faded away. And then just in case, Lilia used one of the spells Rudy loaded onto her bracelet to block out their conversation.


    After that...


    "This is troublesome." Lilia sipped on her tea and looked at Paul. "The Sword God is on that Being''s side."


    Paul groaned and rubbed his face. "I know. Argh... What a mess. And Pierre mentioned that everything would be happening tomorrow too. But with that guy around... Not to mention the Water God."


    Reida Reia, the head of the Water God Style. A seemingly frail old woman who had showed up bickering with Gal, but vanished afterwards after mentioning something about repaying a debt.


    Paul didn''t get a chance to spar with her in the tournament, but from what he saw before she left, it was basically what he could do, but better. All the dodging and ultra instinct techniques that Rudy mentioned... Well, it wasn''t the exact same, but Paul''s gut told him that would be annoying to fight at the least, and lethal at the worst.


    Then there was the fact that she ALSO had that white mist around her...


    "Just what the heck does that Being W guy want here? Is he doing all of this just to mess with us, or what?" Paul couldn''t understand it.


    Lilia frowned and said, "It could be the case. However, if that person is truly concerned about Rudy... Perhaps his intentions are to persuade you to send him into the lion''s den?"


    "You mean sending him over to that ce?" Paul shook his head. "Even if I didn''t know that guy was pulling strings, I wouldn''t do that... Mostly because Rudy might actually kill someone."


    "...True."


    Paul sighed and said, "Well, whatever. It''s happening soon. Pilemon''s going to send some men out and try to kidnap that girl. Pierre and Philip have got the logistics sorted out, Sauros threw enough of a tantrum to quiet down those Notos idiots..." He smiled and said, "After that, we get to go home and have fun with the family again."


    "Yes. But there is still the ball to handle first, Husband."


    "...Right. That." Paul groaned and said, "...I''m going to have to smack some heads around for staring at you, aren''t I?"


    "Well." Lilia sipped on her tea and said, "You could always ignore them. Of course, I will just have to tell Rudy how degenerate this family of yours is."


    "I think he''s already got the picture... But either way, things are gonna be messy. As usual. Dammit." Paul rubbed his face and said, "Just what the hell did I do to get into this mess? I''m trying to be a good person here, but the world seems out to just screw me over..."


    Lilia leaned on Paul''s shoulder and said, "It''s fine. You''re trying... And this time you''re thinking things through. ...You are thinking things through, aren''t you?"


    "Every second."


    "Then it will be fine. Everything is prepared and in ce. Moreover, you are strong. The bout with the Sword God proved it, did it not?"


    Paul snorted. "Strong enough to not die, yeah. But mostly due to Rudy''s sword."


    "Mm. We will have to thank him when we get back then."


    "I''m going to have to say a lot to Rudy when we get back." Paul furrowed his brow. "Like how much of a pain it is to be a hero-" He paused and then let out a deep sigh. "This is what the old man felt, huh? Ugh. Well, I have to at least not be a hypocrite... Milis knows what will happen if Rudy decides he can bend his principles whenever he wants."


    Lilia massaged Paul''s shoulders and said, "Yes. Be a good father figure instead of the worthless man in my memories."


    "...You are never going to let that go, are you?"


    Liliaughed and said, "Just ensuring that you remain a respectable man, Paul. And speaking of respectable men... Have you thought about a name for your new child yet?"


    Paul froze.


    "...Paul."


    Paul cleared his throat and said, "I-I have a name. Right now... Well... If it''s a boy-"


    "Knowing your luck, it will be a daughter."


    "...True. In that case... Well, since Zenith is the heavens and Norn is our little goddess... How about Ste? Because right now, a shooting star and a wish would definitely be useful..."

 95 – Abridged Conclusion

    95 ¨C Abridged Conclusion


    Technique God Lace, currently known as Pierre Greyrat.


    A bit of an inside joke with a few different levels, but it was the name he was going by at the moment while making sure nothing went too awry.


    Today was the day. The day where everything would go down in the capital and fate would change.


    It would start with the formal ball at lunchtime where all the nobles woulde in and do their thing. Trussed up and posh, they''d do a show of power, unt their wealth, yadayada. After that, everyone would be released into the night to celebrate the midsummer festival among themon folk where wine, beer, and all sorts of drinks would be served.


    A full day of festivities.


    And the day where Tristina Purplehorse would be kidnapped and forced to serve as the Asura Kingdom Prime Minister''s personal sex ve for the next ten or so years if time flowed as it normally should.


    But that wouldn''t happen here.


    At least, that was the n.


    The city capital would be packed with people and nobles from all around, so acting would be a bit tricky. But things were set up and a lot of coordination with Philip and Sauros... Mostly Philip. Anyway, there was a fool-proof n to make things work and reduce both casualties and damage.


    Like that, destiny would change and things would work out. And in changing destiny, Pierre would have more room to act and less restraints on his powers in fighting against Being W down the line.


    In theory.


    That was the entire framework behind Old Rudeus''s attempt to go back in time and something that Pierre had refined and tested.


    It was simple. Obvious.


    Cause and effect still existed in this world, even if it wasn''t simr to Earth. So if Pierre wanted an effect far in the future, he needed to change the cause in the present to make that happen. But if he tried to break causality by doing too much, then the world would push back on him and things would fly out of hand.


    Mostly by making this world''s Rudy either see him as the enemy or develop into a terrifying force that would result in the entire timeline being forcibly pruned by reality.


    In theory.


    It hadn''t happened yet, and Pierre didn''t want to see if that would actually happen.


    Mostly because if it did, he had a feeling that the pruning wouldn''t effect this timeline''s Rudy because of the stunt Being W tried earlier in trying to mix an alternate Rudeus with Rudy. Well, that and because Pierre was serving as the ''anchor'' in this reality while the other side figured out how to tie things up on that end so they could finish this in one go.


    So as long as Pierre yed by the rules and didn''t do anything too crazy like say rush up to the Asura Kingdom''s first prince and lop his head off while instilling Princess Ariel as the rightful heir... And so long as he didn''t announce himself as Lace until a certain event came to pass, everything should be fine


    In theory.


    Yes, in theory.


    But in practice...


    A sword cut towards Pierre''s neck. As it did, space itself seemed to ripple. des,shing out at him from every direction all at once.


    But that was an illusion.


    Pierre swept his own sword up to meet the approaching de. Holding his sword with his left hand, Pierre flicked his wrist and then stomped on the ground with his right foot.


    A clear sound echoed through the air. A beautiful chime that shouldn''t have emerged from shing steel.


    "Oho?" An elderly female voice echoed, followed by the sound of rustling robes. Reida Reia, the strongest Water God swordsman... and someone who *should not be here.*


    Reida smiled and said, "To stop my de and nullify <Deprivation Sword Kingdom>... It seems that man was right. There truly was some interesting sights to experience during this midsummer festival."


    Pierre smiled back, resisting the urge to cut her down now to eliminate the problemster. Instead, he said, "I''m honored to face such a splendid secret technique."


    "Don''t y the fool." Reida pulled her sword back and said, "That isn''t even your dominant hand. Though, for a Dragon Race, I suppose us humans are mere insects in your eyes."


    Pierre took a quick nce at his surroundings.


    Chaos. That was the only way to describe it.


    Knights and adventurers shing in the streets. The ordinary townsfolk scrambling to get as far away as possible. Men bearing various coats of arms shing in the streets with shouts of heretics and traitors.


    That old man Sauros smashing people trying to take advantage of the chaos with his fists while shouting about honor and duty.


    Heh. Some things didn''t change in the end.


    But the most important people...


    There. Paul and Lilia were moving with Ghyine to intercept a carriage heading out of the city. And fast in pursuit, there was Philip and Hilda... guarded by Gal Farion?


    Argh, what even *was* this timeline?


    Pierre thought that Being W sent those two here to stop him from rescuing Tristina, but his influence waspletely gone from them and had spread to the knights instead. And then there were the hordes of monsters closing in from the distance that seemed to just *coincidentally* appear...


    Being W had lost it. There was no other exnation for it.


    Monsters randomly appearing in droves was inevitable. That was a fixed event in this timeline since the metastasis event was nullified. But it was *far* too early for that. And considering the flow of mana, it hadn''t happened yet.


    This was a localized event. Something that Being W dropped in just to stir the pot.


    Or did he get baited that hard by Paul and Lilia showing up here?


    A sh of silver.


    Pierre leaned back, narrowly dodging Reida''s sword.


    "Tch." The Water God pulled her sword away and said, "As I thought. Even after reaching this level, it''s not enough to qualify meeting your gaze."


    Pierre nced at the chaos around him and said, "I''m simply concerned with the surroundings. Are you going to ignore the innocents?"


    "It''s a pity. But if I let someone like you off, I won''t be able to repay my debt to that man." Reida raised her de again and said, "It isn''t now... but I know. You intend to remove him in the future. The Prime Minister is in the way of the princess, after all."


    Pierre narrowed his eyes. "...And you seem to know a lot more than you should."


    Reidaughed and said, "Well. I guess you can say this old woman had a divine revtion. So." She aimed her sword back at Pierre and said, "Shall we dance?"


    Pierre stared at Reida and then let out a deep sigh. After that, he raised his sword and muttered, "Why was it multiverse theory? Why couldn''t it just have been two divergent timelines winding back on itself? This would have been so much easier if I could have just done a time leap instead..."


    "Pardon?"


    Pierre shook his head. "Let''s just get this act over with-"


    "You." A cold and intimidating male voice called out from the side. But while it was cold and intimidating, a hint of confusion could be detected in it.


    At least by Pierre. Mostly because he knew the speaker very well.


    He had to, considering that he stole that guy''s identity to pull off some ploys in the background.


    Even so...


    Pierre groaned. "It''s official. Hitogami''s gone off the deep end. All of these half-baked developments are just like an amateur trashy web novel- Ah, crap."


    Immense pressure. An explosion of mana, flooding the air with crimson and sending people flying in every direction from the sheer force of it.


    And then Pierre suddenly had a fist rushing towards his face, courtesy of Orsted.


    -LIV-


    A giant explosion echoed from behind.


    Paul nced back briefly before focusing his attention back in front of him.


    Lilia looked up at Paul from her spot in his arms and said, "Do you think it''s fine?"


    Paul nodded and said, "That Pierre guy''s in the city. Not sure how strong he is, but unless someone like Orstedes along, things should be fine."


    "...I think that I see Orsted''s mana in that mix though?"


    "...It''ll be fine."


    Right. Paul didn''t know Pierre very well... despite the guy seeming really familiar for some reason. But he knew Pierre well enough that he could take care of things.


    Though Paul was confused on why Orsted was there... Did Rudy send the guy? A trump card in case things went too far south?


    Paul continued talking and said, "He''s probably a contingency n of our genius son anyway."


    "Ah." Lilia nodded and said, "Rudy would do something like that."


    "Right?"


    At that time, a dense poison mist flew towards them.


    Paul wrinkled his nose and then swung his sword through the air, aiming at the cloud.


    Silver light shed along Paul''s sword before it exploded, splitting the mist apart and erasing it.


    In the distance, a faint male voice called out. "That''s impossible! They said that bastard was just a Sword Saint!"


    Another faint male voice echoed. "Forget about his rank! That mist should have been enough to take out a Sword King! How did he just blow it apart?! Even a King-Ranked healing mage wouldn''t be able to detox it! What is that guy?! A magic swordsman?!"


    Lilia chuckled and said, "It seems like your brother underestimated you."


    "More like my paranoid son overprepared me." Paul frowned and said, "How the hell did he know that the Notos family had a bunch of North Saints and North Kings on the payroll? I didn''t even know there were that many around here. Isn''t the base for them in the Magic Continent?"


    The current head of the North God style was a Demon Lord or something, right?


    "Well. Whatever the case..." Lilia adjusted her sses and then looked at the frantically fleeing carriage. "...Should we end this y and rescue the fair maiden? As much as I''ve enjoyed spending time with you, I do believe we should hurry home."


    "True." Paul shifted his grip on Lilia and said, "Do you want me to finish it, or do you want to try out Rudy''s gift?"


    "I had enough fun using it on those nobles, so I''m fine."


    "Alright." Paul nodded and then focused. As he did, his vision changed. Normally invisible lights flickered into existence. And as it did, a faint silver light stretched out from Paul''s sword, resonating with the surrounding lights. "Then I''ll finish this in one blow-"


    "Don''t forget about the girl."


    "...Two blows. Er. You can handle the aftermath, right?"


    Lilia rolled her eyes and then reached up to adjust her bracelet. "I will prepare the barrier spell, yes."


    "Great. Then on three. One. Two... Three!"


    Pure white light shed as a barrier formed around the kidnapped girl lying in the carriage.


    Countless silver lights shed as Paul''s sword and Battle Aura shot out, tearing everything except for the barrier into shreds.


    Paul came to a stop staring nkly at the sight of the bound up girl floating above a giant crater where a carriage had just been. A carriage that was nowhere to be seen, along with the abductors and operators that had just been there a second ago.


    There wasn''t even any crimson mist or dust. Just... nothing.


    Lilia gave Paul a pointed look. "...Husband?"


    Paul cleared his throat and said, "In my defense, Rudy overprepared me for this."


    It was the sword. It was *definitely* the sword. Paul didn''t do anything different. He was just swinging his sword like usual.


    Okay, maybe he was swinging it more than usual. Instead of trying to hit three times at once, he was hitting a bunch of times at once. But even then, it shouldn''t have *vaporized* the bad guys and the carriage...


    Silence.


    The girl, Tristina Purplehorse, slowly spun around in the air and turned to look at Paul with wide eyes.


    At that time, horses whinnied from behind as another carriage pulled up. Philip and the rest of the rescue party.


    When they did, boomingughter echoed. Gal Farion. "I knew it! Paul you bastard! You were holding out on me!"


    And after that...


    "In the name of Saint Milis and all that is above... What did I tell you about keeping a low profile, Cousin?"


    ...Philip said his piece.


    Paul wanted to respond. He wanted to say that it was Rudy''s fault for being so paranoid and giving him a crazy sword that seemed to be able to rip apart space itself.


    But then he remembered how things had been going so far whenever he said something.


    So instead, Paul justughed and then shut his mouth.

 96 – Child’s Play

    96 ¨C Child¡¯s y


    I stared at the bag of magic stones and coins that Sylphy handed me. After that, I looked back at her and said, "...So you went adventuring all by yourselves. Fought monsters, did tasks for the vigers... just to get me some gifts?"


    Eris cleared her throat and said, "It wasn''t *my* idea. I just wanted some training! But Sylphy said that you needed some things too, so..." She mumbled and said, "...I thought I might as well help get you something to cheer you up."


    It was early morning. The day after the party to celebrate my return to normalcy... Or whatever was considered normal for me ording to Mom.


    I personally thought it was a bit excessive, but everyone had fun so I yed along with it.


    And now today we returned to our normal routine. At least, that was the n.


    I hadn''t gotten the chance to spend much time with Sylphy and Eris, so I wanted to grab the two of them early in the morning and do some fun games to just enjoy the nice summer weather. Maybe shoot some hoops, knock down some bowling pins, or some other makeshift game I could think of.


    Except, the two showed up first thing in the morning to wake *me* up instead and dragged me outside before handing me that bag of magic stones and coins.


    I looked between Sylphy and Eris before frowning, lost in thought.


    This was definitely different. Unexpected too.


    I didn''t expect them to get along so well. Or so easily.


    I mean, Eris *really* didn''t give a good first impression. And Sylphy seemed like she was nning to hold that grudge against Eris for a long time.


    But it seemed like they made up and were best friends now.


    Well, Eris thought that at least. Verdict was still out on what Sylphy thought about Eris, but it seemed like she wasn''t mad at Eris.


    Anyway, magic stones and coins.


    It was a good amount of both. Definitely not an amount you could get by just half-heartedly ying as adventurers and helping out the vigers.


    No, this was the result of honest and diligent hard work, all for my sake.


    Thinking about it like that...


    I coughed and scratched my nose, trying to avoid the heat rushing to my face. "T-Thanks. B-But don''t do it without me next time, alright? It''s dangerous going out by yourself."


    Sylphy let out a bright smile and then rushed over to hug me. "Yes! Rudy''sing adventuring with us next time, Eri!"


    Eris walked over with her arms crossed. ncing at me, she blushed and then looked away. "O-Of course! It''s obvious he would. I mean, it''s probably boring just sitting around like that all day, right- Wait!" She rounded on Sylphy and said, "Since when did I let you call me Eri?!"


    I spun Sylphy around a bit after she hugged me and then set her off to my side. After that, I looked at Eris and said, "What''s wrong with Eri?"


    "T-That..." Eris stumbled over her words and then said, "I-I just don''t like it, okay! Call me Eris! Eris, not Eri!"


    Sylphy pouted. "But Eri is cuter."


    The red on Eris''s face spread to her ears. After that, she huffed and said, "W-Whatever! Anyway!" She pointed at me and said, "Rudy!"


    I looked back at her and nodded. "Eris."


    "Sylphy said you yed a bunch of games with her in the past!"


    I raised an eyebrow and slowly said, "I did... And?" I did my best to keep a straight face and said, "Did you want to y too?"


    "M-Me? y a game?!" Eris crossed her arms and said, "A-As if! I just... Don''t believe you! Right, I don''t believe you! So you have to show it to me! Like that hoop game thing!"


    My lip twitched. Seeing her do her best to pretend not to be interested was too funny to not react.


    Was this why Sylphy changed her mind about Eris?


    Looking at her like that, I was really tempted to bully her a bit. I *really* wanted to mess with her and see how she cracked under the pressure.


    But that would be mean.


    Besides, while she was having fun right now, officially she was sold out by her dad to be my fiancee and was living with us because it was supposedly a foregone conclusion.


    Taking her circumstances into ount, that would be cruel and immature to bully her. Especially since she didn''t have a say in any of how it turned out.


    ...Though I was reaaally tempted.


    But now. I would be a mature and responsible young adult... child. Kid? Kid. Definitely still a kid.


    So instead ofughing at her antics, I gave a serious nod and said, "Alright. Then... How about we make a bet?"


    Eris looked at me and frowned. "A bet?"


    Ah. Guess I can''t help it after all...


    I flicked my wrist and changed the surrounding area. The grassy ins smoothed over before hardening into something like asphalt. A stone pir shot up before forming the familiar shape of a basketball hoop, along with the backboard and a small made of loose grass fibers.


    With that done, I held out my right hand and made a basketball from my mana... Or something close to it.


    Still wasn''t used to that whole ''mana is everything'' axiom that Rudeus discovered. I couldn''t just visualize and create super detailed things just yet from raw mana, but an ordinary rubberish ball was definitely possible.


    And like that, one of those bouncy kickballs spun into existence in the palm of my hand.


    Sylphy''s eyes widened after taking everything in and then she pped her hands. "Amazing, Rudy!" She looked at me and said, "Did you get better at magic? You must have figured out a lot of cool things studying, didn''t you?"


    "...Something like that." I bounced the rubber ball on the ground, testing the rebound.


    It was a bit less than I wanted, but it should be enough for this.


    I spun it around in my hand and then looked back at Eris. "How about this? We y a small game trying to toss the ball into the hoop. We''ll take turns trying to match each other''s shot, and whoever misses three first loses."


    Eris scoffed. "That''s it? Easy!"


    "Right?" I nodded. "It would be. So then let''s raise the stakes. The winner gets to have one ''wish'' granted by the loser."


    Sylphy''s eyes suddenly shed, thoughtfully eyeing the ball and the hoop.


    I quickly interjected before she got any strange ideas and said, "You''re the referee Sylphy."


    "Aw..." Sylphy frowned and said, "I wanted Rudy to grant my wish though..."


    "But I would do that anyway?"


    "Really?!" Sylphy hugged me and said, "Rudy''s the best! That''s a promise, kay? No takebacks!"


    ...I feel like I just made a terrible mistake.


    But at the same time, I also felt like I dodged a bullet.


    ...Was this because of Dad? I feel like this was because of Dad. It''s gotta be his influence or something... Did he tell too many tall tales about the Asura Kingdom to Sylphy before he left when he was trying to exin why I got engaged to Eris?


    Speaking of Eris, she stared at me and then slowly nodded. "Fine. I''ll y. But if I win, I want you to teach me!"


    I blinked. "Teach you what?"


    "That thing!" Eris swung her sword around and said, "The swooshswoosh! Paul said that you gave him a secret technique to let him do it, so I want that!"


    "...Sure."


    Didn''t know what she was talking about, but it wouldn''t matter anyway. Not like I would lose.


    "And if I win..." I thought about it for a bit and then nodded. "If I win, you have to learn how to read."


    There. Something not too embarrassing while also being useful. That was fine, right?


    Sylphy blinked. "Eh? Read?" She looked at Eris and said, "You don''t know how to read, Eris?" She paused and then her eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh! Is *that* why you think reading''s boring? If you didn''t know how to read, you should have told me! We can read stories together and I can teach you!"


    Eris didn''t respond to Sylphy. Instead, she red at me, her long crimson hair actually swaying in the wind from her killing intent... Or so it seemed.


    In reality, it was just a summer breeze idly passing by.


    The killing intent was real though.


    Eris deliberately unhooked the sword she always carried and set it off on the edge of the court. After that, she walked over to me and crossed her arms. "So? Let''s start already!"


    I bounced the ball a few times and then nodded. "Alright. Then... Should I go first or-"


    "Give me that!" Eris snatched the ball away from me and then bounced it a few times to get a feel for it. Then she raised it up, aimed, and...


    Completely missed the rim.


    Don''tugh.


    Definitely don''tugh.


    You absolute can''t-


    "Pft."


    "Just take your turn already! Dummy!"


    Iughed and held my hand out to summon the ball back.


    Well, ''summon'' by conjuring winds to push it back.


    "You''re supposed to shoot it like this, Eri."


    I held the ball up like a basketball and then jumped.


    A perfect swish.


    I turned to her and smiled. "See?"


    Eris gnashed her teeth and then stomped off to grab the ball.


    ...Oh yeah. This was going to be fun.


    A bit mean, but...


    I mean, she apparently beat ''me'' up all the time in another timeline, so this was just fair y, right?

 97 – The Kind Mother’s Relief

    97 ¨C The Kind Mother¡¯s Relief


    Zenith smiled as she stared at Rudy ying with Sylphy and Eris in the distance. Sitting on a chair in the courtyard and enjoying the warm sunlight, she let out a soft sigh and rested her hand over her belly. "I''m relieved. It looks like everything will be going back to normal before you get here."


    Her son had returned back to his lively and yful self. And instead of holing himself up and constantly looking like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, he was acting like a kid again. ying games, acting carefree with his friends...


    Though Zenith *was* a bit concerned for when he and the girls got a bit older. Rudy seemed to be taking more after Paul with every day.


    Not in terms of intelligence, of course. Thankfully, her son seemed to have gotten his brains from her side of the family instead of the Greyrats. Unfortunately, he also seemed to have picked up that infamous Greyrat charm with none of the lecherous traits...


    Paired with his striking looks due to his white hair as well as the inevitable trained body he would have when puberty hit...


    "They look like they''re having fun, aren''t they?"


    A calm and mature female voice.


    Zenith looked up to see Rostelina walk over, carrying two steaming mugs.


    Rostelina raised one and said, "Tea?"


    Zenith smile and took the mug. "Thanks, Lina."


    Rostelina leaned against the wall and looked out at Rudy and the girls before smiling. "Looks like he''s back to the cute baby boy you gushed about, isn''t he?"


    Zenith stared back at Rudy and nodded. "He is, thankfully."


    In the distance, Rudy was ying a ball game with Eris, bouncing it against the ground before shooting it into a standing hoop.


    ...It was mildly concerning about how he seemed to be able to continually do ridiculous feats with magic, but Zenith took it as par for the course at this point.


    What was important was that her son was finally acting like an ordinary kid again. The child that he was instead of the mature adult he had been trying to act as until now.


    Zenith sipped on her tea, enjoying the warmth. Both from the beverage, the sun, and the peaceful sight of watching Rudy y. After watching for a bit though, she nced back at Rostelina and said, "Are Norn and Aisha still sleeping, Lina?"


    "Yep." Rostelina nodded and said, "Roxy is keeping an eye on them right now while Rose is preparing breakfast."


    Zenith sighed and said, "You three are lifesavers."


    She couldn''t even imagine how things would be if it was just herself right now...


    Ah, no. She could imagine.


    Rudy would still be acting as mature as he could and fussing over her because he would be worried about her pregnancy. And then he would also be taking care of Norn and Aisha, probably burning the midnight oil to work on his training in the meanwhile...


    Rostelina patted Zenith''s shoulder and said, "Don''t worry about it. After all, we''ll be family in the future, right?"


    Zenith gave Rostelina a nk stare. "...I hope you mean that because of Sylphy, Lina."


    Rostelina rolled her eyes and said, "For thest time, I''m not a cradlerobber, Zenny. Or a homewrecker."


    Zenith kept staring at Rostelina.


    Rostelina coughed and added, "T-These days at least. I have a proper man who is everything I always wanted, so it''s fine."


    Zenith sipped on her tea and then nodded. "Yes. The mysterious man who still has yet to make an appearance."


    Rostelina sipped her own tea and said, "Well, he''s a busy man working on great things."


    "If you say so, Lina."


    "I do say so. And speaking of men..." Rostelina reached into her blouse and pulled out a letter. "Your hubbie wrote a letter for you."


    "Hm?" Zenith set her tea on the ground and took the letter. "A letter? Already?"


    It was about a week''s journey to Milbotts. Even if Paul sent a letter by carrier pigeon, it should still be a few days until it arrived.


    "Yep." Rostelina nodded and said, "You can thank my beloved for that. He''s a fantastic magician... When he has the energy for it." She paused and said, "I hope he''s still topped up from our little quickie. Then again, if he isn''t... Hehehe..."


    Zenith decided to ignore Rostelina for the moment. Instead of paying attention to the still lewd older elf woman, Zenith flipped open the letter and started reading.


    Sure enough, it was Paul''s handwriting. And mixed in between that, there were notes in Lilia''s handwriting too.


    It wasn''t some prank that Lina was ying on her then.


    Zenith still had questions on how exactly the letter got here, but she decided to worry about thatter.


    ---


    Hey Babe! Don''t worry about us. A lot of crazy things happened since we got here, but everything got resolved pretty quickly.


    *Paul is understating a lot of what urred, but rest assured, everything is settled.*


    Right! What Lily said. Wrote? Wrote.


    Anyway, we''re fine and on the way back home. Pierre said that he''d magic this letter over somehow, so by the time you get this we should already be on the road back.


    ---


    Zenith stopped reading and looked up at Rostelina. "Is Pierre the name of your ''man'', Lina?"


    "Well." Rostelina sipped on her tea and said, "It''s not his *name*, but it''s what he''s calling himself these days. A bit like how I used to go by Elinalise."


    Like Elinalise, hm?


    Zenith was still skeptical, but she went back to reading.


    ---


    Mission was aplete sess! Probably too sessful. Rudy definitely overprepped us. Did you know that the sword he made me can tear space apart? It''s crazy! And let''s not get started on the bracelet he made for Lily.


    *It was fun. And quite amusing to see the reactions on rude nobles after they faced Rudy''s wrath. Indirectly, of course.*


    Lily says amusing. I say a boatload of trouble, paired with a lot of scolding by Philip. Still funny though.


    But anyway, we saved the girl. The Purplehorse family owes Philip a debt now. My bratty younger brother also got ousted as the Notos head because of being involved in the kidnapping.


    There was a bit of a scuffle about me immediately bing the next head, but Uncle Sauros is sorting that out. I think he''s going to be the temporary leader for a while since he''s technically half-Notos.


    Obviously, those stuffy nobles weren''t happy about it. But it turns out that the girl we saved is Princess Ariel''s best friend and she was there visiting, so it somehow worked out.


    Well, Orsted''s appearance helped settle things pretty quickly too. Thank our kid for pulling that ace out his sleeve when you get the chance, alright?


    ...Though I''m wondering how he got in contact with Orsted without any of us knowing, but I''ll bug him about that when we get back.


    ---


    Orsted? That rude and dangerous guy who showed up to attack everyone?


    He went to help Paul and the others with the mission?


    Zenith frowned and nced back over at Rudy.


    ...It seemed like she might need to have another chat with her son about secret plotting again.


    "Something wrong, Zenny?" Rostelina nced over and said, "Is Paul being an idiot?"


    "The answer to that is yes." Zenith looked back at the letter and said, "My beloved husband is always an idiot. A good intentioned one, but still an idiot. Though he seems to be self-aware these days at least."


    And from how it seemed to go, having Lily there to rein him in was definitely the smart thing to do.


    ...Though it seemed like she went a bit wild as well.


    But they were probably just perverted Asuran Nobles, so Zenith couldn''t me her.


    Now, what else was there...?


    ---


    Anyway, ''that person'' looks like he tried some things, but we pulled through. Let Rudy know so he can rx, alright? And tell him that Dad''s going to rub it in his face as soon as I get back.


    Ooh! And we''reing back with some guests. Philip and Hilda wanted to check up on Eris, so they''reing. Ghyine ising back too, of course. Gisu slipped off somewhere during the trip to meet an old friend, so he''s noting. But we''ve got a few more interesting people tagging along who want to meet Rudy.


    *That is because Paul does not know how to say no.*


    Hey! I tried!


    *I suppose.*


    In any case... Be back soon! We brought souvenirs too!


    Love you lots!


    -Paul


    *I will make sure to keep him grounded, Zenny. Rest assured.*


    -Lilia


    P.S. For our new kid, what do you think about Ste? Knowing my luck, it''s probably a girl. I was thinking about names and we really need a wish right now, so since you''re the heavens, how about Ste? You know, like a shooting star?


    ...On paper, that sounds kind of weird, doesn''t it? Hm...


    And, uh. She hasn''t been born yet, right? Hopefully? Maybe? If she has... um...


    Either way, love you, Zenny!


    ---


    Zenith finished reading the letter and sighed. "You''re the same as always, Dear."


    Rostelina nced over and said, "So an idiot."


    "Mm. Seems like he''s getting better." Zenith folded the letter and tucked it away. "Though if he was aware of the risk of our child being born before he got back, he should have put more thought into a name before he left."


    "Pft." Rostelinaughed and said, "Did he just think of one in the letter."


    Zenith nodded. "Yes. Though..." She ced her hand over her belly and said, "It''s not too bad."


    Ste. Like a shooting star...


    Rudy was already her lucky charm. Zenith''s miracle baby boy that led to her having everything she ever wanted.


    But at this time...


    "We really could use a wish right now."


    A soft thump. The baby kicking a bit, as if responding to Zenith''s feelings.


    She smiled and then picked up her mug from the ground, sipping on her tea as she watched Rudy y in the distance.


    ...Well, more like watched Rudy tease Eris by showing her up in whatever game they were ying.


    ...Her son''s teenaged years were going to be just as eventful as his father''s, weren''t they?

 98 – Stars Align

    98 ¨C Stars Align


    Iughed at Eris''s pouting face. It couldn''t be helped. Her usually brash and stand-offish expression had been turned into a watery-eyed pout that reminded me of a certain useless blue-haired goddess.


    Of course, it didn''t start out that way.


    After the first game of basketball, Eris was still determined. She was still her spunky,petitive, and energetic self.


    And then she kept losing. Losing, but refusing to ept defeat.


    I also had to give her credit. Because she was so stubborn, I didn''t have time to do anything but create more sports equipment andpete against her.


    And so I spent a week doing nothing but creating new sports grounds, equipment, and teaching Eris how to y various sports while she tried to beat me, doubling down on bets each time.


    Today was the seventh day. And the sport of the day was tennis. Something that should be right up her alley.


    After all, swinging a racket around wasn''t much different than a sword.


    Or so I thought.


    But...


    Eris stared at me with her watery eyes and then pointed at me with her racket. "You''re terrible, Rudy! Terrible!"


    I walked over to her side of the court and shook my head. "I''m sorry, Eri. But you''re just too fun to tease." I reached out to pat her head like I did with Sylphy to cheer her up.


    Eris flinched and moved as if she was trying to dodge my hand. But then she huffed and stood still instead, pretending to endure the humiliation. Though, considering she was blushing instead of turning red from anger or embarrassment, it seemed that she like it.


    ...Still wasn''t entirely sure why she did, but I wasn''t about toin when I had an easy way to defuse an otherwise violent tsundere.


    While Eris was calming down, I set my racket down on the side and took a look around.


    We were in the back of the second house. Specifically, we were on the tennis court that I made in the back of the second house.


    It was actually a bit weird now that I took a look at everything. I''d been too busy hustling Eris on bets that I didn''t pay attention, but it seemed that I identally made our house look like something straight out of Hollywood.


    There was a fenced area with an Olympic-size swimming pool, the basketball court I made the first day of ourpetition, this tennis court, a sand volleyball court...


    In short, a super luxurious ce that looked like it belonged to some A-list celebrity back on Earth.


    ...Which meant that it stuck out like a sore thumb here in this fantasy world that had nothing but rolling green hills and farnd all around.


    Though, the second house wasn''t the only one that looked a bit off now.


    I nced back at our first house and stared at the new addition I made for Norn and Aisha.


    A tiny jungle gym set with short monkey bars and a few Olympic rings. A mini gazebo with various slides. A swing set... and then a deep bed of soft wooden chips underneath everything to break any falls.


    In short, a cute little yground for my energetic younger sisters to y at and not drive Mom, Master Roxy, or Miss Rose up the wall.


    And it looked like they were already up and at it with Aisha chasing Norn around while Miss Rostelina sat on a bench and watched them.


    "Hmph!" Eris huffed and then jabbed a finger in my chest. "You''re ignoring me again!"


    Iughed and said, "I''m not ignoring you. I''m just giving you a bit of space to cool down. You worked up a bit of a sweat running around like that, you know?"


    Eris crossed her arms and said, "That''s because you cheated! There''s no way a ball can just spin off to the sides like that when they hit the ground!"


    "They totally can. And I showed you already." I pulled out a tennis ball from my pocket and then picked up my racket. "You just have to hit the ball at an angle... Like this."


    I tossed the ball and sliced my racket through the air, brushing the side of the ball.


    A yellow arc flew over the, the ball spinning through the air. And then when it hit the ground, it curved even more, shooting off to the side.


    "See?"


    Eris stared at the ball. Then she looked at me and tossed her head to the side, flicking her crimson hair. "...Stupid show-off."


    I smiled.


    At that time, the door to our house opened and Sylphy walked out with a stack of cups and an ice pitcher of water. She nced at Eris and then giggled. "Looks like you two are having a lot of fun again!"


    Eris huffed and said, "You mean Rudy keeps bullying me again."


    Sylphy poured a cup of water and handed it to Eris. "It''s all in good fun, Eri. And you''re enjoying it too, aren''t you?"


    Eris took the cup and scoffed. "Me? Enjoy ying with that guy? Never."


    So she said, but Eris couldn''t hide the way her eyes lit up at the answer.


    Definitely a big tsundere. Though surprisingly more ''dere'' than ''tsun'' like how she was in the other timeline.


    Was that because of Sylphy being here too? The fact that I was undeniably stronger than Eris? Or the fact that our rtionship dynamic wasn''t a student-teacher, but friends hanging out together every day?


    After all, I wasn''t forcing Eris to do any studying... Except for when I snuck in fun games to teach her stuff like basic arithmetic to keep track of scores, or when I taught letters by disguising it as a game simr to ''Pig'' when we were shooting hoops.


    Sylphy giggled and then poured a cup of water out for me. "Here you go, Rudy!"


    "Thanks Sylphy." I took the cup and sipped on it.


    Refreshing. The water was pure, cold, and clear. Probably because Sylphy conjured it up instead of drawing it from our usual water well.


    Magic was definitely convenient like that...


    Which reminded me that I needed to experiment making food sometimes. Or at the least basic ingredients like salt and sugar. Never knew when something like that mighte in handy.


    Sylphy formed a crystal chair and then sat down, pouring herself a cup of water. After that, she tossed the pitcher to the side, turning it into a shimmering mist.


    Eris noticed and frowned. "...You''re a show-off too, Sylphy."


    "Hm?" Sylphy tilted her head. "Show-off?"


    "...Nothing." Eris sighed and took another sip from her cup. After that, she looked at me and frowned. "So what are you going to make me do today, Rudy? Write more numbers? Read more books? Do something even more embarrassing?"


    I made a pair of chairs, one for myself and one across from me for Eris.


    She noticed and sat down, pursing her lips.


    I sat down too and said, "I''m not *that* mean, Eri."


    Her eye twitched.


    Seemed like she still didn''t like being called that... Tough luck though. A bet was a bet.


    "Anyway." I took a sip from my cup and said, "Since you lost today..."


    I hummed, thinking about a productive use of our time.


    It had been fun just rxing for a while and messing with Eris. And it was hrious watching our various spectators react to Eris''s exaggerated facial expressions.


    It had also been adorable hearing Norn and Aisha cheer for either me or Eris depending on the day.


    Not to mention all the practice I got making things out of pure mana from having to amodate all of Eris''s stubborn challenges.


    But as much as I enjoyed all of that, plus how it helped me lighten up after all the stress, it was about time I got back to work prepping on things.


    Notpletely, of course. Spending time with friends and family were just as important as preparing for the future.


    Didn''t want to fall into the trap Being W set to make me a demonic overlord holding onto everyone with an iron fist.


    But for now...


    At that time, I noticed Master Roxy walking back from the distance, finishing with her morning patrol.


    And then I had an idea.


    I looked at Eris again.


    She wasn''t mad, but she looked super irritated- No, resigned. Morale at an all time low, despite me trying to cheer her up a bit with that head pat.


    In that case...


    "You wanted to learn that ''swishswish'' move, right, Eri?"


    Eris paused. And then her eyes widened and she jumped out of her chair. "Really?!" She grabbed my hand and said, "You''re going to teach me?!"


    I did my best to not smile at the irony of her saying that and instead nodded. "That''s right. And I think it''s about time we all had some proper magic lessons again too."


    Now to rope Master Roxy in to see if we could turn Eris into some kind of magic swordswoman to keep her preupied for a while so that I could work on other stuff again...


    -LIV-


    On the outskirts of the Citadel of Roa, a pair of carriages were lined up, having just stopped by for a resupply and rest stop.


    Sitting at the front of one of those carriages, Paul took a long drink from a pint of mead and then shook his head, ncing at their tagalongs from Milbotts. And when he did, he sighed and took another long drink from his mead.


    "So these are thends you havee to call your home, Nanny?"


    A beautiful and refined girl''s voice echoed.


    Lilia let out a somewhat strained smile and nodded. "Indeed. Though I am no longer your Nanny, Princess."


    The Second Princess of the Asura Kingdom, Ariel Anemoi Asura. A beautiful young girl with light blonde hair and clear blue eyes.


    Sitting on Lilia''sp, she shook her head and said, "Nanny is Nanny. And I still owe you a life debt for saving me."


    Lilia''s smile grew more strained at that.


    Paul shifted his gaze away from them and towards the other upant in the carriage. Specifically, the one responsible for this entire mess of having Princess Ariele to visit the far-off Buina Vige.


    Orsted looked up at Paul, his gaze as stern and harsh as always. "What?"


    "...Nothing."


    Paul turned his gaze back to the front and prepared to set off.


    ...He med Rudy.


    For Dragon God Orsted to make a public appearance and dere Princess Ariel under his protection, then to align himself with Paul and support him as the proper head of the Notos family... and finally to personally escort Princess Ariel on a summer vacation trip to and from Buina vige... The same princess who wanted to see with her own eyes the boy who took her Nanny away from her.


    It was a mess.


    But on the bright side, Paul would get to spend time with his cute baby girls again and goof-off for a while.


    And rub it in Rudy''s face about how nothing terrible happened and how the entire situation with the Notos family had been cleaned up, leaving them in the clear for things to go back to normal.


    Unless Princess Ariel wasn''t happy about things. Though Paul did rescue the princess''s best friend, so things wouldn''t devolve ''too'' much...


    ...Dammit. Maybe he really should train more seriously like Gal said, if only to figure out how to get to that Being Whatchamcallit and smack him in the face for making Paul''s life soplicated.

 99 – The Violent Girl’s Maturity and the New Guests

    99 ¨C The Violent Girl¡¯s Maturity and the New Guests


    mes wreathed Eris''s body, wrapping tightly around her clothes before gathering in the sword she held. As they did, the silver de turned a bright orange hue and emitted a searing light.


    It was terrifying. At least, it should have been. To see all of that fire envelop her, feel the heat on her skin, and then watch it converge in her sword...


    If it was any other time, Eris would have panicked. But now...


    A calm female voice echoed from the side. Miss Roxy''s. The blue-haired mage turned towards Rudy and said, "My dear disciple. At this point... I am convinced that you are causing the people around you to develop unnatural magical tendencies."


    Rudy''s face turned red and he scratched the back of his head. "I-It''s not my fault, okay? I guess I''m just... a very good teacher?"


    Roxy let out a deep sigh.


    Rudy shifted his gaze to Eris and frowned. "...It *is* a bit weird though. I didn''t think you had a talent for magic, Eri."


    Eris dispersed the mes on her sword and then huffed. "I''m not *stupid*, Rudy."


    "You said it, not me."


    Eris felt her eye twitch, but she didn''t give Rudy the satisfaction of knowing she was annoyed. No, that guy would just quietlyugh at her again if he knew.


    Stupid and weird Rudy.


    Eris still didn''t get why he liked seeing her mad all the time and called her cute. It''d be one thing if he was just making fun of her because he wanted to annoy her, but he was serious when he said that he liked seeing her cute pouting face.


    Weirdo. Didn''t he like Sylphy? Saying stuff like that to her... He was as bad as his dad.


    Eris shook her head and then checked her sword one more time.


    It was like Rudy said. Complicated magic stuff didn''t make sense to Eris, but when it came to sword things, it was easy. And most things were sword things if you thought about it.


    Letters? They were just a bunch of lines cut together.


    Numbers? It was just counting how many times you did something. And even the weird multiplication thing Rudy mentioned was just grouping things together. Like how two times two or whatever was just papa-papa. A group of two double hits.


    So magic.


    Eris couldn''t figure out how to do the crazy things that Sylphy did like fly or make all sorts of ice stuff out of thin air. But if it was just hitting things...


    Eris raised her sword again and pointed it at the makeshift target Rudy made. For good measure, she took a look around her surroundings to make sure it was clear.


    Rudy had moved them all a bit away from the house and the sports grounds. Mostly because he was worried about Eris doing something ridiculous and blowing the house up.


    Stupid Rudy. Like she would ever do that. Unlike Sylphy, she was careful about these sorts of things.


    Eris wasn''t like the scary younger elf girl who would freeze an entire forest just to kill a single wolf. It was all about control. Bnce.


    Besides, Eris knew better. There were scary people out there who could hit back harder.


    Like Sylphy.


    So no. When it came to magic, Eris was going to be careful. Careful and controlled and focusing on a single thing.


    And right now...


    Rudy and Miss Roxy were standing off to the side, keeping an eye on Eris.


    Sylphy was sitting in an crystal chair, idly swinging her feet while reading a magic textbook. Still, a faint swirl of snow around her showed that she was prepared for any unexpected events.


    So it was fine. Eris didn''t have to worry about them. And for her target... the dummy was facing away from both houses. Which meant that even in the impossible case that Eris missed, it would be fine.


    So...


    Rudy called out and said, "Are you just going to stand there all day, Eri? I don''t mind, but if you are I''m going to go practice my magic."


    Eris red at him and said, "I''m focusing!"


    "Focus faster then? You''d be knocked down already in a real fight, you know?"


    Roxy gave Rudy a nk stare and said, "Only if the fight was with Saint-ranked or higher opponent, Rudy."


    "Aren''t most?"


    "Do you even understand how few- Ah. No, I suppose you don''t. We never did cover that... Hah. Moremonsense that I failed to teach you..."


    "Huh?"


    Eris ignored them.


    Focus. Right, she had to focus.


    Rudy promised that he would take notes on how she used magic and teach her how to do it better if she managed to pull off a proper hit. So she couldn''t miss this chance.


    Especially since that guy kept winning in every stupid game they yed.


    This was the only chance she had for him to take her seriously, so...


    She imagined it. The way that Paul seemed to draw in all the air around him when he moved to attack. How Sylphy did the same thing with her ice magic.


    It was simple. Like Rudy said, everything was like a sword. And while Eris couldn''t see magic since that spell or whatever didn''t work on her, she could feel it.


    So she just had to do it.


    Rudy was right. She hated how he always teased her and how he randomly looked super cool with his white hair and shining green eyes, but he hadn''t been wrong. Whenever she listened to him, she always instantly got better.


    So he was right about this too.


    If Eris just imagined what she wanted, believed it would happen, and then trusted in her sword, it would work.


    And right now, what she wanted...


    Eris took a deep breath. As she did, she imagined it. The warmth from the mes, the way it wrapped around her and then went into her sword.


    Her vision narrowed, focusing directly on her target. As it did, she sheathed her sword and shifted her stance. Moving her left foot back, leaning forward on her right. Resting her hand over the sword hilt just like Ghyine taught her...


    "Wait a minute. How the hell-"


    "Rudy."


    "Ahem. How the ''heck'' is that possible? Mana shouldn''t-"


    The world turned silent.


    Eris''s attention reached the peak and she felt her body heat up. The warmth of the mes from before growing.


    And then she moved.


    "HAH!"


    One sh.


    Eris kicked off the ground and swung her sword. As she did, she released the breath she was holding. And when she did...


    A roar. mes surging out like a dragon''s breath-


    No. That was what she wanted to see. But it wasn''t good enough.


    Her sword cut into the dummy and a surge of mes erupted, turning it into ash. But it wasn''t anywhere close to the amount she wanted.


    Still, it worked.


    It *worked.*


    Eris grinned and then spun around to look at Rudy. "Ha!" She sheathed her sword and pointed at him. "See! I told you I can use magic!"


    "Um. Yeah." Rudy''s eyes were shut tight and he was turned off to the side. "You did great, Eri. But... I think you went a bit overboard."


    "Huh?" Eris frowned and crossed her arms. "Why are you-"


    *plop*


    Eris blinked.


    When she went to cross her arms, she let go of her sword. And when she did, the sword plopped to the ground.


    But that didn''t make sense.


    And then Eris looked down and realized why that happened.


    ...Right.


    All that Eris was thinking about was wrapping mes around her and putting it into the sword before exploding it when she hit the target.


    The mes were hot, but since they were her mes, she was fine. No matter how many she managed to make, she wouldn''t be burned.


    But her clothes...


    Silence.


    And then Eris screamed and crouched to the ground, covering herself. "Pervert! Idiot! Stupid! Why didn''t you tell me!?"


    Rudy coughed and said, "I didn''t think you''d actually do something as ridiculous as Sylphy. But, um... Master Roxy?"


    Roxy sighed and then walked over to Eris. Taking off her coat, she draped it over Eris and said, "That was impressive, Eris. But please think things through when experimenting in the future."


    Eris felt her face heat up and then gave Roxy a meek nod.


    ...Stupid Rudy. Should''ve told her that something like this could happen.


    Roxy patted Eris''s back and then looked around. "Still. You''re better than Rudy, at least. When he experimented with a fire spell-"


    "MASTER!" Rudy blushed and he said, "I thought we went over this!"


    "What?" Roxy tilted her head and said, "It''s important to face your past mistakes, my dear disciple."


    "I-I know that! But could you not embarrass me in front of Sylphy and Eris?"


    Sylphy lowered her book and giggled. "But Rudy! You''re cute when you''re embarrassed!"


    Rudy paused and then grumbled, "Okay. Maybe I should stop teasing Eris so much."


    Yes! You should!


    ...Is what Eris wanted to say. But she was still too embarrassed about messing up and burning her clothes.


    At least she had some spares. Miss Rostelina liked making outfits, so Eris could change when they went back inside. For now though, Eris carefully adjusted Miss Roxy''s coat to cover her.


    Thankfully, Miss Roxy was taller than her. That meant the coat covered everything when Eris buttoned it up-


    Ah. But there wasn''t a ce to put her sword and the sleeves were too long for Eris to hold it.


    Just as Eris was trying to figure out what to do, a voice called out in the distance. One that Eris wasn''t expecting to hear.


    "Yo! Kiddo! We''re back!"


    Paul.


    Eris froze, slowly turning around.


    ...There was no way, right?


    It was only like a week. So there was no way that guy left and came back so soon.


    But nope. Paul was right there, waving from the front of a carriage heading right towards them.


    But it wasn''t just him.


    There was another carriage. One with a familiar emblem. And also another familiar driver.


    Her dad.


    Her dad who was letting off a pleasant smile. Until he saw the scorched trail leading right to Eris. And how she was awkwardly holding her sword.


    Her dad, who carefully looked at Eris''s current outfit before his eyes lit up in realization. And then heughed.


    But that wasn''t all.


    Peeking out from the carriage behind her dad was Eris''s mom.


    And after that, there was Ghyine. Ghyine, who also noticed the mess and Eris''s current outfit.


    Eris''s mind went nk. She felt her face heat up, almost as hot as the mes she was using earlier.


    And then, on reflex, she ducked behind Rudy to use him as a shield.


    "Wha-?! Eri?!"


    Rudy turned around to look at Eris, confused.


    "S-Shut up!" Eris buried herself behind his back and said, "T-This is your fault for tricking me! Figure it out!"


    "W-What do you mean it''s my-?! Argh, forget it. Sure." He shook his head and looked back towards the new arrivals. "Now, there''s Dad. Mama Lily. Ghyine is there too, and both Philip and Eris''s mom... Makes sense. But who the heck is that girl? And why is Orsted back here?"


    Eris blinked and peeked out from behind Rudy.


    There was a sharp re directed at Eris from the side, but she decided to ignore it.


    Sylphy would probably get mad at her and pull a trick again, but Eris could deal with thatter.


    Rudy seemed serious for some reason, so Eris decided to take a look.


    She didn''t know who that ''Orsted'' guy that Rudy mentioned was, but there *was* a strong looking guy walking beside the wagon. A bit scary too, with sharp gold eyes and white hair.


    But that wasn''t the person who caught Eris''s eyes. Instead, it was the regal blonde girl sitting happily on Miss Lilia''sp.


    Eris hadn''t met her personally, but she definitely knew the girl''s face. After all, before her tutors gave up on her, they kept drilling the important people that she should know as a properdy of the Boreas family.


    And the girl sitting there...


    Eris tapped Rudy on the back.


    Rudy blinked and looked at her. "Yeah, Eri?"


    "Since when do you know the Second Princess? I thought that you and your dad were disowned from the Notos or whatever?"


    "...Wait, what?!" Rudy turned back to look at the girl and said, "That''s the Second Princess? You mean Ariel?!"


    "Yes?"


    Rudy paused, staring at the girl.


    She stared back at him, giving a small wave.


    Rudy groaned and covered his face. "Goddammit. I knew things were going too easily recently."

 100 – When you wish upon a shooting star…

    100 ¨C When you wish upon a shooting star¡­


    "I am very delighted to meet you, Rudy." Princess Ariel sipped on her cup of tea and smiled. "Nanny spoke a great deal about you. As did Lord Paul."


    I smiled back and said, "It''s a pleasure to meet you as well, Princess. Though unexpected..."


    I nced at my Dad standing off to the side.


    We were back at our house. Well, the second house.


    Needed to get a better naming scheme for that at some point...


    Anyway, we were at the house that we built from scratch, seated around the dining room and waiting for dinner to be ready.


    By ''we'', that meant me, Dad, and two guests.


    Dad was leaning on the wall off to my right, keeping an eye on things and looking visibly ufortable.


    Didn''t me him- Actually, that was a lie. I did me him.


    It seemed like things sorted themselves out over in Milbotts, but some unexpected things happened in the aftermath. Unexpected things which involved unexpected people.


    And our guests were among those unexpected people.


    First was Princess Ariel. Apparently, Mama Lily was her maid up until shortly before she came to join our family. Because of that, and because she missed Mama Lily, the princess decided to take a trip all the way down to Buina Vige.


    Completely made no sense, especially considering the fact that she was a strong contender for the throne. Even if Dad, Philip, and Sauros pulled off some impressive feats to rescue that noble girl or whatever, it shouldn''t be enough to entrust them with such a VIP.


    But when I took into ount the second guest, it made sense.


    I shifted my gaze over to the aloof and intimidating man standing beside Princess Ariel and nodded. "I didn''t expect to see you again too, Mister Orsted."


    Dragon God Orsted. The one that Older Rudeus said was the key to reaching Being W. Someone who apparently had the power to either know the future or turn back time with how much he knew. The strongest person in the world, someone who was absolutely hostile to Being W... Or rather, Hitogami, and someone who tried to kill Older Rudeus.


    Also me, but we managed to hash things out. Andst time, he said he wanted to team up with me... but I didn''t think he''d randomly show up to help Dad out.


    Orsted cracked a smile and said, "Yes. But an opportunity presented itself and so I decided to take advantage of it."


    "An opportunity, huh?"


    Yeah. Considering that the weird mana Being W had stuck to Orsted was gone somehow and that Orsted''s mana seemed to be flowing again, it looked like he decided to take a more active role in things instead of working in the background like Older Rudeus said he probably did.


    Which reminded me of just how much BS that guy''s memory was. Like,e on man. You figured out time travel, so you should have realized that it would cause all sorts of wacky things to happen. At least think through *some* possibilities to warn me.


    ...Though I guess he couldn''t really ount for the ripple effect/joker that was ''me'' of all people.


    Princess Ariel looked at Orsted and smiled. "Mister Orsted kindly offered to escort me to visit Nanny''s home and to return me to the capital afterwards." She looked at me and said, "I hope you do not mind us intruding."


    ...Just what the heck went on over there?


    Ariel was deferring to me when Dad was standing right there. And Orsted looked like he had tossed his chips in with her... So did that mean he was nning to take over the Asura Kingdom or something?


    Argh, my head hurt.


    We can think about thatter.


    For now...


    I smiled at Ariel and said, "Of course not. But I''m not sure there''s much for a princess to be entertained with all the way out here."


    Ariel shook her head and said, "No worries. I simply wish to observe Nanny''s family life and get to know you better."


    I paused and quickly nced at my dad.


    He didn''t set me up *again*, did he?


    Dad noticed my look and quickly shook his head.


    Ah. Seemed like he was using his head more if he picked up on that. But then what was Ariel talking about?


    An awkward silence.


    Dad was keeping his mouth shut because it seemed like he learned his lesson about running it.


    Orsted wasfortable with silence, content to just stand there menacingly.


    And Ariel was unashamedly staring at me, as if trying to pick my brains from just looking.


    ...Well. Whatever ns I had about future events were definitely thrown off at this point. Pretty sure that I was going to be high on the list of priorities for the bigwig nobles in the future now. Especially with Ariel calling Dad ''Lord'' Paul.


    At that time, Sylphy walked over from the kitchen, carrying a stack of cups and a crystal water pitcher. "Dinner''s ready, Rudy!" She set the pitcher and the cups on the table while giving a pointed stare at Ariel. After that, she took a seat on myp.


    Ariel''s polite smile widened at that, though her eyes seemed a bit thoughtful.


    ...Where was Eris when I needed her? At least she''d be able to break up this weird atmosphere instead of turning it cold like Sylphy was doing...


    -LIV-


    While Rudy was dealing with an unexpectedly tense development, Eris was handling her own problems.


    Namely, giving a status report to her parents on her current rtionship with her fiance.


    Eris''s bedroom, upstairs in the second house from where the others were having dinner.


    Because an important discussion was urring down there... and because her parents wanted a private one of their own, the Boreas family was currently seated around a small table having an intimate dinner.


    It wasn''t anything too special. Just some roasted boar with potatoes and bread, paired with fruit juice. Something that Eris had gotten used to eating from her time at Buina vige.


    And also something that she was studying very intently to avoid looking at her parents.


    "I must say." Eris''s mom, Hilda, cut a piece of the boar and raised it, eyeing the ze on the meat. "For being out in the middle of nowhere and without many ingredients, Lilia and her friends do a fairly good job at cooking."


    Philip speared a potato with his fork and took a bite. After that, he nodded and said, "Indeed. Though with how hopeless my cousin is at cooking, I would hope that his wives are adequate."


    Hilda looked at Philip and said, "Did Lilia not mention that Zenith was a good cook as well? A pity. I was hoping to be able to try some of her cooking as well. Though I suppose the fact that she is moving around while with child is impressive enough."


    Philip looked at Hilda and raised an eyebrow. "Were you not still dashing around the manor scolding the various servants when merely weeks away from Eris''s birth?"


    Hilda rolled her eyes. "That is because no one else would set them in order. Both Father-inw and yourself spoil the staff too much."


    "I would disagree with myself... but I do agree that Father takes it easy on them."


    Eris quietly ate her food while sneaking nces at her parents.


    It was weird. When she left, her father and her mother were practically at each other''s throats. At the least, they weren''t on speaking terms anymore.


    But now they were yfully chatting with each other and even teasing.


    Was it because of her? Was the only reason that they were upset because Eris was acting up? And since they managed to get rid of her, they could be happy together again?


    Eris pursed her lips, trying to ignore her churning stomach.


    "Hm?" Hilda looked over at Eris and said, "Is something the matter, Eris? You do not appear very well."


    "...It''s nothing." Eris mumbled and then cut a piece of the meat before eating it.


    ...At least she had good food.


    And who cared if her parents didn''t want her. She already knew that in the first ce. Mom never cared about what she wanted and always tried to make her into a ''proper''dy. Dad was always busy with his work and only threw gifts at her instead of spending time.


    Besides, she had a home here now. Rudy didn''t care for Eris at first, but since he stopped worrying about whatever he was worrying, he was being nice now. Annoying, but nice.


    Then she had Sylphy for a friend too. She was a bit scary, especially when it came to Rudy, but the younger elf girl took the time to y with Eris.


    And then both Norn and Aisha looked up to Eris and treated her as their big sister. Miss Zenith was nice too, and Miss Roxy took the time to answer her questions. Not to mention Miss Rose and Miss Rostelina... And Sylphy''s dad too.


    Though that man always seemed to be busy patrolling the vige...


    In any case, it was fine. Even if her parents didn''t want her, she had a ce here in Buina vige.


    Philip frowned and then said, "Have they not been treating you well?"


    Eris resisted the urge to scoff. Instead, she sipped her juice and shook her head. "They''ve been treating me really well."


    Better than either you or Mom ever did.


    Eris didn''t say that though. Instead, she said, "I''ve been having a lot of fun, and Rudy''s family all treat me like I''m part of the family."


    "Well." Philip nodded and said, "Considering that you''re betrothed to him, that''s inevitable."


    Hilda red at Philip.


    Philip raised an eyebrow. "It''s true, is it not?"


    Hilda shook her head and then looked at Eris. "Tell me something, Eris. Are you happy here? Truly?"


    Eris paused to think about it.


    Happy... She didn''t know. But she did know that she always had fun and felt warm spending time with everyone in Buina vige. Seeing the bright smiles of the vigers that she and Sylphy helped, ying with Norn and Aisha, listening to Miss Zenith talk about her adventuring days... Not to mention everyone else too.


    It was different. She didn''t have as many fancy things like in the Citadel of Roa. There weren''t pretty dresses or shiny toys. And most days she copsed in bed either frustrated from losing to Rudy in games or just exhausted.


    But even so, she didn''t feel empty. She didn''t feel like people were judging her or only listening to her because she was Lord Sauros''s granddaughter. So...


    "...Yes."


    If that was being happy, then Eris was happy.


    She''d be happier still if Rudy would take her seriously and actually teach her things, but she could settle for spending time with him and memorizing the random treasures of information he let slip.


    Hilda stared at Eris.


    Eris stared back at her mother.


    And then Hilda sighed. "...Well. If my daughter is truly happy and not merely being sent away..."


    Philip cut a piece of meat from his boar and took a bite. After that, he looked at Hilda and said, "As I said, this is better for her. See how calm our Eris has be?"


    Eris blinked and then frowned. "Hey! What are you talking about, Dad?"


    Philip paused and then raised an eyebrow. "...Dad?"


    Eris froze.


    Hildaughed and then let out a mischievous smile. "Well, well! It seems that you''re right, Husband." She looked at Eris and said, "Our Eris has calmed down a great deal to be calling you so casually again."


    "Ugh." Eris felt her face heat up and started stuffing her face with food. "...Forget about it."


    Stupid parents. Stupid Rudy running away and leaving her to deal with this mess. Stupid Paul for bringing her parents back to visit.


    Why couldn''t they just keep having fun and practicing magic and stuff in peace? Stupid adultsing in and ruining everything...


    -LIV-


    I narrowed my eyes and kicked off the ground, shing my sword at sonic speed.


    A *boom* echoed as my sword ripped the air apart and shot towards my opponent''s neck. But before it hit-


    "Getting faster, Rudy, but still not good enough!" Dadughed and moved just out of range. The following explosion ruffled his hair, but he wasn''t fazed. Instead, he charged forward to tackle me with his shoulder.


    I growled and spun around on my right heel, whipping my leg at him.


    It connected, sending my dad veering off to the side. But it wasn''t a solid blow. Instead of him being shoved away, he took the force of the blow and used it to spin around faster, stealing the momentum for his own attack.


    I felt my eye twitch when I saw that.


    This guy... Since when did he start fighting like a video game character?! All I did was pass him some pointers...


    I swear to god, there must be something in the air turning people around me into monsters. Was it my mana? Was I really emitting mana radiation or something that was causing everybody to rank up?


    ...Or was this a counterbnce because something big wasing around the corner.


    God I hoped it was the first option, because the second-


    "You''re distracted!"


    "Gah! Dammit, Dad!"


    I raised my sword to parry and was sent flying back from the force of the blow.


    A sh of light. My dad stepping in for a follow-up.


    I kicked off the ground and forced a gap, taking the time to survey my surroundings.


    It waste at night, under the light of the full moon.


    After that mess from earlier was finished, I dragged Dad outside and demanded a ''training session'' to let off steam.


    Really, I just wanted to smack him around a bit and test out some recent hypothesis on Battle Aura.


    But I didn''t expect him to have leveled up so much from that trip.


    What was this, seriously? A video game? Dad leaves for a trip and suddenly he has all these new tricks up his sleeves and his stats suddenly seem ten times higher than normal with how fast he''s moving...


    What next? Will it be the end of disc 1 or something where we all get separated so that I''ll have to hard carry some weak party members on my own while Dad has his own arc?


    "Hm." Dad looked at me for a bit and then smiled. "I was worried there for a bit, but it looks like you loosened up a bit since I left. Did spending time with three cute girls finally work their magic on you?"


    "Very funny Dad. And for your information, I just decided that it was better to not worry about what I couldn''t control."


    Especially since a crazy guy like Older Rudeus who bruteforced reverse-engineered time travel magic while figuring out the axiom that magic was omnipotent still wasn''t able to change his past.


    Trying to y chessmaster in a chaotic situation like this definitely didn''t seem to be the y. Nope, I was just going to roll with the punches from here on out.


    Especially since random things like Orsted showing up with Princess Ariel kept happening. Princess Ariel, the supposed lynchpin in everything that was going to take ce in the future ording to Older Rudeus... and also the one who was supposed to be protected by Sylphy.


    ...Maybe this was a hard course correct by the world or something? With how things were going, Sylphy wouldn''t have any reason to want to head to Asura Kingdom or help out any nobles.


    Ah, getting sidetracked again.


    I focused my attention back on Dad and said, "What happened over there anyway? I thought you just went to go rescue a noble''s daughter or something to teach me a lesson."


    Dad coughed and said, "W-Well. The bestid ns never survive contact with the enemy?"


    "...Uh-huh." I gave him a nk look and said, "Third time''s the charm then?"


    Dad let out a nervousugh and said, "Yeah, yeah. Your old man''s learned his lesson about meddling in things. ...And talking. Mostly talking." He frowned and said, "The world seems to have a grudge against me or something."


    "That''s karma for your misspent youth."


    Dad gave a serious nod. "Probably."


    I sighed and made a pair of chairs. "Here. Let''s just chat."


    Dad looked at me and smirked. "What? Give up on fighting your old man already?"


    "Hell yeah." I red at him and said, "What kind of crazy monster are you anyway- No, correction. What kind of crazy things did you fight over there to get so much stronger so quickly?"


    Dad pulled one of the chairs and sat down. After that, he waved his hand and said, "Oh, a few thugs, this crazy guy who was way too interested in his own sword, a crazydy who kept saying stuff about ''flow'', and then a bunch of cheating assassins." He paused and said, "Mostly cheating assassins."


    "...What are you, some Shounen protagonist?"


    "Hm?"


    I sighed. "Nothing Dad. Water?"


    "As long as you don''t spray it in my face."


    I conjured a pair of cups and filled them with water. After that, I handed one to my dad.


    He took it and nodded. "Thanks, Rudy."


    "Nn."


    Dadughed and took a sip.


    After that, we sat in silence for a while.


    And then Dad spoke up. "Hey, Rudy."


    "Yeah?"


    Dad took a sip from his ss of water and then said, "Trying to be a hero sucks."


    "I''m well aware." I sipped my own water and said, "People always want something from you."


    Dadughed and said, "Isn''t that right? Going on that trip and dealing with all the nobles made me remember why I wanted to retire to a peaceful ce like this with Zenny." He took a long drink from his water and then said, "I just wanted my kids to grow up having fun without worrying about anything in the world."


    "And then you had me."


    "And then we had you." Dad nodded and looked at me, a weird expression on his face. A mix of concern and pride. "My genius son who knows too much for his own good, who''s about twice as mature as me-"


    "Only twice?"


    Dadughed. "Maybe three times. Though you suck at talking with thedies, so I''m knocking it down by one."


    "...Fair."


    "Anyway." He looked up at the moon and said, "...I really do wonder if the world''s out against us. There''s that Being W guy, sure. But even before then..." He sipped on his ss and said, "Maybe I should have apologized to the old man."


    "Hm?" I frowned and said, "Who? Sauros?"


    "Pft. That guy? No. I''m talking about my dad. Your gramps."


    I frowned.


    My ''gramps''... So Dad''s dad.


    Right. Dad did mention that he ran away from home. And since the situation was the way it was in the Notos family...


    Hm. Yeah, Grandpa would have had a lot of stress. Probably regret too. And from Dad''s expression, it seemed like they never reconciled.


    And considering that the only thing a good father wanted for their child was to make sure they were safe and happy...


    I sighed. "Yeah, this is totally your fault, Dad. You''ve got too much bad karma going on in your life."


    "Yeah, well... She''s a bitch."


    "Aaand that''s how you''re going to have reality smacked in your face."


    Dadughed. "Maybe. But that''s what you''re for, right? The only thing going for your old man is his sword, but you''re smart. I''m sure you''ll figure things out."


    "What, so you''re bailing out on being the parent now that you think I''mpetent enough? You do realize I''m still just eight, right?"


    "Don''t get me wrong." Dad looked at me and said, "I''m still going to do everything I can to clean up any messes my genius son makes. And I''m going to help the best I can if you need me. But... Well." He looked up at the sky and said, "Let''s just say Dad figured something important out when he came back."


    "...Mom yelled at you, didn''t she?"


    "You got me."


    I sighed. "Well. Minus the princess and Orsted hanging around and both of Eris''s parents visiting, things will be back to normal now, right? Being W didn''t do any crazy things to you guys over there?"


    "Other than the monster invasion, nope."


    "...Monster invasion?"


    "Oh yeah." Dad nodded and said, "These weird spatial rifts popped up in the distance when we were chasing after the Tristina girl and the knights went a bit crazy pinning the me on various parties. Orsted and Pierre managed to sort things out though." He paused and said, "The prime minister and a banished prince of some small kingdom made a fuss trying to me it on us, but it worked out in the end."


    "...Dad?"


    "Yeah, Rudy?"


    "...Never mind."


    I sighed and looked up at the sky.


    As I did, I saw a shooting star pass by.


    Nice. In that case...


    ''Please let time just pass by normally for a while. I could really use a break...''


    sping my hands together and closing my eyes, I made a small wish.

 101 – Here’s a little lesson in trickery…

    101 ¨C Here¡¯s a little lesson in trickery¡­


    Philip quietly sipped on a cup of tea as he watched Eris and the other children y in the distance.


    It was the morning after their arrival at Buina vige. Many, many, *many* stressful events had urred since then... and since his father was handling the nobles back in the kingdom, a great deal many were likely waiting for Philip back at home.


    Particrly since his brothers wouldn''t take lightly to the fact that he was now aligned with the proper head of the Notos family as well as the Second Princess.


    But Philip decided to take a page out from his cousin''s ybook and worry about thatter. Instead, he decided to take the chance to rx in these peaceful and rural farnds.


    ...Although...


    Philip took a look around his immediate surroundings and frowned. "I was unaware that I paid Paul this much..."


    There was an entirely new house separate from the one that should have been there. Not only that, but the new house was sleek and looked carved out of pure stone. Sturdy enough to serve as a makeshift fortress as needed while having enough rooms to house a dozen different people.


    Compared to the manor in Roa, it wasn''t that impressive. But for a minor knight out in rural farnds, it definitely was.


    And that didn''t even take into ount the sleek and carefully constructed paved areas around the back of the house that were specifically for games or the artifical water body strictly for swimming.


    At that time, Hilda walked over to sit beside Philip, carrying a bottle of wine and two sses.


    Philip looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "Drinking so early in the day?"


    Hilda shrugged and said, "It was a gift from Pierre. He said that we would likely need it to loosen up a bit."


    Philip frowned.


    Pierre. That mysterious individual who was on par with the Dragon God Orsted while iming to be a Greyrat...


    And also someone who disappeared the moment they arrived back at Buina vige after saying something about having to check up on his wife.


    He was still suspicious. Someone that Philip took note of to follow up onter. But at the least he seemed to be on their side for the moment... though Philip wondered just how long that wouldst.


    Then again, with how ridiculous Paul was bing, that might be a non-issue in the future.


    "Here." Hilda handed Philip a ss.


    Philip eyed the ss and frowned.


    It was a beautiful deep red color, glistening like a ruby with the sunlight.


    But that color of wine also tended to easily conceal poison.


    Then again, with the fact that they were in the presence of the Dragon God, would that man really-


    Hilda rolled her eyes and then raised the ss to Philip''s lips, tilting some wine into his mouth.


    "Pft?!"


    Philip spluttered and quickly dabbed his mouth. After that, he red at Hilda and said, "Have you no caution at all?!"


    "And you think too much, Husband." Hilda shook her head and took the ss back, taking a long drink from it. Afterwards, she let out a content sigh and looked into the distance. "You should be more like our Eris there and rx."


    In the distance, Eris and Rudy faced off against each other on one of the paved areas that Rudy called a ''basketball court.''


    Sylphy stood off to the side, watching the two.


    Rudy was holding a ball, casually bouncing it on the ground while smiling at Eris.


    Unlike him, Eris waspletely focused. Her eyes were sharp, scanning Rudy''s body and following the ball. Not only that, but her body was tense, as if ready to pounce at any moment.


    "...I do not think you can call Eris''s current situation as being ''rxed'', Dear."


    "Hm. That''s because she takes after you, Husband." Hilda sipped on the wine some more and smiled. "Are you certain you do not want any? It''s quite sweet. You can barely taste the alcohol at all."


    "I am fine."


    "Bah." Hilda frowned and said, "You''re still too uptight. We''re going to be here for a few more days, are we not? Loosen up a bit. Do you want Eris to think that we are here just out of formality?"


    Philip paused, remembering Eris''s expressionst night. And then he sighed and reached out his hand. "Fine. Pour me a ss as well."


    Considering the other headaches happening in the background, Philip could use a pick me up...


    Hilda smiled and poured another ss of wine, handing it over to Philip.


    This time, he took it from her. Staring at the glistening ruby wine, he still hesitated. But after looking at Eris again, he shook his head and took a sip.


    Sweet, refreshing... And instead of clouding his mind like Philip thought it would, he felt... vaguely energized?


    "Hm?" Philip frowned and stared at the ss. "Is this really wine?"


    "Apparently it''s magical wine. At least, that''s what Pierre said before he left. Something to make up for the trouble."


    Philip hummed and took another sip from the wine.


    It was good. Better than even the best from Milbotts, thend famed for alcohol.


    Well, that and thend infamous for the breast-loving Notos family.


    Still-


    "Dammit, Rudy! How do you keep making those shots?!"


    "It''s called ''spin'', Eri. And I told you already. Raw speed and power isn''t going to help in these sorts of things."


    "Then exin making the shot all the way from half-court!"


    "Ah. Well, I guess *that* needs a bit of power. But it''s all about control."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Like how easily you control Eri around the court?"


    Eris blushed and said, "S-Shut up, Sylphy!" After that, she red at Rudy and crossed her arms. "Whatever! Take your shot already, Rude."


    "R-Rude?"


    "Yeah! Because you''re rude to me all the time! Rude!"


    An energetic and childish argument.


    Eris was upset and acting out. But at the same time, she wasn''t really angry. Not like how she was at the manor at least.


    Seeing that, Philip chuckled and sipped on his wine.


    Hilda looked over and said, "Is something funny?"


    "A bit." He stared at Eris and then looked over at Rudy. "I''m just amused at how well this worked out."


    It was a long shot. Something decided on a whim at first. And from the start, it seemed like something doomed to fail.


    After all, Eris was vtile and spoiled beyond belief while Rudeus was a mature child that was serious and skilled enough to beat Sauros into submission, both in words and in strength.


    Then there was the fact that Rudeus was already clearly involved with that young elf girl who was just as capable...


    Philip would have been happy if Eris just had a ce to stay. But to see her rxed and enjoying herself... and even tolerating being teased like that...


    Philip looked towards his wife and said, "It seems that Eris takes after you a great deal as well."


    Hilda blinked. "Me?"


    "Yes." Philip sipped on his wine and smiled. "After all, both of you tolerate a great deal when ites to the one you love. Like mother like daughter... is it not?"


    Hilda scoffed and then smacked Philip''s arm.


    Philip chuckled and stared at Eris.


    Yes. This was unexpected. For their violent daughter to get along with others and be that happy... Even if the betrothal in the end didn''t go through, this was fine.


    "That''s Pig, Eri. Game."


    "I wanna rematch! Double or nothing!"


    "...If you say so..."


    Philip smiled.


    Yes. It was fine. Especially if he could watch his cute daughter flustered and embarrassed like this some more-


    "Eris! Try harder! You can''t expect to win against that cute elf girl like that!"


    "M-Mom?! W-W-What are you talking about?!"


    ...Or it could just be another headache for him to deal withter.


    Philip sighed and drained his ss before topping it up again.


    -LIV-


    A forest clearing a short distance away from Buina vige. There, Rostelina leaned against a tree, idly humming as she swung a basket back and forth.


    A slight breeze picked up, sending a few strands of Rostelina''s hair flying. And then an exasperated male voice echoed. "You really waited out here by yourself?"


    Rostelina straightened and looked over at the speaker, smiling. "Well I couldn''t wait back at the house, could I? My beloved master is too shy to show his face."


    ''Pierre'' stepped out from behind a tree and walked over to Rostelina, fixing her hair. As he did, he said, "It''s not being shy. It''s being cautious. Especially since I don''t know what else that crazy bastard is up to. Honestly, sending in those monsters, tantly turning those knights into zealots and stirring up all that chaos with moving the Sword God and Water God..." He frowned and said, "I''m starting to think that he''s going to try something ridiculous just to flip the board over."


    Rostelina tilted her head and said, "Isn''t that fine? You''re here, aren''t you, ''Pierre?''"


    "For now." Pierre looked up at the sky and said, "But I''m starting to get worried. The metastasis event shouldn''t happen since we resolved the mana distortion from that priestess. But then that crazy guy went ahead and threw his divine powers all over the ce pulling strings in thatst event."


    Rostelina frowned. "...Shouldn''t he not be able to do that?"


    "If he wants a ce to rule over, yeah. But if he stopped caring..." Pierre ced his hand over his sword and muttered, "We''ll be fine, but I''m worried about Rudy here." He looked over at Rostelina and said, "You said they merged?"


    Rostelina paused and said, "I''m not sure if theypletely merged. But at the least it seems like the older Rudeus and Rudy had a chat about his timeline."


    "Great." Pierre pinched his nose and said, "Another spanner in the works... Argh. Maybe I shouldn''t have shown up in front of Sylphy. She would have been fine, but it made that guy too paranoid."


    Rostelina wrapped her arms around Pierre''s shoulders and said, "Well, it''ll be fine, won''t it? You''re here to keep things from getting worse, aren''t you?"


    "Again, for now." Pierre frowned and said, "But even I can only do so much. The ''Technique God'' doesn''t have a concrete anchorpoint in this timeline until ''that'' happens, so I''ll get kicked out and have to find my way back from the other side if I interfere too directly."


    "...So you''re saying that you''re just dead weight right now."


    "...Yes."


    Rostelina rolled her eyes. "Some all-powerful Technique God you are, Master."


    Pierre nodded. "Right. ''Technique'' God. Emphasis on the Technique. And no technique exists yet that can go beyond the world''s natural order so I''m stuck like this."


    Rostelina ced her finger on her chin and said, "So in other words... You can''t do anything right now. Your powers are limited... and you''re worried about what might happen in the future?"


    "Is that not obvious?" Pierre frowned.


    "And you''re concerned about Rudy and his family?"


    "Of course." Pierre nodded and said, "We might be different people and those aren''t the same, but I still worry about them. Not to mention that if things can change..."


    "Great. Then let''s introduce you, Hubby."


    "...Wait, what?"


    Rostelina smiled.


    Pierre gave her a nk look. And then he narrowed his eyes. "No. Rostelina, no. This is a terrible idea."


    "You worry too much! Just leave it to me, okay? We just need a bit of hair dye, a mask, and then it''ll work out fine! Besides, I''ve missed you a lot. You won''t leave me alone again, will you, Master?" Rostelina finished with a puppy dog look.


    Pierre stared at her and then let out a deep and suffering sigh.


    -LIV-


    The Greyrat family household, inside the living room. There, a group of four women sat around the table while a man awkwardly stood off to the side. Zenith, Lilia, Rose, and Rostelina.


    Rostelina smiled and said, "See, Zenny? I told you I had a man!"


    "...Uh-huh." Zenith eyed the mysterious man that Rostelina brought back with her.


    The first thing that stuck out was his mask.


    It was in. A pure white b that looked carved out of marble with just thin slits for the eyes.


    The second thing that stuck out was his hair, a deep violet hue that looked like the night sky. It was also a bit messy, with his bangs draping over the top of his mask.


    And the third thing that stuck out was the fact that Zenith couldn''t see any mana from him.


    Ever since Rudy had given her the ability to see mana, she had used it on everyone she saw. And everyone she had seen had at least a little bit of colored mana floating around inside of them.


    But the man was empty. Not a single speck of light flickered from within him. And even his sword was empty, which was strange since metal usually at least had a thread of earth mana hovering around.


    Zenith frowned and said, "...And what''s your man''s name, Lina?"


    "Perry!"


    "Perry."


    "Yep!"


    Zenith stared at ''Perry'' and said, "...And is there a reason why he isn''t talking for himself?"


    Rostelina hugged ''Perry'' and said, "This dummy recently went adventuring and got this cursed mask stuck on his face. It''s harmless and will fall off in a few weeks, but until then he can''t say a word."


    "Right..." Zenith nced over at Lilia and said, "What do you think, Lily?"


    Lilia stared at the masked man, frowning. "...Your name is Perry?"


    The man nodded.


    "Perry... Is that a pet name for Pierre?"


    The man paused and then shook his head.


    "Hm..." Lilia didn''t look convinced. But after a while, she nodded and said, "Well. If you are Rostelina''s beloved, I suppose it''s fine no matter who you are. Just know that our other guests won''t take kindly to you disturbing them. Understand?"


    ''Perry'' nodded and stuck up his thumb.


    Lilia shook her head.


    Rose looked at Perry and then back at Rostelina. "...Mother-inw."


    Rostelina looked back and said, "Yes, Dear?"


    "Have I said yet how you have a strange taste in men?"


    Rostelinaughed.


    Perry ced his hand over his mask and shook his head.

 102 – En Passant

    102 ¨C En Passant


    The house has been pretty lively recently.


    Miss Rostelina''s boyfriend... Husband? Partner? Partner. Anyway, her partner recently showed up at the house to visit. Apparently he''s a famous adventurer who ran into trouble with a cursed mask and wanted to take a break to spend time with Miss Rostelina until the curse wore off.


    Personally, I thought he was suspicious. Especially since Dad, Mama Lily, Uncle Philip, and Auntie Hilda were all giving him weird looks.


    Not to mention that the guy seemed vaguely familiar. Something about his silhouette But at least he wasn''t someone on Being W''s side.


    Orsted also vouched for him, so that was the end of that discussion.


    And speaking of Orsted...


    "You have grown stronger."


    ...He was hanging around our house-


    My house?


    ...Yeah, I''m just gonna call the new house my house from now.


    Anyway, he was hanging around my house whenever Ariel was preupied chatting with Mama Lily or ying with Norn and Aisha.


    And right now, it seemed like he didn''t have anything to do since he was watching me train.


    I swung my sword through the air, testing out ways to reinforce my body using the same method as with creating everything else. In other words, believing that I was stronger and imagining my mana reinforcing my body.


    A *snap* echoed as my sword whipped through the air. And then I felt a crack as my body overextended.


    I quickly flooded my body with healing mana and straightened. When I did that, I felt a jab of pain and a muscle cramp. But it quickly started fading.


    "...And a great deal more reckless as well." Orsted added as he stared at me.


    I lowered my sword and nced at him. "And you''ve gotten more rxed since Ist saw you."


    Orsted nodded and said, "I have less concerns than before. More questions, but in sum, all is well."


    "Good for you." I shifted my gaze away from him and focused on my sword.


    Just ''thinking'' it wasn''t good enough. It seemed like you still needed a proper image for things to work.


    That or I didn''t ''believe'' hard enough.


    Maybe it was necessary to practice my concentration and willpower? Did I need to do some meditation or something?


    ...Well, that was for the future. It''d be nice to be able to go all ''in the beginning there was the word'' and just will things and concepts to happen, but I guess it was sufficient to just use an image for now.


    I shook my head and then recalled the pattern that I did the first time against Orsted. A mesh of mana, tightly woven together and oveying my muscles like an artificialyer of muscles.


    That worked. All of a sudden, I felt my body get lighter. And a few casual swings showed that my speed got better too. But...


    "Hah. Still limited by my age."


    Right. That form of enhancement was still limited by my body. Since I was small, I could only do so much to add onto it. While I *could* keep stackingyers of mana to basically form a mech suit, it was too bulky. Great for being a tank, but not for fighting with a sword or moving around.


    ...Maybe that could be solved with teleporting? Warp magic of some kind?


    Orsted spoke up and said, "Should I teach you?"


    I looked over at him and frowned. "Not that I don''t appreciate the offer, Orsted... But don''t you have anything better to do?"


    This guy was Being W''s mortal enemy. I got why he came here with Princess Ariel since making her Queen would be useful setup for the future. But just standing around like that...


    "No."


    "Oh. Really?"


    Orsted nodded and said, "Princess Ariel is ying with your sisters."


    "...And you don''t want to train?"


    Orsted paused and then said, "Would you like your home to be a wastnd?"


    Words that sounded like a threat.


    If Mom or Mama Lily heard that, they would panic and sic Dad on him. Probably.


    But I understood his reasoning.


    It was basically the same reason why I stopped testing out elemental magic outside of carefully controlled experiments on shaping raw elements. Namely, things would get out of hand and probably wipe out half of the continent if something went wrong.


    Yeah, having high-density mana was spooky if you tried using it for normal stuff. Kind of like trying to start a fire with liquid oxygen. Bad idea.


    "Fair." I conjured a chair and sat down. After that, since Orsted was still standing there, I conjured another chair for him and said, "Take a load off."


    He raised an eyebrow but nodded and sat down across from me.


    After that, I made a ss of water for myself and took a sip, mulling over what I still had to do.


    Since so many guests were over, I couldn''t do *too* much. There were some things I wanted to talk with everyone about, but I didn''t want to bring it up when it could be overheard.


    Mostly by Rostelina, Eris''s parents, and that weird Perry guy.


    Eris''s parents because they couldn''t really protect themselves or any information they picked up. Also because I still found it weird how Sauros acted when I went over there with Dad.


    Rostelina... While Mom and Dad knew her, and while she was Sylphy''s grandma, she was still suspicious. Clearly she knew more than she let on. And her husband/boyfriend/lover Perry was even more suspicious.


    Especially since I could barely see him.


    It was weird. For some reason, he was always blurry and out of focus. Kind of like staring at an optical illusion. And apparently, it was only to me.


    "You seem to have a lot on your mind for a child, Rudeus."


    I looked up to see Orsted staring at me with a concerned look.


    Well, concerned for him. It was still pretty intimidating, but I could see his eyes softened a bit.


    Did he have a weakspot towards kids? I remembered him smiling a bit with Norn and Aisha too...


    But as to his question...


    I sipped on my water and nodded. "You could say that."


    There was still the issue with Being W. From what Dad said, that guy was taking more active steps in things. Of course, things were resolved, but that was because Orsted happened to be in the area-


    Ah, wait.


    I stared at Orsted.


    He stared back.


    "Hey, Orsted."


    "Yes?"


    "Are you a time traveler?"


    Silence. Orsted''s golden eyes narrowed. There wasn''t any hostility in them, but they were sharp. As if trying to peer through me.


    I met his gaze without flinching.


    ...It was pretty intimidating though. Even without that weird mana thing that Being W stuck on him, the fact that Orsted was super strong didn''t just disappear.


    But after a while, he slowly nodded. "...It is something to that effect. And you?" He frowned and said, "I can understand Lace''s gambit and the result of inheriting a great portion of his abilities and memories. However... you seem to be a result of more than just that."


    Iughed. "It''s...plicated. I''m not really a time traveler, but it''s something like that too?"


    *I* wasn''t the person who went back in time. ''Rudeus Greyrat'' did though. Well, he did a ''time leap'' and sent his mind back somehow. Not sure if that really counted. Especially if it was the result of Being W doing some tampering in it that let him be here.


    "Is that so?" Orsted looked thoughtful, his eyes absently scanning the air, as if flipping through notes in his head. "Interesting." He looked at me and said, "Care to borate?"


    Was it because I showed my worth to him before? The fact that I made it clear I didn''t like Being W? Or was he serious about that offer from before about working with me?


    Whatever the case, Orsted was taking me seriously.


    And conveniently, there wasn''t anyone around to interrupt our chat this time and think he was a bad guy. Especially since he cleared things up a bit.


    ...Though I think Master Roxy still had a grudge against him.


    But anyway...


    "Do you know anything about a mana cmitying soon? Ah, I think it might also be called a metastasis event."


    That was the big concern. Or rather, the big question mark.


    ording to Rudeus, it should be happening fairly soon. And for something that big, there should at least be signs of it happening.


    But I didn''t see anything.


    I vaguely remembered seeing *something* back in the sky when we visited the Citadel of Roa, but it was gone now.


    Orsted furrowed his brow and said, "No. Neither of those are familiar. But if they are to you... Does the river of time flow in multiple streams?"


    I paused. "Wait. So you don''t know about that? It''s supposed to be a pretty major event. You know, the disappearance of the entire Fedoa region via massive teleportation? Worldwide search parties? Years of scouting and adventurers looking for survivors?"


    "The only notable events in this century should be Princess Ariel''s ascent and a revolution in the Shirone Kingdom resulting in its conversion to a republic. A mana cmity... No." He shook his head. "I have never witnessed such an event."


    "...Really?"


    "Yes."


    ...Alright. I had a headache now.


    I could confirm the hypothesis Rudeus had about Orsted being a time looper. The way he talked about those events made it sound like he experienced them more than once. There was also his extremely polished skills... Though those could just be natural talent.


    Still. From the way he talked... Did that mean that this ''loop'' was separate from what Rudeus experienced-


    Ah, wait. There was something else too, right? No, some*one* else.


    "How about someone called Seven Shooting Stars?"


    A maskeddy that was by Orsted''s side when Rudeus first met him in that guy''s timeline. It was still a bit early, but-


    "No."


    "...Are you sure you''re a time traveler?"


    Orsted frowned and said, "Are you?"


    "...You know. At this point, I''m not sure." I frowned and went over what Rudeus told me.


    That guy was clearly ''me.'' Or at least, a version of me.


    But it seemed that our lives split pretty early on. And not just from our rebirth here in this world.


    The guy didn''t go into his past very much, but from what he implied, it was pretty different.


    Was this a world line change then? Like St*ins;G*te? Or was it an actual parallel timeline sort of deal?


    Not only that, but Rudy didn''t mention anything about Princess Ariel bing Queen or a revolt.


    ...Then again, he had be a super edgelord after Master Roxy died in childbirth.


    ...And that was another weird thought. That guy was married to both Master Roxy and Sylphy while Eris was his first love who still liked him even after he cheated on her.


    Come to think of it, Rudeus was kind of an asshole. And a pervert. And pretty twisted...


    ...Yeah. I guess multiverse theory was just weird like that. But then...


    "From what I know, there should be a big mana cmity in a couple of years that wipes out this entire region. But at the same time, I''m not sure if that will happen... Though I also don''t know exactly *why* it happens either."


    Dammit, alternate me. Why didn''t you work on training your memory too? Just what the heck were you doing in your boring baby years to pass the time if not that? I could really use all of those finer details right about now...


    "Hm." Orsted crossed his arms and tilted his head, thinking. "...If Lace is behind your presence, then it is possible that your method of return differs from mine." He paused and looked at me. "Do I appear in your memory?"


    "Yeah." I nodded and said, "It''s supposedly a bit of a rough start."


    He raised an eyebrow. "Worse than our first encounter?"


    I paused to think about that.


    Considering Rudeus mentioned getting a hole punched in his chest...


    "I''d say so. Ah, and I think you also weren''t aware of the mana cmity? Or something?"


    Rudeus brushed over it, but he did mention that Seven Shooting Star person researching it.


    ...And now I wish I had probed him for more details about that instead of his magic research and what happened to everyone else-


    No. It was better this way. After all, that guy came from the end of a life that had a much different starting point than mine.


    Didn''t he talk a bit about how he would have been heading off to teach Eris in Roa or something by now?


    Right. So it was better that I just had the broad strokes instead of clinging to things that probably wouldn''t happen.


    ...Though that mana cmity...


    "And it was not caused by an early revival of Lace?"


    I looked at him and said, "You keep mentioning Lace and me having a lot of his abilities... Are you talking about the Demon God Lace?"


    "Yes. And you do. ...Although since you are unaware, it seems that was likely not the source in your memories. Hm."


    I paused to think about it.


    ...Yeah. Rudeus would definitely have mentioned if he was the reincarnation of the Demon God or if he ran across the Demon God. Even if he was an old man and going a bit senile due to both regret and fueled by decades of revenge, that was definitely something he would have brought up.


    Which meant we were back at square one about this uing big major catastrophe.


    I finished drinking my water, wishing very much that I had some headache medicine.


    And no, Healing magic didn''t help with that. At least, not the sort of headache I had right now.


    Orsted frowned and then said, "...In that case, it seems that Hitogami- No, Being W must be involved." He paused and said, "And there were some oddities in the Milbotts region. The flow of mana had been strange there."


    I tossed my ss of water aside, dissolving it into mana. After that, I ced my elbows on my knees and leaned forward to think, resting my head on myced fingers.


    Alright. So maybe I was tempting fate a bit too much about that disc 1 thought I had when chatting with Dad.


    Orsted didn''t know anything about that big incident, but then again, he didn''t seem to in Rudeus''s timeline as well.


    In that case, it was possible that Rudeus was on a divergent timeline from the loops that Orsted usually had.


    It was probably something like Orsted running a roguelike game keeping all of his skills but resetting his level every time and trying to reach the true ending. Not only that, but it was probably a roguelike where doing the same actions led to the same results.


    Except this was reality. You couldn''t do things *exactly* the same way each time. But even so, there was probably a decent margin of error. Especially with Orsted''s already aloof personality.


    Then where did ''Rudeus Greyrat'' fit in?


    The Orsted I knew didn''t recognize me. That meant that I wasn''t in his loops before now.


    And it seemed like the Orsted that Rudeus knew didn''t recognize him either.


    While I was definitely in a different timeline than Rudeus, we had simr starting events in this world.


    After all, Norn and Aisha were born. Sylphy was my first friend. Master Roxy took me as her student. Eris... Well, that was definitely different. But it was also a result of my different personality from Rudeus.


    Knowing him, he probably would have let Dad go off by himself with Ghyine instead of forcibly trying to hold him back. After all, he didn''t have very close family ties.


    At least, that was the vibe I got from him.


    But anyway, even though the details were different, key points were the same. Sylphy was my best friend and someone I loved- *liked* a lot. We both admired Master Roxy. We both met Eris in Roa after a chaotic event.


    ...Ande to think of it, that guy mentioned having a fight with Paul before meeting Ghyine and Eris too, right? So that was another simrity.


    Then, if the pattern continued about key events-


    Ah, wait. Princess Ariel definitely never showed up in Buina vige. And Rudeus never met her until he was grown up.


    And Master Roxy never came back to stay with us. Dad also apparently never went off to pull that stunt in Roa...


    ...Which meant that all sorts of things were different. And that also meant that the butterfly effect would mean that things would gopletely off the rails.


    Unless ''Fate'' was a thing too? Where key events had to happen no matter what unless active steps were taken to avoid them?


    Ah, wait. Being W was a thing. And while I didn''t know if he knew about time travel shenanigans, as the supposed god of humanity, and from the ''visions'' that he gave Rudeus, he definitely knew about ''Fate.'' Which meant that he would be pushing things to certain events.


    Like the mana cmity. *Especially* since it would be devastating to me personally by scattering my friends and family as well as killing a lot of people off.


    But if it was a ''mana'' cmity, then it shouldn''t be a problem for me. I didn''t know much about teleport spells and summoning magic, but I *definitely* knew a lot about stalling and preventing foreign mana from getting into the surroundings. And now that I had those tips from Rudeus about the fundamental nature of mana, I just needed a bit more research to protect the area.


    Although-


    "Rudeus."


    Orsted''s voice.


    I blinked and realized that I had been ignoring him. My face heated up and I coughed. "Sorry about that."


    He shook his head. "It''s fine. Did you realize something?"


    "Yes, and no." I frowned, still mulling over how to prepare for the future.


    I couldn''t go around the entire Fedoa region and ce down barriers to stabilize mana distortions or prevent Being W''s interference. After all, I was just a kid. Not only that, but I was pretty sure people would get super suspicious and go out of their way to dismantle them. So how-


    Wait.


    I turned to look at Orsted.


    He looked back, tilting his head.


    "Hey, Orsted. My pal."


    He blinked and hesitantly responded. "Yes?"


    "You want to stop Being W, right?"


    "Of course."


    "And you''d obviously take steps to foil whatever n he''s doing, right?"


    "Obviously."


    "Great!" I pped my hands together and said, "Then I''ve got a few spells to teach you that will definitely help you out and piss him off..."


    -LIV-


    A dark void, in a dimension just beyond the Human world.


    There, a certain god red at the world below him. "Those cheating bastards...!"


    It was wrong. All wrong.


    Sure, he flipped the board. It was a bit much, but it was well in his Authority to send a few visions and move a few apostles around. And since he had given up on seeing the future, he had more freedom to act.


    And so when he saw Paul Greyrat and Lilia Greyrat head off alone with the Boreas to Milbotts, he took the chance to finish them off.


    But...


    "How the hell did this happen?"


    Hitogami ran his hand through his non-existent hair and growled. "Paul Greyrat doesn''t get this strong. Lilia Greyrat should be crippled. And why is Buina vige *still* invisible to me?!"


    It made no sense.


    Fate and destiny should be on *his* side. He was the god of this world. *HE* decided what should happen and how.


    But even when he went out of his way to make it impossible, to ensure what he wanted came to pass... it fell apart. Something- Some*one* interfered and ripped it to shreds.


    Not only that, but things were changing. People whose destiny should have run out were alive. Others who should have stayed alive had disappeared. And then there was still that wildcard holed up in a ce where Hitogami couldn''t see or reach.


    "Rudeus Greyrat...!"


    Hitogami gnashed his teeth and red at Buina vige.


    He had helpers. That *had* to be the exnation.


    At least one. There was at least one person helping him who could not only distort Destiny, but were unaffected by Hitogami''s authority.


    "Tch."


    Time was flowing. At this rate, Hitogami''s advantage from flipping the board over would be washed away.


    Rudeus Greyrat was a ticking timebomb. And a bomb that not only shortened its fuse as time went on, but got bigger as it did as well.


    Hitogami was sure of it. Unlike in that other timeline, if he allowed Rudeus to grow, Hitogami wouldn''t just end up as an eternal prisoner. And since Hitogami''s future simply vanished...


    "...I have to do it."


    Hitogami red at Buina vige... No, at the entire Asura Kingdom with bloodshot eyes.


    "Mana and simple teleportation won''t work. That kid''s helper can rip it apart somehow. But from what I learned in Milbotts..."


    Spatial rifts. Suggestions sent in the form as visions. Quiet whispers to cement doubts and suspicions...


    And the weakened seal on the person that would just *love* to have a second crack at wiping out Humanity.


    "...Alright, Rudy." Hitogami smiled and said, "I''ll admit. You yed me and bought some time. I''ll give you that. But now I know." He narrowed his eyes and said, "...My dear mortal enemy. I''m not pulling any punches anymore."


    Cracks started to appear over the world. Not just in the sky, but across thend, in the deepest recesses of the earth, in the sea...


    Watching all of that, Hitogami hummed and said, "A God should run a purge with an apocalypse every now and then, shouldn''t he?"


    Mad cackles echoed throughout the void.

 103 – Castling

    103 ¨C Castling


    The perimeter of Buina vige, near the forest. There, Paul sheathed his sword and then stared at the pile of monster corpses stacked in front of him. Frowning, he turned his head back and said, "Hey, Laws. You''ve been patrolling longer than me. Is it normal to have this many monsters around?"


    Laws ced his bow on his back and then walked over, frowning. The elven man ruffled his blonde hair and said, "No. And stranger still, Miss Roxy has continually ced barriers throughout the area on our patrols to prevent mana from umting."


    "...Which means that these monsters probably weren''t created here, huh?" Paul''s frown deepened. "Dammit, what''s going on?"


    Laws looked at Paul and said, "Perhaps it is because of your guests?"


    Paul nced at him and snorted. "As if." He turned his attention back to the monster corpses and said, "These guys would be running in fear from the Dragon God, not running towards him. Not only that..." He flipped one of the monster corpses over to take a better look at it.


    Since they were attacking all at once, Paul didn''t really take a close look. But now that they were all dead and he had the chance...


    "...These aren''t from around here."


    A mixed mess of monsters. Instead of mutated animals, like the Terminate Boars and Feral Bears, these monsters were actual monsters. Kobolds, orcs, some reptilian creatures...


    Paul recognized them from his adventuring days. And because of that, he also recognized that they weren''t from around here.


    Laws frowned and said, "Could a dungeon have formed?"


    Paul focused, shifting his vision to observe the ambient mana. And then he shook his head. "It''s not that. Nothing''s out of the ordinary in terms of mana..." He nced back at the monster corpses and frowned. "...So how did these guys get here?"


    A few of the monsters in the pile were from the Milis continent. For them to be all the way here in the Fedoa region, let alone in Buina vige...


    Paul shook his head. "Whatever. We''ll just have to keep a closer eye out." After saying that, he swung his sword and ripped the corpses apart, shredding them until nothing was left but a faint crimson mist.


    Laws gave Paul a pointed stare.


    "What?"


    Laws shook his head. "Nothing. Now, shall we continue with our patrol?"


    -LIV-


    On the other side of Buina vige, near the open ins facing the Citadel of Roa. There, Roxy knelt on the ground, carefully checking her barrier spells.


    *sching?*


    Mercy floated next to her, shifting into a silver question mark.


    Roxy nced over and frowned. "I''m also confused, Mercy."


    It was the usual morning patrol. While Laws and Paul went out to hunt for monsters, Roxy went around to do maintenance on the barrier spells sheid down to both disperse ambient mana and to act as an emergency fortress wall.


    Usually, there was nothing wrong. Her calctions and formations were perfect. Unchanged and undamaged.


    But today was different.


    "...How odd." Roxy muttered while taking a closer look.


    The barriers spells were still whole. The magic circles she drew weren''t distorted or disturbed. Not only that, but the spells were still active. And yet...


    "Why are there cracks?"


    Gaps in the spell''s structure. Portions that seemed transparent for some reason, and yet unaffected by the change. Almost as if it was just an illusion.


    Nothing was wrong. And yet, Roxy knew that something was off. But it wasn''t the mana or the flow of mana.


    Roxy carefully examined the magic circles and then made a stone tablet with matching markings to studyter with Rudy.


    *sching!*


    "Hm?"


    Roxy looked up to see Mercy pointing off into the distance with an arrow. And in that direction...


    "Monsters?"


    Roxy furrowed her brow.


    There weren''t too many. She counted about a dozen shapes in the distance, all emitting the usual magic stone glow indicative of monsters. And considering the increased monster poption over the past few months, it wasn''t too surprising.


    ...Except for the fact that they seemed to appear out of nowhere on an open field where adventurers from Roa would definitely have been sent to route them.


    *sching! sching!*


    Mercy bounced up and down in the air before turning into a de, pointing straight at the monsters.


    Roxy brushed off her robes and nodded. "Alright. No harm in a little morning exercise." After that, Roxy stepped forward, her refined <Magic Arrays> ring to life in front of her.


    -LIV-


    Was it because the days were fun, or because I was busy? Or both?


    Either way, before I knew it, a week had passed since Orsted and our other guests had first arrived.


    And resulting from that week...


    Orsted and I were standing in the open fields a fair distance away from both houses, purposefully facing the mountains in the distance.


    "I see." Orsted carefully examined the magic circle floating in front of him and said, "So there was some merit to that Demon Lord''s magic system after all."


    "...Yes. Though, I don''t think it was meant to be used like that..."


    A crash course on magical barriers, magic circles, and how to both disperse and condense mana through said magic barriers and magic circles.


    Originally, I just taught Orsted how to make the barrier spells to disperse Being W''s mana. But I really underestimated how much talent the guy had.


    Intuitive mana control, even more so than mine. The sort where his will actually was mana, causing it to flow directly how he wanted it to.


    That,bined with a repository of magical knowledge that Orsted had in his head meant that he didn''t just learn the spells I taught him. Instead...


    Orsted tilted his head thoughtfully and then clenched his fist. The magic circle floating in front of him condensed and shot back to his arm, wrapping tightly around it like a bracelet. After that, he threw a punch. And when he did-


    *KABOOM*


    -An explosion erupted. A shockwave that blew away all the mana in front of Orsted. Not only that, but one that somehow turned the elemental mana into colorless threads that quickly dissolved into a transparent mist.


    Orsted smiled, looking satisfied. After that, he reached over to pat my head. "You are an excellent teacher, Rudeus."


    "...Sure. Let''s go with that."


    Seriously. What was up with me teaching people and them suddenly improving in leaps and bounds beyond my initial lessons?


    Was I that good of a teacher?


    Orsted patted my head again and then pulled his hand away. After that, he stared off into space and muttered, "Battle Aura and magic are separate concepts. But if magic circles are utilized, a bridge can be formed. And so..." He trailed off and started making more magic circles in front of him.


    ...I think I started to get why Master Roxy was so exasperated in teaching me now.


    Seeing Orsted trail off and go into his own world testing various hypotheses, I decided to leave him to his own devices and take a look around.


    It was morning.


    Since Eris''s parents were here, they were hogging her time so she wasn''t around. Sylphy was confused and curious about Miss Rostelina''s... Husband? Husband.


    Anyway, Sylphy was prying into Miss Rostelina''s husband, so she was busy pestering- *investigating* him to see if he was actually cursed or not with that mask.


    Dad, Mister Laws, and Roxy were on patrol... and the rest of the adults were keeping an eye on Princess Ariel ying with my sisters at the yground.


    Speaking of Princess Ariel, I had a feeling that she didn''t get out much or have many friends considering how quickly she got along with Norn and Aisha.


    But that was about it. As usual, I was left out... mostly because everybody was probably still paranoid about Orsted.


    He was a good guy, really. Just needed to make him look less like a ''final boss'' and more like a proper hero. Or at least a decent person.


    Couldn''t do much about his facial expressions, but maybe his outfit...


    Footsteps from behind. Purposefully made so as to not rm me.


    ...Except there was nobody there before, so that really didn''t help.


    I sighed and turned around to look at the visitor. "You know, it really isn''t helping you be less suspicious when you''re near impossible to detect, Mister Perry."


    Perry Dragonroad. Miss Rostelina''s husband. A mysterious man with violet hair, a pure white mask over his face, a typical adventurer''s outfit... and a wreath of light blue flowers around his neck?


    Orsted paused and looked over. Seeing the flowers around Perry''s neck, he smiled. "A gift from your grandchild?"


    Perry nodded and then held up his hands, like he was exasperated.


    I frowned and said, "Where is Sylphy, anyway?"


    She wasn''t around, so did that guy give him the slip?


    Perry paused, tilting his head. After that, he mimed opening a book.


    And then he struck a perfect pose of Eris being annoyed and waving her fist around.


    "Pft." I shook my head. "So Sylphy''s ying teacher today, huh?"


    Perry stuck his thumb up and nodded.


    Orsted stared at Perry and then said, "You should consider theater. Or the role of a jester."


    Perry drew his shoulders back, like he gasped. And then he waved his fist at Orsted and crossed his arms.


    Alright. So Orsted had a sense of humor after all.


    Don''t worry bud. We''d get you back to normal soon enough-


    Ah, wait. Since Orsted was stuck in a time loop though it might not be good for him to loosen up...


    No, we''d just have to make sure we won so he wouldn''t have to keep looping. Then-


    A soft poke on my forehead.


    I blinked and noticed Perry was crouched in front of me, staring at me with that nk mask.


    I frowned and said, "What was that for?"


    Perry leaned back and wagged his finger. After that, he tapped his temple and shook his head. Following that, he mimed opening a book and writing something in it.


    "...You want me to write things down? Make a journal?"


    Perry stuck his thumb up and nodded. After that, he reached over to pat my head.


    It was sincere. He was acting like a supportive teacher or uncle. But...


    Why the hell did I feel like I was being trolled right now?


    Perry stepped back and then leaned his head back. As he did, his shoulders started convulsing... Wait. Was that guyughing at me?


    Orsted stared at Perry and said, "You are enjoying this far too much."


    Perry shrugged and then waved his hand. After that, he pointed at me and then mimed waving a magic wand. He also tapped on his sword and then crossed his arms in an ''X.''


    ...Alright. Maybe ''suspicious'' wasn''t the right word for Mister Perry here. ''entric'' was better.


    I could see him being the crazy treasure hunter sort who dove into dungeons trying to find magical items and identally getting one that restored Miss Rostelina''s memory.


    Maybe the butterfly effect caused someone like that toe across Miss Rostelina and break her curse?


    Though it was still weird that Perry''s mana was all fuzzy and out of focus when I tried staring at him. Not to mention the weird sense of deja vu he constantly gave off.


    Maybe he was-


    *poke*


    "Ow!" I red at Perry.


    He let out another silentugh before running off into the distance.


    Weirdo. Who did he think he was, Rosw*ll from Re:Ze*ro or something? Acting like a clown when-


    Wait.


    I stared at Perry''s back, fading in the distance.


    ...If multiverse theory was a thing and as annoying as Rudeus made it out to be the first time I met him-


    "Rui!"


    A happy and cheerful girl''s voice echoing in the distance. Norn''s.


    "Big bro! y!"


    And there was Aisha''s.


    I nced over at the house to see my sisters being walked over by Miss Rostelina.


    Seeing them, I took another look at Perry and then shook my head.


    The guy was weird, but I had more important things to deal with than him.


    Like spending time with my cute sisters.


    -LIV-


    A yellow blur, shooting towards Eris''s head. She clicked her tongue and then swung her racket, sending the blur flying over the back towards her opponent.


    Sylphyughed and swung her own racket, sending the tennis ball back to Eris. "Power isn''t everything, Eri."


    A curved arc.


    Eris focused and dashed to the side before adjusting her grip and swinging frame of her racket at the ball.


    Like Sylphy said, power wasn''t everything. And like Rudy said, it was about control. And if she controlled the angle, adjusting the spin like he kept talking about with basketball, then-


    A *swoosh* echoing through the air. The ball flying towards the ground, but also spinning backwards at a high speed. And then it hit the ground and bounced. But instead of going forward or to the side...


    "E-Eh?"


    Sylphy ran forward to try and catch the ball, but it was toote.


    A soft rustle. The ball flying back to hit the. And like that...


    "Game!"


    Apuse filled the air... Well, the sound of a pair of people pping did. Eris''s Mom and Dad.


    She grinned and wiped the sweat off her brow. "I did it!"


    Sylphyughed and walked over to pick up the ball. Smiling, she nodded and said, "You did! Great job, Eri!"


    "It''s Eris!"


    Sylphy raised an eyebrow and said, "You''ll have to beat me a few more times than that, Eri."


    Eris frowned. But before she could think much on it, someone pulled her into a hug. Hilda.


    "Mother knew you could do it, Eris!"


    "M-Mom!" Eris squirmed, trying to get her face out of the way to get some air. "S-Stop that!"


    Philip chuckled and adjusted his shirt. After that, he looked over at Sylphy and said, "Thank you for spending time with our daughter, Sylphy."


    "No problem, Mister Philip!" Sylphy smiled and said, "Eri''s a great friend, so it''s always fun ying with her!"


    "Good." Philip nodded. "That''s good."


    Eris broke away from her mother and then looked at her father. "What''s with talking like that? Are you and Mom going back or something now?"


    "Yes."


    Eris blinked. "Wait. Really? It''s only been a week..."


    Philip shook his head. "Not ''only'', Eris. ''Already.''"


    Eris''s eyes widened and then she bit her lip.


    Right. It was already a week.


    Eris forgot. Her dad was the mayor of Roa. Not only that, but her mom had to be there with him to show solidarity.


    "...Stupid nobles." She looked up at her dad and said, "Can''t you just... retire? Stay here with us and have fun? Uncle Paul did, and he''s like Grandpa Sauros, right? The head of Notus or whatever?"


    Philip smiled and walked over to pat Eris''s head.


    She flinched and lowered her gaze.


    "I''m sorry, Eris. But I promise... Dad promises that he''ll make it up to youter, alright? There are just a few more affairs that I have to settle first."


    "...Stupid Dad. That''s what you always said."


    Philip flinched. But then he let out a sigh and said, "I know. But this time for sure. I swear on my life. Okay?"


    "...Hmph." Eris stepped away from Philip and averted her gaze.


    Hilda saw that and let out a sigh. After that, she walked up to hug Eris one more time. "Be good, okay, Eris? We''lle visit every now and then."


    "...Promise?"


    "Promise. So do your best to get along with Rudy and Sylphy, okay?"


    "...Fine."


    And with those brief farewells, Philip and Hilda headed off to the carriage parked outside the Greyrat household.


    Eris watched them leave and saw that Ghyine was already waiting there. Which meant that her parents were already nning to leave since she started her game with Sylphy, but waited for her to finish.


    Eris pursed her lips again and looked away.


    "...It''s not fair. Howe they can''t just stay here too?"


    Who cared about being nobles? Who cared about stupid other people? They were her mom and dad. Shouldn''t they listen to her? What she wanted? It wasn''t-!


    A soft pat on her head.


    Eris flinched and blinked away her tears.


    Sylphy was standing there, a soft smile on her face. "It''s okay to cry, Eri."


    Eris sniffed and looked away. "W-Who''s crying, huh? I-I just got water in my eyes!"


    "Okay. Then... Here." Sylphy brushed away Eris''s tears and said, "How about we y another game? After that, we can get Rudy and have some fun together. Is that okay?"


    "...F-Fine."


    Sylphy gave Eris a quick hug and then stepped back. After that, she grabbed Eris''s hand and said, "Before that... Did you know? Rudy made a lot of candies in secret."


    Eris wiped away her tears and then looked at Sylphy. "Candies?"


    "Mmhm! He was working on them with Miss Roxy for a surprise, but how about we steal a few first. He won''t mind, right?" A mischievous smile, making Sylphy look more like a demon than an elf.


    "Pft." Erisughed and then nodded. "Yeah! Let''s teach him a lesson for not ying with us more."


    "Right? Nowe on. After that, we can have fun ying something else."


    Eris followed after Sylphy.


    ...Yeah. This was fine.


    Even if her parents weren''t around, she had family here too. And a best friend that always tried to cheer her up.


    Eris sniffed and wiped her nose with her sleeve. After that, she smiled and said, "So what kinds of candies were there?"


    "Well~ Miss Roxy told me that Rudy was experimenting with honey..."


    -LIV-


    Ariel was amused.


    "El! Up, up!" Norn waved at Ariel and held up her hands.


    "No! Me! Up!" Standing next to her, Aisha did the same.


    A pair of cute little girls, vying for her attention. But not because she was the princess. Instead, it was because of sincere affection. The sweet innocence that only children could give.


    "Now, now." A mature elven woman walked over and hugged the girls, one in each arm. "You shouldn''t pressure the pretty princess."


    Ariel tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear and shook her head. After that, she smiled and said, "It''s fine, Miss Rostelina."


    Rostelina smiled and said, "You can just call me Lina, Dear."


    Another sincere expression. Treating Ariel as an ordinary girl instead of royalty, despite her words.


    It was strange.


    Ariel had wondered how Miss Lilia''s life was in the countryside and why she chose to stay there. Of course, there was the fact that she was a target due to the assassination attempt. Even so,pared to thevish inner pce, this should be nothing.


    But Ariel could understand the appeal now after having stayed for over a week.


    Warm and pleasant people. Sincerity, kindness. Peaceful days that seemed tost forever without a shred of concern.


    No disgusting nobles staring at her with ambition, lust, or greed in their eyes.


    No pressuring chancellors and tutors dictating how a princess should act, what a princess could do.


    No callous older brother who saw her as just an eyesore.


    Just... peace. Peace, happiness, and fun.


    "Princess?" Rostelina called out to Ariel.


    She blinked and shook her head. "I am fine, Miss Lina." After that, she looked at Norn and Aisha. "I would love to lift you both up, but I am quite frail, you know? Instead... Shall we y tag?"


    "Yay!"


    "Tag!"


    Norn broke free from Rostelina and then poked Ariel. "Got you!" After that, she giggled and ran off towards the yground.


    "Wait for me, Big Sis!" Aisha broke free and ran away as well.


    Rostelinaughed and said, "You''d better hurry!" She looked at Ariel and said, "It looks like the princess is upset." After that she winked.


    Ariel blinked and then she smiled. Shifting her gaze to Norn and Aisha, she brushed off her dress and said, "Daring to run away from me?"


    Norn ducked behind a slide, staring at Ariel.


    Aisha giggled and quickly tried hiding behind a pole.


    Ariel shook her head and then ran off after them.


    A pleasant and carefree day.


    They wouldn''tst forever. But until then...


    -LIV-


    Time marched on.


    Rudy, his friends, and his family were all enjoying a peaceful reprieve from everything. Splendid, idyllic summer days.


    Eris''s parents headed back to Roa with Ghyine, returning to their normal duties.


    Paul and Laws continued with their job of patrolling and getting rid of stray monsters. And to hone her skills, Roxy joined them.


    Princess Ariel enjoyed her vacation from the inner pce life making friends with everyone and just ying as the child she couldn''t be in the Asura Kingdom.


    Orsted continued experimenting and bouncing ideas off Rudy, learning as much as he could. At the same time, he rxed as well by spending time with the kids, losing a bit of his gloomy aura.


    Peaceful, happy times for everyone around.


    But it couldn''tst forever.


    Eventually, it was time for Ariel to head back to the pce and Orsted apanied her.


    And after that,te at night...


    "It''s been a month already, huh?" ''Perry'' removed his mask and stared at the starry night sky.


    It was invisible to the naked eye. And even to people who could see mana, nothing would have changed.


    But he could see it.


    Perry. Pierre Greyrat. Both aliases for Technique God Lace. The one and true outsider to the world who managed to reach it due to a technicality and weaving within the folds of Destiny.


    At the moment, he was constrained. Due to Being W''s... Due to Hitogami''s desperation, too many things were in flux. Every move that ''Lace'' made right now would drastically alter the future. So much that the natural corrective forces of the world would force him out until he threaded his way back in.


    Even so, because of his nature and how he arrived, he could see it.


    A distortion. Not in mana, but in destiny, time, and space. A result of Hitogami''s direct interference... but also because of the ripple effect from Rudy''s presence and the ''wish'' that was being sent from the distant future.


    Lace narrowed his eyes, observing all the invisible cracks spreading across thend... No, the world, and muttered, "It begins tonight, huh?"


    He wasn''t sure how that desperate bastard was going to respond, but he could guess. At a minimum, he would try to recreate the ''future'' that he knew by separating everyone and killing off those who were supposed to die in the future.


    Lace couldn''t stop that. At least, not without paying a heavy price now that everything was so vtile. And after that, it would be up to Rudy to sort things out. At least for a few years.


    But...


    "So you''re out here, Master?"


    A charming and seductive female voice. Rostelina.


    Lace nced back and said, "Aren''t you supposed to be helping Zenith as the midwife?"


    "I was. But Lily and Rudy said they could handle it." Sheughed and said, "I guess my dear husband made me too suspicious for them."


    "Mm. That''s fair." After nodding, he shifted his gaze back at the sky.


    Rostelina walked to his side and grabbed his right arm, leaning against it. After that, she looked up as well. "Are you worried?"


    "A little. Being this powerless gives me bad memories."


    "Well, maybe you should just have a little more faith, Master. Not all stories end in tragedy."


    "True." Lace rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword. "...I just find it hard to trust in people after all I''ve been through."


    "You''ve got me!"


    Lace chuckled and then said, "Yes. I suppose I do."


    Silence.


    Lace continued staring at the starry sky, watching the cracks expand.


    Rostelina was quiet as well. But eventually, she said, "Are you going to leave again?"


    "Probably."


    "...Master''s quite cruel, you know?"


    "I know. But every arces to an end before a new one can begin. I''ll be back, promise."


    At that time, a shooting star shot across the sky. And then from the Greyrat household, a baby''s cries echoed.


    "It''s time." Lace shook off Rostelina and then drew his sword.


    The invisible cracks shed, emitting white mist. At the same time, towering shadowy figures flickered into existence. Mythical creatures never before seen on the surface.


    A seven-headed hydra with obsidian scales.


    A serpentine monster with glowing yellow eyes.


    An ancient crimson wyvern with a scar over its left eye.


    And it wasn''t only here.


    In the distance, the night sky lit up as white lightning struck, resulting in monsters appearing wherever it did.


    Rostelina clicked her tongue, ring at the monsters. "That''s cheating."


    "He always does." Lace stepped forward, eyeing the unranked monsters slowly advancing. "Take care of yourself. I''ll be back in a few years."


    "Wait!"


    Lace paused.


    Rostelina ran up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Remember. You promised."


    Lace smiled. "Right. I promise."


    "Good." Rostelina nodded and then said, "I want a baby when you do! You owe me a fairytale ending!"


    "Wait a minute. I never said-"


    Before he could finish, seven rays of light shot out towards him, one for each color of the rainbow.


    "Tch." Lace sheathed his sword, ring at the light. "Fine. Just don''t die, Lina."


    Crimson shed, shattering the rainbow barrage.


    "I won''t!" Rostelina waved and ran back to the house. "Love you!"


    "That girl..." Lace shook his head and then focused. "I promised her a fairytale ending. My role here might be finished for now... But you''re thinking too highly of yourself if that means you can change the plot now, you bastards."


    Monstrous roars filled the air, echoing throughout the night.


    Lace narrowed his eyes, causing them to sh green. "Alright, Rudy. Don''t waste the advantage I gave you now. I won''t forgive you if you make the same mistakes he did."


    Muttering those words, Lace stepped forward, swinging his crimson sword. One that looked all too simr to the one that Paul wielded in Milbotts. And one swung with a sh that looked all too simr to the one Paul devised when rescuing Tristina.

 104 – Turning Point 2 – Zwischenzug – Part 1

    104 ¨C Turning Point 2 ¨C Zwischenzug ¨C Part 1


    It was an uneventful birth. Unlike with Norn, my newest sibling didn¡¯t cause amotion when she was born.


    Well, other than crying. But that was good. A healthy baby should be crying when they were born. Not like me who concerned my parents when I didn''t immediately cry.


    Mama Lily smiled and handed the baby over to my mom. ¡°Congrattions, Zenny. It¡¯s another beautiful baby girl.¡±


    My mom let out an exhausted smile and hugged my new baby sister against her chest. As she did, sheughed. ¡°Another girl. I knew it.¡±


    Mama Lilyughed as well.


    I smiled.


    Things were going smoothly. An ordinary birth, and one that didn''t require a C-section.


    ...Though the fact that it didn''t gave me a different sort of trauma, but that memory can be quietly shoved off to the side.


    But anyway, things were going well. It waste into the night, but nothing out of the ordinary was urring.


    I was worried something ridiculous would happen again like with Norn¡¯s birth. Because of that, Norn and Aisha were at my house with Master Roxy and Miss Ghyine for protection while Miss Rose watched them. Sylphy and Eris were there too, of course. Mostly so that Sylphy could keep an eye on Eris and make sure she didn''t run off in case something happened.


    As for this house, Dad and Mister Laws were keeping watch outside.


    I wasn¡¯t too sure where Miss Rostelina and that Perry guy went, but whatever the case, it looked like everything would be fine.


    Mom hugged my new baby sister close to her chest and said, "I guess it''s Ste after all then." She smiled and then looked at me. "Seems like there''s no cute baby brother for you this time, Rudy."


    I helped Mama Lily move all the supplies and sterilize them before wiping my hands. After that, I walked over to take a look at my new sister.


    She had stopped crying, but she was still sniffling. Her cute green eyes were puffy and her skin was a bit red. But all in all, a normal and healthy baby girl.


    Ste, my new baby sister.


    And one that Rudeus never had.


    Another sign that it wasn''t good to rely too much on what he told me.


    Mom smiled and said, "Do you want to hold her, Rudy?"


    "E-Eh?" I blinked and said, "Um-"


    "Here. You''ve held Norn and Aisha, so it''s not fair to ignore Ste."


    Before I could say anything else, Mom was already holding Ste out to me.


    "H-Hey!" I quickly took my baby sister and frowned. "You should be more cautious, Mom. I''m still just a kid, you know? What if I identally hurt her?"


    Momughed and said, "Well, I''d trust you to hold her more than your dad. Besides, haven''t you been learning more healing magic from Mister Orsted?"


    "...Fair."


    That was another reason why I was here. Unlike thest time where I had to scramble with basic healing magic, I knew a few more.


    But still...


    I stared at my new baby sister and mumbled, "Ste, huh?"


    It was a fitting name. Just like Norn, it seemed like Mom wanted her daughters to have grandiose names-


    Ah wait. It was Dad this time who chose the name.


    Well, it looked like he was getting a better naming sense now at least.


    Ste. A star. And one born from Zenith... Yeah. Dad was definitely getting better at names.


    My new baby sister sniffled and then looked at me, eyes still watering.


    "Hey there." I carefully shifted my hand around to brush her tears. "I''m Rudy, your big brother. There''s no need to cry, okay? No matter what happens, I''ll-"


    A sudden roar in the distance. Not just one, but a chorus that reverberated all around.


    I froze.


    Mama Lily frowned and quickly drew her gold pin from her sleeve, turning it into the sword I made for her.


    At the same time, Mom sat up, panicked. "R-Rudy?"


    Ste started crying again, scared by the sudden noise.


    I held her close and kept calm. "Shh. It''ll be alright. Nothing will happen to you."


    A door mmed open, and then my dad''s voice echoed. "Rudy! Keep an eye on your Mom and-"


    A snarl interrupted my dad and then I heard the sound of walls and furniture breaking. Something smashing through the house.


    "Dammit!"


    Mister Laws''s voice echoed after that. "Paul!"


    "I''m fine! Keep an eye out! They''reing in from everywhere!"


    Mama Lily''s gaze turned sharp after hearing that. She quickly moved to my mom''s side and said, "Zenny. Can you stand?"


    She tried to move, but winced and shook her head. "N-No. It hurts too much."


    Mama Lily looked at me. "Rudy?"


    "...I don''t know if this will help, but..." I focused on my mom and the flow of her mana.


    There wasn''t anything inherently wrong with my mom. Childbirth was painful, but it was one of those weird ''natural states'' that took time to heal and recover from.


    Maybe it was because ''birth'' counted as a sort of miracle? Or maybe because the division of resources from the human body to the baby was a requirement? Whatever the case, Mom''s mana was thin and her body was weak. Her skin was pale, and the flow of her mana was sluggish.


    It would have been different if it was a C-section like with Norn, but...


    No. It should work.


    Healing was healing. Even if none of the spells I had learned til now specifically addressed restoring fatigue from childbirth. And maybe that was wrong too. After all, hadn''t a lot of magicalmon sense been proven wrong recently by thebined efforts of me, Sylphy, Master Roxy, and Orsted?


    So...


    A sh of white and golden light.


    Mom''s pale skin regained a bit of color. At the same time, her mana regained its natural vigor-


    No. It was a bit weaker than usual. Probably since a portion of it went into Ste as she was being born?


    I wasn''t paying too close attention because of the context and frantic events, but-


    A reflection of light, barely visible in the darkness. One aimed directly at Ste.


    My eyes widened and I quickly formed a barrier. The moment I did, a loud impact echoed. One that sounded like metal grating against ss.


    Ste started crying harder.


    I wanted tofort her, but I didn''t really have the time for that. Because...


    "A Devouring Devil?" My mom carefully stared at the creature scraping away at the barrier and said, "What''s that doing here?"


    Mama Lily clicked her tongue and raised her sword. "Does it matter? We need to kill it."


    I stared at the Devouring Devil and frowned.


    A skeletal reptilian creature with obsidian scales. Long arms and limbs, along with sharp ws... Its ominous crimson eyes looked at me before swiveling to Mom and Mama Lily. When it did, it snarled and then swung bony talons at my barrier, scraping against it.


    But more than that, it was strong.


    Taking the mana level of the Terminate Boars in the area as aparison, this thing had mana at least ten times as dense. Not only that, but it was actively reinforcing its limbs with said mana, meaning that it was fast.


    And if I hadn''t reacted in time, Ste would be-


    No. I couldn''t think like that. Right now...


    I looked at Mama Lily. "Can you handle it, Mama Lily?"


    She smiled and then stepped forward. "Leave it to me, Rudy." Raising her sword, she said, "I didn''t get a chance to use this in Milbotts."


    Mom looked at her and frowned. After that, she stood up and said, "I''ll help."


    "Mom!"


    She looked back at me and shook her head, a serious expression on her face. "I''ll be fine, Rudy." She lifted her bracelet and smiled. "I have this, remember?"


    Ah. That was true. But-


    "Trust Mommy, Rudy." She shifted her attention back to the monster and said, "I''ve faced scarier monsters partying with your dad. Though..." She stared at the monster and said, "...I guess that Being W really doesn''t like you getting new siblings, huh?"


    The Devouring Devil snarled, fixing its gaze on Ste.


    I frowned and turned to the side. As I did, the monster''s gaze followed, never shifting away from her.


    "...Yeah. Seems that way."


    That guy had mentioned something about Norn in the past too, didn''t he? Were my younger sisters going to be that dangerous to him in the future, or-?


    "I will lead, Zenny. Please support."


    "Got it. Be careful, Lily."


    "Of course."


    A brief exchange. After that, Mama Lily and Mom charged out to fight.


    And then light shed and a horde of giant tarants started crawling in the room.


    Mom screamed and said, "W-What in Milis''s name?!"


    "Focus!" Mama Lily swung her sword. At the same time, her bracelet glowed and a st of wind surged, blowing out both the walls and the spiders.


    "What the hell?!" Dad''s voice echoed from outside. "Monsters are inside too?!"


    Laws''s voice echoed after that and he said, "Paul! To your left!"


    "Dammit! You rusty piece of junk...! *This* is how you use Water Style!"


    A chaotic and frantic mess.


    Mama Lily jumped out to fight the monsters. After taking a breath, Mom did the same.


    Which left me alone with Ste.


    My baby sister kept crying, nuzzling her face against me as if she was terrified.


    No, she definitely was terrified.


    I grit my teeth and then looked up at the sky. "You bastard..."


    Nothing. I didn''t see anything. Whatever was happening, it wasn''t a mana-based phenomenon. I also didn''t see any traces of Being W''s mana.


    Did he realize it? That I could see when he was interfering with mana?


    "I guess you really are a god, huh?"


    I underestimated the guy a bit. To think he could still pull all of this off... No. Was it a desperation move?


    If he could have done this before, he would have. Especially since I and my family were even stronger than we were in the past due to his failed attempts.


    But I had to give him credit.


    I was the strongest person here. If I moved, things would be over.


    But I couldn''t.


    I looked down at my baby sister.


    Did she calm down a bit? Ste had stopped crying. Instead, she was staring at me, as if trying to assess whether or not she was safe.


    I smiled and said, "Don''t worry, Sis. I''ll keep you safe."


    Right.


    It was nerve-wracking and it pissed me off, but I had to trust them. Up until this point, I''d done my best and helping everyone help themselves.


    ...A bit too much in cases like Sylphy, Dad, and Eris.


    But now that was what I had to do. I had to trust them to solve the situation. And my job right now...


    I held Ste close and stacked a three-dimensional barrier spell around me beforeyering elemental protections. Ayer of wind to deflect any projectiles and dampen momentum. A wall of water to slow attacks. Lightning over that to strike back. mes to scorch hostile presences. Then holy to repel any foreign mana influences and tricks Being W might try. And to be extra safe, I created a thick sphere of iron around me. Just in case there happened to be a mana disruptor of some sort.


    Because knowing that guy, there might.


    Altogether, it formed a sphere of protection that would take someone like Orsted using that mana disruptor attack to pierce.


    So now... We just waited.


    ...Ah. I also needed to make sure there was airflow in here. One small magic circle for that...


    There. And now we wait-


    "WAAAAAHHHHH!"


    ...And I forgot. It was dark.


    I sighed and conjured a small ball of holy magic to provide light. After that, I smiled at Ste and said, "Well, you''ve definitely got a healthy set of lungs on you."


    She sniffed and then stared at me again.


    Outside, I could hear muffled shouts and explosions. Probably Dad letting loose, along with everyone else.


    "...Well. Since we''ll be here for a while..." I stared at Ste.


    She stared back with watery eyes that looked ready to burst into tears again at any moment.


    "How do you calm a baby down again...?"


    Stories helped, but Ste wouldn''t understand them. Then... lubies? Lubies. But I didn''t know any. All I knew were random anime songs-


    Ah, wait.


    I knew one.


    A super emotional song from a wholesome family anime that I watched. Also one that started me on my trek to make amends with my family after seeing the regret the MC had in not raising his daughter.


    "I''m not confident in singing, but... Well, you can make fun of meter if you remember it, kay? For now though..."


    I took a deep breath and started singing.


    <em>""</em>

 105 – Turning Point 2 – Zwischenzug – Part 2

    105 ¨C Turning Point 2 ¨C Zwischenzug ¨C Part 2


    shes of light illuminated the night sky. With them came monsters, appearing out of what looked like cracks glowing in mid-air. Monsters that let out a chorus of roars and snarls that seemed to echo in every direction


    Staring out the window of the house, Roxy grit her teeth and focused. <Magic Arrays> spread out to cover the house with barrier spells and stop monsters from getting in. But-


    "KYAAAA!"


    "Mommy! Rui!"


    Aisha''s screams and Norn''s cries echoed from behind Roxy.


    Her eyes widened and she turned around to see a Terminate Boar charging towards the two.


    "Mercy!"


    *Sching!*


    The metal elemental spirit flew out like an arrow and pierced the boar, pinning it to the wall. And when it was, Mercy rippled, turning into a mass of spikes and ripping the boar apart.


    Roxy quickly ran over to Aisha and Norn, hugging them close. "Are you hurt?"


    Aisha trembled and shook her head.


    Norn didn''t say anything, only holding Roxy close.


    Mercy flew back to Roxy and started orbiting her, as if keeping a close eye on the surroundings.


    Roxy did the same.


    They were downstairs in the living room. Roxy had been keeping Aisha and Norn entertained with some magic, swapping out for Rose who wanted to get some rest.


    It was lucky. Really lucky.


    Rose might have picked up a little bit of magic, but it was barely enough to defend herself. If it had been her watching over the toddlers right now-


    A sh of white light from upstairs. Shortly after that-


    "What the heck?!"


    "Eri! Here!"


    "Why are there monsters in the house?!"


    shing steel. Mana erupting from above as Sylphy and Eris fought off monsters of their own. And then down the hall, in the guest rooms...


    A brief scuffle. The sound of a de being drawn, as well as furniture being knocked over. After that...


    "Are you alright, Miss Rose?"


    "Y-Yes. I''m fine. Thank you Ghyine."


    They were safe. Roxy didn''t know what was happening, but it looked like they had managed to get through the ambush.


    "R-Rossy..." Norn sniffed and buried her face against Roxy''s coat. "I''m scared."


    Aisha nodded as well. "M-Monsters are scary..."


    Roxy kept a close eye on the surroundings, but she pulled the girls into a hug and said, "Everything will be okay. Right, Mercy?"


    *sching!*


    The metal elemental rippled, letting out a pure chime. After that, it turned into a little stick figure and bounced around, lightly poking Norn and Aisha.


    Norn looked up and giggled at seeing Mercy.


    Aisha reluctantly nced over and then smiled.


    After that, footsteps raced from upstairs. Eris and Sylphy arriving in the living room.


    Both were roughed up, and it looked like they were caught off-guard.


    Eris was wearing a loose nightgown and clutching a blue crystal de. One that seemed to be made by Sylphy in a pinch.


    As for Sylphy, she was wearing a shirt and shorts. Unlike Eris, however, she had a proper weapon. The wand that Rudy made her was out and thrumming with mana, ready to fire whatever magic she needed.


    "Miss Roxy!" Eris scanned the room and then locked onto Roxy. When she saw her, Eris let out a sigh of relief and ran over. "Miss Roxy! What''s happening?"


    Sylphy walked over as well, carefully observing their surroundings. "Yes. Do you know what''s happening, Auntie Roxy?"


    Roxy felt her eye twitch at Sylphy''sment, but she ignored it. Instead, she nced back out the window.


    Light continued to sh in the distance, making it seem like a giant thunderstorm was happening. But there was no thunder, and there wasn''t any lightning. There wasn''t even a sign of a mana disturbance urring.


    "...I''m not sure."


    Sylphy moved to Norn and Aisha and pulled them into a hug, letting out a soft smile to try and calm them down.


    With that, Roxy moved back to the window to check the situation.


    Her barrier spell was up. And it looked like it was blocking some monsters from getting in.


    So how did those monsters appear? It wasn''t a teleport spell or a summoning spell. In fact, there weren''t any traces of mana at all.


    Did it have to do with the cracks she saw earlier? Was there something else happening as well? No, could it be that the ''Being W'' they were all worried about truly was an all-powerful god...?


    Roxy felt her heart race.


    It was bad. This was bad.


    A monster like Orsted, she could rationalize. There were limits to his powers. While powerful, Roxy was aware that it was a distance that could be closed given time, preparation, and training.


    But if their enemy was a god, and one able to summon monsters at will...


    Another pair of footsteps echoed. Ghyine and Rose.


    Rose saw Norn and Aisha with Sylphy and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Milis!" She dashed over and hugged them all. "Are you alright?"


    Sylphy smiled and said, "We''re fine, Mom."


    Ghyine walked to the center of the room, resting her hand on her sword. Her eyepatch was raised as well, revealing a glowing green eye. "...Looks like there''s a lot out there." She nced over at Eris and said, "And you look like you forgot some important lessons, Eris."


    Eris''s face turned red and she stomped her foot. "H-How was I supposed to know we''d get attacked like this? I didn''t have time to change!"


    Ghyine chuckled. "It''s fine. I''m d that you feel safe enough here to let your guard down. Although..." She looked out in the distance and mumbled, "This really is unfortunate timing, isn''t it? Lord Sauros, Master Philip, and Lady Hilda..."


    Eris''s face turned pale. "A-Are monsters there too? Can you see them, Ghyine?"


    "I can''t see them. But I don''t need to." She shook her head and said, "I think this goes further than just the Fedoa region."


    Roxy bit her lips and then muttered, "Is it the end of times?"


    Rose trembled. "The end of times... Judgment Day? Like the one foretold in the book of Milis?"


    Ghyine shifted her grip on her sword, frowning. "Judgment Day, huh? I don''t believe in that mumbojumbo... But it sure looks pretty crazy out there." She nced over at Roxy and said, "Can you handle things here?"


    Roxy felt her stomach churn.


    Protecting everyone by herself against a god...


    Roxy took a deep breath and then nodded. "I''ll do it."


    Eris looked over at Ghyine and said, "G-Ghyine? Are you leaving?"


    The beastwoman looked over towards the other house and said, "For a bit." She nced at Sylphy and said, "Help Eris get ready and prepare forbat."


    Sylphy nodded. "Got it, Miss Ghyine."


    Ghyine looked at Roxy one more time and smiled. "We''ll get through this."


    "Y-Yes..." Roxy nodded back.


    After that, Ghyine left, walking out from the safety of Roxy''s barrier.


    "Come on, Eri." Sylphy tugged Eris and started dragging her back upstairs. "I''ll keep you safe so you can change."


    "I-I don''t need your help to change!"


    "Don''t be shy now. It''s serious!"


    Eris''s face turned red and she groaned. "Argh... Fine! B-But no staring!"


    After that, the two girls ran back upstairs.


    Which left Roxy alone with Rose and the two toddlers.


    Norn and Aisha were still huddled up against Rose, as if trying to shut out everything happening around them.


    Roxy didn''t me the girls. She was tempted to ignore everything as well. But she couldn''t. All she could do was try and hide her trembling legs and focus.


    Rose looked up at Roxy and then frowned. "Roxy-"


    "I''m fine." She moved next to the Rose and focused.


    Mercy moved with her, slowly orbiting the room.


    Roxy took a deep breath.


    She could do this. She was an adventurer. Even if she hadn''t been adventuring for a while, it wasn''t her first time facing the unknown. Or facing a fight to the death.


    ...But it *was* her first time being relied on to protect others in such a chaotic mess-


    A sh of white light. After that, a murderous roar as a hulking figure charged towards them. An Orc.


    Norn and Aisha screamed.


    Rose did as well.


    Roxy froze, unable to react.


    But something else reacted for her.


    *Sching!*


    Mercy flew out to intercept the monster. At the same time, magic formations red as <Magic Arrays> activated its automatic defense, sending a volley of magic spells at the monster.


    Fire, water, lightning, stone spears. Rippling silver from Mercy''s attacks.


    The Orc stood still, yellow eyes wide in disbelief. And then it copsed,nding on the floor with a thud.


    "Dammit!" Eris cursed.


    "Eri! Don''t rush!"


    "Aaargh. This is thest time I''m changing into stupid night clothes!"


    A sudden off-tangent conversation.


    That broke Roxy out of her shock.


    Right.


    She had forgotten until now because of Orsted, but she wasn''t weak. If it was just monsters... If it was just ordinary threats like that...


    Roxy calmed down. At the same time, she focused on her surroundings.


    More white light shed. Perhaps realizing that she was a threat... or perhaps determined to wipe out Norn and Aisha, more monsters emerged.


    Roxy didn''t recognize them all, but she could tell that they were at least B-ranked monsters.


    But if it was just that...


    "Mercy."


    *Sching?*


    Roxy swept her hand out to the side, causing magic formations to re and wrap around her arm. "Don''t show them any."


    *Sching!*


    With those words and a bombardment of magic, the Callous Witch of Destruction made her return.


    -LIV-


    "Dammit!" Paul ducked away from a giant de and then shed up to deflect a st of mes aimed at him. "What in the world is happening right now? Is that bastard so terrified of my kids?"


    Laws jumped over Paul, using his shoulders as a stepping stone to shoot down a group of wyverns floating overhead. After that, Laws flew down and kicked the Living Armor that was attacked Paul, breaking its posture.


    Paul took the opening and pierced his sword into the armor''s helmet before stealing the monster''s weapon. The moment he did, he spun around and threw it at a horde of goblins advancing in the distance.


    Laws quickly moved back to Paul''s side andughed. "Well, friend. When my son-inw is strong enough to impress the Dragon God and your daughters can already use magic, even Demon God Lace would give pause, wouldn''t he?"


    Paul slid to the side and then roused his Battle Aura. Following the chaotic flux of mana in the area, he spread out his own and then cut the space, ripping apart a group of undead skeletons. After that, he moved back to Laws''s side and said, "Yeah. Bute on! This is a bit much!"


    Laws fired off arrows at another wave of flying monsters. As he did, he said, "Do you think Rudy''s alright? Ah, and kneel for me."


    Paul quickly crouched.


    Laws jumped off Paul''s back again and then notched an arrow, filling it with silver mana. After that, he aimed at a flickering shadow high in the sky and fired.


    Screeching wind. Laws''s arrow shot off with a vicious silver spiral, lighting up the night sky.


    A strangled roar echoed from high above before the shadowy figure dispersed.


    Paul caught Laws as he fell from the knockback of his attack and set him down. After that, he focused on the approaching monsters and said, "Rudy should be fine. Especially since he''s with his new baby sister. I learned about it recently, but my son''s the sort who''s the strongest when protecting someone he loves, you know?"


    "So not when he''s showing off like you?"


    Paulughed, especially when he saw Zenith sending him worried looks from the distance. "Well, old habits die hard. Ah, and duck."


    Laws quickly crouched.


    The moment he did, Paul swung his de over Laws. A silver wave shed, cutting down a shadowy assassin trying to backstab him as well as a group of feral bears in the distance.


    Laws stood back up and frowned. "How long is this going tost...?" He nced at the vige and said, "And what are we going to do about the vigers?"


    Paul froze. "Shit. I forgot about them."


    Laws scoffed. "Some knight you are."


    "Hey! Family first- Argh, being a hypocrite again. No wonder Rudy''s always pissed at me." Paul looked over towards the vige.


    It wasn''t as bad. He could see some mana signatures over there, but they were much weaker than the ones they were fighting. At most, F-ranked monsters.


    "...Our pals can handle it for now- Hm?"


    A familiar figure darted off towards the vige, wielding a glowing silver sword and shield. Elinalize- No, Rostelina.


    Paulughed. "Actually, don''t worry about it. Your mom''s got that covered."


    Laws shot down a flock of Dire Birds heading towards them and then pursed his lips. "My mother? Will she be enough?"


    Paul kicked the pauldron from the Living Armor into the distance, bowling over a group of goblins trying to sneak up on Lilia and Zenith. "Trust me, Pal. Your mom''s no slouch, either in looks or in fighting."


    "...I will make sure to tell that to Zenith and Liliater."


    "H-Hey! There''s no need for that!"


    Laws smiled, but then he nced over at the second house. "Should we move? As you say, Rudy should be fine here, and your wives are both more than capable of protecting themselves with the equipment they possess. But the other children..."


    Paul nced over as well.


    A shining barrier covered the house. And in the distance, Paul could see that the other barriers meant to protect the vige were activated as well. Roxy''s work, of course.


    Even so...


    "That Being Whatchamacallit really has a grudge against us, huh?"


    ...He could see the mana from monsters somehow appearing in the house. Not only that, but Eris, Sylphy, and Roxy were continuously moving around, fighting off those monsters while Rose, Norn, and Aisha stayed in the middle of the living room.


    Paul nced back at Rudy.


    The situation there hadn''t changed. His son had taken his new baby sister and locked her away in that crazy defensive shell. And while monsters were trying to break in, they were easily struck down by a barrage of elemental attacks.


    Not only that, but Lilia and Zenith were close by, taking out the stronger monsters while leaving the small fry to get killed off by Rudy''s defenses.


    Seeing that, Paul shouted. "Zenny! Lily! We''re going to check on the other kids! Is that okay?"


    Lilia cut down a grotesque monster with writhing spindly limbs and then looked over at Paul. "Why have you not already?"


    Zenith waved her hand, summoning giant stone spires to pierce a pack of wolves running towards them. After that, she looked over at Paul and said, "What Lily said! Go get everyone to safety!"


    "Not sure where is safe right now considering monsters just look like they''re popping out of thin air, but sure." Paul grumbled and then looked at Laws. "You ready?"


    Laws reached to grab more arrows to notch on his bow. But he was out. Seeing that, he clicked his tongue and then held out his hand, making rough arrows out of his mana. "As ready as I''ll ever be. ...And I need to thank Rudy sometime for teaching me this useful trick."


    "Thank him after this is over. Now..." Paul charged. "I''ll cut through!"


    Laws kicked off the ground and ran after Paul, sending a barrage of silver arrows to support him.

 106 – Turning Point 2 – Zwischenzug – Part 3

    106 ¨C Turning Point 2 ¨C Zwischenzug ¨C Part 3


    Ste had fallen asleep. After singing a few more lubies, my baby sister finally sumbed to her fatigue and passed out. A peaceful slumber.


    But while she was able to rx, I wasn''t.


    First of all, I could still follow what was happening outside. It was hard not to considering about a dozen monsters per second kept dying to my defensive measures.


    Second of all, I was worried about Mom and Mama Lily fighting outside.


    But this point, the house had already been ripped to shreds from the bombardment of monsters, so there wasn''t any chance that Mom and Mama Lily would get tripped up by being stuck against a wall or something. But I was concerned.


    The monsters right now weren''t very strong because Dad and Mister Laws had aggroed the stronger ones. And the terrifying creatures I could sense far in the distance were being held off by someone else. Probably Perry if I had to guess.


    But monsters were literally spawning in. Like this world had suddenly changed into an RPG, the monsters were popping in from nowhere. Almost like this was a tower defense or something and they wereing in waves.


    Still, that was fine. While I was worried, I wasn''t anxious. There was a slim chance that something dangerous might pop up, but I trusted in the equipment that me and Master Roxy refined for Mom and Mama Lily.


    The main reason why I couldn''t rx was...


    ''Hey. Why don''t you give it up?''


    ...This slimy used car salesman voice whispering in my head.


    ''Rudeus Notos Greyrat. I have to admit that you''re something else. You''ve made me go through a lot of trouble until now, you know? But I''m a forgiving kind of guy. If you agree, we can let bygones be bygones. You just have to promise to not go against me. It''s not hard, right?''


    Says the creepy bastard who won''t show his face. You think I trust you?


    I responded to him with my thoughts. But at the same time, I focused.


    A branch of magic specially devoted to obscuring the mind and preventing people from reading it. Something from a world where the Wizards atrge existed in secret from the non-magicals. And one where a self-proimed dark lord naming himself after the ''flight of death'' terrorized the magicalmunity.


    It was never exined in detail, but the principles were straight forward. And when applied with the memory techniques I knew and had been training in, as well as the world egg theory and domain expansion...


    Well. I''ve been waiting for this.


    ''Hm?''


    A shift in tone. Surprise from Being W. The moment I heard that...


    ''I got you.''


    ...I closed my eyes and the world changed.


    Darkness stretching in every direction. An infinite space modeled after the boundless universe. And right now, I was standing in the center of it all, floating over a shining crimson star.


    I also wasn''t alone.


    In front of me was the source of that slimy voice. The one who had been messing with me for years now.


    "...Huh. Didn''t think you were actually just a blob of white mist. Makes a whole lot of sense though."


    It was a man covered in white mist that obscured his features. Tall, fairly muscr. In short, he looked like one of those faceless mannequins that you saw at a department store, except actually alive.


    Being W looked around, confused. "This... isn''t the Void World. But it isn''t the Human World either? What is- Wait. Why do I hear music?"


    []


    An attack that I couldn''t recreate in reality. To begin with, I didn''t have the energy capacity to cast such a spell. Even if I did, the calctions required were far tooplex to begin to fathom. Unlike the original user, basic trigonometry and physics wouldn''t be enough. Especially since it would have required controlling both the trajectory of an interster celestial object and the total erupted energy of a copsed star.


    But this wasn''t reality.


    And since that ''god'' thought he had everything at his fingertips...


    "Supernova."


    "W-What is that?!"


    A sh of light moving at impossible speeds from the distance.s being broken down and their mass converted into raw energy to serve as ignition.


    Being W panicked and tried to float away.


    Unfortunately for him... Magic didn''t exist in this world. At least, not ording to his logic. Not only that, but we were ying by my rules right now.


    And at this moment, it was my turn to attack.


    "Why... can''t I... move?!" Being W gnashed his teeth and turned to look at me.


    I couldn''t see his eyes, but I felt his re.


    I smiled and said, "You might be a god, but here? You walked into the wrong neighborhood, Whitey."


    An entire sr system ofs, torn to shreds by the beam of light. One that grew with each it devoured.


    "This... This is insane. You!" Being W turned to look at me and said, "What *are* you?!"


    My smile widened. "Didn''t you know? I''m just a kid. But kid''s just have the darndest imaginations, don''t they? Ah. And I hope you''re pretty durable."


    With that, I stepped out of phase from where Being W was, half a dimension away. The moment I did, the light pierced into the crimson star. And the moment it did, an astronomical amount of crimson energy erupted. Not mana, not divine power. Just pure, raw, destructive energy.


    "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!"


    A shrill scream. Pained, but also furious.


    I watched Being W with a clinical eye and checked his status.


    "...So it''s not enough, huh?"


    I wasn''t sure if it was because Icked the actual energy to do damage to him, or if he was just that mentally resilient. But he survived.


    Damn. Was this how Cl*ud andpany lived through the attack? Since it wasn''t in reality, they could live by the skin of their teeth?


    Whatever the case, I reappeared and examined Being W.


    His body was scorched. Golden blood dripped from his body between charred skin. And his absent eyes were finally visible, ring at me with crimson malice.


    "You son of a bitch!" He growled and then waved his hand, conjuring massive magic formations all around me. "You think this is a game? That you can just trap me here and y god?"


    "You''re the one who entered uninvited. Also, that''s not how you use magic."


    I snapped my fingers, shattering the magic formations.


    Being W gnashed his teeth and threw out his hands. The moment he did, a beam of divine energy shot towards me.


    But-


    "For a god, you really don''t know basic concepts, huh?"


    Space rippled in front of me before suddenly copsing in on itself. A miniscule ck hole with just the bare minimum amount of energy.


    But a ck hole was still a ck hole.


    The beam of energy struck the ck hole and went no further. In fact, it seemed to be stalled in space, twisting and bending around the ck hole.


    Being W flinched. But he red at me doubled his attack, expanding the beam even further. As he did, he growled and said, "You think you know more than a god?"


    "No. I think you''re just unaware of how reality works. Like the fact that ck holes can trap even raw information... Which includes a mind."


    The ck hole grew, greedily gobbling up Being W''s attack.


    I had to give him credit. Even if this wasn''t reality, it still operated on proper logic. And from that, the amount of energy in that beam... Since the ck hole was rapidly expanding, it was definitely reaching the output of a star.


    ...Just how powerful was this guy, really? He seemed to be struggling a bit, but there was still definitely gas left in his tank.


    "Well, one way to find out."


    Being W was still focused on trying to st the ck hole away.


    A futile effort. There wasn''t enough energy in existence to push a ck hole away like that. And even if there was, it would be shot back out instead of moving the ck hole. They just didn''t like to move.


    But this was my reality, my rules. And so...


    I flung my hand forward, shooting the ck hole towards Being W.


    He screamed and suddenly turned into a thin white noodle, sucked into the event horizon of the ck hole.


    I watched as he gradually disappeared into the void.


    It should have been over with that. Even a god couldn''t escape the absolute rules of nature.


    ...Or so I thought. But...


    "What the hell?"


    A sh of white light shooting out from the ck hole. An impossibility. At the same time, the ck hole copsed, revealing a mangled and bloody Being W.


    "You *fucker.*" He red at me and said, "I was wondering how the fuck everything was breaking down. You... You aren''t human."


    Well. n A didn''t work. And neither did n B. Time for n C.


    I stepped forward and reached out my left hand. As I did, the surroundings changed. Instead of just floating in space, we reappeared on a holographic tform.


    Well, I did. Being W floated in the air above it, ring at me.


    I clenched my left hand and grabbed the hilt of a sword that didn''t exist yet.


    "I dunno. I feel pretty human. Well, I did until a certain god decided to mess with my life."


    Right. So it looked like ''energy'' wasn''t enough. But that made sense when taking Rudeus''s mana conjecture into ount, as well as my own thoughts.


    I wanted to try out my space-time copse spell on him, but since he could jump out of a freaking ck hole, I had a feeling that wouldn''t work.


    So... n C it was.


    If mana was omnipotent, and if it flowed ording to one''s will... Conceptual maniption wasn''t beyond the realm of possibility.


    Which meant that conceptual weapons could be a thing too.


    It wouldn''t be so simple in reality, but here...


    A god had three majorponents: Authority, Power, and Faith.


    Authority over a certain domain. Power to enforce that Authority. And Faith either by people or in itself to grant that power.


    It would be a problem if Being W was an extraterrestrial being of unfathomable and iprehensible eldritch power, but Rudeus and Orsted called him ''Hitogami.'' The Human God.


    Which meant that he was in the realm ofprehension.


    Which meant that his powers were derived from humanity.


    So.


    A de that denied the Authority of the gods by unraveling its mysteries. A sword that converted that knowledge to power. And the logic that overturned faith with unshakeable axioms.


    "Damn that Lace. I thought it would be enough to split him, but he pulled a fast one on me with that. Taking advantage of the broken soul to draw in an earthbound spirit to reincarnate together... I should have just-"


    A sh of crimson light, cutting across time and space to reach Being W.


    He scoffed and swung his hand to form a barrier. And then his eyes widened and he quickly retracted it, dodging instead.


    "Tch." I lowered my de. "Not that easy, huh?"


    Even if this wasn''t reality, concepts applied indiscriminately across the board. If I hit him with it, he would have carried that over. Seems like he wasn''t as stupid as I thought he was though.


    "You..." Being W grabbed his left arm and clicked his tongue. "Dammit. So that''s what I meant. I-"


    Another crimson sh.


    This time, I took a page from my dad''s attacks.


    I still didn''t figure it out yet in reality, but I remembered what it looked like. And that was all I needed here.


    Bending time and space to sh. Using one''s ''intent'' and expanding it to im a ''domain'' through your mana before shing everything at once.


    "Freaking cheater!"


    Being W managed to dodge. I didn''t understand how, but he managed to warp out of the way, dodging an attack that should have been unavoidable.


    ...No. It was still unavoidable. While he mitigated the damage, I still hit him.


    "Gah!"


    Golden blood spilled before dissolving away into colorless mist. Raw mana, just like how Orsted''s attack ripped apart the ambient mana before.


    "Dammit!" Being W cursed at me and said, "This isn''t over, you bas-"


    I swung my de again.


    Being W shut his mouth and vanished. At the same time, I opened my eyes.


    I was still in the defensive shell and holding Ste. From the explosions outside and muffled shouts, it seemed like the battle was still happening. But I could hear some cheers as well... Specifically Eris.


    "Heh." I shifted Ste a bit and then smiled. "Told you Big Brother could handle it. Now, since I dealt that guy a big blow, we just have to wait and-"


    A sudden lurch, shooting the ball into the air. Not only that, but the protections I ced downpletely shattered, leaving just the iron shell.


    But that shell quickly started to crumple, crushed by an unseen force.


    My eyes widened and I quickly split the shell apart, letting whatever was drawing it in to take it. At the same time, I drew out all my mana and wrapped it around me and Ste, damping our momentum and trying to shove us out of the way.


    But I didn''t move.


    And then I saw why.


    "Holy shit."


    A ck hole, one emitting a chaotic flux of mana simr to what happened during Master Roxy''s summoning experiments.


    That bastard pulled an uno reverse card.


    I wasn''t moving right now since I had anchored myself with my mana. But when I did, there would only be one direction. And if I tried to disperse the summoning spell that mana was forming, I''d have to deal with the raw power of the ck hole.


    I... maybe could handle that. But not while holding Ste.


    "RUDY!"


    I heard Mom scream from behind me. ncing back, I saw her and Mama Lily run towards me.


    And then space cracked in front of them, spilling out summoning mana.


    "NO! Stay-!"


    Before I could finish speaking, they vanished. And they weren''t the only ones.


    More spatial cracks were opening up all around Buina vige.


    A high-pitched scream in the distance. Norn. "Eri! Sifi!"


    A ck hole formed over my house, tearing itpletely apart. And as a result, it was also sucking in everyone nearby.


    Including my sisters.


    "Dammit!" I tried to do something. Cast a spell to pull her back. But the moment I moved even a bit of my mana, I started getting drawn into the ck hole.


    I red at the ck hole and growled. "That sly bastard...!"


    I underestimated him. No, did I get too cocky? I showed him all of that thinking he wouldn''t be able to do anything with it, but-


    I shook my head and focused.


    Think, Rudy. You can do this. Like the alternate you said, mana is omnipotent. So...


    *tick*


    Time slowed down.


    Right. I had this ability.


    A stalled world where time crawled to a halt.


    *tick*


    Was it because I was so close to a ck hole? The time I had seemed shorter than usual. Not only that, but I had a feeling that trying to use my power to ''go back'' like Rudeus implied I could wouldn''t work.


    *tick*


    Focus!


    I narrowed my eyes and surveyed the scene.


    Mister Laws was holding Miss Rose, trying to keep her away from a ck hole sucking them both in. And if it was just them, they would definitely be dragged in right away. But Ghyine was there. Piercing her sword into the ground and using it to gain ground, she held onto Laws''s hand, trying to pull both of them back.


    Master Roxy and Sylphy were holding onto Aisha who was trying to run towards Norn. But a spatial crack was appearing beneath them as well. The moment time resumed, they would fall through.


    Eris was racing towards Norn. But she would be too slow. Dad was running as well and closing the gap faster. But they still wouldn''t make it.


    One chance.


    I swept my eyes across the surrounding, thinking as fast as I could.


    It was possible. I could save one of them. Using half my mana, I could get one of those groups to safety. But only one. I had to conserve at least half to protect me and Ste.


    *tick*


    Time was slowly speeding up.


    With it, I could hear Eris and Dad''s screams, stretched out as they called towards Norn.


    I saw Master Roxy and Sylphy''s surprise as they started to fall through. As they did, Sylphy started pulling Aisha close, as if to protect her, while Master Roxy''s magic formations red.


    I saw Ghyine''s sword start to slip as she, Mister Laws, and Miss Rose were pulled into the ck hole.


    Dammit.


    He got me. That bastard got me... No. I got myself. If I hadn''t given him the idea of a ck hole and let him experience it...


    No. I had to focus.


    Time was speeding up.


    Master Roxy and Sylphy could take care of Aisha. And since they were holding each other, they would end up in the same ce and be fine. Especially since Master Roxy was taking preventive measures.


    Ghyine, Mister Laws, and Miss Rose... Yes. They''d be fine too. Ghyine could read the flow of magic power with her eye and she was starting to pick up Dad''s ''flow'' technique, so they could make something work. Not only that, but Mister Laws and Miss Rose could also see mana.


    So the one I had to save...


    Time resumed.


    Norn flew towards the center of the ck hole, screaming. But before she fell in, I sent out my mana.


    It was in my field of view. Mana was shaped ording to the user''s will. Something I experienced even more thoroughly fighting against Being W.


    So.


    The same vision I just witnessed. The slowed time, and Norn''s body frozen in mid-air.


    *tick*


    "NORN!" Dad rushed in, sheathing his sword and reaching out with his arms.


    "We''ve got you, Norn!" Eris shouted and ran in as well, kicking off the ground with a burst of mes.


    *tick*


    Norn didn''t move- No. She did. But her ''time'' had been slowed to a crawl while the world moved at a different pace around her. A temporal maniption executed at the expense of-


    "Kuh." I coughed, tasting blood in my mouth. At the same time, the vision in my right eye vanished, leaving just darkness.


    *tick*


    Dad reached Norn.


    Eris held out her hand and then changed directions, sending out a burst of mes to go back. "Mister Paul!"


    "I got it!"


    Dad grabbed Norn with one hand and spun around to grab Eris.


    ...It wasn''t enough.


    *crack*


    Norn''s passage of time returned to normal, and she continued to scream. But then she noticed Dad and stopped. "P-Papa?"


    "Eris, now!" Dad turned towards Eris, relying on her to get them out.


    "R-Right!" She swung her sword, using a burst of mes to fly away.


    Would it be enough?


    I wanted to say it was. I wanted to believe it was. That at least a few of us would be confirmed to be safe and look for the others.


    But I didn''t have the time.


    The ck hole''s gravitational pull sucked me in at a rapid speed. At the same time, the teleportation mana reached out to envelop me and Ste.


    I didn''t resist it, instead focusing on protecting my baby sister.


    No matter what else happened, as long as I could protect her...!


    A burst of light. A kaleidoscope of colors. Countless sceneries blurring past.


    I felt something tug on Ste, trying to yank her away from me.


    "Like hell I''d let you!"


    No matter what. Even if my body broke apart, I had to keep her safe.


    This was my fault. Because I got cocky, this happened.


    A mistake, just like in my past life.


    But I''d be damned if I let my baby sister get hurt because of it.


    Soe on. You know it, right? Mana gets amplified by emotions. And right now, the only thing I needed to do...!


    A burst of crimson light. Just like the supernova I used against Being W.


    And then I could move. Instead of being swept up in the flow, I could direct it.


    Before anything else, I held Ste tighter.


    She was awake now. Not only that, she was staring at me with wide eyes.


    Was it fear? Hope? Trust?


    I didn''t know. But I knew that I had to get us out of this mess. So...


    My eyes... No. My eye. My right eye couldn''t see anymore, leaving me with just my left eye.


    My remaining eye scanned the surroundings, looking for a way out.


    It was a void with countless sceneries floating around like bubbles. I also wasn''t alone. In the distance, I could see a few other people getting thrown across the void.


    But I didn''t have time to focus on them.


    A safe ce. At least a rtively safe ce. One where I could make a shelter to recover and keep Ste safe from harm...


    There. A rtively open grasnd. Not only that, but one with plenty of ambient mana to utilize, and also one in broad daylight.


    Before it passed me by, I shot towards it.


    The moment I entered, I felt a weird ripple. Like jumping into a pool, except without getting wet.


    And then I was suddenly falling.


    But that was fine.


    While my mana was low, there was plenty in my surroundings to use. So...


    A gust of wind, slowing our descent.


    A stone tower to meet us halfway.


    And then we were safe... at least for the moment.


    Inded on the roof of the tower, taking care to steady my shaky body. After that-


    *static*


    "Urgh."


    A wave of nausea and fatigue.


    I bit my tongue, using the pain to focus. But this was bad. At this rate, I''d fall over and hurt Ste.


    "Just a bit more..."


    I took a deep breath and focused on the ambient mana again, directing it to the tower.


    First, a roof. Having a ce like this pop up out of nowhere was bound to draw suspicion.


    Then some lights.


    A soft bed to rest Ste in...


    Done.


    I exhaled and then shambled over to the makeshift crib I made. "Sorry if it''s ufortable, Ste." I carefully set her down and then leaned on the wall beside it. "But... I think big brother needs a nap. Just... Just for a few-"


    -???-


    On that day, it was raining.


    There was an argument. Something inane.


    But the result of it was that he stormed off.


    She watched him leave, ring at him the entire way.


    And then a truck blew past a red light.


    He didn''t see it.


    She did.


    A panicked dash.


    Screams from all around.


    Blood.


    His shocked face.


    ...Ah. He was safe. Then...


    That was fine.


    She thought it would end there and closed her eyes.


    She regretted it. If she hadn''t been so naggy. If she had listened instead...


    But it was over.


    She thought it was over. But the next thing she knew...


    Blurry faces. Unintelligible voices, speaking in a foreignnguage.


    Fear.


    Was she crippled? A vegetable?


    So she cried. She cried and cried and cried.


    Terrifying roars erupted around her. Panicked words and loud noises.


    It was a blur.


    She couldn''tprehend what was happening.


    But through it all, a calm voice echoed. She didn''t understand it.


    She didn''t understand anything. Even as everything turned dark and terrifying noises echoed all around.


    But at the end of it all...


    *Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango daikazoku...*


    A familiar melody. Familiar words.


    Hearing those, she rxed.


    ...She still didn''t know what was going on. But for now at least...

 107 – A Warrior’s Pride and a Magician’s Prowess – Part 1

    107 ¨C A Warrior¡¯s Pride and a Magician¡¯s Prowess ¨C Part 1


    I was drained. My entire body felt like lead, and my mana kept spluttering out. Was it the aftermath of trying to save Norn? Forcibly overclocking to keep Ste safe?


    I wasn''t sure, but I couldn''t move. Couldn''t see, hear, sense anything at all.


    ...No. That wasn''t right. I could still hear.


    It was raining. Water droplets sshed against the walls of the tower I made. Not only that, but I could hear Ste babbling.


    Thankfully, she wasn''t crying.


    So it was fine if I rested a bit more-


    "So there were living beings in this tower after all."


    My eyes snapped open.


    There was someone standing there. A looming figure clutching a gleaming spear.


    Ste started to cry.


    Hearing that, I mustered what little mana I had and forced my body up, using the wall as leverage. After that, I quickly staggered to stand in front of Ste''s bed and red at the intruder.


    ...Dangerous. I could intuitively sense that the figure standing there was someone at least as strong as Dad. Maybe not as ridiculous in terms of improvising, but there was a battle-honed and confident aura radiating off the figure that could onlye from countless life and death battles.


    Not only that, but I could vaguely see weird mana emanating from him.


    My vision was still messed up. My right eye waspletely dark, and my left eye was blurring things together. But I could see that there were a few different types of mana swirling around him. One was an eerie bright shade of green that seemed to be around his entire body. Another was a piercing red mana floating somewhere around the figure''s head. And thest was a familiar white mist shrouding that red mana... No. It seemed to be floating around like a wig?


    Why was-


    No. Focus.


    "Who are you?"


    I was in bad shape, so I had to buy time.


    The figure stepped forward.


    I grit my teeth and wracked my head.


    Ste was still crying.


    My body... I didn''t have any physical wounds. Right. It was all a result of overusing mana.


    Still, doing that took a physical toll and I felt so *empty.*


    But my body was fine. The only thing wrong with me was my right eye, but if I focused... Yes. My other senses were working. And mana... I didn''t have any. But there was a lot of ambient mana here that seemed easy to manipte.


    The figure took another step forward.


    I red at him and slowly shifted my stance. Left hand out in a fist. Right hand held loose at my right waist. Right foot back, left foot forward...


    Dammit. I should have kept up my habit of wearing my wand and my new sword.


    Still.


    "I''m warning you." I looked into the figure''s eyes... At least, what I thought were his eyes. The darkness and my blurred vision didn''t let me see much. Still, I looked at him and said, "I don''t care who or what you are, you won''t hurt my sister."


    The figure... No. It was definitely a man now that he got closer. One with a well-honed body and tribal clothing.


    The man looked at me and said, "Are you not afraid?"


    Ste cried harder.


    I wanted to look back andfort her, but I didn''t dare risk it. Instead, I kept staring at the man and said, "It doesn''t matter if I''m afraid. You won''t hurt my sister. No matter how powerful you seem or how sharp that spear is, you''re going to be in for a big surprise if you think that I''ll let you touch even a single hair on my sister''s body."


    A long monologue. A seemingly brave speech. But in actuality, I was stalling.


    My mana was still tapped out, but I was managing to draw in some ambient mana to use. Enough for... an Advanced-ranked spell?


    Damn. This was what most magicians used? This piddling amount?


    Argh, whatever.


    I couldn''t cast any destructive spells, but mana was mana. I''d just have to make up for it with logic, faith, and imagery.


    And right now...


    There wasn''t enough for a sword. Or even to cover my hand for reinforcing it.


    But there was enough to make a thin strand. One just about the length of my hand.


    If I reinforced that, made it like piano wire...


    "...So the world has changed to the point that even young children must be warriors." A tired and heavy tone of voice. One that seemed to carry genuine remorse.


    I blinked.


    Was it a ruse? That guy had Being W''s mana on him, so it was suspicious. And the timing was too coincidental. But...


    The man threw his spear behind him, letting it tter against the floor. At the same time, he took a few steps back and held up his hands. "I mean you no harm."


    "...Sure. And I''m god."


    A snippy response. One that I reflexively said.


    Dammit. Dad was definitely a bad influence.


    Thankfully, it didn''t seem to bother the guy. Even so,I kept staring at the man, observing him. He might be unarmed, but at this distance...


    He shifted his head, looking past me. "Will you not tend to your sister?"


    "...Are you going to attack?"


    Ste was still crying, but I couldn''t lower my guard. Not while I was still recovering.


    I continued to draw in ambient mana just in case, but...


    "Have you been separated from your family?"


    I blinked. "Huh?"


    Before I could answer, the man nodded and said, "You must have been if you two are alone in this dark tower. And Human children, this far from home..." The man trailed off and looked at me one more time.


    I tensed.


    But then the man spun around and left. Grabbing his spear, he walked down the stairs in the tower and vanished.


    I waited a bit to make sure he wasn''t just tricking me. But after seeing his blob of color move away from the tower, I let out a sigh of relief. After that, I quickly turned around to pick up Ste.


    "Sorry, Ste."


    My baby sister sniffed and then snuggled her face into my chest.


    I carefully held her in my arms and then sat down against the wall.


    "What a mess..."


    I couldn''t make out her face. Right now, Ste just looked like a blob with faint wisps of silver and gold flickering around.


    Dammit. That Being W got me good...


    But I couldn''t dwell on that.


    Live and learn. I''d have to ount for thatter.


    But right now...


    I forced a smile and gently patted Ste. "There, there. Everything''s alright, Ste. Big bro won''t let you get hurt."


    Ste sniffed. At the same time, I felt my shirt get wet. Tears from Ste''s face.


    Was she about to cry again?


    That wasn''t good.


    We were in the clear with that weird guy, but if this ce had monsters...


    "Don''t cry, Ste. Um. Let''s see..."


    Singing workedst time. And Ste seemed to like the sound of Japanese, so...


    What other songs did I remember?


    ...Nothing but Anime songs.


    Damn. Were there any others that sounded like lubies...?


    Ah. Right. There was that. The lyrics were a bit dark, but the tone of the song and the melody should be soothing. So...


    I shifted Ste to make her morefortable and smiled. "Big Bro... No, Onii-chan will sing you another song, alright? It''s probably not that good, but..."


    I closed my eyes and started to sing.


    -LIV-


    A lonely and sorrowful song, barely audible beneath the rain.


    Ruijerd leaned against his spear and listened to it.


    A melody sung in anguage that Ruijerd didn''t understand. Even so, the lonely emotions within it were clear despite that.


    "A pair of unfortunate human children... And one that appears to be a newborn infant..." Ruijerd nced back at the tower and then looked out at the surroundings.


    It was different. Though day, dark clouds had gathered to rain over and that had not had rain in countless years. More than that, the familiar barren wastnd had been changed into lush grasnd.


    But only a portion.


    As Ruijerd swept his gaze across the surroundings, he saw more oddities.


    A section of the ground with foreign trees. Another section that seemed like a portion of a mountain had been scooped out and dropped onto the ground. A glistening azure pond.


    It wasn''t everywhere. In fact, it seemed to be localized around the tower where those children took shelter. Further out, the terrain was the same as always: an arid wastnd.


    Not only that, but at that arid wastnd, the rain suddenly cut off, as if clearly marking a barrier.


    In total, a strange distortion in both the weather andnd.


    Ruijerd narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Is this Lace''s doing...?"


    Such drastic changes could onlye from such a powerful being. And yet...


    Roars in the distance.


    Ruijerd looked over and saw unfamiliar monsters moving towards the tower. Powerful creatures that even seasoned human adventurers would struggle with, let alone a child and an infant.


    The Supard warrior pulled his spear out of the ground and then scanned the surroundings with his third eye. As he did, he thought back to the child in the tower. The young human boy with silver hair and bloodstained eyes.


    "...He was strange."


    The child had stared at him without a shred of fear. Tension, but not fear. Instead, it had been the resolve of someone willing to throw their life away to cut down the enemy in front of him.


    A warrior''s mindset. Admirable. And from his hair, it seemed he was a formidable magician... Or at least had talent in magic to have suffered mana strain.


    But even so, a child could not protect a newborn on his own. Especially not against these approaching monsters.


    So.


    "...What warrior would leave children to die like this?"


    Ruijerd had many questions for the children. And he had many concerns as well.


    But for now, he would hunt.

 108 – A Warrior’s Pride and a Magician’s Prowess – Part 2

    108 ¨C A Warrior¡¯s Pride and a Magician¡¯s Prowess ¨C Part 2


    "Hah... This really is a hell of a mess isn''t it?" I watched Ste peacefully sleep in her crib and frowned.


    The rain had stopped. But in exchange, the light had vanished. It seemed like day had turned into night while I was calming Ste down.


    "What do I do now...?"


    My right eye still wasn''t working. My left eye''s vision came back after a while, letting me see things more clearly. But my right eye...


    At first, I thought it was just a mana blockage problem like before. But it was different. Not only was there ack of mana there, but it felt wrong. Numb.


    When I rubbed it through my eyelid, I could feel that my eye was there. But that was only with my fingers. My eye itself... I didn''t feel anything.


    So that was a problem.


    Fortunately, it was an old problem. I hadn''t tried it yet, but after my previous stint being blind, I devised a lot of alternative methods to either recovering orpensating for ack of vision.


    ...Just didn''t think I''d have to use them so soon.


    I checked on Ste one more time.


    My baby sister was fast asleep, quietly breathing.


    I was a bit worried because of how dense the mana was here and if it might affect her in a bad way. Fortunately, it seemed like Mom and Dad getting stronger resulted in another ridiculous kid.


    It was only a little, but Ste seemed to be passively drawing in the ambient mana and converting it to her own gold and silver mix.


    Of course, since she was a baby, there wasn''t much. But it didn''t seem to be harming her in any way.


    Still...


    I looked away from Ste and nced at my surroundings. "What am I going to feed her?"


    Ste was a newborn. Barely a day old, if that.


    While I wasn''t too worried about injuries, I *was* worried about developmental issues. Especially if she didn''t have proper nutrition.


    In this world, the only way babies ate was through breastfeeding.


    Obviously, that wasn''t an option here.


    Maybe it was possible to do some puree mix of food, but I didn''t know anything about nutrition in this world. An organization that regted health and food safety wasn''t a thing, after all.


    Not to mention that this was a foreignnd where I didn''t know what was safe for *me* to eat. And while I could get by through brute forcing healing spells and drinking water, Ste...


    Dammit. If I just had some baby form-


    Wait.


    I slowly stood up and looked around again.


    This tower. Ste''s crib. The sports areas back at home...


    I managed to make them from raw mana. And while I''d only started dabbling in it, I had figured out how to make candies from mana too. The only thing I needed was a clear image.


    "Alright. Okay. Then... This should work. No, this *will* work."


    My mana... it was still empty. But the air here was at least a hundred times denser in mana than back at home. Not only that, but I could feel a few clumps of hyper dense mana floating around. Probably the aftermath of Being W''s warp spell.


    Then, first...


    I closed my eyes and focused. A deep breath, drawing in the mana from around me. A long exhale, removing impurities. Carefully cycling them throughout my body to both kickstart my mana and begin refueling.


    ...It would take a while. Probably a few weeks to get back up to full capacity with this method.


    I had a few others to try, but this was good enough for now.


    When I had about a normal person''s amount of mana restored, I opened my eyes and focused.


    Will. Mana. Image.


    Those were theponents to ''magic.'' Lacking in one meant you had topensate for the others.


    Image was formed both from logic and faith.


    Will was your determination, as well as your emotions.


    And mana was mana.


    Being W could pull ridiculous feats off because he seemed to be have mana in the amounts of multiple stars, so he didn''t need much ''image.'' But that guy definitely had plenty of ''will'' from his arrogance and self-confidence.


    As for me...


    My mana was just a drop in the bucket from my usual amount. But my will and image...


    I was desperate and determined. I absolutely wouldn''t let Ste get hurt or have issues growing up. Even if it cost my life or if I had to sacrifice parts of myself to make it work.


    Image... I knew what I wanted. Remembered what it looked like. Recalled its taste. The list of ingredients and nutrient value on the back.


    Mana was omnipotent. Rudeus said so, and I experienced it recently firsthand facing that cheating Being W. Faith wasn''t an issue.


    Logic... Well, if you shifted around Einstein''s famous form, mass was essentially just energy split apart into discrete portions by slowing it down. And mass was matter. Matter itself wasprised of individual particles, and those particles interacted with each other on a micro scale to build up to a macro environment.


    But more than that... who said magic had to abide by physics?


    Didn''t I just see Being W throw that out the window by breaking through a ck hole?


    So...


    A swell of power. Wind- No, a pressure difference causing a sudden airflow due to the shift in mana.


    Ste was startled and started crying again. Not only that, I heard a small rumbling sound. Her stomach, no doubt super empty after all this time.


    But...


    "It worked."


    A stic baby bottle filled with a murky off-white liquid.


    I unscrewed the cap to taste it just to make sure, and... yep. The same watered down vaniish taste I remembered.


    Ste kept crying. Not only that, she started iling her hands around, as if reaching for someone to pick her up.


    I sighed, but then ced a smile on my face. "Don''t worry, Ste. Onii-chan''s here."


    "...gah?"


    Ste sniffed and stopped crying, looking up at me.


    I smiled and carefully picked her up. After that, I handed her the bottle. "Here. You''re hungry, aren''t you? Drink up. You need to eat a lot to grow big and strong, you know?"


    Idle chatter. The words echoing in my head from my previous life that I remembered saying to my younger siblings.


    Did it calm Ste down? Or was she just hungry?


    Either way, she greedily sucked on the bottle. After she was finished, I burped her and then held her for a while to make sure she was fine. But it seemed like she was content from being full since she quickly fell back asleep.


    I gently ced Ste back in her crib and tucked her in.


    The moment I did that...


    "You''re a wonderful older brother."


    The same person from before.


    I turned around to look at him, raising my guard. And since my vision was cleared up, I got a better look at him.


    Like I thought, the man was wearing tribal clothes. His torso was mostly bare, revealing honed muscles. But he had on a cloth vest with colorful patterns, reminiscent of Native Americans. Paired with his gray pants, leather boots, and leather arm wraps, he seemed like a wandering nomad.


    Not only that, but there was a scar across his face, cutting diagonally between his eyes... and below a crimson gem?


    I frowned and shifted my vision to mana.


    ...I wasn''t mistaken.


    The man... No. Probably a demon, right? The demon had naturally green mana while that crimson gem was emitting red pulses of mana. But there was also Being W''s mana floating around him. Specifically, around his hair. Almost like it was dyed with it.


    "...Who are you?"


    The man didn''t seem hostile. In fact, he reminded me a bit of Orsted. And if his situation was simr, that meant that Being W''s mana was actually a curse on the man.


    ...Ande to think of it, that would exin Ste crying.


    I wasn''t affected by that mana and whatever effect it was trying to cause, but now that I could see properly, I noticed that it was sending out the same intimidating vibes that Being W''s mana around Orsted did. A sort of subliminal message saying ''this is the mortal enemy of the world...''


    Or something.


    The man stared at me and then gently set his spear aside, raising his hands, as if trying to calm me down. "I am Ruijerd Supardia."


    Ruijerd?


    I tilted my head, wracking my mind. It sounded familiar for some reason...


    Ah. Right. Rudeus mentioned that a Ruijerd helped him out when he got transported to the Magic Continent from the Metastasis incident-


    Magic Continent.


    Magic Continent?


    I blinked and then groaned. "That would exin the dense mana atmosphere..."


    I thought that I was still somewhere in the Asura Kingdom, or at the worst in Millis because of those grassy fields. But of course it wasn''t that.


    Instead of a metastasis mana cmity, that bastard went and did a space copse. Maybe spacetime copse.


    ...It had better be just space. If that guy-


    No. Think positive. You already know what happens when you go full edgelord. And that bastard definitely wants you to go full edgelord, so don''t.


    Right.


    So...


    Ruijerd was still staring at me, quietly waiting.


    I stared back at him, thinking. And after a while, I said, "Ruijerd, right?"


    He nodded his head. "That''s right."


    "A member of the Supard race?"


    "...That is correct."


    I tilted my head, trying to remember what Rudeus mentioned about him.


    There wasn''t much. He had mostly been talking about all the tragedies near theter part of his life, but as to Ruijerd and the Supard race...


    I nodded and said, "Alright. Then... I heard from a friend that the Supards are a proud warrior tribe that live honorably and just."


    Ruijerd''s eyes widened, showing shock and relief. No, there was a bit of gratitude in there too. But he quickly nodded and said, "That''s true."


    "...Can I trust you?"


    For good measure, I yed up the vulnerable kid look and desperation.


    Well, I didn''t really need to y up that much. They were both kind of true right now.


    Ruijerd stared at me with a firm look and said, "A Supard warrior will not go back on his word. Nor will he allow children to fend for themselves." After that, he let out a reassuring smile and said, "I do not know your circumstances... but be calm. I will help you and your sister return home."


    A sincere response. Unlike Dad, Ruijerd was giving off the vibe of a confident and trustworthy adult. Simr to Mister Laws, actually.


    So then...


    "Okay. But... before I trust you, I want to get rid of the curse stuck on your hair. Is that okay?"


    It would be trouble if Being W managed to use that to spy or something, so-


    Ruijerd''s eyes widened and he touched his hair. "Curse? On my hair?"


    I nodded. "That''s right. Um, it''s a bit hard to exin, but-"


    A blur.


    I panicked and tried to swing my arm. But before I could, Ruijerd was in front of me, gripping my shoulders. "M-Mister Ruijerd?"


    The look of a man dying from thirst that just found water.


    He stared at me and said, "Is it true? Is there a curse on my hair causing misfortune? Is that the reason for the excessive fear and hostility? Is that why the Supard are-"


    "M-Mister Ruijerd. P-Please calm down."


    Ruijerd flinched, and quickly stepped back, lowering his hands. "...Sorry. But..." He ran his hand through his hair. "...Yes. There had been talk of a curse. And when we threw our spears away, it was our hair that was talked about. The dreadful, fearful green hair of the Supard..."


    ...Okay? Maybe Master Roxy''s theory about me emitting a ''Rudy Factor'' of some sort affecting the people around me was correct.


    Ruijerd shook his head and then looked at me. After that, he bowed and said, "Please. If you can remove this curse... If you can do such a thing, I, Ruijerd Supardia will forever be in your debt."


    "Um... there''s no need to go that far. The caster is the person responsible for us being here too, so..." I trailed off and focused on Being W''s mana.


    Did he sense my intentions? Or was it an automatic reaction?


    The white mana started to swirl, as if winding up to pounce on me. But...


    ''Not this time.''


    I reached out my hand and imagined it.


    The way that Being W''s body was split by my sword and turned into colorless mana. How Orsted ripped the ambient elemental mana into raw mana from his attack.


    ...It definitely wouldn''t work against him directly. And I still needed testing. But-


    "Disperse."


    A phenomenon formed from mana, enforced by my word, and fueled my image.


    An invisible shockwaveshed out at Being W''s mana, instantly shredding it apart. At the same time-


    "Drain."


    Another phenomenon. Before the mana could scatter, I pulled it towards me and assimted it.


    An instant top-up. Just like if I downed an energy drink.


    While not up to full capacity, that definitely helped wash away a bit of the fatigue.


    Now, to check on Mister Ruijerd.


    "...Is it done?" Ruijerd stared at me with a faint hope in his eyes.


    "It should be...? I think you''d need to test it out first though-"


    Before I could finish, Ruijerd was gone. Vanishing in a sh, even leaving his spear behind.


    ...Well. I guess that''s fine?


    Now to try meditating and see if that increased my mana regeneration. If not, then time to work on that dispersal and drain spell I just came up with to see if I can use them on magic stones or monsters directly... Maybe experiment with mass to mana conversion too...


    Taking up a spot next to Ste, I knelt down and sat on my heels, resting my hands over my thighs. Deep breaths, clearing my mind. Cycling mana, making sure the mana I drained was free from annoying external forces...


    ...


    *thud*


    I flinched and opened my eyes.


    Ruijerd was back. Not only that, he was kneeling in front of me. That was the thud I heard. But it wasn''t just ordinary kneeling. It was the exaggerated pose that someone would use to swear loyalty.


    One knee on the ground, one raised. Head lowered and arm resting on the raised knee...


    "Great magician. For breaking this curse, I, Ruijerd Supardia-"


    "H-Hold on! Wait! Let''s get proper introductions first!"


    Geez. What''s with everyone acting so excessive around me...?

 109 – A Warrior’s Pride and a Magician’s Prowess – Part 3

    109 ¨C A Warrior¡¯s Pride and a Magician¡¯s Prowess ¨C Part 3


    "...I see. So that is your situation, Rudy." Ruijerd glowered and said, "What a terrifying adversary. And cruel as well, to target children..."


    I nodded and said, "It''s a bit ridiculous, yeah."


    Late at night.


    I''d somehow managed to convince Ruijerd to not do something ridiculous like swear the allegiance of himself and his entire bloodline to me and instead set up a little campfire/homebase to talk to him and get the situation sorted.


    Ruijerd had gathered some firewood and various supplies earlier while I was tending to Ste, storing them at the bottom of the tower. Because of that, I managed to set up a little firece and makeshift oven to both warm up the ce and make some food.


    ...Though the meat that Ruijerd brought back didn''t look too appetizing. Fortunately, magic was a thing. And it seemed like I had figured out something simr to transfiguration from H*rry P*tter so it wasn''t too big a concern.


    Ruijerd shook his head and looked at me. "But I am impressed. To be such a skilled magician so young and have such a brave warrior''s heart... Have heroes started to rise in the Human Kingdoms again?"


    "I dunno about heroes. I''m just me."


    Ruijerd nodded and then said, "Yes. That is a good mindset to have." He looked over at Ste and then frowned. "...But have you determined what you n to do? The Magic Continent is harsh and the distance to the Asura Kingdom is vast. Taking a newborn for the journey..."


    I sighed. "I know. That''s what I''m worried about."


    The situation was unclear.


    From what Ruijerd told me, we were definitely in the Magic Continent. But it was different too.


    Whatever Being W did, it caused weather and terrain to get messed up, with apparently pieces of terrain spliced together and monsters from all over the world popping up.


    I was lucky enough tond in a safe spot with Ste and make shelter, but apparently this ce was standing out like a sore thumb. If Ruijerd hadn''t taken the time to clean up the monsters around the ce, I would have to resort to desperate measures to try and protect Ste.


    But traveling across thend with Ste...


    I could make a baby carrier. Maybe a stroller or carseat-style cradle. But ording to Ruijerd, the sun was harsh, the winds dry, and temperatures vtile throughout thend.


    I had some ideas on how to deal with that and keep Ste safe. But I wouldn''t have the capacity to do that and fight at the same time. And while Ruijerd was strong, we were facing unknown territory. Literally and figuratively when it came to potential monsters and terrain changes.


    In short...


    "...We need some more help."


    That was the issue.


    I was grateful to have Ruijerd here, and he definitely had our best interests in mind after I helped him get rid of that curse. But he wasn''t enough.


    The problem was, we got lucky. I knew that Ruijerd could be trustworthy because Rudeus mentioned him a bit... but that was all.


    I could remember some other people to keep note of. I think Zanoba and Cliff were two more people I could lean onter. But they should be around my age right now even if I came across them... so that didn''t help.


    Capable and reliable adults were far and few. Not only that, but I didn''t know thenguage here.


    Ruijerd happened to know themonnguage that humans spoke, but I didn''t know his. The onlynguages I knew were Japanese, English, a bit of random programmingnguages... and maybe the magic formations I had been studying.


    ...I knew I should have bugged Master Roxy about picking up hernguage.


    Ruijerd frowned. "...That will be difficult. Individuals kind enough to help a pair of lost children are already few. Those willing still toe with a Supard..." He gave an apologetic smile.


    I waved my hand. "It''s alright, Ruijerd. I think I know how to fix this. But I need a few more days to recover first. Can you keep us safe until then?"


    Ruijerd nodded. "With my life."


    "...You don''t need to go that far. But I appreciate it. Now let''s eat and then get to know each other a bit since we''ll be traveling for a while. Like I said earlier, me and Ste are from a small vige in the Asura Kingdom called Buina. My dad''s the knight in charge of the ce and my mom''s basically the vige doctor... Ah, and there''s Mama Lily too. She''s my second mom. A long story there..."


    -LIV-


    A few days came and went. During the day, I held Ste and babbled to her in Japanese to keep her calm and pass the time. When she was hungry, I made some more baby form to feed her, and I changed her diapers when she needed it.


    Transfiguration was convenient.


    ...Though I was starting to get paranoid about fighting Being W proper. I''d have Orsted to back me up at the time whenever that was, but it was a bit unnerving at how malleable mana really was. And that didn''t even take into ount the fact that there might be another level past mana that Being W didn''t show off because he had been trapped in my Domain Expansion/Reality Marble/Pocket Dimension.


    But whatever the case, that was a concern forter. And for when Orsted was around so we could brainstorm ways to stump Being W.


    Also for when I had a safe ce and time to sort through all the random ramblings that Rudeus had when we were chatting. Definitely a lot of useful things in there I still needed to parse and look out for.


    I think there was something about the Holy Order of Millis or whatever that he mentioned...? A warrant for his head or something?


    Anyway.


    Ste was fine. I was worried about her being a newborn baby and all, but my baby sister was made of tough stuff. She was still a bit afraid of Ruijerd, but for the most part she only cried when she was hungry. Other than that, she was quiet and just spent her time watching me and listening.


    She also perked up a lot whenever I spoke Japanese. Maybe since it was so different from the normalnguage? I mean, Japanese had a certain rhythmic cadence to it. Maybe it was that...


    But summing things up, baby sister not a problem. Still a bit of a concern on what we were going to do to get out of this ce and start adventuring back home though.


    Ideally, a teleport spell was the way to go.


    Being W wasn''t the only one who could pull an Uno Reverse.


    While it was fast, I *did* manage to get a glimpse of the teleporting shenanigans he used to send me and Ste here. Not only that, but Master Roxy had taught me basic summoning magic and principles.


    And so I had my action n.


    Ruijerd carefully held Ste and then watched me from off to the side. "Are you certain this will work?"


    I finished etching the summoning circle into the stone floor and nodded. "It will. The principles are sound, I''ve recovered enough mana, and as a failsafe, I have a bit of summoning mana gathered up to patch anything that goes wrong."


    Ruijerd frowned. "...And if you summon a monster that cannot be controlled? I do not mean to doubt your abilities, but many unpredictable events have urred within the past few days."


    "I''m aware. Which is why I''m leaving Ste with you for now." I paused and said, "...You can run while keeping her safe, right?"


    Ruijerd nodded. "I have run carrying infants before."


    "Human infants?"


    "Yes."


    "And they stayed alive, right?"


    "Yes, Rudy."


    "Good. Just checking."


    ...Still kind of doubtful, but I made Ste a protective ne to cast a barrier dampening momentum if she started going over a safe speed, so... it should be fine.


    Really wished I had my wand on me though. Or my sword. Or even one of my keepsakes, like Master Roxy''s ne, Mama Lily''s scarf, or Mom''s healing tome. I''d even take that embarrassing outfit that Miss Rostelina made me. Anything to cheer me up a bit or act as a good luck charm-


    Wait.


    I paused to think about it.


    Summoning magic was typically for summoning guardians, but it wasn''t restricted to that. Or to living creatures.


    So...


    Yeah. Let''s do a trial run first to get a feel for it. I knew the general area of where it should be, so it was more defined than a random summoning for a potential guardian monster/spirit.


    "Gate, open."


    First, words to focus the mind. After that, pump mana into the magic circle...


    Crimson light shed as my mana poured in. But that quickly faded, turning gray and fuzzy, like the static from those old TVs.


    ...And like those old TVs, an image was forming in the center of the magic circle.


    Huh. Was it supposed to work like this? I didn''t remember Master Roxy''s summoning experiments looking like this... But whatever.


    First off, my wand. The birthday gift Master Roxy gave me and the one fitted with elementally attuned magic stones...


    There.


    It was slowlying into focus. But at the same time, I saw something else too. A small silhouette holding it tight against her chest while two others patted that silhouette''s head.


    ...Aisha?


    Did she hear my thoughts?


    For a moment, the small silhouette flinched, as if shocked. And then she started spinning around, her tiny head craning every direction looking for something.


    But then the vision faded. Not only that, but the magic circle fizzled out.


    "Tch."


    "Did you fail?"


    I shook my head and gathered up my mana again. "No. I got sidetracked by something."


    So Aisha had my wand... Did Master Roxy summon it? Probably. Or maybe it got sucked in somehow and ended up with them.


    That was fine. Aisha needed it more.


    Then... how about my new sword?


    "Gate, open."


    I focused on the magic circle again. Once more, the static effect. Blurry images, slowly sharpening-


    Wait. Could I use this to scry? Find out how Mom, Mama Lily, Dad, and everyone else is doing?


    ...No. The ''connection'' wasn''t there.


    I got a few vague hits when I tried looking for Mom, Mama Lily, and Dad based on their equipment, but the magic circle started to splutter when I did. Maybe since my mana probably had been phased out by now?


    No. It was probably Being W''s fault. He was definitely keeping an eye on things and probably preventing the easy way out.


    Bastard.


    But in any case...


    I couldn''t find them, but I did ping my sword. And again, it was being held by a tiny silhouette with two other people. One tall person and a shorter person.


    So Norn had my sword.


    And was with Eris. And Dad.


    ...And my new sword was the result of experimenting with magic stones and infusing elements directly into the de to try and make it a pseudowand...


    Well. I guess she''ll be safe at least... And she definitely needed it more than I did.


    But in that case, what about-


    *pop*


    A sudden puff of smoke. With it, a small pile appeared in the middle of the magic circle. A familiar jumble of items.


    First, a gray hand-knitted scarf with my name at the end of it. Next, a worn-out healing tome. After that, a half-empty bag of magic stones and coins. And then there was the outfit that I had just been thinking about a while ago.


    "Hoh?" Ruijerd eximed and then gave me an impressed look. "You can summon supplies with magic?"


    "I... guess? Not exactly what I had in mind, but I''ll take it."


    I picked up the items and frowned.


    That was weird. It was almost like someone had grabbed the spell while I was searching and threw a care package at me.


    At that time, Ste giggled.


    I looked back andughed. "Yeah, yeah. It''s kind of funny, I know."


    I set the clothes and my keepsakes aside. But after that, I picked up the bag of magic stones. "These should be useful though."


    I would have preferred to have my wand or sword, but magic stones would work in a pinch-


    Ah. Note to self: remember to ask Ruijerd to collect a few when he''s out hunting.


    But for now...


    "Alright. Time for the real deal." I looked at Ruijerd and said, "Stay alert."


    "Understood."


    I focused and said the words again. "Gate, open."


    The magic circle red to life. But this time, it shone even brighter. And the cause for that...


    "This had better work."


    I mumbled under my breath as I spilled the magic stones onto the summoning circle and dissolved them into raw mana.


    This time, it was different. Instead of staticky images or hazy silhouettes, I didn''t see anything. Instead, I felt my mana fall through the summoning circle and get dragged around, tugged here and there by a mysterious current.


    "Alright. This is what Master Roxy said should happen, so next..."


    I focused on what I wanted.


    Something strong enough to protect us and help Ruijerd fight... was important, but not the top priority.


    Right now, we needed information. Something that could help us traverse the dangers popping up throughout thend and identify potential crises. Ideally something with foresight, irvoyance, maybe identification powers... And definitely mage sight.


    But did something like that-


    A heavy tug. My mana, spinning away just like a reel as whatever I caught started panicking.


    I narrowed my eyes and pulled it taut.


    If it was really a match. If this summoning spell worked, I wasn''t about to let it get away.


    A fierce wind picked up as ambient mana got sucked into the summoning circle to power the spell.


    "Rudy!" Ruijerd''s concerned voice called out.


    "I''ve got it!"


    I pulled my hand back and dragged my mana along with whatever it ensnared. And then-


    A burst of crimson light, knocking me back on my butt.


    A figure emerging from the depths of the summoning circle. And then...


    "Who dares to summon This One?! Who dares to ce a cor on the great Demon Lord Kishirika Kishirisu?!"


    Eh?


    A small girl that looked a little younger than me. Despite that, she was dressed in lewd clothing. ck leather, chains... lots of bare skin.


    A cute face, horns, purple hair and a pair of mismatched eyes...


    Complete lolicon bait.


    But I ignored that.


    While a shocking appearance, there was something that stood out even more. Something that exined why the summoning caused such a fuss.


    Twelve different mana signatures, swirling all around the girl''s body while converging in her eyes. Mana radiating an imperial might and violet color, weak only because she seemed to be tapped out like I was right now. A body that was taking a while to top up its drained mana source-


    Wait. Did she say Demon Lord?


    The girl rounded on me, ring at me with her mismatched eyes. "You! It was you who summoned This One, was it not? A mere hu... man?" Her left eye shed, and one of the mana signatures shifted up into that eye. A light swirly green color.


    When it did, the girl''s eyes widened and she paled. "Th-This..." Her eyes spun and she nced behind me. When she saw Ruijerd, the girl gulped. "Y-You... Are you not themander of that handsome one''s forces?"


    Ruijerd narrowed his eyes.


    Kishirika flinched and then lunged at me.


    I quickly got up, preparing to fight.


    But it turned out to be unnecessary.


    "T-This One apologizes!" The girl smacked her head against the ground and said, "T-This One would be honored to serve the Magic God! S-So... Don''t eat me!"


    What?


    I turned back to look at Ruijerd.


    He gave me a nk stare, clearly as confused as I was.


    I looked back to the girl... who was trembling and sobbing?


    "This One apologizes! She was tricked by the Human God and didn''t know better! Badi did not either! P-Please...! Have mercy!"


    ...It''s a good thing I already have white hair, because good *god* these unexpected developments are getting to me...

 110 – Demon, Lord, Demon Lord

    110 ¨C Demon, Lord, Demon Lord


    The girl- Demon Lord? ...Girl. Let''s go with girl because she''s definitely not acting like a demon lord.


    Anyway, the girl was inconsble, crying and shaking at my feet with her head pressed against the ground.


    Fortunately, Ste didn''t start crying too. Though I felt like my baby sister was giving me a weird look.


    But anyway, after some cating and reassurances, as well as handing over a te with some of the grilled meat I had cooking, the girl calmed down.


    Just to show that I wasn''t a threat, I held Ste again and stood a few paces away from the girl, gesturing for Ruijerd to do the same.


    And like that, we waited. Me standing with Ste in my arms, Ruijerd next to me, and the girl seated on the floor, carefully holding the te I served her and nibbling on the grilled meat. Almost like a ve or abused dog eating while in fear of their owner.


    Ruijerd watched the girl eat a bit before looking at me. "Are you a god, Rudy?"


    "Of course not!"


    "But you said you had a god as your adversary, didn''t you?"


    I paused.


    ...Ruijerd had a point. Even so.


    "I''m not a god. I''m nning to be a godyer, yeah. But a god? No."


    Gods were limited, after all.


    ...Well. That should be the case. I was starting to think that Being W might be on the level of a ''Creator God.'' One with a capital G.


    Needed toe up with countermeasures and trump cards for that. Three wasn''t enoughst time, so I definitely needed more. A whole stacked deck instead of a few cards. Maybe more yers too. One person probably wouldn''t be enough...


    I frowned and then looked at the girl.


    She looked back up at me and flinched, quickly lowering her gaze. "T-This One apologizes!"


    My frown deepened and I said, "This One?"


    "T-This One means- I-I mean, *I* am not worthy! I am just a tiny scrap on the wayside! My power is nothingpared to your vast might! S-So... Please don''t eat me too!"


    "Gaga?"


    It seemed like even Ste was confused about the situation. My baby sister babbled and then turned to look at me.


    "Yeah, wish I knew what was going on too, Ste." I mumbled.


    Ruijerd nced at me and then at the girl and said, "Demon Lord Kishirika Kishirisu. That''s your name?"


    The girl nced at Ruijerd and nodded. "Y-Yes! Th- I am Kishirika Kishirisu!"


    Ruijerd frowned. "Demon Lord? Not Great Empress?"


    The girl quickly shook her head, staring at me again. "I-I would not dare proim such a thing before the Magic God! Never!"


    Ruijerd blinked and then turned to look at me. "Rudy. You... would not have happened to transfer my curse to yourself, have you?"


    I shook my head. "I shouldn''t have...? But why? Is this how people usually react to you?"


    Ruijerd nodded. "Yes. Fearing they would be eaten, terrified beyond belief..." He let out an amused smile and said, "Though I have never been called a god before. Demon and Monster, yes. But a god..."


    I sighed and the looked back at the girl. "Kishishi... Kishiru... You know what? I''m calling you Rika."


    "Y-Yes!" The girl quickly set down her te and knelt to the ground again. "I-I ept the name given, Magnanimous Magic God!"


    I felt a headachee on. Seriously wished I had an aspirin. And that healing magic worked on stress headaches. Also wanted to rub my forehead, but I was holding Ste, so I just had to deal with it.


    "Just call me Rudy."


    "Yes! Master- No, Your Magnificence, Rudy!"


    "Again, just Rudy."


    "Y-Yes, Master Rudy!"


    I felt my eye twitch and looked at Ruijerd.


    He stared back. "What?"


    "You aren''t going to start calling me Lord or Majesty, are you?"


    "Did you not say that you hated nobility? I will respect your wishes."


    Rika started shaking more after Ruijerd said that.


    Ste giggled.


    I poked her cheek and said, "d someone''s finding this funny." I shook my head and then looked back at Rika. "Look. Rika. I''m pretty sure you''re mistaken here. I''m not a god or whatever you think I am. And I didn''t summon you here to be a ve or anything. I just wanted some extra help."


    Rika stared at me. And then she stared at Ruijerd. And then back at me. "...Are you not going to roam the Magic Continent and absorbing the Demon Lords and ns to increase your magical prowess?"


    I coughed.


    Ruijerd raised an eyebrow.


    "O-Of course not- Wait."


    A thought came to mind.


    Summoning spells... They normally just summoned things from across space. But space and time were linked. And with the chaotic flux of spacetime from Being W''s crazy Uno Reverse on me...


    "Quick question, Rika."


    "Y-Yes, Master Rudy!"


    ...She wasn''t going to drop the Master part, huh?


    I decided to ignore it and continued talking. "What year is it?"


    I forgot the exact year, but it should be something like 415 or 416 on the Armored Dragon Calendar this year...


    "I-It is year 15 of the Magic God Emperor Calendar, Master Rudy!"


    Ruijerd blinked. "Magic God Emperor...?"


    Yeah. Definitely had a headache. But...


    "And on the Armored Dragon Calendar?"


    "T-That..." Rika stopped to think and then said, "I... Think it should be the year 426?"


    I groaned. "I agree, Rudeus. God I hate multiverse theory..."


    Ste giggled.


    Rika tilted her head, confused.


    -LIV-


    "So... Master Rudy is not the Magic God? And you did not decipher the race trait of my n and revert to a child after losing a sh against Hitogami?"


    I rubbed my face and patiently said, "I''m not. And I didn''t." I paused. "Though Demons have weird magics, huh? Is that why your mana is so low? Did *you* die and revert to a child?"


    Rika nodded. "Yes. This One- I-I mean, *I* am prone to idents and misfortune and recently perished in a sh against the knights of the Milis Holy Order."


    "Right..."


    After calming Rika down, it was round two of introductions.


    This time though, I made it a bit morefortable instead of us just all sitting on the cold stone floor.


    I made Ste a little carseat cradle to set her in and then three chairs for me, Ruijerd, and Rika.


    Rika was across from me, while Ste was on my left and Ruijerd on my right.


    "Anyway. I''m not that guy. I''m just a kid."


    Rika looked at Ruijerd and said, "...But you still have Ruijerd Supardia as a general."


    I resisted the urge to sigh and said, "Ruijerd isn''t my general, subordinate, or whatever. He''s a friend. Got it? FRIEND. I''m not some Demon Lord, God Emperor, or whatever going around trying to subjugate the world, alright?" I looked at Ruijerd and said, "Tell her, Ruijerd."


    Ruijerd gave me a serious look and said, "Are we not, my Lord?"


    I froze. "O-Oi."


    After seeing my face, Ruijerd''s chuckled and patted my head. "It''s a joke, Rudy. And you should be less serious."


    I sighed. "Trying my best here. As much as I''d love to just hole up somewhere and y with Ste while making sure she grew up healthy, we''re running against the clock AND the unexpected."


    Ruijerd nodded and pulled his hand back. But after that, he paused and said, "However. If subjugation is required to ensure the safety of you and your sister..."


    "Stop that."


    Ruijerd smiled and nodded his head.


    ...But he didn''t say he wouldn''t.


    Ugh. I''m too young for this. I''m supposed to be a kid enjoying life ying with his best friends, not dealing with all this hassle...


    At this rate, I''m going to have gray hairs before I even-


    Oh wait. My hair already turned white.


    Rika kept staring at me.


    I stared back.


    Rika pursed her lips and muttered, "I suppose Master Rudy is different from that handsome man. Master Rudy is more carefree and rxed instead of vengeful and obsessive. And the color of mana is different as well..."


    "Right. I''m just a normal human kid who wants to get home. And I''m asking for your help."


    Ruijerd muttered under his breath. "Rudy is far from a normal human child..."


    "I heard that."


    Ruijerd smiled.


    Rika looked between me and Ruijerd again. And then she looked back at me. Once more, her mana shifted and the swirly green-colored mana flowed into her eyes.


    After a few moments, Rika slowly nodded. "...Okay. I agree." A bit of vigor returned into her eyes and she nodded. "Yes. Though I have been plucked from the depths of time and space to arrive in this world... This must be the workings of fate itself." Light sparkled in her eyes and she stood up, holding her hand out to me. "You! My fated contractor!"


    "...Please just call me Rudy." I stood up and hesitantly grabbed her hand. "Please."


    "Then Rudy!" Rika grinned and said, "This One forsakes her name! To ensure the genocidal Magic God Emperor Lace is not reborn, This One shall be christened anew as Rika and guide you on your path!" She let go of my hand and then crossed her arms together,ughing. "Hitogami, you insolent betrayer! This Kishirika Kishirisu- No, This Rika shall have her vengeance atst for the death of her mother and fiance! Bwahahahaha!"


    ...Alright. So it''s confirmed that there''s definitely something about me that makes people around me ridiculous.


    I looked at Ste.


    She stared back at me, babbling.


    "...You aren''t some secret bombshell waiting to go off either, are you, Ste?"


    She giggled and held out her hands, giving me an innocent smile.


    I picked her up and said, "Of course you aren''t. My cute and innocent *imouto* wouldn''t do that to me, right? Would you?" I reached out and tickled her chin.


    Ste giggled harder and then started blowing raspberries at me.


    I smiled at her and then looked back at Rika.


    She stared at me, determination and excitement sparkling in her dark eyes.


    Honestly, Rika looked more like Norn and Aisha waiting to y with me than a Demon Lord.


    Wait.


    Demon Lord.


    So from what Rika implied, going full subjugation wasn''t a good thing to do. But it gave me an idea. Especially since I already had a tower and basically imed somend.


    "Hey, Rika."


    "Yes, Rudy!" Rika hopped over and stood before me. "Ask me anything! Rika will ensure you do not repeat the same mistakes as that handsome one!"


    I couldn''t see Ruijerd since he was standing off to my right side, but I felt his judging gaze on me.


    Hey! It''s not my fault my life is weird. I''m a normal human, I swear.


    ...Ah wait. This was going to end up like me being a ''genius'' at this rate, wasn''t it?


    Yeah, denying this isn''t going to help.


    Instead...


    "So hear me out. Ruijerd, listen too. What if we *pretend* I''m a demon lord?"


    "..." Rika gave me a nk stare.


    "..." I felt Ruijerd''s judging gaze on me.


    "W-What? It''ll work! And besides, this ce isn''t safe for humans, right? So if we just... Actually, let me just draw this out. It''ll probably be easier to exin..."

 111 – R3 – Part 1

    111 ¨C R3 ¨C Part 1


    n "Fake Demon Lord."


    It was simple.


    I had a tower and some hospitablend nearby due to the wonky spacetime copse.


    Ste was too frail to take with me to go explore thends, but here in the tower and this microclimate bubble, she''d be safe. Food wasn''t an issue, and I could slowly recover in safety if a rumor about a terrifying Demon Lord existed.


    But that wasn''t all.


    If this spacetime copse incident was anything like the teleport incident was for Rudeus, it meant there were probably a bunch of people who could use some help.


    And while I still didn''t agree with Dad''s philosophy of sticking my neck out for strangers, I did agree with the fact that helping someone could lead to them wanting to help other people. And in a chaotic time like this where time was important and people were desperate to cling onto any form of help, it was the perfect environment to build up a group of people under amon banner to help search for victims.


    Especially if the leader of that group was a shadowy figure with seemingly unlimited resources and terrifying might.


    In short, I''d be ying up the role of a Demon Lord... or at least a powerful figure gathering up forces and people.


    We could use the tower as the base, and since I could terraform a bit, I could even do some kingdom building shenanigans to gather forces. And I could also rack up gratitude by finding specific people with scrying magic or something too. Wasn''t sure about the exact details, but it was usible at least.


    Then in the meantime, I could get a group of people paying tribute in magic stones that I could use to power teleportation magic research to get us back home directly without having to make the trip on foot. Barring that, I could work on making something like a floating fortress and fly it across thend too... Though that would probably take up more magic stones.


    And with Ruijerd here as a feared Supard warrior who would be out doing good deeds, mystery would build up around the owner of the tower.


    "..And that''s the rough gist of it. What do you think?"


    Silence.


    Ruijerd slowly nodded and said, "I don''t disagree. Being able to help and rescue those in need would lead to great strides in restoring the Supard reputation. However..." He looked at me and said, "The Demon Kings will not take your appearance lightly. We are in the northeastern wastnds, so it is unlikely that trouble will arise soon. But if your influence spreads..."


    "Bah!" Rika crossed her arms and said, "Why worry about those weaklings?" She looked at me and said, "Rika thinks that it''s a great n! Might makes right, so if Rudy shows his strength, the others will fall in line. And if it bes a big problem, when Rudy recovers, you can go defeat Sister-inw and be a Hero!"


    Ruijerd paused. "...That would be an option. But..." He looked at me, thinking. "...The Immortal Demon King is formidable."


    "Immortal Demon King, huh?" I paused to think about it. "Is she stronger than Orsted?"


    The name was pretty intimidating. Bit weird how a ''she'' was considered a king, but titles were titles. And a ''King'' was still less than a ''God''.


    Ruijerd blinked. "The Dragon God? Of course not."


    "Great. Should be fine then." I paused and said, "I wonder what that guy''s up to anyway? Hopefully he''s been putting those spells to good use."


    Being W had clearly hyperfocused on me and wasn''t paying attention to Orsted at all. That, or he still didn''t know Orsted was a thing. Either way, he was about to get kicked in the teeth whenever Orsted started making waves... Which would be the perfect time to do just about now.


    Ruijerd stared at me and then said, "You know the Dragon God? Personally?"


    "Hm? Yeah. We''re at leastrades, hopefully friends."


    Ruijerd frowned and then muttered, "Is this the power of children?"


    "Anyway." I decided to ignore Ruijerd''sment and then said, "Before we start, how about wey out what we can do first? Oh, and get Rika some proper clothes."


    -LIV-


    Later that evening, Ruijerd went out hunting to clear the area as well as gather a few more magic stones for the first step in n "Fake Demon Lord." As for me, Rika, and Ste...


    "Rika thinks that a supposedly human child shouldn''t be able to do this, Rudy." The former Demon Lord stared at me with glowing eyes. Probably identification considering what I was doing.


    I carefully ced the helmet onto the mud mannequin I made and then gave it a once-over to check the magic circuits. After that, I looked at Rika and said, "It''s called being creative and having fun. Imagination is very important for a child." I nced off to the side at Ste and smiled. "Isn''t that right, Ste?"


    My baby sister giggled from her carseat cradle and then said, "Ga!"


    Rika frowned and nced over at Ste. "Your sister is a strange one as well. You are disgusting with the ease at which you manipte mana, but that one..."


    "Well, if I have the potential to be someone called a ''Magic God,'' that''s obvious." I turned my attention back to my project and said, "But anyway... You don''t see any problem with this, right?"


    Rika''s eyes shed green and she said, "...Not that Rika can see. Though Rika wonders how youyered so many magic formations and weaved ambient mana into an artificial circtory system..."


    "Trial and error. Also, good. In that case..." I stepped back and brushed off my hands to look at my work.


    A sleek knight with shining silver armor. Tall and heroic, with a broadsword and a shield emzoned with R3. Reminiscent of a certain mech from an anime with a Demon Emperor who united the world by bing themon enemy.


    Rika looked at me and said, "Are you certain that this will work? Rika knows that Perugius has summoned many Ancient Spirit familiars to serve at his side, but what you are attempting..."


    "No reason why it shouldn''t. And in the worst case, I''ll just operate it remotely when you give me the irvoyance Demon Eye." I paused and said, "Speaking of which. Is there a reason why you haven''t?"


    "For someone as powerful as Rudy, Rika will be exhausted for a while. If you are willing to take the risk-"


    "Oh. Then I''m good." I started drawing a magic circle beneath the armor and said, "We''ll do this first."


    Rudeus had rambled on about a lot of different things... Which I still needed to get down on paper so I didn''t forget.


    Note to self: do that after this experiment.


    Anyway, among the many, many, many things that he rambled about, he mentioned that one of his friends had managed to create an automaton of Sylphy in the future. Well, his future.


    Considering I probably wouldn''t meet the same people as him, that was up in the air.


    Not to mention that one Sylphy was scary enough. The thought of one that didn''t need to sleep at all...


    I felt a shiver run down my spine and shook my head, focusing back on the magic circle.


    But to sum things up, it was possible. While I didn''t know the process, I had some hypotheses on how to do it.


    This would be the first test.


    It was possible to summon ''spirits'' as a familiar. The higher leveled spirits had physical and humanoid forms, a Perugius''s mythical 11 Ancient Spirits. Lower level ones though seemed to be just blobs of sentient mana, a Mercy with Master Roxy.


    But that was the interesting thing.


    Summoning magic here didn''t use catalysts or mediums to summon or draw particr familiars. Unlike certain magi seeking heroic spirits as servants or alchemists doing equivalent exchange, summoning circles were pretty basic.


    ...At least, none of the summoning magic I or Rika knew. And considering that Rika was a few hundred years old, she knew a lot.


    So, the test.


    I finished drawing the magic circle and then pulled out a bag of magic stones I had condensed for this first experiment.


    Since I was still low on mana, there were only three tiny ones, but it should be enough.


    Now...


    I ced the magic stones at the foot of the armor and then activated the summoning circle.


    "Gate, open."


    Crimson light red as the summoning circle came to life and then absorbed the magic stones, melting them down.


    Good. Things were working.


    "Rika still thinks this is ridiculous."


    "Well." I stared at the gathering mana and said, "It''s this or testing out mana drain."


    "NO!"


    "Then it''s this."


    ...I still think it''s a good trump card to use, but since Rika was so adamant against it...


    I shook my head and focused.


    The spell I had in mind was different. While it had been great that I managed to summon Rika to help out... in theory. So far, her only upside had been entertaining Ste and acting like a mascot.


    But anyway, while it was great to summon a Demon Lord, I needed something intangible this time. A spirit that could inhabit and use the armor and artificial circuits I ced in the mud doll. Not only that, something that could talk and fight. One with learning capacity to pick up the sword techniques that I knew and apply thebat theory.


    With those goals, I sent out my mana.


    For a while, nothing. All I felt was my mana being swept to and fro like when I was summoning Rika.


    But then I felt a tug. Not only a tug, but a pull. Something holding onto my mana like a lifeline and pulling itself closer.


    At the same time, a swirl of mana started gathering around the summoning circle. Localized to the circle itself, but definitely amping up every second.


    "R-Rudy! I can''t see it!"


    "Wait, what?"


    I nced back at Rika and saw that her eyes were green. She was using her foresight eyes to peer into the future.


    ...And she said she couldn''t see what was going to happen?


    I felt a surge of panic and quickly tried to pull back my mana.


    Yeah, bad idea. Definitely going to just pilot the suits remotely-


    A sharp tug. Overwhelming silver mana that felt like a sword aimed right at my neck. Mana that drew in my own and started mixing with it, giving off the appearance of a bloodstained de. A terrifying presence that seemed to draw closer with every moment.


    "Gah! This is why I hate spells!" I cursed and forcibly cut off my mana flow. At the same time, I reached out to erase the magic circle.


    But it was toote.


    A pir of crimson light, shooting to the sky and piercing through the ceiling. Intense winds billowing out from the summoning circle along with the crackling of rainbow lightning.


    Ste giggled. Probably because it was an exciting light show. And also because she was safe from being blown away from the ne I gave her. But...


    I quickly jumped to my feet and ran over to Ste. At the same time, I looked at Rika and said, "Any chance you know something to stop this? Anti-magic? Magic drain? Nullification?"


    Rika ran over to my side and ducked beside me. "T-This One is still but a child! A true child, unlike you! How can you expect This One to fight?!"


    Was it because she was terrified? Rika reverted back to her initial habit of talking.


    So... she was out.


    Fortunately, I could see Ruijerd''s mana racing back towards the tower. He definitely noticed.


    Though, the person being summoned right now seemed a lot stronger than him...


    Well.


    I reached out my left hand to the side while holding out my right to Rika. "Lend me your mana!"


    "W-What?"


    I stared at the crimson light and said, "I can kill it, but I need a top up."


    "Y-You said you wouldn''t eat This One! A-Are you a liar? A betrayer?! This One knew it was too good to be true!"


    "Argh, that''s not- Whatever!" I lowered my right hand and focused. "Just make sure to keep Ste safe!"


    Alright, me. The World Egg theory worked. By that logic, inverting the World Egg theory should work too. My mana wasn''t enough to actualize it, but it should be enough to pull one trump card out.


    So. Conceptualize the weapon first, transform it from imagination to reality through mana...


    And in this situation, what we needed was-


    The crimson light suddenly vanished, sucked into the armor. And when it did, crimson lights shed in the helmet''s visor, swirling around to look at the room.


    I froze.


    ...Strong. I didn''t know how strong Perugius''s Ancient Spirits were, but the guy in that armor didn''t seem much weaker than Orsted.


    Okay. So... maybe not a good idea to do magical science experiments when I''m not topped up to prevent situations like this.


    The armor... No, the summoned spirit tilted its head and looked at its sword and shield. After that, it turned to look at me. Then Rika. Then Ste. And then... it stared at my left hand before focusing its gaze on me.


    ...Yep. Bad idea. That spirit seemed to be able to sense the flow of mana. Or maybe its instincts were that good?


    Alright then. I''ll try to get out of this, but in the worst case it''ll be time to see if Rudeus was right about me having a few more charges left for-


    "I ask of you. Are you my Master?"


    A distorted and raspy voice. And one that seemed... a bit confused?


    Not hostile at least. That was good.


    Now to buy time for Ruijerd to get here just in case things went south.


    I stepped forward and nodded. "That''s right. My name is Rudeus Notos Greyrat... But you can call me Rudy." I put on my best winning smile and held out my right hand. "What''s your name, Mister Spirit?"


    The spirit stared at me with its glowing red eyes.


    I stared back, resisting the urge to flinch.


    The spirit didn''t move. But then it reached out with his hand to grab mine. "Rudeus Notos Greyrat..." The spirit shook my hand and said, "...The contract is sealed." The spirit knelt down to the ground and said, "From this day forth... Rudeus Notus Greyrat. My sword shall be at your side and your fate shall be as mine."


    The moment the spirit said that, I felt a connection form. Like with Rika, a bit of my mana wrapped around the spirit andtched on like a cor. Except with the spirit... It turned into a cool crimson scarf?


    ...Okay. Summoning magic was officially weird. Cool, but weird. Did I like... just pull a SSR or something? There was that dramatic pir of light, the rainbow lightning-


    Wait.


    ...Holy crap.


    I *am* just doing gacha pulls.


    Three magic stones. Summon circle. The mascot by my side making a dramatic reaction. Ste giggling in the background.


    IT''S A FREAKING FIVE STAR SUMMONING ANIMATION! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-


    A sh of green from up above. Ruijerd, jumping down from the hole in the ceiling and his spear aimed at the spirit.


    "W-Wait, Ruijerd-!"


    I tried to stop him. But before I could, the spirit moved as well.


    It gently pushed me aside and then swung its sword at the tip of Ruijerd''s spear.


    Crimson light shed, mixing in with the spirit''s silver mana. And the result of that...


    Was Ruijerd somehow being dragged to the ground in one move and the spirit standing behind him with its sword against Ruijerd''s neck? Not only that, but the momentum sucked away and forcing Ruijerd to aplete stop?


    The heck?


    "...You are not strong enough." The spirit''s raspy and distorted voice echoed. "Strong, but not enough."


    Ruijerd tensed and looked at me. "Rudy..."


    "It''s fine. Mister Spirit here is a friend." I looked at the spirit and then said, "And Mister Ruijerd is too. So, um... Can you let him go?"


    "Understood." The spirit lowered its sword... His sword? Probably his. Anyway, the spirit lowered his sword, leaving Ruijerd to step back and frown.


    ...God I had a headache.


    Note to self. Catalysts work. They work really, really, *really* well.


    Additional note to self: Just summon ordinary spirits and make a suit for themter.


    A tense silence.


    The spirit seemed content to sit and wait at my side.


    Ruijerd looked concerned. But seeing the spirit not move from my side and also not show any more hostility, he just sighed and said, "Please be more cautious with your experiments. A show of force is useful to establish your identity, but at this rate things will be troublesome."


    "Y-Yeah." I nodded and said, "I got it, Ruijerd."


    He nodded and said, "I will resume hunting. In the meantime." He looked at the spirit and said, "I suppose you will be in charge of their protection?"


    The spirit nodded.


    "...Fine."


    With that, Ruijerd left.


    And then it was just me, Rika, and Ste... who was smiling happily at the spirit and giggling.


    Well, at least my sister had a positive mental attitude about things. Or was easily entertained. Both good things.


    Rika on the other hand looked like she was seeing a monster.


    Didn''t me her.


    I resisted the urge to sigh and instead looked at the spirit. "Um, Mister Spirit? I never got your name."


    The spirit turned to look at me again, staring down with those ominous crimson eyes. And then it said, "Call me what you wish. Names are all the same."


    ...Did I jinx it? I must have jinxed it. By dering myself a demon lord, was I going to have to deal with all sorts of weird characters for potential subordinates? And since I wouldn''t ept Ruijerd as a subordinate, I got a super edgy and ultra loyalist knight to stand by my side?


    Argh... I need aspirin.


    No. Focus, Rudy. You canin and rantter when you''re with Ste. Turn that frustration into amusement for your baby sister. Right now, be professional. Business.


    "Alright. Then..." I looked up at the spirit.


    The armor it wore had changed a bit. The gold was gone, reced by a vivid crimson color. At the same time, it became more formfitting. Almost like a futuristic body suit rather than armor. And in ordance to that new appearance, the R3 logo I designed had turned into a patch on its shoulder.


    Thankfully, the overall aesthetic still looked heroic... Despite Mister Spirit''s totally evil and raspy voice.


    "...How about Rnd?"


    "...Understood. Rnd. Rnd..." The spirit''s distorted voice started to change. As it said its name, the voice became clearer, more smooth. Until finally...


    "Yes. My name shall be Rnd, a knight in service to Lord Rudeus Notos Greyrat."


    A charming and charismatic male voice. One that actually matched the heroic appearance of the armor it wore.


    "...I don''t even know anymore." I let out a deep sigh.


    When I did, Ste giggled.


    Great. At least she''s having fun.


    I shook my head and then waved Mister Spirit... No, ''Rnd'', off to the side. "Thanks for joining the party, Rnd. Now sit tight and keep the kids safe while I get some more pals."


    Okay. No magic stones this time. Apparently that could pull SSRs... or something.


    So if we were going by gacha logic, if I just used magic power, it would be normal spirits, right? Right.


    ...Please?


    I walked back up to the summoning circle and hesitantly held out my hand. "Gate, open."


    Just some basic elemental spirits. Baby ones. Nothing too crazy. I''d train them up, so please keep it simple...


    ...Aaand there goes the mana drain. Plus eleven different mana signatures racing towards me from wherever the summoning circle connected me.


    Well. Guess we''re doubling down on the Demon Lord gig... Might as well make a whole Knight Corps for Rnd to lead then. The Knights of Charlemagne had twelve people in it, right...?

 112 – The Silent Star’s Onii-chan is a cheat character

    112 ¨C The Silent Star¡¯s Onii-chan is a cheat character


    It had been a few days since Ste''s abrupt death and rebirth. In that time, she had realized a few things.


    First, she seemed to be a danger ma in her new life. She didn''t know exactly what happened after she was born, but she definitely remembered a bunch of scary roars. And she also remembered her big brother''s serious face. Something that shouldn''t be on a kid like that.


    And speaking of her big brother... The second thing Ste had realized was that she had a super capable older brother, despite him only being like ten years old at max.


    Ste was well aware that she was just a newborn. And while she didn''t know what happened, it must have been something pretty crazy. Even so, her big brother put on a brave face and tried his best to keep her calm and safe.


    The third thing she realized was a result of her big brother''s attempts to keep her calm and safe. And that was...


    "Honestly, Ste. What did your Onii-chan do, huh?"


    ...Her big brother was a cheat reincarnator from Japan.


    White hair, glowing green eyes... and the ability to casually use magic that even surprised the scary people around him. Scary people who looked like they belonged to a Demon Lord''s army... and the tiny girl that looked like a Demon Lord as well.


    Onii-chan picked Ste up and then sighed. "All I wanted to do was to y with you and your big sisters back at home now that we got through all of Dad''s shenanigans, but *no.* That stupid Being W keeps messing with our lives. And I think he''s still doing it now. Seriously. Is he trying passive aggressive now that direct aggression isn''t working?"


    "Gah?" Ste babbled a bit and then tilted her head, ying the part of a cute little baby.


    It was embarrassing. Super embarrassing.


    But it made her Onii-chan smile and rx.


    Like now.


    "Heh." Onii-chan reached out to tickle Ste''s cheek and said, "At least someone''s finding this funny."


    Ste tried to keep a straight face, but her stupid baby body naturally reacted and started giggling.


    Onii-chan smiled and then said, "You really are cute, aren''t you, Ste?" After that, his smile faded and he said, "Mom and Mama Lily would have spoiled you silly. And Norn would have been so proud to say she was a big sister. Aisha too." He paused and said, "Dad probably would do some embarrassing things though, so probably better he''s not around. Don''t want him setting a bad example and you catching his stupid like I did."


    Ste giggled.


    From that description and those names, it seemed like Ste had reincarnated to a noble''s family. And from how cute her Onii-chan was, she didn''t doubt that was the case.


    Maybe that was her repayment for dying early and saving Akito''s life? She didn''t have to, but a good turn seemed to be returned by another. Maybe this was karma?


    "*Master Rudeus. The new recruits have adjusted to their bodies.*"


    A charming male voice speaking a foreignnguage. With it came a knight in fancy silver armor.


    Ste didn''t understand thenguage, but it seemed like a baby''s learning capacity was paying off since she didn''t need to. The words came into her ears and she just naturally understood them, like magic.


    Also, she forgot. Onii-chan''s name was Rudeus, but he went by Rudy. A sign that he was still a kid despite his maturity.


    Maybe he was being affected by his body too, like how Ste was acting like a baby?


    Onii-chan... *Rudy* looked at Ste and sighed. "Onii-chan will be right back, Ste. Be good, okay?"


    The face of a person bogged down by stress and mental fatigue. Like those srymen always sleeping on the trains.


    Seeing that, Ste let out a bright smile and babbled to cheer him up.


    Rudy smiled back and then set Ste down in her crib. After that, she heard him walking away while talking in that foreignnguage.


    "*Thanks, Rnd. I''ll take it from here. Could you watch Ste? Just to keep her safe.*"


    "*Understood.*"


    Rudy''s footsteps faded into the distance. At the same time, the sound of nking metal approached and that silver knight appeared in Ste''s field of view.


    An intimidating presence. Although the person seemed like a heroic knight, there was something about the man that gave Ste a bad feeling. The crimson eyes seemed to be judging her, as if staring at a puzzle that shouldn''t exist.


    So Ste decided to ignore him. Yep. Leave the scary stuff to her cheat reincarnator Onii-chan.


    For now though...


    ''What should I do?''


    That was the question she had to figure out.


    Ste was dead. She epted that fact. Dwelling on it wouldn''t do any good.


    ...She missed home a bit. Her parents would be sad, and Akito definitely would be traumatized.


    Served him right though for getting upset at her just for making a new guy friend.


    ...Hah.


    Ste stared at the ceiling and sighed.


    She was just a floppy and fragile baby right now. If she could, she would love to stand up and help her new Onii-chan with his fun experiments. Especially since he seemed to be a really smart guy.


    Seriously. Casually mentioning stuff like using a Lace Transform to integrate differential equations modeling various mana flows into a simple equation... Was he a professor in his past life? No, he sang a bunch of Anime songs as lubies for her, so maybe he was just a super Otaku? But he didn''t give off that creepy Otaku vibe...


    "*Rolo!*" A somewhat grating and arrogant female''s voice.


    Ste winced and tried to look over. But her stupid baby body still didn''t want to listen to her.


    Fortunately... or unfortunately, the speaker quickly came into view and peered at Ste through the bars of the crib.


    "*Why did Rudy tell you to watch Ste? Rika is much more capable!*"


    The knight finally looked away from Ste and then said, "*I am here to defend the baby, not babysit. There is a difference. But you are free to do thetter.*"


    "*Oh. Really? I-I mean... Of course! Rudy knows that Rika would be the best babysitter! Bwahahaha!*"


    ...Okay. Another thing to add to the list of things Ste learned. It seemed like she might have been reincarnated as the baby sister of a Demon Lord...


    -SNG-


    Time passed and settled into a typical daily routine. Or maybe ''atypical'' was a better word to describe it?


    Since Ste was just a newborn infant, she couldn''t do much of anything on her own. She could think, watch, and listen. But in terms of moving around, taking care of herself... It was all dependent on Rudy nii-chan.


    Which was embarrassing since she couldn''t use the bathroom by herself and had to sit there and watch as her Onii-chan changed her diapers. Also as he fed her and burped her.


    Still, she thought it was better than having to breastfeed. The embarrassment of that...


    But anyway, Ste had gotten used to her new life, as weird as it might be. And as she did, she realized just how weird her Onii-chan was.


    First of all, he was scary smart.


    In her previous life, Ste had been top of her ss. She also took advanced mathematics and all the high level courses she could take.


    But Rudy nii-chan was on a different level entirely, casually muttering things about ck holes distorting spacetime fields and potentially causing multiversal copses. Also muttering entire sequences of mathematical equations outloud while staring atplex geometric designs and graphs.


    Yes. Ste was sure that her Onii-chan was a professor of some sort before being reincarnated. Especially since he seemed to have the tolerance of a saint when dealing with the ridiculous cast of characters around him.


    But anyway, her daily routine.


    For the most part, Ste actually wasn''t in her crib. Maybe since she got into the habit of smiling and giggling to cheer Rudy nii-chan up, he started carrying her around more.


    ...Or maybe it was so he wouldn''t beat up the people giving him headaches. There had been more than a few times she saw her Onii-chan''s eye twitch while he forcibly took some deep breaths to calm down.


    Whatever the case, Rudy carried Ste around most of the day, setting her down only to change her.


    Normally, Ste would have been annoyed. It was embarrassing. Demeaning.


    Except that meant she got to see all of the ridiculously interesting things that her Onii-chan was up to.


    Like designing an borate blueprint for a floating fortress or disassembling an automaton made out of steel and magical circuits to perform maintenance.


    She also got to meet her Onii-chan''s friends. Or maybe ''minions'' were better?


    The first was a scary guy with green hair and a red gem in the middle of his forehead. Ruijerd.


    Ste remembered him. That man was someone who put her Onii-chan on edge and also radiated ''bad guy'' energy. Enough that she kept crying even though she hadn''t been really scared.


    Stupid baby body and instincts.


    But anyway, her incredible Onii-chan had managed to recruit that guy as an ally and even get rid of that scary vibe. And for the most part, he seemed like a nice Oji-san. At least, he always gave Ste a calm smile when he visited.


    ...Though he also always visited while being covered in blood, so maybe he was still a bit scary.


    Second was a chuuni girl called Rika. Well, she seemed to actually be a demon of some kind from her horns, but for the most part she just acted like a delusional middle school girl ying at a Demon Lord. Especially since Rudy had to coax her a lot before she decided to stop wearing a skimpy outfit and start wearing more conservative ck dresses that Rudy made.


    Still, while a bit weird, Rika was nice. She had a lot of interesting stories and things to say on the rare asions where Rudy had to let someone else watch Ste.


    Rika was also the first to volunteer for those babysitting sessions and spent a lot of time telling Ste to not let her big brother devolve into a genocidal God Emperor who went around conquering and assimting the most powerful demons tobat the Human God in a heaven-shaking battle.


    ...Ste had a feeling that Rika might have gotten too much into her roley.


    As for Rudy''sst friend/minion, it was the scary knight guy. On the surface, he seemed like a perfect knight. He even had the name of a famous one on Earth: Rnd. Plus, he acted diligently and listened to every order Rudy gave.


    But Ste noticed that he also seemed weird. Like... Almost like staring into an abyss.


    Especially when Rnd looked at her.


    The knight seemed to always be looking at her like someone staring at a fascinating science exhibit. The sort of gaze that a person had at a zoo, watching the animals.


    Weird. Weird, and a bit scary.


    But he didn''t do anything else.


    ...Still didn''t mean that Ste didn''t reach out for the first person she could get whenever that man was around though.


    Anyway, that was her life now.


    Ste was carried around by her Onii-chan while he went about his daily life of acting like a benevolent demon lord who ordered his minions to subjugate monsters, save people in need, and spread the name of Demon Lord ''Rudras'' who owed a favor to Rudeus Notos Greyrat and was searching for his friends and family.


    In short... A kingdom building simtor. While making a homebase, her Onii-chan was gathering resources and forces to look for their family who... appeared to have gotten lost in some big incident?


    Ste wasn''t sure, but there was one thing she *was* sure of.


    ''Onii-chan is incredible.''


    Yes. Her Onii-chan was incredible.


    That, and she couldn''t wait until she could move her flimsy baby body around and talk so that she could join in on the magic experiments.


    And find out just who her Onii-chan was in his past life. Because he *had* to be some kind of super genius or leader of a massive shadowy administration.


    Right?

 113 – The Stellar Baby Sister’s Observations

    113 ¨C The Ster Baby Sister¡¯s Observations


    Part 1


    A busy daily life. Although it was mostly the same, Ste couldn''t call it boring.


    Especially because of Rudy nii-chan.


    There was a lot that Ste didn''t understand or know. Like how Rudy nii-chan kept making a bottle of baby form out of thin air or where he kept getting those baby diapers when the world seemed to be aplete fantasy setting.


    But as the days went by, she was more sure in her evaluation of Rudy nii-chan.


    He was a cheat.


    One day, Rudy nii-chan took Ste out of the house. And when he did, she found out that what she thought was a ''house'' was actually a giant ck tower that looked exactly like where the final boss would wait.


    But that wasn''t the important part. Instead, it was the conversation he had with Rika when he took her out.


    "*Babies need fresh air, right, Rika?*"


    "*Of course! Though Rika thinks that the Magic Continent might be too harsh for a Human infant.*"


    "*But not here, right? Since it seems like we captured a microclimate of some sort?*"


    "*Rika is unaware of ''microclimates'', but Rika agrees that this area is safe. Maybe since the space was transported from the Human continents?*"


    "*Hm...*"


    A seemingly ordinary conversation.


    From it, Ste learned that they were in a ce called the Magic Continent and that they were lucky enough to be in a hospitable region.


    So she thought it would end there. Since her Onii-chan was protective, she thought that he would just return inside and spend time keeping her safe until she grew up enough.


    But instead...


    "*It''ll be a bit hard to control the weather patterns, but temperature and water should be doable. As for the terrain and fertility... The ambient mana is a bit intense, but if I convert that...*"


    Ste had been facing forward at the time. Because of that, she could see it.


    Scattered pieces of geography. A lush grasnd suddenly cutting off and reced by a cracked and dried wastnd. A clump of trees that looked plucked from a forest. A pond in the middle of that dried wastnd, already half evaporated. And then the peak of a mountain jutting out from the ground.


    For the first time, she saw the aftermath of the incident that sent her and Rudy nii-chan to this foreignnd.


    And immediately after that-


    "*You! Rudy! Do not lie to This One! You are a demon in disguise- No, the reincarnation of Lace, are you not?! S-Such a feat...!*"


    Rika''s panicked and terrified voice.


    "*I''m perfectly human. And anyone can do this, you know? All you have to do is create an artificial leyline and connect it to elemental mana streams already present in the area. Then you just direct it ording to what you want and lock it in ce with a few magic formations.*"


    Rudy nii-chan gave a nonchnt response that sounded rational.


    Yes. ''Sounded'' rational. But the reality...


    Ste stared at the utopianndscape that popped into existence in front of her eyes while Rudy was talking.


    Shimmering clouds that floated from the mountain peak, blocking out the harsh sun.


    Lush green grass and a cobblestone pathway to the pond, lined with colorful flowers.


    The forest, suddenly expanded with ethereal trees that had golden branches and fluffy white leaves.


    And the wastnd that had separated all the disparate bits of geography,pletely gone and reced with lush greenery.


    Not only that, but there was a constant gentle breeze blowing. Even the harsh sunlight had turned into a faint warmth.


    Ste turned to look at her Onii-chan.


    He noticed and stared back.


    "Chi."


    ''You''re a cheat.''


    Rudyughed and then poked Ste''s cheek. "Don''t worry. Like I said, Onii-chan will keep you safe. See? Now we can go walk around outside instead of staying cooped up in the tower all day."


    That was nice. And it was good that Rudy nii-chan was considering that. But...


    Don''t you think terraforming just to take a walk with your baby sister is overkill, Onii-chan...?


    -SNG-


    Part 2


    After deciding that he wasn''t going to let Mother Nature get in the way of letting Ste enjoy it, Rudy mostly took Ste outside to y.


    Random fairytales and giarized Anime storylines treated as fairytales. The asionalnguage lesson with him creating props to teach her the words.


    And rants.


    Lots of rants.


    Rants about how adventurers were stupid muscle-brains who kept wanting to test themselves against Ruijerd and Rnd.


    Rants about how annoyed he was at the procedures of rising through the ranks as an adventurer.


    Rants about how he wished he had learned the Magic Racenguage earlier so he didn''t have to rely on Rika tranting it bit by bit and getting bored.


    And more rants about how everyone on the entire continent seemed to be so poor that even a casual sh of some gemstones were enough to get them to risk their necks to dungeon dive and look for humans they didn''t care about.


    Yes. Rudy nii-chan had a lot to rant about.


    Enough that Ste wondered if her Onii-chan''s hair had always been white, or if it had turned that way from stress.


    ...Considering how easily Rudy nii-chan ranted, she was starting to think it was stress.


    But anyway, Rudy yed with Ste a lot.


    Carrying her around on walks. Laying her on a nket atop the grass to look at the blue-green sky and the sun that was always conveniently blocked by a cloud. Telling stories...


    Everything a big brother would normally do with their baby sister.


    Which included protecting her from dangerous animals... Or in this world, monsters.


    It happened one day after Rika was sick. Mister Ruijerd was home keeping an eye on Rika while Mister Rnd was out organizing a group of people to start constructing some houses in the distance.


    That day, Rudy nii-chan was carrying Ste as always while he kept an eye on the construction from a distance.


    "...It''s a bit unexpected, but it looks like Onii-chan''s going to be a Guild Leader soon, Ste."


    "Ba."


    "Yep. It''s pretty bad." Rudy sighed. "Seriously. I keep telling everyone I''m a kid, but they say that it has to be a lie. Even those hardcore Milis followers we rescued think I''m the reincarnation of Saint Milis or something instead of a normal kid."


    ''Onii-chan. When you can make food out of thin air and reshape thend, I think even a hardcore non-believer will start reconsidering their beliefs...''


    Rudy sighed again and then leaned back in his chair, holding Ste up to watch the construction.


    And then something happened.


    "*Watch out! It''s another distortion!*"


    "*Astolfo! Keep the rookies safe!*"


    "*Kay~! Whatever you say, Captain Rolo!*"


    Loud chatter. The sound of steel being drawn. Crackling lightning and ominous sci-fi sounds likesers or engines being revved up.


    And then terrifying roars cut through the air. Simr to the ones when Ste had been born.


    She wanted to watch, but her body had a visceral reaction and started crying on its own. Not just crying, but bawling her eyes out.


    ''Stupid baby body! Calm down!''


    Of course, no matter how much Ste told herself that, it didn''t work.


    The earthshaking roars and thunderous footstepsing towards her made her baby body shake in fear.


    But only for a few seconds. And the reason for that...


    "Shut up! You''re scaring Ste!"


    A boy''s voice, calling out in a petnt tone.


    And then Ste saw it.


    The scene was a bit blurred because of her tears, but she clearly witnessed what happened next.


    The monsters were dragons. At least, things that looked like dragons. Giant, scaly reptiles with glimmering green scales and leathery wings.


    Scary.


    Seeing them rush forward reminded Ste of that famous American dinosaur movie.


    But before those monsters took two steps, they were struck by lightning.


    Crimson bolts straight out of the blue, stunning them in ce. And after that, the ground opened up like a giant mouth and swallowed them whole before mming shut with a loud *crunch.*


    And then it was quiet, the terrain back to normal like nothing had happened.


    Silence.


    But before long...


    "*Yatta~! Boss defeated the Grimoire Dragons!*"


    "*All hail Lord Rudras!*"


    "*Long live Lord Rudras!*"


    Rudy let out a deep sigh and wiped away Ste''s tears. After that, he looked at her and said, "See, Ste? These guys are crazy."


    Ste sniffed and then let out a smile.


    Seeing that, Rudy smiled back and patted her head.


    But on the inside, Ste was thinking...


    ''Onii-chan. I think you''re the crazy one here...''


    -SNG-


    Part 3


    The days continued to pass. As they did, Ste was slowly starting to agree with the people that said Rudy nii-chan wasn''t human.


    It took a bit since Ste wasn''t conscious for most of the day. But as time passed and Ste could stay awake longer and longer, she started to realize something very important.


    Rudy nii-chan didn''t sleep. He didn''t eat either. Or use the bathroom.


    She first noticed a few months in when she woke up with a nightmare.


    It was dark, and in the middle of the night, she had a dream about that day.


    How Dad said he would being home early. How Mom said they would be having salted salmon and how Ste... ''Shizuka'' hadined about eating something so boring.


    Right.


    She had taken it all for granted.


    Then she remembered having the fight with Aki. Comining about how he was getting too close to that one girl. Watching him storm off, and then...


    "Shh. Onii-chan''s here."


    Warm hands holding her close and gently rocking her.


    "I know, I know. It''s scary, isn''t it? But it''s okay."


    Ste sniffed and then nuzzled close to Rudy''s chest.


    A familiar luby. A song about a great big dango family.


    Singing that to her in his childish voice, Rudy held her close until she fell back asleep.


    ...And then from that point on, he made sure to hold her throughout the night.


    Which was how she noticed it.


    There were a few times after that where she had nightmares, but Rudy nii-chan was there every time. Not only that, but he wasn''t tired or drained. Instead, he was always working.


    Flipping through reports, sketching out intricate magic formation designs, having hushed conversations with Rnd or Mister Ruijerd about adventurers...


    At first, Ste thought he was just pushing himself. That he was being super responsible and forcing himself awake for her sake.


    But then she realized that wasn''t the case. And the reason for that...


    "Hm... So constantly circting healing mana like I used to keeps homeostasis like I thought. And there don''t seem to be any side-effects... In the worst case scenario though, I''ll need to forcibly reset things with a God-Ranked healing spell... which I don''t have. Fortunately, the irvoyance Demon Eye works both directions and I can memorize the underlying molecr structure enough to fudge a restoration with healing magic... But is it reducing telomeres by constant regeneration? Wait, can I stop aging by restoring the telomeres directly? No, is that how Rika''s revival works? Saving the snapshot in mana and reversing the process?"


    A long mumbling rant about something that sounded a lot like research into practical immortality.


    No. Onii-chan wasn''t forcing himself to stay awake. He was already staying through the night doing research on topics that werepletely like what a Demon Lord would look into.


    ...If this is what her big brother was like, what was the rest of her family like, Ste wondered...


    -SNG-


    Part 4


    Ste could finally sit up by herself. Atst, a bit of independence!


    For a while, she was worried that Rudy nii-chan was going to keep holding onto her forever, but it seemed like he respected her independence.


    ...After he broke down crying about how he wished Mom and Norn could see Ste grow up.


    That had been an awkward sight. It was especially awkward seeing a bunch of knights, rough looking adventurers, demons, and Rika panic and try to cheer him up.


    But Ste earned herself some freedom.


    With it, she started to do her own magic research and experimentation.


    Mostly because she was burning to try things out after hearing what Rudy nii-chan was doing. But also because she felt really guilty about it.


    Before she was reborn, she was already 17. She didn''t know how old Rudy nii-chan had been before he was reincarnated, but she knew that right now, he looked like a kid bearing the weight of the world.


    Even if he wasn''t, she still felt guilty for just being deadweight.


    More than that... Onii-chan was Onii-chan. Even though Ste could still vividly remember her other family, the affection Onii-chan had for her wasn''t a lie. Even if it was a bit awkward calling a kid her Onii-chan... Even though she had been doing it for a while, the fact was that it was true in the end.


    And he was sacrificing a lot to keep her safe.


    Ste had seen it with her own eyes, after all.


    Rudy nii-chan was the definition of a ridiculous cheat character. If he wanted to, she was sure he could run out there, scour thend, and get all of their family back together.


    But he didn''t. Instead, he stayed with Ste and built a safe haven for her. Not only that, but he watched her every minute to make sure she was okay, fed her, cleaned her, and did his best to make sure she was happy and had a normal baby life.


    All of that while juggling the role of being a Guild Leader, Demon Lord, and Magic Researcher in his spare time... which he had by staying up through the night.


    And it was having a toll on Rudy nii-chan too.


    As the time passed, Ste saw her Onii-chan visibly aging before her eyes.


    The kid who looked ten at most started getting taller. His cute baby face started getting more defined and his innocent and wide green and white eyes were turning sharp and mature.


    A teenager instead of a kid. And all in the span of a few months.


    Ste didn''t know if it was because of the stress or what else, but she knew that it wasn''t good. So she wanted to help relieve a bit of his worries.


    And to begin with that...


    Morning. Ste didn''t know the date, but from the mental count she kept, it had to have been half a year at least. Long enough for some of her baby teeth toe in.


    As usual, Ste blinked the sleep out of her eyes and then slowly sat up, taking care to steady her body.


    Not that it would matter if she fell. Her overprotective Onii-chan had given her a magical pendant that kept her from getting hurt from falls.


    ...She learned that the scary way after trying too early to walk and starting to fall before being carefully plopped back on her butt.


    But anyway, today was the day.


    Rudy nii-chan had been busy recently talking to Mister Ruijerd and Mister Rnd about something. He also left Ste alone a lot with Rika... Who spent most of the time staring off into space and writing things down on a piece of paper.


    But right now, Rudy nii-chan was home. Just like every morning.


    And just like every morning, he immediately noticed when Ste woke up.


    "Morning, Ste." Rudy nii-chan let out a bright smile and then stood up to stretch. His silver hair shifted, catching the sunlight shining through the window on the roof. A handsome face that wouldn''t lose out to anyone staring at her with a gentle gaze.


    A perfectdykiller smile. And wearing his ''Demon Lord'' outfit of a fancy white suit and his gray scarf, Ste didn''t have any doubt that girls would be following him wherever he went.


    Just like they did with Aki.


    ...Stupid Aki.


    Rudyughed and then walked over to pick Ste up. "A little grumpy today, huh?" He smiled and then started tickling her.


    Ste giggled and then iled her arms, trying to get away. "Ba! Ba!"


    Rudy''s smile widened and then he held Ste up, staring into her face.


    Ste stared back, still giggling a bit from being tickled. But she did her best to keep a straight face.


    ''Dang it, Onii-chan! I''m not a kid!''


    Ah, wait. That was what she wanted to say. So...


    Staring at her Onii-chan, Ste took a breath and opened her mouth to talk.


    But then Rudy did first.


    "...Babies really do grow up fast, don''t they? In just a blink of an eye and you''re already big enough to sit up by yourself. A little bit longer and I bet you''ll be trying to totter around after me, won''t you?"


    A bitter smile. One with more than a bit of guilt in it.


    "...Sorry. If your Onii-chan hadn''t been so arrogant, we''d probably still be at home with everyone else. Maybe in a bit of a hectic mess, but we''d all be there. Instead, it''s just you, me, and these bunch of misfits that decided to dere me as their Demon Lord of Salvation."


    Amenting tone of voice. Eyes that started to glimmer with unshed tears.


    Seeing that, Ste reached out to pat Rudy''s head like he did with her. After that, she said, "Is kay. Nii-cha twy hard."


    The words were fumbled. She didn''t have enough teeth, but Ste did her best.


    Rudy froze.


    Ste smiled.


    And then...


    "My baby sister is a genius! I knew it!"


    E-Eh?


    Rudy stared at Ste with a weird glint in his eyes and said, "You can talk, so you can understand me, right? Great. This means you can learn magic. And since you can learn magic, we can start adventuring. And since we can start adventuring, we can say goodbye to all of this hassle and just run away to find a way home so I don''t have to deal with all of this stress. Right? You''ll go with your Onii-chan, right?"


    Oh. Oh no. Did... Did she just make a terrible mistake?


    Ste thought that the stress hadn''t gotten to Rudy nii-chan''s head, but-


    "Rudy, no!"


    A familiar female voice. Rika-chan.


    The stress seemed to have gotten to her too since she had grown quite a bit. Instead of a kid, she looked more like a first year high schooler. And wearing a pair of sses and a suit, she gave off a mature vibe, unlike in the past.


    ...Though the reason for that mature vibe was-


    "Lord Rudras is the core of this kingdom! If you leave, Rika will have to deal with everything on her own!"


    "Then deal with it! You were some Great Demon Empress or something, right? Run it for me!"


    "Rika did that once! Rika is not doing it again!"


    "I''ll be the Magic God Emperor!"


    "Rika calls your bluff! If you want to, Rika will start the paperwork and nning!"


    "Gah!"


    Ste blinked and then looked at Rudy.


    He noticed and looked back. "Yes, Ste?"


    "...Nii-cha. Baka."


    "Kuh! T-That..."


    Rudy rigidly walked Ste back to her crib and set her down. After that, he slumped over and covered his head. "Ste called me a baka. My cute baby sister said I was an idiot. It''s over. I knew it. When puberty hit, I''d inherit Dad''s idiot ball. Uuu..."


    Rika adjusted her sses and then shook her head. "And Rika was so worried about Rudy turning into that scary Handsome One as the Magic God Emperor... How silly."


    Ste sighed.


    Yes. This was her life now. Ste Notos Greyrat, younger sister to Rudeus Notos Greyrat. The Demon Lord of Salvation who created a kingdom to house and rescue victims of the worldwide spacetime disaster. Demon King Rudras, leader of the White Knights.


    ...And a baka Onii-chan who seemed to be the cheat protagonist of an isekai light novel.


    -SNG-


    OMAKE


    "STELLA!"


    "Nii-cha! No!!!"


    "What the heck is that golden-" (Being W)


    KABOOM.

 114 – R3 – Part 2

    114 ¨C R3 ¨C Part 2


    Half a year had passed since we arrived in the Magic Continent. In that time, my newborn baby sister had grown up enough to talk and call me an idiot older brother.


    I was devastated... But I knew the day woulde considering who my Dad was, so I just had to ount for it going forward.


    It was a good thing that I had a group ofpetent people to rely on now to keep me in check... even if they were all a bit weird.


    And speaking of those petent people...''


    "Onii-chan''s going to have a meeting now, okay Ste? Be good, okay?"


    "Kay~"


    My cute genius of a baby sister gave me an absent-minded wave from her crib as she yed with a group of baby elemental spirits I summoned for her.


    ...And by ying, I meant having those spirits trace out basic magic formations while Ste stared at them with glittering eyes.


    Literally.


    I was fairly sure that constant exposure to high-density mana had caused my baby sister to develop some crazy abilities of her own... But she was healthy, happy, and entertained. That was enough for me.


    I smiled at her one more time and then headed downstairs. As I did, I swept my hand to the side and summoned my work uniform.


    A pristine white suit, paired with my gray scarf. Matching white pants with crimson lines down the sides. Gloves made from pure mana bearing a crimson lightning bolt.


    I adjusted my scarf as I walked down the stairs and muttered, "It still doesn''t feel right."


    Maybe it was because my body grew too fast.


    It turned out that there was a reason why we had a microclimate around the tower. And it also turned out that distorted spacetime had weird effects on healing mana when you kept circting it throughout your body.


    Like skewing the body''s natural internal clock and healing mana adjusting the body''s growth to fit what the internal clock says it should be.


    Managed to realize it and stop before I turned into an old man and had to test my hypothesis on how Rika''s resurrection magic worked, but the result was that I had jumped right into my awkward teenager years.


    Probably.


    The hormones hadn''t started yet, but considering my gics I was seriously dreading when puberty would kick in.


    Especially considering a few of the very devoted and beautiful spirits that I had summoned since we got here...


    But until they kicked in, I was going to keep going like everything was fine.


    Fake it til you make it, right?


    Right.


    And speaking of faking it...


    I stepped onto the floor of the meeting room below my office and took a look around.


    A round table with a throne for me and lower seats for everyone else.


    Pretentious, but also a sight that gave off a pretense of cooperation instead of tyranny.


    At least, that was my hope. Seemed to work well enough, but maybe that was because of my reputation.


    The important people had already arrived and taken their ces.


    On the right side of the throne, Ruijerd was sitting with his silver spear leaning against the back of his chair.


    On the left, Rika was sitting with a bored expression on her face. A stack of papers sat in front of her, but she pointedly ignored them, instead staring off into empty space.


    The Valiant Supard, Ruijerd, and the Queen of Redtape, Rika.


    ...Though Rika''s title was still unofficial. On paper, she was ''The Ever Beautiful and Peerless Mind.''


    Not that anyone believed that.


    I shifted my gaze to the other side of the table and looked at the people sitting there.


    As always, there was Rnd, leader of my White Knights. Like usual, he sat there wearing his sparkling silver temail and crimson scarf.


    Apparently, he had a super handsome face underneath all that steel that made all sorts of girls swoon for him. The knight never showed it to me though and made excuses like it would be improper due to our rtionship.


    Still, while weird, he was loyal and followed my orders to a tee so I let it slide. Though I could use less of being called ''Lord Rudras'' or ''Your Highness.''


    On Rnd''s right was another member of my White Knights. Specifically, the second inmand, Astolfo.


    As to what Astolfo looked like...


    Was it because of the name?


    Unlike Rnd, Astolfo wasn''t wearing a helmet. As a result, Astolfo''s appearance was clear for everyone to see. As to what that appearance *was...*


    A cute face that was clearly effiminate. Flowing pink hair braided in a neat ponytail. Bright pink eyes, cherry lips, and wless skin...


    A beauty. Astolfo was someone who could turn heads no matter where Astolfo went.


    Except...


    ...I could have sworn that the base model I summoned her(?) in was male. And the few times I caught Astolfo changing, there was definitely ''that'' down there.


    ...But there was also ''that'' up top, so...


    Better to not think too much about it.


    Anyway, Astolfo was there and idly writing some letters while he... she? She.


    Astolfo was sitting there with a bunch of letters and envelopes, sealing them with a kiss after she finished writing.


    Rnd the Peerless and Astolfo the Charming, the two famed members of the White Knights who kept up morale and hope to victims of the Spacetime Disaster.


    With them, almost everyone was here.


    I made my way over to the throne and said, "Are Enoch and Cliff not here yet?"


    The remaining two members of my makeshift roundtable.


    The former was my trusty scout while thetter was the representative of the human survivors staying under my... Or rather, ''Lord Rudras''s'' protection.


    I would have thought that they''d be on time though. If anything, I would have thought that Astolfo would be missing...


    Rnd shook his head and said, "Enoch said that she recently discovered something important about the traces of the spatial rift and that she hopes you will understand her absence."


    Ah. That''s right. She *did* mention something about that earlier.


    Considering that the state of the world beyond the Magic Continent was still up in the air due to the Spacetime Disaster, any lead was potentially lifesaving.


    That definitely took priority.


    I nodded and said, "What about Cliff?"


    Before Rnd could respond, Ruijerd looked up at me and said, "I can answer, Rudy." He leaned back in his chair and said, "It seems that there was amotion between a few of the new human immigrants and a demon that arrivedst night."


    I groaned. "Not another one."


    Ruijerd let out a faint smile and said, "The burden of the crown is heavy, ''milord.''"


    "Stop that."


    Ruijerd''s smile widened.


    I sighed and then waved my hand. "Well, I trust that guy to handle it. Cliff''s a bit straightced because he''s the son of a pope or whatever, but he''s got a good sense of right and wrong. Instead..." I leaned forward in my throne andced my hands together. "Let''s talk about the future."


    Silence. Everyone waiting on my word.


    Even Rika.


    ...Dammit. She was serious about deferring the responsibility to me, huh? Some undying millennium old Great Empress she was.


    But that was fine. Just another day as King for me, I guess.


    "Ste can talk now. And from a few casual conversations, it''s clear that she''s a genius. Not only that, but she canmunicate with spirits and use mana already."


    Astolfo looked up and grinned. "That''s great news, isn''t it Boss? You don''t have to worry about Stelly anymore."


    "Yes. But that''s still a terrible nickname, Astolfo."


    She huffed and said, "I think it''s cute..."


    Rika nced over at me and frowned. "Rika is worried. You are not nning to leave us now, are you? Lord Rudras''s presence is essential."


    Ruijerd nodded. "I agree." He frowned and said, "I understand that you''re worried about your family, Rudy, but if you leave now countless innocent lives will be at risk."


    I didn''t say anything.


    He was right.


    I hadn''t ventured out to experience it in person, but I saw enough through my irvoyant Demon Eye.


    Constantly appearing spatial rifts spawning monsters over towns. People getting sucked into space fissures at random and getting chucked out into dungeons.


    Demon Kings taking advantage of the chaos and vying for territory and resources.


    It was chaos.


    We were safe from it here because of me and the way I set up the flow of mana here, but everywhere beyond my little kingdom of Arcadia it was hell on Earth... or whatever this world was called.


    Being W had seriously resorted to a desperate move to try and neutralize me.


    It worked too. Kind of.


    The moment I left this ce, those Demon Kings would pounce on it like ravenous wolves.


    The people living here... both humans transported from around the world and the weak demons who fled and begged for mercy. They were counting on me to keep them safe.


    Of course, it wasn''t just one way. In return for living here, they had to go back out and fight to rescue others caught in the mayhem.


    But it was a delicate and infant system. One that relied on me as the pir in this maelstrom of chaos.


    So I didn''t answer Ruijerd right away. Instead, I turned to Rnd and said, "Did the Survey Corps confirm the status of Windport?"


    That town was the only port on the entire Magic Continent. In other words, it was the only way off this ce to visit othernds.


    Rnd nodded. "Eos reported that it has beenpletely turned into a Dungeon and enclosed by a Distortion."


    I leaned back and tapped my fingers along the arm rest. "In other words, everyone is trapped here unless that ce is cleared, huh?"


    There were three ways to leave this continent:


    1. By sea through the town of Windport at the southernmost part of the Magic Continent. Of course, the main issue there was the fact that it had turned into a Dungeon.


    2. By air... theoretically. If you had wings or a familiar that could fly, it would be possible to leave like that. But there seemed to be a higher frequency of monster spawns in the sky. Probably due to the lingering distorted mana that Being W used to send me and Ste here.


    3. By teleportation... Hypothetically. I had been doing a lot of research into it with Rika''s help, but a lot of variablesplicated things. Mostly the fact that the fabric of space and time seemed to be distorted throughout at least the Magic Continent.


    While I was confident in being able to send us to the right ''space'' with my magic circles, I wasn''t sure about the right ''time.''


    And I had a feeling things could get really, really, *really* messy messing with that, so I would rather not.


    ...Though it made me worry about everyone else.


    They were strong, so they''d be fine no matter where they ended up. The problem was *when.* Especially if they popped up in a ce where time was flowing at a different rate than normal.


    But I could worry about thatter.


    The first objective was finding a way off this ce to confirm the state of the outside world. And the safest bet for that was Windport and the fact that it turned into a Dungeon-


    Wait.


    I blinked and looked at Rnd. "Why hasn''t the ce been cleared yet?"


    Rnd was strong. Not only that, but when backed up by all the knights, they could steamroll pretty much everything.


    Even if the Dungeon was in a Distortion, they were equipped to be able to handle it and get resummoned if things went south.


    In fact, if it was reported to be a Dungeon, Rnd should be on his way there right now instead of sitting in front of me. So...


    Rnd stared at me.


    Astolfo pursed her lips and looked up at me as well.


    Not only that, but Ruijerd and Rika both seemed shifty.


    I frowned. "What? Don''t tell me it''s an enemy you guys can''t handle. Did Orsted pop up as the Dungeon Boss or something?"


    Rnd shook his head. "No."


    "Then is it so distorted that you guys would go beyond my reach if you entered?"


    "That is not the case either."


    My frown deepened. "Then what is it? Is there some evil version of me standing guard there or something and you guys are scared that you might get mind-controlled?"


    Silence.


    I froze. "...You can''t be serious."


    Rnd cleared his throat and said, "While the town has been mostly shrouded in darkness due to the Distortion, Eos was able to confirm the condition as well as the parameters of the Dungeon."


    "...And?"


    "It is and where the dead roam the Earth once more. Where twisted monstrosities of bone and flesh run rampant. Then, the ruler of this realm..." He paused and turned to look at me.


    I groaned and rubbed my face. "I freaking hate multiverse theory."

 115 – The Stellar Baby Sister and her Angelic Babysitters

    115 ¨C The Ster Baby Sister and her Angelic Babysitters


    Part 1


    "Onii-chan needs to go on a trip for a while, Ste. Maybe for a week? Are you okay with that? If you don''t want me to go, I''ll stay. I can... probably put it off for a while."


    Ste stared at her big brother. And then she stared at the group of people standing behind her big brother.


    Mister Ruijerd, Rika, Mister Rnd, and then Miss Astolfo.


    While her big brother was casual about it, the others looked a bit tense. In particr, Rika seemed stressed and was making subtle gestures to Ste.


    ...It seemed like her Onii-chan had to do something important again but was procrastinating by ying with Ste instead.


    Honestly... Her Onii-chan was too much of a pushover. If this was what he was like with her, Ste was starting to get worried for when he got married. She had the feeling that he would suddenly teleport away in the middle of an intense fight if he found out that his kid got sick.


    So this was no good.


    Since her Onii-chanckedmonsense, it was Ste''s job to keep him on the straight and narrow. And to start off, that meant following through on his responsibilities.


    Ste put on a bright smile and said, "Is kay. I ca pway wiv fwends."


    She did her best not to let her eye twitch and the cutesy words. Instead, she waved her hands and called over the three elemental spirits that Rudy nii-chan summoned for her.


    "See? Wata, Fai, an Win!"


    A tiny blob of water, a little spark of me, and a teensy swirl of green wind started flying around Ste, like they were dancing.


    Rudy smiled. "That''s good. Then..." He hesitated and nced back at everyone else. "Are Enoch and Eos heading back, Rika?"


    Rika''s eyes shed white, and then she nodded. "It looks like Enoch is finished with her research, and Eos is returning ahead of the Survey Corps."


    "Alright. In that case..." Rudy turned back to look at Ste and said, "Ena nee-chan and Eos nee-chan will take care of you while I''m gone, okay? They''re a bit clumsy, but you''re smart so you can tell them to get you what you need. And if anything bad happens, just hold your ne and call for me. I''ll be back in a sh, okay?"


    Ste smiled and said, "Kay!"


    She definitely wouldn''t be doing that though. She didn''t know what mechanism Onii-chan left in her ne, but her gut told her that it would do something ridiculous like rip a hole in time and space... And make him drop what he was doing to return, even if it was something important like fighting a really strong monster.


    Rudy patted Ste''s head and then said, "Then... I''m off."


    Ste nodded. "Bye, Nii-cha!"


    "I made a bunch of bottles for you and stored them in the fridge. There should be plenty, so remember to drink your milk so you can grow big and strong."


    "Kay~!"


    "And don''t be afraid to boss people around. If anyone makes you upset, they''ll have to answer to me when I get back."


    "...Kay."


    "And you three." Rudy looked at Ste''s spirits and said, "Don''t do anything reckless with her or I''ll erase you."


    "Nii-cha!"


    "What?"


    "Bad!"


    Rudy blinked and then he coughed. "R-Right. Anyway, as to pottybreaks-"


    "Lord Rudras." Rnd stepped forward and spoke up. "I believe time is of the essence."


    Ruijerd stepped up too and then looked at Ste. "I agree with Rnd. Moreover... Isn''t it about time you let Ste be a bit more independent?"


    Rudy frowned and said, "She''s a baby."


    "Yes." Ruijerd nodded. "But she is no longer a newborn. Moreover... You have other sisters, do you not? Won''t they be jealous of Ste?"


    Go Mister Ruijerd! Hammer in themon sense!


    ...Though Ste''s big sisters, huh? They really might get jealous of her when they hear about what Onii-chan had been doing...


    "Grk." Rudy flinched. "T-That''s... right. I promised Norn too, and Aisha... At this rate..." He trailed off and started rubbing his face. "Argh. Why''d you have to go and make life soplicated...?"


    One final push. Ste could sense it. One more and Onii-chan would get off his butt and be responsible... And also give Ste room to experiment.


    Ste looked at Rudy and said, "Bwing back a pwesent, kay?"


    Rudy froze. And then his eyes lit up with determination. "Got it. Everyone. We''ve got a Dungeon to raid."


    With that, Rudy threw his arm out, causing his scarf to flutter, and then started marching down the stairs with his head held high. A proper intimidating and noble figure.


    Rnd and Astolfo immediately followed after him.


    Ruijerdgged behind a bit and shook his head, amused. "Though he looks like that, Rudy is still a child..."


    Rika sighed. "He is. Even Rika is not that immature."


    "So you''re admitting that you''re childish, Great Empress?"


    Rika froze and then cleared her throat. "R-Rika will go on ahead!" With that, she ran off after the others.


    Ruijerd chuckled and then turned to wave at Ste. "Be good, child. I''ll bring back a gift as well."


    "Kay! Baibai!"


    Ruijerd smiled and walked down the stairs.


    And then it was just Ste, sitting in her crib with her spirit friends.


    ...Her spirit friends who wouldn''t be able to help her with anything since they were practically imaginary considering what little they could do to affect the world around them, even after Ste tried teaching them magic circles.


    Ste sat in her crib and looked around Rudy''s empty office. After waiting a bit and seeing no one around, she pouted and said, "Nii-cha. Baka."


    -SNG-


    Part 2


    Ste was alone for a few hours. Of course, she was fine since she wasn''t a real baby. But for Onii-chan to leave her there just because he thought she was a genius...


    Ste really wondered what her Onii-chan was like back on Earth. And what he did.


    Mostly because an ordinary person definitely wouldn''t trust an unattended baby to take care of itself just because it was smart. And Ste was sure that Onii-chan hadn''t figured out she was a reincarnator because he was... kind of dense. At least, when it came to her.


    If Ste was being honest, she was about 90% sure that everyone else had figured out she wasn''t an ordinary baby.


    Especially Rnd.


    That guy was scary.


    Anyway, Ste was alone for a few hours. But just as she was starting to get hungry and was wondering if she should try and move some of the weird colors floating around to cast a spell, a pair of hurried footsteps ran up the stairs.


    "L-Lady Ste! M-My apologies!"


    An elegant but panicked female voice. Shortly after that, a beautiful woman ran into the office.


    Shimmering golden hair that fell to her waist, with side-parted bangs leaving a single golden eye visible. Two pairs of fluffy white wings on her back, one by her shoulders and the other by her waist. A curvy and mature body that would make any woman envious... especially due to the fact that her outfit put it all on disy.


    White silk wraps and a few leather belts covered the woman''s chest making it somewhat decent. But for her lower body, she wore a pure white t-string and a single white legging over her left leg. Other than that, the only piece of clothing she wore was a ck glove on her right hand.


    In short, an angel that looked like she came out of a H-game or a doujin instead of properly serving some divine being.


    Enoch- Or Ena nee-chan, like Onii-chan called her.


    She stumbled a bit as she ran over to the crib and then quickly bowed her head. "I wished to report to Master Rudeus before he departed, but he was already gone. And then that irksome Cliff stopped me at the tower to boast about resolving a matter between a supposed Demon Empress and a girl iming to be some Sword God''s daughter..." She sighed and then said, "It is unforgiveable, but I hope you show mercy on this lowly self."


    "Is kay Ena."


    Ena stood up and let out a radiant smile. "Thank you, Lady Ste. Master Rudeus said to feed you around noon... And to make sure that I was properly dressed-" She paused and then looked down. After that, she gasped and said, "I forgot! O-One moment, Lady Ste!"


    With those panicked words, she was gone.


    Shortly after Ena ran down the stairs, someone else walked up.


    "Sheesh. And I thought I was in a rush... What''s Sis so panicked about?"


    Another beautiful woman. Like Ena, she had shimmering golden hair and wings. However, unlike Ena, the woman''s hair was short and windswept. Also unlike Ena, she only had a single pair of white wings and was properly dressed.


    A leather jacket with an badge bearing a crimson lightning bolt on her left arm. Blue jeans that were a bit scuffed and faded, matched with ck boots.


    Eos adjusted her sses, revealing a pair of shining green eyes beneath the re. After that, she walked over to the fridge near Ste''s crib and pulled out a bottle of baby form. "It''s about time for you to eat, right Little Miss?" She walked back and held it out. "Can you drink by yourself, or do you want Big Sis to hold you?"


    "I ca dwink. Gimme."


    "Great." Eos handed the bottle over and said, "Makes my life easier. Wouldn''t trust myself with anything delicate... Which makes me wonder why Master summoned me back instead of taking me with him-"


    A crash echoed from downstairs. After that, there was the sound of a loud rip. Fabric being torn in two. Following that, Ena''s moans echoed. "My dress! Uu... I''ll have to stay up all night fixing it agaaain!"


    "Oh. Right." Eos ced her hand on her forehead and said, "Sis is even worse."


    Ste blinked.


    ...Was she going to be alright with these two as her babysitters...?


    -SNG-


    Part 3


    "Lady Ste is definitely a genius. No wonder Master holds you in such high esteem." Ena stared at Ste with sparkling gold eyes and said, "Not even a year old and already on the journey to be a magician. Wonderful!"


    Eos turned the page in the book she was reading and said, "Sis. Master adores Little Miss because she''s his baby sister, not because she''s amazing. Just like how I respect you even though you''re a terrible klutz."


    Ena turned around to look at Eos and said, "I''m clumsy?"


    Eos sighed and looked at Ste. "See what I have to put up with, Little Miss?"


    Ste nced at Ena.


    The older angel sister had managed to fix her dress and was wearing it instead of her hi outfit. Unfortunately, it wasn''t much better.


    Because Ena was so mature, and because a lot of the dress seemed to have been ripped off, when she sewed it back together the dress had turned a size too small and now hugged her body. In short, it *also* left nothing to the imagination.


    Particrly due to the fact that Ena didn''t seem to be a fan of bras... or panties.


    But of course, Ena was oblivious to it all.


    "I-Is it that bad...?" Ena turned to look at Ste, her golden eyes watering up. "A-Am I a failure after all...? Is that why Master left me behind?"


    Ste gave Ena a nk look.


    ''...Baka Onii-chan. It''s one thing to not havemonsense, but to be this dense... You seriously are a Cheat Isekai protagonist, aren''t you?''


    -LIV-


    "Achoo!"


    Ruijerd nced at me and said, "Are you alright, Rudy?"


    I wiped my nose and said, "I''m fine. Must be the distorted mana. And speaking of distorted mana... So that''s the ce huh?"


    A scenic port by the sea. With the sun shining bright and not a cloud in the sky, it should have been a picturesque image.


    Instead, a gaping ck hole had enveloped the area, distorting the air around its edges like a mirage and shrouding everything in darkness.


    I nced back and said, "Rika. See anything?"


    Her left eye shed white while her right shed green. After that, she frowned and said, "Rika cannot see within. But Rika *can* see that the ''future'' doesn''t exist inside the Distortion."


    "Which confirms that it''s a cut-off chunk of time, huh?" I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Of course." I nced to my left, checking on Rnd and Astolfo. "You two ready?"


    Rnd rested his hand on his sword. "Durandal is charged and my body is in peak condition."


    Astolfo gave me a thumbsup and said, "Good to go, Boss! Let''s get the hole!"


    I decided to ignore her awkward phrasing and nodded. "Alright. Ruijerd? Rika?"


    Ruijerd raised his spear, channeling crimson mana through it. At the same time, his emerald mana coursed throughout his body, reinforcing it. "I am prepared."


    Rika took off her sses and frowned. Twelve lights shed in her eyes before swirling to form a rainbow iris. "...This One is beginning to regret learning how to control mana and This One''s magic eyes from you... But yes. This One is ready as well."


    Reverting to calling herself ''This One'' instead of Rika. A serious expression.


    "...Alright. Then..." I stared at the Distortion and focused my mana into my left eye.


    The ''Demon Eye'' that Master Roxy hypothesized I created by ident. The ability that I sacrificed my right eye to use at an expert level to save Norn.


    "Time Alter: Synchronize."


    The sound of rusted gears churning in my head. Stalled time slowly marching forward.


    The Distortion rippled, like a bubble set to burst- No. It *was* a bubble set to burst.


    A stab of pain in my left eye. At the same time, a bit of color faded away in my vision. But I ignored it. Even if I lost my vision, Rika had the handy ability of recing eyes.


    So, instead of worrying, I held out my left hand and summoned the crimson de I kept in my mind''s eye. Feeling the weight in my grasp, I nodded and then walked forward. "Let''s go."


    Time to see what ''I'' had to say about this entire mess.

 116 – R3 – Part 3

    116 ¨C R3 ¨C Part 3


    *static*


    The moment we stepped through into the Distortion, the surroundings blurred.


    A bright and sunny beach. Ruijerd standing off to the side, watching as Eris swung a wooden sword against a small kid. But she was slow and the kid easily dodged the attacks.


    No, it wasn''t that she was slow, but that he seemed to have read the moves ahead of time. Even though she wasn''t as fast as the Eris I knew, the attacks were stillpetent. More than enough for an unskilled kid like that.


    *static*


    A hand on my shoulder. "Lord Rudras?" Rnd called out to me. "Are you well?"


    I blinked and the scene vanished.


    "...I''m fine, Rnd."


    There was no bright and sunny beach. And neither Eris nor that kid was standing there.


    Instead, there was darkness. Darkness, an unnatural crimson moon hanging in the air, and shambling corpses roaming around.


    "Tch. I''ve had enough with random shbacks."


    Once when I was showed what happened after my death was enough. Now getting random scenes from different timelines-


    "SCARS..."


    A raspy and gravely voice.


    ncing over, I saw a hulking monster stomping towards us. Except, it wasn''t just any monster.


    "Is that freaking N*mesis from R*sident Ev*l?"


    The monster held up its left hand, raising... A rocketuncher?


    "No."


    I swung my sword.


    Crimson light shed and the monster split in half, falling to the ground with a sickening thud.


    Rika wrinkled her nose and said, "Could you have not done that? This One dislikes such grotesque sights."


    "Well get used to it." I frowned and swept my gaze around the surroundings. "At least that monster was rtively normal."


    It was a ruined wastnd. Unlike the vibrant scenery I saw in that shback, there was nothing but ashes and rubble lying around. Buildings turned to skeletal ruins, leaving only their foundations standing. Ruins filled with actual skeletons, most lying dormant and unmoving, but a few shambling around.


    Not only that, but far in the distance I could see ominous creatures glowing with crimson mana and dripping acidic blood onto the ground.


    Rika followed my gaze and then shuddered. "Just what twisted madman is responsible for this? Even the Magic God did not resort to such depths..."


    The jewel on Ruijerd''s forehead shed red. Shortly after, his eyes widened and he clenched his spear with shaking hands. "Rudy..."


    "Yeah. It''s bad."


    A zombie apocalypse setting. More specifically, one straight out of R*sident Ev*l.


    And the one responsible for all this was an evil version of myself? I didn''t think I''d ever resort to *these* lengths. Just what the hell happened to that guy?


    Rnd moved to my right side, resting his hand on his sword hilt. "...The enemymander is nowhere to be seen."


    "I noticed, Rnd."


    A wastnd. While there were ruins, there was a clear view through all of them. Even if there wasn''t, my irvoyant eye covered the entire area. And with it, all I saw were the undead, twisted bioweapons, and corpses.


    ...Some fresh.


    "...Rika?"


    Rika shook her head. "This One sees many horrible things... but This One does not see anything that looks like it could be responsible."


    I let out a deep sigh. "Well. Looks like we''ve got another edgelord on our hands, guys."


    Astolfo jumped up and said, "Wao! An edgelord? Is that like a lord of des? Is he strong?"


    "No, it means... You know what? Never mind." I sighed again and then took a moment to think.


    The monsters weren''t attacking us. They were patrolling, and that first guy I took out seemed hostile, but for the most part, the monsters were keeping to themselves.


    At the same time, I didn''t see or sense anyone powerful nearby.


    That meant one of two things.


    1. The boss hadn''t spawned in yet and we had to rout all the monsters first.


    2. The boss was already here and was watching how we fought before showing himself.


    If the guy responsible for this really was a version of myself... Or at least Rudeus Greyrat, it would definitely be option two. Either way...


    "We''ve gotta clean up this mess." I nced at Rnd and Astolfo and said, "Look for survivors. I doubt there are any, but you two should be unaffected by the virus since you''re mostly magic."


    Rnd bowed his head. "As you say, Lord Rudras."


    "Gotcha, Boss!"


    With that, the two knights ran off, leaving me with just Rika and Ruijerd.


    Rika frowned and said, "Virus? What virus?" She swept her gaze around and said, "This One doesn''t see anything..."


    "You won''t. I can''t see it either, but judging from this setting, I''ve got a feeling it''s hanging around. Stay close, and don''t make physical contact with the monsters."


    "...This One is beginning to think she should have more desperately resist your summon."


    "A bitte for that, Rika. Ruijerd, keep an eye on her."


    "Understood, Rudy."


    Like that, we advanced.


    Apletely still atmosphere without even the slightest breeze. Even the distant shoreline was frozen, the water looking like a ssy pool of blood. Low moans and gruesome squishing soundsing from the zombies and bioweapons.


    Rika trembled and stuck close to me, sweeping her eyes across the surroundings. Whatever monster she set her sights on froze before crumbling into dust. The result of having all their mana sucked away.


    I noticed and said, "I thought you told me not to research mana drain?"


    "Hush, you! This One possesses it naturally! Moreover, it is not drained into This One''s body but into a void."


    "...You''re really not dissuading me from researching it like that, Rika."


    "Hmph. Just know that if you begin on that road, This One will make your life a hell of paperwork. Especially since This One''s betrothed does not exist. Do not tempt me to create a union of-"


    "Gah. Fine. Sheesh." I waved my hand and said, "I''m just joking. No need to threaten me with marriage. I''ve already still got one to sort out."


    Which reminded me. I wondered how Eris was doing? She was with Dad and Norn, but she was a bit clumsy-


    *static*


    A castle town covered in mes. Corpses of knights lining the ground, all emzoned with the Asura Kingdom emblem.


    "No. No, no, no! It''s a joke. A lie."


    A desperate voice. One that sounded extremely familiar.


    Mine.


    ...No. It was different. Older, and more weary.


    The moment I acknowledged that fact, I saw them.


    Kneeling on the ground in the center of a ring of corpses, there was a man.


    A gray robe, a staff made of a golden branch and adorned with wispy white leaves. Brown hair and bloodshot eyes. He frantically waved his staff, casting magic on a beautiful woman with crimson hairying in his arms.


    A woman with blood seeping out through the hole in her chest te. One that was right over where her heart should be.


    Still holding her de, she looked up at the man and said, "Heh. I... told you. Idiot."


    "Shut up. I can fix this. I can definitely fix this. Just... let me think!"


    I saw the scene. I felt that man''s emotions. Twisted regret and agony. Rage, barely suppressed by a desperate desire to save the one in his arms.


    As for who those people were...


    "You can''t, Rudy. But it''s fine." The woman... Erisughed and then reached up to touch the man''s face. "In the end, it''s me you''re crying for. Take that, Syl..."


    "Eri? Eri, please." Silence. One broken only by the sound of a sword falling to the ground. The woman''s grip on her de released atst.


    And then-


    *static*


    "Rudy!"


    A panicked shout. Rika''s.


    At the same time, a de cut towards my neck.


    One I had just seen.


    *tick*


    Time froze for a second.


    When it resumed, the sound of shing steel echoed. My de reaching up to stop my attacker''s.


    And then I saw who it was.


    Flowing crimson hair. A delicately crafted golden mask covering her face. Obsidian armor guarding her entire body. One that seemed to emit an anti-mana field, making her look like a ck void when observed through mage sight.


    I flicked my wrist, sending my attacker backwards and then clicked my tongue. "Definitely an edgelord. Why are all the me''s like this? Did he go mad trying to bring you back to life, Eris?"


    My attacker didn''t respond. Instead, she stepped back and shifted her de. A Water God stance.


    I frowned and switched my de to my right hand.


    Footsteps echoed from behind me, and Ruijerd arrived. Raising his spear, he looked at my opponent and said, "Rudy. Shall I handle it?"


    "No."


    I could feel it now. A sharp gaze staring directly at me from up above. One that seemed to emit a crazed malice... as well as curiosity?


    "I''ve got a feeling that this one''s all on me. And I think you guys have your own opponents to deal with."


    A surge of dripping ck mana falling from the sky. It sshed against the ground a few paces away before starting to coalesce into figures.


    The first was familiar. Clutching a bone white spear, bearing a gleaming crimson jewel on his forehead... But with skin that had long mummified, leaving a terrifying appearance.


    Ruijerd... No. A Death Knight made in Ruijerd''s image, if not from his corpse.


    And next to him, a hulking figure appeared. One that reminded me of G*ro from M*rtal K*mbat.


    Wearing decayed gold armor and tensing its four arms, it leaned its head back and let out a strangled roar.


    Ruijerd tensed.


    As for Rika...


    "That... Badi?" A hesitant voice.


    The second figure paused and then turned to look at Rika with gleaming crimson eyes.


    Rika froze. And then she started trembling.


    At first, I was worried that she was terrified. But then I realized that I didn''t have to be.


    She wasn''t shaking because she was afraid. Instead...


    A surge of mana erupted from Rika. At the same time, her eyes shed with all the colors of the rainbow and she let out a growl. "You DARE? To animate the corpse of This One''s betrothed and desecrate it in such a manner?!"


    ...Yeah. She''d be fine.


    So for now...


    I held up my sword and looked at my opponent. "You know. I never have gone all out against you, Eris. I wonder..." Crimson mana wrapped around my body, sinking into my limbs. At the same time, it split apart, turning into countless threads weaving over my muscle fibers. "...Are you strong because I taught you? Or because you''re a crazy genius like Dad? Let''s find out."


    A blinding crimson sh. The basic Sword God technique, elevated to the natural conclusion.


    A longsword of light cut towards my opponent''s neck.


    But it was blocked.


    Eris- No. The one who looked like Eris easily parried my attack with a blinding sh of her own. Not only that, she surpassed it with a stab to my heart.


    But I was prepared.


    I slid forward and turned my body, causing the stab to slid past me. At the same time, I grabbed her arm and then pivoted, throwing her over my shoulder and crashing against the ground.


    To her credit, my opponent quickly jumped to her feet, just like Eris would. But...


    "It''s like I thought." I nodded and shifted my stance. "You aren''t my Eris."


    I''d pulled that trick a hundred times on her already. While I was pretty sure she wasn''t, I had to check to make sure that the Eris I knew hadn''t gotten warped here and mind-controlled. And the fact that she fell for it meant that she didn''t have all the painful lessons I taught drilled into her body.


    So...


    I stepped forward and swung my sword.


    Like before, that Eris swung her own to parry.


    ...But also like before, I was prepared.


    The same habits she had at first, but taken to the natural conclusion. A path that Eris could have walked, but changed after meeting Dad, and then ying with me and Sylphy.


    Taking advantage of that knowledge, I slid past her guard, swung my sword, and-


    "You''re pretty ruthless, aren''t you?"


    -I was suddenly in a different ce, standing before a figure wearing a tattered gray robe.


    -RNG-


    Rnd nced up at the moon, frowning.


    "Captain Rolo!" Astolfo sliced a blood hound in half and then turned to look at Rnd. "I don''t think this is the time to be spacing out!"


    "I am aware."


    A horde of undead in every direction. Essentially every single one that inhabited this realm of the dead, save for the two shing against Ruijerd and Rika.


    "But Lord Rudras is missing."


    "Eh?" Astolfo punted a crawling zombie on the ground into the air and said, "Boss is gone? That''s bad, isn''t it?"


    "Mm." Rnd nced at his sword and then looked up at the moon. "...It should be fine. Although we should hurry and reinforce Ruijerd and Rika."


    "Okeydokey!" Astolfo nodded and then raised her sword. "Let''s go, monsters! I''ll send you all down with a touch!"


    Rnd raised his sword as well and shifted his attention to the monsters around. As he did, only a single thought crossed his mind.


    ''I knew I should have studied magic instead...''

 117 – R3 – End

    117 ¨C R3 ¨C End


    -Loop IV: Necromancer-


    It happened on the day that Norn was born. Being W was plotting something. Sylphy hade back crying, and my gut told me Dad was in trouble.


    So I had to choose.


    Stay there and wait?


    Or go and help Dad.


    I knew how dangerous Being W was. And I also knew that something could go terribly wrong if I didn''t help.


    Sylphy was there. She was good with magic, so if something happened with Mom, Mama Lily could direct her to help. After all, I was able to do it, so a genius like her definitely could, right?


    ...I was wrong.


    I saved Dad. We killed the knights and resolved the situation neatly so there wasn''t any proof. I even discovered a way to use Healing mana to unmake a corpse and dissolve it into the base materials.


    So it was fine. Everything was solved.


    But when we got back...


    "I''m sorry. I''m sorry, I''m sorry, I''m sorry..."


    Sylphy huddling in a corner, clutching her head and cowering.


    Mama Lily holding Norn, her face pale.


    And there, on the bed... Mom.


    She was smiling, so it looked like she was just sleeping.


    But she wasn''t.


    And then...


    -RNG-


    "You embarked on a quest to discover magic that could bring someone back to life. Right?"


    I stared at the person standing across from me.


    He was taller than I was. But at the same time, he was skinnier. Slimmer. Although hunched over, he seemed like a tree looming over me. Still at least a head taller.


    Considering I was only a little shorter than Ruijerd these days, it meant he was freakishly tall.


    And I didn''t mean that figuratively.


    The manughed. Tilting his head back, heughed and reached up to cover his face. As he did, the hood covering his face fell back, revealing his features.


    As I suspected, it was me- Or rather, ''Rudeus Greyrat.''


    His hair was still brown, although the color had faded to look more like ash. His eyes were also a bright green. But it was an ominous green, like radioactive waste or neon instead of emerald or jade.


    He was still fairly handsome. Dad''s genes were A+ in that department at least. But it was a haunted look. Sunken cheeks, permanent shadows under his eyes... And while he wasughing, it was with an expression that seemed a moment away from breaking into sobs.


    The look of a haunted genius. Tragic, but nothing out of the ordinary.


    That wasn''t true for every other part of his body though.


    His hand that he used to cover his face was pure ck, standing in stark contrast to his pale skin. Twisted and gnarled, it looked like the branches of a tree more than a hand.


    But that wasn''t all.


    When he moved his hand, the robe shifted to reveal his body. And when it was revealed...


    First of all, the guy wasn''t wearing any clothes. But he didn''t need to, because the body underneath those robes had stopped being human long ago.


    A pulsing crimson orb where the heart should be, one sending ugly pulses of dripping mana coursing through his limbs. Limbs that were a grotesque mass of ck flesh weaving in on itself in the shape of a man.


    I grimaced and looked back at the guy''s face. "You''re one ugly bastard, aren''t you?"


    He lowered his hand and smiled. "I admit that it''s a bit wed in terms of appearance. But I can assure you that the performance is excellent." He held out his right hand, causing it to writhe and swarm like tentacles.


    "Ugh." I shuddered and said, "Did you inherit the horny too much when puberty hit? Turning your entire body into tentacles...? I think even Sylphy would get creeped out by that, right?"


    His eye twitched and he clenched his hand into a fist. The tentacles wrapped back on itself, hardening into a fist that looked like it was made out of carbon fiber. "You shut up about Sylphy."


    "Oh." I smiled and said, "Touched a nerve, did I?"


    Witty banter. Sharp words.


    "I bet it sucked when she called you a monster and left. No, I bet she went along for a while, but when she saw how obsessed you were, she said that you changed. That you weren''t Rudy anymore. Right?"


    Rudy''s words would hurt Rudy.


    Even if that guy spun off out of control, we had the same start. Unlike Rudeus, that guy was definitely an offshoot of ''me.'' And I knew what hurt me the most.


    "You...!" He grit his teeth, but then took a deep breath to calm down. After that, he smiled and said, "No. It''s fine. You''re still just a brat. A child who doesn''t know how cruel the world can be." Heughed and said, "Though you look like that... Since you just met Ruijerd, I''m guessing you''re eight? Nine?"


    "Something like that."


    That''s right. Keep talking while I figure out what the hell kind of crazy things you did with your life.


    That crimson orb definitely seemed to be his mana. It looked a lot like how mine used to be when I extracted it to reabsorb itter.


    The weird ck body though... I couldn''t parse it. There seemed to be mana woven throughout it, but it wasn''t really ''woven.'' If I had to describe it, the mana seemed more... discrete? Like individual grains instead of a continuous flow.


    Not impossible, but I didn''t understand it. I had a few guesses on how that could work. Maybe creating individual cells and programming them. But how that would work...


    No. This was a ''me'' at the end of his path. One who looked like he tried fighting Being W and failed... Or just lost everything and decided to destroy the world. Probably thetter.


    So I had to assume that even crazy things were possible. Then, assuming he somehow developed the ability and mental capacity to control trillions of individualponents...


    "There''s no need to lie about your age." He smirked and said, "It''s not like I''m carding you to get into a bar or anything. Besides, age is just a number to a reincarnator like us, isn''t it?"


    "First of all, I''m not like you. Still perfectly human unlike the weird virus/undead/corpse hybrid lich you are. Second of all, I''m a proper royal, you know? Rudeus Notos Greyrat, instead of the lowly Rudy Greyrat that you are. Or should I call you ''Rudeus the Grey?''"


    Ame joke. Since he was dressed in grey, he reminded me of a certain wizard from a famous story about a ring to rule them all.


    But instead ofughing or brushing it off, he suddenly turned sharp, staring at me. Specifically, at my eyes. "...As expected. To be able to enter this lost portion of spacetime, you have eyes to peer into one''s past. Did you manage to get it after empowering Kishirika?" He mumbled and said, "Perhaps I should have enved her instead of killing her off? It let me kill the Fighting God by using her as a hostage, but if she could give more Demon Eyes..."


    "...I think I''m starting to understand what that wannabe superhero felt when staring at his future self."


    A radical difference. But not one that I couldn''t see myself following.


    Rika had said it as well. The Magic God Lace that I became was ruthless and focusedpletely on wiping out any and everything rted to Being W. That guy had gone full magus and did a lot of hical experiments to be powerful with ''the ends justify the means'' being his creed.


    The one in front of me though... who was apparently ACTUALLY called Rudeus the Grey.


    He wasn''t acting ''for the greater good.'' He wasn''t even trying to get power to achieve some goal.


    That look of his when he had that realization was just simple curiosity. A clinical analysis and contemtion of potential results.


    In short...


    "You''re batshit insane."


    Rudeus the Grey...


    Actually, he didn''t deserve being called Rudeus.


    ''Grey'' looked at me and thenughed. "Insane... Yes. I suppose I''ve gone insane a long, long, *long* time ago." He let out a crooked smile that stretched *way* beyond how a normal face was supposed to stretch and said, "But that''s what happens when you live past the end of the world. I''d be surprised if there was a person who *was* sane after all of that."


    Yeah. This guy needed to go. If he managed to get out of here... judging from what I saw happen to the port, we''d be facing a zombie apocalypse. Probably one with various causes.


    Definitely no good.


    But...


    "Just what happened to you?"


    A fake disgust and morbid curiosity-


    Ah, no. That was real. I didn''t need to fake those emotions.


    Grey chuckled and then held out his left hand. As he did, a familiar white mist formed. Being W''s mana.


    ...Except it wasn''t.


    As I watched, that mist became corroded with ck-red mana. No, ''corrupted'' was the better word. Being W''s mana fizzled before turning into a grey mist and condensing into a human skull. One with gleaming red eyes.


    Grey looked at it and smiled. "I''ve been thinking long and hard about this. What happens after death in this world? Is there an afterlife? Would it be possible to pull someone back, or if not, at least recreate the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. Bargaining with death to bring back a life."


    "...Because of Eris, right?"


    His smile vanished and he nodded. "Because of Eri." He stared at me for a while and then shook his head. "You''re lucky. By chance, you didn''t choose the path I did. And you avoided the ''Knight'' as well. You''ve even walked this far and didn''t turn into the ''Conqueror.''" Heughed and then said, "It''s funny, you know? It''s as if there''s someone helping you. A person behind the scenes giving you little nudges here and there to make you miss the pitfalls by the smallest of margins. That''s..." He clenched his hand, causing the skull to shatter. "...It''s really not fair. You know?"


    "Luck *is* a skill, you know?"


    Grey spat to the side and he said, "This is why I hate children. So flippant. So arrogant. It''s why I lost everything back then, thinking I could solve it all by myself."


    Oh yeah. 100000% edgelord.


    And I thought he was just a necromancer, but now that I stared at him...


    Mage Sight wasn''t pulling anything other than a hazy crimson mist surrounding his entire body. One simr to Being W''s.


    Did that guy manage to snatch a bit of Being W''s powers? It would exin how he found his way here... So I''d have to be careful about that.


    I''d also have to be careful about what I said and what I showed off.


    Learned my lesson about that from Being W. If that guy managed to recreate a ck hole by experincing it firsthand without any theory, a much older version of myself who presumably had decades to study and refine various theories would *definitely* catch on.


    The only upside seemed to be that he had hyperspecialized in life and death magic.


    ''Seemed'' to hyperspecialize.


    He was still me, after all. Even if an ''alter'' instead of proper me. Knowing that, he definitely had a bunch of weird trump cards lined up. ESPECIALLY if he went full edgelord.


    While I was silent, Grey kept talking. Staring at my face- No. He seemed to be staring through me, peering at something in the distance. "You''re lucky... Yeah. You''re lucky. Eri is alive and well. Stronger here too. And Sylphy... She loves you a lot, huh? I guess you must have epted her after all. Master Roxy too."


    I tensed.


    Heughed. "Did I touch a nerve?" He reached up and tapped his eyes. "You''re not the only one with Demon Eyes, you know? I might not be able to see the past like you, but I can see the present. Especially all the warm and cuddly bonds you share with the people around you." He frowned. "...I''m a bit surprised though. To think that I would have eventually had another baby sister... Thought Dad was just filled with nks."


    "...You seem like a calm and reasonable person." I smiled and said, "You''re me, after all. And it seems like you have a grudge against Being W too, right? How about you team up with me?"


    Grey looked at me. "Team up? With you?"


    I nodded. "That''s right. We can work on getting rid of Being W together. And after that, with the both of us, I''m sure we can figure out a way to get your world back and save everyone."


    Grey let out a soft smile. "...That sounds nice."


    "Right?"


    "Mm. If time worked any differently, then I''d agree. But unfortunately for you." His eyes turned sharp and he said, "As long as you''re alive, this timeline is the only one allowed to exist. So... Just shut up and die, you brat."


    A swarm of ck tentacles,shing out from all around.


    "Gah! I fucking knew it! You edgelord!"


    I swung my sword and cut through the tentacles before running at him.


    The only part left unchanged was his head, so it was probably his weakspot. After all, the human brain was a delicate thing. Even with mana, I definitely wouldn''t risk touching it. So...


    *tick*


    Time slowed down and I sped up. My customized Battle Aura red, boosting my fighting abilities. At the same time, I swung my sword at his head.


    Grey didn''t react. And like that, his head flew off with a clean slice, tumbling on the ground.


    His body dissolved into ck mana, oozing into the ground.


    "Huh." I lowered my sword and looked around. "That was easier than I expected."


    Did he spec too hard into magic and int? For all his talk about the performance of his body being second to none, leaving such a ring weakness was-


    Wait.


    ring weakness.


    Trump cards.


    Crimson moon...


    Where was I exactly?


    I quickly spun around to look at my surroundings.


    It wasn''t the port. And I didn''t see any signs of Rika, Ruijerd, or Rnd and Astolfo.


    In fact, all I could see was a murky red color-


    Oh.


    Oh shit.


    *You really are just a kid, aren''t you?*


    A raspy voice that seemed to echo from everywhere around.


    At the same time, the ground beneath me gave way and millions of shadowy tendrils reached out to grab me, preventing me from moving.


    *Just be quiet and die. Trust me. Being W can''t be killed anyway.*


    I struggled a bit to try and break free, but couldn''t move an inch. And I knew why now that I saw it up close.


    "You crazy bastard... Did you turn yourself into a giant supeputer to control all of this?"


    A boomingugh echoed. *That''s right. What was that old meme...? Right. ''Nanomachines, son.''*


    Well. This was awkward.


    Never expected a version of myself to actually turn into a *moon* of all things. Or to have enough mana to be able to even make that possible.


    ...Seems like I might be the only ''Rudeus'' who *didn''t* research the mana drain spell.


    But that was fine.


    Seeing the crimson moon and recently fighting Being W gave me a better idea.


    It would be impossible for a human to match a god or a being with ess to so much energy.


    Normally.


    And I wouldn''t normally be able to do it outside of this ce either.


    But considering the fact that we were technically outside of time, that I had a sword in hand pulled from an imaginary space, and that I was facing a version of myself from a different timeline...


    "Hey, Rudeus the Grey."


    *What?*


    "Have you heard? Multiverse theory''s a bitch."


    *...What the hell are you- Wait. What the fuck? That''s possible?! How the hell-*


    "Try not being an edgelord in your next life. Speaking from personal experience, it opens up a lot of doors."


    A sh of rainbow light. Mana pulled in from the infinite reaches of space across countless timelines, using imagination to integrate it into reality through the power of a demon and her gifted irvoyance...


    Gotta love the fact that mana is magical phlebotinum.


    -RRR-


    A sh of crimson light, shooting towards the ground before twisting and piercing the heart.


    Ruijerd stared into the eyes of his opponent and sighed. "...You worked hard. Thank you for protecting him."


    Silence.


    Ruijerd''s opponent stared back at him before crumbling into dust.


    He shook his head and pulled his spear back before checking in on Rika.


    "...Stupid Badi. If you weren''t so stubborn about your promises, you''d still be alive. You know?"


    No response.


    Of course, Rika''s opponent wouldn''t be able to even if he wanted.


    An absolute void barrier trapping him in space. Mana being siphoned out from the body and into that void as long as Rika stared at her opponent. And if that wasn''t enough, every single joint had been turned to stone, meaning that a rough movement would cause the opponent to break his own limbs.


    Rika sighed.


    Her opponent stared back at her before closing his eyes. When he did, his body cracked and dissolved into dust.


    Seeing that, Rika closed her eyes, letting the barrier fade.


    Ruijerd walked over to her and ced a hand on her shoulder. "You did well."


    Rika materialized a pair of sses and put them on. After that, she turned to Ruijerd and said, "Hmph. This One knows. There is a reason why Rudy brought This One with him."


    Ruijerd smiled. "Of course." After that, he looked around the surroundings.


    Rnd and Astolfo were still clearing out the monsters, but Rudy was nowhere to be seen.


    Ruijerd nced at Rika and said, "Can you see Rudy?"


    Rika frowned and looked around. "...He is not in the area. And I do not see his mana, so- Hm?" Rika suddenly looked up.


    Seeing that, Ruijerd did as well. And then when he did, heughed. "An ordinary human child, are you, Rudy?"


    The crimson moon hanging in the frozen starry sky. There, a tiny rainbow sh formed, almost like an iridescent star. But that tiny star grew until it blocked out the moon, enveloping the crimson with its rainbow light.


    Then it erupted.


    "Gah!" Rika flinched and covered her eyes. "RUDY! You reckless fool!"


    From somewhere far above, a faint voice called back. "Sorry Rika! And take cover! It''s going to blow!"


    "WHAT?!"


    Rnd and Astolfo immediately flopped to the ground.


    Seeing that Ruijerd grabbed Rika and pulled her down as well.


    "What are you doing to This-"


    *BOOM*


    -SNG-


    The small sandbox y area at the foot of the Tower of Arcadia. One built specifically for Ste''s personal use.


    Ste paused in the middle sculpting a tiny robot from the sand and looked off into the distance.


    It was just an instinct. A sixth sense that her Onii-chan was doing something ridiculous again.


    Ena took her hands off the idealized statue of Rudy she was sculpting and followed Ste''s gaze. "Hm? Did you notice something, Lady Ste?"


    Sitting on awn chair nearby, Eos took off her sses and narrowed her eyes. "Oh. It seems like Master''s finished already." She paused and tilted her head. "Though... Odd. I didn''t know Distortions could explode like that. Or be instantly contained."


    Distortions... those were the bubbles of contorted spacetime, right?


    And Eos nee-chan just said that it exploded and then was instantly contained.


    And Onii-chan didn''t say it, but from how Ena nee-chan and Eos nee-chan had been acting, it was clear that was the purpose of Onii-chan''s trip.


    So...


    "Nii-cha. Bakamono."


    An idiot monster. Yep. That was her Onii-chan alright.


    Ste sighed and went back to making her robot.


    Now Water, Fire, and Wind weren''t earth spirits, but from what Ste saw, you didn''t need to match elements to give spirits a body. You just needed one that was suitable. Mostly with magical circuits of some sort.


    Ste didn''t have that, but Ena nee-chan the clumsy doormat- The nice nee-chan went and got her a few extra magic stones to y with. So...


    "Fai. Twy?"


    The little fire spirit flew into the robot. And the moment it did...


    "B-By the stars!" Ena gasped and pped her hands together. "A genius! A true prodigy!"


    ...A red-haired androgynous angel appeared in a sh of golden light and started flying around. "Ste! Ste, Ste! Hey! Hey! Listen!" It giggled and then flew up to hug Ste. "I can talk now! Whee!"


    ...This might have been a mistake.

 118 – Struggling, You’ve Lived Painfully, Haven’t You…?

    118 ¨C Struggling, You¡¯ve Lived Painfully, Haven¡¯t You¡­?


    -[redacted] Witch of [redacted]-


    It had been a long, long time.


    At first, she wasn''t alone. There were two others with her. But as they wandered thend in search of their friends and family, it became clear that it would be difficult to continue as a group.


    Time was of the essence. Although Rudy was a genius, he was still just a child. Moreover, he was with a newborn. No matter how intelligent or capable he was, it would be hard for them to survive.


    So it was decided.


    One of them would stay with Aisha while the other would roam on her own. It was dangerous, but they were both capable. Not only that, but Aisha had shown herself to be a genius in her own right. Especially when Aisha happened to find Rudy''s old wand by chance and learned to use all the elements.


    So she left on her own. Diving into dungeons to gain the strength and equipment necessary to fight her way across the continent. Scouring every inch of the continent, talking to every person she met, chasing every minor lead.


    But she was tired.


    The world had changed. Swathes ofnd had been ripped apart. ins turned to mountains, seas to grasnds. Even time itself appeared to be distorted.


    And this was especially true in the new dungeons that sprang up.


    She could have avoided them. After all, it was unlikely that Rudy or Ste would be inside.


    But she also knew how cruel and terrifying that Being W was.


    So she entered. Even when countless others dissuaded her. Even alone.


    There were times she thought she had died. There were times she wished she *had* died. And there were times when she broke down crying with no one to see or hear her.


    But she continued.


    Even as she was trapped in dungeons that took years to clear. Even when she had to patch her own wounds with elementary healing magic and only a basic understanding of anatomy, leaving scars all across her body. Even as her body changed due to spending decades diving dungeons with distorted time while the people outside remained the same.


    Yes.


    She continued.


    Roaming the continent. Clearing dungeons. Making maps and resolving Distortions that appeared where she traveled.


    All so that she could see him again. Even if it was just a glimpse, a trace. That was the only thing she was hoping for.


    She knew that he would be fine. Rudy was a super genius who would be able to figure out a way to be safe no matter where he ended up.


    But he was with Ste. A baby.


    There was no way he coulde look for them.


    So they were the ones who had to search.


    She had to search as well.


    But...


    She was tired.


    She was *so* tired.


    And she was starting to worry as well.


    Even with her long lifespan, the decades she spent clearing the dungeons with contorted time had taken their toll. Even her body that she thought would never change had matured. It was to the point that she wondered if he would recognize her if they met.


    But she couldn''t doubt it. She couldn''t waver. Not after already going so far.


    The Strife Zone had been searched by the Boreas family after Philip unified it.


    Paul had gone to Milis to search there.


    Orsted and Princess Ariel were organizing the search on the Central Continent and throughout the Asura Kingdom.


    And she had already searched through the Begaritt Continent.


    So there were only two ces left.


    The Divine Content was more difficult to reach, but it was also smaller. Because of that, she ruled it out.


    That left the Magic Continent.


    A long journey across the seas, steadily searching there as well for any trace of him.


    But there weren''t any.


    Like always, she didn''t see any sign of him.


    She hadn''t been expecting any.


    But when she arrived on the Magic Continent and headed to the Migurd Vige, she found one.


    "Ah, you''re looking for a victim of the Spacetime Incident? In that case, you should go to Arcadia and seek an audience with Lord Rudras."


    Rudras.


    The name was different. The continent was different. Even the apparent race was different.


    The Demon Lord of Salvation that established the utopian kingdom of Arcadia was said to be a secret member of the Dragon race due to his white hair and golden eyes. More rumors spread that he might be the seconding of Lace, while rumors among humans were that he was the reincarnation of Saint Milis.


    But she didn''t care.


    "Rudy..." Adjusting her hood, she stared out at the tower looming over thend and muttered, "...Have I finally found you?"


    A heart that had turned to ice from losing hope started to melt. The feelings she had from back then returned as if no time had passed.


    Taking a deep breath, she set off to meet with the one she loved, hoping that they could start again where they left off.


    -SNG-


    Ste was not having a good day.


    Well, to be more precise, she was not having a good week.


    To begin with, she made a terrible mistake. One she should have realized after seeing how Onii-chan reacted to Mister Rnd and Miss Astolfo.


    Specifically...


    "Hey! Ste! Hey! how about we try fire magic today?"


    ...You never knew what kind of creature would pop out after a spirit inhabited a body and took it over.


    A crimson-haired angel... No. While her wings were feathery, she was only about the size of Ste''s face, so she was more like a fairy or a pixie.


    Fire... Or as she liked to call herself, ''Fai.''


    Stupid baby mouth not able to properly enunciate...


    Fai buzzed around Ste''s head and poked her cheek. "Hey! Come on! You can definitely do it today! And I can help too!"


    A soft sigh echoed before a floating white cat swatted Fai out of the air.


    "Ow!" Fai rubbed her head and looked at her attacker. "What was that for, Wata?"


    "For bothering Ste. Can''t you see how annoyed she looks?"


    That was Wata, formerly known as Water. At least to Ste.


    She didn''t know why, but when she asked Wata to enter the doll she made, the water spirit turned into a fluffy talking male cat.


    Fai pouted and then pointed at something on top of Ste''s hat. "But Winnie gets to sit there! Howe she gets a pass?"


    Ste blinked and then looked up to see that there really was something sitting on her head. Or rather, someone.


    "Teehee. Sorry~" After saying that, Winnie, formerly known as Wind, floated down and waved at Ste.


    She was simr to Fai in that she was small and had feathery wings, but that was where the simrities ended.


    First of all, Winnie had an actual halo over her head, making her look like a real angel. Also, she had really pretty green hair that looked like it was made of light. But most importantly of all...


    "Ste was sofy that I fell asleep. Sorry..."


    ...She mostly just cuddled with Ste and didn''t say anything.


    Unlike a certain energetic red fairy- Angel.


    Fai pouted and said, "That''s not fair! I''m the oldest!"


    Wata rolled his blue eyes and said, "And also the least mature. Didn''t you remember? Master Rudeus said we need to keep an eye on Ste and keep her safe. Letting her y with fire magic is asking for trouble."


    "I can control it!"


    "Maybe. But do you want to tell that to Master Rudeus if something happens?"


    "A-Ah..." Fai poked her fingers together and said, "No..."


    "Exactly, so- Winnie! Stop sleeping on Ste''s head!"


    "But it''s so *fluffy*..."


    ...Yes. This had be her everyday life since she first gave Fire- ''Fai'' a physical body.


    Ste sighed and then took a look around.


    She was outside in her sandbox as usual. Onii-chan had called for Ena nee-chan, so the only person watching her today was Eos nee-chan... Who was sitting in her chair as usual and just reading a book, pointedly ignoring the bickering elementals.


    Smart.


    Ste wished she could do the same, but since she had babbled to the spirits so much before they could talk, now that they *could* it was like they wanted to dump all the words they couldn''t say beforehand.


    "Fire beats water anyway!"


    "Are you dumb? Water puts out fire!"


    "But a *big* fire turns water into steam!"


    "Steam is still water, idiot. And steam turns back into rain anyway."


    "W-What? That''s cheating!"


    "That''s how nature works. You should know this, you''re an elemental!"


    "...Oh. Right."


    Ste nced at Fai and Wata, considering whether to break it up. But then she thought better of it.


    Instead, she looked at Eos and held out her hands. "Nee-chan. Cawwy."


    Eos paused in the middle of turning a page and then let out a smile. Setting her book aside, she walked over to pick Ste up and said, "Got fed up with those chatterboxes, have you?"


    Ste sighed.


    Eos chuckled and walked back to her chair, setting Ste down on top of her belly. "I don''t have any pillows, but those should be soft enough for you. Just try not to fall off, alright, Little Miss?"


    Steid there for a bit, staring at the sky with a nk look.


    ...There was being nonchnt about your assets, and then there was not caring about them at all.


    Eos nee-chan... Aren''t you going to cause a bunch of misunderstandings by being this casual with your body...?


    "Hah." Eos held her book over her head and said, "Sis sure is lucky. I wanted to go help Master out. Instead, I''m stuck here babysitting you."


    Ste leaned her head back a bit and said, "Nee-cha. Do you na wike me?"


    Eos changed her grip to hold the book with one hand and then patted Ste''s head. "I like you, Little Miss. But it''s *boring.* I''m not a researcher like Sis. There''s a reason why Master put me in charge of the Survey Corps. Sitting here like this... I feel like I''m not needed."


    "I nee you."


    Eos smiled and patted Ste''s head. "Thanks, Little Miss. Ah, but remember. I''m not your Mom, okay? I know we''ve got the same hair and eye color, but I''m single and still a virgin. I also don''t n on having kids any time soon."


    Faced with a loaded statement and a conversation any infant really had no right knowing, all Ste could do was nod and hesitantly say, "...Kay."


    "That''s a good girl. Remember, I''m your big sis, not your Mom or your Aunt. Now... Make yourselffy. It''s about time for your afternoon nap anyway, so take a load off."


    The moment Eos said that, Ste yawned.


    She made a good point. Ste *had* been up for a while. And since she still wasn''t even a year old yet, she got tired easy. And since she had to deal with Wata, Fai, and Winnie''s shenanigans... Mostly Wata and Fai''s, Ste was exhausted.


    So she took Eos up on her offer.


    Plopping her head against the marshmallowy pillows, Ste closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.


    Until she heard a voice call out.


    "Zenith? Is... that you?"


    A beautiful female voice. Delicate and elegant. But also fragile, like ss about to shatter.


    Ste opened her eyes and sat up.


    But Eos was faster and sat them both up, carefully holding Ste against her. "...Who are you? And how did you get past the White Knights?"


    A woman wearing a tattered hooded robe and holding a gleaming white wand. Staring at Eos, she slowly shook her head and said, "No. You aren''t her. But you look simr. Did Rudy get homesick...? Or did he make you so that Ste didn''t get homesick?" After saying that, the woman turned to look at Ste.


    Ste stared back, tilting her head.


    She was pretty. The hood was hiding the woman''s face, but Ste could still see it.


    A mature and delicate face, just as pretty as Eos and Ena. Beautiful silver hair that looked tinged blue, like frost.


    ...And now that Ste looked closely, her body was just as ''mature'' as both Eos and Ena as well. Not quite as big, but definitely up there.


    It was probably unrted to Ste''s thoughts, but Eos was on edge. Tense.


    But the mystery woman wasn''t. Instead, she was looking at Ste with eyes that were about to tear up. An expression of pure relief.


    Seeing that... And realizing that this would probably cause a big misunderstanding soon if she didn''t do anything about it, Ste grabbed her ne.


    She wasn''t too sure if it would work, but-


    "Nii-cha! Help!"


    Eos''s eyes widened and she quickly set Ste down on the ground. "L-Little Miss, you''ve gotta be-"


    The sound of cracking ss. Countless crimson lights tracing out around the entire surrounding area while time seemed to slow down to a crawl.


    And then it shattered, leaving a familiar figure to walk out.


    Pure white hair, slicked back from the sheer force of stepping through time and space and crackling with red lightning. His high-cor coat billowing in the wind as he lowered a crimson sword held in his left hand. Casually stepping in front of Ste and Eos, he looked up at the mystery woman and spoke in a low and intimidating voice. "For thousands of years Iid dormant."


    It was an intimidating act.


    Ste knew that Onii-chan had to be chuuni to keep people in line, so that didn''t bother her too much. But she didn''t expect what happened next.


    Raising his sword at the woman, he said, "Who dares to disturb my- Huh?"


    A sudden shift in tone. One that sounded like disbelief.


    "Wait. That''s... not right?"


    The mystery woman blinked, causing tears to run down her cheeks. After that, she ran forward and pulled Rudy into a tight hug.


    "Rudy! You''re alive! You''re safe! After all these years... I''ve missed you so, so, *so* much."


    ...Eh?


    "W-Wait. Hold on." Rudy reached up to pull down the woman''s hood.


    Like Ste saw, she had silver hair tinged blue, like frost. She also had pointed ears, like an elf''s.


    Wait. Did elves exist in this world?


    ...No, that was a dumb question. Angels did, as well as demons, so obviously elves would too.


    But then, a mystery elf showing up at Onii-chan''s house. One who burst into tears and hugged him...


    Eos stood up and slowly looked between Rudy and the woman. "Master. Who''s that?"


    "Um. Well..." Rudy rubbed the back of his neck. "She''s-"


    Before Rudy could finish, the woman snatched Rudy''s arm and pulled him close.


    "I''m Rudy''s official lover! His wife approved me so you stay away, hussy! There''s only room for three women in his life!"


    "H-Hold on! Lover? Wife? What are you talking about?! I haven''t-"


    The woman burst into tears and faced Rudy. "D-Don''t tell me...? You don''t recognize me? Or... No, it''s been so long. Do you... not love me any more?" A pained and broken tone of voice.


    One quickly followed by a surge of chaotic mana.


    "...Fine. Then I guess I''ll just end... every..." The woman suddenly started staggering. As she did, she looked at Rudy and said, "Rudy... No... fair."


    After that, she fell over, unconscious.


    Rudy caught her before she fell and then lifted her in a princess carry with mixed emotions on his face. "Well. Mana drain is definitely convenient. And it also confirms who this person is."


    Eos looked at Rudy and raised an eyebrow. "And that is...?"


    "Um." Rudy let out an awkwardugh and said, "...My childhood sweetheart?"


    Silence.


    And then a pair of voices spoke up.


    "Wow! Ste''s big brother is amazing!"


    "Shut up, Fai! Read the mood!"


    Ste let out a deep sigh. "Nii-cha. Bakayaro."


    "Kuh! S-Ste, it''s not what you think..."


    "Ena nee-cha wiw be sad."


    "T-That''s... Um... You know what?" Rudy sighed and said, "...Let''s talk about thister. Right now I have to make sure Sylphy''s alright. And tell the others to take their time... Probably need to exin that it''s not an emergency too before-"


    "Kyahahaha! So a mere mortal dares to harm This One''s adopted little sister?"


    "...Rika shows up along with the crew. Hah..."


    ...Yeah. Definitely an isekai protagonist-


    Wait. That woman said that Onii-chan only had room for three women in his life.


    Then...


    Onii-chan had a harem when he was a kid? No, the woman said ''lover'' too, so...


    "Nii-cha."


    "Hm?" Rudy turned to look at Ste. "Yeah, Ste?"


    "hi."


    What kind of perverted shota was he to snag an innocent looking elf princess like that...?

 119 – Sylphy’s Happiness

    119 ¨C Sylphy¡¯s Happiness


    Sylphy slowly opened her eyes and realized she wasying on a bed.


    It was an unfamiliar room. An unfamiliar atmosphere. Unfamiliar presences.


    But it wouldn''t be the first.


    The new distorted dungeons were home to all sorts of hazards and variables. After decades of experience and bing the foremost expert exploring unknown and dangerous dungeons, she had developed a process for this exact situation.


    First, assess the surroundings.


    It seemed to be a tower of some sort. The make up appeared to be a ck stone, magically crafted. And the source of that mana...


    The source of that mana...?


    "Oh. You''re finally awake, huh?"


    A familiar, but also unfamiliar voice. The one that she missed with all her heart and desperately worried she would never hear again.


    But Sylphy didn''t fall for it. She didn''t respond right away.


    Instead, she sat up and roused her mana, chilling the atmosphere and space itself.


    It wouldn''t be the first. It wouldn''t be the first time she almost fell for it. It wouldn''t be the first where an insidious trap called out to her in her weakness and made her think she had found him.


    ...But it would be a first for a time like this.


    Sylphy blinked, confused at the person she was seeing.


    The mana was the same. No, it was a bit different too. Instead of that beautifully vivid shade of red she remembered, it had turned a bit transparent. While red was still the primary color, there were wisps of rainbow light wrapping around it as well.


    Not only that, but the face of the person standing there...


    A handsome man- No, a handsome young man.


    He couldn''t be more than eighteen years old. Even so...


    A calm and gentle smile. One green eye that shone with the familiar kind light... and a white eye that didn''t shine at all.


    Blind.


    Yes. This was a first. Even though she''d experienced countless hyper-realistic illusions in the past, this would be the first seeing a Rudy like this.


    One so handsome, heroic, and sexy-


    Sylphy felt her face heat up and quickly stammered, "S-Stay where you are!"


    The sexy- Handsome-


    Th-The man frowned and then let out a deep sigh. After that, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Definitely need to pummel Being W a few times before killing him in the future."


    Being W.


    Not Hitogami.


    Not the Human God.


    Being W. The childish and mocking name that Rudy gave to the god responsible for this entire situation.


    One that she had never heard from anyone other than Orsted, Paul, and Roxy since the Spacetime Rend urred.


    Then.


    Then...!


    Sylphy''s vision blurred. Against her will, she started crying again.


    "Sheesh..." Footsteps approached her before pulling her into a hug. "I didn''t think you were this much of a crybaby, Sylphy."


    "Ru...Rudy?" She hugged him back and said, "Is... Is it really you?"


    "Yep. It''s Rudy, here in the flesh. And you''re Sylphy, right?"


    Sylphy brushed away her tears and nodded. "Y-Yes. It''s... It''s me. Your Sylphy."


    "M-My Sylphy, you say?"


    Sylphy tensed and lowered her head. "D-Do you not want me anymore, Rudy?"


    "N-No! I mean, yes! I do want you. It''s just... Um..." He frowned and said, "What happened to you? Has that much time passed outside of the Magic Continent...?"


    "No." Sylphy shook her head. "There are pockets where time is elerated, but most of the world is still the same time."


    Rudy''s frown deepened and he said, "Then what happened to you? Did you get transported into one of those?"


    Sylphy shook her head and said, "No. I just did the same thing you did."


    "Eh?" Rudy blinked. "What do you mean?"


    "I went and explored the distorted dungeons looking for our family. A lot of them took many years to clear while only a little bit of time had passed on the outside." She paused and then looked at Rudy. "Is... that not what happened to you?"


    "Wait. You mean you''re *actually* that old? As in you''ve lived out those years... No, probably decades, right? Holy crap, you''re older than me now?"


    Sylphy huffed and crossed her arms. "You''re still ''Rude'', aren''t you? Meanie."


    "That''s... But wait..." He trailed off and started mumbling under his breath.


    Seeing that, Sylphy smiled.


    ...Ah. It was nostalgic. Hearing his voice, seeing his focused gaze as he ran through the situation in his head...


    Sylphy felt her heart race as well as the nostalgic contentment wash over her just being by him.


    "Hold on." Rudy finally finished thinking and looked up at Sylphy. "How long has it been?"


    "Hm?" Sylphy tilted her head to think and said, "...I''m not sure. Time for me has gotten a little..." She trailed off, not wanting to think about exactly how many years she''d spent in dungeons.


    "Oh. Right. Well... Do you know what year it is? Back at home, I mean."


    Sylphy paused. "That''s... It should be K417?"


    "Wait, what? Then two years have passed already!?"


    Sylphy frowned. "...Has it not been that long here?" She looked around and said, "The air here is denser, so it might flow at a slower rate than the other continents, but..."


    She paused, suddenly remembering that Ste was still an infant while Rudy looked like an adult already.


    Did he find Ste in a distorted dungeon?


    As if reading her mind, Rudy shook his head and said, "It''s only been six months here. And before you ask, I haven''t gone dungeon exploring." He waved at his body and said, "This just happened after I tried a magic experiment."


    Sylphy blinked, and then she giggled.


    "W-What?"


    Sylphy shook her head and said, "Only Rudy would identally age himself with a magic experiment. Though..." She paused and then crossed her arms under her chest. "...It''s no good, huh? If only six months have passed for you?" Sylphy blinked and then looked at Rudy again. "...You mean you''re still just eight? No, nine?"


    Rudy frowned. "Well I guess on paper I''d be ten if that''s the date. But man, time dtion makes things really weird huh?"


    "Tch." Sylphy crossed her arms and muttered, "I have to wait even longer then...?"


    After all those years and waiting, mulling over everything that Paul said and what Grandma taught her...


    "Wait longer for what?"


    Sylphy stared at Rudy and then slowly looked down before looking back at him.


    Rudy blinked.


    Sylphy sighed. "Nothing. But..." She looked around and said, "...You did all of this in six months?"


    It was a utopia, just like the perfect kingdoms in story books. People were living happily and peacefully. Unlike the other continents where people were vying for power, it was calm and tranquil here.


    "It''s a bit of a long story, but yeah. Actually, how about we take a tour? I''ve gotta introduce you to Ste too. ...And you need to help me clear up a misunderstanding."


    "Hm?" Sylphy tilted her head. "What misunderstanding?"


    "She seems to think that I''m a pervert."


    Sylphy let out a deep sigh. "If only you were."


    "What?"


    Sylphy stood up and said,"So who was that Heaven-Race woman who looked like a meaner Zenith? Is she your secret lover? Grandma mentioned that boys like women who resemble their mother, but-"


    "NO! She''s NOT! God, why do people keep thinking that? Just because I happen to have beautiful women working for me does not mean they''re my secret lovers or sex ves."


    Sylphy paused and then stared at Rudy''s face. "...Say that again?"


    "Huh?" Rudy blinked. And then his eyes widened and he started to sweat. "U-Um..."


    Sylphy smiled and grabbed Rudy''s hand. "...So you know about it, then? How a boy bes a man and a girl bes a woman?"


    "T-That''s... Um. Sylphy, hold on-"


    "No." Sylphy licked her lips and stepped forward, draping her arms around Rudy''s shoulders. "I''ve been waiting for *decades.* And I''ve been tempted a lot, but I saved it for you. Because I love you. More than anyone and anything else in the world. So..."


    "Rika? RIKA! HELP!"


    "You owe me a lot of birthday presents, Ru-de-us. Heehee."


    "Wait! Sylphy, Ste''s right- Mmph!?!!?!?"


    -SNG-


    Lewd sounds and moansing from upstairs.


    Ste let out a deep sigh and poked Winnie. "Win. Bwock soun pwease?"


    "Kay~" The wind elemental floated over to Ste''s head and plopped herself down. After that, there was a shimmer and the room becamepletely silent.


    Fai looked towards the stair and frowned. "...That sounded painful."


    Wata sighed and said, "Just take a nap with Ste, Fai." He yawned and then curled up beside Ste, letting her hug him like a plushie.


    Fai noticed and pouted. "Hey! No fair!"


    "You snooze, you... win." Wata yawned again and then closed his eyes.


    Fai puffed out her cheeks before flying over to sleep next to Ste.


    As for Ste herself...


    ''Definitely Cheat Isekai protagonist. OP abilities, a genius, a harem of beautiful women... and sex as soon as he reunites with his childhood sweetheart. Baka hi Onii-chan.''


    Hopefully her parents were better...

 L.IV Case File: 001

    L.IV Case File: 001


    -Preface-


    Due to various conditions being met, certain notes from L.IV have been deciphered.


    -Notes on the Current World-


    This current world resides in the Alpha timeline, one of the two concurrent timelines in the previously six-sided world.


    The Alpha timeline is parallel to the Beta timeline where Rudeus Greyrat lives aplete and fulfilling life.


    While key events are simr between the two, such as the birth and early childhood of the one known as Rudeus Greyrat, they arepletely separate and do not normally ovep or interfere.


    -Timeline notes-


    There exists a source timeline one where Orsted loses his battle against Hitogami. This source timeline is locked by the authority of the Dragon God and set to revert to a certain point until Hitogami is in.


    In this timeline, the yback Miko is born and dies each time, trapped in Orsted''s world reverting timeloop.


    This ''source'' timeline is what Hitogami seeks to return to.


    Due to minor fluctuations in the source timeline wrought by Orsted''s world reverting timeloop, a confluence of miracles causes the source timeline to transmute into the Alpha timeline when the yback Miko''s desperate prayer to save the love of her life results in the soul of Rudeus Greyrat to fall into the six-sided world.


    In the Alpha timeline, Rudeus Greyrat lives his life simr to that of the Rudeus Greyrat in the Beta timeline. However, the death of his wife, Roxy Migurdia leads to a downward spiral. Falling into depravity and revenge while losing everyone he loves, at the end of his life he develops a time travel spell to return to the past and warn his past self to not make his mistakes.


    This time travel spell is wed. Based on modifications from the notes of the Dragon God''s original timeloop spell, the intent is to physically send the caster back in time to change the past and create a new future.


    However, this is impossible as the flow of time is locked to the Dragon God''s timeloop spell. Information may be sent back, but it is impossible to send matter back in time as it would disrupt Orsted''s loop.


    Through ingenuity, desparation, and determination, Rudeus obtains a partial sess.


    The time travel spell splits the Alpha timeline, creating the Beta timeline under full authority of the Dragon God''s spell and the Alpha Prime timeline, free to deviate in every way.


    Rudeus arrives in the past of the Beta timeline, his spelltching onto it by ident due to the simrity between his spell and the Dragon God''s loop spell. Believing it to be his past, he gives that timeline''s Rudeus a journal of what is toe and warns him so as to not make the same mistakes. The ident in his spell leaves Rudeus without vital organs, and so he perishes, leaving that timeline''s Rudeus to take his advice and eventually live a full life.


    However, Rudeus''s death did not end the spell.


    Following his demise, the iplete spell continues and returns his soul to the past of the Alpha Prime timeline. During this period, [redacted].


    The result is that the yback Miko''s wish and powers miss their mark, reaching towards a parallel Earth instead of the original, which is currently linked to the Beta timeline.


    -Parallel Earth (EarthK482)-


    This Earth is 99.9999% simr to the Earth connected to the Beta timeline. Although there are a variety of minor difference, the key difference is that the ''person'' who is fated to be Rudeus Greyrat leads a different life.


    From a young age, he shows a remarkable capacity for various skills and has a keen intellect. This results in meeting and continually exceeding the expectations ced on him throughout his childhood. However, this capacity bes poison as he squanders his talents pursuing too many avenues and forsaking his education, seeking quick sesses instead of longterm sess.


    Consequently, he bes estranged and spends his adultlife drifting from job to job while losing himself in researching various topics, watching anime, ying games, and whatever else catches his eyes.


    Around histe twenties, he realizes his errors and turns his life around, earning a university degree in record time as well asnding a high-paying job right from graduation. After making ns and arrangements to meet and repair his rtionships with his family, he tragically is caught in a major car ident around Christmas Eve and horribly incapacitated, leaving him immobile and blind.


    Some timeter, he passes away from his injuries but lingers on as an earthbound spirit until his funeral.


    At this point, the yback Miko''s powerstch onto his soul and summon him to the six-sided world.


    Approximately the same time that his soul is summoned, Nanahoshi Shizuka perishes saving Shinohara Akito from a truck passing a red light.


    -Alpha Prime Timeline-


    The events are the same as the other timelines up until approximately K390.


    Elinalise partially regains her memories as Rostelina after meeting [redacted], leading her to leave her newborn child and breaking her tradition of raising her child to maturity.


    The general flow of events remain the same until K407 when Rudeus Greyrat is born.


    However, due to the unstable nature of the Alpha Prime timeline and the nature of the soul born as Rudeus Greyrat, infinite branches split off from his birth.


    In order to resolve this quandry, and to prevent Hitogami from taking advantage of the instability to revert both the Beta timeline and the Alpha Prime timeline to the source timeline [redacted] arranges Technique God Lace to arrive and sever the more vtile branches by using the ''Observer'' theory and reducing the branches to a single active ''worldline.''


    [redacted]


    -Lostbelts-


    These are branches that have been severed as a result of Technique God Lace''s interference, consigned to the imaginary space of ''possibility.''


    Rather than a single point in time, these are ''belts'' of time that have been lost due to the origin point now being impossible.


    -L.I: Knight-


    Rudeus Greyrat walks the path of body enhancement and the de. He maintains his childhood friendship with Sylphy but never leaves Buina vige. During the metastasis incident, he and Sylphy arrive in Princess Ariel''s gardens, saving her from monsters and bing her loyal knights.


    [redacted]


    Nanahoshi''s status: dead (mana drain disease)


    Threat Level: Country


    Battle against Hitogami: Failure


    -L.II: Divine Sword Saint-


    Rudeus Greyrat focuses on the concept of incorporating everything into the de. Departing to the Holy Land of Swords at an early age, he befriends andter falls in love with Nina Farion and Isolte Cruel.


    During the metastasis incident, he travels with his wives to rescue those caught up in the incident and sessfully rescues his family.


    However, Hitogami sees him as too much of a threat and sets him up to fight against Orsted.


    After an intense fight, Rudeus emerges victorious. But in the meantime, Gisu and Hitogami''s other apostles have assassinated his family.


    Following that [redacted]


    Nanahoshi''s status: dead (caught in crossfire)


    Threat Level: World


    Battle against Hitogami: Failure (Due to inability to reach)


    -L.III: Conqueror-


    Rudeus Greyrat walks a simr path to the Beta timeline up until the metastasis incident.


    By chance, Rudy and Eris do not encounter Ruijerd. Fortunately, Rudy is much morepetent than his counterpart and manages to protect Eris, albeit at the cost of countless battle scars.


    He learns early on about the metastasis incident and creates an army of automatons to scour thend.


    Upon reuniting with his father in Milis and learning of the treatment of the victims and the noble''s callousness, Rudeus adopts the name Rudeus Notus Greyrat, dering Eris as hisdy and invades Milis, conquering it with an endless army of automatons before excising the corrupt nobility.


    [redacted]


    Nanahoshi''s status: unknown


    Threat Level: Continent


    Battle against Hitogami: Sess


    -L.IV: [redacted]-


    [redacted]


    Nanahoshi''s status: [redacted]


    Threat Level: [redacted]


    Battle against Hitogami: Sess


    Battle against [redacted]: N/A


    -L.IV'': Necromancer-


    Branches upon Norn''s birth. Due to a brash decision, Zenith dies from the aftermath of childbirth.


    Rudy embarks on a journey to discover magic to bring back the dead, bing an adventurer to do so. Sylphy joins and through various circumstance, so does Eris.


    When Rudy delves deeper into life magic, Sylphy decides to leave, fearing what he''s be. However, Eris remains at his side.


    In the end, because of [redacted], Eris dies in Rudy''s arms after fighting off the entire Asuran Kingdom army.


    Furious, Rudy snaps and turns the world into and of the dead. Then [redacted]


    Nanahoshi''s status: dead (never reincarnated)


    Threat Level: World


    Battle against Hitogami: Sess


    Battle against [redacted]: Failure


    -L.IV'''': Magic God-


    Events are simr to those currently observed until Being W''s Spacetime Rend.


    Rudy fails to keep Ste alive. In his grief, he throws away morality and explores the depths of magic to cut down Being W.


    The world, fearing the reincarnation of Lace, captures and executes Rudy''s family with the help of Being W.


    Upon hearing the news, Rudy adopts the name Lace and deres himself Magic God, wiping out any and every obstacle in his path.


    Developing the unique magic <Assimte>, he grows at an exponential rate and breaks into the Void World through sheer force.


    Then [redacted]


    Nanahoshi''s status: Dead (died shortly after reincarnation)


    Threat Level: Gctic


    Battle against Hitogami: Sess


    Battle against [redacted]: ???


    -L.V: Demon Lord-


    The events roughly follow canon. However, instead of the metastasis incident, massive dungeon break and monster hordes erupt.


    Paul dies defending his family, along with Zenith and Lilia.


    Rudy arrives at Buina vige in time with Ghyine and Eris to save his younger sisters and Sylphy, but no one else.


    He returns with everyone to Roa. But when the Asura Kingdom calls for Sauros to take responsiblity, Rudy ruthlessly ughters every noble in Asura, ming them for his parents'' deaths by hiding in their estates with their knights.


    After [redacted]


    Nanahoshi''s status: dead (never reincarnated)


    Threat Level: Continent


    Battle against Hitogami: Failure


    -L.?: R.N.G-


    The currently observed timeline. Although not currently a lostbelt, it possesses the ability to turn into one at any moment.


    The first divergence point is the assimtion of fragments of the Dragon God''s authority due to Rudy''s childhood mana transfusion as well as portions of the yback Miko''s authority.


    The second divergence point is the forced partial assimtion of Alpha Rudeus''s personality and memories, triggering a timeline reversal.


    The third divergence point is the forced separation of Alpha Rudeus and Rudy by Rostelina.


    ???


    Nanahoshi''s status: alive (spirit magic savant, genius, reincarnator)


    Threat Level: World (tentative), Reality (anticipated)


    Battle against Hitogami: Sess (anticipated)


    Battle against [redacted]: Sess (assured)


    -L.IV-


    A wish was made, but could not be fulfilled.


    Despair split time in half, leaving a world forgotten in the future and a world changed in the past.


    A lost soul wandered and struck a deal in order to obtain revenge, giving up his existence in exchange to free one trapped by madness.


    Three worlds, reduced to dust and resigned to memory. As to the fourth...

 120 – The Authentic Greyrat Experience

    120 ¨C The Authentic Greyrat Experience


    "S-Sorry, Rudy." Sylphy nced at me and then looked away, her face a deep red. "I-I don''t know what came over me."


    "Me, apparently." I sighed and then fixed my pants.


    Sylphy turned an even deeper shade of red and then started picking up her clothes from next to the bed.


    "It''s a good thing the FBI aren''t a thing here. Or the police. Though I guess if they were, the Asura Kingdom wouldn''t be so rotten..."


    A very rough and intimate time spent with Sylphy.


    It had an awkward start, but the good ol'' Greyrat genes kicked in along with the hormones.


    I was screaming on the inside from embarrassment, but thankfully I''d had plenty of practice recently ying it cool.


    Not to mention that Sylphy was already mortified about what she did and the way she acted, so it was better to keep it simple. y it off like it wasn''t a big deal.


    ...Though I guess things were going to be extra awkward when I met up with Eris and Master Roxy again.


    "FBI? Police?" Sylphy tilted her head, confused.


    "Don''t worry about it." I picked up my coat and started buttoning it. As I did, I noticed Sylphy staring at me, subtly licking her lips.


    I gave her a nk look.


    She flinched and then looked away. "S-Sorry Rudy. J-Just... Um..." She looked at me and then lowered her head, her face red. "D-Did it feel good for you too?"


    Internal screaming. Definitely internal screaming.


    But I stayed calm.


    Mostly because Sylphy was probably feeling guilty and worried that she forced me when she was an adult and I was technically still a kid.


    ...Which, objectively, was true.


    Which would also exin her nervousness and guilt.


    So, instead of panicking or acting in a way that would make that worse, I decided to channel a bit of Dad (ignoring how much it made me want to cringe) and said, "The best, Sylphy. So don''t worry about it, okay?"


    Sylphy let out a sigh of relief and started to put her clothes back on. As she did, I couldn''t help but stare at her body.


    Not because it was beautiful. I was already made to appreciate that in full just a bit earlier.


    Instead, it was because of the scars.


    Burns, shes, ces that looked like she had been stabbed. There was even a scar over her chest that had a matching mark on her back. A literal stab through the heart.


    I''d noticed it earlier, but now that the situation was a bit calmer...


    Sylphy paused in the middle of putting on her shirt and then looked away. "S-Sorry, Rudy. I know it looks ugly-"


    "No." I cut her off before she could finish that sentence and said, "You''re beautiful, Sylphy. It''s just..." I walked over and then traced out a thin line of scars over her neck. "...What happened to you?"


    Sylphyughed and said, "Oh. I was just clumsy. Roxy always told me to be extra careful in dungeons but I didn''t believe her at first." She rubbed her neck and said, "Did you know? Some dungeons naturally spawn with thin wires at neck level. And some spider type monsters artificially create them to trap prey. They''re really sharp. Really." After smiling, she put her shirt back on. Just like it was nothing.


    Seeing that attitude, I hugged her and said, "I''m sorry, Sylphy."


    "What are you sorry about, Rudy?" Sylphy smiled and patted my back. "You''re safe, and I''m here again."


    "...You''re right." I nodded and said, "Then..." I leaned back and grabbed her hand. "From this point on, don''t leave my sight, okay? I don''t even want to think about you getting hurt somewhere I couldn''t see. Not after seeing how much you''ve already been hurt."


    Sylphy''s eyes widened, her emerald irises glittering with tears. She smiled and then shook her head, causing the tears to scatter before looking at me. Reaching out, she ced her hand on my cheek and said, "Silly, Rudy. That''s what I want to say to you. That''s why I went looking all those years chasing down any trace of you."


    A hauntingly beautiful expression. Love and happiness, but both gained after endless struggle and despair.


    Seeing that, I reached out to pat Sylphy''s head like I used to. "You silly girl."


    Sylphy pouted and said, "I''m not a girl anymore, Rudy."


    "Ah, right, right. Since you forced me to make you a woman, I guess that just mean you''re mine now, right?"


    Sylphy blushed and looked away. "W-When you say it like that... uu..." A mix of happiness and guilt.


    Iughed and ruffled her hair. "Don''t worry about it. Your love is a bit, uh... more *intense* than I remembered or expected, but I''ll do my best to return it."


    Sylphy looked at me and then smiled. "...Thank you, Rudy. I love you."


    "I love you too-"


    "Rika is happy that Rudy has reunited with his long lost lover and finally took steps to ensure continuation of the Rudras bloodline, but would you kindly wait until evening?"


    "Eep!" Sylphy jumped to her feet. And then she realized she hadn''t put on her pants and quickly sat back down, covering her lower body and turning a deep red.


    Especially as an awkward dripping sound echoed.


    I felt my face heat up.


    Rika stared at me, her eyes silently judging behind her sses. And then she sighed and walked back down the stairs. "Rika will give you ten minutes."


    "T-Thanks."


    I looked at Sylphy.


    Sylphy stared back and cleared her throat. "U-Um..." She nced down and then quietly said, "...I don''t have any other clothes, and these..."


    Ah. Right.


    Well...


    I was more than intimately aware of Sylphy''s three sizes now, so if I just thought about it...


    Something that would suit my beautiful Sylphy and draw out her radiance instead of the muted colors that made her look so tragic.


    And also somefortable undergarments instead of the tattered and rough ones she had been wearing.


    Silk maybe? ck to hide any potentially embarrassing stains.


    And then for an outfit... A light green blouse and skirt would work. Some brown leather boots and mesh leggings to hide her scars since she seemed self-conscious about them. Ah, then some gloves too to hide the ones on her arms. We''ll do ck silk on that too.


    With that decided, the clothes popped into existence,nding with a soft thud next to Sylphy.


    "E-Eh?"


    "Wear that for now. We can work on getting you more clothes after we sort stuff out."


    "U-Um... Okay." Sylphy smiled. But then she hesitated. "But, Rudy. My... I mean, I''m still..."


    Oh. Right.


    I coughed and then waved my hand.


    A bit of wind, water, and heat. A quick rinse and dry off all over Sylphy''s body-


    "Hn~"


    I stopped.


    Sylphy turned red and said, "P-Please tell me before you do that next time, Rudy."


    "R-Right."


    Sylphy looked at me andughed.


    "W-What?"


    Sylphy shook her head and started changing into the clothes I gave her. "Nothing. Just... I''m d." She smiled and said, "Rudy''s as cute as ever."


    "...That''s not fair." My face felt hot, but I ignored it and said, "I can''t say that about you now that you''ve be so beautiful."


    Sylphy''s face turned red and sheughed.


    And then a childish voice echoed from downstairs. "Nii-cha! Stap fwiwting!"


    "Yeah, Master Rudy! Stop flirting with MM!?! Wata! What are you-"


    "Shut up, Fai! Wyn, block the sound!"


    "Kay..."


    Silence.


    Sylphy averted her eyes and focused on putting on her clothes.


    ...My image of being the cool big brother for Ste is ruined forever now, isn''t it?


    -RNG-


    "Jiii..."


    Ste stared at me from her crib with judging eyes.


    I let out a nervousugh and waved at her. "H-Hey, Ste. Sorry for the, um... noise."


    "...Hmph." Ste looked away and then focused on ying with her elemental friends... who also pointedly ignored me.


    Yep. That ship has sailed.


    Sylphy walked in from behind me and nced at Ste before looking away, her ears red with embarrassment.


    It seemed like Sylphy finally realized how loud she was.


    ...Well. At the least it was the authentic Greyrat household experience for an infant, haha...?


    Ha.


    ...Note to self. Puberty and hormones seem to have caused your intelligence to take a hit. At the earliest opportunity, do some meditating and clear that shit up before it makes your life worse.


    Don''t be like Dad.


    Remember.


    *Don''t* be like Dad.


    "So you''re finally decent, Rudy?"


    Ruijerd''s voice.


    I looked over to see him already sitting in his chair at the round table. Not just him, but Rika, Astolfo, and Rnd were there as well.


    Ruijerd looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn''t aware that humans started bing intimate so young."


    "They don''t. But I''m notpletely a normal child or that young anymore either."


    I was in myte twenties when I died in my previous life... I think. Plus my physical body was definitely in thete teens early twenties now... Especially after that Distortion mishap near the end and Grey''s parting gift trying to age me to death.


    So it was fine.


    ...Sylphy probably still felt a bit awkward about it, but on the outside it looked perfectly normal.


    I''d just have to keep telling myself that so that Sylphy didn''t have a mental breakdown and so that I could brace myself for the inevitable ming when Dad found out.


    Astolfo giggled and said, "Well from the sounds that elfdy was making, Boss definitely isn''t a kid anymore."


    Silence.


    Sylphy turning a deep red and then ducking behind me and hiding her face on my shoulder.


    Seeing that, I waved my hand and said, "We''re not here to talk about that. And it''s your job to ignore that sort of stuff, Astolfo."


    "Ah." Astolfo flinched and quickly nodded. "Got it, Boss. I''ll have the other knights shut up too."


    "The other-" I paused and looked at Rnd. "...Did the sound spread that far?"


    Sylphy pressed her body against me, as if trying to use me to hide.


    ...Sylphy, love. That worked when we were younger, but you''re just as tall as me now... It''s still adorable, but everybody can see you.


    Rnd shook his head. "The sound was contained to within the tower, Lord Rudras."


    Rika spoke up and said, "Yeah! You have Rika to thank for that!"


    "Then thanks, Rika." I walked over to my throne, leading Sylphy with me. After arriving, I took my seat... Or so I nned. But Sylphy wasn''t letting go, so I swooped her up and set her on myp.


    "R-R-Rudy!" Sylphy blushed, squirming against me-


    No hormones! You will *not* be embarrassing me right now!


    I forcibly zapped the nerves in my left hand, using the pain to focus.


    It was hard with having a beautiful and lovely woman in myp, as well as with the memories of what I''d just done with that woman, but I was a Demon Lord right now. Business! Professional!


    ...Gah. Maybe this was why Grey turned undead. It sure was a hell of a lot easier keeping your emotions under wraps.


    Except I managed to tick him off still, so maybe that wouldn''t have helped anyway...


    But focus, me!


    I rested my right hand on Sylphy''s head, doing my best to keep it cool and turned my attention on Rika. "So what happened after I came back? Since you arrived right after, I''m assuming you used your eyes to bring everyone here?"


    Rika stared at Sylphy for a bit, but then shifted her gaze to me and nodded. "That is so. Enoch is still at the site to ensure noplications arise, but otherwise we all returned."


    "Hm..." I kept patting Sylphy''s head and thought about what we should do.


    I definitely wanted to take a closer look at the Distortion area and the aftermath. Especially to see if there were any survivors or potential hazards remaining.


    But Sylphy was here, so-


    Wait.


    Sylphy was here.


    I paused and then looked at Sylphy.


    She blinked and looked up at me.


    "Sylphy."


    "Yes, Rudy?"


    "...Just how did you get here?"


    She didn''t arrive through teleportation since either me, Rika, or Enoch would have caught it.


    She definitely didn''t arrive by port since we were still clearing up the Distortion covering it. So then...


    Sylphy tilted her head and said, "How else? I flew here."


    Silence.


    Ruijerd was the one who broke it first. Nodding, he said, "I see. No wonder Rudy cherishes you so much. To have arrived here through the air..." He looked at Sylphy and smiled. "You must be a powerful magician- No. From those scars, you are a powerful warrior, are you not?"


    Sylphy tugged her blouse and muttered, "Something like that..."


    "Wait." I looked at Sylphy and said, "So you flew here."


    Sylphy nodded. "Mmhm."


    "By yourself? Fighting all the monsters?"


    "Of course." She paused and said, "Well. There were times when I froze the seas to get some rest, but for the most part, I flew."


    "...Sylphy."


    "Yes, Rudy?"


    "...Did Master Roxy not teach youmon sense either?"


    "Eh?"

 121 – The Stellar Baby Sister and her Knack for Coincidences

    121 ¨C The Ster Baby Sister and her Knack for Coincidences


    Part 1


    About a week had passed since Onii-chan''s ero elf girlfriend arrived. Since that time, he was mostly out of the house and taking Sylphy on a trip throughout the kingdom.


    Ste wasn''t jealous at all. It wasn''t like she wanted to show off to Onii-chan and talk to him about magic or go see the kingdom with him either.


    Besides, she had someone else who was willing to take her around.


    "How nostalgic." Mister Ruijerd smiled as he carried Ste in a baby sling and said, "It''s been quite some time since I carried an infant around like this."


    "Thanky Mista Rui."


    Ruijerd smiled and said, "You''re wee, Ste."


    A stroll around the kingdom of Arcadia that Onii-chan founded.


    Since Onii-chan was busy with his girlfriend, and since both Eos nee-chan and Ena nee-chan were busy preparing fixing up the port, the only ones avable to watch Ste were Ruijerd, Rnd, Astolfo, and Rika.


    While Ste was fine with all of them ''watching'' her, in terms of actually babysitting, the only one she trusted was Mister Ruijerd.


    Thankfully, it seemed like he was free since he happily took Ste out for a walk.


    Wata flew over to Ste''s right side, grooming his white fur. After that, he looked up at Ruijerd and said, "You''re a nice person for helping Ste out, Mister Ruijerd."


    Fai floated by Ste''s left side and then nodded. "Yeah! You look scary, but you''re really nice, aren''t you?"


    "Fai!"


    "What?"


    Wata sighed and ced a palm on his head. "Is this why the other elementals say fire spirits are dumb?"


    "I''m not dumb! You''re dumb!"


    Ste pursed her lips and said, "Fai. Wata. No fite."


    "...Kay." Fai sighed and then shrank down to a glowing red orb before resting on Ste''s shoulder. "I''ll just nap like Wyn then. Meanie Wata."


    Wata rolled his eyes and kept a watch on the surroundings.


    Ruijerd chuckled and looked down at Ste. "You have some talkative friends, Ste."


    "Mmhm!"


    They were kind of dumb, but they were cute in their own way. Wata was an adorable and smart kitty who looked out for Ste, so she appreciated it. Fai was a bit air-headed and dumb, but she was also super optimistic, so that was nice. And Win... Wyn? Wyn. Wyn was quiet and didn''t talk much, but she listened to Ste and was really calming to be with.


    "That''s good. Cherish your friends while you have them. There maye a time when you part."


    Fai flew off Ste''s shoulder and turned back to normal size. After that, she shook her head and said, "I''ll never leave Ste''s side!"


    Wata nodded and said, "I won''t either! Even if I have to turn the whole world to ice!"


    Wyn sleepily opened an eye from her spot on Ste''s head. After yawning, she said, "I''ll stay too. Ste is nice."


    Ruijerd smiled. "Good. Although I believe that Rudy would be upset with you freezing the world."


    Wata flinched and said, "W-Well... if I have to fight him to protect Ste, I''ll do it!"


    Ruijerd paused and then walked over to a tree before knocking on it.


    Ste looked up at Ruijerd. "Mista Rui?"


    Ruijerd lowered his hand and said, "Just a superstition to ward off bad luck. Now, is there anywhere you want to go, Ste? Or should I take you on a normal patrol?"


    Ste hummed and looked around.


    At the moment, they were on the main road leading out from the courtyard of Onii-chan''s tower.


    A pretty cobblestone path, lined with flowerbeds and lush trees. Floating railways up above transporting people and goods to and fro.


    ...Ste had never realized it, but was her Onii-chan a science fiction buff too? A few of those looked like super hi-tech...


    But anyway, looking around...


    The vige housing all the adventurers and the guild hall were up ahead on the road.


    From the maps Ste had borrowed from Onii-chan''s desk, that meant that they were facing south and that the marketce and residential district should be behind them, to the north.


    To their right would be west, meaning that the Church of Rudras would be there. And then to the left would be east, which should have the schools and other educational facilities like the libraries.


    ...Directions were confusing, but that should be the gist of it.


    Then...


    "Ca we see venchurs?"


    Another slurred sentence.


    Ste pouted.


    She couldn''t wait until the rest of her baby teeth grew in so she could talk properly.


    "Venchurs... You mean adventurers?"


    Ste nodded. "Yeah!"


    "Alright." Ruijerd kept moved back to the path and continued walking. "It''s about time I check in with those girls as well."


    "Gurls?"


    "Yes." Ruijerdughed and said, "I seem to have a knack for finding troublesome human children these days. They were nning to run off to be adventurers themselves, so I decided to take them in as my proteges."


    Wataughed and said, "Sounds like something Fai would do."


    Fai stuck out her tongue and said, "Would not!"


    Ste sighed.


    Was this why magical girls only had one mascot character? This constant bickering was starting to get on her nerves...


    -SNG-


    Part 2


    A small and modest one-room house on the outskirt of the Adventurer''s vige. Something that looked almost like a hut rather than a house.


    Ruijerd opened the door and walked inside. The moment he did, a girl called out.


    "Master Ruijerd! You''ve returned!"


    A beautiful young girl with pristine white skin. She looked around ten or so and had long ck hair that trailed behind her as she ran up to Ruijerd. As she did, her heavy white armor nked while the sword at her left side banged against her armor. A bit awkward, but the bright smile on the girl''s face excused it.


    "How was the Distortion, Master Ruijerd? You easily beat up all the monsters, right?"


    Another beautiful young girl, around the same age as the first. However, instead of armor, she wore a simple leather tunic and matching pants with a sword sheathed on her left. Her skin was also a bit darker, the shade of chocte rather than the pure white of the first girl''s. She also had flowing dark blue hair that was tied in a ponytail, unlike the first girl''s long hair.


    Ruijerd smiled and said, "Isolte. Nina. Have you two been well?"


    The ck-haired girl, Isolte walked forward and nodded. "Yes! We''ve only been doing D-ranked requests and escort missions as you said!"


    The blue-haired girl, Nina, grumbled and said, "We absolutely could have done C-ranked missions."


    Isolte looked at Nina and frowned. "You remember what the White Knights said! C-ranked missions are for adults!"


    "And we''re as strong as adults!" Nina huffed and said, "Besides, that Cliff guy or whatever is just a kid too, isn''t he? Who does he think he is, bossing us around like that when he''s just an Advanced-rank magician."


    Ruijerd closed the door behind him and said, "He is the grandson of the current Pope of Milis. And he is also not just ''an'' Advanced-rank magician. He is an Advanced-rank magician in every branch of magic. For an ordinary human child, it''s fairly impressive."


    Ste huffed and said, "Nii-cha is betta."


    Ruijerd chuckled and said, "Of course. But your brother is not an ordinary human child, even if he says he is. Especially after his recent exploits aged him."


    At that time, Isolte and Nina finally noticed Ste.


    "E-Eh?" Nina''s eyes widened and she looked up at Ruijerd. "Master Ruijerd! Did you have a child?"


    Isolte''s eyes sparkled and she waved at Ste. "Aren''t you adorable? And smart too!"


    Ste smiled back and did a small wave.


    Isolte giggled and let out a bright smile.


    ...Were children always this easy to amuse? Or was she that adorable of a baby?


    Come to think of it, had Ste ever looked at herself in a mirror? Maybe she really *was* that adorable. Considering how handsome Onii-chan was and the fact that Sylphy said that Eos looked like Zenith... which should be the name of Ste''s mom.


    Wait, was Ste part angel? Zenith was definitely the sort of name that an angel would have.


    And if their mother was an angel... That would exin a lot?


    But then what kind of man was her father to marry an angel? A hero who yed the demon lord?


    Wait! Was that why there were so many monsters attacking when she was born? Was Ste the descendent from a legendary hero and an angel like in Dr*gon Qu*st?


    And her big brother said that there was a god after them, and he even became a demon lord to keep Ste safe...


    And Ste''s name was ''Ste,'' like the stars...


    ...WAS SHE THE MAIN CHARACTER?!


    It suddenly made sense. Why Onii-chan was so strong and everything. And why he had so many girls around him!


    That''s it! Ste had reincarnated in an otome game!


    ...Wait. But did that mean that her Onii-chan was a target?


    He was handsome and everything, but... ew.


    Ah. But wait, Onii-chan was definitely a reincarnator too. So then...


    ...Ste''s head hurt.


    She blinked and then realized that while she was thinking, Ruijerd had grabbed a stack of papers and a silver ne with a small card dangling on it.


    An ID tag? Was that what adventurers used?


    And where did Wata and the others go?


    *Hiding! You never know if bad guys are around!*


    *For once, I agree with Fai. And we need to make sure you''re safe if Adventurers are going to be around.*


    *...zzz*


    *Wyn!*


    *...sleepy...*


    *Hah...*


    ...Mister random omnipotent being that gave her a second life? Could she get an exchange? At least on her spirits?


    Nina walked up to Ruijerd''s right side and said, "You never answered, Master Ruijderd! Is that your kid?"


    Ruijerd shook his head. "No. I had a child once, but Ste is not mine. She''s Lord Rudras''s younger sister."


    Nina flinched and said, "That scary guy has a baby sister!?"


    "Yes. Which is why you should be good or else Ste will tell her older brother. Isn''t that so, Ste?"


    A serious voice.


    But Ste could tell that Mister Ruijerd was joking. Even so, she yed along and said, "Kay."


    Nina paled... Well, as much as she could with her skin color. "T-There''s no need for that, baby- I mean, Ste... Er, Lady Ste? Princess Ste?"


    Seeing her panic, Ste decided to tease a bit and said, "Pwincess Stewwa."


    "P-Princess Ste! D-Don''t let your brother kick me out! It''s not my fault my father tried beating up his!"


    Eh?


    "Hm?" Ruijerd paused and looked at Nina, frowning. "...What do you mean?"


    "Huh?" Nina blinked and said, "Um. Lord Rudras is really Sword God Paul''s son, isn''t he? That''s what the girl said when she showed up with that bratty demon lord and that swordswoman..."


    Demon Lord? Sword God?


    ...Her dad''s name was Paul, wasn''t it?


    But...


    Uu. Okay. Maybe she should wait to ask Onii-chan about this. Her head felt like it was going to explode- Ah. No. It felt more like she was about to open the lid on something she didn''t want to ept. Like her rational mind was telling her to not think about it for just a little bit longer.


    Ruijerd''s frown deepened and he looked at Isolte. "Is that true?"


    Isolte nodded. "Yes. That''s what she told us after she beat Nina in a spar."


    "I-I didn''t lose! That girl cheated!"


    Isolte shook her head and said, "It was a fair win, Nina. And I warned you that you should not underestimate the girl just because she was small."


    "H-Hmph." Nina turned her head to the side and muttered, "I didn''t underestimate her. Just what kind of person would expect a kid like that to be able to imbue magic in her sword and body?"


    "Hm..." Ruijerd looked down at Ste and said, "Do you mind if we go meet them, Ste?"


    "No? Is okay. ...Bu why?"


    "Because I think your brother would be interested in them."


    Ah, Mister Ruijerd was being the ever dutiful recruiter for Onii-chan. That made sense.


    Ruijerd looked at Nina and said, "Where did you meet them again?"


    -SNG-


    "Ruijerd!" A kid with blue hair and matching eyes waved at Ruijerd. Letting out a smile, he said, "How have you been?" He nced down at Ste and then said, "Ah. Did Lord Rudras entrust you with Lady Ste today?"


    Ruijerd nodded and said, "Hello Rowin. And yes. I''m just taking her to explore the kingdom today."


    The kid, Rowin, nodded and said, "That''s good. Young ones get too restless cooped up at home."


    "Yes. Now..."


    While Ruijerd talked with the kid, Ste took the time to look around.


    It was a packed ce. Something that looked right out of a game. Gruff adventurers sitting around andughing while clutching wooden mugs of foaming beer. Some of those adventurers were human, but a majority weren''t. Some beastfolk, some demons, a few that looked like monsters but were apparently also demons.


    ...Demons were weird in this world.


    But anyway, it was a lively ce. A lobby filled with all sorts of different people.


    There was also a chalkboard sign up, with some weird symbols written on it.


    Ste couldn''t read it, obviously. But from the picture of the bed and then another picture of a bed and some food, this ce looked like an inn?


    *That is what the sign says, yes.*


    Wata''s voice echoed in Ste''s head.


    Right. Of course that''s what the sign-


    Wait. You can read? Since when?


    *...Always?*


    Ste let out a deep sigh. Just as she did, she noticed that Ruijerd was moving again.


    She blinked and then looked up. "Mista Rui?"


    He patted her head and said, "This will be quick, Ste. I just need to confirm something."


    A boisterous atmosphere. As Ruijerd passed by, it dimmed a bit as people called out to greet him. But for the most part, they just let him be.


    And then they reached the corner of the room where three people were seated around a table.


    Three people that included one who Ste was very familiar with.


    First, there was a swordswoman with long crimson hair. She kept it tied in a neat ponytail, but some long strands framed her face. She was also beautiful, with looks that could pass for a princess. She also wasn''t that old. While Ste called her a swords "woman", she actually looked more like a teenager. Though one who was very ''mature'' up top.


    Second, there was a young girl with blonde hair and green eyes. Her hairstyle was the same as the swordswoman, except her ponytail was a lot shorter. And she was also carrying a sword... So technically she was a swordsgirl? She looked around primary school age, so she couldn''t be more than ten... She seemed a bit younger than that though. Maybe seven or so?


    But third, and most importantly, there was the person that Ste recognized. A person who should definitely not be there at the moment or dressed like she was.


    Before Ruijerd could speak, Ste pointed at that person and said, "Rika? Why aw you smol?"


    Right. It was Rika, but she looked like she had when Rudy first summoned her. Not only that, but she was wearing that hi outfit again with all the ropes and chains.


    Rika froze and then looked up at Ste. She mmed her hand on the table and said, "You dare to call This One by such a childish name?! Even if you are an infant, I will not-"


    "Great Demon Empress Kishirika Kishirisu."


    Ruijerd''s calm voice cut her off.


    She blinked and then looked up at Ruijerd. "You... This One recognizes you. Were you not fighting with the Demon God in the war all those years ago?"


    Ste tilted her head and frowned. "...Rika nee-cha?"


    Rika huffed and said, "Stop calling This One by that name! This One is Kishirika Kishirisu!"


    The crimson-haired swordswoman sitting next to Rika let out a deep sigh and bopped her on the head. "Shut up, you brat. You already caused enough of a mess the other day when you got into it with that girl."


    "Gah." Rika rubbed her head and said, "This One already apologized!"


    "Then stop causing trouble." The swordswoman shook her head, causing her ponytail to sway. After that, she looked up at Ruijerd and said, "Sorry about her. We''re still getting used to things around here. Can I help you- Hm?" She paused, staring at Ste.


    As she did, Ste noticed that the swordsgirl was staring at her too.


    Ste stared back and then frowned.


    She hadn''t met the girl. Ste was sure of it. But as she stared at the girl, Ste couldn''t help but feel like she was familiar. Really familiar.


    Something about the shape of the eyes, her cheeks and that nose-


    "S-Ste?"


    Eh?


    The girl stood up and said, "Ste... Yes. You''re definitely Ste. You have to be." She looked over at the swordswoman and said, "Right, Big Sis?"


    The swordswoman sighed and said, "Norn. We can''t go around thinking every baby with blonde hair and green eyes is your baby sister. Besides, she''d have to be a few years old by now, right?"


    "But look! That ne has Rui''s mana!"


    "Hm?" The swordswoman frowned and looked at Ste. As she did, the swordswoman''s eyes shed green. And then they narrowed and she looked at Ruijerd. "...What was your name again? And whose child is that?"


    A tense situation. The swordswoman slowly reaching for her sword. Not only that, but the girl called Norn was reaching for hers as well.


    Rika... No, the Rika look alike had also turned serious, staring at Ruijerd and Rika with glowing green eyes that had spiral pupils.


    This was bad. At this rate, there''d be a big fight.


    *I''ll protect you, Ste!* Fai''s voice.


    *Wait a minute, you idiot! Ste has a n!* Wata.


    *Aw...*


    Right. A n.


    At this point, there''d be a big fight.


    Ste didn''t really know why those two were on edge, but she knew that it had something to do with Onii-chan.


    So...


    *Wait. Ste. Miss Eos said you shouldn''t-*


    Ste grabbed her ne and then shouted. "Nii-cha! Hewp!"


    Ruijerd''s eyes widened. "Ste, no-"


    The sound of shattering ss. Not only that, but a gust of frigid wind blowing out through the entire inn.


    Some people screamed and started running away. The more seasoned warriors stood up, putting hands on their weapons. Even the innkeeper kid with blue hair grabbed a sword from underneath the counter.


    But Ste didn''t pay them attention. Instead...


    A pir of crimson light, surrounded by rainbow spirals. A handsome man with slicked back silver hair and mismatched eyes, one white and one green.


    His white coat billowed from the force of the pir. As it did, grains of ck sand appeared from thin air, turning into a sword in his left hand.


    But he wasn''t alone.


    Wrapped around his right arm was a beautiful elf woman with blue-tinged silver hair. Her glowing green eyes were sharp as her deep blue dress emitted snowkes, causing the space to distort wherever those crystals moved. While her left arm was upied holding the man, her right was free and held a glowing blue orb. One that had crystalline des floating around it, ready to attack at any time.


    Onii-chan and his ero elf girlfriend, showing up with an overdramatic entrance.


    ...But Ste had to admit that it was pretty effective considering how scary the two looked.


    A tense silence.


    Nobody moved.


    During that time, Onii-chan took in the surroundings before checking on Ste and Ruijerd.


    Sylphy stood there, simply waiting on Onii-chan''s words.


    And then he spoke. "I have been summoned. Who dares-"


    "RUI!" An ecstatic voice that cut right through the tense air.


    "R-Rudy?!" The swordswoman''s confused voice. "And Sylphy- Wait. Why are you all grown up now?"


    "E-Eris? U-U-Um... That''s..."


    "And why are you clinging onto him like that! He''s supposed to be my husband!"


    "Y-Yeah? Well... He''s my man! And I''m his woman!"


    "What?!"


    A sudden genre change, turning from shounen to slice of life. A tense situation suddenly changing toedic chaos.


    Sylphy argued against that crimson swordswoman.


    The blonde swordsgirl ran up to Onii-chan, hugging him like she was afraid he was going to disappear and sobbing into his shirt.


    The Rika look alike sat there with wide-eyed terror as she looked at Rudy and Sylphy.


    And as for Onii-chan...


    Rudy blinked and then turned to look at Ste with an usatory gaze.


    "Nii-cha?" What the heck was that look for?


    "Ste. Do you like trolling your Onii-chan that much?"


    "...Yes?"


    It was unintentional, but...


    ...It was kind of funny.


    *It is!*


    *Oh dear.*


    *...Zzz...*


    Rudy sighed and then focused on patting the swordsgirl''s back.

 122 – A Possible Resolution

    122 ¨C A Possible Resolution


    Back in my tower, on the first floor which had been repurposed into a makeshift meeting room.


    I had nned to use the usual meeting room or my office, but both were still being cleaned due to recent events involving my lovely and very eager Sylphy.


    So the first floor it was.


    I made a new crib and bed for Ste to sit in while we talked and set her down far away from us.


    Mostly as a timeout and lesson to *not* use the emergency button I gave her so nonchntly.


    ...Then again, she *was* still a baby even if she was a genius, so I cut her a bit of ck.


    After all, I''d probably do the same. Never hurt to be overcautious than under.


    Still... I was starting to think that Dad''s choice to name her Ste was acting like a good luck charm, because she sure seemed to be making my wishese true recently.


    After fighting with Grey, I was worried about Sylphy and Eris. Then the next thing I knew, both were here and with Norn as a bonus.


    But there was a problem now. One that I always figured woulde up, but didn''t expect to have to deal with for ten years or so while Iid down the groundwork and had Mom, Mama Lily, Laws, and Miss Rose to help with.


    And that was...


    Eris mmed her hand on the table and said, "That''s not fair, Sylphy! We talked about it! Rudy''s my husband and you''re the second wife!"


    Sylphy crossed her arms and said, "Well I don''t want to be! I love Rudy more than you anyway!"


    "W-What?! Like hell you do! Rudy''s the only real family I have!"


    "It''s not my fault you don''t get along with your parents. And besides, there''s Norn, Aisha, Mister Paul, Miss Zenith, and Miss Lilia too. Or do they not matter now?"


    "Of course they do, but...!" Eris looked at me and then blushed before pointing at Sylphy. "You''re being childish!"


    "And you''re not?!"


    A loud and heated argument, continued from the one started at the inn run by Master Roxy''s dad.


    Which reminded me that we were probably going to have to do this whole thing again with her too...


    But anyway.


    We were seated around a mockup of the round table I had upstairs, except that I had a regr chair instead of a throne.


    By ''we,'' I meant me, Norn, Sylphy, Eris, Rika, and this timeline''s Rika. Or rather, ''Kishirika'' since it seemed like she hated being called Rika.


    Which made me wonder why Rika allowed it at all... But that was a side tangent.


    At the moment, I was seated at the head of the table... as much as there could be a head of the table when it was a circle.


    Sylphy had taken the seat directly to my right, while Eris took the seat directly to my left in retaliation.


    Both of them would have been fighting for the seat on myp, if not for the fact that Norn beat them to it.


    My baby sister- No. She wasn''t a baby anymore. Outside of my sight, and in such a short time, she had already grown to be about as old as I was when I saw herst.


    Years that I missed due to the time distortions cause from Being W''s shenanigans.


    And all the more reason to look forward to teaming up with Orsted and whatever allies we could get to beat the crap out of that guy''s ugly white face until his beady red eyes actually bled out.


    But that waster.


    Anyway, Norn was sitting on myp, happily swinging her legs and just content that I was nearby again. Though she *did* seem a bit troubled by Sylphy and Eris arguing. But since I was here too, it seemed like she was letting her worries fade away due to her trust in me.


    As for thest members of this conversation...


    Rika and Kishirika were seated across from each other on the other sides of the table, ny degrees from me on either side.


    It was odd seeing them, actually.


    I''d gotten used to Rika''s current appearance because of how closely we worked together to run the kingdom that I forgot about how she initially appeared. And I''d also gotten used to the changes gradually, so I never really noticed just how much she had changed.


    Kishirika was still just a kid, and one that looked even a bit younger than Norn. Also one who was wearing an outfit that would lead cops and FBI agents to asking everyone she ever met to find out why she was dressed like that and who they could arrest.


    On the other hand, Rika was pretty much a teenager now. She was still a bit petite and she hadn''t grown very much up top, but she was a few heads taller than Kishirika. Not only that, but she also gave off a more mature vibe as well from her sses and the fact that she was wearing a proper business suit tailored to cover her body instead of bare it to the world.


    The two also had a weird vibe going on, simr to how me and Grey were when we saw each other.


    A sort of faint acknowledgment but simultaneous rejection of the person they were seeing in front of them.


    In short, another tense situation apart from the one with Sylphy and Eris.


    And also the reason why I had Ruijerd, Rnd, and Astolfo cordon off the tower while I secured it myself to prevent sound from escaping past the walls of the tower. A new skill born of necessity since Sylphy''s arrival.


    Speaking of Sylphy...


    "*I''m* being childish? *Me?!*" Sylphy pointed at Norn and said, "You brought Norn all the way to the Magic Continent by yourself! And from how old she is now, you went dungeon diving with her too, didn''t you?"


    "W-We had Demon Empress Kishirika to help us!" Eris looked at Kishirika and said, "Tell her!"


    "Hmph." Kishirika crossed her arms and put on a smug look. "Of course! This One is so great that even deadly dungeons be like flower gardens to This One and herpanions!" Sheughed and said, "There is nothing that these eyes cannot surmise!"


    Rika cringed and turned to look at me. "Rika apologizes. It seems that Rudy endured many hardships."


    I chuckled and said, "It''s fine, Rika. You put up with me, so we''ll call it even."


    A tense silence. Rika''s sudden interjection changing the mood and direction of the conversation.


    Suddenly, I found myself facing down the stares of both Eris and Sylphy.


    Eris pointed at Rika and said, "Who is she, anyway?"


    Sylphy nodded and said, "That''s right. You never said what Rika was to you, Rudy." She crossed her arms and then looked over at Rika.


    Even Norn chimed in and said, "I overheard a lot of people say that the ''Ever Beautiful and Peerless Mind'' was really close to Lord Rudras. Since you''re a Demon Lord... is Miss Rika your wife?"


    A sudden shift in attention, turning to outright hostility.


    Sylphy pursed her lips as she eyed Rika, slowly evaluating her body figure. After that, Sylphy subtly crossed her arms under her chest.


    Eris eyed Rika too, though she focused more on Rika''s face and the fact that she was wearing sses. Like Sylphy, Eris pursed her lips as well. But unlike Sylphy, Eris fiddled with her sword, as if seekingfort in that.


    As for Rika...


    "Pft." Rikaughed and said, "Rika? Rudy''s wife?" She shook her head and said, "Rika already runs his kingdom. If Rika married Rudy, Rika would have even more work to do." She paused and then gave me a sly look. "Though Rika *has* considered it since Rudy is so handsome..."


    A sharp tension, like a piano wire set to snap at any moment.


    Sylphy ncing back at me with self-doubt clear on her face.


    Eris staring at me with frustration and regret.


    Norn giving me a judging look... One mirrored by Ste in the corner of the room.


    I thought I''d let them clear the air a bit more first, but at this rate we''d be clearing the room from the fallout. So instead of letting everyone stew, I shook my head and said, "That''s enough joking around, Rika."


    Rika''s smiled and tilted her head. "But Rika was serious?"


    "Then I seriously reject your offer."


    Mostly because she''d definitely find a way to use it to rope me into doing more bureaucracy and I was *not* about to get into that mess.


    "Pity." Rika faked a sigh and said, "Rika will be the envy of the Magic Continent when she matures."


    "Just make sure to not draw any people that would make things troublesome for me."


    "Of course, Rudy." Rika adjusted her sses and said, "That is what you summoned Rika for." She paused and said, "...Though Rika is beginning to think that trouble finds itself to you regardless of your efforts..."


    Me too, Rika. Me too.


    But anyway, resolving the situation with Eris and Sylphy.


    That exchange with Rika seemed to help calm them down a bit, but I could tell that both of them were still unsure of where they stood in terms of our rtionship.


    It was pretty easy to see why.


    I told Sylphy that I loved her when we were kids... Which to me wasn''t that long ago. And we spent all the time together when we were younger with a lot of wholesome cuddling and physical contact.


    Now that we were older though... Physically for me and actually for Sylphy, that wholesome cuddling had be a lot more intimate. The habits we had back then had a different context now and it was too easy to just go with the new flow.


    And Sylphy seemed to have noticed that. She was well aware of the time difference between us and tried to slow down. But at the same time, she had clung onto her love for me this entire time and just couldn''t.


    Honestly, out of context, it would be enough to scare anyone away. There was a hint of desperation in it that wasn''t healthy. And that was because *Sylphy* wasn''t healthy. Whatever she had experienced since west met had changed her, and not for the better.


    She was strong andpetent now externally, but on the inside she was even worse than when I first met her, shying away from the world and everyone around her.


    But I knew all of that. I knew all of that and wanted to make her happy. I wanted to make Sylphy happy and see the smile that cheered me up again all the time in the past.


    So there was no way I was giving Sylphy up.


    As for Eris... That wasplicated too.


    We definitely didn''t get off on the right footing. Her first impression on me... and her family in general definitely wasn''t a good one. Especially considering that our first encounter was after she was fighting Sylphy, who I definitely cared for a lot even at that time.


    But, as much as I hated to admit it, Dad was right. Eris just needed some time and space away from her toxic home environment to grow into her own. And after spending time at Buina vige with us, I saw that for myself.


    The way she got along with Sylphy and became best friends. How she still acted prickly, but cared for me and my family like it was hers. How happy she was with all of us and just how *different* she waspared to the girl I first met.


    And seeing her again now, she was even more different. Time had treated her well, softening the harsh looks she had as a child. Not only that, but she had a calm aura around her. Mature and confident.


    Well, that and she had matured ''that'' way as well.


    Right now, she was a lot younger than Sylphy, but Eris could definitelypete with her on even ground in terms of their assets.


    That aside, I cared for Eris a lot too. While I teased her a bit by hustling her in sports, I genuinely admired how hard she worked to make up for her ws and how she always stayed true to her words. Then there was the fact that she was aware of how I was with Sylphy and did her best to not step over any boundaries.


    But there was that very important wrinkle of her being my betrothed. And considering that she seemed to have passed the age of maturity, it wasn''t just ''betrothed'' and had turned into wife.


    Not only that, but the budding childhood affection from back then seemed to have blossomed into real love. Or at least the idea of love on Eris''s part. Moreover though... she really didn''t have anyone else that she *could* love. At least, not for her.


    I still didn''t know the full context, but I could make a reasonable guess that Eris was probably famous now back at home. There were probably people moring over themselves to try and win her affection or convince her to nullify the betrothal contract since I was missing.


    But she hadn''t. Not only that, but from how she introduced herself as ''Eris Notos Greyrat'' to Rika when we got here... and from the happiness on her face when she said it as she looked at me...


    It was a mess.


    And I realized now what Mom and Mama Lily were always sighing about when they talked about me and girls.


    The Greyrat bloodline definitely ran true. Without really intending to, I''d managed to grab the hearts of both Sylphy and Eris. And judging from the way events seemed to be unfolding... and knowing what I did about Rudeus''s timeline, I could anticipate that to be true about Master Roxy as well.


    Dammit. I really *was* dense, wasn''t I? Just like one of those MCs in a Shounen manga.


    And if this was a Shounen manga, this would be the part where I chose one of the heroines and sent the other packing with a broken heart.


    Still, this wasn''t a Shounen manga. This was life. Reality.


    And to me, reality could be whatever I wanted it to be. Not only that, I wasn''t like Dad. When it came to love, I could be sincere about how I felt without taking appearances into ount. So...


    I looked at them again. Sylphy and Eris. Two women who I cared about a lot- No. Who I cared about as much as the world. Two women who I couldn''t imagine my life without since the time we started ying together back at Buina vige.


    ...I also couldn''t imagine my life without Master Roxy, but that was a concern forter.


    Right now...


    Sylphy''s desperate fragility.


    Eris''s regretful frustration.


    Both of them weren''t in a good mental state. And both of them wouldn''t be happy in the long run at this rate.


    Even if one or the other was chosen, eventually, the one chosen would feel guilt and regret.


    Both of them were just that kind, after all.


    So this was my responsibility. My problem to solve. And the solution to that...


    Well, I had already tutored someone on it a long time ago and brought up a failing grade to passing.


    For me though...


    I lifted Norn up and set her down behind me.


    "R-Rui?"


    I motioned for her to step back.


    She did, though she seemed a bit confused.


    After that, I stood up and adjusted the cor on my coat, taking care to keep my face neutral.


    Both Sylphy and Eris flinched at that.


    It seemed like all the practice I''d been putting in with my ''Demon Lord'' expression was paying off.


    ...Rika wasn''t buying it though and was doing her best to keep her own straight face.


    Kishirika didn''t bother, grinning the entire way like she was watching a soap opera.


    And Ste was giving me her usual nk look, as if expecting me to do something ridiculous again.


    Well. I didn''t me her.


    I turned to Sylphy first. "Sylphy."


    "Y-Yes, Rudy?" She looked at me and then quickly lowered her gaze, not able to meet my eyes.


    Alright, me. You can do this. Remember, you aren''t Dad. And remember, you have a natural scamming face. It was great for ying innocent when you were still a kid, but now you''re handsome man that could put any model to shame AND you''re worshipped and adored by countless people in a practically utopian kingdom you brought up from scratch in a war-torn and destend.


    You''ve got this. So first...


    I reached out to Sylphy and hooked my index finger under her chin, using it to raise her head. "Look at me."


    She did, but I could see her green eyes flutter. Making eye contact with me because I asked, but wanting to do anything but. Nerves strung until they were raw and self-doubt and guilt built up enough to explode with the wrong nudge.


    I smiled and then reached out to ce my hand on her cheek. "What are you worried for? I said it already. You''re mine, and I won''t let you leave. Even if you wanted to, it''s toote."


    Sylphy froze and then her eyes started to water. "Rudy...!" She reached up to grab my hand, leaning against it.


    "I-!" Eris suddenly spoke up, as if she wanted to reject it. But she quickly bit her tongue.


    Just like back then, she held herself back.


    I gently pulled my hand away from Sylphy and then turned to look at Eris.


    She stared back at me, ring. Well, she tried to re at me. But her crimson eyes were watery. A familiar crying expression, just like the one she always had back then after she lost. After dering that it wasn''t fair. That the rules were rigged against her.


    I took a step towards her.


    "W-What?" Eris sniffed and then crossed her arms under her chest. Probably to make it seem like she was tough. But in reality, it just looked like she was trying to keep herself together.


    "Do you love me?"


    Eris froze. Her sadness and frustration vanished for a second as her entire brain worked to process what I said. And then she turned a deep red and said, "W-W-What kind of question is that?! Idiot! Dumbass!" She pointed at me and said, "J-Just call it off already! I-It''s fi-"


    "Fine."


    I finished Eris''s sentence for her.


    She flinched, shock and a flicker of pain in her eyes.


    But before she could think about anything else, I continued and said, "Since you won''t answer, I''ll take that as a no."


    "S-Since when is it no?" Eris looked at me and said, "You don''t get to decide how I feel!"


    "Right." I nodded and said, "So that''s why I want to know. Is it yes?"


    Silence.


    Eris stared at me and then shifted her gaze to Sylphy.


    Sylphy stared back and then let out a soft sigh before looking away.


    Eris''s eyes widened and she looked back at me. But then she lowered her head and mumbled, "...You bully. Making me do weird things again..."


    "So is it no?"


    Eris stepped forward and punched my chest. But it wasn''t hard. Just a light tap. After that, she mumbled, "Of course I love you. I wouldn''t have called myself your wife ande all the way here if I didn''t, you bastard."


    "Good." I reached out to lift her head up with my finger, just like how I did with Sylphy.


    Eris stared at me. Unlike Sylphy though, she pointedly looked away, though her eyes kepting back to look at mine.


    I smiled and said, "Then I''ll do my best to love you too. Enough that you''ll forget all about the loneliness you felt growing up in the Boreas family. Enough that you won''t ever doubt that you''re loved. Enough that you''ll be happy until the end of time. ...And enough that you''ll forget how much of a brat you were as a kid."


    Eris scoffed and then wiped her tears away, smiling. "You bastard. Why''d you have to ruin it near the end there?"


    "Well. I only dodged the deadline of being a bastard by a few months, so I''ll take it."


    Eris snorted. And then she started coughing from getting snot down her throat. "Gah. Dammit!" She coughed and sputtered.


    Iughed and patted her back, subtly using healing magic to clear it. "There, there. Let it all out, Eri."


    "Bastard."


    "Is that what you''re nning to call me in bed? That''s a bit kinky, but..."


    "W-What?!"


    I ced my finger on her lips and said, "Just kidding, Eri."


    Eris blushed and then huffed and sat back down in her chair.


    ...Though I noticed that her blush didn''t fade and only seemed to stretch down her neck. Not only that, but her breathing was starting to get a bit heavy as she reached up to touch her lips-


    Wait.


    ...Eris had Greyrat blood in her too, didn''t she? And she was always the sort of person to be more prone to her instincts than I was...


    A dangerous situation. A weird glint starting up in Eris''s eyes.


    Before it could explode... Or rather, before Eris exploded, I reached out to ruffle her hair and said, "Honeymoonter, Eri. Not in front of the kids."


    Eris flinched and quickly nced around the room, settling her gaze on Norn and Ste for a bit. After that, she cleared her throat and said, "I-I don''t know what you''re talking about."


    She said that, but when her hand went back to her sword hilt out of habit, she tensed. And then thoughtfully started stroking it.


    ...Note to self: Check if I''m emitting weird mana pheromones. And if I''m somehow offloading the horny through mana emissions and making other people horny.


    That aside, I smiled at Eris and said, "Whatever you say, Wifey."


    Eris shuddered and then pointedly ced her hands on the table, as if doing all she could to not move them somewhere else.


    Seeing that, Sylphyughed.


    Eris red at her and said, "What''s so funny?!"


    "Nothing~" Sylphy smiled and said, "You''ll find outter, I guess. It''s a lot more fun ''ying'' together now, you know?"


    Eris turned a bright red.


    Norn looked at Sylphy and Eris and then pouted. "That''s not fair!" She hopped back onto myp and then hugged me. "I want to y with Rui too!"


    Rika choked.


    Ste gave me a nk look.


    Sylphy blushed and said, "U-Um, Norn... Th-That''s..."


    Eris stood up and said, "No! Absolutely not!"


    Norn stared at Eris and said, "Why not?! You got to y with him all the time when you were younger, Big Sis! I only got to y with Rui a little! I wanna y!"


    Eris flinched and then scanned the room before settling on Ste. "W-Well, what about your baby sister? Are you going to hog Rudy from her too?"


    Norn pouted and then turned to re at Ste.


    Ste quickly held up her hands and said, "Nee-cha ca pway. Stewwa is happy if yuwa happy!" After that, she let out a bright smile.


    A clearly forced bright smile.


    Eris pointed at her and said, "See? Now you''re scaring her!"


    "Am not!" Norn crossed her arms and said, "She said she''s happy!"


    "She''s not even one!"


    "She got to study with Rui, and it looks like she''s as smart as Aisha was when we were babies! She knows!"


    Ste looked at me with an expression that clearly said she wanted nothing to do with this mess.


    Rika was started to look exasperated as well.


    Seeing that, I ced my hand on Norn''s head and said, "That''s enough, Norn."


    "But Rui!" Norn looked back at me, pouting.


    I smiled and said, "We''ll have all the time in the world to y together, alright? I''ve got a lot of time to make up, remember? And birthday gifts too."


    Norn''s eyes sparkled and she said, "Really?"


    "Really."


    "Yay!" She hugged me and said, "You''re the best, Big Brother!"


    "Obviously." Iughed and then turned my gaze back towards everyone else. "Now... With all of that settled." I put on my serious face and said, "Let''s get down to business. First of all..." I looked at Kishirika and frowned. "...Where did youe from? And why are you with Eri and Norn?"


    Kishirika stood up and let out a smug expression. "This One was wondering when you would ask! You see, after a great slumber of over a thousand years, This One was awoken by a great evil and-"


    Eris cut her off and said, "Orsted summoned her andmanded her to keep us safe until we arrived here."


    "Tch." Kishirika pouted and sat back down in her chair. "This One was not manded.'' This One merely acquiesced to the summoning because of ourmon foe."


    Rika cringed and said, "Rika acted like that? So immature?"


    Kishirika red at Rika and said, "You are the immature one! Dressing up and hiding the natural beauty the world bestowed, have you no shame?"


    "Have *you* no shame walking out like that?" Rika shook her head and said, "The number of men who would dangle fresh food out to capture you to sate their desires... Rika is surprised she managed to stay alive long enough to be summoned now that Rika reflects on her past..."


    Norn looked between Rika and Kishirika and then frowned. Looking back at me, she said, "Um. Big Brother?"


    "Yes, Norn?"


    "Is Rika the big sister to Miss Kishirika?"


    "...Something like that. But more importantly... Where''s Dad? And have you found Mom and Mama Lily yet?"


    Silence.


    Norn looked over to Eris.


    Eris looked back and then pursed her lips.


    I frowned. "Eri?"


    "Well..."


    -PNG-


    A picture was worth a thousand words. And while people said that the pen was mightier than the sword, the reverse was true in reality.


    At least, Paul thought so. But...


    "A mere Region Lord dares to go against the promation of the Pope?"


    A haughty archbishop wearing the entire formal regalia. A toon of pdins from the Holy Order of Milis behind him.


    "...Hey man." Paul nced at the only support he had in this fight and said, "You sure this is the right y?"


    A man with a in white mask and violet hair. One with a crimson sword sheathed at his right side that almost perfectly matched the one that Paul had on his left.


    Paul shifted his gaze back to the Inquisition Squad getting ready to take them in by force. After that, he looked out at the crowd of people as well as the image still being projected up in the sky.


    A ruined port, filled with undead. Rudy floating above them all andughing beneath a bloody moon.


    "...I don''t think that cutting our way out of here will do anything to deny us being rted to that incident there. Especially since we were the ones putting up pictures of Rudy and the others."


    Pierre drew his sword. "Don''t worry. These guys are the bastards helping those nobles keep victims of the Spacetime Rend as ves anyway."


    Paul drew his sword too and said, "One of these days you''re going to have to tell me how you know all these things. And why you dyed your hair violet. ...Also how the hell you turned Elinalise into a saintess who won''t even look at another man anymore."


    "Men! Take them in!" The archbishop flung his hand out.


    A roar echoed from the pdins, matched with the sound of drawn steel.


    Pierre slowly walked forward and said, "All in due time, Paul."


    A sudden barrage of light spells flying from the distance. A mage toon backing up the pdins.


    Paul stepped forward and casually swung his sword.


    A sh that seemed slow but somehow moved faster than light. An attack that seemed to go wide, but somehow hit every spell at the same time.


    "Personally, I like space more."


    Pierre snorted and said, "Less banter, more killing bad people to save the good people."


    Paul cut down a pdin that charged at him and said, "Reeeally starting to think we''re the bad guys here, Pierre. But eh." Paul kicked the corpse away and said, "Always was more of a thug than a hero anyway. I''ll leave that bit for Rudy... After I set him straight. Us Greyrats have a lot of kinks, but I''m going to have to draw the line at dead people."


    "..."


    "What?"


    "Just out of curiosity, what do you consider a- Never mind."


    "O-Oi. You don''t just throw out ament like that and- Gah! Fuck it." Paul swung his sword, shattering the King-ranked barrier spell blocking the pdins and said, "I''ll just ask Linater. She''s pregnant, so you have to listen to her, right?"


    "That''s ying dirty!"


    "I''m apparently the father of the Demon God himself, so whatever! Now take your own advice and start killing these bastards!"

 123 – Daddy Greyrat and the Looming Bloodshed on the Horizon

    123 ¨C Daddy Greyrat and the Looming Bloodshed on the Horizon


    An abandoned building in the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Milis, hours after a bloody rampage that was bound to go down in history books as a massacre. An entire toon of the knights in the Order of the Temple, cut down to thest man.


    Minus one woman who had been taken hostage by the ''viins'' responsible for the mess.


    A beautiful knight with blonde hair and blue eyes. Someone with a striking resemnce to Zenith, the only difference being her hair style and the position of her mole.


    Therese Latreia red at Paul as she strained against her rope bindings and said, "Traitor! Heretic! I should have dragged Zenith back home the first time I found out she married an Asuran thug like you!"


    Paul let out a strained smile and turned to Pierre. "She was much nicer before, I promise."


    Pierre leaned against the wall and said, "Don''t worry about it. You did just kill off most of her coworkers."


    "Me?!" Paul held up his hands and said, "All I did was break the barrier. You''re the one who actually ripped those guys apart with those shy sword skills you stole from me."


    "Which you stole from Rudy." Pierre brushed a strand of his violet hair away from his mask and then looked at Therese. "And for the record, that image you saw is fake. Your lovely nephew is actually the reincarnation of Saint Milis and has created a Holy Kingdom in the Magic Continent to shelter victims."


    Therese scoffed. "As if I would believe a bloodthirsty Demon like you!"


    Paul looked at Pierre and said, "Told you that people would think you''re suspicious with that mask."


    Pierre sighed and said, "And I told Lina that it wasn''t a good idea. But now I''m stuck with it."


    "Can''t you just take it off?"


    "It depends. Are you willing to fend off all the women who will flock over us again?"


    "...Oh. Right. Forgot that you''re a handsome bastard underneath there."


    Therese spat on the ground and said, "Is this just some joke to you?! You killed people! Innocent people!" She strained against the ropes holding her and then red at Pierre.


    Pierre crossed his arms and said, "Of course it isn''t a joke. But it''s for the greater good."


    "Reaaally not sounding like the good guys here, Pierre."


    Pierre shrugged. "We''re fighting against the Human God, so we technically aren''t in the first ce. Though he''s also technically just a pretender who doesn''t really care for humanity in the first ce..."


    "Human God?" Therese frowned. "What in Milis''s name are you rambling about?"


    Paul waved his hand and said, "Don''t worry about it Riri."


    "Do *not* call me that."


    "...Huh." Paul scratched his head and muttered, "You really do look like Zenny." After that, he sighed and said, "Man I miss her and Lily."


    Pierre nodded and pulled out a small crystal orb from his pocket. "Just make sure to not cheat before they get back. Pretty sure your sword''s going to rust from disuse afterwards if you do."


    Paul chuckled. "Obviously. Besides, I''d die of guilt from seeing Norn''s face first."


    "You mean from Eris smacking you in the head with a ming punch."


    "And that." Paul nodded and then paused. "Hold on." He tilted his head and said, "Did you say that Rudy was the reincarnation of Saint Milis? And that he established a Holy Kingdom in the Magic Continent? I thought that he was-"


    "Orsted. Can you hear me?"


    Paul clicked his tongue. "Ignoring me again huh. You''re just like Rudy, I swear... Aaand now I''m missing the kid again."


    Pierre ignored Paul and focused on staring into the crystal.


    A golden light flickered on it before fading and revealing a projecting of Orsted standing in a throne room.


    "I can hear you."


    Therese''s eyes widened. "Orsted? The Dragon God? I-Is it true then...? Are the Demons and Dragons teaming up to extinguish humanity?"


    Orsted paused and then nced over at Therese.


    She flinched but stared back with a defiant re.


    Orsted tilted his head and looked at Paul. "Did you find your wives already?"


    Paul sighed. "I wish. That''s Therese, my sister-inw-"


    "Not if I get the Pope to annul the marriage, I''m not!"


    Pierre turned back to look at her and then said, "Paul. Hold this for a second."


    "Hm? Sure. But why-"


    A sh of silver light. A brief gasp. And then Therese slumped over unconscious.


    "...Oi." Paul red at Pierre and said, "You didn''t kill her, right?"


    "How many times do I have to say it today?" Pierre sighed and said, "I might be a viin, but I''m not a bad guy. She''s just unconscious after I pressed some pressure points."


    Paul blinked. "Pressure points you say? Tell me more..."


    "Ask your son. I''m sure he''s figured them out already."


    Paul frowned. "You see, you keep bringing Rudy up. I get that you''re his grandfather-inw, but you seem a bit too close to my son..."


    Orsted furrowed his brow and said, "If you two are just going to waste time-"


    "Hold on." Pierre grabbed the crystal back and said, "Sorry about that, Orsted. But preparations on this side arepleted. And we''ve confirmed that Hitogami has turned the Anti-Demon faction against the Pope and hidden him away while acting with impunity in his name. Also that Hitogami is trying to paint Rudy as the reincarnation of Lace by showcasing an image from a Distortion with a man that looks like him."


    Orsted was silent and then nodded. "I see." He tilted his head and said, "It will be troublesome if Milis decides to send forces to Asura Kingdom. Ariel is still young. Even with my backing, the First Prince and the Prime Minister hold a great deal of sway."


    Paul frowned and said, "Can''t you just take her into one of those Distortion ces and pop her out older? That''s what Ghyine and I did with Eris and Norn to make them stronger."


    Pierre facepalmed and said, "Military and political power does not work like that, Paul."


    "Worked for me when those nosy Notos and Boreas bastards thought they could touch my daughter-inw."


    "That''s because-" Pierre let out a deep sigh. "Never mind." He looked back at Orsted and said, "The image wasn''t broadcasted there, was it?"


    Orsted smirked. "Of course not. Being W''s authority cannot reach the entirety of the Central Continent now."


    Paul whistled and said, "That''s impressive. Did you manage to finish setting up the barriers then?"


    "Indeed. Along with teleportation circles." Orsted paused and looked at Pierre. "...Though I still wonder how you knew the formations, Pierre. Perugius keeps them close to his chest in every loop I have run."


    "Magic."


    Paul scoffed.


    Pierre chuckled and said, "In any case... We''ll work on things here until our star actor walks onto the stage."


    Paul paused and said, "Wait. I thought we were justing here to take names and kick ass before heading back? I''m supposed to attend Aisha''s enrollment ceremony at the Ranoa Magic University at the end of the month."


    Pierre stared at Paul.


    Paul stared back. "What?"


    "Paul. You are a Sword God."


    "Yeah? And?"


    "You are a Sword God because you developed the *SPACE* sword."


    "Right. So-" He paused. "...Wait. I can cut space to-"


    "YES." Pierre facepalmed and said, "Good god. How did I manage to dodge inheriting the stupid?"


    "Because you aren''t a real Greyrat, duh."


    "...I''ll give you an updateter, Orsted. Until then, keep on doing you."


    "Of course. And when you have the time, tell Perugius to stay neutral unless he wants to end it early."


    "...Sure."


    With that, Pierre ended the connection. And right after, he sighed, saying, "Sibling rivalry can get ugly, huh?"


    Paul nodded. "Speaking from personal experience with Pilemon... Yes. Though it was more one-sided there."


    "Then you should start praying that your daughters don''t fight over their big brother when they all meet up."


    Paulughed. "You mean make a prayer for Rudy."


    "Yes. I think he''ll need it soon enough."


    -RNG-


    I felt a shiver run down my spine and nced out the window at the night sky.


    "Is something the matter?" Enoch stared at me, her brows furrowed.


    "Yeah." Eos nodded and said, "You see something in the distance?"


    I frowned and focused my irvoyance Demon Eye in the direction I felt that weird shiver.


    Sweeping terrain. Night turning to day as my vision crossed the seas and focused on the source of that weird feeling.


    Just like Goo*le E*rth or ying G*oguesser, I could see the streets and outside of buildings but I still wasn''t skilled enough to look through walls and stuff.


    Also because this world was t instead of curved and just somehow looped at the edges of the world.


    ...That gave me *so* many questions, but it wasn''t important.


    Instead...


    The Holy Kingdom of Milis. One founded by a Saint who used his magic to create a utopia for his people and keep monsters at bay. Someone who I was greatly inspired by to do the same here... is what I would like to say. But it was more like a reputation I picked up after rescuing Milis followers who were convinced that my ability to do what Milis did meant I was his reincarnation.


    But anyway, it seemed the weird feeling came from Milis. And when I looked at it... I saw why.


    People storming bloodstained streets and arguing with knights. A few adventurers breaking into buildings to drag out people kept in cors. And by people, I meant ''humans'' mostly, unlike the demon/beastfolk ves that would be expected.


    I blinked, turning my vision back to normal. After that, I frowned and muttered, "Mom and Mama Lily better not be in that mess."


    If Being W had somehow dropped them there and they were being held as ves...


    No. Think positive, Rudy. You can''t be an edgelord. The path of an edgelord is one to powers people think most unnatural, but it also makes you cringe. You don''t want to be cringe, especially not after meeting up with Sylphy and Eris. Sylphy and Eris who both love you very much and havepromised to share because of it.


    Right. So it''ll be fine.


    For now, stick to the n.


    I shook my head and looked back at Enoch and Eos.


    We were in my office. Today, thankfully, Sylphy and Eris weren''t here. Instead, they were having a girl''s night out with Rika, Kishirika, and my baby sisters.


    ...Well, technically baby sister and younger sister.


    That was going to take some getting used to.


    Or was it? People still called their baby sisters like that when they got older, didn''t they?


    And-


    Wait. I''m monologuing again.


    Goddammit.


    I looked over at Enoch and Eos and said, "You know that you can interrupt me if I do that, right?"


    Enoch shook her head and said, "But I don''t want to interrupt Daddy when you''re thinking."


    A faint shudder down my spine. And not pleasure. "...Please don''t call me that, Enoch."


    "But we aren''t in public, and Daddy never lets me call you Daddy." Enoch pouted and crossed her arms beneath her chest, almost causing the straps holding her assets in to snap. "I''ve been a good and ''proper'' girl like you asked too!"


    Eos nodded and said, "What Sis said. And it''s not fair. You''ve been spending all your time with Ste instead of us. And now that those two are here, you''ve been spending even less time." She adjusted her sses and frowned. "...I get that Father is an important figure and busy, but some attention would be nice..."


    I did my best to keep a straight face and nodded. "Then I''ll spend the next few days with you two. Promise. I need to go check up on a few things anyway, so how about we take a trip together?"


    "Really?" Enoch let out a bright smile and then ran over to hug me. "Thank you, Daddy!"


    "*PLEASE* don''t call me that. Especially when you''re pressing your chest against my arm."


    Eos nodded and adjusted her sses. "Yes, Sis. That''s reserved for our new Mothers."


    "Aw..." Enoch pouted and stepped back. "Fine..."


    I took a deep breath and counted back from ten in my head.


    ...Goddammit. I *knew* I shouldn''t have tried using my blood as a catalyst to summon a spirit. Freaking people calling me a god made me do a divine act of creation instead of normal summoning...

 124 – The Knight Acting as an Ally of Justice

    124 ¨C The Knight Acting as an Ally of Justice


    Rnd.


    That was the name given to him in this world. It was also a nostalgic name, reminding him of an old friend andrade in arms.


    But that was about all that was familiar to him.


    Simr faces, but different people. The ones he knew and who were dear to his heart were not only younger, but changed as well.


    Still, he didn''t mind. At the end of his path, even though he failed at the end, he was given a second chance. Though his friends and allies weren''t with him, though his purpose had vanished, he had a new one to work for. Not only that, but he was given a chance to fulfill his nostalgic childhood dream.


    Rnd craned his neck, marveling once more at theck of stiffness that he had be ustomed to in hister days. After doing that, he sighed and looked up at the sky. "Youth really is wasted on the young, isn''t it?"


    Ambitions left unfulfilled. Ideals left by the wayside chasing childish dreams instead of confronting reality. And by the time he did, he was already a man. Then, in the blink of an eye, the path was at its end.


    Rnd chuckled and then lowered his head, continuing on his way.


    The usual morning patrol. Rudy- No, ''Lord Rudras'' had taken a few days off to inspect the Distortion and make repairs to the port with Enoch and Eos. There had been some talk as well of paving a new path to the port to allow for safe transportation home for victims of the Spacetime Rend, but it seemed that he intended to have an initial survey before finalizing anything.


    Though it was odd that he only took Enoch and Eos when two of the women he loved the most had arrived.


    But Rnd supposed that Lord Rudras was just that type of person. Even in his memories, Rnd remembered that person being the same in his world.


    Either way, that left Rnd with free time to do as he desired.


    Thus the patrol.


    "Good morning, Mister Rnd!"


    Children greeting him as he passed by.


    "Oh my. Up early again, Sir Rnd?"


    Middle-aged women greeting him with sly and suggestive looks.


    "Working hard, eh Captain Knight?"


    Adventurers showing their appreciation with a cheerful smile and greeting.


    As always, he returned their greetings with a nod and a polite wave.


    And as always, he felt nostalgic doing so.


    It was a familiar and yet unfamiliar scene. In the beginning, it had been different. People feared him for his appearance and thenter feared him for his abilities. It was only near the end where he and hispanions built up a small home for themselves that he was greeted with a smile.


    Of course, his enemies still feared him. But that was a matter of course.


    Even so, walking around the kingdom of Arcadia...


    Rnd looked at the peaceful scenery around him. At the children ying without a care in the world, whether demon, beastfolk, human, or elf. At the adventurers walking by with friendly expressions and camraderie. At the lush greenery and pleasant atmosphere. At the magical innovation allowing supplies to transport across the kingdom at rapid speeds...


    The culmination of countless ideals. Both his, hispanions, and his siblings. It was a dream-like kingdom that seemed straight from a storybook that his parents used to read him. The utopia that he sought to create beside his liege.


    Rnd stopped his patrol on the paved path cutting across the kingdom, taking a seat on an unupied stone bench. After that, he looked out at the scenery around him. At the oasis within the turmoil of the outside world, like a mirage that could vanish at any moment.


    But it wasn''t. This was reality, one wrought by Lord Rudras and created in a manner simr to the myth of Saint Milis.


    It was also something that Rnd could never have imagined.


    Rudeus Notos Greyrat.


    The one who summoned his soul just as it passed from the mortal coil and gave him a new life was different than the one Rnd remembered.


    To begin with, he was young. Far younger than Rnd expected considering the circumstances. Yet, despite his youth, his mastery of magic was far more advanced than the Rudeus that Rnd knew.


    Then there was his hand. Specifically, his left hand.


    As long as Rnd knew, Rudeus had an artificial one. Of course, it was created with such intricacy and mastery that it was the same, if not superior to flesh and blood. And yet, it was still artificial.


    Lord Rudras was whole. The only part that seemed wed in his body was his right eye. But even that was remedied by Rika giving him a Demon Eye of irvoyance.


    And that was another difference.


    The Great Empress Kishirika Kishirisu. The Immortal Demon Lord of Demon Eyes. The one who was the betrothed of the Fighting God Badigadi.


    She should have helped Rudeus in the past, granting him the two Demon Eyes that he continued to use until his dying day. But it was a transactional deal. She had never thrown her lot in with him, even after the Orsted Corporation grew in enough power to influence countries.


    Yet she was here. Not only was she here, but she seemed to be from another world entirely, separate from both the current one and the one that Rnd knew.


    In short...


    "Life truly does contain countless surprises, doesn''t it?"


    Rnd loosened his helmet a bit to get fresh air and looked out at the peaceful kingdom. As he did, he let out a long sigh.


    Although his body was in his prime, his old spirit had followed with him. There was an urge to find a cold brew and sit down with others, reminiscing about the good old days.


    But there were none of them here. Though his knights were fastrades and Astolfo... who Rnd still wasn''t sure was male or female. Although they were good friends, they didn''t share his history. His past.


    It was simr, but different.


    ...Maybe that was the price for choosing to stand against-


    "Oh!"


    A soft female voice.


    One that Rnd knew very well.


    He instinctively stiffened when he heard it, expecting a lecture. But he quickly rxed and turned towards the speaker.


    A beautiful elf woman with blue-tinged silver hair and green eyes. She wore a slightly transparent blue dress that trailed after her, matched with long ck gloves and leggings. Her ck leather boots lightly tapped against the paved road as she walked over before she let out a soft smile. "You''re Rnd, right? The Knight Captain?"


    "That''s correct."


    Rnd gave a curt response, doing his best not to stare. Although his face was covered, she always had the knack for seeing through his lies.


    It should be impossible for her to determine who he was, but-


    "Do you mind if I take a seat here and chat for a while?" The elf woman... No, Sylphy Greyrat smiled and said, "Since Eri is out with the kids, I thought I''d take the time to get to know the people who have helped my Rudy."


    Rnd tensed.


    Sylphy paused and tilted her head. "...Is it no good?"


    "...It''s fine." Saying that, Rnd shifted over a bit in the seat.


    Sylphy smiled and sat down next to him. "Thank you."


    Rnd simply nodded. As he did though, he couldn''t help but notice the differences between her and the one in his memories.


    Faint scars along her neck. A brief glimpse of more on her chest as she sat down. And probably more hidden beneath those gloves and leggings that she wore despite the warm weather.


    It stood in stark contrast to the pristine and unblemished skin he remembered. Not only that, but Sylphy''s body build was different as well.


    Although there was the obvious disparity in their ''assets'' up top, Rnd noticed that Sylphy was trained. Her body was lithe and honed. Furthermore, the way she moved was with the confidence of a woman ustomed to reacting to conflict in an instant, and in close range.


    Not like the magician in his memories who mostly supported Rudeus in the home and from a distance.


    Rnd had heard from Orsted once that Sylphy could have be a world-renowned dungeon explorer in a time where Rudeus didn''t exist. At the time, Rnd couldn''t have imagined it.


    Her? The waif-like beauty who seemed more suited to a library than the battlefield, a dungeon explorer? The kind woman who cared and fussed over her children even as they were useless freeloaders?


    It was an unimaginable setting.


    But the Sylphy seated beside him was even more unimaginable.


    "Is something wrong?" Sylphy blushed and then tugged up her cor. "I-Is it the scars? I''m sorry if they seem a bit disturbing..."


    "It''s fine." Rnd shook his head and said, "I just didn''t expect them."


    Sylphy smiled. "Yes. That seems to be the case with most people."


    "Don''t you want to heal them? If you asked, I am sure that Lord Rudras would."


    Considering his ridiculous magical feats, Rnd was certain that simple scar removal would be possible. And especially more so considering that Sylphy was one of the loves of Rudeus''s life.


    "Mm..." Sylphy fiddled with her gloves. "...I''m thinking about it. My Rudy seems troubled by them, but at the same time..." She stopped and looked up at Rnd. "They''re proof, you know? That I overcame all those obstacles and made it to my dream."


    Rnd subconsciously reached for his face.


    They were gone now, but he could still remember the countless scars marring his face.


    People had asked him the same question and he had given almost the same response.


    Proof of his battles. A record to show how hard he fought to get where he was...


    Sylphy noticed Rnd''s action and said, "Are you the same, Mister Knight? Is that why you wear that helmet everywhere you go?"


    "No. At least, not anymore. It''s mostly a habit from a misspent youth."


    The days running around proiming himself to be an Ally of Justice and boldly shouting out the names of his techniques...


    Looking back, Rnd couldn''t help but cringe. But in the end, they were what led him to finding his path, so he couldn''t say they were wasted.


    ...Although he did find it odd that history seemed to be repeating itself a bit.


    Now that his purpose had vanished with his death, he once again donned a full suit of armor and hid his face. But rather than defending justice beneath the moon with ck armor and a de as dark as night, he now fought for it in broad daylight wearing white armor along with a gleaming sword and shield.


    A hero rather than an ally of justice.


    Sylphy giggled and said, "It must have been some youth then to have that as a habit." She leaned back on the bench and said, "Though I suppose I shouldn''t be talking considering my own misspent youth."


    A long silence. Comfortable, but strange.


    She was different. And thest time Rnd had seen her in his world was when she was seeing him off.


    So sitting beside her again after so long was nostalgic. But it was also strange.


    Like looking through a distorted mirror- No, through a distorted window. Although a different world, it was also a different time.


    A time where she didn''t know him while he knew her. And a time where the soft and kind smiles he remembered were a little marred. Jaded inparison to the ones he saw every morning and when he returned.


    "So." Eventually, Sylphy broke the silence and said, "Is it hard working as a knight here?"


    Rnd smiled and said, "It can be. Butpared to what I was doing before... I can''t say I like it more, but it''s more rxing."


    A real hero. A true ally of justice. Clear enemies and monsters to fight, unlike the murky gray territory he bled for alongside hisrades.


    "That''s good!" Sylphy smiled and looked at Rnd. "It''s important to take rests and not work too hard. Especially if you''re the captain."


    "Of course."


    Another silence. But like before, it was afortable silence.


    Still, after a moment, Sylphy frowned and looked at Rnd, staring at him with her glowing green eyes, the opposite of the soft crimson he remembered.


    "...It''s weird." After a bit, she mumbled and said, "I barely know you, but it''sfortable being around you. Just like with Rudy. But... it''s also different."


    Rnd tensed and then carefully said, "I *am* his knight. It''s inevitable that I take on a bit of-"


    "No." Sylphy cut him off and shook her head. "It''s not that." She stared intently at Rnd''s mask, as if trying to see beneath it. "...You aren''t Rudy. But you''re like Rudy... only mixed with something else. Something familiar..."


    Rnd''s eyes widened.


    And then he remembered it.


    A casual remark that Lord Rudras said one day. About how he devised a spell in his youth to grant others the ability to see mana. And how he passed that spell to his friends and families to keep them safe against Hitogami... Or rather, Being W.


    Rnd quickly stood up and started walking away. "Pardon my rudeness, but I just recalled a task I need to perform."


    "Wait!" Sylphy stood up and ran after Rnd. "The reason why you hide your face. Is it because- Ah!"


    The trailing blue dress that Sylphy wore tangled up her feet, sending her plummeting towards the ground.


    Seeing that, Rnd instinctively moved to catch her.


    A soft ng on the ground. His helmet falling because of the speed he had to move to catch her.


    Hearing that, Rnd''s eyes widened.


    And Sylphy''s did as well. "Green hair? And that face..."


    "I-I''m leaving. Sorry." He quickly grabbed his helmet and then ran off.


    "W-Wait!" Sylphy called out after him, but Rnd was already long gone.


    Dammit. Even after growing up and living his own life throwing away the Greyrat name, he still couldn''t hide things from her, could he?


    Rnd put his helmet back on, fastening it as he ran and muttered, "So much for avoiding his expectations this time around..."

 125 – The Eldest Sister’s Thoughts

    125 ¨C The Eldest Sister¡¯s Thoughts


    -NNG-


    Part 1


    Ever since she could remember, Norn''s big brother had protected her.


    Whenever Mommy got too clingy and tried to smother her. Whenever Aisha was a bit too mean and tried to force her along with her adventures. Whenever she was scared and didn''t know what to do, Norn could turn to her big brother and he would save her.


    So that was why she clearly remembered that day.


    The scary monsters appearing everywhere. Miss Roxy doing her best to protect them. And then that terrifying ck hole that sucked the whole house up and tried to pull her in as well.


    Helpless. Too far away from anyone to help her.


    Norn remembered crying. She remembered being terrified at the unknown.


    But then a familiar warmth wrapped around her, keeping her safe against the terrifying force trying to take her away.


    Her big brother, Rui- No, ''Rudy.''


    He had been protecting their baby sister. Just like how Mommy said he did for her, Norn''s big brother was protecting Ste from the bad guy who wanted to hurt their family.


    And he was in danger too.


    Norn remembered the ck hole surrounding Rudy. One bigger and scarier than the one trying to gobble her up.


    And she remembered his face. Even as Papa grabbed her and Big Sis Eris pulled them away, Norn saw it.


    Blood running down his right eye. Fear, for the first time on her invincible big brother''s face as he shielded their baby sister''s body with his own.


    Norn would never forget it.


    Even though she was only a few years old at the time, Rudy''s appearance back then was seared into her mind.


    Not only that, but she kept hearing the words he told her a long time ago.


    *Your big brother promises that he''ll protect you against the entire world, okay? So don''t you worry about a thing.*


    Big Brother didn''t lie. He kept the promise.


    On that day, the entire world was out to get them. The ck hole was like the world itself trying to gobble her up.


    But Rudy saved her. Like always.


    And then he was gone.


    But not just him.


    Mama. Mama Lily. Aisha. Uncle Laws. Auntie Rose. Auntie Lina. Big Sis Sylphy. Miss Roxy.


    Everyone.


    While Papa and Big Sis Eris were around, their home had disappeared.


    Norn remembered wandering around looking for anything. Something to show that they had lived there.


    And all that she found was Rudy''s sword. A pretty de that looked like it glowed in all the colors of the rainbow, just like the bubbles he used to y with her.


    But that was it.


    Her big brother wasn''t there to save her anymore. Papa and Big Sis Eris were, but they weren''t Rudy.


    Papa was strong and caring, but he wasn''t very smart.


    Big Sis Eris was really good at fighting and making fires, but she wasn''t very smart either.


    So it was Norn''s job to make sure everything went well. Because Big Brother wasn''t around, she had to keep everyone safe.


    So she learned.


    Just like how Big Brother always watched everything and took careful notes. Just like how Big Brother quietly studied and practiced magic. Just like how Big Brother focused and trained his sword skills.


    Norn did what she thought Rudy would do.


    ...Because it was her fault. If she hadn''t gone back to grab a toy and just followed Miss Roxy and Aisha, Rudy wouldn''t have had to save her.


    So-


    -NNG-


    Part 2


    "Nee-cha? Aw you up?"


    Norn blinked and saw a cute baby girl looking down at her.


    Bright green eyes that reminded Norn of Rudy''s. Blonde hair a little bit darker than Norn''s and still short.


    Ste, Norn''s baby sister.


    And also the one who had been with Rudy this entire time.


    Adorable. Not only that, but the light in her eyes reminded Norn a lot of Rudy too. Super smart.


    ...Though it made Norn a bit jealous.


    Even so, she put on a smile and said, "I''m up, Ste."


    Ste leaned back and plopped herself on her butt.


    Norn sat up and took a look around.


    A beautiful and peaceful flower garden with a table nearby to sit and lush grass toy down on.


    It took a moment for Norn to remember where they all were. But then she remembered.


    Right. Big Sis Eris wanted to take her and Ste out to walk around the area. But when they found the flower garden, the group decided to take a break from walking and rx.


    Norn had been reminded of the old flower garden at her home before it was destroyed, so she subconsciously found herself rx. And it looked like she rxed a bit too much.


    ...And the same was true for Big Sis Eris.


    She wasying on the grass next to Norn, eyes closed and peacefully sleeping. A sight that Norn rarely saw.


    Because of all the nobles back home trying to force Big Sis Eris to do things, she was always on edge. And even when they were training together, Big Sis Eris seemed to be chasing something Norn couldn''t see. As if there was an opponent she wanted to cut down but didn''t know how to reach.


    Yes. Big Sis Eris was always troubled. But because she was troubled, she always did her best to remain calm for Norn. As if concerned that Norn would be worried, Big Sis Eris always smiled around her and stayed calm. Almost to make up for Big Brother not being around.


    But because of that, she was never rxed. Even when sleeping, she seemed to be restless.


    Not now.


    Big Sis Eris''s pretty face was finally rxed and calm.


    Probably because they found Big Brother again and he promised to love Big Sis Eris too.


    Norn shook her head and then looked to Ste.


    Her baby sister was still sitting on the ground, quietly ying with the grass.


    Seeing that, Norn felt sorry and said, "Did we sleep for a while, Ste? Are you hungry?"


    Miss Kishirika''s older sister had given them a lot of bottles for Ste in a small ice box before they left, so if Ste was hungry, Norn could get her one.


    "No." Ste shook her head and said, "Is okay." She smiled. "Nee-cha can sweep. I''m pwaying wif my fwens."


    "Friends?"


    Norn blinked and looked around.


    There wasn''t anyone there.


    She frowned and focused her eyes.


    It was hard. Back when she was small, Big Brother taught her how to see mana. But since she started practicing with a sword instead, she started forgetting how to do it. Still, if she tried really hard, she could see a bit of it. And even though she couldn''t, she could still feel mana. So...


    Three faint flickers floating around Ste. Red, blue, and green.


    The moment that Norn noticed them, three figures popped into existence.


    "Wow!" A tiny girl with crimson hair and angel wings. "You can see us even when we''re hiding!"


    "As expected of Master Rudy''s younger sister and Ste''s big sister." A white cat with blue eyes nodded to himself.


    A tiny yawn echoed and then another small girl with wings appeared, rubbing her eyes. Her green hair shifted in the wind beneath a halo and she said, "Did we have to materialize? I''m sleepy and that uses a lot of energy."


    Ste frowned at the three figures and then said, "No messing awound."


    "Aw..." The tiny girl with red hair pouted and said, "Can''t I go explore?"


    "No."


    The tiny girl puffed out her cheeks and said, "Fine! Then I''m sleeping too!" After saying that, she did a backflip through the air and vanished.


    The tiny girl with green hair yawned and then vanished as well.


    As for the cat...


    It drifted to the ground and then sat next to Ste. Grooming itself, the cat waved at Norn and said, "You can rx. I''ll make sure Ste''s safe."


    "No fweezing za wurl."


    "Okay Ste. But only because you say so."


    Norn blinked and tilted her head.


    Ste stared at Norn and smiled. "See? Fwens."


    "I... see."


    Norn really didn''t.


    She vaguely remembered Miss Roxy having a familiar, but for Ste to have three of them...


    "...Ste''s really smart, aren''t you?"


    Ste blinked and then shook her head. "No. I''m nowmo. Nii-cha is smawt."


    Nornughed and then ruffled Ste''s hair. "Yes. Big Brother really is smart." She paused. "...But why do you call him Nii-cha, Ste?"


    "Nii-cha is Nii-cha."


    A simple answer just like a baby would give.


    Nornughed again and then said, "Whatever you say, Ste."


    "...Hmf."


    -NNG-


    Part 3


    Back at Rudy''s tower after a long day walking around.


    Ste was fast asleep, so Big Sis Eris carried her upstairs to sleep in her crib.


    Norn was going to follow, but Big Sis Sylphy was sitting at the table on the first floor, so she sat down next to her. "What are you thinking about, Big Sis?"


    "Oh!" Sylphy blinked and then let out a warm smile. "I didn''t see you there, Norn."


    Norn scooted her chair closer to Sylphy and then took a better look at her.


    She was pretty. Like really pretty.


    Big Sis Eris was pretty too, but Big Sis Sylphy was pretty in a different way. Shiny, mature, kind... She looked just like how Norn thought an Elf Queen might look.


    But Norn also noticed that Big Sis Sylphy had a lot of scars. Big Sis Eris did too because of her training and all the fighting. And even Norn had a couple because she wasn''t very smart when she was starting to train.


    Big Sis Sylphy though... Even Papa didn''t have that many.


    Sylphy noticed Norn staring andughed. "Don''t worry, Norn. They don''t hurt."


    "...Really?"


    "Really." Sylphy let out a bright smile and said, "Even if they did... I''m happy. It means that I fought really hard to meet your big brother again, you know?"


    "Mm..." Norn slowly nodded. "I understand."


    "Good-"


    "Big Sis Sylphy''s an idiot."


    "H-Huh?"


    Norn stuck her tongue out and said, "Just kidding."


    A joke to break the tension. Just like how Papa did when things were too serious.


    As expected, Sylphyughed and reached out to ruffle Norn''s hair. "You''re still as cute as ever, Norn. And a lot more behaved than Aisha too."


    Norn''s eyes lit up and she said, "Is Aisha okay?" She hadn''t heard anything about her other sister, so she had always been worried. Papa said she was safe, but...


    "She''s fine." Sylphy smiled and said, "Roxy took Aisha with her to enroll in the Ranoa Magic University."


    Norn blinked and thought hard about that.


    Ranoa Magic University... Papa mentioned it one time, right? After asking if Norn wanted to learn magic or the sword...


    "That''s hard to get into, isn''t it?"


    Norn remembered now. The famous academy on the Central Continent that researched all sorts of magic.


    Papa always mentioned how Big Brother would instantly be a professor if he showed up and probably even headmaster.


    Aisha was going to enroll there?


    Sylphy nodded. "It is. But Roxy''s an alumni."


    "Alumni?"


    "Ah. I mean a graduate. It''s the same school she went to when she was younger."


    "Oh." Norn nodded. "So Miss Roxy is with Aisha there?"


    "I think so." Sylphy frowned and said, "I haven''t talked to them in a while though... But it should be fine." She smiled and said, "Roxy is really strong now, you know? Mercy too. And Aisha... Well, I think she''s a bit scary for someone so small?" She paused and then looked at Norn. "Actually... I think she might be younger than you now? She''s smaller at least."


    "Really?" Norn tilted her head and said, "But Big Sis Sylphy is so old now."


    Sylphy''s left eye twitched. "I''m sorry, Norn. What did you say?"


    Norn felt sweat run down the back of her neck.


    Killing intent. That was definitely killing intent.


    Norn let out a nervousugh and said, "I mean... Um. Big Sis Sylphy went into dungeons too, right? Didn''t you and Miss Roxy take Aisha with you?"


    Sylphy smiled and said, "We did. But Aisha thought it was boring, so she usually stayed outside with Mercy."


    "Boring?"


    Norn tilted her head, confused.


    Aisha was always the one to like adventures, so Norn thought her sister would definitely like going into dungeons.


    Norn didn''t really like adventures, but even she thought it was kind of fun beating monsters up and finding treasure.


    "Anyway..." Sylphy looked at Norn and said, "How have you been? Did you enjoy your day out with Eri?"


    "Mmhm!" Norn nodded and said, "This ce is really pretty and peaceful. Big Brother did a much better job being a king than the Asura Kingdom."


    Unlike there, Norn didn''t see any poor people begging for money or weird people staring at her and Big Sis Eris with a creepy look in Rudy''s kingdom.


    For the most part, everyone was nice and caring. Even the two girls who challenged her to a spar when they arrived weren''t really mean. After all, they weren''t like the girls in the Asura Kingdom who sent in grown ups to try and beat her up when they lost.


    Sylphy''s smile dimmed a bit and then she looked thoughtful. "So Father-inw, you, and Eri were transported to the Asura Kingdom...? It must have been terrible."


    Norn shook her head. "No. Papa took us there to get help from Mister Orsted." She paused to think and said, "It was pretty bad though. Papa had to kill a lot of people because they were stupid."


    "K-Kill?"


    Norn blinked and then nodded. "Right. Kill." She tilted her head and said, "Have you not killed anyone, Big Sis?"


    "N-No. I have. But..." Sylphy looked troubled and said, "Have you?"


    "Mmhm." Norn nodded and said, "Bad people tried to kidnap me before so I used Big Brother''s sword and killed them, just like he would have. Then I went back to Papa and Big Sis Eri. I think a lot of people got mad, but Papa took his sword out and made everyone scared so they stopped." Norn giggled and said, "It was really funny seeing the piggy people twist their faces."


    Sylphy''s eyes widened and she said, "I-I see..."


    "Anyway." Norn shifted on her chair to look at Sylphy and said, "What about you, Big Sis? Did Big Brothere back yet?"


    Sylphy shook her head. "No. He said that he''ll be gone a few days."


    "Oh." Norn pouted. "...I wanted to y with him though."


    "I''m sure he''ll be back soon, Norn."


    "But I want him back now. It''s not fair that Ste can yell for help and Big Brother-"


    Norn paused, suddenly realizing something.


    "...Norn?" Sylphy tilted her head. "What are you-"


    "Ste held the ne and yelled ''Nii-cha help'', right? And that ne has Big Brother''s mana. So maybe..." She reached out to grab her sword.


    Sylphy''s eyes widened. "W-Wait. Norn, don''t-"


    Norn stood up and grabbed her sword. After that, she took a deep breath and yelled, "Nii-cha! Help!"


    For good measure, she did her best to make it sound as desperate as possible.


    A flurry of footsteps, followed by cursing as someone fell down the stairs. "Ow! Dammit! This... Gah!" Big Sis Eris. "Norn! Are you okay?! What happened!?"


    Norn flinched, feeling a bit guilty. "U-Um... I just-"


    A sudden surge of mana. A twisting of space, just like when Papa used his special technique.


    Norn''s eyes widened and she turned to look at it, smiling happy.


    It was true. Just like Big Brother promised, whenever she was in danger-


    "Good job, you two." Rudy walked through a glowing portal and said, "It''s nice to confirm that time here is decelerated inparison to the outside world and-" He suddenly paused, staring at Norn and Sylphy.


    And then as Eris rolled onto the first floor in a ruffled heap, he tilted his head before slowly shifting his gaze to Norn, who was still holding her sword.


    "Um. Did something happen?"


    Norn looked at Rudy and her sword. Then she let out a deep sigh. "No. Nothing happened, Big Brother."


    Rudy frowned. "It doesn''t sound like nothing-"


    "Daddy, can we still y a bit more? I''m not satisfied yet with just that."


    A mature female voice echoing from behind Rudy. One that sounded a bit like the aunties who kept trying to get close to Papa.


    "Yes. It''s barely been a day, Father. I understand work is important and you want to find the rest of your family, but... It''s not fair."


    Another mature female voice, but one that sounded like those people who helped sort through paperwork for Big Sister Ariel.


    A little while after those voices echoed, two people walked out from the portal behind Rudy.


    Angels. Two women with fluffy white wings.


    But the way they looked... Especially one of them...


    That scary big chest, the long blonde hair and that pretty face. One that looked really familiar...


    Norn tilted her head and hesitantly said, "...Mommy? Did you be an angel?"


    "E-Eh?" The angel that Norn called out to turned around and quickly waved her hand. "N-No! I''m not your mommy!" After that, she paused and said, "...And why does everyone want to call me Mommy? Even those adventurers do."


    Rudy cleared his throat. "Before that-"


    "Ru~dy~." Sylphy called out in a singsong voice and said, "Who are they?"


    Eris brushed herself off and then red at Rudy. "...Yeah. Who the hell are those chicks? And why did they call you Da- Da..." Her face turned red and she muttered, "Daddy?"


    Rudy paused for a brief moment. And during that moment, countless emotions crossed his face. But then he shrugged and calmly said, "Things just got out of hand."


    Silence.


    And then from somewhere up above, Ste''s voice echoed.


    "Nii-cha! Baka hentai!"


    "N-No!" Rudy''s calm expression immediately crumbled and he said, "Wait! It''s not like that, Ste! Ena and Eos are actually my daughters! I love them like a parent, not like that!"


    "Usotsuki."


    A cold response, echoing from above. One that seemed to be amplified by wind mana.


    Rudy flinched and clutched at his heart, like an arrow pierced it. After that, he fell to his knees, covering his face.


    With that, the sharp tension from Sylphy and the re from Eris stopped.


    And watching all of that...


    Norn pursed her lips and muttered, "Howe I don''t get any attention...?"


    Rudy quickly raised his head, staring at Norn with a shocked look.


    She flinched, not expecting him to hear that and averted her gaze.


    "Norn-"


    "Lord Rudras. There''s something I have to say about who I am... No, that''s a bit too forward. Lord Rudras, whatever you heard Sylphy say, it isn''t... No. I shouldn''t me Mama like that..."


    A heroic voice, echoing from outside. A man muttering to himself, lost in thought. And mutters that were soft enough to usually go unheard.


    But the whole room had been quiet with the recent reveal, so everyone heard it.


    And then the tower doors opened and a man walked in.


    A knight in shining silver armor. His helmet, held under his left arm and revealing vivid green hair, as well as a face that looked a bit like Rudy and a bit like Sylphy.


    Silence.


    He froze, noticing the group of people already standing around there.


    And then Rudy slowly got to his feet, his left eye twitching a bit. After that, he looked at the knight and said, "...Repeat thatst part for me, Rnd. Did you say, ''me Mama?'' And in regards to Sylphy?"


    "...I see. So this turns out to not be heaven, but hell instead. Of course."


    The knight let out a deep sigh.


    Norn watched all of that and then nodded.


    As expected. Big Brother was even better than Papa in having kids. He wasn''t even grown up yet and he already had three. Only one more to be even with Papa.


    -PNG-


    "Achoo."


    Pierre paused in the middle of untying the Pope''s bindings and said, "Sneezing? Now of all times?"


    Paul rubbed his nose and said, "Someone must be talking behind my back again. But anyway, let''s hurry up and get this old guy out of here so that my Sister-inw will stop cursing me to hell and back."


    "Haven''t you gone there identally already when practicing? I had to drag you outst time."


    "Which is exactly why I''m only trying to cut space in one continent instead of multiple."


    "...Just shut up and help me with this already."

 126 – Family Matters

    126 ¨C Family Matters


    I sat at the head of my round table, staring out at the impromptu family meeting.


    Right. Today would mark the first day of the Greyrat family meeting for me. A personal round table discussion involving all matters of my family life.


    It was already kind of a thing after I got out of my edgelord phase back in Buina vige, but now it was definitely a thing with all the people rted to me popping up left and right.


    First, the culprit that sprung the most of this chaos sat across the table from me. Rnd... who had given up on hiding his face, letting everyone see what he really looked like under there.


    The rumors weren''t lying. He definitely had an extraordinarily handsome face. A true bishounen that gave off MC vibes.


    The problem was that he had bright green hair the same color Sylphy had when she was younger AND that he looked like a cross between me and Sylphy.


    He had my facial features. The sharp and handsome face that were apparently the hallmarks of Greyrat males. But his eyes were soft like Sylphy''s and were even a crimson color the exact shade that hers used to be. He also had pointed ears, though shorter than Sylphy''s.


    Then, on either side of him, the other culprits for this mess.


    To Rnd''s left and my right, there was Enoch. Or like she wanted to be called among friends and family, Ena.


    She had changed into a loose and fluffy white robe instead of her favorite lewd attire. Paired with her wings, it made her look like a proper angel instead of the doujinshi heroine from before.


    On the other side of Rnd, to his right and my left, there was Eos. Unlike her older sister, Eos liked practical and modest clothing, so she didn''t need to change. Wearing her usual pair of sses and the Survey Corps uniform, sheced her fingers together and rested them on the table, quietly waiting.


    The three troublemakers. And also, my three children.


    Technically.


    ...No. I guess it wasn''t technically if they were actually created from my essence... as weird as that was to think about.


    Enoch and Eos were constructed using the gic material in my blood along with my mana.


    I wasn''t entirely sure why they were angels, but the fact that they looked like Mom was enough proof of their rtion to me.


    ...It was also why it was always awkward walking around with them since people assumed we were a thing. And the thought of being a thing with Mom was just *weird.*


    Like, who thought that? It''d be the same if people tried to set me up to be with Mama Lily or something.


    But anyway, even though I didn''t know the exact process of how it happened, I did know that I didn''t just pluck Enoch and Eos out of some parallel timeline or something since there weren''t any spacetime wonkiness when they appeared. Just a lot of golden light, both of them naked like a newborn baby, and then really awkward hugging.


    As for Rnd...


    I definitely didn''t make *him.* Well, not ''me'' anyway. I thought I did since I assumed he was just animating the mud doll and armor I made.


    But apparently not. He was definitely a real flesh and blood person. And it seemed like he was definitely plucked from another timeline.


    Specifically, one where Sylphy and I were a thing and she gave birth to him.


    Speaking of Sylphy...


    She and Eris were also seated at the round table.


    Sylphy was seated on the side of the table to my left, giving me a bit of space, while Eris was sitting opposite of her, on the side to my right.


    Ever since Rnd walked in and let that littlement slip, Sylphy was over the moon. Giggling to herself, staring at me with hearts in her eyes while asionally looking over at Rnd with a content sigh... And then immediately looking back to me and licking her lips.


    ...Yeah. I was starting to wonder if the Curse that Elinalise was supposed to have got transferred to Sylphy somehow... or if Dad was a really, really, *really* bad influence on her when she was younger.


    Considering that I didn''t see or feel anything wronging from Sylphy, it was 100% thetter.


    Which meant I needed to deck him in the face at least once when we saw each other again.


    But anyway, that was Sylphy.


    Eris wasn''t too happy at finding out Rnd was the son of me and Sylphy. But since it got cleared up that Ena and Eos were my daughters, she had been starting to give me weird looks too.


    Weird looks as in her eyes glowed with hearts traced out in orange mes and she kept fiddling with things. Her sword hilt, her buttons... Even right now, she was purposefully keeping her hands folded on the table and doing her best to avoid eyecontact with me.


    Of course, Norn and Ste were here with me too.


    Right now, I was letting Norn sit on myp and spoiling her a bit with headpats.


    Ste had been put out at that, but she stopped caring after I gave her the magic formation to let her use <Mage Sight> and a simple <Magic Arrays> to y with. Though she still sent me judging looks every now and then.


    ...It seemed like there wasn''t any saving my image of being a baka pervert Onii-chan in her eyes.


    Though I couldn''t wait to see how she reacted to Dad. And to his utter despair when he was on the other side of Ste''s disgusted judging look.


    But anyway, that was all of us. The current members of the Greyrat household in my kingdom of Arcadia on the Magic Continent.


    Right.


    That was everyone ounted for.


    Which meant it was time to start the meeting.


    ...Which meant it was time for me to start talking.


    I looked around at everyone again, doing my best to keep myposed expression.


    Eris and Sylphy stared at me, waiting on my words.


    Rnd avoided my gaze.


    Ena looked guilty, poking her fingers together.


    Eos... was reading a book. Though she also hadn''t turned the page in the past ten minutes, so it seemed like she was feeling a bit guilty too.


    Silence.


    And then I said, "So. Now that we''ve all calmed down a bit, I''ll say it again." I waved my left hand and said, "Ena, Eos, and Rnd. Although their arrival in this world was unexpected, it''s an absolute fact that they''re my children. Ena and Eos were born from my blood and mana through a divine miracle..."


    Or something. Still wasn''t sure on that part.


    "...But Rnd is my child from a different time. And your mother is Sylphy, is it not?"


    Rnd nced at Sylphy. And then he looked at Eris and shook his head. "No."


    Wait, what?


    "...No?"


    Rnd looked up at me and said, "I have three mothers. Sylphy is my birth mother, but there''s also Red Mama and Blue Mama- I mean, Eris and Roxy."


    Silence. Another casual bombshell dropped by Rnd.


    ...Well. If there was any doubt about him being my son, it was gone now.


    Goddammit, Kid.


    Was this how Dad felt? I was too young to deal with all of this B.S...


    Sylphy straightened and looked at Rnd. As she did, she carefully tilted her head and said, "Roxy is your mother too?"


    Eris leaned forward and frowned. "...Yes. Rolo. Why don''t you tell us a bit more about your mothers?"


    Rnd started to sweat. He gulped and then reached up to clear his throat. "T-That... Well... You see..." He looked up at me.


    A familiar expression. I''d made the same before when I looked to Dad to try and bail me out of situations.


    He obviously just trolled me.


    And considering how hard Rnd had just trolled me, I was tempted to do the same.


    But the cycle ended here.


    Instead, I spoke up and said, "While I''m sure that it would be interesting to hear his past, I have to remind you two that Rnd isn''t from our time."


    Rnd quickly nodded. "That''s correct, Father." He stared at me and frowned. "...To begin with, you were never this ridiculous. Father was a great man, but you..."


    Sylphy puffed her chest out and smiled. "Of course! Rudy''s the best!"


    Nornughed and said, "Yes. Big Brother is the strongest." After saying that, she leaned back to look up at me with a proud smile.


    I ruffled her hair and said, "And Nornie is incredible too. Never think that you aren''t, okay?"


    Norn''s eyes turned watery, but she let out shaky smile and nodded. "O-Okay!"


    I patted her head, smiling back.


    Eris rolled her eyes and said, "Don''t give him a big head, Sylphy. He''ll start to think he can just pick up whatever girls he fancies at this point."


    Sylphy''s smile instantly faded and she gave Eris a serious nod. "You''re right." She turned to look at me and said, "Roxy''s the only other person. Okay, Rudy?"


    "...Person?"


    "That includes spirits!"


    "I wasn''t- Never mind."


    I was just curious why she used ''person'' instead of ''woman.'' But I had a feeling that''d open up a rabbithole I wasn''t prepared to explore, so I turned my attention back to Rnd.


    Ena leaned on the table and stared at Rnd''s face. "Hm..."


    Rnd started to sweat and nced at her. "I-Is something wrong, Enoch?"


    "...You are a terrible person." She pouted and said, "This whole time you were our big brother and you didn''t say anything." She looked over at Eos and said, "Right, Sis? It''s terrible."


    Eos flipped a page in her book and adjusted her sses. ncing at Rnd, she said, "It is a bit rude, yes. But I''m sure he had his reasons. ...Right?"


    A veiled threat in her tone.


    Rnd quickly nodded and said, "Of course. I simply didn''t want to disappoint Lord Rudras... Or Father." He paused and looked up at me. "...Should I call you Father? You''re simr, but different. And calling Sylphy and Eris by White Mama and Red Mama is a bit..."


    I waved my hand and said, "You can keep calling me Lord Rudras or whatever, Rnd." I paused and said, "After all, Rnd''s not your real name either, is it?"


    He shook his head. "No. My real name is Sieghart. Sieg for short."


    "Eh?" I blinked. "Wait. Your name''s Sieg?"


    Rnd... Sieg?


    No. I''d still be calling him Rnd.


    Rnd nodded and said, "Yes. I heard from White Mama- I mean, Mother, that you were the one who chose the name? Apparently, he''s a great immortal hero from ages past... Though I''ve never been able to find the story."


    Alright. Coincidences were scary.


    The fact that Rnd was named Sieg by whatever version of me or Rudeus Greyrat was his Dad wasn''t that bad.


    But when it took into consideration the fact that I summoned him with what was essentially a homunculus, that the summoning spell I used was modeled after the one in a famous anime involving a war for the holy grail and mythical heroes, that one of the main characters in a particr version of that anime was named Sieg...


    Rnd looked at me and said, "Is there a problem?"


    "...No. But do you mind if I keep calling you Rnd? I''ve kind of gotten used to it already."


    "Of course."


    "Good."


    Right. That was good.


    ...Still had a *whole* lotta questions for him, but that cleared the air a bit-


    Wait.


    I stared at Rnd and carefully said, "You aren''t nning to start a revolt, kill me, and attempt to rule Arcadia as the one true king, are you?"


    "What? No!"


    An immediate reply. Sincere too.


    That was good.


    Also good that I didn''t call him Mordred. *That* would have been awkward.


    ...Though if I did, would I have summoned a daughter between me and Eris or something then?


    I had a feeling that would happen.


    But anyway, focus me.


    "Good- Ah, wait. Do you want the kingdom? If you''re my son, you''re technically my heir. And you''re of age, so I can definitely just hand it off. Rika can''t say anything against it, and you''re capable enough..."


    "F-Father?"


    Did I shock him?


    Rnd seemed to have been stunned enough by my offer to call me Father despite the fact that I wasn''t really.


    Or maybe ''I'' did something simr where he was?


    Either way, the shock and concern on his face were telling enough.


    I smiled and said, "I kid. Rika would kill me if I ran off so soon."


    Especially since I promised creating a self-sustaining ''system'' to enforcews and stuff for people who agreed to live here so that crime wouldn''t be an issue.


    "Anyway..." I looked around the table and said, "Are we clear on where we stand with Eos, Enoch, and Rnd?"


    Sylphy nodded. "Yep!" She giggled and said, "Now I''m technically a Mommy!"


    Ste looked up from her crib and tilted her head. "Mommy elf... Melf?"


    ...I''ll pretend I didn''t hear that.


    Eris pursed her lips. "...So I''m a step mom?"


    Ena shook her head and smiled at Eris. "Nope! Eos and I don''t have a real mom, so... Mommy is Mommy!"


    Eris shuddered and then looked at me. "Rudy."


    "...Yes, Eri?"


    "You''re weird. You know that? Everything is always weird around you."


    "But you love me anyway, right?"


    Eris blushed and looked away.


    "Jiii..."


    I pointedly ignored Ste''s judging look and said, "Alright. Then with that settled, let''s move onto the next order of business. Namely..." Iced my fingers together and leaned forward. "...Operation Reunion."


    -RNG-


    The roof of my tower, jutting out high in the sky with clouds drifting past.


    It wasn''t like that originally. And on the inside, there was a bit of space warping to make walking to the top easier, but outside it towered over everything around, giving me a bird''s eye view of my kingdom and the distant horizons.


    But it wasn''t enough to find what I was looking for. No matter how far I scanned with my irvoyance, I didn''t see any sign of Mom or Mama Lily.


    Not only that, but the entire Central Continent was blocked by a barrier now, preventing me from looking into it.


    That would have been worrisome, if it wasn''t for the fact that Orsted''s mana was powering it and that it used some of the patterns I taught him that trolled Being W by repelling and dispersing his mana.


    Anyway, that aside... Mostly because Dad would have found them already if they were there, I looked around the rest of the world and then frowned. "...I can''t see them anywhere. You guys?"


    "...No. Rika can''t see them either. Both with irvoyance and Rika''s All-Seeing Eyes."


    "Tch. This One hates to admit it... but This One also cannot see them."


    Rika and Kishirika.


    To double check my work, I grabbed the two of them and asked for their help looking. But if they couldn''t see them either...


    "Are they not here yet then?"


    From gathering all of our information together, it seemed like everyone was ounted for except Mom and Mama Lily.


    Master Roxy and Aisha were safe in the Ranoa Kingdom, with Master Roxy taking a teaching position to fund research while Aisha enrolled in the sses to learn magic.


    Dad was with Pierre and Miss Rostelina in Milis doing... something. From the chaotic situation and the frequent white fogs nketing the area, I had a feeling it was mostly to troll Being W.


    By chance, it seemed like Uncle Philip and Auntie Hilda had been transported to the Strife Zone with Ghyine, Mister Laws, and Miss Rose. With their forcesbined, they had established a foothold and were also ying a Kingdom maker game.


    Eris, Sylphy, Norn, and Ste were obviously here with me.


    So everyone important was ounted for except for Mom and Mama Lily.


    They definitely weren''t on this continent. Even without irvoyance, I would have been able to pinpoint the mana from the items I made them.


    ...And interestingly enough, I couldn''t scry them either like I did with Norn and Aisha.


    That left a few options.


    1. They were trapped in a dungeon somewhere, the distorted time making it impossible for us to find them.


    2. Being W had trolled us all and hidden them away where no one could reach.


    3. They weren''t here yet.


    The first was possible. But it would only be possible if the dungeon had insanely distorted time. Somewhere around the scale of a hundred years in the span of an hour. And no dungeon like that existed in this world.


    Through cross-referencing the notes that Enoch made from calcting the time distortion rate in the Magic Continent and the corrtion to ambient mana, something that could distort time like that would have to be on the same scale as the ridiculous cheat Being W pulled to scatter us.


    In short, not happening any time soon considering how much of a blow I dealt him.


    The second was also possible, but unlikely for the same reason as the first. Also, that guy would definitely try to send me into despair by tossing out some hints because of how pissed he was at the end there.


    So it wasn''t that.


    Then it just left the third option.


    Mom and Mama Lily were still being summoned.


    As recent years... months... however people mentioned time now in this distorted world, time was a wibblywobbly mess that was made even worse from Being W''stest stunt. Enough that I could summon people and even children from different timelines, like Rnd.


    That meant that it was possible Mom and Mama Lily just weren''t here yet.


    There were a *lot* of reasons for that. And also a lot of different hypothesis for when they would arrive... or if they had already arrived in the distant past.


    But whatever the case, they were safe.


    After all, if I never saw them dead or harmed, that meant that the timeline where that happened had yet to pass.


    I could worry about it, but it was better to think that they were safe for now.


    That left only one thing to do.


    Rika looked over at me and ced her sses back on. Staring at me with glittering rainbow eyes, she said, "Have you decided then, Rudy?"


    Kishirika turned to look at me as well and crossed her arms. "Yes. Have you decided to ept This One''s proposal?"


    "Yes, and no. Yes I''m going to go forward with ''Zenithia.'' And no, I''m not going forward with ''Dragon King.''"


    Kishirika pouted and said, "But you would be perfect! That hair, those eyes... And with your n for a floating kingdom, you could rece that Perugius as a great Dragon King! Especially with that terrifying mana and the support of the true Dragon God!"


    Rika chopped Kishirika''s head and said, "You are immature as ever."


    "Ow!" Kishirika spun around and growled before pointing at Rika. "And you are terrible! Resorting to violence against This One... Have you no decency?!"


    "Say that to Rika when you wear proper clothes instead of an outfit suited to a pleasure ve."


    "Hmph!" Kishirika crossed her arms under her chest and said, "This One is proud of her body! Though childish now, when fully grown-"


    "You will still appear to be wearing an outfit suited to a pleasure ve and also be mistaken as such. Honestly." Rika rubbed the bridge of her nose and said, "Perhaps Badi was a bad influence..."


    "Do not speak ill of This One''s betrothed!"


    Rika snapped and said, "This One shall speak as ill as This One desires of her own betrothed who valued a vow made to a pretender god over life with his wife."


    "...What?"


    I wanted to sigh. I really did. But instead, I stared at the two and said, "Stop fighting."


    A calm and level voice.


    Kishirika flinched and quickly bowed her head. "Th-This One apologizes, Great Rudras Demon Lord Sir."


    Rika rolled her eyes at Kishirika, but she looked at me and lowered her head. "Rika apologizes, Rudy."


    "Good." I nodded and said, "Then..." I looked out at the horizon and said, "We''ve got a lot of work to do now." I nced at Kishirika and said, "Just so you''re aware. If you or your fiance stands against me, I will end your existence."


    Kishirika gulped. "Th-This One understands. But Badi..." She frowned.


    "Well." I nced at Rika and said, "If he''s being ckmailed or manipted, I''ll just beat him half-dead."


    Rika smiled. "Thank you, Rudy."


    I smiled back and ced a hand on Rika''s shoulder. "Thanks, Rika. You''re the best friend I could ever have had."


    Rika''s smile widened and she said, "And Rika thinks that you''re much better than Rika could have imagined."


    "...So as my best friend..." I quickly stepped back and performed the signature Greyrat appeasement ritual. "Please run the kingdom for a while so I can reunite my family!"


    "..."


    "...This One thinks that your Demon Lord King is sick in the head."


    "...The more time passes, the more This One agrees." Rika sighed. "But This One thinks that a silly andpassionate king is better than a mad and cruel tyrant. So..." She knelt down to look at me and said, "This One agrees. Since you have listened to This One''s guidance and avoided the path of the Tyrant Magic God Lace..." Rika smiled. "...I''ll reward you with this. But don''t leave me alone for too long, okay? I might decide to take matters into my own hands."


    I quickly stood up and smiled. "Thanks, Rika. You''re a life saver."


    Rika rolled her eyes and waved me off. "Go make your preparations already. I''ll keep the kingdom running smoothly, Rudy."


    "I owe you. Really."


    "Then I''ll remember."


    Smiling one more time, I warped inside to get things ready.


    And then I was ambushed.


    A silver-haired beauty with transparent undergarments.


    A blushing red-haired beauty with white wraps around her chest as a makeshift bra and a racy ck thong...


    "So, Rudy..." Sylphy licked her lips. "...It''s fine now, right? I''ve endured long enough now, right?"


    Eris stared at me with hungry eyes and gulped. "Y-Yeah. Mister Ruijerd''s watching the kids and your kids are out, so... It''s fine to let loose, right?"


    I suppressed my instincts to run away. That would make it worse. Especially for Eris. Since she had been holding back this entire time, it would definitely end terribly with her exploding in public and throwing herself on me without any reason, turning into a mad dog in heat since she seemed to *definitely* inherit that part of the Greyrat genes.


    So...


    You''ve got this, me. They ambushed you, but they hadn''t taken the first strike yet. In that case...


    I threw off my coat and walked forward, forcibly suppressing the inner cringe and internal screaming. Instead, I put on a confident look and said, "Be careful what you wish for."


    AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH


    -SNG-


    Ruijerd''s house, down near the adventurer vige. Sitting in the crib that Rnd carried over, Ste nced in the direction of Rudy''s tower and frowned.


    Norn noticed and followed her gaze. "Is something wrong, Ste?"


    Ste sighed and said, "Nii-cha is a dummy."


    Her gut was telling her that Onii-chan was being hi again. And since Eri nee-chan was there too... and since she was hi enough to suggestively fondle a sword hilt and practice some specific motions in public... All while panting and staring at Onii-chan...


    Yes. hi.


    Norn frowned and said, "That''s not nice, Ste. Big Brother is a genius."


    Ste nodded. "Yes. But also dummy."


    Norn paused. "...When you put it that way..." She sighed. "I guess so. Big Brother can be a big dummy at times too even though he''s so smart."


    A crash from outside the house.


    "Dammit!" A brash young girl''s voice. "I told you that it was going to break, Isolte!"


    "And who was the one who said we should use wooden sticks instead of metal, Nina?"


    "That''s because metal makes the meat taste weird!"


    "And how do you expect wood to hold the meat long enough to cook without burning?"


    Ruijerd''s sigh echoed and he said, "Girls. Do not fight."


    Ena''s voice echoed and she said, "Yes. My sister and I have acquired plenty of meat to cook. Of course, Rnd helped as well. Right, Big Brother?"


    "Please do not call me that."


    "But you *are* my big brother. Technically."


    "...Technically. Even so-"


    Eos sighed and said, "I suggest you give in. Sis is incredibly stubborn."


    "...If you insist, Eos."


    "Hey! Howe you don''t call me by name, Big Brother?"


    ...Maybe Ste shouldn''t havepared her Onii-chan to a cheat isekai MC or thought of herself as an MC. Because it was starting to get real annoying living in aedic slice-of-life every day...

 127 – The Proud Warrior’s Duty

    127 ¨C The Proud Warrior¡¯s Duty


    Part 1


    Ruijerd Supardia. It was a name that once struck fear in the hearts of countless people. And his appearance was one that used to cause people to attack him on sight.


    But that was no longer the case. And the cause of that was Rudy. A young human child he came across by chance, protecting a human baby girl in a tall tower.


    A chance meeting. Also one that began with suspicion and doubt on Rudy''s part.


    But after that meeting, everything changed.


    Ruijerd learned that the irrational hatred he faced each time was due to a curse tied to his hair. One that was caused by an enemy that Rudy called ''Being W.'' An enemy that also went by two other names.


    Hitogami... and the Human God.


    It was an incredible story. But Rudy was an incredible person.


    A child who maintained the demeanor of a warrior while possessing the talent of a master magician. One that Ruijerd felt could rival even Lace.


    But he was wrong.


    Not even the Demon God could have done what Rudy did.


    Summoning a Demon Empress Kishirika Kishirisu from a parallel timeline. Summoning countless high-level spirits surely rivalled the ones serving Perugius. But more than that...


    Transforming the deste wastnds of the Magic Continent to fertile territory. Sending out knights to cull the monsters and slowly expand a safe region. Establishing a Survey Corps to expand the border and pave the way to find new survivors.


    A child who was more fit to rule than many of the so-called ''Demon Kings'' all over the Magic Continent.


    At first, Ruijerd wanted to protect him. Seeing a child desperately protecting his younger sister, Ruijerd wanted to be his strength. But in the end...


    ''It turned out to be me relying on him.''


    Ruijerd let out a warm smile and looked around the lively scene.


    Nina and Isolte, chatting away with Norn, discussing various sword techniques and theories. Little Ste sitting in her crib nearby, thoughtfully listening while patting her floating cat familiar on the head.


    Warm food being shared all around as children yed without a care in the world.


    It was a scene that Ruijerd thought he would never experience again. And for that...


    Ruijerd looked towards the tower in the distance. The ce where Rudy... No. Where Lord Rudras was enjoying his time with his wives.


    "Hm?" Eos spoke up and looked over at Ruijerd. "Do you see something, Ruijerd?"


    Enoch paused in the middle of preparing another skewer of meat and said, "Yes. Is there a problem?"


    Ruijerd shook his head and focused his attention back on their meals. "No. Just reminiscing."


    ---


    Part 2


    Time continued to pass. Days turned into weeks. And weeks turned into months.


    During that time, Ruijerd continued on with his duties.


    Although Rnd mainly oversaw the operations of the White Knights and Eos controlled the Survey Corps, Ruijerd was entrusted with overseeing the adventurers as well as military operations.


    Put another way, he was the general above even Rnd in directing battles, skirmishes, and strategy.


    And so, it was his job to patrol and check in on the military powers like the White Knights and the Survey Corps every now and then.


    Today was one such day.


    Recently, Lord Rudras had been taking personal time to spend with his family, entrusting the daily operations to Rika and himself.


    So to ensure that he didn''t have to worry about any hassles while he spent his much deserved family reunion time, Ruijerd made the rounds to check on Arcadia''s forces.


    First off, the White Knights.


    They were a simr unit to the Kingdom of Milis''s pdins, operating out of the Church of Rudras on the west side of the kingdom.


    Initially, it was a group of 12 pdins led by Rnd and summoned by Lord Rudras. But now...


    "Keep at it, kiddos~! We''ll have lunch as soon as you finish a few moreps!"


    "YES, LADY ASTOLFO!"


    "That''s SIR Astolfo!"


    "SIR, YES SIR!"


    A lively atmosphere. Young men and women alike running around the perimeter of the church while more experienced knights ran training drills on the courtyard.


    In contrast to the sacred church of Milis, the Church of Rudras seemed morebat oriented. Although worshippers were wee and people were free to enter for prayer, the area itself seemed more like a barracks for soldiers than a holy sanctuary.


    Although, that was Rudy''s intention.


    "Hm?" Astolfo looked over at Ruijerd and waved. "Yoohoo~! Good morning, General Ruijerd!"


    Astolfo had her hair in a neatly braided bun today, keeping it tied up and out of the way. Probably to give a more serious atmosphere to train the recruits. Still, regardless of that appearance, the fact that her silver armor was marred with dents and scars was enough proof of her capability.


    Ruijerd smiled and nodded his head. "Good morning to you as well, Astolfo. Any issues with recruits?"


    Astolfo giggled and said, "Those guys are silly, but they work hard enough." She ced her hand on her chin and said, "Must be inspired by this pretty face. Don''t you think?"


    Ruijerd chuckled and said, "A beauty goes a long way to inspire heroes."


    "Aw~" Astolfo blushed a bit and said, "Thanks, General! You''re pretty beautiful yourself!"


    Ruijerd smiled and then focused on observing the training of the pdins and new recruits.


    For the trainees that Astolfo just sent off... Most of them looked brand new. Men and women that had never seenbat before, and probably survivors who were inspired to help.


    But that made sense. Those that had seenbat would have joined the Adventurer''s Guild instead.


    So for these trainees, a bit of basic conditioning, working to build a baseline level of physique.


    After that...


    Ruijerd shifted his gaze to the pdins sparring in the courtyard.


    There were a few wearing the symbolic silver armor personally crafted by Lord Rudras and emzoned with ''R3.'' Those were the original members of the White Knights, part of the founding twelve.


    Facing them were a few more pdins, wearing silver armor, butcking the emblem and instead bearing a crimson lightning bolt. The symbol of Lord Rudras, as well as signifying the new generation of White Knights.


    Combat skills... were passable. The original White Knights were all on par with Ruijerd or only slightly worse.


    Except for Rnd, of course. Though, considering the recent revtion that he was a future child of Rudy''s, that made sense.


    As for the new generation of White Knights... It was a bit hard to judge as they were using thebat techniques Lord Rudras devised as a base, but he would judge them around the Saint-Rank level. More than enough to pose a threat individually, and when cooperating as a unit as they were trained to do...


    Ruijerd nodded and turned back to Astolfo. "You''re doing well here, Astolfo."


    "Aw geez. Thanks, General!" Astolfo smiled and said, "I''ll keep doing my best! Can''t disappoint Boss now, can I?"


    "Indeed."


    "By the way..." Astolfo sidled up to Ruijerd and said, "Can I ask a personal question, General?"


    Ruijerd nodded. "Of course."


    "Great! Then..." She looked around and then reached up to whisper in Ruijerd''s ear. "Are you seeing anyone right now? Because I''m freeter and I''d *love* to go on a date."


    "...Have a good day, Astolfo."


    "Aw..." Astolfo leaned back and pouted. But then she smiled and said, "Okay. Take care, General!"


    Ruijerd waved and then headed towards his next location.


    ---


    "Commander Eos! Reports havee in that Beigoya Region has fallen into chaos with the absence of Demon King Badigadi!"


    Eos kicked her feet up onto her desk and clicked her tongue. "That''s Rika''s former betrothed, isn''t it? Go send a report to her. She''ll handle it. That''s not our job."


    "Yes, Commander!"


    Eos flipped through a notebook and said, "What about that musclehead? Did any of our men escape from Fort Necross yet?"


    "No, Commander! But we are coordinating with the men on the inside for a raid! It seems that the Immortal Demon Kingcks the capacity to restrict ourmunications, so it is only a matter of time!"


    A flurry of activity. When Ruijerd walked into the office of the Survey Corps, Eos was listening to a group of reports, frowning as she went over the new information.


    But when she noticed Ruijerd walked in, she turned to the troops reporting to her and said, "You''re dismissed. I want a written report on my desk by sunset. Understood?"


    "Yes, Commander!"


    And with that, the office emptied.


    Ruijerd stepped in and took a look around.


    The Survey Corps headquarters was located on the Eastern side of the kingdom, along with the other various educational facilities.


    While ostensibly a military force, it would be more appropriate to call them an information gathering force that happened to possess military might due to that information gathered.


    Magic, sword techniques, magical items and artifacts... It was a group that used whatever means they had at their disposal to remain safe and held the motto of leaving no man behind if possible and prioritizing retreat to return with information.


    And that was reflected in theirmander''s office.


    While Eos herself was always sharply dressed, her work environment was chaotic.


    Looseleaf parchments scattered all over. Arge map of the Magic Continent on the wall with crimson lines drawn all over in a tangled web. A bookshelf filled with notebooks that were well-used.


    Even her desk was filled with stacks of paper left unattended.


    Ruijerd shifted his gaze to Eos and said, "It seems that you''re as busy as always, Eos."


    Eos sighed and adjusted her sses. After that, she pulled her feet off her desk and leaned forward. "It can''t be helped. We won''t be able to rely on Father forever, so it''s important to set the framework now."


    Ruijerd pulled over a spare chair and said, "Father... So you''re acknowledging it now?" He smiled and said, "I presume that surprised a great number of your men."


    Eos''s ears turned red and then pursed her lips. "It didn''t. Apparently word had already gotten out to them when an idiot wanted to confirm if I was Father''s ''lover.''" She shuddered and said, "As if. People have too much time on their hands to be if they are considering something like that."


    "Well, this is a peaceful kingdom. It''s fortunate that they have the luxury to do so."


    Yes. A peaceful kingdom in a continent that historically knew nothing but harsh survival and violence.


    A novel concept that Ruijerd still doubted at times.


    Eos rubbed the bridge of her nose and said, "I suppose. It''s still infuriating though. Especially when people start asking how old I am... As if age even matters."


    "Mm."


    Eos looked at Ruijerd and said, "What are you doing here though? Just making the rounds? Or did something happen?"


    "Nothing happened. Like yourself, I''m simply ensuring that the kingdom is running smoothly." He frowned and said, "Though it seems that some of your men have been captured by Demon King Atofe?"


    Atoferatofe Raibaku.


    Ruijerd had seen her fight in that fateful battle against Demon God Lace. And since then, he had learned more about her from his travels.


    A musclehead who was all brawn and no brain... apparently. But the fact that she learned the North God style and reigned over the Gaslow Region showed that she had enough cunning to manage that properly.


    Then there was the infamous impregnable Fort Necross where she resided and kept strong fighters...


    If some of the Survey Corps had been captured, it would be a mess.


    Eos waved her hand and said, "Don''t worry about it. Apparently, she isn''t too terrible of a ruler. It''s a bit inconvenient, but we needed information on the region in any case and the men who were captured were resolved to suffer a worse fate than simply being forced to train and patrol." She paused and said, "Though Father mentioned that he was going to visit her with Mother Sylphy and Mother Eris..."


    Ruijerd blinked. "For what?"


    "Apparently, the younger version of Rika... That ''Great Empress Kishirika'' snuck out and caused some trouble, getting captured in the process. Norn was upset, and so they are heading out to negotiate and retrieve her."


    "...I take it he didn''t mention this trip to Rika?"


    "Knowing Father... Probably not." Eos sighed.


    "...Then I suppose he hasn''t heard about the Immortal Demon Lord''s request, has he?"


    Eos blinked. "What request?"


    "Well..."


    -RNG-


    Fort Necross. An intimidating pitch ck fortress that no one had ever been able to escape from.


    There, standing before her obsidian throne, a female demon with blue skin and pitch ck armor pointed a sword at me and said, "Demon Lord of Salvation! I am the Immortal Demon Lord Atoferatofe Ryback! I''ll bestow you with the title of hero if you can defeat me! But if you lose, I''ll make you my puppet and use you until yourst breath!"


    I blinked and casually scanned the surroundings.


    A group of ck armored knights that seemed as strong as my own White Knights. A number that included a few familiar mana presences and faces from the Survey Corps as well, currently shackled by a weird ck mana.


    A wide audience chamber that was more than enough for a proper duel.


    But more importantly than that...


    "The fuck did you just say, you blue demon whore?"


    "I see. So ites down to violence after all. Mother-inw was correct about having to take preemptive measures..."


    ...a chamber slowly freezing and burning at the same time as the two woman I arrived with slowly stepped forward.


    Eris, gnashing her teeth as she drew her sword and a ming dragon wrapped around her.


    Sylphy, letting out a chilling smile as space itself seemed to distort from the sheer cold she was emitting.


    ...Yeah. I''m definitely putting Kishirika in time out after all this hassle.

 128 – A Learning Experience

    128 ¨C A Learning Experience


    I stared at Atofe and tilted my head slightly, examining the situation.


    Eris and Sylphy were pissed off, obviously. The two were also stepping forward to confront Atofe.


    It was a messy situation. I knew that Atofe was infamous for being the strongest Demon Lord due to both her skill and a cheat-like immortality. I didn''t know the specifics of it though.


    I also didn''t really want to test it since she was someone with a lot of influence. Ideally, it would have been nice to just talk, but...


    She was stupid. I thought that Dad was a musclehead, but he at least had learned to be better. The blue-skinned woman in front of me though...


    Atofe looked at Eris and Sylphy. After seeing them step in front of me, sheughed and said, "Hiding behind your women? How shameless. Are you that afraid to fight me that you''ll use them as a sacrifice to run away?"


    Provocative words challenging my pride.


    Jokes on her though. I threw that away a long time ago. Even if I didn''t, Dad was better at pissing me off.


    So instead of responding with anger, I chuckled and said, "It''s funny that you assume they''ll lose. And it''s also funny that you''re assuming I''m hiding behind them." I channeled a bit of Dad and threw on his irritatingly smug smirk before saying, "I just don''t want to embarrass you when you''ve already embarrassed yourself enough thinking you have a ce at my side, let alone that I would even want to have one at yours."


    Eris nodded and said, "That''s right." She ced her hand on her sword hilt and said, "Rudy doesn''t need any more crazy and insane women by his side."


    Sylphy nodded as well and said, "Yes. And he''s *ours.* No one else''s."


    Silence- No. There was chatter in the background. The ck knights muttering about how it''s a first time that someone was so arrogant in front of Atofe. Also about how it''s over now.


    Atofe smiled. A calm expression. But from the twitching on her left eyebrow...


    And from how Eris and Sylphy hadn''t budged or stepped down...


    Yep. This wasn''t going to stop at just words.


    Atofe looked at me again and said, "So you''re not going to fight me?"


    "Fight?" I stared right into her eyes and said, "I don''t have the time to waste on someone like you."


    Battle-worn ck armor clearly meant forbat. Light blue skin, white hair, crimson eyes with ck sclera. A single horn jutting from her forehead and a pair of bat wings on her back. Not only that, but ominous ck mana that seemed to emanate an unyielding strength.


    But she wasn''t as strong as Orsted.


    Strong, yes. But with that appearance... If I was being honest, she seemed more like one of the mid-bosses you fought right before the real demon lord. Strong and super annoying, probably with a few different phases or a cheap gimmick, but not enough to be a threat.


    So... I''d just leave it to my girls. "Sylphy, Eris." I turned around and started walking off. "I''m going to leave her to you and go grab our people. Try not to-"


    A surge of wind. Atofe rushing at me with her sword out to cut me down.


    It seemed like she couldn''t take the provocation and charged out to try and attack me anyway.


    But as fast as that wind was, it was frozen in ce.


    I paused and then turned my head back to nce at Atofe.


    A dozen glittering ice swords piercing throughout the Immortal Demon Lord''s body. And with that, her already blue skin turned a frosty white, frozen solid.


    Immediately after that, Eris swung her sword, sending out the ming dragon around her.


    Hissing steam. A fierce roar.


    And then a pile of ashes and legs fell onto the ground in front of Eris and Sylphy.


    Eris blinked and tilted her sword. "...That was it?" She nced at her sword and said, "I didn''t think I got *that* much stronger..."


    Sylphy giggled. "Well. Ice easily melts under fire, Eri."


    "Yeah, but even if you froze her solid..."


    While those two chatted, I nced at the knights. Specifically, at the ck knights who were members of the Survey Corps.


    Considering that they weren''t freed from that ck mana yet...


    "Ew. Ew, ew, ew!" Eris immediately scrambled back and said, "What the hell *is* that?"


    Sylphy hummed. "So people can be that disgusting too, huh?"


    I turned back around to look. And then I realized exactly why they called Atofe the ''Immortal Demon Lord.''


    Just like a certain bug man in Dr*gon B*ll Z, limbs, gooey mass spurted from the legs before reforming Atofe''s body.


    First, a spine. Then the torso. After that, the head, arms. Flesh quickly wriggling and wrapping around everything... And then Atofe was standing as if nothing had happened.


    Which was impressive in itself considering that she was topless now since her armor had been destroyed.


    A chiseled body with abs that looked rock hard and an ample set of ''assets'' that didn''t lose out to Sylphy or Eris in size. They did lose out in terms of cuteness though when taking everything else into ount.


    Sylphy turned up her nose and muttered, "How shameless."


    Eris gave Sylphy a nk stare and said, "Sylphy. You were-"


    "Hm?" Sylphy turned to Eris and smiled. "What was that, Eri?"


    "...Nothing."


    Atofe picked up her sword from the ground and then coughed, spitting out some ck blood. After that, she looked at Sylphy, her eyes showing a bit of caution. "...Who are you?"


    Sylphy held up her hand, ying with a glowing blue orb that had a dozen miniature floating swords around it. "My, my. So now you care about introductions? But I suppose that''s expected from a brute who was even worse that Eri when she was a kid."


    "Hey!" Eris turned towards Sylphy and said, "I wasn''t that bad!" She paused and then looked at me. "...Was I?"


    "Not after you got served a buffet of humble pie."


    Eris frowned, looking thoughtful.


    Sylphy looked back at me and waved her free hand. "You go do your business, Rudy. Eri and I will deal with this hussey."


    Atofeughed. "Hussey... That''s a new one." Her expression turned serious and then tilted her head off to the side, addressing one of the ck Knights. "Moore."


    One of the knights stepped forward. An old soldier that looked like a viinous old general that would be leading the military of an evil empire. A full head of gray hair, crimson eyes, and a full moustache beardbo.


    "Yes?"


    "Take the knights and deal with that guy. And go bash that bratty Empress''s skull in a few times."


    "Understood."


    After saying that, the old man called Moore stepped forward, facing me.


    Following his lead, the other knights stepped forward as well, even including the members of the Survey Corps.


    An encirclement, surrounding me and cutting me off from Eris and Sylphy.


    As if saying that was enough, Atofe shifted her attention to Sylphy and Eris and said, "I''ll say it again. I am the Immortal Demon Lord, Atoferatofe Ryback. If you defeat me, I''ll bestow you with the title of hero. If you lose... I''m taking him."


    A provocative gesture. Atofe pointed her sword at me.


    ...She shouldn''t have done that.


    A st of icy winds followed by shes of blue light. Sylphy attacking without another word.


    Immediately after, there was a roar and surge of heat as Eris attacked again.


    But this time it didn''t end right away.


    Instead of taking the attacks head on, Atofe swung her sword at the dragon, splitting it in half. At the same time, she sacrificed her left arm to block all of Sylphy''s swords, causing it to burst into azure dust as it froze solid and shattered. But almost immediately after that, her arm reformed.


    I tucked my hands into my pocket and stared at Atofe, carefully watching her flow of mana. "Interesting."


    Apletely offensive form of fighting. Throwing away any sort of defense, Atofe''s fighting style was the sort that embodied giving flesh to break bones and letting your bones be broken to take your opponent''s life.


    It was supposed to be philosophical, but Atofe applied that directly. Of course, that was only possible because she had De*dpool levels of regeneration.


    And that was it.


    ''Regeneration.''


    It was simr to what that alternate ''me'' had done. Rudeus the Grey had converted his body into nanomachines and used his mana to direct it all, aplishing a sort of pseudo-immortality as well as physics-defying strength.


    Of course, it couldn''t handle the BS I had of drawing infinite mana from countless parallel timelines, but I could see how annoying it''d be to fight otherwise.


    Atofe wasn''t quite to that level. Instead of having nanomachines, it was more like her body was innately made of that extremely durable ck mana. And like how a certain weather man once said about memes being the DNA of the soul, it looked like ''mana'' was the DNA of the soul here, allowing Atofe to recreate her body even if it was physically shredded. So long as even a bit of that ck mana remained, she would be able toe back.


    And speaking of that ck mana...


    I shifted my attention to the ck knights surrounding me. Specifically, at the ck mana wrapped all around them.


    "Hm. I have to give her some credit, I suppose."


    Her regeneration was innate. But it definitely had a weakness. If there was something out there that nullified or erased mana, then she was a goner if she faced it.


    But with making a force of these ck knights, she could keep a ''back up'' in them and use that to regenerate. Probably popping back into existence next to the knights like some D*rk So*ls character at a bonfire.


    Interesting. It gave me a few new ideas to test outter too that I''d have to discuss with Orsted-


    A surge of mes. This time, aimed at me.


    And it wasn''t Eris, but...


    "Rudy! You bitch!"


    "What? Worried about your man?"


    "Sylphy! It''s my turn to kill her!"


    Yep. Definitely wasn''t Eris who sent that fire.


    I stood in the inferno and stared at the ones who did.


    Unwavering ck knights standing at the ready to gauge the flow of battle. That old general staring directly at me through the mes.


    "I have to say, this has been a great learning experience." I swung my left arm out, causing the mes to disperse.


    No, not disperse.


    The mana forming the mes snapped free from the casters and gathered into my left hand, melding into a glowing red sword.


    Moore''s eyes widened, but he focused and said, "Everyone! Frost Nova!"


    Were they taking notes from Sylphy and Eris? Showing off?


    Or did they think that I''d be immune to one extreme and not the other?


    Either way...


    "Mm. Yeah, I think this is enough ying around."


    I could see Kishirika with my irvoyance sitting deep within the fortress and shackled in a prison cell- Huh. And Cliff was there too. Did that guy try to rescue her ahead of us?


    Had to give him some credit, even if he kept trying to flirt with Ena whenever he had the chance.


    Not only that, but he was even carving some magic formations into the walls and looked like he was plotting a prison break.


    I blinked, clearing the vision from my right eye. After that, I nodded and said, "I promised my little sister I''d be back in time for dinner, so..."


    "FROST NOVA!"


    A chorus of voices chanting out a spell name. Mana resonating as one to create a spell that could probably blow through an entire castle.


    But this was me they were facing.


    I looked at the Survey Corps and said, "Grit your teeth and bare it. I''ll pick you guys up on the way out."


    I stepped forward and casually swung my sword.


    An explosion.


    The condensed heat and fire didn''t erupt in mes, but sheer force and sent all the knights flying.


    "What incredible might!"


    As expected, Moore was the first to recover.


    I nced at him and then at the vicious fight happening behind him.


    Sylphy, standing off to the side with her lips pressed together, as if disappointed she couldn''t fight.


    Eris, swinging a ming sword with her hair literally on fire... and with a pair of ming wings?


    Eri... I know that Sylphy is pretty much E*sa, but are you Sh*na? Did you make a contract with a Crimson Lord and be a me Haze while I was gone?


    Atofeughed and said, "What a unique fighting style! Humans have learned a lot in the past few years, haven''t they? Or have the Distortions given you new opp-"


    Her words were suddenly cut off.


    Literally and figuratively as Eris swung her sword and cut off Atofe''s head.


    But even without it, her body kept moving, swinging right back at Eris and forcing her to parry.


    ...Yeah. Definitely putting Kishirika in time out.


    And speaking of Kishirika.


    It''d be a hassle making my way through the entire fortress to get to her, so...


    "*Stairs.*"


    A single word andmandment,ced with mana.


    The moment I said that, the ground shook and a set of stairs emerged, leading directly in front of Kishirika''s cell. And from the bottom of them...


    "W-What? This One has never seen such magic! You, Cliff! This One acknowledges your worth!"


    "U-Um... I''m happy for the acknowledgement. But this wasn''t my work..."


    ...A pair of energetic voices echoed.


    Well, one energetic voice and one confused. But it seemed like they were in good shape.


    Moore''s eyes widened and he got up to act. Opening his mouth, he started to shout anothermand, but...


    "*Silence.*"


    Domineering mana. A suppressive force that both prevented soundwaves and prevented mana from influencing the outside world.


    ...A spell that I had to quickly perfect due to how energetic two lovelydies tended to be when they got into it.


    While the purpose behind making it was a bit dubious, the utility was pretty broad.


    But anyway, picking up the kids.


    Now, Norn said that she wanted me to cook something for her.


    ording to her, she was around seven now and never got a big birthday celebration.


    In that case, definitely needed to make a cake. Maybe some chips too... What did she like?


    Knowing her, she''d say anything was okay, but she enjoyed the roasted pork we made back then, right? So how about some shredded pork sandwiches, maybe some barbecue sauce... Ah, and ice cream too. Have to make this a fun party to make up for all the time I missed and spoil her a bit. Especially since she''s been so down and thinking that I don''t care for her as much-


    Oh yeah. Need to make her a ne too so she can call me if she needs help. It looked like she was really sad thest time she tried that...

 129 – Unreasonable Woman

    129 ¨C Unreasonable Woman


    Atofe clicked her tongue and swung her sword to parry an attack by the red-haired woman and looked over towards that Demon Lord of Salvation.


    A casual demeanor. Calm confidence and aloofness, like he was untouchable.


    It pissed her off. But she had to admit that he had the skills for it.


    Instantly shutting up and locking down all of her men and preventing them from casting magic. Drilling a hole through her fortress which was made of the strongest steel in the Magic Continent straight down to where Kishirika and that clever human magician was being held...


    ''Kalman was right.''


    Humans were dangerous. Although weak, in times of crisis they suddenly surged forward in strength with heroes popping up everywhere.


    Atofe didn''t know if that Rudras guy was actually just a human or if he was a member of the Dragon Race pretending to be human, but the woman fighting her right now...


    A searing sh that severed Atofe''s right arm, taking her sword with it.


    Before the woman could turn it to ash, Atofe grabbed the severed arm with her left hand and held it against her shoulder, letting it regenerate. In the same moment, she spun and threw a kick at the woman.


    "Tch."


    A brief gap.


    Atofe straightened and then took a look around.


    Like what Kalman said, not every battle could be resolved with force. And not every defense was perfect.


    So Atofe took a moment to gather her thoughts and look around.


    Her men were scattered all throughout the chamber. Some were embedded in the ceiling, others pressed into the floor. The ones that weren''t were frozen stiff, crushed by an invisible pressure that prevented them from moving.


    Even the connection that Atofe had with them felt a bit faint, as if it could snap at any moment.


    In short...


    ''There''s a reason they called him the Demon Lord of Salvation.''


    He was strong. Strong enough that Atofe wondered if he wasn''t secretly Lace''s reincarnation. But that was impossible.


    The Demon God wasn''t anywhere near that ridiculous.


    But that wasn''t all.


    Atofe shifted her gaze back to the women that guy left to fight her.


    The first was a beautiful elf with flowing silver hair tinged blue. The same one that killed her in an instant and froze her body before she could react.


    The elf seemed frail. Wearing a simple blue dress, she gave off the appearance of some princess that was escorting that guy on an outing.


    But now that Atofe paid attention, she could see it.


    Scars that should have been lethal. A confident demeanor born from facing countless life and death battles.


    Strong. She seemed frail, but the elf was strong.


    But she was also standing back right now, leaving Atofe to the other woman. And that one...


    A human woman with crimson hair andplete control over fire. But she wasn''t a magician. Instead, she fought with her sword, using that fire to make her hit harder, move faster.


    It was simr to the Sword God style, but also different. Overwhelming speed and power, but also adaptability.


    "You. Red-head." Atofe stared at her opponent and said, "What''s your name?"


    "Like you need to know!" She drew her de and then stepped forward again, swinging her sword.


    An attack simr to the Longsword of Light. An attack at a blinding speed aimed at Atofe''s neck.


    But it wasn''t the first that Atofe had faced.


    Still...


    Atofe suppressed her instincts and then held her sword up to parry. After that, she stepped back.


    An explosion of heat and energy.


    The force from the sh sent Atofe sliding back. But at the same time...


    "E-Eh?"


    Atofe grinned. "Got you."


    The woman''s sword bit into Atofe''s shoulder. But in exchange, Atofe grabbed the woman''s arm.


    Yes. If the woman was fast, then Atofe would just have to catch her and-


    "Only Rudy gets to touch me!"


    A surge of mes. Battle Aura mixed with raw mana to turn mes into countless des, shredding the hand that held onto the woman. At the same time, Atofe felt indescribable heat melt her skin down, dripping fat and charred flesh onto the ground.


    "Eris."


    The elf''s voice.


    Eris... Eris. So that was the woman''s name.


    Atofe would remember it.


    "Why are you ying around so much? Didn''t you want to kill her?"


    "What do you think I''m trying to do?! She''s like a damned bug. Look at her skin, squirming around like that!"


    "Then just tten her in one go. Or are you too tired to keep fighting?"


    "As if. I''m not an olddy like-"


    "Hm?"


    "L-Like your grandmother."


    "Right. I thought that''s what you were going to say."


    A casual conversation thatpletely treated Atofe like air. As if she didn''t exist, those women were cheerfully chatting and teasing each other.


    Atofe finished regenerating and then cracked her neck, ring at the two. "You women are really that carefree, huh?"


    The red-haired woman... Eris gave Atofe a nk look and said, "I''m not the one fighting while showing off her breasts. They aren''t even that impressive, you know? Sylphy''s are bigger."


    "Aw~! Thanks, Eri! You''ll get there in a few years."


    "...Just how did your boobs get so big anyway? Your mom isn''t that big and neither is your grandmother..."


    "Well, Paul said that massaging them every night before you sleep helps them grow bigger."


    "You trusted that creep''s advice?"


    "It worked though?"


    "..." Eris turned to look at Atofe and lowered her sword. "Are we done fighting now? I''m not in the mood anymore. And it''s getting annoying staring at a topless woman."


    "But you stare at me all the time at night, Eri."


    "T-That''s different! And what do you mean, topless? You''re always wearing thatcy thing!"


    "Ooh, did you want one? I''ve got a spare."


    Atofe''s eye started twitching. After that, she raised her sword and said, "Fine. Since you won''t take this seriously, I will."


    For the first time since the fight started, Atofe took a stance.


    The one that her husband beat into her mind. The same one that beat her when they first met.


    "Hm?" Eris noticed the change and then ced her hand over her sword hilt. After that, she frowned and said, "North God style? An that stance is the original..." Her eyes widened. "Right! Demon Lord Atofe... You''re Kalman the first''s wife!"


    Atofe let out a bright smile. "That''s right. I''m not a genius like him so I can''t use it as well... But it should be enough for you."


    "Funny." Eris smiled back at her and said, "I could say the same thing about Rudy. But I bet he''s a better genius than your husband was."


    Atofe narrowed her eyes. "Is not."


    "Is so."


    "Is. Not!"


    "Is. So."


    Atofe growled and then cleared her mind.


    She was still pissed off, but she focused.


    Like what Kalman said...


    The essence of the North God style wasn''t in speed. While it helped, Kalman had freely admitted he would lose to the Sword God in a straight sh. And even Atofe had a faster sword arm than him.


    Instead, it was a ''pathway to victory.''


    The Sword God had named his style to capture the essence of the de, a sword that could cut down anything it came across before it posed a threat.


    The Water God had named his style to reflect its essence of flowing like water, diverting danger away before using that force to strike back.


    As to the North God...


    Kalman said it once. The reason why he called it North God was because of a story he was told as a child.


    The brightest star in the sky that could always guide you even in the depths of darkness. Something that you could always rely on even when you had nothing else.


    The North Star. Like that, his swordsmanship was a guiding light to let the user find a way out of even the worst situation. Countless techniques and situations for every scenario. Moves meant to cut a path out where one didn''t exist.


    So Atofe focused.


    Eris was strong, but Atofe could sense that she was inexperienced. Young and talented, as well as possessing a technique that could defeat any opponent unprepared for it due to its unique blend of magic and Battle Aura.


    But that was all.


    Atofe had seen through it. And while she was impressed, it wasn''t to the level of being willing to acknowledge defeat. In a real fight, Eris would lose to fatigue.


    The elf woman was the real threat.


    Atofe couldn''t see the flow of magic power like her bratty sister-inw she had locked up, but she could sense it. And the amount of magic power radiating off the elf...


    A deep abyss. On par or greater than Lace. And from the scars on her body, it was clear that she knew how to use it as well.


    But Atofe was confident.


    If she could capture Eris, the elf would be forced to back down. And with that, she could teach a lesson to that arrogant bastard who brushed off her invitations over a dozen times before randomly showing up in her house.


    So Atofe focused.


    A single strike.


    Atofe intuitively sensed that it was all she would be able to pull off against Eris.


    And it seemed that Eris realized it as well, narrowing her crimson eyes to scan Atofe''s body for weaknesses.


    "...Eris." The elf spoke up and said, "If you lose, I''m going to bully you in bed from now on."


    "S-Shut up, Sylphy! I''m not going to lose!"


    A flustered response.


    An opening.


    Atofe attacked.


    An attack without a start up. Something that wasn''t as blindingly fast as the Sword God''s Longsword of Light, but one that couldn''t be seen regardless of its speed.


    <Shadowless Sword>, a hidden sh without killing intent or any tells that could be read.


    Using her Battle Aura to conceal her presence, holding her breath, erasing everything for a single sh.


    Atofe aimed at Eris''s shoulder to incapacitate her.


    A wless strike. A critical hit. Something that no one should be able to avoid, especially a mere human. Even the current Water God wouldn''t be able to get out without at least a disabling injury. And that Sword God wouldn''t be able to react in time without getting his arm cut.


    Atofe was confident of that.


    Yet.


    Even though she was confident.


    Even though Atofe was sure of it. Even though Atofe was absolutely certain that Eris''s inexperience would make it so she couldn''t react.


    A split second. Too fast for Atofe to react, but not fast enough for her to miss what happened.


    Atofe''s sword brushed against Eris''s shoulder. The de rested on the young woman''s shirt and would have bit through had it been even a fraction of a second longer.


    But she suddenly *moved.* Her body twisted in an unnatural way, almost as if another force pulled her out of the way from danger. And then at the same time, her swordshed out to cleave Atofe''s outstretched arm-


    No. Her sword didn''t move.


    Eris was still caught off-guard and processing what happened.


    But something else attacked in her stead.


    A crimson haze formed from mes bearing a glowing crimson sword.


    Atofe''s arm fell to the floor, along with her sword.


    In the next moment, Eris recovered and then stepped forward to sh, holding her sword at Atofe''s neck. "Do you give up now? Or do I have to cut you over and over again until you do? And don''t try that gross healing trick with me. I figured out how to beat it already."


    Atofe shifted her gaze to the arm that Eris cut off.


    A crimson haze wrapping the arm. At the same time, one that prevented Atofe from healing her arm, just like Eris said.


    Not only that. There was a sensation. An annoying and prickly sensation that she hadn''t felt for a long time.


    Pain.


    Feeling that, Atofeughed.


    Eris frowned. "...Did you go insane from losing your head so many times?"


    Atofeughed. "Maybe. Though it''s not as insane as a person being called a Demon Lord of Salvation. Someone like that really has to be crazy to have such a strong woman at his side."


    The elf cleared her throat.


    Atofe looked over and smiled. "Sorry. I mean ''women.''"


    The elf smiled and said, "Thank you! It seems you''re at least a little smart."


    Atofe''s eye twitched. But she took a deep breath and calmed down. Instead, she knelt down and said, "I recognize my defeat. So." She looked up and said, "What are the names of the heroes who defeated me?"


    Eris pursed her lips and then grudgingly said, "Eris Notos Greyrat."


    The elf giggled and said, "Not satisfied with being a hero, Eri?"


    "No. Just..." Eris tilted her head and muttered, "I''m getting a strange sense that I''ve done something like this before."


    The elf smiled and then looked down at Atofe. "Well, my name is Sylphiette Notos Greyrat."


    Atofe nodded. "Eris Notos Greyrat and Sylphiette Notos Greyrat. You are the heroes who-"


    A sudden burst of sheer cold.


    Before Atofe could react, her vision shattered. Not just her vision, but her entire body.


    It didn''t take long to recover from it, but when she did, she turned to re at Sylphiette. "I surrendered already! Why are you still-"


    A glistening crystal sword pierced Atofe''s heart before exploding, blowing a hole in her chest. At the same time, she froze and shattered again.


    As Atofe recovered another time, she heard Eris speak up. "S-Sylphy! What the hell?!"


    "What?" The silver-haired elf looked down at Atofe with a pleasant smile and said, "You might be fine with that, but this woman said she''d turn Rudy into a toy and use him until he broke, you know? So..." She turned to look at Atofe and said, "Hm. I think a hundred times should be fine, right? Rudy should be back by then... Oh. And it''s no fun if you don''t hurt, so..."


    Another crystal sword.


    Atofe''s eyes widened and she quickly went to grab her sword to block it. But before she could, it pierced her chest.


    A chilling frost, deep in her soul. Shortly after that, Atofe felt a faint prickling course through her veins. A prickling that turned into indescribable pain.


    Sylphy''s smile widened. And then she said, "Great! Ah, but no screaming now."


    Just as Atofe opened her mouth to scream, she felt her throat freeze.


    And then a crimson de split her in half, freeing Atofe from the pain.


    Atofe regenerated again and quickly scrambled away from the crazy elfdy. At the same time, she stared at Eris who was crazy enough to stand against her.


    "Sylphy, no." Eris crossed her arms and said, "Torture is bad."


    Sylphy pouted and said, "But Rudy would have done it! And she deserves it!"


    "Didn''t you hear Rudy? No hurting other people out of jealousy."


    "I-I''m not jealous! You meanie! If I was, I would have killed you when we were younger! Do you know how many times I could have?"


    "I-I do now, I guess... But even so, you''ll make Rudy look bad! He''s trying to be a nice Demon Lord, not a bad one!"


    "...But that''s no fun."


    "Sylphy."


    "...Hmph. Fine." Sylphy turned to give Atofe a cold stare. "...I''ll leave you alone for now. But try and get close to Rudy again and I''m throwing you into space."


    "He said no threats too, Sylphy."


    "But it''s a promise!"


    Eris sheathed her sword and then rubbed her face. "...Howe I''m the one with the mostmon sense around here? I grew up as a spoiled brat in a castle beating up servants. This shouldn''t be possible..."


    "You can thank Rudy?"


    "I would. Except you turned out that way, so..."


    "Hey! I turned out fine!"


    Atofe watched the two interact with a nk face.


    As she did, someone walked up to her and ced a cloak over her shoulders.


    Moore.


    Atofe gave him a brief nod and then turned to stare at Eris and Sylphy again.


    ...It seemed that she misjudged the Demon Lord of Salvation.


    She thought he was a weak coward for running away and leaving his women to fight in his ce.


    But that wasn''t right.


    He was just smart.


    ...Maybe Kalman was right. Atofe should think a bit more before she started talking. It seemed like scary people were starting to pop up in the outside world who were even more unreasonable than she was...

 130 – Let it go

    130 ¨C Let it go


    A long walk down the stairs. It was convenient since I didn''t have to find the proper stairs and make my way down there. But it was still annoying-


    Wait.


    I paused and then focused a bit of mana on my boots-


    *BANG*


    "Gah! Fucking-" I rubbed my head and then red at the steely ck ceiling.


    It was undamaged. My head was too, but that hurt like hell.


    "Alright. So maybe trying to levitate down stairs for the first time isn''t the smartest idea..." I mumbled and then started walking again. But then I paused again to think.


    Going up would be annoying, but if it was just going down...


    There wasn''t a need for anythingplicated. And I''d made something simr a long time ago when I was helping Mama Lily bring back groceries. A custom wagon with ball-bearings...


    Definitely too cramped for that right now. But just a small wagon- No. A sled was fine. So...


    I focused and then conjured a small ice sled.


    Super basic. More like a chair with skis than a sled, but it''d work.


    After sitting down, I gave it a small push with wind magic... only to get immediatelyunched off and almost bang my head again.


    "...Walking it is."


    At least, until I figured out how to pull off the obviously evil levitation thing.


    I was a Demon Lord (by upation) so I definitely needed to pick that up at some point. I had the warping in and out down pat in my territory and could jump back in an instant if an emergency came up. But warping in new areas was still a bit wonky.


    Maybe I could do it by a sort of telekinesis? Or maybe I should look into those nanomachine mana particle things and have them float me around.


    A flurry of explosions from somewhere up above. Faint arguing from Eris and Sylphy.


    I nced back and frowned. "...It should be fine."


    I would have been worried if the opponent wasn''t practically immortal, but since Atofe had De*dpool levels of regen, she''d be fine.


    Well unless Sylphy snapped and used her time-stop ice magic that just deleted people out of existence by freezing them in spacetime as the world kept moving.


    Yeah. Sylphy was scary these days. Well, she had always been a bit scary in the past after meeting Eris, but she definitely got worse. Needed to get her to lighten up a bit more and spoil her so she doesn''t go overboard.


    Though maybe spoiling her would be bad? Spoiling a yandere feels like dumping gas onto a spark to start a fire instead of using coal...


    But Sylphy was definitely super sweet and cuddly. And it wasn''t like she was *crazy*. Just very clingy and afraid of losing me. Also extremely powerful.


    Thankfully, Eris was there to help out.


    Despite everything, Sylphy had a soft spot for Eris, so the two bnced each other out.


    ...I was getting a bit concerned for the inevitable confrontation with Master Roxy though. Sylphy never really got along with her, so-


    "How embarrassing. To have to be saved by Father-inw..."


    A male voice. Young, but not childish. Someone in their early teens.


    "This One disagrees! It is only natural that This One was saved by such a person! Kyahahaha!"


    A female voice. That one *was* childish.


    I looked down and saw two people walking up the stairs.


    The first was Kishirika, as expected. Though, instead of her usual awkward outfit, she was wearing a blue pajama set that looked a bit like an actual prison outfit.


    The second... A young teen with short dark brown hair and ''M'' shaped bangs. Someone who usually worked as an intermediary between the different groups in Arcadia due to his position as the son... No, it was grandson, right?


    Anyway, that guy was the grandson of the Milis Pope.


    And as expected from such a lineage, he was also a bonafide genius who managed to reach Advanced-Rank in every major branch of magic through self-teaching.


    ...His personality though...


    Well. To sum it up, I picked the guy up with Ena in the past when we were first clearing out the initial dungeons around my territory. Apparently, he had been adventuring in some dungeons by Milis and somehow ended up in the Magic Continent after a few years.


    When we found him, he had been stuck in a barrier trap with a constantly spawning monster box... And somehow or another he ended up professing love to Ena and dering me his Father-inw after she tried to use that to hide from his earnest love confession.


    In short... I didn''t know how to react around him.


    I had only recently starteding to terms with the fact that Ena and Eos were my daughters, so hearing Father-inw all the time from that guy...


    It was weird.


    Still, I didn''t let that show and instead gave him a faint smile. "You made a good attempt, Cliff. Though I would suggest not risking your life for someone like this next time."


    Kishirika started nodding, but then she stopped and pointed at me. "What are you saying about This One?!"


    I stared at her and said, "That you''re going to be on time outwith Rika for the next year because you can''t be trusted being by yourself."


    Kishirika flinched. "B-But..."


    "You made Norn cry and ask for me to save you. Be thankful I didn''t kill you and turn you back into an infant so she can take care of you-" I paused. "On second thought..."


    Ste could use a friend. And ording to Rika, the personality reset a little bit when she was younger before her memories came back, so if we yed the cards right...


    Kishirika paled and quickly bowed down. "T-This One understands! P-P-Please don''t erase her personality!"


    "Hoh?" I stared at her and said, "I didn''t know you could read minds. Or see that far into the future."


    Kishirika started to shake like a leaf.


    Cliff looked up at me and frowned. "Father-inw... Isn''t that enough?"


    "...Again, I would prefer it if you called me Rudy, Cliff."


    "I could never!" An immediate denial. Cliff shook his head and said, "Father-inw is already so great. And Ena would look down on me for being impolite. ...Also Eos would smack me around for being rude."


    It looked like I would need to have some more father-daughter bonding time to discuss things in the near future...


    Also, that closed door meditation was sounding more appealing by the second.


    But for the moment, I decided to let Cliff''s way of addressing me slide. Instead, I nodded and said, "As you wish." After that, I turned around and started walking up the stairs.


    Cliff and Kishirika followed after me.


    Silence, with nothing but the sound of our echoing footsteps.


    After a while though, Kishirika said, "Rudy-"


    "Lord Rudras."


    "L-Lord Rudras. This One knows that you are powerful, so can you not simply teleport us out?"


    Cliff spoke up as well and said, "I agree with Kishirika. There doesn''t seem to be many magical defenses preventing escape. Surely someone as powerful as Father-inw can escape in an instant... Or is there something else I could not see?"


    "No." I nced back and said, "There''s nothing stopping me from leaving this ce."


    Kishirika frowned. "Then why-"


    "I''m simply teaching you the consequences of acting so foolishly." I turned back and kept walking. "Now you have to walk up these stairs in shame knowing that you''ve wasted both my time and that of others waiting for your return."


    I kept irvoyance up and watched Kishirika and Cliff''s reactions.


    Kishirika flinched, looking down with a guilty expression.


    As for Cliff... He seemed a bit guilty as well. But then he looked up with determination and said, "I understand. In the future... I will train and study harder to not make the same mistake. Then..." He looked off into the distnace and muttered, "Then I''ll ask Enoch for her hand in marriage. Surely at that point..."


    ...Did Ena even like Cliff? I''d need to check up on that. Also, there was an age difference too, wasn''t there? Granted, time distortion shenanigans was a thing. Putting all the time that Enoch and Eos had spent in distortions together made them... probably teenagers? And Cliff was around that age, so I guess it was fine...


    ...Yeah. Going to do that meditation retreat when we got back for sure.


    -RNG-


    "Oh Rudy!" Sylphy smiled and waved. "Finally back?"


    I blinked and took a look around.


    A ridiculous sight.


    Sylphy had created a beautiful crystal table with a pair of chairs. One for her, and the other for Eris, seated across from her.


    That was jarring in itself considering where we were. But then there was everything else.


    The ck knights had changed into butler and maid outfits, which was hrious considering they wore it directly over the armor. But then there was the fact that even Atofe had changed into a maid outfit and was meekly pouring a bottle of wine into a crystal goblet Sylphy was holding out.


    Eris stared at me from her seat and blushed. "S-Sorry, Rudy. I tried to stop her."


    Ah. So this was Sylphy''s fault.


    I turned to look at Sylphy and opened my mouth to ask what was going on.


    And then Kishirika burst outughing. "Bwahahaha! What are you wearing, Atofe?! This One knew you were dumb muscle, but did you finally decide to try and use your other assets instead?"


    Atofe''s left eye twitched and she red at Kishirika. "You-"


    "Atti. A bit more, please." Sylphy held out her goblet.


    Atofe flinched and bowed her head. "Yes, Lady Sylphy." After saying that, she held out the wine bottle again and poured some more in a smooth and professional motion.


    ...Just what the hell went on up here? I was only gone for like... a half hour, max. I mean, I heard the sounds ofbat stop a while ago, but *still*...


    Sylphy sipped on her goblet of wine. Serene and rxed, like she was the real ruler of this fortress.


    Seeing that, I frowned and said, "Sylphy."


    She turned to me and smiled. "Yes, Rudy?"


    "What did I tell you before we came on this trip?"


    Sylphy paused and then looked a bit embarrassed. "...Wee peacefully?"


    "Not that, the part about you and other people."


    "...No killing? But it''s fine if they''re immortal, right?"


    I resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose. Instead, I said, "Sylphy. Love. Roley is for the bedroom, not real life. We''re *not* going out to conquer the world."


    Sylphy frowned and set her goblet down on the table. "...But Rudy deserves it..."


    Okay. Maybe I should have spent a little less time with Sylphy when we were kids... She might have gotten a bit too attached.


    Still, this was my fault, so...


    I walked across the room.


    Silence, leaving only my footsteps to echo. It seemed like everyone else realized the gravity of the situation... or were too intimidated to say anything.


    Probably thetter.


    I reached Sylphy and ced my hand on her head. "Sylphy."


    "...Yes, Rudy?"


    "I don''t care about the world if I have you. So stop beating yourself up and thinking you aren''t enough, alright? Even if you never do anything else and just stay by my side, it''ll be all I want. So there''s no need to put on a show like this. Got it?"


    Sylphy''s face turned red and she let out a bright smile. "...Got it, Rudy. Heehee."


    I ruffled her hair a bit and then nced back at Cliff and Kishirika.


    The former was nodding his head with an expression that seemed to say ''as expected of Father-inw.''


    Thetter... Kishirika was looking at me and Sylphy as if she was seeing the most terrifying monster in the world.


    Understandable. Sylphy was scary in yandere mode.


    "Now, I''ve got some business to talk with Atofe, so can you go ahead with Eri and take everyone back?"


    Sylphy''s smile immediately faded, turning into a frown. "Business? With that hussey?"


    "Yes."


    "...Alone?"


    "Well." I stared at Atofe and said, "...I think they''re frozen in fear from you, so yes."


    Sylphy pouted.


    Eris pointed at her and said, "I told you so."


    "...Hmph." Sylphy stood up and said, "Fine. But I''m not epting her, Rudy. If you bring her back as a bride or a maid, I''m erasing her. She doesn''t deserve you."


    Frosty killing intent. A cold expression that looked more like a viiness than the Sylphy I remembered.


    Seeing that made me feel a pang of guilt. But I set that guilt aside for the moment and said, "Don''t worry. I''m not like Dad."


    Sylphy paused and then giggled. "Right. You aren''t like Paul."


    I kept patting her head, watching as she happily closed her eyes and leaned into my hand.


    Eris nced at Sylphy and then gave me a look. As if wondering what that was about.


    I shook my head slightly.


    Eris frowned, but she nodded.


    After that, I looked at Sylphy and said, "Now I''m trusting you to get everyone back safely, okay Sylphy? And when you do, I''m relying on you to start the dinner prep for Norn''s party."


    Sylphy opened her eyes and then gave me a determined look. "Leave it to me, Rudy!"


    "I will. Thank you." I looked over at Eris and said, "And thank you too, Eri. I appreciate you a lot."


    Eris blushed and then said, "I-I know. A-And you''re wee, H-H-Husband."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Still embarrassed saying it, Eri?"


    "S-Shut up, Sylphy!" Eris crossed her arms and then walked over to Cliff. "You, genius pope kid or whatever."


    "Yes, Mother-inw?"


    Eris froze and then turned to look back at me.


    Hey. Don''t me this on me.


    Eris blinked and then shook her head. "Anyway, you can fly, right?"


    "I learned how to in order to follow Enoch, yes."


    "Great. Then hold onto the brat when we''re flying. Or not. I guess she revives, so a drop or two will be fine."


    "Ooh!" Sylphy pped her hands and said, "Can we drop her? I want to try raising a baby too."


    Kishirika paled and looked at me. "L-Lord Rudras. Please have mercy on This One!"


    ...I had a headache. Being a Demon Lord was a pain in the ass... Maybe I should have just run around proiming myself as an Ally of Justice instead. I had the hair for it...


    But anyway... Kishirika needed to be taught a lesson anyway, so I smiled at her and said, "Hold on tight."


    Kishirika froze, looking like the soul left her body. And then she rigidly walked over to Cliff and grabbed his hand. "...This One entrusts her life to you. P-Please save This One."


    "A-Ah.. I-I understand. As the intermediary between Demons and Humans, I, Cliff Grimoire, do swear that I will return you to Arcadia safely."


    Kishirika smiled.


    And after that, Eris, Sylphy, and those two left.


    Leaving just me, Atofe, her knights, and the members of the Survey Corps who had been conscripted as her knights.


    Silence. Nobody moved even after my lovely wives...


    Were they my wives? Eris was on paper, but I hadn''t had a ceremony or anything yet for either of them...


    Something to remember for the future.


    But anyway, nobody moved after my lovelydies departed. Instead, they were waiting with bated breath. As in they literally weren''t breathing and just waiting for me to act.


    Seeing that, I decided to get them to rx a bit by walking over to the table Sylphy made and sitting down. After that, I gestured towards Atofe and said, "Have a seat."


    She immediately walked over and sat down. Unlike her haughty and brash attitude before, she was meek and quiet.


    I picked up the bottle of wine from earlier and poured a pair of sses for me and Atofe. Handing one to her, I said, "Sorry about Sylphy. She tends to get a bit overprotective."


    "It''s fine." A curt and rigid response.


    I frowned.


    Seeing that, Atofe flinched.


    I raised an eyebrow and said, "We got off on the wrong foot, but there''s no need to fear. I''m not the sort to go around conquering other territories. In fact, I''m here to help. I''m sure that the Distortions have been a problem, right? So-"


    "You can have it."


    I blinked. "What?"


    "Anything you want, take it. In exchange, please, please, *please* never bring your elf wife around again." Atofe shuddered and said, "A spell that can freeze the very soul... Even Lace never made something that terrifying."


    "Really now?" I paused and tapped on my chin. "I guess that''s one way to stop regeneration. Can''te back from the dead if the soul''s frozen solid. Especially if you break it afterwards... Wait. Would that work on a god? If all living beings possess a soul..." I frowned and instinctively reached for a notepad.


    But then I remembered where I was.


    "Ah. Sorry about that. Anyway... the point is that I wanted to cooperate with you a bit-"


    Atofe immediately stepped back and kneeled on the ground. "I swear on my name as the Immortal Demon Lord Atoferatofe Ryback that I and my family shall be under your family''s jurisdiction until the end of time."


    A solemn promation. And as if to make it even more official, a bit of her ck mana reached out to form a cor around her neck before reaching me, kind of like the bond I had with Rika.


    ...


    ...Okay. Seriously, what did Sylphy do...?


    ---


    A little bit before Rudy arrived back on the scene.


    "Can''t hold it back anymore~" Sylphy paused and then stared at her audience. "...You don''t seem entertained."


    Forced apuse and cheers. Cheers that sounded more like screams.


    Especially as a few of the ck knights were already frozen solid with expressions of sheer agony.


    Eris watched it all and let out a deep sigh. "Well. I tried."

 131 – The Eldest Sister’s Celebration (1/2)

    131 ¨C The Eldest Sister¡¯s Celebration (1/2)


    Part 1


    The small house that Rudy built for Norn to have for herself in the courtyard of the tower.


    There, Norn was sitting in afy squishy chair that Rudy made. Across from her, standing with her gaze lowered, was Kishirika.


    "This One apologizes for worrying you." Kishirika mumbled and bowed her head. "This One will not make the mistakes again."


    Norn smiled and then reached out to path Kishirika''s head. "It''s okay. But you''re my friend, so I don''t want you getting hurt or disappearing. So... please don''t run away anymore."


    Kishirika''s eyes widened and then she looked away. "H-Hmph. O-Only because This One thinks you''re that pathetic."


    "Tsundere." A cute baby''s voice. From the corner of the room, Ste stared at Kishirika and said, "Be honest."


    Kishirika blushed and crossed her arms. "T-This One does not have to answer to-"


    "I''mma tel Nii-cha."


    Kishirika immediately prostrated and pressed her head on the ground. "This One apologizes."


    Nornughed and then looked outside her house.


    Her Big Sisters had just dropped off Kishirika and went off somewhere in secret.


    Big Brother Rudy wasn''t with them though, so Norn was a bit concerned.


    She looked to Ste and said, "Do you think Big Brother is okay?"


    Ste nodded and petted her white cat. "Nii-cha is a cheat. He will be fine."


    Norn frowned and said, "Why do you keep saying Big Brother is a cheat? He isn''t cheating on Big Sister Eris or Big Sister Sylphy." She paused. "...Is he?"


    Big Sister Eris was alwaysining about how Papa was creepy and how the Greyrat males were a bunch of degenerate perverts.


    Papa never cheated on Mama or Mama Lily though. Even though they weren''t around, he never talked to other women or touched them, even after all those nobledies got really weird when he became a Sword God.


    ...But her cousin Luke definitely was a pervert. Even though he was supposed to be helping Sister Ariel with things, he went around poking through her clothes and staring at girls all day.


    He even tried confessing to Big Sis Eris one time.


    One time.


    After she beat him ck and blue, Cousin Luke became a lot more discreet and never looked at Big Sis Eris again.


    ...Though Norn noticed that Cousin Luke gave her icky weird stares sometimes too.


    They stopped when she told Papa though.


    That was also the same time Cousin Luke got a scar over his left eye and started limping around for a month.


    But anyway...


    Big Brother wasn''t like that, was he? Even surrounded by so many beautiful women, Big Brother always stared them in the eyes and treated them respectfully.


    If anything, it was her Big Sisters who were perverts, clinging to Big Brother and making those embarrassing noises all night...


    Ste paused and said, "Nii-cha does not cheat on girls. But he has a lot of girls."


    Kishirikaughed and said, "Of course! A manly Demon Lord is one who holds many different women! That''s what Badi said!"


    "Really now?"


    Kishirika flinched and spun around. "Y-You!? A-Are you a ghost!? Is that why you have such white hair, perfect skin, and handsome looks!?"


    Rudy gave Kishirika a serious nod and said, "That''s right. I died a long time ago and just showed up in this world to mess with people. Especially troublesome children like you."


    "Kyaaaaa!" Kishirika screamed and ducked behind Norn. "This One doesn''t want to die forever!"


    "Don''t we all?" Rudy sighed and then walked over to Norn, smiling. "Hey there, Norn. Did you miss me?"


    Norn jumped off her chair and ran over to hug Rudy. "Yes! I missed you a lot, Big Brother!"


    Heughed and patted Norn''s back. "Sorry it took so long. I had to stay a bit and chat with a new employee."


    Kishirika turned to Rudy and gave him a weird look. "Employee?"


    "Yep." Rudy nodded and said, "And that was after a lot of negotiation." He frowned and muttered, "It''s the first time that I''ve had to negotiate up instead of down." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "She was a hard sale too. Had to talk her out of swearing eternal loyalty."


    "Jiiii." Ste stood up in her crib and stared at Rudy. "Nii-cha. Ba-"


    "Stop that, Ste. You''re bing a two-bit gag character. Be better."


    Ste flinched and then fell back on her butt, eyes wide in shock and utter disbelief. After that, she ced her hands on her head and started muttering incoherently.


    "Anyway." Rudy looked at Norn and said, "I got you a gift. There''s going to be a lot more in the future, but this one''s something I should have given you a long time ago."


    Norn blinked and then tilted her head. "A gift?"


    "Mmhm. Now, close your eyes first."


    Norn did. She was a bit confused, but did as Big Brother Rudy said. After that, she felt something fall around her neck before a small warmth pressed against her chest. She blinked and opened her eyes to see a small golden pendant in the shape of heart.


    "Big Brother?"


    Rudy let out a sad smile and said, "I noticed how upset you werest time. I''m sorry I couldn''t hear you calling, but if you do it again next time holding that, I''ll tear through time and space to get to you, just like with Ste. Okay?" He patted Norn''s head and said, "Don''t think I don''t love you just as much as Ste. You might be bigger now, but you''re still my baby sister."


    Norn''s eyes widened and then her vision started to blur. "Big Brother...!" She reached out and hugged him tight.


    "There, there. You''ve been through a lot, but I''m here now. Big Brother will make everything alright, okay? So don''t worry."


    "O-Okay..." Norn sniffed and then squeezed Rudy one more time. But after that, she stepped back, wiping her eyes.


    Rudy frowned and said, "You don''t have to force yourself, Norn."


    "It''s fine." She smiled and said, "Big Brother said it. You''ll make everything alright. S-So there''s no need to cry."


    "...I guess this is a bad time to ask you to open the pendant then, huh?"


    Norn blinked. "Open the pendant?" She frowned and then turned the pendant around to take a closer look. When she did, she noticed that there was a small button on the side and atch.


    Norn nced back at Rudy.


    Rudy waved his hand and said, "Go ahead and open it. But I think that it''ll probably make you cry again..."


    Norn shook her head. "I won''t cry."


    Right. She promised Big Brother Rudy, so she wouldn''t cry, no matter what it-


    The pendant clicked open. As it did, Norn felt the flow of mana shift before settling into an image.


    And then she froze.


    A beautiful woman with blonde hair, wrapping her arm around Papa. Another beautiful woman with red hair, standing on the other side with a faint smile on her face. Papa himself, standing there with a goofy smile.


    On the blonde woman''s left and hiding behind her, Norn could see a small girl with blonde hair and green eyes. A familiar one... Herself.


    And standing in front of the beautiful woman with red hair was Aisha, grinning happy and carefree.


    Then, sitting in the center of them all was a boy with white hair and bright green eyes. Holding a cute baby girl in his arms, he let out a happy smile. At the same time, the baby looked like she was yawning, oblivious to everything else.


    Norn stared at the image for a bit before she looked up at Rudy.


    He smiled and said, "I figured that it wasn''t fair for Ste to be the only one with a family portrait to look at, so I made one for you too. It''s not real since we never got the chance, but-"


    Norn hugged Rudy again and pressed her head against his chest. "...Thank you, Big Brother. I love you."


    "I love you too, Norn."


    "Wait." Ste''s voice. "...Nii-cha. Can my do that too?"


    "Huh? Of course it can. Haven''t you figured it out by now? I thought that was why you kept ying with it and called me all those times."


    "...Atashi wa... baka desu ka?"


    Rudyughed and then patted Norn''s head. "Anyway, be good and watch Ste and Kishirika for a bit longer, okay? There''s a big surprise in store for youter."


    Norn stepped back and nodded, brushing the tears out of her eyes again.


    Kishirika huffed and said, "This One does not need to be-"


    "Do you want to see what it''s like to be raised by Sylphy?"


    "This One apologizes."


    "Thought so." Rudy waved at Ste and said, "Be good, Ste. I''ll give you some more mana formations to y withter. And see you soon, Norn! I''lle pick you up when it''s time."


    "O-Okay, Big Brother."

 132 – The Eldest Sister’s Celebration (2/2)

    132 ¨C The Eldest Sister¡¯s Celebration (2/2)


    Part 2


    An explosion of colors filled the night sky. Crimson sparks tracing out a wolf. White lights forming a bunny. A snowke shining with blue light. And countless more bursts of colors, looking like flowers in the sky.


    Norn watched it with wide eyes, doing her best not to cry.


    It was beautiful. Rudy didn''t have to do it. All Norn said she wanted was something small. A little dinner with everyone and to have her Big Brother cook something. But instead, he did all of this.


    Norn shook her head and then looked around.


    The courtyard outside of Rudy''s tower. borate silver chairs and tables that looked like they were vines wrapped together. Floating golden lights drifting through the air and illuminating everything with their soft and warm glow.


    Big Sister Eris and Big Sister Sylphy were sitting together at a table with Eos and Ena, happily talking while eating slices of cake and drinking wine. All of them were wearing fancy ck dresses, making them look even prettier than usual.


    Off to the side, Rnd was sitting on top of a quilted nketid out over the grass. His usual silver armor was gone, reced with a ck suit and pants. Because of that, his face was visible, along with his bright green hair and pointed ears.


    He looked a bit ufortable, especially when Nina and Isolte kept staring at him with starry eyes.


    Mister Ruijerd was nearby though, also dressed in a suit. Whenever the girls made Rnd a bit too ufortable, Ruijerd made sure to speak up and rein them back.


    And as for the rest of the guests at Norn''s party...


    "Rika still doesn''t understand why you wanted to do all of this, Rudy." Rika adjusted her sses and then smoothed her ck dress. "A regr birthday celebration would be fine."


    Rudy adjusted the ck tie around his white suit and said, "It would be ''fine'' but not ''great.'' And it has to be great considering all the birthdays I missed already."


    Cliff adjusted his cuff links on his ck suit and then nodded. Looking at Rudy, he smiled and said, "As expected of Father-inw. It''s only natural that you would create such an borate birthday celebration for your dear sister."


    "Again, just call me Rudy."


    "And once more, I could never, Father-inw."


    Rudy let out a strained smile.


    "Wao!" Fai hugged a slice of cake on the table, covering herself in white cream. She licked her arms and then said, "This is so tasty!"


    Kishirika stuffed a chunk of cake in her mouth and nodded. "Mmhm! Super!" She chugged down a cup of juice and then let out a burp. "Tasty! Super tasty!"


    Rika looked over and narrowed her eyes.


    Kishirika flinched and hugged a te filled with colorful pastries to her chest. "W-What? This One is not sharing!"


    Rika let out a deep sigh. "Rika is beginning to wonder if we''re even the same person..."


    Kishirika puffed her cheeks out and said, "This One thinks the same!" She pointed at Rika and said, "You are far too serious! What kind of Great Empress are you to be so strict?!"


    "One who lost everything."


    Kishirika flinched again.


    Off on the side of the table, Wyn yawned and flew over toy down on a te of jello. "You have fun eating. I''m going to sleep..."


    Wata looked at her and sighed. "Wyn. That''s food, not a bed."


    Wyn rolled over and started sinking a bit into the jello. "Only because you''re too big, Wata. This is perfect... zzz..."


    Wata shook his head and then flew over to Norn, giving her an apologetic look. "I''m sorry about them, Miss Norn."


    Ste looked up from her ce sitting on Norn''sp and nodded. "Yeah. Ignore them Nee-cha. Fai and Wyn are silly."


    Norn smiled and patted Ste''s head. "I don''t mind, Ste. They''re funny."


    Fai stuck her tiny fist up and said, "Yay! I''m funny!"


    Rudy stared at her and frowned. "...Yeah. You''re funny alright. And you remind me of a famous fairy..."


    Ste looked over and said, "Ooh! Nabi?"


    Rudy paused and then stared at Ste.


    Ste blinked and then started sweating.


    Norn frowned. "Ste? Is something wrong?"


    "N-No. I''m fine..."


    "Imouto. Nihonjin desu ka?"


    Ste giggled. But it was a nervous giggle.


    Norn''s frown deepened and she looked up at Rudy. "Big Brother... Did you teach Ste a secretnguage?"


    "...I thought I did. But..." He tilted his head and said, "I guess she''s a ''natural.'' Aren''t you, Ste?"


    "Heehee...?"


    Rudy shook his head and looked at Norn. "Anyway, are you having fun, Norn?" He shifted his gaze over to the pile of gifts next to her and said, "I wanted to give you a bit more, but since we might be heading off in the near future I didn''t want to make too many."


    Norn shook her head and smiled. "It''s fine, Big Brother. Besides, Aisha will be jealous if you give me too much."


    Rudy froze. "Right. I''ve gotta n a party for Aisha too." He ran his hand through his white hair and muttered, "But I already made a party this big. It won''t be fair if I don''t do at least the same for her. But if I do the exact same, it''ll seem like I''m just copying..." He paused and then looked at Ste.


    Ste blinked and said, "What, Nii-cha?"


    "You''re fine with just a normal cake and food right?"


    "I don''t care about parties. But I want magic spells for gifts!"


    Rudy nodded. "That''s fair. But since you''re such a ''genius,'' you''re promoted to looking over my work."


    "E-Eh?"


    Rudy stared at Ste with a dark gleam in his eyes and said, "Someone''s got to take over this kingdom. And I''m sure a genius like you can handle it, right?"


    Ste started to sweat some more.


    Norn frowned and then hugged Ste close. "Stop scaring Ste, Big Brother."


    Rudyughed and went back to his carefree self. "Just kidding. I wouldn''t wish this hell onto anyone but Dad. Except this ce would instantly fall apart, so I wouldn''t do that either."


    Kishirika nodded. "Paul Greyrat is a fool."


    Rika frowned. "He is no fool. He just... would not be fit to run a kingdom."


    Norn nodded too and said, "Yes. Papa means well, but even as the head of the Notos family, he''s..."


    *Remember, Norn. Asuran Nobles are scum, so don''t be afraid to kick them around when you meet them.*


    *You see your Uncle Pilemon? Don''t be like him. Scheming and plotting all the time while acting like a coward is pathetic. Be more like your Uncle Philip. Ah, but don''t be as crazy as him and run around fighting people unarmed just to show off.*


    *Might makes right. That''s the rule that stupid people live by. Smart people don''t do that, but Papa''s not smart so he has to do this. Be better, okay? Like your big brother Rudy.*


    *People aren''t going to work? Alright. Stay here and be good, Norn. Papa''s going to go crack a few heads.*


    "...Um. Papa means well?"


    Rudy stared at Norn.


    Norn stared back andughed.


    Rudy sighed. "...Well. We can talk about Dadter. For now." He smiled and ced his hand on Norn''s head. "It''s a bitte, but... Happy birthday, Norn."


    Norn''s eyes watered and she nodded. "Yes! Thank you, Big Brother!"


    -NNG-


    Part 3


    Norn''s birthday celebration went deep into the night. Good food, fun stories, and having a great time.


    Except for Sylphy.


    A few hours in, she started crying while continually pouring herself more wine even while Eris tried to get her to stop.


    Eventually, Rudy went over to calm her down... only for her to cry harder and say that she''s sorry she changed so much and that she just wanted to spend what little time she had left with him.


    Norn didn''t understand it, but after that, Big Brother Rudy said good night to Norn and Ste before taking Big Sister Sylphy into the tower with Rika following after him.


    But other than that, nothing else happened during the party. Just fun times.


    And those fun times continued after the party as well.


    Norn became good friends with Nina and Isolte, talking with both about sword fighting and sharing stories.


    Ste started following Norn around, paying close attention and chiming in every now and then.


    Big Sister Eris and Big Sister Sylphy asionally came by to help out or watch...


    In short, simple and peaceful days where Norn had fun ying with friends, spending time with family, and practicing her sword fighting.


    And then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, a year had passed. Not only that, but it was time to leave Arcadia.


    Windport city, rebuilt after the Distortion and with a direct road linking it to Arcadia.


    Standing at the docks, Norn set down a box with all of her belongings and then turned back to look around.


    A bustling marketce. Adventurers wandering around while members of the White Knights patrolled. Not only that, but even a few of Demon Lord Atofe''s knights were patrolling as well, standing out with their pitch ck armor.


    "...I can''t believe we''re leaving." Norn shifted her gaze to stare at the ck tower still looming in the distance. The ce she called her home for a whole year.


    "Believe it, Nee-chan." Ste walked over to Norn''s side, adjusting a small backpack. "We have a lot of things to do."


    Norn looked over to examine her baby sister.


    Ste had grown up a bit. Enough to walk around on her own. Of course, she was also never really alone.


    Wata hovered beside Ste and nodded. "We can''t y forever."


    Fai walked alongside Ste, now the same size and wearing a flowing white robe. Adjusting her red hair, Fai grinned and said, "Yep! We''ve gotta help find Ste''s Mommies!"


    Wyn yawned, still small and sleeping on Norn''s head. "Okay... Wake me up when you need me..."


    Wata frowned and said, "Why do you sleep so much anyway, Wyn?"


    "Because I''m strong... Woohoo..." Wyn waved a tired hand around in the air and then went back to sleep.


    Ste shook her head and then looked at Norn. "I''m going first, Nee-chan."


    Norn smiled and patted Ste''s head. "Be careful on your way up and don''t trip, okay?"


    "I''m not clumsy! Hmph." Ste turned her head away and started running up the ramp to the ship. "Let''s go, Wat- Wah!"


    Ste''s foot slipped, sending her tipping forward. But before she hit the ground, a green wind pulled her back.


    Wyn yawned and said, "Be careful, Ste."


    Ste blushed and looked back at Norn.


    Norn smiled.


    "H-Hmph!" Ste turned her head away and continued up the ramp. This time though, she made sure to take her time.


    Fai giggled and said, "You should be more careful, Ste- Wah?!"


    A ssh. Fai falling into the water below.


    Steughed and said, "Serves you right, Fai!"


    Norn shook her head at her baby sister''s antics and then moved to pick up her box.


    The others were already on the ship, so Big Brother would be arriving any minute.


    Norn took onest look at Arcadia in the distance, memorizing it the best that she could. And then she turned around and started walking towards the ramp. But before she took a few steps, a voice called out.


    "Wait! Norn!"


    "You can''t seriously be running off by yourself without saying goodbye!"


    Norn turned around to see two girls running towards her.


    The first was a ck-haired girl wearing a suit of silver armor. The trainee outfit for the White Knights.


    The second was a girl with flowing blue hair and darker skin. Unlike the first girl, she just wore a ck coat.


    Isolte and Nina.


    Norn smiled and walked over. "I thought you two were adventuring?"


    Isolte hugged Norn and said, "We were! But Master said you were leaving so we ran all the way here!"


    Nina stepped forward like she was going to hug Norn too. But she stopped at thest second and crossed her arms. "Y-Yeah! I can''t let my rival leave without seeing her off!"


    Nornughed and then hugged Nina. "Thanks, Nina!"


    Nina blushed and then awkwardly hugged Norn back.


    After that, Norn stepped back and looked towards the man who brought the girls there.


    He was a bit different from the first time Norn saw him.


    Although he still wore the traditional Supard clothing, a cloth vest with colorful patterns and matching pants, Ruijerd''s appearance was different. His hair had grown out long, reaching to his shoulders. To keep it out of the way, he used a small leather strap to tie it in a short ponytail. While the scar on his face was still scary, his face itself was rxed these days, giving him a reliable big brother feeling.


    Norn smiled and said, "Thank you for bringing them to see me, Mister Ruijerd."


    Ruijerd smiled back and said, "Although it''s not a true farewell, it would be sad to have a friend leave without saying goodbye, wouldn''t it?"


    Nina bristled and said, "I wouldn''t be sad!"


    Isolte giggled and said, "It''s better to be honest, Nina."


    "But I wouldn''t! I don''t even miss my Dad!"


    "Then why do you cry in your sleep all the time?"


    "Uuu..."


    Nornughed.


    Nina red at her and said, "W-What''s so funny, huh?"


    "Nothing."


    Nina pointed at Norn and said, "W-Well... You''d better keep training! I''m going to go into a lot of dungeons with Isolte and be super strong! We''re both daughters of a Sword God, so it''s going to be serious! When we grow up, we''re going to spar! The loser be the other person''sckey forever!"


    Norn smiled. "Okay. It''ll be fun hearing you call me Boss, Nina."


    Nina huffed. "Just you wait! I''m going to get training from Atofe too!"


    Ruijerd chuckled and ced his hand on Nina''s head. "That''s enough, Nina. You should see your friend off with kindness, not anger."


    "...Hmph." Nina turned to Norn and then waved. "...I''ll see youter. But remember! We''re sparring when youe back!"


    At that time, a calm and suave voice echoed. "I don''t think we will be long enough for the result to be any different. But train hard, Nina."


    Rudy stepped out from thin air, standing next to Norn.


    His outfit was the same as ever, wearing his usual white coat and pants. But he looked a bit different now. His face was a bit sharper, and his mismatched eyes were different too, one gold and the other a paler gold instead of the green and white they had been before. Not only that, but the air around him felt different.


    Norn wasn''t sure exactly what it was, but she felt that her Big Brother was more... reliable? Mature? He was already mature, but she thought that Rudy was more mature than he was.


    Kind of like Papa was when he was being serious, except all the time instead of the like three times Papa had been serious in the past.


    "Kyah!" Nina flinched and pointed at Rudy. "Are you a ghost?! How did you do that?!"


    Rudy chuckled and said, "Not quite. And magic, of course."


    "Don''t be cheeky with-"


    Isolte cleared her throat. "Nina. That''s Lord Rudras, remember."


    Nina froze and quickly bowed her head. "My apologies."


    Rudy let out a faint smile. "All is forgiven." After that, he looked towards Ruijerd and said, "I''ll leave this ce in your hands, Ruijerd. Rika will help out, but I''m trusting you to deal with Distortions and other threats since Rnd''sing with us."


    "Eh?" Norn looked over at Rudy and said, "Mister Rnd''sing too?"


    "He''s your nephew, so yes."


    Norn blinked.


    Right. She forgot about that.


    Miss Ena, Miss Eos, Mister Rnd... all of them were Rudy''s kids.


    Meaning that Norn was their auntie.


    ...It was weird. But time was already weird with the Distortions, so... Norn would just have to get used to it?


    "Anyway." Rudy shifted his attention back to Ruijerd and said, "I checked out the warp point that Eri mentioned, but it broke down on their arrival so it won''t work. Rika and I figured out magic doors though, so once I get a base over in Milis, I''ll start hooking things up so we can move back and forth."


    Ruijerd nodded. "I''m looking forward to it, Lord Rudras."


    Rudy ced a hand on Norn''s shoulder and said, "Alright. Then... Are you ready to head off, Norn?"


    Norn looked up at him. After that, she stared at Arcadia in the distance and said, "...This won''t be forever, will it?"


    Rudyughed. "Of course not." He paused and then muttered, "If it is, I''ve got a feeling Rika will run after me with a forged marriage license."


    Norn giggled and said, "Big Sis Rika does seem like she would do that."


    "Right?"


    Norn paused and tilted her head. "...But why don''t you marry her? She''s nice and she likes you, just like Big Sis Eris and Big Sis Sylphy."


    "That''s because your big brother isn''t like our dad who would have had four different wives by now if Mom hadn''t put her foot down with Mama Lily."


    Norn thought about her father. Then she thought about how he didn''t cheat on Mom or Mama Lily, but always ''looked respectfully'' at beautiful women.


    "...I understand."


    Rudy patted Norn''s head. "Good. Then... Let''s get going." He waved his hand and started floating towards the ship along with Norn and her box.


    "Bye, Norn!" Isolte waved and said, "We''ll see you soon!"


    Nina waved as well and said, "I''ll work hard to beat you!"


    Norn smiled and waved back. "Bye Isolte! And keep dreaming, Nina!"


    "You...!"


    Nornughed and then turned around.


    Rudy looked over at Norn and said, "Are you sure you don''t want to stay? We won''t be gone too long."


    Norn shook her head. "No. I''m going with Big Brother. You disappeared once, so I won''t let it happen again."


    "I think I''m the one saying it won''t happen again... But I appreciate it, Norn."


    "Mmhm! Besides, if I don''te, you''re just going to spoil Ste."


    "Totally wouldn''t."


    "Big Brother''s a bad liar. Your eye twitches when you tell one."


    "It doesn''t. ...Does it?"


    Nornnded on the ship andughed. "Maybe, maybe not?"


    Rudynded as well and then ruffled her hair. "You little rascal. Where did my cute baby sister go?"


    "Well, since Aisha''s not here, I have to make sure to keep an eye on Big Brother. Especially since Ste does whatever you say."


    "That''s because I have ckmail material on her."


    "And that''s why I''m here."


    Rudy chuckled and then looked around.


    Norn did as well.


    A massive ship, made of a pretty dark brown wood and with golden decorations everywhere.


    "Mm." Rudy frowned and said, "Would''ve preferred the all ck steel, but it''s probably better if the church doesn''t think I''m there to conquer the world."


    "I think it would be better off if you did though, Big Brother?"


    "...You and Ste have been chatting, haven''t you?"


    "Maybe~?"


    "Don''t tempt fate. It''s in a really weird ce recently." After saying that, Rudy snapped his fingers, causing the ramp connecting the boat to the dock to slide off. At the same time, the anchor holding the boat down flew back up,nding on the deck.


    Norn looked around and then realized something important. "Um... Big Brother?"


    "Yes, Norn?"


    "How is the ship going to move?"


    Rudyughed and then put on a confident smile. "Did you forget, Norn?" He snapped his fingers again, causing the ship to turn and start moving even without any wind in its sails. "Your Big Brother is a god among men (by necessity) and a Demon Lord (by upation). Now... To Milis! And to troll Dad to make up for all the years he trolled me!"


    -PNG-


    Paul shivered and looked out the window of the cafe he was sitting in.


    Pierre slipped his mask back on after sipping a cup of coffee and said, "Is something wrong, Paul?"


    Paul rubbed the back of his neck and stared out at the horizon. "...No. But I have a feeling I''m going to put my foot in my mouth again in the near future."


    Rostelina walked over and set down a te of pancakes in front of Paul. After that, she giggled and said, "Maybe another young pretty girl is going toe up to you and try to call you ''Daddy?''"


    "*Please* don''t remind me." Paul groaned and rubbed his face. "It was awkward enough with mistaking Tristina for Norn the other day."


    Pierre sipped on his coffee and said, "Maybe pay more attention instead of just focusing on the fact that she has blonde hair, green eyes, and big boobs?"


    "Well, I didn''t feel anything from her, so I thought she was rted. That''s usually how it goes, you know?"


    "Mmhm- Wait. What do you mean ''usually?'' That''s how it''s *always* supposed to go."


    "Ah, well... I heard some stories about uncles and great uncles who liked their sisters and mothers and-"


    "*Please* stop talking."


    "Right. Shutting up."


    Pierre sighed. "Rudy can''t get here soon enough..."

 133 – The Baby Sister’s Stellar Evaluation

    133 ¨C The Baby Sister¡¯s Ster Evaluation


    Part 1


    Ste had turned one year old. However, she was bigger and more coordinated than a normal one year old. To begin with, she could change her self, feed herself, and even walk around by herself. No more being picked up and carried around! Freedom atst!


    But with that freedom came a very important realization.


    It turned out, Nii-chan was *really* holding himself back. Maybe since he was scared to hurt her or get her caught in the crossfire of his experiments, he was never too far away and never got too focused on his experiments or other people.


    But now that Ste was mostly independent, he went all out.


    Right now, for example.


    The Greyrat family were on a trip across the ocean to another country called Milis or something. To do that, they were riding a boat.


    Ste was under the impression that Nii-chan had hired a whole crew to maneuver the ship. But that wasn''t the case.


    The only people on the ship were her, Norn, Ena, Eos, Rnd, Sylphy, Eris, and Rudy.


    Well, Fai, Wata, and Wyn were there too, but they didn''t really count.


    Among the people on the ship, Eris, Ena, and Norn were holed up below deck because they were seasick and Sylphy was taking care of them all. Rnd was on monster duty, killing whatever monster was dumb enough to get close. And Eos was navigating by reading the winds... or something.


    Ste wasn''t sure about how that worked, but Eos *was* the leader of the Survey Corps.


    In any case, this was a whole ship. Something that took an entire crew to run. Even back on Earth, you wouldn''t be able to pilot a whole cruise ship by yourself. And this was definitely qualified as a cruise ship.


    So the fact that it didn''t have a crew was ridiculous.


    But Ste had forgotten. Nii-chan was even more ridiculous.


    Standing at the front of the ship, Rudy stood with an array of magic formations spread out in front of him. An array of magic formations that created a very convenient user interface that he could use to check on every part of the ship and control it like a video game.


    A video game that he was ying with a Pl*ystation controller.


    Did he map all the parts of the ship to the buttons?


    When Rudy pressed the ''x'' button, a wind started up, pushing the ship forward with the sails. When he pressed ''o'', the water itself seemed to pull the ship back, slowing it down.


    In short...


    "...Life really is just a game to Nii-chan, huh?"


    Ste sighed and flopped onto the deck, staring up at the clear blue sky.


    "What should I be doing then?"


    She was wrong. Ste thought that she was the main character for a bit, but it was obviously Nii-chan. Not only that, but she got swept up in his flow so much that she actually had just started to be a two-bit gag character like he said.


    The token cute baby mascot character. That was what she became.


    Even Norn had more main character energy than Ste! Nee-chan wasn''t even ten, but she had a rival, a friend, and all of that sword-fighting talent. If it wasn''t for the fact that she was a sword fighter instead of a magician, Ste would have thought Nee-chan was a magical girl protagonist.


    ...Or maybe Ste should stop thinking about the world in terms of anime and manga? She wasn''t even an otaku before she died. That was more Aki.


    ...Hah. Maybe things would get simpler when she met her dad. Nee-chan said that he was a Sword God, so he had to be super serious andpetent, right? He could put somemon sense back into Ste''s Nii-chan and sort him out-


    "Alright! All hands on deck!" Rudy nced back and said, "I''m putting this thing into high gear!"


    Wait.


    Ste sat up and saw Rnd tap the deck, subtly securing his footing by sending spikes of silvery mana into the wood. Eos didn''t do that, but she swirled a green wind around her, pressing her down.


    The others would be fine since they were below deck...


    Ah. Actually, considering they were all seasick, it would probably be terrible for them. But-


    "I''ve got you, Ste!" Wata materialized and then quickly made an ice chair and fastened it to the ship.


    The moment he did that-


    "Kyaaaaaa!"


    -Ste screamed as the ship flew across the ocean at what felt like mach speed.


    And she wasn''t the only one screaming.


    "RUDY!"


    "BIG- grk. BROTHER!"


    "Uuuuu. Daddy, stop it..."


    Rudy froze and then cleared his throat. "Sorry about that." He snapped his fingers and the ship suddenly became smoother. It was still going at a breakneck speed, but the turbulence was gone. "Forgot to ount for the eleration."


    ...This was going to be a long trip, wasn''t it? Why couldn''t Nii-chan have just teleported them all to the next continent?


    ...Oh right. Because Nii-chan said he might identally teleport them into the future or the past since his mana is so strong and he hasn''t been there in person.


    Hah... When will the world make sense again?


    -SNG-


    Part 2


    "Ugh..." Eris shook her head and said, "I don''t care if we look like we''re taking over the world. Next time, we''re flying."


    Norn nodded and said, "I agree, Big Sis... I don''t get why people like the ocean..."


    Ena shuddered and said, "I wasn''t meant to travel the seas..."


    A chorus ofints echoed from trio who were seasick the entire ride.


    After Rudy docked the ship, those three immediately ran off onto the dock.


    Sylphy followed after them and giggled. "You''re all silly. It''s just a bit of water."


    Eris red at Sylphy and said, "I don''t want to hear that from a woman who froze the ocean to reach the Magic Continent."


    "It was just more convenient that way." She nced back at Rnd and said, "You agree, don''t you, Rolo?"


    Rnd adjusted his helmet, making sure his green hair was concealed, and then he nodded. "Since White Mama is that strong, it would be more convenient."


    "See?"


    "Getting backup from an alternate future son isn''t fair, Sylphy."


    Sylphy shrugged and walked off the ship onto the dock, Rnd trailing after her.


    *Ugh.* Fai''s voice echoed in Ste''s head. *I agree with those three. Water is icky.*


    Wyn''s voice echoed too. *Same. It looks fun to watch andfy to listen to when you sleep, but urgh...*


    Wata''s voice echoed after that. *You two just don''t appreciate water''s blessings. But you aren''t water spirits, so I suppose that''s natural...*


    Ste shook her head and then adjusted her backpack before ncing back.


    Eos had gone ahead to talk with the people at the port to sort out logistics or something while Nii-chan was... making a new group of knights?


    Not only that, but when did Nii-chan dye his hair brown? *How* did he dye his hair brown?


    Rudy finished talking to the knight and then headed over to Ste. Smiling, he ced his hand on her head and said, "Sorry about that. Had to manage the return details. You got everything, Ste?"


    "Of course. But I don''t know if everyone else did."


    "Don''t worry about them." Rudy waved his hand and said, "I knew they''d rush out, so I put everything in my pocket space dimension already."


    "Pocket-" Ste blinked and said, "Nii-chan."


    Rudy grabbed Ste''s hand and started walking off the ship with her. "Yes, Imouto?"


    "Just what *were* you?"


    "After a lot of soulsearching and reflection, I''vee to the objective opinion that I was a genius who spent way too much time trying to learn everything about the world instead of learning to appreciate life and family until it was toote." He shrugged and said, "Nothing big. You?"


    "...Um." Ste blushed and muttered, "I didn''t think you''d answer me..."


    "Of course I''d answer you. Even if you aren''t actually a genius baby girl, you''re still my baby sister. Besides, I didn''t think I''d meet across another person lucky enough to reincarnate with their memories intact." He paused and said, "Well, I guess your memories are probably more intact than mine are at least."


    "Hm?" Ste tilted her head and said, "What do you mean?"


    Rudy walked onto the dock and then let go of Ste''s hand, ruffling her hair. "We''ll talkter. I''m really curious to learn more about my imouto''s life, so we can have fun chatting afterwards. Right now though..."


    Rudy adjusted his white coat, causing a cross to appear on his sleeve, and then flicked his wrist, materializing a silver staff with incricate runework on its surface with a glistening blood diamond at the top.


    Something that looked insanely expensive...


    Which he promptly used as a walking stick.


    Ste shook her head and said, "Nii-chan likes being shy, huh?"


    "If there''s anything I''ve learned in the past year, it''s that appearing strong and rich makes life a lot easier." He paused and then looked up ahead.


    Ste followed his gaze and then saw that a crowd was forming.


    Because of course it would considering how beautiful Eris Nee-chan and Sylphy Nee-chan were, let alone Ena...


    Was she still Nee-chan if Ste was her Aunt?


    ...Yes. For her peace of mind, Ste was calling Ena Nee-chan.


    Anyway, it looked like a group of adventurers were trying to hit on Eris and Sylphy. The sort of gruff and forgettable men that would definitely show up in the episode when the main character arrives in town and...


    Oh.


    "Be right back, Ste." Rudy started taking big strides and said, "Keep an eye on her, Wata. And make sure to cover her eyes too."


    Wata materialized and gave a salute to Rudy. "Got it, Chief!"


    Rudy waved his right hand at Wata and kept walking. And then...


    "Husband!" Eris ran towards Rudy and hugged him. "You''re here!"


    "Husband?" The lead adventurer, an ugly bald guy with a scar across his face... in short, the typical thug. He turned towards Rudy and scoffed. "This dandy? I''ll show you what a- GRK!?"


    A sudden surge of mana, forcing the man to his knees. Not only him, but every one of the people dumb enough to try and flirt with Eris, Sylphy, and Ena.


    Rudy casually walked forward, tapping his staff along the ground while Eris walked beside him. They both came to a stop next to the other girls. After that, Rudy nced at the crowd of people and smiled. "Wonderful. I was wondering how I would find a guide to lead me around this city." He focused his gaze on the adventurer who tried flirting with Eris and smiled. "Thank you for volunteering. Your intelligence isn''t to my standard, but I do so appreciate your daring."


    "You son of a-"


    Everything suddenly went dark.


    Ste panicked for a second and then realized that something furry was covering her eyes. She pouted and opened her mouth to scold Wata.


    But then screams filled the air.


    Screams that suddenly cut off with a wave of mana. And as a result of the silence, the sound of ''something'' sshing into the water echoed. And then the sound of something else thumping onto the ground echoed too.


    An eerie silence. After that, Rudy chuckled and said, "Oh my. It seems your friend lost his head there for a moment. Here, why don''t I fix that?"


    A snap. After that, there was another soft ssh.


    And then the wave of mana vanished.


    At the same time, Ste could see again, Wata pulling his hands away.


    When she did, she saw that the ground was covered in blood. The men that had been so confidently talking to Eris and Sylphy were kneeling on the ground, shaking as they averted their eyes.


    And the bald man in the ground was frantically grabbing at his neck and staring at Rudy with wide-eyed terror. His clothes were also stained red with fresh blood... and his head was dripping with water.


    Silence. And then the man stammered. "G-G-God-ranked...?"


    "God-Ranked Healing Magician? Why yes. Yes I am. So... Are you happy to volunteer now? Or do your eyes need work too?"


    "N-NO SIR!"


    "Good. Then my daughter should havee pass here. I''m sure that you, as a man of such *high* caliber would have seen her. World ss beauty, blonde hair, green eyes..."


    "That was your daughter?!"


    "Hm?"


    "N-Nothing, Sir! A-And right this way!"


    *W-Wow. Master Rudy is scary...*


    ...Okay. So like... Was Onii-chan an evil genius who took over the world in his past life? Because he is *way* too convincing at the evil overlord bit...


    -SNG-


    Part 3


    "Are you sure you don''t need my help, Ste?" Norn frowned as she watched Ste and said, "I can help you hold it."


    Ste zipped up her backpack and said, "I can feed myself now, Nee-chan."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "That''s right." She stared at Ste and said, "Our cute little Ste is a big girl now."


    Ste pouted and said, "You don''t have to be mean, Sylphy nee-chan."


    Sylphy smiled. "Sorry. But you''re just so adorable, you know? You''re so tiny, but you''re acting so mature."


    "Hmph." Ste huffed and sat down on the beach towel, drinking her form from a sippy cup.


    They were at the beach, rxing while Rudy went off to do official business.


    As for they, that included Ste, Norn, Sylphy, and both Ena and Eos.


    Eris and Rnd had gone along with Rudy for back up, leaving everyone else to unwind.


    Fai plopped down next to Ste and started gathering sand up. "Finally! I''ve been wanting to y with this stuff since we got to Windport!"


    Wata materialized and sat down on Ste''s other side. As he did, he looked at Fai and said, "You are such a child, Fai."


    "I''m older than you!"


    "My point exactly."


    Ste decided to ignore the usual banter of her spirit friends and focused her attention on Ena and Eos.


    Because of Rudy''s disy at the docks, the beach waspletely empty. It seemed like people got the memo and left them all alone.


    Which left Ena free to run around in her favorite revealing leather strap outfit. Sshing in the water, she looked at Eos and said, "Okay! So the seas aren''t *that* bad."


    Eos frowned, tugging on her crimson shorts and bikini top. "...I still don''t get why you like wearing this sort of stuff, Sis."


    "Well, don''t you feel more free? Clothes are usually so *tight*, you know?"


    "We don''t even have our wings out, so I think that''s just you."


    "Maybe? But you look better like that anyway, Sis! You''re so pretty that it''s a shame when you''re wearing that stiff uniform."


    "And you''re so shameless that people will misunderstand when you act like that."


    Ste set down her sippy cup and sighed.


    Norn noticed and said, "Did you want to go y in the water too, Ste?" Her eyes brightened and she said, "I can take you!"


    "Ooh!" Sylphy stood up and said, "That sounds fun! We can ssh water and try catching each other while running in the tide!"


    Ste gave both of them a nk look and said, "I''m tiny. The moment I step in the tide, I''m going to get pulled in by the undertow."


    Wata stood up and said, "Don''t worry, Ste! Water can''t hurt you when I''m around! And if it does, I''ll beat it up and turn it to dust!"


    Ste pushed Wata over and said, "Silly. You can''t pummel water into a pulp."


    "Eh?" Sylphy tilted her head. "But I''ve done that?"


    Ste stared at Sylphy. Then she let out a deep sigh. "Why does no one in my family havemon sense?"


    Norn shrugged. "Papa saidmon sense isn''t verymon." She paused and said, "He also said that Mama and Mama Lily had a lot of it though."


    "And that exins why everyone''s like this, huh?" Ste frowned.


    Was that why they were still missing? Since they hadmon sense, were they being kept away somewhere to nerf them? But-


    "Zenny!"


    An excited female voice.


    Ste blinked and looked up to see a woman with short blonde hair and clear blue eyes run up to Ena.


    "Eh?" Norn blinked and looked surprised. "M-Mom?"


    Sylphy frowned and said, "...No. She looks a lot like Miss Zenith, but she''s not. And why would she say ''Zenny'' if she was your mom?"


    "...Oh. That''s right. But..." Norn tilted her head.


    Ena turned around, looking confused at the mystery woman.


    Eos turned as well and frowned. "I think you are mistaken, Miss-"


    A ck blur. A hooded figure wearing a faded coat appeared behind Ena and started feeling her up.


    "Nn~?!? N-No! St-Stop that!" Ena squirmed and tried pushing the man off, but he spun her around andughed. A creepy and perverted maleugh.


    Ste blinked.


    In that time, a dozen icicles suddenly shot towards the hooded figure. Not only that, but a giant gust of wind shot towards the man as well.


    Ste blinked again and Eos had somehow grabbed Ena, standing in front of her while Ena crouched on the ground, hugging herself and shaking.


    The woman that Norn said looked like their mother stood up and held out her hands, looking apologetic.


    At that time, Ste reached towards her ne since it looked like the situation was serious. But before she could-


    "BIG BROTHER! A PERVERT ASSAULTED ENA!"


    Norn did first.


    It was different.


    When Ste called for help, Onii-chan showed up in a dramatic fashion and yed up being a Demon Lord. He arrived in a cool way and took his time.


    But when Norn called out...


    An explosion.


    Chunks of the air shattered like ss, showing a starry background. At the same time, Rudy shot out, swinging a crimson sword at the cloaked figure.


    Ste couldn''t follow what happened next.


    All she knew was that one second, Ena and Eos were standing by the beach, and in the next they were sitting on the ground next to Sylphy. Not only that, but Eris and Rnd were back too, both with swords drawn and letting out a really scary aura.


    "W-Whoa there!" A gruff male voice echoed amidst the sound of shing steel. "I-It was an honest mistake!"


    Norn stiffened. "Wait..."


    Sylphy paused as well and looked over. "That voice..."


    Eris blinked and then facepalmed. "I *knew* that creep was going to cause an incident some time..."


    An explosion of force, blowing sand all over the ce. Rudy and the hooded figure shing their swords in the middle of the beach.


    Rudy''s eyes were sharp, shining a bloody red.


    As for the hooded figure...


    The force from the impact blew his hood back, revealing his face.


    Bright green eyes. Short, dirty blonde hair. A handsome face that was clean shaven.


    Ste didn''t recognize it. ...No. Staring at the guy, Ste felt that he was vaguely familiar.


    But it looked like everyone else did.


    "PAPA!" Norn shouted and said, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"


    The man...


    Wait.


    Did Norn just call that guy ''Papa?''


    "N-Norn?" The handsome man looked over. "And that''s Eris... Sylphy... Then the baby has to be Ste. So then this guy..." He paused and slowly turned his gaze back to Rudy. "Uh... Hi, Kid. When did your hair turn back- Bwaha?!"


    Rudy slugged the man in the face and said, "You perverted motherfucker! How the hell do you get off feeling up your own granddaughter like that, huh?!"


    "G-G-Granddaughter?! Wait, what do you-" The man froze and then covered his face. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Zenny''s going to kill me."


    Rudy threw his sword away and said, "I''M going to kill you!" He ran forward to grab the man by his shirt.


    "H-Hey!" The man slipped out from Rudy''s grasp and said, "C-Calm down, Rudy!"


    "I''ll calm down when I smack you a few times! Let me get out this righetous fatherly anger on the guy who set such a terrible example!"


    "W-W-Wait...! N-Norn! Help Papa out!"


    "..." Norn gave ''Papa'' a nk look and then turned her head to the side. "Hmph."


    "Kuh!" ''Papa'' clutched his chest, doubling over in shock.


    And then he promptly got hit with a roundhouse kick, sending him flying through the air beforending face first onto the sand.


    Sylphy took a deep breath.


    Eris looked at her and nodded.


    Rudy walked forward.


    And then the three of them suddenly moved together and jumped on ''Papa'', stomping him into the sand.


    "You perverted creep!" Eris stomped on Paul''s right hand and said, "Couldn''t you hold it in? Or at least let it out in private by yourself!"


    Sylphy ground the heel of her boot into Papa''s back. "It''s because of you! You told me all those stories and made me build up all that tension! Do you know how embarrassed I was after I jumped Rudy!?"


    Rudy stomped on the man''s face and said, "How do you like it now, huh? Motherfucker! *Dodge* you said. *Fight better* you said. Try dodging this, asshole!"


    Ste blinked.


    This...


    She didn''t want to believe it. So she turned to Norn and said, "Nee-chan?"


    Norn looked over at Ste, pointedly ignoring the scene in front of her and said, "Yes, Ste?"


    Ste pointed at the man on the ground and said, "...That''s Papa?"


    "That''s right. And don''t worry. Papa''s stupid strong. Emphasis on stupid. He won''t seriously get hurt from something like this."


    At that time, the woman who looked like ''Mama'' ording to Norn walked over. "Um..." She looked at Norn and Ste and said, "...I guess you two must be my nieces?"


    Norn tilted her head. "Niece? Are you Mama''s sister then?"


    The woman nodded. "That''s right. I''m Therese, your Mom''s younger sister. Um, sorry about the confusion." She looked over at Ena and then frowned. "...But you really look like Zenny."


    Eos adjusted her sses. "Of course. She is our grandmother, so it is only obvious we would look like her."


    "Eh?"


    Ste slowly sat down on the ground. After that, she patted herp and said, "Wata. Come here."


    Wata floated over and sat down. "Yes, Ste?"


    Ste didn''t say a word and just started patting him. After that, she picked up her sippy cup and started drinking again.


    ...Even in her past life, Ste hadn''t had alcohol. But right now, she sure as hell wished she had a cup of it.


    "Gah! Dad''s sorry, okay?! It''s just been so long and I''ve been holding it back-"


    "I take it back! Scum doesn''t change! Jumping a woman like that without her being able to resist... I''m telling Mama Lily! No, I''m taking Mama Lily and Mom and running away!"


    "H-Hold on! Don''t be so drastic!"


    "Yeah! Tell him, Rudy!"


    "Wait." Rudy suddenly stopped and said, "I have a better idea."


    Before Ste could catch the flow of events, she was suddenly held in Rudy''s arms. And also suddenly held up in front of ''Papa.''


    Rudy let out a bright smile and said, "Ste. Meet your Dad."


    Eris and Sylphy stepped back, letting the man sit up.


    His face was scuffed up and his hair was covered in sand now. But he still looked pretty handsome.


    It was clear where Onii-chan got his looks.


    But.


    ''Papa'' let out a nervousugh and waved. "H-Hi there, Ste. I''m Paul, your Papa."


    Ste turned to look at Rudy.


    Rudy stared back, smiling.


    "Onii-chan."


    "Yes, Ste?"


    She pointed at ''Papa'' and said, "This guy. He''s ''Papa''?"


    "That''s right."


    "I see." Ste slowly turned to look at Paul.


    Paul stared back, still smiling.


    Ste nodded and then turned around to hug Rudy. "I take it back. Onii-chan is great. I don''t need a Papa. Onii-chan is enough."


    Right. If her dad was someone like *that*, Ste would prefer just pretending that Rudy was her dad the whole time.

 134 – The Baby Sister’s Crumbling Hopes

    134 ¨C The Baby Sister¡¯s Crumbling Hopes


    Part 1


    After that mess at the beach, the man called Paul (who Ste refused to call ''Papa'') copsed and looked lifeless. The appearance of someone who saw their world crumble before their very eyes.


    But he didn''t stay like that for long. After a couple of minutes, he got up on his feet.


    Or rather, Onii-chan got him up on his feet with a gust of wind magic and started dragging him through town.


    And with the man being paraded through town like a pariah, Rudy led everyone to a fancy looking house on a hill overlooking the rest of the town.


    ...One that definitely hadn''t been there before they arrived.


    It seemed like Onii-chan really was showing off a lot.


    But anyway, after tossing Paul into a sofa in the living room, Rudy took a seat across from Paul.


    Before anyone else could move, Ste dashed over to Onii-chan and took a seat on hisp.


    Norn puffed her cheeks at that, but then she dragged a chair over and took a seat on Rudy''s right.


    Eris and Sylphy stared at each other for a bit before Sylphy let Eris take the spot next to Rudy. When Eris did, Sylphy conjured a fancy crystal chair and sat directly behind Rudy.


    Eos and Ena took the spots next to Sylphy, and then Rnd quietly locked the door before standing in the back.


    If Ste didn''t know better, she would have thought they were there for an execution...


    ...But Onii-chan wouldn''t do that.


    Right?


    Paul sat up and took a look around. After a brief nce, he smiled and said, "Did you remake our house here, Rudy?"


    "It''s the one I remember the most, yeah." Rudy nodded and patted Ste''s head.


    Ste pouted, but stayed still. The mood was weird, so she didn''t want to interrupt.


    "You''ve gotten pretty strong, huh?" Paul swept his gaze around to meet everyone before settling it back on Rudy. "And in the blink of an eye, you''re already a man. I always joked with your Mom about you growing up fast, but this is a bit ridiculous, you know?"


    "I think it''s more ridiculous how strong you''ve gotten." Rudy frowned and stared at Paul, his eyes shing green. "...Since when did you figure out how to meld your Battle Aura with every fiber of your body? I was wondering why it felt like kicking a steel wall..."


    "Meh. You pick things up here and there." Paul looked over at Eos and Ena and said, "The more important question is... Since when did you get kids? And if they''re that big..." He frowned and looked at Rudy. "...How old are you now? Did you get trapped in a dungeon?" He paused and then looked at Ste, confused. "...But Ste doesn''t look that much older... It''s already been five years though?"


    Five years?


    Ste furrowed her brow and did some math.


    She and Onii-chan arrived at the Magic Continent shortly after Ste was born. Then Onii-chan spent about a half year building a kingdom and gathering his forces. Then there was another half year after all of Ste''s nee-chans arrived...


    ...So it should just be one year?


    No, Sylphy nee-chan said that time was flowing a bit differently on the Magic Continent...


    ...But Onii-chan said he fixed that?


    ...Ste''s head hurt. The math didn''t line up right.


    Rudy patted Ste''s head and said, "Don''t think about it too hard, Ste. Being W messed time up all over the world, so trying to keep track of it all won''t work."


    "...Okay, Onii-chan."


    Right. She''d leave Onii-chan to sort it all out. It didn''t make any sense, but a lot of things stopped making sense. So she''d leave it to her senseless Onii-chan to deal with it.


    Rudy looked over at Paul and said, "It''s been ten thousand years."


    ...Or not?


    Eris immediately spun towards Rudy and said, "Wait, what?"


    Sylphy''s eyes widened and she turned towards Rudy. Her emerald eyes started to glitter with tears and she said, "Rudy..."


    Norn was surprised as well and said, "Big Brother... Did you lie about how long it had been to keep us from worrying? You..."


    Faced with those three, Rudy flinched and said, "Ohe on. You ruined it. How am I going to guilt trip Dad now?" He paused. "Oh wait. I don''t need to since he groped Ena."


    Paul''s ears turned a bright red and he stammered, "I-I said I''m sorry, okay?! It''s just... she looks *just* like Zenny! Even the bo-"


    Rudy narrowed his eyes.


    "I-I mean..." Paul coughed and said, "It seems like your daughters inherited a lot more from your Mom than me?"


    Eos turned up her nose in disgust and crossed her arms. "...Father. May I pluck his eyes out? He''s worse than those perverts who joined the Survey Corps for me to yell at them."


    Ena shuddered and tugged her very conservative white robe around her. "I''ll listen to Daddy more. People are scary..."


    Rudy pointed at them and said, "See? And no, Eos. We''ll let Mom and Mama Lily deal with him. Also, I''ll make you a barrier charmter, Ena. You won''t have to worry about creeps like that in the future."


    Ena let out a relieved smile and said, "Thanks Daddy."


    "You''re wee." He paused and said, "...But don''t use it to fry Cliff."


    Ena pouted. "How''d you know?"


    "He''s not *that* bad. A bit too earnest, but he''s not a pervert."


    "...If you say so, Daddy."


    Paul looked between Rudy and Ena and mouthed ''Daddy'' with a weird expression on his face.


    Norn turned up her nose and muttered, "...Papa got worse."


    Eris nodded. "It looks like it."


    Sylphy pursed her lips and said, "I understand what Mom meant now about Paul being a bad influence..."


    "Hey!" Paul spoke up and said, "I''m not that bad! I''ve done a lot of good things in these past years, you know?"


    Rudy raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"


    Paul waved his hand and said, "Forget about me for now!" He pointed at Rudy and said, "What are you doing going around killing a bunch of people to practice magic?"


    Rudy blinked. "I didn''t though?"


    "They why did you dye your hair brown? That''s obviously to go undercover, isn''t it?"


    "No. I dyed it brown because people with white hair stick out like sore thumbs and I didn''t want to get mistaken as the reincarnation of Milis again in a ce with people even more zealous than a few of the high-ranked priests that got warped to the Magic Continent."


    "...Huh?" Paul frowned. "...So you *didn''t* turn Windport into and of the dead and learned how to summon a bloodred moon?"


    Rudy paused to think about that. "...Technically no, but also yes?"


    "That''s not reassuring, Rudy."


    "To be fair, I didn''t expect a different version of myself to be able to crossover into this world."


    "...What?"


    Rudy sighed and said, "It''s a long story. But we can catch up on that in a bit. First..." He paused and said, "Since when do I have an older sister?"


    Paul blinked. "...You don''t?"


    "Didn''t that woman who looked like Mom say that Ena and Eos were her nieces? That''d mean that she''d be my sister, right?" He narrowed his eyes and said, "...Have you been keeping something from us?"


    Eris turned up her nose to look down at Paul.


    Sylphy turned her head away.


    Norn crossed her arms and pouted.


    As for Ste...


    ''...Just what kind of family did I get reincarnated into...?''


    ...She just sat there and watched the unfolding trainwreck.


    -SNG-


    Part 2


    "Ena. I am *so* sorry about that. Believe me when I say that I seriously would have never done that if I knew who you were."


    "U-Um... I... guess it''s okay..." Ena covered her chest and said, "I heard from Mother Eris and Mother Sylphy that you''re a lustful beast barely contained in a human body, so I suppose it was natural considering how I was dressed..."


    "No, no." Paul quickly shook his head and said, "It''s not your fault. If any bastard does that to you, it''s a hundred percent on them for not having self-control."


    Ste gave Paul a nk stare and said, "So Paul is a man with no self-control?"


    Paul nodded and said, "That''s right, Ste. Your Papa''s this sort of shameless person at heart. I''ve gotten a lot better over the years though."


    Ste wrinkled her nose.


    *Wow. Ste''s Papa is really shameless...* Fai''s voice echoed in Ste''s head.


    *...He wouldn''t be the type to attack his own daughter, right...?* Wata''s concerned voice.


    ''I''m not really sure... That''s the scary part.''


    If he did that to Ena then what wouldn''t he do...?


    Paul noticed Ste''s expression and quickly waved his hands. "I''m not like that, Ste! Promise! This was a once in a lifetime mistake!"


    "...If you say so."


    Just in case though, Ste would make sure to stick around Onii-chan a lot when she grew up.


    Just in case.


    Paul sighed. "Well. I suppose I did that to myself."


    They were still in the house that Onii-chan made. Apparently, it was a replica of the house they actually had back in Buina vige before it was ripped apart by the spacerend.


    Onii-chan had purchased a plot ofnd on the outskirt of town by throwing money at the mayor and then terraformed everything.


    As per usual for Ste''s Onii-chan. He couldn''t be bothered just acting like a normal person and buying a house. No, he had to reshape thend to his will.


    But anyway, after sorting things out and making quick introductions, Onii-chan propped up a magic door linking back to the Magic Continent and headed back to grab some people who wanted to return home.


    ...It still hurt Ste''s head how casually he did it. Especially since she had seen the calctions he used to map out the spatial coordinates.


    She was still convinced that Onii-chan was an evil genius from a different Japan who reincarnated after taking over the world.


    That aside...


    Rnd and Eos had gone out to check with the Adventurer''s hall and make sure notices were put up for Ste''s moms.


    And that was a thing. She had been wondering for a while why Onii-chan was so casual about having a harem, but it turned out that their dad had two wives.


    It should have been obvious in hindsight considering all the implications, but Ste *really* wanted to believe that there was some normality in her family.


    But it seemed that wasn''t the case.


    Maybe that was her punishment for being selfish before she died?


    Well. There wasn''t much point in thinking about what ifs.


    Sylphy and Eris were cooking in the kitchen. Norn was chatting with Aunt Therese and a girl with blonde hair and weird blue and pink eyes.


    Which left her and Ena with Paul in the living room.


    Ena still had a bit of a trauma from earlier, so she was sticking close to Ste and gently holding Ste''s hand for reassurance.


    It was kind of cute and reminded her a lot of her little brother hiding behind her in the past.


    Except that Ste was currently only a year old and Ena was a grown adult.


    ...Though Onii-chan said that they were ''born'' as adults, so technically Ste was older? And she *was* the aunt.


    ...Hah. At this rate, all of her hair was going to turn white like Onii-chan''s did.


    Paul shifted in his chair and then looked at Ste. "So... Ste. Um, what do you like to do for fun? y outside?"


    An awkward and stilted conversation. Still, it looked like Paul meant well, so...


    Ste stared at him and eventually said, "I like magic."


    Paul''s eyes lit up and he said, "Of course! Your mom''s a great magician." He nodded and said, "It''s obvious that you''d take after her." He paused and said, "I thought that Norn would actually, but it seems like she''s better with a sword than magic. Zenny would be really happy that one of her daughters is taking after her."


    Ena tilted her head and said, "Grandmother is a magician?"


    Paul looked at her and nodded. "Yep! I bet that''s where Rudy gets his knack with magic." He paused and said, "Though I''m not sure how he got so ridiculous. Sometimes I wonder if he''s even my kid... But then I see how he drops the ball every now and then and go, yep. That''s my kid alright." He frowned and said, "Wished he wasn''t so dense at times though."


    Ste blinked. "Dense? Onii-chan doesn''t havemon sense, but he isn''t dense."


    Considering how easily he turned Eris and Sylphy into gooey messes... in figuratively and literally, he definitely wasn''t dense. Especially with how expertly he kept dodging Rika''s clear advances.


    Paul blinked. "What?"


    Ena nodded and said, "Daddy is really good with women." She tilted her head and said, "Me and Eos were surprised that he was still single for so long. But I guess that''s because he was waiting for Mommy Eris and Mommy Sylphy. Oh! And he said that we have a Mommy Roxy too, so... Yep. Definitely not dense."


    Paul blinked again and then looked smug. "That little bastard. So he finally took after me, huh?"


    "That''s not something you should be proud of, ''Papa.''"


    Ste said it sarcastically. Clearly sarcastically. Even so...


    "Hah! You called me Papa!" Paul grinned and then pumped a fist in the air. "Yes! It''s only a matter of time now before you ept me!"


    Ste quickly scrambled into Ena''s arms.


    "L-Lady S-Ste?"


    "Ena. Let''s go."


    "G-Go? Um... Okay? But where?"


    "Anywhere but with this creep."


    Paul stood up with wide eyes. "H-Hold on, Ste! I was just kidding!"


    "Wata."


    Paul blinked. "Water? Wh- Bwaha?!"


    Wata appeared and sted Paul with a water ball, turning up his nose in disgust. "...Yes." He nodded and turned towards Ste. "I think we should treat Master Rudy as your father, Ste. This man doesn''t deserve that honor."


    "H-Hold on!" Paul stood up,pletely dry.


    Wata blinked and then looked at his paws, confused. "...I hit him, right?"


    "I''ll be serious, so-"


    Wata sent out another water ball.


    It hit Paul again. But instead of sshing, it just vanished.


    Wata blinked and then tilted his head. "...Huh? Did you... cut the mana?"


    Huh. Well, that exined a bit on how Onii-chan was ridiculous...


    Wait. Did that mean that her Mom was super ridiculous too?


    ...


    Ste turned to look at her ''Papa'' and said, "Paul."


    "Yes, Sweetie?"


    Ste resisted the urge to shiver and said, "Is Mama an angel?"


    "Hm?" Paul stopped to think about it and then nodded. "Yep. Definitely an angel. And definitely not a sadistic fallen angel who made me develop a weird kink or anything, hehe..."


    "...Let''s go, Ena."


    Ena gave Paul a nk look and then slowly nodded. "Yes. Let''s leave Grandfather alone for a while..."


    "H-Hold on! You''re misunderstanding again!" Paul looked off to the side and said, "Norn! Therese! Help me out here!"


    Paul cried out. But as expected, he was being ignored.


    Ena lifted Ste up and turned to walk away. Wata floated in front of them both, holding his arms out to protect them with tiny water balls and ice crystals floating around him.


    And then a deep sigh echoed. One that sounded familiar, but also was a bit different.


    Ste blinked and looked towards the source of the sigh.


    "I told you this would happen if you run off without me, Paul."


    A man with a familiar build. A familiar vibe. Also a familiar voice. Not only that, but he even had on a white coat. It was different than the one Ste was used to since it had some fur on it and had a more wild ir. But it was definitely the same sort of style overall.


    Ena paused and tilted her head. "...Daddy?"


    The man froze, slowly turning towards Ena. As he did, he revealed a face covered by a in white mask as well as a head full of violet hair.


    "Daddy?" A charming and slightly sultry female voice called out after that. And with it came an elf woman with light blonde hair and crimson eyes. One wearing a loose green maternity dress with a clear baby bump. She turned to the man and pouted. "I thought you said that I was the only one for you, Hubby."


    The man reached out to poke the elf in the head and said, "Stop ying around. You''ll cause more misunderstandings."


    "Teehee."


    "Still..." The man tilted his head, staring straight at Ste.


    Ste stared back.


    And then the man spoke in Japanese.


    "Shizuka Nanahoshi... Since when did you get reincarnated here instead of being transported?"


    Eh?


    -RNG-


    The basement of the infamous Dark Spire in the Kingdom of Arcadia.


    Not my name for the tower or the kingdom, but that was what stuck, so that''s what it was.


    Anyway, setting up the Everywhere Door in my new summer home back at the Milis Continent, I warped back to Arcadia to finish linking it to the gateway I prepped beforehand.


    After a few tests, everything was working. Felt a bit weird stepping through one door and ending up somewhere else entirely, but that wasn''t important in the grand scheme of things.


    What *was* important was helping people get back home and fulfilling my promises. So...


    "I cannot thank you enough for this, Lord Rudras." A middle-aged man in formal white robes bowed to me and let out a brilliant smile. "To not only shelter us, but to go through so much effort to allow us to return home... Truly, this must be the grace of Milis."


    I shook my head and nced out behind him. "I wouldn''t be thanking me so soon, Harry. Especially not when I''m using you guys."


    A group of White Knights. Among them included Astolfo and some of the original core, but most of them were people who had been transported from the Milis Continent who had joined the group to help pay back Arcadia.


    And all of them were at least Saint-ranked in magic andbat abilities.


    Mostly because Astolfo and Rnd were great teachers. Well, that and being attractive probably helped inspire the group.


    But anyway, as promised, I would be sending them all home. But before they left Arcadia forever, I asked them for a favor.


    Cliff adjusted his robes and frowned. After that, he looked up at me and said, "Are you certain about this, Father-inw? I don''t think the Demon Race Expulsion Faction will take our return lightly. Especially not since we''re returning with arge military force."


    "Well." I activated irvoyance and checked on the capital of Milis. Seeing the chaos, lynchings, and the mist of Being W''s mana hanging over the city. "...It''s either wee in and reassert order or the nobles execute the ''peasants'' for inciting ''revolution.''" I looked over at Cliff and said, "You ready to show me your worth, Genius?"


    "...While I''m honored, hearing that wording from you is a bit heavy, Father-inw."


    "Then you should work harder. Especially if you''re serious about Ena. Now, let''s get going."


    Time to go ruin that bastard''s ns.

 135 – The Humbled Genius’s Actions

    135 ¨C The Humbled Genius¡¯s Actions


    Cliff Grimoire was a genius. He had known that all his life. Despite being an orphan anding from humble backgrounds, he was made aware of how different he was from the others as he grew older. That became even more apparent when he began learning magic and quickly reached the Advanced level in most of the major branches before he even turned ten years old.


    And then his life turned upside down. Or would it be more appropriate to say it spun out of control, considering the chain of events?


    His adoptive father, Harry Grimoire revealed that he was the current Pope''s grandson. The world was sundered as time and space ripped apart through a phenomenon that some deemed the end of times. Cliff himself was thrown into a farflung dungeon after being sucked into a distortion and lived only by the divine grace of Ena''s angelic descent, a scene that he would always remain etched in his heart even if he fell into hell...


    And of course, he had the greater fortune still of meeting Ena''s father, a man who was surely the reincarnation of Saint Milis from the constant miracles he performed and the thousands he saved. One who did not hesitate to don the mantle of a Demon Lord so that the true demons would hesitate.


    Lord Rudras, the Demon Lord of Salvation, the Second Advent of Saint Milis... and to his family, Rudeus Notos Greyrat.


    Of course, Cliff would call him Father-inw.


    He was determined. Though Ena spurned his love, Cliff was sure that it was only a matter of time. Especially as he had obtained Father-inw''s approval.


    Only...


    Cliff nced back at the entourage following him and then looked forward, fiddling with the tie on his uniform. "Father-inw''s expectations are quite heavy..."


    Cliff was no child. At least, not after his years traveling with the White Knights in the Distortions to rescue victims of the spacetime rend.


    He wasn''t sure on the exact timing, but Cliff had passed his fifteenth birthday by a few years at least.


    More than that, with the responsiblity of mediating between the varied races in Arcadia, it was only a matter of time for him to mature and settle into the role of a confident young man.


    Yes. Cliff was sure of that fact. He could proudly raise his head up high and say that he was a man who had done great things in his life and contributed to a greater cause.


    But this...


    Not just a toon, but a practical army of men and women that exceeded the military prowess of the pdins in the Holy Order.


    Was it because Father-inw never learnedmon sense? Did his teachers or parents never instill it to him?


    The bare minimum to be included in the White Knights was to be Saint-ranked inbat. Considering that it was only a rank above ''Advanced'', which most people could reach with enough training, on paper it wasn''t too extreme.


    Until you took into ount that Saint-ranked was the pinnacle of what a person with ordinary talent could reach in a lifetime.


    The number of ''Kings'' could be counted on two hands for each style and category of magic and the number of ''Gods'' could be counted on one.


    So to be Saint-ranked was already to be a world-ss expert. One that could hold their head up high and walk anywhere with pride.


    ...And there were at least a hundred of those world-ss experts following behind Cliff and his father. All of them, no older than their thirties.


    Then there were a few of the original thirteen White Knights present like Lady Astolfo who had to be at *least* the level of a Sword King...


    A low chuckle echoed from beside Cliff. Harry Grimoire, a high-ranking priest in the Church of Milis, as well as Cliff''s adoptive father. Fixing his dark bangs, he nced at Cliff and said, "It just shows how much faith he has in your ability to handle situations, Cliff."


    "Hopefully that faith will not be unfounded."


    Cliff nervously adjusted the personalized silver cuff-links he wore before looking at the swiftly approaching city in front of them.


    They were currently on the Holy Sword Road, the famous paved path protected by the remnant energy of Saint Milis. Up ahead, there was a clear view of Millishion, the Holy Milis Kingdom''s capital.


    The glittering Nikus River flowing down from the Blue Dragon Mountain Range and into the sparkling blue Grand Lake. Floating in the center of that was the White Pce, an elegantly crafted marble castle that shone even at night.


    Backing up from the Grand Lake, there was the shining golden Great Church and the shining silver Adventurer''s Guild Headquarters. From there, in an orderly spread, there was the city itself, surrounded by seven great towers and a peaceful meadow filled with flowers.


    A harmonious scenery that Cliff had once admired with all of his heart. But when he reflected on the kingdom he just left...


    ''It is shabby.''


    Millishion was certainly beautiful. And with the Holy Sword Road as well as those towers that created a magic barrier to stop monsters, it was also peaceful. Enough that it was known throughout the world as a utopia. The most idyllic ce to live, as well as the safest.


    Of course, that was setting aside the spacetime rend that had reached inside of that barrier and plucked countless people away, like Cliff and over half of those following him.


    A problem that Arcadia didn''t have.


    Despite being in the center of the most dangerous region in the Magic Continent, those within Arcadia had nothing to fear and could live their lives in peace. Neither monsters nor Distortions could reach them. And Cliff would even dare to say that even Gods could not peer within the kingdom.


    Yes. That was the difference.


    If Millishion was an idyllic setting plucked from a painting that mere humans conjured from their imaginations to represent utopia, Arcadia was the actualization of the ideal they could not conceive.


    And where mana flowed freely, where the weather was always pleasant... Where the strongest monsters, both demon and actual monsters alike, were forced to bow their heads. And where people from all races could live in harmony without fear of prejudice or discrimination and pursue their dreams. Where merit and ambition was rewarded, and where even the ''nobles'' strove for excellence.


    ...Although the fact that Father-inw lived in the ominous ck Tower that seemed to pierce the heavens was a bit off-putting whenpared to the elegant White Pce where the Pope lived, it also showed a stark difference.


    The White Pce, Church, and Adventurers Guild were all separate from the citizens in Millishion. As if to say they had nothing to do with each other and would fulfill their own roles... A fact emphasized from how the White Pce was in the center of the Grand Lake and continuously guarded by pdins to keep out the ''riffraff.''


    In contrast, in Arcadia, the ck Tower, Adventurer''s Guild, Church, and living quarters of the citizens were all integrated.


    Although the ck Tower was mostly sealed off from people, Lord Rudras himself was essible in the tiny house he made at the foot of the tower... Moreover...


    Cliff sighed and shook his head. ''No. At this rate, I will not cease finding faults.''


    It was no useparing.


    Cliff knew the difference. Millishion was a Holy Kingdom established in the name of a divine figure. Arcadia was a Holy Kingdom established *by* a divine figure.


    The former was built around the remnants of miracles, while thetter was built through the actualization of miracles.


    ...Which was the source of the problems unfolding.


    They were still far away from Millishion. Even so, Cliff was able to see the city with his prototype magic eyes.


    It was nothingpared to the true irvoyance that Father-inw possessed, but if it was just enhancing his vision...


    Cliff narrowed his eyes and focused on the city, zooming in his vision.


    A wooden wall, raised on the side of the Nobles living in Millishion, blocking out themoners and adventurers. A wall that was being constantly patrolled by men and women wearing full armor that bore the clear mark of the Holy Order.


    Shifting his vision to the White Pce, Cliff saw pdins on patrol. Men and women that seemed tense and constantly ncing towards the city. Some gazes filled with irritation, others with concern. And the ratio...


    "...About half, is it?"


    Cliff blinked and his vision turned back to normal.


    Harry looked at him and said, "Half?"


    Cliff nodded. "That''s correct. It seems that the sentiment among the Holy Order is split in half. Although the public is split more than that..." He nced back at the city and focused on the nobles cowering away in their homes.


    Not all, but a great number.


    Cliff rubbed his chin. "This will be a bit difficult. But I suppose that is why Father-inw left it to me."


    Yes. It would be difficult, but now that Cliff considered things...


    It was just mediating between humans. Compared to when he was resolving situations and disputes among the staunchest Milis follower and the most prejudiced Demon, it was nothing.


    Although...


    "...I truly hope that this does not end inbat."


    If it did, Cliff had a feeling the Church of Milis wouldn''t be standing by the end of the day...


    -RNG-


    "...And that''s thest tower." I checked over the magic formations Iid down and then nced over at Cliff and his entourage.


    He seemed a bit fidgety, but overall he didn''t look concerned. Once the guy got into the flow of things, it seemed like he was fine.


    ...Though he also had a tendency to go overboard as well.


    Not like me, but Cliff *did* have a bit of a stubborn streak. Especially when it came to things that he fundamentally believed.


    He was more flexible now... Mostly because he kept revising himself to be closer to the sort of man that Ena would like, but he was still a bit intense.


    Probably the reason why Ena kept avoiding him.


    ...Man, I feel old now. Did the reincarnation age gapg finally catch up to me? Instead of feeling like a teenager, I felt like a middle-aged man already thinking about his daughter''s happiness.


    Or maybe that was just a natural result from the fact that I had a daughter now. And was definitely doing my best to be a better father than Dad was.


    Not that Dad was *that* bad. He had his faults... Actually, a lot of faults. Enough that I still wanted to throw a few more punches at his face, maybe break a finger or ten... but he did care. And he was better now than he used to be at least.


    Yep. Gotta keep believing that and make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thoughts had weight in this world after all. At least, considering the fact that they could influence mana, they probably could affect destiny and fate a bit-


    Wait. Was *that* why things kept happening? Was I tempting fate a lot by thinking about the worst-case scenario? And could Being W use that somehow and make it a reality?


    Hm. Food for thought.


    But for now, I had to make sure that the house hadn''t burned down since I was gone. Especially since Eris and Sylphy were in charge of cooking today.


    It wasn''t that I didn''t doubt my lovelydies, but... Eris wasn''t the delicate sort and Sylphy hadn''t cooked a proper meal since she started adventuring.


    I made sure to change my hair color, picking a bright red like Eri''s, and pinpointed an empty side-alley in the port town we were staying. After that, I warped back. After making sure I wasn''t seen, I adjusted my fancy ck suit before walking out.


    And then I immediately bumped into someone.


    "Whoa!" A genial male voice. "Careful there, Pal."


    I looked up and let out a rxed smile. "My bad. I''ll be careful in the future."


    A cordial response to deescte the situation.


    I was incognito, so it wasn''t worth drawing too much attention to myself. It''d be annoying to get rid of witnesses and/or experiment with mind-wipe magic.


    It didn''t seem like that was necessary though.


    The guy I bumped into was fairly amiable looking. He was a bit shady, dressed like a thief, but he had a pleasant smile. The fact that he looked a bit like a monkey was suspicious though-


    Wait.


    A faint memory. A half-recalled conversation with Dad about something suspicious he noted around a friend of his.


    Namely the fact that the friend mentioned had Being W''s mana all over him.


    Gisu nodded and then waved. "Make sure to do that. Not everyone''s as good-natured as me, you know?" After saying that, he tucked his hands into his pocket and walked off.


    I turned around and walked towards the beach to not draw his suspicion. As I did though, I used irvoyance to look at him and used a bit of wind magic to listen in case he mumbled anything.


    And just as I thought...


    "Weird. Is this a jinx? That''s the second time I bumped into someone today while looking for Paul... And people are talking about a scary Milis Priest taking up residence nearby. Hm. ...Yeah. Let''s skip town for now. I still need to-"


    His voice suddenly cut off, like he noticed someone was listening and immediately stopped talking.


    At the same time, the mana I used to cast the wind magic spell shattered, suddenly disrupted by an unseen force.


    I wasn''t too worried.


    Since I was being subtle, I used a different mana signature than my usual one and even changed the nature of my mana. I was also using <Silence> on myself, so I didn''t emit any mana signatures other than the fake one I was using.


    Even if Being W was staring right at me, he wouldn''t be able to tell that I was me.


    Still...


    I absently walked into the marketce and made it seem like I was browsing the wares. At the same time, I mulled over that guy''s appearance.


    Gisu... Was he working for Being W? Dad mentioned that he was suspicious, but he was also a longtime family friend. And he didn''t seem like a bad guy from what I remembered. He also didn''t seem like a bad guy from what I saw.


    But it was too convenient.


    Why was he looking for Dad? And from what I heard, he also bailed on everyone after that mission... So why was he here now? To apologize? Ask a favor now that Dad was a bigshot?


    Or-


    A rough hand grasping my left arm and dragging me away. Immediately after that, I was pulled close to someone''s side and had my left arm pressed against something very soft. Two very soft things.


    Before I could register what was happening, a familiar female voice echoed. "I have had a *very* long day. You are the first decent man in this town and I need an escort for the day. And before I say anything, I will not take no for an answer. Be grateful a beauty like myself is gracing you with herpany."


    A haughty tone of voice and an unreasonable demand. Though, when paired with the woman''s heavenly beauty, it was enough that any man would just quietly shut up and agree.


    Well, if they were like Dad and liked being dominated.


    I certainly wasn''t.


    But I also wasn''t about to break free and leave her alone either, despite the unreasonable request.


    And the reason for that...


    Beautiful golden hair. Sharp green eyes and refined facial features that could belong to a goddess. A body with curves in all the right ces, including an ample chest. But also a body that was clearly trained, a fact highlighted by the fact that she kept her chest wrapped and was wearing an adventurer''s outfit... though I wasn''t sure where she picked that up.


    Eos adjusted her sses and started walking me towards a cafe. "We are getting lunch. I will order, and you will pay after we are finished. Until then, do your best to entertain me."


    I chuckled and said, "You know, Eos. If you wanted some bonding time, you could have just asked. There''s no need to be that aggressive about it."


    My lovely daughter froze. After that, she slowly turned her head to look at me. A stiff motion that made her look like a mannequin instead of a person.


    "N-No."


    I smiled and pulled my arm out of her now loose grip. After that, I reached over to pull her close in a one-armed hug and said, "Still, since it''s you making the request, who am I to deny it, right? And you deserve to be spoiled a bit too. Though..." I gave her a sidelong nce and said, "...I''ve got a lot to talk to you about how you pick up guys. Especially since we''ve just had an awkward ''incident'' today."


    Eos slumped over and let out a deep sigh. "...Just kill me, Father."


    "No can do. And be thankful I''m not teasing you about it. Now, I''m assuming this is a cafe you like, right? Your moms will probably be a bit mad at us showing upte for food back home, but it''s been a while since we''ve had some daddy-daughter time."


    "...Again. Please kill me."


    I hugged her tight and said, "Again, no can do. And since you and your sister skipped the cute baby and toddler phase, I''m going to do my best to enjoy your awkward rebellious teenager phase."


    Eos groaned.


    Iughed.


    -SSN-


    Sieghart- No, in this world, he was Rnd.


    Still...


    Rnd pursed his lips and quietly tailed after the monkey-like man making his way through the port town.


    He had never met the man. However, Rnd knew more than enough about that man to be concerned.


    Gisu Nukadia.


    A man that evaded Orsted''s knowledge across countless timeloops and was cunning enough to push Rudeus Greyrat into a corner by gathering allies and resources that nobody expected.


    Rnd wasn''t concerned about his father in this timeline. Especially since he seemed to be even more imaginative and powerful than the father he knew while being a fraction of his age.


    But he was concerned about everyone else.


    The grandfather that he never met growing up. The aunt who was never born in his timeline. The family he had now that he didn''t in his timeline. And one that he wouldn''t have to worry about raising his sword against, unlike in his past life.


    It was a dream he wouldn''t let end. Even if he had to sacrifice himself to ensure that happened, he would-


    "Honestly. You never change, do you, Sieg?"


    Rnd stumbled and quickly looked around.


    A voice he wouldn''t forget... Couldn''t forget.


    Especially since she had been crying over his dying body while trying to hold him with her tiny arms.


    A tiny girl- No, a petite young woman who was older than him by a few years. One with light blue hair that was frazzled and messy, just like Blue Mama''s.


    "L-Lara?"


    The young woman who shouldn''t be there smiled.


    Rnd''s eyes widened and he turned to walk towards her.


    But as he did, his body moved on his own.


    A single step, crossing the distance.


    A sh executed at light speed against his will-


    And then he woke up.


    "Hm? Waking up like that... Guess even after all these years, the nerves haven''t gone away, huh?"


    A familiar voice. One that Rnd... No. That Sieghart would never forget.


    He turned towards the speaker.


    A blue-haired man with a face full of wrinkles. But a man whose eyes and body remained full of vigor despite his age.


    Pax Shirone Junior. Sieghart''s lifelong friend and the one he pledged his life and loyalty to.


    But...


    The old man shook his head and said, "I suppose it''s to be expected. After all, since the Asura Kingdom is involved, surely among their forces..." He trailed off.


    Rnd didn''t respond.


    Instead, he turned his head to look around at the surroundings.


    A conference room with a huge ck iron desk in the center. Seven seats surrounding it, and a map left unfolded on the table.


    It was dark, the nearby windows showing a night sky. The only source of light were a few torches sitting on the wall.


    Rnd recognized it. The ce where hisrades gathered for thest time before that final battle. The area that they left for Pax''s granddaughter to protect.


    "Sieg?" Pax Junior tilted his head and said, "What''s wrong? Are you that worried about fighting your family?"


    "I..." Rnd ced a hand on his forehead. "...Was it a dream?"


    It was too idyllic.


    ...Right. It had to be a dream.


    His death. The failed battle. Waking up in another world where everything was simr but so drastically different. That-


    "It wasn''t a dream, you know?"


    Lara''s voice.


    Rnd looked towards it.


    Pax Junior did as well. But unlike Rnd who only looked, Pax Junior somehow drew a sword and swung it at Lara''s neck.


    "W-Wait-!"


    Blood sttered. Lara''s smiling face tumbling through the air. And then-


    -???-


    The Greyrat Household in the Ranoa Kingdom, home of the famous Ranoa Magic University.


    There, a petite young woman with messy blue hair let out a frustrated sigh. Next to her, another petite young woman with short blue hair clutched aplicated piece of machinery to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. And next to her, another petite woman, though one who looked a fair bit older than the others, let out a deep sigh.


    Watching the trio, Zenith let out an awkward smile and said, "It''s alright. There''s no need to rush."


    Lilia nodded and said, "While this has certainly been a strange experience, it has been far from unpleasant. Although..." She shifted her gaze towards the oldest of the three blue-haired petite women and said, "...I still am unsure how to feel about the fact that even you were swayed by Rudy, Roxy."


    Roxy looked up at Lilia before shifting her gaze to Zenith. After that, she shook her head and said, "And I''m still unsure about how to feel seeing you two again after all these years. Especially seeing you two so young again. Hah..."


    Zenith smiled and said, "Well, I''ve certainly enjoyed this trip! Especially meeting all of my cute grandchildren! And great-grandchildren!" She paused and said, "...Although it *is* a bit strange at how different Rudy seems to have been here." She pursed her lips and said, "Especially how much he took after Paul..."


    Lilia pursed her lips as well and said, "I am more concerned about the fact that this Rudy was able to ensnare three wives in spite of the fact that he inherited so much of Paul''s bad side. Considering our Rudy only inherited the good..."


    Zenith paused and then shook her head. "It will be fine. There''s plenty of time left before our little Rudy grows up to be a man and has to deal with all of that."


    Lilia paused and then let out a faint smile. "You''re right, Zenny."


    Roxy looked over at Zenith and Lilia with a weird look.


    Zenith noticed and tilted her head. "Is something wrong, Roxy?"


    "...No. Just..." Her eyes took on a distant look and she let out a regretful sigh. "...Simply thinking about what could have been."


    -SNG-


    Ste stared at the man seated across from her.


    The man stared back.


    Ste stared again and then hesitantly spoke up in Japanese. "...Onii-chan? are you cosying again?"


    "Again, I''m not your Onii-chan, Nanahoshi. And that sounds weirding from you, so please stop."


    "...I don''t understand?"


    The man who was apparently *not* Onii-chan let out a frustrated sigh. "You and me both."

 136 – The Stellar Baby Sister’s Conclusion

    136 ¨C The Ster Baby Sister¡¯s Conclusion


    Ste stared at the man seated across from her and frowned.


    It was Onii-chan. That man was clearly Onii-chan.


    Well, his hair was this weird purple color, but Onii-chan had been running around changing his hair color recently anyway. And the man was wearing a mask, but Onii-chan was trying to be incognito, so it wasn''t too odd.


    Not only that, but Ste just felt like the man sitting there was Onii-chan. There was something about his vibe and general mannerisms that made her think it was impossible for him to be anyone else but Onii-chan.


    And yet... he also wasn''t.


    It was weird.


    Everything was telling Ste that the guy was Onii-chan, but at the same time she ''knew'' that the guy wasn''t.


    Maybe since she was super used to Onii-chan''s presence?


    The man was almost the same, but he was also different. Like...


    It was like she was looking at one of those spot the difference pictures. It was the same picture, but just a few enough things were different that you could tell it wasn''t *really* the same picture.


    And although Ste couldn''t see the man''s face since he was hiding it, she felt like he was giving her the same sort of stare she was giving him.


    They were outside, sitting at a table together in the courtyard. Lively conversation drifted over from inside the house... Mostly scolding from the elf woman who was apparently Sylphy nee-chan''s grandmother.


    Ste''s sister-inws were still trying to make dinner for everyone while Aunt Therese and the weird shrine maiden were talking with Norn nee-chan in the living room.


    Ste wasn''t sure where Paul went. But either way, she was out there with the weird guy who definitely wasn''t Onii-chan even though he really felt like Onii-chan from the way he acted and talked... and even the way he ced his hand on his chin while looking at Ste.


    Silence.


    Ste quietly kicked her legs on her chair while staring at the weird man, waiting for him to continue where he left off.


    *I think he''s a bad guy, personally.* Fai''s voice echoed in Ste''s head.


    *He''s really suspicious... Something about him doesn''t seem right. It''s almost like the world- No, mana itself is running away from him.* Wata''s voice.


    ...Well. Even then, he can''t do anything, right?


    Though Ste quietly deducted a few more points from her birth father considering he let a toddler alone with a clearly suspicious stranger without any exnation.


    *Yep! Ignore that creepy guy. Rudy''s a better Dad anyway!*


    *To be fair, time and space was ripped apart so Mister Paul never had a chance to try being Ste''s father. ...But I agree. Lord Rudras is still a much better father than that Mister Paul.*


    Ste nodded.


    Onii-chan was a ridiculous cheat harem isekai protagonist, but he wasn''t a pervert. And he actually cared about people, despiteckingmon sense.


    Paul was just a generic perverted harem protagonist who somehow gotid and started a family.


    With an angel.


    ...Why did it feel like she was the child character in a JRPG where the yer forcefully paired up the perverted MC with a likable female character just to see what the children were like-


    Wait.


    ...Were they in a game? Like that one game that Aki used to y a lot... What was it? ming Crest? No, F*re Embl*m. He talked about maximizing stats or something by choosing the optimal character pairings for the post-timeskip children character...


    ...That would definitely exin Onii-chan. Especially since his reaction made it seem like he got randomly reincarnated and not sent here by a god like most isekais.


    Though maybe she should stop thinking about her life in terms of pop culture. Even if it felt like her life was a light novel now, it was still reality.


    And speaking of reality...


    A long time had passed and fake Onii-chan still hadn''t talked.


    Since that was the case, Ste decided to speak up.


    "Who are you anyway? And how do you know that name?"


    The man tilted his head and then waved his hand. "Sorry. Just..." He paused and then ced his hand on his chin, thinking. "...This is really weird. If Nanahoshi didn''t have to stress about how to return home and fully embraced this world, would she have turned out like this too? She did seem to be a bit of an otaku."


    Ste pouted and said, "Stop talking about me like I''m not here! Don''t make me get Onii-chan to beat you up!"


    The manughed and then said, "Old habit. And I guess I have to listen, huh? Wouldn''t want to have to go and fight another Rudeus Greyrat to the death."


    Wait, what?


    "Anyway." The man tilted his head to the side, as if listening to something, and then he started talking again in Japanese. "I know your name because your past self is... was? A very importantponent in resolving the timeloop this entire world is stuck in." He paused and tilted his head, staring at Ste. "At least, you *should* be a very importantponent. But the fact that you''re reincarnated here instead of transported is weird."


    Ste blinked and then spoke in Japanese as well. "What do you mean it''s weird? Am I not supposed to be reincarnated?"


    "You''re not." The man straightened and said, "Shizuka Nanahoshi is meant to be transported to this world through thebined forces of certain individuals in the farflung future, creating a closed timeloop to resolve the battle with Hitogami. But..." He tilted his head and said, "If you''re reincarnated like this, it means you died and didn''t get transported. But that should be impossible."


    "What?"


    The man scratched his head and muttered, "I knew that the ripples were going to be big since I stepped in personally this time, but I didn''t think it would result in *this.* Did someone else change things here too?"


    ...Okay.


    So this man knew about Ste''s past life because she was supposed to help break some weird timeloop by being isekai''d. But instead, she died and was reincarnated in this new life which was making things weird.


    Huh. That would definitely exin the monster attack when she was born.


    And going along that line...


    Well, if she was transported here directly in her past life after saving Aki, she probably would have been desperate to get back.


    It would have been hard though since she wouldn''t know thenguage and would probably be suspicious of everyone.


    Then if she met Onii-chan...


    Hm.


    Honestly, she probably would have fallen for a guy like Onii-chan pretty hard and forgotten all about Aki considering how handsome, kind, and smart Onii-chan was...


    ...T-That aside, the masked man talked about a closed timeloop. He also joked about fighting ''Rudeus Greyrat'' to the death...


    Wait.


    Ste quickly scrambled out of her seat and pointed at the man while grabbing her ne with the other. "You''re an agent of the world''s will trying to get rid of Onii-chan!"


    Fire and wind immediately started flowing around Ste, forming a protective fire shield. At the same time, the surroundings started to glitter as frost formed from thin air.


    This was bad! She *knew* Onii-chan was too ridiculous. Did he use his cheat too much?


    Wait, he actually didn''t have a cheat apparently since he was reincarnated naturally, so... Did he just be too much of a cheat?


    Either way...


    *I''ll protect you, Ste!* Fai''s voice echoed.


    *''yawn.'' I don''t know what''s happening, but I guess he''s a bad guy?* Wyn.


    *Whatever he is, if he''s Ste''s enemy, I''ll end him!* Wata.


    The man slowly tilted his head. As he did, the surroundings flickered. Almost like the space around them was suddenly cut off from the rest of the world.


    Ste''s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to scream.


    But then she suddenly couldn''t move.


    "Huh. So it''s more than just a ''Space sword'' that Paul made. What a crazy bastard. No wonder his ''destiny'' is supposed to be cut short."


    Ste felt a surge of panic in her chest.


    With every sentence, the man was starting to sound more and more like the super powerful anime viin... And Ste was the side character that he was going to use to set an example.


    But just as she had that thought, the surroundings went back to normal.


    "You know, Pierre." Paul walked over, carrying a bottle of apple juice in his left hand and a pair of mugs filled with apple cider in his right. "At this rate, you''re going to get a worse reputation than me if you cut off space to have a private chat with my adorable baby daughter."


    Ste could suddenly move again. And since she could, she instinctively ran over to Paul, ducking behind him.


    Paul blinked and looked down at Ste.


    Ste flinched and said, "D-Don''t get me wrong! You''re still a pervert! B-But..." She nced back at the masked man.


    Paul might be a pervert and someone Ste didn''t want to associate with, but he also genuinely cared about his children. At least, he had to, considering that both Norn nee-chan and Onii-chan hadn''t broken off their rtionships from him.


    Ste could trust him to keep her safe at least.


    But the masked man...


    ...On the other hand, Paul was the one who left Ste with that guy, so...


    Just as Ste was wondering about whether to make a scream and try to get Eris nee-chan and Sylphy nee-chan toe help instead, Paul ced his hand on Ste''s head.


    At the same time, his entire demeanor changed.


    The goofy smile he had and his usual rxed posture sharpened. His bright green eyes turned frosty and...


    Was it Ste''s imagination, but did the bottle Paul was holding suddenly change into a sword? When did that happen?


    Either way, the incredibly unreliable and pathetic excuse for a guy that Ste thought Paul was had vanished, reced by a reliable person who reminded Ste a lot of her Onii-chan.


    ...Ah. That exined a lot.


    Paul smiled at the masked man and said, "Making Ste this scared... I''ve trusted you up to this point, but I''m really starting to wonder if you really have our best intentions in mind, Pierre."


    Pierre groaned and held up his hands. "This is a misunderstanding. Honestly." He sighed and muttered, "Lina''s right. I need to rx more. And I need to have that chat with Rudy to clear things up before things get worse."


    Paul subtly moved Ste behind him and said, "So... you aren''t aplete degenerate who wants to set his paws on my adorable baby daughter?"


    "What the hell do you think I am? That fat prime minister?"


    "True." Paul nodded and said, "Considering you''re married to Lina, you''re a man of mature taste. But you''re also a man who''s continuously showed that he knows too much and isn''t sharing any information beyond what''s necessary. Plus." He looked back at Ste and said, "For my genius baby daughter to be this terrified when that monstrous kid of mine can be here in an instant..." He looked at Pierre and said, "So. Would you mind finally taking that mask off and saying who you really are?"


    Pierre let out a deep sigh. "Fine. I''ll give a more detailed exnation when Rudy gets back, but my real name is-" He paused, suddenly ncing off to the side. "Actually, hold that thought."


    And then he vanished.


    Ste blinked.


    ...What the hell was this development?


    -SSG-


    Rnd slowly lowered his bloodstained sword, doing his best to stop his trembling body and ignore the familiar faces lying dead at his feet.


    It was hard. But he remained calm and managed to do it. And the reason for that...


    Rnd shifted his gaze and stared at the ghostly figure of the petite young woman standing next to him.


    Messy blue hair, sleepy eyes... It was Lara. His older sister from Blue Mama.


    "Can you hear me now, Sieg?"


    Rnd nodded, doing his best to not stare at the unmoving doppelganger lying on the ground somewhere up ahead. "I can. And since you''re here..."


    "Yep! This is a dream. Although..." She turned to look around and said, "...Your dreams are pretty violent. Do you still get nightmares?"


    Rndughed. "They''re usually much more pleasant than this."


    Especially after helping so many people since he arrived in this world.


    The reason that he was stuck in such a setting...


    Rnd wiped the smile off his face and frowned, ncing at the ruins of Arcadia all around him. "...And it seems that I let my guard down a bit too much because of that."


    If it was him from before, he would never have been fooled. That Gisu definitely lured him into a trap.


    It seemed like being around the father of this time was making Rnd a bit too dependent again. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was young again in general.


    He shook his head and then looked at Lara. "But what are you doing here, Big Sis? Did you finally develop a spell to dreamwalk or something?"


    Lara blinked. "...No. What made you think that?"


    "You and Lily inherited the Migurd telepathy powers, right? I''m sure it wouldn''t be that hard."


    Lara stared at Rnd.


    Rnd stared back.


    "...I think your standard of ''possible'' has be a bit skewed, Lil Bro."


    "Says the person visiting me in a dream from an alternate future."


    "Oh. So you know about that. Great." Lara nodded and said, "This will make things easier then. I don''t have much time since I wasted so much pulling you out from that mess..."


    "I would have done it myself! ...Eventually!"


    Lara gave Rnd a nk stare.


    He coughed and rubbed the back of his neck.


    "...Anyway. Let the Papa in that world know that Grandma Zenith and Grandma Lilia are over here right now. They''repletely safe, but it''s going to be hard to calibrate the time if-"


    Lara suddenly fizzled out and vanished.


    In her ce, a man with violet hair and a white mask appeared. "That was a close one. She almost triggered an incursion there... People really need to stop messing with time travel without understanding multiverse theory."


    Rnd blinked.


    A familiar aura. But also one mixed with energies that he didn''t recognize.


    Rnd immediately drew his sword and said, "Are you the one responsible for this?"


    "Hm?" The man looked over and said, "No. That would be Dark King Vita. I''m just here to make sure your sisters don''t trigger the automatic pruning process. Though..." He stared off into space and frowned. "...It seems like I have a lot of misinformation. I thought ''that'' future branched from this, but it looks like a different trunk entirely."


    "What?"


    "Don''t worry about it." The man waved his hand and said, "We''ll talk more when we get you out of here. Can''t have Rudy getting upset at me and making me his enemy by a misunderstanding again. ...Though this Rudy seems like a calm and reasonable person, unlike some of the others..." He shook his head and then drew his sword.


    Rnd flinched and raised his to block.


    But then the man swung it off to the side. "Nice try, Hitogami. But you should honestly give up now. This won''t change anything, even if you''re working with your future self to try and alters the past."


    The world shattered. And when it came back...


    An irate blonde woman was swinging her hand towards Rnd''s face.


    His eyes widened and he moved to dodge. But the woman expected that and moved with him, pping his face.


    "You bastard! What kind of older brother are you, running off and leaving me alone like that?! Do you know how many creeps and perverts I had to deal with? The embarrassment I dealt with when I identally picked up Father as an escort for a date?!"


    "W-What?"


    Rnd blinked.


    Off to the side, Rudy sighed and said, "Yep. Definitely a gic thing. Note to self: remind your sons about how often male Greyrats tend to get into situations upsetting the girls closest to them and start writing a ybook on how to deal with them..."

 137 – The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

    137 ¨C The Apple Doesn¡¯t Fall Far from the Tree


    After Eos vented a bit more to her older brother while I watched and started making notes on that ybook to pass on, we started heading back home.


    Despite venting, or maybe because of it, Eos was still red-faced and ring at Rnd. She was calmer now though. At least, she wouldn''t be trying to p Rnd again any time soon.


    As for Rnd, he was rubbing the red handprint on his face and looking apologetic. He kept ncing at Eos and sighed, shaking his head with disappointment. In himself, it looked like. At least, I hope it was that, because he had another thinging if it was towards Eos.


    It seemed like my dear daughter had inherited Mom''s temper, so... yeah.


    Anyway, I was standing between the two to serve as a buffer, with Eos on my right and Rnd on my left. I was also currently still a red-head, so it made for a pretty odd sight.


    Judging from the looks people were sending us, I had a feeling that they were thinking there was a love triangle or something.


    Pretty awkward considering the rtionships, but people were going to think what they were going to think.


    And as if to add to those rumors, Eos nced at Rnd and then shook her head. "I still cannot believe you left me alone like that."


    Rnd sighed and said, "I said I''m sorry. I saw someone dangerous, so I wanted to try and catch him before he did anything."


    Well. If there was any doubting Rnd was my kid, that definitely cleared it up. Seemed like he was running through the good ol'' heroplex part of life.


    Something to add to the list of things to make note of for future generations. Just like the list of things that an overlord shouldn''t do that I was building up.


    Eos rolled her eyes and said, "What do you think I am? A delicate princess?" She gave Rnd a once over and said, "Look at you. Running off like that and still nothing to show."


    Rnd gave an awkward smile and rubbed the back of his neck.


    I looked at Eos and said, "Don''t be too hard on him, Eos. The idiot ball runs in the family on the male side."


    Eos gave me a nk stare. "You expect me to believe that? Considering you, Father?"


    "Ask your grandmothers for some stories when we meet up with them again. And it''s better having a shounen protagonist phase than being an edgelord."


    "What?"


    I waved my hand and looked at Rnd. Specifically, I stared at the weird staticky mana still flickering around him and said, "So, Rnd. Care to exin why you''ve got a bunch of time mana on you? Did you get chucked into a distortion?"


    Rnd shook his head. "Nothing like that. I was just caught off guard chasing after that person."


    "By that person, would you happen to mean Gisu?"


    Rnd blinked and said, "Huh? You already know about him being Hitogami''s Apostle?"


    "...No. But thanks for the confirmation?"


    Well. Damn. That exined a lot.


    Of course, it wasn''t *confirmed* since Rnd was definitely from a different timeline... Worldline? Wasn''t too sure how time was structured here just yet.


    But anyway... Definitely needed to keep an eye on Gisu then.


    At least, I would if he wasn''t actively blocking my irvoyance somehow now.


    I could pinpoint him with some triangtion and mana pings, but that would take a while...


    I shook my head and said, "We''ll talk about that guyter. But either way, it doesn''t exin the time mana."


    The weird staticky mana was simr to the one in the Distortion that had Rudy the Gray. And after talking with Ena after that incident, we confirmed that it was definitely ''time'' mana.


    Still not sure how to make it or use it, but I knew it when I saw it.


    Rnd paused to think and then said, "That''s probably from when Big Sis contacted me- Oh, right." He looked at me and said, "My Big Sis wanted me to tell you that Grandma Zenny and Grandma Lilia are safe, but they''re stuck in the timeline where I came from right now with my family."


    I stopped walking.


    Eos did as well.


    Rnd looked at me and tilted his head. "What?"


    I rubbed my face and muttered, "I need to apologize to Dadter."


    I was starting to see how frustrating it was when your kid didn''t act the way you expected. Here I was thinking that Rnd would be rational enough to at least take Eos with him or report that VERY IMPORTANT info about Mom and Mama Lily being in another timeline, but...


    Rnd blinked and said, "What are you apologizing for?"


    I shook my head and said, "Don''t worry about it. Let''s just head home already."


    It was gettingte. The sun was starting to set and shops were closing up. Even the crowd of adventurers wandering around was starting to thin.


    Thankfully, that meant less people staring.


    ...Though it seemed like most people were already preupied with something else. I kept overhearing talks about a rainy season and rare monster dropsing soon.


    I also heard some mutterings about an iing shipment of beastmen ves.


    Hm. Probably should get a few people to resolve that before either Norn or Ste gets any ideas.


    Or Dad.


    But anyway, for the most part we headed back to our house in silence. Walking along the main road and up towards the house on the hill I made, both my kids were lost in thought.


    Since that was the case, I took the time to check on Cliff with irvoyance.


    Things seemed to be going well. Millishion wasn''t on fire, and I didn''t see them camping outside, so it looked like they made it in peacefully enough.


    The real test woulde tomorrow when the Anti-Demon faction got their forces together to try and pull some BS, but that guy could handle it.


    Not only was Cliff the current Pope''s grandson, but his adoptive father was practically a Cardinal in terms of rankings.


    I think.


    Either way, he was up there.


    Also, it turned out that the woman who looked a lot like Mom was actually my Aunt Therese.


    It seemed like there had been a bit of mimunication there and I misheard her saying she was the aunt of Eos and Ena instead of her really saying she was Norn and Ste''s aunt.


    Or something.


    Anyway, Aunt Therese was apparently an important person on the Anti-Demon side who personally guarded that faction''s Pope candidate, a ''miko'' who could read people''s memories.


    Didn''t work on me of course. But it seemed like she picked up enough from everyone else in my family and was adamantly refusing to go back to Millishion.


    To sum things up... Things would be fine. It was just a question of whether the situation in Millishion ended with peace or violence.


    I was secretly hoping it was violence. Not because I wanted people to get hurt, but I was really curious about whether or not I could actually blow up the towers and get rid of humanity''s greatest Barrier spell.


    "Father." Rnd spoke up and then looked at me.


    I blinked, caught off guard by the change. Usually, he called me Lord Rudras... Not that I minded the change, but it was weird.


    "...Yes, Rnd?"


    I gave a hesitant resposne and looked back at him.


    "Have you been doing undercover work for Orsted?"


    "...No. I have been doing undercover work, but not for Orsted." I tilted my head and said, "Is that what I did in your timeline?"


    Rnd nodded. "You were frequently out of the house when we were younger doing all sorts of tasks for Orsted. I was wondering if you were doing the same now after reuniting with him, but..." He trailed off and shook his head. "As expected, Father here is very different from the Father I knew."


    "Considering the fact that I couldn''t reach Mom or Mama Lily with scrying or summoning spells, that''d have to be true."


    After all, with how much practice I had these days using summoning magic, they''d have to be pretty far away in terms of spacetime for me to not reach them.


    I shrugged and said, "I thought we went over this already though, Rnd?"


    He nodded and said, "We did. But..." He ruffled his hair and said, "I''ve only just realized how different Father here really is from the Father I knew. Not that it''s a bad thing, but..." He looked at me and then looked away, muttering, "If Father was as strong as you are now, would he still have been alive at that time?"


    I frowned. "...Just how far from the future are you anyway, Rnd?"


    I was under the impression that he wasn''t that far off, but from the way he was talking now...


    Rnd paused to think and then said, "Around K500?"


    I blinked and then rubbed my face again. "...Alright. We need to have a father-son talk soon enough. It seems like your dad was a bit too nonchnt raising you."


    Seriously. Did the Rudy in that timeline be a copy of Paul or something? What was with leaving out all of these important details? *I* wouldn''t have done that.


    Well, not anymore. Surely I would have grown out of it by the time I was old enough to have a kid.


    Argh. What was it with ''Rudeus Greyrat?'' Were we destined to either be a Shounen Protagonist or an Edgelord? At least have a little bit ofmon sense. Information is important!

 138 – Love Affairs – I

    138 ¨C Love Affairs ¨C I


    A lot happened when we got back home. To sum things up...


    Pierre was actually a time traveler (or something) who was here to help out with Being W and 100% on my side.


    Ste was the reincarnation of a high school girl from Earth who apparently was key in breaking a timeloop the world was supposedly stuck in.


    ...And multiverse shenanigans. Lots of multiverse shenanigans. Specifically, multiverse shenanigans that resulted in multiple timelines existing where it should just be one. At least, ording to Lace.


    Oh yeah. It turned out that Pierre was Lace. Not to be mistaken with the Demon God Lace. Instead, he was Technique God Lace. A good Lace who wanted to work with me and Orsted to take down Being W for good.


    Honestly... At this point, things didn''t surprise me anymore. So, after a smile and a nod to all the recent revtions, I kissed my two lovely wives, gave headpats to my adorable sisters and Ena, then helped set up for dinner.


    Now, some people would say that those revtions were a big deal and that I should definitely be focusing on them.


    To that, I say three words: Magic is everything.


    Also, another word: Delegation.


    Orsted was handling everything back at the Asura Kingdom as well as that entire continent.


    Rika was taking care of the Magic Continent, and Atofe had pledged her loyalty, so I didn''t have to worry about Arcadia.


    And then Cliff was handling everything in Milis. Things could get a bit messy, but he had Astolfo along with the other original White Knights to help out. In the worst case, I could always pop the magic formations I made and then fake a divine descent to double down on being the reincarnation of Saint Milis.


    Not only that, but I learned my lesson facing Being W. Or rather, I learned a lesson from that guy''s mistakes.


    Direct interference is bad.


    It was much better to have a bunch ofpetent people handling things instead of stepping in myself. Mostly because when I stepped in, the world would definitely be changing.


    Probably because ''destiny'' was a tangible concept in this world (ording to Lace) and my presence broke it in weird ways.


    To sum it up: I wasn''t thinking about that for now.


    The more important thing was Mom and Mama Lily.


    Since Rnd said he was from K500... and since the current year was K417, give or take a year due to time shenigans, that meant Mom and Mama Lily were over eighty years in the future. In a parallel timeline future too.


    Definitely exined why I couldn''t find them. Reaching something like that would require a lot of time, calctions, and mana.


    Well, I could always bruteforce it, but something told me that ripping my way through spacetime into another dimension wouldn''t be looked on very kindly. Even if the ''me'' in that time was dead, Being W definitely wasn''t. And I''d rather not have to deal with being double-teamed by two of him. Or have hime up with some BS card I wasn''t prepared for.


    While I wanted to see Mom and Mama Lily again, it was enough to know they were somewhere safe.


    Besides, since I knew they were safe, and since the flow of time could be adjusted to line up to any point on a parallel line... in theory, the observer effect should hold true and prevent anything from happening to them that would make that fact a lie.


    If not... Well, we''d be finding out pretty quick how BS timetravel shenanigans could be when I start pulling out all the strats that I remembered from sci-fi, games, books, anime, and whatever else I recalled. And if none of that worked, I could rely on Ste since she was up to date on more recent pop culture. And if *that* didn''t work, we had good ol'' Dad and his brokenmon sense when it came to swords.


    I had a good feeling that if I started rambling about the crazy Chinese martial arts myths where people could be immortal through achieving enlightenment, he''d find a way to make it happen and get us there.


    So... Not worried.


    Right now, in this moment, there was only one thing I needed to do. And that was having a proper family outing with everyone now that all the bombshell revtions were out of the way.


    Stress-free, wholesome family time.


    I think we were about due for that anyway.


    -RNG-


    A glittering blue sky. Pristine white sand, not hot, but afortable warmth from the sunlight above. A cool and refreshing seaside breeze...


    In other words, a peaceful beach trip.


    Since we were in Saint Port, I decided that we should all take advantage of the beach and enjoy a fun summer time trip before the supposed rainy season started.


    Of course, even if it did I could make it so that we could enjoy the beach anyway, but it was good to take things as they were.


    Plus, a beachside trip was a great way for everyone to rx, unwind, and get to know each other properly.


    Especially after I supplied the food and refreshments.


    ncing around, I saw that Ste and Norn were ying with that Miko girl and building sandcastles. Ste''s spirit friends were nearby too, with Fai helping with the sandcastle building while Wata and Wyn were doing some sunbathing beneath the shade of a parasol.


    Eos, Ena, and my Aunt Therese were chatting together, sipping on some sses of coconut juice I served them. From the bits of conversation I could catch, it seemed like my daughters were trying to learn more about Mom while Aunt Therese was happy to oblige with embarrassing childhood stories.


    Out in the water, Dad, Rnd, and ''Pierre'' were having a bit of apetition trying to surf on the waves.


    I''d given them all surfboards, but as expected, they''d chosen alternative means to surf.


    By that I meant they were trying to surf on their on powers.


    Dad was taking the term ''wavedashing'' literally. Pierre was showing off by riding on a freaking sword like some Chinese martial artist using a flying sword. And Rnd was doing the same as Pierre, except he was using a giant sword that looked like Cl*ud''s bust*r sword.


    Where did he even get that, anyway?


    ...Either way, they were having fun, so I decided not to question it.


    Although it made me wonder exactly just how much sway Rostelina had over Pierre if a simple chat from her telling him to unwind led him to doing that.


    And speaking of Rostelina, she was chatting with Sylphy off to the side, doing some Grandma-granddaughter bonding time. Probably also talking about babies considering how Rostelina was patting her belly and Sylphy seemed to be paying extra close attention.


    Which left me cooking some food with a grill, along with Eri.


    Unlike everyone else who was wearing a bathing suit, she was dressed modestly with a white sundress and flipflops.


    Well, I was wearing a loose white t-shirt, shorts, and flipflops, so I couldn''t fault her too much for dressing conservatively.


    I flipped a steak and then nced back at her. "Do you really want to just stnad there, Eri?"


    "Hm?" Eri nced at me and thenughed. "What? Do you wanna get rid of me that badly, Rudy?"


    "Of course not." I pressed the steak down with a pair of tongs and then said, "I just don''t get what''s fun about standing beside me and watching me cook."


    Eri hummed and said, "Well, maybe I just wanna be here."


    "Maybe, huh?"


    I stood there for a while and then nced at Eri.


    She was different from how I remembered her when she was younger. She was also different from how Rudeus said she should be.


    A harsh and beautiful woman with giant breasts but a severe tsundere personality that was prone toshing out at random times...


    Eri was still beautiful. And while she didn''t have ''giant breasts'' since she wasn''tpletely grown up yet, they were definitely above average. Her personality though...


    Was it the whole ''different people bring out different parts of someone?'' Or maybe it was the circumstances?


    Either way, Eri still acted like a tsundere at times... mostly in bed. But she didn''tsh out. Instead, she was cute, got flustered easily, and for the most part acted mature. Like a normal person instead of the bipr and socially inept woman that Rudeus had described.


    "W-What?" Eri shifted and said, "Do I have something on my face?" She wiped her mouth and said, "I didn''t leave any sauce on it, did I?"


    I chuckled and said, "No. I was just admiring how pretty you are."


    Eri blushed and then clicked her tongue. "You should be careful. Sylphy will get jealous."


    I nodded. "I know. So I''ll just have to make sure she understands just how much I love herter."


    Eri rolled her eyes and said, "You''re insufferable, Rudy."


    "Your words don''t line up with your feelings there, Eri." I checked the steak and then nced at her. "If I was really insufferable, apetent and mature young woman like you would leave. You have the pick of the cream of the crop, you know?"


    It wasn''t empty praise.


    Eri was beautiful, confident, and had a good head on her shoulders. While she still couldn''t do advanced math or anything like that, she could at least pass as a functioning member of society. Reading, writing, basic arithmetic, money sense...mon sense, too. At least, more than me or Sylphy had.


    Kind of funny considering her background, but Eri was a reliable check for ''normal'' in my family.


    Which reminded me that I needed to have a chat with Master Roxy about not teaching memon sense and all at some point.


    But the point was that Eri could pick literally anyone else. Still, she chose to stick around a guy like me.


    And the reason for that...


    "As if." A faint blush appeared on her face and she said, "After all you''ve done to me, how could I even look at anyone else? Bastard."


    Iughed and said, "You were asking for it. Ever since we first met, haven''t you been calling me ''yours''?" I gave her a teasing smile and said, "That''s what made Sylphy fight you in the first ce, isn''t it?"


    "S-Shut up." Eri''s blush deepened, turning her entire face red and she said, "I didn''t even really know what it meant back then, okay?"


    "Even so, you sure were greedy, huh? Trying to snatch up my naive and childish self for your own... And I thought I was shameless."


    Eri huffed and said, "You are. Talking about marrying Miss Roxy when you already have me and Sylphy... Aren''t you the greedy one?"


    I ced the finished steak off to the side and said, "I''m just taking proper responsibility. It can''t be helped that I''m such a genius that I stole all of your hearts, can it?"


    Eri snorted and said, "I liked you better when you were dense."


    "Well I like me better like this. After all." I reached out to ce a hand on Eri''s face and said, "It lets me see that cute and flustered smile of yours more often."


    "Wha-?" Eri froze, her face slowly turning as red as her hair.


    Iughed and then held out the te for her along with a knife and fork. "Here. Try this and let me know what you think."


    "...You''re a bully." Eri mumbled and took the te from me.


    I conjured a chair and table for her to eat at and said, "Only because you''re adorable."


    "Hmph." Eri sat down and started eating. "...I''m telling Sylphy."


    "...Do you want to be bullied more by her too?"


    Eri paused and then huffed and said, "I hate you."


    "And I love you. Now, on a scale of 1 to 10, how is it?"


    "...It''s alright. Maybe eight?"


    "Good enough."


    Okay. Now that I had that steak memorized, I just had to copy it a few times by transfiguring mana into the same structure. Maybe throw some pizza there for the kids. A bit of cake, some soda... other beach foods...


    As Eri ate her steak, a pile of food started appearing on the table next to her. Pizza boxes, ice cream cake, a tter of identical steaks...


    Eri paused in the middle of cutting another piece of her steak, looking at me.


    "What?"


    "...I''m never going to get used to how ridiculous you are, dear husband of mine."


    "And please don''t, my cute wifey. Someone in this family needs to havemon sense and you''re the only one with it right now. Especially since Ste is slowly losing hers."


    I nced back to my baby sister to see her casually turn her sand castle into a glittering ss one with a burst of mes spilling out of her hands.


    Eri followed my gaze and sighed. "I''ll do my best."


    "That''s all I ask. Well, that, and to not leave my side."


    "...I was wondering why Sylphy was so clingy. It''s because of you, isn''t it?"


    "Hm?"


    "...Whatever." Eri grabbed one of the soda cans and said, "How do I open this?"


    "You just pull the tab and crack it open... Actually, let me demonstrate. I don''t want you to ruin your-"


    "I got it, Rudy. I''m not stupid, you- Bwah!?"


    A spray of orange soda, staining Eri''s white sundress.


    I stared at her.


    She stared back and then averted her eyes. "...J-Just help me clean up already, Rudy."


    Iughed and then did as she asked.

 139 – Love Affairs – II

    139 ¨C Love Affairs ¨C II


    Sylphy watched Rudy and Eris interact with a faint smile on her face.


    It was good that they were getting along. And it was also good to see that Eris was as cute as ever when she was getting teased.


    "Well, aren''t you in a good mood?" Rostelinaughed and then reached over to ruffle Sylphy''s hair. "Did my cute granddaughter finally get over her jealousy?"


    Sylphy pouted and pulled away from Rostelina''s hand. "I wasn''t jealous!"


    "Of course you weren''t, Sweety."


    Sylphy puffed her cheeks and then looked away, staring at the ocean. Specifically, she stared at the green-haired young man surfing along the waves.


    ''Rnd...''


    It wasn''t his real name. Her child from another timeline didn''t give exact details in case it caused something weird with the way that time was all scrambled up these days. But the fact remained that he was her child. The son between Sylphy and Rudy from another timeline.


    He wasn''t ''her'' son. And from the conversations Sylphy had with Rnd, it seemed that the ''her'' in that timeline was very different.


    Well, Rudy had been too. Apparently, he had been pretty much a mini-Paul... Still smart, but infamously lewd.


    But that wasn''t too important. Instead...


    ''Was I really that helpless?''


    The Sylphy in that timeline had been just a housewife. While it was good that she was able to live peacefully, Rudy apparently went off on his own a lot. The only one who could stand beside him had been Eris, and even then those assions were fewer as time went on.


    Sylphy couldn''t see how that happened. Sure, she had been fairly meek when she was younger. But if that Sylphy loved Rudy as much as she did, then she would have worked hard to be stronger, wouldn''t she? Or maybe it was enough for her to just be with Rudy and not by his side.


    Whatever the case was in that timeline, it wouldn''t be the same here.


    Sylphy was strong.


    She didn''t like to brag about it, but she knew she was strong. The countless scars on her body were proof of that.


    Not only that, but she had earned her right to stand at Rudy''s side. And he had promised to never leave her.


    Admittedly, Sylphy had still been a bit worried about that. Especially with how her body had been breaking down and reaching the end of her life, but as always, Rudy solved everything.


    So she didn''t worry.


    If there existed a timeline were Rudy loved Sylphy and they lived happily to have at least Rnd as a child despite her being just a glorified house wife, then Sylphy could rest assured. After all, she was a lot more useful than that version of herself.


    ...Though Sylphy had to admit that she lost out in terms of patience.


    Honestly, for that version of her to ept Eris and Roxy despite Rudy marrying her first... What a saint.


    Sylphy sighed and then turned her attention back to the surroundings.


    The kids were having fun ying in the sand together. Rudy and Eris were preparing food, now joined by Eos, Ena, and that Therese who was apparently Miss Zenith''s sister.


    And out in the water, Paul, Pierre, and Rnd were stillpeting in riding the biggest waves while also killing whatever stray monsters popped up.


    Sylphy leaned back in thefy chair that Rudy made for her and then nced over at Rostelina.


    After that off-handment, Rostelina had leaned back in her ownfy chair and closed her eyes, basking in the sunlight. Both her hands were quietly resting on her stomach, hugging the baby bump there.


    Seeing that, Sylphy rubbed her own belly, frowning.


    ...A baby would be nice. But with the way things were now...


    As much as she''d love to raise a happy family with Rudy, there was a lot to do.


    Although she was a bit worried on that end.


    Sylphy had already been te'' for a long time after spending so many years in the distorted dungeons. Would she even still be able to have a child after so long? Rudy said it wouldn''t be a problem, but-


    A soft ''puff.'' The sound of sand shifting as someone plopped down right next to Sylphy. Shortly after, Rudy smiled and waved. "Enjoying yourself, Sylphy?"


    She blinked, surprised, and instinctively opened her mouth to talk. "Rudy?" She sat up and said, "What are you doing here?"


    Rudy adjusted his currently light brown hair and said, "Well, you seemed a bit lonely. Besides, I wanna spoil you a bit too." After saying that, he scooped Sylphy up and ced her in hisp.


    "W-Wait!" Sylphy squirmed, feeling her cheeks heat up. "B-But... U-Um..." She nced over at Rostelina.


    The older elf woman cracked open an eye and thenughed. Idly waving her hand, she said, "You lovebirds enjoy yourself. This old woman will just take a nice nap. Ah, but don''t get too frisky. The kids are nearby, you know?"


    Sylphy felt her entire face heat up and then said, "I-I wouldn''t do that!"


    E-Even if... No! T-That wasn''t good.


    Calm down, Sylphy. Even if that seems exciting, it''s no good.


    Rudy chuckled again and said, "Don''t worry, Rostelina." He hugged Sylphy closer and leaned on her shoulder. "I just wanted to cuddle a bit with my cute wifey."


    "W-Wifey?" Sylphy stammered.


    Rudy leaned over and looked at her. "What? No good?"


    "N-No. It is. J-Just..." Sylphy poked her fingers together. "...Is it fine to call me Wifey when you''re married to Eri?"


    Rudy ruffled Sylphy''s hair and said, "You worry too much. Even if it''s a problem, I''m apparently the reincarnation of Saint Milis and also the Demon Lord of Salvation who''s known all throughout the Magic Continent. My word is gospel, and if I say you''re my wife, you''re my wife."


    "...Hmph." Sylphy pretended to be mad and then leaned back against Rudy. "That''s why you make me worried, you know? What if your word takes in a few more wives too?"


    "Don''t worry. There''s only two more women I''d even consider, and one of those is only because I''ll need to do a preemptive strike before she pulls me into her own battlefield."


    "...Two?" Sylphy frowned. "I thought we were only talking about Miss Roxy. Who''s the other one?"


    "Well. You never said that demons were off the table, right?"


    xxx


    "Achoo!" Rika sneezed and then quickly looked around the room.


    At the moment, she was seated at her office in Arcadia, going over the daily affairs since Rudy was out. A tall stack of papers sat on her desk, detailing the various events going on.


    Adventurers reporting the results from various expeditions into Distortions. Sorting out the logistics for people who want to return now that Rudy opened a pathway back to the Milis continent, as well as sorting out the logistics for the inevitable return to other continents.


    Not to mention carefully sorting out battle ns in case the humans decided that Rudy was the advent of Demon God Lace due to a misunderstanding... or because he had developed a means of teleportation that wasn''t reliant on magic formations.


    After flipping through the papers again, Rika took off her sses and rubbed her eyes. "Hah... I know that being a Demon Empress is a lot of work, but why is it that there''s so much here?"


    Considering how ridiculous Rudy was, not to mention how intelligent he was, there should have been less.


    No. Maybe that was the reason why there was more.


    It would be simple to just let everything move by itself. To let the kingdom and people live their lives without thinking about the future.


    That was how Rika used to run her kingdom in the past, after all. As Demon Empress Kishirika, she had done whatever she wanted and mostly left the maintenance of the kingdom to her people and close advisors.


    The fact that her territory was still standing in this timeline and her own when she was reborn was a testament to the skills of the people she left it to.


    But at the same time, she hadn''t been that brilliant. While her mother was legendary, the only talent Rika had were her Demon Eyes and the ability to grant them to other people. She knew a bit of magic theory and had ample mana, but in terms of being qualified as a proper ruler, Rika wasn''t. Not really.


    Badi helped though. Despite his boisterous personality and constant traveling, he wasn''t known as the ''Granter of Wisdom'' for no reason. Without his help, it was likely that Demon Empress Kishirika would have faded away after her first death.


    Rika spun around a pen in her right hand and frowned. "...It seems I''m weak to those sorts of men."


    There wasn''t a real need for Rika working so hard. Although Rudy was a bit self-conscious about it, Arcadia was mostly self-sufficient at this point. And to emphasize that point, most of the reports she was reading were just listing out the benefits and good news from throughout Arcadia. And even most of those people seeking to return to other continents had dered an intention to return with their families and settle down here.


    So, if Rika wanted, she could loaf around. Like the younger self running lord knows where in Arcadia at the moment, Rika could just sit on the work and pretend to do a good job. It was reasonable. She was just one person, after all. And Rudy wouldn''t hold it against her.


    But she *wanted* to help. She wanted to be useful.


    Rika clicked her tongue and put her sses back on. "What a terribly wicked man."


    Even if he wasn''t Magic God Lace, Rudy was still going around stealing hearts, it seemed.


    Rika had joked about marrying him before, but...


    A knock on her door.


    Rika flinched but then calmed herself. "Come in."


    The door opened, revealing Ruijerd. He nced at the papers on Rika''s desk and said, "Are you busy, Rika?"


    She shoved them aside for the moment and said, "This is nothing important." She smiled and said, "Are you doing well, Ruijerd? This One is afraid that she has not time to prepare tea, but if you would like-"


    "There''s no need." Ruijerd shook his head and then walked over.


    Rika waved to the seat across from her and said, "Make yourselffortable."


    Ruijerd sat down, but he frowned and said, "That will be difficult considering the seal on Demon God Lace is on the verge of shattering."


    "Eh?"

 140 – Zealots

    140 ¨C Zealots


    Cliff flipped through a stack of papers reporting on the situation and looked over a map of Millishion.


    After the arrival at the city, their group had been taken in as part of the Order of the Church.


    Cliff had forgotten, but the three knight orders in Millishion had color-coded armor. And conveniently, the White Knights that Father-in-Law created shared both simr armor type and color to the Order of the Church.


    The same order entrusted with matters of national defense, such as patrolling Millishion and arresting would-be criminals.


    Because of that, their entourage had received a warm wee. Especially as they sided with themoners and adventurers in securing the capital against monsters and the zealous blue-armored Order of the Temple who had seized power during the Pope''s absence.


    It was an advantageous position. Paired with the fact that Cliff''s adoptive father was a respected Priest and that Cliff himself was the grandson of the current Pope, it was only a matter of deciding how to resolve the situation, not whether it was possible.


    Still...


    Cliff frowned and then looked up from the papers.


    The Adventurer Guild''s war council room. Well, though it was called that, it was just a in room that had been fashioned with arge table, maps, and a few bookshelves.


    Before anyone did anything that could potentially escte the situation, Cliff had called for a strategy meeting.


    Across the table from him, Cliff''s adoptive father, Harry Grimoire, flipped through a copy of Saint Milis''s holy text, jotting down notes in a leatherbound journal.


    Next to him, Astolfo idly moved chess pieces around a miniture map of Millishion, lost in thought.


    And next to Astolfo, a middle-aged and one-eyed man with a scarred face sat in silence while staring at Cliff.


    Belmondo Nash Venick, a Lieutenant Commander from the Order of the Church, as well as the current leader of the knights that had sided with the popce instead of the nobles.


    Of course, he wasn''t the only man of character from the Order of the Church. But it seemed like a good number of the upstanding knights had conveniently vanished in the spacetime rend.


    Cliff nced back down at the papers, reflecting on the situation.


    It was tense.


    The people were crying for the noble''s heads, especially with reports of an approaching monster horde in the distance.


    As that happened, the nobles had holed themselves up in fortified manors, guarded by the blue-armored knights from the Order of the Temple and about half of the white-armored knights from the Order of the Church.


    Not only that, but all of the priests had hidden away in the White Pce as well, leaving the people to fend for themselves without faith or guidance.


    And considering how the end of times seemed to have befallen them all...


    Cliff sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.


    Astolfo stopped moving the chess pieces around and looked up at Cliff. "Figured out a n yet, Cliffy?"


    Cliff lowered his hand and nodded. "I have some thoughts, yes." He nced over at his adoptive father and said, "Are you certain that you cannot take on the mantle of the Pope, even for a brief while? Arge number ofmoners are already under the misconception that you are the Pope instead of Grandfather, so would it be too terrible to proim it for a brief moment to raise morale and support?"


    Harry smiled and said, "Looks like I''ve been doing too good of a job interacting with the popce... But that''s no good." He wiped the smile off his face and said, "Even if the people support me, the priests and other knights will see it as a power grab. And even our friend Belmondo here would protest, right?"


    The scarred knight lieutenant nodded. "Although Priest Grimoire is esteemed among our ranks and has performed many valorous and respectable acts... Our loyalty is to His Holiness. Although absent, he remains our liege until his death is confirmed."


    Cliff rubbed his chin and muttered, "In which case your loyalty would shift to the heir... which would be either myself or the Miko of Memory. But since she is missing..."


    "You would be our liege, yes." Belmondo nodded. "...Although I believe the Order of Temple would protest."


    Harry chuckled and said, "Considering the stories already being passed around of the utopia created in the Magic Continent where all races live in harmony... I can understand why."


    "Mm..."


    A delicate bncing act- No. Considering the forces they had as well as the public sentiment, it wasn''t too difficult to resolve.


    The problem was the aftermath.


    Father-inw gave this task to Cliff for a reason, even though it would be a trifling matter to resolve with Father-inw''s abilities.


    Astolfo sighed and said, "Can''t we just knock all those baddies down? Just one of the White Knights could take on a hundred of those Temple Knights or whatever, right?" She smacked her fist into an open palm and said, "Let''s just beat''em up!"


    "...It might have toe to that." Cliff shook his head and muttered, "Those people have been a bit too unreasonable."


    The Order of the Temple had always been known as zealots who couldn''t be reasoned with. But even so, the degree of unwavering faith and refusal to cooperate was irrational. Especially with how they proimed that they received a message from ''God'' Himself, overriding the Pope''s intentions and policies.


    It was enough of a headache for Cliff to wish that Father-inw simply descended and proimed himself as their god. He had more than enough qualifications to do so-


    Ah.


    Cliff paused and realized it.


    "I see."


    Yes. Father-inw could resolve the situation on his own. In one fell sweep, he could end it all, reinstate the Pope, and restore both order and peace.


    But that would be relying on outside power.


    Although Father-inw was like a god... or perhaps truly was a god considering Ena''s angelic nature, he should not solve all of humanity''s problems.


    Did the Holy Text not state that humanity''s greatest strength was that of determination and free will? And that God would help those who helped themselves?


    So...


    Cliff decided. "Fine."


    "Cliffy?"


    "Son?"


    Cliff stood up and said, "If the Order of the Temple is saying that God has deemed us all heretics, we will defy that callous god."


    Belief against belief. Determination against determination.


    Cliff would have preferred to resolve the situation peacefully. Preferred to reason with the other side ande to a mutually beneficial solution. But...


    "...Some times, people will only listen with a show of force. That is the lesson you wished to impart, is it not, Father-inw?"


    -RNG-


    I paused in the middle of cutting apart a pizza for the kids.


    ...Why did I suddenly feel like I caused a giant misunderstanding somewhere?

 141 – Mission Prep (1/2)

    141 ¨C Mission Prep (1/2)


    A peaceful and enjoyable family outing. Fun in the sun, good food, and cheerful banter all around.


    That was the n for the day, and things went as nned.


    And then it was night. Usually, that would mean dragging Sylphy and Eris off to bed before they jumped me, but tonight was different.


    Sylphy and Eris stayed to keep an eye on the kids with Aunt Therese and Rostelina.


    Meanwhile, I went to have a chat with my dear old father, my son, and the man calling himself Pierre but who was really Lace and may or may not be an alternate version of myself from another timeline.


    Moonlight shone through the window of a tavern I rented out for the night.


    Sitting at the table with a ss of red wine, I nced around at the men joining me.


    Across from me was Dad.


    Unlike me, Sylphy, Eris... and pretty much everyone else, he looked the same as I remembered him. The only real difference was that his hair had grown a bit longer and he seemed a bit more calm. That, and that the silver mana he cultivated from his sword training had be a bit transparent.


    To my left, there was Pierre. Rostelina''s husband.


    ...I really hoped that he wasn''t really an alternate me, because the thought of being with Sylphy''s grandma was a bit weird.


    Though, considering that Rudeus had been such a pervert... and considering the vastness of the multiverse, I guess it was possible.


    After all, Rudeus had been slothful and lustful, leading him to be a super edgelord after messing up a lot.


    I personally suffered from pride before getting knocked out of it.


    Maybe there were other versions of ''Rudeus Greyrat'' who fell to different sins and ended up with different lives out there.


    All I knew though was that if they showed up here, I was definitely going to murder them. Too risky not to.


    After all, if they fell prey to a sin, who knew what kind of weirdo they ended up to be? And if they managed to arrive here as well... yeah. Better to not risk it.


    But anyway, Pierre was sitting to my left. Since the jig was up, he had taken off his mask to reveal his face.


    Surprisingly, he didn''t look much like me. If anything, he looked a bit more like Dad. Or maybe he just looked like a Greyrat in general? He had light green eyes and that purple/indigo colored hair still, but his overall appearance seemed like he was rted to us somehow. Something about the eyes and cheekbones maybe.


    That aside, Rnd was sitting on my right.


    Like Pierre, Rnd''s face was on full disy, having taken off his armor and swapping out for a casual shirt and pants.


    He was also staring at Pierre with a strange expression. Guarded, but also confused. With arms crossed, Rnd frowned and tilted his head, causing his light green hair to shift to the side.


    I didn''t me him. Even if Pierre had spent the whole day acting like a normal person/cool uncle to the family, it was hard to get over the bomb shells he dropped.


    Which brought us to the main point.


    I set my ss down on the table and said, "So let''s get down to business."


    Dad took a swig from his own ss of wine and then shook his head. "Blech. Couldn''t you have ordered us something else, Kid?"


    Pierre sipped on his own wine and said, "What''s the matter, Paul? Too refined for your tastes?"


    "More like too uptight." Dad set his ss aside and said, "We''re having a chat, so we should have some beer or mead, not this fancy stuff."


    Rnd chuckled and said, "You would have gotten along with my friends, Grandfather. Pax always said beer was better to rx than wine."


    Dad pointed at him and said, "See? Your son gets it, Kid."


    I stared at him for a bit and then said, "Since when have things gone well when you''re ''rxed'', Dad?"


    He stopped to think about it and said, "...Meeting your Mom and having you? Besides." He sipped on his wine again and then raised the ss towards me. "Since when have things gone right when I get too serious?"


    "...Good point."


    Pierre nodded. "I agree. Now." He looked towards me and said, "What did you want to talk about, Rudy?" He gestured towards Paul and Rnd and said, "Did you just want a guy''s night out, or is there something more serious?"


    "...It''s obvious that it''s serious, isn''t it?"


    Dad stared at me and clicked his tongue. "Damn. And I thought we were just going to catch up over some good drinks and food." He pointed at me and said, "You can''t lead your Dad on like that by saying you''re renting out a whole tavern, Kid."


    I bit my tongue to stop myself from retorting about him leading on all sorts of people when he was younger. I was better than that.


    Instead, I nodded and said, "We can do that afterwards. For now though, I wanted to talk about the future."


    Rnd straightened.


    Pierre did as well.


    And hearing my words, Dad''s rxed expression vanished, turning serious.


    Since I had their attention, Iced my fingers together and said, "First of all, I know where Mom and Mama Lily are."


    Dad''s eyes widened for a bit. And then heughed and let out a relieved smile. "Of course you do." He grinned and then reached over to punch my arm. "Looks like puberty turned you into even more of a genius, eh?"


    "It at least helped me get over the idiocy I inherited from you."


    Dad leaned back and said, "But what you got from me helped out in bed, right? I mean, from how happy Sylphy and Eris are-"


    Rnd cleared his throat, shifting a bit in his seat. "...Could we not talk about that?"


    Pierre chuckled and said, "Not quite as shameless as your grandfather, are you?" He paused and then said, "Although... Did you ever get a lover, Sieg- I mean, Rnd?"


    Rnd''s eyes turned sharp.


    I sighed and said, "Could you stop with the mysterious ''I know more than you'' bit, Pierre?"


    Pierre cleared his throat and leaned back. "Sorry. Bad habit."


    Note to self. Don''t act like that. It''s annoying as all hell.


    "Anyway. Mom and Mama Lily." I continued and said, "It turns out that Being W ended up crunching the fabric of space and time into a weird mess. Because of that, they somehow ended up in Rnd''s timeline."


    Dad paused. "Wait." He pointed at Rnd and said, "He''s from another timeline? I thought you and Sylphy just went at it like bunnies and plopped him in a time incubator or something."


    "..."


    I grabbed my wine and drained the ss.


    Dammit. Really starting to wish my body wasn''t so good at clearing out poisons. Could really use a bit of a buzz right now to deal with my Dad...

 142 – Mission Prep (2/2)

    142 ¨C Mission Prep (2/2)


    After clearing things up with Dad a bit and hammering in the fact that, no, Rnd wasn''t a kid we threw into a distorted dungeon to pop him out as an adult... Seriously. Who did that? You''d have to be the most irresponsible parent ever to throw your kid into a time pocket, even if it was ''for their own good.''


    But anyway, after that, it was time for the real talk.


    "So what are you two doing in Milis?" I looked at Pierre and Dad and said, "Is there something going on here?"


    Dad shrugged and said, "Not really. Your pal Orsted had the Central Continent covered, so I decided to head over with Pierre here to check this ce out to see if we could find some news about everyone."


    I tilted my head and said, "Without Norn or Eri?"


    "Well, Pierre said that he knew where you were and could send them to meet you. Figured it''d be safer than whatever mess I was going to end up in over here."


    After saying that, Dad let out a smug smile, proud that he thought about that.


    ...Considering his track record, it was probably the best move. Though I wasn''t sure if I could approve the clearly reckless parenting decision.


    Then again, Eri was definitely super strong and Norn was... Well. She picked up a few strange things in her personality, but she wasn''t the sort to get wrapped up in dangerous situations. Mostly because she took preemptive measures to cut the problem at the root.


    Literally.


    ...The part about childhood influences affecting your personality was definitely true considering how casually she treated people''s lives.


    Stupid past edgelord self...


    "What about you, Kid?" Dad looked over and said, "Seems like a lot happened on your end." He frowned and said, "Did you get wrapped up in something crazy again? Must''ve been a hell of a story for you toe back with grandkids, wives, and Ste clinging to you like her real Dad."


    I paused to reflect on everything I did in the Magic Continent.


    Waking up with Ste as a newborn, meeting Ruijerd while still recovering, summoning Rika, summoning the White Knights, all the shenanigans that led up to me bing the Demon Lord of Salvation and establishing Arcadia... And then meeting Sylphy, Eri and Norn...


    "...We''ll be here for days if I go through it, so let''s just say that a lot happened, good and bad. Mostly good though. For now... Did you find anything here in Milis?" I looked between Dad and Pierre and said, "I know you probably didn''t find anything about Mom and Mama Lily, but from the fact that something big is going down in the capital... Is Being W messing around here?"


    "Before I answer that..." Dad took a sip from his drink and then stared at me.


    I stared back and tilted my head. "What?"


    "You''re really my kid, right? Not some evil doppelganger from another timeline or something sent to conquer the world?"


    I rolled my eyes and said, "Of course I''m your- Wait." I suddenly remembered what Dad said the first time he saw me again. The confusion he had about whehter I was some bloodthirst Demon Lord or something.


    And then I thought about the attack avenues Being W had left after realizing how much raw power I had at my disposal...


    "...That son of a bitch broadcasted my fight- No, he showed off Rudeus the Gray, didn''t he?"


    The way to kill the hero wasn''t to send a powerful monster. Instead, it was to have the people he protected turn against him.


    There was a reason why the saying ''you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself be the viin'' existed. Public opinion was fickle and could turn on a dime.


    And considering how zealous a group of people who were steadfast in their beliefs were... And how said group of people might react to seeing a tangible demon lord and a tangible message from a so-called ''God''...


    I rubbed my face and said, "Maybe I should check in on Cliff."


    Pierre blinked. "Cliff? You''ve met him?"


    I nodded. "Yeah. He ended up getting sent to the Magic Continent along with his dad and some other people. Good kid, even if he keeps calling me Father-inw."


    Pierre blinked again. "*Father-inw*? But... Well, I guess since I''m with Rostelina now... But then..." He trailed off, mumbling under his breath.


    Hearing that, Rnd narrowed his eyes and finally spoke up. "You never gave a clear answer on who you are, ''Pierre.'' How do you know who Uncle Cliff should end up with?"


    "Because that''s the original flow of events. Of course, things have definitely gone off the rails now. I thought that was because of me, but now I''m wondering if there''s someone else too. The divergence I nned wasn''t so great..."


    An important conversation was unfolding, but I decided to shelf that for now. Instead, I activated irvoyance to check in on Cliff.


    Although it was night, that didn''t affect my vision. Because of that, it was easy to check on the situation in the capital.


    And also because of that, it was easy for me to see the crowd of adventurers and knights filling the central za.


    It was also easy for me to see Cliff standing on a podium in the center of all that, sweeping his arms out to the crowd while making a speech.


    I couldn''t hear it. Mostly because I hadn''t quite figured out how to tie irvoyance to more than just sight yet... Needed to experiment a bit more with synesthesia for that.


    But judging from how the crowd pumped up their arms and cheered...


    I blinked and looked back at Dad and Pierre. "Um. Just for the record... Do you happen to know where the Pope is?"


    Dad smirked and said, "Of course!" He pointed at Pierre and said, "Pierre and I kidnapped the old man and tucked him away in a safehouse. That''s why we''re here, actually. The n was to get him on a ship back to the Central Continent to grab some reinforcements. Also to try and one-up Being W." He paused. "Why?"


    I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my face. "I''ve really got bad timing, don''t I?"


    Well.


    I think Cliff mentioned how he used to dream about bing the Pope and uniting humanity and the other races, right?


    ...Yeah. I''ll let him sort that out.


    For now...


    "That aside..." I looked at Dad and said, "I''m nning on heading back home with everyone to meet up with Master Roxy and Aisha. Did you want toe with us?"


    Rnd blinked and said, "We''re going to meet Blue Mama?"


    I nced at my son and nodded. "I''ve got a lot to talk about with her."


    Mostly about our rtionship, but also about Mom and Mama Lily. Master Roxy was always better at the theoretical stuff than me, so if I get her help, we should be able to grab Mom and Mama Lily in no time.


    Dad rubbed his chin and said, "Hm... I''d love to see how my son wrangles in another wife, and I want to see my cute Aisha again... but my gut''s telling me that I should probably stick around here. What do you think, Pierre?"


    Pierre shrugged. "Lina''s due any day now, so I''ll be around anyway. But..." He looked off to the side and said, "I do feel like something''s off. It''ll be better for us to stick around."


    Dad pointed at Pierre and said, "That''s what our mystery Technique God says."


    I frowned and said, "...Should I stay too?"


    Pierre shook his head. "I think it will be even messier if you''re around. More importantly..." He looked at Rnd and said, "Your kid''s big sister is a bit reckless with time, so it will be better for you to be near Orsted. He should be enough of an anchor to stop any of the stronger ripples."


    I gave Pierre a nk stare.


    "What?"


    "Communication skills really are the most important, aren''t they?"


    Pierre tilted his head, confusion clear on his face.


    I sighed.

 143 – Holy War – I

    143 ¨C Holy War ¨C I


    In the White Pce, at a balcony overlooking the capital. Sitting at a table, a middle-aged man with graying hair mmed his fist, causing the Cardinal hat to shift off his head.


    "What do you mean you can''t find her?!"


    A man in full blue te armor knelt down before the Cardinal and bowed his head. "Apologies, Cardinal, but-"


    "But?!" The Cardinal, Lenc McFane, red at the man and said, "But nothing, Count! Your own daughter was in charge of the Miko''s protection! Do not tell me you do not know where she took the Miko!"


    The armored man, Count Carlyte Latreia, simply remained kneeling.


    "Curses!" Cardinal Lenc tossed his hat to the side and ran his hand through his hair. "I received a direct message from God himself and deposed the Pope like he asked. I followed everything to the letter... So why is everything going wrong now?!" He paused and then looked back at Count Carlyte. "Tell me you at least have found traces of where the Pope has gone."


    "...My apologies, Cardinal, but-"


    "USELESS!" He mmed his hand on the table again and growled. "How are you so ipetent now of all times? Have I extended you too much authority? Or..." He slowly turned to Count Carlyte and said, "Has House Latreia decided to turn on the Church? Twice now your children have turned away from Saint Milis..." He narrowed his eyes and said, "Should I find a recement for the leader of the Order of the Temple?"


    "Of course not, Cardinal."


    "Words are not enough." Cardinal Lenc nced out towards the torchlit capital, staring at the crowd standing in the courtyard and said, "Go quiet down the peasantry. Let them know what it means to turn against God''s words."


    "...Understood."


    Count Carlyte stood up and started walking off, his armor nking behind him.


    Because he wore the full suit, it was impossible to see his expression.


    As a result, the Cardinal missed the thoughtful gleam in the Count''s eye as he walked off.


    ---


    "...And that''s likely what the Cardinal is thinking." Harry Grimoire shrugged and said, "Such a prideful person will likely find us an eyesore and start a show of calling us heretics before sending in the Inquisitors."


    Cliff nodded and then swept his gaze around the surroundings.


    It was night, the only source of light from the full moon above and the torches they set up around their base.


    He had just finished giving his impassioned speech to the adventurers, militia, and knights that had sided with the citizens over the nobles. Now it was a time of action.


    Well, the moment before action.


    There was a bit of time left to finalize logistics and sort out the battle n. Also to check everyone''s determination onest time.


    Cliff looked out at the people standing nearby.


    Harry Grimoire, Cliff''s adoptive father.


    Lady Astolfo, the co-captain of the White Knights from Arcadia.


    Belmondo Nash Venick, the effective leader of the Order of the Church.


    Belmondo''s father, Galgard, who had just returned after gathering the remnants of the Order of Instruction.


    The Adventurer Guild''s leader.


    And then the various adventurers and other influential figures who had been keeping the Order of the Temple and the nobles frommitting aplete purge on the popce.


    Sweeping his gaze across from them all, Cliff nodded and said, "So he says. From this point on it is only a matter of time before the sword of the Church falls upon our heads. Will we simply stand here and ept that fate?"


    "NO!"


    A thunderous roar echoed, followed by ttering steel. The knights hammering on their armor in salutes. Adventurers cheering. The militia cheering in agreement.


    "Will we ept the God who dered us the enemy?"


    "NO!!!"


    "Then..." Cliff turned towards the White Pce. At the same time, he nced at the towers creating the barrier protecting Millishion.


    It was a defensive measure. Common knowledge said that it was only for stopping outside forces and monsters from attacking.


    However, Cliff doubted that was its only capability. For now, it was fine, but it was something he needed to keep an eye on as they advanced.


    But for the moment...


    "Let us depart!"


    Sweeping his arm through the air, Cliff spun on his heels and started walking through the streets towards the White Pce. His pristine white robes trailed behind him as he moved, leading the way.


    It was night time. As a result, the city should have been quiet, with the citizens fast asleep.


    But that wasn''t the case.


    As Cliff led the way, he could see people peering out from their homes to look at him.


    Elderly men and women. Single mothers. Children.


    Had it been that trying on them?


    Without a doubt, what Cliff was doing was revolt. It was sphemy of the highest order by dering the effective leader of the Church as the enemy.


    Yet instead of doubt or ridicule, he was met with hope.


    Of course, that was just from themonfolk.


    In the distance, Cliff could see the lights on in the noble homes and faint reflections. The cowardly nobility peering out with spysses or other means from safety.


    ''...As expected. Father-inw knows best.''


    Those born into nobility did not appreciate or empathize with the plight of themoners. And those who clung to the luxury from currying favor with the Church would continue to do so at the expense of themonfolk.


    Millishion needed to change. A false Church that would forsake its people and turn the de upon the popce was one that did not need to exist. Even if it was the word of God Himself dering it...


    "Humanity will dere who they deem their god."


    ...They would make a new one who understood their plight.


    "...Isn''t that right, Father-inw?"


    -RNG-


    I felt a shiver run down my spine and nced off in the distance.


    "Is something wrong, Rudy?" Sylphy clung to my right arm and then raised her head to follow my gaze.


    "Just go to sleep already." Eri grumbled and then snuggled close to my left side. "We need to get up early tomorrow."


    "...Right."


    Yeah. I could worry about the fact that Cliff was *definitely* setting off for war instead of negotiatingter.


    He was a logical sort of guy. If he came to that conclusion, there probably wasn''t any other option.


    Instead, I should think about how we were going to head back to the Central Continent.


    ...Maybe it was time to experiment with random teleporting? Since I had a proper anchor point here, I could always warp back. And considering how seasick Eri and the others had beenst time, it would probably be better.


    But a leisurely trek across Milis sounded fun too. And I was curious about meeting the Beast race in the Great Forest...


    Well. I''d figure it out tomorrow.

 144 – Holy War – II

    144 ¨C Holy War ¨C II


    Back in the Magic Continent, Rika frowned as she reread through the reports that Ruijerd handed her earlier in the day. And as she did, she clicked her tongue. "It really is that person."


    She had always wondered about it. Back in her timeline, Demon God Lace existed. It wasmon knowledge that he was sealed away in a secret location within the Magic Continent, guarded by seals that Perugius personally ced and reinforced with his summoned spirits.


    And yet, the man calling himself ''Magic God Lace'' had appeared while Demon God Lace never emerged. Moreover, at that time Perugius had focused all of his resources on the Magic God.


    Rika had suspected that Magic God Lace... or rather, the Rudy that became Magic God Lace was just the reincarnation of Demon God Lace. But now...


    "If my time and this time are simr save for that one instance..."


    From her talks with Rudy, they were fairly certain that her time branched from his at a single point. However, even though time branched, it didn''t mean that certain key events wouldn''t ur if they were already in motion before the branch.


    Then...


    Rika took off her sses and reread the report one more time, checking the location, the observations, and Ruijerd''s findings against what she remembered about Magic God Lace''s origins.


    "...This might be a problem."


    Rika wasn''t worried about Rudy. Even if the seal broke and Demon God Lace tried to possess Rudy because he happened to be a perfect vessel... Well, Rudy was a crazy and ridiculous person who was practically a god on his own right at the moment.


    After all, he had the power, miracles, and faith to proim himself as one.


    But that was the best case scenario. In the worst case...


    Magic God Lace was infamous for his assimtion ability. And people had suspected him of being the reincarnation of Demon God Lace due to using some of Demon God Lace''s infamous techniques.


    What if Demon God Lace had been fully resurrected, but his powers had been taken by that time''s Rudy for his own?


    And what if...?


    "There is no use thinking like this." Rika shook her head and set the papers down. "For now, let us leave it to Ruijerd and just send a message to Rudy."


    The seal was only weakening at the moment, so there was a bit of time. Not only that, but Ruijerd''sbat potential was even higher than he had been in his prime as Demon God Lace''s general.


    Rika wasn''t concerned about a fight there. Ruijerd could hold his own long enough for Rudy to sense the disturbance and return.


    Instead, what Rika was concerned for was...


    She nced at the sky and frowned. After that, she looked at the ''maid'' who had been quietly sitting in the corner of the room.


    "Atofe."


    The former Immortal Demon Lord bowed her head and said, "Yes, Lady Rika?"


    Rika''s eye twitched.


    It was still weird seeing the brash and hot-headed Atofe act like that. Just what happened when Rudy went to meet her...?


    No. That wasn''t important. Instead...


    "Do you think Perugius would sit down and talk peacefully if Demon God Lace''s seal breaks near our kingdom?"


    Atofe scoffed. "That guy? Of course not. He acts all noble and aloof, but he''s a super hot-headed idiot when ites to anything rted to Lace."


    "I thought so."


    Rika sighed.


    It seemed like she should expedite Project Zenithia then. If conflict with Perugius was inevitable, they might as well go ahead with it and create another floating fortress.


    ---


    The middle of the night, dark with nothing but the moon to guide the way. Under the moonlight, an eclectic group departed from Millishion, stepping out onto the open fields.


    Some were in pristine white armor, shining like specters from beyond the veil. Others were in sparkling silver armor. Others still were wearing haphazard equipment, some with proper armor, some with misceneous pieces... And the restcked armor at all, simply advancing in their in clothes.


    Leading this group was a young man. When he left his home, he had been just a boy. A youth not even to his tenth birthday. But through happenstance and divine intervention, he had experienced years beyond what he should have had the world resumed its natural course.


    A genius plucked from his home, humbled, and returned with conviction.


    Standing at the front, Cliff Grimoire confidently advanced, his light brown hair and his pure white robe fluttering with a gentle night breeze. Unlike his followers who were barely illuminated by the moon, he seemed to emit light of his own. Like amp in the darkness, his surroundings were bright, serving as a beacon and guide for those who may have been doubtful behind him.


    But it was dangerous. Unlike the others, he had no armor. Though his robe gave off a holy aura, it was ordinary cloth. A de would easily cut through and rend his flesh. An arrow would pierce and strike him down.


    Even so, he advanced without doubt. His eyes remained steadfast on the White Pce in the distance, as well as the flurry of activity starting to emerge from the pce gates.


    It was difficult to see to the ordinary eye. Knights bearing dark blue armor that blended in with the darkness advanced.


    Knights from the Order of the Temple.


    Not only that, but the faint twang of drawn bowstrings echoed from the distance.


    And of course, the target was Cliff.


    The white moon became shadowed. A barrage of arrows nketing the sky shot forward.


    But Cliff continued to advance. Almost as if a martyr or sacrifice, he continued forward while the others moved back.


    The arrows arrived.


    A few screams echoed. Some of the younger members from Cliff''s group closed their eyes.


    In the distance, the captain overseeing the Temple archers cheered.


    But shortly after, silence fell over both groups.


    Cliff was standing there,pletely unharmed without a single scratch on either his skin or his clothing. Instead, the arrows had pierced the ground around him. But they weren''t deflected. Instead, as if divine interference, the arrows formed a perfect circle around him. Moreover, if one looked upon the arrows from above, they would see that it formed the cross of Saint Milis, with Cliff as the center.


    The silence continued for a moment. And then Cliff broke it.


    Staring into the distance, he smiled and swept out his arms. "Is this all you can do in the name of your God?" He stepped forward, cing a foot on the arrows.


    Logically, they should have broken. They weren''t tightly packed enough to support his weight.


    But the arrows held, and Cliff advanced.


    "FIRE!"


    A roar echoed in the distance. The captain ordering the archers to attack once more.


    Cliff let out a benevolent smile and advanced, his arms still held out. "Look! Those who act in the name of that God cannot strike me! Their arrows miss, and their des shall break!"


    The next volley of arrows arrived. But like before, they flew off course. Yet, it wasn''t due to a barrier. Instead, it looked like some divine force had brushed them aside at thest moment.


    The Temple captain turned to his men and growled. "Where are you aiming?! Fire!"


    Another volley.


    Cliff smiled, watching as the arrows continued to miss. And then he turned back towards his followers. "We advance! Tonight, we expel the false prophets!"


    "UWOOOOOOOOOO!"

 145 – Holy War – III

    145 ¨C Holy War ¨C III


    A battle beneath the moonlight. One side fighting in the name of a supposed God, the other fighting for humanity''s sake against that traitorous God.


    Arrows continued flying through the night sky, blotting out the moonlight as they shot towards Cliff and the people behind him.


    And those arrows kept getting twisted off course, as if brushed away by an invisible hand.


    It would have been one thing if it was due to a barrier. It would have been sensible if a wind started, blowing them off course. Both were phenomena that could be exined with mortal powers. Magic, instead of divine intervention.


    But...


    One of the blue-armored pdins on the side of the Order of the Temple turned back to look at themander. "S-Sir? D-Do we keep shooting?"


    "The arrows... D-Do we really have God''s blessings on our side?" Another pdin lowered his bow and nced at themander as well.


    Themander red at his men. As a grizzled old man who had seen countless battles, a trick like this didn''t phase him. But his men...


    It was pathetic. Just because of something small like that, his men were losing morale.


    "Of course we do! Have you forgotten the day His voice echoed in our minds?" Themander stepped forward past his men and stared at Cliff.


    Cliff stared back, letting out a faint smile.


    "Tch."


    It was a kid. But that kid had somehow rallied the adventurer''s guild, Order of Instruction, and Order of the Church behind him. Not only that, but even some idioticmoners had joined in a haphazard militia.


    A reckless charge. Even if the other Knight Orders had joined, they were just remnants. With God''s aid and the Cardinal''s actions, the strongest had been scattered to the winds.


    No matter what magic item they were using to block the arrows, when it came to a sh of des, the result was already determined. So...


    "Stop wasting arrows and draw your des." Themander ordered his men and then drew his own sword. At the same time, silver light wrapped his body. His Battle Aura red as he prepared to meet those arrogant traitors and heretics daring to raise their swords against the Church.


    An immediate response. Seeing themander act brushed away the doubts in the pdins. With that, they all put their bows to the side and drew their swords, stepping forward to stand with themander.


    A dozen other pdins roused their Battle Aura as well, silver wrapping around their dark blue armor.


    Seeing that, themander smirked.


    No matter how many adventurers and peasants that kid rallied, it would be pointless. Even though they had a small army on that side, a single Saint-ranked fighter could take out scores of ordinary men. A King-ranked fighter could take that army out by himself.


    And there was no one like that in the other Knight Orders.


    So it was inevitable. The moment that kid and his forces arrived, his elites would charge alongside him and tear through. Afterwards, his men would follow up and-


    A sudden burst of light. The dark night illuminated by silver. But it wasn''ting from his men.


    Instead...


    Themander''s eyes widened and he instinctively took a step back. "I-Impossible...!"


    ---


    Cliff stared at the shocked face of the enemymander and then nodded.


    ''As I thought.''


    The Order of the Temple was worthy of their infamous reputation. To be able to pull out a dozen Saint-ranked fighters for just an initial charge and at such notice was proof of that. It was a force that was enough to keep the entire Adventurer''s guild in check.


    Perhaps the Order of Instruction might have stronger fighters, but those were scattered throughout the world on their training pilgrimages. And the Order of the Church had powerful fighters serving as trump cards in cases of national emergency, but the spacetime rend had scattered those fighters as well.


    That was why the Order of the Temple could run rampant like this under the Cardinal''s direction and hold Millishion in a death-grip.


    However...


    ''It is nothingpared to Father-inw''s forces.''


    The White Knights had a minimum entry level of Saint-ranked. It was necessary in order to survive against the harsh monsters and unexpected dangers of the Magic Continent. And as a result of facing those tribtions, in actuality, the White Knights were stronger than ordinary Saint-ranked forces.


    And that was just considering the White Knights who joinedter.


    Lady Astolfo and the others who Father-inw had personally gathered... Cliff didn''t know their limits. But from the oppressive light shining behind him, it was more than whatever the other side had.


    So it would be a rout.


    With the White Knights alone, they could run rampant through the Order of the Temple, barge into the White Pce, and take out the Cardinal.


    But this battle was not simple one of military might.


    Cliff carefully studied the expressions of the knights on the opposing side.


    A good number of them were wearing helmets, preventing him from gleaning any information. But others were not. And because of that, he could see the shock and hesitation.


    ''...As expected.''


    The Order of the Temple were known to be zealots. Those who would fight to the death against impossible odds. Trusting in the grace of Saint Milis and God''s protection, they would willingly relinquish their lives for the cause.


    Because they knew they were in the right.


    But...


    ''They lost their faith.''


    Was it because of some of the heinous actions that had been perpetrated in the name of ''God?'' The fact that the Cardinal seized power for his own? Or because using his prototype <Force Maniption> spell to give off the appearance of divine intervention struck them to their core?


    Either way, Cliff could tell. Just one more push would be enough.


    So...


    "Lady Astolfo, Sir Venick, and Mister Guild Leader. Would you please stand back?"


    A request to stand down.


    "Are you an idiot, Cliffy?"


    As scripted, Lady Astolfo spoke up against him.


    "You might be smart, but you aren''t a fighter."


    "I do not need to be." Cliff turned back to the militia.


    Ordinary men and women. Some young, some old. People who followed him because they wanted to protect their home and get rid of the rot clinging to the Church. Those who had faith in Saint Milis''s teachings and not some false God who would discard them on a whim.


    Cliff closed his eyes and ced his hand over his heart.


    It was possible. Father-inw had told him that mana could take on countless forms. That faith alone could create astounding feats, but faith, vision, and rationale could create impossible miracles.


    And so...


    "This is a story about the resurgence of humanity."


    Humanity''s potential was limitless. Anyone could be a hero. Anyone could be a viin. The capacity for good and evily within everyone. But in knowing evil and seeking good. In epting weakness and seeking strength within the conviction to pursue the beautiful ideal...


    Cliff opened his eyes. And as he did, golden light swept out. The night sky vanished, reced by a brilliant sky at dawn. At the same time, silver light flickered around the ordinary men and women, their inherent strength drawn out by the grace of the morning light.


    Seeing that, Cliff smiled.


    As always, Father-inw''s theories were correct.


    -RNG-


    It was the middle of the night. To be exact, early morning.


    Eri and Sylphy were already fast asleep, and both of them were clinging to my arms, preventing me from getting up.


    Well, it was superfy snuggled between them, so I didn''t really want to get up either.


    But I couldn''t fall asleep despite howfortable it felt. And the reason for that...


    ''...As expected. It''s dangerous to give random information to real geniuses, huh?''


    I stared at the piece of disced reality around the White Pce with my irvoyance and then let out a sigh.


    Note to self. Be more careful with the ''what ifs'' you say around Cliff. That guy''s smart, crazy, and determined enough to reject reality itself to make it possible.


    Secondary note: remember to grab Cliff when we seriously start working on how to grab Mom and Mama Lily back from the future.


    Now... I think I''ll just close my eyes and let Cliff do his thing.


    Yeah. Less of a headache that way.


    ...Huh. I wonder if this is how Master Roxy felt back then...

 146 – Children of the Beast Race – I

    146 ¨C Children of the Beast Race ¨C I


    A bright and peaceful morning.


    Ste blinked her bleary eyes open and then let out a small yawn before sitting up in her bed.


    For a brief moment, she was confused. The surroundings were unfamiliar. Even the bed she was sleeping in was different. A bit too firm and not like thefy one that Onii-chan made for her.


    And then Ste remembered. ''Right. We aren''t in Arcadia any more.''


    She took a look around and then gathered her bearings.


    It was a small room. Basic, without many personal belongings or furniture. But it was supposed to be that way.


    "Onii-chan. You''re a pretty boring person, huh?"


    The room was a recreation of the one that Onii-chan had at their old house. The same house where Ste had been born.


    It didn''t have everything. After all, a lot of their belongings had vanished in the spacetime copse that whisked their family all over the world.


    But Onii-chan was a cheat who could make things from just his imagination and memories, so it was pretty much the same.


    Because of that... and because of how bare it was, Ste shook her head.


    Even if he was a reincarnated genius or something, you''d think he would have some toys or souvenirs, but there wasn''t anything decorating the room.


    Then again, Onii-chan was the sort of person who valued the intangible things like knowledge, skills, and stuff like that.


    Except for when it came to women.


    Ste slipped out of her bed and sighed. "At least Onii-chan knows how to keep them quiet."


    After that, she thought about what to do for the day.


    Onii-chan said that they were probably going to start heading back to their hometown soon, but she wasn''t sure if they were leaving today or not. And even if they were, Onii-chan coulde by and pick her up whenever. So...


    A glimmer of crimson sparks appeared in front of Ste, and then a girl with ming orange hair appeared next to her.


    Ste blinked and then sighed before saying, "Are you going to follow me around everywhere like that now, Fai?"


    Fai rubbed her eyes and then smiled. "Of course!" She smoothed down her simple white dress and said, "You''re big now, so I get to be big too!"


    A white mist shimmered next to Ste before a tabby gray cat appeared, floating in the air. It shook its body for a bit, causing some mist to leave its fur and turn it pure white. After that, the cat looked at Ste with its clear blue eyes and said, "Did you n on going on an adventure today, Ste?"


    Ste walked over to pick up her bag, carefully rummaging through her belongings.


    Her notebook filled with various example magic arrays that she learned from watching Onii-chan. A makeshift wand made from a magic stone Onii-chan gave her to y with and some scrap metal that Fai and Wata helped find. Some spare clothes, snacks that Onii-chan gave her...


    And since Wata could always conjure water, that should be enough.


    Ste closed up her bag and slung it over her shoulders before turning back to Wata. "We probably won''t be here much longer, so we should go explore while we have the chance, right?"


    A small breeze shifted Ste''s blonde hair before a tiny green fairy appeared on her head. Wearing a green one-piece dress, Wyn yawned and said, "Can''t we just rx?" She nced off to the side and said, "The winds are hectic today. It might be bad to go."


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "The winds are always bad, Wyn. Just like how you''re always sleepy." She paused and said, "Why *are* you always sleepy anyway?"


    Wyn stretched and said, "Because you make me work so hard." The small fairy puffed her cheeks and said, "Do you know how many times a weirdo keeps trying to steal your Fate?"


    Ste blinked. "...What?"


    Wyn yawned and then looked over at Wata and Fai. "I''m going back to sleep. Don''t let Fai get Ste into trouble, Wata."


    Fai huffed and said, "I am not trouble!"


    Wata nodded. "I won''t."


    Ste shook her head and said, "You three always make it seem like I''m going to get into some big mess." After saying that, Ste opened the door and walked out of her room.


    Wata floated behind her and said, "Because you''re a trouble ma like Rudy but a lot weaker."


    "I am *not* as bad as Onii-chan." Ste huffed and walked down the hall to the living room. "He breaks the world andmonsense wherever he goes. I''m perfectly normal."


    Fai walked beside Ste and nodded. "Yeah!" She looked at Wata and said, "Ste is a normal girl, not a weirdo!"


    "...Normally I''d be happy, buting from you, Fai..." Ste sighed and then shook her head.


    The house was empty, mostly because it was still pretty early.


    Ste''s father had gone off somewherest night after chatting with Onii-chan. As for Onii-chan, he was still asleep with his ero wives... Or maybe up to hi things since that silence formation was covering their bedroom. Either way, they weren''t around.


    Eos, Ena, and Rnd''s bedrooms were upstairs, and Ste''s... nieces and nephew? Nee-chans and Nii-chan?


    Family rtionships were always soplicated when time-travel was involved.


    Hah. Seriously, was Onii-chan the protagonist of a science fiction novel or something before he got reincarnated? He said he came from Japan too, but Ste was seriously starting to have doubts about if they came from the same Earth.


    Anyway, they were all asleep, or at least not downstairs yet.


    Norn nee-chan was probably asleep too since her room was still closed. So was Auntie Therese.


    Since that was the case, Ste scribbled a quick note saying that she was going exploring before cing it on the dining room table. After that, she headed outside, Fai and Wata following her. And then-


    "Are you leaving?"


    -A soft female voice called out to her.


    ''?!@#!@''


    Ste jumped and spun around to see a slightly chubby blonde girl standing there.


    The girl''s blue eyes stared at Ste with unnatural pink diamond pupils, almost as if peering into Ste''s soul-


    No, the girl was actually doing that judging from the waves of mana rippling towards Ste.


    Ste watched those waves bounce away as the ne Onii-chan gave her shed. After that, she huffed and said, "How many times have I said to stop trying to read my mind, Miko?"


    "Yeah!" Fai pointed at Miko and said, "That''s rude!"


    The girl, Miko, lowered her gaze and said, "I''m sorry."


    Wata floated over and bopped Fai''s head. "You''re the rude one here, Fai."


    "Ow!"


    Ste shook her head and said, "Whatever. I''m going out to y today. Do you wannae with?"


    Miko tilted her head and said, "Is that okay? You''re still really small..."


    "I am not small!" Ste huffed and said, "I''m a big girl now!"


    "...Yes?"


    "Anyway!" Ste spun towards the door and said, "I''m going with or without you! Come on Fai!"


    "A-Ah!" Miko quickly started walking after Ste. "W-Wait for me!"


    -SNG-


    Saint Port. Apparently, it was supposed to be simr to the Wind Port back on the Magic Continent. Of course, since that ce had been destroyed by a big distortion, Ste never got to see what it was really like.


    But walking around the area...


    ''This ce really is a fantasy world, isn''t it?''


    Of course, there had been demons, beastkin, and other fantasy creatures back in Arcadia, but everyone there was normal. Or maybe it was because the ce was something Onii-chan built up?


    Either way, it didn''t feel like a real parallel world.


    But here...


    Looking around, Ste could see adventurers chatting and merchants hawking their wares. Some sailors were walking around, stumbling back after a long night drinking... Altogether, it was like a real fantasy setting.


    And since Ste was finally off by herself, it was even more exciting. Now, if only she could have a chance encounter and start a quest or something-


    "Hm?"


    Ste paused, noticing something off in the distance, hidden between dark alleyways.


    A sh of white, darting into the darkness.


    Wata paused as well and then followed Ste''s gaze. "Did you see something interesting, Ste?"


    "...I think so." Ste pulled out her wand from her bag and then started walking over there.


    Miko quickly followed, hugging her white robe. "U-Um... I don''t think we should-"


    "It''ll be fine! I''m not a baby anymore!"


    Right. Ste was grown up now and she could solve her own problems. Plus, it was time for her to show Onii-chan that he didn''t need to fuss so much worrying about her.


    "Let''s go, everyone!"


    Now, to see what that white sh was...


    -RNG-


    "Hm?"


    I sat up and then nced off to the side.


    Eri and Sylphy were still fast asleep,pletely exhausted.


    Scanning around the house, my kids were sleeping, Norn was studying, Aunt Therese was sleeping too...


    Dad was knocked out at an inn nearby, watched over by Pierre and Rostelina...


    But Ste was missing.


    She wasn''t in danger. And when I focused on her, it seemed like she was just out having fun with her friends walking around in town.


    But then she suddenly ducked into a side-alley, chasing after a fluffy white dog.


    A fluffy white dog that was almost blinding with the amount of golden holy mana radiating from it.


    "...Trouble really does run in the family, huh?"


    I carefully slipped out from Eri and Sylphy before heading out the window and trailing after Ste.


    It should be fine, but it was always good to have an overpowered NPC on a tutorial mission, right?

 147 – Children of the Beast Race – II

    147 ¨C Children of the Beast Race ¨C II


    Ste clutched her wand and then cautiously peered down the dark alleyway.


    It was sketchy. If it was back in Japan, Ste would never have gone anywhere close to a ce like that. But...


    ''I''m no ordinary girl!''


    Right. She wasn''t an ordinary high school girl, and she definitely wasn''t an ordinary girl in general.


    Watching Onii-chan use magic, experimenting with magic formations on her own, and even secretly using healing magic to grow a little faster... Yes. Ste was definitely not an ordinary girl. Instead, she was a magical girl, one setting off to solve mysteries and beat up the bad guys!


    ...Okay. Maybe not that.


    Still, it would help Onii-chan if some of the bad guys weren''t around, right?


    Right. So...


    ''Focus, Ste!''


    The sh of white that Ste saw was gone now. They had chased it down the alleyways towards the ships, but it suddenly vanished.


    Wata floated through the air and spun around, frowning. "...I don''t see anything, Ste."


    Fai walked next to Ste and looked around as well. "...Yep! All clear!"


    Miko cautiously stopped behind Ste and looked around too. After a quick survey, she looked towards Ste and said, "Is... Is it okay for us to be here?"


    Ste looked towards Miko and crossed her arms. "What? Are you scared?"


    Miko nodded. "Yes."


    "...Oh."


    Ste hadn''t been expecting that answer.


    Miko frowned and said, "I''m surprised that you aren''t scared." She pressed her hands against her chest and looked around, trembling. "People can be scary, especially in ces like this."


    "Well, I can be scary too." Ste held up her wand and then stared at the run-down door in front of them.


    ...Now that Miko mentioned it, Ste felt her heart speed up a bit.


    Even if Ste knew she was safe, it was still a bit scary. In her past life, she wouldn''t be caught anywhere near ces like this. She had read horror stories about kids and even high school girls being lured into shady ces and then trafficked against their will.


    But because of that...


    ''I can do it.''


    Right. This ce definitely looked like the sort of shady area where innocent people would be trafficked. And since this was a world where ves existed, there were probably a lot of those here too.


    And Ste had the ability to free them. So...


    She swallowed down her fear and hesitation and then said, "Wata. Can you break down the door?"


    Wata puffed up his chest and said, "Easy!" After that, he floated towards the door and snapped his fingers.


    A sh of blue light lit up the dark alley. The moment it did, the run-down door frosted over, turning white. And then it shattered, dissolving into icy particles.


    Fai pouted. "Aw. I wanted to break something."


    Wata floated back to Ste''s side before turning towards Fai. "No burning down the whole town, Fai. Do you want Rudy to yell at you?"


    "...No."


    Miko looked between Wata and Fai before turning her gaze back to Ste. As she did, Miko frowned and said, "...I don''t understand you, Ste. Why aren''t you scared?"


    Ste started walking through the opening and said, "Because I''m smart and prepared."


    Right. Onii-chan was the strongest, and the ne he gave her would definitely protect her against bad guys. Although...


    Ste paused and then turned towards Fai. "Could you stay close and protect Miko, Fai?"


    "Aw..." Fai frowned and said, "But I want to walk next to you, Ste!"


    "And I appreciate that. But Miko is squishy, so we need to protect her."


    Miko puffed her cheeks and said, "I-I am not squishy! I''m... I might be a little pudgy, but I''m not squishy!"


    "...Sure."


    Ste wasn''t about to open that can of worms. Nope. Besides, there were more important things to worry about.


    After watching to make sure Fai was seriously protecting Miko, Ste started walking again.


    It was dark, but a quick flick of her wand lit up the surroundings as a floating light ball emerged.


    And like that, the party advanced.


    The building was damp, and the doorway seemed to be leading underground, giving the impression of walking into the mouth of a breathing creature.


    Ste knew that wasn''t the case, but with the moist air, warm atmosphere, and icky smell surrounding her, she couldn''t help but feel a bit worried.


    It was irrational. Ste knew that. After all, Onii-chan was nearby and she could call for help at any time. Not that she wanted to.


    This was a chance to prove to everyone that she wasn''t just a kid. If she managed to foil like a big criminal plot, then everyone would definitely stop coddling her. And she could even show off to Norn nee-chan too.


    Imagining all of that brought a smile to Ste''s face.


    A smile that froze as the group stepped out into an open area.


    "By Milis..." Miko let out a hushed whisper and instinctively took a step back.


    Fai''s usual bright demeanor vanished, reced by anger. Anger that caused her ming red hair to actually be mes for a brief moment before she closed her eyes and brought it under control.


    Wata was angry as well. But unlike Fai, his anger was cold, causing the air around him to frost up.


    As for Ste...


    "...I-Is this real?"


    A dark and empty stone room, barely lit by a flickering oilntern and the light orb she had summoned.


    Within that room, cages wereid out, each containing nude boys and girls.


    There were a few who looked to be around ten, but most of them were younger. Primary school age.


    They were handcuffed and gagged. Some had animal or elf ears, but there were a few who were definitely just human.


    All of them were crying or trembling in fear. Some had bruises on their skin or their face. And others... No, it looked like they didn''t suffer ''that.''


    But even so-


    "Ste!" Wata cried out and flew in front of Ste, conjuring an ice barrier.


    *CRACK*


    Ste''s eyes widened, staring at the sword stopped right in front of her eyes. It wasn''t moving. But the force that had been thrown must have been immense.


    Wata had conjured a thick wall of frosty ice, but cracks were rapidly spreading through it, making it look like a broken window.


    Through that broken window, Ste could see someone moving.


    "Tch." A man walked into the center of the room from a dark hallway, dragging a bloodied white dog behind him. Staring at Ste, he clicked his tongue and said, "I was worried that this dog drew in some adventurers, but it''s only a bunch of kids and their pet."


    Ste gulped and took a quick stock of the situation.


    The captured children in the cages were huddling in fear. Wata was on edge and Fai had moved in front of Miko, who was trembling with wide eyes.


    ''It''s okay.''


    Right. It was fine. She wasn''t alone, and even then, it was just a random thug.


    Judging from the man''s shaggy dark hair, gaunt eyes, and scruffy beard, he was just an ordinary thug. The sort of typical bandit. He definitely wasn''t anything special. So...


    ''Let''s save them.''


    She could do it. The children... Ste didn''t know how they got here or why they were here, but it definitely couldn''t be for any good reason. And it was clear that man was underestimating them, so...


    Ste swung her wand and focused.


    Magic formations shed and stone spires shot up from the floor, aiming at the bad guy. At the same time, she ran forward.


    "Ste! Argh!" Wata groaned and then shattered the ice wall, quickly moving towards Ste''s side.


    The bandit snorted and said, "Stupid kid." Reaching up with his left hand to crack his neck, he took a step back,pletely rxed.


    And then his eyes widened. "What?"


    Ste smiled.


    ''It worked.''


    A theory that Ste was working on. Inspired by how Wata, Wyn, and Fai used magic, she figured out how to use magic formations to directly control the elements.


    The bandit thought it was just stone spires, but in actuality...


    "Go on time out for a bit, Mister Bandit."


    Ste swung her wand and caused the stone to flow like water before wrapping around the bandit.


    "You brat!" The bandit cursed and then tried to break free, struggling against the stone constraints.


    Seeing that, Ste swung her wand again and then wrapped up his mouth too. After that, she turned her attention to the caged children.


    Onii-chan was definitely going to be impressed by this. Although it wouldn''t be good to have all the kids walk out since they were naked... Maybe she should try making clothes like Onii-chan?


    Wata flew over and then snapped his fingers, causing the locks on the cages to freeze and shatter. After that, he turned to the bloodied dog lying on the ground and said, "Hey, Ste. I think we should heal that dog."


    Ste looked over and then cleared her throat. "R-Right."


    She didn''t forget about the dog at all. Definitely not. Especially since it seemed like the one who struggled to escape and get them toe and help.


    Ste walked over to the dog, ignoring the dark re the bound up bandit was giving her. Holding out her wand, she stood over the dog and smiled. "Don''t worry, Doggy. Just a bit and I''ll have you all-"


    Miko suddenly gasped and then said, "Ste- No, Wata, block him!"


    Ste blinked.


    A sh of silver erupted around the man. Shortly after, a loud *CRACK* echoed as he broke out of the restraints, suddenly drawing a knife from his sleeve.


    Ste''s eyes widened and she took a step back.


    At least, she tried.


    But the bandit red at her, and her body couldn''t move.


    Ste suddenly remembered it. The terrifying re that Mister Ruijerd had way back when that made it seem like the entire world would crash down.


    Onii-chan was able to stand against that.


    But Onii-chan was Onii-chan.


    Faced with that re... No. That killing intent. With the realization that the man wanted and was going to kill her...


    ''Move!''


    She tried to force her body to move. And her hand clumsily swung her wand.


    But she couldn''t concentrate.


    Wata moved like before and tried to make an ice barrier. But before he could, a dagger flew towards him, stopping him in the middle of casting.


    Wata reflexively ducked away. But then he realized that Ste was left wide open. "No!"


    The bandit sneered and dashed forward, pulling out another dagger from his boot.


    Ste''s mind stopped, staring at the gleaming de rushing towards her head.


    And then-


    Blood sprayed.


    Fai was standing in front of Ste, arms thrown out wide, somehow arriving in an instant to serve as a human shield.


    Because of that, Ste thought the blood came from her.


    But then she realized that wasn''t the case. Instead...


    "I knew I should have cleaned up these ship rats earlier."


    A familiar calm and collected voice. Not only that, but a familiar hand patted Ste''s head.


    Onii-chan''s.


    Ste blinked and watched as Rudy appeared in front of her.


    Was it because he was in a rush? Instead of his dyed hair and fancy clothes, his hair was white again and he was wearing a in gray shirt and pants.


    Before Ste could evenprehend what was happening, people started appearing from the dark hallway further in the room.


    "Is it a raid?!"


    "They got Jerald!"


    Rudy clicked his tongue and then turned to face them. "Exploiting children like this... And scaring my baby sister." He stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. "Well. I''ve been meaning to test out my physique. Thank you for volunteering."


    Filled with relief, Ste suddenly found her legs giving out. Against her will, she staggered back and fell on her butt.


    Even so, that was fine. She was safe. The bad guy was-


    Ste''s mind froze.


    She had instinctively nced over to see what Rudy did to stop the bandit.


    And she couldn''tprehend it.


    No. She couldprehend it.


    It was clear.


    The bandit was dead.


    It was a rational result.


    He tried to kill her. Because of that, Onii-chan killed the man to save her.


    But...


    A wave of nausea took over Ste as she saw it.


    The bandit was dead. But he wasn''t just dead.


    He was crushed.


    A human body that was just standing in front of her had turned into a crimson smear.


    It was the same way Rudy took care of monsters. Overwhelming pressure that crushed them.


    But...


    Shards of bone. Bits of hair, and pink chunks that were still moving in ces...


    Screams drew Ste out of her daze, causing her to look towards them. And then she wished she hadn''t.


    Onii-chan was doing what Onii-chan always did in protecting her. And Onii-chan was strong. Because of that, the bad guys didn''t stand a chance. But...


    Limbs flying from a casual flick of Onii-chan''s wrist. Punches that ripped a hole wherever they flew instead of sending the person backwards.


    A horror film.


    ...Right.


    Ste forgot.


    This world. It was a fantasy world, but...


    "There." Rudy turned back to Ste and smiled. "Now, it was a bit messy, but everything''s settled. How about we start helping these kids out, Ste?"


    Ste didn''t answer.


    Rudy blinked. "Ste?"


    A massacre. In the middle of the bloodstained room and shredded corpses, Rudy was standing there untouched. Not even a single drop of blood was on him, even though he was the one responsible for it.


    ...Ste thought it was a joke. Because Onii-chan was nice, she thought that the fact that he was a Demon Lord was just for fun. A title that he picked up because he was literally a Lord over Demons.


    But...


    "Onii-chan." Ste stared at Rudy with dazed eyes and said, "You''re... really a Demon Lord, aren''t you?"


    "Hm? What do you-"


    *THUMP*


    "Ste?! H-Hey! This isn''t a ce to sleep!"

 148 – Children of the Beast Race – III

    148 ¨C Children of the Beast Race ¨C III


    Okay. So it turns out that even I can make bad decisions right after waking up.


    Since I saw Ste walking with such confidence and acting so mature, I thought that she was like me and didn''t get affected by seeing people die.


    Though to be fair, I had taken her with me when fighting off monsters and seeing much more gruesome sights in the past, but it seemed like it was a bit different when you saw a person get turned to red pastepared to a monster.


    Definitely should have realized that.


    Sheesh. People talked about post-sex rity, but it sure didn''t seem like that for me.


    Must be the Greyrat genes. Definitely would exin a lot about Dad.


    I sighed and picked up my baby sister before taking a look around the surroundings.


    The ce was a mess. I definitely didn''t expect my opponents to be so weak, so my miscalction meant that I sprayed the walls red.


    I managed to keep the blood away from the children, of course. Though, it seemed like that might have left a worse impression because of it.


    Well. First off, let''s clean this ce up.


    I focused on all the gore and viscera before gathering it into a bunch and dissolving it into ambient mana through some handy mass->energy conversion.


    The conversion ratio was horrible, of course. But the point wasn''t to just get rid of the mess, so that didn''t matter.


    In the blink of an eye, the room was clear. Of course, only to my eyes.


    Since my baby sister fainted, the light orb she had been using to illuminate the surroundings had vanished.


    And probably because of that, I could hear and see some of the kidnapped children crying even harder out of sheer dread and despair.


    ...Yeah. Definitely need to wake up a bit more next time before heading out to do things-


    Ah. I should start making that list for my sons in the future.


    1. Never leave home without the list of things to keep the Greyrat stupid in check.


    2. After getting up, make sure you''repletely awake before doing anything that other people can see. Greyrats are prone to bouts of stupidity. Especially after a long night.


    3. Don''t show children bloody and gruesome sights, even if they seem mature enough to handle it.


    ...That should be enough for now.


    Anyway, dealing with the current situation...


    Miko... The Miko? I still wasn''t sure if her name was Miko or if that was just a title... But anyway, Miko was terrified and clinging onto Wata for dear life.


    Fai was going around opening the cages...


    Wyn... was floating around Ste in mana form and protecting her?


    Huh. Didn''t know she could do that, but good to know.


    I picked Ste up and then held her close before walking over to the white dog that I saw earlier.


    The dog was still alive, but only just. It seemed like the kidnappers took out their anger on the poor thing for running away and getting help.


    "Good work." I crouched down and then patted the dog while healing it.


    The dog blearily opened its eyes to look at me and then let out a soft sigh before cozying up to me.


    I smiled and then turned to look at Miko. "Are you hurt?"


    The young girl looked at me and then slowly shook her head. "I''m... fine, Mister Rudy."


    At that time, Wata managed to escape from Miko''s grasp and said, "I''m not!" He quickly fixed up his ruffled fur and said, "I might look cute, but I''m not a stuffed animal! Sheesh!"


    Miko lowered her gaze and said, "Sorry."


    Wata sighed and then floated over to me, looking at Ste with a worried look. "Is she okay, Master Rudy?"


    "She''ll be fine." I shifted Ste into a princess hold and then looked at the other children who were still staring at me. "The problem is what to do with these guys."


    It seemed like they were calming down after Fai went around to free them.


    Still naked though. And judging from the fact that they were here at the port on the continent with a church that held power over everything...


    ...Well. We''d find out if ''that'' aspect of the church being corrupt is true after Cliff reports back. But for now...


    I snapped my fingers and conjured a basic loose shirt for each of the children, as well as healing any wounds they might have.


    The fingersnap wasn''t necessary, but appearances were important. And it also let them know that I was the source of the magical situation. Wouldn''t want the kids to start panicking now.


    I didn''t have to worry though. For the most part, all of the kids had calmed down and were looking at me with trust and hope.


    ...Not sure how it ended up that way after the bloody massacre, but maybe beast and elven kids were different? Must be a cultural thing.


    Yeah, the human kids still looked a bit cautious.


    But for now...


    Hm.


    Well, I *was* nning a trip to visit the Great Forest anyway. And Sylphy had been talking about wanting to take care of some kids, right? This could be a good practice run...


    -SNG-


    Blood stters. A human body, turned into a crimson smear along the pavement.


    Ste recognized it.


    The blood-stained high school uniform. Clumps of long dark hair. The sidebag with a cute button that Aki gave her pinned along the side.


    It was the ident.


    ...Right.


    That was how she died.


    A giant truck blew past a red light, and she ran forward to push Aki out of the way. As a result...


    She died.


    That must have been how she ended up before she died.


    Obviously. A human body versus a giant truck was an inevitable oue.


    Ste stared at the pavement. And as she did, the crimson smear started wriggling before turning back into the bandit that tried to kill her.


    ...This was a nightmare.


    Ste could tell. This was definitely a nightmare.


    And like all the nightmares she had, Onii-chan showed up to end it.


    ...Or so she thought.


    But when Onii-chan showed up...


    *SPLAT*


    Something warm sshed against Ste''s face. Looking down, Ste saw a pool of blood flowing towards her. Not only that, but other things flowed with it. Fingers, feet, random body parts...


    Rudeus flicked his wrists, sttering the pavement with the blood that had been on his sleeves. After that, he turned to Ste and smiled. "That was pretty fun, wasn''t it, Ste?"


    Ste didn''t respond.


    Rudyughed and started walking towards her. "Come on." He reached out his hand and said, "You should try too. Didn''t you want to learn magic? Here, let me show you the cool things you can do with blood-"


    A sudden sh of gold light shattered the scene.


    Ste gasped and then opened her eyes to see Onii-chan looking down at her.


    Then she punched him.


    "Gah!" Rudy flinched, clutching his nose. "What was that for?"


    "*Baka! Hentai! Kimoi!*" Ste''s eyes teared up and she swung her fists again.


    "Owowow." Rudy didn''t dodge. Instead, he reached out to pick Ste up. "Calm down-"


    "I''M CALM! BAKA NII-CHAN!"


    Rudy winced, but held onto her anyway. "Right, right. Onii-chan''s an idiot who made you see that traumatic sight. You can keep smacking me if it makes you feel better."


    "...Hmph." Ste calmed down.


    ...No. She could feel her heart racing and her body was shaking from being so close to Onii-chan after that nightmare. But she could think things through now.


    Because of that, Ste took a look around to see where she was. And she saw that it definitely wasn''t the room she had just been in with those kidnapped children.


    Instead, it was the room that she had been staying in. The one modeled after Onii-chan''s old room.


    Seeing that Ste wasn''t going to punch him anymore, Rudy set Ste back down on her bed. After that, he pulled out a chair and table from thin air and sat across from Ste.


    Ste crossed her arms and stared at Rudy.


    Rudy stared back and then waved his hand, causing a pair of steaming mugs to appear on the table. When they did, a delicious smell of chocte and peppermint filled the air. "Here." He shoved one of the mugs over and said, "Some hot cocoa should help calm your nerves. And don''t worry, it''s the perfect temperature."


    "...Hmph." Ste picked up the mug and took a sip.


    Sweet, creamy, and cozy. Something she didn''t expect to ever taste again in this fantasy world.


    Then again, Onii-chan was Onii-chan, so it didn''t surprise her too much. Although...


    Ste peeked up at her Onii-chan, watching him through her bangs.


    He was sipping on his cocoa as well and looked thoughtful. But after a bit, he looked at Ste and spoke in Japanese. "*I think it''s about time we had a chat about everything, my baby sister. Also, there''s a few things you should probably know about being reincarnated that you wouldn''t realize...*"


    Ste tilted her head.

 149 – The Hero – I

    149 ¨C The Hero ¨C I


    Rudy set down his cup and then continued speaking in Japanese. "As you know, I was reincarnated just like you." He paused and then said, "...You are reincarnated, right?"


    Ste rolled her eyes and spoke in Japanese as well. "Of course I am. What kind of toddler can do things like this?"


    "Well, your big sisters were pretty smart too, so I had to make sure. Also, I spoke a lot of Japanese when you were a baby and babies pick things up really easily..." Rudy rubbed his chin and then stared at Ste and said, "Who''s the prime minister of Japan?"


    Ste frowned and said, "...Abe Shinzo? I think?"


    She remembered her dad talking about him a lot and ranting about how his policies threatened Japanese pacifism and were damaging rtions with China and South Korea.


    Rudy blinked and then said, "Really? Huh." He frowned and then said, "...Do you remember what day you died?"


    Ste gave Rudy a nk stare. "...Is that something you should be asking your baby sister?"


    Rudy let out an awkwardugh and said, "Probably not. But it will help clear some things up." He reached over to pick up his hot cocoa and took a sip. After that, he frowned and said, "Like why both of us were reincarnated in the first ce."


    "Eh?" Ste blinked and said, "You mean you don''t know why you reincarnated, Onii-chan? I thought you were an isekai protagonist?" She sipped on her cocoa and said, "Didn''t you get to talk to a goddess or something to give you your cheats?"


    "What?" Rudy blinked and then burst outughing. He waved his hand and said, "No way. I was just an ordinary person before I died." He paused and then said, "Well. Probably less than ordinary considering how much trouble I left behind for everyone."


    Onii-chan? An ordinary person?


    Hearing that, Ste couldn''t help but give Rudy a nk stare.


    Heughed again and said, "Yeah, yeah. Things got a little out of hand, but I seriously was an ordinary person. Even in this life, you know? The only reason I''m like this now is because I took advantage of my headstart as a reincarnator and bootstrapped my way all the way up here."


    "...Uh-huh."


    Ste didn''t believe that.


    Even if magic was some wishywashy concept that you could do anything with like that story with the scar-faced wizard kid, no ordinary person would be able to do what Onii-chan was doing now without some help.


    Rudy waved his hand and said, "Enough about that. For now... Let''s get a timeline sorted out." He put on a serious face and said, "I died around the new year of 2015 after my life support was turned off. Shortly after that, I woke up in Mom''s arms and came face to face with our silly Dad. What about you?"


    ...Ste felt like there was a *lot* of information in that bit Onii-chan said, but he had a point. Knowing when they died might help figure out why they reincarnated. And if they figured out why they reincarnated... Well, maybe they could figure out how to stop all the craziness around them?


    And also smack the person responsible a few times.


    Ste had some choice words to give to the person who dropped her in this crazy world without her permission.


    Granted, she wouldn''t give it up since she had a super cool and reliable Onii-chan, pretty and kind (if a little ero) Onee-chans, and both friends and family who cared for her. But she''d still liked to p that person in the face, or kick in their balls if they were a guy.


    But anyway, Onii-chan''s question.


    Ste swirled her hot cocoa and tilted her head before saying, "I... think it was mid-January? I remember it being just before Winter break ended."


    "Huh." Rudy frowned and said, "...Then is it not rted? That''s definitelyter than when I died... Unless I really did linger around as an earthbound spirit for a while before I passed? That would exin why my memories are kind of fuzzy- Ah." He blinked and then said, "Wait. Do you have all your memories of your past life, Ste?"


    Ste blinked and slowly nodded. "...Yes?"


    She just... tried her best not to think about it too much these days, but she definitely remembered everything.


    Rudy''s frown deepened and he muttered, "Does samsara exist then? If so, did the fact that I had a proper Buddhist funeral mean that the sinsmitted were washed away and let me be reborn as a human instead of a monster or an animal? No, did I break out of the cycle of reincarnation then?"


    ...Onii-chan kept saying he was a normal person, but with everything he kept casually saying...


    "Hey, Onii-chan."


    Rudy blinked and said, "Yeah, Ste?"


    "...What were you in your past life, really?"


    "Hm?" Rudy tilted his head and said, "I told you, didn''t I? I was just an ordinary guy. I mean, I wasted a lot of my life and talents trying to take shortcuts to make it big, but in the end I was just a normal sryman. I even died a fairly normal death all things considered, haha."


    Rudyughed and brushed it off like it was nothing, using that excuse again.


    Ste didn''t let it go though and kept asking. "Well, what was your job as a sryman? Onii-chan *can''t* have been just an ordinary person."


    There was no way. He was too smart, too creative, and too much a natural at being a Demon Lord for him to just be an ordinary person.


    Rudy shook his head. "I don''t know what to tell you, Ste. I got hired at a typical 9-5 job as a project manager for a finance firm... or something." He paused and said, "Come to think of it, I don''t remember the details... but that should be it. Ah, I remember it had good life insurance policy though. In the end, I managed to help pay off my family''s debts and get them good Christmas presents." After saying that, Rudy finished with a bright smile.


    After hearing all of that and seeing his face, Ste realized it.


    "Onii-chan."


    "Yeah?"


    "You''re an idiot."


    Rudyughed and patted Ste''s head. "Yep." He pulled out a notebook from his sleeve and waved it around. "And that''s why I started making a Dummy''s guide on how to not be a Greyrat. I''m sure it''s going to be a coveted heirloom in the future... For now though, it''s doing a lot of good." He paused and said, "Oh yeah." He put on a serious face and said, "Something I forgot to mention that''s really important for you especially, Ste."


    Ste put on a serious face as well and said, "What is it, Onii-chan?"


    Rudy ced both his hands on Ste''s shoulders and stared deep into her eyes. Then, with a solemn tone of voice, he said, "Remember. You''re still a kid."


    Ste puffed her cheeks and brushed off his hands. "I am *not* a kid! Dummy. I don''t need you to-"


    "I''m serious." Rudy cut her off and said, "Even though your mind might be older... I mean, you were probably a high schooler, right?"


    "...Yes."


    "Right." Rudy nodded and said, "Then you have to be more careful." He ced his hand on his chest and said, "Even though I didn''t have many memories, I still clearly knew that I was an adult. But after being reincarnated, I naturally started to be a kid again and acted like one without me realizing it. And when I tried going against that natural instinct..." He paused and said, "Well, I guess Being W was messing around, so it wasn''t entirely my fault, but in the end things got messy."


    Ste crossed her arms and said, "So what? I should just y pretend and ignore everything?"


    "Of course not. But Ste." Rudy ced his hand on Ste''s head and said, "Whether through fortune or misfortune, you got a second life. You really got reincarnated and have a chance to have fun as a kid again. Don''t be in too much of a rush to grow up, okay? Onii-chan will be here to handle things, so you can do what you want. And if that''s saving children from being kidnapped, that''s great. But don''t do things just so that you won''t be treated as a kid. Because even if you think you aren''t, to us... Well, to me at least, you''re still my cute little baby sister, okay? So just have fun."


    "..." Ste lowered her gaze, suddenly finding it hard to meet Rudy''s bright gaze. "...Baka Onii-chan. It''s not fair for you to be that cool."


    Rudyughed and said, "Well. I''m just happy that my baby sister thinks I''m cool this time around instead of the scum of the earth. It''s a nice change of pace. But anyway." Rudy stood up and finished his hot cocoa. "How about we go meet your new friends and get everyone ready for a fieldtrip, hm?"


    Ste picked up her cup and hopped off the bed, shyly moving behind Rudy. "...Fine."


    Rudy smiled and then started walking off. "I''ll lead the way then... Oh. And Ste?"


    "Yes, Onii-chan?"


    "...Don''t tell Norn that I gave you hot cocoa. Your Onee-chan''s already been hounding me about ying with her and making up for breaking my promise, so she''d definitely start clinging to me even more if she found out I was spoiling you a bit."


    Ste sipped on her hot cocoa, thinking about it for a bit. And then she nodded. "Okay."


    "Great. Then-"


    "I''m definitely telling Onee-chan that Onii-chan is ying favorites."


    "H-Hey now! L-Let''s talk this out, Ste-"


    Ste giggled and then ran ahead to open the door.


    "Wait! Ste. Ste! STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

 150 – The Hero – II

    150 ¨C The Hero ¨C II


    After messing around with Onii-chan a bit more, Ste headed outside of the house to check on the rescued children.


    At least that was the n. But the moment she opened the door to walk outside, she got attacked by a white fluff ball.


    "Wan!"


    "Gah! Wata! I thought I told you to not do that anymore!"


    Ste wrestled with the white fluff ball for a bit before managing to push it to the side.


    And when she did, she saw Wata floating next to her, clearly not the white fluff ball she was just wrestling with.


    Ste blinked. "...Eh?"


    Wata shrugged. "I''m as confused as you are, Ste." He rubbed his hand behind his head and then turned to look at the white fluff ball... or rather, at the white puppy that had jumped on Ste.


    Ste turned to look as well.


    The puppy had backed off, obediently sitting on the ground in front of Ste.


    Because of that, Ste could make out all its features.


    It was cute. A little cuter than Wata if Ste was being honest. White fur that had a bit of silver tint to it as well as a cute red mark on its forehead, beady ck eyes...


    Basically a normal adorable white shiba puppy. Except it clearly wasn''t.


    Especially from how the beast race children were staring at Ste with wide and awed expressions.


    Ste reached out to pat the puppy''s head, smiling as it happily leaned into her. After that, she took a look around and said, "Is everyone okay?"


    She saw all of the children from the cages sitting around the courtyard. It also looked like they all managed to get a proper bath and new clothes to change into since they looked a lot less scruffy than before.


    Miko and Fai were missing though, which made Ste a bit concerned.


    Wata floated over to Ste''s right shoulder and nodded. "Fai went out with Eos and Ena to do a bit ofst minute shopping and Miko went with your aunt to have a talk with your dad. I think because Miko saw some important things in the bad guys before they died?"


    Ste winced. "...Right."


    She suddenly felt a bit guilty about that. Miko couldn''t really control her powers yet and she had that passive mindreading thing going on. With how Onii-chan showed up, Miko must have seen some scary things... Or maybe she saw stuff when talking with the rescued children?


    Either way, Ste was starting to see what Onii-chan meant.


    Stupid kid body making her do dumb things. It''s not like being praised was that important... Hmph.


    Ste puffed her cheeks, doing her best to ignore her embarrassment. But after that, she shifted her attention to the children they rescued.


    There were a dozen children. Three of them were human (two boys and one girl), one was an elf girl, and the rest were beast race children, with four boys and four girls.


    They were all older than Ste, probably closer to ten years old than Ste''s...


    ...How old was she now anyway? Two? Three? She cheated a bit to grow up, so she probably looked around five years old, but on paper...


    ...Well, Onii-chan looked like an adult despite being technically less than ten years old, so-


    Wait. He mentioned something about meditating for like ten years in a time distortion, so maybe he was actually an adult now? It would exin why he seemed a bit more sensible.


    A bit.


    But...


    No, she was getting distracted.


    Anyway, the children were all older than Ste, but everyone there was looking at her with respect.


    Especially those beast race children. And in particr, a cat-eared girl with silver hair along with a dog-eared girl with gray hair.


    At that time, the white shiba puppy moved over to Ste''s right side, happily leaning against her.


    And as a result, those two beast race children gasped, rapidly talking to each other in anguage that Ste definitely didn''t understand.


    "Hoh?" Wata''s eyes widened and then he puffed out his chest with pride. "I knew Ste was special!"


    Ste blinked and said, "You can understand them, Wata?"


    "Of course! We spirits can understand everynguage! ...Except for the one that you and Rudy use. But anyway, it seems like you''re the legendary hero, Ste!"


    "...EH?!"


    -RNG-


    Sylphy gave me a bright smile as she watched me cook and said, "I know I mentioned wanting children, but you didn''t have to go pick up a group of them for me."


    "Very funny, Sylphy." I flipped a pancake out from my frying pan and onto a stack of pancakes off to the side.


    After managing to convince Ste to not brag to Norn about hot cocoa... for Ste''s own safety as well as my own sanity since Norn seemed to be a brocon and about half a step away from turning full yandere.


    Anyway, after breaking that immediate g, I started prepping some food for the children that my baby sister managed to rescue.


    Nothingplicated, just some pancakes, syrup, and fruit juice.


    I could have made something else, but I wasn''t too sure how they would react to heavy food. Pancakes should be easy enough on their stomachs though since it was just all carbs.


    While I was in the middle of prepping the food though, my lovely wives got up, lured by the smell.


    Sylphy was wearing a loose nightgown, not bothering to change since getting up.


    On the other hand, Eri was fully dressed, wearing a loose beige sweater and dark pants.


    Eri grabbed a te and picked off a pancake, pouring herself some juice along the way. After that, she nced outside to look at the kids and said, "What''s up with all the brats anyway? You nning to start an orphanage here too, Rudy?"


    I poured out the batter for another pancake and said, "Maybeter when I get some more people over. But no. These kids were all rescued by my cute baby sister after she went out on an adventure this morning."


    Eri paused in the middle of eating and let out a sigh. "Does troublemaking run on your side of the family, Rudy? I thought Ste might be better, but at this rate she''s going to be as much of a hassle as Norn was..."


    I flipped the pancake and tilted my head. "Norn was a hassle?"


    Eri rubbed her face and said, "Don''t get me started. She''s smart, but the number of times she drew her sword first and asked questionster..."


    Ah. That exined why Eri became more grounded. Having to deal with Dad and Norn...


    ...Though the fact that Norn was like that...


    I materialized the rule book I was writing for the future male Greyrats and started adding a new rule.


    Eri blinked and then pointed at the book with her fork. "What the hell is that?"


    "A how to not be an idiot guide for future generations."


    4. Being an edgelord is terrible. In the event you start bing one, people start telling you that you''re bing one, or you realize that you think it''s easier to kill people than to talk things out, remember that your cute baby siblings will follow in your footsteps. And that your ancestor Rudeus Notos Greyrat will definitely find a way toe back from beyond the grave to smack the sense back into you.


    There.


    I tossed the rule book back into a little pocket space I made and went back to cooking. "Anyway. Speaking of my baby sisters... You two still okay with heading out to meet Roxy and Aisha in the Ranoa Kingdom?"


    Sylphy''s smile dimmed a bit when I mentioned Roxy, but she sighed and said, "I suppose..."


    Eri raised an eyebrow and said, "What? Jealous?"


    "N-No!" Sylphy shook her head and said, "I''m not jealous! It''s just... Hmph." She looked away and muttered, "It''s okay. I''m a mature woman now too."


    I decided to pretend not to hear thatst part. Instead, I nodded and said, "Alright. Then since things are probably going to get troublesome here, I''ll let Dad and Pierre handle things with Cliff while we make our way back to the Central Continent. We''ll take the scenic route through the Great Forest though and help those kids get back home."


    Sylphy started to nod. But then she paused and gave me a pointed look.


    I blinked and said, "What?"


    "...Rudy won''t pick up a pet from the Great Forest, will you?"


    I rolled my eyes and went back to cooking. "I''m not like Dad. Even if cat girls and dog girls are cute, it''s not like I''m going to go out of my way to chase after tail. Especially when I have an ero elf and horn dog already following me around everywhere."


    Sylphy blushed and ced her hands on her face. "E-Ero elf?"


    Eri jumped out of her chair and pointed her fork at me, face a deep red. "I-I-I am not a horn dog!"


    "...So your favorite position *isn''t*-"


    Eri growled and chucked her fork at me.


    I plucked it out of the air andughed. "Fine, fine. I''ll stop teasing. On a more serious note though... You two really should pack and get things ready." I nced out the window at the cloudy sky and said, "The rainy season''s going to start soon, and I''d rather not have everyone stare at us when the rain magically gets brushed to the side."


    Sylphy pouted. "...But that would be cool."


    Eri rolled her eyes. "And you''re acting awfully childish for a supposedly mature woman, Sylphy."


    "...Hmph." Sylphy crossed her arms and said, "Meanie."


    "Do you have any right to say that with how much you bullied me?"


    "Well, I guess I''ll bully you some moreter tonight then~"


    ...Dear Master Roxy. I cannot wait to see you again and have your help instillingmon sense and decency into my troublesome wives...

 151 – The Hero – III

    151 ¨C The Hero ¨C III


    Ste awkwardly patted the white puppy cuddling in herp while doing her best to avoid the pointed gazes from the dog-eared and cat-eared girls sitting across from her.


    After finding the gazes a bit too unnerving, Ste cleared her throat and then turned her head to the side.


    She was in a carriage, one headed to the Great Forest.


    Onii-chan said that they were heading there anyway, so he arranged things to take some of the children back first before he set up a warp gate to bring the rest.


    For now though, most of the children were waiting back at the house Onii-chan made with Miss Rostelina, Mister Totally-not-Onii-chan Pierre, ''Papa'' Paul, and Aunt Therese.


    The result was that their house turned into a makeshift daycare/school, but it wasn''t like their family was nning to live in Saint Port permanently. Plus, it was going to be mostly empty since Onii-chan took the entire family along for the ride.


    Well, along for the ride in separate wagons.


    Ste didn''t know how everyone else was getting there, but right now she was stuck in a carriage with those two beast race girls and Miko while Sister-inw Eris was driving.


    ...Riding? She was sitting at the front and directing the horse leading the carriage, whatever that was called.


    Anyway, the scenery...


    Green, green, and more green with lots of dark green up ahead.


    It was pretty, but it was also pretty boring.


    Unfortunately, Ste couldn''t really do anything about it.


    Was this Onii-chan getting back at her for telling Norn nee-chan about the hot cocoa? Ste was stuck with two girls she couldn''t understand, a puppy that apparently chose her as a legendary hero, and Miko... who recently started following Ste around like she was Miko''s only lifeline.


    Ste petted the puppy again, smiling a bit as the puppy snuggled against her.


    And then she felt a pair of sharp stares directed towards her. A floating Wata and a mini floating Fai staring daggers at the puppy.


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "You two can have your turnster. Mister Puppy worked really hard to save the kids, so he deserves to be pampered a bit."


    Fai puffed her cheeks and said, "I worked hard too!"


    Wata nodded. "Yeah! And I helped trante!"


    The puppy raised his head, letting out a smug look and then barked. "Wan!"


    Wata stuck up his fist and said, "Don''t think you''re special just because you''re a holy spirit animal! When I grow up, I''m going to be a Primordial!"


    Fai''s head bobbed up and down and she said, "Yeah! And I''m going to grow up to be a Seraphim! Plus Wyn''s already a- W-Whoa?!"


    A sudden breeze blew past, spinning Fai around. After that, Wyn materialized on Ste''s head and yawned. "Stop bragging you two. And don''t be so smug, you mutt. A hero''spanion is nothing special, you know?"


    "Wan..." The puppy whined and then buried his head beneath his paws.


    The cat-eared girl frowned when she saw that and started talking, pointing at Wyn.


    Of course, Ste didn''t understand a single word so she just gave the cat-eared girl a nk stare.


    The cat-eared girl seemed to realize that Ste didn''t understand and then let out a deep sigh, muttering under her breath.


    The dog-eared girl looked downcast and then turned to talk to the cat-eared girl, clearly upset.


    ...Maybe Ste should have tried things like Onii-chan when she was a baby. Apparently he developed a crazy mana sight thing because he crossed some wires when he was a baby, so maybe Ste could have-


    Wait.


    ...Wyn, Fai, and Wata didn''t always speak a normalnguage, right? But Ste had always understood them even when they couldn''t talk. So why couldn''t she-


    "...The hero have to be a human, Toni? She can''t even understand us."


    ?!?!?!


    It was that easy!?


    The dog-eared girl sighed and said, "She''s nice and Holy Beast-sama says she''s special, but it''s really disappointing."


    The cat-eared girl ''Toni'' nodded and said, "I know, Sena. I thought the hero would be someone super cool like the white-haired man who saved us."


    Ste snorted and then said, "Well sorry that I''m not as cool as my Onii-chan."


    "Eh?" The cat-eared girl, ''Sena'', suddenly turned to look at Ste.


    The dog-eared girl, ''Toni'', gasped and looked at Ste as well.


    Ste coughed and then averted her gaze again, feeling her face heat up.


    At that time, Miko suddenly giggled. She had been quietly sitting in the corner of the carriage the entire ride, but it seemed like the situation was too funny for her. ncing at Ste, she smiled and said, "You really are a meanie, Ste."


    "A-Am not!" Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "It''s not my fault that those two couldn''t talk clearly enough!"


    Fai floated next to Ste and then reached out to pinch her cheeks. "You meanie! Why''d you pretend you couldn''t understand them and make us trante?"


    Ste smacked Fai away and said, "Quit that! And I just realized it, okay?" She coughed and then looked at Sena and Toni. "A-Anyway... You can understand me, right?"


    The cat-eared girl, Sena, nodded and said, "Yeah! ...You sound a little funny though."


    The dog-eared girl, Toni, nodded as well and stared at Ste with sparkling eyes. "Did Holy Beast-sama give you special powers to understand us?"


    Wata snorted. "As if that mutt is so that special."


    The puppy growled and then barked. And after that-


    "At least I''m a real dog instead of a fake cat like you!"


    Wait. Did she just-


    Wata flew over and started smacking the puppy''s head. "Say that to my face again, you mutt!"


    "Fake cat! Fake!"


    "Grrrrr!"


    "Rawrrrrrrr!"


    Ste covered her face and let out a deep sigh. "This is going to be a long ride, isn''t it...?"


    Miko giggled.


    "Oi!" Eris nced back from the front of the carriage and said, "Keep it down back there before I decide to take the fast way there and send you brats flying through the air!"


    Toni and Sena flinched, quickly scooting towards the back of the wagon.


    Miko flinched as well and covered her mouth. But a big smile could still be seen behind her hands.


    Wata and the puppy kept ring at each other, but they stopped growling at least.


    Even so...


    ...Ste still thought that Onii-chan was lying about who he was. Like... Come on. There''s no way that stuff like this would happen to an ordinary person that got reincarnated, right?


    Right. This was definitely all Onii-chan''s fault. If Ste had been reincarnated in a normal family, she definitely wouldn''t be dealing with this sort of hectic situation and sorting out whether or not she really was a chosen hero or something...


    -RNG-


    "Are you sure it''s fine to leave Mama Eris with the kids, Daddy?" Ena nced back at the wagon behind us and said, "What if she gets mad?"


    Rnd nodded and said, "Red Mama has a bit of a temper..."


    Sylphy nodded as well and said, "What Rolo said. Don''t you remember how Eri was when we were kids?"


    I rolled my eyes and said, "I don''t want to hear that from my wife whose adventurer title is ''Eternal Witch of Frost'' because you permafroze an A-ranked adventurer party who looked at you funny in the past."


    Sylphy puffed her cheeks and said, "T-They deserved it! And it''s not as bad as Roxy''s ''Callous Witch of Destruction''!"


    "I dunno. Master Roxy''s title is from coteral damage. Yours is pretty purposeful."


    Sylphy pouted and then leaned on Rnd. "Rolo!"


    "Y-Yes Mother?"


    "It''s Mama! And hug me! Mama''s sad!"


    "U-Um..." Rnd looked at me for help.


    I rolled my eyes and decided to let my dear son sort it out while I checked on the situation.


    We were traveling in two carriages. One was obviously with all the kids. I figured that it''d be a good chance for them to all make friends and also much better than hanging out with us boring adults.


    Also, Ste needed actual friends.


    But anyway, the kids were in one carriage and I asked Eri to keep an eye on them because she was the most responsible adult out of us all.


    Still ironic considering all I heard about her from Rudeus and how she acted when we were kids, but she was definitely the proper mother-like figure needed to handle the kids in case issues came up.


    As to the other carriage, there was me, Ena, Eos, Sylphy, Rnd, and Norn.


    Eos was the coachmaster right now, but I was probably going to switch out with her in a bit.


    In short, me and the whole family... minus Dad.


    He was being a responsible adult and helping to both babysit and rescue the rest of the kidnapped children at Saint Port.


    I think getting showed up by Ste got him motivated.


    ...Motivated.


    ...I felt like there was something funny there that I was forgetting... But anyway.


    The n was pretty straightforward.


    Me and my little family went on ahead to set up a waypoint before we sent all the rest of the rescued beast race children home. In the meanwhile, Pierre with his dubious connections all over the ce would work on getting the other children back while Rostelina and Aunt Therese ran a daycare.


    And the key to a peaceful diplomatic mission with the beast race was my baby sister, who had apparently been dered the legendary hero because that white puppy she saved was the equivalence of the M*ster Sword or something.


    Kind of funny how that worked out. And also kind of confirmed my working theory that the Greyrats were a family of protagonist type individuals with different main character archetypes among the family-


    ''Rudy?''


    A familiar voice in my head. Rika''s.


    I blinked and then tilted my head to listen.


    ''...We have a problem.''

 152 – The Hero – IV

    152 ¨C The Hero ¨C IV


    A heavy rainfall. Thunder resounding in every direction, paired with the sound of a torrential downpour.


    As if to put a damper on Ste''s day, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Not only that, but since they weren''t in the Great Forest yet, it meant that they''d have to make their way through the rainfall.


    It wasn''t really a problem since they were in carriages, plus the fact that Onii-chan, Erofu nee-chan, and both Ena and Eos were good with magic. But...


    "Dammit, Rudy." Eris clicked her tongue from up ahead and said, "You didn''t tell me the rain was going to be this bad."


    Right. The problem was that Eris nee-chan was driving the carriage and their horse was getting spooked by the rain.


    Though considering that the water outside was already halfway up the horse''s leg, Ste didn''t me it.


    But still. What kind of crazy weather did this world have? Arcadia''s micro climates made sense because Onii-chan was Onii-chan, but for the rest of the world to be like this... Did the spacetime things mess up the weather that bad?


    Ste sighed and then sat back down in her chair, idly stroking her new puppy''s fur.


    Since the weather took a turn for the worse, Toni and Sena (whose full names were apparently Minitona and Tersena) had huddled up together in the center of the carriage beneath a nket and cried themselves to sleep.


    Ste had wanted to talk with them a bit more, but she decided it was better to let them rest. Especially since they had been dumbstruck at how Ste suddenly understood them.


    As for Miko... The blonde-haired girl stared at Ste with her pink and blue eyes and said, "Are you tired, Ste?"


    Ste shook her head. "No. Are you?"


    Miko shook her head as well and said, "I''m fine." She smiled and looked out the window. "This is actually pretty exciting."


    Ste gave Miko a nk stare and said, "How sheltered were you to think a thunderstorm is exciting?"


    "Well." Miko frowned and said, "...I''ve only been out of Millishion twice. The first time was with Miss Therese when assassins were after me, and the second was when Mister Pierre showed up in my room with Miss Therese to take me away. Ah, I think your father was there too."


    "...Are you the secret NPC princess that the hero has to recruit or something?"


    "Excuse me?"


    "Nothing." Ste sighed and leaned back in her chair, staring out the window.


    Watching the torrential rain and water sshing past, Ste got reminded of her earliest memories. At least, her earliest memories as ''Ste.''


    She absently stroked her new puppy''s fur and muttered, "A hero, huh?"


    She had joked about it before, but... maybe it was true? Aki always talked about stories where the main character was sent to another world after getting hit by a pickup truck. And in that world, they became super strong and ended up being the hero to defeat the demon lord.


    Considering how Ste died and her current life, she definitely fit the bill of that sort of ''hero.'' But at the same time, it didn''t make sense.


    After all, there was Onii-chan.


    Ste was smart. She was top of her ss in her past life, and she was confident in figuring out how magic worked here if she had enough time. She was also confident that she could create a whole new magical system.


    But Onii-chan was even crazier.


    He put himself down a lot and was fairly humble, but Onii-chan was an insane cheat character.


    But that didn''t make sense if Ste was the hero like how those two girls and the magical spirit puppy was saying.


    The Sacred Beast born from the Sacred Tree would emerge when the world faced a crisis. Then, it would set out alongside a hero using its great power to save the world.


    It was an old story. Simr to King Arthur drawing Excalibur or those old games with the Mana Sword.


    But one part didn''t fit in that story.


    Ste nced towards the other carriage and muttered, "Onii-chan..."


    ''...You aren''t going to be the Demon Lord I have to beat, are you?''


    -RNG-


    "Achoo!"


    Rika rolled her eyes and handed me a handkerchief. "I told you to take better care of yourself. If you somehow die and leave me to run this kingdom by myself, I''ll figure out a way to kill death and drag you back."


    I took the handkerchief from Rika, wiping my nose, and then smiled. "Thanks, Rika. Love you too."


    "...Should I get the marriage certificate?"


    "Kidding, kidding. At least wait until I get a proper wedding ceremony for the others." I rubbed the back of my neck and said, "...Really don''t want to have to figure out how to do a continental time reversal to undo the aftermath of that cat fight."


    One of the problems of having women who could destroy entire continents head over heels for you...


    I shook my head and then leaned back in my chair.


    After Rika sent that message, I made some quick arrangements and warped back to Arcadia for an emergency meeting.


    ...Sylphy had seemed a bit upset about that and pouted some more, but my loyal son threw himself on the sword for me and helped deal with his mother.


    Which meant being mercilessly teased by Sylphy while his sisters... half sisters? Whatever that rtionship was, Eos and Ena watched on without helping.


    Either way, my family was going to continue on their way to the Great Forest while I sorted out things back in Arcadia for a bit. Hopefully they didn''t mind the intense downpour. And hopefully Eri remembered to get help from Wata to get rid of the rain instead of deciding to try to recreate the Water God style to pair with her fire dragon sword technique.


    ...Anyway.


    I swept my gaze around the room.


    My office was pretty much unchanged from when I left it. My bed was off to the side. My desk in the middle of the room with my chair behind it. Stacks of my research papers and books lying on the ground next to my desk... And a few new bookshelves to organize things.


    There were also a few more minor touches here and there that were barely noticeable, but were signs that Rika used the ce pretty often.


    A faint scent of violets hanging in the air, a cup of fancy ck and gold pens, a box of paperclips carefully sorted and stacked instead of chained up like I left them...


    I shifted my gaze back to Rika, seated across the desk from me.


    Was it because the time scaling was still a bit off between the Magic Continent and the outside world? Because she went to go explore some distortions? Or was it just because she was rapidly recovering her full mana potential after I helped her get her Demon Eyes under control?


    Either way, Rika looked a bit different from before. She still wore a typical secretary outfit, mostly a tailored ck suit and dress with heels. But she had filled out a bit more and gotten a bit taller. Her violet hair had also grown longer, and she had taken to keeping it in an intricately braided side ponytail.


    If before I left she looked like a teen, she was definitely a young woman now. Though considering that she technically was centuries old and was only young because she respawned after death, maybe that shouldn''t be too surprising?


    But putting apart the fact that she looked more mature now due to her appearance... She definitely was giving off overworked srywoman vibes with the dark circles under her eyes.


    Seeing that made me feel a bit guilty.


    Rika noticed and then waved her hand. "Don''t worry about me. You can''t escape taking responsibility at this point anyway, so I''ll keep working to keep the ce afloat."


    I frowned and said, "Don''t die of overwork. If you do, I''m definitely going to embarrass the heck out of you and take pictures of you doing stupid baby things."


    "As if I''d let that happen." Rika crossed her arms and said, "The Demon Empress has to maintain some dignity, doesn''t she?"


    "...Mom and Mama Lily are going to be so disappointed in me when they get back."


    Rikaughed. And then she stopped and then looked towards the picture sitting on my desk. "So what do you think we should do?"


    I shifted my gaze to look at the picture as well and frowned.


    It was a crater somewhere in the mountains of the Magic Continent. An obscure area that was out of reach for all but the most ambitious and powerful adventurers. There, a ruined castle was shrouded by a dark miasma.


    Apparently, there was also a magic formation covering the area, but that couldn''t be seen in the picture.


    However...


    "So you''re saying that the dark miasma started to show up recently and that Ruijerd recognizes it as Lace? And that the magic formation created by Perugius to seal the Demon God away is breaking?"


    Rika nodded and said, "Yes. And..." She hesitated and looked at me.


    I blinked. "What?"


    "...Rudy. If you were offered Lace''s powers, you wouldn''t take it, would you?"


    "Of course not. Plus, there''s nothing that guy can offer that I would want."


    Not to mention that if Lace''s powers... well, Demon God Lace''s powers. If those were the same as that weird inverted mana I used when I was younger, it was definitely something to stay away from.


    I had just gotten over my edgelord phase. I was *not* going to go back.


    Rika stared at me and then let out a relieved smile. "...Of course you wouldn''t. You aren''t Magic God Lace."


    "That''s right- Wait. Is now about the time that Magic God Lace appeared in your time?"


    Rika nodded. "No one knows exactly when... but the timeframe seems to be roughly the same."


    I tapped my fingers on the side of my chair and frowned. "Now the question is if that''s a fixed point in time or if it''s variable, huh?"


    From Pierre''s crypticments about messing with fate and divergent timelines, it seemed like time wasn''t absolute. We weren''t operating on world lines with fated events, at least.


    Well, not absolutely fated events.


    But there were still major events andmon themes that seemed to y out.


    The metastasis event didn''t happen here, but we got a spacetime rend across the world that was effectively the same. Ande to think of it, I think Rudeus mentioned that his first encounter with Dad after the incident resulted in a big fight. That still happened here.


    So the events wouldn''t necessarily y out the same way in terms of detail, but the broader strokes...


    "...Hey Rika." I shifted my gaze back to her and said, "What exactly was the first thing that Magic God Lace did after he made his appearance?"


    Rika frowned.


    "If it''s too painful, you don''t have to tell me."


    Rika shook her head. "No. It''s not that. It''s just... Now that you mention it. I... believe that there were rumors from fleeing humans that he made a brief appearance in the Milis Continent for a while before he started conquering the Magic Continent. And if I remember right, there were rumors that Perugius appeared as well. But that man never showed his face after Magic God Lace started gathering his forces, so... I''m not sure."


    "...Yeah. Let''s go fix up that seal."


    I had enough potential doppelgangers running around these days between Pierre and whatever parallel alter versions of me were hiding out in distortions. I did *not* need a lookalike Demon God showing up and ruining my good name before I even had the chance to reunite with the rest of my family.

 153 – Thanks for the Memories – I

    153 ¨C Thanks for the Memories ¨C I


    "It''s been a while, Rudy." Ruijerd gave me a warm smile as I arrived.


    Unlike his usual attire of a tribal vest and pants, he wore form-fitting steel armor with Arcadia''s crest emzoned across the chestte. His spear hung on his back, kept attached by mana, while his green hair had grown out a bit, reaching his shoulders.


    Compared to when I first met him, the Supard warrior had changed quite a bit. Or perhaps it was more urate to say he regained his former vigor? The man had been amander in the past, and it seemed like the experience of both teaching Norn''s rivals and leading military forces had drawn him out of his dark past.


    Though I suppose the fact that the Supard were starting to erase the stigma around them with his efforts yed a role in that.


    Either way, he was more calm and level than he had been when we first met, and even more so than thest time I saw him.


    I smiled back at Ruijerd and held out my hand. "It has. You look like you''ve been doing well."


    Ruijerd shook my hand and then nodded. "All thanks to you."


    "I''d say it''s more of your own effort, but I won''t reject your praise. Now..." I ended the handshake and looked at the site in front of me. "I''ve heard you''ve confirmed that the seal on this ce is breaking?"


    A thick dark miasma. An ominous looking castle shrouded by that darkness. Mountains jutting out all around that darkness as well, almost like a crown.


    The ce definitely gave off ''Last Boss'' vibes. But at the same time... It wasn''t really malicious?


    I wasn''t sure why, but for some reason the entire thing felt more like a show piece than an actual Demon Lord castle.


    Ruijerd shifted his gaze to look at the castle and then frowned. "Yes. I confirmed it with Rika in regards to the seal. But moreover..." His gaze sharpened and he said, "I can sense it. That malevolent mana that ruined my n and family..." He grit his teeth, causing a cracking sound to echo.


    "Hm... I don''t sense anything though?"


    It wasn''t like I doubted Ruijerd. Even if he didn''t have the same level of mana sensitivity and perception as me, it would be impossible to forget the presence of your mortal enemy.


    The problem was, despite the ominous appearance, I didn''t see anything off. The mana floating around just felt like natural mana and didn''t have anything that felt demonic.


    A sh of light emerged beside me and Rika walked over, adjusting her sses. Staring at the castle, she said, "If that''s the case, then we should take even more caution." She frowned and said, "Though unlikely, if the situation is that Magic God Lace managed to arrive in this world..."


    I nodded. "That could be a problem. And it would definitely exin the situation..."


    If Magic God Lace was an alternate version of me who doubled-down on mana maniption then it was possible to exin why I couldn''t sense anything. After all, if I went to a parallel dimension, the first thing I would do would be to mask my mana signature from myself.


    Though...


    ''Is that guy really good enough to do that?''


    I could objectively say that I was strong. At this point, I understood mana on a fundamental enough level to turn the imaginary into reality. Moreover, I was fairly confident I had a good idea on what it meant to be a ''god'' ording to the rules of this world and just needed a bit more time to sort that out before smacking Being W in the back of the head.


    But...


    "I guess it''s better to be safe than sorry."


    I held out my right hand and grasped the hilt of a sword that didn''t exist. But the moment I did, reality flickered and it emerged with a sh of crimson light.


    Rika nced over at my hand and then flinched, immediately covering her eyes. "What in the world is *that*?!"


    "God ying de. Works all the time... except for that one time when Being W cheated. I''ve worked out the kinks since then though."


    "God ying-" Rika shook her head and let out a deep sigh. "Whatever." She shifted her gaze back at the castle and said, "I''ve negotiated with Perugius and he said that we can have the first attempt at things since this is our territory. However, he, his familiars, and Chaos Breaker are on standby to step in the moment he thinks things have gotten out of hand."


    I nodded, but then I suddenly felt a shiver down my spine.


    Ruijerd nced at me and said, "Is something wrong, Rudy?"


    "No. Just..." I frowned and said, "...I''m starting to really dislike that phrase."


    Rika blinked. "What? Step in?"


    "No. Things getting out of hand." I walked forward and swung my de towards the barrier surrounding the castle.


    The sound of shattering ss echoed as the barrier shattered. At the same time, the ominous darkness started to spread.


    I swung my de again, forcing all of that darkness to condense into a ck orb before falling on the ground in front of me.


    ...Which was weird since I clearly meant to disperse the darkness instead of gather it.


    Ruijerd gave me an approving nod. "As expected of you, Rudy. To so easily erase Lace''s ominous aura..."


    I frowned and activated <irvoyance>. At the same time, I cautiously stepped forward while activating an upgraded <Magic Arrays>.


    ''...I swear to god, this better not be a fakeout...''


    With that thought in mind, I took the lead, Ruijerd and Rika trailing behind me.


    -SNG-


    "Achoo!" Eris sneezed as she rubbed her arms, ring at the dark skies. "Stupid rain cloud. Next time I''ll have my revenge..."


    Ste patted her new puppy''s head while she sighed. "I think that''s your fault for trying to stop the rain by cutting it, Eris nee-chan."


    "Hmph." Eris crossed her arms and then closed her eyes, as if meditating. The moment she did, a crimson haze surrounded her body and steam started drifting as her wet clothes dried from the heat.


    ...Onii-chan''s harem members are all pretty scary, aren''t they?


    Ste sighed again and then took a look around.


    The downpour had intensified, making it almost impossible to see anything around. Not only that, but it was raining so much that the rain had created an artificialke.


    Which was why Eris nee-chan had tried to cut the rain away.


    Unfortunately, what was inside a rain cloud was more rain, so it only made things worse until Wata created a makeshift ice boat to carry the carriage and the poor waterlogged horse. An overhead roof blocked out the rain now, but it didn''t do much for the sound.


    Because of that, Toni and Sena were doing their best to try and ignore the sound by sleeping inside the carriage.


    Miko and Fai were with the beast girls, the former two thinking it was a bit too pitiful to leave thetter whimpering by themselves.


    So that just left Ste standing at the front of the boat with Eris while Wata steered them.


    But speaking of boats.


    Ste squinted her eyes, peering through the rain up ahead. As she did, she could see a sparkling silhouette of a floating object.


    It seemed like Ste''s erofu sister-inw had the same idea as Wata.


    Still...


    "Hah." Ste shook her head and said, "Why doesn''t Onii-chan just magic the weather away like in Arcadia?"


    Eris opened her eyes, dismissing that crimson haze. After that, she sighed and said, "I asked Rudy the same thing." She huffed and said, "Apparently, he doesn''t want to mess with the local weather patterns because it would draw attention and send off the wrong message to the Beast Race people."


    Oh. Right.


    If those Toni and Sena were treating Ste like that just because she was a ''Hero'', what would the Beast Race people do to a literal ''God?''


    And what if there was a misunderstanding?


    Ste paused, suddenly remembering her a bit unstable erofu sister-inw. "...Eris nee-chan. Um, Ero- I mean, Sylphy nee-chan won''t go on a rampage, right?"


    Erisughed and patted Ste''s head. "Ero... Good one, Ste. Yeah, Sylphy is definitely Ero."


    "Nee-chan! Stop!"


    Eris smiled and then said, "Don''t worry though. Since she''s trying to show off as a good mother to Rudy''s kids, she won''t do anything too crazy."


    "...Are you sure?" Ste shifted her gaze to look through the downpour. And when she did, she saw something that made her sigh. "...Even if some people try to ambush us?"


    "Hm?" Eris turned to look and then let out a deep sigh. "...It''s never just a peaceful time when Rudy takes us out on a trip, is it?"


    It was still hard to see through the rain for normal people. But everyone in the Greyrat family was far from normal.


    A sea of colors. Mana signatures slowly drawing closer, numbering in the dozens.


    Not only that, but mana signatures that seemed to recognize the danger Sylphy nee-chan posed and were diverting their path to circle around towards Ste''s boat.


    Eris drew her sword and said, "Sit tight, Ste. I''ll-"


    A silver sh skipped across the water surface and then that cut apart the dense rain, flying at Ste.


    A speed that Ste barely registered, appearing like silver lightning.


    But one that Eris easily matched.


    A thunderous explosion echoed as the boat rocked among the waves, water sshing everywhere.


    Ste''s puppy leapt out of her arms,nding on the ground and barked at the figure.


    No, it wasn''t just barking. It was talking in the Beast Godnguage.


    "Stay away from the hero!"


    Ste wobbled to maintain her bnce and said, "I''m not the hero, Puppy!"


    Eris shoved the ambusher away and moved towards Ste, nodding. "That''s right, Ste. Don''t be like your big brother and try to do crazy things."


    The ambusher stepped back, holding out a crimson de. Their features were obscured by a thick hooded robe, making it impossible to make out who it was. But Ste could clearly see a glowing green light from beneath that hood.


    Eris raised her sword at the ambusher and grinned. "Now, how about I cut off that hood to see-" She froze, suddenly cutting off her words.


    The ambusher chuckled and then said, "I thought you matured a bit from those words, Ojou-chan. But it looks like you still can''t hold yourself back from a good fight, can you?"


    ...Eh?


    Ste blinked and then looked back at Eris. "Nee-chan. Do you know-"


    "Ghyine!"


    Ghyine?


    The ambusher pulled back her hood, revealing a beautiful woman with wild silver hair, a scar over her face, and... dog ears?


    Eh?!


    Watching how happily Eris and ''Ghyine'' were, Ste frowned and muttered, "Just how many beautiful woman have Onii-chan met?"


    -RNG-


    "Achoo! Dammit." I wiped my nose and said, "Who the hell''s talking behind my back at a time like this?"


    Ruijerd chuckled and said, "It''s to be expected of one with your power and position, Rudy."


    "Just because you''re correct doesn''t mean you''re right. Hah..." I shook my head and focused on advancing through the dimly lit obsidian corridors. "Let''s just hurry up and confirm whether Lace is in this damned ce so I can get back already."

 154 – Thanks for the Memories – II

    154 ¨C Thanks for the Memories ¨C II


    Ever since Being W tried to get rid of me by going all out after Ste''s birth, time and space had be fragile. The countless distortions and time bubbles meant that it was possible for weird things to happen.


    People spending years inside a dungeon while seconds passed on the outside. Rumors of people who had died in the distant pasting back to life...


    In short, it was a mess.


    Not only that, but there was the fact that I even came face to face with an alternate version of myself before.


    Because of that, I wanted to make sure that nothing crazy was happening with Lace''s seal. And I was hoping that the seal was just weakening due to the weird flux of mana going around the world right now with the time distortions.


    But...


    ''It''s never that simple, huh?''


    Lace''s castle was ominous looking from the outside, but on the inside, it was fairly regal.


    ck and gold decor. Paintings. Flower arrangements...


    Objectively, it was elegant. Refined.


    Subjectively...


    "Rudy." Ruijerd paused to look at a painting, frowning. "...Is this you?"


    ...It was eerie.


    I turned to look at the painting Ruijerd stared at and frowned as well.


    It was expertly done. Whoever painted it was a master artist who could captureplete photorealism with paints.


    As to the subject material though...


    "...It seems like it."


    A young man with a familiar face. Wearing glittering silver armor emzoned with the Asura Kingdom Crest, he raised a sword in the air at a shadowy figure. His green eyes were narrowed in anger while his light brown hair was windswept.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    Rika stepped forward to look at the painting as well and frowned. "How is something like this here?"


    I turned away from the painting and said, "Lots of weird things have happened with time distortions. Nothing new or surprising about this."


    Ruijerd nced away from the painting as well. But as he did, he frowned. "That may be true. But..." He shifted his gaze and looked deeper into the castle. "...This is Lace''s pce. One that Perugius himself sealed with a God-ranked Barrier. Could something have truly disrupted that?"


    I took the lead in our exploration again and started walking. "You''re thinking a bit too highly of that guy. And of God-ranked spells."


    A long corridor lined with paintings.


    From what I could tell, the ''big bad'' would be down the end of this hall in the throne room.


    The question was what that ''big bad'' would be. Or rather, ''who'' that big bad would be.


    Ruijerd and Rika followed after me, remaining quiet and simply observing the paintings we passed.


    I did the same.


    There were a few different portraits around. All familiar faces, but with different circumstances.


    Or to be exact, versions of me in different settings.


    There was a painting of ''me'' standing in what looked like a modern city, wearing a red coat in front of a group of bloodstained soldiers. Stains from a pool of blood still fresh on the ground.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    There was another ''me'' standing in a starry expanse with a bit longer hair, looking every bit like a Chinese cultivation novel protagonist.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    And then there was a ''me'' wearing what looked like a suit of power armor.


    But it wasn''t just ''me'' in the paintings.


    A saw of few of Eri as well. One where she looked extremely harsh and vicious, wearing a blood-stained fur coat while standing a top a pile of corpses. Another where she was wearing proper armor emzoned with the Boreas Family crest.


    There were some pictures of Sylphy. One where her hair had been cut short and she was petite, wearing a ck visor. Another where she had a lean build and carried an emerald rapier.


    Then there were pictures of Master Roxy. Dad. Norn. Mom...


    Familiar faces all around, but dissimr settings.


    Walking past those paintings, I frowned and tightened my grip on my sword.


    And then we arrived.


    Arge pair of looming double doors, ck and gold.


    Without hesitation, I swung my hand and blew them open.


    A loud *bang* echoed.


    The doors swung open to reveal a grand throne room with a looming obsidian throne.


    But...


    "No one''s here?"


    Empty.


    Save for the throne, the room was empty.


    Ruijerd walked from behind me, spear raised and cautious. But after looking around the room, he tilted his head in confusion. "The room is empty. But..." He trailed off and then kept scanning the room.


    I nced back and said, "Rika? Can you see anything?"


    Rika frowned and took off her sses. When she did, her eyes shimmered before turning iridescent, shining with every color of the rainbow. And then her frown deepened and she said, "...Nothing''s here."


    "...Nothing?" I frowned and looked around the room again. "Then was this bait?"


    Ruijerd set his spear down and leaned on it, rubbing his chin. "...It could be a trap. But if neither you nor Rika sense anything..."


    "Then there isn''t anything here."


    It might sound arrogant, but I was fully aware of my capabilities. Even if there was a god of concealment in front of my eyes, they wouldn''t be able to escape me.


    Gauging time, space, mana levels, air pressure, temperature... When I focused, I could perceive countless streams of information to survey the surroundings. And what I didn''t miss would be picked up by Rika''s eyes, which had been strengthened to essentially be able to pick up the record of the world itself.


    Not exactly, but close.


    Which meant that my first intuition about this ce was correct. There was nothing off here in terms of mana or anything else.


    It was just an empty pce with strange paintings.


    And here, we just had an empty throne and-


    Hm?


    A flicker of white amidst the ck throne.


    I frowned and focused my attention on it, using irvoyance to read what it said.


    You know, instead of walking towards it in case it was an obvious trap.


    The white turned out to be writing. It also turned out to be silver instead of white, faint traces of silver mana left on the throne to convey a secret message. And that message...


    ''You are the fourth.''


    "..." I spun around and started walking away.


    "R-Rudy?" Rika called out and jogged after me. "Where are you going?"


    "Back to my family trip." I sighed and dissolved my sword before shaking my head. "There''s nothing out of the ordinary here, and I am *not* in the mood to decipher cryptic messages from someone who had left this ce a long time ago."


    The castle was empty. Whether the upant was Demon God Lace or Magic God Lace, they had been gone for a long time considering on how faint those traces of mana were.


    Probably around the time the distortions first started popping up.


    And from those paintings as well...


    Yeah. The person here definitely wanted me to do something. Maybe get curious and dig deeper into what it all meant and why there were multiple versions of me and people I knew portrayed on the wall.


    But jokes on him: I didn''t care.


    I was me and nobody else. All I wanted to do in this world was to live a nice and peaceful life with my lovely wives, kids, sisters, parents, and friends.


    Rika walked beside me and frowned. "So... there is no danger of Magic God Lace emerging?"


    "Toote to worry about that. Whoever was being kept here is long gone now."


    "Hold on." Rika pinched the bridge of her nose. "Say that again?"


    I waved my hand and said, "This ce is clear. You can send some people to explore itter without worrying. And tell Perugius that if he''s hunting for Lace, the guy''s already gone."


    Rika groaned. "...Do I have to deal with this mess?"


    "No. But even if I take you with me to rx, you''re going to stress about it, aren''t you?"


    "Only because you don''t concern yourself enough. Hah..." Rika took off her sses and rubbed her eyes.


    Ruijerd walked over and patted Rika''s shoulder. "If you need my help-"


    "I do." Rika immediately nodded and said, "Get adventurers andb this ce for clues with Atofe and her people. Meanwhile, I''ll go deal with Perugius."


    I raised my hand and said, "And I can go, right?"


    Rika red at me and said, "Just go and have your trip, you bastard. But I expect you to take proper responsibility when you get back."


    "...Alright." I nodded and said, "Make sure to get a bit stronger before I get back then if you don''t want to lose in the inevitable catfight."


    Rika snorted and then waved me off.


    Seeing that, I smiled and locked onto the mana signature I left on the carriage at the Great Forest. With that as a focal point, I warped away, expecting to pop back into a cozy ride with Sylphy and the kids.


    Instead...


    "Rudy!" Sylphy giggled and waved at me while covering a beastman in ice. "Did you have a nice trip?"


    I blinked and then looked around.


    Ice in every direction. Beastmen subdued in ice blocks while shivering from the cold.


    Eos and Rnd giving me an awkward expression and refusing to meet my gaze... And Ena trembling from the frosty temperature.


    "...Hah." I ran my hand through my hair and muttered, "If it''s notbat, it''s drama from misunderstandings..."


    I shook my head and pulled out my notebook to add another rule to the Greyrat Guy''s Guide for Dummies.


    ''Note to self: Do not leave overpowered woman on their lonesome when in the middle of a mission. No matter how much you emphasize negotiation, you will always return to a giant mess.''


    -LIV-


    Somewhere in the Asura Kingdom, a nondescript man wearing a travel cloak suddenly stopped in the middle of an open field. A soft ''beeping'' noise echoed from a digital watch on his left wrist.


    The man paused and then pressed a button on the side, stopping the beeping. After that, he shook his head and looked at the Asura Kingdom Capitol barely visible in the distance.


    A strange mix of emotions crossed his eyes, but then he sighed and continued walking.

 155 – The Stellar Sister takes the Lead – I

    155 ¨C The Ster Sister takes the Lead ¨C I


    "Wow. You''ve grown into a respectable young man, Rudy." Ghyine gave Rudy a once over and said, "You also seem a bit more tempered than the past... Did you get some enlightenment?"


    Rudy chuckled and said, "Considering everything I''ve gone through, I''ve learned that it''s better to take things in stride and not take things at face value." He paused and then looked to the side at Sylphy. "...Unlike my cute elf wife here."


    Sylphy pouted and said, "It wasn''t my fault! Those who attack should be prepared to attack back!"


    "You''re the witch, not the demon emperor. Stop using the wrong lines, Sylphy."


    "Eh?"


    Erisughed and said, "See, Sylphy? I told you that you need to loosen up a bit."


    "But I have been loosening up?"


    "...You damned erotic-"


    Rudy cleared his throat and then nced off to the side. Specifically, to Ste who had been watching the entire conversation with a dull gaze.


    Just like an MC would, Onii-chan showed upte and fixed the misunderstanding in an instant. After that, he even made a giant boat to fit everyone on that somehow phased through all the trees without hitting them. Plus he stopped the rain from falling over them, splitting apart the downpour like an invisible umbre was propped up. Not only that, but the loud rain had turned into a soft pitterpatter, like a person had turned down the volume slider on the ambient noises.


    And now Onii-chan was standing at the front of the boat, surrounded by a buxom wolf amazoness, a lewd and busty silver-haired erofu, and a slightly tsundere hot-headed tomboy, chatting with a casual smile and without a care in the world.


    All of this after apparently popping away for a minute to do a sidequest back at the Demon Continent.


    It was enough for Ste to start questioning again whether the world was a game where Onii-chan was the main character and she was just along for the ride.


    She hadn''t forgotten about how Onii-chan had used a controller to steer the ship across the seas on the way to Milis either...


    "Ste?"


    Ste blinked and saw that her Onii-chan was staring at her.


    Rudy frowned and said, "Are you feeling seasick again?"


    Ste blushed and said, "T-That was one time! And I''m not!"


    "If you say so. But anyway..." He nced at Ghyine and said, "Have you been introduced yet? This is Ste, my baby sister."


    Ghyine''s eye widened and she turned to look at Ste. "So *you''re* Zenny''s baby girl?"


    Ste crossed her arms and said, "Yeah? So what?"


    Rudyughed and said, "No need to be tsun about it, Ste. Ghyine here is a family friend. Basically an auntie." He paused and said, "No, since you''re Eri''s first teacher and since she''s my wife too, I guess you really would be an aunt? The rtionship between a teacher and their student is like parent and child, so- Wait. But then Master Roxy and I..."


    Ste ignored her Onii-chan breaking off into one of his mumbling rants again and then stared at Ghyine with a cautious gaze. "...So you aren''t another busty beauty trying to snuggle into Onii-chan''s bed?"


    Ghyine snorted. "That''s a good joke, but no. I''ve already been conquered by one Greyrat and I don''t n to lose to that guy''s pup. Not to mention that both Zenny and Lily would kill me when they get back... and these two would kill me right now." She pointed behind her at Sylphy and Eris.


    As if on reflex, ice crystals were already forming around Sylphy.


    mes started around Eris as well, but she quickly stopped them and then reached out to swat Sylphy''s shoulder. "Stop that."


    Sylphy flinched and then looked away, pouting.


    Ste gave them a nk stare and then sighed.


    Ghyine chuckled and said, "Looks like I have a lot to catch up on."


    Rudy finally broke out of his trance and then nodded. "That''s right." He nced off to the side and said, "We have a long trip ahead of us still, so should we share some stories? ...I should probably introduce you to my kids too."


    Ghyine''s eye widened. "Kids? You?" She looked at Eris and whistled. "Always knew you had it in you, Ojou-sama."


    Eris blushed and said, "N-Not me, Ghyine!"


    "Oh. So you lost to Sylphy after all?"


    "That''s not... Ugh! Exin it properly, Rudy!"


    "Hahaha..."


    "Don''t justugh this off!"


    ...Every day with Onii-chan was a si, huh?


    Maybe she should start hanging around Norn nee-chan more instead...


    Wait. Speaking of Norn nee-chan, where was she?


    -NNG-


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    Norn sighed and swung her legs off the side of the boat. "...Rui forgot about me again."


    Since the trip started, Norn had been working hard to train so that she could catch up and be helpful to her big brother. Because of that, she didn''t get the chance to sit inside with him and the others.


    A tiny sacrifice. She had already been on her own for a while now, and she didn''t want to intrude on the others. But...


    "There you are, nee-chan!"


    A cute young girl''s voice.


    Norn looked back to see Ste walk over, hugging a puppy.


    No, not just a puppy. The Sacred Beast of the Dorudia Tribe who had chosen Ste as a hero.


    For a split second, Norn felt a pang of jealousy. But then that was reced by guilt and fatigue. She quickly brushed even those aside though and put on a bright smile to greet her baby sister. "Hi Ste." She hopped back onto the deck and said, "Did you need something?"


    Ste shook her head and said, "No. I just wanted to y with you for a bit, Nee-chan." She sighed and said, "You''re the only normal person here."


    Norn blinked and thenughed. "I guess so."


    It sounded like an insult. Compared to everyone else around Big Brother... evenpared to Norn''s grown-up nieces and nephew, she was ordinary. And that wasn''t even taking Ste into ount.


    But...


    Ste set her puppy down and then walked over to Norn''s side, casually holding Norn''s hand. "You can''t change, okay, nee-chan? I need one of us to be normal in this crazy family."


    Norn stared at Ste''s hand and then looked into Ste''s eyes.


    Ste stared back and tilted her head. "Hm? Nee-chan?"


    A cute and trusting expression. One that didn''t have a shred of malice in it, but just faith and expectation.


    It was a bit heavy. But...


    ''Ah. So this was what it was like.''


    Norn had been starting to be jealous. She envied how Ste had gotten to spend so much time with Big Brother and how he seemed to dote on her. But when she saw Ste''s gaze.


    "...Okay." Norn smiled and then reached out to pat Ste''s head. "Big Sister will there for you when you need her, Ste."


    Right. This was what it meant to be a big sibling.


    Unlike Big Brother who didn''t keep his promise, Norn had to keep hers.


    Didn''t Big Brother say it too? You learned better from negative role models, like Papa. So then...


    Norn''s smile widened and she said, "Whenever you get in trouble, Big Sister wille running, okay? I won''t be like Big Brother who left me all alone and scared with Big Sister Eris and our unreliable Papa."


    "...Um. O-Okay...?" Ste paused and then hesitantly held out her arms. "In that case... hug?"


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    ...Ah. It seemed like Norn would need to be vignt in the future. Big Brother wasn''t the only one who could make people fall in love so easily...


    -RNG-


    "Achoo! God, dammit." I wiped my nose and said, "Freaking Being W. You''re being petty now, aren''t you? Using your damned powers to make me sneeze..."


    Ghyine raised an eyebrow and said, "You sure you just aren''t catching a cold?"


    "I''m practically a god. I don''t get colds. But anyway... What was this about Ste being a hero?"

 156 – The Stellar Sister takes the Lead – II

    156 ¨C The Ster Sister takes the Lead ¨C II


    "Oh Holy Beast-sama! You''ve returned safely!"


    "Wan. It was a fun adventure, wan."


    Ste stared at the scene in front of her with a nk stare while hugging Wata as emotional support.


    It was a blitz of activity.


    Afterforting Norn nee-chan who had been practicing in the rain on the other ship and scolding Onii-chan about neglecting her, Ste went back to her room to take a nap. A lot of things had happened and she was exhausted, so she took the time to get some proper rest.


    And it was the right choice considering the current situation.


    Dorudia vige. The home of the Dorudia Beast Race tribe within the leaves of the Great Forest.


    ...For some reason, Ste had a shback to a loud-mouthed and ramen loving ninja, but she set that aside.


    In any case, when she woke up, they had already arrived. In fact, they had arrived for a while, long enough for Ste to be tucked into a cozy warm bed.


    But shortly after that, Onii-chan came to grab her and her new puppy to meet some people.


    Which led to the current situation.


    Ste''s new puppy sat in the middle of a formal banquet hall, licking his white fur.


    That much wasn''t too strange. But the fact that there were over a dozen big and burly onii-chans with dog ears kneeling in front of the puppy was. And stranger still was the fact that there were even more people waiting outside, straining to take a look inside the building.


    Including Toni and Sena, who were peeking in from a back window barely out of sight.


    ''...This feels like a yakuza meeting.''


    It reminded Ste of something she saw by chance once in the past. A high-profile yakuza member had been released from prison and a group of men in suits had knelt down before the guy, weing him back.


    ...Actually, now that she thought about it, wasn''t this how the White Knights reacted whenever they saw her?


    ...Oh. Right. Since Onii-chan was a Demon Lord, which was kind of like a yakuza boss, that would make her a princess... or something? A yakuza princess? After all, she was the youngest. And then Norn nee-chan would be the scary tomboy big sis... meaning that Aisha nee-chan is probably the smart secretary type who''s secretly the scariest?


    "So you are the hero we have been waiting for!"


    A gruff old male voice.


    Ste blinked and saw that someone had walked over while she was thinking.


    It was an old man wearing tribal clothing with some red face paint. He had fluffy white ears and a full face beard with hair just as white. He was also still in great shape despite the wrinkles on his face. Like a retired army ojii-san.


    He ced a fist into his left palm and gave a deep bow. "Thank you for saving my granddaughter along with the other children of our tribe, Hero."


    Ste''s puppy turned around to look at her and barked. "Wan! See? She''s really a hero! Wan."


    Wata finally spoke up at that and red at the puppy. "Stop trying to act cute and talk normally, you mongrel!"


    "I don''t know what you mean. ...Wan."


    Wata pointed at it and said, "There! That! You hesitated! You almost forgot the ''wan''!"


    Ste sighed and patted Wata''s head. "Ignore him, Wata. He has an image to uphold, you know?"


    "Hmph." Wata huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back in Ste''s embrace.


    The old manughed and said, "The hero is beloved by the spirits as well, I see?"


    Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "Who are you, old man?" After that, she looked off to the side at Rudy and said, "And why am I here, Onii-chan? Couldn''t you have talked with these people by yourself?"


    Rudy looked up from writing in his journal at a table off to the side and then said, "I could have. But this mess isn''t my fault for once, so I''m just taking some notes."


    "Aren''t you supposed to help out as my Onii-chan?!"


    Rudy waved his hand and said, "Don''t worry. I''ve chatted a bit already and you''ve just be a sort of messiah figure for the Beast Race folk. It''s nothing new."


    "Nothing-!?" Ste paused, thinking about her Onii-chan''s current status.


    ...Right. There wasn''t any point intoining about the spotlight to someone like that.


    Ste sighed and then patted Wata''s head again.


    Wata preened and then looked over at the puppy with an arrogant smirk.


    The puppy grit his teeth, but endured and pretended to be happy and cute.


    "Anyway," Ste said. "What do you mean that I''m a hero? Exin it to me like I''m five."


    Maybe they were just talking about it in the sense of her being their benefactor? Someone who saved their children and was honored because of it?


    The old man looked confused for a bit. "Are you not...? No." He shook his head and then looked Ste in the eyes. "As you wish Hero. You see..." The old man smiled, eyes sparkling with excitement. "Lady Ste... You are the hero who Holy Beast-sama has selected as his lifelongpanion. The one he will aid in the future to prevent the destruction of the world. Lady Ste... you are this world''s savior!"


    "Pft."


    Ste sent a death re at Rudy.


    Rudy smiled back.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    ...This damned family of cliched archetypes...!


    -SNG-


    "...And then he justughed at me the entire time!" Ste smacked her small hand on the table and said, "Isn''t that mean, nee-chan?!"


    Norn smiled and said, "It is a bit mean."


    "Right?!" Ste reached out and chugged her cup of hot cocoa and said, "It isn''t fair!"


    Miko idly sipped on her own cup of hot cocoa and said, "W-Well..." She shifted her gaze to the side and smiled. "...It is a bit funny."


    "Not you too, Miko!"


    Miko''s smile widened and she giggled. "I mean..."


    Ste puffed her cheeks and then finished the rest of her hot cocoa.


    A few days had passed since they arrived at Doduria vige. During that time, Ste had been busy trying to deal with being hailed as ''the chosen one'' or ''the world''s savior.''


    That, and she had to sort through all the gifts she was being given for saving all of the Beast Race children PLUS the ones that she was apparently entitled to as the hero.


    Onii-chan thought it was hrious, and his ero wives thought it was cute.


    Unlike them, however, Ena and Eos were helping Ste out by sorting through all of that for her. Wata and Fai were helping too, so it shouldn''t take too long.


    As for thest member of their family, Rnd... after hearing Ste being proimed as the hero and seeing her walk around with Holy Beast-kun (a.k.a Leo per Rnd''s suggestion), he was acting a bit weird.


    So because of that, Ste bugged Onii-chan for some hot cocoa and went to drag off the few people that she could actually unwind and vent to.


    Ste reached over for the giant thermos of cocoa that Rudy made for her and poured some more into her cup.


    At the moment, she, Norn, and Miko were sitting in a small one-room house on the outskirts of the vige. A little hideaway that she prodded Onii-chan to make while Eos and Ena were cleaning up the dedicated Hero apartment for her in the middle of the vige.


    Sipping on her cocoa, Ste looked outside the window and frowned. "It''s still raining, huh?"


    Norn sipped on her own cocoa and nodded. "Mmhm. Apparently, it won''t stop for another few months."


    Ste''s eyes widened. "I thought it was just a few weeks?! Are we going to stay here the entire time?!"


    Miko shook her head and said, "Mister Rudy said that it''s only a few days." She sipped on her cocoa and then tilted her head. "Didn''t he tell you?"


    Ste crossed her arms and said, "Of course not! Ever since we''ve got here, he''s beenughing at me being a hero and run off to do whatever he wants!" She looked at Norn and said, "It''s not fair, right, nee-chan?! Onii-chan should be ying with us!"


    Norn frowned and said, "...I do want to y with Rui. But he''s really busy..."


    Ste mmed her hands on the table and said, "No! I''ve had enough!"


    Norn''s eyes widened. "S-Ste?"


    Ste hopped off her seat and grabbed Norn''s hand, dragging her away. "We''re going toin to Onii-chan! Mikochi! Youe too!"


    "M-Mikochi? A-Ah, wait, Ste-!"


    -RNG-


    "So this is the sacred tree, huh?" I looked up at the glittering bronze tree and thoughtfully rubbed my chin.


    "That''s right, Dad." Rnd walked over to my side and said, "You called it something else in the future though. I think ''Yggdrasil''?"


    "The World Tree? Hm... Well, I guess something like this qualifies."


    Since my cute baby sister was being coddled by the entire Doduria vige and my wives were catching up with Ghyine, I took the chance to survey in detail what it meant for her to be the hero. And by that, I meant take a look at the ritual site that the leader of Doduria Vige, Gustav, was talking about.


    Speaking of Gustav...


    The old warrior looked around with wide eyes and then muttered, "To be able to cross such vast distances in an instance..." Gustav looked at me and said, "...Are you truly human?"


    "...It''splicated." I ran my hand through my hair, dissolving the disguise magic dyeing it brown. At the same time, I removed the magic changing my eye colors and took a closer look at the surroundings.


    Although the outside was still a torrential downpour, about a mile around the base of the Sacred Tree, it was perfectly calm and sunny.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    It was also a bit eerie because of it. The water that should be flooding in was kept at bay by an invisible force, and even the thunderous sound was muted.


    Moreover, the dark surroundings were lit up by a mysterious green light. And that was separate from the towering bronze tree in front of us that was emitting its own soft golden light.


    Gustav''s eyes widened when he saw my changed appearance and said, "That appearance-"


    "This is a sacred ce, right? It''s the least I can do to show my true self. Now..." I crossed my arms and stared at the sacred tree. "...Is there a sword in the tree that Ste''s going to have to pull out? A de of pure mana that can control the fate of the world? A sword of light forged to defeat pure evil? Or maybe some great ultimate light magic meant to destroy an iing meteor?"


    "...What?" Gustav shook his head. "No, nothing like that."


    I turned to look at Rnd.


    Rndughed. "You were disappointed then too, Dad."


    "...I see."


    Damn. There goes the hope that I could get some more useful stuff to smack Being W from behind-


    Wait.


    I narrowed my eyes and took a closer look at the sacred tree.


    Glowing bark that seemed to be carved from bronze. Fluffy white leaves with a bit of gold tinged around the edges. Warm and holy mana...


    ...Uh.


    "...Hey, Gustav."


    "Yes, Lord Rudeus?"


    "Just Rudeus is fine. But, um..." I tilted my head, mentallyparing the tree I made for Mom, the forest of trees I had in Arcadia, and the sacred tree in front of me. "...Is the sacred tree that special?"


    "Special?!" Gustav threw his hands out and said, "The Sacred Tree is the guardian of the world! Thest resort against the wicked scheming god that destroyed and usurped the creator god himself!"


    "Riiight. Then is it a bad time to say that I''ve made about a hundred more trees like this back in the Demon Realm?"


    "...WHAT?!"

 157 – The Stellar Sister takes the Lead – III

    157 ¨C The Ster Sister takes the Lead ¨C III


    Ste kicked open the door to Rudy''s room and then walked in, arms crossed. "Onii-chan! We need to talk!"


    Silence.


    Miko walked up behind Ste and looked around the room. "I don''t think Rudy is here right now, Ste."


    Norn walked in as well and nodded. "It looks like Big Brother is on a trip again."


    "Awe on!" Ste huffed and stomped her foot on the floor. "Why is Onii-chan always doing side quests?! He''s already strong enough as he is!"


    Norn blinked and said, "Side quests?"


    Ste sighed and waved her hand. "Never mind..." After that, she took a look around the room.


    Unlike Ste, who had a giant fancy tree house all to herself because she was a special hero, Rudy just had a small and simple studio apartment on the outskirts of the vige.


    ...Which was odd in itself considering that it looked like it literally got pulled away from Earth and stuck in the middle of nowhere.


    A pristine ss sliding window. A light switch with fluorescent light bulbs. A desk, fold-up futon, wardrobe...


    Did Onii-chan unlock a portable home system off-screen or something?


    No. That wasn''t important.


    Ste walked over to Rudy''s desk and started flipping through the papers there.


    Norn''s eyes widened and she quickly walked over. "S-Ste! You shouldn''t do that!"


    Ste pulled the papers away from Norn''s outstretched hands and huffed. "I''m doing what I want! What''s so important that Onii-chan keeps ignoring us any-"


    A stray parchment fell onto the floor. But not just a parchment, a colored print. One of a silver-haired elf with green eyes, ckce, and-


    "@#$@#$@!"


    Ste quickly picked up the print, stuffed it back in the pile of papers and chucked everything in the desk drawer.


    Norn''s face turned a bright red and she ced her hands on her cheeks.


    Miko blushed and her eyes kept ncing towards the drawer. "W-Was that-"


    "WE DIDN''T SEE ANYTHING, OKAY?!"


    Ste felt her face heat up and she quickly wiped what she saw from her memory.


    Dammit! She knew that Onii-chan was a secret super pervert!


    "Really now?"


    Ste froze and slowly turned to the side.


    When she did, Norn and Miko slowly followed suit.


    Rudy was standing there in the doorway, leaning against it with his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. He was wearing some of his fancier clothes again, a ck dress shirt and white cloak, but his hair and eyes were still the average brown and green that he used as a disguise. "Judging from your reactions... it seems Sylphy left me a ''gift'' again, huh? Hah..." He shook his head and said, "I keep telling her the kids are around."


    Ste blinked.


    Gift? Then that paper...


    ...Sylphy really was an erofu, wasn''t she?


    And it seemed like Ste was going to have lots of nieces and nephews in the future at this rate...


    "Anyway." Rudy waved his hand, vanishing the desk and bed before recing them withfy looking beanbag cushions. "Did you girls need something? It must be serious if you barged in here without being scared of what would happen if Sylphy caught you."


    Ste froze.


    R-Right. If Sylphy nee-chan had been in here...


    "Just kidding." Rudy winked and said, "She''s too busy catching up with Ghyine and Eri right now." He walked inside and sat down on thin air.


    Like, literally. Rudy sat down and then just floated there.


    But as if it was perfectly natural, Rudy continued talking and said, "Apparently, Eri''s parents and Sylphy''s parents met up and started conquering the Strife Zone together. Ghyine was with them, so she''s telling how everything unfolded."


    Norn''s eyes widened and she said, "Aunt Rosie is okay?"


    "Mmhm." Rudy nodded. "Her, Laws, Philip, and Hilda are all fine. Even that old Sauros is kicking around- Ah, but I don''t think any of you''ve met him." He paused and tilted his head. "I wonder if kicking him out that window straightened him out a bit..."


    Miko walked over to sit on one of the cushions and then smiled. "It''s good to hear that the people you knew are safe, Rudy."


    "Mm. For the most part. But enough about that." He looked at Ste and said, "I''m guessing you''re the leader of this party, Ste." He grinned and said, "Did you get bored and decided to set out on an adventure like a proper ''yuusha'' now?"


    Ste flopped onto a cushion and crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks. "Shut up, Onii-chan. I''m in this mess because of you!"


    "Now, now. I''m not the one who decided to go y magical girl and save a bunch of kidnapped children." Rudy chuckled before materializing a tter of chocte chip cookies. "Have some treats, by the way."


    Norn''s eyes lit up and she took one. "Thanks, Rui!" Nibbling on it with a content smile, she took a seat on the remaining cushion.


    Miko eyed the cookies and then pursed her lips, subtly tugging her tight blouse.


    Rudy noticed and then said, "Oh yeah. Forgot most people don''t burn through calories like nothing because of their raw mana output... Here." He waved his hand and then materialized another tter of cookies in front of Miko. "Those should be fine to eat."


    Miko looked at Rudy and said, "Really?"


    "Really."


    "Then... okay." With a hesitant nod, Miko started eating the cookies as well.


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "Stop distracting everyone with sweets, Onii-chan!"


    Rudy took a bite out of a cookie and said, "I just want to make sure my baby sisters and their friend are having a good time."


    Dammit! This guy...!


    Like always, Onii-chan was marching to his own beat. If Ste wasn''t careful, he''d end up going off on a tangent and then leave again before she had a chance to talk!


    So, before then!


    Ste pointed at Rudy and said, "Take us sight seeing!"


    Rudy blinked and tilted his head. "...What?"


    Ste felt her face heat up from embarrassment, but she continued and said, "Y-You keep running off on your stupid side quests or being loveydovey with our ero nee-chans! Would it kill you to y with me and Norn for once?"


    Silence.


    Norn slowly lowered her cookie and looked up at Rudy, mixed emotions on her face.


    Miko sat there awkwardly, looking between Rudy and Ste.


    As for Rudy himself...


    "Hm." He finished his cookie and then brushed off the crumbs. "I was going to wait until we got to Ranoa Kingdom for us to go have fun together, but I guess I''ve pretty much cleared away all the important stuff here. I even left a proper Mana Sword to choose a proper heroter in the future, so... Sure."


    Ste blinked and said, "Wait, what was that about a Mana-"


    Rudy pped his hands together and then smiled. "Now... How about we go smack around some monsters? Oh, and you can stay here and rx, Miko. I''ll leave a few story books for you to read along with a fridge- I mean, an icebox filled with calorie-free goodies."


    Miko''s eyes shed a bit, activating as if trying to peer into Rudy''s thoughts.


    Rudy''s eyes shed as well, but they quickly returned to the casual green color he was using.


    After that, Miko turned to Ste and ced her hands on Ste''s shoulders.


    "M-Mikochi?!"


    "Ste." Miko let out a bright smile and said, "Your big brother is the best."


    "Um... Okay...?"


    "Great!" Rudy pped his hands again before reaching out to grab Norn and Ste''s shoulders. "Then, no time like the present! Adventure time!"


    "Wait, Onii-!"


    *pop*


    Miko blinked, looking around the now empty room. And then she blinked again, staring at the sleek metallic box that just appeared in front of her as well as the stack of books on the floor next to it.


    She hestitated for a bit, but then she opened the box. And when she did...


    "...Even if Lady Therese is right about Rudy being the devil..." She pulled out a small ice cream cup along with a tiny gold spoon and scooped up a bite. "...Things that taste this good can''t be bad for you, right?"


    -C.G-


    "We''ve taken care of thest of the rebels, Your Holiness!"


    Cliff sighed and set down the stack of papers he was looking through at his desk. ncing at the fully armored knight kneeling on the ground in front of him, Cliff waved his hand and said, "I keep telling everyone, just call me Cliff." He frowned and said, "I''m still a farcry from being qualified to be called ''Your Holiness.''"


    After all, whenpared to Father-inw and even Ena...


    Yes. There was still arge gap to cross.


    Cliff shook his head and then looked back at the messenger. "That aside... So you''ve hunted down thest of them?"


    "Yes!" The knight stood up and smacked his fist against his chest. "The false prophet was imprisoned and those that follow the false human god have been locked away! Sir Astolfo is interrogating them as we speak!"


    "I see."


    Cliff shifted his gaze back to his papers, organizing his thoughts.


    There probably wouldn''t be much new information from them, but it was good to tie up any loose ends.


    Still...


    Cliff rapped his fingers on his desk while recalling what the Cardinal said before they executed him.


    ''You fools! Lord Perugius is on our side! You will all regret choosing to stand with Lace!''


    "...What did that man mean?"


    "Your Holiness?"


    "...Nothing." Cliff shook his head.


    It wasn''t something he should be concerned with. To the people, to the nobles, and to the knights, their victory was won by the grace of Saint Milis with Cliff as the Saint''s mortal incarnation.


    For now...


    ''There is much to be done if I am to be a man worthy of Ena.''


    With that thought, Cliff gathered up his papers and went back to work.


    -LIV-


    In the floating castle Chaos Breaker, a stern man with wild silver hair, sharp golden eyes, and an aura of nobility looked down from his throne. "...Are you certain this time, Arumanfi?" He narrowed his eyes and said, "We cannot risk a single mistake when ites to this matter."


    A man with golden hair and a fox mask nodded and said, "I am certain, Lord Perugius." Arumanfi clenched his fists and said, "Lace has broken free from his seal and is hidden among the human kingdoms. And while I could not find him during the revolt, I saw his traces all over Millishion in the recent battle."


    "I see."


    Perugius was silent for a few moments and then said, "Two years."


    "Lord Perugius?"


    Perugius slowly stood up and said, "We will prepare for two years." Turning his head to look out at the distant clouds, he said, "If Lace has truly broken free... If he has grown strong and wily enough to manipte the humans and hide among them... And if that man was telling the truth..."


    Silence.


    "...Well." Perugius spoke again and quietly said, "We will see who is telling the truth and who is telling a lie soon enough."


    -LIV-


    "Patience. Patience..."


    In an endless void, a figure wreathed in white mist muttered to himself while staring at a model of all the continents in the world.


    "Even if that bastard is cheating and modifying the records somehow, it will all work out. This time, I have pieces that I never even considered using before."


    Hitogami clenched his hand into a fist and said, "Rudeus Notus Greyrat... Don''t think you''ll have a happy ending. Even if I can''t kill *you*, everyone else... hehehe. HAHAHAHAHA!"


    -LIV-


    Somewhere in the Asura Kingdom, a nondescript man wearing a travel cloak stopped and raised his left hand. A soft beep echoed from his wrist watch and he muttered, "Two years." He reached out to press a button with his right hand and said, "For better or for worse, that''s when everything ends. ...I hope your calctions were right, Shizuka."


    A soft breeze blew the hood off the man''s cloak, revealing his features.


    ck hair, foreign-looking almond eyes, a young face that looked to be in the early twenties...


    Pulling his hood back over his head, Shinohara Akito sighed and said, "Time travel and isekai really aren''t as fun as all the light novels make it out to be..."

 158 – The Stellar Sister Takes the Lead – IV

    158 ¨C The Ster Sister Takes the Lead ¨C IV


    "Ugh." Ste flopped into her bed face first and grumbled. "Stupid Onii-chan. Making his baby sisters work so hard..."


    Norn staggered into the house behind Ste with a weary smile. "Even so, that was fun, wasn''t it?" She tossed a bag filled with magic stones off to the side and said, "It''s the first time we went adventuring with Big Brother."


    "If it''s going to be like this it''s going to be thest. Ugh... I''m so sore." Ste flipped back around and stared at the ceiling.


    It was her house. The one that she was given as the ''Hero.'' Looking around, the mountain of gifts she was given had been reced with three chests.


    Ste wasn''t sure exactly how they managed it, but she was sure that those glowing magical chests were definitely holding all of her things like a portable inventory.


    Still, she could think about thatter. For now...


    Ste sat up and said, "Hey, Onee-chan?"


    Norn walked over to a refrigerator (when did that get there?!) and pulled out a water bottle. After opening it to take a drink, she sat back down and said, "What is it, Ste?"


    Ste decided to ignore the refrigerator that definitely just popped into existence and instead looked at Norn. "What do you think Onii-chan will do in the future?"


    Norn blinked and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"


    Ste spun around to sit on the edge of her bed and started kicking her legs. "Onii-chan is super strong. The strongest in the world. And he''s already a Demon Lord... so do you think he''ll decide to be god or something?"


    She wouldn''t be surprised if he did. Onii-chan was super ridiculous and apparently already had one god as a mortal enemy, so...


    Nornughed.


    Ste frowned and said, "What''s so funny?"


    Norn shook her head. "It''s nothing. Just..." Sheughed again and said, "Big Brother Rui? A god? He''s nothing like what they say Saint Milis or the other gods are like, right? Even if he''s super strong, I don''t think he''ll be much different in the future. If anything, I think he might just be ying around a bit more with Big Sis Eri and Sylphy."


    "...Yeah. You''re probably right."


    Norn sipped on her water and then said, "Why did you ask, Ste?"


    Ste sighed. "It''s just..." She frowned and said, "I don''t know what I''m supposed to do."


    Onii-chan was the main character. And he was a cheat main character too. Even so, Ste was supposed to be the hero... How was that going to work out?


    Was Onii-chan going to have a big viin arc? Or-


    "Isn''t it obvious?"


    Ste blinked. "Obvious?"


    Norn smiled and said, "Right! You''re our baby sister, so you can just do whatever you want! And then when Mommy and Mama Lilye back, you can surprise them with how cool you are!"


    Ste stared at Norn.


    Norn stared back.


    Ste rolled her eyes.


    "W-What?" Norn looked confused and said, "Did I say something weird?"


    "No. But be careful, Onee-chan. At this rate, you might be a muscle-head swordsman like our Dad."


    Norn huffed and said, "I won''t! I''m much smarter than Dad and Big Sis Eri."


    "It doesn''t have to do anything with how smart you are... but alright." Ste hopped off her bed and said, "Now... since you said I should do whatever I want..." She walked over to grab a few magic stones from the bag and said, "I''ve always wanted to try alchemy..."


    -RNG-


    "Alright everyone." I looked around and said, "Are we all here? Got everything we needed?"


    A few days had passed since we arrived at Dedoria vige. In that time, Ste became a hero, got a new puppy called Leo, and made some new friends in Sena and Toni.


    At the same time, Eri got to catch up with Ghyine to hear news about her family. Sylphy too, since Laws and Rose ended up near the same ce.


    My kids, Ena, Eos, and Rnd, also managed to spend some time off catching up with each other as proper siblings. Not sure exactly what they did, but they were a lot less awkward around each other at least.


    ...I think I overheard something about Cliff at some point, but I decided not to dig too much into it.


    Anyway, it was a brief trip, but it was time to get going. And because of that, everyone had gathered in the middle of Dedoria vige for our takeoff.


    Well, kind of. We were going to be teleporting most of the way there, but that was kind of like a flight, right?


    Ste rolled her eyes while tugging three floating chests behind her. "Stop procrastinating and get us out of here already, Onii-chan." She looked off at the distance and said, "I''m sick of seeing nothing but water and rain."


    Norn nodded from beside Ste and said, "It''s been nice meeting everyone in Dedoria vige, but I think we should get going. We''re meeting Aisha and Miss Roxy now, right?"


    Eri adjusted her sword and then nced back towards the vige chief''s house.


    Sylphy noticed and said, "Are you missing Miss Ghyine already, Eri?"


    "N-No!" Eri turned her head back and said, "I''m just worried that she''ll beat everyone up! You saw how much her brother didn''t like her, right?"


    While those two chatted, I activated my irvoyance and started up the calctions for the transport. As I did, I said, "Ghyine is a grown adult, Eri. She''ll be fine. And besides, some people only learn lessons the hard way."


    Sylphy giggled.


    Eri blushed and said, "And what''s that supposed to mean?!"


    "That Ghyine''s brother needs to get punked around a bit. Now everyone here? Miko?"


    Miko stopped eating a cup of ice cream and raised her hand. "I''m here!"


    "Kids?"


    Eos waved at me with Ena and Rnd next to her. "We''re here, Father."


    "Ste, all your elemental buddies and new doggo present?"


    Ste groaned and said, "Just hurry up already, Onii-chan. We''re all here. And even if we weren''t, stop acting like you couldn''t juste back and grab whoever was left."


    "Hey. Just wanted to be a responsible adult since I''m the only one here."


    And wasn''t that a terrifying thought. Really made me wish Mom or Mama Lily was here. Laws and Rose would be great too.


    Well, that''s why we''re heading to see Master Roxy, so...


    "Alright. Then..." I shifted my gaze to the Beast Race vigers peering out at us from outside my transport circle. Then I looked over to Ghyine who was... giving me a thumbs up? Ah, that was probably because Gustav was looking listless and Ghyine''s brother was staring at me with nk eyes.


    Eh. Nothing new.


    I shifted my focus back to everyone for a bit to make sure we really weren''t missing anyone. And then I focused on our destination and nodded. "Here we go. Next stop, Ranoa Kingdom!"


    Mana started to swirl around us, letting off dramatic white and gold light.


    The moment that happened, gasps echoed from all around us. And sighs echoed from the people near me.


    "Dammit, Onii-chan." Ste red at me and said, "Do you have to be so overdramatic all the time?!"


    "It makes life fun and puts people off guard, so yes. Now try not to throw up when we get there."


    "What do you- blergh"


    -R.M-


    The Ranoa Magic Academy, situated in the city of magic, Sharia. Sitting at her desk, the current headmaster of the academy paused in the middle of reviewing research notes. She quickly nced at the various magical tools sitting on the shelf used to measure and track down spatial distortions before frowning. "Did I imagine it?"


    It was a split second. For a moment, she thought she saw a distortion in time and space on the outskirts of the city. But nothing was out of the ordinary. And the detectors for the hidden god weren''t active either.


    "...Hah." Roxy sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Maybe Aisha was right. I should take a break..."


    All of this stress managing the Magic Triumvirate and dealing with the politics around the Magic Guild was starting to take its toll.


    Not to mention all of those annoying suitors. Seriously.


    Roxy ran her hand through her long blue hair and said, "Is it that hard to find someonepetent to help with my work?" She grumbled and said, "Maybe I should just grab a man off the street and dump my work on him? Hah..." She ced her head down and said, "I miss Rudy. I bet my genius student would be able to sort all of this out no problem."


    -RNG-


    I paused, feeling a shiver run down my spine.


    "Big Brother Rui?" Norn looked at me and frowned. "Is something wrong?"


    "...No. But, uh." I ran my hand through my hair and said, "I''m properly disguised right now, right? Brown hair, green eyes?"


    "Yes...?"


    "Weird." I tugged the cor of my shirt and muttered, "Why do I feel like a noose just got tossed over me then?"


    "...Big Sister Eri will be mad if she hears that after your promise for the wedding ceremony, Rui."


    "Ahaha... That''s probably it then."


    "..."


    "...Don''t tell your big sisters?"


    "Only if you make me hot chocte."


    "Deal."

 159 – The Genius Sister is Doubtful – I

    159 ¨C The Genius Sister is Doubtful ¨C I


    <span ss="s2">Aisha Notus Greyrat. That was the name of the young teen walking through the streets of Sharia. Wearing the white zer and pleated ck skirt uniform of the Ranoa Magic Academy, she stifled a yawn and then tucked a strand of her maroon hair behind her ear. After that, her violet eyes swept across the windows of the shops around her, looking for anything useful.


    <span ss="s2">¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ Big Sis Roxy has been busy recently, so something that could help her rx¡­¡¯


    <span ss="s2">As always, the streets were bustling with people. But since today was a break day from sses, Aisha could see a lot of other students walking around as well, their uniforms distinctly setting them apart from other people.


    <span ss="s2">Seeing them, she let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯d be nice to see everyone again¡­¡±


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    <span ss="s2">Aisha could still vaguely remember her family. The goofy father, her serious mother, her cute older sister, her super serious older brother¡­ There had been some other people with their family as well, like Big Sis Sylphy, but after all this time it was getting a bit hard to remember.


    <span ss="s2">Fiddling with her purse, Aisha frowned and muttered, ¡°Is Big Brother really that great though¡­?¡±


    <span ss="s2">After the spacetime distortion, everyone had been scattered throughout the world. It wasn¡¯t just Aisha¡¯s family that had been affected. As a world-wide phenomenon, it indiscriminately sent people all over, and it was the luck of the draw whether someone was safe or not.


    <span ss="s2">Well. Roxy said that wasn¡¯t entirely true. Apparently, her Big Brother was a super genius who made it so that they were all transported to a safe ce. He was also apparently someone who could have resolved all of the issues Roxy was facing right now with a snap of his fingers. Not only that, but he was someone that Big Sis Sylphy was so desperate to see, she went off on her own to be an adventurer and dive into distortion dungeons to try and find him.


    <span ss="s2">It all went to show how great her big brother apparently was.


    <span ss="s2">Apparently.


    <span ss="s2">Aisha doubted that though.


    <span ss="s2">To begin with, if he was so great, why hadn¡¯t he showed up already? When they were in danger with Roxy and Sylphy risking their lives to keep Aisha safe, when they spent years and years in distortion dungeons trying to make their way out, when Aisha herself had grown up to a young teen from all the distorted time that she and Roxy had to go through while making their way to Ranoa Kingdom¡­


    <span ss="s2">Yes. Aisha doubted that her big brother was that great. She had vague memories of him being able to use magic when he was pretty young, but Aisha could do the same. And she was even the youngest student to enroll in the Ranoa Magic Academy in the past decade.


    <span ss="s2">No. Aisha thought that Roxy was just deluding herself. Especially since they hadn¡¯t received any contact from him despite Roxy being so famous.


    <span ss="s2">After all, by this point Roxy Migurdia had gotten so famous as the <Thousand Master Sorceress> that even people from the distant Begaritt continent and the Heaven continent had sent some envoys to meet with her and discuss the Spacetime Distortion Incident.


    <span ss="s2">If Big Brother was as great as Roxy said, he should definitely have heard about them and sent a message their way. And if not that, with how great he was, they should have heard something about them.


    <span ss="s2">For example, even their goofy Father¡¯s name hade up recently as a Sword God of a brand new school. And because of that, Aisha knew that her older sister Norn was safe and sound.


    <span ss="s2">But Rudeus¡­


    <span ss="s2">Nothing.


    <span ss="s2">¡°Realistically, he¡¯s probably long dead. My baby sister too.¡± Aisha mumbled to herself to sort out her thoughts as she kept walking through the streets. ¡°After this long without any news¡­ Mom and Mommy Zenith are probably fine. Big Sis Roxy said that Mommy Zenith was a famous adventurer and Mom was a good swordswoman, so they¡¯re probably just trapped in a dungeon somewhere. But Big Brother and my baby sister¡­¡±


    <span ss="s2">No matter how much of a genius her big brother was said to be, Aisha just couldn¡¯t believe that he¡¯d be able to survive being tossed into a random dangerous location.


    <span ss="s2">After all, Aisha was the youngest and best magic formation sorceress Ranoa had ever seen with innate talent in both seeing mana and manipting every elemental branch of magic all the way up to <King>.


    <span ss="s2">Even then, that was when she was ten years old. For someone even younger than that to be able to survive¡­


    <span ss="s2">Aisha walked past a stall selling kebabs and absently paid for one to snack on before walking away.


    <span ss="s2">As she did, Aisha heard a young woman¡¯s voice echo from behind her.


    <span ss="s2">¡°Hm. These look pretty good¡­ Do you think the kids would like some?¡±


    <span ss="s2">Aisha nced back to see a group of three people standing at the kebab stall. A handsome young man with green hair surrounded on his left and right by a pair of beautiful blonde women.


    <span ss="s2">The green-haired man rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡±


    <span ss="s2">Aisha resisted the urge to snort and then walked off.


    <span ss="s2">Guys¡­ they were always so indecisive.


    <span ss="s2">Like all the guys trying to date Roxy. Always beating around the bush and never saying things straight out¡­


    <span ss="s2">Aisha nibbled on her kebab and kept walking along the streets, thinking to herself.


    <span ss="s2">Seriously. Roxy should just rx a bit and go on some dates¡­ Then again, thest time someone tried asking Roxy out, he was sted through a window on reflex.


    <span ss="s2">Aisha sighed and finished her kebab, turning the stick to ashes with a small me. After that, she stuck her hands in her zer¡¯s pockets and kept walking.


    <span ss="s2">Okay. The problem was definitely with Roxy. If she would just loosen up a bit more and rx¡­ After all, Aisha wasn¡¯t a toddler anymore. It wasn¡¯t like Roxy had to worry about her. And she also wasn¡¯t getting any younger, so-


    <span ss="s2">A light tug at the back of Aisha¡¯s shirt, followed by a young girl¡¯s voice.


    <span ss="s2">¡°Um. Excuse me?¡±


    <span ss="s2">Aisha blinked and then turned around to see a cute blonde girl wearing a backpack, white shirt, and blue jeans.


    <span ss="s2">The young girl looked up at Aisha with sparkling green eyes and said, ¡°I¡¯m looking for my big sister, but I got lost. Can you help me find her?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Big sister?¡± Aisha tilted her head and stared at the young girl.


    <span ss="s2">She was cute. Barely over five years old, if that. She looked like she also had really good mana affinity too with how the elemental mana in the air were naturally drifting towards her.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    <span ss="s2">That made Aisha curious about who the girl was. If the girl was that much of a natural, then her big sister¡­


    <span ss="s2">¡°Miss?¡±


    <span ss="s2">Aisha blinked and realized she was spacing out. She let out a soft smile and said, ¡°Sorry. But yes, I can help you find your big sister.¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Great!¡± The young girl stuck out her hand and said, ¡°I¡¯m Ste!¡±


    <span ss="s2">Aisha smiled and took the young girl¡¯s hand. ¡°You can call me Ai, Ste.¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Okay, Miss Ai.¡± Ste smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you!¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°And you too. Now, what does your big sister look like? And where did youst see her?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Well¡­¡± Ste ced her left hand on her chin and said, ¡°Onee-chan has blonde hair like me and green eyes. She¡¯s around your age too, I think?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Really?¡± Aisha hummed and said, ¡°Does she go to the academy then?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Not yet.¡± Ste shook her head and said, ¡°Onii-chan said that he¡¯s heading there to do the paperwork, but Onee-chan isn¡¯t a student yet.¡±


    <span ss="s2">So not someone that Aisha would know. That made sense. Since she was the student council president, Aisha remembered the faces and characteristics of all the enrolled students. And she would definitely remember someone like that enrolling.


    <span ss="s2">¡°I see¡­ It might be hard to find her then.¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Oh!¡± Ste looked up and said, ¡°She¡¯s dressed like an adventurer too! And I think she said she wanted to go check the adventurers guild? Do you know where that is?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°I do. Should we-¡°


    <span ss="s2">*GROWL*


    <span ss="s2">Ste blushed and looked down, covering her belly.


    <span ss="s2">Aishaughed and said, ¡°How about we get you some food first?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°¡­Please and thank you.¡±


    <span ss="s2">-ENG-


    <span ss="s2">Eos watched Ste walk away with a red-haired teenaged girl and frowned. Looking towards Rnd, she said, ¡°Should we follow them?¡±


    <span ss="s2">Rnd stared at the red-haired girl with a strange expression before shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Dad made Ste take all of her elementals with her, remember?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Ah.¡± Eos nodded. ¡°True¡­¡±


    <span ss="s2">Since Rudy was going to be busy sorting out various affairs, he had forced Ste¡¯s elementals to be with her all the time in spiritual form to act as invisible protectors.


    <span ss="s2">Ena happily munched on a zed barbecue kebab, ignoring how the sauce dripped on her chest, and said, ¡°These are delicious!¡±


    <span ss="s2">Rnd looked at her and then sighed. ¡°Sis. You need to be more self-conscious about these things.¡± After saying that, he pulled out a handkerchief in his pocket and reached out to wipe off the sauce.


    <span ss="s2">An act that gave him a lot of pointed looks from all the males in the vicinity.


    <span ss="s2">Eos snorted. ¡°Hypocrite.¡±


    <span ss="s2">Rnd finished wiping off the sauce and then looked at Eos. ¡°What?¡±


    <span ss="s2">She rolled her eyes and then grabbed Rnd¡¯s left arm. ¡°Just hurry up and guide us around.¡±


    <span ss="s2">Ena finished eating the kebab and carefully cleaned the stick with water magic before shoving it in her sleeve. After that, she grabbed Rnd¡¯s right arm and said, ¡°Yeah! Take us shopping, Big Bro!¡±


    <span ss="s2">Rnd sighed before muttering, ¡°Some things never change, do they?¡±


    <span ss="s2">-NNG-


    <span ss="s2">Norn looked around the fancy building she just walked into and whistled. Taking a look backwards, she said, ¡°This is a lot prettier than the other adventurers guilds we visited, isn¡¯t it, Big Sis?¡±


    <span ss="s2">Eris walked in behind Norn and gave an absent nod. ¡°Sure.¡±


    <span ss="s2">Norn frowned and said, ¡°Are you still mad Rui didn¡¯t take you with him to see Miss Roxy?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°No. It¡¯s just¡­¡± Eris blushed and then took a look around before leaning close to Norn and saying, ¡°I-I don¡¯t know how weddings work¡­¡±


    <span ss="s2">Norn blinked and thenughed.


    <span ss="s2">¡°W-What?!¡± Eris leaned back with a huff and said, ¡°It¡¯s not funny!¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°S-Sorry, Big Sis. It¡¯s just¡­¡± Norn smiled and said, ¡°You really are girly around Rui, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°I¡¯ve always been girly!¡±


    <span ss="s2">Norn¡¯s smile widened before she grabbed Eris¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s go see if there are any fun requests we can do before meeting up with Rui.¡±


    <span ss="s2">-RNG-


    <span ss="s2">Miko looked around the fancy courtyard with wide eyes before looking back at me. ¡°Mister Rudy¡­ Are you sure it¡¯s fine for me to be here?¡±


    <span ss="s2">I waved my hand and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You¡¯re both Ste and Norn¡¯s friend, so I can spot the enrollment fee for something like this.¡±


    <span ss="s2">It was tough making new friends, so having Miko there to round out a group of three would help a lot. Especially since Miko was good at reading people¡¯s intentions with her special eyes.


    <span ss="s2">Leaning on my right side, with my arm wrapped within her own, Sylphy hummed and said, ¡°So this is where we would have gone if Father-inw hadn¡¯t decided to betroth you to Eri, is it?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Back to calling him Father-inw instead of Father or Paul, Sylphy?¡±


    <span ss="s2">Sylphy giggled and said, ¡°Well. I think Papa will get jealous, so I have to be careful.¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Ooh. That¡¯s a good point.¡±


    <span ss="s2">I hadn¡¯t met Laws for a while, but since heid out a symphony on Dad¡¯s facest time, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he could do a whole epic. Even if Dad was a Sword God who mastered crazy and BS anime techniques.


    <span ss="s2">Sylphy shifted her gaze to the tallest tower of the academy and said, ¡°Do you think the Headmaster will agree to let them in?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°It should be fine.¡±


    <span ss="s2">I was a bit curious though.


    <span ss="s2">Whoever was in charge of the Ranoa Magic Academy was incredibly skilled at magic and understood it on a granr and fundamental level that I hadn¡¯t even thought about.


    <span ss="s2">Mostly because I was focusing on the ¡®bend reality to your will with mana¡¯ avenue instead.


    <span ss="s2">I could still use my magic and irvoyance without restriction here, but from the way everything was set up, that would trigger all sorts of red gs. Well, unless I thought real hard about how to get around it, but it wasn¡¯t worth the effort to antagonize the Headmaster.


    <span ss="s2">Besides, I overheard from a few different people that Roxy apparently had a job here because of that Headmaster, so I didn¡¯t want to be too rude.


    <span ss="s2">Moreover¡­


    <span ss="s2">I reached up with my left hand to adjust the bowtie of my fancy suit before pulling out my expensive looking pure diamond cane from a subspace. Tapping it on the ground, I smiled and said, ¡°And if it isn¡¯t¡­ Well, I¡¯ve always wanted to try and y the obscenely rich nobleman.¡±


    <span ss="s2">Sylphy¡¯s eyes lit up and then she snapped her fingers. When she did, a ck leather cor appeared around her neck.


    <span ss="s2">¡°¡­What¡¯s that for?¡±


    <span ss="s2">Sylphy smiled and said, ¡°Well. If you¡¯re an obscenely rich nobleman, that means that you¡¯re rich enough to afford a high ss courtesan ve like me, right?¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°¡­You¡¯ve been reading those trashy Asuran Noble romance novels again haven¡¯t you.¡±


    <span ss="s2">¡°Teehee.¡±


    <span ss="s2">I sighed and ran my left hand through my currently brown hair. ¡°Whatever.¡± I grabbed my diamond cane again, left floating as I ran my hand through my hair, and walked towards the main entrance, ignoring the curious gazes of the students around me. ¡°Let¡¯s go finish this paper work and entrance interview before looking for a priest to ordain our wedding.¡±


    <span ss="s2">Hopefully there was one that wasn¡¯t a super stringent Saint Milis follower nearby. If not, I¡¯d need to go pop back into Milis to grab Cliff-


    <span ss="s2">Oh. And I should probably go look at real estate to get a house here. Since it was the center of magic research, it¡¯d be a hassle if I just magicked something into existence, so I had to make sure I went through the proper red tape.


    <span ss="s2">Then there was dealing with Roxy, setting up a ce for everyone else¡­


    <span ss="s2">¡­Well. Better than running a kingdom and dealing with politics, right?<span ss="s2">

 160 – The Genius Sister is Doubtful – II

    160 ¨C The Genius Sister is Doubtful ¨C II


    Ste nibbled on a potato crepe and stared at the young teenaged girl leading her around. As she did, two things went through her mind.


    First, Onee-chan was mean for leaving her behind and running off with Eri nee-chan. Ste thought that her big sister would have a bit more sense than that, especially in a big and unknown city like this. But it seemed like Onee-chan was still a kid at heart and got swept up by all the new shiny sights.


    As for Eri nee-chan... well, Onii-chan didn''t know how to read the room and promised to hold a big wedding for her as soon as they got settled down in the city, so her head was somewhere else at the moment. Ste didn''t me her.


    In the end, it was all Onii-chan''s fault again.


    ''I agree! It''s all Rudy''s fault!'' Fai''s voice echoed in Ste''s head.


    <I don''t disagree. But it''s not very nice to me everything on Rudy when he''s trying so hard, is it?> Wata''s voice.


    *me whoever you want. It won''t change the fact that your life''s going to be troublesome in the future.*


    ''Wyn!''


    *What? It''s true.* Wyn stifled a yawn and her voice echoed again. *Do you know how hard it is to block the winds of Fate? Especially when that annoying puppy keeps trying to drag Ste to being a hero?*


    <Tch. That smug mongrel...>


    A lively conversation. It seemed like Ste''s elemental pals had a lot to say about her current situation.


    Frankly, Ste did too, but it wasn''t that productive.


    So instead, she let them bicker and focused on her surroundings.


    Miss Ai had bought Ste some food after that embarrassing moment of Ste''s stomach growling. That was good, because Ste didn''t have any money on her and it would cause a big incident if she called for Onii-chan over something small like that.


    It was a big oversight though. Out of all the weird things she kept in her expandable backpack that she managed to make with Onii-chan''s help, Ste didn''t have a single snack. Definitely needed to bug Onii-chan about thatter.


    Especially since she saw him secretly make chocte for Onee-chan earlier.


    Tch. ying favorites like that is no good, Onii-chan...


    But anyway.


    Ste munched on her potato crepe and took a closer look at Miss Ai.


    Judging from her neat uniform, she was definitely a student at the academy that Onii-chan was talking about. And she gave off Student Council President vibes too. Especially with how she helped Ste out without question.


    Plus that short red hair and pretty violet eyes... yep. Definitely like the main female lead of a magic academy anime that her younger brother used to watch.


    Then there was the fact that Miss Ai seemed to have a really good handle on the mana around her too.


    Ste was pretty good at magic. She wasn''t a straight cheat like Onii-chan, but she was able to handle it pretty well and had a good grasp on theory. Because of that, she could also roughly tell how good other people were at using magic from how mana flowed around and through them.


    Eri nee-chan for example was terrible at magic. While she could use mana to fight and create mes, she fumbled around in trying to mold mana into spells.


    Inparison, Norn Onee-chan was really good at fighting while casting spells and could intuitively use them while swinging her sword around. And that was because mana seemed to be ''sticky'' around Norn and move how she wanted it to.


    As expected of Ste''s big sister and Rudy''s younger sister, of course.


    But Miss Ai... was kind of simr?


    From how she looked around, it seemed like she could see mana too. And with the look she gave Ste, she probably recognized how good Ste was with magic.


    Well, that or she picked up on Fai, Wata, and Wyn. But she''d definitely be freaking out more if she did considering that Ste''s elemental friends were apparently on the level of spirit kings or something.


    Another fun fact that confirmed that Ste was doomed to not live a normal life, but that was something to think aboutter.


    "Is there something on my face, Ste?"


    Ai nced back at Ste and then reached up to rub her face. "Is my makeup wearing off?"


    Ste blinked and then said, "You wear make up, Miss Ai? But you''re already super pretty..."


    Ai nodded. "That''s why I wear it." She sighed and said, "It gets a bit annoying being too pretty when I walk around, so I put a little bit on to dress down... Is it wearing off?"


    Ste shook her head. "I don''t think so?"


    But this was Miss Ai nerfing herself with make-up? How pretty was she without it then?


    "Good." Ai let out a relieved sigh and then smiled. "Now, are you enjoying your food?"


    "Mmhm!" Ste took another bite out of her potato crepe and said, "It''s a bit salty, but it''s tasty!"


    It was also pretty nostalgic.


    Onii-chan had been making a lot of food from Earth, but most of them were either sweets or drinks. When they weren''t, it was usually an entr¨¦e or something like pizza. A proper meal instead of snacks.


    This though...


    Ste finished her crepe, smiling at how it reminded her of sneaking away with Aki after school to get some junkfood.


    Ai nodded and said, "I''m d. Hopefully your big sister won''t be too upset at the unhealthy snack."


    Ste snorted. "You don''t have to worry about that. Onee-chan eats way more unhealthy things."


    Like tons of sugary sweets, chocte, and almost nothing but meat.


    She med Eri nee-chan.


    Aiughed and said, "Even so, you''re still growing, so you have to make sure to eat a bit healthier as well. Fruits and veggies... even if they''re bitter and you don''t like them."


    "Mm." Ste gave a light nod and then brushed off her hands before grabbing the hem of Ai''s shirt.


    When Ste did, Ai pulled her close and continued walking. While keeping an eye on their surroundings, Ai said, "So what brings you and your sister to Sharia? Are you two traveling alone?"


    Ste shook her head. "No. We''re here with Onii-chan- I mean, with my big brother too. But he''s busy registering us at school or something with my sister-inw and best friend."


    Ai frowned and said, "And he let you and your sister wander off alone?"


    Ste shrugged. "Onii-chan is a cheat. I''m pretty sure that even if something bad happened, he''d spin back time to undo it."


    She was about... 95% sure of that at this point. Considering that Onii-chan could teleport them all over the ce and kept scribbling equations and diagrams that looked a lot like the theoretical time-travel ck-hole stuff she saw on TV once, Ste wouldn''t put it past her Onii-chan to be able to do time-stop or time rewind stuff.


    Like, he was practically a god already anyway now with how many people kept worshipping him.


    But besides that...


    "And even if he couldn''t, I''m strong too!" Ste puffed out her chest and said, "I beat up a group of bandits!"


    Well. She *almost* beat up a group of bandits. Onii-chan showed up to finish them off and turned everything into a gorefest, but Ste was... doing okay.


    And she made contingency ns for next time. Like always having a barrier spell up and getting better at dodging. Also a lot of mental strength training by sparring with Onee-chan.


    Ai frowned and said, "Even so, that''s a bit reckless. For both your big brother and big sister. If I had a baby sister as cute as you, I wouldn''t let you out of my sight."


    Ste nodded. "I didn''t say it wasn''t."


    Objectively, Ste was cute. Super adorable. There were still times that she stared at her reflection and didn''t believe it was her.


    Pudgy cheeks. Sparkling green eyes. Golden blonde hair and a a face that had a super great puppy dog look to guilt trip people into doing what she wanted.


    Not only that, but judging from Eos and Ena, as well as Aunt Therese, Ste was definitely going to be a drop-dead beauty in the future.


    Obviously, you would take every precaution to protect a girl like that because bad guys the world over would try to snatch her away or do terrible things.


    But of course, nobody in Ste''s family thought like that.


    ...Though that was mostly because Onii-chan would tear time and space apart to reach her before anything bad could happen.


    Wait. Was *that* why all his entrances whenever Ste called for Onii-chan was so dramatic? Was that guy literally cutting time and space apart with his sword to reach her?


    ...More on thatter.


    Ste shook her head to clear her thoughts and then put on a smile with her cute face. Looking back up at Ai, she said, "What are you doing here, Miss Ai?"


    "I live here with my big sister."


    "You have a big sister too?"


    "Mm. She''s not really my sister, but she''s close enough." Ai fiddled with the ribbon on her shirt and said, "Maybe more like a Mom? She raised me since I was small, so..."


    "Ooh! That''s like me and Onii-chan!"


    Ai blinked. "Really now?"


    "Mmhm!" Ste nodded and said, "After the big time space thingy, Onii-chan was teleported with me. I was just a baby, so he had to do a lot of things to take care of me."


    Ai smiled and said, "It looks like he raised you well then considering how smart you are."


    "Mm..."


    Ste paused to think about that.


    In recent years, that would definitely be a ''no'' considering the shenanigans they were wrapped up in. But Ste could give that a pass since it was because her hi nee-chans showed up and started hogging Onii-chan.


    When Ste was small though...


    "...Yeah. Onii-chan worked really hard."


    Making sure she was safe and well-fed. Keeping an eye on her all the time and singing lubies when she couldn''t sleep. Changing her diapers, reading her stories, chatting with her in Japanese when she still didn''t understand the world around them to calm her down...


    Ste was definitely d that her Onii-chan was Rudy. If it was anyone else... Well, she definitely wouldn''t be as carefree as she was now.


    Knowing her, Ste had a feeling that she would have been extremely paranoid about everything and anything around her. She probably would have walled herself off too and focused desperately on trying to get back home or do the impossible and resurrect herself back on Earth.


    But because Rudy was here, and because of everything that he did, she could ept herself as Ste, along with her new family.


    Well, except for her dad. She still refused to believe that man was her biological father, no matter how ridiculously talented in the sword he might be or how much he looked like Onii-chan.


    Ste nced up at Ai and said, "But your big sister did a good job with you too, Miss Ai."


    Polite, smart, and good-natured. Maybe a bit naive considering she was taking the fact that Ste was definitely *not* a normal five year old in stride, but otherwise Miss Ai was definitely a model example of what a respectable teenaged daughter should be.


    Aiughed and said, "I''m sure that she would appreciate hearing that."


    Ste smiled and said, "Well, I''m definitely going to tell her that! Miss Ai is great!"


    Ai smiled back and said, "You''re pretty incredible yourself, Ste. Now... I think we''ve arrived."


    "Hm?"


    Ste looked around and then realized that they had left the crowded streets and arrived at a fancy looking building.


    There were still people walking around, but most of them looked like adventurers- No, they definitely were adventurers from the way they carried themselves.


    Ai reached down to grab Ste''s hand and then started leading her toward the building. "We''ll take a quick look inside and see if anyone''s seen your sister. If not, I''ll take you back to meet my big sister. She''ll definitely be able to help."


    Ste nodded and followed after Ai. But as she did, the front doors of the building opened.


    Norn and Eris walked out, both reading over a bundle of parchments.


    The moment that Ste saw that, she broke free from Ai and then ran over to kick Norn''s shin.


    "Ow!"


    Norn winced and then looked around. "Who- Ste?"


    "Dumb Onee-chan! I told you to take me with you when you go to the Adventurer''s Guild!"


    "Huh? But you said that you wanted to take a look around for a bit-"


    "You''re supposed to wait for me! Baka! Dummy! Idiot!"


    Eris looked over at Ste and let out an apologetic smile. "I''m sorry, Ste. I should have noticed... Did you get lost?"


    "Hmph." Ste stepped back and said, "I''ll forgive you, Eri nee-chan. Onii-chan was being dumb, so you have a lot on your mind. But you!" She pointed at Norn and said, "Onee-chan- No. Norn Notus Greyrat! How could you leave a kid like me and run off with-"


    "Wait."


    A voice cut through Ste''s tirade. Ai''s, sounding confused and in disbelief.


    Ste nced back and huffed. "What is it-"


    "Nornie?"


    Norn let out a sharp gasp and then pointed at Ai. "No way?! Aisha? Sis?"


    Eris gave Ste a nk stare.


    Ste tilted her head. "What?"


    "...You really have a talent for finding your family members at the strangest times, don''t you?"


    "???"


    *Told you.*


    ????????


    -RNG-


    I stood in front of the looming pair of double doors and then reached up to adjust my tie. After that, I looked to my right at Sylphy and said, "You remember the n, right?"


    My lovely elf fianc¨¦e smiled and said, "Smile and be pretty like the trophy wife I am!"


    I groaned and reached up to pinch the bridge of my nose, staving off a budding headache. "I''m going to beat the crap out of dad for introducing you to those books when we get back."


    Dammit. It''s one thing to have your fetishes, but it''s another to try and pass them off to your son''s wife. Especially going out of your way to secretly supply her with BDSM noble/ve rtionship smut.


    "Um. Don''t hit him too hard? I''m the one who asked him..."


    I reached up to fix Sylphy''s silver hair,cing a light blue ribbon through it.


    She leaned into me with a smile and let out a content sigh.


    Seeing that, I let out a sigh of my own and said, "How did my sweet Sylphy be such a lewd person?"


    "I just love you that much?"


    "...No. Pretty sure this is Dad''s fault. Did he show you some porn or something when you were young? He must have... Or maybe he talked about some weird kinky stuff that happened in the Asura Kingdom? I think he was doing stupid things like that around the time he rattled on about my betrothal to Eri-"


    "Ahem."


    A soft cough. Miko, clearing her throat from beside us.


    I finished up fixing Sylphy''s hair and then let out an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Miko."


    She nced towards Sylphy and then turned a beet red after making eye contact. "D-Don''t worry about it, Mister Rudy. B-B-But I think we should hurry up."


    ...Let''s not think about what Miko saw from Sylphy with her passive mind-reading mystic eyes that made her turn beet red.


    Instead...


    "Yeah." I made sure my clothes were pristine onest time and then reached for the door. "Let''s meet this infamous headmaster everyone''s talking about."


    A soft click. The door handle turning. Me pushing through the door and walking in-


    And then immediately walking back and pulling the door shut in front of me after I saw the person sitting at the desk.


    Sylphy blinked. "Um. Rudy?"


    "I have made a terrible miscalction."


    "What-"


    An explosion erupted, blowing the doors off their hinges. At the same time, a blue blur rushed towards me.


    Sylphy tried to intercept, but she was blown away by a thousand-fold magic array and glued to the wall.


    Miko gasped and then was immediately warped away into the office, suddenly reappearing behind the desk.


    And as for the one responsible for all of that...


    "My. Is that how you greet your Master after all this time, my dearest student?"


    "Ahaha... Good to see you again, Master Roxy? And, uh... I can exin?"


    Spoiler


    [copse]

 161 – The Hard-Working Teacher’s Wrath – I

    161 ¨C The Hard-Working Teacher¡¯s Wrath ¨C I


    It waspletely out of the blue.


    Roxy had been busy finishing up paperwork since the students and staff were out for a break. Since she also thought things might get troublesome soon since her magical instruments were starting to act strange, she wanted to clear her work load so that she could spend the time doing maintainance on them.


    And then her door opened.


    At first, she thought it was a student. Another one of those idiots who got dared to barge into her office for a prank.


    On a second thought, she figured that it might be more idiots trying to build an alliance with the Magic Guild by trying to woo her.


    But when she took the time to actually see who was there, she froze.


    It was a familiar face. At the same time, it waspletely different.


    A handsome young man with bright green eyes that seemed like they could pick apart the mysteries of the world. Light brown hair that was neatlybed to the side. A pristine suit and diamond cane that reeked of nobility.


    He took a single step in the room, carrying a haughty air around him as if he owned the entire world. At the same time, a pulse of mana emanated from him, triggering all of Roxy''s magical detection artifacts.


    Strong. A man that couldn''t be categorized by any sort of metric. Someone who had the qualifications to act haughty like that.


    But he took a single look at Roxy and his demeanor fell apart, reced by shock, and then mild panic.


    An expression that Roxy saw before a long time ago, and one that she couldn''t forget considering all the trouble that came after it.


    Then it clicked on why that face was so familiar, as well as who was standing there.


    Rudy, her dear disciple. The genius who stubbornly called her Master when she didn''t have the qualifications.


    A surge of relief in her heart at seeing that he was safe after all. A faint tinge of guilt and embarrassment crossed her mind as she felt her heart race a bit seeing what a handsome and suave young man he had be.


    And then fury when he immediately took a step back and shut the door.


    It was a reflex. Seeing Rudy act like that, Roxy moved without thinking.


    A brief part of her registered that Sylphy was there as well, all grown up. Another part registered that there was someone who gave off the aura of a God-Blessed child simr to Roxy''s second student.


    But most of her was focused on the child- No, on the man who rudely shut the door in her face and ran away like he was trying to escape responsibility.


    "Well." Roxy crossed her arms and then let out a faint smile. "You mentioned something about an exnation, dear student. What would that be?"


    Where were you all this time?


    Where were the others?


    Was your baby sister safe? What happened to you? Why were you all grown up now? Why were you with Sylphy?


    All sorts of questions swirled around in Roxy''s mind as she stared at Rudy.


    Even so, she didn''t ask them all. Instead, she waited. As always, she patiently endured her burning curiosity and let her disciple start talking before she said anything else-


    "I smacked the human god in the back of the head, became a demon lord who''s apparently the reincarnation of Saint Milis ording to a couple hundred thousand people, and established a kingdom in the Magic Continent? There''s a few other things that happened too, but I think that can wait a bit since you seem upset... Oh. And your parents told me to say hi?"


    ...


    Roxy''s eye twitched and her smile started to fade.


    Rudy let out a nervousugh. "...How have you been, Master? You look even more beautiful than I remember."


    "...And it seems that you''ve inherited your father''s bad habits, my dear disciple."


    "Ahaha... I brought cookies though?"


    "..."


    -SNG-


    A small cafe in the middle of Sharia. There, Ste and her big sisters, along with her big sister-inw, were having ate lunch.


    On one side of the table, Ste sat next to Ai... or rather, her half-sister Aisha.


    On the other was Norn and Eris.


    Norn sipped on a tall ss of fruit juice and then shook her head. Staring at Aisha, she said, "I can''t believe that you''re bigger than me now." She puffed her cheeks and said, "It''s not fair. I''m the older sister."


    Aisha smiled and said, "Well, I was always more mature."


    "Was not."


    "Was too."


    Norn stuck out her tongue at Aisha and then went back to drinking her juice.


    Eris shook her head and then looked at Aisha. "To be honest, I can''t really believe it either. I mean, I expected Rudy to do some crazy stuff and Sylphy is Sylphy. But for you to grow up too... You look a lot like Miss Lilia now, you know?"


    Aisha tilted her head. "Do I?"


    "Mmhm." Eris nodded and said, "I think you''re still a bit short up there though."


    Aisha blinked and then turned bright red, crossing her arms underneath her chest. "I-I''m still growing! And I''m still bigger than Norn!"


    Norn shrugged and said, "You can keep the big things. It gets really annoying to fight with them moving around anyway. Right, Big Sis?"


    Eris nodded. "That''s true." She frowned and then muttered, "I still don''t get how Ghyine does it. Maybe it''s because she''s a Beast Race? I don''t see how any ordinary person could fight like that..."


    Ste puffed her cheeks and then said, "Could we not talk about stuff like that?"


    The other girls blinked and then looked at Ste. After that, they shared a look.


    Eris spoke up first after that and said, "Don''t worry, Ste. Miss Zenith was bigger than Miss Lilia, so you''ll be fine."


    Ste''s face turned red and she said, "That''s not what I''m worried about!" She waved her arms around and said, "This! Aren''t we supposed to have a big happy reunion? Why are you all so casual about it?!"


    Eris tilted her head. "Hm? I mean, we knew that Aisha was fine though?"


    Norn nodded. "Yeah. Dad sent a letter over already. We were going to go visit anyway before we found you and Rudy you know?"


    Ste blinked. "Eh?"


    Aisha nodded as well and said, "Right. Although I didn''t expect you to still be so small, Nornie."


    Norn huffed and said, "I would be bigger if Dad let me go into more time-space rifts with Eris."


    Eris sipped on a ss of iced tea and said, "Growing up isn''t that fun, Norn."


    Norn frowned. "That''s not what Sylphy says- Ow!"


    Eris pulled her hand back from smacking Norn''s head and said, "You shouldn''t listen to that perverted elf. She''s a bad influence."


    Norn rubbed her forehead and then muttered, "You''re not much better, Big Sis. Hitting people all the time like that..."


    "At least I leave people alive. But anyway." She looked at Aisha and said, "So Miss Roxy is the Headmaster and Magic Guild leader? And you''re already a teenager going to school at Ranoa Magic Academy..." Eris let out a wistful smile and said, "Time really flies, doesn''t it?"


    Aisha nodded and said, "It does. Especially since the whole world still seems to have distorted space time."


    Ste looked at the others carrying on a conversation without her and then slouched down in her chair, crossing her arms.


    This is why she hated grown-ups. Always chatting like she couldn''t understand them.


    At least Onii-chan treated her normally. Well, when he wasn''t trolling her.


    And speaking of Onii-chan...


    Ste looked in the direction of the academy.


    Didn''t he say he was going to go see the headmaster? And if the headmaster was this Miss Roxy who was supposed to be his old teacher... And considering that her Onii-chan definitely seemed to be an eroge protagonist...


    *drip*


    Hm?


    Ste looked up and noticed that the sunny sky had changed. Seemingly out of the blue, storm clouds had rolled in, slowly letting out a light drizzle of rain.


    Eris blinked and then stared at the sky. "Weird. Wasn''t it just sunny?"


    Norn looked up as well and said, "Yeah." She shifted her gaze down to Aisha and said, "Does it always change weather this fast here, Sis?"


    Aisha frowned. "No. It definitely doesn''t."


    <Oh wow.> Wata''s voice echoed in Ste''s head. <I didn''t think you could use runes without mana like that to control the elements.>


    Huh?


    ''Whoa! Is that fire mana mixing in with the water to make lightning?''


    Wait. You can''t just say stuff like that without exining it!


    *You should look away from the Academy, Ste. Also, close your eyes.*


    Um... sure?


    Ste didn''t know what was going on, but since Wyn said it, she decided to do look away and close her eyes.


    The moment she did...


    *BOOM!*


    ...A bright white sh filled the air, quickly followed by thunderous explosion.


    "Gah!" Aisha''s voice.


    "My eyes!" Norn.


    "Dammit, Rudy!" Eris, cursing Rudy out as usual.


    <It''s a good thing that Rudy is immortal. I think that lightning strike could have taken out a couple of Spirit Kings...>


    Ste opened her eyes to see what was going on. And then a familiar voice echoed from the distance.


    "I SAID I WAS SORRY, MASTER!"


    "SHUT UP AND LET ME HIT YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL DISCIPLE!"


    "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"


    "HOW DO YOU ACCIDENTALLY HAVE KIDS?! AND DEFY THE RULES OF MAGIC?! AND THEN MARRY TWO WOMEN WITHOUT EVEN ASKING ME OUT ON A DATE FIRST?!"


    "Wait, what?"


    "AAAAARGGGGGH! GET BACK HERE! AND DON''T YOU GO ANYWHERE, SYLPHY! YOU''RE NEXT! AND DON''T EVEN THINK OF RUNNING AWAY, ERIS!"


    ...


    Eris slowly turned to look at Aisha and said, "...I thought you said that Miss Roxy was mature and sensible...?"


    Aisha stared off in the distance, watching as a figure wearing a white robe flew across the sky while being chased by a woman wearing a pointed hat who was riding on a storm cloud. "Well..." She reached up to adjust her ribbon and said, "I guess the stress finally made her snap?"


    -ENG-


    Eos looked up at the stormy sky, watching her father be chased around by a mature blue-haired woman wearing a pointed hat. Lowering the ice treat she was sucking on, she looked over at Rnd and said, "That''s ''Blue Mama''?"


    Rnd stared at the sky and slowly nodded. "That''s definitely her voice. Though... I don''t think I''ve ever heard her that upset?"


    Enoch took a bite from a cream-filled pastry and licked the bits of cream smearing her mouth. After also wiping the bits that fell on her chest, she tilted her head and frowned. "...You don''t think she''ll get mad at us, will you?"


    Rnd shook his head. "No. Even if she got annoyed at Dad or the other Mamas, she never took it out on the kids. Although..."


    Eos raised an eyebrow. "Although?"


    "...She was the most strict with us, so... We''ll find out?"


    "..."


    "..."


    Rnd cleared his throat and said, "Anyway... the house I was talking about is over here. Dad said it started as a haunted mansion, so it should be fun to take a look at... and hide out until things calm down."


    A bolt of lightning shed and screams echoed from the distance.


    "YOU''RE GOING TO HURT PEOPLE, MASTER!"


    "THEY"LL BE FINE! NOW SHUT UP AND SHOW ME WHAT YOU LEARNED YOU SCOUNDREL!"


    Rnd looked back up at the sky and then muttered, "How the heck did Dad stay alive with three women when he wasn''t as strong as Dad here...?"

 162 – The Hard-Working Teacher’s Wrath – II

    162 ¨C The Hard-Working Teacher¡¯s Wrath ¨C II


    "Have you calmed down a bit, Master?"


    Roxy huffed and grabbed a chocte chip cookie from the tter in front of her before stuffing it in her mouth. After that, she took a long swig from the vani shake I whipped up before finally letting out a sigh. "For a being a genius, you''re an idiot, my dear disciple."


    I let out a nervousugh.


    We were back in Master Roxy''s office after an hour long round about chase through the skies over the city.


    Also after I dodged about 200 lightning bolts in a row. It was a shame I didn''t get a cute little onion knight doll for it or a magical crest, but I''d settle fir having Master Roxy calm down.


    ...There was also a lot of property damage in that little chase sequence we did, but it seemed like it might have been a routine thing with Roxy considering how people only looked exasperated than afraid.


    Just what exactly was my Master''s reputation here anyway...?


    Roxy munched on another chocte chip cookie before brushing her hands off. After that, she leaned back in her chair and said, "So. It seems like you''ve gone through a lot, Rudy."


    "You could say that... But it looks like you''ve gone through a lot too, Master."


    I stared at her and focused on the flow of mana around her. Or rather, the distinctck of mana flow around her.


    "...It seems like you''ve done something a bit ridiculous?"


    I had gotten a glimpse of it while I was being chased around, but up close I could see it in detail.


    In the past, Master had been inspired by my <Magic Arrays> and used it to create her own system. Something like a portable and moving magicputer with pre-stored spells and stuff.


    Kind of like those magical girl animes, actually. And considering how Master looked back then...


    But anyway, it gave her the ability of being essentially magic artillery with a constant bombardment of magic without any cost to the user.


    It *did* have a pretty big w though. And that came up in the fight against Orsted where the entire system got blown apart by magic disruption.


    Now though...


    ...It was a bit hard to exin. And I didn''t even know how she managed to make it work.


    Could it be said to be something like hardening electronic circuits to work against EMPs?


    One way or another, Master had created apletely rigid and isted space around her that rejected the flow of mana, giving the appearance that she didn''t have any magical power at all.


    Yet, in spite of that, she could still cast spells somehow. And spells that were much stronger than ordinary incantations or runes too.


    Did she manage to figure out the rules of existence or something? Break down magical runes to an even more fundamental principle that it didn''t need mana to operate? Or was it a harmonic resonance of some sort where she created a void that automatically resolved itself with an incantation?


    Roxy snorted and then took another sip from her drink. After that, she red at me and said, "I don''t want to hear it from the man who managed to create a spell conjuring substance from nothing."


    I made myself my own drink, a quick orange juice, and started sipping on it. "It''s not ''from nothing.'' It''s from my imagination. There''s a difference."


    Roxy gave me a nk stare and then set her cup down. After that, she massaged her forehead and said, "Hah... I''m started to remember how much of a headache you were when you were younger..."


    I leaned back and smiled. "Come on, Master. I wasn''t *that* bad."


    Roxy looked at me and then nodded. "...You''re right. It''s worse now since you''re so damned handsome."


    "Eh?"


    Roxy rolled her eyes and said, "Nothing."


    That didn''t sound like nothing!


    ...But I wasn''t about to blow it now.


    Women were creatures of emotion more than logic, so better to not press too hard.


    ...Ah.


    I pulled out my handy journal and jotted that thought down.


    Roxy blinked and then stared at my book. "What''s that?"


    "A sacred treasure to be passed down to my sons and male descendants of the Greyrat household from this point onwards."


    Roxy gave me a nk stare.


    I shut the book and put it away before smiling. "Just kidding. It''s a diary."


    Roxy smiled at that and said, "You''re still a bit childish, huh?"


    "Better to be a kid at heart than an old man battered down by the world."


    Because thetter led to the path of an edgelord, and nobody likes an edgelord. Not to mention things never went well for them.


    "But anyway." I finished my ss of orange juice and then said, "It''s good to see that you''ve been well, Master. And thanks for taking care of Aisha."


    Roxy shook her head and said, "There''s no need to thank me." She smiled and said, "Aisha''s like my family, so I would have taken care of her regardless."


    "Right."


    An awkward silence.


    Was it because of the age difference? The fact that Master let out more than a few Freudian slips about how she felt about me earlier? Or because there was just too much that had happened.


    For some reason, it was kind of hard to get the conversation flowing.


    Especially since Master seemed more than content to just stare at me.


    After a few more minutes passed in silence, I decided to make myself another drink. Some tea this time.


    Seeing that, Roxy remembered her snacks and drink and started munching on some more cookies.


    I sipped on my tea, letting my nerves calm down a little and pointedly ignoring the uing catastrophy that would erupt from Eri, Sylphy, and Roxy being together in the same area after I''d crossed the line with the first two... Not to mention Rika.


    Another note to add to the journalter: Having a rtionship with more than one woman is trouble, even if you have the power to blow up entire kingdoms. Better to just stick to one wife and be done with it.


    But anyway... Back to what I came here for.


    I set the cup of tea to the side and said, "There will be some time to catch upter, so how about we get to business first, Master?"


    "...Tch."


    Roxy''s expression darkened for a moment.


    Clearly she wasn''t fine with that... but she quickly put on a professional face and said, "Understood. I suppose we can talk more after I interrogate Eris and Sylphy as well..."


    Ah. Right...


    ...Well. That was a girl problem, so I''d let them sort it out.


    Roxy set her cookies and shake off to the side before leaning back in her chair. "I presume you want to enroll that girl in the university?"


    "Her, Ste, and Norn." I paused, thinking about Ena and Eos.


    But then I considered how beautiful they were and the fact that it would be more trouble than it was worth...


    On the other hand, it might be good for them to get a somewhat normal school experience in while they still could...


    "...At least for now."


    Yeah. I''d see how my daughters settled in with a somewhat normal environment first. It''d be bad if like a chain of people started challenging me to duels for the permission to marry them or something because they said something like any potential suitors had to prove their worth to me.


    Cliff was already enough to deal with. I didn''t need even more people to sort out.


    "Mm..." Roxy tapped on the table and said, "The semester has already begun, so it will be a bit hard to get them in. Those stiff nobles will disagree and those blockhead professors might start acting up even if I personally rmend them."


    "Oh." I paused to think about it and said, "But is that it?"


    "Hm?" Roxy tilted her head. "What do you mean?"


    "I mean the only real issue is that nobles and professors might disagree with some nobodies showing up in the prestigious academy, right?"


    "...I suppose so?" Roxy hummed and said, "If you could get the rmendation of a few other professors or show that you have the proper qualifications- Eh? Rudy? W-W-Wait! Where are you going!?"


    -LIV-


    It was a break day for the students of Ranoa Magic Academy. Even so, a majority of the students were still on campus resting in their dorms.


    Because of that, they were able to see it firsthand.


    Even so, the rumors were mixed.


    Some said that a nobleman appeared to audit the academy, sending the professors in despair as they had to ount for their research expenses.


    Others... specifically the female students, said that a dreamy adventurer showed up with unbelievable magic that made the professors walk out of the academy on the spot.


    Others still said that it was Headmaster Roxy''s fiance appearing to reprimand and punish all the people who tried flirting with the Headmaster since his absence.


    And the infamous student council president said that it was all a load of baloney because the professors were all just heading out to deal with the aftermath of Headmaster Roxy letting off some steam chasing out another suitor.


    A chaotic turn of events. A rumormill working in overtime. Rumors and myths spreading like wildfire... and a fire that was fueled even more by the fact that Headmaster Roxy had activated noise cancetion magic barriers over her office for an entire day as beautiful women kept entering and leaving.


    Then, the next morning...


    -ANG-


    "Good morning, ss." A handsome young man with sparkling green eyes, lightly touseled brown hair and a tidy white suit. Tapping a diamond topped staff against the ground, he smiled and said, "I''m afraid that the academy''s staff went on strike for the week after a certain incidentst night, so I will be your substitute teacher until that''s resolved."


    Aisha stared at the substitute professor with a nk expression.


    She had never seen him before today. And while she had heard about all the mess happeningst night while she was out catching up with her sisters and her nieces and nephew... who she still couldn''t wrap her head around since they were definitely older than her.


    But anyway, she didn''t recognize the man. At least, at first. But as he started talking and as he kept ncing towards her with a mischievous sh in his eyes...


    "My name is Rudeus Notus Greyrat. You can call me Professor Greyrat. And as for today''s lesson n..."


    He waved his hand, causing a ckboard to materialize from thin air. Shortly after that, a piece of chalk appeared as well and started writing.


    [Why everything you know about magic is wrong - Wizardry 101]


    After that, ''Professor Greyrat'' turned to Aisha and said, "Miss Student Council President. Why don''t you start ss and exin what magic is to everyone?"


    ...Aisha was beginning to understand why Ste keptining about her big brother...


    -LIV-


    "I can''t believe it. That crazy disciple of mine..." Roxy ran her hand through her hair and said, "I wasn''t ever this terrible of a disciple, was I? Openly defying me and then running off to crush the spirit of every teacher at the academy..." She looked up at the person she called in for life counseling and said, "Tell me I''m right, Teacher."


    A man wearing a simple ck robe. Seated across from Roxy''s table, his aristocratic features seemed like they should have been sharp and overbearing. But the wrinkles around his eyes and creased forehead as well as his gray hair cut against that, especially with his soft eyes.


    Altogether, although he had the looks of a haughty noble, his current demeanor and air gave off a strong image of a diligent corporate worker and employee rather than a noble.


    The man, Jinas Halfas, let out a faint smile and said, "They say that the student reflects the teacher. Isn''t that the case here as well?"


    Roxy narrowed her eyes. "And just what are you trying to imply?"


    Jinas shrugged. "Simply that this was to be expected." He leaned back in his chair and chuckled. "After all, did you not do something simr when you returned to the academy?"


    Roxy blushed and said, "T-That was different! I had a child to take care of and needed a job... and those idiots didn''t know what they were doing." After saying that, she paused, a flicker of realization in her eyes.


    Jinas smiled and said, "See?"


    "...Hmph." Roxy leaned back in her chair and said, "...Just the fact that you are correct does not put you in the right here, Teacher."


    "Of course. But a bit of self-reflection will go a long way. Take it as one of thest lessons from your former teacher. Ah, and that jealousy is no good."


    Roxy tilted her head. "Why would I be jealous of Rudy?"


    "...Hah." Jinas sighed and shook his head. But then he put on a serious expression and said, "While this nostalgic musing was nice, I presume you did not call me here to simply reminisce, Headmaster."


    Seeing that, Roxy turned serious as well and nodded. "That''s right. You see..." She trailed off.


    Jinas shook his head and said, "There is no need to be shy around me." He chuckled and said, "It would be remiss for me to scold or critique my student when she has long surpassed me."


    "...Fine. Then..." Roxy cleared her throat and said, "...How do we deal with the fact that my dear disciple has discovered and proven a unifying theory of magic?"


    "...Say that again?"

 163 – The Hard-Working Teacher’s Wrath – III

    163 ¨C The Hard-Working Teacher¡¯s Wrath ¨C III


    A dark room lit with only a few candles. Not because there was ack of resources to light the room. In fact, there was a pile of magic light fixturesid off to the side that could have been used.


    No, the room was purposefully kept illuminated with only candles because someone wanted to set a certain atmosphere.


    And not a romantic one.


    A long rectangr table in the center of the room. There, three women were gathered, on at the head and the others at the sides.


    Roxy kicked her legs up on the table and crossed them, quietly looking at Eris and Sylphy. After a while, she said, "So. It''se to this after all."


    A tense silence followed while Roxy waited for a response.


    Sylphy was the first to crack, letting out a nervousugh. "I-It''s not really a big deal, is it, Miss Roxy?"


    Following Sylphy''s lead, Eris quickly nodded and said, "R-Right! It''s what Rudy chose!"


    Roxy let out a thin smile and slowly nodded. "Yes. I suppose it isn''t a big deal. My beloved disciple is intelligent and mature enough to make his own life decisions."


    Sylphy let out a more rxedugh and said, "Yes. Rudy is-"


    *BANG.*


    Roxy pulled her legs off the table and then mmed her hand on its surface.


    Sylphy flinched and then started fiddling with her hair.


    Eris almost fell off her chair, but she quickly caught her bnce. After that, she meekly set her hands on herp and averted her eyes.


    Roxy huffed and then leaned back, crossing her arms. "It''s one thing if Rudy took the initiative, but from what I heard from my dear disciple..." She nced at Eris and Sylphy and said, "Draping yourselves all over him like that... Don''t you have any shame?"


    Sylphy winced. But immediately after, she regained herposure and pointed at Roxy. "What about you? Miss Roxy is Rudy''s childhood teacher! You''re already an old ha-"


    Roxy narrowed her eyes. "Hm?"


    Sylphy stammered and quickly corrected herself. "A-A mature woman! Going after Rudy is cradle robbing!"


    Roxy raised an eyebrow and then looked at Sylphy up and down. After that, she said, "And you are not? Imend your efforts looking for my dear disciple, reckless though they were. But from your appearance and depth of mana... if we are talking about age, are you not older than me now?"


    "Grk." Sylphy blushed and then lowered her gaze.


    Another tense silence filled the room.


    After a while, Eris cleared her throat and then looked at Roxy and Sylphy. "Um... Isn''t it fine? If we all love Rudy, we can share, right?"


    Roxy red at Eris and said, "I do not wish to hear that from the woman who stole the position of Rudy''s official fiancee."


    Sylphy clicked her tongue at Eris and then nodded in agreement with Roxy. "Right. As if you have the right to talk about that, Miss Arranged Marriage."


    Eris winced, but she didn''t back down. Instead, she straightened herself with some conviction and said, "W-Well... Since I''m Rudy''s official fiancee, I say it''s fine! It''s not like we''re followers of Saint Milis or anything, right? So..." She blushed and then said, "S-So as long as we all love Rudy, i-it''s fine to share!"


    Sylphy still looked upset, but she let out a sigh. "...I guess it''s better than having Rudy hate us..."


    Eris rolled her eyes at Sylphy and said, "As if you weren''t already on board with sharing, you perverted elf."


    Sylphy looked to the side with an innocent expression and said, "I don''t know what you''re talking about, Eri."


    Roxy looked at Sylphy and Eris. After that, she shook her head and muttered, "Lily and Zenny were right about Rudy."


    Sylphy perked up and said, "What were they right about, Miss Roxy?"


    Roxy waved her hand and said, "We can talk about thatter. But for now..." She leaned forward andced her fingers together. Resting her head on her hands, she looked over at Eris and said, "Eris. Would you kindly exin to me why Rudy asked for me to find an official Priest? I can infer the cause, but I would like to hear it from you directly."


    Sylphy blinked and then quickly looked towards Eris. "Eri?"


    Eris gulped and then let out a nervousugh. "W-Well..."


    Roxy smiled. "Yes?"


    "..."


    -SNG-


    Ste flopped into her bed and then stared at the ceiling.


    It was unfamiliar. Not just the ceiling, but the room, the house, the city... everything.


    At first, Ste thought it was cool. She finally met her other big sister, Aisha. Not only that, but Aisha was super calm and mature, unlike Ste''s other older siblings.


    Well, Norn was pretty mature too, but she could be a bit off at times.


    Ste med their father. That man was a terrible influence... After all, just look at what happened to Onii-chan.


    But anyway, although it was nice meeting up with Aisha, everything was just... *off* now.


    Maybe it was because they were in a peaceful and ordinary city for once. Unlike the crazy sci-fi/utopian city of Arcadia where Ste grew up, the Magic City of Sharia that they were living in now was just a normal city.


    Strip malls, concrete buildings, nice and clean paved roads, electric lights (or at least magical equivalents), and people walking around with normal clothes.


    If Ste didn''t know any better, she would think she was back on Earth.


    Of course, she wasn''t. But if she squinted...


    Huh. Maybe that was why she felt weird.


    A faint shimmer of ice crystals appeared over Ste before coalescing into a floating white cat. Wata.


    The ice spirit tilted his head and said, "Whatcha thinking about, Ste?"


    Ste held her arms up to stretch and then sighed. "Dunno. Life is weird right now."


    For the first time in a long while, nothing was happening. No monsters attacking, no crazy people abducting children, no wandering around the world like it was an RPG... Just ordinary life.


    It had already been a week since they arrived in Sharia. In that time, Onii-chan had gotten a job as a Magic Professor, Erofu nee-chan started up a small bookstore with Eri nee-chan, Miko and Norn nee-chan signed up for sses with Aisha nee-chan, and then Ena, Eos, and Rnd wandered around everyday living it up like tourists.


    That meant that Ste was all alone in the big mansion that they called home.


    Of course, it wasn''t like they left her behind on purpose. It was just...


    "Ugh!" Ste sat up and then ruffled her hair. "This is a fantasy world! A real isekai! Why is everyone living an ordinary life like it''s back on Earth!"


    Wata blinked and then said, "Earth?"


    Ste hopped out of her bed and waved her hand. "Don''t worry about it, Wata." She let out a deep sigh and then said, "I''m just getting restless."


    This was Onii-chan''s fault. Ste had gotten so used to his crazy antics that ''normal'' wasn''t normal anymore.


    Ste let out another sigh and then took a look around.


    The ''Greyrat Family Manor'', as Onii-chan called it, was a big fancy mansion with three floors, a big basement, and a pretty courtyard. Sitting on a hill just outside the city, it was a perfect suburban-esque home with just the right amount of nature and privacy while being close enough to the city life tomute.


    ...That was something that Ste would never have thought she would be thinking since being reincarnated, but that was just how life was now, apparently.


    But anyway, Ste''s room was on the first floor and just off to the side from the main hall when you entered the mansion from the front entrance. Like, if you walked in and turned left, there was her room.


    It was also pretty big. Large enough to fit a fluffy king-sized mattress, a full-sized study desk, a big walk-in closet, and more than enough room to run around in. At least for Ste.


    Well, it would be if not for all of the random things lying on the ground.


    Books, various magical trinkets, materials, magic stones, weapons, sheets of paper...


    Seeing how messy it was, Ste felt her face warm up a bit. She cleared her throat and then muttered, "I-I''ll clean it upter. I''m still unpacking."


    Right. After all, she needed to sort through all the gifts they gave her as a hero back at the Great Forest.


    That was the reason why it was so messy.


    ...I-It definitely wasn''t because she got bored and started trying to break apart magical items and recreate alchemy or anything.


    Ste carefully brushed a path through the mess and then started walking out of her room.


    As she did, light particles starting forming beside her before turning into a fluffy white puppy. Leo, the Sacred Beast who got Ste into the whole mess of being hailed as the legendary hero.


    The puppy looked up at Ste and then said, "Woof. Are we going on a walk again, Ste? Woof."


    Wata rolled his eyes and said, "How many times are you going to keep acting cute, you mongrel? Just talk like a normal spirit."


    Rex barked at Wata and then said, "I can talk how I want. Woof. And I''m a real dog, unlike you, fake cat. Woof."


    "Fake?!"


    Ste groaned and said, "Could you two not?"


    Rex immediately stood at attention and said, "Understood! Woof!"


    Wata sighed and waved his hand. "Fine, fine. I''ll just ignore the mongrel."


    Ste walked out of her room and then closed the door behind her. After that, she made her way out of the house and said, "Why is it always you two being loud and following me around anyway? I don''t see Fai and Wyn being so annoying."


    Wata shrugged and said, "That''s because Fai is pretending to be a student with Miko and your big sisters. And as for Wyn..." Wata looked around and then tilted his head. "...I dunno? She''s not here right now."


    Ste furrowed her brow and then said, "Some sort of guardian spirit Wyn is." Ste huffed and then muttered, "Dropping cryptic hints all the time and then only showing up when it''s important..."


    Leo looked up at Ste and said, "That''s because Lady Wyn has a lot of duties to attend to as well. Woof. Unlike the fake cat, she takes her duties seriously. Woof."


    Wata bristled and said, "Hey! My job is to protect Ste!"


    "No. Woof. That''s my job. ...Woof."


    "There it is! You hesitated again!"


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about. Woof."


    "Grrrrrr..."


    Ste sighed and then checked her magic pouch and wand. After making sure she had all her important equipment, she looked at Wata and Leo and said, "Let''s just head out already, you two."

 164 – The Stellar Sister’s Talent Strikes Again

    164 ¨C The Ster Sister¡¯s Talent Strikes Again


    It was a bright and sunny day. Birds were chirping, children wereughing as they yed on the streets.


    There were even couples strolling around being all lovey-dovey with each other.


    Ste watched them all with bleak eyes and then shook her head, continuing on her way.


    She didn''t have a particr target in mind. The main objective she had was just to get out of the house and move around.


    Although she could do some magical experiments if she wanted to since no one was home to bother her, since Onii-chan said that she''d be going to magic school soon anyway, Ste decided to wait a bit.


    After all, it wasn''t any fun doing cool magic things by yourself with no one around.


    ...Okay. Maybe she had been hanging around Onii-chan too much...


    "Woof. There are a lot of people here today. Woof." Leo padded along beside Ste and looked around.


    Wata nodded from his spot sitting on Ste''s right shoulder and said, "I hate to agree with the mutt, but it looks like he''s right." The feline water spirit looked around with a frown on his face and said, "Do you think Rudy is doing something again?"


    Ste adjusted her backpack and shrugged. "I dunno what Onii-chan''s doing these days, but I wouldn''t doubt it." She sighed and said, "He''s always doing things without me these days."


    Ever since they met up with Onii-chan''s old teacher, Onii-chan had been spending less and less time with Ste.


    No,e to think of it, that started ever since they left Arcadia.


    On the one hand, it was nice to have some alone time and be a bit more independent. But...


    Ste stopped in the middle of the street and then looked up at the sky. After staring for a bit, she flung up her hands and said, "Isn''t letting your baby sister go around all day by herself too much independence?!"


    Seriously! Even if Ste was technically a grown woman if they went by her umted years, she was still physically just a toddler!


    ...Well, she was five years old, so maybe not a toddler anymore. But anyway, she was just a kid! What kind of big brother lets their kid sister walk out by herself without supervision all day long!?


    "Woof." Leo frowned... well, as close to a frown as he could get. After that, he said, "You aren''t alone, Ste. Woof."


    Wata nodded and then tapped his chest. "That''s right! And besides, Rudy wouldn''t leave you alone if he didn''t think you couldn''t handle it! ...Or if he didn''t think we could protect you."


    Ste sighed and said, "I guess so..."


    They had a point. Onii-chan was super duper overprotective. And she *did* have the magic charm to call him across space in a pinch if she needed it.


    Still, it was weird.


    ...Was she starting to miss being treated like a baby?


    No. That couldn''t be it. She was a mature individual! There was no way that she would miss being spoiled by Onii-chan drinking yummy hot chocte and eating candy while being carried around everywhere-


    ...


    Feeling her face heat up in embarrassment, Ste patted her face and said, "Argh! Stupid kid body! This is because I''m still small! That''s it! I definitely don''t miss being spoiled by Onii-chan!"


    Wata and Leo shared a look before wisely deciding not to say anything.


    There were a few onlookers who stared at Ste for a bit as well, but they quickly went on their way.


    Considering Roxy''s usual antics, they didn''t think too much about small girls and children making random outbursts.


    ...Though Roxy would probably send a few people flying with explosions if she knew that.


    Ste shook her head and then continued her stroll.


    She had a bit of pocket money, so maybe she should go buy some candy or something. She remembered seeing some cute sweets and pastries in some shops by themercial district, so since she didn''t have anything better to do-


    "So this is the esteemed Magic City, is it?"


    A male voice echoed from the distance.


    Ordinarily, Ste wouldn''t have paid attention to it. But she noticed that it sounded vaguely simr to a voice she knew.


    It wasn''t Onii-chan''s. The only person who sounded like him was that suspicious Pierre guy who was still pretending to not be an evil time paradox version of Onii-chan even though he *totally* was.


    And it wasn''t Rnd either.


    Ste frowned and then looked around to see who the person was.


    Wata paused and then looked around as well. "Is there a suspicious person around, Ste?"


    "Woof." Leo raised his head and sniffed the air, taking a look around. "I don''t smell any bad guys. Woof."


    Wata rolled his eyes and said, "As if that nose of yours is worth anything, Mutt."


    "Who''s the one who can block people from seeing Ste''s fate? That''s right, cat. Me."


    "You...!"


    Ste clicked her tongue and said, "Shut up you two. I''m concentrating."


    Wata and Leo immediately shut up, but not before ring at each other again.


    In the meantime, Ste took a look around, carefully watching the crowd.


    There wasn''t anyone who stuck out. Just students, young nobles, and ordinary travelers.


    But just as Ste was starting to wonder if she was just hearing things, she heard another voice.


    "Mm... it''s not that impressive for a Magic City. I think our Eris''s husband would have made something much more impressive, wouldn''t he?"


    A female voice. One that was also weirdly simr to one that Ste knew well.


    This time, she paid attention to where it came from and then saw the source of the voices.


    An elegant woman wearing a purple dress, long red hair trailing behind her.


    And standing next to her, a rtively handsome man with light brown hair but shady squinty eyes, dressed in a sleek ck overcoat with a fancy coat of arms emzoned over his chest.


    The man adjusted his overcoat and said, "Considering how much of a genius Rudy was when he was young, I can only imagine what miracles he has been up to since then."


    The woman covered her mouth tough and said, "True. Considering that he turned Father-inw into a reasonable person after throwing him out that window all those years ago... and seeing as he tamed our wild Eris, I''m curious to how much he''s changed."


    Rudy, Eri...


    Ste didn''t think those names were ''that'' rare. But hearing the two talk, as well as seeing how familiar they looked...


    Ste didn''t recognize them. But staring at the man, she felt that he looked vaguely simr to that sorry excuse for a Father she had. And as for that woman, she looked a lot like Eri nee-chan.


    Wait.


    That wolfdy, Gilly... Laney? Gil something or another had mentioned that she met Sylphy nee-chan and Eri nee-chan''s parents after the spacetime warp thingy.


    And then she had a talk with Onii-chan and everyone about getting everyone together after clearing up the misunderstanding...


    "Ste?" Wata looked at Ste and frowned. Following her gaze, the water spirit eyed the man and woman down, slowly materializing a stream of water. "Are they bad guys?"


    "Woof." Leo shook his head and said, "They''re not bad people, dumb cat."


    Wata''s eye twitched and he flew down to grab Leo''s mane. "Alright! That''s it, you mutt!"


    Leo barked and spun around, trying to bite Wata. "Woof! That''s unfair!"


    Wata held onto Leo and swung a water ball, smacking Leo''s face. "Life isn''t fair! Now eat snow!"


    "Grrrr!"


    Ste facepalmed seeing her two spirit friends act up. "...Is this what Onii-chan feels like?"


    Being a main character gets you into all kinds of weird situations, huh?


    She shook her head and sighed, reaching out to grab Wata and Leo. "Hey! No fighting!"


    Wata and Leo immediately slumped, stopping their fight. But they kept ring at each other even while Ste was holding them.


    Because of themotion, a crowd had formed, surrounding Ste and staring at Wata and Leo.


    Ste pointedly ignored the group. Instead of reacting, she shoved Wata into her bag and scooped Leo up in her arms. After that, she started marching back home.


    This was a stupid idea. Next time, she was going to drag Fai around with her instead. At least she was just energetic and not troublemaking like these two idiots.


    "Wait, Husband." The woman spoke up in the distance and pointed at Ste. "That girl... doesn''t she look like Zenith?"


    Ste froze for a moment, suddenly sensing trouble.


    The man rubbed his chin and said, "She does... And she also looks a lot like Norn did when she was younger... Pardon me." With those words, the man started making his way through the crowd towards Ste.


    And so, like what any reasonable young girl would do with a strange man approaching her, especially a strange man who looked simr to her EXTREMELY strange and perverted father, Ste ran.


    Only to bump into a blonde elf man wearing leather armor.


    "Kya!" Ste instinctively screamed and stumbled back.


    "Laws!" A brown-haired woman spoke up, tugging the blonde elf man away. "Be careful where you''re walking! Look! You''ve scared the poor..." The woman trailed off as she stared at Ste. "...child? Wait."


    Ste took a few more steps back, hugging Leo to her chest.


    "Woof." Leo looked up at Ste and said, "Should we run?"


    Ste looked behind her.


    The weird noble man was walking over, followed by his wife.


    The blonde elf man was staring at Ste with sharp eyes, and that brown-haired woman was staring intently at Ste too.


    The crowd had blocked off the exits, and those strangers were surrounding her.


    And at that moment, Ste realized just how tiny she still waspared to everyone else. Also how scary it was beingpletely surrounded.


    At that time, Wata squirmed out of the bag. Looking around, he said, "Let me at''em! Who scared Ste?!"


    The man was in earshot, and when he heard Wata say Ste, the man frowned. "Ste? Is that not-"


    Overwhelmed by everything happening, Ste did what her instincts told her to do.


    Ste grabbed her ne and then closed her eyes, screaming, "HELP ME ONII-CHAN!"


    The sound of shattering ss. Space and time twisting as a man leapt through both to reach Ste.


    With one smooth motion, he scooped Ste up in his left arm. In another, he swept his right arm out and drew forth a shimmering crimson de from the void.


    Ste sniffled and hugged Rudy''s arm, burying her face.


    ...Also doing her best to bury her embarrassment at instinctively calling out for Onii-chan again instead of resolving the situation herself.


    An oppressive aura filled the air as a calm but threatening voice echoed. "Who dares to harm my- Huh?"


    The oppresive aura suddenly vanished. And right after, the voice continued, but more confused than threatening. "Miss Rose? Mister Laws? And... Uncle Philip? Auntie Hilda?"


    Eh?


    Ste slowly peeked out.


    The noble man and his wife were looking at Ste with embarrassed looks.


    The elf man cleared his throat, looking to the side, while his wife let out and embarrassed smile.


    Silence.


    And then Rudy let out a deep sigh and said, "My cute baby sister. You have *got* to stop giving me a heart attack every time you meet up with some of our family members."


    "...Teehee?"

 165 – Things to Prepare Before Marriage – I

    165 ¨C Things to Prepare Before Marriage ¨C I


    The recently acquired Greyrat household in Sharia city. There in the afternoon, a family gathering was scheduled to take ce. Or rather, a family reunion.


    I let out a sigh as I handed Ste an ice cream cone while arranging the furniture in the house. "Are you a people ma or something, Ste? Maybe you tapped into karma magic or something? Because I swear, every time I leave you alone, you manage to meet up with more and more of our extended family."


    Ste grabbed the ice cream from me with a pout and said, "I don''t know. I just wanted to go do some normal things and have fun. Not my fault these things keep happening to me."


    "Right..."


    Just to be sure, I used my irvoyance to check on her.


    There wasn''t any sign of Whitey messing around with Ste. And her mana seemed normal... So maybe it was just her innate ability? Or her ''destiny''?


    Well, ''destiny'' in the way that sses in video games worked. Maybe ''vocation'' was a better way of saying it?


    Ste seemed to be really good at connecting people and gaining allies. Not to mention the people around her seemed to be getting a passive experience boost... or something like that.


    After all, the random elemental spirits I sent to keep an eye on her had leveled up to be just a few steps away from primordial sorts of beings.


    At least, that was what I felt from them. Hadn''t actually met a primordial being other than ol'' Whitey just yet, so I wasn''t sure.


    But anyway, maybe it was a buff from her being a ''hero'' and chosen by the sacred beast?


    I was pretty sure the prophecy and fate stuff didn''t apply to her anymore since the causality ruiner that I was existed, but maybe she gained an innate talent to recruit allies?


    ...Or maybe she had really good luck to pull party members?


    "You''re doing that thing again, Onii-chan." Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "Just because you''re a demon lord doesn''t mean you can stand there and menacingly stare off into space like that."


    Iughed and ruffled Ste''s hair. "Sorry. Bad habit."


    "Hey! Quit it!" Ste huffed and scampered away from me, holding her ice cream close to her chest.


    I smiled and then took a look around the area.


    Eos and Rnd had done a great job in settling the real estate stuff here for us, securing a big mansion with arge plot ofnd in the corner of Sharia close to the Magic University.


    Apparently, they got it for cheap since it was supposedly haunted, but Rnd managed to sort it out since it was the same ce he grew up in.


    But that wasn''t really important. What was important was that the ce was fancy and big, and I had to organize the ce to host a party for everyone.


    Apparently, ''Pierre'' and my dad had told everyone we were headed to Sharia to meet up with Master Roxy, so both Eri''s parents and Sylphy''s parents had made their way over to visit.


    Ghyine was supposedly going to visitter as well, and I got a magical long-distance scroll warped in from Orsted saying he''d swing by with Princess Ariel.


    Then Dad said he''d being over too with Pierre and Rostelina...


    Ah, and there was Cliff saying he was going to visit because there was important things to discuss.


    And then Rika and Ruijerd said they had finished setting up the floating ind and were going to test the warp gates by visiting with some of the White Knights...


    I sighed and said, "I''m just one guy. People expect me to decorate the entire ce, prep food, and prep refreshments for like thirty plus people while they all get ready for the day?"


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "Please. You''re a cheat character that can use mana to make everything, Onii-chan."


    I swept out my hand, subtly stretching space a bit to make the inside a littlerger before turning back to Ste. "Hey, just because I *can* do it doesn''t mean I want to. Your Onii-chan is a proper working member of society now with papers to grade."


    Ste dragged over a chair and then plopped herself down, licking her ice cream and kicking out her legs while watching me work.


    I held up my hands and then started moving them like a conductor, making party streamers, tables, seats, and the works. Basically everything that would be expected at a party.


    It really wasn''t necessary for me to do the hand motions, but it felt cool and helped me get in the mood to concentrate, so I stuck with it. Better than saying a long and embarrassing chant at least or ring at the space and trying to will things into existence.


    Not that I couldn''t, but really, it looked a bit silly. And since I was going to do this work, I might as well have a bit of fun while going through it.


    Like my sses where I flipped the head on what my students thought magic was.


    Ste licked her ice cream cone again before tilting her head and said, "Why *are* you the one doing this anyway, Onii-chan?"


    I snapped my fingers, causing a few leather couches to pop into existence. After that, I imagined a little GUI to move them around and dragged them into ce. While I was doing that, I said, "Well. Master Roxy is busy filing paperwork for us bing proper citizens of Ranoa Kingdom. Eri and Sylphy are out catching up with their parents. My kids are working on a secret project in the basement that they won''t tell me about. Miko, Norn, and Aisha are studying... And that''s about everyone."


    I paused and then nced at Ste. "Wait."


    Ste was hanging around enjoying her ice cream while I worked. Since I was used to her being around me all the time, I didn''t think too much of it. But now that I thought about it...


    "Where are your little spirit friends?"


    Ste huffed and said, "Wata and Leo said they wanted to settle things once and for all and ran out to the outskirts to fight. Wyn is sleeping like always, and Fai..." She paused and said, "Come to think of it, I haven''t seen Fai for a while."


    I flipped my wrist, materializing a stack of pizzas on the table before humming. "Well, I think I saw her hanging around the dorms with Miko... She''s probably fine." I nced back at Ste and said, "I bet you''re a bit lonely though."


    "Am not."


    "Whatever you say, imouto."


    Ste puffed out her cheeks and then quickly devoured her ice cream cone, leaving a small smear around her lips. After that, she held out her hands and said, "Gimme another one. Chocte."


    "Fine, fine." I flicked my wrist and materialized one in the air in front of her.


    Ste grabbed the hovering ice cream cone before starting to make her way through that as well. She was also pointedly looking away from me and pouting.


    Since that was the case, I decided to give my baby sister some quiet time and focus on my task.


    Now... prepping everything for a party was easy. But how in the world was I going to exin that I was nning to marry more than one woman to Eri and Sylphy''s parents? And not only that, but that I was nning to marry Roxy and Rika too?


    ...Ah. And I needed to remember to bring Roxy''s parents over to visit...


    "Hah." I made a bunch of balloons and party streamers before mumbling, "I miss Rika already..."


    "I''m telling Eri nee-chan and Ero nee-chan."


    "You might as well since I''ve gotta do it eventually- Wait." I nced at Ste and said, "Ero nee-chan?"


    Ste paused and then started blushing. "T-That''s... W-W-Well it''s true, right?!"


    I groaned. "Note to self. Make better silence spell... And maybe information erasure spells..."


    xxx


    Evening at the Greyrat household in Sharia. Although it was dark out with a new moon, the entire mansion remained lit with floating mana light orbs and sparkly vines.


    It was also far more packed than it usually was with everyone living in the house currently present, along with our guests from abroad. Not to mention people like Roxy and Aisha who usually lived at the academy.


    But either way, after a casual speech about it being a great pleasure to have everyone together for the first time... something I sped past because it was awkward and because the tension in the room could be cut with a knife. Literally with the way Sylphy and Master Roxy were ring at Rika and trying to pressure her with mana.


    Anyway, with that out of the way, the guests were free to mingle around and interact with each other.


    It was a bit rushed and awkward, but I nned to have the real big party reunion after we got Mom and Mama Lily back, so that wasn''t a big deal.


    Except for one problem: exining away my multiple marriages and talking about the uing wedding to Eri.


    A table in the corner of the room, stocked with various types of alcohol that I remembered and reproduced along with the various valuable ones I picked up in my spare time.


    There, I had managed to sneak away from most of the crowd by grabbing Cliff and feigning important business discussions. But...


    "So I heard from Grandfather that you were searching for a priest to officiate your marriages, Father-inw."


    Cliff sipped on a ss of red wine and said, "You could have simply asked me. I would be more than honored to perform such a task."


    Dadughed and pped the table. "I always knew you''d one-up your old man, but to do it twice? And like this?" He grinned and raised a mug filled with ale. "You grew up fast, kid!"


    ...Some people were more persistent than others.


    I sighed and poured myself a ss of pure ethanol before chugging it.


    Didn''t do much for me other than a burn going down, but that helped get my mind off things for a bit.


    After setting my ss down, I looked over at Dad and said, "I''m just taking proper responsibility, Dad. Unlike you."


    He held up his hands and said, "Hey! I took plenty responsibility!"


    "Yeah. With my help." I shook my head and then nced at the other people joining us at the table.


    Pierre nursed a cocktail of different aged wines beneath a half-mask he wore in lieu of his usual full-face mask.


    Uncle Philip... Well, I guess it''d be Father-inw? Whatever his title was, Philip was sitting there too, sipping on a ss of fancy alcohol I didn''t know anything about other than that it came from the Notus region.


    Ruijerd was there as well, although he was keeping to himself and just enjoying the atmosphere.


    And as for thest person there...


    Orsted sipped on a ss of golden alcohol that I was pretty sure was either ambrosia or something close to it from the mana content inside. After that, he looked at me and said, "I have to say, while I expected you to cause variables, I greatly underestimated you, Rudeus."


    Philip lowered his ss and said, "Indeed. Especially in how much you resemble your father." He gave Dad a sideways nce and said, "I''m morbidly curious about how Zenith and Lilia will react upon hearing such wondrous news regarding their beloved son."


    Dad froze and then drained his mug of ale before refilling it from a nearby barrel tap. "I-I''m sure it''ll be fine. It''s not like Rudy here did anything *bad*. He''s just an incredible man like- No, a better man than his old man. Right, Rudy?"


    I gave a serious nod and said, "Yes. Especially considering I would never fondle my granddaughter''s breasts."


    Philip raised an eyebrow at Dad. "Okay. I knew you were a degenerate disgrace of a man in the past, but-"


    Dad mmed his hand on the table and said, "It was an honest mistake!"


    Pierre sighed and muttered, "Some things never change..."


    Cliff frowned and said, "Grandfather-inw. I heard from Father-inw that you and Grandmother-inw were devout followers of Saint Milis. To think you would sin so readily..."


    "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"


    Orsted simply smiled, quietly sipping on his drink.


    I sighed and then decided to shift my attention to him instead. "How have you been, Orsted? I heard that you managed to sort things out over in the Central Continent?"


    Orsted set his ss down and said, "I have been well." He lifted up his left hand and clenched it, causing crimson and gold sparks to fly. "Since obtaining the parting gift you left me, preparations and ns I had for the next century have been elerated to years." He let out a cold grin and said, "It will not be long before we take the fight directly to Hito- No. To ''Being W.''"


    I chuckled and said, "Is that so? How exciting."


    I might have lost in ourst exchange because of shenanigans, but I wouldn''t be by myself this time around.


    After all, like the games that Ste asionally referenced, the final boss was always easier when you jumped him with a full team, wasn''t he? And raid bosses were always taken down by an army of yers.


    Well, if Being W wanted to y the role of a tough final boss, I''d just have to assemble a team to take him down while I tie him up.


    He might be able to tie with me by doing shenanigans, but he definitely wouldn''t be able to keep that up with an entire party hunting him down.


    Dad cut in and said, "Oi." He looked at me and said, "Don''t forget to bring me along, Rudy. I''ve got a score to settle with that whitey bastard."


    Pierre nced at Dad and said, "You''ll just end up dying, Paul."


    "Says you, Mister Fortune Teller." Dad scoffed and said, "I''ll have you know that my genius son left me the secrets to a swordsmanship so incredible it can-"


    Pierre interrupted Dad and said, "In any case." He looked at me and said, "You can take some time to rx now, Rudy. In fact, it will be best for you to remain out of the picture as much as possible with Lace returning."


    Ruijerd tensed.


    Orsted froze.


    Dad blinked.


    And I felt a giant headacheing on. "Wait." I held up my hand and then said, "Run that back. What was it about Lace?"


    Pierre blinked and said, "Ah. I should rify." He nodded and said, "Magic God Lace was awakened and is roaming to make his own preparations. Since you two are so simr, it would be best to avoid contact. Not to mention the fact that ancient beasts of cmity will soon awaken along with other variations of Rudeus Greyrat..." He trailed off, realizing that nobody was following him. "...Oh. I did the thing again where I talk about events that I forgot to exin, didn''t I?"


    I let out a deep sigh.

 166 – Things to Prepare Before Marriage – II

    166 ¨C Things to Prepare Before Marriage ¨C II


    To sum up Pierre''s exnation.


    There existed a Rudeus Greyrat in a very simr timeline who ended up tossed into the Magic Continent after Hitogami decided to do a direct intervention.


    Said Rudeus Greyrat failed to meet Ruijerd and ended up losing Ste. Out of grief and rage, he went around and created an all-consuming mana spell that allowed him to absorb even the racial traits of all the races on the Magic Continent.


    Throwing away his name because he failed to save anyone, he took on the name Lace due to discovering that he was one of Hitogami''s enemies in the distant past and swore to have revenge.


    And to do that, he first decided to take over the Magic Continent by force.


    That would exin why Rika had been so terrified of me when I first summoned her.


    Apparently, that guy was a cold and calcting individual who only saw people and living creatures as resources.


    To put it in other words, he was like that guy who already knew that he was headed for a bad end, so he was burning everything to max out his stats to do a new game plus run with everything he earned.


    It was understandable. And to be honest, if I lost Ste back then, I definitely would have done the same.


    If I remembered right, that was also about the same time I was starting to experiment with the fundamental principle of mana.


    The answer I reached now was that mana was essentially an extension of will, and thus could be formed by logic, imagery, imagination, etc.


    From the way Pierre put it though, that version of ''Rudeus'' had reached an answer that apparently assimted all sorts of mana to the source.


    Maybe it worked under the assumption of the conservation of energy? That it couldn''t be created or destroyed, only transformed?


    My theory of magic went against that axiom... Well, more like it went over that axiom and rolled it inside as part and parcel.


    But in any case, if a guy like that was actually here and roaming around, I definitely would be better off not interacting with him.


    After all, I knew just how crazy my theory of magic could get when taken to the extremes. Especially with the hypotheses I had about what ''divinity'' really was.


    It''d be bad if there was a wild card roaming around with my level of magical expertise. Especially considering how much of an edgelord that person would be.


    But anyway, I''d be listening to Pierre''s advice and let him deal with it while quietly making preparations on the side.


    After all, while it was ''possible'' that guy might team up with me. It was also possible that guy might decide that he would do a better job of being me. Especially since things were going great for me.


    That, or we might have this whole resonance effect where we feed on each other''s powers and be super powerful... or cause a paradox copse event worse than the spacetime copse.


    Or he might just decide to try and off me to test the whole singrity soul theory where being thest ''you'' in existence allowed a person to reach omnipotent levels of power.


    Personally, I doubted that guy could beat me.


    While it was definitely true that despair and overall edginess brought a lot of raw power and strength to the table, it also tended to narrow your perspective and creativity.


    And considering all that I had going for me right now, I wasn''t worried about a thing.


    But all of that was just a side tangent distracting me from the more fundamental issue that I was facing right now.


    As for that issue...


    "Rudy!" Eri smacked her hands against the table and jumped out of her seat. "We agreed on just having Miss Roxy!"


    Sylphy crossed her arms, frost starting to form around her. "Yes. I''ll allow Eri, and Miss Roxy has always liked you, so she''s fine. But that demon?"


    Rika adjusted her sses and said, "Rude. You do not see me resorting to calling you half-breed mongrel, Miss Sylphy."


    Roxy narrowed her eyes at me and said, "Would you care to exin, my dear disciple?"


    I resisted the urge to let out a deep sigh. I also resisted the urge to make an excuse.


    That would be acting like Dad, and acting like Dad was a recipe for disaster.


    So instead, I conjured a ss of pure ethanol again and sipped on it while I analyzed the situation.


    After Pierre dropped that bombshell on all of us, Rika showed up.


    Call it fortuitous timing, excellent woman''s intuition, her demonic eye of foresight... whatever the case, Rika immediately walked over and started to question Pierre on what he was talking about.


    Unfortunately for me, she had been under strict scrutiny from the other lovelydies who had taken a corner of my heart. And, as expected, the moment she walked over, Eri, Sylphy, and Master Roxy followed.


    And then, Rika somehow let it slip that she was the Queen of Arcadia and ted to be involved in a political marriage with me to help stabilize the Demon Realm/Magic Continent...


    Yes. It was a mess.


    Granted, a mess of my own making, but a mess nheless.


    And from how my kids were staying far away in the back, how Ste was munching on a bag of popcorn she had procured from somewhere along with her elemental pals, and how Dad, Ruijerd, and Pierre had taken Philip with them and jumped back a good ten meters or so the moment Rika walked over, I was on my own.


    Eri narrowed her eyes and said, "Rudy!"


    Sylphy pursed her lips and said, "...Are you not going to answer, Rudy?"


    Master Roxy let out a deep sigh and shook her head.


    As for Rika... Well, she at least had a conscience and was giving me an apologetic look.


    But as for a solution to this puzzle...


    I finished the ss of ethanol and tossed it aside. After that, I looked at Eri and said, "Eri."


    Eri flinched and then looked at me, her hands balled up into fists. "W-What?"


    Unlike the fiery tomboy she was when we first met and the aplished swordsman she had be since we reunited, she was currently dressed in a regal blue dress that hugged her figure. Not only that, but she had her hair done up in a fancy braid, just like the elegant noblewoman she was supposed to be (at least on paper).


    And considering how unfamiliar she was with dressing up, plus how embarrassed she got at asking for help, Eri went through a lot just for the party here.


    Especially since it was also technically a proper announcement party for our uing wedding.


    "Although we had a rocky start, nothing can change the fact that you were the one I was promised to first."


    Eri''s frown instantly turned into a bright smile, though she tried to stop it. At the same time, her face flushed a bit red and she said, "S-So what? That doesn''t mean-"


    "My betrothed, my fiancee, and now my soon to be wife. Because of you, I learned to ept that I was a genius..."


    Mostly because I saw how much she struggled at learning the basic stuff that should have been blindingly obvious, but that''d be a secret I kept to my grave.


    "...And that I could live as myself without caring what other people thought. After all, you did."


    Eri froze and then lowered her head, face a deep red.


    Good. One obstacle down. Now onto the next...


    Sylphy wasn''t looking at me in the eye, instead staring at the ground with her ears drooping.


    Like Eri, she had dressed up for the asion, wearing a beautifulcy white dress with intricate snowke patterns all across it. An outfit suited for an Ice Queen... but also one that she probably got topensate.


    Unlike Eri, Sylphy was an ordinary person from a humble background.


    Although she was the one I knew the longest, and also the one who I gave my heart to first, she probably felt that she didn''t deserve to be with me.


    Even so, she couldn''t help being in love with me.


    And it was a love that was deep and strong enough to persist through the countless years she spent diving into spacetime rifts to try and find me and Ste, enough to where her natural lifespan would havee to an end in a few years if I hadn''t intervened.


    And that could be seen in how her beautiful light green hair in her youth had turned into a shimmering silver hue, like steel tempered by time.


    Sylphy''s self-esteem had always been a bit lowpared to Eri.


    While Sylphy could put on a strong front when it came to me, when it came to herself, she was weak.


    And so, at a time like this after what I just said...


    "Sylphy."


    Sylphy flinched and then immediately looked up at me. As always, drawn to my voice and attention.


    Mixed emotions crossed her face before she forced on a neutral expression and said, "What do you have to say now, Rudy?"


    "Too much and too little." I stepped forward to cup her cheek with the palm of my hand and said, "Too little because no amount of words I could say could make up for the time you spent chasing after me out of love. And too much, because no amount of time would be enough for me to tell you how much I adore, appreciate, and love you for being with me until now, if not in person than in spirit."


    Sylphy flinched and then lowered her head. Still, she subconsciously reached out to hold my hand and muttered, "But I''m not the only one."


    I reached out with my other hand to wrap around hers before pulling them down. "Yes. But it''s because of you that I can love in the first ce."


    The concept of loving someone was clear to me. So too was the concept of being in love.


    But the actual emotions. The happiness at just spending time with someone beside you, the joy at exploring things together, the worry when that person was missing, and the relief when they were found.


    I lightly squeezed Sylphy''s hands and said, "I would be a different person if I hadn''t met you, Sylphy. So don''t think that you''re just some nobody, because you''re the reason I can stand here today."


    Sylphy''s eyes widened and then she tugged her hands away, stepping back. She shook her head, emerald eyes glistening with tears and muttered, "It''s not fair, Rudy. You always know what to say..."


    Although she wasining, I could tell that Sylphy was satisfied with that. But now came the hard part.


    I looked at the third major obstacle... No, the wall I had to ovee.


    ...Well, she wasn''t really a ''wall'' these days since she had matured a bit too, but...


    "Master Roxy."


    Roxy crossed her arms. "Yes, my dear disciple?"


    Like the other girls, she was wearing different attire. Instead of her usual mage outfit, she was wearing a mature ck dress that emphasized her womanly charms.


    ...Probably alsopensating a bit for the past, but I wasn''t going toment on that right now. Or ever.


    But in any case...


    "You have always been my moon. The guide in my darkest times and the one who showed me the warmth of the sun without being blinded by its radiance." I stared into Master Roxy''s clear blue eyes and said, "...But like the moon, you''ve always been out of reach. As a child, I could only look up at the moon. Yet." I walked forward until we were only a step away from each other.


    In the past, she towered over me.


    ...Well, maybe not ''towered'', but I was definitely always looking up to her.


    Now though, she was the one looking up to me.


    "...Now that I''ve be the sun, how can I let the moon out of my grasp?"


    Roxy snorted. "You brat. Still too smart for your own good."


    So she said, but I could see her face turn red, along with the faint smile on her face.


    Roxy reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear and said, "And you''ve gotten pretty arrogant too. Calling yourself the sun like that... Is that why you''ve started collecting a few stars around you?" She stepped forward and ced her hand on my cheek, like I did to Sylphy earlier. "Is the moon not enough?"


    I kept staring at Roxy, but I focused my attention on the others with my irvoyance.


    Eri was starting to get upset again, and Sylphy... was surprisingly angry?


    Hm. Looks like the three still had a lot of unresolved tension between them.


    Something to fix in the future.


    But right now...


    I ced my hand on Roxy''s cheek as well, mirroring her. "It''s not that the moon isn''t enough but that the sun can only keep its shape with the support of thes that surround it. Without the other celestial bodies in the sky, all that the sun would be is a light doomed to copse. And if there was just the moon..." I lightly brushed her cheek with my hand and said, "...I think you would be swallowed by the light, Master."


    Roxy turned a bright red and then immediately jumped back. "S-S-Stupid! I-I mean, th-that''s a stupid and illogical argument!"


    Okay. Master Roxy... Well. I guess I should start getting used to calling her just ''Roxy''...


    Anyway, she was down for the count now.


    Which meant that I could get started on exining Rika.


    So, like with the others, I turned to look at Rika.


    The Great Empress of the Demon Realm from another timeline. A beautiful,petent, and intelligent young woman who bore the curse and blessing of reincarnation after her death.


    Kishirika Kishirisu... Or as she went by now after discarding that name from arriving in this world, Rika.


    Again, like the otherdies, she wore a dress. But unlike the others, her dress was the definition of ''royal.''


    Elegant ckce with literal gold embroidery. The stylized ''R'' that represented Demon Lord Rudras spelled out in gold over her heart. Thin rectangr sses with a gold frame that cancelled out her demon eyes and allowed normal daily function.


    And a now mature and developed form thatpletely filled out the dress with all her curves.


    That, plus the fact that she was walking around with ease in a pair of ck stilletos, she was the literal embodiment of ''Demon Empress''.


    ...Which exined why Eri, Sylphy, and Roxy were so cautious.


    "Rika."


    She nodded back at me and said, "Lord Rudras."


    ...If I was being honest, there wasn''t much to say about Rika.


    Unlike the others, I didn''t really have any deep feelings towards her. Instead, it was more of an equal standing of trust and appreciation. A true ''partnership'' in that she kept Arcadia afloat (literally after our recent renovations) while I paved the way forward.


    If I had to describe it, then it would be more like a proper arranged marriage instead of the betrothal that me and Eri had in the past.


    Right now, there was just a bit too much baggage on both sides to be love. But at the same time, we couldn''t really live without each other without things falling apart in Arcadia...


    Well. Maybe we could, but we kind of had a smooth running operation right now that we both didn''t want to ruin, so...


    Hm. Maybe it was love in a different way? Not really the romantic storybook sense, but the practical modern sense of a working couple trying to reach the same end point?


    ...Okay. This was definitely a ticking timebomb that I still needed to defuse. But for now...


    I held out my hand and said, "Without you, Arcadia would be dust in the wind."


    Rika blinked, but she quickly caught on and smiled. Reaching out to shake my hand, she nodded and said, "Of course. Without This One''s expertise, your trifling settlement would have remained a small vige at best."


    I nodded back and said, "And that is something I can never thank you enough for. Without you, Ste and I would have never been able to have a sense of safety or ce to call home in the Demon Realm. Especially so close to the other Demon Kings."


    Rikaughed and said, "Yes. A mere human acting as a Demon King... such a ridiculous feat would have been impossible without my backing. Which is all the more reason why you should pay that back in the future, Lord Rudras."


    "In due time, Rika."


    Rika''s nose wrinkled and she said, "And yet you are as disrespectful as always... But very well! This One shall be magnanimous and allow you such an address!"


    It was a y put on by partners in crime.


    A hint of rationale, a bit of guilt, logical reasonings of debts and repayment, give and take...


    That, plus the critical hit from my little monologues earlier meant that Eri, Sylphy, and Roxy were buying it.


    Or at least, that ticking time bomb wouldn''t go off right here.


    ...I had a feeling that would change without some direct intervention shortly after the wedding night with Eri, but that was a problem for future me.


    ...Hopefully after I figured out where Mom and Mama Lili were to dig me out of this mess Inded myself in.


    But for now...


    I let go of Rika''s hand and then turned back to Eri. ncing at Rika one more time, I said, "I''ll discuss the particrs of Arcadia''s future in a short while. Right now, I would prefer to focus on the ones dearest to me, so..."


    Rika waved her hand and said, "Yes, yes. This One will discuss with Ruijerd and that Pierre before sending you a memoter."


    "Appreciate it."


    I turned away from her and walked back toward Eri, Sylphy, and Roxy.


    In my irvoyance, I saw Rika turn around and walk towards Ruijerd and Pierre.


    And like that, the triple threat was concluded, game, set, and match.


    -SNG-


    "That smooth son of a bitch." Paul stared at Rudy with awe in his eyes before saying, "I can''t believe he solved that mess just like that."


    Ste gave her father a sidelong nce and said, "I''m telling Mom when I see her. Mama Lily too."


    Paul looked at Ste and proudly stuck out his chest. "Go ahead! I''m the bitch, so I''ve got nothing to hide!"


    Ste gave her father a nk stare before shaking her head and walking away. "Idiots. This entire family consists of nothing but idiots."


    Those lovestruck women who were calmed down by just a few cheesy words by Onii-chan. Her ''father'' who was supposed to be a mature adult but acted like a bachelor even those he was a father of four children. Her newly met Uncle Philip who apparently thought it was a good idea to go along with the n to marry off Onii-chan to give just cause to invade the Notos family... somehow.


    Her eldest sister Norn who hid herself away furiously training since she thought that people wouldn''t care about her unless she did.


    Her elder sister Aisha who was getting shocked by everything ever since they came into town.


    Her niece Eos who was working and flipping through documents even though this was a party.


    Her other niece Ena who was avoiding Cliff even though she clearly liked him.


    Her nephew Rnd who was wearing a full suit of armor and doing his best to pretend to be a guard to avoid interacting with anyone...


    Her aunt Therese who had showed up midway in the party and immediately stuck to Miko, fussing over her hair, dress, and weight.


    And then there was her. Ste, who was the youngest child in this family who was stuck here watching all this nonsense when she could be inside tinkering with magic circles and more fun stuff.


    She sighed and then walked over to grab some pizza from a nearby table.


    Hopefully that Mom and Mama Lily that Onii-chan kept talking about would be normal.


    From the sound of things, they had been the anchors keeping everything in ce until that whitey or whatever scattered everyone to the wind.


    It would be really nice if they were here. Ste could use some normal people in her life for-


    *fwoosh*


    -once... Eh?


    Ste blinked and looked around.


    It was the same courtyard where the party had been happening. But it also wasn''t.


    A fluffy white dog sitting in the corner that looked a lot like Leo. A... moving tree?! That was DEFINITELY a moving tree!


    And was that an armadillo!?


    What the heck was going on?!


    "Hm?"


    A sleepy female voice echoed from behind Ste.


    Ste quickly turned around, instinctively holding up her pizza slice. "S-Stay away! I''m armed!"


    "...A mini Zenith...? Am I still sleeping?"


    Ste blinked, just as confused as the person who just spoke.


    A young girl just a bit taller than Ste. One with blue hair tied in twin braids, covered by a big floppy pointed hat...


    "A mini Miss Roxy?"


    "???"


    "??????"

 167 – When you Wish Upon a Star – I

    167 ¨C When you Wish Upon a Star ¨C I


    A tense silence hung in the air. One only broken when a glob of cheese from Ste''s pizza slice fell to the ground.


    *plop*


    Ste flinched and then shoved the pizze slice into her mouth, finishing it as fast as she could. After that, she pointed at the mini Roxy and said, "W-Who are you?! And why are you in my house?!"


    The mini Roxy tilted her head and looked at Ste with a nk stare.


    And then a wave of light blue mana swept out from the mini Roxy.


    Ste panicked and jumped back, swinging her arm around. "W-Wata! Help!"


    A veil of water emerged in front of Ste before erupting, breaking the wave of light blue mana apart. The water froze before hitting the ground and then turned into a flurry of snowkes. Right after that, Wata emerged, floating in front of Ste.


    "I''m here, Ste!"


    Ste ducked behind Wata, her face red with embarrassment.


    Okay, so she had panicked a little bit. But this time she managed to not over panic and yell for Onii-chan again. That was progress!


    Pirs of fire erupted around Ste before a short figure walked out.


    Fai crossed her arms and quickly moved to stand in front of Ste. "I''m here too!"


    Immediately after that, a gust of wind spread, scattering the sparks leftover from Fai''s appearance. With it, Wyn appeared on top of Ste''s head. But unlike her usual tired and nonchnt self, she was standing upright with sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.


    But that wasn''t thest person to appear at Ste''s side.


    "Woof!" A ssh of white light appeared at Ste''s side before a white puppy jumped out. "I''ll protect Ste as well!"


    Leo.


    Seeing everyone around, Ste calmed down a bit.


    She still didn''t know what was going on, but she wasn''t super worried now. Her elemental friends might be a bit goofy and yful, but they were strong too.


    So Ste began to regain a bit of herposure.


    ...And then she realized that she had pizza sauce smeared all over her mouth.


    Ste blushed and quickly wiped it off with her sleeve before standing tall and looking at the mini Roxy.


    The mini Roxy didn''t say anything, but her eyes were wide in surprise.


    Ste let out a smug smile and stuck out her chest a bit.


    ''That''s right! You think you can just try and sneak attack me like that? Get re-''


    A giant white blur surged forward from the side.


    Ste instinctively stepped back out of fear and started to fall. Before she could though, a gentle breeze pushed her back forwards.


    At that time, Wyn flew down from Ste''s head and got bigger, turning into a young woman around the same height as Rudy.


    She immediately pulled Ste close while narrowing her eyes at the blur of white light.


    Said blur of white light stopped in front of the mini Roxy, taking a protective stance just like the other spirits. After it did, the white light faded a bit to reveal arge white dog... No, it looked more like arge white wolf. That bigger Leo that Ste saw earlier.


    Ste was surprised. Both by Wyn getting bigger and by seeing that bigger version of Leo. But before she could say anything, a low growl echoed.


    The bigger Leo barked and then said, "Who are you, and why are you trying to usurp my master''s destiny?"


    Ste blinked.


    Destiny? Usurp?


    ...Master?


    Wyn pulled Ste behind her and said, "I should ask you the same question. The winds of fate have already changed. Ships sailing in its course should not attempt to turn against it."


    Wata nodded. "Yeah! Ste''s the hero already!"


    Fai nodded too and said, "That''s right! And you''ll be in big trouble if you don''t send her back right now!"


    Leo barked and said, "Woof! Yeah! Master Rudy will beat you all up if you don''t!"


    Okay. Ste had a lot of questions to ask Wyn. But before that, they had to solve this mess and figure out what was going on.


    Looking around, Ste could see that while the ce looked simr, it wasn''t exactly the same as where the party had been taking ce.


    First of all, all the decorations were gone, as well as the people. Not to mention the fact that there was that weird armadillo and tree thing that she DEFINITELY didn''t recognize.


    Second of all, it was structured a bit differently too. There was a small flowerbed in the corner that she didn''t recognize. The mansion looked a bit different too. A bit more worn down and less shiny than Onii-chan would have kept it.


    But most importantly there was that mini Roxy who kept staring at Ste.


    It definitely *wasn''t* Miss Roxy. After all, Miss Roxy was bigger. Both in height and in her chest. Not only that, but Miss Roxy didn''t do witch cosy.


    That was more Ero nee-chan''s thing.


    Miss Roxy was always dressed like a professional when Ste saw her, even when she was rxing.


    So it wasn''t like Ste did any time-traveling back to the past or anything.


    After all, while she was the hero, she didn''t go to the deepest parts of the forest and pull out a sacred sword of light that repels evils or anything that would send her back in time.


    And she definitely didn''t put a sword like that back in the forest that would send her forwards in time either, so...


    The mini Roxy stepped forward and then ced her hand on the bigger Leo. A flicker of light blue mana spread from her hand and to the bigger Leo''s body.


    Ste frowned and slowly ced her hand on her ne in case something happened.


    ...It was embarrassing to rely on Onii-chan so much, but a situation like this was a real emergency, right? So-


    The bigger Leo tilted his head and then sighed.


    Well, sighed as much as a dog could sigh.


    After that, he stepped aside. And when he did, the mini Roxy started stepping forward.


    Ste flinched and held out her free hand. "Don''t get closer! Even if you look like Miss Roxy, I won''t hold back if you try to hurt me! And I don''t know how you kidnapped me, but-"


    "Are you Aunt Ste?"


    Ste blinked.


    Aunt Ste?


    ...Wait.


    Wata froze and then spun around to look at Ste.


    Fai gasped and did the same thing.


    Leo growled.


    Wyn frowned and kept a firm hold of Ste, looking into the distance at something as she did.


    And as for Ste herself...


    Ste lowered her hand and then squinted her eyes, carefully studying the mini Roxy''s face.


    The light blue hair, the blue eyes, the face... the mini Roxy definitely looked like Miss Roxy. But now that Ste was taking a closer look...


    The color of the hair was a bit off. More green than blue. The eyes were greener too. And then the bangs weren''t the ''M'' shaped ones that Miss Roxy liked wearing. Instead, they were parted in the middle like how Onii-chan when he was trying to be super pompous and formal.


    Not only that, but the shape of her eyes and her mouth...


    The mini Roxy smiled and then said, "Zenith and Lilia will be happy to see you." She paused and said, "But Lily will be mad that her hard work is useless now..."


    Zenith?


    Lilia?


    ...Wait.


    Wait, wait, wait.


    If it''s like that. And if everything was what Ste was thinking was happening...


    Ste reached up to pull her hair and said, "DID I ACCIDENTALLY BECOME THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME?!?!?!"


    -RNG-


    "Hm?" I paused in the middle of talking to Orsted and Pierre.


    Something felt off.


    I frowned and then took a quick look around.


    The party was in full-swing. Eri, Sylphy, and Roxy were hanging out together and having a good time over some wine.


    ...Potential issues thereter, but that was ater issue.


    Dad was hanging out with Philip, Laws, and Rnd, chatting over some beer.


    Another potential issue, but again,ter problem.


    Aunt Therese was hanging out with Miko, Norn, and Aisha and looked to be telling stories about Mom... Definitely wasn''t her-


    Wait.


    Where was Ste?


    "Is something the matter, Rudy?" Orsted frowned and swept his gaze across the surroundings. "Do you sense something?"


    I didn''t immediately respond and instead used my irvoyance to check.


    Not in the house, not in the city... And expanding it a bit, I didn''t see Ste in the country as well.


    She also wasn''t back at Arcadia.


    But I could still clearly sense her ne. And there weren''t any rms triggering that said she was in danger. But...


    "...I''m not sure." I looked back at Orsted and said, "I don''t see Being W''s presence anywhere and nothing''s weird. But Ste''s gone."


    Orsted blinked. "Are you certain she simply isn''t in the house?"


    "I''m sure." I nced over at Pierre and said, "Do you see her anywhere? Or see anything odd?"


    Pierre frowned and took a look around and shook his head. "No. But..." He hesitated.


    "But what?"


    Pierre looked at me and then said, "...It''s possible that Magic God Lace intervened? If he noticed that Ste was still alive- W-Wait! Rudy!"


    I paused in the middle of brute-forcing a teleport spell to Ste''s location. "What?"


    "C-Calm down." Pierre held up his hands and said, "If it''s really Magic God Lace, Ste will be perfectly safe. But if you show up in front of him, there might be an anomaly that-"


    *ONII-CHAN!*


    A faint voice in my head. Ste calling out my name, but fainter than it had ever been before. Like she was somewhere I almost couldn''t reach.


    I held out my hand and drew my god-ying sword that I used whenever Ste called out for me.


    Seeing that, Orsted''s eyes narrowed and he moved to my side. Like me, he reached out and drew a sword as well. A gleaming white katana that radiated divinity. He quickly moved to my side and said, "I will help."


    Did Dad''s father instincts finally kick in? Before I could even start to move to tear apart space and time to reach Ste, he appeared at my side with his own sword drawn and said, "I''ming too, Kid!"


    Pierre sighed and said, "This is a terrible-"


    "Fight first, talkter!"


    I swung my sword.


    The surroundings shattered like ss.


    Immediately after, I jumped through the fracture that opened up.


    At the same time, Orsted, Dad, and Pierre jumped through as well.


    At least, they tried.


    In the corner of my eyes, I saw Orsted and Pierre hit an invisible wall and bounce back.


    But before I could think about why that happened, we arrived.


    I immediately spread out my mana to lock the surrounding space and raised my sword. As always, I added on a little extra ir and opened my mouth to start the usual Demon Lord speech to buy time to analyze the situation.


    And then I noticed the surroundings.


    And the people in front of me.


    Ste, awkwardly looking to the side with a face turned red from embarrassment.


    A young woman who looked simr to Roxy when she used to teach me, except that her hair was more green than blue and she had her bangs parted like how I liked parting them.


    A young woman who looked really simr to Roxy when she used to teach me,plete with the "M" bangs and braided twin-tails. Except, like the first young woman, she had greener hair.


    A young woman who looked EXACTLY like Roxy when she used to teach me.


    A woman who looked like Sylphy... except that she had less muscle mass, a smaller chest, and red eyes instead of green.


    And then two women who I had nned to start searching for the moment the party was over.


    Mom and Mama Lily.


    I blinked, processing the situation.


    And then a loud crash echoed from beside me, followed immediately after by Dad''s loud cursing.


    "Fuck, shit, bitch. Gah!" Dad scrambled on the ground and said, "Let me know beforehand that thending''s going to be rough, Kid!" He brushed himself off and stood up, taking a look around. "I get being in a rush, but-"


    He suddenly cut off his words.


    I didn''t me him.


    Mom let out a wide smile and said, "Why Hubbie! It''s nice to see you again too."


    Mama Lily nodded and said, "Yes. What a pleasant surprise. However..."


    The two stepped forward, cing a hand on each of Ste''s shoulder.


    Ste flinched and looked at me before mouthing ''sorry Onii-chan.''


    ...Wait. What was she apologizing for?


    Dad got up and said, "Ahaha... Y-Yeah! It''s great to see you two again! You don''t know how much I''ve-"


    Mom cut him off and said, "You know, Ste has been telling us some interesting stories while we were catching up. About both you and Rudy."


    Ah. That was why.


    Dad froze and then quickly moved to my side. He leaned over to whisper and said, "Hey Kid. Any chance you can get us out of this mess?"


    I nced at Sylphy(?) and Roxy(?) who were giving me mncholic looks. Then I looked at Mom and Mama Lily who were giving me warning looks. And then I looked at Ste who was avoiding my gaze...


    Seeing that, I shrugged and said, "It looks like there''s a lot of catching up to do, so why don''t we-"


    The sound of shattering ss.


    No, time and space breaking apart.


    Immediately after, four women appeared behind me.


    "Are you sure you have the right coordinates this time, Miss Roxy?" My Sylphy.


    "Of course. This time, I cross-referenced with Miss Rika before teleporting us." My Roxy.


    "Ugh. I still think we should have just let Pierre help us cut through space and time." Eri.


    "Rika keeps telling you. Only Rudy can do that properly without copsing spacetime." Rika.


    Mom and Mama Lily paused, slowly turning to look at the women who appeared behind me.


    Ste facepalmed.


    In the corner of my eyes, I saw Dad let out a shit-eating grin.


    ...Hah.


    It seems like I underestimated my cute baby sister''s passive too much...

 168 – When you Wish Upon a Star – II

    168 ¨C When you Wish Upon a Star ¨C II


    The Greyrat Household manor in Ranoa Kingdom.


    However, unlike the one I had just left and the one I remembered, this one was a bit old and quiet.


    After the chaos in the courtyard, the red-eyed Sylphy and smaller Roxy led us inside to the dining room so that we could have a morefortable setting for the discussion.


    Although, considering everything that had happened, I found it hard to believe there would be anywhere in the world that could be afortable setting for this discussion.


    After all, not only were there some people meeting parallel timeline versions of themselves who were clearly different, but there were four women meeting their inws for the first time.


    Both on their own were recipes for drama. Combining them...


    Well. I''d just have to y it by ear.


    And the first step to ying it by ear was assessing the situation.


    And the situation right now...


    The red-eyed Sylphy, smaller Roxy, and the two young women who looked a lot like Roxy sat on one side of the table next to Mom and Mama Lily.


    Ste was there too, captured in Mom''s arms and experiencing first-hand the ''hug monster'' that Norn used to be so scared of.


    Fortunately for her, Ste was bigger so she could squirm around for proper breathing room.


    On the other side of the table, there was me, Dad, and my four lovelydies.


    Specifically, there was me in the middle, Eri and Rika on my right, and Sylphy and Roxy on my left sitting across from the other Sylphy and Roxy.


    Dad was shoved on the far end to my right, sitting directly in front of Mom and Mama Lily.


    Now, I would be lying if I said that I didn''t expect this would happen at some point.


    Considering my baby sister''s ster track record of finding all our family members, I figured something crazy might pop up and rehearsed a few different situations.


    But there was that old saying about ns not surviving contact with the enemy. And while I knew that Being W wasn''t behind this, someone had it out for me and decided to test my adaptabilty skills.


    So, improvising.


    The room was quiet. Tense, too.


    Since it happened so quickly and abruptly, the other Sylphy and Roxy didn''t have time to prepare any refreshments.


    And since I didn''t know where or when we were, I didn''t want to show my cards too soon in case Being W was watching us.


    But at this rate, we''d be here all day. And since I didn''t know if time marched on in tandem or if I had infinite time to get back to when we were, I decided to get the ball rolling.


    I smiled at Mom and Mama Lily and said, "I''m d to see that you two are safe."


    Mom smiled and said, "Of course we''re safe. We had our genius son prepare us equipment to protect against the entire world after all."


    Mama Lily nodded and said, "As Zenith said, it was inevitable that we would be safe even in that storm of chaos. But Rudy..." She frowned and then nced over at Dad. After that, she looked at the lovelydies sitting beside me. "It seems that you''ve had an... ''interesting'' time of things."


    I chuckled. "Interesting is putting it lightly."


    Even on a casual reflection of everything that had happened since west saw each other...


    Bing a demon lord. Finding out the multiverse theory was definitely a thing. Raising Ste from a newborn to her cute toddler self right now. identally making two daughters after messing with summoning magic. identally summoning a son from a parallel timeline with the same magic. identally summoning Rika.


    Finding Sylphy who had been wandering for countless years in distorted time searching for me.


    Meeting up with Eri and Norn after making a utopian kingdom in the Magic Continent.


    Then there was the mishap meeting Dad again...


    Oh yeah. Then there were all the shenanigans around me and the Milis religion...


    "...But there will be plenty of time to catch up on thatter. For now..." I looked at the red-eyed Sylphy and the smaller Roxy, as well as the two other girls who looked simr to Roxy. "Should we do introductions? I''m Rudeus Notus Greyrat."


    The red-eyed Sylphy frowned and said, "''Notus'' Greyrat? Not just Rudeus Greyrat?"


    "Well." I nced at Dad and said, "You''re the head now, right Dad?"


    Mom paused and narrowed her eyes at Dad.


    Dad flinched and startedughing. "Ahaha... Y-Yeah." He looked back at Mom and said, "You know how I was nning to take over from Pilemon, right Honey?"


    "...Yes, Dear."


    "W-W-Well..." Dad cleared his throat and said, "I... Kind of became a Sword God while roaming around with Norn and our Daughter-inw, so they ended up just throwing the title at me and running away. Because of that, we can use Notus again..."


    "I see."


    That''s what Mom said, but the look on her face said that she clearly wasn''t buying it. Or maybe she was just annoyed thinking about all the other shenanigans Dad had been up to since then.


    Either way, I was just d that he took some of the fire away from me.


    So, continuing on with my n to distract more from the issue with introductions...


    I gestured towards Mom and Mama Lily and said, "It seems like you''ve been acquainted with my mom, Zenith, and Mama Lily... I mean, Lilia, already. And there''s my baby sister, Ste... Say hi, Ste."


    Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "I already introduced myself! And stop treating me like a kid, Onii-chan!"


    Iughed and said, "Yeah, she''s a smart cookie, that one... Anyway." I pointed to Dad and said, "This is my Dad, Paul Notus Greyrat. He looks unreliable-"


    "Hey!" Dad frowned and said, "I only look unreliable!"


    "...And he is unreliable too. Well, about half the time. The other half the time he''s alright."


    Dad opened his mouth to protest, but then he paused to think about the words and proudly raised his head instead.


    Mom rolled her eyes.


    Mama Lily sighed.


    I kept going and pointed at Rika. "Next to Dad is Rika. Say hi, Rika."


    Rika let out a sigh and then said, "Are you going to continue with this charade of treating us as children, Rudy?"


    I paused and said, "...Do you want to introduce yourselves instead?"


    Rika nodded and then raised her head, putting on a regal air. "This one is Rika nee Arcadia, Empress of the Magic Continent and co-founder of the Kingdom of Arcadia."


    I blinked and said, "You just made up like half those titles, Rika."


    Rika blushed and she said, "H-Hush, you! Airs are important for times like these!"


    Eri sighed and then waved her hand. "Whatever." She nced back at the red-eyed Sylphy and small Roxy before saying, "Do we even need to introduce ourselves? I don''t exactly know what''s going on, but it''s clear who we all are, isn''t it?"


    My Sylphy nodded, carefully eyeing her counterpart. "Indeed. Sylphiette. That''s your name too, isn''t it? And you..." She looked at the small Roxy and said, "Since you look just like she did when I was smaller... I guess you''re Miss Roxy?"


    The other Sylphy nodded back, frowning. "...Yes. But I don''t think you''re the same as me."


    Sylphy crossed her arms under her chest and smiled. "Isn''t it obvious?"


    The other Sylphy frowned.


    I cleared my throat.


    My Sylphy paused and then lowered her arms before putting on an innocent smile. "Teehee... Sorry, Rudy."


    The other Sylphy''s eyes widened in shock before she shook her head, muttering under her breath.


    At that time, the smaller Roxy stared at my Roxy.


    My Roxy frowned and said, "...It''s rude to stare so much."


    The smaller Roxy shook her head and said, "My apologies. But..." Her eyes looked up to my Roxy''s chest, then scanned her body, as if doing some mental calctions. "...Are you truly a ''Roxy Migurdia?''"


    "No." My Roxy shook her head and smiled. "I am Roxy Greyrat."


    Eri mmed her hand against the table and said, "Hey! Not yet! You have to wait in line, Roxy!"


    Roxy frowned and said, "It''s an inevitable urrence. Besides." She pointed at the smaller Roxy as well as the other young women that looked like her. "As you can see, Rudy has already chosen me in one universe."


    Eri''s face turned red and she narrowed her eyes.


    Things were clearly getting off track, so I cleared my throat and said, "It looks like most of us know each other, but I don''t think I know those two youngdies?"


    One of the young women... girls? No, they looked young, but they ''felt'' older. So definitely not girls.


    Anyway, the one who wore a pointed hat like Roxy used to in the past tilted her head to look at me. And when she did, a wave of light blue mana flew out towards me.


    Everyone on my side immediately went on guard, but I waved them down.


    When the mana touched me, a calm and young female voice echoed in my head.


    *Can you hear me?*


    I blinked and said, "Huh. So that''s how telepathy works?"


    The other Roxy''s eyes widened. "You can hear Lara?"


    I frowned. "...Can''t you?"


    "...No." She slowly shook her head and said, "I can''t."


    "...Okay." I pped my hands together and said, "We''re clearly going to be here all day at this rate if we keep cherry picking things. So... Let''s do this onest time. My name is Rudeus Notus Greyrat and for thest ten years I''ve been trying to defeat this guy calling himself Hitogami..."


    -PNG-


    "I cannot believe it." Zenith shook her head and paced around the room. "Rudy. Our cute little Rudy... The Rudy who we thought would be smart enough to not be like his father and live a proper life." She paused and then red at Paul. "How could he turn out to be a worst womanizer than you?!"


    Lilia nodded, staring at Paul with cold eyes. "Indeed. And more shameless and arrogant as well."


    Paul held up his hands and said, "T-To be fair, it''s not my fault. Rudy went through puberty on his own, okay? If anything, me the Greyrat blood!"


    Zenith nodded. "I will. And I do." She paused and then let out a deep sigh. "...Although I suppose it''s a smallfort that it wasn''t as bad as in this world."


    A guest room in the Greyrat Household manor. One that used to belong to that world''s Zenith before she passed away, and one that both Zenith and Lilia had been using since they arrived.


    There, Paul, Lilia, and Zenith were having a private discussion while Rudy and the others hashed things out themselves.


    Paul pulled over a chair and sat down while staring at his wives. "So how bad was the Rudy in this world anyway? I noticed that the other Sylphy and Roxy looked a bit shocked when he started talking, so I guess it''s a big difference?"


    Lilia nodded. "Indeed." She put on a wry smile and said, "It seems that this world''s Rudy looked up to you a great deal, Paul."


    Paul''s eyes lit up and he said, "Great! That means there''s at least one timeline where I''m a great example, right?"


    Zenith was quiet.


    Paul blinked and then said, "Uh... r-right?"


    "...Only because you lost a lot." Zenith looked at Paul and said, "Our selves in this world weren''t as lucky as we were."


    "...Huh?" Paul blinked and said, "What do you mean?"


    Zenith sighed and said, "I guess it''ll be better to show you. It was for us, at least."


    "???"


    -RNG-


    Asura Kingdom''s <Biography of Rudeus Greyrat>.


    It was a book with a story that I mostly knew.


    He was born in K407 at Buena Vige in the Fittoa Country of the Asura Kingdom to Paul Greyrat and Zenith Greyrat.


    He was a genius who could use Intermediate Level magic when he was 3 and was tutored by Roxy Migurdia after his parents discovered that talent.


    Moving to the Boreas household to be Eris'' private tutor. Returning home only to encounter the Teleport Incident.


    A journey across the Magic Continent, bing famous as an adventurer to search for his family.


    Moving to Ranoa Kingdom and marrying Sylphy, who had been serving as Princess Ariel''s guard.


    Losing his father in exchange for rescuing his mother who had been trapped in the infamous Teleport Labyrinth in the Begaritt Continent after facing a Manatite Hydra.


    The story up until then was something that I knew very well.


    Rudeus... That is, the Older Rudeus. Although he had rushed through most of it, the info in the book mostly lined up with what that guy told me about his life up until Dad''s death. After that though...


    Fighting Orsted, joining his side as a subordinate. Marrying Eri- No, ''Eris Boreas Greyrat.''


    Establishing a mercenary group, fighting a defensive battle of the Shirone Kingdom, propping Cliff up as an official in the Milis Church, then bing the Seventh Rank of the Seven Great World Powers...


    And finally, dying in K481 after passing away from old age.


    I closed my eyes and sighed. "You were more desperate than I was, huh, ''Rudeus Greyrat?''"


    I didn''t intend toe here, but since we were in this timeline, I thought I''d do a bit of scouting to see if there was anything helpful before we headed back.


    After all, if Mom and Mama Lily ended up here, there should be some reason to it. Some connection that led us to this point.


    And after reading the book, I understood.


    It was a quiet cemetery. Round gravestones lined up end to end.


    And in front of me, there was a well-maintained tombstone. Although it was old and the stone was chipped and worn by age, the names could still be read.


    Paul Greyrat.


    A familiar name.


    And beneath it, two more names I recognized.


    Zenith Greyrat and Lilia Greyrat.


    Dad, Mom, and Mama Lily.


    In this world, they had been torn apart. But at least in death, they could be together here at rest.


    ...But there was one person buried here as well whose name wasn''t written on the tombstone.


    I closed the biography that I bought and chucked it in my inventory before turning my attention to the grave.


    Decades had passed since the people here were buried. As a result, there shouldn''t be any traces left of mana. Even the residual amount left in the corpses should have long faded.


    ...But there was something here after all this time. Mana that didn''t scatter even though time ran its course.


    "It seems like I wasn''t the only one who inherited your will, Rudeus."


    A familiar distorted and glitchy mana signature. One that didn''t belong and seemed to constantly be on the verge of flickering out.


    It was just a trace now, but it was a trace that stood out in a ce that had nothing but ambient mana.


    Seeing it, I sighed and bowed my head. "You were an edgelord and a jerk, but I guess you helped me out a few times so I''ll thank you. Kinda wish you''d have helped me out as much as the Rudy here, but I won''tin too much. After all, you two were the same ''person'' at one point."


    "So you''re here, huh, Kid?" Dad''s voice echoed from behind me. Shortly after, he walked over and came to a stop at my side, looking at the tombstone. Seeing it, he frowned and said, "It''s still weird to think that I''m buried down there with Zenny and Lili."


    I raised my head and said, "That''s wrong."


    "Oh yeah?" Dadughed and said, "What? Are you gonna say we''re not your parents now that you''ve grown up, Kid? Finally getting into your rebellious teenage phase?"


    "As if. Puberty was already a pain to go through even after Ipressed it down to a year. I''m NOT going through that again."


    Dad blinked and said, "You- Never mind." He sighed and waved his hand. "I''ll get a headache thinking about it, so I''ll just believe you. But." He looked at the grave and said, "What do you mean by saying I''m wrong? Doesn''t sound like the way you usually disagree or mess with me just to get back for the times when you were a kid."


    I nced at the grave and then said, "Isn''t it obvious?" I looked back at Dad and said, "That guy lost everything and couldn''t even save his son without dying. Not only that, but his first wife lost her mind while his second suffered having to raise her daughter by herself in a hostile environment. You might be an unreliable idiot, Dad, but I think you''re better than that, right?"


    "...You know, Kid. You''re supposed to be respectful to the deceased."


    Iughed. "I think I''m an exception to that rule."


    After all, I''d died once before already.


    ...Huh. Maybe I should use that line on Being W when I smack him in the face.


    Dad shook his head and said, "Anyway... You done hanging around here? Ste''s been begging me to do the ''Virgil'' cut and bring us home." He frowned and said, "I don''t know what she means, but I''m guessing she''s starting to get impatient. Not to mention that your moms and your fiancees are having long and in-depth conversations with this world''s version of your wives. That''s probably not something you want to let happen for longer than it needs to, you know?"


    Iughed and said, "Fine, fine. Go tell Ste I''ll be back in an hour."


    Dad blinked. "An hour? Why not now?"


    I stared off into the distance, activating my irvoyance.


    A familiar but unfamiliar world. Familiar but unfamiliar people.


    Things that seemed the same, but were different in subtle and important ways.


    Like that floating mana signature in the sky.


    "...There''s someone I need to talk to before we leave."

 169 – When you Wish Upon a Star – III

    169 ¨C When you Wish Upon a Star ¨C III


    A gigantic castle taller than a fifty floor skyscraper floated in the sky. A garden just as vast spread out in every direction with myriad trees and flowers, shimmering like the rainbow.


    I touched down amidst the flowers and then hummed. "So this is how it looks like up close, huh?"


    The sky fortress <Chaos Breaker> that served as Perugius'' home.


    It was a ce I had seen countless times floating in the sky as well as one that I nned to one-up with Arcadia via Project Zenith, but I had to admit that it was still fairly impressive being there in person.


    Especially considering the twelve powerful mana signatures inside the castle.


    One had about as much as mana as Orsted did when I first fought him, so that was probably Perugius.


    The others... they didn''t have as much mana, probably around the level of a ''King'' in terms of power. But they were weird signatures that I''d never seen before.


    A glowing golden light reminiscent of the sun. A weird mana that seemed to shift back and forth from being ''empty'' and ''full.'' Another that was frozen in ce. One that seemed to be coalesced sound waves. Another that seemed like a miniture ck hole... somehow.


    And more that were obscured, but just as weird in that they seemed to be embodying ''concepts'' rather than elements.


    I rubbed my hand on my chin for a bit, thoughtfully considering a few ideas that came to light on seeing those mana signatures.


    But I decided to shelf them for now and focus on what I was here for. Specifically, ''who'' I was here for.


    "...It''s a bit rude, but I guess there''s not really a way to-"


    A sh of golden light, immediately followed by the appearance of a young man wearing a white fox mask. His golden hair swayed as hended in front of me while his pure white uniform came to a stop.


    Seeing him, I smiled and said, "Ah, that''s good. I don''t have to knock on the door in person then."


    The man was quiet for a bit, tilting his head in confusion. "...Rudeus Greyrat? Have you seeded in a forbidden resurrection spell of sorts?"


    I chuckled and said, "While I wouldn''t put it past that person..."


    After all, that guy managed to bruteforce a physical time travel spell, even if it was wed.


    "...I''m not the one you''re thinking of." I nced at the other mana signatures quickly approaching me and said, "And I don''t want to have to resort to violence, so could you tell your master that I''m a visitor from another world who wants to talk to his pupil?"


    The masked man paused, carefully contemting my appearance.


    And then he vanished.


    An attack at lightspeed, crossing space in an instant to sh at my blindspot.


    Formidable, but...


    I sighed and said, "I would rather not have to destroy a magnificent work of art if I don''t have to, so could you stop that?"


    The masked man''s de, a short knife with a rectangr knuckle guard, strained against the back of my neck. And while I couldn''t see his expression, I was sure that he was surprised.


    After all, most people wouldn''t be able to react to a lightspeed sh. Especially one from their blindspot.


    Unfortunately for him, I wasn''t most people.


    Especially since the time Dad started developing space warping shes that I had to deal with when sparring him.


    Rule number one of sparring with a member from the Greyrat family: expect to deal with cheap tricks that defy belief.


    Speaking of which...


    It seemed like these guys were all familiars. And now that I paid attention to it, there was an intricately woven magic formation threaded into the sky castle that let them respawn by saving their consciousness and mana signature. Of course, there was a cooldown time for that since it would take a bit for them to rpose themselves once recalled like that.


    But since he was being annoying, and since I was on a tight schedule...


    I reached out towards the magic formation and tugged on a thread of mana.


    In an instant, the eleven weird mana signatures were dispersed, pulled back into therger mana formation.


    At the same time, therge mana signature that must have been Perugius red and moved towards me.


    While that was happening, a thinner mana signature that had been obscured by the others emerged from the depths of the castle. One that was simr to a person I knew very well, but twisted and iplete.


    Ste''s.


    I considered whether or not to just head straight there to confirm the hypothesis I had on why Being W had been so desperate to kill me and my family, as well as the method to properly defeat him.


    Before I could decide though, an oppressive aura locked down the space around me-


    No, it wasn''t just an oppressive aura.


    A gleaming three-dimensional magic formation thatpletely locked away the spatial dimensions around the sky fortress as well as flooded the area with distorted mana that would be impossible for the average person to use.


    Shortly after that, a magic circle formed directly in front of me before a person emerged from it.


    A wild mane of silver hair paired with a full beard. A stern face with golden eyes. And a suit of regal silver temail with gold trimming paired with a regal ck cloak.


    Perugius D.


    Though I hadn''t met him in person, there wasn''t any mistaking who the guy could be.


    Fortunately, he seemed like a reasonable person.


    Although he was on guard against me... as he should be considering that I just reverse-summoned his servants with a snap of my fingers, he didn''t seem hostile.


    Instead, he stared at me for a moment and then said, "A visitor from another world, you said?"


    A regal and majestic voice. One filled with the confidence of being at the top.


    Seeing that he was putting on airs, I decided to do the same.


    Dissolving the mana dyeing my hair the light brown that I used to have. Allowing the golden light from my magic eyes to mix in with my natural green eyes. And at the same time, unsealing enough of my mana to match his.


    I straightened and put on the usual Demon Lord routine before saying, "Correct. One who is here to resolve the puzzle your pupil left behind for the past seven decades."


    Perugius was quiet for a moment before saying, "...Your name?"


    I smiled and said, "I''m Rudeus Notus Greyrat. But you? You can call me Rudras."


    Perugius'' eyebrow twitched.


    My smile grew wider.


    -S.G''-


    It was a miracle. Or should it be called a curse?


    Decades had passed since her beloved husband had passed. And more still since the passing of Zenith and Lilia. Paul as well.


    It was a scene that Sylphy thought she would only see in her memories. And a scene that faded more with each passing year.


    But today, she managed to see them all together.


    Paul, Zenith, Lilia. And her Rudy, standing all together happy and carefree.


    ...No. That wasn''t correct. It wasn''t ''her'' Rudy. Instead...


    "So this is the difference a single choice can make?"


    A woman with the same face. One whose eyes were a bright green in contrast to her own deep red.


    Like staring at a distorted mirror.


    After the chaotic discussion and summary of events by Rudy- No. By the ''other'' Rudy.


    Not her Rudy.


    He had a simr face, but his presence, demeanor, and mannerisms were all different.


    Unlike her timid but courageous husband, that man radiated self-confidence and control.


    He made jokes and kept things light just like the Rudy that Sylphy remembered... But she could tell.


    There was a calm analysis in his gaze that her Rudy never had.


    ...But in any case, after that discussion, the group had scattered into small groups while that Rudy sorted out affairs on this side to send them back.


    Which was how Sylphy had ended up in this situation, doing chores around the house with that woman sharing her face following her around.


    Outside in the courtyard, Sylphy was doing someundry and washing some spare bedsheets for the guest rooms in case they decided to stay the night or longer.


    While she was doing that, the woman with her face stared at Sylphy a bit longer and frowned. "...It''s a bit ufortable."


    Sylphy frowned back at the woman and said, "I should say the same to you." She hung the bedsheet she finished washing onto a nearby clothesline and then stood up to properly examine the woman.


    The first immediate difference was their height.


    Sylphy had always been shorter than Rudy. Not only that, but she was smaller up ''there'' than Eris as well.


    It had been a bit of aplex for a while shortly after they married, but Sylphy got over it.


    But the woman... No, the other ''Sylphy''...


    Cold and austere. A woman who was roughly the same height as Rudy. One who was bigger than Sylphy both in stature and up there. Not only that, but a woman whose presence was different too.


    Was it the difference between a ''knight'' and a ''queen''?


    The other Rudy didn''t go into much detail about her counterpart''s past since their version of the Metastasis incident, but Sylphy had a feeling that woman''s life had been vastly different from her own.


    Just a casual nce at the woman''s appearance would be enough to tell the difference.


    Sylphy had her fair share of injuries working as Princess Ariel''s bodyguard. But for the most part, her time serving the princess hadn''t left any marks save for her white hair from mana exhaustion.


    Like Sylphy, that woman also looked to have also suffered mana exhaustion in the past, judging from her white hair.


    But unlike Sylphy, that woman was covered in scars. And scars that could be easily seen considering that she wore a sleeveless blue dress with a low-cut top.


    Faint lines across her arms, some thin, othersrge and jagged. Dots in some ces that could only be from fangs.


    Arge star-like wound over her heart... and one that wasrge enough to probably have a matching one on the back.


    There weren''t any scars on her face, but on her neck there was a clear red line that traced all around. Seemingly innocuous, but one that could only be from a razor sharp de or something simr.


    Paired with the fact that the woman''s body had clear muscr definition simr to Eris''s in the past...


    Sylphy stared at the woman and then said, "How are you so different from me?"


    That Rudy said he taught the other Sylphy magic when they were young. And he also said that they didn''t split apart like she and her Rudy did.


    So that Sylphy shouldn''t have worked as hard.


    She didn''t desperately try to learn magic and practice so that she could go together with Rudy to Ranoa Magic Academy. She didn''t work day and night so that Rudy''s struggles working as a private tutor wouldn''t be wasted.


    So then... how?


    That woman clicked her tongue and said, "I wish to know that as well. For a supposed knight, you are far weaker than you should be. Did you give up on everything to settle for being a trophy at his side?" She sighed and said, "How useless."


    Sylphy bristled and said, "I am not useless!"


    "Mm... If you say so." That woman nced at the pile ofundry and then snapped her fingers.


    A rush of warm wind and light. Shortly after, theundry flew up and started sorting themselves in the air beforending in a neat pile, freshlyundered.


    Sylphy froze and then red at the other woman.


    That woman tilted her head and said, "You seem angry."


    Sylphy grit her teeth and said, "Are you just trying to irritate me?"


    Ever since Sylphy had started doing chores, that woman had only followed and critiqued her. Snidements, rude remarks...


    And then to have the nerve to ask if Sylphy was angry...!


    No.


    Calm down, Sylphy.


    You''re a grown woman. Judging from how old Rudy seemed to be and the fact that Zenith, Lilia, and Paul are still young, that woman must still be young too.


    Be the more mature person. Just like you''ve always been.


    That woman ced a hand over her chest and muttered, "Was I this immature?"


    Sylphy growled and swung her arm, sending a st of water towards that woman''s face.


    That woman didn''t react. And the moment the water got near, it froze and shattered into crystal dust.


    Seeing that, the woman shook her head and said, "I guess I should apologize. Rudy will be mad if he thinks I started a fight for no reason."


    Sylphy narrowed her eyes and said, "So you have a reason to start a fight after all?"


    "No. It''s just..." The woman waved her hand a bit, trying to articte her words. And then she said, "...I''m trying to figure out why Rnd''s mother would settle for being a simple housewife. He mentioned that his mother was more of a stay-at-home mother, but I didn''t think she was this weak. Especially considering the powerful opponents that Rudy faces." She paused. "...Or faced, I suppose considering this is the future. A future? ...Something along those lines."


    Sylphy crossed her arms and said, "Weak this, weak that..." She clenched her hand against her arm and said, "Do you think I had a choice? If I had the chance, of course I would stand by Rudy''s side! But I couldn''t!"


    "But you could." That woman tilted her head and stared at Sylphy, as if trying to peer into her soul. "I can see it. You definitely have the same mana that I do... but it looks like you never trained it properly."


    Sylphy narrowed her eyes.


    Seeing that, the woman sighed and held up her hands. "I''m sorry. I really don''t mean to fight or make you mad. It''s just... strange." She paused and then muttered, "And I''m a bit jealous."


    "E-Eh?" Sylphy blinked and said, "Jealous? Of me?"


    That woman had everything Sylphy had wanted to have when Rudy was still alive.


    The height, the breasts, the ability...


    Sylphy was sure that if her Rudy was alive and met that woman, he would have fallen for her in no time. And he definitely would have made the first move too. That woman wouldn''t have had to resort to tricks to make him remember and fall in love like Sylphy had.


    But... that woman said she was jealous?


    A cold wind blew past before an ice chair formed behind that woman. She took a seat and then stared into Sylphy''s eyes before saying, "You''re lucky. Rnd..." She paused and then said, "I guess his real name is ''Sieg.''"


    Sylphy''s eyes widened and she said, "You know my son?"


    That woman... No. The other Sylphy waved her hand and formed another ice chair. But unlike the pure crystal chair she sat on, this chair had a fluffy white cushion that seemed like a cloud.


    Sylphy tilted her head.


    The other Sylphy shook her head and said, "Let''s start over." She smiled and said, "My name is Sylphiette Greyrat. Mm... It might be a bit confusing, so you can call me ''Fi.'' Would you please take a seat so we can talk?"


    Sylphy frowned. She couldn''t forget all the barbs and remarks that woman had said... but she seemed to be sincere about this.


    And Sylphy was definitely the more mature woman, so she decided to set that aside.


    Taking the chair, Sylphy dragged it closer to ''Fi'' and sat down.


    And then she instantly jumped up in surprise at feeling her bottom drenched in water.


    Sylphy narrowed her eyes.


    Fi giggled and said, "Sorry. I thought that you might be able to control that cloud... Here."


    The moisture vanished from Sylphy''s bottom.


    At the same time, the fluffy white cushion on the ice chair turned a bit more solid.


    Sylphy hesitated a bit, but she sat back down. When she did, it felt like a normal cushion. Not only that, but it was nice and cool too, something wee on a warm and sunny day like the one they had.


    "Better?"


    "...I suppose." Sylphy shifted in her seat and gingerly set her arm on her chair''s armrests.


    Contrary to what she thought, despite being made of ice, the chair was just cool to the touch instead of being freezing cold.


    She traced her fingers along it for a bit before saying, "How incredible..."


    Fi shook her head and said, "It''s nothing much. Rudy can do more amazing things than this."


    Sylphy nodded and said, "If he''s like my Rudy, I bet he can."


    A silence fell between them. A bit of an awkward one, but not tense like before.


    After a bit, Sylphy broke the silence first.


    She thought about asking how ''Fi'' knew Sieg. But in the end, she decided to ask something else first.


    "...Why are you jealous of me?" Sylphy frowned and stared at the woman who looked so much like her but was so different. Taller, bigger, stronger... She had everything Sylphycked, so why was she jealous?


    Fi let out a sad smile and said, "How could I not be jealous? Your Rudy chose you first."


    Sylphy froze. "...What?" She blinked and then said, "Rudy didn''t choose you?"


    Fi sighed.


    -R.M-


    A small magical researchb at the bottom of the Greyrat manor. One that Roxy''s youngest daughter, Lily, had taken over as her own privateb to work on various projects.


    At least, this world''s Roxy.


    Roxy herself still had yet to go on a proper date with Rudy, let alone take any steps to be intimate.


    Although she jokingly introduced herself as Roxy Greyrat, she anticipated that wouldn''te to pass until Rudy had finished a proper marriage ceremony for Eri, Sylphy, and Rika first.


    Eri was obvious. She and Rudy were (arguably) properly betrothed, so she would go first.


    Roxy would have personally argued that Sylphy should go first since she was Rudy''s first love, but her dear disciple was a man of his word. And he never promised Sylphy to marry her first.


    Of course, Sylphy would be second then to make up for that.


    As for that ''Rika'' woman... Although Roxy disliked it, Rika had made a valid argument about requiring at least a formal marriage in order to maintain the rule over Arcadia.


    And thus, Roxy would be the fourth andst.


    But that was fine.


    After all, she would be the st.'' Something that she made Rudy promise.


    So it was fine. And waiting a little for the children to go first was something a mature woman like herself could do.


    But speaking of children and a mature woman...


    Roxy took a look around theb and said, "It seems that you all have been quite busy."


    The other world''s Roxy... Other Roxy? Alter Roxy? Mini Roxy?


    ...Mini Roxy.


    Mini Roxy nodded and said, "Of course. Even if they are not the ones we know, we could not just leave Zenith and Lilia to suffer being separated from their family."


    Lara, Roxy''s (potential) eldest daughter nodded. After that, a faint blue mana pulse shed and Roxy heard Lara''s voice in her mind.


    *We couldn''t let both grandmas suffer again when we could help it.*


    Roxy nodded. "That makes sense. Although not the same, it is essentially a second chance."


    *Right.*


    Mini Roxy looked between Roxy and Lara and frowned. "...I still do not understand how both yourself and that Rudy can understand Lara."


    Lily, Mini Roxy''s daughter with the braided twin-tails, nodded and said, "Yeah! It''s supposed to be the Migurd race''s special ability!" She furrowed her brow and said, "Papa was smart and inherited the Lace Factor, but even he couldn''t figure out how to talk to Lara like that."


    Roxy shrugged and said, "I could exin it, but we would likely be here for the next week as I delve into the esoteric magical theory behind mana-matter and thought-energy conversions, as well as the structure of magical formations that ingrain artificial sensory input into physical sensory organs in order to induce mana synesthesia."


    Lily''s eyes widened and she ran around theb, looking for something. "W-Wait a minute! Big Mommy, wait until I can write notes before exining it!"


    Roxy blinked. "...Big Mommy?"


    Lara looked at Roxy and then sent out another telepathic message. *You''re Mommy, but bigger. So Big Mommy.*


    Mini Roxy furrowed her brow and said, "Are you talking with telepathy again, Lara?"


    "Ah." Lara blinked and said, "Sorry, Mother."


    "...It''s fine." Mini Roxy sighed and said, "I suppose it''s a dreame true to talk to your mother like that..." She crouched down and then started tracing symbols into the ground.


    Lara walked over and patted Mini Roxy on her shoulder. "It''s okay, Mother. I still love you even if the Bigger Mother from a different timeline is taller, bigger, and better at magic."


    "Kuh!" Mini Roxy flinched and then started to tear up.


    Roxy watched the mess unfold and then sighed. "Could you take this more seriously? I thought we were going to brainstorm ideas about timeline collisions as well as information about how to defeat Hitogami?"


    "Found it!" Lily ran back with a worn-out journal and pen. Opening it up, she looked at Roxy and said, "Could you repeat that again, Big Mommy?"


    Roxy sighed and said, "Just call me Roxy or Miss Migurdia." She wrinkled her nose and said, "Big Mommy..."


    It was cuteing from Lily. But it reminded her a bit too much of a few of the deviant Asuran Kingdom students who likeding to her office just to be punished...


    "...Yes. Anything but that, please."


    "Okay Miss Migurdia!" Lily immediately went along with it and said, "So, you were mentioning something about induced mana synesthesia... H-Hey!"


    Lara hooked the back of Lily''s shirt with her staff and started walking out the room.


    "W-What are you doing, Big Sis?! Let me go!"


    "You can askter. Let Mother and Big Mother talk first."


    "But the research! The innovation! This is the first time in history we can learn about magical innovations from another timeline! Imagine the progress! The magic and magic items we could make!"


    Lara dragged Lily away and said, "That doesn''t mean anything if the bad guy wins. So go calm down first."


    "But I don''t wanna- Mmph?!"


    Lara waved while dragging Lily away and said, "We will be back in a bit after my little sister has calmed down. Until then, please take your time to know each other, mothers."


    And then it was just Roxy and Mini Roxy together in theb.


    Roxy blinked and looked at Mini Roxy. "...Those two definitely do not take after me, and I *highly* doubt that any children of Rudy''s would act like that." She frowned and said, "Just how different was your Rudy?"


    Mini Roxy pulled over a stool and sighed. "They definitely inherited their father''s mischievous streak and personality."


    Roxy flicked her wrist, causing a silver blob to fly out from her sleeve. It rippled for a bit before coalescing into a squishy silver chair.


    "Hm?" Mini Roxy tilted her head, staring at the silver chair. "...Is that an elemental?"


    Roxy sat down and then nodded. "That''s correct. Mercy, say hello."


    The chair rippled for a bit before a silver tendril popped out. It stretched in the air a bit and then formed into a sign. That sign rippled again and then words started to appear.


    [Hello Mini Master Roxy! I''m Mercy, the Metal Spirit Lord! Nice to meet you!]


    Mini Roxy blinked and then said, "...Metal Spirit Lord?"


    Roxy waved her hand. "It''s a long story. But in any case..." She crossed her legs and said, "Before we discuss about Being W... Or ''Hitogami'' as he calls himself, we should rify the differences in our worlds. Specifically, beginning with Rudy."


    Mini Roxy nodded. "I agree. But before then, if you do not mind me asking..."


    "Yes?"


    Mini Roxy frowned and then said, "How did you get bigger?"


    "...Magic?"


    "I am asking seriously."


    Roxy blinked and said, "And I am replying seriously. Healing magic can be used to induce growth if applied with a proper vision in mind and meticulous targeting. Of course, it does not work over night. But with a carefully designed regime consisting of proper diet, exercise, chest massages... You seem confused."


    Mini Roxy slowly nodded. "I see." She sighed and then said, "Rudy must have been even more ridiculous in your world than here."


    "???"

 170 – The Silent Seven Stars, Seven Decades Past

    170 ¨C The Silent Seven Stars, Seven Decades Past


    It was a hypothesis that had been reinforced by attempts across the years.


    Nanahoshi Shizuka could not return home until a certain event hade to pass in the future.


    Since the time shest saw Rudeus, Perugius and his familiars had worked in tandem with her leftover research to attempt to resolve the issue preventing her teleportation device from operating.


    But the result was the same.


    An unknown force culled the spell before it could reachpletion. At the same time, the magic circle used cracked, splintered by an unknown force.


    And so Shizuka... ''Nanahoshi'' waited.


    So as to not contract another unknown disease and risk death, she remained frozen in time, waking up less and less across the years so as to preserve her life.


    And like that, the world moved on, time racing past in the blink of an eye.


    The acquaintences from the past grew old and vanished. Her friends slowly disappeared one by one as well while their children grew up.


    Zanoba, Cliff, Rudeus...


    One by one, they vanished. Even Rudeus, who Nanahoshi thought might be crazy enough to develop a magic spell to extend his life so as to not leave Sylphy and Roxy behind.


    But Nanahoshi endured.


    It was lonely, but in the end, this wasn''t her world.


    Her life was back on Earth and with Akito. Although it was sad to have all her friends vanish, that was going to be the case anyways once she left.


    So Nanahoshi waited.


    The only constant in her life was Perugius, who continued to search for a solution to the problem she and Rudeus faced on that day and gave her routine updates every time she awoke.


    That was the fate of the Silent Seven Stars. Slumbering in frozen time and waking only to find the world had passed her by while she waited for a miracle.


    ...No. It was an inevitability.


    Even though it seemed unlikely. Even though it seemed like she was just trusting in the future that might nevere to be like those people who put themselves in cryostasis.


    Nanahoshi waited. Rousing to take her medication and hear just how much more the world had changed since herst awakening. Living a life that seemed more dream than reality.


    That day, she roused from her slumber again. Like always, she slowly opened her eyes and took in the bleary room.


    A pristine marble room of pure white, reminiscent of a hospital room. Golden torches illuminated the surroundings whilerge windows showed the endless skies.


    A view that sometimes made Nanahoshi question if she hadn''t already died and gone to heaven.


    But after a few moments, the familiar gnawing hunger from the after effects of timestop started and she got a grip back on reality.


    Taking a deep breath, she blinked away the fatigue and turned around to look at Sukeakoto and thank him as usual.


    But the familiar masked man was missing.


    "...Huh?"


    Nanahoshi blinked and realized that it wasn''t just him missing.


    Miss Sylvaril was usually there with a fresh meal to help Nanahoshi and Sukeakoto recover. But the familiar golden-haired woman with her bird mask was nowhere to be seen.


    Instead...


    "So this is what Ste looked like before she was reincarnated, huh?"


    A voice that Nanahoshi could never forget. But at the same time, an intonation far too different from the one she remembered.


    Nanahoshi blinked and rubbed her eyes, wondering if she wasn''t dreaming.


    It was a vivid memory still fresh in her mind. Sylphy and Roxy showing up to tell her that Rudy had passed away. That they thought she should know, being thest of their friends still around.


    Nanahoshi remembered that. She remembered it clearly. The anguish and grief in their eyes that made it evident it wasn''t a prank or mistake.


    But... the man standing in front of her...


    Familiar light brown hair. Clear green eyes. An annoyingly handsome face that was wasted on a pervert like him. A fancy grey robe just like that guy had taken to wearing after he joined up with Orsted.


    Rudeus Greyrat. Rudy.


    The man who gave his life to pull herself, Akito, and their friend Seiji out of the way back on Earth and was reincarnated here.


    A dear friend to whom she entrusted her future.


    It was impossible for him to be there. He was dead. And even then, he wouldn''t have appeared like that, still looking like he did when they first met.


    And when that sliver of doubt appeared in her mind, Nanahoshi saw reality for what it was than what she thought.


    ...Yes. It wasn''t him. Although the man looked simr, he was too different. Too many subtle differences that added up to a clear divergence.


    Instead of a staff or the magical prosthetics, the man had a sword. The robe she thought was grey turned out to be a pure white cloak over a pristine white uniform with a fancy ''R'' embroidered over the chest.


    The familiar light brown hair turned out to be white as well, only appearing brown because of the torchlight. And those emerald eyes weren''t the familiar pure green, but were mixed with gold. Not only that, the pupils were wrong. Normal instead of the changed ones he should have from his Demon Eyes.


    Even so, Nanahoshi thought the man looked too familiar. Even if it was a descendant, that guy just looked way too close to Rudy. Like a palette swap in a game or something instead of a different person.


    "Ah." The Rudy look-alike shook his head and said, "Sorry. This is probably a shock, all things considered." He let out a warm smile and said, "I promise it''ll all make sense soon though. ...Probably."


    A calm and casual demeanor. But also one filled with confidence.


    Different from the somewhat awkward air that Rudy had.


    That realization was enough to finally draw Nanahoshi out of her thoughts and take stock of the situation.


    Specifically, the fact that her caretakers were gone and the one to greet her was someone who had the face of a dear friend long departed.


    Nanahoshi immediately raised her arm, priming the various magic rings she wore for self-protection. "Who are you? And how did you get here?"


    The man chuckled. "Who am I? Mm... That''s aplicated question to answer. The same with how I got here. If we went into detail, we''d probably be here all day. But to keep it brief..." He smiled and held out his hand. "My name is Rudeus Notus Greyrat, visitor from another world. Although it''s by chance, I''ve a lot to talk with you about, Shizuka-chan. Specifically..."


    After saying that, he shifted into Japanese and continued. "I want to confirm and revise a few of the hypotheses and theories you worked on with Rudeus and Perugius about returning to Earth. You see, I believe you''ve all missed a crucial piece of the puzzle... Not that I me you." Heughed and said, "It''s one that was left in a different box, after all."


    Nanahoshi stared at the man... At ''Rudeus Notus Greyrat.''


    The fact that he spoke Japanese gave him some credibility. The fact that he specifically mentioned ''Earth'' added more. But even then...


    No.


    Although this could potentially just be a fever-induced dream due to a re-up from the Mana Drain syndrome... especially since it made zero sense, she had to acknowledge even the slightest possibility it might not be.


    That this was reality, and that she was truly meeting a Rudeus from a parallel world who had somehow reached her in the distant future.


    Nanahoshi was hesitant.


    There were still too many odd points. Like how Perugius wasn''t here and how neither Sylvaril or Sukeakoto were here either.


    Not to mention the fact that this Rudeus was so *different*. His physique, demeanor, and mannerisms reeked of a person used to standing at the forefront of power.


    Simr to Orsted and Perugius.


    And Nanahoshi was concerned too about Hitogami. If this might be a ploy by turning her into one of his apostles using a vision of Rudy.


    But...


    *RUMBLE*


    A loud and roaring growl from Nanahoshi''s stomach.


    She froze and felt her face heat up. Clutching her belly, she desperately wished that she still had her familiar mask on to hide behind.


    Especially when that guy started tough.


    Nanahoshi red at the man.


    "Sorry." The man calling himself Rudeus Notus Greyrat chuckled and said, "You''re definitely her. A bit grouchier and more cautious, but there''s no mistaking it."


    Nanahoshi gave the man a nk stare and said, "...Pleased to meet you as well."


    The man... Nanahoshi decided call him ''Notus'' to distinguish him in her mind.


    Notus smiled and then waved his hand.


    The moment he did, a table materialized out of thin air, stocked with tters of fresh sashimi, rice balls, and a bowl of what couldn''t be anything else but miso soup.


    Not only that, but there were some soda cans, donuts, pizza slices...


    Nanahoshi blinked and then said, "...I must be dead." She slowly walked towards the table and picked up a soda can, tilting it back and forth. She cracked it open and watched it fizz before looking at the other food. "...That''s the only way this makes sense."


    Notusughed and said, "If that''s throwing you for a loop, just wait until we start talking multiverse theory."


    "What?"


    "Exactly."


    -N.S-


    Nanahoshi had a massive headache.


    On the bright side, she didn''t feel the usual gnawing ache inside her body from the Mana Drain syndrome.


    But on the down side... NOTHING. MADE. SENSE!


    Notus chuckled and reached out as if grabbing a cup. And the moment he did, a ss of what was definitely coffee from the smell, color, and steam emerged. "Don''t think about it too hard, Shizuka-chan. Your head might explode."


    Nanahoshi narrowed her eyes and said, "Don''t call me that. Just call me Nanahoshi."


    Notus chuckled and said, "Right, right. Bad habit."


    Nanahoshi felt her eye twitch and then took a breath to calm herself.


    They were still in the room where she usually woke up from her stopped time. That sterile white room at the bottom of the sky fortress.


    Except, now there were a pair of plush modern lounge chairs in the middle of the room, along with a small coffee table between them.


    After some prodding, it was where Nanahoshi and Notus were seated to have their in-depth conversation.


    Chic, modern furniture.


    Furniture that Notus had pulled out from thin air in a way that WAS IMPOSSIBLE.


    It defied thews of physics! You couldn''t create matter out of nothing like that! And even if you could convert mana into matter or magic it, there was NO WAY that he could do it instantaneously like that without a chant or magic formation!


    "Huh." Notus sipped on his coffee and said, "You two really are simr... Here." He reached out to set something down on the table in front of Nanahoshi.


    Nothing was in his hands, and nothing was on the table. But the moment that he stopped moving his hand, a steaming styrofoam cup of hot chocte appeared.


    Instantaneously. Not piece by piece, but wholesale as if it had been there the entire time.


    Notus smiled and said, "This should help you calm down."


    Nanahoshi gave Notus a nk stare and said, "I can''t have anything with mana in it."


    Notus tilted his head and said, "There isn''t any mana in that." He paused and said, "Well. It''s technically made *from* mana. But that mana''s been converted into raw energy and twisted back into atomic matter before rposited into corresponding molecules and materials."


    "...What?"


    Notus waved his hand and said, "Don''t worry about it. And besides, I don''t know what weird disease you have that''s preventing you from incorporating mana into your body, but as long as I''m here it can''t do anything to hurt you."


    Apletely self-centered and arrogant statement. One that felt like it had no basis whatsoever.


    ...But seeing as Perugius hadn''t showed up to stop him, that meant he was either an epted guest.


    ...Or strong enough to have defeated Perugius, which meant that Nanahoshi didn''t have a choice in the matter anyway.


    After a bit of thinking, Nanahoshi sighed and picked up the cup to take a sip.


    Even if it was poison, at least she could enjoy herself a bit first.


    A warm and familiar taste. Smooth chocte and just a bit of cream. Not too sweet, not too bitter.


    Nanahoshi didn''t drink much hot cocoa back on Earth, but if she did, she imagined this would be the perfect blend for her.


    ...Which was strange, considering that she had never met Notus before.


    And that was the other thing.


    Nanahoshi set her cup down and then frowned, staring at Notus. "You said you were from another world. I still haven''t decided whether or not to believe you on that... but assuming that''s the case... Is there a ''me'' in your world as well?"


    It was the only way that made sense.


    Notus kept referring to ''her'' and how ''she was simr.'' And in a close and familiar way too.


    Not like a friend.


    ...Did that version of her fall for him or something?


    And he had called her ''Shizuka-chan'' as well...


    Notus chuckled and said, "You could say that. She''s not ''you'' like you are now, but I definitely know a version of you very well."


    Nanahoshi''s frown deepened and she said, "Do you enjoy being purposefully cryptic?"


    Notus smiled and said, "A little. I can see why Pierre does it now."


    "Who''s Pierre?"


    "It''splicated. But in any case..." Notus held up his left hand and stared at his wrist. And the moment he did, a wrist watch popped into existence.


    Again, made zero sense. But Nanahoshi was starting to be numb to the fact that the man seemed to be breaking all the knownws of physic and magic.


    "Mm... we''re running out of time, so I''ll get to the point then." He looked at Nanahoshi and said, "To directly answer your question, yes. You''re my baby sister, actually, ''Shizuka-chan.''"


    Nanahoshi froze, mentally parsing thattest bit of information.


    She... was Rudy''s baby sister in another world?


    ...It was possible. She *did* hypothesize that there was a chance she had been reincarnated like Rudy, but simply died as an infant without gaining her bearings.


    But then again, she had her physical body here. And she hadn''t died... At least, she didn''t think she died?


    No, Rudy said that he saved them, and she remembered being pushed out of the way.


    But then...


    ...Was that ''Shizuka'' that Notus knew actually her?


    It would exin why the transportation circle failed. If her soul was split across time, then it was impossible for ''her'' to return to Earth.


    It would also exin why her body didn''t change. Perhaps it was the soul''s memory of the physical form causing a matching body to exist?


    And yet, that didn''t ount for the fact that she could get sick.


    But-


    "Okay. Definitely the same person... But you can rx, Shizuka-chan."


    Nanahoshi blinked, snapping out of her train of thoughts. And then she frowned and said, "What do you mean? If that''s true, then it changes everything."


    The reason why she couldn''t go home. The reason she was stuck in this ageless body. The reason why the future seemed to be changing the past...


    Notus shook his head and said, "I''m not sure what you''re thinking, but if it''s something along the lines of having your soul split, that''s wrong."


    "...And you would know this how?" Nanahoshi crossed her arms and said, "I''ve tolerated a lot, but unless you have concrete evidence on this, you will have to excuse my disbelief."


    Notus hummed and said, "I ''could'' show you, but my gut''s telling me that messing around in this time too much is gonna bite me in the butt. At least right now..." He rubbed his chin and said, "...I can tell you that my baby sister got properly reincarnated since she vividly remembers getting hit by a car and sttering. Well, she didn''t tell me that, but judging from the PTSD she has with blood and viscera stters, that''s probably the case."


    Nanahoshi paused to consider that. But then she shook her head and said, "Even then, it doesn''t eliminate the possibility."


    Rudy recalled saving them, and Nanahoshi recalled being pushed, but that was it. After that, she had found herself in this world.


    But there was definitely a small gap. It was possible that she had died and lost the memories due to trauma.


    "Mm..." Notus nodded and said, "True. Hm... what did Rudeus say to me again...? I think he mentioned a bit about the divergence between us too... Ah." He smacked his fist into his palm and said, "Right. You were saved by the ''me'' in this world before you got isekai''d- No, ''tripped'' into this world, right?"


    "...Yes?" Nanahoshi slowly nodded and said, "I have a question on what you mean when you said Rudeus spoke to you, but continue."


    "Well. That didn''t happen to my baby sister." He ced his hand on his chin to think and then said, "...I think she mentioned she had a fight with her boyfriend or something that day... Akito? Akihito? Something like that."


    Nanahoshi nodded.


    It was the same then. So-


    "But then he got mad and stomped off. At that time a truck ran past a red light, so she ran forward to push him away. As a result, she died while he lived."


    -Eh?


    That... wasn''t what happened?


    Nanahoshi remembered that she was the one who got mad, and then protected by Aki as the truck came. But... that version of her protected Aki?


    Notus tilted his head and said, "Judging by your expression, I think you believe me now?"


    Nanahoshi sighed and said, "Believe? No. But I''ll ept it as a usible exnation."


    "Great. Then let''s talk about parallel universes."


    "...I beg your pardon?"


    "Come on, we won''t be getting anywhere at this rate without that baseline. It won''t take long... And I also want to pick your brain a bit about theories. I''d ask my baby sister, but she''s still a toddler so her brain isn''t up to task even though her mind is. Oh, and we should probably talk about Hitogami too and the possibility of divine power crossing multiple dimensions as an extradimensional constant or phenomenon. Maybe souls as well..."

 171 – When you Wish Upon a Star – IV

    171 ¨C When you Wish Upon a Star ¨C IV


    A picture of the extended Greyrat family. On the left, Lilia and Zenith in either theirte forties or fifties. On the right, grown up versions of Norn and Aisha.


    Rudy in the back with his three wives in front of him. Roxy, Sylphy, and then Eris. Then beneath them, their children. Two from each wife.


    For Roxy, a pair of daughters with matching colored blue hair that took a lot after her instead of Rudy.


    For Sylphy, a son and daughter. Her son had green hair like Sylphy did in her youth paired with green eyes like Rudy. As for her daughter, she had Rudy''s brown hair but Sylphy''s red eyes.


    For Eris, there was also a son and daughter pair. A cool looking son sitting in the front with crimson hair like Eris and green eyes like Rudy. A cute daughter with crimson hair and a wide happy smile.


    Ste stared at the worn-out picture hanging on the wall and tilted her head. "So this is Onii-chan and everyone in the future, huh?"


    With everyone going out to do their own thing, Ste had taken it upon herself to do some exploring around the house and see the differences. And out of curiosity, she went to check the room that should have been Onii-chan''s in the house.


    Surprisingly, it still was. But it was also really different.


    Ste took another look around the room and frowned. "Was the Onii-chan here that different from Onii-chan?"


    It seemed like the Rudeus here was the sentimental sort...


    Well, considering the room was untouched despite him passing a long time ago, maybe it was Sylphy and Roxy that were the sentimental sort.


    But in any case...


    There was a room with a pillow made from treant materials. An eerily detailed figurine of mini Roxy that reminded Ste of those otaku figures back at home.


    A desk with various books and some prop-up picture frames of the kids in that first picture Ste looked at.


    Ste walked over to look at the picture frames and said, "Onii-chan here was really a Dad, wasn''t he?"


    It was just like a typical sryman''s room. Pictures of the kid, work documents, a few trinkets here and there...


    Nothing like Onii-chan''s room. This ce seemed like it had definitely been lived in and gone through a lot over time.


    But the room of Onii-chan back at home...


    Ste felt that a lot of it had to do with the fact that Onii-chan had an inventory magic to keep stuff with him, but Onii-chan''s room was really empty.


    Like here, there was a desk and some books. But a majority of the room was taken up by a really big andfy bed with a lot of pillows and super fluffy nkets.


    There was also a wall-length mirror and a big closet. But there weren''t any pictures or anything like here.


    Ste stared at a picture of Sylphy''s daughter in a wedding dress standing next to a young man who looked a lot like Cliff before shaking her head.


    "Maybe I should get Onii-chan to take more pictures..."


    She had heard that a lot of bad things happened to their family here too. And although Onii-chan made a pendant with a fake picture of them all together, a real family picture would be nice.


    Onii-chan with Eri nee-chan, Sylphy nee-chan, Roxy nee-chan. Rnd, Eos, and Ena. Rika nee-chan too since she and Onii-chan definitely had a thing even if they were trying to be professional about it.


    Norn nee-chan and Aisha nee-chan. Mom, Mama Lily, and that weirdo that was Dad.


    And her too.


    Everyone was back together now... At least, as soon as they headed back home. So it would be good to get a proper picture done...


    Especially before Onii-chan and his ero wives started getting kids.


    After all, that picture of the other Onii-chan''s family was already super cramped, so Onii-chan''s family picture was definitely going to be-


    "Wait."


    Ste paused and then went back to the picture, carefully taking a look at it. And then she went to the pictures on the table and looked through those as well. But...


    "...Where am I in the pictures?"


    She understood why Dad wasn''t in the pictures since he apparently died in this world earlier on, but...


    "Didn''t Lara call me Auntie Ste?" She mumbled to herself and then frowned.


    Mom and Mama Lily had been cagey about it too. And it was weird how the other Sylphy and Roxy had reacted to her when she showed up...


    "...Meh." Ste shrugged. "Onii-chan will exin it."


    Probably just some weird time travel things.


    And speaking of time travel things...


    Ste started rummaging through the books again and muttered, "If this Onii-chan is like Onii-chan, he probably has a journal too, right?"


    Onii-chan had mentioned starting one for his future kids and stuff, so if this Onii-chan was anything close to the same...


    "Not here." Ste sighed. "Of course. Onii-chan always puts it somewhere safe, so this Onii-chan would too... Wait." She paused and took a look around the room.


    Onii-chan was a cheat and had a secretpartment with him all the time. But since this Onii-chan was more normal, he probably would have kept it at home instead. Somewhere secret and safe. So...


    Ste narrowed her eyes, carefully scanning the room. At the same time, she said, "Can you tell me if there''s any secret room here, Wyn?"


    <I think you should just wait for your big brother instead of digging around... But yes. It''s in the wardrobe.>


    Ste blinked. "In the wardrobe?" She looked over to it and frowned. "...Really?"


    The wardrobe looked a lot smaller than the one that Onii-chan had back at their home. Just a small stand-up wardrobe that looked like it maybe held three or four suits.


    <Yes. The wardrobe. There''s a hidden area behind it. But I think you should stop snooping around, Ste. You might see things you''ll regret.>


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "I''ve seen so many pictures of Erofu nee-chan at this point that it doesn''t matter anymore." She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it up. After that, she tapped on the back wall before pushing it, causing the wall to swing open like a door.


    As Ste walked through, she said, "How bad could it-"


    She immediately shut her mouth.


    The space behind the wardrobe wasn''t very big. Just enough for a person to step inside and stand. It was just a small closet, really.


    But what was inside the closet...


    Anatomically correct figures of a mature Eri nee-chan and Sylphy nee-chan. One of a smaller Roxy nee-chan too.


    Folded pieces ofcy cloth that Ste prayed were just handkerchiefs and not what she thought they were.


    And then stering the walls...


    Ste felt her face heat up and she quickly backed out of the room, mming the wardrobe shut.


    <See?>


    "S-S-Shut up, Wyn!"


    Ste rubbed her face, trying her best to calm down.


    W-W-What the hell was wrong with this world''s Onii-chan?!


    Was he a pervert? No, he had to be a mega pervert with a secret ce like THAT.


    Onii-chan did it a lot with Erofu nee-chan and Eri nee-chan, but he definitely wasn''t like THAT.


    Was this world topsyturvy?


    The Sylphy nee-chan and Roxy nee-chan in this world didn''t seem as lewd as the ones Ste knew, so maybe the Onii-chan here made up for that...?


    No, maybe this Onii-chan wasn''t a reincarnator like her Onii-chan?


    Right. That had to be it.


    The Onii-chan here must have just taken a lot after Dad.


    After all, that guy was a creep who felt up his own granddaughter, so if an Onii-chan was born who took after him...


    ...Yeah. That made sense.


    Especially since he definitely seemed to be a loli-con since he married the Roxy nee-chan here who still looked like a high school student at best...


    <You should see the shrine in the basement then.>


    "Ew. Please, stop." Ste shook her head and shivered in disgust. "I''ll just be grateful that Onii-chan isn''t a perverted creep."


    She''d take the headache-inducing ultrapetent Onii-chan over the mega creep in disguise Onii-chan here, thank you very much.


    But in any case...


    Ste walked out of the room and shut the door behind her. After that, she looked around the house.


    It was empty.


    Ste could see Sylphy nee-chan and the other Sylphy nee-chan chatting outside, and she could see Roxy nee-chan''s mana along with some other mana emanating from the basement. But there wasn''t anyone actually in the main part of the house except for her.


    Dad had taken Mom and Mama Lily out for a walk, and Onii-chan still wasn''t back yet.


    Not only that, but Fai and Wata were hiding because they said they felt the spirits in the world staring at them. Leo was hiding too since the Leo of this world wanted to fight him whenever he poked his head out...


    Ste paused, realizing something. "Hey Wyn."


    <Yes?>


    Ste walked over to the main room and flopped down on the couch. After that, she frowned and said, "Howe you''re okay talking with me and helping me out like this when the others can''t?"


    Faint green light shimmered beside Ste before Wyn appeared.


    Unlike how she usually showed up, the wind elemental appeared as a mature woman with long green and gold hair, wearing a flowing green dress. Gently sitting next to Ste, she said, "That''s because I''m special. There''s only one of me in existence, even though there''s a lot of you and Lord Rudy."


    Ste tilted her head. "...What do you mean?"


    Wyn let out an enigmatic smile and then reached out to pat Ste''s head. "Don''t worry, Ste. That just means that I''m going to protect you no matter what."


    Ste pouted and said, "I''m really starting to hate people giving all these cryptic exnations and words, Wyn."


    Wynughed and said, "It''ll make sense eventually, Ste." She smiled and said, "For now... Just think of me like the hero''s guiding fairy."


    "...A guiding fairy who let the hero see THAT?"


    Wyn smiled and said, "I told you you might regret it, didn''t I?"


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever. Meanie."


    Wyn giggled.


    Ste sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Just when is Onii-chan-"


    The sound of shattering ss, followed by a howling wind.


    Ste jumped out of the sofa and instinctively flung a cushion at the noise.


    "Gah!" Rudy stumbled, the cushion sticking to his face. After taking a step back, the cushion floated away from him before hovering in mid-air. He eyed it and then tilted his head. "What the heck? A pillow cushion?"


    Ste blinked and then growled. "Onii-chan! You can''t just pop into ces like that!"


    Rudy looked over at Ste and then said, "Oooh. Yeah, sorry." He nced at the surroundings and said, "Must''ve miscalcted a bit. I meant to pop into the courtyard... Guess the time bubble I made caused space to be a bit wonky."


    "Time bubble?!"


    Rudy waved his hand and said, "Long story. Involves you, but you''ll probably faint if I exin it right now. Not to mention that I think the Being W from this world is catching onto us now and I''d rather not test the theory of whether or not I''m considered an extradimensional threat that will trigger an existential pruning mechanism by the world. Not that it''d really do anything to me, but-"


    Ste pinched her nose, staving off the budding headache. After that, she waved her hand and said, "Whatever! Just... Take us home already." She huffed and said, "I miss my room. And Norn nee-chan. And Aisha nee-chan. And everything making sense instead of this topsyturvy isekai or whatever."


    Rudy pulled out a pocket watch...


    Pocket watch? Eh? When did he carry a pocket watch?


    Rudy nced at his pocket watch and then fiddled with a few knobs on it. After that, he nodded and said, "Should be synchronized now. We''ll need to pop back hereter to get rid of Being W for good, but it doesn''t have to be right away, so-"


    "Please stop with the exposition and just take me home, Onii-chan."


    Rudyughed and then scooped Ste up in his arms.


    Ste blushed and said, "H-Hey! Put me down!"


    "Not when you''re being so cute, Imouto. Besides, I like this side of you more than your weird paranoid side I just had to deal with."


    "Huh?"


    "Don''t worry about it. Now..." Rudy took a look around and said, "I''d like to meet my extended family here and Orsted, but I think that might set off a few ripples that we shouldn''t, so let''s pop around to grab everyone, say goodbye to this world''s Sylphy, Roxy, and Roxy''s daughters, and then head home."


    "Finally!" Ste nodded and turned back to the couch. "Come on, Wyn! Let''s get going!"


    "Wyn?" Rudy paused and looked over at her.


    Wyn waved and said, "Nice to see you again, Lord Rudeus."


    Rudy narrowed his eyes and said, "...You aren''t some hidden child of mine that happened to be popping across timelines to save the world by safeguarding Ste, are you?"


    Wynughed and said, "No. But we''ve known each other for a while."


    Rudy blinked and tilted his head. And then his eyes lit up in recognition and he said, "Oooooh. I was wondering why a wind spirit looked so much like a dryad. You''re actually-"


    Ste tugged on Rudy and said, "Actually what?! Don''t you DARE do another cryptic innuendo or implication, Onii-chan!"


    Rudyughed and said, "We''ll talk when we get back."


    "You always say that! But you never exin anything! You and Pierre too! I''m supposed to be a hero, right? How''s a hero supposed to hero when everyone-"


    "Time''s running out, Ste. Hold on tight."


    "Keeps- W-Wait! ONII-CH-"

 172 – Things to Prepare Before Marriage – III

    172 ¨C Things to Prepare Before Marriage ¨C III


    After a quick farewell to everyone in the other timeline, I grabbed everyone and brought us back to our world.


    Although I wanted to meet a few more people, and while Sylphy and Roxy in that time were insisting we stay a bit longer, we had to get going.


    There wouldn''t be any problems in terms of time adjustments or paradoxes, since it was definitely a parallel timeline.


    But I had a feeling that the Being W in that timeline would notice something was wrong. And I would rather not find out if they would be able tomunicate or do a fusion dance to ruin my life.


    So, back home we went.


    I stepped through the portal first, opening the way for everyone else to follow behind me.


    It looked like night had fallen. However, it seemed like it wasn''t because of a time synchronization or ratio thing.


    I think it was more because I missed the target a bit on the warp back. First time operating parallel worlds, after all.


    Still, we made it to right timeline.


    ...I think. There wasn''t anyone outside, but I could see that there were people inside our house.


    Before I worried about it too much though, two white blurs emerged. Orsted and Pierre.


    I stepped forward, leaving the portal behind me open for the others toe through. After that, I waved at Orsted and Pierre. "Yo. Things all good on this end?"


    Orsted nodded. "After the disturbance, Pierre and I secured the perimeter." He frowned and said, "Though the fact that we could not follow you... Was it the intervention of Being W?"


    I shook my head. "No. I think it''s more like the world doesn''t permit two of the same people to be in the same ''time'' as each other."


    Pierre frowned. "Strange. I''m a unique existence, so I should be allowed..."


    "Maybe you''re too unique?"


    Pierre''s frown deepened.


    I shrugged.


    At that time, the portal behind me red up and then spat out Ste. She tumbled on the ground andnded with a flop. After that, she moaned and stood up, clutching her head. "You need to... warn me next time Onii- Blergh." She doubled over and then started spitting up rainbows.


    I cleaned up her mess and then conjured her a lemonade to calm her stomach down. "I''ll remember next time, Ste."


    Ste grumbled and then walked to the side and plopped herself down, sipping on the lemonade.


    I smiled and patted her head.


    The portal rippled and then Dad jumped out, doing a flip. Afternding on the ground, he pumped a fist in the air and said, "Hah! I knew I''d get the hang of it after one go!"


    The portal rippled again and then Mom and Mama Lily walked out after him.


    Dad looked back and said, "I''m surprised you two are fine though."


    Mom shrugged and raised her hand, showing off her bracelet. "Our lovely son has thought of everything."


    Mama Lily nodded and looked towards me, smiling.


    I coughed and averted my gaze.


    It seemed like there was some benefits to my edgy and paranoid past...


    Still wished I didn''t have to go through it, but we look at the silver linings here.


    There was a flurry of activity from inside the house, and then the doors flung open. Norn and Aisha rushed out, followed by Ena, Eos, and Rnd.


    Norn looked around and said, "Pierre, Mister Orsted, is Big Brother-" She froze.


    Mom saw her and froze as well before letting out a teary-eyed smile.


    "Mommy...?" Norn stepped forward, hesitant.


    Mom held out her arms.


    Norn started tearing up and then ran to give Mom a hug.


    Mom hugged her back and whispered, "You''re so big now..."


    Norn sniffed and said, "And Mommy''s the same..."


    I watched their interaction and let out a relieved sigh.


    A scene that ''Rudeus'' never managed to aplish.


    But something that I did.


    "Mother...?" Aisha stepped forward, staring at Mama Lily with wide eyes.


    Mama Lily looked at Aisha and then let out a deep sigh. She walked towards Aisha and ced her hand on Aisha''s cheek. With a sad smile, she said, "To think I missed the cute days of my little girl..."


    Aisha started tearing up and then hugged Mama Lily.


    I watched it with a warm smile and then moved off to the side.


    Orsted nced at me and then said, "It seems that everything resolved peacefully." He nodded and said, "I will take my leave. Once again, congrattions." After that, he walked off.


    Pierre nced after Orsted and then said, "I''ll be heading off too then." He waved and left.


    And then it was just me and my family.


    The portal rippled onest time and then Roxy, Eri, Sylphy, and Rika stepped out.


    Roxy looked around with an approving nod. "Although the timing is slightly off, it only took one jump. It appears that returning to our time is easier than departing for another..."


    Eri held her stomach and winced, her face a bit pale. "Says you. I still feel sick to my stomach..."


    Sylphyughed and said, "That''s because you''ve always had a weak stomach, Eri."


    Eri red at Sylphy and said, "Because of you. I still get nightmares from all the times you dragged me to fly through the air as a kid."


    Sylphy stuck her tongue out at Eri.


    Eri rolled her eyes.


    Rika adjusted her dress and said, "This has been a wonderful reunion. However, there is a multitude of tasks left to attend back in Arcadia." She nced over at me and nodded. "Enjoy your time with your family, Rudy."


    I frowned and said, "You can stick around if you want, Rika. There''s no need to-"


    "It''s fine." Rika started walking off towards the Anywhere Door back to Arcadia and said, "Best wishes."


    I sighed.


    Anothermotion urred in the house, and then Laws, Rose, Uncle Philip, and Aunt Hilda ran out. Then when they saw Mom and Mama Lily, the waterworks started.


    In short, it was a giant mess. Now to convince everyone to calm down, get some rest, and then get back together in the morning to sort things out...


    -L.IV''''-


    "It''s quite the gamble."


    Far above the Human Realm, a man with flowing silver hair and pure green eyes gazed down at the world from the moon.


    A die with only one visible face, suspended in an infinite void.


    Staring at that, the man muttered, "God does not y dice with the universe, even if the world appears to be a single die..."


    The man kicked off the ground and turned around to stare at the golden sun.


    "...But men do."


    The sun doesn''t move. Even so, it seemed as if ''something'' was peering back.


    The man pulled out a small pendant from his tattered white cloak and stared at the worn image inside. After a moment, he sighed and tucked it away. "All will fall into ce in time." Letting out a bitter smile, he said, "That''s just what you wanted, isn''t it, ******* *** *******?"


    Silence. Nothing but the infinite void of space.


    The man stared at the sun for a moment longer and then shook his head, sinking back to the moon. Afterwards, he walked off, vanishing into the void.

 173 – Side Quests

    173 ¨C Side Quests


    Wedding preparations wereplete.


    I had a house, I had rescued Mom and Mama Lily, I had introduced my future wives to my parents (and gotten scolded), and my sisters approved.


    The only thing left to do was to actually go through with the weddings.


    I had wanted to space the weddings out over the course of the next year, but my lovely fiancees weren''t as patient as I was.


    After seeing Eri try out wedding gowns, Sylphy demanded to get married soon too. And after that, Rika said that it was important to secure the line of session and a legitimate ''rule'' in Arcadia, so we had to get married soon as well. And then Roxy saw everyone else piling in on me and said she needed to get married soon too or else she wouldn''t be able to show her face in Sharia anymore since she got shown up by all these other women.


    Considering that she was marrying me after three other wives, I thought it would already be a big reputation hit. But Roxy said she could spin it as her being so attractive she won me over even after marrying three beautiful wives, so it was fine.


    ...Not sure how that logic checked out, but if Roxy said so, it must be the case.


    And so, due to my lovely fiancees, the next month''s schedule was set in stone.


    We had a week to prep for Eri¡¯s wedding reception. But then the week after that would be Sylphy¡¯s. The week after THAT we¡¯d have to take a trip to Arcadia for a grand reception for Rika.


    And then we¡¯de back the Sharia for the biggest wedding reception Roxy could n at the end of the month.


    Or in other words¡­


    Roxy was taking a whole month to prep for a giant wedding ceremony, Rika was taking three weeks for that, and I¡¯d be doing practically shotgun weddings with both Eri and Sylphy.


    I tried to talk them into rescheduling, but Eri was adamant about me putting a ring on her before any other crazy things could happen, and Sylphy wanted babies.


    Considering thetter was going to jump me anyway, I managed to talk her down into waiting at least a couple weeks to be legally married¡­


    And so it was that I was sitting at my desk in the magic academy doing logistics while my automated grading system sorted out my student¡¯s papers.


    Man, were magical runes useful whenbined with programming logic and self-learning modules...


    But let''s see. What else needs to be tied up before I tie the knot myself?


    Orsted and Pierre worked double time to sync up the world''s flow of time and clean up the distortions, so intercontinental travel was possible again.


    ...Kind of.


    There was still the issue about random overpowered monster all over the ce, but assuming that was resolved, people could travel between continents now.


    To make things easier, I had set up some Anywhere Doors for people to cross between continents, but that was just a temporary solution. Still, it worked, so we could call it mostly fixed.


    That aside, everyone I knew here in Sharia right not to prep for the weddings.


    Laws and Rose were here, having an emotional reunion with Grandma Rostelina and her new baby girl, Lunaria.


    ...That was still a weird thought. Grandma Rostelina... Then Lunaria would be my aunt?


    ...I guess it''s just about as weird for Ste and my daughters though.


    Anyway, Eri''s parents were here too. Uncle Philip and Aunt Hilda were hopping back and forth, chatting with Eri and prepping her for everything that came with being a bride.


    ...I was a bit worried about what exactly those ''preparations'' entailed considering I saw a few suspect materials being handed over by Aunt Hilda, but I decided it was better for my sanity to ignore that.


    Mom and Mama Lily were spoiling Norn, Aisha, and Ste silly. They were also getting to know Ena, Eos, and Rnd, dragging them all around to shop and explore Sharia every chance avable.


    The kids all seemed to enjoy it though, so it worked out nicely. Well, except for Ste, who seemed a bit exasperated at being treated like a baby by Mom and Mama Lily.


    Dad was on a time-out from both the bedroom and the house by Mom and Mama Lily. They both held him responsible for the fact that I was marrying not just multiple wives, but FOUR. Double what Dad did.


    Honestly, I thought it was a bit unfair. It wasn''t really Dad''s fault that I ended up with four fiancee. The n was always just Eri and Sylphy, but well... things got out of hand quickly.


    Dad seemed to be fine with it though.


    In fact, he told me that he was proud that I was not only taking proper responsibility and all, but that I had ''now surpassed him in the most important ways possible.''


    ...Actually, I think I was getting why Mom and Mama Lily put him on a time-out now...


    A clock ticked in the distance. Papers shuffled as the auto-grader flipped through the students'' essays.


    I didn''t really have much to do, so I twiddled my thumbs a bit and thought about what I should do for the weddings. Maybe start working on a proper wedding guest list?


    I didn''t have that many friends though...


    There was Ruijerd. Cliff... kinda counted. The White Knights definitely didn''t.


    ...Huh.


    Was this where the whole ''kings don''t have friends'' trope came from? It really is hard to make friends when you''re busy working on building a country, taking care of your family, and dealing with a homicidal god who''s perfectly fine with the world as coteral damage.


    ...Well, at least I had my wives?


    A knock echoed on my door. After that, Aisha''s voice called out. "Rui? May Ie in?"


    I waved my hand, opening my door. After that, I smiled and said, "Come in, Ai-chan. Always have time for my cute little sister."


    Aisha walked in and took a look around my office. She was wearing her academy uniform, so it looked like she just got off from sses-


    Wait, it was the weekend.


    ...Man. Time really was an illusion...


    Aisha walked over to stand in front of my desk and then nced at the self-grading papers. She frowned and said, "Are you even properly grading our work?"


    "Of course." I nodded and waved at the papers. "This is a self-contained system with learning modules that-" I paused and said, "On second thought, you probably wouldn''t understand."


    There was a lot of background context involving converting semantic knowledge, statistical analysis of sets of information, recursive feedback loops... Enough to cover a whole semester''s worth of content.


    I really didn''t feel up for it right now, especially considering the gleam I was seeing in Aisha''s eyes. Definitely would be here for hours if I dove too deep into it.


    Aisha puffed her chest out and said, "Try me! I''m the student council and honor student of Ranoa Magic Academy for a reason, Rui!"


    Iugh and reach out to pat her head. "Maybe some other time, Ai-chan."


    Aisha blushed and then stepped away. "Stop doing that! I''m not a kid anymore!"


    Iugh and say, "You and Ste react the same way. It''s kind of funny. But you know?" I let out a soft smile and said, "You, Ste, and Norn will always be my cute baby sisters, no matter how big you get."


    Aisha stared at me and then sighed.


    I frowned. "What?"


    Aisha shook her head and said, "You are going to be in so much trouble when you have daughters, Rui."


    "Probably." I got up from my chair and stretched. "But that''s a problem for future me. But anyway, what brings you here? And all dressed up too?"


    Aisha coughed and her ears turned red. "I... just want to spend a bit of time with my older brother." She nced at me and said, "I think I''m overdue for some time with you, right? And it isn''t fair that you spend so much time with Ste and Norn."


    I frowned and did a quick mental calction of the time I spent with my sisters.


    ...No, I definitely spent an equal amount with them all. But if Aisha is acting like this...


    "Ste''s been bragging again, hasn''t she?"


    My cute little imouto has been recently getting into the habit of flexing the fact that she grew up and spent her childhood with me to tease her big sisters.


    It seemed like it was finally starting to get a bit on Aisha''s nerves. And case in point...


    Aisha''s face turned a bright red and she said, "N-No! I-It''s not like I''m jealous or anything. I just..." She coughed and said, "I just want to know more about my big brother." She lowered her gaze and said, "Unlike Norn, I don''t remember much about those days..."


    Oh right.


    I took it for granted that Norn remembered, and Ste was Ste. But Aisha HAD been a toddler. Plus, unlike Norn, she didn''t have any of her parents to rely on. Or any of her family actually.


    I could see how that would take a toll on her memory at such a young age.


    Aisha looked up and said, "Is... it no good?"


    I walked around to pat her head and said, "Of course I''ll spend some time with you. I haven''t had a chance to catch up with my cute little sister either, you know?"


    Aisha stepped back and pouted, fixing her hair. "Could you stop that? It take a lot of time to fix up my hair, you know?"


    I smiled and held up my hands. "Fine, fine." After making sure my papers were set up... and that the system with my preprepared lectures was rendering my videos properly-


    Mm. Actually, could you call it ''rendering'' if it was more projecting a lifelike hologram that gave the illusion I was teaching a ss?


    Food for thought.


    But anyway, after making sure those systems and magic formations were good to go, I looked at Aisha and said, "So where does my cute little Ai-chan want to visit today?"


    Aisha let out a sigh and said, "Why are you so flirty all the time?"


    "Huh?"


    "Never mind." Aisha shook her head and said, "There''s this cafe I wanted to visit. It''s quiet and has good sandwiches and dessert."


    "Sounds good to me." I waved my hand in a sweeping gesture towards the door and said, "After you, Mdy."


    "...Really, way too flirty. No wonder you''re getting married four times in a row..." Aisha shook her head again and walked out of the office.


    I cleared my throat and followed after her.


    -ANG-


    Aisha felt weirdly shy today. Not embarrassed, but... hesitant? Reserved? It was hard for her to pin down that particr emotion.


    It was definitely different from the morbid embarrassment she had when Rui revealed that he was her ssroom teacher though. Heavens, the number of questions she had that day...


    Right now, Aisha and her older brother were walking down the main street towards themercial district. Aisha was taking the lead, as her older brother requested.


    But that was still strange to think about. ''Older Brother''... and the name ''Rui.''


    It was nostalgic.


    Aisha had to admit that calling Rudy by ''Rui'' or by ''Older Brother'' made her feel safe and content. It also reminded her a bit of summery fun days in the sun. But it was just the ''feeling.''


    Aisha still couldn''t remember anything from her childhood days. The earliest she remembered was clinging to her wand, which was apparently Rudy''s childhood wand, and following Roxy and Big Sister Sylphy around.


    She had always heard stories about her older brother from them, but they were so ridiculous that Aisha found it hard to believe. And yet, now that she had been around her older brother so long now...


    Aisha took a sneaky look back at Rudy with the corner of her eyes.


    An objectively handsome face. A rxed smile, but paired with a confident atmosphere. Intense green eyes that seemed to see through everything, but ones that were contrasted by messy and wispy light-brown hair.


    An objectively ''cool'' person.


    Aisha hated to admit it, but her older brother was even cooler than what Big Sis Sylphy and Roxy said in the past.


    "Is something wrong, Aisha?"


    Aisha flinched and then realized that Rudy had noticed her staring. She coughed and said, "N-No?"


    "Oh good." He reached up to fiddle with his hair and said, "I thought my hair dye malfunctioned or something."


    Aisha blinked. "Hair dye? ...Malfunction?"


    How does a hair dye malfunction?


    Doesn''t it just stain the hair...?


    Rudy nodded and said, "I''m sure you''ve seen it, but my hair is actually white from mana strain. When I''m out and about in public though, I usually dye it brown to make it look more natural." He paused and said, "...My hair IS still brown, right? Not some weird like red or something?"


    Aisha shook her head. "No. It''s still brown."


    "Good, good." Rudy nodded and said, "Then I guess you''re just sneaking nces because you''ve noticed how cool your big brother is?"


    Aisha puffed her cheeks and then spun around to kick Rudy''s leg. "Stop- OW!" She knelt down to massage her foot and red at Rudy. "What the heck are you made of?"


    Rudy chuckled and said, "Complicated question there, but nothing a person can''t achieve with enough knowledge and training." He reached over to heal Aisha and then said, "Still, you haven''t grown out of your little gremlin phase, huh?"


    Aisha hopped back to her feet and said, "I am not little, nor am I a gremlin. In fact, I will have you know that I''m only a few years away from bing a full-fledged adult!"


    Rudy paused and then let out a bitter smile. "That''s right. Ai-chan''s almost a proper adult now, huh? Just in the blink of an eye..."


    Aisha didn''t know how to respond to that. She felt a bit weird seeing Rudy''s expression, so she looked away and started walking again. "Anyway... we''re almost there."


    Rudy followed after Aisha and said, "Where exactly are we going anyway?"


    Aisha nced back and said, "<Lost Index>. Like I said, it''s a cafe with good sandwiches and desserts. It''s also pretty popr for the fact that it has stories you can check out and read while you''re there- Hm?" Aisha paused and then realized that Rudy had stopped following her at some point. "Rui?"


    Rudy had stopped in front of a non-descript shop with an unmarked sign. Staring at it, he frowned and said, "Hey Aisha. Do you know what kind of shop this is?"


    Aisha walked back and took a closer look. Seeing the unmarked signs, she nodded and said, "That should be a ve shop. Big Sis Roxy never let me visit one, but it should be where you can buy people you need."


    "...People you need, huh? That''s a pretty way of dressing that up." Rudy frowned and said, "Still, when the world''s like this, they''re still in business?"


    "Rui?" Aisha tilted her head. "...Is something wrong?"


    Rudy tapped his fingers on his leg and said, "I could ignore this. But since she reacted like that... And I also have the power to fix it too..."


    Aisha was starting to get a bad feeling. Her instincts were telling her something was about to go down. "Um. Big Brother, I think that we should-"


    Rudy patted Aisha''s shoulder and said, "Wait here. I''ll be right back- Ah. Actually." He snapped his fingers.


    Light flickered and bent. And then a beautiful female knight with short pink hair appeared. Sticking out two fingers to the side of her face, she winked and said, "Yahoo! It''s been a while, Master Rudy!"


    "E-Eh?"


    Wait. Did her older brother just casually summon a person from somewhere else? No, Mom exined that he visited a whole different timeline to rescue them, so it was within the scope of things.


    But still, that didn''t abide by any of thews of metastasis or summoning magic. There was barely any mana usage, no incantations, no fluctuations of any kind-


    "Keep an eye on Aisha here for a bit. I''m going to do some cleaning."


    Aisha blinked and then realized Rudy was already walking away. "W-Wait!" She ran after him and grabbed his hand. "I''ming too!"


    Rudy paused and then looked at her. "It''s going to be pretty disturbing in there. Dark stuff."


    Aisha frowned and said, "I told you, I''m not a child."


    Rudy stared at her for a while and then sighed. "Right. My cute baby sister has grown up..." He looked up at the sky, thinking. But then he nodded and said, "Fine. It might get ugly though." He looked back at Aisha and said, "By the way, do you know a bit about this city and kingdom?"


    Aisha blinked. "Yes...?"


    "Okay." Rudy nodded and said, "HYPOTHETICALLY... what would happen if I destroyed the ve industry here? Would the entire kingdom dere war against me?"


    "Obviously." Aisha frowned and said, "very is an integral part of the Ranoa Kingdom''s economy. Not to mention that it''s a core trade with the Asura Kingdom. In terms of morality, I can see the concern, but it would be more harm by removing the ie and negatively affecting the kingdom''s economy, wouldn''t it?"


    Rudy stared at Aisha for a long while.


    Aisha frowned, feeling a bit ufortable by the intense gaze.


    And then Rudy sighed. "Okay, I get what Dad was trying to teach me back then now. Really isn''t too good being too rational and objective..."


    "Huh?"


    Rudy cracked his neck and said, "Well, whatever. I can actually me this on Dad this time." He walked towards the building and said, "Keep an eye on Aisha, Astolfo."


    "Got it, Boss!"


    "W-Wait." Aisha looked at Rudy and then the shop and said, "You aren''t seriously-"


    *BANG*


    "OPEN UP! THIS IS THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE! WE''VE COME IN THE NAME OF MILIS TO DEMOLISH THIS OBSCENE PRACTICE!"


    Astolfo giggled, and then started cackling when a toon of knights in blue armor and the emblem of Milis appeared behind Rudy.


    "Oh dear heavens above." Aisha stared at Rudy marching in with the knights and said, "...He''s serious about this."


    Astolfo patted Aisha''s shoulder and said, "Boss is always serious! Now,e on! Let''s go see him being cool!"


    "W-Wait a minute, Miss Astolfo. I REALLY don''t think this is a good- AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

 174 – The Sisters’ Thoughts

    174 ¨C The Sisters¡¯ Thoughts


    A boutique clothing store in Sharia''smercial district.


    Standing in front of a mirror, Ste suddenly paused and then turned around, looking into the distance.


    Zenith noticed and frowned. "Is something wrong, Ste?"


    Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "Onii-chan is causing trouble again."


    Lilia frowned and said, "Women trouble, or regr trouble?"


    Ste paused. "...Regr trouble. I think."


    She couldn''t exactly see, hear, or sense what Onii-chan was doing.


    But Ste had been around him enough that she kind of had a sixth sense for when he was doing ridiculous stuff in the background again.


    "Ah." Lilia nodded and then said, "Then it''s fine."


    Ste sighed. "I just wish Onii-chan could be normal."


    Zenith tidied up Ste''s hair with a ribbon and then said, "Don''t we all... But anyway, what do you think, Ste?"


    Ste stared at her reflection.


    Thetest dress her mother had stuffed her into was a fluffy white dress with red frills.


    Ste had to admit that it looked cute and pretty. But it was also really mboyant. "Why can''t I just wear a normal white dress for Eri nee-chan''s wedding?"


    Zenith stepped back and gave Ste a once over before letting out a satisfied smile. After that, she said, "That''s because each dress has to be special for each of your big sisters... and also because your big brother gave us an unlimited budget." She ced her hand on her cheek and said, "Hah... it''s nice to be able to spend money like this again..."


    "Right..." Ste nced in the corner where Eos and Ena were twisting and turning, looking at their dresses. Then she looked at poor Rnd standing by the entrance and already lugging four bags of clothes...


    Eos eventually looked up and said, "G-Grandmother, is this fine...?" She lightly tugged on her form-fitting white dress and then fiddled with the red roses embroidered on her sleeves. "I-I think this is a bit too much..."


    Zenith walked over and said, "Be more confident, Eos!" She puffed out her chest and said, "You''ve inherited the best parts from me, so you''ve got to strut it! Just like your older sister there."


    Ena flinched and then crossed her arms over her chest. "I-I agree with Eos! T-This... People will stare..."


    Zenith pouted. "But you''re so cute!"


    Ste stepped away from the mirror and then said, "You shouldn''t force them, Mom. You don''t want them to hate you like Dad, right?"


    Zenith paused and then let out a long sigh. "But they''re so pretty..." She frowned and said, "I should give Rudy a piece of my mind. Having two beautiful daughters who don''t know how to dress up at all..."


    Lilia walked over to Eos to help her change out of the dress and said, "Well, neither of us truly dressed up in the past as well."


    "That''s because our dear husband didn''t know how to manage or make money very well." Zenith crossed her arms and said, "Rudy could drown the Asura Kingdom in riches, so his daughters should look the part."


    Ste muttered, "Onii-chan could definitely drown the Asura Kingdom in more ways than one..."


    If he was feeling biblical, a giant flood. If a bit pragmatic, crashing the economy by literally printing gold. Or if he was just a ''bit'' more of a proper harem cheat isekai protagonist...


    Yeah. Good thing Onii-chan had standards, morals, and values.


    Lilia helped Eos slip back into the Survey Corps uniform that Eos liked wearing. After that, Lilia looked over at Zenith and said, "Isn''t it better to raise children to appreciate what they have instead? Rudy seems to have done a wonderful job of that."


    Ste paused to think about it.


    ...Mama Lily made a good point. While Eos definitely trolled her subordinates a bit and Ena was a bit air-headed, they were far from being spoiled brats.


    And just thinking about herself, Ste remembered that Rudy made sure she never wanted for anything. Not only that, but he talked with her, kept her happy, sang lubies to keep her mood up...


    Huh. Onii-chan would make a great father, actually. No, he already was a great father. And a great father figure too.


    Better than Paul at least.


    ...Paul.


    Come to think of it, wasn''t there another guy named ''Paul'' that people hated in the Americanics or something too?


    Wait.


    Oh no. She was starting to do tangents like Onii-chan now.


    Focus, Ste!


    Ena smiled and said, "Daddy did a great job at that! And he also always gave us gifts when we wanted them and worked to get them! Like this!" She reached into thin air and then pulled out an ominous dark orb emitting ck light.


    Wait, ''ck light''?


    Ste blinked and then stared at the almost reality bending object Ena was holding.


    "Sis!" Eos snapped at Ena and said, "Put that away!"


    Ena frowned and said, "But I want to show it to Grandma..."


    Zenith stared at the orb, her eyes struggling to focus. "What... is that?"


    Ena let out a bright smile and said, "It''s the soul stone from a Greater Lich Daddy found in a distortion dungeon! I''ve always wanted to try and learn dark magic, so Daddy got it for me after I helped him save a lot of people!"


    Eos walked over and then grabbed the orb from Ena before shoving it into thin air.


    The space rippled for a bit, and then the orb vanished.


    Ena pouted. "What was that for?"


    Eos sighed and said, "Did you forget that Dad said it was dangerous to pull out around other people?"


    Ena blinked and then blushed. "Oops... Right. He did say that... teehee..."


    Ste bit her tongue.


    Must... not say joke...


    Zenith shook her head. "Rudy still gives out ridiculous gifts, I see..."


    Lilia paused and ced a hand on her chin. "That''s true. But... does this not mean that the weddings will bepletely and utterly oundish in scale?"


    Ste froze.


    That... was a good point.


    Ste could already imagine it.


    An altar floating in the infinite expanse of space. Phoenixes flying in the background to celebrate the marriage. And then stars exploding in supernovas for fireworks...


    Ste started to sweat and then said, "I-It won''t be that bad though, right? The bride ns the wedding ceremony. ...Right?"


    "Oh!" Zenith nodded and said, "That''s true!" Sheughed and patted Ste''s head. "My cute baby girl is smart too, isn''t she?"


    Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "I don''t like headpats!"


    "Huh?" Zenith tilted her head. "But I see Rudy give you headpats all the time."


    "Onii-chan is different!"


    Lilia smiled at the interaction. But then she tilted her head, as if suddenly remembering something. "...Eri''s wedding should be fairly standard. Perhaps a bit opulent due to Philip and Hilda being nobles. But Sylphy... Considering her ability with magic..."


    Ste could already see it.


    A castle made of ice. Sylphy, walking down with a dress woven from unmelting snow. Maybe even an artificially created biome...


    ...Ste was never going to have a normal life after this, was she?


    Zenith hummed and said, "It should be fine. Laws and Rose are more reasonable, so they should stop her. But..." She let out a sigh and said, "I''m worried about uster down the line. Ste here is still a baby-"


    "Am not!"


    "...But there''s only a few more years for Norn and Aisha. When that happens, Hubby and Rudy are going to go off the walls preparing for it..."


    Lilia nodded and then said, "It''s fortunate then that there''s still some time for us to convince Rudy. It will be a few years yet before any wedding proposals happen for any of the girls so-"


    "Um." Ena raised her hand. "...I''ve already been proposed too though?"


    Silence.


    Zenith slowly turned to look at her.


    Ste blinked and then remembered. "Oh yeah. Mister Cliff did do that..."


    And Onii-chan seemed to approve of the guy. But since the guy was practically the pope now too...


    ...


    The silence grew tense.


    But then an explosion erupted in the distance. Immediately after, Aisha''s voice cut through the air.


    "DID YOU HAVE TO BLOW IT UP!?"


    Rudy''s voice echoed after that and he said, "In the name of Saint Milis, we will punish you! Prepare yourselves, evildoers!"


    "RUDEUS NOTUS GREYRAT!"


    "That''s my name, Ai-chan! Don''t wear it out!"


    "YOU''RE MAKING ME INSANE!"


    "At least I''m not making you ''A'' saiyan!"


    "WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU SPEWING NOW?!"


    Ste facepalmed. "It''s always something. ALWAYS something..."


    -RNG-


    "It was fun at least, right?" I sipped on a fruit smoothie and smiled. "Nothing you''ll be forgetting any time soon."


    Aisha pouted and munched on her sandwich. "I hate you. And when were you going to say that you''re a bigshot in the Milis religion?" She set her sandwich down and wiped her mouth with a napkin. After that, she frowned and said, "Summoning the Order of the Temple like that... You''ve to be the cardinal or something equivalent, don''t you?"


    "Something like that, yeah."


    I had a feeling that she''d faint if I said people thought I was Milis reincarnated, so I kept it vague for now.


    We were in that cafe Aisha wanted to visit.


    It was a pretty neat ce. The building itself was pretty big, but there were lots of bookshelves, so the dining area paired with the ce you ordered food was pretty small and cozy.


    There also weren''t many people around... though that was probably because the main customers here were teenagers who ran off at the first exciting thing they saw.


    It seemed like Aisha was enjoying the peace and silence though after all that mayhem.


    It was a bit unfortunate, but I couldn''t just leave those ve markets around.


    Knowing Ste, my cute imouto would get herself into a boatload of trouble AGAIN after trying to y a hero.


    As the responsible older brother, I had to clear out the more dangerous side quests ahead of time for her.


    Plus, I had to emphasize to Aisha that certain things shouldn''t exist.


    very was one of those things.


    Interns were okay, but very and human(?) trafficking were no good. Themoditization of lives always ended up leading to the most corrupt of individuals hiding in the shadows and innocent people vanishing from the face of the world.


    Which reminded me that I needed to double check with Orsted about how exactly he cleaned up the Asura Kingdom.


    He was a guy who protected children and valued them, so he probably dealt with most of the scum there, but it was good to double check.


    Since I was practically head of a zealous religious organization, I might as well start resolving various humanitarian crises while I was at it. Double-down or go home were the only real options here, and I hadn''t lost yet when doubling down.


    ...Well, other than all the weddings and wives I''d be dealing with in the near future, but whether that was aplete loss or an absolute victory was still in the air.


    Aisha sighed and then stuck a straw into a milkshake she ordered, slowly stirring it.


    It was surprisingly modern. The cup was even made of a weird sticy material.


    Sufficiently advanced technology really was indistinguishable from magic... and vice-versa.


    Aisha took a sip from her milkshake and said, "Whatever. I suppose I''ll simply ept that my older brother is an over-the-top and shy force of nature." She sighed and said, "It will make it easier for me to fend off pushy suitors anyway."


    I narrowed my eyes. "...Pushy suitors?"


    Aisha nodded. "Yes. There are some annoying guys who-" She paused and then stared at me. "Rui. No."


    "What?" I grabbed my fruit smoothie and took a sip. "I''m not going to do anything to them. Just... asking some questions."


    Aisha pursed her lips and then said, "I''ll hate you forever."


    "Tch." I looked away and said, "You''re lucky I''m weak to guilt trips."


    Aisha rolled her eyes and said, "That''s about the only thing you''re weak to. But speaking of guilt trips..." She let out a sly smile and said, "When are we celebrating my birthday? Norn keeps gushing about how fun her party in Arcadia was."


    I started to sweat. "R-Right. Your birthday party..."


    I knew this woulde back to bite me.


    "Um... Can we wait until after I get married?"


    It would be GREAT to not have to think about nning a birthday party for my sister and all the weddings. Not to mention family nning, sorting out end-game ns against Being W... yeah.


    I would REALLY appreciate that.


    Aisha rolled her eyes and took another bite from her sandwich. After swallowing, she said, "That''s obvious. But don''t wait too long. It''s a bit sad, you know?" She lowered her gaze and said, "Out of all your sisters, I''m the only one who was left out. ...Is it because I''m just your half-sister?"


    I immediately get up to hug her and said, "That''s not true. No matter what anyone says, you''re still my precious baby sister, just like Norn and Ste."


    Aisha hugged me back and said, "Thanks, Rui. Then... can you make me a new wand with expensive and high-carat gemstones for me to use?"


    I stepped back in shock. And then I flicked Aisha''s head and said, "You sly young woman."


    "Ow!" Aisha rubbed her forehead and said, "I need a new wand! My old one is breaking anyway!" She reached into her uniform and pulled out a wand.


    ...I tried not to think about where she was keeping it and instead focused on the wand itself.


    It was familiar. A metal container at one end, holding six polished gems that looked like spiralingets in a cage. Originally, a beautiful soft blue mana was woven into it, carefully circting around tightly knit magic circles. But now, elegant violet mana had reced it, and the magic circles had been repatterned as well.


    That was the wand that Roxy made me for my fifth birthday. I forgot that Aisha had it.


    Aisha noticed my reaction and said, "You recognize it?"


    "Yeah." I nodded and said, "It''s the one Roxy made me for my fifth birthday..." I paused and said, "Did she or Sylphy never tell you about it?"


    Aisha paused to think and then said, "I think they might have at some point? But it''s been a while, so I forgot about it."


    ...How do you forget about something that belonged to your older brother?


    Was this karma?


    Was this because I didn''t pay as much attention to her when I was younger, despite being close to Mama Lily?


    From what the biography said, as well as the memories I had of Rudeus, Aisha practically worshipped him in an almost unhealthy way. Meanwhile, Norn wasn''t as close.


    Here, it was the opposite for me. Norn liked me a lot, but Aisha was a bit aloof and cold...


    "Rui?" Aisha tilted her head.


    I sighed and then put on a serious expression. "Don''t worry Aisha. I''ll make the best wand you could ever hope for. And I promise that I''ll be a better big brother from now on."


    Aisha''s ears turned red and she averted her gaze. "You don''t need to do that. It just makes it seem like I''m using you to get me things..."


    I pat her head and said, "That''s what big brothers are for. If there''s anything my cute baby sister needs, I''ll get it for you."


    Aisha huffed and said, "I''m not helpless, Rui. There''s no need for that."


    Iughed and said, "Of course. Ai-chan''s growing up to be a strong and independent young woman."


    Aisha rolled her eyes and said, "Sit back down and finish your smoothie already."


    I chuckled and did as she said.


    There''s afortable silence between us. But eventually, Aisha frowned and said, "Hey, Rui."


    I sensed the strange mood and said, "Yes, Aisha?"


    She looked up at me and frowned. Biting her lips, she hesitated for a moment. But then she said, "On that day. If you had to choose to save one of us. Me, Ste, or Norn... who would you choose?"


    "All of you."


    Aisha red at me and said, "Take it seriously!"


    "I am taking it seriously." I stared at her and said, "I wouldn''t choose. I''d save all of you."


    "But what if you couldn''t?" Aisha looked at me, her eyes filled with an unreadable emotion and said, "What if it HAD to be one of us? I know you had to save Ste, but if there hadn''t been anyone around and you were forced to choose..."


    ...Ah.


    I see where this is going.


    Aisha was a rational person, so she must have been thinking about it nonstop.


    ording to Sylphy and Roxy, her older brother was a genius and a miracle worker. But if so, howe he never showed up?


    And if he was so great, why did Sylphy and Roxy go through so much trouble?


    And then, when he finally did show up, howe Aisha was thest person? If he managed to connect with everyone else so easily, why did it take all this time until her older brother finally met her?


    I could see it. Although Aisha acted tough and was doing a good job rationalizing it, *because* she was rationalizing it, those facts were eating at her.


    Aisha looked away and then muttered, "Never mind. It was a dumb question."


    I nodded. "That really was a dumb question."


    Aisha looked back to re at me, her violet eyes starting to glimmer with unshed tears.


    Before she could say anything though, I said, "If I had to choose between saving just one of my baby sisters, I would have killed Death itself to drag you all back."


    Aisha froze, stunned at the sudden response. But then sheughed and wiped away her tears. "Idiot. You can''t kill Death."


    "Of course I can." I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms, smirking. "I''m Rudeus Notus Greyrat, the man who tied with Dragon God Orsted, almost murdered a god with a cheap shot, created a spell to turn back biological clocks, jumped through time, and transformed a barren wastnd with toxic mana to a paradise. There''s nothing I can''t do."


    Aisha snorted. Her eyes were still a bit red, but she had calmed down a bit. Looking at me, she said, "Alright then, Mister Miracle Worker. Then..." She hesitated and said, "Why didn''t youe visit? Or send any messages? Even Dad managed to send something. But you were fine and raising Ste¡­ so why?"


    I sighed. "That''s on me." I let out a bitter smile and said, "I took for granted how bright my baby sisters were... Especially you." I reached out with a conjured napkin to clean her tears away and said, "You were always a clever little girl, so I had faith that you would be fine with Roxy and Sylphy. Norn was a crybaby, and Ste was an actual baby, so I ended up focusing on them more." Pulling the napkin away, I reached out to pat Aisha''s head and said, "Sorry for not realizing that you needed your big brother too."


    Aisha was right.


    I had settled things in Arcadia pretty quickly. And I had the resources to scout out and send messages. After all, I found them the first time with the summoning magic acting like a scrying spell. A little bit more effort, and I could have reassured them.


    But I didn''t.


    I counted on the fact that Roxy and Sylphy were there for Aisha, and that Dad and Eri were there for Norn.


    Like a hypocrite, I expected Aisha to be fine because she was a genius and ced her at the back of my mind.


    It was unforgiveable, but it was something that I just had to ept, for better or worse.


    Aisha stared at me, her face nk.


    Seeing that, I was reminded of how Mama Lily looked when I first met her. Right when she just started working with us after leaving her terrible job in the Asura Kingdom.


    A knife of guilt, tearing at my heart.


    ...I couldn''t say anything.


    Eventually, Aisha looked away and muttered, "You''re not lying, right? It''s not because I''m your half-sister?"


    I dragged my chair around to her side of the table and then pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Of course not. You''re my sister, period. Even if the entire world turned against you, I''d be by your side- Wait." I narrowed my eyes and said, "Have there been people saying that to you? That you''re ''only a half-sister'' and that''s why your family isn''t there?"


    Aisha flinched.


    I narrowed my eyes. "...Don''t tell me there were people who said that you didn''t matter because you were the daughter of ''just a maid'' and not a real wife? Or that you were a bastard child?"


    Aisha quickly shook her head. "O-Of course not! A-And..." She looked away. "Even if there were, Big Sis Roxy handled it."


    I frowned, but then slowly nodded. "True. Master- I mean, Roxy has a worse temper than mine. She would have definitely taken care of those idiots. But..." I looked at Aisha and said, "Don''t listen to what anyone else says, Aisha. People will misunderstand, but youe from a loving family. Mama Lily and Mom are both my moms, and all my sisters are the same. You aren¡¯t some bastard daughter or a homewrecker. In fact..."


    I held out my hand and conjured a crystal.


    Aisha blinked and said, "What''s that for?"


    "I''m making a call. One second." The crystal vibrated for a bit, and then an image of Mom and Mama Lily appeared.


    "Oh my!" Mom gasped and said, "Since when can my bracelet do this, Rudy?"


    Mama Lily looked down at her wrist and said, "If these were always possible to be used asmunication devices, why did you not do so earlier?"


    I coughed and said, "It''s a recent development, alright? But anyway..." I nced at Aisha and said, "I''m here with Aisha and it seems like she''s got some misunderstandings about our family."


    Mama Lily frowned and then turned to look at Aisha. "What kind of misunderstandings?"


    Aisha paled and then looked at me. "It''s not really a big deal, Rui-"


    I interrupted her and said, "For some reason, Aisha thinks she was an ident, or born from a loveless marriage. And that Mama Lily was just a maid and not part of the family."


    Aisha pursed her lips.


    Mom''s eyes widened and she said, "That''s not true at all! Who said that?"


    Mama Lily frowned and said, "Yes." She looked at Aisha and put on a gentle expression. "Aisha. Who told you that?"


    Aisha averted her gaze and muttered, "It was an old family friend who said it though..."


    A family friend?


    I narrowed my eyes. "Who?"


    "Yeah!" Mom shouted and said, "Which fu-"


    "Not in public, Zenny."


    "Which ass- asinine idiot lied about that? All of our friends know that Lily''s part of the family!"


    Aisha hesitated and then said, "...But it''s a jinx if I say who it is. And I don''t want our family to break apart again..."


    "Jinx?" I scanned through my memories and then said, "...I see. It''s Gisu."


    Aisha looked at me and slowly nodded. "...Yeah."


    A crash echoed from Mom''s side, and then she started yelling. "That fucking monkey! I knew it! He was always a shady bastard!"


    "Zenny, calm-"


    "I AM CALM!"


    Ste''s voice suddenly chimed in from the background. "Hey! Howe I get yelled at if I curse, but when Mom does it-"


    "Quiet, Sweetie. Mommy''s NOT in a good mood."


    "Grk..."


    At that time, Ena''s voice echoed. "I hear Daddy. Is he there? Hi Daddy!"


    Eos sighed in the background and then said, "Sister, please read the room."


    Rnd''s voice echoed next and he said, "Wait. Did someone mention Gisu? That traitor?"


    Aisha froze, stunned by the sudden chaos on the other side of the line. Then she turned to look at me.


    I sighed.


    ...Fucking going to tear Being W a new one, I swear...

 175 – The Voice of Reason

    175 ¨C The Voice of Reason


    "...And that¡¯s why today has been aplete mess, Eri." Rudy let out a deep sigh and said, "Why can¡¯t I just have a normal and peaceful life enjoying it with family?"


    Eris resisted the urge tough. It would be mean, and she was practicing to be a good wife, so-


    "Pft."


    Rudy clicked his tongue. "d someone¡¯s finding it funny."


    Erisughed and shook her head. "Sorry, Rudy. It¡¯s just¡­" She leaned on the table with her elbows and stared at Rudy¡¯s face. "It¡¯s fun seeing you upset."


    Ever since Eris met him, Rudy had always been either confident to the level bordering on arrogance, superposed, or murderous. Whatever the case, it was ¡®mature¡¯ to the level where he sometimes didn¡¯t seem human. But it was good to see him act up like this every now and then.


    The two were sharing a private dinner together and unwinding after a long day.


    Well, more like Rudy grabbed Eris when he got home and imed to have a chat to talk about the wedding before anyone else could interrupt before warping them off somewhere private.


    Seriously. Rudy had nomon sense¡­


    Rudy chuckled and said, "I guess it¡¯s fair considering how much I used to tease you."


    Eris pointed a fork at Rudy and said, "How much you *still* tease me. Seriously, do you just like seeing me flustered?"


    "Of course! You¡¯re so cute when you¡¯re flustered, Eri. It¡¯s really adorable, you know?"


    Eris blushed and said, "S-Save the smooth talk for the altar!"


    Rudy chuckled again and said, "Fine, fine. But thanks for this, Eri." He let out a deep sigh and said, "You¡¯re the only one I can rant to who won¡¯t either go off the handle or do something crazy, you know?"


    Eris let out a sigh and said, "Yeah. SOMEHOW I¡¯m the only sane woman here¡­"


    How did it even end up like this anyway? Of all people, Eris would never have expected to be the voice of reason¡­


    Rudy coughed and then took a look around. He threw a few more barriers in ce and then leaned forward to whisper. "It¡¯s a secret, but that¡¯s actually why I want to marry you first. Please help keep the others in line."


    Eris blinked and then puffed her cheeks. "Is that something you should be asking your wife before we¡¯ve even gotten married?"


    Rudy nodded. "It''s shameless, I know. But I trust you a lot, Eri. Not to mention how you keep me grounded." He paused and said, "It¡¯s really weird how it worked but that way, but I¡¯m sure without you here I¡¯d have ended up going off the rails sooner orter. I mean, Sylphy¡¯s all up for me being a real Demon Lord, Rika wants me to be a proper Emperor, and we have my beloved master Roxy¡­ who I think has seriously lost a few marbles over the years."


    Erisughed and said, "NEVER say that to any of the others." She paused and said, "...Or let them know that you told me. I love you, Rudy, but I would rather not die before I even see our children."


    Rudy nodded, but then he paused and said, "...Our children?"


    Eris blushed and said, "W-What?" She looked away and said, "S-Sylphy¡¯s been talking about it, and I¡¯ve been thinking too, you know?"


    Rudy leaned forward with a sly smile and said, "Oh yeah? How many were you thinking?"


    Eris felt her face heat up more, but she looked Rudy in the eye and said, "...A son like you would be nice. But I¡¯d like a daughter I could spoil too¡­"


    Hearing the serious answer, Rudy blushed and cleared his throat. "I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll do my best¡­"


    The atmosphere turned awkward for a moment, but then Rudy cleared his throat and said, "Anyway! The wedding!" He looked at Eris and said, "I know that Uncle Philip-" He paused and said, "Well I guess it''s ''Father-inw'' now... Anyway, he said he wanted to handle everything, but is that fine?"


    Eris rolled her eyes. "Mom and Dad are being stubborn." She sighed and said, "They want to bring Grandpa along to visit and also do a grand banquet here in Sharia to show off our wealth. I told them I just want something small, but they won¡¯t listen... not to mention Dad''s trying to convince my older and younger brother toe as well."


    "Huh?" Rudy blinked and said, "You have brothers?"


    "Apparently." Eris frowned and said, "I was just reminded of that the other day. I actually forgot since I think I only saw them once when I was a kid."


    "Understandable. That was already... what, thirteen years ago for you now? Fifteen?" He paused and then said, "Wait. How old are you anyway, Eri?"


    Eris hummed and said, "Somewhere between sixteen and twenty. It was hard to keep track of time in a few distortion dungeons... Why?"


    Rudy rubbed his chin and said, "I owe you a birthday present too then. Ande to think of it, Sylphy too... Oh yeah. And Ste''s fifth birthday''sing up soon now too..."


    Erisughed.


    "What?"


    Eris shook her head and said, "Only you would be worried about making up for missed birthdays instead of all the other craziness going on in the world."


    "Well of course." Rudy nodded and said, "Family is the most important thing you know? Which is why I¡¯m really happy I get to spend time here with my lovely fiancee."


    Eris reached out to flick Rudy''s nose. "Keep the flirting down." She looked away, ignoring the heat rising in her cheeks. "We''ve been lucky so far, but we don''t want an ident before we get married, do we?"


    Rudy immediately put on a stone cold expression and said, "Correct. Absolutely not. Sylphy will go crazy if that happens."


    Eris shivered just thinking about that. "R-Right..."


    At that time, a knight in silver armor walked up to their table and delivered their food. Expertly prepared steak, diced potatoes, and lightly sauteed green beans.


    Eris grabbed her te of food and said, "I still can''t believe things like this can be found in the Magic Continent."


    Rudy turned up his nose and smiled. "Go ahead, praise me more."


    Eris rolled her eyes and grabbed her silverware. After pulling out a knife, she said, "I''m surprised at how much life''s changed though. And how much time has passed..." She cut into her steak and sighed. "I miss the days where we just ran around and had fun all morning long without worrying about anything."


    Rudy sighed and said, "I miss it too." He grabbed his own food and silverware before saying, "That''s why I can''t wait to fuck up ol'' Whitey and make him pay for all the pain and stress he''s caused us."


    Eris pointed at Rudy with her knife and said, "Make sure to bring me with you when you go."


    "Of course!" Rudy let out a cold smile and said, "I''m going to bring everyone with a grudge to punch that guy¡¯s face in. Maybe chain him up while we''re at it and crucifix him too. Ooh, or make him an eternal seal against humanity¡¯s sins or something."


    Eris blinked.


    Rudy paused and then looked away, ears turning red from embarrassment.


    Erisughed.


    Rudy cleared his throat and said, "I''ll leave you to surprise me with the wedding ceremony then, Eri. But let me know if you need anything."


    "Of course. And if you ever need to talk, Rudy, I''m always here for you." Eris smiled and said, "It''ll be a bit annoying dealing with Sylphy''s jealousy, but if it keeps you sane, that''s a sacrifice I''m willing to make."


    Rudy stared at Eris.


    After it stretched on for a while, Eris started feeling self-conscious and fidgeted in her seat. "W-What?"


    Rudy shook his head. "Nothing. Just... you¡¯ve changed a lot, you know? It¡¯s a bit cheesy to say it to, but I''m d we''re getting married. Not just because you''re beautiful, but because I can really depend on you." He paused and said, "Not that I can''t or don''t depend on Sylphy, Rika, and Roxy, but I think you''re the only one I can really rx with."


    Eris smiled, feeling her heart warm up a bit at the words. "That''s sweet, Rudy. But." Sheughed and said, "You need to stop bringing up other women when you''replimenting the one in front of you."


    Rudy blushed. "Sorry. I''ll try to do better about that. Still working out how to treat everyone... It¡¯s not fair to treat you all equally, but it¡¯s also not fair to y favorites. And even then, I love you all, but I don''t love you all in the same way¡­"


    Eris ate a piece of her steak and then said, "Isn''t it fine just to make the woman you''re with feel special?" She set her knife down and then smiled. "Like today. I''m really happy that you took me out for a date like this. I know I''ll be sharing you, but at least for now you''re mine... so that''s fine. Right?"


    Rudy stared at Eris, his golden eyes wide.


    Eris felt her cheeks burning and then looked away. "W-What? I just-"


    Before Eris could finish, Rudy leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.


    Eris panicked and shoved him back. "W-W-What was that for!?"


    Rudyughed and said, "I couldn''t resist. You''re just so lovably adorable right now, Eri."


    Eris huffed and said, "Eat your damned food already, Rudy."


    Rudy smiled and then sat back down, cutting up his steak.


    Eris looked over and said, "So what''s your ns now then? It''s clear that bastard is making moves now, so are we doing anything to stop him?"


    Rudy munched on a chunk of steak and then said, "I''m leaving that to Pierre and Orsted right now. They''re the experts in fixing both distortions and rooting out any hidden cards that guy has. From what they told me though, it should be all done in a year. After that, we''ll drop the ball in that bastard''s court and see how he handles it."


    Eris nodded. "That makes sense. But... um..."


    "Hm? What is it, Eri?"


    Eris blushed and said, "I-If it''s a year... could you wait a bit longer?" She looked at Rudy and then looked away. "I''d like you to be around for our first child to be born..."


    Rudy froze.


    Eris noticed and looked at him. "Rudy?"


    Without a word, he rigidly got up and then walked around the table towards Eris.


    Eris frowned and said, "What are you doing- EEEK!"


    Rudy pulled Eris into a tight hug and said, "Oh my GOD. You''re so CUTE right now! It can''t be legal to be this cute!"


    Eris squirmed and said, "L-Let go of me! Stop that! Pervert!"


    Rudy shook his head and said, "This isn''t lust, this is pure, wholesome love! Since when is my hot-headed fiancee so sweet?"


    Eris felt like her face was on fire. But she realized she couldn''t get free, so she just leaned against Rudy''s chest and said, "Idiot! Dummy! Blockhead! I hate you! Let go already!"


    Rudy shook his head and said, "Just a bit more. My heart is so warm and fuzzy right now."


    Eris felt like she was going to melt from the embarrassment. But eventually, her torment was over.


    Rudy let out a content sigh and walked back to his seat.


    Eris felt dizzy. ring at Rudy, she said, "It''s not fair for you to do that, Rudy." She stared at his face, saw the lovingly tender gaze he was giving her, and then looked away. "...No girl has a chance when you do a sneak attack like that..."


    Rudy gave a serious nod and said, "Ipletely understand. That''s why I''m trusting you to keep me on the straight and narrow."


    Eris blinked. "Me? Not Sylphy?"


    Rudyughed. "I would rely on Sylphy, but she''s a bit... trigger happy."


    Eris paused, remembering how Sylphy reacted to the Demon Lord back in the Magic Continent. "...True."


    Rudy nced at his wrist, looking at a watch that suddenly materialized. "Anyway, food." He looked up and said, "People will probably start getting upset if we take too much longer, so let''s finish up." After that, he started eating.


    Eris watched him for a bit, and then realized that she felt warm and fuzzy.


    ...Ah. Love was like this, wasn''t it? Messing around with each other, but supporting each other too...


    Eris let out a warm smile and then started eating her food as well.

 176 – Otherworldly Future Visitor

    176 ¨C Otherworldly Future Visitor


    The Magic City of Sharia was bustling with activity. Rumors of the Church of Milis intervening in the ve trade quickly spread, fanned by those who were both freed and given the resources to return to society.


    There were also rumors of a quickly growing poption of devout believers in the Milis religion... though quite a few of them praised ''Lord Rudras'' in the same breath as ''Saint Milis''...


    The Greyrat family was busy as well, preparing for uing weddings. The brides-to-be and their family were deep in wedding reception and wedding venue nning. The groom¡¯s family was busy prepping unique attire for each wedding as well as looking for gifts, spending most of the day shopping using said groom¡¯s personal funds.


    As for the groom himself¡­


    Well, he focused on his job as the sole professor of the Ranoa Magic Academy.


    It would be a lie if he said he didn''t regret taking the position considering the amount of sheer paperwork he had to handle when doing the work of over ten different professors.


    Fortunately, magic was everything, and he managed to automate a system to sort it all out.


    ...It totally wasn''t inspired by the old days when a substitute teacher would roll in an old projector and y a movie for the ss. Definitely not.


    But regardless, time marched on, and soon it was the day before Eri''s wedding ceremony.


    Since all the weddings were timed to be on thest day of the week, with any pre-wedding celebrations and the ceremony itself thus on the weekend, that meant that Rudy was free.


    Though everyone else was busy makingst minute arrangements and logistics nning, Rudy was left to his own devices.


    ...Probably because everyone was worried he would cause things to get out of hand.


    Rudy didn''t see how. He was a perfectly reasonable person, and he also wasn''t going to ruin his lovely wife''s special day for his own pride.


    But whatever. Since he was free, he was spending the day taking a stroll around Sharia. It was going to be his second (Third? Fourth?) home in the future, so he figured that he would map it out.


    The residential district, the entertainment district, and then themercial district.


    Rudy took his time walking around and just unwinding for the first in a while. And then someone called out to him. And in Japanese.


    "Excuse me, Sir. Are you Mister Rudeus?"


    Rudeus paused and looked towards the speaker.


    It was a young man. He had an unfamiliar face, but from the ck hair, clear Japanese facial features, and even polite Japanese mannerisms... plus recent context clues, Rudy had a good handle on the guy''s identity.


    Smiling, Rudy turned towards the young man and smiled. Speaking in Japanese, he said, "That''s me. And I guess you must be Shizuka''s ''friend'' from the future. Akihito or something, right?"


    The young man nced at his left wrist, looking at a watch. After that, he let out a relieved smile and looked back at Rudy. "Yes. I''m Akito. Shinohara Akito." He let out a deep sigh after saying that and said, "You''re a difficult person to track down, Mister Rudeus..."


    Rudyughed. "Well, I''ve been busy."


    -RNG-


    Shinohara Akito.


    This guy was apparently the lynchpin behind all the crazy time shenanigans that involved ''Rudeus Greyrat.''


    That was enough to be curious about the guy, especially since he still hadn''t shown up even after Rudeus died in that other timeline.


    But what interested me more was that this guy was Ste''s- No, "Shizuka''s" boyfriend.


    Slightly messy hair, a confident but also somewhat awkward vibe... He was wearing a ck zer and jeans which surprisingly didn¡¯t stick out much in this city because of the academy. Still, it was clearly a Japanese high school uniform instead of the one at Ranoa Magic Academy.


    There was no doubts about his identity. The timing was a bit strange, but assumingplex time shenanigans involving an alternate version of my cute but hyper-inquisitive and smart baby sister, I could believe it.


    We were walking together around the city now, just strolling and chatting. Since the city was bustling with activity these days, we didn''t stick out much just chatting.


    I did ce a few magic formations up so that people would hear our talk as random chatter, but overall, everything was fine.


    Standing beside me, Akito let out a sigh of relief and said, "I was getting a bit worried. Shizuka said there¡¯d be plenty of time, but we¡¯re running pretty close¡­"


    "I''m assuming you didn''t just drop in then?"


    Akito shook his head. "I''ve been in this world for a while now trying to find you after checking certain things." He let out a sigh and said, "It''s been hard. Thankfully, Mister Orsted has been helping out a lot."


    He has? But he hasn''t told me anything...


    Wait.


    No, that makes sense.


    Orsted was a serious guy, so he probably wanted me to focus on getting ready for my weddings.


    I should get him a nice gift for that. He looked like a tough guy, but maybe he liked sweets... I should ask him next time I see him.


    But anyway.


    I looked back at Akito and said, "So what''s the message then? Since Shizuka went out of her way to send you here, I''m guessing it''s serious?"


    "Right!" Akito smacked his fist into his palm and said, "I almost forgot. One second..." He fiddled with his watch for a bit, and then a folded piece of paper popped out. "Here it is." He handed it over and said, "I don''t understand anything, but Shizuka said you would?"


    I grabbed the paper and read it.


    Like Akito said, it was from Shizuka. And while there was a lot of information, when ignoring theplex mathematical proofs and summarizing the conclusions...


    Basically, the hypothesis about twisted and ovepping parallel timelines I had was practically 99% confirmed.


    My timeline, the future Rudeus''s timeline, and the other timeline we visited were twisting into each other while still trying to run parallel courses of history.


    There was a ''loop'' in each timeline, but since everything was so tangled, it was also staggering said loops, causing a lot of weird anomalies. Not only that, but there was a master loop epassing all the timelines.


    To resolve that loop, we had to split the timelines and eliminate the cause of each loop.


    For the future Rudeus'' timeline, the loop would end when my timeline and the other timeline was cleanly severed.


    As for how to sever said timelines...


    Shizuka wasn''t sure, but she hypothesized that we had to confine Hitogami to one timeline, either mine or hers.


    But we also had to clear up the loop conditions too in each timeline.


    For hers, she was sure that it was keeping Akito alive and taking care of Hitogami. Unfortunately, that, and I quote, "blockhead" was as fragile as a bubble ording to Orsted and was prone to dying.


    That was why she sent him over to my timeline, since I was ridiculous enough to keep the man alive.


    As for my timeline... she said I would know better about the exact conditions, but it definitely wasn''t the same as hers.


    On the surface, it seemed like Shizuka left me with all the hard work.


    But I pretty much knew the cause of the potential ''loop'' here already. I mean, it was pretty simple.


    Setting Orsted aside, the person who would forcibly rewind time... and the person who had done that once already...


    Was me.


    I mean, that was obvious considering all the ''Alter'' versions of me running around.


    To stop the loop here, I just had to murder Being W and make sure my family was safe. If I did that, I wouldn''t flip the table and do a hard reset by trying to rally against the heavens.


    In short, kill god, save the girls, live happy.


    Easy enough, right?


    Akito looked over and frowned. "...Is itplicated?"


    I tucked the paper away in a pocket of folded space. "Not really. Just gotta keep you from dying and kill god. Easy."


    Akito let out a relieved sigh. "That''s good- Wait. Keep me from dying?"


    "Yeah." I chuckled and said, "Shizuka said you''re as fragile as a bubble. Apparently, you can die at the drop of a hat."


    Akito paled. "Is... Is that why all those crazy things kept happening to me? Like the random falling meteorite? Or the sudden copsing ground? And the ss shard in my drink...?"


    "...Okay, first off." I held out my hand and conjured a bracelet.


    Weave a boatload of protection spells, good luck blessings, bad luck blockers, Anti-Being W magic formations, offensive spell programs, defensive spell programs, passive homeostasis healing spells...


    And good to go.


    I tossed the bracelet over to Akito and said, "Put that on and you''ll be fine."


    Akito blinked and then shook his head. "I-I can''t ept something like this!" He looked at the glittering gold bracelet and said, "This is pure gold, isn''t it?"


    "Something like that. But I''d rather you not go dying on me while you''re my guest here."


    Especially since Ste would freak out if she found out her ex was both here and then randomly dropped dead.


    ...Wait, was this guy her ex?


    I don''t think I ever asked her directly about it since it was extremely traumatic...


    ...Meh, I''d find out when she reacted to him.


    Akito slowly nodded and said, "Okay then, Mister Rudeus." He snapped the bracelet open and then mped it over his right arm. The moment he did, the bracelet shimmered and dissolved. "E-Eh?"


    "Don''t worry about it. Intended design feature."


    Akito blinked and then slowly nodded. "Okay. Right, isekai."


    "So." Since that guy was safe as he could be now, I crossed my arms and said, "Anything you want to do in particr?"


    Akito shook his head. "I''ve checked the things Shizuka wanted me to check, and I don''t really have anything to do... But if you''re serious about the killing god thing, I can help!"


    I blinked. "...What? How?"


    Akito''s ears turned red and he coughed. "W-Well, okay. Not directly, but I''ve read a lot of manga and yed a lot of games! Shizuka said I should be able to help you find a loophole! Plus, you''re a ridiculous cheat character who got isekai''d, so if we work together and go through all the stuff I''ve read, *something* should work, right?"


    ...Huh. A guy who looked like a ''normie'' but was a die-hard otaku.


    Wait. ''Cheat character?''


    I frowned and said, "Just to confirm, by Shizuka, you don''t mean Ste, right?"


    Akito blinked. "Sate? Like the Witch of Envy from Re: Z*ro?"


    "Re: Z*ro?"


    "Yeah." Akito nodded and said, "It''s a web novel about a guy who gets sent to another world and then has the ability to go back in time on his death. There''re a few hints that it might not really be going back in time though. And the female lead is this girl with silver hair. She has a floating white cat that''s actually a primordial ice spirit or something, but she''smonly mistaken for Sate, the Witch of Envy who''s like a taboo and super evildy who''s probably the big bad. The web novel''s not very far along yet, but it''s super cool!"


    "I... see."


    That guy just said a whole paragraph in a single breath.


    Definitely diehard otaku. But that aside...


    It was an interesting concept.


    A bit too many parallels for my liking, though. Especially the part about the female lead.


    Floating white cat that''s secretly a primordial ice spirit owned by a girl mistaken for ''Sate'' who is a ''Witch of Envy''...


    ...Mm. Let''s not think about the world entirely in terms of anime, manga, and light novels.


    Akito paused and then turned a bright red. He coughed and said, "Sorry about the rant..."


    "No, no. It''s fine." Iughed and said, "Don''t get me started about the moon."


    "The moon? You mean Type-"


    "We don''t talk about that here. Now." I patted the guy''s shoulder and said, "Let''s get you a ce to live. There''s been a few recent evictees and evacuees in town, so we can probably get you a ce for cheap..."

 177 – The Eccentric Craftsman

    177 ¨C The entric Craftsman


    At themercial district of Sharia, a certain fire spirit and a mind-reading miko were stuffing their faces with sweets.


    Ste''s eye twitched as she watched them and then said, "Do you two have to do that at EVERY shop we go to?"


    Fai swallowed a powdered donut and then said, "But the food tastes soooo good!"


    Miko took a bite from a funnel cake and nodded. "It''s delicious!"


    Ste let out a deep sigh.


    Since it was the day before Onii-chan''s wedding with Eri nee-chan, the house was busy being prepped, and she had been shooed out.


    Ste wanted to go hang out with Onii-chan, but he vanished somewhere. Because of that, she tried to get someone else. But literally the only person avable was Miko.


    Which was fine. Ste considered Miko a good friend. But...


    ...She didn''t think Miko was such a ''gourmet.''


    Ste frowned and said, "Aren''t you worried you''ll get fat, Miko? Fai is fine since she''s a spirit, but you..."


    Miko brushed off her hands after finishing hertest snack and smiled. "It''s okay!" She stuck up her arm and flexed her muscles. "I''ve been training with Norn, so I''m burning all the sugar! Besides!" She lowered her arm and proudly buffed out her chest. "Since I started training, the fat''s been going somewhere else instead!"


    Ste clicked her tongue.


    Mikoughed.


    Ste shook her head and said, "Whatever." She started walking along the street again, adjusting her backpack as she did.


    Leo and Wyn were busy doing some secret ''work'' together to prepare for the wedding, so the only spirit friends with Ste right now were Fai and Wata.


    As for Wata...


    "Cheer up, Ste!" The cat spirit hovered beside Ste in a transparent form, keeping guard. "I''m sure you''ll get big one day too!"


    ...He just didn''t have any tact.


    Ste sighed. "Don''t need to rub it in."


    "H-Huh? Did I say something wrong...?"


    Ste shook her head and then took a look around.


    Fai and Miko were walking behind her, but they also stuck close. There were a lot more people around than usual in the city, so it seemed like the two were worried about getting lost.


    Ste hoped the people weren''t all here for Onii-chan''s wedding though. Uncle Philip and Auntie Hilda did mention they wanted to go big, but Eri also said she talked them down...


    No, this was probably something else. Ande to think of it, Onii-chan raided a bunch of ve markets the other day...


    Spoilsport.


    How was Ste supposed to be a hero when Onii-chan kept doing all the side quests before her?


    Wata floated to sit on Ste''s shoulder and said, "It''s probably better that way, Ste. Miss Zenith will be mad if you do something reckless again. Remember how she reacted by you trying to cook?"


    Ste flinched. "R-Right..."


    The Hug Monster...


    Norn had warned about it, but Ste didn''t believe it.


    Then she found out firsthand after healing a cut from trying to peel a potato.


    The relieved sigh, scolding, and then the following suffocating embrace by Mama Zenith...


    Ste shuddered.


    Miko walked over to Ste''s side and said, "What do you want to do now, Ste?"


    Fai walked over to Ste''s other side and said, "Yeah! Are we going to go eat more food? Please?"


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "Onii-chan gave us a lot of pocket money, but we shouldn''t just spend it all eating. Besides, you guys already tried out most of the street food around here."


    They''d been walking around all morning now, so there really weren''t many ces left to look.


    Ste paused and took another look to see if there''s anything interesting.


    Clothing stores, magic artifacts, weapon stores, cafes...


    Those were kinda cool. But Ste was sure that nothing there would surprise or awe her at all considering what Onii-chan could make. And clothing stores... well, she had a minor trauma regarding them now after all the shopping she did with Mama Zenith and Mama Lily...


    After some more walking, Ste noticed a shop with extremely detailed statues.


    "Hm?"


    She paused and then took a look at the figurines on disy through the window.


    Perfectly chiseled down to the folds in the fabric. Life-like expressions that made the statues seem like people turned to stone.


    Either way, it looked interesting so Ste walked towards it.


    "H-Hey!" Fai quickly followed after Ste and said, "We''re going in here? But the food...!"


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "Save your stomach. We''re going to a bunch of weddings, remember? You can eat your fill then."


    "Oh!" Fai''s eyes lit up and she said, "Right!"


    Ste ignored her and then walked into the shop, opening the door.


    A soft bell echoed, and then they all walked in.


    The shop was surprisingly spacious,rge enough to hold dozens of life-sized statues. There were also shelves with smaller figurines of monsters and people, along with various jewelry.


    "Wow..." Miko looked around and said, "Even the statues at the Church of Saint Milis aren''t this detailed."


    "Yeah." Ste nodded and then walked over to one of the statues.


    A smiling mother, holding an infant in her arms. A handsome man standing next to her, a hand ced on her left shoulder...


    Ste nced down and saw a que describing the piece. "Family, huh?"


    Taking a look around, she realized that the other statues had ques as well. And some were in ss cases.


    Instead of a shop, did they find a gallery or museum?


    Footsteps echoed from the back.


    Ste nced over, ready to run or cast magic in case something bad happened. But she didn''t need to worry.


    "Wee!" ...Oh?" A young man wearing a ck robe walked out from the back. He was tall and willowy and his brown hair was styled in a bowl cut. Although his big round sses gave a bit of an entric look to him, he radiated a calm atmosphere.


    ncing at Ste, Miko, and Fai, he smiled and said, "It''s rare for children to visit my workshop. Are you here for some toys?"


    Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "Just because we''re kids doesn''t mean we want toys!"


    The man nodded and said, "Of course, of course. Whatever the case, please enjoy your time here. Don''t worry, the figurines are extremely durable." Heughed and said, "I''ve tested them myself."


    Ste pursed her lips and then walked over to a shelf with a small collection of monsters. She was curious, so she picked one up and tested it with earth mana. But to her surprise, it didn''t even budge.


    The man noticed and said, "Do you like that one? You can take it if you wish." He gestured towards the shelf and said, "I just created those from scraps, so if you children find anything interesting, feel free to take it with you."


    Fai''s eyes lit up and she said, "Really?" She quickly nced at a pile of shimmering spirit figurines and said, "Can we really?"


    The man nodded. "Of course." He smiled and said, "Children should be happy when they can. If a figurine provides that, then all the better."


    ...He was weird.


    Ste felt something off about the man, so she nced towards Miko. She was their resident mind reader, so if she was fine with it, everything should be good.


    Miko got the signal and then looked up at the man. "Um, Mister? What''s your name?"


    ''Nice, Miko!''


    An innocent and childish question to make the man look into Miko''s eyes.


    The man smiled and said, "My name is Zanoba, and this is the workshop my Master gave me to hone my skills. And speaking of Master..." He walked over to the shop and ced a ''closed'' sign up. "I am actually fairly busy with amission." He smiled at Ste and the others again and said, "Feel free to stay and look around as much as you like. Simply close the door behind you as you leave."


    After saying that, Zanoba waved at the children and then left through a door in the back of the store.


    "Huh." Ste stared at the door for a bit and then said, "That guy was a bit weird, but I guess he''s alright?"


    He was almost too calm and polite. Still, he wasn''t giving off any ''creep'' vibes. Just... odd. Like he was carefully controlling his actions.


    Wata materialized and then said, "I think he''s safe, Ste! He seems really strong and everything, but he also doesn''t seem like a bad guy."


    Ste panicked and then grabbed Wata. "Don''t just pop into existence like that!"


    "But it''s fine! Aaah! Don''t squish there! I''m not a plushie, Ste!"


    Miko giggled. After that, she looked at Ste and said, "Well, Mister Zanoba said we can take some toys. Should we see if there''s anything good for a gift?"


    Ste let Wata go and then nodded. "Good point."


    There were a lot of interesting trinketsying around. And Zanoba seemed serious about letting them take some souvenirs... which Fai was already doing by trying on various jewelry and ying with some tiny angel figurines.


    Was this because she was a fire spirit? Fai was always so quick to act without thinking at all...


    Ste sighed again and then started browsing.


    Now let''s see, what would be a good gift for Onii-chan...


    Ooh. This tiny elf girl figurine looks cute... And it looks like there''s a series of mini-Roxy as the Headmaster of Ranoa Magic Academy too.


    That should be cool, right-


    *BOOM*


    Ste flinched and almost fell over.


    "Easy, Ste!" Wata quickly conjured up a fluffy cloud to catch Ste.


    Even before she hit that though, a light shimmered from the pendant she usually wore and corrected her bnce.


    Didn''t mean she recovered from shock though.


    "What was THAT?"


    "Oooh!" Fai looked excited and turned towards the back. "Mister Zanoba is using explosions!"


    "EXPLOSIONS?!"


    Miko giggled.


    Ste red at her and said, "You knew and didn''t warn me?!"


    Miko smiled and said, "Well, I was curious too. Mister Zanoba makes all the statues and figurines by hand, so-"


    Another thunderous explosion shook the shop.


    It was enough to where Ste wondered why the heck they didn''t hear it from outside.


    And then she saw that the shop was filled to the brim with magic formations that activated with every explosion, cancelling the shockwaves.


    The only reason they could hear it at all was because there weren''t any formations on the door to the back.


    After yet another explosion echoed, Ste sighed and said, "It''s always weirdoes. Always..."


    <hr>


    Next time: The Bachelor Party

 178 – The Bachelor Party

    178 ¨C The Bachelor Party


    Night had fallen, and time was approaching before my married life began.


    And so, as tradition dictated, it was time for a boy''s night out.


    Since our house was being used as the wedding venue for my wedding with Eri, and since there was still a LOT of prep work left to be done, I was kicked out. Again.


    Also, since the city was so crowded with the recent influx of adventurers and visitors, we couldn''t find a ce to reserve for a party even after I threw heaps of gold, gems, and mana crystals.


    So I just ended up buying a house.


    It was a waste of money, but I could literally print money, so the cost was 0. Actually, it was a negative cost, since real estate held value and I spent nothing to buy it.


    The ce was a small ranch-style home with a single floor, an open living room space, a pair of bedrooms, and a single bathroom.


    Even so, while it was a small ''house,'' it was plenty big enough for a party. As for the people at this party...


    Dad was obviously here. Like me, he was kicked out of the house, and he had taken it upon himself to spot me for all the drinks being poured around.


    Pierre was here too, apparently by force from Rostelina.


    Philip and Laws were here as well, hashing out their differences and getting to know each other between drinks.


    Cliff hade, insisting that he wouldn''t miss his Father-inw''s important days for the world.


    Ruijerd hade by too, both to give me congrattions and to keep mepany as one of the very few male friends I had in this world.


    And then Orsted managed to make it as well.


    To be honest, it was a really weird guest list. Dad and Philip made sense since they were family. Pierre did too since he was a family friend and probably a Greyrat of some kind, whether through time travel shenanigans or otherwise.


    But everyone else...


    There was the father of the bride I was going to marry next week, the future pope of the Milis religion that very much believed in monogamy, a feared Supard warrior who had be the general for a force that could rival that of Demon God Lace in the past, and then the Dragon God himself who was the strongest in the world.


    I was pretty sure that an average person who saw this group would think they were having a fever dream. Still, this was my reality.


    And said reality consisted of me sitting at the head of a table next to my dad with all these guests.


    Philip sat across from me and Dad, Orsted and Pierre were on the side of the table to my right, and then Cliff and Laws were on the side of the table to my left.


    Wine coolers were all around the table, along with various snacks like kebabs, burgers, hotdogs, pizza slices, a few steaks and fancy cuts of meat... The works.


    I had hoped that it would distract people and that we could have a chill and rxing night, but...


    "Another round for my genius son who''s gonna have four bachelor parties over the next four weeks!" Dad drained a mug of honey mead and then wrapped his arm around my shoulder, grinning. "You did good, Kid! Better than your old man ever could!"


    I rolled my eyes and said, "You''re celebrating the wrong parts of this situation, Dad. And no, I am not having four bachelor parties. After tomorrow, I won''t be a bachelor anymore."


    Dad paused and then pulled back, pouring himself some wine from a bottle. "That''s true... Damn." He set the bottle back into the wine cooler and said, "But still four parties, right?"


    "We''ll see."


    Pierre sipped on a ss of wine and sighed. "This is ridiculous. Why do I have to be here again?"


    I poured myself a ss of wine and said, "Because your wife said so."


    Pierre paused and then let out a deep sigh. "Right. Because my wife said so."


    Dadughed and said, "Cheer up, Pierre! At least you don''t have to stay up watching Lunaria!"


    Orsted''s ears twitched and then he turned to look at Pierre. "Your daughter is name Lunaria?"


    Pierre coughed and said, "It''s a name I remember seeing in a book somewhere once. I took a liking to it, so I asked Lina to name our daughter that."


    "...I see."


    Huh. Did Pierre not tell Orsted he was Lace yet? He''s acting entirely too suspicious...


    Wait, why did Orsted ask about the name Lunaria? Was that something I should know about too?


    Philip nced at Orsted and then leaned over to Laws. "How are you not nervous being around the Dragon God?"


    Laws shrugged and said, "It is far from the first time that I''ve met him. And besides, he is a good friend of Rudy''s." He smiled at Orsted and said, "Any friend of Rudy is a decent person. Of that I can be assured."


    Orsted smiled and said, "I am honored to be counted among that number."


    Yeah, a very elite number of... Two, if we didn''t include Cliff. Three if we did.


    I didn''t say that though. Instead, I nodded and said, "It''s only natural, Orsted. You''re our best guy in taking down Being W, after all."


    Orsted''s smile widened just a bit more at my words.


    Seeing that, Ruijerd looked at me with a soft smile. "Though I have known it for a while, I am always impressed by Lord Rudras."


    "Hey!" I pointed at Ruijerd and said, "No calling me Lord Rudras. It''s just Rudy."


    Ruijerd chuckled and said, "As you wish. However, you should be ustomed to it in preparation for your wedding with Rika."


    I paused. And then I groaned. "Dammit. I forgot."


    I was going to have to go through that whole ceremony as ''Lord Rudras'' instead of Rudy. Probably even ''Emperor Rudras'' if Rika''s ns about establishing the Arcadian Empire pulled through.


    Laws poured a ss of wine and then held it out to me.


    I took it, appreciating the gesture even though it didn''t really do anything for me.


    After leaning back, Laws stared at me and said, "Though it''s a bit regretful that Luffy isn''t your first, I hope that you don''t treat her any different."


    "Of course I won''t." I sipped my wine and said, "Sylphy''s my first love, even if she isn''t my first wife... And that''s only due to a pair of idiots sitting in this room."


    Philip blushed and said, "The betrothal was a necessary evil at the time."


    Dadughed and then ced his arm around my shoulders again. "Hey, I secured a beautiful and level-headed wife for you." He grabbed a hotdog and munched on it before saying, "You should be thanking me!"


    "Yeah." I nodded and then said, "And you should be worshipping the ground I walk for saving your sorry ass from the situation with Mom and Mama Lily."


    "Ooh." Dad pulled his arm away and said, "I didn''t know you had a godplex." Heughed and said, "I *could* start doing that, but I think my scary daughters-inw would take that aspetition, so I''ll pass."


    I rolled my eyes and finished my ss of wine. After that, I turned to Orsted and said, "Are you sure you don''t want to be my best man?"


    Orsted shook his head. "I''m greatly honored, Rudy, but I must refuse." He let out a wry smile and said, "It would be... troublesome."


    I frowned. "Then how about being part of my groomsmen?"


    "Again, I am honored. But I would like to keep my presence to a minimum. If people saw me among your entourage, it could be... disruptive."


    Ah, I forgot. Orsted does have an objectively scary face. People might get the wrong impression...


    But he was a cool guy, so I really wanted him to participate. I even ran it past all my lovely fiancees and got it approved...


    Well. You couldn''t have everything.


    Maybe in an ideal world...


    "Hey." Dad frowned, suddenly realizing something. He pointed at himself and said, "Am I not going to be your best man?"


    I crossed my arms and said, "Really? You want to be the best man at this wedding? You, the one who caused this mess in the first ce? You know Mom and Mama Lily are going to drag your ass off-stage the moment you stand up."


    Dad paused and then slowly nodded. "Fair point." He sighed. "Guess I''ll wait for your other weddings."


    "...Could you not say it like it''s an average thing in my life? These days are supposed to be special, you know?"


    Dad snorted and said, "Yeah. Because you pick and choose one person, maybe two. When you''re pushing up to four, that''s kinda hard, Kiddo."


    "..."


    I drained my ss of wine and started pouring another.


    At that time, Cliff finally spoke up. Taking a sweep of everyone present, he turned to me and said, "I''m grateful that you allowed me to be here... but is it really fine?" He frowned and said, "I feel like I simply coerced you with my insistence..."


    "You definitely deserve to be here. And you definitely NEED to be here if you''re serious about Ena."


    Dad frowned. "Wait." He looked at Cliff and said, "This brat wants to get with our cute Ena?"


    Pierre flinched and then stared at Cliff with mixed emotions. After a bit, he muttered, "I would never have imagined Cliff acting like this..."


    Orsted started at Cliff as well and frowned. "...Indeed. To think that the celibate Holy Pope would seek love like this..."


    Cliff scoffed and said, "Celibacy may be sacred, but true love is divine." He let out a bright smile and said, "Besides..." He mmed the table and stood up, cing his right hand over his heart. "For an angel like Ena, I would give anything!"


    The room was quiet.


    I let out a deep sigh.


    And then Dad started pping. "Bravo!"


    "P-Pardon?" Cliff blinked and then realized what he did. The moment he realized it, his ears turned red and he sat back down. "A-Ah. I apologize for the disruption-"


    "Don''t apologize!" Dad walked around the table and ced a hand on Cliff''s shoulder. "That''s how a true man should act! For the love of his life, throw everything on the line! I like that!"


    Cliff looked up and said, "Really?"


    "Yeah!" Dad pped Cliff''s shoulder and said, "Any guy willing to do that ain''t a bad guy. In fact, he''s the best guy!" After saying that, Dadughed and said, "Here. Let me grab you a drink."


    ...Oh god.


    Like oil to a dumpster fire...


    I knew that Dad and Cliff were both geniuses, but they were geniuses in different ways. I didn''t think they''d get along like this.


    I mean, Cliff was a sucker for romance, but I thought Dad was just a sucker for women in general. To think there was this small but extremely powerful niche where those two areas ovepped...


    Laws cracked his knuckles and then smiled at my dad. "Paul. Are you taking it upon yourself to arrange another marriage?"


    Dad flinched and held up his hands. "What? No! Of course not! Just saying that if this guy''s that serious about Ena, he''s not bad! In fact, he''s great!" He looked at me and said, "Back me up here, Rudy!"


    I pointedly ignored Dad. Instead, I looked at Cliff and said, "Discussions about romance aside... Do you mind being my best man, Cliff?"


    Cliff''s eyes widened and he said, "I would be honored! ...But I must decline." He sighed and said, "I fear that it would pressure Ena into opening her heart to me. She respects you a great deal, so if I am seen to be someone so important, she may talk herself into liking me." He stood up and ced his hand over his heart. "I cannot allow that! I wish for Ena to love me with all her heart and for me alone! That I am a man worthy enough for her love!"


    Dad raised a ss of wine and said, "Yeah! That''s the spirit, Kid!"


    "...Right."


    Well, there went n B.


    ...Also, that might be tough for Cliff.


    As much as I loved my daughter, I also knew that she was more than a bit dense when it came to rtionships ormon sense. No to mention that she clearly had a Daddyplex that I still needed to figure out how to handle and resolve...


    My fault for spoiling her too much in the very impressionable early stages and letting her bad habits cement due to her rapid growth, but you live and you learn, I guess...


    Still, this is a problem.


    I had really banked on Orsted being my best man. Dad was obviously out of the running, and Laws would be rude for this wedding. Philip was going to be walking Eri out as the father of the bride, so that was out too.


    Maybe Ruijerd?


    Ruijerd caught my nce and shook his head.


    Tch.


    Pierre maybe? Ah, wait. He was on Sylphy''s side too, so it''d be rude for this wedding.


    Damn.


    Dad looked at me and said, "Still thinking, Rudy?" He set down his ss of wine and said, "Is it really that bad to have your pops as your best man?"


    "For this wedding in particr, abso-fucking-lutely. We aren''t going to get fireworks, we''re going to get bombs. Ice cold bombs."


    Dad paused and then he caught the implications. "Ah."


    "Yeah. Ah."


    Sylphy would be extra touchy for this wedding. I was sure of it.


    And my gut was telling me things were going toe to a big sh if Dad walked up as the best man for Eri''s wedding.


    Sylphy might be patient andpromising, but I think that might be just a *bit* too much there.


    Rnd was no go too...


    Did I just have to grab a random person from the White Knights...?


    At that time, the door opened and someone walked in. Akito.


    "Sorry I''mte!" He walked in and closed the door behind him. "I got lost along the way and had to help an olddy cross the road..."


    Perfect.


    I snapped my fingers and said, "Akito. Buddy, pal. You''re notte. You''ve just got the best timing in the world."


    "E-Eh?" Akito blinked and then said, "Thank you...?"


    "You''re wee!" I stood up and walked over to him, slinging my arm around his shoulders. "And thank you for being my best man."


    "N-Nani?!"


    "Don''t worry, I''ll arrange everything. You just have to make a speech to present tomorrow."


    "That''s less than a day away!"


    "I can buy time, no worries. Now, we''re mostly strangers right now, so let''s chat a bit so you seem convincing." After saying that, I started dragging him to the bedroom.


    "W-Wait a moment! Mister Rudy- T-This is so sudden!"


    "And I''m desperate, so let''s get going already."


    "W-Wait-"

 179 – The Blushing First Bride’s Happiest Day

    179 ¨C The Blushing First Bride¡¯s Happiest Day


    The day of the wedding. Eris''s room, on the second floor of Rudy''s house.


    Eris was panicking. Despite everything, all the preparations and rehearsals, countless thoughts ran through her head.


    What if she looked silly and messed up her vows? What if she tripped? What if she messed everything up?


    Eris would die. She would just drop dead then and there if that happened. The sheer embarrassment might actually kill her.


    Hilda finished braiding Eris''s hair. "Rx, Eris. This is a happy and blissful day, not one you should stress about."


    Norn adjusted the red ribbons around Eris''s waist and then said, "You should listen to Aunt Hilda. Today''s supposed to be fun, isn''t it?"


    Eris let out a long sigh and then said, "Easy for you to say, Norn. You''re not the one getting married. Or the one who had to memorize all those lines! I''m good at using my sword and sometimes cooking, not reading or writing or learning or manners or-"


    Hilda ced her hands on Eris''s shoulders and then said, "Breathe, Eris."


    "Breathe." Eris took a deep breath. "Right. Breathe..."


    Calm.


    Eris had to remain calm. Just... rx. Everything would be fine.


    Norn stepped back to get a nce at Eris''s dress, and then she gave an approving nod. "Looking good, Big Sis! And don''t worry! Big Brother wouldn''t let you embarrass yourself. I''m sure he''s already set things up to stop you from messing up."


    "Right." Eris started to rx. "Rudy would do that. He wouldn''t let me embarrass myself- Wait."


    This was Rudy. The same Rudy who loved to tease her and see her flustered.


    "...Won''t Rudy let me embarrass myself because he likes seeing me stressed?!"


    He was always calling her cute and adorable when she was flustered. This was the PERFECT chance for him to pull a trick on her in front of everyone!


    If that happened... Oh dear heavens above...!


    Norn puffed her chest out and said, "Don''t worry! Big Brother knows that I''ll hate him forever if he does! And I made sure to tell him too, so he won''t do anything!"


    Eris hugged Norn. "You''re the best, Nornie."


    Norn patted Eris''s back and said, "Anything for you, Big Sis! Besides, better you than that pervert Sylphy."


    Hilda coughed, barely managing to cover up augh.


    Eris frowned and said, "That''s not nice to say about Sylphy, Norn."


    Even if it was true.


    "But I saw it!" Norn shook her head and said, "I helped Mom sort through the gifts and stuff for the other Big Sisters and Sylphy had a pair of really racy undercloths. Like REALLY racy. Just strings and-"


    Eris blushed and said, "Y-You should stop there, Norn."


    Hilda nodded. "Yes. This is Eris''s time, Norn. Not to speak ill of the others, but we should remember to stay focused."


    "Ah!" Norn nodded. "Right. Sorry, Big Sis."


    Eris shook her head. "It''s fine." After that, she nced at the corner where her other bridesmaids were waiting. Miko and Ghyine. "What do you think?"


    Miko smiled and said, "I think you look beautiful, Miss Eris! And thank you again for including me."


    Eris shook her head. "I should be thanking you." She sighed and said, "Considering how big we''re making this wedding ceremony, I don''t have that many bridesmaids..."


    The women in the room were it. Just Norn, Hilda, Miko, and Ghyine.


    Eris wanted to ask some of the other girls, but she didn''t feelfortable.


    Aisha had already promised to be part of Sylphy''s bridesmaids. Asking Sylphy herself would be weird. Miss Zenith and Miss Lilia were Rudy''s mothers, so Eris couldn''t ask them. And asking pretty much everyone else would make it awkward...


    Ghyine smiled and said, "Don''t worry about it, Princess. Quality is more important than quantity. And besides, most people have a lot of bridesmaids as support topensate. There''s nothing you need topensate for, right?"


    Right. That was true.


    Eris didn''t need a crowd of bridesmaids because the people she had here truly supported her. And just her.


    Realizing that, she smiled and said, "Thanks, Ghyine. That means a lot. Really."


    Ghyine waived her hand and said, "You''re wee. ...Still." She chuckled and said, "I still can''t believe it. To think that spunky blockhead princess I taught would turn into this mature and capable young woman..."


    Hilda nodded. "It''s almost a miracle, really. Rudy truly mellowed her out."


    "Mmhm." Ghyine smiled and said, "I had a feeling Rudy would be good for Eris, but to end up like this is amazing."


    Norn chimed in and said, "That''s because Dad was an idiot and Big Sis had to help me clean up his messes."


    Ghyine nodded. "That would do it."


    "Ah." Hilda nodded as well. "That makes sense."


    Mikoughed and said, "Mister Paul does seem like a handful to deal with. Anyone who had to clean up after him would end up pretty capable, I think."


    Eris felt her face heat up and she said, "Could you all not talk about me like I wasn''t here?!"


    Hildaughed and then walked in front of Eris. Reaching up to lower Eris''s veil, Hilda said, "We''re just getting you to calm down, Dear. See? You''re not nervous now, are you?"


    Eris paused.


    ...Her mom was right. After all that, the nerves she had were gone.


    Realizing that, Eris shyly nodded her head. "That''s true... T-Thanks, Mom."


    Hilda smiled and gave Eris a hug. "I''m proud of you, Dear. Even if it''s not quite the perfect fairytale marriage for my baby girl, I''m d that you''re happy now."


    Eris let out a warm smile in response. "Thank you."


    Hilda patted Eris on the back and then stepped away.


    At that time, there was light knock on the door, followed by a male voice. Philip''s.


    "It''s time."


    Eris nced over, suddenly feeling a bit nervous again.


    Norn noticed and then walked over to pat Eris''s back. "It''ll be fine, Big Sis! It''s nothingpared to fighting monsters, right?"


    Eris shook her head. "This... might be a bit tougher than that. But I''ll do it."


    Rudy was waiting on her.


    And besides, this was something she asked for. It would be selfish if she ran away because she was scared.


    The door opened, and then Philip walked in.


    Shortly after, Ghyine, Miko, Hilda, and Norn walked out after giving Eris somest-minute blessings and wishes for good luck.


    Soft music yed in the distance.


    Hearing that, it suddenly felt real.


    This was actually happening.


    In a bit, Eris was actually going to be married to Rudy.


    Not only that, but she wouldn''t be Eris Boreas Greyrat anymore, but Eris Notus Greyrat.


    Part of his family. For real.


    And after too...


    Philip walked over and held out his left arm to Eris. "Would you allow me the honor of escorting you, Mdy?"


    Eris blinked, pulled out of her thoughts at the request. She looked at her father for a bit and then nodded, letting out a shy smile. "Thanks." Stepping forward, she lightly wrapped her arms around her father''s arm.


    Philip smiled and then started walking, leading the way. "I never expected this day toe."


    As she walked with her father down the hall towards the stairs, Eris couldn''t help but watch him.


    He looked the same. Due to the distortions and her exploring those distortions, the time that she lived and the time her father lived were different.


    What was he thinking? To him, it had been a few short years since hest saw his young daughter, and now he was walking her down the aisle as a grown woman.


    Philip nced at Eris and smiled. "It was only a few years. But before I knew it, my baby girl had be a grown woman. Should I say it''s a dream, or a nightmare?"


    Eris''s eyes widened. "Since when can you read minds?!"


    Philipughed and said, "I can''t. But even after all this time, I''m happy to hear that I can still read what my daughter''s thinking."


    "O-Oh."


    That was a bit embarrassing. Still... the thought that her father thought of her enough to know what she was thinking...


    In the past, Eris would have been irritated or maybe annoyed. Definitely morbidly embarrassed.


    But right now... She was happy.


    Her father cared about her that much.


    Philip guided Eris around the corner of the hallway and then towards the stairs. As they descended, he said, "Watch your step."


    Eris nodded and carefully stepped down, being careful to not trip with her heels.


    Philip noticed and then said, "I''m surprised you chose heels. White fur boots or the like would have been fine, would it not?"


    Eris blushed and said, "W-Well..." She looked to the side and said, "I want to look girly on a day like this. I don''t want people to think I hate pretty clothes. They''re just usually impractical."


    Philip smiled. "I see. So you had that sort of cute side to you too."


    Eris huffed and said, "I''m still a girl, Dad."


    "Of course." Philip smiled and continued to guide Eris down the stairs.


    As they walked, Eris said, "Did Grandpa make it?"


    Philip shook his head. "Despite everything about Rudy and recent events, those idiots back in Asura heard about your marriage and started acting up. Father is taking them head on and sorting things out for us."


    Eris raised an eyebrow. "Still? Even after Paul became a Sword God and filled a courtyard with bodies when those idiots tried to grab Norn?"


    Philip shook his head. "Let it be known that Asuran nobles are not known for their intelligence, but their stubbornness and lust. But." He looked at Eris, smiling. "Not calling him Father-inw yet?"


    Eris shrugged. "When even Ste doesn''t call him Father or Dad, it''s hard to start. Norn does, but... I dunno." She frowned and said, "Something about him makes it hard for me to call him that."


    "Fair, fair."


    The two walked in silence for a bit, descending the stairs. And then they arrived at the first floor.


    The entrance to the house was open, revealing a trail of flowers. The music wasing from outside in the courtyard, yed by a live orchestra.


    Only a short walk away and it was time.


    But Philip didn''t move.


    Eris frowned and said, "Is something wrong, Dad?"


    Philip was quiet for a moment. But then he looked at Eris and said, "Do you hate me, Eris?"


    Eris blinked. "Huh? Why would I hate you?"


    "I forcibly changed your life." Philip let out a tired sigh and said, "You had everything in Roa. But I sent you off to live with Rudy. I even signed away your future without asking you. And... now here you are. Grown up and soon to be married. All without any help from me."


    Eris stared at her father.


    He was shaking. His eyes were watery with unshed tears, and standing there, he looked so vulnerable.


    It reminded Eris of the past. How she thought her father was so spineless and pathetic. Always letting Grandpa smack him around and treat him like dirt.


    But now...


    "No. I don''t hate you, Dad."


    Philip blinked and then tilted his head. "Eris?"


    Eris smiled and said, "I understand." Looking into her father''s eyes, Eris shook her head and said, "I was a doll in a dollhouse. Back then, I was frustrated and didn''t understand anything. Why Mom was so harsh and hid in her room. Why you were always working and never yed with me... I hated it and was angry all the time. But... I get it now." Sheughed and said, "It took me a while though. I was kind of dumb as a kid."


    "You were just a tad slow on the uptake, yes."


    Eris lightly punched her father''s arm. "You''re not supposed to say that! Especially today!"


    Philip smiled and said, "My apologies."


    Eris smiled back at her dad, and then she pulled him into a hug.


    "E-Eris?"


    "I''m happy now, Dad. So don''t worry. And... sorry. I finally realized how strong you''ve been."


    Philip blinked. "Strong? Me?"


    Eris stepped back from her hug and then nodded. "Grandpa told me that you were the strongest of his sons. I didn''t understand it then... but I do now." She stared at her father. At the man who had everything taken away from him and yet kept fighting.


    Though he was weak, he bit and crawled his way back, grasping at any straw to keep his family safe.


    Eris nodded and said, "You were strong enough to admit how powerless you were and bend your head to protect everyone. You threw away your pride, but you didn''t give up. epting everything, you waited, not caring how you looked to others. Just for a chance to save everything... Right?"


    Philip looked away. While he tried to hide it, tears wereing down his face.


    Eris pretended she didn''t see it. Instead, she bowed her head and said, "I''m grateful, Dad. And... I love you. Thank you for sacrificing so much for our family."


    "D=Don''t be silly." Philip brushed his tears away and took a quick breath topose himself. After that, he looked at Eris and said, "You should say those words to Rudy, not me." He let out a slim smile and said, "After all, my part in your life ends today."


    "That''s not true." Eris smiled and said, "I still have to make you babysit my kids."


    Philipughed and said, "Yes. I suppose that is my karma." He held out his left arm again and then said, "Shall we?"


    Eris nodded and grabbed her father''s arm.


    Together, they walked through the door and into the courtyard.


    The ce had beenpletely redone.


    Beautiful crimson roses wrapped around marble pirs and arches. Their petalsid the path to the altar.


    Eris looked around, overwhelmed with everything she saw.


    Rows of seats lined with crimson cloth. People turning to look as Philip guided Eris down the aisle.


    Sylphy sat with her parents. Next to them was Pierre and Rostelina, thetter holding baby Lunaria.


    Eos, Ena, and Rnd sat together near the front on the left side with Rudy''s parents.


    Ghyine, Norn, Miko, and Eris''s mother were sitting on the right side, waiting for Eris.


    Roxy was sitting in a row with Rika, Ruijerd, and a few other people who seemed to havee from Arcadia.


    And there in a nondescript corner, Orsted and Princess Ariel were sitting along with some teenagers who seemed to be her bodyguards.


    There were even more people that Eris couldn''t recognize, probably people her parents invited, or people that Rudy called over.


    But Eris stopped paying attention to them when she saw Rudy.


    Beautiful- No, divine. That was the only way to describe him.


    It was noon, so the sun was already bright.


    But standing there, Rudy seemed to be light itself.


    For this asion, Rudy had gotten rid of his usual hair dye magic along with the one changing his eye colors to green.


    Maybe that was why.


    Silver hair that shifted with an unseen breeze. Intense golden eyes on a face that wouldn''t have looked out of ce on an artisan''s masterpiece representation of a god. A soft smile and gentle gaze, waiting on her. And then a carefully tailored ck suit with crimson highlights the exact color of Eris''s hair...


    ...Was this what people meant by having your breath taken away?


    Seeing Rudy standing there at the altar, Eris forgot to move or even think.


    "What?" Philip whispered and then said, "Suddenly shy?"


    Eris blinked, feeling her face heat up. After that, she shook her head and focused.


    Philip smiled and continued walking Eris up to the altar where Rudy and an elderly priest were waiting.


    Rudy smiled at Eris when she arrived and then held out his left hand.


    Eris should grab it. But standing there, she just couldn''t move.


    Philip gently pulled Eris''s hands away from his arm. Then, holding both gently in his own, he walked her forward and ced her hands over Rudy''s outstretched hand.


    Eris blinked and then looked over at her father. "Dad?"


    Philip held his hands there for a moment, his eyes tearing up. Looking at Rudy and then Eris, he let out a watery smile and said, "Best wishes to you two." After that, he walked off.


    And then Rudy lightly pulled Eris forward, moving her to stand in front of him. Carefully shifting her arms around, he held each of her hands with his own.


    It was time.


    Realizing that, Eris started to feel that panic creeping in.


    But then Rudy shook his head and said, "Rx, Eri. Don''t worry about anything else." Letting out a gentle smile and giving her hands a soft squeeze, he said, "Just look at me."


    Eris took a deep breath and then calmed down.


    Dammit. That smile. That damned smile that always made her forget about everything else...


    Faced with that, Eris couldn''t help but give a shy smile in response. "O-Okay. But if we mess up, I''m never forgiving you."


    Rudy chuckled. "I know."


    Eris nodded and then stood there, just staring into Rudy''s eyes and trying to maintain herposure.


    The priest said stuff, but Eris wasn''t listening. She just stood there, losing herself in Rudy''s beautiful golden eyes...


    And then Rudy let go of her left hand.


    Eris blinked and then saw that Rudy was holding a ring.


    It was a beautiful rose-gold band that was shaped to mimic a phoenix clutching a ruby gemstone. But that ruby gemstone had been intricately cut to resemble a glittering rose.


    Holding that ring, Rudy let go of Eris for a bit, and then grabbed her left hand. Staring into her eyes, he gently slipped the ring onto Eris'' left ring finger and said, "With this ring, I pledge my life and love to you. For now, for always, forever."


    Eris blinked. For some reason, her vision started to blur-


    Ah. Those were tears.


    Rudy lightly squeezed Eris''s hand and whispered, "You can''t cry yet. It''s your turn now."


    Eris sniffed. But then a warmth spread throughout her body, clearing her nose and drying her tears.


    Rudy, using healing mana to hide her appearance and cheer her up.


    ...This guy...


    The priest held out a ring for Eris. "Now, the bride will pledge her vows with this ring."


    Eris took it. As she did, she couldn''t help butpare.


    Rudy had given her a beautiful ring that could be kept in a gallery as a masterpiece work of art.


    In contrast, the ring Eris got for him...


    It was just an ordinary gold ring with a diamond that she bought with the money she had saved up over the years. It wasn''t much, but it was something she got by herself for the one she would share her life with.


    Feeling the weight of the ring, Eris let out a nervousugh as she moved to put it on Rudy. "Sorry that it''s a bit shabby-"


    "Nothing from you is shabby, Eri."


    Eris''s breath hitched. She was going to cry. She was definitely going to cry. But she managed to barelypose herself.


    Slipping the ring onto Rudy''s left ring finger, Eris said, "W-With this ring, I pledge my everything to you. My life, my love, my soul¡­" After that, she lowered her head and whispered, soft enough for only Rudy to hear. Tightly grasping his hand, she said, "Just... don''t throw me away. Okay?"


    Rudy squeezed her hand back and then whispered back. "Don''t worry. I''m pretty obsessive about my belongings, you know?"


    Eris''s mind nked after hearing those words. And then the next thing she knew...


    "Rudeus." The priest looked to Rudy and said, "You may now kiss the bride."


    Eris froze. The weight of the situation, the gazes on her. Her instincts screamed at her to run. But before she could, a gentle hand brushed against her chin.


    Rudy smiled and then leaned forward, lifting the veil over Eris''s face.


    Eris blinked, her eyes widening as Rudy drew close.


    "Don''t worry." Rudy smiled and said, "Just look at me."


    Eris heard Rudy. And she wanted to. But as he drew closer, she subconsciously closed her eyes.


    A soft brush of warmth against her lips. Something wet and ticklish, along with a hint of... caramel?


    Eris''s eyes snapped open and she saw Rudy sticking out his tongue, revealing a small caramel on it.


    But then he pulled his tongue back and smiled.


    This guy...!


    Cheers and apuse. The priest offering his congrattions.


    Eris didn''t hear any of that.


    Holding onto Rudy''s arm and letting him walk her back down the aisle, Eris felt like she was floating.


    Not only that, but she was feeling a bit faint too...


    "Hey." Rudy chuckled and said, "You can''t faint yet. There''s still the reception, you know?"


    Eris blushed and said, "I wasn''t going to faint! ...And what you do mean ''yet?''"


    "Well, you wanted kids, right? It''s going to be a lot of hard work, you know."


    Eris felt like her face was on fire from thatment. "...Pervert."


    Rudyughed and then pulled Eris close.


    Eris sighed and leaned against him.

 180 – Wedding Reception – First

    180 ¨C Wedding Reception ¨C First


    "...And so I hope that Rudy and Miss Eris have a long and blessed life together." Akito finished his speech with a red face and then sat back down.


    I pped my hands, giving him a bright smile.


    Despite it being ast minute thing, Akito pulled through on the best man role and even pulled out a fancy and heartfelt speech.


    And as if to validate how well it went, the surroundings filled with apuse.


    Akito looked taken a back, but then he smiled and nodded his head.


    After seeing that he was good, I took a quick look around.


    The ceremony itself was over now, so now it was time for the wedding reception. Basically, the part where people stood up, gave speeches and/or blessings, while the couple sat there and endured it until the end.


    There were a few ways to set things up. One was to have the couple with the groom''s family or vice-versa. Another was to have the happily married couple together by themselves.


    Of course, Eri and I ended up with thetter option.


    I wasn''t sure whose idea it was, but I could tell that Eri was on the verge of fainting from the attention and embarrassment. While her face wasn''t quite as red anymore, the way she was clinging onto me and trembling gave away her emotions.


    It was cute. Extremely cute.


    I really wanted to bully her a bit and see how she''d react. But that would be mean, and I *did* promise Norn.


    Anyway.


    Eri and I were seated at a table together in the middle of the courtyard. The guests were seated all around us at different tables, essentially trapping us in the middle.


    It was something that Eri definitely didn''t expect considering her reaction. That, or she was overwhelmed.


    I was fine. But since my adorable wife wasn''t, I held her close and stayed calm, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. Par for the course.


    ...It was probably the only thing keeping Eri from running off in a burst of mes and ruining her wedding dress.


    Again, while entertaining, not the ideal oue. So I made sure to do my best to calm her down.


    Since Akito finish his speech, and since he was scheduled to wrap things up, we were finally winding down.


    Just a quick wait to see if there were any volunteers and then me and Eri were free.


    Of course, I highly doubted there''d be any people at this point due to the social pressure-


    "Alright." Dad stood up and then shed me a grin. "Since no one''s stepping up, it''s my turn, right?"


    Ah. Of COURSE. Dad would try to get in thest word.


    Dad tidied his suit a bit and then grinned. "Since we''ve been here a while, I''ll just wing it and keep this brief. I''m getting three more cracks at it anyway, so-"


    Boos echoed from the crowd. The loudest from Mom, Mama Lily, Eri''s parents, and my sisters.


    Dad held up his hands and said, "I''m just saying it how it is. Tough crowd... but alright." He put on a serious face and then reached around to grab a ss of wine. After taking a swig, he said, "To be honest, today is a day that probably shouldn''t have happened-"


    Mom cleared her throat.


    Dad coughed and said, "I mean, a beautiful day that almost didn''t happen, ahaha..."


    Eri rolled her eyes. Sneaking a nce at me, she whispered, "Is this why you didn''t pick him as your best man?"


    I gave a slight nod and said, "Exactly."


    "Smart."


    "d you agree, Eri."


    Eri smiled, rxing a bit after hearing Dad talk.


    ...Wait. Was that his n?


    I nced over at Dad and saw him wink.


    Hah. This guy...


    How does he know how to read the room when he wants and fails to do it when it''s important?


    Dad held up his ss and looked around the courtyard. With a serious expression, he nodded and said, "The first thing I want to say is that I''m proud of my son." He turned to look at me and said, "When he was younger, I was worried, you know? Unlike most kids, Rudy was a bonafide genius. Even then, he was still just a kid. It was hard to bnce that out... and I''m sure I did a terrible job at it. After all, I''m an idiot."


    Laws raised his ss and said, "That is an absolute truth."


    Philip raised a ss too and said, "Tell him, Laws."


    Laughter filled the air as peopleughed at my Dad.


    But as for me...


    I couldn''t.


    He was standing there, acting like a clown as usual. But that was just a way to keep things light. To make sure words were conveyed in a clear way instead of being stifled by heavy emotions.


    Dad joined in with theughter, but then returned to a serious expression. Still looking at me, he said, "I''ve been a terrible father. I''ve done my best, but there''s that saying about hell and good intentions. Even so." He smiled and said, "I''m happy and grateful. My son grew into a fine young man, handsome enough to pull double the beautiful women his old man did-"


    That time, Mama Lily cleared her throat. At the same time, something silver shed in her sleeves.


    Dad reached up to tug his cor and said, "Tough crowd... Anyway. I''m d that you''re happy, Rudy." He raised his ss towards me and Eris. "And you too, Eri. Although me and Philip didn''t really expect it, you two match really well. Rudy mellowed out the firecracker of a princess I met when she was a kid, and Eri calmed out the strung-up genius who was always worried about everything."


    Eri smiled at that and nodded. "Thank you, P-... Father-inw."


    I smiled as well and said, "Thanks, Dad."


    Dad''s smile widened and he said, "I''m happy. Seriously... But also, I really want to know. Was it the s-"


    "OKAY!" Mom jumped out of her seat and said, "That''s QUITE enough, Husband."


    Mama Lily jumped up as well and then dashed over to grab Dad''s arm. "Yes. I believe this is plenty for heartwarming speeches."


    "H-Hey!" Dad tried to break free and said, "I wasn''t done yet-"


    Mom plucked the ss from Dad''s free arm, drained it, and then tossed it aside.


    I vanished the ss before it shattered. Couldn''t spread bad luck this early into my married life, you know?


    But nobody seemed to notice. Mostly because Mom and Mama Lily were dragging Dad out back.


    Like before,ughter filled the air.


    Even Eriughed, finally calming down.


    If there was anything Dad was good at, it was cutting stuff. And it seemed like he cut the tension here with his usual clownery...


    I''d have to pour him a drinkter and thank him properly.


    He bashed himself a lot, but I''d disagree with him about being the worst father.


    Hard agree on being the worst example of a father, but hard disagree on being the worst father.


    Anyway, the crowd slowly started to settle down after Dad was dragged off.


    Seeing that, I stood up and took a look around, smiling. "Well. Is there anyone else who would like to speak?"


    Eri stood up as well. Looking around, she said, "The food''s waiting for us, so if there''s nobody else-"


    "Wait."


    Huh?


    I nced towards the speaker and saw a rtively handsome young man walk over.


    Slicked back brown hair, light blue eyes, aristocratic and vaguely familiar features...


    I didn''t recognize him. But from Eri''s reaction, she clearly did.


    "That fucking idiot HAD to say something..." Eri muttered under her breath.


    In the corner of my eye, I saw Norn suddenly get up and try to run over, hand on a sword that DEFINITELY wasn''t there five minutes ago.


    Thankfully, Ste jumped her and had her spirit friends dogpile Norn to hold her down.


    Eri narrowed her eyes, ring at the guy approaching us.


    ...I had to give the guy some credit. Even if it was the dumbest thing in the world to do, he was walking up here without shaking in his boots.


    I''d have to deduct all of that credit back though because he was clearly oblivious to the incredible amount of killing intent being directed his way by Sylphy, Norn, Dad, Mom, Mama Lily, Philip, Laws...


    You get the idea.


    The young man stood a few paces away from me and Eri. After ncing between us, he looked at me and said, "My name is Luke Notus Greyrat. And while I do not object to anything, I do wish to ensure that Miss Eris is in the right hands."


    ...Is this guy for real?


    I nced over at Eri.


    Eri was shaking. And not out of fear or embarrassment. It looked like she was barely holding herself back from smacking that guy into the ground.


    ...Huh. I was a little curious as to the history there. But I also felt like it wasn''t something that we should bring up in public at our wedding where people could misunderstand.


    Especially when I could see Princess Ariel in the back covering her face with both hands and Orsted shaking his head.


    Oh wait. This guy was with THEM. That made sense.


    Meaning he was an Asuran Noble.


    A Greyrat too... And from Notus, probably a cousin of mine?


    ...Didn''t Norn mention something about a perverted cousin or something in the past?


    Ah, wait. I got it now.


    Eri took a step forward and opened her mouth, clearly ready to give him a piece of her mind.


    But before she could, I pulled her in for a kiss.


    Eri froze, but then she got weak at the knees and leaned on me. "T-That''s no good, Rudy." Her face turned red and she said, "E-Even if we''re married now, in front of so many people..."


    Okay, so can confirm Eri gets a hard reset with a kiss. Great to know for the future.


    Also something to add to the Greyrat notebook...


    A faint cold prickling sensation from the distance. Sylphy.


    It was just a brief moment.


    Even so, I caught it and nced over.


    Sylphy met my gaze and then looked away, embarrassed and... guilty?


    ...Alright. Another note to add to the ol'' Greyrat heirloom.


    But problem forter.


    Right now...


    I took a nce over at Luke to see his reaction.


    He kept on a cool facade, but I could see the cracks there. Bits of jealousy and envy carefully hidden behind a knightly demeanor.


    I patted Eri for a bit and sat her down. After that, I walked in front of Luke and smiled. "Thank you foring, Cousin. I have to say, I appreciate your concern for my lovely wife. But she is more than capable of protecting herself."


    Eri heard my words and then turned even redder.


    Huh. Seemed like today was seriously short-circuiting her. It looked like I had a 100x effect to flirting skills today specifically focused on Eri because of it...


    I''ll make sure to put that to good use now andter.


    But first...


    Luke''s eye twitched a bit when he saw Eri react. But then he stared at me and said, "Even so, I must insist on measuring the caliber of the man who-"


    "Yeah, skip."


    Luke''s eyes widened. "P-Pardon? Skip? Skip wha-"


    I snapped my fingers.


    Luke''s arms and legs instantly bent at weird angles. The sword he had kept hidden beneath his suit turned to ice and melted. And after that, he opened his mouth to scream.


    But I snapped my fingers again and a paper sign pped itself onto his face, sealing any sounding from him.


    On that sign were two lines.


    1. Don''t be an idiot like this guy.


    2. Don''t try to crash a wedding with stupid actions.


    Luke''s face distorted from behind the sign, clearly in pain.


    But I just waved my hand and sent him flying towards the front gate before setting him there as a human meatball warning sign.


    Silence. People staring with wide eyes.


    "What?" I looked around and said, "He''s not dead or permanently disfigured. That spell will wear off after the wedding''s over, and he''ll even be more flexible for it. He should be thanking me for the gift, really."


    Soft murmurs echoed amidst our guests.


    Among them, I could hear Roxy let out a soft sigh and say, "I pray for the poor souls who will think it''s a good idea to object to my weddingter..."


    Okay. Something to note... Maybe get some of the White Knights to hang around just in case.


    But for now.


    I pped my hands and said, "In any case, it''s been long enough! Let''s dig in!"


    -AAA-


    Princess Ariel Anemoi Asura.


    Due to her connections with both Orsted and with Lilia, she was invited to the wedding of Rudeus Notus Greyrat.


    Since it was a formal asion, she brought along herpanions, Luke Notus Greyrat who served as her knight, and Tristina Purplehorse, who served as her guardian mage.


    The invitation was a nice change of pace.


    Ariel appreciated it.


    After spending so much time in the vile backstabbing cesspool that was the Asura Kingdom, a wholesome and lovely wedding was just what she needed.


    But then some IDIOT had to act up.


    Ariel kneeled in front of Luke and shook her head. "Why did you have to open your mouth, Luke?"


    Luke couldn¡¯t respond. He was still silenced from magic, and his limbs were twisted together. It must have been agonizing¡­ But he had antagonized a man who even Lord Orsted respected.


    Tristina brushed her blonde twintails aside and said, "I told you that your brash mouth would get the princess in trouble one day, Greyrat. What were you thinking?"


    Luke shook his head, as if desperately disagreeing.


    Ariel simply sighed.


    Truly, he was a man who thought only about swords and with his sword. Though he could put on a thin veneer of gentlemanliness, unfortunately when it came to adorable girl and busty women, he was an absolute disgrace.


    At that time, Orsted walked over.


    Ariel stood up and did a quick curtsy. "Greeting, Lord Orsted."


    Orsted shook his head and said, "There is no need for that here, Ariel."


    "Understood." Ariel raised her head and smiled. "...Thank you again for taking the time toe examine Luke."


    Luke let out a visible sigh of relief.


    Tristina clicked her tongue and said, "Can''t we just leave him like this? Mister Rudy said the spell would wear off soon anyway, didn''t he?"


    Ariel nodded. "He did. And it is not that I distrust his words, but a secondary opinion is always essential to have as a future ruler."


    Orsted nodded. "I agree. It is only through consulting with better and equals that you can perceive a path through the darkness." He paused and then chuckled. "That, and knowing when to stay silent." He stared at Luke and then shook his head. "Rudy is as impressive as always. Using healing magic to twist the body''s nature and physique in such an uncanny way, and yet to do so without inflicting long-term harm... Incredible."


    Ariel walked over and said, "Then... is it possible to undo it, Lord Orsted?"


    Orsted grabbed the paper sign for a bit and read it. After that, he shook his head and stepped back. "While I can, Rudy did this to teach Luke a lesson. And Luke''s reactions are understandable as Luke and Eris Greyrat have a strong fate... it is not meant to be in this world."


    Ariel blinked.


    ...As always, Lord Orsted spoke of some iprehensible events and concepts.


    But as always, Ariel simply smiled and nodded.


    Tristina smiled, staring at Luke. "So you''re saying that we just have to leave this idiot here, Lord Orsted?"


    Orsted nodded. "Correct. Luke will be fine. The spell is to conclude at midnight, and there are auxiliary magic circles to restore and enhance his body afterward. Although there is the downside of incredible pain, it would be far from driving a man mad." He chuckled and then said, "This is good fortune. Considering the internal disputes within House Notus, he should be thankful to receive a painful blessing instead of a permanent curse."


    "I... see."


    The fact that Lord Orsted was finding it amusing was odd. And the fact that he had chuckled twice was even odder.


    When they were in the Asura Kingdom and wandering about the Central Continent, Lord Orsted remained inscrutable. Harsh, cold, and aloof.


    Yet here...


    Ariel nced at Orsted and carefully said, "You appear to be in a good mood, Lord Orsted. Have you been enjoying the festivities?"


    Orsted paused. "A good mood..." He stopped to think and then smiled, rubbing his face. "I suppose I am in a good mood. Today has been a day of many firsts." He chuckled and then nced at Ariel and Tristina. "I am going to give my blessing to the new couple. Do not idle too long here."


    After Orsted left, and after ensuring he was far out of earshot, Ariel shook her head and said, "Lord Orsted is as iprehensible as ever."


    Tristina nodded. "He is... But at the least, he is properly acting as your sponsor." She smiled and said, "Since then, you haven''t had to worry about assassins, have you, Princess?"


    "True." Ariel walked around to sit on Luke.


    His face distorted and his eyes started rolling up in his head.


    Ariel gave his back a light pat and then said, "You make quite thefortable piece of furniture, Luke. Perhaps I should have you do this more often."


    Tristina gave Ariel a nk stare.


    Ariel noticed, but then responded to Tristina''s first words as if nothing happened. "That''s true, Tristina. But it is still a bit troublesome." She sighed and said, "Brother and that prime minister are intent on sending me away to study here at the Ranoa Magic Academy." She furrowed her brows and said, "They im it is to ''widen my perspective'' prior to the heir selection." She scoffed and said, "Of course, it''s simply an excuse to send me away from Lord Orsted. Not that it will change anything." She giggled and then idly swung her legs back and forth. "They believe that Lord Orsted moves to my whims when it is the other way around."


    Although Lord Orsted had done nothing but aid her, Ariel was well aware she was being used.


    She didn''t mind it. In the first ce, she couldn''t resist against the unstoppable force that was Lord Orsted.


    But in the second ce, and the most important reason, Lord Orsted had her best interests at heart.


    True, he was clearly maneuvering Ariel in a way to im the throne and gain power. But it wasn''t for his sake.


    After all, a man such as he could simply proim himself king.


    Instead, he seemed to be doing it with the intent of securing something far into the future. As if her iming the throne was a prerequisite to some objective.


    And not for the power that came with Ariel iming the throne, but instead a ''result'' that woulde about from her iming the throne.


    It was a subtle nuance that was harder to detect on a man like Lord Orsted.


    But Ariel was more than familiar with the inner machinations of men''s minds. Particrly those seeking power or influence of the throne.


    And Lord Orsted was not that type of person. Instead, he was a man with a greater mission at hand, though unspoken.


    That, and he was kind towards children, as evident by his interactions with her as she grew up.


    So, even if she was being used as a pawn to be a queen, if it was a gambit in a game that Lord Orsted was ying, she didn''t mind.


    ...Though she DID wish that he would smile more often. Such a handsome face was wasted being so harsh...


    Tristina walked over and then hopped on the other side of Luke.


    That time, his eyespletely rolled up in his head.


    Tristina didn''t notice. Instead, she smiled and said, "You''re right, Princess. Luke ISfortable as a chair."


    "Isn''t he?" Ariel smiled and then bounced up and down a bit. "I don''t know if it''s because of the spell, or if he''s always like this, but it''s reallyfortable."


    Tristina let out a content sigh. But then she saw Luke''s face and grimaced. "If only he wouldn''t have such a disgusting expression... Especially when leering at women."


    Ariel sighed and ced a hand on her cheek. "Indeed. That''s his one w..." She paused and said, "I wonder if I should agree with Lord Orsted and simply do away with the upper nobility. We''re quite overdue for a purge... and I still haven''t forgiven that minister."


    Tristina reached out to grab Ariel''s hand and said, "You don''t have to do that, Princess. You shouldn''t dirty your hands over something like this..."


    Ariel sighed. "I know." She smiled and said, "It''s best for a princess and future queen to be pure and pristine for the people... But there are days."


    A trip through the inner sanctum of the Asura Pce was enough to make her retch. And when she thought about the children younger than her that were sometimes brought there only to disappear without a trace...


    But you couldn''t clean a home by burning it to the ground.


    As much as Ariel wondered if she should simply request Orsted to raze it all down and rebuild from the ashes, she also knew that would cause quite a bit of chaos for her loyal subjects.


    Really, the problem was only with the rotten top. And considering how few they were, picking off a few abscesses and tumors shouldn''t be too difficult.


    They just had to make precision cuts at the proper time.


    And with the right people.


    Speaking of people...


    Ariel gazed back towards the courtyard, watching Rudy thank the guests with his wife.


    Tristina followed Ariel''s gaze and frowned. "...Don''t tell me you were enraptured by that man. Even if you''re a princess, taking a married man is a bit-"


    "Don''t be ridiculous, Tina." Ariel smiled and said, "I know my boundaries. And while it would be nice to be rted to Nanny Lilia, I have a feeling that the kingdom of Asura- No, the entire Central Continent would be covered in corpses if I made a move."


    She paused and remembered a certain young elf girl with light green hair she met long ago. "...Mister Rudy has some pretty scary lovers, you know?"


    As if to prove Ariel''s point, Sylphy walked into their line of sight. She paused and then turned to look directly at Ariel and Tristina before smiling.


    Tristina flinched. "I-Is an elf''s hearing that good?"

 181 – Eri Notus Greyrat

    181 ¨C Eri Notus Greyrat


    It was a long and exciting night. Congrattions all around, people chatting, and meeting each other for either the first time, or the first time in a while.


    And, as expected from such a happy and exciting night, time seemed to pass by in a blur.


    Eating good food with the guests, receiving toasts and blessings, watching everyone interact while standing beside my adorable wife.


    I could honestly say that it was an unexpected happiness. While I knew that there was a lot of troubleing down the horizon... and not just from Being W, but from the rtionship juggling I''d be dealing with, for now, I was happy spending time with Eri.


    I was also happy seeing everyone interact and get along at the wedding reception.


    ...There was a bit of a weird interaction with Ste and Akito in the background. One followed by my baby sister ring daggers at me whenever she could afterwards, but it seemed like she was shelving the matter for the moment.


    It seemed like Ste had sessfully learned the lesson of ''time and ce.''


    If I wasn''t already feeling on top of the world from the ceremony and everything else, that would definitely have topped things off.


    But in the end, time moved on, and the wedding reception came to an end.


    After bidding the guests farewell with Eri, then thanking our parents for staying behind to clean things up, I whisked Eri away for our honeymoon.


    A sky just starting to light up with the sun and the dawn of a new day. One in contrast to the starry night that had just greeted us.


    And then a small and cozy house in front of us.


    I set Eri down and then smiled.


    Eri raised her left hand against her chest, idly twirling her wedding ring around with her right hand. Taking a look at the surroundings, she muttered, "This... it''s real, isn''t it?"


    I walked over to ce my arm around Eri''s shoulders and nodded. "It''s definitely real, Eri." After saying that, I gently guided her inside the house. No, inside our ''home.''


    It was a ce I built just for Eri and I in Arcadia.


    I won''t go into the details of how I made it or where it was, but the house was a cozy one-floor home with a living room, a bathroom, and arge master bedroom. A flower garden up front and a small pond out back added a bit of charm to the ce too.


    But the house didn''t matter so much. It was the fact that it was ours. A home of our own.


    And Eri seemed to realize that too when we walked in.


    I gently closed the door behind me as we entered, and Eri flinched.


    She nced back and then instinctively stepped away from me, her face flushed red.


    Iughed and said, "What are you getting so shy about now?"


    "Sh-Shut up, Rudy!" Eri looked around and said, "T-This is new to me, okay? And it''s still... I still... It''s overwhelming, okay?" She shook her head and then looked at me and then back at her ring. "You, me... This..." She paused, turning even redder. "A-A-And since we''re married, the next step..."


    I chuckled and said, "You''ve shamelessly done worse before, haven''t you? There''s no need to be shy now."


    Eri flung her right arm to the side and said, "T-That''s different! Sylphy was there, so I couldn''t lose! B-But like this..." She reached up with her right arm to grab her left hand and then ced both over her chest. After that, she turned to the side and nced at me. "...I-It''s just going to be us. J-Just you and me... so..." She took a deep breath and then shouted. "I''m just nervous, okay!"


    ...Ah.


    This isn''t fair.


    Staring at Eri like that blushing and acting shy in her wedding gown...


    Doing my best to ignore my racing heart and remain calm, I said, "Being that cute is illegal, Eri."


    Eri pointed at me and said, "A-A man like you is illegal! I should be mad, you know?! Here I am, just married with my H-Husband on our h-h-hon..."


    "Honeymoon."


    "S-Shut up!" Eri folded her arms together and said, "A-Anyway!" She stuck her head up and looked down at me. "I should be mad since my husband is marrying three other women over the next few weeks! Not just one, not two, but three! And yet...! And yet...!" She walked over to me, raising her fist.


    I stood there, ready to take whatever Eri wanted to dish out.


    But she just weakly tapped her fist against my chest before leaning her head against me. "...I''m not mad. It''s just... I just feel a bit empty at that thought."


    I froze and then instinctively hugged her.


    Eri tensed and then slowly hugged me back. After that, she said, "Rudy?"


    "Yes, Eri?"


    Eri didn''t look up at me. Still leaning her head against me, she muttered, "Do you really love me?"


    I gently brushed her hair and said, "Of course I do."


    "...Really?" She slowly looked up. "Really, really? Even though we haven''t spent much time together?" Staring at me with teary crimson eyes, she quietly finished with, "Even though I was forced on you?"


    "Fate takes strange turns."


    I didn''t like her at all when we met. And it wouldn''t have been a stretch to say I hated her a bit.


    But the Eris that I met then and the Eri before me now was different.


    Besides, while Eri might think that we didn''t know each other long, we DID still spend close to a year in Arcadia too after she arrived with Norn.


    I think.


    Time was just a social construct at this point what with the distorted flow of time, so...


    But anyway, Eri.


    I smiled at her and then said, "Even so, I''m sure that even in another life, I''d be by your side one way or another."


    Eri blushed and then buried her face against my chest again. "...You''re just being nice. What''s even good about a tomboy like me anyway?"


    I chuckled and said, "You''re less of a tomboy than Sylphy, you know? Even though she looks like ady on the outside, Sylphy''s as tough as steel on the inside."


    Eri tapped my chest and then said, "Rude. Talking about other women again on our honeymoon..."


    I kissed Eri''s forehead. "Sorry."


    Eri shook her head and then looked up at me. Staring into my eyes, she muttered, "That''s not fair too. Every time you look at me with that face and apologize, I want to forgive you for everything."


    I chuckled and said, "Well, it''s good that it''s me then." I smiled and said, "Another man might take advantage of that."


    Eri rolled her eyes and said, "As if you don''t do that already."


    "True." I reached around to hold Eri close and said, "But at least I won''t ever let you be unhappy."


    "...I hate how you make me want to believe your lies."


    "Well, I have a tendency of turning lies into the truth. So does it really matter?"


    Eri scoffed, but let out a content smile.


    I stood there and smiled as well, holding her close.


    After a few moments, Eri spoke up. "Hey, Rudy."


    "Yes?"


    Eri hesitated and then said, "If everything started over again, would you still have me as your wife?"


    I wanted to give an immediate answer, but I knew that wasn''t proper.


    This was something weighing on Eri''s heart. And at a time like this, it would be wrong to answer flippantly.


    I wasn''t Dad, after all.


    So I took time to seriously think about it.


    In the beginning, I didn''t like Eri... Eris, at all. She made a terrible first impression on me, and I already had Sylphy in my heart at the time. And even before Sylphy, I was already thinking about Roxy.


    But if I had met Eri first...


    ...I would have seen through her actions. I would have taken hershing out as the desperate iling of a lonely girl who was adrift in the world by herself.


    I would have been more patient with her, and I was sure Eri would have calmed down a bit too.


    No, I knew that from how she ended up with Rudeus in the other timeline.


    Considering my temperament was better than his, and that I wouldn''t have dismissed Eri''s concerns...


    ...I could see it.


    A world where I realized that I was a ''genius'' because of Eri''s struggles. But one where I took on that role to help her be happy after seeing someone growing up in a simr situation to my past life.


    Eri shook her head and then said, "No. Don''t answer that."


    "Eri-"


    Eri reached up and then wrapped her arms around my neck. Staring at me, she let out a soft smile and said, "It''s fine. I know I''m lucky." She let out a soft sigh and said, "This life I have is one I got by chance, and unfairly. Even so..." She leaned forward to kiss me.


    The soft taste of cinnamon. A slight tingle and heat from the light touch of her lips. And the faint scent of roses.


    Eri leaned back and let out a bright smile. "There''s no point talking about what-ifs when this is real, right?"


    Staring at her happy expression, I felt a stab of guilt in my heart.


    I instinctively held her tight and then said, "I''m sorry, Eri."


    It was an uneven exchange.


    Eri was giving me her everything, but she could only ever get a part of me.


    And while I would give her the most I could, I could neverpletely devote myself to her.


    It was a selfish decision that asked for a cruelpromise.


    While it was a decision that would make everyone ''happy,'' it wasn''t the decision that would make her the ''happiest.''


    Even so...


    Eri flicked my forehead and said, "Stop that, Rudy." She smiled and said, "If you keep looking at me like that, you''ll make me forgive you for something wrong that you didn''t do."


    "...That''s right." I smiled back at Eri and steeled my heart.


    I was the one who chose this path.


    Eri, Sylphy, Rika, and Roxy were the ones who agreed to thispromise, but it was because of me that they considered it in the first ce.


    So I had to take responsibility for it.


    Even if I couldn''t make Eripletely happy, I just had to do my damnedest to get as close to that as possible.


    Eriughed and then ced her hand on my cheek. "You don''t have to be so serious about it, Rudy."


    "...I''ll do better."


    Eri nodded. "As long as you do. Now..." She nced around the room and blushed. "S-Since we''re here... Um..." She looked back at me and said, "...Is this ce really private?"


    "Absolutely." I nodded and said, "This is a private house in an isted plot ofnd in Arcadia with no one around for miles."


    "Th-Then..." Eri''s face turned a deep red and she said, "I-It''s fine if I go a bit wild then? I... I can scream, right?"


    Iughed.


    "H-Hey!" Eri huffed and said, "I''m being serious!"


    I gave her a quick peck on the lips and then said, "Yes. It''s fine. My cute little puppy can bark as much as she wants."


    Eri smacked my chest and said, "I''m not a dog! ...T-Though if you want to try it...?"


    Hearing that and seeing her shy but wanting gaze, I couldn''t help it anymore and lifted her up. Afterwards, I started marching towards the master bedroom.


    Eri squeaked and then said, "W-Wait! Not in the dress!"


    I snapped my fingers, materializing a mannequin off to the side and then warping Eri''s wedding gown onto it.


    Eri screamed and then crossed her arms around hercy crimson bra. ring at me, she said, "W-Warn me first!"


    "I''m sorry, Eri. But you''re just too adorable right now."


    I kicked the door open and walked inside with Eri before kicking it closed.


    Eri turned as red as her hair and then looked up at me with shy eyes. "R-Really...? I''m... You really think I''m adorable?"


    "Yep." I set Eri down on the bed and then smiled. "So get ready, because I''m going to bully you all night."


    "W-Wait. R-Rudy- I-I mean, H-Husband-"


    I leaned over her to nibble her ear and then said, "Yes, Wifey?"


    Eri let out a strangled sound and then covered her face.


    I chuckled and said, "What is it? Too much?"


    Eri shook her head and then peeked at me from her fingers. Taking deep breaths, she said, "C-Can you be gentle? I-I know it''s not the first, but since it''s our wedding..." She slowly lowered her hands and then said, "...I want it to be special... Please?"


    HNGH.


    "R-Rudy?"


    I took a step back from the bed and knelt to the ground. After that, I reached out to grab her left hand and kissed her ring finger. "In that case, this knight shall do whatever Mdymands."


    Eri froze for a moment. No, for a few moments.


    I wondered if it was a bit too much and she fainted.


    But Eri recovered and then wrapped her other hand around my own. Staring at me, she said, "Then... C-Can we just cuddle for a bit first? I''m... I''m nervous."


    Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnngh.


    Why is Eri- No. Why is my wife. So. DAMNED. CUTE?!?!


    "H-Husband...?"


    I took off my shoes and socks and then slipped off my suit. After that, I slipped into the bed beside her and pulled Eri close.


    Eri looked surprised, but she smiled as she turned around to look at me.


    "Is this fine, Mdy?"


    "Mmhm." Eri nodded and then wrapped her arms around my neck to pull me close. After that, she said, "...Then, can my knight kiss me? Please?"


    "As you wish."


    Eri closed her eyes and leaned forward to kiss me. It began as a soft peck, but then it turned into something deeper. And after that...

 182 – After the First

    182 ¨C After the First


    Sylphy hugged a giant plushy modeled after Rudy and let out a deep sigh. "I know it''s selfish and mean... but I can''t help but be upset. You understand, right, Rolo?


    Rnd nodded. "I understand, Mother." He gazed off into the distance, reminiscing on the past. "Even when I was a kid, although all of my moms got along well, there was still a bit of jealousy at times."


    "Right?!" Sylphy jumped to her feet and said, "It''s only natural!"


    "...Yes." Rnd slowly nodded.


    Sylphy was in her room with Rnd.


    After going through the draining events of the day, she needed some quiet time to rx, recuperate, and recharge.


    And of course, she dragged along her son to help her with that.


    Well, Rnd wasn''t *really* her son, but he was proof that she and Rudy were meant to be one way or another.


    Unlike Eri, who didn''t have physical proof that she and Rudy were meant to be together.


    ...Ah. That was the jealousy speaking again.


    Sylphy would need to get better at that...


    Rudy wouldn''t like it. And she couldn''t live if Rudy started to hate her...


    Not that he would.


    Rudy was nice, and kind, and loving, and understanding.


    Even though he knew that Sylphy was a bit broken, he still epted her, ws and all.


    So she would try to be better- No, she would BE better.


    For him. For the man she loved more than anything else in this world...


    Except for Rnd, of course. She loved her son too, even if he technically wasn''t hers.


    So that was fine.


    Even so, Sylphy couldn''t help but think about it.


    Sylphy was in Rudy''s house. But he wasn''t here right now. And Eri wasn''t either.


    Instead, the two of them were off somewhere else being intimate in a home that the two called their own.


    It was only for a few days.


    Sylphy knew that. And she also knew that it would be her turn to have Rudy to herself next. But even so...


    She let out a deep sigh and looked at Rnd. "I don''t understand how your mother did it, Rolo. Even after meeting and talking to her..."


    That Sylphy was the first wife, and yet shepromised for Rudy and allowed more. Not only that, but she had been content with just being Rudy''s wife, even if she couldn''t stand beside him.


    A saint. Sylphy couldn''t help but think that Rnd''s mother had been a true saint.


    Because Sylphy couldn''tprehend it.


    That Rudy had been in even more dangerous situations. Faced more terrifying foes while being far from as strong as her Rudy.


    Even so, that Sylphy stayed home and just waited for him.


    She was content to just be the ''anchor'' in his life. The one constant.


    ...But Sylphy couldn''t do that.


    The thought that Rudy might disappear again somewhere she couldn''t see. That she would be left alone again, even though she KNEW that wouldn''t happen...


    Sylphy let out a deep sigh.


    Rnd looked at Sylphy and then nodded. "My mother was indeed a saint." He paused and then said, "Technically a goddess too, ording to my father. But I wouldn''t discount your own efforts, Mother."


    Sylphy smiled at Rnd and then said, "You''re too nice, Rolo." She set her plushy of Rudy aside and then walked over to hug Rnd. "...But thank you."


    Rnd hugged Sylphy back and said, "You''re wee, Mother."


    Sylphy paused and then stepped back, frowning. "...Are you really fine with calling me and Rudy your parents though?"


    Rnd let out a rxed smile. "Of course. Even if the time may be different, you two are still my parents. And besides, I''m needed here more than I ever was before."


    Sylphy stared at Rnd for a while and then said, "I hope my son is even as half as reliable as you, Rolo."


    Rnd shook his head. "I would hope my younger brother be seen for himself, not what he could be." He paused and then said, "...Though a few faint expectations would be good. It''s easy to mistake freedom for indifference."


    Sylphy nodded. "I''ll remember that, Rolo."


    Rnd smiled and then said, "In any case... Are you finished with your preparations, Mother? Is there anyone you wish to invite or anything I can do to help?"


    Sylphy ced a hand on her chin and hummed. "I don''t think so... Everyone in my family is here for the wedding, and the preparations are mostly done for the ceremony. I guess I could invite some friends...?"


    Sylphy didn''t have many friends, but she had a few acquaintances.


    There was that small adventurer party she helped back when she was crossing the Northern Lands. Counter Bow or something?


    Then there was that Sol... Sold it? Soldier? Something like that.


    He said that he owed her a favor, so maybe he coulde visit?


    It might make Rudy a bit jealous too.


    That was a bit mean, but Sylphy would like it if he did get a bit jealous for her, like he did for Eri with that Luke guy...


    Rnd nodded and said, "Alright. Should I round up the knights to go look for them?"


    "No." Sylphy shook her head and said, "It''s fine. I''ll go get them myself."


    Rnd blinked. "Right now?"


    Sylphy waved her arms, changing out from the formal dress she wore for Eri''s wedding into an adventurer outfit.


    A loose white tunic, furry white boots, a gray scarf, light blue gloves and leggings to cover her arms and legs.


    After holding her arm out again to summon a glittering blue ice sword that she hung on her left side, she smiled and said, "Yep! Mommy needs to get her mind off some things, and an adventure to find some friends sounds like just the thing!" She paused and then said, "Do you want toe with, Rolo?"


    Rnd hesitated, but then he said, "Father would be upset if I just let you go off on your own, so I will."


    Sylphy pouted and said, "Do you like Daddy that much more than Mommy?"


    Rnd shook his head. "No. I just don''t want to get lectured by himter for leaving ady alone even though she''s more than capable of protecting herself."


    Sylphyughed and said, "Rudy IS a bit of a hypocrite like that... But okay!" She ran over to grab Rnd''s hand and said, "Let''s go on a trip to meet Mommy''s friends!"


    -SNG-


    It was the day after Onii-chan''s wedding with Eri nee-chan.


    The adults were busy cleaning and reorganizing the house for Erofu nee-chan''s wedding, so there wasn''t much she could do inside.


    Not to mention that Onii-chan and Eri nee-chan were off somewhere doing loveydovey stuff too, so the house had a weird atmosphere.


    So, instead of hanging around all day, Ste immediately left the house to go hunt down Akito.


    It could be a look alike. Weirder things had been happening in Ste''s life. But even so, Ste wanted to confirm it.


    He was easy enough to find. With Fai, Wata, and Wyn sweeping through the city in spirit form, it only took a short while for her to locate him.


    It turned out that Akito had rented a home not far from Onii-chan''s house.


    Or maybe Onii-chan rented one close by for him? Onii-chan definitely knew how and why Akito was here, so that was probably likely.


    But in any case, it was time to confront him.


    Wearing her usual clothes, a loose ck t-shirt and jeans, along with her usual adventurer bag filled with useful tools, she headed over to Akito''s house with Leo in tow.


    Fai, Wata, and Wyn were there too, but Ste made sure they were in spirit form for the day. Just to make sure they didn''t raise any weird gs by ident.


    Not to mention that a cute toddler with a puppy was more disarming than a toddler with a bunch of spirit pals.


    Stopping at the house, Ste tried the door and found it unlocked.


    "Hah..."


    Akito was still as reckless as ever.


    Still, since it was unlocked, Ste let herself inside.


    The house was small. Just a single floor with a living room and a pair of bedrooms. There was also a door that led to a bathroom or something too.


    There was basic furniture there, like a table, chairs, and stuff. But it was pretty empty otherwise... except for all the random notes and paperying all over the ground.


    ncing at it, Ste felt a bit nostalgic.


    Even though it was a different ce, Akito acted the same.


    And just like back then, Akito was sitting at a table, idly sketching out notes amidst a mess of books and papers.


    Ste closed the door behind her.


    Akito flinched and nced over. For a second, he was panicked. But then he saw that it was Ste and let out a relieved sigh. Smiling, he stood up and said, "Good morning, Ste! What are you doing here? And where are your friends?"


    Ste walked over, stering on her best cutesy toddler smile and said, "Morning Mister Akito!"


    Leo wagged his tail and then ran up to Akito. "Wan!"


    Akito smiled and crouched down to scratch Leo''s ears. "Hello again to you too, Leo. Keeping Ste safe?"


    "Wan wan!"


    Ste adjusted her bag and then said, "Can I y here today, Mister Akito?"


    Akito picked Leo up and then said, "Sure! But..." He frowned and said, "Are you sure you want to y here? It''s kind of boring."


    "It''s fine!" Ste smiled and said, "I don''t think Mister Akito is boring! ...And everyone else is busy."


    "Oh. Right..." Akito nodded. "I bet they would be... Well, you can hang out here if you want." He set Leo back down and said, "I''m working on a project your brother gave me, but feel free to look around. I think there''s some snacks in the fri- icebox if you''re hungry too."


    "Kay~! Thanks Mister Akito!"


    Akito smiled and then walked back to his table, looking back over his notes.


    Ste took the time to walk around the house, looking at everything like a curious toddler would.


    Wata''s voice echoed in Ste''s head. <You know, you''re getting really good at ying cute.>


    Fai''s voice echoed after that. [Right?! Ste''s adorable!]


    Wyn''s yawn echoed next before she spoke up. -That''s because it''s Ste''s true nature to be the cute little hero.-


    ''Wan wan!'' Leo''s bark echoed and he chimed in too. ''I agree! Ste''s the cutest bestest hero!''


    Ste blushed and then whispered, "Could you be quiet?!"


    "Hm?" Akito looked over and said, "Did you need something, Ste?"


    Ste smiled and said, "No! I''m fine, Mister Akito! Just talking to myself!"


    "Okay. Let me know if you need anything!"


    Ste let out a sigh of relief, doing her best not to pout at theughter echoing in her head. Instead, she walked around and took a look at what Akito was working on.


    There were a lot of magic formations and stuff. But there were also a lot of weird notes withments like ''unraveling the nature of divinity through knowledge to create a golden sword that severs it'' and ''reaching the root of existence to acquire a grand true sorcery surpassing divinity and worldy logic.''


    ...It was a bit chuuni, actually.


    Ste remembered Akito was a bit of an otaku, but...


    Fai sighed and then spoke up. [Is this really the guy you liked in your past life, Ste?]


    Wata hummed. <He seems kind of pathetic.>


    Wyn chimed in as well. -He really is. His fate is so weak I''m surprised he hasn''t dropped dead.-


    And of course Leo had to get in his two cents. ''Wan! Ste needs a stronger man than that!''


    ''Shut up! I''m thinking!''


    Ste shook her head and then snuck a few nces towards Akito while she walked around.


    ...He was definitely the same person. That face, that same goofy expression he had while concentrating on a project. The messy house and weird notes...


    Ste was sure now. This was Akito.


    But she didn''t know why or how he was here.


    Did Onii-chan bring him here, knowing how important Akito was to her?


    ...Wait. Did Onii-chan even know?


    Ste never actually told him about Akito, right? And unless Onii-chan was a god or something that could read her mind, he wouldn''t know who Akito was.


    <Rudy isn''t a god, but he''s definitely stronger!>


    ''Wan. I agree. I haven''t met the Beast God, but I can''t imagine he''s stronger than Rudy!''


    -Mmhm. If Hitogami didn''t usurp the role of Human God, Rudy would have obtained that role a long time ago.-


    Ste blinked, processing the casualments dropping giant lore bombs. And when she processed them, she huffed and muttered. "Not cool dropping this stuff randomly like this. You could have said something earlier! Hah..."


    At that time, Akito paused in his note-taking and nced over. Letting out an apologetic smile, he said, "Sorry for being boring, Ste."


    Ste waved her hand and said, "I''m not bored! It''s just..."


    She wracked her mind for an excuse and then said, "...I just miss Onii-chan a bit."


    Akito froze. "...Onii-chan?"


    Ste flinched and started to sweat.


    -Hah...-


    [Ooh! So it really is in the blood!]


    ''Wan. Ste...''


    <Do you really have to keep up that character even in telepathy, Leo?>


    ''Wan. I have pride in being a real dog, wan wan. Unlike a certain fake cat.''


    <FAKE->


    Ste pursed her lips and then forcibly weakened the connection between her and her spirits for a bit.


    Akitoughed and then said, "That''s cute!" He smiled and then said, "Did Rudy teach you some Japanese?"


    Steughed. "Th-That''s right! Onii-chan said he used to sing to me in Japanese and stuff. I liked how it sounded when I was a baby."


    Please buy it, please buy it...!


    "That''s adorable." Akito smiled. "Rudy''s a great older brother."


    "Mmhm!" Ste nodded. "He really is!"


    There was afortable silence for a moment.


    Sensing an opportunity, Ste decided to try something.


    ...She probably shouldn''t, but she really wanted to know how he felt.


    So, putting on her best innocent expression, Ste walked over to Akito and said, "Hey, Mister Akito?"


    "Yes?"


    "Do you have a wife like Onii-chan too?"


    "W-What?" Akito flinched. "No!"


    "Well..." Ste shifted in ce and then said, "Do you have someone you like then?"


    Akito paused. After that, a wistful smile crossed his face. "I do... did."


    Ste froze. At the same time, she felt her heart race.


    Then. After that, did Akito still...?


    Akito sighed and shook her head. "She''s far away from me now though." Looking up at the ceiling, he said, "If I had a chance, I''d apologize to her for leaving her behind. But... it''s toote now." He paused. "...Well, I mean I guess I just talked to her, but I really do need to properly apologize."


    "Eh?"


    Ste blinked, realizing something was off.


    Akito reached up to scratch the back of his head. "It''s a bitplicated, but thest time I saw her, we had a big argument and she ran away. It was dumb, and she almost got ki- hurt real bad. But I managed to save her... I think. At least I remember grabbing her before the truck- Er, I mean a big metal monster hit her."


    Ste stared at Akito.


    Akito let out a nervousugh.


    ...Ah.


    ...It wasn''t him.


    Ste felt her stomach churn a bit.


    She should have realized it with the weird timeywimey things going on.


    But the Akito there wasn''t ''her'' Akito.


    ...That made sense.


    There was no way he would be so happy and go-lucky like this if it was her Akito.


    ...But even though it made her feel a bit sour, Ste felt relieved.


    Because she thought her death didn''t mean anything to him.


    If Akito had really been acting like this even though Ste had died to save him... She didn''t know what she''d do.


    But this wasn''t her Akito.


    Then... it was fine.


    "Ste?"


    Ste stered on a bright smile and said, "Then I hope you and your lover make up soon, Mister Akito!"


    Akito blushed and said, "S-She''s not my lover, she''s my girlfriend!"


    Ste decided to tease him a bit and then yed dumb. "But I''m your girlfriend?"


    "W-What?!"


    Ste tilted her head and said, "I''m a girl, and I''m Mister Akito''s friend. So I''m your girlfriend, right?"


    "No, that''s not- I mean, technically, but... Really, that''s not what the word means..."


    Ste giggled at seeing Akito stammer.


    Was this how Onii-chan felt bullying Eri nee-chan? No wonder he did it so often.


    ...But still.


    After seeing Akito again like this, Ste couldn''t help but wonder.


    Why was she born in this world? And why was this Akito here?


    ...If she was a hero, did that mean the time for her to fight wasing up?


    ...And if so, would she be meeting her Akito in the future soon too...?


    Akito cleared his throat. "A-Anyway... Let''s just y a game for a bit." He stood up and walked over to pick up some pieces of paper on the ground. "I have some magic formations here that make things float. I think they should be fun..."


    Ste hopped over and smiled. "Okay, Mister Akito!"


    ...Well, whatever.


    Ste would think about thatter. For now...


    ...Even if it wasn''t her Akito, and even if Onii-chan didn''t intend it, she would be able to get a bit of closure like this.


    -ZNG-


    Zenith hummed to herself as she hung freshly washedundry out to dry in the courtyard.


    Beside her, Paul folded someundry that was already dried and put them in a basket.


    Meanwhile, Lilia sat on a chair nearby, washing more clothes in a tub.


    After finishing his batch, Paul looked at Zenith and Lilia and smiled. "It''s been a while since it''s just been us three."


    Zenith brushed her hands against her clothes and then smiled. "It has, hasn''t it?"


    Norn and Aisha were at school along with Miko. Ste went out to y with her spirit guardians. Sylphy and Rnd were out sending wedding invitations. Eos and Ena were back in Arcadia to catch up on work...


    And then Rudy and Eri were on their honeymoon.


    Zenith walked over to Lilia and then let out a sigh. "It''s a bit bittersweet though." She shook her head and said, "To think I missed Rudy''s cute years and Ste''s baby years... Not to mention Nornie and Aisha."


    Lilia drained the bucket of clothes before handing it to Zenith. After that, Lilia said, "That''s true." She sighed and said, "I wish that we could have been there for Rudy when he was growing up." She frowned and said, "We could have prevented this disaster if we knew."


    Zenith received the bucket and sighed. "Right? I had been hoping that with Milis'' teachings, Rudy would just stick to Sylphy and Eri. But to think our cute little genius is marrying not just two, but four beautiful women..." She paused and then red at Paul. "And all with big breasts too."


    Paul held up his hands and said, "Hey! It''s not my fault! It runs in the Greyrat blood!"


    Zenith scoffed. "You''d better hope that the ''Greyrat blood'' only runs true in men then. Otherwise you''ll have a hell of a time when the girls grow up more and start chasing men."


    Paul froze and then covered his face. He groaned and said, "This is karma, isn''t it?"


    Lilia dried her hands with a towel and then said, "Absolutely."


    Paul sighed and walked over to the next batch of dried clothes. As he took them off, he said, "I''m surprised that Rudy took Eri away for a honeymoon though." Expertly folding them into a pile with a flick of his wrist, he walked back towards Zenith and said, "I would have thought he''d just have us all clear out."


    Zenith shook her head. "Rudy couldn''t do that. Sylphy already imed having the honeymoon here."


    Paul blinked and then said, "That does seem like something Sylphy would do..."


    Lilia shook her head. "I still cannot believe the changes the children went through. And poor Sylphy most of all..."


    Zenith sighed. "I know. She doesn''t talk about it, but the scars on Sylphy..."


    Paul shook his head. "You shouldn''t feel sorry about it. Apparently, Sylphy''s proud of them." Heughed and said, "She calls them her proof of love for Rudy."


    Zenith blinked. "How? No, why?"


    Paul shrugged. "I don''t know all the details, but apparently Sylphy spent thousands of years or something delving in dangerous dungeons looking for Rudy, barelying back alive each time. But she eventually found him, so she''s really proud of it."


    Zenith grabbed Paul''s shoulders and said, "Sylphy did what? For how long?!"


    Paul blinked. "Aha... W-Well, I think maybe it was only a few hundred years? A thousand might be an exaggeration... Though I think Rudy mentioned he spent a few thousand years meditating-"


    "OUR SON IS OLDER THAN THE MILIS RELIGION NOW?!"


    Paul blinked and then said, "...Is this a bad time to say that he might as well be the founder of the Milis religion at this point?"


    Zenith took a step back, feeling faint.


    Lilia let out a long suffering sigh and then said, "...I need to stab that Being W a few times." She paused and then said, "He is male, correct?"


    Paul nodded. "...I think so? That''s what Rudy said."


    "Good." Lilia nodded. "Then I can practice my sausage peeling techniques on him."


    "Sausage-" Paul shut up and then said, "Never mind."


    Zenith shook her head and said, "To think that both Sylphy and Rudy endured so much..."


    A tense silence filled the air.


    After a bit, Paul coughed and said, "On another note..." He frowned and said, "Has it sunk in yet that we''re going to be grandparents? I mean, Eos, Ena, and Rnd are nice. But we''ll have babies around soon. Rudy''s babies. Real grandkids... Not that Eos, Ena, and Rnd aren''t. But you know?"


    Lilia frowned. "...You could have phrased it better... But yes." She sighed and ced her hand on her cheek. "Only a short while ago, Aisha, Norn, Rudy, Sylphy, and Eris were still small children. And now..."


    Zenith nodded. Holding out her arms, she let out a sad smile and said, "I still remember holding Ste when she was just a baby. But in the blink of an eye..." She pulled her arms back, hugging herself. "...I would be lying if I said I wasn''t sad. And to think that Rudy is grown up now with kids of his own soon... Babies too... And that both Norn and Aisha aren''t far from being adults too..."


    Zenithughed and shook her head. "Well, I suppose it will be fun visiting my parents? They''ll definitely have a heart attack seeing their grandchildren and great grandchildren."


    "I think it''s a bitte for that," Paul said. "Rudy''s already being seen as a patron saint of the True Milis Religion since Cliff is the pope-to-be and treating him like one."


    Zenith blinked. "...What?"


    "Didn''t I exin it? Since Rudy rescued so many people in the Magic Continent and created Arcadia, he''s seen as the reincarnation of St. Milis-"


    "But St. Milis is a woman!?"


    Paul shrugged. "People have been liberally interpreting the holy texts these days. But anyway..."

 183 – Family Matters

    183 ¨C Family Matters


    An intimate three days and four nights with my beloved wife passed. A lovely time where Eri and I found out that she was actually a pure maiden at heart who was pretty shy when there wasn''t someone pressuring her into things or turning it into apetition.


    It was adorable and cute. Something that I didn''t expect from Eri, but something that I really, really loved.


    And as proof of that love...


    Eri ced her hands over her stomach and said, "I still can''t believe it." She looked up at me from the bed and said, "You''re sure, right?"


    I kissed her and said, "I''m absolutely certain, Eri."


    The result of Eri''s eagerness and proof of our love. It was faint, but two little lights were mixed in with Eri''s mana. Twins, and likely fraternal judging from the slightly different colors.


    Apparently, the Greyrat blood worked fast...?


    Either way, it was too early to tell the gender at this point though.


    Eri sat up, leaning against a stack of pillows and then let out a silly smile. Hugging her belly, she said, "I''m going to be a mom. I''m really going to be a mom...?"


    I hugged her and then gave a light kiss on her cheek. "And you''ll be a great one. But first." I leaned back and said, "Anything you want to eat?"


    Eri nodded and said, "Could you make me something sweet? Ah! But healthy!"


    "Of course." I smiled and said, "You rx and I''ll set the table for breakfast."


    "Thank you, Rudy. I... I l-love you." Eri blushed and then looked to the side.


    I took a deep breath to calm down the fuzzy warm feeling in my heart from hearing that along with the urge to scream and hug her. And then I walked around to head towards the kitchen.


    ...Well, the kitchte.


    I didn''t really think it through, so we didn''t have a proper kitchen in the house. But a bit of conjuring and mana shenanigans fixed that.


    I heard Eri get up and start up a shower.


    While she was doing that, I started pulling out ingredients to whip up a quick breakfast.


    Something sweet, but healthy... hm.


    Well, you could never really go wrong with pancakes and syrup. I could add some fresh blueberries and strawberries to make it healthier too... yeah, let''s do that.


    I conjured up the usual basic ingredients and then pulled out some fruit that I tossed into a pocket subspace I picked from around Arcadia a while ago.


    Never underestimate the power and utility of an inventory space with stopped time.


    But anyway, I started whipping up the batter, slicing the fruits, and got the pan ready for cooking.


    A few stacks of pancakester, and Eri was finished with her shower. Wearing a loose bathrobe, she walked over to the table, beaming with happiness the entire way. After sitting down, she shook her head and said, "I still can''t believe this is real." She looked at me and let out a bright smile. "We''ll be a family, Rudy."


    I set down a stack of blueberry pancakes with some fresh cut strawberries in front of her. After that, I reached out to massage her hand and said, "We''re already family, Eri. ...But yes, soon we''ll have some little ones running around."


    "Wow." Eri shook her head, a silly smile still on her face. "I still can''t believe it."


    Hearing that, I couldn''t help butugh.


    Eri pulled her hand away from me and then pouted. "What''s so funny?"


    "It''s just..." I grabbed a te of pancakes for myself and then said, "It''s funny you''re surprised considering how hard you worked, you know?"


    Eri turned a bright red and then said, "S-Shut up, Lewd."


    I held up my hands and said, "This knight only did what Mdy asked of him. ...And she asked a lot."


    Eri huffed and pointedly ignored me, starting on her food.


    I smiled and started cutting into my pancakes as well.


    Mm... not too sweet, but just enough with the syrup. Strawberries were fresh, so itplimented it well too.


    I''d add some cream to finish it off, but I figured that might give Eri some ideas, so I yed it safe-


    "Hey."


    I flinched, wondering if Eri read my mind.


    But she continued on and said, "Um..." She looked away, acting shy, and then said, "Do... you have any names in mind?"


    I paused to think about it.


    ...Honestly, it was still a bit surreal for me too.


    I didn''t expect to be thinking about fatherhood so soon.


    I got the easy pass with Ena, Eos, and Rnd since they skipped the infant, baby, and mostly toddler stages.


    But a baby of our own... No. A pair of babies. Either two sons, two daughters, or a son and a daughter.


    ...And they wouldn''t be the first either.


    Come to think of it.


    Assuming that- No, knowing that all my lovely wives want kids, I''ll be met with a batch of them all at once.


    Odds were high that my wives would go intobor around the same time too.


    Mm... Might need to figure out a range and time-limited spell so I could be with them all. Something like the timeturners from H*rry P*tter.


    "Husband?"


    I blinked, caught off guard by the name. But then Iughed and said, "You really like calling me that, don''t you, Eri?"


    Eri blushed and said, "S-So what if I do?" She crossed her arms and said, "It''s true, isn''t it?"


    I smiled and then snuck a quick kiss on her lips.


    Eri blushed and then said, "Stop that!"


    Iughed and said, "Whatever you say, Wifey. But as for names... Hm. For a girl, how about Christina?"


    Eri lit up and said, "That''s a pretty name! I like it!"


    "Great!"


    Definitely wasn''t because Eri had red hair and the thoughts I had on time travel reminded me of a certain mad scientist and his assistant with the same name.


    Eri hummed and said, "What about for a son then? And what if we have two daughters or sons?"


    "Hm... Well, I think Ares would work for a son, right?"


    It was cool, strong, and fitting.


    Eri blinked and then snorted.


    "What?" I frowned and said, "Is it that bad?"


    Eri shook her head. "No. I like it, but... It''s just my name but for a boy, isn''t it?"


    I paused.


    That... was true.


    Ares was basically ''Eris'', but just shifted around a bit.


    I mean, semantically it was different. But in terms of how it sounded and stuff...


    "...That''s a good point."


    Eri giggled and said, "That''s fine! Ares is cute... And I''m happy that I''m the only thing on Husband''s mind right now."


    "Can''t deny that." I smiled and said, "Then, I''ll have those as my names for the kids. But if we have two sons or daughters, we need two more names, right? So it''s your turn."


    "M-Me?" Eri pointed at herself and then shook her head. "I-I''m not good at naming though..."


    I waved my hand and said, "It''s fine. It''s our children, so whatever name you decide is just as valid as mine."


    Eri hesitated for a bit and then said, "O-Okay. Then, if it''s a girl... Um..." She looked at me and then said, "W-What about... Ruri? We take the ''Ru'' from your name and ''Ri'' from Eri..."


    I gave her a thumbs up and said, "Cute! I love it."


    Encouraged, Eri smiled and said, "That''s good. Okay. Then for a boy... Um. Rudy... Rudeus... Eri. Eris... Dieri... Dees... Ru-De-Us. E-ri-su..."


    Wait.


    I gave her a nk look and said, "Are you really justbining our names together?"


    Eri blushed and said, "It''s romantic, okay?! A-And our kids will be a bit of me and you, so have the name be a bit of both works too, doesn''t it? ...Ah! And Deri!" She smacked her fist into her palm and said, "If it''s two sons, we can call the other one Deri."


    "...I hope for our children''s sakes that we don''t have two sons."


    Eri huffed and stuffed a strawberry into her mouth. After eating it, she muttered, "You''re terrible."


    Iughed and went back to eating.


    We shared a happy and quiet time just eating together.


    But after a bit, I pulled out a pocket watch to check the time and said, "We should probably get going soon. I still need to teach *some* sses, and you still have to find a dress for Sylphy''s wedding."


    Eri hesitated.


    "Eri?"


    Eri sighed and then let out a soft smile. "I''m fine. Just..." She looked at me and said, "There will be more times like this in the future, right? With just me and you?"


    I walked around to hug Eri and said, "Of course. Even though I''m not just marrying you, I''m still married to you. How could a husband not make private time to be alone with his wife?"


    "...Okay." Eri smiled. "Then I''ll get changed. I still need to talk with Mom, Miss Zenith- Oh." She blinked and said, "I guess she''s Mom now too. And Miss Lilia..."


    "I say that you just call them Mama Zenny and Mama Lily. Your Mom will always be your Mom."


    Eri nodded and said, "It''ll take some getting used to... but I''ll try."


    After that, we finished our breakfast and Eri changed into some casual clothes. A white t-shirt, light blue jeans...


    ...Hm. That outfit reminded me of a certain ''blue'' sorcerer...


    But anyway, after that, I held out my left arm to escort her back. "Ready to go?"


    Eri nced at her wedding dress hanging on the mannequin nearby. "...Is it fine leaving this here?"


    "Of course." I nodded and said, "This is our house. Yours and mine." I smiled and said, "Unless you say otherwise, no one else will evere here except for us and our kids, Eri. So don''t worry."


    Eri''s eyes widened and then she walked over to grab my arm. After leaning against me, she said, "You always know what I''m worried about, don''t you?"


    "I''m not a mind reader, so no. But I''d like to hope I can tell at least a little bit."


    Eri smiled. "Okay. Then... Let''s get going."


    I nodded and walked her out of the house. After we turned to look at it one more time, we took a step away and warped back to our home in Sharia.


    We appeared right in the middle of the courtyard. And the moment we did, Mom''s voice called out.


    "Rudy! Eri! Wee back!"


    I turned around with Eri to see Mom and Mama Lily walking over. It seemed like they were in the middle of doing someundry.


    Eri shyly waved at Mom and Mama Lily. "G-Good morning, M-Mama Zenny. M-Mama Lily..."


    Mom froze.


    Eri tensed.


    And then Mom let out a squeal and ran to hug Eri. "Oh Milis! You''re so adorable Eri!"


    "MMmm?!"


    "Yes! Call me Mama Zenny more!"


    Mama Lily sighed and then walked over, expertly peeling Mom off from Eri. "Apologies, Eri."


    Eri took a deep breath and waved her hand. "I-It''s fine..."


    Mama Lily smiled and said, "I have to agree that you are adorable, however."


    Eri''s expression brightened and she idly twirled a strand of her hair. "R-Really?"


    Mom nodded. "That''s right! It must by the honeymoon glow!" She smiled and said, "It''s almost like you''re a new mother or something!"


    I coughed.


    Eri blushed and then nced at me. "T-That''s because I am...?" Saying that, she subconsciously ced her hand over her stomach.


    Eri! Come on! The room! Aaaaaahhhhh.


    Mom and Mama Lily immediately turned to look at me.


    I instinctively took a step back.


    In a sh, Mama Lily was in front of me, patting my head.


    At the same time, Mom stood in front of Eri, cing her hand over Eri''s stomach. She concentrated for a bit and then gasped before pulling Eri into a hug. "Congrattions Eri!"


    "T-Thank you, M-Mama Zenny..."


    Oh good. So we''re in the clear.


    Mama Lily smiled at me and said, "Good job, Rudy. You did it in one go, unlike your father."


    I frowned and said, "I''m not sure that''s something I should be proud of." I paused and then said, "...And I guess it''s a good thing I know how to keep it in my pants?"


    Mama Lily nodded. "Yes. And that alcohol does not affect you. If you were anything like your father..."


    I thought about that for a bit and then shuddered.


    Yeah, no.


    At that time, Eri rushed over and hid behind me.


    Mom ran over and then stopped, pouting in front of me.


    I pulled Eri around for a one-armed hug and then said, "The hug monster scares off even grown women, huh?"


    Mom huffed and said, "I just like to hug people!"


    Mama Lily nodded and said, "I understand, Zenny. But you must understand that it is dangerous with your assets."


    Mom frowned and then grabbed her breasts, frowning. "Maybe I should reduce them. Paul likes them, but they have been getting in the way a bit..."


    I cleared my throat and said, "I''m heading to work now. My students are probably tearing the academy down..." I nced at Eri and then said, "Is it fine if I leave you hear with my moms?"


    Eri yfully rolled her eyes and said, "Leaving me as soon as you''re done with me, huh? What a husband you are..."


    I kissed her and said, "Well, at least you know I''lle back?"


    Eri blushed and then shoved me away. "Just go to work already, you pervert."


    Iughed and then looked at Mom and Mama Lily. "It''s fine if Eri stays here, right?"


    Mom nodded. "Of course! Eri''s our daughter now too!"


    Mama Lily smiled. "Indeed. Eri is as much our child as you are now. And furthermore..."


    Mom grabbed Eri''s hand and said, "We have a lot to talk about!"


    Eri blinked. "D-Do we?"


    "Yes! Girl talk! So." Mom waved at me and said, "Run off now, Rudy!"


    Iughed and said, "Alright. Then I''ll see you guyster."


    With one more wave, I walked off, heading towards the academy.


    Now, the automated lectures and stuff should have been working.


    So...


    ...Pop quiz time.


    Hehehehe...


    -Eos-


    At the Survey Corps HQ in Arcadia, Eos sat behind a desk, flipping through reports.


    She had been worried about leaving those kids alone for so long, but it looked like they did well.


    With Orsted and Pierre going around the world to fix the distortions, the Magic Continent''s spatial-temporal flow had stabilized. Because of that, the Survey Corps were free to map everything.


    And while the terrain and geography was still a giant jigsaw puzzle with various microclimates and dungeons, at the least they had aplete and updated map of the Magic Continent now.


    That was a good thing. With that settled, Eos could begin working on the ns for building infrastructure.


    Since the Magic Continent was both stabilized and mapped out, the next step of building supply lines and organizing territories couldmence.


    And that was Eos''s forte. Logistics, economics, strategizing...


    She had hoped she could do a bit of it for Father''s weddings, but since she was denied, she could at least begin organizing affairs here in Arcadia.


    So, with that decided, Eos sat back in her chair and leaned back, making herselffortable.


    Now, which of these would be the optimal pathing for merchant paths and roads...


    At that time, the window opened and a gust of wind flew in. Right afterwards, Enanded on the ground.


    Eos sighed and then set her papers down. Looking at her sister, she said, "You could just use the door, Ena."


    Ena folded up her wings and then brushed down the loose ck tunic and pants she wore. After that, she turned towards Eos and said, "Sorry Eos. But I haven''t gotten to fly for a while, so I was missing it. And monsters aren''t attacking people in the air now, so it was a nice rxing flight!"


    Eos perked up and said, "Really? In that case, I might go flying in a bit too."


    Ena pped her hands and said, "That''d be great! We can go flying together!"


    Eos smiled. "That would be nice. It''s been a while now."


    Ena walked over to an empty chair and sat down. After that, she unbuttoned the top of her tunic, letting out a relieved sigh.


    Eos frowned and said, "You know we have uniforms that fit you, right?"


    Ena nodded. "I know! But these help things from flopping when I fly."


    Eos raised an eyebrow and said, "You could just wear wraps?"


    Ena shuddered and said, "I... have a bit of trauma on wraps now, so..."


    Ah. Right.


    The ''grandfather'' incident...


    Ena walked over to the fridge in the corner of Eos''s office and opened it, pulling out a bottle of strawberry milk. Afterwards, she sat back down in her chair and said, "Are we heading back soon, Eos? It''s almost time for Mama Sylphy''s wedding, right?"


    Eos nodded. "It is. But we don''t have much to do regardless. Since Grandma and Grandma Lily picked out enough dresses for all the weddings, we''re fine just showing up dressed on the day of the wedding."


    "Okay, Eos!" Ena smiled and then ced a straw in her strawberry milk. After that, she sat there and happily sipped on it.


    Eos watched Ena for a bit and said, "By the way, Sister."


    "Yes, Eos?"


    "...When are you going to stop acting cutesy?"


    Ena blinked and thenughed. "You noticed?"


    Eos rolled her eyes. "Of course I noticed. I wouldn''t be your sister if I didn''t. And while Father has been tolerating it... isn''t it shameful?"


    Ena shrugged. "It''s a little embarrassing. But people treat me nicer when I''m cute. And they underestimate too." She smiled and said, "It makes it easier to eliminate any pests after Daddy."


    Eos sighed. "There haven''t been any though, sadly..."


    Ena pouted and said, "I know!" She slurped her strawberry milk and said, "Daddy got so strong that he scared off all the idiots... I wanted to beat more people up."


    Eos raised an eyebrow and said, "And you haven''t been beating up the idiots flirting with you?"


    Ena shook her head. "If I do that, people won''t think I''m cute and weak anymore, right?"


    "...So you''ve just been taking advantage of that and messing with everyone? Like Rolo?"


    Ena giggled. "Well, it''s fun! And we DID need to take notes on everyone." She reached into her shirt and pulled out a small notebook. "So far, it looks like Mama Eris fits Daddy the best and keeps him grounded. Mama Sylphy is dangerous and desperately in love with Daddy, but it seems like he can control her." She flipped a page and said, "Rika is Rika. She''s a good fit for Daddy because they work well, but I don''t think Daddy likes her as much as the others..."


    Eos nodded. "That''s to be expected. Rika doesn''tpletely like Father as well because she still thinks about her former fiance."


    "Mmhm! I think they''ll eventually like each other though! And as for Mama Roxy..."


    Eos frowned. "She''s dangerous, right?"


    Ena nodded. "Yep. I don''t think she''s a good fit for Daddy. She doesn''t seem to get along as well with the other Mamas, and her personality is pretty strong too... but Daddy is a miracle worker, so it should work out."


    "Hm..." Eos nodded. "We don''t have to pull the needy daughters card then?"


    "Probably not!" Ena smiled and then said, "Did I do good?"


    "...Yes, though I could do without the cutesy act." Eos sighed and said, "No wonder the research team is wrapped around your fingers..."


    "Teehee!"


    Eos shook her head. "I can''t fathom it."


    Ena smiled. "Like I said, it''s fun! Especially the reactions I get out of people like Cliff!"


    Eos nodded. "Speaking of that guy-"


    Ena blushed and said, "W-We won''t!"


    "What?"


    "W-We''re not talking about him, okay?!"


    Eos blinked. And then she smirked at her sister. "You really-"


    "K busy bye!" With those words, Ena flew off, rushing back out the window.


    Almost immediately after, the door opened and Ruijerd walked in.


    Eos nced over and said, "You heard all of that, didn''t you?"


    Ruijerd let out an apologetic smile and said, "I didn''t mean to eavesdrop."


    Eos waved her hand and then got out of her chair. "It''s fine. You''re family anyway, Uncle Ruijerd."


    He smiled and said, "I''m honored."


    "But what brings you here?" Eos frowned and said, "Is something wrong?"


    "No. I just heard rumors from the Survey Corps that members of the Supard Tribe were found?"


    "Ah, right." Eos nodded. "I just saw that. Give me a bit..." She picked up her papers and started flipping through. But then something caught her eye. "Hm?"


    Ruijerd frowned. "Is something wrong?"


    Eos shook her head. "No. But..." She pulled out the paper and slid it across the table. "The handwriting on this image... it''s Father''s, right?"


    Ruijerd stared at the picture and frowned.


    It was an ancient stone monument, degraded by time and almost crumbling. There were words written on it, a bit hard to read from the image alone. But from the little that could be read...


    Ruijerd''s frown deepened. "...There''s no doubt. But..."


    "Is this something Father made?"


    Ruijerd picked up the paper and carefully looked at the monument. Afterwards, he shook his head and said, "I''ll take a look. But for now, let''s not inform Rudy just yet. Let him focus on his happy married life."


    Eos nodded. "Alright. Then I''ll leave it to Arcadia''s General."


    Ruijerd smiled.


    "Anyway, here''s the info about the Supard tribe member sightings. They''ve found a small disced vige somewhere around here..."

 184 – The Dreaming Bride’s Reality

    184 ¨C The Dreaming Bride¡¯s Reality


    Time passed in a blur, and then it was time for wedding number 2, Electric Bugaloo.


    Well, it was time for the night before the wedding, at least.


    Once again, I was gathered at the little bachelor pad I bought with the guys. Sadly, Eri''s parents (my new inws) had gone home already because they had to take care of business back in the Strife Zone, and Ruijerd had some business in Arcadia.


    Ruijerd at least would be back tomorrow. But as a result, the only people here were me, Dad, Laws, Orsted, Pierre, Cliff, Akito... and a couple of Sylphy''s old adventurer friends.


    The first adventurer was a guy named Soldat who had simr vibes to Dad. Blonde hair, a ''cool guy'' vibe that was only reliable in a pinch.


    The second adventurer was a reserved and kind-looking guy called Timothy.


    Apparently, they were both leaders of some adventurer parties that Sylphy helped out by chance in the past.


    And speaking of Sylphy''s friends...


    Soldat drained a mug of beer and then brushed aside his blonde bangs. Raising his mug towards me, he said, "I figured that the guy marrying Miss Sylphy had to be ridiculous, but I didn''t expect this." He waved his hand around the group and then nced over at Orsted and Pierre. Wiping off a sheen of sweat on his forehead, he said, "It''s a pretty stacked crew here for the groom and his groomsmen, eh?"


    Timothy nervously sipped on a ss of wine and said, "It''s incredible. I''m honored to be here... but it''s quite terrifying if I''m being honest."


    Dadughed and looked towards me. "See that kid? Finally, the respect I deserve!"


    Pierre covered his face and said, "They''re talking about Orsted, you idiot."


    I watched the exchange and just smiled.


    So these were the friends that Sylphy made, huh?


    No, just two of them considering she was acquainted with their adventurer parties.


    ...It made me feel a bit upset that Sylphy had more friends than me.


    Not that I wasn''t her only friend, but that she somehow made more friends than me when I was surrounded by people.


    Was this why they said the royal road was lonely...?


    At that time, Orsted shook his head and said, "I apologize for the disturbance."


    I waved my hand. "There''s no need for that, Orsted." I smiled and said, "You''re a great pal, so you''ve always got a ce here."


    You''re also technically my only real pal, even if we barely hang out, so please don''t go.


    Laws nodded. "Indeed. You are an honored guest, Orsted, and we are happy to have you. However..." He frowned and said, "Is it fine to remain in Sharia for so long?"


    Orsted scoffed and said, "The fools in the kingdom are attempting to iste Princess Ariel by sending her to study in the Ranoa Magic Academy." He shook his head and said, "She is already registered to attend beginning next semester. As her journey is meant to conclude here, there is no harm in my lingering for a few festivities. Instead..." He nced over to Cliff and said, "Is it fine for the future Pope of Milis to stay here?"


    I paused and then said, "Right." I nced over at Cliff and said, "Uh... is it fine for you to be celebrating a multiple marriage, Cliff?"


    Timothy coughed and looked over at Cliff. "F-Future Pope?! You?!"


    Cliff smiled and waved his hand. "It''s nothing so grand. The one who bears the title of Pope is still a man in the end. But in any case." He looked at me and said, "There may be some squabbling, but there is no chance I would miss my future Father-inw''s weddings."


    "F-Father-inw?!?!" Timothy''s eyes widened.


    ...I was getting the sense that Sylphy didn''t tell her friends about me at all.


    Soldat whistled and said, "Hot damn. We got ourselves a bigshot over here, huh?"


    I shrugged. "It''splicated. But enough about me." I poured a few sses of wine and handed one to Soldat and then Timothy. "How do you two know Sylphy again?"


    ...I wasn''t jealous or paranoid or anything. Really. Just curious.


    Honest.


    Soldat took the ss with a smile and said, "Miss Sylphy''s helped out Stepped Leader a few times when she was in the Central Continent." He chuckled and said, "We tried to convince her to stay for a while, but she was crazy about finding her lost love in the distortions." He shook his head and said, "We told her that guy was probably dead, but she didn''t give up." He paused and said, "Probably a good thing since she found you, eh?"


    I frowned. "...Sylphy went through a lot, huh?"


    I knew it from the scars and could infer from what she said, but she never went into great detail about it...


    Soldat put on a serious expression and said, "You should be grateful. There aren''t many women who would go through hell and back to find even a trace of her love''s existence. Right Tim? I''m betting she did some crazy stuff when she was with you guys too."


    Timothy nodded and said, "After helping us in the Northern Lands, we wanted to pay her back for saving Sara. But she just left to explore the distortions alone. And when she came back..." He frowned and shook his head. "Well, she came back. But... Rudy, right?"


    I nodded. "Yeah?"


    Timothy gave me a serious look and said, "Take good care of Miss Sylphy. She really went through a lot to find you."


    Laws let out a deep sigh.


    Dad nodded and muttered, "Sylphy always was a bit too serious for her own good..."


    The atmosphere got a bit strange, so I took the time to pour myself a ss of wine.


    ...Wished it did something for me right now, but I suppose the thought counted. Maybe...


    Akito cleared his throat and then nced over at me. "Um, Rudy... Should I really be here?"


    I nodded. "It''s safer than anywhere else, so yeah."


    "Well, I know that. But... I''m just an outsider, so it''s a bit weird."


    Soldatughed and then pped a hand on Akito''s back. "Cheer up! Tim and I only knew Miss Sylphy for a bit, and we got invited. If anyone, we''re the odd ones out. You''re part of the groomsmen, so don''t worry about it."


    "...Right." Akito slowly nodded. But then he froze. ncing at me, he said, "I-I''m not going to be the best man again, am I?"


    Soldat paused. "...Again?"


    Dadughed and reached over to ruffle my head. "This kid''s a bonafidedy killer. We''re at two of four, you know?"


    I sighed and brushed off Dad''s hand. "That''s not something you should be bragging about, Dad."


    Soldat stared at me and then said, "Hey. Do you even love Sylphy?"


    "Of course I do." I red at him and said, "What''s it to you?"


    "Mm..." Soldat shrugged and said, "Fine. Not like I have any right to protest. Still..." He nced at Timothy and said, "Not quite like how we thought Miss Sylphy would end up, right?"


    Timothy nodded. "We thought she''d find her one true love. To hear that she''s just one of four is..." He shook his head. "Well, she seems happy, at least?"


    ...I was going to get this reaction from people a lot, huh?


    Pierre chimed in and said, "Enough chatting. We''re here to drink and make merry, right? So let''s get started."


    Dad chuckled and said, "Never thought I''d hear that from you of all people, Pierre."


    Pierre grabbed a bottle of champagne and cracked it open. After that, he said, "And I''d never thought I''d have to be contemting this weird family tree either, so... Bottoms up!" He raised the bottle and took a deep swig.


    Orsted chuckled. "I suppose we should enjoy ourselves then."


    Soldat raised his ss and said, "I''ll drink to that!"


    ...Alright, we''re DEFINITELY skipping the next few of these...


    -S.D-


    Sylphy''s room at the Greyrat home. There, Aisha, Rose, Rostelina, and Roxy were helping the bride with herst-minute preparations.


    Adjusting the dress, tidying up her hair, rehearsing her vows.


    And finally...


    "I still can''t believe this is real..."


    Sylphy stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror in front of her.


    Her silver hair had been done up in an intricate braided ponytail with a blue ribbon woven in. She wore a beautiful wedding gown with fluffyce that looked like drifting snow. And then pristine white gloves covered her arms, hiding her scars.


    Sylphy thought she looked like someone else. A real snow princess, like from the fairytales. Not her.


    Reaching out to the mirror, she said, "Is this really me?"


    Rose sniffed and then wiped away some tears. "It is! Our little Luffy is finally bing a bride..." She sniffed again and said, "I''m so happy for you...!"


    Rostelina smiled and walked over to fix the ck choker around Sylphy''s neck. "You look radiant, Sylphy. Believe it."


    Sylphy let out a shy smile and lightly tugged at her choker. "...Really?"


    She could see it, but Sylphy also knew it was just a cover up. Unlike Eri, Rika, or Roxy, her body was covered in scars. And while she was proud of them, at a time like this...


    Roxy tightened a light blue sash around Sylphy''s waist and then said, "Be confident, Sylphy. This isn''t a dream, but reality."


    Hearing that, Sylphy smiled and said, "Thanks, Roxy."


    Roxy smiled back. "Don''t thank me yet. I''m being nice now, but I''m not pulling anything when it''s my turn."


    Sylphy smiled and said, "Then I''ll just make sure to do my best to make Rudy forget about you before then."


    Roxyughed, but her eyes were sharp.


    Aisha sighed and said, "Stop messing with her, Roxy."


    Roxy flinched and said, "R-Roxy? What happened to Big Sis?!"


    Aisha smiled and said, "Well." She pointed at Sylphy and said, "Since she''s actually getting married to Big Brother in a bit, she''s my Big Sis now. You''re just a family friend right now."


    Roxy froze.


    Rose giggled.


    Rostelinaughed.


    And then there was a knock at the door.


    Sylphy nced over and then smiled when she saw who was there. "You cane in, Papa."


    The door opened and Laws walked inside. Wearing a tailored ck suit with a blue pocket square and tie, he smiled and said, "It''s almost time, Luffy."


    Sylphy took a deep breath and turned towards him. "Alright, Papa."


    Rostelina brushed herself off and then smiled at Sylphy. "We''ll head off first then, Sweetie. Rx, and enjoy!"


    Aisha waved at Sylphy and said, "Good luck, Big Sis!"


    Rose hugged Sylphy and said, "We''ll be watching!"


    Roxy nodded and said, "See you soon."


    After that, the girls left, leaving just Sylphy and her father.


    At that time, Laws walked over and smiled. "You look beautiful, Luffy."


    Sylphy walked forward and held out her right arm to her father. "Thanks, Papa."


    Laws smiled and then hooked his left arm with Sylphy''s.


    Sylphy stepped close towards him and held his arm. After that, the two started walking towards the courtyard.


    Sylphy''s room was on the second floor, so there was still quite a bit to walk.


    Enough time for Sylphy to reflect a bit on her life.


    ...Even though she was constantly reminded, she still couldn''t believe this was reality. Not quite yet.


    Maybe it would truly sink in at the altar. But right now, she just felt... giddy.


    "Luffy."


    Sylphy blinked, drawn out of her thoughts. ncing over, she saw her father staring at her with a serious face.


    "Are you sure about this?"


    Sylphy blinked and then said, "Sure about what?"


    Laws hesitated and said, "I know you love Rudy. And I know Rudy loves you. But..." He sighed and said, "You have the blood of elves running through you. Though not quite as strong as my own, you will live far longer than a human will. And even if you have children..." He trailed off, unable to finish his words.


    Sylphy blinked and then realized what her father was getting at. But then she smiled and said, "I''m thankful that you''re worried, Papa. But I''ve already considered it. And I''ve talked to Rudy about it too."


    Laws sighed. "You have. Of course you have... I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to pry. I am just worried about you."


    Sylphy nodded. "I know Papa. But don''t worry, Rudy already figured out how to live forever, so it doesn''t matter."


    "I know that it''s going to be painful, but I''ll always-" Laws froze, suddenly catching what Sylphy said. "Hold on. I must not have heard properly..."


    Sylphy giggled and then put on a serious expression. Looking at her father, she said, "You know, Papa. By the time I met with Rudy again, my lifespan was already almost over. I could feel it."


    Laws paused. "Luffy..."


    Sylphy shook her head and let out a faint smile. "It wasn''t anyone''s fault. I selfishly and recklessly chose to dive into distortions and look every nook and cranny for Rudy and Ste." Sheughed and said, "Still, I didn''t think it would take so long." She reached up to rub her neck and said, "It''s a strange feeling, you know? To not only know the end is near, but to feel it creep up on you." She slowly lowered her hand, cing it over her heart, and then said, "Death is a creeping chill. Slow, insidious, and colder than any ice or spell imaginable."


    Laws started to tear up. "Luffy...!"


    Sylphy brushed the tears from her father''s eyes and said, "Don''t cry, Papa. Like always, Rudy made a miracle, you know?" She giggled and said, "I was lucky enough to find him before the end, and he fixed me. Not only that..." She let out a sigh and said, "Even though I became a broken, twisted, and jaded woman, he still epted me. And now I''m going to be his wife! So... I''m happy. Really."


    Laws pulled Sylphy into a hug. "I''m sorry I couldn''t be there for you, Luffy. I swore to be there for you, to be the parent I never had, but...!"


    Sylphy patted her father''s back and said, "It''s fine, Papa. This is how life ys out. And I''m happy." She smiled and said, "Every day is like the best dream. But more importantly... I think today is when I wake up."


    Laws stepped back and wiped away his tears. After that, he said, "Wake up?"


    Sylphy nodded. "Mmhm. Whether this is a dream or not, whether I''ll wake up still in Rudy''s arms or in the depths of a dark dungeon alone..." She ced her hands on her heart and said, "I''ll ept it all after today."


    Laws stared at Sylphy and then shook his head. "...You''re strong, Luffy."


    Sylphy smiled and then grabbed her father''s left arm again. "We should get going, Papa."


    "...Of course."


    After that, the two continued on their way.


    And as they reached the stairs, Laws said, "I''m sorry I couldn''t be there for you, Sylphy."


    "Don''t be, Papa." She smiled and said, "You did your best as a Papa along with Mama. And, not to brag, but you''re the reason I have one thing over the other girls, you know?"


    Laws blinked. "Really? And what''s that?"


    Sylphy smiled and said, "You and Mama taught me what it means to love someone from the bottom of your heart."


    Laws froze, and then he let out a warm smile.


    Sylphy smiled back and then said, "Come on, Papa. They''re waiting."


    The two continued on their way. And then they arrived at the entrance to the courtyard.


    Standing there, Laws took a deep breath and looked at Sylphy. "Are you ready, Luffy?"


    Sylphy nodded.


    "Then... it''s time." Laws walked through the door, escorting Sylphy by his side.


    Sylphy took a deep breath and then looked around as they crossed the doorway.


    A beautiful scenery. Unlike Eri''s wedding with marble and roses, teh courtyard was decorated with crystalline pirs and arches. Around those, wreathes of blue forget-me-not flowers were hung.


    Looking around, Sylphy saw plenty of people. Familiar faces as well. But the moment she stepped onto the aisle paved in blue petals, she only had eyes for Rudy.


    A fairytale prince. That was the only way she could describe him.


    Was it because he wanted it to be like the times back then?


    Unlike with Eri, Rudy''s hair was the nostalgic light brown that Sylphy remembered. His eyes, the lovely emerald hue reminiscent of the grassy ins where they used to y together.


    And then Sylphy was standing in front of him, hand in hand.


    There was a priest talking, but Sylphy didn''t hear him. Instead...


    ''Nervous?''


    Rudy''s voice echoed in her mind.


    Sylphy smiled and shook her head. ''I''m happy.''


    And she was.


    A dream that she thought would remain just that until she reunited with him. Days that she still worried were dreams instead of reality every now and then.


    But now that she stood there, looking into Rudy¡¯s eyes. She felt like she had finally woken up. That this was reality, and not another fake.


    Realizing that, Sylphy smiled. A weight she carried for countless years was fading.


    Rudy held a ring in his right hand. A beautiful intertwined silver and gold, just like the tree back at their home before the distortions began. And atop a crown of golden leaves, a forget-me-not carved out of a glittering blue gemstone.


    Smiling at her, Rudy slipped the ring onto Sylphy''s left finger and said, "With this ring, I vow to bring you love and happiness. For now, for the future, and forever."


    It was different than what he said to Eri. Something subtle that people who didn''t may much attention to words would miss.


    But she didn''t.


    A ¡®pledge¡¯ was on one¡¯s honor or duty.


    But a ¡®vow¡¯ was sacred.


    Sylphy sniffed and then said, "I ept this ring."


    Motions that she had envisioned before. Dreams that she had repeated in her head multiple times.


    The priest handed Sylphy a ring as well and prompted her to make her vows.


    Sylphy took it and nced at the ring.


    A ring modeled after a golden dragon, one clutching a pure white diamond. Something that she crafted long ago and held onto ever since she set off to find Rudy.


    Unlike Rudy''s ring, hers was old. Although gold, it was a bit faded and marred from time.


    Even so...


    Suppressing the anxiety in her heart that the dream would end like it had countless times in the past, Sylphy slipped the ring on Rudy''s left finger and pledged. "With this ring, I vow to love you for now and always. No matter the time, no matter the ce¡­" She pulled his hand up against her chest and closed her eyes, trembling. "...Even if you don''t remember me. Even if this is a dream. I''ll remember you, Rudy. Because I love you. Always."


    Silence.


    For a moment, Sylphy was afraid to open her eyes.


    But then she heard the priest speak. "You may kiss the bride."


    Sylphy opened her eyes.


    Rudy was standing there, a teary-eyed smile on his face. But he shook his head and then stepped forward, pulling Sylphy close.


    Sylphy leaned forward, but before he kissed her, she whispered, "This isn''t a dream, right? I... won''t wake up?"


    Rudy smiled. "Even if this is a dream, I''m taking you back with me. So..." He kissed her.


    Sylphy''s eyes widened and then she closed her eyes, holding Rudy tight.


    Unlike the kisses they had before, this was chaste. Pure. But maybe because of that, Sylphy felt it was different. Real.


    The crowd cheered.


    Sylphy opened her eyes and saw Rudy staring at her with a smile.


    And then he suddenly scooped her up into his arms.


    "R-Rudy?!"


    Rudy smiled and then looked out at the crowd. "Sorry, but we''re skipping the reception."


    Sylphy gasped and said, "W-Wait! You can''t do that, Rudy!"


    Rudy grinned at her. "I can, and I will. Now." He looked around and said, "Thanks foring, everyone! Enjoy the food!"


    "Wait, Rudy-!"


    The next thing Sylphy knew, the surroundings blurred, and Rudy had whisked her away to somewhere else.


    -PNG-


    Paulughed. "Well I''ll be damned. Rudy actually went through with it."


    Zenith red at Paul and said, "Did you know about this?"


    Paul grinned. "Course I did. The kid and I nned it in secretst night. Can''t make the wedding the same for every girl, right?"


    Zenith frowned and said, "That''s... true. But-"


    Paul waved his hand and said, "Don''t worry about it, Honey. Now..." He walked into the center of the courtyard and flicked a nearby pir.


    A loud ringing echoed, bringing the chaotic area to silence.


    After that, Paul said, "You heard my son, right? As much as it''d be great to give blessing to the bride and groom, it seems they''re in a rush to give us grandkids-"


    "PAUL!"


    "So enjoy yourselves and the food- Owowowowo!"

 185 – The Dreaming Bride’s Wish Come True

    185 ¨C The Dreaming Bride¡¯s Wish Come True


    After they arrived at the ce Rudy took them too, Sylphy looked around in shock. "This... isn''t the house?"


    She had thought that Rudy would have just whisked them away to the master bedroom in the house. But it wasn''t.


    First of all, they weren''t in a bedroom, but outside. Second of all, the ce in front of her...


    Sylphy gasped. "Is this...?"


    A nostalgic two-story home. A small garden and some trees in front, along with a grassy in all around.


    Sylphy blinked, wondering if she was seeing things.


    Did Rudy really restore that house?


    ...But as she stared, she realized that it wasn''t the same. And also that she had just been in this ce recently.


    "Ah." Sylphy looked at Rudy and said, "Is this our house in Milishion?"


    Rudy set Sylphy down and then nodded. "That''s right." Waving his hands, he started putting up privacy magic circles. When he was done, he looked back at Sylphy and smiled. "I know you wanted to have our first night together in our new house, but it''s not quite as romantic if there are people around, right?"


    Sylphy blushed and brushed down her dress. "I wouldn''t mind. Besides..." She gave a shy look to Rudy and said, "It''s not really our first night..."


    That time had been a bit more reckless and desperate.


    It was also something that Sylphy regretted. Although Rudy said it felt good...


    W-Well, whatever! This was her redemption arc!


    Rudy stepped forward and then grabbed Sylphy''s hands. As he did, heced his fingers with hers and said, "Even so, this is our first night together as husband and wife." He gave her a soft kiss and then smiled. "It should be special, don''t you think?"


    Sylphy felt her face heat up. But at the same time, her chest felt warm. Leaning against Rudy, she whispered, "Husband and wife..."


    It was a strange thought. After all this time, all the fantasizing, and all the illusions...


    This was reality now.


    This was real.


    Her and Rudy. Not only that, but in this ce, with that appearance of his, it was almost as if nothing had changed. As if this was just the natural conclusion of those happy childhood days.


    But it wasn''t.


    While everything else looked the same, Sylphy had changed. And the most striking proof of that...


    Sylphy reflexively let go of Rudy and then fiddled with her silver hair.


    Rudy frowned. "...Does it bother you?"


    Sylphy paused to think about it, and then slowly shook her head. "No. It''s just proof of what I went through, along with my other scars." She looked up at Rudy and smiled. "Proof that I love you."


    It wasn''t in vain. The long years spent searching for traces and chasing ghosts trying to find Rudy. The scars she received by fighting to stay alive so that Rudy wouldn''t be sad.


    And the scars that were validated by her standing here, in front of Rudy as his wife.


    Realizing that, Sylphy let out a bright smile.


    But Rudy didn''t smile back. Instead, he frowned and ced a hand against Sylphy''s cheek. "...I still wish you didn''t have to go through so much."


    Sylphy reached up and ced her hand over Rudy''s. Leaning against it, she said, "Even so, I would do it all over again if I had to. Because in the end, I found you. And now..." She reached up to kiss Rudy and then let out a soft sigh. "...I''m yours."


    Rudy sighed.


    Sylphy paused and then tilted her head. "What''s wrong?"


    "It''s not fair." Rudy stared at Sylphy, his emerald eyes shing gold for a brief moment. After that, he lowered his hand and gently brushed the fabric hiding the scar on Sylphy''s neck. "The love you''ve given me and the love I give to you will never match up." He paused and then leaned his head against Sylphy''s forehead, closing his eyes. "Even if I live a thousand lives, I could never make up for the suffering you went through."


    Sylphy smiled and then leaned back. After that, she poked Rudy''s forehead and said, "You''re thinking too much again, Rudy."


    Rudy leaned back and then opened his eyes. Staring at Sylphy, he pursed his lips and then said, "Am I?"


    "Of course." Sylphy shifted her arms and ced them around Rudy''s neck. Staring into his eyes, she smiled and said, "Even though I suffered, it was never because of you. It was FOR you."


    Rudy looked away and then said, "That''s just semantics."


    "It''s not." Sylphy stepped forward and leaned against Rudy''s shoulder. "I still remember, you know? How you came into my life like a shooting star just when I had given up. How you became my best friend, filling my lonely life with so much fun and warmth. And how happy I was when you said you loved me. But... Even so." She leaned back and looked at Rudy. "I always knew."


    Rudy looked back at Sylphy and said, "...Knew what?"


    Sylphy let out a sad smile. Reaching up to brush Rudy''s cheek, she said, "I knew I couldn''t keep you to myself. One day, you would go ces where I couldn''t reach." Sheughed and then said, "After all, I was just a little girl from a countryside vige, and you were the son of a knight."


    Rudy furrowed his brow. "That''s... Hm. I guess that''s technically true. Dad *did* have a knighthood to hold his job. But..."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Still, I didn''t give up. After all, even if I was just a countryside girl, Paul had Miss Lilia after marrying Miss Zenith. So I figured I''d have a chance too. And I did in the end, right?"


    Rudy paused and then pulled Sylphy in for a tight hug. "That''s not fair, Sylphy. Your love is so heavy."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "That''s because I would have gone crazy a long time ago if it wasn''t. But..." She lowered her hands to hug Rudy back and said, "I really love you, you know? I really, really, really love you. Even if I''m not the only one, even if I''m not first, as long as I can be by your side, that''s all that matters." She tensed her hands, subconsciously wing into Rudy''s back. "...Just don''t leave me again."


    "I won''t." Rudy held Sylphy close and said, "And I''m so sorry, Sylphy."


    Sylphy leaned against Rudy and said, "I forgive you. So stop apologizing, okay? Besides... I think it''s meant to be this way."


    Rudy leaned back, surprised. "Hm? How?"


    Sylphy smiled and said, "In another world, things might be different. Maybe I would be your first wife and bear your first child... But it''s fine like this. After all." She puffed out her chest and said, "Because I went through so much, I can be confident in standing by your side to the bitter end. Right?"


    Rudy blinked and then slowly shook his head. Smiling, he said, "You always surprise me, Sylphy."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Well, it''d be boring if I didn''t, right? Plus!" Sylphy held up her breasts and said, "I''m sure I''m the only Sylphy who can be confident in this too, you know?"


    Sylphy didn''t know if it was true for every timeline, but she knew that she beat out at least one other Sylphy in terms of breasts.


    It was a little vain and superficial, but she could be proud of that!


    Years of massaging and healing magic paid wonders in the end!


    Rudy coughed and then said, "I-Is that really something you need to point out?"


    Sylphy puffed her cheeks and said, "Yes! I worked really hard to grow them, you know! And it''s good that I did too! All of the women you''re marrying are big!"


    Rudy''s face turned red and he said, "I didn''t particrly n for that to happen..."


    "But you like them big! Don''t tell me you don''t!"


    Rudy coughed and then said, "...A-Anyway. Let''s head inside."


    Sylphy giggled and then followed in after Rudy, leaning against his arm.


    The inside of the house was the same as Sylphy remembered.


    The living room and kitchen area. A few doors leading to Rudy''s old room and the guest room. Stairs leading to the attic and an office. The master bedroom...


    It really was like stepping back into the past. Or ''another world'' where things ended up differently.


    And realizing that, Sylphy couldn''t help but think.


    "...Rudy?"


    He paused and then looked back at her. "Yes, Sylphy?"


    Staring into those green eyes, Sylphy pursed her lips and then said, "If... If there was another world. One where the distortion event never happened and we never left Buina vige. Do you think..."


    ''You would still choose me?''


    She cut off her words.


    It was a stupid question, since she knew the answer.


    Rudy would choose her.


    And even if he didn''t, she would choose him.


    Sylphy was sure of it.


    Rudy sighed.


    Hearing that, Sylphy subconsciously tensed up.


    Rudy leaned his head against her shoulder and said, "There''s no world where I don''t fall in love with you, Sylphy."


    Sylphy paused and then leaned against him. "...That''s a lie. But I''m happy you said it anyway."


    She remembered her conversation with the other Sylphy. How in that time, the one that Rudy fell in love with first with Eri, and how that Rudy only chose Sylphy after Eri broke his heart because of a misunderstanding.


    So it was possible. There had to be a world where Rudy didn''t choose her and found someone else.


    The thought of that...


    Rudy kissed Sylphy''s cheek and said, "If it''s a lie, all I have to do is make it true, right?"


    Sylphy giggled and then kissed Rudy back. After that, she looked into his eyes and said, "Does that mean you''re going to go around and destroy worlds where ''Rudy'' doesn''t fall in love with ''Sylphy?''"


    Rudy gave her a serious nod and said, "If that''s what you want."


    Sylphy smiled and then reached up to poke Rudy''s forehead. "That''s silly. And it''s not fair, you know?" She stepped away from Rudy''s embrace and held her hands behind her back. Shaking her head, she said, "As much as I love you, I don''t want to rob your love from any other girl. If a world like that exists... then I guess we just weren''t meant to be."


    Rudy was quiet.


    Sylphy shook her head and said, "Enough depressing talk." She started slipping off her gloves and then walked towards Rudy. As she did, she started undoing her sash and the ribbons holder her dress together.


    "S-Sylphy?"


    Sylphy smiled and said, "What matters is that I love you, you love me, and that we''re family now. You, my husband. And me, your wife. So..." She slipped off her dress, revealing a transparent one-piece that left nothing to the imagination.


    Sylphyced her arms around Rudy''s neck and gave him a deep kiss before pulling back and panting for breath. Smiling, she said, "Let''s make memories. Enough for me to forget about everything but you. Okay, Rudy?"


    Rudy didn''t say anything in response. Instead, he reached down to scoop her up and started walking towards the bedroom. Kicking the door in, he set her down and then leaned over her.


    Sylphy looked up, feeling her heart pounding. Staring into Rudy''s eyes, she held him close and said, "Please. Make me feel loved."


    A deep kiss, a gentle touch. And after that...

 186 – Turning Point 3

    186 ¨C Turning Point 3


    The day after Sylphy''s wedding, while the kids were already out of the house, the adults were sitting around the living room enjoying a light breakfast.


    Paul, Zenith, Lilia, Laws, Rose, and Eri were seated around the kitchen table.


    Paul was on one side, with Zenith on his right and Lilia on his left, while Laws, Rose, and Eri were on the other side in that order.


    Paul took a look around the room and then chuckled as he grabbed a piece of freshly baked bread. "That kid is hard at work again, huh?"


    Zenith elbowed Paul and then nced over at Eri.


    Paul winced and then cleared his throat. "Er... Sorry."


    Eri picked up a spoon and then stirred the bowl of soup in front of her, blowing on it to cool it down. After that, she looked at Paul and smiled. "Don''t worry about it, Paul. We''re all family anyway... and it''s not like it''s news to me."


    Laws flinched and looked over. "P-Pardon?!"


    Rose looked over as well and said, "Y-Yes. What do you mean by that, Eri?"


    Eri blinked and then started to turn red. "N-Nothing!" She grabbed a piece of bread from the basket and then started eating.


    Paulughed and said, "What Eri''s saying is that Luffy actually takes after her grandmother a lot- OW!"


    Lilia lifted her heel from Paul''s foot and then looked towards Rose. After that, she bowed her head and said, "Thank you for preparing breakfast for us, Rose."


    Rose smiled. "You''re wee, Lily. You and Zenny were hard at work cleaning everything afterst night, so it was the least I could do." She paused and then sighed. "Though I wish I could have congratted Luffy this morning..."


    Eri dipped a piece of her bread into the soup and took a bite. After that, she said, "You should hold your congrattions for when they get back, Miss Rose."


    "Hm?" Rose looked over and said, "I n to... but why?" She tilted her head and said, "Am I missing something?"


    Eri shook her head. "No. Just that Sylphy will definitely be pregnant when she and Rudye back."


    Rose frowned. "And how can you be sure about that."


    Eri blushed.


    Laws cleared his throat and said, "P-Perhaps that is not the best question to ask, Rose..."


    Rose blinked and then turned a bright red. "Y-Yes! A-Apologies..."


    Eri coughed and said, "A-Anyway, this bread is delicious, Miss Rose!"


    "T-Thank you..."


    Zenith smiled and then let out a soft sigh. "It''s nice that we could sit together and have breakfast like this. Though I wish that Hilda and Philip were here too..."


    Paul wrapped an arm around Zenith and then said, "Don''t worry, Zenny. We can have a big get together after all the weddings." Heughed and said, "It''s going to be a huge crowd though at the rate Rudy''s going."


    Lilia smiled and said, "That is a good thing. A lively house creates a warm atmosphere, after all."


    Zenith nodded. "I agree! Especially with all the kids that will be around soon!" She ced her hands on her cheeks and let out a content sigh. "So many cute babies to hug and take care of..."


    Rose smiled. "I think so too." She let out a soft sigh and said, "It''s been wonderful helping Mother-inw take care of little Lunaria."


    "Ooh!" Zenith sat up and said, "Is she cute? I haven''t had a chance to visit Lina recently."


    Rose nodded. "Lunaria is adorable. Very precocious too."


    Zenith sighed. "It makes me wish I had more time to dote on Ste when she was a cute baby..."


    Laws frowned and then looked over at Paul. "Why don''t you and Zenny have another child?"


    "Hey." Paul crossed his arms and said, "It''s not like I haven''t tried, alright? Ain''t that easy. You know how hard it is, right?"


    Laws coughed and then looked away, his ears red. "I-I suppose that''s true."


    Rose blushed as well and then looked away too.


    Eri groaned and said, "Could we stop talking about sex at the breakfast table?"


    Paul nodded. "That''s absolutely right." He smacked his hand on the table and said, "This is a Milis-friendly household, dammit."


    Zenith snorted.


    Paul looked at her and said, "What? It''s true! Hell, even the Pope''s trying to marry into the family, you know?"


    Zenith rolled her eyes and then looked towards Laws and Rose. "Are you two heading home any time soon?"


    Laws shook his head. "There''s nothing back for us in the Central Continent, so we''ve been thinking about finding a ce near here."


    Rose nodded. "Yes. And we would love to be involved in our grandchildren''s lives. Ah, and Laws'' new baby sister as well."


    Paul''s eyes lit up. "Oooh, right! Lina''s kid WOULD be your sister. And then since Sylphy married Rudy... Hm." He frowned. "Wait, that would technically make Lina my mother-inw through marriage? Ugh, I get what Pierre meant aboutplicated family tree now..."


    Zenith stared at Paul and then decided to ignore him. Instead, she looked at Laws and said, "Have you found a home yet then?"


    Laws shook his head. "I''ve got a bit saved up, but right now we''re staying with Mother and Father-inw."


    Paul shuddered and then looked at Laws. "You call Pierre your father-inw?"


    Laws smiled and said, "Funny. You have the exact reaction Pierre did when I called him that."


    Paul shuddered again.


    Lilia hummed and then looked at Zenith. "That reminds me, Zenny." She looked at Paul next and said, "Since Rudy is married and starting his own family, we should begin looking for our own home, should we not?"


    Paul raised his hand to his chin. "Mm... that''s a good point. We''re all adults now, so it''s a bit awkward... What about the kids though?"


    Zenith blinked. "...We''re talking about the kids."


    Paul waved his hand and said, "I mean Aisha, Norn, and Ste." He frowned and said, "It''ll be awkward for them staying around too, right?"


    Lilia shook her head and said, "They will be fine. Since they attend Ranoa Magic Academy, they already primarily reside in the dorms."


    Paul nodded. "True. But there''s still Ste, isn''t there?"


    Zenith puffed her cheeks and said, "I want my baby girl toe live with us. But she''s really attached to her big brother..."


    Lilia smiled. "Well, Rudy did raise her up to be a fine young girl by himself. I''m sure Ste practically sees Rudy as her father after all they''ve been through."


    Paul stood up and said, "But what about me?! I''m her real dad!"


    Zenith pulled him back down and said, "Stop acting so childish. Your son has already grown up and grandchildren are on the way. Man up, Husband."


    Paul paused to think of that and then slowly nodded. "Right. That''s a good point." He smiled and then pumped his fist in the air. "Since cool Dad is a lost cause, I''ll be the cool grandpa! Better than that old geezer Sauros, at least!"


    Eri pointed at Paul and said, "Hey! Grandpa was alright! Just..." She paused and said, "...A little unstable and violent."


    Paul blinked. "A *little*?"


    Eri blushed and then went back to eating.


    There was afortable silence as everyone ate for a bit.


    But after Paul finished eating, he slid his bowl forward and then stood up.


    Zenith looked over and said, "What are you doing?"


    Paul stretched and then said, "House hunting. The sooner, the better, right?"


    Lilia got up as well and said, "Then I wille with you. Considering yourck of money sense, I worry about the properties you will choose..."


    Paul frowned and said, "...Good point. But I''m a Sword God, you know? Not like anyone''s going to try to cheat me."


    Lilia shook her head. "Never underestimate the stupidity of people in the face of greed."


    "...And this is why I love you, Lily." Smiling, Paul reached over and gave Lilia a quick kiss on the cheeks.


    Zenith rolled her eyes and said, "And THAT is why Rudy is the way he is, Husband."


    Paul leaned back and let out a nervous chuckle.


    Zenith shook her head and then looked at Lilia. "Keep an eye on our idiot, alright Lily?"


    Lilia nodded. "You can count on me, Zenny. Then please keep an eye on our cute new daughter-inw."


    Eri blushed and then said, "I-I can take care of myself, you know!"


    Zennyughed and said, "Just let us spoil you, Eri."


    Laws stood up and then turned towards Paul. "Well, if you are leaving, I will join you. Since we are staying, I need to go find a new upation in any case, so I would like to take a look at the local adventurer parties."


    Paul''s eyes lit up. "That''s a good idea. Though, maybe I should revive the Fangs of the ck Wolf. There''s a lot of dungeons around, so I bet we''d make a killing."


    Laws walked over to Paul and said, "If you do, I''d be honored to work with you."


    "Please, Laws. We all know you''re the one who''d be saving my sorry behind from traps with how good your eyes are."


    "You said it, not me."


    With those words, Paul, Lilia, and Laws left.


    Rose stood up and started collecting the dishes. "I''ll get started on cleaning up, Zenny."


    Zenith smiled. "Thanks, Rose."


    After that, it was just Eri alone with Zenith.


    Zenith walked around to sit next to Eri and then said, "How have you been feeling, Eri?"


    Eri shrugged and grabbed another piece of bread. "I''ve been feeling fine. A bit hungrier than usual, but nothing else. I mean... I did miss ''that,'' but I already knew it wasing. Or noting."


    Zenith shook her head. "That''s good to hear, but I''m not asking about that. I mean about Sylphy and Rudy."


    Eri paused for a moment and then silently ate her bread. After another moment, she said, "I''ve epted it." She sighed and said, "My husband is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve." She frowned and said, "Although it''s a bit upsetting that pieces of it were given out to other women, we all love Rudy, and Rudy loves all of us." She ate another piece of bread and then said, "It''ll be weird getting used to it all, but we''ll make it work."


    Zenith sighed and pulled Eri in for a hug. "I''m sorry, Eri. All of this happened because we didn''t teach Rudy enough. It really should have just been you and Sylphy..."


    Eri smiled. "It''s fine. Rudy is Rudy. And besides. Um..." She nced over at Rose and then gestured for Zenith to lean forward.


    Zenith blinked and then did as Eri asked.


    Leaning close to Zenith''s ear, Eri whispered, "Rudy can keep going for days on end, so I think it''s better if we have more people..."


    Zenith leaned back in shock, her face turned red. "Oh my! Really? My little Rudy?"


    Eri coughed, her face turning red too. "W-Well, he''s certainly not little..."


    Zenith fanned her face.


    Eri coughed and said, "A-Anyway..." She ced her hand over her belly and said, "Is there anything I should know about being pregnant? I asked my mom, but she said she didn''t really pay much attention and just waited until it was over..."


    Zenith''s eyes lit up. "Right! We should talk about that!" She nodded and said, "First, it''s important to stay a little active and eat right. You should also avoid certain foods, like undercooked meat and fish..."


    -Rika-


    An ancient monument that stood weathered by time. One that was more than a few millennia old.


    And upon this monument, there was a towering tablet, crumbling but intact.


    Rika stood in front of that tablet and stared at it with her Demon Eyes. For a moment, her irises and pupils shifted through every color of the rainbow. But then she put on a pair of sses, and they returned to a in violet hue.


    "This is definitely a few thousands of years old. Everything from the stone to the writing."


    After saying that, Rika turned around.


    She wasn''t alone. Since this was an important matter for Arcadia as a whole, Eos, Ena, and Ruijerd were there as well, along with a squadron of the White Knights.


    Ruijerd walked over to the tablet and frowned, scanning it up and down. "...Could it be Magic God Lace, like you suspected?"


    Rika shook her head. "I had thought so. But it cannot be." She looked at the tablet and frowned. "This writing and the lingering mana signature is definitely Rudy''s. But it is also slightly different." She frowned and then said, "I just cannot pinpoint why."


    Ena raised her hand and said, "Is it from a distortion then?"


    Rika shook her head. "No. I have seen plenty of items from distortions, and they all have a hazy mana signature." She turned back towards the tablet and frowned. "This does not." She stepped forward and ced her hand on it. "...It is definitely something from this world. And though it traveled through time, it did so in the normal course of it."


    Eos used a recording device to take a few images of the altar and the tablet. Afterwards, she looked at Rika and said, "Should we tell Father?"


    Rika hummed and then started gathering up her mana.


    Ruijerd''s eyes widened and he held out his hand, "Rika-"


    Rika waved him down. "It''s fine."


    A faint violet light spread from Rika to the tablet.


    Everyone grew tense, waiting.


    And then nothing happened.


    Ruijerd let out a sigh.


    Rika smiled and said, "See? It''s safe. And with that, we have confirmed that it is an ordinary stone tablet."


    Ruijerd frowned and said, "Even so, that was unnecessarily reckless." He crossed his arms and said, "You are getting married soon."


    Rika waved her hand and said, "We all know that the marriage is mostly a political move than for love. Even if something were to happen to me, the formality of it is sufficient."


    Ruijerd frowned. "...I think Rudy would disagree."


    "Well, my word is final until he is here. Now." Rika turned back to look at the tablet and said, "I cleaned it up a bit. Look at this and tell me what you all see."


    A message written in stone and from thousands of years in the past. Something rted to Rudy, with his handwriting as well.


    Everyone stepped forward to take a closer look.


    As they did, Rika crossed her arms and read the words on the tablet... at least the few that she managed to restore.


    -LIV-


    My name is Rudeus Greyrat.


    I leave this tablet behind as a record of what once was and what wille to be after my choice.


    In the beginning...


    -LIV-


    Rika frowned and stared at the tablet. But as much as she did, the fact that the words after ''beginning'' were worn out didn''t change.


    Eos shook her head and then looked over at Rika. "Do you suppose this is something Father intended? Or a leftover from one of his experiments?"


    "That would be wonderful if true. But..." Rika looked at the tablet again and frowned. "Something about this feels off."


    It was simr to looking at a slightly distorted reflection. Although it seemed ''normal,'' Rika felt that something about it was off. That it didn''t belong.


    "...For now, keep guard around this site." Rika spun around and said, "We will inform Rudy after everything is settled."


    Eos saluted Rika. "Understood."


    Ena nodded. "Got it, Rika!"


    "Yes, yes." Rika waved them off and said, "Now, you two have yet to find a proper formal gown, have you? Don''t waste time dawdling here and hurry off to the tailors already."


    Eos nodded. "Then I''ll head off first." After that, she spread her wings and flew off.


    "A-Ah!" Ena ran after her and then spread her wings too. "Wait for me!"


    That just left Rika, Ruijerd, and the White Knights.


    Of course, as true professionals, the White Knights immediately set out to secure the perimeter and set up camp.


    Since that was the case, Rika took some time to stare at the tablet some more.


    And then Ruijerd called out. "Are you certain about this marriage, Rika?"


    Rika blinked and then turned to look at Ruijerd. "What do you mean?"


    Ruijerd frowned and then said, "I know that the circumstances are different now... but Kishirika Kishirisu loved Badigadi. Do you not still hold him in your heart?"


    Rika was silent for a moment. But then she said, "While I adore my former fiance, this is how demon royalty works." She smiled and said, "The strong take all, and the weak flock to the strong. My marriage to Rudy is a matter of course. And, while it would be a lie if I said I loved Rudy as deeply as his other wives... I am still quite fond of him."


    Ruijerd smiled. "I see."


    Rika nodded. "Mm. Seeing that boy grow up to be apetent ruler, working alongside him to raise a kingdom soon to be an Empire... It''s quite pleasant. Furthermore, he has a decent face, possesses wisdom... most of the time. And almost foolishly cares for people he shouldn''t concern himself with... like myself." She looked at Ruijerd and said, "It would be hard to find a better husband, no?"


    Ruijerd chuckled. "I suppose that''s true. But... good." He smiled and said, "I just wanted to make sure." Putting on a serious face, he said, "At this point, both of you are essential to Arcadia... and both of you are my dear friends. I wouldn''t want either of you to be unhappy."


    Rika waved her hand and said, "Even if I start unhappy, I''ll find a way to make us both happy."


    Ruijerdughed and said, "Of course. What else should I expect from the Mistress of Solutions?"


    Rika blushed and said, "Do not call me by that title!"


    Ruijerd chuckled. But then he paused and said, "On a different note... have you seen your other self recently?"


    Rika paused. "Kishirika? ...No, I have not."


    "Strange." Ruijerd frowned. "It''s been a while since anyone has seen her around. And there also have not been any sightings of Badigadi."


    Rika waved her hand. "It is probably nothing." She sighed and said, "My younger self and Badigadi have always been the adventurous sort. I''m certain they are simply roaming thend on some adventure or another. But enough about that." She smiled and said, "Let us discuss you, Ruijerd."


    Ruijerd blinked and pointed at himself. "Me?"


    Rika nodded. "Yes. Is there any maiden who has caught your eye?"


    Ruijerd shook his head. "No." He paused and said, "With Rudy''s weddings, I had considered searching, but now that I know there are survivors of the Supard, it''s no longer a priority."


    Rika waved her hand. "Forget about your tribe. I am discussing Ruijerd as an individual." She frowned and said, "With all the women looking up to you, surely one has caught your eye?"


    Ruijerd chuckled and said, "They''re all children to me, Rika. And I''m content with remaining single until the end of my life." He smiled and said, "The knights and my disciples carry my legacy, so I''m content."


    Rika frowned. "...Tch. I suppose I will need to work harder to y matchmaker."


    "P-Pardon?"


    Rika shook her head and said, "Come. There are quite a few preparations left before the wedding." She walked off and said, "We still need toplete the Magic Continent unification under Lord Rudras''s banner. There is also preparing the magic formations to broadcast the ceremony."


    So much to do, so little time...


    But such was the life of a Demon Empress.


    -LIV-


    At a small beach on the shore of the Ringus Ocean, a tall man stood, gazing off into the sea. He stood there, one pair of arms folded while his other two pairs rested behind him.


    Badigadi, the Demon Lord of Immortality and Wisdom.


    "Badi!"


    "Badi!"


    A young female voice called out from behind, followed by the sound of footsteps across the sand.


    Badigadi turned around and then grinned when he saw who it was. "So you came, Kishirika."


    Kishirika stumbled across the sand beforending with a plop in front of Badigadi. She flipped herself back on her feet and then hugged Badigadi. "Of course!" She looked up and grinned. "You asked, so I came! That''s what a fiancee is for!"


    Badigadi nodded and then patted her head. After that, he turned to look at the sea with a somber expression and muttered, "I''m sorry."


    Kishirika frowned. "For what, Badi?"


    Badigadi was silent, and then he said, "We have to do one more favor for that man."


    Kishirika froze and then shook her head. "No! I hate it! I don''t want to!"


    Badigadi nodded. "I know. But after this, that man promised to set us free."


    Kishirika hesitated. "...How do you know it''s real?"


    "That man swore on his godhood, so it should be."


    "Really?" Kishirika perked up and then said, "Alright. Then... I guess we can help thisst time. But what did that man ask for?"


    "Retrieving the Fighting God Armor."


    Kishirika flinched. "That scary thing?! For what?!"


    Badigadi sighed and said, "For a great ''ally'' who can use it the best against the monster that will devour this world."


    Kishirika paused to think about it. But then she gasped and said, "Are you talking about that handsome bastard? The one that hag is marrying?"


    Badigadi nodded. "Yes. Rudeus Notus Greyrat... The thought of that man sends my blood boiling." He chuckled and said, "I''m extremely curious about his strength... but it seems that we are not meant to sh. Now." Badigadi held Kishirika in his arms and started walking into the ocean. "You may die a few times, Kishirika, but I am counting on your eyes."


    Kishirika nodded. "It''s fine, Badi! I trust you!"


    "Then... Let us begin."


    Badigadi kicked off the ground and dove into the ocean.


    -P.D-


    The Chaos Breaker, the floating castle sailing across the endless sky.


    There, Perugius quietly sat on his throne.


    A man with a fox mask and golden hair knelt before Perugius. "Preparations are nearingpletion, Lord Perugius. ''That man'' who offered his assistance has informed us that the Fighting God Armor will be arriving shortly."


    Perugius nodded. "That is good to hear, Arumanfi."


    Arumanfi hesitated and then looked up at Perugius. "...Not to doubt your judgment, Lord Perugius. But should we trust that man?"


    Perugius shook his head. "No. That man is clearly using us. But regardless, we share amon enemy." He raised his gaze and looked off into the distance. "I have confirmed Lace''s revival, and I have confirmed that he had sided with Orsted. I know not why... but regardless, I will kill him."


    "...Lace? Or-"


    "Both, if necessary." Perugius''s eyes narrowed and he said, "I will eliminate Lace. And this time, I will raze the Magic Continent to the ground to prevent his revival."


    "...Is that why you seek the Fighting God Armor, Lord Perugius?"


    "Correct."


    Silence.


    Perugius narrowed his eyes and said, "You seem against this."


    Arumanfi nodded. "I and the others worry. That armor drains the user''s life energy and mana. Though we do not doubt your capacity, Lord Perugius-"


    Perugiusughed.


    Arumanfi flinched.


    Perugius smiled and said, "Worry not. I am not foolish enough to don the armor without preparation. Nor am I fool enough to be devoured by a mere tool."


    Arumanfi stared at Perugius for a while and then nodded. "As your will."


    Perugius nodded. "You are dismissed."


    Arumanfi vanished, fading into a streak of golden light.


    Perugius stared off into the distance.


    ...One year. That should be sufficient to dismantle and refine the Fighting God Armor. After that...


    "...It will all finally end."

 187 – Bringing the Second Wife Home

    187 ¨C Bringing the Second Wife Home


    Three days and four nights blurred together as I gave Sylphy a lifetime''s worth of loving memories.


    ...Emphasis on ''loving.''


    And at the end of it all...


    Sylphy let out a content sigh and ced her hand over her belly. "To think that the fruit of our love is growing here..."


    Right. Sylphy got pregnant too. Though, it would have been strange for her not to with all that we did.


    I walked around to open some windows while I let Sylphy rx on a chair in the living room.


    The air was kind of... yeah. We needed venttion, and also a lot of clean up after making those memories.


    Sylphy wasn''t in any shape to do that, so I walked around to clean things up.


    A bit of wind magic to clear out the air, some water magic to scrub ces down...


    And then I was done, and the house was squeaky clean.


    ...Well, unless you looked at it with a UV light, but those didn''t exist here, so it should be fine.


    Anyway, I nced over at Sylphy and saw that she was still sitting there, a silly smile on her face as she held her belly.


    Seeing that, I smiled too and said, "You seem happy, Sylphy."


    "Of course!" Sylphy got up and then ran over to hug me. "Why wouldn''t I be?" She squeezed me tight and then said, "It''s real now. We''re a family."


    I hugged her back and then said, "We''ve always been family. Now we''ll just have a family of our own."


    Sylphy smiled and then grabbed my right hand. She slid it down over her belly and then looked up at me, smiling. "Which would you rather have, Rudy? A son, or a daughter?"


    "I would love either one. But since Rolo is here, I think it''d be nice to have a daughter."


    Sylphy nodded. "Me too! While I''d love to have a son as handsome as you, I think a cute baby girl would be fun to spoil."


    I kissed Sylphy on the cheek and said, "It''d be nice if she was as cute as her mama too."


    Sylphy giggled. "Well, I''ll try my best? Oh! But what about a name then?"


    !@#$!@#


    On the spot again?!


    "Hm..."


    I ced my hand on my chin to think, pretending to be calm.


    But on the inside...


    Alright,e on. A name, a name...


    Rudy... Sylphy...


    Ah! There.


    "What about Ru- I mean, Lucille? The ''Lu'' is from my name, and the ''Cille'' would be from yours?"


    Sylphy leaned against me and traced her finger on my chest, humming. "That''s a pretty name... But what if it''s a boy?"


    "Knowing my luck, it''s probably not."


    By this point, I was sure that the Greyrat bloodline was the butt of the universe''s jokes, so the most funny oue woulde true.


    And clearly that would be giving a guy like me a bunch of princesses to wrap me around their fingers after marrying so many beautiful andpetent women.


    Sylphy giggled and said, "True." She reached up to poke my forehead and said, "The world will definitely punish a bad man like you with the most precious baby girl."


    I chuckled. "I''ve epted my fate already. But a son, huh?"


    Since this was a different timeline with different events, it was unlikely that my son would end up to be Rnd. Or rather, ''Sieg'' as he was born in the other timeline.


    Well, unless there were convergent points across different timelines with lives and stuff.


    I think that my presence breaks even that though, so better to not get expectations up.


    Anyway, if I did have a son...


    Sylphy hummed and said, "Should we name him Rnd as well?"


    I shook my head. "Absolutely not. Naming children after heroic spirits is asking for trouble."


    Considering the multiverse existed, and considering past precedents, I would rather not have my son whisked away because he happened to be named after a famous hero.


    Sylphy frowned. "Well, what do you have in mind then?"


    I paused to think about that a bit.


    A son... Would he look like me?


    No, seeing Rnd, he would likely take after Sylphy more. And I''d bet that he''d probably be just as beloved by the wind too.


    So in that case...


    "Zephyr?"


    Sylphy blinked and then giggled.


    I felt my face heat up and said, "What?"


    "You''re surprisingly bad at name, aren''t you, Rudy?"


    I frowned and said, "It''s a great name."


    "Oh, I agree! Just..." She giggled and said, "It''s clearly inspired from my name, isn''t it?"


    I paused.


    Sylphy... Zephyr...


    ...Okay, I could see the logical jump there.


    Sylphy giggled and then reached out, tracing a heart on my chest. "It''s fine. Zephyr or Lucille... both are good names." She paused and then let out a sigh. "I''m envious of Eri though." She frowned and said, "I only get to give you one child this time..."


    "Well, it''s hard for elves or part-elves to have children anyway, right? Don''t worry about it."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Oh I''m not worried. I''ll just have to try that much harder next time!"


    I subconsciously scanned the house at those words.


    ...I don''t think it''s physically possible for you to try harder, Sylphy...


    Sylphy reached up to stretch and then reached into the air to pull out a fresh white dress to wear. After that, she paused and looked at her wedding gown, tossed aside and covered in stains.


    I noticed and coughed, averting my gaze.


    Sylphy giggled. "Don''t worry, Rudy. I''ll clean it upter." She kissed me and said, "Let me wash up quick and then we can head back, okay?"


    "...If you say so."


    Sylphy smiled and then walked towards the bathroom.


    Since she would probably take a while, I decided to step outside for some fresh air.


    And when I did, I saw a familiar face.


    At first, I thought it was Mom. But then I saw that her build was a bit different, more toned and slim... both in terms of muscle and up top.


    And then I realized that it was actually my aunt.


    I lowered the barriers around the house and walked towards her. "Aunt Therese?"


    Aunt Therese flung up her hands and said, "Finally!" She shook her head and then pointed at me. "You! Nephew!"


    "Yes?"


    Therese stomped her foot and said, "Why didn''t you invite me to your wedding?"


    "Huh?" I blinked and said, "I did invite you though?"


    I had been wondering why she wasn''t around, but I figured she was just busy dealing with the stuff Cliff left behind.


    "Yes, but no one picked me up! How am I supposed to head from Milishion to the Central Continent in less than a week?!"


    ...Oh.


    Right.


    Not everyone could teleport or knew about the Anywhere Doors.


    ...Why did Cliff not just bring her along though...?


    Hm. Maybe he was being considerate in his own way?


    Aunt Therese sighed and said, "Anyway... Congrattions." She walked up and then gave a hesitant pat on my shoulder. "...While I can''t bepletely sincere as you''re marrying multiple women, I wish you the best regardless."


    I smiled. "Thanks, Auntie. It means a lot."


    Aunt Therese smiled. "You''re wee! After all, Miko''s been writing about how well you''re taking care of her, so it''s the least I can do. ...Not to mention that Sis will beat me up otherwise."


    "...Is that why you''ve been avoiding visits?"


    "O-Of course not." Aunt Therese shifted her gaze and said, "L-Like I said, it''s difficult for an ordinary pdin like me to travel to the Central Continent..."


    "..."


    "W-What? It''s true!"


    "I believe you, Auntie."


    "Rudy?" Sylphy called out and then walked out of the house. "Did you step out for some- Oh!" She smiled at Aunt Therese and said, "Hello! You''re... Rudy''s aunt, right?"


    Aunt Therese waved and said, "Hello to you too. Sylphy, right? Congrattions!"


    Sylphy smiled. "Thank you!"


    Aunt Therese looked back at me and said, "Anyway... You two are here for your honeymoon, right? Will you be around for a while? If so, Mother and Father would like to meet you."


    "Hm..."


    I totally forgot that I had living grandparents on Mom''s side.


    I probably should meet them, but...


    I shook my head and said, "Another time. We''ve actually just finished up here, and I''m heading back for another wedding in a few days, and then another the week after."


    Aunt Therese''s eyes widened. "Really?" She paused and then said, I suppose it is the season for weddings. And attending a friend''s wedding is important..."


    I coughed.


    Aunt Therese paused and then looked at me. "...It''s a friend''s wedding, right?"


    Sylphy giggled.


    I averted my gaze.


    Aunt Therese blinked and then made the sign of a cross over her chest. After that, she clicked her tongue and said, "I knew that Asuran Thug was a terrible influence..."


    "Ahaha..."


    Aunt Therese waved her hand. "Well, it''s fine." She pointed at me and said, "Don''t forget about me this time, okay? Even if we''re not that close, we''re still family. I''ll attend your wedding, even if it may go against Milis doctrine."


    "I''ll remember, Auntie."


    Aunt Therese nodded and then said, "I''ll head back to work then. Congrattions again!" After one more wave, she left.


    Sylphy watched where Aunt Therese left and then said, "She''s nice."


    "She is... Though I see where the spunk in the familyes from now."


    Sylphy blinked. "Spunk?"


    "Yeah. You know, how Mom can get a bit feisty when she gets mad at Dad, and how Norn and Ste can get a bit of a short fuse and hold grudges."


    "Oh! I can see that." Sylphy nodded. "...I thought they just got that from you though? When you were younger-"


    I coughed, feeling my face heat up. "W-We don''t talk about my younger days, okay?"


    "But you were cute!"


    "I-It''s gettingte, so let''s get going." I held out my left arm for Sylphy.


    Sylphy giggled and wrapped her arms around it before stepping close. "Fine~ I''ll let you change the subject..."


    "Love you."


    "Love you more!"


    I smiled and then focused back on the courtyard in my house at Sharia. Then, in a single step, we were back.


    And met by the sight of Eri screaming, tossing a bucket of clothes in the air, and then instinctively flinging a boot at my face.


    I caught it and then scratched the back of my head. "Um... sorry to scare you, Eri?"


    Eri caught the bucket and the clothes before they fell to the ground. After setting it down, she huffed and said, "Sheesh! Let us know before youe back like that! It''s bad for the babies to scare me!"


    I flinched and then immediately hopped into the Greyrat forgiveness pose number 1, mming my head on the ground. "I''m so sorry, Eri. Please forgive me. I won''t do it again."


    "H-Hey! Ugh!" Eri walked over and pulled me up. "Why do you always jump to extremes, idiot?!"


    I hugged her and said, "Are you okay? Are the kids?"


    A quick look and scan made it seem like they were okay, but...


    "I''m fine! And do a bit more thinking! Sylphy''s right there!"


    I flinched and stepped back, looking at Sylphy.


    Thankfully, Sylphy just giggled and shook her head. But after that, she walked over to Eri and said, "Sorry about that, Eri. Are you okay?"


    "I''m fine." Eri puffed out her chest and said, "Me and the kids are made of tough stuff! But still, Rudy shouldn''t be making a habit of stuff like that."


    "Mmhm!" Sylphy smiled and said, "I''ll remind him."


    Watching them interact, I suddenly realized what Dad had been going through since he married Lilia.


    ...Right. In a rtionship like this, I was often going to be outnumbered, wasn''t I...?


    "Anyway!" Eri hugged Sylphy and said, "Congrattions, Sylphy!"


    Sylphy flinched. But then she let out a bright smile and hugged Eri back. "Thank you, Eri! It''s only one though, so you win..."


    "Eh?" Eri stepped back, confused. But then she gasped and said, "You''re pregnant too! I mean, I should have expected it, but congrattions!"


    "O-Oh. I thought you were talking about that already... But thanks?"


    Eri pulled Sylphy into another hug and said, "You''re wee! And no talking about winning or losing." She stepped back and ced her hands on Sylphy''s shoulders. "We''re one big family now, remember? And there''s proof now that you and Rudy love each other... so no more getting worried, okay?"


    Sylphy blinked and then started tearing up. After that, she pulled Eri into a hug and said, "Eri! I''m sorry! You''re such a great person!" Sylphy started sniffing and then broke down into a full-on sob.


    "H-Hey! Stop that! Personal boundaries! A-And this isn''t something to cry about! R-Rudy! Get over here and help your wife! Both of them!"


    I chuckled and then walked over, gently pulling Sylphy away. "Rx, Sylphy. Everything''s fine."


    She sniffed and then leaned against me. "I''m sowwy..."


    "It''s fine." I patted her back and said, "Eri doesn''t mind, and I don''t either. Take your time."


    Sylphy nodded and then leaned against me, slowly calming down.


    I took a quick look around and then nced at Eri. "Is everyone out?"


    Eri nodded. "Yeah. Roxy and the kids are at school. Paul, Mama Zenny, Mama Lily, and Mister Laws are out working as adventurers. And Ste is with Miss Rose, helping to take care of Miss Rostelina''s baby."


    "That''s about what I expected- Wait." I blinked and then said, "Dad and everyone is out clearing dungeons?"


    Eri nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to go too, but they said it was too risky since I was pregnant."


    Sylphy suddenly pulled away and looked at Eri. "That''s true! You shouldn''t do anything to risk your babies!"


    Eri held up her hands. "I know! I''m just a little bummed out." She sighed and fiddled with her wedding ring. "I miss exploring dungeons... and I''m also a bit broke from spending all my money buying Rudy''s ring..."


    I walked over to hug Eri and said, "And I love you for working so hard for that."


    Eri blushed.


    Sylphy puffed out her cheeks.


    I let out an awkwardugh and stepped back.


    Sylphy giggled and said, "I''m just teasing, Rudy."


    Eriughed and then poked my cheek. "You are going to be in so much trouble figuring out if we''re teasing or not, Rudy."


    "...Yes." I nodded. "But I''ll do my best."


    Eri and Sylphy giggled together.


    After that, Sylphy let out a sigh and cleaned her face. She looked at me and said, "Since everyone else is busy, you should get ready too, shouldn''t you? Rika''s wedding is in Arcadia, and there''s a lot to prepare, isn''t there?"


    I nodded. "That''s right."


    Making the rounds to the other Demon Lords to make treaties, making railways,ying down magic formations to broadcast everything, installing railways...


    A lot of logistics were in the works that I still needed to tidy up.


    "...Is that okay?"


    Eri rolled her eyes and shooed me away. "Go get ready for your next wife already, Husband."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Right, Husband! We''ll keep the house warm for you!"


    "...I don''t think I''m going to get used to that." I kissed Eri and then walked over to kiss Sylphy. "I''m definitely the luckiest man alive."


    Eri smiled and said, "And don''t forget it!"


    I gave onest wave to both Eri and Sylphy, and then I prepared to warp to Arcadia-


    Ah, wait. First, gotta check in on my students real quick to make sure the system is still working.


    Good job, past me. Smart thinking in prerecording lessons and having self-grading assignments...

 188 – The Accommodating Empress – I

    188 ¨C The Amodating Empress ¨C I


    As usual these days, time passed by in a blur, and then it was the day of my wedding with Rika.


    Unlike with Eri and Sylphy, there wasn''t a guy''s night out the night before the wedding.


    There was just too much to get sorted beforehand.


    I had to head back to Arcadia and both make and get fitted for Imperial Regalia, create the line of inheritance and slot all my kids in (Eos and Ena would be First and Second Imperial Princesses while Rika''s kids would have the next right, followed by Eri, Sylphy, and eventually Roxy), and also triple check the magic formations and transport lines across the Magic Continent.


    Despite my magicalpetence, and despite being a fantasy world, government bureaucracy was still government bureaucracy.


    Even by unting authority and strong-arming things to make things go faster, time was burned up at an rming rate.


    And like that, it was time for the wedding ceremony.


    I stared at my reflection in the full-length mirror.


    A tall ck long coat with a crimson cloak. A fancy golden ''R'' embroidered over my heart. An obsidian crown on my head, a matching sword sheathed at my left, and a blood-diamond scepter on my right.


    That outfit, paired with my silver hair and golden eyes screamed Demon Lord.


    Which was the intention, even though it made me feel a little weird looking at it.


    Still, staring at my outfit again...


    "The crown, scepter, and sword, huh?"


    I vaguely remembered that being a thing back on Earth.


    The crown was the throne, the scepter was authority, and sword was the power to enforce it.


    Well, I definitely had all three here.


    After giving my outfit another once over to make sure I didn''t forget anything, I turned around.


    It was my ck tower back in Arcadia. The base of operations I used my entire time since I arrived in the Magic Continent.


    Although it''d be on theme, we weren''t having the reception here.


    Since it was serving both as appointing the official Empress of Arcadia, as well as my deration of the establishment of the Empire of Arcadia, we would be doing it at the Imperial Pce instead.


    Yes, Imperial Pce with capital letters. Very important ce.


    I personally thought my sky-piercing tower here was cooler, but I GUESS that proper ceremonies were better done at a pce.


    A pair of footsteps echoed from the stairs.


    I nced over and saw Ena and Eos walk up.


    Ena was dressed like a proper princess, wearing a beautiful ck ball gown with golden stars embroidered within it.


    Eos, on the other hand, was wearing a fancy ck suit that looked more like a knight''s uniform.


    Both outfits were great. But then again, considering how beautiful my daughters were, they would look great in anything.


    ...Which made me concerned for the future considering how many sisters Ena and Eos would probably have...


    But problem for future me.


    I looked at my daughters and said, "Is it time?"


    Eos nodded. "It is, Father."


    Ena giggled. "I''m so excited! Daddy is finally going to be Emperor!"


    I let out a wry smile. "It wasn''t my intention... but things have a way of getting out of hand." After that, I started walking towards the stairs leading to the roof.


    Eos and Ena followed after me.


    As we walked, I said, "Is the n the same?"


    Eos nodded. "Nothing has changed, so it should be the same procedure, Father."


    "I see."


    We walked the rest of the way in silence and then arrived on the roof.


    Since the ck tower stretched above the clouds, around us, there was nothing but the infinite blue sky.


    I walked over to the edge of the tower, gazing out at the sky. And then I turned back to look at my daughters. "Are you two fine with this?"


    Eos paused and then nodded. "You are free to do what you wish, Father."


    Ena nodded and said, "Daddy can do whatever Daddy wants to do!"


    "...And you don''t mind that I''m marrying multiple women then?"


    Eos hesitated. "...I had some reservations at first. But I believe that this is for the better." She smiled and said, ""Besides, Mama Eri is a great fit for you."


    "Eh?" Ena looked at Eos and said, "I think Mama Sylphy is though? She loves Daddy more."


    "That may be true, but she is a bit..." Eos coughed, her face turning red. "I-In any case." She turned to look at me and said, "Since Father is bing a proper Demon Emperor, multiple wives are a given." She reached up to adjust her sses and said, "It is better this way to prevent people from influencing you with beautiful women."


    Ena frowned and said, "But won''t people try since Father has so many beautiful wives?"


    Eos nodded. "Idiots may ''try.'' Of course, they will have to do so in the face of our new mothers."


    "Oh!" Ena giggled. "Right! They won''t like that."


    Eos smiled. "Not one bit."


    I chuckled.


    That was good. I hadn''t had a chance to have a heart-to-heart with Eos and Ena yet, but it seemed like they were okay with things.


    I wasn''t as worried about Rnd since he was practically adopted, but Eos and Ena were my flesh and blood.


    Literally.


    So I was happy that they weren''t opposed to any of this and that they weren''t upset.


    Eos stared at me and then frowned. "Father..."


    "Yes, Eos?"


    "Are you happy?" Eos sighed and said, "Father has had to grow up quickly. More so than Sister and I. Are... you fine with it?"


    I blinked.


    ...Oh. I hadn''t realized it, but they must have been watching me as much as I was watching them.


    Even if they weren''t born with a mon sense'' framework like most people, my daughters would have realized that my growth was unnatural.


    Of course, I was technically an adult on round two, so I had the mental capacity to deal with everything. If I wasn''t though, or if I had been a guy who hadn''t grown up mentally at all...


    "I''m more than fine. It was a bit unexpected, but I wouldn''t change anything." I smiled and said, "I have two loving wives with children on the way. My family ispletely reunited. I''m marrying a supportive and diligent wife today who will help me manage this chaos, and I''m marrying my beloved Master next week. Not to mention I have my two adorable and supportive daughters here with me as well." Iughed and said, "It''s good that I''m not a greedy man. Another man might have taken this as the cue to try and get even more. But I think this is enough for me."


    Ena let out a bright smile and said, "Good! As long as Daddy''s happy!"


    I paused and then looked at Eos and Ena. "...Are you two happy? I know that you two never had a chance to have a proper childhood... I''m not the only one who grew up too fast."


    Eos smiled. "I''m happy." She paused and then said, "...Though I could do without the horrid experience of picking up my own father for a date-"


    Ena gasped. "You did what with Daddy?!"


    Eos turned a bright red and then smacked Ena on the shoulder. "Phrasing! And it was an ident!"


    "You have to tell me what you did now, Eos! You never mentioned that you did that!"


    Eos pointedly ignored Ena and looked back at me. "...Regardless, I am happy, Father." She smiled and said, "Although it was a bit lonely in the beginning knowing that it was just us and Ste, I am happy to have a big family now."


    Ena nodded and said, "I''m happy too! And when I start my own family, I want to have lots and lots of babies to spoil!"


    "..."


    I didn''t quite know how to react to that statement from Ena.


    One part of me was happy to hear that she knew what she wanted.


    Another part was upset that she was already going to leave soon too and likely start a family of her own.


    Yet another part of me wanted to crush the guy who would dare to take my cute Ena away from me.


    And then yet another remembered that would likely be Cliff, and then I couldn''t help but pray for his unlucky soul considering how much more stamina Ena had than an ordinary woman...


    So, since I didn''t know what to think, I put that all aside and turned back around. "Alright. Then... I guess it''s time." I stepped onto the ledge and swung out my arm. As I did, crimson threads spread out from me before exploding into golden wings.


    Ena gasped and said, "Daddy''s wings are pretty!"


    Eos''s eyes widened and she said, "How are they gold? No." She shook her head and looked at me. "Since when did you have wings, Father?"


    I smiled and said, "Well, you girls got your wings from someone, didn''t you?"


    Eos frowned. "...Now you are just being facetious, Father."


    Iughed and then smiled. "Let''s go." After that, I jumped off, spreading my wings.


    ...Although I said all that, my wings were more just glorified gliders.


    I could still fly, but it was through manipting wind mana and maneuvering with that instead of actually flying like Ena and Eos.


    Still, it looked cool.


    Between an angel pping their wings to approach you and an angel moving through the air towards you with their wings unmoving, thetter definitely looked more intimidating.


    We flew through the clouds, breaking through. As we did, all of the Magic Continent spread out before my eyes.


    While there was a lot to draw the eye, one thing in particr caught my attention. A gleaming white castle with shrouded mist covering it in the distance.


    <Zenithia> the Imperial Pce that Rika built with my designs and her own experience.


    Unlike a usual Demon Lord pce, it was made of pure white stone and gold, matching my theme of Demon Lord of Salvation.


    As we flew closer, I could see that the ceremony was already in session.


    Rika was being considerate, so she had arranged things so she would do the logistics and hard work.


    All I would have to do is show up, give a small speech, and dere her as my Empress.


    And true to her word, Rika was standing on a balcony, giving a speech while her image was broadcast across the entire Magic Continent.


    Although I was still far away, I couldn''t help but acknowledge Rika''s beauty.


    She wore an obsidian crown, just like my own, but one adorned with violet gemstones. Her lc hair was styled with loose curls behind her, making it fall in wavy curves. And she wore a form-fitting ck dress with stylized tattered hems. Her sses were also removed for the asion, showing off her sharp and noble features in full glory.


    A proper Demon Empress fit to lead the entire Magic Continent.


    Standing there and speaking to the masses, there was no denying her that role.


    Especially with Ruijerd and Rnd standing behind her, both in full military uniform.


    Rika''s speech winded down.


    I floated there for a bit with Eos and Ena, waiting for my cue.


    And then Rika nced up at me before saying onest line. "...And because of that, there is something We wish to say to you all."


    There it was.


    I flew down from the sky and lightly touched on to the balcony beside Rika.


    Eos and Ena followed after me,nding next to Ruijerd and Rnd.


    I walked over to Rika, staring at her.


    ...Yes. Beautiful.


    Although it wasn''t fair to Eri and Sylphy, I had to admit that Rika had a presence about her that they didn''t.


    All my wives were unmatched beauties, of course.


    But Rika was beautiful in the way that an ordinary person couldn''t.


    Was this the power of ''blue blood?'' The inherited royalty that people couldn''t fake?


    She was usually worn out and irritated so she didn''t show it, but here and now, she emanated the full aura and authority of a beautiful and alluring Demon Empress.


    But I didn''t let myself get lost in her beauty.


    After taking a moment to appreciate it, I nodded and turned out to face the balcony.


    There was a crowd below watching and waiting on my word. The people that I saved, the citizens who believed in Lord Rudras and praised his name.


    I took a deep breath, thinking about what to say. And then I decided to just keep it simple and clean.


    "People of Arcadia. It has been a long struggle for us all. Time risking our lives to reim a sense of peace. Praying for miracles and aplishing them against all odds..."


    Cheers echoed from the crowd below. At the same time, they started to chant. "Lord Rudras! Lord Rudras!"


    I smiled and then said, "Though I had no intention to rule..." I rested my right hand on my scepter and said, "You have made me your symbol of hope. Your miracle."


    Another round of cheers echoed.


    I pulled out my scepter and raised it to the sky. At the same time, I cheated a bit and made the clouds part, casting sunlight down on us.


    Looking out at the crowd, I smiled and said, "From now until the end of time. Not just our home here, but all of the Magic Continent." I smiled and said, "Let us reim thisnd together and make it a utopia, just like our Arcadia. An Empire, instead of a small kingdom."


    An explosive cheer. People chanting Emperor Rudras instead of Lord Rudras.


    Behind me, and out of sight of the broadcast, Rika clicked her tongue and muttered, "Fanatics. I write a fancy speech and get no cheers while this idiot spouts off and gets hailed as their savior."


    I resisted the urge tough or break myposure. Taking a deep breath, I nodded and said, "Today marks a momentous asion." I looked out at the crowd and said, "Now, we unite the Magic Continent as one under the Arcadian Empire. And now..." I held out my hand to Rika.


    Rika grabbed my hand and walked forward.


    Hand-in-hand, I looked out at the crowd and said, "My Imperial Wife, Empress Rika shall be my side. Let us go forth together, forever!"


    "UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


    I smiled.


    Rika waved.


    And after that, I snapped my fingers. "Let us feast!"


    Magic formations red down below, and no doubt across the entire Magic Continent, conjuring up a buffet for everyone to enjoy.


    And with that, the formalities were over.


    And with that, I bid a quick retreat inside, bracing myself for the biting words my family no doubt had for me...


    -RNG-


    "What the heck was that?!" Dadughed and pointed a turkey drumstick at me from across the table. "Emperor? Let''s reim thisnd together? You were so cheesy!"


    Mom rolled her eyes and said, "Ignore your father, Rudy. I think it was great!"


    Mama Lily nodded and said, "It was a wonderful speech, Rudy. Better than any Asuran Noble could hope to make."


    Dad waved his drumstick around and said, "To be fair, that''s not a high bar."


    I let out a deep sigh.


    While my Arcadian citizens were celebrating outside, I was having a simple feast inside the pce with my family.


    Said family currently included my parents, Eri, Sylphy, my sisters, my angelic daughters Eos and Ena, my responsible son Rnd, and Aunt Therese.


    Oh, and of course my beloved Empress Rika, who was sitting on my left at our ce at the head of the table.


    I had asked Ruijerd to join us, but he insisted on supervising the patrolling White Knights to ensure everything was peaceful.


    Sylphy stared at me for a while before looking at Rika. After that, she frowned and muttered, "I think it''s still a bit sudden."


    Eh?


    Eri nodded. "Yeah." She frowned too and then stared at Rika. "Are you sure you''re fine with just this small ceremony?"


    Oh, thank the stars. I thought the conversation was gonna veer off into a different direction...


    Rika sipped a ss of wine and said, "This much is fine." She waved her hand and said, "Our marriage is mostly political, so I won''t be selfish and interfere with your rtionships."


    Eri shook her head. "Political or not, you''re part of the family now." She frowned and then looked over at me. "Are you really going to let Rika''s memories of your wedding end like this?"


    I coughed and said, "W-Well, it''s true that this didn''t have much pomp and circumstance, but we both agreed on it. Right, Rika?"


    Rika nodded. "I prefer small intimate gatherings regardless." She smiled and said, "This small dinner is more than enough."


    "See?"


    Dad crossed his arms and said, "I dunno, Kid. Seems more like a cop out to me."


    Mom nodded. "Not that I don''t trust you Rudy, but..." She looked at Rika and said, "Is this really fine?"


    Rika smiled. "I insisted on keeping it small, Mother. Please, rest assured." She paused and then looked towards me. "In fact, Rudy wanted something much grander."


    "...I still think that having Zenithia float in the sky for our wedding with a sr eclipse would have been best."


    Heavily impractical, but definitely Demon Lord worthy. Also extremely memorable for everyone involved.


    Eri blinked and then covered her face. "Why am I not surprised...?" She sighed and then looked at Rika. "Okay. Good call on that."


    Rika smiled. "Thank you, Eri."


    After that, afortable silence fell as everyone started grabbing food to eat from the buffetid out in front of us.


    And then Mama Lily spoke up. "Come to think of it." She looked at me and Rika before saying, "Just how did you and Miss Rika meet?"


    "..."


    Rika coughed.


    Dad raised an eyebrow.


    I cleared my throat. "W-Well..."


    -RNG-


    "I have to say, you were excellent at improvisation as always, Rudy." Rika chuckled as we walked back to the Imperial Bedroom.


    I sighed and said, "Thank the heavens and my past self for making a perfect memory and having a very quick brain."


    After a quick improvisation story and careful shaping of the truth to avoid the fact that I technically summoned Rika from across time and space to work as a servant and glorifying our work together raising up Arcadia from scratch, night finally arrived.


    As a result, everyone departed for the evening, leaving just me and Rika behind.


    And speaking of Rika...


    "I have prepared everything for tonight." Walking in front of me, she nced back and said, "The bed, the atmosphere... Tonight will be a night fit for an Emperor. I can assure you that."


    I frowned and said, "You didn''t have to put in all that effort, Rika."


    "Yes. But I wanted to." She nced back and smiled. "If it makes you feel better, consider it a selfish act."

 189 – The Accommodating Empress – II

    189 ¨C The Amodating Empress ¨C II


    A beautiful formal room with a king-sized four-poster bed made from a luxurious dark wood. Violet silk tapestries and ck sheets with golden trimming.


    It should have been a bit gaudy, but when I walked inside, it just felt elegant instead. Maybe since Rika was the one who designed it instead of me?


    At least I knew that if I tried setting something up like this it would instantly push past the borderline into narcissistic prick territory instead of elegant royal bedroom.


    But I was just distracting myself from what was important. Looking at Rika, I saw that her expression was neutral, unlike Sylphy and Eri before her.


    Seeing that, I frowned and said, "Rika, if you don''t want to do anything, we don''t have to. I know that you had a previous fiance, so-"


    Before I could finish, Rika ced a finger on my lips. "Shush." Staring at me with her shimmering rainbow eyes, she shook her head and said, "Here, it is just you and I."


    "...Okay."


    Rika nodded and then walked over to a nearby table. There was already a small wine cooler and sses prepared.


    Sitting down, she pulled out the bottle of wine and a ss. After grabbing both, she cracked the top off the bottle of wine and started pouring herself a ss.


    I sat down across from her and grabbed the other ss.


    Rika took a long drink from her ss, draining the wine in one go before pouring herself another.


    Seeing that, I chuckled and said, "You look way too practiced at doing that, Rika."


    Rika finished another ss and then poured herself one more. As she was doing that, she red at me and said, "This is all your fault. You made me like this."


    I winced. "Ahaha..."


    Yeah, couldn''t really say anything to counter that fact.


    Rika seemed like she was nning to chug that whole bottle by herself, so I pulled out a bottle of my own from the cooler and poured myself a ss.


    This time, Rika didn''t drain her wine in one go. Instead, she swirled it around a bit and sipped on it while staring at me.


    I recognized she was staring, but just focused on pouring myself a ss of wine. After that, I sipped on my ss while staring back at Rika.


    There was an awkward silence for a bit as we both just sat there and drank.


    But then Rika let out a soft sigh and said, "I know. This is selfishly intruding on your family life while using Arcadia as justification." She took a deep drink from her ss, finishing it. After that, she set the ss down, her face red. Staring at me, she shook her head and said, "You don''t have to pretend to care, Rudy."


    I drained my ss of wine too and then set it on the table. After that, I looked at Rika and said, "I don''t need to pretend to care about you, Rika. I do care." I frowned and said, "If anything, I should be thanking you for the idea. Without this, there''d be power struggles across different factions."


    As almighty as ''Lord Rudras'' was, the fact was that Rika ran all the logistics to get the kingdom running. Although it was fine up until now, with the flow of time returning to normal and the Magic Continent opening up again, it was inevitable that a clear split between authority and operations would lead to people seeking opportunity in that gap.


    Marrying Rika and naming her as Empress neatly tied up that loose end.


    So if anything, I was thankful. ...Even if it was a spanner in the mess that was my rtionships.


    Rika snorted. This time, instead of pouring herself another ss, she drank straight from the bottle. Wiping her lips, sheughed and said, "Don''t lie to yourself." She looked at me, her eyes shimmering a faint green. The light of <Foresight>, peering into my future.


    "You are such a great man that no one would dare." She blinked and her eyes returned to the shimmering kaleidoscope of colors. After that, she shook her head and muttered, "I must have just been lonely."


    "What?"


    I blinked, caught off guard at her words.


    Rika? Lonely?


    Rika noticed andughed. Letting out a wry smile, she said, "Can I not be lonely?" She waved her bottle around and said, "Arcadia is a Utopia ''we'' raised. But ''I'' am someone that doesn''t belong."


    I frowned. "That''s not true, Rika."


    Before I could borate, Rika cut me off.


    "Is it not?" She stared at me, her eyes unusually harsh. "I... ''Kishirika Kishirisu'' already exist in this time." She set her bottle of wine aside and thenced her fingers together, cing her hands on the table. "And the ''me'' before your very eyes... she is nothing more than a ghost."


    I didn''t respond right away, taking the time to process her words and what she was thinking.


    But Rika continued. Grabbing her ss, she idly twirled it in her hand, staring at her distorted reflection. "I have thought about it a lot. While I have done much for Arcadia, made friends, enemies, and aplishments... At the end of it all, ''Rika'' does not exist." She paused and then looked over at me, smiling. "...You are awfully quiet, Rudy. Nothing to say?"


    "...Yes. Because I don''t understand."


    Rika did exist. Even if she wasn''t Kishirika Kishirisu anymore, the woman I knew and worked with to raise Arcadia was real. And though she called herself a ''ghost,'' she was very much well and alive.


    Not to mention that she genuinely enjoyed both her work and being around people, at least as far as I ever saw her.


    So...


    "...I don''t understand."


    Rika paused. Then she let out a bitter smile and said, "I suppose you wouldn''t." She set her ss back down on the table and then looked at me.


    I stared back at her, frowning.


    "Rudy." She stared at me and said, "I have sacrificed everything for your sake and to create Arcadia."


    I nodded. "And that is something I will forever be grateful to you for-"


    Rika shook her head. "No. You don''t understand." She stared at me and then said, "...I didn''t either until recently. But... Did you know?" She smiled and said, "Since the time I''ve met you, I''ve be mortal."


    I blinked. "What?"


    "I didn''t realize it at first. But the more I interacted with my ''past'' self, the more I realized how different we were. And then also how true Kishirika''s words were."


    Rika looked at me and said, "Although the body reverts at death, and although there may be minor changes in youth, the ''core'' is the same. Even if there are different experiences, the way ''I'' think should be the same across each ''death'' and every ''life.''"


    I slowly nodded. "...Right. Because the ''essence'' is in one''s mana. And since your ability is to resurrect as long as a bit of your mana is around, you shouldn''t change."


    "Yes." Rika nodded and said, "The ''core'' should be the same. But... it''s different now."


    "It is?"


    Rika stared at me and then said, "How did Ie be known as Rika?"


    "It''s because your name was tooplicated, so I shortened it, right?" I paused and said, "Also because I thought Rika was a cuter name."


    Rika blinked. "...I didn''t expect the second reason, but yes. And do you recall how I reacted?" She chuckled and said, "''This One forsakes her name!'' ''This One shall be christened anew as Rika!'' ...That was how I reacted."


    I paused, the pieces suddenly clicking in my head. "Names have power. And since you said that..."


    Even if it was exaggerated, Rika was sincere. And although it wasn''t formally a familiar contract or anything, the context and sentiment behind what I was doing was definitely simr.


    So then the end result was basically as if I had summoned a unique unit in a game and then renamed them, making them a different unit entirely.


    ...Wait. So then...


    Rika nodded. "While my ''eyes'' are a power that are inherent to ''myself,'' the resurrection magic is one inherent to ''Kishirika Kishirisu.''"


    "And since you no longer saw yourself as Kishirika, and since you adopted the name Rika and began to walk your own path, you became ''someone else.''" I frowned and rubbed my chin. "Fascinating."


    Rika snorted. "Is that all you have to say about my situation?"


    I shook my head. "Sorry, it''s just..." I frowned, feeling something weird. "...It seems important."


    So names had power.


    That probably exined why Hitogami called himself that, since it meant being the Human God.


    And it also exined why I could throw all his ns awry since I adamantly refused to acknowledge him as a proper god and just called him Being W or Whitey.


    But Rika was right. I could think about thatter.


    I poured some wine into her ss, and then poured myself some wine as well. After that, I looked at her and said, "So why so mncholic then? It just means that you''vee into your own as a person, right? And sure, you might die. But people die if they''re killed. That''s the way it should be."


    Rika stared at me and thenughed.


    I frowned. "What''s so funny?"


    Rika shook her head. "No. It''s just..." She smiled and said, "I suppose that''s why I wanted to be selfish."


    "Huh?"


    Rika took the ss of wine I poured from her and then raised it up. "Oh Rudeus, my great and power master who summoned me from across the vast sea of time." She let out a dazzling smile and said, "This Rika has devoted her everything to you. And this Rika will continue to do so, until the end of time itself."


    It was a genuine and heartfelt statement.


    But hearing that from her...


    I frowned and said, "There''s no need for that. Even if I summoned you here, you''re your own person, Rika."


    She chuckled and then took a sip from her ss. "Fine, fine." She smiled and said, "I will stop with the teasing... But it IS true." She stared at me, a solemn expression on her face. "''Rika'' and I exist only because of you, Rudy." She drained the ss of wine and then let out a red-faced smile. "I''ll give you my everything... but it''s fair, isn''t it?" She giggled and said, "I get to see that bastard Hitogami die, and I''ve lived to see my people free and the Magic Continent at peace." She stood up and staggered over towards me.


    I frowned and grabbed her. The moment I did, she leaned against me, looking up into my eyes.


    Rika giggled again and said, "Compared to disappearing in a copsing world, this is much better."


    "...You''ve had too much to drink."


    "Perhaps." Rika sighed. "But women are only so strong, you know?" She poked my chest and said, "Not everyone is a world-ending force of nature like you are, my dear Husband."


    I nodded. "Right. So it''s important to lean on people when you need to."


    "...So it''s right to lean on you then, Husband?" Rika hummed. "...How cruel you are."


    "H-Huh?"


    Rikaughed and reached up to ce her hand on my cheek. "My. Have you not realized it? A man so strong, and yet so soft. Strong enough to take everything, but too weak to say no to those who reach out." She paused and then shook her head. "...It''s why cruel women like myself can force themselves into a happy life between you and those you love."


    "...That''s not true."


    Rika scoffed. "Do not lie." She pulled her hand back and then leaned against me, looking directly into my eyes. "I am not dim. You do not love me. There is affection, and that affection can turn into love. But there is no love between us."


    "...Even if that''s true, does it matter?"


    I lifted up her chin with my hand and said, "You wanted to marry me, and I chose to marry you. You shouldn''t feel guilty about your feelings or the situation at hand."


    It was true that I didn''t understand Rika''s feelings for me or returned them in full. But that didn''t mean I couldn''t or wouldn''t try.


    Not only that, but like Rika said, I was responsible for her being here.


    And for all that she had done for me and my family, it was the least I could do to make her happy the way she wanted... or at least as close to it as possible.


    And if she wanted to do that by marrying me, then so be it.


    Rika stared at me for a moment and then muttered, "Yes. A very cruel man. I can see how you became the Magic God now."


    "Oh?"


    "Yes." Rika looked into my eyes and then said, "A cruel man who devours anything and everything without question... How vile." She pulled back and said, "You''re the bane of all women in existence."


    Iughed and said, "Then it''s good that I have strong and grounded women to keep me in line, no? But anyway." I reached into my pocket to pull out the most important thing.


    Between Rika''s sudden tangent and self-musings, I had almost forgotten. But now since we were back on track...


    "Here."


    I grabbed Rika''s left hand and then slipped a ring over her left ring finger.


    Rika blinked in surprise. "What''s this?"


    A golden ring with a vine motif forming the wedding band. Then, for the jewel, a red spider lily formed from a mana crystal I made from my own mana.


    As I slipped it onto her hand, I looked at Rika in her eyes and said, "With this ring, I vow to ensure your happiness and to love you, for now and for always."


    Hearing those words, Rika jerked her hand back. "What are you doing?!"


    I smiled and said, "I''m making a promise to my wife."


    Rika red at me and said, "That is something you should do to your other wives, not me!" She stared at her ring, looking like she was seriously contemting wrenching it off and chucking it back at me.


    Before she did that, I said, "Look, Rika. Even if this is meant to be a political marriage... or whatever you want it to be."


    Rika''s reasons were a bit unclear after her monologue, but the point remained.


    "I''m not a person who will marry someone without loving them. So..." I stared into her eyes and said, "It''s a promise. Even if I''m not in love with you yet, I WILL love you."


    Rika flinched. Her eyes started to shimmer, swirling a chaotic mess of colors. But then they settled on a beautiful violet hue, the same color as her hair. "...Idiot."


    I chuckled and then grabbed her left hand. "If I wasn''t, would I dare to marry four beautiful andpetent women?"


    Rika scoffed.


    I smiled and then, "You''re right. I may not love you with all my heart just yet, but I WILL love you and treat you with love, always." I gently rubbed her hand and said, "It''s the least I can do as your husband. Besides." I put on a serious expression and said, "I hatepeting. So I''m going to do my damned best to make sure you forget all about your former fiance."


    I put on a bright smile and said, "Got that?"


    Rika stared at me and then looked away, her face flushed red. "That''s cheating. I''m weak to handsome men."


    Iughed and said, "Well, looks like I inherited something good from Dad then."


    For a brief moment, I just sat there, holding Rika as she leaned against me. But then she stood up, her face red. "W-Well?"


    I blinked. "Well what?"


    Rika huffed and said, "Are you going to just speak with that silver tongue all night of love, or are you going to prove it?"


    I raised my eyebrow and said, "There''s nothing I have to prove. But since you were so adamant about this marriage and about the ''royal lineage''..." I nced over at the bed and said, "And since you went through so much trouble, we should secure that, right?"


    Rika trembled. "W-Wait a moment. T-That look in your eyes..."


    "Hm?" I yed innocent and said, "What look?"


    Rika flinched and said, "Y-You look like you''re going to eat me!"


    Iughed. "Well... if you want?"


    I had plenty of experience now, so I could guarantee I wouldn''t disappoint. And I could definitely guarantee my stamina.


    Rika gulped. But then she crossed her arms and said, "W-Well, even if you are, I''ll be fine! In fact...!" She grabbed my arm and then dragged me over to the bed before pushing me down. After that, she started slipping off her dress. "I''ll eat you first!"


    "Really now?" I smiled and then said, "Is that how Demons do it?"


    Rika slipped off her top and then started slipping off my clothes. As she did, she said, "It''s eat or be eaten, Husband. And-"


    "Then bon appetit."


    "W-Wait? H-Husband?! No, Rudy- Eek! D-D-Don''t, Hn~!? W-What are- Kya~!"

 190 – The Accommodating Empress – III

    190 ¨C The Amodating Empress ¨C III


    Rudy''s small home at the foot of the ck tower in Arcadia. There, Eri, Sylphy, and Roxy were sitting there and rxing for the evening while discussing the future.


    Sipping on a cup of tea, Eri nced in the direction of the pce and let out a sigh. "That poor woman."


    Sylphy nodded, sipping on her own cup of tea. "For all her elegance and confidence... I don''t think she understood what she was getting into with Rudy."


    Roxy frowned, looking between Eri and Sylphy while holding her own cup of tea. "What do you mean?"


    Sylphy looked at Eri.


    Eri shook her head.


    After a bit, Sylphy smiled and looked towards Roxy. "You''ll find out, Roxy." She giggled and said, "It''s the Master''s responsibility to check the prowess of their disciple, right? Since Rudy''s had a bit of practice now, you can grade him yourself."


    Roxy froze, processing that statement. Then she turned a bright red and then said, "Y-You two are shameless!"


    Eri shrugged and set down her cup of tea. "What''s there to be ashamed of? It''s natural. Besides, there''s nothing to hide between us, right? We''re all Rudy''s wives."


    Sylphy nodded. "Right! ...For better or worse."


    Eri flinched and then her ears turned red. "I-I thought we got over that, Sylphy!"


    Sylphy stuck her tongue out and said, "Just teasing, Eri." She giggled and then ced her hand over her stomach. "I couldn''t get mad at someone who has Rudy''s kids."


    Eri subconsciously ced her hand over her stomach as well. But then she paused and then said, "Hey wait. Does that mean you''d get mad at me if I wasn''t pregnant?"


    "Who knows~?"


    Eri blinked and then sighed. "...Crazy, all of you."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "What''s fun with being sane anyway?"


    "...Anyway." Eri turned to Roxy and then said, "Since we''re here, should we start talking about family nning?"


    Roxy tilted her head. "Family nning?"


    Sylphy''s eyes lit up. "Oh! We should!"


    Roxy frowned. "Does that matter?"


    Eri gave Roxy a serious nod. "It does. Unlike Paul, when Rudy''s serious about ''it,'' there''s going to be a kid."


    Sylphy sighed, cing her hand against her cheek. "I wish he told me earlier he was using a contraceptive spell all those times before we married..."


    Roxy raised her hand. "Hold on. Contraceptive spell? That''s possible?"


    Sylphy waved her hand. "It can only be casted by men and only works for men. Really, a selfish spell..."


    "But-"


    Eri cleared her throat. "That''s not important right now. What IS important is that there''s going to be a lot of babies around soon." She leaned forward and said, "I''m having twins, Sylphy is pregnant with one child... We don''t know how many Rika will end up with, but even if it''s just one, that''s already four kids."


    Roxy''s eyes widened. "I didn''t consider that. Then..." She blushed and said, "I-If I have a child as well...?"


    Sylphy smiled and said, "Then we''re at five! A big happy family, right, Eri?"


    Eri sighed. "That''s the n." She frowned and said, "Rudy''s got a lot to think about, so we need to figure this out. Since Mama Zenny and Mama Lily will be around..." She paused and then looked at Sylphy. "And since your parents will be here too, I don''t think we''ll have trouble. But I don''t want Rudy to feel pressured about spending time with all the children."


    Roxy paused and then nodded her head. "Right... Rudy''s a serious man, so he might do something ridiculous if we don''t stop him."


    Sylphy nodded. "That, and we''ll probably all have our babies at the around same time."


    Eri tilted her head. And then she groaned. "That''s right..."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "Don''t tell me you forgot about that already, Eri?"


    Eri''s ears turned red and said, "I''ve been thinking about a lot too, okay?" She grabbed her tea and sipped on it. "But that''s probably going to be a problem..."


    Roxy frowned. "...And won''t ''that person'' act up as well? Judging from his reaction with Ste and Norn in the past, wouldn''t he see Rudy''s children as even more of a threat?"


    Eri nodded. "Right. So that''s why we need to n ahead of time so that nothing bad will happen."


    Sylphy hummed and then said, "So it probably won''t be good to have the babies in our house at Sharia, will it?"


    Roxy tapped her chin and then said, "I have a special bunker I built that should be safe. And if we have Mister Orstede to help, it should be fine, right?"


    Eri frowned. "Maybe... but I have a feeling that''s a bad idea."


    Sylphy tilted her head. "Eh?" She frowned and said, "Why? I think that will work fine, won''t it? And everyone is close by too."


    "Yeah, but..." Eri shook her head. "Something feels wrong. Like something bad will happen if we stay in Sharia at that time."


    Roxy lowered her hand and tapped the table. "...Well, a Sword God''s instincts are usually spot on. At least, that''s my experience with Paul these past few years."


    Sylphy picked up her cup of tea and sipped on it, thinking. After a bit, she slowly nodded and said, "I suppose we can''t know if there''s something or someone hidden that could cause a problem."


    Eri nodded. "Right."


    Sylphy frowned. "But then what ce is safe? ''That person'' seems to be able to see and act anywhere, can''t he?"


    Roxy let out a bitter smile. "I believe so. The scale of our opponent is beyondmon sense, after all. And considering how I haven''t seen any of his mana in years, he is moving much subtler than in the past."


    Eri nodded. "Mmhm. That''s why I was thinking we stay in Arcadia for a bit."


    "Eh?" Sylphy tilted her head. "Here?"


    Roxy rubbed her chin. "I suppose that is a rational decision. After today, Rudy has control over the entire continent. Furthermore, the natural... or rather unnatural flow and density of mana here will make it hard for ''that person'' to act or send agents."


    Eri nodded. "Right. Plus... I doubt that Rika can be away from Arcadia at all."


    Roxy nodded as well. "True..."


    Sylphy raised her hand. "Oh! Speaking of Rika..." She frowned and then said, "How are we going to share Rudy? There''s four of us, so there''s not enough days in the week for it to be equal."


    Silence.


    Roxy frowned. "...I suppose one of us will have to make a sacrifice every week?"


    Eri frowned as well and said, "That isn''t fair. It means one of us only gets a single day per week with Rudy."


    More silence.


    After a moment, Sylphy said, "Maybe we wait for Rika to ask her?"


    Eri sighed. "I guess so. And we need to talk to Rudy about it too." Sheughed and said, "Our lovely husband gets a bit extreme when he feels guilty."


    Sylphy''s eyes lit up and she said, "Ooh! Did he do ''that'' for you too?"


    Eri blushed and said, "W-Well, I said it hurt a bit, s-so..."


    "Wow!"


    Roxy looked between Sylphy and Eri and said, "I feel like I''m missing some important context..."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "You''ll find out, Roxy."


    "...That sounds ominous."


    Eri waved her hand. "Don''t worry about it. What you should be worrying about is your wedding." She smiled and said, "Is everything working out? Do you need any of us to help with your preparations?"


    Roxy shook her head. "They''reing along fine." She smiled and said, "My teacher is helping arrange things with the academy to use it as for the ceremony, and my other disciple is helping with sculptures to help decorate the venue."


    "Huh?" Eri blinked and said, "Other disciple?"


    Roxy paused. "...Oh!" Her ears turned red and she said, "I suppose I forgot to introduce him to everyone with all that''s been happening. His name is Zanoba, and he has great talent in breaking things. Too much really. It took a bit, but we managed to direct that energy into something constructive... especially after her showed talent in magic formations and barriers..."


    The master bedroom in the Imperial Pce. Or more formally, the Emperor''s chambers.


    There, Rikay sprawled and naked on the bed, panting with her eyes dazed and unfocused.


    Seeing that, I coughed and averted my gaze.


    Despite her current state, Rika noticed and said, "H-Husband."


    "Y-Yes, Dear?"


    Rika shifted her eyes, giving me a nk stare. After that, she said, "You are a monster."


    I flinched.


    "I almost would have rather been eaten by that bastard than what you did to ''devour'' me."


    I felt my face heat up and then scratched my cheek. "W-Was it really that bad?"


    I... might have gotten a bit carried away since Rika kept challenging me. And since she looked like a haughty demon lord who needed to get knocked down a peg or two. And since seeing her-


    Ahem.


    Rika slowly raised her right arm and gestured over her body. "I have no feeling in my lower half or my legs. I have been soaked in your essence for the past three days and four nights and doubt I can get rid of your scent even with a year''s worth of bathing. And I have been defiled in ways that I could never have even imagined, even taking into ount the countless atrocities that I have died to in the past while possessing a defenseless child''s body."


    I coughed. "O-Okay. Maybe I was a bit too enthusiastic..."


    "Enthusiastic?" Rika slowly sat up, using the pillows behind her to prop her body. After that, she red at me and said, "You were a monster. Incorrigible. Vile. Lust incarnate." She turned up her nose and said, "You are a bane to women everywhere. Not even 99 virgins would satisfy your needs."


    "H-Hey!" I crossed my arms and said, "You insisted it!"


    Rika paused and then let out a sigh. "...I suppose I cannot absolve my guilt in this. I was a fool to think I could challenge a monster like yourself. Stamina, technique, length-"


    I coughed, feeling my face heat up.


    "That silver tongue that so sweetly coaxed even my proud self into such obscene acts." Rika red at me and said, "The fact that those women could apany you and still be fine is a testament to how monstrous you all are." She paused and then let out a deep sigh. "...And to think that I even agreed to let you continue even after I fainted from the exhaustion and pleasure..."


    "H-Hey, don''t lie. You definitely didn''t pass out."


    Rika red at me. "That is because a certain monster continued plundering my very being and melting my mind with pleasure that gouged me from the inside and out."


    I coughed. "...I-I''ll restrain myself next time."


    "Ugh." Rika grimaced and said, "I understand why the Empresses in the past allowed consorts. This sort of pleasure is dangerous..." She looked down at her legs and bare lower torso and then frowned. "To think I lost myself so much that I cannot even move to bathe myself."


    "Ahaha..."


    Rika red at me.


    I ignored her stinging gaze and then walked over to pick her up.


    Seeing that, she said, "What are you doing now, you monster of a husband? Are you going to devour me again now that I can hardly resist?"


    ...


    Rika trembled. "H-Husband?"


    There was a genuine hint of fear in her voice.


    Hearing that, I shook my head. "Of course not. I''m not a cruel bastard like that."


    Even if...


    No. Bad.


    Horny thoughts begone!


    Even if bullying a harsh demon lord and making her lose her mind with-


    No, no. Stop that train of thoughts RIGHT NOW.


    You will NOT submit to the innate Greyrat lust.


    Think.


    ...Prime numbers. Right. That should calm things down.


    1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 15-


    Fuck.


    Rika stared into my eyes and then said, "...How terrible. To think I attempted to change you from that Magic God monster and created Lust Incarnate..." She sighed and said, "Well, do as you wish, Husband. As I said, I have devoted everything to you. And at this point-"


    "Look, Rika. Could you stop trying to paint me as the worst viin alive? I know I''m a demon lord, but even then I have standards, you know?"


    Rika snorted. "Standards... Says the man who so sweetly convinced me to taste-"


    "ANYWAY!" I walked over to the open stone bath in the corner of our room and began filling it with water. "Since you''re exhausted and can''t clean yourself, you won''t mind if I do it for you, do you?"


    Rika rolled her eyes and then waved her hand. "Go ahead. There is no part of my body you have not seen, felt, marked, or tasted at this point."


    I ignored the heat on my face and filled the bath with clean warm water.


    Rika let out a deep sigh and said, "What a blunder. To think taunting my husband would awaken such a monster..." She paused and then gave me a sly smile. "Or perhaps my beauty was that enchanting that it made you lose your mind, Husband?"


    I blushed and averted my gaze.


    Rikaughed and then leaned up to kiss my cheek. "So you can be cute as well."


    The water was nice and warm now, so I set Rika along the edge of the bath.


    The moment I did, she moaned.


    Oi! Calm down! The Greyrat genes do not control you, you control them!


    Rika sighed and leaned back against the bath, closing her eyes. "To think a day woulde when I cherish such a simple thing as a bath this much..."


    I conjured some shampoo, soap, and then a bath bomb.


    Plopping thest into the bath, I poured a bit of shampoo into my hands and then started washing Rika''s hair, lightly massaging her scalp as I did.


    Rika let out a deep content sigh and said, "If only you were this gentle before..."


    "Okay." I frowned and said, "Did Eri and Sylphy tell you I was weak to guilt trips or something?"


    Rikaughed and then said, "Perhaps?" She cracked an eye open and let out a sly smile. "But does it make a difference if they did or not? You have indeedmitted acts worthy of guilt against This One."


    I washed out the shampoo with some water and then conjured a sponge,thering it with soap.


    At that time, the bath bomb finally finished dissolving, filling the air with a faint scent of vani and lc.


    Rika waited until I finished washing her hair, and then she opened her eyes. Staring at the violet bubbles spreading across the bath, she smiled and said, "At least you know topensate for your mistakes."


    I started wiping Rika down with the sponge, pointedly ignoring just how much... stuff had caked her body in certain parts.


    Rika noticed me hesitating and thenughed. "Well. Love aside, I suppose I can be certain that our bodies are perfectlypatible." After that, she ced her hands over her stomach.


    I subconsciously nced towards it as well and then saw three identical mes flickering there.


    Triplets... though boys or girls I didn''t know.


    ...I also didn''t know how that was possible considering that it was definitely too early for triplets to be forming like that.


    But maybe Demon biology was different?


    Rika looked up at me and smiled. "Congrattions on securing the Imperial lineage, Husband."


    I washed the soap off her body and then began massaging her legs. "No, Rika. I should be thanking you."


    Rika nodded. "As you should." She let out a content sigh as I worked out the kinks in her legs and said, "Of your many wives, I doubt one would allow themselves to be treated as a toy to be used by you like I did." She paused and then looked at me. "Or perhaps I should say that of your wives, I am the only one you desire to use like that so much?"


    I coughed. "W-Well..." I lowered Rika''s leg and started massaging the other one. "...I guess I didn''t realize I had that as a fetish until now...?"


    All my wives were beautiful, but Rika was also elegant and ''noble'' in a way Eri, Sylphy, and Roxy weren''t.


    Not to mention that Rika definitely gave off a true Demon Empress vibe when she wasn''t overrun with worth or messing with me.


    And while Eri and Sylphy were definitely up for anything, with Rika.


    Ah.


    Well...


    I guess I had a thing for breaking haughty women and making them beg?


    ...It was probably a good thing that I met Eri when she was calmer...


    Time passed while I gently washed Rika. Although we were intimate, considering how close I was and where I had to wash, it wasn''t sensual at all.


    ...Though that was probably because I was doing the washing and we weren''t in there together.


    Smart move, me.


    I''d read enough h*ntai to know where else this could lead if I wasn''t careful.


    "Husband."


    "Yes, Rika?"


    She held out her hand while closing her eyes, rxing in the warmth of the bath and my touch. "A ss of juice if you would."


    I paused and set the sponge down before conjuring a ss of grape juice for her.


    Rika grabbed it from me and then sipped on it, letting out a content sigh. But after a bit, she suddenly spoke up. "Riru, Kadi, Usri."


    I paused. "What? Are you trying to curse me now?"


    Rika cracked an eye open and said, "Don''t be silly. I''m speaking of our children''s names."


    I finished washing Rika''s body and then gently massaged her scalp. As I did, I frowned and said, "...Do all women think about names as soon as they get pregnant?"


    "The fact that you do not is telling, dear husband."


    I coughed. "W-Well..."


    Rikaughed. After that, she finished her juice and set the ss on the side of the bath. Then she looked up at me and said, "Riru, meaning beautifulpiszuli. Kadi, meaning pure. And Usri meaning morning light." She smiled and said, "Those will be good names for our daughters, no?"


    I nodded. "They''re a bit strange, but I like them- Wait, daughters?"


    Rika rolled her eyes. "After what you did, do you truly believe the world will not punish you with beautiful princesses?"


    "...Fair. But what if we have sons?" I conjured a towel and started drying Rika''s hair.


    Rika shook her head. "I would wager my name that they are not. But in that case, it will be your responsibility, dear husband."


    "...Great."


    After drying Rika''s hair, I lifted her from the bath and conjured a small bench with a towel across it.


    I set her down and then carefully began drying her body with another towel.


    Rika watched me and then said, "Did you do this for your other wives as well after you devoured them heart and soul?"


    I wanted to argue that ''devour heart and soul'' part... but I really couldn''t with what I did.


    So instead, I focused on the first part of her question. And as to that...


    "I wanted to. But they were fine and took a bath by themselves afterwards."


    Rika clicked her tongue. "Monsters. The lot of you. To think this Great Demon Empress would lose out to mere mortals..."


    Iughed and continued wiping her down. "Well, you''re a mere mortal now too, aren''t you?"


    Rika gave me a nk look.


    I paused. "What?"


    "You knew that and yet you treated me this harshly?" Rika pursed her lips and said, "Every fiber of Rika''s poor body is aching, and Rika was already finished after the first night, but you kept coaxing me to continue after that?"


    "...I''m sorry."


    Rika sighed and leaned against me. "...It''s fine. Better I sacrifice myself than you forcing yourself upon some poor maiden."


    "Okay, we''re snipping that in the bud." I frowned and said, "I am not about to get a reputation as a Demon Lord who goes around plucking young maidens due to his insatiable lust, alright? That''s not me. I can definitely control myself. It''s just..." I coughed and said, "...You were unexpectedly my type, okay? I''ll do better next time."


    Rika sighed. "Save your apologies. Treat your next wife better."


    "...That sounds like you''re asking for a divorce?"


    Rika gave a serious nod and said, "If I could manage one without your other wives killing me for betrayal, I would. But s..."


    "...You are such a drama queen, Rika."


    Rikaughed. "Well. It''s fairpensation for the troubles you''ve put me through, dear husband. But in any case." She looked at me with a serious expression and said, "Unlike the rest of us, this will be Roxy''s first time. Remember to be gentle, even if your primal lust gnaws at you to devour her whole."


    "Wait. Roxy''s a-" I paused, remembering a childhood memory that I had purposefully tried to forget.


    One of Roxy sitting in front of a door and staring at a certain scene while I pretended to not see anything heading to the bathroom.


    "You know what? That makes sense."


    "...You do know that most women would never forgive you for speaking of them in such a way?"


    I kissed Rika on the forehead and said, "And that''s why my lovely Empress will keep that secret to herself, right?"


    Rika rolled her eyes. "By the day, you take more and more advantage of me, Husband. How cruel."


    I finished drying Rika down and then conjured a fluffy violet bathrobe to slip her in. As I dressed her, I said, "Well, considering how my beloved Empress possesses such cunning and ruinous beauty, I should keep her in check somehow, no?"


    "That. Right there." Rika frowned and said, "That is the monster that would ruin women across the world. Keep it in check, dear husband."


    "Of course." I nodded and said, "I''m not going to let history repeat itself."


    Rika gave a serious nod. "Yes. It would be terrible if a Lust God Lace was born..."


    "..."


    I ignored Rika''sment and helped her into the bathrobe.


    After that, Rika stood up on shaky legs.


    I frowned and said, "Are you sure you should be standing so soon?"


    Rika waved her hand and said, "I am no invalid." She blushed and said, "B-Besides, if I lounge around I may lose myself and..." She looked at me, shifting her gaze down, and then she coughed.


    I coughed as well and looked away.


    Rika spun around and waved. "Leave me be and tend to your other duties, Husband. I will be fine on my own."


    "...If you say so." I walked over to her and then grabbed her left hand, giving her a gentle kiss. "Then I''ll be backter."


    Rika looked at me and frowned.


    I noticed and said, "What''s wrong?"


    Rika stared at my left hand and frowned. After that, she said, "I need to give you a ring as well."


    I followed her gaze and saw that she was staring at my bare left ring finger.


    For the record, during my weddings and intimate times with one of my wives, I put the rings of the others away.


    That meant right now I wasn''t wearing my ring from Eri or from Sylphy.


    That''d be rude, after all.


    I wasn''t a harem protagonist of an anime or something who treated women like essories. I genuinely cared about my wives and their feelings.


    ...Even if Rika would disagree because of the past few days.


    Ahem.


    Rika rubbed my left ring finger, examining it for a bit. And then she nodded and said, "I''ll make a ring worthy of my beloved Emperor."


    Hearing the change in title, I nodded and said, "Then I will await my dear Empress''s gift."


    Rika rolled her eyes and then began shoving me towards the door. "Just leave already and prepare for yourst wedding, Husband."


    Iughed and said, "Love you too, Rika."


    "...Hmph. If marking me was enough to earn your love, I worry for the future."


    I let out a nervousugh and then said, "I''m off then."


    "Just leave already."


    I gave her onest kiss on the cheeks and then warped away.


    Time to give those students of mine another pop quiz...


    -Rika-


    Rika stood there, alone in the room and slowly scanned it.


    A luxurious and spacious room. Ornate decor, a fancy bath, bed...


    It was a ce fit for an Emperor and Empress.


    But the moment Rudy left, it felt empty and gray.


    Was it because she had clung to him for so long these past few days?


    Even though he just left, Rika felt hollow on the inside. She raised her left hand and held it over her chest while fiddling with her wedding ring. Looking down at it, she muttered, "This isn''t good."


    A red spider lily. It was a flower that symbolized death and reincarnation, but also love and passion.


    Rika didn''t think it was intentional. Knowing Rudy, he probably just picked the design based off what he felt suited her the most.


    Even so, there was a fitting message behind his choice.


    Let ''Kishirika Kishirisu'' die and be reborn. And then in return, ept this love and passion.


    Rika sighed and went to clear the bath. Afterwards, she started walking around to clean the bedroom.


    Sheets, curtains, even the mattress...


    As she looked with her Demon Eyes, she saw marks of their ''passion.''


    It wasn''t visible to the average person, but to her, it was clear as day.


    And seeing that made Rika embarrassed.


    Pulling off the sheets, she blushed and said, "To think I would end up like this... How foolish."


    Though she teased Rudy and tried to make him feel guilty, Rika knew the truth.


    Although part of it was indeed due to Rudy''s sweet words, Rika chose to indulge in them. Forgetting everything else and epting everything he gave her...


    Rika felt her face heat up and then tossed the sheets aside. "Argh! Begone, thoughts!"


    She was no pure maiden in love. And she was no blushing virgin before she was married.


    So why were her thoughts and emotions spinning around and around thinking about her husband and how-


    A knock echoed on the door.


    Rika paused and then turned to look. When she did, she froze.


    Eri and Sylphy were standing there, as if they were waiting for the moment Rudy left.


    Rika panicked, looking around the room.


    It wasn''t clean. There was even still a faint musk in the air. If those two walked in now-


    "Sorry to intrude." Eri spoke up and said, "But we noticed that Rudy left and wanted to have a private chat with us wives."


    Sylphy spoke up as well and said, "It''s nothing bad, promise!"


    "W-Wait a moment!" Rika threw the sheets aside and then started tracing magic formations in the air.


    Come on. What did the formations for Purification looked like again...?!


    But despite Rika''s plea, the door opened.


    Rika froze.


    Eri walked in and then paused, taking a look around.


    Sylphy walked in next, pausing as she stared at the sheets. And a few bloodstains on it.


    Eri followed Sylphy''s gaze and then coughed. "Uh. Wow."


    Sylphy giggled and said, "You really had the full ''Lewd'' experience, didn''t you, Rika?"


    Rika covered her face in her hands and let out a deep sigh.

 191 – The Stellar Sister’s Thoughts

    191 ¨C The Ster Sister¡¯s Thoughts


    The Greyrat Home... house? Manor?


    ...I still needed to sort out what to call the ce sometime. I guess ''home'' was a good catch-all, but the ce was definitely too big to be called a house...


    Anyway, I headed back to our home in Sharia after Rika''s suggestion. The n was to go prep another pop quiz for my students and then make sure things were squared away for Roxy''s wedding.


    But I forgot that time zones were a thing, and when I got back it was already close to evening.


    Which reminded me that I had irvoyance and definitely had not been using it recently.


    ...Then again, seeing things from an on-high perspective like that all the time could lead to feeling too much like a god, so maybe it was better that I restricted it.


    More on thatter.


    Ah, and mental note: Remember to update the Greyrat Guide for Dummies. Lots of valuable lessons learned recently, so can''t forget to record them.


    Anyway...


    I walked in through the front door this time after warping into the courtyard.


    Thankfully, no one was there. Plus, Eri and Sylphy were still in Arcadia, so I didn''t have to worry about scaring them and causing issues.


    ...Wait. No one was there?


    I frowned and took a look around.


    The house was lit with a fewnterns, but most of the rooms were dark. And not because people were sleeping.


    I didn''t sense anyone in the house except for Ste, who was in her room on the front floor.


    And speaking of Ste, the moment I turned my attention towards her room, the door mmed open and she ran out pointing a wand.


    I blinked and then waved my hand. "Hey, Ste?"


    "Onii-chan?" Ste blinked and then let out a deep sigh of relief. Then she crossed her arms and pouted. "You need to stop doing that! I almost sted you!"


    Iughed and said, "Well, it''s a good way to keep your instincts sharp?"


    "Tch."


    I smiled and then nced around again. After that, I frowned and said, "Are you home? Alone?"


    That was pretty irresponsible. Even if Ste was already... four? Five?


    ...I don''t think we had her big birthday celebration yet, so she was still four.


    Anyway, even if she was four and pretty smart, she was still just a kid with an older kid''s memories.


    At that time, a burst of bubbles appeared next to Ste before Wata materialized, sticking up his paw. "Ste is never alone!"


    A sh of light appeared on the floor next to Ste, and then Leo appeared. He barked and then said, "That''s right!"


    Next, a swirl of mes appeared on Ste''s other side, and Fai appeared. Putting her hands on her waist, she grinned and said, "Prepare for trouble- Wait!" She spun around and said, "You two did it out of order!"


    I stared at the trio of spirits and then looked at Wyn, who quietly materialized on Ste''s head. After that, I gave Ste a nk look.


    Ste coughed, her ears a bright red. After that, she said, "A-Anyway!" She looked at me and said, "What are you doing home? Shouldn''t you be with Rika nee-chan?"


    I took off my Demon Lord coat and regalia, tossing them in my usual pocket space. After that, I stretched and said, "Yeah, but I wanted to make sure things were squared away here- Wait." I looked at Ste and said, "You never said where everyone was."


    Ste walked over to my side and then held my hand, casually swinging it back and forth. "Mom, Mama Lily, and Paul are having a housewarming party with Uncle Laws and Auntie Rose, while Norn, Aisha, and Miko are at the dorms."


    "And they left you alone here?"


    Ste flinched and then looked to the side. "Y-Yes...?"


    "...You snuck out, didn''t you?"


    Ste huffed and said, "It was boring! The adults were just talking about money and stuff! And I wanted to y with Norn and Aisha nee-chan, but Miss Roxy''s security system is too tough."


    I sighed and then scooped Ste up.


    "H-Hey!" Ste blushed and said, "Let me down! I''m not a baby! I can walk!"


    I chuckled and said, "No can do. Since no one is here to watch my cute baby sister, I''ve gotta make sure you stay out of trouble."


    "H-Hmph." Ste puffed her cheeks and looked away.


    I could tell that she was happy though.


    Even if she pretended she was all grown up and mature, she was still just a kid using old memories to act grown-up.


    ...I don''t think that she realized that yet, but the shoe would drop eventually.


    "Fine. I guess I could spend some time with you, Onii-chan." Ste looked at me and then looked away. "...It''s not like I missed you or anything."


    Iughed and then poked her cheek.


    "Gah!" Ste red at me and then said, "Stop that!"


    I chuckled and said, "I can''t help it. My cute baby sister is trying out different personalities right now, and it''s funny."


    Ste''s face turned a deep red and she said, "A-Am not! This is just the way I am! Baka!"


    I smiled and started walking over to the kitchen. "Then you should reconsider being a tsundere. It just makes people want to bully you when you''re that cute." I paused. "...Though I guess that would round out the group. Aisha is the hime student council type, and Norn is the yandere genki type, so you being a genius tsundere would line things up pretty well."


    Ste narrowed her eyes and then said, "Hypocrite. You told me to not look at the world like it was an anime, Onii-chan."


    "First of all, it''s well established that I''m a hypocrite." I walked over to the kitchen table and set Ste down on a chair there, conjuring a mug of hot cocoa for her.


    Ste grabbed it and then puffed out her cheeks.


    I smiled and then said, "Second of all, I just use them for shorthand. People are more rounded than simple archetypes, but those archetypes are useful as a general model. It''s like how atoms aren''t really clusters of orbiting matter, but it gets close enough that it''s useful to think of them like that."


    Ste took a sip from her hot cocoa and then said, "I still think you''re lying to me about not being a super evil viin from a different world, Onii-chan."


    I poked Ste''s cheek again and said, "If I was, I would have taken over this world a long time ago, Ste." I paused and then realized that Ste''s spirit friends were being polite and quiet.


    It seemed like they had learned to read the room too. Nice!


    Good job, past me. Giving Ste spirit friends was smart.


    Clearly, my baby sister didn''t really have a conscious or stop on her curiosity, so giving her a rounded-out group of pals helped her grow.


    "...Anyway." I ruffled Ste''s hair and said, "Sit tight. I''ll cook up a snack."


    Ste set her cup of hot cocoa down and then said, "I''m not hungry!"


    *rumble*


    Ste froze.


    I raised an eyebrow.


    Wata sighed and said, "You shouldn''t lie about being hungry, Ste."


    Leo nodded. "Food is food. Wan."


    Fai hopped into the chair next to Ste and said, "Some for me too, Master Rudy!"


    I chuckled and said, "Coming right up."


    Now, something tasty, but also light. It was gettingte, and I didn''t want Ste to get a tummy ache for eating so close to bedtime.


    Mm... A souffle would be good, right?


    -SNG-


    Was it because he got married, or because his wives were having babies soon?


    Either way, Ste noticed that her Onii-chan seemed a lot cooler and more reliable than before. Definitely more like a Dad, at least.


    Ste had always known that he was mature since he raised her all by himself. But Onii-chan had also always been a bit... extreme? Out there?


    He definitely seemed like a guy withoutmon sense.


    But Ste noticed that he was acting more like a normal grown-up now.


    ...And also treating her more like a daughter than his baby sister.


    "Now remember that you can''t eat sweets all the time." Rudy slid a freshly baked souffle in front of Ste, along with a ss of cold milk. "It''s fine when I make them since I can bnce the nutrition and taste, but too much of normal sweets will make you chubby."


    Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "I know! Sheesh!"


    ...A-And it definitely wasn''t because she noticed that her cute clothes weren''t fitting her anymore. Definitely not.


    Rudyughed and then ruffled Ste''s hair. "Alright. Then eat up. I''ll whip something up for your friends too and then we can sit and rx."


    Fai pumped a fist in the air and said, "Yay! Master Rudy is the best!"


    Wata''s eyes sparkled and he said, "Can I have a fluffy cake with blueberries?!"


    Leo barked and said, "Chocte! Wan!"


    Rudy blinked and looked back at Leo. "...Won''t that kill you?"


    "Wan!" Leo wagged his tail and said, "What doesn''t kill me makes me stronger! Wan! And tasty chocte is worth it!"


    Rudy paused and then looked at Ste. "...Have you been feeding Leo chocte?"


    Ste paused in the middle of poking her souffle with a fork and then said, "Was I not supposed to?"


    "...Dogs can''t eat chocte. Actually, most animals can''t."


    Ste''s eyes widened. "But it''s so tasty?!"


    Rudy stared at Ste and then chuckled.


    "W-What?" Ste felt her face heat up. "How was I supposed to know?!"


    Rudy walked off into the kitchen and said, "It''s fine. Just a reminder that you really are just a kid."


    Ste huffed and started eating her souffle.


    Stupid Onii-chan. She wasn''t a kid, she was a grown woman!


    ...Technically!


    Her agesbined definitely put her in her twenties!


    And she mightck some life experience, but she was smart! Top of her ss, even!


    A few minutes passed as Rudy baked some more treats in the kitchen.


    ...And Ste just realized that Onii-chan was definitely doing something impossible since you absolutely could not bake a cake in two minutes.


    Leave it to Onii-chan to do something ridiculous like that just for convenience.


    But in a bit, Rudy had set up the table on the other side for Ste''s spirit friends and then sat across from Ste with his own souffle.


    Ste nced at him but then looked away, stabbing her souffle with a fork to rip chunks of it off to eat.


    ...At least she tried. But when she stabbed it, the fork just went through and started cutting the soft pastry up.


    Rudyughed and then picked up a spoon. "You eat warm souffles like this, Ste." He grabbed a fork as well and then dug into the souffle a bit before shoving some onto his spoon. After that, he took a bite and smiled. "See?"


    Ste felt her face heat up. "I-I knew that!" She immediately did the same thing and took a bite.


    Fluffy, a little sweet and savory...


    It was yummy.


    ...Dammit. Why did Onii-chan have to be perfect at everything?"


    "You like it?"


    Ste nodded, but stubbornly refused to respond.


    Rudyughed and then started eating his souffle as well.


    Afortable silence ensued.


    Well, other than the sounds of Fai stuffing her face, but Ste could ignore that.


    After a bit eating her souffle and drinking some milk, Ste looked over to Rudy and said, "Hey, Onii-chan."


    "Yeah, Ste?" He smiled and said, "What''s up?"


    Ste stared at her Onii-chan, wondering just what exactly was different about him.


    It wasn''t like he looked any different. And he didn''t really act much different either.


    He was still stupidly cool and made fun of her a lot.


    But...


    Ah.


    "Are you happy now?"


    Rudy paused. "Happy, huh?"


    That was the difference.


    Ste remembered how hard Rudy had worked since she was born. And while he had been acting carefree, there was always a bit of ''something'' behind his actions. Like he couldn''tpletely rx.


    But right now, as Rudy sat across from her...


    Rudy smiled. "Yeah. I''m happy. ...Though I might not be in a few days, depending on how Roxy''s wedding and the aftermath goes."


    Ste scoffed and sipped on her milk. After that, she said, "Well, maybe you shouldn''t have married four beautiful women who could each beat you up."


    Rudyughed.


    Ste smiled. "...I''m happy that you''re happy though, Onii-chan."


    "Thanks, Ste. Love you too."


    Ste blushed and said, "I didn''t say that!"


    "But you mean it~"


    "Gah! Dummy!" Ste looked away and started stabbing her souffle.


    Dumb Onii-chan. Why does he have to be all cool and supportive and a great guy like that?


    He''s even cooler now that he''s a dad! It''s not fair!


    Rudy chuckled. "Anyway, it''s been a bit since we chatted. How''ve you been, Ste? Anything fun recently?"


    Ste huffed.


    "Oh. Are you pouting~?"


    "I hate you. But fine." Ste sighed and said, "I met Mister Zanoba again and he made me a cool knight figurine. I also met Akito and practiced making some magic circles- Ah!" Ste pointed at Rudy and said, "I forgot! Why is Akito here!?"


    "Oh yeah." Rudy rubbed his chin and said, "I forgot to mention that your parallel timeline self sent her boyfriend her for safe-keeping until we do the final boss raid."


    "...What?"


    "Oh? Did I forget to tell you that I met Shizuka Nanahoshi when we were over there? It''s funny, she acts mature, but she''s actually really childish like you."


    "...I''m telling Norn nee-chan you made hot cocoa in secret again and didn''t tell her."


    "H-Hey! You don''t need to go that far!"


    "And I''m telling Aisha nee-chan that you bullied me."


    "Steaaa! I''m just teasing!"


    "Baka."


    Serves him right.

 192 – The Ex-Master’s Wedding – I

    192 ¨C The Ex-Master¡¯s Wedding ¨C I


    A few peaceful and uneventful days passed by.


    Rudy earned a reputation as the cool absentee teacher who gave his students plenty of free time. And he also earned a reputation as the cruel bastard who publicly humiliated the students who took advantage of his grace by roasting them in front of the ss.


    And not just metaphorically. Thest assignment was patterning mana in different ways to generate ''heat'' and also unravel the true nature of ''fire,'' and the poor saps who didn''t study were burnt to a crisp.


    Of course, since their professor was also a God-ranked healer, they didn''t even have wounds toin about, so...


    In any case, time passed.


    People went on with their daily lives, like how Paul and the revived <Fangs of the ck Wolf> were making a name for themselves clearing dungeons and recruiting new members.


    But soon it was time for another fateful day.


    Roxy stared at her reflection in a floating mirror.


    Since the wedding was taking ce at the academy, she had converted her office to a makeshift dressing room for the bride.


    And as to said bride''s bridesmaids...


    Rika sprayed a bit of mist from a bottle to fluff up Roxy''s hair and said, "You have some nerve requesting us as your bridesmaid, Roxy. Especially your Empress."


    Sylphy adjusted a light blue ribbon over Roxy''s neck, tying it into a bow. "I know this is to send a message, Roxy, but wow." She stepped back and said, "I wouldn''t be brave enough to do it."


    Eri finishedcing the long white gloves on Roxy''s arms and then nced at Sylphy. "Don''t lie. If not for the fact that your mom said not to, you totally would have done it."


    Sylphy giggled.


    Roxy blushed at hearing the conversation and said, "W-Well, I don''t have many friends, so who else was I going to ask? Some students?"


    Eri nodded. "You could have."


    Sylphy nodded as well. "Aisha would have volunteered."


    Even Rika nodded. "Any student would have done fine and been honored."


    Roxy gave the three a nk stare and then said, "You are all strangely in sync these days..."


    Light feminineughter echoed from nearby. The source of it was a young and petite woman who looked simr to Roxy.


    Roxy blushed and then looked over. "This isn''t funny, Mother."


    Roxy''s mother smiled and said, "Sorry. But I''m just surprised." She looked at the other women and said, "To think that our Roxy found such an epting family like this... I''m so happy for you."


    Roxy shifted in ce, embarrassed. "...A lot has changed, Mother."


    "A lot has indeed!" Roxy''s Motherughed and said, "To think our little Roxy who used to trip over everything would get so... big! You always did say you would find a way to grow up, but it''s amazing you actually did!"


    Sylphy''s ear twitched and then she looked over at Roxy''s Mother. "She did, Miss Roxy''s Mother?"


    "Oh yes!" Roxy''s Mother nodded and said, "And Rokari is fine, dear." She raised her hand to her mouth andughed. "Our Roxy was always a quiet and stubborn child. When she found out she''d be always be small, she swore she''d definitely, definitely get bigger and show everyone."


    Roxy coughed. "I-It wasn''t exactly like that, Mother..."


    Roxy''s Mother, Rokari, sighed and ced a hand on her cheek. "When she left the vige, we were worried we might never see her again. Thirty years passed by without a single letter..."


    Roxy felt a stab of guilt in her chest.


    Eri gave Roxy a nk stare.


    Roxy coughed and said, "There wereplicated circumstances, okay?"


    After that, she nced at her mom and sent a mental message.


    ''Can you please stop that, Mother?!''


    Rokari''s eyes widened and then she started to tear up.


    ...Oh.


    Dammit. She was spending too much time around Rudy.


    How could she forget the whole reason she stormed off from home when she was younger?


    Rika stared at Rokari and frowned. "Is it that emotional, Miss Rokari?"


    Rokari brushed her tears aside and said, "Today is indeed an emotional day. Thank Emperor Rudras..."


    Roxy flinched. "Emperor Rudras?"


    Rokari nodded. "That''s right. Ah!" She bowed her head towards Rika. "And thank you as well, Empress Rika."


    Rika waved her hand. "Such a simple matter requires no thanks."


    "Even so." Rokari raised her head and said, "To think that Lord Rudras would personally transport my husband and I to our daughter''s wedding. And then for you to agree to be my daughter''s bridesmaid as well... It''s a great favor we can never repay."


    Rika blinked and then turned to Roxy, confusion clear on her face.


    Roxy fidgeted in ce.


    Eri groaned and said, "There''s being ashamed to meet your parents, and then there''s being this." She sighed and said, "Roxy. You seriously couldn''t just tell them?"


    "Pardon?" Rokari looked around, confused. "Tell me what?"


    Roxy coughed, feeling her face heat up. "That... Well..."


    She paused, realizing how awkward it was to say this now that the whole thing in Arcadia had happened. Especially since her parents were clearly devout followers of Rudy and the Arcadian Empire...


    "...Um. I''m marrying that Emperor Rudras, Mother."


    Silence.


    Roxy felt like her face was on fire.


    Ugh. Timing! There was timing for these things!


    How could she forget?!


    Dammit, her teacher was right about spending too much time cooped up in her office. The basic social cues, interactions!


    Aaahhh.


    Rokari blinked and tilted her head. But then her eyes lit up. "Oh!" She looked at Rika, and then at Sylphy and Eri. "Then are you all Emperor Rudras''s wives?"


    Rika nodded. "That is correct." She paused. "...Well, in part?" She nced back at Eri.


    Eri hummed and said, "Well, I''m married to Rudeus Notus Greyrat, and the same with Sylphy." She looked at Rika and said, "You''re definitely not, since you''re married to Emperor Rudras. And Rudy said he doesn''t n for our kids to get involved in the political ring of Arcadia..."


    Sylphy frowned and said, "I still think Rnd should be the crown prince."


    Eri nced at her and said, "Good luck convincing him. If Rolo was any more down to earth, he''d be buried six feet under. But anyway..." She frowned and looked at Roxy. "Since you''re from the Magic Continent... are you marrying Rudy, or Emperor Rudras? We never really talked about that, right?"


    Roxy blinked. "Does... it matter?" She turned to look at Rika.


    Rika shrugged. "Practically, no. We all share the same husband. But politically..." She paused and said, "The children of ''Rudeus Notus Greyrat'' would inevitably end up inheriting the Notus family whenever Paul steps down. And the children of ''Emperor Rudras'' would be in line for the Arcadian Empire''s throne."


    Eri paused and then she let out a groan. "I forgot. Rudy was already a noble in Asura..."


    Sylphy hummed. "Should we talk with Miss Ariel about purging that cesspool then?"


    Eri gave a serious thought to the question. "Considering idiots like Luke exist because of it, maybe we should."


    Roxy started to sweat and said, "I-I don''t think we should be talking so casually about overthrowing a kingdom."


    Sylphy giggled. "Should you be saying that, oh Callous Witch of Destruction?"


    Roxy blushed and said, "It was one- Two... Only a half dozen times!"


    At that time, Rokari ced her hands together in prayer and bowed her head. "Blessed be Emperor Rudras to not only reunite us with our wayward daughter, but to also ept such a clumsy child into his family..."


    "Okay! I think that''s enough, Mother!"


    Eri frowned. "Don''t be mean to your mother, Roxy."


    Sylphy nodded. "Yeah! Family is important!"


    Rika nodded as well. "You should be grateful you still have a mother who cares for you so much."


    Roxy puffed her cheeks and said, "Why are you all teaming up on me? You''re supposed to be on my side today!"


    Eri shrugged. "We are. Which is why we''re telling you how to be a proper person instead of a bookwork who studies magic all day."


    "And since when are you the expert on that?" Roxy frowned and said, "Weren''t you the one who refused to touch a book when you were a child?"


    Eri nodded. "I was. Which is why I can firmly say that reading is best done in moderation."


    "..."


    Roxy should have just asked Aisha after all. Hah...


    Rokariughed. And shortly after that, a nostalgic male voice echoed in Roxy''s mind.


    ''Is Roxy ready, Dear?''


    Rokari''s voice echoed in Roxy''s mind after that. ''She is! And she can speak now!''


    ''Truly?!''


    Roxy cleared her throat.


    Rokari noticed and let out an apologetic expression.


    Eri noticed as well, but she frowned and said, "What? Can''t say anything back?"


    Roxy shook her head. "No. It''s... Never mind."


    Eri looked upset, but Roxy ignored her for now and focused on responding to her father.


    ''Yes. I can use it now- Ah. I mean, I can speak now, Father.''


    Silence.


    Rokari teared up as well and then walked over to open the door.


    Eri noticed and turned towards her. "Miss Rokari, wait-"


    But before she finished, Rokari had already opened the door.


    And there stood a young man, short enough to pass as a kid. And from how he was crying his eyes out, he looked just like a kid.


    "Huh?" Eri blinked and said, "What''s a kid doing here?"


    Sylphy rolled her eyes and said, "Who''s being rude now, Eri? That''s Roxy''s father."


    "What?!" Eri turned back to look at Roxy''s father. And then she ced her hand on her chin. "Wait. If that''s Roxy''s father... Huh. No wonder Roxy was a cradle ro-"


    "AHEM!" Roxy cleared her throat.


    Eri looked at her and said, "What? I heard the stories from Paul."


    Roxy turned a bright red and said, "That bastard...!"


    At that time, Roxy''s father finally calmed down.


    Rokari walked to his side and held his hand. After that, she smiled and said, "This is my husband, Rowin. And he''se to tell us that it''s time. Right, Dear?"


    Rowin nodded, still wiping away his tears.


    Eri straightened up her outfit and then nodded. "Alright." She turned towards Roxy and said, "We''ll go on ahead then."


    Sylphy waved. "Good luck, Roxy!"


    Rika let out a chuckle and said, "You''ll need itter tonight."


    Eri red at Rika and said, "Hey!"


    "What?" Rika tilted her head. "She will! That husband of ours is a monster! He''ll eat her whole!"


    Sylphy giggled and then fanned her face. "And isn''t he great for that?"


    Eri turned a bright red. "Stop! No talking about this in public!"


    "But Eri-"


    "Juste on already!" Eri grabbed both Sylphy and Rika and started dragging them away.


    Seeing that, Rokari giggled. "Such a lively bunch..." She smiled and looked back at Roxy. "Well, I''ll leave as well then."


    And then it was just Roxy and her father, Rowin.


    For a moment, it was silent.


    And then Rowin stared at Roxy and sent her a mental message. ''You got so big, Roxy.''


    Roxy blushed. ''...I did a lot of research.''


    ...It definitely wasn''t because she felt inadequate when considering the sort of women Sylphy and Eri would be.


    ...Though it was good that she did.


    To think that Sylphy would cheat and grow ''that'' so much... Especially with such a slim build too.


    Didn''t her back hurt?


    Roxy had to use some specially engraved supporting bras to alleviate her backpain, but Sylphy didn''t look like she used any.


    ...In fact, that crazy woman barely wore bras at all.


    Eri made sense, since hers were big, but not over the top. It was the perfect bnce to match with her physique.


    And Rika definitely used some secret magic artifact or something.


    But Sylphy...


    Rowinughed.


    Roxy blinked and then looked away. "S-Sorry, Father."


    Rowin smiled and then leaned up to pat Roxy''s head. "No need to apologize. Your mother and I are just happy that you are well."


    Another stab of guilt in her heart.


    Roxy averted her gaze, unable to face her father''s warm smile.


    Even so, Rowin didn''t mind.


    He simply walked over to Roxy''s right side and held out his left arm. "Shall we go?"


    Roxy took her father''s arm. Like that, the two started walking towards the courtyard where the ceremony would take ce.


    But...


    "...This is a bit awkward." Roxy couldn''t help but mutter as she walked.


    Rowinughed and said, "Since you grew so much, it looks like I am your child instead, doesn''t it?" He sighed and said, "What wonderful surprises life brings."


    "That''s definitely true..."


    If Roxy talked to herself from even ten years ago and said her life would end up like this, she wouldn''t believe it.


    ...In fact, when she talked to the Roxy in that other timeline, that Roxy didn''t believe it either.


    It was a lifepletely beyond belief- No, beyond imagining.


    Growing up, Roxy always thought she would fall in love with a man who swept her off her feet in a dungeon.


    And to think that she did such a scandalous thing as to fall in love with her genius disciple instead...


    Well. It was something she consciously decided and chose, so she couldn''t back down now.


    Roxy didn''t have any regrets about loving Rudy or marrying him.


    ...But she did have a few regrets in general.


    And as for the biggest one...


    "I''m sorry for running away, Father."


    Rowin patted Roxy''s shoulder. "It''s fine, Roxy. Although it hurt at first, after talking about it with your mother, we both thought it was for the better." He sighed and said, "Growing up in such oppressive silence must have been unbearable. And while we missed you, we both thought it would be best for you to venture outside. And it seems like it was. After all." He smiled and said, "You''ve found yourself a wonderful family."


    Roxy smiled. "Indeed."


    Rowin nodded and they continued on their way. As they walked though, he frowned and said, "But I''m still surprised. I''ve never heard of a Migurd growing so big... Just what sorts of food are they growing beyond the Magic Continent?"


    Roxy didn''t respond.


    ...It was probably better if her father didn''t learn that Roxy used her body as a testing ground for magic to stimte growth.


    Or that she had a phase where she went around testing healing magic on animals and monsters.


    Or about that one time she kept an underground facility where she tested out making homunculi and chimeras...


    ...It was a good thing that she cleared them all out and repurposed the facility for something else before Rudy showed up.


    Rowin sighed. "Still. To think the day woulde when I not only see my daughter again, but send her off to marry..."


    Roxy blushed. "S-Sorry. I should have sent more letters."


    Rowin smiled. "We love you all the same, Roxy. It was enough just knowing that you''re safe and happy. But to know that you found a ce where you belong... As parents, is there anything else that would make us more proud?"


    Roxy couldn''t meet her father''s warm smile.


    That sort of unconditional love... why couldn''t she realize it at the time?


    How worried must her parents have been about her? How many years did they stare at the vige entrance, wondering if she show up there again?


    "...I''ll visit more often."


    Rowin patted Roxy''s shoulder. "Don''t worry. What''s a few decades? Just sending a letter is fine... Though it would be nice to see our grandchildren before they get big."


    Roxy nodded. "I promise."


    After a long walk, they arrived at the main entrance of the school.


    Rowin walked ahead to open the doors.


    And then a loud ruckus echoed from outside.


    Roxy frowned and walked over to take a look.


    The courtyard was fine. It was set up with intricately carved pirs and figurines that Zanoba made for the wedding. And the guests had already arrives and seated.


    They weren''t the source of the ruckus.


    No, that was from the giant crowd behind the academy''s front gate trying to force their way in.


    Roxy blinked and then covered her face with her hands. "I should have expected this..."


    Despite everything, and despite her constantly chucking people out of her office, Roxy WAS a popr figure in the kingdom of Ranoa.


    Not only that, but she had received quite a few letters over the years from students of both genders.


    Roxy thought that she''d done enough prep work ahead of time to handle it, but it seemed she underestimated how popr she was...


    A young man wearing an academy uniform flew over the gates,nding on the ground. "I ob-"


    Before he could get out two words, another young man rushed at him.


    Round-rimmed sses, disheveled brown hair kept in a bob-cut. And a pair of robes meant for battle mages.


    Zanoba, Roxy''s second and only other disciple.


    He immediately grabbed the intruder and then stomped the ground. A magic formation formed beneath his feet, preventing the ground from shattering. But it didn''t dissipate his force.


    Spinning around from the momentum of the stomp, Zanoba tossed the young man back over the gates and said, "Begone!"


    The man flew away, turning into a twinkling star.


    After that, Zanoba turned to look at the crowd and smacked a hand against his chest. "Who else dares to interrupt the scared union between my master and senior brother!?"


    Roxy let out a deep sigh at hearing that.


    ...It seemed that Zanoba learned well from those strange texts she found in dungeons. The martial arts and methods on controlling excessive force were useful... but it seemed like it turned her already entric disciple into an even more entric individual...


    The gate suddenly broke down, and a crowd of older noblemen rushed in.


    But before they took a single step, Aisha appeared and swung two wands in an X shape.


    The first was Rudy''s old wand, shimmering with every basic element.


    The second was a fancy wand that seemed carved from pure amethyst.


    The moment those two intersected each other''s paths, a kaleidoscope of colors erupted and sent the men flying backwards, pushing the crowd back.


    ring at the crowd, Aisha lowered her wands and then said, "Perverted old noblemen aren''t allowed!"


    Zanoba and Aisha weren''t the only ones who were working to hold the crowd back though.


    Roxy nced off to the side and saw Norn being held back by Rnd.


    "Let me go, Rolo! I''ll bring those bad guys to justice!" She kicked her legs and kept trying to draw Rolo''s sword.


    Rnd did his best to keep her away from it and said, "Blood should not be shed at a wedding, Aunt Norn-"


    "I''ll burn the wounds, don''t worry!"


    "..."


    Roxy sighed.


    The others were definitely going to tease her about this...


    Roxy shook her head and turned towards her father. "Come on, Father. Let''s- F-Father?"


    Rowin looked up at Roxy, smiling. And holding a machete that definitely wasn''t anywhere near earlier???


    He patted Roxy on the shoulder and said, "Father will send you off early. Right now, there''s some business to attend to."


    After saying that, he started walking towards the gate, the back of his machete leaned against his right shoulder.


    When he got close to the crowd, he pointed his machete at them and said, "So you all want to ruin my daughter''s greatest day?"


    Rnd nced over and then his eyes widened. Turning back, he said, "Eos! Grab him!"


    Eos walked out from the guest section. But as she looked at Rowin and then the crowd, she shook her head. "No, I kind of agree with Grandpa Rowin. And it''s fine if we make it non-lethal, right?"


    Norn raised her hand and said, "Yeah, Rolo! We''ll just beat them up! So let me down!"


    Rnd let out a long suffering sigh.


    Seeing all that, Roxy let out a long sigh too. And then she pointedly decided to ignore them all and focus on the wedding.


    If she pretended it didn''t exist, it might as well not.


    But before she could even take a single step, someone appeared on her right side to escort her.


    When Roxy saw who it was, her eyes widened and she said, "Paul?"


    Paul held out his left arm and said, "I hope you don''t mind, Roxy."


    Roxy shook her head and allowed him to escort her down the aisle. As she did though, she frowned and said, "I didn''t expect you to escort me."


    Paul smiled and said, "I''ve always seen you like a teenaged daughter since you started teaching Rudy. ...Though I never thought that you''d actually end up like this."


    Roxy blushed. "M-Me neither..."


    Paulughed. "You don''t need to hide it, Roxy. I know you were crushing on Rudy ever since he was a cute little boy."


    Roxy blushed. "D-Did not!"


    Paul just winked in response.


    Roxy sighed and then took a look around.


    Unlike with Eri and Sylphy, Roxy had invited a lot of guests. And looking around, she could see that most were there.


    The staff who stormed out because of Rudy but eventually came back around.


    Her teacher, Jinas Halfas.


    The famous ''Bloody Count'' who was the first person to teach Roxy magic and the one who wrote the rmendation letter for her to study at the Ranoa Magic Academy.


    Nokopara and ze, her former party members.


    Various acquaintances she made while adventuring.


    Recent alumni, at least the ones actually in Roxy''s good graces...


    And even more people.


    Paul noticed Roxy looking and then said, "Man. You sure are popr." He chuckled and said, "Rika''s wedding was a spectacle, but this is a full-blown affair."


    "You aren''t using those words properly, Paul. But also..." She nced back at the creaking gates and then said, "Rudy isn''t going to snap and murder them all, is he?"


    "Rx." Paul smiled and said, "I made the kid promise to not murder them all during the wedding before I walked over."


    Roxy let out a sigh of relief. "That''s good- Wait." She caught thest part of Paul''s words and said, "''During'' the wedding?"


    Paul shrugged. "I don''t usually condone murder, but when I do... definitely wedding crashers."


    Roxy sighed and did her best to distract herself from the chaos unfolding in the back.


    The aisle was covered in beautiful blue petals. Music was ying from a live band off to the side...


    And then they had arrived.


    At that time, Roxy finally looked up at Rudy.


    To others, he had light brown hair and green eyes.


    But Roxy could see that it was just a magic trick.


    Literally.


    Still, wearing that tuxedo and standing there, regardless of his hair and eye color, Rudy cut a handsome figure.


    ...And that was the man that Roxy would be marrying.


    Her husband.


    That was still such a strange thought...


    At that time, Paul handed Roxy off to Rudy, cing her hands in his.


    Rudy smiled as he took Roxy''s hands and guided her to stand in front of him. "Thanks, Dad."


    Paul gave a thumbs up and said, "Anytime, Kid." He paused. "Wait, actually no more times. Your moms will LITERALLY kill me if you marry someone else so-"


    Roxy cleared her throat.


    Paulughed and then walked off.


    Then it was just Rudy and Roxy, standing in front of the priest.


    Rudy smiled and then nced at the crowd outside. "I knew that my lovely Master was well-received, but if it''s like this, I might have to thin the crowd a bit."


    Roxy rolled her eyes. "Even if they''re idiots, they''re useful idiots. Not to mention the paperwork I''d have to do..."


    "So no?"


    "No."


    "Aw..."


    Despite the clear discussion of murder, the priest overseeing the wedding ceremony ignored it.


    Instead, he let out a warm smile and started the ceremony.


    During the time, Roxy just stared at Rudy.


    She hadn''t had the chance to observe him up close, but now that she did have the chance...


    A handsome face, almost unnaturally so. Perfectly proportioned, with unblemished skin. Soft eyes, but ones with a sharp and piercing gaze.


    A body that was thin, but definitely well-trained judging from how his tapered suit hugged his body.


    And a natural ''aura'' around him that emitted strength. His mana, reaching a point that it had a tangible presence.


    Staring into Rudy''s eyes, Roxy sent a mental message. ''You''ve grown into a fine man, Rudy.''


    Rudy''s eyes widened a bit. But then he smiled and responded in kind. ''And you finally look like an adult, Master.''


    ''Tch. Smartass.''


    ''It''s apliment. It''d be weird if you still looked like a kid, you know? Especially now that I''m an adult.''


    ''That''s prejudice.''


    ''...No? I think that''s normal? Liking someone who looks like they''re in their early teens at best is kind of creepy...''


    ''So you''re saying the Rudy in the other timeline was an irredeemable pervert for marrying the Roxy there?''


    ''Oh absolutely. I have firsthand knowledge of exactly how perverse that guy was too.''


    ''...First hand?''


    Rudy cleared his throat.


    At that time, the priest nodded towards Rudy and handed him a ring. "Rudy. Please, offer your vows to the bride."


    Rudy took the ring and nodded. After that, he raised Roxy''s left hand, holding the ring with his right.


    Roxy stared at the ring.


    A simple golden band, but adorned with a purple magic crystal, molded into the shape of a violet.


    Slipping it onto Roxy''s left ring finger, Rudy smiled and said, "With this ring, I pledge to you." He looked into Roxy''s eyes and said, "To cherish and to hold, to love and to provide. For your happiness, for now, and for always."


    Roxy smiled back at Rudy and then sent him a message. ''You always did have a knack for words.''


    ''I try.''


    ''...But don''t think I missed the fact that you said pledge and not vow.''


    Rudy''s eyes trembled. ''D-Did I say something else? Fuck. Dammit. I knew I should have rehearsed more. Fuck. Shit. @#$@#!#!@#!$%!@#''


    Roxy giggled.


    "And now you, Roxy." The priest handed Roxy a ring.


    She took it and gave it a once over.


    Billions of tightly interconnected mana threads and formations. Dungeon cores and various precious metals ground up as powder, used as a catalyst to bind them.


    On the surface, it just seemed like a pretty golden ring with intricate carvings. But the truth was that it was a ridiculous magical focus that could turn even a novice''s spell into a continent shattering st.


    But in any case...


    Roxy slipped the ring on Rudy''s left ring finger and said, "With this ring, I vow to give you my love and everything." Looking into Rudy''s eyes, she smiled and said, "Even against the gods themselves, I will remain by your side. This I swear."


    Rudy flinched.


    Heh. It seemed like her disciple had a conscience after all.


    Faced with their unequal vows, Rudy could only respond by letting out a silly smile.


    Roxyughed at that.


    The priest nodded and then said, "With the exchange of rings and vows, we bring this ceremony to an end. Now." He looked at Rudy and said, "You may kiss the bride."


    Rudy nodded and leaned forward.


    But before he could, Roxy reached around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.


    Whistles and catcalls filled the air, the loudest of them being Paul.


    From outside, a chorus of boos echoed. But those were quickly suppressed by loud apuse.


    Roxy leaned back and smiled at Rudy. "You can''t run now, Rudy."


    Rudy was a bit surprised, but then he smiled and said, "I didn''t n on it."


    Rudy moved and then held his left arm to escort Roxy.


    Roxy shifted to hug his arm, leaning against him.


    ...She felt a trio of piercing gazes staring at her, but she ignored them for now.


    Rudy smiled and then started walking her back down the aisle towards the school.

 193 – The Ex-Master’s Wedding – II

    193 ¨C The Ex-Master¡¯s Wedding ¨C II


    The main hall of the school had been converted to a banquet hall for the wedding. And it was there that Roxy and I headed back to after the ceremony was over.


    While it would have been nice to just up and leave, Roxy had a lot of guests that hade a long way just to see her.


    So, instead of bailing, we were seated in the middle table of the banquet hall for guests toe up and give blessings to.


    It also meant we''d be here for a while, but Roxy seemed to be fine with it, so I''d just smile and nod.


    And speaking of blessings...


    "Congrattions on your marriage, Master! And congrattions to you too, Senior Brother!"


    I had to do a double take when I heard those words. And then I did a triple take when I saw who it was. "Zanoba?"


    I vaguely remembered him from Rudeus''s memories. But... from what I remembered, he didn''t look like this.


    The Zanoba that Rudeus knew was thin and a bit pale. That was because he spent most of his time indoors making figurines.


    But the Zanoba here...


    The general appearance was the same. Bob-cut brown hair and sses. But the ''vibe'' was different.


    If I had to sum it up... Zanoba was that super enthusiastic buddy who was way too hyperfixated on something.


    The Zanoba here though looked like he spent a lot of time traveling and adventuring.


    His face was a bit tan, and there were wrinkles around his eyes from smiling.


    Also, instead of a mage, he was dressed more like a martial artist. Like, he had the whole flowing robe thing and everything.


    "Hm?" Zanoba tilted his head and said, "Ah! Has Master already told you about me?" He smiled and adjusted his sses. "As expected, Master has already predicted our meeting."


    ...I think it would have been obvious that I''d meet him here?


    Wait, but Roxy didn''t mention him yet?


    I nced over at Roxy.


    Roxy blushed and said, "I forgot, okay?"


    ...Fair.


    I definitely had been living rent-free inside Roxy''s mind for a while now, haha.


    "Regardless!" Zanoba held out his hand and said, "It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Senior Brother!"


    I shook his hand and said, "Likewise. Though... Senior Brother?"


    Did an eastern devil from China or something possess this guy? Maybe a cursed artifact from Earth?


    Zanoba nodded. "Of course!" He let go of my hand and then pulled out a worn book from his robes. "Since you are Master''s first disciple, you are my Senior Brother." He flipped through it and then stopped on a page, holding it up to me. "See? Like this!"


    I blinked and then stared at the book.


    And when I did, I was confused.


    Not because of the content. I figured that weird stuff could pop up in the world at any time due to the distortions. Some Chinese Martial Arts novels popping up didn''t surprise me.


    But what did was the fact that the handwriting there was definitely mine.


    Well, mine in English.


    The book was enchanted to let anyone read it though, bestowing its knowledge on the reader even if they didn''t know English.


    ...Wait. I think I remembered seeing a picture of ''me'' in a Chinese Martial Arts robe back in Lace''s empty castle.


    Was this something from him?


    Zanoba snapped the book shut and then slipped it back in his robes.


    As he did though, I managed to catch the title.


    <Divine Sword Saint Force Controlling Method>


    ...Yeah, sounds like me. Aha...


    "In any case!" Zanoba ced his fist in his palm, saluting us. "May you two have evesting happiness! ...Ah! And I hope you enjoyed the art pieces I made!"


    Roxy nodded. "Thank you for that, Zanoba. Although..." She took a look around the banquet hall and let out a wry smile. "Did you have to do make so many?"


    Statues of me and Roxy in various romantic poses.


    Ballroom dancing, standing back to back, holding onto each other and staring with loving eyes...


    The detail was insane. And apparently causing my new wife a great amount of embarrassment judging from her red face.


    Zanoba patted his chest and said, "I put my heart and soul into making the perfect series for you, Master! Rest assured, these will go down in historymemorating your marriage until the end of time!"


    "...Tch." Roxy muttered. "Why are your statues so hard to break?"


    "Master?"


    Roxy smiled. "Nothing. Thank you again, Zanoba."


    Zanoba smiled. "Of course! Then I will leave you two for now!" With a wave, he wandered back into the crowd of guests.


    When he did, I looked at Roxy and said, "Just how did you teach that guy, Roxy?"


    It was aplete personality flip from how he was supposed to be.


    I mean, Cliff was also a bit different, but at least the core of being a genius was there, but Zanoba here was acting like he stepped out of a martial arts movie.


    Roxy sighed. "He was a bit too entertained by the misceneous stories in that training manual I gave him."


    "It looks like it... And where did you get that thing anyway?"


    Roxy shrugged. "I collected a lot of weird things when I was traveling as an Adventurer." She paused and said, "Did you need something in particr?"


    "No. But if you found stuff like that..."


    I rubbed my chin.


    Was it worth doing some more dungeon clearing to see if there was something useful against Being W?


    Food for thought.


    But that aside...


    "So Zanoba was that other student you were talking about?"


    Roxy nodded. "Yes." She paused. "Well, there was technically another. But thatsted only a day after I found out how much of a lecher he was."


    "...The guy''s still alive, right?"


    Roxy hummed. "I don''t know about now since the time-space distortion happened. But he was definitely still alive when I came back to visit you in Buina vige. A bit damaged, but still rtively healthy."


    I raised an eyebrow. "...So the student takes after the master then."


    "Pardon?" Roxy blinked. "What do you mean?"


    "Nothing~."


    Roxy narrowed her eyes.


    Before she could say anything though, we had to deal with the next guests wishing us well.


    This time, it was Dad, Mom, and Mama Lily.


    Dad walked over and smiled. "Congrats, Kid. It''s finally over."


    I let out a sigh and said, "Yeah. Weddings are exhausting." I furrowed my brow and looked at Mom and Mama Lily. "Wait. Was that why we didn''t have one for Mama Lily?"


    Momughed and then poked Mama Lily. "Well, what do you say about that, Lily?"


    Mama Lily blushed and said, "I-I still think that it would have been a waste of money. Besides, I was already pregnant, and we only needed the paperwork..."


    My eyes widened. "You skipped the wedding because you thought it''d be too much money?!" I looked at Dad.


    He held up his hands and said, "Hey, Kid. I''m not a genius like you who can pull gold out of thin air. Weddings are expensive."


    I flung my hands up and said, "I figured out how to make gold when I was like five, Dad!"


    Dad froze and then ran over to pinch my cheeks. "You brat! You should have told me then! Do you know how much math I had to do to bnce our expenses!"


    "Zen yu shudda askt!" I brushed off Dad''s hands and red at him. "Come on! I made a whole ass house and you didn''t think to ask if I could make gems or something?"


    "Of course not! Who in their right mind thinks you can pull gems out their ass just because they could build a house?!"


    "It''s basic alchemy!"


    "What the hell is alchemy?!?!"


    Mom, Mama Lily, and Roxy burst intoughter.


    I felt my face heat up and then leaned back, crossing my arms.


    Dad did the same thing and then clicked his tongue.


    Mom smiled and then walked over to hug me and then hug Roxy. "Congrattions you two."


    I smiled. "Thanks, Mom."


    Roxy nodded. "Thank you as well, Zenny."


    Mama Lily walked over and then patted my head. "I heard from Rika how you treated her." She looked over at Roxy and said, "Be gentler with Roxy, okay Rudy?"


    "Wait, what?" My face felt like it was burning. "D-D-Did she... Are my wives talking about how I am in bed to you two?!"


    Mom giggled and then walked over to ruffle my hair too. "That''s a secret betweendies, Rudy."


    Mama Lily let out an apologetic smile.


    I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my hands in my face.


    Dammit.


    I already had to deal with the second-hand embarrassment of hearing my parents having sex throughout my childhood, and now they''re hearing about how I do in the bedroom from my wives...


    It wasn''t like I had anything to be ashamed of really, but like...


    Ew! That''s so weird!


    What the fuck?


    Aaaahhhh.


    Roxy frowned. "Wait." She looked at Mom and said, "What did Rudy do to Rika?"


    Mom giggled and said, "It''s more like what he-"


    Mama Lily elbowed her.


    "Ow!"


    Mama Lily smiled and said, "It is a secret."


    Roxy frowned.


    Dad pped his hands. "Alright. I think that''s our cue to leave." After that, he grabbed Mom in a hug from behind and lifted her off the ground.


    "Wha- Paul! Put me down this instant!"


    "You''re having too much fun, Zenny."


    "Not enough! I want to talk more with my new daughter-inw!"


    Mama Lily sighed and started walking away with Dad. She looked back at us one more time and said, "Congrattions again you two."


    And then we were alone again.


    But not for long.


    Immediately after they left, Norn, Aisha, and Ste showed up.


    Norn ran over to me and ced a flower wreath on my head. "Congrats, Big Brother!" She ran around to Roxy and put one on her head too. "And congrats, Big Sister!"


    Next, Aisha walked over and shyly held out a hand-stitched portrait of me and Roxy. "C-Congrattions you two. It''s not much, but I''ll wish the best for Rui and Big Sis."


    Roxy let out a bright smile and gratefully took the gift from Aisha. "Thank you so much, Aisha. And thank you as well, Norn."


    Norn gave Roxy a thumbs up and said, "Of course! You''ll need all the luck you can get tonight!"


    Ste gasped. "Onee-chan!"


    "What?" Norn tilted her head. "It''s true, isn''t it? Rika and Eri sai- Mmmph!?"


    Ste covered Norn''s mouth and then looked over at me. "I''m tired of saying congrats to you, Onii-chan."


    I nodded. "Fair."


    "...So I''ll say congrats to you." Ste turned towards Roxy and smiled. "Congrattions Roxy nee-chan! I''m looking forward to cute nieces and nephews!"


    Roxy blushed.


    Norn looked betrayed.


    And as for Aisha...


    "...Hah." She shook her head and then walked over to grab Ste and Norn''s arms. "We''re leaving now."


    Ste let go of Norn and pouted. "But I want to talk some more!"


    Norn nodded. "Yeah! Like what cute names are they thinking of, how many nieces and nephews we''ll have and..."


    Norn''s voice was drowned out by the sound of the crowd after Aisha dragged them back.


    Roxy fanned her face, still a bit red.


    I noticed and scratched the back of my head. "Sorry about that. My sisters have been getting a bit wilder these days... I me Dad."


    Roxyughed. "It''s fine. They''re bound to be curious. A-And..." Roxy shifted her gaze. "...I-I would like children after all, so..."


    Seeing that, I felt my face heat up and averted my gaze.


    Just in time, as the next few guests showed up.


    Pierre and Rostelina walked over, with Rostelina carrying a baby girl on a sling.


    Pierre approached first and said, "Congrats. But please, no more." He let out a long-suffering sigh and said, "I''m sick of weddings already."


    Rostelina poked Pierre and said, "Stop being a party pooper, Hubby."


    "I''m just saying."


    Rostelina shook her head and then walked over to give me a one-armed hug. "Congrats, Rudy!" After that, she hugged Roxy as well and said, "You too, Roxy! Work hard to make lots of babies for me to spoil, okay?"


    "Lina!"


    "What?" Rostelina looked at Pierre and huffed. "If you won''t give me more babies, I have to look forward to spoiling my new grandchildren instead!"


    Pierre coughed. "That''s not... A-Anyway-"


    Rostelina''s baby suddenly started sniffling. And then she broke out into a full on sob.


    Pierre pointed and said, "See? You''re being too loud."


    Rostelina sighed and shifted her baby around to hug her. "Sorry, Luna. Mommy will feed you soon, so don''t cry."


    Pierre shook his head and said, "We''ll get out of your hair now, Rudy." He waved and said, "Best wishes... and remember that we need to talk about ''that guy'' soon."


    "Sure? But are you going to introduce me to your daughter there, or-"


    Before I could finish, Pierre had already escaped.


    Rostelina sighed and said, "Hubby is such a spoilsport..." She shook her head and said, "Come visit us sometime, okay, Rudy? You too Roxy. Little Lunaria needs to meet her big nieces and nephews."


    Nieces and nephews?


    ...Oh, I guess that''s right when we follow the family tree.


    Still weird though.


    ...Aaand they''re gone.


    In that short breather, Roxyughed and then looked towards me. "Sorry, Rudy."


    I waved my hand and smiled. "It''s alright, Roxy. Today is your day, so I''m good with whatever." I paused. "...Unless you want to bail? I can take us out of here any time you want."


    Roxy chuckled and said, "Tempting. But let''s wait a bit longer."


    Dang it.


    Well, if that''s what she wanted...


    At that time, Orsted walked up.


    I waved and said, "Thanks foring this time as well, Orsted!"


    He nodded and said, "Of course. And congrattions." Letting out a sincere smile, he said, "I will always look back on these experiences and remember you as the man among men, Rudy."


    I coughed. "W-What? Where did you get that idea?!"


    Orsted chuckled and said, "I heard quite a few guests say it. But I have to agree." He smiled and said, "Many have attempted to live a happy life with multiple spouses. But I have to say that of the many I have met, yours is the most harmonious rtionship of all." He paused and then said, "So far."


    "Hey! No jinxing the married couple!"


    Orsted chuckled again. But after that, he looked to Roxy and then said, "I have yet to have a chance to say so before now, but I apologize for the fight in the past."


    Roxy waved her hand. "Don''t worry about it." She smiled and said, "As my husband''s one and only male friend, I''m simply happy you''re still keeping in contact."


    "..."


    Damn. Roxy had a point.


    Besides Orsted, I didn''t really have any other male friends that weren''t either rted to me or working for me.


    Orsted smiled and said, "And that is one of the greatest honors I have achieved."


    ...Well. At least Orsted was happy about that fact.


    ...Hm. Come to think of it, I might also be Orsted''s one and only male friend too.


    ...Dammit. Loners really did attract, didn''t they...?


    Orsted looked at me and said, "I have left a few bottles of Ambrosia as a wedding gift for you two. Unfortunately, I must return to the Central Continent earlier than expected."


    I frowned. "Really? Isn''t Ariel already here though?"


    Orsted nodded. "That is exactly why." He smirked and said, "There is some house cleaning to do while Ariel is away from their reach."


    "...Can I help?"


    Roxy red at me. "Rudy, no."


    "But they''re CLEARLY bad guys there! I''ll be doing the world a favor!"


    "Even then."


    "Tch." I huffed and crossed my arms.


    Orsted chuckled and then said, "Once more, congrattions and best wishes." After that, he waved and left.


    But unfortunately, Roxy and I didn''t have much time to rest.


    After Orsted came Akito, then Eos, Ena, and Rnd.


    Then Eri, Sylphy, and Rika came to wish Roxy luck.


    And then the floodgates opened as a slew of people I didn''t know but were apparently Roxy''s acquaintances showed up to wish us well.


    But after a few hours where we barely managed to sneak in a few bites of food, it was finally over.


    The crowd had dissipated, the school went dark, and it was just me and Roxy.


    "Finally." I stretched and then nced over at Roxy. "So, where do you want to go tonight, Roxy? ...Not your office, right?"


    Roxy rolled her eyes. "No, you pervert."


    "Hey, I''m not judging. If you wanted to-"


    Roxy cut me off and said, "I have my own house that''s already prepared. So..." She grabbed my hand and then snapped her fingers. "Let''s go."


    There was a sh of light as magical formations spread out to envelop us. And when the light faded, we were inside a futuristic looking building.


    I''m talking like sleek stainless-steel shelves, bunker-like doors...


    ...Were we in a vault, like from F*llout or something?


    "Wee back, Master!"


    As I was examining the surroundings, a pleasant female voice called out to us.


    I turned to look and saw a chibi girl... that was made of metal?


    The chibi girl noticed me and gasped. "Rudy!"


    "E-Eh?"


    Before I could react, the chibi girl made of metal rushed over and hugged me.


    She was surprisingly squishy??? Eh?


    Roxy sighed and said, "Stop bothering Rudy, Mercy." After saying that, she waved her hand and sent a st of wind at the girl.


    The girl... Mercy? Copsed into a puddle and fell backward before springing back up to her feet. After that, she bowed and said, "I''m sorry Master! But I''m so excited!" She looked at me and said, "I haven''t seen Rudy in a long time!"


    "Um..." I waved and said, "Hello again?"


    Mercy... Oh! Right! She was Roxy''s metal spirit.


    ...Huh. So spirits were basically Po*em*n and evolved with enough experience.


    Mercy smiled and then walked over to me again, sticking out her head.


    I hesitated, but then I reached out to give her a headpat.


    It was squishy, nothing like metal and more like slime.


    ...She wasn''t made of mercury or something, right?


    Mercy giggled and then stepped back, spreading out her arms. "Wee to Master Roxy''s Dungeon Home, Rudy! ...Patent pending."


    "Wait, Dungeon Home?" I turned to look at Roxy and raised an eyebrow.


    Roxy blushed and said, "I-It''s not like that! I just call it a Dungeon Home because it''s a portable home you can use in a dungeon!"


    "...Right. But said home is where you brought me to have our first night together so..."


    Roxy turned a deep red. She coughed and said, "I-In any case... I was working on a portable home and developed this." She waved her hand and said, "Although it''s big, this is actually in a small subspace within a tiny townhome in the middle of themercial district."


    "Is it now?" I took a closer look around.


    Now that she brought it up, I could see that everything was fake.


    ...No, calling it fake wasn''t quite right.


    It was better to call it synthetic?


    Although it was ''real'' for all intents and purposes, the underlying structure of everything around, from the ''space'' to the very ''air'' we were breathing was mana instead of matter.


    Well, to be more exact it was mana in the shape of matter through intricately patterned magic formations inscribed at a ridiculouslypressed and miniscule level.


    Functionally, it was the same as the real thing.


    Either way, it was impressive.


    Leave it to my Master-


    No, my genius wife to figure out a way to use mana that I never could have envisioned.


    Mercy gave me a salute and said, "Yes! And I manage the Dungeon Home! Performing security, calcting expansions, regting mana... everything!"


    I smiled and reached out to pat Mercy''s head again. "That''s amazing, Mercy."


    "Heehee!"


    I looked over at Roxy and said, "I''ll say it again and again, but you''re really a genius, Roxy."


    Roxy shifted in ce and said, "It''s nothing special. You could have figured out something simr with enough time."


    "Maybe, but I don''t think I would have thought of doing this."


    It was a method of meticulous calctions. Something broken down to a science that could be replicated by anyone.


    In contrast, I was treating magic like art, flubbing parts with will, power, or imagination.


    Meanwhile, Roxy was using logic and thews of nature to achieve incredible effects.


    Amazing.


    Roxy coughed and then grabbed my hand, leading me down the halls. "A-Anyway, I''ve prepared everything for us."


    Mercy hopped after us. "That''s right! I made sure the spa is self-cleaning, the bed is perfectly made, and that the air cirction is optimized with pleasant scents! Oh! And I''ll be focusing my vision solely on the exterior until you say so, Master!"


    Roxy patted Mercy on the head and smiled. "You''re a great help as always, Mercy."


    Mercy smiled and then gave a salute. "Anything for you, Master! Have fun!" She turned to wave at me and said, "And it was nice seeing you, Rudy!"


    With one more wave to Roxy, Mercy slumped, dissolving and sinking through the floor.


    And then it was just me and Roxy.


    A tense silence fell, and then Roxy coughed and started tugging me along. "T-This way H-Husband."


    I chuckled and then let her lead me along. "Still getting used to it, Wife?"


    Roxy blushed and said, "I''ll get used to it eventually..."


    Eventually, we arrived at a pair of double doors. And when Roxy opened them...


    "Wow."


    I looked around and couldn''t help but be amazed.


    An sky stretching out into the horizon. A natural spa at the bottom of a mountain.


    A gazebo with a four-poster king-sized bed in the middle of it.


    There was even a faint breeze blowing through with a nostalgic scent of the fields where I grew up.


    Roxy lowered her head and then gazed at me from the side. "Do you like it?"


    "I really do."


    It was definitely nice having someone else go over the top with something cool like this.


    And not only that, staring at everything around, I was inspired.


    Although not quite a perfectparison, what Roxy had here was basically a VR world transnted into reality through magic.


    Like the walls I saw earlier, everything here was artificial, created by mana shaped like matter. But it was so close that when it interacted with actual matter, it became real.


    It was a bit hard to exin... but basically it was like the observer effect where seeing it as real MADE it real.


    I didn''t understand the logic behind it since it was clearly running off borately designed and meticulously inscribed magic formation forme numbering in the billions and self-perpetuating.


    But the principle on its own held plenty of merit.


    It reminded me a lot of the ''miracle'' that Cliff had managed to perform when reiming Millishion.


    ''Faith'' was enough to force a phenomenon like that.


    But from what I saw here, ''perception'' was enough too.


    If you could see something as something else, or if you could equate them in your mind, then it should be possible to perform something that was beyond ordinarymon sense.


    Hm...


    This was definitely lessplicated than trying to create an internal world from scratchplete withws of existence, memorizing it, and then pulling it out into reality.


    I''d still try that, of course. But this could be a useful shortcut...


    "W-Well?"


    I blinked and realized Roxy was staring at me.


    Roxy turned a bright red and said, "D-Do I still have to teach you everything, Rudy?"


    Iughed and then scooped Roxy up in my arms, walking over to the bed. "Of course not. And besides, in this field, I''ll be teaching you."


    Roxy looked embarrassed. But then she took a deep breath and reached around to hug my neck. "You talk too much." Giving me a quick kiss, she leaned back with her cheeks a bright red and said, "Show me instead."


    I set her down on the bed and then began undoing theces holding her dress behind her back. As I did, I kissed her neck and then whispered in her ear. "Be harsh on my grading, okay?"


    Roxy reached up to cover her mouth and stifle a moan.


    Iughed and then kissed her. And after that...


    -LIV-


    In the Magic Continent, while Rudy was taking a very ''hands on'' final exam from Roxy, Pierre was investigating some strange areas that Rika had gged with Paul.


    Pierre took a look around, holding up the picture that the Survey Corps had taken. "...This seems to be the ce."


    Paul tapped the hilt of his sword and looked around. "This is where that weird monument''s supposed to be?"


    A giant crater in the ground, miles deep. In the center of it, a chunk of a castle peeked out, almost as if it had fallen from the sky.


    Considering the warped geography of the Magic Continent after the space-time distortions, it wasn''t *too* out of ce.


    But even so, it was odd.


    Especially since Pierre didn''t see any hints that it came from a distortion at all.


    Paul looked at Pierre and said, "Should we just jump in then? Looks like there''s an opening on the side of that wall."


    Pierre stared at the castle for a bit and then nodded. "Seems like that''s the only way. But be careful."


    "Of course." Paulughed and said, "Can''t die before I see my grandkids. I wouldn''t be able to live with the regret if I did."


    "Well, yeah. You''d be dead."


    Paul waved his hand. "You know what I mean."


    Pierre rested his left hand on the sword sheathed at his right side and then jumped down.


    A short fall, then a softnding.


    Right afterwards, Paulnded on the ground too, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword sheathed on his left side. He took a quick look around and then said, "Looks like it''s all clear."


    Pierre nodded. "Seems that way."


    The two carefully approached the castle, walking to cover each other''s blind spots.


    But nothing happened.


    Even as they ventured into the darkness, there were no monsters, traps, or even mana.


    Pierre frowned and muttered, "Strange. It''s too quiet."


    Paul nodded. "Yeah." He frowned too and scanned the area. "This ce feels like it''s a dungeon... but there''s no mana or monsters. Is it a distortion?"


    Pierre shook his head. "That''s impossible. Orsted and I already corrected the flow of time, and any remaining distortions should have dissipated."


    Paul carefully scanned the surroundings and said, "Doesn''t that just mean that ces like these will be popping up in the ce of the distortions?"


    Pierre hummed. "...A good theory. But it''s not possible. The distortions substitute areas that already exist. They don''t modify or create new areas. And besides that..." His eyes shed gold as he examined the flow of the world around him and its ''destiny.''


    If it was something from a distortion, or something unnatural, there would be cracks, or the surroundings would be colored an odd hue.


    But everything here was normal. Even when looking at it with his Demon Eyes, it looked the same.


    "...This ce was always here."


    That was the only conclusion. Something that had been here from the start, and only visible now that the forcibly distorted flow of time from Hitogami was fixed.


    But the problem was that Pierre didn''t know this ce.


    And he should, considering the number of variations he had seen.


    Even if Rudy was an anomaly, the divergence point shouldn''t be that far back. At least not far enough to affect something like this.


    "Stay on your guard."


    Paul nodded. "Don''t have to tell me twice."


    The castle was tilted, so it was a bit hard to walk. But as they ventured deeper across crumbling rooms, the floor gradually leveled out.


    And then eventually, they arrived at what should have been a throne room, judging by the castleyout.


    But instead of a throne, an ancient obelisk sat there.


    Paul walked in front of it and frowned. "...This isn''t the same as the tablet that Rika was talking about, is it?"


    Pierre approached the obelisk as well and frowned. "...No."


    It was dark, so the actual writing on the obelisk couldn''t be read.


    Pierre frowned and then swung his sword, sending out a ball of light.


    It floated away and then hung in the air like a miniature sun.


    Paul whistled and said, "Cool trick."


    "It''s useful, sometimes." Pierre gave an absentminded response and then stepped forward to read the ancient obelisk.


    Paul walked over to look as well and then frowned. "Huh? This isn''t Humannguage."


    Pierre frowned. "...Yes. It''s Dragon God Tongue."


    An ancient monument in a hidden room, written in an ancient text that only he, Perugius, and Orsted could decipher in full.


    That alone was suspicious. But when Pierre read what was actually written there...


    -LIV-


    My name is Lace Ira Vanitas.


    I am the fool who was concerned with appearances and lost everything, falling to wrath.


    Let this be a record for the one after.


    Killing Hitogami is easy, but as a god, he will persist.


    We must remove that possibility.


    Kill and bind.


    Sever and tie.


    I will guard the end. To you, I leave the beginning.


    -LIV-


    Paul looked over at Pierre and said, "What''s it say?"


    "...Something ridiculous."


    Lace Ira Vanitas?


    Such a person didn''t exist. And yet, they clearly did.


    Moreover, that message...


    Pierre shook his head. "It looks like that''s it here."


    "What?" Paul frowned and said, "You''re not going to tell me what it says?"


    "This is something that Being W would be very interested in knowing, so it''s safer to restrict the number who know about it."


    The obelisk specifically called Hitogami out by name. And it mentioned that killing him was easy...


    ...Who was that person? Another Rudy? But this ce had to be eons old. If anything, it seemed to be at least around the age when the Dragon World fell. Maybe older.


    Paul sighed and said, "Great." He ran his hand through his hair and said, "Guess we''ve all got our work cut out for us soon, huh?"


    Pierre sighed. "It seems so. But at least Rudy can enjoy a few moments of happy married life?"


    Paul swung his sword to open a portal back to the top of the crater. After that, he chuckled and said, "If he can. It''s hard enough to live with two beauties. Four... Can''t even imagine it."


    Pierre swung his sword to open a portal as well and then said, "Please. I know you''ve thought about it."


    Paul shrugged. "Yeah. But then I considered the implications of living such an immoral life and changed my mind."


    "Right..."


    "Hey! I''m a faithful man!"


    Pierre chuckled and then stepped through the portal.


    Paul stepped through his own portal, and the two reappeared at the edge of the crater.


    Pierre nced at the castle one more time before saying, "I''ll report to Rika. Thanks again for the backup."


    Paul waved his hand. "Just invite me out for a drink next time. We''ll let the girls have a night out and unwind."


    "Deal."


    Paul waved and then said, "I''ll head back then." He stifled a yawn and then said, "Gotta get in some rest before Zenny and Lily notice and yell at me."


    "Please. You purposefully get them mad because you like being scolded."


    "Meh." Paul shrugged. "We all have our tastes."


    "...Good night."


    Paulughed and then swung his sword to open another portal back to Sharia. After that, he waved one more time at Pierre and said, "Don''t stay out too long. Lina gets scary when she''s mad too, you know?"


    With those parting words, Paul left.


    After that, Pierre turned to look at the castle onest time before muttering, "Kill and bind, huh?" He rubbed his chin and said, "Looks like we''ll need some help from that time as well if we want to wrap this up..."


    Well, that was a problem for Rudy.


    Anyway, now to report to Rika...

 194 – A Life Fulfilled

    194 ¨C A Life Fulfilled


    ...The Greyrat stamina and fully unleashed sex-drive was scary. Especially when a certain someone stubbornly uses constant healing magic to keep up.


    I nced over at the bed after cleaning myself up. And when I saw the state Roxy was in, I coughed and looked away in embarrassment.


    After trying to keep up with me for two days straight and using healing magic to forcibly restore her stamina, Roxy had copsed spread eagle on the bed, naked and covered in...


    Ahem.


    Her blue eyes were zed while a silly smile was on her face as she mumbled beneath her breath. As for the details...


    The mind was willing, but the body was weak, I guess, aha...


    I picked Roxy up and started walking towards the spa to clean her up. But even as I did, she didn''t react.


    In fact, her body waspletely limp, and I had to take care not to let her just flop out or idently strain herself.


    ...And this was with me holding back and letting her take the lead.


    My lovely intelligent wife here fell victim to her pride and pushed herself beyond her limits.


    It was a bit worrying just how out of it she was acting. Especially since she seemed like she had been hit by a few certain H tags.


    But physically, she was fine. It just seemed like her nerves had been overloaded with mind-melting pleasure.


    ...Hopefully it was just metaphorical and not actual.


    I would never live that down, even if I could fix it.


    In hindsight, probably should have stopped her from using healing magic.


    Since healing magic tended to heal ording to the user''s intention, as well as correct the body''s natural state...


    Well, the result here was the equivalent of a high-end drug and aphrodisiac that clearly sent Roxy out of her mind.


    It was self-inflicted, but...


    Hah.


    I soaked Roxy in the spa and then started washing her down with a sponge and some soap.


    "It takes seeing someone act like you to see what you do wrong, huh?"


    For all her genius, Roxy being stubborn ended up causing her to do something really reckless.


    The changes *shouldn''t* be permanent, but she had definitely turned herself into aplete nympho for a night.


    ...And considering how she was still convulsing with the lightest touch as I cleaned her, it was pretty bad.


    Hah...


    I conjured up a bowl and gently washed Roxy''s hair. "I know the thing about having a virgin who''s super into it is an infamous dream for guys, Roxy, but you didn''t have to be THAT enthusiastic..."


    Of course, my lovely wife was still lost in her fantasies right now and out of her mind.


    Well, in the worst case, I could just cast a God-ranked healing spell on her and forcibly reset her body-


    Wait.


    ...Would that cause an abortion?


    The result of Roxy''s hard work was already clear, judging from the flickering blue me in her stomach.


    But if I cast such a powerful healing spell, wouldn''t it erase everything?


    The lower-tier spells were more like ''remodeling'' and ''restoration'' but the top-tier spells were t-out ''overwrite'' and ''erasure.''


    ...


    I started to sweat. "Roxy? Wife?"


    She leaned back to look at me.


    I when I saw that, I started to rx.


    But then she giggled, her eyes still hazy. After that, she reached out to grab me and tried to give me a kiss.


    I sighed and gently pried her off.


    Roxy pouted, but then just rxed and leaned against me.


    ...Let''s hope that my smart wife actually thought this through, because I''d rather not have to test just how far my knowledge of biology went and whether I could create a test-tube baby.


    But anyway.


    Quietly pushing my nervousness down, Ipletely washed Roxy, changed her back into normal clothes. After that, I conjured a pic table and sat Roxy down with a ss of cold orange juice, fresh fruit, and some pancakes.


    Could never go wrong with pancakes.


    And after that, I sat across from her with a stack of my own pancakes and waited.


    Through it all, Roxy kept her gaze on me, her eyes still hazy and her expression still that silly smile.


    But as time passed, and with every blink, her eyes began to focus. And then after about ten minutes, she flinched and then looked around. "Rudy?" She frowned and said, "What are we-"


    She suddenly paused, as if all the memories were flooding back. And then she turned a deep red and covered her face. "We... I am NEVER messing with healing spells during sex EVER again."


    "Yeah..." I nodded. "Probably a smart move."


    "Uuuu." Roxy slumped on the table and covered her head. "So many embarrassing things. Why did I say and ask for all those shameful acts...? And what I did..."


    I scratched my cheek. "You seemed to enjoy it though?"


    Roxy sat up and pointed at me, her face still a bright red. "That''s the worst part! I was conscious! And it felt...!" She froze and then quickly shook her head. "Nonono. It was definitely the healing magic. I''m not like that. I mean, I might have fantasized a lot over the years since I haven''t found anyone I wanted to do ''it'' with, but I definitely never would have- I mean taking it from... Plus the way I was gob- Uuuuuuuuuu."


    Roxy covered her face again. "Just kill me."


    "Sorry, Roxy." I reached over to pat her head and said, "You promised for eternity, so I can''t do that."


    "Asshole."


    I flinched.


    Roxy raised her head and then let out a deep sigh. "Whatever!" She flung her hands up and said, "What''s done is done. A-Anyway..." She suddenly became shy and fidgeted in her seats. Looking at me, she lowered her head and said, "T-Thank you for indulging me..."


    I waved my hand. "No. Thank you for letting me indulge in you."


    Roxy nodded and then paused. After that, she red and said, "You''re incorrigible."


    I smiled.


    Roxy huffed and then ced a hand on her belly. She concentrated for a bit and then let out a relieved sigh. "As expected, I''m indeed pregnant. And thankfully with just a single child."


    "Mmhm." I nodded and said, "Considering how much healing magic you used, it''s a small miracle. After all, your body could have sped up your ovtion and then-"


    Roxy held up her hand and said, "Please stop talking. I REALLY don''t want to consider the implications of what I did to my body in the past 48 hours and the potential permanent changes..."


    I let out a nervousugh.


    ...If there''s a friendly god listening right now who''s willing to grant a few small miracles...


    Roxy shook her head and then picked up her silverware before eating a slice of fruit. After that, she looked at me and said, "Have you thought of any names for our child?"


    I frowned. "...Okay. Is there like a new mother syndrome or something where the first thing a woman asks her husband after getting pregnant is what they should name their child?"


    Roxy raised an eyebrow. "...That sounds like you''re reluctant to be a father, Rudy." She paused and then lowered her head. "Did... Did you not want a child yet...?"


    "Of course I do! Just... Names take time and careful consideration! Thinking of one on the spot isn''t good!"


    I paused, realizing just how that made me sound. Particrly how it seemed like I wasn''t thinking about the kids at all yet.


    "Besides!" I wracked my brain for some logic to my words and then said, "Isn''t there a taboo or jinx about naming unborn children before big events anyway?"


    Right. I remembered reading something like that a long time ago with Sylphy.


    Roxy paused, considering my words. And then she said, "You''re thinking of the tale of Feroze Star. But it''s before a journey, not a big event." She tilted her head, thinking. And then her eyes lit up. Staring right at me, she let out a sly smile and said, "Rudy. Could it be that you''re not good at naming things?"


    I coughed. "Who? Me? Of course not! I''m great at naming things! I''ll have you know it was my idea to name the kingdom of Arcadia."


    Roxy smiled and tapped her chin. "Is that so? Then who named the White Knights?"


    "..."


    Roxyughed and said, "Come on, my genius husband. Surely you can think of a single name for our child?"


    "Of course I can! Just... Let''s see, if it''s a girl..."


    "And no taking names from the other Roxy''s children."


    "..."


    Dammit. She saw right through me, huh?


    "A-Alright. Then let''s start with if we have a son."


    Roxy nodded. "Go on."


    If it was a boy... A good name...


    Roxy... Roxanne...


    Wait.


    "How about Roxas?"


    Roxy gave me a nk look.


    I put on a shameless smile and nodded. "Yep!"


    "...Okay. Definitely... unique. And if we have a daughter?"


    "Namine."


    "Namine?"


    "Right."


    Roxy stared at me.


    I kept up my shameless smile and did my best not to think of the fact that I was doing the worst thing a gamer parent could do by naming their children after video game characters.


    "...Well, it''s pretty." Roxy nodded. "I guess I can forgive you for the atrocity presented for a future son''s name."


    I crossed my arms and said, "Well okay then, Miss Genius. What names would YOU choose?"


    "For our son, I was thinking Mars, and for a daughter, Venus."


    I blinked. "...You want to name our children afters?"


    Ha! It seemed like I wasn''t the only one with a poor naming sense!


    Roxy blushed and then looked away. "W-Well, you''re my sun, and you called me your moon, s-so... I was just thinking along those lines..."


    Ah, fuck.


    I''m the idiot here.


    Dammit.


    All those snidements about me being a shameless flirt wereing around to bite my ass.


    Note for the Greyrat Guide for Dummies: Women remember EVERYTHING. Be careful what you say to them.


    "Well there are better names than those if we''re going with celestial bodies."


    Roxy looked at me and said, "Really?" She looked doubtful and said, "Do tell then."


    We have a theme! Alright, this is much easier then.


    "For our son, we can go with Elio then. It''s a name derived from ''sun,'' so it fits thematically and symbolically. And as for our daughter, we can go with Luna- Ah wait, Rostelina already called her daughter that. Then... Selena would work."


    Roxy hummed. "Elio and Selena... I''ve never heard of them. But they do sound better than the first names you proposed."


    "See?" I raised my head up and said, "I can name things."


    "I guess so. But I''ll consider them."


    "...Only consider them?"


    Roxy nodded. "Right. As you said, it''s bad luck to name an unborn child before a journey. And knowing my dear husband, you''re going on a journey soon to resolve things, right?"


    "True- Wait. Um... is it really bad luck to do that?"


    Roxy nodded. "Of course. Everyone knows that."


    I let out an awkwardugh and muttered, "Not everyone..."


    Silence.


    And then Roxy let out a deep sigh. "Don''t tell me you''ve named your other children already?"


    "Ahaha..."


    Roxy shook her head. "Well. That just means that you, dear husband, are grounded for a year."


    "...I can''t take a few little trips here and there?"


    "Do you want to risk a repeat with Ste?"


    "Good point."


    After that, we ate in afortable silence, talking about various things and catching up.


    But as soon as we finished, Roxy stood up and said, "Well, we should get going then."


    I frowned. "Already?"


    Roxy turned a bright red and said, "You pervert. Did you want to keep going after that?!"


    Yes.


    I mean...


    I coughed. "O-Of course not... But there''s still another full day we have. Technically, another whole evening too."


    Roxy hesitated, but then she resolutely shook her head. "No." She looked at me and then her eyes started looking down. But then she forced them back up and blushed. "I-If we stay any longer, I might be something ridiculous. S-So we need to get going."


    I coughed. "Right. Then..." I got up and held out my hand.


    Roxy stared at it and then immediately looked away. "...Lewd."


    "What? What did I do?"


    Roxy''s face blushed and she started walking off. "L-Let''s just get going!"


    ...Well.


    I guess I could confirm that Roxy was definitely a lewd woman?


    Though I guess I already knew that from the fact that she was getting off to-


    "Ahem."


    Roxy red at me, and then I heard her voice in my head.


    ''You''re thinking too loud, dear husband. And so you saw th-that after all, didn''t you...''


    "Ahaha..."


    ...Let''s just get going.


    We left the room and walked through the double doors. The moment we did, Mercy popped up from the floor and saluted us. "Wee back, Master! Rudy! Did you have fun?"


    Roxy blushed and averted her gaze.


    Iughed. "Your master''s being shy, but we definitely had a lot of ''fun.''"


    Roxy jabbed my ribs.


    I smiled.


    Mercy raised her hands and said, "Yay! I''m d!" She ran up to hug me, and then she hugged Roxy. "I hope I can see a cute mini Master or Mini Rudy soon!"


    Roxy flinched. "E-Excuse me?!"


    Iughed again and patted Mercy on the head. "We''ll visit when they''re born."


    "Yay!"


    Roxy shook her head and then focused. "We are heading off now, Mercy. Keep watch on the ce, okay?"


    Mercy saluted. "You can count on me! Bye for now, Master! Rudy!"


    With that, Mercy sank back into the floor and disappeared.


    After that, Roxy started walking towards the exit.


    I followed after her and said, "Is there a particr reason you''re keeping Mercy here and not with you? She seems like she''s pretty strong."


    Although Mercy acted cute and adorable, the fact that she could maintain this entireplex magical construction meant that she was definitely powerful.


    Roxy nodded. "That''s why I leave Mercy here. She''s a new Elemental Spirit Lord, so she would draw attention."


    I frowned. "Doesn''t she get lonely then?"


    I knew that Ste''s spirit friends definitely whined andined when they were separated from her, so I was surprised Mercy didn''t.


    Roxy shook her head. "Mercy likes being alone. And even if she gets lonely, we still share a mental connection." She frowned. "...Though Mercy only uses that to show off the little sculptures and toys she makes from the scrap material I have stored in the Dungeon Home."


    "Huh." I rubbed my chin. "I guess spirits have personalities, so it''s not too weird that there could be introverted spirits out there..."


    But man, wouldn''t that suck? Here you are, aplete introvert, and suddenly you get permanently stuck to a summoner 24/7.


    That must be a nightmare-


    Oh wait. Isn''t that Wyn?


    ...No wonder she''s sleeping all the time.


    Like Roxy first mentioned, the Dungeon Home was in a small townhome. Surprisingly, it was set up just like one of my Anywhere doors, taking over an empty door frame.


    But anyway, we walked out of the house and headed back to the Greyrat home together.


    Roxy still stubbornly refused to hold my hands, calling me Lewd every time I tried.


    ...It seemed like she definitely had ''something'' on her mind. And that she would get relentlessly bullied by the others for it when they talked.


    But that was her problem, not mine.


    It was morning, the sky a clear bright blue. Since it was in the middle of the week, the streets were mostly empty, leaving us undisturbed the entire walk back.


    And then we arrived.


    I took the lead and unlocked the front gate before walking inside.


    The courtyard was cleaned up now. But I noticed that there were a few new additions.


    Someone in the family had taken up gardening, since there was a new flower patch off to the side. There were also a few tree saplings nted too.


    But as I walked along the path to the house with Roxy behind me, I had a weird sense of deja vu.


    For a few moments, another scenery ovepped with my eyes. The path covered by snow, the house empty, dark, and cold.


    ''Huh?''


    I blinked and then realized that it was my right eye.


    I frowned and covered it with my hand. The moment I did, the ovepping scenery vanished.


    It wasn''t winter, it was summer. There wasn''t snow on the ground, but flower petals from blossoming trees. Not only that, but there weren''t evergreen trees lining the path up to the house, but the familiar bronze and gold trees I made to fend off Being W.


    But that was odd.


    My right eye was a Demon Eye, but I definitely deactivated it. For it to act up now of all times and show me that...


    "Rudy?" Roxy walked up from behind me. "Is something wrong?"


    A split second. For a moment, I saw her as her smaller self. But when I blinked, that vision faded, and she was like how I remembered her, grown up and mature.


    "...No." I shook my head. "I guess I''m just feeling... nostalgic?"


    It was a weird emotion. Not quite sadness or happiness. And also not really nostalgia... though that was the closest I had for it.


    If anything... it felt like I had done something I thought was impossible a long time ago?


    I frowned, but then shook my head. After that, I put on a smile.


    Whatever the case was, this wasn''t the time for it.


    I walked up to the house doors and pushed them open. Afterwards, I called out and said, "We''re home!"


    A brief silence, and then a loud group of groans echoed from the living room off to the left.


    Dad''s voice echoed. "Hah! Told you they''d be back a day early!"


    Philip''s voice echoed next. "Curses!"


    Eriughed and said, "You should have believed me, Dad."


    After that, it was Rowin. Heughed and said, "Roxy is stubborn, but it seems like Emperor Rudr- Ah, Rudy is too great even for her."


    Roxy walked in after me and then turned a bright red. "What in the world are you all talking about?!"


    Iughed and then grabbed Roxy''s hand, leading her over.


    She flinched, but she was upset enough that she ignored it.


    Together, we rounded the corner to the living room. And when we did, we were greeted by a full room.


    Mom, Mama Lily, and Dad, sitting together at a table. Dad, acting smug, Mom facepalming, and Mama Lily quietly counting money.


    Philip and Hilda, sitting across from them. Philip, rubbing his face. Hilda, sighing.


    Seated at a couch nearby, Laws and Rose smiled. And at another couch next to them were Rowin and Rokari, Roxy''s parents.


    At a smaller table, Aisha, Norn, and Ste were ying cards with small candies and figurines as bets while Wata, Wyn, Leo, and Fai watched.


    And of course, Ste was winning, with Aisha a close second and Nornpletely bankrupt except for one piece of candy.


    Eos, Ena, and Rnd were sitting at a table in the back, flipping through some books.


    And then finally, Eri, Sylphy, and Rika were arranging dishes on a long table filled with food.


    Everyone was here. Well at least, everyone in my immediate family.


    It would have been moreplete if Pierre and Rostelina were here, but it seemed like they were giving us a bit of privacy.


    Dad looked over and chuckled. "Wee home, sleepyheads."


    Mom waved and said, "Did you enjoy your honeymoon?"


    Philip sighed and said, "Could you not have taken one more day, Son? You''re making me lose money."


    Hilda clicked her tongue and said, "You shouldn''t bet on your son then, Dear."


    "If not him, who else?" He pointed at Dad and said, "I''m not shameless enough to bet against my own child like my cousin here."


    Dad coughed.


    At that time, Norn, Aisha, and Ste got up.


    "Onii-chan!" Ste ran over first to give me a hug. "Wee back! ...And do you have any sweets? I''m clearing house here."


    Aisha walked over next to hug Roxy. "Wee home, Big Sister." After that, she hugged me too and said, "And you too, Rui."


    Norn stomped over and said, "Hey! No hogging Big Brother! And Rui''s supposed to be my nickname, Aisha!"


    Aisha stuck out her tongue.


    Mama Lily got up and then waved. "Wee home, Rudy."


    Mom got up too. "Wee back! It''s a bit rowdy right now, but it''s all the better, right?"


    After that, Eri, Sylphy, and Rika walked over.


    Rika spoke first, looking at Roxy. Clicking her tongue, she said, "You were devoured as well, weren''t you?"


    Eri sighed and said, "That''s why I said we need to get you and Roxy on a training regime, Rika. We won''tst at this rate..."


    Sylphy nodded. "And it''s not fair to keep Rudy waiting..."


    Dad let whistled and said, "Wow. You''re that impressive, huh, Kid?"


    Roxy covered her face and groaned. "Just... Just end me. Anyone."


    It was a warm and bubbly atmosphere. Although there were teasing remarks and some snidements, it was all in good fun.


    Not only that, but there was even a warm breakfast set up for us when we returned.


    ...It was silly, since they had no way of knowing for sure we''d be back today, but still, the fact that they went through it all...


    It was nice.


    Looking around the room at everyone... No. At my family, I felt weird.


    And then the room started to blur.


    At first, I thought it was my Demon Eye acting up again like when I was walking up to the house with Roxy. But when I went to rub my eyes, it felt wet.


    And then I realized. It wasn''t that my eyes were acting up.


    I was crying.


    Ste jumped up and panicked. "O-Onii-chan?! What''s wrong? Why are you crying? you aren''t going to disappear now, right? This isn''t roll credits, ending, nothing?!"


    Iughed and wiped away my tears. "Don''t be silly, Ste."


    I realized what it was now.


    Surrounded by family like this, a warm meal ready as I returned home...


    The biggest regret I had as I died in my past life was being washed away.


    Although I never made it to that Christmas dinner to apologize to everyone, and although this wasn''t exactly the same...


    I sniffed and brushed away my tears again. "I''m just... I''m just happy."


    My expression must have looked ridiculous, but I couldn''t help but smile as I looked around at everyone. "To have my family all here. My lovely wives, sisters, children, and parents..." I wiped away my tears again and sniffed. "I love you guys. So, so much. A-And I''m so... so happy...!"


    Dammit! I thought I grew out of the crybaby phase!


    Roxy grabbed my hand. "Rudy..."


    Norn rushed over to hug me. "I love you too, Rui!"


    "Hey!" Ste squeeze past Norn to hug me. "No hogging Onii-chan, Norn!"


    Aisha walked over next and joined the group hug. "I-I love you too Rui. ...Even if you''re not the best big brother."


    After that, more people joined the hug.


    Overwhelming love and care.


    Faced with that, the only thing I could do was cry.


    And then I heard the door open, followed by a pair of footsteps.


    Pierre walked in, holding a tray of food. "I still think that they probably won''t- Oh."


    Rostelina walked in beside Pierre, holding her baby daughter. After that, she looked at the group hug and let out a deep sigh. "I TOLD you we should havee earlier, Hubby. You have TERRIBLE timing."

 195 – Life in the Greyrat Household

    195 ¨C Life in the Greyrat Household


    What was the quote? "The passage of time depends entirely on where you''re standing."


    Rtivity Theory... it''s romantic, but also tragic.


    Boring days seemed to stretch on for eternity, while we couldn''t catch the happiness we achieved even if we tried.


    And in that manner, time flew by in the blink of an eye as I settled into my new daily schedule.


    First of all, date nights.


    Because I was married to four lovely wives, I couldn''t very well spend time with each of them every day.


    There were seven days in a week, but I had four wives. As expected, the math didn''t line up.


    Thankfully, Rika made the noble sacrifice of giving a day up for my other wives.


    Because of that, we had:


    Monday and Tuesday - Eri.


    Wednesday and Thursday - Sylphy.


    Friday and Saturday - Roxy.


    Sunday - Rika.


    ...Well, those weren''t the actual days of the week since they apparently weren''t named, but I organized it like that in my head.


    Anyway, the usual day went like this.


    Me and my wives (minus Rika who was usually busy) had breakfast together, and then we all went about our own business during the day until lunch.


    At lunch, I met with whichever wife had reserved me for the day before returning to my work as a professor at the academy.


    After that, we had dinner with my sisters and whatever other guests showed up for the day.


    And then in the evening... Well.


    I managed to restrain myself after chanting Buddhist sutras, but it turned out being pregnant made a woman hornier.


    Well, at least for my wives.


    There were many days I had to not so subtly knock them out with a sleep spell for their own safety.


    ESPECIALLY the nights where my wives decided to team up on me.


    It was usually Sylphy roping in Eri, but it seemed like my wives had formed a secret coalition behind my back and got along better than I thought...


    Anyway, that about summed up my married life.


    It was a typical 9 to 5 job, with some lovely wholesome romance scenes during the day and then X-rated content at night.


    In terms of living situations and other things...


    I installed a few empty doorframes in our house and put in some Anywhere doors to hook up to Arcadia and our other houses. They were keyed to the main owners, so for example the house that Eri and I owned in Arcadia could only be essed by either of us.


    There was also one for Rika, hooked up to the master bedroom so that she could pop by whenever she wanted.


    School was picking up, so Aisha and Norn spent most of the time at the Academy. The various professors that I scared off finally gathered their wits and came back, so the students were finally busy.


    And of course it was met with heavy resistance and protests, but I was also getting bored with the teaching schtick, so it worked out.


    Ste had also enrolled at the academy as well and got ced in a special ss with a bunch of special privileges.


    She was proud of it since she thought it was because she was talented.


    In truth, it was because me and my parents agreed that Ste would probably run off and do something reckless if she was bored, so we arranged it for her to study and research instead.


    That way, she wasn''t doing something like sneaking off to the Central Continent to revolt against the corrupt nobles after gathering up an army from the Great Forest and marching them down to invade.


    My cute baby sister took a bit too much after me, you see, so we had to make sure about that.


    Speaking of the Great Forest, apparently, Ste''s friends Mini and Sena had older sisters at the academy.


    I hadn''t met them, but they were apparently named Linia and Pursena.


    They had also been immediately converted as Ste''sckies after they saw Leo.


    And speaking of friends...


    Norn''s rivals, Nina and Isolte, had managed to find their way over to the academy on special admission to the Magic Swordsmen department.


    ...Headed up by Eri and Sylphy.


    It''s not nepotism if they''re already overqualified, okay?


    But anyway, apparently those three were infamous in the academy for daily duels and starting to build up their own factions.


    My poor responsible sister Aisha was forced to deal with everything as the student council president... Though it helped that Miko had joined it as vice president.


    Paired with her mind-reading powers, the academy was barely kept under control.


    It seemed like they were having fun though.


    Almost made me wish I could join as a student again and just troll the teachers and my ssmates.


    But s, I was a responsible working adult.


    And also part of said staff.


    The sacrifices we make growing up...


    Eos and Rnd were back in Arcadia.


    Due the fact that both of my kids held key positions in the bureaucracy there, what with Eos being head of the Survey Corps and Rnd being captain of the White Knights, they couldn''t hang around Sharia too much.


    As for Ena...


    Well, she *said* she was interested in the research project Cliff was doing in Milishion about creating a <Divine Domain> through the development of faith and vision.


    Personally, I thought that she was just finally warming up to the guy, but we''d see.


    Cliff was a bit awkward, but I could at least count on him to like Ena for Ena instead of her objectively beautiful and attractive body.


    And I say ''objectively'' because I had seen the pervs staring at her when she was out and about despitepletely covering up in conservative clothing.


    Dad had revived <Fangs of the ck Wolf> and expanded it out to a small guild. Mom, Mama Lily, Laws, and Rose had joined and spent the days exploring nearby dungeons.


    They had even recruited a few newbies, like a magician and swordsman pair of sisters, a former prince who hid his face with a mask and barely talked, and a young man who apparently said he wanted to try picking up chicks in dungeons.


    I was doubtful about thest guy, but apparently Dad did that all the time, so...


    Anyway.


    Akito had recently finished researching a secret task I gave him, so he was on standby at the academy now and basically the assigned babysitter for Ste.


    Rostelina managed a cafe and took care of her daughter Lunaria... who I still had to meet.


    Maybe I''d grab an early breakfast there one of these days.


    But anyway, Rostelina did that while Pierre did... something most of the day and returned in the evening.


    Aunt Therese was shellshocked at her sphemous nephew (me) and ran back to Milishion.


    Orsted was ''cleaning house'' as he put it back in the Asura Kingdom, but he said he''d be back by the year''s end.


    Princess Ariel was scheduled to attend the academy starting next semester with her attendants...


    And that was pretty much it.


    As for me...


    -RNG-


    "You seem distracted today, Rudy." Eri frowned and said, "Is something wrong at work?"


    I blinked and then remembered where I was.


    It was lunch time on a Monday. Four months had passed since the whirlwind weddings, and it was already the start of winter.


    Today, I was having lunch with Eri. Usually, Sylphy at least dropped by, but she was busy helping Rostelina today at the cafe due to a sudden influx of customers.


    My lovely first wife was bit different these days. Maybe it was the grace of motherhood, or maybe it was dealing with students, but Eri was definitely softer these days.


    She had changed her hairstyle from her usual long hair to a tidy braided ponytail. She had also changed her clothes, wearing a loose blouse and dressbo that hugged her baby bump instead of her usualbat-ready shirt and pants.


    I smiled and then said, "Sorry. I was caught off guard by how lovely you are."


    Eri rolled her eyes. "Eat your food, silly."


    I chuckled and then looked down at my food.


    Since we were working, I just made us some quick sandwiches with roasted pork, some mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, and a bit of crispy bacon for texture.


    I picked up my sandwich and took a bite.


    ¡­Yep. Just as good as I thought it¡¯d be.


    But when Eri took a bite¡­


    "Ugh." Eri grimaced and held her hand up to her mouth.


    I frowned. "What''s wrong with the food?"


    Eri shook her head and then grabbed a napkin, spitting it out. After that, she sighed and said, "Sorry, Rudy. It''s not your cooking. It''s just..." She frowned and said, "Everything tastes bitter and sour."


    I took the sandwich away from her and said, "That''s fine. I guess we''ve just confirmed that you have to eat boring food for a while." As I said that, I conjured up a bowl of in oatmeal with some sliced bananas and strawberries for vor. After plopping a spoon down as well, I slid it over.


    Eri sighed and scooped up a bit of oatmeal, watching as it plopped back down to the bowl. "I really hate how Sylphy and Roxy can just... deal with it. They HAVE to be tasting things like I do right now. Right?"


    I started eating Eri''s sandwich and said, "To their credit, Sylphy''s had much, much worse in her time as an adventurer. And as for Roxy... I think she just shovels it down. She eats when working, so she probably doesn''t even taste what''s going down her throat."


    Pause.


    Eri begrudgingly started eating her oatmeal. As she did, she looked up at me and said, "Can''t you magic up something for me to eat that will just taste good? You''re already making food from thin air."


    "I could. But as with all things, what you think is good isn''t actually good for you." I gestured towards the oatmeal and said, "This tastes icky, but it''s healthy. In contrast, your favorite ice cream tastes great, but will go right to your thighs."


    "Well." Eri paused and then said, "That''s a sacrifice I''m willing to make. And you like them bigger too, don''t you Rudy?"


    "Noment. But also, I''d rather not run the risk of hurting our kids somehow by feeding you junk food. As much as I know you want it."


    Eri let out a deep sigh. "Dammit. If I knew getting pregnant would make me hate eating good food, I''d never have agreed to have kids."


    "...You''re exaggerating, right?"


    "A little." Eri paused. "But I''ll let you know how I feel after I give birth to these two brats." She rested her left hand over her belly and then forced down another spoonful of oatmeal. "Ungrateful kids. Making me this hungry but making me hate good food... You two had better hope you''re cute."


    Iughed.


    Eri pointed her spoon at me and red. "You too, Mister. You''re the one who did this to me, you monster."


    I yed innocent and said, "You asked for it?"


    "Because I didn''t know better! Dammit!" She shoveled a big mouthful of oatmeal in her mouth and then swallowed. After that, she let out a sigh and said, "Mom was right. Being a mother sucks until the kid is born."


    "Sorry."


    Eri clicked her tongue. "You''d better be. I wanna be spoiledter, okay?"


    "Of course."


    "Hmph." After that, Eri went back to forcing down the oatmeal. She grimaced with every bite, but powered on like a trooper.


    I made a few more bowls just in case she was still hungry and then went back to eating my sandwiches.


    Afortable silence fell in the room. But after Eri finished her bowl of oatmeal, she wiped her mouth with a napkin and said, "Did you hear anything recently from either Orsted or Pierre?"


    I grabbed a napkin as well and started wiping my hands. "No. I think ''that guy'' is still plotting."


    Eri frowned. "That''s making me worried... Do you really think he''s going to try something when our kids are born?"


    "Oh, he definitely will." I narrowed my eyes and said, "But I''m ready this time."


    I had a binder full of trump cards ready to go, as well as a few out of the box solutions ready to flip the table over too.


    While I wouldn''t say I was ready for EVERY scenario... I could confidently say that I could force those number of scenarios down to the few I could perfectly counter.


    Of course, I wouldn''t be spilling the beans on how just yet.


    Trump cards are better when even the user doesn''t expect to have to use them.


    Eri reached out and then grabbed my hand. Looking into my eyes, she said, "Don''t go overboard and hurt yourself, okay? You don''t just have yourself to worry about now, remember?"


    I smiled and wrapped my other hand around hers. "I know, Eri."


    She smiled and then leaned forward to give me a quick peck on the lips.


    I raised an eyebrow and said, "Feeling bold today, are we?"


    Eri blushed and then said, "W-Well... I don''t get the chance to do it very often..."


    I smiled and then leaned forward to kiss her back.


    Eri''s blush deepened and then she leaned back. "Stop that. No favorites, remember?"


    "It''s not ying favorites. It''s living in the moment and loving my beautiful wife."


    Eri scoffed and said, "This is why we worry about you hanging around beautiful woman, you know? And also why Sylphy keeps threatening to murder Princess Ariel when she gets close to you."


    Iughed and said, "Don''t worry. Four beautiful wives are all a man like me could want, ask for, and support."


    Eri nodded. "Yes. And we all get along with each other very well, so don''t piss us off unless you want to make your life a living hell."


    "I''ve learned from Dad, so don''t worry, Eri."


    "That''s EXACTLY what I''m worried about, Rudy..."


    Iughed.


    At that time, there was a knock at the door.


    I frowned and looked towards it.


    Weird. I wasn''t expecting any visitors. And people knew better than to interrupt my lunchtime with my wives...


    I shifted my vision and used irvoyance to see who it was.


    And it was a familiar face. Cliff.


    ...But his expression definitely wasn''t familiar.


    Contrary to his usual bright and confident demeanor, he looked solemn and more than a bit depressed.


    Eri nced at the door and then looked at me. "Are we expecting any visitors, Rudy?


    "No." I shook my head. "But it looks like we have a guest. Come in, Cliff."


    The door opened and Cliff walked in. He met my gaze and then bowed his head. "I apologize for the intrusion, Father-inw. And to you as well, Mother-inw."


    Eri twitched. "Could you... NOT call me that? Eri is fine."


    Cliff raised his head. "Lady Eri, then."


    I conjured a seat for him and then said, "Rx a bit. You seem like you''ve had better days."


    Now that he was inside, Cliff looked worse than I thought. His usually orderly bangs were frazzled and frayed. He had heavy bags under his eyes. And even his usually pristine white robes were stained with grime.


    ...Just what the heck happened?


    Cliff shook his head. "I cannot." He looked into my eyes and said, "Not after what I allowed to transpire."


    Eri frowned.


    I dropped the smile from my face and narrowed my eyes. "...What happened?"


    Cliff hesitated.


    "Cliff."


    He ran his left hand through his hair and let out a deep and frustrated sigh. After that, he said, "Ena is missing."


    Eri''s eyes widened. "What? How?!"


    Cliff shook his head, pursing his lips.


    As for me...


    ...Well. It seems like Being W is using the world to y tricks on me now, huh?


    This timing, these events...


    No. I could think about itter.


    For now...


    "Exin."

 196 – Breakpoint

    196 ¨C Breakpoint


    The Greyrat house was arge but cozy manor in Sharia. Considering the size of my family, it was just big enough to be roomy, but also small enough to be lively when everyone was here. And since there were so many of us, it was usually filled with warmth andughter.


    But today was different.


    An emergency family meeting was being held in the dining room.


    Cliff sat at one end of the dining room table, covering his face with his palms after exining the situation.


    I sat at the other end, leaning on the table withced fingers, staring at him while lost in thought.


    Seated behind me were my wives, Eri and Sylphy to my right, with Rika and Roxy to my left.


    Mom, Dad, and Mama Lily were seated on the side of the table to my right.


    Norn, Ste, and Aisha were seated on the side of the table to my left, across from my parents.


    And then standing nearby was Pierre, Rostelina, Laws, and Rose.


    Everyone in my family who could get here quickly had arrived to n what we should do.


    After a long silence, Dad spoke up. "We don''t know if this is because that bastard or not, right? But either way, Ena is missing..." He rubbed his chin and said, "Damn. That bastard''s ying a lot smarter now, huh?"


    I nodded. "He''s yed low for a while, and I bet it was just for something like this."


    This *could* just be an ident.


    Cliff and Ena had been researching something dangerous, so it could just be chance.


    But I didn''t believe in chance.


    Pierre shook his head. "The timing and structure is too convenient." He looked at me and said, "''Destiny'' usually isn''t this strong, but if events line up, it can be used to force certain things to ur."


    I frowned, mulling that over. "...And it just so happens that we''re in the right ce, around the right time, and with the right events, huh?"


    Mom flinched and then looked at Dad.


    Mama Lily frowned and looked at him too.


    Dad blinked, confused on why they acted that way. But then his eyes lit up in realization. "...This is how the other me died, right? At least, the events that started it?"


    Norn gasped and then said, "W-What are you talking about, Dad?!"


    Aisha stood up and said, "What do you mean?! You can''t die!"


    Dadughed and said, "Have some confidence in your dad. I''m not going to kick the bucket just yet. Still haven''t seen my grandkids, you know?"


    Pierre looked at Dad and said, "That''s a death g."


    "A death what?"


    While they bantered, I mulled over the situation.


    Ena hadn''t been kidnapped, but she HAD been teleported somewhere.


    Cliff had been researching a way to ovep reality with an ''ideal world'' when it suddenly imploded.


    Ena pushed him away, no doubt because she thought she could handle it. But then she suddenly vanished.


    I knew my daughter''s capabilities. She was definitely strong enough for me to not worry about her on most things. And I was sure that she would be fine even if she was plopped into something like the legendary Dragon God''s Pit.


    Ena yed dumb and innocent, but she was anything but when things got serious. There was a reason why I took her around with me more than Eos in the early stages of building Arcadia. And also why I sent her out to scout.


    Still, my gut was telling me that my daughter wasn''t in a situation where she could fight her way out.


    And with how the events were lining up so closely to how they did for Rudeus, plus considering that Being W had beenying low...


    Yeah. I was worried.


    Cliff raised his head. "I''m sorry." He shook his head and said, "If I had known that researching the boundary between reality and visions would result in this..." He trailed off and let out a deep sigh.


    Roxy shook her head. "Pioneering new fields of magic is unpredictable. And I am sure you two took proper precautions."


    Sylphy hummed. "Still, Ena''s really talented at magic. She takes after Rudy a lot, so for the experiment to go wrong, something must have messed with it."


    Pierre nodded. "I agree. Although Being W can''t easily intervene with most things, he can in something like experimental magical research where it could go wrong at any moment."


    Dad rubbed his chin. "So ites back to whether we think he did it or not, and how we should go about looking for my cute granddaughter then..."


    While everyone discussed, I mulled through the situation again in my mind.


    This was bait. At this point, I was sure that Being W knew I either had knowledge from that other timeline, or knew that I had gone to that other timeline.


    The fact that this lined up so well with Rudeus''s memories proved that.


    After all, I had just had a peaceful time after reuniting with family, and even gotten married. There weren''t any dangerous enemies showing up, and I had some wholesome slice of life episodes.


    But then there was a sudden message about a missing family member.


    The details were different, but at a high level, it was the same.


    And if events yed out like how I thought they would, Ena was probably in a magic crystal somewhere in a dungeon in Begaritto Continent.


    Probably even in the Teleport Labyrinth.


    Of course, it was different.


    First of all, I was much stronger than Rudeus and also much better at magic than him at that stage in his life. Not only that, but Dad was stronger too.


    He didn''t go around calling himself a Sword God for no reason.


    Plus, we had much more forces we could mobilize, and just objectively stronger.


    The problem was that Being W knew that. While definitely not to the full extent, he was anticipating the worst and would have yed some nasty traps.


    This was the guy who baited Rudeus out and got Roxy killed with a gue in one timeline, after all.


    I had to assume that there was an ulterior motive at hand. A secondary y he was going to make.


    Ena being in danger was a distraction.


    Being W was likely banking on me leaving my wives unprotected. And not only that, but he was probably trying to course correct using the world''s influence with ''Destiny'' and force a simr oue to what Rudeus saw.


    The death of one of my loved ones, an incapacitating injury to me, and then drama to disrupt the family.


    The smart thing was to trust others to find Ena.


    Rationally, my daughter was capable and could hold out for rescue. Not only that, but we could only be certain that my unborn children were safe if I was around.


    But Ena was my daughter.


    And what kind of father would I be if I didn''t go running over to find her right now?


    It was bait. A trap. But it was one that I''d definitely spring even knowing that fact.


    ...Being W definitely had a good read on my character.


    A slight squeeze on my right hand.


    I blinked and then so Sylphy staring at me.


    "...Do you want to go, Rudy?"


    It was a soft question, but one that brought the room to silence.


    Everyone turned to look at me.


    My parents were worried.


    My sisters looked scared.


    My wives... they seemed like they would go along with whatever I chose.


    Pierre sighed and shook his head, indicating he wasn''t sure.


    Cliff... he looked at me like he was going to throw his life away to find Ena even if I didn''t agree.


    But me...


    If Eos was the one who went missing, I definitely would have rushed out right now.


    Although she acted tougher, in terms of ''specs'' she was ''designed'' to be more for recon and research. Although rare, she could be overwhelmed by numbers or simply being tired out.


    Ena was different. In terms of specs, she was designed to be an unstoppable force of nature. Her mana constantly regenerated from ambient energy, she could brute force her way out of an army enclosure, and even blow up the moon.


    Probably.


    We never did get a field test on that.


    But in contrast, Ena wasn''t very strong-willed.


    There was a reason why she still acted cutesy and fawned for my attention. And that was what I was worried about.


    Physically, nothing could harm her. But mentally... especially if she was alone...


    Pierre let out a deep sigh and said, "This is a bad idea, Rudy."


    Rostelina looked over at him. "Hubby-"


    "You know why." Pierre cut Rostelina off and looked at me. "This is the same as that ''turning point'' in the life of ''Rudeus Greyrat.'' And I can tell you that there were many simr ones across different times."


    I nodded. "I''m well aware."


    Pierre looked over at Dad. "...And this particr turning point lines up too closely with Paul''s death." He looked back at me and said, "You might have twisted a lot of destiny, but the world tends towards certain points in history."


    Dad pointed at himself. "Wait, are you saying I''m going to die if I go?"


    Mom instinctively grabbed Dad''s hand.


    Mama Lily frowned.


    I remained quiet.


    Ste looked around the room at everyone, and then back at me. "Onii-chan."


    I looked at her.


    She hesitated and then said, "...Are you not going to save Ena?"


    I took a look around the room one more time.


    Concern.


    Determination.


    Worry.


    Faces telling me to go.


    Others telling me to stay.


    I...


    "For now, let''s take a break."


    ...Needed time to think.


    -RNG-


    The sun had sunk beneath the horizon during our long talk. As a result, the starry sky emerged.


    But the moon was absent.


    A new moon, shrouding everything in darkness save for the faint light of the stars and the few light fixtures set up around the area.


    I sat in a chair in the courtyard and looked up at the starry sky, lost in thought.


    Cliff stood beside me, his head lowered. "I''m sorry, Rudeus. I couldn''t protect Ena."


    It was the same thing he had been repeating since he arrived. But the difference this time was that he didn''t call me Father-inw.


    I didn''t say anything for a few moments, but then I lowered my head to look at Cliff.


    He looked miserable. Unlike the confident young man who overturned the corrupt Milis religion, right now he was just a teenager crushed by the weight of the world.


    Even if I wanted to me him, it wasn''t fair.


    Cliff was a genius, but he wasn''t all-knowing or almighty.


    Even then, it was Ena choosing to protect him that made her vanish.


    Logically, he didn''t do anything wrong.


    Even so, he wouldn''t ept that.


    I know I wouldn''t.


    So instead of saying he did nothing wrong...


    "You were too weak."


    Cliff flinched and lowered his head more.


    I stood up and turned to face him.


    As I did, Cliff looked up to face me as well.


    I ced my hand on his shoulder and said, "Even so, you couldn''t have changed it. I know how much you work and struggle, so I don''t me you. What happened this time was something beyondmon sense."


    And it was.


    Cliff might be a bit too straightforward when it came to love and faith, but he was still a bonafide genius. He also had a tuned sense for danger due to honing his skills in distortions.


    Paired with Ena''s natural protections and her own instincts, if something happened that they couldn''t handle, it was probably something that only I could have dealt with in the first ce.


    And I wouldn''t expect anyone to be able to do that.


    I hade to terms with how much of a freak of nature I was now, after all.


    Cliff grit his teeth. "Even so..." He clenched his fists and looked up at me with teary eyes. "How can I dare to ask for her hand in marriage if I cannot even protect her? How much of a fool am I that the one I love is the one to protect me...?"


    I didn''t respond.


    Although I hadn''t quite been in the same state, I recognized his situation.


    At a time like this with such a critical mistake... at least, one self-perceived, no one would be able to say anything to change his mind.


    The only one who could reassure himself was himself.


    So instead of words of encouragement, I focused on the next steps. Words that would get him moving and acting instead of dwelling on thoughts and events he couldn''t change.


    I pulled my hand back from Cliff''s shoulder and then said, "To summarize what happened, you and Ena were coborating on research in artificial worlds constructed through faith and belief. There was a recent breakthrough, and you attained a glimpse of ''Heaven,'' where souls arrived after death... and that was when the incident urred?"


    Cliff blinked. He was a bit confused for a moment, but then he brushed his eyes and focused. "Yes." He looked at me and said, "We confirmed that faith and belief can create a miracle and even recreated the scenery in the fight against the heretics. And so we wished to see if there was a way to save those who perished. A means to ease the minds of those left behind."


    It was a foolhardy endeavor. Taboo as well.


    But it was also a thought I''d been pondering for a while.


    From my personal experience, I could confirm that reincarnation was a real phenomenon. And souls existed as well.


    Although the exact process was unclear considering that Ste had her memories of her past life while I lost mine, the hard fact was that a soul departed from a body after its death and went ''somewhere.''


    For me and Ste, that ''somewhere'' was here.


    I didn''t know for sure, but from the other timeline, it was probably because there was a strong ''pull'' from this world.


    For Ste, it was because Shizuka Nanahoshi was meant to be here, and because there was someone or something in the future forcing her arrival.


    For me... Well, considering all the iterations of ''Rudeus Greyrat'' that existed, there was probably something simr drawing me here too.


    But anyway, it was confirmed that a strong ''pull'' could guide a soul towards another world.


    The question then would be if that ''pull'' could be artificially constructed.


    Considering how entrenched the Milis religion was and how they believed in a life after death, that there might very well be a heaven.


    And if true, there would be incredible ramifications.


    I nodded. "It''s a noble goal."


    Cliff let out a smile. "That is what Ena said as well. And we managed to open a portal to what seemed to be Heaven, but after that..." He sighed.


    "Do we know where she is? Or are we starting from scratch?"


    I hadn''t had a chance to ask that of Cliff yet, but it would definitely determine our next steps.


    Cliff nodded. "It was hard, but we traced her location to somewhere in the Begaritto Continent." He shook his head. "I wish I could be more urate and find exactly where but... I''m stillcking."


    ...So it was like that then.


    I sighed.


    Cliff flinched and lowered his head.


    He misunderstood, but I didn''t have the time to correct him.


    It was definitely it. A ''canon event'' so to speak. Or ''destiny'' in other words.


    The world and/or Being W was lining events up so that Rudeus Greyrat would go rescue a loved one who wasst spotted in a dungeon on the Begaritto Continent. And depending on if he stayed or went, he would regret it.


    I remembered that Rudeus''s memories. The Teleport Labyrinth was a trauma that remained even after he died and his soul was forced by Being W to try and overwrite mine.


    But I was confident we wouldn''t have issues.


    Dad was stronger here.


    Cliff was a bit younger, but he was better at magic than his counterpart.


    Orsted was my ally far earlier than for Rudeus, and he had removed his sole weakness of being limited by his mana pool.


    Then there were cards I had that Rudeus didn''t have, like Rnd, Eos, Ruijerd, and the score of White Knights I could pull, as well as the people Cliff could mobilize from Milishion.


    But even then...


    ''I feel uneasy.''


    An intuition without a rational basis.


    Objectively, this was a simple decision with a simple oue.


    I track Ena down with a small party of people, I have Orsted and people I trust protect my wives in Arcadia, and then wee back happy and safe.


    But my intuition was warning me.


    Leaving my wives alone would lead to something I regret.


    Staying and letting others rescue Ena would also lead to something I regret.


    The act of ''choosing'' in itself was incorrect.


    It wasn''t from my irvoyance or any sort of future sight.


    But I trusted my instincts.


    Ignoring them in the past had led to less than ideal oues.


    But then if ''choosing'' was wrong...


    A faint rustle echoed in the distance.


    I turned towards it and saw Ste walking out from a bush with a small backpack. From the few leaves on her, it looked like she had just jumped out from her room.


    She noticed me and then let out an awkwardugh before waving. "H-Hi there, Onii-chan. Mister Cliff."


    Cliff looked at Ste and then frowned. "Should you not be asleep, Ste?"


    "Well..." She acted shifty and nced off to the side. "I''m just taking a walk to get fresh air?"


    Cliff''s frown deepened.


    I wasn''t fooled though. "Taking a walk, huh?" I looked to the side at the invisible pair hiding behind Ste. "With Norn and Aisha too?"


    Silence. And then the air rippled, revealing Norn and Aisha, both geared up and carrying big backpacks.


    Norn sighed and said, "I told you Big Brother wouldn''t fall for it."


    Aisha clicked her tongue and said, "It was worth a try."


    Cliff was surprised.


    I wasn''t.


    I sighed and said, "You three are worried, huh?"


    Since she was caught, Ste gave up on pretending and crossed her arms. "That''s right! Wyn and Leo both say something bad''s going to happen to Ena if you don''t save her. But if you aren''t going, we''re going! The hero will definitely pull it off!"


    Norn nodded. "That''s right! And with my sword and Aisha''s magic, we can definitely bring Ena back!"


    I sighed. "It''s not that simple, you know?"


    Ste swung her arm out. "What''s not that simple?! Ena is your daughter, Onii-chan! Or..." She bit her lip and then said, "...Do you not care about her now that you have real kids?"


    I narrowed my eyes. "Watch your mouth, Ste. Ena is different, but she''s still my daughter."


    Ste shook her head. "Well, it doesn''t seem like it! A real dad would have run off to save her right away! That''s what you did with me, isn''t it?!"


    I shook my head. "That''s different. You were helpless, but Ena-"


    I cut myself off, suddenly realizing what Ste was getting at.


    ...Hah. Children echo the actions of their parents.


    It seemed I was subconsciously cing my expectations on Ena again.


    Ste shook her head and said, "Even if Ena is strong, she''s still in danger! And if you''re not going... Well, we''re her aunts, so we will!"


    Norn nodded. "Yeah! I''m going to save my cute niece!"


    Aisha sighed. "This is a bad idea... but I won''t be a bad Aunt."


    I looked at them all and then stepped forward. "I''m sure you have the best intentions... but this isn''t the ce for children to step in."


    Ste reached into her bag and pulled out her wand. As she did, Wata, Fai, Wyn, and Leo appeared around her. "Yeah! Well, if the adults aren''t doing anything, we will! Now, if you''re going to stop us, we''re going to beat you up and bring her back ourselves!"


    Norn drew her sword. "Sorry, Big Brother!"


    Aisha pulled out her wands. "This is SUCH a bad idea..."


    Cliff walked over to me and said, "Rudy. Are... you really going to stop them?"


    Iughed.


    Ste narrowed her eyes and said, "You think this is funny?!"


    I smiled. "Yes. Life has a funny way of doing circles around us."


    "Huh?"


    "Disturb Mana."


    An invisible pulse rippled, shaking the mana in my sisters and the elemental spirits.


    "Wha-"


    "Big bro-"


    "Ru-"


    They all flinched, caught off guard. And then they slumped, knocked out by the sudden disruption.


    And ordingly, Ste''s spirit friends turned incorporeal.


    Cliff frowned and then looked at me. "...I am guessing this means that you are going after all?"


    I looked up at the sky.


    Somewhere up there, Being W was probably dancing and gloating thinking he had me pinned.


    It was a good move, I had to admit. If this was chess, he had definitely checked me, and we were only a few moves from checkmate.


    But this was reality.


    And in reality, rules were meant to be broken.


    I kept staring, scanning the sky with my irvoyance. And then I stared at the darkened moon for a moment.


    After that, I smiled and then looked at Cliff. "Something like that." I nced at the darkened moon one more time and then chuckled. "If the world wants to force things in line... Well, I''ll just have to show it who''s really in charge here."


    "...What?"


    Iughed. And then Iughed harder after hearing a certain voice echo in my head.


    Yeah... Didn''t you know, Being W? Trying to force something in ce only forces a bigger counteraction.


    That''s a lesson from you I still remember, you know?

 197 – Absolute Pin – I

    197 ¨C Absolute Pin ¨C I


    <Zenithia>, the Imperial Pce of Arcadia. There in the courtyard, Rudy and Orsted stood, discussing the uing events and how they would handle it.


    Rudy smiled and said, "Thank you foring on such short notice, Orsted."


    Orsted nodded. "Of course. Anything to prevent Being W''s actions froming to fruition. However..." He frowned and said, "Are you fine going alone?"


    Rudy shook his head. "I won''t be going alone. Dad, Pierre, Rnd, Ruijerd, Eos, Laws, Rostelina, Cliff... Well, we have a whole party set up. Not to mention the White Knights and pdins from Millishion."


    Orsted paused to think and then slowly nodded. "That is wise. But to bring such a force... Ah. It is bait."


    "Mmhm." Rudy nodded and said, "He''s going to try and do something for sure. I think he nned to wait until the day of my children''s birth, but if I''m gone and my wives are left mostly unattended-"


    "He will act on impulse." Orsted chuckled. "After all, he hates you a great deal."


    "The feeling''s mutual."


    Orsted smiled. "Then you can entrust your family to me, Rudy. Besides." His grin turned feral and he said, "There have been few opportunities in my life to utilize my full strength. This will be a great learning experience."


    Rudyughed and then tapped Orsted''s shoulder. "Have fun, Buddy. I''ll be counting on you." After that, he took a step and vanished.


    Orsted stared for a moment at where Rudy was and then shifted his gaze towards the pce, where Rudy''s family was staying. "Hm... It is unlikely, but in the worst case scenario..." Muttering under his breath, Orsted vanished as well.


    -LIV-


    Arge rescue party had been gathered to rescue the Imperial Princess.


    Members of the White Knights, Adventurers, pdins from Millishion, the Survey Corps... they all were gathered at the base of the ck Tower, waiting for their orders.


    Rudy stood at the forefront, wearing his imperial garb. Looking out at the crowd, he nodded and said, "I thank you for your service." Resting his hand on his obsidian sword, he said, "The heavens have deemed it a sin to peer into its secrets and punished us by spiriting away our beloved princess. But do we allow it?"


    The crowd roared. "NO!"


    Rudy nodded. "That''s right." He drew his sword and said, "The heavens threw us into hell and we created our own paradise. The divine sought to turn our differences into animosity, but we overcame them as truerades. Isn''t that right?"


    The crowd roared again. "YES!"


    Rudy nodded and then gestured for silence. After it quieted down, he said, "As always, this is a dangerous journey. We venture again into the unknown, and some of you may fall. But rest assured, you will return. And you will be remembered until the end of time in the Hall of Heroes."


    A solemn silence. The crowd- No, the Ena Rescue Party staring up at Rudy.


    Rudy stared out at them, and then he nced at the people following right behind him.


    Rnd stood behind him on the right wearing full armor. His face was hidden, but the tense way he held his sword betrayed his emotions.


    Eos stood behind Rudy on his left. She wore the ck tunic and pants uniform of the Survey Corp and looked ready to go. But as she adjusted her sses, the dark circles under her eyes revealed her fatigue.


    Behind them, Paul and Pierre stood, both at the ready. Ruijerd, Laws, and Rostelina stood at the back, all equipped forbat.


    And Cliff stood at the rear, wearing a pristine white robe, his dark eyes narrowed in focus.


    Rudy turned to the right and swung his sword.


    Space tore, forming a gash in the air that revealed a vast desert with scorching winds and shifting sand.


    ncing back at the front one more time, he raised his sword and said, "We march on the Begaritto Continent! Our objective: Secure the Imperial Princess Ena at all costs!"


    Light red as magical artifacts on every person present activated. Magic formations to negate the harsh weather and also serve asmunication devices.


    Seeing that, Rudy nodded and then walked through the portal.


    Space flickered as the Ena Rescue Party departed.


    And then there was silence at the base of the tower, as if nothing was there in the first ce.


    -LIV-


    The void between worlds, covered with an endless white mist. There, Hitogami stood staring at the expedition party just arriving in the Begaritto Continent.


    As he examined the people in the group, he cackled and pped his hands together. "Finally! Everything''s back on course!"


    It took a lot of careful nudging and tweaks. Sending messages to various ''experts'' as divine ''inspiration'' instead of ''revtions.'' Using dreams as a vehicle to create motivations and move people without drawing attention to himself.


    Then he had to move enough monsters at the right times and ces to create calcted mana resonances and line things up so it was a ''natural'' result instead of his ''unnatural'' intervention...


    Hitogami let out a feral grin. Staring at Rudy forming a base of operations in the desert, Hitogami let out a feral grin and said, "This time you can''t escape it, Rudy." He shifted his gaze to Pierre and said, "Your cheating bastard of a friend there can''t do anything either since this is how it''s ''destined to be.'' He. Hehe. Hehehe!"


    If the world wouldn''t let him do as he wished without bacsh, then Hitogami would just make the world do what he wanted. And at the same time, he would help the world do what was natural and correct ''destiny'' to the proper flow.


    It was a one-twobo that even that ridiculous bastard couldn''t ovee.


    He stepped back and spread his arms, spinning around with a smile on his face. "Ah, what a wonderful feeling!" Heughed again and then stopped ncing back at the Human Realm below.


    Looking at Rudy one more time, Hitogami chuckled and said, "Don''t provoke him my ass." He shifted his gaze towards the Teleport Labyrinth where Rudy''s beloved daughter was trapped in a magic crystal. And not just trapped, but slowly being corroded from the mana seeping into her body.


    He shifted his gaze again to see the ''hero'' and his party members heading towards the Magic Continent to end the ''bloodline of the Demon God.''


    Hitogami cackled and said, "You''re not the only one who can raise an expedition team, Rudy."


    It was a win-win situation. An absolute pin.


    If Rudy had stayed behind, Ena would have been corrupted and turned into a mindless killing machine.


    If Rudy left, as he did, then there wouldn''t be enough forces to protect his family back in that Empire of his.


    Of course, there was that son of the Dragon God somewhere in the Magic Continent, but as far as he could tell from his future self, that guy couldn''t go all out. And since his goal was to ''kill Hitogami,'' he wouldn''t waste his precious mana on something like protecting Rudy''s family.


    So, win-win.


    Even in the miraculous asion that Rudy somehow saved his daughter AND defeated the hero team, he wouldn''t be able to stop Perugius from attackingter on that year. And if even THAT failed, Hitogami would FINALLY have enough justification to descend upon the Human Realm with his full powers against the world-level threat that Rudy was.


    Foolproof.


    Absolutely foolproof.


    ...Even so.


    "Why do I feel like I''m still missing something?"


    Hitogami muttered and then scanned the Human Realm below.


    Everything was exposed to him now. Even that Empire Rudy created.


    By removing influence and apostles, as well as by entrusting his own fate to the flow of the world, Hitogami could see everything that happened in the world.


    At that point, he truly was All-seeing.


    And yet, something felt off.


    "Is there still something I can''t see?"


    No, that couldn''t be the case. It would take a being on the level of a god like himself to do so.


    And while the mortals called themselves ''gods,'' they were far from the level where he stood.


    Not only that, Hitogami was certain no other ''gods'' existed, as he possessed all the other sparks of divinity from the fallen gods.


    The only one he was missing was that of the Dragon God, but that had been splintered and lost to time. It would also take the death of all the current Dragon Kings to gather the pieces.


    So it was impossible.


    "...It''s just the nerves."


    That had to be it.


    His n was absolutely foolproof, but he still had nerves because hecked a safety.


    But this would work.


    No matter how much of a genius or prodigy Rudy was. No matter if he teamed up with the True Dragon God''s son, Orsted.


    At the end of the day, Rudy was still ''human.''


    And a ''human'' could not defeat a god.


    That was an absolute truth in this world.


    So...


    Hitogami sat back in a misty throne and watched Rudy''s actions.


    This would be a learning experience.


    At best, this would be the end. At worst, Hitogami would learn more of Rudy and his allies'' capabilities for the final sh.


    But either way...


    "This will be over soon, Rudy."


    Hitogami grinned.


    -A.S-


    The small house that Akito temporarily lived in. Specifically, the workshop he had created inside.


    There, Akito fiddled with his watch, reading the recent messages from Shizuka. After that, he nced at [REDACTED] standing next to him.


    "Are you sure that this is fine?"


    [REDACTED]


    Akito frowned. "Lara said that everything depends on what we do here. And Shizuka''s waiting for us to tie up loose ends here before she does her part."


    [REDACTED]


    Akito sighed. "...I still think we should just take that guy out now since you have the key."


    [REDACTED]


    "I know, I know." Akito ran his hand through his hair. "There''s a sequence of events we have to follow to make sure that guy''s gone for good." He sighed and inputted a fewmands on his watch. After that, he looked up and said, "Should I get going then? You''ll handle the rest here, right?"


    [REDACTED]


    "Got it." Akito nodded and then pressed a button on his watch. A blue light began to pulse, spreading throughout the room. As that happened, he looked over at [REDACTED] and said, "Thanks for helping out. And say thank you to Rudy for me."


    [REDACTED]


    A brilliant sh of azure light surged. And when it faded, both the room and the house was empty.


    Nothing remained.

 198 – Absolute Pin – II

    198 ¨C Absolute Pin ¨C II


    A massive sandworm burst from the sandy dunes. Raising its maw to the sky, it let out a shrill screech and then lunged towards me.


    I nced towards it and then clenched my left hand.


    Magic formations red into life around the sandworm and then it vanished, reced by apressed orb of fleshy mass.


    I flicked my wrist and sent it off to the side.


    A sphinx that had been charging from the distance suddenly stumbled, a hole appearing in its head.


    I sighed and then continued forward, my ck cloak fluttering behind me.


    At that time, Dad came dashing towards me, gliding along the top of the sandy dunes like water.


    Stopping at my side, he whistled and said, "Gotta say, Rudy. You''ve gotten more ridiculous since thest time I''ve seen you fight. I think you might even be able to take me on now!"


    "I''d better be." I waved my hand, spreading magic formations to terraform the nearby area from a desert to a fledgling savanna. After that, I looked at him and said, "I''m preparing to take down a divine being. If I''m not at least strong enough to take down my dad, it''d be an insult to both me and you."


    Heughed and pped his hand on my back. "Damned straight! You''re a proper dad and all now too, so you can''t start losing before your kids are even born, alright?"


    I paused.


    You know, I hadn''t really thought about it, but my newest kids were definitely going to be ridiculous growing up, weren''t they?


    First of all, I was... well, me.


    Eri was a sword genius who could naturally use magic in conjunction with her swordsmanship.


    Sylphy was a magical genius who could make ice, wind, and water bend to her will.


    Rika was an actual reincarnated Demon Empress with a true blueblood Demon God lineage.


    And Roxy was a genius at breaking downplex magical concepts to a discrete level and molding everything into new building blocks.


    ...It made me wonder a bit why the heck Being W was so paranoid about Norn and Ste being born instead of my kids. Or even me.


    I mean, you''d think he might have tried to just warp me away or something on my own or like put me into aa or something. Instead, he seemed to have taken it personally...


    Well. I guess gods even back on Earth were known to be petty, so I shouldn''t say I was surprised...


    Dad patted my shoulder again. This time though, he had a serious expression on. "You holding up well? You know, regarding Ena?"


    I nodded. "I''m holding up. It''s worrying, but... It should be fine."


    Dad smiled. "That''s the spirit. Don''t give up until thest minute and believe in the best until you''ve confirmed the worst." He pulled his hand back and said, "I don''t have much left to teach you since aren''t a kid anymore, but I can teach you that at least."


    I chuckled. "That way of thinking is exactly what kept you running into trouble, Dad... but I get it. And thanks."


    The ground started vibrating, sending sand flying into the air.


    Dad turned around and rested his hand on his sword. "Well. Guess we should get back to it."


    I nodded. "Yep." I rested my hand on my sword as well.


    It wouldn''t be as effective or efficient as using magic... but I needed to vent a bit.


    In the distance, a pair of sandworms burst from beneath sand dunes. But the moment they did, Pierre teleported in front of one and cut it down with a sh while Rostelina jumped at the other and mmed it with a shield, bursting its head off.


    ...Huh. So that was where Sylphy got her ridiculous physique and stamina from...


    But anyway.


    A swarm of bats burst from the ground beneath the sphinx''s corpse. It seemed like they were lured by its mana.


    A few monsters burst from the sphinx. Subi.


    Seeing that, I stepped forward.


    But before I could do anything, Dad unsheathed and resheathed his sword.


    Sand scattered in front of the sphinx''s corpse, joined by a crimson mist. And then there was just a bunch of reddish sand where the monsters were.


    I blinked and then gave Dad a nk stare. "...That''s overkill, Dad."


    He met my stare with a serious look and said, "Never overkill when dealing with subi. I''m sure you could handle yourself, and I have experience handling them... but it''s not worth the one in a kabillion chance that they get to either of us. Not to mention that knowing your way with women, you''d probably end up taming a few and bringing them back..."


    I felt my face heat up and I said, "I would not!"


    Dad justughed and pped his hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Kid."


    I sighed and then terraformed the nearby area as well.


    It wasn''t necessary... and it would probably wreck the climate here since I wasn''t really taking that into ount.


    But it was also a helpful marker of where we''d been as well as monster spawn prevention.


    Literally and figuratively.


    Couldn''t burst through the sand if it suddenly turned into much harder y or dirt, could you?


    Anyway, after that was done, I took a quick look around to check our progress.


    We had warped in the literal middle of the Begaritto Continent and were slowly conquering thend by clearing out monsters and reiming the desert for our own purposes.


    I was headed to the southeast with my dad towards where the Teleportation Labyrinth should be.


    Ruijerd and Laws had teamed up in the distance to deal with a flock of airborne griffins.


    Pierre and Rostelina were now carpet bombing the desert... somehow. And in between those, they were tossing some terraforming magic artifacts.


    Behind me, and to the northwest, Rnd, Eos, and Cliff were leading the White Knights, Survey Corps, and Millishion pdins respectively.


    Their destination was a circr mountain range and whatever was hidden within it.


    All things considered, Ena was likely to be in either said mountain range or the Teleportation Labyrinth.


    After all, Being W was taking this personally, so he wouldn''t just throw Ena in a random ce in the ground.


    Not to mention that it''d be easy for me to see that in a ce like this.


    Even if there was a lot of sand and monsters, Ena''s mana was very distinct.


    To hide it, you''d need a ce with dense mana, like a dungeon.


    And it''d have to be a powerful dungeon, hence the previous two options.


    Ideally, it''d be the Teleportation Labyrinth... but we''d see.


    But either way, it was time to get going.


    I kicked off the ground, magic formations spreading greenery with every step.


    Dad kicked off the ground beside me. Maybe realizing my thoughts, he said, "Even if Ena''s not in the Teleportation Labyrinth, she''s DEFINITELY somewhere here."


    A swarm of giant ants burst from the sand beneath us.


    I flicked my hand and froze them before stomping on the ground, shattering them all. After that, I took another step and used them as fuel to revitalize thend. "...It seems so." I nodded and said, "The monsters here are way too frequent to be normal."


    Since we arrived, the monster encounters were as bad as an old JRPG. Every few steps, another group popped up.


    And case in point, a vortex suddenly appeared in the sand before us, revealing a giant pair of mandibles.


    Dad flipped through the air, shing towards the mandibles as he flew past.


    For a brief moment, the vortex and the surrounding sand split, revealing a massive antlion. But then the sand copsed back on itself, burying the monster.


    I jumped and then stomped on the sand right over the antlion. Once more, I converted the terrain, using the antlion''s body as fuel for the reimednd. After that, I continued dashing forward.


    Dad moved to my side and said, "Seems that Being Whatever guy''s pretty desperate now. Going out of his way to capture Ena and then send all these monsters after us... Even for a god, that''s a bit much, right? Aren''t there like divinews or whatever that he has to follow?"


    I shrugged. "That''s a god for you. Even if there were, they''d just break them and pay the consequencester."


    "Tch." Dad clicked his tongue and said, "And people called me a thug..."


    "You still are, Dad. Better, but definitely a thug."


    "Well, not everyone''s got the looks and brains to be an evil overlord, Kid."


    "True. And every evil overlord needs some muscle."


    Dadughed.


    I smiled.


    And then Pierre showed up on our left, carrying Rostelina in his arms as he dashed with us. As he did, he looked over at us and said, "How are you two not annoyed?"


    Dad raised an eyebrow and said, "You''re carrying your beautiful wife in your arms and you''re talking about being annoyed?"


    Rostelina giggled and then looked up at Pierre. "Paul''s got a point, Hubby. Did I gain too much weight recently?"


    Pierre blushed and said, "W-What? No! I''m talking about the monsters!"


    ...Was this what it felt like to be around me and my wives?


    Hm. Need to remember to add that to the Greyrat book for dummies... This is how you end up irritating people and making enemies if you''re not careful...


    Pierre cleared his throat and then said, "E-Either way, it looks like we''re on the right track."


    Dad nodded. "I was just talking about that with Rudy. Dunno if Ena''s in this Teleportation Labyrinth, but she''s definitely here somewhere."


    I nodded. "Right." I took a quick look around with Mana Sight and then with irvoyance to be sure.


    Typical natural mana signatures you''d expect from a hot desert. Sand stretching maybe 100 feet or so below the surface, with some deeper areas before hitting stone. Various monsters hiding in that sea of sand... that seemed to be blinking in and out of existence?


    Hm. That was probably the influence from the Teleportation Labyrinth.


    Either way, Ena wasn''t anywhere nearby. So...


    I turned around and signaled to Ruijerd and Laws that we''d be going on ahead. After that, I looked at Dad and Pierre and said, "Let''s not waste any more time then."


    Magic formations red around my feet, and then around Dad''s and Pierre''s.


    "Oho?" Dad''s eyes widened and he smiled. "You can use magic like this too, huh?"


    Pierre sighed and said, "We are going to cause such argemotion when we arrive."


    I stared at the sea of monsters suddenly springing up from the sand along the way to the Maze City of Rapan in the distance near the Teleportation Labyrinth.


    After that, I held out my obsidian sword and said, "Well, that''ll make gathering information easier, won''t it?"


    Dad blinked at my words, and then he let out a deep sigh. "...Okay. Definitely see the bad influence rubbing off..."


    "Cominter, high-speed blitzkrieg now!"


    Lightning shed from my feet and sent me rocketing forward and turning the sand into ss.


    Now, to test this prototype spell increasing cognition speed...


    -RNG-


    "...We really couldn''t havee in with a less conspicuous entrance?" Pierre nced around at the adventurers and merchants making way for us before he sighed.


    "We could have. But..." I swept my gaze around the area to take stock of the situation.


    The Maze City of Rapan... or Lapan, depending on who you asked.


    It was an oasis city built around a giantke that had formed beneath the bones of a felled Behemoth.


    Apparently, said behemoth was killed by a great hero or something in the past.


    I didn''t care too much about that though.


    The important part was that this ce was a full-fledged city with adventurers, merchants, and more who called it their home.


    And a good portion of those people were giving us weird looks.


    Not because of our party makeup or equipment. Though that''d make sense considering that me, Dad, and Pierre were all wearing heavy long coats in this scorching desert sun.


    But no. It was because we had walked in with a very vivid trail of greenery following behind us. And one that spread everywhere I walked.


    ...Wasn''t there a story about a famous mage or wizard on Earth doing the same? Except with flowers, I think...


    Either way, definitely conspicuous. But conspicuous was useful in a situation like this where we had to gather info.


    Dad pulled out a map from his bag and thenpared it to the surroundings. After that, he looked to a cliff in the distance and said, "From the map Rika gave us... The Teleport Labyrinth should be that way."


    Rostelina sighed and said, "I hope this doesn''t take too long. Lulu hates being away from me."


    I raised an eyebrow and said, "Not that I don''t appreciate you being here... but why did youe then, Grandma?"


    Rostelina froze and then shivered.


    Dad and Pierre did the same.


    I blinked. "...Too soon?"


    Rostelina shook her head and said, "Just call me Lina, Rudy. Please."


    "...Okay. Then Lina." I frowned and said, "You have a baby daughter to take care of, so whye all the way here with us?"


    Rostelina smiled and said, "Well, I couldn''t let my hubby run off alone again. And besides, this is a perfect chance to give your lovely wives practice with a baby, isn''t it?"


    "...I think you''re trusting them a bit too much, Lina."


    Rostelina waved her hand. "It''s fine. Lulu''s a tough girl anyway."


    Considering how casually you smack monsters around, I''d believe it...


    Pierre stared at the Teleportation Labyrinth and frowned. His eyes shed with white light, and then he clicked his tongue. "It seems normal from here, but..."


    "Something feels wrong, right?" I stared at the Teleportation Labyrinth in the distance as well with both irvoyance and Mana Sight.


    It looked ordinary. Just a mana-dense area that was typical of a dungeon. And there weren''t any signs of something being off either.


    But my instincts were telling me something was off.


    Call it my Being W sense.


    Dad folded the map away and then looked at me. "Well, Rudy? What''s the n."


    I crossed my arms and thought about it for a bit. And then I said, "We''ll take a quick survey. You, me, and Pierre." I looked at Rostelina and said, "Do you think you could gather some information, Lina? See if there are any rumors and the like about Ena. And when Laws and Ruijerd get here, rope them into helping you too."


    Rostelina nodded. "I can do that. But..." She frowned and said, "Do you think it''s a good idea for you three to go alone?"


    Pierre tapped the hilt of his sword and said, "It''s a bit risky... but this will probably be the safest bet."


    Dad smirked. "Obviously. We''ve got a Sword God, the Technique God, and a Magic God together in this party."


    "Let''s not jinx it, Dad."


    Dad blinked and said, "What are you, Gisu?"


    "No. But I''m sure a certain someone would be happy to jinx us if we have the chance."


    "True..."


    "Anyway." I nced back at Rostelina and said, "Try to set up a base for us too if you can." I pulled out a bag of mana crystals and gold before handing it over to her. "This should be enough for most things. If you need more though, just channel a bit of mana in that and it''ll draw more from my vault."


    Rostelina took the bag and then looked inside. After that, she looked at Pierre, frowning. "...Why aren''t you rich, Hubby?"


    Pierre coughed. "I was. But my younger brother needed it a bit more, so..."


    Rostelina sighed. Tying the bag to her waist, she nodded and said, "I''ll start looking around then. You three stay safe."


    I smiled. "Don''t worry. Worst case scenario, I blow the top off the dungeon."


    Dadughed.


    Pierre facepalmed.


    Rostelina shook her head and then walked off.


    Now...


    I looked towards the Teleportation Labyrinth.


    ...Do you have enough traps in stock, Being W?


    -RNG-


    A dark sandstone cave, barely illuminated by azure light from glowing magic circles littered around the floor.


    On the surface, it looked just like an ordinary dungeon. But-


    *click*


    Dad''s eyes widened and he instinctively jumped back, swinging his sword.


    Azure light red as a magic circle appeared out of thin air, only to shatter as Dad''s de cut through it.


    "Phew." He let out a sigh of relief and said, "I can see why this is an S-ranked dungeon." He scratched the back of his head and said, "A normal adventurer would have a tough time going through here."


    I casually disabled the warp traps in front of me and said, "That''s why me and Pierre keep telling you to stay behind us."


    Pierre nodded. "What Rudy said. And PLEASE try to stop tempting fate. Even though it wasn''t you, ''Paul Greyrat'' has died here in many times and many worlds."


    Dad scratched the back of his head. "I still find that hard to believe. Were the other versions of me really that weak?"


    Pierre swung his sword to shatter some more hidden warp traps. After that, he turned back to Dad and shook his head. "No. It''s more like you''re the outlier among outliers. You should appreciate the happy life you have, Paul."


    "Right." Dad nodded. "Still, hard to wrap my head around..."


    After that, we continued on our way.


    I took point, with Pierre and Dad walking behind me.


    And as we moved, it was silent, with only the sound of our footsteps echoing.


    I frowned and then nced back at Pierre. "Is this supposed to be empty, Pierre?"


    From what I could remember from Rudeus''s memories, and from his memoir, this ce definitely should be filled to the brim with monsters.


    Pierre frowned. "No. And we should be concerned about that." He tapped his sword hilt and said, "This is a seven-floor dungeon with mostly A and B-rank monsters. And the boss is an S-ranked Manatite Hydra that can nullify magic attacks. Even if Being W tried to interfere, he shouldn''t be able to move all those monsters."


    I nodded.


    That made sense. If he could, he would have done it a while ago.


    But still, the fact that we haven''t seen one...


    "...Do monsters get stronger by devouring each other?"


    Pierre paused to think about that.


    While he did, Dad responded instead. "I haven''t seen it, but it''s prettymon knowledge among adventurers that it''s possible." He frowned. "...Do you think something like that happened here, Rudy?"


    I stopped walking and then closed my eyes to focus.


    It was a bit hard to do in a mana-dense setting like this. But if I borrowed what I saw from Roxy''s Dungeon Home and piggyback off the ambient mana with some tiny and discrete magic formations to form a web...


    There.


    This first floor we walked into was a single level, just like a typical stone cave. And while there were lots of warp traps around, there weren''t any monsters at all.


    I after taking another look around to confirm, I opened my eyes and said, "I''m sure. This floor doesn''t have any monsters. And I''d expect that the rest don''t either."


    Pierre hummed and then said, "Is that why there were so many monsters outside? Could something be eating the monsters here?"


    "I think so." I nodded and then started walking along the path to the warp circle heading to the next floor. "I''m sure Being W knows that he can''t stop us with ordinary mobs, so he''s probably trying to funnel it all into one super strong monster instead."


    Dad blinked. "Mobs?"


    Pierre nodded. "That makes sense. But then..." He frowned and said, "...What kind of monster is waiting for us down there?"


    I shrugged. "Dunno. But I can bet it''s something ridiculous and tailor-made to counter us. Hell, wouldn''t surprise me if it was a monster that somehow had ''physical nullification'' or something too."


    Dad blinked and said, "Weren''t you just talking about not making jinxes, Rudy?"


    "There''s jinxing, and then there''s confirming, Dad."


    We continued on our way through the first floor until we arrived at the warp to the next one.


    There were two, but one led to the same floor, while the other led... somewhere deeper into the ground?


    Hm...


    Pierre stood next to me and said, "Is something wrong, Rudy?"


    I knelt down and tapped on the stone right in front of the proper warp gate. "This is the right warp, but..." I looked back at Pierre and said, "Do you know if this dungeon has proper ''floors'' or if they''re more like ''stages''?"


    Pierre frowned. "...I don''t know? No one''s ever looked into it, I think."


    "I see..."


    It made sense. Pierre might have knowledge about other timelines and alternates of Rudeus Greyrat, but not many would have gotten here with a simr skillset to me.


    Probably.


    Considering the significance of this ce, they were probably all too focused on just clearing it.


    But...


    I closed my eyes again and sent a thread of mana through the warp gate.


    Simr to the past when I was summoning, I felt my mana spin out like a thread. But unlike at that time, I didn''t pull back.


    Instead, I carefully traced it.


    A stop at a ce somewhere to the northwest and pretty far down.


    I spread out the thread of mana further, linking with the ambient mana to map out the terrain.


    A third area that was a bit further up from the second.


    A fourth somewhere off to the far west and deep underground.


    A fifth that was directly below us, but a mile or two below.


    And then thest... a dozen or so miles directly beneath where the heart of Lapan would be.


    But each floor, empty except for thest.


    And in thatst... I couldn''t tell.


    There was mana in thatst area, and I could detect Ena''s mana. But for some reason, I couldn''t use any of it.


    The ambient mana in thest area was... slippery, if that made sense.


    I could definitely do something if I was there to handle it in person, but just following a thread like this wouldn''t work.


    Still.


    "Found it."


    Pierre gave me a strange look. "...You do realize that what you''re doing now breaks how magic is supposed to work right?"


    I rewrote the warp gate in front of me to connect to thest gate and then looked over at him. "And?"


    Pierre sighed. "I guess there''s a reason why you''re the most ridiculous ''Rudeus Greyrat''..."


    Dadughed and said, "Damned straight." After saying that, he focused and then turned to look at me. "So we''re jumping straight into a fight then?"


    I stepped back and the warp gate red a bright red. "Yep. Be ready for anything."


    Pierre drew his sword.


    Dad drew his too.


    As for me, I put away my wedding rings except for Roxy''s and then held out my left hand.


    The image of the sword I used to try and cut down Being W in my mental world. The calctions stored in Roxy''s ring that could turn mana into matter, or at least close enough. And then my ridiculously refined mana that would shore up any gaps.


    Another sh of crimson lit up the dungeon, and then a hazy crimson katana formed in my left hand.


    For a brief moment, it registered that me, Pierre, and Dad all had crimson swords.


    But I set that thought aside.


    We stepped onto the magic circle for the warp gate at the same time.


    Surprisingly, white light red from the magic circle.


    Space bent, mana surged...


    And then we were standing in a... temple?


    I blinked and took a quick look around.


    There were fancy marble arches and braziers on the left and right, with a long hallway in front leading to a room with an arched ceiling.


    In the center of that room, there was a pure white crystal suspended in the air with Ena inside of it.


    But in front of that crystal, there was a hydra.


    Nine heads, each with ominous golden eyes. Matte ck scales that sucked in all the light around it, making it appear like a shadow blocking out the air.


    And when viewed under Mana Sight, a ''void'' that cut out the ambient mana entirely, neither emitting nor absorbing.


    I took in that information in a fraction of a second.


    But in the next, a surge of pure white light and searing heat flooded the hallway.


    *tick*


    Time slowed to a crawl.


    I saw Pierre move, readying his de.


    I saw Dad already mid-swing.


    *tick*


    But it was too slow.


    The attack had literally been one at the speed of light.


    Even with this slowed time, the wave was already an inch before my face.


    *tick*


    ...But it hadn''t connected.


    And since it hadn''t connected, I could act.


    So.


    Time resumed and the white light- No, the breath attack of pure mana split apart around us.


    "Holy fuck!" Dad flinched and stopped his sword swing, staring at the suddenly glowing and melting orange walls.


    Pierre flinched as well and said, "W-What kind of monster did Being W create?!"


    I shook my hand, ignoring the slight numbing sensation from forcibly moving it in the slowed time and also from scattering the mana attack.


    The hydra stared at me with its nine sets of golden eyes, narrowing them. Faint white wisps trailed along its maws as it watched us.


    I stared back at it and then said, "Apparently, one smart enough to attack with its strongest move first."


    Did it recognize my mana probe earlier as a threat? Or did Being W tell it to get ready?


    I didn''t know, but I did know that wasn''t an attack it could use again any time soon-


    The hydra roared, opening all of its heads again. At the same time, the white wisps began turning into mes.


    ...Okay, guess I''m wrong.


    Doesn''t matter, we just have to attack first.


    I kicked off the ground, sword ready in my left hand.


    Dad rushed in beside me, sword ready in his right hand.


    There was no time for words.


    Nine heads... If we cut them all down, the hydra should drop dead.


    Ena seemed to be the reward for clearing this dungeon, so she''d be saved as soon as this dungeon was cleared.


    ...But we had to hurry.


    Although that white crystal seemed to be ''pure'' mana, I could see a strange flow of corrosive mana seeping into her very being.


    If we took too long, she would be gone.


    ...No. Even if we finished it now, with how much-


    ''Focus.''


    I shut off that thought.


    Pierre said this hydra was probably immune to magic.


    I doubted it, but we''d y it safe.


    Dad moved in tandem with me.


    I charged forward, readying a swing.


    The hydra raised its heads, rearing back for a breath attack.


    I split off to the right while Dad split off to the left.


    As we crossed paths, we attacked.


    I swung high, Dad swung low.


    Where Dad shed, space twisted and bent as countless shes struck at once.


    Where I shed, manapressed and reinforced my de to form a pure force vector to split the hydra in half.


    But then I felt it.


    An instinctual reaction.


    The moment my sword connected with the hydra''s scales, I would die.


    My eyes widened and I let go of my sword.


    In the corner of my vision, I saw Dad''s eyes widen as well. But unlike me, his sh had already connected.


    A single fraction of time.


    One where nightmarish memories ovepped reality.


    Dad flew off to the side, knocked away by an invisible force.


    My left arm flew through the air, blood trailing the entire time.


    And then my vision was filled with white.

 199 – Absolute Pin – III

    199 ¨C Absolute Pin ¨C III


    Crimson spread across the white expanse before tearing it apart, leaving behind faint wisps that looked like flower petals.


    After that, Pierre stepped in front of me, clicking his tongue. "I told you guys to be careful earlier."


    I chuckled and picked up my left arm off the ground before sticking it back on with some healing magic. "And this is why we brought you along."


    Rocks tumbled off to the side as Dad slowly got up. "Fucking cheating piece of shit. Ugh..." He massaged his stomach with his left hand before ncing at the sword in his right hand.


    Or rather, what was left of his sword.


    The de hadpletely shattered, leaving only just the hilt. But as Dad looked at it, the hilt crumbled, revealing a bit of the tang. But then that too crumbled, turning into just motes of crimson light.


    He clicked his tongue and said, "Kingyer was such a good sword too..."


    Pierre paused and then looked over. "You called your sword ''Kingyer''?"


    Dad brushed his hands and said, "Well, yeah. Was nning to use it to kill a certain king if he didn''t get his nobles under control. Orsted talked me out of it though. Apparently, he called dibs."


    I had... so many questions.


    But they could wait.


    I kept a close eye on the hydra, carefully watching its heads. Specifically, each of its heads'' jaws.


    "...You don''t think this thing has enough for a third one of those, right?"


    Dad shook his hand and said, "If it does, I sure as hell can''t do anything about it. Unless you want to toss me your sword."


    I nced over at where my sword hadnded... only to see it dissolve as well.


    "Huh." I shifted my gaze back towards the hydra and said, "Looks like Being W''s using godmode on his units."


    Both my sword and Dad''s swords were formed from mana, and after that attack, they dissolved away.


    Which meant that the hydra''s scales were definitely anti-mana.


    But at the same time, it had not only nullified our attacks, but reflected them back.


    If I hadn''t instinctively swung my arm out to st Dad away, he would''ve ended up a fine red mist.


    That resulted in me losing said arm, but it was just a flesh wound. The cut was so clean that I could just plop it back on with a bit of healing magic, so no harm done.


    But this was a problem.


    Pierre stepped in front of me and Dad and said, "Godmode, huh? I guess that''s a good description." He narrowed his eyes and said, "...I don''t know how he did it, but this thing is definitely close to divine."


    "I have MANY questions on how you know that, Pierre. But good to know."


    I shook my left arm to get feeling back in it while analyzing the hydra and assessing the situation.


    Ideally, we''d just leave ande back with reinforcements.


    Although this thing was a hard counter for me and Dad, I was pretty sure we could figure a way out if I grabbed like Cliff, Eos, and Ruijerd.


    And from the way Pierre was acting, it seemed he had a few ideas on how to resolve this too, so that was an option.


    Unfortunately, we didn''t have much time to think.


    I hadn''t noticed the first time, but it was clear now that it did a second breath attack that the damned snake was using Ena as a battery.


    Not only that, but it was speeding up the corrosion eating away at her.


    It was likely that if we left, the hydra would calm down and the mana corroding Ena would too.


    ...But it was also just as likely that the hydra would thrash in anger and lead to a worst case scenario.


    Fucking cheating bastard of a god.


    But whatever.


    Problem here, solution needed.


    I nced at Pierre and said, "Just to check, this thing is definitely not a fucking Manatite Hydra, right?"


    "Considering how you and Paul would have torn it apart by now, definitely not." Pierre frowned and said, "But it seems like it mutated from one?"


    Dad let out a dryugh and said, "Really? I wouldn''t have guessed considering how this dungeon''s monsters were gone and that fucking snake ATE our sword shes. AND SWORDS."


    I didn''t respond, just carefully observing the hydra.


    But as I observed the hydra, it was observing me too. No, not just me, but also Dad and Pierre.


    ...This definitely wasn''t a simple-minded beast.


    The hydra was clearly assessing us based on ourbat potential.


    And it also seemed to realize that its best attack wasn''t working since it wasn''t bothering to gather up more of those white mes.


    ...But that begged the question.


    What other bullshit tricks is this snake hiding?


    Was it going to go into a phase two as soon as we cut a head off and turn into Yamata no Orochi or something? It was already clearly a suped up version of the Lernaean Hydra with those nine heads.


    Hell, I wouldn''t be surprised if it started infinitely spawning heads the more we cut.


    Dad moved in front of me and then nced back. "What''s the n, Rudy? Do we run?"


    Pierre frowned. "That would be the safest bet... But I''m guessing you''re saying no to that n."


    "Of course." I held up my left hand again and said, "What kind of father would I be if I ran away when my daughter is right there?"


    Dad reached up to crack his neck and then lowered his hands. "Alright then. Guess it''s time for me to test if I can do the whole ''body as sword'' thing..."


    Pierre let out a deep sigh. "Please don''t. It doesn''t work with a squishy human body. I''ve tried."


    "Well, what else am I supposed to-"


    Magic circles red in front of me as Iunched three water balls.


    One, made of mana. Another, gathered and carried by mana. And then a third gathered andunched by mana.


    The first dissolved like my sword.


    The second harmlessly sshed against the hydra.


    And the third flew back right at me.


    I caught it and dispersed it back into the air, but then I frowned. "...And this is why trump cards need to be decisive."


    It was a goddamned conceptual defense.


    I was watching closely as I shot those water balls, and there was no mistaking it.


    ''Something'' erased the mana when I attacked with the first two water balls. And ''something'' reversed the force of the third water ball that I shot at it with just pure physics.


    "Hah..."


    Dad looked at me and said, "So... you figured it out?"


    "Yeah. It''s a bullshit cheating conceptual defense."


    Dad blinked. "A what?"


    Pierre groaned. "I hate those. The number of ridiculous attacks I had to deal with in the past..."


    "Good to see you''re familiar, Pierre." I nodded and then started walking forward. "...You wouldn''t happen to have an ''absolute sh'' technique that conceptually tears apart anything and everything, do you?"


    Pierreughed. "I wish. Would have made my life a LOT easier in the past." He paused. "I HAVE seen one though... but it''s kind of impossible to recreate even for me. And no, Paul, you can''t do it."


    Dad clicked his tongue. "Bet I could. Give me like a month."


    "..." Pierre ignored him and then turned back to me. "Any bright ideas then?" He nced at the hydra and said, "That guy''s just watching us right now, but I don''t think he''ll do that forever."


    As if that was the cue, the hydra stepped forward, shaking the temple.


    I clicked my tongue. "Looks like it realizes it has the melee advantage, huh?"


    Pierre raised his sword, but he looked hesitant. "I... probably shouldn''t cut it, should I?"


    Dad raised his hands and said, "Wouldn''t hurt to try a light one, right? Worst thing is you get a light scratch."


    I waved them down and said, "You two keep an eye on Ena and wait for an opening to rescue her. Remember, the goal is to save her, not kill this thing. Besides, probably easier to figure out how to free her from that crystal than beat this cheating monster."


    Pierre blinked. "That... is actually a much smarter n than I would have thought of."


    Dadughed. "And you say that I''M the one who swings his sword at everything instead of thinking, Pierre."


    "You are. I at least-"


    Whatever they were saying next, I didn''t hear.


    As the hydra stepped forward, I jumped into the air and swung out my arm.


    As I did, magic circles red to life, armed with all the basic elements in multiple configurations.


    Icicles formed from mana, iciclesunched by mana, an imitation of the mana breath attack, poison gas, radiation,sers, rocks...


    In that moment, I threw everything and the kitchen sink to see if it really was a perfect conceptual defense.


    If it was, that fucking Being W was smarter than I thought considering I only used a conceptual weapon attack against him once, and he figured out how to give it to a random monster...


    Wait.


    No, it was probably just divine authority, right?


    That made more sense.


    ...But doesn''t that mean that conceptual attacks and defenses are the same as divine authority?


    And that meant that if you could do those-


    ''FOCUS.''


    Right. Think about thatter. At the moment, I had a snake to kill.


    A kaleidoscope of lights sshed across the hydra.


    I took in all the results in a single nce.


    Poison and radiation went through, but the hydra wasn''t affected.


    Elemental attacks didn''t work, physical or not.


    Mana breath attack imitation just sshed off...


    One of the hydra''s head lunged at me. Another sent out a st of regr mes. Another still sent out a st of icicles. Yet another sent out lightning.


    I dodged the lunge and then tried grabbing the elemental attacks to send them back.


    It was mana, so I could direct it.


    Unfortunately, said attacks dispersed all the same.


    "It seems like the defense doesn''t discriminate..."


    I was hoping Being W took some notes from the Lernaean Hydra myth and made the thing weak to its own attacks. But it seemed like he was smarter than that.


    Dad and Pierre dashed around the hydra, but they were chased by a few free heads and sted with elemental attacks too.


    Unfortunately for the hydra, both of them were swordsmen who knew how to cut through magic spells...


    And Dad was a crazy guy who could even do that with his body?


    ...The Rudy Effect was a thing, huh?


    But anyway... how to beat this thing?


    Dad and Pierre wouldn''t have an issue saving Ena, and I could definitely distract this thing long enough.


    But the problem was that it was using Ena as a mana battery. And I didn''t know how long that range for said battery connection was.


    Knowing Being W, he probably also cheated with that and linked the two with his divine authority as well, meaning infinite range.


    And also, Ena''s wings were changing color, the white slowly being stained ck.


    A cliche fallen angel scenario.


    ...And judging by the developments, she''d be going insane and try to destroy the world,pletely forgetting who she was until thest moment where she killed herself to save the world from herself.


    Yeah, no.


    Dad dodged a head lunging from him and said, "Rudy? Distraction please?!"


    Pierre deflected a head and winced, spinning with the recoil towards another head. But he swung his de and then used that force to dodge... somehow parrying the reflected sh?


    Okay, definitely need to have that continually dyed chat with Pierre about what exactly he was and not just ''who.''


    Pierrended on the ground and dashed forward, weaving through a trio of hydra heads. As he did, he said, "Need you to stop spacing out, Rudy!"


    "...Hah." I looked down at the hydra from my spot in the air. "Was hoping I wouldn''t have to use this right now, but an emergency''s an emergency."


    The hydra''s defense was two-pronged.


    On one hand, it prevented magical attacks bypletely erasing the mana behind them.


    On the other, it reversed and redirected physical attacks it received on the attacker.


    In theory, a perfect defense.


    But you see, the thing with conceptual attacks and defenses is that details were important, along with interpretation.


    If someone was ''immune to fire'' for example, they''d think they wouldn''t be able to be burned. However, ''immune to fire'' wasn''t the same as being ''immune to burns,'' and they''d be in for a rough awakening when they got sprayed with superheated steam or acid.


    So while the hydra was immune to ''attacks using mana'' and it ''reflected physical attacks to the attacker''... that was it.


    So.


    Logically, if you used an attack that wasn''t quite ''mana'' and if the hydra was hit by a physical ''phenomenon'' instead of an ''attack'', the defense wouldn''t trigger.


    And as for which of those avenues I was going to pierce the hydra''s defense...


    I conjured a thin sheet of reflective metal in my hands.


    The hydra pulled its heads to stare at me, carefully observing my actions.


    Smart. I was definitely the most dangerous one here to it.


    Unfortunately...


    "You can be proud, Hydra. You were definitely strong. But strength isn''t everything."


    I lined up the mirror in my field of vision, splitting the hydra in half.


    On both sides of the mirror, the hydra''s other half of the body was reflected.


    ...It didn''t do anything.


    This was just for aiding my visualization for my next move.


    And as for that move...


    "<Space Inversion>."


    An instantaneous effect.


    Space bent and twisted as the hydra suddenly started to blur.


    Ominous ck smoke spilled out as ''something'' tried to stop the twisting space.


    Unfortunately, this wasn''t an ''attack.''


    It was an ''event.''


    You see, it took a lot of know-how into space and time dimensions to be able to hop to and from an alternate timeline.


    I had managed to get there with brute force, willpower, and mana the first time by following Ste, but the way back definitely wasn''t as simple.


    Of course, I made it LOOK simple. Had to show off to my lovely wives, parents, and sister, after all.


    But it was actually a lot of careful calctions and knowing how shifting certain spatial coordinates could create a domino effect of copsing space dimensions.


    All of that to say-


    *st*


    ...The hydra was toast.


    A mass of scaly ck flesh fell to the ground in front of the white crystal.


    I let out a sigh and thennded on the ground.


    Dad looked at me and then said, "You couldn''t have done that from the start?"


    I brushed off some dust from my coat and said, "Had to make sure. It would have ended poorly if that hydra reflected literally everything instead of just attacks."


    ...Though in hindsight, maybe it would have been a good time to test if I could brainwash a monster with subliminal imagery.


    Darn. Next time. Definitely next time...


    Pierre sighed and ced a hand on his head. "I''m never going to stop being surprised by what else you can pull out of your hat, am I?"


    "Until we beat Being W for good, no."


    Pierre shook his head and then turned towards Ena. "Alright. Now we just have to- Wait." He paused.


    Dad frowned and said, "What''s up, Pierre? Is there something-" He paused, looking like he suddenly realized something.


    For a split second, I wondered what that was.


    And then I realized it.


    "If the hydra''s the boss..."


    Pierre finished for me. "Why is Ena not freed?"


    Dad''s eyes widened and he grabbed Pierre before jumping to the side.


    The moment he did, ck tendrils shot out from the hydra''s body, aimed right at Ena''s heart.


    I warped through space and spun around to intercept them. "Like hell!"


    A ten-fold barrier red into existence, deflecting the tendrils.


    But they quickly spun around for another attack, this time emitting a ck smoke.


    I clicked my tongue and then swung out my right hand, aiming it at the white crystal.


    A st of pure force, sending the crystal ricocheting towards the back of the temple.


    ...Sorry Ena, but Dad''s gotta be a bit rough right now.


    Ena''s crystal crashed against the back wall beforending on the floor, unscathed.


    Dad immediately ran over there.


    Pierre did as well, but he turned around to look at me.


    I waved with my right hand and said, "Get Ena out of-"


    *sching*


    A clean cut and a sudden loss of feeling in my lower half.


    I looked down to see my legs suddenly copse on their own while the ck tendrils pulled back.


    "RUDY!"


    Dad yelled and took a step forward.


    Pierre held him back with one arm and said, "Not now!" With his other, he swung his sword and made a portal back to the surface.


    Dad hesitated and then shouted. "Don''t be reckless, Rudy!"


    Iughed. "Reckless?"


    The shadowy tendrils pulled back to the ck mass that became the hydra. Maybe since it considered me harmless now.


    Silly hydra. You aren''t the only one with god-tier regen skills and an undying body.


    I waved my left hand and pulled my body back together with mana. With my right, I warped through the temple tond next to Dad.


    He blinked and then let out a relieved sigh before pping me on the back. "Don''t scare me like that, Kid! You know what your wives will do to me if they find out that-"


    I grabbed Ena''s crystal and said, "Talkter, run now!"


    With that as our cue, we all jumped through the portal Pierre made.


    An earthshaking roar echoed from behind us, but before anything could happen, we were through the portal.


    Inded on the ground and then let out a deep sigh.


    Dadughed and said, "Well... That was an adventure and a half."


    Pierre groaned. "I hate variables. SO much."


    I chuckled and said, "Tell that to Being W when we get to him."


    The portal had popped us out near Rapan instead of the entrance to the Teleportation Labyrinth.


    Smart. The more distance we put between us and the hydra... or whatever it had be, the better.


    I sighed and then walked over to examine Ena.


    She was still trapped in the crystal, but thankfully that corrosive mana had stopped. Her wings were still stained ck, but it didn''t look like it was getting worse.


    Seeing that, I shook my head and let out a soft smile. "Sorry I''mte, Ena. But Daddy will get you out of there as soon as possible. Just wait a bit more."


    Dad gave me a weird look.


    I noticed and looked back at him. "What?"


    "I know that should be touching and all, Rudy, but..." Dad looked at Ena before saying, "...It''s kind of weird for a grown man to be saying to someone who looks like a grown woman, isn''t it?"


    I snorted. "Please. As if Mama Lily doesn''t call you that in the bedroom."


    Dad blushed. "W-What?! Did they talk about that?! How did you know!?"


    Pierre let out a deep sigh and said, "Can we please focu-"


    A sudden tremor, causing all the sand around us to shift.


    I froze, suddenly realizing something.


    We were far from the entrance of the Teleportation Labyrinth since the city of Rapan was a fair bit away.


    ...But ording to what I mapped out, the boss room was directly below the city. Meaning-


    I quickly mmed my hand against the ground began making a defensive tower. "MISTAKES WERE MADE!"


    A giant stone pirunched us into the air before hardening into a glossy obsidian tower with Ena safely stored on a pedestal.


    And immediately after that, the ground split apart as the giant behemoth bones hanging over Rapan were sucked into the ground, creating giant sinkholes all around Lapan.


    ...Okay. Definitely should have seen thating.


    From the sinkholes, swarms of monsters started emerging. Giant ants, spiders, bats... Basically all the monsters that should have been in the Teleportation Labyrinth but weren''t.


    I stared at the ensuing chaos and the people desperately fending off the monsters for a moment, wondering what to do.


    Ruijerd, Laws, and Rostelina were in the mix down there, fending off monsters left and right. They''d also organized the adventurers and looked to be carving out an escape path for everyone.


    In the distance, I could see Eos, Rnd, and Cliff racing over with their forces...


    Things would probably be fine if the city held out for about five minutes until everyone got there.


    ...It looked like it might be tough at this rate though.


    I nced over at Dad and Pierre.


    Dad stared at me and then raised his hands. "Hey, I know I said that with great poweres great responsibility, but how am I supposed to fight without a-"


    I pulled up a mass of sand, hyperpressed it into a sword, did a bit of particle shimmying to strengthen it, and then handed it over to Dad.


    He gave me a nk stare and then sighed, grabbing the ssy sword I just made. "Making your old man do all the grunt work, huh? I see how it is..."


    After saying that, Dad jumped off the roof and shed the air, falling through a portal right over a swarm of monsters.


    Pierre stared at where Dad left and then sighed. "I''m never gonna hear the end of it if I let Rosie do all the fighting..."


    After that, he left to join the fight as well.


    Which meant it was just me and Ena here on the tower.


    ...Huh. Come to think of it, this was simr to how I first arrived in the Magic Continent, wasn''t it? Me and Ste on a ck tower with chaos unfolding all around, and then Ruijerd-


    ''Rudy.''


    I blinked.


    Speak of the devil... demon...


    ...Anyway.


    ''Yes?''


    ''We have a problem.''


    I looked out into the city with irvoyance to track down Ruijerd.


    He was doing fine though and easily fending off monsters left and right with his spear.


    I frowned. ''I assume you don''t mean this giant monster problem?''


    Ruijerd smacked a spider away and shook his head. ''No. Rika just sent me an emergency call. A group of humans are attacking Arcadia, iming themselves to be heroes sent to end the Demon Lord''s lineage and free the humans brainwashed by the Demon Lord''s magic.''


    "...Not very creative, but I guess ssics are ssics for a reason." I muttered. But...


    ''Orsted is there though, right?''


    ''He is. But the group of humans include the Sword God, Water God, and a hidden tactician that seems to be causing a great deal of trouble.''


    I let out a deep sigh.


    Still...


    ''Focus on this situation first, Ruijerd. That side looks like it might be bad, but I ced the ultimate trap card there.''


    ''...Pardon?''


    ''...They''ll be fine. Now, do your best to clean that up with everyone else so that-''


    *clink*


    I blinked and looked over to Ena''s crystal.


    ...Was I imagining things? I thought I heard-


    *clink*


    A soft sound. Crystal ttering against stone.


    I blinked and then realized that Ena''s crystal had shifted a bit.


    Not because it was cracking or because she was trying to break free. But instead, like it was being pulled somewhere.


    Wait.


    My eyes widened and I quickly created a set of chains to wrap around Ena''s crystal. At the same time, I made a cube from magic barriers to hold it in ce.


    And not a moment too soon, Ena''s crystal flew and crashed against the side of the barriers.


    "Son of a bitch!" I spun around to re at the city and said, "Learn when to quit! My daughter isn''t yours to date, woo, or stalk!"


    An earthshaking roar echoed in response.


    At the same time, a towering figure began to form nearby.


    Not near the city, but almost directly in front of the makeshift tower I just made.


    In response, I clicked my tongue and reached into my personal pocket space for something to deal with this.


    Nuke?


    No, too dangerous.


    Demonying de?


    Wasn''t sure if that ssified as a demon, so wouldn''t work very well.


    Godying de?


    Tempting, but saving that for Being W. Not to mention the replica of it didn''t work against the hydra, so let''s not tempt things.


    Sword of Promised Victory?


    Akito and I made a working prototype, but probably not the best thing to use right now.


    No, weapons wouldn''t help. At least, not while I had to keep an eye on Ena.


    Instead...


    I pulled out three badges from my pocket space.


    It was kind of the reverse of what Ste had. Instead of calling me to the person who had the matching badge, I called that person to me.


    And as for the three people who could help best right now...


    Well, they''d be here in like three minutes, but the sooner the better. So...


    "I choose you, Rnd, Eos, Cliff!"


    I chucked the badges on the ground.


    Magic circles red to life before Rnd, Eos, and Cliff appeared.


    Rnd and Eos quickly recovered, but Cliff staggered a bit, shaking his head before focusing.


    I wanted to brief them on the entire situation, but there wasn''t time. So instead, I said, "Rnd, Eos, get ready to protect us. Cliff, get over here and help me get Ena out of this thing."


    The moment I said that, a ck shadowy maw materialized out of thin air, lunging towards the tower and trying to devour us all.


    I narrowed my eyes and prepared to st it away.


    But my kids were faster.


    Rnd swung his sword, smacking the shadowy head to the side.


    At the same time, Eos red at the thing and swung out her arm. Her wings spread in the same moment before shining green. And then sand tornado burst into existence and scattered the shadowy creature, turning it back into ck tendrils.


    Which immediately started reforming when theynded on the ground into a more cohesive shape.


    ...Wait a minute.


    Shadowy tendrils. Freely shifting forms...


    Did this fucking guy steal ideas not just from me, but freaking my alternate selves too? Those are essentially nanomachines, aren''t they?


    Rnd raised his sword and said, "I don''t know what''s going on, Father." He nced at Ena and said, "But I presume you can handle this side?"


    I nodded. "Just keep that monster distracted." I pointed to Cliff and said, "We''ll get Ena out of this thing and wrap everything up."


    Eos rounded on Cliff and red at him with pure venom in her eyes. "You had better save her. If you can''t..."


    Cliff clenched his fists. "I will."


    Eos gave a stiff nod and then jumped off the tower, flying in the air.


    Rnd jumped off as well, but instead of flying, he plummeted straight towards the ground.


    And straight into the head of the reforming monster.


    A heavy impact reverberated and the monster let out a roar as it dispersed again.


    That was good. Especially since it stopped trying to suck in Ena''s crystal when-


    Ahem.


    Especially since the force pulling Ena in dispersed when it took a heavy blow.


    But anyway.


    I looked at Cliff and then gestured towards Ena. "It''s up to you, Cliff."


    Cliff blinked and then pointed at himself. "M-Me? I-I thought we would both be-"


    "I''m pinned down here to make sure Ena isn''t suddenly pulled into that thing. If I wasn''t, I could resolve that quick, but since I am, it''s up to you."


    That was a lie.


    Even though I was technically pinned down, I had learned my lesson from the situation with Ste and had a trump card I could pull out here if I really needed to.


    But this was a good time to see just how much Cliff liked Ena. And also to see how much Ena liked Cliff.


    ...No I wasn''t being a meddlesome old father who wanted to see his daughter get with a good man.


    And I definitely wasn''t shipping them, despite what Ste might say.


    I just wanted to make sure my daughter was in capable hands.


    Cliff shook his head. "I-I don''t know about this..." He looked at me and said, "How am I supposed to do free her?"


    "Figure it out. You''re a genius."


    Cliff flinched and said, "That''s wrong. I''m not a genius. I''m just a fool who got the one he loved into a terrible situation-"


    "All the more reason to save her. And besides, if a genius says you''re a genius, you''re a genius. Now." I stared at him and said, "If you really love my daughter... and if those aren''t just empty words you''ve been saying these past few years, save her and show me that you deserve her."


    Cliff hesitated. But then he took a deep breath and nodded. "I''ll try."


    "There is no try, there is only do. Now do."


    Cliff nodded. "I understand. Then..." He took a deep breath and walked up to Ena''s crystal. After cing his hand on it, he muttered, "...I will save you, Ena. I must."


    I nodded and watched as Cliff focused.


    It would be a bit tough for him.


    The corrosive mana had taken root in Ena, and the crystal itself was another type of mana on top of it.


    It wasn''t a simple a solution as just chisel the crystal away or dissolve it.


    Instead, you had to perfectly separate Ena from the crystal and corruption while maintaining her sense of self.


    ...It was a bitplicated to exin, but basically you had to strengthen Ena''s sense of self and mana while weakening the influence of the mana in the crystal and that corrosive mana seeping into her body.


    There were a few ways to do that, but Cliff was just researching into an avenue that could make that easy.


    Now to just see if I had to cklist the guy from my future son-inw list after all or not.


    But that aside.


    While I held out my right hand to maintain the barriers keeping Ena''s crystal in ce, I looked up at the sky.


    It wasn''t visible, but I was sure that Being W was sitting there, gloating at this whole ordeal.


    ...Keep onughing, Being W. You''re a clever bastard, but you''re no genius.


    You might be able to manipte the ''flow'' of the world with Fate and Destiny, and you might be able to steal notes from me, but you sure as hell can''t copy my bullshit asspulls I prepared just to beat your ass.


    ...Hm. Might be hanging around dad just a biiit too much recently. Or maybe I''m taking after him too much.


    Note to self: Add a chapter about crudenguage and its influence on children in the Greyrat guide for dummies.


    But anyway.


    I shifted my gaze back in the direction of Arcadia.


    Being W might have thought he pulled off a checkmate here by reading three moves ahead.


    But jokes on him.


    I''m ying F*re Embl*m.

 200 – The Angelic Daughter’s Insecurity

    200 ¨C The Angelic Daughter¡¯s Insecurity


    It was a mistake that unfolded in an instant.


    She didn''t realize until it was already toote.


    Her father always said that her life was the most important. That she shouldn''t do something reckless like throw it away for someone else.


    Even so...


    "The blinding light of my love for you shines brighter than a thousand suns! Nay, words are inadequate to profess my love for you! Please, ept it!"


    Those words and the myriad other sincere but awkward derations he made flickered in her mind.


    That young man was weird, but earnest.


    She remembered that when she first rescued him with her father, that young man had been a sniveling child, terrified at everything in the distortion.


    It was honestly a bit pathetic.


    At the time, she had been small too, but she still followed Daddy around to fight.


    But after he was rescued, that then boy, now young man began following her around. With bright and shining eyes, he kept pestering her about needing anything or if there was anything he could do for her.


    She didn''t know how to respond to such scary sincerity, so she ignored him and ran away when he tried to talk to her.


    Then time passed. She didn''t see him for a while since she followed Daddy around into more distortions.


    Because of that, she got bigger, and he got bigger too.


    When they met again, the young man was still weird. Every time he looked at her, he had that strange bright look in his eyes. He also smiled too much and seemed a bit too cheery.


    But he had be more serious. Despite his appearance, he managed to rein it in when they worked together and were in public.


    Because of that, she started to feel a bit more rxed around him... though he was still a bit weird.


    But after the revolution at Millishion, the young man changed again. Although he still looked at her with clear affection, he was calm and collected. He could even have a normal conversation with her without breaking into cheesy promations of love.


    That was why she epted his request to help in his research.


    It was an interesting idea, and she was also interested on why he had changed.


    She thought Daddy would appreciate the results of the research, and she knew she would appreciate learning on why that weird young man had changed.


    Fun.


    She could say without a doubt that those times were fun.


    Researching into whether a true ''heaven'' could exist where people could rest after they died and be reborn. And if it didn''t, whether they could create one.


    She thought it was possible. And she enjoyed reading the stories about Saint Milis and seeing which parts could be reproduced.


    He always joked about how they were practically doing sphemy, but that it was fine since an angel was on their side.


    She thought he was ridiculous as always... but it wasn''t as awkward at least.


    As they spent time together, it became apparent that the young man was smart and thoughtful. And also that he was very busy those days.


    Even so, she remembered that he made time to bring her meals when she was lost in research.


    Of course, it was him who should be eating considering how often he forgot his meals as well.


    She thought he was silly that way. Still a weird and awkward person... although strangely considerate of her.


    So she asked him. One day, while they were finishing up an experiment on the nature of light, she asked him why he was so considerate.


    She knew that she was beautiful and attractive. Daddy always warned her of that, and Grandpa too.


    ...And especially after that ''incident,'' she began to notice just how much people stared at her.


    But their gazes were always lewd and dark.


    His wasn''t. Still, she asked him.


    "Why do you like me?"


    Was it because she was pretty? Because he liked how she looked?


    He hadughed. Staring at her with his dark brown eyes, he had let out a soft smile and said, "You are indeed beautiful, ***. But that is not why I treat you well or like you."


    "Then why?"


    She remembered it.


    For her, it had been a casual question. But for him, it wasn''t.


    He had stared at her for a while and then said, "Milis teaches us that we will find a single true love within our lives. And from the moment I met you, I knew that I had found mine."


    She had been confused and asked why he thought so highly of the words from a fake god.


    He hadughed. "A fake god... whenpared to your father, Milis does seem so. Still." He had ced his hand over his heart and let out a soft smile. "Even if that teaching is fake, I know that this feeling is true."


    She couldn''t understand.


    But he realized it and borated.


    "I admired your courage to go into distortions as a small girl and fight. I adored your genius to use magic in such a radiant manner. I appreciated your intelligence in knowing various fields of study. And..." He again let out that soft smile and said, "I cannot help but be struck by your pure soul."


    He was wrong. She wasn''t brave. She just wasn''t scared because she was with Daddy.


    She wasn''t a magical genius, she was made that way.


    She wasn''t smart or intelligent, she was given that ability by her father.


    As for a pure soul... how could she be pure when she still got angry, upset, sad...


    She didn''t understand him. And she told him so.


    But he simply smiled and said, "That is proof enough that I am correct."


    He was weird. And again, she told him that.


    But he simply smiled and said, "I suppose I am. The future Pope falling in love with the daughter of a heretic god... and a Demon Lord at that. But even so... if I must live in a world without you, Ena, then I do not want to live at all."


    ...Weird.


    He was weird.


    ...But she realized it then.


    She was weird too.


    Because...


    ...She wasn''t real, but acted like she was.


    She knew it. And her sister did as well.


    Although Daddy treated them like his children, they were created as ''tools'' first. They weren''t ''born'' as children.


    She knew that he loved them now and cared for them as family. And she knew that he did so shortly after they were born.


    But she also knew that Daddy didn''t n for them to be children at all.


    And she told him that.


    Since he cared so much, she wanted to tell him how she felt. And that it wouldn''t work.


    But he didn''t care.


    "You are here, alive, and well. That is all that matters to me. And, like that ''fake'' saying... even if you are a ''fake'' too, my feelings for you are true. I can promise you this."


    It was weird.


    He was weird.


    ...And so was she.


    A fleeting scene.


    She didn''t know why she was recalling it.


    ...Ah.


    She knew why.


    When the window into <Heaven> copsed, she had felt the mana surge first.


    Without thinking, she had jumped in front of him and pushed him aside. Saved him, instead of herself.


    Daddy would have scolded her. And her sister would have scolded her too.


    After all, her life was the most important. That was what they always said.


    But...


    ''...I think ***** is a little important too.''


    Thest thought she had before the light enveloped her.


    "...na!"


    ...It was a pity. He was wasting his time.


    Although she appeared human, her body was mana imitating flesh.


    Even if she suffered a mortal wound, as long as there was mana, she could restore it.


    So she couldn''t be with him. He was human, and she was a construct in the shape of a human. One that only had the good fortune to be called a child by the one who created her.


    ...And she could feel it now. The ''her'' that had been created by Daddy was melting away.


    "...NA!"


    She was dissolving. ''Something'' else was filling her up and changing her. And when that was done, she would be gone.


    Scary.


    It was scary.


    She was scared.


    She wanted to cry out for Daddy to help.


    She wanted to activate the pendant he gave her for emergencies.


    But she couldn''t move. Her body wasn''t under her control. Her mana wasn''t under control. ''She'' wasn''t under control.


    And at this rate, she herself would disappear.


    "...won''t...! ...that happen!"


    ''Huh?''


    It was a voice.


    Not an echo of a memory, but a true voice.


    It was muffled and hard to hear, but it was definitely there.


    And it was familiar.


    But... who?


    Static filled her mind.


    The name and face that should havee to mind didn''t.


    She was starting to forget.


    The strange ''something'' eating away at her was causing her to crumble away.


    "I won''t let you go! I won''t let it take you away!"


    A young man''s voice, clear and familiar.


    It was toote.


    She couldn''t even remember her own name.


    But...


    If this was thest thing she would remember...


    She opened her eyes.


    A beautiful orange sky without a cloud in sight.


    Her father, standing nearby with his arms outstretched and straining to hold something at bay.


    And there, right in front of her...


    "Take my hand, Ena! Even if you think you are just a dream, even if you do not care about your life... I care! I care a lot! So please...! Don''t give up! Please!"


    She saw him. An image that would remain etched in her heart forever.


    A young man with ck bangs and dark brown eyes. A face that was always a bit too sincere when talking to her in the past, filled with emotions she couldn''t understand.


    But a face that was crying right now, etched with deep sorrow and despair.


    ...That wasn''t right.


    He shouldn''t be like that.


    Even if she didn''t remember who she was, she knew that.


    A gentle warmth.


    Not like her father, who was a sun that could light up the universe.


    But a soft candlelight illuminating her way in the dark.


    Something that was always there, sometimes too dim, sometimes too bright, but always reliable.


    ...She remembered.


    His name was Cliff.


    And she was-


    "ENA!"

 201 – Trap Card

    201 ¨C Trap Card


    Ena fell into Cliff''s arms, the crystal shattering around her.


    Cliff held her close, trembling as he muttered apology after apology.


    Ena let out a serene smile and simply leaned against him, holding him close.


    It was a touching sight. And one that I would whole-heartedly approve.


    ...If not for the fact that my beloved daughter was naked now.


    Ena had been fully-clothed while in the crystal, but apparently whatever Cliff had done to take her out caused her clothes to shred.


    ...Though considering how Ena routinely wore clothes made from her own mana when she was rxing, maybe that wasn''t too surprising.


    But anyway, good to see that my eldest daughter was okay.


    Although her pure white wings had a faint tinge of ck around the edges now (which made me dock a few points from Cliff''s reputation in my books) she seemed fine, if a bit dazed.


    And from how happy she looked, plus the way Cliff was acting, it looked like my daughter was in good hands.


    Oh, and he finally realized she was naked and immediately covered her up with his robes.


    Cliff reputation points, recovered.


    Now, if only I could find someone to entrust Eos with.


    Considering how my second daughter was both bold and oblivious enough to pluck a strange out of the crowd for a date, I worried for her.


    But speaking of Eos...


    I shifted my gaze over to the battlefield.


    The behemoth whose corpse had been over Lapan had been resurrected, and it kept trying to use Ena as its core.


    Of course, Rnd and Eos vehemently denied the stubborn monster and beat him into the ground repeatedly.


    But again, the behemoth was stubborn and kept getting up even when it was blown apart.


    Thankfully, it seemed to finally be over now that Ena had been freed.


    And as a result, Eos and Rnd were heading back up.


    I waved at my children as theynded on the roof.


    Well, as Eos dropped Rnd off after carrying him up beforending next to him.


    "Good job, you two."


    Rnd sheathed his sword and said, "It''s only natural, Father." He turned to look at Ena and said, "An older brother has to protect his younger sister."


    Eos turned to look at Ena as well, and then raised an eyebrow. Looking at Cliff and back at Ena, she chuckled and said, "It looks like Cliff finally won her over, huh?"


    I gave her a side-eye and said, "Jealous?"


    Eos scoffed. "I like handsome and capable men, not pretty boy nerds like him."


    ...Duly noted. My daughter likes trashy and unreliable men... who are probably in the same vein as her grandfather.


    Or in other words, people that both me, Dad, and just about everyone in our family would heavily disapprove of.


    ...And likely beat up if we found out he was anywhere near Eos within a mile radius.


    Rnd sighed and looked at Eos. "That''s going to get you into troubleter on in life, Sister."


    Eos waved her hand. "I''m a smart woman. I''ve already taken steps to avoid that... And besides, I''ll have Father and all of our Mothers vet them first."


    Rnd blinked and then said, "Does anyone exist who would earn all of their approval...?"


    Eos shrugged. "I''m in no rush."


    Rnd sighed and then turned to look at me. "In any case... is that all, Father?" He nced back at the city and said, "There aren''t any other unexpected variables, are there?"


    I chuckled. "They wouldn''t be unexpected variables if we were expecting them, would they?"


    Rnd paused. "...True."


    I smiled and said, "No worries." I looked up at the sky and said, "Although that guy cheated, we won."


    And he also didn''t have as many ass-


    ''Trump cards'' like me, so this would be the end of it.


    "...Can''t wait to bash his head in though."


    Eos looked up at the sky and cracked her knuckles. "I can''t wait either. To take advantage of Ena like this..."


    Rnd tapped his sword, letting out a fierce grin. "Neither can I. I am... quite looking forward to speaking with that man."


    Iughed and said, "We can make it a whole family-"


    A sudden roar echoed in the distance. The ground split open and a thousand headed hydra began to rise from the sand.


    Rnd looked at it and said, "You have fucking GOT to be kidding me."


    Eos nced at Rnd and said, "You broke character, Dear Brother."


    "Like I fucking care." He pointed at the hydra and said, "How the FUCK do we kill something like-"


    I snapped my fingers.


    A sh appeared in the sky.


    At the same time, barriers shed around Lapan and the tower.


    And then a meteor crashed into the desert, turning the remaining sand into ss and the hydra into dust.


    Silence.


    Then Rnd slowly turned to look at me. "Father. Please do not tell me you could have just done that this whole time."


    I held up my hands and said, "Hey, AOE spells are dangerous, and something like summoning a meteor from orbit requires precise calctions. Something I can''t do while keeping your sister from being pulled away."


    "..."


    Rnd stared at me.


    Eos stared at me.


    Even Cliff and Ena stared at me.


    I coughed and then snapped my fingers again.


    The hydra''s corpse slowly sank beneath the sand. At the same time, water burst from the ground and lush grass began spreading.


    Before long, coursing rivers and ponds began to form... and then the Begaritto Continent, famous for its desert and heat, had now be a lush savanna.


    ...This would COMPLETELY wreck the ecology, climate, and ecosystem here, but considering the mythological-grade events that just urred, I think the people would forgive me.


    And if not, well... it''s a positive, so I didn''t care too much.


    Beggars can''t be choosers and all that jazz.


    But anyway...


    Since we were done here, let''s wrap up and go check on the captured idiot heroes back in Arcadia.


    -LIV-


    A beautiful courtyard with a marble water fountain in the center. Flowerbeds lined the path around the water fountain, while lush white trees with fluffy white leaves and golden trim provided shade for any visitors.


    ...Ordinarily.


    But right now, that peaceful courtyard had been devastated, turn into a warzone.


    The water fountain was split clean in half, a geyser spraying water in its ce.


    The flower beds were trampled and torn apart.


    The trees were severed with haphazard shes andid on the ground in various branches and chunks.


    Even the paved paths and neatly manicuredwn was ripped up from heavybat.


    Even so, while the peaceful setting had been turned chaotic withbat, a single person remained serene.


    Orsted stood in the center of the courtyard, a shimmering katana in his left hand. His white coat was unblemished, with not even a speck of dust on it.


    His opponents on the other hand...


    In front of Orsted, three people who dared to call themselves ''Gods'' knelt.


    Aleksander Ryback, the North God of the North God Style, also known as Kalman III.


    Gal Farion, the Sword God of the Sword God Style.


    And Reida Reia, the Water God of the Water God Style.


    Of course, they weren''t the only ones who had dared to invade <Zenithia> where Rudy''s family was staying.


    But they were the only ones strong enough to reach so far.


    Even so, it wasn''t enough.


    Orsted stared at the three before him and assessed the situation.


    Aleksander''s legs were severed, and the tendons in his arms were cut and seared, preventing him from moving. He was only kneeling because he had stubbornly gripped his sword before then and used it as a crutch.


    Of course, that was temporary. Since he had Atofe''s bloodline as her grandson, he would recover soon enough.


    Behind Aleksander was Gal Farion.


    Unlike Aleksander, the man only had two wounds. But both were ruinous for a swordsman.


    A deep gash on his left arm had severed the muscles needed to raise it. And his right hand had beenpletely severed.


    Unless he met a God-ranked healer willing to heal him, his time as a swordsman was finished.


    As for thest opponent, Reida Reia knelt on the ground next to Gal Farion.


    Like him, she only had two wounds. And like him, they were ruinous for a sword user, especially a Water God Style user like herself.


    Both of her legs had been severed clean at her shins with the wounds seared shut.


    A simple reattachment wouldn''t work, and she''d need a God-ranked healer as well.


    Still, although they were in this state, it wasn''t that they were weak.


    Orsted had to admit that it would have been troublesome to deal with them all while also protecting Rudy''s wives and unborn children. As a single person, even though he no longer had a limit on his mana, it still would have been a tense situation.


    But he hadn''t been alone.


    Orsted nced off to his right at his helper.


    There stood a white-haired muscr woman with blue skin, crimson eyes with ck sclera, a horn on her forehead, and a maid outfit.


    ...Orsted thought it was a strange outfit, but he acknowledged that this loop was stranger than most, so he didn''tment on it.


    Atofe spat on the ground and said, "You damned brat!" She stomped towards Aleksander and then kicked the sword away.


    "Grand-"


    "Shut up!"


    Atofe swung her heel down on the back of his head, mming his face into the dirt. For good measure, she ground her heel into the back of his head and said, "I swore to Emperor Rudras and his crazy wives that my entire bloodline would work for him, and you pull of this crazy shit? What the hell were you thinking!?"


    Aleksander turned his head to the side and spat out a mouthful of dirt. After that, he looked up at Atofe and said, "I wanted to be a hero! And I had a divine revtion! If I gathered up the other sword gods-"


    Atofe pulled her heel back and then twisted her body, mming her other foot into Aleksander''s ribs. "Divine revtion my ass!"


    Aleksander winced and then immediately curled up into a ball, tears streaming down his face.


    Atofe clicked her tongue and then brushed the dirt off her maid outfit. After that, she turned to Orsted and pulled out the sides of her skirt for a curtsey. "Sorry about that, Lord Orsted."


    Orsted let out an amused smile.


    Although he had good feelings about this loop, even if it failed, Orsted had enough memories tost for a thousand more from this time alone.


    After all, when else would he see the prideful Atoferatofe Rybak so demure?


    "It''s fine." He nced at Aleksander and said, "You helped save me some trouble."


    At those words, Gal Farion let out a bitterugh. "Trouble?" He shook his head and looked at Orsted like he was staring at a monster. "Just you alone would have been enough. But to face the Immortal Demon King as well..."


    Reida Reia let out a deep sigh and said, "I had honed <Deprivation Kingdom> after shing with that man before... But I see that it''s meaningless before the true Dragon God."


    Orsted didn''t respond. Instead, he spread his awareness around the surroundings to check for hidden assants.


    Inside the pce, there was Eris, Roxy, Rika, and Sylphy all resting in a hidden safe room beneath the entrance hall andyered with myriad protective measures.


    There was also Norn, Aisha, and Ste, who were stubbornly patrolling the pce despite repeated warnings by himself and others.


    The twelve remaining captains of the White Knights were also patrolling, led by Astolfo...


    But there didn''t seem to be anyone else.


    Even so, Orsted didn''t lower his guard.


    Like Rudy said, and like Orsted had experienced, Hito- No, ''Being W'' was a tricky god.


    He always struck at a moment ofcency.


    So even though it seemed they were in the clear, Orsted stayed wary.


    Silence filled the air.


    And then eventually, Gal Farion looked up at Orsted and said, "Are you going to kill us?"


    With those words, everyone else turned to look at Orsted as well.


    Orsted was quiet for a moment, thinking. And then he said, "I would. You are that being''s apostles, and you are Rudy''s enemies." He narrowed his eyes and said, "Were I to face you alone on my own volition, you would undoubtedly perish."


    A pair of faint presences from the distance. Two young girls frantically running towards the courtyard.


    It caught Orsted off guard, but then he saw Norn, Aisha, and Ste huddled together in the pce with a magic artifact.


    Seeing that, Orsted smiled and shook his head. "You are fortunate that I am only here to protect at the will of another."


    Gal Farion looked confused.


    And then a female voice echoed from the far side of the courtyard.


    "DAD!"


    Gal Farion flinched and nced back.


    At that time, another female voice called out. "GRANDMA!"


    Reida flinched as well and looked back too.


    Nina and Isolte.


    Norn''s friends, and Ruijerd''s disciples who had been teleported to the Magic Continent for all these years and training.


    They had grown up, bingpetent young women.


    But at that time, they were nothing more than children, running up to their family members with tears in their eyes.


    Seeing that, Orsted looked at Gal Farion and Reida before saying, "I do not wish to see children in pain. And I am sure that you two do not either."


    Gal Farion sighed. "...You win."


    Reida sighed as well and then hugged Isolte. "I''m sorry, Child."


    Nina and Isolte were inconsble, still crying even as they were reunited with their family.


    But it was understandable.


    Unlike in many other times, from what Orsted heard, Nina and Isolte had been swept away to this foreignnd without any friends or family at a very young age.


    And as it had been impossible to return until recently...


    Well, it was indeed emotional.


    ...Seeing that made Orsted wonder a bit.


    If his mother and father were alive and he were to meet them... How would he feel?


    Lace- Or rather, ''Pierre'' didn''t count. Adoptive brother he may be, Orsted had only learned the truth recently, so there were mixed emotions there.


    Particrly considering the number of times they fought each other to the death.


    And the number of times he had died to Lace in the early days.


    And...


    Hm.


    Was this because of Rudy?


    Orsted recognized that he was thinking in a way that he never did before.


    And on realizing that, he let out a light chuckle, letting his attentionpse for a brief moment.


    "Gisu!" Aleksander ripped his head away from beneath Atofe, blood spraying as he did. But then he raised his head to the sky and shouted. "Now!"


    Orsted froze and quickly spread his awareness.


    An ominous white magic formation appeared in the sky above.


    At the same time, Gisu appeared on a nearby tower, waving.


    The moment that appeared, Gal Farion and Reida broke away from Nina and Isolte, as if possessed.


    Orsted nced over at Atofe.


    Atofe clicked her tongue and then grabbed Nina and Isolte.


    And not a moment too soon.


    ck tendrils emerged from thin air and pierced into Gal Farion and Reida, sealing their wounds and regrowing their severed body parts.


    The same was true for Aleksander, who suddenly stood, grabbing his sword from the ground.


    Staring at Orsted, Aleksander grinned and said, "A Hero always has a trump card in y to save the day! Now!" He pointed his sword at Orsted and said, "Today, we y a dragon! For justice!"


    Orsted clicked his tongue. "That is not how a hero acts."


    He had seen plenty in the past. Brave men and women whoid their lives down to protect others. Those who charged against Lace in the future knowing they were no match.


    Compared to them, Aleksander was just a child, throwing a selfish tantrum.


    Aleksanderughed and said, "It''s for the greater good! Now... Have-"


    Gal Farion and Reida suddenly copsed.


    "H-Huh?" Aleksander looked surprised.


    Orsted ignored him and looked up at the sky.


    It was a man floating in the air. Silver hair, ominous green eyes... With silver mana emanating from his body and a tattered white cloak floating around him, he looked like someone who had just stepped out of ancient times.


    And he was someone that sent every instinct Orsted had on overdrive.


    This man... he was dangerous.


    The silver-haired man idly looked around the surroundings before locking eyes with Aleksander. After that, a crooked smile crossed his face and he said, "Greater good... I''ve fought for it, but I''ve always hated that term."


    It was different. The face, the voice, the demeanor.


    But Orsted could tell.


    The man standing there...


    "Lace?!"


    Atofe spoke first, her eyes wide in shock.


    ''Lace'' looked at her but didn''t respond. Instead, he shifted his gaze towards the magic circle and held out his hand. After that, he said two words.


    "<Mana Drain>."


    And then everything ended.

 202 – A Moment of Re-spite

    202 ¨C A Moment of Re-spite


    The white magic circle that appeared in the sky vanished.


    Aleksander slumped to the ground, unconscious and unmoving.


    The ck limbs that appeared on Gal Farion and Reida vanished.


    Gisu dissolved into a faint white mist.


    Then Nina fainted, followed by Isolte and Atofe.


    And like that, it was just Orsted and the person who must be Lace floating in the sky.


    For a moment, there was nothing but silence.


    But then ''Lace'' muttered, "It''s almost over now."


    Orsted tensed, wondering if he was going to do something else. At the same time, Orsted wracked his mind for a solution.


    That spell was something he had never seen before.


    In an instant, it had drained away the mana from the magic circle, and everyone but Orsted.


    Not only that, but there had been enough control to drain in separate level.


    Gisu became mana, Aleksander was drained enough to be a normal human (at least temporarily), the girls were drained enough to be knocked unconscious, and then Atofe was drained enough to faint.


    And it was instantaneous as well, with an incredible range.


    ...If that man wanted to, he likely could target Rudy''s family in a single moment.


    Thankfully, he hadn''t.


    Orsted could still sense them all in the pce, moving as they were. And the man also hadn''t targeted the knights.


    Even so... while he didn''t appear to emit animosity or hostility, he was dangerous.


    Orsted took in that information and ran through those thoughts in an instant.


    In the next, he decided to attack.


    Friendly or not, the man was too dangerous to be so close to Rudy''s family.


    But before Orsted could act, someone else did.


    A sh of brilliant golden light appeared in an instant.


    Arumanfi, swinging a sword at the silver-haired man''s neck.


    But it didn''t connect.


    No. It did, but the de suddenly dissolved, leaving Arumanfi unarmed.


    The silver-haired man idly nced at Arumanfi before clicking his tongue. "You are as quick to attack as always. Perugius is impatient, is he?"


    Arumanfi didn''t respond. Instead, he nced at Orsted below and back at the silver-haired man in front of him before saying, "It appears the message was true. But-"


    Before he could say anything else, a ck light enveloped Arumanfi and he vanished.


    And in that moment, Orsted crossed the gap between him and the silver-haired man and swung his sword.


    A thin silver line distorted the air.


    But like with Arumanfi, Orsted''s attack didn''t connect.


    And like with Arumanfi, Orsted suddenly found himself at the whim of his opponent, caught in mid-air by an invisible force.


    Thankfully, it seemed that Orsted could still move. But-


    "You can rx, Orsted."


    Orsted froze.


    A different face. A slightly different voice. But standing there in front of him, speaking in that way...


    "...Rudy?"


    The man let out a sad smile and then walked forward to pat Orsted''s shoulder. "It''s good to see you again. And I hope this ends well this time."


    Orsted was confused. But before he could do anything, he was back on the ground, and the man was gone.


    But a momentter, space rippled and Rudy walked onto the courtyard. Taking a quick look around, he frowned and then turned towards Orsted. "What''d I miss?"


    Orsted sighed.


    -RNG-


    "...I still think that you were dumb for not telling anyone about that, Onii-chan."


    I casually batted aside a flurry of fireballs from Fai, dodged an icicle spear from Wata, and punted Leo who was trying to bite my ankles.


    After that, I said, "When your archnemesis is a divine being who can see across the entire world and also acts petty for no reason, you can''t take any chances."


    We were in the training grounds out behind the pce.


    By ''we,'' I meant me and my younger sisters, Norn, Ste, and Aisha.


    Speaking of which-


    I tilted my head to the side to dodge a sh from behind by Norn and then grabbed her arm.


    "Wha-"


    Before she could react, I chucked her over my shoulder at Ste.


    "Nee-chan!" Ste gasped and ducked to the side to avoid getting squished.


    But that meant Norn was going to crash on the floor.


    Thankfully, Aisha was there and stopped her by casting a quick wind spell to act as a buffer.


    After that, Aisha let out a deep sigh and said, "You two are both not good enough to fight Rui while talking. I''m not either. So can we PLEASE focus? We''re supposed to be training, not ying."


    I tilted my head. "I thought we were ying though?"


    Aisha gave me a nk stare. And then she instantly raised her wand and sent a giant water ball sting towards my face.


    Iughed and caught it with my left hand before condensing it into a shimmering ice sphere in my palms. "Hey now, jealousy is no good. You''ll catch up... probably."


    Aisha red at me and said, "I hate you, Rui."


    "You don''t mean that, and I love you too, Ai-chan."


    Aisha clicked her tongue.


    Ste helped Norn back on her feet and then turned to look at me. Frowning, she said, "So... you''re not going to exin why there was an evil version of you running around here to help Orsted?"


    I held up my hand and said, "First of all, he''s not evil, just a master of the dark arts."


    Ste crossed her arms. "So... evil."


    "Hey now, magic prejudice is a real thing, and you shouldn''t have it."


    After saying that, I conjured up a table and some bowls of ice cream.


    ...It totally wasn''t a bribe or anything.


    Thankfully, my sisters took the peace offering and sat down to munch on ice cream.


    ...And in the meantime, Ste''s spirit friends went off to a corner for a huddle.


    It seemed like they were upset at me smacking them around so easily.


    But anyway.


    I sat down too with an affogato. A cup filled with coffee with a fresh scoop of vani ice cream... nothing was better after dealing with your energetic younger sisters who kept ying at being adventurers.


    Though they''d loudly protest if they heard me say that.


    Ste took a bite of her ice cream and then said, "Don''t think I''m ignoring what you said about the dark arts, Mister Flight From Death."


    I pointed at her with my spoon and said, "To be fair, if Mister Riddle was smart about things and wasn''t all murder-y, he would have been a proper Dark Lord over the Wizarding World."


    Ste stared at me for a while and then said, "...Are you sure that YOU''RE not the evil version of you, Onii-chan?"


    I raised my affogato to sip on the coffee and then said, "One man''s viin is another man''s hero. And vice-versa."


    Norn sighed and then looked between me and Ste. "You two are still so close. I''m jealous."


    Ste flinched.


    I reached over to pat Norn''s head. But then I realized she was too tall for that now and patted her shoulder instead. "It''s alright, Norn. We both suffered through the hug monster in her heyday, and nothing will take that away from us."


    Norn blinked and then giggled. "True. Though..." She twirled her spoon around in her ice cream and said, "Big Brother''s going to be even busier soon..."


    Aisha frowned. "Yeah." She looked at me and said, "You still owe me a big birthday party. How are you going to do that between dealing with three babies?"


    "First, it''s seven babies. Second, I don''t sleep. Third, time travel... probably."


    Still working on that limited temporal field where I could locally pop back in time. Just had to work out some kinks that could cause an infinite time loop.


    Aisha''s eyes widened. "Wait, SEVEN!?"


    Norn gasped. "I''m going to have seven nieces and nephews?!"


    Ste facepalmed. "Of course. Seven. It couldn''t just be four. Seven..."


    I coughed. "Well... your aunts worked hard?"


    Ste turned up her nose. "Ew."


    Aisha crossed her arms. "Pervert."


    Norn... justughed and held out her hand for a high five?


    I blinked but returned Norn''s high five.


    She grinned and said, "Good job, Big Brother! At this rate, you''ll pressure Dad to finally give us more baby siblings!"


    Aisha coughed just as she was putting a spoonful of ice cream to her mouth. She wiped her face with her sleeve and then said, "I don''t think that''s how it works, Nornie..."


    "Hm?" Norn tilted her head. "Of course it is."


    Ste gave Norn a weird look and said, "Do you even know how babies are made, Onee-chan?"


    Norn nodded. "Of course I do! When a guy takes his pe-"


    I pped my hands. "Ooookay! Change of subject." I looked at Norn and said, "Are your friends Nina and Isolte okay, Norn?"


    Norn looked a bit upset at being interrupted, but then she nodded. "They''re fine. Mister Farion is staying with Nina in her house, and Miss Reida is staying with Isolte at her house."


    I blinked. "Wait. They have houses? Are they even old enough?"


    Norn paused to think about it. "...Maybe? Well, they''re A-ranked adventurers anyway, so I guess it doesn''t matter?"


    "A-ranked adventurers?!"


    Ste rolled her eyes and said, "What are you surprised about, Onii-chan? You became a Demon Lord before you were even ten years old."


    "Well, yeah. But I''m a literal heaven-sent genius." I scooped a bit of ice cream from my affogato and munched on it. After that, I said, "I didn''t get that impression from Nina or Isolte. Huh. Guess I should congratte Ruijerd for being such a good teacher?"


    Norn nodded. "Mister Ruijerd really is a good teacher. He''s not the best fighter, but he''s really good at exining!"


    Aisha sighed and said, "I wish I could say the same about my teacher."


    I blinked and said, "What do you mean? Roxy''s a great teacher."


    Aisha red at me and said, "I''m talking about you, Idiot Big Brother! Do you know what I have to deal with at the academy now? Nobody but me gets what you say, so suddenly I''m the assistant professor helping everyone!"


    I coughed and said, "W-Well, as the student council president should."


    Aisha paused and then quietly stood up.


    I stared at her and raised an eyebrow. "Ai-chan?"


    She smiled and quietly walked over to my side. "Big brother~?"


    "...Yes?"


    "DIE FOR ME!"


    "Aisha, hold grk! Gak!"


    "Aisha, no!"


    "Nee-chan, stop!"


    "Let me at him! I''ve been losing my mind too long!" Aisha squeezed her hands around my neck and started rocking me back and forth. "First breaking the fundamental theories of magic, then making ME in charge of the ss since he just left behind holographic records on loop, and now being an absentee professor along with Roxy and the school making ME the substitute teacher!"


    Oookay. Confirmed that all my sisters have a tendency towards being yanderes when they snapped.


    Then again, considering Mama Lily and Mom...


    "Aisha! Let go! Big Brother''s not breathing!"


    "THAT''S THE POINT! AND HE''LL GET BETTER ANYWAY!"


    "...Even if that''s true, it''s not right!"


    "Just because you''re right doesn''t mean you''re correct! Let me have this!"


    Ahaha...


    -LIV-


    Lively and energetic days.


    After Ena was saved and Hitogami''s ns to ambush Rudy''s family was thwarted, there wasn''t much left.


    Were this a chess match, it would undoubtedly be the endgame.


    The ''white'' yer, Hitogami, had gone first and run through his gambits. But at this point, he had lost all his pieces but his queen.


    In contrast, although the ''ck'' yer, Rudeus, started after, he had most of his pieces. And while a few had left the battlefield, they hadn''t been captured.


    It was a situation where two kings remained along with their most powerful pieces.


    For Hitogami, it was Perugius and that Dragon King''s spirits.


    For Rudy, it was Pierre, Paul, and Orsted.


    That much had been confirmed in thest exchange.


    Hitogami watched as Perugius meticulously modified the Fighting God Armor to remove both the limiters and the side-effects.


    Rudy began creating a moving fortress to counter Perugius over the Ringus Sea, as well as to serve as a final battle ground.


    Time flowed as everyone entrusted themselves to their chosen paths and objectives.


    Summer turned to fall, which became covered by the white winter.


    And then spring arrived.


    And with it, the end began.

 203 – Endgame – I

    203 ¨C Endgame ¨C I


    Eri''s scream cut through the air. "I HATE YOU RUDY! I''M NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN! FUCK!"


    I winced at the sudden stab of guilt in my heart, but I couldn''t say anything in return.


    It was the start of spring. And it was also the time for all of my lovely children to be born.


    But of freaking course, they were all moring to greet their new papa at the same time.


    I knew childbirth was stressful considering that I was there to help deliver my baby sisters, but it was something else being the dad.


    Mom, Mama Lily, Rose, and Rostelina, were all on deck to help as mid-wives. And the giant imperial master bedroom had been converted to a hospital room for the births.


    I had thought it would go smoothly. I mean, Eri was tough as nails, Sylphy was tougher than nails, Roxy was rational and collected, and Rika had an Empress''sposure.


    Of course, I grossly underestimated the pain of childbirth, it seemed.


    Mom patted Eri''s head and said, "Rx and take calm breaths, Eri. You can''t tense up now, okay?"


    Eri took deep breaths. "I''ll... I''ll try."


    Sylphy looked over at Eri from her bed. Sweat covered her body, but she put on a forced smile and said, "Does your love for Rudy only go that far, Eri?"


    "YES!" Eri turned to snap at Sylphy and said, "This is the worst pain I''ve ever felt! And shut up! You just have one! I have two!"


    Off to the side, Rika nodded. "I agree. This pain is new pain... But I will endure. This will not kill me... And Eri." Rika looked at her. "I have three. Please be considerate."


    Eri nodded. "And you''re a trooper, but FUCKING DAMN THIS HURTS!"


    While those three were talking, Roxy sat there just gritting her teeth. Mercy was nearby, bouncing in the air with a worried look, but offering moral support.


    As for me.


    ...Well, I was just standing awkwardly to the side not sure of what to do.


    Like, do I make the rounds and calm them down? But it seems like they''re all in pain, and in varying degrees of it. And also mentally unstable... although reasonably so.


    It could end poorly. And-


    At that time, Mama Lily walked over and ced her hands on my shoulder.


    I blinked and said, "Mama Lily?"


    She smiled and said, "I am sure that you mean well, Rudy. But..." She nced back and then said, "...It would be best if you leave it to us from here."


    Eri heard that and then screamed. "YEAH! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE RUDY OR THE FIRST THING I''M DOING IS KILLING YOUR ASS!"


    I let out a nervousugh and let Mama Lily guide me out of the room. "I''ll leave it to you all then, Mama Lily."


    She gave me a polite smile, shoved me out the door, and then immediately mmed them shut.


    The soundproofing in the room was great. It was personally designed that way considering the nightly activities taking ce there.


    But even then, I could hear Eri screaming and crying from inside.


    ...Well. I guess that''s what happened when anesthetics didn''t work on you because you were too strong.


    A chuckle echoed from beside me.


    I turned and saw Dad leaning against the wall, smirking.


    "Being a dad isn''t as easy as you thought, huh?"


    I walked past him and said, "Oh shut up, Dad. You can''t say that when I''m the one who had to help deliver my baby sisters."


    Dad shook his head and said, "I definitely CAN say that. Because as I''m sure you''re aware now, being the helpless guy who just has to wait is terrible."


    "..."


    I ignored him and kept walking down the hall.


    Like Mama Lily said, I just had to leave it in their hands.


    I wasn''t worried.


    Mom, Mama Lily, Rose, and Rostelina all had experience as midwives and with delivering babies. Not only that, but Mom and Mama Lily also knew how to do C-sections in the worst-case scenario.


    I wasn''t worried about something going wrong with the delivery.


    I was just guilty and worried about how much pain they were all going through.


    I didn''t doubt how painful it was. After all, ''that'' part down there had to expand to fit a whole baby, and lots of things tore along the way. Then there was all the pushing that needed to happen...


    Yeah. Just objectively, it was terrible.


    ...Was it bad that I thought they could all handle it though?


    I mean, Mom had suffered a bit, but she got through both Norn and Ste. And then Mama Lily was a trooper when it came to Aisha...


    ...This was one of those cases where I had a biased sample size as my experience, wasn''t it?


    Another thing to add to the old Greyrat book for dummies...


    Dad held his hands behind his head as he walked beside me. But as we passed by a window, he looked outside and said, "Looks like we''re gonna have a hell of a day."


    I followed his gaze and then sighed. "Looks like it."


    Dark storm clouds. Fluctuating mana in the atmosphere...


    While nothing crazy like the space-time distortion event, it was definitely something afoot.


    I shifted my gaze back to Dad and said, "Well, ast-ditch effort still has a chance of working, I guess. You''d be an idiot to not try it, right?"


    Dad tapped his hand on the hilt of the crystal sword I made for him. "It''s a good thing that Pierre is stuck watching the kids." He grinned and said, "We get some father and son time for the first time in a while, right?"


    I pulled out a certain golden sword from my pocket space and nodded. "Looks like it. Now they definitely can''t get in here with the crazy protections Orsted revised afterst time, so... should we meet them outside?"


    Dad responded by swinging his sword... only for nothing to happen. "H-Huh?"


    I facepalmed. "What did I JUST say about the crazy protections, Dad?"


    He coughed and then said, "Right. Of course it wouldn''t work, haha..."


    I sighed and then started into a light jog towards the exit. "Come on. Shouldn''t take us long."


    -RNG-


    Lightning shed amidst a torrential downpour. With it, a dragon with shimmering silver scales raised its head to roar.


    And then Dad swung his sword.


    Sparks sprayed through the air, but the dragon''s neck was pierced and severed. It''s roar, cut off just like its head.


    I clicked my tongue as I dodged a suit of manatite armore to life and then said, "Dad! You can''t keep one-shotting them! It''s less fun!"


    Dadnded on the ground and shouted back at me. "I can''t help it if they''re that weak!"


    I dodged a manatite sword swung at my head and then stabbed the suit of armor in the chest te.


    A heavy impact echoed before it flew backwards and disintegrated with a bloom of golden light.


    Seeing that, I clicked my tongue and stared at my sword. "Even as a prototype, you''re a bit too strong, huh?"


    It was a golden sword that I made as a prototype after Akito''s insistence.


    Something about a man''s fantasy being able to hold a golden sword up to the sky, shout Excali*ur, and then st everything apart with a golden energy wave.


    Right now, the energy wave was really just apressed st of mana like the hydra had used. But apparently, it was strong enough to overwhelm magic nullifying minerals.


    Good to know, but bad for having fun with monsters.


    I sighed and chucked my sword back in my pocket space before grabbing the manatite sword the suit of armor was just using.


    At the same time, I also swept up the broken fragments.


    While not as good as the phew intact hydra scales I picked up, it should be good material for stuff.


    Lightning struck the ground in front of me, spawning... a skeleton with golden armor riding a giant spider?


    Huh?


    Wait, is that really a-


    A brief twang.


    That was all the warning I got before a barrage of ming arrows fell upon me.


    I instinctively swung my new reappropriated sword and then held out my hand to st the skeleton with a spell.


    A ripple emerged where the manatite sword struck the arrows, and the mes vanished.


    Immediately after, red lightning shed and turned both the skeleton and spider into ash.


    ...And then I noticed that in the process, my sword had starting glowing red as well.


    Paired with how I was dressed, what with my formal ck coat and all...


    Hm.


    Let''s hope I don''t have someone saying "it''s over, I have the high ground" or "you were the chosen one" anytime soon.


    After all, the path to the dark side was one-


    ...No. Let''s stop there.


    Lightning shed again, and then a fleshy green creature with just a torso and four nubby legs started running towards me.


    A sh of recognition and an instinctive reaction.


    I shed it with my sword, splitting it apart. And then I conjured a barrier around it.


    Not a momentter, a explosion erupted, filling the air inside the barrier with dirt and smoke.


    At that time, Dad arrived beside me. ncing around, he said, "These are some pretty weird monsters here."


    I stared as lightning struck again, revealing a strange pig-like humanoid with a rotting face and a golden de.


    "...Yeah. I me the messed-up biomes from the space-time distortion."


    That was totally a zombie pigman from M*necraft.


    What the heck was Being W doing? I mean, I got that this ce was supposedly called the ''Six-Faced World'' or something because it was a die, but it wasn''t a block.


    And how the heck did he even know about this thing?


    Was it coincidence?


    ...Or maybe another ''Rudy'' had plopped them off somewhere before the distortions got resolved and they were spawning in now?


    I had so many questions. But I guess they didn''t need to be answered right now.


    Instead...


    Dad cracked his neck and watched as a horde of green-skinned undead in a turquoise shirt and blue pants emerged. Holding out his sword, he said, "We can fight and talk, right?"


    I took a quick look around.


    We were in the fields right behind the Imperial Pce.


    Although I could see lightning strikes and monsters spawning all over Arcadia with irvoyance, most of it, as expected, was focused here.


    ...I still had questions on why the heck it was M*necraft mobs, but at least it made things simple.


    "Sure. Let''s sh and talk."


    With that, I dashed towards the horde of zombies, sword in my left hand.


    Dad dashed in after me. Cutting down a zombie in front of him, he said, "How are you feeling being a new father, Rudy. Has it hit you yet?"


    I punted a zombie through the air with a kick and said, "Not yet. I think that''ll change when I hold my kids though. At least, that''s how I felt when I made Ena and Eos were born... made... however you called them being brought into this world."


    Dad did a powerful stab, piercing through a dozen zombies. After swinging his sword to free it, he said, "You never did exin how they were born. Do they have a mother?"


    "Technically, no. Practically... I guess you could say mana itself?"


    "Hm?"


    I casually grabbed a zombie''s neck and ripped off its head before bowling over a dozen with it. After that, I said, "I used my blood and mana, mixing it with ambient mana and tried to summon a powerful creature that could fight and help me research, and then I tried to summon a powerful creature that could help me survey thend and guide troops."


    A zombie lunged, trying to bite my neck.


    I broke its shins and stabbed it in the head.


    After, I looked at Dad and said, "You wouldn''t believe how surprised I was when two cute angels appeared in front of me."


    "Wait." Dad paused and looked at me. "You mean you spread your essence to the world, impregnated it, and made it give you a pair of daughters?"


    "No." I paused. "...But technically yes?"


    Dad whistled and said, "Alright. Gotta admit, Kid. Even your old man here couldn''t do that."


    "I know." I punted a zombie baby trying to sneak up on me and then said, "Considering how you and my moms fuck like bunnies but I still don''t have another baby brother or sister, I kinda figured you were nothing but nks, Dad."


    "H-Hey!" Dad kicked a zombie pigman out of the way and said, "I''ll have you know that your old man can get it through the night long enough to satisfy two women!"


    I swung my sword, cleaving apart thest of the horde of zombies. After that, I turned to Dad and said, "There''s a difference between being able to raise a mast and being able to nt a tree, Dad. You gotta be able to do both... And before you say it, it''s definitely a you thing considering both Mom AND Mama Lily haven''t gotten pregnant yet."


    Dad coughed and averted his gaze. "L-Look, cut your old man some ck, okay? I''m trying."


    "Do you need some help? I don''t need it, but there were a lot of wedding gifts from people that are supposed to help with that."


    Dad red at me and said, "Now you''re just looking down on me!"


    "Kind of, yeah." I stuck up four fingers and said, "You''ve got four kids who are pretty much all grown up now, and the only one who genuinely cares for you is me." I pointed at myself and said, "If not for me, my cute baby sisters and your cute daughters would have all disowned you by now."


    Dad sheathed his sword and then reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Well... It just so happens that their Dad has a high sex drive and he was pent up for a while not having his lovely wives at his side. I mean, you understand, right Rudy?"


    I shifted my gaze and said, "...No. I don''t."


    Dad nudged my ribs and said, "Eh? Come on now, don''t lie to your old man. I''ve heard my daughters-inwining about how long you go at it, you know?"


    I felt my face heat up and shoved him away. "I''m not like you, okay! Just because I CAN do it that much doesn''t mean I WANT to."


    Dadughed. "Right, right. You tell yourself that, but I bet it''s a different story when Eri, Sylphy, Rika, or Roxy show up in your bedroom at night."


    I pointedly didn''t respond to him.


    Definitely not because he was right or anything.


    Instead, I took a look up at the sky.


    It was still raining, and by this point, we were pretty drenched.


    The lightning and monsters also seemed to being to an end.


    Dad looked up at the sky as well and said, "Dang. Over already?"


    I looked at him and said, "Have Mom or Mama Lily told you that you still act like a kid, Dad?"


    Dad looked at me and said, "Well, I''m still young at heart!" He held out his hands and started counting. "You were born when I was 18, you were about ten when Ste was born. It''s been a few years..." He nodded and then looked at me. "I''m only 30 something at best!"


    "...So mid-life crisis on the way then."


    "Meh." Dad shrugged and said, "I have my family, my sword skills, and my friends. Even if I''m getting older, it''s not like my life will get any worse, right?"


    "That, my father, is what they call a death g." I chucked my manatite sword into my pocket space and started heading back to the pce.


    Dad walked up behind me and said, "You keep saying that word, Rudy. I think even you don''t know what it means."


    "...Anyway, let''s see if I can meet my wives again without one of them threatening violence on me."


    -RNG-


    "Congrattions, Rudy." Mom let out a bright smile as I walked into the room.


    Mama Lily smiled next and said, "Everyone''s worked hard, so congratte them all."


    I nodded. "Of course."


    After heading back inside, Dad left and said he was going to grab some congrattory drinks to get ready.


    Which left me alone to greet my new children and my lovely wives.


    But that gave me a big dilemma.


    Nothing was wrong with my children, of course. They were all born in perfect health, something I could see at a single nce.


    The problem was who to approach first.


    Rika had definitely worked the hardest since there were three identical baby girls swaddled beside her.


    But Eri had worked hard too considering everything beforehand, plus the fact that she had given birth to twins. A boy and a girl.


    And yet, Sylphy waspletely unconscious, clearly exhausted from the efforts of giving birth to a baby girl.


    Then there was Roxy who was awake, but also looked like she was going to knock out at any second.


    No matter who I walked towards first, someone was going to be upset since it seemed like I was ying favorites.


    It seemed like Mama Lily noticed my dilemma, since she looked concerned.


    But then I decided.


    It would look even more like favoritism if I walked towards them out of order, so I decided to just check on my wives and my new children in the order I married everyone.


    Definitely would look like Eri favoritism, especially with how she acted up earlier.


    But Sylphy was asleep, Roxy was about to be asleep, and Rika didn''t really care about that sort of thing much.


    And besides, they had apparently hashed out the order among themselves anyway, so...


    Punting the me and deflecting. As every husband does when a problemes up.


    That was my chosen tactic for the day.


    But anyway, course of action decided, I walked over towards Eri.


    She looked up at me with a sappy smile. After that, she looked to the side at our two children. "Look, Rudy? Aren''t they adorable?"


    "Before that." I gave Eri a quick peck on the cheek and said, "Good work, Eri."


    Eri giggled and said, "It''s nothing. But look!" She pointed at our new son and said, "He looks just like you, doesn''t he? And our daughter looks just like me. They''re so cute together too..."


    ...Was she high off the happy mother hormones or something?


    I thought Eri would beining and everything, but she was nothing but smiles and giggles.


    Still, good for me.


    Now, as to our new children...


    Like Eri said, our new son looked a bit like me. He had a bit of light brown hair already, and while his face was pudgy, I could already see that he was going to have some handsome features growing up.


    But unlike me, my son had inherited her mother''s crimson eyes.


    In contrast, our daughter looked a lot like Eri, with some tufts of crimson hair and even Eri''s sharp eyes. But unlike her mother, our daughter had my eyes.


    Well, my original color eyes. A striking light green that contrasted well with her crimson hair.


    I walked around to stand over our new son and daughter and then held out a finger to both.


    "Ba?" My son blinked, looking confused.


    "Ba!" In contrast, my daughter waved her hand, as if trying to grab my finger.


    Of course, it could all be coincidence. But it was important to keep note of these things early on.


    What they reacted to, what they liked, what they didn''t like...


    Unlike my sloppy father and well-meaning but a bit air-headed mother growing up, I was definitely going to be a good father to my kids.


    Although, it seemed like my kids were already deciding to be good children as well.


    Usually, babies were a lot louder and stuff after they were born, right?


    Or maybe they were all tired out too...


    Something to note.


    Eri leaned up in her bed and looked at me. "Have you decided what we''re going to name them then, Rudy?"


    I looked at her and said, "I''m surprised you didn''t go ahead and name them already with how much you were threatening me earlier."


    Eri turned a bright red and said, "T-That was because I wasn''t prepared, okay? I-It won''t happen again. Promise."


    Iughed and walked over to kiss Eri.


    She blushed and said, "H-Hey! Time and ce!"


    "Yeah, yeah. But still, just wanted to let you know it''s fine." I smiled and said, "I already knew you had a temper when I married you, so I can take a little verbal abuse. I mean, you''re just going to curl up with cringe and guilt after youe to your sensester anyways, right?"


    Eri puffed her cheeks and said, "You''re such a bully."


    I poked her right cheek and said, "But you love me anyway."


    Eri huffed and said, "Hurry up and decide already. Don''t keep everyone waiting."


    "Mm... Then I guess we''ll go with what we thought originally, right?" I walked back over to our son and daughter. After that, I lightly tapped our son on his forehead and said, "You''ll be Ares, our little god of war. And you." I lightly tapped our daughter on her forehead and said, "You''ll be Christina, named after a brilliant scientist who broke thews of time apart."


    Eri smiled. "Ares and Christina- Wait." She blinked, suddenly realizing myst words. "What was that about a scientist? And time?"


    Iughed and gave Eri another kiss. "Secret."


    "You...!"


    I smiled and patted her shoulder. "Just rx and rest, Eri. You''ve worked hard."


    Eri huffed and said, "You''re lucky you''re handsome."


    "And I appreciate how beautiful you are."


    Eri rolled her eyes and shooed me away.


    I smiled and then walked over to Sylphy.


    The moment I reached her bed, she blearily opened her eyes. "...Rudy?"


    I gave her a soft kiss on her cheek and said, "Good work, Sylphy."


    Sylphy smiled and then reached up for my face.


    I leaned forward, letting her ce her hand on my cheek.


    "I did it." She gave me a bright smile and said, "I gave you a beautiful girl."


    I held her hand against my cheek and smiled. "Yes. Our lovely daughter."


    Sylphy''s smile widened and she turned her head to look at our daughter. As she did, she hesitated and said, "...Is she okay?"


    "Of course. In fact..." I walked over and gently lifted our daughter out from her bed.


    "...Ga?" Bright green eyes blinking in surprise. Beautiful silver hair-


    Wait.


    I did a double take and nced back at Ares and Christina.


    They had inherited mine and Eri''s hair color and eyes.


    So then my daughter here...


    Sylphy smiled and said, "Oh good. She didn''t inherit my green hair."


    I moved closer to Sylphy and sat on the edge of the bed. "It looks like it. Although it seems our daughter wanted to be a bit special and have silver hair instead..."


    Clearly, my silver hair wasn''t gic. And I had thought Sylphy''s wasn''t either.


    But I was clearly wrong here and our cute little daughter had decided otherwise.


    ...In hindsight though, it WAS kind of weird that Sylphy had green hair when neither Laws nor Rose had it.


    Hm... Maybe it was a recessive thing from her grandfather-


    Wait, no. Rnd had green hair too.


    ...Huh. Maybe Sylphy had somehow rewritten her DNA with all the healing magic she did.


    But anyway.


    I looked at Sylphy and said, "What should we name her?"


    Sylphy giggled and said, "What do you mean, Silly? We already did, remember?" Sylphy reached over to gently hold our daughter''s hand and said, "Isn''t that right, Lucille?"


    Lucille giggled and then reached out to grab Sylphy''s hand.


    Sylphy smiled, watching our daughter with a gentle gaze.


    Beautiful and heartwarming. That was the only thing I could say to describe the scene.


    No, I could say one more thing.


    I was happy that Sylphy was finally rxed and secure in thinking this was real and not just a dream.


    ...But as much as I wanted to enjoy this heartwarming moment, I still had two more wives and four more children to visit and congratte.


    It seemed that Sylphy recognized that, since she smiled and said, "I''ll be fine, Rudy. Go see Rika and Roxy."


    I hesitated and said, "Should I give Lucille to you, or-"


    At that time, Lucille yawned, and her bright green eyes started to close.


    Sylphy giggled and said, "It seems like our daughter is as sleepy as I am." She looked up at me and said, "Would you tuck us both in to sleep, Papa?"


    "...Please don''t."


    Sylphy giggled again.


    I gently tucked Lucille back in her crib.


    After that, I walked over to Sylphy and tucked her in as well. I gently caressed her cheek and said, "Sleep well and rest easy, Sylphy. And thank you for your hard work."


    Sylphy smiled and leaned against my hand for a bit. But then she dozed off, a smile still on her face.


    I smiled back at her, and then I moved to my next wife.


    Or rather, my lovely Empress.


    Rika sat up in her bed, propped against a load of pillows. And when she saw me approach, she smiled and said, "It took you long enough, you monster."


    I shook my head and said, "You are never letting me live that down, are you."


    Rika pointed at the three cribs next to her and said, "Look at the consequences of your actions and tell me you aren''t a monster for inflicting that on me."


    "Ahaha..." I let out an awkwardugh while I walked over to look at our triplet daughters.


    At first, I thought they werepletely identical.


    But as I took a closer look, I saw that they weren''t.


    Our daughter on the left had lc-colored hair like Rika, but her eyes were a bright pink with heart-shaped pupils.


    Meanwhile, our daughter in the middle had silver hair and silver eyes with pupils that looked like a crescent moon.


    Andstly, our daughter on the right had lc hair like Rika, but she had golden eyes with star-shaped pupils.


    ...Maybe hair and eye colors got wonky with demon gics.


    I mean, Rika herself had rainbow colored eyes, so it kind of made sense?


    But anyway, our triplet daughters were sleepy, so I let them be and looked back at Rika.


    Before I could say anything though, she said, "The one on the left is Riru. The middle one is Kadi, and thest is Usri."


    I blinked and said, "I have no say in this, huh?"


    Rika''s eye twitched and she said, "Again, after-"


    "-What I did, I have no right, yadayada. I got it, Rika."


    Rika clicked her tongue and said, "I was going to say that after our discussionst time, it was already decided. But it seems that you want to put words in my mouth just as much as-"


    "Can we PLEASE not talk like that around the kids?"


    Rika rolled her eyes. But after that, she dropped the haughty Empress act and gave me a genuine smile. "...I joke about it a lot. And you definitely have an insatiable appetite... but still." She reached up to grab my hand and said, "Thank you, Rudy."


    I paused and then knelt down to kiss her hand. "No. Thank you, Rika. As always, you keep putting up with me and helping me with everything."


    Rikaughed. "If not me, who else?"


    "Well, there are three other beautiful women here who would volunteer."


    Rika snorted and said, "You say that, but do you think any one of them could properly run an Empire like me?"


    I paused to think about that.


    Eri... Hm. She actually would grow into it a bit. She was already pretty level-headed these days and helped ground me a lot, so probably.


    Sylphy would definitely run it to the ground though. Could easily see her being a tyrant empress doing stuff behind my back to keep the Empire ''peaceful.''


    As for Roxy...


    Well. She tended to easily get lost in research. And I knew first-hand how much she hated bureaucracy from how she reacted with being the headmaster of Ranoa Magic Academy, so...


    "Don''t answer that." Rika interrupted me and said, "It won''t end well for you either way you answer."


    I started to sweat and then nodded.


    Rika reached up to stretch and then nced over towards Eri and Sylphy, who were both already asleep. Seeing that, she nodded and said, "Since the others are doing it, I might as well also sleep."


    I gave Rika a peck on the cheeks again and said, "Good work, Rika. I appreciate you a lot. Really."


    "Then say ''I love you'' more, you selfish bastard." Rika grumbled and then rearranged her pillows so she couldy down.


    I smiled and kissed her on the lips. "I love you. Better?"


    Rika blushed and then buried herself in her nkets.


    I chuckled and then patted her head before walking over to Roxy.


    When I arrived at her bedside, she gave me a weak smile and said, "I heard the lightning. Is everything alright?"


    I patted her shoulder and said, "Everything''s fine, Roxy. Are you alright?"


    Roxyughed and then turned over on her side to look at our daughter. "Books and teachings only tell you so much. Experience is the only real way to know."


    I followed Roxy''s gaze and looked at our daughter.


    And our daughter immediately turned to look back at me.


    She was cute, with blue hair just like Roxy. But she surprisingly had golden eyes like I currently did.


    And that wasn''t the only surprise.


    ''Papa?''


    I flinched and then looked at Roxy.


    Roxyughed and said, "She''s special, isn''t she?"


    "I... It seems so?"


    I blinked and then looked at our daughter. Then I tentatively sent her a mental transmission. ''Can you understand me?''


    Our daughter blinked and then giggled. And immediately after, I heard a cute voice in my head.


    ''Papa! Papa papa!''


    Okay. Mild heart-attack resolved.


    Our daughter wasn''t a reincarnator, just a really smart baby girl.


    ...Though Roxy''s words about experience being the real way to know suddenly made sense.


    ''Mama! Papa papa!''


    Roxy smiled and then shimmied over close to the crib. After that, she reached out to gently grab our daughter''s hand and said, "That''s right. Your Papa came back."


    ''Papa!''


    After saying that, our daughter giggled.


    I was still processing this new information. But I decided that I could process itter and shelved it.


    For now, I looked at Roxy and said, "I''m asking just in case, but have you decided on a name for our daughter, Roxy?"


    Roxy hummed and then turned to look at our daughter. "What do you think? Do you want Mama to choose a name, or Papa?"


    Our daughter blinked and furrowed her eyebrows. But then...


    ''Papa!''


    I let out a wry smile and said, "Do you really understand, Daughter...?"


    Roxy smiled. "Well, she DID choose, Rudy. And you did think of a good name this time, right?"


    I hummed and then reached out to hold our daughter''s hand.


    She smiled and then giggled. ''Papa! Papa papa papa!''


    Hearing that in my head, Iughed too and said, "You like me that much, huh?"


    ''Papa!''


    I smiled. "Alright. Then for a name..."


    The original n was to go for Selena. But seeing how special our cute baby daughter was...


    "How about Celeste?"


    ''Celes?''


    I blinked and shook my head. ''Celeste. That''s your name. Celeste, not Celes.''


    ''Celes! Mama! Celes!''


    "..."


    Roxy giggled.


    I let out a wry smile and said, "Celes is a good name too, I guess..."


    Celeste... or I guess, Celes, let out a yawn. After that, she slowly closed her eyes.


    And hearing that tiny yawn, Roxy started to yawn as well.


    Smiling, she looked at me and said, "Well. Since I worked hard, I''ve earned my rest, right, Rudy?"


    "Of course." I smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work."


    Roxy giggled and said, "Do you know that you sound like a golem now with how many times you''ve said that?"


    "Even if it''s repetitive, it''s worth saying to each of my lovely wives."


    Roxy smiled. "That''s right. Keep that in mind and we won''t tear you apart."


    "...That''s a joke right?"


    "Maybe~"


    I let out a sigh.


    Roxy giggled one more time and then leaned back in her bed, making herselffortable. After that, she smiled and said, "Good night then, Rudy. I''ll see youter..."


    I gave her a kiss on her cheek and said, "Pleasant dreams, Master."


    "Cheeky bastard."


    "I missed being that by a few months, so, no."


    "Tch."


    I smiled and then left the room, giving my wives and my new children the rest they needed.


    -RNG-


    The war council room in the Imperial Pce on the first floor.


    After leaving me to meet my new children, Dad had apparently repurposed it to a makeshift bar.


    I didn''t know how he managed to find the beer, steaks, and bottles of wine, but I appreciated the fact that he did.


    Especially since it was time to square away the final game n.


    Right now, me, Dad, Pierre, and Orsted were sitting around a small circr table.


    Dad was on my left, Orsted was on my right, and Pierre was seated across from me.


    After we all settled in and Dad poured us mugs of beer from the tap, Dad raised his mug and said, "Cheers to Rudy and my seven new grandchildren!"


    I raised my mug too, and then said, "When you say it like that, it''s actually kind of a lot, huh..."


    Pierre raised his mug for the toast and said, "Cheers. Though I can''t imagine how you''re going to deal with it. I barely managed with just Lulu..."


    Orsted raised his mug as well and said, "Congrattions to you and your wives, Rudy. Although, I have to agree that seven children is quite the number... None of the other royalty I have encountered in my life hase close to that."


    Iughed as we finished the toast. "Yeah... well... It just happened."


    Dadughed and then took a sip of his beer. After that, he said, "That''s what we told your grandparents about you. They weren''t amused."


    I nodded. "Of course. They''re the most orthodox Milis followers you could find. I''m surprised they''re even starting toe around in the first ce."


    Pierre sipped on his beer and said, "Thank your aunt for that. She''s been chipping away at them for a while now... And it helps that Cliff is getting married to Ena."


    I blinked. "Wait, what?" I frowned. "I didn''t hear about this."


    Dad facepalmed. "Pierre."


    Pierre froze and then turned his head to cough. "I-I mean in another timeline! Right! Definitely not this... Fuck." He groaned and then chugged his beer.


    Orsted cracked a smile and sipped on his beer. After that, he turned towards me and said, "Your life is never a dull moment, is it, Rudy?"


    "Apparently not, even when Being W isn''t messing with me." I frowned and sipped on my beer.


    So Cliff already asked Ena for her hand in marriage, huh?


    Mm... I''ll wait a few days to see if he was just being polite about the timing.


    He was a traditional and romantic sort of guy, so he would definitelye to ask me for Ena''s hand in marriage.


    ...Actually, would he try challenging me for it instead?


    Hm. Might need to do more practice holding back...


    Dad set his beer down and said, "Speaking of Being Whitey." He looked around the table and said, "What''s the move?"


    Orsted looked at me. "Yes. Since your children have been born safely, it is time for us to finish things with that person, is it not? Moreover... considering that silver-haired man''s appearance in the past, I presume you have already set events into motion?"


    I took a swig from my mug and then said, "It''splicated. Before all of that." I looked at Pierre and said, "You mentioned you were going to finally exin who you were after my kids were born, right? Well, they are now. So..." I narrowed my eyes. "Who the hell are you, ''Pierre?'' Sure, you''re Technique God Lace... but you''re also definitely a Greyrat. So who... No. ''What'' are you?"

 204 – Endgame – II

    204 ¨C Endgame ¨C II


    Pierre set his mug down on the table and then said, "You''re right. Since we''ve passed that point, I can exin it now."


    Dad frowned. "Passed what point? And what do you mean?"


    Orsted didn''t say anything, but he looked at Pierre with a thoughtful gaze.


    I just sat there and waited.


    It was clear that Pierre wasn''t an enemy. And it was also clear that he was family... legally since he was married to Rostelina, but also by blood somehow.


    I never really dug deep into it, but I was sure now after seeing my newborn children.


    Just as much as I could tell my children were ''mine'' at a nce, now I could tell that Pierre was ''rted'' at a nce. And a close rtion too, not by a few generations or something.


    Pierre tapped on the table and then said, "As you''re aware, multiple timelines exist, along with multiple of ''Rudeus Greyrat.''"


    I nodded. "Yeah. That''s crystal clear at this point."


    I had met two of them by now. Rudeus the Grey and ''Rudeus'' from the future who started this whole thing.


    Not the Rudeus in that other timeline, but the old man Rudeus who somehow timetraveled here in spirit.


    Or something.


    Never really did find out how that all happened and whether it was because of Being W or whatever.


    Dad nodded. "We all saw that other Rudy show up from the projection when we were kidnapping the pope."


    Orsted looked thoughtful, tapping the table. "Other timelines..." He looked at Pierre and said, "I presume these are separate from my own cycles?"


    Pierre nodded. "In a way. Hm... how should I exin it?"


    I chimed in and said, "I''ve got it." I looked at Orsted and said, "What Pierre''s trying to say is that time is like a river that splits off into different individual streams. If you visited each stream, you would find that they were simr, but different. It''s almost the same as what happens when you loop, Orsted. But instead of moving to another ''stream,'' you reverse the flow of the river itself."


    Orsted frowned. "...I presume that Being W is not privy to this knowledge? Or is he aware?"


    Pierre shrugged. "He usually isn''t. But I''m sure he''s very much aware now. After all." He looked at me and said, "This guy here has managed to somehow trim away all the streams in this river."


    Dad held up his hand. "Wait, wait, wait. So you''re saying that there''s like an unlimited number of Rudy out there? Then can''t we grab them all to fight Being W?"


    Pierre shook his head. "No. And as to why... It''splicated, but two of the same ''person'' cannot exist at the same ''time.''"


    I frown. "Wait. That''s not right. When I went to the other timeline, Sylphy and Roxy met their other selves. And in this timeline, Rika is here as well as Kishirisu."


    Pierre rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That''s why it''splicated. It SHOULD be impossible. But somehow, you made it work." He shook his head and said, "I can only guess that maybe this timeline and that timeline aren''t two ''streams'' but two adjacent ''rivers''... going by your analogy."


    Orsted frowned. "...Then am I present in two rivers as well? At that time, I was not able to go with Rudy." He paused. "...And neither were you, Pierre."


    Pierre nodded. "Yeah. And that''s the weird part that I don''t get."


    Oookay. Now *I* was starting to get a headache.


    This was why multiverses and time-travel shouldn''t be mixed.


    I waved my hand and said, "We can sort that outter. The important part is you, Pierre. What are you?"


    Pierre hummed. "Well, I guess that''s enough background context. As for me... I''m the ''Enforcer.''"


    I blinked. "The what now?"


    Pierre tapped the hilt of the sword worn at his right side and said, "Continuing your analogy, I''m the one who jumps between streams and dam them up when they spill out into dead ends. I also dam up the streams that basically are the same thing as the main ''river'' we''re on."


    I blinked and then held my hand up to my chin. "Well that exins why you keep mentioning fighting so many of ''Rudeus Greyrat'' and casually talk about parallel timelines."


    Dad frowned and then really stared at Pierre''s face.


    Pierre stared back and looked amused. "What?"


    "...You''re not Rudy, are you?"


    Pierreughed. "No. Despite everything, I''m not another Rudeus Greyrat. But it''s close." He paused. "...Well. A bit moreplicated too." He looked over at Orsted and said, "As I''ve said before, I''m Technique God Lace. In terms of my ''existence,'' that''s the individual I am here in this world."


    I nodded. "We''ve figured that by now. And it''s also why Lace''s seal was broken and his castle was empty, right? You''re Technique God Lace, but you have the full Lace''s memories."


    Pierre nodded. "Right. In terms of my ''being''... ''what'' I am instead of ''who'' I am... I''m aposite being made with Paul Greyrat''s body from a ''river'' that was spun back to its source, the former Dragon God Lace''s memories, and scattered pieces of knowledge from the person who became Rudeus Notus Greyrat."


    Silence.


    Dad blinked.


    Orsted frowned.


    And as for me...


    "You''re what?"


    Pierre sighed.


    -RNG-


    To sum EVERYTHING up since it would take literally ten thousand words to describe it all...


    In one timeline- No, in one ''time trunk'' that split off into various timelines, there was a Rudy who got sent into aa after Paul injured him in a duel.


    Said Rudy wakes up almost a yearter, and their family ispletely broken down.


    Mom and Mama Lily move to Millishion with Norn and Aisha while I stick around in the Central Continent with Sylphy.


    There''s a metastasis incident, I end up bing Ariel''s knight along with Sylphy, we meet Eri, and then things are hunkydory for a while.


    And then Being W says fuck you all, I''m killing you off.


    He spawns in some crazy monsters and sends monster hordes running rampant around the world as Mom, Mama Lily, Norn, and Aisha are visiting us in the Central Continent.


    Things happen, they die, and Dad arrives toote despite being super strong due to training hard to fight off his depression.


    That Rudy curses Dad to death, saying that if he was here, they all would have lived.


    That Rudy, Sylphy, and Eri die due to being scrubs- I mean, ''weak'' because they becamecent.


    Dad apparently went sicko mode, cleaned up the Asura Kingdom, killed all of Being W''s apostles, and even tried teaming up with Orsted to beat Being W.


    But they lost and Orsted looped. On Paul''s deathbed, he makes a deal with Lace, who had just awakened due to the chaos with his memories restored...


    "...And here we are."


    I stared at Pierre.


    There was a long silence.


    And then Dad mmed the table and stood up. "I BANG LINA?!?!"


    Pierre let out a long-suffering sigh and said, "No, you don''t. Lina is MY wife, and I''ll have you know that the operating personality here is former Dragon God Lace, aka, me. And you should be happy she even gets along with you considering that in most other timelines you cause an ''incident'' that makes her despise you."


    I let out a deep sigh and rub my face. "I hate multiverse theory. And I hate time travel. And I hate more this freaking god who keeps causing these messes."


    Pierre smiled and said, "You and me both, Rudy."


    I shook my head and said, "Well. I guess that exins why you randomly drop the ball, Pierre." I paused. "And also why you call yourself Pierre. ''Pierre-Simon Lace,'' right? The French Schr?"


    Pierre nodded. "Right in one. I thought about Simon, but that was a bit too in."


    Dad leaned back in his chair, still in shock. "Pierre is... me. Well, not really me, but technically me. And also bits of Rudy. I mean, that''s still technically just ''me'' considering Rudy has bits of me. But-"


    I decided to ignore Dad. He''d probably be like that for a while now.


    Instead, I said, "Alright. Pierre." I looked at him and said, "Putting your ridiculous real identity aside, why did you have to wait until now to tell us again?"


    "Oh right." Pierre nodded. "I forgot, but basically this ''river'' was on the verge of splitting off into a lot of ''streams'' up until your children were born. Until then, if I said who I was, I had a high chance of being whisked away by the world since I''m technically too close to Paul. And also since that''s right around when the hydra incident happens where Paul usually dies."


    Dad snapped out of his stupor and then said, "Wait, were you nning on stealing my spot then? I knew you were a bastard!"


    Pierre rolled his eyes. "No, you idiot. It just means that if you lived, you would be different enough from the ''Paul'' whose body I modified, and if you died, there wouldn''t be an issue since ''Paul'' was dead and I was a different person."


    "...Okay, let''s stop this thread." I rubbed the bridge of my nose and said, "I understand how to calcte spacetime dimensions to hop between parallel timelines but even I''M getting confused now. Not to mention Orsted here has been quiet the entire time."


    Orsted blinked and then said, "No worries. I understand the situation." He frowned. "It is just..." He looked at Pierre and said, "From what you said, my subjective experience and ''river'' of time should take priority over the streams, correct?"


    Pierre nodded. "Right."


    "So why did I not know about Rudy until I met him?"


    Silence.


    I frowned. "That''s a good point." I looked at Pierre and said, "From what you said, Orsted should remember your timeline, right? No, ''every'' timeline, shouldn''t he?"


    Pierre paused. "...Maybe the Creator God intervened?"


    Dad sat up. "The what now?"


    Pierre blinked. "Oh, right. I should mention that. He''s not really a person anymore, but the Creator God was the one who plucked me and made me the Enforcer. Well, the Creator God''s lingering will at least."


    "...Hah." I covered my face with both hands and said, "You''re TERRIBLE at exining things, Pierre." I paused and then looked at Dad. "But I guess that''s because you''ve got crappy hardware, huh?"


    Orsted chuckled.


    I shook my head and mmed my hands on the table. "Okay! Tangent and discussion about the wibbly wobbly mess that''s time aside! For now... What do we do about Being W?"


    Orsted rubbed his chin. "Usually, I would gather the fragments of the Dragon God''s spark of divinity from the Dragon Kings..." He looked at Pierre and said, "But I presume you know of another way?"


    Pierre nodded. "It''s not that hard to get to Being W." He frowned. "The problem is that fighting him in his own domain is terrible. Not many Rudy''s managed it." He paused and said, "...Though I guess it changes since we have an Orsted with unlimited mana, me, and this crazy bastard here who only knows how to swing his sword around."


    Dad clicked his tongue and said, "I knew there was a reason why I hated you, Pierre."


    I tapped my fingers on the table and said, "We probably don''t want to bring the fight to him. If he''s learned anything from our previous shes, he''s probably got too many trump cards up his sleeve if we fight him there."


    Pierre nodded. "He might be petty and reckless, but he isn''t dumb. That guy picks up on things quick, and considering the craziness you''ve been pulling off..."


    Orsted frowned. "Right. That would be dangerous..."


    I hummed. "Yeah... It might be different if we attacked Being W in that other Rudeus''s timeline, but- Wait." I blinked and said, "Do we know if Being W can get info from across timelines?"


    Pierre shook his head. "Impossible. He can send messages ''back'' to himself from the future. But at this point, I''ve ''locked'' the timeline. Well, time river. River of time?"


    I waved my hand. "Yeah. Got it. But I mean the Being W in the other Rudy''s timeline won''t know what happened here, right?"


    "Probably not." Pierre shook his head. "Like I said, it seems it''s two different rivers of time." He paused. "Though I wonder how we got desynced. It''s possible to go back in time, but it shouldn''t be possible to go forward in time..."


    I cleared my throat.


    Pierre blinked and scratched his head. "Right. Sorry. No time travel stuff."


    I nodded and then looked to Orsted. "To answer your question, Orsted, it should be easy to bring the fight to Being W. And I know a way to get there too."


    Thank you edgy kid me who had a sudden epiphany when he was pretending to be a demon lord in front of Roxy and Sylphy.


    Orsted nodded. "I see." He frowned. "...But having the fight here would be worse. Moreover, there is still that other Rudy to consider."


    I blinked. "Oh yeah, never exined that, did I?"


    Pierre blinked. "Other Rudy?"


    I nodded. "Mmhm. Turns out the ''Magic God Lace'' me was hanging around in this timeline. Technically, he''s been around since before I was even born and was setting things up in the background after he got unsealed recently. I had Akito track down where he was and had a chat with him in a ce where no one could see."


    Silence.


    And then Dad facepalmed. "Kid. I think that you''re the one who doesn''t know how to exin things well..."


    I put on a straight face and said, "To deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies. Now, the reason why we should bring the fight here is because-"


    A sh of golden light appeared from outside the window.


    I paused and nced over.


    The sh of golden light vanished, but a rolled-up letter was stuck against the window.


    Pierre frowned. "That light..."


    Orsted frowned as well. "That was Arumanfi. Then... Perugius?"


    I walked over and reached towards the window.


    The moment I did, a magic circle activated on the paper and the letter teleported into my hands.


    Pierre stared at me and said, "What does it say, Rudy?"


    I surveyed the letter for traps, but there weren''t any. And judging from the official seal, it seemed to be a proper letter from Perugius.


    But it was weird.


    I hadn''t met the guy at all in this timeline, so he shouldn''t be hostile to me or anything...


    With a bit of confusion, and a tiny bit of nerves, I broke the seal on the letter and read it.


    ---


    Rudeus Notus Greyrat. Or Lord Rudras, if you prefer.


    I know that you have joined hands with Orsted and Lace. And I have confirmed that you have potential to be the worst Demon Lord in history.


    ordingly, I will eliminate you. Humanity cannot take that risk.


    But I know mercy.


    Decide a ce and a time and inscribe it on the space below.


    When that time arrives, I will meet you and we shall end this.


    Flee or fail to respond, and I will act ordingly.


    Perugius D


    Armored Dragon King


    Addendum: The Human God sends his regards.


    ---


    "...Son of a bitch."


    Well. I guess I wasn''t the only one who realized a bit of talking could convert enemies to allies...


    Goddammit, Being W.

 205 – Fierce Battle, Armored Fighting Dragon God Perugius Dola – I

    205 ¨C Fierce Battle, Armored Fighting Dragon God Perugius D ¨C I


    An unexpected challenge from an unexpected enemy.


    Pierre said he''d go give that dumbass godson of his a piece of his mind.


    Orsted said that he would fight at my side.


    Dad said he''de along too and show that dumb snake what for.


    And when my wives found out, they practically got up in arms and prepared to rush out then and there.


    Especially Sylphy.


    But I talked them all down.


    Although unexpected, Perugius had issued a formal challenge instead of just bombarding Arcadia with <Chaos Breaker> or sending his spirits to wreak havoc.


    I respected that. Since he showed at least that modicum of respect despite clearly being influenced by Being W, I could at least fight him by myself.


    ...Of course, I wasn''t nning on fighting fair at all.


    Especially since I had a feeling this would be a two-part fight with Perugius being the warm-up while Being W tagged him out right after without giving me any breathing room.


    And the first step to tilt the odds in my favor was the set up the terrain.


    The original n was to use Zenithia as a floating castle like <Chaos Breaker>.


    However, since my lovely daughters and son were still too young to move around, and my lovely wives were incapacitated, I couldn''t risk that.


    So instead, I went with n B, aka the Doom Ind.


    The Ringus Sea.


    It was the body of water between the five major continents of this world, formed when the former singr supercontinent was split apart during the Second Great Human-Demon War.


    And considering the implications of my fight with Being W, I figured it was a good ce to set the stage.


    Surveying the area, it was mostly just water, aquatic monsters, fish, and a dungeon hidden deep underground that was apparently already cleared.


    At least, that was what I could see.


    Not that it really mattered either way.


    You see, if Perugius was going to act the part of a hero, I was going topletely y up the role of a viin.


    I mean, that guy had a floating ind that practically served as a fortress, so since I was his opponent, it was only fair that I had the same.


    Not to mention this would be used against Being W as well, so...


    I held out my hand and stared at the bottom of the ocean.


    Mapping out useful areas, pieces of bedrock, and other ces I could mold. Selecting useful monsters I could refashion to defense sentries... And then it was time to act.


    "Arise."


    A faint sh of light emerged from the depths of the sea. And then foam started to roil across the sea''s surface as thend reformed.


    "Mountains, forests, ins. Rivers,kes, streams. Spirits, monsters, daemons..." I muttered to myself as I envisioned the ce I wanted to create and molded the necessary features.


    Mana roiled as magic formations red to life, self-perpetuating through the logic Roxy taught me with her Dungeon Home.


    Mana roiled again as countless spirits were birthed from monsters andbined to elevate their ranking and strength.


    And mana roiled onest time as dark ocean bedrock was transmuted to dirt, nts, and other terrain.


    It was a culmination of my experience and knowledge since the space-time distortion.


    ...Minus summoning magic. Didn''t want something crazy to happen this far out like identally summoning my son Ares from the far future who had be a literal god of war or something.


    Endless waterfalls fell from the floatingndmass. Mist and fog naturally formed from the infinitely falling water, creating clouds that gave the illusion the ind was being carried in the sky by those clouds.


    It was mostly finished.


    But there was onest touch left.


    I descended on the ind and walked to the highest point.


    There, I built a castle- No, a fortress.


    Considering this was ''Doom Ind,'' maybe I should call it the ''Fortress of Doom?''


    Either way, I began building.


    A poison swamp, a maze-like interior with warp areas leading deeper into the ind and traps along the way, four guardian spirits (as a Demon Lord should have), and then a throne and a vast chamber for me at the very end for a climactic final battle.


    When that wasplete, I sat on my obsidian throne and pulled out the letter Perugius sent me.


    Now, it was time to write a response.


    ---


    I await you in the Fortress of Doom upon Doom Ind above the Ringus Sea.


    Since you paint me as a viin, I will act ordingly.


    Can you breach its defenses and reach me, oh Dragon God?


    Let us end it, one week hence.


    ---


    "...That''s formal enough, right?"


    Just as I thought that, a response appeared beneath my scrawled note.


    "Challenge epted... Huh." I chuckled and said, "Well. I guess this should be fun?"


    Now, this was a once in a lifetime experience.


    Might as well go all out and make this a proper raid,plete with loot and all, right?


    -SNG-


    Ste was worried.


    Onii-chan kept disappearing for most of the day, and nobody would tell her what was going on.


    She thought it was because he was taking too much after their deadbeat dad at first, but that wasn''t it.


    After all, Onii-chan was a responsible adult. A bit... extreme at times, but definitely responsible.


    So it was weird how he kept popping away from the pce and vanishing.


    And it was also weird how all the adults were anxious.


    Not only that... Ste felt weird.


    It was a strange intuition. Like something ''final'' was about to happen. Something big that would change everything.


    And it bothered her that no one would tell her what was going on!


    "...And that''s why I think we should trap Onii-chan and force him to tell us." Ste looked around at herrades and said, "What do you think?"


    Silence.


    Ste pursed her lips.


    It was the little house at the foot of Rudy''s tower.


    Basically, Ste''s childhood home.


    Since the adults were being secretive and/or busy taking care of her new nieces and nephew, she was having a secret meeting of her own with her friends and allies.


    ...Or that was the n.


    But the only ones there with Ste were Fai, Wata, Wyn, Leo, and Miko.


    Silence fell in the room, and then Miko said, "Um... I think we should just leave it be."


    Wata nodded and said, "If Lord Rudy is working this hard when the babies were just born, something serious is happening."


    Leo barked. "Wan. That''s right. And that means Ste should just stay put until it''s over. Wan."


    Ste crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. "I don''t want to!" She looked at Leo and said, "I''m the hero, right, Leo? That means I have to save the day!"


    Leo nodded. "That''s right. But Ste is the hero for the future, not now. You are still small, like how I am still small. ...Wan."


    Fai nodded. "What they said, Ste."


    Ste red at Fai and said, "You too, Fai?!"


    Fai pursed her lips and said, "...Yeah. Me too." She shook her head and said, "The Primordial Spirits have told us all to stay put, so we couldn''t go even if we wanted to."


    Ste blinked. "Primordial Spirits? But didn''t you guys level up into Spirit Kings already?"


    Wata nodded. "Well, yeah. But we still have to listen to the Primordials until we beat them."


    Ste frowned. "...Then that means I''d have to trap Onii-chan by myself?"


    Leo barked. "I can help! Wan."


    Ste looked up at Wyn, still sleeping on Ste''s head as usual. "What about you, Wyn?"


    Wyn yawned and then shook her head. "Just let your big brother y pretend Demon Lord and beat up the baddie, Ste. You can help beat up the bosster in the post-game."


    Ste paused, processing Wyn''s words. And then her eyes widened. "Wait! What do you mean-!"


    -RNG-


    "Win." I reached up to stretch and said, "That''s all I gotta do now. Win twice, and then tie up loose ends."


    The depths of the Fortress of Doom.


    There I sat on my throne, waiting and watching as a hologram projected the outside surroundings to me.


    And there, kneeling in front of me, were four spirits.


    Well, calling them just ''spirits'' wasn''t being fair.


    After all, they were primordial forces of nature bound in physical form.


    I took a look at them.


    The Primordial me, codename ''Prometheus.'' He was a giant formed from magma, but right now he appeared as a red-haired middle-aged man d in crimson armor.


    Next to him, the Primordial Sea, codename ''Tiamat.'' She was a dragon formed from the deepest waters of the world, but right now she appeared as a blue-haired ageless beauty d in a flowing water dress.


    Behind her, the Primordial Wind, codename ''Ventus.'' He was a wistful breeze that traveled across the world, but had taken the form of a young boy in a bard''s outfit.


    And beside him, the Primordial Stone, codename ''Gaia.'' Like Prometheus, she was a giant. Unlike him, she was formed from the stone deep in the core of this world. But now, she took the form of a lithe green-haired woman wearing a suit of emerald armor.


    ...This was technically cheating and breaking the power-scaling of the world since these sorts of spirits shouldn''t exist.


    From what I had read and gathered after talking with Nanahoshi and Perugius in that other timeline, Perugius''s spirits were actually the top of the echelon when it came to spirits.


    For example, Arumanfi was the lord of all light spirits, and there was a spirit that was the lord of all water spirits too.


    But that was because those spirits were the oldest and strongest in age due to being created by Perugius centuries ago.


    ...Maybe it was a bad habit I''d picked up from fighting Being W, but if I saw my opponent do something, I wanted to do it better and beat the guy at his own game.


    Anyway.


    Prometheus raised his head and said, "Lord Rudeus. We have finished our preparations."


    Tiamat nodded. "The seas will rise at yourmand."


    Ventus smiled and said, "The wind shall be at your side."


    Gaia smacked her chest and said, "And the earth shall tremble beneath your feet!"


    ...It seemed like these guys were itching to roley, huh?


    Well, that was what this was all about, so...


    I stood up and smirked. "Excellent. Then..." I shifted my gaze in the distance, staring past my fortress with irvoyance.


    <Chaos Breaker> was approaching.


    And on it were Perugius and his 11 familiars.


    Since I''d been on and broken through <Chaos Breaker> before, it didn''t take me long to slip past the defenses and stare at Perugius directly.


    But unlike when I arrived in the other timeline, Perugius didn''t let me pass unnoticed.


    Garbed in a shimmering golden armor, he immediately met my gaze and smirked.


    His words couldn''t be heard.


    Even so, I could read his lips.


    ''Shall we begin?''


    Seeing that, I sat back down on my throne and waited. "Everyone, to your positions."


    """"AS YOU WILL!""""


    With a spirited (pun intended) shout, my newest allies scattered to take their ces.


    And with that...


    "Time to be a real Demon Lord for once."


    ...I waited for my fated(?) challenger.


    -LIV-


    A clear blue sky above, and a deep blue sea below.


    Superimposed between both was a floating ind.


    <Doom Ind>, where Rudyy in wait deep within the center, beyond his <Fortress of Doom>.


    And then above that, a castle emerged, blocking out the sun.


    <Chaos Breaker>, the fortress that had been restored and repurposed by Armored Dragon King Perugius.


    A peaceful silence filled the air, broken only by the sound of the water spilling from <Doom Ind>.


    But the moment that <Chaos Breaker> lined up with the center of <Doom Ind>, that silence shattered.


    Myriad magic circles filled the sky in an instant. And in the next, an endless stream of magic struck down on the ind.


    The sea evaporated, revealing the deep valleys below.


    The air distorted from heat and the crackling energy of the bombardment.


    But the ind remained intact andpletely undisturbed.


    Not even a single de of grass had been harmed.


    Silence fell again.


    But then thirteen figures emerged from the castle andnded on the ind.


    The first was a man with silver hair and a harsh expression. Shimmering golden armor wrapped his body and the air distorted with his every movement from the sheer energy emitting from him.


    Beside him was a woman with ck wings and a porcin mask.


    And beside those two were eleven others, arranged in a formation.


    Perugius and his familiars.


    The Armored Dragon King waited for a moment, observing the looming fortress in the distance. And then heughed. "Confident, I see." After that, he looked around at the ind and said, "But I suppose it is somewhat merited."


    The woman with ck wings raised her head and said, "Lord Perugius. How shall we attack?"


    Perugius let out a cold smile. "Well. Let us see just how merited his actions are."


    -LIV-


    The War Council room in <Zenithia>, Arcadia''s Imperial Pce.


    There, Rudy''s family had gathered to watch the battle, along with Orsted.


    Hidden magic circles synchronized with the room disyed the ind in real-time, allowing everything to be seen at once.


    Orsted reacted first, staring at Perugius. "...Is he wearing the Fighting God Armor?"


    Pierre let out a deep sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "This is what happens when there isn''t a proper father figure to guide a child..."


    Paul crossed his arms, staring at Perugius and his spirits splitting into two parties. "Just how tough are these guys, anyway?"


    Rika spoke up and said, "Alone and without that armor, Perugius would be nothing to Rudy. But..."


    Orsted hummed. "He should be a force to be reckoned with. The Fighting God Armor raises a person''sbat ability to incredible lengths. Of course, it varies depending on the person... But Perugius is skilled enough in magic that he should be able to maximize it."


    Pierre nodded. "Not just that, but it seems like he modified it." He narrowed his eyes and said, "I can''t confirm it... but I wouldn''t doubt it considering he got contacted by Being W."


    At that time, Ste raised her hand.


    Paul noticed and said, "You got something to say, Ste?"


    "Yeah!" She crossed her arms and said, "Why isn''t Onii-chan just fighting in the open? He''s strong enough, right? And howe that Perugius guy''s just walking into the big trap? Does he think he''s a hero in a game or something?"


    Sylphyughed. "Well, Perugius IS an ancient hero. And Rudy also is a Demon Lord... it''s fitting, isn''t it?"


    Ste frowned. "Even so, this is stupid. It''s putting on a show for no reason."


    Paulughed. "Just sit back and watch, Ste. Rudy wouldn''t do this without a good reason."


    -RNG-


    "...I should have thought this through a bit more."


    I muttered under my breath as explosions and shockwaves reverberated through the surroundings.


    From my throne, I could oversee the situation going on throughout the ind.


    Like a speedrunner who found an exploit, Perugius was easily rushing through the fortress, cutting down most of the traps and obstacles ced in his way.


    Not only that, he was confident in fighting me alone, it seemed.


    As he and his party came across each of my Primordial Elemental Lords, he sent off three of his familiars to fight the one that appeared before continuing on his way.


    And sad to say, the guy''s spirits were morebat-ready than the ones I just picked up.


    It was expected though.


    This was more just a show for Being W to think I was pulling out all the stops.


    I mean, if it worked, it worked. But I wasn''t too upset if Perugius broke through.


    This whole ce was one meant to break, and also to have a bit of fun.


    It wasn''t every day you got to y the part of a World-Ending Boss and fight the supposed Hero, you know?


    Usually, it was the other way around.


    But anyway, time wasing up.


    I sat on my throne and waited, idly tapping on the armrests. And as I did, I considered what was going to happen next.


    After Perugius, Being W didn''t have any pawns left to throw at me, so he''d be stepping in personally.


    And furthermore, my actions were to give him enough ''justification'' to descend.


    Although this was still his world, it was better to face him here than in the Void Realm where that guy had infinite time to prepare.


    The first step then was beating Perugius.


    I didn''t anticipate a problem considering I had a good gauge of his abilities from visiting the other timeline. I had also nned to rope him in as an ally at some point, so I analyzed his strengths and weaknesses a bit.


    In terms of magic, that guy was best at Summoning and Barrier magic, as evident by his feats of summoning those ancient spirits as his familiars, and also sealing Demon God Lace away.


    I don''t think he was that skilled inbat though.


    He had the vibe of someone who''d been through battlefields and trusted his body, but he didn''t emit Orsted vibes in terms ofbat strength.


    Of course, that was when he wasn''t wearing that golden armor.


    I didn''t know what it was, but I DID know it was an insane amplifier.


    It gave off all sorts of secret post-game dungeon equipment vibes.


    And from how he was speedrunning my dungeon, I couldn''t take it lightly.


    ...I was d that I was smart enough to not have the fight in Arcadia though.


    Even if I had all sorts of countermeasure set up there, better that they were saved in case someone tried a desperation move on my family.


    It would be a fight with a lot of variables, but I was used to winging it.


    Not to mention I had more than a few variables of my own to pull out.


    Benefits of befriending an otaku who apparently was a fan of powerscaling anime and video game characters.


    But that aside, I could be sure that Being W would try something after Perugius was defeated.


    Hopefully, he tried showboating in this world.


    A ''friend'' had given me a certain spell perfect to tie him down if I could catch him in this world. And I had long since devised a perfect spell to actually destroy the guy.


    At least, in this timeline.


    From what Nanahoshi said, it was likely we''d have to clean things up on her side too in order to prevent a timeloop paradox or Being W respawning somehow.


    That would be easy though. Unlike my pal Being W, ''Hitogami'' in that timeline wouldn''t see meing.


    After all, ''Rudeus Greyrat'' lived a full and great life in that time and was long gone.


    That Rudeus Greyrat also hadn''t been a ridiculous genius-type like me. Smart, yes. Buting up with countless asspulls, no.


    And of course, there was a long line of people waiting to smack Being W around.


    Probably couldn''t happen in this timeline, but we could definitely jump him in Nanahoshi''s time.


    And then after that, I could retire from all this craziness and focus on having a happy slice-of-life time with my lovely wives and cute baby children-


    An explosion erupted from nearby as the warp circle leading to my throne room overloaded and shattered.


    Smoke filled the air, but then a figure emerged.


    Gleaming silver hair and golden eyes. A stern expression and sharp gaze.


    ...And also regal golden armor emitting unthinkable power.


    Not mana. Not Battle Aura.


    Just raw POWER that distorted the air around it, making Perugius look hazy.


    My eyes sharpened.


    ...Okay. Maybe I shouldn''t take this that lightly.


    Perugius looked at me and gave me a once over. And then he nodded. "You havepletely absorbed and enhanced the Lace Factor, assimting at as your own strength."


    "And you''re quite rude." I stood up and said, "Challenging me out of the blue when we could have a peaceful-"


    A golden blur.


    A heavy impact that sent me flying.


    Broken stone, rubble, and dirt.


    And then I realized I was falling, blood, viscera, and other bits in my field of vision as a golden light rushed down on me again.


    I clicked my tongue and focused.


    *tick*


    My vision was filled with a crimson haze. And as it was, I could make out the golden light.


    It was Perugius, rushing towards me with an overhead two-hand hammerfist.


    *tick*


    Time was slowed to a crawl. Even so, he was moving at a normal speed and would reach me in a few more seconds.


    And from what I could see drifting with me, I had taken a mortal wound with just a single blow, while the second was going to finish me off.


    *tick*


    ...But if I died that easily, I would have surrendered to Being W a long time ago.


    I''d have to apologize to my sisters and my wivester though. I''d also be getting an earful from my moms.


    *crack*


    Time began to speed up.


    Perugius rushed towards me, slowly turning back into a golden beam of light.


    Seeing that, I held out my left hand and focused on my ring finger.


    Specifically, on a pair of rings I was wearing there.


    The first was from my genius wife Roxy.


    And the second was ate gift from my beloved Empress Rika who didn''t want to be shown up.


    Another heavy impact.


    But.


    "Hm?"


    Perugius''s eyes widened.


    I smiled and lowered my left hand that caught his blow. "You know, it''s rude to interrupt someone when they''re talking."


    It was an incredible strength and amplifier.


    The regal golden armor that Perugius wore gave him enough raw strength to probably beat Orsted.


    And this was before the guy even used any magic.


    ...But he wasn''t the only one with amplifying magic equipment.


    The ring from Roxy split apart into golden threads before spreading over my body, instantaneously weaving millions of magic circles together to protect, optimize, and amplify my mana flow.


    At the same time, the ring from Rika emitted an ominous ck haze.


    If Dad or Pierre was here, they''d recognize it andugh.


    ...You see, Rika was upset about not having worthy enough materials to make a ring for me. And she was also upset about being shown up by Roxy for a wedding ring.


    She was stumped and at a loss of what to do for a while.


    But then I told her about my fight with the hydra, and I showed her the drops I got from it.


    And, while the scales themselves didn''t have the property, when my beloved Empress used her magic eyes, magical knowledge, and an entire workforce of interns in Arcadia, she figured out how to recreate it.


    As for what ''it'' was...


    Perugius''s eyes widened and he tried to move away.


    But it was toote.


    "Eat <Repel Phys>, bastard."

 206 – Fierce Battle, Armored Fighting Dragon God Perugius Dola – II

    206 ¨C Fierce Battle, Armored Fighting Dragon God Perugius D ¨C II


    An explosion of force erupted, instantly turning the surrounding sea into steam.


    I was standing at the bottom of the Ringus Sea, looking up at my opponent while surrounded by the suspended waves.


    It was a scene that could havee straight from a manga panel.


    Above, <Doom Ind>, lit up with explosions and magical attacks.


    Beyond that, <Chaos Breaker>, blocking out the sun.


    A clear blue expanse framing it all.


    And then Perugius floating in the air with his golden armor scratched while fragments of a rainbow barrier drifted past him.


    Awe-inspiring... but also damned annoying.


    I clicked my tongue when I saw that Perugius was unharmed.


    Was it because of his skill in Barrier Magic? Or did he modify that armor to amplify its defensive abilities?


    I had reflected the force from his attack right back on him, but he was unscathed.


    It didn''t seem to be physical immunity though.


    Instead, he just had enough defense to tank it.


    Perugius''s eyes narrowed, observing me for a moment.


    Water crashed around me as the sea began to fill in the gap we caused.


    But before then, I thought about the next steps.


    This would be hard.


    The easiest thing to do here was just to kill Perugius.


    ...Well, I guess I should say the ''simplest'' thing instead of ''easiest.''


    Considering how he tanked that attack, and also considering the abilities he hadn''t shown yet, I couldn''t be sure it''d be an easy fight.


    I''d love to talk him down, but his expression told me that he was inplete ''Defeat Demon Lord'' mode. And considering that he might have had Being W whispering into his ear for a year or more at this point, that wasn''t viable.


    So I had to incapacitate him somehow.


    But that might be impossible, all things considered.


    ...Still, might as well test it.


    I exhaled and then kicked off the ground.


    At the same time, the sea froze, turning into ice.


    Perugius didn''t wait for me to reach him.


    Magic Circles red around his limbs, and he suddenly flew towards me again. This time, a faint light shed in his left hand.


    I thought about letting it hit me and reflecting it. But my instincts screamed, and at thest moment, I dodged.


    The moment I did, something flickered past me, and then an explosion of icy powder erupted as a line gouged out the frozen sea beneath me.


    Was that not a physical attack then? Magic?


    Perugius didn''t give me time to think. Golden light emitted from his armor, along with magic circles. And then, in an instant, he was in front of me, swinging his arm. At the same time, a barrage of magicunched towards me.


    I clicked my tongue and then pulled out a manatite sword from my pocket space, swinging it.


    A ripple spread through the air, erasing the magic spells. At the same time, the manatite sword and golden armor shed.


    Sparks flew, and for a brief moment, thin silver lines spread all throughout Perugius''s armor.


    But then my sword exploded, turning into dust.


    I used the force to clear some distance and think.


    It seemed like Perugius''s armor was definitely operating on his mana. Those silver lines looked like mana circuits, probably enhancing the golden armor. And considering the magic circles I saw him instantly use, the armor was a magical focus too.


    I could also assume that the armor was multiplying Perugius''s stats by at least a whole magnitude. Strength, speed, mana output, agility, endurance...


    Although Perugius wasn''t as strong as Orsted, the guy was still a Dragon King and a legendary hero.


    In game terms, Orsted was an All-S character, while Perugius was an All-A character.


    But with that armor equipped, Perugius became an All-SS character.


    Probably the difference between Sup*r Saiy*n and Sup*r Saiy*n 2.


    ...No, maybe closer to the Legendary Sup*r Saiy*n.


    Especially since Perugius seemed like he was just getting used to the armor still and was refining it.


    I clicked my tongue and pulled out my Prototype Excalibur. After, I said, "Not even going to try to listen to a word I say-"


    Another golden sh.


    Perugius held out his hand and sent a st of golden energy right at me.


    It wasn''t mana. At least not entirely.


    Because of that, I couldn''t just deflect it or manipte it.


    And it wasn''t a pure physical attack either. There wasn''t ''mass'' behind it, so Rika''s ring wouldn''t trigger.


    In that case...


    I swung my sword, flooding it with mana.


    Gold shed against gold.


    Perugius''s armor shimmered, revealing silver lines and magic circles traced along its surface as he held his attack.


    Meanwhile, hairlike cracks spread across the surface of my de.


    One second.


    Two.


    Three...


    And then my de shattered, along with my energy st.


    But Perguius''s st ended as well.


    Unlike before, where the silver lines vanished, they were clearly visible now, along with arge magic circle over his chest.


    And while Perugius''s armor was still a bit hazy from the energy it emitted, there was also a lot of heat being emitted now too.


    Seeing that, I chuckled. "Relying on borrowed power to defeat-"


    A sonic boom.


    Perugius closed the gap between us in an instant and threw a punch.


    I let it hit me, reflecting the blow, and then I threw a punch at his head.


    A magic circle shed on Perugius''s armor before something shattered. But he ignored it and continued attacking.


    I was annoyed and continued blocking and counter-attacking.


    But then I realized something was off.


    Perugius was attacking, blocking, and counter-attacking my own counter-attacks. But his gaze wasn''t matching his actions.


    No, maybe it was better to say his ''intent'' didn''t match up?


    Perugius was watching me closely, as if analyzing my fighting style. But not in the way that someone would if they were having to fight back at the same time.


    It was like an outsider watching someone else fight.


    And then I realized it.


    To test, I dodged the next counter-attack and then quickly made a sword. With it, I kicked off the air and attacked with the Sword God style.


    Perugius''s eyes widened in surprised. But even as they did, his body moved into a Water God stance and deflected my attack.


    A textbook counter. Not instincts, but an automatic response.


    Seeing that, I clicked my tongue and said, "There really isn''t anything new in this world, is there?"


    It was an artificial intelligence. One that probably had millennia ofbat data and counters for various techniques and styles stored within it.


    As a result, even if Perugius wasn''t a master closebat fighter, he could fight and respond at the level of one because his armor was a master fighter.


    Not only that, but from the magic circles I saw along with the mana circuit, it seemed like he had an artificial intelligence that automatically cast and supported him with magic too.


    Basically, Roxy''s <Magical Arrays> taken to the ultimate end, mixed with a matching version for fighting styles.


    It was honestly impressive. Was that thing a divine armament or something? It definitely wasn''t something that an average person could just make out of the blue...


    Not only that, but it didn''t seem to have any weaknesses either.


    The only one I could think of it having was durability and power source.


    But considering Perugius was a dragon just like Orsted, and his mana was about the same quality as far as I could tell...


    It would be tough.


    At least, fighting it the normal way.


    ...Unfortunately for Perugius, while artificial intelligence was a great tool, and something almost unthinkable in this world, it was practically a gue on Earth.


    And we knew plenty about how much that tool could fail.


    If this didn''t work, I''d have to resort to some more shounen manga cliches. But hopefully it did.


    And the first thing...


    I quickly made a sword from mana and then started attacking.


    First, Sword God style. Then, Water God, rapidly switching between the two.


    Perugius narrowed his eyes and extended a golden energy de from his arms and countered with it.


    sh, parry, stab, deflect...


    Although I ramped up the intensity, Perugius- No, Perguius''s armor knew the counters and easily responded.


    Not only that, but its blows were getting heavier each time, making my arms shake from the shes.


    More signs that I couldn''t drag it out too long.


    But in that case...


    I chucked my swords at Perugius''s head.


    He flinched and instinctively deflected it.


    But I wasn''t finished.


    Back on Earth, it was a known fact that artificial intelligence couldn''t respond well to new situations. While it was a powerful tool, especially if narrowly tailored, it was also brittle.


    So, if I presented it with a new ''question'' that it had never seen, it would malfunction trying to give me a proper ''answer.''


    Then...


    I made a pair of long swords and then started attacking again.


    But I didn''t use any of the known styles anymore.


    Instead...


    A cut to the left with my right sword, followed by an uppercut sh with my left and using the momentum to spin.


    With that spin, a pair of cuts to the left with both swords.


    A stomp on the ground to pivot, then a downward X-sh followed by an upward X-sh.


    A briefbo half-remembered from a light novel I read once or twice in the past and actualized with mybat experience.


    Sparks flew as Perugius blocked the attacks and then countered with a thrust.


    Seeing that, I clicked my tongue.


    Even though it wasn''t standard, it seemed like it was still within the ''scope'' of what the artificial intelligence could read and predict.


    Then...


    I stepped back and held the hilts of my swords together before fusing them into a double-sided de, just like a certain Sith Lord.


    With that, I spun the des and deflected Perugius''s thrust before starting my counter-attack.


    A winding figure eight attack. An immediate barrage from overhand and underhand, spinning my weapon around to continually attack and using the force from deflections to speed up my attacks.


    And like that, I noticed it.


    A faintg in his movements. Not only that, but slight silver sparks erupting from the thin lines on Perugius''s armor.


    He noticed as well and then activated a dozen magic circles to cast a spell while he countered.


    But I pulled out a chunk of manatite armor from my pocket space and chucked it at him, disrupting the spells.


    "You...!"


    For the first time since he rudely interrupted me, Perugius spoke. But he quickly cut off his words and focused.


    Danger.


    I instinctively warped away just in time to see Perugius send out a golden wave of energy all around his body.


    Did he think he was V*geta or something?


    A heat haze covered Perugius''s body as he turned to look at me. Not only that, but his golden armor was a bit duller now, the bright light fading.


    ...Okay. A viable strategy then.


    Perugius''s spirits were still tied up, and he seemed to be out of tricks.


    I hard-countered his spells because I had plenty of manatiteying around. I hard-countered his closebat because of <Repel Phys> and because I understood and could manipte the response of his armor''sbat AI. And while he could tank with Barrier Magic and his armor, it just kept draining his resources away.


    In contrast, I was still good to go.


    That was the result of using a tool topensate for weaknesses. If it wasn''t your power, someone who mastered theirs could beat you.


    So...


    I looked at Perugius and said, "It''s over, Perugius. You can''t win."


    He stared back at me, his expression stern. And then he nodded. "You are correct. As it stands, I cannot defeat you."


    "Right." I tossed my weapon aside and said, "So let''s talk this-"


    An explosion of golden light erupted from Perugius. At the same time, all traces of silver vanished.


    My eyes widened.


    What the heck?


    Are we doing phase 2 now?


    No, did he decide to do a forbidden jutsu or something and burn his life up to kill-


    Six blows, a sh, and a bombardment of lightning.


    Before I knew it, I was suddenly in the air above <Doom Ind.>


    How the hell did-


    In one instant, a concentrated st of mana equivalent to a nuclear explosion suddenly descended from the sky.


    And in the next, <Chaos Breaker> fell at hypersonic speeds.


    After that, my vision split apart and flooded with gold.


    Pain.


    The first I''d felt in a while.


    I also felt both Rika''s and Roxy''s rings shatter.


    And then I was on my back, staring at Perugius floating above me and glowing like a golden sun.


    But just for an instant.


    In the next, he appeared in front of me.


    I felt I was in rough shape. In fact, I could be sure I looked horrible.


    But I wasn''t the only one.


    Golden veins had pierced into Perugius''s flesh, as if the armor was trying to merge with him. But as a result, he had gained immense power.


    His silver hair had turned gold, and he was moving so fast his flesh was vaporizing with every move.


    *tick*


    Time slowed to a crawl.


    I couldn''t win like this.


    *tick*


    He was moving too fast for me to keep up while still holding back.


    Not only that, but it seemed like the armor had gone into overdrive and was sucking in all the ambient mana to power itself, burning Perugius up in the process.


    *tick*


    Trying to overpower him wouldn''t work. At least, not without erasing the entire Ringus Sea and probably parts of the other continent.


    So...


    *crack*


    Time resumed and a golden light yet again rushed towards me at light speed.


    It connected, and I was sent backwards towards the ground.


    But I never struck it.


    A portal opened up and caught both me and Perugius.


    And as for the destination...


    A ck void, broken only by twinkling lights in the distance. A sheer cold,pletely devoid of air. And harsh waves of raw energy spilling from the sun.


    The momentum from myst blow sent me flying. But that was my intention.


    Perugius tried to follow me, but he suddenly stumbled, clutching at his throat.


    I smiled and started patching myself up. At the same time, I casually nced below me.


    ...Huh. So the world actually WAS t here? Weird...


    And outer space wasn''t actually the Void World.


    Good to confirm that fact.


    But back to the issue at hand.


    Perugius red at me from the distance and tried to close the gap. But he couldn''t seem to get any purchase to reach me, instead just sending golden light everywhere.


    Unfortunately, despite being disoriented, he didn''t seem like he''d be going unconscious any time soon.


    It would have been ideal if theck of oxygen knocked him out, but that golden armor looked like it was forcibly healing him.


    ...No. Rather than ''healing,'' it was ''recing.''


    Kind of like Metal Cool*r from Dr*gon B*ll.


    But anyway, he was on a hard timer now.


    Even if the armor tried to keep him moving and alive, it''d run out of energy soon enough.


    I could already tell that Perugius was pretty much spent from those shy attacks from earlier.


    He must have nned to overdrive the armor and keep going like a perpetual motion machine with the ambient mana.


    Unfortunately for him, there was no mana in outer space.


    There was raw sr energy... but it seemed like that neither Perugius nor the artificial intelligence in the armor knew how to convert it into mana.


    I did.


    And I also knew a bunch of auxiliary spells to protect me from the cold, supply me air, and to move in zero gravity.


    Perugius flung out his arms and let out a silent scream. But after that, golden jets of light erupted from his limbs, sending him flying towards me like I*on M*n.


    I smiled and just casually turned, letting out a light punch.


    Perugius immediately went into a wild spin. One that only elerated as he kept sting with that golden light to correct himself.


    But eventually, he shut it off and stopped himself with a magic barrier.


    By that time, he had moved over the world below.


    A golden light above a blue star.


    That was how Perugius appeared.


    But that golden light was fading.


    I could see it now.


    Perugius''s pale skin was turning violet from ack of oxygen. Although golden veins hadpletely pierced through in an attempt to keep him going, he was fading.


    Not only that, but the light on the golden armor was fading too.


    Even so, he red at me and tried saying something.


    The words didn''te, but I could read what he said.


    "You must perish for the sake of humanity, huh?"


    ...Man. He was really trying to make me feel like the bad guy here, huh?


    Hm. I guess it was technically true. Considering I was the enemy of the ''Human God,'' I *could* be considered the enemy of humanity.


    Still, I was hurt.


    I mean, I was just an ordinary guy, you know?


    ''Pft.''


    ...Okay. Even I couldn''t say that with a straight face anymore.


    But anyway, this should be it.


    Ah, wait. I always wanted to try something.


    The moon was pretty close by, and Perugius was lined up perfectly over the world.


    In that case...


    I warped over to the moon. Landing on it, I moved around to line myself up, and then I kicked off.


    A cloud of dust exploded around me. At the same time, I started flying towards Perugius at a blinding speed with my arm outstretched.


    A heavy impact, with the sensation of something shattering beneath my fist.


    Rapidly increasing speed, and then burning heat as we re-entered the atmosphere.


    Perugius screaming my name as we considered our descent.


    And then impact.


    I paused, kneeling on the ground over Perugius with my fist pressed against his chest.


    He was alive.


    The golden armor had shattered, leaving only a few pieces stuck to him that were embedded in his flesh.


    His body was covered in burns, and pretty much every bone in his body was broken.


    But he''d live.


    Just in case though, I healed him up. Just enough to not die from his injuries.


    When I did, Perugius coughed and stared at me, his eyes wide in disbelief. "What... are you...?"


    I smiled. "I''m just a guy who wants to live happily ever after with my family."


    And that was true.


    If only a certain god would stop interfering in my life...


    Perugius stared at me for a bit and then slowly reached up with his left hand. "No. You... will destroy the world." He tried reaching up to my neck. And as he did, a small magic circle started to form. "I cannot... allow...!"


    "Enough."


    A voice cut through the air.


    I blinked and looked over.


    It was a different voice and a different face. But I recognized his mana.


    Pierre. Except he looked different.


    He had grown, and his silver hair now had patches of green. There were a few scales on his body, and a pair of draconic wings on his back.


    Perugius froze and then slowly turned his head. "Lace...?"


    Pierre walked over and gestured for me to move.


    I did.


    Pierre smiled and said, "Thanks for holding back, Rudy. I''ll take it from here."


    Was it from the shock? Or despair maybe seeing Lace here ready to fight as well?


    Either way, Perugius fainted.


    Pierre scooped him up and then looked up at the sky.


    I did as well.


    Doom Ind was gone. In fact, we were standing on its ruins after it fell from the sky, creating a small mountain in the sea.


    With Perugius out cold, his spirits were gone as well... minus the woman with ck wings.


    She was unconscious off to the side and being watched over by Prometheus, Tiamat, Venti, and Gaia.


    ...And props to me for remembering their names.


    Anyway, this fight was over.


    I had shown my overwhelming strength after being on the backfoot for a bit, as well as pulled out a few different trump cards.


    Was this enough?


    Or-


    A beam of light the size of the entire Central Continent fell from the sky.


    Pierre was shocked and couldn''t react.


    But I was expecting some BS like this from the start.


    *tick*


    Time slowed to a crawl.


    *tick*


    I pulled out my crimson godyer de from my pocket space in the stalled time and held it in my right hand.


    *tick*


    I swung the de, aiming right at the core of the beam of light.


    *crack*


    Time resumed.


    And then white was burned away by crimson.


    Silence.


    But only for a moment.


    As I straightened my body to get ready, a rippling portal appeared in the sky.


    From that portal, someone emerged.


    A man, shrouded by white mist. With his arms folded and descending from the portal, it looked like the heavens were opening up to reveal a divine figure.


    And as he descended, a familiar theme song yed.


    []


    Being W grinned a nk smile and said, "Well, well, well. It looks like I have to do it myself."


    Pierre looked up at Being W and then blinked, confused. "Is that... music?"


    I pointed my sword at Being W and said, "Yeah. And that bastard stole my theme song."


    Being W...


    No.


    The <Human God>ughed and said, "It''s good to finally see you in person, you bastard."


    I smiled. "And it''s good to see you too, Whitey."

 207 – Turning Point ω

    207 ¨C Turning Point ¦Ø


    Being Wughed. Not just a chuckle, but a full-blown, doubled-over heartyugh. He wiped a tear from his eyes and said, "My. I''ve thought about countless ways this meeting could go, but calling me Whitey..." Heughed again and said, "Well! I guess if it looks the part, right?" He grinned and then said, "Mister Demon Lord?"


    "I''d prefer being called a Demon Emperor." I smiled and said, "I ranked up, you know?"


    "Is that so?" Being W smiled as well. "Great. Great! Then... I should give you a gift, right?" He rubbed his chin. "Now... what would be good for you... Oh!" He snapped his fingers. "I know!"


    It was an instantaneous attack.


    I couldn''t react in time to block it if I wanted to.


    Another continent-sized beam of pure white light fell upon Arcadia.


    But I wasn''t fazed.


    The moment that beam got close, it scattered golden light and dissolved.


    Being W''s smile faded from his face.


    I chuckled and then lowered my sword. "What''s the matter, Whitey? Surprised?"


    Being W turned to look at me and said, "A bit. You sure prepared some sturdy defenses."


    I nodded. "Obviously. I had to prep for a sneaky guy like you, Whitey."


    Being W''s eye twitched. But then he looked at Pierre and said, "You''ve made a lot of tricky cards too. Dragon God Lace, huh? Looks like you somehow got your memories... but it looks like you''re missing your magic. Did you exchange your demon half for your full identity?"


    Pierre set Perugius off on the side. After that, he held out his left hand, conjuring his crimson sword from thin air. After that, he looked at Being W and said, "Wouldn''t you like to know?"


    Being W nodded. "I would indeed, since you''re a cheating bastard who keeps screwing with my ns. But whatever." He sighed. "Since we''ve reached this, how about we just wrap things up, hm?"


    I tensed.


    It would be over in an instant if I lost focus.


    Being W looked at me and smirked. "You''ve fucked up a lot of my ns and screwed me over more times than I can count... but it''s over now."


    Pierre''s eyes widened and he swung his sword.


    Being Wughed and flicked his wrist, warping him and Perugius away somewhere. "Now, now. The climax shouldn''t have minor characters hanging around. Don''t you think so, Rudy?"


    Iughed and said, "Then it''s time you exit left, isn''t it, Whitey?"


    Being Wughed. "The NERVE you have... it''s amazing, really. But..." His expression turned nk and he said, "Come on then. It''s time to finish it for good."


    Seeing that he was waiting for me, I conjured my golden wings and flew up there to stand in front of him.


    Being W stared at me and said, "A Human ying at a Demon Lord, appearing like a Dragon, shining like an Angel, and daring to fight against God. Really, just how did someone like youe to be?"


    I stopped in front of Being W and said, "Well. You should look in a mirror."


    Being Wughed. "Yes, yes. I suppose you''re right. I did this to myself, after all. Couldn''t have just left well enough alone, right?"


    A casualughter and light words.


    But I could sense that Being W was anything but as carefree as he seemed.


    In fact-


    A sudden twisting in the fabric of reality.


    My eyes widened and I instinctively reached out with my mana to stop it.


    Being W clicked his tongue. "So it wasn''t a mistake. The first time was in a dream, so I could see how you did it. But this..." He tilted his head and said, "How did a mere human be a god? And without a Divine Spark?"


    I smiled and said, "I''m no god. But even if I''m not, it''s not hard to kill one, you know?"


    Three charges.


    The old Rudeus had told me I had that many left when he wrenched me back from the future where I was in aa.


    I''d created magic with a simr effect in recent years. But if there was any time to use them for real...


    *crack*


    Something deep inside me burned up.


    And I could feel that I had ''two'' left.


    *tick*


    Time came to an absolute halt.


    The flow of time itself froze.


    ...No. It wasn''t that time froze, but that I''d stepped out of time.


    And in that sidestepped time, I moved, shing with my godyer sword to end Being W.


    But he moved.


    *crack*


    The charge I spent was gone, and time resumed.


    At the same time, Being W reappeared ten meters away, a surprised look on his face. "Stopping time itself... You really are something else." Heughed and said, "No wonder my future selves said to not make you an enemy. But..." He held up his hand, a blue disk slowly appearing his palm. "...I might not be able to beat you easily, but I can make you regret fighting."


    I could sense it.


    Whatever he was doing would immediately destroy the world when he finished.


    And while I would be fine, everyone else...


    It was iffy.


    <Zenithia> and Arcadia was made to be able to persist world-ending events, but I''d rather not test them.


    Being W let out a feral grin and moved to crush his open hand. "Say goodbye-"


    A simple and pure sh, cutting out of the blue.


    With it, golden blood sshed and the blue disk vanished as Being W jerked his hand back, clutching at a giant gash.


    I flicked my wrist and made a quicknding pad out of a magic barrier.


    The moment I did, Dad, Pierre, and Orsted appeared,nding all around me.


    Dad flicked his ssy sword, cleaning it of Being W''s golden blood. After that, he let out a cheeky smile and said, "This the guy who''s been a pain in our ass? Doesn''t seem so tough."


    Pierre ran his right hand through his hair, his crimson sword in his left hand. Unlike before, his appearance was back to his usual look. "Even gods can be taken off guard. Don''t think it will be that easy again, Paul."


    Orsted stood there, staring at Being W aplicated expression. A gleaming white katana was held in his right hand.


    I looked at everyone and said, "You know I could handle this myself, right?"


    Dadughed and held his sword over his shoulder. "Yeah. But your wives were saying either we came, or they did."


    "Ah." I nodded. "Then thanks."


    I definitely wouldn''t be able to concentrate if they were out here with me.


    Being W looked at us all and thenughed. "How cute. You brought your Dad along to die along with your friends, huh? And..." He looked at Orsted and said, "The son of the First Dragon God. So that''s what you looked like, huh?"


    Orsted stared at Being W for a long while. But then he eventually said, "Do you intend to destroy the world? Or rule it?"


    Being Wughed. "Isn''t it obvious? I''d LOVE to just continue ruling it like I did. But SOMEONE is making that impossible."


    Iughed as well and said, "Funny how that works. SOMEONE is making it impossible for me to live a peaceful life as well."


    Weughed together for a while.


    I saw Dad give me a weird look.


    But I ignored him.


    After a bit, Being W shook his head and said, "Hah... I''m going to miss thister." He paused. "Actually, I lied. I''d be pissed if itsted any longer. But anyway!" He looked back at Orsted and said, "This is my world, so I can do what I want with it. Break it, rebuild it, destroy it... Of course, if I destroy it, I die. And if I die, I destroy it. But you know what?" He threw out his hands and said, "At this point, I don''t care!"


    I focused.


    Five crystals shed from within Being W''s chest. After that, he pointed at me and said, "I don''t care anymore! As long as I can fuck your life up, it''ll be worth it! So..."


    The crystals started to crack.


    Pierre''s eyes widened and he jumped forward, shing at Being W''s neck.


    Being Wughed as golden blood sprayed. And heughed more as one crystal shattered.


    Dad ran forward and shed twice.


    More golden blood sprayed and two more crystals shattered.


    But at that point, we all felt it.


    The world was crumbling.


    I could see it. The distant edges of the sea were shrinking, rapidly closing in on the edges of the continent.


    Orsted ran forward to swing his sword as well.


    I called out to him. "Wait, Orsted!"


    Hearing me, Orsted hesitated.


    But then Being W swung his arm.


    Space shattered as a sh shot towards Orsted.


    He quickly raised his sword to block, but failed to stop it, causing a sh mark to appear on his face, along with a spray of blood.


    Pierre red at Being W and said, "You''re going to destroy everything!"


    Being W cackled. "That''s the point!" After that, he looked at me and said, "So, Genius! What''re you gonna-"


    Before he could finish talking, I acted.


    *crack*


    Another charge spent.


    Only one left.


    In the frozen time, I reached Being W and grabbed him, warping back into space like I did with Perugius.


    *crack*


    Time resumed as we arrived in the ck void of outer space.


    Being W looked around, surprised. Golden blood streamed down his body as the sole remaining crystal shone.


    I stood there, observing Being W, and then the world below.


    ...It was crumbling.


    Although just around the edges, if this continued, the entire world would disappear.


    Of course, Being W would disappear too, but so would everything else.


    So I needed a solution.


    Being Wughed. Somehow, his voice carried even in the void of space. Staring at me, he said, "That was surprising. But you know Rudy, even if I don''t rule over this entire ne of existence, I won''t be affected by a simple void." He grinned and said, "And also... if I die now, everything you love will disappear, you know? That world will only exist if a Human God is there to sustain it."


    I nodded. "I''m aware. But it was worth a try... Besides. I''ve always wanted to dabble in creation."


    "...You''re just absolutely insufferable, aren''t you." Being W red at me and said, "So proud, so vain... Do you really think you can beat me? That all of this won''t be in vain in the end?"


    "Of course." I nodded and held out my hand towards Being W.


    Golden light shot towards him.


    Being W flinched. But then he looked confused when his wounds started healing. Especially when the cracked crystal began restoring itself. After both the wounds and the crystal were fully restored though, Being W narrowed his eyes and said, "Choosing to heal me? I can end it anytime, you know?"


    "Sure." I nodded and grabbed my pocket space, flinging it open behind me.


    Various tools, artifacts, and weapons that Akito and I prepared floated in the air behind me.


    After that, I smiled and said, "But if you''re anywhere near as pissed at me as I am with you, you don''t want it to end just like that, do you?"


    Being W stared at me, his expression nk. And then heughed. "Right. I guess we''re at least simr in that regard. Then..." He let out a feral grin and swung out his hand. "Die."


    A white star suddenly formed and shot towards me.


    I reached behind me and pulled out a small white shield with a green jewel in its center. That in hand, I stepped forward and swung with the shield.


    An explosion of rainbow light and sparks filled the void.


    My shield broke, but it did its job.


    Lowering my hand, I stood there and stared at Being W, smiling.


    He clicked his tongue and said, "You''re annoyingly overpowered."


    "Yep." I nodded and said, "And all because of you. Ever heard of self-fulling prophecies?"


    Being W scowled and then mmed his hands together. The moment he did, a pair of asteroids appeared out of the blue, rushing to crush me.


    I reached behind me and grabbed another weapon.


    A drill-like sword with three sections and crimson lines.


    The moment I grabbed it, a howling crimson wind surrounded me, grinding the asteroids to dust. The particles slowly began to orbit me, creating a small gxy.


    And then I thrust my weapon at Being W.


    A howling wind that could sunder a star rushed towards Being W.


    He was surprised and crossed his arms to block.


    Golden blood sprayed and his white flesh was damaged.


    But then my weapon broke and the attack ended, leaving Being W just wounded.


    "Tch." I reached for another weapon and said, "You''re awfully sturdy."


    Being W lowered his arms and said, "I should be saying that to you, Bastard." He eyed the collection of items behind me and said, "How the hell did you prepare so many trump cards anyway?"


    "Wouldn''t you like to know?"


    A crimson barbed spear cursed to reverse causality.


    The moment it was in hand, I chucked it.


    The ck void lit up with infinite crimson stars, all aiming to pierce Being W and prevent his escape.


    But he just snapped his fingers and they vanished.


    My spear vanished as well.


    I clicked my tongue and said, "Guess that''d be too easy."


    Being W jabbed the air with a wed hand and then clenched it. The moment he did, gravity distorted around me as space started to copse.


    I could tell immediately what he was doing.


    The ''ultimate attack'' that I showed him in our first skirmish.


    A ck hole.


    I mean, if asteroids and a literal star didn''t work, that definitely should, right?


    But unfortunately for him...


    I grabbed a seemingly innocuous drill bit. One with a golden drill and a silver base, with a loop that you could thread a ne through.


    A crushing gravitational force that seemed to distort everything in existence attempted to envelop me.


    And in response, an emerald light spiraled in opposition before piercing through and shattering the ck hole.


    Being W''s eyes widened. "What in the world-"


    "Take this, Whitey!" I charged out from the shattered ck hole with an emerald drill in hand. "This is the drill that will create the heavens!"


    "Interesting!" Being W''s eyes lit up and then said, "Fine! Then..." He held out his left hand, forming a crimson drill. "This will be the drill that destroys the heavens!"


    A sudden impact.


    The drills collided and waves of energy erupted, making it look like gxies were forming and copsing in an instant.


    And then both drills dispersed and I was rushing towards Being W.


    Heughed and swung a fist at me.


    And I responded by snapping my fingers.


    A flicker in the fabric of reality.


    The ck void vanished, reced by pure white.


    But it wasn''t the Void Realm.


    Being W froze and looked around. "What?"


    I smiled and said, "My son-inw came up with a pretty useful theory."


    Being W turned to look at me, horror in his eyes. "What did you do? Where IS this?!"


    I smiled. "<Heaven>. Well, for you, it might as well be <Hell.>"


    A ce where souls came to rest. One that would be formed by prayers, beliefs, hopes, and dreams.


    At this moment, it was just a nk te.


    Although Cliff had paved the way and imed thend, it had yet to grow into a realm of its own.


    But it was enough.


    Being W swung his arms, thrashing. Trying to cut through and break free.


    But nothing happened.


    ...Of course.


    After all. This was a ce for ''Humans'' and not ''Gods.''


    Especially not the god that tried to crush them all beneath his feet.


    While Being W thrashed, I held up my right hand. As I did, I said, "You know, I''ve been thinking about how to kill a god for a while. You in particr. My previous ideas and tests clearly didn''t pan out... but there was one thing I never really tried."


    Being W spun around to re at me. "You think this is enough to stop me? You might have trapped me here for now... But you''re far from strong enough to defeat me!" He immediately held out his hands, pressed together like he was trying to use a k*meh*m*ha.


    And immediately, a white beam shot towards me.


    But it froze.


    Being W''s eyes widened. "Impossible!"


    I smiled. "Nothing''s impossible, Whitey."


    A thin red line, slowly tracing out a shape.


    Geometric lines bouncing between a slowly spiraling form to create an infinitely repeating fractal.


    Mana, serving not as fuel, but as the framework.


    The beam of light collided with the crimson pattern and vanished, sucked into its depths.


    Being W froze and tried to stop the attack.


    But he couldn''t move.


    And then he realized what I was doing. "No. NO! You bastard! You can''t do this!"


    I smiled. "You''re right, Whitey. Our world can''t survive without a <Human God>. But it never had to be you."


    Being W strained to break free. Golden blood spilled as he tried to move and escape. But he couldn''t.


    And then he stopped, realizing that it was futile.


    Staring at me, he said, "Why?"


    I tilted my head. "Why what?"


    "Why couldn''t you just leave me alone? Why couldn''t you just live a normal life and be happy?!"


    I blinked. "...Are you being serious?"


    "YES!" Being W screamed. "Why does every version of you want me dead!? If you just left me alone, I wouldn''t have done anything!"


    Faint crimson threads wrapped around Being W, seeping into his very being.


    Seeing that, he cut a sorry figure.


    ...But he did raise a good point.


    For him, it must have seemedpletely random.


    I was born, and then suddenly his future vanished.


    But...


    "Like I said, Whitey."


    The crimson threads stopped, forming a perfect Archimedes spiral over Being W''s body.


    "Self-fulfilling prophecy."


    Had he not been worried and tried to separate my family. Had he stopped there and didn''t try to kill Norn. Had he not caused the space-time distortion to try and kill Ste.


    There were plenty of chances for him to end this animosity.


    But he didn''t.


    And now...


    "Tough luck, Whitey. You lived your life in vain."


    "RU-!"


    "<Lace Transform>."


    Two words that formed a single truth.


    Mana described function, imagination expanded reality into aplex realm beyond time, and then will mapped it all into another form.


    ...Or in simpler terms, a spell that converted anything into anything else and integrated it a form I could use.


    The result of that was a single iridescent crystal floating in the white void.


    When I grabbed it, I could feel the entire world.


    Every life, every hope, every wish, every fear...


    Existence itself in the palm of my hand.


    But I didn''t need it.


    Leaving the crystal in the air, I spun on my heel.


    "Smell yater, Being W. And..."


    I crossed the threshold between this realm and reality.


    As I did, I focused my gaze on another ce.


    It was a simr ne of existence, filled with an endless white void.


    And there was another white figure standing there, looking over a miniature world.


    For a brief moment, he looked my way.


    I vanished before he could see me and muttered, "...See you soon, Hitogami."


    It was the end of a story.


    But it wasn''t the end of ''ours.''


    Still, it was enough for now. At least for a bit, we had time to rx and celebrate.


    Now... what could I cook up that would make my wives and sisters not want to strangle me out of frustration...?

 208 – End of a Dream

    208 ¨C End of a Dream


    An undisputed victory.


    Being W was gone. Not dead, but instead erased.


    The imposter that took on the name of Hitogami and donned the mantle of the <Human God> had been wiped from existence.


    His divine authority, however, remained in the form of a jewel left in <Heaven>, and of prayers and belief where souls would eventually rest to be reborn.


    I did that.


    And as a result, the worry hanging over our heads about Being W causing some ridiculous event or bullshit drama waspletely gone.


    For once, me, my family, my friends, and the world itself was truly free.


    Free to live, free tough, free to love, and free...


    ...to run away from crazy wives who wanted to use me as target practice.


    "GET BACK HERE RUDY!" Eri screamed at me as she sprinted after me with a wooden sword in hand.


    "You promised!" Sylphy shouted and ran with an armful of snowballs. "You promised you''d take me with you to fight that guy!"


    Lightning crackled as Roxy chased after me as well. Not only that, but a scary array of magic formations expanded behind her as she sprinted.


    And the scariest part was that she wasn''t saying a word, seemingly intent on just smashing me into the ground.


    I nced back at them as I ran and said, "This is DV! Domestic violence!"


    A snowballunched through the air at hypersonic speed.


    I instinctively ducked, only for it to explode and turn the ground in front of mepletely icy.


    Oh, and for the record, we were back in our house in Sharia.


    The good old Greyrat home... where I was being chased around like I came out of an old Western animation, chased around like in T*m and J*rry.


    ''Papa! Run! Heehee!''


    A cute baby girl''s voice echoed in my head.


    That would be Celes.


    Well. At least my baby girl was enjoying my struggle.


    It was the morning after everything went down.


    Obviously, I got chewed out by everyone the moment I got back, but I''ll spare the details.


    To celebrate, the entire Greyrat family and our friends were outside in the courtyard, having a party.


    Even Aunt Teresa had managed to make it here from Millishion. Hell, that old man Sauros was here too somewhere in the crowd.


    As I zipped past the main entrance again, a soft sigh echoed. Rika''s.


    Following that, a chorus ofughing babies echoed.


    I nced over to see Rika seated on awn chair holding Kadi, our silver-haired daughter. Beside her, our other daughters, Riru and Usri, sat on in a pair of baby carriers, giggling as they looked at me.


    Behind them, in apletely secured and fluffy y area, the rest of my kids were ying.


    And by ''rest of my kids,'' that also included Ena, Eos, and Rnd who were doing their best to baby sit.


    Ena sat on the ground, hugging Christina while watching Ares waving his arms in the air.


    Eos held Celes to give her a good view of me running past.


    And Rnd held Lucille, staring at her with a bemused look on his face.


    Argh, times like this made me wish I made a camera.


    I''d just have to make do with a mental snapshot for now and print it outter-


    *thwack*


    A burst of cold powder smacked against my face, causing me to stumble.


    Sylphy cheered. "I got him!"


    Immediately after, there was the sound of something whistling through the air.


    I ducked to the side, just in time for a small dirt explosion to erupt as Eri''s sword plowed into the dirt beside me.


    But it wasn''t over.


    "Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lurks in the hearts of man..."


    An incantation from Roxy.


    I quickly scrambled to my feet and held up my hand, getting ready.


    She continued. "Thou art at the gate of the underworld... Come forth, wrath of the gods! <Indiganation!>"


    A sh of blue lightning, striking down from a clear blue sky.


    ...Okay, wives still mad, I guess.


    That was thest thought I had before I got mmed into the ground by the lightning strike and then sted off into the sky.


    -SNG-


    Ste sipped on a cup of berry juice as she watched Onii-chan get treated like a punching bag by his wives.


    ...This wasn''t a good example to be setting for his kids, but he DID mess up.


    Ste was conflicted, but in the end, she decided that it was Onii-chan''s problems to solveter.


    If he wanted to devolved to a standard Shounen character now that the main story arc was over, that was his problem, not hers.


    Ste sighed and then took a look around.


    It was packed. Even more than when the weddings were happening.


    Although Ste recognized a lot of the faces around, there were people she''d never seen before too.


    Like there, in the corner, her biological father was standing with uncle Philip and an harsh-looking old man with almostpletely silver hair.


    Mister Zanoba was standing in the corner, having a serious conversation with a young blonde man who had his facepletely covered with a wrapped cloth. Beside the young blonde man, and holding onto his sleeve, there was a beautiful young woman with aqua blue hair and sapphire like eyes.


    Mama Lily was talking to a woman who looked a lot like her but a bit older. Beside them both, Aisha nee-chan stood looking a bit awkward and out of ce.


    But Norn nee-chan looked worse, trapped in a one-armed hug by Mom while Mom talked with Aunt Therese and an older couple that must have been Grandma and Grandpa.


    And that didn''t even include all the random adventurer buddies who had been invited by Ste''s parents or by Sylphy.


    ...Or the rowdy crowds of Beastmen from the Great Forest who were running around cheering Onii-chan''s name.


    Or the fact that Kishirika Kishirisu was with a hulking demon with multiple arms that looked like G*ro from that bloody Western fighting game, M*rtal K*mbat.


    Ste shook her head and then kept sipping on her berry juice, quietly seated at a table off to the side of the courtyard.


    She was just hoping for some peace and quiet, but...


    "So it''s your turn to be the hero next, Ste!" An energetic young beast girl with silver hair and perky ears looked over at Ste.


    That was Toni, one of Ste''s minions-


    FRIENDS from the Great Forest.


    "Y-Yes..." Another young beast girl with soft silver hair and droopy ears spoke up next to Ste. "Will you be taking a trip back soon to im the holy sword, Ste?"


    Ste let out a deep sigh and put her cup down. After that, she pointed at the two and said, "Look! The first thing about being a hero is that drawing the legendary weapon from its resting ce marks the start of bad times and drama!" She pointed at the courtyard and said, "We JUST got a chance to rest! I''m not going to start running off to be the hero and then suddenly activate a secret post game boss or-"


    There was a sh of light, and then a glowy and staticy blue portal appeared in the middle of the courtyard.


    Ste froze, slowly turning to look towards it.


    ...Nah. No way, right?


    I-It couldn''t be that she identally caused a post-game event or something, right?


    RIGHT?!


    Ste wanted to believe that.


    But as she stared at the portal, a familiar person walked out.


    Akito, adjusting a watch on his left hand.


    Beside him, there was a young girl who looked a lot like a smaller Roxy.


    Ste had met her before too.


    Lara Greyrat, the other Roxy''s and that hi Onii-chan''s oldest daughter.


    But there was someone else there too.


    A face that Ste hadn''t seen for a long time now, but one that she couldn''t forget.


    After all, she had seen it in the mirror and in pictures for over eighteen years before she was reborn.


    A cute Japanese teenaged girl with long ck hair and above average looks. Though, with her currently serious and cool expression, it definitely brought her points up a few in the looks department.


    That was Ste''s objective evaluation of the girl.


    An evaluation that she did because it was the only way for her to cling to her rapidly fraying sanity at the ridiculous situation.


    Nanahoshi Shizuka took a look around, letting out a faint smile at seeing the cheery atmosphere.


    Ste quickly moved to try and hide her face. But before she could, she happened to lock eyes with Nanahoshi.


    A strange and intuitive feeling.


    Like looking at a warped mirror.


    Ste could tell. That girl had her old appearance, but she also wasn''t ''her.''


    Like putting a square block inside a matching hole that was just a bit too small.


    There was a bit of nostalgia and immediate empathy.


    But at the same time, Ste felt an instinctive repulsion.


    Was it a woman''s intuition?


    Ste felt like if they talked, the conversation would devolve into ''how dare you think you''re me?!''


    ...Or something.


    And it seemed like that Nanahoshi Shizuka felt the same way, instinctively turning up her nose as she looked at Ste.


    Ste huffed and looked away as well-


    Wait. Did Orsted just copse?


    ...And now everyone was talking really loud because of the sudden disturbance.


    Hah...


    One day.


    One day, Ste would have a normal and peaceful family gathering party...


    -RNG-


    "Sorry again for the sudden interruption, Other Papa." Lara turned around to nce at me and said, "The timing seemed right though, so we wanted to get things moving."


    I waved my hand and said, "It''s fine. Better to tie up loose ends sooner rather thanter."


    A rippling portal wide enough to cover the entirety of my house''s courtyard.


    On one half, it was my timeline and world.


    And on the other half, it was a parallel future, the world of the other Rudeus Greyrat who set everything into motion.


    And also where we had to deal with Hitogami and resolve the situation with him for good.


    Also, it was ''Hitogami'' because ''Being W'' was an entity that could and would never return.


    <Lace Transform> kind of worked on an existential basis like that, so no cheat-like resurrection for him.


    Pierre stepped across the portal and rubbed his chin. "So it IS another river then. This ce ispletely separate from ours..." He paused and then turned to look back at Orsted, stopped from crossing in our timeline. But then he turned forward and looked at an Orsted standing in the middle of the courtyard and wearing a weird helmet. "Well, almostpletely separate. Right, Orsted?"


    That Orsted paused and then took off his helmet.


    He looked the same as the one I knew. The only difference was that the scar on his face was on the other side and he looked a bit harsher.


    But only for a moment.


    As he looked at Pierre, a strange expression crossed his face. And then he blinked and said, "This is an interesting sensation." He muttered and tilted his head. "Two sets of concurrent memories, and with a gap of fifty or so years between them..." He shook his head andughed before looking at me. Smiling, he said, "No matter the time or ce, you continue to surpass my expectations, Rudy."


    I gave him a thumbs up. "d to hear it, pal."


    Orsted smiled. But then he paused and rubbed his chin. "...Still, how strange. To remember you as an employee and friend, and also as an equal and friend..."


    I walked over to pat his shoulder and said, "Probably best to not think about it too much. They''ll resolve themselves and settle after we all leave."


    Orsted was a ''singrity.''


    Since his existence was tied to this world in a way that was outside of time, the fact that our timelines were intersecting right now was causing the Orsted I knew and the Orsted here to ovep.


    Technically, they were the same person, so it didn''t matter. But it would definitely be confusing.


    Speaking as someone who also had to deal with having an alternate life set of memories crammed into his head, it could get pretty disorienting.


    But it should just be temporary.


    Anyway...


    I looked forward and watched as Sylphy and Roxy walked out from the house.


    Or rather, the other Sylphy and Roxy.


    I waved and said, "Long time no see."


    The other Sylphy''s amber eyes shimmered a bit. But then they cleared up and she smiled. "Wee back, Rudy."


    The other Roxy looked a bit emotional as well. But she put on aposed look and nodded. "Thank you for returning safely."


    I felt a pang of sadness in my heart at those words. Especially when I realized that there wasn''t another Eri here toe out and greet us as well.


    ...This sort of day woulde in the future too, huh?


    After looking at them, I shifted my gaze to the entrance of the house where other people began emerging.


    A young woman who looked a lot like Norn, but with emerald hair and a jewel on her forehead.


    A few young men and women who faintly reminded me of Eri.


    A young woman who looked a bit like Sylphy, but with light brown hair standing next to an older gentleman who looked like Cliff, if he was an old man.


    And then more people who were definitely descendants of the other Rudy here.


    It wasn''t the same, but it was also a good reminder about my own future.


    ...Specifically on how I wanted to handle the fact that there mighte a day where I had to watch my children disappear along with parents and siblings.


    I''d cracked immortality, but <Heaven> was also a real ce in my world.


    So...


    No.


    Thoughts on thatter.


    For now, we focus on the final fight here.


    More people started walking out from the mansion.


    But more people started walking through the portal behind me as well.


    Dad stepped forward, his hand idly resting on his now golden sword.


    It turned out, bathing a weapon in the blood of a god and actually injuring said god turned it into a ridiculously overpowered divine weapon.


    But that aside...


    Eri walked in next, followed by Sylphy.


    Then Rika and Roxy.


    After that, Rnd and Eos, followed by Ena and Cliff.


    Ste, Norn, and Aisha walked through next, followed by my self-proimed Elemental Lords, Prometheus, Tiamat, Venti, and Gaia.


    Finally, Astolfo and the original members of the White Knights walked through.


    It was a coordinated raid party to finish off Hitogami for good.


    ...Mostly because quite a few people I knew got upset that they didn''t get a chance to do anything since I cheesed Being W.


    Once everyone gathered, the portal leading back to our time closed. After that, Nanahoshi looked around and started to exin the n and situation.


    To sum things up...


    ording to the research they''d done, if Hitogami died, the world would copse. Because of that, they couldn''t kill him. Instead, they had to seal him.


    And unfortunately, because there wasn''t someone like me around, they had to keep Hitogami around while sealed.


    The logistics were already covered, the pathway to the Void Realm confirmed, and now all that had to be done was beat that guy up until he couldn''t move and seal him away.


    The simplest answer would be for me to handle everything again... but I didn''t want to mess around to see what would happen if parallel timelines with different sources crossed like that.


    Pierre mentioned that ''incursions'' could happen, and while I didn''t know what they were, I had a feeling it wasn''t a good idea to find out.


    But anyway, Nanahoshi and Akito were acting as the strategists and going over the gamen. After they finished exining everything and organizing the formations, Perugius would head over here and help us set up the portal to said Void Realm.


    It was a lot of boring talk that didn''t really apply to me anyway though. In this fight, instead of pulling out trump cards, I would actually BE the trump card.


    Meaning I''d be standing back and attract as little attention as possible so that Hitogami would be caught off guard.


    After all, this guy didn''t know me.


    ''Are you bored, other Papa?''


    A female voice echoed in my mind.


    I nced over and saw Lara move next to me, riding on a giant Leo.


    It was still pretty weird, considering she looked a lot like how Roxy used to.


    Would Celes end up looking simr?


    Anyway, to answer her question...


    ''A little.''


    Lara smiled. ''If it makes you feel better, you earned being bored?''


    I chuckled. ''True.''


    This was better than spending every waking hour of the day building up a deck of trump cards and running down rabbit holes of what other crazy powers Being W might pull against me.


    ...To be honest, I was still a bit upset that he went down so easily though.


    All that talk and messing with me, then the guy just gets hit with an instant death spell and croaks.


    Hah... Maybe I should have held back a bit.


    ''Thank you foring though.'' Lara shifted her gaze and looked off in the distance.


    Following it, I realized that Lara was looking towards her father''s grave.


    ''...Do you miss him?''


    Lara nodded. ''Yes. But he''s worked hard enough. It''s our turn to finish what he started. Although...'' She looked towards me and smiled. ''...With you here, it feels a bit like he''s with us too. And I''m sure everyone else feels the same.''


    ''Well, I''m pretty much just emotional support in this fight, so...''


    Laraughed.


    At that time, Nanahoshi and Akito finished up their speech. And with that, everyone moved into formation, forming up with their parties.


    As for mine...


    Well, obviously it was with my wives.


    Eri walked over, a grin on her face. "Hah!" She pointed at me and said, "This time, you get to y the maiden in distress, Rudy!"


    Sylphy giggled. "And we''re the knights!"


    Rika sighed. "Do you two like the roles being reversed that much?"


    Roxy nodded. "Rudy''s always the one fighting... And he even ran off to finish things without us." She gave me a side eye and said, "Even though we worked so hard to be able to stand by your side."


    I held up my hands and said, "I apologized for that already. And besides, you have a chance to make up for it now."


    Roxy clicked her tongue. "Yes. Against a weaker version of that god. Since he won''t be as desperate, he''ll just be using normal attacks." She sighed and said, "I wanted to see if my god-killing heaven sealing array worked on him."


    "..."


    A p echoed in the courtyard. Nanahoshi, getting everyone''s attention. After everyone was looking towards her, she said, "We''re heading out now! Get ready for anything!" After that, she looked at Akito. "Aki?"


    He raised the watch in his left hand. Beside him, Orsted held out a pair of crystals, and Pierre held out his sword.


    I focused, watching it with a curious gaze.


    Akito looked up and said, "On three! One!"


    The sound of weapons being drawn echoed in the courtyard.


    "Two!"


    Sighs and deep breaths from all around.


    "And... three!"


    A giant magic formation spread in the sky as <Chaos Breaker> hung over the Greyrat home.


    A matching formation spread around the courtyard from Akito, electric blue light crackling.


    Orsted''s crystals and Pierre''s sword glowed with rainbow light...


    And then space twisted and bent, sending us into a white void filled with mist.


    "Hm?"


    A familiar voice, followed by a familiar white figure appearing in the distance.


    Hitogami.


    He looked at the crowd around him before tilting his head. "That''s surprising." He slowly walked over and said, "I usually don''t have visitors here."


    Orsted pointed a sword at Hitogami and said, "Hitogami. Today, it all ends."


    Hitogami blinked and said, "The First Dragon God''s son... I see. I see!" He took a look around and said, "And it looks like Rudy''s family and descendants are here too..." He let out a wide grin and said, "You''ve gathered quite the crowd to defeat me. Well then!" He spread out his arms and said, "Show me what you''ve got!"


    Magic formations spread out around him, and dense mana began gathering.


    But it wasn''t anywhere near the crazy levels that Being W was pulling when I fought him, so I just stood back and watched.


    ...This ce was a bit weird though.


    Looking around, I noticed that this Void Realm had a weird vibe to it.


    Unlike <Heaven>, which had a peaceful air and plentiful warm mana, this ce seemed... dead?


    I mean, <Heaven> was also a ce for the dead, but there was something about this ce...


    Hm. Well, I could think about thatter.


    Right now, I should step back and let the other hero''s party finish up this final boss of theirs.


    -LIV-


    "Swordsman, strike first with Orsted! Magic users, support in tandem from the back!" Nanahoshi shouted orders as she held a small tablet, reading information scrolling past. "A big one''sing, so we have to interrupt it!


    Hitogamiughed. "Can you?"


    White lightning shed, striking towards the crowd of attackers.


    But while it hit a few people, there wasn''t any damage. And as for the reason why...


    A beautiful woman in the back with flowing blue hair and a floating silver orb held out her hands. Looking at Hitogami, she smiled and said, "So a god amounts to just this much?"


    Hitogami gnashed his teeth. "You think you''re tough, huh? Then take-"


    Before he could cast another spell, a dozen sword shes cut towards him in all direction.


    Orsted.


    A man that looked like Rudy''s father, Paul Greyrat.


    Another man that had silver hair and golden eyes.


    A young woman who looked like Eris Greyrat, but was more collected.


    And then half a dozen more that Hitogami didn''t have time to watch.


    Hitogami clicked his tongue and then activated a barrier.


    Most of the shes nced off, but three broke through.


    Orsted''s, with his Godsword cutting towards Hitogami''s neck.


    The man who looked like Paul Greyrat, whose golden sword was cutting towards Hitogami''s groin.


    And the woman who looked like Eris Greyrat, whose ming sword was piercing towards Hitogami''s heart.


    Hitogami growled and then warped away, dissolving into white mist and reappearing. But the moment he did, Nanahoshi called out.


    "Fire!"


    Incantantions echoed. Magic formations encircled Hitogami. And then a barrage of elemental attacks struck down.


    Most of them, he didn''t bother to avoid, letting them ssh against him.


    But two caught him off guard.


    A sharp icicle from an elf with silver hair and green eyes pierced his torso and spread a bone-deep chill that Hitogami couldn''t remove.


    And then a ck beam of light from an unfamiliar Demon Race woman with lc hair and iridescent eyes, sapping away Hitogami''s mana.


    Hitogami gnashed his teeth.


    Who were these people? Where did Orsted find them?


    No, was this because of Rudy? Did that guy''s influence spread so far...?


    Hitogami was angry. But he kept his cool.


    This was manageable. Compared to fighting the First Dragon God, this was nothing.


    It was surprising that some attacks got through, but they were far from lethal.


    Moreover...


    ''It''s them.''


    A ck-haired young woman and a ck-haired man standing in the center of the attackers.


    Hitogami thought that Orsted would be in charge, but he was just moving like a de. The real brains in this operation were those two in the center.


    Then...


    Hitogami waited until Orsted and the other warriors rushed at him. But the moment they got close, he turned into mist and moved into the sky.


    Once there, he held out his hand andunched a beam of pure mana.


    A perfect and unexpected attack.


    Those two were just ordinary humans without even a shred of mana, so this would be it-


    "No cheap shots!"


    A young girl''s voice echoed, and then the attack was blocked by a sudden wall of ice.


    "I''ve got it, Ste!"


    An energetic young girl''s voice echoed next. "Ooh! It''s our turn, right!?"


    The first young girl, ''Ste'', shouted. "That''s right! I choose you, Fai!"


    Hitogami clicked his tongue and got ready tounch another attack.


    And then a beam of pure concentrated mes shot towards him.


    His eyes widened and he moved to dodge. But the icy chill and drain from earlier made him too slow, causing the mes to connect, scorching his left arm.


    Hitogami grit his teeth and red at the attacker.


    It was a fire spirit. Not even an ancient one, probably no more than five years old.


    But that power...


    A crimson sh.


    Hitogami''s eyes widened and he quickly swung his arm, wrapping it with Battle Aura.


    Crimson sparks flew, and Hitogami came face to face with a silver-haired man wielding a crimson de.


    The silver-haired man clicked his tongue and said, "You''re not making as many crazy attacks, but you''re definitely a lot more durable and cautious, aren''t you?"


    Hitogami spun on his heel and kicked the man away. After that, he turned into mist and flew even higher into the air, out of their reach.


    A god looking down upon the mortals like ants. That was how it should be, and that was how it was now that Hitogami had moved out of range.


    With that, there was a temporary lull in thebat as both sides paused to regroup.


    It was just a brief exchange, but Hitogami had to admit that they were good. Not just in terms of raw skill and power, but also in terms of synergy.


    And that was likely because they were all rted to Rudy.


    ''That bastard...''


    Even though he was dead, that guy was bothering him until the end.


    Hitogami thought he''d done enough to change his future, but it was getting close now.


    If he lost here, he''d be chained up and sealed away for eternity.


    Something like that...!


    Hitogami spread out his arms, causing five wings to emerge on his back. "Do you think you can win that easily!? I don''t know what tricks you''ve pulled, but you should''ve thought better than to challenge a god!"


    An aerial bombardment.


    Even if they were powerful swordsmen and warriors. Even if they were genius magicians...


    The sky was the realm of the divine. And unless they had a way to get up here and fight him, this would be-


    "Ena beaaaam!"


    "Wha-"


    A st of golden light at point nk range.


    Hitogami was caught off guard and sent reeling back.


    And the moment he was, something flew behind him.


    Wait, ''flew''?


    Hitogami spun around just in time to see a winged blonde woman wearing a ck uniform sh a ck sword at his neck.


    He turned into mist to avoid it, but then felt an electric shock when the de cut through.


    "Manatite?!"


    The winged blonde woman adjusted her sses and then said, "Durable indeed..."


    And without another word, a sudden gust of wind crashed into Hitogami and sent him back to the ground.


    He collided with a heavy impact, and in a split second, a dozen different people were rushing to attack him with weapons.


    Hitogami growled and mmed his fist against the ground. "DAMMIT!"


    An explosion of mana and elemental attacks erupted from Hitogami, forcing everyone back.


    During that time, he used the brief lull to get up and reassess the situation.


    ...He had to admit, they nned well.


    He didn''t think there would be any members of the Heaven Race here... that changed things.


    Not only that...


    Hitogami narrowed his eyes, sweeping around the crowd of attackers.


    Some people were already tired out and wounded, but there were enough ready to fight that they could sit back and rest.


    Magic users were running around to heal those who were wounded.


    Four powerful spirits were waiting in the back, observing for an opportunity to strike.


    Orsted was still at full capacity...


    Meanwhile, in that brief exchange, Hitogami had been slowed, had his mana supply halved, and was already wounded.


    He growled and healed his wounds as best as he could.


    When he did, he noticed someone staring at him.


    Hitogami nced to look at the person.


    He stood in the back of the group, his arms crossed and wearing an indifferent expression. He was also fairly young, maybe in his 20s attest, and had ck hair. In addition, as if this was just a trip out for sight-seeing, he wasn''t wearingbat clothing at all. Just a in dress shirt and cks.


    The moment Hitogami met his gaze, the ck-haired man smirked.


    Hitogami felt a white-hot surge of anger.


    This man... without a shred of mana, watching everyone else fight... and he dared to mock him? To mock Hitogami? The god who had defeated all the other gods and imed this world?


    The aftermath of the mana explosion and elemental attacks from Hitogami faded. And the moment they did, Hitogami held out his hands tounch an attack on that ck-haired man.


    Throwing caution to the wind, Hitogami channeled all his mana and divine power. Gathering it in his palms, heunched a devastating beam of pure energy and then-


    -RNG-


    "Whoops."


    I let out an awkwardugh and scratched the back of my head.


    The moment that Hitogamiunched an attack towards me, I instinctively reacted by absorbing it with <Lace Transform> and then sending it right back at him.


    Think of it like M*gic Cylind*r from that one Egyptian children''s card game.


    Silence fell.


    I felt a bunch of eyes pointedly staring at me.


    But then Hitogami got up.


    As he did, I secretly healed him up a bit more.


    Come on, man. You can''t go out like that! You need to y the part of a big boss battle! This is THE highlight for a lot of these people!


    Thankfully, it seemed like Hitogami heard my prayer.


    He healed himself up, removing the singe marks he got from the reflected attack.


    ...But then he immediately got jumped by Orsted, Dad, Pierre, Eri, and a whole bunch of other sword users.


    ...And then he got sted with magic by Sylphy, Rika, Roxy, the other Roxy, the other Sylphy, Lara, Lily...


    ...Yeah, that''s gonna be a wrap, huh?


    After a few more minutes and some desperation moves from Hitogami... it was over.


    Hitogami''s body waspletely roughed up, and each of his limbs were stitched up by translucent chains formed by intricately linked magic formations.


    For good measure though, I walked over to make extra sure.


    Since this world''s fate depended both on this guy not dying and him not being able to escape, I made sure to have the chains self-perpetuate by draining Hitogami''s divinity, mana, and life force. But at the same time, I made sure it was aplete closed loop where the force flowed back into him as well with a 0% loss.


    ...It was potentially possible for him to break free thousands of years down the line, but if he did, his power would be permanently halved, and the sealing mechanism would be burned into his soul to allow easy resealing.


    Basically, he got degraded from a final boss to the secret returning bonus boss in either a sequel game or spin-off.


    ...Hm. And I''ve been making more game references recently.


    Maybe I should see if I could make some games when I got back. I needed a hobby anyway, so that''d be a good one. Maybe even make some anime or draw some manga while I was at it...


    Hitogami lowered his head in defeat. As he did, he muttered to himself. "I''ve been done in."


    Hearing that, my job was finished.


    And with that, I turned around and walked back.


    Orsted was nearby, talking with Akito about something.


    Cliff and Ena hugged each other, celebrating the victory.


    Rika and Eos were standing together, watching as Sylphy, Eri, and Roxy were counseling the other Sylphy and Roxy off to the side.


    And then there was Lara, sitting on the floor with her version of Leo.


    I walked over towards her and smiled. "It''s over now."


    Lara turned towards me and smiled back. But then she paused and tilted her head to the side.


    I frowned. "...Something wrong?"


    ''Other Papa?''


    I blinked. ''...Yes?''


    "Oh." Lara frowned and said, "You look different right now."


    "Do I?"


    "Mmhm." She nodded and said, "You look a bit like Akito and Nanahoshi."


    My eyes widened and I quickly conjured a mirror to look at my face.


    And when I did, I froze.


    It was a nostalgic face that I had long forgotten.


    A Japanese young man in his 20s. One whose face I had seen on a memorial picture at a funeral... but also in the mirror countless times in the past.


    Reaching up to my face and watching the reflection do the same, I muttered, "So this is what I looked like, huh?"


    It was an above average appearance, with sharp and almost arrogant eyes. A face that would get me called a riajuu anywhere I went.


    Huh.


    ...Still, even while it was nostalgic, I didn''t remember anything.


    Not that it mattered.


    I was Rudeus Notus Greyrat, the husband of Eris Notus Greyrat, Sylphiette Notus Greyrat, and Roxy Notus Greyrat.


    I was also Emperor Rudras Arcadia, the husband of the great Demon Empress Rika Arcadia.


    ...And the father of six rambunctious baby girls, a baby boy who was bound to get bullied by his sisters, a pair of angelic daughters, and a knightly son.


    As I had that thought, the reflection I saw shifted, turning back to the face I was used to by now.


    Though, I could feel that my physical face hadn''t.


    Hm. So was that how this ce worked?


    Maybe it showed the ''origin'' of all things while you were here...


    Lara suddenly reached out and tugged on my sleeve. "Wait! Other Papa!"


    I deconstructed the mirror and then looked at her. "What is it, Lara?"


    She pointed towards Hitogami and said, "Look! It''s Papa!"


    "Hm?" I turned around and looked over in surprise.


    Lara was right.


    Standing in front of Hitogami, there was a young man.


    He had light brown hair split in a side-part and bright green eyes. His face was kind and fairly handsome too, but it looked like he had gone through troubled times as a few worry creases were etched in his forehead.


    I knew that man, even if he didn''t know me.


    Rudeus Greyrat.


    The other ''me.''


    ...Though, now that I was looking directly at him, I could tell that we were pretty different.


    If we stood next to each other... well, if we did that with how I usually looked, you could easily tell we were rted.


    But there were clear differences.


    His facial features were more like Mom''s, a bit shorter with a slightly rounded face and eyes.


    Meanwhile, my face was more like Dad''s, a bit longer with a sharp chin, defined cheekbones, and narrower eyes.


    ...You know what? That exined a lot about me...


    But anyway.


    This was the guy who helped me out. Although that particr Rudy wasn''t the exact same one who I saw in the past, he was still the person.


    I had a lot of gratitude towards him, so I gave him a deep bow.


    Whether he was a lingering spirit who wandered here after Hitogami''s defeat or one who waited all this time to see his family once more before reincarnation...


    I hoped that with this he could have some peace of mind.


    My actions started a trend, with more people bowing towards Rudeus.


    ...Though that was probably because they were actually his family.


    My family bowed as well because of my actions.


    And then it was time to leave.


    Lara activated a blue magic formation and warned everyone we were going to head back soon.


    People chatted and celebrated, teary and emotional.


    Blue light shed and space distorted, sending us back to the Greyrat home.


    But before it sent me away, I stayed back and hid my presence, eavesdropping on Rudeus and Hitogami.


    "Are you satisfied now?" Hitogami stared at Rudeus.


    He responded with something, but I couldn''t hear his words.


    Still, it seemed like Hitogami did. "This. The conclusion you desired for." He raised his hands a bit, causing the chains the ng. "I will continue to live here alone with my powers sealed. I will continue to live here so that the world keeps on going. I can no longer see the world. I can''t even talk with anyone. After this... I will just continue to gaze at this empty white world, a scene without any boundaries."


    Rudeus spoke again, moving his lips. But no words came out.


    It was a bit of a surreal experience. Mostly because Rudeus... didn''t seem to have any animosity towards Hitogami?


    Huh.


    ...Was that the zen-like state that someone had at the end of their life? Or was that Rudeus just a much more forgiving person than me?


    I knew for a damned fact that I still had a grudge against Being W for screwing up my life.


    I mean, it worked out in the end and I wouldn''t change anything about how it turned out. But I still hated the guy''s guts.


    Also was thinking about seeing if I could reincarnate the guy into a living hell.


    ...Thinking about it.


    "I really hate you."


    Hitogami muttered thosest four words in a voice that was like he was about to cry.


    Seeing that, Rudeus let out a zen-like smile and then faded away.


    And then Hitogami was alone.


    ...Man.


    That killed the vibe.


    I wanted to pop up and gloat a bit... but Hitogami was pretty pathetic here.


    Crying like a sore loser and acting all depressed like that while giving up hope...


    ...Was this the difference from first interactions?


    I was sure that if I was in this situation with Being W that guy would be screaming about how he wouldn''t give up and that he''d find a way out somehow in the future.


    In fact, that was the main reason why I didn''t risk just sealing him.


    But this guy...


    I let out an internal sigh and then warped away, leaving behind the quiet sobs of that chained god.


    What a pity, to live as a powerful god for so long and yet end up losing your life in vain like this, sealed away for all of eternity...


    Well.


    That''s a wrap.


    Now to say some quick goodbyes, double check loose ends with Nanahoshi and Akito, then head on home to save my moms from the tyranny of my adorable children.


    -A/N-


    We''re wrapping up soon, but there''s a lot of threads I know that are lying around still and that I definitely will have missed.


    If you''ve got any, leave your questions in ament and I''ll answer them as theye.


    Appreciate you guys for sticking with me on this!

 209 – L.IV, LIV, Live

    209 ¨C L.IV, LIV, Live


    Time passed by peacefully.


    Without Being W hanging over our heads, life was good, if not a bit chaotic.


    Because of Rika''s genes, our daughters, Riru, Kadi, and Usri grew up faster than their siblings. And also, because their mother was busy being the mother of an Empire as well, our daughters were a bit bratty and attention-seeking.


    Or in other words, the terrible twos had be the terrible six-months as Riru and Usri threw temper tantrums all over the ce while their sister Kadi constantly cried.


    Thankfully, my other children were more manageable.


    Eri spent most of the day carrying both Ares and Christina around with her in a modified sling/baby carrier, and the two were easily amused by most things, so they didn''t act up.


    Sylphy spoiled and hugged our daughter Lucille even more than Mom did with me and Norn, so I was a bit worried about her when she grew up... but for now it seemed to be fine.


    As for Roxy and our daughter Celes... Well.


    *Master* said that she had more important things to do and then handed Celes for me to take care of most of the day.


    ...I med myself for that. After the <Heaven> project kicked off in full gear, and also after her experience fighting Hitogami, she said she was inspired and on the verge of having a fundamental breakthrough in magic.


    As a result, she had forced her former teacher back into the role of Headmaster and now spent all of her spare time researching in the Dungeon Home until me, or one of my other wives dragged her out of it.


    Yeah, our family life was a bit of a mess.


    It''d settle down soon though.


    Hopefully.


    There were a lot of otherplicated family things I''d need to sort out too.


    ...Like the fact that I STILL hadn''t properly introduced myself to Rostelina''s daughter, Lunaria.


    But I had all the time in the world to focus on that.


    Right now, there were a fewst pieces of unfinished business to attend to.


    In the Magic Continent, there was a dark and abandoned castle in the middle of a crater.


    Although originally patrolled by White Knights, after it was considered safe and without anything important, it was left unattended.


    After the business in the other timeline wrapped up, Pierre mentioned that this ce existed, along with the weird message he saw.


    And considering that everything was settling down, I decided to finally take a look.


    A dark room without a shred of magic. Abandoned and empty rooms. ck obsidian stone, making up the floor, ceiling, and walls...


    I idly walked through the castle and then arrived at the throne room.


    At least, where the throne room should be.


    Instead, there was an ancient obelisk with strange runes that I couldn''t read.


    But I didn''t need to.


    Although there was a message written with those runes, there was another message written that only I could see.


    The same one that had been written in Lace''s empty castle.


    "You are the fourth... again, huh?"


    I muttered and then walked forward.


    At first, that had confused me. It also reeked of foreshadowing something really annoying, so I shelved it. But now, it was time to resolve that thread.


    I ced my hand on the obelisk and let out my mana, tracing the runes. And the moment I did, a portal opened behind it.


    I lowered my hand and then walked through the portal.


    The moment I did, I arrived in a dark area.


    Below, ashy gray terrain. Above and all around, a ck expanse filled with starry lights... No. Those WERE stars.


    "Beautiful, isn''t it?"


    A voice echoed from beside me. One all too simr to my own.


    I looked over and saw a man who looked just like me. Except, instead of my golden eyes, he had eerie green eyes instead.


    Magic God Lace. The ''me'' from a world where I failed to save Ste.


    He smiled at me and said, "You did a good job."


    I smiled back at him and said, "Only because I had help."


    Magic God Lace''s eye twinkled. "Did you figure it out?"


    I shrugged. "I''m about 90% there."


    "I see." He nodded and then started walking past me. "Then... I''ll take my leave. There''s no need for extras to stay here when the curtain''s closing."


    The moment he reached my side, he paused and said, "Take care of Ste, alright?"


    "Obviously."


    With that, he stepped behind me and vanished.


    I continued forward.


    With every step I took, the surroundings changed and different scenes unfolded.


    Me, probably eight years old, wandering a desert with Eris at my side. She looked terrified, but put on a brave face as she followed me. I held a glittering silver staff with a crimson mana crystal in my hands while a floating sword followed behind me.


    Me, probably sixteen years old, running down a paved road with Sylphy as we chased after Princess Ariel being held captive in an enchanted cart.


    Me again, as an older man in my early thirties quietly swinging a sword in the ruins of my childhood home.


    Those and other scenes unfolded with each step.


    But eventually, the surroundings changed onest time.


    A towering tree with fluffy golden leaves and bronze bark, branches wide enough to block out the clear blue sky. Rolling green hills, and a nostalgic small family house overlooking it all.


    A faint breeze drifted past, and then a familiar young woman with long green hair appeared beneath the tree, stifling a yawn.


    Wyn.


    When I recognized her, Wyn smiled and then looked to her right. When she did, a man appeared, leaning against the side of the tree.


    Again, he was familiar. After all, he looked exactly like me except that he had light brown hair and green eyes.


    I stared at him for a bit.


    He stared back. But then he smiled and stepped away from the tree. Walking towards me, he spread out his arms and said, "Congrattions, Rudy. You''ve reached the happy ending atst."


    I nodded. "Yes. But only because you''ve been watching and helping this entire time. Isn''t that right, ''LIV?''"


    It was something I noticed by chance one day.


    What I saw and what I experienced was definitely my life. But sometimes, it felt like there was someone watching me. But not just that, but like they were living my life through me.


    And as for who that person was... the person who was listening to me right now...


    -LIV-


    LIVughed. "Well. You caught me."


    I shrugged. "You''re always kind enough to announce your presence when you''re around, so it was only a matter of time."


    "A matter of time..." LIVughed. "Right. I guess it really just ended up being a ''matter of time'' in the end. Ha. Hahahaha."


    Wyn cringed and then waved her hand. "Don''t mind him. He''s been here forever, so infinity took its toll on his sanity."


    LIV huffed and said, "I am PERFECTLY sane. Just... bored out of my mind. But it''s the price I paid to get rid of that guy... Speaking of which!" He walked over and grabbed my hand. "Thanks for getting rid of Hitogami! And for making fun of him the entire way! Being W? Whitey? It was great!"


    I blinked. "You''re... wee?"


    LIVughed. "No, silly. I''m LIV...id!"


    "..."


    LIV coughed. "Right. Anyway... to serious stuff." He waved his hand and conjured a table and chairs. "You probably have some questions, right? Well, you''ve earned your answers, so ask away!"


    I sat down and then said, "First question." I stared at him.


    I mean, I knew the answer, but it... wasn''t true. Right?


    "Are... you really me?"


    "Hm?" LIV looked confused. "Of course I''m you. Who else would I be?"


    Wyn rolled her eyes. "It''s because you''re crazy."


    LIV blinked and looked at me. "Is she right?"


    "...Is she?"


    LIV blinked again and thenughed. "Well! I guess we''re all a bit crazy... but I suppose it''s fair to say I''m crazier than most." He chuckled and said, "Plotting until the end of time a few different times, setting up the ideal conditions, and then stewing on a grudge for infinity will do that to you. And better I''m this fun type of crazy than an edgelord, right? Ah, and never go full edgelord by the way."


    "...Duly noted."


    I sat down on the chair and tried to process everything.


    LIV sat down next to me and said, "Anything else?"


    "Yes." I looked at him and said, "Things in my life were pretty wild, but always ended up perfect in the end. Almost too perfect. Are you the reason for it?"


    It was something I''d been thinking about recently.


    I always got a perfect epiphany or had the convenient counter for things... Or there were times when things could have gone horribly wrong, but I dodged it somehow. Or if someone was a bit smarter instead of making a dumb mistake...


    Things like that.


    LIVughed and waved his hand. "Oh, no, no. That''s all you, buddy."


    I blinked. "Me?"


    "Yeah!" He nodded and said, "You''re RNG. Things always work out for you."


    "What?"


    "Hm? You know." LIV waved his hand. "RNG. Random Number God? Didn''t you even create an ultimate spell that used a calculus function transformation to beat Hitogami in your world?"


    ...Oh. My. GOD.


    Was *that* why my summoning magic became gacha summons?!?


    "Yep!" LIVughed. "Also why your life is a bit more hectic. Think of it like hitting D20s all the time for both sides."


    "...But why though?"


    LIV hummed. "Well. After I became Lace Ira Vanitas, killed my way to the Void Realm, took on the role of the Creator God, transcended that and swore to get rid of Hitogami down to thest thread in eternity because of the hell I went through... I decided there should be at least one Rudy who had the good life. So that''s you!"


    I gave him a nk stare and then looked at Wyn.


    Wyn nodded. "See? Insane."


    "Hey!" LIV frowned. "The only people I''ve been in are Sylphy and Eri, okay?"


    "...Anyway." I looked back at LIV and said, "What''s next then? Am I supposed to rece you or something?"


    "Oh god no." LIV shook his head. "Monitoring the multiverse and the omniverse is something only one person should have to deal with, thank you very much. You can go enjoy your happy ending. I''ll just live vicariously through you. Ah, but don''t worry. I won''t peep during your loveydovey times. I''ve gotten over being horny millions of gxy years ago."


    ...


    New rule for the Greyrat guide for dummies.


    If you ever be immortal but start acting like a senile old man, just kill yourself.


    "Hey!"


    I shifted my gaze back to him and said, "Anyway, onest thing before I leave."


    "Fiiine. What is it, Rude?"


    "...Who am I, really?" I frowned and said, "Am I someone who reincarnated from Earth? Or am I just someone who was created from those memories?"


    That was what bothered me.


    It didn''t really matter in the end, but it was always something I thought about in the back of my mind. Especially after Ena and Eos were born.


    It was possible to imnt memories and knowledge to create a soul.


    Then, considering I had memories and knowledge, but no identity... was I made the same way?


    LIV paused. And then he gave me an enigmatic smile before saying, "You''re Rudeus Greyrat. Then, now, and for the future."


    I frowned at the cryptic answer.


    But then I got a sh of memories.


    Staring at Hitogami. Walking past him, my sense of self dissipating with each step before it was gone.


    And then a set of memories that I had lost began to rey.


    Being born as a baby to loving parents in Japan. Working hard, and sometimes too hard to live the best life. Trying out everything I could to make sure I seeded... but stumbling after nothing ever panned out.


    Almost running through life, clinging to pride in trying to be someone, all the while carrying a feeling that I could do better. That I HAD done better. All in order to live a fulfilled life.


    And then a familiar ending.


    My father, quietly sobbing.


    Me, slipping away...


    "Ah."


    So it was like that, huh?


    LIV smiled. "Something like ''that,'' yeah? You''re ''him'' but also not. *Technically* you could say you''re the same person, but you walked different lives..."


    "...Wait." I paused. "That doesn''t make sense."


    If my theory was right, then I was the Rudy I just saw fade away, but reborn twice over.


    But then...


    "...Who are you?"


    LIV smiled. "I think that''s enough questions for now, Mister Rudy."


    I stood up and stared at him. "No. Hold on."


    Right. This didn''t make sense.


    There was a disconnect here.


    Even if there was a grandfather paradox going on, things didn''t match up.


    I was the fourth.


    In other words, I was the fourth life of ''Rudeus Greyrat.''


    The first was his life on Earth as a trashy human.


    The second was him as Rudeus Greyrat.


    The third was my life back on Earth.


    And the fourth was this life.


    It was a clean session.


    But I noticed something odd.


    He said he was me. But at the same time, he drew a few clear lines.


    The fact that I was Rudeus Greyrat, then, now, and for the future.


    That at least one ''Rudy'' should live a happy ending.


    That monitoring the multiverse and the omniverse was something only one ''person'' should have to deal with.


    It didn''t make sense.


    But if you thought about it a different way.


    I wasn''t ''him.''


    But he could be ''me.''


    After all, I''d experienced it, right?


    Reincarnating from another world with my memories... if that was possible. And if being transported to another world was possible.


    ...Wouldn''t it be possible to ''transmigrate'' to another world as well and take over a person''s role?


    Then.


    This person here. LIV.


    I wasn''t him. But instead...


    "Man." LIVughed. "You''re too smart for your own good, Rudy. But don''t worry about it... Oh. And don''t forget to keep an eye on Ste in fifteen years or so when she goes out to y hero."


    The surroundings were fading.


    I reached out to LIV, wanting to confirm onest thing.


    But as I did, his appearance shifted.


    Not ''my'' appearance. Or the me from the past.


    Instead, an ordinary Asian man in histe twenties wearing sses... and carrying aptop under his arm?


    Wait-


    ---


    "Onii-chan!"


    I jolted awake.


    Ste leaned over me, her cheeks puffed in anger. "You can''t just leave me alone to deal with your kids! I''m still a kid too!"


    I blinked and slowly sat up.


    It was my house. The living room. And off to the side, my youngest daughters and my youngest son were crawling around in a y pen.


    "...Did I fall asleep?"


    I muttered and ced my hand on my forehead.


    I could have sworn that I went to go check out...


    ...What did I go to check out?


    Ste rolled her eyes. "Yes! You dozed off and left me to deal with everyone bullying Ares! Look at me!" She pointed at her frazzled hair and puke covered clothes. "I''m a mess!"


    "Right." I stood up and said, "Sorry about that, Ste."


    Ste rolled her eyes. "I want money."


    "Money?"


    "If I''m babysitting, I get money! It''s only fair!"


    I frowned. "Why do you want money?"


    "It''s the principle of the matter! Besides, I need to start saving up!" She puffed out her chest and said, "A real hero has to be able to pay her way to get the holy sword! ...And both our parents said they won''t let me go adventuring until I''m responsible enough and can afford to buy a wand and sword with my own money."


    "...Can''t I just give you enough money to buy it then?"


    Ste shook her head. "It''s the principle, Onii-chan! If you y a game, it''s no fun if you start with the cheat items at the start! Or with infinite money!"


    "...Okay. I still think it''s not a good idea to treat life like a game, but I''ll get you some gold afterwards-"


    A contract was suddenly shoved in my face.


    I instinctively grabbed it and read it over.


    ...It was a legitimate employment contract, rifying wages, hours worked, and all the intricacies required to be properly employed.


    Ste looked at me and said, "Sign it."


    "...Really?"


    Ste nodded. "Really!"


    Iughed and signed it. "Fine, fine."


    At that time, Ares started crying.


    I looked over and saw Riru and Usri pinching his cheeks. Kadi was trying to tug Usri away, but she was too weak.


    Christina cried as she tried to push Riru.


    Celes sat there,ughing.


    And Lucille quietly held up her hands, gathering a giant ball of water.


    I quickly handed the contract back to Ste and said, "Okay, deal. Now help your Onii-chan sort out this mess before your sisters-inw murder me for having the kids get hurt."


    "Yes! I''m not jobless any- LUCY! No magic! I told you already!"


    "Less talking, more saving!"


    "Aaaaargh! This is your fault, Onii-chan! I thought you''d be a better Dad!"


    "I am! When I have less kids to take care of all at once!"


    "You should have thought of that!"


    "Shut up and help me grab Riru! I''ll grab Usri! And Lucy, no! We''ll y water ballter! Also, stopughing Celes!"


    -A/N-


    QA session stilling. Ask questions in thements below. Next will probably best story chapter.

 210 – Epilogue: Alpha Prologue

    210 ¨C Epilogue: Alpha Prologue


    A girl was born with a certain power... though it would be more appropriate to call it a curse.


    Since the time of her birth, she was aware of the fate that awaited her. No, even before her birth, she was aware.


    Live, die, and live again.


    Although death was something that chased every living being, it was especially cruel to her.


    A life used as a tool, only to be caught by an enemy country and perishing.


    A life cruelly vited and abused.


    Another life eaten by beasts. More drowning in water.


    Death was not a release. And life was torture.


    The onlypensation for her misery was her power that allowed rewinding the time of an object 24 hours into the past.


    An absolute miracle that restored the lost past into the present. One that even allowed a true resurrection.


    But it was a power that could only ever be used on ''others.''


    And as such, the girl was only ever able to be a tool.


    Live, die, live again.


    A life in vain followed by endless reincarnation.


    And eventually, her memories were left with nothing but her countless deaths.


    At that time, she made a wish for salvation.


    ''Someone. Anyone... please save me.''


    With that wish, the fate of the world changed.


    The ''power to change the past'' that she held distorted slightly.


    And a change emerged in her next life.


    In one world, that change resulted in another tragedy. A young man from Earth was summoned, showed her happiness, but then was cruelly in in a vain attempt to end a war.


    Consequently, she strained her power to undo it all and caused the world to loop with herself as the core.


    But in this world...


    Conflicting fates. Intersecting powers. And time loops within loops that resulted in a spiraling singrity.


    The result of that...


    -¦Á¦Ø-


    New Heaven Calendar Year 20.


    Following the emergence of the mysterious <Doom Ind> and the descent of the False God Being W, the world entered a new era of peace and prosperity.


    The Magic Continent was united under the Arcadian Empire and became a utopia where anyone could live in peace and pursue their dreams without discrimination.


    The Millis Continent ushered in a new Pope chosen by both the people and the heavens. With his angelic wife at his side, he worked hard to change the discrimination and biases that had been entrenched for hundreds of years.


    The Begaritto Continent, once known for its harsh desert climate, became a lush and thrivingnd of greenery and nature. Although the first few years were hectic due to the changing weather patterns and various natural disasters, ambassadors from both the Milis Church and the Arcadian Empire helped to resolve it all.


    The Heaven Continent remained as elusive as ever, though rumors were that ambassadors from the Arcadian Empire had made contact.


    And as for the Central Continent...


    While the ''world'' had entered into an age of peace and prosperity, the Central Continent had entered into war.


    Various forces dissatisfied with the new world order had united fragmented kingdoms in the Strife Zone to rebel. And though weak individually, the rapid advances in magic technology flowing from research at the Ranoa Magic Academy allowed them to slowly gain the power to carve out their ce.


    Still, it was a stalemate.


    But today, the New Kingdom of Asura sought to break that stalemate.


    In the depths of the pce, dozens of robed magicians had set up a magic formation. In the center of it, a young girl with nk eyes sat, tied up as if a sacrifice to fuel the spell.


    "Oh fallen true god, we implore you to ept this sacrifice! Summon a champion that will save us from despair!"


    An incantation that sounded like a prayer echoed throughout the room. Each magician, repeating it with religious fervor.


    With each repetition, ominous crimson light crackled from the magic formation.


    And eventually...


    Space broke.


    A fracture in space appeared behind the young girl, for a brief moment showing and with towering buildings of stone and ss, filled with crowds of people.


    And then a ck-haired young man walked through. His eyes were tired, with ck circles underneath them. Still, he looked around with surprise and spoke up in Japanese. "Where is this? I was visiting Shizuka''s grave, but..."


    Cheers echoed in the room. The magicians hugged each other in joy and jumped around, celebrating.


    The young man was confused and then noticed the girl tied up. Eyes widening in shock, he quickly moved to untie her.


    And then an explosion rocked the pce.


    The magicians panicked.


    Some immediately rushed towards the stairs. Others moved towards the ck-haired young man and the young girl.


    But before any meaningful action could take ce, a golden beam of light pierced through the ceiling.


    The young man... No, Akito Shinohara instinctively grabbed the young girl as he jumped away, trying to keep her safe. But at that time a golden sword flew down and pierced into the floor.


    A heavy impact and wind scattered, causing Akito to fly back, clinging onto the young girl.


    "It''s the Hero!"


    "Quick! Summon the Magic Knight!"


    "Activate the warp circles! We can''t have them take the Apostles!"


    A frantic mess. Magic formations filled the air as the magicians struggled to mount a rapid defense.


    Akito noticed all of that, but he didn''t move. Instead, he ced the young girl behind him and scanned the room, looking for either a way out, or something to defend with.


    Before anything else could happen, someone jumped down from the ceiling andnded on the ground.


    It was a young woman with flowing golden hair and bright green eyes. Grabbing the sword on the ground, she ced it over her shoulder and grinned. "Alright! In the name of justice, the Hero, Ste Notus Greyrat will smite you-"


    She suddenly cut herself off when she met Akito''s eyes. After that, her gaze shifted to the young girl behind Akito and her expression dimmed.


    Akito quickly moved the block the woman''s view.


    "Get her!"


    The magicians took advantage of the brief pause and rushed to attack Ste.


    Magic circles filled the air and a barrage of mana shot towards Ste.


    But before they struck, the spells suddenly shattered. And after that, someonended on the ground beside Ste.


    It was a red-haired young man, holding a book in his left arm. He brushed off his gray robe and then said, "How many times do we have to tell you, Auntie? You can''t run off without us!"


    Explosions echoed from above, shaking the chamber.


    It was a mess.


    Akito didn''t know what was going on or who these people were. But he could instinctively tell that the situation was dangerous.


    The young girl behind him got up. As she looked around, her previously nk gaze started to regain some emotion... but mostly confusion.


    "Argh! Whatever!" Ste pointed at Akito and said, "You! Aki! Sit put and keep that girl safe or whatever! Ares, get them out of here!"


    The red-haired young man sighed and flipped open his book. "Why do all my aunts and sisters keep making me their errand boy...?" Even as he grumbled, a crimson magic formation enveloped Akito and the young girl, warping them away.


    And then it was just Ste and Ares, along with the remaining magicians.


    Silence fell.


    And then...


    "Pick a god and pray, you bastards!"


    "This is why you''re still single at 25, Auntie!"


    "Shut up, Kid!"


    -¦Á¦Ø-


    When Akito blinked, he was already standing outside in the ball room of a crumbling castle.


    People in gleaming white armor were fighting against other people in ck armor.


    It was hectic. Confusing and dangerous. Even so, Akito pulled himself together.


    He couldn''t die here. His life wasn''t his to give, so...


    A slight tug from behind.


    Akito looked back to see the young girl holding his sleeve.


    She looked up at him with a nk and delicate expression before saying, "Are you going to save me?"


    Akito froze.


    It was impossible.


    A quick look around showed crazy spells and arrows flying through the air. And even as he looked, there were some knights in ck armor rushing towards him and the girl.


    But...


    Hearing the young girl''s words and seeing her expression reminded him of another girl. One whosest expression was still seared in his mind.


    So, he shoved aside his hesitation and grabbed the girl''s hand. "That''s right." He gave a serious nod and said, "We''ll get out of here, I promise-"


    A faint wind.


    Akito''s eyes widened and he shoved the girl back, moving in front of the wind. He instinctively held up his arms to block whatever it was, bracing himself for pain or worse.


    The sound of shing steel echoed, and then sparks flew.


    Akito blinked and then realized that someone had protected him.


    A young woman with crimson hair, kept in a neat braid and wearing a suit of white armor.


    She kicked away the corpse of the knight attacking Akito and then turned around to look at him. "So you''re the Fallen God Worshippers'' trump card, huh?"


    Akito gulped, especially seeing the bisected corpse slowly bleeding out behind the young woman.


    The crimson-haired young woman sighed and said, "Dad was right. People really did try to summon a hero from another world, huh? ...You don''t have any weird cheats or anything, right?"


    Akito blinked. "E-Excuse me?"


    The crimson-haired young woman blinked and said, "Aaand you''re talking in that made-upnguage Dad and Auntie use. Hah... Should''ve listened to Mom more about studying..."


    Wait. Weren''t they speaking in Japanese?


    How did he understand the young woman if they weren''t?


    At that time, there was a red sh and the young man from earlier appeared beside the crimson-haired young woman.


    That red-haired young man nced over and said, "Everything good up here, Sis?"


    "Yeah. Just a bunch of dumbasses iling around."


    "...Mom''s totally going to scold you for cursing."


    "What, you gonna tattle or something? Aren''t you a grown ass man already?"


    "Of course I''m going to tattle. It''s the only leverage I get over all these women in my life making me do their bidding."


    "Pft. You should be lucky you have some many beauties willing to act as your wingmen when you go on dates, Ares."


    Ares turned a bright red and said, "W-Whatever! Anyway!" He turned to look at Akito and then spoke in Japanese. "Auntie said to keep you safe, so just sit back and wait a bit. It''s probably going to get a bit hectic, but-"


    At that time, a giant portal suddenly appeared in the sky.


    Ares froze and looked up. "...No way. Did they really get desperate enough to try and summon monsters from another dimension?"


    The crimson-haired young woman clicked her tongue. "This is why Dad needs to get off his ass and-"


    Whatever the crimson-haired young woman was cut off as something flew from the portal and knocked her away.


    Aresughed. "That''s what you get for- FU-!"


    His words were caught off as well when a figure flew from the portal and sent him flying too.


    And then Akito was alone with the young woman behind him again.


    ...Just what in the world was today?


    Was this his fault for reading so many isekai novels and second chance stories recently?


    "Ah."


    A faint voice echoed from behind him.


    Akito blinked and then realized it was that young girl.


    Her eyes were nk again, looking like she had given up on life.


    Seeing that pissed him off.


    ...Because he had seen that exact same look in the mirror more than once after Shizuka died.


    "Hey." He grabbed her shoulders and said, "Listen. We''re getting out of this mess, okay?"


    The young girl didn''t respond.


    "...My name is Akito. Shinohara Akito. What''s yours?"


    A connection. Something for her to cling onto.


    Akito didn''t know if it would work, but he needed her to not just give up.


    The girl blinked and then looked thoughtful. After a bit, she said, "...Riria."


    "Alright. Riria."


    Akito grabbed Riria''s hand and then took a look around.


    It was a hectic mess. The knights had stopped fighting each other and were now fighting creatures that looked just like demons from an RPG or something.


    Akito took a deep breath and focused.


    This wasn''t a game. It was reality. And the first thing he had to do was get himself and Riria to safety.


    From what that Ares guy said, there were people out there who wanted to protect him. But from how that guy was swatted away, he couldn''t rely on them.


    Akito swept his eyes around the surrounding and then grabbed the sword from the dead knight on the ground.


    It was eerie, especially since he had to wrench it from the dead man''s hands. But he didn''t have time to think about it right now.


    "Are you going to fight?" Riria''s calm voice echoed from behind him.


    Akito nodded. "Of course I''m going to fight." He looked around for threats and said, "Even if I can''t win, I can''t give up. I''m not allowed to."


    Until the bitter end. Until thest moment.


    Because his life was given to him after making a stupid mistake, and because someone else paid the price, he had to survive.


    A monster suddenly fell down from the sky. A tall figure with ck scales and pieces of its body dripping like sludge. Staring at Akito with beady red eyes, it suddenly let out a roar and lunged.


    Akito roared back and swung his sword.


    -But it was too slow.


    He didn''t know how to fight.


    Even though he wasn''t scared of death, it didn''t mean that he was skilled enough to avoid it.


    Still, he focused.


    Just a minute more. Just a second longer.


    If he could live just that much more, surely, somehow. Someway...!


    ''That''s the spirit!''


    A chippy and bright female voice echoed in Akito''s head.


    It distracted him.


    And by the time he realized that it distracted him, the monster was already swinging its wed hands at his head.


    But before it struck, ice suddenly bloomed and froze it in ce.


    After that, a calm and collected female voice echoed from the side, followed by footsteps.


    Akito looked over and saw a silver-haired young woman with slightly pointed ears approaching. Beside her, there was a young woman with light blue hair, smiling despite the chaotic environment.


    And both were beautiful.


    Akito realized he was staring and then looked away, his face hot.


    Seeing that, the silver-haired young woman giggled. "Oh my! Auntie''s going to be jealous, Celes."


    The blue-haired woman giggled as well and said, "Well, he''s pretty brave. And kind of cute? Right, Lucy?"


    A faint sigh echoed from behind both of the women. After that, yet another beautiful young woman with shimmering silver hair and silver eyes appeared. "Can you two be serious? You can hunt another guy for double dates AFTER we clean up this mess." Her silver eyes suddenly shed a light green and then she said, "Also, block."


    Purple lightning crashed down from the sky.


    But it was frozen in ce by a sudden icy wind and then dissolved with a sudden burst of geometric circles.


    Seeing all of that...


    Akito couldn''t help but ask.


    "Who are you people?"


    The three beautiful young women looked at each other.


    And then they shrugged.


    Akito blinked at thepletely unhelpful response.


    The woman with silver eyes let out an apologetic smile and said, "Well..."


    A sudden golden beam of light cut through the air, illuminating thend and splitting the portal in the sky.


    The silver-eyed woman nced up at the sight and then smiled. "We''re here guest party members helping the Hero on her quest?"


    "...What?"


    Akito was still confused.


    The silver-eyed womanughed and said, "Don''t worry about it. I''m sure Auntie Ste will exin it more after you two catch up."


    The other silver-haired woman crossed her arms and said, "Kadi. People don''t like it when you y the cryptic prophet."


    "Well, people don''t like it when you and Celes go around acting horny and soliciting men for threesomes."


    "I know a few guys who would beg to differ~"


    "THIS IS WHY DAD HAS GRAY HAIR!"


    "Puh-lease. He''s had gray hair since ever. And so does Mom, you know?"


    ...Akito still wasn''t sure what was going on.


    But... it seemed like he was safe now?


    Even so, he didn''t lower his guard. Especially since none of the women he''d met had even mentioned ormented on Riria.


    If it was him they wanted, they might treat her as disposable. So to make sure everything worked out-


    A sudden sh of gold. After that, someonended on the ground in front of Akito.


    That young woman they called the Hero, and who some others called Ste.


    Akito tensed.


    If he had been summoned to be a hero, it would be fine. But to be summoned when there was another hero, and for this chaotic event to ur... he had to be ready in case things went south.


    Because of that, he didn''t let go of his sword.


    ...Or that was his n.


    But then he saw the woman''s face.


    It was a strange expression.


    Hesitation, yearning, affection, fear... Those emotions all shed across the beautiful blonde woman''s face.


    Akito didn''t understand why. But there was also something else he didn''t understand.


    The foreign woman standing in front of him was unfamiliar. He would be sure that he would remember meeting such a striking beauty, even if it was just in passing.


    But even while he didn''t find the woman''s face familiar, there was something about her that was.


    The way she was looking at him, the way she stood...


    Wait.


    ''You! Aki! Sit put and keep that girl safe or whatever!''


    He remembered what she shouted at him before sending them out of that room.


    Aki.


    The woman had called him Aki.


    Akito focused, staring at the woman''s face.


    She was older than him, and her face waspletely different.


    But as she stared at him, Akito faintly recalled another face. One that he could never forget.


    And although he wasn''t sure, he decided he had to make sure.


    Because if he managed to get isekai''d. Maybe, just maybe back on that day...


    "...Shizuka?"


    The blonde woman froze. And then she started tough, faint tears spilling from her eyes. She brushed them away and then stepped forward, wrapping him in a hug. "Aki, you idiot...! What took you so long to get here?"


    Akito froze as well. And then he started to cry.


    "H-Hey!" The blonde woman, Ste- No. Shizuka panicked and said, "You can''t cry! O-Only the girl gets to cry in situations like this!"


    "I''m sorry, Shizuka! I''m sorry! I''m so, so, so...!"


    "...Hah. Idiot."


    -¦Á¦Ø-


    "And that''s a wrap, huh?"


    Leaning against a nearby pir, I watched the emotional reunion between my baby sister and her love from her previous life and wrote down some notes in my book.


    "...And so, the hero reunited with her lost love after defeating the Demon Lord..." I snapped my book shut and looked at the young girl standing behind Akito. "...Of course, there''s still the new love interest to handle. But love triangles always spiced things up a bit, so it should be fun."


    A soft sigh echoed from beside me.


    He was a young boy, just turning ten years old. Scratching his light brown hair, he looked at me with his golden eyes and said, "Why do you always have to act so weird and eavesdrop on things, Grandpa?"


    I shivered as I heard that and then pulled out another book. It was pretty worn-out, but the title ''A Greyrat''s Guide for Dummies'' was clear on its cover.


    Flipping it open, I quickly wrote down a note.


    ''Being called grandfather when you aren''t even past 40 is weird. Don''t mess with time travel or have kids when you''re super young or you''ll regret it.''


    The young boy cringed and said, "And you''re writing something weird again in that book, aren''t you?"


    I patted my currently one and only grandson''s head before saying, "You''ll understand how valuable this is one day, Clive. And when you do, you can teach it to your younger uncles."


    My grandson grimaced again and then said, "...Is this why they teach you to just marry one person in the Milis religion? Why is our family tree so confusing?"


    "...Yesn''t."


    "What?"


    "Anyway." I reached up to stretch.


    It looked like things were wrapping up over there.


    My lovely daughters and second oldest son had regrouped and were bullying their aunt about her now much younger boyfriend.


    I could confirm that the <yback Miko> in this timeline waspletely powerless... and that it was her powers I had inadvertently assimted in the distant past by continually expelling my mana into the atmosphere and reassimting it.


    All that was left now was to just clean up this mess and get everyone home.


    ...And to find yet another excuse to convince Eri and Sylphy that we were getting too old to have more children again when most of our kids were already looking to settle down with their own kids.


    Clive furrowed his brow and then said, "You''re thinking about something weird again, Grandpa."


    I ruffled his hair and said, "And that''s why your mom asks me to babysit with you. Learning what not to do is the best form of experience. So if there''s anything you disagree with, remember to not do it when you grow up."


    Clive nodded. "Okay. Then I''ll make sure to not be a pervert who peeps on people while writing things in a book with a creepy smile on his face."


    "I do NOT do that!"


    "Do too."


    "Do not!"


    "...Are you really going to argue with a kid, Grandpa?"


    "...Let''s just go grab everyone and get going."


    Hah... Children.


    I shook my head and then started walking back towards my kids and baby sister.


    Clive walked beside me, holding my right hand. As he did, he said, "Hey, Grandpa."


    "Yeah?"


    "Are we really going to walk all the way there?"


    "Of course."


    "..."


    "...?"


    Clive sighed and said, "I hate you."


    "Love you too, pipsqueak."


    "...Since it''ll be a while, can you at least tell me what story you''re writing this time?"


    "Hm?" I nced at him and said, "I thought you didn''t like my books?"


    Clive blushed and said, "W-Well... a lot of girls at school keep bugging me since they found out I''m rted to you..."


    "Oho~?"


    "It''s not like that!" Clive huffed and said, "My friends just want to know what you''re writing next!"


    "Friends, huh~?"


    Clive red at me.


    Iughed and said, "Fine, fine. I''ll probably publish a story about my life next. And as for a name... I''m thinking Life in Vain: Jobless Reincarnation."


    "..."


    "What?"


    "...Grandpa. Now, I won''t report you or anything, but could it be that you secretly fluff your sales by buying your books? Because what kind of title IS that?!"


    "Hey! It''s urate!"


    "Life in Vain? Guys all over the world would kill you in envy! How the heck can you call living a life with so many beautiful wives and children a life in vain?! And Jobless Reincarnation? Dad already praises your name every other word as the reincarnation of Saint Milis! Is your ego that big?!"


    "...Tch."


    "Did you just click your tongue at me?!"


    "...This is why I hate geniuses."


    "HAVE YOU LOOKED IN A MIRROR?!"


    -¦Á¦Ø-


    Time flowed, lives intersected, and the story continued.


    The beginning of every storyes to an end, but each end also leads to another beginning.


    Be it tragedy oredy, sadness or joy. As the pages close on the end of one book, the pages open at the start of another.


    To you, reading this haphazard tale. To ''you'' living that chaotic life.


    And to the new stages and people awaiting for you there.


    Best wishes upon your endless story.


    ~LIV~


    -AFTERWORD-


    And so ends the story of Rudeus Notus Greyrat, aka RNG, the cheating bastard who had everything go right in his life.


    Hah... lots of stuff I wish I could have done better in this story, but you live and you learn.


    Although I showed a bit of the future here, I think we''ll bookend this where it stands.


    Thanks for everyone who followed me on this crazy train to the bitter end.


    Hopefully it was a somewhat satisfying ending.


    This was a MONSTER of a story to handle. I didn''t realize just how LONG the original web novel was. And that''s not even counting in the extra stuff added in the light novels either.


    Although fun, I definitely wouldn''t do this again. At least, not like this.


    I have quite a few grievances with how the story yed out, and quite a few plot threads that I had to messily tie up.


    If you''ve read this far, I''m sure you remember the shforward of Rudy waking up from aa.


    Originally, this story was going to have an arc where Rudy failed because of that and did a timeloop. We''d follow him back in time and see how he set up everything for a ''perfect'' ending.


    Also originally, this story was a pseudo self-insert where ''I'' took the ce of Rudy.


    Things changed along the way, and Rudy became his own person, but parts of that original story are still meshed throughout this one.


    Honestly, after the initial bacsh from that chapter, I ended up scrapping everything and writing a different arc.


    I think a lot about then though, and I think I should have stuck to my guns. The story was a lot more fun to write then, and I think it would have made this much more satisfying to wrap up since it would have fleshed out a lot of the things I had to quickly close up here.


    Still, a finished story is better than infinite hiatus.


    Like the original story, the total writing time for this story also ended up being around 2 years. It''s substantially shorter though. I think it''s also technically the longest story I''vepleted.


    ...And it''s not even an original work.


    orz.


    All-in-all, this was definitely a valuable learning experience.


    And with this, I can count myself among the fewpleted Mushoku Tensei fanfictions. Yay!


    Now to just wrap up my Second Coming of Gluttony fanfiction, and I can also say I''m among the few whopleted a lengthy korean web novel fanfiction...


    ...And I should also get back to my original stories.


    I''ve been itching to write a Viiness story as well as a Transmigrated into an Academy story. All the ones I like seem to never beplete, so I might as well write one I can enjoy for myself.


    Anyway.


    Thanks for reading Life in Vain: Jobless Reincarnation.


    I enjoyed writing it, and it''s been pretty fun seeing all the reactions to it.


    Especially how much people hate Paul. By god, some people have a deep-seated hatred towards the guy.


    It got pretty messy near the end here, but if there''s anything in particr you want me to clear up, I''ll make sure to do so after I have time to go back through thements.


    As an abridged version of how the events in this story went though:


    OG Mushoku Tensei happens -> ''someone'' gets reincarnated into Rudy''s shoes and causes timeline shenanigans -> that ''someone'' gets a bad ending and looks for someone better -> he finds Rudy''s reincarnation in an alternate Earth which is mostly simr to his past life''s Earth -> that Rudy gets reincarnated as our lord and savior RNG -> this story.


    ...Or something.


    I had notes once in the past, but now... eh...


    Well then.


    I guess this is it.


    Thanks again for reading, thanks especially to everyone who''s left ament, and best thanks to you.


    Yes you, the person reading this.


    We haven''t met, but the fact that you''ve read this, even if you haven''t interacted with me, makes me d.


    Just don''t expect me to rewrite this monster, okay? Time is money as well as a cost-utility analysis, and fanfictions are a-negative in profits, ahaha...


    Bye now, and happy life to you!


    -HappyVainGlory


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!