Jobless Transportation

by AmInaCan

After a 34-year old NEET gets hit by a truck, he wakes up wounded in a fantasy world. He is then taken in by the Greyrat family who give him his first job of watching their son Rudeus. Meanwhile, he begins to study magic and vows to do better in this world than in his last. But how can you succeed in a world you don't belong in? (AU where the MC and Rudeus are separate characters.)

3. Princess Mad Dog

Authors Note: (Edit) I made a minor update because I noticed a couple of sentences got chopped off when I uploaded last time.

It was a tranquil morning the snow had begun to melt and you could see the droplets of dew shine in spades. It was unusually quiet inside the Greyrat house. Both the girls were asleep in their cradles. Rudy got up early and ventured outside to show his dad how far he could throw a sword using wind elemental magic. While Lilia and Zenith were both passed out from tending to their children late at night.

As for me, I received a fresh letter today from the residential messenger from who else, but my master Roxy Migurdia. I remembered the state of mind I was in when I last sent her one and I kind of didn't want to see what response she'd have. It took me hours to gather up the guts to open it. Eventually, the spirit of inquiry made me caved in.

Dear Mister,

I was reading through your last letter to me and I was shocked to see some of the things you wrote. I've never been asked by one of my students to not praise them before. Honestly, it's a nice change of pace. The person I am tutoring now is a young prince who thinks highly of himself and craves validation from me. It has been getting quite stressful. I'm still going to acknowledge your feats. I just can't help it. However, I'll try to do it more sparingly though in the future.

I'm sorry you had a less than ideal experience in your other academy, but you know you could always give school another try. Here, I'll list the school name and location that I attended at the bottom I recommend that you and Rudeus attend there it's one of the best in this country.

Sincerely,

Roxy Migurdia

I'm glad she was able to understand what I was trying to get at with the last message I sent her. I still wish I left out some of the details about my school and past relationships. Although, the thing that upsets me the most right now is the date. When I looked at the bottom and found the sent-by date I was in shock.

What have I been doing for the last months?

I've helped raise the girls some. They kept us busy. Other than that what have I done,...nothing really. Am I becoming a leech?

I have already gained as much knowledge as I could from the books in Zenith's library. Naturally, learning more somewhere else would be the most logical step. I have reduced my anxiety towards the outside quite a bit I can handle being in larger groups of strangers, but a whole public school? And what am I suppose to do there? I can't practice magic and how are they going to feel about a perceived 34-year old adult sitting among a sea of children? At the very least I can ask Rudy to go there.

Now that I have time to ponder about it I really had no set future plans of my own. Was I just planning on staying in this house forever? But then, I'd just end up back where I started, and lose all of my attachment to the world. I got acute stress from thinking about a time when my mind went dark and all I could do was fill it in with meaningless distractions. Some days I had sunk so low I was just waiting for death to take me and get this all over with. Being brought to this place finally shed some light on that tunnel. If I can help it, I never want to fall into that pit again.

After a few weeks of discussing things with Paul, Rudy, and Zenith. I began to conceive a plan of action and I wrote a letter back to Roxy to give her a quick update.

Dear Roxy,

Sorry about my last letter. I cringe now thinking back on it, but I have good news. I know it's been a while since any of us has seen you so just to let you know, we have two new members of the Greyrat family. That's right, two healthy baby girls named Norn and Aisha. They are descendants of Lilia and Zenith and their father Paul. (Don't ask how that got started.) They are a joy to have around. If you ever feel like visiting, here again, you could teach them a couple of tricks. Who knows, they may be child prodigies as well.

About your recommendation for joining the magic school. I'll have to decline. I don't think I would fit into a place like that. That being said it sounds like a great idea for Rudeus. Unfortunately, Rudy says he doesn't want to go without his friend Sylphiette, but her family doesn't have that kind of money. I asked Paul to support both of them but that's not within his budget. I do have a solution though. I have been holding it out for a while, but I think I should get an actual job. Don't you dare try to convince me otherwise. I'm over 40 it's pathetic to still be coddled by the generosity of others while I'm able to slack on my work.

Well anyways, thanks for being there for me.

Best Wishes,

After I sent the letter I got Paul to sit down alone with me so we could settle things over a drink so I could ease his nerves to break the news to him.

"So, my friend. What's this about?" He leaned back in his chair as gulped down a hardy portion of beer.

"I know this is sudden, but I need to move out and get a job."

"Pshh," he said spitting and choking out his beer. You want to leave just like that. What about your assistance with my daughters?" Paul asked. "I thought you thought of that as your job."

"I mean sort of did, but I'm not that helpful...Norn doesn't really like me holding her..."

"What about Aisha?"

Aisha? I mean I enjoyed playing with her. She was very bubbly and touchy and would grab at my nose and ears and giggle. I found it very endearing. What made me distressed about her though was that Lilia was hellbent on making her child into another one of their servants. The reason being that it was her way of paying them back. Indeed, they might not be alive right now. But it's taking away a child's agency because of something they had no part in. I tried to explain this to her, but I couldn't change her mind. Especially when she implied that she was planning on her serving me too. That made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

I continued. "Well Lilia's a natural-born caretaker and her body has since fully recovered from when she was pregnant. She's handling most of it on her own without me anyway. And Rudy's learned to do some of the chores himself so she has more time to focus on her baby. Also, I'm doing everything in exchange for food and shelter here. If I worked under someone else, then I could rack up some extra cash for the family."

"For Rudeus and Sylphiette?" he asked. "Neither of them has to go to school now. They can both wait until they're older and save enough of the money they earned on their own. You shouldn't have to worry about paying the tuition for them."

"It-It's not only because of the tuition." I stammered. "Look, Paul, Rudeus is growing up and knows everything I know. Zenith and Lilia have gotten closer. You now have even more kids. The girls have almost begun to walk now. Everyone is changing…except me. I need to do this. I can't take advantage of you guys forever like I did my parents. I respect you guys too much."

"Hah, I see well if your heart is set on doing this. Then who am I to stop you haha."

"Great so you'll let me do it then? If that the case then I'll need some things to get started. Now if only we had some stationery paper." Man, I really wish we had convenience stores here. I would kill for a good resume template right now.

Paul blinked several times. "Isn't all paper usually stationary?"

"Never mind that. Paul, You have any connections to help me with the job hunting?"

"Connections?" he asked.

"Yeah," I went on with my request, "I need to find someone that will accept a resume from me and set up an interview."

"And what pray tell, do you mean by that?"

"Oh, it's something you do if you want to be hired by someone. You tell them about your skills and past work experience and they evaluate you if they want you to work there or not. Have you not had one before?" Paul's the breadwinner of the house he's had to have done it at least once.

"Of course not," he said. "There's no purpose in only talking about skills. When I was tasked to become a swordsman, I proved myself in training for others to see and past every obstacle that was thrown at me. Doesn't it just sound like a more grounded approach to show your skills off in training?"

"Well, employers usually don't have that kind of patience to train inexperienced employees. They deem it as a waste of time and their resources so they rather hire people that already have proof of what they are doing on a concise document." I tucked my face into my hands. I have never even filled out a resume before because I never had anything to put on it.

"The piece of paper proves whether you are capable of doing the job or not?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded," and interview question that checks for your compatibility. Seriously, how do you not know this stuff? Didn't you hire Roxy?"

"Oh, we heard about her through word of mouth of a mage traveling in the area so we commissioned her services," Paul responded. "By the way, what kind of questions do they ask?"

I pulled my head up again. "Well, it depends on where you're working. My siblings said the general ones are where are you from? Are you committed? What's your work history and skill set? Why should we hire you? Stuff like that. How I would answer any of those questions, well beats me." I shrugged.

"I see, Hmm." He looked like he was thinking to himself. I'm not sure I want to know what's going on in that Paul brain of his. "I know someone you can interview with."

"Really? I hope he doesn't know anyone at the school Roxy was talking about. I can't work at a university level. I only have the education of a middle schooler." I thought as I slumped down in my chair. "Knight is off the table too I would die in the front lines or die from humiliation."

"My uncle and cousin heard about my son's success and ever since he has been requesting my help to find a tutor for his nine-year-old daughter."

"So, they want a tutor in magic?" I asked

"Oh no, in everything. Learning how to read, math, history, I suppose magic too."

"Wow, has he tried sending her to school?"

"They are nobles even wealthier than us. They can afford private training for their children in their homes. They have tried several people they just haven't found the right person yet. "

She's over two decades younger than me so logically speaking I should know more than her. "I think this is what I need. I-I accept your offer then if they'll have me."

Paul at this point in the conversation had the two mug fulls of beer finally catch up to him. "Wonderful. Trust me *hic*. You're going to like them they gave me my first job as well," he smirked pushing his thumb up to himself. "I can get you in contact with them soon. You can hang back for now."

"Wow Paul," I rejoiced, "I don't know what to say. Thank YOU."

"Anytime *hic*," he hiccuped "it's all in a day's work for expert swordsman Paul Greyrat. *hic* Hey, Zenith can you be a dear and set up the bed. I'm feeling fiery tonight. Ehehehe..." he chattered as he deliriously rocked his chair back and forth.

"Okay," I as I pushed his beer away from the intoxicated Paul. "I think you've had enough of that for today."

I waited a few weeks for the action to happen. I kept asking Paul when my interview would be. The only detail he gave is that they would be visiting us sometime soon. And that soon came a lot sooner than I expected...

*THUD* *CRACK* *THUD*

I had just gone asleep when I woke up to some peculiar noises. I rubbed my face. Mysteriously my glasses were still there. How? I took them off when I went to bed. I shuttered my eyes open to see myself on hardwood planks that were vibrating. I got to find myself in a moving wagon already out past the village and the field.

"Woah, Woah," I tumbled over and landed on my head. How did I wind up here? All I remember is going to sleep in my own room? Am I dreaming still somehow? "What's going on?" I asked aloud.

Just then from behind me I heard a soft deep voice say, "I carried you off in your sleep."

I turned around and found a huge lady was sitting there. She was garnering sandals and pants sitting cross-legged arms folded. Up top, aside from a jacket, she was barely wearing anything. Was she a stripper? She was also wearing a set of cat ears on top of her head and a narrow grey cat tail in the back. That has got to be the craziest costume for a maid café worker I have ever seen.

Outside of her minimalist clothing, she was tall, tan, and very very muscular. I don't think I've seen guys as muscular as she is. It made boobs underneath the one strap she had on almost look like pecs. She also had an eyepatch concealing half her. Was it from an epic battle in a war or one on one combat? She could be a champion weightlifter in my old world. Being in her presence is rather frightening however the fact that she could crush me in an instant is a bit of a turn-on.

Just then I saw her ear flick itself as her hands and arms were still at her side. "No way. Are those real?" I said out loud.

"My ears, of course," she confirmed. "Why do you ask such a meaningless question? All people of my heritage possess them."

"Your heritage? Does that mean there are more animal-like people like you? Like an entire BEAST RACE!" I asked. The giddiness in my words must have rubbed her the wrong way.

"Yes, I am the daughter of one of our tribe leaders. Can you stop making that face?" she said frowning.

"There are more big titty kitties!" I quietly squealed in awe. I took a deep breath, "I'm sorry who are you? And what happened? And what's going on?"

"I am Ghislaine Dedoldia. I watch over the one you wish to educate." So is she like the young girl's babysitter or her pet? Don't tell me she's related to Paul somehow and she's her mom or sister or something. Although, a tiny beast race girl sounds so cute that it could only exist in the 2D plane.

"As I said earlier, I carried you off in your sleep. The coachmen and your benefactor were on a tight schedule and you refused to move when we tried to wake you. So now we put you in the carriage. You are welcome." Now that I think about it I did have a giant fluffy-taled big-breasted amazonian woman sit on me in my dreams or what I thought was a dream. "Don't worry." Ghislaine said, "We took all your belongings with us you shall be arriving shortly."

"Uhh thanks, what did you say your relationship with Paul was again?"

"I used to be in a party with Paul when we were a traveling band of warriors before he settled down with Zenith."

I really got to ask Paul about all his stories. It's as if he's living a secret life that I don't know about. What is she going to say next, that she lost her virginity to him too?

I continued to exchange words with the buff feline for about 20 minutes until we arrived at our destination. It was practically a mansion compared to Paul's humble cabin. How loaded did he say his family was again?

They parked the stagecoach and we both headed for the glossy front gate and into the wide entrance door. There was a man waiting for us when we arrived. He was well dressed and his eyes were fierce and had an upstanding aura about him.

"About time you all have arrived. What have you brought for me this time Ghislaine?" he loudly proclaimed.

"He's an associate of Paul's," she answered. "He's been working for them for several years ever since they took him in."

"Uhh, hi," I said giving him a small wave.

He took both of his hands and grabbed mine to shake. "Pleasure to meet you, a companion of my dear nephew Paul."

"Same to you. Are you her father?" I asked.

"Hardly, I am Eris Boreas Greyrat's grandfather. Sauros Boreas Greyrat." So this is Paul's uncle. The head man looks in pretty good condition for being around 50 or 60 years old. He seems physically fit and full of vigor and that's a wicked mustache he's pulling off. I have no idea how he got his facial hair to grow in those directions.

"Greetings, I am her father actually," said a smaller man who sneaked up from behind him. "I am Phillip Boreas Greyrat descendant of the master of this household. It is an honor to meet you," he said slowly shaking my hand. Now that I could see this man close he looked familiar. He had light brown hair grown out and put into the side in a ponytail green eyes and a lean physique.

So he and Paul are Cousins? More like brothers. Why do they all look exactly the same? First Paul and Rudeus then Zenith and Norn. Now, this? There's no reason for them to have the same hairstyle. Are we sure there isn't any inbreeding going on? It's not illegal here and I wouldn't put it past them.

Also, something about how his eyes were always squinting made him look rather shifty. Like those sleazy businessmen, you see on TV. "If you don't mind father, I can show him around. Even if he is not up to the task, Paul requested that I treat him as a guest."

"Very well. Off you go then." he obliged before he took off on his own.

"Pardon me, good sir," the sly man said tapping me on the shoulder. "It's been a while since I've given a tour of the place, but I am delighted I have the chance. Please do ask questions if you have any concerns," he said extra politely. Wow is everyone in Paul's family this cordial? That certainly explains this guy's attitude although I kept on thinking Sauros was going to yell at me for doing something wrong.

"Alrighty, here is our first stop." He opened the doors to the corridor with writing that translated to 'library' on the front. My eyes glazed upon the scenery. There were tall glass windows some decorated with emblems and beautiful engravings on the wood and shelves that were probably packed to the brim full of books. I bet Roxy hasn't seen this many in one room.

"Is this where Zenith got her spell books from?" I asked.

"No, no she got it from the second room. These are history books and ancient archives. The next room over contains spell books." Phillip said directing me to the hallway.

So, he has a second room like this? Jeez, how does a child become uneducated in a household with this much stuff? They don't even have the internet to distract them. I'll have to check out the room later. Most of Zenith's books only go to the advanced level and the only spells in there were either elemental manipulating magic or ones having to do with healing and detoxification. I was curious to if there were any specialized spells I could try out with my new student. I tried to research invisibility and memory spells on my own, but being able to fly or shape-shifting, or mind control would be really cool ones to learn and use.

The next stop he showed me on the tour was a bedroom. My bedroom to be exact. He urged me to come inside. Like the other room, the walls were filled with fanciful paintings everywhere and hints of gold to accent the walls. In the center of the room, I saw a holy masterpiece. A king-sized bed with a canopy dripping over it, and a big puffy mattress. I couldn't hold myself in. I leaped up and embraced it like it was my own child. So plush and velvety.

Normally I wouldn't use these kinds of beds. I find that their mattresses are uncomfortable especially the one in Paul's house. The mattress there was flattened within a few months of me using it so the bedframe kept poking at me. I ended up sleeping on the floor instead with layers of blankets on and on top of me. Basically doing what I did in my old house.

On the side of the room was my own personal wardrobe filled with dignified attire fitted for this century. I bet in that green suit and cravat even I can look professional. All of the clothes looked bigger than the one in Paul's dresser. I wondered if they belonged to the staff members or to someone else.

"Did this room belong to someone before me?" I asked.

"Hah no, it's merely a guest room. I hope you'll enjoy staying here."

"Well, don't mind if I do then." I stretched out my arms and myself in a lax position. "Ahh, I could get used to this." Moments before I was about to fall asleep, Phillip rudely interrupted me.

"Ahem' sir! Before you get too settled in. I have a couple more introductions we need to go over." Didn't he know I barely got any sleep last night because I was being abducted against my will?

"Okay," I said reluctantly sliding myself off. "Goodbye, dear friend," I whispered to the king of all beds, "I'll be seeing you in my dreams tonight."

Luckily for him, my disappointment faded once I saw the next surprise he brought me. It was a woman whose presence was the sheer embodiment of eloquence, beauty, and wealth. She had her lovely deep crimson contrasted with golden earrings with her face was accented with make-up. "This is the lady of the house and my wife. Hilda Greyrat." She lifted the edges of her matching silken red dress and curtsied.

"You're the girl's mother I presume," I said as I took a bow. I was tempted to do the kissing hand thing that they do to the ladies in the movies. I decided that was too risky in front of her husband. I tried really hard to only do that, but also not stare at her cleavage because Holy, look at the size of those things. It's like Paul and his cousin have an unspoken contest of who could get women with the biggest rack. I didn't think anyone could beat Paul until now. Her dress is super low cut too and they are practically bursting out of there. Those things make Lilia and Zenith's DD cups look like B cups in comparison."

"Yes, I am Eris's mother. Are you another member of Paul's relatives?" The way she said that was unexpectedly cold.

"Oh no," I said shaking my head and waving my hands, "I know of Paul and I lived with his family. Although, I'm flattered that you think I'm related to him."

Suddenly her tone of voice changed as she clasped her hands together and faced her husband. "Thank goodness you found someone else to look out for her." You see, I was about the same height as her we met each other at eye level. So when she grabbed me and smushed me up against her body I was crammed right in between the you know whats on her chest.

"Am I in heaven? Did that truck really kill me and I'm in heaven right now? They are soooo warm." My brain practically shut off until she let go.

"I'm glad to be of service ma'am hehe."

Afterward continued wandering past several rooms and we turned a corner. As we did I could see several people on the other side of the room cleaning and minding their own business. They were all in matching uniforms.

I gasped. Could they be? "Um, not to get us off track, but who are they?" I said tugging his shirt to get his attention.

"Oh, those are our personal service maids. These girls are the best that the beast race has to offer. We have them working around the house performing their own duties," he said displaying one that was dusting the outer rim of the windows. "You will see them from time to time. I've has given you some authority over them so if you need them to leave or to tend to you or my daughter. You have the option to request or deny their presence."

I didn't hear half of what he said."There are more of them," I shouted looking at the army of maid girls with furry animal ears and bushy tails. Yet more evidence I died and went to what other religions call heaven.

I continued to play I spy with all the cat maid girls I could find until we neared the entrance of the house. "I believe that about does it for our tour. Any questions?"

I shook my head. "None so far."

"Marvelous," he cheered, "I'll allow you to stay in my office then as I await your interview."

"Interview...," my insides churned as Phillip Greyrat already walked off.

"Oh yeah... the interview," I thought. "I never got that far in the hiring process. I had nightmares about those things having someone judge me like that in person. It was less intimidating to talk to people online or even through voice chat. But it'll take years for those things to be made in this world. We could try doing it over mail right?"

Deep Breath. Deep Breath.

I knew this was coming I discussed it with Paul earlier. And Like Roxy always says. It'll all be okay. I won't die if I fail this, I'll just have to try again somewhere else. Although, there are not that many places where I can go. Well, umm...how about I just don't think about that. I'll go over the talking points instead.

What to go over first? Let's see work history or ehh...my name? No, wait, teaching Rudy how to read or write at an early age. That's a good selling point. Even though I have not finished middle school not everyone here has had an education so what I have has to be better than nothing. I did train myself to read those magic books so I will add homeschooled to that.

I paced back and forth. I think I was getting the hang of this. All I need to do is think of the answers beforehand and practice saying them out loud.

If he asks about salary I'll say, "Sir you can pay me whatever price you think my work is worth." Then do a nice gesture or something like a half-bow. Yeah, that's good. I should also say I will not accept harassment or discrimination. Although, he is related to Paul so it's not like he would be strict on those policies unless he enjoys being a bloody hypocrite.

I feel like I'm forgetting something else. Oh yeah, introductions. I'll say my name and the location I was staying in and if possible, I will commute by horse if I cannot stay here.

What if I stiffen up? I know I'll slap myself or pinch my knees. I'll have to react to that.

"Okay let's start from the top," I said to myself. "Pretend the interviewer is right in front of you," I said pointing to a decorative chair. I closed my eyes and let out a deep gust of air. "Hi, a pleasure to meet you. My name is-" The door burst open.

"Hello Sir," said a furry maid with Pomeranian-like ears. "The master is ready to meet you."

No, I didn't have time to go through the entire interview process by myself. "Can you give me some more time?"

"His schedule is very busy today and he said he requests to do business with you as soon as possible." She said bowing her head and body with her maid outfit leaving her exposed. If I didn't learn my lesson from Lilia, I would've left the office right away and taken her home with me by now.

She waited for me to respond. I anxiously patted my legs.

"Hnng, I'm not ready," I thought. But, when would I be ready? Would I ever be ready? He might change his mind in that amount of time, and I've already met him. Maybe he'll decide to skip the interviewing part and just send me straight to work. Wouldn't that be something? "I-I'm coming," I mumbled.

"Good." She clapped her hands with glee. "I'll go get him right now sir."

"Great…Thank you..." I said forcibly pulling my shoulder to give a thumbs up. She was off, and the next moment I was standing in front of Paul's bro-I mean cousin with his two huge henchmen? Servants? They were two guys standing behind him giving me a lockdown with their eyes. "I should've asked for another two weeks. Why do I have to do this now?" I whined to myself.

At least I'm having an interview with him and not his father. That eased my nerves some. Compared to his son that man has critical levels of intimidation factor.

"Hello, dear friend. You already told me your name during the tour so we can skip over that and we can go right over to the other questions. So first things first. Where is it you are from my dear compatriot?"

Oh, I practiced this one. I know how to answer it. "I'm not from here," I said.

"Haha, I know." he laughed. Crap! Did I do it wrong? "It's just that your ethnicity and accent are unfamiliar to me. Are you a foreigner from another country or perhaps another race?"

By another race did he mean skin color, or in a fantasy creature sense? Should I say Japanese or for the more insensitive people yellow? I mean I assume this place is somewhere in Europe although there's no sign of a parallel Japan I've seen so far. Alright, I know I'll go with this answer. "I am the human race."That came out wrong. I thought while forcing a smile. They shouldn't even be asking race questions isn't that discriminatory or against the rules. Then again, he seems to hire his maids based on race.

He chuckled again. "I apologize if I'm getting too personal with these questions, but I couldn't help but notice on this paper you sent me. There were these odd symbols at the bottom." Phillip held out the resume and directed me to the writing at the bottom. "I've been trying to decipher what it is, and it's been bothering me all week."

"That's kanji, sir," I said, "I learned it from somewhere far away from Roa. All that says is my name." Why in the world did I sign it in kanji in the first place? Old habits die hard I guess.

"Huh, fascinating," he said looking back at it before rolling it back into a scroll, "I'll have to ask you more about that later. Now to continue,.. Ahem," he coughed. "What do you do on the off chance a child acts out and doesn't obey you?"

A job-specific question. Oh no. No one said this would be a pop quiz. Quick, think of an answer...think...think. "Gahh... I give them patience...and try to understand and listen, and if they are having trouble learning I'll explain it to them again."

"Very good," he said writing down my answer. "There's also another thing I want to know. Why do you want to work here? Is it because of the money?"

"Yes, I mean-," I stopped myself. I should say something else employers don't like to hear that. "I like the environment and people I will work with, it's a good experience?" I said, but for whatever reason, it came out more like a question.

"Hehe, you haven't even met my daughter yet. I guess you must be excited then. She hasn't gotten along with other tutors in the past however with your spirit it sounds like you will make a genuine effort to get through to her. This leads me to my next question..."

Here it comes the big one.

"Why should we hire you?"

"Why should you hire me?" I thought.

Well, the honest answer I would give is that you shouldn't. There are plenty of other candidates he could find in this world that is way more qualified than me. They are clearly wealthy they have the resources to do it. The only two jobs I got close to getting were due to nepotism. I didn't grow up learning the language and I wasn't exceptionally great at reading, writing, and spelling in my own language either. I was a guy who liked computers and spent all his time on them. How are those skills suppose to help me now? And, I can't practice magic either. Roxy assisted Rudy in developing his powers more than I ever did. I couldn't think of any way to see myself as worthy of this position.

I didn't dare say any of that stuff out loud, however. Because the thing is, I want the job.

And I'll lie to get it.

"I'm great with kids," I said. "I know how to use saint-level magic and I have experience using it. I taught Rudy basically everything he knows." I feel so guilty saying this. Please don't kill me for this Roxy it's for a good cause. "I can get her to that level in no time. I've learned all sorts of languages effortlessly. I can not only teach her to read and write in her own language. I can also teach her kanji and other domestic languages related to this place. Also, math. I'm gifted in that subject I know how to apply it to all kinds of machines. You guys do have some form of technology correct? And lastly of all I just really need the job and I hope you consider hiring me." I half-bowed.

I then let out a long sigh. That whole selling yourself is exhausting. I'm relieved that part is over. I mean it's not wrong, right? Most people lie about accomplishments during interviews or at least that's what people on the net told me once. After that, the room became quiet, and then the silence was interrupted by a slow clap. Then a burst of laughter came.

"Well, you did it, sir, you got the job. Congratulations."

"Uhh, okay?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing and something about his tone and his mannerism sounded off. Almost like they were disingenuous.

"So, why do you keep on laughing?" I asked.

He wiped a tear from his eye. "Well to tell you the truth, I was going to hire you no matter what you said. I'm running out of options you see. As I said, she pushed all the other candidates away. My cousin asked me to go with these series of questions with you because you wanted the practice."

"He said that huh? This was all just a mock interview, not even a real one?" he nodded and my head sunk to the floor. "I think It might've helped my self-esteem more if you kept that last part a secret between you and Paul."

Phillip grew an aloof expression on his face. "Oh, OOPS!' he said as he had just dropped something on the floor. "In all fairness, though he was worried that you wouldn't even attempt to answer some of them. However, you did everyone. I say that's something worth taking credit for and putting to your name." My head sunk even further. "Don't feel bad. You see I usually hire people on the spot from sight alone. I hire the strongest men as my bodyguards and I hire the most stunning beast race girls to be my maids. As for tutors for my daughter. I'll take what I can get."

"Does really no one want this job?" It's a little fishy how desperate they sound in contrast to good their benefits are.

"Well, to be honest, our dear Eris has trouble talking to people and speaking her mind."

Is that all? I raised my head "I can handle shyness I have personal experience with it," I said actually giving a genuine answer this time.

"Excellent, I think it's about time you've met her anyway," he said all pumped up as he lead me to her room.

Finally, I get to meet the girl of the hour. I was so stuck in anticipation of seeing my new little student that it made me think back to all the other girls I've met to their aesthetics and how they behave.

Let's see if I was in an anime or a dating sim then what would all the girl's archetype be? There's Roxy the magical loli. The best kind of loli, super supportive too. Slyphiette is a bishounen and I'd say she's androgynous enough to be considered a reverse trap. She fooled me and I bet I wasn't the only one. And there's Lilia the reserved busty maid. Ther's Zenith the motherly figure. Then there's the sexy fan service character that has got to be Ghislaine. She's also a Neko which is a huge bonus. If that the case then it stands to reason that is Eris would be the wealthy princess-like character from a noble background that aspires to be prim and proper. The Ojou-sama.

They brushed open doors in the spacious room. Both Sauros and Phillp followed me into the den. In the middle of the floor was my student, the legendary Eris, and she was...Absolutely Adorable!

She had long fiery deep red hair with matching eyes like her mother. She was built similar to Sylphiette's short and petite stature. Her outfit was really cute too with a black and white blouse and a little brown skirt it reminded me of the girl's middle school uniforms. She's only 9-years old so obviously, she hasn't developed yet fully, but if her mother's any indication of things to come. Oh, ho ho boy. Those buttons of hers would pop right off. I can't wait for that party to get started.

"Eris remember our instructions you must display the proper etiquette to greet him."Sauros instructed her. "Don't just stand there. Show some respect to the man who will be working with you over these next months." She didn't move. She just starred back up at us in silence. Was this the shyness he was talking about?

"No no, it's fine master Greyrat." I said trying to calm him down. I know these things take time. Here, I can go ahead introduce myself." I bent my knees down to talk at her level. "Hello, Miss Eris." I smiled, "I am going to be your new teacher. I know you have trouble talking, but I hope we can get along."

And How did she greet me back?

She kicked me in the shins.

"Ow, hey that's not how you treat a person who trying to help you, young lady!"

Then out of nowhere climbed up on me like a spider monkey. I was so dumbfounded I was nearly paralyzed by her behavior as she clawed her way to my neck.

"Woah hey, HEY! what are you doing Kacckkk." My tongue stuck out. That's when she tugged on my cravat I put on this afternoon causing me to become off-balanced and crash onto the floor. I managed to fall back to avoid hurting her, but now Eris had a hold over my head as she tightened the ruffles around my esophagus like she was about to strangle me. She did loosen it eventually, but when she did I saw her hand ball up in the air and 3 seconds later it met with my face. One punch felt like just a short slap, but multiple on them in a row. That's when everything started going numb and I could no longer keep a clear picture of her as my glasses had been dented. I tried shielding my face, but she used the rest of her body to push them away. She just kept going at it like she was a monster with no restrain her father and his men had to lift her away from me while she was attempting to swing.

The second she got off of me I ran straight out of there. I raced down the hallway and hid in my new room. I then lock the door for safety measures and snuffed out the candlelight so she wouldn't find me. What was that? Is she possessed?

I rubbed my face and neck. They were throbbing.

I could still hear her screaming echoing from down the hallway. "I can't believe you hired that ugly fatty to teach me?" she shouted. Wow, glad her abuse is not limited to physical. "Do you really think that low of me father?"

"Not at all dear," said a man's voice.

I heard the name Eris before. I was on 2chan with a bunch of otakus and we were discussing our horoscopes. Somehow that lead us to get on the topic of Greek Mythology and the myth around the character Eris. From what I can recall She was a goddess of chaos that sewed discord into the hearts of men. Are we sure she's not the same goddess just taking on another form?

Ugh, I signed up to teach their daughter, not a mad dog. It's like she bore her fangs at me for no reason other than getting too close. And here I thought everyone was kidding when they said demons existed in this world. She even has an unusually vibrant hair color. Are they sure she's not adopted or accidentally picked up from a nest or a cave from their lands?

All I know for sure that is not an ojou-sama. What's next are they going to tell me that she acts rude, but she's really an innocent sweetheart on the inside? Don't tell me they'll chalk that all up to me and say she's just some tsundere. That is not I repeat, NOT normal tsundere behavior. Yandere would be closer. Only it's dere-free. Wonderful,...my favorite.

I know I'm bigger than her and there's only one oppressor unlike when I had to defend poor Sylphiette from those three little buggers slinging mud and rocks at me. However, I can not beat her up in front of her parents and expect me to keep this job. At best they'll fire me and at worst they will send their entire mob of hefty bodyguards after me to possibly behead me. I am not sure what they do to criminals in this universe however the death penalty does seem likely in their feudalistic society. Either way, I don't want to find out.

Phillip came into the room after me, followed by his dad. "My apologies, you see our daughter tends to act out."

"If you knew she was going to misbehave. Why didn't you prepare me for that? My face still hurts." I said massaging it. I may not agree with Paul's methods, but he realizes the necessity of discipline for a child. He would scold Rudy if he did something like this. Why can't they do the same to the bratty princess she shouldn't have that kind of power over them.

"What kind of nonsense are you doing? They said you had years of experience performing this task," Sauros yelled.

"Well, Paul was being generous on the number of years. I can't do this. I lied about a lot of my accomplishments to you because I didn't want you to say no."

"Prove you are capable then. Don't be a coward, pick up your slack and get back in there. Do you plan on quitting on your first day of the job?"

I want to say a definitive yes. I don't need the job THAT badly. I literally did nothing wrong. If she's willing to beat me up for that then I know she can't be helped.

Then again...

Roxy never gave up on me, and I want to be the kind of teacher she is. Even so, her problem with me and my problem with Eris is quite the opposite. My student is capable of learning magic she just has no desire to do so. I suppose I also lost the desire to learn in school when I still went.

"Fine," I stood up, "I'll go back in there, but I'll need reinforcements. Can you send me a couple of your bodyguards in case the fire in her ignites again?"

"Sure, anything good sir. You keep up the good work." Phillip brought two of his best men to me as I readied myself for round two. I dramatically swung the doors open to see Eris in the same spot. "I see we got off on the wrong hand last time. I want you to know I'm willing to give you a second chance only if you respect me as a teacher and follow my instructions."

"You're a lard bubble, not my teacher. You can't tell me what to do." She scowled and crossed her arms.

"I'm going to ignore that. Here, I got you some books from your parent's library. I'm going to read them to you so that next time I can show you how to read them to me." She outstretched her hand to attempt to slap the book away from me before one of my men grabbed me by the arm. "Thank you, gentlemen, ahem as I was saying..."

I began to run through the catalog of books. I tried several different genres and every time I would have to stop at the first chapter and switch them out because every five seconds I would hear her groan and say-

"This is boring."

The last one I picked up was a history book about humans vs. the demon race. "You think all these epic battles in your world's history are boring? Are you even paying attention?" She's so violent though. She should be loving this talk of carnage and bloodbath.

"I get it you don't want to listen to textbooks. Fine, we will do something else how about we go to the other library and pick up one of the spellbooks and we do a beginning level spell right here, right now." I had the bodyguards carry her into the spell library as I tried to search through it.

I'll look for spells we've done before. I went through the shelves and flipped over a bunch of pages.

Hmm.. no we don't want to set the other books on fire and wind might knock them off their shelves. I ended up picking one that looked like a copy of Zeniths.

Yes, the water elemental spell that was one of Rudeus's first spells that he learned and now it will be her first too. Her parents won't get mad at summoning a few droplets of water. "Here, this is the one we are going to try," I said showing it to her face.

"I don't want to. I tried it before nothing happens."

So, Miss Eris here was curious enough to try it out before. Perhaps I should have lead with this. "You might have done it wrong the first time then, but that doesn't mean you can't do it. Anyone can learn magic. The technique you have to master is patience and concentration and visualization. Follow along with me." I held up her arm in the same way Rudeus had his when he first learned this spell."Okay, now concentrate...concentrate." I said chanting into her ear she seemed to be buying it as she closed her eyes, "see the droplets of water pulling up from your skin all conglomerating together to form a collective ball of water. Think rain, think puddles. Then when your ready recite the incantation." I recited the incantation from the book to her. She repeated it and-

Nothing...absolutely nothing.

But we cited it correctly and everything. I checked her palm, and not a single drop of water was on it. Something is wrong, very wrong.

"See nothing happens. I hate this."

I peered at her. "It should've worked. I'm sorry I can't demonstrate how it's done, but I need you to try again. "

"Why can't you show me? What happened to anyone can learn magic?"

"Everyone can. I just have a physical condition that makes it so I can't do anything on my own."

"Is the condition that father hired a behemoth instead of a person?"

"Rrrrrgh." I have had it up to here with her.

She then put on a fake cry. "Oh no, it's growling at me." I had to tune out all the noise she was making.

Me performing the spell myself is not going to work. There's always this method then. I took some of my writing utensils and made a circle on the flood with the water symbols.

"Mama is going to hurt you if you mess up her floors."

"Not if it's for education," I said wiping my sweat as I finished the circle, "Here, now I need you to step inside." She shook her head and backed away. I instructed her again. "Stand inside the circle please, Miss Eris. All you have to do is cooperate with me and it will work."

"No, it didn't work the first time and it won't work with a stupid circle on the floor. I'm going back to my room. Who cares about stupid rain drops anyway."

"Okay, so she's not in the mood for spells either." I thought as she let the bodyguards take her.

After that, we then took a hiatus from letters and spells and moved on to numbers. I made my own math sheet full of the most basic equations for addition and subtraction. Things simple enough for even a bratty uneducated 9-year-old to understand.

"I need a glass of juice in order to solve this problem," she demanded.

"How in the world will drinking juice help you do that?"

"The nutrients inside it will make me think smarter."

"Does fruit here really have those kinds of properties?" I thought. Sometimes in video games, your stats like intelligence go up when you eat certain items. I bet it's similar to that.

"Okay, coming right up Miss Eris," I said as I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed whatever non-alcoholic beverages they had available and set them all on a platter. "Here," I said pulling out one made from white fruit similar to the one on the Greyrat's prized tree.

She took it and sipped it down until the glass was empty. "I think I need another."

"Okay I'll get you another, but I want you to at least try one when I get back," I said when I brought two more then four, then five. That's when I noticed she was pulling my leg.

"I thought you were getting me another one."

"Miss Eris, I've brought you ten of these things and you haven't solved a single problem. I know you are playing me and it's not going to work anymore." I said holding a plate of empty cups.

"I don't feel like solving these any more problems they are too hard."

"You could have said you needed help doing them in the first place. Why did you ask me to get you drinks? You have a plethora of maids to be your beverage services."

"I can't help it, you remind me more of an old butler than a teacher."

"An old butler?" I said putting all the unadulterated tension on the plate I was holding.

"We don't have a lot of old butlers. You should become one instead. It suits you better."

"Ahhh, I've had it!" I threw the platter and all the remaining dishes on the ground and I stormed off into my room. I plopped myself face down on top of the bed. Phillip must've seen me pass by because he came later to ask how I was doing.

"Is everything alright?" he said.

"I'm sorry to tell you this Phillip. I'm struggling to find the motivation to teach a student who is actively trying to get rid of me. As a teacher who hasn't professionally instructed before, it's very degrading."

"I suppose her demanding attitude is somewhat our fault. Her grandfather loves to give her what she wants and she expects us and the rest of the household to do the same."

"So she disrespects all adults? How does she act around other children?"

"I'm not sure. She hasn't really had much contact with children her age."

So, they spoiled her and made her a shut-in. Woohoo, family of the year. It's like they are trying to win a hikikomori breeding contest. Although, to be fair this place was a lot more glamourous than my humble abode. I had a single room full of junk food wrappers and ramen noodle cups were scattered across the floor with the only items in there being my computer a nest of blankets, and a small table.

I think having her see children her age might be a viable solution to pull her out of her comfort zone. "Can I request to write a letter to Sir Paul Greyrat?"

"Certainly," he said handing over the supplies.

In elementary school, I was pressured to do better academically because of the competition between my peers. Works for public schools, it could work the same way with homeschooling. Plus, what little girl can hate Rudy?

Within weeks of absolutely no progress, Rudeus came along with his belongings were brought with him over to stay the week at his relative's house as I requested. I didn't give him the real details until I got him alone in my room to talk in private. As soon as I did I crouched down to him and whispered, "Rudy, you have to help me."

"What?"

"I know I made it sound like I was giving you a vacation trip away from your parents. But in reality, I need you to do me some favors. You see I am having trouble dealing with my new student and guess what she's a girl. If you hanging out with Slyphiette has taught me anything is that the one weakness that cute girls have is cute boys."

Rudeus's face was now full of disappointment. "Aww, why did you have to make me leave. I was going to show off my earth magic skills to her this weekend. We were going to see if we could create a dust storm. Dad told me that I would be visiting his aunt and uncle he didn't tell me you were going to force me to do more work."

"It's only temporary that is why you're visiting and not staying. She'll listen to you which means indirectly she'll eventually listen to me."

"No, I want to go home!" he cried. I guess I have no choice. I knelt right down to him to beg.

"Oh, C'mon Pleeaassse.."I said waddling with my knees on the ground. "Isn't she your cousin or whatever? that means you have to get along anyway because family."

"Fine," he huffed and crossed his arms.

"Great. Because I am not dealing with that hot mess myself," I said as I got up and started pushing him towards the huge room. Home of the mad dog.

Rudy looked back up at me. "How long do I have to stay here," he whined.

"Just for a week, I'll reward you half of the money while you're here."

"I thought you said the money you earned from this teaching would go to me and Slphy."

"Okay, three-quarters of the money," I said opening the door to find 'her' still there.

"Hey look what I brought you this time Miss Eris. This is Rudeus. You probably know he's y'know your cousin," I said inching him closer to her. "He's a couple of years younger than you, but he's very talented he can teach you to do advance and even saint-level spells." she pushed aside the spread of her bed and walked toward him until his head was entirely underneath hers.

"H-Hello, Eris," he quaked as she towered over him.

"Your only 7 years old?"

"Yes?"

As he said that her face changed. I recognize that face. Oh no, she's going to go for it. I quickly interfered as she lunged straight at him with the full intent of pinning him on the ground. She swung her fists again with the intent of hitting him while my flesh was in the way. I called for backup again to split us all up.

Well, there goes that bargaining chip. Now what? What was her reasoning for attacking Rudy? Because he's younger than her? But that makes no sense. Can she not be reasoned with? "Hey Eris," I yelled to her. "I want to clear something up with you. Let me get this straight. Rudeus is too young for you and I'm too old. Can you please tell me what exactly do you want?"

"It doesn't matter, You can't do anything about it can you?" she said taunting us.

"Arrgghhh," at that point I utterly lost it. "What if we magically made you 7 years old or maybe 5 or 4.? Huh, would that work then? What about a middle-aged lady and not an attractive one like your mom? Just a middle-aged lady that doesn't know how to do anything and accomplished nothing their entire life. You'd be stuck. You wouldn't know how to reverse it. You know why? Because you Never Listen to Anyone!" She had no retort she huffed and walked away with the back of her head.

We had no choice, but to just leave her room after that.

"That was mean." Rudy said to me as I sat down beside her door.

"Well I'm sooorrry," I said sarcastically, "she's been mean to me ever since I got here and I did nothing wrong. She initiated it this time, not me. Why won't she just realize that I'm trying to help her?" Rudy's face wasn't changing. He still looked upset with me. "Look kid, I let myself get kicked around and bullied throughout middle school and again before I almost died. I'm done not standing up for myself! I didn't go through all that to be picked on someone who doesn't even know how to read."

"I looked at the window. I saw her in her room crying…"

"You go check on the dainty little princess then," I yelled at him. She's surrounded by sycophants she has probably never heard an insult her entire life. She's overreacting. I'll respect her once she learns to respect me.

Moments passed and I peeked in through the open window to her door to see Rudeus trying to console her. He was right she was crying he was hugging all while getting a few slaps to the face.

"Hah," I sighed, "What am I doing." I curled my fingers into my hair. At least Rudy is finding his way to break into the ice queen, but he can't only be nice to her. Augghh, but she doesn't need another servant she needs someone to push her. But, Insulting her is not going to get me anywhere, I know that I just...uck I'm out of ideas…

One of the bodyguards walked past me stalking the duo. "Is your teaching going well sir?"

I thought about hiding the truth, but it'd be a wasted effort. "No, I suck at this. I can't get her to listen to anything I say and now she's going to turn my backup plan into her slave. I feel like I'm on the verge of getting up."

"Don't worry sir she treats me like this all the time too. It's not just you."

"Oh, I'm sorry man." I guess this whole establishment has fallen victim to the bratty princess as well. "I need her to feel the sense of urgency to learn before it's too late for her and she ends up like someone like me. Kids usually don't think that far ahead, and I have no way of conveying that without offending her."

"Maybe, you could put her in an unfamiliar situation. Let's for instance she captured somewhere and she has to use her own instincts and skills to find her way out. That sounds pretty urgent."

"You mean like a kidnapping plot? That's not a bad idea. It could be a simulation. We could set up a bunch of puzzles along the way for her to solve. Then at the very end when she feels all hope is lost, I can come out as her savior." This plan was sounding more promising the more I thought about it. There's a problem though. How am I supposed to demonstrate the usefulness of spells if she doesn't cooperate enough to activate them? Well, Rudeus can do magic.

"I got it, Rudy could save her instead. I could also throw in a mini spelling quiz too somewhere in there as I bring them to safety." I looked back at the bodyguard, "You are a genius. Thank you, I should have talked to you sooner."

"Umm…your welcome...mind I join in?"

"Yes, you're the one who came up with the idea. Let's pitch it to the man of the house together." I locked arms around his arm and we marched in unison to his office. We went in and managed to get it approved by Phillip. It was agreed by the end of the week before Rudeus leaves little Miss Eris would be in the clutches of our palms.

For the time being, I had to endure the slew of verbal insults she would give me by the hour.

"Can you move any slower ugly fatty?" she said as we ventured down the long hallway.

"Ah ah, You've used that one before Miss Eris, you're going to have to try harder than that to break me. I call myself those things on a regular basis," I said. I believe she's running out of steam. She's resorted to using the same insults over. It's always about the same two or three traits too. My peers went above and beyond when it came to giving me cruel nicknames. Also, there were more of them too so their disgusting minds linked to create true atrocities. They use to call me things like Foreskin Boy. Uch, I' am never going to get over that one.

She needs more creativity. Right now, I can come up with over a dozen names to call her. Hmm, flat-chested demon girl comes to mind. Wait, that's it. Maybe I can transform this into a lesson somehow. "You know you can learn new vocabulary words and find unique names for all sorts of things you can call me. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"How about instead I'll call you by your first name," she said with a devilish tone. I don't like the way she said that. "What's your real name?" she asked stepping close to me as if she was about to bite.

"I am not telling you my name," I responded.

"Why not is it embarrassing?" she said with a fox-like smile.

"No, it's difficult to pronounce, and I don't want you butchering it." As if I'd let you use my real name with that attitude knowing she's mess it up on purpose. "I told you, you will address me as your teacher." Where I'm from most people outside of close family and friends refer to people by the last name more often. It would be unnatural for me to go by the name Greyrat since that's both Rudy's and Eris's rightful family name.

I know. How about this. "You can refer to me as Sama."

"Sama?"

"Yes, it's an honorific used in my home country. It means king, leader, or master."

"That's what it means? Hmph!" she furiously folded her arms. "I'm not going to call you sama you should be calling me sama."

"Okay then, Eris-sama."

"Huh?' she asked. "You add sama to the back of the names?"

"Yeah, it's like how I add the word Miss at the front of your name to signify your marital status and to show you respect. If I was back home, I'd use a different word with the same definition and put it in the back. I would say Eris-san instead of Miss Eris. Would you prefer me to call you that?"

"No,... but I think I get it."

"Well okay maybe not san but I'll use sama for you again once you earn it after you learn to behave yourself. You can upgrade yourself from Miss to Master."

"Hey, You distracted me with this same stuff. You never told me your real name!"

"I'm still not telling." I teased.

"Well then, if you are not going to give me your name. I am going to grandfather. He'll tell me."

"Yeah, I don't think he cares enough to remember my name even if I did mention it to him."

"Then I'll tell father then," She ran off holding up her skirt down the hallway to search for the nobleman. At least she learned something new.

"Father, hey Father. Tell me what the stupid-looking fata$ $$ name is." Phillip gasped and it echoed all the way to the other side of the hallway. "My dear Eris, I told you should not make fun of him for that. He can't help it. It's a condition he was born with." "Really?" Eris replied still standing about 25 meters away from him. "Yeah, that's what my cousin told me."

Curse you Rudeus and Paul Greyrat.

Needless to say, it was a long week.

The only good thing I had to distract myself was a new letter I received from Roxy and it contained the biggest bombshell of all, and it was within the first few sentences.

Dear Mister,

Good luck, to you with your new job. I know you'll do well. You don't have to go to school now if you don't want to. I'm just wanted to give you the option. I really did think you would like it there...

By the way, I was surprised to hear that you around 40 years. I'm also over 40 years old.

"Woah, she's over 40!?" I said out loud almost falling off the chair I was reading on.

That means Roxy's almost the exact same age I am! And here I thought I was hitting on a 12-year-old. Phew, this is a huge relief. I had a sneaking suspicion she was older than she appeared. But then why did she look so young? I gasped could she be the same as me? My body hasn't changed at all since I wound up here. Did she get transported to this place too and her body is trapped in an un-aging almost immortal existence? Although, if she is human why would she have off-colored hair and pointy ears? There are elves in this world and she said she wasn't one. Also, I have seen Sylphiette grow taller so I think they still age even if they have a longer lifespan. And she can cast magic freely with the only incantation. Also, she would have told me if something like that happened to her. Is her race distantly related to the humans in my world? Maybe they were the result of what happens if humans stay here too long. They get transmuted into fantasy races and de-age into adolescents until they reach their perfect form. If that's the case, I wonder what Roxy's previous form was. I briefly pictured her face with Lilia's body and immediately deleted that image out of my mind.

I began once again to focus on myself. Like, was I going to grow purple hair or something get spiky ears, and become 20 or 15 again? Because that sounded awesome! I would love for that to happen. I took pieces of hair from the top of my head and placed them in front of my forehead to check if the strands had turned color. Nope, still dark brown as always.

I suppose I should be thankful that isn't turning grey like my father was at this age. Still, I have so many questions. I got to tell Roxy more about my condition to see if it's related to hers.

I quickly got some ink and parchment and went to work.

Dearest Roxy

No way, you're 40 hah you don't look like you've aged a day. Pardon me for asking, but did you always look this young?

I don't mean to be personal. I am just asking because I feel like there are some odd things going on with me that I can't explain that have only happened when I arrived on this land. For example, some parts of me will just not grow back. I shaved the stubble on the upper corners of my lip years ago and it still has not grown in since. The same goes for the fingernail I accidentally cut. Another strange thing is that I can't seem to either lose or gain weight. There were a couple of times where I had gotten sick. I usually lost my appetite and I barely ate anything for a couple of weeks and I still managed to stay the same size. I tried to test out my theory on this and one time I gorged myself to see if anything would happen and nothing did. All I know is, I'll feel sick if I eat too much or too little otherwise it's like the food is phasing right through me. After a while, I decided to quit experimenting with it. I was afraid I would wake up 25 kg heavier.

It's almost like my body wants to stay in the exact catatonic state it was until right before I arrived here. It's bizarre. I wonder if this has anything to do with the race you are. I have much more to learn about the inhabitants of this world. I recently learned that there are beast people here and I wish you told me about those earlier.

Well anyways, I'll look forward to hearing back from you if you find anything.

"Hmm…," I thought looking over it, "Did I give her too many unnecessary details? Will some of this creep her out? *sigh* I guess I better keep it in if I want an accurate diagnosis from her. There was also something I wanted to add last minute.

I added to the bottom "

(P.S. Where are you by the way? I want to visit you and chat in person again. It's been so long since we've seen each other)

Deepest regards,

Knowing that she was the same age as me I thought maybe this could be my big break. She likes me enough to keep up a friendship over a long distance. If we ever meet up again we could take things slow, and start something new. I'll just have to make sure not to set my hopes too high.

A few days passed and then came the end of the week. It was a quarter until midnight when we began to enact our master plan. The bodyguard said he recruited some guys he knew to play the part of kidnappers so the kids wouldn't catch on to us. To help matters I wore my old tracksuit that I brought with me because I knew Eris wouldn't recognize it. I also put a piece of cloth over my face and hair to obscure them from view. I also remembered to not inform Rudy about the plan since he's awful at keeping secrets. The only thing I told him was some pointers as to what to do when you encounter kidnappers and ways to escape if he ever got captured.

We settled ourselves in a deserted corner of another town in a place that appeared to be an old abandoned warehouse. There was a storage room there that looked just a dungeon. "I like the skeleton props in the corner in our mini-dungeon it's a nice touch. It speaks to realism." I said to one of the recruits. The guy shrugged and continued to sharpen his knife on a block of metal.

Alright, the stage is set. "Bring them in!" called the head bodyguard as two sturdy men carried an unconscious Rudeus and Eris in an open box whose shape reminded me of a casket. They were tied up of course and while Rudy was sitting upright the bratty princess was laying down on a side position.

"She is so sweet and peaceful when she's asleep." I thought," I dare say she's a slumbering angel...A slumbering fallen angel. Well not for much longer." The men then carried the two tied-up kids to lay in the dirty semi-realistic dungeon.

Those kids are bound to be so scared that they'll have to take the situation seriously. "All is going according to plan. Heheh Hahaha," I laughed manically.

Time passed as I watched them wake up. Rudeus was first he appeared to be more confused than afraid and he began to touch the walls to find a way out. Not soon after Eris began to wake up and she sounded very upset and started yelling. I think she spotted us through the window and demanded us to let her go.

We sent one of the men in to make the situation sound more threatening so she'd focus on escaping. "Good luck in there," I said patting him on the back. "You're going to need it." I feel sorry for the guy that picked straws last and now has to go talk to her.

I spied through the window. By this time Rudeus had untied her ropes. I saw her grab the leg of the man we sent in as she was screaming and trying to topple him over. The next thing I knew he kicked her off and she stumbled to the ground. "Ooohh," I winced, "that seems a little harsh," I thought. The man wasn't done yet he continued hitting her over and over like she did to me. Rudy was watching in the back in horror. The actor looked like he fractured her skull and Eris started spurting blood all over the floor.

As he walked back to us I said to him. "Hey what was that in there? What are you trying to do? Beat her to death?" The men stared at me. There was nothing I said that should have been confusing. "I believe physically harming the kids that much is a bit of stepping over boundaries. It looked like a lot of blood was coming out of Miss Eris. I know Rudeus has healing magic, but all that still sounded really painful."

"That's the idea," the man with the bloody hands said. "They'll struggle less when we give them over."

"Give them what?"

"Did you hear about our orders? Someone wants to pay a handsome sum for the nobleman's daughter. They might give us something for the kid too."

I slowly used their words to connect the dots. It all started to come together now. These people actually want to kidnap and keep Eris for ransom for revenge...

Ahhh, what have I done? Kidnapping plot am I stupid? I should've known better than to blindly trust someone. It always turns out like this.

Now we are outnumbered and too far away from the house. It's too late now to back out. I have to play along. "Oh ho," I patted the bodyguard, "I thought we were only doing the fake kidnapping to traumatize her I didn't believe we'd actually get any deals with outsiders. Look at you. You sure proved me wrong. Haha. We are going to be so rich." I said mustering an artificial laugh.

The man sharpening the knife laughed along with me. "So this man wasn't initially in on the plan? Now I'm curious what did she do to you that would make you turn on her within a few weeks?'"

"Oh yeah, I knew I'd hate her from the moment we first met. That girl, she's a real monster alright." I pulled down the collar of my shirt. "You see these marks? I was only saying hello to the darling girl when she nearly strangled me to death," I said. They gave me compliments as if I had just survived a battle of a great war. I needed to keep the conversation going so they wouldn't see them escape. I think Rudy might be close to figuring it out now. I told him what spells to use to transmute objects if he ever got stuck in a cage. I planned for him to escape using magic to manipulate the bars what I didn't expect was them being in real danger.

As I was reciting my tales one of the ruffians had the bright idea of checking on their prisoners. Once he did he yelled, "Damm it the children have escaped!"

"Darn it they've escaped, those kids!" I repeated hurdling an angry fist in the air. Thank god they left now all I need to do is mislead these guys until they get to safety then they can call off the ransom thing and I can leave unscathed. "I saw them escape they must be heading this way, follow me, men," I said waving my hand in the opposing direction.

"Wait," one of them said, "You saw them escape and you didn't inform us?" he said holding his weapon dangerously close to me.

"Uh,…uh…what I mean is I thought the short brown-haired one was just playing when really he was using magic to create a secret tunnel underground and use it once again to cover it up."

"That crafty kid," said the Greyrat bodyguard bobbing his head as to agree with me.

"By my estimate, he should be heading that direction based on how soft the dirt is in this particular spot," the others touched the dirt. Yes, they seemed convinced enough to fall for my claim. "We can split up I'll take the north end and you three can take the east where their escape route leads. Once one of us sees them we'll circle around to cut them off and they'll have no escape." The men then all went to go in different directions except for me and one other.

"I'm coming with you," said the bulky bodyguard.

"You don't have to. You can support the others this is my burden is mine and mine alone." I said in a brooding tone of voice.

"I wasn't asking for your permission," he said now looking very sinister.

What happened to that nice guy who shook hands with me and consulted me when I almost gave up on Eris? Where is that man? Was that really all a façade?

I had to let him follow me, but I had a little bit of faith he could be reasoned with so I took him to the kids. We ran into a bush from where we could make out basic silhouettes of the kids before we lost them again. I pulled my bandanna mask down and whispered to him. "This is not the plan I agreed to. Why the hell are you doing this?"

"You know how she broke you down. We've worked for that house for years and she tormented us every day it'll be a blessing for all of us back there to take her away."

What is he saying? "She may be cruel, but she's just a kid...She can get better over time. She doesn't deserve any of this."

"But-but Eris she-"

"Forget about what Eris did to you and for a second and think about what you're doing. You know it's wrong to hold a little girl for ransom, don't you?" He didn't respond. His face grew dark and solemn. I think deep down he knew. "Look, I won't hold any of this against you if you help me. We are almost evenly matched against those guys if we work together. We can outsmart them into ruining their own pursuit."

"I can't. I need this job," he cried. "Whatever the old man is paying you well double, wait nuh-uh we'll triple if you go along and don't rat us out." Money huh? Even in this time period, you could live fabulously and comfortably with having the sum of money the Boreas Greyrat's had. Finances were something I never had to worry about. My bills and food paid for by someone else. I never took into account how much it cost. They must have used up a fortune keeping me alive. I thought with this job I'd be able to pay someone else back for once. Funny this is how things all turned out.

"I'm sorry you were pushed in such a place that makes you able to justify this. I can sympathize with you, but I can't collaborate with you. I won't tell anyone about the misdeeds you've done, but I'm not going to let anyone harm either of those kids. I'm going now. I wish you the best of luck." I said before taking off in the wrong direction while he stayed in the bush listless.

Once I saw no one was following me I made a quick turn around. Rudeus and Eris must be somewhere in the village. They were so small and the night was black. It was hard to find anything. That was until I heard screaming near center square.

"You made us get lost Rudeus how are we going get home now.?" I recognize that scream.

"Shh quiet," a little boy said. "They'll catch us." I found their faces and ran up to them. I pulled Rudy into an alleyway to clear me away from sight. I didn't want to cause unneeded attention or become an actual wanted man.

"Help, it's one of them Eris. Someone help, help," he shouted. I had to cover his mouth so no one would hear us.

"Rudy it's me," I said pulling down my bandanna, "I'm so sorry I got you into this mess, but you got to listen to me very carefully. There's a coach service that to lefts down that will take you to the next town over here's some money to pay the driver." I said handing him a few coins that I stole from their hideout. "I have to go back and distract those men. I'll be watching out for you and whatever you do protect Eris I'm counting on you, little buddy."

It wasn't long before I ran into the men again. I denied ever seeing them and suggested that they most likely went to the field by Rudy's house since that was the only location I could think of. Some of them seem to fall for it as they headed in that direction. Others chose to ignore me instead and continue searching around the area. I had to go ahead and follow the kids in case they got too close so I could warn them.

I hid behind a building when I saw they were close to getting the carriage ride out of this town.

"Can you read this poster?" Rudy asked.

"No," Eris cried, "I can't read."

"These numbers mean that we have to have two of these for each of us," he said pulling out the coins. "So make sure you don't lose it before you pay for it."

At a boy teach her about the significance of transportation pricing and numbers. "Yes," I whispered aloud. A few minutes later they were allowed to go on the carriage. I had given them all my money so I had to jog in their general direction to catch up. I was falling very behind, but I had the optimism that they both made it home and they now sound asleep tucked in their beds.

That wasn't the reality.

"Damn it, they found them first!" I said as I approached one of the street corners of Eris's hometown. The two parties look like they were both in a standoff between each other with the bad guys backed into a dead-end with their weapons pulled out and Rudy with only his finger-pointing in a shape of a gun at them as Eris hid behind him.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you kid," one said.

"Hey, it's you." said the bloody hand guy to me. "Where have you been?"

"i-I-I-I-"

"Whatever," he yelled. "Haha, see kid you are outnumbered so why don't you hand the doll over to us and we might let you live."

I stood amongst them. The people who were about to attack children for their own personal gain. I had to do something, but what?

Just then I saw the stone patterns on the street covered by dirt and thought to myself.

A magic circle…if I can create one on top of the magic cast by Rudeus of the same spell I can direct the magic and amplify it exponentially. I started making curves in the ground by dragging my foot onto the soil while they were focused on the kids. I looked back when I finished encircling some of the ruffians.

Ack symbols are pretty sloppy guess I'll have to pray that this will work. Alright, now to signal the ground spike spell to Rudy. I waved to him and winked at him to provide reassurance that I was on his side. Then I tried to act out the effects of the spell using hand signals to instruct him on which one to use. I believe he understood the message, but how his eye suddenly twitched out made the other thugs suspicious. He then lifted his arm up and shot a large colorful beam in the sky.

I was internally screaming. "No, no Rudy that's the firework spell." The men were confused shocked, and in awe as their heads tilted up to spray-painted lights across the night sky. Even Eris was entranced by it.

"We could use distraction to our advantage." I thought. I signaled once again only this time I grunted and stamped feet and pointed my finger to the ground.

Rudy then nodded and slammed his hands on the ground. Rows of jagged rocks erupted from the ground to form a column heading toward the kidnappers. As the rocks got closer the circle started sparkling. I jumped out of the way as the circle formed a round stone case encasing one of the kidnappers while the other got the other's leg stuck in it.

"Run kids," I yelled. I ran toward them and scooped them up to get them out of harm's way for an open fire. I don't think I have ever run this fast without losing my breath even when I sprinted out on that field to save Rudy from that windstorm. On top of it, I'm carrying what like 40 kgs in each arm. Was Paul, right? Was training actually doing something for me?

Eris was trying to push herself away from me."Let go of me you, you traitor!"

Rudeus was out looking at me with astonishment as if he could not keep up with what was happening. You and me both kid.

I was a good chunk of distance away from them when I heard a buzzing whizz sound break past me. As it did I felt s sharp object breeze past my neck indenting a small scratch on it. They must be throwing some sort of darts at us. It wasn't ten seconds before I heard the whizzing sound again coming our way. I ducked my head and prepared for the worse. Instead of flying by me this time whizzing stopped and was replaced with a shattering noise. I turned back to our assailants and saw a familiar face.

"Ghislaine?"

"Take cover," the giant Amazonian warrior yelled back to me. "I have them," she said as she used her feline agility to bolt towards them. Unbelievable she came to rescue us. How did she even know we were here? Thank god she is here those men don't stand a chance now. I think I see their giant house in the horizon too.

"Don't worry children we're home-free."

I let the kids go once we got close enough to the house just so I wouldn't pass out on top of them. Eris instantly popped out of my arm and hurdled herself into her parents who were waiting outside.

"Papa, mama," she cried to embrace them.

"Eris, we're so glad you're safe," they both said.

Sauros Boreas Greyrat who was standing near the entrance did not look the least bit amused, "Can someone please tell me what is the meaning of this?" he said looking dead at me.

Eris spoke up. "He and one of Papa's guards tried to capture me and Rudy and get us both killed."

"No, that's not what I-" before I could explain I saw Rudy rush over to her grandfather to defend me.

"Don't punish him please, it's not his fault. It's the bad guys! They tricked him! He was only trying to save us."

"Is this true?" he asked Ghislaine.

She nodded. "I believe so. When I overheard their plan I saw him was purposely misleading them and later carried them to safety while I fought them."

"Hmm... I see."

In the end, they arrested and put away the former bodyguard. He confessed that I wasn't directly involved with the whole coup which let me off the hook. The lead of the house then ruled that I would keep my teaching job as long I never pulled a stunt like this again. We all gave ourselves a break afterward for all the dust to settle down.

As I lay in bed that night I caught myself thinking back to our horrifying episode. I scratched my neck with the small cut on it.

We were all nearly killed. This is the closest near-death experience I had since the truck, and it took me months to recover from that. It got me thinking. Where'd I go once I die? Would I be sent back to my old world? I hope not. Would I cease to exist, or is there some kind of afterlife?

There's a commonly held belief in Japan for those who practice Buddhism that there's a cycle of reincarnation. That once you die you will be reborn into a new life completely unaware of your previous one. And the circumstances from which you are born to have to do with your morality or karma or something. What I want to know is how they know reincarnation is real if those who experience it always forget it? What's the point of even having more than one life if you're just going to forget about them?

"Hey gods, if your listening. What was my life like before this one?"

After a sleepless night, I heard Rudy knocking on my door. I shook myself out of the covers and headed down to where Eris was sitting alone near a stairwell. The poor girl must be traumatized now. I wouldn't take it personally if she never wanted to be associated with me again, yet Rudeus insisted me to come.

She looked at us as soon as she saw us coming down the stairs and the look on her face was...Excitement?

"Rudy you're here," she said running up to him. "Show me how to do the firework trick," she said clasping Rudeus's hand. "Oh, I'm not sure how I did the firework trick. I can't explain very well, but he can. That's why I brought him here." He turned to face me. "I couldn't figure out how to do it until he told me how to do the technique. I'm sure he'll teach you if you ask him nicely," he smiled. I could kiss that kid right now.

"Really? Hmph," Eris closed her eyes and walked up to me. She then stuck her tongue out and while using her hands to scrunch up her hair to form ears. "Please teach me magic, nya!"

Gah, my heart! She knows my one weakness...Cute girls making cat noises. That devilish fiend how did she know? "Of course, I'll help." I beamed. "We will just have to go over a few things first before we try."

I made sure to incorporate other lessons into her learning the spell so that she would understand how they could be applied. This could be the only way I can get her to care about math.

I picked up the reference book from the library and I drew the fire summoning circle under her feet. "Quick, can you tell me the area of the circle I just drew?"

"Why does that matter? You said it was all about concentration I can't concentrate while thinking of numbers."

"This is all-important." I reminded her. "Knowing the radius of which the spell is cast can do varying effects on the area."

"Excuse me?"

I began again, "For instance, that ground spell Rudeus cast typically forms a straight narrow line if you wanted to hit someone you would have to make sure they were in that path. While the firework spell blows off in a sphere and healing spells can range from being done by touching a single person to giving health to your surroundings. Trust me it will work better the more you know about it."

"Father said he doesn't know how to do that kind of math."

"Yeah, won't it be cool to know more than your dad?" I said.

She grumbled then began taking measurements with her feet across the circle. "It's 6 of my feet wide and time the shape of a pie in a square?"

"Yes and round it to 3. 3x3x6=?" Wait that's 54 that's too large of an area we are going to hit something. Although, Eris's shoe size might not be the most appropriate measurement tool. "Nevermind we'll put a pin on the equations, Rudeus would you like to describe to Miss Eris what the spell feels like?"

"Sure," he replied, "Hi, Eris. What he told me to do is that you got to put your feet out straight then make a little weapon with your two fingers then point it at the sky. See like this." The little noble girl then started copying the little man's movements. "Good, not just think of hot stuff like food from the stove or a fireplace and imagine I going to your hand."

She closed her eyes tightly trying to imagine all those hot objects. "Pan stove, soup, hot, warm bath. Sun..." she chanted.

"That's the idea now repeat the words after me." Rudy then went on to say the entire incantation and sparks flew out of his finger as they did last night and this time burst into a brilliant yellow.

Eris went through the exact same motions only the marking underneath her lit up to match the same colors of sparks as her finger as they created a multicolored array of reds and orange artificial stars in the air almost twice the size of Rudy's. "Woah, Haha I finally did it. And mine was Bigger Haha!" she said twirling around cheering.

"That's only because you used the magic circle to make it more powerful." Rudy said putting his toe on the one I drew.

"There's nothing wrong with that Rudy, now how about we practice a few more times..."

Eris was soon able to perform it by herself without my instruction and I let them practice on their own outside. I had to be careful watching them because occasionally they had a habit of pointing their fingers at each other as if they were using it as a battle technique. And I had to stick my head out the window a couple of times point my finger up and yell. "Children Please, the Sky! Don't blow yourselves up."

Now that she was interested in spells I felt it was a great opportunity to expand all her interest in learning. I decided this week to focus more on reading and brought my own book. Ghislaine decided to join in too and leaned back against a corner to listen. Apparently, she wants to learn to read. She mentioned to me how she got scammed a couple of times due to her not knowing any better. To her, I said I rather have two people interested in learning than none.

"Ahh, we're not reading incantations today," Eris complained. "You said you were going to teach how to make more colors with my fireworks than Rudeus."

"We will get to that eventually," I assured her. "It's important to remind ourselves that not every book we'll read is a spellbook." Eris began to roll her eyes at me again. "Imagine if you read that taxi sign the other day and it burst into flames."

"How did you know we read that sign?" she asked.

"Uhh...Rudeus told me," I lied I could see Ghislaine shaking her in the background., "besides if you really get good then you won't need the verbal component you can cast spells purely off of memorization and concentration. Also, in case you were wondering this book is not about war or politics. It's a romance."

Her eyes got big. That seemed to pique her interest. "It's about a witch girl," I exclaimed. "She gets discriminated against by the people even though she protects them from evil monsters with her super magical girl power transformations."

"How is this a romance story?"

"Oh, she has a love interest. You see there is a guy that likes her and he tries to support her all he can, but due to his tragic past he has to keep his identity a secret to her." I borrowed some of the plots of one of the visual novels I favored and wrote it down and inserted people I knew in there like me and Roxy while Rudeus and Slyphiette got their own cameos.

"Do they ever find out and get together?" Eris asked leaning up to me.

"How did she overcome all those adversities?" said Ghislaine wagging her cat tail in anticipation.

"Who knows, that's why we read it." I passed it to Eris for her to read the story out loud to me.

With me assisting her along the way she read it non-stop until there was a page where it seemed like the words were suddenly cut off. "Hey, there's no more, what did the magical girl and the boy do once they got in the room alone?"

"Yes, what did they do?" Both Eris and Ghislaine were staring at me non-stop.

I carefully turned it into a blank page and showed them. "Oh dear, would you look at that? It seems that I am missing a page. Oh no, what am I to do? Perhaps, one of you can write down what happens next." I said giving the book back to Eris. I know what I want the ending to be, but this will be a fun exercise for her. It took her almost an hour to write the one page.

"Here. This is how I think it should end," she. I took it from her and on the surface, it seemed very legible.

"Excellent penmanship I can see you have improved in your handwriting quite a lot. Now to see what you put." As I looked over her excerpt my eyes widened. "That's a...interesting choice of words."

She proudly put her head up. "Yeah, I knew it was a good ending."

I think she was attempting to write a confession scene, but it got heavy, and then it starts to head towards the provocative territory and like Holy s%$*, this chick has some extremely high libido for a nine-year-old girl! Are these seriously the fantasies she has while she's alone? Whose teaching her this? It wasn't me. Either one of the other adults showed her or she's been learning to read and doing research on her own. If it didn't disturb me, it would make me proud.

"Lady Eris, would you like to participate in some training outside?" Ghislaine asked. She looked back at me.

"You two are free to go. I think we did a good amount of learning for today." A little too much learning. "I'll watch you guys outside."

They both went out with their own practice swords to smash each other like true women do. The way they train with each other reminds me of Paul and Rudeus. Only Eris is way better. I can argue that the cat-girl has a more complex and hard-hitting style as well.

I continued to watch some more of the technique. It was nice to see Eris learning to channel her fighting spirit at the right moments. Perhaps it was misguided of me to assess her as a goddess of chaos she's more like a god of war always thirsty for combat, but strikes with precision. Recently, I found out one of their religions actually has a war god named Eris. I wonder if that was intentional. "Excellent job out there ladies, say what type of sword style is that? I don't think Paul ever tried that one out on me."

Ghislaine just stared down at me. "It's the Sword-king style. It is one I have practiced the most in battle. Master Eris was able to come at me on the side today. If these were not practice toys I would have been mortally wounded." she grinned at her young ward. Ghislaine is surprisingly very encouraging to Eris and the child seems to respect her. It's like Ghislaine's her big sister. Ugh, if I had known that I would've gone to her help immediately instead.

It seemed the more time we spent together the more Eris began to soften up to not only me but everyone living there. The rivalry between me and the noble girl still manifested, but this time it was in the form of giving each other dumb nicknames.

It was earlier in our teaching relationship that I asked her if she learned any new vocab words to call me. She responded."I don't need to come up with something new. I already got a name for you."

"Oh, Really?" I said. Did someone finally tell her my name?

"Yeah, Shit-zo-coy," she said painfully enunciating each syllable.

Did she mean Shitsukoi? That is neither my first nor last name. That was a name I mentioned to Rudeus once when one of my old phrases slipped past my tongue. I couldn't think of a direct translation for the word so I had explained to Rudy and the Greyrats what it meant.

It came from my family. They used to call me a persistent child when I was younger however it gradually changed into an insult when I became more stubborn than determined. I'm sad to say Shitsukoi has the unfortunate likeness to another word in this language. One that doesn't have a pleasant definition. "Can you please not say it that way?"

"Nope too bad," she snickered, "you are officially Mr. Shitzo."

"I will not address you if you call me that."

It wasn't long before it became a habit of hers to pull out Japanese words Rudeus copied from me. "What if I call you Chewy-boy-o?" she said to me over a meal.

"Chunibuyo?" I reiterated. "Heh, nice try young lady, but to me, you are all the chunis. I think I got a good one for you instead. How about Princess Mad Dog?"

"Bleh. That one doesn't make sense." she stuck her tongue out in disgust before her eyes lit up again. "Oooh I got a better one now. How about Mr. Hen-tie?"

I put my two fingers against my eyes. "Why did I know you were going to say that one." I sighed. "I think you should call Rudy a pervert instead. I saw him looking at you weird when you two were alone hehe."

Her skin began to turn the color of her hair. "Shut up!" she screeched.

Should I be teaching all these Japanese words to her? One could argue that it's practically useless to teach her Japanese as she will most likely never encounter another native speaker. Then again, I found my way here so, theoretically, other people could show up too. And she would be able to say 'King persistent perverted man-child' to them. Ahh, they grow up so fast.

Speaking of Rudy. I have not spoken to Rudy by himself for a while. I wonder how he's doing now that he's gone a week over than we originally intended.

When I found him he was sitting by a stairwell reading over one of the spellbooks."Are you not in a hurry to leave anymore?" I asked. "The wagon is always thee Rudy if you feel like seeing your parents, Lilia and Slyphiette again. I think I'm good on teaching with Miss Eris if you want to go now."

"But, are you sure you don't still need me to help teach Eris? It's not like everyone is going to be gone back home if I don't go now...I can see them anytime." he said bashfully turning his foot on the floor, "And this place is great like you said. They have really sot beds and lots of books and yummy food and room service..."

Bravo Rudeus, excellent excuse. But, I think I can see what's really going on here. I didn't read over 50 romance light novels to not see it.

"You like her don't you Rudy."

"What, no I don't," he said frantically shaking his head.

"Yes, you do. Don't lie to me. You like how Miss Eris gives you the 'special treatment'" I smirked and waggled my eyebrows, "And guess what. I heard the staff say she's taking dancing lessons. You should ask her to be her partner." I said holding his arm which had gone limp. "You know, I would have gone nuts over her at your age."

"Pfft," I could see Rudy covering his mouth with his other hand to attempt to hold in his laughter.

"What?" I asked.

"You sound like Father."

"Do I now? Hehe." I snickered. "He does give out good advice once in a blue moon."

"What if her mom gets mad though?"

"Lady Hilda, why would she be mad?" She seemed totally friendly to me. All Rudy did was shrug. I told him he had nothing to worry about and later I went ahead to check on Eris.

"Is she suppose to be taking dance lessons now?" I asked one of the maids.

"Yes, and she has rehearsal today for her birthday ball this week, but she locked herself in her room and she says she refuses to come out. Would you be so kind as to talk to her for me please?" she bowed.

"Sure thing," I said. I stood up to the door and knocked. I waited a minute and there was no response. "Miss Eris, may I come in?" I asked politely.

"Go away," I heard her voice muffle from the other side of the door.

"Too late I'm invading your privacy young lady." I immediately unlocked her door with the key I kept hidden in my pocket.

The way her back was positioned on her bed and the way her legs were crossed left her panties completely exposed to me. A whirlwind of redness flushed over me.

"Does she know I can see them?" I thought. "I really hope she's not doing that on purpose. Do I bring it up? No, I don't want to ruin our potential special bonding moment by derailing the conversation. I sat next to her on the side of the bed making sure to face the opposite way. I didn't have to face her to see she was less than happy to see me.

"I told you to go away."

"Not until I find what this is all about," I said keeping my stance firm. "Did Rudy ask you to the dance?"

"Yeah, I told him no."

That was a shock. "Why, he didn't do something naughty to you? Did he?" I rolled up my sleeve. "I'm going to have a loooong smack talk with that smug little goblin."

"No, I just don't want to dance with him and have people laugh at me. He's so good at everything. Rudeus doesn't know what it's like to be forced to do something you are bad at."

"Oh, so that's why you are less than enthusiastic about the dance lessons. I may not be Rudeus, but I can tell you I have had to deal with that plenty of times."

"Hmph," she huffed, "you don't count. You're bad at everything except almost getting us killed."

"That's not true. And you know that was unintentional," I said. Hmm, what was I good at? Wait, I know. "Just so you know my specialty is computer languages. I wrote a couple programs and codes back in my day. I bet Rudeus isn't an expert in that."

"You are good at deciphering codes in books?"

"Not books no… well you see. How do I put this?" Shoot, I forgot she's never seen a computer before. I guess I'll have to simplify this time period. "Okay, we have these boxes that are like magic communication devices, and people store knowledge in them. I'm good at using one of those things." I don't think she gets it. "Uhh never mind."

It seems like jealousy was the reason she was acting hostile towards Rudy. That's understandable. Being around that much raw talent gets to the other kids.

But why does she behave that way to me? There's nothing about me to be jealous of. If anything she sounds like she looks down on me. Why then, did she decide to make my world a living hell? Does the idea of a person like me being successful offend her in some way? Did she overhear her father when he said he was desperate enough to hire a random guy off the streets with no background to pretend like he knew what he was doing?

I'm probably reading too deep into it.

I decided to continue to spout out advice. "You know, the trick is that you can't compare yourself to those who have already pushed themselves to gain better skills. And giving up is only going to make you worse. Not better. That's what happened to me when I stopped trying in school. Heck, I probably could've joined sports if I had the chance to go back. Did you think I was always like this?" I said gesturing to myself.

"But-but, the others told me you were-," she said as she examined me. Her face changed to almost look concerned

"Yeah," I interrupted. "I know what your about to say and no. I lied. I was relatively normal for the first part of my life until I decided to lock myself inside my room all day. I did it to myself, and now I have to lie in that choice. You have every right to make fun of me for it."

Eris wasn't taking it well. I could see her face begin to scrunch up and saw her breathing heavily through her nose.

I knew it. The things I said about her earlier had come back to haunt her. "Ehh, I don't mean to freak you out about the future. Growing up can be fun. You just have to be careful and make the right choices. I think that principle can apply to anyone. Even you."

"No, it can't," she dunked her head in her pillow. "I'm a failure as a noble lady," she muttered into its plush surface.

"Who told you that?"

"Everyone," her voice sounded in a muffled mess.

My mind flashed back to when I snapped at her and the whole kidnapping plot. It's pretty harsh to know that your own staff labels you as a menace to society enough to plot against you.

I put my hand beside her. "I wouldn't trust the words of people who don't know what the word failure means. Having room for growth is not failure. I'm sorry if I lead you to believe otherwise." I sighed.

"I'm still not that good at stuff. Rudeus is still way better than me."

"So, Rudy's been a spell-casting prodigy since he was four. Big deal, but do you know you would beat him in a fist or swordfight?"

"Are you trying to say, Me?"

"Yeah, you. You knocked me down without even trying hehe." I swung my arms to recreate the scene. "There'd be no contest."

"I think you don't realize how much you have going for you. I want you to live life to the fullest. That includes taking risks and opportunities that come to you. I'm sorry some of my methods for teaching you have been extremely misguided. I want you to know that I'm still learning too and I will probably never stop." I put my hand up to hers. "We can all work on dancing together. I can guarantee and promise that you won't get laughed at," I held her hand and pulled Eris out of her bed. "If you want, I can purposely distract them with my own dance moves," I said making some jazz and randomly twisting my legs.

"Hah, those are awful," she giggled.

I took Eris to the common room where I gathered Rudy and ordered some maids to stand by us and pretend to be guests. I set up a board nearby to look like a smaller replica of the dance floor. I have been really craving to show these figurines of people we were making and now was the perfect opportunity to use them.

I painted and carved them myself and Rudy used earth magic to make them out of clay. We had several prototypes of them. We practiced several times before this using Roxy and Slyphiette as our models. The ones I had right now resemble the couple ready to go to a ball. These will be exemplary representations for Rudy and Eris during their waltz.

"Okay, so this figurine is you Eris," I said placing the one I plated with red and white accents.

"Ughh, that is nowhere close to my likeness," she complained. "You didn't even finish coloring it did you?"

She about broke my heart with that statement. "Look man, I was stressed. My hand stumbled. I spilled a bunch of paint on the floor. This is you, so deal with it." I said shoving it in her ungrateful face. This was actually the best one I had ever turned out. The ones I made back then when I was alone looked like clay golems. Did she really have to go out of her way to hurt my feelings? I could see Rudy backing away from the both of us in the corner of my eye.

"Hey Rudy, don't you walk away from me. C'mon, you got to come help." I said. He was resistant, but he made his way back to the tile floor.

"Okay, stand here," I placed my Rudeus figure on a board I drew to look like the dance floor.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked.

"I told you I'm an expert in choreography." I memorized all the dance routines to all my favorite anime theme songs and idol bands I'm pretty sure that counts. Also, I told the maids to be examples and backup dancers for this arrangement. "Pretend they are the other guest at the ball," I said to her. "And cute furry maid girls ignore Eris while you're dancing if I see one of you focusing on her you will have to leave my dancing lessons," I said pointing a baton at each of them.

"Alright get ready for the concerto. On.. One…two three." I counted.

The time signature was 6/8ths so I divided 6 by 2 to get 3. I believe that's how it's done. The maid girls swayed gracefully with each other with such passion like they were from a pristine Yuri romance. As for Eris, she wasn't kidding. All her movements are so stiff it's she's a robot without any joints.

"Loosen up a little just swing to the beats of the music!" I hollered at them. her arms gave way some, but now she was struggling to put her feet in the right place. They were either hitting Rudeus's shoes or she was tripping over her own skirt. It got so out of hand that I made them start over and watch my example again with the figures. It was a continuous cycle of practiced for hours until her big birthday night.

There was an enchanting setup in the hall as lights were dangling everywhere and food was being catered. The servants made Rudy his own tuxedo and Eris a special dress specifically for the celebration. I too dressed for the occasion. I put on the good suit again and tried using a brush to neatly part my hair.

Unexpectantly, there were a lot of people that showed up for her 10th birthday. I was under the impression from Rudeus's 5th birthday that only close friends and family would be invited. It looks like they took the entire upper class and crammed them into one room. If they told me this many people would be here, I would have opted out. It made me recall when my parents had people from their occupations come over all the time. There was always a sense of entitlement and the condescending attitude from those people in high-end careers that I couldn't stand. Even when I hid inside my room I could still always hear the people talk about the rest of the family and how much pity they had for my parents taking care of such a burdensome son. The way they spoke of me it was like I was a sheltered animal that they were doing charity work for.

I would rather avoid those types of people. However, I can't leave now I swore an oath to Eris I would be here for her. Instead, I headed toward the back of the dance floor away from the overwhelming crowd. I kept to the side enough to keep a clear view of Eris and Rudeus on the center dance floor.

As the night went on I found myself in the need of refreshments. I took a break from observing the children and made my way to a table where they were serving beverages. That's when I saw something funny.

"Oh, what this?" I asked myself. It was Big Titty Kitty herself sitting to the side drinking and observing everyone wearing only a coat next to her usual attire. I didn't take her for someone that would take pleasure in going to these types of formal events. And she's all alone. I wonder if she would like some company...

I began to battling with myself internally on what to do.

It doesn't look like anybody is dancing with her should I ask her? Ackk, do you remember what happened with Lilia you can't just assume things. But asking someone to dance isn't a lewd activity. What about Roxy, I thought loved her? Roxy's not here right now and dancing isn't cheating on someone people switch partners all the time in these. What if she doesn't even say yes, are you ready to face rejection once again? She could snap your neck in an instant. Good point, I'll have to be extra careful and not get into her face.

I decided to go for it I already had several life-threatening experiences what's another going to do.

I approached her started talking. "Thanks for uhh,.. saving our a$$e$ back there. I don't what those guys would have done to me if you had not shown up. Hehe," I was so nervous that the cup I was holding was losing its liquid due to me shaking it.

"It was my duty as a warrior to the family to fight for their protection. I do not need your thanks." I swallowed hard.

"I was wondering if you wanted to join in on the dance…with me…" I squeaked I shut my eyes and prepared for the worse.

"If that is what you want." Is that a yes? I think that's a yes.

Usually, the guy puts his arms on the girl's sides underneath her arms while she puts them on top of the guy's shoulders. That is not how she does it. She went straight for my underarms and lifted me up. That grip.

It's so firm. I'm over 100 kg and she's man-handling me like I'm a stuffed toy. My feet were off the ground except for the tips of my toes that were being dragged across the ground as slowly spun around. This is making my armpits sore. Should I tell her to stop? She looks like she is having fun.

I kept going with it for a few full minutes until my body couldn't handle it anymore. Her centrifugal force is just too powerful.

"Stop, PLEASE. MY ARMS ARE GOING FALL OFF!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Those next to us quickly turned their heads to the side of the room and immediately stopped dancing. "Don't worry people I'm fine, see. Still attached." I demonstrated to them by putting my arms up. "Quick, put me down please," I whispered to Ghislaine. She did what I said and gently set me in a chair.

"Wooh, that was a rush!" I exclaimed. "You certainly know how to make a party exciting."

"I'm glad you are enjoying yourself. I didn't come for the festivities I came to guard family in case of an attack from any suspicious characters. There seems to be no activity here. I must be off to check the other positions while the night is still young." She tucked her coat to her chest and headed out the doorway with some stares from the passerby's.

"See you later," I said waving her farewell, "Also, you're welcome to listen in on my lessons anytime Ghislaine."

Rudeus was holding Eris's hand to escort the lovely little lady over to me. Eris was holding up the tips of her dress to carefully balance herself.

I held out two thumbs up to them. "Good job out there guys," I said giving Rudy a high five. I saw you dancing. "Miss Eris I see you loosened up a lot. Great improvement from two days ago."

Rudeus then leaned himself into my ear. "Eris has something she wants to say to you."

"Oh, Miss Eris?"

She was rubbing her arm and nervously and facing the floor. "Thank you...for creating that divergence," she said. "I was afraid all the other guests would laugh at me once they saw me trip over Rudeus's feet and fall on the ground and my dress fell over my head."

Her dress fell over her head? How did she manage to do that? That's pretty impressive if you ask me. "I-I mean I didn't really mean to-," I sputtered.

"Ahem *cough*," Rudy interrupted me and tilted his head back to Eris.

"Oh, What I mean is…anytime," I smiled.

"Thanks, Fatty."

I crouched down to pat her head. "Whatever Bratty..hehe, Happy Birthday."

Author's Note: Sorry for this one's length. I'm still not super happy with this chapter due to not really knowing what the mc and Eris dynamic would be like exactly given the circumstances. Also, I'm going to start moving from reinterpreting scenes to going into develop my own plot moving away from cannon, but still with the context and established relationships with these last chapters.