Disclaimer: I do not own Mushoku Tensei and all rights to Mushoku Tensei belong to it's respective owners

Chapter 14: They Just Won't Stop Falling

I've never realized how much I missed that voice.

No, maybe I had just forgotten how much I've missed them.

"I'm Roxy Migurdia. It's my pleasure to meet you."

Those demure words, delivered apathetically with almost no inflection whatsoever.

"You're the tiny one! I don't want to hear that from you,"

That expressionless face with those almost sleepy eyes, conveying even a scathing remark with that laid-back, almost monotonous melody.

Ah, I didn't realize how much I've truly missed them until this very moment.

Do you remember? A lifetime ago you delivered those very same words to me.

You took this unreliable me under your wing. You taught me the most important things. You saved me from my most terrible fears, and you gave me strength and purpose. It was you who gave me the confidence to walk the first steps of my life. And now...you're here.

I didn't believe that there was any do-overs in a human life.

I never truly believed that a moment like this would ever come again, even though I've yearned for this more than anything else.

I wanted to see it again, I wanted to redo it again, I wanted to relive it once again.

Countless hours I've spent thinking of what actions I would change, of what different paths I would have taken had I just been able to redo it all over again, that I may never again have to live with the crushing impotence and hopeless regrets that I felt.

But, I just couldn't believe it.

How could I? How could I just ignore everything I've done and wash away all of my regrets? How could I even yearn to lessen the gravity of my sins? The you from then would never forgive me, had never forgiven me. How could I believe that a remission of my sentence was even possible when I had not even began paying the penance that I owed? It all seemed too convenient, too fantastical. Yet, I couldn't help but be giddy with such happiness at the chance that I threw all those thoughts away, shoving them to the most remote recesses of my mind the moment it appeared before me.

Even then, I could never fully believe it.

Even now, a part of me still believes that I had been deceived, that I had not reincarnated once more, that this was no second chance, and all these were just a dream. The dying dreams of a man full of regrets.

These doubts that had never gone away nagged at me still from the deep corners of my heart.

But...to see your figure standing here now, to hear your voice so clearly and so alive...my confidence wavers.

Maybe this is real, after all.

Maybe I no longer cared if this was just a dream.

When I resolved to take you as my wife so long ago, I promised in my heart that I would care for you, that I would give you my love and make you happy.

Yet, I failed to even protect you.

I had wished to spend the rest of my days with you by my side, to grow old by your side. Yet, fate had not been kind to us. You left me when you were so young and I grew old on my own.

I failed you.

I've thought long and hard of what I ought to say, what I wanted to say, when I imagined that I would return to this moment again. I dreamt of what I would say to you, what elaborate words I should use to ask your forgiveness, of what reasons I should give to excuse myself from my failures. Yet, none of those words were forthcoming now. It's just...

I'm glad!

I'm just so glad.

I'm glad that you're alive, Roxy!

"— A-Are you alright?"

I wonder why? The tears just won't stop falling.

They won't stop falling even though I'm so glad to see you again.

They won't stop falling even though I'm the happiest I've ever been in a lifetime.

I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!

I'm sorry I let you down! I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough to save you! I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you!

And thank you! Thank you for living! Thank you for being alive. Thank you for being here!

Knowing that is enough for me.

"No, I'm alright. I don't know why, but...they just kept falling. I'm alright. These...are just happy tears."

That's right. I'm fine now. I'm alright now. This time for sure, I won't relive those regrets again. This time for sure, I will live with my all.

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It took a while, but the inconsolable child had finally stopped all on his own. Once his tears had ceased, he beamed the little girl in front of him such a bright and sunny smile that she wondered if what she had seen earlier was merely an illusion. Only his reddened eyelids and nose remained a witness to the bizarre spectacle. Take those away and it would look as though he hadn't cried at all.

"Sigh...Good," the little Magic tutor, Roxy, heaved a sigh of relief now that the boy had ceased his crying. "S-so, anyway, where is this student that I'm supposed to teach?" Roxy then asked, nervous to change the subject and move on from the awkward tension.

"A-ah," the young mother finally snapped out of her thoughts. "That's this child right here!" she introduced, proudly hugging the boy who was held up on his father's arm.

The boy gave Roxy a wry smile before lightly bowing his head and introducing himself.

"Rudeus Greyrat, it's my pleasure to meet you."

He spoke very well for such a young human child, but..."This little boy? Really?!" that was the only question plaguing her mind in that instant. "Ah, that must be it," Roxy finally realized. These parents must not know Magic very well and so underestimated the difficulty of training in one. Yep, she had already seen cases like this before where parents grew excited thinking that their kid is special. A lot of parents often think that way. It was only natural, after all, to think of your progeny as somehow special. Even so, pushing such a burden onto her...she could absolutely do without it!

Once she had started giving the boy instructions and it turned out that he wasn't as talented as his parents had thought, who exactly would shoulder the blame for that? It would be her, of course! Best case, they'll accept that they had overestimated their child, but in the back of their mind they'll still think that a better teacher would have successfully brought out their child's inner talent. Worst case, she'll be called a wage thief and dismissed.

Even so, she couldn't just quit here, she had nowhere else left to go. How could she make these parents understand her trouble?

"Sigh...you do see these things sometimes. They see their kid grow up a little faster and the idiot parents then got ahead of themselves and started thinking that he has a great talent." she mused. "Looks like this one's a bust," she thought to herself.

"Is there something?" the young mother asked, looking like she was about ready to snap.

"Eh, did she hear that?!" Roxy finally realized. "It's nothing!" she panicked. "It's just...I just don't think that your child will even be able to comprehend the theory of Magic,"

"Oh, it'll be fine," the young mother assured. "Our little Rudy here is really amazing!" she insisted, her smile beaming with such maternal pride.

Roxy realized that there was no way to convince these idiot parents otherwise. Oh well, she should just give up if they so insist!

"Sigh...Very well, for now I'll do what I can," she said, as she picked up her suitcase and staff. She then headed for the area of the yard beside the house, being quickly followed soon after by her prospective new student. Roxy threw a glance back at the boy, before continuing to walk.

As Roxy was about to start her lecture, Rudeus pulled a chair out from under the tea table. Then having seated himself comfortably, he looked at her with keen interest in his eyes, signalling his readiness.

"Ahem...Well, let's start from this Magic textbook first...wait. Actually, before that, how about we first confirm how much Magic you can use, Rudy?"

"Okay, Sensei. What would you like me to do?" the boy asked.

"First, I'll start by chanting an incantation, so please imitate me afterwards," Roxy instructed, before turning around, facing in the general direction of the trees by the stone wall fence. "Bestow the protection of water to the place where thou demands, let the crystal clear stream appear here, [Water Ball]!"

As she chanted her incantation, a burbling stream of water conjured outwards from a point in space in front of the tip of her staff, forming a floating orb of water about the size of a basketball. And at her call, she sent it shooting at speed towards the tree she had been eyeing all this while. It hit the tree on its trunk with such force that it easily snapped in half. The water continued onward, carried by the momentum, splashing flat against the stone walled fence behind it.

"How was that?" Roxy then asked, a smug look transparently painted on her face.

The enthusiastic clapping from her prospective student answered her expectations perfectly.

"Amazing! That's really amazing!" he praised.

Perhaps too perfectly.

She admitted that his enthusiasm caught her off-guard a little. Even so...

"Not at all, this is just Elementary-ranked Magic. Anyone could do it with some proper training,"

Even though she had said this curtly, and despite her attempt to maintain a respectable facade with her dismissive attitude, she couldn't help that the corners of her lips softened to a smile and her nose seemed to swell with a sense of pride.

"Now then, Rudy. You give it a try."

"Okay," the boy answered.

Walking towards the very spot from whence Roxy had earlier cast her spell, the boy then stood still for a moment as if he was in deep thought.

"You don't have to think so hard about it, just repeat the chant I did earlier," Roxy said.

"No, it's not that," the boy answered with a wry smile. "Just that...Ah, well then,"

Turning his attention towards the wet circle splattered on the stone walled fence, the boy drew a deep breath. Then with a focused gaze, he raised the palm of his hand towards it.

[Water Ball]

A ball of water materialized all of a sudden in front of the boy and quickly launched itself at speed, hitting the exact same spot Roxy's [Water Ball] had ended at earlier.

There was an awkward moment of silence after that. Seconds ticked by that felt like hours.

"You...skipped the incantation," Roxy finally said, her eyes zooming coldly at the boy with a stiffened expression on her face.

"...Yes," the boy answered with some reluctance.

"Do you...normally cast your spells like this?" she continued.

"...A-Ah."

"...I see," she murmured, her wobbling knees almost giving in to the shock. "Huh...I see! You can do chantless spellcasting. Haha," she muttered, a laugh filled with utter derision escaping her lips. "Arggh!" Roxy suddenly snapped! She threw aside her staff and quickly grabbed her student by his cheeks before enthusiastically pulling at them. "I see! That's why you were clapping and praising me like that earlier, huh. You were actually actually laughing inside at this me, weren't you?!"

Roxy felt indignant, the tear drops hanging precariously by the corners of her eyes a testament to the whirl of emotions she was suddenly feeling.

"Awawawa— please stop it, Sensei! I'm sorry!" the boy said, looking apologetic in between the garbled words coming out of his mouth. "I do think Sensei's amazing!"

"See! You brat! You're making fun of me again, aren't you?! Was it this cheeky mouth? Was it this cheeky mouth that's laughing at me?!" she asked, her tone vexed and agitated. "You must have thought it funny that I took that long just to cast a simple spell, didn't you? That's why you were pulling my leg with your praises, weren't you?!"

"Awawa— I'm sorry, Sensei. I swear I wasn't laughing," the boy pleaded.

"You must have been laughing at how small I was as well, weren't you?!" Roxy continued, as she began remembering everything that had happened since they had met. "I'll have you know, even though I look like this, I'm already an adult! An adult, you know?! I'm a lot older than you!" she insisted. "You shouldn't be making fun of your elders!"

That's right, this boy must have been laughing at her! Laughing at how a far less talented and pathetically small teacher was going to teach him. He must thought it amusing how someone who was so small and beneath him was going to struggle to teach him. Even so, even if she looked like this, even if she could never do what he could, she'd have him know that she still has her pride as an adult, as a teacher.

"Awawa— I'm sorry, maybe I should have waited to praise you for your [Healing] spell instead!" the boy stated, as Roxy continued playing with and pinching at his cheeks.

"— Wait," Roxy suddenly stopped pulling the boy's cheeks. "How did you know I can do [Healing]?"

"Geh! Uh..." the boy started fidgeting about, looking sheepishly to his left and right. "Uh...Ah!" he suddenly exclaimed. "It was on the request notice for my Magic tutor, remember?"

"Hmm? Yes, I suppose it was," Roxy acknowledged. Even so, why did it look like he just figured that out? Was that really all that it was? Or maybe he has some other hidden talent, like being able to see someone's repertoire of spells at a glance or something. No, no, she shouldn't start thinking in such ridiculous directions, Roxy thought as she shook her head. Or was it? She started gazing intently at her prodigious new student.

"Eh? Uh...how else would I have known, Sensei?" the boy innocently asked.

"C-Can he read my mind, after all?"

No, that couldn't be it.

"...Ah, I suppose you're right," she acknowledged. What exactly was happening with her? Had the shock of the day's surprise been too much to the point that she had started entertaining ridiculous ideas? He must have found out what spells his tutor would know because his father had told him. His father was the one who had set the minimum requirements, after all. It was that simple.

She looked at the student who was sheepishly smiling at her.

Even so, the boy's cheeks were rather red...

"Huh?!" she suddenly snapped back to her senses. Hastily getting down on her knees, she softly touched the boy's cheek. "I'm sorry! Just what was I thinking?" she wondered aloud. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that!" she said. "Some adult I am. I wonder what had gotten into me?"

The boy just chuckled as he watched her.

"It's alright, Sensei. It didn't hurt that much," he assured. "Besides, I had fun watching Sensei's reaction as well," he added.

"Mmm!" she pouted. "Was it really that fun belittling your elder like that?" she asked. "Well, then again, I was the one at fault," she acknowledged. "I'm sorry."

"Hahaha," the boy cheerfully laughed. "I swear that wasn't really my intent," he assured her. "Even so, it did make me happy to see this side of you, Sensei."

The boy started giggling happily.

"You really should learn not to make fun of your elders. Others may not take it as well," Roxy earnestly warned. "That said, I was the one who had snapped at my student just because he was so much more promising, I'm no different from that person after all, aren't I?" she sighed.

She felt a small hand resting on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Sensei. Sensei is a wonderful person!" the boy assured.

Huh? What was this boy saying now? He was trying to pull her leg again, wasn't he?

"...Thank you," she answered. "Even so, we've only just met. I don't think you can make that kind of judgement just yet."

"No, you are a wonderful person, Sensei!" the boy reiterated. His eyes were looking at her so seriously that she could almost believe it. Just what was it that made him so certain? Breaking eye contact, the boy started fidgeting about again, then turning his sights towards the sky. And then, "Uh...Ah! That's right, Sensei, I may not look like it, but I am a good judge of character...I think."

Roxy looked at her student. He began with such self-assurance only to doubt himself at the end.

"Phuu! Hahaha," she snorted and chuckled at the realization. Even so, even she could see that he was trying his best to cheer her up. As an adult, she should at least be gracious enough to show appreciation for his earnest efforts. Roxy placed her hand atop the boy's head, rubbing it with the gentle tenderness that only a grown up like her could show.

Regardless, there was now no doubt in her mind that her new student was talented, perhaps too talented for her to properly teach. She accepted that she had made a poor call judging him earlier merely on account of his youth. It was vexing thinking of how much potential her new charge held. He would no doubt surpass her in due time. Even so, perhaps she could still find a sense of accomplishment from having trained such a student, being the one to refine this most valuable of gems.

"Looks like you'll be worth training, after all."

That said, he was definitely lying about being a good judge of character.

After finally getting back up on her feet, she gave his forehead a flick of her finger.

He looked at her with a small measure of surprise, before chuckling to himself in good spirit.

Truly, Roxy hoped that her new student won't make a habit out of lying to people, even if he were only trying to help them. Others may not be grown up enough to take it as well as she had.

"Aaaahh!" a scream rang from behind her, forcing Roxy to turn and look.

It was the young mother. She had dropped the tea tray she was carrying, a gasp escaping her lips which she quickly covered with both hands. A despondent look was visible on her face as she observed the mangled corpse of her beloved tree, a tree which she had taken great care of with much love and attention. However, her sadness were soon replaced by righteous fury.

She stormed over towards Roxy.

"Miss Roxy! Would you please not treat my trees as subjects for your experiments?!" she reprimanded.

"Eh?! A-ah, I'm so sorry!" Roxy instinctively apologized.

"Good!" the young mother exclaimed. "See to it that this doesn't happen again in the future, young lady!"

"...Yes," Roxy meekly answered. "I swear that it won't happen again, My Lady,"

The young mother then left to restore the tree. Roxy couldn't help but feel bad for her mistake. She had done it, even though it was only her first day. She would probably be fired tomorrow.

Even so, how was she supposed to know that they were important? Why didn't anyone warned her not to do it? Roxy turned around to look at her new student. The boy stared at her blankly, and then, as though realizing something, he gave her a wry smile and a dry laugh.

Then, slowly lifting a lightly clenched fist over his shoulder, he gave himself a knock on his head.

"Teehee!"

"This brat!"

And that was how Roxy Migurdia's "first" meeting with Rudeus Greyrat went.

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I, Roxy Migurdia, had recently been hired as a Magic tutor.

I was entrusted with the education of the young master of a knight's household in a rural Asuran village called Buena.

Contrary to my initial expectations, the Greyrat family had given me a very warm welcome. They had even thrown a welcoming party for this me on the evening of my arrival, lasting late into the night. During the party, I introduced myself to them and they were each introduced to me.

The Greyrat family's head was Paul Greyrat. He was a Lesser Knight to the Count of Roa. He had apparently been entrusted by his liege with maintaining security in the village and its surroundings, training and organizing the village militia in addition to furnishing his own bannermen with their equipment and supplies.

His wife, Zenith Greyrat, was the young mother of the household. She was apparently a former adventurer hailing from the Holy Kingdom of Millis. It was there where she met Sir Paul and joined his adventuring party, and then somehow or another ended up marrying him and giving birth to his son. I was quite surprised to hear her origin at first as the Kingdom of Millis was on a completely separate continent from the Kingdom of Asura. That, and the fact she had not been unkind to me in spite of the general Millishion views on races such as mine, and despite our unfortunate start when I...unintentionally destroyed her precious tree by accident.

Lady Zenith was in fact a very warm and gentle person. She was kind to me and treated me almost like family, or at least what I thought family ought to be like. I had never felt unwelcomed nor disdained by her on account of my heritage, something I had feared I would have to endure when I first took this job. That made feel safe and assured. It made me feel more confident interacting with the rest of the village. I could not thank her enough for that.

And with both of us admittedly being so far away from home, there were times when we could share the little anxieties we felt living in such a foreign land. Lady Zenith had confessed that she sometimes missed her family back in Millis, but that at the end of the day she would always choose to live with her husband and child in Asura over returning to her homeland.

I couldn't say I felt the same longing as her, but...sometimes I also wondered how mother and father were doing back home. They were fine, weren't they? I'm sure they were just living as they always had...in that barren land where not even a blade of grass grew.

As for Sir Paul and Lady Zenith's relationship with each other, it was very harmonious. Rather, it was too harmonious, perhaps, as they were clearly all over each other. Except for around a week each month, night after night, they would be doing the deed. I have no words to describe it. The sounds that they made could be heard around the house. It lasted for a long time each night, often well into midnight. It was hard to sleep in the middle of it.

I was able to resist it at first, but...I must confess that even I couldn't contain it forever. At some point in time, I realized that my fingers would reach down as I listened in to the rhythms of Lady Zenith's passionate moans. This would go on for many nights. One night, I felt the urge strongly enough that my feet carried me to the corridor just outside their bedchamber. I was awestruck by what I saw through a gap in the door, I couldn't help but...pleasure myself, my knees giving out at some point in time.

Only once had I cleared my head did I realize how risque of an act it was. I hope no one had noticed it, a wish I strongly reiterated as I hurriedly returned to my room. That night, I decided to have a pair of ear plugs made. I didn't know how much longer I could stand it before I would end up committing a mistake I couldn't take back.

…Let's move away from that.

Lilia...was the maid of the household. If I had to describe her, I would say that she was a cool and silent type of person. She conversed mostly with Lady Zenith. She hardly spoke to me unless first spoken to or unless it had to do with her work. We were co-workers, and sometimes I helped around the house as well. Even so, starting a conversation with her was difficult.

That aside, Lilia was diligent at her job. Each morning, she would draw and carry buckets of water from the well before anyone else was awake. She did the laundry, clean the house and also did the grocery runs and cook, among many other things. Which was to say that she performed most of the crucial daily work in the running and maintaining of the household. Even so, I have had few opportunities to speak with her...

I was also introduced to a young lady. Feldt Ackerman was her name. Apparently, Feldt was 8 years old. One wouldn't be able to tell that based on her looks. My first impression was that she couldn't be more than a few years older than Rudy. Lady Zenith said that the young lady was recently adopted into the family after her father had passed away.

As for her smaller than normal stature, it was apparently because she had been a sickly child, suffering from a prolonged illness until very recently. Given her background, it seemed miraculous, perhaps, that she turned out to be an otherwise a healthy child aside from her stunted height. I failed to see any sign of her supposed frailty aside from her short height. Even though she seemed as small as a Migurd child her age now, I was sure that she would also eventually grow up to surpass me.

That aside, the young lady was an unusually quiet child. Although that might just be towards myself. She might not be that way at all towards the others. We had hardly spoken to one another so there was little to write home about my impressions of her. Even so, I had often found her keenly watching my Magic classes with Rudy most mornings. She had this sparkle in her eyes whenever she watched. Did she want to join? I wonder why hadn't approached me yet?

Finally, there was Rudy. Rudeus Greyrat, my student.

I was hired to teach Magic to him. Unfortunately for me, he took to it quickly like fish to water. A fish never needed to be taught how to swim. So I wonder if he actually found my lessons at all that meaningful when he could understand them so quickly and remember them so well? It was as though he already knew them all along. Anything I had taught him just once, he would quickly understand and replicate in a single attempt. Topics that I had meant to cover in months and years, lessons I had meant to impart over many days, were all absorbed in a single morning.

Even his understanding of the theory of Magic, after teaching him a little, he would run wild with it. We often debated over the nature and workings of Magic, of Mana, of one spell and another. At times, it reminded me so much of my time in Magic University that I forgot I was speaking to a child. When I remembered that fact, I felt a great sense of unease.

Could I...really teach him? Was I really qualified to teach him? It was sometimes hard to see who was teaching and who was actually being taught. I found myself learning more than I had taught. It was...mortifying.

But, Rudy really was a bright child. He must have sensed my unease at some point soon after I began teaching him that he proposed I expanded the lessons to cover things other than Magic. So, just a few months after I had started teaching him, I shortened my morning classes with him and began my night classes, teaching him everything else that I knew, arithmetic, history, geography.

I regaled him with stories of my adventures, which I found he showed great enthusiasm for. He would ask me of the people I met and the places I've been to. He would show such a heartwarming smile when I recounted the many trials I faced and the intense battles that I fought. I admit, I might...have embellished it a little. But, it was really hard to tell my stories as it was to a young child beaming with such sparkling eyes, especially when that child was your own student. He must be looking up to me, I felt that I couldn't betray his expectations and disappoint him.

Even so, sometimes I still felt like he had already seen through me, and his smiles were just him finding my desperate attempts amusing. He was always rather cheeky, after all. One night, while I taught him about the Supards and warned him to stay away if he ever had the misfortune of seeing their distinctive green hair, his first question was whether there were any beautiful Supard girls. When I answered that I supposed that would be the case, he chuckled and wondered aloud if he could "find a beautiful Supard onee-san" to baby him with a gleeful smile on his face.

And when I told him about how I was also one of the Demon races myself and that my hair would shine a similar color to the Supards under certain lights, and that it was for this reason that his parents had initially been apprehensive of me, he merely laughed it off with a joke about my size. Seriously! Did he always have to make fun of my size?! Did Rudy...find them unpleasant, after all?

Even so, he told me soon after that he actually found my hair beautiful. I'm sure that he was just trying to cheer me up.

And then, he told me that he liked me. Yup, he was definitely just trying to cheer me up. That, or he was trying to pull my leg again.

That said, it was hard to keep myself from smiling with gleefulness at such compliments even if it came from a child, even if it wasn't genuine. Seriously, this boy!

At some point not long after that night, he asked me to teach him the Demon God Language. He said he would need it to talk to Demon girls in the future. Seriously now!

Around 4 months after I started teaching Rudy, he began etiquette lessons with his mother. Apparently, he wanted it to fill the time between the end of my morning lessons and the start of his swordsmanship lessons which always began just before noon.

As usual, Rudy is not only brilliant and talented, he was also diligent. On the other I...had been conceited. For a long time I had been happy with what I had already accomplished, even though it paled in comparison to Rudy. Even though Rudy was so much more competent, he never slackened his efforts. I felt embarrassed to admit it, but, I should really learn to be more like him.

Now, if only he would stop trying to peek at me bathing or stealing my panties, I would respect him a little bit more.

Perhaps Rudy simply had the makings of a hero? If so, perhaps it couldn't be helped...

On one mid-summer day, around a year after I had started teaching Rudy, I was helping out the villagers with mitigating their drought problem. It wasn't a bad side hustle. Sir Paul promised me a few large coppers for providing water to his land throughout the drought period and the Reeve also gave me something for doing the same for the other fields in the village. This and other things allowed me to make quite the tidy sum, typically an extra silver a month. If you don't live too extravagantly, it would be more than enough live for a month or even a little longer in a town on that budget.

"Sensei, what do you say to making more than some small change?"

"Eh?"

That was why I found Rudy's sudden question perplexing.

What was he trying to say? Several large coppers for watering the village during the drought wasn't "some small change". And did he just imply that he had a way to make more than that? Who? This boy who was not even 5 years old?

I freely admit that Rudy was definitely talented. No, he could only be described as a genius, a prodigy. Even so, it was one thing to be good at learning and another at practice, especially when it came to making money. It would take more than knowledge, experience would be even more important in avoiding pitfalls. Without the experience, even a knowledgeable person might end up cheated, unable to notice the sly sleight-of-hand that other people would pull.

In the first place, I hadn't taught him how to make money at all. Neither had Sir Paul or Lady Zenith. So, how could he say such a thing with such confidence? But, this is Rudy I am speaking of. I had already made the mistake of underestimating him before. Maybe I am just making the same mistake by dismissing him again? Maybe he truly did have a plan? No, even so...just what exactly was he planning to do that would make Large Asuran Coppers seemed like small change?

Mmm...even so, even if I have my doubts, hadn't Rudy always showed himself to be competent? If I were to dismiss him again right here and he turned out to be capable of it, I'd lose my standing as his teacher. I'd just end up as a charlatan who could never believe in her own student. No, even if he ended up failing, trusting him to get it right in the first place would definitely be the right thing to do. What kind of teacher would I be if I couldn't even believe in my own student?

"Very well. What do you have in mind, Rudy?"

"Eh?" he sounded almost surprised. "Ah, I was thinking of selling some statuette in Roa. Some of them were made in your likeness, Sensei. So, I was wondering if you'd allow me to sell them for a royalty of, say 2 silver coins per statuette or 1/10 of its sale price, whichever's higher. How about it?"

"Wha—!"

Seriously?! Wait, did this child really think that he could sell a statuette for at least 2 gold pieces? Does he even know how much 1 gold is worth? If he sold the statuette for less than that 2 gold, he would end up paying more than the 1/10 he wanted. What if he only sold it for a few silvers then? Wouldn't Rudy end up in debt? I couldn't accept this.

"Let's just stick to 1/10 of the price, no matter the price," or so I told him. "But, are you sure about this? You don't have to pay me anything if you don't want to, you know?"

Rudy smiled at me.

"No, I'd like it if Sensei would accept it. Besides, there's a small favor I'd like to ask Sensei soon," he said. "I thought it might be easier to get Sensei to agree if Sensei was feeling happier first,"

This little kid! Really?! Did he just say it would be easier to get me to agree after a bribe? Just where did he learn that, I wonder? I've never taught him anything like this! No, Rudy might be going down the wrong path like this! I should try to teach him to be more upstanding.

"You shouldn't be bribing people to get them to do what you want, Rudy."

"Eh? Is it that bad?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"It is bad," I answered. "I wouldn't want Rudy to think that it would be alright to get others to do all of his bidding so long as he can throw some coins at them, especially if it's something bad that they would normally not do. " I explained. "It would be great if Rudy can learn to tell right from wrong. I want Rudy to grow up to be an upstanding person."

"...Is...that so?" he wondered aloud, his shoulders drooped, before looking at me sharply in the eyes. "But, I'm sorry, Sensei. I cannot do that."

"Wha—? What do you mean?"

"...No...I meant that I just wanted Sensei to have the money," he said, as his eyes turned away from me. "I would feel bad if I were to sell something I made in Sensei's likeness without rewarding Sensei for it. It had nothing to do with a bribe. Although I do have a small favor I wanted to ask Sensei later, I just brought it up just now to get Sensei to accept the payment," he elaborated. "Please accept it, Sensei."

Rudy looked back at me as he said those words. If that's the case...

"Alright. Very well then. I'll gladly accept your offer, Rudy," I answered, as I smile and patted his head gently.

On the following week's end, Rudy travelled along with Sir Paul to Roa.

I wonder if I should have asked to see the statuette first? In any case, it was already too late to ask by the time I thought of that.

Rudy returned a few days later while beaming a radiant smile at me. He then pulled my hand and dragged me to his room.

"I did it, Sensei!" he brightly exclaimed on the way.

Then, dipping his fingers into a rather large pouch he was carrying, he lifted something from it and placed them on my palm before enclosing them. When I opened my fingers, there was one coin glinting under the morning light, looking back at me. And it wasn't just any old coin, it was gold. An Asuran Gold Coin!

"H-How?"

That was the only word which escaped my lips. Rudy looked at me with a smug-looking smile drawn across his face.

"Well, thanks to father's relative in Roa, I managed to get a letter of recommendation for a special trading license in return for promising him 2 Asuran Gold Coins. With that, I was able to sell the statuettes directly to a renowned luxury goods company," Rudy began. "I managed to haggle for 5 Asuran Gold Coins for each of Sensei's statues and got 3 Asuran Gold Coins for each of the other 2 statuettes I sold. As expected, Sensei's statuettes are really valuable," he explained. "Anyway, Sensei's share is 1 Asuran Gold Coin. After paying father's relative and spending another 3 Asuran Gold Coins on a dagger, some souvenirs and ordering a few other things I needed, I am left with 10 Asuran Gold Coins," he proudly stated. "How is it, Sensei? I can calculate properly can't I?"

No, calculating wasn't the issue here. How did a child just make 32 times my monthly wage in just a few days? How?!

I couldn't help but fell on my knees.

Defeated. I was completely and utterly defeated.

The last vestiges of my pride as an adult, my pride in accomplishing something I thought he couldn't possibly beat me in at this time had shattered completely.

"Sensei! Are you alright?!"

Rudy was suddenly alarmed. He extended his hand to me...and I took it.

"If you're feeling ill, Sensei, do you want to call for a physician?"

"...No, it's alright. I'm fine," I said weakly. "Hah, hahaha," I felt like laughing at myself.

"Uhm, Sensei...could it be that...it was too little?" Rudy suddenly asked.

"What? No!"

"I mean, if Sensei wants more, I could agree to give you 1/5th of the sale price as royalty next time."

Next time?

"You...are still going to sell them?"

"Yes, I intend to make a several more runs. I'll stop once I've saved at least 60 Asuran Gold Coins, though."

"I see...60, huh? I see."

By this point, I felt like it was all pointless. He could probably get to that 60 in another month or two. What was the point of it, my pride as an adult in earning a good wage when a child can make many times that in a few days? —No...

Slapping myself on both cheeks, I looked at the worried Rudy with renewed eyes.

That's right, he may be a child, but I shouldn't treat him like a child. All this while I had underestimated him because I still thought of him as a child, that was why I kept having my expectations and sense of place shattered. He is not just a child. Rudy is an adult inside!

At least, that should be how I should think of him from now on. I must treat him with the same respect I would an adult of his caliber.

But, if I were to accept that, do I even have any right to teach him anymore?

"Sensei..."

His voice nudged me from my thoughts.

"It's alright, Rudy. You don't have to pay me that much. If you're okay with it, I'll accept 1/10th of the sale price next time as well."

"I...see," Rudy answered, before laughing heartily. "Hahaha! Ah...you had me worried for a second there, Sensei. I was almost sure I had done something to upset you,"

Geh. I could only flinch at his sharp observation.

"No—…no, that's not what I meant. I'm not upset about it," I told him. "Not anymore."

"Is that so?" he asked. "Then, Sensei, can I get to that small favor that I wanted to ask?"

A favor. I wonder what it'll be about? Since this was Rudy, even if he described it as small, I could almost be certain that it would be something difficult.

"S-Sure, ask away," I steeled myself.

"Then, starting from tomorrow, will you allow me to teach Magic to Feldt?" he asked.

"Eh?"

No, I didn't quite get that.

"I was thinking of teaching Feldt Magic after my morning lessons with Sensei. Ah, don't worry, I'll only be shifting my etiquette lessons to late afternoon, so my lessons with Sensei won't be affected at all."

No, it's not that.

"Rudy, you don't have to ask me for something like that."

If that was all that he wanted, he didn't have to ask at all. If I were to consider Rudy as an adult, then he was certainly intelligent and skilled enough as to be perfectly qualified to teach a student. Then, why ask?

Oh! Was he perhaps worried that he was taking over my duties? So, that was why he wanted me to have the money. Maybe it was his way of saying, "I'll be taking Sensei's job, but I don't want Sensei to feel bad."

"Is that so?" Rudy asked. "No, it's just that since Sensei is still teaching me, I felt like I'll be overstepping my bounds by teaching Feldt. I thought that instead, I should have asked father to hire Sensei to teach Feldt as well, but...well...Feldt insisted that I be the one to teach her, hahaha."

See! I got it right, after all! And what's with that dry, nervous laughter at the end? Was he that worried about it? It wasn't that big of a deal, not at all.

He didn't even need to ask...

I see...Rudy will be teaching a student. Even though he was still a student himself, he was indeed already good enough to start teaching.

Even so, what is this feeling?

"Rudy, you don't have to worry about me."

But, to have my student teach another, and he was bound to be a better teacher as well...slowly but surely, I'm being surpassed, aren't I? No, maybe he had already surpassed me long ago.

"Uhm, okay," Rudy acknowledged. "But, since I'll be a Sensei as well, that means Sensei will be a Sensei to a Sensei, right?" Rudy asked. "In that case, wouldn't it be better if I called Sensei 'Master' instead?"

My face must have tightened up to an unpleasant look at that question. I felt like I had just bitten into something very bitter.

"Please don't call me that," I quickly begged him. "I'm sure you'll surpass me easily. No, you probably already have." I said. "You wouldn't want to call someone inferior to you 'Master', would you?"

"I don't mind it, Master—"

"—Stop that!" I shouted. "I hate it! Someone better than me calling me 'Master', don't joke with me!"

"...Mas—"

"NOOO!" I screamed.

Dashing out of the room as fast as my feet could take me, I ran. I ran down the stairs and out the house without any care in the world for directions. I just wanted to get away. I felt like I needed to get away. I needed to get far away from him, to get away from that child, to get far away from Rudy.

I could accept that he had surpassed me in every way. I could! But, for someone who had clearly surpassed me to call me 'Master', you've got to be kidding me!

How should I live with the shame of that? How much more must he drag my face through the mud? I felt excruciating pain in my chest when I remembered his lips uttering that accursed word, when he called me by that undeserved title!

I'm weak! I get it, I'm weak! I was just a stupid girl with an overblown ego. I was so full of myself when I surpassed my own Master and look where I am now?! I'm not even charitable enough to accept my student's feelings. I'm no different from that man, after all. —No, I'm even worse than that man!

I don't deserve that child's admiration. I don't deserve Rudy calling me 'that'!

So I kept running, running haplessly to wherever my feet would take me.

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=][=

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Arriving before a large tree within a large grove, the little girl looked all around towards her surroundings, until she was certain that no one else was around to see her, until she was certain that no one else was around to hear her. There was just so much she had wanted to say – that she had wanted to scream – that she couldn't stand for anyone else to hear. Even so, she just couldn't keep bottling them up anymore!

And then she screamed.

She screamed as hard as she could.

She screamed at the sky.

She screamed at herself.

Her tearful screams tore through the serene tranquility, and that scream turned into an intense sobbing.

"Hic...Waaah...Stupid Rudy! Stupid! Stupid! Waaah...Hic...Waaah! Even though you're just some country hick! Waaah...Hic...Waaah!"

The tears just wouldn't stop falling. They just wouldn't stop falling. These were tears she shed for herself, they were falling for her pathetic and conceited self.

She had finally figured it out! She had finally understood it! She had been bested utterly, not only by her own student but by her Master as well. She had not been a gracious enough student to accept her Master's bitterness and she was not a generous enough Master to accept her student's expectations.

"I'm truly a failure, aren't I? Waaah...!"

The tears...they just won't stop falling.

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=][=

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[Author's Note: Howdy guys. Very sorry for taking so long. Anyway, Chapter 15 is already out on my WP, kaocakemanfictionalworld (you can google it). It should be released to FFnet next week as well as I expect to be able to at least release the second half of 15.5 to my patron. I might even finish Chapter 16 by then if I can find the time, otherwise the week after.

Chapter 15.5 - which I'd decided to split to 2 - and Chapter 16 ended up taking a long time, partly because I went back to write 15.5 after already starting 16. I thought having an n.5 chapter for side stories could be a good "tradition" of sorts for end of arc or intermission between arcs.

Oh ya, before I forget, I went with "Sensei" and "Master" as titles for Roxy. Of course, I want to use English terms as much as possible, but "Teacher" or "Miss" just doesn't provide a close enough analogue, I feel. And it would be quite strange when I edited all the "Sensei" with "Teacher", it just didn't feel quite right, at least to me. And yes, I realize how much this argument can be abused to add a whole bunch of "Japanese" where English words were perfectly suitable, but I'm not budging in this instance at least. I assure you that if a perfectly suitable analogue exist in English to explain the concept, I will always prioritize their use. In any case, tell me what your opinion is on this. If there's enough chorus of dissent, I'll find a way to keep strict adherence to English - in other words, following the LN convention.

In any case, that's all I have for now. Adios and see you next week!]