"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.

'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.

(One hour later.) = Time skip.

"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.

[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.

{Gate} = Spell name.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(The next day.)

The very next day, now with Yae joining them on their journey to the capital city of the [Kingdom of Belfast]. The party of four were on their rented carriage, going along the pathway to the royal capital.

Touya, as usual, was sitting in the back and this time, Linze was there to join them as Yae was the one taking control of the horses, saying this was the least she could do after what they did for her yesterday.

'The only one who can't handle horses is me…' Touya groaned, not happy at the fact that he was taking the backseat, though he quickly shook those thoughts away, he could always make up for it in his magical skills, 'Whatever, I can always learn it later, for now, I'll concentrate on my magecraft.'

The good thing about Linze being at the back with him is that she could focus on teaching him more elemental and null spells, and he took that to heart, soaking up knowledge like a sponge.

"As long as you know the name and effect of a null magic, it seems you can activate it almost 100% of the time, Touya." Linze stated, handing him a book full of various null spells, "This is a book with lots of null magic confirmed in the past. I thought you might be able to use it well…"

"Magic to make an incense stick burn longer, magic to make a tea's color vivid, magic to make splintered wood smooth...?" Touya listed off the various null spells, each one more useless as he goes by, seems like it was mostly used as miscellaneous spells.

"They're mostly personal magic, so there are many with limited uses…" Linze informed him, but he kept reading through the pages, hoping to find something useful in this sea of information.

Flipping page by page, one specific page caught Touya's eye, "Magic to draw small objects into your hand, wonder if I could use that?"

"Why don't you try it?" Linze encouraged him.

"Okay, I'll try it… {Aports}" Despite chanting and clearly something did happen, nothing changed, Touya was confused as his hand was still empty.

"Hmm… it felt like I was drawing something but…" Touya mused.

"What did you try to draw?" Elze asked.

"Yae's katana, thought I'd surprise her if it suddenly disappeared." He said, thinking of what the description said about the spell, "It did say it only draws in small objects, so the katana was probably too big to draw in."

"Then…" Touya's gaze fell onto Yae's head, more specifically, the ribbon she was using to tie her hair in place. "{Aports!}"

"Fuuuwa!" Yae yipped.

In his hand was Yae's ribbon, flowing along the wind, Touya smiled as the spell worked, he just needed to use it on something he can hold in one hand.

"Looks like it worked, though, depending on how you use it, it could be useful or terrifying…" Linze commented.

"Terrifying? How?" Touya raised an eyebrow, asking for her input.

"Because you'd lose objects without even realizing it." Elze decided to join in the conversation, "With this, you could do things like pickpocket all you want, right?"

"I guess… If you think of it like that, it's pretty scary, you could steal money and gems without a care in the world…" Touya said absentmindedly, his gaze in the sky as he molded over the possibilities of {Aports}.

"Please don't do that." Both twins pleaded.

"Of course, I wouldn't do that…" Touya reassured them, though they still gave him a wry stare, "Although, with this, wouldn't that mean I could pull things like underwear…"

Both twins backed away from him, creating a distance between them and Touya as they held down their skirts.

"I'm joking, I'm joking." Touya laughed at their reactions, it's not like he would willingly steal a girl's panties… yet.

"Um… My hair is blowing about in the wind, I would appreciate it if you could give my ribbon back…" Yae asked, as she struggled against her hair and guiding the horses.

"Ah, right, sorry about that, Yae."

They stopped momentarily to tie the samurai's hair, Yae thanked them for tying up hair again and continued their journey to the capital.

"It's been about three days since we left… So we've covered about half the distance." Elze pointed out, looking at the map in her hand as she showed it to her sister and Touya.

"What magic did you learn this time?" Linze asked, seeing Touya still flipping through the book's pages.

"It says here… It expands the senses over a large area. I figured I'd try it." Touya informed her. Showing the page to Linze and rereading the description, "{Long Sense}, I'll try checking out the area about a kilometer ahead of us."

'Wait… is that blood I'm smelling?' Zoning in on the scent, Touya heard the clashing of metal along with the sickening sound of flesh being stabbed by metal. His eyes widened, and the sound of men dying sent him through the edge.

"Yae! There are people surrounded by magical beasts up ahead!" He shot up from his seat, informing Yae to pick up the pace, "Full speed!"

"I understand!" Yae nodded, whipping the reins and causing the horses to gallop faster. While she was doing that, Touya refocused on the battle site with his {Long Sense}, the sounds of battle raged on but Touya's attention was drawn to the sounds of a young girl's cries.

'Shit, will we even make it in time?' Touya dreaded what would happen if they couldn't get there quickly, his grip on his yari tightened, beside him were Elze and Linze, readying their weapons for the inevitable clash.

Thankfully, the horses were just fast enough to reach the battle site.

"I see them!" Touya shouted, winding his yari up and throwing it at one of the lizardmen.

"Come forth, flames of swirling spiral, Fire Storm!" Linze opened up with a fire spell that took out a considerable amount of the lizardmen.

Elze joined the fray, donning her gauntlets. She rushed down a lone lizardman, downing it with just three punches, and moved on to the next. She brought both her arms up, blocking a downward slash from a lizardman.

She kicked the beast off its feet, forcing it to lose balance and fall to the ground. Casting her {Boost} spell, Elze slammed her right fist into the head of the lizardman, crushing its skull with blunt force.

An arrow deflected off her gauntlets, Elze then closed the distance on the archer that arrow belonged to, taking the lizardman out and catching the blade of one. She kicked its stomach, forcing the beast to double down then slammed right to the ground with an axe kick from Elze.

Meanwhile, with Linze she supported her sister with magic spells, making use of her proficiency with magic and hitting the lizardmen with expert accuracy. She focused on the lizardmen with bows as they were the only ones that could give her party significant trouble from a distance.

Seeing as they don't need his help, Touya rushed to get his yari back. Dodging a sword slash, he responded with his own, using the katana strapped to his hip. One clean slice killed the beast.

However, before Touya could move on, he was suddenly surrounded by five more lizardmen, all hoping to have a go at him at the same time. Quickly decided this would be a great time to use a new spell. Touya used a null spell he recently learned.

"{Slip}!" A magical circle appeared underneath all the lizardmen, and just like the name implied, caused them to slip and lose their footing, some tried to get back on their feet only to slip again.

They had no chance to regain their footing as Touya slit their throats, one by one, and when he was done he moved on to get his yari back. Getting back his yari, Touya blocked another lizardman's attempt at slashing him.

Forced into a dreadlock, Touya twirled his yari and slammed the bottom end onto the head of the lizardman, dazing it long enough for Touya to thrust his yari forward, killing it.

While his back was turned, Yae came to his rescue, drawing her katana and killing a lizardman. Two more came into play and engaged the samurai, she ducked underneath a slash and returned with her own. She quickly dodged two slashes from two lizardmen and slashed back, killing them.

Yae turned around and blocked a sword coming her way. A lizardman was able to slip through and catch her off guard, forcing her into a deadlock. They both competed against each other in a contest of strength, though it was interrupted by Touya stabbing the side of the lizardman with his yari.

The samurai thanked him and went back to killing more of the magical beasts.

While it was clear they could handle the lizardmen, they just kept coming and coming, like there was no end in sight.

"No matter how many we kill, they won't stop attacking!" Touya yelled, dodging an arrow and stabbing another lizardman to his right while Yae took the ones to his left.

"Tell me about it!" Elze agreed, bashing the skull of the lizardman and kicking one away from her, she cast another {Boost} as the one before wore off.

"Everyone! Look over there!" Linze pointed at the dark-robed man, summoning the lizardmen from a purple circle on the ground.

Not needing another word, Touya rushed for the summoner with Yae and Elze not too far behind him. Seeing the three charging for him, the man ordered the Lizardmen to protect him, the magical beasts charged forward to meet the three.

The man chanted a fire spell and shot it at the three adventurers, unfortunately for him, Linze countered with a water spell and the two magical attacks met in a large explosion.

Using the smoke as cover, Yae and Elze went ahead of Touya to meet the lizardmen, they occupied them to give Touya a way to the summoner without any interruptions.

Both females were able to kill a significant amount of them in the initial clash but their numbers eventually forced them into a bogged-down slugging fest. But Touya knew they could handle it, he just needed to take care of their source of reinforcements.

"Come forth, Fire! Purgatorial Sphere of Flames: Fireball!" The Dark-robed chanted, flinging the fireball spell towards the Touya.

He dodged the fireball from the summoner, and slashed away a group of lizardmen that slipped away from Elze and Yae, however, he was momentarily forced to stop as a wall of lizardmen blocked his way to their master.

Brandishing his yari, Touya waited for them to come into range. And they did. One of them broke off from the wall and charged, sword over its head as it aimed to slam it down onto him.

Touya read the attack and quickly stabbed the opening of the lizardman, stabbing his head. Another one came to the side, hoping to get a slash in as Touya's yari was still lodged in the skull of the beast he killed. Unfortunately for it, Touya still had his katana.

A slice to the neck took care of the lizardman as Touya finally got his yari out of the other one he killed, armed with a spear in his right hand and a katana in his left, Touya met the lizardman wall head-on.

Enchanting himself with {Boost} and {Power Rise}, he was able to break through it with ease, killing a number of them in the process. With no more interruptions in his way. Touya sprinted faster than the summoner could chant another spell, he used the shaft of his yari to down the man, hitting him in the stomach and forcing him to double over.

He unsheathed his katana and used the blunt side of the blade, slamming it into the back of the man's neck to incapacitate him.

Disabling their summoner, all that was left was to take care of the strugglers, he turned around to help Yae and Elze but they already took care of the last remaining lizardmen with ease, meanwhile, Linze was healing the injured.

"That was the last of them, anyone hurt?" Touya asked as he tied up the summoner's hands and legs to keep him from running away.

"I'm fine, it was nothing we can't handle," Elze confirmed.

"Likewise." Yae nodded, sheathing her katana. She left the gathering and walked up to the summoner, likely to interrogate him.

"I'm ok as well!" Linze yelled as she finished healing up the last of the injured people.

One of them, who was likely the leader, approached the group and bowed his head, "You saved us!"

"Are there any casualties?" Touya asked.

"Of the ten guards, seven were killed…" He trembled in anger, "If only we had noticed him sooner!-"

"Anyone! Is anyone there! Leim… Leim is!" The shouting of a young girl caught their attention, the people present rushed to where she was, "Somebody save Leim! An arrow… An arrow hit his chest!"

The group huddled around the young girl holding in her arms would be her butler, bleeding out and in pain.

"Linze! Healing magic!" Touya shouted, but Linze could only shake her head.

"...I can't- the arrowhead broke off and is still inside his body-" Linze quareved, "In this state, even if I used healing magic, the arrow would still be inside his body… An injury like this… even my magic can't-"

The statement caused the young girl's tears to fall harder, faced with the prospect of her butler dying before her very eyes. She could do nothing but watch as he grew closer to drawing his last breath.

"...My lady…" Leim called out for her, she held his hand as he tried to show a front, but the pain was slowly getting unbearable, "This is… farewell…"

"Leim! Leim!" The young girl cried out, her grip on Leim's hand tightening, as she was afraid of what would happen next.

'...Is there really nothing we can do…' Touya lamented, clutching his hand, 'Wait… I learned about healing magic from the book Linze gave me, but I still don't know how to get that arrow out from his chest…'

Then, an idea perked up in his head, he had {Aports}! With the arrowhead being small enough he can use the spell to remove it from Leim's chest, frantically looking around for an arrow laying around. Touya was able to spot one and scanned the arrowhead.

Confident that he had memorized the shape, Touya asked the young lady to give him space and used {Aports} to remove the arrowhead from the butler's chest and discarded it, hovering his hands on Leim's chest, chanting the healing spell that should save his life.

"Come forth, light, soothing healing: Cure Heal!" Touya chanted, as a cool green hue healed the wound in Leim's chest, closing it and stopping the bleeding from worsening.

"...Huh? The pain… It's no longer hurting." Leim inquired as he felt the pain in his chest subside, "It's healed, my wound has healed."

"Leim!" The young girl embraced him, happy that he was saved and alive.

Touya sighed, thankful that his idea to use {Aports} and {Cure Heal} in tandem worked, it took a lot for him to stay calm through it as he somewhat thought it wouldn't work or that he was too late.

"You used {Aports} and {Cure Heal} together, right, Touya?" Elze asked, amazed at his quick thinking while Linze praised him along with Yae.

"Yeah, I'm glad it paid off in the end." Touya nodded, seeing the young girl no longer crying and saving a life brought him a warm fuzzy feeling.

"You've truly saved us. How could we ever thank you?" Leim bowed, thanking the party of adventurers.

"But first, introductions. I am Leim, a butler in service to Duke Ortlinde." Reim then gestured to the young girl to his side, "And this is the Duke's daughter, Sushie Ernea Ortlinde."

"Oh, then I'm Touya, Touya Mochizuki, this is Elze and Linze Silhouseka, and Yae Kokonoe." Touya introduced himself and his companions to Sushie and Leim.

"I'm Sushie Ernea Ortlinde! A pleasure to meet you!" Sue greeted them, then she ran up to Touya, her arms wrapping around him in a hug, "I thank you, Touya, You saved Leim, no, not just Leim but all of our lives!"

"Thank you, Lady Sushie, but it wasn't just me, my friends helped too." Touya patted the young girl's head, taking the praise but also giving credit to his friends.

When he turned to his companions, he saw them on the ground on one knee, bowing to Sushie.

"What's wrong?" Touya asked, confused at their sudden kneeling.

"What's wrong?" Elze repeated, "How can you be so calm! Duke! The Duke's daughter!"

"...A Duke is the highest rank a noble can have… Unlike other nobles, the title of [Duke], is only given to members of the royal family." Linze explained.

"Oh." Touya then turned his attention back to the young girl hugging him.

"Indeed, my father, Duke Alfred Ernea Ortlinde is the younger brother of His Royal Highness," Sushie confirmed.

"Which makes you the King's niece…" Touya mused, "Umm… Lady Sushie?"

"This is not a formal setting, no need for formalities. Just call me Sue." Sue stated, "As I said before, we all owe you our lives. In reality, we should be the ones bowing our heads, so please rise from the ground."

Upon her command, the three older girls stood back up on their feet. Touya decided to speak up on his friends' behalf.

"But why would the Duke's daughter be in a place like this?" He asked, surely someone important to the Duke would be near the capital and not outside of it.

"We're returning from my grandmother's, my mother's mother." Sue began, "There was something we wanted to look into, we were returning after a month's absence. Then, we got attacked, and judging by this man's summoning magic, it was an assassination attempt…"

"Linze-Dono and I interrogated him, however, it seems like he does not know who his benefactor was," Yae informed the group.

"To think this would happen, we were completely caught off guard…" She sighed, her gaze falling to her remaining guardsmen, "The attacker must've been hired for money, but the motive is a toss between killing or kidnapping me."

"Well then, Sue, what will you do from here?" Touya asked, worried for her safety and security.

"About that… You see." Leim began, placing a hand on his chest, "With over half of the guard killed, in this state, if we were to be attacked again, we wouldn't be able to protect the young lady."

"We would like to ask for your assistance to escort us to the royal capital." Leim pleaded, "We will compensate of course."

"Escort duty, huh?" Touya pondered over it, turning his attention to his companions for some input.

"Why not? We're going to the royal capital anyways." Elze agreed.

"I don't mind either." Linze followed her sister's answer.

"I am simply along for the ride, so I'll leave it to you." Yae nodded.

Seeing as it was all a unanimous vote for yes, Touya gave in, it was not like saying no was gonna change anything anyways.

"All right, we'll accept. Let's stick together until the royal capital." Touya declared, Sue smiled, happy to know they were gonna help them along the way.

"Thank you for helping us!" Sue bowed.

With that in mind, Sue asked if Touya could join her and Leim inside her carriage, seeing no problem with that, he agreed, letting Yae, Elze, and Linze go back to their carriage and ride along with Sue's carriage and guards.

To pass the time, Touya retold stories from his old world to Sue, she was engrossed in them, asking him to tell more and he obliged.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(Arriving in the [Alephis], the royal capital.)

After a long journey, they finally arrived at the capital city of the [Kingdom of Belfast], [Alephis].

'So that's the capital?' Touya was mesmerized by the view of the royal capital, it was a large city with a large body of water in the background and a giant castle in the middle.

The capital itself, [Alephis], was built-up on the banks of [Lake Palette] which received its water from a large waterfall behind the royal castle. The royal castle is located in the center of the city. And the view and landscape were beautiful.

Touya mentally noted to himself to visit the royal capital and see what it had to offer.

But that was for another time, they went through the streets and went straight for the middle center of the city, they were going to the Duke's residence, in the western district of the capital, to meet up with the Duke.

The guards let them in easily, letting the group inside without a hunch as they recognized the Duke's daughter's carriage and escorts.

As expected of a Duke, his house was a massive mansion with a beautiful garden on the front with a large fountain to complement it.

The carriages came to a halt, and the first one to leave was Sue, hopping off the carriage with Leim trailing behind her, Touya left and carriage last, waiting back to join up with his group before he went in.

Opening the doors to the mansion, they were greeted with the sight of a massive lineup of maids, the line itself stretched out from the front door to the staircase.

"Welcome back, young lady." They all bowed with practiced ease. As Sue joyfully skips in her steps.

"Sue!" A middle-aged man ran down the stairs, greeting Sue as she ran up to him.

"Father!" Sue embraced her father, jumping into his arms as he spun her around and hugged her back.

"Thank goodness! Thank heavens!" The Duke said as he was thankful for his daughter's safe return home.

"It's ok, I'm absolutely fine! Didn't I write so in the letter I sent ahead?" Sue reassured him.

Releasing his daughter, the Duke turned his attention to the people who saved his daughter's life and kneeled.

"My utmost gratitude. Thank you for saving the life of my daughter." The Duke thanked them.

"Please raise your head! We only did what should have been done." Touya begged him, not wanting to take the praise from a man as prestigious as him.

"Very well, allow me to introduce myself, I am Alfred Ernea Ortlinde." Raising from the ground, Alfred offered his hand.

"I'm Touya Mochizuki, it is a pleasure to formally meet you, Duke Ortlinde." Touya accepted the hand and shook it.

"Please, no need to be so formal, you saved my daughter's life after all. Just call me Alfred." The Duke asked, "And if you may, let us talk somewhere more private."

Nodding, Touya and his party followed the Duke while Sue went up the stairs to freshen up but not without saying that she'll be back to join them later.

Following the Duke to the lavish home, he led the group to one of the porches with a great view of the garden, asking them to have a seat and make themselves comfortable and explain how they saved his daughter.

"I see…" Alfred began, "You all came to the royal capital to deliver a letter for a request from the guild."

He leaned further into his chair as he rubbed his temples, his thoughts were of what would happen had Touya and his party not taken the letter request.

"If you had not accepted that request, Sue may have been kidnapped or even worse, killed. If possible, may you give my thanks to whoever sent the letter?" Alfred asked, thankful that fate was on his side.

"Do you have any idea who the attackers might be?" Touya asked him, surely a man of his status came with his share of enemies.

"I… Can't say I don't…" Alfred began, leaning forward as he rested his elbows on the table, "I'm sure with my position as [Duke] and as well as brother to the king, there're many nobles who think of me as an inconvenience to their schemes… But to think they would target my daughter…"

Anger was present in his voice, the anger of a man whose daughter was in harm's way and he had no idea who it was that was responsible for it. Calming himself down, he stared into the group that saved her life.

"Father, sorry to keep you waiting!" Sue called out to him, turning around and they saw her change her clothes, from the pink clothes she wore during her journey to her similarly colored royal dress.

"Sue, have you spoken with Ellen?" Alfred asked. Sue nodded as she took a seat next to her father, joining their conversation.

"Ellen?" The party asked.

"Ah, my wife." Alfred began to explain, "My wife is blind you see… My apologies, even though you saved our daughter, she can't come out."

"Blind..? How so?" Touya inquired.

"From a sickness five years ago, her life was spared but in exchange, she lost her ability to see," Alfred confirmed.

"...Did you try to heal her with magic?" Linze asked, surely there was someone out there that could heal her eyes.

"We called out to all users of healing magic in the country but… it was no use." Downcast, Alfred shook his head.

"If only my grandfather had still been alive." Sue wished.

Confused at why she said that, Alfred caught on and explained the reason why.

"My wife's father, Sue's grandfather, and my father-in-law could use a special type of healing magic. It could remove any irregularities from the body." Alfred explained, "This was the reason for Sue's trip, we wanted to see if she couldn't understand and learn to use my father-in-law's healing magic."

"Grandfather's spell could heal mother's eyes…" Sue lamented, she gripped her skirt harder, "If only we could find someone able to use the same kind of magic as grandfather…"

"Sue, I told you the chances of that are extremely low." Alfred repeated, however, he tried to cheer her up, "The majority of null magic is personal magic, there are no two people who can use the same spell. However, there should be someone who has a similar effect. I will find them no matter what. I promise you."

At that moment, all three girls from Touya's party suddenly shot up from their seats, yelling and pointing at him.

"Touya/Touya-Dono!"

"The hell?! What?" Touya asked, but then it dawned on him. "Ah… AH! That's what you mean!"

"What do you mean?" Alfred inquired. Rather confused at their sudden outburst.

"Can you heal mother, Touya!?" However, Sue knew what they meant and asked him directly.

"Honestly… It's magic I haven't used before, but I might be able to." Touya mused, if he could use the null spells from the book and other ones, then perhaps he could use Sue's grandfather's magic, "Please, tell me the details of the magic's name and effect."

(Sometime later.)

After learning the name of the spell, which was {Recovery} and its effects, Touya and the party were led to the Duke's and his wife's bedroom.

Seating on the edge of the bed was a beautiful woman, who resembled Sue greatly, fitting as she was her mother.

"Oh my, visitors?" Despite being blind, Ellen could still sense the presence of others, and she felt the presence of four unfamiliar people entering her bedroom.

"I'm Touya Mochizuki, nice to meet you, Ellen-sama." Touya bowed in respect.

"Nice to meet you." Ellen said, a smile on her face, "Honey, who is this person?"

"Ah, this is the person who saved Sue, and after hearing about you has come to heal your eyes," Alfred explained.

"My eyes..?" Ellen asked.

"Mother, please relax," Sue reassured her.

Taking that as his cue, Touya hovered his hand on Ellen's face, and recalled the name of the spell, hoping that he got it right.

'Oh well, here goes nothing.' Touya took a deep breath and chanted, "{Recovery}."

A bright soothing green hue enveloped Ellen's face, after a few seconds it died down and the color in her eyes brightened, no longer the dull blue it once was but now a vibrant and beautiful one.

Touya moved aside, wanting for the first thing Ellen saw to be the two most important people of her life. Her husband and her daughter.

"...I can see…" Tears fell from her eyes, for the first time since her sickness five years ago, Ellen could finally see. "I can see. I can see, honey!"

Both father and daughter hugged her, overjoyed at the miracle Touya bestowed them, crying tears of joy.

They weren't the only ones crying tears, the three other girls in the room teared up in the heartfelt moment. Rubbing their eyes with their sleeves.

"Thank goodness." Elze sighed.

"Thank… Goodness." Linze sniffled.

"Thank goodness." Yae wiped the tears off her eyes.

'It worked, thank God, it worked.' Touya let out a breath he didn't know he held, letting the nervousness wash away as he watched the family in their happy moment.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Alfred released himself from the embrace and held Touya's hands, kneeling as he endlessly thanked the man who not only saved the life of his daughter but cured his wife's blindness as well, "You have no idea how much this means to us!"

"It's no problem… Please don't kneel." Touya pleaded, thankful for the Duke's praise, but he'd rather not have the man kneel for him.

"Please, please let me reward you, let me do this much." He insisted, at the very least he would not let these kind-hearted people go without a reward for all they've done for him.

All adventurers looked at each other, Touya more so since he was the one whose hands were tied, they all nodded, not wanting to deny the man's kindness and thought it would be a good exchange for their services.

After a while, the party was led by Leim, taking them to a room where they would be rewarded by Duke himself.

The door to the room opened, revealing the Duke as he took a seat on the couch, ready to reward them for their troubles.

"You all have done so much for us. We can't thank you enough." Alfred bowed his head, "Not just my daughter, but my wife as well… Thank you so much."

"You must let me reward you." He began, beckoning Leim closer, "Leim, bring what we discussed."

"Understood." Leim obliged, placing a pouch full of coins down on the coffee table.

"First, here." Alfred began, untying the knot, "This is my thanks in regards to saving my daughter from her assailants as well as escorting her here. Inside are forty platinum coins."

At the statement, the trio jumped a bit, surprised at the generosity of the Duke, meanwhile, Touya was confused at their reactions to the rewards.

"Elze, what are platinum coins?" He asked.

"...The denomination above gold coins, one platinum coin is worth ten gold coins…" Elze answered, shaking a bit at the prospect of owning platinum coins.

"Ten?" Touya pondered, up until now, he deducted how much the money would be if he were still on Earth, in Japan, 'Since one gold coin is usually around 100,000 Yen, if one platinum coin is worth ten of them, then that means in total we'd get 40,000,000 Yen… Holy shit…'

"Are you sure this would be alright?" Touya asked. Anxious at the amount of money he would have on his hands.

"Please, I assure you, it is." Alfred nodded, already making up his mind on it, "If you all intend to live as adventurers, then you will need all the money you can get, make use of these as your funds."

"Very well…" Touya gave in, once a man made up his mind, it's a hassle to try and change it.

"Also, I'd like to give you all these." Alfred laid out four medallions down, each one embedded with the crest of the Ernea.

"You can use them to pass any checkpoints and enter any of the nobility exclusive facilities. In any case, they are proof that you have the Duke House's full support, use them as a form of identification." Alfred explained.

All four took a medallion, staring at it in disbelief, they never would have dreamed of something like this would happen.

"Thanks for the medallions. Duke Alfred." Touya bowed his head in respect, thanking the man for this honor he gave them.

Remembering that they still had a letter to deliver, the party excused themselves from the premises and asked to leave.

The Duke nodded, following them outside his home as he saw them out, along with him were Sue and Ellen, waving goodbye to the people that saved their day.

"Come visit again! You better, okay!" Sue shouted, waving goodbye as they waved back, on their way to the Viscount and his long-awaited letter.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(WIthin the royal capital, [Alephis].)

After departing the Duke's mansion, the party set out to finally deliver the letter to Viscount Swordreck, their original reason for going to the capital.

"Eh? The requested letter is to be delivered to Viscount Swordreck?" Yae asked as she was seated next to Touya in the back, Elze and Linze were the ones taking control of the reins in her steed.

"Do you know him?" Touya inquired.

"Do I know him you ask…" Yae began, "The man I mentioned earlier whom my father is indebted to is none other than the [Viscount]."

"Really? Small world…" Touya smiled.

They continued to converse with each other on various topics to pass the time. Throughout his conversation with Yae, Touya found out that [Eashen] was a lot like his homeland. All the way down to the T, especially when it was in the Edo period.

Touya was at ease, knowing that his country was still with him, even if it was another world's version of it and is extremely similar to his own world's medieval era.

Before he could ask more, the twins called out to them, saying that they arrived at the Viscount's residence.

Hopping off the carriage, both parties settled in and went to meet up with Viscount Swordreck.

"I am Kalrossa Galn Swordreck. Did Zanac send you?" A middle-aged man asked, he looked as if he had a permanent scowl but it might just be how his face was shaped.

"Yes, we took his request to deliver this letter, we were also asked to receive a reply from you." Touya nodded, handing him the letter Zanac gave him.

"Very well, wait here. I'll write one." Viscount Swordreck nodded. Taking the letter and entering his home to read and make a reply.

It only took a few minutes and Swordreck came back and handed in his reply.

"I'll entrust this to you, give it to Zanac." The Viscount urged, "Also…"

"It's been bothering me for a while, but you, have we… No, we haven't met, but what's your name?" Swordreck asked, trying to figure out that nagging feeling he meet Yae somewhere.

"I am Kokonoe Yae." Yae explained, "I am the daughter of Kokonoe Jubei."

"Kokonoe… Kokonoe!" He exclaimed, "You! You're Jubei's daughter! No doubt, you look like Nanae when she was young! Looks like you took after your mother!"

"Ah, how do you know, Yae?" Touya asked.

"Hm? Oh, This girl's father is our viscountcies swordsmanship instructor." He then explained how Yae's father, Jubei really ironed him out as a young lad, shaping him from a spoiled noble to the disciplined man he is today.

"My father is always saying that among all the swordsmen until now." Yae began, "There has never been anyone as skilled an arm as you. If I was to ever meet you, he said to receive instruction from you."

"Oh?" Viscount Swordreck raised an eyebrow. Sensing an urge to spar, he smiled and asked for them to follow him to a dojo.

"This is the dojo that Jubei designed and my father built, it was made in Eashen fashion." Swordreck gestured, showing the group a one-to-one perfectly designed dojo of Japanese, or in this case, Eashen origin.

Likewise, the Viscount decided to change out of his royal clothing and change into the appropriate clothes, a simple garb of traditional Eashen clothing.

"It looks very much like my dojo at home! How nostalgic." Yae nodded, taking in the area as it was a reminder of her home.

'...I really need to see Eashen…' Touya mused, the more he heard about it, the more he wanted to visit it himself.

"Can anyone in your group use healing magic?" The Viscount asked, wanting to clarify before they could start the spar.

"Linze and I can." Touya gestured to himself and then to Linze. The Viscount nodded and asked Yae to ready herself.

"With that, no need to hold back, come at me with everything you got," Swordreck smirked. Readying his wooden sword.

Touya then reached into his pockets, taking his phone out of it. He opened the camera and started to record the match.

"...What are you doing?" Linze asked, curious at the small rectangular device Touya had pulled out.

"A little something to study for later," Touya answered with a smile on his face as he aligned the camera correctly.

"And… Start!" Elze, who was selected to be the referee, declared.

Unsurprisingly, Yae was the first to make her move, charging toward the Viscount. He blocked the strike with ease, returning the favor, but just like him, Yae blocked it and continued her onslaught.

Blow for blow, both combatants were easily skilled, for every strike one would make the other would have already seen it coming and answered with a block.

Yae tried to swing her sword downward, but the Viscount blocked it. She tried another, this time to his side but he saw that one too and answered accordingly.

The clashing sound of wooden swords reverbed through the dojo, each one a successful block from an attack.

Smirking to himself, Swordreck pushed Yae's sword aside and went on the offensive. Seeing the change, Yae switched into a defensive stance.

A barrage of strikes ensued, all of which Yae was able to block albeit with some difficulty as each one was stronger and faster than the one before it.

Of course, Yae wasn't idle in her defense, she did try to counter when an opening presented itself, but under the constant stress of the strikes, the openings she had were few and far between.

Thankfully, proving her worth, after a series of strikes she was able to block and a slash that forced the Viscount to reposition himself, he backed off. Giving Yae a chance to recover.

She huffed, barely holding on as the strikes she survived took a lot out of her.

"Hmm… I see." The Viscount thought out loud, "You use a proper blade."

"It's exemplary, you make no pointless movements, the exact thing I learned from Jubei," Swordreck explained.

"...Are you saying that's wrong?" Yae curiously asked. Readying herself for another onslaught.

"It's not wrong." Swordreck shook his head, "But for you, there's no up from there."

Raising his arms, the Viscount positioned his sword above his head, and while it created an opening, Yae's instincts screamed at her not to fall for it, like she saw an unreasonable roadblock.

On edge, Yae decided against attacking him directly, opting for a defensive stance.

"Here I come." Swordreck declared.

One moment he was a few feet away from Yae. The next, he was right up her face. This surprised her as Yae desperately tried to bring her sword up to block the strike from above.

However, try as she might, she was already downed on the floor. The strike, while she felt like she blocked it, still went through her defenses and struck her down. Giving the win to the Viscount.

"Enough!" Elze announced. Linze and Touya rushed to their downed comrade and healed her injuries.

Casting a healing spell, Yae stopped flinching from pain, regathering herself, she stood back up, an atmosphere of defeat but understanding around her.

"...That's enough." Yae bowed her head, "I am grateful for your instruction."

"Your sword is without a shadow." The Viscount began, his eyes piercing through Yae's, "Interweaved with truth and lie, to draw back as if advancing, to loosen and becoming relentless. You cannot bring out the full range of the dojo sword skill with just a blade. I won't say that's wrong. After all, strength is up to one's self."

"However, I will ask you the same question your father asked me." The viscount narrowed his eyes.

"What do you want from the blade?" He turned his back, leaving Yae and the others with their thoughts, "If you start from there, and once you know the path you have taken, only then can you come back here."

Left in deep thought, Yae pondered over the words Swordreck told her.

What did she want from the blade?

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(Sometime later…)

It had been a few minutes since they departed from the Viscount's home, however, Yae was still affected by the question he gave her.

In the back of the carriage, she was joined by Touya and Elze, worried about their friend as the words affected her more than they initially thought.

"It's ok!" Elze started, trying to make a conversation, "Don't worry about it too much."

"A battle is just the luck of the draw, you'll lose when it's your time to lose." Elze tried her best to cheer Yae up, however, it wasn't that she was defeated that made her mood drop.

"Elze-dono… That's not really the problem here." Yae sighed.

"So,what will you do now?" Touya asked her, "We're going back to [Reflet] but…"

"What to do…?" Yae thought out loud, aimlessly trying to think of something.

"If you don't have a destination! You should come with us to [Reflet] too! You can enter the guild and join up with us and do training on the side!" Elze offered. Hoping for Yae to accept it.

'On the side huh?' Touya smiled, seeing what Elze was trying to do.

"That's fine but-"

"Then it's decided!"

'Wow, so pushy…' The only male in the group sighed, 'Well, I'm guessing it's Elze's way of worrying about Yae, can't fault her for that.'

'Still, that strike, it was fast but I still saw it happen.' Touya mused, during the match with the Viscount and Yae, the last attack the Swordreck did was amazing, and while he knew Elze, Linze, and even Yae didn't see it, he did.

For any onlooker, Yae looked as if she dropped from the sheer force that hit her wooden sword, however for Touya, he saw that the clash never really happened in the first place, while Yae was focused on the blade hitting her from above, she neglected to protect her sides, leaving the Viscount and opening and downing her from a strike to her waist.

"It is regrettable if only I could see that swordsmanship again…" Yae's grumble pulled Touya out of his thoughts. Remembering he recorded the match for later use. Touya decided to tell her about it.

"You can, actually." He said nonchalantly.

"...What?"

"Here, let me show you." Touya pulled out his phone and searched for the video of the match, "Here we go."

Both Elze and Yae were mesmerized by the small device, gathering around it and asking how such a small object was housing them and the Viscount.

"Calm down." Touya bonked them on the head, "This is my personal magic, I recorded what happened before so you can see it again. That and I was curious about how the Viscount fought."

"This is amazing! This magic!" Yae praised, continuing to watch the match.

"What kind of magic?" Elze asked.

"Hmm… Smartphone." Touya answered. Since smartphones don't exist here, he might as well use the real name.

"Smartphone? I've never heard of that magic before, well. It's null magic so figures." Elze shrugged, not wanting to find out how it works, and just watched the video.

While watching the video, Yae was finally able to understand what the Viscount meant and how the attack connected with her despite her blocking it.

"[Shadow Blade]…"

"[Shadow Blade]?" Touya repeated, he already guessed the effects but seeing as Yae knew its name, he could get more from her.

"A technique that turns a fighting spirit into a blade. It's nothing more than an illusion… But because I sensed its presence I subconsciously recognized its existence…" Yae explained, facepalming as she realized her mistake, "The Viscount most likely split the [Shadow Blade] above and the real sword to the side, I blocked the illusion but the real thing struck my opening… I completely fell for it…"

"So, you basically… You were shown an illusion?" Touya concluded. He was impressed that such a skill existed and now he was more interested in knowing if he could learn and utilize it for his own.

Yae nodded as she once again recalled what the Viscount told her.

"My sword is without shadow… I see now, it all makes sense…" Yae mumbled, finally getting what Swordreck meant, "Instead of waiting for an opening, you make it yourself… That or…"

"Hey- You alright, Yae?" Elze asked, concerned at her mumbling.

Yae smirked, seemingly figuring out the words and its meaning, her gloomy mood no longer there as she cheered up like she found an answer to her troubles.

"... I am all right!" Yae smiled, back to her cheery self like before, "I'm indebted to you, Touya-dono, I have decided. I will come along with you to [Reflet] and become an adventurer. There I'm going to train much, much harder and get stronger! Along with everyone else!"

"That's the way!" Elze in her excitement offered a high-five, which Yae happily returned.

"Uuunn, please include me too…" Linze, who was largely forgotten during the conversation, pouted.

"Ah."

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

"Since we're in the capital, we shouldn't go back right away, right?" Elze commented, "We have plenty of money. Let's do some shopping!"

Indeed, after finishing all they had come for in the city, now would be a great time for them to explore the city landscape and shop for items they could only find in the capital.

"Sure, here's the coins, spend them well." Touya approved, handing them 10 platinum coins each, once he did they decided they would meet up later.

Once they separated, Touya went to buy himself some armor, while he had his magic and buff his defense, in the event that he couldn't use his magic, a little armor on him would go a long way. He had a good grasp on what he wanted, something light but durable enough.

He entered one of the weapon shops, hoping to find such items.

"Welcome!" The store clerk greeted.

Touya waved back and then went to the armor section to take a look at the armor that was on display.

'Hmm… nothing here looks like it could fit me.' Touya mused, he needed something with room for movement while giving him the best amount of defense.

"Excuse me, what's the best armor you have here? Other than metal?" The adventurer asked.

"Other than metal, huh?" The store clerk hummed, then went in the back to grab one.

"In that case, how about [Spotted Rhino Armor]?" He showed, placing the item on the counter.

"Spotted Rhino?" Touya inquired.

"As the name suggests, it's a rhino with spotted pattern, this armor was made from the rhino's hide and is much harder and more robust than armor made from normal hides." The store clerk boasted.

"...It's still worse than metal armor." Touya deadpanned.

"Well, yes… Without the effects of [Magical Power Assignment], normally that's how it is…" The store clerk nodded solemnly.

"Is there any magically assigned armor here?" If that was the case, Touya asked, hoping for there to be some.

"We don't sell any here, it's quite expensive after all." The store clerk shook her head, crossing his arms, "I believe there is some in the armor shop [Berukt] on the east street, but it only has services to nobles."

"Only nobles?" Then Touya remembered the medallion Alfred gave him, "Well, I got this so I'm guessing this is enough to enter right?"

"THE DUCHY?!" The man behind the counter yelled, surprised that the customer he was talking with had the support of the Duke, "If you're a member of the Duchy then of course you can! You'll have no problem!"

"Ah, okay, can you tell me where the eastern street [Berukt] is?"

After asking for the directions and clarifying them, Touya left the store and started walking to the eastern streets. His destination to where [Berukt] was.

'Hmm… It says here I'll need to take a left to get to [Berukt]...' While walking, Touya spotted a young girl on the streets, looking around as if she was lost. 'Fox ears…'

"Hey, is something wrong?" Touya approached the young fox girl.

"Hya! Wha ish itt!" Startled, she bit her tongue.

'Oh wow, she bit her tongue.' Touya smiled, "No, you looked like you were lost so I was wondering if you were."

"Um… ummm… I got separated from my sister…" The young girl began, "We decided on a meeting place if we got separated but, I don't know where that place is…"

"Okay, where's your meeting place?" Pulling out his phone, Touya waited for her answer.

"Umm… I think it was a magic shop called [Luka]." She answered.

'There it is… Oh, it's on the same street as [Berukt] just a couple of steps ahead, perfect timing.' Searching for the shop, he found out that both his and her destination were just next to each other, "I'll show you the way, turns out I was heading the same direction."

"Really! Thank you very mush!" She thanked him.

'She bit her tongue again.' Touya nodded and gestured for her to walk with him.

Striking up a conversation, Touya introduced himself and found out her now was Alma and she was a fox Demi-Human.

"Are you here for sightseeing, Touya?" Alma asked, skipping in her steps.

"Nope, work. What about you, Alma?" Touya answered, idly checking his phone every now and then.

"I came along with my sister for her work. I wanted to see the capital!" Alma declared.

"Alma!" An older woman called Alam, Touya saw a woman who looked like an older version of her.

"Ah, big sister!" Alma ran up to her, arms wide.

"I was so worried about you! Please don't separate from me again!" Her sister emphasized.

"Sorry… But it's ok since Touya showed me the way here." Alma gestured to the man in question, and he waved.

"Sorry for causing you any trouble, but thank you for looking after her." Alma's big sister bowed as well as Alma.

"It's fine, I was just about to go this way too. It was no problem at all." Touya waved his hand, saying his goodbyes, he left the sisters and went to the shop he intended to go to.

Once he did, he was greeted with a very fancy-looking building. Far more good-looking than the shop he visited earlier.

"Definitely for nobles alright." He murmured quietly, "Welp no use standing out here for, let's go."

Touya grabbed the handle to the door and opened it, entering the store and seeing what it had to offer him.

"Welcome." A middle-aged female employee bowed, greeting the customer.

"Welcome to [Berukt], is this your first time coming to this store?" She asked. Having not seen Touya before.

"Yes, this is my first time visiting." He nodded.

"Do you have anything that would prove your identity? Such as a letter of recommendation from someone?" The employee asked. Touya nodded and presented the Duke's medallion, she scanned the object and nodded.

"That will do, thank you very much." She bowed, "What business are you attending today?"

"Could you show me what magically assigned armor you have?" Touya asked, putting the medallion back into his pockets.

"Understood, please follow me." She gestured along, Touya nodded and followed her through the store.

He was led to a room full of armor of various types. When he entered the room, Touya could sense magical properties from all of them and it confused him. When did he have the ability to sense enchanted items?

"Are these all magically assigned?"

"Yes."

Touya approached one of the items, a pair of gauntlets painted in black with gold ornaments.

"Those are [Herculean Gauntlets] they are assigned with strengthening magic." The female employee explained, she then took a pair of winged boots from the counter in the room, "These are [Hermes' Boots] they have a speed boosting capabilities."

"Hmm. I'm looking for non-metal armor, something not too heavy but still robust enough to defend." Touya inquired.

"Then, how about this hide jacket?" The employee showed off a black jacket with a dragon motif, it even had the Chinese Long Dragon plastered on the back and everything, "It has blade resist, fire resist, and lightning resist assigned to it."

"Hmm…" Touya pondered, while it wasn't a bad design to him, it's just not his style though the enchantments placed on it were enticing.

However, before he could give the jacket any thought, he spotted a peculiar white coat from the corner of his eye.

"What's this?"

"Ah, that coat has blade resist, heat resist, cold resist, and blow resist, against magical attacks, it also has an irregularly high magic resist." She listed off the amount of resistance packed into the coat, "However, there is a slight problem."

"Problem?"

"The magic resistance will only be effective against the wearer's own aptitude. Otherwise, it doubles the damage taken by any aptitude the wearer does not have." The employee explained.

Touya hummed, if the catch is that because it has so high magical resistance is to compensate for the lack of defense against an aptitude the wearer doesn't have, which means it's not a problem to Touya, he smirked, 'That doesn't apply to me!'

"Could I try it on?"

"Please." She nodded.

After putting it on and checking himself, the coat itself was pretty comfortable and easy enough to move in. Touya smiled, but this wasn't the only thing he'll get.

"I'll take it, and can you add in the [Herculean Gauntlets] and [Hermes' Boots]?"

"Very well." She smiled, "In total that will be…"

(Sometime later…)

"Ah, there he is," Elze announced, getting the attention of Yae and Linze.

"You're late!" Elze informed, but then noticed he had a new getup, "Ooh? Looks like you went shopping for some armor, Touya. What are they?"

"Well for starters." Touya smirked, flexing his coat, and began boasting about his purchase, "This coat is enchanted with all kinds of resistance. One of them being a high magical resistance to all elements. These gauntlets on the other hand? Pun intended. Give me enhanced strength and these boots increase my speed."

"Ah, so if you lose your yari, you have a fallback plan along with your katana, Touya-dono?" Yae asked, seemingly figuring out Touya's thought process for buying them.

"That's right, Yae." He nodded, "While I'm not as skilled as you and Elze when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. I can still defend myself when the situation calls for it."

"I see, I see, Very good choice, Touya-dono." Yae nodded, going back to the carriage and waiting for them when they were done talking.

"All elemental resistance is amazing." Linze was amazed at the equipment and so were Yae and Elze, "How much were they in total?"

"Twenty-eight gold coins." Touya nonchalantly said.

"Twenty-eight gold coins?!" Elze blurted out, but then she calmed herself down and began to think over the benefits, "I mean… If you count all of the enchantments along with their respective functions, I guess it was all worth it, especially the coat…"

Elze then went back to the carriage, mumbling to herself about the expenses while Touya could just shake his head. It was not like he minded spending a bit for himself, he did after all save up all of this money for later use.

Hopping in with Elze and Linze in the back, Yae once again took the driver seat and took control of the reins, but before she could order the horses to move, Touya asked her to stop.

"Why have we stopped the cart here?" She curiously asked.

"Instead of out in the middle of [Reflet], how about on the road a little bit before the town?" Touya asked Elze who nodded in agreement. Yae was confused, what were they talking about?

"Yeah, sounds like a better idea." Elze gave a thumbs up, "Go for it."

Touya hopped off the carriage and went in front of it, holding his hand out he chanted {Gate} for a faster travel time.

"{Gate}"

And just like before, a transparent door opened, though this one was a little bigger as it needed to fit the carriage. The appearance of the spell surprised Yae as she has never seen this type of spell before and she was quite frightened by its sudden appearance.

"What is this!?" She blurted out.

"Then worry about it, just keep going," Touya reassured her, waving his hand and ushering her to go.

And just like that, the [Adventurer's Guild] gained another adventurer and Touya gained a new companion.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

Someone was asking since this is a harem fic, if it was the same as canon or if I was gonna add in some new additions.

Firstly, yes, there will be new girls added to the harem along with the original 9 wives as Touya and just like them they'll be coherent with the whole astronomical symbols. One of the newer ones would be Tsubaki, I just like her. The others are cross-over from other anime and manga I think would fit this setting.

Secondly, the Babylon Girls are sadly not in the harem, though they will play a more active role in it, just not officially part of the harem.

Oh, and this might be a great time to say that this fanfic will have some minor crossovers mostly just characters from the aforementioned other anime and manga, the only really big thing that'll be crossed over is a faction, and you'll probably find out about them during the journey to Mismede.