Slip Forward

by lofipoim

Rudeus Greyrat had engaged the Hydra in battle. After only one head of the monster remained, something happened and the next time Rudeus woke up he was outside the Labyrinth. His mana was depleted, body sore but worst of all, the Labyrinth's entrance was nowhere to be seen. SPOILERS to the end of the light web novels series. K423 Rudeus time slips to K485.

**Rudeus POV**

I woke up in pain

My body was heavy and numb, this heavy drained feeling, was I out of mana?

I opened my eyes to find myself laying on sand.

"Where am i?"

What's the last thing I remember? I was... I went to Begarrit continent to help Paul, along with Elinalize we made it, and after rescuing Roxy with Paul, Geese, Talhand and Elinalize, we regrouped and delved to the last floor of the Teleport Labyrinth where we...

"Hydra!"

That's right! We were in the middle of battling the Hydra! What happened?! Why am I outside?!

I shot up to my feet, fully waking up, my body was much heavier than i thought and i almost fell back, but I got up. It seems like I'm exhausted of mana.

I looked around, I saw I was high up on a cliff, I could see the maze city of Rapan in the distance, this was the entrance to the Teleport Labyrinth. But the entrance was nowhere to be seen, the previous cave opening was missing, only a wall was apprent.

I tried to open the cave with earth magic, but I was out of mana to attempt it.

What happened?! Why was the cave entrance gone? What happened to the party? to Paul? to Zenith? Roxy, Elinalize, Talhand, Geese, were they safe? Why am i outside?

Sitting down, I recounted the events so far, I had no problem remembering my life, I believe there's no memory issue, at least i hope. The last thing I remembered was the Hydra going down to it's last head, and it screamed, afterwards it's blank.

"I hope everyone is safe..."

I checked my bearings and confirmed my equipments. All of our Labyrinth exploring gear was entrusted to Geese, so on me was my clothes and robe, Aqua Heartia, 3 light spirit summoning scroll, pouch of emergency funds of each currency, and two magic stones that Elinalize gave me.

Being out of mana and not having camping gear, it was a dangerous situation to be in. Traveling back to Rapan alone without enough mana was too dangerous, investigating the now closed cave was not possible with my lack of mana and equipment. For now I have to avoid panicking and making an informed decision, so I have to recover first.

I decided to sit by the shade of a nearby rock, and rest until my mana and stamina recovered enough. Then I would make shelter for the night and investigate the cave tomorrow.

After what felt like an hour, I heard footsteps and chatter in the distance. Some people were climbing this cliff, it must be other adventurers interested in the Teleport Labyrinth. I listened closely to what they were saying.

"Now we're almost there, again I have to remind you to be careful on your mana usage Merry, only use magic when me and Fran requests it understood?"

"Yeah yeah I get it, still stingy about mana potions i get it"

"Hey mana potions aren't cheap! Eris isn't just being stingy, we need to be careful with our supplies or otherwise-"

"I get that but if we are too careful about our mana usage, we might end up dead in there you know!"

Mana potions? Was there such a thing in this world? Wait, before that-

"Eris?!"

I approached the party, startled by the familiar name. Was Eris here?! Then was Ghislaine also here? Could the two have come to Begarrit to challenge Labyrinths and become stronger?

I could now see the party, it was a party of 3 young adventurers. Two young girls and one guy. The three looked startled, the girl leading the party reached for her sword. The boy and the girl in the back held magic staffs, so two magicians and one sworswoman or warrior.

"Who goes there!?"

The party leader girl asked strongly while gripping her sword. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes. Carrying a large rucksack that has to be their supplies, wearing leather armor and white coack over it. She was around my height and was looking straight into my eyes with hostility and suspicion.

"I-I'm sorry if i startled you miss, my name is Rudeus Greyrat, a magician. I got separated from my party in the Teleport Labyrinth and ran out of mana."

I bowed slightly to show respect and introduced myself, the three of them eased slightly, the swordswoman let go of her sword and was now folding her arms and looking at me suspiciously.

A girl in the back spoke in whispers with the boy in her party, both of them seemed wary of me. As they didn't address me, I continued.

"It seems like the Teleport Labyrinth entrance is blocked mysteriously, so I was resting here to recover my mana before heading back to Rapan to regroup with our waiting team before heading back to investigate. When I saw you three approach."

"I see, well sir Rudeus-"

"Don't lie to me!"

The boy in the back began to speak but was cut off by their leader, the swords woman. The girl wore an expression of suspicion, and yelled loudly, although she looked different to the Eris i know, she held a similar pose and was similarly loud.

"Around this area, there's only one labyrinth and it isn't the Teleport Labyrinth that was conquered over 50 years ago! Don't take me for a fool imposter!"

"Conquered 50 years ago?"

What was she saying? Our party was just there, it wasn't conquered yet. Also imposter?

"Oh yeah Fran, the entrance to the famous Teleport Labyrinth used to be around here right?"

The girl behind referred to the boy next to her, Fran. The boy nodded, understanding. I wish I understood what they were saying as well. It made no sense to me.

"I-I see, then what other Labyrinth is there if not the Teleport Labyrinth?"

"You came all the way out here without knowing that?!"

"Eris, the Labyrinth is newly discovered so it wouldn't be strange for him to not know it."

The boy named Fran put his hand on the girl, now named Eris's shoulder and seemed to calm her down. Then looked at me and continued talking.

"I'm sorry for Eris's suspicions sir. We were in the middle of planning for the labyrinth before encountering you, so we might have been too tense. My name is Fran, a mage and adventurer and Eris here is our leader and swordswoman, and she's Merry, a mage as well."

Fran extended his hand and we shook hands. Fran was a boy slightly shorter than me, I keep referring to him as boy but he was probably over 15. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, and boyish face. He was wearing similar clothing to Eris, and holding a staff with a small magic stone on it.

"No there's nothing to apologize about, I understand I startled you. It's good to be wary of strangers near Labyrinths."

"Thank you for understanding, now, about the Labyrinth up ahead, it's newly discovered and not much is known, it hasn't been named yet as well. All we know is that on the first floor there's Tarantula Deathlords, so it has been tough to delve deeper."

New Labyrinth? Tarantula Deathlords were in the Teleport Labyrinth as well, they are tough monsters of B rank. A party needs to have detoxification magic to deal with them.

"I see, what is your Party name if I may ask?"

I asked Fran, and he seemed slightly embarrassed, Eris answered loudly.

"Dead End!"

"Haha, Eris here is a big fan of the stories you see. Even being named after the Sword King Eris."

Fran explained in a bashful tone

"Why are you getting all embarrassed about Fran! It's not like there's anything shameful about looking up to heroes! You're a fan as well right?"

Dead End? Heroes? Has my Superdia PR campaign reached all the way to Rapan? Or did they hear it when they were in the demon continent somehow?

"I see, I like the name Dead End, sounds like you guys are heroes of justice. Well then, can I request to hire you guys to escord me to Rapan? I need to reunite with the rest of my party to plan things ahead."

"Huh?! We gotta go back after all that-"

"Excuse me sir! With such an abrupt request, we would have to charge quite highly to make it worthwile. I think at least..."

Fran shut Eris's mouth with his hand before she got loud, and answered in her place. It seems like he does the negotiations. This is an abrupt request afterall, so I'll have to pay enough to make it worth their time. I had no other choice anyways, it was emergency.

"I'll give you these two magic stones, it's all i have on me currently. Of course after reuniting with my party, I can pay you more. This is an emergency for me and I understand this is abrupt, so I'll pay to make it worth your time. So please."

I bowed and presented the magic stones Elinalize gave me, these were very high quality stones and it fetches quite a high price. With Begarrit preferring barter and not using the currency much, this was better than coins.

The three went quiet for a second, I couldn't see their expressions due to bowing.

"I-I see, these stones will be enough for payment sir. We can escort you to Rapan."

"Huh?! Fran! This guy is suspicious no matter how you look at it! He's an imposter who's claiming to be-"

"Eris! Listen here!"

When Eris started yelling, the other girl, Merry grabbed Eris and pulled her away. Eris quieted down and followed Merry.

Merry had short dark blue hair, and black eyes. She had a pretty face and was slightly shorter than Fran, who was shorter than Eris. The smallest of the group took the tallest and hurried off to talk privately, the two were whispering to each other at some distance from us.

"Sir Rudeus Greyrat right? The adventurer party Dead End will accept your request and escort you to Rapan. Are you ready to move right away sir?"

Fran asked, taking my attention away from the whispering duo

"Yes, I have everything on me. As I'm out of mana unfortunately I won't be able to cast magic to help. So I'll be relying on you for combat."

"Understood sir, Eris! Merry! We're going back to Rapan. You're okay with it right?"

Eris and Merry returned from their secret whispering session, Eris had an annoyed expression and nodded her head.

"Yup! Let's go back! sir Rudeus!"

Merry answered, smiling at me with an understanding look. I wonder what the two talked about.

Well, I was paying quite well for an easy request so it makes sense for her to be in a good mood.

Rapan was relatively near, but it was still took more than a day on foot. Our party with Paul, the Labyrinth diving team traveled on horsebacks so it took less time, but this Dead End party traveled on foot.

Finding out that the horses we had were nowhere to be seen was foreboding. The situation was deeply concerning. All I can assume is that I was teleported out of the Labyrinth during the fight with the Hydra. But with the entrance cave being closed, Paul and the others nowhere to be seen, and the horses gone, there were too many unknown elements to the situation.

During my travel with the Dead End II, we mostly encountered the most common Begarrit Monster, the Cactus Treant. I had recovered enough mana to cast some simple spells to help out a little, but the party leader Eris insisted on taking care of combat on their own.

"We don't need some imposter getting in our way! Just stay near Fran and let us do our jobs!"

Was her wording. It made me nostalgic seeing a young swordswoman named Eris yelling loudly at people. Was she a secret child of the Boreas family or something? The two didn't look similar but the mannerism was similar.

We encountered some Cactus Treants, a C rank monster of treant kind. Dead End made short work of the monsters, it gave me some sense of pride seeing adventurers bearing the name Dead End being strong.

Eris seems to be advanced rank in the Sword God style. If her hair wasn't blonde but red, eyes not blue but red, and her face a little different, the she would be almost identical to the Eris i knew. Especially seeing her reckless combat style and loud mannerisms.

Fran was a mage who is intermediate rank in healing magic. He often used elementary and intermediate water and fire magic as well. He mostly supported Eris and Merry in combat.

Merry was an attack mage who was advanced rank in 3 of the elements, only water being intermediate. She was in charge of most of the ranged attacks in the party. Often getting told off by Fran for wasting too much mana with flashy intermediate magic when elementary would suffice.

Their teamwork was good, and they were all friendly and had deep trust in each other. Seeing their dynamic made me smile. Eris being loud and aggressive, Merry trying to use flashy magic, and Fran trying to reel the two of them in. They were a good team.

Night came so we had to camp. We were almost there at Rapan but traveling at night was dangerous with Succubus around. I had no intention of cheating on Sylphie with a young swordswoman named Eris, not to mention how getting reminded of Eris still hurt a little.

"Oh let me help set up the tent"

The three of them started setting up camp, and didn't ask me to help. I know I'm the client here, but I still want to help. Fran smiled and let me help around, I ended up helping with the cooking.

"Oh sir Rudeus seems to be used to traveling. That's surprising."

Fran said, while eating. We were seated around a campfire, eating our meal while making small talk. The party mostly talked amongts themselves, but Fran included me into the conversation now.

"Well, I've been an adventurer for almost 6 years now."

"A-Ah that's right, sorry for being rude sir."

Fran apologized, Merry smiled cheekily at me

"Sir Rudeus, can you tell me about yourself?"

Fran asked, and the other two's attention turned to me as well.

"Well, I was born in the fittoa region of the central continent. I learned magic from my master Roxy Migurdia. And after the mass displacement incident I've been mostly adventuring."

"Hoo where were you teleported?"

"Unluckily, I was teleported to the demon continent"

"Alone?"

Eris asked, her tone still cold towards me

"Well luckily I had my... friend Eris with me and I also met a heroic Superd named Ruijerd who helped us."

The three of them continued asking questions, and the conversation turned into me telling my stories of adventure in the demon continent and the northern continents. Initially Eris, and even the other two by extent had some suspicion in their voice when asking questions. But as I continued with my story they seemed to have warmed up to me and was asking questions that helped me tell the story in an entertaining way.

"How did Eris fight the Red Hood Cobra?!"

This Eris asked quite a lot about the Eris i know

"Blaze, the leader of the adventurer party that arrived in the forest before us was caught in the Cobra's mouth. Eris urged us to help the guy, and Ruijerd assured us that we could defeat the monster."

The group was absorbed in the story, so I was doing hand gestures and sound effects to add flair

"I fired my stone canon but it missed, and Ruijerd leaped headfirst to the Cobra and managed to slash it across it's body while falling. Blue blood splattered everywhere. Eris's first attack couldn't penetrate the Cobra's tough scales, but after Ruijerd stopped the monster when it attacked me, Eris leaped in again and this time delivered a mighty downward slash like SWISH and cut the giant Red Hood Cobra in two!"

"Oooh!"

"As expected of the Mad Sword King!"

"Aaaah so cool!"

The reception to my telling of the adventures of Dead End in the demon continent was great. The three had excited expressions on their faces like they were hearing a great Trobadour performance. I noticed that the reception was particularly great when Eris and Ruijerd was focused, and I didn't really talk about my involvement that much, I was singing the praises of the two so it would embarrassing to talk about myself in a similar way.

Although the positive reception was great and seeing them warm up to me was good. There were some things i found odd.

"Sword King? Did Eris become a Sword King?"

The three of them kept reffering to Eris as Mad Sword King, did they learn of Eris before meeting me? I initially thought it was a different Eris who was a sword king, but while telling the story it seems like they were referring to the same Eris i knew.

"Yeah of course, she's famous. How do you, sir Rudeus not know that she's a Sword King?"

Eris claimed, Merry chuckled and leaned into Eris's ear to whisper. All I could make out of the whispers were "setting". After hearing Merry's whispers, Eris got an understanding look and nodded. That's weird. Did she have some whisper based hypnosis magic or something?

"I haven't seen or heard of Eris since we seperated 3 years ago in Fittoa. Did she become a Sword King since we seperated?"

"Yes, lady Eris became a Sword King at the Sword Sanctum under the tutolage of Gal Farion."

Fran answered. Well good for her, it seems like seperating from her allowed her to grow stronger. She was right when she wrote "we aren't a good match" in her letter afterall.

"Have you met Eris, Fran?"

"Oh I've never had the fortune to do so. Although I heard that she was a hero worthy of respect."

Fran said, so he only heard about her

"I see, hope she's doing well."

"I also hope wherever she is, that she is happy."

Fran said somberly, Merry and Eris also seemed somber.

"Well then, it was fun hearing your tales sir Rudeus. It's about time we rest for the night, our party will take watch for the night so go ahead and sleep sir Rudeus."

said Merry, smiling with satisfaction

"Thanks for the stories about Eris, it was quite fun."

said Eris, she seems like a big fan of Eris somehow, it was quite strange. Maybe the two had met and Eris inspired her? The two had the same name, and they were both swordswoman, so liking the other seems reasonable. It sounds unlikely but she seems to genuinely look up to her, maybe I should ask about her tomorrow.

"You're welcome Eris. You remind me of her quite a bit, and seeing that you respect her makes me happy."

At that Eris blushed a bit

"T-There's no way I resemble her!"

She walked away, and sat down turned away from me.

"Haha she must be happy to hear that sir Rudeus. Your words are very convincing afterall."

"Thanks? Do you want help keeping watch? I'd love to help"

"No no, don't worry about it, we're used to this. Just go to sleep."

Merry said, and following her words I went to sleep. I was quite exhausted being out of mana and my body was also completely out of energy.

The next day, we woke up at noon and resumed our travel to Rapan.

On the road to Rapan, the party was much friendlier with me compared to yesterday. They kept asking me about some small details about my travels, about Eris and Ruijerd as well.

Maybe I have talent as troubadour, as it seems like they really enjoyed my stories yesterday. Ever since I got punched by Paul for telling the story in a similar way, I lost confidence in my story telling abilities. But with this I've regained it, maybe I should tell stories like this to my child when I get back.

...

Paul, Zenith, Lilia, Roxy, Elinalize, Tallhand, Geese, i hope they're safe. I hope Sylphie and everyone back home is safe. Zanoba and cliff are there, so is Ariel, Luke and Nanahoshi, I believe they will take care of Sylphie. Aisha and Norn must be worried sick as well.

I have to get back safely with everyone. I can't fail.

We arrived at Rapan at noon.

"Well then, thank you very much for escorting me to Rapan. You really saved me in this emergency. After we get to my Inn we will pay you more for your troubles."

"You're welcome sir Rudeus. We have been paid much more than even the greediest price I could have asked for. There's no way I can ask for more after getting paid that much and hearing such fun stories."

Fran answered, the other two nodded as well.

"I see, well I'm returning to the inn our waiting team is staying at to inform them of the situation."

I told them of the name and location of the Inn

"Then we are heading to our own inn then, we will rest for a day and return to the Labyrinth."

"I see, thanks again for escorting me. If you change your mind about the payment, or feel like helping us with the Teleportation Labyrinth then come find us, we will welcome you with open arms."

Fran nodded, and told me of the Inn they were staying at.

"Actually, sir Rudeus before we part, one last thing."

Merry called to me before I turned away to head to my inn.

"I'm sorry to break the act at the end, but if I were you I would be careful about claiming you were the late Rudeus Greyrat. I could tell you truly respect the man from traveling together, but I'm not sure if everyone else would go along with your act as kindly."

Merry told me, showing concern in her voice

"Excuse me, what do you mean by the late Rudeus?"

What did she mean? Going along with my act? Hearing my question, the three of them looked confused.

"W-Were you not aware sir? Rudeus Greyrat passed away 5 years ago in Sharia."

"Merry!"

Merry informed me, and Fran seemed upset for some reason. passed away?

"But I'm right here? What do you mean?"

"Aaah! Enough with the act already!"

Eris yelled at me, and grabbed me by my collars, looking dead into my eyes, then continued

"I get that you want to be like the real Rudeus, and you probably didn't hear the news of his passing somehow. But stop with the obnoxious act of pretending to be the dead! It's disrespectful to the dead and his family!"

"I-I'm sorry I'm very confused right now."

What the hell are they talking about? Rudeus was dead and I was a fake? I don't have the time to be dealing with this, I need to reunite with Lilia and start searching for Paul and investigate the Labyrinth entrace.

"Eris! That's enough!"

Fran pulled Eris away from me. Then looked at me with a much more serious expression, his usual gentle expression gone.

"I'm sorry sir, I was trying not to break the act until the very end. But now that it's broken, I will also tell my honest thoughts. I'm grateful for your generous payment, and I enjoyed hearing your very realistic stories of being Rudeus and traveling with lady Eris and sir Ruijerd. But I also have to agree with Eris that it is disrespectful to claim you were the real Rudeus Greyrat and claim his achievements for yourself. I respect the man greatly as well, as I was raised in Asura kingdom, I had relatives saved personally by sir Paul after the displacement incident afterall. But please, just tell the stories as a normal troubadour without claiming you're the late Rudeus Greyrat."

"Wh-What do you mean? What do you mean by late Rudeus? Did someone tell you that I died or something? I'm real and alive!"

Fran also agreed, and claimed I was a fake. It was the first time I've ever seen the three, and yet they speak as if they know the 'real Rudeus Greyrat'.

"Come on, Still!? Fran told you kindly. Can't you stop already?!"

Eris yelled at me again, now furious.

"Now now, the man clearly has some issues, we should be more understanding Fran, Eris."

Merry held back Eris, she would have punched me otherwise. I would have dodged of course, but it was still surprising.

"Now, 'sir Rudeus' I suspected that your act was specifically that of Rudeus from k423 when he conquered the teleport Labyrinth right?"

"Again! What do you mean act?! It is k423 right?! I don't have time for the three of you to accuse me like this! I need to reunite with Lilia and the others already."

I was now furious, the words made no sense, if what they were saying was true somehow, then, but it can't be, it was only yesterday when we were in the boss room of the Labyrinth I need to confirm Paul and the others safety already and-

"It's k485 now, sir Rudeus Greyrat passed away 5 years ago. I find your act impressive and almost convincing in it's realism, but pointless. Everyone knows he passed away, no one would believe you, and all you will manage to do with your act is annoy or piss people off."

Merry stated bluntly, her usual kind and understanding tone gone. Clearly annoyed and disgusted.

k485? They're saying that 62 years passed?

"Now, let's go Eris, Merry. We don't need to tell him any more."

The three walked away, after Eris gave me one last disgusted look.

**Fran POV**

We had arrived at the Labyrinth city Rapan two months ago.

The city was a famous gathering spot for high level adventurers who wanted to delve deep into various Labyrinths. There were tough monsters all around the Begarrit continent, and particularly around Rapan there were deep Labyrinths all around. The city which is located in the middle of the giant ribcage of a Behemoth that was felled by the North God Kalman the second himself. It was a legendary city.

Us the Dead End, had become an A rank party three months ago. We were together for 5 years, and travelled across the world accomplishing as many quests as we could. To become a party worthy of that name.

We first met each other at the funeral of the Great Mage, Sorcery King Rudeus Greyrat of the seven signitures.

The death of such legendary figure brought sadness to the entire world as the news rippled. Everyone who looked up to him had rushed to Sharia where the funeral would take place.

I was a C rank adventurer at the time based in the northern regions of Asura Kingdom. Born in the south, I traveled up north as I became an adventurer and gradually improved my skills, to search for harder jobs and better adventures.

I grew up listening to the tales of the great mage Rudeus and his friends. He was truly the man of the century, the k400s history was filled with the mention of his name. I got education thanks to the education reforms he and lady Roxy M Greyrat had implemented across the central continent. I learned magic from the new magic textbook he published for cheap, and learned to read from the picture books he sold to families for cheap.

My parents only had good things to say about him. My father was a fittoa local, and while he was away from home during his youth, the displacement incident happened. My father traveled around the central continent to look for his family, and thanks to lord Rudeus's father, Paul Greyrat, his brother and mother was found and saved from slavery.

It was during his travels looking for his family that he met my mother and the two traveled together until they learned that the Fittoa Search and Rescue party had saved their family.

So I grew up looking up to lord Rudeus. Learning magic to become just like him one day. And I traveled north slowly while improving my skills, to hopefully make it to Sharia one day to pay my respects to the man if I was lucky enough.

So when I learned of his death, I was struck with grief, and I rushed to Sharia.

There the funeral took place. Sharia was packed with travelers from all across the world. You could see all kinds of races in the crowd as well. As his reputation was global, and the Rudo mercenary group was famous for it's diversity and it's bases were almost as well spread as the adventurer's guild.

Every royal family in the world had sent someone to attend. Famous adventurers, nobles, scholars, artists, and common folk who looked up to Rudeus, all who could make their way to Sharia was there.

The legendary Demon God slaying hero, Armored Dragon King Perugius Dola along with his spirits. Her majesty the Queen Ariel of Asura Kingdom herself. Chieftans representing the clans of the great forest. Several demon gods from the Demon continent. As well as several world powers, the former Death God Randolph Marianne, Jino Britts the Sword God, the current Reida Reia the Water God, the North God Kalman the third. And most importantly the elusive Dragon God Orsted himself had appeared.

The Kingdom of Ranoa had done their best to manage the influx of the grieving funeral attendents that gathered from all around the world. Adventurers as well as Rudo mercenaries were hired to assist with checkpoints and crowd management as well as patrolling to ensure public order. Thankfully the royalty had only arrived close to the date of the funeral using teleportation circles, and their stays were brief. Accomidating this many nobility for an extended period was an impossible task for the Kingdom afterall.

It was there that I met Eris and Merry.

The two were also helping out with the tasks given by the kingdom. We had bonded over our similar childhood of looking up to the heroes and trying to become like them.

Eris's parents were Asuran nobility, they had named her after the Mad Sword King Eris to curry favors with the Water God Reida Reia and the Queen Ariel. Her parents looked up to the Sword King as well, but only to a normal degree. Eris herself learned of the hero she was named after while attending a Water God style fencing school. From there on she aimed to become just like her Hero and went out to become an adventurer. When her parents were against it, she had disowned herself and ran away from home. Casting away her life in Nobility. She made her way to the Demon continent, but ended up basing in the Millis continent before hearing of the passing and heading to Sharia.

Merry was a Sharia local. She was a student of Roxy M Greyrat herself and naturally as a Sharia local, respected the Greyrat family even more than the actual royal family that they knew almost nothing about. She had interacted with lord Rudeus few times and had grown to admire him, and after graduating Ranoa she set out to become an adventurer like how Roxy did in her youth. Hoping to find someone like Rudeus in a Labyrinth somewhere like her master Roxy did all those years ago.

Me and Eris was of course bitterly jealous of Merry whenever she talked about interacting with lady Roxy and Sylphie the few times she did.

Eris took initiative and made us become an adventurer party named Dead End. Named after the party lord Rudeus had in his youth when traveling to the central continent from the demon continent alongside lady Eris and lord Ruijerd.

Me and Merry were embarrassed about it and hesitate to call ourselves with that name, but Eris claimed that our goal should be to become adventurers worthy of the name. And we hesitatingly agreed, grief over lord Rudeus was still fresh in our hearts afterall. If we had met a year later I doubt I would've agreed to the name.

After our party had formed in Sharia, we adventured around the northern regions of the Magic Triumvirate for a year. Then we headed to the millis continent, then to the demon continent for three year total. And finally, after long travels, and many adventures, we decided to head to Rapan to truly challenge ourselves with Labyrinths. The goal being to clear a large Labyrinth with just the three of us in the next 3 years. A task we thought was of a heroic difficulty.

Encounter with the Succubus in the Begarrit continent had made some things awkward for a while. Some tension that were there for years now exploded. But the three of us talked a lot, and agreed to certain things. Well, I was a happy man.

And finally, we arrived at Rapan, and had started the progress of mapping out a newly discovered Labyrinth of unknown depth. Near the former Teleport Labyrinth of all places, the one that lord Rudeus cleared.

We were trying to retrace the footsteps of the original Dead End's travels. And after doing so, we headed to Begarrit as Rudeus had in his adventures.

There, we met a charlatan.

A man, no a boy barely past his 15th birthday, was out in the woods. Seemingly a noble who got lost or abandoned by his guards after playing adventurer. He was sitting by a rock helplessly, when he jumped in front of us, and claimed that he was Rudeus Greyrat.

He had an expensive looking robe, that was slightly dirtied. Along with what I assumed was a replica of the famous staff Aqua Heartia that was now carried by Lara Greyrat. We had the fortune of encountering lady Lara back when we were in the great forest, so we had seen the staff and it looked identical to the real thing.

The charlatan who claimed he was Rudeus insisted he was who he claimed he was. And just as I was about to ignore the man and move on, he requested us to escort him to Rapan and he was paying upfront with two magic stones. Magic stones that seemed to be of quality that would provide us with provisions for two months if we sold them to the right buyer.

I decided to hush Eris and accepted the offer. He even handed the stones to me right away, trusting us. Well, this was obviously a scam of some kind. Something along the lines of "You stole my magic stones!" if we didn't escord him to Rapan, and if we followed him off course or to his inn when we arrived there, his allies would ambush us.

I received the stones, planned to escort him by only sticking to the shortest possible route, with eyes on him constantly.

Merry understood my intentions right away and told Eris to play along with the act. Eris being the honest girl she is, had trouble dealing with his act. Afterall, he was a coward on top of being a lier, he claimed to be Rudeus and carried a replica of the famous staff, but couldn't even cast a spell. With the lame excuse of "Being out of mana" as if Rudeus Greyrat the sorcerer king ever ran out of mana, outside of battling with the seven great powers.

But surprisingly, he was way better at sticking to the act than i thought. When he told his stories, Merry and I asked questions to try to poke holes in his story, but he improvised very realistic answers. And he had an in character excuse of not knowing certain things by claiming that he was from K423, well, more specifically, he acted as the young Rudeus that was delving into the Teleport Labyrinth with Paul, and got seperated, and he didn't know that it was K485. A very convoluted, ridiculous lie that couldn't fool anyone. But he seemed to be fooled by his own lies and seemed like he believed he was Rudeus genuinely.

Merry and I agreed that his mind was troubled and we shouldn't upset the poor man too much. So we played along and escorted him to Rapan.

By the time we finally got to Rapan, we actually warmed up to the little liar. As a gesture of kindness, Merry and I advised that he shouldn't keep telling everyone that he was Rudeus. But the lunatic kept insisting until the end. He wasn't even a scammer that I initially suspected him as, he was just a man with a deeply troubled mind. We never even learned his true name in the end.

We were disgusted by his words and the faces he made while claiming such disrespected to the historic Hero who passed away relatively recently.

But after selling the magic stones for a good price, we drank some rounds and had some fun and forgot all about that lunatic.

That night we allowed ourselves to rest at the highest class inn they had available in Rapan. It wasn't much compared to Asura Kingdom of course. But at least the beds were big enough.

**AN:**

A dumb idea I had at 11pm and wrote at a whim until 6am. I should've been doing something else. But it was pretty fun to write regardless. There's one more chapter half written and I might post it. But of course, I don't have plans for a proper plot with this one. Just the vague idea of "Young Rudeus reacts to his Legacy" i guess. Hope you enjoyed reading if you actually read it all the way to the end.

And aaah, I don't have the strength of will to actually edit this and fix things, such as spelling and grammatical errors. I ended up using sir, mister, and lord, in this writing. Maybe I should've stuck to -san -sama and such for honorifics. Ah well, doesn't matter.

Hope the spelling and formatting and such weren't too awful if you actually read this thing. Thanks for suffering through.