A

by Ineedalife8394

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2. W

some thinking along the way about how she agreed to join Orsted's forces in eighty years. About how happy, bright, and cheerful Eris looked. And how Rudeus stood right next to her.

She thought about them as she spurred on her horse. She didn't commit to it fully. But when she saw the person welcoming her as she pulled in to the Sword Sanctum, something clicked into place.

He was Nina's cousin. A young man who followed in her footsteps to become Sword Saint, and was now on the verge of reaching Sword King, Gino Britz. Nina took one look at him and said the first thing that came to mind. There was no hesitation. The Sword God style preached that the first to make a move would be the victor for a reason.

"Hey, Gino. Wanna get married?"

Shortly afterward, the Sword Sanctum was home to a new married couple, but that is a story for another time.

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Interlude: Coming-of-Age Ceremony

LET US SPEAK of my younger sisters.

Norn was working hard as the student council president. For most students these days, she was the only person who came to mind when you mentioned the title. Then again, that might have been because most of the students around for Ariel's era had graduated.

Norn was a popular president. A lot of the students would even call her "Nornie." Norn didn't seem to appreciate that, but hey, it was sweet. Ariel had the reputation of being a reliable president, but Norn had the reputation of being an approachable one. However, (and this might have been her fan club's influence at work) she had zero romantic prospects. She was also treated as something of a mascot for the school—harmless, inoffensive. Sexless.

Of course, she worked hard at her studies as well. I heard that just the other day, she was recognized as Intermediate-tier in Sword God Style during her swordsmanship class. Her progress might have been a little slow compared to the people I knew, but I guess that was what normal people are like. She was also pretty studious about her magic, and she took plenty of other classes on top of it. I didn't know her exact syllabus, but the last time I popped my head into school, I overheard someone say, "Man, I see President Norn everywhere." She was never quite the best at anything, but she applied herself to a broad range of subjects to make up for it.

Aisha was getting pretty stuck on Arus lately. While it was true that Eris's rough mothering skills had been showing up in Arus' behavior, Aisha found baby boys adorable and so she doted on him. It looked like she had a favorite. She'd started a habit of saying, "Oh, Arus is so cute" lately, and I was not super sure what that meant, exactly.

Of course, pampering a baby is fine. There were some parts that worried me, that was all. Like, maybe she was into him a little too much... Just recently, when Arus started crying out of hunger, she exposed her own breasts to him and tried to get him to suck on them. Her defense was that she thought he'd stop crying if she gave him something to suck on, but I don't know...Arus did cheer up and start laughing while sandwiched in her boobs, so I could sort of

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understand where Aisha was coming from. But I was pretty concerned even so. When I thought about how she had nobody to expose her breasts to besides a toddler, well, you know.

It was minor, in the grand scheme of things.

She was handling the mercenary band well. When I declared that the mercenary band would serve as Orsted Corporation's intel network and that it would span the entire world, she didn't even need to have it explained. She got to work gathering the necessary personnel, property, and negotiations to build branches in other nations. She was also good at keeping a leash on Linia and Pursena. Now, Aisha herself wasn't particularly gifted as a manager. I heard that she tended to come down particularly hard on the sort of unskilled employees who repeated the same mistakes time and time again. It was Linia and Pursena who brought out the best in those employees, of course.

Hey, strengths and weaknesses. Aisha was the brains of the operation, and she was darn good at it.

Now! Both Norn and Aisha were approaching their fifteenth birthdays. I don't mean to repeat myself, but this world treated every fifth birthday as a milestone that was met with great celebration. Especially at age fifteen, at which point one was considered an adult; nobles would frequently celebrate this with a massive party.

The Coming-of-Age ceremony. To humans of this world, it was perhaps the most important day of their lives. I'm sure this needs no explanation as well, but I planned to celebrate both of their birthdays. And big time: I'd get a fat wad of cash from Orsted, blow it all on the biggest building money could buy, hit up every friend and bigwig I knew, get them to plop down sweetest gifts they could, and give those girls the complete princess treatment.

And with that level of excitement, I brought it up to Roxy.

"I don't know about Aisha, but I think Norn would be happier with something a bit more...practical. Maybe you should rethink it?"

Shot down.

Basically, they weren't royalty, so a party at home would be plenty.

Afterward, Roxy patted my head and said, "You want to go all out with their birthdays because you never celebrated your own fifteenth birthday. Right?"

Nope, didn't give a damn about my fifteenth birthday...but hey, Roxy was

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giving me head pats, so who was I to object? I'm a good widdle boy.

Moderation could be good in its way, though. Roxy opened my eyes to that.

"For now, we should talk to the rest of the family to come up with a way to celebrate."

And so, we planned a secret family meeting with everyone but Norn and Aisha.

We held the conference in the basement under the veil of night. The entire family, excluding Aisha and Norn, gathered around the dim illumination of a lone candle.

"Welcome, my accomplices, to the Assembly of Dark—"

"Um, Rudy, could we get some more light? It's hard to write like this."

Our secretary, Roxy, interrupted my dramatic opener to complain. I wished she could have respected the mood.

"I mean, if there's light leaking out the door, then Aisha might notice us."

"Why do we need to hide it to begin with?"

"Um... I mean, what else would we do?"

Was this not something to hide? Like, a girl wouldn't want a boy finding out about what she planned for Valentine's Day, right?

"It'll be much harder to prepare if we have to hide the fact that we're doing it. Unless we have a good reason, I'd much prefer we tell them in advance," said Lilia.

So, coming clean would make things easier on our end, too. Made sense. It was bound to be less stressful to prepare out in the open rather than do it in secret.

"Hmm..."

They had a point. We didn't have to hide it. Now that I thought about it, my own fifth and tenth birthdays were surprise parties, so I had the preconceived notion that birthdays were meant to be planned in secret. Given what happened

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last time, Norn and Aisha had probably picked up by now that we were going to celebrate their birthdays. There wasn't any reason not to tell them.

"All right, we'll just tell them we're planning something."

We might as well go whole hog. That way, there was less to worry about when buying presents. Aisha was friends with everyone in the shopping district, so if they thought I was being suspicious, they could wind up telling her, "Hey, Aisha, dear, that brother of yours came by and bought some cute panties" and blow our cover.

Of course, I wasn't going to buy them panties.

That was just an example.

I certainly wasn't thinking about how I'd bought a pair of panties that I wanted to see on Sylphie only to have Aisha poke fun at me with a sly grin.

"But we should at least keep the presents secret," said Eris, to which everyone nodded.

"I agree, but I also think we should decide on what we're getting them so we don't all get them the same thing," added Sylphie.

That was an excellent point. Given how popular the two were, they were certain to receive plenty of presents from plenty of people come their birthdays. Norn had the student council and her fan club, while Aisha had the mercenary band and the people from the shopping district.

"So, let's discuss what everyone plans to get them while we're all here."

With that, the meeting's topic shifted to the contents of our presents. Everyone had already picked something out, for the most part.

Lilia would get a handkerchief for Norn and an apron for Aisha. Sylphie would get a book for Norn and a quill pen for Aisha. Roxy would get a custom- made set of armor for Norn and a (magical) gardening shovel for Aisha. Eris would get a baldric for Norn and a belt for Aisha.

It looked like everyone put a lot of thought into their gifts. I'd done some thinking of my own. My plan was to give her a figurine of Paul, which I'd begun making just a few days earlier. Norn loved Paul; if there was anyone she wished could have been there to see her grow up, it was Paul. I might get one hell of a strange look for this gift...but hey, we'd cross that bridge when we got to it.

But with Aisha, I was a bit lost. I didn't know what she wanted. I did know that she liked cute things. It might have been hard to imagine based on her

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rough, competent exterior, but she was obsessed with all things girly; she loved frilly clothes, sparkly accessories, and everything in between. Something like that would work as a gift...but she'd been earning consulting fees from the mercenary band as of late, so she bought what she wanted, when she wanted it.

"Enlighten me, what gifts made you all happiest when you came of age?" I proposed to the women. Research was important.

"It was quite a long time ago, but I received a hair accessory from my parents. It was their way of telling me to at least attempt looking ladylike."

That was Lilia. I didn't know what kind of person she was at fifteen, but I'd heard that she wasn't exactly the type for high fashion. She did grow up in a training hall.

"I forgot what day I was born, so I have no...oh, right! Ariel's group gave me plenty of stuff, like clothes, and shoes..."

So, Sylphie's gifts were clothing-related. She typically dressed pretty plain and boyish, so they probably gave all that to her so she could at least dress up in private.

"I don't have much. The Migurd Tribe never had that sort of custom."

Fair enough, Roxy. For the record, I did give her a hat as a wedding gift, so she could have given that as an example...

"Let's see, I had Ruijerd recognize me as a warrior... And Rudeus gave me, umm...the thing!"

Eris did indeed get The Thing. It was a bit too embarrassing to say out loud, but that was the first time Eris and I did The Thing. You know, swapping uniforms.

Speaking of which, Aisha did seem to be fond of me. Perhaps she'd be overjoyed to receive The Thing. No, on second thought, I could never do That Exact Thing to Aisha. But perhaps it could be a nice present as long as it didn't go so far as to end in The Thing. We'd go to a seaside restaurant and have a toast to your beautiful eyes, delight our tongues with whatever whims the chef prepares, and give you a Cinderella night that comes only once in a lifetime...

Just that thought made me a bit embarrassed.

"Hmm, I can't decide on what to give Aisha."

"Aisha seems like she'd be happy with anything if it came from you," Sylphie said with a chuckle.

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That might be true, but that made the choice all the more important. That was why I wanted to give her something that'd make her super happy. Hmm... Maybe I should just shoot for a luxury gift? Like a 100K-carat diamond. Orsted would tell me where to go if I asked. You could've told me to grab it from the belly of a behemoth and I wouldn't have hesitated.

"Why not give her whatever gift made you the happiest?"

Roxy's suggestion made it all click for me. She was completely right! "I see... Then that's what I'll do."

I nodded deeply now that I'd found my answer.

I knew what my present would be.

After a few additional meetings, the preparations were underway. We told Norn and Aisha that we'd throw a birthday party for them and to keep their schedules open for that day.

The two were happy to hear it. I expected Norn to say, "I don't need anything!" or something like that, but instead, she bowed her head and gave a sincere "Thank you very much." It was rare to see Norn act so agreeable...but on second thought, she only ever snubbed me when we were at school. She had a reputation to uphold there, so maybe it was natural.

I expected Aisha to be more straightforward and start jumping over how excited she was. However, she didn't; instead, her eyes widened in surprise as she murmured, "Oh, right, I'm an adult now." A bit slow on the uptake.

Given how smart she was, maybe something was on her mind. Perhaps I could take her aside during the party to give her some special, adult lessons... Nah, let's not. I wasn't adult enough to call myself one with a straight face. If I started telling her what the world was like, anything I said would come back to bite me.

Anyway, we gave them the heads up so all that remained was to wait for the special day.

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Goldenagato

The big day had finally arrived. Norn went to school, as usual.

"I'll try to be back as early as I can," she said. Well, she must've been excited.

Aisha left early in the morning to head to the mercenary band's office... but she was home by noon. It sounded like she finished her work early. I thought she would've come back carrying presents from the band members, but she came back empty-handed.

"You didn't get anything?"

"Hmm, I did tell them it was my birthday. Maybe it's cause they're beastfolk and don't really know that custom."

That said, she did have plenty of people congratulating her, so she seemed in pretty high spirits. But did the shopping district people not give Aisha anything, either? Well, I guess being a customer didn't make you family... But hey, not every present was something you could put a bow on. What matters is that you want to congratulate someone. It's the thought that counts.

"Hey, Big Brother, can I watch you set up?"

"Yeah, of course."

Aisha sat right down in the dining room and watched absentmindedly as we prepared the party. She watched Lilia and Sylphie go back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room. She watched Eris and Roxy return from their trip to the market carrying a mountain of groceries. She watched me pitch in with a little bit of everything in between setting up the decorations. She watched it all, without saying a word.

Being hovered over made it a bit harder to work, but she was the birthday girl, and I did tell her it was okay, so it was kind of hard to tell her to come back in the evening. That, and she really did just watch. Aisha didn't really say anything to interject; she just spaced out while we worked.

Even when Zenith sat down next to her and started to pat her head, she said nothing and continued to watch.

Even when Leo rested his head on Aisha's lap, she didn't pay him much mind and continued to watch.

Even when Arus started crying, she only left her seat for a short while before she returned and continued to watch.

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Even when Lucie came by and asked her Big Sister Aisha if they could play together, she just smiled, said that she was a bit busy at the moment, and continued to watch.

She watched, and that was it. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Maybe she was contemplating everything that came with coming of age. Or maybe she was chuckling at how clumsily we did our jobs. Either way, I couldn't tell.

Eventually, dusk arrived. We completed all of our preparations under Aisha's watchful eye. The dining room was fully decked out. In a corner of the room was a mountain of wrapped presents that we planned to give to the girls. Atop the table was an array of shelf-stable foods; we planned to start making the main dish once Norn returned.

All that was left was to wait for Norn. Was she running late? If she was going to be out for a while longer, it might have been best to pick her up. That's what I was thinking as Norn got home early, just as she'd said she would.

"Hello, I'm home."

Norn's arms were wrapped around a huge, dangerously precarious bundle of presents. Her left hand carried a bouquet. Her right hand carried a wooden box stuffed with everything from patterned cloths to hair accessories, to mysteriously shaped artifacts whose utilities I couldn't begin to surmise.

"Sorry I'm late. People started giving me all this when I tried to leave... I planned to leave them in my dorm, but I couldn't fit them all into the closet. I thought I'd take these ones back to leave at home, but my bag ripped open on the way here..."

It sounded like a diverse throng of people had burdened her with an equally diverse variety of presents; that was how many people at school wanted to wish Norn a happy birthday. Guess they didn't call her the "approachable" student council president for nothing. I just hoped none of her admirers gave her something creepy, like a cookie with a strand of hair baked in... Let's not think about that.

We welcomed Norn home and got the party started at last. *

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Goldenagato

It was the same kind of birthday party I'd thrown for them a few years ago. I gave the opening speech. Being fifteen didn't mean things would change overnight, but they were now adults in the eyes of society—or so my life advice went. It was the speech I felt unqualified to give but wound up giving anyway. Somehow, I'd gone into know-it-all-mode. My tongue slipped.

With that introduction out of the way, the other adults among us all talked about "conducting yourself like an adult." Sylphie said that they wouldn't need to ask the family for permission anymore, but they'd need to be responsible. Roxy advised them to never stop learning. Eris told them they should always have a goal. Lilia seemed more emotional than usual; she talked about Paul and Zenith's younger years and the day the two girls were born while nearly sobbing. Zenith patted her head.

Norn's face lit up into a smile when she saw the presents we gave her. She especially liked the armor that Roxy had asked a blacksmith acquaintance to make. Just for this day, Roxy custom-ordered a set of armor that looked just like Paul's old set, which now hung in Zenith's room. It was resized to fit Norn's body and restyled to have a more feminine look. When she equipped Paul's trusty sword to the baldric that Eris got her, she looked just like a full-fledged swordswoman. Those two might have remembered when Norn once said that she wanted to be an adventurer.

She reacted to the bust of Paul that I made with, at first, outright confusion. I was proud of my work, but it was a thirty-centimeter-tall statue made of stone, so I understood where she was coming from. I didn't realize while I was making it, but it was what modern society would likely categorize as a dud gift. But, this world didn't have photographs.

After looking at the bust for a while, tears started welling in Norn's eyes, perhaps from the memories of Paul it brought back. "I'll treasure it," she said as she finally accepted it.

When we all finished giving out our presents, Norn addressed us.

"Um, thank you very much. I'll do my best to be an adult going forward. I hope you'll all support me the way you always have. You're the best."

Her heart was bursting with emotion, but she put it beautifully. Her words made Lilia crumble in tears yet again. Norn, you've really grown up...

It was good to see Norn so happy, but what about Aisha? Aisha seemed happy too, but I felt something was wrong when I looked at her. She didn't wince or show any obvious displeasure, of course. For every gift she got, she'd

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thank someone by saying, "Wow, amazing! It's so cute! Thank you!" Or she'd express her delight by saying, "It's just what I've always wanted!"

On the surface, Aisha seemed to be enjoying the party as her normal, cheerful self. So what was wrong? I suppose the best way to describe it really was that something felt off. To my eyes, Aisha looked a bit detached; as though her smile and laughs were forced, like it was all an act. Maybe it was how she'd acted that afternoon that made me feel that way.

With my suspicions still high, I gave her my present: a pendant. The Migurd pendant...was in Ruijerd's possession, so this was a replica. It was handmade, too, making it neither expensive nor a genuine article.

"Aisha, this is something that was given to me to commemorate my own path to becoming an adult. It might not mean anything to you, but I wanted to give this to you as a symbol of your adulthood."

I was aware that this gift meant more to me than it could to anyone who received it. But for some reason, I wanted to give this to Aisha instead of Norn. I didn't know why. But when they asked me what gift made me the happiest, this was the first thing that came to mind.

"Oh... Thank you."

There was no life behind her eyes.

Her expression was blank. Deep in thought, she turned the pendant over and over in her hands.

We enjoyed the rest of the party over servings of the main course and cake. There were still some surprises left. Once the sun had fully set, students started coming by and leaving presents for Norn. It seemed like they'd only found out about Norn's birthday today and scrambled to buy something while they could.

There were a lot of students like that. And when they saw me answer the door, a lot of them went pale. But no worries! I met them all with a flash of the good ol' Shining Rudeus Smile. Ah, the smile, truly humanity's most universal greeting.

...It didn't go well.

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The sight of my smile made their pale faces freeze in even greater terror, with some attempting to run. Sylphie caught them and safely delivered their presents to Norn while smoothing over the scene we'd been making...but really, how rude!

So many of them came by that eventually, Norn's presents stacked up like a mountain. Aisha, on the other hand, didn't have any presents besides the ones we gave her. She was maintaining her facade, but it seemed a bit strained now, making her look deeply hurt to my eyes.

I doubted that anyone besides myself had noticed that Aisha's smile was faked. I could have been overthinking it; Aisha might not have minded the presents one bit. But bringing it up with Sylphie felt like a good idea. While I was hemming and hawing over what to do about Aisha, I noticed the area beyond our front door had gotten rowdy, like a huge gathering of people. Their riotous chatter was broken up by Leo's sudden barking.

"We've got company," said Eris. Her expression turned to stone as she picked up the sword lying in the corner.

Was Orsted coming by? No, there were too many people out there. Orsted wasn't the type to draw a crowd.

I headed to the front door to make sure. When I stepped outside, I saw a mob of miscreants closing in on my home. Their frames were bulky, their fur thick, and their fangs bared. Every one of them was draped in a plain black cloak. They were a fearsome bunch. That said, they looked pretty beaten up; some were injured, while some were wrapped in newly tattered cloaks.

Leading the pack was none other than the town's most diabolical duo. The two shook out their frazzled hair as they argued with each other.

"It was your fault, Linia. Screwing up the end of that job yesterday made us start late."

"M-mew?! But you're the one who dumped that on me, Pursena!" "There ya go again, blaming anyone but yourself. Trust me, Linia, it's all

your fault."

"Coming from the one who was supposed to track our prey's scent but dragged us to some random barbeque? That's rich, mew! Your screwup was the reason it took so long to take down that hog, mew!"

"Geh! I-it's their fault for camping out there!"

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It was Linia and Pursena. As usual, they were at each other's throats. But this time, they were just bantering. The people around them seemed used to it; they kept their hands behind their backs in a parade rest.

"Ah, Boss!"

"Murr? All hands, salute, mew!"

At Linia's somewhat belated command, her followers all bowed their heads in unison. At that moment, I saw what was behind them. There was a gigantic mound atop a wooden board.

"Boss! We're here to celebrate our advisor's coming-of-age, mew!"

"We were out in the forest since yesterday bagging this!"

"This" referred to a gigantic monster. One that resembled a boar and lived in the forests around this area. And what did they mean since yesterday?

"Wait... Were none of you guys at the office today?"

"Don't sweat it, mew. We left the minimum amount of people to keep the lights on, mew."

"Yep. We scheduled it so that pretty much nobody had to work today."

Which meant that Aisha must have come home early because the office was almost empty. She went with excitement to celebrate her birthday, but there was nobody to celebrate with. And no work, either. She thought that people would come if she waited, but even by noon, nobody had. Yeah, I couldn't fault Aisha for getting existential over that.

"Mew! Hey, Advisor!"

"Guys, the advisor's here!"

I turned around to see Aisha standing behind me. She looked absolutely stupefied by the huge boar the mercenaries thudded onto our doorstep.

"What...is this?"

"Advisor! Happy birthday!"

With Pursena's words as the signal, the mercenary band all bowed their heads once again. Congratulations, congratulations, they bellowed, creating echoes loud enough to warrant a neighborhood noise complaint. It was like watching a yakuza ceremony, except the person everyone bowed to was a single little girl.

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"Ah... Aha!"

Aisha laughed.

As though this sight had broken her grim mood, she laughed. "You don't expect me to eat all that! ...Aha, ahahahaha!"

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Saying it aloud made her crack up even harder. The mercenaries were being laughed at, but they took it well because of how happy Aisha was. Every one of them, Aisha included, looked relieved and full of joy. After spending all day having Norn's popularity shoved in her face, Aisha realized that she was equally popular in her own corner of the world.

"Hey, Big Brother, since they're here and all, is it all right if we all eat together on the lawn?"

I took a glance at the mercenaries and saw that some were wagging their tails at the suggestion. I wasn't an expert on beastfolk etiquette, but when any species of hunter brought some quarry to your house, they didn't just hand over their game and walk away. Everyone was supposed to join the party. This went double when those hunters' stomachs growled and their jaws dripped with drool.

"Yeah, of course."

Aisha's smile stretched from ear to ear.

Everyone joined the cookout on the front lawn. Even some students who'd come for Norn found themselves roped in. The boar that the beastfolk brought was roasted whole, and the drinks—brought by an old man who Aisha helped back in the shopping district—flowed freely.

Norn sighed; this rowdy get-together was far removed from the quiet, introspective ceremony which started the night. Note that Norn carefully kept displeasure from showing on her face and refrained from saying anything that would rain on this parade. Probably out of consideration for Aisha, who was having the time of her life.

The cookout continued for a while, but once the mercenary band had gorged themselves, people decided to call it a night. As the crowd thinned out I heard Aisha mutter to herself:

"What even is an adult?"

In contrast to Norn's contentious weighing of her own adulthood, Aisha's small question sounded childish. But hey, that's life. Adults come in different styles; Norn had her style, and Aisha had hers. There were as many ways to be an adult or a child as there were people. If you were who you were supposed to

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be and managed to stay true to yourself, then you were doing all right.

"Yeah, what even is an adult, huh?" I answered her. I didn't feel like I needed to put up a front for Aisha.

And that was how Aisha and Norn turned fifteen years old.

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Chapter 5: Growth and New Horizons

IT WAS LIKE I'd blinked and a year had passed. Today was the graduation ceremony. The Ranoa University of Magic's graduation ceremony.

My graduation ceremony.

Today, I dressed myself up in my rarely worn old uniform and joined the procession that I'd always watched from the student council's sidelines. This time, I was one of the graduates. The ceremony for Zanoba and Cliff felt like it was just yesterday.

I listened to the principal's speech while surrounded by classmates I didn't recognize. The speech hadn't changed, though. I'd heard this one a few times. He probably read off the same script every year. Having nobody but graduating students here meant he could cut corners, but I wasn't exactly swept away by it.

The fact that I hadn't been coming to school at all probably made me feel even less connected to the ceremony. I'd barely taken any classes, and by the end of it all, I wasn't even showing up to homeroom. Just a name on the attendance sheet. True, my research into the theory of silent casting and the report I submitted on the methods to train for it had earned me a C-rank membership in the Magicians' Guild, but, well...

Research papers and ranks and stuff are a little dry, yeah? I wasn't gonna get misty-eyed over them.

Ah, well. These times are for nostalgia anyway, and I had plenty of that. My reunion with Sylphie, my friendships with Zanoba and Cliff, the sexual harassment Linia and Pursena heaped on me at every turn, my talks with Nanahoshi about our memories of Japan, time spent sharing drinks and laughs with Badigadi...

Here I was, about to say goodbye to the place where it all happened. That was when the tears started.

Oh. These are those "emotions" I've heard so much about, right? Yeah. Those touching memories are what counts.

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Let's take stock.

Over the last year, I finished spreading roots into the Asura area. I stayed in the Asura Kingdom for a few months and set up the Mercenary Band branch, the Zanoba Store branch, and the workshop that would manufacture the store's products.

This was Ariel's influence. She wasn't hard to win over; when I asked her if she would cooperate with Orsted, she gave me the reassuring response of "I was planning to from the start." She even gathered the people of her faction and held a party for my cause. It was presented as an opportunity for them to network with me—or rather, with the member of the Seven Powers, the "Dragon God" whose interests I represented. They were all part of Ariel's faction, so they listened to her. But faction ties only go so far. If you wanna know what got them out of bed in the mornings, they backed Ariel and hoped she'd remember them when it was time to hand out positions. To put it bluntly, most of them were Ariel's yes-men.

However, there were a few people among them who weren't total wastes of skin. One of them was the Water Emperor Isolde. Another was the Sword King Nina, although I still didn't know what twist of fate brought her to that ballroom... At any rate, it was delightful to see the current faces of the Water God Style and the Sword God Style be so receptive to cooperating with Orsted.

When I mentioned this to Eris, she declared that she would handle winning Nina over and dashed off. How that went was a mystery. It looked like the three of them hung out all over town like school pals, but I didn't ask Eris for the results. I didn't have my hopes up, but if this Nina person could gain trust in me by trusting Eris, that'd help quite a bit.

I'd gotten a lot of people to sign up, but I'd been less successful at getting them to understand what they were agreeing to. The stuff about Laplace resurrecting in eighty years zipped through one ear and out the other. But Ariel was an instinctive leader, and they all bounded after her like a pack of leashed dogs. Nothing to worry about there. My work in Asura was now delegated, and I could put it out of mind.

When I informed Ariel that Eris had given birth to a boy, making him my third child, she was quite pleased. And then, she gave me a devilish look, and said:

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"That gives me an idea. Why not have one of your children marry a child from the Asura nobility? I believe that would give our partnership a much stronger foundation..."

I got the feeling that she was serious. You're joking, was my oppositional, knee-jerk response. But perhaps popping out a few kids and marrying them to cement alliances with the necessary authorities wasn't the worst idea?

For people a little less fearless than Ariel, familial ties might soften the intimidation of shadowy Orsted and me, his fishy little evangelist.

If one of my kids married a relative of Ariel's, I'd be relieved to know they'd be well taken care of. I love my children dearly, after all. Not that I was seriously considering an arranged marriage for any of them. I mean, unless one of my daughters were absolutely set on wanting to be a princess or marry a prince. Then sure, we'd talk about it.

Anyway. Marriages and all that aside, no jokes, I held the entire Asura region in the palm of my hand. I had the nobles led by Ariel. I had the school of the Water God Style. With luck, I'd have the residents of the Sword Sanctum soon. Progress on the factory and store for the Ruijerd figurine and picture book bundles was chugging along. By looping in the Mercenary Band (for distribution), I'd be able to spread the Ruijerd figurines throughout the majority of the Central Continent.

It was perfect. If I could make it happen, we'd hear from Ruijerd as soon as possible.

Right now, I was preparing to move on to the King Dragon Realm and use my connections with Death God Randolph to network over there. I wouldn't have any big players like Ariel on my side, so it was sure to be a challenge. I was looking at a two-to-three-year effort, minimum, though it could very well take more.

The Asura Kingdom was like a tutorial. This was where the real work began.

Let's go over our research, while we're at it.

First, Zanoba. Directing the store's opening and its sales operations kept him busy over the past year, so he'd let his research fall to the wayside. Perfectly understandable. The last year saw a simultaneous opening of stores in Sharia and Asura. Something had to give with how busy he was. But thanks to the excellent support of Ginger, the manager hired from the Mercenary Band, and the financial brains that Ariel contributed, the shops themselves were running

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smoothly.

The figurine and picture book bundles weren't exactly flying off the shelves, but they did a reasonable trade. The real hit of the bundle was the reading-and-writing practice worksheet at the end of the book. I was a little irked that something I slipped in as an afterthought was the star product, but I should swallow my pride and accept the victory. Well, whatever—with Ariel as a sponsor, the store was in no danger of closing any time soon. All they had to do was take things slow and steady.

Next up: Cliff. He spent the past year fully dedicating himself to family and his research—the research into lifting the curses on Elinalise and Orsted. No revolutionary breakthroughs there, sadly. It was hitting some major roadblocks.

He succeeded in strengthening the effects of the magical implements, but a complete cure was always just out of reach. Still, thanks to this work, Elinalise would be able to survive over a year without any maintenance. Whether her self- control would be able to do the same was another story.

So, how about we check in on my progress? Fortunately, I get things done.

As I went back and forth between the Asura Kingdom and the Magic City of Sharia, I thought about how to summon the Magic Armor. I even asked Perugius if he knew any methods, and sought advice from Nanahoshi.

In my search, I noticed a law that the magic operated underneath—the bidirectional teleportation circles, I mean. See, the moment that a teleportation occurs, whatever's on top of the circles is swapped. An object on teleportation circle A will be sent to circle B, and at the same time, any object on circle B is sent to circle A. The fact that the activation timing occurs when something is placed on top of the circle made this law a bit hard to notice, but after I thought about it, this "equivalent exchange" kinda stuff is standard for the genre.

Anyway, that was a eureka moment, and it sparked the birth of my new, revolutionary technique: I would take the Magic Armor and place it on a bidirectional teleportation circle in advance. Then I'd carry a scroll containing an unused teleportation circle with me. When the crisis moment arrived, I could unfurl the scroll and activate the teleportation circle. Bam! There you go, would ya look at that, ladies and gents! The Magic Armor I'd prepared in advance would hop from its preprepared location and teleport to me right when I needed it.

I hurried to the basement of the office to set up the Magic Armor and test this idea, and it worked beautifully. This made it possible to summon the Magic

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Armor Version One from anywhere in the world. You know, like the whole "Rise, Gu*dam!" thing.

Couple snags: I would have to carry this huge scroll with me, and the weight of the Magic Armor shredded the scroll to bits after summoning. You'd get one summon per scroll, that was it. No wishing for more wishes.

But, if I had two scrolls that were linked to each other, they could function as emergency escape teleports. This research had a lot of practical applications.

And then there was Orsted. He really came through for me here. He made...not exactly a phone, but a stone tablet for communication. Apparently, it was built with the exact same mechanism as the Technique God's monuments to the Seven Great Powers. The way it worked was that anything written on the main contact tablet would be reflected on the sub tablets. If we both had a main and a sub tablet each, then we could contact each other through text whenever we wanted. But given how heavy they were on top of their massive size, walking around with them was going to be a challenge. They consumed a large amount of mana to boot, so this was more of a fixture at a home base than a portable device.

Basically, a phone booth, not a cellphone.

For now, we set up the first pair in both Orsted's office and Ariel's chambers. I could imagine Ariel kneeling before the shining tablets every night and saying something like, "Rest assured, my liege, I will defeat those blasted Rangers."

Anyway, that's pretty much how research has been going. Might as well give an update on the kids while I'm at it.

First, Lucie. My oldest daughter turned five years old. Her birthday party was held last month, where she got presents from everyone in the family and was very pleased with herself. She was growing up to be a healthy young girl. I could have sworn it was yesterday that she stumbled through her first steps and stuttered through her first words, but now, her feet were firmly on the ground. And while she still stuttered, she'd learned to form words clearly. Her favorite words were "Nuh-uh!" and "Buhhht!"

In addition, she learned how to cast Beginner-tier magic from Sylphie and Roxy's extracurricular lessons. Her days were spent practicing magic in the morning and swinging a stick with Eris in the afternoon. It was like watching my own childhood. The schedule might have seemed natural to Lucie herself, but to an outside observer it looked as vicious as a Spartan military drill. That was why

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I couldn't help but pamper her when I got the chance, which might explain why she'd started shouting "Papa!" and jumping in excitement at the sight of me.

Super cute.

Her special fifth birthday party seemed to have kindled a new awareness in her about the responsibilities of an older sister. She started looking out for Lara and Arus. She also got it into her head that Lara's faithful companion, Leo, was also a sort of little brother, so she and Lara give him lots of pets. Just the other day, she was brushing his coat of white fur.

It was truly a heartwarming sight...until we later found out that she was using Sylphie's brush to do it. Swiping her mother's brush and coating it in dog hair made Sylphie furious.

"Buhhht, Mama and Leo have white hair!" was Lucie's excuse. I cracked a smile. Kids said the darndest things! But that made Sylphie so mad at me that she froze me out for a whole day. She only forgave me because Lucie found a way to get me good.

"I'll use Papa's brush next time, so don't get mad at him, okay?"

That was her version of sticking up for me. It cost me a brush in the end, but it was a price I was glad to pay. The only brush a real man needs is his fingers.

On to Lara. Our two-year-old future savior was as stone-faced and unshakable as ever. But that certainly didn't mean she was sluggish; now that she was able to trot on her own two feet, she was all over the place and into everything. She clung to nobody and followed only the whims of her curiosity. She got that from her mom. I didn't do that.

I was anxious to ever take my eyes off of her, but I was probably worrying too much—her guard dog Leo was always there to protect her from getting hurt. If she was on some adventure and needed to plop down asleep right in the middle of it, then Leo would wrap himself around her to keep her safe.

Lara, however, seemed to see Leo as more of a butler. Her preferred form of travel these days was to climb up on Leo's back, grab on, and ride her steed to far off lands. There was even a time when Eris took Leo out for a walk, noticed he had some kind of backpack on, and found Lara had packed herself inside. Leo was supposed to ease our worries, but kids have ways of inventing new ones.

I wasn't sure why, exactly, but Lara had taken a liking to Zenith. She would often sit on Zenith's lap and look up at her face. If you ignored the

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silence, you might mistake it for a touching scene of a grandchild bonding with her grandmother.

Last was Arus. My eldest son, now one year old, inherited my love of boobs. He loved them big or small. He loved his mother Eris's, of course. But he also loved the board-flat chests on Sylphie and Roxy all the way up to the absolute melons on Linia and Pursena. He had a smile of pure, satisfied bliss on his face whenever he was cradled against a pair of breasts. A connoisseur after my own heart—a lover of breasts of every kind. That said, he had that same blissful smile on his face whenever he peed himself. So hopefully I'm just reading a lot into this. I'm a little worried for your future, buddy.

Incidentally, whenever I tried to hold him, he would burst into tears. Even when he was sound asleep, he'd toss and turn once my arms got around him, and when he opened his eyes, he'd cry as though I was his nightmare come to life. He had a strong aversion to men's chests. It made me feel like crying myself... Well, I couldn't hold it against him when I wasn't there for his birth, but it still made me feel rejected.

Between his love for breasts and his aversion to anyone who didn't have them, I worried he might start getting handsy with women soon. Just grab them without restraint. When he was a little older, I'd need to sit him down and teach him to do better. Totally.

Anyway, that's the kiddo report. If I had to write a headline above this year's summary report, I'd call it a fruitful one. At the bottom of the report card, I'd end my notes with something like, "Keep up the good work next year."

By the time I'd finished reflecting on my past year, the graduation ceremony was over. I wasn't the valedictorian—no surprises there. They weren't going to hand that title to someone who blew off class and the graduation exam. Even if they offered it, I would have refused.

We can skip the post-ceremony duel exhibition. Don't think I need to go into the romantic confession I got from an obvious gold digger, either. I should be able to omit the part where the head teacher, Jenius, told me that he was glad that he recommended me as he went in for a handshake, because we were going to have variations on that conversation for years to come. Norn was still

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enrolled, and I'd also want Lucie to attend this school in a few years' time. I'd be indebted to him again soon.

Hearing Lucie would be attending before long made Jenius so emotional that he burst into tears.

Night fell. We all gathered at our regular pub. The occasion? Cliff's sendoff party. My graduation party was part of it, but considering I graduated without taking a test or anything, it hardly felt like there was anything to celebrate. I appreciated the sentiment even so.

Cliff would set off for the Holy Country of Millis in one month's time. There, the battle would begin. It would be a personal one, and as such I wasn't quite sure what he was fighting. Half of it was likely himself, but the other half was a mystery. Cliff had been spending the last year preparing to take on... something. He might've faced a setback along the way when he'd been ensnared in Elinalise's booby trap, but with a bit of TLC, those bruises healed into experience and love. Now, he looked like he was heading off to war.

"I promise I'll make it into the upper echelons of the Millis Church. And when I do, I'll proudly return to bring Lise and Clive home!"

Elinalise listened in wonder to this declaration. She was strong. I knew that in my case, if Roxy were to tell me that she was off to travel to the Demon Continent and become the Demon Lord, I'd be pretty broken up. I'd worry myself sick that my bright Roxy would somehow turn into the infamously idiotic demon lord they already had.

Believing in someone enough to wait for them is easy to say and hard to do; you could send someone off with every hope and good intention in the world and none of it would truly protect them. And it looked like Elinalise knew that as she gazed at Cliff. Her belief wasn't blind; it was brave. If she had misgivings, she wouldn't let them show enough for Cliff to notice.

Times like these reminded me her long years had taught her a few things. It was only when the party started to wind down that she corrected a few of my assumptions.

"Rudeus, could I have a moment?" Elinalise asked me to see her outside.

She was interrupting Harem Heaven. Sylphie was using my right thigh as a pillow to sleep on, Roxy was riding my left thigh while chugging drinks, and Eris was resting her head on my right shoulder. Both my left and my right hands had some something soft to explore, and with the alcohol flowing through me, I

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had a really devilish idea. I'd started to calculate how I might be able to get all three of them in bed at the same time.

But.

"Oh... Sure."

Seeing Elinalise's face sobered me up a bit. Her expression was solemn. Out of place for a party.

I knew why. I also knew I wasn't going to be of any use to her while drunk. I instantly detoxed myself of my alcohol.

"Whatcha doin', Rudy... You cheatin'? Cheating's bad... Keep the cheating to me... Mmrgh..."

I quieted Roxy's drunken rambling with my lips and set her down, and then...

"Mmph, Rudy, your thighs are so soooft..."

I set Sylphie's head upon Roxy's lap, and finally...

"Rudeus... I want my second one to be a boy..."

I set Eris on Roxy's shoulder... There. Three wives successfully peeled off of me, and me standing up.

"All right, let's go."

I left the pub with Elinalise.

Winter was over, but the snow in Sharia tended to linger for a long time. The cold outside the pub was no different. This chill would stay a while.

"So, Rudeus, it's about Cliff. I have a favor to ask."

Elinalise didn't waste words. I had a feeling it was going to be about Cliff. Elinalise spent the past year worrying, too; how could she not?

"I hate to ask this sort of thing behind Cliff's back...but I must say that I'm a bit worried."

Elinalise's breath fogged from more than just the cold. From her perspective, Cliff was still a child. She loved him as her husband, of course, but some of that love surely bled into a motherly concern, like she might feel for a son or a little brother. If that was how she saw him, of course letting him go on his own would be hard.

"So, can I ask you to go with him?"

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"Are you sure?" I asked, surprised. I thought Elinalise respected Cliff's decision.

"You only have to watch over him at the beginning... It's important for him to hit his stride, right? I know Cliff can do it, but joining in, especially when everyone already has their little friends, isn't Cliff's strongest skill..."

She didn't have to treat him like a shy toddler. But wait, then again, she wasn't pulling this out of nowhere—Cliff could be like that. Considering that he never made a single friend besides us during his entire time at the University, yeah, fair point. I could see Cliff making it to the Holy Country of Millis and being all alone in a big country, shunned by his peers, small and still determined to do his very best...

Shoot, I felt tears coming on.

"But remember, I promised I wouldn't help him."

I wanted Cliff to succeed. I wanted him to rise through the ranks of the Millis Church as high as he could. That didn't mean he needed to stand at the very top. I just wanted him to get as far as he wanted. This was unrelated to gathering allies for Orsted; this was my friend's dream, and I shared it with him.

But the dream was to do it himself, so I couldn't help him. Maybe he didn't say it in so many words, but that was the unspoken meaning when I agreed with him one year ago.

"Isn't there anything you could do?"

"..."

"Just the very beginning would be fine, really. You wouldn't have to step in, just giving him advice if he gets stuck would be plenty..."

"Hmm."

I wasn't about to give her that "promise between men" stuff. I was worried about Cliff too. He had the ability, but he had his weaknesses, and one of them was bad enough it could set him back immediately. I didn't want to see Cliff fail without ever getting to use his strengths.

In that sense, maybe a little push here or there wouldn't hurt. Cliff wouldn't love it, but hey, you could say that your friends' resources are like an extension of your own. You could also say that a friend who'd help him in his time of need was just another thing Cliff gained from his life at school; in that case, it'd show just how strong he'd become if I were to help him. I wouldn't do

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to help him too much, of course. The key to this endeavor was a light touch. "..."

All right, she convinced me.

Okay so, what about ally recruitment? I'd been planning to work in the King Dragon Realm while Cliff was in Millis. I had already informed Aisha. Those preparations were already underway. Would changing course for Millis cause any problems...?

It'd probably be difficult to set up the Zanoba Store and sell figurines of a Demon race inside the Holy Country of Millis, where we'd be right at the Millis Church's doorstep. But I could set up a Mercenary Band branch while I was there. We could found that local Mercenary Band to gather personnel and intel, then wait for Cliff's success and circle back to get the store off the ground.

"All right, I'll go to Millis too."

"Oh! Thank you so much, Rudeus!"

Elinalise surely wanted to go herself. She wanted to leave Clive in my family's care and help Cliff with his trials in the Holy Country of Millis. But she must have made a promise to raise Clive at home while waiting for Cliff's return.

"Allow me to say one thing, though: whether I help him or not will be my decision to make."

"Of course, that's all I ask."

Elinalise placed a hand on her chest and sighed in relief. She'd really do anything for her husband, huh? I wasn't dissatisfied with my current wives...but damn. Cliff was a lucky man.

Soon enough, the sendoff party drew to a close. It was time to drag my three drunken wives home and tuck them each into their beds.

The children were already fast asleep; it was all thanks to Lilia and Aisha that I could go out and get wasted without worrying about the toddlers back home. Feeling that I owed her a word of appreciation, I returned to the living room to see Aisha. While I was at it, we needed to discuss Elinalise's request. It was a good time to go over the (revised) Mercenary Band expansion plans with Aisha.

With that, I entered the living room to find it blanketed in a tense atmosphere. There was Norn, who had left the sendoff party midway through.

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Lilia and Aisha, who were watching the house, were also there. All three were standing around, grave looks overshadowing their faces.

"Did something happen?" I asked.

"Oh, Big Bro..." said Aisha. "Here, look at this."

Before the three of them was a single letter. I picked it up. The sender was marked as "The House of Latria."

I remembered that name. It was my family on Zenith's side. It looked like my own letter finally got a response from all the way in the Holy Country of Millis. I noticed that the envelope had already been opened despite the envelope being addressed to me, but that was fine. I looked inside to find a single-page letter.

"Regarding your correspondence on my daughter, Zenith's, minimally conscious state: I order you to bring Zenith home to the House of Latria at once. If Norn Greyrat and Aisha Greyrat are present, they are to come as well.

—Countess of Latria, Claire Latria"

It was a pretty short message. I mean, sure, it didn't beat around the bush...but it seemed a little too pointed count as a letter.

This was a decree.

"After all this time, you—"

I stopped myself before finishing that sentence. On second thought, it'd been around five years since I first sent that letter. The Holy Country of Millis was far away from here, with a one-way journey taking well over a year on horseback. The postal service here didn't exactly work around the clock. Letters could end up sidetracked in who knows what corner of the world before making it to their destination. Messengers could always get attacked by monsters too, so there was always the possibility that letters didn't make it at all. With that in mind, perhaps five years was a reasonably prompt response.

"Hm? Wait, is this the entire letter?" I asked.

"Yes, just that," Lilia answered. It didn't seem like there was some second package they were hiding from me.

"I see..."

Pretty brusque short for a letter that was going to take years to reach its recipient. Wait, was that why it was short? The House of Latria surely knew the long journey this slip of paper would take. Of course! They wrote multiple

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letters to make sure one reached us. And if the short, commanding text was to ensure all that effort didn't end in miscommunication, then it all added up. The forceful tone was just communicating her eagerness for us to come.

Pleased with my deductions, I turned to my sisters who were...not coming to the same conclusions.

"Hahhh..."

"Grandma... She never changes, huh?"

Norn huffed in naked exasperation, while Aisha looked at the letter with hollow, vacant eyes. They looked as though they never wanted to see that name again.

So. Claire was just the type to write like this.

"..."

I glanced over to find that even Lilia looked concerned. Could Claire really be that bad? I'd never met her, so I didn't know.

"Master, what do you intend to do?" Lilia looked up to ask me.

I was determined. I'd been looking for a good excuse to go to Millis, and then this dropped into my lap. Stroke of fortune.

"I guess we should do what the letter says and take Mom to Millis." "..."

"..."

My sisters and my stepmom gave each other a look. I guess I picked the wrong answer. Who even was this Claire person? Like yeah, the letter was pretty blunt, but she'd that her daughter lost her memories and was in a semi-conscious state. What parent wouldn't demand to see her daughter knowing she'd gone through that?

I was sure the Latrias had been looking for her, too. Zenith might been a little bit of a prodigal daughter to them, but according to Paul, they invested a lot of money in the Fittoa Search and Rescue Squad, so I owed them for that. And given that they seemed to have some power within the nation of Millis, it was well worth it for me to meet them.

"Well, I figure that we're going to Millis at some point, so we may as well knock out two birds with one stone. Sounds like a perfect stop while we're there for work."

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"Huh? Wait, Big Brother, hold on," Aisha hastily interjected. "Weren't we going to the King Dragon Realm next month?"

Of course, that had been the plan. I wanted to build up the Mercenary Band in the King Dragon Realm, make connections with Death God Randolph and Queen Benedikte, and obtain the sponsors necessary to maintain the Zanoba Store. And I wanted Aisha to help me do that.

Just like our experience in the Asura Kingdom, I'd need Aisha to come with me to set up the Mercenary Band branch. Aisha and her deft hand with recruitment would be key to getting everything in order. The first month would be to put all the little clockwork parts in place, and the second month would be for Aisha to slowly let it go until it chugged along independently. She had the magic touch for this.

"Given the contents of the letter, I think we should go sooner rather than later. Think of it as prioritizing Millis...and saying hi to Grandma while we're in the neighborhood."

"Aww..."

Aisha pouted in deep displeasure. She might have become an adult a few months ago, but she wasn't done with this yet.

Suddenly, Norn stood up.

"Brother...I do not want to go," Norn said.

She said it loud and clear. Not "I won't go," not "I can't go," but "I do not want to go." And she didn't pout like Aisha; her expression was stern.

"This is an important time for both my studies and the student council. I can't afford to empty my schedule for several months."

"Well... Yeah, that's fair," I admitted. I might have graduated, but Norn was still in her final year. For one more crucial year, she had to attend her classes, take her tests, and have a real graduation. Unlike me, Norn spent her first six years of school actually going to it. Leaving that now would undo everything she'd worked for.

"Uhh, Big Brother. Um... Oh yeah, the rice. We've got a big harvest coming in of that rice you love, so I can't go!"

Aisha sounded like she came up with that on the spot. This was a truly lame excuse—Aisha had already hired people from the Mercenary Band to build those rice paddies on the outskirts and then plant them. I also knew that she'd

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hired a manager to handle everything and that Aisha herself wasn't going there herself anymore. I knew it all.

I could have pointed this out to her and forced her to come along, but Aisha was a fickle worker. Dragging her along would sour her mood, and then she'd be a lump I had to drag around instead of an asset. But I also couldn't do much to set up the Mercenary Band if she didn't come along. I couldn't do what she did...

Oh, wait. Just because she's in Millis doesn't mean she has to visit Claire, huh?

"All right, Aisha. If you want to avoid her that badly, I won't force you to see her. But at least come to Millis with me. We'll visit the Latria family just me, Lilia, and my mom, so you can focus on the Mercenary Band."

"Hooray. Thanks, Bro!"

Aisha smiled from ear to ear. Wow. What a reaction. She hated Claire that much?

On second thought, Lilia of all people was letting Aisha get away with that. Normally, she'd scold that kind of cattiness with a whack to the head.

"Understood, Master. I shall attend with you."

Lilia bowed her head as dispassionately as usual, but I got the feeling that she didn't want to see Claire any more than Aisha did. Considering her position, I couldn't blame her: Zenith was a follower of Millis, meaning that her mother almost certainly was too. I didn't know what the Millis thought of bigamy, but given that its teachings explicitly forbade the practice, I didn't think they were gonna give any wife after number one a warm welcome.

"Thank you in advance, Lilia."

"Oh no, I'm simply doing my job."

Zenith's care was a full-time job. Lilia and Aisha could help; if I didn't have at least one of them come with me, then we'd be in trouble.

"All right, Aisha. With that out of the way, can you get started on switching our destination to the Holy Country of Millis?"

"Okie doke. When're we heading out?"

"Hmm, let's see..."

Why not match Cliff's departure? We didn't have to, but there was a bit of

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distance to cover between the teleportation circle and Millis itself. It wouldn't qualify as "helping" him, so we might as well go together.

"How about a month from now?"

"Gotcha."

Still, my grandmother, huh? I wondered what kind of person she was. I had to admit that Norn's and Aisha's reactions had me a bit scared to find out.

So, change of plans: no going to the King Dragon Realm just yet. We would now build our next Mercenary Band branch in the Holy Country of Millis.

Aisha grumbled the whole time, but she still made the preparations. She got to work on drawing up and re-filing the paperwork that previously mentioned the King Dragon Realm so that they'd now apply to Millis. From what I could tell, it detailed what sorts of personnel she'd need in each country.

We didn't have a foothold in the nation's government this time, so anything we wanted to do—such as recruiting—was going to be a long process. For now, I set a goalpost for about half a year. Once we'd been there that long, we could assess whether we really had something here, or if it was a lost cause.

I decided to mention it to Cliff, too. By sheer coincidence, I was being called out to Zenith's family home, so how about going together?—Something like that. Cliff smirked, but he didn't seem bothered.

"I had a feeling you'd find a reason to tag along."

And that was that. It was a really comforting reaction, strangely. I wondered if Cliff had actually been concerned, as though he felt left out by the fact that I demanded to go with Zanoba last time but said nothing when it was Cliff's turn. Like he feared that I considered him to be less of a friend.

C'mon, Cliff, ol' buddy, you know it ain't like that.

All together, we were four people headed to Millis with Cliff: Aisha, Zenith, Lilia, and me. Lilia and Aisha's absence would leave the house extremely shorthanded for skilled caretakers, so Sylphie was staying home. And Roxy said she had some bad memories with the Holy Country of Millis on account of being a demon, so she was staying back as well.

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Eris wanted to go, but Lilia was categorically opposed. Madam Eris would be best kept away from the Latria household as it'd surely erupt into conflict, she said. I was skeptical. But from the way Lilia described her, I could tell that this Claire lady of the House of Latria sounded like a pretty difficult person. I could definitely understand why Eris might be the wrong fit for that situation. Getting on the bad side of Zenith's family wasn't my idea of fun, and plus we'd have to take her new infant on the dangerous journey. And so, Eris gave in.

This was the rare journey in which not a single one of my wives would be joining me... But hey, that's life. And so, our preparations continued, until one day, just before we were ready to depart, a startling realization forced a change of plan.

Sylphie was pregnant.

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Chapter 6: Onward, to Millishion...

SYLPHIE WAS ONCE AGAIN pregnant. This would be the second child for

her. And it happened just before I was going to set out. Once, this might have made me clutch my head and agonize over what to do. Now? This was my fourth time hearing a baby was on the way just as I was set to embark somewhere. It wasn't nothing, but Sylphie and the baby didn't take up all my thoughts.

If anything, I was elated. What should we name the baby? Would they be a boy this time, or a girl? Lucie, you're getting a new baby brother or sister! Are you ready to be the big sis again? Or those were subconversations I rehearsed in my head while half-skipping with elation across the lawn, until...

"Madam Sylphie is... Wh-what shall we do?!"

Lilia was bewildered, her normally placid face now drawn and uncertain.

"I'm the only one who can attend to Madam Zenith... But Madam Sylphie is the only one who can attend to the house, and she's now with child... If the unthinkable happened, then..."

We'd struck a deal that Lilia would come to Millis and attend to Zenith while Sylphie focused on maintaining the household. But now: pregnant. It wasn't the end of the world. Roxy was capable of doing any chore that needed doing, and we could always hire outside help to tide things over. I was tempted to leave it at that, but even I was worried about leaving a pregnant woman alone for months at a time.

Lilia couldn't decide. Should she head out with Zenith, or should she stay to look after Sylphie? It was hard not to be shaken by the sight of Lilia herself actually shaken by something. Maybe it would be best to tone down my goofy celebration.

When I decided to serve Orsted, I was fully prepared for the possibility that I'd have to leave a pregnant wife behind for the sake of my work. But now it dawned on me that I'd committed to that sacrifice on the assumption that Lilia and Aisha would be there for my wives when I couldn't be.

This could be bad. Oh boy...

"Umm, I'll be fine, you know. It's my second time, and I have Roxy and

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Eris. I even have Grandma," said Sylphie to comfort Lilia.

That was true. This was Sylphie's second baby. She knew better what was coming and had more people to rely on to boot. Roxy spent a lot of time out of the house, but if Elinalise could make regular check-ins, that'd be best. Even Eris would do something if there was an emergency.

Yeah, that was right. During her first pregnancy, we only had Norn and Aisha in the house. And while Aisha was an old hand now, she'd had zero experience back then. From that perspective, we were in a better position now than we were back then. It wasn't like I was going to be gone for a full year, either. It was gonna be fine.

Eris and Roxy backed Sylphie up.

"Yeah, we'll make something work! You've got me to protect you!"

"I'm away during the afternoons so I'm still a tad worried, but you always have people around you, so I believe you won't be in much danger!"

Even so, my mind kept churning up fresh, new worries.

Lilia glanced down at little Lara, who tugged at the hem of Roxy's robe.

"But we have children in the house now, which means more work to do. And you never know what could happen..."

Good point. You never knew what kids could be up to. Lucie and Lara were both rambunctious little squirts. They would never attack Sylphie out of malice. But, let's say that Lucie accidentally misfired a spell during practice that happened to hit Sylphie. Or maybe Lara started riding on Leo's back and was about to leave the house, and Sylphie became so panicked to stop them that she fell down the stairs.

...Children were accidents waiting to happen no matter what I did. If I started imagining hypothetical disasters, I'd never stop.

But there were real problems on the horizon. The first big one: when Sylphie told me that she'd probably hit her limit given her race's biology, I took that as a personal challenge. Didn't even think about family planning. Of course I'd never make babies for the fun of it! How dare you? I'd always wanted a second child. But maybe the five-year gap since Lucie was born without another baby in sight made me consider that Sylphie really had hit her limit, and maybe I did get a little lazy about using protection...

Anyway, the matter was settled. I guess this was at least half my fault—

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I'd chosen a hectic time to get my wife pregnant, and now I was leaving her alone. A repeat of history. Why did I only seem to have children right before running off on long journeys? Perhaps it was the Man-God's curse.

There was the option of delaying my departure to the Holy Country of Millis. I could put it off for about a year, see Sylphie's pregnancy to term, and then rethink my strategy once that was over. But then, bam, it'd be Roxy! Boom, Eris! It was possible that there'd be no end to it... But given how long a trip to Millis would normally take, the Latrias probably wouldn't complain if we put the trip off for a year or two. Cliff'd been in the same boat.

Ugh, right. Cliff! Elinalise asked me to at least watch over him until he found his footing. Even if we backed out, Cliff would still go. I was sure he'd be fine, but there niggled a remote possibility he could wash out of the position within that one year and be stuck there.

Be it Sylphie or be it Cliff, my thoughts went straight to the worst-case scenario. If either had been an emergency, my choice would be made for me, but no such luck. I had to choose: Cliff or Sylphie? Work or love? Cold pragmatism said to establish the Mercenary Band in Millis at once and then place Cliff in line for the papacy. That would make things easiest on me. But would that be right? What was the point of all these machinations if I left Sylphie and our child crying in the cold? I had to reconsider why it was that I joined forces with Orsted to begin with. I couldn't lose sight of what mattered.

"..."

Just as I thought that, Zenith moved. "Hm? Madam?"

With the stiff, jerky movements of a sleepwalker, Zenith grabbed Lilia's hand. Zenith lurched onward, her iron grip yanking Lilia after her. Lilia stumbled to keep up. Zenith was leading her to Sylphie.

"Umm... Miss, er, Zenith?" asked Sylphie, baffled.

Zenith took Lilia's hand, and slowly, softly, placed it on Sylphie's shoulder. As though to say, Lilia, watch over her. As though to say, I'll be just fine.

"M-Madam..."

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This was a glimpse of that steel will that Zenith hid so well. The entire family had noticed it most reliably came out when something pertained to her children or grandchildren. Of course Zenith would want Lilia to watch over the child in Sylphie's tummy over her. Everyone understood the decision she'd made.

"Very well," said Lilia. She wiped her tears, looked Zenith in the eyes, and nodded. Her own resolve had now firmed.

"Aisha!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" shouted Aisha as Lilia's command snapped her out of her daze.

"You will attend to Madam Zenith's needs in my place and see her to the Latria residence. No buts!"

"Guh... Got it!"

Aisha froze for a moment. She really didn't want to set foot onto Latria property. But she wasn't an going to bust up this touching scene by saying "no."

"Master Rudeus, I believe we're decided. Do take care."

"Yeah... Thank you. For everything."

If Lilia was looking after her, then I knew tragedy would be impossible. Not with Lilia there. I could do my work in the Holy Country of Millis without any worries.

"Sylphie."

"What is it, Rudy?"

I had one last thing I needed to say before I left. Something important.

"I love you."

"Yeah. Same."

Sylphie stood up and gently wrapped her hands around my torso. I buried my face in her hair and hugged her back, being careful not to squeeze too tight.

"I'll think up a name while I'm gone."

"Sure. Tell me when you get back."

Sylphie broke out into a smile. Any other time, she'd still be anxious. But now, she had Lilia behind her. A second mother to depend on.

I gave my hugs to Roxy and Eris and then set out.

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We began our journey. Me, Aisha, Zenith and Cliff. Just us four.

I'd packed carefully, but it was still a lot to carry. The stone contact tablets and the Magic Armor Version One summoning scroll proved pretty bulky. The weight itself wasn't an issue since I was wearing Version Two. But while I was strong enough to shoulder the burden no sweat, I only had two hands and a single back. Carrying something larger than yourself lowers your dex, too, and this armor wasn't making me any taller. It was as awkward as carrying an empty cardboard box that your arms couldn't reach around.

With my massive luggage in hand, we met up with Cliff outside the city. He was surprised by the explanation of why our party was a member short. That said, the baby news made Cliff smile. He offered his best wishes.

"I'm afraid I can't give your news my highest congratulations given my position...but Saint Millis once said, 'The birth of a new life, whatever that life may be, is a joyous occasion.'"

"Well, aren't you supportive."

"Worry not, I'll pray to Saint Millis that your future child will get along well with mine."

No matter how terrible the Millis faith deemed me to be, the sins of the father didn't fall on the children. There was always the chance that any kid with my blood in them could end up going through partners one after the other...but I was sure that Cliff would set those kids right if they did.

Wait, no, that was my job. Huh.

"By the way, Cliff, are you familiar with the House of Latria?" "Latria, oh boy..."

Over the past month, I'd been trying to ask my sisters and Lilia about what kind of person this Claire Latria was. From their descriptions and the peculiarly unpleasant looks on their faces, I was able to figure out this much: she had a stick up her ass.

Norn averted her eyes and said that she "only remembered being scolded and called a slacker." Aisha sighed and said that "Claire would get mad" and demand she "stopped embarrassing Norn by acting up like this." Lilia answered

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that "she deeply values lineage and religion."

Basically, it sounded like the three of them got nagged incessantly about their family's structure and marriage history while they were stuck in that house in Millishion. But Claire wasn't gonna get to me the same way. Sure, everything I'd heard so far made me a bit scared to meet her...but I knew someone else who you could call "stubborn and strict."

He might have passed away, but...Sauros Boreas Greyrat. Eris's grandfather. The ideas he valued might have differed from Claire's, but he was just as much of a stickler for them. We even found some common ground after I showed him proper etiquette. Plus, she was human. If she valued lineage, then hey, I technically had the blood of both the houses of Latria and Greyrat. If she valued religion—well, uh, that part scared me a bit, so perhaps hiding my polygamous marriages would be for the best.

I recalled how I'd weathered that wasteland of shouting and violence that Eris called home. If I imagined Claire as a female version of Sauros, I could handle it. It was also quite possible that time had made my little sisters' memories of Claire harsher than they really had been, and that Claire was only harsh out of love for her family. Just like Ruijerd. No way I'd stop a mother and child reunion, but I figured that gathering a little advanced intel couldn't hurt.

"They're a house of note, particularly as leading figures of the Demon Expulsionists who've produced many of the top Temple Knights."

"I see."

The Temple Knights. Come to think of it, Aunt Therese was a Temple Knight. I wondered how she was doing.

"I was young when I was last in Millis so I don't know the details, but I've heard from Norn that they're quite strict," Cliff added.

Norn placed a lot of trust in Cliff; he listened to her vent about her problems when he was still in school. It seemed that some of those talks were about how she was branded a "good-for-nothing" during her time in the Latria home. About how she was constantly compared to Aisha, about how she was called a "failure who lost to a bastard child."

Cliff always responded to that by saying, "You mustn't compare yourself to others. Instead, strive to surpass the person you are now."

Norn followed that advice until she became the student council president. She never said as much, but Norn obviously held a deep respect for Cliff. It

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didn't reach the point of romance. But maybe, if Elinalise weren't here, Norn and Cliff might have become something more.

Whoa, if that happened, then that'd be a marriage between the Demon Expulsionist Latrias and the Demon Integrationist Grimors... Ah, wait, Norn was different. She was Paul's daughter, a Greyrat—not a Latria. She didn't have anything to do with the Millis Church's political strife.

"Personally, I can only pray that you don't join the House of Latria and become my enemy."

"Come on, Cliff, there's no way I'd ever fight against you."

"I trust you, of course. But there are times when the choice is already made for us..." Cliff trailed off, and then snickered at himself.

True.

Thinking about these relationship dynamics was already making my head hurt. The Latrias were Temple Knights and Demon Expulsionists, making them Cliff's enemies. Perhaps I should think carefully before building connections with that house. We Greyrats and Latrias might have been related by blood, but I was first and foremost a Greyrat from the Magic City of Sharia. I didn't need to be anyone other than Rudeus Greyrat, the Right Arm of the Dragon God, a subordinate to Orsted, and a friend to Cliff.

"Look Cliff, just because I won't butt in to help you doesn't mean I'd dream of becoming your enemy. Cross my heart. Giftwrap one of my daughters and hand her to Clive if I'm lying."

"Ah, that might be a good idea. A marriage between your daughter and my son... Yes, not bad at all."

"Whoa, what? Let's not be hasty, you know, it's not right for parents to decide who their children marry..."

"Yes, yes, I understand. It was a joke, now come along."

Cliff chuckled and started walking.

That, uh, was a joke, right? Then again, Lucie and Lara sure were cute... Those two would definitely grow to be beauties just like their mothers. Clive would grow up seeing those beautiful sisters every day. His first love would probably be Lucie. And since he was Elinalise's son, he might be precocious and ask her out early.

I didn't love the idea of some random kid off the street calling on my

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daughters, but this was Cliff's son. If Clive begged on his hands and knees before me, his future father-in-law, then I could perhaps be convinced to permit their relationship. But hold on there, kiddo, you've got some nerve calling me your in-law already—

"Big Brother, we're leaving you behind!" called Aisha as she held Zenith's hand. That snapped me back to reality.

"Ah, sorry about that!"

Ah, well, that was still a long way off. I turned my attention to the present and ran to catch up.

We entered the office and greeted Orsted. After that, we descended underground to the teleportation circle. In the blink of an eye, we were on the Millis Continent.

Last time I was here, I'd made the Millis teleportation circle where we found ourselves standing. It was in the basement of an abandoned mansion deep in a forest, not far from the Millis capital. Why was there an abandoned mansion in the middle of the forest, you ask? In this world, villages built near forests are sometimes invaded by the forest—suddenly swallowed whole. That was the story behind these ruins.

The dim glow of the magic circle threw an eerie light onto the moss and ivy that climbed up the basement's walls. We didn't maintain the mansion, but the surrounding trees buttressed the walls. It wouldn't fall down any time soon. Some adventurers from nearby towns came by every now and then, I heard, but the room with the magic circle was only accessible through a hidden pathway. We just placed a loot chest in the room connecting to it. All it contained were a few random magic items, but they should've been enough to convince the average person snooping around that they'd found everything.

From the mansion, we traveled on foot. It took a bit of time given Zenith's dissociated state. There weren't going to be any strong monsters in our way since we were close to Millis, but we still needed to move with caution.

Ah yes! Speaking of monsters, that reminded me of the time I came to this forest with Orsted to set up that magic circle. It was my first time finally encountering one of the most famous varieties of monsters out there: the goblin. Those green-skinned fellas who were about half the height of humans. They were aggressive, amorous, and among the weakest class of creatures on the

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planet. They lived in packs, and sometimes they'd capture women of other species so they could mate with and impregnate them. They couldn't be reasoned with and they viewed people as enemies, so they'd attack on sight. Goblins made me wonder if they actually weren't monsters, but instead demons. They lived incredibly primitive lifestyles inside caves within the forest. They resided in cliffside dwellings and eked out a living by grouping together to hunt. Their engineering skills weren't great, but they used tools like clubs and stone knives. Also, while I only saw it in glimpses, I had seen a goblin parent show what might be mistaken for affection towards their own children.

In my mind, there wasn't much daylight between them and primitive humans; they were treated like monsters simply because of their low intelligence. Perhaps things might go another way if we could understand each other. Sadly, this was the Millis Continent, and the Holy Country of Millis would never acknowledge we were more alike than different. Perhaps the goblin compulsion to attack people on sight was simply a holdover from the past. The goblins and the Holy Country of Millis must have had a history of warfare that I wasn't aware of.

The more I thought about it, the more I saw the goblins as tragic creatures. If only they had resided in the Central Continent, where they might have been recognized as low-level demons instead of complete monsters...

That's what was going through my mind right after I killed a goblin who attacked us on our path.

"Big Brother, why are you tearing up over a goblin?"

"You know, just thinking that if goblins had lived somewhere else, they

might have been called demons instead of monsters."

"Uh... You sure Roxy wouldn't get mad at you for that?" "Nah, she wouldn't."

The word "demon" was actually an umbrella term that included a lot of different races. I was far from aware of every single one, but I was sure that there had to be some demon races out there with intellects as lacking as goblins. Heck, there was someone people called a demon king who was pretty dumb; it wouldn't be a surprise for a race to be even dumber than that. If anything, that demon king's level of stupidity was the bigger marvel of nature.

"So, what made you think of that, anyway?"

"Well, unlike other monsters, goblins form groups, right? So I was

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wondering what would happen if they were treated better."

"Huh? What difference does that make?"

Aisha gave a look of open disgust. Anywhere you went, any nation you visited, especially if you spoke to women and children, nobody was a fan of goblins. Oh well. I wasn't exactly a goblin rights activist here.

Speaking of political organizing. "Aisha, how's it going with the Mercenary Band?"

"Hmm? How do you mean? I think I'm handling it fine."

"Well, less about how you're handling it, more like if you're getting along with everyone."

I only meant to start up some small talk. I knew, in broad strokes, it was going well. But I wanted to hear the slice-of-life fluff. Like, maybe she went out to eat with everyone, but they all got served something extra spicy, so everyone was breathing fire between quips and small talk.

"Hmm... Good question..."

No fun, just gloom.

Was she being bullied?! If we were home, I would have turned my sirens on and floored it to the Mercenary Band, hauled Linia and Pursena into custody, tossed them into the interrogation room, and gone full bad cop on them until they owned up to their crimes. But I saw the truth just last year; Linia, Pursena, and the entire mercenary band gave Aisha that huge birthday present. All my evidence said Aisha was well-liked among the Mercenary Band.

"Is there something on your mind?" I asked.

"Hmm... I dunno, I just don't get it, you know?"

"Oh?"

"It's something I see Norn doing too. They start something and keep at it even if it's doomed to fail."

"Well, nobody can know they're going to fail until they try."

"No, not like that. I mean like, they fail once, then they repeat the same

mistake and fail again." "Ah, I see."

People repeat history, huh? Norn was definitely the type to repeat the

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same mistakes a few times just to be sure. But that was because... Wait, I was getting head of myself. How about I politely let her finish?

"So in the Mercenary Band, I'm an advisor, everyone's boss, so I warn people when they mess up the same way they did last time. Sometimes I'm harsh. Like, 'I already told you how to do it, so what's your problem?' and stuff."

"Uh-huh."

"But they all seem to hate it."

"Well, nobody loves getting yelled at."

"But if they hate it so much, then why mess up again? I'm even telling them how to do it. Just do it."

"Just because you tell them what to do doesn't mean they can put it into practice right away."

Aisha's doubtful look told me she didn't quite understand. Well, that was Aisha; she was a natural. She learned quick, and her memory was a steel trap. Her failures were minor and infrequent, and her successes bordered on perfection. She relentlessly applied any experience or knowledge she gained to anticipating the next challenge. That's why things that she saw as "the same mistakes" might have looked like average mistakes to an average guy like me. It must have been frustrating for her to see people who should have learned their lessons from last time screw up over and over. Then again, the employees Aisha yelled at probably didn't even realize that they were making the same mistakes. That could explain why they didn't appreciate Aisha yelling at them all the time.

"So yeah, it's going well, but I'm not sure I'm making any friends..."

"Ah, I see."

Being exceptional meant Aisha left people behind. She thought of herself as capable of anything, as someone who would've succeeded where anyone else might fail. That's why she was so hard on people. It was why she chewed them out.

"But doesn't that make work a little tense?" I asked.

"Umm, when I get mad, Linia steps in and takes them aside. I dunno what she tells them, though. And then, that person always comes back looking relieved."

I see. So Aisha scolded the mercenaries while Linia or Pursena cheered

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them back up. Like I said, people came in different styles, which made them suited for different jobs.

"Well, here's hoping that you can pick up that part of the job someday, too."

"Ugh..."

Aisha looked visibly annoyed. As though to say, I'll do it if I have to, but I

don't want to.

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If that was what excellence took, I was sure that Aisha had it in her. She could learn to comfort people and give them little pep talks. But that wouldn't necessarily mean she could empathize. That was what I really wanted her to learn somewhere down the line; the anguish of someone who just can't get it right, the frustration of someone who wants it desperately and still fails, and the powerlessness of someone who knows what to do, but whose body won't cooperate. If Aisha could learn those feelings, then I was sure her tension with the mercenaries would ease considerably.

If she never did, well... some people live with flaws like that for their entire lives. And they do, you know, okay. But.

"Hey, no rush."

"Yeah, I'm not rushing. Things are going well."

And that was what I talked about with Aisha as we wended our way toward Millishion.

We reached the edge of the forest. Seven more days' worth of travel until we hit Millishion. We stopped by a village along the way and bought a horse- drawn carriage. Don't get too excited by the fancy name; it was a rickety old thing better suited for hauling cargo, but hey, it beat walking. The stone tablets weren't exactly light.

We rode the carriage along the highway. This country had more grasslands than the Asura Kingdom, and its agriculture relied more on pasturage than dry farming. If the Asura Kingdom's scenery recalled the waving wheat fields of America, these were the cow pastures of Mongolia. Asura was a land of gold and green, while Millis was a land of blue and green. Both held lush greenery in common; both were bountiful lands. Millis did have more monsters on its roads, but that was about it. Traveling in either country was a leisurely stroll compared to what you'd find on the Demon Continent.

Finally, we arrived: the capital of the Holy Country of Millis, Millishion.

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Chapter 7: Cliff's Homecoming

MILLISHION, the capital of the Holy Country of Millis. It'd been a while

since my last time in this city; I'd been to the Millis Continent to set up the teleportation circle, but I didn't stop by the capital that time. So, this was only my second visit.

I entered the city through the northern gate back then, and I could still remember what it looked like. The way the river flowed down the Blue Wyrm Mountains into the lake below, the immaculate White Palace floating in the center of that lake, the golden cathedral built by the river, and the silver headquarters of the Adventurers' Guild just a bit downstream. And last but not least, those seven towers surrounding the city with those vast plains stretching out below.

Ah... How did it go again? "This is a place not only rich in majesty, but also in perfect harmony with nature. No other city in the world is nearly as beautiful," right? That scenery looked like it was lifted off the pages of a guidebook I read long ago, so it stuck with me. Man, that took me back. What book was that, again? Ah, yes, Wandering the World written by the adventurer Bloody Kant. Whew, that was a few letters off of being a hell of a name.

Uh, anyway, the view of Millishion from the south was still just gorgeous. The tall towers and the tall castle dominated the view. The castle was unblemished silver, glittering in the light. Their shine and size blotted out everything from view but the walls themselves. There was an aesthetic simplicity that guided its design, and it made the already beautiful castle all the more striking.

"Man, there really isn't a city in the world more beautiful than this one." "Beneath the surface, there isn't a city in the world more rotten. I promise

you that."

This comment came from Cliff. Guess he heard me talking to myself.

Cliff's sights were set on the White Palace. After all he'd been through, that beautiful castle loomed over him. Of course—he was here to go to war.

Honestly, I thought that the Asura Kingdom was far more rotten

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underneath its facade. Ariel and all those nobles' hearts were plenty riddled with decay. Then again, Asura the Kingdom's surface was rotten. It didn't bother to hide what it was. In that way, I guess, the pretense might make Millis the worse of the two.

"So, Cliff... I know you're a genius, but..."

"Come now, we're past that, aren't we?"

"Right... Just, if anything happens, feel free to talk to me."

I had way less pressure on me just this moment. As such, I wanted help Cliff bear his burden. Anything was fine, even something as small as buying him a cup of coffee.

"In that case... Could you start by taking this carriage to my home?"

"It shall be done, your future Pope-ness, sir."

That day, Cliff returned to Millishion, his former home. He'd been gone almost a decade.

Millishion had four entrances. One each in the Adventurers' District, the Residential District, the Divine District, and the Commercial District. The last time I came, I entered through the Adventurers' District. If I remember right, it was because out-of-towners were in for a headache if they entered through any other gate. Well, even if I don't remember right, I'm sure that we circled around the city walls and entered through the most packed entrance. And today, we were doing the same thing. Unlike last time, we had Cliff with us, so we didn't have to be picky about the gate. We chose the southern entrance in the Adventurers' District simply because it was closest.

And by "simply," I mean "only." It would have taken less time if we'd traveled unimpeded outside the city instead of wading through the sea of bodies inside of it. Our haste made waste. But Cliff had his own ideas:

"It's been a while, so I want to see the city," he said.

Hey, it was his first time being home in a decade. He was going to live here for years to come, but he'd only see it like this once. Walking down the road to your home and reminiscing about how this is still here or that used to be there wasn't an opportunity that came by every day. It had to be now or not at

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all.

"You got it."

And so, I humored Cliff and took the reins.

"This takes me back," Cliff murmured to himself as we passed underneath Millis's beautiful gate.

Cliff was born in the Divine District, so I heard that he hadn't visited the Adventurers' District much. Still, he looked up at the Adventurers' District gate and squinted his eyes, like he was projecting some personal memory onto the scene. My time in this city, however, lasted only a single week; the only things I remembered all involved Paul. Of course I could get a little emotional about that if I thought it over, but nothing else held any particular resonance for me. When I looked around, didn't see visions of my past. I saw the future. I saw the Mercenary Band I would build in this city.

Adventurers were walking all over around us. There were a lot more beastfolk, elves, and the like here than in the Asura Kingdom. The ranks of the adventurers ran the gamut, but you could more or less tell who was at what level at a glance. Boys and girls of fifteen or sixteen scurried around while equipped in obviously secondhand armor. There was a beginner-rank clad in brand new armor who looked to be eighteen. A mid-rank in his twenties whose equipment was a mix of both new and worn down. A veteran whose equipment seemed worn-down if you didn't know what to look for, but was in fact a mix of magic items and other high-class goods. The spread of adventurer paths was fairly varied, but given that they lived at the foot of the Millis Church, there were plenty of healers and few mages.

By contrast, the Magic City of Sharia had a lot of battle-hardened warriors and plenty of newbie mages. The warriors more or less headhunted from the University of Magic, where they'd find promising mages who were eager to become adventurers. Race-wise, Sharia had a lot of humans and beastfolk. The abundance of beastfolk was likely related to Linia and Pursena's long presence there. Meanwhile, in Ars—the capital of the Asura Kingdom—it was newbies everywhere you looked. The large variety of schools meant that one job didn't particularly dominate over another, but the racial makeup was almost entirely human. The few non-human races were typically at mid-rank or veteran, and they left for the royal capital soon enough.

Millis's variety in race and expertise likely stemmed from its proximity to the Great Forest. The Great Forest provided fresh blood from beastfolk, elf,

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halfling, and dwarf races who traveled south to Millis. The city gave adventurers opportunities to prove themselves, after which they'd travel north to challenge the strong monsters of the Great Forest. However, the Great Forest didn't have an Adventurers' Guild, so they made their bases in either Millishion or Zantport. As a result, this city's Adventurers' Guild HQ hosted adventurers of all stripes.

Now, how would I establish a Mercenary Band in a place like this?

In the Asura Kingdom, I had connections with Ariel, which made everything go smoothly. That country had three specific groups: swordsmen, merchants, and nobles. First, commoners who had formal training in swordsmanship but failed to become soldiers or adventurers, and also lacked the connections to find someone to mentor. Second, people raised in a merchant family with some amount of study in the trade, but who lost succession to the family shop to the eldest son and were forced to try their luck on their own. Last, third or fourth sons of lower noble families who were educated on a wide variety of subjects (although they mastered none of them), and who had no hope of succession or marriage.

Once we stitched together that diverse lot into one team, what do you know? We had serious connections. We became the one-stop shop for jobs that solders couldn't take on.

I promoted the fifth son of a high-ranking noble family to branch director back there. Ariel had introduced us. Man, that interview was a trip. Aisha and I put on these fake triangular glasses and asked him what he did during the two- year gap before joining the interview.

His response? "I was concealing my identity and actively engaging with the commoners. It taught me not only about the differences in our cultures, but about the importance of deeply understanding each and every business partner you work with." His answer was so perfect that I had to take notice of him.

In practice, he was pretty skilled at holding together a group. He knew the differences between noble and commoner culture inside and out, so when disputes broke out inside the Band, he was the guy who'd understand both sides and find a solution. He wasn't exactly a magnetic personality, but he was the kind of guy who people never hated. Oh, he could handle it. Better than I could, certainly.

Now that they were in his competent hands, I needed to build a Mercenary Band branch here as well. I needed personnel and management. We needed a mission for this Mercenary Band. Aisha was taking notes; she'd put off planning

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until we had eyes on the place. Well, we were here, now, and both looking.

It was too early to set anything in stone based on what little we'd encountered so far; there were naturally going to be plenty of adventurers here in the Adventurers' District, but we had a Divine District, a Commercial District, and a Residential District to explore too. Locals were certainly going to know more than we did. It was best to save our conclusions for after we visited the Divine and Residential Districts.

"I didn't notice it the last time I visited...but there sure are a lot of different races here."

"It's 'cause the Great Forest is so close."

Saying that made me take another look around. This was a diverse bunch; from halflings who barely looked ten years old, to elves whose spindly limbs reminded me of those from a wilted tree. I mentioned the beastfolk before, but not the sheer variety of them. I saw dogs, cats, rabbits, deer, mice, tigers, wolves, sheep, bears...

Random thought, but when, like, a beastfolk guy looked at farm animals of their own kind, like cows and pigs, did they feel a little spark, or... No, they probably feel the way humans do when we see monkeys at a zoo. Just an animal.

"Ahh, aaahh..."

"Oh, wait, don't stand up so—"

I glanced behind me to see that Zenith was standing up on top of the cart. Despite the rocking of the carriage and Aisha's hurried attempts to get her to sit down, she continued pointing at something ahead.

Her finger was aimed at...a monkey. Wait, no, that was rude. It was just a monkey-faced man. That reminded me, I don't think I'd ever seen monkey-like beastfolk. Maybe monkeys were actually rare in this world. Rare enough to make Zenith point at one with joy.

Hm? Had I seen that monkey before? Wait a sec, that wasn't even a beastfolk...

"Oh."

"Yooo?! It's Zenith and the boss! What brings ya all the way out here?" It was a demon. And not just any demon.

It was Geese.

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"Whew, who'da thunk we'd run into each other all the way out here?"

The moment Geese saw us on the road, he hopped into our carriage. Zero hesitation, as though he owned the dang thing.

"Coincidence is a crazy thing, I tell ya! Wait, what'd you guys come here for, anyway?!"

Geese seemed pretty happy to see us. His grin stretched from ear to ear. Some of that joy was starting to rub off on me.

"Half work, half family."

"Ah, yeah, I feel that. But listen, you ain't gonna believe what I've been through! I'm talkin' tearjerker from start to finish—"

Nobody asked him, but Geese began to recount the tale of what happened to him after we departed back in Sharia. Geese, Talhand, Vierra, and Shierra had all arrived at the Asura Kingdom, just as planned. There, they cashed in the stones of absorption for a massive sum of money. Vierra and Shierra used the money to retire from adventuring. They presumably returned to their hometown; Geese lost track after that, but given the money they had, he figured that they started a business or something.

As for Geese, well...in a not-entirely-unexpected twist of fate, he got addicted to gambling. I wasn't too familiar with it, but the Asura Kingdom apparently had a gambling district that Geese soon became a regular at. Geese always had a bit of a gambling streak, but the fortune he now had took the limiters off. In a matter of months, Geese had managed to blow every coin to his name.

"I tell ya, things were gettin' hairy back then. They even took the shirt off my back! All I had left to ante up was my life itself."

If Geese had been left to his own devices, he would've been put in a pair of cement shoes and sent to sleep with the fishes. It was Talhand who had saved him.

Talhand decided it was about time for his next adventure, and decided to peek in on Geese before setting out. Talhand was a little dumbfounded by the mess Geese had gotten himself into, but he still decided to sell off the freshly

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forged gauntlets he'd just had made to bail out his old party member. Those were gauntlets made with the stones of absorption too; combined with his research costs, they'd represented Talhand's life savings. Now they were both flat broke. The high cost of living in the Asura Kingdom was suddenly too expensive, so they set off to the south.

If I were in that position, I'd never stick my neck out for someone that bad with money, much less travel together with him afterward. But Talhand and Geese went way back, so maybe this was how it went between them. Like, maybe Geese had been the one saving Talhand's hide in the past.

Hey, that's friendship for you.

Shirone Kingdom was going through some internal strife that they did not want to get involved with, and given that the King Dragon Realm was rumored to be contributing to it, they decided to skip those destinations and go straight to Millis. Revisit an old haunt.

Sometime after that, Talhand struck off by himself, leaving Geese all alone. Geese thought he probably returned to his own hometown.

"What's that guy thinking, going home of all places?" Geese grumbled.

Me? I could sort of understand. It was homesickness. You know, the illness Nanahoshi had a chronic case of. A long journey could make you want to see your family again.

"Are you not going back, Geese?"

"Who, me? You gotta be kiddin'. What am I gonna do in that boring backwater village? Watch paint dry?"

Well, can didn't mean always. Personally, I'm a homebody. Only at home could I find Sylphie's breasts (health restoration item, touch activated), or Roxy's breasts (temporarily raise luck stat, touch activated), or Eris's breasts (time skip power, touch activated).

"I mean, I ain't alone. That guy had some bad memories or whatever with his hometown, too."

"Then maybe he wanted to go back and settle the score."

No matter what might have happened in the past, time changes you. Things you could never forgive in your teens might be things you could find it in your heart to accept in your twenties. By your fifties, you might not even care anymore. Talhand might have compartmentalized that old stuff in his heart and

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went back to see his home as a different person.

"Well, 'nough about Talhand, I've been back in the adventurin' biz here."

Apparently, Geese started adventuring again after Talhand left. Important addendum: he hadn't found any business yet. You know, since he was a demon and had zero combat prowess to speak of.

"So, boss, what broughtcha to this neck o' the woods?"

"Well, you know the state my mother's in, so her family called her over to see her. I was traveling here with a friend, so I figured I'd stop by."

"Ah... Zenith's fam, huh..."

Geese looked at Zenith with what seemed to be pity. Zenith's expression was as blank as ever, but she somehow seemed to be in higher spirits than normal. Probably because Geese was here.

"Well, I've heard a bit about what kinda place Zenith's family runs...and lemme tell ya, it doesn't sound like my idea of fun."

"Um... What exactly have you heard?"

"I dunno the details, but I hear they're a buncha stiffs." Geese shrugged.

Yeah, I kinda knew that before coming, thanks. Regardless, I still had to go.

"Whoa there, we're almost at the district line. Sorry, but can ya stop for a sec? Demons like me don't go to the Divine District if we know what's good for us."

I followed Geese's request and stopped the carriage. Geese hopped off to the street below.

"Welp, I'm gonna be stickin' around for a while, so don't sweat, you ain't seen the last of me. Keep on keepin' on, boss!"

Back turned, Geese waved his hand as he walked down the street...until he turned back to face us.

"Boss! Can I ask ya somethin'?!"

"What is it?"

"You remember what Paul said back in that dungeon?"

The dungeon, huh? A lot of things came to mind, but only one rang out in my heart. That must've been the one he meant.

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"Yes."

Seemingly happy to hear that, Geese nodded and turned around.

The acquaintance who'd appeared so suddenly had disappeared just as quickly. I had to wonder if our reunion was, in fact, a coincidence. It didn't matter. I was happy to see an old friend and shake some nerves off.

With that on my mind, I continued to the Divine District. *

When we finally reached Cliff's house, the sun had already set.

Cliff's house was a lot plainer than I expected. It was a single-building home that looked like it could cozily house a family of three or four. It didn't stand out at all from the neighboring homes... Wait. The Divine District had row after row of identical houses. I assumed that a pope's house would've been a bit more like Ariel's, so this caught me off guard.

"It's pretty small."

Rather than getting angry at my rude comment, Cliff graciously explained. "People of the cloth who serve the main church are all provisioned homes like these. Though my grandfather has a room in the headquarters, so this house doesn't get much use."

Basically, they were company houses.

"I appreciate you escorting me home. It's rather late, so please, stay the night."

I took a moment to think about Cliff's proposal. Zenith's family home was in the Residential District. It'd take some time to get there. If we visited in the middle of the night it was bound to cause problems, and I wasn't emotionally prepared to meet them while still in my travel clothes. We could go back to the Adventurers' District and come back tomorrow...but all that backtracking felt a little excessive.

I decided to take Cliff up on his offer. "Fair enough. Thank you."

I set down my luggage, took the horse to the stable, and pulled the carriage into the shed, while everyone else took their luggage inside. Or I would have, but as I was steering the carriage, the others opened the front door of the

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house and something like white smoke tumbled out.

"Achoo!" Aisha sneezed adorably after the scent pricked her nose.

"Cough... This is awful... Grandfather didn't so much as clean the place, I see," Cliff cursed as he held a cloth to his nose.

The house was covered in dust.

"I'm not sure it'd be enough to thank you for letting us stay the night, but we'll help you clean up... By which I mean, Aisha will."

"Oh, much appreci—hm?"

"Who, me?!"

Aisha let out a bewildered voice while Zenith shot me a scolding look. Well, Zenith was expressionless, but I could still feel the intent in her gaze. Hey now, Aisha, don't give me that look too. Have I ever ordered you to clean something alone?

Oh yeah, all the time. Every little job I could. I appreciated it, I really did...

"H-hey, that was clearly a joke! Of course I'll help, too."

"As you should."

So began our big midnight cleanup. After opening the windows and blowing out a large area with wind magic, we broke out the brooms to take on the rest. After that, we mopped up the rooms we intended to use with a wet rag. Given that the place hadn't been used in years, I also gave the beds and sheets a gust of hot air to kill the insects.

The kitchen was pretty filthy, but Aisha managed to get it presentable all on her own. For real, while Cliff and I were cleaning the living room, Aisha finished the lion's share of the cleaning for every room we'd use. Compared to us, she went three times faster: the Red Comet, Aishar Aznablerat. With that done, we used the remainder of our travel rations to fix ourselves a light dinner.

"Congrats on making it home, Cliff."

"Don't celebrate too early. Not until I've met my grandfather."

We gave a toast with our glasses of water and feasted upon jerky and soup. It didn't quite have the flavor of a home-cooked meal, but it was what it was. We didn't want to lug around a ton of excess ingredients, so we were trying to use up the last of it.

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"Rudeus, what will your plan tomorrow be?" asked Cliff. "First, we visit the House of Latria."

"I see. Will you stay there tomorrow night?"

"I think we probably will."

She might not have had the most generous reputation, but Claire was still Zenith's family. There shouldn't be a problem with us staying for a while. I had work to attend to, such as setting up the Mercenary Band branch and keeping an eye on Cliff, so staying at the Latria home would limit my freedom a bit...but I had to go first to be sure. Worst-case scenario, I'd go say hi and find somewhere else to stay.

"I'll need to hire someone who can cook, then..." said Cliff.

"Well, how about I send Aisha over once every couple of days?"

"No, that's quite all right. You all have enough work on your plate," Cliff said with a shrug. "I have someone else in mind, anyway."

We were given the guest room—three people in a tight space. We were family, so we all squeezed into the bed...but Aisha and I were fully grown adults by now. The bed itself was pretty small, nowhere near the size for three adults to sleep side-by-side on. We gave the bed to Zenith instead, while Aisha and I slept on the floor. We made a spot to rest on with cushions and sheets we borrowed from Cliff. The floor was carpeted, so it was downright luxury compared to camping out.

I set my head down on the pillow and rested on my side. When I did, I found that my eyes met Aisha's, who had apparently made her bedding right next to mine.

"Teehee. Think Miss Sylphie will get jealous if I tell her I slept with you, Big Bro?"

"Come on, we've done it plenty of times on the road."

"Yeah. But, you know, still. Teehee." Aisha enjoyed sleeping with company, so she couldn't hold back her giggles.

Ah, what an adorable smile. If she were Sylphie, I'd have found myself getting horny and pulling her close. Sylphie would have snuggled her way deeper into my arms. But I wouldn't get horny over Aisha, and she didn't have any urge to snuggle into my arms. I loved Aisha, and Aisha loved me, but it wasn't a relationship I felt any sexual desire over. If I had to describe the

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sensation, it was something quite similar to what I felt for Lucie. You know. Familial love.

"I know it's kinda out of the blue," I asked, "but what do you think now about what Lilia's always been telling you?"

"What my mom's been telling me? Which thing?"

"You know, like serving me, or servicing me, stuff like that."

Aisha looked surprised by the question, but she then brought her hand to her chin to consider it more deeply.

"Hmm, I mean I'm not opposed... But like, it's just kinda different from with Miss Sylphie. Like... Well, I'm not sure what it's like, but..."

"No, I get you. You're right, it's just kinda different."

It was all subtext, but we more or less understood one another. We had to feel out each other's meanings.

"Heh heh, glad you understand. This is why I love ya, Big Brother!" said Aisha as she wriggled her way towards me and pressed her body against mine. She was soft and warm, truly a fine hug pillow. As I was enjoying the sensation, Aisha asked something else, as though the thought just came to her.

"I wonder... Will I fall in love with someone someday and want to have children of my own?"

This was probably the thing that was "different" from earlier. "Good question. Well, why not?"

"But who would it be with..."

Ah, who would be Aisha's lover? Yeah, I couldn't imagine. Would he be the perfect-at-everything type, or would he be totally useless? Aisha could probably fit herself in with any partner she made, but I couldn't see herself liking someone she had to change for. Who did Aisha normally spend time with? The Mercenary Band...lots of beastfolk thattaway. Aisha, with that pack of wild animals? No siree, I'm not giving my little sister to whatever the cat dragged in!

If I asked Orsted, he'd probably know what kind of partner Aisha married...but I think I'll refrain. I'd feel bad for her if he told me she'd end up an old maid.

Oh, right. I should make sure of something before I fell asleep. "Aisha, we're taking my mom to her family's house tomorrow... So,

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what'll you do?" "..."

Aisha moved out of my arms and took her distance, returning to where she originally lay.

"I'll go. Mom didn't make it sound optional." "I see..."

"Yep."

Hearing Aisha'd be there put me at ease. Tomorrow, I'd be visiting Zenith's home. I'd be going through the usual pitch and making connections, but the thought of going to such a high-class house all alone made me antsy.

"Well, I appreciate the help."

"Don't worry, I've got it."

"Seriously, you're a lifesaver. And thanks for the cleaning tonight too. Anyway, good night."

"Mmh, you're welcome... Good nighdd... Fwah..."

I listened to Aisha's sleepy muttering as I closed my eyes.

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Chapter 8:

The House of Latria

ZENITH'S FAMILY HOME was huge. It was very close to how I'd imagined

it. There was a large gate with a pair of lion statues flanking either side. A long, cobbled walkway ran from the gate to the front door with a fountain smack-dab in the middle, and hedges trimmed into all manner of weird shapes. Behind it all stood a beautiful white mansion. If you looked up "nobleman's mansion" in the encyclopedia, this would've been the picture for it.

We were in the nobles' section of the Residential District, and on a street lined with the homes of the particularly well-to-do. Felt pretty similar to Asura's wealthiest residential district.

But man, this place was gigantic. Cliff's house caught me by surprise, but Zenith's family home was spot-on, exactly what I'd thought it'd be. After all, I had one just like it back in the Asura Kingdom. Not to brag, as it was the one Ariel gave me, but it was about this size. The mansion here had a cleaner look to it, but if we're talking conspicuous consumption, mine was equally conspicuous, let's say.

Which is why I had nothing to be afraid of. I wasn't chicken, okay?

"Hahhh..." sighed Aisha next to me. She looked at the mansion in disdain.

Right now, the two of us were waiting in front of the gate. I'd dressed in noble-ish clothes I'd changed into back at Cliff's house, while Aisha was in her maid outfit. Zenith accompanied us, dressed in the same kind of fancy clothes as me.

We asked a guy at the entrance who seemed to be guarding the place to receive us. I tried to show him the letter, but he bolted back into the mansion the moment he saw Zenith's face. We were still waiting on him.

"So, um, Big Brother. Just warning you, but Grandma's really not a fun person to be around."

"Yes, I heard you the first time."

Her warnings were getting to me. Still, I believed I was vaccinated against awful people. I was a nightmare myself in my past life, after all; pretty much

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anyone would be a delight by comparison. So, yeah. I had this.

Even if this were someone I couldn't stand, we could still talk about Zenith's condition and mourn what we'd both lost together. Anything beyond that might be too much to hope for, but that would be enough.

"Oh."

I snapped out of my thoughts to find a large contingent of men and women streaming out of the mansion. It wasn't just the guard from before; there were people in butler and maid uniforms. About twenty people in total were now marching on us.

The maids lined up on either side of the walkway beyond the gate. In front of them, a butler faced us, straight as a rod. It was the precise guest reception formation you'd see at a rich person's house in a cartoon. They pulled this all the time in the Asura Kingdom, too.

When the guard opened the door, the butler bowed his head deeply and the maids soon followed suit.

"Lady Zenith, we humbly welcome you home. All of us have, in our hearts, awaited this day."

Their heads were all bowed to Zenith. However, Zenith was as emotionless as ever; her eyes didn't even focus on the servants.

"Now then, Sir Rudeus—the Madam awaits. This way, please."

"Very well, thank you."

Undeterred by Zenith's lack of response, the butler then greeted me before turning on his heel to guide me inside the mansion. He didn't say a word to Aisha. Did he assume all people in maid outfits were maids? Maybe I should have had Aisha wear something else. Something a little more little-sister-like. A frilly dress or something.

As I thought this, I made my way across the walkway and was whisked into mansion's foyer. The inside was, unsurprisingly, decked out with lavish furnishings. Nothing that could compare to what I saw in Asura's royal castle or in Perugius's castle, of course, but at least it was all classy stuff.

"Now then, please wait in here."

Finally, we were guided to a reception room. Inside there was a pair of sofas facing each other; a flowerpot in the corner; a maid standing against the

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wall...

Considering everyone was "awaiting" this day, there sure was no sign of the Madam herself. But perhaps what she'd awaited was hearing we got here safe, and now that she had she wanted to freshen up for her guests. We'd find out which soon. I sat Zenith down and took a seat beside her. I glanced over to Aisha and saw she was still standing next to the arm of the sofa.

"Aisha, you sit down, too."

"Huh? But, uh, I think I should stand..."

"You're my sister, so you should be a guest here. Come on, take a seat." "Um... Okay."

Aisha followed my suggestion and sat down beside Zenith.

"..."

And for a while, the three of us waited, without a word between each other. Times like these reminded me of when I went to that interview at Philip's place. Sauros had burst into the room, shouted his lungs out, and left without any further fanfare. Kind of eerie how similar this was. I just hoped that today would go as well as that day...

Now, how did I handle Sauros, again? If I recall, I took the initiative by introducing myself first. I figured that introducing yourself first was polite in any world. Let's try that again today.

"This way, Madam."

As I finished that thought, the door opened. A tense-looking old lady, her blonde hair streaked with white, entered the room. Following her was a portly, mustachioed middle-aged man wearing what looked like a lab coat. Pretty sure that guy wasn't the Madam; I immediately stood up, lifted my hand to my chest, and gave a casual greeting.

"What an unparalleled pleasure to meet you, Grandmother. My name is Rudeus Greyrat. I've come today so I may..."

"..."

The old lady didn't so much as glance me. She swept right past my introduction and made a beeline for a good view of Zenith. She stared intently at Zenith's face, inspecting her from a footstep away. I'd envisioned a heartwarming reunion...but Claire's stony expression shattered my fantasy.

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Finally, Claire exhaled. She spoke in an almost icy tone, "This is indeed my daughter. Ander, if you'd please."

With that, the mustached man stepped forward. He elbowed past me, took Zenith's hand, and stood her up. Then, he lifted his own hand to Zenith's blank face...

"Wait, hold on a moment! Mind telling me what's up?" I hurriedly interjected.

"Ah, my apologies. I am Madam Claire's personal physician, Ander Berkeley."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Rudeus Greyrat. You've studied medicine?"

"Yes. I was originally here for a scheduled checkup on Madam Claire, but she said to have a look at her daughter while I had the opportunity..."

I see, so that was it. Grandma Claire must have gotten a bit overwhelmed seeing Zenith like this. I could totally understand.

"Well, if that's the case, then please take care of—"

"Who gave you permission to sit?!"

As I was about to say, "my mother," a scolding voice bellowed from behind me. I tensed involuntarily from the shock, but I turned around to see that Aisha had frantically stood up from the sofa.

"A mere maid does not remain seated while her master stands! You were not raised in a barn!"

"M-my apologies!" stammered Aisha, bowing her head despite being on the verge of tears.

Whoa, whoa. Hold on. What on earth? I need to catch my breath. This was all going too fast. And Claire was treating me like I was invisible? I could've started crying, too.

"I told her to sit down," I said firmly. That got Claire to slowly turn and fix her stare on me. Damn. Maybe I didn't want her attention... Well, too late now. Time to roll with it.

"She may be wearing a maid uniform, but she's my sister first. I'm having her tend to our mother's needs, so she simply chose something practical for that kind of work. I'm afraid it's unacceptable to treat her as 'only' a maid."

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"One dresses for the station they deserve. In this house, those who dress as maids will be treated as maids."

Uh, screw these house rules in particular.

"Well then, how would you treat someone in clothes like mine?"

"I would treat you appropriately, of course."

"Should I assume that your idea of 'appropriate' treatment is complete disregard?"

As I talked, I spread my arms open and looked down at my outfit. I wasn't wearing anything strange...I thought. Where did I get these? Probably somewhere in Sharia... Should I have worn the clothes I bought in the Kingdom of Asura? No, those were for parties...

"No, I... delayed my response...because you were a man I'd never met who swanned in and called me 'grandmother.' There've been no dearth of swindlers doing the same these past few years. I'd first determine if you were worth my time by verifying the truth."

"Ah... Well."

Hey, if it was common knowledge that a big fancy manor had a runaway daughter, it was no surprise that people would try to worm their way in by claiming to be lost relatives. I might have introduced myself, but I hadn't presented any proof of my identity. These clothes weren't even embroidered with the Greyrat family emblem, and anyone could have gotten that done anyway. I guess she had a point.

"This is the real Zenith, to be sure. And I remember Aisha over there quite well. But do you have any proof that you are my grandson?"

Proof, huh? I mean, that's a tough one. I'd brought Zenith, Aisha, and even the letter. What more did she... Wait, why was I having to prove myself to begin with?

"Is that necessary?"

"Pardon?"

"I brought Mom...er, Zenith and Aisha, and I even provided the letter I received from you. What more do you need?"

Claire's eyebrow twitched in response.

"If that is all, then I'm afraid I can't recognize you as a member of the

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House of Latria."

"Very well. I belong to the House of Greyrat... I'm the head of that household, and today is my first time ever setting foot upon this property. I have no intention of asserting myself as a member of the House of Latria."

As an ally of it? For the sake of the Mercenary Band, yes, that I was angling for. But if the other party already held me with suspicion, then I needed to play my intentions closer to the vest than I'd planned. My first priority was to bring Zenith home to her family.

Claire didn't seem to appreciate my answer; her eyes narrowed as her brows twitched with pent-up tension.

"For the 'head' of the House of Greyrat, you present as tawdry. Greyrat is one of the Four Great Houses of Asura... As distinguished as the House of Latria may be, we are merely a countship. Yet you would give your name first and lower your head not even to the Count himself, but to the wife of the Count?"

"I have the blood of one of the Four Great Houses, but I'm not from the main branch, nor do I have any titles. While I called myself head of my household, that was merely to say that I am the main provider for an ordinary family living in Sharia. And of course, even if I did possess some sort of high status, I feel it only natural to show some respect when meeting my own grandmother for the first time."

"Hm... Is that so?"

I got the feeling that my explanation only made Claire look down on me more. No, she couldn't be that bad... But then again, this person placed family lineage on a high pedestal. It was going to be a pain, but I decided to give myself a line of defense just in case.

"I may have no rank as a noble, but I do have a personal relationship with Her Majesty Queen Ariel, who was crowned ruler of the Asura Kingdom just last year. I myself am also a subordinate of the second of the Seven Great Powers, the Dragon God Orsted. I would prefer if you took those stations into account."

Not that I needed to be taken seriously, but her interaction with Aisha changed things. She needed to consider me an equal, or at least something close to it, to be of any kind of use to me.

Claire pursed her lips and raised her chin in response. She looked me over,

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as though trying to decide what I was worth.

"This is my proof of being the Dragon God's subordinate."

I brought out my bracelet that had the Dragon God's emblem. After looking at it for a few seconds, Claire turned to a butler that had been at her side and asked him something in a hushed voice. The butler nodded. I heard the words, "Indeed, that is the Dragon God's—" from him. I didn't think the Dragon God was particularly well-known, but this butler seemed to recognize his emblem. Please don't say it could easily be faked.

"I see... Understood."

With that said, Claire squared her jaw and brought her hands together around her stomach. Then, in one natural motion, she bowed her head.

"My name is Claire Latria. Wife to Commander of the Temple Knights' Sword Company, Count Carlisle Latria. I am currently tasked with the management of this mansion. I ask that you please forgive my poor manners."

I either successfully proved my identity, or my attitude overcame some sort of hurdle. I didn't know which, but whatever. I got Claire to lower her head and apologize.

A Commander of the Temple Knights, huh? Zenith's little sister Therese also marched in those ranks. This family sure had deep ties to them.

"Then please allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Rudeus Greyrat, son of Paul Greyrat and Zenith Greyrat. I currently work as a subordinate to the Dragon God Orsted. Don't worry about what happened before. I failed to perform my due diligence myself. I think that your caution was perfectly warranted."

We both bowed to each other, so the matter was as good as settled. Phew, maybe I could finally catch a breath. The greeting alone was like pulling teeth, but hey, I got it done.

"Now then, please take a seat." "Certainly, thank you."

I did as I was told and sat down.

"First, let me commend you on your long journey," said Claire. "I had assumed your voyage would take a few more years, but I'm quite thankful for your swift arrival."

Then, with a clap of her hands, the door opened. A maid pulling a cart entered the room; atop the cart was a tea set. A tea party? Fine by me. She'd

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better prepare herself to be blown out of her seat by the explosive tea technique I mastered at the floating fortress.

But before that, I figured I'd let Aisha sit down. She wasn't a maid, she was my sister. I couldn't have her be welcomed as anything less than a guest, so I had to be firm about this.

"Aisha, you sit down, too."

"Huh? But..."

"You're not a maid today. You came here as my relative, so please, sit down."

Aisha glanced back and forth at Claire as she slowly settled into her seat. Claire didn't say a word; she only responded with a twitch of her eyebrow. Looked like she was going to let it go. But of course; Aisha belonged to my family, after all, so it wasn't Claire's place to allow or forbid.

I glanced over at Zenith. It looked like she was still being inspected by that doctor; he was now looking her eyes and tongue. I didn't think he'd find what was wrong in there, but no harm trying. Claire probably wanted a doctor she trusted to take a look first before believing some stranger that Zenith had lost her memories.

"We've done our best to try and heal Mom, but we haven't had any luck."

"Well... I can imagine how some backwater town has very few options."

Ooh, now them's fightin' words. Whatchu callin' a backwater town, lady?

But, of course, I had anticipated she'd say that sort of thing. No surprises here.

"Sharia's healing magic might be a tad less advanced than Millis's...but I had her looked at by Orsted, a man familiar with every branch of magic there is, and Perugius, an expert on teleportation and summoning."

"Perugius? One of the three legendary heroes? Hm... I'm not sure I find that plausible."

Figures. I could understand why she wouldn't believe me. That said, I couldn't exactly pack him in my bags for a family trip; I was only riding on his coattails, anyway. Either way, I intended to stay in Millishion for a few months. Plenty of time for Claire to accept that there was no treatment for Zenith's condition. I just hoped they wouldn't insist on trying something drastic before reaching that conclusion.

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"Incidentally...what of Norn?"

I was hoping we'd stick to talking about Mom a bit longer, but Claire suddenly changed it. Norn, huh?

"She's currently enrolled in the Ranoa University of Magic. She's quite busy with her schoolwork, so I left her to continue her studies."

"Is that so? I was under the impression that the girl was a born failure, but is she making something of herself?"

"She's doing fine, yes. She's currently the student council president, so if anything, she's at the top of the school."

I might have put a little spin on it, but Claire seemed surprised. I didn't expect her to think that poorly of Norn. I guess I could see it if she compared her to Aisha.

"I see. What are her plans after graduation?"

"She hasn't decided yet."

"What of marriage?"

"I'm afraid she's a stranger to romance."

Claire's face scrunched up in response. Did I say something that offended her?

"In that case, she will come here once she graduates," she commanded, leaving no room for argument. Did she even consider the distance between here and Sharia? A round trip would take years to finish... Well, I had the teleportation circle, so I could manage it in a week.

"I wouldn't be opposed, but..."

"I can't imagine that she'd find a half-decent suitor in a backwoods country like Ranoa Kingdom, so I'll arrange the appropriate match."

Hm. What'd she mean by that? "Arrange" what?

"You mean to say, you'd make Norn marry someone?"

"That is exactly what I mean. If she has no future set and the head of the household isn't settling the matter, then I'll take on the duty myself."

"Whoa, hey, hold on a moment. Shouldn't you be asking for Norn's opinion fir—"

"What are you talking about? Is it not the head of the household's duty to Page 160 Goldenagato

ensure the women of his home marry?"

Um... Is it? I looked to Aisha for answer. She simply shrugged, her attitude seeming to say, "Yeah, kinda." Maybe this was how the nobles in the Holy Country of Millis did things?

Oh. Right. Even in my old life, there was a part of society where parents decided who their children would marry. It never really made sense to me, but it might have been a more common idea than I'd realized.

But I didn't run my house like this. Of course, if Norn told me that she wanted to marry and needed my help finding someone, then I'd gladly set her up on a blind date. But outside of that, I wanted her to be free to do what she liked.

"I'll take responsibility for Norn's future," I said. I figured it was best to make that clear.

"I see, very well... You are the head of the house, so I expect you to do your job."

Ah, biting condescension. She seemed to use that a lot, didn't she? I could feel how she was looking down on me. Keep it together, Rudeus. This was all par for the course. I knew going in that she was going to be difficult. And besides, I wasn't going to change her; objecting to that would just start a fight over something we'd never see eye-to-eye on. This was our first time meeting each other, so we had to start by understanding each other first. I could make my requests after that.

"I believe I've finished."

While I was taking a deep breath, Ander returned with Zenith. Aisha sprang into action to guide her to the sofa.

"How was it?"

"Her body is the definition of health. So healthy she looks younger than her age."

So said the doc. Nice going, Zenith. You look younger without so much as a skincare routine! Or, wait, was that a bad sign? Something to worry about? Like, maybe it was a side effect of a curse?

"I have a few questions for the family. May I?" "But of course, ask whatever you like."

"Very well. First..."

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His questions covered all the bases. Some questions concerned her physical health; what she typically ate, and in what servings, how much exercise did she get, did she have her time of the month, stuff like that. Others concerned her mental health; how independent was she in day-to-day life, what were her typical habits, did she self-harm, and so on. They were all doctorly questions, so I didn't hesitate to unload everything I knew, with Aisha stepping in when needed to provide further background. We probably could have given an even fuller picture if Lilia were here, but she wasn't. We did the best we could.

"I see, very well," Ander said as he nodded and took notes on all my answers. When he was done, he went to Claire, where the two murmured something between themselves.

"Well?" Claire asked.

"Hmm, yes. I believe there'll be no problems," Ander answered. "As long as a personal maid attends to her, at least. There's no sign of illness or injury. Her state of mind is stable as well."

"What about fertility?"

"She has her time of the month, so I presume she's capable... This would require a few more attending to her, but it should indeed be possible."

"Wonderful."

What was so "wonderful" about that? I got the feeling that I wasn't going to like what they were talking about.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you sounded like you're planning to have my mom remarry," I joked.

I intended it as a joke. But the look in Claire's eyes when she turned them toward me was ice-cold. Ice-cold, yet incredibly strong-willed. It was a look that demanded obedience and would not take no for an answer.

"Here in the Holy Country of Millis, a woman's worth is decided by her ability to bear children. Those who cannot are sometimes not even seen as human."

Hold on, let's pull back a bit. She didn't deny what I said, but...no way, right? No, calm down. She didn't deny it, but she also didn't confirm it. She just stated the typical beliefs of her nation. Nobody would possibly see someone as less than human because they couldn't give birth; it just sounded believable because it came from such an authoritative old lady.

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"Ah, before I forget. You two, cut ties with that papalist priest." "I... Huh?"

"I'm aware that you two are acquainted with a papalist priest."

Yet another change of subject. I was starting to get disoriented. Maybe it was Claire's blunt tone that kept me from taking control of the conversation. Or maybe greeting her first backfooted me. This was her territory, not mine.

"True, I do have an amicable relationship with Cliff...but why would it be necessary to cut ties with him?"

"The House of Latria currently operates on the side of the cardinalists. I forbid you to fraternize with a papalist."

So, "cardinalist" meant demon expulsionists? I wondered who the top cardinal was.

"I mean... I have no intention of aligning myself with the papalists, so would that not suffice?"

"No, I forbid it. If you are to stay at this house, then you will follow the rules of this house."

Hmm. Hmmmm. Well, yeah, I'd probably end up aligning with the papalists once Cliff had obtained some level of status. If she was aware of my plans and trying to gain some leverage over me, I could potentially be a bit more understanding. But I got the feeling that that wasn't where she was coming from...

"Cliff has been a great help to me back in school. I'm certain Norn could say the same... Surely a simple friendship wouldn't do any harm, no?"

"Unacceptable. If you insist on fraternizing with this papalist priest, then I shall not allow you to stay in this house."

No dice. All right. I get it. Fine, then. For now, I'd stay the night somewhere else.

Yep, I was fine. Not angry. Not even a little bit. Having a completely normal one over here. Tranquility was my middle name. Nothin' to fuss over. I'd been told over and over this was the kind of person Claire was. I was prepared for this. It might not have been within my calculations that she'd butt into my personal friendships...but hey, we were like cats and dogs. We just couldn't get along. That's all there was to it.

Now, to give a polite goodbye and leave this house without starting a figh

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—

"To be clear, I will permit you to enter the premises of this mansion in the future, but ultimately as a stranger to this hou—"

"What do you mean, 'leave her here'? What do you mean by that?"

The words that came out of my mouth were a response to what she'd said a sentence earlier; it took a few seconds for my brain to function again.

Claire cut herself off, looked at me, and answered with an icy glare. "Given what's become of her, I have no other choice. She might only be

this, but if she can bear children, then marriage is still an option."

My mouth went dry. My peripheral vision blacked out, like I was being

blanketed in a dark mist. "..."

What the fuck are you talking about?! someone shouted.

It was me. I was shouting.

No way, you were just saying the beliefs of the nation, right? Did you actually mean that crap?!

Or, so the shouts continued. Except the words didn't come out. My mouth went through the motions without emitting a single sound.

"I'll have this girl marry a cardinalist noble. It might take a few divorces, but we should find her a permanent match."

Claire would force a person who couldn't even communicate her own opinions into a marriage. Claire would say that her own daughter was "only this." As though she was just an object.

"Her good health is quite the silver lining."

I'd never heard the sound of a blood vessel bursting. Of course not, because it wasn't audible. It was just a cartoon sound effect, a figure of speech. I might have imagined I'd heard it whenever I got Eris mad, but since I typically blacked out shortly afterwards, I couldn't remember much.

Today I heard it. No question.

"Leave Zenith here and begone at once."

My mind stopped.

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The next thing I knew, the sun had set and I was pulling Zenith along by the hand.

I didn't remember much of what happened after that sound. I recalled absolutely hollering, but I was foggy as to what I'd hollered about. I knew for sure that insults from far outside my daily vocabulary had flown out of my mouth. I remembered Claire's eyes widening. I remembered maids peeking in to see what the commotion was. I remembered declaring that I would leave, pulling Zenith up by the hand, and hearing Claire having the nerve to say, "You shall not. If Zenith were sane, she'd agree." Those words were throwing oil onto flame that was my heart, burning down what remained of my self-control; I clenched my fists and prepared to cast a spell. That was what I remembered.

But just then, I heard Aisha say, "Sic 'em, Bro," which brought me back to some of my senses. Claire had already called the guards by now, so I blasted them away, shouted that the House of Latria was dead to me and mine, and bolted out.

"Phew..."

At some point, we found that we'd returned to the border of the Divine District. My rage made it feel like my vision was spinning. I never imagined that I'd hear something that loathsome with my own ears. Son of a bitch. "Silver lining," my ass. I shouldn't have come. I could have gone my whole life without hearing that.

Who died and crowned that old bat king? Like, look. Anyone would feel a little grossed out if some guy you'd never met called you his grandmother. Don't feel like responding to my first introduction? Sure. Don't. I could even understand the stuff about getting Norn a husband. I'd heard that the rich and powerful arranged their marriages in my old life, too. They were just doing what was expected in their class and culture. Fine.

Yeah, I got it.

But what she said about Zenith was way over the line. My mother had amnesia and couldn't even take care of her own basic needs. What is wrong with someone who would even consider marrying her off? And talk about her "good health"? About how it was the "silver lining" that she had her time of the month? You'd have Zenith marry so that she could be nursed during the day and messed

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with at night? Yeah, I knew what to call that. A human sex doll.

And if she got pregnant, then what? She'd give birth? You really think she'd be capable of that? Even if she could, where was Zenith's consent in all of this? Hell, what about my feelings? How do you think the children she'd leave behind would feel? What do you take a man's mother for?! What do you take your own daughter for?! Was your daughter a tool to you? Just a thing to be used, a baby-making machine? Don't even joke about that!

I couldn't remember the last time something made me this mad. "Claire," my ass! Go stuff yourself with cream, you French pastry!

"Phew..."

I'd arrived at such a bizarre insult that I calmed down a little. I also heard my stomach start to rumble. Right, I was hungry; I hadn't eaten anything for lunch. I could go for anything besides pastries.

"U-um, Big Brother?"

I turned around after hearing my name to find Aisha stood there fidgeting. She looked troubled, as though she didn't know what to say.

"Aisha."

Without a word, I reached out my arm and held her close. She didn't hesitate to sidle right in.

I now knew why Aisha, Norn, and Lilia dragged their feet so much. I couldn't blame you; of course you wouldn't want to relive that. I didn't know what Aisha and Norn had gone through as they grew up with her, but now I understood they must be carrying some awful memories.

"I'm sorry for bringing you."

"N-no, it's fine. But, well, you didn't make your connection, right?"

Kuh-nek-shuhn? Confection? Convection?

Connection.

Oh, yeah. I was hoping I'd get to have the House of Latria's help with building the Mercenary Band.

"Oh well, we'll live. I'd rather do it alone than have help from her..."

I could make connections with someone else. Maybe I could ask Cliff to put in a good word for me with his grandpa... He might not be impressed with me asking for favors already, but it'd be payback to Claire. And if that went

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nowhere, then I'd just get it done, alone.

Either way, I was tired. I wanted to go home and sleep... Ah, come to think of it, I didn't have a place to stay, did I? It'd be the middle of the night by the time we got to the Adventurers' District and got a room, and I didn't want to make Zenith walk that far.

All right, fine. I'd ask to stay with Cliff again. With that decided, it was back to Cliff's place.

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Chapter 9: Headquarters of the Millis Church

NOW THAT MY WASTED meeting with Claire had concluded, I returned to

Cliff's residence in low spirits. What I saw when I got there knocked the wind out of me. Inside that house, I saw Cliff and a woman I'd never seen before holding each other in their arms.

The woman had a humble air to her. She was petite, freckled, and had short, bright brown hair. She was slender overall, but I there was real softness to her, like she'd never had a worry in her life and it'd made her sweet.

She looked similar to Elinalise, yet different. If Elinalise was a cat in heat, then this girl was a spayed dog. But here's what really got me: I didn't know this girl.

Not you, Cliff. Not after all those lectures you gave me over the same thing... Did you really leave Elinalise behind for this? What about Elinalise's heart? She might've been a horndog, but she's the mother of your child... Did you hold a candle for someone else?

Cliff, please, tell me it isn't true. The House of Latria just let me down, so if you aren't who I thought you were, I wouldn't know what to believe in. Ah, damn it all, whatever happened to true love? Oh Sylphie, Roxy, Eris, anyone, I beg you, pull me close and whisper sweet nothings into my ear so that I can keep going...

"Oh, Rudeus, good timing. Could you get the box on top of that shelf? We're not tall enough to reach it even with a step stool."

"Oh, sure."

Cliff had untangled himself from the girl at some point while I was narrating my next episode preview. He wasn't even blushing or anything. Apparently, he just caught her when she nearly fell off of her step stool.

"Wendy, are your ankles all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you."

They had a normal, boring conversation as I brought down the box. I blew off the last of the dust from yesterday and handed it to Cliff.

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"Sorry about that. I think this is it... Yep, it is. Thank goodness, now I'll be all right tomorrow."

Cliff took out what looked like an iron-on patch from the box. It was the emblem of the Millis Church. I guess he needed it for work?

"Anyway, Rudeus, what brings you here? Were you not going to stay the night at the Latria home?"

That question made me lean in; I wanted to tell Cliff all about that circus.

"Yeah, about that. Listen to this..."

I let my fury take the wheel as I gave Cliff a full account of the day's events. About how I went to the House of Latria. About what Claire said and how she acted. About how I couldn't stand the indignity and went ballistic, leaving the mansion immediately after. I was quite a bit calmer, but I could still barely contain my anger. Just the thought of it pissed me off again.

"Hmm..."

Cliff's face hardened as he listened to me. He was a saint among saints, so I was certain he'd have my back on this.

"True, the nobles in Millis have a tradition in which the parents decide their children's marriage partners, and there are even some people who say that bearing children is what makes a woman a woman...but even I find it questionable to marry off someone who can't speak for herself."

"I know, right?"

It was inhumane. It was downright monstrous. I consider myself hard to shock, but even I couldn't overlook that. I couldn't believe that person was Zenith's mother. Where is God in all in any of this? Wait, right, she was in the Magic City of Sharia.

"Perhaps we should consider Madam Claire might be in shock, given what happened to her daughter, and so suddenly. Imagine if it happened to your own child... You could understand, no?"

Cliff sounded like he was trying to reason with me. Part of me was hoping he would share my anger. But from Cliff's perspective, there had to be another side to this story. He must have wanted to stay calm and think about it from the other point of view.

So, I gave it some thought. My own children, huh? Maybe Lucie... No, it was still a bit hard to imagine for her. I tried with Norn instead. Let's say that

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Norn left on a journey as soon as her coming-of-age celebration ended; just when I think she's returned, her personality is dead. And worse, she came with the child of a man I didn't know and a mistress's child she had no blood ties with. I'd certainly be in shock. I'd want to do something for her...

But.

"No matter how shocked someone became, I can't see how anyone would think about making Mom remarry."

"This may not be as callous as you think. Putting the talk of children aside, having her marry a noble would ensure that she'd be taken care of. Even after the parent's death."

That was not the conversation we had. It was more like she wanted to recycle a tool because it still had some utility left. This was my mother we were talking about. Her own daughter, who I brought all the way here. Seriously, what the hell was her problem? I swear...

I could remember Claire's face when I went ballistic in her mansion. Even when the shock waves from my Stone Cannon sent her guards flying down the halls, she was cold. As though she couldn't understand why this boor was wrecking the place over nothing.

To be fair, I saw my memories through my own filter. Claire could have been taken aback, her face simply frozen in fear. But that didn't change the words that came out of her mouth beforehand.

"Still, I understand the situation you're in. You're free to use my home as you wish."

"Thank you very much, Cliff."

"This is papal territory. Even if the House of Latria wishes to make a move, they won't be able to touch you here."

Cliff's assurance made me realize that I hadn't actually considered the possibility of retaliation from the Latrias. As far as I was concerned, Claire and I were through; we would never see one another gain. But the House of Latria might have their own ideas. They might try to get Zenith back. If that were the situation, we needed to get Zenith to Sharia.

"It would be a shame if your mother had to turn right around just after arriving in her hometown," Cliff said.

"Hrm..."

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Millis was Zenith's hometown. Now that Cliff mentioned it, I was sure she would prefer to stay a little longer. If I could make time for it, I would have loved to take her around to all the sights.

"But still..."

"Zenith's needs will be taken care of while you're out," Cliff said, turning to the new girl. "She might be a bit of a klutz, but you can trust her."

"Oh, Cliff, about that...who is she?"

"Ah, my apologies. I forgot to introduce you. Her name is Wendy. If I had to describe it... Yes, I'd say our relationship is similar to what you and Sylphie have."

"I see. I understand completely."

A relationship like mine and Sylphie's... I see, so that's how it was. Every last mystery had been solved. Opening up the cat box revealed that, indeed, only one truth prevailed.

"Don't worry, I won't rat you out to Elinalise."

"No, wait. Hold on! Don't jump to conclusions, it's not like that."

Cliff hurriedly explained what he meant. While Cliff was handling paperwork at the church headquarters, he was also setting up his household. One of the things he apparently needed was a helper, which brought Cliff to the orphanage he used to live at. As part of the orphanage's job training program, it taught its children how to cook and perform housework, so Cliff recruited one from there.

"Wendy here was the oldest child there. She's almost at the age where she'll have to leave the orphanage, in fact. That wasn't the reason I chose her, per se, but for now, she'll be commuting here to help with the house. Doing housework here will give her real work experience too."

So, she was more or less hired as an intern. Working at the home of Cliff, the pope's grandson, was sure to impress future employers. She'd have an edge in the job hunt.

"I'm Wendy. I can handle all sorts of housework. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Just like Sylphie," he says. That phrasing made me think something scandalous was going on, but basically, they were old friends who used to play together as kids. But while I didn't know Wendy's exact age, I had to wonder if

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Cliff wouldn't have a moment of weakness with this young girl... Nah, Cliff would be fine. It wasn't like he was me or anything. "..."

Anyway, storming out of the Latria home was a huge wrench in the works. At this point, it might be best to stop and take Zenith home before continuing. But after Claire's objectification of Zenith made me flip my lid so bad, I at least wanted to give her a nice walk around the city with me... Ugh, was I being careless? Perhaps I should wait for Cliff to establish himself first. Then we could team up and knock the House of Latria down several pegs, and then we could take risks like that. True, there was no guarantee that things would go so smoothly...

"Aisha," I asked, "What do you think?"

"Uh... Huh?"

When in doubt, talk it out. I wanted to hear Aisha's opinion.

"Do you think we should take Mom back home and come back? Or do you think we should stay at this house for a while and let her sightsee around the city when we find the time?"

After I asked, Aisha crossed her arms to think. But not for long; she soon raised her head and looked toward Cliff.

"Is this house really a safe place?"

"Yes. It may be small, but the Latrias won't be able to touch us here. Not

without causing quite a stir."

"What are the chances that the Latrias would make a move knowing full well what the consequences were?"

"Slim to none, I would assume. That house has their own reputation at stake."

Reputation, huh? Given how much lineage mattered to that old woman, she'd definitely take that into account. She may be stubborn and rotten to the core, but she wasn't an idiot.

"I think we'll be fine," Aisha concluded as she unfolded her arms. "It's just a hunch, but I don't think that house...that person sees much value in Mother Zenith after what happened to her. I think."

She had a point. The Latrias surely weren't going to use Zenith as a key

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part of any plan. Cliff said as much earlier; marrying someone who couldn't even speak might have fit into the nation's values, but it would raise eyebrows. And considering that the partners would be forced onto each other, it was hard to imagine the bonds of their matrimony would be terribly strong.

Maybe she wanted to make good on her investment in the Fittoa Search and Rescue Squad, but if so, she could bill me. Give me a number and I'd pay her to go away. It was safe to say that they had absolutely no emotional bond. If it were, then there was no way she would have treated Zenith like a thing.

"I think today taught them that they ought to be afraid of you, Big Brother. They didn't send anyone to chase after us, either. I don't think they're very attached to Mother Zenith."

Points were being made. We took our time coming back from the Latria home, and even then, nobody came after us. Claire could have easily reported me and had soldiers go after me. I didn't know if she feared me or simply stopped caring, but she knew the rapport I had with Cliff. While I had no clue where she got that info from...the fact remained that given what happened, it would've been easy to guess that this home would be my hideout. And yet, she left us alone.

"It'd be one thing if it were a place they could do something about, but we're under protection in enemy territory. I think we'll be fine."

"I see."

It was high-risk, low-reward. With stakes like that, it was hard to imagine that they'd try to take Zenith back by force. Atta girl, Aisha. You really thought this through.

"In that case, Rudeus," Cliff interjected, "I'll be meeting my grandfather tomorrow, so would you care to come along? Causing trouble with the House of Latria will surely make your future endeavors in this country more difficult... I'm sure you want connections, no?"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, it depends on you as to whether you gain my grandfather's backing. I'll introduce you, but I won't do more."

"Oh, of course."

Cliff had refused my assistance, and I had no intention of providing it directly. I wasn't sure exactly how much he'd be willing to acknowledge me professionally. I'd assume that introducing people to enlist them as allies was an

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intervention Cliff didn't want me to make. But it seemed that Cliff was willing to swallow his pride and introduce me anyway.

Helping Zenith was important, but I also had to make progress in building the Mercenary Band. Having the pope's backing would work towards both goals. I didn't exactly need the pope to personally provide Zenith protection; just having a connection with him would make it hard for them to interfere.

"It'd be an honor," I answered after finishing my calculations. I bowed my head to Cliff.

Hey, I had other things to do here in Millis, so I had buck up and get back to it.

The next day. After breakfast, I headed to the church headquarters. I left Aisha and Zenith at home.

The church headquarters, being a gold-colored building with a giant onion on top, was a little hard to miss. The tranquility so valued in the Holy Country of Millis was reflected in the many shades of white and silver it was swathed in. And then there was this single, sparkly building with its downright clownish gaudiness. And with that gilded onion on top, the whole thing stuck out. Tacky.

From afar, it wasn't too bad. It looked like a golden accent perched atop its white and silver surroundings. But once you got close, the effect fell apart. It came from a different planet.

But a trashy home didn't necessarily reflect on its resident. After all, this was the headquarters of the Millis Church. It was basically filled with upgraded Cliffs, fresh off the production line. It might have looked in poor taste, but the fact that surely only the purest of saints lived inside...was far from guaranteed. I knew that much.

In my past life, everyone knew that politicians and religious leaders were the most corrupted by money. At least, that's how I saw it. It seemed to hold true for this world, too. And the people who held so much power that they didn't even try to fake it always went mask-off in the end. Then again, keeping that crowd at arm's length shouldn't pose any problems.

I took a deep breath and prepared to market myself. I'd show off my deep

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ties to Orsted and Ariel to make myself look big. I think that was one of my failures at the Latria home; it could have been why Claire looked down on me until it all went to hell.

But today, I would be the most interesting man in the world. For him. That was why I came in my formal robes; they were what I wore when I meant business. I was the Right Hand of the Dragon God, Rudeus Greyrat. I talked myself up a little in my head.

"My apologies, but I can't allow anyone who doesn't have a permit inside."

I got stopped at the entrance to one of the buildings. Sad emoji.

"Huh? Is my entrance permit not enough? I could have sworn that companions used to be able to enter with one..."

"The rule's always been one person per permit."

"I see. Hmm. Guess people looked the other way since I was a child back then..."

Cliff eyed the patch he'd found last night with a troubled expression. Apparently, that was the permit. He was currently wearing his official Millis Church vestment. The patch was sewn onto the vestment's breast last night.

"You already have a permit, Reverend Cliff, so I believe you can ask for them to issue a temporary permit inside."

"Ah... Yes, that's right. Apologies, Rudeus. I'll get a permit for you, so wait for me here," Cliff said apologetically.

"I understand. I'm in no rush, so feel free to take your time."

I did as I was told and watched Cliff disappear inside. I stumbled at the first hurdle...but hey, at least I didn't get kicked out before the starter pistol. I decided to take a stroll around the complex for a bit.

The complex was wide, and the building was huge. It was easily four times the size of the Latria home. The building was four stories tall, and from a bird's-eye view, the whole place was structured like a diamond on top of a square. That is, rather than overlapping to make an octagon, one square was inset inside the other. The diamond was inside of the square.

The square on the outside consisted of the office building for the church headquarters. That was probably where all the office workers related to the church and regular priests pushed their paper. They seemed to handle religious

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conversion permits, funeral arrangement applications, and even sales of symbolic charms. That was headquarters for you; if you had any business with the Millis Church, this was the place for it.

The inner diamond held the Millis Church Curia's residential and office space. It even had holy statues and temples. As a rule, only the highest of the top brass were permitted to enter; not even the office workers here were told what went on in there. It was the nucleus of the Millis Church. No wonder you needed a permit.

It was understandable, but as I continued looking around the complex, the sun climbed high overhead. I was getting hungry.

Maybe Cliff had miscalculated on getting me a permit. Surely debriefing the pope on just the trip back would take hours. He must have only gotten an appointment with the pope yesterday, an exception they made for him because he was family. But me? I was an outsider. Would it put the pope on his guard if his newly returned grandson said he wanted to introduce him to some weirdo?

I'd had a rough night trying to help Zenith, but I hadn't forgotten about Elinalise's request. I wanted to absolutely avoid holding Cliff back.

"Maybe I should have waited a few days first, and then made the appointment myself..."

As I reconsidered my plan, I found that I'd reached the garden.

The Millis Church Headquarters had four gardens. They made up the four triangular corners between the inner diamond and the outer square. Each one was planted with vegetation representing one of the four seasons. It was currently spring, and coincidentally, the springtime garden was the one I walked into. This springtime garden was spilling over with a rainbow of blooming flowers—but the bright, light hues of yellow, white, and pink dominated.

I took it all in as I walked. I used to walk with a plant encyclopedia in one hand as I looked up the names and everything of all the flowers, but I didn't know a thing about the plants in Millishion. Actually, wait, I'd seen that tree with the pink flowers before. Its name was similar to "sakura," like the cherry blossoms, so it stuck out to me. I felt like I'd heard someone say the name recently, but what was it?

"Look, the Sarakh Trees are in bloom!" someone said.

Yeah, Sarakh, that was it. They were trees that grew by the mountains in the northern lands of the Asura Kingdom. They had pink flowers at the tips of

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their branches that bloomed as spring came in, so they were known as "The Trees That Call Forth Spring" over there. Their lumber had a particular fragrance that made them popular among nobles too. But they grew only in the mountains, so they were expensive. Currently, the Asura royal family oversaw all cultivation of Sarakh Trees, sometimes even exporting them to other nations.

Or, that's what Ariel told me the last time I went to the Asura Kingdom.

"Yes, they're quite beautiful indeed!"

"The Sarakh Blossoms suit you very well, Blessed One!"

"Did you know that these Sarakh Trees were a gift from the Asura Kingdom when the current pope ascended to the throne?"

"Ohoh, Blessed One, how pure you are..."

I heard some voices that made my skin crawl. Out of curiosity, I turned to look toward their skin-crawling sources.

"Come, look, look! It's as though we're in a rain of Sarakh petals!"

"Ah, the sight of the Blessed One standing tall amidst the descending petals... it's almost ethereal."

"How beautiful!"

There, I saw an e-girl and her simps. The woman wore a frilly, almost princess-like dress as she held her palms upward and spun beneath the gently flitting flower petals. I could almost call her a young girl...except she was probably around twenty years old.

Her face was on the refined beauty side, but also a bit plump. Wendy looked soft despite having dainty arms and legs, but this girl's upper arms and thighs were a little thicc. Both were unhealthy, but where Wendy seemed to lack calories, this woman seemed to lack exercise.

Swarming around this woman was a crowd of men. There were seven of them—a lucky number. Every time the woman said anything, they would agree and breathlessly praise her in this fawning-for-attention kind of way. Yeah, simps and their e-girl...heck, you could probably call her an e-princess. I think the reason they struck me as simps was because not one of them was a looker. Those unfortunate faces reminded me of a familiar one I used to see in my mirror. I suppose the blue cuirasses they all had equipped were a bit outside the scope of typical white knights, though.

"Hm?"

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Note that while they felt like kindred spirits, I didn't feel an iota of comfort. I could feel the tension prickling at my neck.

Was this hostility? Well, that shouldn't have been a surprise. Odds were that those guys were treating her like royalty because she was royalty, or at least had some similar status. And those guards probably weren't just your ordinary simps. One look at their demeanor and muscles said these were all hardened warriors. They could have been Advanced-tier, if not Saint-tier swordsmen.

That meant they must have noticed me. I came prepared for the worst and wore my Magic Armor Version Two underneath my robes. While I should have seemed unarmed given my lack of a staff, I clearly wasn't dressed for a picnic. They were, understandably, on their guards.

But still, something was off. This feeling had a dimension of something, I dunno, disconcerting, like a rumbling beneath the surface. It was an unease I found hard to describe...

It was possible that one of those men could have been the Man-God's disciple. Should I test it out? No, wait, I had to stop and think. Specifically, I had to calculate the chances that saying the word "Man-God" out loud would go horribly, horribly wrong. Substantial. No, I would not be saying "Man-God" out loud. But how else could I catch them out...?

"Hm? I don't believe I've seen you around before. Are you here to convert?"

While I was contemplating my strategy, they made the first move.

"Oh..."

The girl looked up at me with an innocent smile. She crossed her arms behind her hips and leaned forward toward me. It was the kind of pose that would make me lose all control if Sylphie used it on me. Roxy would never pose like this. If Eris tried it, she'd look like a snake sizing up her prey; I'd be frozen stiff, prepared to meet my maker.

"What's wrong?"

Ah, right, good question. I had more important things to be thinking about. Um, uh... Well, I wasn't here to convert... I needed to sniff out as to whether they were the Man-God's disciples, so, um...

"S-so you're allll, uh, god...guys?"

It happened in an instant. Three of the simps whipped out their swords and

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pointed them at my throat. The remaining four grabbed the e-girl and pulled her back, hiding her behind them.

There wasn't a trace of that simp shit remaining in them. The men now before me had the ferocity of soldiers on a battlefield. Their sunken pupils bored down into the shining whites of their eyes.

Crap, these dudes were serious. I was sweating. I should not have started this conversation. Oh, wait. I hadn't.

"There is a God."

"Saint Millis is the one true God."

"For what purpose would you ask something so obvious?"

"Could it be that you don't believe in Saint Millis?"

"You don't believe in God?"

"A...traitor?"

"A heathen!"

The simps interrogated me without my input as their eyes grew darker. Oh no, this was turning into a witch trial!

"S-sorry... I was, uh, thinking about something and that came out wrong. Please forgive me."

This situation called for an honest apology. They were right; this was the headquarters of the Millis Church. Everyone here surely believed in only one god, Saint Millis. There was no worse place to ask something like that. I understand, I came off as cynical; suspicious and therefore suspect. Please, find it in your hearts to forgive me.

"Grave, what do we do?"

"Dust, you give the call."

"All right, we'll kill him. He's probably a heathen. He seems unusually calm too... And even if he is a believer, putting such bizarre thoughts into our Blessed One's head is a crime in itself."

"Got it, we'll kill him. Good idea."

Wow, decided already, huh. They worked together like an oiled machine. I'd probably hesitate if I were in their shoes.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second! Let's all calm down, maybe let me explain

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myself—"

It'd make Cliff look bad if a fight broke out here, and I certainly didn't want to ruin such a beautiful garden. Who would want to see those lovely Sarakh Trees torn out by the root? There was nothing in it for either of us, so let's talk about it, no?

My thoughts were leaning toward peace, but my attitude had already switched. I'd had my Demon Eye of Foresight open since the moment they pointed their blades at me, and was pouring mana into my Magic Armor. I wanted to avoid violence, but if an apology wouldn't cut it, then I wasn't going to hold back.

After yesterday, they caught me in a bad mood.

"So... You really intend to come at me?" I asked.

Something about my question made them shudder and open their eyes wide. My Demon Eye of Foresight showed them tensing up, pouring their strength into their arms and legs.

Here they came.

"Halt!"

A commanding voice cut through the air. One that sounded just a bit familiar. Its authority cut the tension instantly, and that tension vanished from the other guys' bodies.

"What are you doing?!"

Approaching us was a lone female knight. She looked in her mid-thirties and wore the same blue cuirass as the simps. Her calm, refined face was stern. I knew that face very well.

"Captain. This heathen was attempting to harm the Blessed One," one of the simps promptly reported. C'mon, man, don't lie!

"I'm being falsely accused. I was simply looking at the Sarakh—"

"Silence, you," one of the men said in a low voice, his sword still pointed at me. Heck no, I wasn't staying silent. My life was in danger here.

"A heathen?" the female knight said as she finally looked at my face. "Ah!"

And then, she realized who I was. Her face warmed up into a smile. "Rudeus! My li'l Rudeus, is that you? Wow, it's been so long!"

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Then, she shot a look at the men who had their swords drawn and raised her voice.

"Stay your blades! This man is my nephew!"

After watching the simps startle with surprise and sheathe their swords, I closed my Demon Eye of Foresight.

Therese Latria. Zenith's younger sister, and therefore my aunt. She helped me a lot back when I was taking that ship from the Millis Continent to the Central Continent.

Therese appeared to be the leader of these swordsmen; at her order, the simps stowed their blades in the blink of an eye and even offered an apology just in case. Reluctantly, of course. I apologized for my own slip of the tongue, but their open hostility toward me didn't change; that wasn't enough for them. They continued keeping their e-girl a safe distance away from me and remained fiercely vigilant.

"Do you remember me? Or did you forget since we only saw each other once?"

"Of course I remember. You were a lifesaver in getting us that ship."

Well, I could ignore those guys for now. I talked with Therese instead. Ah, seeing her really took me back.

"I heard you showed up at the family home, but I didn't think you'd come to the church headquarters, too. Ah, did you come all this way to see li'l ol' me?"

"No, an acquaintance was going to introduce me to a head of the Church... I see you made your way back here, Therese."

If I recall, the last time I saw her, I'd heard that she'd been demoted to the western port city. Ten years had passed since then; it wasn't much surprise that she'd worked her way back.

"Ah, well, some stuff happened," Therese chuckled with a shrug. I guess she had some circumstances that were a bit hard to talk about. I wouldn't pry. There was something else I wanted to know, however.

"So, I take it that you were informed about my visit to the family home?" "Yeah, sounds like you had a spat with Mother."

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"Spat... Is that what you'd call it? A spat?"

"I heard Mother got you pissed off. I know how she is. She probably told you to do this and do that, right?"

"That's right! Listen to this!"

It was my first time meeting my aunt in a long time. The thought crossed my mind that I didn't know if she was on my side, but I couldn't stop my mouth from running. Before I realized it, I'd told her every possible detail about what had happened yesterday. Looks like I still had plenty of anger pent up. Or maybe it just put me at ease to see a real, present smile on a face that was so similar to Zenith's.

"Does that sort of thing fly in this country?"

"No, even this country has its limits... Even for Mother, that's just... I think there had to have been some misunderstanding? Still, hmm... Rudeus, are you sure you didn't say anything that might have made Mother angry? If someone picks a fight, she can argue them into the ground..."

"I wonder that myself. I was trying to avoid saying anything upsetting, so I put up with a lot of what she said."

"Hmm..." Therese crossed her arms sternly and grumbled under her breath as she thought.

It hadn't felt like she picked a fight yesterday. To me, it seemed that was her plan from the start.

"Well, I'll ask about the details the next time I'm at the family home. Mother can be stubborn, overbearing, and bossy, but she's not an evil person at heart. I'll bet there was some misunderstanding."

"..."

Therese reached her conclusion in seconds. Even if there were some misunderstanding, I knew how angry I got. I didn't want to ask her to help patch things up. It'd been a long time since someone made me cut them off entirely. But, if—if—there really was a misunderstanding, and if she apologized in good faith, I'd apologize for wrecking the house.

"Wow, though, Rudeus! You've gotten so big! Ah, wait, you're not supposed tell a man he's getting big... You're about twenty by now, right?"

Therese was considerate enough to change the subject. I sure didn't want to talk about Claire all day, either.

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"Yes, I'm about twenty-two years old."

"Really now! Guess that was a whole ten years ago, huh... Ah, that reminds me, what about Miss Eris? Is she doing all right? I remember her being a handful back in the day!"

Therese got as excited as a child. Where'd that refined look go? Her expression when she got serious almost reminded me of Grandma Claire... Ugh, oh no, I don't wanna think about that.

"Eris is doing well. She gave birth to her first child this past year." "Child... Ah, I see, you two got married! Congratulations!" "Thank you very much."

"Is she here as well?"

"No, she's staying home in Sharia. Someone has to take care of the baby, after all."

"I see, I see. Well, there might be some bumps on the road of life, but I'm sure you two can work together to make it over them!"

Just two? Oh... Right. She was a follower of Millis, wasn't she? I'd need to clarify that I was married to three women. Oh well, I decided to keep silent for now. Didn't want to upset her now that we finally had a happy moment between us.

"Yeah, so, marriage, huh... To think my little Rudeus and Miss Eris grew up and got married... Sigh..."

Or, so I'd thought, but Therese looked like her soul was leaving her body. I guess marriage was a sensitive topic for her. Given her reaction, I had to assume that she was still single. That, or divorced. Uhh, how old was she, again? Zenith was around thirty-eight, and Therese was younger, so...yeah thirty-five- ish. When you considered that adulthood in this world started at fifteen, and that most people got married between then and the age of twenty... Uhhhh...

"So, how's work?"

Let's change the subject.

"Hm? Oh! Well, some stuff happened since we last saw each other, but I'm back to protecting the Blessed Child. I'm even leading these guys!"

At Therese's mention, I glanced back at her group. Of the seven knights, only two were still cautious of me, while the rest had turned back into the e-

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girl's entourage. It looked like the problems of the world floated away easily for them.

"Quite the intimidating bunch."

"Yeah... Ever since that attempted assassination, only the strongest of the Temple Knights' warriors have been assigned to guard her. Which means you met the guys who are a little...much."

Therese had previously described the Temple Knights as "a bunch of fanatics." Perhaps that was what her use of "much" referred to. They did jump straight to lethal force after my slip of the tongue, after all. They were as fast as Orsted when I first met him.

"Well, they might be a little attached to the scripture, but they're not a bad bunch."

Whew, scary. I could understand believing in God, but you couldn't believe it to the point that you got tunnel vision. Wasn't your God supposed to be forgiving?

Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind. "Pardon, Therese? May I join in on your conversation?"

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The e-girl that the knights were simping over was peering at us. Her entourage was right behind her, ready to draw their blades at a moment's notice.

"I believe I heard you say the name 'Eris.' Might you be an acquaintance of a certain red-haired Miss Eris? The swordswoman?"

So this was the Blessed Child, huh? People kept calling her "Blessed" this, "Blessed" that, chirping it over and over like little pocket critters, but I didn't know her real name. She sounded pretty joyful, so maybe "Nurse"? I could ask... No, I should introduce myself first. Claire called me "tawdry" after I introduced myself first, but doing so was simply a warrior's etiquette.

"My apologies. I am Rudeus Greyrat, a servant of the Dragon God Orsted. Sword King Eris Greyrat is my wife."

Dragon God and Sword King. Those two terms instantly put her entourage on even greater alert. The fact that they reacted to "Dragon God" made me think there had to be a disciple here... But then again, it was all seven who reacted, so who could say?

"Oh my! So you are! I owe a great deal to Miss Eris, as she saved my life ten years ago!"

Ten years ago, meaning when I came to Millishion. I think I remembered her telling me about it. She said she went out to hunt goblins but came back having disposed of some assassins.

"Is Miss Eris visiting here as well?"

"No, I'm afraid that she had to stay home to take care of our child."

"How unfortunate."

When the e-girl looked sad, all of her simps sympathetically lowered their brows. It was kinda adorable. These guys really loved their e-girl.

Wait, I introduced myself, but I didn't get a name in response. Was I supposed to say "Blessed One" too?

"But if so, that would mean that by extension...it was the Dragon God Orsted who saved me, no?"

"Huh?"

He didn't have anything to do with it. Eris and I didn't even know Orsted's name at the time. Then again, I was Orsted's subordinate now, and Eris accepted that and even offered aid. You could sort of make the argument that

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Eris was therefore Orsted's subordinate...which would mean Orsted saved her, I suppose?

Nah, I didn't want to bother with a lie that'd get found out so quickly.

"No, neither I nor Eris had any connection to Orsted at the time. But if you feel any desire to repay a debt, Blessed One, then I would be much obliged if you were to refrain from holding any hostility toward Orsted in the future."

"Hm? Should I have hostility toward someone I've never met?"

"Orsted possesses a curse with that effect."

When I said that, the e-girl looked deep into my eyes. Seated within her rotund face was a pair of deep, rounded pupils. The colors of her eyes didn't seem different; it didn't look like she had a Demon Eye.

But I felt it. Something was being done to me. What that something was, I wasn't sure. There was nothing binding my body, and nothing stealing my breath. All I could tell was that something was being done to me, nothing more.

"Hm... It seems you've been truthful." After a moment, the e-girl nodded. "You can tell?"

"I can, yes."

I looked to Therese and the entourage, but none of them seemed to find this strange. Meaning...this was her power as a Blessed Child. The power that compared to Zanoba's monstrous strength and stamina. The power to simply look in one's eyes and know if they were telling a lie. Or, was it to read the other person's mind? Perhaps it was something else entirely.

"Is...that your power?"

"Yes, that's correct."

I would have loved to ask the details, but her entourage was still eyeing me. It was probably safer to leave it unsaid. But should I? Orsted never said a thing about this Blessed Child.

"Wow, that's...something..."

Crap. I think I might have been too obvious about my ambivalence the moment I realized that something had been done to me. There was nothing I could ask that wouldn't drive the entourage to attack. But it felt like I was missing a trick if I didn't learn something here. There was no guarantee that

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we'd meet again. To ask, or not to ask? "Hngh... Phew..."

First, a deep breath.

"Blessed Child. May I ask you a question that I'm aware will seem quite rude?"

Next, get permission before asking. It was important to take these things one step at a time. Once I had that, I would ask one simple question that wouldn't reveal what I was searching for.

"Yes, by all means."

"Have you had any dreams lately in which someone who claims to be a god offers you a prophecy?"

"No. Not lately, and in fact, not once. And I'm certain I never will."

The e-girl spoke in no uncertain terms. She looked me in the eyes, listened, and said that neither her past nor future contained such a dream. She seemed to know. Was this another effect of her power? Perhaps it was a power that could refuse to ever meet with the Man-God. Maybe she really could read minds? The Man-God surely had many more dodgy hidden secrets than I did.

"Thank you very much."

The tension lifted from my shoulders. For now, I knew she wasn't an enemy, and that was enough. The Blessed Child might have lied to me just now, but I would choose to believe her.

"Now then, it's my turn to ask you!" the Blessed Child said giddily.

"Gah! Yes, ask away."

What else could she ask? If she could read my mind, then would there be any need to ask at all? It looked like her power wasn't active at all times. She had to look someone in the eyes and do something to activate it. If she didn't look at my eyes...then maybe I was safe?

"Please, tell me about Miss Eris!"

"Oh... Sure."

That was all? Well, hey, if she wasn't an enemy, and if she had no relation to the Man-God, then I suppose I could trust her.

Perhaps I'd include some shilling for our wonderful CEO, Orsted. Worry

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not, our company insurance covered preexisting blessings. With an eighty-year history of reliable service, you could rest easy that that our top-of-the-line staff would provide you with all the help you'd need. And our company is always recruiting associates with a can-do attitude to join our team.

Hmm, was it overreaching to scout the Blessed Child while I was planning to persuade the pope to back us? I think the Blessed Child and the pope belonged to different factions...

"Rudeus! Rudeus, are you here?"

As I was thinking up my future job board posting, I heard a voice calling for me from far off. It was Cliff's; it seemed like he'd finally gotten the permit.

"My apologies, Blessed Child, but it seems my time has come."

"What?! Oh, what a shame..."

The e-girl furrowed her brow. Her entourage furrowed their brows in unison as I felt their aggro energy rise.

How interesting. Fascinating, even. I definitely wanted to keep this conversation going. But first, the person I kept waiting took priority.

"I'm sure I'll be in this town for some time to come, so we can save talking about Eris for later."

"It's a promise!"

I bid farewell to the e-girl and made one last request to Therese.

"Also, Therese. If you go to the family home, I'd like you to tell Claire that I'll be responsible for looking after my mom, so she's free to mind her business... Also, if she wants a return on her contributions to the Fittoa Search and Rescue Squad, tell her that I'll gladly front the money. Any price she names."

"Got it. I'll tell her."

"Thank you."

After I bid farewell to Therese, I gave a nod to the entourage and left them behind.

The Blessed Child, huh? At a glance, she struck me as a sheltered pick-me or a shallow princess with an entourage of white knights, but I felt some unfathomable depth in her. She told me, clearly, she wasn't my enemy, but I got the sense that she knew who the Man-God was. I should be on my guard. Wait, I

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forgot to ask her name...

Those were the thoughts running through my mind as I made my way toward Cliff to obtain my permit.

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Chapter 10: The Pope, and...

BEFORE I ENTERED the inner sanctum, I had to undergo a body search to

confiscate anything that could possibly serve as a weapon. I had to give up everything from my trusty knife to my scrolls.

"We'll hold on to your belongings."

They didn't seem to view my armor as a weapon because they didn't ask me to take it off. Cliff certainly knew, but the fact that he didn't say anything was probably a sign of his trust in me. So as a show of equal good faith, I gave up my two gauntlets as well; my left that was loaded with a stone of absorption, and my right that could fire a shotgun blast.

The central area was a maze of halls. No straightaways in sight, all labyrinthine twists and turns. The flat white walls obscured where the turns where and where they might take you. Ah, but this was the heart of the Millis Church, after all. It was surely built against possibility of enemy invasion, just like a castle would be.

Cliff glided smoothly through it all, eventually bringing me to the pope's office. The office was guarded by two knights and a barrier.

"Just to clarify, you won't be able to use magic in here."

"Got it."

The barrier's strength was probably Saint-tier or King-tier. These knights also looked about that rank. And if a fight somehow broke out, it'd be all of that versus just me and my fists.

"Your Holiness, I've brought your visitor."

Beyond the transparent barrier was Cliff's grandfather, Harry Grimor. He looked like just the gentle old man that I imagined he'd be from his letter. He had a long, white beard and wore vestments embroidered with gold.

"Yes, I appreciate it."

There was no sense of Sauros's force or Reida's incisiveness. I couldn't feel an air of strength; instead, I felt the great presence of a magnanimous heart. It was like instant recognition, "Oh. The pope. Of course." I felt no aura, I just

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felt warm.

It was hard to explain it.

"Allow me to introduce you. This is Rudeus Greyrat. He's an underclassman of mine from the Ranoa University of Magic. He's an incredibly brilliant man, with an aptitude for magic that exceeds even my own. As our friendship is one that I intend to maintain, it seemed prudent to present him to you."

The pope nodded along to Cliff's introduction with a placid look on his face. It seemed like any further explanation would have to come from my own mouth. As Cliff and I discussed last night, all he was doing was introducing a friend to a family member; beyond that, any agenda I had with the pope would require me to take the first step.

"I see. Now, then... I take it that Mr. Rudeus has come to request something of me? Perhaps permission to set up his mercenary band? Maybe permission to sell the Superd figurines? Or could it be an invitation to join the Dragon God Orsted's forces?"

Or, not. Sounds like good ol' Cliff preempted me a little. Filled him in on my goals, positions, and reasons for coming to this country. Well, I'd get to all of it eventually. If anything, not needing to start from scratch was a serious time- saver...

Huh? Cliff was looking back and forth between me and the pope with his eyes widened in surprise.

"I see the Right Hand of the Dragon God is not easily rattled. Not even a twitch of the eyebrow... You should take notes, Cliff."

The pope's first impression of me hardened irrevocably before my soft little brain even caught up to what was going on. It was too late. The pope mistook me for a badass.

"Apologies. I did some research beforehand."

The pope began reading off of a nearby document with a light smile.

"Rudeus Greyrat. Blood relative to the distinguished house of Notos Greyrat. Son of Paul Greyrat and pupil to Sword King Ghislaine Dedoldia. You were caught in the Displacement Incident, but in a mere three years you managed to return to your homeland on your own strength. Shortly after, you enrolled in the Ranoa University of Magic and befriended Princess Ariel. Years later, you battled against the Dragon God Orsted and surrendered to him. You

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worked behind the scenes during the turmoil in the Asura Kingdom to defeat both Water God Reida and North Emperor Auber. You pushed for Ariel Anemoi Asura to assume her current position as ruler. After that, you worked to expand your private army into lands around the world while persuading those in power to cooperate with the Dragon God Orsted... Am I missing anything?"

Not bad. But nothing obscure; it's not like I did any of that in secret. It was all out there to find if someone wanted to. Besides, the pope himself can have no secrets. His biography is picked apart by thousands. Research like this merely levelled the playing field.

That said, it wasn't all correct.

"There are three mistakes. By no means did I return from the Demon Continent on my strength alone. I had the help of a Superd warrior by the name of Ruijerd. I was not the man who defeated the Water God Reida; it was the Dragon God Orsted. Likewise, Auber was defeated by the combined efforts of Sword King Ghislaine and Sword King Eris. Last, and by far most important, I would like to add that I am in fact pupil to King-tier Water Magician Roxy Migurdia."

"Oh my, an honest one, I see."

The pope nodded to himself and wrote something down on a nearby sheet of paper. I didn't know what he wrote, but I really did hope that he added the part about me being Roxy's pupil.

"So, does that mean your reason for selling these Superd figurines is to repay your debt to their race? You're not plotting to overthrow the government by increasing literacy rates?"

"That's right."

"Well, now."

What did raising literacy rates have to do with overthrowing a government... I guess it was the same logic as a butterfly causing a tornado with the flap of its wings.

"Then may I ask, why do you solicit people to cooperate with Orsted?"

"So that the world can be prepared to fight back against the Demon King Laplace when he resurrects in about eighty years."

The pope didn't bat an eye at that answer. He just nodded understandingly.

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"I see. So, you took advantage of Cliff to reach me here and request my cooperation, no? 'If you wish for the Dragon God to save your forces, you'll do as I say.' Is that right?"

"No, that's not correct."

I got the feeling that this old guy had already slipped into negotiation mode. Well, fine by me; we were going to negotiate eventually. But I had to be clear where I stood.

"The ally I really want is Cliff."

"Well, now. Should I expect that you'll be supporting Cliff from the

shadows?"

"No... True, that was my intention at first, but Cliff told me that he wanted to test how far his own strength alone could take him, so I decided against it. If nothing else, I'll be entirely hands-off until he establishes his own power within the church."

The pope broke out into a smile when he heard that. It was the face of an old man who'd just learned that his grandson scored a hundred points on a test.

"I see, so Cliff really told you that..."

"He did. So please, treat me like I'm just a humble servant of the Dragon God for today."

I told him the truth. He'd already investigated me; while there were some holes in his intel, he'd gotten the gist. Who knew what else he'd dug up, so better not to lie and get caught. Maybe fools favored honesty, but it's a likable kind of foolish.

"I have two requests. I'd like assistance with the creation of a mercenary band, and I'd like permission to sell the Superd figurines."

The matter with House of Latria could wait for now. That was personal. Anyway, having some connections would incidentally strengthen my position there.

"Hmm."

The pope looked at me as a smile subtly spread across his face. It was like a poker face; he might have had a smile, but his expression betrayed nothing.

"You know, human connections, once established, can never truly be severed. No matter how hard some may try," the pope stated, his smile staying constant.

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I wondered if that was a word of warning. Perhaps to me, for making my request as someone cut off from Cliff. Or perhaps to Cliff, who wanted to cut me off to test his own strength.

"So, in light of your connection with Cliff...I will assist you with your mercenary band."

Just like that, I had my wish. I had my doubts as to why he didn't seem to ask anything in return, but it only took a moment of thought to get there. The "in light of your connection with Cliff" part was his return. And eventually, once Cliff got big enough, I'd be an asset to him and the papalists. To the pope, this was an angel investment.

"However, permission for the Superd figurines will prove difficult."

"Why is that?"

"I have a position as both the pope and as the leading figure of the Demon Integrationists. However, the cardinalists who espouse the expulsion of demons have expanded their influence as of late. Currently, I simply don't have the leverage to grant permission to sell these Superd figurines on my own. And since the next pope will surely be chosen from among the cardinalists... You understand, no?"

The pope then gave me a look. As though he was implicitly telling me I needed to crush the Demon Expulsionists to get what I wanted.

But would I, now? I wasn't opposed to being an agent of the pope. I disavowed the House of Latria after a fight, so I was already well on my way to being their enemy. Very sorry, Therese, but I'd crush the expulsionists or anyone else who crossed my path.

Hang on. Wouldn't that count as helping Cliff? It was a gray area. Cliff needed enemies to push himself to overcome. What if those were also my enemies? Should I hold back? But wait; if I became an asset for the Millis Church, wouldn't that count as an accomplishment for Cliff? Was any of this right at all? Hmm...

"To be clear...I have your support with the mercenary band, correct?"

"You do."

"Then for today, I'll be happy to accept your deal regarding the mercenary band."

Everything else could wait—it didn't all need solving in one day. Besides,

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selling the Superd figurines wasn't a part of my scope for this meeting to begin with. If I had the pope's support in building the mercenary band, then it was best to quit while I was ahead.

"I see. That's a shame, then."

The pope's smile remained firm as he concluded the meeting.

Cliff had other business to attend to, so I left the headquarters alone.

"Phew..."

I let out a huge sigh the moment I got out. I was exhausted... First the Blessed Child, then the pope. Sparring against two exceptional people in one day. Both had some wild eccentricities, and each belonged to opposing factions to boot.

The pope, a Demon Integrationist. The Blessed Child, protected by the cardinalists who pushed for demon expulsion. If I were asked to pick a side, then there was no question that I'd join the integrationists, the pope's side. That'd square me off against the Temple Knights, who were aligned with the Demon Expulsionists. Also in those ranks: the House of Latria, and by extension Therese.

Therese had saved my hide twice now. I despised the rest of the Latrias, but I couldn't disregard my debt to her. Plus, the Blessed Child didn't seem like a bad person. I guess you could count that entourage against her—but let's not. It'd be wise to postpone taking sides as long as possible... And I wish I were the perfect wise man who could've pulled that off. So much for my plans and ideals.

Anyway, arranging to bump into the Blessed Child a few more times seemed like a fine idea. I wanted to get a better idea of what her ability was. Maybe see if she were a disciple of the Man-God...which, to be honest, would be impossible to find out.

Hypothetically, if she were a disciple, that would complicate my mission here in ways I couldn't prepare for or foresee. In the Asura Kingdom, the Man- God hadn't interfered with my work building the mercenary band. So was my work posing a threat to the Man-God, or wasn't it? If he stepped in, that'd be a clue at least. But I had no way of knowing, and overthinking it would just run

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me in circles. I had to think what I was doing mattered, and he hadn't interfered in my past work against him. So, I would act on the assumption that he wouldn't interfere here. I'd reserve my search for disciples for when I did face interference, or for when I felt that something was truly wrong.

At the moment, there was no shortage of suspicious players in this game. The Blessed Child; Claire; the pope. But winding myself into paranoid knots had been my downfall in the past. I could head that off by building the Mercenary Band branch quickly, setting up the contact tablet, and getting ahold of Orsted at once.

Yep. For now, today's meeting had gotten me the support of the pope. That was my starting point. I'd scout out potential buildings for the Mercenary Band, then purchase one. There, I would set up the contact tablet and the emergency teleportation circle. After all that I'd finally have my business call with Orsted.

"All right. First order of business: choose a building."

Next move, locked in. I could let Aisha handle the details. There were plenty of questions to account for, such as which district our location should be and which merchant we should do business with. Knowing Aisha, her mind was already working on the problem. It was such a relief to have a reliable partner.

The problem was Zenith. If Aisha left her behind to tour the city, she'd have nobody looking after her. Asking Wendy to do so was an option...but hey, this really needed to be a group decision. I ought to head home and discuss it with the others.

I took a horse-drawn carriage across the city and returned to Cliff's residence in the Divine District.

The sun was setting. I was getting hungry, so I was looking forward to dinner. And ugh, the food! It was so nice to have fresh eggs here. Boiled eggs, fried eggs, omelets... We also had some bread, so I could probably make pork cutlets, too. Ah, the presence of a single egg opens the door to new worlds of culinary delights. New horizons of joy to explore in every meal, with every egg!

Thank goodness I brought Aisha so someone knew how to cook one.

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"I'm hooome! And boy, am I hungry!"

"What do you mean she's still not back?!"

The moment I returned, I heard Aisha shouting with fury. I hurried inside the house to find my little sister cornering Wendy.

"Why did you let her leave the house?!"

"B-but, he said it was fine..."

"Why would you believe something a stranger told you?! You heard what we were talking about last night, didn't you?! Why wouldn't you tell someone about what was going on?! What made you think she couldn't have held off until tomorrow?! If you could've waited for a few minutes, I would've gotten back in time! You could've asked my brother too!"

"I-I mean, I heard what you talked about, but, well, I didn't really understand it, and that person said it was fine..."

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?! I'm telling you that no, it was not fine! Wait, don't tell me, did you come to sabotage us?!"

Aisha lifted her shoulder and raised a fist as Wendy cowered in fear.

Rare to see Aisha get angry enough to shout. That was as deeply as I thought through the situation as I walked up behind my sister and held back her raised fist.

"Aisha, calm down a little."

"Shut it!"

She swatted me away. But at least now Aisha noticed that I was there. "Ah, Big Brother... I'm sorry..."

Aisha clutched the arm she swatted at me with and hung her head. "What happened?"

I should start by asking for the details. If there was a fight, I assumed they were both a little bit in the wrong. But Aisha kept her pale face lowered. She wasn't answering. This wasn't like her—she wasn't shy about sharing her opinions.

"Umm..."

Seemingly unable to bear the silence, Wendy tried to fill it. "Well, this afternoon, a person named Geese came by—"

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"Geese came here?"

"He said he felt bad for Zenith since she was cooped up inside after finally coming home, so he took her outside..."

So here's what Aisha was reacting to.

"And they haven't come back..."

All the blood drained out of my head in an instant. I took a deep breath.

"Aisha, I need you to explain everything—calmly. From the beginning. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah..."

Aisha started talking.

That afternoon, Geese came to Cliff's house. He introduced himself as Zenith's friend coming to check up on her. Aisha didn't see him for herself, but after hearing Wendy describe his appearance, speech mannerisms, stature, equipment, and what he talked about, she seemed pretty certain that it was Geese.

Aisha had to ask what'd happened because she wasn't there.

"Where were you, Aisha?"

"I figured we'd need a bunch of stuff to live here, so I went shopping... Wendy can't read, and she probably wouldn't know what we needed, so I did it... I'm sorry."

"Oh, no, it's fine."

Aisha had a lapse in judgment, and during that lapse, something that we could never have predicted occurred. These things do happen. People mess up. It's fine. Geese chatted with Wendy and Zenith for a while.

And then, Geese said, "I feel bad for Zenith, all cooped up inside after finally comin' home. I'll take her around to see the sights."

And Wendy allowed it. Part of me was so dumbfounded by this that I wanted to clutch my head and scream. She'd been there when we talked last night. Hadn't she heard?

But I couldn't pin it all on Wendy. She didn't see how awful the Latrias were for herself; she only had secondhand knowledge. It made sense that she didn't understand that they were dangerous. Besides, Geese had a way with words; if he had nothing else going for him, he could talk anybody into anything.

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I'd been planning to show Zenith the town myself too, so I could hardly blame Wendy for letting her guard down and thinking that maybe an hour's outing with a friend would be all right.

"I ran out right away to search for them, but I couldn't find anything..."

The moment Aisha returned from shopping and heard about what happened, she leapt out the door and searched everywhere...to no avail. Even as the afternoon turned into dusk, not a trace. Even when she returned home in the vain hope that they might have showed up while she was out, they hadn't come back. With no idea left of what to do, Aisha took her frustration out on Wendy... which was the point at which I arrived.

"What do we do, Big Brother? I was the one who said we'd be safe here... It's all my fault, isn't it? What do we do... What do we do?!"

Aisha was losing it in a way I'd rarely seen from her; she was almost in tears. The first order of business was getting her to settle down.

"Calm down. It's Geese we're talking about. He probably just forgot about what he promised and took her all over the city."

"But, right now, we don't have any clue where Mother Zenith is!"

"Look, just calm down."

Part of me was getting anxious too. But this was Geese she was with—he might have had the combat prowess of a wet puppy, but he was a sharp, trustworthy guy. Out of all the people who could have potentially whisked Zenith away, I felt a little more at ease it was him. By the same token, this was Geese. He probably got distracted, went chasing after something silly, and then lost track of time. Any minute now, and he could pop in through that door and say with a chuckle, "Ah, sorry, brah, I ran into an ol' buddy and just had to catch up."

"For now, let's wait a bit longer for them to come back."

That was my decision.

Time passed. The sun set. Eventually, Cliff returned from work, exhaustion on his face.

Zenith and Geese, however, stayed gone. *

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I...wouldn't say that time was wasted. In those hours, Aisha and I were able to calm down. I think.

"I'm sorry... But please, don't take it out on Wendy. She didn't mean to do anything bad, I don't think..."

Cliff gave Wendy a scolding, firm but fair, and he made sure she knew that he was still on her side. He probably didn't anticipate that anything like this could happen, either. He originally hired her for light housework. And given that she'd reached her age without getting either employment or a foster family, Cliff had to have known that she wasn't going to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.

But it wasn't right to berate someone over their shortcomings. Don't cry over their spilled milk; clean it up instead.

"I'm going out to look. Cliff, stay on alert in case we miss each other." "S-sure..."

It was around dinnertime when I decided to go out in search of her.

Maybe I took too long to decide. But if you'll allow me to make an excuse, I promise I would have thrown myself out the door in an instant if I knew that Zenith was on her own.

However, she'd gone with Geese; if Wendy's story was true, then Zenith should still be with him. The chimp might have been too cowardly to handle a fight, but any other challenge he faced would be no problem for him. Be it gathering intel, mapping, shopping, cooking, maintenance, or even giving health checkups for his party members, he was an all-around star player. So for whatever reason, I got the idea that Zenith would be all right.

But when I thought about it, I realized that his uselessness in battle was indeed a fatal flaw. If he had to fight, he wouldn't be able to protect Zenith. Geese had developed a knack for avoiding danger to make up for it, but something could still go very wrong. Zenith could space out and step on the foot of a tough-looking old dude. There were even women who wouldn't hesitate to throw a punch just for looking at 'em funny.

And Geese was a demon. What would the House of Latria think if they happened to spot Geese and Zenith alone together? They'd say that I wouldn't let her stay in her own home, but here she was, out alone with a demon. They might decide to attack and take Zenith back by force.

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Or wait. Maybe the Latrias were behind this. Knowing their resources, the Geese that came earlier could have been an impostor. They could have caught someone with similar appearance, build, and speech mannerisms, and then had him pose as Geese to talk Wendy into giving up Zenith...maybe. Not that he'd be easy to imitate.

Last, and maybe I was paranoid for even considering it, there was the possibility that Geese was the Man-God's disciple. Why was he here when he hated the Holy Country so much, anyway?

"..."

I refitted my robe and magic armor and left the house.

Aisha followed my lead like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Where do we go first? Do we split up?"

She must have been anxious over Zenith's disappearance. If she was, it was all the more vital that I stayed calm.

"No, I can't risk you getting kidnapped. We'll go together."

"O-okay. Got it..."

Aisha's breath hitched at the word "kidnapped." She had to have considered the possibility. There were plenty of kidnappers in this world, after all...

It wasn't all that likely, though. Maybe not if she'd been stumbling around alone, but she was with Geese. Beating the crap out of Geese to make Zenith a slave was a lot of work. If I were in their shoes, I'd find a different, more defenseless target.

"..."

After a few steps, I suddenly stopped. Where was I supposed to look first, again? Shit, I was slipping; guess I hadn't fully calmed down. People didn't calm down just by telling themselves to. They needed deep breaths.

"Huff... Phew..."

There was someone smarter than me right next to me. I had to talk to her. "Aisha... Where do you think Geese is?"

"Um... Maybe in the Adventurers' District?"

"Your reasoning?"

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"Geese said before that he couldn't enter the Divine District, and I don't think he'd go to the Residential District when so many followers of Millis live there. If it's between the Adventurers' District and the Commerce District... Well, Geese is an adventurer, so I think there's a higher chance he'd be in the Adventurers' District."

"All right. Let's roll."

Knew I could count on Aisha, she was a quick thinker. We had no time to waste.

"Let's hurry," I said.

"Okay... Oh, right. Should we use a horse? We still have one from the carriage, right?"

"Hm?"

A horse... I still wasn't able to ride them. I mean, I had the basics. I'd done some practice, and I knew how to handle a carriage. But I was far from skilled enough to ride wherever I pleased in an emergency situation. But Aisha had nothing to worry about. When I really needed to, I could move as fast as any horse.

"We don't need one."

"Huh?"

I princess-carried Aisha in my arms and gathered mana into my magic armor. Legs, green light. All systems go. I'd practiced neutralizing the landing impact plenty of times.

"Aisha, hold on tight."

"Huh...? Ah!"

Aisha's body tensed up as she clung tightly to my robe. I made sure to hold her so that she was locked in place.

"N-no! No! Stop!"

I'm sure she said some other things, but I ignored them. Zenith was missing. This, of all things, was no coincidence. Maybe Geese did it, or maybe it was the handiwork of the Latrias. Perhaps the papalists had a shadowy hidden agenda. Maybe we'd gotten wrapped up in the designs of the Blessed Child...

Or maybe this was the work of the Man-God.

Agonizing over the answer wouldn't solve anything. Hesitation solved

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nothing. Regret solved nothing.

We had already let too much time slip by, and between the long day and my mental state, I was in bad shape. I had no idea who in Millishion was an ally, or who my enemies were. In a fight against the Man-God, you could never truly know.

We weren't having a repeat of the Shirone Kingdom. I'd learned from my mistakes.

I braced for whatever was coming and leapt into the night sky.

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About the Author: Rifujin na Magonote

Resides in Gifu Prefecture. Loves fighting games and cream puffs. Inspired by other published works on the website Let's Be Novelists, they created the web novel Mushoku Tensei. They instantly gained the support of readers and became number 1 on the site's combined popularity rankings within one year of publishing.

"Beginnings and endings can change your entire outlook," said the author.

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