The relationship between Sylphie and Rudeus is getting closer.
What will she think is Rudeus' house, I wonder.

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I will say once more that I will make mistakes regarding information about the Fate-verse. Why is everything so hard to understand? ;-; Please tell me so I can correct them. Pls, don't bash me too hard in the comments.
P.S: I don't own Mushoku Tensei or Fate.

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I was now six.

My life hasn't changed all that much. Aside from a new friend-I loved the company as I was getting lonely all by myself-nothing changed that much.

My swordsmanship wasn't improving at all. Maybe I just lacked talent in the Water and Sword God techniques. Should I ask Paul to teach me North God? Maybe, but I have enough projects to keep an Advanced Ranked Mage busy-Spatial transportation was more complicated than it looked.

My house was coming along nicely, even though I didn't have much time to work on it. I could only do so when Sylph was too busy, so it was like three or four times a month. I realized the property was too empty, so I wanted to buy some more furniture to liven things up. Painting it was also a thing on my to-do list. Not to mention getting someone certified to look at it. I did not want the roof caving in on me.

I didn't worry about money-I could just make mystic codes from the low-grade magic stones in the house's chests and sell them for a small fortune. I doubt average mages in this world could make things like an invisibility cloak.

Speaking of invisibility, I recently added a magic circle on my cloak that turns me invisible. It was far from perfect-it worked by manipulating wind-people could still see me if they looked close enough, not to mention I must completely cover my body for it to take effect, but it should get me out of a few situations just fine.

Back on topic, to sell my Mystic Codes, I'll need to go to a decently sized city, ideally in Fittoa. I scouted several good candidates on my parents' maps, but the most promising was Roa, the largest city in the area. It was close enough-I estimated the flight there would only take two hours-and since it was so large, there should be plenty of traders and shops. But would people be willing to buy things from a six-year-old? I guess I could always pretend to be a dwarf or some other small humanoid species, but there was always the risk of being found out.

Ah, never mind that. People won't even bother checking my age if I sell good products. I hope. I sighed.

"I'm overthinking this, aren't I?" I muttered as I concentrated on my cloak. Its right wing quickly wrapped around my right arm, forming into the rough shape of a sword with two razor-sharp edges below the elbow. It looked like I had a sword for an arm. I swung my arm-sword around, trying to get a feel for it.

"Too slow," I muttered as I willed my cloak back to normal.

Ten seconds to form my blade. That was far too slow in a real battle. Hell, it was too slow in a duel.

"The shape is also wrong. The weight as well. I'll need to redesign it, considering the air resistance. Maybe I should only use my front wings instead of both front and back."

"Sorry." A voice snapped me out of my musings. "Am I late?"

Right. Sylph's here. We always started things off like this, I'll wait for him while I train my swordsmanship, then we go magic studies together.

Somal or other local punks would come by when we first started playing together. Sometimes older kids-in their early teens-were with them, but I drove them away.

A few flaming swords did wonders.

Whenever I did, Somal's mother would come by to yell at me. That's when I discovered she was more invested in Paul than her kid's well-being. Who yells at someone because their kid tripped all on their own? Somal's mother, that's who. Somal didn't seem too pleased with these "visits," either. So he wasn't faking injuries. Sorry for doubting him. I think they came after us five times. Then they just stopped coming. Maybe they realized you shouldn't mess with someone who could hurl swords at you. We'd occasionally catch sight of them or pass each other by, but neither side said anything. We'd apparently agreed to just ignore one another.

Anyway, less about brats and about Sylph.

What we referred to as "playing" was magic training. If Sylph picked up a bit of spellcraft, he could fend off bullies by himself. In the beginning, Sylph could only cast five or six beginner spells before getting short of breath. Now, half a year later, his reserves had grown significantly. Now, he could train for half a day without issue.

I had little belief that a person's magical reserves were limited anymore. Then there were the spells.

Like me, he was especially weak at fire magic. Back in my world, the legends depicting elves always told of them using water and wind magic. They rarely used fire so as not to accidentally burn nature. But I doubt his blood had anything to do with this. I once asked if he was afraid of fire, and he showed me a burn scar on his palm. Apparently, he grabbed a metal skewer set over the hearth when he was around three.

"I'm not scared anymore." He said.

But he must still have an instinctual fear. Or maybe it has to do with his Elemental Affinity. Or, as this world's mages call them, "affinity schools" and "opposition schools." They were different from the Elemental Affinity in my world-where you were born with one or more affinities-these affinities and oppositions were created through impactful or scarring experiences over time.

For example, dwarves lived close to the mountains and spent their early childhoods playing in the dirt before following in their parent's footsteps by learning blacksmithing or mining. Those things combined made them naturally more adept with earth and fire. Up in the mountains, there was the risk of geysers erupting or heavy rain drowning people or causing mudslides, so water was an expected opposition school among dwarves.

Thanks to my comfortable upbringing, I didn't have any opposition schools, and I had affinities for water and earth, along with a weaker one for wind.

My Elemental Affinity for magecraft was the same-Earth, Water, and Wind. I had an affinity for fire, but I was just below average in terms of fire magecraft for some root-damn reason.

You didn't need fire to create warm water or breezes, but learning it wouldn't be harmful. You never know when you'll need to burn a few ropes or shoot a few fireballs. That's why I had Sylph practice fire magic more than other elements-I need to level up his fire magic.

Despite his struggles, Sylph didn't complain as he went through his training, probably because he wanted to back up his claims of not being afraid of fire anymore. He was a good kid. And he looked so cute with my wand in one hand and my magic textbook in the other, his face steeled in concentration as he chanted.

Like I said before: he was going to be a lady-killer. That wasn't a bad thing, far from it. "Operation Hot Friend Bait," as I called it, would work much better if he was pretty. Hey, call me perverted and disgusting all you want; I still want a family of my own this time. I chuckled as I thought of that stupid name-my naming sense just didn't exist.

"Hey, Rudy?" Sylph asked, "What's this word here?"

I glanced up from my own book-the one only containing Saint-ranked spells or higher from that house-and skimmed the word he pointed at.

"That says 'avalanche.'"

"What does it mean?"

"When tremendous amounts of snow build up on a mountain, it can't bear its own weight, and it all comes collapsing down. You know how when snow builds up on your roof, it sometimes comes flumping off? It's like a way bigger version of that."

"Oh, wow. That sounds incredible. Have you ever seen one?"

"And avalanche? Of course, I...haven't."

Not in this life. In my previous life, I caused one of the largest avalanches on mount Fuji ever recorded. Forming a tornado at the mountain's peak was not a good idea.

Sylph often had me read "A Textbook of Magic." This was also a part of teaching him how to read and write. Literacy was a requirement in this world-you couldn't be a mage without reading books, could you? Besides, the lower the literacy rate, the more valuable being able to read was.

"I did it!" Sylph cheered.

He'd managed to cast the Intermediate water spell, Ice Piller. A shaft of water sprang from the ground, glinting brightly in the sun. I was impressed. He was really good at water magic.

"You're getting pretty good," I said.

"Uh-huh!" Sylph replied and then tilted his head, "But there's stuff you do that isn't written here, huh?"

"Huh?" It took me a few moments to get what he was saying. Right, the thing with warm water. I flipped through "A Textbook of Magic" briskly, then pointed at two entries. "No, it's written here. Waterfall and Heat Hand."

"Hm?"

"I used both at the same time."

"Huh? Sylph inclined his head even further. "How can you chant two things at the same time?"

Right, I'd forgotten wordless spellcasting was a rare skill in this world.

"You create the Waterfall without incanting and use Heat Hand to warm it up. I think you could chant one spell and do the other wordlessly. I never tried, though. Maybe you could put the water in a bucket and then warm it up?" I demonstrated casting both spells wordlessly.

Sylph watched me with wide eyes. Like I said before-this was a high-level skill. Though it made no sense why I could use it without problems. It probably has something to do with mental triggers. Sylph was better off using Combined Magic.

"Hey, teach me how to do that," Sylph said.

"How to do what?"

"How to do magic without saying anything."

It wouldn't hurt to try, I suppose. Maybe I'll debunk another fact. Perhaps people had to practice wordless spellcasting from a young age for it to work. Who knows? If it doesn't, I'll just teach him Combined Magic.

"Right. So, you know the feeling you get when you're incanting for a spell? That feeling throughout your body that collects in your fingertips? Try doing that without saying anything. It's easier if you have an image of the spell you're about to cast. Once you feel like the Mana's gathered up, let the spell you want to cast come to your mind and force it out through your hands. Try something easy first, like Waterball."

That was not a good explanation. How do you explain a feeling anyway?

Sylph closed his eyes and began muttering as he did a weird, wriggly dance. You needed a clear mental trigger for it to work, so figuring out the fundamentals were important. I had Sylph use incantations the entire past year; maybe the more you use them, the harder it is to go without.

I was almost sure he would be there for a while, so I projected a random sword and pointed it at a tree in the distance. I need to work on my aim. Blades didn't do anything if they didn't hit their target.

I was just about to let it fly...before a shout of excitement broke my concentration, making the sword fly off to god knows where. I dismissed the blade with a snap of my fingers-just because I couldn't see it doesn't mean I can't destroy it.

"I did it! Rudy, I did it!" Sylph had his wand pointed at a ball of water suspended in the air.

I didn't hear anything, so he did that wordlessly. I guess incantationless magic was easier than I thought. Sylph beamed with pride after conjuring a series of Waterballs. He'd only been using incantations for a year, I suppose. I guessed this was like removing the training wheels on a bike. Or perhaps he just had a knack for magic.

"Good! Now, try casting the spells you've learned without chanting."

"Okay!"

This was going to be so much easier. I could just tell Sylph how I did things. Incantations could be a bother sometimes.

I projected a few arrows and aimed them at trees. They impacted the trunks without issue. I nodded with a smile on my face. My aim was getting more accurate. Should I try my hand at archery? I felt a few drops of rain.

"Hm?"

I looked up at the sky and grimaced. How had I not noticed the dark clouds? A moment later, rain started pelting down. I normally watched the skies to make sure we'd be able to get home before it rained, but today I was distracted by Sylph's silent spell casting and my sword shooting.

"This is some pretty bad rain," I muttered.

This wasn't good. It'll take us twenty minutes to walk home. By that time, we would be soaked.

"Rudy, I know you can make it rain, but can you make it stop?"

"I can, but we're already soaking wet, and the crops aren't going to grow without rain. I don't want to mess up the weather cycle."

"Weather...cycle?"

"I'll teach you about that later. For now-"

*BOOM*

"Eep!"

Sylph yelped and rushed to hide under my robe. I didn't blame him-that even scared me a little.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Alarmed, I looked up again. A strong wind almost blew me off my feet. Okay, this was even worse than I expected. This was a hurricane, and a powerful one at that-I'm guessing this was a category two. We'd be in extreme danger if we didn't go home soon.

I suppose I have no choice but to scatter this. I raised my hand to the sky, disrupting the updrafts and downdrafts that kept the hurricane going. I didn't disperse it all the way, but I managed to weaken it to a category one before I deemed it'll take too long to do anything else.

I hugged Sylph with my arms and forced my wings to spread as large as possible. This was the most efficient method of going home-even if it was a little bumpy. And dangerous.

"Hold on tight, okay? I don't want to do this."

"Wait! What are you-"

I didn't bother listening-it's too risky to linger any longer. I took off from the ground with a flap of my wings and a boost from earth magic.

Sylph screamed as he clutched my back.

...

I landed near my house five minutes later.

Thankfully, we didn't get struck by lightning. Sylph calmed down halfway through the flight, though he was still shivering when I put him down. I don't know if it's because of the cold or the fear.

"You okay?"

I patted his head in an awkward display of comfort. He nodded shakily but still wouldn't let go of my cloak.

"I'm home!" I called out as I opened the door.

"Uh, h-hello," Sylph added.

Our maid, Lilia, was standing just inside, waiting with a large cloth in hand.

"Welcome back. Young master and...friend?" She said. "I've already drawn some warm water for you. Please wash up and dry off on the second floor so you won't catch a cold. The lord and lady of the house will be home soon, so I'll get ready to tent to them. Will you be all right on your own?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," I said.

Lilia was quite the talented maid. One look at Sylph's face was enough for her to get another blanket. The two of us took off our shoes, then dried off our heads and bare feet before heading upstairs. A large wooden tub filled with warm water was in the middle of my room. I sighed. I wished I had a bathtub or shower. And I wish I could have taken Sylph to my own house in the woods, but the flight there was far too long, not to mention our parents would literally turn the forest upside down looking for us.

I undressed until I was fully naked and saw Sylph fidgeting awkwardly, his face blushing bright red.

"What's the matter?" I asked. "You need to get out of your clothes, or you'll catch a cold."

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah..."

But still, he didn't move. Was he shy about getting naked in front of someone? That's perfectly reasonable-I never liked having my family butler change my clothes in my past life. It was why I learned how to dress at two years old. But still, he would catch a cold if he just stood there dumbly.

"Here," I said, "Lift up both your arms."

"Um, okay."

I helped Sylph lift his hands overhead, then peeled off his sopping wet coat, exposing his stark white skin and lack of muscular definition. I reached for his lower garments next, but he grabbed my arm.

"N-no, not that." He muttered.

Trust me, bud, bathing with your pants on is unbelievably uncomfortable. If you don't want your underwear off, that's fine. But your pants gotta go. I grabbed his trousers and forcefully pulled them down.

"H-hey, stop it..." He squeaked, hitting me on the head.

I sighed. It wasn't like I'll forcefully yank off his undergarments or something. That would just be impolite. And he'll probably get mad at me, and then our friendship would be strained. Though...there was something wrong with his frame. Because of the rain, his baggy children's underwear stuck to his skin. Even with how baggy they were, I should still be able to see a faint outline of his nether regions. If I couldn't see them, that meant two things. Either his was really small, or...

He was...a she.

I'm an idiot. Aren't I?

I could feel my face heating up. I mean... The signs were all there, even with her short hair. Her feminine features and girlish face were staring me in the eyes, and I didn't f*cking notice.

"Y-you're a girl. Aren't you."

My voice was shaky as I confirmed this fact. Sylph looked confused but nodded before realizing why I'd ask such a question. This girl was smart, alright. She might surpass me before too long.

I climbed into the wooden tub and proceeded to hide my body underwater. I gave myself an air bubble so I wouldn't drown, but drowning sounded better than dying from embarrassment.

I heard shuffling and splashing before feeling a cold hand on my head. I looked up and saw Sylph awkwardly smiling at me, petting my head in a comforting way like I did when we got home. I sighed-hiding from my problems won't solve anything-and pulled myself out of the water with a "splash."

It took a few moments for me to gather the courage to speak up. "Sorry, I thought you were a boy," I mumbled.

"It's fine," Sylph mumbled back; for some reason, her face was just as red as mine.

We just sat in the wooden tub until Paul came home, then we dried ourselves and went downstairs. After this incident, I felt closer to Sylph, or Sylphiette, than before.

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Learning Sylphie was a girl changed my attitude.

If I'd met her three years later, I wouldn't have mistaken him for a boy. I could tell if she grew out her hair a little more, she would have been stunning.

"You're cute, Sylphie," I said as I jotted down a few things in a notebook, "Maybe you should try growing your hair out?"

"Huh?"

A faint blush dusted her cheeks, and she shook her head shyly. She might hate her hair, but that emerald looked dazzling in the sunlight. I watched as she attempted an advanced water spell, Blizard Storm. That's why I moved our training spot out here to the outskirts of the village. I do not want a cute little girl like her to spear someone to death. I currently have a golden barrier around me, so I won't be hit.

*Thump*

A few icicles collided with my barrier, their speed and size more than enough to kill. I dismissed the golden dome with a snap of my fingers and collected the Runestones.

Walking over, I ruffled Sylphie's hair a little. "Great job. I know this isn't much of a ceremony, but you're now an Advanced Rank water mage. Be proud-very few can reach this level."

The smile Sylphie gave could only be described as dazzling.

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Now or never.

I told myself as I waited for Sylphie below our tree. It wasn't really "ours," but after one and a half years, people just knew this was the place to find us. I was about to change that today. I finally finished my teleportation spell, so it was about time I showed Sylphie my house.

My teleporting still required a lot more work-it wasn't long-range, and I could only teleport with one person besides myself-but it was more than enough to get to my house. I doubt Sylphie wanted to experience flying again.

"Sorry for making you wait!"

Great, Sylphie's here.

"What are we doing today?" She looked up expectingly at me, waiting to know what spell I'd teach her today.

"We're doing something...different than other days."

"Hm?" She tilted her head.

"I'm taking you to a place that will benefit our magical studies. We'll be able to advance much quicker."

At my house, I can finally start teaching Sylphie Runecraft. I'll honor that druid's dying wish. But I'm not risking some evil person finding out I can use runes and capture me for their own benefit.

"Now, before I do anything, I need you to promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to show you. It'll get me in big trouble with my parents."

Yep. Paul and Zenith will not be pleased if they find out their child already had a house at six. Or maybe they'll be more proud than mad. I'm not risking it, though.

"Okay. But...um. Are you sure it's safe?" Sylphie seemed hesitant.

"Yes, I'm sure everything will be fine. It's one hundred percent safe." There was the risk of falling into the lake, but that's never gonna happen.

Sylphie looked conflicted for a moment before grabbing my hand and nodding. I smiled at her-that took less convincing than I thought.

"Alright. This will take a few seconds, so grab on tight." I need to shorten the incanting time for spatial transportation.

Sylphie suddenly looked panicked. "We aren't going to fly there, are we?" The poor girl was scared half to death in that hurricane.

"Nope," I said, and she visibly relaxed. Hey, was flying really that bad? "Just grab my hand tightly and..."

I felt her grip on my hand tighten as I tell her. Good. I muttered the spell under my breath-High-Speed Incantation was a true lifesaver. I still said the last few words out loud, though-to sound cool.

"To be one with the wind!"

I saw my body dissolve-for some reason-into white and gold butterflies. I don't know why it happens. There weren't supposed to be butterflies when I teleport, damn it! But they didn't seem harmful and looked pretty cool, so I didn't bother fixing them. Sylphie yelped at the strange feeling of being teleported, though she was more interested in the butterflies than the unpleasantness.

It felt weird teleporting. Like I was being sucked by a vacuum only for a split moment. We reappeared in front of the lake a second later.

"Uhg..." Sylphie groaned as I let go of her hand before stumbling.

I rushed to catch her before she fell. Dizzyness was normal. I experienced something similar when I first tried this spell. I waited a few moments for her to regain her bearings.

"You alright now?" I asked.

Sylphie nodded and proceeded to gape at the lake and the house on the island.

Half a year's worth of work did this island well. The house still looked old and shabby, but all the cracked bricks and rotten board were replaced with new ones. I couldn't get the paint for multiple reasons. I also didn't have time to build a proper bridge. A few trees now also dotted the island, grown with the seeds of the fruit my parents buy. A grapevine was growing on the wooden supports of the front porch; tiny immature grapes hung in tight bunches. I used a few time barriers to speed up their growth.

"Beautiful." She awed.

I chuckled, waving my hand in a wide arch. An ice bridge rose from the lake, light blue in color, small pillars supported the bridge underwater, and a delicate railing was placed on either side. This was achieved with the spells Icicle Field, Ice Pillar, and some ice manipulation magecraft.

Sylphie's mouth hung open as she looked from me and back to the bridge.

I gave a dramatic bow, "After you, my lady."

Sylphie's face turned red. She was fun to tease like this.

I waited for Sylphie to walk across, but she looked at the bridge warily. Perhaps she was afraid it was too thin? I took her hand, gently pulling her onto the bridge, then slowly began leading her across. She turned even redder from the contact. What a shy girl indeed. Though her guard was completely down when we reached the end.

We stopped in front of the house, with Sylphie still gaping at the...well, everything. I need to disable the barrier first-otherwise, she'll be zapped by lightning. I snapped my fingers and waved my hand in the air a few times, and a golden barrier materialized a second later. I tinkered with the magic circle shown on the golden wall, forming a smaller, purple circle inside the larger golden one. I turned to Sylphie.

"Alright, place your hand in this purple magic circle, and we'll be all set."

"Um. Okay."

As soon as her hand touched the circle, the barrier pulsed with Mana, and the Magic Circles glowed gold for a millisecond before vanishing, taking the barricade with them. Good. The binding worked perfectly. This barrier will now recognize Sylphie as a friend.

I took out a smallish iron key from my pocket-I made this about a month ago, along with the lock I installed on the front door. It's cruddy, but nothing a little magecraft can't fix.

I inserted the key into its slot and turned it, a series of small clicks sounded, and the door opened. I held the door open like a gentleman for Sylphie, closing it with another small click after she entered.

"So? What do you think of my house? Not too bad if I were to say so myself."

Everything on the inside was fixed as well. The walls, floor, and roof looked brand new and didn't have a single crack. New furniture was in every room, crafted from stone and wood by yours truly. They looked awful and out of place compared to the ones originally in the house-they were shabby and wouldn't last-I need to make those trips to Roa as soon as possible.

Sylphie looked downright flabbergasted, and that expression she had was so adorable.

"T-this is your house, Rudy? It doesn't belong to Mr. Paul?"

I don't blame her disbelief-this house was twice as big as her parents'.

"Our." I corrected, "It's our house now. Why do you think I brought you out here? This now also belongs to you. It's not mine. Ours."

I might be a little rash in telling her that, but Sylphie was my first friend in this world, so she had a special place in my heart. I grinned at her face-a combination of happiness, turmoil, embarrassment, and shock.

"Come on," I grabbed her hand, leading her to the kitchen. "It's almost lunchtime. I'll grab some sandwiches from my fridge, and I can show you the rest of the house in the afternoon."

I walked over to my "fridge," which was actually just a big metal box covered with clay and wood, with a few magic circles carved on the inside to keep the temperature low. I saw Sylphie hovering around the dining table, looking indecisive about where to sit.

"Anywhere is fine." I nonchalantly waved my hand, "Just sit where ever you want."

I brought the sandwiches covered with beeswaxed paper, passing one to the girl beside me; I grabbed a pitcher filled with yellow liquid and two cups. Lemonade-one of my personal favorites. Easy to make, too. My parents looked at me like I was crazy the first time I squeezed lemon juice into a jar and drank it. No one invented lemonade in this world yet-I find that quite hard to believe.

I handed Sylphie a cup and poured her some, not missing a second of how her face lit up with delight. Seriously. How has no one invented this drink yet?

...

Lunch passed quickly, and before I knew it, I started showing Sylphie around my house.

I answered every question she had about the various items. Technology wasn't that advanced in this world, after all.

This was fun. I decided as Sylphie prodded at the showerhead.

This world was amazing. I'm already showing a girl around my home-and I'm not even ten!

So yeah.

Life was good. Amazing, even.

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So, what do you all think? Not bad, I hope. I'll say this again. I'm just writing this fanfic cause I lost my creativity. I'm just trying to get rid of my writer's block. So I'll apologize if there are any mistakes.
Anyways, Please like, share, follow, and comment.
As always, good luck with your game of life.