It was evening when I arrived in the City of Roa.
Buena Village and the City of Roa are a day's coach ride apart, a
journey of six to seven hours. Just the right distance, neither too near nor too
far. Roa is a lively city, one of the largest in this area.
The first thing that caught my eye were the citadel's walls. Sturdy
walls, seven to eight meters tall, that wrapped around the city. Horse-drawn
carriages came and went through the gigantic gate. As our coach passed
through it, I saw lines of merchant stalls.
The first thing that greeted me inside the city was a horse stable and an
inn. A crowd of people bustled to and fro: merchants, townspeople, and even
armor-clad warriors. It was truly like something out of a fantasy novel.
I glanced at what seemed like a waiting station, where people sat with
large amounts of luggage. What's that about? I wondered.
"Ghislaine, do you know what that is?" I asked the person with me.
She had ears and a tail like an animal, with dark brown skin that her
sparse leather armor showed in wide swathes. She was a tall and muscular
swordswoman.
There were seven tiers in the Sword God Style and Ghislaine Dedoldia
was third from the top, with such impressive skills that she was known as a
Sword King. She would be the one teaching me the art of the sword.
She was like a second master to me.
"You…" She turned irritably toward me. "Are you trying to make fun
of me?" She scowled ferociously, and I jumped.
"No, I was just… I wondered what that was. I didn't know so I hoped
you would tell me."
"Oh, sorry. That's what you meant." She saw that I was on the verge of
tears and hurried to explain. "That's the waiting area for the stagecoach. It's
what people normally use to travel between cities. The other option is paying a peddler for a ride."
As the coach went on, Ghislaine continued pointing out each place and
explained it to me. That's the weapon smithy, that's the pub, that's one
branch of the Adventurer's Guild, and that place is better left unvisited.
Ghislaine had a stern face, but she was kind.
The atmosphere changed as we passed one street corner. There were
lines of stores aimed at adventurers, a weapon smithy and an armor smithy,
and farther within, lines of shops for the townspeople. Residential homes
were nestled deep in the alleyways.
If you thought about it, intruders would have to attack the city from the
outside in. It was obvious then that the city was constructed such that the
deeper you went inward, the bigger the houses became and the more
luxurious the goods shops offered. The closer you lived to the center, the
richer you were.
A gigantic building was nestled right in the middle of the city. "That is
the liege lord's manor," Ghislaine said.
"It looks more like a castle than a manor."
"Well, this is a fortified city after all."
Roa was an ancient city with a noble past. Four hundred years ago it
was the last bastion of defense in the war against the demon race. That was
why there was a castle in the city's center. That said, despite its mighty origin
story, the nobles of the imperial capital currently saw Roa as nothing more
than a crude backwater full of adventurers.
"The fact that we came here must mean that the Young Mistress I'm to
teach is of high social status."
Ghislaine shook her head. "Not quite."
"Huh?" There was the lord's manor right before us. By my reckoning,
the only people who lived here had to be people of high social rank. Was my
theory wrong?
As soon as I began wondering, the coachman gave a small nod to the
gatekeeper of the lord's manor.
"So, she must be the Lord's daughter."
"No."
"She's not?"
"Not quite."
I felt like there was some hidden meaning behind her words. What
could it be?
The carriage came to a stop.
When we entered the manor, a butler led us to what looked to be a
reception room. We were pointed to two sofas lined up together.
This would be my first interview ever. I had to play it cool.
"Please take a seat there."
While I took a seat upon the sofa, Ghislaine silently drew away and
stood watch in the corner of the room. I bet she picked that spot so she could
survey the entire room, I thought. In my previous life, I would have pegged
her for a middle school nerd that watched too much anime.
"The Young Master should be returning shortly. Please wait here until
he does."
The butler poured what I guessed to be tea into an expensive-looking
cup. Then he retreated and stood by the entrance to the room.
I took a sip of the steaming drink. Not bad. I wasn't particularly well-
versed in teas, but it seemed like the expensive sort. Since the man didn't
pour any for Ghislaine, it was clear that I was the only one being treated like
a guest.
"Where is he?!"
A voice boomed from outside the room, accompanied by angry,
thunderous footsteps.
"In here?!"
The doors burst open violently, and a buff, muscular man entered the
room. He had to be about fifty. Despite the peppering of white in his dark
brown hair, he looked in the prime of his life.
I put the cup down, stood, and bowed deeply. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Rudeus Greyrat."
His nostrils flared. "Hmph, you don't even know how to introduce
yourself!"
"Master, Lord Rudeus has never been outside Buena Village. He is still
young, I am sure he has not yet had the time to learn proper manners. Surely
you can overlook a bit of his…"
"And you, shut up!"
That rebuke silenced the butler immediately.
If this were the master of the house, that meant he was my employer,
right? He certainly was angry. There must have been something about me he
found lacking. I'd tried to be as polite as I could when I introduced myself,
but perhaps the etiquette of nobles was different here.
"Hmph. So I guess Paul didn't even see fit to teach his own son
manners!"
"I've been told my father detests formality, which is why he left his
father's house. I suspect that's also why he didn't teach me any of it."
"Already with the excuses! You're just like him!"
"Did my father really make that many excuses?"
"Yes! An excuse every time he opened his mouth. If he wet the bed, an
excuse! If he got into a fight, an excuse! If he played hooky, an excuse!" He
was really going off about this. "Even you! If you wanted to learn manners,
you could have done it! The only reason you didn't is because you didn't put
any effort in!"
Part of me agreed with him. I was so preoccupied with magic and
swordplay that I hadn't tried learning anything else. Perhaps I had been too
narrow-minded.
The best response was to concede my mistake. "You're right. It's my
own failing that I lack the proper manners. I apologize for that."
As I lowered my head, he stomped his foot so hard the floor creaked.
"However! I will acknowledge that you made a valiant effort instead of being
defensive about your lack of education on etiquette! I will permit you to stay
here!"
I wasn't sure what was going on, but at least he said I could stay.
With that, the master of the house turned and strode out of the room,
his shoulders stiff and firm.
"He is the liege lord of the Fittoa Region, Sauros Boreas Greyrat. He is
also Master Paul's uncle," said the butler.
So he was the liege lord. His intensity made me worry about how good
he was at governing. Then again, there were many adventurers around these
parts, so maybe you needed a forceful personality to be a proper liege lord. Wait. Did the butler say Greyrat and uncle? In other words, that
meant… "He's my great uncle then?"
"Yes."
I knew it.
So, Paul had used his connection to a family member, albeit one he
was estranged from. I never dreamed he came from such a noble family. He
had quite the privileged upbringing.
"What's going on, Thomas? You left the door wide open." Someone
appeared in the doorway: a thin, lightweight man with sleek brown hair. "It
seems like Father is in a cheery mood. Did something happen?"
Because he called the liege lord father, I guessed he was Paul's cousin.
The butler said, "This is the Young Master. Pardon me. Just a moment
ago, the Master met with Lord Rudeus. It seems he was pleased by him."
"Ah-ha. If he's the kind of person my father likes…perhaps I've
chosen incorrectly?" He took a seat on the sofa across from me.
Oh, right, I should introduce myself, I remembered.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Rudeus Greyrat."
Just as I did a moment ago, I bowed deep and lowered my head.
"Ah yes, and I am Philip Boreas Greyrat. Nobles greet each other by
putting their right hand on their chest and bowing the head slightly. You must
have angered my father with your incorrect approach, yes?"
"Like this?" I followed his example and bowed my head slightly.
"Yes, that's right. Although your attempt a moment ago wasn't bad. It
was still polite. I'm sure if a worker greeted my father like that, he would be
pleased. Now please, sit." He flounced back upon on the sofa with a loud
thud.
I followed his example and took my seat. And now the interview
begins.
"How much have you heard?"
"I was told that if I spent five years here teaching the Young Mistress, I
would be given enough money to cover the tuition costs for attending the
University of Magic."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"I see." He put his hand on his chin and gazed at the table as if lost in
thought. "Do you like girls?"
"Not as much as my father."
"Oh really? Then you pass."
W-wait, what? Wasn't that a bit fast?
"Right now, the only people that girl likes is Edna, her etiquette tutor,
and Ghislaine, her sword trainer. I have already dismissed more than five
people. Among those was a man who taught in the imperial city." I
understood he was implying that just because someone taught in the imperial
city didn't mean they were any good at it.
"And how is that relevant to whether I like girls or not?"
"It's not. It's just that Paul was the type of man who would work as
hard as he could if it was for a cute girl. So I figured you were probably the
same." He shrugged.
I should have been the one shrugging. Please don't lump us in the same
category.
"I'll be honest, I don't expect much from you. I just figured that since
you're Paul's son, I may as well give you a try."
"You're right, that was very honest," I said.
"What, you mean you're confident you can do it?"
No, not at all. Though that wasn't something I could say in this
situation. "I won't know until I actually meet her."
Besides, I could just imagine Paul's mocking laughter if I failed at this
job and had to find another. I knew it, you're still just a kid, he would say.
This was no joke. I wouldn't tolerate being looked down upon by someone
who was technically younger than me.
Hmm…
"Look, I'll go meet her and if it looks like she's going to give me
trouble…I can try using one of my tricks." This was an opportunity to use some knowledge from my previous life. The perfect way to make a spoiled,
bratty girl listen to me.
"A trick? What do you mean?"
I gave him a simple explanation. "We'll have someone associated with
your house kidnap us while I'm with the Young Mistress. Then I'll use my
reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, as well as my magic, so the two of us
can escape and return safely back here. That's the gist of it."
Philip stared blankly for a moment, but realization dawned and he
nodded. "In other words, you're trying to get her to study of her own free
will. Interesting. But are you sure this will work?"
"I think it has a better chance of working than adults forcing her into
it."
This was a frequent plot device in anime and manga: a child that hated
studying who learned the importance of education after being caught up in
something they needed their wits to escape. It didn't really matter if the ones
orchestrating it were her family, right?
"Is this something Paul taught you? As one of the ways to get a girl to
fall for you?"
"No. My father doesn't have to go that far to be popular with women."
"Popular, huh… Pfft." Philip burst into laughter. "That's right. He's
always been popular. He doesn't have to do anything and the girls come right
to him anyway."
"Every person he's introduced me to has been one of his mistresses.
Even Ghislaine."
"Yes, I'm incredibly envious of him."
"I'm worried he might even lay his hands on the childhood friend I left
behind in Buena Village."
Anxiety hit me the moment those words left my lips. Five years from
now… Sylphie would have grown a lot in that time. I would hate to return
home to find that she had become part of my father's harem.
"Don't worry. Paul is only interested in adult women." As Philip said
that, he gazed at Ghislaine in the corner of the room.
"Oh." I realized what he meant. Ghislaine definitely had a very…
developed figure. Come to think of it, so did Zenith and Lilia. What was so
developed, you ask? Their breasts of course.
"You should be fine, it's only five years. She may mature some, but I
doubt she will get that big, since she has elf blood in her veins. Even Paul
isn't that much of a fiend."
Could I trust that? Besides which, how did he know that Sylphie was
part elf? Maybe I was better off assuming there were no secrets about the
time I spent in Buena Village.
"I'm more worried about whether you'll seduce my daughter."
"Why are you worried about that when I'm only seven?" Jeez, what a
rude thing to say. I wasn't going to do anything. And if she went and fell for
me of her own accord, well, it wouldn't be my fault.
"In Paul's letter about you, he said he was sending you away because
you spent too much time playing with women. I thought it was just a joke,
but after hearing your plan, I'm starting to doubt that."
"That's only because I had no friends besides Sylphie." Whom I was
trying to raise into my perfect, obedient woman. Also, it was none of his
business.
"Well, we won't make any progress by talking. You need to meet my
daughter. Thomas, bring him to her." Philip stood.
And so, I finally met her.
***
Arrogant. That was my first thought when I saw her. She was two
years older than me, her eyes sharp and narrow, and her hair wavy. It was
also such a pure shade of crimson it looked like someone threw a bucket of
paint on her.
My first impression of her was that she was fierce. I had no doubt she
would be a beauty one day, but I predicted that most men would find her too
much to handle. Maybe if you were a serious masochist… Well, okay, perhaps not quite that bad.
Either way, she was a dangerous one. My instincts screamed warnings
as I got close to her.
But it wasn't like I could just run away. So instead I greeted her just as
Philip had instructed me. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Rudeus Greyrat."
"Hmph!" She took one look at me and her nostrils flared, just like her
grandfather's. She had her arms crossed firmly over her chest as she glared
down at me—both figuratively and literally, since she was taller than I was.
Her expression turned sour as she said, "What's this, he's younger than I am!
And yet he's supposed to teach me? Stop joking around!"
I knew it—she had a lot of pride. But I couldn't just back down. "I
don't think age has anything to do with it," I said.
"Oh yeah?! Do you have some sort of problem with me?!" Her voice
was so loud my ears rang.
"What I'm saying, Miss, is that there are things I can do that you
can't."
The moment I said that, her hair appeared to stand straight up, like a
physical manifestation of her anger.
It was terrifying.
Aww, crap, why do I have to be afraid of a girl that's not even ten yet!
"Certainly full of yourself, aren't you! Just who do you think I am?!"
I tamped my fear down and answered. "You're my second cousin,
right?"
"Second…? What the heck is that?"
"It means my father is the cousin of your father. In other words, you're
the granddaughter of my great uncle."
"What are you on about?! I don't understand!"
Maybe that wasn't the best way to word it? Perhaps I should just tell
her that we were related. "You have heard of Paul, right?"
"Of course not!"
"Oh, all right." That was unexpected. Apparently, she didn't know who
he was. Not that it really mattered how we were related. It was more
important to get her talking. After all, when you first start a video game, the
best way to build up a relationship with an NPC is to talk to them repeatedly.
Just as I thought that, she lifted her hand and slapped me.
"Huh…?" It was so abrupt. She just struck me across the face. Slightly
confused, I asked her, "Why did you hit me?"
"Because you're acting so full of yourself even though you're younger
than me!"
"So that's it." My cheek was still hot where she slapped me. It stung. That hurt, I thought.
My second impression of her was that she was violent.
I guess it looked like I had no other option. "All right, then I'll return
the gesture."
"What?!"
I didn't wait for her response, I just slapped her. Smack! It wasn't a
very pleasant sound.
Oh well, it was probably weak because I'm not used to slapping
people. That's fine. At least she felt the pain, I reassured myself. "Now do
you understand—"
How it feels to be slapped, was what I was trying to say, but out of the
corner of my eye, I saw her hair stand up as she drew back her fist. It was the
exact same pose as a Nio statue, one of Buddha's divine and wrathful
guardians.
Just as I thought that, her fist made contact. Her leg caught mine the
moment I began to stumble. Then her hand slammed against my chest,
forcing me to the ground. Seconds later she was perched on top of me. By the
time I realized what was going on, she had my arms pinned under her knees.
H-huh? I can't move? I panicked. "Hey, wait!"
The sound of my dismay was drowned out by her howling. "Who do
you think you just raised a hand against?! I'll make you regret that!"
Her fist came down on me like a hammer. "Ouch, ow, that hurts! Wait,
what, no, stop!"
I took five punches before I managed to use my magic to get away.
Though my legs threatened to buckle under me, I forced myself upright and
rounded on her for a counterattack. I smacked her in the face with a wave of
wind magic.
"…You're not going to get away with that." My attack had thrown her,
but it didn't stop her for even a moment. She came flying at me with the look
of the devil on her face.
I realized my mistake the moment I saw her expression. Stumbling, I
ran for it. She wasn't the kind of young mistress I was used to. She wasn't the whimsical, selfish type that made decisions based on their feelings in the
moment. She was more like the delinquent protagonist of a manga!
Maybe I could have beaten her up with my magic, but I doubted it
would make her listen to me. She would bide her time to recover, then come
back for revenge. I could hit her with magic each time, but her resolve would
never waver.
Unlike a manga protagonist, she seemed the type to fight dirty too. She
might throw a vase at me from the top of the stairs or come at me from the
shadows with a wooden sword. She would do anything to make sure she
returned the damage she received tenfold. If the opportunity came, she would
hold nothing back.
This was no joke. I couldn't use healing magic because I couldn't stop
to chant the spell. But so long as we kept this up, there was no way she would
listen to what I had to say. I was going to have to use brute force to make her
listen to me.
That, however, was the one decision I couldn't make right now.
There, now we're all caught up.
***
Exhausted from her pursuit, the Young Mistress eventually gave up
and returned to her room. She didn't manage to find me, but it was close.
I felt numb as that red-haired demon went by me. I'd never imagined I
would experience being the protagonist of a horror movie in this way. Utterly
exhausted, I returned to Philip, who was waiting for me with a bitter smile on
his face.
"So, how did it go?"
"It didn't go at all," I answered, on the verge of tears.
When she was punching me, I thought she might actually kill me.
When I ran away, I was nearly in tears.
It had been so long since I felt like this. Still, I had experienced this before. Not that I was carrying the trauma with me or anything.
"Well, going to give up then?"
"No, I'm not." How could I? I hadn't accomplished anything. If I
backed down now, it meant I got punched for nothing. "I want your
cooperation to do what we talked about before." I bowed my head to him,
sharp and low. I was going to teach that beast what true fear really was.
"All right. Thomas, make the preparations." Right on cue, the butler
took his leave. Philip said, "You really do have some interesting ideas."
"You think so?"
"I do. You are the only teacher to have come to me with such an
ambitious plan."
"I think it will be effective though."
Still, I was a little nervous. Would my little trick really work on
someone with her personality?
Phillip shrugged and said, "Depends on how hard you work."
Naturally.
And so, we began working on our plan.
***
I entered the room they gave me. It was exquisitely furnished. It had a
large bed and other heavily decorated furniture, beautiful curtains, and a
brand-new bookcase. All it needed was an air-conditioner and a computer
and it would be a shut-in's paradise. It was a nice room.
This had to be a guest room, rather than servants' quarters, given to me
because I bore the name Greyrat. For some reason, most of their maids were
beastfolk. I heard they discriminated against demons in this country, but it
seemed the beastfolk were a different matter.
"Ah, Paul, you bastard. This is one hell of a place you shipped me off
to."
I sank onto the bed and put my throbbing head in my hands. Probably a lingering effect from the punching. I muttered a chant to heal my wounds.
"At least it's better than what happened in my previous life."
Sure, the part where I got punched and kicked out of the house was the
same. But this time things would be different. I wouldn't just be left out in
the cold. There was a world of difference between my present and my past.
Paul would make sure of that. He had already prepared a job for me, as
well as a place to sleep. He even gave me some spending money. That was
more than enough.
If my old family had done that much for me, maybe I could have
turned my life around. If they had found a job for me, a place for me to live,
and watched over me to make sure I didn't run away…
No, that would have never happened. I was a thirty-four-year-old with
no work history. They abandoned me because there was nothing they could
do with me.
Anyway, I doubted I would have changed even if they did that for me.
I probably wouldn't have even tried to get work at all. If they took my
computer, my only love, away from me, I would have probably contemplated
suicide.
Things were different now because I was different. Because I decided I
would work and earn money this time. I may have been forced into this
situation, but the timing was perfect. Perhaps I had misunderstood Paul.
"But he didn't have to send me here to deal with that."
What the hell was that rage-filled creature anyways? In all my forty
years of life I had never seen something like that before. Terrifying wasn't
the word for it. It was violent. Like a pressure cooker exploding. Bad enough
to give you PTSD. I may have wet my pants a little.
Whereas most Japanese blades had a blunt side, she was like a double-
edged sword. Like a bottle of poison that had been spilled all over the place.
Now I understand why she was kicked out of school.
There had been experience in the way she swung her fists at me. Those
were fists that were used to punching people. Fists that had pummeled people
regardless of whether they resisted or not. She was only nine and yet so skilled at rendering her opponents
powerless. Could I really teach someone like that?
I'd talked to Philip about our plan.
First, we would kidnap her and give her a taste of what it felt like to be
powerless. That was when I would come in to help her. This way, she would
learn to respect me and attend my lessons obediently. A simple plan, but I
knew how it should go. So long as I got the right reaction from her,
everything would go smoothly.
…But would it really? She was way more violent than I could have
ever imagined. She would bellow and scream until her opponent took the
bait, then beat them to a bloody pulp. Her belligerence made it clear just how
strong her desire to win was.
Was it possible that, even after being abducted, she would be
completely unaffected? And that when I went to help her, she would be
completely unsurprised and say, "It took you long enough, dirtbag."
It was possible. With her, it was definitely possible.
It was likely she would react in a way I couldn't predict. So I needed to
mentally prepare for that. Failure wasn't an option.
I thought about it. I tried coming up with a plan that would definitely
allow me to succeed. Yet the more I thought about it, the more muddied my
thoughts became.
"Please, God, let this plan work."
In the end, I prayed. I didn't believe in God, and yet, like any other
Japanese person, I turned to prayer when I was in trouble.
Please, somehow, some way, make this work, I prayed.
That was when I realized I had left my treasured panties behind in
Buena Village, and I cried. There was no God (a.k.a. Roxy) here.
***
NAME: "Young Mistress"
OCCUPATION: Granddaughter of Fittoa's liege lord
PERSONALITY: Fierce
DOESN'T: Listen to what people say
READING/WRITING: Can write her own name
ARITHMETIC: Can add single digit numbers
MAGIC: No clue
FENCING: Sword God Style – Beginner-tier
ETIQUETTE: Can do the Boreas-style greeting
PEOPLE SHE LIKES: Grandfather, Ghislaine