Another year passed.
Eris's education was progressing smoothly. Her swordplay was so
impressive that she became Intermediate-tier before her tenth birthday. That
meant she could contend with the average swordsman.
Ghislaine said that, even though she was just nine, she might rise to
Advanced-tier in a few more years. Our Young Mistress was quite the genius.
As for me? If asked directly, I would avoid your gaze. It seemed that I
was no genius at swordplay.
Eris's ability to read and write was, well, functional at least. Ghislaine,
who had been deceived numerous times and even sold as a slave because she
couldn't read, tried desperately to memorize everything.
Unfortunately, Eris lagged when it came to arithmetic. It was her weak
spot. There was no point in panicking though. I had no idea what she would
grow up to do, but highly advanced math wasn't necessary in this world. She
just had to master the four principles in five years. That was enough.
Magic lessons had been proceeding apace, but it felt like we had hit a
slight impasse. Through chanting, the two could perform most of the basic
spells. Eris had mastered just about every school of magic besides earth, but
Ghislaine could only do fire spells. I wondered about the difference in their
abilities, even though they were both taking the same class. Was Ghislaine
just poor at water, wind, and earth spells? What I observed seemed to indicate
so, but I couldn't be sure.
At any rate, it was clear that just chanting spells out of the magic
textbook wasn't enough for them to overcome this issue. Casting different
schools of magic had come quite naturally to me so I didn't know how to
help them. I'd been making them practice silent casting recently, but the
results were less than satisfactory. Sylphie was able to do it easily, so I
wondered if it was an issue of age. Or perhaps Sylphie was just especially skilled.
Maybe it was just a futile endeavor. It might be best to just move on to
intermediate spells. But Eris and Ghislaine were both swordswomen, so it
would better to have them master basic spells because they were more
versatile. In the end, I decided to keep my lessons as they were. I wanted to
believe they would be able to cast without chanting someday.
***
Eris's tenth birthday was drawing close. A person's tenth birthday was
a special one. It was customary for the nobility to host large parties for a
child on their fifth, tenth, and fifteenth birthdays.
On Eris's birthday, the large reception hall and conjoining courtyard
were opened to the party. Presents poured in from all over, and all the nobles
of Roa were invited to attend. Since Sauros was the boorish military type, the
initial plan was for a self-service, standing buffet, until Philip intervened and
turned it into a dance party to make it easier for the local, less wealthy nobles
to attend.
The manor was bustling with frantic movement. Maids with dog ears
rushed to-and-fro in the hallways. Maids weren't supposed to run in general,
but apparently this household let them do so when things got busy. Some
were full-on sprinting even, fast enough that they could hit a transfer student
as they were rounding the corner and send them rocketing to the moon.
I kept to the edge of the hallway where I wouldn't get in their way. I
had no real destination in mind, I was just going for a walk. That was right, a
walk.
I had nothing to do with the frantic bustle. Right now, Eris was
preparing for her leading role in the party by taking special etiquette lessons,
so our classes had been cancelled. Philip had requested that Eris "at least
make sure she act like a ten-year-old child without causing any shame to
herself." Apparently she didn't meet that standard, because Edna, with a look
of exhaustion, requested a drastic increase in the number of lessons with Eris. I honored Edna's request, and thus came days of Edna keeping Eris
from morning till night for her special lessons. That left me completely
unoccupied.
Of course, I was attending the party as a house guest, as it was really
Eris's celebration. There was nothing for me to do except stand in a corner
and eat. Nothing special was required of me.
I thought I should perhaps practice etiquette with my newfound
freedom, but if I spent every day training, I would just wear myself out. Plus,
I wanted to look around the manor while everyone was busy with
preparations. This would be the first big event I'd attended. Surely there was
someone around who could use my help. Although the only thing I could
really do was taste test.
"Come to think of it, do birthdays here come with cakes?" They didn't
in Buena Village, but cakes apparently existed here. I had never seen one, but
sometimes a person wanted to eat something sweet.
With these thoughts in my mind, I headed for the kitchen. I could have
asked about the existence of cake, but I really wanted to take a walk. If my
fortune was good, I might also find some food samples for the party.
Yeah. Also, I was hungry. Was it still not time for lunch?
"No more!" Right then, the door in front of me banged open, and Eris
came flying out. Her shoulders were hunched as she dashed down the hall at
an impressive speed and disappeared around the corner.
Edna came chasing after her. "Young Mistress!" She looked both ways
and sighed when she saw no trace of Eris. She began yawning, only seeing
me halfway through.
She offered me a weak smile. "Well hello there, Lord Rudeus." It was
a smile that begged for me to listen. Such an expression was rare for Edna.
"You must be exhausted, Miss Edna."
"I'm sorry you had to see that."
I raised a hand as I approached her, and Edna bowed in a graceful
movement. I put my hand to my chest and returned the bow. "What's
wrong?" I asked.
"Well, this is a bit embarrassing, but the Young Mistress ran off."
Well, yes, I knew that since I watched it happen. It was pretty
incredible. She was gone in mere seconds. I was pretty good at running away
myself, but I was nothing compared to Eris.
Edna looked troubled as she put a hand to her cheek. "You see, I have
been teaching her dancing lately, but she just can't seem to get it right. Now
every time I try to teach her, she runs off."
"I see, that is troubling. I understand how you feel." Mostly because
she used to run from me too. Eris was the type who refused to do something
she didn't like. Edna had it rough. Catching Eris was no easy feat.
"There's less than a month until her birthday. If things continue like
this, she'll shame herself in front of her guests."
Edna said it like that was such a terrible thing. But wasn't it a bit late
for that? Eris already had a healthy reputation for being a violent little thing.
Being unable to dance at a dance party seemed pretty far down the potential
shame list.
"This is her tenth birthday. It's special. Becoming a laughingstock on
that day seems far too cruel, don't you think, Lord Rudeus?" She kept
glancing over at me.
If she wanted something from me, I wanted her to say it explicitly. "So
what do you want me to do?"
"Could, I mean, if you wouldn't mind, Lord Rudeus, couldn't you
persuade her for me? To come back for her dance lessons."
There it was.
***
Why did I agree to her request? Because I had nothing else to do, I
suppose, and because of something Edna said: "Becoming a laughingstock on
that day seems far too cruel."
In this world there was a custom of large celebrations on your fifth,
tenth, and fifteenth birthdays; only those three times. It was tragic to imagine
such a joyous day yielding nothing but painful memories. With a little effort from me the day could be truly enjoyable; without it there would be nothing
but sadness.
If I had just studied a little harder back in my previous life, I could
have gotten into a different middle school, then those horrible things might
never have happened. I might not have closed myself off from the world. Not
that I thought Eris would do that, but she might end up with awful memories
that would linger long after.
With that in mind, I began looking for her.
Fortunately, I found her immediately. She was behind the stables, lying
her back atop a pile of hay.
"Hmph." She exhaled with a foul look when she saw me.
I climbed up and sat beside her. "I heard you can't dance very well…
Whooooa!"
She shoved me off the haystack with a kick. I managed to land safely
and turned to guard myself. Eris was the type to always launch a follow-up
attack. If I wasn't prepared, I'd have a drop kick coming at the back of my
unprotected head.
Or so I thought, but the follow-up never came. She just remained
sprawled on the hay, staring up at the sky.
"…"
I climbed back up and sat beside her. This time I grabbed onto the hay
so I wouldn't be sent flying. Rather, that was my plan until I felt an impact on
top of my head. "Ouch!"
Her heel was perched on the crown of my head. There wasn't enough
power behind it to be an axe kick, so it seemed she was just resting it there.
She was in a foul mood but didn't seem to have much energy.
"Won't you…go back to practice?"
"I don't need to know how to dance."
I glanced at her. She was still looking up at the sky. "But…"
"I won't dance on my birthday either," she proclaimed frankly.
But there was no way the star of a dance party could forego dancing. I
had never participated in one, but I knew she'd somehow be dragged into
dancing in front of everyone when the day came.
"Why do I have to do something I'm not good at?" she groused, lips
pushing into a pout.
I understood how she felt. But running away just made things worse
for the future.
"Yeah, when you put it like that, it's kind of difficult to answer."
What did I have to say to get her to understand? I knew she wouldn't
listen if I just told her she would regret it. That was the logic of an adult with
regrets. You had to experience the emotion yourself to understand it.
"You don't get it. You can do anything," she said.
"No, there are certainly things I can't do."
"There are?"
"Of course."
"Hmm." She didn't ask me what they were. Instead she just looked at
me with an expression that said she didn't believe me at all.
"But I do think that when you put in maximum effort toward
something you're not good at, you'll feel that much more accomplished when
you finally succeed."
"You think so?" She continued staring at the sky, not looking the least
bit convinced.
"I'll help out too. Why don't you give dance practice one more
chance?"
"I won't."
That killed the conversation right there. I couldn't find any other words to say. It looked like it was impossible after all.
Maybe I was better off asking Ghislaine for help. Of course, she
probably wouldn't see the need to learn dancing either; even I didn't see it.
The only people who did were probably Edna and Philip. Maybe I should ask
Philip?
As I thought that, Eris removed her foot from my head. Then she
kicked her leg hard, using the recoil to propel herself off the hay and onto the
ground.
"Rudeus."
"Yes?"
"I'm going back to my dance lessons. Come with me."
Did what I said work? Or was she just being her usual, whimsical self?
Whichever it was, she seemed to have found some motivation, so I was glad.
"Very well, Young Mistress."
I followed her back to the dance hall.
***
Helping with her lessons meant I was learning to dance myself. For
things like this, you improved faster by having a partner.
That said, I had never danced a day in either of my lives. My
experience, at best, was limited to playing dancing games at the arcade during
middle school, so I was a bit worried.
"Wonderful. You are truly skilled at this."
Contrary to my expectations, I had already mastered some of the
beginner steps. Dance was all about remembering the routine and matching
your movements to the rhythm. My previous self may have struggled from
utter lack of exercise, but my current self was pretty fit. The simplest of the
steps didn't require much getting used to.
"Hmph." Eris sulked when Edna complimented me.
She had spent months working on this only to fail, so of course she felt bitter watching me master it so easily. I wasn't just learning to dance
however. I was observing Eris so I could figure out why she was struggling.
There were two reasons for this. The first was that Edna was a terrible
teacher. Well, not a terrible teacher exactly; she was probably average. It was
her method of saying, "Do it this way," "Do it that way," and "Just memorize
what I'm telling you" that was the problem. She never touched on why those
things were necessary.
The second reason was Eris's failing. Her steps were too fast and too
sharp. Her personality and movements were well suited to the Sword God
Style, but they were a drawback when it came to dancing. Where she should
have been lightly moving her feet to the rhythm of the music, she instead
rigidly maneuvered her body at top speed, falling out of sync with her
partner. Eris had her own rhythm and instinctively disliked being interrupted.
She maintained it protectively no matter the circumstance, so no one could
disrupt her flow. It was an incredible ability on the battlefield, but it only held
her back in dance. Dance was all about matching your partner.
According to Edna, this was the first time she had ever encountered a
student with absolutely no skill for dance. That wasn't the case though.
Moving so quickly meant that there was a sharpness to her movements. In a
dance routine that required that, she could dance beautifully.
So that was why her teaching style wasn't working. Though blaming
Edna would not fix Eris's movements. Still, there was something that could
be done.
As I watched Eris clumsily move through her dance steps, I decided to
try something. "Eris, please close your eyes and try swinging your body to
your own rhythm."
She looked doubtfully at me. "What are you planning, making me
close my eyes?!"
"Lord Rudeus…?" Edna's gentle smile wavered.
Uh, no, this isn't what you think? I'm not trying to kiss her, I thought
defensively. How rude of you guys, accusing a gentleman like me!
"I'm going to use magic to help you dance."
"What! A spell for that exists?!"
"No, I said magic. There's no spell. It's more of a miraculous
phenomenon."
She tilted her head but did as I asked.
Her dancing followed the same rhythm I had seen so many times
during our sword lessons: quick, detailed, precise, but always irregular. Her
movements were unreadable and naturally disrupted the rhythm of her
opponent. I could never imitate them, not even if I wanted to. The rhythm of
a natural egotist.
"I'm going to clap my hands now. Try to match that rhythm with your
steps as if you're dodging an incoming attack." As I said that, I began
smacking my hands together in a regular beat.
Eris matched the rhythm in quick, precise movements. I repeated that
for a bit, calling out to her at certain intervals. "Yes! Yes!" It was always
right before I clapped. Eris would wait for a moment then react as soon as she
heard my hands come together.
"Th-this is!" Edna raised her voice in amazement.
Eris had danced the steps correctly. She was still a bit too fast, but at
least she matched the rhythm.
Edna balled her hands into fists and with an unusually excited smile,
yelled, "You did it! You did it, Young Mistress!"
Eris opened her eyes, all smiles and joy, and said, "Really?!"
I continued my instruction, essentially raining on their parade. "Okay,
okay, keep your eyes closed. You need to remember what you did just now."
"Remember it? I'm just watching for an opponent's feints and dodging
them!"
That's right. This was the same thing we did during our sword lessons
when we dodged Ghislaine's attacks. Each time she made a feint she would
call out 'yes' so we would learn to dodge only the real attacks.
Even Ghislaine's feints were full of murderous intent. In comparison, it
was easy to tell by my voice when I was feinting or not. Incidentally, I had
better results during that lesson than Eris did. Eris was too gullible, so she fell
for the feints easily.
"Eris. You can use things you learn in one lesson in others. When you
struggle with something, try to think about whether you have done anything
similar in any of your other lessons."
"O-okay." In contrast to her usual demeanor, Eris didn't say anything
else and just nodded, eyes still wide open.
Looks like the problem was solved.
"I shouldn't be surprised. You have given the Young Mistress
arithmetic lessons for more than a year now after all," Edna said. She seemed
thoroughly impressed, her eyes full of emotion as she looked at me.
Shouldn't be surprised, huh? So that was the level of hopelessness
associated with teaching Eris arithmetic. Well, I did struggle quite a bit. I
owed half of the credit to Ghislaine. I couldn't let it go to my head.
"This was an incredible learning experience for me. It seems
swordplay and dance have something in common after all." Edna looked like
she had seen something unbelievable. Like, Oh, Father in Heaven, I have
witnessed a miracle, or something like that. Totally over the top.
"Well, there are dances that use the sword after all. Dance and
swordplay are strongly related," I said.
"A dance that uses swords? Does something like that really exist?" she
asked with wonder.
Sword dancing seemed like common knowledge to my inner middle
school nerd, but maybe it didn't exist in this world. "Uh, yeah, but I've only
read about it in books," I said.
"Well then, in the literature you read…where did it say that dance
comes from?"
"U-uh, well, it seemed like it was from a desert country."
"Desert… The Begaritt Continent then?"
"I don't know. As unlikely as it sounds, it could be that demon races in
the Demon Continent dance that way. I hear they have lots of small clans, so
maybe someone from there dances using swords," I responded uncertainly.
"I see, so it's that collection of knowledge of various things that gives
you such wisdom, Lord Rudeus," she said, smiling kindly as she complimented me. Looks like she convinced herself of the fact.
"That's right, Rudeus is amazing!" Eris interjected proudly, for some
odd reason.
That's right, praise me some more, I thought. I'm the type that feeds off
praise. Bwahahaha!
***
The day of the dance party.
Eris was all dolled up and seated like a princess when Sauros roared
for the festivities to begin. I hunkered down in a corner and observed from
there.
During the party's opening ceremony, Philip and his wife deftly
handled the poorer and lesser nobles that swarmed around the family. They
conducted themselves so impressively that no one could find an opening to
slip through them.
If someone did happen to get through, they would be faced with Sauros
himself. They would quickly look for ways to make their escape once they
found themselves on the receiving end of his booming voice and irrationally
one-sided way of talking.
If they happened to get by him, they would be where they desired at
last, in front of the star herself: Eris. Eris, who had no authority whatsoever
and didn't understand anything about politics. She turned into a robot that
parroted the words, "Please tell my father," whenever anything was brought
up.
Some brought their sons along to introduce to her; young and middle-
aged men with good upbringings. Some were our age, but almost all of them
were loud and obnoxious. They had probably lived their entire lives at home,
without a care in the world. It was like looking at my past self.
Just as I began feeling some kinship with them, it was time to dance.
Like we planned from the beginning, I took up my role as Eris's first
dance partner. It was the simplest, most childish dance, but because Eris was the star we took to the center of the room. We just needed to do as we
practiced.
"Wh-wh-what are you doing!"
As the music began playing, Eris turned rigid with nervousness. There
was no way we could dance properly like this. Forget that, she might actually
knock me on my ass and take off running.
Hmm.
I used my gaze and my steps to add some feints into our routine. When
I did, she immediately set her lips into a pout.
"What's that for?" she mumbled again, but this time she sounded less
nervous and more like her usual self. After that, she stepped on my foot a few
times, but we managed to end the dance without falling.
"You did well, Lord Rudeus," Edna called out as it finished.
Apparently, she could tell I had calmed the Young Mistress's nerves even
from afar.
When she asked me how I did it, I simply replied that I did the same
thing we did in practice. Edna wore a look of amazement, but when I told her
it was the same as swordplay, she let a giggle slip.
My duties were done, so it was time to binge on food. There was an
unusually large selection today, including some sort of weird sweet and sour
fruit pie, a meat dish that used a whole cow's head, and a beautifully
arranged cake.
As I was stuffing my face, I caught sight of Ghislaine, who was
standing guard. Her eyes weren't exactly begging for food, but she did have
some drool dripping off her chin.
Fortunately, I was a man who could read the room. I wrapped some
food in a napkin and instructed a maid to take it to my quarters. The guards
and the servants would have a luxurious feast themselves after this, I heard,
but nothing like the food that was being offered here.
As I was almost done having the food carried off, my eyes fell upon a
cute little girl in front of me."A pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said, before offering me
her name. She was the daughter of one of the minor nobles. Her name was so
long I couldn't remember the whole thing.
"Won't you share a dance with me?" she asked.
I explained that I only knew the basics before we headed onto the
dance floor. I thought I actually danced pretty well. When it was over,
another girl came, and again I was asked to dance.
What the hell is this? I'm pretty popular, huh? They came one after the
other, among them a woman over thirty and a girl younger than I was. I
turned them down if our height difference presented a problem, but in general
I said yes to anyone who asked.
It wasn't like I was a Japanese person who couldn't say no. It was just
that after telling the first girl yes, it was difficult to refuse the rest. Maybe I
had an ulterior motive, but there were so many of them I couldn't remember
their names or faces, so I just exhausted myself.
Once my popularity waned enough, Philip approached me and
explained, "That was my father's doing." Apparently, when people asked
Sauros who the boy was who danced with Eris at the beginning, he boastfully
told them I was a member of the Greyrat family. In other words, everything
was old man Sauros' fault.
Not that I could really blame him. He'd been asked about me: "That
boy who danced with the Young Mistress at first, he did a splendid job
calming her nerves. Could he be one of your illegitimate children, Lord
Sauros?" That was apparently enough to get him in good spirits. We'd
planned to keep my surname a secret, but maybe it was inevitable since
alcohol was in the mix. But now that they knew my last name, they could
assume that I was a member of the branch family or the child of a mistress. I
was going to be somebody of note in either case, so the nobles sent their
daughters and granddaughters after me.
I asked him, "Wouldn't it have made more sense to approach me right
after the first dance?" He said he noticed me wrapping sweets up in napkins
and found it so endearing that he decided to wait until I was finished. People
who paid attention really noticed every detail.
When I asked him what I should do about the women who approached me, he told me to engage with them freely. It seemed no matter how things
played out in the future, he didn't intend for me to get involved with politics.
Or perhaps he thought it might be a political benefit if I ended up with one of
those girls. I hadn't the least bit of interest in wielding political power, so for
me, today's short brush with fame was like a transient dream.
But wait, maybe if I become more powerful, I can have all the cute
girls I want, I thought for a moment.
"I do ask that you refrain from following Paul's example by not
sleeping with every single woman you meet, lest you stain the noble name of
our house." Well. Philip nipped that right in the bud then.
Eris was the last girl to approach me. Her usual vivid and energetic
aesthetic was replaced with a blue dress. Her hair was arranged in an up-do
with a floral ornament tucked into it. She looked lovely.
It seemed even she was exhausted after attending her first-ever dance
party and being approached by unfamiliar adults, one after the other. Yet she
still seemed excited, perhaps because she was the star of a party that was
going so well.
"Won't you have a dance with me?"
Gone was the usual loud voice, wide-legged stance, and untamed
expression of the ill-mannered Eris I knew. She held herself just as gracefully
as any of the other girls who had approached me.
"Gladly."
I took her hand and we headed into the hall. As we moved to the center
of the dance floor, Eris looked around and giggled lightly, all prim and
proper.
Suddenly, a song with an irregular, fast-paced rhythm began playing,
one we had never practiced before. Maybe the musician was trying to be
mindful of the guests.
"Uh, what…" That one metaphorical punch was enough to throw Eris
off. All because she was putting on her weird act.
She looked pleadingly at me, and I began inserting feints to the rhythm
of the music. It had an irregular beat, but that fit Eris's style better, although
her steps were rather disorganized. If Edna saw, she would probably get angry or exasperated.
I held her hand and moved in and out, just as we did during sword
practice. We matched our movements to the music, but they were still erratic.
We probably looked quite peculiar to the onlookers.
Eris was enjoying herself. She was finally laughing like a girl her age
should, rather than being sullen and pouty as she usually was. Just seeing that
was enough to make me feel like it was worth it attending this party. Applause erupted when the dance finished. Sauros came running over,
lifted the both of us onto his shoulders, and ran around the courtyard laughing
the whole way.
It was an enjoyable party.
***
When the party was over, I invited Ghislaine and Eris to my room. In
truth I only intended to invite Ghislaine, but Eris was with her, so I extended
the offer to Eris as well.
Eris's stomach growled when she saw the table full of food. She must
have been too excited and nervous during the party to eat much of anything.
I let out a wry laugh before pulling out some cheap wine I had
purchased in the city and hidden in the depths of my dresser. It was meant for
Ghislaine, but Eris wanted to drink as well, so I poured three cups. We
clinked glasses and drank. The legal drinking age in this country was fifteen,
but we were ignoring that today. It was okay to do something wild
occasionally.
After swallowing the last of my glass, something occurred to me. I
stood. "This timing is perfect for my gift," I announced, retrieving two wands
from a shelf beside my bed.
"What? What's that?"
"I guess you could call it a birthday present."
"Seriously? I'd rather have one of those." Eris pointed to the various
miniature replicas I had recently made while practicing my earth magic.
There was a dragon, a ship, and even a figurine of Sylphie all lined up.
Not to brag, but in my previous life I had been really into figures and
plastic models in my twenties. I even made a homemade booth out of
cardboard so I could paint them at one point. Unfortunately, materials cost a
lot in this world, and there was no such thing as spray paint, so they weren't
painted. Still, it was fun, and I loved making the parts and putting them
together, so they were quite detailed, even if they were the creations of an amateur.
I did sell my first 1/8 scale Roxy figurine to a peddler for one gold
coin. He was probably off traveling the world right now. Well, that aside.
"According to my master, a magic teacher should present their
apprentice with a wand. I didn't know how to make one, nor did I have the
money to buy the materials, so it's a little late, but I hope you'll take it."
As soon as Ghislaine heard that she stood and took a respectful knee
before me. Ah, I knew what this was. This was the pose used by a disciple of
the Sword God Style to pay respect to their teacher.
"Yes, Master Rudeus. I will gladly accept this."
"Indeed." She presented herself so humbly that I had to pass it to her as
respectfully as possible.
She gazed at it happily. "Now I can call myself a magician, right?"
Ah, so that was what it was about? She was going to call herself a
magician? Roxy and I never discussed that, but… No. This was just an object
to show you had started on lessons and nothing more. Could you really call
yourself a magician if you had only begun learning magic? Hmm. It seemed
my master had not explained enough to me.
"Uh, so Eris, is this the one you want?" I tried lightening the mood by
presenting the Sylphie figurine to her, but she just shook her head.
"No! That, I want that wand!"
"All right, here you are."
She snatched it from my hands. Then, as if remembering how humbly
Ghislaine had presented herself, she corrected herself and respectfully took it
with both hands. "Th-thank you, Master Rudeus."
"Yes, be sure to take care of it."
Eris glanced meaningfully at Ghislaine.
What's that about? I wondered.
Ghislaine froze for a moment before looking away. "I'm sorry, but
there is no such custom in my race. I don't have anything." So that's what it
was about, Eris was hoping for a birthday gift.
Eris retreated to the sofa, looking disappointed. Maybe there was no
custom for employees offering their employers gifts, but I still felt bad that
Eris didn't get anything. She loved Ghislaine and saw her almost like an
older sister. I could at least help out.
"Ghislaine. You don't have to give her anything special. Just
something you usually wear on your person, something she could think of as
a charm. Anything like that."
"Hm." She thought for a moment, then slipped off one of the rings on
her finger. It was a wooden ring, quite worn with scratches all over it. It
reflected a slight greenish light. I wasn't sure if it was due to some magic cast
upon it, or simply the material it was made from.
"This ring is a talisman passed down in my clan. They say it protects
the bearer from being attacked by bad wolves at night."
"C-can I really have it?"
"Yes. It's only superstition."
Eris nervously took it from her. After slipping it onto her right middle
finger, she squeezed both hands to her chest. "I-I'll take good care of it." She
looked even happier than she did when I gave her that wand.
Now I felt like I lost to Ghislaine. Oh well, it was a ring. Eris was a
girl, right? So it made sense.
Something nagged at me, so I voiced my suspicion. "Superstition? So
does that mean you've been attacked by wolves?"
Ghislaine wore a troubled expression. "Yes. It was so hot I couldn't
sleep that night. So Paul invited me to take a shower and—"
"Changed my mind, that's enough. I already know what happens after
that."
No more. If we continued that conversation, it would just worsen my
reputation. Damn that Paul. He was always getting in my way.
"All right. Well, I don't want to ask details about you and your father."
"Sounds good to me. All right then, let's eat. The food's cold, but let's
dig in anyway. And let's forget about the whole teacher-apprentice
relationship for now."
And that was how Eris's tenth birthday came safely to an end.
***
When I woke the next day, Eris was right beside me. She had such a
fierce personality, but her sleeping face was so relaxed and adorable.
"Wow."
Oh no, did I just lose my v-card?!
Of course not! I could still remember what happened clearly. In the
middle of the party last night Eris got sleepy, so she passed out on my bed.
That was when Ghislaine said she was going back and left Eris there,
returning to her own room.
Well, they did say a man was a fool not to eat a meal set in front of
him. Gehehe, let's play a trick on her, I thought, licking my lips as I
approached her.
But Eris was sleeping happily, hugging the wand I had given her to her
chest with Ghislaine's trinket on her finger.
The bad wolf, with its face full of lust, retreated.
"Looks like your little talisman does have some effect after all," I
whispered. I slipped out of bed without disturbing her rest.
It was still early in the morning. If you peeked outside you would see
the sky just beginning to light, but everything was still dark. I could have
stayed and watched Eris as she slept, but she would probably punch me when
she woke up. Instead, I decided to go for a walk. So I left my bed and tip-toed
my way out of the room.
"Now then." I began debating where to go as I traversed the chilly
hallways. The manor gates didn't open until later in the morning, so I
couldn't go outside. There weren't many options.
I had learned the general layout of the manor in the year that I had been
here, but there were still many places I had never been. For instance, the
single looming tower that I was told never to approach; that piqued my interest. Maybe I could get my hands on something good there, like
someone's underwear drying in the shade.
With that thought, I took the stairs to the manor's top floor. There I
wandered aimlessly until I finally came upon some interesting spiral stairs.
This had to be the entrance to that tower. I was told not to go near it, but
yesterday was Eris's birthday. I decided that meant I could flout the rules for
today and started climbing.
The tower's external height matched the number of steps winding
inside it. Around and around and around I went as I ascended more of them
than I could count. That was when I heard a voice from above.
"Meow, meow." A seductive voice that almost sounded like a cat in
heat. I tried to silence my footsteps by tip-toeing up the rest of the stairs.
At the top, I found Sauros. He was inside a room so small barely a
single person could fit, getting busy with one of the cat-eared maids.
Aha, so this was why they told me not to come here.
"Mm?" Sauros noticed I was there after I had gotten a good look at
them.
The maid had noticed me before him. It even seemed to excite her.
Once the deed was finished, the cat-eared girl brushed past me on her way
down the stairs.
"Rudeus, huh?" Sauros' voice was quiet, calm. Different from his
usual demeanor.
The wise old man mode.
"Yes, Lord Sauros. Good morning."
He stopped me with a gesture when I moved my hand to my chest and
tried to bow. "That's enough. What did you come here for?"
"There were stairs, so I climbed them."
"You like tall places?" He asked.
"Yes." Although if I looked out of a window here my legs would
probably freeze up. Liking tall places and being okay with them were two
very different things. Even if I conquered the entire world and built the tallest
tower ever, I would still have my room on the bottom floor.
"So, what were you doing here?" I asked.
"I was praying to that gem there."
Huh.
This house had an awfully degenerate way of praying, but I wasn't
going to say that. Even though Sauros normally seemed so strict, he was still
a member of the Greyrat family. Still an apple from the same tree.
"What gem?" I peered out of the bay window and saw a single red gem
hovering in the sky. Perhaps it was the light, but it looked like something was
moving inside it. It was amazing. Was it floating there by magic? "What is
that?"
"I don't know." He shook his head. "I found it three years ago. But it's
nothing bad."
"How can you say that?"
"It's better to think of it that way."
I understood; he was right. The gem was out of reach. Convincing
yourself it was something bad would only have a negative impact on your
mental health. Better instead to think it was something good and pray to it.
I prayed too.
"Rudeus, I'm going to go out on a long ride. Will you come?"
"I would be honored."
The old man had just fired his gun, so to speak, yet he was still
energetic. He was apparently willing to spend time with me today since he
had no other plans. "Yay!" was probably what I should have said, but the
whole thing just sounded exhausting.
"By the way," I started to ask.
"What?"
"Do you not have a wife?"
I heard a crunching noise. When I realized it was Sauros grinding his
teeth, a chill ran down my spine.
"She's dead."
"Oh, I see. I'm very sorry to hear that." He'd had such a good time
with the cat-eared girl and now I made him remember something unpleasant.
In that case, it was best I not ask about whether Eris had any siblings
either.
"All right, then let's go."
"All right."
Today was one of our days off. Tomorrow, Eris would have to work
hard again.
***
NAME: Eris B. Greyrat
OCCUPATION: Granddaughter of Fittoa's liege lord
PERSONALITY: A little violent
DOES: Listen properly
READING/WRITING: Almost perfect at reading
ARITHMETIC: Can do numbers up to 99
MAGIC: Can chant almost all the basic spells
FENCING: Sword God Style - Intermediate-tier
ETIQUETTE: Skilled enough not to embarrass herself at a party
PEOPLE SHE LIKES: Grandfather, Ghislaine, Rudeus