Eris became better behaved after her tenth birthday. She took her
lessons seriously and punched me less frequently than before. More relaxed
after being released from the fear of domestic violence, I decided to focus
more on my own studies.
I started getting an overview of this world's history with the book I
borrowed from the library. It showed that this world had existed for at least
10,000 years. Its history was truly fantastical. The gist of that history was as
follows:
More Than 100,000 Years Ago
The world was split into seven smaller worlds, each with its own god
to rule over it. This was called the Ancient Age of the Gods. These seven
worlds and their respective gods were:
The world of humans, Human God.
The world of demons, Demon God.
The world of dragons, Dragon God.
The world of beasts, Beast God.
The ocean world, Sea God.
The sky world, Sky God.
The barren world, Barren God.
These worlds were separated by barriers, so coming and going was no
easy task. Someone who lived in one world had no idea there were other
ones. Only the gods and those strong enough to cross those barriers knew of
the other worlds.
Twenty Thousand to Ten Thousand Years Ago
In the dragon world, an incorrigibly evil Dragon God was born. With
his incredible and dreadful power, he destroyed the barriers separating the
worlds. With his followers, known as the Five Dragon Commanders, he
began destroying the other worlds. Survivors from each destroyed world fled
to other worlds seeking shelter.
When there was only one other world left, the Dragon God's
commanders finally turned on him. The head of the Five Dragon
Commanders, the Dragon Emperor, and the other four Dragon Kings fought
the Dragon God and his overwhelming power. Five versus one in a battle to
the death.
It ended in a draw. The dragon world crumbled in the aftermath,
leaving only the human world. That was this world.
Ten Thousand to Eight Thousand Years Ago
Known as the Chaotic Period. A period where the ancestors of modern
humans and the refugees from other worlds, after being thrown together,
began clashing.
There exists almost no literature from this period, but according to
scholars, after many years of strife, the races slowly became segregated. The
beastfolk began living in the woods, the waterfolk controlled the oceans, and
the skyfolk secured the highest places they could find. There were nearly no
dragonfolk left, but they avoided attention and lived secretly, while the
voidfolk, who could live anywhere, spread themselves out.
That left the humans and the demons to fight between themselves on
the plains. At the time, the Central Continent and the Demon Continent were
still joined by land and called the Great Continent.
Approximately 7,000 Years Ago
Martial arts and magic were developed, and the population increased.
This was also when The First Great Human-Demon War occurred. As the
name implies, it was a head-on collision between the humans and the
demons. Something like a World War in the world of my previous life. It was
a long battle that involved not only the humans and demons, but other races as well.
Approximately 6,000 Years Ago
A thousand years passed as the Great War raged on, with fierce battles
and lulls interspersed between. The hero Arus led his six comrades into
battle, continuing the hostilities until he defeated the Five Great Demon
Kings and the Great Emperor of the Demon World, Kishirika.
Based on the Great Emperor's name, I guessed they were probably a
woman. In my head, I pictured Eris in a leather outfit, cackling loudly.
Wait a second…Arus? What the heck was this, Dragon Quest 7?
Approximately 5,500 Years Ago
Being the fools they were, the humans got drunk off power from
defeating the demons and began warring against the other races, as well as
among themselves. Demons were reportedly used as slaves during this time.
This period of constant war continued for almost 500 years.
Five Thousand Years Ago
The Second Great Human-Demon War broke out. Seeking vengeance
for a thousand-year grudge, Kishirika, the Great Emperor of the Demon
World, stirred the demons into action.
I thought Kishirika was some sort of name each emperor received as
they took the throne, but apparently the Emperor was immortal. Even if they
died, they would revive hundreds of years later. Perhaps the reason they were
called the Great Emperor of the Demon World was because they were a rank
above the other Dragon Emperors.
Either way, the demons made allies of the beastfolk and seafolk,
overwhelming the humans. The humans were driven into a corner.
Four Thousand Two Hundred Years Ago
The Second Great Human-Demon War came to an end. The warmongering humans fought for 800 years without admitting
defeat and finally forced their enemy back. This was thanks to the efforts of
the legendary hero, Golden Knight Aldebaran.
This guy was a total cheater. He routed over 10,000 men by himself.
He defeated all the powerful demons he encountered and fought one-on-one
with the Great Demon Emperor. His final attack was so powerful it created a
hole in the Great Continent, splitting it into the Central Continent and the
Demon Continent, with the Ringus Sea in between.
One passage wrote that he was the Human God himself. The only
Aldebaran I knew was the one who would die if he used his own lethal
technique. So it seemed this world's Golden Saint was made of tougher stuff.
The whole bit about him splitting the continent sounded like a load of
garbage, but it was true that the continent separated into two, forming a new
ocean.
A long-sought peace finally settled over the land once the continents
split.
Four Thousand Two Hundred to
One Thousand Years Ago
Time passed quickly after that. The world was at peace, but the demons
were being driven from the Central Continent. The humans were a clever
bunch, using diplomacy to corral all the demons onto the Demon Continent.
The Central Continent's land was naturally lush and easy to live on,
whereas the Demon Continent's land was barren and prone to magic
accumulating in certain areas. By forcing the last of those foul demons onto
the Demon Continent and blockading it, the humans were metaphorically
slipping a silk cord around their necks and strangling them with it. This was
all done with the cooperation of the other races, in the hopes there would
never be another Great Human-Demon War ever again.
The demons most likely resisted this in some way. They were, after all,
on the receiving end of a concerted attack. But whatever their reaction was,
no war broke out. As a result, they soon became desensitized to the way they
had been restricted from leaving their continent.In that harsh environment with scarce resources being fought over,
civil war naturally broke out. This forged them into fierce warriors, but their
numbers dwindled.
One Thousand Years Ago
The Demon God Laplace came into being.
In the long history of demons, there were many Demon Kings and
Demon Emperors, but there was only one who people referred to as the
Demon God.
In a relative blink of the eye, Laplace rallied the demons and
conquered the Demon Continent. The records from battles at that time turned
into war chronicles that were passed down. Even now on the Demon
Continent, Laplace is still treated like an idol.
Laplace spent many years cultivating his empire, grooming his race to
be tough and fierce.
Five Hundred Years Ago
The start of Laplace's military campaign.
After many long years spent winning over the seafolk and beastfolk,
Laplace finally made his assault on the Central Continent. The humans were
forced into a war far more brutal than any they had fought before.
Laplace launched his invasion from the south, drawing all the humans'
military power there. Then he set his wyrms upon the land, making passage
through the mountains impossible. After that he took the humans by storm,
attacking with a separate unit from the north, scattering his enemies.
In a short time, he had gained total control of the north and the south.
Then, from both directions, he pressed his assault on the western region.
Four Hundred Years Ago
Forced into a corner, the humans took their last gamble. The seven
heroes convinced the seafolk to lift their blockade, then set out on the seas for the Millis Continent.
Millis had escaped the invasion for many reasons, such as the barrier
around Holy Millis, its robust army of holy knights, and the topography that
made it difficult for a large army to disembark. Part of the reason they were
so isolated was also due to a great forest that covered the north.
Now allied with the demons, the beastfolk had taken control of the
Holy City of Millis. So the seven heroes set about persuading them to their
side. Or rather, the seven went to the head of each clan, took their children
hostage, and threatened them into cooperation. In the book it was written that
the children cooperated willingly, but I wasn't deceived by such an obvious
spin.
It came to the day of the decisive battle. The last remaining kingdom of
humans on the Central Continent, the Kingdom of Asura, mounted all their
effort for the final battle. Soon the seven heroes came, leading the holy
knights of Millis and the beastfolk in an assault on Laplace's main
stronghold.
After a violent confrontation, four of the seven heroes were dead, but
they successfully sealed Laplace away and destroyed his closest companions.
Three heroes survived: the Dragon King Urupen, the Northern God Kalman,
and the Armored Dragon King Perugius. They were referred to as the Three
Legendary Demon God Slayers, but…they didn't slay anything!
Though Laplace was defeated, the humans were greatly exhausted
from the battle and couldn't keep up the fight anymore. Instead, they signed a
treaty with one of the demon kings back on the Demon Continent, one that
wasn't allied with Laplace and led a more moderate faction of the demons.
The blockade on the Demon Continent was lifted. The demons could
now freely travel to the other continents. According to the terms of the treaty,
racial discrimination against demons was prohibited. It was like the United
Declaration of Human Rights in my previous world.
Present Day
The deep-seated trend of discrimination against the demons continued,
but things were mostly peaceful.
From all of this, I understood a couple of things:
1. Cutting things off at the number seven was done for historical reasons.
There were seven legendary heroes, and seven worlds. Thus the lucky
number was seven. Six was unlucky, since there were the Five Dragon
Generals and Five Great Demon Kings, each of which made six when
counted with their respective leaders.
2. The various races like the elves, dwarves, and halflings were like
subspecies, but they were counted among the demons. It was possible
they were new races that had developed during the Chaotic Period. Or
perhaps they had something to do with the barrenfolk that first came
over.
Incidentally, part of the reason so much knowledge about this long
history existed was because some species were immortal. This was the case
for the Great Demon Emperor Kishirika as well as a few other Demon Kings.
Perhaps there was some sort of magic that made them live forever.
***
By learning about the history of this world, I also turned up some
information about the other languages that existed here. The most commonly
used ones were:
The Human tongue: used on the Central Continent.
The Beast God tongue: used in the northern part of the Millis
Continent.
The Fighting God tongue: used on the Begaritt Continent.
The Sky God tongue: used on the Divine Continent.
The Demon God tongue: used on the Demon Continent.
The Sea God tongue: used throughout the seas.
To distinguish them, the languages were named after the Gods of the
various races residing on different continents. Only the Human language
didn't use that convention, a decision that might incur their god's wrath. The humans who spoke the Human tongue on the Central Continent
were divided into three regions: north, west, and south. Each region's
language had minor differences from the others, something like the difference
between American and British English.
My native tongue was the western dialect of the Human tongue.
Apparently that dialect was mutually intelligible to those in the north, but in
other regions it was best not to use it. Men from the western region were
thought to be wealthy, and wealth only attracted unwanted— sometimes
unfortunate—attention.
The Millis Continent was also split between the north and the south.
The north spoke the Beast God tongue while the south spoke the Human
tongue.
As for the sea, seafolk lived all over the waters of the world. I had
heard the term "fish people" before, but never seen them in the city.
***
On top of my regular monthly income, I made and sold figures,
assisted Philip in managing the daily hiring of part-time workers, and
sometime resold wares I had bought several months prior. With these little
bits here and there, I managed to earn a small amount of coin.
Unfortunately, that book I had wanted sold while I wasn't paying
attention. I couldn't buy what wasn't for sale. I began thinking about using
the money I had saved to buy something else. What could you buy with four
gold coins? No, there's no need to spend it all at once, I reasoned.
That was when a book in a language I didn't know caught my eye.
After reading about the world's history and learning about its languages, I
remembered how important it was to learn them.
Which was how I began learning a foreign language. I decided to start
with Ghislaine's native language, the Beast God tongue. I also wanted to
learn the Demon God Tongue. I decided to send Roxy a letter in hopes that
she might teach me, even if just a little.
***
I turned nine. That meant two years had passed since I first became
Eris's home tutor.
I'd spent a year learning the Beast God tongue. I had Ghislaine's
assistance but acquiring the language didn't take much time. There weren't
many letters to memorize, and so long as you knew its grammatical pattern, it
was easy to speak. I was terrible at foreign languages in my previous life, but
this body seemed to be good at remembering things.
Now, I was going to learn the Demon God tongue. I bought a cheap
book on the language. The owner of the bookstore prefaced the sale by telling
me, "I have no clue what's written in here, just so you know." It was seven
gold coins, but I haggled the price down to six.
***
Three months passed. My study of the Demon God tongue wasn't
making much progress. Translation itself was difficult; in fact, to be honest, I
had no idea what was written in this book. If I at least knew its title, maybe I
could have guessed at its contents from context and dug my way through. But
I didn't know them, nor did I know the language, so I gave up.
The reason the Beast God tongue had been so easy for me to learn was
partly because of Ghislaine, and partly because the book I was using told the
tale of one of the beastfolk heroes from the Legend of Perugius. It was a side
story, but so long as I had Legend of Perugius with me, I could pick out
vocabulary easily.
For the book in the Demon God tongue, I had no idea whatsoever.
How did archaeologists manage to decode languages anyway? They began
with vocabulary, I thought. First, they sought out similar vocabulary words,
then began hypothesizing meanings for those words. Probably.
Anyway, right now I had no idea what parts were even vocabulary. Not
a clue.
Just as I was lost as to what to do next, Roxy's reply finally arrived. I had heard nothing in over a year. I was beginning to wonder if something had
happened to my letter or if she no longer resided at Shirone's Royal Palace.
But finally, a reply.
"Heheh…" I was happy enough just getting a letter from Roxy. I hoped
she was doing well. I restrained myself as I took the letter from the maid. A
letter? It was more like a small package. A fairly heavy wooden box. Not
quite that large, but around the size of a phone book at least.
Inside the box was a letter and a thick book. The book had no title, but
the cover was made of animal hide. It was like a phone book with a jacket on
it.
I decided to start with the letter. I smelled it before I opened it, and it
was almost like inhaling Roxy's scent.
To Lord Rudeus,
I received your letter.
I am sure you have grown greatly in this short time. My jaw dropped
when I read that you became the home tutor for the grandchild of Fittoa's
liege lord. If you must know, I failed the interview for that job. You must have
some powerful connections to have landed that.
If I weren't currently the home tutor for the king's son, I might be
jealous. Still, you even became acquainted with Sword King Ghislaine, and
became her pupil on top of that. Sword King Ghislaine is very famous. After
all, she's the fourth strongest person in the Sword God Style.
Ahh, just where did the five-year-old who peeked at me while I was
bathing go? You feel so far away now.
Now, let's get down to business. You said you want to learn the Demon
God tongue, yes? Each sub-race possesses some unique magic unknown to
humans. I doubt any literature remains, but if you learned the language, you
could visit those sub-races' settlements and have them teach you. Of course,
that is IF you establish a good rapport with them first. This would be
impossible for the average magician, but maybe not for you.
It's with these great expectations that I created this textbook for you. I
wrote it myself. It took me a long time, so I hope you'll use and treasure it and not sell it or throw it away. If I see it for sale in a store I might cry.
Speaking of stores, the prince snuck out of the castle the other day and
bought a small statuette that looks just like me. The robe is detachable, and
even the blemishes on its skin are perfectly placed. Creepy. Maybe I'm going
to be cursed. I have no idea what to expect, but…so long as it seems safe, I'll
send this letter to you.
From Roxy.
P.S. - You'll be recognized among adventurers as a magician if you
carry a staff.
I see.
First, the whole thing about me peeking at her bathing was a
misunderstanding. I wasn't peeking; I just happened to glance in. Total
coincidence. I mean it. Okay, I did know when she showered, but my peeking
in was a fluke. There were times I deliberately took walks around the house,
but the time it happened was a pure accident!
That aside, was Ghislaine really the fourth strongest person in the
Sword God Style? There was the Divine-tier, Imperial-tier, and the King-
tier… Wait, what?
Ah, maybe there were two people at the Imperial-tier. Did that mean
there was only one person at the King-tier? I heard that most of the
swordfighters in the world used the Sword God Style, so I thought there
would be around ten people with King-tier proficiency, but perhaps that was
harder to achieve than I thought.
Also, it appeared the Roxy figurine I made had accidentally found its
way to its subject. That prince had good taste.
More importantly, the book included in her package was something she
wrote herself. I didn't know when my letter reached her, but she must have
written that book in less than half a year. She worked so hard to write it for
me, so I was sure it would be instrumental in deciphering the Demon God
tongue. I would do my best to accomplish that.
With that in mind, I sat down and opened the book. It was like a bar popped up over my head that said, NOW READING.
"Wow, this is amazing."
I couldn't hide my surprise when I looked inside. It was a textbook, but
it was also a dictionary. There were translations for every word in the Demon
God tongue.
Roxy most likely took a dictionary from the royal palace and copied all
the words down. She covered vocabulary, specific turns of phrase, and even
described the pronunciation extensively.
That was only the first of the surprises.
In the latter half of the book, she also wrote what she knew about the
various demon races. The descriptions of each race were accompanied by her
personal commentary. Don't do this with this race, don't do that with this
other race. There were even (poorly-drawn) illustrations annotated with the
peculiar traits of each of the races.
There was an especially long portion, spanning five pages, where she
wrote about the Migurd Race in minute detail. It made me happy to think she
did that because she really wanted me to know more about her and her
people.
People of the Migurd race tend to like sweet things, she wrote. I
wondered if it were true. If it were, I wanted to prepare something sweet for
her the next time we met.
That said, the fact that she wrote this whole thing in less than a year
made me feel like I was nothing compared to her. If we did meet again, I
would have to kiss her feet.
That aside, this book was the best textbook I could have asked for. My
grades hadn't been particularly good in my previous life, but I was incredibly
good at learning things in this one. I was sure that in six months I could
perfectly master the contents of this book. At the very least, I wanted to be
able to master basic conversation. It was time to put my nose to the
grindstone.
[Ghislaine]
Rudeus had shut himself in his room. He was up to something again.
He had a habit of surprising Ghislaine like that sometimes. When she first
met him, she thought he was just a kid, and not at all dependable. She thought
Paul was being an over-confident, too-proud parent when he forced this kid
on her.
Ghislaine owed Paul. She had no feelings for him other than a sense of
obligation. On the off-chance that Rudeus failed to be appointed Eris's tutor,
she still planned to propose that he stay here.
In the end, he won over Eris's trust in record time and secured a place
in the house as her tutor.
The kidnapping was something he'd proposed. Ghislaine heard that the
butler took advantage of the situation out of greed, but when she arrived on
the scene to help Rudeus and Eris, he was already dealing with the two
people hired by the butler on even footing.
He managed to manipulate two different schools of magic in a unique
fighting style—albeit an imperfect one—that overwhelmed his opponent, an
Advanced-tier North God Style swordsman. He did drop his guard at the end,
perhaps because he was still a child, but his combat instincts were genius-
level for someone of his age. Even for Ghislaine, initiating battle with an
opponent over a hundred meters away would likely mean defeat.
Beyond his fighting instinct, he was exceptional at organizing effective
lessons for Eris that were easy to follow. Ghislaine never thought she would
be able to learn reading, writing, arithmetic or receive a wand. She, the
village nuisance, who had been entrusted to some wandering swordsman
before she had even turned ten. She who had been turned away from
adventuring parties despite becoming a Saint-tier swordswoman. When she
finally managed to join one, she was continuously told by some not-too-
bright, frivolous man that she had muscles for brains, so there was no point in
wasting time thinking. What would those people say if she went home now?
Just thinking about it brought her to the brink of a smile.
Ghislaine never thought the day would come when thinking about
people from her village would make her feel triumphant. And all this,
unprecedented, from a boy who would be the same age as her son if she'd
had one.
After her party disbanded, Ghislaine was swindled almost every day. The defrauding left her penniless, but the strict discipline her master instilled
in her against touching the belongings of others meant she couldn't turn to
thievery. She was on the brink of starvation. That was when Sauros and Eris
took her in.
Ghislaine paid Rudeus the same respect as she paid the two of them. If
she went as far as calling him "master," her sword master would probably
fume at her. "Don't you dare put me and that brat on the same level!" It was
probably best to call him her teacher instead.
And Rudeus deserved respect for his skills as a teacher. He was truly
patient when he taught her arithmetic and magic. Ghislaine tried her best, but
she wasn't good at picking up new things. She made the same mistakes over
and over. Despite that, Rudeus never showed the least bit of annoyance as he
carefully explained things to her. He would change his phrasing each time to
help her understand better.
Thanks to his efforts, in two short years Ghislaine had mastered the
basics of fire and water magic. And now, according to Rudeus's curriculum,
she was not moving on to intermediate-tier spells, but instead learning to cast
spells without chanting.
It was sound logic—if she could master that, she could use magic even
when both hands were occupied. She understood that logic and was working
hard to accomplish it. Granted, working hard at something didn't necessarily
mean she would accomplish it.
Ghislaine's sword master, who was a Divine-tier swordsman, was
always preaching about logic to her. He'd say things like, "In other words,
logic is the foundation." That his style of swordplay, cultivated over many
years, was founded on rationality. Ghislaine's younger self detested the
simplicity of the foundations, so her master went to great lengths to drill them
into her. She was forced to practice them repeatedly.
Rudeus's teaching style was very similar. When he wasn't around, Eris
would often complain, "I want to use fancier magic." But Ghislaine was fine
with how things were. In a real battle, the most reliable fighter wasn't the
advanced magician who took forever to cast a powerful spell. It was the
magician who could adapt to the situation and had full mastery of basic and
intermediate-level magic.
In the past, she thought magicians were completely useless in battle. But after seeing Rudeus fighting, Ghislaine had changed her mind. An
opponent who moved swiftly while using offensive magic to restrict his
opponent's movements would be a formidable enemy for any swordfighter.
She heard his only real match back in his village was Paul. Paul, who
was immature, and surely came at Rudeus without holding anything back. If
the result of that were Rudeus gaining the ability to move strategically in a
swordfight…then that was a happy coincidence.
So, Paul was good for something after all. Had he made one misstep,
Rudeus might have quit fighting altogether and wasted his potential. Rudeus
must have inherited that refusal to quit from his father.
Ghislaine eventually wanted to teach him a technique to defeat Paul.
Unfortunately, Rudeus had no talent for the Sword God Style. He
overthought everything. He took the logical foundations of the style, tried
performing them even more logically, only for the results to be completely
illogical.
It wasn't a bad thing, given his personality. He was most likely using
magic as a basis for his swordplay. That was not, however, appropriate in the
Sword God Style, where a single step decided everything, and a battle ended
within a split second of swords crossing. He was more suited to the North
God Style or the Water God Style, but it seemed Paul hadn't taught him
either. Unfortunately, Ghislaine only knew the Sword God Style. She
couldn't teach him herself, but she knew someone who could. If he still
wanted to learn swordplay in three years, she would introduce him to
someone who used the North God Style.
Right now, she could only continue teaching him the foundations of the
Sword God Style. If he mastered them, he would see rapid improvement
when he began learning the North God Style. If he still wanted to learn
swordplay by then of course.
He currently seemed at an impasse with magic since he had no master
to teach him, but he would surely become an accomplished magician
someday. Rudeus might not reach the Divine tier, which seemed an almost
inhuman feat, but he might reach the Imperial tier.
Ghislaine wondered how to guide him. Surely Roxy, his magic
instructor, had struggled with the same question. She thought it a bit pathetic
that the girl ran from the problem, but Ghislaine couldn't blame Roxy for doing that. In fact, she should probably thank Roxy. After all, it was through
Roxy's instruction by proxy that Ghislaine learned to use magic herself.
Learning from a stupid teacher only held a pupil back. She might get a
taste of that bitterness while teaching someone else the sword someday.
Her thoughts had veered off-track. Ah, yes. She wondered what
Rudeus was doing in that room. Unlike the Young Mistress, who seemed
overwhelmed with the free time her day off provided her, Rudeus was always
sticking his fingers into something new. Most recently he came to Ghislaine's
room after dinner with a book in one hand, telling her that he wanted to learn
the Beast God tongue.
She wasn't sure what he planned to do with a language that was only
used in a large forest village, but he spent the next six months learning it. The
Beast God tongue didn't have any difficult expressions in it, so he could
probably engage in a daily conversation fluently.
"Now I can go to the large forest village whenever I want," he said
afterward, joy absent from his expression.
And what did he plan to do in such an isolated place? He became
flustered when Ghislaine asked.
"Huh? Nothing in particular… Oh, there might be some cute girls there
though. With cat ears."
That convinced her. He was definitely Paul's son and had most
certainly inherited the Greyrat blood.
Her certainty came from the fact that everyone in the Greyrat
household seemed to stare at her with an odd look in their eyes. If they were
just ogling her because she was a woman, it wouldn't have bothered her as
much. Their gazes were peculiar. Other men might look at her breasts. First
her face, then pretending to look somewhere else while they ogled at her
chest. After that they would go lower, to her stomach, then her crotch, then
her thighs. When they were behind her, she knew they were checking out her
butt.
The Greyrat men, however, were different. At first Ghislaine thought
they were the same, looking at her face and her butt. It was fine, so long as
they weren't expecting anything more. Aside from Paul and his strange
tastes. But she realized their eyes focused on odd places. Not on her face, but
just above it. It wasn't exactly her butt they were eyeing either. She
discovered they were staring at her ears and tail. Eris, Sauros, and Philip were
all the same in this. Before Ghislaine went to fetch Rudeus from his house,
she asked, for the first time, why they kept staring at her ears.
When she did, Philip replied, not looking the least bit abashed by it,
"Because the Boreas family likes beastpeople." He stared at her ears as he
said it.
Rudeus, she was told, was a different case. While he had not inherited
the noble name of Notos, he was still part of the family. "As Paul's son, I
have no doubt he shares his father's fondness for women though," Philip
added.
Ghislaine had little doubt about that at the time. When she actually met
him, however, Rudeus was such a gentleman it was hard to believe he was
Paul's son. Unlike his father, he worked extremely hard, was very serious
about studying, and showed great self-control when it came to sex… Well, it
might be too early to tell for that last part. But she did suspect he might not
be Paul's child.
She had since revised that stance. There was no doubt about it: Rudeus
Greyrat was Paul's biological son.
"So, you really are Paul's son. Can't be satisfied with women of the
same race, eh?"
"I was only joking. Please don't put it like that."
It definitely wasn't just a joke. This boy was going to be a womanizer
someday.
Lately, a sparkle had started to form in Lady Eris's eyes when she
looked at Rudeus. Ghislaine may have been ignorant in the affairs of love,
but even she could see it. Eris looked just like Zenith had when she began
falling in love with Paul.
Rudeus had apparently begun learning the Demon God tongue lately.
First the Beast God tongue, now the Demon God tongue. In the future, he
seemed likely to set out on a quest to meet all the women in the world.
Paul once said something similar about traveling around the entire Central Continent so he could create a harem. He abandoned that on the
Millis Continent when Zenith caught hold of him, but perhaps Rudeus had
inherited that idea. Honestly, what a worthless father-son pair…
No. Ghislaine respected Rudeus. That wasn't a lie. Paul was the only
one she held contempt for. Rudeus may have shown glimpses of the same
disposition, but he had yet to act on it. Yet.
He was still a boy worthy of respect. Yes. At least for now.
"What's wrong, Ghislaine?" Eris appeared before her as she was lost in
thought.
Eris had grown a lot in this past two years. Ghislaine had first met her
five years ago. At that time, Ghislaine thought she was an utterly hopeless,
selfish little girl. On Eris's first day of sword lessons, Ghislaine trained her
until she could barely stand. Then at night Eris came at Ghislaine with a
wooden sword. Ghislaine put a quick end to that by turning the tables on her,
but for months afterward Eris's fiery gaze tracked Ghislaine, waiting for
Ghislaine to drop her guard.
Ghislaine used to be a troublesome child herself, so she felt a fondness
for Eris. She was just like that when she was younger after all.
In the beginning, Eris would always complain about this or that during
training. That finally abated recently. And after her birthday last year Eris
stopped yelling and sullying her clothes. Rather than attributing it to her
etiquette lessons, Ghislaine was inclined to think it was because Eris wanted
to look good in front of Rudeus.
Maybe he'd said something to Eris on her birthday. Something he had
learned from Paul, Ghislaine was sure; the kind of words that would make a
woman's very womb tremble.
Come to think of it, Eris had stayed the night in Rudeus's room. Could
it be… No, it wasn't possible, both were still far too young. Still, Ghislaine
wouldn't be surprised if the two of them became a couple eventually. There
weren't many men that could handle Eris.
"I was thinking about Rudeus."
"Hmm, how come?" Eris tilted her head, a shade of jealousy in her
eyes. Don't worry, Ghislaine thought, I'm not going to steal him from you.
"I was wondering, why is he trying to learn the language of the Demon
Continent?"
"He's explained it before."
Did he? Ghislaine thought she paid attention to his lessons, but she had
no idea what spurred his sudden interest in foreign languages. "What was it?"
"'It might be useful someday,' he said."
Right, he said that when they were wandering around the stores and he
was writing down the names and prices of different wares. Did that actually
ever prove to be of any use?
Now that Ghislaine thought about it, that thief in her party a long time
ago was very knowledgeable about the market value of consumables. One
time that thief found a shop with healing remedies which were half the usual
price and proposed that the group buy them in bulk, only to later discover the
goods were all of inferior quality. It was an unpleasant memory.
If you didn't know the market value of goods, you might be sold poor-
quality goods at two or three times the price and not even know it. At the
time, Ghislaine told Rudeus that she didn't understand his reasoning, but in
hindsight it seemed a good idea after all.
Thanks to Rudeus's arithmetic lessons, she would no longer be cheated
out of change. But it was still possible she might be deceived if a shop owner
tampered with prices to begin with. She couldn't become a trader just
because she had learned some math skills, but such skills certainly had many
uses.
"Forget about Rudeus for now. You can think about him all you want
and you won't understand him," Eris said. "More importantly, Ghislaine, if
you're free, accompany me in sword practice,"
She had really been devoting herself to the sword lately. Ghislaine
wasn't sure why, but perhaps she was feeling some pressure. Rudeus was
nine. Eris had been the same age when the two of them first met. It was clear
he was much more mature now than Eris had been at that age. Not just in
reading, writing, arithmetic, and magic, but also in his social skills and
conversational prowess. He may have lacked etiquette, but he had manners. He was polite as a trader, and had a sense of humor too. There was a glint of
mischief that made him seem much older than his nine years. If you
interacted with him only in writing, you would probably believe him if he
said he was forty.
That was apparently a popular scam in the Dragon Kingdom. A literate
bandit would pretend to be the son of some noble family and write a letter to
the daughter of another noble family. They would spend weeks earning her
trust, then draw her beyond the safe confines of her home. Then they would
capture her and sell her off to slavers.
Perhaps Eris wanted to beat Rudeus at one thing. If that thing was
swordplay, Ghislaine was more than happy to help.
"All right, Eris. To the courtyard."
"Okay!" She nodded enthusiastically.
If Eris continued training in earnest, she might one day surpass
Ghislaine. Right now, her skill level was just Intermediate-tier, but after three
years of working on the foundations, her potential was beginning to show.
Her steps were sharp, fast. Her fighting spirit was beginning to drive her
movements. If she learned how to use that consciously, she would definitely
reach the Advanced tier in the Sword God Style. If she mastered it
completely, she could be Saint-tier.
That future surely wasn't too far off. Ghislaine didn't know how much
Eris would grow, but if she managed to attain Saint-tier skills while Ghislaine
was still teaching her, then Ghislaine would let Eris meet her master. If
possible, Ghislaine would take Rudeus along as well.
Ghislaine wondered how her master would react to that. She was
looking forward to it.
***
NAME: Eris B. Greyrat
OCCUPATION: Granddaughter of Fittoa's liege lord
PERSONALITY: A little violent
DOES: Listen properly
READING/WRITING: Improving with writing as well
ARITHMETIC: Still bad with division
MAGIC: Can't do any spells without chanting them
FENCING: Sword God Style - Intermediate-tier (soon to be Advanced-
tier)
ETIQUETTE: Can imitate ladylike manners
PEOPLE SHE LIKES: Grandfather, Ghislaine, Rudeus