— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
It had been a couple of weeks since my return from Asura, and at the same time, the beginning of Linia and Rudy's relationship.
I was still unsure of how that would all work out, but for now… things were relatively stable.
Although Rudy had really taken to folding laundry, for some reason.
Anyway, moving on.
While Ariel and Sylphy had been coming back to the house during the nights via the teleportation circle, they had been mainly staying in the royal palace, focusing on reorganizing the nobles and ministers of the country after Ariel's ascension, all with the help of Aisha.
Asura would remain a monarchy, as it had since it's inception… but now, there was a firm stance against corruption, and a warning in the form of the purge I had committed.
As for me, I had been moving between both the palace and our home, diverting my time between taking care of the kids and my family, and helping Ariel with anything that needed my skills, which mostly amounted to making sure no powerful people acted up, and also some other tasks such as giving her some… massages.
Yeah… massages.
Something most would think of as an innocent task, right?
Though… they were anything but innocent.
But nonetheless, things had been calm lately.
Almost… too calm.
There was nothing regarding the Man-God, despite me having turned the Asura kingdom from his asset to his enemy, and there wasn't any family drama either.
It was a bit unnerving, if I was being honest. Even with Orsted's reassurances that the Man-God wasn't showing any signs of action, at least from what he could tell.
But of course, such peaceful times could never continue.
"Leon!" Rudy said, having ran all the way to my house, judging by how out of breath he was. "I-It's Shizuka! She… she's in trouble."
Well… I suppose I should be thankful to not live a boring life.
"Calm down," I said, getting to my feet as Rudy walked into the living room. "She's in trouble? What's wrong with her? Did an experiment fail or something?"
Rudy quickly shook his head.
"No, it's… I was taking her back to the university after she had dinner at my place… and then, on the stairs… she suddenly collapsed," he said.
Collapsed?
Wait… that didn't sound good at all.
"Okay… did you need my help with healing magic?" I asked, already putting on my jacket. "Though you're pretty good at it yourself now."
"No… I tried, but it didn't help at all…" he said. "I wasn't sure how bad it was and if you were home, so I used the magic item Perugius gave her… so Arumanfi took her to the floating fortress…"
My movements paused.
The floating fortress… well, at least it was easier to get there now.
"Alright… then, come on. Let's go," I said, turning back towards the basement.
Luckily, while Perugius hadn't given me any lessons on summoning magic, he did teach me how to use his teleportation circles, and how to link them to the others that I was allowed to use, so it would be a quick trip up to the legendary floating palace.
Although… it did take an awful lot of mana… but now that I could cycle mana with the atmosphere, I could quickly replenish myself back to full.
It was a final gift from my departed master, the Water God, as our battle had shown me that I could take control of the environmental mana as well… with enough focus, of course.
But Shizuka… what had happened to her?
And for Rudy's healing magic to not work?
I know Rudy wasn't as skilled as I or even Sylphy was, but the pure potency of his mana made his healing magic at least at the Saint rank.
So either it was something that needed King or higher ranked magic… or it was something else entirely.
Just what could it be?
— Leon Anemoi Asura —
Walking through the familiar, yet nonetheless still enchanting, halls of the floating fortress, I followed one of Perugius' spirits into one of the many rooms, where Shizuka was currently resting.
And from the silence I was met with when I asked of her condition… things seemed to not be going well.
"Ah… you're here," Shizuka said, looking up from her notebook at Rudy and I's entrance.
"Studying even though you're sick… ever the studious one, huh?" I said, walking over to her.
"It's not like there's anything else I can do here… Cough! Ack!"
As she began to cough, I pressed my hands against her back, emitting a mix of healing magic to alleviate her symptoms, and detoxification magic to investigate the root cause.
"It- cough! It's useless… magic won't work on this," she said, batting me away.
And she was right… I couldn't sense anything, and my healing magic did nothing.
What… what the hell was this?
Did I need higher ranked magic?
Would… would I have to take over the Millis Church already?
I was planning to do that just before facing the Man-God, so that I could remove a possible pawn that he could use to divert my attention, but I guess doing it early wouldn't hurt-
"I'm not sure what you're thinking, but I have a feeling it's ridiculous. Just stop it. I already know what's wrong with me," she said, dabbing her mouth with a piece of cloth, and staining it red in the process.
So it was this bad…
"You know?" Rudy asked.
"Yeah. You know… when I first came here, I thought that I would be killed pretty fast by an illness due to lacking any natural resistances, but luckily for me, I didn't have any mana, and I'm guessing most of the bacteria and viruses here thrive on it to survive and grow, so I was safe," she said, shaking her head. "But I guess not having any mana is dangerous too, huh? How ironic."
What?
Now I was confused.
Mana was tied to one's life force, so it was obvious that not having any was dangerous, but that shouldn't be the case for Shizuka, who had been living fine without it for all this time.
Apparently, my confusion was clear on my face, as Shizuka looked up to clarify what she was talking about.
"It's called 'drain syndrome'. A rare disease where mana accumulates in the body, causing a sickness," she explained. "It seems that even without me being able to use mana, or having any myself, I still could accumulate it in my body via the ambient mana in the air. Quite unfortunate, huh?"
Rudy clenched his fist.
"Then… what can we do?" he asked. "There has to be a way, right?"
Shizuka shrugged. "I can only hope so. But Lord Perugius wasn't very hopeful."
I stepped away from Shizuka, resting my back against the wall as I pondered the problem.
"You not being able to release this mana… is that because of the same reason that you haven't grown older?" I asked.
"I believe so," she nodded. "It's… confusing. I can still live in the world, and I still need to breathe, eat, and sleep, but there's some sort of force keeping me from having any control of mana, and no form of aging on a cellular level. Even my hair hasn't grown for all these years, not to mention my per… anyway, yeah."
She shook her head as her cheeks flushed, but I didn't plan on pointing it out.
I see… well, I knew that mana and life force were linked, so that must be the case for her as well, where both her life and any mana she had were in stasis.
"So the best way to remove this drain syndrome… wouldn't it be to remove your frozen state?" I said. "And how exactly did that happen in the first place?"
Shizuka nodded her head. "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you two about."
She then flipped through her notebook, turning to a page with lines of unfamiliar symbols, the same ones her and Rudy used for their experiments.
"I originally thought it was due to me being summoned here, but I eventually reasoned that it was not the case," she said. "For the longest time, I didn't really care, but I eventually formed a theory after reading the future Rudeus' diary. And if I was suspicious about that being true before… with the fact that Orsted resets the world, and has done so multiple times, it is now most likely the case."
So Rudy told her about Orsted's time travel… well, I don't think he would mind Shizuka knowing.
"I believe I was summoned here by someone in the future, and summoned for a specific purpose," she said, looking up at us.
"A specific purpose?" Rudy said, confused. "Ignoring how… what would that purpose be?"
I was curious as well.
While Shizuka had brought many new inventions into the world, she had already stated that she didn't plan on advancing the science of our world too much, and she wasn't strong in the sense of combat to have any meaningful effect on a battle or something…
"You mentioned how killing the Man-God would likely result in the destruction of the world, correct? And that you need a way to seal him instead… I believe I was summoned here to create such a seal, either for you, or your descendants," she said as she looked back down at her hands. "And until I do… I will be locked in this state, and I can only assume I won't be able to return home either."
Ah… well, it made… some sense, considering that we knew time travel to be possible.
But still… it was confusing.
And how would that lead to her being in stasis?
Is it related to the 'fate' and 'destiny' Orsted had talked about?
The room descended into silence, with Shizuka revealing a frustrated frown as Rudy hesitantly placed his hand on her shoulder for comfort.
Those two…
No… don't think about it, Leon.
"Anyway… assuming that is the case, I don't think you'll need to wait for long," I said, snapping the two out of their shared moment.
"W-What do you mean?" Rudy asked, moving away from her.
"I mean that I'll be defeating the Man-God in the near future, and with it, the fate that binds her… at least if this is correct," I said, giving her a reassuring smile. "And if that's not enough, and your theory is wrong… well, I'll have lots of free time afterwards to find another way."
Shizuka gave me a grateful nod at this, while Rudy simply brought his hand to his chin in thought.
"Still… that doesn't fix the current problem, does it?" he said.
Ah… the sickness. Right.
"No, it doesn't. But I know the perfect person to go to," I said, turning to the door. "Let's go, Rudy. And while we're there, I'll give you a tour of the capital."
— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
After teleporting to the palace via the teleportation circle in the basement, I then took Rudy around the capital and gave him a small tour.
Even though he had visited Millishion before, he was quite amazed by the size of Ars.
It was a bit bigger that the capital of the Holy Nation, even if it was lacking in the beauty of a serene lake as it's foundation, and past that, there were also the new magical tools scattered throughout the city, a product of Ariel's connections in the magic kingdoms that she had forged over the past few years as she began implementing some policies.
But as great as sightseeing was, that wasn't what we were here for.
So, after a quick stop to greet Sylphy and Ariel, we then went over to a small room at the corner of the palace, where a certain Dragon God was staying for the time being, to talk.
The topic, of course, being the issue facing the girl from another world.
"Hmm… Drain Syndrome… I believe humans became immune to that disease nearly 7000 years ago… but considering that Nanahoshi isn't from this world, it's only reasonable that she could be affected by it…" Orsted said, having heard the situation from the two of us.
"Then, do you have any ideas on how to fix it?" Rudy asked, worried.
"Not directly. As I said, that disease has not appeared in many years, and as such, I have not needed to find any cure, for any reason," Orsted said, Rudy's face dropping at his words. "But… I do believe is someone who may know of a way."
Thank Millis.
"And who is this person?" I asked.
Orsted looked at me, pointing towards my face.
"I believe you have already met her," he said. "She has lived even longer than I, discounting my repeating years, and with matters related to history, there is no better person."
Huh?
I… I have?
I turned to see Rudy looking at me with hopeful eyes.
Sorry, brother, but I have no clue who he is talking about.
"I am talking about the Great Demon Empress, Kishirika," Orsted answered.
Oh… that girl.
"Great Demon Empress… is she the one that gave you that eye, Leon?" Rudy asked.
"Yeah… though you wouldn't believe it if you met her," I said before turning to Orsted. "Can she… really help with this?"
After all, just because you had lived for a long time, doesn't mean that you were intelligent.
And thinking about that girl… well, let's just say that she didn't seem like the type to retain her knowledge very well.
"That would be my best bet," Orsted said. "Even though she is a troublesome character, her immortality isn't the only reason she was able to unite the Demon Continent. She should have the answers you are looking for."
Well… I guess that is true.
"And speaking of 'uniting'… it seems that there is trouble brewing in the kingdom," Orsted added. "I would sort it out myself, but for now, I would prefer lying in wait in case the Man-God makes a move. Besides, your wife was hoping that you could help her with it."
"So… Ariel came to see you?" I asked, surprised.
While she had met him before, that was only with me next to her, as Orsted's curse wasn't something to be taken lightly.
And even then, she had told me afterwards that she had wet herself at the mere presence of the man… but from how joyful she seemed afterwards, maybe that wasn't a bad thing.
That horny woman…
"Indeed. I was surprised as well," Orsted said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Such determination… I suppose this is due to your influence, though it is still commendable."
Well, my Ariel was amazing, after all.
But still… there was some trouble in the kingdom, huh?
Nothing new, I suppose.
It was probably something to do with the new nobles, in one way or another… damn.
The transition to power across the nation had been relatively smooth, barring a few issues, and my sister and wife were very skilled in selecting the new positions for each of the regions that needed them.
If I had to guess, the trouble here was similar to the incidents I had needed to clean up before.
Because while the newly selected nobles were good at their management and positions, both in skill and honour, sometimes… they were too good.
In an effort to remove corruption, Ariel had ensured that each of her selected nobles would work for their subjects' best interests in mind, and as a result, other powerful people like merchants who had been used to working together with the corrupt nobles in the interest of collective greed, no longer had such an avenue of exploitation.
To put it simply, nobles were not the only pieces of trash in the kingdom, and said pieces of trash sometimes made their displeasure known.
I was more than happy in helping Ariel with that, of course, but still… there was the issue with Shizuka.
While she wasn't family, I still considered her someone close to me, and someone I felt the need to protect for… inexplicable reasons.
I couldn't just leave her to die-
"Brother, just leave this to me," Rudy said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "You have stuff to do in the kingdom, right? And not to mention your family… so let me take the lead this time."
I turned to him.
"Are you sure?" I asked. "You have your family too… now with another wife, may I add."
Rudy flinched.
"Ah… yeah. There's that too… but things are stable now! Linia is actually great with Lana!" he said happily. "And it's not like I have a job, so I see them plenty. I can afford to take a trip if it's to help a friend."
It was good to know that my now two sisters-in-law were getting along, but still…
"Will you be fine?" I asked.
"Of course! While not at your level, I'm quite strong now, you know?" he said, flexing his bicep. "And besides… it's not like we're going to fight, and even if something does happen, I don't have to go alone."
"Oh? And who would be going with you?" I asked.
"Well, there's Zanoba, who, knowing that guy, would surely want to join me anyway. And then Cliff, since he's wanted to try going on an adventure to have some cool stories to tell Clive," he said, counting on his fingers. "Ah! And Father has been mentioning wanting to show off his skills some more before he gets too old, so him as well!"
Hmm…
If it was those four, things should end up being fine, especially with Rudy's armour having constantly improved.
But I was still a bit worried.
"Leon, you should trust your brother," Orsted suddenly said. "You cannot be everywhere at once."
…Well, I suppose that was true.
"Brother," Rudy said, my head turning back to him as he gave me a confident smile. "I got this. It'll be simple."
— Rudeus Greyrat —
Nothing about this was simple!
Dodging out of the way as a sword cut through my previous position, I turned to face Atofe's knight, Moore, who was currently giving me quite a bit of trouble.
"Just submit, Rudeus Greyrat. Accept it, just as I have," he said, raising his sword once again.
"As if! I have two loving wives to get back to!" I shouted, pressing my hand against the ground that had been soaked with me previous water spell. "And I haven't even had a threesome with them yet!"
Releasing my deepest desires out into the world, I imagined the flow of electrons racing from my mana into the ground, generating an array of electric arcs that reached Moore in an instant, causing him to freeze as the lightning magic shocked him.
"D-Damn you… lustful pesky magician…" he groaned. "Don't make light… of my strength!"
Trembling, he slowly started to get to his feet.
Scary… maybe I needed to put in a little more power?
Or maybe… I needed to finally try something lethal.
I had never killed a human.
Sure, I had helped more than a few times, especially when Counter Arrow were targeting bandits, but still… I had never been the main cause of a person's death.
It just… didn't feel right.
Many of those people deserved it, yes. And I didn't think any less of the people in my life who had killed… but still.
I just didn't like the thought of it.
It made me sick.
But now… perhaps I would need to commit to such an act.
Besides… this guy wasn't completely human anyway, right?
So it was fine to cross that line… right?
Swallowing down the hesitation in my chest, I began to form a stone cannon at the end of my hand, forcing the conical shape to spin as I aimed at the elderly-looking man's head.
But right before I released…
"Hah!"
With a sudden movement, my father appeared behind Moore, releasing a swift strike across his neck, causing the knight's head to topple to the ground.
What… to be taken out so simply… then what was my inner monologue even for!?
"Hehe, see that, kid? I still got it," Paul said, walking up to me as he puffed out his chest. "I ain't a captain of the Sharian Guards for nothing, eh? Your old man's pretty good, huh?"
And now he was boasting… well, he did give me some good support.
"Great job, father, but I thought the three of you were going to get Kishirika?" I said, dusting myself off.
I really needed to get that summoning spell for my magic armour soon.
Anyway, it seemed that the 'Great Demon Empress' who was meant to help us with Shizuka had gotten herself captured by the Demon King Atofe, hence the current situation, as that woman wanted me as part of her immortal legion.
She had a nice rack, for sure… but I had a much better pair of girls at home, and even little Lana.
I wasn't going to let her lose her daddy so soon in life.
"Yeah, well… those two seemed to be doing fine, and who was I to leave my son all alone?" he said, smirking at me. "Besides, now I have a good story to tell Alaric, don't I?"
Yes… with my old man having so quickly lost any fatherly respect from me and Leon, and then consequently my two sisters with his… 'Paulness', he had been pretty adamant on not messing up his fifth chance in my little brother.
Well, I guess he was a better man now, so he would probably do fine… but this was my father we were talking about.
"I suppose, but first, we should…"
My voice trailed off as I saw Moore's body slowly stand back up, his decapitated corpse picking his severed head up from off the ground before placing it back on his open neck.
Uhh… what?
Was this a phase two?
"Fools. To think you could win so easily… you have underestimated me," he said, the cut across his neck quickly healing back to normal while he once again drew his blade. "Come at me once more."
Dammit… wasn't this only meant to be a search quest?
How the hell did it go so wrong and become so difficult?
Haa… I just wanted to go home…
— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
It had been a week since Rudy and his group left for the Demon Continent, and after some time of waiting in anticipation after threatening some greedy merchants, I finally got the word of their return to the floating fortress thanks to a certain spirit of Perugius' paid me a visit.
So, having finished my duties in Asura, I quickly made my way over via one of the many teleportation circles that had been placed throughout the kingdom.
But being able to move across the country, and basically the world, all with a single magic circle that you could write just about anywhere as long as you had the knowledge… well, I can see why it was banned for so long.
But luckily, I didn't really care about such things.
I was aiming to defeat a god, after all, and the god of man no less.
Not that he was really a religious figure, but still… the point stands.
I shook away the useless thoughts in my head as I entered Shizuka's room, with Rudy and my father already there as well.
"Brother… nice to see you again," Rudy said, looking over to me with a tired smile.
"Same to you… was your trip successful?" I asked.
"Yes… although, it was a bit more… difficult than expected," he returned, looking down at his tattered robes with a pained expression. "Sara got me this for my birthday… she's going to kill me."
Huh. Maybe that's why he hasn't returned home yet.
"Still, if it was successful, then good job," I said, looking over to Shizuka, who was currently sipping a cup of tea.
"You… you look a little better than last time," I said.
Her skin seemed a bit more healthy, and she wasn't currently coughing out blood, so while not amazing, it was an improvement nonetheless.
She nodded, clearing her throat as she looked up at me.
"Indeed… it seems that the herb Rudeus obtained… this 'Sokasu Grass'… it seems to clear out the mana accumulated in one's body through their waste… and it seems to be working as a remedy," she said before her eyes flickered to Rudy. "So… thank you… for saving me…"
"Of course I would," Rudy returned. "You're my friend, Shizuka."
"I-I see…" she said, looking away with a faint blush on her cheeks.
…Seriously?
What the hell was with this atmosphere?
I couldn't be the only one noticing this, right?
Looking to the side, I saw that Paul was just looking on proudly at the scene, a slightly teasing glint in his eye.
…I guess I wasn't the only one.
I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
Well… if Sara accepted Linia… then this would surely be okay, right?
Either way, it wasn't as if it was my place to step in… unless Rudy decided to do something stupid, of course.
"I'm glad to see that you're feeling better, but that aside… what of Zanoba and Cliff?" I asked.
They didn't die, right?
No, Rudy looked fine mentally, if only a little tired, so they should be fine.
"Ah, well, Zanoba went off to tour the art here about an hour ago, and as for Cliff… he went back home to recover," Rudy said.
"Recover? Did he end up in a battle?" I asked.
"Not really… it's more to do with his new eye," Rudy said before slamming his fist into his palm. "Ah! And guess what? I got one too!"
He then pointed to his left eye, which had turned slightly green.
A new eye? What…?
Ah… right, Kishirika.
They must have gotten into trouble with her, and gotten it as a reward or something.
I would have to ask about the story later.
"Interesting. Have you already learned to control it?" I asked.
I knew that it took me a while to not be blinded by my eye of magic power.
"Hehehe~ Of course, dear brother," he said, pointing to his face. "Here! Try to hit me!"
…Well, if he insists.
Extending my hand, I watched as Rudy easily moved out of the way of my gentle slap, as if he had…
"Prediction… is that the eye's power?" I asked, trying to think about the list of eyes Kishirika had given me the option of so long ago.
No… it was too long to remember them all.
"Guessed it in one!" he said, nodding his head. "Be careful, Leon, or I might catch up to you in no time!"
I frowned.
Really?
Did he really think that?
Extending my hand again, I watched as Rudy once again moved to dodge, but this time, I anticipated such an action.
"Uhh… what- Ow!" Rudy yelped as my finger flicked his forehead.
"Don't speak nonsense, brother," I said, smirking.
It was fun to tease him like this, especially when he was acting so prideful, which was quite rare.
I couldn't wait until Ars gets to an age where I can start teasing him as well.
And since he has his mother's blood in him, the girl that was such a cute, troublesome, and feisty kid… yeah, that will definitely be fun.
"Can you two stop fooling around? I'm still recovering, you know," Shizuka said with a frown.
"Right, sorry," I said, lowering my hand. "But… still recovering? How long will that take?"
"Recovery? Well… with this, it will take forever," she said, her head turning down. "This remedy is just a temporary treatment. It's far from a cure. Even though it can remove some mana from my body, it can't remove all of it, so it will only take a few days before I'm sick again… and even now, I'm not feeling completely fine."
Oh… that… was not ideal.
"But at least we have the Sokasu plant, right? Though… I really hope it can grow properly up in the north," Rudy added.
Yeah… that was true, but it still wasn't a cure.
How could this 'drain syndrome' be cured?
By draining mana?
There was no such spell nor type of magic, although disturb magic was close to it.
But maybe… maybe I could create a cure instead.
Chantless mana manipulation opened up a lot of possibilities, after all.
But that wouldn't happen right away.
Instead… now it was time to return home… and likely time for my dear brother to receive a harsh scolding from his now two wives.