— Leon Greyrat —
Taking a sip of the stew, my lips curled into a frown.
"Damn… it isn't good, but it's edible. Aisha and Norn have eaten Father's cooking, so they should be able to stomach this."
Having spent the entire night awake, making sure no monsters came to visit us and slaying the few that did, I tested the meat of the other two monsters I had killed to see if they were edible or not.
Luckily, or perhaps, unluckily, the first one I had tried had been the only one that was harmful to the human body, a snake-like monster that tried to strike me from behind a rock, only to meet its end with a blade of wind.
The next one I tried was a sort of wolf-like creature, and while it wasn't necessarily harmful to the body, with how bad it tasted, it might as well have been.
I decided to keep a small portion of the meat for emergencies, but honestly… I hope we never got to that point.
Let's just say it wasn't a detoxification spell that made me puke out that one.
And lastly, there was some sort of bird monster that tried to swoop in for the snake's corpse, only to be dispatched by a flick of my sword.
This meat was safe, and most importantly, edible.
While it wasn't good by any stretch of the word, it would have to do.
Since I didn't have any spices or herbs to mask the disgusting aftertaste, I decided to make a stew, not only to get all the nutrients I could out of the meat, but also to make it tender so it was easy to swallow down.
I really wish there was some sort of plant magic.
Rudy always wondered if there were some derivatives like that and shadow magic, but our experiments never proved fruitful.
A shame, considering the current circumstances.
As there was no firewood or brush to be seen, I originally began cooking the stew with a constant application of fire magic, but soon enough, I realized that I could superheat the rocks to the point where they glowed red to provide a constant heat source until they naturally cooled off.
And so, with my hands free from heating the pot, I crafted a set of necklaces, one for a sister each.
With the string made out of the lace from my shirt and the pendant made of a flat stone, overall… it looked quite ugly.
But I wasn't making these for beauty, but rather for practicality.
"Mmm… I just hope it lasts long enough," I mumbled to myself, letting my fingernail finish the final few lines of the magic circle.
I'd need to replenish the mana a few times a day, but it should be good enough to keep the two safe.
Letting the blood dry onto the rock, I then poured my mana into both of them, and upon lightly touching myself, I felt no resistance.
Okay, that's good.
Would be bad if I couldn't pick up my sisters, after all.
I then took out my sword, and as I tried to bring down the blade onto my hand, I was stopped just beforehand by a translucent barrier, the motion of my sword halting in midair.
Perfect.
This was the spell Auto Shield, an Intermediate-rank protection spell that blocked any incoming attacks on the user, but still allowed harmless things to pass through it.
It was also what I cast around the hut, as I would still want to go in and out when I needed to.
I could understand how barriers worked.
After all, it was just pure mana weaved into the object, the air, or the mana itself to create a strong defence.
But… I still couldn't understand how the automated part worked.
What was harmful? What was dangerous? Could it be tricked?
But ultimately, those questions were useless, especially in my current situation.
It worked, and that was all that mattered.
Getting food, creating barriers for Norn and Aisha, creating a sleeping mat out of fur… I was doing a bunch of useful things, sure, but ultimately… I was just avoiding the main issue.
I… didn't know what to do.
I was just flailing around and doing what I could, hoping I was covering the basics of survival before anything went wrong.
And now that we were in a more stable position than yesterday, I needed to plan.
I needed to get my bearings and begin the journey back home and reunite with my family.
Assuming that we were on the Demon Continent, which was more of a certainty than a possibility, there was only one way to the Central Continent.
As the Ringus Sea was blocked by the Ocean Race and various monsters, and any path through the Heaven Continent was blocked by the Heaven Race and the steep terrain, the only way out of the Demon Continent was through a city in the south…. Wind Port, if I remember correctly.
These were all things I had heard from Roxy and read in the books in the manor's library, so while I would like to confirm, I was fairly certain that this was still the case.
Now… if we were lucky, then we had been teleported to the south, and were only a few days away from the port in question.
But that would be wishful thinking.
I would only be guessing until we found out, so it was best to plan for the worst.
So, assuming we were in the very northern tip… it would be a long way back.
A year, at least, to just get to the Holy Country of Millis, and after that, another year or two of travel would await us.
Two to three years.
And that was assuming nothing went wrong, such as sickness, injury, or any other detours.
And after that… what about everyone else?
I am sure that we would all plan to meet up in our homeland, but how long would they wait until they decided to head out searching for us?
While Paul may be a horrible husband, he was a good man, especially in stressful situations like these, so I had no doubt he would set out the moment he realized we weren't there.
Actually, he was probably doing that right about now, huh?
Or at least soon, once the news reached him.
But then again… it could already be too late-
"Ah!" a quick slap to my face cleared my head of such thoughts.
Stop, Leon.
Those thoughts were useless.
Focus on the task at hand: getting Eris, Aisha, and Norn home, safe and sound.
Everything else could come later.
"Huam~ Leon?" Eris yawned, walking out of the hut.
Scratching her stomach with one hand and wiping her eyes with the other, she looks over at me. "Mornin~"
…Well wasn't she cheery?
"Good morning, Eri. Are my sisters up?" I asked.
"Hm? No," she shook her head. "Do you want me to wake them?"
I nodded. "Please."
Quickly crafting four bowls out of earth magic, I then poured the stew into each, making sure everyone had an equal portion of meat, though there was less for Norn and Aisha, of course.
"Morning Big Brother!" Aisha exclaimed, running over to me.
Jumping onto my back, she wrapped her arms around my neck as she looked down at the stew.
"Ooh! I was getting hungry!" she smiled.
Taking a sniff, I could tell even without looking that her smile had morphed into a frown. "O-Ohh… that's not… that's not Mother's cooking, is it?"
"No, it's not," I shook my head. "But it'll have to do. Now eat up. I'm going to give you two a quick wash, and then we'll be walking again. Do you think you can carry the fur for me?"
"Mhmm! Of course!" she exclaimed.
Such a good kid.
"M-Morning, Brother," Norn said, slowly walking up to us.
Holding her stuffy close, she looked over at the charred corpses of the monsters before frowning.
Yeah… I bet it was gross, huh?
I was quite adaptable due to my maturity and having grown up with the Fangs of the Black Wolf, but such a sight must have been pretty jarring to an innocent girl like her, huh?
She'd… have to get used to it, unfortunately.
Oh yeah, that reminded me.
"Before we eat, I want you two to wear these, okay?" I said, giving each of the barrier necklaces to the girls. "Don't take it off, even if it's annoying, okay? And tell me if you lose it right away."
Both of them nodded as I put a necklace over each of their heads, letting the pendant rest on their chest.
"There we go. Now, make sure to eat it all, even if it's gross," I said, passing them each a bowl.
As the three began to eat, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Eris didn't seem to mind the taste, and as for my sisters, while their grimaces exposed their disgust, they didn't voice their displeasure.
I was thankful for that.
Maybe this journey wouldn't be so bad after all.
But… I was pretty tired already.
I'd have to fight through that until we find civilization, but I just hoped my fatigue wouldn't diminish my abilities too much.
"Now, if we're all done, we should get going," I said, getting to my feet. "Let's see if we can find a trace of civilization."
I just hoped that today would be as good as yesterday, and if I was lucky, even a little easier.
— Leon Greyrat —
It had been a week since I found myself transported to the Demon Continent, and while nothing bad had happened in this time, nothing good had either.
We hadn't found anyone.
No village, no settlement, not even a ruin of past civilization.
It was completely and utterly barren.
There was only the dry steppes and the rocky mountainside we were following.
That was our daily plan.
We would get up, have some breakfast, which was usually leftovers from last night's dinner, and then walk until someone got tired, where we would eat lunch before walking again.
And then, as the sun began to set, I would make a shelter, hunt an edible monster for dinner, and then let the three sleep as I kept watch for any attackers while also trying to brainstorm a way out of this mess.
Luckily, at this time, we had come across some vegetation for both eating and flavouring, so our meals were a bit better, but I could tell… the constant travel was weighing down the group.
Aisha and Norn specifically, though they tried not to show it.
Even Eris, who was all smiles and laughs when we first set out, was unusually quiet, and the only times she ever showed some excitement was when I let her take down a monster.
I guess… I wasn't a very good leader, huh?
We should have definitely seen someone by now.
Even if the Demon Continent was vast and barren, it couldn't be that bad.
But despite my competence with the sword and magic, that didn't mean I was a good explorer.
Or perhaps, 'adventurers' was what we were right now.
Groaaaah!!!
Hearing such a fierce roar, I noticed a cloud of dust in the distance that was slowly inching closer.
No… that wasn't just a cloud of dust, but rather, a stampede of monsters.
One that was heading straight toward us.
"Dammit," I snarled. "Eri, keep them safe. Scream if you need help."
Unsheathing my sword, I then started sprinting toward the oncoming horde, though I could tell that I was slower than usual.
Haa… I was just… so tired.
I know I should be sleeping more, but thinking about what could go wrong while I was out of commission… well, let's just say I wouldn't have gotten any rest even if I tried.
Anyway, let's make quick work of these things.
There were around ten of them, and they were brown and large, with a horn on their nose, almost like a rhinoceros.
A species of monster I had yet to encounter.
Reaching the leading monster, I held my sword tight as I twisted my hips, releasing a devastating slash that instantly decapitated the beast, stopping the others monsters' advance as its corpse tumbled to the ground.
Cleaving through one after another, I felt my mind begin to dull at the monotonousness of it all.
But… was my sword always this slow?
I needed an extra burst of speed with each step to keep up with my usual pace, either using earth magic to help my feet grip the ground, or a swift wind to push me forward.
Despite fighting constantly each day… I was somehow only getting worse in combat.
With two more monsters left, I took a step forward while swinging my sword toward the closest one, but instead of cutting cleanly through its neck, it gets caught halfway through, stopping as my blade gets stuck in its spine.
While that was enough to kill that monster… that wasn't the case for the second.
"Gah!"
With its head ramming against my side, I was sent flying to the ground, the dirt grinding against my face as I felt my head get cut by a passing rock, thankfully keep hold of my sword all the while.
Fuck… luckily, I didn't get hit by its horn, but… was I really this bad?
I thought- no… let's deal with this last one first.
Getting to my feet, I generated a spear of fire, shooting it through the air a moment later to stab into the monster's chest, exploding on impact and instantly killing it.
Fuck… my head was spinning, and my mind felt so dull… it reminded me of back when I was an infant, watching the world pass by in a listless haze.
It felt gross, like I was a husk of my optimal self.
But that feeling alone wasn't what made me upset, rather… it was the results.
Brushing my hand across my face, I then looked down at it to see that it was covered in blood, the red liquid mixing with the dirt and grime I had accumulated over the week.
Fuck… If I couldn't even protect myself… how would I ever hope to keep the other three safe?
Dammit.
Healing my head, and washing off the blood, I then made my way back to the other three.
"All done. Let's… let's keep going," I said with a smile.
It was forced, of course.
Eris, however, only returned a worried frown. "Leon… your arm."
Huh?
Looking down, I noticed that my arm was seeping blood.
That was probably from the monster's body slam, or perhaps I had cut it from the tumble, either way, it must have been what had Eris so worried.
"Right. Forgot about that," shaking my head, I quickly cast a healing spell on my arm, healing the injury.
But damn… I usually never had a problem with my mana pool, save for that time I tried making a 'figurine' with Rudy, but with the constant use of magic, and the lack of sleep that replenished mana efficiently, I was starting to feel my reserves dry up.
Another mistake, huh?
"Anyway, let's keep-"
I was interrupted by Eris grabbing my arm with an iron grip.
Looking over, I noticed how her eyes were slightly watery with her lips curled into an angry frown.
"Didn't you said you would need my help!?" she shouted with a volume that made me flinch.
She was angry.
"That doesn't look like asking for help, Leon! When's the last time you slept!? Huh? When's the last time!?" she asked, her grip tightening.
"I… it's not that easy, Eri," I said.
"It doesn't matter!" she shook her head. "Rely on me, okay? W-We're… partners here… got it?"
My eyes widened as the haze that had been masking my senses seemed to disappear, giving way to the sight of Eris' tearful yet reassuring glare that took my breath away.
Right… I wasn't alone here.
And while Eris might not be the smartest girl around, she was strong.
Strong enough to rely on.
So why was I being so stubborn?
"Got it… then… do you mind if we split guard duty?" I asked.
Her glare shifted into a wide smile. "Mhmm!"
Ha.
Jeez, while I criticized her intelligence, maybe I was a bit of an idiot too, huh?
I had been staying up during the night to keep the huts heated, but I could have always used the heated rock method I used to cook most of our stews.
Really… I was definitely a bit of an idiot.
"Alright!" I said, slapping my cheeks. "I'm feeling energized now! Let's aim for civilization today!"
Picking up both of my sisters, I set them both on my shoulders before marching forth with a wide smile on my face, and most importantly, Eris walking at my side.
— Leon Greyrat —
The burst of energy had lasted until nighttime, and unfortunately, Eris was too tired to take the first shift.
Even though we had walked much further today than normal, we had still yet to reach any settlement, but despite this, our search wasn't for naught, as I was able to finally find a trace of civilization in the form of a path.
It was nothing like the road between Roa and the capital, and it wasn't even as good as the one between Roa and Buena Village, but it was a path nonetheless.
We were close… I could feel it.
Close to making some actual progress on our way back home.
Leaning back against the hut, I set my gaze across the rocky steppes, looking for any monsters that wanted to try their luck.
"Huam~! Ahh, I'm bored. Maybe I should train?" I said to myself.
Not magic, of course.
I was already close to depleting my reserves.
But maybe some disciplined exercise would help me stay focused until it was my time to finally sleep.
But then, as I looked over the passing scenery, I spotted a man.
…Fuck yes!
Wait. I couldn't be too hasty.
After all, there were plenty of bad people in this world, so I shouldn't be too quick to trust.
Standing up, I narrowed my eyes to focus on the figure.
He was tall.
Taller than Paul.
And he had a long trident held in his hand, short green hair that almost reached his eyes, and a large red gem implanted on his forehead.
The man then noticed me, his eyes widening in surprise before he began walking my way.
Seeing that, my hands reached toward my sword as they began shaking-
Wait… shaking?
Why was I shaking?
No… it was obvious why.
I was scared.
The man had a fierce look on his face, and he had a weapon drawn, but other than that, there was no reason for me, a dual Sword and Water Saint, to be scared.
Wait… green hair… a red gem… a Demon race…
That… was a Superd right there, wasn't it?
While I wasn't going to think that everything the stories Roxy told me about them were true, I could never be too careful.
After all, those stories, while they might be exaggerated, likely held a fair amount of credibility.
Clenching my fist, I felt my nails dig into my skin, the pain breaking me out of my state of freight as I leaped forward to intercept him.
I would wake Eris… but I had a feeling that she would just make this situation worse.
"Hey!" I shouted in the Demon God tongue. "What do you want?"
His eyes widened. "A human child? And that speed… I have many questions, child."
"And I have them too! Who are you?" I said, raising my sword.
"…Ruijerd Superdia of the Superd race," he answered.
Yes, I kind of got that last part.
"What is a human child like you doing here? And I can sense three more…"
My eyes widened in surprise.
H-He already knew?
Shit… if this guy was anything like the stories Roxy said… I would have to defeat him here.
"W-What do you want with us?" I said.
"…Did you not hear me? I said I'm a Superd. Are you not scared?" he asked, eyebrows arched in confusion.
I widened my legs into a Water God stance. "O-Of course I am, but that doesn't mean I won't fight you!"
His head tilted in curiosity before finally nodding with a warm smile.
"Overcoming such fear… I see… you're a warrior, aren't you?" he then raised his spear. "Well, I am never one to refuse an honourable duel."
…What?
Wait, what did that-?
My thoughts came to a stop as his trident shot forth, the pointed tip aiming for my neck as he shortened the space between us with a single leap.
Fuck!
I slid my sword under his trident's shaft, guiding it to the side as I swung my leg out to respond, but instead of landing a kick, I felt the end of his trident impact my face, sending me backward.
Landing on my feet and ignoring the stinging pain, I raised my sword to defend myself, only to see him looking at me with curiosity instead of keeping up the pressure.
I don't know why he suddenly started attacking me, but this was not a good situation to be in.
He was strong.
Stronger than me, and maybe even stronger than Ghislaine.
And he used a trident… that was basically a spear, something not used in any of the three major schools, which meant that every single one of his moves and techniques would be completely foreign to me.
Shit… Eris without a doubt couldn't win, and if she saw me fighting here, she would definitely step in, no matter how much I begged her not to.
And as for running away… she would certainly get caught.
I had to stop him here.
Setting my stance, I brought my sword to my side as touki began to flow through my body, rippling and pulsing in a familiar rhythm.
I could never hope to win in a drawn-out fight, so this had to be finished right here, right now.
Luckily, there was a move that was perfect for this situation.
One that I had practised diligently for quite a while.
With a layer of wind magic granting me complete air resistance, an explosion set to go off at my feet, and the earth prepared to shoot me forward, I unleashed my strike.
The world turned monochrome as I extended my blade toward the neck of this 'Ruijerd'.
Clang!
Only to be met by that disappointing sound.
His block warding me to the side, I tried to catch myself as I was sent tumbling to the ground, but my arms and legs gave out as I crumpled onto the rocky earth.
Feeling my consciousness begin to wane, I attempted to lift myself back up… to no avail.
Shit… I couldn't do it.
And not only that, I used up all my mana for that, didn't I?
Dammit…
"…How peculiar. I didn't think human children were able to be this strong," the man said admiringly from above.
I then felt a hand land on my head, but not violently, like I was expecting.
If anything, it was almost… calming.
"Be proud. You are a true warrior. Now rest. I will guard your group in your stead."
Hearing those words, I felt a wave of confusion clash with the fatigue I was already struggling with.
What was he talking about? Wasn't he supposed to kill me?
I just… hoped that the barrier would hold, or that this Superd would overlook the other three.
I'm sorry… Aisha, Norn, Eris… my family too.
With those thoughts in my head, my vision turned to black as I quickly succumbed to unconsciousness.