We had to wait for over an hour for the next stagecoach.
During that time Eris looked quite anxious, frequently looking around in search of threats and then looking at me as if to check if I was still there.
She was definitely more bratty and selfish than I remembered from the novel, but she also appeared more vulnerable after the kidnapping, being lost by herself in an unfamiliar land.
She was like that despite the fact that things were resolved quickly. Perhaps it was because she was still only 7.
When the next stagecoach was about to set off, I handed money to the coachman and we boarded.
I don't like spending my time doing nothing, so I practiced my magic during the journey.
Because there were two more people with us, I stuck to secret practice.
Using Gravity magic, I kept afloat and spun around a large copper coin while hiding it with my hand from the two men that were with us.
'Telekinesis' as an application of Gravity Magic was still the most mana control demanding magic for me, even more so than making figurines.
Eris glanced at me from time to time, but didn't comment.
We arrived in the neighboring city without any trouble.
For our inn, I chose a dilapidated-looking shack to show the young lady how harsh the outside world can be.
As I approached the innkeeper, I opened my purse wide and purposely flashed the gold and silver coins I had inside.
I asked, "How much for a night's stay for two people?"
The inn and the man, in line with their appearances, did not disappoint me. The man sent us one glance and replied, "It's one gold coin!"
I silently looked at Eris.
Eris frowned. "What? We have enough!"
She crossed her arms in front of her chest as if saying: what's the problem? Just pay!
I looked back at the innkeeper and said, "One gold coin? Do you think I'm stupid? Regular price for a night at an inn is two large copper coins!"
"Ah-hahaha. That was just a joke! Two large copper coins." The man laughed it off, looking disappointed.
I placed one Silver Coin on the counter as if I had no smaller nominals.
The innkeeper then gave me the change.
I reached up to the counter to pull it closer, counted it and told him: "You gave me six large copper coins. It should be eight."
"Oh? It seems I made a mistake."
The innkeeper smiled wryly, then added in two more Large Copper Coins.
We were then led to our room.
Our beds were made of straw and were rough.
But the room did not seem to be infested with insects. It could be worse.
As we sat down, I told Eris, "Did you see that? Because I was a child, he thought I couldn't calculate the change and tried to cheat me."
Eris: "..."
"If you don't study and learn arithmetics, you'll be cheated all the time."
Eris: "... ..."
Haha, okay, that's enough.
I decided to not push her more and leave it at that, as she seemed to grow more ashamed by the second.
I think she got the picture.
I then took out some rations from the backpack onto the counter - dried bread, some crackers and dried meat.
I created simple cups with Earth magic and filled them with water using Water magic.
I turned to Eris. "It isn't much, but you can go ahead."
She picked up the dried bread and bit into it.
After slowly chewing and swallowing with an expressionless face, she asked me, "Can't we buy better food?"
"Because we're weak kids with money, I fear that if we order from the inn, our food might be poisoned. Let's eat what we have and get back."
"O-okay! It isn't even that bad. It's like a real adventurer's meal!"
Eris didn't complain and continued biting into the bread. After she said her line, she seemed even more enthusiastic. She devoured the dull and hard bread and crackers while even seeming happy.
I also ate while ignoring the taste, primarily eating the dried sausage; I had to get in my calories and protein for the day.
…
That night I didn't sleep much.
I got up with a headache and bloodshot eyes.
Was it the scene of my first murder haunting me?
A little. I thought back about that moment and repeatedly rationalized it, but I was aware that I was mostly only uselessly overthinking things. Logically, I have already accepted the reality of this world.
I also didn't feel quite safe in this inn with that scummy innkeeper as well, so there was also that.
I could not fall asleep in that place, and with everything going on.
However, Eris seemed to have slept soundly. She fell asleep soon after our meal.
While asleep, she really had the face of an angel, even though she was a willful brat during the day.
Then when she woke up, she looked full of energy as if the kidnapping had not happened at all.
"Wake up! Let's go back!!! I demand you lead me home!" She jumped out of bed while shouting.
"..." I looked at her blankly while rubbing my eyes. Why so loud in the morning?
"Uhh, let's go! It's already morning!" Her attitude changed just slightly as she pleaded with her eyes.
"Mhm."
After leaving the inn, we hopped on the first stagecoach to Roa.
Eris kept glancing out of the stagecoach from time to time, as if checking for possible pursuers or attackers.
Several times we had a single horseman pass us on his mount.
Eris seemed to have been looking at them with a look of superiority as if sentencing them to death.
With how excited she looked, I had a feeling she perhaps even wanted us to be attacked again by some bandits.
Perhaps she even thought: 'This time I would do better!'.
Or perhaps she felt safe with me around.
…
Hours passed.
We arrived in Roa without any problems.
Once we passed through the study walls and saw the liege lord's manor in the distance, I saw Eris's expression relax.
We got back.
We disembarked and headed toward the manor on foot.
After riding in a stagecoach for hours, on top of barely sleeping during the night, I was exhausted.
I cast a Fireball and then inserted another special fireball inside it.
I launched it into the air.
The fireball made a ridiculous noise as it raced upward, then a huge explosion flashed above us.
"Whoa?!"
"Huh?!"
The bang was thunderous enough to split eardrums. The light from it was blinding too.
I could see Eris and the passerby all looking at the sky.
After a few seconds, Eris looked at me.
I explained, "I sent a signal to Ghislaine, just in case of a trap."
I severely doubted there would still be a trap waiting for us, but I think my actions at least made perfect sense on the outside. It will also allow me to send Ghislaine after Thomas before he has a chance to get away.
"So that's it! Hmph! Ghislaine will get here in a second!" Eris spread out her legs, crossed her arms and waited.
We waited there for a while and eventually after close to a minute a brown blur jumped down from the rooftops.
"Ghislaine!" Eris cheerfully ran up to Ghislaine and hugged her, her face burying into Ghislaine's huge breasts.
"Hm. Eris Ojou-sama, Seraphim, you're back," Ghislaine said while patting Eris's head and expressionlessly looking around.
"Yeah! We just got back! Some nasty guys kidnapped us! But it's fine, Seraphim killed them! Hmph!"
"Killed them?" Ghislaine looked surprised.
She turned to me.
I think she might have still thought that the kidnapping was fake, even though she stayed on a lookout.
I said, "We got kidnapped by some real bandits that planned to sell us. I killed them, so we could escape."
"I see…"
"I'll explain everything later."
…
"Phew… I'm back!"
When we finally reached the manor, Eris struck a pose of spread out legs, puffed out chest and hands on her hips.
The maids anxiously warned around her, but she ignored them.
She turned to me.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and pointed her chin up, standing imposingly.
She then thrust her finger at me and bellowed: "Seraphim! I saw you're poor! You can ask my father for anything as a reward for saving me!"
"...Oh."
Was that really fine for her to decide though?
Or maybe she thought it was a cool line to say?
But either way, I wouldn't decline a reward if there was one!
It seems that a little bit of niceness and patience goes a long way.
Even though it was kind of me who started all of this and got her in that situation in the first place…
…
The one pulling the strings behind the kidnapping was, as expected, the butler Thomas. He was the person with connections to a perverted noble that was interested in buying Eris.
The Young Miss had apparently caught that noble's eye and he wanted to beat her fierce and unyielding spirit out of her.
Thomas, seduced by the money and feeling resentful toward Eris who bullied him these years (seemed like that in my eyes at least), added the two men that the perverted noble had selected into the kidnapping scheme.
However, Thomas's testimony was seen as inadequate and the bandits were dead, so the perverted noble could not be held responsible.
The suspected noble's name, as I had guessed beforehand, was Darius Silva Ganius.
As I asked Philip about it, he also theorized that Thomas was Darius's spy in the Boreas family in general.
Basically, it was great that Thomas ended up being apprehended here, because otherwise my information could have traveled to Darius!
Darius was not just a random noble. He was the current Prime Minister of the Asura Kingdom, having influence only second to the king, and has a high chance of being the apostle of the Man-God Hitogami who would want me dead by any means and begin to scheme against me from the moment he finds out about me.
Given enough time, Thomas could have even sold my information to Philemon, Paul's cowardly brother that would also want me dead.
I have not thought of the possibility of Thomas being a spy and selling out my info. It's only thanks to luck that he was eliminated.
Why didn't I think about it?
I knew that Thomas would want to kidnap Eris for Darius given an opportunity, but I still consciously didn't directly target him.
I think I was just being overly optimistic after seeing how with my magic alone I can already beat Paul and even almost Ghislaine.
I can only beat my chest in regret and try to be more perceptive next time.
In other words, it's good that the kidnapping happened, and I should have even planned it directly with the purpose of exposing and eliminating Thomas.
Going back to the kidnapping, there was an opportunity for me to capture one of the kidnappers alive to see if he could testify against Darius, but there were hardly any benefits in doing that, and it would have only over complicated things and brought me unnecessary attention.
I strongly doubt that a random thug's account would do anything to bring down the Prime Minister's influence anyway.
Officially, this incident was resolved entirely because of Ghislaine's involvement.
I was ordered to give all the credit to Ghislaine, even though it was clear that I killed the two kidnappers myself.
The Boreas family could tout the fact that they had the Sword King Ghislaine staying with them, preventing possible future incidents while proclaiming the strength and wealth of their house.
Philip didn't want others in the Greyrat family to even know of my existence.
Yet more political bargaining, but I was on board with that.
"And that's how it is. Understood?"
"Yes, I understand."
Philip explained this to me in the reception room.
I let out a breath.
Philip had kept it vague and Paul also never talked about his family, but I personally understood my political situation well thanks to the novel.
In essence, although Paul had left the Notos family in the past, I was still a direct descendant of that family.
As long as I gathered enough influence and power, I could take over the Notos house in the future and no one could have problems with that.
If the current head of the Notos family, Paul's brother Philemon, learned of my existence and talent, he would have surely sent assassins.
Philemon was a coward that would not tolerate a genius kid like me being alive, since I'd threaten his position.
But although a coward himself, he was still one of the four feudal lords and controlled an army that included a North King.
Disregarding myself, Philemon might have also targeted Zenith and Paul who would be more vulnerable.
In addition, if it's discovered that the Boreas family is sheltering me, it might be seen as them scheming to take over the Notos as well.
That's how it was.
As a 5 year old Saint rank magician in Rudeus's position, there were many things I had to be mindful of.
If I could grow up to 10 years old in Roa without attracting too much attention from various enemy forces just like Rudeus, it would be ideal.
Philip said, "Well then, you seem quite calm for someone who had taken lives for the first time, I assume?"
"...And you seem relaxed for someone whose daughter was kidnapped," I shot back nonchalantly.
"Oho. I am now. I would be panicking if she were still missing," he said. "But I'm not sure what I should tell Paul. After a few days of being on vacation at my place, his 5 year old son was forced to kill someone... How do you think he'll react?"
"I think it's fine to tell him the truth. I volunteered for this entire thing myself. All's well that ends well."
The reason I went along with the kidnapping that might turn real in the first place was because I was confident that I could escape no matter the circumstances.
There was a small surprise in the form of the anti-magician handcuffs, but it was still just a gimmick, as expected.
Since everything ended well, there was no point worrying about it.
The only part I didn't like was that at one point, when I was first knocked unconscious, my life was still in the hands of another.
I asked Ghislaine to follow us until the point we leave the town, but I would still rather not repeat that kind of risk.
"All's well that ends well. You have a way with words... But yes, I'll just tell him how it was. And about the reward that Eris mentioned-"
Bam!
This topic was just brought up, but the door flew open with a bang, and waltzed in Eris's incredibly exuberant grandfather.
"I heard it all!" Sauros said. He barreled into the reception room and tousled my hair with a firm hand. "I heard you saved Eris! Well done, boy!"
"Well, officially, it was Ghislaine…"
He glared at me. "What was that?!"
I slightly gulped and explained, "I defeated the kidnappers, but officially it's Ghislaine who saved Eris. It's because my existence and magic talent can't be known to the Greyrat family."
Technically it was just about the Notos, but I decided to dumb it down to Greyrat, since Philip didn't explain in detail.
"Philip!!!" He bellowed as he rounded on his son and glared at him angrily. "Are you the one behind all this?!"
Philip kneeled down on one knee and calmly explained, "Father, Paul may have been disowned by the family, but he is still a Greyrat. That means his son Seraphim, who also carries our blood, is a part of the family as well. Because it would only cause trouble for both of us, rather than outwardly praising him, I thought the best way to thank him would be to treat him with kindness as a part of our family."
"...Very well! Then go ahead and keep up that farce with the nobles! But at least reward him properly!" Sauros plopped himself on an empty sofa.
Meanwhile, ever since I heard the word reward, I wondered how I could smoothly turn it into money without triggering anyone…
"Nevermind, I'll do it myself."
Sauros folded his arms, lifted his chin and glared at me. A pose similar to a certain someone.
"Seraphim! You saved the life of my granddaughter! What do you want?"
I slightly gulped, then said, "I visited the city the other way and saw that magic tomes are quite expensive. I think just some money would be best."
"How much?"
"A hundred gold coins?" I said a sum with mild uncertainty.
"A hundred gold coins?!" Sauros glared at me. "Fine! Just don't spend it on stupid things!"
After giving me at first what I thought was an angry look, Sauros agreed rather easily.
Amazing!
A hundred gold coins was a fortune.
But I guess that for a major noble household it was not that much.
I saved his granddaughter's life, after all, by killing big bad kidnappers. If he was really grateful, a hundred gold coins might be considered a minor matter.
Either way, it looks like I will have no money problems for a while.
"Philip!" Sauros called out to Philip next. "Eris told me that she wants to get a home tutor. She wants to learn magic, reading and mathematics. She said that she wants to be like Seraphim!"
Hearing those words, Philip and I both exchanged surprised glances.
Eris had gone so far to say this?
She even wants to study reading and math as well, and not only magic?
That being said, it looked like Philip also did not know about her resolution just yet.
Perhaps it was too embarrassing for her to say that to her father, but to her grandfather, she trusted him with everything?
Either way, the results were good, even better than expected.
I wonder just how long Eris's motivation will last.
I think… not very long.