Table of Contents
Table of Contents Page
Chapter 9: The Day Aisha Quit Being a Maid
Newsletter
Color Gallery
Copyrights and Credits
Jobless Red Carpet
Chapter 1: Year 499
Chapter 1:
Year 499
IT WAS YEAR 499 of the Armored Dragon Era, eighteen years after the death of Rudeus Greyrat.
Deep within a nameless forest in the northern region of the Central Continent, a lone man was running. The man panted, his hair clinging to his skin from the sweat on his forehead. He had an ordinary build and was dressed like the sort of merchant you could find anywhere. Nothing about his features was particularly notable. As he ran deeper and deeper into the forest, he repeatedly whipped his head around, but he kept running.
In fact, he was fleeing. But from what?
From the killing intent creeping up on him from behind.
It was silent in the forest, so quiet that not a single flap of wings could be heard, yet he could feel that something was closing in on him.
“Oh, my lord,” he whispered, gripping the short sword with the Asuran crest at his hip.
His short sword resembled any other weapon of its kind, but for those in the know, it would have been abundantly clear that it was not the sort of weapon carried by the average merchant.
The man was a spy, one of many such agents who’d been sent to investigate the inner workings of the Ogre God Empire.
The empire had been founded only recently, and in less than twenty years, it had completely taken control of the northern part of the Central Continent. They were in the process of riding that wave of momentum to take over the western region as well… In other words, they were after the Asura Kingdom.
Regardless of how powerful the empire’s armies were, as long as the Red Wyrm’s Upper Jaw existed, they would never be able to invade the Asura Kingdom—or so it was believed. However, this spy had acquired intel that proved the Ogre God Empire had a secret plan. Unfortunately for him, that was precisely why he was being pursued.
His only means of communication had been destroyed. When he tried to return to his country on his own, he was spotted at the border and forced to flee into the woods.
His pursuer was the most feared executioner in all of the Ogre God Empire, an ally-killer known as the Shadow Chasing Demon. She was a member of the empire’s second military special police and one of the infamous Superd.
The man knew. As a spy gathering intel on the Ogre God Empire, he knew all about her. She never let her target get away. Deserter, traitor, spy—it didn’t matter. She eventually hunted them all down.
Perhaps if she’d been on her own, some would have managed to get away before. It wasn’t easy to escape a member of the Superd’s eyes, but they were just another sense organ at the end of the day. There were ways to fool the eyes, as many as there were stars in the sky.
But the Shadow Chasing Demon had a shadow of her own. A shadowless shadow that served her, called the Shadowless Demon. The man didn’t know the demon’s true identity. Until a few days ago, he’d believed it was a rumor that only the credulous took as fact. But things were different now. The shadowless shadow that aided the Shadow Chasing Demon in her pursuit truly existed. Otherwise, none of this would make sense. There was no other way she could know about the man. And there was no other way she could have caught up with him.
“Urgh! Haah…gah…”
His pursuer was still on his back. There were no sounds coming from behind him, but his long years of spy work told him he was still being followed.
He had an ominous inkling—
I’m not going to be able to get away.
He had to do something. He had no choice but to lie in wait, spring a surprise attack on his pursuer, and take her down.
He would have to defeat Luicelia, the woman who had captured and killed so many spies. The Shadow Chasing Demon that was said to have never failed a job.
“Haah… Haaah…” The man stopped in his tracks and leaned his back up against a tree, taking a deep breath. It was then that he noticed something.
“Hmm?”
Within the thick forest stood a single house, the type that you would see in any town. It was old, but it showed no signs of decay or rot.
The man silently approached the house. He thought it was odd to find a lone building like this in the middle of the forest, but he also felt he could use it to his advantage. It would be easier to spring a surprise attack from within the house than from the woods.
But the man soon noticed something was off. The house had no entrance, and no windows either.
“It can’t be…”
His heart raced. He’d heard the rumors: Somewhere, there was a research lab that had belonged to the great magician who died almost two decades ago, Rudeus Greyrat. It was said he’d conducted research he couldn’t risk introducing into the world from a secret lab, one that could only be accessed by teleportation circles.
The research materials he’d hidden away were supposedly vast in quantity. Anybody who acquired them would be bestowed with great wisdom. In fact, there were rumors the Ogre God Empire had only made such rapid progress because they had acquired that wisdom.
Using his magic, the man formed a hole big enough to crawl through, stuck his head inside of it experimentally, then entered the house. He summoned a lamplight spirit to illuminate his surroundings and cautiously proceeded deeper into the building.
He saw desks and bookshelves… Magic tools of some kind… Then, among the notes carelessly placed on the desk, he spotted writing about an old type of automata. There was no mistaking it—this was Rudeus Greyrat’s laboratory.
The man’s face colored over with hope. If this was Rudeus’s secret lab, there would have to be a teleportation circle somewhere.
A dozen or so years ago, teleportation circles across the world lost their light, but it was possible the one here was still operational.
The man found something else a moment later. He’d seen a collection of this series before, just once, in the Asura Kingdom’s royal library. Here it was just…sitting out. If that had been it, the man wouldn’t have been so fascinated, but it was the number on the book that drew his interest: twenty-nine. Among the supposed fifty-two volumes in the series, there had been one missing from the royal library. The fabled volume.
The Book of Rudeus, volume 29.
“This is it.”
The man picked up the book, only to groan a moment later.
“Urgh…”
With a trembling hand, he touched his own chest. The tip of a white spear had sprouted out of his body. He hadn’t noticed her at all. He should’ve put more distance between them, enough to prepare for a surprise attack.
When he turned his head, the woman who radiated silent killing intent was standing behind him. She had pierced his chest with the short spear in her hand.
She would be the last thing he ever saw.
“Hmph.”
She pulled the spear out of the man, who collapsed to the ground.
After making sure he was dead, the woman flicked her spear, sending the blood on its tip flying. The blood drew an arc in the air and splattered against the wall.
Well, it should have. Instead, it hit the face of another man, who was suddenly standing by said wall. When had he gotten there? Did he even actually exist?
The inconspicuous man smiled eerily, his face lit by the lingering lamplight spirit.
***
“Luicelia?”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you do that?” The man who’d found himself splashed with blood wore a wry smile on his face, like he wasn’t too pleased with the woman’s actions.
Of course he wasn’t! What was the point in splashing your own ally with blood after the enemy was defeated?
“Sorry…but Arus said it was important to look cool after you finish a job,” Luicelia said with a frown.
“Looking cool only matters if there’s someone to look cool in front of.”
“You’re here,” she pointed out.
“Then don’t splash blood on the person you’re trying to impress,” the man said. He pulled a handkerchief from the breast of his clothes and wiped his face off. “Anyway. I thought he was going to try and spring a surprise attack on us, but instead, he was just frozen in place. Talk about a letdown.”
“Yeah, true.”
“Hmm. Didn’t expect to run into one of Rudeus Greyrat’s secret labs in a place like this.”
“I guess my uncle really liked making secret bases. I always find them when I’m on missions with you, Henry.”
“Probably because we always end up deep in forests.”
The man whom Luicelia had called “Henry” was Henry Macedonias. He was her partner, and a man cursed to be “difficult to recognize” by others.
Henry used his curse to specialize in intel gathering. The curse was a powerful one, so much so that almost nobody could remember him. That meant anyone who could potentially be his enemy also forgot about him right after they saw him. He was the perfect intelligence operative; people even forgot they had just spoken to him.
That said, his curse was a double-edged sword. He lightened the effects of the curse by regularly wearing a mask, but if he took it off, most people couldn’t remember his name or face. It was quite unfortunate. Even among his actual family, only his mother could recognize him. His father struggled to.
As for why the Ogre God Empire had taken in such a suspicious character, it was because his grandmother had connections to the Greyrat family. Sadly, even she didn’t remember Henry was her grandson. There were few within the Ogre God Empire capable of knowing the human called Henry.
However, the Superd perceived people differently than others with their third eye, so Luicelia was one of the few people who could remember Henry’s face. While she possessed the powerful combat and detection abilities of the Superd, she was also as stubborn as her father and as scatterbrained as her mother. There were few who could provide her with proper support in the field. In that sense, their pairing seemed destined to be. As they say, every Jack has his Jill. Henry and Luicelia were deeply compatible.
Henry would infiltrate deep within the enemy, collect intel, and figure out where a target was located, and Luicelia would hunt them down. This was how the pair overcame all manner of trials and defeated their enemies.
“Ah, look.” It was Henry who picked up the book that their target had been holding. The volume number was written in Silent Code. “Isn’t this volume 29 of TheBook of Rudeus?”
“Is that a big deal?”
“It’s a thing of legends. It’s the only volume that hasn’t been located and reproduced. The Asura Kingdom’s been searching for it high and low. Plus, the president’s been collecting them, so we might get a nice bonus if we bring it back with us.”
“Oh, that’s good. So, what’s it say? Read it.”
“Fine. Lemme see…”
Luicelia pushed Henry to open the book, and he did as he was told. As an intelligence operative, Henry handled all kinds of intel and was fluent in many languages. Obviously, he could read and write Silent Code, also known as Japanese.
“Um… ‘Things have finally calmed down, so I think I’m ready to talk about the reckless behavior of both my son, Arus Greyrat, and my little sister, Aisha Greyrat, as well as the biggest mistake of my life.’”
After reading the text aloud, Henry exchanged looks with Luicelia. Arus and Aisha. Two names that both of them were extremely familiar with.
***
A few days later, in a room at the Ogre God Empire’s base located in the Red Wyrm’s Jaw, an elderly man was writing. His eyes were vacant, his mouth was half-open, and he was barely gripping the pen in his hand. Even though he barely possessed the strength to continue, he didn’t stop. He wrote his name down on one piece of paper, then the next, and was about to do the same on the third page before he whispered an “ah,” then wrote Rejected instead.
The elderly man let out a big sigh and looked at the stack of papers he had yet to write his name on. He groaned regretfully.
He wasn’t on the verge of death—he just hated paperwork.
It was then that a young man and woman entered the room.
“Master, we’ve returned.”
“Ooh, welcome back.” The older man stopped writing and stood up with a smile on his face.
“We finished off all four people.”
“I see, I see. Well done.”
“What’s our next mission?”
“I’ll be putting you both to work when it comes to the Asura Kingdom invasion, but we’ve still got some time until then. Rest up for now.”
“Understood.” Henry saluted the man, while Luicelia nodded with a glum expression on her face. Henry continued, “By the way, after we took out the last target, we found something really interesting.”
“Go on?”
“Here.”
The old man raised an eyebrow after studying the object Henry presented him with. “Ooh, TheBook of Rudeus, huh? And the missing volume, no less. The president’s going to be thrilled.”
“Indeed. But, um, about what’s inside…”
“Hrm?” The older man took the book and opened it up to the first page. After reading what was written, he froze in place. A few moments later, he released a long sigh. “So…this is about back then.”
“I figured we probably shouldn’t read this, so I didn’t get very far in. Going by the opening passage, it didn’t seem like a particularly happy tale.”
“Hrm? No, well… I suppose it is a record of when there was some discord in the family.”
“Something people would be better off not knowing about?”
“Oh, nothing like that. It’s just a little embarrassing. A reminder of the mistakes I made when I was younger,” the older man said.
Henry looked a little surprised. “You mean even the Wind God Arus went through a period where he made mistakes?”
“Of course. People don’t age equally, but youth causes all of us to make mistakes.”
The old man was Arus Greyrat, commander of the Ogre God Empire’s Second Army special forces and the right hand of the Dragon God Orsted. He was also known as the Wind God Arus. Together with the Lightning God Alexander, he was one of the Second Army’s most powerful weapons. Some years back, he’d come out victorious in the combat tournament held in the Ogre God Empire. In both name and form, he was the greatest swordsman in all of the north. He used a magic sword style called Sword God Berserker, which integrated the traditional Sword God style with unpredictable sword techniques and silent spells to create an ever-shifting style of swordplay.
On top of that, he was known for his levelheaded and gentle nature, and he always looked after his men. He was the leader of Ruquag’s Mercenary Band—the original form of the Second Army—and despite his advanced years, he was still considered an authority among the Dragon God Orsted’s men.
If he had one weakness, it was that he started drooling whenever he saw a beautiful woman with large breasts. That being said, he would only ogle and go no further than that. When drinking, he often told others that he was proud of the fact he’d never been caught in a honey trap.
While he had his deficiencies, he was a good man. He supported the Dragon God Orsted, possessed authority thanks to his participation in founding the Ogre God Empire, and was seen as an important figure. Despite all those accolades, he was still an amiable fellow.
That was how Henry appraised Arus, anyhow. It was hard for Henry to imagine Arus having an embarrassing past.
“I’m interested in hearing about this. Ever since I was little, I always felt you and Lucie were basically perfect,” Luicelia said with great curiosity.
Arus let out a pained laugh. “I definitely wasn’t the perfect kid that Lucie was. Far from it.”
Luicelia grew up slower than most. Part of it was because she was a Superd, but even though she was technically close in age to Arus, they hadn’t experienced the passing of time the same way. By the time she was aware of her surroundings, Arus was already a mature young man.
“Hrm.” Arus surveyed the top of his desk. There was a mountain of work that he didn’t want to do.
He averted his gaze from it all. He had to get it done, but he certainly didn’t want to.
“If you’re that curious, want me to tell you all about it? This was back when I was a teen. I didn’t know anything yet… Hell, I wasn’t even thinking about anything. I was just a straight-up idiot.” Arus leaned forward on his desk and stroked his white beard.
Luicelia quietly sat herself down on the floor. She was fascinated to hear about the failures of the cousin she’d known since she was little. She might have struggled with wearing her emotions on her face, but she was empathetic and loved to chat, much like her mother.
After seeing Henry follow her example, Arus smiled jovially.
“Now then, where should I start? At the time, I lived my life like an embarrassing idiot, probably worse than your everyday thug on the street—”
“Surely you exaggerate? I respect you quite a bit, so I would prefer that you didn’t debase yourself so harshly,” Henry interrupted.
“Well, aren’t you a charmer? But here’s the thing: Everyone goes through a foolish phase. This was all a long time ago for me.”
And so Arus began to tell his story—the story of his past mistake.
Chapter 2: Story
Chapter 2:
Story
NOW THEN, where should I start? Ah, I know. It’s important to talk about the relationship between myself and Aisha.
She’s my aunt. Aisha’s mother was a maid for the Greyrat family, you see. I was told the head of the house at the time took her as a mistress, resulting in Aisha’s birth. That said, though Aisha’s mother started as a mistress, she eventually married Paul—the head of the house back then—and became one of his official wives. She was never treated like a mistress.
By the time I was born, Paul had already passed away… His first wife was no longer of sound mind, but that didn’t mean that Aisha’s mom suddenly held all the power in the family or anything.
Hmm, when I say it out loud like this, it’s pretty complicated, huh? Long story short, Aisha was in a complicated position within a complicated family.
There was a period of time when I was unsure of how to interact with her. When I was born, Aisha was there as the maid. She was my aunt, but she was also our family maid. Nevertheless, my father never treated her like a maid. She was his little sister.
Either way, she was there from the day I was born, looking after me long before I knew what was going on. That’s why she was less my aunt or a maid and more like a much older sister. Either that or like a fourth mother, perhaps.
That’s right: a fourth mother.
You see, our family had three mothers. We called them White Mama, Blue Mama, and Red Mama. Named after the color of their hair, of course. My mothers taught me all sorts of things. White Mama taught me knowledge and how to make friends. Blue Mama taught me wisdom and how to study. Red Mama taught me swordplay and how to protect someone. Our three mothers treated and loved us equally, and we never questioned the fact that we had three of them.
But this wasn’t how the nobility in Asura usually took on lovers, so, looking back on it now, it was a pretty unique situation.
Just like my mothers did, Aisha taught me all kinds of things. Well, it was less that she taught me, and more like she helped me experience firsthand the things I didn’t understand about my mothers’ teachings. Now that I think about it, she really was more like a big sister, but she wasn’t my actual big sister.
I have two of those. One is Lucie—Henry, that’s your grandmother. She was always a smart cookie. She followed what our mothers taught her, took school seriously, and acted like a typical big sister. She was constantly telling me to study or exercise. My other big sister is Lara. You might not have ever met her. She was a lazy one back then, let me tell you. She broke the rules, skipped school, and came up with all kinds of tricks for the two of us to play together. We were good friends. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I got yelled at for participating in one of her schemes.
Aisha was nothing like them. She was nothing like my mothers or older sisters. She was a completely unique person. Just herself.
If I asked her, she’d do anything for me. No matter how selfish I got, she’d make it happen, all the while saying, “Gosh, you’re hopeless.” She could be pretty strict with me, but she never scolded me unfairly. Whenever I was sad, she’d hold me in her arms and tell me what to do. No matter how awful I felt, whenever she held me like that, my negative feelings flew out the window.
When I was much younger, there was a time when I thought she was too clingy. But Aisha was always right. Pretty much every time I acted out and did anything other than what she said, I failed. Then she would show up and say, “See? Now do you get it?” Every time, I frowned and nodded my head.
When I was younger, I had the vague feeling I’d live my entire life being protected by Aisha and doing what she said. It felt like the natural thing to do. Looking back on it, it might’ve been a form of brainwashing. Aisha’s style of teaching robbed me of my ability to think, making it seem as though everything would turn out great as long as I did what she said.
I don’t really know if that was intentional on her part… No, I don’t think it was. She was just the sort of person to act in that way. It was one of her few fatal flaws.
Anyway, when I turned ten, my family gave me all sorts of gifts. Among them was a sword, a shinken. Red Mama told me to use it to protect the person dear to me. When I heard that, it was Aisha’s face that came to mind.
I instinctively looked at her. She gazed back at me as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and when our eyes met, she smiled brightly. I remember feeling shy and looking away.
Maybe that was the moment I realized that I loved Aisha, but I didn’t say it out loud back then. It was too embarrassing.
Or maybe it was because my big sister Lara was still really childish, and Lucie had just started to advance her relationship with her childhood friend Clive. I thought romance like that was much further into the future for me.
Even at the time, I had a vague feeling that I was special to her too. It would’ve been impossible not to be drawn together, don’t you think? I mean, maybe Aisha planned for things to go like they did…but even if that was true, I was in love with her. She was my first love, and those were my true feelings.
Isn’t love just a series of mind games at the end of the day? Once I realized how I felt, I moved quickly.
What did I do next?
Ah, I remember. Right, right. This was a little after my tenth birthday. Back then, my father told me something, and… Well, let’s just say I was naive.
I’d gotten a book from Lord Orsted, and it was written in a language I couldn’t read, so I had Aisha read it for me. If I remember correctly, it went something like this…
***
Long, long ago, there was a boy named Arus. He was born with a strong will, and he possessed great physical strength as well. By the time he was old enough to understand his surroundings, his parents had long since departed from the world.
The village Arus lived in was far from town, and his family in particular was quite destitute compared to others, but he was happy. Arus had a wise, dependable older brother, and the rest of the villagers treated them well. Arus was genuinely grateful for all of this and worked his hardest. Fortunately, Arus was a strapping boy, so there was plenty of work he could do.
On top of that, there was a girl he loved. She was sickly and always bedridden, and those in the village said she wasn’t long for this world. Every day, when Arus finished work, he’d go to the window of her room and chat with her a little before heading home. That small amount of time was precious and irreplaceable to Arus.
The girl wouldn’t be alive for long, and there was nothing Arus could do to help her. Perhaps she understood she didn’t have much time left. She never asked for much and seemed to look forward to the time they spent chatting together. Arus thought that he’d spend every day like this until the day the girl was no longer there.
But then, one day the girl looked up at the sky—the purple, eerie sky—and said something:
“Hey, Arus… Did you know that before the demon king appeared, the sky was a beautiful blue color?”
Arus knew this. The demon king had been alive long before Arus was born. One day, the demon king built an army and attacked humanity in order to take their world. Once she managed to conquer half of the world, she changed the color of the sky just for fun.
“I wanted to see the beautiful blue sky just once before I died,” she said.
That was the first act of selfishness the girl had voiced since the pair had met.
Perhaps describing it as “selfishness” was too strong. She might have simply said the words, knowing all too well that her dream would never become reality.
Arus knew this too. They were just chatting like they always did. She wasn’t asking Arus for anything. But the look on her face as she spoke was so vulnerable and fragile, like she’d long ago given up on her dream ever coming true.
That was why Arus made a decision: He would show her the blue sky.
However, while Arus possessed strength, he was still just an ordinary villager. He lacked both knowledge and wisdom, and he knew not how to return the sky’s blue.
He would ask his older brother for advice. When his parents were still alive, they’d sent his much older brother to a small but proper school. Whenever Arus needed help, he knew to go to him.
“Brother, I want to make the sky blue again. What should I do?”
“Hmm…” Arus’s older brother went silent in thought. This was a difficult question even for him. After contemplating for a bit, he continued. “Since the demon king turned the sky purple, I bet defeating her would make it go back to normal.”
When Arus heard this, he decided to head to the demon king’s castle and quickly began to prepare for his journey. His older brother saw what Arus was planning and panicked.
“Little Brother, the demon king is a terrifying being! You’ll be torn to shreds just for getting close.”
“I’m still going.”
His brother backed down when faced with his little brother’s lack of hesitation. He knew that once Arus got like this, he wouldn’t listen.
“You’re not going to reach the demon king by just wandering around. First, you should go to the largest city in the country. I’ll draw you up a map. Take some food and bring along a new pair of shoes for your journey.”
The older brother did everything in his power to help Arus prepare for his trip. He knew how devoted and determined his little brother could be; he would never give up. Nevertheless, the demon king was overwhelmingly powerful. This was a journey from which Arus wouldn’t return alive. Nonetheless, the older brother wanted to do everything he could to keep Arus alive even a second longer.
Arus departed on his quest. With a map in hand, a new pair of shoes on his feet, and the short sword he’d inherited from his father at his hip, he left behind the girl he loved in the village.
After some time, Arus passed through fields and over mountains to arrive at the largest city in the country. It was his first time seeing a huge castle, as well as his first time seeing so many people in one place.
With this many people, someone will surely know where to find the demon king, he thought upon observing all of this.
“You want to defeat the demon king? In that case, go to the castle. At this point, they need all the help they can get,” one person told him.
Arus followed their instructions and made his way toward the castle. It was a giant building, the likes of which he’d never seen before.
“I want to defeat the demon king,” he said at the entrance.
He was given an audience with the king. The king was seated in a throne with a subdued color. He greeted each person who came to him, but when it came time for Arus’s turn, he was very surprised.
“You are but a child.”
“Yes, but I wish to defeat the demon king. Please tell me where to find her.”
“What could a child like you possibly hope to accomplish? Return to your home,” said one of the knights off to the side.
“It’s an adult’s job to fight. We’re here to protect children like you.”
The other adults in the audience hall all said similar things.
“You are a child. You shouldn’t be fighting. Go home.”
No matter how powerfully Arus shouted that he wanted to defeat the demon king, nobody took him seriously.
But the fortune teller who was present said something.
“Go see the five sages. I am certain they will help you, but you must not try to fight the demon king without seeing them first.”
Arus followed the fortune teller’s advice and embarked on a journey to go see the five sages. It was a long, long journey. He knew not where the sages could be found, but he believed, from the bottom of his heart, that as long as he continued his search, he would find them.
He walked throughout the land, and every time he saw someone, he asked if they were a sage. Eventually, he made progress. After crossing a field and a large river and exploring the cave beyond it, Arus found a sage. He had empty eyes and green-silver hair. Around him were a number of shields that shone the same color as his hair.
“Hello, sage.”
“Hello, child of man.”
“My name is Arus.”
“I am Szilard, the second sage. I live according to my convictions.”
“I have to defeat the demon king. Will you lend me your aid?”
“I am sorry, but I am very busy. Very, very, busy.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m making a shield for a child far in the future. I am certain that this child will have embers rain upon them.” The sage looked at Arus, then posed a question. “Let me ask you something, child of man. Why do you wish to defeat the demon king?”
“So I can show the girl I love a blue sky.”
“Oh, so you have your own convictions? In that case, I shall lend you a shield. I am certain it will keep you safe.”
“Thank you, sage.”
Arus received the shield from Szilard and continued his journey, but he still knew not where to look. He simply believed from the bottom of his heart that as long as he continued his search, he would find them. He walked throughout the land, and every time he saw someone, he asked if they were a sage. Eventually, he found another.
This sage was located in the northern end of the country. He had a sharp gaze and white-silver hair. Deep within the ice-cold snowy forest, he’d built a large ship.
“Hello, sage.”
“Hello, child of man.”
“My name is Arus.”
“I am Dola, the third sage. I simply live according to my loyalty.”
“I have to defeat the demon king. Will you lend me your aid?”
“I am sorry, but I am very busy. Very, very, busy.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m making a boat for a child far in the future. I am certain that this child will have to travel far across the world,” the sage said. He then looked at Arus and posed a question. “Let me ask you something, child of man. Why do you wish to defeat the demon king?”
“So I can show the girl I love a blue sky.”
“Oh, so you have your own loyalty? In that case, I shall lend you my ship. The demon king is far away, after all.”
Arus received the ship from Dola and continued his journey, but he still knew not where to look. He simply believed from the bottom of his heart that as long as he continued his search, he would find them. He walked throughout the land, and every time he saw someone, he asked if they were a sage. Eventually, he found another.
This sage was located deep within a mountain. He had a sunken gaze and black-silver hair. With his massive hammer, he forged steel on an anvil.
“Hello, sage.”
“Hello, child of man.”
“My name is Arus.”
“I am Chaos, the fourth sage. I live according to my desire to pursue.”
“I have to defeat the demon king. Will you lend me your aid?”
“I am sorry, but I am very busy. Very, very, busy.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m making a sword for a child far in the future. I want that child to survive, you see,” the sage said. He then looked at Arus and posed a question. “Let me ask you something, child of man. Why do you wish to defeat the demon king?”
“So I can show the girl I love a blue sky.”
“Oh, so you have your own pursuits? In that case, I shall lend you my sword. You will be able to cut down the demon king with it.”
Arus received the sword from Chaos and continued his journey, but he still knew not where to look. He simply believed from the bottom of his heart that as long as he continued his search, he would find them. He walked throughout the land, and every time he saw someone, he asked if they were a sage. Eventually, he found another.
This sage was located on an island in the middle of the ocean. He had a powerful gaze and blue-silver hair. He was modifying a massive piece of leather to make a bangle.
“Hello, sage.”
“Hello, child of man.”
“My name is Arus.”
“I am Maxwell, the fifth sage. I live according to my love.”
“I have to defeat the demon king. Will you lend me your aid?”
“I am sorry, but I am very busy. Very, very, busy.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m making a bangle to ward off magic for a child far in the future. I know that an evil being will approach them,” the sage said. He then looked at Arus and posed a question. “Let me ask you something, child of man. Why do you wish to defeat the demon king?”
“So I can show the girl I love a blue sky.”
“Oh, so you have your own love? In that case, I shall lend you my shining bangle. It will ward off evil.”
Arus received the bangle from Maxwell and continued his journey. But the final sage was nowhere to be found. No one knew where he was or what his name was.
So, Arus began to think. What if there was no final sage? The first sage he’d met had claimed to be the second sage. In that case, perhaps he would never be able to meet that first sage at all?
Even so, he continued his search. He searched for the sage with everything he had, but he still could not find him. No matter what he did, he couldn’t meet the final sage.
However, Arus had a sword, shield, and bangle. Below his feet was a ship that would take him to the demon king. Arus looked at all of this and thought: I might be able to defeat the demon king with all of this!
Ah, how very unfortunate. The young Arus departed for the demon king without meeting all five sages. Indeed, he had forgotten the words the fortune teller had told him.
The place the demon king dwelled was a horrific location. It was surrounded by a poisonous swamp and impossible to approach via normal means. Even if you somehow managed to get across the swamp, you would be met with giant vicious monsters, as well as demons who sought to drag you down the path of evil.
But thanks to the ship, Arus could easily cross the swamp, and he could fend off the monsters with his sword and shield. The shield he had was very tough, blocking the monsters’ claws and fangs. The sword was extremely sharp, allowing Arus to cut monsters in half with minimal effort on his part. On occasion, demons would whisper in his ear that he could use those very same items to become the king of the humans, but Arus couldn’t hear them. The evil-warding bangle protected him from these words.
Eventually, Arus arrived before the demon king.
The black castle she lived in was several orders of magnitude larger than the castles humans lived in, and much more foreboding as well.
“Bwahaha! You did well to get this far, human child! What business do you have with me?!”
The terrifying monster known as the demon king had a massive body, a large mouth, and purple hair.
“I want you to put the sky back to normal. For the girl I love.”
“I cannot do that! I happen to love the purple sky! Bwahaha!”
The demon king refused to listen to the boy’s request. She did not understand the meaning of the words “For the girl I love.”
“In that case, I’ll turn it back to normal by cutting you down!”
Thus, Arus engaged the demon king in battle. He confidently charged toward the monster with his sword, shield, and bangle. But oh, how light on her feet the demon king was! She moved like she could see the very future itself as she dodged Arus’s sword. No matter how much he swung his weapon, he couldn’t make contact with the demon king.
“Bwahaha! You’ll never hit me, you’ll never scratch me! It’s my turn now!”
The demon king laughed as she sent her fist flying at Arus. The boy raised his shield and blocked the demon king’s massive fist.
“Aaah!”
Alas. The very next moment, the demon king grabbed the shield and swung it, along with Arus, into the air. He smashed into the wall, where he trembled with fear. The sword and shield he’d received from the sages had no effect on the demon king.
“I’m going to crush you and eat you, starting from your head. Bwahaha! I’ll rip you apart!”
The massive demon king approached the boy. Arus ran with everything he had. Despite his strong will, when faced with true fear for the first time in his life, he could no longer stand and fight. He tossed his sword and shield to the side, slipped his bangle off, and fled from the demon king with nothing on his person.
In the aftermath, Arus wandered the demon king’s lands. The miasma from the poison swamp slowly ate away at his body. But it was a different kind of poison that ate away at his heart. That poison was called “resignation.”
“I ran. Even though the girl I love is waiting for me.”
In his grief, he wandered the land, his head held low. Even with the sword and shield, he could not defeat the demon king. Tears flowed from his eyes and left damp spots on the ground.
An evil demon who devoured grief approached Arus, who had lost his protective bangle. They licked at Arus’s tears and whispered in his ears.
“Greetings, little hero. What is the matter? You’re dripping tasty tears.”
“I can’t defeat the demon king.”
“Of course not. After all, the demon king is very, very strong. Even if she were not, you are but a small child.”
“I want to make the sky go back to normal.”
“Of course you can’t. After all, you are but a powerless child.”
“Then what should I do?”
“There is nothing you can do. You cannot grow bigger, and you cannot become more powerful. There is nothing you can do.”
Arus took the demon’s whispers seriously and lost himself in his pessimism. He walked toward the edge of the poison swamp.
He considered throwing himself in. If he did, his tiny body would most certainly melt down to nothing in an instant. He no longer had anything to lose. Arus was about to close his eyes and let himself fall in, but just before he could, he noticed a strange building in the distance. It was an odd house that looked like a tortoise shell placed over a hole.
“What is that place? Do you know anything, demon?”
But the demon had vanished. No matter where Arus looked, he couldn’t find them. In fact, at some point the entire area had been flooded with holy energy. It seemed the holy energy was being projected from that house. Surely, someone most holy lived there. With that in mind, Arus gingerly entered the house.
“Hello, child of man. What is the matter? This isn’t the sort of place a child as young as yourself should be.”
Inside the house was a person with gentle eyes and red-silver hair.
“My name is Arus. I wanted to make the sky blue again, but I lost against the demon king.”
“I have thrown away my name. There is no place where I belong. I am the first and last sage. I live according to my mission.”
Those words stirred a memory within Arus. He had to meet the five sages. He shouldn’t have fought the demon king without meeting all five sages first. Upon remembering this, Arus felt a mysterious sense of courage bubbling up inside. Things weren’t hopeless. He’d just made a mistake.
“I am Arus. First and last sage, will you lend me your aid so that I can defeat the demon king?”
“I am sorry, but I am very busy. Very, very, busy.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m accumulating power for a child far in the future. There is an enemy that they must defeat,” the sage said, then looked at Arus and posed him a question. “Let me ask you something, child of man. Why do you wish to defeat the demon king?”
“So I can show the girl I love a blue sky.”
“Oh, so you have a mission of your own? But tell me, are you really doing this for the girl you love?”
“Of course. She wants to see the blue sky.”
“I see. In that case, I shall lend you a little of my power. Go and defeat the demon king.”
Thus, Arus received power from the first and last sage. From the sage’s perspective, it was but a small portion of his power, but it was nonetheless overwhelming. With that power, Arus learned the true way to use his sword and shield. He learned how to enhance the shine of his bangle. He learned how to fly his ship in the sky.
Arus boarded his ship and flew off for the demon king’s castle. He picked up his bangle, which he had dropped in front of the castle, and it exploded in a dazzling light. As if summoned by the light, his sword and shield returned to him.
“Bwahaha! So you have returned, child?! This time I will eat you whole! I love delicious food, you see!”
His second battle with the demon king commenced, but this time, Arus had acquired power. When he swung his sword, he cut through the demon king. When he raised his shield, he sent the demon king flying. With such overwhelming power at Arus’s beck and call, the demon king stood no chance.
“Gah!”
The demon king was pierced by Arus’s sword, and she raised her voice in agony before dying. Seven colors of light erupted from her corpse, and as if answering the light’s call, the sky’s color returned to normal.
Arus was relieved to look up and see a blue sky. This was what he and the girl he loved had yearned for all this time.
Arus realized that he needed to return to her as soon as possible—but he couldn’t just yet. He had to return that which he’d borrowed.
First, he visited the first and last sage. Arus returned his power. Then, he visited the fifth sage. Arus returned his bangle. Then, he visited the fourth sage. Arus returned his sword. Then, he visited the third sage. Arus returned his ship. Then, he visited the second sage. Arus returned his shield.
After giving back all that he borrowed, he returned to the large city, the city of man. It was there that a huge party was being held. Through the return of the blue sky, the people had learned that the demon king was no more. When Arus went back to the castle, the king raised both arms in celebration.
“Oh, Arus the hero, well done! You have defeated the demon king! This country is yours. You may have my daughter as well! Would you please become the next king?”
Arus turned down the king’s offer. He told him that the girl he loved was waiting for him. Arus thanked the fortune teller, then prepared to return to his village.
At long last, Arus returned home. Much time had passed since he departed on his quest, but he had taken back the blue sky. Now he was going to show it to the girl he loved. He was going to see her smile.
But when he returned to the village, his older brother’s head was hanging low, a sad expression on his face.
“Brother, please raise your head. The sky is blue. I have defeated the demon king.”
His brother’s expression did not change.
“I’m going to show it to the girl I love. When she sees how blue the sky is, I know she will be overjoyed.”
His words only seemed to make his brother sadder. It was then that Arus asked: “My brother, why do you look so sad?”
“Oh, Arus… It’s… Ah… Stay calm and listen to me. She has died.”
“Who has died?”
“The girl you love. She passed away this morning.”
Upon hearing this, Arus smiled. He was sad, he knew he would be lonely, but he smiled nonetheless.
“If she passed away this morning, that’s fine. That means she must have seen the blue sky. She smiled when she departed this world, right? She smiled as she spoke of how beautiful the sky was, didn’t she?”
“No. She cried. She cried over how she couldn’t see you. She said that even though the sky was a beautiful blue, she cared more about seeing you again. She cried the entire time.”
Arus was left aghast. Hadn’t he made her dream come true?
No, he hadn’t. What she’d really wanted was to be with him. She’d wanted to treasure the brief time she had left with him. That was what she’d truly desired.
“Aaah…”
Arus fell to his knees before his brother. All the color faded from his eyes as a single tear ran down his cheek.
From then on, Arus continued to cry and cry. It was hopeless. He had messed up the most important thing in his life.
And he cried and cried until the day he died—
***
“The end!” Aisha closed the book after finishing the story. “Hm, that ending was kinda dark, huh? I guess the moral of the story is that true happiness is closer to you than you think. I prefer happy endings, though, to be honest.”
I was seated on her lap and staring down at the cover of the book.
“This is probably from around the time of the First Great Human-Demon War, so maybe it’s a spin on the legend of the hero, Arus? It’s a little different than the one I know. None of his allies show up in this one, and there’s one more sage than there should be. Plus, the moral of the story is kinda off. Who is this even for? I guess this is what happens when you do your own spin on things.”
Aisha twirled the book in her hands as she shared her observations. It was an old text, older than any others the Greyrat family had. The cover was made of white leather. Even Aisha didn’t know what specific kind it was, but it was a familiar shade.
As old as the cover was, there wasn’t a single crack in it, though the paper itself was in tatters. That being said, if the book was written immediately following the end of the First Great Human-Demon War, one could argue the paper was actually incredibly durable.
The book was called The Story of Arus—a name lacking in any and all showiness.
“I read this for you because you asked, but where’d you get this? It’s written in Fighting God Tongue.”
“I got it from Sir Orsted’s office.”
“Huh? Don’t tell me you took it without asking. You shouldn’t do that sort of thing.”
“I-I didn’t! When I went with Dad to hang out, I saw it on the bookshelf and just kinda flipped through it. Sir Orsted said I could take it home with me…”
I must have looked pretty disappointed by the story at the time. I don’t quite remember what was going through my mind, but I recall being pretty shocked by the ending—it was terribly tragic. Because I shared the same name as the protagonist, Aisha put her all into reading it for me. Maybe that contributed to me overly empathizing with the protagonist.
“Hey, don’t you worry your little head. You’ll be able to find happiness just fine, Arus.”
Aisha embraced me in her arms and ruffled my hair. This had once always cheered me up when I was in a sour mood, but that was only when I was little. After I turned ten, it’d become harder to distract me from my feelings.
“Hey, Aisha?”
“What is it?”
“What could Arus have done differently to find happiness?”
“Huh? Well, um, if he stayed with the girl, she still would’ve died. Maybe he could’ve left the demon king as is and asked the sages to save her instead. Then, they could’ve gotten married and lived happily ever after. I mean, if Arus the hero didn’t defeat the demon king—in this case, Lady Kirishika, I think—then the world would never be at peace, but I doubt humanity would’ve been exterminated within their lifetime, at least,” Aisha answered as she puzzled over the question.
She must’ve thought it was a perfect answer, but at the time, I wasn’t satisfied. I furrowed my brow and frowned.
“Aisha?” I asked.
“What is it?”
“What’s marriage?”
“It’s when two people who love each other come together.”
“I know that. I mean, what exactly do you do?”
“You live together in the same house, of course. Eat the same food, have children, raise them…”
“How do you have children?”
“Uh, I have to start there? I’m not sure that, um, I’m the one who should be teaching you about that. I think you should probably ask White Mama or Blue Mama,” Aisha answered, her face slightly red.
Maybe she thought that I was close to the age where I’d be interested in that kind of thing.
“Then being happy means getting married and having kids?” I pressed.
“I guess so, yeah.”
“Really? Is that really true happiness?”
“Hm, I don’t know. My brother’s happy, for sure, but I’m not married, so…”
“Why not?”
“There’s no one I love like that. I mean, I loved my brother—your dad—but that was a little different from the love you’d need to marry someone. Actually, really different. Maybe because we’re blood siblings.”
I wasn’t particularly pleased by this reveal. After all, I was hearing that my first love had loved my own father. She said it was a different kind of love, but I had no way of knowing what that meant, and there was one other concern I had.
“Dad says I’ve gotten a marriage proposal,” I said.
“Huh?”
“She’s royalty from Asura and around the same age as Sieg. He said if I like her, we could get engaged.”
That was apparently the first Aisha had heard this. I found out later that she was pretty shocked by the news. The little boy in front of her was potentially getting engaged. If that happened, we’d be wed after coming of age. This little boy, the one she looked after since he was born…engaged?
“Ah.”
But Aisha was as smart as she was a realist. If I married into the Asuran royal family, I’d be kin to Ariel. Ariel was trying to maintain a strong relationship with my father, and marriage was a great way of guaranteeing that. If my future fiancée was younger than me, then it was even possible she was Ariel’s daughter. That line of thinking was enough to get Aisha to accept the news quickly.
“Well, you are the eldest son, so I guess these things happen,” she said.
“Am I gonna be forced to marry her?”
“Don’t worry. If you tell your dad you don’t want to, I’m sure he’ll understand. But do you really not want to get married?”
“I mean, how can I get married to someone I’ve never even met?”
“What type of person do you want to get married to, then?”
From Aisha’s perspective, there was nothing deeper behind this question. She probably expected me to say something like A girl with big boobies! I mean, I do like big knockers—who can blame me? Whenever I see a girl like that on the roadside, I can’t help but follow her with my eyes. Been like that since I was little. Hell, everyone always whispered about how I was gonna grow into a womanizer when I got older. But that’s not what I said. I told it to her straight.
“I want to get married to you, Aisha.”
“Huh?! Me?” Aisha stared at me with widened eyes.
I was incredibly serious. Maybe the most serious I’d ever been in my life up to that point.
“Um, err…” She paused. “You should give up on that. I mean, I’m an old lady compared to you. You’ll regret it if you marry me. You’ll wish you’d married someone younger forever.”
“I don’t care how old you are. I mean, Norn and Ruijerd are even further apart, right?”
“Ruijerd’s a demon, so he doesn’t look old.”
“Then doesn’t that mean he married someone who will age faster than him?”
“Well, I guess so, yeah.”
“In that case, age doesn’t matter. I love you, Aisha.”
I didn’t mean that as a compliment or in jest. I was truly, genuinely serious. I’m sure Aisha had been confessed to at least a few times. She had the chance to meet lots of men while working at the mercenary band, but I was just as serious as them about her—no, much more serious.
“Um,” she murmured.
Aisha and I gazed at each other for a time. I have no idea what she was thinking as she looked at me back then.
Well, she might have been thinking that I was just like my father. To her, my father was someone she respected, someone who was funny and even dashing.
I continued to gaze at her face. Eventually, little by little, she started to turn red. Her expression changed a little too, you see. She didn’t have her usual catlike smile. Her eyes were wide open, her lips were pursed, and I could tell her heart was aflutter. If it had happened now, I’m sure we would’ve kissed. However, Aisha managed to hold herself back.
“Heehee. Thanks, but no,” she finally said.
“Why? Do you hate me?”
“No, that’s not it at all. We’re basically like siblings. There’s no way your dad, your moms, or my mom would ever allow it,” she said, even as she held me in her arms.
She was holding me like she always did, like nothing had happened between us, but her heartbeat was louder than normal. Her arms squeezed extra tight around me.
“I want you to know that I super-duper love you too, so hearing you say that made me really happy,” Aisha said as she patted my head.
I stayed silent and let her do as she pleased. Aisha gave me hugs for everything, and I liked being hugged. We were the same as always. Nothing had happened. Things were normal. That’s what her hug was saying.
“Don’t worry. You’re going to find someone way better than me when you get older,” she said.
“Okay…”
But there was something different in her hug. I can’t quite explain what that difference was, but I know I sensed it. While enveloped in Aisha’s scent, I could intuitively feel that something had changed between the two of us.
In reality, our relationship did undergo huge changes after that day.
***
That was how I ended up proposing to Aisha for the first time. Man, talking about this sure is embarrassing, huh? I was young at the time—the same age when daughters say they want to marry their dads.
Still, it was the moment I became certain of my love for her, and I was serious about it. That’s why, from that day forward, I went on the attack.
As for Aisha, she apparently wasn’t entirely against the idea, but she had reservations about getting together with a child—her brother’s son, no less. Nevertheless, those reservations faded over time. She began to accept my feelings eventually.
I mean, it’s commonplace among Asuran nobility for blood-related relatives to get married, you know? She probably felt that as long as my feelings for her didn’t change, our relationship wouldn’t be bad. Even though her mother, Grandma Lilia, would object, I imagine she thought it wouldn’t be an issue otherwise.
It’s just, well, I can explain things as I read through TheBook of Rudeus, I suppose. After all, I’m pretty curious about how my father felt at the time.
Chapter 3: Family Meeting
Chapter 3:
Family Meeting
LOOKING BACK ONwhat happened, I get why I felt the way I did at the time. It’s not that I thought of Aisha as one of my wives; I loved her as my little sister and a member of the family, but I never thought of her as “mine.”
In other words, it wasn’t like I was getting cucked or something. Even if I had been, I don’t think I’d have any right to complain about someone cheating or being unfaithful, considering I took three wives.
At the end of the day, I was kind of the root cause of this regardless. If I had understood that at the time, maybe things wouldn’t have blown up the way they did.
—Passage from TheBook of Rudeus, Volume 29
***
I was finished with work for the day.
As of late, that had consisted entirely of working with the Asuran Branch Head, Ariel. We were working on setting up a large-scale teleportation circle on the edge of the Asura Kingdom.
Teleportation circles were considered taboo all around the world, but Queen Ariel was going to use her authority to quash that within her nation and set up circles throughout it. Obviously, the Holy Country of Millis was going to object, and there’d likely be people among her populace who would as well. While the Fittoa Displacement Incident was becoming a thing of the past, the victims from that awful incident would surely object as well.
The Asura Kingdom was not a democracy, so Queen Ariel could push through the noise and objections, but discontent among the populace might lead to a coup d’état. Still, she always had people aiming at her back. I was comfortable leaving her with the responsibility of coming up with an excuse for why she was doing this.
In fact, I read a draft of her speech today, and it was pretty damn convincing.
Ten years have passed since the Displacement Incident caused the collapse of the Fittoa Region, and even now, it is still rebuilding. It will probably take dozens of years before those beautiful golden fields of wheat shine once more. That incident took much from us—and that is precisely why we must learn more about teleportation. We have to know, so that we can prevent such a catastrophe from ever taking place again. We need to know what teleportation truly is.
This is why I am repealing the restriction on teleportation circles. I am certain there will be those who disagree with me, those who are concerned. And perhaps my generation will simply repeat the mistakes of the past. But I promise you that our failures will become sustenance for future generations.
That was the long and short of it. Basically, she was trying to make the opposing citizenry into allies. Not everyone would flip, but Ariel was already quite popular. Things would probably work out just fine.
At the end of the day, the citizenry that would object hardest to removing the teleportation restriction would be the followers of the Millis church, because the Millis clergy were the ones spearheading the supervision of said restriction. I was presently laying the groundwork to make this okay with Millis by going through the Blessed Child and the Pope.
When I told them about the plan to set up teleportation circles on a wide scale, they both gave me sour looks, then gently told me we probably couldn’t set up any circles in Millis. I gave up on that idea, but the Pope and Blessed Child guaranteed they wouldn’t lead any objections to Asura’s actions. It was a compromise, but it was still moving forward.
In exchange, they made a handful of requests, but that was unavoidable given what I was asking. For now, I was satisfied with the result.
It was possible that after seeing how useful and profitable teleportation circles in the Asura Kingdom were, the Millis followers would start asking for them. The fact the Pope and the Blessed Child wouldn’t outwardly object to that when the time came was a big deal.
We let Millis be for now and began setting up teleportation circles in regions of Fittoa with no population, as well as some especially empty regions of Asura. Once we conducted more experiments and found success, we’d set up more circles.
There were obstacles we’d have to deal with, yes. This was the kind of thing that was going to take jobs from the transport industry, for example. But if teleportation circles became widely used, we’d see an increase in the safety and convenience of travel across the board. It would ultimately be a plus for people.
If nothing else, Orsted seemed to know some effective ways to use teleportation circles, and he’d most certainly use them well in the war against Laplace.
Anyhow, I was done with work. I had a few days off, so I was going to relax at home.
“I’m back!”
I was glad to return to my humble abode, the place where I’d be surrounded by my children, be embraced warmly by my wives, and have a damn good meal. My happy, happy home.
“Huh? Is no one here?”
Except my usually bustling house was silent. It was the early afternoon. Roxy, Lara, Arus, and Sieg would be at school. At this time of the day, Sylphie might be out shopping. Lily and Chris were likely out on a walk with Eris. Was Aisha dealing with mercenary band stuff? Zenith wasn’t here either, and neither was Dillo. In that case, had Lilia taken Zenith out or something? Recently, they’d been riding Dillo to various places, so that could have been it. Starting this year, Lucie had enrolled in the Asura Kingdom Royal Academy and was living in the dorms, so she also wasn’t home.
Which meant I really was the only one in the house.
Ah, I almost forgot about Byt, our house watcher. I appreciate your hard work, pal. Thanks to you taking out all the vermin, I’ll be able to enjoy some delicious rice tonight. I’ll make sure to get you some tasty fertilizer later, I thought as I climbed up the stairs.
It was then that I heard a voice.
“Mmm… Mm…”
They seemed to be in pain or something. I thought I was alone, but apparently not. I continued down the hall in search of where the voice was coming from, eventually realizing it was coming from Aisha’s room.
“Ah… Mm…”
It almost sounded like she was feverish. Was Aisha sick?
“Ah… Right there… More…”
Ah, no, definitely not. Those were the same sort of sounds Sylphie and Roxy made when we slept together. I made the same kinds of sounds when I slept with Eris, so I totally got it.
She was in the middle of doing the dirty deed, huh? I never would’ve guessed Aisha had someone like that in her life.
Complex feelings stirred within me. Was I glad? Upset? Aisha was of age, and even as her older brother, I knew she was a real beauty. It wouldn’t be strange for her to have a partner, even if it was awkward as hell.
Wait, though. Maybe I was jumping the gun. Maybe she really did have a fever. Or she was having her ears cleaned. Hell, she could have been getting a massage. I mean, it was even possible she was trying to make a killing doing some pro wrestling—okay, maybe not that one. Pro wrestling didn’t exist in this world. In any case, there were plenty of other reasons she could be making those sounds.
It was uncomfortable, but considering the other possibilities helped me calm down. I’d knock once, then have her introduce me to the lad later. I was going to act as Norn and Aisha’s father in Paul’s place. This was something I’d decided long, long ago, so I was planning on taking the measure of whoever the man was. If he was too much of a playboy, I’d probably get a little critical, but it was just to protect her.
That said, I doubted she’d let herself get tricked by some weirdo. She might fall for someone who was pretty quirky, but she’d never pick someone awful.
All right, I’m not going to let myself be bound by preconceptions and first impressions. I need to look at who this guy truly is.
I wasn’t particularly good with that sort of thing, though.
Whatever. First, I needed to knock. I approached the door and heard voices from within.
“Hey, Arus? Does that feel good?”
“Yeah… Yeah, it does, Aisha.”
I yanked open the door.
“Huh?!”
“Wha?!”
What I saw before me was unbelievable. Aisha and Arus were in bed together. She was on top, and he was below her. They were both naked and sweaty.
The pair froze in place like two cats caught in the act of mating. Only their faces turned in my direction, and their eyes went wide.
Maybe they’re just pretend wrestling?
No, that’s definitely not what’s happening.
It’d be weird for them to pretend to be wrestling without trunks or tights on, and the room wouldn’t smell the way it did. I didn’t see any steel chairs around, either. In other words, they were… Yeah.
“Ah, oh.”
I’d wanted to open the door and see Aisha massaging Arus’s shoulders or something. I’d wanted this to be a misunderstanding.
“Er, ah, ugh—” I couldn’t find the words. What the hell was this?
What am I supposed to do? How did this happen? Huh?
Aisha went pale at my sudden appearance. I must’ve looked exactly the same, as I could feel the blood drain from my face.
She tried to say something, but for obvious reasons, she stumbled over her words. “U-um, welcome home, Brother… I mean, um, this is, uh…”
That was enough to tell me that this wasn’t some kind of misunderstanding—they knew what they were doing.
“Both of you. Take a bath, change, and come to the living room.”
I managed to squeeze some words out and closed the door.
I went downstairs and into the living room, then collapsed on a chair. The strength drained from my body. My heart was racing, and my vision was narrowing. I wanted this to have been some kind of bad dream. But the shuffling around upstairs cruelly informed me that this was in fact reality. I felt queasy and ready to vomit. My mind was blank.
***
While Aisha and Arus were bathing, Sylphie and Lilia came home. They were surprised to see me and asked what had happened. I struggled to put it into words, but nonetheless, I told them everything I’d seen since coming home. Lilia turned pale, looked at the state I was in, then reddened and tried to hurry off somewhere before Sylphie stopped her.
Somehow, Sylphie had managed to stay calm through my entire tale. She said that we should talk things over once everyone settled down and Roxy and the others were home. At least, I think she said something along those lines. Lilia nodded and left to prepare for dinner.
By the time Aisha and Arus were done in the bath, Eris and the others had returned. When she saw how I looked, she frantically asked who had done this to me.
The way she asked reminded me of when I’d fought with Paul so many years ago. I tried to stay as even as I could as I explained things to her. She looked absolutely perplexed by it all. That said, she could tell how serious the situation was given my current state, so she didn’t say anything else.
I had Lily and Chris take a bath after the other two, then sent them to their room before returning to my chair, where I folded my arms and closed my eyes.
Aisha and Arus were next to one another. Aisha looked somewhat disgruntled but otherwise unmoved. Arus seemed anxious, serious, and kind of like he didn’t understand what was going on. His expression was hard to parse.
When I told them that we’d talk once Roxy came home, Aisha nodded.
“All right.”
Eventually, Roxy came home, and after sending Lara and Sieg off to take a bath, we were all present in the living room.
The family meeting began.
First, we needed to confirm what had actually happened. When I asked what they were up to, Aisha didn’t mince words. Arus was silent the entire time. He stared down at his hands, which were curled into fists on his lap.
According to Aisha, the two had indeed engaged in intercourse. She claimed it was “practice.”
“That’s right. Master Arus has come of age, you see. And as I am sure you are aware, Master, Master Arus is quite the little playboy. I heard that when he graduates from the magic university, he will be attending school in the Asura Kingdom, so I concluded that he would have numerous opportunities to engage in intercourse there. Since he is the eldest son, he will have to make an heir, so I decided to serve as his practice partner so that he does not fail when the time comes.”
Aisha was explaining things in a meek, polite tone. It was the cold, robotic, detached tone she used when she spoke to outsiders, and a far cry from how she usually spoke to me. Contrary to that tone, the word she used in her excuse was all too light and flippant: practice.
It was so casual that I was shocked yet again.
Aisha and Arus weren’t siblings, but they had been raised like siblings under the same roof. That was how I felt, anyway. In this world, this country, there were no laws against incest. There weren’t. Regardless, it couldn’t be right to engage in something like this so casually. I had to reprimand them. I wasn’t good at that kind of thing, but I had to. I needed to convince them that what they did was wrong and make them put an end to it.
“You can’t do that,” I said.
“And why not?” Aisha asked.
“Why?”What was I supposed to say?
The first thing that came to mind was Paul’s face. If Paul was here, what would he have said? Something like You can’t because you can’t? Would he have punched them? Or would he have turned pale in shock and been rendered speechless?
I was that last option. I had no words, but I knew this moment was important. Depending on how this conversation went, there could be no turning back. I needed to choose my words carefully. Yet I couldn’t figure out what to say.
“Aisha! Do you understand what you’ve done?!”
Lilia couldn’t handle me saying nothing and was the first to cry out angrily. She’d been in a fit of rage since the start of this.
“Yes, I do,” Aisha said. “Master Arus was suffering, so I decided to help him before he committed a grave mistake with another person.”
“That isn’t what I’m asking!”
“Mother, didn’t you once tell me to accept Master should he ever seek my body? Why is Master Rudeus fine but Master Arus is not?”
“Well…” Lilia was tongue-tied.
It was true that Lilia had once pushed Aisha to make moves on me. She’d stopped doing that over time, probably because I never showed any interest.
“That’s…because Master Rudeus didn’t wish for it.”
“In that case, did he ever want me to serve him in the first place?”
“No, but—”
“You might not understand this, Mother, but everything you’ve made me do has been for little more than your own self-satisfaction.”
Lilia was speechless. Her mouth opened and closed in her pale face. It’d been a long time since I’d seen her so shocked.
“I’m not trying to blame you for anything,” Aisha continued. “I was more than happy to serve him. What I did this time was out of my own concern for the Greyrat family. I am the same as you in that respect. Just because I did not do exactly what you wanted does not mean you have the right to criticize my actions.”
“Aisha… Is this your way of getting back at me?”
“I am trying to say this is my way of paying everyone back, so why would you come to that conclusion?”
Lilia clenched her teeth and hung her head. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. Was she frustrated? Was she sad? Both?
Meanwhile, Aisha looked entirely calm and collected. It was the same look I often saw on her face when the mercenary band negotiated with another party. It was the face she made when she was in full control of the conversation—when she knew exactly what questions and answers to expect—when she knew what people were going to say. It was a face that would have seemed all too reliable were it not for the current circumstances. Aisha’s composed face.
“Aisha,” I said.
“What is it, Master?”
Even when I spoke to her, Aisha’s composure didn’t crack for a single moment. She didn’t seem remotely nervous. Had she anticipated our conversation as well? If nothing else, she didn’t seem ashamed either. Did she truly think that she’d done nothing wrong?
“You shouldn’t do these kinds of things so…casually.”
“But of course. I am not treating it casually at all. I did my best because it was for Master Arus’s sake. Or is there some reason why I should not have?”
It was a cold question. As if she were inviting me to come up with a reason.
“Arus is family. Isn’t he like your little brother? It’d be like you and me doing it. That’s…bad, right?”
“You are wrong. To me, you are like a king, which makes Master Arus like a prince. Plus, I have never once been against sleeping with you, Master. It is true that we once discussed how my feelings for you are different, but had you ever sought my warmth, I would have complied.”
I didn’t know what to say. That hurt to hear. Was this always how she’d felt about me? Was I the only one that thought I was her big brother? Had she thought I was just her master? It was true that when we reunited in Sharia, she’d said she would serve me. After all this time, I’d imagined she didn’t feel that way anymore.
“Just to be clear, I do think of you all as my family,” Aisha said. “It is just, well…it is hard to explain, but you are also my master. You are my big brother and Master Arus is my nephew, but you are both people whom I serve.”
She spoke as if she knew exactly what I was thinking, and I was yet again rendered speechless. How was I supposed to respond? I knew I had to say something, but the words were nowhere to be found. It would be bad to just let her keep talking, but at the same time, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why what they’d done was bad.
Why shouldn’t they have done it? Why was I personally so shocked? Why did I hate it so much? Why did I make this such a big deal and hold a family meeting over it? Who did I want to blame for this? Who did I want to reprimand? What did I want to do? I didn’t know the answer to any of these questions.
I couldn’t imagine a scenario in which anything I said right now wouldn’t receive an articulate response from her. I didn’t need to use my Demon Eye of Foresight to know that. Was there anyone here who could speak for me? I glanced in Roxy’s direction, hoping for some help, but she looked so depressed that I felt guilty.
“If only… If only I’d watched over them properly…” I heard her whisper.
Ah, when Roxy got like this, she wasn’t going to be any help. She was never good when it came to issues concerning the heart. It was what it was.
What about Eris? No, she was in worse condition. She was glaring at Arus with an incredulous look on her face. If I sought her help, she’d spill blood. I didn’t want that.
Was Sylphie the right choice, then?
Just as the conversation reached its end, Aisha stopped speaking in her polite tone. “Well, I guess it is what it is, huh? I did this for Arus and the Greyrat family, but you might be right that I did it a little too casually. I probably should’ve thought it through more. Like you said, Brother, I was careless. I’m sorry.”
The atmosphere in the room shifted to one of relief. As for who shifted that atmosphere, it went without saying: Aisha was wrapping things up. She was in control of the flow of the conversation and trying to put an end to this meeting. That was it. We’re done here. I messed up a little, but I regret what I did. And then at the end, she’d say, I won’t do it again.
But I knew she wouldn’t mean it. They had been doing this in secret, after all. If she’d really slept with Arus for his and the Greyrat family’s sake, she would’ve been more open about it. Maybe not “open,” but she would have told someone. She would have gotten permission to give him sexual education.
In other words, she’d known from the start that what she was doing was wrong. Even if she promised not to do this again, she most likely would. Next time, she’d be careful not to get caught by anyone. Knowing Aisha, she could pull it off.
“I promise not to sleep with Arus any—”
“Actually, could I ask you to sleep with Sieg too?”
It was Sylphie who cut Aisha off. She’d been quiet since this meeting started, keeping her sharp gaze locked on my little sister the whole time. It was a look she rarely gave anyone in our family. Now, she was speaking up.
“What?” Aisha asked.
“If you’re willing to practice with Arus, I thought I’d ask you to take care of Sieg as well.”
What was she saying? There was no way in the world that that was okay! I instinctively looked at Sylphie, who gave me a signal with her eyes. Like she was telling me to leave this to her.
That’s what I wanted to believe.
“Um, Sieg is…still a little young, I think,” Aisha said.
“Not at all,” Sylphie said. “Sieg’s going to grow up quickly, so the sooner he gets some practice in, the better. Heck, could you start tonight? Or do you not want to?”
“It’s not…that I don’t want to…”
“Oh, and could you practice with Clive too? He’s not our son, but he’s basically family.”
Cold sweat beaded on Aisha’s forehead at Sylphie’s insane requests. Her eyes darted all over the place until they landed on Arus for a single moment.
He was still holding his head low in silence, but once he noticed Aisha looking at him, he raised up a little. Their eyes met. His concerned expression seemed to be asking, Are you gonna be okay? What should I do?
That was enough for Aisha to steel her resolve. She faced Sylphie and smiled brightly.
“All right, sure. I’ll show Sieg and Clive the ropes.”
The moment Aisha said this, there was a clattering sound as someone kicked their chair back and stood to their feet.
“How dare you!”
It was Eris. Throughout the entire meeting, she’d sat with her arms folded, lips tightly sealed, and her eyes closed. But her eyes were wide open now, and she approached Aisha with her hands squeezed into tight fists. She raised one of those fists into the air.
Aisha instinctively covered her face with her hands.
“Argh!”
But she wasn’t the one who got a fist to her face. Arus, who’d been sitting next to her with his head down, went flying into the wall along with the chair he’d been on. He stared at his mother in shock, blood flowing from his nose.
“How dare you make Aisha go this far!”
“But she told me to leave it to her…”
“Don’t you ‘but’ me!” Eris once again slammed her fist into Arus. He smashed against the floor and groaned in pain.
“I didn’t raise you to be like this!” She was furious as she approached her fallen son. “I taught you to protect! When did I teach you to abandon someone like this?! You should be ashamed of yourself!”
“Please stop, Eris!”
Aisha moved between the pair and wrapped her arms around Arus, protecting him.
“Out of the way, Aisha! I’m going to beat his rotten attitude out of him!”
It seemed like Eris was about to beat both Aisha and Arus to death at this point. I panicked and ran to hold Eris back from behind.
“Eris, stop! Calm down!”
“How can I calm down?! It’s totally clear now!” she roared.
“What is?!” I couldn’t follow her. I was a little bitter that Eris seemed to get something that I didn’t, but I just couldn’t understand. It was Sylphie who provided me with the answer.
“In other words, everything we just saw was a performance on Aisha’s part.”
Sylphie stood up and walked toward us. She raised her hand toward Eris, soothing her. Sylphie then knelt in front of Aisha and Arus and spoke to them in a gentle voice.
“Aisha, you don’t want to sleep with Sieg or Clive, right?”
Aisha didn’t reply. She simply embraced Arus in her arms, a discontent expression on her face. It was like everything we’d seen—how talkative she’d been—had been a lie.
“You love Arus and ended up together as a matter of course, right?”
Aisha remained silent.
“But you knew that if you came out and said you loved him, Lilia would object, so you kept it a secret, right?”
Still, Aisha said nothing.
“Or did you just want to try it out? You’re only interested in the sex?”
“That’s not it!” It was Arus who reacted to Sylphie, not Aisha. He spoke with a desperate expression on his face as blood dripped from his nose. “That’s not it at all! When I told Aisha I love her and wanted to marry her, she turned me down at first. But I kept telling her how much I loved her, and eventually she gave in and agreed to sleep with me just once, even though she knew it was bad. She slept with me because I kept nagging her. I… I’m the one who messed up!”
After hearing that, Sylphie turned back to Aisha. “Hey, Aisha? Can you tell me the truth?”
Aisha looked down after Sylphie said that, but then she gritted her teeth and raised her head.
“It’s true, okay?! I love Arus!”
“Since when?”
Who was it that posed the question? I got the feeling it came from my mouth, or maybe it was Lilia. It might’ve been Roxy.
“Since he was born, since the first time I saw him, I just knew he was special to me! As he grew up, that feeling got stronger and stronger. I tried to hold myself back, okay?! I mean, this is Arus we’re talking about! We’re over ten years apart… I know that! He’s supposed to be like my little brother, so feeling this way about him is weird. And he’s the eldest son, the heir! He’s gotta get married to a girl from a good family and help secure stability for the Greyrat family. I know all of that, but he told me he loves me!”
We’d finally heard the whole story of what’d transpired. They were in love, like any couple. The only difference was that they were aunt and nephew.
I’d never tried to have that kind of relationship with Aisha. Part of it was I simply never felt that kind of attraction to her. She was my little sister. She wasn’t one of my wives. I drew that line in the sand and never crossed it. Aisha must’ve decided engaging in that kind of relationship within the family was off limits because of my behavior.
But she loved Arus. She’d watched over him and fallen in love.
I had no idea how she felt when she’d first crossed the line. Maybe she did it with him truly believing it’d be only one time, but Arus couldn’t hold himself back after that. As a guy, I totally understood. That’s just how it was at first.
Aisha, finding herself being pursued so passionately, couldn’t say no. After all, she wanted to be with him too. They wanted to be together.
As a result, they’d ended up having sex every day in secret.
“This isn’t like you at all, Aisha,” Roxy muttered.
Aisha suddenly turned toward Roxy and yelled. “Then what was I supposed to do?! I mean, I love him! There’s no changing that! I want to do everything and anything I can for him! I… I… I love him…”
Aisha’s words grew quieter the longer she continued. She was crying while holding Arus in her arms.
Seeing them like this reminded me of when Roxy and I slept together on the Begaritt Continent.
“No, I understand how you feel,” Roxy said.
It wasn’t just Arus. Aisha also couldn’t control herself. It was rare for her to act like that.
Sex is a part of who we are as humans. Even if you know it’s a bad idea, there are times when you can’t hold yourself back.
“Brother.” Aisha wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at me, her voice calm now. “I really am sorry about how things transpired, but I love Arus, and he loves me. I don’t mind if we have to wait until he comes of age. Please let us get married.”
Her serious voice caused everyone in the room to go silent.
Sylphie turned around to look at me with a gentle expression on her face. “What are you going to do, Rudy?”
I was the one who had to make the call?
Well, it made sense. I was the one who’d called for this meeting, after all. But was it really my place to decide? I looked around. The vibe in the room had shifted. People seemed to feel like it was fine now. It wasn’t good that they’d slept together in secret. Even if it wasn’t the kind of thing you wanted to broadcast to people, there must’ve been a better way to reveal it, like laying the groundwork with the family before things came out in the open.
Arus and Aisha loved each other. Sure, Arus was still young, but it didn’t seem like he was forced into being with her. Why not allow it? Was there really any need for me to attack them further? That was the feeling in the room.
Objectively speaking, I couldn’t come up with many reasons why it was so bad.
Then what was this feeling? The disgust bubbling up from deep inside of me?
“No. I can’t allow it.”
“Huh?” Sylphie raised her voice in confusion.
What, did I say something odd?
No, think about this clearly.
Aisha was one thing. Arus had pursued her, and she’d done the deed with him despite knowing it was a bad idea. That was her choice. Leaving aside whether it was a good or bad one, she’d made the decision to do this. When things went badly, she’d tried to protect him.
But what about Arus? Was this really his decision? It was common for men to think with the lower half of their body. When they let their junk control them, they typically did things without thinking about the aftermath. Thinking with your balls, so to speak.
When I first married Sylphie, I’d legit only ever thought about sex. Looking back on it now, part of the reason I’d married her was because I didn’t want her to get away. I didn’t like to admit that, but it was true.
What if Arus didn’t actually love Aisha but had just imprinted on her? In other words, what if he just wanted to have sex? It might just be temporary lust, not love.
I wasn’t going to come out and say that was wrong. I had no right to say it was bad to live according to your natural human instincts. It might have started as temporary lust, but over time, it could develop into something real.
However, was Arus really capable of making good or bad decisions at his age? Could he really make that call?
This wasn’t even specifically about his age. Eris and I had first slept together when we were around his age. Well, in my case, I’d been over forty if you counted my previous life, but we would leave that aside for now.
Arus had barely said anything during the family meeting and had left almost everything in Aisha’s hands. If things had proceeded the way she wanted, we might have concluded that she was at fault for everything. Arus didn’t object. He left everything to Aisha, let her be the villain, and tried to escape from punishment. That was why Eris was so furious.
You could argue that he’d simply followed Aisha’s directions, but that wasn’t good either. This wasn’t a situation where there was only one person in the wrong. You could also argue Aisha was in the wrong because she was the older of the two and capable of making better decisions. However, as far as I was concerned, they were both responsible for their own actions.
Arus should’ve spoken up instead of letting Aisha cover for them. They both should have pushed back against me. He should’ve thought with his own head, no matter how clumsily it might’ve turned out. There was no way I could accept their relationship when he couldn’t do that much.
I studied Arus. He looked back at me with a terrified expression on his face. It felt like he’d completely shrunk into himself after Eris punched him, like he had no intention of trying to get through to me and out of this situation.
Seeing him like this made me wonder if Aisha had been cleaning up after him every time he messed up. Let’s say I told them, If you both love each other, it is what it is. But no marriage until Arus is of age. Would Arus grow from that? Aisha couldn’t control Arus this time. Hell, to my surprise, she couldn’t control herself. What about next time?
She’d been practically attached to Arus since he’d been born. I’d left his education in her hands and assumed she’d never teach him anything she wasn’t supposed to. However, when it came to things she didn’t know about herself, she had no way of educating him. She had to do some learning of her own.
Considering her past actions, she’d probably learn and grow from this. I highly doubted that Arus would.
Because he didn’t say or do anything earlier. Yeah, this isn’t gonna work. I need to separate them for now.
That’s why I was against this.
Honestly, though, that wasn’t why I objected. It was one reason, but it wasn’t the reason. Both Aisha and Arus could learn to do better as they went along. They could do that together. That’s why my resistance, my repulsion couldn’t be explained away by any of that. But then what was it? I didn’t know. Even so, I felt like I had to come to a decision here, at least for now.
“It’s a little early, but I’m going to have you attend the academy in Asura Kingdom. You’ll live in the dorms,” I said.
After struggling to figure out what was best, that was the conclusion I reached. It was almost the same exact one that Paul had come up with when he saw Sylphie and me together.
“What?! You’re ripping us apart?” Aisha asked, shocked.
“Exactly. Arus isn’t an adult yet, and I think he’s too dependent on you. It’s best to separate you two for now, so he can learn to be more independent.”
“Wait. Hold on, Brother. I know what we did wasn’t right, but I promise I’ll be more careful from now on. I’ll make sure I do what’s best for him. I know he’s learned from what happened. He gets it after his mom punched him. Please—”
“No means no,” I said.
“But why?! At least tell me why! Convince me!”
“Because I don’t want you two together.”
“I’m asking you why you feel that way! Because you want to make Arus marry Lady Ariel’s daughter? Because I’m in the way?!”
“No.” Where was that even coming from? It was true that Ariel had approached me briefly with something along those lines, but I never once gave her a favorable response.
“Then is it because I’m your property? Even though you never once treated me that way before?!”
“No. I’ve never thought of you like that.”
“Then why?! Give me a real reason! If you can convince me, I promise I’ll give up! Make me stop!” Aisha said desperately.
“Even I don’t know why! But no means no!” I said.
Aisha bit her bottom lip. It was rare for her to glare at me the way she was right now. In fact, I don’t think she’d ever looked at me like this before. It wasn’t scary. If anything, she just looked sad.
I knew how badly I was failing to express myself to her, but what else could I say? I had no way to explain the resistance I had to their relationship. Even saying it aloud did nothing to get rid of the gross feeling I had inside of me. It just felt wrong. Did I need a reason for the feeling? Did I even have one?
Even if I needed a reason, I didn’t care. I couldn’t put it into words, but I wouldn’t back down.
“No, Aisha,” I said as calmly as I could.
I was basically using my authority to force my opinion on her. There was no way she’d accept it.
Aisha stared at me in shock. She gasped for air a few times, and as she observed my face, the color drained from hers.
Abruptly, however, she started breathing again, and her shoulders relaxed. She took a calm, steady breath.
Had I been wrong?
“Right. When you put it like that, Arus skipped school today, and he’s had nothing but sex on the mind recently. It’d be bad for him to be around me,” she said.
I’d thought I couldn’t convince her, but it seemed I’d gotten through to her.
“I appreciate your understanding.”
“I get it, Brother.”
With that, our family meeting came to an end.
***
I called the children down from the second floor. We had dinner, then split up again. Sylphie, Roxy, Eris, and I decided to talk together in the living room.
Sylphie had noticed what was happening a few years ago. She often did chores with Aisha around the house, so she’d realized that Aisha and Arus had feelings for one another. She’d figured that this would eventually come to pass.
Eris was similar, except… Rather than noticing their specific relationship, she’d noticed that Arus had been a little restless as of late, so she’d thought that he’d found someone he had feelings for. She never imagined it would be Aisha. What concerned her most was that Arus had hidden behind Aisha throughout the entire family meeting.
Roxy had not suspected any of this, which weighed on her heavily. She proposed accompanying Arus to Asura, where she could continue to instruct him while looking out for him from the shadows. I could tell how strongly she felt about this, so I agreed. Roxy would ensure Arus didn’t become dependent on her.
I also told my wives about how I felt about Aisha and Arus’s future. I was going to have him drop out of the magic university and attend the royal academy in Asura, where he would live life far away from Aisha’s protection. I wanted him to think and act on his own so he could deal with the consequences of his choices as much as possible. By doing that, he could escape his reliance on Aisha. He’d come of age by the time he returned home.
If he still loved Aisha at that point, if he’d thought about his future and wanted to be with her, if all of this wasn’t just some fit of passion, then I would allow their marriage.
Honestly, I still was highly resistant to the idea. It repulsed me. Even now, I thought I was going to vomit. But it wasn’t for me to decide. They were my blood relatives, and I was Arus’s guardian, yes. That didn’t mean they belonged to me. Aisha in particular was an adult who could strike out on her own. Once Arus came of age, he’d be old enough to step away from my protection too.
Given the threat of the Man God, there was a part of me that wanted to control their lives. Nevertheless, it wasn’t right for me to dictate their futures.
“Mm, okay. That’s a very Rudy answer, I think.”
“If you say so, it’s fine.”
“All right. I understand.”
My three wives nodded. They didn’t have the same repulsion to the idea that I did, it seemed. Eris was against all of this, but that was because she felt Arus was acting pathetic.
In this world, marriage between blood-related relatives was commonplace, especially among Asuran nobility, and I’d heard some demon tribes did it as well. Maybe that was why none of them were that resistant to the idea. I felt like the odd one out. I’d gotten used to most of the ways of this world, but at the end of the day, I was still from somewhere else. No matter how many years went by, there were some feelings that hadn’t left me. It wasn’t like I cared that much about incest as a taboo in my original world, though.
“They’re like we used to be,” Sylphie said.
“You think…?”
I tilted my head. I personally felt our relationship was very different from Arus and Aisha’s, but…
No, that wasn’t what she meant. She was talking about how my father split us apart. If Paul hadn’t separated us that day, our lives would’ve been very different. I met Eris, and I was separated from Sylphie by both distance and time. Ultimately, I ended up with both of them, but had the Displacement Incident never happened, I might’ve gotten married to Eris alone. I didn’t know if Arus was going to meet his own Eris at the royal academy, but either way, things like the Displacement Incident didn’t happen every day.
Some time would do wonders to get them both to cool their heads, though I didn’t know if that’d actually be a good thing. I wanted to believe that this was just a one-time burst of passion. That was the best-case scenario.
“I have to say, it wasn’t very like you to just say no without giving an explanation or talking things out,” Sylphie continued.
“Yeah,” I said after a pause.
“If you have a proper reason, please tell them before you split them apart. It’s pretty painful being pulled away from someone you love without ever being told why.”
Sylphie’s tone was just a little critical. She might have intended on allowing their relationship from the start. Unlike me, she seemed ready for this. She showed no signs of reluctance.
“All right,” I said.
Maybe I had been too forceful about this. In the end, pulling Sylphie and me apart had worked out for both of us, but that didn’t mean it was right to force the same situation on Aisha and Arus. They were their own people.
Regardless of how willing they seemed to be to obey me, that didn’t mean I could do whatever I wanted with them. What was the right answer?
What should I do?
Our conversation came to a close while I thought about it.
We returned to our room and went to bed.
***
The next day Aisha and Arus had vanished, leaving only a single note behind: We’re going to be together.
They had eloped.
Chapter 4: Youth
Chapter 4:
Youth
I REMEMBER HEARING Lilia’s angry voice echo throughout the house that night. Maybe Dad and the others couldn’t hear her from the living room, but we could hear her just fine. Lilia was yelling at Aisha.
“Why did you do such a thing?! What would the deceased master think?! It is not our place to seduce Master Rudeus’s son!”
I could hear her despondent voice from a room a little ways away. It honestly hurt my heart. I should’ve been there getting chewed out with Aisha, but she’d told me, “I’ll be fine,” so I’d waited in the room. I hate to say it, but I was still acting passively, even after what Red Mama said to me.
No, it was less that I was passive and more that I believed in Aisha that much. At the time, she had the ability to solve problems left and right, more than I ever could. Even now, that’s true. Everything’s fine if I let her handle it. She wraps everything up perfectly. That’s the kind of woman Aisha is—really, really, incredible.
“Hey, Arus… Do you really think you’re a match for Aisha?”
When my big sister, Lara, asked me that, I agreed with her.
I wasn’t.
I really had left everything in her hands. Whenever I was in a pinch, I relied on her. And sure, Aisha could do anything, but that didn’t mean it was okay for me to push everything on her.
Red Mama had said I should be ashamed of myself, and I knew what she meant. At the time, I couldn’t properly articulate it, but I thought the same.
“I also think you’re being weird, Arus.”
“Sieg…”
“I don’t really get this stuff yet, but you love Aisha, right? You both did something bad, so why is Aisha the only one getting yelled at?”
When my little brother said that, I thought he was probably right. But I still thought to myself that Aisha said she’d be fine on her own.
“It’s a good thing Lucie isn’t here. She would’ve exploded. Probably beat you up.”
“Yeah,” I admitted.
I was still reluctant and didn’t know what to say to my big sister and little brother who were looking at me so coldly. I was aware that I was acting strangely. There was no way it was okay to make the girl I loved handle every problem by herself. I hadn’t learned everything from Aisha.
I knew that wasn’t the type of man I wanted to be.
“Arus, now’s the time to man up,” Lara said.
“Yeah, Arus. You can do it!” Sieg added.
“But how am I supposed to man up?” I asked.
Lara and Sieg, who were always close to one another, exchanged looks that said, Does he seriously not know?
But how could I? I was an idiot, and I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
Still, I knew I couldn’t just sit there regretting how I’d acted during the family meeting. I needed to reflect on my actions and move forward without being tied down by the past. That was my family’s philosophy.
“Maybe you should defeat Dad,” Lara said.
“What?” Sieg looked stunned by Lara’s suggestion.
“I was listening in on the meeting. As far as I can tell, the only ones who disagreed were Dad and Grandma. White Mama was mad that Aisha lied, and Red Mama was mad that you were being a chicken, but they didn’t actually seem against you two. I don’t think Grandma would’ve said no if Dad didn’t get angry. After all, she always seemed so happy that you two got along so well. In other words, everything’ll turn out fine if you beat Dad! I’m sure Red Mama would say the same.”
She used her typical monotone voice as she spoke, but she rarely said much because it was a pain to get involved, so I could tell she was really trying to help me—though her suggestion was anything but realistic.
“If I beat Dad? There’s no way I could win,” I said.
“You can do it if you attack him in his sleep,” Lara countered.
My dad was strong, but he was a magician and wasn’t on guard against us, so she was probably right. He’d be vulnerable while he slept. However, I had the feeling I shouldn’t try it anyway. It was hard to believe that Red Mama would accept those results.
“I-I think that’s a bad idea. Even if I beat him, our moms are still here.”
“Good point,” Lara said after a pause. That was enough to get her to back down. She must’ve realized it wasn’t exactly a genius plan.
“And what exactly would come after beating Dad?” I asked.
“If he dies, you’ll be able to say you’re the head of the family and let Aisha do whatever she wants,” Lara said.
“Dies? Um, isn’t that a little much?”
“Totally. Just a joke.”
Lara’s joke was hardly funny, but as far as Red Mama was concerned, I’d probably have to show I had the guts to go that far. Could I go up to my dad and request his little sister formally instead? That also didn’t feel quite right, though White Mama might have been okay with it if I talked to her.
Yeah, that was the right move. I needed to sit down with her and explain that I loved Aisha and wanted to marry her in the future. If I talked to Blue Mama as well, she would definitely tell me why Dad was so against it and how to solve this.
It felt like I had a plan for what to do next. I wasn’t great at conversation, but I felt like I’d be able to get through to them.
Lilia’s angry voice coming from outside the window faded, and I heard the sound of a door closing shut.
“Ah, she’s done yelling,” Lara said.
“I’m going,” I said decisively.
“Make sure not to get spotted.”
I nodded, then moved quietly to avoid being seen by my parents.
I grabbed Aisha’s hand while she was returning to her room.
“Aisha.”
“Ah, Arus!”
You shouldn’t be here. You just got yelled at, you know? If they see you here, you’re gonna get in trouble again, I imagined her saying. She would poke the tip of my nose with a smile on her face before telling me how we messed up and proposing what we could do going forward. For a brief moment, I was certain that was what she’d do.
But that wasn’t what happened.
“I’m sorry. I messed up,” she said.
“U-um,” I said uncertainly.
Aisha was worn out. Her expression was a mix of resignation, disappointment, and frustration. She tried to smile like usual but couldn’t manage it.
“We’re going to be separated,” I said.
I knew this day would come eventually, like how Lucie had left for the royal academy. Once I graduated from the Ranoa University of Magic, I was going to leave home. That had long since been set in stone.
Had Aisha been planning on coming along with me? I didn’t know what she wanted to do, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d been making preparations toward that. I mean, Aisha was more than capable of it.
She stood there for a moment, silent.
“Arus,” she muttered. “Let’s run away together. Let’s leave here and go somewhere else.” I’d never seen her make an expression like that. She looked like she was about to cry. Like she knew we couldn’t do it, but she said it anyway.
“Hah, just kidd—”
“Let’s go.” I cut her off before she could finish saying this was all just some joke. It was reflexive on my part. Everything I’d imagined for us up to this moment was long gone.
“If you want to do this, I’ll come with you, Aisha,” I said. “I’ll do everything in my power to help you with whatever you want. Let’s stick together. I love you, so I don’t want to be apart from you.”
Aisha looked flabbergasted for a few seconds.
“Wow,” she eventually said in a flat voice.
“I’m nowhere near strong enough, and I might not be very useful, but I promise I’ll protect you,” I said, taking her hand in mine.
Aisha’s cheeks turned red, and she weakly gripped my hand back.
I have no clue what she was thinking in this moment. I wasn’t thinking much myself. But even someone as thickheaded as me could tell Aisha wanted to be with me. She was the type of person who normally ignored her own feelings and stuck to what was the most effective course of action. For the first time I could recall, she’d ignored that and spoken from her heart. I wanted to make her wish come true.
“Then, let’s go,” she agreed.
That was how we decided to leave home.
***
It didn’t take long to get our things together. Aisha already had emergency kits ready. There was no telling when my dad’s enemies might try to attack us, so she had made these so we could get away at any time. We grabbed two kits, then Aisha thought for a second before having me take a third. Our bags weren’t very heavy because the emergency kits had the bare minimum of what we’d need.
“Do you think this will be enough?” I asked.
“No worries! We’ll get whatever else we need while we’re on the road,” she said with a smile.
We quietly left out of the back of the house. Leo didn’t bark. Byt was quiet too. Everyone must have been asleep, because the entire house was still.
Then, I noticed Lara and Sieg were watching us from the window. When we locked eyes, I nodded at them. They waved at me, but I didn’t return the gesture. I wasn’t concerned about never coming back. I figured I’d see Lara again out in the world, though I didn’t know about Sieg.
It occurred to me I’d never see my mothers again either.
“Running away, are we?”
Yet after walking only a few steps out of the house, I heard someone’s familiar voice from behind me. A sleepy yet dignified voice that I heard both at home and at school. It was Blue Mama—Roxy M. Greyrat.
We stopped in our tracks and turned around. I stepped in front of Aisha. At this distance, I could beat Blue Mama. With that in mind, I put my hand over the sword at my hip, only to realize that my hand was trembling.
“Arus, please. You don’t have to,” Aisha said. I pulled my hand away from my weapon.
That one moment was enough to soak my forehead with sweat, so I wiped away the moisture with my sleeve.
Blue Mama had watched over me since the beginning. If there was anything I didn’t understand at school, she would always explain it to me kindly. Whenever I fought with my friends, she came with me to apologize. On days when my dad, Red Mama, White Mama, Aisha, and Lilia didn’t go out, she’d invite me to buy groceries or fish with her. She was always cool, collected, wise, and considerate whenever I was having a hard time.
Upon remembering what I was about to do, I felt like I was on the verge of tears. Was this really okay? Was I making the right choice? Nobody was there to answer the questions I was asking myself, so all I could do was stand there.
“I didn’t think you’d be the one to find us, Roxy,” Aisha said.
“I was shocked that I hadn’t noticed what you two were doing earlier. I wasn’t sure whether I should call out to you or not.”
Blue Mama didn’t scold us. She wasn’t angry, either. She was as calm as she always was.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I won’t say. If I do, you guys will just bring us back,” Aisha answered.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yup. We’ll be able to get by on our own.”
“I suggest not doing the whole adventurer thing. It’s not particularly profitable.”
“No worries,” Aisha said confidently. “We’re not going to do anything that dangerous. Since I’ve been running Ruquag’s Mercenary Band, I’ve got money. That will be enough to get by.”
“Rudy is going to be worried. He’s going to go looking for you.”
“He might find us but… Who knows? He can be a bit careless at times.”
“That may be true, but if he asks Sir Orsted or Lord Perugius for help, he’ll probably be able to find you.”
“True. But we’re still leaving.”
“Is that so?” Blue Mama let out a big sigh. “Aisha.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to lay some groundwork, so you guys don’t get found. But if you ever feel like you can’t keep going, get in touch with me. I don’t care how.”
“Okay…I will. Thanks, Roxy.”
Aisha turned and started walking away. I followed behind her while looking at Blue Mama, who was smiling. She seemed to have no intention of stopping us—and I couldn’t handle that.
“Um, Blue Mama? Aren’t you gonna stop us?” I asked.
“No. When I was about your age, I also left home. That’s what led me to where I am today.”
“You did?”
“I left when I was young, became an adventurer, then ended up in Ranoa. I haven’t been home in over twenty years. But here I am, nonetheless. It’ll be fine. You can learn a lot when you’re out there in the world. Try to think with your own head and not rely on Aisha for everything. Good luck,” Blue Mama said. She gently patted me on the head.
“Thanks,” I said quietly.
Blue Mama was small, basically the same height as me, but this moment really hammered home how much of an adult she was. I recalled that I’d been about to draw my sword on this very woman, and tears formed in the corners of my eyes.
“Take care,” she said.
With Blue Mama behind us, we set out on our journey.
Chapter 5: Search
Chapter 5:
Search
THE PAST FOLLOWS ME wherever I go. I thought I’d reflected on my actions, but in the end, I suppose I hadn’t.
No. I did, and I still do. But when it came to the things I didn’t recognize as failings right away, I could be dense. This time around, it turned out that I’d averted my gaze from what actually mattered.
How often have I thought I needed to reflect more? This was another such moment. It was too late to regret my behavior and wonder what would’ve happened if I’d noticed sooner.
Aisha and Arus were gone.
—Passage from TheBook of Rudeus, Volume 29
***
The moment I saw the letter, I rushed out of the house in a panic. Even if I found Arus and Aisha, I wasn’t suddenly going to convince them I was right, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t go looking for them. I focused on searching places around the town that they might have gone—places that Aisha might have, in particular.
They were nowhere to be found. I searched for the whole day but didn’t find them.
I went to the Ruquag’s Mercenary Band HQ, Cliff’s former residence, the magic university, and all the places where there were mercenary band storehouses. The cafe Aisha went to often. The clothing boutiques. The fabric stores. The general stores. The wholesalers. I even went to Orsted’s office, though he wasn’t present. No matter where I looked, I couldn’t find them. It seemed to me like they’d left town.
Well, there were sightings. They left from the town gate early in the morning, or they boarded a horse bus early in the morning, or they borrowed horses from the stable and left early in the morning. There were a number of other similar sightings, but they all contradicted each other in some way. Had they actually left town, or was that false information covering that they were still in town? I had no idea. I imagined Aisha was behind the mix of info; she was fully capable of doing something like this.
But there was so much—too much for her to have spread on her own. Who had helped her? Who could she use without question?
There was only one answer: the mercenary band.
As soon as I realized this, I doubled back to HQ. I was going to question Linia and Pursena.
“The first rule of Ruquag’s Mercenary Band!”
“Always greet the bosses! Make sure you bend your waist and bow your head!”
“The second rule of Ruquag’s Mercenary Band!”
“Straighten your back and speak clearly!”
“The third rule of Ruquag’s Mercenary Band!”
“Always show respect to your client!”
By the time I got back, Linia and Pursena had the members of the mercenary band lined up in the open square and were acting like big shots.
“You better nyat forget any of that!”
“Burn it into your muscle memory!”
Or rather, they were making the members recite the band’s precepts. It was a lot like what you saw at exploitative companies in my old world.
Aisha probably made them recite these. Actually, she’d never make them do something so pointless! I bet these two were doing it on their own.
“Linia, Pursena, can I talk to you for a sec?” I asked.
“Meow? You’re back, Boss? Like I told you earlier, the advisor hasn’t come in yet,” Linia said.
“I was hoping to hear about that in more detail.”
“All right. Everyone, we’re done here. Make sure you work hard today!”
I watched the members of the mercenary band leave out of the corner of my eye, then accompanied the pair to the executive office. The room was fitted with an expensive-looking table and chairs, and there were a number of feel-good, cutesy animal decorations scattered around. There was also a trophy of a buff monster and a giant fish model, as well as a magic fridge I’d given them that was good for storing meat. The room had a mix of things Linia, Pursena, and Aisha liked.
Indeed, despite how restrained she was, Aisha loved cute things. She didn’t have the sense to make her own works of art, but she was good at picking them out.
I sat Linia and Pursena down and questioned them. “Arus and Aisha have eloped. Have they told you anything?”
“W-we don’t know anything,” Linia said, and then she started whistling.
“Yeah. We weren’t told a thing! I didn’t get any meat or nothing.” Pursena dropped a chunk of meat she’d been holding as her eyes darted all over the place.
They definitely knew something.
“You know where they went, don’t you? Tell me. Right now,” I demanded, with the scariest look I could manage.
They clung to each other in fear, shaking their heads at me.
“We don’t knyow where they went!” Linia cried.
“We really don’t!” Pursena insisted.
“They just came to the office early this morning and told us to spread some info around, mreow!”
“Please believe us! We don’t have any proof we’re not lying, but…”
They gave up the goods right away.
No proof, huh?
In other words, they didn’t know what info they’d been given was true and what was false. Aisha would never have made herself easily trackable in such a boneheaded way.
For now, what I had was Linia’s and Pursena’s word. Aisha had come here. She could use the mercenary band as she wished, so she’d come here in the early hours of the day, had them spread false info around town, then picked a route and left. Or she didn’t pick any of those and left in a completely different direction. That was the sort of trick someone as smart as Aisha would pull.
That probably wasn’t the extent of her plan. If I followed any of these leads, she’d almost certainly have second and third traps set for me.
Did she really think it was pointless talking to me now? Was the family meeting enough for her to think that, or had she felt like I was a lost cause before that happened?
The strength drained from my body.
“Okay, I believe you two. In return, I want you to help me look for Aisha.”
Was asking the mercenary band for help the right move? Wasn’t it possible they’d say they were looking but only pretend? What if there were Aisha sympathizers in the band? That was definitely possible. It wasn’t uncommon to think that the request you made would help, only for it to end up being a net negative, but I was grasping at straws.
Linia and Pursena looked reluctant.
“Um, we’d really appreciate it if you didn’t nyask that, Boss,” Linia said. “The advisor made sure to really hammer home who we should side with if something like this ever happened.”
“If word got out about that one thing, I’d lose all my authority. I’d end up homeless and become a stray dog,” Pursena added.
Apparently, Aisha had dirt on both of them.
“There are a bunch of people in the mercenary band who wouldn’t be happy making an enemy of the advisor.”
“She’s got dirt on everyone.”
It wasn’t just them, huh? Most of the people here at HQ were essentially at Aisha’s mercy, which meant these two were leaders in name only.
“I’m not going to do anything bad to Aisha. I just want to talk to her,” I assured them.
“But, mreow…” Linia murmured.
“I don’t know what I’m going to say, but…” I paused. “Wouldn’t it be way too sad if I never saw her again?”
It was weird for me to say, but just thinking about potentially never seeing Aisha or Arus again made my heart feel like it was about to be torn apart.
I just wanted to talk to them—to say what was in my heart. Even if, at this point, things would probably go down like they had yesterday.
Maybe that’s why Aisha doesn’t want to talk to me.
“Please,” I said, prompting Linia to give Pursena a look.
Pursena still looked reluctant, but her ears drooped down, and she nodded slightly. Linia cleared her throat once.
“All right, mreow. If the advisor is really trying to get away, I doubt we’re gonna be of much help, but we’ll do what we can.”
“Are you sure?”
“When we were enslaved, we really thought we’d never see our families again, so I get where you’re coming from, Boss.”
Right. Had they already paid back all their debt from back then? I’d left that for Aisha to deal with, so I didn’t actually know. If there was still some left, I was going to wipe their slates clean.
“I really appreciate this,” I said before I left.
***
The mercenary band was useful in many ways, but they wouldn’t be particularly helpful in finding Aisha. With that in mind, I decided to borrow the strength of other organizations.
First was the Ranoa University of Magic, then the Magicians’ Guild. Both organizations held a lot of power in the Magic City of Sharia.
If the pair not being in the city was just a misdirect, these organizations would be a huge help. If they put up even a single notice in the university, the students might feed us info.
“Ah, right. I haven’t checked Zanoba’s place yet,” I said to myself.
The Zanoba Store was originally a small shop we’d opened up in order to sell the Ruijerd picture books, but a few years had passed since then. Thanks to Zanoba and Julie’s hard work, they’d expanded its scope recently. They had a large-scale workshop in the Asura Kingdom, and they were setting up branches in other countries.
The mercenary band served as security for the shop, but it was a place where Aisha rarely went. On the flip side, I was there all the time. That’s why I thought it unlikely that she’d head there. Then again, maybe that was exactly why she might go. I found it hard to believe Aisha would do something so simple, but I decided to check just to cross it off the list for sure.
First, I was going to explain the situation to Zanoba, Julie, Ginger, and Anne—three people and one automaton. This wasn’t the sort of thing I really should’ve been sharing with folks outside of the family, but I just wanted Zanoba to lend me an ear.
“This is rather uncommon for you, Master. Telling someone no without explaining yourself or hearing them out,” Zanoba said after listening to everything I had to say.
“I mean, that wasn’t my intention. It’s just that Arus is still a kid, so…”
“Children quickly become adults. In just a few years, he will be of age. As someone who also grew up quickly, you should know this quite well.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said after a pause.
It was true that I met Zenoba when I was about Arus’s age, but I also had the years I’d experienced in the other world. It wasn’t the same. If anything, I took too long to grow up.
“And it’s because of your understanding that you didn’t try to convince them, right?” Zanoba asked.
Everyone grows up eventually.
There were plenty of instances where stuff wouldn’t work out at present, but if you truly reflected on your actions and worked hard, they’d get better. That was how I’d made my way through the world. I went from being a complete piece of shit to someone relatively presentable in comparison, even if I was still only a more presentable shithead. I still felt I was better now that I had been. That’s why, even though it varied from person to person, I thought everyone was capable of growth.
“Well, what should I have done?”
“Hmm. That’s a good question. You were probably too forceful. If you were going to tear them apart, then their only choice became eloping. Even I would have done so.”
“But if nothing changed, Arus was going to grow too dependent on Aisha.”
“I do not see the problem. He could still grow and learn in that situation, though it might have taken time.”
I didn’t know how to respond. He was right that Arus could probably grow, albeit slowly, despite his dependence on Aisha. There were ways in which he wouldn’t as well, but the people around him could help address those holes. I knew that. I couldn’t say for certain that he was totally dependent on Aisha in the first place; I just had an inkling.
Arus was Eris’s son, so he wasn’t the type to just roll over, but he was also my son. It was entirely possible that he could have gotten that kind of dependency from me.
What if he was independent, just out of my sight? From watching Arus up grow up, I’d seen that he was more than Aisha’s doll, even if he relied on her too much.
So why was I still so against this?
“What do you think, Julie?” I wanted to get a girl’s opinion on this, so I glanced over at her. She was pale as she looked down at the table. “What’s wrong?” I pressed.
“Um, I…” she murmured, at a loss for words.
“Julie, do you know something? Don’t tell me you’ve been keeping secrets from Lord Zanoba,” Ginger interjected. She’d been listening this whole time with a calm look on her face.
“I…saw.”
“Saw what?”
“I saw Aisha and Arus go to the basement early this morning.”
“Huh?!” I jumped to my feet in response. This was brand-new info. There was a teleportation circle in the basement of the Zanoba Workshop, which connected to a circle in our secret lab in the Fittoa region of the Asura Kingdom.
“Julie, why didn’t you say anything?” Zanoba asked.
“You and Master Rudeus sneak into the basement pretty often, so I thought it was normal…”
“Ngh!” Zenoba averted his gaze, perhaps thinking our sneaking around had led to us missing this opportunity to catch Aisha and Arus. But this was Aisha we were talking about. She would probably have used our knowledge against us. Conversely, had we not sneaked into the basement so often, she wouldn’t have used it as an escape route.
“You didn’t notice, Zanoba?” I asked.
“I stayed at the store last night.”
“I see.”
Aisha knew his schedule and had used that to her advantage. After all, the security for Zanoba’s store was the mercenary band.
“I suppose they must have gone to the Asura Kingdom,” I said.
“I wonder about that,” Zanoba mused. “In any event, I believe it would be wise to request help from Queen Ariel.”
“Will do,” I said. First, I needed to head over the Asura Kingdom and ask Ariel for her help.
Just as I was about to leave Zanoba’s place, he stopped me.
“Master. When one has disagreements with their little brothers, sisters, sons, or daughters, one must be willing to talk things out with them in earnest. Sometimes, you must listen to what those beneath you have to say and watch over them, even if you believe you are in the right.”
I didn’t respond.
“I know it is presumptuous of someone such as myself to say such a thing, but—”
“No, I appreciate it,” I said.
It was uncommon for Zanoba to give me a talk like this. The regret he had over his little brother, Pax, must have run deep. I could feel the weight behind his words.
Yeah, it was true that—Aisha aside—I really hadn’t heard Arus out. I’d assumed he had no intention of trying to get through to me. I treated him like a child and only ever spoke to Aisha. Even now, I was ignoring Arus. I’d only intended to talk to Aisha.
I should have asked what he wanted to do. I should have asked him to express his own thoughts. It wouldn’t have been an issue to wait to make a decision after hearing him. We hadn’t talked enough. If I’d been more careful, they probably wouldn’t have eloped.
If I find them, I need to make it a point to ask how Arus feels.
Okay.
***
The Asura Kingdom, where I suspected Aisha and Arus had run off to, was the largest country in the world. It went without saying that it had a massive population. The best place to hide a tree is in the forest, and it was easiest to hide in a place with lots of people.
On top of that, it was a country of abundance. As long as they didn’t throw their funds around, Arus and Aisha could live comfortably.
That being said, Asura was a military society. There were soldiers all across the nation. If we got them to memorize Aisha and Arus’s features, they might be able to find them. I was going to borrow the strength of Asura’s knights and soldiers.
With that in mind, I left to meet with Ariel. The sun had already set by the time I arrived at her castle. In fact, it was basically the middle of the night. However, when I said that it was urgent, I was immediately taken to Ariel’s bedchamber.
Ariel was in her sleepwear, and her hair was a mess. She must have been asleep before I arrived. When I first popped up, her face was tense, but then I explained what was going on.
She let out a sigh with an exhausted expression on her face. “Is that it?”
“What do you mean, ‘is that it’?”
“In other words, you had a fight with your little sister and your son, right?”
“Sure, but—”
“You had me worried when you said it was urgent, but…”
Ariel was a very busy queen. As of late, I couldn’t meet up with her without an appointment, but I’d been shown through right away this time around. Hearing it was urgent, she must have thought I had something to tell her about the Man-God or a problem involving our teleportation circle plan. In other words, she’d met with me on short notice because she trusted me, but I’d just brought my familial problems. Yeah. Probably a bad move.
“You’re right. I apologize,” I said sincerely.
“Please, you need not,” she said. “Depending on how one looks at things, you could say that Ruquag’s Mercenary Band’s advisor has abandoned her duties. She is an incredibly talented person. Her absence will have a negative effect on the organization going forward.”
“I really appreciate you saying that.”
“For now, I will order Sylvester to help in the search. That said, if Aisha really wants to hide her location, I suspect she will remain unfound.” Ariel smoothly wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to her lady-in-waiting.
Sylvester was one of the Seven Knights of Asura and the man in charge of her security. We’d started exchanging greetings since we’d been bumping into each other more as of late, but I’d never really sat down and had a conversation with him. I didn’t know what sort of person he was.
“You have my gratitude,” I told Ariel.
For now, Asura was taken care of. Was there anything else I could do? I tried to figure out where to go next.
“The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Ariel muttered under her breath.
I paused. “Excuse me?”
“Refusing to follow the rules of the house and leaving. Did your father not do the same thing?”
Oh, she was talking about Paul. Now that she mentioned it, he had gotten into a fight with his old man and left home abruptly. After that, he’d never once returned home or seen his father again.
Was that going to be the same for us? Was I never going to see Arus or Aisha again?
“Why were you against this in the first place?” Ariel asked suddenly.
“I don’t have an answer,” I admitted.
“You should have just let them get married. That would have been an appropriate reward to Aisha, who has long served your family. One could argue it would be a bit excessive, letting the head of your house marry a maid, but I believe Aisha would make a more than suitable wife for the next house head. Plus, that isn’t something you’re concerned with anyway, right?”
You heard this a lot in Asura: a talented servant who’d contributed to their master’s wealth being allowed to marry into the family. Of course, that was only if the person wanted it.
“Queen Ariel, did you not approach me with a marriage proposal for Arus? Why would you say that?”
“Well, I don’t mind if it ends up being Sieg instead.”
As my children grew older, Ariel had started proposing that her daughter marry one of them. At present, there were people who weren’t fond of the fact I was operating within the Asura Kingdom as one of Ariel’s friends. They felt I was lining my pockets because I’d saved her once in the past. They also thought our teleportation circle plan was all a plot for me to obtain more profit. There were people who saw me as a pest buzzing around an unwitting Ariel. By offering one of my sons to the royal family, we could prove to them that that wasn’t the case. That was her hope.
“We can talk about Sieg at a later date. Anyway, this is bad, right? I mean, this is Arus and Aisha we’re talking about.”
“The aunt and the nephew she looked after since he was a wee baby… Is that not a wonderful relationship?”
“I, um, think that kind of relationship between family members isn’t a good thing.”
“Why?”
I still hadn’t figured out the why. Why was I so resistant to the idea? Incest was considered taboo in my previous world, but that wasn’t the case here.
Ariel looked genuinely baffled. In this world, every now and then, you would see aunts and nephews get married in families that treasured their bloodline. I understood there were families like that, but I didn’t feel that kind of resistance to their situations the way I did right now. Why, then, was I so against their relationship? Was I jealous? Did I actually love Aisha romantically and had always wanted to make her mine?
That really wasn’t possible. If I felt that way, we would’ve ended up together by now. This was something else. Maybe it was like Aisha said before: I thought she belonged to me.
I could deny that as much as I liked, but it could be that my anger stemmed from Arus taking her from me. It was more possible than the other option, but…it didn’t feel quite right either.
Was it because she was an obstacle to Arus’s growth? I mean, there was an element of that, but realistically, that was just an excuse. If I’d been against their relationship because of his growth, I would’ve focused more on him. It wasn’t at the core of this.
“I…don’t really know,” I said.
“In that case, you should think about why you feel the way you do,” Ariel said. “I’m certain that both Aisha and Arus would like to hear your reasoning.”
“All right.”
Ariel was correct. Before I talked to Aisha, I needed to figure out my own feelings. If I didn’t, we’d just end up in a feedback loop. I’d fail to express my feelings to her properly, and she’d run away again.
“I shall excuse myself. I apologize for disturbing you in the middle of the night,” I said.
“It is fine.”
After leaving Ariel behind, I nodded to Dohga at the entrance to Ariel’s chambers.
“I will look for little sister too,” he said, a concerned look on his face.
I really appreciated that.
***
I swung by Orsted’s office once I was back from Ariel’s castle. It was late at night—the witching hour, even. So late that you’d feel bad dropping in on someone. However, there were still people I wanted to ask to help me, and lots of them. Normally, I’d go back to work tomorrow, but I had to ask Orsted for time off.
Alec was in the office. Apparently, he hadn’t gone to bed yet.
“Oh, hey, Rudeus. Did you find Aisha and Arus?” he asked.
“No, not yet. Is Sir Orsted in?”
“He’s in his room.”
“Alec, have you been looking for them this whole time?” I didn’t know if immortal demons required sleep, but Alec did sleep. Was he awake out of concern for me?
“Yeah. I’ve never been particularly good at finding people or things, so I came up empty-handed.”
“I see… Thanks.”
I said my farewell to Alec and went inside the office. Falia—the receptionist—had already gone home. I passed through the empty lobby and proceeded to the back of the building. Before entering Orsted’s room, I stopped and took a moment to think.
Would it be doable for him to give me more time off for personal reasons? Orsted had never questioned my reasoning for taking time off; whenever I said I needed some, he gave it to me, no questions asked. That being said, was it all right to abandon my work for days for family reasons?
But that didn’t matter—my family mattered. I entered the room.
“Rudeus, hm?”
Orsted glared at me as I stepped through the door.
He was actually just looking at me, but it seemed like he was glaring. That was just how his face was, but I couldn’t help but feel like he could see through me. I broke into a cold sweat.
“I, um, have something I would like to talk to you about,” I said unsteadily.
“Aisha and Arus, yes?”
I hadn’t expected that reply. “Who did you hear from?”
“Roxy.”
Roxy was helping out too? Well, of course she was. Sylphie and Eris were probably doing the same. I’d set out to solve this on my own, but they were also doing what they could. I needed to thank them when I got home.
“So, Aisha has vanished?” Orsted asked.
“Along with Arus, yes. I’m currently looking for them.”
“If she truly wants to remain unfound, you will not find her.”
“Everyone keeps saying that, but I still have to look. Could I have some time off?” I asked boldly, staring into Orsted’s eyes.
He looked back at me with his usual murderous glare. “I will talk to Perugius.”
“Huh?” Why was he suddenly bringing up Perugius? Were we scheduled to do something with him?
“He is constantly monitoring the surface world. He might find them.”
“Ah, right! Thank you very much!”
Orsted was going to help with the search.
“Considering how unmoving you were with the two of them, I imagine you must have had a good reason, but…” He trailed off.
“I…honestly don’t know if I did,” I said. His face turned perplexed.
I really did need to think long and hard about this.
***
I went around asking my friends and acquaintances all across the land for help. Millis, the Great Forest, the King Dragon Realm, the Demon Continent, and the Biheiril Kingdom. I went everywhere I had connections and told them what was going on.
Cliff gave me a stern talking-to. He said that even though this was a complex issue, who was I to object, considering my own polygamy? He told me that even if I was against their marriage, I should have been more flexible. Elinalise looked flabbergasted as she told me I should forgive them. Norn was exasperated with her sister’s actions and grew upset; she told me she agreed with what I’d done. Ruijerd didn’t say anything. He only interjected once to say that he would help look for them.
Everyone had their own opinions on what went down, but they agreed to help with the search regardless.
On the Demon Continent, I asked Atofe’s guards for help. They still hadn’t found Atofe, nor had Moore returned yet. It wasn’t my place to criticize them considering I was responsible for getting Atofe caught up in my battle, but without someone to organize them as a unit, they weren’t nearly as effective as before. They were bordering on a disorderly mob.
I hoped to find Kirishika, considering how useful she would be for reconnaissance, but unfortunately, I had no luck. It always seemed like I could find her if I looked, but not this time.
I kept going. I traveled the whole world and tapped all of my contacts to search for my son and little sister. Leo helped out, Ruijerd was on the move, and while he wasn’t particularly proactive, even Perugius was helping by searching for them from the sky. Orsted and Alec both used the free time they had to search too.
We still couldn’t find them. Even all these people with powerful search and tracking skills couldn’t find a single clue to their whereabouts. It was as if Aisha and Arus had vanished off the face of the planet.
***
A month passed.
Lillia was in bed with a fever from her shock. While in bed, she repeated to me over and over again, “I’m so sorry. I must have raised her wrong.”
She seem to believe that Arus and Aisha eloping was her responsibility.
She eventually recovered for the most part, but she was still disheartened and haggard. Just once, I saw her crying in her room while Zenith gently stroked her head.
Me, on the other hand, she hit. I wasn’t sure what Zenith meant by that, so I asked Lara for a translation.
“She’s sad, basically.”
She was all for Arus and Aisha’s relationship, even though I’d assumed she would have been against it. That being said, Zenith saw the world through a positive lens, so maybe their relationship seemed like something to be celebrated to her.
Sylphie remained distressed. “If only I hadn’t cornered her like that…”
She did both Aisha and Lillia’s jobs while they couldn’t. She wasn’t participating in the search, but thanks to her, we didn’t have to worry about the laundry building up or feeding the children. I was tremendously grateful for her support.
Eris didn’t say much, but I saw her frowning while holding the wooden sword that Arus had left behind. Then, she seemed to come to some kind of internal decision, took his shinken, and swung it.
Roxy said nothing and began to prepare to leave. Apparently, she was using her contacts to look for them in her own way.
“I think I’m going to go look for them,” she said in a slightly panicked fashion.
I stopped her in a hurry. I felt like if she also ended up leaving, the whole family would be torn apart.
The kids also looked worried. Lara wasn’t the type to wear her emotions on her face, but she definitely did less pranking. Sieg became very quiet. He was usually a very talkative boy, but he stopped talking much in the house. Lily had always been a bit of a shut-in, but now she occasionally left the house, grabbed Byt, climbed to the top of the gate, and stared off in the direction of the main street. Chris cried while asking, “Where’s Arus and Aisha? I wanna see them.”
Lucie was angry at Arus, but she was also concerned. She’d already graduated from the magic university and was attending the academy for nobility in the Asura Kingdom. She’d only just started there, which meant her dorm life also had only just begun. She had enough on her plate to deal with, but she nonetheless asked her old magic university friends for help.
***
As time continued to pass, I returned to work. Aisha and Arus were both important to me, but there was still so much I needed to do.
The hours I could dedicate to looking for them decreased, and the time I spent thinking things over increased. I thought when I ate. I thought when I took a bath. I thought before I went to sleep. I thought right after waking up.
Why had I objected the way I had? Why did I tell them no without hearing them out? Why didn’t I explain myself before putting my foot down? I should have known that doing things that way was no good.
Without an answer, two months, then three months passed me by, and we still couldn’t find Aisha and Arus.
***
One day, half a year after they vanished, I met with Nanahoshi.
It wasn’t the first time we’d met up since Aisha and Arus disappeared. When it first happened, I’d wanted to hear her opinion about everything. She looked disgusted at the details of Arus and Aisha’s relationship, but she heard me out. I appreciated that she listened, even if she didn’t give any particularly constructive advice.
Today, for the first time in a while, we talked about something different: the other world. Nanahoshi told me about this little takoyaki joint near her home. It’d been there for ages. When I was little, I used to go there for takoyaki myself. We talked about how we wanted to have a few, that sort of thing. Nothing serious.
On the way home, I remembered something from nearly thirty years ago—a day I could never forget.
It was a story from before I was born, before I came to be in this world. In a sense, though, it was the true beginning of my whole journey. In other words, I remembered something from the day I died.
I’d had siblings in that life. My older brother was married with children. He had two of them, in fact. Both girls. They were Japanese, so obviously they looked nothing like Norn and Aisha, but they were remarkably similar in terms of how innocent they were. His house was close by, so they often came to stay at our family home. Him, his wife, and his two girls.
I used that.
One day, they pulled out the kiddie pool, and the girls were playing. My big brother was a cameraman, so he took photos of them with the new digital camera he’d bought.
I secretly pulled the memory card from his camera, copied the photos, and took them for myself. The photos showed my nieces in their bathing suits. It wasn’t like I was particularly interested in the girls—I just stole the photos because I could.
Then came the day when my parents died.
I used those photos. And my older brother caught me in the act.
Before that day, I think he’d still been willing to talk to me. That was why he dropped by the house. My older sister and little brother might’ve been prepared to beat me to a pulp, but not him. He’d mostly given up on me, but he was open to giving me one last chance.
Mom and Dad are dead. There’s no one left to protect you. Isn’t it about time you get your life moving again? I’ll do everything I can to support you, he would say.
If I’d had a change of heart and decided to try to restart my life, he probably would have provided me with financial support. That was the kind of guy my big brother was—the sort who had watched over me all that time without giving up.
Until he saw those photos. Until he realized what I had done.
My big brother lost it then. Thinking back on it, he was the first one to punch me. It wasn’t my sister, who’d long ago become disgusted with me, or my little brother, who’d wanted to hurt me so badly that he’d brought a bat with him.
When my older brother saw the photos I’d used to get off, he paused for about five seconds, roared, and hit me.
I understood his reaction now. Of course I did. I would’ve done the same. I used his beloved children as masturbatory material. If I’d been in my brother’s shoes, I would’ve hit me too.
I was now my big brother. That was what I was feeling.
But Aisha was not like me. She was a woman and had lived and worked well, much more than I ever had in my previous life. She’d fulfilled her responsibilities. That’s why I hadn’t hit her. Instead, I’d felt a strong resistance to their relationship, like I had to tear them apart. It was based entirely on emotions and my own sense of ethics, not logic.
The guilt and the regret I felt over what happened back then pushed me forward in this life. I didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past. That was probably why I’d never felt a sense of inferiority toward my siblings, Aisha and Norn. If I looked at who I’d once been, it was odd that I’d never compared myself negatively to my cute little sisters.
Either way, what I’d done back then was different from what Aisha and Arus had done, even if it appeared similar on the surface.
Aisha and Arus hadn’t stolen photos of one another. They’d faced their respective feelings up front and took the time to build their relationship. Sure, Arus was young, and that might have led to him imprinting on Aisha. I couldn’t say for sure, but that was probably part of it. Regardless, Aisha and Arus had spent ten years—no, over ten years—together. That was a long time.
Me claiming that Aisha was stunting Arus’s growth was just a reason that came after the fact. The root of all of this was my overreaction. I was acting like my brother had that day, only my behavior wasn’t nearly as justified.
My brother and I never saw each other again after that day. I died, and our relationship came to an abrupt end. But had I lived on and apologized, I wonder what would have happened. He almost certainly would have cut ties with me, but at least I could have apologized. I doubted he’d have forgiven me, and our relationship would’ve never returned to normal, but something would have happened. I don’t know what that something was, but…
For now, I understood where my resistance to Aisha and Arus’s relationship came from. That day had traumatized me. The things I’d done and the awful things my actions had resulted in, and that was why I felt so strongly that it was wrong to touch your own family.
There was no way the strength of my trauma, my repulsion, was as strong as what my brother felt that day. But if I ever saw Aisha again, I had to apologize before all else. First, I had to apologize for forcing them apart without explaining myself. If I didn’t do that, there was no way we could have a conversation. We couldn’t begin to work things out.
Aisha had apologized to me during that family meeting, and she’d even asked me to explain why I was against their relationship. I needed to be the one to start things off—to apologize and explain my previous life. Then we’d talk about their future again. This time, we’d have a proper conversation. Maybe it wouldn’t reach a satisfying conclusion, but none of us would feel the need to brute force their way through the discussion.
That was what I’d come up with, at least.
***
It was a year after finding their letter that we located them.
Chapter 6: A Slight Seam
Chapter 6:
A Slight Seam
SO, THIS IS HOW my father felt about all of this, huh?
Heh.
Back then, I was convinced my father was the ultimate authority—always on guard, always right. But there’s no way that was true. Parents always think about what they can do for their kids, but at the end of the day, they’re just people. They’re not perfect. They make mistakes, and there are times when even they don’t know why they chose something. We’re all the same in that respect.
A lot of time has passed since he died, but thinking about that makes him feel all too relatable. Like I’m more connected to him. He really struggled with this whole thing. I thought I’d talked to him about all of this, but I guess this means I was still looking at him through rose-tinted glasses.
He always seemed so far away. Part of that was because he was rarely home, but the other part was how everyone respected him so much. Our moms did, but so did the adults I was close to. For example, Sir Orsted, the head teacher and principal at school…hell, even the North God Kalman III—that thunder dumbass—who at the time was so far beyond my reach. I’d never seen that overconfident numbskull insult my father even once. In any case, all the amazing people I knew respected my father.
But as far as I can tell, he wasn’t much of a father, you might say?
Well, you’re not wrong. Looking back on it, I agree. He wasn’t strict enough. When I messed up, he never reprimanded me. He’d just smile and tell me to be more careful next time.
For example, one day I was playing in his study and dropped one of his figures and broke it. It was a figure he had received as a gift from his best friend, the president of the Zanoba Company. A really precious gift, you see. I knew he was going to be mad at me. White Mama definitely was. Red Mama spanked me. Blue Mama scolded me coldly. I prepared myself to receive his anger when I apologized to him—but he didn’t yell at me at all.
“I’m proud of you for apologizing. Be more careful next time,” he said as he patted me on the head.
Anticlimactic, right?
Lucie used to say that he didn’t expect anything of us because we lacked talent. Back then, I thought she was on to something. Really, I was just intimidated by him. Lucie worked hard to be recognized by our father, but I couldn’t do that.
I remember a time my father and I were taking a bath together. Even someone like him relaxed in the bath. He rested his head on the tub and spread his body out.
“Whew, feels amazing,” he sighed.
He often relaxed at home, but in my eyes, he always seemed to be his usual daunting self. Maybe that was why I stared at him when we were in the bath together. He must’ve noticed me, because he awkwardly sat up, met my eyes as I soaked in the corner of the tub, and spoke to me.
“Ahem. Arus, can you already wash your own hair?”
“Yes. I can wash myself just fine, as you can see.” I naturally shifted into a polite tone when speaking to my father.
“Oh, right. You’re already over ten years old. Time sure does fly,” he said with a gentle smile.
“I’m currently an Intermediate-level swordsman, but I’ll be able to go up to Advanced level soon. I’m still a Beginner-level magician, but I can do silent casting now.”
“I see, I see. Your studies and training are important, but try not to work yourself too hard. If you hurt your mind and body, all of it will be for nothing.”
When I heard him say that, I realized something: Lucie was right. Our father had no expectations of us. After all, at my age, he’d already been a Water Saint-tier Magician and an Intermediate-tier swordsman. We were well behind him at this point in our lives. He really didn’t expect anything of us. Realizing that made me pretty sad.
“Wow, though… You’re already ten, huh?” my father said.
“Um, is that a big deal?” I asked.
“Nah. It’s just, well, when I recently went to the Asura Kingdom, Queen Ariel said she wanted you and her daughter to get engaged.”
“Engaged?”
“Yeah. The nobility over there start talking marriage once you turn ten.” My father nodded repeatedly like he was convinced of something. “I’m sure you’re gonna get lots of offers like that going forward.”
“Really?”
“You’ve got an attractive face, just like Eris. I’m sure you’ll be super popular.”
I don’t want that, I thought.
“Ah, but Arus, just to be clear. Being popular doesn’t mean you get to treat girls like objects. If you make a girl cry, your old man’s gonna be angry.”
“Okay,” I said after a pause. I couldn’t even picture what he looked like angry.
That conversation served to make me aware of something: It wouldn’t be long before I had a relationship like that. When I thought about who I’d want it to be with, it was Aisha’s face that appeared. Those feelings were why I confessed my love to her.
I didn’t get it at the time. Having been protected by her throughout my entire life, I didn’t have a clue how. Red Mama said I should protect who was dear to me, but what did protecting Aisha look like?
But I digress. We were talking about what I did once I left home.
After running away, we used a number of teleportation circles to enter the Holy Country of Millis. We then traveled by carriage for a few days, eventually arriving at a village along a river. Our final destination was a small home on its outskirts. It was one of the safehouses that Aisha had prepared in various countries.
It was a beautiful place, let me tell you. The river sparkled, there was greenery everywhere, and it was nice and quiet. Once Aisha cleaned the place up, it was good as new. It was a little out of the way, but we had a field that was perfectly usable even if it was a bit of a mess, and I could go hunting in the nearby forest. If we went to the village, we could trade for goods. Aisha was very charismatic, so she’d get along with the villagers in no time at all. This home was more than good enough for the two of us.
I can still recall how I sobered up when I thought about how we’d be living there together. I was going to do my best to support Aisha. I was going to protect her. Obviously, whenever we encountered monsters and bandits on the road there, I stepped forward and fought. I didn’t grow weak at the knees from fear like I had when I was younger.
The sword techniques I’d had drilled into me from birth worked on monsters and bandits, and the sense that I could actually protect Aisha only grew stronger. Fortunately for us, no pursuers ever came.
Going back through this book, it really dawned on me just how much Blue Mama did behind the scenes to cover for us. If Lord Perugius or Sir Orsted had actually cooperated, we would’ve been found immediately. To be honest, I was surprised that Sir Orsted sided with us and not my father. He was always a softy when it came to my father. Maybe that’s not the right word. It was more that they were close.
I remember being terrified for that first month: Father’s going to find us. He’s going to be furious and take us home.
By the time a month passed, that fear faded away.
I was just so happy. My life with my beloved Aisha had begun. At the start, we were repairing the house, cleaning, and buying the furnishings we needed, and we had all the hope in the world for our futures.
After we’d gotten our day-to-day necessities in order, we had breakfast together every morning, and I did the work Aisha found for me in the afternoon. I was still small, but I was decent with a sword and magic, so there was plenty I could do—though I imagine a lot of that was thanks to Aisha picking out good jobs.
I continued to polish my swordplay and magic while working. I took the time between jobs to exercise, swing my sword, and practice silent casting. That was something I’d always struggled with. The back-and-forth between training and real combat was perfect for building up experience. Then, come nightfall, we made love.
What, you want the details? Hell no, that’s way too embarrassing! Why would you ever want to hear what this old man got up to in his youth? C’mon, even you two have topics you can’t or don’t want to talk about, right?
Looking back on it, that was certainly a truly peaceful honeymoon period. It’s just, well, you know…somewhere deep down I kept asking myself, Is this really okay?
What I didn’t notice was that Aisha felt the same way. She was always good at hiding that sort of thing. And I was a fool back then, so I didn’t see it.
I probably sound like I’m making up excuses, right? Deep down, I still felt like Aisha would take care of things. I depended on her. That was why I didn’t see that she was wearing down.
You think it’s funny how dense I was?
I have no intention of defending myself, but I doubt either of you would notice something was up with one another if you didn’t say anything. At most, you’d wonder if the other person was in a bad mood. Maybe you’d think you’d done something to upset the other, but that’s it.
It’s obvious now I should’ve noticed something was off. Despite the genius that Aisha was, she was somewhere unfamiliar: stuck between her ideals and reality, her feelings and her own logic. Things hadn’t gone the way she’d planned. She became more and more depressed as she failed to adjust to our new situation. She felt trapped.
As intelligent and guarded as Aisha was, she wasn’t perfect. She wasn’t immune to failure. It didn’t happen particularly often, and compared to other people, her failures were few and far between. She was so smart that she’d avoided failure often throughout her life, but it did happen.
Aisha just couldn’t cope with this one.
Maybe, just maybe, if I’d been smarter, or older…
When that family meeting came to a close and Aisha proposed running away together, I could have stopped her. I could have said something like: Aisha, I promise I’ll protect you going forward, so let’s go talk to Dad together. I’ll speak up this time. If that doesn’t work, wait until I grow up and I’ll come for you. I promise. There’s no need for us to leave home.
Maybe that would have saved her from becoming cornered like she was.
Hindsight is twenty-twenty.
***
Now then, let’s talk about the beginning of the end… Actually, there wasn’t a specific moment, but I suppose there was a turning point. It happened half a year after leaving home, when we discovered that Aisha was pregnant.
We were innocently overjoyed, truly—or at least I was. It must’ve been more complicated for her. She was happy, but I think she was anxious too. I don’t know exactly what she was feeling, because I was just a clueless kid at the time. Aisha never told me.
After a few months, Aisha started to grow weak. Not physically, mind you. This is Aisha we’re talking about. She’d never do anything to put our baby in danger. I mean mentally. She gradually lost her vigor.
Seeing her like that, I tried my best to act cheerful in an attempt to keep her spirits up. I hunted stuff in the woods that’d make for delicious meals. No matter what I tried, it didn’t work. It wasn’t like anything particularly draining was happening outside of her pregnancy. We were busy, sure, but that was it.
Aisha was too smart, so she knew she’d cornered herself. She understood that the situation we were in was far from ideal. She probably kept coming up with better actions she could have taken: If only I’d done this. I should do that.
As you guys know all too well, Aisha could be hard on people who didn’t do things exactly as she’d imagined. Well, she was way worse back then, and she applied that attitude to herself as much as others.
I believe she felt like a fool for not making better choices or acting more sensibly, and I bet she was fed up with herself for behaving emotionally instead of logically. She looked down on people who acted without thinking, after all. So she started rejecting who she’d been up until that point, as well as who she’d become.
Just like that, Aisha found herself with no one to rely on, even though that’s who I should’ve been for her. I should’ve told her that everyone acts that way sometimes, and she was no different. That there was no reason to put shackles on herself. She didn’t have to do that to anyone. Just like how my father had been there for her in the past, I should’ve become someone she could share her emotions with. But I was too much of a kid. I couldn’t do it.
It wasn’t like I said anything awful to her. I’d vowed to protect her, and I did everything I could for her. But I was off the mark on all of it. Aisha was the same. She didn’t say anything particularly harsh to me. On the surface, she acted like she always had. Nevertheless, because I loved her, I understood she wasn’t the same.
After a few months, both Aisha and I reached a breaking point. I didn’t know what to do anymore. Her belly was growing larger by the day, and she was losing her strength just as rapidly.
In the end, Aisha stopped trying to pretend she was fine. Aisha, a girl who always smiled and laughed, who was always so expressive, became someone who could only nod blankly.
Nothing I did returned her to normal. I said I’d protect her, but I couldn’t do a thing. It was like I was the hero after he lost to the demon king and wandered the poison swamp. Our only difference was that I was desperate to resist the poison known as “resignation.”
I had to do something, but I didn’t know what. I was useless. I was constantly reminded of how weak I was, how much I needed to act but couldn’t.
There was one thing I was vaguely aware of, something that even someone as dense as me could understand. I couldn’t put it into words, and I didn’t want to believe it, but I noticed: My very presence was the problem. I was the one who’d forced her into a corner.
I hadn’t protected her at all.
I did my best to avert my gaze from the truth, but I wasn’t so far gone that I could look away from reality forever. That was why I reached out to Blue Mama.
By now, I don’t remember if I sought help or ruin back then. I just figured getting in touch with her would protect Aisha.
Chapter 7: A Small Guardian
Chapter 7:
A Small Guardian
IFIND MYSELF THINKING a lot about what it means to be an adult lately. What does it mean to come of age?
In my previous world, I thought that I was an adult, that I’d grown up, but that wasn’t really the case. Here, I realized I was an inexperienced brat, and I’ve worked hard to mature since then. I’m still a long way from growing up in reality, though.
Kids become adults in the blink of an eye, but from our perspective, there’s still plenty of immaturity in them. It’s like our children have no idea how immature they still are. But is that really the case? Maybe they do know, but they don’t know how to make the right choices.
I’m not sure if that immaturity is something you should get rid of. I don’t know if that’s really what growth is.
—Passage from The Book of Rudeus, Volume 29
***
We found Aisha and Arus on the Millis Continent. They were in a small village along a river at the edge of the Holy Country of Millis, living in a little house.
It was Roxy who figured out where they were.
More specifically, an adventurer found them first. One of the adventurers operating in Millis dropped in on the village to complete a job and happened to find Aisha and Arus. We’d put out a request for information on them at the Adventurers’ Guild, so they sent that straight to Ruquag’s Mercenary Band. However, since Aisha had laid the groundwork beforehand, that info got swept under the rug.
Things didn’t end there, though.
I stopped Roxy from going out to look for them all the time, but she secretly used teleportation circles to collect info from around the world regardless. I should’ve expected as much from my ever-reliable teacher.
The guild had a duty of confidentiality, so when it came to intel-collecting requests, they never handed info over to anyone but a client. Fortunately, Roxy had an old friend who worked as a clerk at the Millis Adventurers’ Guild. Thanks to that friend, Roxy got her hands on the sighting info and learned that the mercenary band had swept said info under the rug.
In order to confirm the pair was actually there, Roxy rushed to the village and observed them from afar. She decided to avoid contacting them then and there. Instead, she headed back home—where I had begun to freak out over her disappearance—to fill me in on things.
***
I ended up at the village as well, along with Sylphie, Roxy, and Eris. Lilia wanted to come as well, but I’d her hold down the fort back home. I felt I needed to talk to Aisha myself.
It was a peaceful village, but there was little to it. From what I’d heard, the village was a relay point for transporting timber, so the Logger Guild played a big part in running things. Workers collected the timber coming down from upstream, then handed it over to the merchants. The merchants had connections to organizations that would then carry the timber off to the larger towns.
They also raised livestock and farmed—the basics required for day-to-day life.
Despite how near the woods were, there were few instances of monster attacks, and the village rarely made requests of the Adventurers’ Guild. Since the village would naturally empty out once the logging work upstream came to a close, the place didn’t even have a name, and it wasn’t on any maps. Most didn’t even know there were people living here.
Aisha and Arus lived on the outskirts of this village.
It was a small single-family home, probably used. Next to it was a tiny water wheel, a small field and flower bed, and a little chicken coop.
I stood in front of that house. I wanted to go inside and talk to Aisha, but I couldn’t because there was a small guardian standing in my way: Arus. He glared at me with a fierce, determined look in his eyes. They were strong eyes. They looked like they held killing intent. None of my children had ever looked at me like that before.
Just like that, I found myself on the verge of tears; I wanted to turn around and go home. Obviously, I had no intention of doing that, but…
“Arus,” I said.
He waited a beat before replying. “Dad.”
It was my first time seeing him in a while, and he looked much more mature. Was it because of his attire? He was wearing leather armor and had a sword, just like an adventurer. However, everything was dirty. There was something wild about him that wasn’t there when he lived with us.
I needed to talk to him, not just Aisha.
“Arus… Was this the right choice?”
It’d been a year since I decided I needed to talk to him. Everything I wanted to say had long since vanished from my mind, so those were the words that slipped out from my mouth.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Your relationship with Aisha, running off, your whole situation… Do you regret it?”
“I…was prepared for this.”
I asked him if he regretted his choices, not if he was prepared. Either way, he didn’t hesitate. I could feel a stronger determination from him than I’d anticipated. He made me feel as though he hadn’t just followed Aisha along like a little duckling.
“I wish you’d acted like this that day,” I told him.
“You’re right. I should have.”
“And I should have spoken with you.”
“I don’t think I would have been able to answer you properly back then,” he said bluntly.
Was he implying that he’d changed in the year since?
“Do you plan on continuing your life with Aisha like this?” I asked.
His response to that was a bit longer. “I love Aisha. She watched over me my whole life, helped me, and raised me. I’m grateful to you and my moms, but Aisha has been there for me—more than anyone. If she says she wants to be with me, then I want to protect her and stay by her side. I want to help her do what she wants to do.”
His answer was a little different from what I sought, but as I suspected, there was no hesitation on his part. I guess that meant he’d also done some thinking of his own over the past year. I was still a little concerned that she seemed to be his primary focus, but… Well, some relationships were like that. That was fine.
If he had said this back then—if he’d acted like this—things would’ve been different. Then again, my reason for rejecting their relationship had nothing to do with any of this, so maybe they would’ve ended up running off anyway… At least Eris wouldn’t have struck him.
Had this situation helped him build a foundation for who he’d become in the last year? Instead of staying home, living in a more challenging environment might have been good for him. Nevertheless, he still looked so small to me. It seemed like he was saying all of this because he didn’t yet understand how the world worked. He had overestimated his own strength.
“Do you really think you can help her like that?” I asked.
“I can.”
“I don’t think you can. Not yet,” I said honestly.
Arus scowled at me. He didn’t say yes or no. Hell, he looked like he was about to cry. Like he wanted to say, I’m strong enough. Why don’t you get it?
What was I to do? It didn’t seem like he was going to get out of the way. Just as I thought that, Eris stepped forward.
“I’ll see if that’s true or not.”
She seemed to agree that words weren’t enough.
I nodded, and she pulled her sword from her hip and brandished it at Arus. The killing intent radiating off of her was the real deal, and Arus turned paler by the moment. His whole body started trembling.
But even as the blood drained from his face, he didn’t run away. He unsheathed his own sword and took a fighting stance.
Arus faced his mother head-on.
“Can you protect her?” she asked succinctly.
“I will,” Arus answered.
Eris moved the very next instant. She drew her sword with incredible speed and slashed at Arus. Her speed and timing were such that I would have never been able to react in time.
Arus did. He managed to block her attack, but not entirely, and rolled to the ground.
Even as he fell, he swung his sword, aiming at Eris’s ankle.
Blood erupted from her ankle, but Arus had only grazed it. That wasn’t enough to stop his mother, and he’d lost his balance. She stepped toward Arus with her injured leg and brought her sword down on him.
I heard the sound of flesh being sliced, not the sound of her hitting Arus with the back of her sword. Blood splashed in the air and dripped at Eris’s feet. The spray of blood flew far enough to hit me in the face. It was the sound of something that couldn’t be undone. The sight of something that couldn’t be undone.
Arus was lost to me forever. I felt my throat tremble at that singular truth.
Except that wasn’t the case. In the next instant, Arus flew out from between Eris’s legs. Even as he bled from the top of one of his shoulders, he glared at Eris while baring his teeth. He battered his unabated fighting spirit against her.
“Gaaah!”
Eris went on the attack as though the blood flowing from her ankle meant nothing.
“Graaagh!”
Arus followed suit. The wound on his shoulder was a deep one, and his clothes were stained red with his blood, but he acted as though he had suffered no injury at all.
Eris’s swings were faster and heavier than his. Every time she swung her sword and Arus met it with his own, his whole body nearly went flying from the impact, causing him to stumble. At times he did fall back, at times he fell to the ground, and all the while, he picked up small wounds. He was kicked away and hit with the handle of Eris’s sword. Soon enough, he was covered in injuries.
But he wouldn’t go down. He always managed to just barely keep himself grounded, adjust his stance, and rush back toward Eris. Over and over again.
The difference in strength was overwhelming. After landing that one attack on her ankle at the start, Arus hadn’t managed to strike Eris even once. She had him completely locked down, but Arus still wouldn’t give up.
Was she struggling to put him down because he was her son? Was she holding back so she wouldn’t kill him? Maybe that was a small part of it, but that wasn’t all. It wasn’t as though Eris was the type of swordswoman who didn’t follow through.
Arus was already so wounded that he was hard to look at. He must’ve realized that he couldn’t beat Eris. But he refused to quit or admit defeat.
I could tell it was because he had to do this. He was trying to prove that when he said he would protect Aisha, he wasn’t lying.
Despite that, there were limits to what he could do.
“Urgh!”
I heard the sound of metal clashing, and Arus’s sword went spinning from his hand. It traveled through the air and landed at my feet.
At that moment, I was utterly horrified. It wasn’t just his sword that had flown through the air. His hand was still attached to it. And even after being cut from his body, it still gripped the hilt of the sword tightly.
“Ngh!”
I wanted to make them stop, to step in and tell them that this was enough. But I waited when I saw that Arus hadn’t given up. Even as he held the stump of his arm, he lowered his posture and moved to charge at Eris again.
His mother saw this and threw her sword to the ground. She was going to fight him hand to hand.
“Rrrgh!”
Arus roared into the air as he charged Eris. At this point, he didn’t have a plan. He was just going to rush at her with brute force.
Eris, on the other hand, was calm. She countered him with a fist to his head that sent him to the ground face up. She then straddled him. Using her knees, she locked Arus’s arm down and mounted him. Everything that came after was a sight I was more than familiar with.
“Gargh!”
She laid into Arus with her fists, and he had no recourse to fight back. Even then, he continued to scream into the air without giving up. Eris punched him. Over and over and over again. The dull sounds of her fists colliding with his flesh repeatedly echoed throughout the area.
Slowly, her fists began to lose their strength. She couldn’t have taken pleasure in hitting her son like this.
Suddenly, Eris’s face exploded and she was sent tumbling backward. She fell safely and immediately jumped back to her feet, but her hair and face were burned.
It was magic. Arus had struggled enough to get his arm free from beneath Eris’s knee and used it to cast Fireball.
He rose to his feet, his face swollen, gripping the stump of his arm. His legs were shaking, but he managed to stand. He picked up Eris’s sword from nearby and tried to take a stance with it, but he didn’t have the strength left. He dropped it to the ground but held on. Though he fell to his knees, he dragged both the sword and his body forward.
He wasn’t headed for Eris. Was he fleeing?
No, he was returning to the front of his house. Once he managed to get in front of the door, he rested on both knees and tried to raise the sword. He once again lacked the strength, and the tip of the sword drove itself into the ground.
There was no way he could keep fighting like this—and yet his eyes peering out from beneath his bangs were filled with fire. They stayed locked on Eris and the rest of us.
I almost interrupted to say this was enough, but I swallowed my words. Eris said she’d handle it. I needed to leave it to her. She’d see this through to the end.
“So, what do you plan on doing?” she asked, breaking her stance and folding her arms while she looked down on our son.
Arus looked up at her bitterly, teeth clenched. “I’ll…die before…I let you…through…”
“You really are your father’s son,” Eris said before jerking her jaw up sharply. “But you won’t be able to truly protect her like that!”
“I…know…” he mumbled.
“You might be able to protect her as you are now, but you can’t truly keep her safe!”
“I know that!” he said, voice rising.
“Then…!”
Eris’s expression twisted. She turned to me with that same face and folded her arms. An imposing stance, for sure, but I could tell what she was thinking: I don’t know what to do. It seemed she’d been unable to communicate what she wanted.
Roxy stepped forward right after I realized that. She stepped in front of Arus, knelt down, and met his eyes. “Is sacrificing yourself to protect Aisha the right thing to do?”
“Yes… Yes!” Arus choked out.
“What do you think will happen to Aisha if you challenge someone you can’t defeat and die in battle?”
“I…then…what am I supposed to do?!”
“Rudy got on his knees,” Roxy said suddenly. My entire body tensed up.
“He once fought the Dragon God Sir Orsted and lost his magic armor and his arms. Right before his total defeat, he got to his knees, dropped his head to the ground, and begged Sir Orsted to spare us. When that didn’t work, he bit him. He bit Sir Orsted.”
“N-no way. There’s no way! Dad and Sir Orsted are so close!”
“They weren’t at first.”
Arus glanced over at me, and I nodded. It was embarrassing to have my son learn that I’d gotten on my knees and begged, but it was all the truth.
“What will you do? Will you keep fighting Eris and die? Do you not care what comes after that? Do you really not care what happens to Aisha after you perish?”
Arus remained silent.
She was interrogating him, but her tone was gentle.
Eventually, the sword fell from Arus’s hand. The weapon slid from atop his knees to the ground, where it made a dry clang as it hit the dirt. At the same time, tears began to fall from his eyes. Were these tears that came from understanding how weak he was? Or were they tears of another sort?
Finally, all the strength left his body, and he fell forward into Roxy’s arms.
He must have completely run out of adrenaline. There was a pool of blood at his feet. His face was swollen all over, and he was covered in blood. Yet somehow, as I looked at my son, I wasn’t worried. If anything, I was proud of him.
Arus was certainly immature; he was still weak and thought like a child. It was hardly surprising that he was okay with fighting and dying. He had matured in the last year, but there was a lot for him to learn about the world. But how many people in the world could go one-on-one with Eris and not give up after all of that? He’d lost his dominant hand, been straddled by Eris and beaten half to death, and he’d still kept fighting. Eris, of all people.
Arus was able to push himself so far because he felt the same thing I did when I challenged Sir Orsted all those years ago. Even if it meant dying, he was going to keep Aisha safe. He might have not known how best to do it. He might’ve been too weak to see things through. But in terms of his resolve, it was the same as mine back then.
Just thinking that caused something to bubble up from deep inside of my heart. I wanted to take Arus in my arms right that second and praise him. I wanted to tell him how proud I was of him for fighting to the end.
It was weird. In all reality, there was so much I needed to scold him for—running off and eloping, causing trouble for so many people…
He’d made too many mistakes to be ready to go out on his own, but he had grown. He wasn’t a small child anymore. The thought made me so happy.
I guess I really am a softie.
“Sylphie, can I leave him to you?” I asked.
“You’re not going to say anything to Arus?”
“Roxy already said everything I wanted to say.”
I didn’t need to say anything else to him. I’d heard what he wanted, and I’d seen his resolve. He showed me his determination. What Roxy said covered it all. I had no more objections. While I felt a natural resistance to Aisha and Arus’s relationship, that wasn’t something to force on him.
There were lots of other things I should’ve said, but I could save those for later. I didn’t just come here to see how much Arus had developed. I’d come here to talk to Aisha.
“I want to sit down and talk to Aisha first, just the two of us,” I told Sylphie.
“Mm, all right. I’ve got this.” Sylphie took a Saint-tier healing magic scroll from me and retrieved Arus’s hand before she ran back to us.
“Arus, I’m going to Aisha. We can discuss things further after that,” I explained.
Arus nodded weakly.
Eris and I exchanged a glance. She jerked her chin toward the house as if to say, Hurry up! Roxy also made eye contact with me and nodded.
I returned everyone’s nods, then entered the house.
Chapter 8: Aisha Greyrat
Chapter 8:
Aisha Greyrat
AISHA WAS A BORN GENIUS.By the time she became aware of her surroundings, she could understand words and imitate the things her mother Lilia taught her without issue. Very early on in her life, she was able to understand why she had to do things. Cleaning, laundry, language, math, history, geography, and science—she really could do everything. She was an invincible, perfect superhuman.
And that twisted her. It created a giant weakness in her. She simply couldn’t understand the feelings of those who weren’t as capable as her. Aisha always judged a person, including whether she liked or disliked them, based on their abilities.
She didn’t know how to like someone unless it was logical. She didn’t understand love. Yet she, of all people, fell in love with someone completely removed from logic.
Of course that led to issues.
—Passage from The Book of Rudeus, Volume 29
***
Aisha was lying on a small but well-made bed. The sheets and blanket were both adorned with Aisha’s favorite kind of stylish pattern, and there were dolls and small potted plants along the windowsill. The sun coming through the window and the gaps between objects illuminated Aisha. Her hair was down.
I looked at Aisha and understood why we’d suddenly been able to find her and Arus. Everyone said that if she really wanted to remain hidden, nobody could find her. Hell, after a year of searching, we hadn’t found her whereabouts.
What had changed? It was obvious on sight: Her belly was visibly large. She was pregnant. Because of her pregnancy, she couldn’t move as breezily as she once had. This weakness resulted in an opening in the shroud she’d cast over herself and Arus.
“This isn’t like you,” I muttered.
It wasn’t like her—someone who never showed any openings—to trip up. Getting pregnant meant she wouldn’t be able to move as she pleased. Aisha should have known that. She’d been with Sylphie and the others throughout their pregnancies, so there was no way she wouldn’t. Even if that reality never really landed with her because she hadn’t experienced it herself, Aisha should’ve anticipated how this would turn out.
“I…feel the same way,” she said softly. “I thought Arus and I could live happily ever after. I thought even you wouldn’t find me…”
I didn’t interrupt.
“But I guess…things just didn’t go as planned…” Aisha said before casting her gaze downward and caressing her belly. “I mean, I love Arus. Even if I knew I’d get pregnant, I wanted to sleep with him. It just made me so happy. I want to make love to him.”
There were bags under her eyes. She must have really struggled with this. She knew what she needed to do, that she had to hold herself back. Even knowing that, her body wanted what it wanted, and things spiraled. She couldn’t control herself.
“Hey, Rudeus? Why do I feel this way?”
“I couldn’t say…but when Sylphie and I got married, we were like that too.”
“Really? Then I guess this is love.”
Love, huh?
I didn’t actually know if that was the case. But I did know that loving someone was inevitable. It was a part of our nature.
“Why didn’t you try to talk to anyone about this?” I asked.
She didn’t answer.
“Did you think they’d be against it?”
After a pause she spoke. “I did. I mean, I’m in the wrong. Nobody would’ve taken my side.”
Was that the case?
Lilia was very against their relationship, but if anything, Sylphie was all for it. Roxy was too, and Eris was only against Arus’s attitude, not their actual relationship. If Aisha had properly laid the groundwork ahead of time, I might not have been so stubborn myself. That also wasn’t like Aisha at all…
My reasons for being against their relationship were related to something she had no way of knowing about. If I hadn’t had my own hangups, I probably would’ve celebrated their relationship without objection.
“Hey, Rudeus? Is Arus okay?”
“Yeah, though Eris beat the hell out of him.”
“I figured. Arus is her precious son, after all… Thank goodness…” Aisha let out a sigh of relief. “But Rudeus, what’s going to happen to me now?”
“I’ve gotta think about that.”
“If nothing else, you’ll never forgive me, right?”
“That’s not true,” I said quickly.
“Why? I kidnapped your beloved son and conceived a child with him.”
“You’re not the only one at fault here. I’m partially responsible for pushing the two of you to elope. Even Arus—”
“Arus didn’t do anything wrong,” she said, cutting me off. “He’s still just a kid. I tricked a little kid and made him do what I wanted. I’m the bad guy here. Surely you understand that, Rudeus.”
I took a second to consider what she was saying. “Aisha, Arus isn’t a little kid anymore.”
Immature? Certainly. But he wasn’t a child, unable to make decisions on his own. He’d made the choice to be here. He didn’t think he was tricked into anything, and I didn’t think Aisha believed that either. She was probably trying to cover for him.
“You’ll never accept our child, right?” she asked.
“I admit that it’s hard, but I do. I have to. You’re pregnant,” I answered.
“Are you going to cut my belly open, pull the baby out, and kill it?”
“Of course not…? I could never do that.”
“Sure you could. In Millis, when the nobility have a child they don’t want, they use medicine to put the mother to sleep, cut her open, kill the child, then use healing magic to put her back to normal. But sometimes the woman can’t ever conceive again if the magic is shoddy.”
“What the hell? That’s terrifying…though I guess I did know about abortions, yeah.”
“Once that’s done, you’ll separate the two of us… No, I imagine you’ll kill me, right?”
“Absolutely not! What the hell? Why do you keep bringing up all these awful ideas? Stop it. Do I really seem like that kind of person? Arus is precious to me, like you said, but so are you.”
“But, I-I…I went against you!” Aisha burst out. “I took someone you care about, someone you were willing to fight Sir Orsted to protect, without permission! I tried to make him my own, even though I know all too well how much you love your family, and that you’ll never forgive anyone who does harm to them! I saw how angry you got a year ago! I realized by putting my hands on someone you care about, I did something awful! I made an enemy of you… It was all well and good when I thought I could get away, but my belly just kept getting bigger, and it got so hard to move. I couldn’t use the mercenary band the way I wanted to anymore, I couldn’t control the flow of information anymore… I got scared, I stopped sleeping, and even though I knew you’d come eventually, I couldn’t do anything. Even today, I froze from fear…!”
Aisha’s voice was full of sorrow. The Aisha I knew wasn’t a pessimist like this. What had changed in the last year?
Well, it was possible that this was just baby blues. I needed to calm her down a little.
“Aisha, this was just a little fight between siblings. Yeah, you took it pretty far, but I don’t for one second consider you my enemy.”
“But that day, you looked terrifying. You had the same look on your face as when you fought Sir Orsted. When that one nobleman called Roxy a dirty demon.”
I instinctively touched my face. For real? When I heard Roxy badmouthed, I’d really snapped. I was making the same face at Aisha?
Well, in that moment, I was acting on emotion. Maybe I had made that face. Of course she’d been scared.
“Wh-what about now?” I asked.
She looked at me. “You seem…like when Norn wasn’t leaving her room.”
“Then we’re all good, right?”
I sat myself down on the side of the bed. Aisha’s legs were uncovered, so I gently rubbed one of them. Aisha’s body twitched, but she didn’t reject my touch. Her legs were slender but tough. She must’ve walked a ton in the last year. Her skin was a little dry, and she was shaking.
“Aisha. I don’t think it’s good for siblings to be involved romantically.”
“Right…”
“That’s because…I had a similar experience in my past. But in my case, it was much more dirty, one-sided, and unforgivable. People were rightfully furious with me, attacked me, and lost their faith in me. Because of that, this kind of thing is just totally off limits for me,” I said. As I’d expected, the words flowed naturally for me, far more than the other reasons I’d come up with in the last year.
In a sense, that event was the origin of how I got here. I turned out pretty okay, but that didn’t erase the fact that that horrible event led to my death. Ultimately, I never even got to apologize.
How was I going to broach the topic of my previous life? Considering how heavy this situation was, would she really believe me if I suddenly said, “Actually, I came from another world!”? Would she look like I was up to something?
“Did that happen in the world you used to live in?” Aisha suddenly asked, and the hand I was using to stroke her leg stopped.
“When did I tell you about that?”
“I talked a lot with Nanahoshi. Also, just a guess, going by how you and Sir Orsted act.”
“Ah… Well then.” I guess she, of all people, would figure it out. She was always watching everyone.
“You’re keeping it a secret, right?”
“I’m scared…to tell people. Especially Mom. I mean, she’d be grossed out if she learned the son she had was a filthy middle-aged man, right? What did you think?”
“Not much, really. Sir Orsted’s got memories from a previous life. It might be uncommon, but I’ve heard there are other folks like that too. It’s not like you changed into another person in the middle of your life. You’ve always been my brother. Sure, you’re older than you look, but that doesn’t change who you are to me.”
I paused. “I see. Thanks.”
That was one way of looking at it. Yeah, including Orsted, there were plenty of folks in this world who had been reborn. I was just another one to add to the list.
“Everyone kind of has a feeling that’s the case, you know? Both Sylphie and Roxy… Eris doesn’t quite get it, though.”
Eris heard about what I’d gone through, so she should’ve known. It depended on her memory, but I doubted she’d actually forgotten. She said she would keep it a secret, so I suspected she was just keeping her promise.
“You think?” I asked, feeling reflective.
“You’re not going to tell everyone, are you? I’m sure they’d say something like ‘Yes, and?’”
“I’m Rudeus Greyrat now. Hell, you’d be grossed out if you found out the child you’re carrying is a middle-aged man with memories of his previous life, right?”
“I mean, if he cared about me the same way you do, no.”
“Oh…”
Was that how it was? If it were me, I wouldn’t want that, but…that was probably because I hated who I used to be. I couldn’t help but think that it’d be someone similar. I was disgusted when I imagined them trying to live in this world as though it were a game, like I once had.
Aisha sat up, shuffled over, and rested on the mattress beside me. “Could you tell me everything that happened back then?”
“All right.”
I brought over a chair from nearby and set it in front of Aisha. I sat down and looked at her round belly. She seemed close to full term.
“I was a piece of trash in my previous life. I was a normal kid, but around the time I entered middle school—”
***
And so, I told her about who I’d once been. What kind of person I was, and how I ended up here in this world. What kind of emotional baggage I had. What I found unforgivable.
There wasn’t all that much to tell her. While I’d lived thirty-four years of my life in the other world, they were hardly jam-packed with events. My memory of that time had grown dim, and I’d forgotten many of the details.
In exchange for the fading memories of my old life, I told her about my life here. I told her about how much Paul helped me. What feelings I held close to my heart as I interacted with Norn. How I felt about Zenith and Lilia. And how I always felt Aisha was my little sister. Family.
She listened quietly. Occasionally, she would remark or chime in briefly, but for the most part, she simply listened.
In closing, I said: “I ended up living a much happier life here than I ever could have hoped for, compared to the trash person I used to be. I want to treasure this life I have.”
“You really are amazing, Rudeus.”
“I wonder about that.”
“If you killed me right now and I reincarnated, I don’t think I’d be able to try as hard as you did.”
“Well, I’m not going to kill you.”
“I know I wouldn’t have been able to start a family like you did.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I love Arus, but if we continued to live like this, I don’t think we ever would have become a family.”
What exactly did she mean by that? Arus loved Aisha. He desperately tried to protect her. Was it not the same for her?
“When Arus was born, I was so excited, but I don’t think I was in love with him.”
In turn, Aisha began to tell me about everything that had happened to her since my son’s birth. Aisha had helped deliver Lucie and Lara, my two daughters. “Wow, incredible!” was the extent of what she’d said at the time, but she’d been moved by how amazing the birth of life into this world was.
However, when Arus was born, it was completely different for her. When she held him in her arms, Aisha felt something she didn’t feel when she held Lucie or Lara. And as the newborn Arus began to cry, that new feeling grew deep within her chest. It was something she couldn’t explain with words—both heartrending and vexing at the same time. It continued to linger in her chest even after Eris went to sleep along with Arus.
Aisha crawled into bed, but she lay wide awake. While she was face up in bed, she lifted both hands in the air and recalled the sensation of holding Arus.
The lingering feeling in her hands resembled how she felt when she held Lucie and Lara, but it wasn’t the same. Was it because he was a boy? She didn’t know, but she felt comfortable in that moment. She wanted it to be the next day so she could look after Arus as he cried and yelled. To Aisha, he felt special. She didn’t know how or why, but…
In any case, Aisha changed a little bit after that day. Little by little, she began to slack when it came to the four things that composed her daily routine: working as a maid, doing the things she liked, helping me, and advising the mercenary band. Instead, she looked after Arus.
One could argue that was a part of her duties as a maid, yet Aisha didn’t see it that way. Was it the equivalent of doing what she liked? Not quite. She just wanted to look at Arus. If possible, she wanted to talk to him. All while hoping he’d grow up quickly.
For the first time in her life, Aisha had come to feel that someone was special to her regardless of their abilities. After that, for close to ten years, she enjoyed her life together with Arus.
One day, he suddenly confessed his love for her. At the time, she’d brushed it off calmly, but that wasn’t the sort of thing she could just wave away. Her heart raced loudly, and she felt like she was on the edge of losing her cool.
Eventually, she did. His confession led into the days of her being unable to control herself. Even when she knew it was a bad idea, she continued to sleep with him. Suddenly, she couldn’t control herself at all. Her desires quickly won out over logic. Even as she felt like it couldn’t be helped, she slept with Arus. There was no deliberateness. She just dealt with things as they came.
And then I found her. Them.
At first, she planned to get through the encounter by calling it practice. This feeling of hers was just practice. Neither she nor Arus was serious. This was just a momentary lapse in judgment. That was the best way to avoid anyone getting hurt.
But Sylphie saw through her, and Aisha’s feelings were revealed to everyone, leading her to awkwardly proclaim her love for Arus.
Even at that point, Aisha was naive about the whole situation. She knew I’d get angry but assumed I’d forgive her. I might even allow their relationship to continue.
Sylphie had created the perfect atmosphere for that to happen, but the result didn’t turn out like she’d hoped. I didn’t agree. Instead, I tried to tear them apart with a level of stubbornness that she’d never seen from me. It was a whole version of me that Aisha had never seen. Completely unwilling to compromise. Not a shred of reason. I told her no with a stern voice and look, completely shutting her out.
It was the first time she’d ever seen me so uncompromising, yet she’d seen the expression I had on my face before. She could never forget: Before I went into battle with Orsted, while I was building my magic armor, I’d looked just like that. Deadly serious.
That look terrified Aisha. She sensed that, in this moment, she might have made an enemy of me.
Right, I broke what Rudeus has spent time building, she thought. So, she’d nodded in response to me, even though she still had a tightness in her heart.
Aisha’s plea was rejected at the family meeting, and she was given no chance to make her case. She was ready to give in at that point. Still, she loved Arus and couldn’t stop her feelings. When he showed her kindness that night, she proposed running away with him.
Then, they left home and started living together, and she got pregnant. During those days, time and time again, she felt she’d made a mistake. There was no way they could truly be happy like this; everyone would just be miserable. Yet she’d seen how furious I was and was certain I wouldn’t forgive her, so she couldn’t run home. Even though she knew she was still screwing up, she couldn’t change the past. She couldn’t move forward, nor could she go back. Eventually, she felt like she was about to be crushed under a mountain of anxiety and unease.
Which brought us to the present.
Most of it sounded like a super sweet love story that honestly gave me secondhand embarrassment, but Aisha’s tone was detached. As if she’d given up hope.
I paused to collect my thoughts.
“Can I ask you two questions?” I said eventually.
“Go ahead.”
“Did the Man-God ever reach out to you?”
As I’d listened to her tell her story, this one possibility came to mind: Apparently, a woman’s fate was weaker when she was pregnant, which made it easier for the Man-God to try to interfere. Maybe she’d run off with Arus because the Man-God said something to her… How easy it would’ve been for me if that was the case. It was all his fault! Let’s go home! I’d be able to say something along those lines.
“No, he didn’t. This was all me,” she said flatly.
“I see…”
I’d figured as much. I’d spent who knew how many years telling everyone in my family not to listen to the Man-God, though given her state of mind when she ran off, I didn’t think she could’ve resisted him if he’d approached her.
“What’s the other question?” she asked.
“You didn’t use protection?”
“Distribution channels on those things you invented are really limited, so you would’ve been able to trace them back to us.”
“Yeah, right.”
I always had a box at home. Having them so easily available made me forget just how hard it was to get your hands on them.
“Can I ask one more thing?” I added.
“Didn’t you say you had two questions?” She paused. “I’m sorry, go ahead.”
“Did you want to be happy?” I asked.
Aisha cast her gaze downward. She pursed her lips and her face tensed up, until she finally answered: “Yes.”
So, she had, then. She’d wanted to be happy. But someone like her should’ve realized that wasn’t going to work out.
No… Maybe it was because she didn’t know how to be happy that she ran off like she did.
“Would you have been happy if I never found you?”
Aisha weakly shook her head. “Arus did… He did all kinds of things for me, but at this rate, he’d probably end up my puppet, and I’d never change. This…won’t work.”
“I see.”
Well, if she hadn’t felt this way, she wouldn’t have given up. She would’ve hidden and run away with Arus, even while pregnant. She wouldn’t have let me find her.
I cleared my throat and looked at Aisha. “It’s about time we get down to business.”
Aisha raised her head. There were dark circles under her eyes, but her gaze was full of strength, completely different from how dead it was moments ago. These were the eyes of someone who had steeled their resolve.
“I have two requests,” she said. “Please forgive Arus. And…please allow me to give birth to his child.” At the very end of her sentence, she gently caressed her swollen belly. “After that, please…please dispose of me. I’m happy you think of me as family, but what I’ve done can’t be forgiven.”
“Dispose of, eh…?”
I shifted my body from leaning forward to leaning back on the chair I was sitting in, then looked up at the ceiling. I organized my words a little. It didn’t take long. I’d had a full year to prepare.
“Given my history in my previous life, it’s honestly hard for me to approve of your relationship with Arus,” I began.
“I know.”
“And even removed from all of that, I felt betrayed because of how much I trusted you.”
“Yes.”
“But I think I’m ready to accept your relationship.”
She took a second to register what I’d said. “You… What?”
“I’m still pretty resistant to the idea, but I know now that that’s because of my own trauma. In other words, it’s an emotional response. I want to put that aside for the moment.”
“But you can’t. You can’t forgive me, and it’s not purely emotional, is it? If you let this slide, people are going to undermine the Greyrat family. We have authority now, and that authority is derived from protecting all manner of things.”
“Authority? Hmm. Honestly, I don’t really subscribe to that whole thing.”
“This isn’t just about you. I’m sure Lucie, Lara, Sieg, Lily, and Chris will be affected. They might even get hurt. You need to dispose of me. I’m sure anyone you ask would say the same.”
“Fine, but I really don’t like that word. Let’s call it a punishment, all right? Lemme think of something… It’s just that I don’t think it should be a severe punishment.”
I leaned forward again and looked at Aisha. She looked back with wide eyes.
“Aisha, you messed up this time. Running away with Arus was the worst choice you could’ve made, but you said it a moment ago, right? You didn’t know what else to do. This might be a first for you, but for normal folks like me, we make these kinds of mistakes all the time. Even if you know better in your mind, your body doesn’t do what you tell it to. You know what the right choice is, but you can’t do it for whatever reason, and you end up picking the worst option,” I explained, peering into Aisha’s face.
I laid it out for her: “If you’d taken someone else’s son, or if Arus ended up in tatters, I don’t know what I would’ve done with you. But Arus was doing well, and even if he strayed from the right path a little, he grew up. And he’s my son, and you’re my little sister. Sure, on a biological level, I dislike the two of you together, but you’re both a part of my family. All of this is a family matter.”
I said I was going to put aside my emotions, but in the end, it came back to that.
“Basically, my family messed up. That’s all,” I said, concluding my explanation.
Aisha quietly bit her lip. I could see the tears forming in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.
“What did…I do wrong…?”
“Let me see…”
Aisha must’ve known, but this was her way of checking her answers.
Let me think about this rationally.
Today, I was going to stay calm and talk things out. For Norn, it made sense to sit next to her quietly, but for Aisha, I needed to talk. She would listen.
“First, about Arus. I think he’s still too immature for you. He didn’t have the ability to think on his own and make good choices. Obviously, he’s much better now. You said he wouldn’t change, but that’s not true. In the last year, he’s definitely grown. He’s still plenty immature, but that goes for everyone. There’s no one in the world who isn’t in some way. Hell, this whole thing showed you how immature you are too, right? People make mistakes, and they learn from them. That’s how it goes.”
If nothing else, Arus wasn’t capable of truly protecting Aisha yet. His actual strength hadn’t caught up with his fiery drive. He had grown stronger, and he found his resolve, but Aisha’s depression spoke to the fact that Arus wasn’t able to protect her mental well-being.
That said, it was questionable whether I was doing that for my wives…
But I digress. At the end of the day, Arus was still lacking in all sorts of ways.
“It’s less that you did something wrong and more that you messed up the timing. It was way too early for this. You should’ve waited to marry him once he’d graduated from school, come of age, found work, built up experience, and became able to make decisions on his own, even if he never quite got on your level. Given his age, it’s impossible to avoid him ending up relying on you way too much.”
“Marriage…? Arus is your oldest son. Isn’t he going to become the next head of the family?”
“Our family doesn’t have any customs like that. Eris is always going on about that kind of thing, but she doesn’t actually care that much. Lucie could be the next head for all I care. Honestly, even if Arus becomes the next head, I have no issue with you being his wife.”
“But I’m a maid!”
“If that’s a problem, I’ll just dismiss you. You retired because of your marriage. Boom, done.”
“Haha, what the heck?” Aisha said with a laugh.
She was finally laughing a little. I was relieved to hear her laughter for the first time in so long.
“Next, we have to talk about you.”
She paused. “Right.”
“First, you should’ve talked this out with someone. Before ever laying a finger on Arus, before ever running off, you should’ve laid some groundwork. If you’d done that, you could’ve had support when I pushed back during the meeting. And I would’ve been able to prepare myself mentally and emotionally.”
“You’re right. Why didn’t I do that…? Maybe it never occurred to me you’d say no.”
While she’d suspected I had memories from a previous life, she didn’t know what those memories consisted of. Considering that, it wasn’t all that strange for her not to worry.
If I wasn’t against their relationship, that’d only leave Lilia to convince.
“You really should have started dropping hints with Lilia.”
“Yeah, but if you weren’t against our relationship, she probably would’ve been fine with it.”
She might’ve been right. However, Lilia was Aisha’s mother, so she should have told her how she felt about Arus and gotten her support. If Lilia had been on Aisha’s side for the family meeting, I might not have objected so strongly. Despite appearances, I was pretty weak when it came to Lilia. She’d looked after my mom for all this time.
“You know, you caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people,” I told Aisha.
She considered this. “Was everyone angry?”
“They were worried.”
“What do you think I should do about it?”
“Reflect on your actions first, then apologize. Especially to Lilia. You need to sit down and really apologize to her.”
“Right,” she agreed after a moment.
Lilia… Aisha’s actions had deeply hurt the hardworking granny of the household. Regardless of what Aisha was going to say to her mother, their conversation needed to happen. If I involved myself a little, she’d understand.
“What else…?” I wondered. “Well, I should say I was in the wrong too.”
“What? You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.
“Not true. I told you to live your life as you see fit, but when push came to shove, I was the one who put my foot down. I shouldn’t have done that. I should’ve figured out my own feelings before reaching a conclusion.”
“Considering the situation, that’s just the way it was. And I was a coward.”
She might have said that, but this was something I would pay more mind to going forward. I needed to reflect on my own mistakes.
“For now, that about sums it up, I think? Anything else?” I asked.
She thought for a second. “Rudeus, you need to talk to your children more.”
“Huh? Well… Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know what to talk to them about, but I’ll make more time for it.”
If nothing else, I clearly should’ve talked to Arus more. If he’d trusted me more, maybe none of this would have happened. That wasn’t limited to him. I was going to talk to all of my kids more. I needed to really get to know them.
“What else?”
She didn’t answer.
“If that’s all, would you be okay with coming home for now?”
Again, she didn’t answer.
“I want to discuss what to do with you and Arus with everyone else.”
Aisha looked a little concerned. Was there still something else on her mind?
If there was, she didn’t say so. Instead, she slowly nodded. “All right. I understand.”
“Okay, I’ll go call everyone else over.”
I stood up. All that was left was to go home and convince Lilia. Then everything would be back to normal…not. Things would never go back to how they’d once been. Everything had changed too much for that. For one, we were getting a new member of the family. That in and of itself was something to celebrate.
There wasn’t much you could do about change. You just had to accept it and move forward.
“Rudeus?” Aisha asked, as I thought about all of that.
“Hmm?” I turned around to find Aisha sobbing, a devastated look across her face.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, I know.”
“I’m sorry… I was such an idiot… I’m so sorry.”
I returned to Aisha’s side and stroked her hair as she cried. She continued to weep, even as everyone worriedly peeked into the house.
I’d never noticed because she was so talented, but maybe my youngest sister was actually far more of a child than my other sister.
That was how Aisha and Arus’s elopement came to an end.
Chapter 9: The Day Aisha Quit Being a Maid
Chapter 9:
The Day Aisha Quit Being a Maid
WE TOOK AISHA AND ARUS back home.
Lilia nearly passed out upon seeing Aisha’s round belly. After falling on her backside, she quickly stood up and made a beeline for the kitchen. When she reappeared with a knife in her hand, I rushed to hold her back.
“Let me go! This is the only way I can make amends…!” she screamed.
I took the knife from her and explained where Aisha had been, what had happened there, what we’d talked about, and that I was satisfied with the result of that conversation. Lilia looked exhausted after hearing my explanation, but she calmed down. Not long after that, she ended up in bed.
Had Lilia always been such a fragile woman? She was so pale, I couldn’t help but wonder. Then again, in the last year, she’d been on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion most of the time, so maybe this was unavoidable.
I took the time to really talk to her as I nursed her back to health. I told her I had reservations about members of the family getting married to one another. But I also explained that Aisha and Arus, despite how warped their relationship had become, were serious about each other. Arus had found his own sense of resolve in the last year, and Aisha had grown up as well. I felt people should be free to live the way they wanted to, at least within reason. I explained all of this to Lilia, who listened silently.
“I’m an immoral woman,” she said. “I seduced Master Paul, and Lady Zenith was so sad and angry. I believe that Aisha laid her hands on Master Arus because she’s my daughter. Oh, how many times have I thought in the last year…if only I’d never given birth to her… Of course, I have no intention of saying that to her. I already told Lady Zenith this, and she was so upset with me.”
Zenith was sitting in a chair in Lilia’s room. As usual, I had no clue what she was looking at. She appeared to be spacing out, but despite her condition, Zenith was always listening to and watching us.
If Lilia actually told Zenith she wished Aisha was never born, Zenith had probably hit her. Hell, even I’d get angry. If that was how she felt, then what had been the point of that day when Paul, Zenith, Lilia, and I talked things out? All the joy we felt when Norn and Aisha were born would fade to nothing.
“It was bad enough that she slept with him, but when I saw how big her belly had gotten, I felt that she’d gone too far. There is no going back now,” Lilia said. “Aisha is my child. She seduced one of her masters, someone she should have been protecting, then tried to use her body to create a place for herself within the family. It’s like we have dirty succubus blood running through our veins. Even if she didn’t trick Master Arus into falling in love with her, it is clear as day that she had an effect on his heart.”
I told her I didn’t believe that was true. Their blood wasn’t dirty. The two of them had just happened to settle into a master-and-servant relationship with us. Anyone would work hard to get the person they loved to look at them. People affected one another. There was no changing that.
In Aisha and Arus’s case, they were too close and too far apart in age. Arus might’ve been immature, but Aisha was too. She had more years on her, but that was it. I explained all of that to her.
“Master Rudeus… What should I do?” she asked weakly.
“I spent a lot of time thinking before I spoke to Aisha and found myself at peace with things. Lilia, I think you need to take the time to speak to Aisha and Arus together. Calmly.”
She considered this.
“If you do, I know you’ll understand,” I added.
She’d understand that, despite his immaturity, Arus had a real sense of determination. She’d understand that Aisha loved Arus genuinely, in her own way. She’d understand that maybe Aisha did guide him into falling in love with her, but she’d never tricked him.
“All right.”
Should I get them? Or should I give it some time? I wondered.
“You can bring them now,” she said, answering my unspoken question.
I nodded and left the room.
In the living room, I found Aisha and Arus answering the other children’s various questions with serious looks on their faces. I summoned them to talk to me privately.
“Yes?”
“What is it?”
I told them about Lilia’s condition, her worries, how she felt it was her fault that Aisha ended up like this, that she believed Arus had been tricked, and that she was heartbroken over how things had played out. I asked them to go talk to her together. The pair nodded and rose to their feet.
“Hold on.” Just as they were about to leave, I stopped them.
There were a few more things I needed to say. Three things to Arus, to start with.
First, that he was going to go talk to the mother of the woman he loved, not Grandma Lilia. Second, that because he was unable to protect the woman he loved, he’d driven her to this predicament. Third, that he was going to be taking Lilia’s precious daughter from her.
Then, three more things for him.
He needed to focus on understanding: understanding just how much he’d worried the people around him, how his actions were wrong, and how Aisha’s actions were also wrong. He needed to understand his flaws and hers.
He also needed to think. What could he have done better, to help Aisha through all of this? What did he need to learn going forward? In order to do that, he needed to know how Lilia felt. He needed to hear the true feelings of Aisha’s mother, the woman who’d watched and worried over her more than anyone else.
Finally, he needed to convince Lilia. If he wanted to be with Aisha, he needed to start with her.
“Right! I understand!” Arus nodded with an expression that greatly resembled his mother’s. I was a bit worried, but I knew he’d try his best.
I told Aisha to be truthful about what the two of us had discussed and the feelings that had led to her running away. She knew what to say to get her mom to quiet down, and she knew what lies to tell in order to convince her to go along with things. I told Aisha not to resort to any of that. Lilia was going to be furious, almost certainly, but Aisha needed to accept that and speak to her from the heart. That was what it meant to shoot straight with someone.
“I understand.” Like Arus before her, Aisha nodded with a serious look on her face.
I whispered good luck to them as I watched them leave the room.
I don’t know what Aisha, Arus, and Lilia talked about after that. Their conversation was a long one—five hours, six hours? Maybe more. At multiple points, I heard Lilia shouting. At other times, it was Aisha shouting. As time passed, those moments became sparser until they stopped entirely, and then their conversation came to an end at last.
When Lilia came back downstairs, she looked dead tired, but also like a great weight had been taken off of her shoulders. I didn’t expect her to be completely free of reservations, but I was sure that she’d been convinced.
After that, Aisha and Arus apologized to the family:
“We’re sorry for worrying everyone. We’re sorry for causing so much trouble. We’re sorry for betraying your trust.”
They said all of this with their heads lowered.
First and foremost, no one in the family attacked them for their actions. Lucie glared at Arus, and Norn scolded Aisha, but that was the extent of it. If anything, it seemed like everyone was relieved.
We discussed Aisha and Arus’s respective punishments next. That was a bit more complicated.
First, Aisha was going to be expelled from the family. Her name was going to be wiped from the Greyrat family registry for now.
Aisha was the one that proposed this. We were going to punish the traitor. This kind of thing was necessary, no matter where you went in this world. It was meant to protect the Greyrat family’s dignity. To make sure we wouldn’t be underestimated by outsiders.
That said, I had no desire to punish Aisha that severely. Her expulsion from the family was little more than a public-facing arrangement. By showing the world how we’d punished her, we would avoid hurting our good name or whatever. I didn’t like it, but we had to do it.
Despite that, it was actually pretty pointless in the long run. In a few years, she would marry Arus and reenter the family.
So, once Aisha birthed her child, she would throw away her name and be banished from the house.
Banished was a dramatic word. What she was actually going to do was enroll at the royal academy in the Asura Kingdom. The events that’d transpired had helped her realize she was still immature. By attending school, she could become a perfect person!
Obviously not, but she wanted to start fresh with her education. Aisha said that she wanted to learn to be more tolerant of others’ failures. This would separate her from Arus for more than a few years.
That left her true punishment: I would be taking her child from her. Aisha wouldn’t be able to see them until Arus became a man and married her. Once she gave birth and was with the baby for a short time, they would be separated. That was Aisha’s punishment. I didn’t know if it really counted as one, but I knew how painful it was to be kept away from your child, so I thought this was enough.
While Aisha might’ve agreed to it, I couldn’t help but hesitate. Taking a blameless child away from their mother was a difficult decision. I felt bad for the baby. We were going to take responsibility and look after them in her stead, but it was possible that this would leave a deep scar on the child’s heart.
When I considered that, part of me wanted to say, Isn’t this enough? Just let Aisha stay. She and Arus can be all lovey-dovey together.
But Aisha needed to be punished for what she’d done, and she needed to experience the consequences of her failures. With that in mind, all I could really do was show her child more love than she could.
After being pulled away from Arus, would Aisha grow up on her own? Whatever happened, I—no, we—planned on watching over her on her journey.
As for Arus, he was to return home and resume his schooling. He was too immature to bear the burden of a similar level of punishment. Both physically and mentally, he was incapable of protecting Aisha. His responsibility now was to reflect on his actions and put his all into maturing.
Once he came of age, graduated from school, and was recognized as a man by me and his mother, he could do as he pleased. Which basically meant that we were fine with him going to the Asura Kingdom and taking Aisha as his wife. In other words: Go take responsibility and get your woman.
Arus obviously wasn’t happy with losing Aisha, but after he took in the dark circles under Aisha’s eyes and thought about the results of his battle with Eris, he nodded seriously. He still had plenty of growing to do, physically and mentally, but he had the drive that he needed.
He really was Eris’s son, which meant we had nothing to worry about on that end. Arus would turn out just fine, and when he did, he could go to Aisha.
The world at large would eventually learn that Arus had taken Aisha as his wife. People would probably be confused and wonder, Was she banished or married off?
That was fine. Muddying the waters would make the truth harder to grasp. We weren’t in the business of making the details of our personal affairs known to strangers.
***
I took Aisha and Arus around to see everyone, so they could lower their heads and apologize. We hit up everyone who helped us look for them. I told them about everything that transpired. And obviously, since they were roped into all of this, I told them the truth of Aisha and Arus’s punishments.
“Hahaha! I’m glad you found them!” Zanoba said with his usual joyous laugh.
“If you’re banishing Aisha, then you wouldn’t mind if I took her for myself, yes?” Ariel suspiciously asked, but I told her no.
Orsted nodded with his usual scary look.
Alec had searched the Demon Continent and found Kishirika, who then told him where the pair were hiding with a smug look on her face, but it was already too late.
Ruijerd had a relieved but complicated expression on his face when he heard the news.
“Hah, so you ended up catching them?” Perugius said with a snort.
Apparently, he had sided with Aisha in all of this, albeit half-heartedly. I was gonna tattle on him to Orsted later.
When we went to the mercenary band, the members were standing at attention with their tails curled and staring into the air. Some of them might have betrayed me to help her out, but I wasn’t going to punish them for that. A lot of them were probably being blackmailed, and there were also those who’d sided with me, like Linia and Pursena. By forgiving them, they’d owe me one later.
Besides, none of what’d happened had been big betrayals caused by the Man-God. This was just an internal conflict. Even if the Man-God had gotten involved, the mercenary band existed all over the world. Trying to crush it would be a huge pain, and there were a bunch of members who knew how to operate the teleportation circles and contact tablets. Punishing them would’ve had more demerits than merits.
Linia and Pursena had sided with me so early on, even if they hadn’t actually helped much with the search. They really railed on the traitors. Hey, if this helped clean out the organization, I would leave them be.
None of the guys who’d sided with Aisha said she’d forced them to help, even though they looked terrified. For everything that she did, they really respected her. I hoped she understood that.
Nobody was actually mad at Arus or Aisha. I was really grateful.
***
After the apologies concluded, it was time to deliver the baby.
Aisha and Arus’s child. The baby, a healthy boy, was my first grandchild. His name was Leroy Greyrat. He was a wild boy that resembled both of his parents; he was clever like Aisha and loved breasts like Arus.
When I asked Aisha why they didn’t make Leroy’s name from a mix of their names, she laughed and said, “Because we’re not you, Rudeus.”
Anyway, he was my grandson, but it didn’t feel real. Only a few years ago, Chris had been just a baby. It felt more like I suddenly had a new son, yet here I was, an actual grandpa.
Aisha took to caring for her son as if it was the most natural thing in the world. You would never have thought he was her first child. It made sense, since she’d helped raise everyone from Lucie to Chris without giving it a second thought. It wasn’t like she’d raised them alone, but she’d learned how to do everything. Now that she was a mother, she could handle it all.
We’d all help raise the boy, of course. Despite everything that happened, everyone accepted Leroy into the family and cared for him. That made me really happy.
Lilia in particular had a change of heart as soon as Leroy was born. She doted on him so much that you would think she’d never had any reservations about Aisha and Arus getting married. But I got where she was coming from. Lilia and I weren’t blood-related, so this was her first actual grandchild. As soon as she got over the fact that Arus was my son, she had no problems really loving the boy.
She’d be fine in the long run, but I was a little worried that she’d spoil him too much.
As for Arus, he practiced changing diapers with a super serious look on his face. He was learning the ins and outs of taking care of a baby from Aisha and Lilia. I was going to take the baby, but Arus would do most of the child-rearing. Obviously, I’d help out, but Arus needed to learn what it meant to be a father. He’d become a dad at the young age of twelve, but he had to take responsibility nonetheless.
He understood this and put his all into stepping up to the plate. On top of that, he was still attending school, and Eris had made his training even more intense than before. He was working hard in a lot of ways, all so he could one day go and get Aisha.
Huh…
It dawned on me that one day my other children would also get married, and I’d end up with more grandchildren.
This had all happened too early for Arus, but Lucie was of age. I’d heard she was dating Clive before she came of age, but he’d moved to Millis, and they’d lost touch. Maybe they’d made a promise to one another about the future, but reality could be cruel. It wouldn’t be strange if she found a new love at the academy.
Lara didn’t seem remotely interested in that sort of thing, but…she was the type of girl who’d end up bringing someone home out of nowhere. As usual, she was attached at the hip to Leo. She’d probably have to find someone Leo approved of.
The other kids were way too young for that kind of thing. Yet at the same time, I’d thought Arus was too young, and he had a kid now! Who could really say? Going forward, they might end up with someone questionable, just like Arus and Aisha.
What if Chris was super into older men, and when she was grown up, she brought home someone jobless, overweight, and thirty-four years old? I felt like I’d instinctively say no, but I’d have to hold myself back and talk things out. If he was a jobless middle-aged man, maybe we’d have plenty to talk about. No, that couldn’t be enough to sway me. He’d have to show that he was serious about her.
“Oh, my. You want my breasts? Gosh, Leroy. You’re such a mama’s boy,” Aisha said.
“Aisha, you mustn’t spoil him too much,” Lilia scolded.
“Yes, Mom.”
Leroy happily buried his face in Aisha’s chest. Lilia sat next to her with a gentle smile on her face. Arus wore a look that said, He’s so hopeless.
Pal, you’re forgetting that you were just like that when you were a baby, I thought. Wait a second. If that’s the case, what if when Leroy turns ten, he goes after Lily or Chris? Am I going to end up a great-grandpa in my forties?
I paused to consider this.
No, no. No way.
In any case, when things happened, they often happened in unforeseeable ways. Should that time arrive, I wanted to respond calmly instead of losing my cool like I had this time around.
I thought about that as I looked at the happy trio, even if this moment wasn’t going to last.
***
It was time to part ways.
Aisha was wearing traveling attire completely different to her usual maid uniform, and she was standing at the entrance of the house with a bag. Inside of the bag were some clothes and things from her room, but her maid uniform wasn’t in there. The maid uniform she’d worn for so many years was now stored away in the basement storage.
“See you later, Leroy…”
Aisha held her son in her arms. The child she’d given all her love to for but a few days. Aisha had said that taking her child away was a weak punishment, but she started crying as she held him in her arms. Arus cried, and so did Lilia. Just looking at them made it clear that Leroy wasn’t an unwanted child. That brought me to tears as well.
“All right… Mom, Rudeus… Please take good care of Leroy.”
Aisha handed him over to Lilia. Leroy looked at Aisha blankly, then seemed to figure something out, because he quickly began to cry. Perhaps he’d picked up that he was being taken from his mother. Aisha gently caressed his head and kissed him.
“Arus, let’s do our best, okay?” she said.
“Yeah,” Arus replied with a nod.
He was still small, about the same height as Aisha, but I was sure he’d be much taller than her by the time they reunited.
“Okay, everyone… I’ll see you again.”
In the end, Aisha said that to everyone there to see her off. Not Goodbye. Not I’m sorry. But I’ll see you again. I was glad to hear that.
Aisha passed through the front gate and turned around. She looked at my three wives. She looked at the kids. Then, she nodded her head slightly. After gently petting Byt, who was wrapped around the pillars of the gate, she left.
“Hey… Sylphie, Roxy, Eris?”
On the way back into the house, I called out to my wives. They all stopped and looked at me with puzzled expressions.
“I have something I want to talk to you about. Could you come to the bedroom?”
“Is it important?”
“Yes, it is.”
I’d once thought it wasn’t necessary. I still did, but I’d decided to tell them anyway. Now that Aisha was gone, I had to. About the memories I had of my other life. About who I used to be. Going forward, I was going to talk to my kids about all sorts of things, ask about their lives, and play with them more.
I was sure I’d end up repeating my mistakes. No matter how careful I was, no matter how much I understood, sometimes my body didn’t do what I told it to. I was sure there were still things nagging at me from my previous life that I just didn’t remember. I wanted my wives to know that. That way, if something got me again like it had this time, I could have their help.
“Very, very important,” I murmured.
I knew they’d never lose their faith in me. With that certainty in my heart, I made my way to the bedroom.
***
Four years passed.
Arus inherited Eris’s Sword of Light.
He was now a Sword Saint who used the Sword God Style, and a Saint-tier Wind Magician. He was an Advanced-tier user of both water and fire magic. He struggled a little with earth and healing magic, but even so, he was Intermediate-tier in both and capable of silent casting, too.
Since he’d repeated a year, he wasn’t at the top of his class, but he graduated with excellent grades. If nothing else, he’d improved wildly compared to where he’d been four years ago. Anyone who watched him during that time would agree that he put in the hard work.
On the day of his graduation, I asked him if he felt he was an adult who’d obtained the strength to protect Aisha both mentally and physically.
He told me he didn’t know. He’d regretted his prior actions that day he fought Eris, and he’d known things couldn’t stay the same. Still, he loved Aisha and would do everything in his power to protect her. I was satisfied with that answer and told him I expected great things from him.
Arus stared at me, surprised.
“Yessir!” he said after a pause. He nodded, then went off to spar with Eris so she would recognize his skills.
After that, he went to pick up Aisha in the Asura Kingdom. She’d graduated from the Asura Royal Academy and had been working under Ariel in the time since.
Aisha had changed a little in the four years they were apart. She’d become someone who tried to understand other people’s feelings. She stopped trying to take advantage of everyone’s weaknesses, lost a lot of her selfishness, and rid herself of much of her calculating nature. She changed into the sort of person who took the time to think over everything and find the best result, not the most optimal one.
One could argue that she’d lost her strengths. After all, Aisha would no longer manipulate the people around her to her benefit, blackmail them, or use other tricks to get the results she wanted. Personally, I saw that as growth.
The two purchased a home in the Magic City of Sharia and started living there as a family. Arus, Aisha, and Leroy.
We met up quite a bit. The three of them often came to our house to visit, and we were welcome in theirs. Aisha still helped out with chores and taking care of the garden sometimes, like she always had. But she no longer wore a maid uniform. She never wore it again.
Chapter 10: Epilogue
Chapter 10:
Epilogue
ARUS CLOSEDThe Book of Rudeus. That was the end of the twenty-ninth volume.
“So, you never did get punished?” Henry muttered after eyeing Arus for a while.
“As embarrassing as it is to admit, that’s correct. I was too immature to take responsibility for my actions.” Arus shrugged. “That said, although I was a fool at the start, after everything that happened, I ended up becoming a decent guy. Instead of resting on my laurels and thinking I was lucky for getting away with what I’d done, I poured all my energy into studying and training.”
“That’s how you became a Saint-tier Wind Magician and Sword Saint, huh? Guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you were amazing even when you were young, since you can beat the North God himself if you’re allowed to use magic.”
Arus Greyrat was said to be a Divine-tier swordsman. He’d never officially gotten his Sword God license, but the Dragon God Orsted, the North King Kalman III Alexander Rybak, and the other big-name swordfighters of the Ogre God Empire recognized him as such. Arus had achieved this through all of the hard work he’d put in since that fateful day.
“Fortunately for me, I had Red Mama’s training. That’s how I got there so quickly. I was always blessed by the environment I grew up in.”
“By Red Mama, you mean the Berserker Sword King Eris… She’s the founder of the Sword God Berserker Style, right? Said to have completely destroyed the concept of the Sword King Style. I heard she was fierce and always in something of a frenzy?”
“A frenzy? Really…?” Arus narrowed his eyes nostalgically. “Well, I guess she could be like that at times, but she was an incredible mother. I was more motivated than ever after what happened, and she responded to my drive in kind. Honestly, she was more of a father than my own father was. She was always the one to punch me and get me back on the right path whenever I strayed.”
“What happened after that?” Henry prompted.
“After? Well, I graduated, I went to get Aisha, we got married, and I started working under Sir Orsted as one of father’s men and a member of the mercenary band. Looking back on it, that was the hardest period of my life. I was being seduced right and left. For some reason, I got really popular with the ladies back then. And so many of them had big breasts… The captain of the mercenary band at that point was especially crazy. Aisha was my one and only, but lemme tell you, the captain was so attractive, I couldn’t help but look—”
He cleared his throat. “Uh, enough of that. In any case, I held myself back and ran all over the world for work. Eventually, I ended up as your boss.”
“Abridged much?” Henry scoffed.
“He’s always been like this,” Luicelia said frankly in response.
Luicelia had come to work under Orsted fairly late compared to others, but she’d spent plenty of time with Arus as a member of the family. She was familiar with Leroy and even knew his daughter, Ferris. Because of the differences between how humans and the Superd matured, there was a period during which the three of them had hung out as relatives who were around the same age. There was even a time when Luicelia struggled with the fact that they eventually left her behind and grew up. But as of late, she’d come to terms with that just being the way things were.
“You gotta give us more details,” she insisted. “It said in the book that you challenged Eris Greyrat to a duel in order to gain her recognition as a man.”
“Get your eyes checked,” Arus retorted. “It doesn’t say anything about a duel.”
“Okay, but I heard you did duel her.”
“And who in the hell spread that rumor?”
“My mother.”
“Norn, huh…?” Arus sighed. “Well, calling it a duel is a little much, but we sparred, yes…”
“Give us the details right now! Also, tell us about when you went to get Aunt Aisha! As a young maiden, I need to know,” Luicelia said.
Arus burst into laughter at heavy-handedness. Given her age, Luicelia lacked social graces. That was why, despite her long history in the military and her high rank, she lacked a squad of her own and continued to operate in a two-man unit with Henry. It was Luicelia herself, Orsted, and Arus who’d approved that. Henry possessed a great deal of social skills despite his curse, so he complemented her well.
“Sure, why not? There’s not much to tell, though,” Arus said.
Thus, Arus began to fill in the blanks of The Book of Rudeus—the final episode of this tale.
***
How many times have I dreamed of the first day I fought my mother? Even now, I still dream about it on nights when I’m filled with anxiety. It’s an all-too-familiar nightmare at this point.
In it, I’m facing off against Red Mama. We both have our swords at the ready. We slowly close in on one another while looking for openings. Father is watching. White Mama and Blue Mama are watching. My two big sisters, my little brother, my little sisters, Leo, Dillo, Byt—the whole family is watching.
I know that I’ve trained more than enough for this day. Even though I’m aware that training isn’t everything, I believe that I have to overcome this obstacle, so I continue to swing my sword. All in order to beat Red Mama.
With that determination in my heart, I look down at my sword. It’s shorter than it usually is. My arms and legs are also smaller. They don’t belong to a young man; they look like those of a boy who is only twelve years of age. I can’t produce my usual strength. Even worse, I don’t remember why I swung my sword in the first place.
Then, suddenly, the sword is completely gone. Where did I forget it? I need to go look for it quickly. As those thoughts race through my mind, Red Mama swings her sword. My hand goes flying—
And I wake up.
Whenever I have this nightmare, I look down at the hand I lost during it. Cold sweat prickles all over my body in the darkness. Of course, my hand, now covered in wrinkles and calluses, is still there. I then reflect on the later parts of my life and calm myself down. When I was younger, Aisha would wake from where she was sleeping beside me and comfort me.
I have a lot of dreams like that, ones where I forget something important or ruin an important moment in my life. Father said that they’re manifestations of my anxieties.
That particular dream was obviously born from the last day Aisha and I spent together on the run, when I lost to Red Mama and lost my hand.
After White Mama healed me, Red Mama took me in her arms while I brooded. She didn’t waste her breath saying anything, like that I should get stronger.
But I felt that becoming stronger was important regardless. I had to. No, I needed to.
When I became an upperclassman at the Ranoa University of Magic, I believed that more powerfully than ever. I had pretty excellent grades there. I worked hard on my studies. However, I was never number one. That I couldn’t be Lucie went without saying, but I couldn’t even top Lara when it came to magic, despite how often she skipped class.
The other students were all very talented as well. The students attending the Ranoa University of Magic didn’t just go back and forth from their beds and classrooms with dumb looks on their faces. Many came from privileged environments where they were able to train their skills, even if they weren’t quite as blessed as the Greyrat family. The Magic City Sharia had also become quite affluent, thanks to my father and Sir Orsted, and so talented and ambitious people were constantly drawn there, regardless of background.
People I shouldn’t have lost against kept surpassing me. I thought I was doing my best after being pulled apart from Aisha, but there was only a single subject I was number one at. It really frustrated me. If Aisha had been in my position, she probably would’ve been number one across the board.
There was only one area where I was number one: swordplay, or just combat in general. I was never number one when it came to attack magic, but in a mock fight using combat magic, I was number one.
That’s why I thought to myself, This is my thing. I’m good at this…
I can see how you’d think I was being hasty and running away from the things I was bad at. But when I went to talk to Red Mama about it, she didn’t tell me not to run.
“Really? I was the same way!” she said, sounding delighted.
That’s right. She sounded delighted.
When I told her that I didn’t think I could excel at anything else, she developed a complicated look—annoyed, but also a little sad. Still, when I told her that I liked fighting and that I was so good I was the best at it, that made her happy.
I thought she must have been the same as me as a kid, but I learned later that she was even worse than I was! The gap between the things she excelled at and those she didn’t was quite wide. I suppose I have my father’s blood to thank for being exceptional at many things.
Anyway, when Red Mama told me that, I made up my mind. Since Aisha could do just about everything, I didn’t need to. I could just be her sword. I would always be at her hip, ready to be drawn when necessary. That’s the kind of person I wanted to be for her.
I was certain that would help support her, physically and mentally. If she could rely on me, that would help alleviate her anxiety. Just like how Red Mama helped Father.
So, I had to fight Red Mama and win. Maybe it didn’t have to be her specifically, but she was the strongest and most reliable swordfighter I knew.
I knew others, though. In the years that Aisha and I were apart, I got to know all kinds of people: the Sword God Gino; his wife, Nina; the Water God Reida; Lady Ghislaine, the Sword King working at the Asuran palace; Sir Sandor; and even Alec. I know these days I call him Idiotxander, but back then, he used to give me all kinds of advice and treat me like a little brother. I respected him as my master.
Whenever those strong fighters talked about Red Mama, they always described her with the nuance that she wasn’t someone they could easily beat. In terms of pure sword skills, she might not have been as skilled as those I mentioned a moment ago. But in actual combat, she was someone who could find their weak points and threaten their lives. It wasn’t that she was “good with a sword.” She was “strong.” So, I made her my objective. If I wanted to be recognized as a man, I would have to beat her.
I worked hard toward that goal, raised my raw strength, developed my own unique strategies, and refined my techniques.
My father said something after I graduated from the Ranoa Magic University and was about to start attending the Asura Royal Academy.
“You’re almost a man. Why not go and get Aisha now?” he asked.
Father acknowledged me in that moment, but I hadn’t acknowledged myself. Not yet.
That’s why I told him: “I’m not a man until I beat Red Mama. I can’t go to Aisha until then.”
Red Mama looked so satisfied when I said that, although Lara was clearly exasperated, and so were my little sisters. Sieg wore a face that screamed, Of course! He’d been heavily influenced by Alec before attending the royal academy, so he loved that kind of thing.
My father seemed worried, but after White Mama and Blue Mama talked to him, he relented with a nod.
***
A few minutes later, I faced off with Red Mama in our garden. We both had our shinken up and at the ready.
Father said we could’ve just used wooden swords, but I didn’t think I could communicate how serious I was to Red Mama like that. For her part, she brought her shinken without saying anything. She understood; I didn’t have to tell her.
I took a bunch of deep breaths as I squared off against her. I was nervous. After all, this wasn’t just a graduation exam. There was no guarantee that I was going to win. I had no surefire path to victory. Red Mama was a powerful opponent.
I’d fought against all manner of people in those four years, but she was the one person I’d never beaten. How was she so strong? Why did others fear her? The question was often on my mind during that time.
I reached a conclusion: Red Mama’s strength came from her tenacity. Her persistence.
People tended to get the wrong idea about her because of her Berserker Sword King alias and her appearance, but she never rushed in headfirst without thinking. She was quick-witted and had a great sense of when and how to attack. She could come at you with incredible momentum, but she actually surpassed the other Sword God Style practitioners when it came to defense. She knew the best way to move her body, and even when she stepped close to you, she never left herself open in any decisive ways. You could never get a fatal blow in on her.
Just like North God Style practitioners, she had a persistence that lent itself to lengthy combat encounters. Sometimes she would provoke her opponent into attacking her, and then, just like the Water God Style, parry them at the last moment.
The biggest difference between those styles and how Red Mama fought was she would attack with ferocity. She just kept attacking.
All Sword God Style practitioners thought about defeating their opponent before being struck down themselves, but she still wasn’t the same as them either. She didn’t try to take down her opponent in one hit. Many practitioners of the Sword God Style put everything on the line with their first attack—the Sword of Light is just that powerful. She made it seem like she was the same, but that wasn’t so. She fought while taking into account what would happen if the Sword of Light missed.
I’d seen the Water God Reida and Red Mama spar before. Reida ended up earning more victories over her in total, but there was never a single instance where she was able to beat Red Mama with one hit.
Red Mama was always so clever in how she used her Sword of Light. She never just stepped in and fired it off. She’d won like that before, but sometimes Reida would get the best of her after parrying it and countering.
Red Mama would take the counter, but it was never a fatal blow. There were times when the hit would lead to her being pushed back and losing, but it was never the decisive moment. She always remained standing, even after winding up on the receiving end of the Water God’s secret technique.
Though Red Mama was always on the attack, that didn’t mean she had weak defense. She always envisioned fighting someone better than her. To my eyes, it looked like she believed my father would handle the rest as long as she toughed it out and kept fighting on the front lines. It was a similar style to Great-Grandmother Elinalise or Ruijerd. She was a swordswoman, but she never forgot she was a warrior. Red Mama had the power to deliver a decisive blow, but she was also a protector who could defend the front line for a long time. That was who the Berserker Sword King Eris Greyrat was.
And that was who I had to defeat. It was no easy task.
Before our fight, I thought time and time again about what I had to do to beat her. How I could land a hit on her.
The first thing I came up with was a surprise attack. I would surpass her expectations with the first move and take her out then and there. Red Mama was persistent, but there were limits. Plus, I could use magic, and she had a number of weak points.
But I didn’t do that. I decided to face her head-on instead. I had to, in order to defeat her properly. I had to surpass her in the same ring.
Plus, my objective wasn’t actually beating Red Mama; it was proving to her that I was a man. It wasn’t like it was okay to lose, but I needed to choose how I’d win. She should be satisfied with the result. Otherwise, it would seem like I was saying, Woo! I won. Now I’m a man, right? But that wasn’t for me to decide. I wanted her to believe that I’d become good enough to stand on my own two feet when I beat her, so I had to face her and tear victory from her hands.
How could I not have been nervous?
I still remember the details of the fight clearly. I was the first to strike. Red Mama waited to see what I would do, so I dived in. I’m certain she wanted to see how I’d grown. However, she was never particularly good at waiting. If I hadn’t attacked after a few seconds—no, a single second even—I’m sure she would’ve taken the initiative.
Thanks to her show of patience, I got the drop on her. Mixing magic in, I closed in on her, one move at a time.
Bear in mind that I wasn’t using magic to attack. I used wind magic to create a shock wave and move at a high speed while manipulating my sense of gravity to supplement my sword work. This was my own special technique, one that I had developed after studying Lucie. I’d turned it into my own fighting style. Unlike Lucie, I rarely ever attacked with magic. Instead, I used it to step closer to my opponents and smoothly dodge their attacks.
Of course, using that technique while in close-range combat also impacted my opponent. I was using a shock wave to correct my own stance, but I wasn’t using it exclusively on myself; my opponent felt it as well. It caused them to lose their stance, which created a massive opening for me to strike. When I realized that, I became unbeatable amongst my peers.
Then again, I was dealing with Red Mama now. She had a very strong core, and the shock wave I used to correct my own posture had no effect on her. Actually, it was worse: She used the burst to her advantage. She swooped in toward me, using the shock wave to strengthen her movements.
Looking back on it, it was a godlike move. I think the only other person who could’ve done something like that was Sir Orsted. She had to predict whether or not I’d fire off a shock wave, then step close enough that she’d be within range of it. If she messed up, her fighting stance would collapse. It wasn’t like she had done it before! I’d sparred with her, yes, and I’d even used the same move, but this was the only time she’d ever responded in that way. That’s right. The only time. In one attempt, she’d executed the move with perfect timing. Suddenly, she was on the offensive, and I was on the defensive.
But I didn’t panic. I never imagined I’d be able to win easily. I predicted that, even if I felt like I was doing well at first, she could easily flip the script on me. Dropping into a defensive stance, I carefully continued the fight.
I parried her attacks, dodged, occasionally stepped in, and sometimes used a shock wave to adjust my position. I couldn’t completely go on the offensive, but I still managed to attack now and then.
Red Mama was the type of woman to always follow through on an attack, but I’d learned how to protect myself from the North God Style and the Water God Style. I didn’t hesitate to use all of those techniques to fend off her onslaught.
One step forward, one step backward. Neither of us could get a decisive attack in, which meant that we were both trying to find an opening.
Red Mama wouldn’t try to brute-force her way in with an opponent she couldn’t overwhelm. Maybe there were times when she did that sort of thing, but I was confident she wouldn’t try it with me. Knowing this, I predicted she would try to use my shock wave against me again. Though it was a challenging move on her end, if I tried to pull the same trick twice, she would repeat her actions and crush me. So, being careful not to alert her, I patiently waited to spring my trap.
The moment arrived without warning, but I knew this was it.
Red Mama dived in with a little more power than before. I sidestepped her and slashed. I dipped low, making it look like I was leaping at the perfect chance to hit her. She corrected her posture like it was the obvious move to make and dodged my sword.
That was it.
I activated my shock wave with more power than usual. It was so strong that it would break my stance rather than support it. You could just barely withstand the blast if you knew it was coming, but if you didn’t? Your balance was done for. Most people would either be sent to the ground or to their knees. Even Red Mama wasn’t able to plant her feet completely on the ground. I heard her feet shift as she readjusted her stance twice to stay standing.
She was open.
My Sword of Light swept straight toward the nape of Red Mama’s neck. The fact that I had the time to think Oh shit! spoke to my growth. I just barely changed the trajectory of my sword. While I did that, Red Mama corrected her posture and swung her Sword of Light at my neck.
I was going to lose.
Then, Red Mama’s sword faltered. Her blade began to swing for my wrist instead.
My brain couldn’t keep up with my body.
My sword sliced Red Mama’s hand off before her weapon could reach me. It was the Reflection Blade. Her hand tumbled through the air as I pointed my sword at her.
“It’s over!”
Who had said that? White Mama?
I saw Father running toward us from behind Red Mama, his face deathly pale. I saw White Mama picking up Red Mama’s hand. And I saw Blue Mama wearing a relieved look. Lara went back into the house, and Sieg and my little sisters cheered.
In retrospect, I had just managed to squeeze in a victory. It wasn’t the kind of strategy I could repeat on her. In terms of raw strength, she was still several leagues above me. However, that I held my ground against her when it counted was more than good enough.
“Arus,” she said.
After we gazed at one another for a few seconds, we embraced each other. Despite her missing hand, she held me tight in her arms. She was truly strong. She squeezed me so hard that I thought she was going to strangle me, but I didn’t mind.
She’d always been with me. She had never once abandoned me.
She didn’t say anything to me in that moment, nothing like Well done. But I could feel her praising me without words.
I hugged her back. I’m sure I cried.
And so, I became a man.
***
Having been acknowledged as a man, the first thing I needed to do was, well…prepare. Obviously. I was going to get Aisha.
That said, it would have been a bad look to go to the Asura Kingdom with just the clothes on my back. It just didn’t feel appropriate. I was going to go pick up my bride-to-be. I needed to do it right, no? But I had no clue what that entailed.
After Aisha left, it wasn’t like I gained any experience on that front.
Plenty of girls tried to tempt or seduce me, but I never gave in. I didn’t know what happened past the courtship phase. It was truly unknown territory for me.
I went to my father for advice. He had three wives, after all, so surely he’d know what to do.
“What should I do in terms of getting Aisha? I haven’t really interacted with girls much, so I have no clue. You know all about this stuff, right, Dad?”
My father looked at me with something of a sour look on his face. “Uh, I don’t really have much experience on that front either.”
Apparently, he didn’t actually have much experience pursuing women in the usual way. He groaned as he explained to me how he’d reunited with my mothers.
“You should do whatever you come up with yourself. This is Aisha we’re talking about. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy with whatever you do for her,” he squeezed out at the end.
He did his best to think things through for me, but he didn’t give me any specific ideas. One of the only things from his story I could have used was saving Aisha when she was in danger, but that was hardly realistic. I didn’t want to make some evildoers attack her just so I could save her.
I guess I’ll have to come up with something on my own…
Just as I’d almost given up—
“Well, there is one guy who’d know a thing or two about this kind of stuff,” Father added. He would introduce me to someone.
Father described him as such: “He’s the biggest playboy I know, and he’s super used to these kinds of situations.”
The first person who came to mind was Great-Grandmother Elinalise, but it wasn’t her.
“It’s just… He really is a huge playboy, so I don’t know if Aisha will be crazy about whatever he comes up with. I’d suggest using his suggestions as food for thought… Don’t ever use them to do anything bad,” he stressed.
I was excited at the time, because it felt like he was about to introduce me to a magician from a fairy tale or something.
***
My father ended up taking me to the castle in the Asura Kingdom. Although I was still surprised, we made our way inside the building. Eventually, we arrived at a decked-out office.
I’d come to the castle several times in the past. I hadn’t been there since eloping with Aisha, but before that happened, Father had taken me to a number of parties there. It was a dizzying, opulent world. If we weren’t at war with Asura now, I’d love for the two of you to experience what true high-class life was like back then.
But it was already nighttime, so the place wasn’t dazzling at the moment.
“I’ve been busy as of late, you see.”
There was a single man in the room: the head of the Seven Knights of Asura, Luke Notos Greyrat. Queen Ariel’s Royal Dagger. He was a famous man. While he wasn’t particularly skilled with a sword, he was known for his political wit and the way he could win the hearts and minds of people. At some party I’d attended in the past, Sieg had been very excited to talk to him.
While he was good at winning others over, he wasn’t the sort of person to ask for advice on women—or so I thought. When I asked others later, they said he was actually the perfect person to ask for help. I don’t really know the details, but when he was young, he was quite the playboy.
“So, I heard you need help with a woman. What is it? Is some young lady you knocked up at school coming after you?” Luke said.
“My boy would never do something like that,” my father replied.
“Oh, I’m well aware. I know all about your son’s romantic circumstances… But if he’s going to attend the Asura Royal Academy, he should be prepared to be approached by noblewomen.”
“And why is that?”
“Queen Ariel wants to marry her daughter to one of your sons. She’ll probably send some less attractive girls his way to make the princess seem more appealing.”
“Can you please not try to seduce my son? He has someone he loves already.”
“I kid…is what I’d like to say, but you had best prepare for Her Majesty to send at least one girl his way.”
Father and Luke seemed close as they chatted away.
Luke had said he was joking, but when I started attending the royal academy, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t approached by girls. There were attractive ones among them, including ones with big breasts… But I never folded because I had Aisha! I swear.
“How’s Aisha doing?” my father asked. “You haven’t made moves on her, right? If you have, I’ll destroy this entire castle.”
“I’m not so hard-pressed for women that I’d lay a finger on your family. I fully acknowledge that Aisha is a very attractive woman and, more importantly, extremely talented. Be that as it may, I know all too well that nothing good can come from putting the moves on her, so I haven’t.”
“Even if you tried, my Aisha would never go for it,” my father insisted. “Don’t get full of yourself just because you have a handsome face.”
“I know! I swear, you never did have much of a sense of humor… Anyway, let’s get down to business.”
Having graduating from the royal academy, Aisha was working at the castle. According to her, she did light office work for Queen Ariel, but everyone around her said that she’d done so much that she’d basically reformed the place.
Apparently, the rules she came up with in her time there are still alive and well in the Asura Kingdom. That said, I don’t know the specifics of what’s going on there as of late. We’ve severed diplomatic relations, after all. After Queen Ariel passed away, things changed quite a bit.
“Her position here isn’t a strong one,” Luke began. “We’ve been entertaining her as a guest from Ruquag’s Mercenary Band and as Rudeus’s little sister, but she basically has no status within the Asura Kingdom. However, she’s talented and good with people, so everyone in the other departments knows her. There are many here who say, should she leave the mercenary band, they would gladly give her the proper reception… Queen Ariel is among them.”
Luke paused to look at me. “Hell, she would welcome you as well.”
I shook my head. “No, I plan on working under Da—Father and Sir Orsted.”
“If you plan on following in Rudeus’s footsteps, we won’t force your hand. But Aisha is beloved by the people here. It will not rest well with them if you don’t treat her as the important woman she is when you pick her up.”
I was confused at the time. Now that I was a man, I just wanted to be reunited with the woman I loved. Why did I have to concern myself over power struggles? None of that mattered to me. Queen Ariel was technically under Orsted’s umbrella, which made her an ally, so I understood that I needed to pay my dues, so to speak, but…
Father was the one to offer me a helping hand. “Luke, didn’t you say we should get down to business? What’s with the long preamble?”
“A preamble is important, is it not?” Luke said with a shrug.
“It really isn’t. Could you just get on with it and tell my son the best, coolest way to get a woman? Thanks.”
Father bowed his head while Luke shot him a displeased look.
“A carriage,” he said. “A two-horse box carriage for two would be good. Make it as ornate as possible. The horses should be white. Black is fine as well, but no ashen or spotted horses. Park the carriage in a spot where she and her female associates pass through on their way home. If possible, you should park at the back entrance of the castle. Make sure you make an appointment but don’t tell her everything. Just tell her, ‘I’m coming for you that day.’”
“Wh-what else?” I asked.
“When she comes, say this: ‘I’ve come for you. Let’s go.’ That’s it. There’s no need to say anything else.”
“Is that really it?”
“Yes. Then take her to your villa or an inn, and…you know the rest, right?”
This time, it was Father’s turn to look displeased. “What kind of prince do you take him for?” he muttered.
But I was sure that Luke’s strategy would be an effective one. Even when I was attending the Ranoa Magic University, I recalled hearing girls talking about this kind of thing. One day, their prince would come atop his white steed to get them at the front gate of the university. That led me to wonder about the one thing he’d mentioned that was different from what the girls I overheard said.
“Why a carriage? Wouldn’t it be better if we rode a horse together?”
“Being out in the open would lead to rumors…or do you not mind that sort of thing? There are a lot of women who wouldn’t enjoy rumors spreading about them. They’d be happier to keep your destination hidden, then go public later. She’d probably want to know you treasure her and are serious about your relationship, right?”
“Could you please not teach my son your creepy techniques?” my father interjected.
“Hey, you’re the one who came to me for help.”
My father acted a bit odd around Luke, but that was neither here nor there. I remember being puzzled at the time, but Father acted weird fairly often.
“What I am trying to say,” Luke continued, “is that it’s important to make her wishes come true. I don’t know if Aisha would be pleased with white horses or a carriage. The two of you would know what she wants much better than I would, even if you haven’t seen her in years. Think about it from that perspective.”
“What Aisha wants…”
There was no way I could predict the exact answer, but I did know what Aisha cared about. I had a decent idea of how she might like to be approached.
“All right. Thank you very much,” I said.
“Are you seriously going to be okay? You really shouldn’t copy Luke,” my father said in a bit of a panic.
At the end of the day, this was just like when I fought Red Mama. I needed to think on my own and approach it with everything I had.
***
I got a carriage ready.
Just as Luke had suggested, I picked out a box carriage, but one much larger than he’d recommended. It was a four-seat carriage pulled by four white horses.
I made an appointment. Knowing Aisha, she probably wanted to have the time to say her goodbyes to all the people she worked with.
When Aisha finished work, she usually walked back to her lodgings from the castle. She went home with the maids she’d gotten close to. The castle wasn’t particularly far from where she lived, and the Noble District was safe, but I couldn’t help but worry when I heard she went home on foot. I’d basically be waiting to surprise her on the way home, and if I could do it so easily, so could anyone else.
The only people who could park a carriage at the castle were those who’d gotten permission, so I wanted to believe that area was safe. And I didn’t plan on blocking the road or anything. The carriage was just a means of going home.
A carriage wasn’t the only thing I readied for that day. I had a bouquet of flowers. I went back home and picked some from the flower bed in the garden—the very same flowers Aisha herself grew and loved. I also got some flowers from Byt, our baby treant. I bundled everything together, then took a sniff. They smelled like our garden.
She might’ve gotten mad at me for taking them without permission, but it wasn’t as though I took all the flowers! I did my part helping to tend to them, so surely this bunch could be forgiven. If nothing else, it felt like Byt and Grandma Zenith had given me permission. When I told her I wanted to take some flowers, Zenith actually handed me some herself.
I got my outfit from a clothing store our family frequented in Ranoa. Father was a regular there and I’d tagged along with him before, but this was the first time I voiced my own desires, picked out an outfit, and bought it for myself. The store clerk and my father said I looked good, but when I saw myself in the mirror, I felt like the clothes were wearing me.
Maybe it was because I was so used to looking at Red Mama, but I thought I looked better in my Sword God Style attire.
It was almost time to meet up, so I descended from the carriage to wait for Aisha.
The back entrance of the castle was so large that it almost didn’t feel right calling it that, and there were a great deal of people going home via carriage or horse. Of course, that was the case. Most of those working at the castle were either nobility or people of similar status. Even the maids were low-level noblewomen working as servants. While the soldiers might have been commoners, they had to be people with clear-cut backgrounds. All of those people glanced at me as they passed by, wondering what I was up to.
There were a handful of girls around my age. As soon as they saw me, they looked like they realized something and quickly left. I even heard people whispering. The girls thought they were being quiet, but I could tell they were speaking in high-pitched tones.
Nobody actually stepped forward to ask me what I was doing there, but I suppose the fact that I was all dressed up and holding a bouquet made it obvious.
Perhaps I’d messed up.
I hadn’t given it much thought until then, but what if Aisha turned me down?
Nobody was laughing at my expense, but I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d screwed up with my choice of attire. Clothing styles and trends differed between the Asura Kingdom and Ranoa, and I felt like I stood out. I was the only one dressed like I was off to a party.
Aisha was pragmatic and down to earth. Rather than all this pomp and circumstance, maybe she would have preferred if I visited her at her lodgings normally instead.
Or maybe I should’ve gone grander. Maybe I should have thrown an actual party? No, no. There was no way that was the answer.
I anxiously waited, and eventually, I saw a single woman emerge from the castle. She had her shoulder-length hair up, and the hair ornament I’d given her long ago swayed with her movement. She was wearing a dress. A crimson one. There was no way she’d been working dressed like that. Was she off to a party?
I wasn’t dense enough to actually think that. Aisha had gotten dressed up for me. Just as I’d gotten dressed up for her, she did for me. Once I realized that, my heart started racing. There was no way Aisha was going to turn me down. I was certain she’d been waiting for this moment, just as I had, this whole time. Waiting for me to grow into a man and return for her.
Of course, I didn’t think all she’d done was wait. From what Sir Luke told us, Aisha was a little different from who she used to be.
Like before, she was incredibly talented and the kind of person you’d want to hire in a heartbeat. But she was now adored by everyone around her, not feared. I had to treat her with a level of importance that would satisfy the people around us.
I mean, even if she had changed, there were probably still people who hated her. It wasn’t as though everyone in the world loved her. But given what I’d heard, she must have made incredible progress to have garnered such a positive reputation.
She’d worked hard to become a more complete person so she could be with me. Probably.
No, I’m sure of it.
Aisha stopped in front of me. “Heya. You’ve gotten big.”
It really had been so long since I last saw her. In the past few years, I’d seen all kinds of women. I couldn’t help but look at women with big breasts, after all. On an instinctive level, I’d wanted to touch them or even take them in my arms.
“It’s only been a few years, but I barely recognized you. Wowee… I thought I stayed in love with you this whole time, but I guess this is what it feels like to fall in love all over again.”
As I gazed at Aisha, I had a thought.
“Um? Heeey, Arus? You okay?”
She was the only woman I loved.
“Um, um, um. Wait, are you actually here waiting for someone else?” Aisha was joking, but I heard a bit of sadness in her voice.
That was when I finally opened my mouth to speak. I took a knee, held the bouquet in my hands toward her, and looked into her eyes.
“I love you. Will you marry me?”
For a few seconds, Aisha’s mouth opened and closed. But then she took a deep breath, straightened her back, and took the flowers from me.
“It would be my pleasure.”
So, Aisha and I got married.
***
There was one thing I wanted to do after reuniting with Aisha. I invited her into the carriage I had parked on the side of the castle.
“My, oh my. What a lavish carriage. You’ve become quite the resourceful lad. Have you turned into a ladies’ man in my time away?” Aisha teased.
“Oh, stop it. When I asked Sir Luke for some advice, he told me to prepare a carriage like this. That’s all,” I said.
“Wow, you went to a playboy for advice? Gosh, I wonder where you’ll be taking me next. But I suppose that’s fine. I am your wife now, after all. I’ll accompany you anywhere you so desire today. I doubt I have to ask, but you got my brother’s permission, right?”
Aisha laughed brightly, looked at the carriage, then greeted the coachman. Back in the day, Aisha would have never gone out of her way to greet someone like that. If the custom was to pay in advance, she might’ve offered a small tip or something, but never a greeting.
“Enough about how the carriage looks,” I said. “Could you get in for me, please?”
“Ooo, have you prepared a stunning gift for me or something?”
“Yeah. I really hope you like it.”
Aisha lifted the hem of her dress, so I slowly opened the door for her. I took her hand and guided her into the carriage. And waiting for her inside was—
“Aisha.”
“Ah!”
Two people. One of them was in a dress, and she looked every bit as beautiful as Aisha. It was Grandma Lilia.
“Mom,” Aisha said softly.
And, of course—
“Leroy?”
Sitting there was a three-year-old boy who, despite his small size, was all dressed up. He was a well-behaved child. At his age, I would’ve never been able to sit still inside of a carriage. Not that he was always so well-behaved. Maybe he knew who he was meeting that day. He was hardly the age where he was truly aware of his surroundings, but even then, he might’ve understood that today was important.
Aisha looked at the both of them, and then, after hesitating, she set her eyes on Grandma Lilia. Grandma nodded slightly, and Aisha reached out to her son.
“Hiya, Leroy! You sure have gotten big!” She put her hands under his arms and held him up. “I’m your mommy. Do you remember me?”
Leroy silently shook his head. There was no way he would remember her.
“Mama…”
Leroy was told time and time again that people called Mama in the house weren’t his mom. Leroy never asked who his mother was. I’m sure part of it was he was still so young, but even after he learned how to speak properly, he never once asked that question. Still, he must have wondered about it.
I loved him as much as I could, and so did everyone else in the house. My mothers never mistreated him, but they never tried to be his mother. The line was blurred at times, but they never crossed it.
“Mama…” Leroy said again. He hugged Aisha and started to cry. He could barely speak, but he must’ve sensed something.
“Oooh, there, there. I’m so sorry I haven’t been there for you. I didn’t leave because I hated you or anything. It’s because I did something bad. I’m sorry. We’ll be together from now on, okay?” Aisha said tearfully as she patted Leroy’s back. She then looked at me over his shoulder. “Arus… You’ve really become a man.”
There was one thing I wanted to do after reuniting with Aisha. I mean really wanted to do, mind you. But I knew that I couldn’t prioritize that right then.
“Don’t take too much on. You don’t have to hold back. I’m with you now,” Aisha said, as if she could read my mind.
I suppose at the time, I might’ve been putting too much pressure on myself. I kept telling myself I was a man, an adult, a father, and I was going to become the next head of the Greyrat family. I’d been trying to hype myself up, but maybe I’d actually been overdoing it.
Aisha turned away from me to face Grandma Lilia, then said: “Mom, I’m finally back.”
“Welcome back,” Grandma Lilia replied.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the person you wanted me to be.”
Grandma Lilia looked surprised. “No. I tried too hard to mold you into the person I wanted you to be, and I’m sorry.”
Those were the words she couldn’t say after we came back home. The words that’d come to her mind that fateful day. The words she’d wanted to say.
I’d spoken with Grandma Lilia several times since then. As the cause of their falling-out, I felt I was the only one who could repair their relationship.
In the lead-up to this day, Grandma Lilia asked me over and over again if it was really okay for her to come along. If it wouldn’t be better if it was just Leroy. I told her that it would be fine, because I knew that Grandma Lilia hadn’t actually treated Aisha like one of her possessions. She was just a little set in her ways.
I’m sure that they probably got together and had a more intimate conversation in the days after, but at the time, that was all they said to one another. That was enough.
“All right. Let’s go have dinner,” I proposed.
Aisha beamed. “Awesome. I didn’t eat lunch today, so I’m starving. Where are you taking us?”
“There’s a nice restaurant in the Noble District with a great view at night. I was thinking of heading there.”
“Oh, gosh. That’s the place Luke always uses when he’s trying to win over a girl. Mom, Arus has become a bad boy in my time away! What am I gonna do?”
“Aisha, Master Arus is only thinking of pleasing…”
“I know. I’m just messing around! I guess I’m a little excited. It’s been so long, and when I think about how we get to be together again, I just… Thank you, Arus. You too, Mom,” Aisha said with a wry smile.
I could tell she was bubbling with energy, but she was still the Aisha I remembered. The girl from before we eloped hadn’t disappeared.
Well, this was Aisha we were talking about. It was possible she was faking her cheerfulness, but Grandma Lilia and I were relieved that the same old Aisha was interacting with us again.
If anything, I was probably the nervous one.
“I’m home.”
She was. She was finally home.
***
“After that, I spent many years with Aisha. I went to the Asura Royal Academy, graduated, and officially started working for Sir Orsted and my father, as well as assisting Aisha in her role as advisor of the mercenary band. I learned how to run it from her. I also hopped around the world with Father and Red Mama every day. In the end, I became the head of the mercenary band and, well…you guys know the rest,” Arus explained, bringing everything to a close.
At some point, his two underlings had gotten comfortable on the floor. They were listening to his tale with vacant looks on their faces. When he finished speaking, they nodded in satisfaction.
“That was quite a good story,” Luicelia said. “Henry, you should use this as food for thought. When you come for me, make sure you have a carriage.”
“Okay, hold on. Clearly, you should be the one coming for me,” Henry replied.
Arus’s underlings continued their back-and-forth as they rose to their feet. Then, the two of them looked down at the book.
“It really was just a journal. Wow. Everyone talked about volume 29 like it was some kind of mythical object, so I figured it’d have something more incredible written in it,” Henry said.
“Oh, it was more than incredible enough for me,” Arus said. “I’d never have gotten to read how my father felt about that whole situation otherwise. Thanks for finding this.”
“Hah, it’s no big deal. Personally, I have no desire to learn what my old man’s thinking.”
“I guess my one regret is that I wish you’d found it before Aisha passed.” Arus sighed.
“That’s asking for way too much… It’s not like we were actively looking for it,” Henry objected. “But, you know, the Aisha in there is way different from the one we knew.”
The Aisha with whom Henry had been familiar was a strict but kind woman. An open-minded individual. She could patiently, gently, and carefully tell stubborn people like Henry and Luicelia what they should do and what they should be careful about. She felt like the kind of person who would never look down on people less skilled or talented than she was.
“You guys were family, so she was probably softer on you in general, but… Yeah, she really did change after we tried to elope.”
Aisha had passed away about half a year ago. She died of old age. According to Orsted, she was supposed to live for a little bit longer, but the last few years had been turbulent. Aisha used her incredible mind to lead the Ogre God Empire to victory time and time again. She was the reason the empire could expand its borders so effectively within a such a short amount of time. It was intense work, day after day. She must have been exhausted.
She died while the country was at war, so they weren’t able to hold a massive funeral for her, but many people attended nonetheless. They all wept for her. Everyone grieved her passing, completely removed from their own self interests.
Aisha’s strategies saved countless lives, but she did more than that. Her very presence, her kindness, her thoughtfulness—all of those qualities saved countless lives. That was why people adored her. Aisha accepted that, not for her own ego but from her heart.
If the Rudeus from the era of this book had seen her, he most certainly would have smiled, satisfied by the sight of his little sister’s development.
“I feel guilt for what I did back then, but…I’m glad we eloped,” Arus whispered.
Aisha hadchanged after that event, but she’d never told him who she was trying to become or how. Was that because it wasn’t the sort of thing you could put into words, or had she simply chosen not to say? Whatever the answer, he was certain that Aisha had arrived at the destination she’d set for herself.
“I’m so glad,” Arus whispered. The one regret he’d had for all these years had finally vanished.
“Let’s visit Aisha’s grave again sometime soon,” Henry suggested.
“Yeah, once the next mission is over and done with,” Arus agreed.
The upcoming mission was the linchpin of the Asura Kingdom invasion, and it was a mission that Aisha had planned herself. It was only after completing the plan that she’d entered her eternal slumber. Arus had received the explanation of what it entailed from her before she passed, but it was fairly complex. He didn’t completely understand the logic behind the plan, but he and the others would execute it nonetheless. It was Aisha’s last mission. They had to.
“That said, I’m gonna be holding down the fort,” Arus said.
He was an older man. He could still move just fine, but his long years of military service had taken a toll on him. He’d been ordered to protect the fortress. Its safety was vital.
“Oh, please. This is the most important location,” Henry said.
“No enemies are going to come here. I’ll just be drinking tea the whole time,” Arus said.
“Considering how important it is, there’s no way the enemy won’t come.”
“They won’t. I trust you guys will ensure it.”
“Oho, that’s your angle, huh? What do you think, Luicelia?”
“I’m just gonna do the mission I’ve been given,” she replied. “He’s the one who gave me the mission, so if he says the enemy won’t come, they won’t.”
Part of Henry and Luicelia’s mission had been to ensure that nobody discovered the existence of this fortress. They had discovered and assassinated anyone who’d gotten their hands on intel regarding its strategic position. Arus believed they’d carried out their mission perfectly, but there was always the off chance the enemy would get their hands on that intel and attack. If they could take down the fortress, the Ogre God Empire might lose half of its territory. That was how important this place was—so important that Orsted hadn’t hesitated to post his most trustworthy man here.
Arus understood this, and that was why he could say with a smile, Don’t worry about watching your backs. Just focus on what’s in front of you.
“I’m more worried about you guys than I am myself. Don’t die out there.”
Because Arus wouldn’t be standing on the front lines, that meant others would have to in his place. Henry and Luicelia were no exception; they would walk the battlefield.
The Asuran battlelines would be an arena where anyone might die. Arus had mixed feelings about sending such young people to a place like that.
“Aye. We’ll do our beeeest!” Henry crowed.
“Don’t worry. I won’t die,” Luicelia said.
Despite Arus’s weighty concerns, their replies were anything but heavy. Were they treating death lightly, or were they overconfident?
“Look, you two—”
Arus went to berate them, but he cut himself short and smiled wryly. They’d just discussed his own youth, so he was strangely embarrassed. Once a young fool himself, he was now in the position to provide guidance and be exhausted by the youth and their idiocy.
It was said that time made people stronger, but most remained unaware of their own growth. Arus was one such person. He’d gone through life believing he was still immature, but here he was now, an old man. Luicelia and Henry would undoubtedly go through life making dumb decisions, screwing up, and learning from their experiences until they became adults. One day, they’d be elderly themselves.
“Well, I guess it’s good that you’re so enthusiastic,” Arus said. “All right, get going. I’ll report to Sir Orsted, so get some rest.”
It wasn’t Arus’s job to nag them. Instead, he was going to wait in the wings, calm and composed, so he could make them feel at ease. When they made a mistake, he’d clean up after them. That was all he needed to do. Just like it’d been for him, as long as they stayed alive, life would go on even after they made mistakes.
Maybe that’s how Father felt, Arus thought as he watched the pair leave the room.
Rudeus hadn’t been a very fatherlike father. If anything, Red Mama was more of a father figure to Arus. In fact, when Arus became a father himself, he had the feeling that he modeled his behavior after Red Mama. But perhaps his father—perhaps Rudeus—had the same mindset Arus held now.
“That’s how you interact with your grandkids, not your actual children, Dad…” Arus whispered, looking down at The Book of Rudeus.
Rudeus Greyrat continued to be spoken of long after his death, but he hadn’t been a particularly good father. After reading his journal, however, Arus realized that his father had tried his best—fumbling as it might have been—to raise Arus and his siblings.
Arus did the same with his own son. He felt he’d done a better job than his father, but he couldn’t say he was perfect. There were plenty of times when things didn’t go as planned. Likewise, Leroy struggled with his own daughter.
Heh… I suppose there are certain things you only truly understand when you get to my age.
Arus couldn’t understand Rudeus when he was younger. Even after having grandchildren, maybe he still didn’t. But he had the feeling he was getting close. A smile formed on his face.
It’d been some time since Arus had thought about his father. Now he was seeing commonalities between Rudeus and Leroy, as well as himself. That made him happy. He gently patted the cover of TheBook of Rudeus.
Being careful not to damage the book in his hands, Arus stood up. He left the room with a spring in his step, intent on delivering the book to Orsted.
About the Author
About the Author
Rifujin na Magonote
Resides in Gifu Prefecture. Loves fighting games and cream puffs. Inspired by other published works on the website Let’s Be Novelists, they created the web novel Mushoku Tensei in 2012. In 2022, the 26th and final volume of the main series was released, and from 2023, they began Mushoku Tensei: Redundant Reincarnation, a collection of stories set after the main series.
“I feel like I’ve finished the homework I’ve had sitting for ten years,” said the author.