Chapter 18 – Return to Roa_Leon Greyrat: The Second Son

Chapter 18 – Return to Roa

 — Eris Boreas Greyrat —

 “What are the three main things that affect gas pressure?” Rudeus asked.

 “Umm… temperature… the amount of gas… and the… space it''s in?” Sylphy answered.

 “Yep! Good job,” Leon eximed, smiling at her.

 Just like he did with me… tsk.

 Not that I cared, though!

 “So, if you know that, what do you think would create the most pressure?” Leon asked.

 “Umm… a lot of gas in a small space? Oh! And making it hot!” Sylphy answered.

 The two brothers nodded their heads.

 “Yep! And what do you think happens when you hold gas at high pressure before being released? Oh, Eris. You know this one!” Leon said.

 Scrunching my eyebrows, I thought back to my lessons at home.

 Usually, with all this ‘science’ stuff, I just let it go in through one ear and out the other.

 It was pretty boring after all.

 But I remember listening to this ‘pressure’ stuff pretty seriously.

 And that was because when he did what he described, it would cause-

 “An explosion!” I said, pointing my chin up.

 He simply nodded his head proudly.

 “Yep. Now, how about we try it?” he said, extending his hand. “Rudy? Do you want to do it with me?”

 “Sure. Let’s see who can make a bigger shockwave!” Rudy answered.

 Leon shook his head. “No. We probably shouldn’t. What if we wake up Norn and Aisha?”

 “Ah. That’s true…”

 “Kids! Come and eat!” a shout rang from the house.

 Turning back, I saw Leon’s mothers, Lilia and Zenith, standing in the garden with a tter of sandwiches and drinks.

 To think they had just given birth a week ago… well, I knew how good Leon and Rudeus’ healing magic was, so it was to be expected.

 “I guess the demonstration will have to wait. Let’s get some food,” Leon said, walking toward them.

 Following behind him, I thought back tost night, when I shared a conversation with the woman.

 Zenith, that is.

 She was… weird, but not in a bad way.

 She was warm, like afortable firece, and I could tell how much she loved, and how proud she was, of her two kids… even without her constantly saying it.

 It was… much different, from Mother.

 And like Paul, she also liked to tease me, but it wasn’t annoying, rather, it just made me embarrassed.

 Truly, truly odd.

 Anyway, when I went downstairs to use thetrine, I was about to return to my room before she called me over to sit next to her.

 I was confused, at first, but then I found out why she wanted to talk to me.

 Surprisingly, she was a noble too, or at least, she used to be.

 And even more surprisingly, her position had been equal to mine.

 No, considering that Father was only the mayor of Roa, her position would have been higher.

 That made me much more interested in her.

 How someone like her could live so… happily, separated from the annoying customs that were forced onto her?

 I wanted to know if I could be like that too.

 I then learned about how she became an adventurer, exploring the world and itsbyrinths and defeating monsters alongside Ghiine.

 That definitely raised my opinion of her, and begrudgingly, my opinion of Paul as well.

 He was skilled, but he was annoying.

 And from the stories Leon told me, he seemed like a bad man who just made trouble for him.

 But… I suppose he had his good points too, though being a father definitely wasn’t one of them.

 But what annoyed me the most about the man… was that he reminded me of myself.

 And I hated that I found him annoying because of that, which only made me more annoyed.

 I was irritated… at him, at the situation, and… at myself.

 Everything was annoying!

 And it also made me feel… worried.

 After all… if Paul was like me… then wouldn’t Leon think of me as annoying the same way he did with him?

 But then again, he also said he loved the man, and he was his family, so does that mean he could eventually think the same about me?

 “…Gah!”

 My emotions surged, and I let my fist fly, catching Leon on his arm.

 Looking over his shoulder, he raised his eyebrow at me. “What was that for?”

 “N-Nothing!” I eximed.

 Grr… what was wrong with me!?

 Thinking about stuff like that…

 Darting my eyes away from his figure, I found myself staring right into Zenith’s eyes, and after a moment, her lips spread into a wide, teasing smile.

 “Oho~?”

 Lilia shook her head. “Zenith. Let her be for today.”

 “Oh, you’re no fun, Lilia!”

 Leon’s family… they were nice but also weird… and sometimes annoying too.

 Though some of those feelings… they may be of no fault but my own.

 — Information on the Six-Faced World —

 Lilia Greyrat

 Lilia has reddish-brown hair that reaches her chest, though it is often tied up in a half-bun. She has violet-purple eyes and a slender yet voluptuous body withrge breasts. She usually wears a frilly maid outfit with oval sses and a hairband but has begun to wear more casual clothes since bing Paul Greyrat’s wife.

 She was born to twomoner parents, although her father, Augusta, is an Advanced-rank Water God swordsman who is the instructor of his dojo and has ties to the Water God Rieda Reia. Lilia trained to be an Intermediate-ranked Water God swordswoman, but as it was not enough for her to inherit the dojo, she left to be a maid at the Asura Royal Pce.

 When guarding the young Princess in the Pce, she was attacked by assassins, and although she survived, the poisoned de did irreparable damage to her leg, which made her unfit as a swordswoman, and thus fired from her position.

 When looking for work after this, she wanted to be hired as a maid to receive good pay, but not by someone of high noble status as her history as a maid of the Royal Pce might be troublesome.

 — Rudeus Greyrat —

 It had been a month since my brother had returned along with Eris, which meant that our new sisters were now three weeks old.

 During this time, Zenith and Paul had been hit with the grim reality of what actual child-rearing was like and were on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

 Luckily, they had Lilia, Leon, and I there, but as one of them would be leaving very soon, so they would have to get used to it pretty quickly.

 I don’t know exactly how Leon was so good with the babies, but I was used to it all due to my younger brother in my past life.

 Changing dirty diapers, rocking them to sleep, cleaningundry… the tasked were all familiar, and with the addition of magic, it was much easier and cleaner.

 Zenith was trying her best, and considering she had just birthed her second child while also dealing with her first one who was about to leave home again, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

 Paul, though… he was useless.

 Actually, considering how he would only manage to make the newborns cry more when he tried calming them down, he was less than useless.

 Jeez… if he didn’t have his sword skills and charisma, he would be quite a worthless man.

 “And… there! Here, Leon! I made this for you!” Sylphy said, holding a newly crafted flower crown.

 “Oh? That’s really pretty. Here, can you put it on for me?” my brother said, pulling his hair back and lowering his head.

 Sylphy gently ced the crown on his head, and raising his eyes, Leon adjusted it slightly before shing her a smile. “Thanks, Sylphy. How does it look?”

 “A-Amazing!” she eximed.

 I, on the other hand, could only release a sigh while shaking my head.

 Young love… quite a thing it was to witness.

 While I had my suspicions before, after Leon came back, it became quite obvious that Sylphy liked him.

 Maybe even loved him.

 As expected of that charming brother of mine.

 Sylphy liked me too, of course, but that was only as a good friend, and at most, as a brother.

 So unfortunately, her route was already locked, and I wasn’t a fan of NTR, so I wasn’t nning on getting involved.

 Too bad… the childhood friend route would have been amazing, and in a secluded ce like this, I could have made her grow up into my perfect woman.

 But dammit, brother!

 Not only had you locked up the pretty deredere, but you went ahead and fetched yourself a tsundere too!

 Not a son of Paul, my ass!

 Leave some for the rest of us!

 Ah, but I wouldn’t want to deal with Eris if I was honest.

 She was a violent, troublesome girl, with the only cure seeming to be Leon and Sylphy.

 Well… she was also calm around Zenith… and Lilia too.

 Wait… she only got annoyed around Paul and me, especially after I tried peeking at her having a bath.

 Was it just us, then?

 No… no, it couldn’t be.

 Anyway, while I held some feelings of jealousy toward my brother, I loved him all the same, even if I still bore the grudge of him cleaning Roxy’s panties.

 Sadly, after my little slip-up, Zenith made me give them up, but that was through no fault but my own.

 It still stung, though.

 But despite mydy trouble I was having now, I was sure I’d be more sessful once I grew up.

 After all, I had Paul’s genes in my blood and a cute face, and that mixed with my magical prowess was sure to me some girls once I was older.

 I just needed to find one that’s thirteen or so, and they’d be right in my strike range.

 “Oi! Leon! Rudy!” Paul shouted as he made his way up our hill.

 “What is it, Father?” I asked.

 He then tossed Leon’s sword to him before pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

 “Come with me. Since Leon’s leaving soon, I want to take you somewhere before you head back to the city,” he said. “Sylphy, you should stay here. Eris too.”

 I shared a confused nce with my brother, who just shrugged before getting to his feet.

 Eris crossed her arms in indignation. “Why should I stay here? And where are you going!?”

 Paul just shrugged while scratching his ear. “It ain’t a thing meant for nobledies like yourself.”

 Eris snarled.

 “We’re going to go exterminate some monsters, is all.” Paul then sent a curious nce over to Leon. “What’s with the flowers? Oh. I see~”

 Sending a knowing grin over to Sylphy and Leon, he then abruptly turned and started walking down the hill.

 “Well, while I said you should stay here, you cane if you want. Just make sure to stick close to me, alright?”

 Taking four kids to go monster hunting… and from how he threw Leon a sword, he expected my brother to take part.

 How irresponsible.

 But it wasn’t like I wasn’t interested, so, getting up and dusting myself off, I followed Paul as he began heading into the forest with Leon, with Sylphy and Eris trailing behind.

 On the way, Paul talked about the recent report of monsters that had made their way closer to the vige than he wasfortable with, and after Sylphy’s father found out where they were, he decided to exterminate them.

 And just like I had guessed, he wanted Leon to join him.

 Eventually, we entered the forest, and after a few more minutes of walking, Paul shushed us all before crouching behind a bush and pointing over it.

 There were eight monsters.

 Six of them were called Assault Dogs, and as their name implied, they were dog-like monsters… like dobermans.

 The other two were bipedal, four-armed pig-like monstrosities known as Terminator Boars, which were one of the stronger species of monsters you could find in the Kingdom.

 “Alright,” Paul whispered. “There they are. You three, stay there and don’t move. Leon, follow my lead. Got it?”

 Contrary to his usual yfulness, Paul was nowpletely serious, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he slowly unsheathed his sword.

 I guess he wasn’t the former leader of an S-ranked party for nothing, huh?

 Noticing this change in demeanour, both Sylphy and Eris nodded in return, their faces stern with the red-haired girl not putting up even a bit of a fuss despite her usual nature.

 With a nod as the signal, Paul then ran forward, instantly decapitating an Assault Dog with his surprise attack.

 Leon, meanwhile, had a bit of hesitation with his first attack.

 I could understand it, though.

 Not only was it scary, but it was also his first time cutting through flesh.

 Paul had drilled into our heads how dangerous des were, and that while killing wasn’t frowned upon as a way to defend yourself, especiallypared to back in Japan, you still had to be certain beforemitting such an act.

 After all, even with all the amazing healing spells in the world, once you died, there was noing back, and once you killed, there was no changing it.

 Well, except for that reincarnating race of demons that Roxy mentioned, but that wasn’t the point.

 But anyway, after killing his first monster, Leon quickly adapted, ying another leaping Assault Dog with ease a momentter.

 It was almost… a bit scary, how easily he cut off its head.

 …I would have to remind myself to not do anything perverted to Sylphy.

 My eyes looking to the side, I saw both Eris and Sylphy looking at the two with sparkling eyes filled with awe despite the violence on disy.

 Well… to be honest, I probably had the same look on my face.

 After all, the two’s swordsmanship was amazing.

 Paul’s swordsmanship, if I had to describe it, had charisma.

 It had a certain beauty to it… a mysterious rhythm that made your heart race in one moment, and then put you at ease in the next.

 I guess that’s what won Zenith’s heart, huh?

 And Lilia’s too… as well as that vige girl he talked about… and the other one…

 Hmm… maybe I would train a bit more seriously in swordsmanship after this, and hopefully follow in my father''s footsteps in regard to his sess with women.

 Leon’s swordsmanship, on the other hand, didn’t have that rhythm.

 Instead, it was smooth and focused… a swordsmanship based on efficiency.

 But it was beautiful all the same.

 It made you entranced, both with the movements and the results that followed, while also making you feel safe and protected, as if nothing could go wrong with him there.

 I guess, like this, it was no surprise why he already had two girls chasing after him.

 Even if he was still dense about it.

 As thest of the Attack Dogs met its end, Paul then faced down one of the Terminator Boars, with Leon facing the other.

 Paul easily cut through the monster''s neck as it lunged forward, letting his sword rest on his shoulder as the beast’s body toppled to the ground.

 It was a quick fight.

 “Hehe… still got it, don’t I?” he said, carefully sheathing his sword with a smile.

 Paul’s beloved sword, which he carried around wherever he went, was a double-edge type you would see a knight wield in a visual novel, and it had a triangr-shaped cross guard with two triangle holes.

 He really loved that sword.

 He even held it close when he was sleeping.

 I asked him about it once, and apparently, it had to do with his habits as an adventurer, but still… it was a bit weird.

 Anyway, a momentter, Leon cut through the final Terminator Boar as well, putting an end to the battle.

 What was it, a minute?

 No, even less.

 In less than a minute, all the monsters had been culled, and all without a single injury afflicted to the two.

 They were quite amazing, huh?

 Yeah… I don’t think I’d ever match up to that.

 “Nice job, Leon! Hmm… your cuts were pretty clean… Alright! You guys cane out now! I think now is a good time for a little lesson on how to dismantle a monster!” Paul said.

 Eris and Sylphy instantly got up and run toward Leon, who was looking down at his bloodied hand with interest.

 Actually, now that I could look at him better, he was nearlypletely covered in blood.

 “That was so cool!” Eris eximed.

 “Y-Yeah! But… are you okay, Leon?” Sylphy said worriedly.

 Leon just shook his head. “It’s not my blood.”

 Well, that was an ominous thing to say.

 Luckily, I knew he was talking about a monster.

 He then set his body alight in mes using the spell Burn in ce.

 It wouldn’t get the blood out of his clothes, but it was a good way to quickly burn off any dirt on his skin.

 “Anyway, I’m fine, so let’s listen to my father. It’s an interesting skill to learn, don’t you think? And it’s not like there are many times we can do this, after all,” he said.

 Eris nodded her head excitedly.

 To think a noble girl would like this stuff… nothing like the fat, prim, and proper nobledies Paul lectured me about.

 Even Sylphy seemed interested, despite being such a kind and loving girl.

 Taking out a dagger, Paul thenid out the corpse of one of the Assault Dogs before skinning its fur and removing its fangs, the only parts of the monster that had any value.

 After Paul went through his corpse, and another afterwards to show us again, each of us kids followed his example with a corpse of our own,ting us six rolls of fur and a collection of fangs.

 The stench was… not great, and the gruesomeness of it all was nauseating, but it got better the more I did it, and by the end, I thought of myself as an expert monster butcher.

 ording to Paul, the meat of the Assault Dogs was edible but disgusting in both taste and texture, so we decided to burn it instead, as leaving it might attract more monsters, or even create one if you were unlucky.

 The Terminator Boars, however, didn’t have any fur to harvest, but they did have a pair ofrge tusks each and sharp ws that could be formed into knives, so with Paul going through the process for one, Leon and Eris did it for the other.

 Surprisingly, one of them even ended up having a magic stone, a big red one, just like what Roxy had used to make my wand.

 ording to Paul, magic stones were quite rare and only appeared in monsters of a high rank, and the older a monster was, the more likely it would have one as the mana they gained over their lives concentrated into physical form.

 A monster having a magic stone also meant that the monster would be stronger than usual, so needless to say, Paul made sure that we knew not to mention that detail to Zenith and Lilia at all costs.

 While Leon didn’t care about the rest of the materials, he was pretty adamant about keeping the magic stone.

 I guess he wanted a trophy for his efforts, huh?

 Meh, I didn’t me him, but in that case, I thought he would prefer the tusks since they looked cool.

 Maybe he wanted to craft himself a new wand?

 With Paul carrying the stripped pelts, Leon holding a bag of the fangs and magic stones, and Eris happily swinging a tusk held in her hand, we then made our way back home, and upon our arrival…

 “Paul,” Zenith said angrily. “What in the hell do you think you are doing?”

 Her gaze then wandered over to us kids, and upon seeing the blood staining our clothes, and especially Leon, who was practically coated in red, her expression turned livid.

 “It’s fine! Come on. You know how useful it is to know how to dismantle a monster, right?” Paul exined.

 Lilia then came out of the front door with a babbling Norn in her hold. “Yes, but they haven’t even had their second birthday yet. Besides, for what reason are you bringing thedy under your protection to such a ce?”

 Paul at least has the decency to not argue with that point.

 Zenith shook her head. “And why is Leon so bloody? It almost looks like he fought along with you.”

 Paul froze, eyes trembling in fear, before he then looked back at us with an expression that begged for us to keep silent and follow his lead.

 Unfortunately, Sylphy was too young and pure to know such underlying meanings from a face.

 “That’s because Leon did! He was amazing! Like ‘swish’! And ‘shing’!” she said, happily swinging an imaginary sword back and forth.

 Paul’s face instantly nched as Zenith slowly turned her head toward him.

 “…What?”

 Lilia, meanwhile, simply shook her head in disappointment.

 Paul hastily attempted to exin. “U-Umm, well, you see… H-He’s a guard, right? So he should have some battle experience! A-And besides, he’s strong enough to make me get serious, right!?”

 Leon walked past the man without a second nce before squeezing Zenith’s hand.

 “Don’t get too angry, Mama. Even if he wasn’t nning on it, I would have asked him to let me anyway. Besides! We got some cool stuff out of it!” he said happily, showing off some ws and fangs. “With a bit of sharpening, we could make some knives, or even a-!”

 “Yes, yes. I’m very proud, but right now you need to take a bath and wash your clothes, so get inside,” Zenith said, interrupting him.

 “All of you should wash up. Rudeus? Do you mind filling the bath?” Lilia asked.

 “Of course!” I answered.

 Whilerge bathtubs were rare for most families, that was mostly due to the water that would fill it rather than the bath itself.

 Carrying enough clean water each time you wanted a bath was tiresome, after all.

 But with magic, that problem fixed itself, so as soon as Leon grew out of the small wooden tub, he decided to make a bath worthy of a noble manor out of earth magic.

 Hehe… I mean, with a bath thatrge, what was the point of refilling the water?

 Mixed bath, here wee!

 “I can do it, Lilia. Sylphy and Eris can go first while I wash the clothes,” Leon said, ruining my n.

 Dammit, brother!

 — Zenith Greyrat —

 “Ah, you made a mess, Aisha!” Leon said as he took off Aisha’s diaper. “Nowe here. Arms up!”

 I then watched as he held the baby in his arms, using water magic to wash off the filth on her body, causing Aisha to break out into a fit of giggles.

 Haa… that Leon really was amazing with his new sisters.

 I often found myself lost with them recently.

 I had thought I had experience, but as Lilia had said, Rudy and Leon could not be said to be real child-rearing.

 Raising those two was nothing but lovely, gentle, and easy.

 But in the few weeks since Norn and Aisha had been born… well, it was certainly not that.

 It was so draining… and that was even with the help of Leon and Rudy.

 “All clean!” my son said, still holding Aisha in his arms. “Now time for drying! Are you ready?”

 “Agh!”

 I then watched as Leon created a warm breeze to dry off Aisha’s body, the girl still giggling like a loon in his hold with a goofy smile on her face.

 Truly… Leon was simply incredible.

 It filled my heart up with so much happiness and pride, to see him caring so lovingly, and to see him act so happy to do so… he really was the perfect brother.

 He had tried to do the same with Rudy, but since he was only a toddler himself when he was born, and Rudy was a very easy child, he wasn’t able to do anything.

 But he was certainly making up for it now.

 Whenever Aisha and Norn cried, he would be there a momentter, taking them into his arms as he gently rocked them or showed them magic, removing their state of bawling as if it was nothing, and often recing it with the boundless joy Aisha was currently exuding.

 It really… really was heartwarming, to see my children like that.

 And Leon… I had always thought of him as my special boy, the boy that gave me a reason for living past just experiencing the world, but like this, I knew that his light would definitely spread to others.

 He had already made Lilia feel sofortable at home, and I didn’t even need to exin how Sylphy and Eris looked at him.

 But looking at him now… I knew that he would definitely be the most important thing for his two sisters.

 He was the first one to hold them, after all, and how tenderly he looked at them… yeah, while his sisters already acted a bit calmer around him, they would surely grow up to absolutely adore him.

 I would know, because looking at how he acted now, I felt extremely jealous towards the two, even if that wasn’t something I should admit.

 I was jealous that they had an older brother like him.

 Those two… they were really lucky.

 “Ah, you tired yourself out, didn’t you, Aisha?” Leon whispered softly as he rocked the now-sleeping Aisha in his arms, the girl’s head resting on his shoulder with a calm face.

 Haa… yes, they were lucky to have him as a brother, but… I was lucky to have him as a son.

 Truly… while I wasn’t one to believe in miracles, if himing into my life wasn’t the work of Millis, then I didn’t know how I could achieve such luck.

 Truly…

 “Leon,” I called out to him.

 “Yes, Mama? Is something wrong?” he said, looking back at me as he tilted his head.

 Truly… I was blessed.

 “I love you,” I said, smiling.

 “Ah! I love you too, Mama!” he happily returned.

 Mmm… and with how good of a son and a brother he is, not to mention his skills in caring for Norn and Aisha, I was sure he would be a good father too.

 It was just a matter of if he preferred red or green now.

 Though… he also had Paul whispering in his ear, so he might just choose both.

 While I don’t know if I would oppose it, when all three of them acted so happily together… I would absolutely scold him.

 — Leon Greyrat —

 “Make sure you keep sending us letters, alright?” Mama said, hugging me close.

 “Yep. And the money too!” Paul added with a smirk. “Ouch!”

 “Stop saying such things. It’s embarrassing even for me. Don’t you have any paternal dignity left?” Lilia said.

 I shook my head with a smile. “Don’t worry, I will. Especially since I have two cute sisters now.”

 Sadly, the two were fast asleep in their crib, so they couldn’te to see me before I left.

 Well… not like they would know what was happening anyway.

 “Just make sure they stay happy. And Father, make sure you listen to Lilia,” I said.

 Mama seemed to be getting better at dealing with the newborns, likely due to her earnest love and motherhood, as well as her natural instincts kicking in, but Lilia was still the most knowledgeable out of the three.

 Paul, on the other hand… well, let’s just say he was a great swordsman and leave it at that.

 “Leon… do you have to go?” Sylphy pleaded.

 “Of course he does! He’s employed by my father, after all!” Eris answered for me. “But… I suppose you cane to my home too once you get older.”

 I couldn’t help but from a wide smile at the disy.

 After all, who would think that she and Sylphy would be such fast friends?

 Well, I was hoping for it to happen, but I didn’t think it would go so smoothly.

 But it made sense, as Sylphy was too pure to think badly of, and Eris was a good girl at heart who just needed some friends her age.

 And while I would call myself Eris’ friend… I was also her teacher… and her guard… and a boy.

 So… not exactly the same.

 “She’s right. I do have a job to do. Didn’t I said I wanted to get you something nice for your second birthday?” I asked.

 Sylphy nodded as she looks down at her ne. “R-Right… I’ll miss you, though.”

 “Of course,” I then pulled her into a small hug of my own.

 Huh… she was so… small.

 “Hmph!”

 Turning to Eris, I noticed that she was wearing arge pout, facing away from the two of us, but I could see her eyes darting to the green jewel hung around Sylphy’s neck.

 Oh… Was it that? Was she jealous of Sylphy’s ne?

 “Your second birthday ising up soon too, isn’t it, Eris? I’ll make sure to get you something as well,” I said.

 “W-When did I ask for anything like that? Anyway, I’m going to Ghiine!” she stammered before stomping off.

 I then looked over to my little brother.

 “Rudy… I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ll see if there are any interesting books I can get with my savings,” I said, lightly patting his head.

 “It’s fine, brother. You should spend your hard-earned money on yourself,” he responded with a smile.

 “Don’t worry. I would only get books I find interesting, and then send them to you after I read them,” I said.

 “Oh…”

 Smirking at his crestfallen face, I picked up my and Eris’ bags before turning to my family.

 “I doubt the carriage will wait forever, so we should really get going. I… I love you guys. A lot. And I’ll be sure to see you soon,” I said.

 “Uuu! Why is the second time so much harder!” Mama cried. “No. It’s fine to stay here with us, right?”

 “Zenny, don’t make this any more difficult,” Lilia walked up before cing a small kiss on my forehead. “Keep training, Leon. And keep Miss Eris happy. We’ll be waiting here for you.”

 And with that, I made my way back to the vige, where Ghiine and the carriage were waiting.

 “Was your trip productive?” she asked with a smile.

 I nodded. “Yeah. I took the time to hone my swordsmanship, and although it was only once, I was even able to beat Paul.”

 She raised her eyebrow at this. “That’s surprising… I’ll review your progress once we get back to Roa.”

 Jumping into the carriage, I looked to my side to see Eris was fast asleep, wrapped in a nket.

 Wow… she must have been really tired.

 Or maybe she just didn’t want to be bored for the ride home.

 Ghiine then signalled the coachman to start our journey beforeing to sit next to me.

 “Miss Eris seemed a bit sad to leave… How was she?” Ghiine asked.

 “She picked up some North God tricks from trying to hit Paul, and Rudeus was a good sparring partner for her, so her swordsmanship improved a good amount,” I answered.

 “That’s good. Anything else?” she asked.

 “She… made a friend. Two, maybe. Anyway, she behaved herself very well, so she deserves a nice rest as a reward,” I said, taking off my scarf before I slid it under her head as a makeshift pillow.

 Turning back to Ghiine, I saw that she was wearing a warm smile.

 “What?” I asked.

 She shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just nice to see that the Young Miss has people on her side.”

 We then fell into afortable silence as I looked out of the carriage, watching the familiar vige getting smaller and smaller as it shrunk into the distance.

 Hmm… I wonder when I would be able to visit next?

 Hopefully not too long.

 I wouldn’t want my sisters not to know what their big brother looked like, after all.

 — Leon Greyrat —

 We had just entered the city walls of Roa, and after waking the sleepy Eris, we then got off the carriage before making our way toward the manor.

 I wondered why they didn’t just have the carriage drive us there, but ording to Ghiine, they didn’t want it to look like we, or more specifically, Eris, had left the city for… reasons.

 Maybe because noble girls like Eris weren’t supposed to go to remote viges?

 I didn’t really know, and neither did Ghiine.

 Hmm… maybe I’d ask Philipter.

 “Wait,” Ghiine suddenly said, shooting her arm across our path to stop us.

 Her eyes were narrowed and her tail’s fur was bristled.

 She was serious.

 I dropped my bag as I put my hand on the sword on my hip.

 “What is it?” I asked.

 Her ear twitched as she responded, “The rm sounded… protect the Young Miss! And stay there!”

 Before I could ask what was going on, her form blurred as she began sprinting toward the manor, leaving a small gust of wind in her wake.

 “Ghiine!?” Eris eximed. “Where are you going?”

 Keeping Ghiine’s words in mind, I slowly unsheathed my sword as I focused on my surroundings.

 “Leon? Why did she run off like that? And why is your sword drawn?” Eris asked.

 “Not now, Eris,” I cut her off.

 As the seconds ticked by, I could feel a palpable tension in the air growing.

 A tension that was mixed with a subtle pulse of unease.

 Now that I think about it… it was quiet.

 Too quiet, especially for a main street.

 Something… something wasn’t right about this whole thing-!

 Ting!

 Barely reacting in time, I deflected a throwing knife that was whistling toward my neck from the alley.

 “Eris. Behind me. Now,” I said calmly, facing my veiled attacker.

 I didn’t know what kind of expression she was making, but I could feel her follow my instructions, her hand lightly grabbing the back of my shirt as I stood in front of her.

 “Oya? Aren’t you a smart little brat?”

 A voice resounded from the darkness as they slowly showed themselves.

 There were three of them.

 Around ten meters in the alley, all human, and all dressed in the shabby and unassuming clothes you would expect from assassins.

 “You ain’t part of the deal, and I can tell you’re a bit troublesome. We just need the girl, so take my advice and leave, alright? I’ll even toss you some money for your travels,” the man, who was presumably the leader, said.

 I opted not to answer, instead taking the time to observe them.

 The one who threw the knife was definitely a North God practitioner.

 Of what rank, I did not know.

 The one who was speaking to me, the supposed leader, held himself with confidence.

 Lazily resting his sword on his shoulder as he continued to negotiate with me.

 And from the fact that despite such an apathetic stance, I still couldn’t feel any openings, he was right to be so confident.

 Was he the one who threw the knife?

 With such an unassuming and undisciplined posture, it wouldn’t be unexpected.

 “You don’t want to die for this girl, right? Just hand her over, and all will be good. I bet you’ve got a family to head back to, after all. Plus… I’ve heard she’s a real annoying bitch,” he continued.

 Eris’ grip on my shirt tightened.

 Reaching my hand behind me, I lightly unsped her fingers before squeezing her hand in reassurance.

 Hardening my re against the three, I gave the man my answer to his proposal.

 “Fuck off.”

 His eyes widened for a moment before he simply shrugged his shoulders.

 “Your funeral, I guess.”

 And with that, the tension in the air snapped, and my first real battle against humans began.

MillionNovel

Chapter 18 – Return to Roa