Chapter 61 – Farewells
<span style="font-weight:400">— Leon Greyrat —
<span style="font-weight:400">It was the next morning, and with the two horses prepared, their saddles packed with our supplies for theing journey, we were ready to depart.
<span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, while the horses would be great for getting to the nearby ruins, because of the sand, the horses would only be useful on the Begaritt Continent as food, so that meant we needed someone to take them back.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, Ginger had volunteered to do so without any payment.
<span style="font-weight:400">Or rather… Zanoba had volunteered her, but… that was beside the point.
<span style="font-weight:400">As I checked thest of the supplies, ensuring we had enough food tost the expected two-week journey until the first settlement in case we didn’t run into any edible monsters, and a collection of spices in case we did, I felt my gaze drifting back to the four people who hade to see us off.
<span style="font-weight:400">Or rather, to be more specific, my eyes had wandered to Sylphy, who for the moment, had removed her ‘Fitz’ persona, so I could see her beautiful red eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">This morning was also the first time Sylphy and Rudy finally met after many years apart, but that was beside the point.
<span style="font-weight:400">…I can’t believe I went and did it.
<span style="font-weight:400">I don’t even understand… even with those sensual words and actions, I felt that I was able to hold myself back with the thought that once she turned fifteen, I would be able to indulge all I wanted, but… I went and indulged a year and a half early.
<span style="font-weight:400">I me my growing libido, and I me Ariel as well.
<span style="font-weight:400">At least I kept my sanity enough to cast a contraception spell, so I wouldn’t have to worry about any little Sylphys or Leons growing upon my return.
<span style="font-weight:400">My eyes met hers, causing memories ofst night to y through my mind, all the expressions that cute face disyed and the passionate sounds she made…
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, even if it was a bit premature, I couldn’t call such an enjoyable time a mistake.
<span style="font-weight:400">Though I would try to rein in such actions when I came back.
<span style="font-weight:400">Besides, while the intense actions of love were great, I was also able to see the cute, innocent Sylphy once again as we cuddled in the afterglow until we fell asleep.
<span style="font-weight:400">She really was perfect to hug. Like a teddy bear.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sylphy also seemed to think back to our recent first time, as after staring at each other for a few moments, she quickly looked away, her cheeks flushing as she anxiously toyed with a lock of hair.
<span style="font-weight:400">…Cute.
<span style="font-weight:400">But how could such a bashful girl be that incarnation of lust and sexiness fromst night?
<span style="font-weight:400">Moving my gaze over to Ariel, I saw as she finished giggling into her hand, her eyes narrowing at me as she formed a smug smile.
<span style="font-weight:400">…I knew it. That damn princess definitely had something to do with it.
<span style="font-weight:400">But I was still a bit confused… ever since Eris’ send-off, and even more afterst night, Ariel had been ncing at me a lottely, her cheeks flushing a bit every time.
<span style="font-weight:400">…Odd.
<span style="font-weight:400">Was she… excited by such things?
<span style="font-weight:400">I would say that a princess couldn’t be, but… I knew that if it was Ariel, she certainly could.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rudy, noticing the interaction between Sylphy and me, and likely remembering the previous interactions we shared during the morning as well, narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Leon… what’s with the odd atmosphere between you and Sylphy?” he asked. “Did… something happen?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Looking over to his face, I quickly turned my head away, trying to put our night into the right words.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We decided to do some… endurance training.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Perfect.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…Oh,” was all Rudy said.
<span style="font-weight:400">He already knew that the silver-haired fairy was promised to me and that Eris knew that, but it must have still been a shock to learn of our rtionship’s… maturity.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sylphy’s head then turned back to me, our eyes meeting for another moment before she once again diverted them, this time also crossing her legs, gently rubbing her thighs against each other.
<span style="font-weight:400">Haa…
<span style="font-weight:400">“…Disgusting,” Sara said from the side, looking at me with a slight frown.
<span style="font-weight:400">I don’t know whether it was because Sylphy was now my second partner, because she was not an adult yet, or simply because Sara didn’t want to know about that stuff, but getting called that brought back memories of me doing the same to my father.
<span style="font-weight:400">I had promised not to be like Paul, dammit!
<span style="font-weight:400">“It doesn’t feel nice hearing such scathing words from my sister,” I sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh? Sister?” Sara said, confused.
<span style="font-weight:400">Oh?
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, I guess I hadn’t articted this just yet, so this was a good time to do so, while also moving the topic away from Sylphy and I.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah,” I nodded. “You’re Rudy’s beloved, right? And from what I can tell, you two are pretty serious, so you’re my sister.”
<span style="font-weight:400">She looked at me with wide eyes, stunned at my words, before eventually voicing out, “So… you really think of me as a sister?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Naturally,” I said, turning to face her. “You’re part of my family, Sara. And because of that, I will do everything I can to keep you safe and happy. Though… I think I can leave the happiness part to my brother.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Sara, rendered speechless, slowly turned her head back to her bag, going through another check of her supplies without a word.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Brother… can you not seduce my beloved girlfriend?” Rudy said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I have absolutely no interest,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m only allowed three, after all.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Besides, I wanted Sara to know I thought of her as family, so there was nothing wrong with voicing my true thoughts.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Right…”
<span style="font-weight:400">As Rudy slowly sighed, Aisha and Norn both came up to me.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Brother!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Big Brother…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Leaning down, I took them both in my arms, lifting them as I stood up straight and resting them against my hips.
<span style="font-weight:400">Haa… I remember when I could carry them both in my arms… when my shoulders seemed like the tallest ce in the world…
<span style="font-weight:400">They were getting bigger. And fast too.
<span style="font-weight:400">Dammit, no crying!
<span style="font-weight:400">“Be good for Sylphy, okay?” I said, looking into both of their eyes. “And try to find something you want to do at the university too, but most importantly… have fun.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I kissed both of their noses, making them giggle slightly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“That tickles!” Nornughed.
<span style="font-weight:400">Smiling at their cuteness, which unlike their height had remained the same, they both calmed down before leaning forward, simultaneously wrapping their arms around my neck in a tight hug.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll… we’ll miss you,” Aisha said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mmm,” Norn nodded.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I know,” I said, soothingly patting their backs. “But I’ll be back soon, and I’ll be bringing our whole family together when I do.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Ah… thinking about it now, this is the first time we’d be separated in four years… that’s a depressing thought.
<span style="font-weight:400">But it wasn’t all bad.
<span style="font-weight:400">I was excited to see how much they’ve grown when I came back, even if it might pain me a bit to have not seen that growth as it happened.
<span style="font-weight:400">My sweet sisters would grow into the most amazing women after all.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Once Ie back… we’ll get a big house, okay?” I said calmly. “We’ll all live together again, as one giant family.”
<span style="font-weight:400">With the two of them nodding their heads and both giving me a kiss on the cheek, I slowly let them back down to the ground.
<span style="font-weight:400">Scuffling her toes in the dirt with her head down, Norn then reached into her coat before pulling out a small wooden carving of a sword.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Here, Brother… this is for you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Taking it gently in my hand, I examined the carving with a wide smile, instantly marking its simrities to my very own sword.
<span style="font-weight:400">It seems that Norn got quite good at whittling.
<span style="font-weight:400">Her brother was very proud.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you, Norn. I’ll make sure to keep it safe.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Taking off my Migurd ne from Roxy, I undid the string as I formed a thin needle out of earth magic, poking a hole through the handle of Norn’s gift as I then thread it through the string.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Now I’ll always have it on me!” I said, putting the ne back on.
<span style="font-weight:400">I was a bit worried about how she would feel about creating a hole in her carving, but she didn’t seem to mind, instead smiling happily at how I had decided to keep her gift close to my heart… literally.
<span style="font-weight:400">Aisha, who was pouting slightly, then also revealed a gift, taking out a grey wool cap that she had seemingly sewn herself.
<span style="font-weight:400">I had noticed she was working on a project… to think it was for me.
<span style="font-weight:400">I was very happy.
<span style="font-weight:400">So much that my cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I… know this will be useless in the Begaritt Continent, but it can be used for the way there at least…” Aisha said, her expression forming a dissatisfied frown. “…You can leave it behind to not waste space.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Nothing you give me is useless, Aisha,” I said as I took the cap, cing it on my head.
<span style="font-weight:400">As expected, it fit perfectly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“That’s something you’d say, Big Brother,” Aisha grumbled.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Because it’s true,” I said, patting her head. “Begaritt is hot, so I can soak this in cold water with magic to keep my head cold. So thank you, Aisha, for your heartwarming and useful gift.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Aisha’s pout slowly transformed into a smile as I continued patting her head.
<span style="font-weight:400">Good. That smile was too cute to be hidden away.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t have a gift right now, but I’ll bring you two back some rare stuff you can only get there, okay?” I said. “I heard they have quite extravagant spices and ssware.”
<span style="font-weight:400">My eyes then drifted to their necks, where an old, worn stone was still tied with a string.
<span style="font-weight:400">Damn… that brings back memories.
<span style="font-weight:400">I had created that when we first arrived at the Demon Continent, so the barrier magic was long exhausted, especially after my blood had been washed off with many rains and baths.
<span style="font-weight:400">At this point, it was just a useless stone on a string, but still, they wore it regardless.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even when the previous string became too small and frayed, they adamantly refused to remove it, instead deciding to rece the string in Millishion and keep it as a memento.
<span style="font-weight:400">It made me feel very warm, that was for sure, but if they wanted to keep that stone, I should try to get a better ne to go with it.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hmm… maybe silver? Or would gold be better?
<span style="font-weight:400">Ah, I guess I’ll decide there.
<span style="font-weight:400">As it was now time to depart, I walked up to Sylphy before leaving, her hesitant eyes slowly finding their way to mine.
<span style="font-weight:400">…I really can’t believe that this innocent looking girl was the same one who asked me so sensually to ‘make her a woman’st night, but… that was just part of her charm, I suppose.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll be going, Sylphy,” I said, brushing my hand across her ear to hold her head.
<span style="font-weight:400">She exhaled softly as I did so.
<span style="font-weight:400">Right, as I had learned very wellst night, her ears were sensitive.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I know… but you’ll be back soon, right?” she asked with upturned eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Exactly.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I then leaned down, capturing her lips in a kiss as my tongue danced across her teeth.
<span style="font-weight:400">Our kiss deepened, with Sylphy wrapping her arms around my neck as we eagerly tasted each other, ensuring this final kiss would cement itself in our memories during our time apart.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ahem!”
<span style="font-weight:400">However… it seemed that we had both gotten too into it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“While I appreciate how much Big Brother and Big Sis Sylphy love each other… I think you should be more mindful of your surroundings,” Aisha said with a giggle.
<span style="font-weight:400">We separated at that, with Sylphy’s face growing increasingly red as her eyes darted around, seeing the surprised and flustered states of Rudy, Sara, Norn, Ginger, and even Ariel.
<span style="font-weight:400">I was not so embarrassed.
<span style="font-weight:400">After all, love was beautiful, and Sylphy’s lips tasted wonderful.
<span style="font-weight:400">And because they tasted so wonderful, I traced my tongue across her lips a final time, wiping off the saliva that had escaped and causing her to shiver.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I love you, Sylphy,” said with a smile. “It’s still not the time for kids, but… when I get back, we can start that happy family.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“O-Okay,” she said, her moistened lips spreading into a wide smile. “I’ll wait for you… and I love you too, Leon.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Nodding at her, I then turned to Ariel, the final person I needed to say goodbye to.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Princess… I made sure to watch out for anyone, and found nothing, so I don’t think you will find any enemies here,” I said. “But still, stay safe until I return.”
<span style="font-weight:400">She smiled back at me.
<span style="font-weight:400">“While I appreciate your concern, I have been able to survive in worse situations without you,” she said calmly. “Besides, if you say those words to a woman, you might annoy your wives~”
<span style="font-weight:400">She giggled lightly into her hand as I continued staring at her, not reacting in the slightest to her teasing.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sylphy, Aisha, and Norn… I am entrusting my family, the most important part of my life, to you, Ariel,” I said in a serious tone, causing her to freeze. “I am not one to trust someone with such a thing lightly, so… don’t make me regret it. Please.”
<span style="font-weight:400">She removed her hand as she stared at me, her eyes firm in resolve.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I promise to keep them safe, Leon Greyrat,” she said before softening her expression into a smile, though… it seemed a little… forced.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…How vexing. Like this, I can’t help but feel a bit jealous…” she murmured to herself, shaking her head. “However, hopefully, I will be able to receive some of that overprotectiveness upon your return… Be well, Leon Greyrat. I wish you sess in finding your family.”
<span style="font-weight:400">She wanted to receive my overprotectiveness?
<span style="font-weight:400">Oh, right. I did promise to be on her side when I came back.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thanks,” I said in return. “And… same to you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">And with that final, pleasant farewell, we then began our journey into the forest.
<span style="font-weight:400">Today would be my first experience with the Begaritt Continent.
<span style="font-weight:400">Today… would be the beginning of the end of my grand quest, four years in the making.
<span style="font-weight:400">Soon… I would be reuniting with all my family.
<span style="font-weight:400">— Leon Greyrat —
<span style="font-weight:400">The journey to the forest had been easy, with Ginger kindly taking the horses back as we reached the treeline.
<span style="font-weight:400">While there were monsters in the forest, they were quite easy to deal with.
<span style="font-weight:400">With me using my Demon eye, I scouted for any enemies, avoiding them when we could, and either me or Rudy dealing with them when we couldn’t.
<span style="font-weight:400">And like so, we easily made our way through the monster-infested forest towards the marked location.
<span style="font-weight:400">“So, ording to Nanahoshi’s notes, it should be around here…” Rudy said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright, let’s see,” I said, activating my Demon eye once again.
<span style="font-weight:400">Scanning the surroundings, it didn’t take long for me to notice a… distortion of mana.
<span style="font-weight:400">Weird.
<span style="font-weight:400">When I had heard of the barrier blocking the ruins from themon eye, I had expected there to be a veil of mana, simr to Ariel’s transformation magic, but to me, it looked like it was hiding the mana itself…
<span style="font-weight:400">If I was just passing by, and didn’t know about the ruin, I likely wouldn’t have even noticed it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s here,” I said. “So? What do we do now? Break it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t be so violent, brother…” Rudy sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sara just stared at me in confusion.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Is there something on my face?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“No, it’s just… are you truly an adventurer?” she asked. “You’re supposed to treat stuff like this with caution, you know.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Oh… was that the case?
<span style="font-weight:400">I didn’t really care for that stuff, though.
<span style="font-weight:400">At the moment, this was just a way to get to Mama quicker, that’s it, and being an adventurer was just a job to hasten our journey across the world while gaining some money.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Just… give me a moment,” Rudy said, kneeling in front of a stone tablet.
<span style="font-weight:400">He then ced his hand on the stone, muttering some words under his breath as I watched the surroundings, ensuring nothing would ambush us.
<span style="font-weight:400">And then, a momentter, the space in front of me distorted, revealing an old, worn, overgrown stone monument.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…Damn,” I said. “So this is it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I would hope so…” Sara said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…Yep, this is the ce,” Rudy said in a simr state of amazement. “Magic is truly amazing, isn’t it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah…” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">With me walking forward, Rudy and Sara followed behind as we entered the first room, my Demon eye scanning for any traps, or at least those activated by mana, while I kept my body enhanced with touki in case there were any mechanical ones.
<span style="font-weight:400">There seemed to be a few rooms in the ruin, with one of them storing winter robes, likely meant to be used when Orsted arrived here from a different climate.
<span style="font-weight:400">We had also decided to use this efficient strategy by leaving our winter clothes here and changing into some light robes for the expected heat of the Begaritt Continent.
<span style="font-weight:400">After all, we wanted to pack light, so we could get to Rapan as fast as possible.
<span style="font-weight:400">Luckily, despite my caution, there were no traps, as it seemed that whoever made this ce thought the barrier was enough, and looking around the ce, the only mana I could see was from aplicated circle down a small stairway, which was likely the teleportation circle that we would be using.
<span style="font-weight:400">But speaking of that barrier…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Do you have to say that chant again?” I asked Rudy. “So no one else stumbles in here, I mean.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“No, I think it closes automatically,” he said. “At least, there’s nothing in the notes about it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, even if someone stumbled across this, which was unlikely enough, I doubt they would decide against stepping on some random magic circle.
<span style="font-weight:400">…Hopefully.
<span style="font-weight:400">Adventurers could be stupid, after all, like that person who wanted to sit in my seat the day I met Rudy.
<span style="font-weight:400">Reaching the bottom of the stairway, we entered the dpidated room, with vines sprawling across the cracked stone walls and moss growing here and there.
<span style="font-weight:400">It… obviously wasn’t well-maintained, and likely not often visited, judging by the dust coating the ground, so my small fear that we would randomly encounter Orsted had lessened slightly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wow… it’s truly a ssic ‘forest ruins’ trope,” Rudy muttered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What are you going on about?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Nothing,” he shook his head with a smile. “Now… this must be it, right?”
<span style="font-weight:400">All three of our gazes fell onto therge magic circle sketched across the stone floor at the centre of the room.
<span style="font-weight:400">“To think… after everything we’ve been through… we’d be willingly teleporting,” I said with a slight frown. “…How ironic.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Especially considering that we were using this to save my mothers, who were only in danger due to the teleportation disaster…
<span style="font-weight:400">Really, it was super ironic.
<span style="font-weight:400">I just hope this thing doesn’t screw us over.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rudy then took out Nanahoshi’s notebook, tracing his finger across the paper as he summoned a ball of fire to give us some light.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It… seems to be the same thing written down,” Rudy said as he took out another book. “But let’s see if we can confirm it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He then began reading through the book he had brought from the academy, detailing an adventurer party’s expedition into a teleportationbyrinth.
<span style="font-weight:400">I had briefly read through it on the ride here, and while most of it was about adventure and tragedy, there were some pieces of wisdom sprinkled in there, mostly detailing many of the teleportation traps that they had encountered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh… I can see some simrities, so… this should be good,” Rudy said, standing up and snapping his book shut. “Let’s do this.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I nodded in response as I held out my hand.
<span style="font-weight:400">With Rudy grabbing Sara and my’s hands, so we wouldn’t be separated during our teleportation, we then stepped onto the circle.
<span style="font-weight:400">Uhh… nothing was happening.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…Do we have to activate it-?”
<span style="font-weight:400">My question was cut off as I was suddenly assaulted with a dizzying feeling and, a momentter, I found myself standing in a very familiar room.
<span style="font-weight:400">It looked extremely simr to the room we were just in, but there were some differences.
<span style="font-weight:400">The most obvious one being that instead of moss and tree roots pervading the stone walls, now, there were small piles of sand.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…It seems that we’re here,” I said, stepping forward. “But to think it automatically activated… how odd.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I had seen mana flowing through the magic circle’s lines, so it wasn’t entirely surprising that it could work, but I wasn’t able to spot any power source for said mana when I looked over it.
<span style="font-weight:400">And activating my Demon eye, I could see that it was the same case here.
<span style="font-weight:400">…Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You two okay?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh? Ah… yeah,” Rudy said, nodding. “Just… felt a bit familiar, is all.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Familiar?
<span style="font-weight:400">“You mean the teleporting?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Something like that…”
<span style="font-weight:400">…Weird.
<span style="font-weight:400">“And you, Sara?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…Yeah,” she nodded, getting over her momentary state of shock. “Just was a bit startling. To think we’ve traversed months'' worth of travel in an instant… I can see why teleportation magic was forbidden.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“True…” Rudy nodded. “Imagine an army suddenly showing up like this… that’s terrifying.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yeah. Teleportation magic seemed… extremely useful.
<span style="font-weight:400">Both in general life and in a fight.
<span style="font-weight:400">I would hold off for now, but even if it was forbidden… I wanted to learn it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well… no time to waste,” I said, adjusting the strap of my bag and soaking my gifted cap with water magic. “Let’s go.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Receiving two nods, we then began heading up the stairs, only to stop a momentter as Rudy suddenly interrupted us, “Wait, should we check if we can get back to the other side?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“…No,” I shook my head. “Even without teleportation, we would be crossing here to get back home anyway. If one of us teleports and suddenly can’t return, that would be extremely troublesome.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I guess…” Rudy shrugged as we continued.
<span style="font-weight:400">As we reached the first floor, I instantly felt the change in temperature, as well as noticing the few footsteps marking the sand-covered floor.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Those are… Orsted’s, right?” Rudy said, looking down.
<span style="font-weight:400">I guess he noticed them too.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Orsted? Who’s that?” Sara asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“No one, Sara, and as for these footsteps… probably,” I shrugged. “Let’s just make sure we don’t stay here too long.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I didn’t want to ever see that guy again, after all.
<span style="font-weight:400">Especially when I had only gotten a bit stronger in the year since my absolute beat-down.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah… let’s do that,” Rudy nodded.
<span style="font-weight:400">We then exited the ruin, revealing a vast expanse of sand dunes as far as the eye could see.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was… deste.
<span style="font-weight:400">To the point where it reminded me of the Demon Continent, without a hint of civilization in sight.
<span style="font-weight:400">And it was also…
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s fucking hot!” Sara said, fanning herself with her hands.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You’re telling me… I really have to thank Aisha,” I said, cooling down my soaked cap.
<span style="font-weight:400">But as soon as I went to cool it down, I noticed that much of the previous moisture had already evaporated.
<span style="font-weight:400">…It wasn’t just hot here, it was fucking boiling.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…Well, other than getting Mama and Lilia earlier, I guess this is another reason to go fast,” I grumbled, taking out my canteen in preparation for theing dehydration as the other two nodded in agreement. “Rudy, can you refill our water? I’ll keep a cool breeze on us the entire time.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Got it, Brother,” he nodded.
<span style="font-weight:400">Since generating water used up way more mana, I decided to leave that task to him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Also, I couldn’t exactly trust Rudy with breezes after his disys during our childhood, even if he had grown up.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even with my time crossing the world, I had still never seen so many panties at once… truly, I was d he had calmed down his lust after meeting Sara.
<span style="font-weight:400">And so, with our direction decided with a nce of our map, we then began our journey north to the city of Rapan, where my Mama was hopefully still waiting for me, or at least some information about her, as well as my father and his group.
<span style="font-weight:400">We continued at a smooth pace as the sun passed its apex, avoiding most monsters with my enhanced eyesight as we jogged through the difficult terrain.
<span style="font-weight:400">Fucking sand… after this, I definitely hated sand.
<span style="font-weight:400">Luckily, with Sara being an active girl, and Rudy keeping up with his training despite being a magician, there were no issues with stamina during our trek, with the only breaks being taken to drink some water, cool down, or remove the sand from our shoes.
<span style="font-weight:400">But, unfortunately, our luck of avoiding enemies didn’tst forever, as we soon found ourselves facing a pair ofrge scorpion-like monsters.
<span style="font-weight:400">They were about two meters in length, with two long tails, both fitted with a stinger each, and a hard green carapace protecting their bodies.
<span style="font-weight:400">From what I could remember from my brief research… these were Twin Death Scorpions, a B-rank monster that roamed the desert of the Begaritt Continent.
<span style="font-weight:400">Luckily, even though they were B-rank, their most dangerous trait was the poison that was injected by its stinger, and since I could remove it with detoxification magic, its biggest threat was nullified.
<span style="font-weight:400">As I was about to step forward and put them down, I was stopped by both Rudy and Sara.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Brother, you’ve been constantly casting wind magic, and you dealt with most of the monsters in the forest,” Rudy said. “Let us deal with this.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Besides, you haven’t seen us in action, right?” Sara said, drawing an arrow. “We’re not your little sisters. We’re S-rank adventurers. You should know the strength of your allies.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“…Sure,” I said with a smile. “I’ll leave it to you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I knew they were strong, and again, I could always heal and detoxify them, so I wasn’t worried.
<span style="font-weight:400">Plus… I wanted to see how they fought. Both together as a team, and also their individual skills.
<span style="font-weight:400">Especially…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hiya!” Sara shouted, releasing an arrow.
<span style="font-weight:400">The projectile flew through the air before easily prating the first monster’s eye, or at least one of them, causing it to screech in pain.
<span style="font-weight:400">…What?
<span style="font-weight:400">While I had only seen an archer inbat a couple of times, I did know one thing.
<span style="font-weight:400">Arrows… shouldn’t fly that fast, nor should they be able to prate a B-rank monster so easily.
<span style="font-weight:400">I could understand if it was some sort of magic item, but I had seen Sara carve some of her arrows during our walk through the forest.
<span style="font-weight:400">…Interesting.
<span style="font-weight:400">I watched as the battle continued, the couple showing off their perfect coordination as Rudy immobilized the scorpions by sinking them into the ground, while also creating tforms by raising the ground, which Sara used to jump around the monsters, sinking arrow after arrow into the spots between their armour with perfect uracy as she manoeuvred around them for optimal angles.
<span style="font-weight:400">And then, with a <em><span style="font-weight:400">Stone Cannon</em><span style="font-weight:400"> shooting out from the tip of Rudy’s staff, the same one he had gotten for his tenth birthday, the monsters were killed instantly as the projectile flew through their bodies.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well done…” I said in slight amazement and shock.
<span style="font-weight:400">Their coordination was perfect. Even better than mine and Eris’.
<span style="font-weight:400">And Rudy’s magic was just as amazing as I had expected.
<span style="font-weight:400">But that wasn’t what had startled me.
<span style="font-weight:400">As soon as she harmed a B-rank monster with a mere arrow, I became suspicious of Sara, and thus, activated my Demon eye to see exactly what was going on.
<span style="font-weight:400">And so, I saw it.
<span style="font-weight:400">Her arrows… they were enhanced with touki.
<span style="font-weight:400">That… that should be impossible.
<span style="font-weight:400">Aside from being useful for assassinations with poisoned arrows and against unassuming warriors, there was a reason why archers were seen as weak.
<span style="font-weight:400">Their power was… normal.
<span style="font-weight:400">Arrows could only go as fast as you pulled back on the bow, which could only be pulled back so far without it turning into siege equipment.
<span style="font-weight:400">And that was because of touki.
<span style="font-weight:400">Unlike with one’s body, or swords, spears, and all weapons that could be constantly held, arrows could not be enhanced with touki.
<span style="font-weight:400">After all, once the arrow was let loose, it lost the physical connection with the archer, meaning touki could no longer flow through the object.
<span style="font-weight:400">But Sara did just that.
<span style="font-weight:400">…What the hell?
<span style="font-weight:400">Was I… wrong about touki?
<span style="font-weight:400">…I would have to ask her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“That was great, you two,” I said, pping in astonishment. “And Sara… I’m amazed that you can infuse your touki with arrows. I didn’t even think that was possible.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Instead of epting my earnest praise with a smile, Sara only looked back at me, tilting her head in confusion.
<span style="font-weight:400">“‘Touki’? What’s that? And what do you mean I can infuse it into my arrows?” she asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">…Huh?
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wait a second,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “How… No, first, what do you do when shooting an arrow.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What do I do? Hmm…” she said, adopting a thinking pose. “Well… first, I focus on the draw, make sure I’m aiming straight, and then, as I release, I be ‘one with the arrow’. Keeping up my concentration as the arrow finds its target.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Fucking shit!
<span style="font-weight:400">She was an instinctual type, just like Paul, but worse!
<span style="font-weight:400">At least an experienced swordsman could understand the dumb words he said and everything about ‘feeling it’, but no one would understand Sara, because as far as I knew, there were no other archers who could do that.
<span style="font-weight:400">“…So, you just… concentrate,” I said in exasperation. “Bing ‘one with the arrow’ and such.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yep! Archery is simple like that,” she said, winking at me with a smile. “Just practice!”
<span style="font-weight:400">…Right.
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, if she was this good without even knowing what she was doing… perhaps I could help her be a bit stronger.
<span style="font-weight:400">I was also interested in her unintentionally groundbreaking technique, after all.