"I think it looks cute, Rudy!" Rostelina giggled and said, "You look like a tiny hero off for war!"
I frowned and resisted the urge to smooth down my spiked hair. "I think it looks stupid."
After that chat with Miss Rostelina, she dragged me over to her room and pulled out a bunch of make up equipment. Powders, brushes, and all sorts of things I didn't know anything about.
Apparently, I never bothered doing research into make up products in my previous life, so it all came up blank.
Fortunately, I didn't get the typical cliche 'dress a guy up as a girl' treatment.
But considering how I looked, I might have preferred it...
First of all, my bangs had been messed up into a windswept style that any typical Anime or JRPG protagonist would have. The sort of spiky and gravity defying hair that somehow flowed in the wind.
Second of all, Miss Rostelina had either bought or made… Probably made, since she was always around. Anyway, she handed me a tiny adventurer's outfit. Again, the sort that you'd see in a typical JRPG setting.
A beige coloedr tunic and pants combo. Some leather padding at the elbows and knees. A mini dagger strapped on my belt at my left side, with a satchel and my wand looped on my right side. Leather boots…
And finally, there was the carved wooden pendant that she made me wear along with the talisman that Master Roxy gave me during my graduation.
I gave the hand mirror back to Miss Rostelina and shook my head. "Where did you even get all of this stuff anyway, Miss Rostelina?"
"Just grandma's fine, Rudy." She smiled and patted my head. "And think of it as a late birthday gift for my cute granddaughter's best friend. Besides, it'll be useful soon, right?"
I gave her a blank look and then carefully said, "Useful how?"
Was she a regressor or something? Or did she have info about events stirring in the background I didn't? Maybe that mysterious past of hers involved some secret truths about the world? Being W doing a mindwipe on her to prevent her from stirring things up, but in this timeline he somehow messed it up?
"Hm?" She tilted her head and said, "Well, Sylphy's been talking about wanting to go adventuring soon with you and Eris. Shouldn't you look the part?"
I blinked and said, "What?"
She has? She didn't mention anything to me...
Oh. *Oh.* That's probably what she and Eris were doing by themselves. Probably some training to get used to each other's fighting style and working out some past frustrations or something.
And that was a thought. Maybe we should become adventurers. Being W seemed to want to screw me over in particular, so if I moved around he wouldn't focus on my family but me. Especially if I was going around with Sylphy, Master Roxy, and Eris.
What other way to cause an accident than on a dungeon dive, right?
Though, that guy also seemed to not know just how strong we all were. Especially with the countermeasures and trump cards I laid down.
There was also the fact that Orsted liked me and there wouldn't be any chances of misunderstanding like Rudeus had.
But I was still just eight. Heading out from home so early...
Ah, that guy did too, didn't he?
Hm...
At that time, a knock echoed in the distance. Shortly after, my mom called out. "Lina? Rudy? We're back!"
I froze.
Rostelina laughed and then said, "Come on. Let's show your mom how cute you are."
"I thought you said I was cool!"
Rostelina grabbed my hand and pulled me along. "You are. But a cute hero is still cute even if he's cool, you know?"
I sighed. "Well. I guess Mom would think it's alright..."
I reluctantly followed after Rostelina.
We walked through the house to the living room. As we did, I mentally prepared myself to explain things to Mom.
And then I saw all the people around her, and I remembered that Mom didn't leave alone this morning.
Miss Rose gasped and said, "Rudy! You're so cute!"
Norn gasped as well and looked at me with sparkling eyes. "Rui! Cool!"
Aisha clapped her hands and then nodded. "Super cool!"
"Kuh." I felt my face heat up and averted my gaze. "I-It wasn't my idea." I instinctively reached up to smooth my hair down. But before I could, Mom was already standing in front of me, patting it all down.
"M-Mom?"
She leaned back to look at me, her face grim.
I blinked and said, "I-Is something wrong?"
She stared back and then let out a deep sigh. "Like I thought. It's too dangerous for you to be an adventurer. I might become a grandmother before I'm forty at this rate."
Rostelina laughed and said, "He's cute, right? Don't you think so too, Roxy?"
Master Roxy looked at me, her face flushing red. "T-That is... Rudy does appear to be suited for an adventurer's life, but..."
I coughed and then looked towards the bags that Miss Rose and Master Roxy were holding. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
Mom nodded and let out a bright smile. "Yep! We got a lot of herbs and spices! And now, with all the meat that Roxy brought back the other day, we can have a party!"
"A party?" I blinked and said, "What for?"
"For my son finally being normal again, obviously. Now come on, there's a lot to get ready!"
-LIV-
Sylphy hummed to herself as she looked around the frozen forest. Gently walking through the frosted undergrowth, she stopped in front of a frozen wolf before lightly tapping it.
The wolf shattered into red mist before it dropped a glittering blue crystal onto the ground.
Sylphy picked it up and then smiled. After that, she turned around and said, "What do you think, Eris? Will this make a good gift for Rudy?"
Eris hugged her arms and shivered. "P-P-Prob-bably."
"Oh! I'm sorry." Sylphy waved her hand, causing a warm wind to blow around the surroundings. In an instant, the frozen forest turned back to normal, as if the ice was just an illusion. "I forget that you aren't good with magic."
Eris gave Sylphy a blank stare and then sighed, shaking her head. "It's... fine." Eris glanced at her side to check her sword, making sure it wasn't damaged by the cold. After that, she nodded and looked back at Sylphy. "What do you want that for anyway?"
Sylphy tucked it into a small bag at her side and said, "Well, Rudy needs a new weapon now that his sword is broken. And since he's just like a hero from a story, we should get him a magic sword, right? And a magic sword needs a good magic crystal." She turned around to look at Eris and smiled. "Isn't it a great idea? He'll be so happy for us to give him a cool sword!"
"Um. Sure?"
Sylphy frowned. "You don't seem happy about that Eris."
"A-Ah." Eris quickly held up her hands and said, "It's a good idea! I think. Just..." She frowned and said, "Does Rudy need a sword? He can use his magic to make one whenever he wants, right?"
Sylphy paused. "Oh. That's right. But we already spent all this time adventuring to make it..."
Eris started to sweat.
She already kind of thought it since she arrived in Buina village to stay with Rudy's family... but it really seemed like everyone here didn't have any common sense...
Sylphy sighed. "Well. Since we're here, we should at least get a few more. Maybe Rudy can find a good use for them? It would be a good gift anyway, right?"
"Maybe- Wait." Eris blinked and then said, "You want to find more magical creatures?"
"Of course! Now come on, Eris." Sylphy grabbed Eris's hand and said, "There should be stronger monsters deeper in the forest. You can practice fighting more too!"
"H-Hold on. S-Sylphy, I'm exhausted. Why don't we-"
Before Eris could say anything else, she felt warmth spread throughout her body. After that, her fatigue vanished. Not only that, but she felt filled with energy. Like she had just woken up after a long night's sleep.
Sylphy smiled. "There! Now you're in top shape, right?"
Eris gave Sylphy a blank stare and then pulled out her sword. "...Yes."
"Great! Now... Adventure!"
Was this what Dad meant? What goes around comes around?
Eris really should have treated their servants in Roa better...
-LIV-
It was a bit awkward but fun day.
I didn't think that it was a big deal, but apparently I had been acting a lot more differently than I thought.
Mom had to pretty much be physically restrained by Miss Rose and Miss Rostelina to not go overboard cooking. But in her place, Master Roxy went a bit overboard and tried using magic to cook things.
It... kind of worked? Minus a few piles of ash from the first few barbecue slices.
Sylphy and Eris came back later in the day with a bunch of magic stones. And as a result, they promptly got scolded by the adults for doing reckless tasks and setting bad examples for Norn and Aisha.
But altogether, it was fun. Lazy summer days where I relaxed with everyone. Productive nights where I kept track of my research in my diary as well as sorting out future events and potential issues.
Brainstorming with Master Roxy about anti-teleportation/summoning measures...
In short, preparations and living as normal of a life as I could to stick it to Being W trying to get me riled up.
Like that, summer slowly passed by.
It was a bit concerning because of how calm things were, but I didn't dwell on that.
Too much worry was paralyzing. But not only that, things were different.
I was sure of it. Unlike Rudeus, Being W couldn't directly see what I was doing. Neither could he see what the people around me were doing.
Instead, he was probably pulling things in the distance. Setting up unforeseen dangers in foreign lands.
Like where Dad was right now.
*That* part was a bit concerning. But Dad was strong. Stronger still than in Rudeus's timeline, and there he had been strong enough to be the ace in the hole against a hydra.
Still. I did wonder a bit how he was doing...
He was probably fine, right?
[author] Many thoughts about how things are going, but I'll just keep it to myself til we finish up this arc and move onto the next part. Which hopefully is soon. :fingerscrossed:[/author]
Paul was not fine.
There were a lot of reasons for that, but the main reason was the new friend he had made. Or rather, the person who declared himself Paul's friend after their public bout.
"Bwahaha!" Gal Farion clapped his hand onto Paul's shoulder and grinned. "Did you see the look on that guy's face? It's like he was seeing a demon from hell or something!"
Paul laughed and did his best to ignore the white mist wreathed around Gal's body. "Yeah. Pilemon was always a bit of a scaredy cat."
Gal chuckled and took a long swig from a mug of mead. "No wonder you bailed. Hanging around a bunch of stuck-up nobles like this... If it was me, I would've cut them all down, you know?"
"Mm... I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it before."
A private manor in the Notos territory, set up specifically for the Boreas faction. Late at night.
A lot of things had happened since Paul and his companions arrived in Milbots region.
Enough that Paul could probably pen a whole book about the events in the past week alone.
But to sum things up... It was a typical cliche, like some of the trashy novels those Asuran maidens enjoyed reading.
Paul showed up at the gates with everyone else. Things went fine until it came time to check-in, where Pilemon noticed Paul and demanded something happen.
Then the Sword God and Water God popped up out of nowhere and a spontaneous sword tournament happened.
Paul ended up in the finals with said Sword God... and then it ended with a draw and Gal Farion declaring Paul his sworn brother.
Which promptly led to the man crashing with Paul and taking advantage of the Boreas family's hospitality.
Though, considering that he *was* Ghyslaine's teacher and that he was the Sword God, there wasn't much anyone could say about it.
Thankfully, the man had the sense to not hang around all the time. And overall, he seemed like a decent person who also knew a lot about sword fighting. A fact that Paul would love to take advantage of to get some tidbits back to Rudy.
Except there was the problem about him definitely being controlled or observed by that Being Whatchamacallit from that white mist following him.
A knock echoed, followed by a soft voice. "May I come in?"
Paul did his best to not let out a sigh of relief. Instead, he looked over to the door and smiled. "You don't need to be shy, Lily."
The door opened, revealing Lilia standing with a tea tray. Since it was late, she was wearing a simple black nightgown instead of her usual maid outfit.
Lilia walked over to sit beside Paul. After that, she started pouring a cup of tea and said, "Would you like some, Lord Farion?"
Gal waved his mug around and said, "I'm fine. And just call me Gal. Lord Farion..." He rubbed his chin and said, "Hearing that makes me feel itchy."
"Understood." Lilia nodded and then looked to Paul. "Husband?"
"Thanks, Lily." Paul smiled and took the cup from her. After that, he looked at Gal and said, "But being called Lord Farion makes you feel itchy? And you don't care being called a girl?"
Gal laughed and said, "Of course not." He let out a savage grin and said, "If they can live after saying it to my face."
...Alright. Paul had to admit, he was starting to feel like he got in over his head a bit here to just try and prove a point to Rudy.
Gal Farion was dangerous. Unpredictable too.
He was fine now... but the man was a wolf in disguise. Sharp and feral.
Paul had the sense that the only reason Gal was here at all and playing nice was because the Sword God was practicing some self-restraint... or listening to that Being W.
"But anyway!" Gal pointed at Paul and said, "You've got a kid, right? Rudy? Planning on sending him to practice in the Holy Land of Swords any time soon? If he's even half as good as you are, he'll be a god by the time he's through." He laughed and took another swig from his mug. "Nina needs a good rival. Jino is alright, but the kid's a bit too dull."
Lilia poured herself a cup of tea and then said, "Rudy will not be going anywhere in the near future. At the moment, he is still far too young to be considering anything."
"Right, right." Gal nodded and said, "Guess a kid does need some time to play a bit. Though Nina's play always involved her copying me instead of playing with dolls." He drained the rest of his mug and glanced out the window. After that, he stretched and said, "Mm. Think I've overstayed my welcome a bit today, so I'll leave it at that." He clapped Paul's shoulder again and said, "Nice chatting with you, Paul. Take care of yourself in the festival tomorrow, alright?"
With those words, Gal left.
Silence. Both Paul and Lilia waited until his footsteps faded away. And then just in case, Lilia used one of the spells Rudy loaded onto her bracelet to block out their conversation.
After that...
"This is troublesome." Lilia sipped on her tea and looked at Paul. "The Sword God is on that Being's side."
Paul groaned and rubbed his face. "I know. Argh... What a mess. And Pierre mentioned that everything would be happening tomorrow too. But with that guy around... Not to mention the Water God."
Reida Reia, the head of the Water God Style. A seemingly frail old woman who had showed up bickering with Gal, but vanished afterwards after mentioning something about repaying a debt.
Paul didn't get a chance to spar with her in the tournament, but from what he saw before she left, it was basically what he could do, but better. All the dodging and ultra instinct techniques that Rudy mentioned... Well, it wasn't the exact same, but Paul's gut told him that would be annoying to fight at the least, and lethal at the worst.
Then there was the fact that she ALSO had that white mist around her...
"Just what the heck does that Being W guy want here? Is he doing all of this just to mess with us, or what?" Paul couldn't understand it.
Lilia frowned and said, "It could be the case. However, if that person is truly concerned about Rudy... Perhaps his intentions are to persuade you to send him into the lion's den?"
"You mean sending him over to that place?" Paul shook his head. "Even if I didn't know that guy was pulling strings, I wouldn't do that... Mostly because Rudy might actually kill someone."
"...True."
Paul sighed and said, "Well, whatever. It's happening soon. Pilemon's going to send some men out and try to kidnap that girl. Pierre and Philip have got the logistics sorted out, Sauros threw enough of a tantrum to quiet down those Notos idiots..." He smiled and said, "After that, we get to go home and have fun with the family again."
"Yes. But there is still the ball to handle first, Husband."
"...Right. That." Paul groaned and said, "...I'm going to have to smack some heads around for staring at you, aren't I?"
"Well." Lilia sipped on her tea and said, "You could always ignore them. Of course, I will just have to tell Rudy how degenerate this family of yours is."
"I think he's already got the picture... But either way, things are gonna be messy. As usual. Dammit." Paul rubbed his face and said, "Just what the hell did I do to get into this mess? I'm trying to be a good person here, but the world seems out to just screw me over..."
Lilia leaned on Paul's shoulder and said, "It's fine. You're trying... And this time you're thinking things through. ...You are thinking things through, aren't you?"
"Every second."
"Then it will be fine. Everything is prepared and in place. Moreover, you are strong. The bout with the Sword God proved it, did it not?"
Paul snorted. "Strong enough to not die, yeah. But mostly due to Rudy's sword."
"Mm. We will have to thank him when we get back then."
"I'm going to have to say a lot to Rudy when we get back." Paul furrowed his brow. "Like how much of a pain it is to be a hero-" He paused and then let out a deep sigh. "This is what the old man felt, huh? Ugh. Well, I have to at least not be a hypocrite... Milis knows what will happen if Rudy decides he can bend his principles whenever he wants."
Lilia massaged Paul's shoulders and said, "Yes. Be a good father figure instead of the worthless man in my memories."
"...You are never going to let that go, are you?"
Lilia laughed and said, "Just ensuring that you remain a respectable man, Paul. And speaking of respectable men... Have you thought about a name for your new child yet?"
Paul froze.
"...Paul."
Paul cleared his throat and said, "I-I have a name. Right now... Well... If it's a boy-"
"Knowing your luck, it will be a daughter."
"...True. In that case... Well, since Zenith is the heavens and Norn is our little goddess... How about Stella? Because right now, a shooting star and a wish would definitely be useful..."
[author]Paul's shenanigans here would be probably be an arc onto itself, so we'll do an abridged version for now. Maybe in the future I'll explore it in a side-story like Roxy's adventures in canon. After finishing this up, we'll be focusing on Rudy for a while again.[/author]
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