Sylphy lunged toward my flank.
"Almost!" I spun out of the way and snagged the collar of her cloak. "You're anticipating too much, Fitz. The Sword God style relies on landing one decisive strike... Though in my case, if I miss, I just keep swinging."
Sylphy slumped to the ground in defeat.
"Right... I'll work on that."
"No need."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because if direct attacks aren't your thing, just focus on dodging and counterattacking. That's what you're naturally best at."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking..."
Sylphy cast her eyes downward. Then, as if something just clicked, she looked up and spotted Rudeus munching on a snack while watching us spar.
We were holding this session in broad daylight. After spending so long practicing in secret, it finally felt normal to train under the open sun without having to hide.
"I'd do better using magic," Rudeus chimed in. "Dodge, then blast them with a stone cannon."
"Hey." I walked over to the bench and sat down beside him. "Been watching long?"
"Nope. Why? Don't tell me you're embarrassed that your little brother caught you hanging out with Fitz."
"Not embarrassed, just curious. Either way, you should be getting some exercise too."
I grabbed his wrist and hauled him toward the sparring ring.
"Just a quick reflex drill."
With training back underway, I focused entirely on looking after the two of them. It was what I had always wanted to do, and now I felt a desperate need to protect it. I refused to make the foolish mistake of abandoning them ever again. At the very least, I'd do everything in my power to prevent it.
---
Away from the training grounds, something else had been weighing on my mind for quite a while.
Thinking, as usual. It was what I had been doing ever since arriving in this world: second-guessing every choice I made, analyzing everything that happened to me, and consistently ignoring the voice in my head. Ayam. She had gone quiet once again.
Her silence was loud.
"Daiki-san," Zanoba called, pulling me from my reverie. "How does this look? Julie carved the woodwork, but I taught her everything I know about the pistol."
"Hmm, let's see." I took the weapon and tested the grip. "Very nice. Next time, aim for a contour that can adjust to different hand sizes. Still, for a first attempt, this is excellent work. Just make sure nobody else finds out about this weapon, except Julie."
"Understood! See you later, Master."
"Zanoba." I stopped him before he reached the doorway. "Tell Julie thanks for me. She's having a tough time settling in, right? Treat her well."
"Quite the contrary," he replied, shaking his head. "She has a real talent for woodwork."
Zanoba shut the door behind him, leaving me alone at my desk.
If that's true... all the better. They're giving a second chance at life to a little girl whose eyes had lost all their light. In a way, that made me feel good. A huge part of why we ended up here comes down to my decisions. Rudeus is here because of me, and he went with Sylphy and Zanoba to take that girl in.
Even though I despise the entire institution of slavery and initially hated the thought of going there just to buy someone, my hesitation vanished almost immediately. I ended up admitting to myself that under these circumstances, there was nothing wrong with it.
Even if I wanted to wipe slavery off the face of this world, doing so would take an eternity. Given how deeply entrenched those networks are, trying to tear them down would only put my family in crosshairs.
For now, things will stay like this.
---
The next day.
"Julie, watch closely." I picked up a chisel. "Angle it like this, and you'll see how much cleaner your cuts turn out."
To speak with her, I had to rely on the Beast God tongue. Even so, since she was still young, it wouldn't take long for her to pick up the Human language and expand her mana reserves.
That had been one of my brother's ideas.
"Like this?" She guided the chisel slowly across the grain. "I don't know... too gentle?"
"Gentle is much more important than raw force. That's why you're doing this instead of Zanoba, understand?"
She nodded and returned to shaping her figurine.
"Brother! Looks like you got her making real progress." Rudeus stepped up beside me. "Nice work, Julie. You're doing great."
"Thank you."
I glanced at Rudeus for a brief moment, then turned around to pick up a pouch.
"Check this out." I handed the pouch to him. "Remember these scales? They're perfect for crafting a heavy-duty spring, and I can reinforce it with my own touki."
"Fascinating. Whenever you need a hand shaping it, just say the word, alright?"
"Will do. I need to run a few tests first, but all signs point to yes."
Julie's timid voice cut through our conversation.
"Dai...ki, like this?"
I took the figurine and inspected the carving.
"Yeah, that's really good. You picked that up instantly after just one tip."
"I promise to remember all your advice..."
"Excelent. Go take a break now, alright?"
She nodded and quietly stepped away.
"No matter what I do, I always end up babysitting. Teaching swordplay because I just can't shake that compulsive itch, and now this."
"Hey," Rudeus protested. "I'm teaching her too, you know! Magic, my specialty. She's going to turn into a master mage capable of churning out figurines in minutes."
"I hope so. Julie deserves to live as a free person."
"Huh? Yeah, obviously."
***
Every afternoon was a battle spent evading the two-woman hurricane terrorizing the academy: Linia and Pursena. One was dead set on shoving food down my throat, while the other kept trying to tackle me and pin me to the dirt.
"Daiki! Stop dodging, meooow!"
"Why should I?"
I vaulted onto a bench and landed casually on top of a lamppost.
"If I let you catch me, it just proves I've gotten sloppy. I don't like letting my guard down."
I crossed my arms.
"So what? Come down here! You're great for sparring, nya! And then we can make cubs! I want some!"
Contrary to what some might assume, Linia was hardly an angel. She was practically hellbent on dragging me into bed and keeping me tied to her for the rest of my life.
Where that obsession came from was beyond me. Was it because I rescued her back then? That made zero sense. We were both little kids at the time. I'm completely different now. Taller, but also far more guarded. In other words, I don't let Linia hang all over me the way I used to back in the Great Forest.
"No. That's a hard no, Linia."
I sprang toward an open second-story window and vanished inside.
"Aaaah, meooow!"
Her frustrated screech was the last thing I heard before slipping through.
Turning them down meant doing what nobody else had managed since their arrival. When they first enrolled, they were terrified of humans, but they quickly realized how soft the other students were. Armed with academy spells, their racial Voice Magic, and raw beast-tribe brawn, they could overpower almost anyone on campus. From there, they only spiraled out of control. Extortion, blackmail, and outright bullying turned them into seasoned delinquents, and within a single year, they were running their own campus faction.
All of that hit a brick wall with me. Their Voice Magic didn't even phase me. Far from merely annoying them, my indifference left them completely baffled and exhausted, as if every dirty trick they had ever pulled on other students was suddenly rebounding straight back into their faces.
Thanks to me, their delinquent phase was temporarily on hold. They were far too preoccupied trying to figure out how to break my composure.
It was a game I had to play along with, but in the end, it didn't solve the core problem.
Not long after, they took one of Zanoba's prized figurines and smashed it to pieces without a single drop of remorse, treating it as though the statue itself were an offensive eyesore. Naturally, Zanoba was heartbroken. He went straight to Rudeus, who was furious enough to cook up a plan to put them in their place once and for all.
"We have to do something to knock them down a peg."
"Agreed, Daiki."
Maybe give them the scare of their lives.
Pure, unfiltered bloodlust.
With their hyper-sensitive beast traits, the psychological toll would hit them tenfold. According to Rudeus, walking into my radius is like stepping into an absolute void. Smell disappears, spatial perception collapses, and unless your mind is forged of iron, that killing intent will tear your psyche apart. The only upside for them was that my bursts didn't last as long as a true master's.
The showdown happened that afternoon.
"What is this, nya?"
"What's going on here?"
Rudeus and Zanoba cut off Linia and Pursena's path in the hallway. I stayed hidden. I had to remain out of sight so we wouldn't ruin the element of surprise. Besides, if they saw me standing out in the open, they wouldn't take the bait. They knew full well that even working together, they couldn't beat me.
"Hey, you two. You're blocking our way, nya. Move it, nya."
"Zanoba, have you no shame at all, nya? I can't believe you dragged this tiny kid along as your only shot at revenge... and he claims to be Daiki's brother, no less."
"Hmph."
At Zanoba's blatant sneer, a visible vein popped on Linia's temple.
"You! I really don't like your attitude. Seems like you want us to smash your other figurine to dust, nya."
Pursena, however, wasn't showing the same aggressive swagger. Unlike Linia, she had actually spent time with Rudeus back in the Dorudia village and played a pivotal role in helping free everyone. Linia had left long before that.
Pursena never had a real reason to leave the village either, especially after learning healing magic from me. Even so, she had somehow found her way here.
I couldn't make out Zanoba's quiet retort, but judging by his posture, he was ready to throw hands. Rudeus quickly reached out and held him back.
"Don't sweat it," Rudeus said loudly. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. They're the ones who should feel embarrassed, glued to each other's asses 24/7 like that. It's like they want the whole campus to know they can't accomplish a single thing on their own."
"What did you just say, nya...?! We're going to level your entire workshop, nya!"
"Enough!"
I unleashed my bloodlust with full force.
"You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves."
Rudeus instantly cast a gust of wind magic to propel himself and Zanoba safely backward.
"W-who are you, nya?!"
"W-why do you smell like absolute nothingness...?"
I sat down right in front of them, casually resting my cheek against one hand.
I had dressed for the part, cloaked in robes resembling the grim reaper. A deep hood that cast my face in total shadow and a rusted scythe I had scavenged from one of the storage workshops.
A few agonizing minutes passed before their knees buckled, and they pressed their foreheads flat against the stone floor.
"W-we're sorry, nya..."
"It won't happen again..."
I slowly began dialing back the murderous intent.
"Really? Because I can keep this going as long as necessary."
"R-really, nya! We couldn't lie if we tried!"
"Good..."
I rose to my feet and shut off the pressure completely.
"I hope you learned your lesson. If I ever catch you pulling a stunt like that again, I won't be the one handling your punishment."
"D-Daiki? Why did you go that far, nya?"
"Because if you kept going down that path, you would have ended up rotten to the core, and there would be no coming back from it. You're still young, aren't you? You still have a lot of growing up to do."
"Thank you... and, um, that outfit looks really... really cool on you."
"Linia."
"We're sorry! We promise not to do it again!"
With that, the two of them scrambled to their feet and bolted faster than they ever had in their lives.