A little over a month after I asked my parents to see about trying to find me a job, Paul got a letter. He thought he was being sneaky when he sent it, but I've been sneakier. I developed a wind spell to create a set of lenses out of compressed air that I could adjust how I needed shortly after I made a physical scope—just as an experiment to see if I could duplicate the feat with pure magic. Turns out I could and more. The scope was handy to have if I didn't want to use magic, but the magic itself was amazing.
I read the addresses on both letters—a member of the Boreas Greyrat family in Roa, one Phillip Boreas Greyrat. My first thought was that either he was a cousin or an uncle, since Paul's father was dead and I wasn't certain if he had a brother or not since Paul never talked about his family. I was pretty sure that I'd get my answer tonight or tomorrow.
The answer came a bit sooner than I was expecting, really. Paul brought it up during sword practice. In the worst possible way, because it was Paul and he thinks with his muscles.
"Rudy, I want to ask you something," he said, as the sound of a horse and carriage approached the house.
Pulling away from where he'd blocked another of my strikes, I took that as an invitation to take a break and eyed the carriage. Backing off a bit just in case he tried something stupid—that is, demonstrated the North God Style by attacking me when he hadn't actually declared a halt to training, and something he had done multiple times in the past—I said, "Sure, go ahead."
He eyed where I kept my guard up in the primary Water God ready stance with a rueful smile. That smile quickly faded though as he began speaking. "You, uh… What would you think if I wanted to separate you from Sylphie?"
Frowning, I considered the question. I remembered the last time Paul had decided to think for himself. Well, the last time he did in a way that didn't involve his dick.
It wound up with him unilaterally deciding I was wrong and Roxy having to straighten his shit out before he did something stupid. I get the feeling that he still hasn't learned his lesson. He's always going to be the type who goes with his gut instinct instead of reasoning things out like a normal person, with no regard to whether he's right or wrong because the answer feels right. Of course it fucking feels right, it's the answer you want to hear. And when he can't win an argument, he'll do what he wants anyway and force people to go along with it if he has to.
Listening to my own gut, by which I mean experience, I began preparing a spell—the wide area quagmire/pitfall trap I'd been practicing for anti-Paul combat, centered on myself. We were far enough from the house that it would be fine, and if my gut feeling was wrong then I could always dismiss it. I channeled and held the spell ready beneath my feet as I gave my answer. "I'd ask why. If it were a job in the city or something, I could talk to her and convince her it was a temporary thing. Arrange to send letters back and forth so I can continue our lessons. Unlike someone, I keep my promises, and I promised to teach her. So I'd have to find a way to keep doing that."
Paul nodded. "I thought you'd say something like that. You've already found a way to twist it around on me and make me the bad guy and I haven't even made my case. I won't be able to talk you into it, so I'm not going to try."
Fucking called it!
The man's entire disposition changed and I felt something wash over me that sent my heart racing—a feeling of bloodlust that felt like an actual, physical weight. Apparently, killing intent was a thing here, backed up by magic or whatever he was using. I didn't have time to contemplate it. No, with Paul being serious, I didn't have time for any thinking whatsoever.
Thankfully, when thinking fails, you fall back on practice. On the things you've drilled on until they've become second nature.
I released the spell under my feet. In the same instant, I channeled two more. The earth around me for a good hundred yards turned into a five foot deep morass of mud and water covered by an inch of solid-looking ground coated in patches of black ice that would collapse at the first hint of weight on it, while immediately under my feet a pillar of rock sprang up at force, throwing me into the air and backwards. Wind compressed under my feet and at the moment they left the rock, detonated, accelerating my escape and giving me altitude. I dropped the practice sword, since it'd be useless now and prepared a pair of spells in my hands.
The pillar I'd used exploded into a shower of debris as Paul launched himself from the solid ground he had been standing on hard enough to crater it and cleared the distance between he and I in a heartbeat. A heartbeat too long, however, as the moment he landed he slipped and his feet broke through the crust at the top of my trap. He sank up to his shoulders. His eyes widened in surprise, and that's all he had time for as the spells I had been preparing launched.
Flash Bang landed in front of his face and went off with a crackling boom and a flash that left spots in the eye I hadn't closed, knowing what to expect from it. I opened the eye I had closed ahead of time and launched the second spell—Bolt. A single flash of lightning connected my hand and Paul's shoulder for about half a second, causing him to stiffen up, before he went limp when I let the spell go. He slipped beneath the quagmire and I waited, landing on a cushion of air and holding myself aloft. After a full thirty seconds, I used an earth spell to create just enough of a platform under his position to lift him up out of the muck. I saw he wasn't moving, but otherwise looked alright.
"You don't think I'm going to fall for that, do you?" Playing possum was pretty much SOP for the North God style, after all.
I waited.
And waited.
"Ah, fuck," I grunted, kicking off with air running and making my way over. Yeah, he's not breathing, I assessed.
He had a clear burn across his shoulder where I'd zapped him, the skin turning red and going down before diffusing around his chest where it had found ground in the mud. Rolling him partway over, I gave him a solid kick to the solar plexus and hit him with a low powered Arc spell. At the same time, I used a water spell to grab and pull the water from his lungs, up and out through his mouth. Then I hit him with a healing spell. He spluttered, choked, and began coughing. I immediately backed off and primed a Water Ball, just in case he wanted to continue this. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the carriage had stopped and someone tall was climbing out of the back, but I was focused on Paul.
"You ready to talk like adults now? Or are you going to try to swing your fists and get your way again?"
Paul rolled over onto his back, still coughing. "Ghi—ugh." I waited. Finally, he sucked in a lungful of air and shouted. "Ghislaine!"
I was moving before the first syllable left his lips. It was the only thing that saved me from immediate defeat. Launching my Water Ball behind me, I turned myself around on the next step and found my attacker—a tall, muscular woman with tanned skin, messy white hair, white cat ears, and a cat-like tail wearing a very revealing getup, an eye patch over her right eye, and swinging a big old sword with the flat of the blade turned towards me.
Fast.
Way too fast! "Nope!"
I transitioned from Air Running to flight as the woman landed on the edge of my trap, having touched down only on the part I'd solidified for Paul for her initial surprise attack before leaping away again. A hundred yards into the air, I paused my ascent. "If you want to talk, I'm listening. Otherwise, I can stay out of your reach all day, and if you try something fishy I'm going to respond by throwing out wide-area Advanced-level magic to start with and go up from there. Please tell me you're more reasonable than my thickheaded father." I used wind magic to carry my words to the ground and vice verse, so we could talk without shouting.
The woman sheathed her sword and crossed her arms over her pleasantly large chest. She looked around Paul's age, exactly his type, and considering he knew her name I had to assume they were friends. I hadn't seen her around the village before, which meant she wasn't a local. She must have arrived around the same time as the letter and waited in the village, then rode up to the house and watched our little scuffle from the carriage and only chose to intervene when Paul called for help.
"I am Sword-king Ghislaine," she introduced herself.
"Water-saint mage Rudeus Greyrat. Now, what did my idiot father summon you for, Miss Ghislaine?"
Paul coughed and tried to speak from the ground, but Ghislaine sent him an irritated look that shut him up. "Just Ghislaine is fine. You're very polite for Paul's son," she chuckled. "I suppose that's Zenith's influence."
"Probably," I agreed, before falling silent and waiting somewhat patiently.
"You have been hired on to tutor my charge, Eris Boreas Greyrat, in the Citadel of Roa. While you are tutoring her, I will be instructing you in the sword."
"Okay. If you're going to be teaching me, I'm fine with that. Maybe you can do a better job than my old man. The best he can offer in the way of advice is, 'Be more like hnng!' and other worthless sounds." Gesturing towards Paul, I said, "I'm confused though. What does me going to teach your Eris and learn under you have to do with not seeing my friend and student and being forced to break a promise I made to her and my former master to see to her education?"
Ghislaine shrugged. "No idea."
Sending her a considering look, I asked, "If I come down, are you going to attack me again?"
"Will you come with me to Roa?" she asked in return.
"Yeah, I've got no problem with it. Just need an hour or so to gather my things, tell Sylphie goodbye, and arrange to send her letters so we can continue her lessons. Speaking of, I think I see her and Laws coming this way."
"No," Paul grunted out.
I dropped my Air Running spell and let myself fall. Before I hit the ground, I caught myself on a cushion of air beside Paul. Reaching into my magic in the trap in the ground, I dispelled it and sent the water used lower so it would spread out and not cause issues. Striding over to Paul's side, I kicked him in the ribs, earning a grunt of pain. Grabbing his practice sword, I was surprised when I was able to pry it from his hand with very little resistance. Seriously, what the hell? I know I fucked up here and underestimated just how much juice I hit him with, but it's like he can't use his magic or whatever at all. On the other hand, I don't think I'd really be ready to cast right after getting zapped by an overpowered taser either, let alone a small lightning bolt.
Throwing the sword to the side, I looked down on the surly man trying to push himself into a seated position. Not having any of that because at this point I was tired of his shit, I channeled a sustained Arc spell in my hand, reached down, and touched his arm with a 'zap!' of discharged electricity. He yelped and collapsed onto his back. I let the spell dance between my fingers as I glared down at him. Quietly, I said, "This is what you get for trying to use your fists instead of your words, father. Now, quit being a pussy. I didn't hit you that hard. Explain yourself. What's the Sylphie thing about?"
Closing his eyes, Paul turned away. I reached down and zapped him again. "Ow! Rudeus, stop it!"
"Tell me or you get another, idiot."
"Rudy!" Sylphie called, and I braced myself for impact as she ran over and slammed into my side. "What's going on?"
"I'm trying to figure that out now, Sylphie." I zapped Paul again before turning and waving to Laws. "Maybe now that we've got an actual adult here, we can get to the bottom of this? What's going on, Laws?"
The half-elf sighed, shooting Paul a glare before palming his face. "He did something stupid, didn't he?" I nodded and he shook his head, cursing under his breath. "Your father and I are worried about your influence on Sylphie."
Frowning, I sent Sylphie a questioning look. The girl merely shrugged. Ghislaine was useless here since she didn't know the situation, so I ignored her for now. She wasn't causing problems and appeared to be willing to hear us out. That, and judging by the way her lips twitched up into a smile every time I zapped Paul—speaking of, I took a second to do so again—she was enjoying it. "Could you be a bit more specific? What exactly have I done wrong here?"
What I got out of Laws, with Paul fucking finally prying his jaws open once his friend got the ball rolling, was that they were worried about Sylphie being able to live on her own if I kept on as I had been. She was relying on me too much and they were worried she wasn't self-sufficient enough.
Roxy had pointed it out as one of the reasons she had left—that if she didn't, Sylphie wouldn't grow into her own. And as I had pointed out, odds were good that when it came time for her to mature and start looking for a husband, I'd be the obvious choice in her mind. Neither Laws nor Paul objected to that, but they were both worried that when that time came, I wouldn't choose Sylphie and she would be left heartbroken.
Except, well, polygamy was a thing in this world and I was fairly sure Roxy wouldn't say no. I hadn't spoken to either Roxy or Sylphie about it, but that was a conversation for us, not for Paul.
"Rudeus, I worry you have too much of your father in you," Paul sighed.
A look at Laws, who refused to meet my gaze after that, confirmed it. "I'm not you, father. What makes you think—"
"Roxy."
I blinked. Slowly, I turned towards the house, where I saw the front windows were open. I couldn't see faces, but to the side of one window where there would normally be a curtain, I could make out the edge of Zenith's dress. "Mom, what the hell?!" I yelled.
"Sorry, Rudy! I was worried about Sylphie too!"
"Jesus fucking Christ," I muttered in English, low enough that only Sylphie—okay, probably Laws too given his confused look—heard. After zapping Paul one last time, I allowed my Arc spell to dispel. Turning, I put my arms around Sylphie and pulled her into a hug. Pulling away, I held her by the shoulders. "Sorry, Sylphie, looks like I have to go away for a bit because some people," I kicked Paul in the ribs, earning a grunt of pain, "think that if I don't, you won't grow up."
"That's not true at all!" she protested, and I nodded.
"Probably," I agreed. "Think of it like this. Suppose you find a baby animal out in the wild. Its parents aren't around, so you take it in. You raise it, teach it, train it. Then one day, you have to leave, or something happens and it gets loose in the wild. It knows how to live in a house, but how do you think it's going to feel about being in the woods if all it's known is your home?"
It was a stupid argument. People are animals, but we possess intelligence. We can think for ourselves. If someone couldn't adapt to their situation when left to their own devices, secure employment and a place to live, and deal with the reality of living alone then that was their own fault for lack of effort or mental fortitude. It happened, yes, but I was pretty sure that Sylphie was strong enough to live on her own—maybe, considering the whole Ranoa thing… But it was the best I had for explaining it to her in a way that wouldn't taint her view of her father, or mine. Judging by the knowing look on Laws' face and the way Paul had stopped his whining, they likely knew exactly what I was doing.
Sylphie was a smart girl, but she was also very lonely. She broke down on the spot and I was left with a mess of crying seven year old on my hands. I passed her off to her father, since I had no real idea how to handle that in a way that didn't involve just giving her what she wanted. "I'll keep up correspondence—"
"No."
I kicked Paul, adding an Arc to it just to get my point across. He yelped and rolled away. When I turned to Laws, I found him looking uncomfortable. "I think it would be best if you didn't, Rudeus."
I considered him for a minute before smiling and putting on the 'innocent shota' act. "Sure! I'm sure you won't have any problems continuing to teach her magic, reading, writing, arithmetic, and generally making sure her frankly amazing potential isn't squandered. I mean, it's not like her only friend in the village is going away and being told not to talk to her or anything, or that in doing so I'm breaking a promise I made to both her and Roxy…"
"That isn't fair, Rudeus," the man murmured.
"Life's not fair, then you die," I snarked, dropping the act. "If it makes you feel better then read them yourself first. I'll make sure they're just lesson plans, if you really want me not to send her anything personal."
The blond half-elf bowed his head. "Thank you."
Turning away from the absolute shit show this had turned into, I made my way to the house. Lilia met me at the door with my bag in one hand and Aisha cradled in the crook of her arm. Opening the bag, I found my project for Roxy plus my pens, ink, teaching materials, and a few odds and ends. Hidden away in one of the pockets was a small, folded bundle of white silk I recognized from where it had sat on my shelf since I now wore the necklace full time, once I'd confirmed that a little roughhousing wouldn't break it. Thank you, Lilia.
Zenith had followed the former maid, holding Norn. "Rudy, I'm sorry—"
I shot Zenith a look that shut her up immediately. "How long?"
"Five years," she answered quietly. "That's the duration of the contract with Paul's family to teach Eris. After that, her family will pay for your tuition and Sylphie's to Ranoa University of Magic."
"Okay."
Biting her lip, Zenith quietly said, "Rudy, we were worried for Sylphie. We've all seen what happens with girls who latch onto someone like she has. They're… little better than dolls, really. Just parroting whatever the person they've latched onto says. They can't think for themselves."
"So the obvious solution is to take away her only friend. The only person her age who didn't bully her because of something stupid. The person who found her, helped build her back up, taught her magic, and was there for her when she needed someone—and who didn't leave her by choice." Zenith winced at every point. "Yeah. Good call. And thanks for telling that idiot about Roxy. Now he thinks I'm a philanderer like him, or will eventually be, because I'm his son."
"But, I, that is—"
"I told you something in confidence and you didn't keep it in confidence." Shaking my head, I decided to leave it at that. She'd beat herself up about it enough. I didn't need to hammer the point home like I did with Paul to get it through his stupidly thick head. I'd forgive her eventually and we'd move on, but at the moment… I wanted her to suffer, just a little bit. She broke my trust and I felt it was warranted. If you didn't face consequences for your mistakes, you didn't truly learn from them.
No, it wasn't even that she told Paul about Roxy. If that was all it was, I would have shrugged it off. Before the girls were born, I wouldn't have cared. Paul would have laughed it off. Zenith had initially laughed it off—had teased me about it, in fact. But Paul made a mountain out of a molehill because of his own fuckup with Lilia and now, it seemed like he was pushing his guilt onto me. It was a 'straw that broke the camel's back' situation.
Maybe I'm being unfair to her. Again.
I turned and asked Lilia, "Did you have a hand in this idiocy?"
The redhead held my gaze as she shook her head. "I did not. I suggested that you go to Roa to teach Ms. Eris, but that you exchange letters and visit occasionally. I also advised Zenith against speaking to Paul about Ms. Roxy."
"Well, at least someone has their head on straight. Try not to let the place fall apart while I'm gone? Maybe talk me up to my sisters?" I asked, earning a small smile and a nod from the woman. Feeling a bit impulsive, I stepped forward and hugged her. I was a bit surprised when she returned it. It was nice. Lilia was soft, warm, and smelled nice.
"Right. See you in a few years, then," I said, leaving the house without a backwards glance.
I heard Zenith's breath hitch, before she called out, "Rudy! Wait!"
She hurriedly caught up to me and dragged me into a hug of her own, apparently having passed Norn to Lilia. "I'm sorry! I really, really am! I don't want us to part on bad terms, please? I feel like if we do…"
The woman fell silent and I heaved a tired sigh. It sucked, but I decided to be the bigger man here. "I understand why you did it, but I don't agree with it. It's not even telling him about Roxy that I'm mad at, it's the fact that it's lead to this, because he feels guilty about you and Lilia and thinks I'm just like him."
Zenith's hands clenched me harder, but I managed to turn around in her grip and return the hug. "We're your parents. We're just trying to look out for you, and Sylphie too."
I bit back the retort I wanted to make—that it was just a justification, an excuse. Then, I forced down the second, third, and fourth: that it was hypocritical given the circumstances, that I wished people would stop seeing me as my father in this world (a man who was younger than me, need I remind you) and judging me by his mistakes (my mistakes would be entirely my own, not his repeated), or that so far I had a better track record for looking out for myself.
Alright, that's enough. Get it together. …If this is how my child brain reacts to adult emotions, just think of how fun puberty is going to be!
"I love you and that won't change. Give me time, I'll get over it. And," it felt like pulling teeth to force myself to say it, "thank my idiot father for getting me the job. Even if he did everything else wrong, at least there's that."
Zenith allowed me to pull away when I pushed at her shoulders. Lilia stepped up and produced a letter. "I believe Paul intended you to have this when you left."
"Thanks, Lilia." I stuffed it in my bag and made my way over to Ghislaine, after checking myself and my bag over to make sure I had everything I wanted before I left. "We ready?"
"Yes," the woman agreed.
"Let's get going, then."
I stopped just long enough to look down on Paul, who looked to finally be recovering. "Look forward to our rematch in five years, father. If you don't make sure Sylphie is okay, or if you fail in your duties as a father to my sisters…"
Paul chuckled, his voice sounding a bit rough as he did. "I'm going to get you back for this Rudy."
"You can't 'get me back' for being forced to take a punishment for your own actions. Try growing up a bit, between then and now. The girls need someone they can look up to. Not this… impulsive idiot who just does whatever he wants without thought to the consequences or regard for anyone else." Reaching out, I patted him on the shoulder and cast healing. "I love you father, but you really need to do better."
I left Paul with that to think on. Turning to Laws and Sylphie, I winced. This is going to be rough.
"Sylphie, I have to go now," I called to the girl.
With surprising strength, she tore herself from her father's arms and latched onto me again. "Hey, shh, it's okay," I petted her hair and rubbed her back as I held her. "It's only for five years." Leaning in, I whispered directly into her ear where only she could hear. "I'll try to visit if I can."
Eventually, I managed to disentangle myself from the weepy girl and Ghislaine and I were on our way.
We hopped into the carriage and at a word from Ghislaine, it pulled away for the village. I opened the letter and read. I made it roughly a quarter of the way in before Ghislaine asked, "What does it say?"
"I'll let you read it when I'm done," I offered.
Ghislaine was quiet for a few moments before she admitted, "I can't read."
Not terribly surprising, I admitted to myself. Public schooling wasn't a thing here and you didn't need to be literate to swing a sword. "It says, 'To my dear son, Rudeus. By the time you see this letter, I will probably not be in this world any more—'"
Ghislaine turned and shot an annoyed look towards the home we were leaving behind from a slit in the door at the rear of the carriage that passed as a window. "He won't be for much longer, given the way Zenith and that other woman are yelling at him." She chuckled, "I can't believe he got his harem."
"I know, right? Somehow, he keeps lucking out. I suppose Lilia is partly my own fault, but I wouldn't trade her or Aisha for the alternative. And he probably talked Zenith into this idiocy against her better judgment. She had a hand in it herself, but this smacks of Paul's doing. Serves him right," I shrugged. I looked up and sent Ghislaine an apologetic look. "Not to say that I think training under you is a bad idea."
Ghislaine shook her head. "No need to apologize. Paul has always been an impulsive idiot."
I read the rest of it out loud. It pretty much said what Zenith had told me, with a few more details. For instance, I was to have pay of two Asuran silver coins a month as living expenses—but considering that everything I would actually need was paid for by my employer, it would be more like an allowance. Maybe I can talk to my future boss and get a raise.
"'P.S., if the young lady says it's okay, you can lay your hands on her, but the muscle-brain is my woman, so don't touch her.'"
"Send that letter to Zenith."
I sent Ghislaine an amused look. "I like the way you think. We can pay someone in the village to run it back to her. Uncle would be happy to do it, he loves shit stirring." Humming quietly, I added, "You know what would really piss him off?"
"What?" Ghislaine asked, looking somewhat intrigued by the idea.
"Knowing we slept together." The woman raised an eyebrow at that, but I noticed that she didn't immediately shoot the idea down. Maybe she was flattered, or maybe she got that kind of pass all the time. Probably the second, really. Alternately, well… I was Paul's son in her mind, so that sort of thing may have been expected.
Smirking, I looked away as I divulged my thoughts on petty revenge, "We wouldn't even have to do anything. Just… imply. I'll send letters back home with the lessons for Sylphie. I can give them updates on my job and my training. And in those letters, use innuendo—"
"What's that?"
"An insinuation or veiled hint. In this case, I mean sexual innuendo. Double entendres. Sorry. Words and phrases with two meanings. One meaning is perfectly innocent, the other lewd. For instance," I cleared my throat. "Dear mother and father. Hope you're well. Blah, blah, blah. You get the idea. Ahem. My training with Ghislaine is going well, but she works me tirelessly, day and night."
Ghislaine hummed quietly. "I don't see how that's lewd. I do plan to work you tirelessly when we train."
"Good. Maybe you can figure out what Paul was doing wrong. Anyway, it doesn't need to be lewd right at the beginning. But a line like that plants the seed for later. Like, 'I lost my grip on my sword today, but Ghislaine took it in hand and showed me how to really handle it.'" She made a confused face, so I pointed to my crotch. "Sword," then I made a jerking off motion, "in hand. You'll show me how to handle my sword, right Ghislaine?"
"Oh. Oh! I see." Ghislaine nodded, a smile crossing her lips. "Yes, I like that."
"Or, 'After practice, Ghislaine felt that I hadn't been properly caring for my weapon, so she spent the entire night polishing my sword.'" This time, jerking towards my mouth and poking my tongue in my cheek. "Seriously, you're a sword master and you've never heard those horrible jokes? How?"
As Ghislaine laughed, I decided I liked her. She seemed pretty straightforward so far, so I'd give her a chance and a pass for the attempted attack—she had only been acting on Paul's call for help, after all.
"How about, 'I lost my favorite sheath, but Ghislaine has one that fits my sword perfectly?'"
Going to need my mountain climbing gear for that, though. God damn she is tall.
By carriage, it was about a six or seven hour ride from Buena village to the city of Roa. On the way, I interrogated Ghislaine about my new charge and her family. According to Ghislaine, Eris was a very energetic but equally stubborn girl with a good heart but a quick temper, just like her grandfather. Their family had hired her at the lowest point in her life and she had served them faithfully since.
Roa itself was fairly large, by medieval standards, and was surrounded by thick walls that looked at least twenty feet tall. Looking past the gates, there appeared to be stands, hawkers, and all manner of people in various forms of ye olde tymie dress walking around. It looked like either a classic fantasy city or ren faire came early.
"Hey Ghislaine, can you tell me what everything is?" I asked as we passed by what looked like some sort of waiting or staging area where people stood gathered with luggage. It looked like a bus stop, so my guess was it was the stop for the carriages.
I listened and paid attention as my soon-to-be teacher pointed out the various shops—blacksmith, tailor, weapon shop, inn, bar, trade association, brothel, general goods store, adventurer supply store. It was all nice, and I really wanted to have a look around for myself, but the smell. Body odor, shit, piss, people, animals…
Gag a maggot this is nasty, I grumbled internally, using a wind spell to try and filter most of the stink away from our carriage. Ghislaine perked up immediately as the smell stopped trying to beat us down.
The carriage brought us through the city towards the center, our surroundings getting clearly higher class the further in we went. "Where exactly are we going?"
"There," the beast-kin woman pointed to a castle in the center of the town. "The lord's mansion."
"That's not a mansion, it's a castle." Frowning, I asked, "So, can you give me some pointers? I've never dealt with nobility. How should I greet these people? How should I act, besides 'polite?'"
Eventually, we pulled up to the 'mansion' and were escorted into what I'd guess was a receiving room for greeting guests. Taking a seat on one of the two sofas, I waited as Ghislaine took up a perch against the wall in a corner of the room.
"The young master will be here shortly. Please wait just a moment," the butler informed me, pouring me a cup of tea from a set that had been out when we arrived—likely prepared as we rolled through the gates.
I sipped at the likely expensive red tea and waited patiently. It was alright, but I would never be much of a 'tea' guy.
Studying the butler idly, I hid my frown at what I saw. He looks like the Fat Bastard character from an NTR manga or something.
"Where is he?! Is he here?" a loud voice yelled from nearby, what sounded like the hall leading to the room. I heard a set of footsteps stomp up to the receiving room before an older man threw the door open and stormed in, distracting me from my thoughts of wondering if the butler was cucking the head of house. He looked to be in his 50s, with a bit of white in his dark brown hair, a beard and pointed mustache, and an athletic build.
Putting the cup down, I stood and bowed my head with a hand over my heart as Ghislaine had instructed. "I am Rudeus Greyrat. Pleased to meet you."
The old man looked me up and down before snorting softly. "Barely passable. I'll allow you to stay."
And with that, he turned and stormed off as quickly as he had come. Utterly confused, I turned to the butler. "What just happened? Who was he?"
"That is the old master, Sauros Boreas Greyrat, the Lord of Fittoa and master Paul's uncle."
Gesturing at the door, I asked, "Is that… normal?"
"Quite."
I resisted the urge to facepalm. It turned out to be a good call because not a moment later, a second man entered the room. "Thomas, why is the door open? Is something wrong? Father looked happy. Did something happen?" The newcomer was a slender man with light brown hair.
The butler bowed to the newcomer. "I apologize, young master. The old master just met young Rudeus and seemed pleased with him."
That was pleased? He was completely dismissive. Shaking that off, I quickly introduced myself in the same way I had to Sauros.
"I am Phillip Boreas Greyrat. Please, sit." Phillip took his own seat on the couch across from mine and I followed his example. "How much do you know of the situation?"
I shrugged. "Not much. Just that I'm to teach the young lady for five years and that in return, you'll be paying for two sets of tuition to Ranoa Academy, plus salary while I'm here."
"Is that all?" he asked, and I nodded in answer. "I see. Typical of Paul." Considering me for a moment, he asked, "Do you like girls?"
I clamped down on the impulse to give my first answer of, Only if they're cute. This man knew Paul—was his cousin in fact. Eris was his daughter. Two plus two…
"I do, but I already have someone I'm interested in pursuing. And even if I didn't, I'm not my father, sir. I'd like to think I have enough self-control to not go chasing the skirt of every pretty thing that crosses my path. Especially a prospective student."
Chuckling, the 'young master' nodded. "Then you pass."
That said, he broke down the details of the job itself. I had complete autonomy over Eris' education, so long as she came out of it literate and capable of doing math to a sufficient level and my lessons didn't interfere with those of her other instructors: Ghislaine and her etiquette tutor Edena, whom I would be introduced to later. He also confirmed what the letter said, both about my pay and my 'allowance.'
"What about weekends?"
"Hm?" Phillip asked, raising an eyebrow. "'Week end?' What's that?"
I frowned, realizing this may be a concept they didn't have. In fact, pretty sure the idea of days off didn't really become a thing until laborers' rights did.
"Half a fortnight is a week. Every sixth and seventh day is a weekend," I explained. "I'll speak to Ghislaine and Edena about it. According to my former master, generally students do better when they have a day or two every week of free time to relax, free from schoolwork. It also gives her instructors free time to pursue their own goals, or take care of errands. Would this be a problem?"
Stroking his chin, the man shook his head. "No, I don't believe so. Of course, that's assuming you last that long. Five people have been sacked before you."
"Ghislaine told me she has a very… forceful personality."
Phillip chuckled. "That's a very polite way of saying that my daughter is a brute. Unfortunately, it is correct. She takes after my father in that way. Hard headed, quick to anger, and quicker to violence. To date, none of her instructors has lasted more than a month, aside from Ghislaine."
Ghislaine hadn't exactly been cagey with the details, but I wanted to hear it from his own mouth. If his daughter was a thug and he knew about it, I wanted to see just how far I could push to fix her attitude problem. "Are we talking about verbal abuse, physical…?"
"Both," Phillip sighed. "She assaulted one tutor in his sleep with a practice sword."
"And do I have permission to defend myself?" I asked, before clarifying, "Non-lethally and with no lasting physical damage, of course."
The man smirked faintly. "If you think you can."
I held out a hand and conjured up a sphere of water. Silently, of course. Phillip's eyes widened slightly. "Pretty sure I can." I dismissed the Water Ball and shook my head. "But I'd rather not be the one she's focusing her anger on. I'd rather be her friend and someone she respects, who she'll actually pay attention to. I'm not going to let her walk all over me like a doormat, but I want as little in the way of physical confrontation with her as possible. So, to that end, do you have any ideas for breaking her out of this mindset that anything other than swinging a sword is useless?"
Ghislaine had made it clear that that was how Eris felt, from the girl's own mouth. When asked why she didn't want to learn, Eris had apparently said something along the lines of, 'What do letters and numbers matter when I can just swing a sword or get someone else to do it?'
"If I knew that, I would have done it already," the man grumbled, frustration clear in his voice.
"Too bad we can't just scare her straight," I muttered as I thought over the problem. I could always try my hand at tsundere taming…
"What was that?"
"Hm?" I asked, looking up towards Phillip. "Tsundere taming?"
The man looked confused. "Sun de re what? No! The other thing. Scaring her straight?"
I shrugged. It was a pretty common tactic in media on Earth. Some people actually tried it sometimes, and it tended to work—at least, in general. Depending on the level of 'scare' versus the perceived potential benefit of whatever stupid thing kids wanted to do.
It didn't always work, but sometimes it did. Mostly, it didn't work around the time I 'left' Earth because media started glorifying most of those things. And if kids think something is cool or will get them what they want, they're going to do it no matter the risk. Luckily, that didn't apply here.
The idea actually came to me from a conversation I'd had with one of my brothers, a few years back, when he was having problems with my niece. The 'brother' in question wasn't actually related and the plan involved staging a kidnapping using my brother by blood to do the job. At the time, it had just been frustrated 'what if's to vent about getting her under control. It would have been entirely too risky in our modern world, with its cell phones, cameras everywhere, police, and advanced forensics analysis. Not to mention, it was a well known 'fact' that most incidents of sexual assault and/or kidnapping were committed by someone the victim knew—whether it was true or not, the first suspects were always the immediate family and branching out from there.
Here though, where there were none of those things…
"Stage a kidnapping or something. Have a couple of big guys, members of your staff that she isn't likely to know, kidnap her, tie her up, and leave her sitting in a basement or something for a day or two in the next town over." Frowning, I shook my head. "Couldn't send her in alone and Ghislaine wouldn't be believable. It'd pretty much need to be me, because we'd be using it as an excuse to demonstrate that reading and math are essential skills. Reading directions to get back to town. Managing money to buy food and a ride back. The problem is, there are a lot of moving parts."
"Moving parts?"
Nodding, I explained. "Points of failure. For instance, what if it doesn't work? The plan hinges on a stubborn, willful, angry little girl feeling scared enough to change her entire outlook on life, in order to make her take the initiative to learn. Or, what if she finds out? She'd never trust any of us again. Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead. Or what if some well-meaning town guard or citizen sees something and we have trouble?" Sighing, I shook my head. "No, too risky. I'll try just talking to her first. Maybe I can convince her without the need for extremes. Or…" An idea occurred that might let me kill two birds with one stone. "Question. What's required for a mage to officially advance in rank?"
Ghislaine fielded that one. Unsurprising, given that she had been in an adventurer party with mages. "Someone knowledgeable has to witness the person advancing cast a higher level spell and acknowledge it. Typically a mage, but others could do in a pinch."
"Why do you ask?" Phillip wondered.
I grinned. "So, my pay scale. It's based on me being a Saint-level mage, right?" Phillip nodded. "And Ghislaine's pay is based on being a King-level swordswoman." Another nod. "My pay would go up if my rank were acknowledged to be higher, wouldn't it?"
"Naturally," Phillip agreed easily. "Would you like to do so?"
"Yeah. I'm thinking we can ride a couple of hours out of town and I can demonstrate a few King-level spells. We'll take Eris along, wave the bait that is ridiculously powerful magic in front of her, and see if she bites. If she does, I promise to teach her… but only if she attends regular studies."
Phillip hummed quietly to himself before nodding. "That sounds good. We can try it tomorrow. Now, as to the proposed kidnapping… Is that something Paul taught you, to get girls eating out of your palm?"
Sending the man an incredulous look, I asked, "What kind of man do you take my father for? He's a womanizer and a cheater, sure, but Paul is an idiot. The man can barely plan an hour ahead and you expect him to mastermind some kind of kidnapping and benevolent grooming scheme?" Turning to Ghislaine, I asked, "Back me up on this?"
The beast-kin woman nodded. "It's true. It's not Paul's way. He's much more likely to just use his fists. His idea of fixing a problem is to hit it with his sword until it stops being a problem." A faint smirk pulled at one corner of her mouth as her eyes cut to me. "Not that it always works, any more."
Phillip raised an eyebrow. "I think I'd like to hear that story some time." He shook his head and added, "Judging from Paul's letter, you were playing around too much with that girl in your village and he had to force you to leave. I thought it was a joke, but listening to your plan just now, do I have to worry about you seducing my daughter?"
I began counting off points on my fingers. "Firstly, Sylphie and I are just friends." For now. And I'll definitely be breaking Paul's ban on visiting.
"Secondly, the person I'm pursuing is my old master, Roxy Migurdia. Thirdly, your daughter is nine. Not interested." Doesn't mean I can't be later. …That doesn't mean they were right and Paul rubbed off on me.
"Fourthly, again, my father is an idiot who, to be frank, thinks with his pecker. I'm pretty sure he only suspects that's what I was doing because it's what he would do, if he had the brains."
Now, to be fair to both Paul and Laws, they weren't entirelywrong.
Some of the lessons I taught definitely contained things that would send certain people or groups from Earth into screeching fits. Things like the symptoms, effects, causes, and methods of transmission of certain diseases (that detoxification magic would cure, but that wasn't available cheaply to most people in this world unless they happened to have a friendly mage living in their village willing to do it on the cheap and keep his mouth shut about it). Or how it was very difficult (almost impossible) for a woman (who wasn't a mage or a swordswoman, who could name her own price) to raise a child alone in this world, with its complete lack of governmental support (read: government replacing the husband as provider) to single mothers—to the point that, in most cases, those women tended to become prostitutes.
I may also have used a couple of the village kids to point out how easy it was sometimes to spot when a woman has had an affair. Kids such as Somer, and how he looked nothing like his daddy but a lot like the blacksmith. That one of those kids shared a few of my facial features, I passed off as a coincidence, because there's no way Paul was so stupid as to shit where he ate. At least, not more than once. I might have even put a bug in her ear about how nice having a sister would be—innocent enough, given that I'd just acquired two of my own, but in the right context and combined with the fact that she adored and missed Roxy who had for a time fallen into the elder sister role so easily, and all the time Roxy and I spent flirting around her once we became intimate…
Perhaps on the gray side of moral ambiguity, but not what I was accused of. I had no intention of abusing her sexually, abandoning her, or otherwise hurting her. So no, not grooming at all.
Wife husbandry, on the other hand? I'll plead the fifth.
…Okay, look. I taught her things I felt she needed to know, regardless of whether we went the harem route or not. That those things were beneficial to me later left me feeling a bit guilty and conflicted about it, but it was better that she be aware of it than not.
"Hmm." The young master spent several moments considering me before he finally nodded. "Fine. We won't get anything done just talking. Thomas, bring her in."
Within a few minutes, the door to the room burst open and in stomped a little redheaded terror, without the butler. Eris Boreas Greyrat was small of stature (while still being taller than me, damnit), with wave-like crimson red hair, and a violent aura that made her look like a delinquent. Seriously, look at those angry eyes and eyebrows. This girl's either got the worst case of RBF in the world, or that's just who she is.
She stood with her legs spread, arms crossed over her chest, head tilted back to look down her nose at me, and a defiant glare on her face. Shana! Or a reasonable facsimile. Tiny, redhead, intense. Yeah, she's setting off my tsundere radar. Even using one of their standard poses…
Standing, I bowed the way I had been shown. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Rudeus Greyrat."
Eris 'hmph!'d the same way her grandfather had, before turning her glare on her father. "Is this a joke?! He's younger than me and he's supposed to be my teacher?"
Frowning, I fielded the question myself. "It has less to do with age and more to do with knowledge, which I have and you lack."
"What was that? Are you arguing with me?!" the harpy screeched.
My eye twitched as I fought off a flinch. "Inside voice, please."
Impossibly, her volume knob went higher. "WHAT?!"
"And I'm not arguing. I'm pointing out simple facts. As you've stated, I'm two years your junior. And yet, I can read, write, and do complex mathematics in my head. You're nine and you still haven't managed to learn something as simple as reading the price of a loaf of bread or counting how much change a peddler owes you."
Was I being a bit confrontational? Yeah. More than a bit, actually. I was provoking her intentionally. I needed to know how fast she would go off and how bad it would get. More than that, I needed to establish dominance and for that, I needed an excuse to self-defense her into the ground. Attacking my charge would look bad, both to my employer and the student in question. If I attacked first, it would be a sign of weakness in her mind. Defending myself against her, on the other hand? She wouldn't be able to make an argument against it.
Never let the tsundere smell fear or weakness, otherwise she'll walk all over you. Such is the way of the doormat protagonist. And Eris was firmly stuck in tsun. If I ever wanted to see the light of dere, I'd have to start now and not back down.
The girl's eyes narrowed and she closed the distance between us. Two steps in, she raised her hand, fist balled up, and reached for the back forty. It was a punch that was beyond telegraphed. "You're too arrogant!"
Instinct took over at that point and I can't be blamed for my actions. Honest.
I reinforced my body with mana and stepped into it, shifting left at the same time I brought up my right hand, grabbing her wrist and pulling the haymaker even further in its left to right (right to left from her perspective) arc and setting her off balance. A left-to-right twist of my hips, shift in my weight, and change in stance turned her own momentum against her. Eris flipped beautifully, before slamming down on the ground, landing on her back with an explosive force that knocked the breath from her lungs. I used my grip on her wrist and her temporarily stunned state to roll her over onto her belly, then put my knee in the middle of her back and torqued her arm up behind her back.
Martial arts: 1. Violent tsundere: 0.
Beating up a child, even if she is physically larger and likely stronger without using magic as a lever. Don't get a big head, I chastised myself.
Looking up, I met Ghislaine's eyes, sending her an inquisitive look as she looked on in a mixture of amusement and curiosity. "She doesn't actually know how to throw a punch, does she? I mean the right way, not some haymaker that anyone with the least bit of training could turn against her."
Looking a bit sheepish, Ghislaine admitted, "We've been focused on sword combat. I didn't see a need for it at this time."
"What happens if she loses her sword?" It seemed like an obvious question.
Ghislaine frowned, before nodding. "Eris," she called, and the girl below me stopped her thrashing. "We'll begin unarmed training tomorrow."
"Fine," the girl muttered, before turning her head enough to glare at me from the corner of her eye. "Get off me!"
"If I do, will you promise not to attack me again?" I asked, not really expecting a positive answer.
The girl remained silent, so I torqued her arm a little higher. She clenched her jaw shut around a whine. So, I grabbed her wrist and started hyper-extending it down. The whine increased in pitch before she finally shrieked, "FINE!"
Looking up, I met Phillip's eye, raising an eyebrow. The man made a 'go ahead' gesture. "If you break your promise, I'm going to take you outside and bury you up to your neck in the ground until you settle down. Do you understand?"
"Whatever," the girl grumbled.
I released her arm and got off of her. Eris immediately shot to her feet, rolling her arm in her socket and rubbing at her wrist. Turning, she pointed at me, glare in full force. "Do you have any idea who I am?!"
I stared at her for a moment, trying my best to impart just how stupid a question I thought that was. "I do. Do you have any idea how little I care whose crotch fruit you are? I don't care if we're distantly related, I'm not going to let you just hit me whenever you feel like it. I'm a teacher, not a doormat."
"Crotch— Crotch fruit?!" the girl went red in the face, disgust warring with anger. "I'll kill you!"
Eris went back to the well for a second wind up punch. I blew her off her feet with a silent Water Ball, sending her to the ground soaked.
Rolling to her feet, Eris paused only momentarily when she saw another Water Ball in my hand. "Rule one: there is no such thing as a fair fight."
"Ahh!"
The girl screamed, charging like a rabid animal. I loosed the spell. Water exploded outwards as it hit her center mass and took Eris off her feet again. I followed up with a Wind Gust, sending her rolling out of the room. "Be right back," I called to Phillip, who wore a look of amusement. Ghislaine, I noticed, followed close on my heels as I pursued Eris.
The redhead in question came to a stop and got to her feet. She looked ready to charge again, so I sent her packing with another Wind Gust. Moving ahead quickly with Air Running, I smacked her towards the front door of the mansion with another Wind Gust. Air Running allowed me to get ahead of her and open the door, and she spilled out onto the brick path leading up to the mansion. A final Wind Gust sent her rolling off into the grass of the lawn around the manor. "Stop it!"
"Nope."
Landing beside her, I waited for her to get to her feet and take the bait. I turned the ground directly ahead of me into a quagmire, two square feet wide and about a foot off from her height, with an inch of solid ground over it. Eris predictably bit and charged again, only to fall in with a wet splat! that left her buried up to her neck. With the girl partially submerged, I yanked the moisture out of the ground and quick dried it, dispelling the quagmire back into particularly dry and hard earth. Annoying to get out of, but not impossible.
Squatting down in front of the suddenly quiet girl, I smiled. "Eris, I'm not like your other teachers. I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid of your father or your grandfather. The only thing I'm afraid of is failing in my task to educate you—because if I do, that means that I'm going to be leaving one girl disadvantaged for the rest of her life and another girl heartbroken. If you attack me, I have permission to defend myself and as you've just seen, I can do exactly that. Isn't that right, Ghislaine?"
At my call, the woman walked into Eris's field of view, drawing the girl's glare. "It's true. Your father gave Rudeus permission to educate you as he saw fit and to retaliate if you attacked him. I'll make sure he doesn't go overboard, but so far nothing I've seen wouldn't be in a typical sparring match with a mage. Speaking of, Rudeus?" she asked, and I looked away from Eris enough to throw her a questioning look. "I wish to spar against you with only spells against my blade later. I want to see what you did to Paul."
I hesitated. "No," I drew the word out. "I'm still working out the kinks in that spell and I don't want to hurt you. Maybe a lower level version of it, so you can get a feel for it?"
The woman nodded. "If you don't think it's safe," she lead, and I shook my head, "that's fine then. I'll trust your judgment of your own magic. I would still like to spar with other spells."
"Sure then. Sounds fun," I agreed easily, before turning my attention back to Eris. Flicking her in the forehead, I made sure she was focused on me. "I suppose it's my own fault for not properly introducing myself." I mockingly bowed. "Water-Saint Mage Rudeus Greyrat, at your service. Officially. Unofficially, I can cast in every element at King-level—I've just never had another mage around to prove it and don't really care to advertise that fact." If it came down to it, I'd rather be underestimated than estimated accurately and accounted for.
But then, I was going to be changing that come tomorrow… Maybe I just won't advertise. I'm only using it in this case to get more pay and to show Eris what magic can do, as a bribe to make her focus on her classes with me.
I fell silent, considering the girl for a moment, before I sighed. "Eris, I want to help you. I don't want us to be adversaries or enemies. In fact, I'd really rather be your friend. But I can't help you if you don't let me. And believe me, you need help."
"I don't," the girl grumbled.
"Obviously you do," I countered. "Fists and the sword aren't going to get you everywhere in life. They aren't going to open every door. They aren't going to make many friends, especially when you're using them against people who would otherwise be inclined to help you. And they aren't going to dig you out of this hole—whereas if you knew magic…" Chuckling quietly, I asked, "You know who you remind me of?"
"Who?" came the sullen reply.
"My father. Ask Ghislaine, he's an idiot." I caught the woman nodding from the corner of my eye. "A real 'think with your fists' type. Want to know how that worked out for him?" She looked away, but it wasn't an outright 'no.'
"Dear old dad nearly broke up our family by not thinking with the right head. He put a baby in our maid. It was only because I talked mom out of it that she didn't send Lilia off in the middle of winter with her newborn, then put her boot in Paul's ass and send him packing. Today, instead of trying to talk things out like an adult when he wanted to send me off to teach you without giving me time to prepare my other student, he decided it'd be a good idea to use his fists. It turned out about as well for him as this did for you. And it could have all been avoided if the two of you had just acted like rational, civilized people instead of muscle-heads. Now, I'm going to leave you here to think on that for a while—"
"Don't you dare."
There was some fire to her tone as she fixed me with another glare. I shook my head. "I will, because I said I would and I want you to know that if I tell you something I'm serious about it. I promised I would bury you if you attacked me, and I did. I promise I will leave you here, and I will. I don't make empty promises. And you, little lady, desperately need a lesson in humility that your daddy never gave you. So for the rest of this afternoon, I'm going to hit you where it'll hurt the worst—your pride. Because I want you to be better and you can't be if your head is wedged firmly up your ass."
"What if I get thirsty?!"
"That's simple." I smiled, before tapping the ground in front of her where I formed a stone depression. Then, I filled it with water. "You tried to bite first. You came at me like a rabid dog instead of a young lady. Ladies drink out of glasses, dogs drink out of a doggie bowl." Eris growled and my smile widened. "Proving. My. Point."
The growl cut out and her nostrils flared as she huffed in air. "What if I have to go to the bathroom?"
"You should have considered that before attacking an unknown," I shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to hold it. Or let it go in your dress. Now, I'll be back for you in a little bit for our lesson. If you apologize, I'll dig you out at supper time, then you can go and get cleaned up and eat at the table like a lady. If you don't apologize, guess what happens."
Eris rolled her eyes. "You leave me here all night?"
"Yup. And what do dogs eat from?" I asked. The girl's expression shifted from petulant to outraged as her eyes widened. Just to drive the point home, I created a second bowl beside the first. "That's right. A bowl. On the ground. I'll be nearby, so don't bother asking the servants to get you out. If you try it, I'll just re-bury you."
Standing, I turned towards the mansion. I made it a few yards before a thought occurred. Snapping my fingers, I turned around and called, "Oh, and one more thing! If you try to attack me in the middle of the night, I'm going to strip you naked and string you up outside for everyone to see. Think on that while I go talk to your dad. I'll be back in a few and we can get started on our first lesson."
As we made our way into the mansion, Ghislaine asked, "Would you really?"
"Really what?"
"Leave her exposed," the woman clarified.
I sent her a smile. "You bet your beautiful ass. I get the feeling that Eris is the kind of girl you can't back down from. If you do, she'll take it as a sign of weakness. I've given her a warning and if I don't follow through, nothing I say in the future will ever carry weight for her. Now, I'm not a pervert or anything and I'm not heartless. I'll do it in the back yard or something, where passers by can't see from the street. I'll just make sure the house is in view so she feels like everyone is looking."
"You're despicable."
I shrugged. "Maybe. Sometimes, you have to break someone down to build them back up. Speaking of," I pushed open the door to the study, where I found Phillip waiting.
"Well?"
"She's in time out."
The man looked confused and Ghislaine explained, "Buried up to her neck in the ground. She's fine. Only thing hurt is her pride."
"Which needs to take a beating, at this point. In fact, it needs to be razed to the ground from the mountain it's become," I grunted, dropping into the seat across from him.
I thought on the matter for a few moments, weighing my options in silence. Finally, I asked, "Remember how I said the kidnapping plan was a horrible idea?" Phillip nodded. "Yeah, it's still a horrible idea but I take back saying we shouldn't do it. If the demonstration tomorrow doesn't work… it's back on the table. This? Showing her I'm stronger than her and forcing her to do what I want? It's only a temporary solution, and not a great one. She may be wary of me, might even respect that I'm a fairly powerful mage—or at least stronger than her. But I don't think she's going to put any effort into learning. No more than the bare minimum required to keep me from punishing her. It's a poor way to teach a student. She has to want it for herself. I'm hoping she takes the carrot of learning magic, but if she doesn't, then I'd rather we have the stick on hand."
"I'll see that it's done and let you know when we're ready."
I nodded. "Okay then. We'll get that one spun up and ready, but I'd rather keep it as a last resort. It's a stupid plan and I don't like it. So, I need you to tell me exactly what has been tried with her up to now by all of her previous teachers. I need to know what worked, even for a little while, and what didn't work at all. Anything you can give me will be a big help. We can come up with a few things to try without resorting to the idiot plan."
"Very well. Then let us begin with the first tutor…"
Ghislaine suppressed a yawn as Rudeus and Phillip talked. She occasionally offered a comment when prompted or asked for her opinion, but otherwise she simply listened and observed. And as she did, she took a measure of her soon-to-be student and teacher.
Rudeus Greyrat was… a strange boy.
He was more mature than his age would lead one to believe, in his actions, words, and other ways. The boy had eyed her up the same way every man she met did—which was surprising, considering it was coming from a seven year old human child. His scent had told her he was somewhat aroused, but it faded quickly as they spoke on the ride to Roa. He cast the occasional glance at her ears and tail, but it was… strange. Not the looks she had grown accustomed to from Phillip, Sauros, or Hilda. It had the feel of simple curiosity, perhaps wonder at seeing something novel.
He was intelligent. Almost frighteningly so. Rudeus made her old teammate Geese look dull by comparison, and she had known him less than a day. He spoke like an adult, to the point that Ghislaine sometimes forgot she was speaking to a human child and started treating him more like an adult Hobbit.
He was powerful and he had magic the likes of which she had never seen before. He could cast silently, swiftly, multiple spells at the same time, and back to back with seemingly no need for any sort of rest. Given a few years… No, he beat Paul and evaded my surprise attack. And he did it all without a mage's focus. There was no need to prefix the statement. Rudeus would be an absolutely terrifying opponent if he put his mind to it, here and now. In a few years, he would likely become one of the world's top powers. Her lips pulled into a small smirk at the thought of future spars to come. It was going to be fun.
He was… so different from his father, and yet the two were so alike.
Paul used his fists or his cock to get what he wanted and had since she had known him. Rudeus used magic and apparently seduced his old teacher and potentially his student. Paul tried to knock Rudeus out to send him away, Rudeus responded by blasting Paul with magic and dictating terms to his father.
Paul couldn't plan more than a few steps ahead of whatever he needed at the moment—most of his 'plans' were improvised on the spot. Rudeus demonstrated an ability to plan ahead that spoke to someone playing the long game, but had shown he was capable of adapting to situations as they arose—as with his handling of Paul and Eris both.
She wondered how Rudeus would react, if he knew her thoughts on that. Probably not well. He doesn't hate his father, but it's clear that he's lost whatever faith and respect he had for Paul.
But just as she saw Paul in Rudeus, she saw Zenith in him too.
His smarts? Zenith.
Temperance? Zenith.
It was like he got the best of both of her former party members… and maybe some of the worst. Because Paul didn't have much 'best' to give that didn't involve his sword, or his 'sword.'
"Well, it's getting late. Why don't you go wash up and join us for dinner, Rudeus? And would you free my daughter so she could wash she dirt off and change clothes?" Phillip requested.
Rudeus nodded. "Sure. Where's the bathroom?"
Phillip called for Thomas and the butler escorted the boy away. A signal from Phillip had Ghislaine waiting instead of going to meet her charge. "Ghislaine, what's your assessment of Rudeus?"
The warrior woman hummed, crossing her arms under her breasts as she closed her eyes and thought on it. Summing up her thoughts, she came to an answer. "I think he'll be good for Eris."
"Oh? Please explain."
Nodding, Ghislaine elaborated. "Eris is stubborn. Rudeus seems to be more stubborn. She's violent, but he can counter her with magic. He seems to genuinely want to help her."
"You said something earlier. Did something happen with Paul?"
Ghislaine's lips twitched into a small smile. "Yes. Paul wanted to separate his son from Rudeus' student in Buena Village."
"That would be Sylphiette, the one Paul thinks he's been seducing?"
"Mm," Ghislaine confirmed. "They fought."
"Oh? I take it Rudeus lost—"
"No," she shook her head. "The battle was short. I wouldn't even call it a fight. Rudeus was clearly prepared. He trapped Paul in some sort of modified Quagmire spell nearly up to his neck, put distance between them, then used lightning to incapacitate Paul."
Phillip frowned. "Isn't lightning a King-level water spell? How is Buena Village still standing?"
"This wasn't King-level. At a guess, Intermediate. Some sort of bright flash and crack of thunder from the first spell, then a single bolt."
Blinking, the man stroked his chin. "You're telling me that Paul, an Advanced-level swordsman of the Water God, Sword God, and North God schools and admittedly a bit of a prodigy for all his faults, went down to a single spell?"
"Yes."
"From his own son. Who is Saint-level, possibly King-level at his age, depending on how tomorrow goes," Phillip murmured, growing thoughtful. Eventually, a terrible smile crossed his face. "Ghislaine, I believe you may be correct. Young Rudeus may just be a match for my Eris. Let's see what he does next. If he can actually convince her to focus on her studies…"
"You're thinking about your brother."
Phillip nodded, giving her a dismissive wave as he left the room.
Ghislaine sighed. Politics. I hate politics.
She almost felt sorry for Rudeus. You couldn't just swing a sword or throw a spell at politics. And if the boy proved himself to be what he claimed, there was no way he could avoid it now.
I should go find Eris. Make sure she hasn't gotten herself buried again. And wasn't that a convenient way to deal with a problem student?