Chapter 43: Roxy's Hometown (Patreon)

Inside the white spiritual world...

A pale silhouette walked on alone, taking slow, deliberate steps.

"Rudeus..."

"You really are a fascinating fellow."

"A traveler from another world..."

"Able to develop magic all on your own..."

"And from that, you uncovered the truth behind the Teleport Incident. Truly remarkable!"

"But you're the father of the one who sealed me."

"What a shame..."

"If not for that connection, I would have loved to bring you over to my side."

*

On the Demon Continent...

Night had fallen.

Rudy looked at the warm campfire crackling in front of him and slowly sat up.

He turned to glance beside him — Eris and Sylphiette lay there still, not yet stirring from their stupor.

As for Armored Dragon King Perugius — in this particular time loop, aside from knocking out one of his apostles, Rudy had had no contact with the man himself at all.

And since Perugius wasn't a factor this time around, Rudy could hide his true self all the more easily in front of everyone.

From then on, Rudy was careful not to say much that was beyond his supposed level — things like Emperor-rank mages, the vast sea of stars, or information carried by light. None of it came up. He simply played the part of a frail, easygoing human child.

Bringing Eris and Sylphiette along, he built a good rapport with Ruijerd.

Then, under the kind-hearted Ruijerd's guidance, the four of them made their slow way toward their home in the Asura Kingdom.

Before anyone quite realized it, five days had passed since they'd arrived on the Demon Continent.

As night approached, they finally — for the first time in days — came across a small village amid the desolate wilderness.

Since Ruijerd had some history with this village, after a brief exchange the village chief came walking slowly toward Rudy and the others, accompanied by some of the villagers.

"I'm the village chief. Lokes."

"Hello, I'm Rudeus."

"What a polite child. Where did you get that pendant you're wearing?"

"Oh, this?"

Rudy looked down and touched the pendant at his chest. "My master gave it to me," he said with a smile. "Her name is Roxy."

"What—?!"

Loin blurted out in shock, "That's... that's my daughter!"

Rudy smiled. "So this is my master's hometown after all. Hello, Uncle."

Loin blinked, caught off guard, then replied, "Uh... hello."

Chief Lokes smiled and waved them in. "Since you're Roxy's disciple, come on in and rest a while."

Rudy smiled. "Thank you so much."

Nodding, Chief Lokes led the group, walking at the front. As Rudy followed him into the village, seeing once more the place where Roxy had been born stirred something quiet within him.

Just then, Roxy's father, Loin, let out a soft sigh. "Speaking of Roxy... it's been twenty years since she left this place."

Rudy smiled. "Yeah, time really is a strange thing. It's already been five years since I graduated under my teacher — hard to believe."

Loin nodded and sighed. "Time really does fly... Let's see, the Migurd race lives to around two hundred years old. Roxy must be forty-four by now. So — is she really doing well?"

Facing Loin's earnest question, Rudy nodded with a smile. "Yes, Teacher Roxy is doing fine. She actually wrote to me just a few days ago — she's teaching in the Shirone Kingdom on the Central Continent right now."

"A few days ago?!"

Loin paused, puzzled. "Then... what about you?"

Rudy smiled. "We got caught up in a huge magical disaster, more or less by accident. Suddenly, we were teleported all the way from the distant Central Continent to the Demon Continent... Still, it's a rare stroke of fate. If not for that teleportation, I might never have come to the Demon Continent — to Teacher Roxy's hometown."

Loin nodded and sighed. "As long as Roxy's safe. And it's impressive you can still keep such good spirits — you all must have been through a lot."

Rudy smiled. "But we've really been lucky. We met a very kind man named Ruijerd — incredibly strong, too — and he decided to escort us home. Under his protection, we've actually been quite safe."

No one dislikes a bit of flattery. Ruijerd, who had always been shunned and left without friends, felt all the more pleased to hear Rudy's praise.

They followed the chief into a house. The village's homes weren't built from brick and tile — instead, they were simple structures made from the shells of turtle-like magical beasts, the innards hollowed out and the massive shells repurposed as crude dwellings.

Yet thanks to some special treatment, stepping inside brought hardly any of the pungent smell one might expect — in fact, there was even a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Rudy glanced at the wisps of white smoke curling up nearby and sniffed carefully — surprisingly, it smelled rather nice.

The chief smiled. "You can sleep here tonight. Food should be ready any moment now — come eat with us."

At that, everyone thanked the chief in turn.

They all sat down and, following the chief's lead, finished off a somewhat unpalatable bowl of soup and rice.

Worn out from the day, Sylphiette and Eris both slumped over and drifted off to sleep.

The chief glanced at the two girls sleeping so peacefully and smiled. "You three really do get along well, don't you?"

Rudy nodded, gently stroking the hair of the girls resting their heads on his lap. "That's right," he said with a smile. "These two are actually my future wives."

"Oh?"

The chief laughed in surprise. "Now that's impressive."

Rudy just chuckled softly at the chief's praise.

The chief nodded, then turned his gaze to Ruijerd. "I hear you're planning to see these three home to their homeland?"

Ruijerd nodded. "That's right."

The chief asked, "But have you considered that you can't set foot in any town?"

Ruijerd shook his head. "I'll keep close watch from a distance," he said seriously. "And if the worst really does happen, I won't hesitate to wipe out an entire town to get them out safely."

The chief turned his gaze to the fire and sighed. "You're still the same as ever — so fond of children. Once children are involved, you throw everything else to the wind. Do you really think doing this will get you the result you want? Getting people to change their utterly hostile view of the Superd tribe?"