Chapter 45: Justice League (Patreon)

At Rokari's words...

Eris and Sylphiette both felt a sudden ache tighten in their chests.

They bowed slightly, murmuring their farewells to Rokari.

Eris turned and walked straight out. "I'm going to go find Ruijerd and start my training."

"Wait—?!"

Sylphiette blinked, watching Eris's retreating back, then quickly rose to say her own goodbye to Rokari before hurrying out to practice her magic.

For a moment...

inside the turtle-shell house, only Rokari and Rudy remained.

"Thank you, Mother."

"Sleep now. No more talking."

"Don't worry, Mother. Roxy will come see you soon."

"Oh? What makes you so sure?"

"Because once she learns what's happened to me, she'll come rushing over without a doubt."

"My, my, so the two of you really do care for each other that much. Maybe I'll actually get to become your real mother someday."

"Yes, I'll do my best, Mother!!"

"Mm, I'll look forward to that day. It's rare to see Roxy fall for someone."

"Heh heh..."

"All right, get some more sleep. You'll all be leaving soon, won't you?"

"Yes, Mother. Thank you."

With those final words, Rudy drifted off to sleep in Rokari's arms.

This time, he didn't dream of anything at all.

He simply felt as though he were floating in a warm, endlessly comfortable sea. Everything about it was soothing.

Time slipped by slowly. Eventually a child has to rise from his mother's embrace and set off to meet a new journey.

After finishing breakfast, with Rokari seeing them off, Rudy and the others set out once more on the road home.

The Demon Continent was a barren place. And amid that barrenness, the animals and plants that managed to survive had all been shaped by their harsh environment into strange forms — many of them carrying deadly poison.

Fortunately, Rudy and his companions were more than capable. And with Eris and Sylphiette spurred on by what they'd seen, the two threw themselves into training, pushing their skills harder than ever.

So even though they couldn't always find good food, at least the meat they managed to choke down posed no real danger.

A few more days passed. After crossing the wasteland and scaling steep cliffs, the group finally reached the second settlement of intelligent creatures.

Rikarisu Town!!!

Passing through the narrow gap in the defensive walls, they found neat rows of earthen houses laid out with clear order, rising step by step along the mountainside.

At the very center, utterly out of place among the earthen houses, stood a far more extravagant, oddly-colored building of metal-like construction, held aloft in midair atop towering earthen pillars.

As they walked on, the group looked around with open curiosity at the demons living there.

This wasn't a settlement built by a single race, but a town formed from many different demon tribes gathered together. The intelligent beings filling its streets came in every conceivable shape and form.

Most were humanoid. A smaller number of demons were of stranger, more exotic types.

Of course, given that Ruijerd was despised by much of the world, Rudy had taken it upon himself to make a few adjustments to Ruijerd's appearance.

His somewhat aged face had been reworked into something younger and more handsome, and his hair had been shaved off entirely.

The overall look, in fact, was modeled after a certain bald hero he remembered from his past life — One-Punch Man.

As a result, far from being hated, Ruijerd instead caught the eye of several kind-hearted young ladies, which left him thoroughly flustered and fleeing for cover.

Watching this play out, Rudy, Eris, and Sylphiette couldn't hold back their snickering.

"I heard there's an adventurers' guild in this town."

"Yeah, and we could use some quests to earn money for the road ahead."

"So what should we name our team?"

"Hmm..."

Rudy lowered his head, thinking hard about a name for their group, while Eris and Sylphiette racked their own brains trying to come up with something.

Suddenly, a memory from his past life surfaced in Rudy's mind.

He turned to Eris and Sylphiette with a grin. "I think we should call our team the Justice League."

Eris tilted her head. "The Justice League? Why that name?"

Rudy grinned. "Because we're all on the side of justice."

"Emmm..."

Eris thought it over, then nodded. "That's exactly right!!!"

Sylphiette laughed. "Then it's settled — our team name is the Justice League."

Rudy grinned. "Yeah, I think it's a pretty great name."

Eris laughed. "It really does sound good, the Justice League."

Rudy turned to look at Ruijerd, who had stayed quiet the whole time.

He asked with a smile, "Mr. Ruijerd, what do you think of the name?"

Ruijerd nodded and smiled. "It'll do."

Rudy nodded, smiling. "Great, then it's decided."

And so, Rudy and his group made their way into the adventurers' guild.

The moment they stepped inside, a wave of mixed odors hit them. Countless demons crowded the room.

It was clear at a glance that the guild hall doubled as a tavern.

As Rudy and the others approached the counter, plenty of curious eyes turned their way.

Rudy, of course, paid the stares no mind at all.

Smiling at the counter, he addressed the long-eared, pretty Sannai. "Sis, we'd like to form a new adventuring team."

Sannai nodded and pulled out a few sheets of paper. As she began writing, she asked, "And what would you like to name your team?"

Rudy grinned. "The Justice League...!!!"