When I woke up, I was inside a dingy little warehouse.
Daylight leaked through a barred window.
My whole body ached, but I confirmed at least that no bones were broken before quietly casting healing magic.
My hands were bound behind my back, but that was nothing.
"Alright."
Full recovery.
Clothes were intact too.
Everything was going according to plan.
1. Head to a clothing shop in town with the young lady.
2. The young lady is a brat, so she insists on going outside the shop alone.
3. Normally Ghislaine, her bodyguard, follows along, but this time she "happened" to look away, and the young lady slips outside.
4. I follow, but I'm just a brat she recently punched in a fight. She doesn't care about me.
5. The young lady drags me along like a lackey, moving further and further toward the outskirts of town (apparently she admires adventurers).
6. There, a hired thug connected to the
And that brings us to now.
All I have to do now is use magic, knowledge, wit, and courage to execute a brilliant escape.
To make it feel more realistic, I'd need to improvise quite a bit.
The rough outline of what comes next: 8. Use magic to escape from this prison. 9. Figure out somehow that we're in a neighboring town. 10. Use the money hidden in my underwear to board a stagecoach. 11. Make it home, then lecture the young lady in a dignified manner.
...Is this going to work...
I'm nervous...
But something's a bit off from the plan.
This warehouse was covered in dust, and along the far wall there was a jumble of broken chairs and armor with holes punched through it.
I was told it'd be a nicer place, but...
Well, the deal was to play it straight so we wouldn't get found out, so I guess this works.
After a while, the young lady woke up.
She tried to bolt upright and realized her hands were tied behind her.
"What the hell is this?!"
She started making a racket.
"Don't screw around with me! Do you have any idea who I am?! Untie me right now!"
Her voice was unbelievably loud.
I'd noticed it back at the mansion too — she had zero concept of volume control.
Maybe in that absurdly enormous mansion, the idea was that her voice should carry from one end to the other...
Nah, she wasn't thinking about anything at all.
Her grandfather, Sauros, was the type who just shouted at the top of his lungs to intimidate people.
And she'd been doted on by him.
She'd probably witnessed him bellowing at servants and Philip countless times.
Children imitate. Especially the bad stuff.
"Shut up, you little brat!"
While the young lady was screaming, the door was thrown open and a man walked in.
Ragged clothing, reeking from head to toe, a bald head, and an unkempt beard.
If someone handed me a business card that said "Bandit," this guy's face would make perfect sense.
Nice choice.
With someone like this, there'd be no suspicion that it was all staged.
"Gah! You stink! Get away from me! You reek!
Do you have any idea who I am?! Ghislaine will be here any second and she'll tear you apart!"
*Thud.* With a pitiful sound, the young lady was kicked.
She let out an unseemly shriek for a proper lady as she was sent flying.
She floated gently through the air and slammed into the wall.
"You little shit! Who do you think you're dealing with, huh?!
I know you're the lord's granddaughter!"
The man mercilessly stomped on the young lady, who couldn't move with her hands bound.
Wasn't this a bit much?
"Ow, ow... stop... ugh... stop... stop..."
"Ptoo."
The man kept kicking the young lady for a rather long time.
Finally, he spat on her face and glared at me.
I quickly averted my eyes, and a kick came flying at my face.
"...Guh!"
Ow.
It's just acting, but could you ease up a little?
I mean, I told you I can use healing magic and all...
"Tch! You look like you're enjoying yourself...!"
He left the warehouse.
Through the door, I could hear voices.
-------------------- "Has she calmed down?"
"Yeah."
"You didn't kill her, did ya? If you damage her too much, the price drops."
-------------------- Something about that conversation was off.
Acting so realistic it was frightening...
...I hope that's what it was.
Maybe this was what I thought it was.
-------------------- "Huh? Ah, it's fine. Worst case, we can just sell the boy."
-------------------- That's not fine at all.
What are you talking about?!
"..."
After the voices faded, I counted a full five hundred seconds, then burned through the ropes with fire magic and went over to the young lady.
She had a nosebleed and was muttering to herself in a vacant stare.
When I listened, she was spewing things like "I'll never forgive them," "I'm telling Grandpa about this," and several other disturbing remarks that were hard to hear.
For now, I checked her injuries by feel.
"Hii!"
Had she felt the pain? The young lady looked at me with a frightened expression.
I held one finger to my lips and gestured for her to be quiet.
While watching her reaction, I checked her wounds.
Two broken bones.
"Oh Mother Goddess of Compassionate Love, (whisper) seal this one's wounds, (whisper) and restore them to a healthy body... (whisper) Ex Healing... (whisper)"
I used intermediate-level healing to mend her body.
Healing magic didn't become more effective just by pouring more mana into it.
Was it healed properly?
I just hoped the bones hadn't fused together wrong...
"Huh... the pain is..."
The young lady looked down at herself in surprise.
I brought my mouth close to her ear and whispered.
"Shh, be quiet. Your bones were broken, so I used healing magic. It seems the young lady has been abducted by villains harboring ill intent toward the lord.
Therefore..."
The young lady wasn't listening.
"Ghislaine! Ghislaine, help! I'm going to be killed! Come save me, quickly!"
I quickly tucked the rope under my clothes before the man came, turned my back to the corner of the room, and put my hands behind me to pretend I was still tied up.
The young lady screamed with all her might.
*BANG* — the man burst back in.
The young lady got kicked even more than before.
What even was her learning ability...
"You little shit, if you scream again, I'll kill you!"
For the record, I also got kicked twice.
I wasn't even doing anything, so there was no reason to kick me...
I'm gonna cry too...
...But as I thought that, I moved over to the young lady.
"Cough... cough..."
This was bad...
I wasn't sure about ribs, but the young lady was coughing up blood, so maybe internal organs had ruptured.
Hmm.
Her arms and legs had broken bones too.
I wasn't exactly well-versed in medicine...
If left untreated, wouldn't she die?
"The divine power is rich nourishment; to those who have lost their strength, grant the power to rise again — Healing, (whisper)"
I used basic healing for a small amount.
The blood from her mouth stopped.
This should keep her alive... probably.
"Cough... it... it still hurts... h-hey... heal me properly..."
"No way. If I heal you, you'll just get kicked again. Cast the magic yourself."
"I... I can't do that... not something like that..."
"If you'd studied, you could've."
I said just that and moved toward the entrance of the warehouse.
Then I pressed my ear to the door.
I wanted to hear more of their conversation.
Something wasn't adding up.
No matter what, beating the young lady that badly was going too far.
-------------------- "So, are we selling her to that guy?"
"Nah, let's make it a ransom deal?"
"Ain't that gonna bring heat on us?"
"Who cares. When the time comes, we'll be in the neighboring country."
-------------------- I could hear what sounded like a genuine conversation about actually selling her.
Like when you ask an acquaintance to rough up a girl and, oops, real criminals get involved.
Where did the gears go wrong?
Were the guys who were supposed to kidnap us the ones being targeted?
Or was it from the very start when we were attacked?
Or could Philip have sold his own daughter?
That last one was probably too much...
...Well, whatever.
Either way, my plan didn't change.
The word "safe" was just gone.
--------------------- "Wouldn't a ransom pay more than selling her?"
"Let's decide by tonight."
"Either way, works for me."
--------------------- It sounded like they were arguing over whether to sell us somewhere or demand ransom from the lord.
They said they'd clear out by nightfall.
Then I needed to move while it was still daytime.
Now then — what to do?
I could blast through the door with magic and take out the kidnappers with magic.
If I beat up the thugs who'd been beating me, the young lady would respect me...
Nah, probably not.
She'd probably think she could've won if her hands weren't tied.
Besides, having it all come down to violence wasn't ideal either.
If I didn't teach her that violence produces nothing, I'd just keep getting punched forever.
I wanted to make her feel more powerless.
...Oh wait, was I even sure I could beat these kidnappers?
If they were as strong as
If that happened, I'd be killed. No question about it.
Alright, for now, I'd escape without engaging the kidnappers at all.
I checked behind me, confirmed the young lady was glaring at me with fury in her eyes, and got to work.
First, I used earth and fire magic to seal the gaps around the door.
I slowly melted the doorknob with fire magic so it wouldn't turn.
Now it was just a door that couldn't be opened.
But if someone tried to kick it down, it'd probably go quick.
Just insurance.
Then I moved to the window.
Iron bars were set into it.
I briefly considered concentrating fire magic to cut through, but it looked like it'd be too hot, so I scrapped that idea.
I used water magic to gradually dissolve the surrounding earth.
And with that, I successfully removed the iron bars as a single unit.
"Young lady. It seems you've been abducted by villains harboring ill intent toward the lord. They're saying their accomplices are coming tonight and they'll all take turns killing you, of course."
A complete lie.
The young lady's face went pale.
"I'm going to run because I don't want to die... goodbye."
I gripped the spot where I'd removed the bars and hauled myself up with a heave.
At that same moment, a voice came from the door.
"Hey, it won't open!
What the hell's going on?!"
I could hear violent pounding on the door.
Looking at the young lady, she was staring back and forth between the door and me with a look of despair.
"A-Ah... d-don't leave me... save me..."
Oh, she was giving in faster than I expected.
Even a girl like her must've found this situation terrifying.
I moved quickly to her side and whispered in her ear.
"...Can you promise me that you'll do as I say until we make it home?"
"I'll... I'll listen, I'll listen, so..."
"And can you promise you won't raise your voice? Ghislaine isn't here."
"I promise, I promise... h-hurry, he's coming... he's coming...!"
The young lady nodded frantically.
The fear and panic etched on her face was nothing like when she'd been punching me.
I was glad she finally understood how it felt to be on the receiving end.
"If you break the promise, I really will leave you behind."
I said that as coldly as I could, then used earth magic to seal the door shut.
I cut the ropes with fire magic and used healing to completely mend her wounds.
Then I climbed out through the window bars and pulled her up after me.
--- Once we were outside the warehouse, we were in an unfamiliar town.
There were no city walls, so at least it wasn't Roa.
It wasn't small enough to be called a village, but if I didn't act fast, we'd be found.
"Phew, we're safe now!"
The young lady apparently thought we'd escaped, and suddenly let out a loud yell.
"You promised you wouldn't raise your voice until we got home."
"Hmph! Why should I keep my promise to you?!"
This brat...
"Is that so? Well then, this is where we part ways. Goodbye."
The young lady huffed and started walking.
But in the next instant, angry shouts rang out from the distance.
They must have realized the door wouldn't open, then checked the window and found the bars gone.
They figured we'd run and came after us.
The young lady came right back.
"That... that was a joke earlier. I won't yell anymore. Now guide me home."
"...I'm not your servant or your maid, you know."
Her entitled attitude irked me just enough to snap back.
"W-what? You're my tutor, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not?"
"Huh?"
"You said you didn't want me, so I haven't been hired yet."
"W-well... fine, I'll hire you..."
The young lady turned away with a reluctant air.
This was the moment to get a binding commitment.
"Saying that, but the second we're back at the mansion, you'll break the promise again, won't you?"
I said it as coldly as I could manage.
No emotion, flat and detached.
And yet, with a tone that practically screamed *I know you absolutely will.* "I-I won't break it... just... help me... please help me..."
"If you can promise not to raise your voice and to do as I say, I'll follow along."
Inside, I was thinking *yes, yes, but I kept my composure and got moving.
First, I pulled out the five large
That was my entire net worth.
For reference, one large copper coin was worth one-tenth of a silver coin.
Steering away from the angry shouts still echoing from time to time, I moved toward the town entrance.
At the gate, I handed one large copper coin to the guard who was standing around looking bored.
"If you see anyone looking for us, tell them we went outside the town."
"Huh? What? Kids? Got it, but what's going on — playing hide and seek or something?
Wait, that's a pretty fat coin... what noble family are you from, seriously..."
I made sure to emphasize my request.
It should buy us at least some delay.
Near the entrance, there was a waiting area for stagecoaches.
I walked straight in.
How to use them was written on the wall. Already confirmed.
While I was at it, I also noted our current location and the fare.
"According to this, the town we're in is called Winden. It's two stops away from Roa."
I whispered to the young lady.
She seemed to be keeping her promise about not shouting, and whispered back.
"How do you know that?"
"It says so right here."
"I can't read..."
Good, good.
"It's useful to be able to read. The stagecoach schedule is posted here too."
Even so, being transported this far in a single day...
An unfamiliar town was unsettling...
My trauma might flare back up.
No, no — I wasn't the same guy who couldn't even find the unemployment office anymore.
Come to think of it, Paul and Hello Work — the kanji for those two sounded pretty similar.
Just as I was thinking that, I felt the angry shouts drawing closer.
"! Hide!"
I scooped up the young lady, dashed into the waiting area's restroom, and locked the door.
From outside, I could hear heavy, thudding footsteps.
"Where are you, huh?!"
"Don't think you can escape!"
Whoa, terrifying.
Seriously, stop searching with voices like that.
At least try a sweeter tone or something.
The young lady had both hands clamped over her mouth and was trembling violently.
"...A-are you okay?"
"Well, if we're found, we'll just have to fight as hard as we can."
"R-right... okay..."
She looked like she was about to get fired up, so I steered her back.
"By the way, I just checked the fare. From here, you have to transfer stagecoaches twice to get to the next town."
"...?"
That was her expression — *so what?* "Stagecoaches depart five times a day starting at 8 a.m., every two hours. That's the same in every town. The ride to the next town takes three hours.
The one leaving now is the fourth. Which means..."
"Which means?"
"Even if we reach the next town, there's no coach from there to Roa.
We have to spend the night in the next town."
"!...I-I see, hmm..."
She looked like she was about to scream something, but the young lady swallowed it down hard.
"I have four large copper coins. We need one for the ride to the next town, one for a night's lodging, and one for the ride from there to Roa."
"Just barely... it's enough, right?"
"It's enough."
The young lady breathed a sigh of relief.
It was too early to relax.
"...Assuming we don't get shortchanged."
"Sh-shorted?"
She didn't understand.
That was the look on her face.
She'd probably never bought anything with her own money.
"People like us — kids — the innkeeper and stagecoach operators will probably think we can't do math.
So they might try to cheat us by giving back less change.
If you point out the mistake on the spot, they'll give the correct change.
But if you can't do the math..."
"What happens?"
"You won't have enough for the last stagecoach.
And then those men will catch up to us..."
The young lady started trembling.
She looked like she might wet herself.
"Young lady, the toilet is right there."
"I-I know that."
"Then I'll go take a quick look outside."
When I tried to leave the stall, she grabbed my hem.
"D-don't go."
I'll spare the details, but after the young lady took care of business, we stepped outside.
For the record, toilets in this country were the pit-emptying type.
The men didn't seem to be around.
I wasn't sure if they'd started searching outside the town or were still looking inside.
If found, I'd have no choice but to unleash my magic and incapacitate them.
I prayed they weren't opponents I couldn't beat.
I waited at the far corner of the waiting area, hidden from view.
Then, right on departure time, I handed payment to the coachman and boarded the carriage.
--- We made it to the next town without incident, stayed at an inn that was barely more than a shack, and slept on straw.
The young lady was too excited to sleep.
Every time a sound echoed, she'd bolt upright, staring at the entrance with frightened eyes.
The next morning, we boarded the first stagecoach and rode for several hours. We reached Roa without any particular problems.
Along the way, I'd threatened her enough that the young lady kept vigilantly watching behind the carriage.
A few times, solo riders overtook us from behind, but none of them were the kidnappers.
We'd put a fair amount of distance between us, and they may have given up.
I figured that easy-mindedly.
Passing through the reassuring city walls and seeing the lord's mansion in the distance, a wave of relief washed over me.
Once we're here, we're safe — I thought without even realizing it.
And that, my friends, is what you call letting your guard down.
The young lady was dragged into an alley.
"...Huh?"
It took me about two seconds to notice.
In that two-second window where I looked away, the young lady had vanished.
I honestly thought she'd disappeared.
What caught the corner of my eye was a scrap of fabric the same color as the young lady's dress, snagged on the corner of a building.
I immediately gave chase.
Not that I'd been thinking about slipping past our surveillance and having fun around town — nothing like that.
As I rounded into the alley, I spotted two men trying to carry the young lady to the street on the other side.
I quickly used earth magic to conjure a wall, blocking their path.
"What the—?!"
The young lady had a gag stuffed in her mouth and was in tears.
A gag in just these few seconds. Quick work. They were scary good at this.
She must have been punched — her cheek was red and swollen.
There were two of them. Two men.
One was the brute who'd kicked me earlier.
The other was probably the guy I'd heard talking in the warehouse.
Both were dressed like bandits.
Unlike in the warehouse, they now had swords at their hips.
"What do you want, brat? If you'd just stayed quiet, you could've gone home..."
They were startled by the wall that had appeared out of nowhere, but when they turned and saw me, they grinned.
The brute advanced without caution.
The other still had a hold of the young lady.
Were there more of them somewhere?
For now, I summoned a small fireball on my fingertip as a warning.
"Hey! You little—!"
The brute drew his sword.
The other instantly became wary, pressing the tip of his blade against the young lady's neck and backing away slowly.
"You little brat — I thought you were just a calm kid, but you're a bodyguard mage, aren't you...
No wonder you escaped so easily. Damn it, the looks fooled me!"
"I'm not a bodyguard. I haven't been hired yet."
"What?! Then why are you getting in our way?"
"Well, I'm about to be."
"Heh — you're after money?"
Money. Right — I was trying to earn tuition for the magic university.
"I won't deny that."
"Then join our side. I know a perverted noble with connections who'll buy a high-born girl at a premium...
Or we could demand ransom. Word is this lord is crazy about his granddaughter — he'll pay whatever."
"Oh..."
I made a sound like I was impressed, and the young lady looked at me with a pale face.
She might have also heard that I was trying to get hired for the tuition money.
"Specifically, how much are we talking?"
"Not the pathetic level of one or two gold coins a month.
We're talking roughly a hundred gold coins."
He said it with a smug face.
I wasn't sure what the going rate was around here, but that was like a million yen — pretty impressive, right?
He looked like a grade-schooler showing off.
"Heheh, you look the part, but you've got the mind of a real adult, don't you?"
"Hmm? What makes you say that?"
"That magic back there and that composure of yours — tells me everything. You've had a rough time based on how you look, right? Then you understand the value of money, yeah? Right?"
"Fair enough."
From a stranger's perspective, that made sense.
After all, my mental age was well over forty.
Bingo. Right on the money.
Bandits were sharp after all.
"I've certainly learned the value of money, having lived to this age. I've even been dumped in a land I'd never set foot in before with nothing but the clothes on my back."
"Heh heh."
Of course, before that I'd lived a life without a single worry about money.
Nearly twenty years as a shut-in.
A life drenched in eroge and MMOs.
From that, I'd learned something.
What it meant to betray the young lady here.
What kind of future would unfold if I saved her here.
"That's exactly why. I'd like to think I understand that there are things more important than money."
"Spare me the noble speeches!"
"This isn't a noble speech. You can't buy 'devotion' with money."
Whoops — my real feelings slipped out.
The brute gave me a stunned look, like "Devotion? What's that?"
But the fact that negotiations had collapsed seemed to get through.
His nasty grin vanished, his face hardened, and he pressed the blade against the young lady's neck.
"Then she's a hostage! First, fire that fireball into the sky."
"...You want me to fire it into the sky?"
"That's right. Don't you dare point that fingertip at us.
No matter how fast you are, I can slit this little brat's throat and use her as a shield faster."
He didn't just ask me to dismiss it?
Maybe he didn't know.
Chanted magic was automatic from cast to launch, after all.
"Understood."
Before firing, I manipulated the mana and modified the fireball.
I created a second, special fireball inside the first.
*Poof.* With a goofy little sound, the fireball rose into the air.
***BOOOOOOOM!!!*** A massive explosion erupted in midair.
The eardrum-shattering roar was accompanied by blinding light and searing heat raining down.
"What?!"
"Whoa?!"
"Guh?!"
The instant everyone looked up, I ran.
Running, I cast magic — two types, muscle-memory fast.
Wind magic to create a vacuum blade that severed the brute's arm.
At the same time, earth magic to form a boulder that I launched at the other man.
"Gyaaaaa!"
The brute dropped the young lady.
I caught her cleanly. Princess carry.
Looking at the other man, the boulder was being sliced clean in half.
"Oh crap..."
Oh no. Oh no.
He cut through the rock.
Swordmaster-class.
I didn't know what school, but this was bad.
If he was as strong as Paul, I was in serious trouble.
I used wind and fire magic to generate a shockwave at my feet and launched myself backward.
The impact was hard enough to feel like my leg bones might snap.
A split second later, a sword sliced through the spot where I'd just been.
Close.
But it didn't have Paul's speed.
Stay calm — I'd simulated swordsmen encounters plenty of times.
Still airborne, I prepared my next spell.
First — I launched a fireball straight at his face.
The projectile speed was slow.
"You think this'll work?!"
He read it, raised his sword to intercept.
Time lag before impact.
In that window, I used water and earth magic to conjure a mud pit beneath his feet.
The fireball was deflected, but the mud clung to his calves with its sticky viscosity, freezing him in place.
"What?!"
Yes, I've got this!
"Not so fast!"
...Huh...?
Suddenly, the man threw his sword.
Not out of desperation.
Paul had once told me about this.
The North God Style had a technique where a swordsman threw their weapon when a mage immobilized them.
I reflexively knew I couldn't dodge it, and yet strangely, I was calm.
The sword flew at me in slow motion.
Its trajectory was aimed at my head.
...At the very least, let me not die.
...Namu.
*CLANG!* Something brownish flew in front of my eyes at the very instant I heard the sound of metal striking something ceramic, and the sword clattered to the ground.
"...Huh?"
And, while we're at it, the head of the man with his foot stuck in the mud also hit the ground.
A brownish mass of muscle — a person's tail twitched once, and the head of the brute clutching his severed wrist also fell to the ground.
Dead.
My mind couldn't keep up.
I just stared blankly as the bodies of two people who should have been several meters away collapsed.
It didn't look like a real scene.
I wasn't entirely sure what had just happened.
"Hmm.
Snapped back to reality by the voice.
"Ah, yes. Thank you very much. Ghislaine... ma'am."
"No need for 'ma'am.' Just Ghislaine."
The brownish mass of muscle — Ghislaine turned back and nodded with a hum.
"There was a sudden explosion in midair, so I came to investigate. Good thing I did."
"Y-you were really fast. I mean, you took them out in the blink of an eye..."
It hadn't even been a minute since I first used magic.
"I was nearby. And it wasn't fast. Any warrior of the Dead End tribe could kill two like that in an instant.
By the way, Rudeus — was this your first time fighting the North God Style?"
"This is my first time in an actual fight to the death."
"I see. They won't give up until the last possible moment. Be careful."
Until the last moment...
Right. It had come down to the last moment.
I remembered the instant the sword came flying and felt my legs start to shake.
A fight to the death.
It had just sort of flowed that way, but what just happened was a fight to the death.
During my shut-in days, I'd fantasized countless times about battles and killing, but I'd never imagined it all the way down to the smell of blood filling the air.
I felt sick...
"L-let's go back."
If I threw up here, all the effort I'd put into deceiving the young lady would be wasted.
Thinking that, I left the scene.
--- When we reached the mansion, the young lady collapsed on the spot, completely drained.
Her tension had broken, and her legs gave out.
Maids rushed over in a panic.
When a maid tried to help her up, the young lady slapped the hand away, and then stood up on trembling legs like a newborn fawn.
She folded her arms and stood there rigidly.
Maybe getting back home had given her a second wind.
The maids froze, sensing something unusual about the scene.
The young lady pointed sharply at me and declared at full volume: "You promised we could talk once we got home!
So I can talk now, right!"
"Oh, yes. Of course, young lady."
Hearing that shout.
I knew, instinctively, I'd failed.
In the end, it had all been a half-baked scheme.
A girl this willful and violent wasn't going to change because of something like that.
If anything, I was the one who'd frozen up during my first real fight to the death.
The young lady might have sensed that.
I'd talked big and acted all superior, but in the end, I was still weak.
"As a special exception, I'll allow you to call me
But the young lady's words caught me completely off guard.
"Huh?"
"It's a special exception!"
O-oh!
Seriously?!
D-did it work?!
I did it!
"Thank you very much! Lady Eris!"
"Drop the 'Lady'! Just Eris!"
Eris mimicked Ghislaine's manner of speaking, then fell flat on her back.
--- And so, I became the private tutor of Eris Boreas Greyrat.
:Status: Name: Eris B. Greyrat Occupation: Granddaughter of the Lord of the Fittoa Region Personality: Violent Obedience: Not entirely unmanageable Literacy: Can write her own name Arithmetic: Up to addition Magic: Interested Swordsmanship: Sword God Style, Beginner Manners: Can perform the Boreas-style greeting Favorite people: Grandpa, Ghislaine