A small hut on the outskirts of Sharira.
This was my third meeting with Orsted.
I told him about Ariel successfully persuading Perugius, the series of events that followed, and the revelation that the teleportation circle to the Asura Kingdom couldn't be used.
When I relayed all of this to Orsted, he grinned.
A sinister grin.
No wait, he was probably just smiling normally.
"I see. Well done."
I was praised.
But the problem remained.
"What do you make of the teleportation circle?"
The matter of the circle had aroused suspicion for just a moment, but it quickly dissipated.
Still, a lingering doubt that I was hiding something must have taken root.
"The Human God's doing, most likely. That bastard failed with his opening move this time. Keep it up."
Orsted seemed satisfied on his own.
He was in high spirits.
He kept muttering things like "Now there's just one left."
I would very much like to know what he meant by "one left" and how exactly that worked.
"If possible, could you tell me the contents of the mistake?"
"Hmm, let's see."
Orsted settled back into his chair and fixed me with a stare.
His gaze was too intense.
If he put a little more effort into it, his eyes would probably start glowing.
Like, literally glowing.
"So Perugius confirmed that the teleportation circles are unusable?"
"Yes, Lord Orsted."
"Lord Orst... The teleportation circles in the Asura Kingdom are not many to begin with.
Most of them were prepared by royalty and nobles as emergency escape routes.
Several of those have lost their function, and Perugius is exploiting that."
Oh, I see. Escape routes for royalty.
"That's essentially what it means."
I see, that's what it means.
I don't get it.
"What exactly does that mean? Could you explain in more detail! Please, more detail!"
"...In other words, the locations where teleportation circles exist are in areas off-limits to common citizens.
Many are guarded by soldiers.
The only ones who could enter and disable those circles
would be royalty with sufficient authority, or high-ranking nobles."
"Oh, I see. And then?"
"...Figure it out yourself for once."
"Okay."
Royalty with sufficient authority.
That person suddenly disabled the teleportation circles that could be called their own lifeline.
They even destroyed the inactive circles that Perugius might use.
This meant the likelihood of it being the Human God's directive was extremely high.
The one who became the Human God's apostle was either royalty, or someone who could advise royalty.
That about summed it up.
"The possible candidates for the Human God's apostle are
the First Prince Gravell, or High Minister Darius...?"
"That's right. And if we're talking about disabling teleportation circles across a broad area of the Asura Kingdom, then it must be the handiwork of High Minister Darius, who commands a large number of private soldiers."
Oh.
I see.
I don't actually know anything about him commanding private soldiers, though.
"So you're saying the Human God's apostle is confirmed to be High Minister Darius?"
"Yes. The First Prince is a possibility too, but... either way, it doesn't matter. Both are targets that need to be killed."
The First Prince was certainly Ariel's enemy, so killing him was probably on the cards.
There was a part of me that wondered whether it was really okay to kill a prince, but...
Either way, fine.
If it came to it, I'd do it.
"So now there's just one left."
"Just one left... that means Luke is confirmed too, right?"
"There's no doubt about it."
"What about Ariel?"
"Impossible."
Save me from jokes like that.
"What's your basis for that?"
"There are those the Human God cannot manipulate."
"And how can you tell that Ariel is one of those he can't manipulate?"
"............My intuition, from years of experience."
Intuition, huh...
But he'd clearly been thinking before he said it, so maybe there was a definite reason he just couldn't disclose.
I wouldn't press him on that for now.
What I should ask about was something else.
"What if your intuition is wrong and Ariel turns out to be the apostle?"
"In that case, I'll take care of it personally."
Take care of it, huh.
Well, that didn't necessarily mean kill.
In any case, if he was willing to say that, then I'd proceed under the assumption that Ariel wasn't the apostle.
In that case, should I share the information about Orsted with Ariel?
Ariel seemed to be somewhat resistant to Orsted's curse.
If she wasn't the Human God's apostle, it might be better to tell her everything and have her cooperate.
...No, I'd better not.
Just like with Sylphy, they trusted Luke.
They believed that Luke would never lead them to ruin.
Luke himself would think he was acting for Ariel's sake.
Right.
Being manipulated by the Human God was exactly like that.
Actions that you believed were for the best, moves that seemed like good plays in the moment, would turn out to be terrible mistakes.
That was what made it so troublesome.
I understood now why Orsted had wanted to kill him immediately.
"...Lord Orsted."
"What is it?"
"I'd like to confirm my understanding of the overall battle against the Human God, if that's all right?"
"...? Go ahead."
I spoke.
About the outline of the war between the Human God and Orsted.
First, the Human God possessed foresight.
He could see a fairly wide and detailed picture of the future.
He had the power to alter that future by manipulating people.
However, he could not see futures that involved Orsted.
The Dragon God's secret arts were superior to the Human God's foresight.
When Orsted was involved, the Human God would see an incorrect future.
When he noticed a discrepancy in that future, or when there was a clear change in the future, the Human God would become aware of Orsted's involvement.
But he couldn't see how Orsted had changed that future, or by what means.
He could only guess.
Therefore, as long as Orsted didn't let the Human God figure out his objectives or what he was preparing, the Human God couldn't play a certain move to guide events toward his desired future.
Thanks to the Curse of Repulsion, Orsted had been able to act without the Human God detecting his hand.
However, the same curse severely limited the moves he could make, and there was little he could do.
But with my addition to the equation, the range of available moves expanded.
My existence was, in a sense, an invisible piece on the board.
But if that piece moved too conspicuously, Orsted's intentions would be exposed.
So I had to move cautiously.
To avoid giving information to Luke—who served as the Human God's eyes.
And I couldn't give information to Ariel or Sylphy either, since they trusted Luke and would likely answer if asked.
You can't put a lock on people's mouths, so the best approach was to tell as few people as possible.
I needed to keep Orsted's plans and movements as hidden as possible.
That might lead to suspicion, like it did this time.
But that path led to victory.
Keeping the Human God in the dark about our intentions, defeating his apostle, and achieving our goal.
I would keep working at this job until I died, guiding Orsted toward victory a hundred years from now.
"...So, is that acceptable?"
"Yes. That's correct."
Orsted nodded deeply.
Then my actions so far hadn't been wrong... presumably.
Perugius had called me "lukewarm," but...
In any case, let's move forward toward our goal.
The most likely candidates for the Human God's apostle were
Luke and Darius.
Those two.
"Who do you think the last one is?"
"Hard to say. But based on the Human God's patterns so far, there's a high probability it's someone skilled in either martial arts or magic."
"Skilled in martial arts or magic..."
My family couldn't be candidates, right?
Eris and Sylphy were different.
Come to think of it, according to the diary, there were a North Emperor and a Water God in the Asura Kingdom.
"The North Emperor or the Water God—could they be candidates?"
"Aubert or Reida... yes, that's definitely a real possibility. Be very careful even after you reach the Asura Kingdom."
"Lord Orsted, won't you be coming along?"
"Naturally, I'll be following behind you. We won't be traveling together, most likely."
Following behind me...
Hearing that, it really did feel like being manipulated from behind.
Well, if I thought of it as having someone to consult with at any time, it wasn't so bad.
"Understood. Then... Luke, Darius, Aubert, and Reida. I just need to keep an eye on those four?"
"That's right.
You can kill Darius, Aubert, and Reida without hesitation.
As for Luke... judge the situation, and if necessary, kill him."
"You're leaving it to my judgment whether to kill him?"
"Yes. You decide."
Did this man genuinely believe I was capable of making that judgment?
He probably did.
I'd gone fairly seriously at Orsted that one time, after all...
Oh well.
I'd steel myself for this one too.
---
The next day.
Sylphy and I held a family meeting, timing it for when Norn got back.
Lately it felt like we'd been having family meetings nonstop.
The duration would be about three to four months.
The destination: the Asura Kingdom.
Because of Sylphy's job—it was to assist Ariel.
The family's reaction when we told them was pretty subdued.
"Oh, okay. Do your best. Ah, if you could prepare some garden soil before you go, that'd help."
That was Aisha.
More worried about soil than about my safety.
"Lady Ariel is dropping out of school... I wonder if they'll have a send-off party or something..."
Norn, for her part, was worried about school matters.
That was strange.
Last time, it had been much more... emotional.
I wanted a tearful farewell like last time.
I wanted to hug a sobbing Aisha and Norn and say "I'll be back."
"But, Big Brother, every time you say something like 'I might not come back'... and then you come back totally fine."
Apparently that's how it seemed to them.
Every single time I was in a life-or-death situation, but in my sisters' eyes it just looked like that.
Or maybe they were being considerate, wanting me to depart without worry.
Either way, as long as I did my best so that Aisha and Norn could live without anxiety, that was enough.
"And there'll be more women, apparently."
"Yeah, worrying is just a waste of time.
Besides, this time Sylphy-nee and Eris-nee are both coming, so it's totally safe."
Eris-nee too.
And just as those words suggested, the moment Eris heard the plan, she went straight back to her room and started preparing for the trip.
The instant I declared we were going to the Asura Kingdom, she said "Oh, then I'm coming too."
No hesitation whatsoever.
"By the way, Norn-nee, what kind of person do you think it'll be this time?"
"I don't know, but maybe one of Lady Ariel's attendants?
Elmore-senpai or Kryne-senpai, maybe..."
They'd been having this rude conversation for a while now, but... there won't be any more, thank you very much.
I wanted to protest loudly, but honestly, I couldn't trust my own lower half.
In this world I was popular, so there was nothing I could do about it.
...Still, I didn't think it would happen this time.
Sylphy and Eris were both coming along.
That was right.
Before, the problem had been going alone.
Going alone meant I got swept away.
To avoid being swept away, I needed a dam.
All I had to do was rely on the Sylphy Dam and the Eris Dam.
That way, even a sudden flood would be handled.
"I pray for your safe journey."
Lillia and Mother were their usual selves.
Come to think of it, I'd forgotten to ask Orsted about Mother's memory.
It was unlikely that Orsted, who couldn't even deal with his own curse, would know, but once this was over, maybe I'd ask again.
"Lillia-san, um, please take care of Lucy."
"Yes, ma'am. Leave everything to me."
Sylphy bowed her head to Lillia apologetically.
"Um, I know leaving a child behind isn't ideal, but this time..."
"Not to worry. That's what I'm here for."
Recently, Lucy had started saying simple words.
"Mama," "Aisha," "Riwwa," "Oki," "Biibi," "Jiwwow."
Watching her work so hard to speak those simple words was honestly moving.
She couldn't call me "Papa" yet.
She said "Ru...de..." once in a while...
Lately I hadn't been able to spend much time with her, and I'd probably be the last person she learned to name.
Leaving behind such a child for a expedition with both parents away.
I was the same, of course, but I felt we still lacked a proper sense of parenthood.
No telling when that would finally bloom.
Lucy was adorable.
She was like an angel.
But that alone wasn't enough...
"Four months from now... I'll be lonely."
Roxy was the only one who actually seemed sad about it.
Leaving behind a child and a pregnant woman for a business trip—there was guilt involved.
"Well, we want to come back as soon as possible, but..."
"Take your time. It's fine.
When it comes to giving birth, Lillia and Aisha will be there, so Rudeus isn't needed anyway...
In exchange, please bring me souvenirs. I'd love some of those dried fruit candies from the Asura Kingdom—the ones soaked in sugar, sweet and sour. Those are really good."
Roxy was her usual expressionless self.
She must have been nervous about her first pregnancy, but she didn't show even a hint of it.
"You're making a pathetic face, Rudeus.
I don't know what you're worried about, but men go out to hunt, and women protect the home and children.
That's common sense among the Migurd tribe."
Roxy answered with her chest puffed out proudly.
She was a reliable woman.
I could trust her with this.
But was it really okay to just go?
"It's just a shame, though. You finally got a long vacation, and I was hoping we could spend some time together leisurely."
"Yeah, you're right."
Roxy had apparently decided to take leave until the birth.
According to this country's norms, once it came to pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare, it was normal to quit working.
But Roxy wanted to continue teaching.
She'd apparently convinced Vice Principal Zynas and secured an extended leave of absence.
She said she'd used my name to do it.
It had been approved after the fact, but if using my name allowed Roxy to do what she wanted to do, then by all means, keep using it.
From now until departure, I'd decided to increase the time I spent with Roxy.
---
That evening, raised voices could be heard from Eris's room.
It was Sylphy and Eris.
Whenever Sylphy said something, Eris would retort.
Only Eris's exclamations like "Why?!" and "How come?!" came through loud, but every time Sylphy calmly responded, Eris's volume dropped, until finally I heard something like a muttered "Fine, whatever."
Then, late that night, Eris came to my room.
I was just about to go to bed and was already under the covers.
"..."
She climbed into bed without a word, still looking sullen.
And then she hugged me like a body pillow.
Something soft pressed against my chest from Eris's side.
Pressing something like that against me in a nighttime bed hardly seemed like gentlemanly behavior.
Then again, I was no gentleman at night either.
Not that I minded.
But before that, let me just ask.
"...Did you fight with Sylphy?"
"No."
"Okay."
I hadn't heard any sounds of punches, after all.
Well, if I got out of bed now and went to Eris's room, I might find an unconscious Sylphy there.
I'd trust Eris on this.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll be moving around with Sylphy.
We're going together to introduce Ghislaine to someone named Ariel,
and then helping with the trip preparations."
Tomorrow was the day to introduce Ghislaine to Ariel.
When I said that, Sylphy had proposed, "Let me handle that sort of thing."
I could probably leave most things to Sylphy without issue, but considering Ghislaine's purpose, it would be better if I introduced her personally.
I'd considered that and declined, but either way Sylphy would be coming along to see Ariel.
And apparently Eris would be joining too.
So tomorrow, the four of us would be going to Ariel's place together.
Did Sylphy really want to introduce Ghislaine and Eris that badly?
I wondered why...
"So, she said she wanted you to spend as much time as possible with Roxy."
"Sylphy said that?"
"That's what she told me."
So that was it.
She was being considerate of Roxy.
If my burden was reduced, I'd have more time with Roxy... well, not exactly, but still.
It meant Sylphy had been thinking about various things.
Even so, I was impressed that Sylphy had managed to convince Eris without getting punched.
No, Eris had grown too.
She wasn't the kind of girl who indiscriminately hit people anymore.
If you spoke to her logically, she understood.
"So, she said today should be my turn."
I thought about that, but apparently there had been an exchange of conditions.
Still, the fact that she'd accepted those terms meant Eris had mellowed out.
She used to be much more willful, I thought.
The snobbish young lady was dead.
The Eris with fangs had departed.
Wolf and lion both...
Well, just this once, anyway.
But on the topic of conditions, it wasn't unreasonable that it would be Sylphy's turn.
She'd backed off for me, hadn't she...
Well, during the trip I'd try to be as kind to her as possible. That was the plan.
With those thoughts, I hugged Eris back.
Immediately, Eris moved at incredible speed and started trying to strip off my clothes.
"If we find out I'm pregnant mid-trip, that'd be bad, so let's take it a little easy tonight..."
"If it happens, it happens!"
That night, I was thoroughly ravaged again.
The concept of family planning apparently didn't apply to Eris.
---
Starting the next day, preparations began.
While getting our travel gear in order, I made sure to increase my time with Roxy.
That didn't mean I was with Roxy around the clock, of course.
After introducing Ghislaine and Eris to Ariel, I attended multiple meetings with Orsted and methodically pushed our preparations forward.
What techniques the North Emperor Aubert and Water God Reida used, and how to counter them.
How to make contact with the bandit group where the thief Tris was supposedly located.
As a precaution, mapping out the geography of Arus, the capital of the Asura Kingdom.
Learning the layout of the Silver Palace royal residence.
Introducing Cliff to Orsted and beginning research on the curse.
We did everything we could do.
With that thought, the days passed.
---
One day.
I was sitting on the living room sofa next to Roxy.
Lately, at the end of each day, I'd sit on the sofa alone with Roxy and we'd talk.
The topics were endless.
From stories about Roxy's school to recent developments in magical tools.
Stories from when we'd both been traveling during the teleportation incident.
Nothing of great importance, but talking with Roxy always put me at ease.
"Well then, Rudeus. Departure is approaching, so it's time to decide on this baby's name."
Today's topic was the baby's name.
"I've heard that deciding a baby's name right before setting off on a journey is considered bad luck?"
When I said that, Roxy replied:
"That's from a heroic tale of the human races, isn't it?
It has nothing to do with the Migurd tribe."
Just like that.
A superstition was just a superstition.
Well, if our goddess said so, there was no need to worry about omens.
Follow the goddess's lead.
"In the Migurd village, the tribal chief decides the name... but the chief of our household is you, Rudeus. So decide quickly."
"Is it really okay for me to just decide on my own?"
"Of course.
I'll be calling out whatever name you choose,
while stroking my growing belly every day.
That will surely, without a doubt, be a happy time."
Saying this, Roxy rubbed her rounded belly.
I placed my hand over hers and rubbed her stomach too.
It was a strange thing.
That Roxy, someone I'd known for over ten years, was now carrying my child.
It had been strange when Sylphy was pregnant, and it was strange now with Roxy.
But a feeling of pure joy welled up from deep in my chest.
I loved this feeling. No matter how many times I experienced it, it never got old.
"Hehehe."
"What is it, Rudeus? You're laughing just like Sylphy."
Just like Sylphy, huh.
"No, I was just thinking Roxy's belly feels really nice."
"It's not as slender as Sylphy's,
nor as toned as Eris's...
But if you like it, you can touch it as much as you want."
"You sure?"
I said that, but I'd already been stroking it freely.
"Because half of what's inside is yours."
"And the outside?"
"...The outside is all yours."
"So then it's all mine?"
"The child is half mine. I won't concede that point."
I see, I see.
Professor Roxy was wise after all.
Right, the child was half mine and half Roxy's.
And Roxy was mine.
"What should we name the child..."
"Hmm... something Migurd-like... how about Rolla?"
The Migurd tribe often gave names starting with "Ro."
But the child was a half-blood, so there was no need to be that particular.
"Actually, it might be better to take from Roxy and Rudeus's names."
"Let's see. Rodeus, Ruksee... that doesn't sound great together."
"My compatibility with Roxy could never be bad."
The problem was just concatenating them directly.
For example, take something between "Ru" and "Ro"—like "Re."
Think of a name starting with "Re." Re, Re, Re.
Not great—I'd end up cleaning with a bamboo broom every day or something.
Being a neat freak wasn't a bad thing, though.
The name Rolla that Roxy suggested earlier was nice.
It sounded like someone yearning for a burning romance.
But something felt off.
I wanted something more... Roxy-like.
Hmm, hmm.
If it was one of "La, Ri, Ru, Re, Ro," then any of them might give off a Roxy-like feel.
Alright.
"For a boy, how about Roro? And for a girl, Rara?"
"Nice. Roro and Rara. They sound wonderful."
Right, right.
They sounded like names from someone who'd get kidnapped by the great demon king of the Demon Continent and then have to go rescue them.
"Good for you, Roro, Rara. Daddy picked out your name."
Roxy looked no older than a middle schooler, but her expression was like that of the Madonna.
Divine.
How incredibly divine.
The child born from her would surely be a child of the gods.
"Rudeus?"
"Yes?"
"I said some things the other day, but... please come back safely, alright? I want to hold this child together with you."
"Yes."
Goes without saying.
---
And then the day of departure arrived.
End of Chapter 17, Part 2: Youth Arc — Kingdom Chapter
Next Chapter
Chapter 18, Part 2: Youth Arc — Asura Kingdom Chapter