Day of departure.
Early morning.
Before the sun had even risen, a certain figure appeared.
It was Ghislaine.
She came to the mansion carrying three wooden swords.
What she intended to do, what she wanted to do—
Well, even without an explanation, I more or less understood.
Eris and I silently took the wooden swords, changed clothes, and headed out to the garden.
The mansion's garden was fairly spacious, but with various flowers planted throughout, it felt a bit cramped.
Still, considering what we were about to do, it would be plenty.
Standing in the garden, Eris and I faced Ghislaine and took up our swords.
Sylphie, still half-asleep, was sitting in a chair some distance away. The maids, already hard at work this early in the morning, kept stealing glances our way, wondering what was going on.
"Let's begin practice," Ghislaine said.
At her words, Eris and I brought our swords to our hips and bowed.
"Please guide us."
Ghislaine gave a small nod and raised her sword.
We followed suit.
"Then, begin swings—! One! Two!"
Matching Ghislaine's movements and count, Eris and I swung our wooden swords.
The quiet garden swallowed the sound of the blades cutting through the air.
My swings were dull compared to the two of them.
But no reprimand came from Ghislaine.
Back when I learned the sword from her, I'd get told to tighten my elbow, keep my eyes on the tip—every single swing.
Today, she said nothing?
"Rudeus! Stop losing focus!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Apparently not.
She didn't say anything about my posture, though. I must have been doing it right. After all, I'd been practicing swings and forms as much as I possibly could.
"One hundred ninety-seven! Ninety-eight! Ninety-nine! Two hundred! Swings, halt!"
At exactly two hundred, Ghislaine stopped.
Sweat clung to Ghislaine's and Eris's foreheads.
Only two hundred.
But those two hundred had all been swung at full force, no doubt about it.
It wasn't about the number.
Neither of them was particularly winded, though.
Same for me.
Swings were just a warm-up.
"Then, we'll start with the Gale form!"
"Yes!"
Eris and I raised our wooden swords and began executing the forms.
There was no hesitation.
I knew every single one.
These were the basic forms of the Sword God Style—the same ones I'd taught Norn.
After marrying Eris, the two of us had been going through them together nearly every day.
"All right, halt!"
When every form used in training had been completed, Ghislaine called out.
"Match!"
At that command, Eris and I faced each other.
A "match" meant a practice bout between two people.
In most cases, it started with what was known as paired practice. In swordplay, the attacker and defender were split between the two. Normally, the more skilled person took the defensive role, but Eris was the attacker.
It had always been that way, and it hadn't changed after we married.
So it was no different now.
"Begin!"
"Aaaaaah!"
At Ghislaine's signal, Eris lunged forward.
Because this was a forms-based exercise, it wasn't particularly fast. She attacked at the bare speed I could keep up with, ending each strike just short.
Of course, the Sword God Style had no such concept of "pulling" a strike. The old Eris wouldn't have stopped short.
Now she could.
"Switch!"
When the roles reversed, my sword couldn't reach her at all.
There was no need to pull anything.
That was just how large the gap between our swordsmanship was.
I could do a bit better if I used my foresight, but I wasn't using it this time.
When I'd lived in the Fittoa Region, I hadn't had the Eye of foresight.
So I wouldn't use it.
"All right, halt!"
At Ghislaine's command, Eris and I stopped.
Normally, the next step would be ground combat.
Without magic eyes or magic of any kind, if I fought Eris in ground combat, the result would be obvious to anyone.
I was thinking that when Ghislaine looked at me and jerked her chin toward the side.
"Rudeus! You'll observe!"
As I stepped back, Ghislaine took a pace forward.
I retreated about five rows and sat seiza on the grass.
Ghislaine faced Eris, holding her sword low at her hip.
"Eris. This is the last one."
"…Yes."
Eris nodded and took a high guard.
During our practice, she'd never assumed a high stance against me.
Ghislaine in an iai stance, Eris pointing her blade skyward.
Two contrasting positions.
A chill ran down my spine.
The air froze. Time seemed to stop.
I almost had the illusion that what they held were real blades.
An eternity of a moment.
Then a single thread of wind flowed through.
…There had been no signal.
"…"
A deep, resonant clack echoed through the garden.
My eyes couldn't track their movements.
All I witnessed was the result.
The two of them stood in positions as if each had their blade thrust at the other.
The only difference was that the sword in Ghislaine's hand had been shattered from the base.
Eris's sword was slightly bent, but its edge rested against Ghislaine's neck.
"…"
"…"
The two of them held that position for a long moment.
Slowly, they withdrew their blades.
Eris's lips were pressed into a tight line.
Ghislaine, looking solemn, nodded faintly and spoke.
"With this, practice is concluded."
"Thank you so very much!"
Still sitting, I bowed my head at her words.
When I looked up, Eris was still bowing, biting her lower lip. Her brow was furrowed, her cheeks trembling.
"Then, Eris. Young lady… farewell."
"M-Master, please t-take care…!"
Eris raised her head, eyes brimming with large tears, and bowed once more.
Ghislaine said nothing further.
She merely gave me one last glance before leaving the mansion.
In that gaze, I read a clear message: take care of the young lady.
I was sure I wasn't imagining it.
I stood and bowed deeply once more to Ghislaine.
To her, who had taught me the sword. To her, who had protected Eris.
My gratitude was bottomless.
"Waaaahhh! Waaaaahhh!"
The moment Ghislaine vanished from sight, Eris broke into tears.
She wailed at the top of her lungs—as if to drown out her sorrow—her voice carrying far, far away.
---
Before our departure, many people had come to see Sylphie off.
Most were nobles from the Ariel faction, though the vast majority of them hadn't even known Sylphie was a woman. They'd been shocked to learn she was married to me.
But apparently, that didn't change how they treated Sylphie.
They offered brief courtesies and went on their way.
Sylphie put on a smile for each of them, though it was probably all for show.
"This kind of thing really wears me out," she grumbled, looking thoroughly fed up.
But when her two retainers arrived, her face lit up with genuine warmth.
Elmoa Bluewolf.
Kriss Elrond.
They had nothing to do with me, but they were Sylphie's dear friends.
Through tears, they said they hoped to meet again someday.
The last to come was Luke.
He was only there for about fifteen minutes, maybe.
As Ariel's aide and a regional lord, he was getting busier and busier. He'd squeezed this farewell in between his duties.
"Sylphie… well, take care of yourself."
"Yeah."
Luke seemed a bit sheepish—he had trouble meeting Sylphie's eyes.
"And, sorry about that. Saying something that sounded like I was testing you, right at the end."
"It's okay. You were anxious too, so I understand.
But if you'd actually been planning to do something to Lady Ariel…"
"I wasn't sure what I'd have done."
"…Thanks."
"Don't mention it…"
"That exchange felt a bit weird, didn't it?"
"Yeah, it did."
Sylphie and Luke both laughed at that.
After sharing a moment of laughter, Luke scratched his head with a wry "Ah—" as he searched for words.
Then he dropped a bombshell.
"Sylphie. If, for some reason, you can't stay with Rudeus anymore… come to me."
I froze the instant I heard it.
Because, wait—wasn't that basically a proposal?
You don't say that when the husband's standing right there…
"What are you even saying…? Like I'd ever leave Rudy, and even if I did, why would I marry you, Luke?"
"No, nothing about marriage. I just meant—if you ever had nowhere to turn, me, El, Kriss, none of us would hesitate to welcome you."
Luke said it with admirable composure.
Setting romance aside, it was an offer to lean on when times got tough.
How annoyingly smooth.
But I could see sweat on Luke's brow.
Had this guy maybe fallen for Sylphie without realizing it?
He'd gone on about having no interest in flat-chested women…
Then again, it was also a way of putting me on notice.
I'd have to keep improving.
"I don't think it'll come to that, but sure—I'll stop by sometime."
"Yeah, let's meet again."
"Take care, Luke."
Compared to Eris's farewell, it was understated.
Well, it wasn't a goodbye for this lifetime, so I supposed that was fine.
Life was long. If we kept living, there'd be chances to meet again.
"Rudeus."
Just then, Luke came over to me.
What now? Another duel?
"I'm sorry for doubting you along the way."
He apologized.
"No—it was my own suspicious behavior that caused it. Can't blame you at all."
This time, Luke had been manipulated by a Human God apostle. But in the end, I'd been treating both Luke and Ariel as pieces on a board, acting and speaking in ways that invited suspicion.
Even though I'd known Luke had a high likelihood of being a Human God's apostle.
So it wasn't his fault alone.
"And besides, suspecting people is part of your job, Senior Luke."
"…Thanks. That helps."
Luke scratched his cheek and flashed a grin.
"Rudeus—if you ever get tired of Sylphie's body, come to my place. The Notos household employs way more capable maids than this stick you've got here."
"Luke!"
At Sylphie's shout, Luke flinched and laughed.
"Just kidding…"
Then he walked back to his horse.
The way he mounted the white horse with a fluid motion was remarkably elegant. From any angle, he looked every bit a prince.
"Rudeus, take care of Sylphie. Sylphie—stay well."
With those final words, Luke rode off in style.
When we'd first met, I'd thought he was an awful guy. But honestly, if Paul had never left home and we'd grown up under the same roof, we might have gotten along much better…
As I watched his retreating figure alongside Sylphie, that thought crossed my mind.
Well, the farewells were done.
All that was left was to head home.
---
The return trip was supposed to be another month and a half of travel—but it turned out Perugius was going to send us back.
Apparently, over these ten days, Perugius had installed a teleportation circle in the royal castle. We'd use it to travel to his aerial fortress, then onward to a fortress ruin near the magic city Sharia.
From there, it would only take half a day to reach our beloved home.
Compared to the trip here, the return was almost anticlimactic.
When I explained this to Eris, she'd apparently been expecting the journey home to take over a month too.
"What the heck! You made me cry like an idiot for nothing!"
She punched me.
I mean, farewells are important in their own right.
Still, she was right—it was a waste. Eris's precious tears had been shed for nothing.
But seeing Eris feel that way, I got the sense Ghislaine probably felt the same.
Master and disciple—birds of a feather.
Someday, I'd like to show up unannounced and surprise her.
Though, I didn't want to keep pestering Perugius for rides whenever I had nothing to do. I'd save asking for his help for when I actually had business.
…Still, having an emergency means of travel was pretty handy.
Orsted could probably inscribe teleportation circles too.
Maybe I should set up direct routes not just to the Asura Kingdom but to other nations as well.
If only we knew the circles, even the Human God wouldn't be able to destroy them.
Right.
I'd draft a proposal for that.
---
Because we had to use a forbidden teleportation circle, we slipped out of town after the farewells, then snuck back in later to reach the castle.
By the time all that was done, the sun had fully set.
So it worked out that we'd spend the night in the castle.
Our current location was a room inside Perugius's aerial fortress.
The three of us: me, Eris, and Sylphie.
When we'd arrived, there'd been eight.
Now only three were returning.
Even I felt a bit lonely.
Staring into the fire in the hearth, I let that sink in.
Behind me, on the bed, Eris and Sylphie lay side by side.
Normally, they'd have taken separate rooms, but for some reason, both of them had insisted on sleeping in the same room as me.
Maybe they had their reasons.
Maybe today had been a "yes" day.
But with three of us, Eris would clam up, so nothing like that was happening tonight.
In any case, we'd rented a slightly larger room and settled in as a trio, but I found myself oddly wide awake.
With nothing particular to do, I watched the fire in the hearth and let my thoughts wander.
The surroundings were quiet.
Only the crackling of the flames dominated the room.
Gazing at them, I thought about everything that had happened.
I had won.
I had beaten the Human God.
It was no exaggeration to call it a great victory.
We'd suffered no casualties, defeated every apostle, and placed Ariel on the throne.
Well, the coronation was still some ways off…
But for all the grandeur of the victory, doubts gnawed at me, and I felt no real sense of accomplishment.
This had only been a move on the board that Orsted had laid out.
It had been an important battle, sure—but in the end, we'd only taken a single round.
More battles like this would follow.
Battles where anxiety and worry mounted with nothing to show for it, where I couldn't even tell if I'd truly won.
Was I…was I really okay like this?
What had I actually accomplished this time?
Ariel had saved me. I'd nearly gotten Eris killed. Orsted had had to clean up after me.
Was this really all right?
"…Rudy."
Lost in those thoughts, I was startled when Sylphie spoke.
She'd woken up.
"You're still awake?"
"Yeah."
"It's the middle of the night, you know?"
She said it while gazing out the window.
It was dark outside.
Quite a bit of time had passed since the two of them had fallen asleep.
"Phew…"
Rather than going back to sleep, Sylphie sat up next to me.
She pressed her body against mine and rested her head on my shoulder.
I instinctively put my arm around her.
"…"
We spent a while in silence.
Sylphie's body was warm.
She was almost feverish, like she was running a temperature.
When I looked toward the nape of her neck, she lifted her head and our eyes met.
Sylphie's gaze was slightly glistening.
This felt like a moment for a kiss.
I tightened my arm around her, ready to lean in—
"…You know," Sylphie murmured.
"Once I stopped guarding Lady Ariel, I just…lost my drive."
I shelved the kiss and listened.
"Everything is really over now…"
Sylphie looked oddly refreshed.
For eight years, she had served as Ariel's bodyguard.
Eight years.
From age ten to eighteen.
Her entire youth had been spent alongside Ariel and Luke.
Maybe she felt like she'd lost a part of herself.
Could I fill that void for her?
I was no longer Sylphie's friend.
A husband couldn't stand in for a friend.
"So, Rudy—I've been thinking."
When I didn't say anything, Sylphie continued quietly.
"I've been so busy looking after Lady Ariel that I haven't been able to watch Lucy grow much. From now on, I want to stay home."
I looked at her. She wore the expression of someone who'd made a firm decision.
"Lucy's growing up fast, and she's only going to need more and more attention."
As she spoke, Sylphie pressed the top of her head into my shoulder, grinding it gently.
I scratched her head with my fingers.
Her head felt warmer than usual.
"So I want to focus on raising her—on becoming a proper mother."
I didn't think Sylphie was an improper mother. But by this world's standards, she could be seen as having neglected her child.
Leaving parenting entirely to the maids was something only the nobility could get away with.
We weren't nobles.
But I was originally from another world—a country where dual-income households were nothing unusual.
"If there's something else you want to do, you're free to do it, you know."
Sylphie was only eighteen. By this world's standards, she was a full adult—but she'd still only lived eighteen years.
Dreams, ambitions—plenty more would come up.
If she was using motherhood as an excuse to slack off, that'd be one thing. But if she wanted to raise her children while also growing as a person, I was all for it.
Well, maybe that thinking came from my own inadequacy as a father.
"Hmm… something I want to do…"
Sylphie tilted her head and looked up at me.
"You know, I think what I really wanted was to become more like Eris."
"Like Eris?"
What sprang to mind for me, embarrassingly, was her chest.
Sylphie's chest was small, which was fine—but if it got too big, that'd be a problem too.
If she really wanted to make it bigger, I could give her a massage every day…
No, that probably wasn't what she meant.
"Yeah. To stand beside you, Rudy. To fight alongside you.
An equal partnership—where we'd watch each other's backs.
That's the kind of relationship I wanted."
"…"
"But I realized, through all of this, that I'm nowhere close to Eris—or to you, Rudy."
I didn't think that was true.
Sylphie had been strong—more than strong enough.
Sure, her rank might be lower compared to Eris. But that was only to be expected.
Eris had devoted her entire life to reaching that level.
In return, there were many things Sylphie had that Eris didn't.
"So I'm giving up on that and finding a different way to watch your back."
Ah, so that was it.
Sylphie would protect me with the things she had that Eris didn't.
"By being a mother?"
"Yeah. Roxy doesn't seem like she plans to stop teaching anytime soon, so I'll step up and look after the kids at home. I'll give them proper discipline, proper education—raise them into children anyone would be proud of."
That was a kindness beyond words.
And it left me feeling guilty.
I was sure I'd still rarely be around to help with the children. My fight with the Human God wasn't over—working under Orsted would only demand more of me.
Just like this time, I'd be heading off to distant lands, fighting, and coming home.
"So, Rudy—from now on, leave it to me, okay?"
In any case, Sylphie had set a new purpose for herself.
She'd found a new role.
One chapter had closed, and she'd taken a step toward the next.
"Yeah—I'm counting on you."
Suddenly, Sylphie felt unbearably dear to me.
The Sylphie who was always cute looked even more so today.
I couldn't hold back any longer.
I leaned in and kissed her.
Sylphie accepted it without resistance.
I shifted the arm around her shoulders down to her waist.
Sylphie's eyes widened in mild surprise, her brow creasing with a troubled expression as she lifted her hips slightly—
"…!"
That was when I froze—like a warrior turned to stone by Medusa's gaze.
I felt eyes on me.
Where? The bed.
Eris—the one who was supposed to be asleep—was watching.
Watching with blazing eyes.
These were not eyes that were about to hum a cheerful tune.
They were dinosaur eyes.
Why did she always manage to kill her presence at exactly these moments?
Terrifying.
"Let's, uh…go to sleep, maybe?"
"Huh? Oh…yeah, right."
Sylphie and I slipped into bed together with Eris waiting.
Well, there'd be plenty of time for that after we got home.
In this castle, Perugius might walk in on us at any moment.
"Jeez, Eris, don't interrupt like that…"
"S-sorry… but that's not fair, doing something like that…"
"It's not fair? If you want, the three of us could do it right now?"
"N-no way! Like I could do that with three people…how embarrassing…"
If it were just me and Eris, I'd end up in some embarrassing position too, so honestly, the shame was mutual…
Listening to the two of them whisper back and forth, I felt a pleasant sense of contentment.
Sylphie had changed.
Within her, something significant had shifted.
She seemed to have grown immensely from this whole affair.
If that was the case, then I needed to change a little too.
To trust her with my back and move forward—I had to transform myself.
With that thought, I drifted off to sleep.