Since the schedule was set, I went to visit the inn where
But he wasn't there.
I asked someone nearby where the search party headquarters was supposed to be, then headed over.
A perfectly ordinary two-story building.
In what looked like a conference room, Paul was working with remarkable focus.
Amid a group of over a dozen men, he was deep in discussion about something.
Listening in, it seemed a major project was underway.
Since coming to Millision, I'd only ever seen him in one of two states—dead drunk or nursing a hangover. But seeing him work like this, my dear father actually looked rather sturdy and cool.
I'd just caught him at a bad time, was all.
He wasn't actually sitting around getting wasted and causing trouble every single day.
Or so I thought—until I caught more of their conversation.
Apparently, he'd been wallowing in alcohol for the past month and hadn't been doing any real work at all.
Then yesterday, he'd suddenly gotten motivated and reverted to his old self.
He probably wanted to look good in front of me.
In other words, the reason he was working was because of me.
Ah well, I suppose I'm a pretty influential guy.
Anyway, I decided to wait until Paul had some free time.
Standing around doing nothing wasn't ideal, so I explored the building.
In one room, I spotted
Surrounding her were children around her age.
They were happily playing with what looked like building blocks.
This was probably a daycare or something.
"Oh."
Norn and I made eye contact, so I casually raised my hand and called out to her.
Her eyes went wide in surprise—then she immediately glared at me and hurled the block in her hand my way.
I caught it, palm to palm.
"Go away!"
A clear and unequivocal rejection.
Huh.
Had I done something to make her hate me?
If I had to guess, it would be that time I punched Paul.
Yeah. That was probably it.
"Um, Father and I have made up properly, you know?"
I tried explaining, but— "Liar!"
Norn shouted that in a loud voice and darted away.
It seemed she really did hate my guts.
That stung a little.
I returned to what looked like a waiting area and decided to wait for Paul for a while.
Sitting in a corner, I could feel glances flicking my way.
Among them were the same guys who'd tried to kidnap me the other day.
So I really was unpopular around here, huh.
Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, I noticed someone with a conspicuously eye-catching appearance walk in.
Gone was yesterday's plain demeanor—today she was in a bikini armor that could make you wonder what happened to the woman from before, drawing stares from everyone around before she happened to notice me.
And then she walked over.
"Good morning."
"Good morning. What brings you here today?"
The bikini lady smiled warmly and tilted her head slightly.
"Actually, I'm here to see my father. Um—"
Um, what was this woman's name again?
I still hadn't asked.
"Pardon me, I haven't introduced myself yet.
I stood, placed my hand over my chest, and gave a noble-style greeting.
Vera flapped her hands in a panic.
"Oh, um—w-well, I'm Vera.
I'm one of Captain Paul's subordinates."
She answered with a stammer.
When she bowed, the depths of the abyss inevitably came into view.
An assault on the eyes. And poison, at times, becomes medicine, and medicine becomes rejuvenation.
I'd told myself to be restrained, so I really shouldn't have wanted to look— but once my eyes fell there, I couldn't help but keep glancing.
No matter what resolutions I made in my mind, my gaze would drag itself toward that point like a fox being chased.
Cowardly.
"I'm sorry about the other day.
Father has somewhat poor taste in women, so there was a bit of a misunderstanding."
"N-no, no, it's fine. I mean, I'm dressed like this, so it can't be helped."
As I tried to smooth things over, Vera shook her head vigorously.
And with that, a certain part of her jiggled as well.
Bikini armor or not, it seemed to be held in place—but with enough vibration, the motion carried through.
Because it was big.
No, no, no...
Somehow I managed to tear my gaze away.
"I think it'd be best not to wander around men while wearing something like that. It's hard on everyone's eyes. You could at least throw on a cloak, couldn't you?"
"There... there's a reason for it."
Vera answered with a wry smile.
Or was it my imagination, but it felt like the gazes of other party members were gathering.
Had I said something wrong?
I wasn't sure. I'd ask Paul later.
"When will Father be done?"
Changing the subject, Vera tilted her head.
"Well, he's got about a month's worth of backlog piled up, so I think he'll be busy for a while."
"I see... Well, I'm planning to leave Millision in seven days, so could you let him know?"
"Seven days? That's rather sudden."
"For us, it's pretty much normal."
"I see... Understood. I'll go get Sheila for you. Please wait a moment."
With that, she trotted off toward the back of the building.
Before long, she returned with a healing magician in a robe.
The moment she caught my eye, she let out a small "mmph" and hid behind Vera.
"The captain's schedule is packed, but he'll have time free four nights from now. If you'd like to have dinner, that would be when."
"I wouldn't want to force anything."
"When the captain talks with you, he comes alive.
So even if it means being a little pushy, I'm asking you to please come."
Sheila answered in a flat tone despite hiding behind Vera.
I was really unpopular here—no, feared, probably.
It was annoying, but... whatever.
"Four nights from now, got it. Should I just go to the inn?"
"We always reserve a restaurant for the party, so please come directly there. The location is—"
Sheila calmly relayed the place and time.
It was a restaurant called "Lazy Millis," located in the commercial district.
I asked about a dress code, but apparently there wasn't one.
Still, it felt like I was being set up for a dinner with the CEO of some major corporation.
Having a secretary manage the schedule—Paul had really made it big.
"Will anyone be accompanying you?"
When she asked that at the end,
"No, I'm going alone."
And with that, our arrangements were complete, and I left the building.
--- Well, one week was short. I had to use it wisely.
With that thought, I made my way to the Adventurers Guild in Millision.
As befitting a headquarters, it was a massive building.
Two stories, and the largest guild hall I'd seen yet.
That said, I'd seen plenty of large buildings, so I wasn't particularly impressed.
First order of business: gathering intelligence.
Specifically, about the Fittoa Region.
But I couldn't learn anything beyond what Paul had already told me.
The most knowledgeable people around here were, as expected, Paul's search party.
Next, I looked into information about the monsters around Millision.
The threat level was vastly different from the Demon Continent.
Giant Locust—essentially just a big grasshopper.
Meat Cut Rabbit—a carnivorous rabbit.
Rock Worm—a large earthworm.
And so on.
Most of them were extremely low-risk creatures.
Even their size was smaller compared to the Demon Continent.
On that unforgiving land, monsters regularly dwarfed humans by several times over.
Even the Pax Coyote that we'd driven to the brink of extinction—slight exaggeration—had been over two meters long.
Acid Wolves were three meters or more.
The Great King Land Tortoise averaged around eight meters, with the largest exceeding twenty.
During the rainy season in the Great Forest, many monsters had been roughly human-sized.
By comparison, most of the monsters around Millision were small enough to barely reach a person's knee.
Being bigger didn't necessarily mean being stronger, but sheer size alone could serve as a weapon.
In short, the monsters around Millision were weak.
Safety was a good thing.
Next, I considered how to restore the Supard Race's honor.
But that was going to be difficult.
The reason was that Millision apparently had a faction that sought to drive out the Demon Race.
Leading that faction was one of the Milis Holy Knight orders—the Temple Knights.
They loudly advocated for the expulsion of the Demon Race from the Millis Continent.
That said, the strongest force in Millision right now was not that faction.
It was the group that advocated coexistence with the Demon Race.
And since their leader was the current Pope, the Temple Knights couldn't openly push for expulsion.
But if a member of the Demon Race caused trouble in town, they'd come rushing in to make a fuss.
Once they had justification on their side, they could act aggressively regardless of their actual strength.
If
The Temple Knights' watchful gaze was constant throughout the city.
So what about outside the city?
That thought led me to take on a quest.
It was a Rank B quest that had just been posted.
A single monster was causing trouble in a nearby village.
It was within day-trip distance.
The target: a green tiger.
Green Leaf Tiger.
Normally, this was a species found in the southern part of the Great Forest.
For whatever reason, it had migrated south from the forest and settled near here.
Its base color was mottled green, overlaid with brown patterns, allowing it to blend perfectly into forest scenery.
Because of its exceptional stealth and the fact that it typically hunted in small packs, it was classified as Rank B.
However, since this particular target was alone and on flat ground, it was less dangerous than an Acid Wolf.
If ranking by danger alone, it'd be at most a D-rank job.
Back when I was on the Demon Continent, finding quests like this would have made my day.
When I arrived, I happened to spot a green tiger leisurely leaving the village with a chicken in its mouth.
It noticed me, dropped its prey, and let out a growl— but Eris said "Leave it to me," took off at a sprint, and split the thing clean in two before I could blink.
Quest complete. Almost anticlimactic.
The villagers were enormously grateful.
Apparently this tiger had been rampaging through the area recently, causing considerable damage to livestock and villagers alike.
Normally, one of the Holy Knight orders would have come to protect this village.
But apparently, there had been a major incident the other day—a saint had been attacked nearby.
The Temple Knights' escort unit was wiped out, save for the unit commander.
The saint had been rescued at the last moment, but the commander was held responsible and removed from his post.
On top of that, there had been numerous troubling incidents involving the kidnapping of slaves, so the knights were already on edge. When that attack happened, both the Church and the knights went into full disarray.
As a result, a dangerous Rank B monster was left to roam free, and they had no choice but to post a quest with the Adventurers Guild.
Well, whatever the knights were up to had nothing to do with us.
Anyway, now that I had the information, it was time to experiment.
I would promote the Supard Race to these people.
In truth, Ruijerd was Supard, and the Supard Race were doing good deeds and traveling the world to befriend all peoples.
On first impression, Supard were a hard-to-warm-up-to race.
So, this statue— If I showed them this and mentioned Ruijerd's name, no matter how terrifying a Supard's appearance might be, they'd soften their attitude in an instant and loosen up like a gruff old grandfather seeing his grandchild.
Within minutes, they'd be soul brothers for life.
That was what I explained.
I thought it was a pretty perfect sales pitch, if I do say so myself.
But the village chief gave me a lukewarm reaction.
He was grateful to Ruijerd personally, but said that something like this wouldn't eliminate prejudice against the Demon Race as a whole, and as followers of Milis, they had reservations about possessing a statue of a demon.
He pushed the statue back at me.
The experiment didn't go well.
It seemed I couldn't skip to success in one leap after all.
Or maybe it had to be a cute anime girl figurine to work.
Should I consider turning Ruijerd into a female figurine, starting now?
No, that would defeat the purpose.
"So you were making things like this..."
On the way back to Millision, Ruijerd was staring at the figurine with genuine admiration.
"That's right! Rudeus is really good at making these!"
And for some reason, Eris was beaming with pride.
This time it got rejected, but my figurines actually sold for a pretty good price.
They were sought-after pieces that caught the eye of Beast Race Sword Kings and princes from various countries.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them royal commission quality.
I was puffing up with pride at the thought when— "Still, this stance has openings everywhere."
"Right, the stance isn't great either. Needs to be lower..."
In the end, I got rejected on technical merits too.
*Dejected face.* --- Three days later, the night before the dinner.
It was a family dinner, but I had nothing to wear.
There was supposedly no dress code, but the clothes I'd bought on the Demon Continent looked rather shabby around here.
So I brought Eris along and went shopping for clothes.
It was essentially a date.
That said, it wasn't exactly romantic.
Eris wasn't very proactive about buying clothes—she had a "whatever's fine" attitude.
I picked out something for her as well.
From here on out, we'd be in human territory.
First impressions were judged by appearance.
At the very least, I wanted to look respectable enough not to be dismissed at a glance.
If only I knew someone here who was knowledgeable about current fashion trends.
Among my acquaintances, there was the monkey-faced newcomer or Vera—but I had no idea where the monkey-faced guy was, and I wasn't close enough to Vera to ask such a favor.
A high-end shop would have staff who could advise me, but such stores probably didn't carry adventurer-oriented clothing.
It would feel awkward to take advice and then buy nothing.
Having something like that in my wardrobe might come in handy someday, but the thought of possibly never using it made it hard to justify.
Thanks to Paul's support, I had money to spare, but I didn't want to waste it.
So I decided to observe passersby and judge from their outfits.
Eris and I sat down at the roadside and watched people go by, practically announcing that our hobby was people-watching.
Slightly, there were more people wearing blue.
On top of that, some wore jackets and some didn't.
The climate was mild, so the jackets were lightweight.
"Blue seems to be the trend lately."
"Blue doesn't suit you, Rudeus."
Eris shut that down immediately.
Well, I had zero interest in chasing fashion trends anyway.
"So what do you think would suit me?"
"You already have the one Geese gave you, don't you? That'll do."
That fur vest.
The thing was, it was a bit too large on me.
The hem was long enough that it looked like a coat.
That said, it was comfortable enough to wear on chilly days...
"It's not bad, but the hem's a bit long."
"Yeah, it is pretty long. Why not cut it?"
"That'd be a waste. I've grown taller too."
While having that conversation, we settled on what to buy.
The reason it didn't take much time was probably a reflection of how little interest both Eris and I had in fashion.
Or so I thought—but Eris ended up buying a black dress at the last minute.
It was quite stylish—black fabric with white rose embroidery.
"Eris, you're buying that?"
"...What? Is that a problem?"
"No. I think it'd suit you."
"Hmph. I don't need flattery."
And with that exchange, the day's shopping was complete.
--- The night of the dinner.
I told Eris that I'd be having dinner with Paul and the family tonight, and she immediately said she wanted to come too.
If it weren't for recent events, I'd have gladly said "sure, come along"—but Eris still harbored hostility toward Paul.
You could call it murderous intent; it was that strong.
I couldn't blame her for feeling that way, but I'd already made up my mind to make peace with Paul.
If that were the only consideration, I'd have worked to mend things between Eris and Paul as well—but this time, it was a rare family dinner after years apart.
My relationship with Norn still hadn't been patched up either.
So I asked Eris to sit this one out.
I put on the freshly bought clothes and headed to the restaurant as the new-and-improved Rudy.
I avoided back alleys as much as possible.
Back alleys were crawling with kidnappers, and in some places, it quite literally rained blood.
Getting blood on these clothes would be a disaster.
The main streets were dangerous too.
It being dinnertime, people were walking around carrying skewered meats they'd bought from outdoor stalls.
A single collision and—splat.
Obvious enough.
So I unsealed my magic eye.
Predicting one second ahead, I gracefully wove through the crowds.
I arrived.
I'd been on guard since she mentioned a reservation, but it was a perfectly ordinary establishment.
A tavern not attached to any inn, frequented mostly by townsfolk, with no threatening atmosphere about the clientele.
I entered, gave my name to the waiter, and was led to my seat.
There sat Paul, wearing a wry grin, and Norn, looking sulky.
"Sorry, was I a bit late?"
"No... My fault, really. Sheila was making a big fuss about it.
I said the usual tavern would be fine, but..."
"What's wrong with something different once in a while?"
Saying that, I took my seat.
Norn kept facing away.
"Come on, Norn, that's your big brother. Say hello."
"I don't want to. I don't want to eat with the person who hit Daddy."
"Hey, you can't say things like that.
Daddy gets hit too when he does something wrong."
"Daddy didn't do anything wrong!"
Norn puffed out her cheeks in the most adorable display of sulking.
It reminded me of
Whenever something didn't go her way, Zenith used to sulk just like that and give Paul a hard time.
Maybe Norn had inherited that streak.
Norn let Paul pet her head for a while in his easygoing way, then fixed me with a glare.
It was slightly upward-glancing.
She probably meant it to be intimidating, but it was just cute.
"Daddy's been working so, so hard!"
"Yes, I know."
"He's not out playing with other women!"
"I've heard as much. I apologize for doubting him."
"He's always nice to me too!"
Tears began to well up in Norn's eyes.
This was bad.
Had I said something terrible?
Crying was a no-go.
"Daddy was always about to cry, you know!"
"...Is that so?"
"Well, lately, yeah..."
Paul and I fumbled through our responses as Norn looked like she might cry.
"Daddy is pitiful, you know!"
"..."
"..."
"Hitting him was so cruel!"
I looked at that and let out a deep sigh in my heart.
Paul and Norn had been teleported together.
I'd heard how it went.
Along the way, Norn had fallen ill and even been attacked by monsters.
The one who had protected her through all of that was Paul.
Separated from her mother, from the maid, from her sister— with anxiety squeezing her heart— Paul had been her sole ally, her only family she could rely on.
And then a man she'd never met shows up out of nowhere, pins him down, and beats him.
It was a situation ripe for trauma.
"Norn, that was—"
"Father, it can't be helped."
If I'd been a few years older, we might have been able to talk it through.
But at this age, it was difficult.
Both of us had been in the wrong, and we'd acknowledged each other's faults and reached an understanding.
Making a child that young grasp that concept was still beyond her.
Norn was still young.
And if I were in her position, I wouldn't forgive someone who'd punched my father either.
Being disliked by Norn here was inevitable.
In a few more years, we could sit down and have a proper conversation.
By then, Norn would surely understand.
Time was finite, but it had the power to settle things.
Paul, however, didn't seem to see it that way.
"No, but she might only have one brother and one sister left now. We should all get along."
She might only have one brother and one sister left.
The meaning behind those words hit me, and I furrowed my brow.
"Father, please don't say such ominous things."
"...You're right. Sorry."
Oh no. The mood had turned heavy.
Alright, time to change the subject.
"So, Father, what's this restaurant's specialty?
I skipped lunch today, so I'm starving."
It was an obvious subject change, but Paul caught on.
With an awkward laugh, he answered.
"Mm, let's see. They've got a good seafood stew with fish from the southern sea.
Then there's beef. Around here, there are a lot of farms raising cattle.
It's got a different flavor from
"That sounds great. Meat on the Demon Continent was terrible."
"Great King Land Tortoise, was it? Monster meat is usually pretty awful."
The conversation with Paul flowed smoothly from there, but Norn still kept her face turned away.
She'd answer when Paul spoke to her, but she never once looked at me.
I told myself it couldn't be helped, but it still stung.
It reminded me of what I'd done to Paul the other day.
My chest ached.
I'd done a terrible thing to Paul.
"Oh, that reminds me, Father—there's something I wanted to ask."
"What is it?"
"Do you know someone named Gash Brush?"
"...No, I don't. Where did you hear that name?"
So I asked about the letter Ruijerd had brought.
I'd made a copy of the crest as well, and showed it to him.
"Sheep, hawk, and sword. A family of guardian knights, it looks like.
But I don't recognize the name Gash Brush.
I'm not that well-informed about Milis nobility either..."
"I see. Maybe Sheila would know?"
"Could be. I'll ask her later."
I felt a faint unease about the letter Ruijerd had brought, but the conversation moved on.
After that, it turned to idle talk again.
The topic of birthdays.
Apparently, starting about a month before my tenth birthday, the monsters in the forest had become unusually active.
Paul and Zenith had been busy dealing with it and hadn't had time to send birthday presents.
The surge had apparently subsided the day before my birthday, but just as they were thinking about sending something, the Teleportation happened.
"By the way, what were you planning to send?"
"From me, it was gauntlets. I found them deep in the warehouse and felt bad about it, but they were Mana-imbued items from deep inside a dungeon.
Light as feathers. They didn't fit me, but I thought they might fit you."
"Oh, so things like that exist?"
"Yep. As for Zenith, she said hers was a secret—but Lillia was looking at a small locked box with a satisfied expression, so it was probably that."
"A box."
I wondered what it had been. It piqued my curiosity.
But there was no use dwelling on something I'd never receive.
The conversation then turned to Zenith's family.
Apparently, Zenith's family was a distinguished house that had produced numerous outstanding knights.
Zenith had been effectively disowned, and my grandparents hadn't been eager to join the search.
But after seeing Norn, they'd completely changed their attitude.
Grandparents everywhere were weak for their grandchildren, no matter the world.
"If I showed my face, would we get more funding?"
"No, you showing up would probably backfire..."
"...Yeah, I figured."
I could probably fake being an adorable grandchild, but I'd likely end up digging my own grave.
Better not risk it.
We chatted like that, enjoyed a pleasant meal, and parted ways with Paul.
In the end, Norn had her back to me the entire time—but it had still been a meaningful dinner.
--- Before I knew it, the week was over.
The day of departure. Location: the entrance to the Adventurers District.
I was about to climb into the carriage and set off when Paul showed up to see me off.
"Rudy. You could stay a little longer, you know."
Paul was saying something sentimental, but it was a bit late for that.
"A little longer, a little longer—and before I knew it, I'd end up lingering for about a year."
"I haven't even made up with Norn yet."
"When it comes to Norn, it won't be too late even after we find three more."
Besides, I glanced at Eris.
Eris was being gripped by the scruff of the neck by Ruijerd, glaring at Paul with a demonic expression.
I'd thought she'd switched gears quickly, but apparently not.
"I'm not the only one who wants to see family."
"I suppose. But the Boreas household probably..."
"Don't."
I cut off Paul's troubled expression with a hand.
"It's just that we haven't received word yet. By the time we reach the Fittoa Region, Philip and Sauros might have already returned."
"...Right. Yeah. But listen, Rudy."
Paul said with a serious expression.
"Don't be too optimistic.
Even if Philip and the others make it back safely, with a disaster of that scale, there's no telling what will happen."
"What do you mean?"
Paul lowered his voice slightly.
"There's talk that Philip's older brother might pin all the blame on one side to protect himself."
Now that he mentioned it, that did seem plausible.
Sauros as the feudal lord, Philip as the town mayor.
They were the ones responsible for the region.
Even if they returned unharmed, they'd still have to answer for losing their territory and people.
I didn't know exactly how Asura Kingdom law handled noble accountability.
But at the very least, even if the two returned safely, they wouldn't simply continue on as before.
Or, to cut off Philip's brother's escape route and politically crush him, they might even be assassinated in the chaos.
"If anything happens, you protect the young lady.
Some people might try to bring up noble obligations, but just ignore them."
"I will. I'll keep that firmly in mind."
I composed my face and nodded.
Paul looked proud and nodded in return.
"Oh, and about the owner of that letter—Sheila doesn't recognize the name either."
"I see..."
"She did say he probably wasn't a dangerous person, though."
"Understood. Please pass along my thanks."
Paul gave a small nod.
Then he turned around and called out to the girl behind him.
"Come on, Norn, say goodbye to your big brother."
"...No."
Norn was hiding behind Paul.
She peeked out just enough for half her face to show, which was honestly adorable.
She'd grow up to be a beauty like Zenith someday.
"Norn, I don't know how many years it will be, but let's meet again."
"...No."
Norn refused to look me in the eye until the very end.
I gave a wry smile and returned to the carriage.
And just like that, I departed from Millision.
--- Paul's Perspective --- Rudeus had departed.
As always, he was impressive.
One thing after another, handled decisively, always moving forward.
Elinariese had told me I was living too fast—but what would she think if she met Rudeus?
I'd like to introduce them someday, but...
No, better not.
I had no desire to become Elinariese's papa.
While I was lost in thought, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned to see the monkey-faced man grinning.
"So, Paul. You done saying goodbye to your son?"
"Geese..."
I couldn't thank this monkey-faced man enough.
Without him, Rudeus and I would still be at each other's throats.
"I owe you a lot."
"Don't mention it."
That was when I noticed Geese was dressed for travel.
"Hey, Geese—where are you headed?"
"Haven't decided. But there's still plenty of places I haven't searched yet, right?"
At those words, I realized Geese was going to continue the search on his own.
It was a shock.
Geese should have been the one who suffered the most from the party disbanding.
He lacked combat ability—could do a bit of everything but wasn't proficient at anything.
No other party would take him in, and he couldn't handle quests alone.
He'd been forced to give up being an adventurer.
He'd have every right to resent me more than anyone.
"Why... why would you go that far for us?"
Hearing that, the monkey-faced man twisted his mouth into his usual wry, nihilistic smile.
"Superstition."
With those same old words, he turned his back to me.
I put my hand on my hip and smiled ruefully.
His superstitions were too numerous to count.
But I felt something warm inside, and I watched Geese's back until it disappeared from view.
"Alright."
I let out a shout to psych myself up and hoisted Norn onto my shoulder.
I was overflowing with determination.
First, I would successfully lead the great migration of refugees.
After that, I would absolutely find the rest of my family.
With that resolve, I headed back into town.