—-- Leon Greyrat —--

It had been a few months since setting off from Rikaruisu, and the Fangs of the Red Wolf were now a B-ranked party.

As for our progress in making our way to the Central Continent, we were about a third of our way down the Demon Continent, and as we had been constantly travelling for so long, we decided to take a little break at the city of Zentoria, a large trading hub that separated the ‘south’ from the ‘north’ of the Demon Continent.

With towering grey city walls and rocky streets, it painted quite a dreary picture, but with the bustling population, it was still a lively place despite the scenery.

But then again, most of the Demon Continent was like that. At least the urban centres, that is

Man, I really missed Asura: the green plains, the distant mountains, the food… especially the food.

Oh, and the people too.

I wasn’t racist by any means, but it’s been getting quite annoying to get stared at wherever we go simply for being the only humans around.

“Leon. Where are we staying today?” Ruijerd asks from the side.

“Hmm… we can probably treat ourselves to a B-rank inn if we haggle a good deal,” I respond. “I don’t want to go exterminating bugs before bed, after all.”

“I see,” he nods. “And what are the other three doing?”

“Girl stuff,” I say. “Don’t ask more than that.”

“Got it.”

When Eris demanded to go get some stuff on her own, I was initially hesitant, as she had a history of getting into trouble, especially as she had picked up more of the Demon God tongue. But when I pressed for an answer, she remained evasive.

Thinking back, I really should have left it at that, but I just had to ask if it was ‘that’ time of the month, and got a touki-enhanced punch as a result.

Needless to say, I took it gracefully, as I knew I deserved it.

As for Norn and Aisha joining her? Well, I could only guess that they wanted to have some girl time together, and I trusted Eris enough to watch over them.

And if they ended up in trouble… well, Aisha knew to fire off a signal with magic if she needed to, plus we had Ruijerd’s jewel.

As Ruijerd and I continued wandering the street, I soon felt a tug at my belt, and a moment later, noticed that my coin purse had been snatched.

“Haa… Ruijerd, let’s follow them,” I say, turning into an alley.

“Of course… but why didn’t you stop them?” Ruijerd asks.

I shake my head, “Don’t you know? Thieves aren’t treated well in these parts.”

Plus, from how small the person was, I had a feeling they were likely a kid, so I had a feeling Ruijerd would agree with my decision.

But still… that was all my spending money, so I couldn’t exactly let this go.

I guess I’d buy them a meal if they needed it.

Jogging into an alley and weaving through a few paths, we eventually heard a commotion just up ahead.

“Damn brat! The fuck do you think you’re doing!?”

Haa… great. 

Personally, I was fine with forgiving the kid, but that didn’t go for everyone else.

Turning the corner, I see a large dog-like demon standing over the crumpled form of a crying child, their scaly red skin reminding me of that dumb kid back in Rikariusu.

Kurt, was it? Or something like that.

Anyway, this… did not look good.

Especially with a certain someone behind me.

“I-I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” the kid pleads.

“I don’t give a shit! Didn’t your family teach you that stealing was bad?”

The man then raises his fist.

“Well, if they didn’t, I’ll just do it in their place. Just be glad I’m not taking your hand, damn thief!”

Before he could swing down though, I felt the wind blow past me, and in the next moment, the man was pinned to the wall.

“You dare hit a child!?” a shout echoes through the alley.

“Ghak!”

…With a spear lodged in his neck.

“Lament in the afterlife, scum!”

And with a twist, blood sprayed across the ground, leaving the demon to crumple lifelessly to the ground.

What… the fuck.

“Ruijerd!” I shout, running forward. “What in the absolute hell did you just do!?”

He turns back at me a bit confused, “What do you mean? He hit a child!”

“What? T-That…”

This guy… what in the hell?

Shaking his head, Ruijerd then turns to the kid. “Now, child-”

“G-Get away!” the kid screams, scurrying back against the wall. “D-Don’t kill me! Please!”

He was scared. Terrified. As if the disguise Ruijerd had used had no effect at all.

I could tell that Ruijerd was confused, and a little hurt, as this reaction was one he hadn’t gotten since he first met Norn and Aisha.

Right… we definitely need to have a talk.

I know he sees himself as the ‘protector of children’ and sees offences against said children by adults as the greatest of sins, but this… this was too much.

Taking my coin pouch from the kid, and burning the corpse of the man, I block off the alley, creating a small room for me and Ruijerd as the child ran away back to the street.

“What’s with this?” he asks skeptically.

“You really don’t know?” I say, stupified. “You killed that guy like it was nothing!”

Now, I wasn’t one to be a pacifist, but I also only took the lives of those who were aiming to harm me and those I loved, just as Paul and Mama taught me.

After all, while taking a life was often needed in combat, it was also something that couldn’t be taken back. There was no magic that could revive the dead unless you wanted to create a monster.

“And what’s wrong with that?” he asks, genuinely confused. “I stopped a child from being unnecessarily hurt, and put down a disgrace of a warrior.”

“And in doing so, you also scared the kid,” I add.

“That… is of no consequence,” he says, wincing slightly. 

I shake my head in exasperation, “Isn’t that your goal? To revive the good name of the Superd? You won’t get many good looks when you act like a viscous murderer.”

“My tribe’s honour means nothing in the face of protecting children,” he shakes his head once again.

“Well, while that’s all great and noble, you could also do both,” I interject. “And while I don’t care too much about that kid, I won’t allow you to scare Norn and Aisha.”

Ruijerd narrows his eyes, “Are you… telling me to let villains go?”

“I’m telling you to make sure they’re villains first,” I glare back at him.

Jeez, that fierce look of his really is frightening. No wonder that kid ran off.

“What do you mean? He hit a defenceless child, are you saying that’s not the acts of a villain?” he says, voice raising slightly at the end.

“And are you sure such a thing warrants death?” I return back. “You don’t know his story,” I point to the ashes. “Perhaps the kid stole money that would be used to feed his kid. Maybe he got hit himself as a kid and simply thinks of that as an acceptable punishment. Did you think of that, Ruijerd?”

Ruijerd averts his eyes, “I… still don’t understand.”

Haa… fuck everything. 

I wasn’t watching over three kids on my journey, I was actually watching over four.

“It’s about misunderstandings,” I say. “Although I’m not as good as my brother, I’m pretty damn good at magic, much like Laplace was.”

Ruijerd looks back at me warily, “What do you mean by that…”

“What I mean is, if I had decided to make a name for myself, and show off my skills, some may have ended up calling me the ‘reincarnation of Laplace’, or something similar. If you met me with such a name, what if you ended up killing me as revenge?” I ask.

“That… no, I wouldn’t go so far…” he says.

“Are you sure? Because I’m not so confident.”

We fall into an uncomfortable silence as Ruijerd fiddles with his spear.

“Haa… look, Ruijerd, if anyone should get wanting to understand others, it's you. You would be a hypocrite otherwise,” I eventually say.

“What… do you mean?” he asks, still confused.

“Your past. The Superd’s sins. They are not a myth, but rather a situation that requires understanding to remove the stain on your people,” I explain. “The least you should do is extend that thinking to others, lest you wander alone for another five centuries with nothing to show for it.”

His grip on his spear tightens as he clenches his fist, “Then… are you saying everything I have done so far has been for nothing?”

“Yeah. I mean, you should know that the best,” I nod.

I mean, it might be a bit harsh, but it was the abject truth.

His frown deepens as his face turns sad.

…I didn’t like seeing such a look on such a proud and respectable man.

“Look, now that you know what to do, and how to better your reputation, you can keep moving on,” I say. “The past is unchangeable, but the longer you keep living with this new worldview, the shorter your past will become until it’s a tiny fraction of your life’s experiences. As will your tribe’s sins.”

Fuck. That definitely sounded too poetic, didn’t it?

Well, whatever. I think I got my point across.

“I… I understand now,” he says, lifting his head. “Somewhat, at least.”

…Really? Just like that?

I had my doubts, but there was no need to voice them.

“Good. Now let’s check the inns before it gets too late,” I say, removing the wall I had created. “And perhaps we should take our break at the next city instead, just in case.”

—-- Leon Greyrat —--

Taking a deep breath in, I then drop down, keeping my body flat as I bring my chest to hover just above the ground, holding it in place for a moment, before pushing back up, extending my arms straight.

A perfect push-up form. A teaching of Paul’s which was so ingrained in my body that it no longer required any thought to complete.

And so, I continued.

478. 479. 480-

“Brother! Can you stop moving for a second? I’m trying to read here,” Aisha says from my bare back.

How ridiculous.

“No. Actually, why are you even on my back while I’m exercising?” I ask. “Both you and Norn should have expected me to move.”

“Because we give you more weight!” Aisha returns, slapping my back. “You should be grateful!”

This kid…

Raising a hand, I summon a small ball of water before sending it toward her head, splashing upon impact.

“Ah! Why!?” she exclaims.

“You know why,” I retort with a smile. “Now hop off, we have to get ready for our quest.”

“Agh, fine! Are we eating first?” Aisha asks, snapping her book shut.

“Hmm… we probably should. I’ll get started-”

“Nope!” Aisha shakes her head. “Norn and I got that covered!”

Norn nods her head in agreement.

“...Why?” I ask.

“Because we can cook!” Aisha says. “And your food is gross!”

…Ouch.

Ruijerd and Eris are fine with it though.

“Like, really gross!” she continues. “Really really-”

“I get it, I get it,” I say, clicking my tongue. “Jeez, you don’t have to rub it in my face, you know? It’s rude.”

“Hehe, but you’re so good at everything, Brother,” Aisha says with a wide smile. “Except for cooking.”

…

“Let’s go.”

Getting up and putting my shirt on, I open the tent’s flaps to see Eris and Ruijerd in the middle of a spar.

“Hyat! Hah!”

Twisting her body, Eris releases a slash faster than a speed of sound, nearly catching Ruijerd’s cheek.

The keyword: nearly.

Missing the strike, Ruijerd then connects a string of attacks too quickly for Eris to defend, leaving her tumbling to the ground.

A quick counter, just as every spar between the two goes.

“Do you understand now?” Ruijerd says.

“Gah! Haa, yes, yes, I understand… Dammit! I’m still too weak!” Eris laments, getting to her feet and stomping her foot against the ground.

“You’ll grow with time. You’re strength is already admirable,” Ruijerd nods. “You can call yourself a true warrior.”

…Oh, they were doing this right now?

“R-Really!?” Eris smiles. “Then that means…”

“That I will no longer treat you as a child, but rather as an equal,” Ruijerd states.

Eris pumps her fist in delight before quickly stopping, her lips curling into a frown.

“But… I still couldn’t beat you,” she says.

Ruijerd shakes his head, “That doesn’t matter. What does is that you can protect yourself, and more importantly, you can protect the weak. Be proud, Eris Boboreas Greyrat.”

“I see… Wait! No! That’s not my name at all!” Eris shouts, stomping her feet.

Ruijerd just smiled in response.

In the few months since our little scuffle in Zentoria, the man had seemed to have taken my words to heart and mellowed out a bit, deciding to talk a bit more before jumping to conclusions.

But then again, I wouldn’t know exactly how much he had understood me until we got into an encounter similar to last time.

“Hey, you two,” I interrupt. “Are you ready for the quest?”

“Of course I am!” Eris says pridefully.

Watching the sweat drip down her face before she then lifts her shirt to wipe it off, revealing her toned stomach, I feel a familiar heat rise throughout my body.

The heat of arousal.

Whether it was the stress, or perhaps because of natural timing, my puberty had calmed down since our teleportation, but ever since I had gotten used to our new life and things became more calm and casual, these strange feelings had been bubbling to the surface once again.

And it was even worse whenever Eris and I slept together. To the point where I had to volunteer for guard duty just to escape doing something embarrassing.

“Er, right… Ahem! Ruijerd?” I turn to the man. “Do you mind watching over these two from afar? I wanted to take this one on with Eri.”

“Alright,” Ruijerd nods. “But be vigilant. Rampagers are not to be underestimated, especially when it is your first time facing one.”

“Yeah, we got it. You already told us all about it,” Eris returns.

Rampagers.

At least, that’s what Ruijerd called them, were monsters whose magic stones were growing too large, or monsters that couldn’t handle a magic stone at all, and as a result went on a rampage to use up all the accumulated mana, hence the name.

We had gotten this quest from the last city that made us go quite a bit away from our planned path, but the reward was tantalizing enough to do so.

But I was confident.

After all, this continent would have fallen long ago if an A-rank quest couldn’t be completed by a Sword Saint and another swordswoman who was close to it.

“Yeah. But let’s eat up first. Apparently,” I glare down at Aisha, “my food tastes bad, so these two will be doing it instead.”

Not showing even an ounce of shame, Aisha simply sends a cheeky smile my way, “Hehe~!”

Little brat…

—-- Leon Greyrat —--

“Eri? You ready?”

“Yeah… are you taking the front?”

“If you’ll be so kind,” I slowly unsheathe my sword. “I have something I want to test, you see.”

She looks back at me, “...Is this really the time? Ruijerd said not to underestimate it…”

“Yeah, but what can you do,” I shrug. “If I want to try it out in combat, it has to be a good enough challenge.”

Narrowing my eyes, I look forward at the ‘Rampager’, this one being a species of Basilisk. Originally, these things were marked as B-rank threats individually, and A-rank as a group, but since it had an influx of mana, it was marked as an A-rank quest even though it was alone.

Basilisks, which originated from the Gaslow Region, were snake-like monsters that were capable of using petrifying breath.

The petrification was able to be cured with Detoxification magic, but in the middle of combat, it would be a death sentence.

“...I thought you were more cautious than that,” Eris says.

“Do you dislike me this way?”

“Hah?” she shakes her head. “N-No… Whatever! Just go!”

“Alright then…”

Holding my sword forward, I then closed my eyes, focusing on the feeling I had been training over my free time.

An idea born all the way back to when Roxy left, or more specifically, the gift she gave me before leaving.

Cumulonimbus.

A powerful spell, but ultimately useless in a fight. Even so, I couldn't help but marvel at the freedom it gave me while also creating a new element, different from the normal four that we know today.

The image… electrons, freely moving across the lattice of my sword, hopping from atom to atom as they created a current. And with the image of lightning… bright, fast, loud… and then pumping magic into my blade…

“Whoa!” Eris exclaims. “The heck is that!?”

Opening my eyes, I looked down at my sword to see white electricity crackling along the blade, thrumming with power as the scent of ozone wafted into my nose.

Heh. Okay, that worked, just like I had practiced before. Now it was time to see how it would help in combat.

Even if it ended up fizzling out in the heat of battle, I would still be fine with my regular swordsmanship.

“Right. Let’s go, Eri,” I say, leaping forward.

“Got it!”

Running forward, the air cracks as I break the sound barrier with my speed, and with this, the Basilisk turns its head our way, alerted to our presence.

“Watch for it’s breath!” I say jumping to the side.

“I already heard about that!” 

Eris… understands… I hope.

With the Basilisk rearing its head, I ran alongside the rocky dirt to its side, trying to find an opening to attack from behind so that it would face away from me.

But snake-like monsters, as I had learned, were annoyingly amazing at maneuverability. And this one was no different.

Slithering across the ground, it uncoils its body with a start, sending it flying in the air my way.

…Welp. Let’s hope this ‘lightning sword’ holds.

Digging my feet into the ground, I lean into a crouch as I wait for it to get a bit closer.

Time crawls to a stop as I watch the wide set of jaws approach, as well as a grey mist swelling from the depths of the Basilisk’s throat.

That… must be the petrification breath, right?

Definitely got to dodge that.

My gaze shifting to the side, I noticed that Eris was ready to pounce on the thing’s tail.

Good. She was safe.

Jumping forward, my next step lands just under the Basilisk’s neck.

Wait… was its whole body considered a neck? Whatever, not important.

Jumping up, I slash at its scales, my sword dealing a deep gash as blood seeped through, the majority of the wound instantly cauterized from the lightning.

Scurrying back, the Basilisk also retreats for a moment, its body curling up to hide its white underbelly that I had just wounded.

Wait… was that its weak point?

“Dammit!” Eris shouts, landing beside me. “I can’t cut it!”

It seemed to be…

“I’ll give you an opening, so just-”

I then leap to the side as a tail slams right where I was a moment before, creating a giant cloud of dust in its wake.

Knowing Eris’ abilities, I knew that she was alright, but I should keep my word, shouldn’t I?

Generating a gale under my feet, I rocket into the sky, sending a wave of fireballs toward the Basilisk to keep it distracted as I remained in the air.

Okay… now, my ‘lightning sword’ seemed to be working well, but it was quite useless as I could just coat my sword in touki or fire to the same effect.

So let’s see… how about this?

Raising my sword, I will the crackling electricity to the tip of my blade, forming a condensed ball of plasma as I enhance the magic with touki.

And with a thrust, I shot it forth, sending a bolt of lightning shooting through the air.

As soon as it hits the Basilisk’s eye it… penetrates through it… and the monster drops to the ground… dead.

…Umm.

Landing on the ground, I watch in slight shock as the Basilisk falls limp to the ground.

“Leon!?” Eris shouts, landing next to me. “You killed it too fast!”

“Er… yeah, sorry about that,” I say, scratching my cheek.

I didn’t think I would one-shot the thing, even if I hit a weak point.

“Y-You! Agh! Fine, just… take me out for a quest in the next city, okay?” Eris huffs.

I quickly nod in acceptance, “Sure, of course.”

Turning back at the corpse of the giant monster, I can’t help but sigh a bit.

Now… I guess it was time to cut out the fangs, right? Ah, and go fishing for a magic stone too.

This was going to be gross.

—-- Leon Greyrat —--

Months had passed, and before I knew it, we had been venturing the Demon Continent for a little over a year, meaning that Eris and I were now thirteen years old.

Aisha and Norn had also grown a year older and were now four years old, which meant they were now closing in on their first birthday, but with how mature they acted, you would never guess they were so young.

I… didn’t know how to feel about that.

While I was happy about their growth and grateful for how easy they made everything, it still left a bitter feeling in my mouth that they were forced to speed through childhood.

But I guess there wasn’t much I could do about that now, huh?

Anyway, our progress had been steady, for the most part, clearing out hordes of monsters and completing quests on our way, we had collected quite a good stash of coin, while also honing our martial abilities.

However, we did stop in places for weeks at a time more than a few instances, either due to wanting some rest, or when Aisha or Norn got sick.

Of course, when they got sick, I could have always fixed them up with magic, but Mama had always warned me not to use detoxification magic too much, especially with kids, as it was said to make them weaker. 

Scientifically, I could only guess this was said in order for children to build up their natural disease resistance.

During these downtimes, I would also teach Eris, Aisha, and Norn the Demon God tongue, as all three wanted to be able to converse without me or Ruijerd around.

Of course, for languages, classroom-styled learning didn’t do much compared to experience, so Ruijerd and I decided to start conversing in the Demon God tongue normally, with my clarifying any words the three didn’t understand.

During our travels, especially as we got further south, we also began encountering wandering fighters of various races, from demons to humans and even a few beastfolk.

These wandering warriors, upon seeing Ruijerd, always asked for a spar, leading to a duel upon Ruijerd’s acceptance and eventual victory.

In these moments, I decided to put my ‘plan’, if you could call it that, into action by revealing the truth about Ruijerd to the defeated foe, and to my pleasant surprise, it worked, especially with the humans and the beastfolk.

In fact, having heard stories of the Superd, these warriors actually respected the man even more, knowing about his exploits in the Laplace war rather than feared.

So yeah, all was good.

But despite this, there were a few problems that popped up. Only little things though.

Assholes that didn’t take kindly to us newcomers in the Adventurers Guild. Thieves that wanted to test their luck against us. The odd sibling fight between Norn and Aisha. 

Oh, and how could I forget? There were also the few times Eris had peeked at me while I was bathing, only to get carried off by Ruijerd with a giddy smile.

But despite these hiccups and bumps in the road, we eventually arrived at the first goal on our way back home.

The only connection between the Milis Continent and the Demon Continent, as well as the only naval city in the entirety of the Demon Continent:

Wind Port.