Light Novel Volume 1/Summary

Prologue
On the day of his parents' funeral, a thirty-four-year-old NEET was kicked out of the house by his siblings. For the past 10 years, he has been an unproductive shut-in leeching off his parents' wealth; when he didn't show up at their funeral his siblings barged into his room, wrecked his computer, brutally beat him up. and finally forced him out of the house.

For three hours, he wandered the streets wondering how he can get a job only to find out he had no money on him to even buy a résumé paper and gave up on the idea.

As he lamented over his deplorable year in high-school where his life took a turn for the worse and wondering what he could've done to not turn out the way he is now, he heard people arguing near him. Three high-schoolers - one girl and two boys - were in a, apparently, lover's quarrel. The girl and a tall boy were in an argument while the other boy interplaced himself between the two to placate them.

Just as he was about to leave them, he saw a truck speeding right towards the group of students. Not wanting to see the students die in front of him and put another thing to regret in his mind, he rushed in to help them as his wavering shout didn't reach them. The tall boy who had been in a verbal spat noticed the truck and pulled the girl away with him but the other boy still hadn't spotted the truck yet.

The NEET rushed in and yanked the boy behind him and ended up bodily switching places in harm's way. He was struck by the truck and thrown against a concrete wall. As he was spasming from the shock, the truck was still moving towards his direction; it pinned him against the concrete crushing his whole body.

There, he died.

Chapter 1: Is This Another World?
When he opened his eyes, dazzling light encompassed his entire field of vision. When his vision had adjusted, he saw a gorgeous blonde young woman gazing at him warmly, and a muscular young man of the same age, his smile also directed towards him. The woman and the man exchanged words in an "oddly indistinct" language. As he tried to speak to them he came to realize all he could muster was garbled whining and moaning. When the young man reached out to him and picked him up he assumed he lost weight after the truck accident and had probably also lost his limbs as he couldn't move properly. He thought his life was doomed.

After a month, he was able to confirm he had been reborn and confirmed the first two persons he saw when the dazzling light lifted was his parents. He also realized that he wasn't in Japan anymore - his parents didn't sport Japanese facial features and spoke a totally different language. He was able to deduce they weren't in a developed nation due to the old-timed clothing and housewares; apparently a medieval-level country. He initially thought his parents were poor and that the maid in their house was one of his parent's relatives.

After half-a-year of listening to his parents conversing, he began to pick up some of the language. He believed that he owed his unusual knack for remembering things to his young body and brain. Around the same time, he started learning to crawl as well, he considered being able to control and carry his own body as a marvelous thing. Being able to crawl around freely, he was able to learn a lot of things. He was first able to determine that his home was definitely of a well-off family from the structure.

Second, he came to know their house was located in the countryside. Outside the windows stretched a peaceful, pastoral landscape, and just two or three houses nestled amidst the wheat fields. No telephone poles or streetlights could be seen, and no electricity in the house.

The third thing he learned was what intrigued him the most. When he fell down a chair, his mother came rushing in with worry and chanted an incantation; to his bewilderment, his pain was instantly gone. It was magic.

After he saw his father pulling moves with his sword in the yard, his mother casting magic, and the unfamiliar names of countries and regions he heard, he came to a conclusion - he wasn't on Earth anymore but in a completely different world; a world of swords and magic. It occurred to him: if he lived in the same world, he could do the same things they did.

With his former life ending in regret and frustration of never accomplishing anything, he felt this was his second chance. He finally felt this time he could live his life right.

Chapter 2: The Creeped-Out Maid
【 Lilia's POV 】

Lilia used to be a royal handmaiden for the Asura Palace harem. In addition to her usual duties as a lady-in-waiting, the role also called for her to act as a guardswoman. She, however, wasn't so much of a competent fighter; her skill with the sword was average at best. As a result, when an assassin was sent for the newborn princess she was outmatched, the opponent's poison-coated dagger caught her in the leg. It resulted in her no longer able to run.

Due to being severely handicapped at her duties, the palace immediately discharged her from her position. Lilia felt that the palace set her free to lure out whoever was behind the assassination plot. Wanting to get away from the palace and the war of succession as far away as possible, she arrived at the Fittoa Region looking for a new job.

After a month Lilia finally came across a job posting from Buena Village that caught her eye. The posting specified for someone with experience in raising children and could also act as a midwife. She perfectly fitted the specifications. The message, however, that immediately caught her eye was the employer: Paul Greyrat, a former swordsmanship acquaintance of her. She sensed she definitely had a chance of getting employed there.

Paul welcomed Lilia with open arms. His wife, Zenith, was due soon. Apart from her expertise, the familiar face made the family happy to have her on board.

(Enter: The peculiar child)

When the child was born, Lilia broke into a panic - the child looked like he might have been stillborn. But there was warmth and movements of his breathing. She was able to confirm the child was indeed alive.

The child's name was Rudeus and she conjectured the child to be unsettling. He was a very peculiar child - he never made a fuss, he made his way anywhere and everywhere around the house safely. She slowly developed an instinctual fear of the child, he was always smiling and his unsettling grin that appeared from time to time, similar to that of a perverted old man, was the kind that viscerally repulsed Lilia. She thought the unusual behaviours Rudeus exhibited was due to a demon possessing him and attempted to exorcise him but ended in vain.

Lilia lived in fear of Rudeus for the first year or so but at some point, his ever-unpredictable behaviour changed. He was always holed up in Paul's study looking through books, at times it seemed he actually comprehended them. The unsettling oddness in him had abated a fair bit and gotten a sense of earnestness and diligence from him. Lilia no longer got chills from him and from that point on, she figured it was best to leave the boy be.

【 Lilia's POV - end 】

Chapter 3: A Textbook of Magic
It had been two years since he had been reincarnated into the fantastical world, and he could finally speak the world’s language. Having resolute to live a life without regrets this time, he made an arrangement for his daily life – study, exercise, and develop skills and techniques.

Their home housed five books, namely: Wandering the World regarding the geography and culture of different countries; The Ecology and Weaknesses of Fittoan Monsters about the monsters of the Fittoa Region; A Textbook in Magic a manual on Beginner to Advanced level attack spells; The Legend of Perugius concerning the famous summoner - Perugius and his companions saving the world; The Three Swordsmen and the Labyrinth on the subject of the adventures of three master swordsmen.

He was particularly drawn towards ''A Textbook in Magic. ''He discovered various things about magic. First, he came to know magic came in three types: Attack magic, Healing magic, and Summoning magic. Second, that you need magical power in order to utilize magic. Third, that there were two ways of performing magic: incantation and magic circles. And fourth, that the quantity of magic power in a person was determined at birth.

Eager to learn more, he decided to try his hands on magic. Waterball was his first spell. On his second try at producing Waterball he accidentally succeeded without an incantation. But on his third try, he ended up passing out due to exhaustion of this magical power. During the practice on the next day, he became conscious of his new limit - six Waterballs. He theorized, by exhausting his magical power every day the maximum quantity increases twice the next day. He practiced until he was able to cast up to twenty-six Waterballs a day. Discerning his rapid growth in magical power he thought if he was special or something but immediately got rid of the idea since it was primarily the cause of the failure of his former life.

Next, he came across how spells were broken up into seven levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Saintly, Kingly, Imperial, and Divine. He hoped to be a Saintly level magician.

After two months of practicing how to make his spells fly, the complicated process of it finally became clear, and was finally able to cast attack spells. Having learned the fundamentals of spell-casting he began to experiment on various types of magic till exhaustion of his magical power every day.

**Note:  Rudeus is only referred to as 'he/his' so far in Chapter 1 and 3 sections because he announces his own name only when the story gets into Chapter 4. Since the story is told in first-person perspective, it is summarised correspondingly.**

Chapter 4: Master
Three years have passed since he had been reincarnated; he had recently learned his parents’ name. His mother’s name was Zenith Greyrat, and his father was Paul Greyrat. And he was their firstborn, Rudeus Greyrat.

For the past year Rudeus had been glued to A Textbook in Magic, the book and him were inseparable, and even tucked it under his arm while eating. However he made a point never to read in front of his parents for he wasn’t sure of the world’s notion on magic – whether its usage was conventional or considered it as witchcraft or heresy (like his previous world). On that note, he also decided to keep his magical aptitude a secret.

In spite of his efforts to hide his magical flair, one afternoon he accidentally blasted a massive hole in the wall with Water Cannon, and his parents were shocked to learn their only three-year-old son had successfully cast a spell. Zenith, in ecstasy, immediately made plans to hire a magic home tutor for Rudeus however Paul refuted by saying the boy needed to be a knight. They got into a bit of a spat until Lilia chipped in to suggest Rudeus practice magic in the morning and swordsmanship in the afternoon and thus his training regime was decided.

The magic tutor came. Contrary to Rudeus’ image of the standard wise, old master magician, a sleepy-looking young girl of seemingly junior-high age showed up. Her name was Roxy; her whole appearance radiated unsociability. She inaudibly gave the impression that Rudeus’ parents were mistaken in thinking their son was as talented as they said until she saw him invoke a spell with voiceless incantation. Impressed, Roxy finally felt it was worth training Rudeus.

On afternoons, Rudeus would be practicing swordsmanship with Paul. Paul mostly centered the training on physical work out since Rudeus was young. They usually finished mid-afternoon due to Rudeus’ lack of stamina.

Rudeus spent the time between sword-practice and dinner working on spells. While experimenting with different methods of exhausting his magical power, his magical reserves had grown to a point where he couldn’t make out where it tapped out. Even so, he convinced himself to never slack on his daily practice.

Four months had passed and Rudeus became an Intermediate-level magician. He felt rather clear that his swift progress was wholly due to Roxy being a good teacher. Her teaching style resonated with him and got quick results. During their Q&A session, Rudeus was able to expand his worldview and deepen his knowledge quite a lot. Roxy especially lectured and warned him about a group of extremely dangerous demons called Superds.

Roughly another elapsed, and Rudeus was now a perfect Advanced-level magician. When he decided to call her ‘Master’ instead of just ‘Miss’, Roxy shot him down quickly and said their positions weren’t fit to call herself his Master. Regardless, Rudeus genuinely still thought of Roxy as his Master.

Chapter 5: Swords and Sorcery
In this world, birthdays weren’t an annual event but only celebrated on the fifth, tenth, and fifteenth year (by 15, one was considered an adult). Rudeus turned five-year-old and there was a small party in the house. Paul gave him a pair of swords; a real one and one for practice. Zenith gifted him with a botanical encyclopedia. And Roxy offered him a wand, which was a customary present from a master.

The next day, Rudeus began actual training in swordsmanship. He discovered the art of the sword was far more advanced than his former world, capable of performing unimaginable feats; he sensed some kind of magical power was imbued on the blade produced by the wielder. He came to know of the three primary schools of swordsmanship: The Sword God Style, the Water God Style, and the North God Style. Paul decided that he would teach Rudeus the Sword God and the Water God Style, marking the North God Style as a ridiculous style.

When Paul asked Rudeus if he preferred magic more than swordsmanship, Rudeus cleverly replied he wanted to be good at both of them making Paul content even though he wasn’t that enthusiastic; Rudeus wanted to establish a good parent-child relationship, unlike his former life where he was a burden.

While Rudeus was taking his first steps in actual swordsmanship, his magical studies with Roxy were taking on a more technical and practical bent. They were studying Combined Magic to produce natural phenomena’s. When Rudeus asked about magic schools, Roxy recommended her alma mater – the Ranoa University of Magic – if he wanted to pursue higher education.

Conversely to Paul, Roxy felt Rudeus didn’t like magic enough and offered him the path to be a knight. In their recent classes, Rudeus had come to comprehend most of the theory behind the art and was frequently restless. While Paul saw in him talent for magic, Roxy saw in him passion for the sword. With differing ideas, Rudeus felt they were pointing him towards a middle path.

While discussing that topic, to his shock Roxy suddenly said she was running out of things to teach Rudeus and his graduation was coming up very soon!

Chapter 6: Reasons for Respect
The graduation ceremony was to take place outside the village. Rudeus was afraid; he was a shut-in who was afraid to step out of the house in his former life. And his memories of the day he was forced out in the chilling rain was still fresh. The instinctual fear of the outside still remained even after he was reincarnated; he had never gone as far as beyond their yard. He tried to meekly protest against Roxy but in vain. He himself knew exactly someday he needed to venture into the world beyond. Contrary to his anxiety, Roxy actually thought he was only scared of the horse they were about to ride on. She nonchalantly put Rudeus on the horse and immediately ventured beyond their yard.

People bowed to them as they rode through the village, but there were also sharp stares. At first, Rudeus thought the cold stares were directed at him but then realized it was actually for Roxy. He knew for a fact that demons were discriminated against and the villagers actually bowed to Roxy, a demon; Rudeus came to a realization, Roxy was truly trustworthy and she would most likely stand up for him in a bad situation. For the first time outside, he was able to loosen up.

They galloped for an hour till they reached their destination – a wide grass plain. Roxy then informed she was going to cast the Water Saint-level spell Cumulonimbus and the test was that he should attempt the same himself. She chanted and then slowly their surroundings swole dark, black clouds flickered with purple lightning, and then a downpour came. She then instructed Rudeus to do the same and keep the clouds for an hour. Rudeus started to chant the incantation but then feeling that having to continuously expend his magical power and hold his pose is tiring, he applied scientific methods from his previous world to keep the clouds steady for an hour. Roxy was so taken aback by his genius feat that she immediately told him he no longer needed to keep the clouds for an hour. She then commended Rudeus for his graduation and bestowed the Water Saint title to him. For the first time since coming to this world, Rudeus felt he had truly taken his first step with this accomplishment.

The next day, Roxy was at their doorstep about to leave, saying her farewell to the family. She said she would travel around the world to hone her magic more. She gave Rudeus her amulet of the Migurd tribe as a present and finally went on her way. Before he knew it, Rudeus was crying for Roxy had given him so much: wisdom, experience, technique, and more than anything she took him outside - his greatest fear. He overcame that fear with her comfort; not even his current parents nor his previous parents, but her.

With their parting, Rudeus found the most profound sense of respect for Roxy.

Chapter 7: Friends
Rudeus decided he was going to go outside and study as much as possible about where he lived. He had asked and received permission from Paul to go outside. With his botanical encyclopedia in one hand and his wand at his waist, he headed out.

Several days went by and Rudeus wasn’t frightened of the outside world anymore; he succeeded in greeting people perfectly and people properly greeted back. His main objective in going outside was to go exploring to get the lay of the land and find out which plants were edible and which were not. He was finding ways to survive if he ever got kicked out of the house.

After a few days, he decided he’d expand his search radius and cautiously made his way closer to the forest because the village didn’t have any notable flora. To confirm the layout of the village area he made his way up a small hill. Just then he heard the sounds of kids bullying another. Three boys were hurling mud at another boy, calling him a ‘demon’. The boy being bullied was clutching a basket to keep its contents safe from the mud. Being a former victim of bullying, Rudeus sympathized with the boy and felt like helping him. Rudeus jumped in and made some mudball with magic and hurled at them. He succeeded in driving them off. Rudeus felt victorious for driving off bullies for the first time in two lives.

He went on to check the boy and decided to wash the mud off with warm water heated with fire magic. He saw the boy had a pretty face, elf-like ears, and emerald hair. Just when Rudeus was alarmed by the emerald hair he noticed there was no red jewel on the forehead. Relieved, he concluded he was not a Superd. The boy revealed that his hair colour didn’t actually match his parents’ and had ears longer than his half-elf father. He was bullied for only having born with such features. With a sense of pity, Rudeus decided he would be his first friend and stick with him. The boy introduced himself as Sylph.

Sylph was delivering his father’s lunch, who stood guard at the watchtower. He was a very attractive man and seemed like a good person. Rudeus politely introduced himself and took his permission to go play elsewhere with Sylph. When they got back to the small hill, Sylph confessed his amazement on how Rudeus previously heated the water with magic to wash away the mud and begged him to teach him magic. And so, Rudeus and Sylph’s magic training began and played until the sun went down.

When Rudeus got back home, Paul was furious. He had been informed by one of the bullies’ parents that Rudeus had punched their son. Paul was demanding an apology for a thing he had not done and absolutely refused to hear out Rudeus’ side. Pissed, Rudeus snarled back at him with words only to end up getting hit in the cheek. Rudeus was enraged; he threatened he would never use the Greyrat name again and he would downplay his family’s honour because Paul “condoned bullying and abuse”. Confused, Paul realized the bully’s parents must have made a mistake and apologized for hitting him. He asked for the full story and Rudeus, relieved, explained the details of the situation. Paul sadly apologized again for getting ahead without knowing the details. However Rudeus didn’t take advantage of it, he naturally consoled Paul. To Rudeus, Paul was only an immature parent, and thought it wasn’t right for his own child to let him feel miserable about himself.

【 Paul’s POV 】

It was an afternoon, one of the villagers came to Paul and complained his son, Rudeus, had punched their son. Paul assumed his son playing outside and gotten into a bit of a fight, and his son being a talented magician ended beating them up. He decided he would need to scold his son properly on how he needed to be very careful with the power he wields.

But that evening when Paul demanded an apology, Rudeus had no intention whatsoever of apologizing. When Paul tried to ask what actually happened, he only responded back with condescension and sarcasm. It galled him as a result, and out of reflex struck Rudeus. Suddenly, Paul came to a realization, while he was trying to get his son apologize for his wrong usage of power, he himself had hit him in the heat of the moment; he was now in the wrong. Paul’s wistful apology came out naturally, Rudeus seemed to took it and with a softened expression went to explain the whole story.

It turned out Rudeus was helping another kid who was getting bullied and the other bully has misinformed his parents. Rudeus was actually in the right! Paul recalled when he was young, his father too never listened to his side of the story and always felt miserable when he scolded him. The same thing happened to him now and ended up hitting his own son when he swore he would never be a parent like his father. Whatever lesson he had been trying to teach to Rudeus, he himself had failed at it. But in spite of it, Rudeus didn’t blame Paul. He even consoled him in the end and learn this experience. Paul felt his son was almost too good to be his.

【Paul’s POV – end 】

Chapter 8: Obliviousness
Rudeus turned six. His daily life hadn’t changed – sword practice in the mornings, magic practice along with Sylph in the afternoons. Recently, he had also been augmenting magic to swordsmanship; his greatest goal was to at least defeat Paul once within the next five years. Sylph was now able to cast Intermediate-level magic.

One afternoon, to Rudeus’ surprise Sylph was able to pull off voiceless incantation too! Then suddenly, rain poured down. Since Sylph’s house was too far to run to, they made their way for the Greyrat residence. On their return, Lilia received them with warm water to wash up. While Rudeus was undressing to wash up, Sylph was fidgeting awkwardly, seemingly not wanting to take off his clothes in front of him. He was quite obstinate about it; Rudeus, wanting to tease on him, dived down to suddenly pull down his pants. And to his shock what was “supposed to be there, wasn’t there”, meaning – Sylph was a girl all along! At that moment Paul came in only to see the spectacle of Rudeus holding Sylph’s underpants. Rudeus felt there was no talking his way out of this one.

【 Paul’s POV 】

Paul came home from work to find his son assaulting his only friend who was a young girl. He wanted to tear into him on the spot, but he didn’t want to rehash his previous failure and managed to stay level.

However, when he asked for the reason Rudeus only apologized deeply, unlike previously. Seeing his boy utterly dejected made Paul feel a bit guilty. He directed to Rudeus, if he wanted forgiveness then he needed to apologize to Sylphiette, and assured him she’ll forgive him. His son’s face brightened at that.

Rudeus immediately apologized to Sylphiette for his behavior -  he thought she was a boy due to her short hair.

When he heard the apology, for the first time Paul felt his son was a lot dumber than he thought.

【 Paul’s POV – end 】

After a lot of apologies, compliments, and reassurances, Rudeus finally got Sylphie to forgive him. He found out her name was actually Sylphiette and figured he would call her “Sylphie”. But ever since that incident, Sylphie had been wary of him.

One day, on Paul’s advice, Rudeus went to Sylphie hoping to reconcile with her, but her reply made him realize what was the barrier all along. He himself had been acting strangely in front of her, ever since he found out she was a girl he had been treating her different. As a result, Syphie didn’t know how to react she hoped for normalcy all along. And from this realization, Rudeus decided he would treat like he did before and try his best not to fluster her. From there, their frienship was rectified.

Chapter 9: Emergency Family Meeting
Zenith had learned she was pregnant. The Greyrat household was abuzz at the announcement. It was a day of bubbling joy and countless smiles. The problem didn’t arise until about a month later. Their maid, Lilia, had discovered that she was pregnant, as well. The family was in shock. Paul nervously blurted out the child might be his. And thus was convened an emergency family meeting.

Lilia first proposed she would give birth in Fittoa and then raise the baby back in her hometown. However, Zenith immediately rejected the idea since it was physically impossible not only for the mother but also for the newborn. Zenith was grappling with two separate emotions: her fondness for Lilia and her feelings of betrayal. Rudeus, not wanting to see his family break apart, decided he would help Lilia to solve the problem. He cleverly came up with a plan that used Lilia as the victim of Paul, evidently Paul being the scapegoat. Rudeus turned to his mother and deceitfully crafted a story of Paul making moves on Lilia, and Lilia not able to defy the master giving in to his desires. Paul was in shock by the development but Lilia was able to play along; Rudeus pushed a bit further at Zenith with imagining a bigger and brighter family in the future. Zenith gave in to Rudeus and finally announced Lilia would be staying with them as family. Rudeus later went to his mother to explain he lied, but naturally, she already sensed it and forgave him.

【 Lilia’s POV 】

Lilia was the one who seduced Paul. She no initial intention but, after hearing Zenith and Paul release lascivious sounds night after night and to clean a room that scented of a very satisfied man and woman – she had her needs building up.

On mornings, when Lilia watched Paul practicing swordsmanship, it stoked a fire inside her that had never completely died. It reminded her of their young days of apprenticeship when Paul snuck into her room and took her first-time.

When Lilia came to work for Paul, his boyishness of the past had been replaced with the look of a refined man. Every so often, he’d flirt just a little, and that worked her up all the more. She was able to resist but was aware she was walking a very thin line.

That came crashing when Zenith got pregnant. Knowing Paul had an abundance of libido, it got into Lilia’s head that this was her opportunity, and invited him to her room. All in all, she blamed herself.

But to her surprise, Rudeus forgave her. Even though he must have already sensed Lilia was purposely avoiding him, he chose her and her child over his feelings and came up with a plan that allowed her to stay at the house. He has truly earned her respect. Lilia decided at that moment, once her child has grown up, she would see that they made their way into Rudeus’ service.

【 Lilia’s POV – end 】

Several months had passed. Sylphie was growing remarkably fast at her magic studies, while Rudeus was stuck at a level in swordsmanship. Rudeus felt Lilia’s attitude had softened. She had begun to open up to him bit by bit ever since that incident.

Soon after, Zenith gave birth. It was a rough experience with Lilia in her own difficult condition and took help from a midwife from the village. The birth was a success, to Rudeus’ joy, a baby girl was born. The elief was short-lived, however, as Lilia went into labour as well. Rudeus quickly prepared all the things with magic and the midwife handled the rest. Another girl was born.

Zenith’s daughter was named Norn. Lilia’s daughter was named Aisha.

Chapter 10: Stunted Growth
Rudeus turned seven years old and his sisters were growing quickly. Recently, he had not been able to advance in his swordsmanship at all, he was still cemented at Beginner level. Surpassing Paul, who was Advanced-level in all three schools and heavily experienced, now seemed nothing more like a pipe dream.

One day, while they were in sword practice, Paul brought up the topic of school. Rudeus was curious about it, but Paul immediately put off that idea. Instead, he recommended trying out adventuring and venture into labyrinths. Having read the fable of The Three Swordsmen and the Labyrinth, Rudeus wanted to give it a shot but assessed it was impossible for him. He wanted a more peaceful life. Their conversation was interrupted by Sylphie coming up to them.

Sylphie had been coming to Rudeus’ house for him to teach her the basics of math and science. Discerning how rapidly Sylphie was growing, and looking at himself at how he was stuck at a bottleneck Rudeus felt like she’d leave him in the dust rather soon. He sighed audibly about having no choice but to go to school or adventuring to learn more things, except to Rudeus’ shock Sylphie threw herself at him and obstinately denied about him leaving the village. Seeing her not wanting him to go away, Rudeus had creeping thoughts - maybe it wasn’t indispensable for him to expand his knowledge further, after all, he could just stay at the village with Sylphie and enjoy a slow life. Just then, a letter arrived.

The letter addressed to Rudeus, was from Roxy. The letter opened by explaining how she had been living as a magic tutor and the court magician at Shirone Kingdom, tutoring the prince. She revealed she had finally achieved Kingly-level Water spells and was walking towards being a Divine-level magician. She wholeheartedly wrote there, Rudeus must have already achieved Imperial-level or even reached Saintly-level in all other branches. She finally recommended her alma mater, the Ranoa University of Magic if Rudeus should want to pursue higher magical studies.

The letter was a wake-up call for Rudeus. His respected master was expecting even greater achievements from him, while just now he had been thinking it was fine to stay at the current level forever. He decided he would bring up the topic of attending Magic University to his father.

Rudeus thought he couldn’t leave Sylphie behind, and decided he would ask his father to pay for both their fees. However, Paul out-rightly shot down his request. Paul made three rational points – first, Rudeus was still in the middle of training in swordsmanship; second, money was an issue; third, Rudeus was too young, Paul would only let him attend university at twelve. Rudeus agreed to his views but asked him to search for a job for him so that he can earn Sylphie’s fees for university. After a while, Paul conceded to Rudeus' proposal.

【 Paul’s POV 】

Paul wasn’t expecting that. His son was only seven but he was already talking about university and getting jobs to earn fees.

During his adventuring days, Paul remembered someone telling him – rush too fast through your life, and your life will end before you know it. He thought it was a load of crap; Paul was someone who rushed through life, he believed humans had a very limited window of time. But now, Rudeus was taking things at a much quicker pace than he ever did. He was sprinting forward so fast it made Paul nervous about letting him go.

Recently, Paul also sensed Sylphie had been developing a crush on Rudeus. The girl admired and was attached to Rudeus too much and if he ends up not choosing her, she’d never recover from that blow. Sylphie needed to learn to stand on her own. Paul thought they might need some time part.

And so with those prospects in mind, Paul wrote a letter.

【 Paul’s POV – end 】

Chapter 11: Parted
One morning, during sword practice, Paul abruptly asked Rudeus what he would do if he had to stop seeing Sylphie. But before Rudeus could form a proper answer, as if Paul had already known the answer, he suddenly unleashed bloodlust and leaped towards Rudeus.

Rudeus was bewildered at the sudden dramatic change; he felt the cold and silent death – Paul – rushing towards him. Out of pure instinct, he immediately created a blast with magic that launched him backward, but to his no surprise, Paul immediately closed the distance. Acting on a reflexive judgment call, Rudeus invoked a series of spells but nothing could stop Paul. Rudeus had to catch both his legs at once; he tried to make a quagmire but before he finished his prep Paul was blazing towards him, one step away! In a blind panic, Rudeus swung a careless attack with his sword, which Paul skillfully deflected. Rudeus already knew for a fact a counterstrike was coming, but he couldn’t do anything – a short, sharp blow came down to his neck and he blacked out.

Rudeus woke up and found himself tied up inside a box. Across him sat a woman – brown skin, muscular physique, with animal ears and tails. She introduced herself as Ghislaine and that she was going to be his acquaintance. Rudeus looked outside the window in the box and saw they were moving across a land he knew nothing of. He was in a carriage, tied up, and on an unfamiliar land – alarms went inside Rudeus’ head. When he asked the woman, Ghislaine, she held out a letter from Paul.

He read the letter, Rudeus finally understood what was going on. Paul had beaten him unconscious and sent him away for a job. The job required him to stay at the Citadel of Roa for five years to tutor a violent young lady. And he would get swordsmanship training from Ghislaine, who Paul remarked as a Sword King, while he would also coach her on reading, writing, and arithmetic. Additionally, in five years, once he finishes providing the young lady solid education, his contract entitles him to a special reward: a payment covering the cost of tuition for two people to the University of Magic.

【 Paul's POV 】

Paul’s son, Rudeus, was lying unconscious on the ground. This method wasn’t particularly an admirable one but Paul came to the conclusion he had no choice. He was trying to beat his son unconscious to send him away for a job he would most likely refuse.

Paul was surprised by how well Rudeus responded the instant he made the first move. A series of spells came from him all to slow him down. Though the fight lasted for only a few seconds, it actually took Paul three steps to strike him. Three steps were one too many to deal with a magician, considering how skilled Paul was. He undoubtedly felt his son had a knack for battle just like Paul himself; he was proud.

Paul proceeded to hand over his letter for Rudeus to Ghislaine and unceremoniously dumped Rudeus in the carriage. Zenith and Lilia were acting out a weird theatrical scene as the carriage drove away; Paul supposed they weren’t too worried about Rudeus. He was a genius after all.

Looking at the carriage moving away down the road Paul silently addressed to Rudeus. He had never wanted to part this way but felt he could not have convinced Rudeus to take the job. Still, as a father, Paul couldn’t just do nothing and had to rely on this crude method. He expected his clever son to understand sooner or later. Paul knew his son would have some harsh experiences, but just like him, he wholeheartedly believed Rudeus would grow stronger and find things he loved that way. After all, he was his own son.

【 Paul's POV - end 】

Extra Chapter: The Mother of the Greyrat Family
【 Zenith’s POV 】

Zenith Greyrat, born in the Holy Country of Millis and by birth a member of the aristocracy, was a clueless child who did everything her parents told. As a member of the aristocracy, her life had already been set down the road. But she didn’t end up following it. Zenith’s life changed forever on her fifteenth birthday. She had a terrible fight with her parents and ran away from home. She had been sick of letting her parents control her life.

Zenith was hopelessly naïve. A band of thugs spotted her immediately and out her into their party as a healer. But a man came to her rescue to beat the band of thugs and dragged Zenith into his own party. That was how she met her husband – Paul Greyrat. Zenith and Paul were total opposites, but he was dependable, free-spirited, and handsome. She supposed it wasn’t surprising that she slowly grew attracted to him.

One day she blurted out he can sleep with her only if he would never touch other women again. Paul immediately agreed but Zenith knew was lying and she didn’t actually mind. However once again, Zenith had been naïve and careless. She got pregnant after a single night Paul. But to her incredible surprise, Paul did the honorable thing to marry her. Then she bore his child, his name was Rudeus Greyrat.

⌊ Timeskip: post-Chapter 9 ⌋

At the moment, Zenith was watching Rudeus was crouched next to his little sisters’ cribs. Whenever they made a fuss he would make a silly face to amuse them. Every time he would have a satisfied grin of pleasure. It wasn’t something Zenith or any other saw every day. Rudeus always had the most serious expression on; no matter how well things went, he never looked particularly satisfied. But now, he was making silly faces to amuse his little sisters. Seeing him like that put Zenith in a good mood herself.

Zenith recalled the early years with Rudeus. She felt he secretly looked down on the rest of the family due to his incredible talent. But Zenith had it all wrong. She realized it in the midst of their greatest family crisis of Lilia getting pregnant. Rudeus stepped in to guide things to a neat conclusion. She could see he was terrified of his family breaking apart. She understood that he did love his family in his own way. Due to that, she was able to forgive Paul and Lilia.

Zenith also recalled how Rudeus skillfully aided Lilia in taking care of Norn and Aisha when she and Paul were standing not knowing what to do. He was incredibly reliable.

Just then, Norn started to cry. It was time for her milk; Zenith proceeded to feed her. After a moment, she realized Rudeus was watching closely. Zenith felt it was cute but to be already like that, she could already sense the trouble with women down the line. Norn looked satisfied and put her away in her crib. But then, Aisha started to cry next. After checking up on her Rudeus turned towards Zenith with an anxious face. He said Aisha was hungry too and Lilia was out at the moment. For a moment, Zenith thought if breastfeeding Aisha would make her feel anger or revulsion. But immediately she shook off her uncertainty and picked up Aisha. When she started to feed, she felt nothing other than her warm, pleasant awareness of motherhood just like with Norn. She was truly glad.

Zenith was looking out of the window stroking Rudeus’ head beside her. Outside was a peaceful spring afternoon, golden fields of wheat stretched out endlessly. She felt utterly content. The peace they had now was only because Rudeus intervened that day. Thank god for Rudeus, she thought.

【 Zenith's POV - end 】