Light Novel Volume 1/Summary

Prologue
A thirty-four-years-old unemployed and reclusive man is disowned and kicked out of the house by his siblings following the death of their parents. As he wanders along the streets aimlessly reflecting upon his ugly and regretful past he suddenly notices a truck speeding towards a group of three students. Realizing the students had not noticed the out-of-control-truck headed for them, the man rushes in with the intent to pull them away only for him to end up directly in line with the truck's path. He is pinned by the massive truck against a wall ultimately killing him.

Chapter 1: Is This Another World?
As he opened his eyes, he is blinded by a dazzling light but as soon as it lifts away he notices a young woman and a man of about the same age; they seem to be talking in an unfamiliar language. He then realized, to his dread, he could not move his body believing he had woken up after the accident with his limbs lost. A month later, he finally sums his situation; he had been reborn with his memories intact and he is no longer in Japan, and the two persons he saw was most likely his parents now. Half a year later, he quickly begins to pick up on the language and learns to crawl around the house finding out they lived far out in the countryside with a maid on staff. One afternoon, he happens to catch a glimpse of his father practicing sword swings in the yard. Surprised by his odd behavior he slips from the window and hits his head which caused his mother to immediately run up to him. He is again taken aback when his grief-stricken mother recites an incantation of sorts, thinking it was silly, but in the next moment his pain was gone. In the wake of it all, he ultimately comes to an understanding - he has been reincarnated into a radically different world of swords and sorcery. Feeling as if this is his formerly unattainable second chance in life, he decides he would live his life right this time with his former life's experiences to help him.

Chapter 2: The Creeped-Out Maid
Lilia used to be a royal handmaiden and a guardswoman at the Asura Palace. After her leg was caught in an assassin's dagger her movements were still hindered after recovery, leading to her being discharged from her position. Wanting to not put her life in danger again, she arrived at the Fittoa Region where she eventually found a new job in the remote Buena Village. Her employer happened to be her former swordsmanship acquaintance, Paul Greyrat, who was in search of a house-maid following the pregnancy of his wife Zenith. Their newborn, Rudeus, was an unsettling child—Lilia thought—reminding her of unpleasant memories of a depraved minister during her days at the Asura Palace. For the first year, she lived in fear of the child believing he was possessed by a demon. But soon, Rudeus began to change; he would hole up in Paul's study all day and Lilia sensed earnestness and diligence from him in contrast to his crude dullness from just a few months earlier. With nothing to fear about the boy any longer, Lilia figured it was best to leave the boy well enough alone.
 * Lilia's point of view

Chapter 3: A Textbook of Magic
It had roughly been two years since he was reincarnated as Rudeus and he could now walk and talk in the world's language. Having decided to live his life properly this time, he makes an effort to study and learn various things about the world. He grows particularly attached to a beginner's textbook on magic where he is engrossed over the concept. Wanting to get practical, he recites an incantation to successfully conjure a Water Ball; to his surprise, he manages to conjure up the second and third silently with intuition alone but was physically drained by the fourth due to mana exhaustion. He spends the following days trying to get behind the mechanism of projectile magic and investigating how his mana reserves expand by draining mana everyday. Finally, wanting to start experimentations on magic he decides to build up his magical potential by regularly exhausting his mana.

Chapter 4: Master
Rudeus turned three-years-old, and one day he accidentally blasts a hole in the wall practicing magic. Paul and Zenith rushed in only to end up confused and astonished by the sight. Confirming Rudeus's aptitude for magic they decide Rudeus would learn magic under a private tutor in the morning and swordsmanship with Paul in the afternoons. They eventually hired a magic tutor and contrary to what Rudeus had imagined a magic tutor should look like, a young blue-haired girl called Roxy Migurdia shows up at their doorstep. Roxy initially thinks Paul and Zenith had overestimated their three-year-old's talent but quickly, she is shocked by Rudeus's ablity to silently cast spells and acknowledges his aptitude. From the following day onwards, Rudeus spent the mornings practicing magic with Roxy, physical training with Paul in the afternoons, and then spell experimentations by himself in the evenings. Rudeus soon becomes an Intermediate-ranked mage after four months of diligence and his knowledge of the world progressively starts to expand thanks to Roxy's lectures. During their lessons, he learns Roxy is actually a demon while proceeding to take note of an especially dangerous race of demons called the Superds to never mess with them should he encounter them. After roughly another year, Rudeus successfully advances to Advanced ranked in all branches of magic.

Chapter 5: Swords and Sorcery
Rudeus is now celebrating his fifth birthday. In this world it is customary to celebrate on the fifth and tenth birthday, and finally on the fifteenth when one is considered an adult. Paul gifts him a real sword and a practice sword, a botanical encyclopedia from Zenith, and a wand from Roxy. The following day while practicing swordplay Paul expresses his worries Rudeus might not be interested in learning swordsmanship at all as he was more proficient in magic. At the end, Rudeus comforts him by showing his determination to learn the way of the sword. But again, during the middle of his class Roxy relays her thoughts to Rudeus that he could strive to become a knight instead of a mage. While Paul saw in Rudeus a talent for magic, Roxy saw in him a passion for the sword. Rudeus is concerned over this situation but before he could give his answer Roxy abruptly mentions his graduation is coming up very soon, leaving him in disbelief.

Chapter 6: Reasons for Respect
Roxy had decided his graduation examination would be held outside the house. Rudeus is reluctant and nervous about this idea but Roxy ultimately forces him into riding out with her. As they rode through the village, Rudeus is burdened with anxiety when the villagers gaze towards their direction. However, soon enough he realizes they are not looking at him but Roxy, who despite being a demon had made a name for herself. Rudeus sensed her trustworthy presence and finally calms down. After an hour they stop at a desolate grassland and Roxy then instructs she was going to cast the Water Saint-level spell Cumulonimbus. After her demonstration Roxy informs the test was that he should attempt the same spell himself with the goal of maintaining the effects for an hour. Rudeus starts to chant the incantation but for his own convenience he applies scientific methods from his previous world to keep the spell's effects steady for an hour without expending mana. Roxy, taken aback by his feat, ends the examination on the spot an grants him the "Water Saint" title. The next day, before departing, Roxy gifts Rudeus her amulet of the Migurd tribe to get him out of trouble when demons were included. As she finally goes on her way to explore the world and hone her magic more, Rudeus found the most profound sense of respect for Roxy remembering all the invaluable knowledge she had given and for taking him to the outside world.

Chapter 7: Friends
Rudeus was no longer frightened by the outside world; venturing outside, greeting the villagers and exploring the surrounding lands is now routine to him. One day he decides to make his way up a small hill to scout the village's layout but instead he ends up encountering three kids abusing a lone boy covered in mud. Eventually, Rudeus steps in and successfully drive the bullies away by flinging magic mudballs and rescues the boy. After washing off the filth off the boy, Rudeus is surprised to find he had a very pretty face with emerald-green hair and the boy revealed himself to be a half-elf. Later that day when they went to play on the hill Sylph, the boy, showed an earnest determination to learn magic from Rudeus. Affirming to his desire, Rudeus begins tutoring him. The sun had gone down went Rudeus returns home only to find a vexed Paul waiting for him. Paul had been misinformed by one of the bullies' parent that Rudeus had punched their son, and now Paul demands Rudeus an apology absolutely refusing to his side of the story and eventually ended up striking him. Rudeus, annoyed by Paul's stubbornness, proceeds to break his conscience with words leading to a heavy-hearted Paul apologizing instead. Rudeus, now relieved that he was finally willing to listen, explains the full story and goes on to comfort Paul who was feeling miserable as a parent.


 * Paul's point of view

It was an afternoon, one of the villagers came to Paul and complained his son, Rudeus, had punched their kid. Paul 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 and led to him out striking Rudeus in the face out of reflex. Rudeus started to speak venomously and slowly 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 and had to apologize. After hearing the full story he was relived to hear it was not Rudeus' fault after all. Paul felt miserable for repeating the same mistakes as his late father and his immatureness but Rudeus didn't blame Paul. In the end he comforted Paul to learn from this and Paul felt proud to have an understanding son.

Chapter 8: Obliviousness
Rudeus turned six, his day-to-day life had not changed much and he was still stuck at a level in swordsmanship. Daily magic training with Sylph is now a daily routine and he had made remarkable progress over the year. Now Sylph is eager too learn silent spellcasting like Rudeus. To Rudeus' surprise, he is able to pull off silent spellcasting at first try and his self notions of being special disappears. But before they could continue, a downpour came and they rush back to the Greyrat estate in soaked clothes. In the bath, Sylph particularly objects getting naked but Rudeus, wanting to pick on him, suddenly strips him. To his shock, Sylph was not a boy as he had preconceived but a girl after all.


 * Paul's point of view

Paul came home from work to find his son assaulting his only friend Sylphiette. When he asked for the reason Rudeus only apologized deeply unlike how he snapped back previously. Seeing his boy utterly dejected made Paul a bit uneasy. He directed to Rudeus, if he wanted forgiveness then he needed to apologize to Sylphiette. 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 dumber than he imagined.


 * Rudeus' point of view

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 very 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 he himself was the barrier all along. He had been treating her differently ever since he found out she was a girl. As a result, Syphie didn’t know how to react. Understanding she wanted normalcy, Rudeus decided he would treat like he did before and try his best not to fluster her.

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 and Zenith consequently gave in. She finally announced Lilia would be staying with them as family.

【 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.

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. Rudeus felt Lilia 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. With the help of a midwife from the village. The birth was a success, to Rudeus’ joy, a baby girl was born. The relief 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, 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. Rudeus wanted to give it a shot but assessed it was impossible for him as a peaceful life suited him more. Their conversation was interrupted by Sylphie.

Sylphie had been coming to Rudeus’ house to study. Discerning how rapidly Sylphie was growing, Rudeus felt like she’d leave him in the dust in no time. He sighed audibly about having no choice but to go to school or adventuring to learn more things, but to Rudeus’ surprise, Sylphie threw herself at him and obstinately rejected about him leaving the village. Seeing her not wanting him to go away, Rudeus had creeping thoughts - maybe he could just stay at the village with Sylphie and enjoy a slow life. Suddenly, a letter arrived.

The letter addressed to Rudeus, was from Roxy. It opened up by explaining how she had been living as a magic tutor as 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 believed, Rudeus must have already achieved Imperial-level or even reached Saintly-level in all other branches and 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.

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. Rudeus agreed to his Paul's explanation why he couldn't, but asked him to search for a job so that he can earn Sylphie’s fees for university to which Paul agreed.

【 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 sprinting forward so fast it made Paul nervous about letting him go.

Recently, Paul also sensed Sylphie had been attached to Rudeus too much. 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. Rudeus had to catch both his legs at once; but before he finished prepping Paul was one step away from him! 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 about the situation, Ghislaine handed 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 basic education. 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 if presented to him directly.

Paul was surprised by how well Rudeus responded the instant he made the first move. Though the fight lasted for only a few seconds, it actually took Paul three steps to strike him, which one too many to deal with a magician. Paul was proud of his son's knack for battle.

Paul proceeded to hand over his letter for Rudeus to Ghislaine and unceremoniously dumped Rudeus in the carriage. 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, to her luck, a man came to her rescue and dragged Zenith into his own party. That was how she met her husband – Paul Greyrat. Zenith and Paul were total opposites in how they lived their lives, but she slowly grew attracted to him.

She slept with Paul one fateful day, but to her carelessness she got pregnant after a single night. 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. He crouched next to his little sisters’ cribs. Whenever they made a fuss he would make a silly face to amuse them; it always ended with a satisfied grin on his face. It wasn’t a usual occurence. Rudeus always had the most serious expression on; 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. Rudeus stepped in to guide things to a neat conclusion. She, at that time, understood that he did love his family in his own way.

Suddenly, Zenith was waken up from memories by Norn's cry. It was time for her milk; Zenith proceeded to feed her. 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 】