We arrived in Roa.
It was evening.
The town of Roa was the largest city in the area, and it showed — there was a real bustle to the place.
The first thing that jumped out at me was the city wall.
It must have been seven or eight meters high, a sturdy, imposing wall.
It surrounded the entire town.
A large gate bustled with carriages coming and going.
Once through the gate, rows of street vendors lined the path, and beyond them stood stables and inn-like establishments.
There was a waiting area of sorts, with people sitting around with their luggage.
What was that?
"Ghislaine, do you know what that is?"
"Are you mocking me?"
Being glared at by that fearsome face made me flinch.
"No, I was just wondering what it was and thought you might be able to tell me..."
"Oh, sorry. I thought you were being rude.
That's a waiting area for shared carriages.
People usually use those to travel between towns, or slip a merchant a few coins to get a ride."
When I made a face like I was about to cry, Ghislaine hurriedly explained.
She went on, pointing out each shop one by one — that's a weapons shop, that's a tavern, that's a branch office of some guild or other.
When we passed through a certain corner, the atmosphere changed entirely.
The so-called adventurer-oriented shops — weapons shops, armor shops — lined the street, and further in, the shops started catering more to townsfolk.
The back alleys probably had residential homes. Well thought out.
In the event of an enemy attack from outside, the people near the gate would handle it first, giving the townspeople time to flee deeper into town or to the far side.
With this kind of layout, naturally, the further in you went, the larger the houses became and the more upscale the shops. The wealthier you were in this town, the closer to the center you lived.
And at its center stood the biggest building.
"That's the lord's estate."
"More like a castle, I'd say."
"Well, this is a fortress town."
Raoh had served as the final line of defense in the war against the demon race four hundred years ago. That was its distinguished history.
So naturally, the building at its center was a castle.
Though really, the only thing distinguished about it was its pedigree — for the nobles living in the capital, it was nothing but a backwater full of rough adventurers.
So I'd heard.
"But if we've come all the way here, the young lady I'll be teaching must be quite high-ranking, then?"
"Not particularly."
The lord's estate was already right in front of us.
This area was probably reserved for people of high status, wasn't it?
...Or wait. Did it mean there simply weren't that many high-ranking people in a frontier like this?
Just then, the coachman gave a slight nod to the gatekeeper at the entrance of the lord's estate.
He went right inside.
"So she really is the lord's daughter?"
"No."
"She isn't?"
"...Well, sort of."
There was something fishy going on.
What could it be...
The carriage came to a stop.
--- Upon entering the estate, a butler led us to what looked like a reception room.
He gestured toward a pair of sofas.
A job interview, was it...?
"Please, take a seat."
I did as I was told, and Ghislaine stood in the corner of the room.
She'd chosen a spot where she could see the entire room, hadn't she? In my previous life, I would have chalked that up to middle-school syndrome.
"Young Master will be returning shortly. Please wait here a moment."
The butler-like man poured what looked like black tea into an expensive-looking cup, then retreated to stand by the entrance.
I sipped the steaming beverage.
So, black tea.
I couldn't tell good black tea from bad. But it wasn't awful. It was probably expensive.
Judging from the fact that Ghislaine's cup hadn't been prepared from the start, I was the only one being treated as a guest.
As I was thinking this, I heard rough, heavy footsteps approaching.
"This the place?"
The door flew open and a powerfully built man strode in.
He looked about fifty. Dark brown hair shot through with streaks of white, but he still very much gave the impression of a man in his prime.
I set down my cup, stood, and bowed deeply.
"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm
The man snorted a single, sharp breath.
"Hmph! You don't even know the proper way to greet someone!"
"Young Master, Rudeus has never left the village of
"You, be quiet!"
The butler fell silent, cut off with a sharp bark.
Apparently I'd done something wrong.
I'd thought my greeting was as polite as I could manage, but there must be some noble etiquette I didn't know about.
"Hmph! So
"I've heard that Father disliked rigid formality, which was why he left home. Perhaps he deliberately chose not to teach them."
"Making excuses already! You're just like Paul!"
"Was Father really that full of excuses?"
"Of course! Every word out of his mouth was an excuse! He wet the bed — excuse. Got in a fight — excuse. Skipped his lessons — excuse! You're no different! If you'd bothered to put in the effort, you could have learned basic manners easily enough. This is what happens when you don't try!"
He had a point. Fair enough.
With just magic and swordsmanship to worry about, I'd never bothered to learn anything new.
My perspective had probably narrowed. I should take this to heart.
"You're right. It's entirely my own shortcoming. I sincerely apologize."
When I bowed my head, the elder lord — or whatever he was — stamped his foot against the floor with a resounding thud.
"However, I respect that instead of giving up when you realize you haven't been taught, you made the effort to be as polite as you could! You're permitted to stay in this estate!"
I wasn't sure what had just happened, but I'd been approved.
The elder lord turned sharply on his heel and swept out of the room without another word.
"Who was that?" I asked the butler.
"That was Lord Sauros Boreas
So that guy was the lord.
Well, with so many adventurers running around, maybe you had to be that forceful to keep things in order...
Wait. Greyrat, and an uncle...?
That meant...
"So he'd be my great-uncle?"
"That's correct."
I was starting to see the picture.
Paul had leveraged connections from the family he'd been disowned by.
Still — who would have thought his family was this high-ranking?
Was he secretly some rich boy from a distinguished household?
Just then, a figure appeared through the door.
"What's the matter, Thomas? The door's been left wide open. And Father was in awfully high spirits just now — did something happen?"
A man with smooth brown hair and a delicate, almost slight frame.
Judging by the way he said "Father," this must be Paul's cousin.
"Oh, Young Master. My apologies. The elder lord just met with Rudeus. It seems he took a liking to him."
"Hmm. Father took a liking to him, you say... I may have made a poor choice of candidate, then."
He said this and sat down on the sofa directly across from me.
Right — I hadn't introduced myself.
"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Rudeus Greyrat."
I repeated the same deep bow as before.
"Ah, I'm Philip Boreas Greyrat.
In noble greetings, you place your right hand on your chest and lower your head just slightly.
You probably got scolded for that greeting of yours, didn't you?"
"Like this?"
I mimicked Philip and straightened up.
"Yes, exactly. Though your previous greeting was perfectly polite in its own way. A craftsman using that kind of greeting would probably impress Father. Do sit down."
Philip sank into the sofa with a comfortable thud.
I sat as well.
...Was the interview starting?
"How much have you been told?"
"That I'll be teaching a young lady here for five years, and in return, my tuition to the Magic University will be funded."
"That's all?"
"Yes."
"I see..."
Philip rested his chin in his hand and let his gaze fall to the table as if deep in thought.
"Do you like girls?"
"Not as much as Father does."
"Well then, you pass."
Wh — what?
Isn't that a bit fast?
"As of now, the only teachers she hasn't fired are Edna, who teaches etiquette, and Ghislaine, who teaches swordsmanship. She's dismissed over five so far. One of them was a man who had been teaching in the capital."
Just because he'd been teaching in the capital didn't mean he was any good at it, I'd think!
"I'll be blunt — I don't have high expectations.
You're Paul's son, so I figured I'd give you a shot. That's all."
"Well, that's certainly... refreshingly honest."
"What's the matter? Lacking confidence?"
I had none.
But I couldn't very well say that in this atmosphere.
"I won't know until I meet her, I suppose..."
Besides, if I blew this job and had to run off to another one, I could practically hear Paul's mocking voice already.
See, you're still just a kid after all.
No way. I wasn't about to let someone younger than me look down on me.
Hmm...
"If things look impossible... it might be worth putting on a little show."
I'd use the knowledge from my previous life.
The classic: tame the arrogant young lady through a staged incident.
"A show? What do you mean?"
"I'll have one of the people connected to this house kidnap the young lady while I'm with her. Then I'll use my reading, arithmetic, and magic to escape with her and make our way back to the estate on our own."
I explained it concisely.
"I see — make her want to learn on her own initiative. Interesting. But do you think it'll work?"
"Better chances than when adults just lecture her from on high, I'd think."
This was a staple of manga and anime.
A kid who hates studying gets caught up in an accident and realizes how important knowledge really is.
There was no reason I couldn't stage it myself, right?
"That reminds me — did Paul teach you this method? As one of his techniques for winning over girls?"
"No. Father doesn't need techniques. He's popular all on his own."
"Popular... ha."
Philip chuckled.
"That's right. He's always been popular. Women just come to him without him lifting a finger."
"The people I've met through Father's introductions are all his former lovers. Ghislaine here was one too."
"Oh, he really is something to be envied."
"I'm worried about the childhood friend I left behind in Buena Village. What if he makes a move on her?"
Saying it out loud made the worry feel real.
Five years was a long time. She'd be considerably grown up by then...
I'd die if I came back only to find
"Don't worry. Paul only has eyes for big breasts."
"...Ah, I see!"
I glanced over at Ghislaine. She was well-endowed.
What was it about? Breasts, obviously.
"Five years should be fine.
If she has any Beast Race blood, she won't grow too big even as she matures.
Besides, even Paul wouldn't stoop that low."
Could I count on that?
"But what I'm really worried about is my own daughter falling for you."
"I'm seven years old. What could you possibly be worried about...?"
Really, what an outrageous thing to say! I wouldn't do anything!
She'd fall for me on her own — or rather, I'd make sure of it.
"But, you know, Paul's letter said he had to send you away because your womanizing in the village was getting out of hand. I thought it was a joke, but after hearing that scheme of yours, maybe it wasn't entirely a lie..."
"I just didn't have any friends besides Sylphie."
And I'd been trying to raise that one and only friend into a compliant, devoted female companion.
I would never let those words leave my lips.
"Fair enough.
All right, there's no point in just talking here. Let me introduce you to my daughter.
Thomas, show him the way!"
Philip stood.
And so, I was about to face hell.
--- She was insolent.
I knew it the instant I laid eyes on her.
She was two years older than me.
Sharp, upturned eyes. Wavy hair.
A shade of crimson so vivid you'd think someone had splashed her with paint straight from the tube.
My first impression: fierce.
She'd be beautiful someday, but countless men would take one look at her and think, "No way."
This wasn't even a case of "maybe if she were a total masochist..."
She was simply dangerous.
Every fiber of my being was screaming not to approach.
"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Rudeus Greyrat."
But running away wasn't an option.
I greeted her the way Philip had taught me.
"Hmph!"
The instant she laid eyes on me, she let out the same snort as her grandfather.
She crossed her arms and stood tall, looking down at me with undisguised contempt.
She was taller than me.
"What! You're younger than me! It's a joke that I'm supposed to learn from someone like you!"
Right, right, she's got a huge ego.
But I couldn't back down.
"I don't think age matters."
"What!? Are you talking back to me!?"
"But you can't do the things I can do, can you, young lady?"
The moment I said it, I thought her hair was going to stand on end.
I never knew rage could be visible in someone's eyes.
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
"How insolent! Who do you think I am!?"
"Your cousin once removed, technically."
"My cousin...? What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're the daughter of my father's cousin. You could also say you're my great-uncle's granddaughter."
"What!? That makes no sense!"
Maybe I'd worded it badly.
Well, just saying "relative" would have been simpler.
"Have you ever heard the name Paul?"
"Why would I have!?"
"So I see."
His name apparently wasn't well known here.
Not that it mattered.
The point now was conversation.
Whack!
"...Huh?"
It happened without warning.
The young lady had simply raised her hand and slapped me across the cheek.
"Why did you hit me?"
"Because you're younger than me and you're being cheeky!"
"I see."
My slapped cheek stung and throbbed.
It hurt.
My second impression: violent.
Honestly, this was going to be a problem.
"Well then, I'll hit you back."
"What!?"
Without waiting for her response, I slapped her right back.
Smack!
An unpleasant sound rang out.
"Did you feel what it's like to—"
Before I could finish my sentence, I saw her standing with her hair bristling, fist raised high.
She looked like a Nio guardian statue. An exact match.
The thought had barely formed when her fist connected.
I staggered, and she swept my legs out from under me.
A kick to the chest sent me tumbling. Before I knew it, she had me pinned.
When I came to my senses, her knees had both of my arms locked down.
Wh — what the—?
The young lady roared.
"Who do you think you just hit!? I'll make you regret that!"
Her fist came crashing down.
After taking about five punches, I finally managed to fight my way free using magic.
Fighting through the urge for my legs to give out, I stood up and readied a magic counterattack.
I launched a shockwave of wind magic straight into her face.
Her head snapped back, but she didn't stop for even a fraction of a second. She came charging in with a demonic expression.
The moment I saw that face, I realized I'd been badly mistaken.
I rolled away as fast as I could.
That was not the young lady I knew!
This was not the kind of young lady who would perform a corkscrew roll into a graceful, whimsical barrel roll!
She was the protagonist of a delinquent manga!
I could probably beat her senseless with magic.
But she still wouldn't listen to a word I said.
She would definitely recover and come back for revenge.
Every time, I could knock her down with magic again.
But her spirit would never break.
Unlike a manga protagonist, she would use every dirty trick in the book.
She'd throw a vase at me from the top of the stairs, or jump me from behind a corner with a wooden sword...
She would use every means at her disposal to deal ten times the damage I'd inflicted.
And when that time came, she would show absolutely no mercy.
No way. Healing magic required chanting, and I couldn't chant without the incantation.
Besides, as long as the conflict continued, she would never listen to what I had to say.
Forcing her to comply through brute strength — that was the one option I absolutely could not take.
Heart pounding with fear, I simply kept running.
"I'll let you off the hook for today! But if you pull something like this again, you won't get away with it!"
Hiding behind a corner, I could hear her bellowing voice echoing through the estate.
Somehow, I'd managed to escape.
--- When I returned to Philip, he was waiting with a wry smile.
"So? How did it go?"
"It doesn't work. Nothing works."
I answered, nearly in tears.
During the chase I'd felt like crying, but now that it was over, it was just something that had happened before.
It wasn't quite at the level of trauma.
"Does that mean you're giving up?"
"I'm not giving up."
Nothing had even started yet. I'd just gotten slapped for nothing.
"Please go ahead with the plan we discussed."
I was going to teach that wild beast what real fear was.
"Understood."
At a signal from Philip, the butler withdrew.
"Still, you've come up with quite an elaborate scheme."
"You think so?"
"You're the first teacher who's brought something this ambitious to the table."
"Do you think it'll work?"
"That depends on your effort."
Fair enough.
And so, the plan was set in motion.
--- I entered the room that had been given to me.
Every piece of furnishings looked expensive.
An enormous bed. Ornately carved furniture.
Beautiful curtains. A brand-new bookshelf.
If only I had a cooler and a PC, it would have made for an incredibly comfortable shut-in lifestyle.
Nice room.
I did have the Greyrat surname, after all.
They'd prepared a guest room for me, not a servant's quarters.
Speaking of servants, for some reason, most of the maids seemed to be Beast Race.
I'd heard that discrimination against the demon race was strong in this country, but were the Beast Race treated differently?
"Sigh... Still, Paul, honestly. What kind of place did you send me to..."
I plopped onto the bed and held my throbbing head.
I quietly murmured a healing spell and mended my wounds.
"That said, this is still better than that time in my previous life."
The process of being beaten and thrown out was the same.
But compared to the crushing difficulty I'd felt back then, this was a world of difference.
Paul had actually looked out for me properly.
He'd found me a job. He'd arranged a place to sleep.
He was even giving me an allowance.
Everything a person could ask for.
If my siblings in my previous life had gone this far, maybe I could have turned my life around.
They could have found me a job, set me up with a room, kept an eye on me so I couldn't run away...
No. That wouldn't have worked either.
I was thirty-four, with no work history, and had been discarded as beyond saving.
If they'd done all that for me back then, I would have resented them. I might not have even gone along with the work reluctantly.
Separated from my lover, I might have even contemplated suicide.
It was only because of who I was now — having decided to work, to earn money — that any of this could work.
It was heavy-handed, but the timing was perfect.
Maybe I'd misunderstood Paul a little.
"But still, what the hell was that thing?"
That savage creature.
I'd lived over forty years in my previous life and never once encountered anything like that.
It went beyond frightening.
It was violence.
Like a live electric wire.
I'd nearly triggered my trauma.
Actually — I'd come close to losing control entirely.
"On my side, I was ready to snap at any moment."
Then again, looking at that young lady, I had a feeling she could snap from the other side too — scattering her contents everywhere.
"...I guess I understand why she said 'don't come to school.'"
The way she'd slapped me, it was clearly practiced.
Those were the hands of someone used to hitting people.
The hands of someone who'd beaten down opponents without mercy, even when they fought back.
The process of neutralizing a target was way too polished.
Could I really teach someone like that?
I'd talked it through with Philip.
Have a kidnapper abduct her. Let her taste helplessness.
→ Then I rescue her.
→ She comes to respect me and starts attending lessons obediently.
The plan was simple, and I understood the basic flow.
If I could elicit the right response, it should work.
But would it really work?
That violence.
It was far beyond what I'd expected.
She roared and blustered, but the moment her opponent actually bit back, she'd crush them without mercy.
That was the violence of someone who wanted total victory.
If she got kidnapped, would she even care?
If I showed up to save her, wouldn't she just look at me like it was obvious and say, "Hurry up, slowpoke"?
It was possible.
With that young lady, anything was possible.
This meant unexpected reactions were entirely on the table.
I needed to prepare for every conceivable scenario.
I needed to steel myself.
Because failure was not an option.
...
...
...
But the more I thought about it, the deeper I sank into a quagmire of worry.
"God, please let this work..."
In the end, I resorted to prayer.
I didn't believe in God.
True to form, I turned to divine help only when things got desperate.
Please, just let it work...
And then I realized my deity had been left in my room.
And I cried.
There was no god here.
:Status: Name: "Young Lady"
Occupation: Granddaughter of the Lord of the Fittoa Region Personality: Violent Obedience: None Reading/Writing: Can write her own name Arithmetic: Addition up to single digits Magic: Hopeless Swordsmanship: Sword God Style, Beginner Etiquette: Can perform the Boreas-style greeting Favorite People: Grandfather, Ghislaine