When I stepped out of the cell, it was pouring rain outside.
The rainy season had arrived.
Apparently, for the next three months, intense downpours would continue nonstop.
The ground turned into a flooded mess, making it impossible to walk properly.
That was why the people of the Great Forest lived in the trees.
--- This kidnapping incident, it turned out, had been quite the elaborate scheme.
A large-scale abduction plot orchestrated by a smuggling ring.
They had devised a plan to kidnap the Sacred Beast—the guardian deity of the Doldia.
Why anyone would want to steal something like that, I had no idea.
But the Sacred Beast was a special creature, so apparently there were plenty of people who wanted to get their hands on it.
Now, normally kidnapping a Sacred Beast wasn't easy.
Even if you managed to seize it, the warriors with their keen noses would give chase, and you'd have it snatched back in no time.
So the smuggling ring set their sights on the rainy season.
The rainy season lasted three months.
During that time, every settlement would be busy with preparations.
The warriors of each village would be stretched thin.
Moreover, during the rainy season, no ships could set sail.
In other words, if they abducted the Sacred Beast just before the rainy season began and spirited it away to the Demon Continent, they could escape without being pursued by the warriors—a perfect getaway.
Of course, the beast race kept their guard up too.
During rainy season preparations, children were told not to go outside, and the adults remained vigilant.
Needless to say, the Sacred Beast was also under strict protection.
So the smuggling ring devised yet another stratagem.
First, they hired every available kidnapper in the area and bided their time.
Then, at a designated moment, they struck multiple locations simultaneously, abducting women and children all at once.
The warriors were thrown into a panic.
They had already let their guard down because kidnapping incidents had been fewer this year— and now children from settlements across the region were being seized all at once.
To make matters worse, the smuggling ring deployed pre-arranged armed groups to attack various settlements.
At that point, the Doldia village itself had not yet been attacked.
Warrior reinforcements were even dispatched from the Doldia to help defend other settlements.
And with the Doldia village's defenses thinned out— the smuggling ring sent their elite to strike the Doldia village directly.
They successfully abducted the chieftain's granddaughters along with the Sacred Beast.
A lightning raid: stir up chaos everywhere, then seize the real target.
The armed group's attacks.
The mass kidnapping of children.
And the abduction of the Sacred Beast.
Even the finest beast race warriors couldn't be everywhere at once.
Geus and Gustav chose to prioritize the Sacred Beast over the children first.
They rallied the warrior corps to defend the village, then set out on a search for the Sacred Beast themselves.
That was how important the Sacred Beast was to the village.
It had only been two days between the abduction and the ships' departure.
They were lucky to have discovered the smuggling storage location at all.
The nauseating stench of blood and the brief flicker of a flame— those two things were what led them to that building, apparently.
Thanks to us, too, I'd like to think.
But why did they bring
Well, it was a large-scale operation, so perhaps there had been various mix-ups.
Or maybe they had planned to remove Ruijerd's shackles at the critical moment and set him loose.
From here on, though, I was venturing into unfamiliar territory.
What had they been doing during that week while they left me rotting in a cell?
Upon hearing the story, Ruijerd had apparently been furious at the smugglers.
He proposed raiding the ships before they could depart.
Geus countered that they didn't know which ship carried the children, and the smugglers knew how to mask scent from the beast race's noses.
But Ruijerd proudly declared that he could identify them with the eye on his forehead.
As for
And she was all smiles the entire time.
That's the
So Ruijerd and the others launched their assault and succeeded.
They found the smuggling organization's ships without difficulty, and every last member of the ring was captured half-dead.
From inside the ships, children poured out in droves.
There were about fifty of them.
So the children were rescued, and everyone lived happily ever after.
…That's how it should have ended, but it didn't.
Because this was a raid on the very last shipment before the rainy season, officials from Xantport showed up to investigate.
Of course, Geus and Gustav protested.
The kidnapping and enslavement of beast race children was prohibited under the agreement between the Millis Holy Kingdom and the chieftains of the Great Forest.
They had merely stopped it at the source—punishing them for that would be absurd, they argued.
Hearing this, the Xantport officials got heated as well.
They insisted they should have been given at least some prior warning.
But the raid had taken place right at the moment of departure.
There had been no time to explain.
And then there was the matter of scale.
Fifty children.
Not five or ten—fifty.
At least one or two children had been abducted from every single settlement.
Xantport hadn't caught a single one of them.
Worse, their officials had been accepting bribes and turning a blind eye.
This was a violation of the treaty.
If left unaddressed, it would create a massive rift between the beast race and the Millis Holy Kingdom.
In the worst case, it could spark a war.
The matter had escalated to that level.
In the end, the Xantport side backed down.
They agreed to pay a substantial sum in reparations to the beast race.
Between those negotiations and returning the abducted children to their parents, about a week went by.
I was put on the back burner and left alone for an entire week.
Well, what could you do?
Actually, I thought they wrapped up a pretty big mess in just a week.
But still.
Ruijerd was beaming with gratitude from the beast race.
Eris was surrounded by beast race children, all smiles.
And I was stuck in a cell, living the carefree life with a monkey-faced man.
That's just not fair.
I mean, they could have at least let me out halfway through, right?
--- When I voiced my complaints, Geus apologized.
"I truly am sorry."
That was the beast race's version of a groveling bow.
Lying on his back, he bared his stomach to me.
At first I thought he was mocking me.
But even as he exposed his belly, Geus's voice was desperate.
He never imagined someone would save his daughter.
He never imagined someone would even break the Sacred Beast's seal.
To strip such a benefactor naked and douse him with cold water— and then forget about it midway and get caught up in other matters— there was no excuse for any of it.
He could only offer his head and beg for forgiveness.
So he said.
But he asked me to spare the guard.
She had only been following his orders.
Apparently, she was going to get married once the rainy season ended, so even if he had to accept punishment, he wanted it to be something that wouldn't humiliate a woman.
Otherwise, it would leave lasting resentment.
That's what he said.
I was, frankly, stunned.
Doing a reverse prostration in front of everyone like that—they were only making things more awkward.
Come on.
Showcasing that chiseled six-pack like that wasn't helping either—it just made me jealous.
More importantly, what about the guard lady's… No. Never mind.
"Everything arose from a misunderstanding.
I'm not holding any grudges."
This was Bodhisattva
I was an adult, after all.
I'd show them some dignity.
That's right.
The real villains were the smuggling ring.
And the smuggling ring had been destroyed.
Happy ending.
I had suffered, they had suffered.
We were even.
There was no need for me to stir up trouble.
Besides, life in the cell hadn't been that bad.
The food was good, and Geese was there.
The guard lady was pretty, too.
"Your magnanimous heart is deeply appreciated, this chieftain included."
Looking at my reaction, the old warrior who called himself Gustav spoke with an air of self-importance.
…Geus is fine, but shouldn't you apologize too?
You were the one giving orders at the scene, weren't you?
Well, whatever.
I didn't want to see an old man grovel anyway.
I'd rather see the guard lady's— …No. Never mind.
Ruijerd was also frowning.
"Should I apologize as well?"
"No, Ruijerd, you don't need to."
"Are you sure? But my…"
"You endured a whole week too, didn't you?"
The beast race had come to acknowledge Ruijerd as well.
Geus and Gustav had apparently already heard that Ruijerd was of the Superd race.
I didn't know how they felt about the Superd, but at the very least, Ruijerd was now a hero who had saved their children.
I had endured my part so that Ruijerd could earn his renown.
If that was the outcome, then all was well.
The goal had been achieved regardless of the process—there was no room for me to complain.
"Hmph!"
"Glub!"
As I was thinking this, Eris marched forward with sharp steps and kicked Geus square in his exposed stomach.
Then— "May the great blessing of water descend upon where you seek it, bring forth the clear and refreshing flow of a babbling brook, right here and now—Water Ball!"
Without an ounce of mercy, she slammed a water bullet into the defenseless Geus.
The surrounding crowd was dumbfounded.
Eris crossed her arms in her usual pose and declared grandly, "There! Now we're even!"
That's my Eris.
--- Our current location was Gustav's house.
A home built in the trees, and the largest house in the village.
A three-story wooden structure perched up in a tree.
I wondered whether it could withstand an earthquake, but apparently it didn't even budge when adults ran around inside.
They were the Dedoldia tribe.
The chieftain of the Dedoldia was Gustav.
His son, the head warrior, was Geus.
The one I had saved from the smugglers was Geus's second daughter, Minutona.
The eldest daughter, Lianina, had apparently been sent abroad to study.
Among those we rescued, there was also a girl from the Adoldia tribe.
She was Terseena, the second daughter of the Adoldia chieftain.
A dog-eared girl with a generous bust.
She had been on her way back to the Adoldia settlement, but since the rainy season caught them mid-journey, she would apparently be staying here for three months.
Incidentally, among the beast race, those with Doldia blood could be sold to nobles in a certain country at a high price.
Children who were easy to train were especially targeted.
Nobles of a certain country.
I'd heard this story somewhere before!
"They're lower than even Asuran nobles!"
Hey, you over there, Eris!
Why are you acting like it's someone else's problem?
I'm pretty sure those rat-faced noble families with names starting with "G" are deeply involved!
I'd never heard about the backgrounds of the maids at Eris's family estate, but it was entirely possible that some of them had been abducted in just that way.
Sauros was a decent person, but my view of him was starting to shift a little.
Hmm, I'd keep quiet about this for now.
Some things were better left unsaid.
As I was thinking that, Eris suddenly seemed to remember something and held up a ring she was wearing.
"Oh, by the way—do you know Guinevere?
This ring belongs to Guinevere…"
She couldn't speak beast god language.
So she spoke in the human language.
The only ones present who understood the human language, besides me and Ruijerd, were Gustav and Geus.
"Guinevere…?"
Geus's face clouded over.
"Is that girl… still alive?"
"Huh?"
His voice dripped with disgust.
It was the kind of tone you'd spit out.
And then, those first words: "She is a disgrace to our family."
That remark launched Geus's tirade against Guinevere.
In the human language, loud enough for Eris to hear.
He went on and on in an emotionless monotone about how utterly incompetent Guinevere was, how unworthy she was of being called his sister.
Even I, who had once had my life saved by Guinevere, found it hard to listen.
Apparently, she had done some truly terrible things in this village.
But those were just the deeds of a child.
The Guinevere I knew was a clumsy but hardworking person.
She had reformed, turned over a new leaf.
She wasn't someone who deserved to be talked about like this.
She was a sword instructor worthy of respect and a magic student I was proud of.
So, like, could you please stop?
"That ring was given to her by our mother to keep her from thrashing about wildly, but it was completely useless. She's nothing but a wooden doll who can only destroy things."
"You…"
"Shut up! What do you even know about Guinevere?!"
Eris cut me off with a piercing shriek.
The volume was so loud I thought the house would split open, and the Dedoldia family grimaced.
Only Gustav and Geus understood the human language.
The others stood in stunned silence at Eris's sudden outburst.
I thought Eris would resort to violence.
But she just clenched her jaw in frustration, tears welling in her eyes, and though her fists trembled, she didn't lunge at him.
"Guinevere is my master!
She's the person I respect most!"
I knew.
I knew how close Eris and Guinevere had been.
I knew who Eris had trusted above all else.
Far more than me.
"Guinevere is amazing!
She's so, so amazing!
If I ever call for help, she comes right away!
She's incredibly fast!
She's incredibly strong!"
Eris began rattling off words that probably didn't even make sense to herself.
That anguished voice was understandable even without knowing the content.
At the very least, it expressed every single thing I was feeling.
"Guinevere is… *hic*… *ugkh*…
How can you… say such things… *hic*…"
Without throwing a single punch, tears streaming down her face, Eris held back.
That's right—she couldn't hit Geus here.
Guinevere had lived by violence in this village.
She had gone around beating people up as she pleased.
If Eris struck him, Geus would just say "See? You're just like her."
You're both cut from the same cloth.
As for Geus, he looked utterly bewildered.
"No, that's… you can't be serious—Guinevere is… respected? That's absurd…"
Seeing that, I decided to cool my own anger.
"Let's put this topic to rest."
I put my arm around Eris's shoulder and suggested as much.
Eris looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
"Why… Rudeus… do you hate Guinevere?"
"I like Guinevere just fine."
But— "The Guinevere we know and the Guinevere they know are two different people with the same name."
I said that and turned to look at the confused Geus.
Even he would change his mind if he met the Guinevere of today.
Time changed people.
I knew that from firsthand experience.
Eris didn't seem fully convinced.
But she had at least let out some of her frustration.
"So, um, has Guinevere really become… such a remarkable person?"
"At the very least, I respect her."
When I said that, Geus's face grew troubled.
Well, listening to their exchange, it was clear there had been a lot of bad blood between him and Guinevere.
The kind that made your stomach churn.
Blood ties could be pretty harsh.
Precisely because they were family.
No matter how many years passed, there were things you couldn't forgive.
"So… could you apologize to her?"
"…I'm sorry."
The atmosphere had become incredibly awkward.
Guinevere, huh.
I'd completely forgotten about her over the past year.
She must have been caught up in that teleportation incident as well.
Where was she now, and what was she doing?
Knowing her, she was probably searching for me and Eris…
I regretted not being able to gather information in Xantport.
--- A week passed.
The rain continued without end.
We were given one of the village's vacant houses and set up living there.
Being hailed as heroes of the Great Forest had its perks—food showed up at our door every day without us doing a thing.
This was not a healthy lifestyle. I was going soft.
The area beneath the trees was flooded. At one point, a village child nearly fell in and it became a huge deal.
When I rescued them with magic, everyone was astonished and incredibly grateful.
I briefly considered using magic to blow the clouds away but decided against it.
Forcing the rain to stop might bring about something bad for the Great Forest.
Honestly, I wanted it to stop so we could get moving, but apparently it would last about three months, so I'd just have to endure it.
--- I took a stroll through the village in the rain.
As expected of a rural settlement—there were no weapon shops, armor shops, or inns.
It was essentially just houses, storage buildings, and a warrior garrison.
All of them, up in the trees.
The village's three-dimensional structure was genuinely fascinating.
Just walking around got my heart racing.
There was one area where I was told not to go any deeper.
Apparently, something important to the village lay beyond that passage.
Of course, I had no intention of barging in there.
As it happened, I found a spot where paths crossed at different elevations.
I was waiting there, hoping a woman might pass overhead, when Geese walked up.
"Hey, new guy—you out already?"
When I called out, Geese's face lit up and he waved.
"Yeah. They told me never to do it again. What a bunch of idiots. Like I wouldn't do it again."
"Puppy guard's back! He hasn't learned his lesson~!"
"Hey, cut it out! I said stop!
It's the rainy season—there's nowhere to run, so I'm not doing anything."
It was the rainy season, which meant he'd probably do it again once it ended.
What an incorrigible man.
"Oh, I'll return the vest."
"I told you, drop the formal stuff.
Keep the vest."
"Are you sure?"
"It's still cold this time of year, isn't it?"
He didn't seem like a bad person, though.
That casual warmth reminded me of
Paul.
I hoped he was doing well.
--- Two weeks passed.
The rain still hadn't stopped.
I learned that the Doldia tribe had a secret form of magic.
They could use howling to locate an enemy's position, and produce special vocalizations to disrupt their opponent's balance.
The spell that had paralyzed me when Geus fought me was apparently one of those.
It seemed to be magic based on "sound."
So I begged Gustav to teach me.
He agreed readily.
I watched him demonstrate it several times and tried to imitate it.
But it just wouldn't work.
Apparently, you needed the Doldia tribe's unique vocal cords to use it.
I had suspected as much.
It was probably not an exaggeration to say that most racial original magic was nearly impossible for me to use.
The beast race could use human magic, which was hardly fair.
I understood the basics—projecting magic power through the voice—and tried several times, but the effect was mediocre at best.
All I could manage was making someone twitch for a split second.
I apparently couldn't become a certain martial artist.
Incidentally, when I showed Gustav my chantless magic, he was quite impressed.
"Do they teach things like that at magic academies these days?"
"My master was just a great teacher."
I casually plugged Roxy.
"Oh? Where is this master from?"
"She's of the Migurd race from the Begaritt region of the Demon Continent.
She studied magic at… the
When I mentioned that I planned to attend the Magic Academy myself someday, Gustav remarked, "Oh? To still have that drive for self-improvement even with abilities like yours," and nodded approvingly.
I felt pretty good about that.
--- One month passed.
Monsters appeared in this village too.
Insect-like creatures that moved smoothly across the water's surface would suddenly leap up and attack, and serpentine things would climb up the trees like sea snakes.
I couldn't remember which one's materials were valuable.
The village was protected by the warrior corps, but during the rainy season, even the beast race's renowned noses and sonar-like voice magic weren't very effective.
Monsters repeatedly slipped past the sentries and appeared within the village.
While I was walking through the village with Eris, a beast race child was nearly caught by a chameleon-like reptile right in front of us.
On instinct, I shot it down with an earth bullet.
That was close.
The child wagged its tail adorably and thanked me.
Eris watched this, her breathing growing heavy.
I hurriedly rubbed her behind to calm her down.
The child ran off happily.
That was close.
And now my own life was in danger.
When I told Ruijerd about the monster situation, he scowled.
He couldn't overlook a situation where children were in danger.
But he seemed opposed to helping with the village's defense.
"This village has the pride of its own warriors."
Apparently that was a thing.
Defending the village was the village warriors' duty.
Other warriors shouldn't butt in uninvited.
That was Ruijerd's common sense.
It made absolutely no sense to me.
"Wouldn't the children's safety be more important than that?"
When I said that, Ruijerd thought for a few seconds, then decided to discuss it with Geus.
"Oh! Lord Ruijerd, you'd help us?"
Geus welcomed the idea enthusiastically.
His opinion of Ruijerd had skyrocketed.
Come to think of it, Geus had also participated in the ship raid.
He said he'd even contribute a reward on behalf of the village's warrior corps.
We decided to slay any monsters spotted in the village.
Ruijerd would find them, and I'd take them out with magic.
Then we'd collect the carcasses and harvest their materials.
Geus would buy them from us.
A perfect cycle.
At first, as Ruijerd had predicted, the village warriors weren't happy about it.
But once we mercilessly wiped out every monster that infiltrated the village, their faces softened—they could see themselves getting through this rainy season without casualties.
"I had thought the beast race was a more proud people…
To be relieved that another race is defending their own village—it's truly…"
Only Ruijerd grumbled about things like that.
Apparently, the beast race of a few hundred years ago had been different.
--- A month and a half passed.
The rain seemed to be easing up a little.
Probably my imagination.
Eris had become friends with Tona and Terseena.
Even without a shared language, maybe that was just how it worked at their age.
Despite the rain, they moved all over the place, seemingly having the time of their lives.
When I looked into what they were doing, it turned out Eris was teaching them the human language.
That Eris—was teaching someone—a language!
I could have stepped in and played teacher, stealing Eris's thunder, but I was a man who could read the room.
I'd just hide nearby and observe.
Eris had never had friends her own age.
Seeing her get along with kids roughly the same age warmed my heart.
Red hair, cat ears, and dog ears.
Just watching them play together merrily was enough for me.
But seriously, Eris.
Maybe don't just throw yourself at people without warning.
You might get misunderstood—like I would have been.
Look—Geus is watching.
If he saw someone clinging to his daughter with flared nostrils like that, what would a parent think?
"Hmm, Lady Eris, thank you for getting along with my daughter."
Huh, wha—?
Wasn't his reaction completely different from what I got?
That girl was definitely emitting pheromones right now!
So it really was different for men and women.
Right, of course. Obviously.
"By the way, I'm sorry about the Guinevere matter. I hadn't seen her in so long that I misunderstood, but it seems that sister of mine has matured a little by walking the outside world."
Geus bowed his head.
Perhaps over the past month, he had sorted through his feelings.
That was a good thing.
"Of course she has! She's Sword King Guinevere! And you know what? The Guinevere of today can even use magic!"
"Hahaha—Guinevere, using magic? Lady Eris, you're quite the comedian."
"I'm serious! Rudeus taught Guinevere reading, arithmetic, and magic!"
"Rudeus did…?"
After that, Eris launched into a passionate campaign for both me and Guinevere.
She talked about my tutoring sessions in the Fittoa region, starting with how bad she and Guinevere had been at learning, and how the two of them deeply respected Rudeus for teaching them through to the end.
Listening to it all, I felt embarrassed.
I hadn't actually taught them all the way to the end, since the teleportation happened in year three, but still.
Geus was thoroughly intrigued.
Then, once the three of them parted ways, he came straight to the wooden crate where I'd been hiding.
"So? What is this worthy teacher doing, skulking in a place like this?"
"A-hem. I have a hobby of… observing people."
"Oh? That's quite the refined hobby. By the way, how did you teach Guinevere to read?"
"No special method—just normally."
"Normally…? I can't even imagine."
"She had a lot of trouble in her adventuring days from being undereducated, so it's only natural you can't picture it."
"I see. That sister of mine—ever since she was little, if something upset her, she'd have to punch someone before she felt better…"
From what he described, Guinevere had been like a young Eris.
Always getting into fights, and since she was strong, there was no stopping her.
Geus had been forced to swallow his pride countless times.
What kind of big brother couldn't even beat his own little sister?
Speaking of siblings, I was a big brother too.
Oh right.
I'd been meaning to write a letter but kept forgetting.
Once the rainy season ended, I'd head to the capital of the Millis Holy Kingdom and send a letter to
From the Demon Continent, letters often didn't arrive, but from Millis they should.
"Oh, by the way, Lord Rudeus."
"Yes?"
"How long are you planning to stay inside that crate?"
Until they started changing, of course.
Night was approaching.
They were going to bathe and change into nightclothes.
"Sniff, sniff… I smell arousal."
"What! No way—that can't be right! Is some beast-loving girl somewhere out there making a blissful face?"
When I played dumb, Geus's eyebrow twitched.
"Lord Rudeus. I'm grateful for what you did before.
I still feel terrible that a misunderstanding led to what happened."
After that preamble, Geus's demeanor shifted entirely.
"But if you so much as lay a finger on my daughter, it's a different story.
If you don't come out right now, I'll dump the whole crate into the water."
He was dead serious.
I didn't hesitate.
I was out of that crate in one second.
Even a black-bearded rogue couldn't have moved faster.
"I am the protector of this village.
I don't like saying this, but… keep it in check."
"Yessir."
Yeah.
I had gotten a little too carried away.
My bad.