My birthday party at the Boreas house was a resounding success, in my opinion.
Night had fallen, and the decorations were beginning to come down.
I made sure to enjoy this party as much as the one my family threw. After all, there wouldn't be anything like this again for another five years.
When I said goodnight to everyone, I locked myself in my room and took out the book my mother had given me.
It was pretty thick, about 40 pages in total, which was incredible considering it only contains two spells.
It was already getting dark, so I skimmed the book.
The first three pages explained the capabilities of advanced healing and detoxification magic and how they can be used in scenarios.
I spent about three hours reviewing the spells and managed to recite them after a couple of failed attempts.
But that night, I became an advanced healing and detoxification magician.
Obviously, the wounds I healed were on my own body and weren't minor...
All of this left me exhausted, and I lay down on my bed.
But just as I got under the covers, I heard a knock on my door.
With a suppressed grunt, I sat up in my bed and said, "Come in."
As I opened the door, my visitor revealed himself.
I had thought Eris had decided to invite me to her room again, or maybe even Hilda wishing me goodnight, but it was neither.
Instead...
"Mr. Philip, what brings you here?" I asked.
"Hmm, just a chat, I suppose. Is that all right?" He gestured to the table and chairs.
"Sure. Though...Let's keep the volume down."
"Of course," he nodded.
As he took a seat and I took the other, he poured himself a glass of wine he'd brought before looking at me.
"…You know, I never thought my daughter would become what she is today. I thought she'd always be a failed noblewoman and end up becoming an adventurer, which is why I hired Ghislaine," he said, taking a small sip.
"Get to the point, Lord Philip. No need to nitpick," I said.
"Haha! Yeah, I forgot that bothered you too," he chuckled. "In short. I want you to marry Eris and help me take care of the Boreas family."
Haa… so he was still hoping for something like that?
I thought after losing his children, he'd be content to live a quiet, rural life with his wife and daughter, but I guess such ambition doesn't die so easily.
"How could I help? Aside from my position as your guardian, of course," I asked.
"Ha. Even though your mother and father have abandoned their noble surnames, blood doesn't lie so easily," he replied.
I narrowed my eyes. "I don't know if you forgot, but that wasn't the deal. Besides, I already have a suitor," I muttered.
Sorry for using you as an excuse, Sylphie!
"Think about it," he said. "If you said yes right now, I'd allow you and Eris to do whatever you wanted. Even that other girl, Sylphy, might join."
I leaned back in my chair.
Although his offer of Eris was, embarrassingly, somewhat tempting... that wasn't what mattered to me at the moment, especially with that little red-haired demon.
Entering the world of nobles... I knew what that meant.
Games, murder, stratagems, deception...
If it were just me, an environment like that wouldn't be so horrible.
After all, as the tutor here, I'd somehow been involved in all of those things anyway.
But that's the problem... I wasn't the only one.
My parents, my sister… my future children and nieces and nephews…
I couldn't bring them into a world like that.
"I refuse. I'm fine with protecting you and risking my life for Eris, but I don't want my family anywhere near those things," I said firmly.
"Uh-huh. I thought so," he laughed. "Ha... Well, it was worth a try," he sighed. "But, whatever, I allow you to have any relationship you want with my daughter."
Imagining what "any relationship" between Eris and me could mean, my cheeks heated a little.
"...I see," I said.
"Ha. Who would have thought you'd make that face?" he shook his head. "Anyway, I'll let you rest."
"No problem, Mr. Philip. Well, if that's all, I wish you goodnight," I said, standing up from the chair.
He did the same. "You too."
As he left and closed the door, I reflected on the conversation.
Philip, despite his calm demeanor, was a surprisingly ambitious man, so I doubted he would so easily give up on the idea of me joining his political struggle.
Knowing the cunning man, he hoped I would be fascinated by Eris and eventually fall naturally into his plans, becoming his son-in-law, or perhaps even the father of his grandson.
Unfortunately, I had my own future plans, and none of them involved Eris.
He also told me how one of his brothers lost the line of succession due to love, so he knew he could use those emotions to his advantage.
Which made me hate the man for using his own daughter as a political weapon.
Well... there was nothing I could do about it at the moment, so it was best not to think about it until necessary.
Washing my face with water magic, I then slipped under the covers, before generating a small gust of wind to blow out the candles and fall asleep.
...
[Shirone Kingdom]
Roxy Migurdia looked out the window with furrowed brows.
The color of the sky was strange.
Brown, black, purple, and yellow; a shift in colors one wouldn't normally see. And yet, she had seen these colors somewhere before.
"What is this?"
The colors were familiar to her, but she had never seen the sky like this before.
The only thing that was clear was that this wasn't a natural phenomenon.
The most likely explanation was magic that, for whatever reason, had gotten out of control.
The scale of it was such that she could see it swirling even from afar.
Then she remembered. The way it flashed: she had seen this before at the Magic University.
The light seemed to summon magic.
"In that direction... To the east. Asura Kingdom? Don't tell me it's Rudeus?!" She remembered the boy she had once taken as a student.
That boy who, at the tender age of five, produced a storm while being completely calm.
He would have been ten years old now. At half his age, he had complete control of his bottomless pool of mana, so it was possible
that he could do something like that.
In his most recent letter, he wrote about his difficulties studying summoning magic. Perhaps he had somehow obtained a book on the subject, or perhaps he had found a teacher.
Roxy wasn't the only one who noticed the change in the sky.
Every person in every part of the world noticed both its abnormality and the abruptness of its appearance.
Even those of great renown took note.
[Red Wrym's Lower Jaw]
Orsted walked briskly up the mountain.
The change in the sky, the mana building up, and the tight feeling in his chest...
He had seen this before, but it didn't reassure him. In fact, seeing this phenomenon again made him anxious.
"tch..." He clicked his tongue.
"It's already started, I have to hurry," he said as he walked along the mountain path. He was a couple of days away from Asura, and his destination would be the main crater in Shirone. If he was lucky, Nanahoshi would be there.
[The Chaos Breaker]
The Armored Dragon Peragius, one of the three legendary heroes, looked up at the northern sky.
"What is that? It looks like the light emitted when the Great Emperor of the Demon World revives."
Nearby, there was a woman with a white crow mask on her face, a member of the sky people who possessed black wings.
She whispered, "The mana level is different."
"Certainly. If anything, it resembles the color of a summon."
"Yes, but that said, I've never seen so much light in a summon before."
"It's similar to when we created Chaos Breaker."
Perugius had to act.
He had spent today like any other, sitting atop his throne on Chaos Breaker, attended by his twelve followers, continuing to watch over the surface.
He had only one goal: to defeat his loathsome enemy, the Demon God Laplace, as soon as he revived.
He waited in the sky for that moment when the seal would be undone.
"Could it be that the Great Emperor of the Demon World is trying to break the Laplace seal?"
"It's possible. The Emperor has been eerily silent in the 300 years since his rebirth," he replied.
"Very well. Almanfi!"
"I'm here." A man dressed in white and wearing a yellow mask appeared and knelt before Perugius.
"Search immediately, and I'm sure whoever is behind this must be plotting something. If you see anyone suspicious who seems to be involved in this, kill them."
"Understood."
The Armored Dragon Perugius made his move, with his twelve disciples behind him.
All to avenge the four friends he had lost. This time, he would surely deliver a final blow to the Demon God Laplace.
[Holy Land of the Sword]
The Sword God Gal Farion looked up at the southern sky.
"What's wrong with the sky? Also..." The moment he focused on something else, two of his beloved students attacked him at the same time.
"Don't come near me while I have my attention elsewhere."
His composure was relaxed. In comparison, his two beloved students were breathless.
As always, the two of them were pointless, he thought.
They were overconfident about having earned the title of Sword Emperor, but this was all it amounted to.
What a load of bullshit. Fame had no place in swordsmanship.
All you needed to do was get stronger.
The only thing fame brought you was money and political power. There was no value in that.
Anyone can obtain those things.
Being as good as he was, he could cut through that garbage with a single blow. If you were strong, you could have your way.
Doing things your way was how you stayed alive.
Ghislaine understood better, but she had gone soft. That was why she was stuck at the Sword King's level.
Those with a powerful thirst for life were innately strong, no matter how physically weak or incapable.
"Hey, hey, come at me now. Defeat me and then fight to the death so one of you can call yourself the Sword God! You'll have enough money to play for a hundred lifetimes! You'll be able to line up with women, from slaves to princesses, and get away with it! Just your name will bring people to their knees in fear! One step forward and crowds will part to make way for you!"
"I didn't start learning swordsmanship for something like this!"
"Master! Please don't insult us like that!"
This was it. They were going to learn to be more honest with themselves.
Because if they did, they could easily crush someone like him and call themselves Sword Gods.
The Sword God Gal Farion had already forgotten about the southern sky.
[Somewhere on the Demon Continent]
The Great Emperor of the Demon World, Kishirika Kishirisu, looked up at the eastern sky.
"Hmph, when you become as big as me, you can see things even if you're facing the opposite direction! How come? Amazing, right?"
There was no one to answer her. There wasn't a single person present.
"So you're ignoring me! Mwahahaha! Very well, very well! I'll forgive you, humans! Or rather, no one will approach me because of the peace treaty, so I have no choice but to forgive you. Mwahahahaha, mwahahahaha, mwahaha-gurgh..."
Kishirika was alone.
The moment she had risen from the dead, she shouted,
"I, the Great Emperor of the Demon World, Kishirika, have risen! I must have kept you waiting! Mwahahahaha!" But there was no one there. She decided she would go to the city and repeat her declaration, only to be stared at as if she were a pitiful child. Since then, no one has paid any attention to her.
She tried to visit one of her old friends, but they simply told her,
"Things are quiet right now, so behave yourself."
"What are those human fortune-tellers doing? When I revived in the past, they would suddenly start trembling in fear, babble strange things, and then jump out of their windows. Without that act of openness, I feel my rebirth is worthless. Honestly, young people these days..."
She kicked a stone and looked up at the Western Sky Magic Pool.
Another name for the Great Emperor of the Demon World was the Demon-Eyed Demon Emperor. He possessed more than ten Demon-Eyed Demon Emperors, and at a glance, he could see what was happening.
Or at least, he should have been able to.
"What is this? Can't I see the one doing this? I wonder if there's a barrier. You must be shy, hiding your face after causing so much chaos."
Kishirika's eyes weren't all-powerful. That was why she was simply the Great Emperor of the Demon World, and she would never be called a Demon God, no matter how much time passed. Not that it particularly bothered her.
"It would be nice if they could at least summon a hero. But lately everyone is Laplace this and Laplace that. 'Kishirika? Who's that?' So it doesn't matter.
I guess even heroes prefer good-looking young men like Laplace. I want some time in the spotlight too. "I want to be showered with attention and paraded!"
She sighed as she embarked on her journey. A journey with no particular destination in mind.
...
[Rudeus Pov]
I woke up early, had breakfast as usual, and went straight to my fencing lessons with Ghislaine. I'd been a swordsman for a year now, and I felt like I was getting faster with each passing day—or well, that's what Ghislaine said.
With my magic sword at my waist, the coat Paul had given me, and Sylphie's bracelet, I walked toward the training room only to be surprised to find Eris already training there.
The girl had tremendous talent for the sword. It could be said that she was greater or equal to mine, but I couldn't say for sure. Still, seeing her train so dedicatedly and seeing that she could already read and write made me know that my stay here wasn't in vain.
"Rudeus! Fight me!" Eris said suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts. She was breathing heavily and sweat was running down her forehead, but she had a big smile on her face.
"Sure! Anytime!" I said with a smile.
As usual, Ghislaine went to a corner to act as our referee.
"Haa!" With a battle cry, the girl lunged at me and with a perfect arc, she executed the Longsword of Silence, and it was powerful.
It took me a long time to repel her with the Water God style, but that left her slightly exposed, so with my wooden sword in hand, I executed a longsword of light that sent her flying at Ghislaine's feet.
"Aaagh!" She moaned in pain as a red line formed on her stomach. If it had been a real sword, it would have killed her, but that was a light move on my part.
Ignoring the pain, she got up and got into a fighting stance.
"Again!" she screamed, but something in the sky changed in that instant.
"Hmm?" I looked up quickly. It wasn't normal.
First, it turned black, then blue, then brown, and then red.
"What the fuck?" I muttered weakly, the shock clearly evident in my voice.
"That's a huge concentration of mana," Ghislaine said as she revealed the eye hidden in her eyepatch.
True... she had mentioned having a demonic eye once, but seeing it was just as surprising.
"Rudeus?" Eris asked, also confused by the scene in the sky.
"..." I said nothing. Still holding my sword, I left the training room and looked for a window. I quickly peeked out, only to see a white light from the sky impact the ground in the distance.
"Nngh?!" I didn't even have time to react. The light spread so quickly that it blinded me while protecting me with an earthen fortress.
"Rudeus!" I heard Ghislaine's voice before I lost consciousness.
[End of volume 1]