Roa Part 2

All this time, the memories of reading Mushoku in my previous life had been my greatest reliance. But now that reliance had suddenly been cut in half.

At the very least, I could no longer predict most future events. I only knew the broad course of history—general information, like how Ariel, no matter which timeline it was, needed to gain Perugius Dola's support to succeed in taking the throne. The specific process was missing. For example, how she convinced Perugius—I had no idea.

It was a little difficult. The unknown was terrifying. But if I changed the way I thought about it, when Rudeus was first reincarnated here, hadn't he known nothing at all too?

At least I could practice chantless magic from memory. That already made me happier than the average transmigrator.

After quickly adjusting my mood, I walked down from the watchtower.

When I passed by a wide open space, I heard the pap pap pap of wood striking wood.

Out of curiosity, I followed the sound and went over to take a look.

Sure enough, a beastfolk woman with ears that might have been wolf ears or dog ears was teaching my cousin swordsmanship.

This should have been the famous princess of the beast race, the disciple of the current Sword God of the Sword God Style, a Sword King of the Sword God Style, nicknamed the Sword King of the Black Wolf—Ghislaine Dedoldia.

Because I had walked straight over from the road, the two of them noticed me from a great distance away.

Eris seemed to say something to Ghislaine, but Ghislaine shook her head and did not look as if she had agreed.

Once I drew close, I heard Eris say in her loud voice, "Brat, what are you coming over here for? Hurry up and get lost. Shoo, shoo."

What a rude little brat. She did not even understand basic etiquette. She was clearly a head shorter than me, yet she was calling me a brat. I almost could not stop myself from snapping back at her.

"I came to seek instruction in swordsmanship. It is truly an honor to meet you here, beautiful lady."

Eris seemed to have mistaken whom I was speaking to. It was as if her fighting spirit had been lit. "Fine! So you can actually use swordsmanship too? Watch me beat you until your teeth and claws are scattered all over the ground!"

Then, very "gentlemanly," she tossed me a wooden sword. She did not bow, and while the wooden sword she had thrown to me was still in midair, she swung her own wooden sword and attacked.

Honestly, this did not feel like she was giving me a weapon. It was more like a North God Style thrown-weapon attack. She really did have talent in swordsmanship. In the later fight where she faced Orsted, hadn't she attacked like this too?

I had never learned Sword God Style swordsmanship, and I did not know what technique she was using.

In reality, Eris was only using brute force to swing the wooden sword. She was not using any technique at all. She probably had not been learning the Sword God Style for long.

Ghislaine should also have only come to the Boreas family as a bodyguard in the last year or two.

Seeing Eris charge over, though her technique was terrible and she was not using swordsmanship at all, only brute force, I did not grow careless. After all, I had no intention of taking a hit from her. That would hurt a lot.

I formed a small whirlwind in my hand and sucked the wooden sword in the air into my grasp. With a backhand motion, I knocked aside Eris's wild, frenzied chopping swordsmanship. Then I slid my sword under her armpit and, from behind her back, locked both of her hands directly in place.

She really was born in the year of the dog. She actually refused to admit defeat and turned her head, trying to bite my arm with her teeth. I hurriedly used my other hand to keep locking both of her hands, then brought the freed wooden sword up to meet her teeth. I also knew how to measure my force and did not use strength; I only wedged the sword between her teeth so she would stop biting wildly. Fortunately, I had held back. Otherwise, in a few days, she would only have been able to attend her birthday banquet with an empty mouth. At that point, Eris definitely would not even dare to smile in front of the guests.

Seeing that I was very measured, Ghislaine did not make a move either. I knew this little girl's personality very well, so after restraining her, I did not let go so easily.

Then I said to Ghislaine in Beast God Language, "Dear Sword King of the Black Wolf, why are you here?"

Ghislaine froze. She probably had not heard Beast God Language in a long time! She answered directly, "I'm working here as a bodyguard."

She answered so directly, and in the human tongue at that. I had originally been thinking of helping her hide her identity! Forget it. With someone this brainless and straightforward, I should not speak in roundabout ways. I should get straight to the point.

"Your Excellency Sword King, I would like to spar with you. I want to witness the Light Blade. Would you be willing?"

"Sure."

So direct. When Eris heard that we were going to spar, she stopped making a fuss too. I let her go, and she obediently walked to the side to watch.

I walked to the center of the field, bowed, and said, "I would like to spar with you twice. I have two ways of fighting, and I hope you will not be stingy with your instruction."

When Ghislaine saw me bow, she seemed to have an instinctive reaction. She returned the bow in the same way, then nodded and agreed to my request.

I turned to Eris and said to her, "Eris, please help us count down from three. We will begin when you reach one."

Eris nodded blankly. This was probably the first time she had seen such a formal spar.

Three. Two. One.

As Eris counted down, I focused all my attention on Ghislaine. I knew that the instant the count reached one, she would absolutely use the Light Blade without mercy and slash at me. My only way to win was to use the Water God Style secret technique "Flow" before her wooden blade struck me. This was a technique the Water God Style had designed specifically for the Sword God Style's Light Blade. By diverting the Light Blade's attack trajectory, one could evade this otherwise certain-hit strike.

I had heard Teacher Reida Reia say that the Sword God Style had once basically been invincible. Once the Light Blade came out, no school could withstand even a single exchange. There had even been cases of Sword Saints of the Sword God Style cutting down Sword Kings of the Water God Style.

So the masters of the Water God Style had painstakingly researched this sword technique, "Flow," which targeted only the Light Blade. The principle was actually very simple. Since you could not block it, then just do not get hit.

Unfortunately, the gap between Ghislaine and me today was too large. In my impression, I only heard the sound of "one." Then, with a bang, a beam of light flew over, and I collapsed to the ground. A huge lump rose on my forehead. Immediately afterward came the sensation of pain.

She really had gone all out and shown no mercy. But considering there was only a bump on my head, and my head had not moved house, Ghislaine had still shown mercy after all.

The sacred power is fragrant grain; grant strength to those who have lost their vigor so they may stand once more—"Healing."

I cast an intermediate healing spell on my own forehead.

Seeing the magic I cast, Eris also looked extremely curious. Magic that could heal injuries—she probably wanted very much to learn it. That way, when she fought people in the future, she could beat them half to death and then save them afterward, and then she would not have to be scolded by her parents.

Ghislaine did not look especially surprised when she saw me use magic. Her former teammates had probably used it often too.

"Still want to go another round?"

"Of course. I still have some trump cards I haven't used yet! This time, please don't hold back either. Oh, I forgot to say it. I am Dolin Prodia Greyrat, disciple of the Water God Reida Reia. Please guide me."

Hearing the Water God's title, Ghislaine's ears stood straight up. It felt as if her fighting spirit had been lit too. She said, "I am Ghislaine Dedoldia, disciple of the Sword God Gal Farion. This time, I'll beat you until you're looking all over the ground for your teeth!"

When Eris heard that this was actually a spar between the disciples of the current Water God and the current Sword God, she grew even more excited and immediately began counting down again. Three. Two. One!

When the count reached three, I sneakily cheated a little this time, condensing an air field in the open space between Ghislaine and me. This was one of my newest achievements from these past few years.

By controlling the wind element, I increased the air pressure in an area, making everyone within that air region bear greater pressure, thereby reducing the speed of objects inside the area.

Sure enough, when Ghislaine counted to one again, it was the same as before. She used the Light Blade and charged at me. The moment she entered the field of air, her speed clearly dropped. She seemed a little unused to it, and her brows furrowed.

I didn't wait for her to react, either. I crouched down and touched the ground with my hand, forming an earthen pillar that launched me into the air.

Eris and Ghislaine both looked at me strangely. They had no idea what I was doing launching myself into the air. Wasn't I afraid of falling to my death?

They didn't need much time to think before they understood why.

I used wind magic. As I fell through the air, I formed a stream of rapidly flowing air around my upper body while doing my best to slow the airflow beneath me. Then, like an eagle, I began circling and flying through the sky.

But this alone wouldn't win me the match. While one hand controlled the wind speed, I used the other to cast a wind blade at Ghislaine. "Wind Blade."

When Ghislaine saw me stretch out my hand and aim it at her, she knew I was about to use magic on her. She lifted her eyepatch with one hand and looked at me with her other eye.

Then, as if she were dancing, she easily dodged all of my wind blade attacks.

After gathering enough data.

I landed from the sky and directly admitted defeat.

Overall, I was still very satisfied. The fact that this wind field of mine could block a Sword God Style Sword King's Light Blade for one second meant it had performed perfectly.

At present, the tactic of flying in the air while using wind blades still had many limitations.

First:

1. Because I had to constantly control the wind elements, my mana needed to be output continuously. This greatly reduced my endurance. Flying while casting magic could only be maintained for ten minutes at most. Pure flight could be maintained for thirty minutes at most.

2. This move could only be used in open spaces. If I were in a cave or a house, I wouldn't be able to use it.

3. Because only wind blades had the shortest charging time, and because one side needed to control wind elements while the other could not be distracted, I could only cast wind-type magic to attack while in the air.

4. The last point was something I only experienced today. Because I was flying in the sky, my body was constantly moving, which made aiming at the enemy very difficult. At most, I could attack in the enemy's general direction and leave it to fate. In addition, because the distance was stretched out, the attack trajectory also lengthened. The enemy had more time to dodge my attacks.

These were all areas that needed improvement. Overall, it was passable. If I fought a Sword King-class swordsman with this move of mine, even if I couldn't beat them, couldn't I at least outrun them?

After I landed, before Ghislaine could speak, Eris immediately ran over, her attitude completely different from before. "Cousin, what is that flying magic of yours? It's so cool. I really want to learn it. Teach me, okay? I have to learn it."

This was a bit awkward. Considering her learning ability, where she could study for a lifetime and still only be able to cast beginner fire magic, I figured she probably wouldn't learn this move in her entire life.

I didn't discourage her. I smiled and said, "This is Saint-tier wind magic, a spell I invented myself, Invisible Wings. If you want to learn it, you'll have to start from beginner magic. This is very difficult. After your birthday is over, I'll need to return to Ars. You can find a magician to study with, and then once you've learned advanced magic, come to Ars and find me. I'll teach you."

"Okay, okay. I'll go back right now and have Father find a magician to teach me magic."

Then she ran off like a gust of wind.

So easy to coax.

Ghislaine walked over and said, "Your magic is impressive. I've never seen a magician who can fly in the sky. If you kept flying up there, there would be nothing I could do to you. This match is your win."

"No, you're too modest. My magic isn't endless. Sooner or later, I have to come down from the sky. Your right eye can see through the trajectory of my mana casting. You can dodge my attacks very easily. Also, if you'd used your right eye right from the start, I doubt I would even have had the chance to get into the air, so no matter how you look at it, I lost this battle."

"Oh! Is that so? Then it was indeed my win."

She seemed very happy, because her tail perked up!

"May I be so bold as to make a request of you? I'd like to learn the basic skills of the Sword God Style from you over these next two weeks. As compensation, I can teach you some easy-to-learn magic."

"All right. Deal."

What a straightforward woman. Dealing with someone like this was simple, too. I didn't know why, when it came to liking Paul, she wasn't straightforward at all.

After returning to the villa, unexpectedly, Saulros and Philip received me together. His meaning was very simple: he hoped I would teach Eris magic. It seemed I had triggered the Eris home tutor plotline.

Unfortunately, though, I still had to return to Ars. So I agreed to teach Eris magic until the birthday banquet ended. I also suggested that after the birthday banquet, they find another magic teacher to teach Eris magic, and they readily accepted.

Being Ghislaine and Eris's teacher was still very simple. Both of them were blunt, stubborn to the bone, the kind of people who would persist forever as long as it was something they were interested in.

Although the two of them weren't especially talented, as long as I taught them once, they would keep studying seriously. They wouldn't slack off, and they wouldn't complain.

Sure enough, only people like this could reach the height of a Sword King. Talent and effort had to coexist for success. That should be the principle.

Two weeks passed very quickly, and the birthday banquet was held as scheduled. Eris even took the initiative to ask me for the opening dance, but I won't go into the process here. In any case, as long as no one fell to their death, it was fine.

After the birthday banquet ended.

Philip found me and talked with me about Eris not properly learning to read and write, and about how she often hit people. He was also very troubled by this matter and hoped I could offer a suggestion.

I thought for a moment about Eris's future life. By the later stages, she should have forgotten reading, writing, dancing, and magic completely.

So I directly suggested to Philip that Eris was the kind of person who had no way of properly learning things she didn't like.

Her personality determined that she was someone with extremely heavy attachments. Once she decided on something, she would keep persisting in it.

Therefore, he should give up on the idea of raising her into a noble young lady. Let her focus wholeheartedly on one path she liked, such as the way of the sword.

As long as she walked far enough on that road, then no mockery would exist. No noble would mock a Sword King for not understanding etiquette.

Philip seemed to take my opinion to heart, but he did not agree directly.

Then came more idle conversation. He would intentionally or unintentionally ask about what I had seen and heard among the nobles of the royal capital. In the middle of it, he also casually mentioned his older brother, James Boreas Greyrat, asking about his recent situation—or rather, intelligence.

Although I understood his thoughts as clearly as the lines on my palm, I still answered his questions truthfully.

Finally, I remembered something and asked him, "That Paul Notos Greyrat from the Notos family who ran away from home. Is he currently in Buena Village?"

He seemed very surprised that I knew about this. But after who knew what he imagined on his own, he replied with a wry smile, "Yes, he is currently serving as a knight in Buena Village. I was the one who provided him with the job."

"Then do you know if he has children now? How many?"

"He has one son, named Rudeus Greyrat. Their family has abandoned the Notos surname."