The Beast-kin Young Lady Kidnapping Incident

My everyday campus life continued as usual. In my previous life, my college years had ended after only three years.

This time, no matter what, I had to make up that remaining year.

Aside from studying magic and doing the things I liked doing with my girlfriend, I also went to Nanahoshi's place now to research summoning magic with her, and while I was there, I used my mana to power her magic circles.

Back when I read the books, I could never understand why Rudeus kept helping Nanahoshi test magic circles but never learned along with her himself, to the point that in the end he still needed Roxy to draw magic circles for him.

Maybe after he got the Magic Armor, all his energy went into figuring out how to pilot a Gundam.

This kind of life was very pleasant.

Thinking about it, ever since my tenth birthday ended and my teacher dragged me off to become an adventurer, I had not settled down in one place for ten years.

I had always been spinning around on various roads. First I went back and forth from the Biheril Kingdom, then I went to the Conflict Zone, circled back around to Sharia, and finally made trips to Shirone and Millis.

Basically, I had already run all over every place where the human race lived. I supposed this counted as traveling ten thousand miles now.

About a month passed. One afternoon, I had just finished helping out at Nanahoshi's place and was preparing to return home.

I was going to enjoy the grilled meat Doris had specially prepared for me.

She still remembered the recipe for the barbecue seasoning that Niki, the scout in my adventurer party back then, used to mix.

Last night, she had secretly told me that she was going to make barbecue for me tonight.

I had deliberately not eaten much lunch today precisely because I was looking forward to this feast tonight!

As I walked home, however, I ran into something unexpected. Someone stopped me.

The ones who stopped me were two people: Rudeus and Zanoba. I warmly stepped forward to greet them, but they looked a little awkward.

Rudeus came forward and explained the reason to me.

The reason was that while Zanoba was in Shirone, he had bought the Roxy Figurine that Rudeus had made back when he was working as a tutor.

When Rudeus found out that the Roxy Figurine was now in Zanoba's hands, he was extremely happy and wanted to borrow it to admire it, but what he received was a box of fragments.

The Roxy Figurine had been destroyed by Linia and Pursena. Such an act was equivalent to declaring war on Rudeus.

So he had taken Zanoba with him to ambush Linia and Pursena, and had locked the two of them up.

But after they were imprisoned, the two of them had shouted that they were underlings of me, Dolin Prodia Greyrat, and told them to wash their necks clean and await my wrath.

"So you two came looking for me, right?"

"Yes, Big Brother Dolin. I did not know what relationship the two of them had with you. That Pursena even claimed to be your mistress. I did not inflict any actual punishment on them. I only restricted their freedom.

But they destroyed the Roxy Figurine. That made me extremely distressed.

To lay hands on the Roxy Figurine is to trample on my faith. I cannot forgive them for that."

Zanoba, who was off to the side, kept nodding heavily beside him, saying in unison, "Cannot forgive them."

"In any case, take me to the place where you're keeping them first. I want to understand the specific reason."

After that, Rudeus and Zanoba took me to the cat and dog's cell.

They called it a cell, but it was actually the basement of the dormitory where Zanoba lived.

After all, Zanoba was royalty from Shirone. His dormitory was a separate house, completely different from the dorms ordinary students lived in. It was like a little villa on campus.

When I entered his room, all kinds of dolls were displayed inside, in different sizes and made from different materials.

In the corner of the room, I saw a copper female doll as tall as a person. I had to say, this doll's face was carved in exquisite detail, and the waves of its hair were made so vividly they seemed alive. Zanoba had even put clothes on this doll, and the doll's figure had been shaped with absolute perfection.

This should be Zanoba's wife, right? I examined this much-abused doll with an appreciative gaze. It really was impressive.

After opening the small door inside the room, we entered the basement.

The basement was basically where Zanoba piled up miscellaneous things. Although there was a small window in the basement for ventilation, because the air still did not circulate properly, the smell here was rather moving.

By the time we arrived in front of Linia and Pursena, the two of them had already gone limp in their chairs. It seemed they had been locked up for quite some time.

I used fire magic to burn through the ropes on their hands.

I did not know whether the smell in the room was too heavy, but they did not smell me immediately. Only after I cast magic to ventilate the place did they realize I had come.

Excited, they kept complaining to me:

"Boss, you finally came, meow! You've gotta avenge us, meow! Pursena almost lost her chastity, meow!"

After regaining her freedom, Linia charged toward me like a leopard.

I blocked her face with one hand, glanced at Pursena, who was standing silently off to the side without saying a word, and asked:

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm not hurt, yes."

She seemed a little quiet. I then asked Rudeus:

"Did you two do anything to them?"

Rudeus scratched his head and said:

"No. After we heard that you, Dolin, were their big brother, we went to look for you. We didn't touch them at all."

At this moment, Linia walked over to Pursena with a grin and said, "Pursena, don't tell me you're embarrassed because you called yourself Boss Dolin's mistress? No way, no way?"

I didn't answer them. I cleared my throat and asked sternly:

"Linia, Pursena, why did you steal Zanoba's figurine and smash it to pieces! Didn't you know that was the most important thing to him? If I threw your favorite chicken drumsticks on the ground right in front of you and stepped on them, how would you feel?"

Seeing my serious expression, Linia didn't dare laugh anymore. She and Pursena trembled as they replied:

"No, Boss! Zanoba was the one who challenged us, meow. In a challenge, both sides have to wager what's most important to them, and what he wagered back then was that figurine. We didn't steal his figurine, meow."

"After that, we beat him, and after he handed the figurine over to us, we thought it looked way too realistic, meow. It looked kind of like an item used to curse people, so we broke it. We didn't want to get cursed either, meow."

...That was different from what Rudeus had said. I turned back to look at Rudeus and Zanoba.

"Was this figurine lost to the two of them by Zanoba? They didn't steal it from you?"

Zanoba looked a little embarrassed.

"This prince had only just come to this school at the time. Because I was born with divine strength, I was somewhat arrogant and had eyes above my head. The two of them ambushed me and plotted against me, which was why I lost the match. I had no choice but to lose the Roxy Figurine to them. I absolutely did not do it on purpose."

"The point isn't how you lost. If it was something you truly valued, you shouldn't have used it as a wager!"

I looked at Rudeus.

"Rudeus, if Zanoba lost to the two of them in a match, then I think this may not be their fault."

"But Dolin, this is the Roxy Figurine. It's my—"

"Rudeus, listen to me first. Whether it's your love for figurines or your faith, those are all our own personal matters. We can't force other people to hold the same thoughts as you. Something that seems very important to you might be worthless in someone else's eyes.

The point is that we can't use physical methods to force other people to have the same way of thinking just because their ideas and perspectives are different.

To the Beast-kin, wasting food is an insult to the gods, but they won't go swinging their fists just because someone in the cafeteria didn't finish their food.

I think the problem with this matter began when Zanoba used the Roxy Figurine as a stake. Of course, if you truly believe in Roxy, then you shouldn't have sold her figurine either.

Also, Linia and Pursena shouldn't have smashed the figurine in front of Zanoba. That was an insult to someone with different interests. If you don't love it, then please don't hurt it."

Rudeus was left somewhat speechless by what I said, while Zanoba trembled a little. It seemed like he had realized his mistake.

I returned to Linia and Pursena and said to them:

"The greatest truth in this world is that the victor is king, and the loser is a bandit. Reason is something spoken for the weak to hear.

The strong don't need to reason with you. You were defeated by Rudeus and the others today, and that's your own problem. The two of them are already upright gentlemen.

If you were out in the wild and got beaten by bandits and robbers, the fate awaiting you two would probably be more than ten times worse than today.

In future experiments, I'm going to train your practical combat ability too. All day long, all you know is two against one. If I made the two of you fight Zanoba one-on-one, you probably wouldn't be able to beat him. I'm ashamed to be your boss. You've really disgraced me!"

The two of them were like roosters defeated in a fight, their heads, ears, and tails all drooping, looking pitiful and wronged.

I turned back and said to Rudeus, "Come find me tomorrow afternoon. I'll have a surprise for you then."

Then I left together with the cat and dog.

As for how Zanoba apologized to Rudeus after I left, that wasn't something I needed to care about.

After leaving Zanoba's dorm, the cat and dog followed behind me, looking a little listless.

I felt like what I had just said had been a little too heavy. After all, although Rudeus was a bit cowardly, his combat strength was still very high.

If he really got serious with his magic, I figured I wouldn't have an easy time beating him either.

I glanced back at the cat and dog, then turned my head forward again and said in a voice neither loud nor soft, "We're making barbecue at my place today. Want to come try some?"

I didn't know which keyword struck their nerves, but the two of them revived as if their health bars had filled back to full. One on each side, they hugged my hands tightly, overjoyed.

"Boss, Boss, is it true, meow? There's grilled fish, meow?"

"I don't know if there is. Grilled fish really is delicious, though. How about we buy one later and try it when we get back?"

"That's great, Boss! I like grilled fish best, meow."

"Boss, I want some too. I want grilled chicken drumsticks and chicken wings, I do. It'd be even better with some honey brushed on, I say."

"There's no honey. My family has special seasoning. I guarantee you two will be satisfied later."

After that, under the afterglow of the setting sun, we headed to my villa to attend our family barbecue party.

The evening barbecue was held in the small open-air courtyard at our house.

Philip hadn't come back because of work.

So there were only me, Doris, Hilda, Linia, and Pursena.

Experiments proved that barbecue, as a type of cooking, was still only more popular among the commoner class.

Aunt Hilda had grown up under the education of a noble family since she was little. She didn't really like the smell of barbecue.

Especially skewers threaded on bamboo sticks; they easily left oil stains on both sides of the mouth. That was something she couldn't accept.

I wondered if Ariel would also have some reservations about these things that damaged etiquette.

But to Linia and Pursena, barbecue was a delicacy that could only be tasted in heaven.

The grilled lamb skewers sprinkled with cumin made Pursena start drooling the moment she caught the scent.

The two of them circled Doris's barbecue stall, wagging their tails nonstop.

I wondered if they were trying to use the wind from their tails to make the charcoal in the brazier burn hotter.

Thankfully, I had prepared a lot of ingredients. Otherwise, I probably would not even have had enough to eat. Those cat-and-dog duo polished off seventy percent of the food.

After eating and drinking their fill, both of their bellies were swollen.

I lay comfortably on the stone chair I had custom-made for myself, enjoying the cool night breeze.

The two people lying on the lawn finally moved. They came over awkwardly and asked me whether they should return to the dormitory, or whether I wanted the two of them to sleep at my house.

I was a little speechless. If you wanted to sleep at my house, could I really chase you out? So I had Doris find a room for the two of them.

When Linia and Pursena heard it was one room, they got a little excited.

"Pursena, tonight the two of us are going to become adults together, meow."

"Mm. Linia, let's work hard together. We won't lose to those other cheap, seductive hussies, I say."

After that, the two of them listened to Doris's voice from inside the room in the middle of the night.

It really left the two of them pent up.

Fortunately, it had not reached their mating season yet.

The next day, classes proceeded as usual. After I carried out the regular experiments together with Linia and Pursena, I tested their sonic magic again.

After a simple test, sonic magic was actually magic that came with the Beast-kin's innate talents.

From what the two of them said, it seemed the Sea-kin also had similar sonic magic for use under the sea, but they had never seen any other race use it.

Countering it was actually very simple. The simplest method I thought of was using wind and earth magic to create a sandstorm. That way, once sand entered the throat, the sound-wave magic would naturally fail.

Of course, powerful warriors could also rely on their strong physical abilities and fighting spirit to withstand sound-wave magic.

In addition, I tried Disturb Magic, but it failed. Since this kind of magic used mana to vibrate the vocal cords and the mana was not cast outside the body, Disturb Magic was ineffective.

That afternoon, Rudeus came to find me. After what happened yesterday, perhaps he had thought of the memories of being bullied in his previous life and felt that it really was not right to use strength to teach a lesson to people whose views differed from his own. He even specially apologized to Linia and Pursena.

But that left the two of them somewhat caught off guard. Their thinking was probably something like the strong are king, right? If they could not win and got beaten, that was simply because their own skills were lacking. They had never even thought Rudeus had done anything wrong.

This was still a difference in values.

After that, I took Rudeus to Nanahoshi's laboratory.

After the door opened, although Rudeus was startled when he saw the white mask, he was not especially terrified. After all, we were both people tempered by twenty-first-century horror games.

Just a white mask was not going to scare someone into fainting.

Especially since when Rudeus met Orsted before, because of the timing, Nanahoshi had already left Orsted's side by then.

So this was Rudeus's first time meeting Nanahoshi.

"Student Rudeus, this is Silent Sevenstar. You could say she's from the same hometown as me."

"Student Silent Sevenstar, this is Rudeus Greyrat. He should also be from the same hometown as me."

Nanahoshi nodded, understanding what I meant, said, "Come with me," and then went upstairs.

Rudeus was a little confused. "Big Brother Dolin, is this Student Silent also from the Asura Kingdom? Did you know each other before?"

"I only met her recently too. She also isn't from the Asura Kingdom. You'll understand once you go up."

After that, we went upstairs together.

After all, her room was too messy, so when I occasionally came over to help, I would conveniently help her tidy up a bit.

It was much better now than when I first came. At the very least, there was a path people could walk through.

After we reached the desk on the second floor, the three of us all sat down.

Then Nanahoshi handed Rudeus a note. I did not see exactly what was written on it.

But it should have been about the same as what I had guessed. After that, the two of them started chatting with each other in Japanese right in front of me.

Of course, I could not get a word in at all. I could only vaguely make out that they were probably asking where the other person came from. But if you two were both speaking Japanese, where else could you have come from?

Then they asked things like each other's names from their previous lives.

Nanahoshi probably thought Rudeus might be the boyfriend who had almost gotten hit by a car together with her before she crossed over, right?

After everything was over, Rudeus said something to me in Japanese, but I did not understand it. Nanahoshi translated for me then.

"He's asking whether you're also someone who crossed over. Also, she's asking how you crossed over." Nanahoshi said this in Human Language. Of course, Rudeus heard it too.

"Rudeus, I'm also someone who crossed over, but I'm not Japanese. So I can't understand the two of you talking. But I'm also from Earth. I'm Chinese. I was hit by a truck while traveling in Japan and came to this world, so I should be in the same state as you. My soul crossed over, not my whole body."

Rudeus seemed to suddenly figure something out and answered:

"Oh, no wonder. Before, I felt like, Dolin, when you talked, you sometimes added a lot of idioms. I was surprised before, because I basically haven't seen anyone in this world use those idioms. Now I finally understand."

"Rudeus, right now Nanahoshi and I are researching how to return to Earth. Do you want to join us?"

Those words made Rudeus a little agitated. He answered with an overreaction:

"No, I don't want to go back to Earth. I think this world is pretty good. I don't want to go back."

Seeing him so worked up, Nanahoshi was a little displeased. Perhaps she felt that Rudeus might not be the same kind of person as her.

"Rudy, there's no need to get so worked up. My physical body back on Earth is probably already dead, and I probably don't have any chance of returning to Earth anymore. But Nanahoshi is different. She was transported here directly.

Her body right now is the complete, intact body she had on Earth, so what I mean is to help her return to Earth. If there's still time, I want her to take the words I want to say to my family on Earth back to them for me. That's all."

Rudy looked a little awkward.

"My family on Earth probably all wanted me dead. I doubt anyone cared whether I lived or died. So I probably don't have anything I need passed on to them. Besides, I was probably hit by that truck too, and my body should be dead as well. But I can still help."

Though Rudy said that, after Nanahoshi heard that Rudy had no real attachment to Earth, she did not ask him for help either. After all, as long as someone provided mana, it did not make much difference to her whether the one providing it was me or Rudy.

So she said, "No need. You should just live happily in this other world!"

Though it was a meeting between people from the same homeland, it had a bit of a parting-on-bad-terms feel to it. This was a little awkward.

In truth, Rudy should have saved Nanahoshi's life in his previous life, but Rudy was unwilling to say that he was the fat man who had pushed them out from in front of the truck.

So the matter was left unsettled.