Roa

Jolting... dim... I wanted to throw up...

When I opened my eyes, what entered my vision was... breasts.

Hmm?

"Oh, you're awake?"

From above the breasts, a woman's voice entered my ears.

I sat up and looked at the woman who had just been letting me lie on her lap.

She was...

For an instant, every nerve in me tensed, and I even wanted to use fire magic to create an explosion on the spot and escape.

But on second thought... if she had really wanted to do something to me, I should have died the instant I opened my eyes.

In that case...

I sat up and forced myself to clear my head.

"Hello, my name is Rudeus Greyrat. May I ask your name?"

"Heh, Paul's child is actually this polite? My name is Ghislaine."

"Uh... you seem to know my father. May I ask what my situation is right now...?"

The beastfolk woman named Ghislaine did not answer my question. Instead, she pulled a letter out from her chest.

Wow... so scenes like this really did happen, huh, pulling some item out from between one's breasts and all...

"This is from Paul to you. Paul should explain things clearly in the letter."

"Oh... thank you."

I accepted the letter.

Then opened it at once.

[Rudy, by the time you read this letter, you're probably already in Roa, right?

First of all, I'm sorry for doing something like this as your father, but I'll give you a rough explanation now. If you're angry, you can beat me however you like when you come back.

One day, I received a letter from a noble...]

I finished reading the general contents.

In short, Paul did not want me to become a tool of the nobility, so he was sending me to Philip's place to work as a private tutor for three years, letting those nobles think I was serving Philip. Once that impression had settled, I could return home.

"Paul also told me to pass on a message."

Ghislaine, who was sitting off to the side, spoke up.

I raised my head in confusion and heard her imitate Paul's tone as she said, "Because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to win an argument with you if I started lecturing, I figured I'd just knock you out and send you over."

"That really is... exactly like something Father would say."

This was a simple task.

I only had to serve as a young lady's private tutor for three years, and then I could go back.

It was pretty simple...

But, Paul... you probably could not understand the pride inside me. If I were threatened by those nobles, I would definitely do everything in my power to wipe them out.

Still... I could not blame Paul. In his eyes, this was probably the best method.

After all, in this world, nobles still carried a great deal of weight.

"Oh, there's another letter."

"Another one?"

Ghislaine once again reached into her chest and took out a letter.

"This one is from your friend."

"My friend...?"

In this world, there was only one person I could call my friend... Sylphie.

I opened the letter. There were only a few lines inside.

[Rudy, please keep teaching me magic after you come back. I'll watch over your little sisters as they grow in your place—and also, I'm actually a girl.]

"Huh?"

I could not hold it in and made a sound.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing... It's just that some things that had long since taken shape in my heart have shattered at this very moment."

Ghislaine tilted her head, showing that she did not understand.

Sylphie was a girl...?

All right, I really had never asked whether she was a boy or a girl.

But... every time I said I was going to raise her into a proper man...

Well, she barely ever agreed with me on that either...

Was that it? Was this why something had felt off all this time?

"We're almost there."

Ghislaine's voice pulled me back from my thoughts.

Forget it. I'd be going back after three years as a tutor anyway. I'd apologize to her then.

I stuck my head out and looked at the scenery beyond the carriage.

The city walls were about seven or eight meters tall.

The streets were prosperous, lively, and clean...

The sight of people in armor coming and going among ordinary townsfolk and merchants really had that "fantasy" feel to it.

I took a deep breath of the outside air.

I'd assumed streets in a city like this would definitely have some strange smells, but in reality, there was no foul odor at all.

No, I couldn't keep looking at this world through the mindset of my previous life... After all, this world had magic. Cleaning things with magic was probably incredibly easy.

After the carriage passed through one corner of the town, the atmosphere around us abruptly changed.

Weapons shops and armor shops—the kind that catered specifically to adventurers—lined the roadside. Farther on, they gave way to shops that seemed aimed at the town's residents.

"It's well planned..."

Because of that layout, the deeper we went, the larger the buildings became, and the more shops there were that seemed geared toward high-end goods.

Apparently, in this city, the closer you lived to the center, the richer you were.

And at the center of the town stood the largest building of all.

"This is the lord's estate."

"This is really... more like a castle."

Only now did I truly realize that Paul was someone who had genuinely broken away from the noble circle.

Our family wasn't poor, but our wealth definitely didn't amount to even one percent of what these nobles had.

"But since we've come here, that means the young lady I'll be teaching has quite a high status."

"Mm... not exactly."

Ghislaine shook her head.

Huh? Was I wrong? But the carriage had already entered this castle-like estate.

"Is she the lord's daughter?"

"No."

"She isn't?"

"...It's a little different."

What did that mean?

The carriage came to a stop.

After entering the estate, a butler led us to a place that looked like a reception room.

Before us were two sofas set side by side.

"Please have a seat there."

I did as I was told and sat down on the sofa, while Ghislaine stepped back without a word and stood in the corner of the room.

That was probably a spot where she could see the whole room, right? Was Ghislaine here in the role of a bodyguard?

"The young master will return shortly. Please wait here for a moment."

The butler-like man poured a tea-like drink into an expensive-looking teacup, then withdrew to stand by the entrance.

I took a sip of the steaming tea.

It was awful... If this kind of black tea was the good tea this world used to entertain important guests, then this world definitely had no decent tea.

That butler-like man hadn't poured any tea for Ghislaine. It seemed my initial guess was right. Ghislaine's position in this estate was probably something like a bodyguard...

"Where is he?!"

I was thinking about that when rough footsteps accompanied by a roar rang out from outside the room.

"Is it here?!"

A burly man opened the door with a rough motion and entered the room.

He was probably in his fifties. His dark-brown hair was mixed with some white, but he still gave the impression of being in the prime of life.

"Are you Paul's son?"

"Yes. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Rudeus Greyrat."

I stood up and, imitating the nobles I had seen in old TV dramas, bowed at the waist.

The man gave a disdainful snort.

"Hmph! You don't even know how to greet someone?"

"Master, young Master Rudeus has never left Buena Village, and he is still very young. I'm afraid he hasn't had time to learn etiquette yet. A slight lapse in manners is still—"

"You shut your mouth!"

After being shouted down, the butler said no more.

Was this my employer?

He looked pretty angry...

"Hmph! Paul didn't even teach his own son etiquette?"

"Father doesn't like the way nobles do things, so he didn't teach me."

"Making excuses right away! Exactly like Paul!"

Ah... I wanted so badly to freeze this damn rage maniac solid with magic.

I twitched the corner of my mouth.

"Does Father like making excuses?"

"That's right! Every time he opens his mouth, it's an excuse! He made excuses for wetting the bed! Excuses for fighting with others! Excuses for slacking off in class!"

He really just said whatever he wanted... A man like this was actually among the upper ranks of the nobility? Were nobles all idiots or something?

"You're the same! If you had the will to learn, a trifle like etiquette shouldn't have been difficult! You ended up like this because you didn't put in the effort!"

Honestly... no wonder Paul hated nobles.

Though, after coming to this world, I had indeed only focused on studying magic and swordsmanship... But still...

"If I remember correctly, I was invited here by you to serve as a tutor, wasn't I?"

"Yes!"

"I don't have any knowledge of etiquette. All I can do is literacy, arithmetic, and magic."

"Then you'll learn etiquette now! Otherwise, you're not qualified to teach my granddaughter!"

This guy... every single thing he said nearly made me lose control and freeze him to death.

"First, you invited me here as a tutor. I didn't come begging for work. So I'll only teach the parts I know, such as literacy, arithmetic, and magic."

"Second... no, I have nothing else to say. If you won't accept that, I'll go back right now."

"Hmph! Silver-tongued brat! Just like that boy Paul!"

After saying that, he slammed the door and left, looking extremely angry.

But he hadn't told me to leave, so it seemed I still had to do this job.

What a pain...

"Who was that just now?"

I turned and asked the butler.

"That was Lord Sauros Boreas Greyrat, the lord of Fittoa, and Lord Paul's uncle."

With someone that furious, the people living in his territory had to be suffering.

Uh... Thinking back on the way here, the people living in this territory had all seemed pretty happy.

Could this guy be the type who was vicious with his words but always softhearted in practice?

Hm? Greyrat...?

"So he's my great-uncle?"

"Yes."

I understood.

No wonder Paul dared to send me to this noble house without worry. So he had used his own family connections, even though he had already cut ties with them.

"What's the matter, Thomas? Why is the door open?"

"Young Master, I am terribly sorry. The master met young Master Rudeus earlier, and he seemed quite pleased with him."

Huh? Quite pleased?

What was this butler talking about?

From what I saw, that great-uncle of mine looked like he wanted to tear me apart with his bare hands.

"Oh, so he's the kind of child Father would like? In that case, perhaps we chose the wrong person."

After saying that, he sat down directly across from me.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Rudeus Greyrat."

I sat there and did not rise to bow.

Honestly, I did not want to do this anymore. Nobles and all that... they were far too troublesome.

"Hmm... I am Philip Boreas Greyrat. Is that how you greeted the old master just now?"

"No. Just now I stood up and bowed."

"Hmm... That was wrong too. When nobles greet someone, they place their right hand over their chest, then lower their head slightly. Bowing like that must have angered the old master, didn't it?"

Philip stood up and demonstrated a noble's greeting posture for me.

But I did not stand up and imitate him. He seemed not to have expected me to just keep sitting there, and for a moment his expression looked a little surprised.

"Yes, he was very angry."

"You really are..."

Philip smiled, then sat back down with an air of composure.

"How much do you know about the situation?"

"Probably everything."

"Paul actually told you all that?"

"Yes."

Philip rested a hand on his chin and lowered his gaze to the table, as if thinking about something.

"You... like girls?"

"I think there's nothing wrong with my sexual orientation."

"I see. Then you pass."

What did that mean?

Was he worried I was gay? Wait, wasn't I here to be a teacher? Wasn't he going to ask me anything else?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Because as long as you like girls, you will absolutely fall in love with my daughter. All right! Thomas, show this arrogant little brat the way!"

With that, Philip stood up.

And so, I finally met that girl.