Holiday

The first rest day had arrived.

I greeted Philip first, then prepared to head out into town.

My reason for going was simple. I just wanted to look around.

Since coming to this world, I had yet to truly spend my first day wandering through a big city.

It would be a lie to say I was not looking forward to it. This was another world, after all, and on the way here I had often seen beastfolk and members of the Demon Race. It would be even better if I could talk with them in Demon God Language or Beast God Language.

After all, ever since I learned those languages, I had never had anyone to use them on, so I had no idea whether my pronunciation was standard or whether I was speaking correctly.

Those beastfolk servants did not dare talk to me at all. I did not know whether they were afraid of me or saw me as some high-ranking person, but they always avoided me.

"Hmm...?"

Ghislaine suddenly came to mind.

Why had I never asked Ghislaine for guidance? She was obviously beastfolk...

I quickly figured out the answer. It was because she usually looked so blank and slow that it was hard to imagine she knew two languages.

As for Demon God Language, I would write a letter to Master Roxy. She would definitely be able to help me.

With that settled for later, I walked out of the great castle.

I had just taken a deep breath when I discovered that, for some reason, Eris and Ghislaine were lying in wait for me at the gate.

"Where are you going!"

Since it was the first rest day, Eris seemed a little restless.

I heard this was the first day in her life when she had no schedule arranged for the entire day.

So she was probably very curious about what I would do at a time like this.

But... even though she had lessons arranged every day, had they really failed to teach this young lady anything at all? Education in this world sure was rigid.

"I was planning to go sightseeing in Roa."

"Sightseeing... you mean walking around, right? By yourself?"

"Do I look like I have companions?"

"That's sneaky! I've never gone out by myself before!"

Eris stomped the ground in frustration.

"You are still young, my lady. If you go out alone, the chances of being kidnapped are high."

"Rudeus, you're even younger than me! Two years younger!"

Oh, right.

I had always looked at Eris from a guardian's perspective, and had completely forgotten that I was a child too.

"That's because I'm strong. Even if I fought Ghislaine, I'd have a chance of winning."

I chuckled smugly, but Eris raised her fist. I reflexively moved to defend myself, but she did not hit me.

How rare. This young lady had actually learned to keep her cool.

She drew her hand back, folded her arms, and looked down at me from above.

"I'm going too!"

Eris seemed to have decided.

Up until now, she would always hit someone first before saying something like that.

Looking at it that way, Eris had grown too...

"Then let's go together."

"Is that okay?"

I had no reason to refuse.

"Ghislaine is coming too, right?"

Eris looked up and asked Ghislaine beside her.

"Yes. My duty is to guard the young lady."

"Yay! Then wait for me! I'll be ready right away! Alphonse~! Alphonse~!"

I watched Eris noisily run back into the mansion.

Her voice was as loud as ever. Did she never get hoarse?

"Rudeus."

When I heard Ghislaine call me, I turned around and saw that she had already come to my side.

I looked up at her. Since Ghislaine was nearly two meters tall, I would probably still have to look up at her even after I grew up.

"Do not put too much faith in your own strength."

She gave me a firm warning in advance.

Maybe it was because I had said I had a chance of winning even if I fought her?

"I understand. I was only teasing the young lady."

After all, if that fight had gone all the way to the end, my head probably would have been rolling on the ground.

"I see. If you run into danger, shout. I'll come save you."

"How reassuring."

Not long after that topic ended, Eris returned.

She had probably changed into clothes for going out. I had never seen this outfit before.

"Mm, you look very cute."

She really was very cute. I wasn't just saying that because I was seeing her through a guardian's filter.

"...Hmph!"

After I complimented her outfit, I got smacked on the head.

What was that supposed to mean...?

Roa, the fortress city of Fittoa, was the largest town in this area.

That said, if you looked at sheer area, Buena Village, sitting amid its vast stretch of farmland, was actually larger.

Even if you left through the city gate and walked all the way around the outer wall, you could probably finish the circuit in about two hours.

Even so, the scale of the place was honestly huge.

After all, the entire town was surrounded by an outer wall roughly seven to eight meters high.

Since it wasn't a perfect circle, but followed the terrain with all kinds of inward and outward curves, there was no way to know its exact length. The area it enclosed was probably around thirty square kilometers? It didn't feel that big to me, but I could still understand that building a wall on this scale was no simple task.

Was there magic that could create city walls?

If there was, it had to be King-class or Emperor-class.

Or maybe they just made the bricks and stones roughly, then stacked them by hand?

While I was thinking about those pointless things, Eris seemed to take an interest in some product.

I went over and found her staring at a short sword, but this was a shop that sold high-end goods.

"Eris, do you want that sword?"

I asked her straight out.

"I do! But I don't have enough allowance..."

Oh... Apparently, Eris had once gone out with a servant and gotten cheated out of 430 gold coins after spending money like water. After that, she had been restricted to taking only five gold coins as pocket money whenever she went out.

"I see."

I walked over to the owner.

"Boss, how much is this sword?"

"Oh? Young master, you have a fine eye! This sword is only twenty gold coins!"

I ignored the owner and spoke to Eris.

"Remember that. This sword costs twenty gold coins."

"Huh?"

I pulled Eris along and found a blacksmith's shop.

Inside the blacksmith's shop, all kinds of swords were displayed. Eris's eyes went wide as she looked left and right.

"Go on. Pick a sword you like."

"Can I!?"

Eris's eyes lit up first, then she ran into the sword selection area.

"Mm, of course. After you choose one, I'll think about whether to give it to you."

Eris didn't seem to hear the latter half of my sentence. She had thrown herself heart and soul into the world of swords.

No wonder her swordsmanship improved so quickly... It looked like she really did love swords.

After nearly twenty minutes of choosing, she picked up a somewhat short sword with a ruby set into the hilt. It looked like it suited her well.

"I want this one!"

"Mm."

I led her over to the blacksmith's owner.

"Boss, how much is this sword?"

The owner looked up at us and was just about to open his mouth when he saw Ghislaine standing to the side, looking like she knew swords very well, and began speaking.

"Uh... eleven gold coins..."

"Eris, how many gold coins was the sword you were looking at in that shop earlier?"

"Hmm... um... 20!"

"Correct. Then how much cheaper is this sword than that one from just now?"

"Huh! Uh... 20 minus 5... then minus 5... uh..."

She counted on her fingers.

Damn it, this is addition and subtraction, Eris!!

Two months ago, you could do addition and subtraction within 20!

I shouted inwardly, hoping Eris would arrive at the correct answer.

"Uh... then minus 1... it's 10 gold coins cheaper!"

How did she work that out?

"Wrong. The correct answer is 9 gold coins."

"I was only off by 1! Then if I add 1, it'll be the right answer!"

Oh? The right answer... no, even if you add one, it's still wrong!

Could she have forgotten the basic logic behind addition and subtraction... What exactly have I been teaching her for the past six months...

Forget it. I should praise her anyway. Though she'd forgotten addition and subtraction, at least she hadn't forgotten multiplication lately...

The more I thought about it, the stranger it felt. She'd forgotten addition and subtraction, but she was learning multiplication and division?

I had a feeling that someday, she would return every bit of knowledge I'd taught her back to me.

"Mm, that's the correct answer this time. My, my~ Eris really is smart."

"Hmph! Of course!"

"Since you got it right this time, your teacher will give you this sword."

"Oh~!!"

And so, I took out the money and paid.

Actually, Philip had given me this money the night before. After he learned Eris would be going out with me, he was afraid she might get tricked outside, so he had me carry some money and prepare to buy things for her. It also happened to be a good chance to raise her affection for me.

Eris held the sword and excitedly swung it around in the shop for quite a while, making "whoa, whoa" sounds as she did.

After she finished swinging it, she walked up to me.

"Uh... ah... mm!"

Eris fidgeted for ages without managing to say a word.

What was this supposed to be?

"Th... th... thank you! Ru... Rudeus!"

After suddenly shouting those words, she ran out of the shop, and Ghislaine followed after her.

I was left alone in the shop, savoring the gratitude of my own child.

I see... Is this how my mother felt the first time I said thank you?

"Heh... hehe..."

Once I noticed my own silly grin, I composed my expression and walked out of the shop.

After that came the real fun.

Eris, Ghislaine, and I sampled just about anything we saw that we had never eaten before.

I had to say, although the monsters in this world were all kinds of strange, they tasted pretty good.

Mm... the vendors probably specifically chose the tasty ones to sell.

As evening approached, Eris was still hopping around energetically.

"Rudeus! Ghislaine! Look at this!"

Eris stood on a fountain statue, holding up her new sword and striking a pose.

"Hurry and get down. It's dangerous!" I warned her.

"It's fine! Even if I fall, Rudeus will catch me with magic, right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure..."

I had only just said that when Eris jumped down.

On reflex, I made her a cushion with wind magic.

"Hmph! Even if Rudeus didn't use magic, I wouldn't have gotten hurt!"

"I know, I know."

Honestly, my own unconscious actions made it seem like I was the awkward one.

Was this like those tsundere female characters in the novels I read in my previous life?

"Rudeus, Eris, it's almost dark. Time to head back."

"I know already!"

Eris had been that loud all day.

She really was full of energy.

The three of us walked toward the castle.

"Rudeus..."

Eris suddenly came over beside me.

"What is it?"

"Um... Rudeus... did you have fun today...?"

Oh? This willful little kid had actually started caring about other people?

She had really grown... How gratifying.

"I had a lot of fun. What about you, Eris?"

"Me too! And thank you for the gift..."

"You already thanked me for that. If you work even harder in your studies the day after tomorrow, I'll be even happier."

"I... I know already!"

Over the past six months, this young lady had transformed from a willful, arrogant beast into a little girl who seemed somewhat cute in my eyes.

It really hadn't been easy...

In any case, today's day off ended perfectly.