Holy Relics and Shrines: Paul Was Allen's God

Paul did not look at his wife. He raised his head and looked at the ceiling again, recalling Allen's situation and what he had once said.

Allen had said he would safeguard Rudy's future. In that case, Rudy really did not need to improve his swordsmanship too much. With their current abilities, the two of them could even perfectly fit the role of adventurers exploring dungeons. Still, Paul could not help feeling somewhat unwilling. How could his child possibly have no talent for swordsmanship?

"Well..."

"Master Paul, this is undoubtedly feasible. I know absolutely nothing about magic, after all. In the future, Rudy can specialize in magic while I specialize in swordsmanship. We can make up for each other's shortcomings. Besides, compared to being teacher and student, I would rather become friends or partners with Rudy."

Paul froze. Looking at Allen, who had suddenly straightened his back, tucked in his stomach, and sat upright with a serious expression, he subconsciously felt that Allen was right.

".Fine. Then we'll shorten it by an hour."

Allen turned to Rudy. The other boy blinked rapidly, then raised a thumb beneath the table at him.

--

"Thank you, Teacher."

In Rudeus's room, Allen looked at the slightly tousled brown hair atop Rudy's head and still felt waves of unreality rise within him.

I busted my ass trying to raise your affection, and it was fucking useless. Now that I was about to give up, play dead, and willingly become a salted fish, why the hell did your affection suddenly go up?

Was that reasonable?

"Skillfully guiding Father's words and actions is something I often do. I never expected you, Teacher, to be a fellow practitioner."

"Ah, right."

"Please keep up the good work. Going forward, make sure I no longer have to study swordsmanship. I believe you have seen it too—I prefer magic to swordsmanship."

"Ah, right."

Allen paused.

Wait, this brat wants me unemployed so I can disappear from in front of him, doesn't he?

Seeing Allen's blank expression, Rudeus grinned crookedly and wore the same kindly look he usually had when watching Paul act dumb.

Then, when Allen looked over, he abruptly became serious again.

"I heard from Father that you ran into Lokkishi on the road?"

Allen blinked.

"Yes. I suppose I owe her a favor."

Rudy nodded furiously, then scrunched up his little face. With the conflicted expression of someone afraid of not getting the answer he wanted if he asked, yet unwilling to leave it unasked, he said,

"Did she mention me?"

Allen glanced at Rudy.

"She did."

Rudy instantly brightened.

"What did she say??"

"She said you were slick-tongued and lecherous."

Rudy's smile collapsed.

"Huh?"

"She also said you stole her panties."

Before the final syllable of "panties" had faded, Rudy immediately whipped his head toward the underside of the bed. Then he seemed to realize something, stiffened his neck, and slowly turned back toward Allen.

Allen narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't think you had really stolen her panties..."

"I can explain! Please don't tell Father or Mother!"

"Oh, cut it out."

Under Rudeus's trembling gaze, Allen walked to the bed and lowered his head to look.

"A pair of small white panties had been tucked into the gap beneath the bedframe."

Although he had already prepared himself mentally, seeing it for real still made Allen sigh again at what a pervert Rudy was.

Allen's mouth twitched as he turned toward Rudeus, whose face had gone blank.

"Where's the shrine? Aren't these usually placed in a shrine?"

Rudy froze.

"What?"

Allen raised his brows.

"You don't have one?"

Wait, he probably hadn't put them in a shrine yet at this point. I got the timing wrong.

He blinked, preparing to make up an excuse.

Instead, Rudy shouted so loudly that Allen jumped on the spot.

"Genius!"

Rudeus looked at Allen as if he had found family and clasped Allen's hands in both of his.

"Genius! That's right! Holy Relics should be enshrined in a shrine! Teacher, you're a genius!"

Allen watched him with a twitching expression.

I'm numb. I just got certified by a professional pervert.

Rudeus's affection rose again. It seemed success was never accidental; the host's abilities had been validated many times over.

Fuck off. Can you do something normal for once?

Rudy then blinked and looked at Allen suspiciously.

"Do they have shrines where you're from too?"

Allen curled his lip.

"Ah, right. My hometown is rather remote, so we have some strange spiritual beliefs. Every household worships the god it believes in."

Rudy asked curiously,

".God?"

"For example, Haiqing's god is Ou Hao, Hetong's god is RNG, and Chouxiang's god is Zhiyin."

Rudeus looked somewhat bewildered.

".Those gods' names sound a little strange... Is that in your hometown dialect? Um... then what god does your family worship, Teacher?"

Allen glanced at Rudy.

"Our family worships the Three-Color Gods: Blue Mom, White Mom, and Red Mom."

Rudeus scratched his head. He understood the words this time, but still could not make sense of them.

Why was this guy talking nonsense?

Allen looked at Rudeus. Mentioning the Three-Color Moms made him think of Sylphy, so he asked,

"By the way, I've seen you running outside every day lately. Did you make any friends? If you really have friends, you can invite them over for a meal or something. I'm sure the master and mistress would be happy to see you making friends."

Rudeus looked confused.

"Friends? No. I was only surveying the terrain."

"I see."

Allen studied Rudeus's face and felt that he might not be pretending to be dumb. In his previous life, he had been thrown out of his home, so in this life, playing outside really was to train his wilderness survival skills—just in case he got kicked out again.

In the original story, Rudeus met Sylphiette soon after Lokkishi left. But there should actually have been an interval between those events, and during that time, he had been doing this.

As for meeting Sylphiette, it was probably around summer. It was not even late March yet, let alone early April.

That meant Sylphy would likely have to be bullied for a while longer. Sylphy was bullied because of her green hair, so she had probably been bullied ever since she was old enough to run outside and remember things.

White Mom's gray childhood had affected her far too deeply. Her lowly-woman traits in the Newlywed arc were also directly related to it.

Allen silently sighed.

Guiding Rudy to save Sylphy early should not cause too much of a Butterfly Effect... Based on his deductions, nothing else connected to it would change. They would only meet half a year earlier.

".Don't you play with the other children in the village?"

Rudy tilted his head toward the upper side and scratched his cheek.

"Well... I guess we probably couldn't get along."

Allen looked down at Rudy.

"Tell me. Do you think we're friends?"

Rudy's mouth twitched.

.I thought this fierce little brat was pretty mature, but he still liked constantly talking about friendship like any other kid, huh?

Rudy put on his signature well-behaved child smile.

"Of course we are. After all, Teacher, you just got an hour cut from my Swordsmanship Class today!"

The next instant, Allen reached out and poked him in the face.

"Don't be fake. I genuinely want to be friends with you."

Rudy froze.

Allen glanced at him, turned, and headed outside. As he left the room, he looked back and said,

"Tomorrow, I'll help you make a shrine. And I'll keep the panties a secret too."

Rudy's eyes shone.

"Okay!"

Smoke drifted before Allen's eyes.

Instant Freedom Task—Obtain Sylphiette's affection. Available for release.

Task Reward: Barrier Magic slot unlocked.

Before Rudeus encountered Sylphiette in the original storyline, you may choose when to activate the task. Once activated, it must be completed within one day. Release it early?