"What's wrong, Rudeus?"
Roxy tilted her head in puzzlement at Rudeus's resistance.
"No... it's nothing..."
Rudeus averted his eyes, unable to meet his teacher's gaze, and muttered an excuse for his cowardice.
"It's just... outside... what if... what if we run into monsters..."
"As long as we don't go too deep into the forest, powerful monsters rarely appear on the plains around here."
Roxy explained patiently,
"Even if we occasionally encounter a few Goblins, or low-level Magic Beasts like Boreas Wind Wolves or Assault Hounds."
"With my abilities, I can easily handle them alone. Besides..."
Rudeus paused, then added with a hint of encouragement in his azure eyes:
"With your current abilities, you've already mastered Advanced-level Magic in every discipline and can use Silent Casting."
"I think those low-level monsters shouldn't pose any problem for you either."
Even now, Rudeus was still coming up with all sorts of flimsy excuses to avoid going outside.
The puzzlement on Roxy's face finally turned into profound surprise.
"Ah... come to think of it, I believe Mr. Paul and the others did mention..."
As though she had remembered something, understanding dawned on Roxy.
"Rudeus, for the past two years or so... aside from practicing at our house and in the clearing behind it, have you hardly gone anywhere else?"
"Uh... yeah." Rudeus's voice was barely audible, but it was an admission.
Roxy's azure eyes suddenly lit up.
She thought she had found the heart of the problem:
"I know! Don't tell me... you're afraid of riding horses?"
"I... I'm not afraid of horses!"
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Rudeus immediately protested loudly.
But the obvious lack of conviction behind his bluster only made Roxy more certain of her guess.
Cui Ciyou, who had been standing silently beside them, shook his