A nighttime discussion

Half a year had passed since Radeus learned the Sound Sword, and both Rudeus and Radeus were now four years old.

"I'm going to the bathroom!" Radeus told Rudeus, who was still practicing magic.

"Okay!"

Whether Radeus had spurred him on or something else was behind it, Rudeus had spent the last six months not only training hard in swordsmanship but practicing magic more often than before, too.

"Good grief!"

Radeus shook his head as he watched Rudeus keep working hard.

It's nighttime already. It wouldn't be good to interrupt Paul and Zenith getting intimate. I'd better open the door quietly!

With that thought, Radeus gently pushed the door open. The moment he did, a sacred sight greeted his eyes.

Roxy was outside Paul and Zenith's bedroom, peering in through the crack in the door. She sat slumped on the floor, doing something girls in the bloom of youth were supposed to do.

This, too, was a chantless water spell exclusive to women!

I'd better not disturb her!

Radeus watched for a full three minutes before finally deciding not to go out, sparing Roxy some embarrassment.

After all, putting yourself in her shoes, if you left your bedroom door open while getting yourself off and your parents accidentally walked in, wouldn't that be a scene of utter despair?

"What's wrong? Why haven't you gone out yet?" Rudeus noticed something was off.

"Nothing, nothing. I just suddenly don't feel like going anymore."

Radeus hurriedly shut the door to prevent anyone else from discovering this sacred sight.

A few days later, it was time for Roxy's nighttime lesson. Although it was at night, everyone, please keep your minds out of the gutter. She really was only teaching them some knowledge about magic.

Roxy sat on the bed with a book in her hands, explaining the history of magic to the two boys seated on chairs.

Everything went smoothly, except that a certain little pervert kept lowering his head, trying to peek into Roxy's mysterious territory.

Thump!

Seeing Rudeus like that, Radeus gave him a loving iron fist and spoke to him in his mind.

Can't you behave yourself?

Don't you want to look?

At Rudeus's words, Radeus recalled the scene a few nights earlier. His face flushed before settling back into a calm expression.

Hmph, I've already seen it, and what I saw was even more exciting than this!

Things like this can't move me anymore!

No. She's our teacher. I don't want to lust after my teacher!

If you keep this up, I'll have no choice but to send you up into the sky for a while!

It won't happen again. Please, whatever you do, don't do that! Rudeus immediately backed down.

"You must be especially careful of the Superd Tribe among the demons!" Roxy continued her lengthy explanation.

"The Superd Tribe? Why?" Rudeus asked.

"Because they're a very terrifying demon tribe. Around four or five hundred years ago, during a Human-Demon War called the Laplace War, they cruelly slaughtered everyone, friend and foe alike, men and women, young and old. They say not even the bones of their victims remained, and after the war ended, they were driven out of the Demon Continent."

"So if you encounter a race with emerald-green hair and a ruby on their foreheads, never go near them, or your whole family will be killed."

Radeus and Rudeus both swallowed.

Were they really that terrifying?

"We'll be careful!"

"My hair also looks green in certain surroundings. That's why Mr. Paul and the others froze when they first saw me."

Roxy fiddled with her hair, looking a little sad.

"Huh? Wasn't it because you're too little, Miss Roxy?"

Rudeus's cutting words pierced straight through Roxy's sadness.

"I'm not little!" Roxy protested angrily.

"It's all right, Miss Roxy. Your hair is beautiful. You don't need to feel inferior. As the saying goes, a rose need not grow tall; its admirer will bend down..."

"Huh?" Roxy and Rudeus immediately turned to look at Radeus.

No, no, what the hell am I saying?

Radeus was shocked by his own thunderous words, too.

"I mean, everyone has their own tastes. You don't need to worry about it, Miss Roxy. I like you a lot!"

In his flustered haste, Radeus hurried to salvage the situation.

"Thank you! It's getting late, so that's all for today's lesson." Roxy started ushering them out.

"Yes!"

Radeus and Rudeus had no choice but to leave Roxy's room.

Outside, Rudeus was still peering through the crack in the door, watching Roxy change.

"You never learn, do you!"

Radeus dragged Rudeus away, closing Roxy's door for her while he was at it. Before leaving, he also wished Roxy good night!

"I don't want to hear that from a weirdo who says such bizarre things!"

Unable to argue back, Radeus could only drag Rudeus away with even greater force.

"Speaking of which, how's your healing magic practice going?"

Rudeus asked as Radeus dragged him along.

"Hmm..."

"I can do it now, but something seems a little wrong!"

Radeus sounded a little unsure as he thought about his healing magic.

"Huh?"

"I'll show you when we get back to our room!"

The two returned to their room, and Rudeus sat on the bed, watching Radeus fiddle with something.

"What are you doing? Didn't you say you were going to show me your healing magic?"

Rudeus couldn't claim to be proficient in healing magic; he could only say he couldn't do it at all. Radeus, however, seemed to have an exceptional natural talent for it.

"Finding a test subject. Just a moment!"

Radeus slapped a flying insect dead and placed it on the table.

"Watch closely."

Rudeus leaned over, curious about what would happen next.

A red light appeared in Radeus's palm, a different color from the Healing Spell Roxy and Zenith used.

Isn't that the wrong color? Did it fail?

What happened next was a sight Rudeus found rather hard to forget.

Under the red light, the mosquito Radeus had slapped dead began to regain its vitality bit by bit. By the time the spell ended, it had even started flying again.

"Huh?"

"What kind of Healing Spell is that?!"

Rudeus hadn't expected Radeus's Healing Spell to actually bring dead creatures back to life.

"Exactly. The color isn't what our teacher taught us, and the effect is a little weird, too."

Radeus was rather baffled himself. When he first started using healing magic, it had been perfectly normal: the usual green color, with normal effects.

But after practicing for a while, Radeus had accidentally discovered that the color of his healing magic was beginning to change, and it could even revive small animals that hadn't been dead for long.

"What should we do? Have Miss Roxy take a look tomorrow?" Rudeus suggested.

"Yeah, let's do that!" Radeus nodded in agreement.

After all, specialized matters were best left to specialists.