Anxiety

By the time Rudeus woke again, it was already noon.

"A familiar ceiling..."

Rudeus stared at the ceiling overhead and muttered to himself.

"Awake?"

Radeus looked at the now-awake Rudeus with a mocking expression.

"You bastard!"

"Forget it. What happened afterward?"

Rudeus asked Radeus.

"Dad carried you home afterward, and Sylphie and I found somewhere to keep training. We'd gotten so carried away fighting that we completely forgot about Sylphie."

"It took me a lot of effort to cheer her up. I'm putting that on your tab."

"Wait, why the hell? Weren't you at fault too?"

Rudeus listened to Radeus in disbelief. Was that something a human being could say?

How could a little mouth at thirty-six degrees say something so cold!

"Well, after lunch, Sylphie wants us to meet at the usual place."

Radeus paid no mind to Rudeus's anger.

Losers didn't get a say!

If Rudeus hadn't been a boy-if he'd been someone like Sylphie instead-losing would have unlocked a special CG.

Count yourself lucky, Rudeus! You dodged a bullet!

"Anyway, was I out that long? Didn't you use healing magic on me?"

Rudeus asked in confusion. With Radeus's healing magic, it shouldn't have taken him this long to wake up.

"Nope!"

"You were fine anyway. No need to waste my mana."

"And this was your punishment for letting your guard down!"

Radeus glanced at Rudeus, who still had a red mark on his forehead.

"You just wanted to watch me suffer, didn't you? Acting all righteous-do you think I don't know you?"

Rudeus gave Radeus a contemptuous look.

"Then why ask?"

Radeus's retort left Rudeus speechless.

A while after lunch, Sylphie came to the door looking for Rudeus and Rad.

When she saw the two of them at the door, she waved happily.

"Rudeus! Rad!"

Although what had happened that morning had upset her a little, since her friends had left her out.

By the afternoon, the sweet, kind Sylphie had automatically forgiven them both.

Was this some kind of reset mechanic? Her affection returned to its maximum value after a certain amount of time.

The three went to cool off beneath the big tree where they often spent time.

Sylphie leaned against the tree with her head tilted, her cute, captivating eyes watching Rudeus with concern.

"Rudeus, is something bothering you? You don't seem very energetic."

Rudeus sighed and said to Sylphie:

"Actually, I've hit a wall lately. I haven't made any progress with swordsmanship or magic..."

By contrast, Sylphie had made remarkable progress over the past few months, giving Rudeus a slight sense of crisis.

"What about you, Rad?"

Rudeus looked at Radeus, who kept swinging his sword in the shade.

Hearing that, Radeus wiped away his sweat and stopped what he was doing.

"Now that you mention it, my swordsmanship hasn't improved in ages. Same with my magic. It's about where it was before Teacher Roxy left..."

"But Rudeus and Rad are both amazing!"

Sylphie didn't understand what they were worried about. To her, the two were already like superhumans.

"For our age, maybe we are pretty impressive..."

Rudeus gazed at the distant mountains and spoke quietly.

Neither he nor Radeus was someone who would settle for the way things were. They had their sights set on poetry and distant horizons!

"You want to improve too, right, Rad?"

Rudeus asked Radeus what he thought.

"Not especially. I don't have much in mind. I feel like I'm strong enough for now. I still can't even beat Dad, so I can keep learning from him."

Radeus didn't have any grand dreams. He just wanted to slack off and make up for all the slacking he hadn't done in his previous life in one go.

"For crying out loud, did a dog eat your ambition?"

Rudeus cursed at Radeus, whose face practically had "I want to slack off" written across it.

He wanted to wake this complacent fellow up. As the eldest son of the Greyrat family, how could he be so unmotivated?

"What's ambition? Can you eat it?"

Radeus tilted his head at Rudeus.

"Have you completely abandoned your dignity?"

Rudeus looked at Radeus, who was acting like an idiot.

You really are something, Radeus!

You'd even say something like that just to slack off?

"Hahaha!"

Sylphie couldn't help laughing at Radeus's words.

"Rad, you're so funny!"

"He's just completely shameless!" Rudeus objected.

"Look, Rudeus, we're only seven. There's no need to be in such a hurry to get stronger, is there?"

"What's wrong with enjoying our childhood?"

Radeus earnestly lectured Rudeus.

Wow! There it is, the laid-back confidence exclusive to a stat monster! Rudeus thought.

If Rudeus had stats and mechanics like Radeus's, he wouldn't be worried either.

But aside from his terrifying mana reserves, which far exceeded Radeus's, what did Rudeus have?

Radeus: ? Why don't you listen to what you're saying?

Now the pot was calling the kettle black!

"That's right. You're really strong, Rudeus. There's no need to rush."

"I don't want to be separated from you and Rad yet!"

Sylphie stared at Rudeus pitifully with her big, watery eyes.

The brilliance of Sylphie's sincere gaze was almost too much for Rudeus to look at.

"You're right! I'll be content with this for now!"

Rudeus stroked Sylphie's little head and smiled at her.

"Mm-hmm!"

Sylphie looked delighted. Now she could keep spending time with Rudeus and Rad!

To Sylphie, her world was small, consisting of only this village, but to Rudeus and Radeus, the world was vast and wide.

Sooner or later, they would set out. If not today, then tomorrow. No one could stop a savior's journey.

Just as a saint walked the right path without straying, calamities would still occasionally occur. Though they couldn't be avoided, they could never halt the saint's advance!

"Good grief! Ah, youth!"

Radeus sighed at the scene before him.

That evening, Radeus went to practice swordsmanship with Paul, leaving Rudeus alone in the room.

At that moment, Rudeus lay on the bed, hugging a pillow and wriggling like a maggot as he murmured:

"Sylphie, Sylphie..."

Radeus, who had just finished training with Paul, opened the door and happened to catch him in the act.

He looked at Rudeus as though he were looking at a pervert.

"Hey, you little punk, going after a minor could get you the electric chair!"

"Stop acting like a wild dog in heat!"

"Huh?"

"Y-you-you need to knock before coming in!"

Rudeus's face flushed bright red. Having someone see him like this was so embarrassing that he wanted to jump out of the second floor.

"Do I have to knock to enter my own room?"

Paul walked in right after him. Fortunately, he hadn't seen what Rudeus had been doing, which let Rudeus breathe a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, thank goodness!

It was one thing for Radeus to see him; he could deal with him sooner or later. But if Paul had seen him, Rudeus really would have been out of options.

He couldn't exactly kill his own family in the name of justice, could he?

Radeus, you say? Who's that? No idea!

"Hey, Rudeus, Rad, there's a letter for you!"

Paul held a rolled-up envelope.

The only person either of them could think of as the sender was Roxy.

The three spread out the letter and glanced at its contents. Sure enough, Roxy had written it.

"Oh-ho, Roxy's already reached Water King Rank? That's impressive!"

The letter asked how Radeus and Rudeus had been doing lately, told them she had become the Seventh Prince's tutor in the Shirone Kingdom, and shared her joy at becoming a Water King Rank mage.

At the end, she told them that if they ran into trouble with magic, they could go to the Ranoa University of Magic.

"Is Water King Rank really impressive?"

Rudeus asked Paul.

"It's incredible. You can count all the King Rank mages in the world on your hands!" Paul explained.

I-is it really that impressive?

Teacher Roxy even asked whether we'd reached Emperor Rank yet. Like hell we have.

If Rudeus hadn't known Roxy's personality, he would have thought she was mocking them.

PS: The tutoring arc is coming soon. There will be major improvements during that arc, mainly in magic, laying the groundwork for the later Demon Continent arc and bringing House Boreas under his control in the later return arc. As for Cursed Techniques, all Cursed Techniques other than Limitless will be unlocked during the tutoring arc. Mahoraga will be unlocked at the beginning of the Demon Continent arc, and Radeus will become one of the Seven Great Powers before the Demon Continent arc ends.