Afterward.
Following Luo Ge's instructions, she set up a simple barbecue rack by the river, lit a fire with a fireball, and began helping him catch pufferfish.
"Idiot! Is this stuff really that delicious? Don't forget... you nearly poisoned yourself to death last time." Roxy covered her forehead, looking utterly baffled.
Luo Ge narrowed his eyes slightly, his face full of certainty. "You're the idiot, Teacher. I've eaten it once... of course I know it can kill people, but as long as you're here, there shouldn't be any problem, right?"
"You're really amazing, after all..."
"Remember to use detoxification magic on me in a bit."
Roxy, whom Luo Ge was treating as a detoxification spell, waved to show she understood.
Next, Luo Ge grew very excited...
He could enjoy the delicacy that was pufferfish again.
Ever since he had accidentally eaten pufferfish and nearly died of poisoning last time, that blissful sensation had been like visiting paradise on earth.
It lingered on his tongue and had become an obsession deep in his heart.
Even if it killed him... he had to have a bite.
Delicious, delicious, delicious. So delicious.
"Oh, right."
"We had a deal."
Luo Ge raised a finger and narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression thoroughly scheming. "I'll keep last night's secret for you, Teacher Roxy, and from now on, you have to help me catch pufferfish and detoxify me. An equivalent exchange. Absolutely fair and reasonable."
"I know."
"Ugh, I really don't know what to do with you!"
Faced with this problem student, Roxy truly had no recourse.
This was absolutely the most enjoyable day Luo Ge had spent in this other world.
There were so many pufferfish.
He couldn't finish them. He really couldn't!!
By the little river outside Buena Village, sunlight filtered through the treetops and scattered across the sparkling water.
Luo Ge wolfed down dozens of grilled pufferfish in one sitting, eating until even his little belly bulged. Grease still glistened at the corners of his mouth, and satisfaction was written all over his face.
Roxy sat beside him with a somewhat peculiar expression.
Seriously... was this stuff really that delicious? But I'd clearly heard pufferfish were poisonous...
She stole a glance at the skewer of richly fragrant, charred pufferfish meat and wrestled with herself for quite some time.
Seeing that there weren't many pufferfish left, Luo Ge was rather reluctant to share. But considering how carefully Roxy had helped him remove the poisonous innards earlier, he finally made the painful sacrifice and handed one over.
"Teacher Roxy, want to try some? I guarantee that once you've tasted it, you'll never forget the flavor for the rest of your life."
"Huh? No! I'm not eating this stuff... it looks dangerous!" Roxy voiced her resistance, but her eyes couldn't help drifting toward the pufferfish meat.
Luo Ge wasn't in a hurry. He simply held the pufferfish meat a little closer to her mouth.
After hesitating for ages, Roxy took the bait.
In the end, she couldn't resist the temptation and chose to take a tiny bite.
Then she froze.
"Huh... pufferfish is surprisingly delicious?"
Watching Roxy's eyes light up as she began chewing in little bites, Luo Ge smiled in satisfaction at successfully feeding her.
His eyes remained slightly narrowed, a smile on his face the whole time.
Sure enough, no one in the world could escape the law of "so delicious."
After their pleasant picnic, the two packed up and prepared to head home.
Just then, however, a sudden rustling came from the surrounding grass.
"Teacher, danger!"
Luo Ge frowned and instinctively shielded his teacher Roxy firmly in front of him, protecting her.
"Roar!"
A savage roar came from the other side.
Immediately afterward, a large, powerfully built boar burst out of the bushes-a Doom Boar.
Three vicious-looking canine monsters followed behind it, baring their fangs: Assault Dogs.
The Asura Kingdom lay in the western Central Continent, with the Red Dragon Mountains to its north and east forming an almost natural defensive barrier.
Thanks to these geographical conditions, the land not only enjoyed favorable weather and bountiful harvests every year, but was also rarely touched by war. Even its monsters were relatively few and low-ranked.
This was precisely why most adventurers from the Asura Kingdom went elsewhere to further their careers after reaching B rank.
Scarce as monsters were, they weren't entirely absent.
D-rank monsters like Doom Boars and Assault Dogs weren't uncommon along the Asura Kingdom's borders and often attacked nearby villages.
A single monster of this rank certainly wasn't much of a threat.
But the boars and dogs always traveled in packs. The hounds treated the boars as their leaders, and as the two cooperated and their numbers grew, even a C-rank or B-rank rating wouldn't be excessive.
The four monsters before them worked together skillfully and had clearly preyed on quite a few lone travelers.
At the sight, Roxy didn't forget to indulge her fondness for teaching. She explained to Luo Ge in a relaxed tone, "These are a Doom Boar and Assault Dogs. They're only rated as D-rank monsters and are among the easier ones to handle. When the fighting starts... just hide behind me."
"Teacher, can you really handle them? You're so tiny."
Perhaps Luo Ge's doubt had left Roxy rather annoyed.
She glanced at Luo Ge behind her. "You're smaller than I am, aren't you? Oh, right. You should know that I'm rated as an A-rank adventurer out in the world, and I'm a Water Saint-tier magician."
"Now, watch closely."
With that, she stepped forward and raised her staff, eager to put on a good display before her pupil.
Her clear chanting promptly rang out.
"O gentle spirit of water, queen of streams flowing across the land, wash away all things with the boundless power you hold!"
Whoosh!
Intermediate water magic was unleashed at her words. Several powerful water arrows blasted the four monsters away, and immediately afterward, Roxy swiftly followed up with a fireball.
The Doom Boar and the three Assault Dogs were blasted to the ground with ease.
Seeing Roxy dispatch four monsters so effortlessly-wow! Luo Ge gained a new appreciation for her strength, his face filling with admiration.
Even tiny little Teacher Roxy was really powerful.
Although most of it was acting, Roxy didn't suspect a thing.
"All right, that's over."
"We can go home now."
Roxy stretched lazily as though nothing had happened, but her eyes stole glances at the admiring expression on Luo Ge's face behind her.
Mm, this felt unexpectedly nice.
Roxy was very pleased by other people's admiration. Even if the other person was only a child, it could keep her happy for ages.
"Oh, right, I nearly forgot. We need to burn these monsters' bodies."
Seeing Roxy prepare to burn the monsters' remains with a fireball, Luo Ge asked curiously, "Teacher, what are you doing?"
"Huh? Oh, this."
"The air in this world is filled with mana. If monster corpses are discarded carelessly or simply buried, mana will keep seeping into the remains, making them very likely to turn into zombie or skeleton monsters."
"Burying them without burning them is like planting a time bomb. When large numbers of monsters are defeated at once, their piled-up corpses rot and produce miasma, which spreads disease and threatens nearby villages and trade routes."
"The smell of blood and decay from the corpses attracts nearby beasts and monsters to gather and feed."
"When we adventurers hunt monsters, there's an unwritten rule: after every battle, we never leave the bodies unattended. We take the most valuable parts of the monsters' bodies, then burn whatever remains that we can't take."
"There are only a few this time, but you should still maintain this good habit."
Roxy, who loved playing the teacher, had started her classic long-winded rambling again.
"Uh, you're really amazing, Teacher!!"
Luo Ge was numb.
She had said so much, and it sounded like nonsense, but in fact, it was all nonsense. In short... the whole thing boiled down to one sentence: when out and about, always burn monster corpses.
Just as Roxy stood with her back to Luo Ge, continuing her practical lesson on adventuring knowledge.
Whoosh!
At that very moment.
An Assault Dog that had circled around behind them at some unknown point suddenly sprang from the shadows, its bloody maw gaping as it lunged viciously to bite Luo Ge a short distance away!
What?
Behind the tree-had she missed one?
Roxy's pupils contracted sharply, and she was just about to turn and chant a spell.
But at that critical instant, Luo Ge moved.
From Roxy's perspective.
Luo Ge moved a step ahead of her, taking a reverse grip on the little wooden sword at his waist and drawing it in one smooth motion without the slightest wasted movement.
A textbook Sword God Style opening stance!
In an instant, he became a blur and shot forward.
Swish!
A flash of sword light swept past.
By the time Roxy reacted, Luo Ge had already appeared ten paces away in the next instant.
Then...
Roxy saw the scene before her.
The wooden sword shattered with a clatter.
The dog's head fell to the ground.
With a wet spurt, its bisected body traced an arc through the air, scattering dust before crashing to the ground.
"L-Luo Ge?!"
Roxy froze in place, her staff still in the position she had just lowered it to. Her lips parted slightly and stayed that way for a long time.
An Assault Dog wasn't any particularly impressive monster. It was only D rank.
As an A-rank adventurer, she could deal with one easily.
But what Roxy had never expected was...
The sword strike that a child barely over three years old had just unleashed was clean, crisp, precise, and lethal. It had even begun to be cloaked in Touki.
This child's talent for swordsmanship was actually no less than his talent for magic. No! It was even far greater than his magical talent.
She had always thought Rudeus was more gifted than Luo Ge, so she had taken particular care of Luo Ge, the struggling student, encouraging him late at night to keep trying.
Yes, a struggling student... compared to Rudeus, that was what he was.
But she had never imagined that this unassuming pupil was a true, absolute authority when it came to swordsmanship.
Instantly killing an Assault Hound before even turning five-no one would believe it if they heard.
As her gaze fell on Luo Ge's back, Roxy's feelings instantly grew complicated.
In short, this was just too... well.
Uh, genius was no longer enough to describe him.
"He's simply a monster..."
The corner of Roxy's mouth couldn't help twitching.
She had wanted to look impressive in front of her pupil, only for her own carelessness to let him thoroughly show off instead.
Throughout the journey, Roxy was visibly downcast, looking as though she had suffered a deep blow.
Only Luo Ge, following behind, was in a rather good mood.
Though it had only been a commonplace low-level monster, perhaps it was because this was the first monster he had ever killed.
Luo Ge was especially excited, gesturing with both hands and chattering nonstop along the way. In contrast, he didn't notice his teacher's mood at all.
Roxy had always considered herself outstanding and had once said some very harsh things to the teacher who had taught her. But now that history's boomerang had struck her instead, there was no greater pain in the world.
Sigh...
Roxy could no longer put her feelings into words.