When the master and her pupil returned home after a day of picnicking.
"I'm home."
Luo Ge called into the house.
Paul and Zenith responded with smiles, "Welcome home!"
Luo Ge clearly noticed the look in Rudeus's eyes as he greeted them from the corner, watching him and Roxy return hand in hand.
How to put it? He looked a little envious.
Although he really wanted to take Rudeus out, the guy strongly resisted leaving the house. At most, he would wander around the yard behind the enclosing wall.
Luo Ge thought this probably had something to do with psychological issues from his previous life.
Although he wanted to ask more, the moment he thought of the guy's personality, he figured asking would be pointless.
He probably wouldn't talk about it anyway.
Perhaps once the guy was a little older, he would naturally take that step.
But Luo Ge didn't want to do nothing, either. After all, they were both fucking buddies from another world.
He had tried goading him, tricking him, and even threatening him, but none of it worked particularly well on Rudeus.
After trying everything, Luo Ge finally reached a conclusion-the only thing that might work on him... was probably a honey trap.
That night.
"All right, that's it for tonight's lesson. Good night."
In Roxy's room, she stretched and yawned.
"Good night, Teacher Roxy!"
Rudeus and Luo Ge spoke in unison, then left the room one after the other.
As he stepped outside, Luo Ge noticed someone crouching by the door, still acting furtively and apparently not planning to leave.
It was Rudeus, wearing a sleazy expression and already on the verge of drooling.
He couldn't help frowning.
Seriously... just how desperate could he be?
"Have some shame!"
Unable to stand it any longer, Luo Ge knocked him straight on the head with his fist.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Rudeus complained, clutching his head, clearly very unhappy about having his fun interrupted.
Then Luo Ge hauled and dragged him back to his own room.
The two lay together on the bed.
"Rudeus, you weren't some kind of peeping Tom in your previous life, were you? Like secretly taking pictures of girls on the subway, installing cameras in bathrooms, doing illegal shit?"
"???"
Rudeus immediately became furious.
But his anger lasted only a moment. In front of Luo Ge, he really couldn't muster the slightest temper.
Yet when he tried to argue back, the words reached his lips, only for him to fall silent.
That unexpected, prolonged silence left no room for denial.
Luo Ge's heart skipped a beat.
Oh, shit... had I actually hit the mark?
As the saying went, lies didn't hurt people; the truth was the sharp blade.
In his previous life, Rudeus really had been that sort of scumbag.
Although he hadn't been as outrageous as Luo Ge described, at the end of the day, that was the kind of person he was.
He had been a shut-in for twenty whole years, refused to attend his parents' funeral, and finally had his ribs broken by his older brother before being kicked out of the house.
Without a doubt, he was a complete and utter failure.
Luo Ge had thought Rudeus would snap back as usual. After all, bickering had become a habit for the two of them over the years.
He hadn't expected him to tacitly admit it this time.
Seeing this, Luo Ge hurriedly changed the subject. "Speaking of which... have you ever thought about going back?"
This time, Rudeus answered without the slightest hesitation. "No... not at all."
"Isn't there anything in that world you miss? Important family members, for example...?"
Rudeus shook his head again.
Luo Ge could tell he wasn't lying, and there was no need for him to lie about something like this.
The guy truly had nothing tying him down and felt no attachment whatsoever to his original world.
I'm really curious... just what did he go through in his previous life?
Luo Ge really wanted to know the reason. At least, only then could he find a way to help him leave the house.
Just as Luo Ge was thinking about what to do next.
Rudeus asked him in return, "What about you, Luo Ge... have you ever thought about returning to your original world?"
"I probably... would want to go back."
"I have parents and other family. This other world is nice, but it always feels unfamiliar. I'm not particularly fond of the food, either. Apart from swords and magic, everything else about this world is downright awful."
"Also, although Paul and Zenith love me like their own child, and I respect them a lot, I've never been able to see them as my real parents. It's not that they aren't important to me."
"It's just... how should I put it?"
He paused. "Right, we're more like friends. After all, in terms of mental age, I'm at most their peer. That feeling... you get it too, don't you?"
Rudeus fell silent, and there was no telling what he was thinking.
Luo Ge continued, "Of course, it's not like I absolutely have to go back. If I can properly experience a life in another world, that's fine too. Anyway, I'll just take things as they come."
Rudeus finally spoke. "I really envy you."
"Envy me? You envy me?"
"Of course. Who wouldn't envy a guy like you? Although I don't know much about your previous life, judging from the bits and pieces you've mentioned, you're probably the kind of person who's welcomed wherever he goes, right?"
"And me... all I do is fail, over and over. If life were a game, I'd just be a failed player."
There was a self-destructive note in Rudeus's voice.
That sort of negative emotion could easily spread to the people around him.
Luo Ge had wanted to comfort him and talk him through things tonight, but it had ended up backfiring.
All he could say was... this guy's mindset was just too awful.
He really was out of ideas.
If it were some other difficulty, he could help solve it, but when it came to psychological issues, he was truly helpless.
Perhaps only a psychologist could handle something like this.
"Anyway..."
Luo Ge clenched his fist and held it out toward Rudeus. "No matter what, we're brothers now, so... let's do our best together!"
"Rudeus Greyrat."
Rudeus reflexively thought the other boy was about to hit him and instinctively tried to shrink back.
But the moment he noticed Luo Ge's slightly narrowed eyes and smile, something stirred in his heart.
He clenched his fist too. "Yeah... let's do our best together."
Moonlight spilled into the room through the window, and the two children's fists gently bumped, as though adding a tender footnote to the night.
Then-
Sounds came from next door.
The sounds of Zenith and Paul resuming their "battle" carried clearly through the wall.
The two exchanged a glance, each seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes.
Luo Ge pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed, while Rudeus reverted to his true nature... no matter how you looked at it, that smile was a little sleazy.
Sure enough, a dog can't stop eating shit.
Luo Ge silently rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head-there really were still far too many things about this other world that he needed to get used to.