Fittoa Territory, the City of Roa.
People thronged the streets, shops lined both sides in close rows, and vendors' cries rose one after another.
Though it lacked the splendor and bustle of the royal capital, the City of Ars, it was already quite impressive for a remote little city on the edge of Fittoa Territory.
By the roadside.
Eris, the young lady of House Boreas, was enjoying a rare shopping trip, accompanied by her tutor Rudeus and her sword instructor Ghislaine.
Like a little bird released from its cage, she was curious about everything along the street, looking all around, touching things here and examining things there.
Rudeus and Ghislaine followed close behind, looking after the hot-tempered young lady while exchanging helpless glances.
Before long, however, Eris became separated from them in the crowd.
"Ow!"
She accidentally ran too fast, stumbled into something, and landed on her bottom.
Rubbing the sore spot, Eris scrunched up her little face and was about to lose her temper, but when she looked up, her eyes instantly widened.
"Rudeus?"
The person who had bumped into her...
Huh, who else could this be but Rudeus?
"Rudeus! What are you doing? Don't you watch where you're going?"
Waving her little fists, Eris was only halfway through her complaint and already about to hit him when she suddenly fell speechless.
Wait.
Something's wrong.
The Rudeus before her was completely different from the one she remembered. This boy had a sturdier, straighter build, and his features were brighter, more handsome, and more sharply defined.
The corners of his mouth curved slightly in a lazy, composed smile.
Not only was he missing that mole beneath his eye.
More importantly... he had been looking at her through narrowed eyes the whole time.
Mommy!!
"Y-you, you, you, you, who are you?!!"
"Aren't you that..."
Eris's mind buzzed, and an image instantly surfaced.
One afternoon when she was seven.
In House Boreas's courtyard, that hateful brat who had beaten her so badly she couldn't fight back at all.
It couldn't be him, could it?
Wasn't he Rudeus's younger brother... what was his name again? Hmm... Luo Ge.
Right.
But wasn't he dead already?
Although Eris didn't have a particularly good memory, she paid special attention to matters concerning that man. She remembered how dejected Ghislaine had been the last time she returned.
Under her persistent questioning, Ghislaine had told her everything: that fellow named Luo Ge had met with disaster in the Red Dragon Mountains and died.
Later, Rudeus had also told her this himself. She had even thought it was a shame back then, since she could no longer get her revenge.
But now, this person was standing before her, alive and well.
"Mommy!"
"A g-ghost! Aaaaaah!"
"Don't come any closer! Aaaaaah! If you're here to claim a life, you shouldn't be coming for me! Go find Rudeus..."
"Wuuu, Rudeus, help... hurry and save me!!"
Having wet her pants in fright, Eris's pupils abruptly contracted.
As though she had seen something unclean, she sprang straight up, then scrambled away screaming.
The passersby turned to look, thinking something serious had happened.
Luo Ge stood there, utterly baffled.
He was merely passing through Fittoa Territory and hadn't expected to run into Eris. All he had wanted was to say hello to an old acquaintance.
And the result?
Who would have thought... why did this young lady react to seeing him as though she'd seen a ghost?
Had I beaten her so badly that she'd been traumatized?
Luo Ge tilted his head, his eyes slightly narrowed, then seemed to understand something.
Uh, well... this works too. It'll save me from having this young lady bother me again.
To Luo Ge, encountering this young lady was merely a minor interlude.
Luo Ge gave it no further thought and continued about his business.
Since prices in the capital of Ars had been too high last time, Luo Ge hadn't bought many supplies.
So Luo Ge settled for his second choice, planning to use the City of Roa as a stopover for a major shopping trip.
Apart from some essential dry provisions, Luo Ge also bought a sturdy backpack for the Red Dragon hatchling.
As for his old backpack made from animal hide, he used it to hold the things he had brought out of the laboratory.
Wandering around the city, Luo Ge stayed for two whole days.
This time.
He planned not to take a shortcut. Traveling alone, it would be easy to get lost in the Red Dragon Mountains if he wasn't particularly familiar with the terrain.
Instead, he would take the trade route...
He acted on the idea at once. Remembering that he had previously registered as an adventurer, he figured Roa ought to have somewhere like an Adventurers' Guild too.
People from all walks of life gathered there, making it the best place to ask for information, so he soon made his way to the Adventurers' Guild.
He stayed there for half a day.
From a conversation between several adventurers, he learned that a caravan would leave Roa in the morning two days later, bound for the Duchy of Basherant in the northern Central Continent. The journey would take about two months.
Luo Ge therefore decided to travel with this caravan, but before departing, he felt he needed to return to Buena Village for a look.
After all, now that he was already in Fittoa Territory, how could he justify not visiting home?
Taking a look on the way wouldn't cost him much time.
He might not return for many years after this trip to the Sword Sanctum. At least before leaving... he still wanted to visit his family.
Luo Ge was a man of action.
Riding a fine black horse he had bought.
Urging his horse onward the whole way, Roa arrived in the countryside.
Buena Village.
Following the field path surrounded by golden wheat, Luo Ge dismounted and began walking slowly.
Luo Ge didn't go home immediately. Instead, he first went beneath the large tree not far from home.
From this angle... he could see his house in the distance.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
A breeze brushed his face, sending leaves fluttering through the air and stirring the few short strands of blond hair over his forehead.
Just like that.
Luo Ge stood quietly, all alone.
His deep gaze passed over the courtyard's clothesline and the wisps of cooking smoke rising from the chimney before finally settling on the few trees by the entrance.
The saplings Zenith had tended so carefully had grown.
These were trees Zenith had planted.
And Zenith was crouching beside them, watering them.
She still liked growing flowers and plants, just as she always had.
That guy Paul... huh? Was he practicing his sword again?
In the courtyard, Paul stood bare-chested beneath the sun, drenched in sweat.
As for Lilia, she was nowhere in sight, but she was most likely cleaning some corner of the house.
Though this maid had rarely spoken in the past and hadn't been particularly close to him or Rudeus, guarding against them like thieves, Luo Ge still considered her someone fairly close to him.
Everything at home was exactly as he remembered, without any major changes. That was good.
"Wait!"
"What's that?"
"Hmm? How come there are two extra babies?"
As though he had suddenly discovered something new, Luo Ge's expression showed a clear trace of surprise.
Then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly into a knowing smile.
Paul and Zenith really were a loving couple.
Presumably, while he was away, Zenith and Paul had given him two more little brothers or sisters.
One a year. They really were productive.
Little brothers or little sisters...
Honestly, Luo Ge would rather both of them were little sisters. After all, when it came to pesky little brothers... that brat Rudeus alone was enough.
Wait, wasn't I the younger brother?
But none of that mattered. What mattered was that, in Luo Ge's eyes, Rudeus was the pesky little brother who needed looking after.