It was the night after the kidnapping incident.
[Your brother is acting strange. Usually, he is active, but this time he is downcast.]
'I know. Now, can you shut up?'
[What is your problem with me? Whenever I speak to you, you try to push me away.]
'Because every time you speak, you drain me. And that isn't a metaphor... you literally make me feel more mentally exhausted, and that is...'
[I think you just aren't used to me talking yet. But considering your decision, and as your assistant, I will remain silent and stay on standby for any requests.]
I sighed, trying to focus on something else.
Despite the kidnapping incident, Eris had insisted on sparring with me. Although she couldn't nip at my heels or keep up with my footwork, she didn't give up. From what I saw, my style disoriented her quite a bit.
Now, in my room adjacent to Rudeus's, I noticed he was sitting there, pensive, reading a book. I opened the door and walked in, almost startling him.
"You're overthinking things, Rudy." It wasn't a question; it was obvious what he was doing.
Rudeus placed a hand over his heart.
"Ah, it's you..." He sighed slightly before standing up. "I was thinking about how weak I consider myself."
Did he just call himself weak?
"It's not the magic, is it?" I asked. "It's the physical side."
"Yeah," Rudeus nodded. "I mean, if it weren't for you or Ghislaine, I might have died back there... and I started thinking afterward that there won't be another chance."
Rudeus had never managed to use Touki, the battle aura, even though Sylphy could. That made him feel powerless, and the kidnapping had finally awakened that feeling.
"So I was feeling weak," Rudeus continued. "Don't say anything, okay? I know it's pathetic, just..."
I rested my hand on his shoulder.
"If it makes you feel any better," I started, "I can teach you a new method I found for your condition as an aerodynamically challenged mage."
"Aerodynamically challenged mage?" Rudeus let out a small laugh. "I suppose my seven-year-old butt offers too much wind resistance. But alright, I accept the term."
I smiled at that.
"Perfect, I'll see you tomorrow in the courtyard then."
And that was how my brother started feeling better about himself thanks to a new method I found. A system capable of employing the principles of the sword, movement, and agility without the need to carry a weapon, utilizing magic in its place.
...
The next day, my brother arrived at the training field.
It was just the mansion's garden, but that didn't matter. He was completely inspired today, so I wanted to capitalize on that enthusiasm. Despite that, I think he was also exhausted from his first class with Eris, but he hid it very well.
"Good," I began. "You already know the feints, the steps. It isn't necessary to teach you that because Father already did, but I want to give you a couple of lessons."
I tossed a wooden sword for him to catch.
"Think fast."
When he tried to catch it, I used a gust of wind to deflect it.
"The first lesson is: never wait for your enemy. Anticipate their movements and initiate. You won't win a single fight without initiative, and given that you aren't going to be a Water God user, waiting to be attacked is inefficient. In that case, start before the other person can formulate a plan to beat you."
Off to the side, Ghislaine was with her wooden boards carving characters, and Eris was watching her with fascination, attempting to do the same.
To emphasize my point, I launched myself at him at full speed, empty-handed.
"Ah!" I shouted so he would be alert.
As I had predicted, he released a gust of wind to create distance and responded with a direct attack.
"Very good, but I noticed that was instinctive. Furthermore, the second attack never would have hit me even if I were distracted," I said. "Also, you must learn to dodge without leaving openings... What would you do if I had grabbed you in mid-air? I could have done it, but I limited myself to dodging."
"Respond with another attack?" Rudeus answered.
"Maybe, but you had launched a direct attack that I could have exploited to break your concentration."
After this, the training began, and after three hours and two minutes, I finally decided it was time to take a small break. Ghislaine had finished her tasks; Eris was glued to her side, and they watched us attentively. To be honest, what I looked forward to most today was her training me, and it wouldn't be long until then.
Returning to the matter of training.
My brother had learned to dodge, yes, but he still relied too much on wide evasions when he used wind magic to scurry away. However, what he needed was a more concentrated point if he really wanted to match what a battle aura does.
Additionally, when moving, he would pause and then cast magic. That single split second was enough to defeat him.
I wanted to change that, so I approached him.
"You think like an artillery mage, Rudeus. You move, plant your feet, and then fire. That works if you have a tank in front of you, but you are the tank and the gunner at the same time..."
All of this was overheard by Ghislaine and Eris.
"What are those two talking about, Ghislaine?" Eris asked.
"I don't know. Tank... I have no idea," Ghislaine replied.
"Mmm, they are very weird," Eris concluded.
Rudeus panted a little and said, "It's... hard... to focus on two things..."
"In that case, let's change strategy," I said.
I walked over to one of the trees and rested my palm on its bark.
"I want you to pay attention, Rudeus." I stopped looking at him and focused on my target.
Without winding up and without moving my shoulder, I executed a wind spell called Shockwave.
But I didn't cast the spell outward; rather, I detonated it inside my palm at the exact moment my muscles tensed.
BOOM!
The impact made the entire trunk shake, leaving a deep indentation where my hand had been.
Rudeus's eyes went wide.
"Physical reinforcement? No... That was Shockwave," he murmured.
"It's propulsion," I explained. "I didn't use the wind to push the tree; I used the wind to push my hand toward the tree at explosive speed from zero distance. Basically, you must combine both techniques: one to generate the impact, the other to protect yourself from the recoil."
It was clear he needed to cover both sides; otherwise, he could be affected by his own magic. Within that, if he managed to complete what I told him, he could compensate for his lack of battle aura. Added to incredible mana control, no one could intimidate him physically.
I wiped my hand on my clothes and turned toward him.
"Rudeus, your body is slow, but your magic is fast. Stop using magic to attack the enemy and use it to accelerate your body."
"Micro-explosions..." Rudeus muttered. "On the elbows to strike and on the heels to dodge."
"Exactly."
"Let me try!"
Rudeus attempted the same thing I had done, and although he managed to do it well because he was an excellent mage, that didn't mean he had done it perfectly.
"Good. Now do it a hundred more times before dinner," I said.
"A hundred?!" Rudeus shouted.
"Do you want to survive Eris tomorrow?" I asked. "Besides, it's simple considering your mana... On your hands, elbows, heels, legs, and hips."
He didn't say anything to me, but I understood he had accepted. However, he was now watching Eris smile while talking to Ghislaine. According to Phillip, she was, along with Edna, one of the people he loved, so I could understand why he was like that.
"You can't teach her, can you?" I asked.
"Yes," Rudeus replied.
"She gets bored?" I asked.
"Of course. She says she only wants to be an adventurer and isn't interested in anything else. She insists on wanting to beat you, but that's impossible for now," Rudeus replied.
There was a short silence.
"I'm going to eat a little, I'm starving," I finally said, leaving one of the wooden swords with him and entering the mansion.
I left him alone with Ghislaine and Eris while I went directly to the kitchen.
"What was the name of that dessert the chef mentioned?" I muttered to myself.
I had forgotten it completely, and that only made me smile broadly. Because for the first time, I felt more human, forgetting mundane things like the name of a dessert.
...
A month had passed since I became Ghislaine's tutor, a student, and also Eris's sparring partner.
"Take this!" Eris threw an attack at me that I dodged and returned with a normal sword strike. "Ugh, it's useless!"
On the other hand, my brother was having a hard time with her. She wouldn't listen to him when he began giving her lessons. She disappeared as soon as it was time for reading or arithmetic. She only showed her face when it came to swordsmanship, and that had to change.
Magic class was the only one where she faithfully paid attention to Rudeus, and the first time she produced a fireball, she was happy and enthusiastic.
"Someday I'm going to create fireworks in the sky just like you did," she had told him while Rudeus put out the flames. And although he warned her, it seems she didn't pay him any mind, because she smiled while looking at the half-burnt curtains, satisfied with herself.
Thanks to the ideas Ghislaine told her about her life as an adventurer, how she was scammed, and the misfortunes she went through, Eris began to take Rudeus's lessons more seriously. And yes, she needed Ghislaine's approval to make that decision.
One day I arrived at the stables after having spotted them from a distance.
"Young mistress, please, wake up. Eris-san. It is time to have fun with arithmetic!"
Rudeus was acting strangely as he approached a sleeping Eris.
I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him outside.
"What were you planning, Rudeus?" I narrowed my eyes.
"I was just going to keep her from getting cold!" Rudeus replied.
"Fine, but next time I don't want to catch you doing something like that, understood?"
He nodded, completely nervous, as I released my grip.
...
Half a year had passed since then. Eris, who we thought had finally calmed down regarding her treatment of Rudeus, began to return to her violent tendencies.
Why?
It was more than obvious, only I focused so much on my own training and being Ghislaine's tutor that I hadn't noticed the sequence of tasks Eris had come to have:
Breakfast → Study → Lunch → Study → Snack → Study → Dinner → Free time.
There was no history teacher, so Phillip taught her in his free time.
Rudeus and Edna had a meeting to discuss the problem of Eris's accumulated stress.
I watched from afar as my brother explained the situation.
Eris's schedule was brutal. There was no room for rest. Study, training, study, and so on every day. Her irritability had increased considerably, and anyone could see that she would eventually explode.
The solution Rudeus proposed was simple but effective.
One day of rest every seven days.
In this world, the concept of a week didn't exist, but the number seven had a special meaning, so it worked.
Etiquette, swordsmanship, reading, writing, arithmetic, and magic... Rudeus even suggested combining magic lessons with mental arithmetic exercises, something Eris found easier than sitting in front of numbers on paper. Basically, following my training principle as happened with Ghislaine.
Edna accepted without issues, although at first, she worried that reducing her lessons would affect her salary. Rudeus reassured her quickly since Phillip had agreed to maintain the monthly payments regardless of the number of classes.
They also agreed to meet on the first day of every month to evaluate progress and resolve any problems that arose.
And that was how Rudeus got his first day off.
When that day arrived, I saw him heading toward the mansion's exit.
"Let's go, brother," he suggested, so I decided to follow him.
However, they were already waiting for us.
Ghislaine and Eris were at the door, blocking the exit.
"Where do you think you are going?" Eris looked restless, perhaps because it was her first day off. Her first full day with nothing to do. It was evident she was curious about my brother's plans for the day.
"I'm going sightseeing in Roa," said Rudeus, striking a pose.
"Sightseeing?" asked Eris, confused.
"Yes, we plan to buy a few things," answered Rudeus.
"Ah, in that case... I'm coming too!" exclaimed Eris.
"Very well, let's get moving then!" said Rudeus.
"Really!?" Eris seemed surprised that he accepted so easily.
"Ghislaine, you're coming too, right?" asked Rudeus.
"Yes. It is my duty to protect the young mistress," replied Ghislaine.
Then Eris looked directly at me.
"You better not get ahead, Daiki. I'll be ready in a second! Alphonse! Alphonse!" I watched as Eris ran out, moving noisily through the mansion.
...
The Citadel of Roa was one of the largest cities in the Fittoa Region. The walls were seven or eight meters high and enveloped the city completely. It wasn't a perfect circle; it twisted with the terrain, but it was impressive.
As we walked through the commercial district, Rudeus began taking notes on products and their prices. Eris didn't understand the point of comparing prices, and when Rudeus tried to explain it to her with an example of resale, she got confused with the arithmetic.
We entered a bookstore. Rudeus found the same botanical dictionary that Zenith had gifted him, and he realized how expensive it was. Ten gold coins. With a salary of two silver coins a month, impossible to pay. Besides, the advanced healing book must have cost much more, so I didn't understand how he managed to pay for it... or did he already have it? I don't know, it looked somewhat worn.
Eris offered to buy him a book using her grandfather's money, but Rudeus explained to her that she shouldn't spend other people's money so easily. He spoke to her about salaries, about how Ghislaine earned more because she had experience and a title, and how she herself had no market value yet.
Surprisingly, Eris seemed to understand.
On the way back to the mansion, the sky was dyed red and orange. Rudeus looked up and saw something floating among the clouds.
"That is the floating fortress of the Armored Dragon King Perugius," explained Ghislaine.
Eris took the opportunity to show off her knowledge. She told Rudeus about Perugius, one of the three heroes who defeated the Demon God Laplace four hundred years ago. He used summoning magic to control twelve familiars and restored an ancient floating fortress called the Hammer of Chaos.
Although he didn't manage to completely destroy the Demon God, he had to seal him as a last resort. The Asura Kingdom honored him by naming the current era after him.
Four hundred years later, no one knew if Perugius was still alive or if the castle simply floated aimlessly.
...
.
.
.
.
Another year went by.
Eris's education was progressing without issues.
Her mastery of the sword was impressive.
She advanced to the Intermediate rank before her tenth birthday, which meant she could compete with an average swordsman.
Ghislaine said that, although she was only nine years old, she could reach the Advanced rank in a few more years.
As for me, I had already reached the Advanced level before arriving at the mansion. Now I continued training with Ghislaine to perfect my technique.
Regarding reading and writing, Eris was functional. Ghislaine, who had been deceived numerous times for not knowing how to read, strove desperately to learn thanks to my teaching style, achieving better results.
The magic lessons advanced at a good pace. Eris had dominated almost all schools of magic aside from Earth. Ghislaine could only cast fire spells.
Recently Rudeus had made them practice silent casting, but the results were disappointing. Sylphie had achieved it easily. He wondered if it was an age issue or if she was simply especially skilled.
Eris's tenth birthday was approaching.
One day, while walking through the hallways, I heard a shout.
"Enough already!" The door in front of me flew open and Eris went flying out.
Her shoulders were hunched as she ran down the hall at impressive speed and disappeared around the corner.
Edna came out chasing her.
"Young mistress!" She looked both ways and sighed when she saw no trace of Eris.
Then she noticed me.
She offered me a weak smile.
"Good morning, Daiki-sama."
"Good morning," I said. "Is she...?"
"Yes, exhausted," she replied. "And I'm sorry you had to see this."
"Ah, don't worry. In that case, what is the problem?"
"You see, lately I have been teaching her to dance, but she can't manage to do it well. Now, every time I try to teach her, she runs away," Edna replied.
"Mmm, I think I know why that is," I said. She looked at me with interest.
"There is less than a month left until her birthday. If things continue like this, she will embarrass herself in front of her guests," Edna mentioned.
[Although she is already known for being violent, so I don't see the problem.]
"This is her tenth birthday. It's special. Becoming a laughingstock that day is too cruel, don't you think?" She kept her eyes on me.
"I'll see what I can do about that, Edna-san," I replied.
...
I followed the trail Eris left and found her in a stable punching a hay sack with a stick.
"Hmph," Eris exhaled with a look of annoyance on her face when she saw me. "Get out."
"I heard you can't dance very well... ah."
I dodged a kick.
"Young Eris, you know that won't work on me."
"Hmph... What do you want?" she asked.
"Edna says you run away," I replied.
"I don't run away! It's stupid! Dancing is for the weak! I am a swordswoman!" Eris shouted while throwing a stick at me.
"Dancing is not for the weak. It is control, rhythm, and anticipation," I said while dodging the stick.
"Are you not going to learn to dance, then?" I asked.
"I don't need to, and I won't dance on my birthday either," Eris sentenced.
"Even if perhaps you could improve?" I insisted.
"Why do I have to do something I'm not good at?" she complained, pouting.
I sighed and looked in another direction.
"When I first arrived here, I thought I wasn't good at teaching and that I would get bored," I began to say. "In the end, I discovered how wrong I was and the new hobby I had discovered."
She looked at me without saying anything.
"I'm not saying you should do something you don't like," I continued. "But don't you think this might be something you could like? Edna doesn't teach you based on what you know. You are an Intermediate level warrior."
She seemed to reconsider it.
"What do you suggest then?" she finally said, leaning against the wall.
"Attack me. Try to step on my foot. Now."
"What...?"
"Yes, dancing can also be combat, you know?"
Eris smiled maliciously and lunged forward. I slid back one step. She adjusted and attacked again, and I moved to the left in two steps. She spun trying to sweep me, then I caught her hand and turned with her on the third step.
We ended up chest to chest, and my hand still rested on her waist.
"That was a basic waltz," I whispered to her. "Movement, counter-movement, and turn."
Eris's eyes opened wide.
"That was dancing?" she asked, surprised.
"Dancing is fighting with rules, Young Eris. Your partner is a cooperative opponent. You have to read their intention and anticipate their turn. If you can predict my sword, you can predict my feet," I explained.
I released her slowly.
"Edna teaches ladies, but you are a warrior."
Eris looked at her feet and then at mine.
"Teach me."
I offered her my hand with a smile.
"Remember when I made you spin the first day we met? I think you turned red."
"T-that was...!" She choked on her pride. "It doesn't matter! I'm going to surpass you!"
And so her dance lessons began.