After parting ways with Paul's party, we set off, traveling along the main road through the King Dragon's Kingdom.
This highway wasn't named like the one in Millis, nor was it formed by a continent-cleaving slash or anything like that. It was simply a network of roads constructed by local kingdoms and nobles to facilitate easier travel and transport.
During our first few days of travel, we didn't encounter many major cities or towns. It was mostly secluded countryside villages, with the rare passing group of adventurers or merchant caravans. It happened to be autumn at the time, and the golden rice fields stretching all the way to the horizon reminded me of Japan.
I tried buying some rice around here, and as expected, it wasn't as delicious as the kind I used to eat in my past life. Still, it had a stickier texture compared to what I'd had previously in this world.
Maybe it's the climate, I don't really know—it's not like I was ever good at geography anyway.
Anyway, I bought a few dozen sacks of rice to load onto our wagon. There was no way I could eat all of this by myself, so I planned to share some with Rudeus. He loved eating rice as much as I did, after all.
Food aside, along the main road I occasionally ran into guard posts and patrols. Every now and then, they'd pull our wagon over to check if we were up to anything illegal. Their work ethic was quite professional and thorough, which probably explained why we hadn't been ambushed by bandits or attacked by monsters even once. However, compared to the two-knight patrol model of the Asura Kingdom or Vasile (which I also copied from Asura), it seemed far more expensive.
Oh well, whatever. Maybe the local circumstances were just different, and it wasn't as if I were an experienced lord qualified to judge. Either way, the fact that we hadn't encountered a single bandit or monster over the past few days was definitely a plus.
So it's fair to say this trip was quite peaceful; we barely had to do a thing except sit quietly in the carriage as it rattled smoothly northward.
Though saying we had nothing to do isn't entirely accurate...
"What's seven times nine, divided by three?" Isolde's voice, sweet as always, chimed out at midday, cutting through the clatter of the carriage wheels.
Beside her sat an eight-year-old golden-haired girl, holding both hands up in front of her face.
"Seven times nine... seven times nine is seven times five plus seven times four... then divided by three..." Norn mumbled, her fingers unfurling and curling while her forehead creaked into a deep frown, a bead of sweat breaking out. "Multiplied, that's sixty-three... sixty-three divided by three..."
Meanwhile, a small figure with long red hair tied in a ponytail couldn't hold back a sigh.
"Twenty-one!" Aisha grinned brightly, tilting her head up in a clear plea for praise.
"That's right! Good job, Aisha." Isolde patted the girl's head with a gentle smile.
Seeing that, I—the driver—poked my head back inside. But before I could even say a word, Isolde reached out, cupped my face, and gently pushed me back.
"Focus on driving the carriage. You're going to crash into someone."
"Ugh..."
All I could do was turn back around, staring forlornly at the empty road ahead.
As you can see, Isolde was teaching math to Norn and Aisha. She was even teaching them history, writing, and etiquette.
Actually, that was supposed to be my job at first. After all, I was the reason Norn and Aisha had to drop out of school in the first place (though Paul would have pulled them out eventually anyway; thinking back on it is still funny). Because of that, I couldn't sit still out of guilt. So when I offered to continue teaching them, as expected, both kids agreed immediately.
However, the real problem arose right after. Since this carriage wasn't rented but provided by Paul, we had to drive it ourselves. And when it came to driving horses, that was a man's job—and I'm sure you understand why I, as the only man here, had to do it.
I wasn't sitting out front alone, though.
"If Lord Atur feels tired, you may rest and let me handle this alone. This is a duty of mine."
The person who said that was a young woman in her early twenties. She had reddish-orange hair tied in a ponytail, a light dusting of freckles, and features typical of someone from the southern Central Continent. She wore full metal armor, her hands resting on the reins I was holding, offering to take over.
Her name was Ginger, a knight of the Shirone Kingdom.
If anyone's curious as to why a knight of Shirone was traveling with us, we'd have to rewind about two years back.
At the time, Aisha and Lilia were under house arrest inside the Shirone Royal Palace after being teleported there. Both were forced to work as maids for some prince named Pax. According to Aisha, Ginger, and by some miracle, even Isolde, that prince was a genuine piece of trash.
"If I'd known you and Lady Lilia were captured by him right after that incident, I would have taken care of him myself back when I was still in Shirone," my girlfriend had told Aisha after learning the full story.
Seeing Isolde openly express such utter disdain for someone was pretty amusing, though I didn't have the guts to actually laugh out loud.
Anyway, back to Ginger and Aisha's situation in Shirone.
According to what the Man-God told me, he had given Rudeus advice, helping him free his stepmother and little half sister from captivity. Ginger had assisted in the process and subsequently left to protect my family.
Frankly, I thought Master Reida alone was more than enough to protect them, but there was no reason to refuse good intentions.
Besides, it was this very knight who taught me how to drive a carriage.
"It's alright, Miss Ginger, I still have plenty of energy." I flexed my arm muscles, showing off my biceps with a broad grin.
"That's not what I meant..."
"Onward, horsies!" Then I speeded up.
I knew what she meant. But don't go stealing my driver's seat. I wanted to be the one protecting Isolde from the front—that was an honor, a privilege, and what a real man ought to do.
And so, we continued traveling north, slow but peaceful. When night fell, we set up camp and rested by the roadside.
…
What the... Where am I... Ah, right.
"Yo! Long time no see!"
Yo Man-God, long time no see. Please accept my most respectful greetings.
"Oh, I'm honored. I hope you'll accept this bow in return, legendary Hero Atur."
Come on, stop teasing me. You know full well I only got that title through sheer luck.
"You really never change, do you? But I know full well you secretly think you're amazing while acting all humble on the outside."
Tch, having my mind read is really a disadvantage.
"Maybe you should just admit how special you are. After all, you're one of the few chosen by me."
You're not wrong... But I don't want to get arrogant, at least not too obviously. Reminding myself that I'm not good enough keeps me from making stupid misjudgments about my actual abilities. Yeah, well, I don't want to die, especially when my life has finally hit a good stretch. I'd hate to run into some North Emperor with bizarre, dangerous abilities and die a pointless death.
"Like in Velma's case?"
That guy, exactly. Who could've guessed he had a Demon Eye! That damn thing was seriously dangerous.
"The Lust Eye is indeed dangerous, especially for someone like Velma who mastered its use. But compared to other Demon Eyes, it's far from the most terrifying. Like Rudeus's eye, for instance."
Huh? Rudeus has a Demon Eye!?
"That's right—the Eye of Foresight, which allows its user to see into the future."
Holy crap! Where on earth did he snag an eye like that!?
"From the Great Demon Empress Kishirika. He met her at Wind Port, helped her out, and was granted a Demon Eye. Naturally, that was my doing."
The Great Demon Empress gave Rudeus a Demon Eye? Ah yeah right, I've read somewhere about that too. But wow, fascinating and I'm a bit jealous here. Hey, why didn't you point me toward a Demon Eye? That's outright discrimination. Favoritism at its finest!
"You already had your eye healed and you're still demanding a new one? How greedy."
Come on. We're talking about Demon Eyes here. Ever since I came to this world, I haven't gotten a single cheat skill and my mana pool is a joke! Every time I fight someone stronger than me, I struggle to the point of nearly dying and coming back! At least give me a hand here, please! I need an eye that can defeat enemies with a single glance. Like trapping them in an illusion for forty-eight hours where they're tied up and repeatedly killed!
"No Demon Eye can do that."
Then is there a Demon Eye that lets me teleport to another dimension when I shout Kamui?
"What are you talking about?"
What about stopping time? Ah, wait, if time stops, I'd die too. That kind of power is just too absurd to be real. Then is there an eye that can manipulate gravity?
"When it comes to gravity, yes, but the Great Demon Empress doesn't possess that one."
Then who does?
"Demon God Laplace."
Well, forget that then.
"Don't be so quick to lose hope. In truth, Demon Eyes sound cool, but they're hard to use. They consume a vast amount of mana and take an immense amount of time to master."
But you can still master them through training, right?
"Correct. One must understand the principles of using a Demon Eye and possess a large enough mana pool to handle it. But once they reach that point, they become formidable opponents—like Velma, for instance. With your mana pool, I think it would be better without it."
Okay okay, got it. But that's precisely what I'm afraid of. If there's someone running around with crazy cheat hacks like that, I don't even know if I can run away in time. After all, a title doesn't make me any stronger. By the way, why didn't you show up to give me a hand back then? I almost died!
"I have my own busy schedule. If I keep contact with someone, I'm forced to cut off contact with others. As you can see, I'm not omnipotent. And in the end, you are still fine. I knew you would survive anyway so there's no need to intervene."
Ah, right... Still, I'm a bit curious about the identities of your other 'chosen ones.' Aside from Rudeus, of course.
"Well... I think you'll meet them soon enough. In fact, there's one person I think you'll get along with quite well."
I'm actually looking forward to it. Well, I hope that person is nice. And maybe I can learn a thing or two from them.
"Believe me, you can learn more than a thing or two from him. Now then, are you mentally prepared for the main event?"
Main event? Ah right, advice, wasn't it?
"Precisely! Advice. So, the advice for this encounter concerns your traveling companions. Listen carefully: starting tomorrow, begin teaching Norn and Aisha magic. Specifically, voiceless magic!"
Teach voiceless magic? What for?
"Having two daughters of the Greyrat family skilled in magic will come in handy, won't it? Besides, you wanted to be a magic professor anyway, so isn't this a great opportunity to train yourself how to teach?"
You make a good point. But…
"Then it's settled! Until next time!"
And just like that, I was tossed back into my sleeping roll. Just in time for my watch shift, too. Gotta admit, the Man-God's timing is spot on.
…
The next morning, following the Man-God's suggestion, I started off the day with a proposal.
"From now on, I'll be teaching Norn and Aisha magic!"
All four girls looked at each other. I didn't need to 'reading' to know what they were thinking.
"Come on now. No matter how you look at it, I'm a respectable mage!" I immediately defended myself. "I taught magic to Master Roxy, and Master Roxy is Rudeus's master. Which logically makes me his grandmaster!"
"Right..." Aisha nodded, clearly not convinced in the slightest.
"I think you'd be better off teaching swordsmanship instead," Isolde chimed in.
"Come one Isolde…" I glared at my girlfriend.
I knew she wasn't the kind of girlfriend who would blindly support her boyfriend in everything; she was very rational. But surely she knew where my magical aptitude lay.
"Your abilities are very high when it comes to magic circle theory. But teaching kids who are just learning math something like that isn't a great idea. And beside, aren't we coming to the Magic City Sharia? If they want to learn magic, that city is more than enough to teach them."
Naturally, she had read my mind and immediately clarified.
"Um…" I scratched my head. "Well, because I think it would be a good chance that Rudeus will send both of his sisters to Ranoa. Then having a bit of magic prowess sure helps them to have some good start, don't you think?"
"Having more experience than your peers isn't something that good. I thought you would be the one who knew it the best." Isolde shook her head.
"Ah right…"
It would be harder to make friends when you are way better than people around you. And it may bring some trouble as well.
"Um Lord Atur… Can I say something?" Ginger spoke up in the meantime.
"Yes, Miss Ginger?"
After getting my permission to speak (which I don't think she has to ask, but well, royal knight's code or something), Ginger finally asked.
"Isn't it customary for people to learn magic after turning ten? I heard learning it earlier can be very dangerous."
Ah right, I remembered that. Back when I was in Millbots, Mia had also forbidden me from learning magic because of this rule. The reason boiled down to mana capacity limits. From what I could observe and calculate, aside from training one's mana to the point of exhaustion, a person's mana pool seems to gradually grow over time and stops growing around nine or ten years old.
Because of this, when a very young child uses magic, their mana isn't very plentiful, meaning they can sometimes collapse from exhaustion with a single spell. And since they're kids who don't know their limits, overusing magic or accidentally learning to cast voicelessly could cause severe mana depletion, sometimes even resulting in death.
Not to mention the risk of kids accidentally blowing up the house or hurting someone else with magic as well. Kids will be kids, after all.
Furthermore, back in the day, before Ranoa came into being, only children from wealthy or influential families were taught magic. Their families feared for their lives and didn't dare take the risk. That's why ten was considered the safe age to begin magic training—an unwritten rule that had existed for ages.
But because of that, hardly anyone knew how to use silent spell casting.
In fact, Rudeus and I had brought up this theory about chantless magic once or twice back when we were still in Roa. The current consensus was that we didn't have enough sample data to be certain about anything.
So I wanted to test our hypothesis on whether this technique could only be acquired by learning magic at a young age. As for how young? That remained to be seen.
"Whether it's dangerous or not depends on knowing your limits. Besides, Rudeus and I both started learning magic when we were very young, so it's fine, as long as you have someone reliable to keep it safe." I calmly addressed Ginger's concern. "Plus, learning as many things as possible can only be a good thing, right? What do you think, Norn, Aisha?"
"Ehh... I'm not really sure." Aisha didn't seem interested in the slightest. "Does knowing magic help me clean the house any faster?"
"You could use wind magic to blow the dust away," I pointed out with my index finger up.
"And accidentally knock everything over," Aisha stuck her tongue out. "Besides, if magic were that convenient, people would be using it a lot more. I have never seen anyone use magic for housework before, they must have their reason for it."
Well, she had a point there.
I actually had tried using wind magic to blow leaves out of my room back then, and ended up blowing away several books instead. Luckily, back then nobody knew I could use magic, so no one suspected a thing. Otherwise, I probably would've been kicked out of the house by Philemon when I was four or five.
"Honestly, I think you should teach us swordsmanship instead," Aisha added. "At least then we could defend ourselves."
Her assessment wasn't wrong, actually. People generally believed—and reality often showed—that swordsmanship held a significant advantage in combat over magic. Which, sometimes is true. Most of the time when I encountered some dangerous situation, my swordsmanship is what saved my life.
"But practicing swordsmanship requires an open area. And we're going to be constantly on the move," I sighed.
"The same goes for magic practice," Isolde looked at me.
"Yeah, you're right..." I scratched my head.
We didn't have the luxury of a dojo or an open field where we could practice comfortably. Moving constantly meant we never knew whose land we were standing on. If we accidentally threw a water ball and damaged someone's property, we'd be in deep trouble.
Tricky, huh? I thought the Man-God's advice this time would be easy to handle, but turned out to be more troublesome than I thought.
I needed to teach Norn and Aisha magic while constantly on the move. And it had to be a useful kind of magic that both girls would find worth learning. What kind would that be...
Ah, right.
"How about learning healing magic?" I suggested.
"Healing magic?" Aisha asked back.
"Yeah. Healing magic. If you learn that, it'll come in handy in plenty of situations later," I began explaining. "Like if you accidentally cut your hand while cooking. Instead of relying on someone else, you can handle it yourself."
"Mmm-hmm… Make sense…"
Aisha seemed somewhat convinced now. I could understand that she wanted to spend time doing things that felt more useful to her, like finding the cheapest travel routes or checking goods prices in different regions to flip them for extra income. But she was clearly smart enough to recognize a long-term investment.
Yet what surprised me wasn't this red-haired cousin of mine, but the other girl.
"Healing magic..." Norn looked noticeably more intrigued. Although a bit hesitant, I could see a clear sparkle of interest flash in her green eyes. "Can you teach me healing magic? Like my mother's?"
"Your mother's? Ah right, Aunt Zenith is a healing mage too, isn't she? I almost forgot about that." I snapped my fingers. "In that case, I think you'll have a natural talent for it. How about it? Want to try?"
Norn gave a gentle nod. "Yes..."
Right after that, Aisha didn't object either.
"If Big Sister Norn is learning, then I can't be left out. Plus, if I know healing magic, I'll be able to heal Big Brother Rudeus if he ever gets hurt." Then the little girl bowed her head. "Please guide me well, Master Atur."
"A-Ah... Please guide me well, Master Atur." Norn hurriedly bowed as well.
Seeing that scene, I couldn't help but chuckle helplessly.
"We're family, for crying out loud. What's with the 'Master' stuff?"
Meanwhile Isolde glared at me as she wanted to say "you finally understand what Roxy thinks huh". And yes, I finally understand the cringe I caused. Sorry Master Roxy.
And so, I began teaching magic to my two younger cousins. Starting with beginner healing magic: "Healing".