I had just turned twelve.
Having been in a strange forest, living in a noble manor, and then traveling by carriage for two months—added to the voyage by ship—seemed to have distorted my sense of time a bit.
Setting that aside, the Asura Kingdom was almost before us. After surviving a fall from the sky, we were finally going home. Or well... what was left of it.
Money or means of travel weren't going to be an issue. The only thing I had to worry about was not knowing the whereabouts of the rest of my family: Zenith, Lilia, Aisha, and Sylphie. Despite my efforts and my father's, we hadn't been able to find a single clue as to where they were.
The fact that I didn't know where they were was eating me up inside; not because I believed they were dead, but because being a Saint-tier swordsman was useless here. It didn't matter how hard I tried.
I let out a sigh, recalling certain moments in Buena Village, specifically when my mother found me lying in the garden when I was six. To my "self" back then, my physical state was irrelevant, but I always had Zenith there to calibrate that.
'Mother, I need you… I want you to tell me to rest…'
My body moved with the sway of the ship. I didn't care, but a voice eventually snapped me out of my trance. It was Eris. My pillar... uh, I mean, the one who kept me straight amidst these introspective thoughts.
"Daiki!" she yelled, shaking me by the shoulders. "Idiot! I've been talking to you for three minutes! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I... was just thinking. You know..." I averted my gaze. "You know me, Young Eris."
"That is exactly why I'm yelling at you, because I know you!" She clenched her fists. "And stop calling me that, it gets on my nerves!"
I chuckled slightly.
"You know the rules, Young Eris..."
She turned around.
"That's exactly why it irritates me... But, now that I think about it, you never actually said what I had to beat you at."
I shook my head with a smile.
"Details, Young Eris... By not specifying it, it means I can always call you that. If you don't know what you need to beat me at, you will never achieve victory."
"You are... you are..." She couldn't get another word out.
She looked away with a huff, though she kept watching me out of the corner of her eye.
"How... how could you be so calm during the trip? I mean, you were sleeping leaning against the railing while a storm was falling that looked like it was going to break the sky."
"Well, technically..." I tried to explain.
"Stop talking to me about techniques or whatever!" she interrupted me with another shout. "Just tell me based on what you felt..."
"You want me to... talk about my feelings?"
"D-Don't get the wrong idea!" She waved her hands in denial. "I just... want to know how you manage to be so calm. I know... I know you have a storm inside you. I feel it here," she tapped her chest. "It's a hunch."
She knows what I've been going through; she saw me, she didn't walk away, and she tried to keep me upright. This whole trip... did she know?
'Of course she knew,' I thought. I believed I was hiding it too well. Only Eris, with her spirit, was able to see me and calm me down.
"I was calm because... because I have you, Eris," I paused, realizing I didn't use Young. "And I also have my brother. I've already found four of the people I love most; I still have to find the others, but having you and having Rudy... it's more than enough to keep my hope intact."
"Daiki..." She gave me a hug. It was strong, a bit clumsy because her nose bumped against my rib, but then she buried her face in my side and stayed there, trembling. For her, for what she usually showed, it was the best of hugs.
Honestly, I didn't know how to react, because it's not something I'm used to... Beyond hugging my family like Rudy or Norn, with Eris, I feel something different. Besides, I wasn't going to make the same mistake from my past life. Here, I still have the hope of rekindling that fire.
I just hugged her back, letting myself get carried away by this, because if I was honest, it felt warm.
"My, my... Onii-chan... Who is that passionate young lady?" Rudeus joked from the other side.
Eris didn't even flinch… she just ignored him and tightened her hug around me. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but turn my head to shoot him a reproachful look.
"Rudy... You really are hopeless," I sighed, though without much force.
***
After some time, we were at the eastern border of the King Dragon Realm, specifically in the port city of East Port. We were currently in an inn, using it as a strategy center with a map spread out.
Rudeus began to explain the plan, so I just went ahead.
"Rudy is right about the basics, but the map lies about the scale," I said, catching both of their attention.
"There are three options," Rudeus continued. "The first is the Eastern Route. It goes around the King Dragon Mountains. It's safe, but it will take us ten months."
"Ten months? That's too long!" Eris protested. "Why not go west? It looks shorter."
I looked at Eris and then at the western flank of the map.
"Because that 'shortcut' is a massive forest, Young Eris," I intervened before Rudy could respond. "It's not just a forest; it's a trap of mud and undergrowth where a carriage is useless. Rudy is thinking about the horses, but I'm thinking about the attrition. On foot, those 'saved months' would turn into a hell of exhaustion that would leave us exposed to any attack."
Rudeus nodded, grateful for my technical point.
"And the third?" she asked. "Crossing into Begaritt?"
Rudeus went pale just thinking about it, but I was the one who slammed the table to focus their attention.
"That is not an option. My brother will tell you it's dangerous because of the monsters, and aside from being right, the huge problem would be the sudden climate change. Meaning, one moment it can be scorching heat and the next, arctic cold. It's not plausible."
She crossed her arms, looking away, as if she hadn't expected my answer.
"You guys are cowards."
"I just have a weak heart," Rudeus joked.
"It's not cowardice, it's efficiency," I said, looking at her. "Besides, getting to Begaritt implies spending weeks, maybe months, stuck on a ship crossing an ocean even more violent than the last one. Do you really want to go through that again?"
She stayed silent for a second.
"...Fine. No Begaritt."
In the end, my knowledge and Rudy's prudence coincided. We would take the Eastern Route. I banished the idea of finding Mom quickly; Rudy and Eris's safety was best. Besides, with Ruijerd here, we wouldn't have any issues regarding protection.
***
It was at night when I noticed my brother had woken up suddenly, as if he'd had a nightmare or something.
"Ugh!" he had said, so I approached carefully.
"Rudy? Are you okay?" I sat next to him, looking at him with concern.
"Yeah... I'm fine."
"No, you're not," I reached my hand toward his head and, using detoxification magic, managed to remove his nausea. "You should be better now; it's at a level higher than advanced, so the symptoms should pass."
He touched his forehead, relieved.
"Well, you could say the ship left me with some aftereffects..." he joked, taking a glass I handed him.
I shook my head. "Next time you feel bad, don't lie. Okay?"
He just nodded, drinking the water.
"By the way, you never told me about your eye. You said it was a demon eye, but nothing else. What benefits does it give?"
He cleared his throat.
"Well, it lets me see a few seconds into the future and anticipate attacks. Thanks to the shockwaves you taught me, I'm able to have the mobility for it. If it weren't for that, I might not be able to compensate for what the eye sees with my body."
"Wow... That is interesting. Can you deactivate it?"
"Yeah, I can also pour more mana in to make it more effective, though for some reason it doesn't work with you," he activated his eye. "Basically, it doesn't predict your movements."
"That... that might be because I'm unpredictable, or something like that... I don't assume a stance and I never take a movement for granted; everything happens in my mind."
Thinking about it, if the eye was capable of seeing the future, why didn't it work with me?
"It only works once you start fighting, which gives you an advantage at close range against me," he continued, placing the glass on the nightstand.
Though, thinking about it, maybe Ayam has something to do with it. If the eye is capable of seeing the future of what is in front of it, then the hidden cannot be predicted.
"... Daiki..." a voice had said.
Eris was sprawled over the bed, snoring. Her sleeping posture wasn't exactly effective, though maybe for her it was, with her legs completely wide open. In the event of a sudden attack, she was in a vulnerable state. Apart from that, she was uncovered and wearing short clothes. Carefully, I took the blanket and laid it over her.
"Daiki... you think too much and you're an idiot..." she said with a faint smile while still sleeping.
With that in mind, I let myself fall onto the bed and fell completely asleep. With Rudy giving a thumbs-up of approval that I managed to see in the dark.
***
In the morning, we were at a bar having breakfast; using the money I had, we didn't have to worry about quality or quantity.
Rudeus stopped eating and looked at us:
"We will pass through the Kingdom of Shirone."
It makes sense, it's a correct route, so I wasn't in disagreement; even so, him mentioning it just like that left me doubting a little. But trusting my brother, who crossed the Demon Continent, I knew he was saying it for a reason.
Both Ruijerd and Eris tilted their heads, but they nodded anyway.
"Fine. As you wish."
"Understood."
I stayed thinking.
"Shirone... that's where Roxy is, right? You mentioned it in a letter she gave you."
"That's right."
"Do you respect her, Rudy?" Eris mentioned.
"Yes, she is someone I respect very much. My... teacher."
"I haven't seen her in a long time, I wonder how she is? About that, I lost her book during the Mana Incident and the wand she gave me on our birthday..."
Then, I spoke in Japanese to calm my thoughts a bit.
"Speaking of her," I whispered to him, "I know your secret... I always knew, actually."
He blushed, looking away, as if he knew exactly what I was referring to. Eris, like every time we spoke in another language, wondered what we were saying. Ruijerd was the same; he had lived for centuries, but he doesn't know this language, so he is also baffled.
"Guys... This is a language we created when we were very young. It was born with the idea of 'having secrets,' which actually worked. It is methodologically unintelligible to anyone, is effective."
"You and your long words..."
Then we went back to the subject of Roxy.
"We should stop there and meet with her. She might be able to help us in some way," Eris nodded to herself with satisfaction.
It was true; after all, Roxy would surely be of great help to us. Even so, being a royal palace mage, she must be busy. Together with Rudeus, we didn't want to bother her too much; she had already done a lot for him and... for me.
She gave me a book she wrote during her time at the Magic University; it contained information on combat methods and military planning, among other things. It was, in essence, a complete manual for improving on the battlefield. I remembered it perfectly.
"I want to see your teacher," Eris said.
"Mm. I also have an interest in meeting her."
Both Eris and Ruijerd looked intrigued.
"Very well. I will introduce you once we arrive in the Kingdom of Shirone," Rudeus said hopefully.
"We will go, brother," I rested my hand on his shoulder.
"Oh... O-onii-chan, give a warning first..." he said in a sweet voice, joking.
"Do you want me to mention the relic?" I asked with serious eyes.
"N-No!"
"What relic?" Eris asked, confused.
"No relic, end of discussion!" He said frantically, though his attitude made it even more obvious.
I allowed myself to laugh; this time he didn't get away with it.
***
We advanced along the road that took us directly through Wyvern, the capital of the King Dragon Realm. From there, the route diverted around the King Dragon Mountains and split; we chose the path to the north, heading toward Shirone.
We ended up spending seven full days in the capital of Wyvern. The initial plan was to leave after three, but there was a problem with our carriage and repairs would take some time.
Thus, after cooking some rice, resting a bit, and traveling in the wagon, we were finally in the Kingdom of Shirone.