Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 6.1

Interlude:

Eris the Goblin Slayer 

Apologies for the abrupt digression, but let’s talk about a young man named Cliff Grimor. 

Cliff was twelve years old at present—right between Eris and Rudeus in age. As a young child, he’d resided in an orphanage in Millishion. This facility was operated by the Millis Church, and served as a symbol of its power and prestige. Naturally, it didn’t lack for funding or support; its children were well taken care of in every way, and many were eventually adopted. 

After several years in this upscale institution, Cliff was adopted at the age of five by his current foster father. This was Harry Grimor, an elderly man of high rank in the Millis Church. 

Once Cliff joined Harry’s household, he underwent a rigorous educational program designed to nurture his natural talents. In only a few short years, he attained an Advanced rank in Healing, Detoxification, and Divine Strike magic. He also learned to cast spells of the Intermediate rank in all the disciplines of offensive magic, and even Advanced-tier Fire spells. 

In a word, Cliff was a prodigy. 

Everyone around the boy showered him with praise; everyone told him that he would one day make his mark on the world. 

In these respects, his early years were similar to those of Rudeus. But unlike Rudeus, who had the memories of his previous life to keep him humble, Cliff grew arrogant. The kid was full of himself, quite frankly. Very much so. 

In a sense, it was hard to blame him. Even among his instructors, there was no one who could use such a wide variety of magic as proficiently as him. Some could cast Saint-tier Healing spells, true; others had mastered Saint-tier Detoxification spells. However, only Cliff was Advanced in four distinct disciplines. The sheer breadth of his skills was such that some said he was a sage in the making. The boy’s ego grew larger by the day. Gradually, he stopped listening to his tutors entirely. 

Some day in the future, Cliff would be expected to succeed his foster father and take a position in the Millis Church. Cliff was aware of this, of course. But at present, he longed to be an adventurer. 

Why an adventurer, you might ask? 

The cause lay in his early years back at the orphanage. Many of those raised in this facility went on to become adventurers. Those children who were not adopted by their tenth birthday were sent to a school operated by the Millis Church, where they underwent five years of training in the practical combat arts of swordplay and magic. After graduating, they took on jobs suited to their particular talents. Those who produced superb results in academics, swordplay, and magic sometimes became knights, but the majority of these graduates ended up as adventurers. 

These young men and women would frequently stop by to visit their old home. They relished the chance to catch up with their old teachers—and to tell exciting stories of their adventures to the children living there. Many of the orphans, captivated by these tales, dreamed of following in their footsteps, and Cliff was no exception. 

Of course, he didn’t believe his dream would ever come true. Despite what his heart wanted, he understood his present circumstances clearly. A child adopted from an orphanage couldn’t hope to choose his own destiny. 

He could accept that…at least at first. But the dull routine of his daily life wore on Cliff, and the constant praise he received swelled his head. And so, one day, he hit on the idea of fleeing his home to register as an adventurer. 

He just wanted to put his skills to the test, really. Even some of his magic instructors had made a name for themselves as young adventurers. Surely he ought to gain some similar experience while he was young…at least, that was what he told himself. With the staff his foster father had given him for his tenth birthday in his hands, Cliff headed from the Divine District to the Adventurers’ District, where he bought himself a blue magician’s robe. 

Now that he was dressed the part, he headed over to the Guild. Concerned that the church would quickly track him down if he registered as a healer, he decided to list his profession as “magician” instead. For some reason, he thought this would make a difference. 

Soon enough, Cliff’s registration was complete. He was now officially an adventurer. A whole new world of danger, excitement, and glory had opened up before him. 

His heart thrumming with elation, Cliff looked around the room. Almost everyone he saw was a muscular man. It was clear that most of them were swordsmen or warriors by trade. 

Cliff had learned from the adventurers who visited the orphanage that talented spell-casters were in great demand. He assumed that by simply introducing himself as a magician, he’d quickly find a spot in someone’s party. He hadn’t paid any attention to the receptionist’s explanation of the Guild’s rank system, so he thought he could jump right into any party, regardless of his rank. 

“That’s not gonna work, kid.” 

Inevitably, he was rejected. Everyone he approached bluntly brushed him off. When this happened for the fourth time in a row, the boy’s patience finally ran out. “Why?! Why won’t you let me in your party?!” 

“I told you already. Our ranks are different.” 

“What does that matter?! I’m as powerful as any A-ranked magician! You should be grateful that I’m even willing to work with the likes of you!” 

“What the hell? I’ve had enough of your crap, you stupid brat! You really want to pick a fight with me at close range?!” 

“All you fools know is how to swing a sword. I wouldn’t get too cocky if I were you!” 

“You little shit…” 

The burly adventurer in front of Cliff stepped forward and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. This wasn’t how he’d expected things to go, but if he could manage to beat this man down, it would serve to demonstrate his strength. 

“Stop it. You’re being childish.” 

Before he had the chance to try, however, a red-headed girl about his age stepped in to intervene. 

*** 

Let’s a take a slight step back in time. 

That same morning, Eris Boreas Greyrat had parted from Rudeus and Ruijerd to pay a visit to the Millishion Adventurer’s Guild. As she hurried down the main street leading to the building, the grin on her face was so big that anyone who saw it would probably have smiled as well. She was wearing her usual adventuring outfit: a thick shirt, leather chest protector, leather pants, and thin-soled but durable boots. With her weapon at her hip, it was obvious at a glance that she was a swordswoman by profession. 

Today, she’d chosen not to wear her usual hood. Over the last year, she’d learned that wearing it to a Guild was a good way to get herself confused for a magician…which tended to encourage strange men to approach her. 

Before long, Eris had reached her destination. The Millishion Adventurers’ Guild stood at the end of a major street. It was the headquarters of the entire organization, and the single largest building in the Adventurers’ District. 

Its imposing front gate wasn’t enough to intimidate Eris. She strode right on inside. The sheer size of the building’s lobby, however, almost made her stop and fold her arms. Not only was the room bigger than anything she’d seen in other Guild buildings, it was larger than the banquet hall in her family’s mansion in Roa. Any young man or woman setting foot in here to register with the Guild would probably have hesitated at this impressive sight. 

But of course, Eris was no timid newcomer. She was an A-ranked adventurer—an established veteran. It only took a second for her to make a beeline for the bulletin board. 

The board here was far larger than any other she’d yet seen, but it was nonetheless overflowing with sheets of paper. Folding her arms, Eris began to look over them. 

Today, instead of heading for the B-ranked tasks that were Dead End’s bread and butter, she was studying the E-rank section of the board, looking for tasks classified as Open Quests. These were special missions, posted periodically by the country in which the Guild was located. Their rewards were on the lower side, but as they were of high priority, any adventurer could accept them regardless of their rank. 

There hadn’t been any of these on the Demon Continent, of course. There were no “countries” to be found there. 

From among a handful of Open Quests, Eris’ eyes settled on one in particular. 

*** 

Open 

TASK: Exterminate Goblins 

REWARD: 10 Millis copper coins per ear 

DETAILS: Help cull the local Goblin population 

LOCATION: East of Millishion 

DURATION: None / Deadline: None 

CLIENT: The Holy Knights of Millis 

NOTES: New adventurers should be wary of Hobgoblins, which are sometimes found among groups of Goblins. Do not remove this request from the board; simply bring the ears you collect directly to the front counter. 

*** 

Goblins were a species of monster that mostly lived on the boundaries between forests and open plains. They were humanoid in shape and used crude weapons, but couldn’t comprehend human speech. In small numbers, they were mostly harmless, but if left alone for too long, they would rapidly reproduce and begin attacking any nearby villages. They were considered a somewhat dangerous pest. However, as they resided on the outskirts of wooded areas, they also acted as a sort of natural buffer against the more dangerous monsters that spawned inside forests. 

They were weak creatures and could be slain without too much difficulty by any young man or woman who knew how to use a sword. The Adventurers’ Guild took advantage of this fact, offering regular Goblin-extermination tasks with mildly generous rewards as a sort of introduction to combat quests. 

What was more—although Eris wasn’t aware of this—the creatures were also sometimes used as a tool of torture against captured foreign spies. For all of these reasons, the Holy Country of Millis made no effort to exterminate the Goblins within its borders, preferring to keep their population at a stable level. 

Eris was an A-ranked adventurer whose skills had been acknowledged by Ruijerd Superdia, and was perfectly capable of beating an average C-ranked warrior with her bare fists alone. You might be wondering why she would bother with such a basic job at this point. 

There were two reasons. 

First: this was something she’d dreamed of doing for a very long time. 

During the brief period of her life when she attended school, Eris had often listened in on a group of boys in her class. They were constantly talking about what they’d do once they became adventurers. Their plan was to start off by hunting Goblins. After saving up some money and growing stronger, they’d eventually make their way to the southern regions of the Central Continent, where they could take on high-ranked jobs and dive into labyrinths. 

Listening to their excited chatter, Eris started to indulge in these same fantasies. 

One day, she walked over to the little group and demanded they let her join the conversation, which somehow led to a fight in which she brutally beat all three of them. She was expelled from her school, but soon met Ghislaine, whose stories only intensified her yearning for a life of adventure. 

After meeting Rudeus, she constantly daydreamed about becoming an adventurer with him. In her imagination, they formed a party of two: Eris the swordswoman and Rudeus the mage. Together, they challenged unknown labyrinths in search of treasure. 

When she actually found herself stranded on the Demon Continent with him, however, things played out very differently from her fantasies. In particular, Rudeus turned out to be very businesslike about the whole thing. He kept the party far away from labyrinths and their unknown dangers. If Eris had proposed they go slay some Goblins, he would probably have raised an eyebrow and said “Why would we bother doing that?” 

To be sure, Eris wasn’t a rookie anymore. She’d fought her way through the dangers of the Demon Continent, and she knew there was no real point in taking this job now. But even if it was pointless, slaying Goblins had always been at the very top of her “Things I want to do once I become an adventurer” list. She wanted the experience, if nothing else. 

That was her first reason. The second one…was a secret. 

“I wonder if I can make it back before the sun goes down…” 

Studying the task she’d spotted on the board, Eris tried to figure out how long the round-trip journey would take. She was going to be traveling on foot for this one. It was still morning, but it was best to have a comfortable margin for error. 

“…Hm?” 

But as she was thinking it over, she happened to notice a note posted at the very edge of the board, out past the F-ranked tasks. 

*** 

Displaced citizens of the Fittoa Region: Please contact the following address: 

*** 

After reading the first line, Eris looked away. She’d seen this same note in the Zant Port Adventurer’s Guild as well. 

Rudeus never spoke about the Fittoa Region. Eris assumed this was just because he didn’t want to make her anxious. She suspected that the whole reason he’d called this “off day” was so he could take some action on that front. 

Eris tried not to think too much about complicated problems. She’d convinced herself she wasn’t smart enough to understand them, and she had Rudeus to do the thinking for her. Once the time came, she was sure he’d explain his plan to her in a way she could follow. She never would have dreamed that Rudeus wasn’t even aware of the existence of these notices. 

“All right then!” 

Having done what she’d come here to do, Eris walked away from the board in high spirits and headed for the exit. Now it was just a matter of heading out east and slaying some Goblins. Given how enthusiastic she was feeling at the moment, she would likely wipe out a whole nest or two before she was through. There was nothing and no one that could stop her. A moment of silence for our little green friends, please… 

“Why?!” 

It seems we’ve gotten a bit ahead of ourselves. Just as she was about to leave the building, Eris stopped in her tracks at the sound of a scream. 

Turning toward it, she saw a young boy surrounded by a group of men nearly twice his size. “Why won’t you let me into your party?!” 

The boy who’d shouted seemed to be a magician, considering his blue robe. He was a bit shorter than Rudeus; his dark brown hair was long in the front, hiding his eyes from view. The staff he carried wasn’t as impressive as Rudeus’ Aqua Heartia, but you could tell from the size of its magic crystal that it was made from quality materials. His family was probably well-off, but not as wealthy as Eris’ own. 

“I’m as powerful as any A-ranked magician! You should be grateful that I’m even willing to work with the likes of you!” 

His arrogant attitude wasn’t going over too well with the men surrounding him. Not exactly surprising. Eris would have punched him in the face without a word if he’d said something like that to her. 

“What the hell? I’ve had enough of your crap, you stupid brat! You really want to pick a fight with me at point-blank range?!” 

“All you fools know is how to swing a sword. I wouldn’t get too cocky if I were you!” 

“You little shit…” 

One of the adventurers grabbed the boy by his shirt. His face stayed calm, but Eris could see that his legs were trembling slightly. 

Striding over to the little group, she stepped in to intervene. “Stop it. You’re being childish.” If Rudeus had been there, his jaw would likely have hit the floor at this point. This wasn’t the sort of line you’d ever expect to hear from Eris, of all people. 

Honestly, Eris found this whole thing kind of thrilling. As an A-ranked adventurer, she was a cut above any of these people. She was the calm veteran, stepping in to protect the newbie from a bunch of bullies! Verycool, if she did say so herself. 

Of course, Ruijerd frequently had to intervene like this to keep her from punching some hapless idiot in the face, but this inconvenient fact had slipped her mind entirely. 

“…Tch. Yeah, I guess you’re right. I wasn’t actin’ too mature.” 

To her surprise, the man backed down immediately. She’d been expecting this to turn into a fight, so it felt kind of anti-climactic. 

“Come on, guys. Let’s go.” The men walked off, leaving the boy magician behind. Eris waited for him to thank her with a little smile on her face. In her imagination, it would go something like this: 

Boy: Thank you for helping me, miss. Who are you? 

Eris: Oh, no one special. 

Boy: Please! At least tell me your name! 

Eris: Hmm. All right…you can call me Dead End Ruijerd, then. 

Rudeus liked to use that last line sometimes. She’d been meaning to try it out. 

“Who asked for your help, huh?!” 

Eris’ proud expression froze in place as the boy shouted at her. 

“I could have handled those thugs just fine with my magic! Don’t stick your ugly nose in where it doesn’t belong!” 

The boy was fortunate, in a sense. After all, he was knocked unconscious by her very first punch, and those men from earlier were still in the vicinity. If they hadn’t run back over to pull Eris off of him, he likely would have awoken missing a rather delicate part of his anatomy. 

*** 

In a somewhat lousy mood, Eris made her way to the front gate of Millishion. She usually put unpleasant things behind her quickly, but this time, she was still feeling testy. There was a reason for this, of course. 

“Wait! Please wait!” 

It was because the boy from the Guild, having regained consciousness, had come running after her. 

“I’m sorry about what I said earlier. It was just a heat of the moment thing…” 

Once he caught up to her, he immediately apologized and bowed his head politely. Because of this, Eris’ mood stayed in the only “somewhat” lousy range. The boy had escaped a gruesome fate for now—but only barely. 

Of course, had he remained conscious after that first punch to bear witness to her rage, he wouldn’t have been foolish enough to pursue her in this way. 

“My name is Cliff. Cliff Grimor!” 

“…I’m Eris.” Eris briefly considered using the name Dead End but decided against it. She wasn’t going to mention Ruijerd’s name to someone she’d flipped out on. 

“Eris! That’s a wonderful name! From your outfit, I’m guessing you’re a swordswoman, yes? Would you like to form a party with me?” Cliff had planted himself right in the middle of the road to blather at her. Eris was sorely tempted to punch him in the face again, but managed to control herself. 

“No thanks.” She dismissively turned her face aside and started walking again. 

To be honest, she wasn’t especially accustomed to dealing with this sort of thing. Rudeus was basically the only other person who’d come back for more after his first beating. 

“Oh. All right. In that case, at least let me support you from the rear! Everyone says I’m a budding sage, you know. I’ll definitely be useful!” 

Had Rudeus been there to witness this desperate full-court press, he likely would have made a comment along the lines of “More like a budding priest, you creepy little virgin!” to himself, at least. 

Eris didn’t say anything so crude. She did, however, idly wonder how “useful” the boy might prove if she chopped him up for composting. 

“I’m sure you’ve never seen a spellcaster as amazing as me before, Eris,” said Cliff with a confident grin. “I’m even better than your average A-ranked magician, as it happens!” 

This remark ticked Eris off a little. As far as she was concerned, the most amazing magician in the world was clearly Rudeus Greyrat. Even Ruijerd acknowledged his skills. While he was an A-ranked adventurer, there was nothing “average” about him. 

“You really owe it to yourself to at least see what I can do!” 

All right then, Eris found herself thinking. Let’s see if you’re all talk. “Fine, all right. Follow me.” 

“Of course!” 

And so, Eris and the young magician Cliff set out to slay some monsters. 

*** 

In an instant, a great wave of flame consumed seven Goblins at once. 

“How do you like that? Pretty amazing, right?” said Cliff, surveying the monsters’ corpses with a look of great satisfaction on his face. “Your average magician could never pull that one off!” 

Eris looked at the remains as well. All of the creatures had been burnt to ashes, meaning there were no ears left to collect. 

“You think? I can’t say I’m impressed.” That really was her honest opinion. She couldn’t have been much less impressed, in fact. Cliff had used an Advanced-rank Fire spell called “Exodus Flame.” Eris had seen Rudeus cast that one as well. But unlike Cliff, he hadn’t rattled off some lengthy incantation first, and his flames had also been more powerful. Of course, Rudeus wouldn’t have used a spell like that on that pack of Goblins in the first place. He would have killed them without damaging their ears. 

What’s more, Eris had kept the monsters occupied until Cliff finished his incantation, giving him a chance to show what he could do; but as he hadn’t warned her when he finished, she’d nearly been caught in the radius of his spell. Rudeus never would have made such a dangerous blunder. 

“Ah, it seems you don’t know very much about magic, Eris. You see, there are many different kinds of spells, and…” 

Cliff proceeded to give her a lengthy lecture about the various ranks of spells, explaining that the magic he’d just used was an Advanced-tier spell, so complex that even most adults were incapable of casting it. 

Eris already knew all of this, of course. She’d learned about it in her lessons with Rudeus. And compared to Cliff’s rambling explanations, Rudeus’ classes had been ten times easier to understand. 

“So? Now do you understand just how amazing I am?” 

Eris badly wanted to punch this little jerk in the face. He was really putting a damper on her long-awaited day of Goblin-slaying. With her arms still folded, she coldly delivered her verdict. “Okay, I’ve seen enough. You’re not going to be much help, so you can leave now.” 

Had Rudeus been in Cliff’s shoes at this moment, he likely would have chosen to beat a tactical retreat. But Cliff was oblivious to the hostility in Eris’ eyes. “Are you serious?! I can’t leave you out here alone! You were struggling to kill a handful of Goblins!” 

As soon as the words left his mouth, Eris hit him. Hard. 

Cliff staggered back and clapped a hand to his face. There was blood gushing from his nose. He quickly cast a basic Healing spell on himself to stop the flow. “Hey, what was that for?!” 

Eris clicked her tongue in irritation. She’d gone a little easy on him this time, since leaving him unconscious in the middle of an open field wasn’t really an option. Apparently, he needed a little more punishment before he learned his lesson. 

Just as she clenched her fist for a follow-up attack, however, Cliff finally seemed to figure out the situation. “Wait, no! I get it! You’re obviously very strong, Eris. How about we head over to the forest for a while, then? I can’t really demonstrate my real value as a mage against a bunch of Goblins, after all.” 

There were no sinister motives behind this proposal. Cliff just wanted to show off in front of Eris. It wasn’t that he had a crush on her, or even wanted to impress her; he was simply eager to revel in his own power. 

“Forests are dangerous,” said Eris curtly. This was something Rudeus was always saying, and Ruijerd agreed with him. She trusted their judgement completely. 

“Surely you’re not scared, Eris?” 

“Of course not!” 

But of course, Eris was a simple girl. When you challenged her pride, she’d take the bait every single time. No self-respecting member of the Boreas family would let some novice adventurer talk down to them, after all. “The forest, right? Fine! Let’s go!” 

And so, the two of them took a detour to a dark and gloomy wood nearby. 

“I guess even the woods aren’t too bad in Millis, huh?” 

Eris cut down a monkey-like creature called a Utan as she spoke. This was a D-ranked monster, considerably more dangerous than a Goblin, but it posed no real threat to her. 

“I guess not. These things are no match for me!” 

Cliff, for his part, was slaying Utans with Intermediate-level Wind spells while steadily pushing further and further into the woods. 

“Oh…” Suddenly, Eris stopped dead in her tracks. 

“What’s the matter, Eris?” Cliff said, turning back and approaching her with a big smile on his face. 

With a grimace, Eris folded her arms, planted her feet shoulder-width apart, and stuck her chin into the air. “Tell me something. Were you keeping track of our route out of here?” 

“No, not really.” Cliff hadn’t even thought to pay any mind to that. This whole trip had been an impulsive, spur-of-the-moment thing, so he hadn’t done any planning or preparation beforehand. 

“I see. That means we’re lost, then,” said Eris flatly. 

Cliff fell silent. After a moment, his face went very pale. “Uh…what should we do?” 

Since Eris seemed unperturbed, Cliff assumed she must have some sort of plan. That wasn’t the case, however. 

This wasn’t good at all. What would Rudeus and Ruijerd say if they found out she’d gotten herself lost in the woods? How could she explain how she’d even ended up there, when she was supposed to be out hunting Goblins? 

Of course, Eris didn’t let her anxiety show. As a woman of the Greyrat family, she was expected to stay calm and composed at all times. “Cliff, shoot yourself up into the sky and see which way the city is.” 

“Are you joking? That’s absurd.” 

“Rudeus can do it just fine.” 

“Rudeus? Who the heck is Rudeus?” 

“He’s my tutor.” 

“What?!” 

Eris let out a small sigh. There was no point getting into an argument right now. What should she be doing in a situation like this? Hadn’t Ghislaine taught her what to do if she got lost? 

Yeah. You were supposed to gather lots of branches and start a fire, right? The smoke would be visible from a long distance away. But who would see the signal? Ruijerd and Rudeus both had other business to take care of today. They weren’t out looking for her. 

Eris folded her arms and begun to scowl. She closed her eyes and tried to think carefully. Ghislaine always said that it was critical to stay calm, especially when you felt anxious, and so Eris never allowed herself to panic. 

“Wh-what do we do, Eris?” 

“There are probably a few other adventurers in this forest, right?” 

“Oh, of course! We can just ask for help… Let’s try to find some!” 

Cliff started to run off immediately, but Eris didn’t budge. Ruijerd had told her that it was better not to move in this sort of situation. He’d taught her to stay still and consciously sharpen her senses. Eris didn’t have that convenient third eye of his, but she had her ears and her nose. And she could feel the flow of magic energy in the area. She was still inexperienced in many ways, but she trained every single day. 

“Uh, Eris…?” 

“Be quiet!” 

Her eyes still closed, Eris drew a deep breath and emptied her mind. She listened to the forest. She could hear rustling branches, monsters on the move, the buzz of flying insects…and somewhere in the distance, the faint sounds of combat. 

“All right. Follow me.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Eris began to walk once again. 

“What’s going on?!” said Cliff, hurrying after her. “Did you notice something?!” 

“There’re other people here, all right. They’re over this way.” 

“How can you know that?!” 

“I sharpened my senses for a while.” 

“Did your teacher show you how to do that too?!” 

Eris had to think about that one for a second. Was Ruijerd her teacher? Probably so. He’d taught her many things, if not quite as many as Ghislaine. She could probably even call him her current master. “Yeah, that’s right.” 

“This Rudeus must really be something…” 

“Hm…? Yeah, Rudeus is incredible.” 

A bit confused as to why the subject had changed so suddenly, Eris forged on ahead. 

Just as the two of them reached the edge of the forest, they spotted a carriage lying on its side in the middle of the ruts its wheels had made. 

“Get down!” 

“Ack!” 

Eris seized Cliff by the head and pushed him to the ground, then dropped low next to him to observe the situation. 

Six people were still on their feet at this point. One was a fully armored and helmeted knight, standing with their back against a tree and their sword drawn. The other five were men clad all in black, positioned in a semi-circle around this lone warrior. 

Three corpses lay in the grass nearby. All of them wore the same armor as the encircled knight. Slowly but steadily, the men in black were moving closer to their prey. 

This battle was already lost. But for some reason, the knight made no move to flee. Looking more closely, Eris realized there was a young girl cowering at the base of the tree behind the armored warrior—a girl whose face was full of terror and shining with tears. 

“That armor… That’s a Temple Knight, Eris!” Cliff whispered. 

Eris’ heart was pounding now. She knew about the Temple Knights. They were one of Millis’ three holy military orders. The elite Cathedral Knights were entrusted with matters of national defense. The Missionary Knights were dispatched abroad as mercenaries of sorts, so that they might spread the teachings of the Millis Church and demonstrate its power. And the much-feared Temple Knights, with their infamous Inquisitors, were tasked with stamping out heresy. 

The Cathedral Knights wore white, the Missionary Knights silver, and the Temple Knights cerulean. Even at a distance, the cornered knight’s armor was very clearly blue. There was no room for doubt. It was a group of Temple Knights that had been ambushed here. 

“You fools! Don’t you know who this lady is?!” 

It was only when the cornered knight shouted these words that Cliff and Eris realized she was a woman. 

The black-clad men glanced at each other and snorted with laughter. “Of course we do.” 

“Then why would you seek to harm her?!” 

“Shouldn’t that be obvious?” 

“Are you lackeys of the Pope, then?! Damnable brutes!” 

Eris couldn’t make much sense of this conversation. But one thing was very clear to her: Those menacing black-clad men were going to kill that terrified little girl. She reached for the sword at her hip. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Cliff hissed. “We can’t get mixed up in this! That girl’s the Blessed Child who’s supposedly a potential future Pope, all right? That means those men in black are the current Pope’s personal assassins! They’re well-trained and ruthless. Even I wouldn’t stand a chance against them!” 

Eris didn’t even pause to wonder why Cliff knew so much about all this. There was only one thing on her mind right now: Unless she intervened, that girl was going to die before her eyes. 

Eris was a member of Dead End in her own right. If she sat back and watched a child be murdered, she’d never be able to look Ruijerd in the eye again. And more than once, she’d seen Rudeus put himself in danger for very similar reasons. 

“Come on. Let’s just stay quiet and hope they don’t notice us…” 

“Sorry, but that’s pointless. They already know we’re here.” One of the black-clad men had noticed their presence the moment she pushed Cliff to the ground. Eris hadn’t overlooked his slight reaction. 

She didn’t know exactly what they would do once their mission was accomplished, but it hardly really mattered. She intended to take the initiative here and now. “You just hide back here, Cliff!” 

“Eris! No!” 

Drawing her sword, Eris leapt forward at the assassins. 

The black-clad men immediately scattered, but… “Too slow!” 

Eris moved far more quickly than they had anticipated. Her lead attack was the Advanced-tier Sword God Style technique “Silent Sword”—a move of less complexity than the “Sword of Light,” but deadly in its own right. Her sword whipped through the air without the slightest sound. 

In the course of her training with Ghislaine and Ruijerd, her swordplay skills had been polished to a remarkable degree. Her blade took one of the men at the shoulder, sliced diagonally through his ribcage, and cut him in two. 

Although this was the first time Eris had killed anyone, she didn’t falter even for an instant. Her focus had already shifted to her next target. The black-clad men were moving quickly to surround her, but Eris was a step faster than any of them. Ruijerd had lectured her about the proper way to move when surrounded by multiple enemies. Many monsters hunted in packs; your goal was to pick them off rapidly before they could encircle you. 

“Haaah!” In the blink of an eye, Eris cut down another of the assassins. 

The three remaining men were visibly unnerved. This girl’s movements were erratic, and her attacks came from unexpected angles with no warning. It was all but impossible to dodge them while also trying to do anything else. 

Still, these were professional killers. In the moment it took Eris to kill their comrade, they had successfully encircled her. Two of the assassins leapt toward Eris almost simultaneously, deliberately staggering their attacks. 

They were fast, but not as fast as Ruijerd. They weren’t as perfectly coordinated as the Pax Coyotes of the Demon Continent, either. 

These men weren’t quite good enough. 

“There’s poison on their daggers! Watch yourself!” Shouting words of warning, the knight who’d been defending the little girl rushed forward to take a swing at one of the assassins from behind. 

Eris accurately anticipated how the black-clad men would react to this, and found her chance to break free of their encirclement. In the very instant she realized she was going to win this fight, her sword cut through a third assassin. 

“Damn! Retreat!” 

The two remaining men spun around sharply and began to run. But Eris was never one to leave a job half-finished. In a heartbeat, she caught up with one and savagely slashed into him from behind, disemboweling him. His entrails spilled across the ground as he fell. 

The last assassin didn’t look back. By the time Eris turned to him, he’d already vanished into the distance. 

With a small snort of disdain, she vigorously flicked her sword to throw the blood and gore off its blade. From all appearances, she was as calm as ever. But her heart was still pounding rapidly in her chest. She’d just experienced her first life-or-death battle against other human beings. For the first time ever, she’d killed someone. 

What’s more, her opponents had wielded poisoned daggers—even a single scratch might have proven fatal. And Rudeus and Ruijerd hadn’t been around to watch her back, either. She’d jumped into the fray without too much thought, but if it wasn’t for that woman knight, she might have died. 

Naturally, Eris kept these thoughts completely to herself. Sheathing her sword, she turned to face the armored Temple Knight. “Sorry. One of them got away.” 

These words left the knight somewhat dumbfounded. The girl standing before her wasn’t even a full-grown adult, but she’d cut her way through a deadly group of killers. And she seemed totally unfazed, to boot. 

Without even removing her helmet, the woman pressed her fist to her stomach and bowed in the style of the Millis Holy Knights. “My sincerest thanks for your assistance.” 

Eris found herself remembering how Ruijerd answered words like these, and decided to follow his example. Making no bow of her own, she said “I’m glad the child’s unharmed” and nothing more. 

“I am Therese Latria of the Temple Knights. I assume you’re an adventurer, miss? Might I ask your name?” 

“I’m Er—” 

Eris began to give her real name, but then stopped short. That wasn’t right. What did Rudeus always do in these situations? 

“I’m Dead End Ruijerd. Believe it or not, I’m actually a Superd.” 

Beneath her helmet, Therese’s face went taut. Although Eris wasn’t aware of this, the Temple Knights as a whole advocated for the expulsion of all demonkind from the Millis Continent. 

Of course, Eris lacked all the distinctive features of a true Superd. It only took a moment for Therese to relax once again. This girl had given her a clearly false name and assumed the identity of a demon that the Temple Knights would view with hostility. This seemed to be a message that she had no interest in any further involvement with them or this affair. 

In other words, she expected no reward, despite having saved the life of an important personage. Therese found this pleasantly surprising. “I see. Very well, then…” 

For a moment, she paused to study Eris as the girl glared at her with folded arms. Once she’d memorized her face, she whistled loudly. 

Before long, a horse came running out of the forest. 

This was the animal that had been pulling their carriage previously. It fled when the carriage was overturned, but now returned at Therese’s call just as it was trained to do. After lifting her young charge onto its back, Therese jumped up behind her. 

“Should you ever have need of assistance, ask for Therese of the Temple Knights!” 

With those final words, the lady knight set off at a gallop. Eris watched her go without a word. 

Back in the shadows, a certain young man—still unable even to stand—was also watching. And to his eyes, the fleeing knight and the fearless red-headed swordswoman who saw her off looked like nothing less than characters from a fairy tale. 

Some time ago, a prelate of the Millis Church fell in love with a woman of the Hobbit race. The woman bore him a son, and in time, that boy grew up and took a wife of his own. Cliff was this couple’s first and only child. 

At the time of Cliff’s birth, various factions within the church were engaged in a vicious power struggle. The violence cost both of his parents their lives. In order to keep Cliff at a safe distance from the conflict, his grandfather—the prelate—temporarily left him with the orphanage in Millishion. He proceeded to triumph over his enemies, take the papacy for his own, and bring Cliff back into his household. 

In other words, Cliff Grimor was the true grandson of the current Pope of Millis…although few, even within the Church, were aware of that fact. 

Because of this, Cliff knew perfectly well why that carriage had been attacked. That Blessed Child, said to possess miraculous powers, was the most powerful tool in the arsenal of a certain archbishop. And that archbishop’s faction was currently in active conflict with Cliff’s grandfather. 

Cliff had met the girl before, in fact. He had no idea what she’d been doing out by that forest; but he was familiar with the black-clad assassins who’d attacked her. Those men were among his instructors. He’d known for some time now that they carried out these sorts of jobs for his grandfather. He also knew just how powerful they were. He had sparred against them many times, but never once come close to winning. And yet, they hadn’t stood a chance against Eris. 

In reality, the fight had been a very close call indeed. But the way Cliff saw it, this girl had totally overpowered a group of men he never could have bested in a million years. As they walked back to down, he found himself staring at her weary face with deep and genuine admiration. 

This girl was going to be someone before too long. 

With that thought firmly cemented in his mind, Cliff blurted out an impulsive offer. “Eris, will you marry me?!” 

“What?! Not a chance!” She shot him down instantly. With an awful grimace on her face, no less. 

It seemed bizarre to Cliff that any girl would turn down a proposal from someone as profoundly talented as himself, so he began to search for an explanation. He thought back over all their conversations. After a moment, he recalled her mentioning a certain “teacher” several times. What was he called again? Ru… Ru… 

“Rudeus.” 

Eris turned at the sound of that name. 

“That’s your teacher’s name, right? What’s he like?” 

Within minutes, Cliff would come to curse himself for ever asking this question. He’d gotten the impression that Eris wasn’t very talkative, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Once you got her started on this Rudeus person, she would proudly babble on indefinitely. She kept going all the way from the plains outside Millishion to the Adventurers’ Guild. Everything she said was an effusive compliment, and the expression on her face made the intensity of her feelings very plain. It was more than enough to make Cliff deeply jealous. 

“I’m going to head back home now,” he finally interrupted, aware that his expression was probably rather sullen at the moment. 

Eris had seemed ready to keep talking for another hour or two, but now she just waved her hand in a vague, disinterested gesture. “Oh, okay. Bye.” It was hard to believe she was the same girl who’d been speaking so passionately about her tutor only seconds earlier. 

Cliff silently watched her walk off until she disappeared from view. Who was this “Rudeus” who’d so totally enchanted that powerful, beautiful, and flawless girl? 

With visions of a mysterious rival floating through his mind, the young mage returned to the headquarters of the Millis Church, where he received a harsh talking-to from the people who’d been searching for him. 

Incidentally, the power struggle inside the Church quickly intensified in the aftermath of the incident with the Blessed Child. The Pope soon decided it was too dangerous for his grandson to remain in Millishion, so Cliff was sent off to live in a foreign land. But of course, none of this had anything to do with Eris. 

As for Eris herself, she basically forgot about the whole encounter the moment she returned to the inn and saw Rudeus sitting miserably on his bed. But that, too, would be an entirely separate story.