THE FIRST DAY of my third year in the University had arrived.
When I woke up and came down into the living room, I found
Sylphie already there, breastfeeding Lucie.
"Oh, good morning, Rudy."
"Morning, Sylphie."
Lucie was still only a few months old, but she seemed to be
strong and healthy so far. Sylphie was doing well, too. The only
difference was I felt like she'd grown more feminine somehow.
Maybe it was the way she'd let her hair grow out? Or the whole
"new mother" aura? Or just the fact that she'd gotten a little older?
Whatever the case might be, she was blossoming into a
Hollywood-style beauty. She could sit silently on the sofa, doing
nothing in particular, and it still felt like she was posing for a portrait.
Sometimes I would even hesitate to speak to her, I was so awestruck.
Still, when I did get her attention, she was the same Sylphie I
knew and loved—eager for attention and affection. That was always
reassuring.
"Lucie's full of energy again today," she said, smiling up at me.
I looked down at our baby, who was currently sucking furiously
away at my wife's breast. She was going at it just as vigorously I did
in bed. Like father, like daughter.
Lucie was a healthy baby, but she was a little bit on the quiet
side. She didn't cry much at all. For a while, I was anxious that she
might be sick or have some sort of physical problem. Whenever I
raised the subject, though, Sylphie just smiled and called me a
"worrywart." I didn't remember being so jumpy back when my
Page | 47
siblings were born, but I guess it's different when the baby is your
own child.
Despite my concerns, Lucie had been growing steadily and
staying healthy. She was still on the quiet side for a baby her age, but
her body seemed sturdy enough. Once, when Lilia was looking at my
calm little daughter, she observed, "She reminds me of you at that
age, Master Rudeus."
That gave me a start, obviously. The word "reincarnation"
flashed through my mind.
I was a pretty crappy person in my previous life, to be honest.
The idea made me worried. What if Lucie was the reincarnation of
some good-for-nothing moron from Japan?
The idea kept gnawing away at me for a while. Ultimately, I
resorted to speaking to my baby daughter in Japanese and English to
see if she reacted.
Anyone who happened to walk by would have seen me
muttering to my newborn child things like "You've figured it out by
now, right? This is a parallel universe…" and "You are my sunshine! I
am a pen!"
I'm sure it must have been a comical sight. I remember Aisha
snickering at me from the shadows.
My methods weren't exactly the best, but I came away thinking
that my daughter probably wasn't anyone's reincarnation. When I
talked to her, all she'd do was smile and babble incoherently.
It was possible she was just hiding her true nature, of course,
but I don't know how many grown-ups could keep up a perfect
imitation of a baby for this long. And even if that was the case, it was
kind of cute in its own way to imagine somebody desperately
pretending to be an infant.
Yeah. One way or another, Lucie was definitely cute. I could sit
next to her cradle all day without ever getting bored of watching her.
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All in all, I didn't really care if she was somebody's reincarnation. I
was going to take good care of her either way. Paul had done the
same for me, after all.
"Our daughter's as adorable as ever, I see."
"No kidding. Why is she so cute, anyway?"
"Probably takes after her mom."
Slipping my arms over Sylphie's shoulders from behind, I hugged
her gently to me. I lowered my head, as if to deliver a kiss to the back
of her head…but then kept going, and buried my face in her hair.
She smelled faintly of milk. It was sort of like a natural perfume.
"Hee hee…thanks, Rudy."
Rubbing her face against my hand, Sylphie smiled shyly.
And then, she spotted Roxy standing behind me.
"Um…hello there, Roxy. How was Rudy last night?"
Roxy twitched in surprise. "Er…oh. Well, um, he was very
attentive."
"Really? I know he can get pretty rough at times. He didn't scare
you or anything?"
"No, not really. It was the second time, after all, and he was
gentle with… Uh, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't be saying this…"
"You don't have anything to apologize for."
"…I don't?"
"Nope."
The two of them were still a little awkward with each other, but
at least there wasn't any hostility between them. You could tell they
were trying to be respectful and considerate. That told me they
wanted to make this work.
A three-way relationship like this wasn't as simple as a
monogamous one. It was probably going to take some effort on all of
Page | 49
our parts. In particular, we would be leaning on Sylphie a lot. Her
open-mindedness was the only thing that had even made this
arrangement possible.
I'd gone back on my word to her and taken on Roxy as a second
wife. She would have been justified in slapping me in the face with
my divorce papers.
"Breakfast, breakfast, time t'get some breakfast…"
At this point, Aisha strode into the living room singing to herself.
It was a crappy song, to be honest. Maybe she'd made it up on
the spot. I guess even geniuses have their weak points.
"Good morning, Rudeus! Good morning, Miss Sylphie and Miss
Roxy! Today's breakfast is pretty much the same as always!"
She was carrying white bread, green soup, and warm horse milk.
In this regional, it was traditional for new mothers to drink plenty of
that. Supposedly, it helped them breastfeed.
"That won't do, Aisha. Tell everyone what you're serving."
Lilia had entered the room behind her daughter. Apparently,
she'd been in the kitchen as well.
"We have a potato and Yoko bean soup, served with white
bread and highly nutritious horse milk!" Aisha rattled off obediently.
Of course, we knew this already, since it was what we ate more
or less every morning. But I guess there's some value in keeping up
the little formalities.
"Very good," said Lilia, nodding in satisfaction. "Please wait just
a moment, everyone."
With that, she headed up to the second floor.
"Thank you for your patience." A few moments later, she
returned with Zenith in tow.
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My mother stepped into the living room, paused to stare at me,
and then silently headed over to her usual seat at the table.
"…Good morning, Mom."
Months had passed at this point, but Zenith's memories hadn't
returned to her. However, she was changing in some small but
noticeable ways. In particular, she acted very differently when Norn
was around. She'd stroke her daughter's head, or try to feed her
from her own plate—that sort of thing. Almost like she thought the
girl was only two or three years old.
Norn seemed unsettled by this at times, but she accepted
Zenith's attentions. I don't know exactly what the girl was thinking. I
had to assume she had very mixed feelings about it, though.
She was still at the age where it was natural for a girl to be
attached to her mother…or getting ready to rebel against her. Either
way, it's a period of your life where your relationship with your
parents feels very important.
Still, Norn understood Zenith's condition, and she was clearly
trying to put her mother's feelings before her own. I never would
have expected that kind of maturity from her a few years ago, but I
guess people do change.
"…"
It was hard to know what any of it really meant on Zenith's end,
though. Did she just feel a connection to her daughter, on some
instinctive level? Or was she slowly starting to regain pieces of her
memory?
For the moment, it seemed best to just wait and see what
happened.
"Okay, everyone. Let's eat."
We all ate our breakfast together. Sylphie was seated on my
right, and Roxy on my left. On the other side of the table were Aisha,
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Lilia, and Zenith, in that order. Norn would have been sitting next to
her mother, but she wasn't here today.
I didn't remember anyone actively working it out, but we'd
somehow arrived at this seating arrangement anyway.
"I'm sure you remember, but I'll be back at the University
starting today. Take good care of Lucie for me, okay?"
"Of course, Miss Sylphiette. Leave everything to us."
Sylphie and I would be returning to our classes as students
starting today. Lilia and Aisha would be taking care of our child while
we were away from the house.
Lucie was still an infant, though. She couldn't survive without
access to her mommy's breasts.
Wait. Did that make me an infant, too? Hmm.
Putting that aside for the moment, we'd decided to hire a wet
nurse. It was a lady named Suzanne who lived in the neighborhood—
a former adventurer and a mother of two. She was an old
acquaintance of mine, but no need to get into that right now.
"Thanks for the food."
It was time for me to get my third year at the University started.
***
"Yo!"
"Mornin', sir!"
"Good to see ya back at it!"
The moment we set foot inside the campus, students I didn't
recognize started coming up to say their hellos to me. They were
rough-looking types, but they were all oddly respectful.
Maybe I was projecting an aura of authority these days.
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I guess I was a father and the head of a household now, come to
think of it. Not that I felt any different.
"Hey, Boss!"
As I was reflecting on all this, the most dangerous-looking
students of all appeared before us.
"Good mornin', Boss!"
"Oh, morning to you too, Fitz and Miss Roxy."
It was Linia and Pursena, of course. These two were in their final
year as students now, but they hadn't changed much at all.
Linia was still strutting around arrogantly, and Pursena was
gnawing on something that looked like ham even as she spoke to us.
"Aren't you a lucky guy, Boss? Struttin' into school with a girl on
either side!"
"Where d'you get off dumpin' us and then pickin' up a second
wife anyway? Fuckin' unfair is what it is."
"We're graduating this year, ya know. Guess we gotta grab
ourselves someone too."
"Yeah. It all comes down to this. Gotta get us a man before we
head home!"
They seemed genuinely worked up. It felt they were envious of
me—not my wives, mind you, but me.
Deep down, the two of them clearly wanted to be leading a
"pack" of their own. It was that Decepticon mindset at work again.
"Good luck, you two," offered Sylphie with a pleasant smile.
It was the teasing response of a woman who had some
confidence in her own position. I was a little surprised, honestly.
Then again, Sylphie had known these two for longer than me. I
guess it made sense that she'd be comfortable dealing with them.
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Roxy, on the other hand, seemed to have taken their words at
face value. She dipped her head to them with an apologetic
expression. "I'm sorry about this. I suppose I cut my place in line,
didn't I?"
"Mya?!"
"Huh?!"
Linia and Pursena were, naturally, taken aback by this.
"Uh, nah, that's okay! We didn't really mean it that way, ya
know?"
"Yeah, we're just mad at our lack of fuckin' sex appeal. We're
not dissin' you, Miss Roxy!"
All of a sudden, the two of them were apologizing frantically to
Roxy. She was more than worthy of such deference, of course, but it
was still almost creepy how desperate they were.
I'd sort of been expecting these two to say something like
"We're way sexier than that little shrimp, mew!" or "Ya fuckin'
married a demon?!", to be honest. Not that I would have tolerated
such disrespect.
After their apologies were over, the two of them
sympathetically patted Sylphie on the shoulders.
"This must be tough for you too, right? Hang in there, Fitz!"
"Won't be easy keepin' up with her, but I know you can do it!"
Sylphie blinked, looking a little nonplussed. "Huh?"
"Better get yer second going ASAP."
"Yeah. Gotta maintain that lead."
"What…?"
Sylphie paused for a moment to think, then murmured "Oh,"
her face taking on a slightly awkward expression. "Um…Rudy's still
showing me plenty of love, you know?"
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Linia and Pursena reacted to this by sniffling loudly in
exaggerated sympathy.
"Aw, the poor sweet kid!"
"I'm tearin' up here! C'mon, Fitz! A quiet type like you is
obviously gonna fade into the background once Boss picks up
number three an' four, right? This is so sad!"
Wow. Listen to these jerks go…
I wasn't planning on adding any more wives to my family, as it
happened. And even if I did, I wasn't going to start neglecting Sylphie
for any reason. She'd put her body on the line to help me out. I was
never, ever going to forget that.
Not that I'd repaid her too well so far, what with the Roxy thing
and all.
"Huh? That's not true! Um…right, Rudy?"
I couldn't make out Sylphie's expression underneath her
sunglasses, but her voice sounded anxious. I needed to step up and
give her some reassurance.
"Of course it isn't!"
I leaned over and pulled her into a big hug.
Rubbing her back affectionately, I took a deep breath and
prepared to express my feelings. It was probably best to make things
clear here and now, with lots of witnesses around.
"I LOVE YOU, SYLPHIE!"
This forceful declaration earned a round of applause from a
number of random bystanders. Sylphie blushed furiously and
wriggled around inside my arms. "Rudy, come on! This isn't the place
or the time!"
"Oh really? You're the one who asked me for reassurance."
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"W-well, if you want to make a big gesture, you ought to do the
same for Roxy, too!"
Fair enough. I glanced over at Roxy.
"…That's not really necessary. I'm all right."
She was looking up at me with something like expectation in her
eyes.
Without any further hesitation, I embraced Roxy with my left
arm, keeping Sylphie pressed against me with my right.
Ah, what bliss. I had a wife on both sides now.
"I LOVE BOTH OF YOU!"
This time, I got a chorus of boos from some of the onlooking
students. They were probably members of the Millis Church or
something.
Whatever! Your laws don't apply to me! I am the law!
In any case, all the public attention was getting to be a bit much
for Sylphie. Her face was as red as a tomato. "Oh, good grief! I'm
going to meet up with Princess Ariel now, all right?"
"Sure. See you at lunchtime, Sylphie."
"It's Fitz when we're at the University, remember?!"
Oh, right. That whole bit had slipped my mind entirely.
I hadn't attended classes here in nearly a year, so I guess I'd just
forgotten. To be honest, though, it didn't feel like there was that
much of a point in her continuing the charade. She was just too
pretty these days to be convincing as a boy.
Well, whatever. She was cute either way, and it was her call how
she wanted to present herself.
"I suppose I'll be heading to the faculty offices myself, then,"
said Roxy after we watched Sylphie trot away.
"Right. Good luck on your first day, Roxy."
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"Oh, that reminds me. You should really call me Professor Roxy
while we're on school grounds."
Hmm. True, we had to keep our personal and professional lives
separate.
Fine with me, of course. But more importantly… Roxy really was
a professor today, wasn't she? That was kind of…spicy. I found myself
thinking back to last night.
I wonder how late they let you borrow the keys for the P.E.
storage shed…
At this point, I abruptly remembered something that felt
important. "Uh, Professor Roxy?"
"Yes, Rudeus?" said Roxy, looking up at me with a calm,
professional smile.
"This is the first day of the new term, right? Doesn't the faculty
have an early meeting or anything?"
"Gah!"
Hmm. All the color had drained from her face. That probably
wasn't a good sign.
"S-sorry, but I need to go! Now! Excuse me!"
Within seconds, she'd rushed off toward the faculty offices and
disappeared into the crowd.
I guess we hadn't thought through our timing. A faculty member
wasn't going to be operating on the same schedule as a mere
student, of course.
"Well, okay then. Let's get going too, guys."
"Meow!"
"We're with ya, Boss."
For my part, I headed off to the special classroom with my loyal
underlings in tow. We had a mandatory homeroom today.
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Both my wives had disappeared for the day, but somehow I still
had two cute girls at my sides. Maybe my popular days had come at
last.
Not that I was going to lay a hand on Linia or Pursena or
anything. Ah, it's tough being a man sometimes…
"Oh yeah, that reminds me. There's a rumor going around about
you, Boss."
Linia turned to face me, her ears pricking straight up. I could see
the curiosity sparkling in her eyes.
"Really?"
"Yep. They're sayin' ya fought a really epic battle. So epic ya lost
yer left hand."
"Ah…"
Come to think of it, all I'd told these two was that I'd made it
back from my journey, and that Roxy would be teaching at the
University. Zanoba was the only friend I'd gone into any of the details
with at this point.
Had he spread the word around, then? Or maybe it was Cliff.
He'd probably heard the whole story from Elinalise, after all.
"That's our boss for you, mew! Flies off to the Demon Continent
to fight one of the Seven Great Powers, and sacrifices his own hand
to win!"
"Wha—?"
What? Where did the Seven Great Powers thing come from?!
"Yer opponent had to scuttle away in shame, am I right? Way to
go!"
"Wait. Wait! Slow down for a second, Linia!"
This was just bizarre. How the hell had the rumor gotten this
twisted around? I really didn't appreciate it. What if it circulated
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enough that everyone started actually believing I'd beaten down one
of the Seven Great Powers? What if one of the Powers heard that
rumor?
What if it was number two on that list? A guy by the name of
Orsted?
"Well, that was th' story I just came up with now, anyway. Don't
worry, I'll make sure ta spread it all arou—myaaa!"
Before Linia could finish her sentence, I'd grabbed her by the tail
and given it a ferocious yank. She lashed out at me with her claws
extended, but I evaded her swipes using my Demon Eye. After a few
failed attempts, she pressed her hands against her butt and glared
up at me with tears in her eyes. "What was that for?! Don't yank on a
lady's tail!"
I glared right back at her. "Don't spread any exaggerated rumors
around, you got that? I'll pull that thing right off you!"
"Huh?! G-got it! I'm sorry!"
These two had a history of rumor-mongering. They'd spread
word of my problems in bed all around campus, which I could forgive
them for, since it was true at the time, after all. But this was a
different case entirely. It could cause me real problems. I might even
end up dead.
That was the kind of rumor you needed to nip in the bud.
At this point, Pursena butted into the conversation. "We heard
about what happened from Zanoba. You fought a hydra that was
immune to magic, right? He was sayin' he shoulda been there.
Thought he coulda kept you from getting' hurt."
"That's right, mew. But we were just impressed ya managed to
even beat that thing. So I was figurin' we could make sure everyone
knows how badass you are…"
"Thanks, but no thanks."
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I'd definitely gotten a bit stronger over the years. But when it
really mattered, I still came up painfully short. I didn't want people
getting an inflated opinion of me. I didn't deserve it.
"But ya know, Boss…even if we don't say nothin', people are
already makin' stuff up. Everyone can see ya got an artificial hand
now."
"She's right, mew. It won't make much of a difference if we
throw our story out there, too."
"…"
I was apparently a semi-notorious figure around campus, so it
was probably inevitable that people would speculate. Still, I wanted
to keep the Seven Great Powers out of this. That was dangerous
territory. I still had a very vivid memory of the day Orsted nearly
killed me.
"What other rumors have you heard going around?"
"There's a whole bunch. Lemme see…"
Linia proceeded to rattle off a range of stories. Some people
were saying I'd battled a Superd warrior to the death, others that I'd
faced down a horde of a hundred monsters alone. Still others
claimed that I'd successfully cast a forbidden ancient spell, but lost
my hand in the process.
None of them sounded particularly credible, so I had to assume
they'd disappear before too long.
"Hmm…"
Come to think of it, the Seven Great Powers were probably used
to having people invent nonsensical stories about them, too. They
were incredibly famous for their prowess in battle. Maybe they
wouldn't pay any mind to some silly story bouncing around a
university, even if they somehow caught wind of it.
"Well, all right. Sorry about the tail."
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"You humanfolk can't begin to understand how much that
friggin' hurts, mew. It's unforgivable to yank a lady's tail!"
"Fine, fine. I'll buy you some fish one of these days, okay?"
"Hee hee, sweet! I should try complainin' more often…"
"Make mine meat instead."
The three of us headed off down the hallway once again.
Our homeroom was the same as ever.
The other five sat in a loose group centered around my desk.
Zanoba was playing with his figurines, his loyal assistant Julie at his
side. Linia was busy filing her claws, Pursena was chomping on some
meat, and Cliff was earnestly studying some thick book. There was
also Ginger, who was standing quietly in the back of the room,
although she wasn't really a student.
It had been a long time since I was in this classroom, but
everything felt immediately familiar. It was hard to imagine we'd be
losing two of our number in just a year. Assuming Linia and Pursena
managed to graduate, of course.
"By the way, Rudeus…" Cliff looked up from his book and shot
me a look. "Is there a reason you didn't stop by to say hello to me,
along with all the others?"
I could understand the grumpiness. I hadn't gotten around to
going to see him.
"Sorry about that, Cliff. I did stop by your place right after I got
back, but it sounded like you and Elinalise were otherwise occupied."
"Uh…I see. I suppose I was with her that evening, yes. All right,
never mind then. My apologies."
Cliff backed down quickly enough, fortunately. But even so, I
was starting to get the sense that people in this spectrum of society
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were really particular about these sorts of formalities. Ariel had been
disgruntled about the way I left without a word, too.
Back when I was an adventurer, everyone was a lot more casual
about this stuff.
"However, your first child's been born, yes? You could have
gotten in touch about that, at least. I'm still in training, but I could
have offered her the blessing, at least."
"…Yeah, I guess."
"Ah, right. You don't belong to the Millis Church, so I suppose
that's not necessary. Still, it almost feels like you've been avoiding
me. I'm sure you're busy with your child, but couldn't you have
found the time to drop by my laboratory at least once?"
He had a point. Maybe I had been avoiding him.
There was a reason for that, though. A reason named Roxy. I
had two wives now, and Cliff was a devout member of the Millis
Church. He probably wasn't going to react too favorably to the news.
"Is there some reason you didn't want to see me, maybe? If so,
I'd like to hear it from you personally, if you don't mind."
He was being weirdly tenacious about this today. I got the
feeling Elinalise had already filled him in. Knowing her, she'd
probably worked him over a little, too. I could see her saying
something like "I know you're passionate about your faith, Cliff, but if
you forgive him for his trespasses, you'll show everyone just how
tolerant and kind you are!"
Of course, I didn't need Cliff's forgiveness or permission to
marry Roxy. But that didn't mean I wanted to ruin our friendship,
either. I was probably better off playing along here. I could confess
the truth, let Cliff forgive me, and then compliment his openmindedness at length. He'd get his ego stroked, and we'd put the
matter behind us. It was a win-win, really.
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Okay then. I guess I'll dance on your strings, Elinalise…
"Actually, Cliff—"
"Pardon me."
Before I could finish my sentence, though, someone had opened
the door to our classroom.
Two people stepped inside. One of them was the professor in
charge of our class, who usually ran our homerooms.
The other was an adorable young lady in a robe, with sleepy
eyes and a serious expression, who looked slightly nervous. The sort
of girl who obviously did her very best at all times, and you couldn't
help wanting to hug. By which I mean…it was Roxy.
"Hello, everyone. I'd like to introduce you to the assistant
professor who will be helping me with the Special Class."
"Nice to meet you," said Roxy, talking a step forward and
bowing her head slightly. "I'm Roxy M. Greyrat."
Zanoba and the others just stared in surprise, but our professor
forged right ahead. "Professor Roxy may look quite young, but that's
simply a trait of her particular people. She's actually over fifty years
old. It seems she already has personal connections to some of you,
so we decided to place her here. For the moment she'll be acting as
my assistant, but we intend to have her take over the class entirely
as of next year."
"Mew?! What's gonna happen to you, Professor Samson?!"
The professor nodded at this question. Apparently, his name
was Samson? That was news to me. The It was almost impressive
what a non-entity he was.
"I'll be heading back to my homeland next year. I no longer have
a relative to look after in this class, after all."
"Oh yeah. Where did Ren go after she graduated, anyway?"
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"My little sister's serving as a magic knight back in the Duchy of
Neris. It sounds like she's doing quite well for now, but there's no
telling what she'll get up to if I'm not around to keep an eye on her."
"Ooh. Gotcha."
I would only learn about all this later, but apparently it was
common for the special class advisor to be an instructor with some
personal connection to one or more of the students. Probably had
something to do with how unpredictable they were. You'd want
someone who could control them a little, or at least serve as the
voice of restraint.
Professor Samson, who'd been in charge of us up until now, was
the brother of a student who'd graduated the year before Cliff
enrolled here. She was part of the ducal family of Neris, one of the
three Magic Nations, and supposedly had a remarkable talent for
magic.
In any case, Roxy had personal connections to both me and
Zanoba. She was essentially the perfect choice for the job.
Stepping forward again, Roxy looked around the room and then
began to speak. "I know I've already been introduced to some of you,
but once again, my name is Roxy M. Greyrat. I'm the second wife of
Rudeus Greyrat over there. I'll try not to let that influence my actions
as a professor, but I hope you'll be understanding."
"…"
Cliff was pouting at this point.
He'd probably wanted to hear the "second wife" thing from me
directly. That way, he could have accepted the situation gracefully,
and earned my gratitude. But now his plans were ruined.
"Um, Cliff—"
"Hmm. A second wife, is it? Is the word faithful not part of your
vocabulary, Rudeus?"
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When I spoke to him, he immediately jumped into lecture mode.
"I know, I know. I admit I proved myself lacking in the loyalty
department."
"I blessed your marriage to Sylphie because you told me you'd
love her, and only her. You do remember that, don't you?"
"Of course. And I'm very grateful to you."
"Well, I suppose I knew from the start that you don't share my
faith. I won't press the point any further. For what it's worth, you
have my congratulations. I hope you're happy together."
"Thanks, Cliff."
Cliff snorted at that. "You know, I've run into your sister Norn in
the city several times. She told me that she hoped to have a happy
marriage like yours someday. Did she say anything to you when you
brought your second wife home, I wonder?"
"She was very upset with me."
"I would expect so. She'd been praying at church nearly every
day for your safe return, and your father's. Ordinarily, your
homecoming should have been a joyous occasion for her."
"But in the end, she did forgive me."
"Well, of course she did. She must have been afraid you'd kick
her out of your house if she fought you too stubbornly."
"…I wouldn't do that to her, no matter what."
"Of course, I know you wouldn't. But put yourself in the shoes of
the more vulnerable party here. The girl just lost her father. You're
the only person she can depend on now, you see? I think you really
ought to try and be more considerate of her feelings, as a family."
"You're right."
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"Also, taking on new partners is only going to make your
relationships more complicated. Women aren't objects to be
collected, you know."
Man, he was hitting me where it hurt here. It felt like I was
getting grilled by a stern old priest or something. The man could be
intense when he wanted to.
"Right…um, Cliff?"
"What is it, Rudeus?"
Still, there had been one part of this story that was brand new
to me, and I owed him some gratitude.
"You were keeping an eye on Norn while I was away, weren't
you? Thanks. I appreciate that."
"I noticed her in the church one day, so we started talking a
little, that's all. Oh, and on that note, you shouldn't be letting a girl
that young wander around town so freely. This area is safe enough,
but I've heard of kidnappers lurking in the back alleys."
"You're right. I'll be more careful."
"Very well then. It seems you're appropriately repentant, so I
suppose I'll forgive you for your mistakes. Saint Millis taught us to be
lenient, after all."
"Appreciate it, Cliff."
Well, I'd been forgiven. Maybe this had been a confession rather
than a conversation.
Still, the man made a lot of good points. I was definitely feeling
bad about how I'd treated Norn now. I'd have to be twice as kind to
her from now on.
"It seems like we're done with our personal discussions, yes?
Let's proceed to the notices from the University, then…"
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With Cliff's lecture at an end, Professor Samson delicately got
homeroom underway again. Roxy had been standing at his side the
whole time, looking supremely uncomfortable.
I blew her a kiss, which earned me a small laugh, followed by a
scowl of disapproval.
For the next little while, my life proceeded along the old familiar
lines.
I checked in on Zanoba and Cliff regularly, dropped in to help
Nanahoshi with her research, and used my free hours to work on my
book or study the magic-absorbing stones I'd brought back from my
last trip. As always, I had a lot to occupy my time with. I was kind of
nostalgic for the days when I could devote an entire day to a single
task, or maybe two.
One thing that did change was the way I used my time
immediately after classes ended. Previously, I'd been helping Norn
with her studies, but now I was training her to use a sword instead.
I was a little worried this change might have a negative effect on
her academic results, but she'd promised me she'd work hard to stay
on track, so I was willing to give her a chance. It felt best to let her
pursue the things she was passionate about while she was most
motivated.
For the moment, I'm not going to get too deeply into any of
that.
Once I was ready to leave campus, I'd find both Sylphie and
Roxy, and we'd head home together.
When Sylphie had a night shift, it was just me and Roxy. And
when Roxy had a faculty meeting in the evening, it was sometimes
just me. Now and then, Norn would come along, too.
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On one particular evening, I found myself heading back with
only Sylphie. We held hands as we strolled along and talked, mainly
about recent events at the University of Magic. Apparently, the
student council was going to be taking on a new member or two this
term.
"You should really join too, Rudy!"
"Don't think I have the spare time; sorry."
It wasn't much of a conversation, but we were enjoying each
other's company. Not too blatantly, of course. We were in public.
"We're home."
The moment I stepped inside the door, Aisha jumped forward
and threw her arms around me.
"Welcome back, Rudeus! Would you like dinner? Or a bath? Or
maybe…me?!"
Where did she learn that line? What a cliché. Oh wait, had I
taught it to her? No…I remembered teaching it to Sylphie, but not my
own little sister.
Declaring "You!", I proceeded to mercilessly tickle Aisha's
armpits until she fled, cackling with laughter, and received a chop to
the head from Lilia.
After this little interlude, I headed straight for the bath.
Aisha had included it on her list of options, but it wasn't ready
and waiting for me or anything. They were still working on dinner,
too. In other words, "You" was the only actual option available.
Oh well, whatever. Fortunately, Aisha always cleaned the bath
for us during the day, so all I had to do was get the water running.
I didn't take many baths on my own these days. At some point,
we'd started using it two at a time. It was almost an unspoken rule at
this point. I'd never really heard of a custom like that before, but
whatever.
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Today, Aisha followed me into the bath. The girl was already
eleven years old, but she still seemed to lack any sense of shame. If
she ever got into a conversation with a hormonal young boy, the
poor kid would probably get the wrong idea within minutes.
"I keep telling you to cover up with a towel when you're coming
into the bath, Aisha."
"Why?"
"It's just polite."
"Okaaay."
In this respect, at least, I was starting to wish Aisha could learn
from her sister.
Still, it was nice having a little sister. She liked to wriggle her way
in between my legs and demand that I wash her back or rinse off her
head, and it was always very cute. Good thing she was my sister—
and also just a scrawny little kid—or I might have ended up with
another wife on my hands.
If Sylphie or Roxy ever tried the same stunt, I was confident I'd
lose my self-control within seconds. Not that I'd really need to
control myself, in that situation.
Anyway. I settled in to enjoy some pleasant family bonding time
with my sister. The two of us washed each other off while Aisha told
me about the events of the day. These were mostly trivial little
things. Lucie had done something adorable, Zenith had helped out
with the weeding, Lilia had dozed off next to a window, she'd
planted something new in our garden…that sort of stuff.
Oh, that reminded me. I'd entrusted that seed rice I got my
hands on to Aisha, and asked her to see if she could manage to grow
it. She'd promised me to give it a shot once the weather got a little
warmer. The kid was a genius, so I was feeling optimistic that I'd
have my own private supply of rice before too long. I was really
looking forward to it.
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By the time we got out of the bath, Roxy was just getting home,
so we moved straight to dinner.
Today we had a freshwater fish stew, bread, beans, and
potatoes. The same as always, more or less.
After the meal, I watched intently as Lucie suckled furiously at
Sylphie's breast. Considering how quiet our baby was, she sure had a
big appetite. It was hard to imagine Sylphie's daughter growing up
too chubby, but I'd have to make sure she got some exercise once
she was big enough.
For a while after dinner, we relaxed as a family. I taught Aisha a
little magic, and Roxy headed up to her room to prepare for
tomorrow's classes.
Sylphie was busy attending to Lucie, but sometimes she made
the time to practice her own magic a little.
Dillo, our pet armadillo, wandered over to me, so I gave him
some attention.
Incidentally, Aisha was responsible for taking care of him. She'd
trained him thoroughly, and he was starting to act more like a loyal
guard dog than anything else.
"All right then, I think it's time we got to bed. Good night,
everyone."
Lilia and Zenith were usually the first to turn in for the night.
"Good night!"
Aisha went to bed early as well, though. Once I was done with
her tutoring session, she usually went straight to sleep.
"Well then… You ready, Sylphie?"
And after the house fell silent, I invited my wife to our bedroom.
"Yes," she answered, blushing and lightly gripping the sleeve of
my shirt.
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Naturally, this was more than enough to spur me into action.
Picking her up, I carried her princess-style up to bed.
After that, well…we enjoyed our private time.
Mentally and physically fulfilled, I fell into a solid sleep with my
wife in my arms.
***
Just a few minutes before that, though, I'd slipped quietly out of
bed, careful not to wake Sylphie.
I tiptoed my way down to the basement as quietly as I possibly
could. Once I was there, I glanced behind me cautiously several times
before opening a certain hidden door.
Inside, I'd placed a small altar. My holy idols were enshrined
there.
To the uninitiated, they might have looked like nothing more
than small bundles of cloth. But I knew that the divine spirits of Roxy
and Sylphie dwelt within them.
Tonight, like every other night, I offered up my prayers of
gratitude.
Legends of the University #2: The Boss can make his eyes light
up.
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