An hour later, Shirou and Rudeus arrived together at a tavern near the Magic University.
Since the matter was private, Cliff tactfully chose to leave and did not stay to listen in.
Rudeus felt genuinely grateful for this, but Cliff, on the other hand, showed an openly disgusted expression. He was clearly displeased with Rudeus's attitude.
Rudeus couldn't understand why Cliff was acting that way. Evidently, even after all this time, he still hadn't grasped Cliff's personality.
In a way, this matched Cliff's own view. He believed that Rudeus had never truly taken him seriously.
But in reality, that was a misunderstanding on Cliff's part.
It wasn't that Rudeus looked down on him. Rather, Rudeus felt that Cliff was simply too impressive, someone he could never measure up to.
After all these years, Rudeus's inferiority complex had only grown more severe.
Once they entered the tavern, Shirou immediately ordered drinks from the bartender.
During his time as an adventurer, Shirou had learned that some topics were awkward to bring up directly, but once alcohol was involved, the atmosphere naturally softened.
Of course, it was obvious that Rudeus couldn't handle alcohol, so Shirou didn't deliberately pressure him to drink.
Unexpectedly, Rudeus forced the cup to his lips anyway and downed it in one gulp.
"Are you sure you're okay drinking like that?"
Shirou asked, a worried look crossing his face as he watched Rudeus.
Rudeus became drunk almost immediately. His face flushed red as he spoke,
"I'm fine, hic… totally fine. Someone like me… no one would care about me anyway, right?"
"Don't say something so stupid. Forget about anyone else. Paul and I are both worried about you."
Shirou spoke quietly. Although he wasn't concerned about Rudeus's safety due to knowing his strength, that didn't mean he wasn't worried at all.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have rushed all the way to the Magic University.
"W–waaah…"
Hearing Shirou's words, Rudeus suddenly burst into tears again.
Because of the alcohol, he had completely lost control of his emotions. Crying openly, he continued drinking without stopping.
Shirou took a few sips as well, then chose his moment carefully and spoke,
"So… what exactly happened? I'm your big brother, you know. You can talk to me."
Shirou's words reached Rudeus, who was already thoroughly drunk.
His emotions spiraled even further as he broke down completely.
"Waaaah… it's all my fault… I'm trash… Why did you leave?! Stay with me! Even if you were lying to me, at least smile at me! Being treated like that… it hurts so much!"
"..."
Although Rudeus's words were incoherent and jumped all over the place, fueled by alcohol, he had finally begun to pour out the pain buried in his heart.
And so, he began recounting everything from the beginning.
Nearly four years ago, Rudeus received an invitation from the Magic University and traveled from the Asura Kingdom to the Kingdom of Ranoa, enrolling at Ranoa Magic University.
Despite being a specially invited student, the university did not treat Rudeus with any particular favoritism.
The main reason was that Rudeus never mentioned that he was Roxy's disciple, nor did he demonstrate the power of a Saint-rank mage in public.
This was due to Rudeus's introverted and self-deprecating personality. He didn't think his talents were worth mentioning, especially since he had once witnessed his older brother single-handedly slay a Red Dragon. Compared to that, he couldn't feel any confidence in himself.
That said, even though Rudeus didn't intentionally show off, the chantless magic he occasionally used still drew plenty of attention from other students.
On top of that, there were moments when he inadvertently displayed Saint-rank magic, earning admiration from many people, Cliff included.
Still, due to his deep-seated inferiority complex, Rudeus never noticed the change in how others viewed him. Instead, he believed his abilities were nothing special.
This situation continued until one day, when Rudeus clashed with the class bullies.
Those so-called bullies were Linia and Pursena, a pair of beast-folk girls.
Both were from the Doldia tribe, guardians of the Great Forest, and both were daughters of the tribal chief. In human terms, they were essentially princesses.
Although beast-folk were not individually stronger than humans, unlike the numerous and scattered human nations, beast-folk society was far more unified and stable.
Not only that, but the beast-folk also held considerable influence over other races, such as elves, dwarves, and halflings.
The Doldia tribe was regarded as the leader of all races living in the Great Forest.
As a result, when Linia and Pursena enrolled, they naturally became the students with the highest status in the academy.
Before enrolling, they hadn't been especially arrogant. They assumed the Magic University wouldn't care much about two beast-folk princesses, and might even discriminate against them.
What awaited them instead were teachers who treated them with extreme caution, and students who fawned over them shamelessly.
Indeed, the name "Doldia" carried immense weight.
Once they understood this reality, the two quickly became intoxicated with power.
Beyond their status, Linia and Pursena were also far stronger than ordinary adventurers. With their tribe's inherited sound magic, excellent agility, physical strength, and racial traits, they easily defeated upperclassmen.
The initial caution they felt toward human students disappeared. They began acting increasingly recklessly, forming groups to boycott others, intimidate, extort, and stir up trouble.
They became the leaders of a delinquent faction, bullying everyone outside their circle.
Naturally, Rudeus, with his introverted personality, had no intention of provoking the two beast-folk princesses.
Because of trauma from his previous life, he avoided people like class tyrants at all costs.
Even though Linia and Pursena together were actually no match for him.
Still, despite Rudeus having no desire to get involved, the two eventually set their sights on him.
A battle broke out between them.
The fight was intense, but the outcome was never in doubt.
Rudeus emerged victorious.
Though Linia and Pursena were formidable, and as beast-folk could release noise attacks that interfered with human spellcasting, Rudeus was a chantless mage. Combined with the combat training he had received since childhood from Paul and Shirou, his overall strength made him virtually unmatched within the academy.
In the end, Linia and Pursena were defeated.
Rudeus didn't think much of it. To him, it was just a minor incident.
To everyone else, however, the result was shocking.
Because of the two's immense influence at the academy, countless students had suffered under them. Many were deeply grateful to Rudeus for standing up to them.
Several girls even secretly developed feelings for the handsome and powerful Rudeus.
Rudeus, who had only wanted a peaceful school life, suddenly experienced what it meant to gain both fame and admiration.
Faced with the advances of many girls, Rudeus found it hard to control himself, drifting through romantic encounters and nearly losing himself.
Fortunately, he was still young enough not to completely lose restraint. But had things continued, it was only a matter of time before he crossed that line.
And that opportunity soon arrived.
One day on his way to class, Rudeus rescued a beast-folk girl who was being surrounded by delinquent students.
She had feline features and long hair, and looked pitiful, as though she had been bullied badly.
Influenced by Shirou since childhood, Rudeus possessed a strong sense of justice, and stepped in without hesitation to help her.
The beast-folk girl was extremely grateful, and the two began meeting privately.
Whether or not it could be called destiny, at least in Rudeus's eyes, it was the classic story of a hero saving a damsel, followed by her throwing herself into his arms.
He was especially weak to situations like that.
Before long, they became a couple. Physical intimacy followed, and eventually things progressed naturally to the point of wanting to sleep together.
Due to the unique nature of beast-folk physiology, intercourse could only occur during their mating period.
Rudeus endured patiently, waiting for that chance.
When the time finally came, he eagerly went to find her, only to discover she was gone. All that remained was a letter, written in messy handwriting but barely legible.
In it, the beast-folk girl expressed her disgust with Rudeus's timid behavior, harshly criticized every aspect of him, belittled him as utterly worthless, and declared that she never wanted to see him again.
After reading the letter, Rudeus was completely shattered.
He searched the entire Magic University, desperate to question her, but never found any trace of her again.
At that point, the situation was not yet catastrophic.
Although deeply unwilling to accept it, Rudeus managed to calm himself and face the reality that the relationship had ended.
But soon, something happened that drove him into complete despair.
One day, when he had grown close to another girl and even reached the point of going to bed together, he suddenly realized that his "little brother" wouldn't respond.
Despite being right in front of the paradise he had always dreamed of.
His lower body showed no reaction at all.
The outcome of this tragedy was predictably disastrous.
The girl he was with thought he had been playing with her feelings. Furious, she berated Rudeus harshly before running off half-dressed.
Soon after, rumors spread throughout the academy, labeling Rudeus as a scumbag. Even students who once admired him began to feel disgusted.
Of course, none of that truly mattered to Rudeus.
What he couldn't accept was the reality that his "little brother" no longer worked. The fact that he had developed ED.
That truth was simply too cruel.
For the next two years, he sank into deep depression, to the point that he even overlooked the signs of the great teleportation disaster.
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