24 Meeting Eris

"Now before I let you meet my daughter, I think it will be necessary to give you a warning." He started.

Rudeus raised an eyebrow. A warning?

Philip continued, "Eris can be… difficult to manage. As of now, that child only favors two people: Edena, who teaches etiquette, and Ghislaine who teaches the sword. Sometimes, she is naughty enough to even ignore me, her father. Before you, 5 people quit after just a day or two."

The younger Greyrat looked back with a little surprise. What a rascal, he thought.

"But I think you don't need to worry as much. Eris respects Ghislaine because she is strong. You are a North Saint. So if you can prove yourself to her and win her respect, it will make things go a lot smoother. Ah but of course, you are not allowed to raise your hand at her willy-nilly. My father dotes on her greatly, and his temper can be unpredictable. He might just have you executed if Eris goes to complain to him, hohoho."

Rudeus blanched. "E-execution? Surely Young Master Philip must be joking."

Ghislaine, who was standing quietly the entire time, interrupted, "Don't worry. As long as you don't go too far, I will protect you. You are my disciple after all."

Philip looked at her in surprise. He knew about Ghislaine's debt of gratitude to the Boreas household. That was precisely why they a venerated Sword King like herself was willing to serve as a retainer in the first place, and also why she only accepted a paltry 2 Asura gold coin as her salary. Otherwise, a woman of her skills would fetch a much higher salary anywhere else.

That also meant that if Ghislaine was willing to protect Rudeus from Sauros and the Boreas family, she must be very fond of this newly accepted disciple.

Rudeus looked at his master with adoration. 'Master Ghislaine, if you are trying to seduce me, it is super effective!'

Philip chuckled, "It was just an exaggeration. But since Ghislaine is willing to vouch for Rudeus in such a manner, I trust Rudeus should also know what lines he are not allowed to cross."

"Of course." Rudeus replied, though still feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush when he looked at Ghislaine's stoic but secretly warm figure.

"Good. If that's the case, I will let you meet my daughter. Thomas, bring her here."

Rudeus stands next to Ghislaine while waiting for the young lady. Since he was going to be the girl's bodyguard, he should start acting the part as well.

After awhile, the door swings open forcefully, reminiscent to Sauros' entrance.

The girl, who was 2 years older than Rudeus as he had been told, was a little taller than himself. She had blazing red hair that was strikingly distinctive.

Oddly enough, Rudeus felt an aura of wildness from the little girl that felt similar to some of the wild animals he had encountered in the past – wild animals that were predators, not prey.

Rudeus demonstrated the proper noble's greeting. He slid his left foot back while bowing slightly with his right hand on his chest.

"Pleased to meet you, Lady Eris. I am Rudeus Greyrat." He spoke softly and politely, wanting to establish a good relationship with the person he was going to protect.

However, he would not have known this polite tone he took had the opposite effect of what he intended.

The red haired girl folded arms with dissatisfaction and looked at Rudeus with undisguised conceit. "Hmph!! This small, weak guy is supposed to be my bodyguard? Is this some kind of joke? I bet I can beat him up myself!"

Rudeus frowned. Did this girl never hear of the phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover', he wondered.

"Lady Eris, I assure you I am more than capable of this responsibility. I might not be able to match up with Master Ghislaine, but I-"

"What did you say!? You dare to argue with me!? And who are you to call Ghislaine master!? Insolent!"

After yelling out those words, Eris stepped forward and swung her palm at Rudeus.

'Eh is she trying to… really?'

Rudeus was a Saint-ranked swordsman who had fought monsters ten times more ferocious than this little girl in front of him. He had seen through her intentions from the moment she took a step forward, even before she raised her hand, and he was more than capable of avoiding it if he wished.

His internal debate was only if he should receive this blow. If he reinforced his face with mana, he wouldn't even feel any pain at all. In fact, the girl might even cry from the pain like she had just slapped a stone pillar. But evading it might also seem discourteous.

However, Rudeus remembered that Philip had advised him to prove his strength to Eris in order to win her respect. Taking a slap from her would definitely not improve her impression of him.

As Eris' palm neared Rudeus's face, he immediately leaned back and evaded the slap.

"Lady Eris, what are you doing?" Rudeus asked in a tone that connoted his displeasure.

The noble lass growled in response, her face twisting up in childish anger. "How dare you dodge it! Take this!"

This time it was not a slap anymore, instead, the unruly girl had thrown a fist instead. Rudeus widened his eyes and moved away from the irate child.

"You-! Stop dodging!" Eris became even wilder with her attacks, resorting to kicks and scratches, anything that could possibly hurt Rudeus she used.

'This rascal! Is this what Master meant by energetic? That's completely false!' Rudeus did not have difficulty dodging the slow and weak blows from a 9 year old girl even if he did not use Battle Aura. But that did not mean he wasn't annoyed with her wilfulness. Even a saint would have a limit to their patience, not to mention Rudeus.

As much as Rudeus wanted to smack Eris, he remembered Philip's warning.

'Well, I don't need to beat her to make her submit.'

With that thought, Rudeus narrowed his eyes and injected mana into his legs. The next moment, he had already appeared behind Eris, before snatching her wrist that had been in mid-air while using his leg to trip her.

"Eep!" Eris squealed cutely as she fell, but Rudeus controlled her fall so that she would not get hurt from hitting the floor. She was almost gently guided down by Rudeus to lay on the ground with her stomach facing down.

With Eris' wrist in his grip, Rudeus held it behind her back while pushing down on Eris' shoulder to hold her down.

"Lady Eris, please calm down." Rudeus advised firmly, but the noble girl frantically resisted while screaming 'Let me go, let me go!' and trying to force her way out of of Rudeus' grip. Helpless, he looked around to the others for assistance.

Philip shrugged helplessly. When Eris got like this, only Sauros and Ghislaine could pull her back. She wouldn't even care if her own father scolded her.

Ghislaine on the other hand just looked on with indifference. Eris was her disciple as well. She did not want to intervene and show favouritism to either of them. Besides, if she helped Rudeus, then Eris would not respect him at all. If Rudeus wanted to serve as her bodyguard, he would need to resolve this on his own.

Seeing no one was willing to step in, Rudeus sighed heavily.

But then he remembered what Paul had told him before he left Beuna Village.

"There are also some noble girls who like swinging swords too, so they have a pretty good body. For them, you just need to defeat them with your sword and then you can defeat them with your 'sword'." Was what Paul had said.

Even though Rudeus wasn't trying to defeat Eris with his 'sword' like what Paul was implying with his double entendre, his father's words might possibly hold some merit in winning this girl's respect.

Obviously, however, Eris was not like other noble girls who simply liked to swing swords, Rudeus observed. She was unruly, violent and incredibly temperamental. Judging from how Philip looked helpless to her antics, Rudeus could also tell that she had been spoiled rotten.

But Rudeus had an idea. Since Eris respected Ghislaine, then all he needed to do was show her how he compared to Ghislaine. He would not able to win, but Rudeus was also certain that he would be able to put on a good show. Besides, displaying his Magic Sword style might also be beneficial in convincing the squirming, wild animal under him to obediently learn magic.

"Lady Eris! Hear me out." He requested, to no avail. Rudeus understood that as long as Eris was being held like this, she would not listen to anything he was going to say. So he had no choice but to let her go.

Right as he loosened his grip, Eris immediately kicked at him with her leg while springing up to punch him.

"You're dead!" She screamed.

'She actually has pretty good instincts.' Rudeus observed as he evaded the kick and the punch.

"Listen," Rudeus said while moving around the room, "In the first place you were unhappy because you thought I was weak. I have an idea to show you my strength."

"I don't care! Just let me hit you!" She shot back, the furious look on her face growing angrier with every hit she missed.

"Let me make you a deal. I will spar with Master Ghislaine. And at the end, if you still do not think I am strong enough to protect you, I will let you punch me and leave Roa immediately." Rudeus offered as the last resort.

As much as he did not want to place his future as Ghislaine's disciple to the whims of an unruly girl, he also understood that if he still couldn't win her respect in this manner, then he would never be able to.

Hearing his offer, Eris stopped moving. She thought about it for a moment and put up five fingers.

"Five times. Let me punch you five times first."

Rudeus gritted his teeth, his eyebrow twitching in irritation.

"Fine. Go ahea-"

Before he even finished speaking, Eris had already thrown a punch at Rudeus' face.

The boy turned his face to the left and covered his body in Battle Aura. The moment Eris' fist struck Rudeus' mana enhanced cheek, she immediately cried out in pain while pulling back her hand and cradling her knuckles.

"It hurt! What the heck, why is your face so tough!" She whined.

'Even if I tell her about Battle Aura, she probably wouldn't understand it…' Rudeus thought before answering, "Because I am strong."

"Hmph, I don't believe you! Take this!"

Eris punched his face again, only to recoil in pain once more. Not willing to give up, she growled like a wild beast and punched again and again, only to receive even more pain for her efforts.

Rudeus smiled ruefully. He didn't even feel any pain from her punches. It would only hurt if she was reinforcing her punches with mana.

Suddenly, Eris' eyes sharpened and she swung her leg. This time, she had actually aimed a kick at Rudeus' genitals!

The boy widened his eyes in shock at her audacity. His privates were more precious than any amount of gold and treasure! Yet she was trying to harm it?

His hand flashed forward and caught her leg, "Lady Eris, you said punches. And there are some places you are not supposed to touch, even if I am trying to be nice!"

However, Eris had not been aiming at Rudeus' privates in the first place. Having her leg be caught was only a trap. She immediately jumped and twisted her body in mid air in order to deliver a spinning back kick to Rudeus' jaw with her other leg.

Rudeus absorbed the blow and felt his head get thrown back a little.

'That… actually hurt?' His mouth widened slightly in surprise. He rubbed his chin, over the spot where Eris had kicked him. 'That was mana in her kick! It was only a little tiny bit of mana, but she definitely used Battle Aura!'

'This girl… she is actually quite talented herself.' He concluded. With her temper, it was unlikely that she had been hiding her knowledge of Battle Aura the entire time she was trying to punch him and only using it on the last blow. So Rudeus deduced that she must have used it unconsciously out of the rage she had felt from hurting her own fist.

Eris felt triumphant upon seeing Rudeus finally react to her attack.

Rudeus wiped away the look of surprise on his face and spoke, "Lady Eris. That was the fifth attack."

The red-haired girl tsked, "I know! A deal is a deal. I won't quibble with you over this. But remember what you said! If I am not satisfied after you fight my Ghislaine, then you have to let me punch you more and you will leave Roa immediately!"

In this matter, Rudeus felt confident. "That is indeed what I said, Lady Eris."

"Hmph! Very well. Then let's go!"

Eris left the room and everyone followed after her. She had completely swept over all the adults and Rudeus to go along with her pace.

Rudeus shook his head as he walked behind the girl.

'Energetic child who loves to run and play, Ghislaine said. Difficult to manage, Philip said. Rubbish! She is completely like a feral animal they have allowed free reign to wreak havoc without consequences. There should be a limit to how much you spoil a child!'