Chapter 13

Rudeus' birthday party was uneventful, with Paul showing off his skills as an adventurer to perform tricks with his sword while Lilia and Zenith prepared a large celebratory meal.

During the evening, Edward realized that it was the first time he had experienced such a party since his arrival in this world, he had certainly celebrated several birthdays including his own, none was as extravagant as this one. .

As Edward enjoyed the evening, time passed and finally it was time to go home.

After some more chatting, Edward said his goodbyes to the Greyrats and Roxy and headed towards his house.

Edward walked quietly in the calm of the night, a gentle wind accompanied his steps under the presence of the moon, an old sword was securely attached to his waist, a gift that Paul had entrusted to him before his departure.

Now armed with a sword, even a direct confrontation with a wolf no longer posed a mortal danger.

However, strongly marked by the events in the forest, Edward kept his senses sharp while having his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Fortunately, the journey was uneventful, Edward arrived in front of his house and breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't know he had been holding.

Pushing open the old wooden door, Edward felt a rush of warm air embrace him as he entered the house.

"You're home son, it's early." Before he even had time to close the door, his father called out to him from his rocking chair in front of the fireplace.

He wasn't a man who talked much, but Edward was used to it. "Yes, the Greyrats wanted to open the presents between themselves, apparently Roxy had an announcement to make to Rudy."

His father nodded and closed his eyes, indicating the end of the conversation.

Out of the corner of his eye, Edward saw two of his older brothers looking at him with disdain, however he was already used to this treatment, his strangeness as a child had earned him the title of "monster" because of his brothers after all.

However it seemed that today they wouldn't try to bother him, the two brothers turned around and continued chatting quietly without paying any more attention to Edward.

However the slight trembling of their hands did not escape the apprentice wolf-slayer swordsman, his latest realization was undoubtedly the cause of their fear towards him.

'It's not any worse this way, they may be using this story to make me even more of a monster than before but at least I wouldn't have to get involved directly with them'

Without wasting any more time, Edward headed towards his room and laid his head on his pillow feeling his strength leaving him more and more.

'Why am I so tired after all this sleep, maybe it has something to do with my regeneration...' Before finishing his thoughts, Edward fell asleep exhausted.

****

The next day, Edward was lying quietly on the grass in front of his house, today was also a day of rest, Paul could not give lessons for several days under Zenith's orders and going to the forest was out of the question, Aside from personal training in magic and swordsmanship, the next few days will be more like a vacation for Ed.

As he lay quietly looking at the clouds, he suddenly noticed an abnormality. The previously few and immaculate white clouds had suddenly darkened and multiplied towards the north.

Edward quickly got up and in two leaps was at the top of a tree observing the strange phenomenon.

As he watched the clouds gather in the distance, a bead of sweat running down his back, the realization hit him. 'It's Roxy and Rudy!'

A shameful laugh escaped his mouth as he observed the saint-level magic in the distance. 'I had completely forgotten about this moment, it's true, Roxy will leave after this final exam for Rudy…'

Edward slowly came down from the tree he had just climbed a few moments before.

'...How did I climb that tree so quickly?'

After a final jump, he landed on the ground with his arms outstretched like a gymnast after a performance, in reality his body had already far exceeded the physical limits that a gymnast from his old world could have reached. Realizing this fact, Edward chuckled.

"Edward? What were you doing in a tree, are you a squirrel?"

Edward turned his face to spot Sylphiette laughing, seemingly proud of his comparison.

"Hi Sylphie, I'm not a squirrel, but you are wet."

Sylphie tilted her head to the side "What do you mean I am..!!!"

Before she could respond a ball of water gently crashed into her face as Edward laughed.

"Haha, this is my revenge for the other day in the forest~"

As the little girl started chasing him to Edward's laughter, a thought crossed his mind.

'After Roxy leaves, we get closer and closer to the teleportation accident, I wonder if the events will unfold as in the story..'

Edward glanced at Sylphie who was still running after him with a red face.

'I wonder if her relationship with Rudeus will progress like it did in the story.'

****

Two days later, while Edward was practicing his sword skills in his garden, he felt a presence behind him and turned around.

"Sylphie, and…. Rudeus?"

The two stood together in front of Edward's garden, Sylphie waved "Hey Ed~ I made a new friend, his name is Rudeus~"

Rudeus nodded shyly while scratching his head "Hi Ed, I ran into Sylphe earlier, I didn't know you guys were friends…"

Edward suddenly felt a deep headache.

**************

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