Part 25

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However, even though I agreed, I didn't immediately heal Ruijed. Even though the system said he was kind of remorseful and all. But it was better to be safe. So I made a special artefact to make the supard a little more prudent.

- Don't think I'm trying to humiliate you like this. - I tell him, slipping a ribbon of carbon cloth around the man's neck.

- I understand. - Covering his eyes.

- It's a precaution. A magical collar. If you touch me or the girls, it will separate your head from your body. It won't help your morale.

Ruijed blinked in surprise.

- I see. That's sensible of you, Rudeus Greyrat. I attacked you, and though you kept me alive, I didn't earn your trust.

- Good.

- Then... I didn't give it much thought, your amount of mana and talent in magic was confusing. But Laplace would never care for human children. But those two, they're... they're...

- My sisters. - I clarified.

- I see. I agree to be your slave if it will atone for my guilt. But, I only ask one thing....

- Hmm?

- If you want to force me to do something to tarnish the reputation of the Supards. Or harm the children... you'd better kill me instead.

I remembered everything I've heard about the Supards.

- Okay, I'll try not to ruin the reputation of the Supards as bloodthirsty crazy monsters, if that's so important to you....

- No! He bawled his eyes out. - No. Supards aren't like that.

- Well, I'm only judging by you. - I shrugged. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

- Laplace... he cursed us. Gave us the dark spears... they robbed us of our minds, turned us into monsters. He betrayed our people. Against our will...we did terrible things.....

Oh, yeah, sure, the devil's got you. That doesn't sound very convincing. But it's something to consider.

- Hmm, that's why you're so crazy about this guy.

- I apologise.

- Tell me more about the area.

- Yeah, it's north of the demon continent. If you go east... you can reach a major city. There you can find out how to get to the central continent.

- Hmm, I see. Have you heard anything about the migurd village?

Supard frowned.

- Why would you want to know about that?

- My fiancée's from there. I just thought that since I'm here, I might as well visit her homeland, maybe meet her parents....

- Fiancée? - Supard was surprised.

I just waved my hand.

- All right, stay here a while longer. Even with this collar, I won't risk releasing you now. I still need to recuperate on my own. You nearly killed me, you arsehole!

- I apologise.

- Oh, shut up! You're annoying!

Supard shut his mouth.

- Now... you better tell me more about these places. Are there many other Supards like you, and can they attack? How many even so strong and hostile demons can we meet along the way?

- I am... the last..." Ruijed exhaled painfully. - There's no one else left from my tribe.....

- Well, at least that's good news. - I could barely handle you, but I'm afraid I couldn't handle a whole bunch of crazy thugs like you.

And, yes, I was hitting him on purpose, to take out my anger and fear. Supard realised it himself, and accepted it obediently, knowing his guilt. He deserved it!

- What about the other demons?

- In the entire continent of demons, perhaps only Queen Atofe and her servants can resist you. Your magic is very powerful.

- You survived.

- Only because you saved me... and I'm the strongest of my kind. If you don't oppose the demon queen, you can walk across the continent in peace. But, if in the whole world... the seven great ones and those close to them in strength can cause trouble.

Ruijed was a good source of information. And as it turns out, we're the ones who are lucky enough to be in proximity to an enemy like him. This supard was one of the strongest demons on the continent, according to him.

- All right, why don't you just lie here for a while?

Anyway, I left him here for now. Let him sit there, starve for a while.

I still had to tell Eris and Norn we had a tame supard. While they were asleep, I was busy rebuilding my armour. Only first I used an improved regeneration spell to repair my arm and heal internal injuries. In the process, I also reflected on the past fight. It was probably the first time I'd ever cast a spell like that, not holding back, putting everything I had into my attack, trying to destroy my opponent at any cost.

And I made a lot of mistakes.

The actual fight was very different from the fights with Gilen. Also, Ruijed was stronger...

I could have done things differently. For example, when Eris and Norn retreated and the supard chased after me, I could have just leapt into the air! I could have used gravity magic to get so high that Ruijed couldn't reach me if he wanted to. And there, no matter how fast he was on the ground, from the air I would roll him into the ground. After all, I'd pretty much killed him as it was. That the supard survived was a miracle. But, without immediate help, he'd still be dead in minutes.

On top of that.

I was attacking him too slickly, so my most powerful attacks just weren't hitting him. Ruijed wasn't faster than lightning. But I set the direction of the lightning before I strike, and if I misjudge its path, I'll just miss. And that Supard was going back and forth. If I'd been more focused, I could have caught him. If I didn't attack right away, I could have preemptively hit him and waited until he was in range of the spell.

Something to think about...

Ruijed might have to become a punching bag for me to practice my attack magic on.

But still, area spells have proven to be much more effective. Horizontal sprite and wave of lava, worked the best. Perhaps I should concentrate on that? Develop an area spell with even more destructive power.

I could also try to improve my attacking spirit. My current wand wasn't as good at targeting as expected. If I go down this path, I'll be able to attack with point spells and speedy opponents like Ruijed.

By the way, another thing that could help me in the battle with the supard would be lightning spirits. It's just that creating a spirit right in battle isn't very convenient... it's better to do it beforehand. I just didn't want to waste mana on it. But, maintaining a spirit doesn't cost much. And even creating it with my current energy supply is like a drop in the ocean. In fact, I've been saving mana too much these past few days. Although, that's because I haven't fully recovered from the disaster, and I'm still walking around with an almost empty reserve. So here I am trying to cut back on spending so I can recover my losses sooner.

Meanwhile...

I restored my armour and even improved it by increasing the energy capacity of the protective spirit and increasing the maximum voltage parameter of the electromagnetic shield. Yes, it would use more mana in a heated battle... but, in the battle with Ruijed, I never completely drained my reserve, my defence collapsed earlier.

And then the girls started to wake up.

- Rudy.

- Good... um, it's afternoon. - I sighed.

When Norn woke up, she looked around sleepily for a while, and then she was clearly upset. She probably thought our transfer was just a bad dream, and expected to wake up at home. And it turned out to be reality. Putting my arms around the little girl and cradling her in my arms.

- Everything will be fine, little sister, I promise... your little brother will not let you be hurt. And even the scary supards won't let his sweet little sister get hurt.

Norn just clung to me, arms and legs, and wouldn't let go for a while. She was like a tick. And Eris, looking at it, just smiled.

- Is your arm all right now? - Cousin remarked.

- Yes, I've improved my healing magic. And tested it on the Supard.

- You... healed him? - The girl asked with hidden fear.

The little girl clung to me even tighter.

- Not completely. He still can't move. And I made sure he couldn't attack us again. Plus, I managed to talk to him and find out why he attacked in the first place.

- You should just kill him. - Eris nailed it.

- Well, I thought about it, but I figured he could be used.

- What?

- He thought I was someone else, that's why he attacked me. And now he's remorseful. I'm not sure he can be fully believed, but... my miko power says he's not lying. As an apology, he's agreed to serve me and help us cross the demon continent.

- We can manage without him, right? - Eris asked with some doubt.

- Perhaps... but it's better to let him lead the way and clear our path of monsters. He won't be spared.

- Won't he attack us?

- I told you that I've already taken care of it. He's got a spell on him that can kill him instantly if I want it to. Or if he attacks one of us.

- Yeah? Eris was surprised. - There's such a spell?

- I used a spirit creature and gave it some powerful spells to control. The battle aura won't save the Supard because the spirit is already in its body. It's my signature spell, combining combat magic and summoning magic.

- Oh... well... I guess that's fine then. - The girl nodded.

She clearly didn't really understand my explanation, but decided to just trust it.

- I don't want to... - Norn squeaked.

- Sis?

- I don't want... I don't want the villain around!

- All right, I'll tell him not to come close to you. He'll walk in front. Okay?

Norn gave me a pitying look, but agreed.

And afterwards.

We ate some more, and finally I decided not to stay here any longer. Although I had not yet fully recovered, but, now we had a voluntary guard, which could be let forward, to clear the way.

- Now I will give you back control over your body, after which you, without making any sudden movements, go out through this passage... - I create an exit from the artificial cave. - Head towards the migurd village, but don't go near it, destroy the monsters along the way....

- I am known in the village... - Ruijed remarked.

- Hmm?

- I can lead you straight to the village... if you don't intend to harm the migurds.

- What? Of course not. It's not like I'm a complete idiot to just attack someone for no reason.

Supard looked away. Probably follow the stone thrown into his garden.

- If you move, I'll kill you. - Warn him before engaging his heals.

And soon, the supard is slowly rising.

- I am grateful that you kept me alive. - He sighs.

After which, as I told him, directed him to the exit.

Well, that decision did save mana in the end. For the next few days, Ruijed walked ahead, clearing the way of monsters, and for me and the girls, it became an easy walk. I tried to do less sorcery myself. But when I decided to recharge Norn's healing spirit, an interesting thought struck me.

It was a combination of the mana spell I was using and my thoughts on saving mana.

So I thought, what if I inverted the spell somehow? So that it doesn't transfer my mana to other people, but takes mana from them and transfers it to me. And not just people, but magical beasts as well. Swordsmen's battle aura is mana-based too. Such a spell could weaken almost any enemy if it worked.

Meanwhile...

Ruijed not only cleared the way for us, he butchered the monsters and even cooked their meat for us. He made a fire with the body parts of a stone ancient, which turned out to be a good material for firewood. And all this time I periodically checked his mood with the help of scanning. The system showed that he feels guilty and really wants to atone for his attack.

I guess he's really not such a bad guy....

But I still don't want to get close to him. The mere sight of him brings back memories of those moments when that creepy trident stabbed me through and through. So now I've no doubt used Ruijed as a willing test subject for a new spell. Yeah, since I had the idea, I thought I'd try it out right away. I had to rearrange the mana transfer spell. In the meantime, I even managed to calibrate it better by slightly altering the fusion of fragments of other spells. This should reduce the useless waste of mana.

Nevertheless, there was no immediate success.

Although, no, there was some result. As long as the victim didn't resist, the spell could indeed siphon mana out of them. But at least with the help of a warrior's battle spirit, the warrior could prevent this effect. Perhaps mages are able to resist such siphoning as well. And when the resistance starts, I have to make a lot of effort to pull something out of the victim. But with sleeping targets it should work to the fullest extent.

The next step was to develop a special spirit that can siphon mana from the victim....

And if there are several such spirits, it will be harder to defend against them!

But such a development, despite the fact that I'm already more or less familiar with all the necessary fragments, requires some time. Weeks or even months. A week should probably be enough, though. And that idea has me right on the edge of my seat.

Even if I have a lot of mana of my own....

A tool like this could make my spirits more autonomous. I could weaken the enemy and regenerate myself a bit.

I also kept in touch with Sylphie and Roxy along the way.

And if my loli-demon-wizardess, was still on the road, then here is a nice pixie was able to get very significant information in the capital. It seems that Sylphietta's skills in magic impressed the princess. Moreover, right after teleporting, before she lost consciousness, she destroyed a magical beast that, somehow, also appeared to have been teleported. Anyway, it seems that the princess decided to shelter the girl after seeing her potential.

And later, after recovering a bit, Sylphie questioned the princess about what had happened. And some information had already emerged. Although, it hasn't been more than a week yet, but it is already known that most of Fittoa's territory was affected by the disaster. It was a severe blow to the entire kingdom. The whole region was in ruins overnight, and its population disappeared. Even in the capital city, there was unrest. The palace is wondering what it was all about. And whether it could happen again anywhere else. Could it have been an attack against the kingdom? Or was it more of a natural disaster?

Either way, the scale of the disaster is staggering.

While thinking about it, I also considered that quite a few people might have also ended up on the demonic continent like Eris, Norn, and me. Perhaps we should go looking for them?

On the other hand, I know for a fact that Mum and Lilya and Aisha aren't here. And finding your own family is the first priority! But then there are the Boreas. I'm worried about them too, after all, I've lived with them for so long and they're kin too.

- System... can you track them too? At least which continent...

And, she's back on track.

Mission received

Helping loved ones

Your wife's family and your family too! Especially if you are aristocrats. Find your missing relatives!

Philip Boreas-G Greyrat - central continent

Hilda Boreas Greyrat - Milis continent.

Cyrus Boreas Greyrat - central continent.

Reward: Boreas Gratitude

I felt like hugging the system and thanking it out loud. The image of the blonde-haired girl in the sailor suit who had kicked Hitogami in the face immediately came to mind. Could she be the same entity that was giving me assignments through the system? Or is she the system? I distinctly remember her trying to wake me up and when she outright screamed, no sound came out of her mouth, but messages appeared.

But anyway, I clearly have my tasks for now.

Closing the task message, I opened the status window and then the map. Alas, no new designations appeared.

Though...

- Can you add Lilia, Aisha, and Zenith to the group? - I'm asking the system. - So they'll show up on the map?

There was no response this time, and the group's composition didn't change either. And it really doesn't seem to be able to do that for some reason. I could directly feel the system itself exerting every effort on its part to help. But it seems she has her limitations too. Well, or she's having so much fun.

Mission received

Matchmakers.

Meet cute Roxy's parents and impress them.

Reward: Random item.

Yes, she doesn't forget about her shameful amusements after all.

Once again, it's those random items...

Reward: Grimoire of Teleportation

The system has refined the reward. And it's exactly what I need right now. Which means it looks like I'm going to have to please Roxy's parents. Not that I'm going to fight with them. But it's not like they're gonna like me at all. And I don't have time to win the favour of my fiancée's parents. I've got a family to save. Well, not that they're defenseless, but I'm still worried.

But a book on teleportation magic can actually solve a lot of problems.

So, when the settlement of the migurds showed up ahead, among the rocks, I felt quite excited.

But still, I was ready to kill Ruijed at any moment, if he did something local.

And, by this point, we were getting pretty close to him ourselves. The girls weren't really afraid of him anymore, it's worth noting. And then there's this scene. Blue-haired demons with the appearance of teenagers, welcoming the Supard. And there's a little baby out of nowhere.

- Ruru! Ruru!

Barely able to stand on his feet, he clutched at Ruijed's pant leg as he made his way to the village gates.

- I guess they really know him around here. - I sighed.

- Pfft..." Eris snorted unhappily.

We were just approaching the gate itself.

- Hey! Who the hell are you guys? Ruijed, who are they? - The Migurd at the gate gave me a displeased look.

- Rowyn, they are victims of a magical disaster. They need help. - The Supard explained.

- Why have you brought them here? I can't let outsiders into the village! - The migurd exclaimed.

Eris listened to all this with her head tilted.

- Rudy, what are they talking about? - She asked in human language.

The demons communicated in the language of the evil god.

- Well, in short, this guy is afraid to let us into the village, because a handsome guy like me can seduce all the unmarried girls there.

- А...

- Married girls too.

- Rudy. - The girl grumbled unhappily.

And tried to bump me with her fist.

She didn't mean it, so I easily caught her fist and pulled the girl to me, catching her in a hug.

- No, no, no... maybe I haven't fully recovered yet, but I'm not going to let myself be punched, not even by my own young wife.

- Fool! Let go.

- Don't fight. I'm only joking.

- Pfft! - The girl snorted.

But she backed off.

I remembered something, though.

I pulled back my shirt, revealing the amulet Roxy had given me. Generally, most of the time I keep it in my inventory, among my other things. But on my way here, I decided to put it on beforehand. In addition, I tried to ask Roxy about some things about her homeland in my letters. And that information turned out to be very relevant. As soon as I heard Ruijed address the Migurdian guard by name, I immediately scanned him.

Rovin Migurdia

Hunter grade 27

Health - Short

Mana - a decent reserve that is barely used in any way

Strongest skill - traps

Mood - sense of duty and fear for his home village

Note - yes, this is the same Rovin!

Even the system confirms it.

But the fact that this guy suddenly took and pointed his spear at me in a threatening manner, almost jabbing me in the face with it....

- Rovin..." Ruijed said, grasping the sharp spear with his hand.

- They're strangers! - The migurd was outraged.

I'm not sure I want to meet my fiancée's parents. But the system's just put up an assignment here, so it's worth a try.

- It's a pleasure to meet you. - I'm doing the noble bow. - I don't mean to be intrusive. My teacher said the Migurd village would be happy to welcome us and help us...

- We don't help outsiders! - Rovin exclaimed again.

But his eyes were drawn to the amulet.

- Wait... where... where... where did you get that amulet from!? - His eyes bulged.

- Of course from my beloved fiancée Roxy. - I replied spiritedly.

Migurd's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped open to compensate for the critical level of oafishness. Honestly, I just wanted to nudge him a little, just a little.

- E-it's... not possible..." he said in a shaky voice, pulling back.

- And I heard that your name is Rowyn. If you don't just have the same name, you're her father, I assume?

The migurd's face began to undergo a bizarre metamorphosis. It was as if he couldn't quite decide how to react to this encounter. Angry or happy. But either way, it was definitely quite shocking news for him.

- I guess it was! You have my gratitude! You've done a great job! I'm very pleased with the work you've done. Roxy is wonderful.

Rovin grinned, realising I was teasing him.

- Is that it, Roxy's fiancé? - There was a new voice.

A very old migurd approached the gate. He looked almost like a grown man in his early twenties, only shorter. He must be about two hundred years old by now.

- That's right. I realise you don't like visitors... I don't want to impose, if it's such a categorical question for you, we'll move on.

- No, no! It's all right. Rowyn just took his duties as a guard too seriously... and if you really are Roxy's fiancé, you're not a stranger to us at all.

- Oh, I'm glad to hear that.

- I am the elder of this village, Rox. Please be our guests.

- Yes..." Rowyn nodded. - I can't just send you away if you're related to Roxy... but I want to know all the details.

He tried hard to portray the stern look of a caring father sternly evaluating his daughter's fiancé. But, because he seemed to be almost the same age as me, and we both looked like teenagers, it was a bit comical.

But anyway, at least we were ready to be accepted.

With the headman, we quickly came to an agreement. After all, I had an idea of where to go next and what to do. The only thing we needed to do in the Migurd village was to stop for a couple of days and recuperate. And then we had to meet Roxy's parents. In fact, when the matter came up, Rovin himself offered to stay at their house.

They used the shells of giant tortoises as houses. And the Migurd's life was quite simple. On the way I could not help noticing that the locals are very similar to each other, like brothers and sisters. And all very beautiful. The local girls reminded me a lot of Roxy, the same young beautiful teenage girls. Except that their silence was a bit oppressive. The locals just stared and looked at each other, communicating with each other in mental images. Speaking aloud was somewhat unusual for them. The Elders were more likely to talk to outsiders than anyone else. Well, Rovin was the father of Roxy, who was not telepathic, so her parents had to adapt and communicate with their daughter through speech anyway.

But, if the regular girls of this tribe were like sisters to Roxy, then....

- Oh... we have company? - At Rovin's house, we were greeted by an equally young looking migurd.

My heart sank.

She was like a carbon copy of Roxy, maybe a little older, and her friendly smile made her feel cosy. There was no doubt about who was in front of me.

- Nice to meet you, Mum, I'm Rudeus Greyrat, Roxy's fiancé! - I blurted out.

- Ahem... - Rovin coughed.

- Ohhh...

Rokari looked rather surprised.