Chapter 13

I've taken my day off to go out.I'll be back day after tomorrow by nightfall.If I'm not back by then, send help.By which I mean, send Ghislaine.I should be easy to find. Just follow the trail of destruction.—Rudeus.Wind whipped at my hair and clothes hard enough to make my eyes water, a dull roar in my ears that deafened me to everything but the sound of rubber rolling along smooth, paved stone road. The sky overhead lightened with the coming dawn, the only source of illumination aside from the headlight mounted on the front of my bike. I've missed this.Even on Earth, it had been a while since I'd last ridden a motorcycle or ATV. Still, it wasn't quite the same. There was no engine noise beyond the hum of an electric motor, for one. No other riders. The sound of the road wasn't quite right, but I put that down to the fact that it was all one solid piece of raised stone between Roa and Fittoa thanks to my own efforts on the way here.After about a year, I had finished the prototype bike.Since I had no need of an engine, pedals, or chain it lacked a lot of the trappings of either a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle. What it did have was a sturdy, hollow aluminum frame made to minimize weight, two large, knobby vulcanized rubber tires, a leather seat in the style of a dirt bike, leather grips on the handle bars, front and rear brakes, a headlight, front and rear suspension, and a single electric geared motor on the back wheel. I had initially gone with just a direct drive motor composed of a stator and a rotor, but a geared motor was lighter, had more low end torque, and would be better for handling rougher terrain—which pretty much all of this world was, given that they didn't have the sort of paved roads I was used to aside from the ones I made.A pair of copper rings circled the leather of the right handlebar. These rings attached to wires, sheathed in more rubber, that I had moved inside the aluminum frame and came out at the motor. A sustained Arc spell provided power and increasing or decreasing the mana flow to it raised or lowered the speed of the bike. It was pretty simple, all told. When I learned more magic, I would improve the design. Make it so that anyone could ride one. Maybe improve the aesthetics a bit too.In the meantime? I was going to enjoy myself. In this case, by tearing ass across the country at unsafe speeds with no helmet, on my way back home. I hadn't even hit the top speed yet, but I guesstimated my cruising speed at about 60mph. A trip that had taken about seven hours by carriage took a little over an hour at the speed I was moving. Of course, moving at that speed lead to some eye-watering problems.Note to self for future rides: build some goggles or something.The sun had just begun to peek over the horizon when I crested a hill and spotted the village. I hit the simple metal toggle switch for the headlight, shutting it off as I approached. Then, I veered off the road and circled around. Rolling up on a hill with a good view of the town and the tree where Sylphie and I had spent so much time, I braked to a stop and eased the bike over into the tall grass. Bare aluminum was reflective enough that it would be seen from town and I didn't want to draw that sort of attention. Shrugging off my day pack, I used earth magic to soften the ground under me, raise it a bit so I could recline comfortably, and sat down.Opening the bag, I fished around until I came across an aluminum package—one of many, really. Digging it out, I found it was labeled in all caps with mechanical precision as a lunch meal—jerky (I had some with pemmican too, but I preferred the jerky for snacks), some dried fruit slices, a few pieces of hardtack with sugar, spice, and honey baked in, and a pre-made tea bag. Opening it up, I created a stone cup, conjured hot water, and started the tea steeping while I watched the village. Wind magic produced a series of lenses in front of me that telescoped in and let me pan over the village without moving from my spot. As the sun rose overhead, I ate slowly while waiting. When I was finished, I balled up the aluminum and tossed it in my pack for reuse later.Yes, I had successfully completed the MRE project. In not one but two iterations, no less. The first was a canned MRE, the idea for which I'd passed on to Phillip. The man had immediately seen the value, especially when Ghislaine verified that it was something she would have loved to have access to as an adventurer. Not just adventurers, but troops and sailors, were in constant need of food that could last as long as possible. Not wanting to be chained to a desk making meals for the rest of my life, I set about simplifying the process and using as many mundane manufacturing methods as possible.Hardtack was an easy recipe to make—roughly 3:1 ratio of flour to water, salt, and if you wanted sugar, spices, and/or honey. Mix it, knead it, divide it out into squares, poke holes in it, and put it on a baking tray. The mixture was then baked upwards of four times to get all the moisture out (or a water mage could just bake once and yank it out). Mine were made into smaller crackers more along the lines of kanpan, but I offered up both the small and large versions—apparently there was a market for both. I wound up making hand-cranked mixers that later got converted to water wheel power, to make the dough. A simple wood stove sufficed for baking and pans were common enough. Once we had the process removed of magic, Phillip invested in making a bakery to crank the stuff out seven days a week.Cans were easy enough to remove mages from the process of making by creating molds for simple spam-can type cans that molten brass or aluminum could be poured into. Sealing them required a bit more work, but not much. I built a hand press that would press down on the lid and crimp the edge to hold it in place—as easy to operate as putting parts into place and pulling a lever. But because I saw the value in automation, I scaled that up into a much larger, multi-unit press, again water-powered.They weren't vacuum sealed, but considering they were holding dehydrated goods, it was fine. Better than not having a container, easier than getting a wind mage involved and being forced to create a vacuum spell that they could learn to use, thus exposing the fact that I could modify spells as needed. I made sure to pitch the idea of recycling in the process—because if whoever we sold them to brought us back the cans, we could melt them down and make more cans. Parting with a copper for a few cans was well worth it and would ensure we made more than we spent. I also provided a simple can opener, because fuck trying to cut those open with a knife. Phillip again saw the potential there and took the leap from canning ready meals to canning individual products—and so canned beef, pork, and preserved fruits and vegetables were unleashed upon the world.It would make Phillip—and by proxy, me—a lot of money. He had already made back the initial investment in the three months they had been operating—most of that money coming from the Asuran kingdom to feed their soldiers for the coming winter, the rest from traders moving stock to port cities where it would be resold to sailors.My own MREs were foil packs that I hand made, ran through a modified human-tongue typewriter to label them, filled myself, then vacuum sealed while used magic to close up the aluminum. They were smaller and lighter than the cans, taking up less space in a pack, meaning that I could carry more of them or carry a set amount and have room for other things.The typewriter I was using to stamp the packages was a big hit with Phillip. The first big hit after the baths, that opened the way to everything else. I'd taken it to him, along with some pre-cut sheets of paper, sat down, and had him dictate while I typed out a letter he wanted to send. He loved it so much, he demanded I show him how to use it himself. That was what kicked off making more of them, drawing up a schematic for them that could be used to make more for sale, and getting an open invitation to come to him with any other project I wanted funding for that could be monetized. As such, we had a simple water powered printing press now and Roa was cranking out around a hundred books per month.I think I may have been a victim of my own success, however. Phillip had 'subtly' hinted more than once that Eris was on the market for a future husband. It was something to consider for later, but at the moment I was more interested in my work. Then there was the whole Roxy and Sylphie thing to consider. My dance card was filling up and I didn't want to hurt someone's feelings. So for now, when he dropped hints, I played dumb.Thankfully, he and I were in full agreement about keeping my name out of anything, if for different reasons. I didn't want the attention and potential complications involved if the nobility or royalty decided I was too valuable an asset to lose and decided to chain me to a desk somewhere, cranking out future tech to advance their nation. He didn't want to draw the attention of the heads of the Boreas or Notos Greyrat families to me, who would surely chain me to a desk somewhere so I could print money for him—because he'd rather keep the golden goose closer to home. But I considered being the goose in question a fair trade—I got what I wanted, Phillip got what he wanted, both parties were happy.I'll admit, bootstrapping a civilization up to something approaching modern day was fun. Finding ways to do things without magic was less fun, if only because I was trying to skip steam power and fossil fuels entirely and go straight to electricity somehow. Hydro, or hydroelectric was the best idea I had at the moment but that required things I didn't have access to. Infrastructure, land, a body of water, and so on. A plain old water wheel used for grain and retrofitted with new gearing was about the best we could do for now.Too bad I can't go the straight magic route, but if I do that leaves these people dependent on mages. I can already see how that turns out. Either a class of magical nobility, or mages being used as slave labor. Neither is great.Eventually, I spotted a familiar blond half-elf leaving the village. Slipping down into the grass, I lowered the ground I had been using as a seat and went still. I wasn't willing to take any risks here. If Laws caught me, he'd report it to Paul, who would bitch—if not come to Roa to do so in person. He might even do something drastic, like keep up a watch on Sylphie any time he suspected I might head back into town to visit. I shrank my Air Lens spell and held still, watching until he disappeared from sight towards where he was usually posted. Once I was sure he was gone, I turned my focus back on the village.If Laws is out and about, that means Sylphie should be working on her chores now, if her schedule holds true. The best time to catch her will be after lunch, if she takes lunch to Laws.During my watch, I smiled as I spotted a familiar head of red hair. I didn't see Zenith or my sisters anywhere, but it was nice to see Lilia, even if I couldn't speak to— I blinked as a thought occurred. She warmed up a lot after I convinced Zenith not to kick her and Aisha out. Question is, enough to keep her mouth shut?Eventually, I decided against it. It was too much of a risk. I might want to talk to Lilia, but if she reported in to Paul or Zenith, it'd be right back to the same problem as before. Grumbling quietly to myself and cursing Paul in my head, I waited. Time passed at a crawl. It seemed that every time I checked my watch, the second hand had barely moved, let alone the minute hand. Unfortunately, I was certain it was working, considering I could peek into it with earth magic and confirm nothing was broken.Groaning in frustration, I decided to work on magic practice. In this case, silently using summoning magic.According to Sig's Summoning Magic, summoning magic could be broken down into two main categories: summoning and sending, or reverse summoning. One could theoretically summon anything with enough mana and the right conditions, including the caster. I had, so far, only mastered elementary summoning and sending. Right now, I could summon anything I was familiar with or had previously marked to my person.The mark in question didn't have to be any kind of magic sigil or anything, and in fact would work better if it weren't—the more uncommon, unique to the individual, and memorable the better. Nor did it have to be powered, charged, or otherwise fueled by magic. As long as I knew what a thing was and it had my mark on it, I could summon it to me—assuming I had the mana to do so. Marks weren't necessary, but they made it much easier.Or, if I wanted, I could send an object away. Either at random or to a designated location—again, some place you were familiar with or had marked.There was a loophole to both of those spells. Namely, line of sight. If I could see a thing, I could summon it to me. Essentially, I could cast summon that instead of summon object from memory, summon marked object, or send that.I had read ahead a bit and yes, teleportation was in the book, but I had yet to learn it. Teleportation came in a few flavors: line of sight, to a marker, to a place from memory, or to a teleportation array—the last of which the book included a design for, but I lacked the materials to make.Summoning could be used for more than summoning just objects, however. It could also be used to summon familiars—magical constructs housing a spirit that could follow orders, increasing in intelligence and power as the spell level increased, according to Sig's. These constructs could be used for a multitude of things—fighting, spying, destruction, construction, enchanting, empowering, and more. Supposedly, the flying castle I occasionally caught sight of from Roa belonged to Perugius (who I think, after a bit of research, was the guy who showed up when I was doing my King-level demonstration for Phillip et all) and had been reconstructed by the eleven ancient spirits he had summoned. I had experimented a bit with temporary spirit summoning and so far, they were simple and easy.For now, I summoned a marked steel sphere from my lab study. The baseball sized sphere dropped into my hand and I chunked it out into the field ahead of me, summoning it back before it hit the ground. Then, I summoned it from one hand to the other, sent it to a spot in the air a few hundred yards away, and started the entire process over.Glamorous? No.Exciting? Not really.But I wanted to be able to summon anything I needed at a moment's notice, which meant practice. Even if it was boring. With proper preparation, I wouldn't need to carry supplies with me if I went somewhere. I could just summon whatever I needed and send it back when I no longer needed it.Finally, the sun hit its zenith and my watch claimed it was noon. Not long after, I spotted a familiar head of green hair leaving the village. Shifting my Air Lens around, I smiled as I saw Sylphie for the first time in over a year. She's gotten a little taller, I assessed. A little taller, her hair a little longer, but not much else was different.Unexpectedly, as she walked across the field towards our tree, a group of brats swarmed out of the village. By my count, there were a good dozen of them, made up of people as old as their teens to as young as eight or nine. Sylphie's ears twitched and she visibly sighed, before turning around and waiting. When they got close enough, she twitched a hand in their direction. A tidal wave of water crashed through the air at waist height, knocking the entire group off their feet. When a few stood up and started running at her, another wave put them down. This time, it was followed by a third and a fourth at ground level, sending them rolling away. Seemingly satisfied, she turned and continued on her walk."Good girl," I murmured, a smile pulling at my lips as I watched the bedraggled brats stumble to their feet and sulk back to the village. Question is, why are they bothering you again? Thought I took care of that. Looks like they need a reminder.As soon as Sylphie was out of sight, I summoned up my metal sphere and pocketed it, cleaned up my little camp, stood my bike up, and rode over to the tree. Knowing the direction she would be coming back from, I set the bike in the grass and settled down to sit against the tree. Then, I opened up a meal for lunch and made with more waiting.I was nearly lulled into an afternoon nap when I heard the sound of small feet rustling through the grass. Sylphie passed by on her way home and I stood up. "Hey," I called."Eep!"The girl turned around, wide-eyed, as she danced back and took to the air with Air Running. What I was not expecting was the Water Ball in her hand, or the ridiculous aim she had for shooting from the hip. My head jerked back and I tumbled to the ground as it felt like I'd been slugged in the face. "Ow.""Rudy?! Rudy!" And a moment later, the air was forced from my lungs by a girl-shaped missile, that then latched on and squeezed for all she was worth. My spine popped in three places."Sylphie, air," I gasped as the girl buried her head in my chest and wailed. She didn't let go, but she did loosen her grip enough that I could breathe. Casting a heal on myself for the pain in my face, I wrapped my arms around her and returned the hug. "Hey, it's okay. Shh, I'm fine. See?""You're really here? I'm not dreaming again?"Well, that was depressing. "I'm really here," I confirmed, squeezing her a little harder. "Just for today and part of tomorrow. I can't really make this a habit or someone will figure out where I'm going and tell our parents. Then they may do something stupid. I'm sorry I didn't visit earlier. I've been busy managing Eris—it's a full schedule."There was much crying, but I kind of half expected that.After a while, Sylphie settled down and simply lay against me, completely boneless. "You alive?""Mhmm."At the quiet hum, I chuckled. "So, how are your studies going? Doing the lessons I've been sending you?""Mm! They're fine. I think I've got the new ones on summoning and sending down.""Oh really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's great." Focusing on a marked object in my bag, I summoned it to my hand. "Take a good look at this. See the mark?" I asked, showing her a small, brown leather bound journal. The symbol in question was of a mouse in profile and made of iron, giving it a flat gray color. The way the tail curved under it and its arms were held to its mouth resembled an English 'G.' "Memorize it, then close your eyes and summon it."Sylphie sat up and took the journal in her hands. She studied it for several minutes before handing it back. Closing her eyes, she took a few breaths before, in a brief flash of muted light, the journal switched from my hands to hers. "Good job, Sylphie," I praised her. She made to open her eyes, but I stopped her. "Now, send it back to me.""Send it to you? But don't I have to see, or have a mark—?"Maybe. I wasn't entirely sure. But I was going to try it anyway. So I cheerfully lied my ass off. "Nope! Come on, give it a try.""Okay," she murmured. It took a few minutes, but eventually the journal flashed back to just beside me."Hey, that was great!" I grinned, picking it up. "My turn."Once we established that we could send the journal back and forth, I began explaining what it was for. "This is so we can communicate and not have someone reading our conversations. You'll have to be in charge of summoning and sending it, because if I do it then I might send it to you at a bad time. When you make an entry, just mark down when you plan to summon it back so I'll be expecting it."Sylphie nodded, clutching the book to her chest. "Thank you, Rudy.""You're welcome. How do you like your books, by the way?"The girl at my side squeezed me again. "I love them! I'm still working through English but I think I'll have it soon. The math is more challenging than the lessons you've been sending.""That's because it's a bit ahead of what I'm teaching you now. Learning math is a linear progression—you learn the basics and everything else builds off of those, one step at a time. If you try to skip ahead, you don't know what you need to learn it," I explained."Ooh, that makes more sense. I thought it seemed strange, like I was missing something," Sylphie agreed. "How is teaching?"I chuckled ruefully. "Ahh, it's gotten better. Eris has settled down a bit. She's still… feisty and short-tempered, but she knows I won't put up with her shit so she hasn't tried to hit me again.""She hit you?!" Sylphie yelped, looking up as her eyes narrowed."She tried. Didn't end well for her," I shrugged. "We've been getting along better now. I just had to show her she can't walk all over me. How are things here? What have you been up to, with me gone?""Well, my studies, of course. Your mother and Ms. Lilia asked, so I've been helping to teach Norn and Aisha, as well. Norn is… not the best student, but Aisha is very smart! Ms. Lilia is teaching her to be a maid and she's already using spells to do her housework. Your father is also teaching me the sword now."I raised an eyebrow at that. Considering what I knew of Paul, I suspected an ulterior motive. At a guess, picking her brain to figure out how much I had corrupted her. "Is he? What else is he teaching you? Does he ask a lot of questions?""Mm, he does," Sylphie nodded. "I don't answer most of them. He also lets me spar against him using magic." Here, she grinned, but I swear I detected just a hint of… malicious glee? Schadenfreude? But from Sylphie? I doubted my own eyes. "He's helping me learn how to deal with a swordsman on the ground while I'm in the air."I wondered why he would be doing that. Certainly not out of the goodness of his heart. Maybe to earn brownie points with Zenith and Lilia?"Can you understand any of what he teaches?" I asked, and the limette nodded again."A bit. Sometimes, he doesn't make any sense.""I had that problem too," I admitted. "If you start wondering why you can't advance for whatever reason, try coating your body in magic. Just don't think too hard about it when you do it.""Okay!" Sylphie chirped.We settled in against the tree, Sylphie laying back against my chest as we talked for hours, catching up on the goings on of the past year. I told her about the kidnapping attempt, my exploits in tsundere taming teaching Eris, and of the various projects I'd been working on. She told me how things in the village were going, her family and how her mother was pregnant again, and how my family was doing since she was there just about every day now. Sylphie had taken on my old job as Roxy's replacement as village mage and was making quite a bit of coin out of it."I saw those boys trying to gang up on you earlier. I thought they quit that?"Sylphie sighed, before shaking her head. "They started again soon after you left."Yeah, she didn't resent that at all. She's probably still pissed at both of our fathers."I'll tell you how to deal with it. Running them off with magic didn't stop them from coming back. For that, I went to their parents. Your clients. You know the names and faces of the kids?" I asked, and she nodded. "Work your way through your client list. Ask if so-and-so is their kid. If they are, inform them that your prices have tripled. When they ask why, remind them when I came around and asked the same thing. That should clear it up. Also, our nextdoor neighbor? Somer's mom? If you've been working with her at all, cut her off. She's banned. It's mostly her and her brat stirring shit up.""I don't know if that will work though," Sylphie shook her head. At my curious look, she elaborated. "There are some rumors going around the village about you."Wondering what the hell was going on in my absence, I asked, "What kind of rumors?""No one wants to talk about it with me, but," Sylphie wagged her ears with a bashful smile and I laughed, reaching out to pat her head."Sneaky. So what do they say about me, when they think you can't hear?"The girl frowned. "That you were doing bad things to me. What's 'molested' mean?"For a moment, my blood ran cold. Just a moment though, before anger overtook it. Sylphie flinched and I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath and reigning it in. "Okay," I began, very calmly. "That word means forcing unwanted, usually improper physical contact on someone. Usually of a sexual nature. Usually on a child."The girl made a quiet "Aah," and I felt her nod, before immediately shaking her head, "But that never happened! What about 'seduce?'""Persuasion, temptation, enticement—usually for the goal of sex. Sometimes disloyalty. Depends on the context." I was beginning to get a clear picture of just exactly what the village thought of me and I didn't like it. "This started after I left?""Mhmm.""Do you know where the rumors came from?" I asked, realizing it was probably asking too much. Sylphie confirmed that when she shook her head. "So someone is talking shit about me behind my back. Could be Mrs. Ada—wouldn't have taken much for her to figure out about Roxy and infer things from there about us. She's got a grudge, too. She's my number one suspect. Women in small communities like to gossip and that quickly spreads to their husbands, so that could be it. Doesn't matter who did it, that just means using my name to handle your clients isn't going to have as much pull. So use your own. Ask them why a Saint-level Water mage would be annoyed enough with their kids to raise her prices. Make sure you stress your rank."Sylphie nodded, taking on a thoughtful look. That quickly shifted to determined. "Okay. I will. And I'll ask them why they're saying horrible things about you and ask them to stop.""You don't have to," I tried to head her off, but apparently she was unwilling to budge on this."I will."The fact that she was actually showing the spine I'd tried to hammer into her made me proud, so I decided to let her have her way here. I didn't care one way or another what the villagers thought of me, but if it was important to her then I wouldn't stop her. "Okay, if that's what you want. But how about we talk about something a little lighter? Let me show you what I've been working on…"Entirely too soon, the sky turned orange as the sun began to set. I shook Sylphie's shoulder with a sigh, prompting her to get up off of me from where we'd returned to lazing around, after giving her a ride on the would-be motorcycle. "Come on, you have to go home now.""But—""Ah, ah, ah," I held up a finger, silencing her. "Your parents are expecting you back soon, right?""Yeah," she whined, looking upset."And if you don't turn up, what happens?"Sylphie sighed. "Dad will come looking for me."I nodded. "That's right. And while he may not find me specifically, I'm sure he'll find tracks and it doesn't take a genius to figure out who you'd stay out late for. Who you'd miss practice with Paul for, or who you'd skip out on teaching my sisters for. You have to stick to your routine. Go home, do what you need to. Do your chores in the morning. Take your dad lunch. I'll meet you here again tomorrow afternoon, if you think you can get away with another day of skipping teaching Norn and Aisha and training with Paul. If we're lucky, I might be able to swing a visit once a month or so, without getting caught. But we're going to have to be careful. Understand?"The limette looked away before nodding sadly. "I understand, Rudy. I don't like it, but I understand.""Neither do I. Now, get going. I'll see you tomorrow."Sylphie and I exchanged a quick hug before she ran off for home. I straddled my bike and rode out of the village, to the spot where Roxy had given me my final exam—and almost killed Caravaggio. Once there, I leaned the bike against the tree and set about making camp. I used earth magic to section out the topsoil and grass before moving them to the side. Then, I flattened an expanse of ground roughly ten yards across before turning it to stone. Next, I raised up an igloo-style structure and cooked it solid so it would stay without me holding it in place with magic. Slipping inside, I constructed a small, round fire place and vented it with a chimney up through the top of the dome.Dropping my bag on the ground, I slipped outside and looked around. It was getting dark, so I knew Laws would be leaving his post soon and heading home. I waited a bit longer before taking off with Air Running, heading to the edge of the forest well away from where the observation post was. Slipping into the woods, I found one of the shorter looking trees and felled it. I cut out a section of wood, sectioned it up and dried it for use, then used telekinesis to haul it into the air as I dragged it back with me.Force magic.No, not the Force, Luke.Force as in F=MA, Newton, relativity, and so on. Yeah, it was a pain in the ass to figure out and I was still working out the kinks in places and making new discoveries in others. Turns out, I was maybe half right about water and wind magic being partially specific forms of telekinesis. Probably less than half, but close enough.I had created a number of spells for force magic and still thought I was barely scratching the surface, given what I knew of physics and energy. If I only used it for telekinesis-based spells, I knew I'd be wasting it.Telekinesis was an Elementary-level spell to move objects—well, no, technically it was a spell at every level of power, but beyond scale and power it didn't change much by going up a level. It did exactly what it said on the tin, allowing me to manipulate objects within line of sight using magic, with more dexterity than a set of human hands and all the utility of every tool in your daddy's tool box. It's what I used these days for manipulation of tiny components—which I had begun practicing by duplicating my pocket watch and scaling it down.Construct was an Elementary-level spell that allowed me to create invisible constructs made of force—essentially, a knock-off Lantern ring. Being able to create and hold any shape, fill it with metal, and cool it with magic meant that I could custom cast parts much cheaper, faster, and easier than relying entirely on earth magic to manipulate them into shape. It was honestly more useful to me for prototyping than it was as any sort of offensive spell. Defensively, it worked fairly well against someone like Eris, and even Ghislaine had trouble cutting through one if I bumped it up above Intermediate-level.That was how I developed Barrier, a dedicated telekinetic shield in the form of an egg around my body. It worked well against both physical and magical attacks, but was costly to maintain because it covered a lot of space that just wasn't in use.And then there was Puppet. I could use telekinesis to control someone's body and make them move how I wanted. Or, as I preferred to use it, I could puppet my own body, reinforce it with magic, and surpass the limits I'd previously had with reinforcement alone. Using telekinesis to move my limbs to hit faster or harder, or pushing/pulling against the ground to move me around faster than my legs would be able to carry me… Ghislaine said it was an improvement, but stillnot as good as touki at higher levels. Enough to put me in the Advanced-level of Sword or Water God style in terms of power, maybe even higher, but my reaction times were still too slow.I had other spells in the force category, but those were the ones I was working on mastering at the moment, for various reasons.The next morning, I destroyed the temporary shelter, sank the evidence into the ground, and replaced the grass and sod I had moved. A little water (which I provided) and some sunshine and within a few days, you wouldn't be able to tell it was ever disturbed.I met up with Sylphie again at noon and spent the day checking her progress with her spell work. I was impressed with just how diligent she had been.We finished up with a few hours to spare before I had to leave, so we settled in to relax and just enjoy each other's company. Laying pressed flush to my side, Sylphie studied my face as I tried to nap. Eventually, I decided to ask what all the scrutiny was about. "What? Something on my face?""I want to try the thing you and Roxy were doing."My eyes opened and I studied her face. She was dead serious, going by her expression. A little blushy too. It was cute. Still, the list of things she could have potentially stumbled on me and Roxy doing out in the open while she was at home and we were waiting for her was… pretty large, actually. "Which thing in particular?"Sylphie's determined expression was adorable. Like a particularly fierce kitten. "Kissing. And um, petting?"Ahh, she caught us making out. Okay, that was not nearly as bad as it could have been.Well, I had been telling her that she needed to stand up for herself and speak up about her wants. It would be pretty shitty of me if I didn't listen. On the other hand, I couldn't just roll over either. If she wanted this, I wanted to make her work for it. I wanted to see how far she would go to get what she wanted, but I couldn't make it too hard or it would hurt her feelings."I don't know, are you sure you want to try that sort of thing?" I asked, giving her an out. I wouldn't exactly be molesting a kid here if it was just a bit of chaste kissing and harmless petting, so long as I kept it out of the danger zones. Probably not something I'd be buying a ticket to the special hell over. Definitely not what the village apparently thought we had been doing."I'm sure!" Sylphiette nodded, her blush fading."What if I don't think we should, because we're too young?"Sylphie frowned, poking my chest. "You did it with Roxy. I'll send her a letter saying you aren't being fair if you don't.""'Fair,' huh?""Mhm! It's something we talked about. You have to be fair to both of us!"Roxy, what the hell did you say to this girl? She's too young for those kinds of discussions!Lamenting my clumsy former master's lack of communication, I considered my options. If I told her no, Sylphie would be hurt, since she obviously had some kind of idea that it was 'fair' that she should get to do something like this. If I went ahead with it… Is there really any downside?Yeah, I'd feel kind of scummy about lying to her. Well, lying by omission, I admitted to myself. Question is, is she ready to learn the truth? Sylphie's pretty mature for her age, but she's still single-digits old. I suppose it comes down to trust. Do I trust her to keep it a secret?With a sigh, I sat up and pulled Sylphie with me. "Eh?" the girl asked in confusion.Turning to face her directly, I wondered how to say what I wanted to. "What do you think happens when we die?"Looking confused, Sylphie tilted her head to the side, her ears wagging once as she thought it over. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. Mom and dad don't talk about it.""So they're not religious?" I asked, and Sylphie shook her head. "Okay then. There are a few schools of thought on this," I began, only for the girl to send me a look that said she knew I was stalling. I recognized that look, considering I used it myself. "Short version: either we don't have souls and we cease to exist, or we have souls and something happens to them. In my case, something happened. I reincarnated. That is I lived one life, died, and was reborn in this life. I kept all of my memories, so I remember an entire lifetime worth of, well, everything."Studying me with a considering look, Sylphie nodded once. "You told Roxy."I chuckled and nodded. "The day we met you, actually."Humming quietly, the girl looked away for a moment before turning back to me and nodding. "Okay."I blinked. "'Okay?' That's it?""Yes?""No screaming, no disgust, you're not going to call me a liar—"Sylphie closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. "You're the only Rudy I've ever known. You helped me when no one else could or would, even my parents. You and Roxy taught me everything I know about magic and more. You mean the world to me! I don't care where you came from, just that you're here!"Those last words came out in a shout as she pulled away and pinned me with her gaze. She was panting, slightly out of breath, and a bit flushed from embarrassment—likely at shouting at me. I thought it was the cutest she'd ever been.Yeah, she's already made up her mind. It's Rudy or no one for Sylphie. At this point, I may as well take responsibility.Finally, I bit the bullet and made the call.Sending her a smile, I cupped the side of her face and leaned in. The blush returned and I brushed her lips with my own. Sylphie squeaked, her hands coming up to clutch at my shirt, not trying to get it off but as something to hold on to. My free hand I sent around her back and pulled her tight against me, before running it gently up and down her back over the top of her clothes. The girl practically melted.I pulled back enough to separate our lips, my forehead resting against hers. "That what you were looking for?"Sylphie nodded once, before shaking her head. "T-that wasn't how you were kissing."I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well yeah, I suppose we were using our tongues—""Do it like that!"Blinking, I sent her a skeptical look. "You don't think it's gross?"Sylphie shook her head. "N-not if it's Rudy."Well… Shit. No, that's not happening. I drew the line there. No further. My morals were compromised enough as it was.I shook my head. "Sorry, but even if you want to, I'm not comfortable with going that far yet. When you're a few years older, sure. Thirteen, minimum." Sylphie opened her mouth and I stopped her, putting a finger to her lips. "No. I am a lotolder than you and I'd feel like I was doing exactly the thing I've been accused of if I did that. And being able to accept a 'no' and move on is a part of being in any kind of relationship, later on in life. Okay?"The girl looked like she wanted to protest, but eventually, she sighed quietly and nodded. "Okay. Can we still do it the other way?""Sure." I kissed her again.Sylphie had no idea what to do after initial contact. A bit of quiet instruction however and the girl proved she was just as fast at learning this as she was at magic. She was very much still inexperienced, but any shyness or hesitance she may have originally had went out the window in the heat of the moment.Eager and cuddly. That was the best way to describe her.And that was how we spent the rest of the afternoon. As the sun started setting, I pulled her into a hug and told her we would work out a time when I could visit again later, using the journal. I left her with a new lesson plan, detailing lightning and force magic, before I had to go back. This time, she managed to hold back the waterworks, so hopefully her parents wouldn't notice anything amiss.As I circled back onto the road and made my way towards Roa, I spotted a familiar cart and horse. As I passed, a voice called out. "Rudeus? Rudy, boy!"Turning my head, I confirmed my suspicions. It was Uncle, cantankerous old fart that he was. Circling back around, I drew up alongside the cart. "Uncle, good evening. You're not heading into town this late are you?""Aye, but it's fine. The road's usually clear between here and Roa and I plan to stay the night. See the, ah, night life as it were. Your dad keeps this side taken care of and the city takes care of the other. What are you doing out here?""Ah, about that," I murmured, "You never saw me."Uncle chuckled. "Went to see your girl, then. That's fine. I don't put any stock in rumors. Entire village is full of idiots, run by an idiot, if they believe that hogwash and not what they saw with their own eyes. Now, I was on my way to sell some things in the city and I was asked to carry in the mail. I've got a piece here with your name on it."He reached into a bag at his side and fished around a bit, letting the horse keep the cart in the road. After a moment of searching, he came out with a letter and leaned over the side of the cart to pass it to me. Reading the front of it, I saw it was from Laws. Why would he be sending me mail? I wondered."Thanks Uncle." Opening the letter, I skimmed the contents, then slowed and reread from the beginning. "Uhh…""What's the matter, boy? You look kind of peaky."With a sigh, I folded up the letter and pocketed it. "Uncle, I've got a question, if you don't mind me asking.""Ask away. Ain't like I've got much else to do here but talk to my horse.""Say you had a daughter—""I did," he nodded.I pardoned the interruption, since at least it confirmed he'd have a better grasp on the situation than I'd thought. "And suppose a young man comes along and befriends her." He nodded again. "What would you think if this young man gave your daughter books? Pretty valuable books, by your estimate, that he wrote himself."Uncle hummed, stroking his beard as he thought it over. Finally, he turned and sent me a grin. "So, ol' Laws thinks you're looking to marry his Sylphiette. I see now why he's been more prickly than usual, for an elf.""Shit," I grumbled as the old coot confirmed what the letter said.Looking down at me from his seat, Uncle quietly asked, "Is that a bad thing?""Yes and no. Yes, it's a bad thing in that he misunderstood my intent. I made books for a friend because I wanted a way to teach her in more detail than I can by correspondence. I didn't mean them as an engagement gift."Uncle nodded, "You wanted to give her something that, to you—a mage—seemed practical.""Yeah. On the other hand, it's not really a bad thing because I'm not opposed to marrying Sylphie if that's what she wants and she and Roxy can work something out." I didn't bring up that I suspected they already had, or Roxy had at least laid the groundwork of such an agreement. "Not now obviously, but in a few years. My problem is this. Would you see it as someone trying to buy your daughter?"The old man was silent for a while as he watched the road ahead. Eventually though, he gave his answer. "Son, I'm going to put this plainly. If Laws thinks you're trying to buy his daughter, he's a fool. It shows he doesn't know you. And if he has a problem with it, he's a damn fool, because he's got no common sense. You're a Saint-level mage, ain't ya?""King," I murmured quietly, earning a snort from the old man."Of course. If a mage like that stopped a bunch of shits from picking on my daughter because I was too much of a chickenshit to do it myself, if he taught her magic and guaranteed she would be able to work for herself and make more than she ever would as a farmer's daughter—kept her out of the whorehouse if the worst came to pass, gave her expensive gifts, and told me he wanted to buy her outright you know what I'd say? Yes! Because I'd know that no matter what, she was taken care of. You don't put that kind of time and effort into raising someone up only to tear them down later. Never mind that only an idiot gets between a man who could wash away the village in a flood as easy as taking a piss and that man getting what he wants."Crossing his arms over his chest, Uncle spat off to the side of the cart. "Everyone with eyes knew what was going on with Sylphiette. Girl was getting picked on something fierce and her own daddy wouldn't do anything about it because he was too scared of pissing off half the village and getting run out. I don't blame him for not wanting to risk uprooting his family, but at the same time it's still chickenshit. You and that master of yours kicked the hornet's nest with that stunt." Shaking his head, the old man turned a stern look on me. "Rudy, you listen to me and you listen good. Don't let fools like that drag you down to their level of stupid or they'll beat you with experience."I laughed. "Fair enough. Thanks, Uncle. Is there anything you need before I head on to Roa?""Nah," the old man shook his head. "Sylphiette's been looking after the place. Get going. Take care of yourself. And don't disappoint that girl!""Will do," I tossed him a wave before speeding off. I had some things to think about on the ride back. It didn't matter where the rumors had originated from, apparently enough of the village believed them that the good reputation I'd built up after Roxy's departure had been tarnished. There were probably a few holdouts like Uncle who had the common sense to realize that what they were hearing was bullshit, but it sounded like they were the minority. And Laws was one of those that had been taken in by this collective idiocy.I was already planning to treat him as an obstacle and route around. This doesn't change much, but at least it provides context. I get where he's coming from, even if I don't agree with it because I know the truth and it's more than a little insulting that I spent so much time with their family, being treated like family, and he still thinks I'm some kind of danger to Sylphie. The problem is, Laws wanted a hard break between me and Sylphie before this rumor stuff started. The only ones who would have had some idea of why that was can be counted on one hand: Laws himself, Paul, Zenith, Lilia, and Mrs. Ada if she overheard something—which is entirely possible, since she's a nosy cunt. But the more I think about it, the more likely it seems the culprit is closer to home.I didn't want to believe it. Mostly because I didn't think Paul was being actively malicious about his decision to try to force a split between me and Sylphie. Looking at it objectively, his concerns were legitimate—if you didn't know what actually went on. For all that his methods were idiotic and he failed to think through the potential consequences of his actions, I wanted to believe he at least had Sylphie's best interests in mind.At the end of the day, I suppose I have to ask myself, 'Do I care?'…No. I really don't. There are exactly three people in the village whose opinions I truly care about—Sylphie, Lilia, and Zenith. In that order, at the moment. Five in a few years, when Norn and Aisha get older. Regardless, I don't have to deal with the rest of the village in order to interact with them. I don't actually have to settle down and live in Buena Village later on, either—if anything, I want to see if I can find myself a flying castle like Perugius. So, I wash my hands of them. They're someone else's problem now.The sun had set by the time I rolled up to Roa. People moved aside as I passed, slowly riding through the city on the bike. Yeah, I probably should have just ditched it outside the city and summoned it back to me later. Oh well.The guard at the mansion gate waved me in and I was met at the front door by none other than Eris and Ghislaine. The former looked absolutely furious, while the latter looked intrigued as she took in the near-silent bike. "Where have you been for the past two days?!"Eris' screech was torture music to my ears. I stopped supplying power to the bike and kicked down the kickstand. Leaning against the handlebars, I grinned at her. "I went riding and camped out last night. It was nice." Everything I said happened to have the benefit of being absolutely true—which made it the best kind of lie.Ghislaine's visible eye narrowed, muscular arms crossing under her large breasts, as she shot me a knowing look. Yeah, pretty sure she has a good idea of exactly where I was camping.Eris looked away. "Next time, take me with you!"No. That was my Sylphie time. I didn't need Eris there causing Eris problems. And I really don't want to see that turn into a cat fight. I don't think your ego could survive the beating Sylphie would deliver."Maybe. If you're good." She wouldn't be."Hmph!" Crossing her arms over her chest, mimicking Ghislaine, she asked, "Well?!""Well what?" I had a good idea of what she wanted, but I wanted her to say it. They had visited my lab study before and seen the bike, but I hadn't taken it outside before today. Before now, it was just a wheeled curiosity that, at best, Eris supposed was for carting baggage around. Hah!Eris's glower intensified. "Aren't you going to invite me to ride it?!""Hmm," I let her sweat for a minute. Finally, I grinned. "Is that how we ask for something we want?""Nng!" Critical hit. It's super effective! Eris wilted, looking stricken. Reaching up, she pulled her hair into twin tails and plastered on a baring of teeth smile. "Please Rudeus, can I ride it, nyan~"Ask me that again in a few years, dirty old man brain perked up. Clearing my throat, I shifted up in the seat and took it off the stand. "Climb on the back. You know how to ride a horse?""Yes!" Eris answered, hurrying over. I wasn't sure if she did or not, so I'd take her word for it. Riding a bike as a passenger was easier anyway."It's kind of like that. There are two pegs down there for your feet to rest on. You'll want to put your arms around me and hold on tight."Eris straddled the bike and situated herself. "Why would I do that?"Instead of answering with words, I fired up my Arc spell and goosed it. The bike popped a wheelie as it shot forward and Eris yelped, desperately leaning forward and clinging onto me for dear life. As soon as the front tire hit the ground, she was screaming. "Faster, Rudy!"In a few years…Ghislaine watched silently as we rode around the front lawn. When I circled back around, the woman called, "Rudeus! Can I go next?"I considered her height and weight and winced. "Maybe. This one's a bit small for you, I think. But we can try it and see how it goes, okay?""Sure.""Enough of that!" Eris yelled, leaning up and pointing over my shoulder. "Around the house! Go now!"Eventually, the ruckus drew the attention of both Phillip and Sauros. When we passed by the front of the house doing about forty, I could practically see the dollar signs—or gold coins, rather—popping into his eyes.You know I could use this to my advantage. "Sorry Phillip, it's not quite finished yet. Can't sell it. What's it need to finish it? Well, let's see. I'd need some way to power it. That would mean learning how to write out magic formulas and store mana… Oh, but if I could do that, I could just make one for everyone who wanted one. You want one? Sure, I'd be happy to build you a bike. But I'd need more metal to make one…"Yeah, I was going to milk this for all it was worth.Sure, I could have spent money buying the books myself, but that was my money. Money already earmarked for other projects to make more money. Besides, it'd be more amusing to get Phillip to foot the bill.