Here’s a little lesson in trickery…

Philip quietly sipped on a cup of tea as he watched Eris and the other children play in the distance.

It was the morning after their arrival at Buina village. Many, many, *many* stressful events had occurred since then... and since his father was handling the nobles back in the kingdom, a great deal many were likely waiting for Philip back at home.

Particularly since his brothers wouldn't take lightly to the fact that he was now aligned with the proper head of the Notos family as well as the Second Princess.

But Philip decided to take a page out from his cousin's playbook and worry about that later. Instead, he decided to take the chance to relax in these peaceful and rural farmlands.

...Although...

Philip took a look around his immediate surroundings and frowned. "I was unaware that I paid Paul this much..."

There was an entirely new house separate from the one that should have been there. Not only that, but the new house was sleek and looked carved out of pure stone. Sturdy enough to serve as a makeshift fortress as needed while having enough rooms to house a dozen different people.

Compared to the manor in Roa, it wasn't that impressive. But for a minor knight out in rural farmlands, it definitely was.

And that didn't even take into account the sleek and carefully constructed paved areas around the back of the house that were specifically for games or the artifical water body strictly for swimming.

At that time, Hilda walked over to sit beside Philip, carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses.

Philip looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "Drinking so early in the day?"

Hilda shrugged and said, "It was a gift from Pierre. He said that we would likely need it to loosen up a bit."

Philip frowned.

Pierre. That mysterious individual who was on par with the Dragon God Orsted while claiming to be a Greyrat...

And also someone who disappeared the moment they arrived back at Buina village after saying something about having to check up on his wife.

He was still suspicious. Someone that Philip took note of to follow up on later. But at the least he seemed to be on their side for the moment... though Philip wondered just how long that would last.

Then again, with how ridiculous Paul was becoming, that might be a non-issue in the future.

"Here." Hilda handed Philip a glass.

Philip eyed the glass and frowned.

It was a beautiful deep red color, glistening like a ruby with the sunlight.

But that color of wine also tended to easily conceal poison.

Then again, with the fact that they were in the presence of the Dragon God, would that man really-

Hilda rolled her eyes and then raised the glass to Philip's lips, tilting some wine into his mouth.

"Pft?!"

Philip spluttered and quickly dabbed his mouth. After that, he glared at Hilda and said, "Have you no caution at all?!"

"And you think too much, Husband." Hilda shook her head and took the glass back, taking a long drink from it. Afterwards, she let out a content sigh and looked into the distance. "You should be more like our Eris there and relax."

In the distance, Eris and Rudy faced off against each other on one of the paved areas that Rudy called a 'basketball court.'

Sylphy stood off to the side, watching the two.

Rudy was holding a ball, casually bouncing it on the ground while smiling at Eris.

Unlike him, Eris was completely focused. Her eyes were sharp, scanning Rudy's body and following the ball. Not only that, but her body was tense, as if ready to pounce at any moment.

"...I do not think you can call Eris's current situation as being 'relaxed', Dear."

"Hm. That's because she takes after you, Husband." Hilda sipped on the wine some more and smiled. "Are you certain you do not want any? It's quite sweet. You can barely taste the alcohol at all."

"I am fine."

"Bah." Hilda frowned and said, "You're still too uptight. We're going to be here for a few more days, are we not? Loosen up a bit. Do you want Eris to think that we are here just out of formality?"

Philip paused, remembering Eris's expression last night. And then he sighed and reached out his hand. "Fine. Pour me a glass as well."

Considering the other headaches happening in the background, Philip could use a pick me up...

Hilda smiled and poured another glass of wine, handing it over to Philip.

This time, he took it from her. Staring at the glistening ruby wine, he still hesitated. But after looking at Eris again, he shook his head and took a sip.

Sweet, refreshing... And instead of clouding his mind like Philip thought it would, he felt... vaguely energized?

"Hm?" Philip frowned and stared at the glass. "Is this really wine?"

"Apparently it's magical wine. At least, that's what Pierre said before he left. Something to make up for the trouble."

Philip hummed and took another sip from the wine.

It was good. Better than even the best from Milbotts, the land famed for alcohol.

Well, that and the land infamous for the breast-loving Notos family.

Still-

"Dammit, Rudy! How do you keep making those shots?!"

"It's called 'spin', Eri. And I told you already. Raw speed and power isn't going to help in these sorts of things."

"Then explain making the shot all the way from half-court!"

"Ah. Well, I guess *that* needs a bit of power. But it's all about control."

Sylphy giggled and said, "Like how easily you control Eri around the court?"

Eris blushed and said, "S-Shut up, Sylphy!" After that, she glared at Rudy and crossed her arms. "Whatever! Take your shot already, Rude."

"R-Rude?"

"Yeah! Because you're rude to me all the time! Rude!"

An energetic and childish argument.

Eris was upset and acting out. But at the same time, she wasn't really angry. Not like how she was at the manor at least.

Seeing that, Philip chuckled and sipped on his wine.

Hilda looked over and said, "Is something funny?"

"A bit." He stared at Eris and then looked over at Rudy. "I'm just amused at how well this worked out."

It was a long shot. Something decided on a whim at first. And from the start, it seemed like something doomed to fail.

After all, Eris was volatile and spoiled beyond belief while Rudeus was a mature child that was serious and skilled enough to beat Sauros into submission, both in words and in strength.

Then there was the fact that Rudeus was already clearly involved with that young elf girl who was just as capable...

Philip would have been happy if Eris just had a place to stay. But to see her relaxed and enjoying herself... and even tolerating being teased like that...

Philip looked towards his wife and said, "It seems that Eris takes after you a great deal as well."

Hilda blinked. "Me?"

"Yes." Philip sipped on his wine and smiled. "After all, both of you tolerate a great deal when it comes to the one you love. Like mother like daughter... is it not?"

Hilda scoffed and then smacked Philip's arm.

Philip chuckled and stared at Eris.

Yes. This was unexpected. For their violent daughter to get along with others and be that happy... Even if the betrothal in the end didn't go through, this was fine.

"That's Pig, Eri. Game."

"I wanna rematch! Double or nothing!"

"...If you say so..."

Philip smiled.

Yes. It was fine. Especially if he could watch his cute daughter flustered and embarrassed like this some more-

"Eris! Try harder! You can't expect to win against that cute elf girl like that!"

"M-Mom?! W-W-What are you talking about?!"

...Or it could just be another headache for him to deal with later.

Philip sighed and drained his glass before topping it up again.

-LIV-

A forest clearing a short distance away from Buina village. There, Rostelina leaned against a tree, idly humming as she swung a basket back and forth.

A slight breeze picked up, sending a few strands of Rostelina's hair flying. And then an exasperated male voice echoed. "You really waited out here by yourself?"

Rostelina straightened and looked over at the speaker, smiling. "Well I couldn't wait back at the house, could I? My beloved master is too shy to show his face."

'Pierre' stepped out from behind a tree and walked over to Rostelina, fixing her hair. As he did, he said, "It's not being shy. It's being cautious. Especially since I don't know what else that crazy bastard is up to. Honestly, sending in those monsters, blatantly turning those knights into zealots and stirring up all that chaos with moving the Sword God and Water God..." He frowned and said, "I'm starting to think that he's going to try something ridiculous just to flip the board over."

Rostelina tilted her head and said, "Isn't that fine? You're here, aren't you, 'Pierre?'"

"For now." Pierre looked up at the sky and said, "But I'm starting to get worried. The metastasis event shouldn't happen since we resolved the mana distortion from that priestess. But then that crazy guy went ahead and threw his divine powers all over the place pulling strings in that last event."

Rostelina frowned. "...Shouldn't he not be able to do that?"

"If he wants a place to rule over, yeah. But if he stopped caring..." Pierre placed his hand over his sword and muttered, "We'll be fine, but I'm worried about Rudy here." He looked over at Rostelina and said, "You said they merged?"

Rostelina paused and said, "I'm not sure if they completely merged. But at the least it seems like the older Rudeus and Rudy had a chat about his timeline."

"Great." Pierre pinched his nose and said, "Another spanner in the works... Argh. Maybe I shouldn't have shown up in front of Sylphy. She would have been fine, but it made that guy too paranoid."

Rostelina wrapped her arms around Pierre's shoulders and said, "Well, it'll be fine, won't it? You're here to keep things from getting worse, aren't you?"

"Again, for now." Pierre frowned and said, "But even I can only do so much. The 'Technique God' doesn't have a concrete anchorpoint in this timeline until 'that' happens, so I'll get kicked out and have to find my way back from the other side if I interfere too directly."

"...So you're saying that you're just dead weight right now."

"...Yes."

Rostelina rolled her eyes. "Some all-powerful Technique God you are, Master."

Pierre nodded. "Right. 'Technique' God. Emphasis on the Technique. And no technique exists yet that can go beyond the world's natural order so I'm stuck like this."

Rostelina placed her finger on her chin and said, "So in other words... You can't do anything right now. Your powers are limited... and you're worried about what might happen in the future?"

"Is that not obvious?" Pierre frowned.

"And you're concerned about Rudy and his family?"

"Of course." Pierre nodded and said, "We might be different people and those aren't the same, but I still worry about them. Not to mention that if things can change..."

"Great. Then let's introduce you, Hubby."

"...Wait, what?"

Rostelina smiled.

Pierre gave her a blank look. And then he narrowed his eyes. "No. Rostelina, no. This is a terrible idea."

"You worry too much! Just leave it to me, okay? We just need a bit of hair dye, a mask, and then it'll work out fine! Besides, I've missed you a lot. You won't leave me alone again, will you, Master?" Rostelina finished with a puppy dog look.

Pierre stared at her and then let out a deep and suffering sigh.

-LIV-

The Greyrat family household, inside the living room. There, a group of four women sat around the table while a man awkwardly stood off to the side. Zenith, Lilia, Rose, and Rostelina.

Rostelina smiled and said, "See, Zenny? I told you I had a man!"

"...Uh-huh." Zenith eyed the mysterious man that Rostelina brought back with her.

The first thing that stuck out was his mask.

It was plain. A pure white slab that looked carved out of marble with just thin slits for the eyes.

The second thing that stuck out was his hair, a deep violet hue that looked like the night sky. It was also a bit messy, with his bangs draping over the top of his mask.

And the third thing that stuck out was the fact that Zenith couldn't see any mana from him.

Ever since Rudy had given her the ability to see mana, she had used it on everyone she saw. And everyone she had seen had at least a little bit of colored mana floating around inside of them.

But the man was empty. Not a single speck of light flickered from within him. And even his sword was empty, which was strange since metal usually at least had a thread of earth mana hovering around.

Zenith frowned and said, "...And what's your man's name, Lina?"

"Perry!"

"Perry."

"Yep!"

Zenith stared at 'Perry' and said, "...And is there a reason why he isn't talking for himself?"

Rostelina hugged 'Perry' and said, "This dummy recently went adventuring and got this cursed mask stuck on his face. It's harmless and will fall off in a few weeks, but until then he can't say a word."

"Right..." Zenith glanced over at Lilia and said, "What do you think, Lily?"

Lilia stared at the masked man, frowning. "...Your name is Perry?"

The man nodded.

"Perry... Is that a pet name for Pierre?"

The man paused and then shook his head.

"Hm..." Lilia didn't look convinced. But after a while, she nodded and said, "Well. If you are Rostelina's beloved, I suppose it's fine no matter who you are. Just know that our other guests won't take kindly to you disturbing them. Understand?"

'Perry' nodded and stuck up his thumb.

Lilia shook her head.

Rose looked at Perry and then back at Rostelina. "...Mother-in-law."

Rostelina looked back and said, "Yes, Dear?"

"Have I said yet how you have a strange taste in men?"

Rostelina laughed.

Perry placed his hand over his mask and shook his head.

[author] Now with all the pieces lined up for the end of disc 1, time to do some time skips. Probably. Maybe? :fingerscrossed:[/author]