The Boreas household's schedule had no such thing as an after-lunch nap.
After the meal, with blood flowing to their stomachs, the three children felt a bit sluggish, with only Alan and Ghislaine seeming unaffected.
Normally, one would feel drowsy at this time. Alan was even prepared for Eris to make a lightning-fast escape to the stables for a nap the moment they turned a corner.
But she didn't.
Why?
On one hand, eating with "companions" was a rare experience for Eris, who had grown up in "loneliness" for so many years. It was novel, and she enjoyed it. The young lady was happy, and her steps were light. When people are experiencing the 'joy of a group' and their dopamine levels are high, they often subconsciously refuse to make decisions that would separate them from the group. For Eris, this meant that the usual thought of skipping class to sleep alone never even crossed her mind, even if she wasn't consciously aware that she was in the midst of this 'joy of a group.' Her instincts had already made the decision for her.
On the other hand, it was because of Sauros's casual praise. He was the number one person she sought to emulate, which showed just how much she adored her grandfather. And her grandfather's praise was tied to her lessons. Therefore, the lessons no longer felt tedious. At least, not right after receiving that praise.
And so, under Eris's energetic and proactive lead, the group headed out to the courtyard to begin their afternoon tutoring sessions.
Magic and swordsmanship.
Those should be outdoor lessons, right? Nothing wrong with that.
This move disrupted Rudeus's original plan to hold a magic theory class, but when he saw Eris so full of energy, he didn't feel flustered by the change. Instead, he felt relieved.
The magic lesson should go smoothly now, Rudeus thought.
However.
An hour later, cruel reality taught him that this was not the case.
"Oh, great blessing of water, I ask you to descend upon this place. Manifest here, a cool, gentle stream—Waterball!"
As Ghislaine and Eris chanted in unison, with a soft gurgle, a miniature water ball, slightly larger than a marble, appeared in front of Ghislaine's palm. It dropped onto the grass with a splat, shattering into a crystalline flower.
Next to her, Eris's palm remained empty.
The scene was all too real. Reflected in the eyes of Alan, Sylphie, and Rudeus, it left the three of them silent.
This was Eris's 53rd failed attempt at casting Waterball.
And, as expected, Eris's good mood and enthusiasm for learning had been completely worn away by the repeated failures.
Rudeus looked at Eris's tense little face and was silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly started clapping!
"Great! Not bad! A little more effort, and you'll definitely get it next time! Eris, the muscles in your arm are twitching… Don't just focus on forcing it with your arm muscles. You don't even need to feel the flow of mana. Just relax your body…"
Eris clenched her outstretched hand into a fist, as if trying to crush her 'failure.'
She glanced at Rudeus through gritted teeth, her anger seeping out with each word. At that moment, Rudeus shrank back. He thought he saw the flames of a red dragon spewing from her mouth, but after blinking, he realized it was just his imagination.
But the red dragon had already begun to roar!
"Are you clapping to mock me?!"
Rudeus froze. His encouragement-based teaching method was inspired by Sauros's praise from earlier. Hearing Eris not only reject it but also retort with hostility, a surge of anger rose within him. But in the next instant, he took a deep breath to suppress his temper and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.
"Not at all. It's normal to face some difficulties when you're first learning magic, but as long as you work hard…"
"What is this?! Why do I have to learn magic?!"
Rudeus covered his face in exasperation.
Here we go again, the twisted logic of a kid who doesn't want to study.
"…Mastering magic might not be very significant for a swordsman, but the process of learning magic itself can make your mind more flexible…"
"I'm asking why! I have to learn! Magic! I'm not asking! What I can do! After learning magic!"
Rudeus was taken aback, completely stumped by her question.
"Uh… magic itself is very interesting, and you get a great sense of accomplishment when you cast it?"
"I don't!"
"Um… well, aren't you interested in adventurers and labyrinths? Perhaps after becoming an adventurer, you'll need magic…"
"I have my sword! Ghislaine doesn't know magic either, and she's still an adventurer!"
Ghislaine, standing nearby, looked like she wanted to say something, but after a moment of deliberation, she looked down at the damp patch of grass and scratched her head helplessly. She didn't seem to have much ground to stand on.
Seeing Ghislaine's reaction, Eris's eyes lit up. She turned and pointed at Alan, whose expression was a bit grave.
"Does Alan know magic?!"
At her words, Rudeus was truly stunned. In his memory, Alan had never shown any desire to learn magic. Even with Roxy, a wielder of a God-class name, right beside him, he had been completely focused on swordsmanship. Rudeus genuinely didn't know if Alan could use magic or not.
Alan, who was suddenly dragged into the conversation, was also baffled. Could he use magic? Not a damn bit! If it weren't for Eris and Ghislaine repeating the incantation 53 times just now, he would have even mispronounced several words of the Waterball chant.
He didn't know jack shit.
His one and only pathetic attempt at practicing magic as a child to increase his mana was reading the Gust spell from a textbook. He chose it because it was the beginner-level spell least likely to leave a trace. Although it did slightly increase his mana reserves afterward, he realized after that first try that he couldn't copy Rudeus's method of building up mana. The 'god-tier' mana recovery rate after using it was just too slow; it would interfere with his Touki (Fighting Spirit) training during his 'childhood phase.'
So he had never seriously studied it and truly didn't know magic.
And just now, from Eris's resistance to learning magic, he realized something. In this timeline, without the kidnapping and the subsequent big firework display, Eris truly lacked the necessary motivation to learn magic.
Would it be effective if Rudeus set off another firework?
No. In the original story, the significance of the firework for Eris wasn't just the magic itself. It was the life-and-death experience of being kidnapped that deeply etched the 'brand' of the exploding fireball into her eyes. Even if he set one off now, the pretty visual effects wouldn't outweigh the "hardship" of learning magic. How could she possibly study properly?
Alan fell into thought.
While he was contemplating this, Rudeus finally lost his patience and began to argue back with the 'unreasonable young lady.'
"…A-… what does it matter if Alan can do it? Alan knows the 'Flow' technique, do you? Look, I'm only teaching you because I'm your magic tutor, to fulfill Lord Philip's request. Are you going to defy your own father's decision?"
"Hah? I won't learn! Ghislaine doesn't know how!"
"Ghislaine is Ghislaine! Ghislaine doesn't need to know magic!"
"Alan doesn't know it either! So I don't need to know magic either!"
Rudeus's face twitched for a long moment, and he squeezed the words out from between his teeth.
"Alan doesn't know magic? Do you have any idea what a genius is? Just because you've never seen him use it, you think he can't? He just doesn't deign to learn it!"
"Hah? Ghislaine doesn't know it! Why would Alan know magic? You're lying, shorty!"
"Who's lying to you?"
"You are!"
"Me! You! Who says Alan doesn't know magic?!"
"I do!"
"A-… Alan knows magic!!"
His contemplation didn't stop Alan from gathering information from his surroundings. Hearing Rudeus blurt this out in a fit of anger, his mouth twitched.
What is this?
This exchange immediately reminded him of a joke from his past life about kids bragging about their dads.
'My dad can make money!'
'My dad can fly!'
'My! My! My dad can eat shit!'
Alan swallowed hard.
Dammit, I really can't eat… I mean, do magic! What the hell are you doing, Rudeus? How could you drag me into this?!
He immediately looked up, about to profess his innocence.
"I…"
But before he could get the words out, his expression froze.
In his line of sight, Eris, Sylphie, Ghislaine, and Rudeus had all turned to him with 'inquisitive' gazes.
It was quite the 'scorching' stare!
As Alan stared back at the four of them, dumbfounded, the system panel, never one to miss out on the fun, materialized as a cloud of dust before his face.
[Current Stage: Youth Tutor Period. Cumulative Participation Score: 44 points.]
[Only two days have passed in the tutor period, and you have already left your 'mark' upon Philip, Eris, Sauros, and Hilda.]
[It may seem like there are no further opportunities to increase your participation score, but how could improving your score be so inconvenient?]
[You have already sown the seeds for increasing your tutor period score during your childhood. Has Sylphie ever studied magic together with Rudeus and Eris before?]
[The protagonist group, having met and bonded ahead of schedule, is that not another mark of your influence?]
[Instant Quest Issued — The Prematurely Formed Mushoku Tensei Protagonist Group.]
[Quest Background: The reading and arithmetic that Eris was unwilling to learn are now progressing smoothly. However, magic, the one subject she wanted to learn in the original story, has become a subject she despises.]
[Quest Requirement: Rekindle Eris's interest in magic. This is a good opportunity to deepen the bond between you, Rudeus, Sylphie, and Eris. Note: The goal is not just to make Eris learn magic, but to deepen your relationships with each other.]
[Quest Reward: Participation Score: 6 points.]
[Quest, Begin!]
[Countdown: 10 minutes.]
The words danced cheerfully. Alan's eyes widened.
He hadn't paid any attention to the score for the past two days, nor had he actively sought any quests. He knew the tutor period was long and there would be plenty of time. His own internal 'dilemma' was a more pressing matter to consider.
But now the system had popped up and given him a quest on its own.
'Why didn't you show up during the morning lesson? You spew all this official-sounding nonsense, but I bet you only showed up now because you smelled some drama, right?'
[Nonsense. I am a respectable person.]
'You're a person?'
[I am your god?]
'Get lost.'
[Okay.]
The telepathic exchange was swift. The dust dissipated, and Alan, feeling the four gazes on him, felt like he was in an impossible situation.
This time, he had absolutely no idea how to approach this quest.
"Well… uh…"
"Alright."
He had intended to just say that he really couldn't do magic, but if he said that, what if Eris just gave up and refused to learn?
The mana cost for an intermediate-level attack spell like Waterball should be fine… it's probably about a third of what a mid-level healing sigil uses, maybe even less. Magic itself uses chanting to draw out the mana from one's own body. As long as I'm not as tense as Eris, casting Waterball should be no problem…
With that thought, he met their gazes and reluctantly walked forward.
He held out his hand, palm open, in front of him. Under their curious stares, he recited the incantation Eris had repeated so many times.
"Oh, great blessing of water, I ask you to descend upon this place. Manifest here, a cool, gentle stream—Waterball!"
As soon as he finished, Alan felt the mana in his body being drawn towards the palm of his hand.
Immediately after, threads of moisture from the air were pulled into his palm, instantly forming a water ball the size of a human head.
Before their wide eyes, the bright afternoon light passed through the water ball, creating rolling waves of color.
A smile appeared on Rudeus's lips, and he was about to say something to the wide-eyed Eris.
In the next instant, in his peripheral vision, the newly formed water ball fell straight down from Alan's palm to the ground.
It shattered into a splash of water with a loud 'splat.'
Rudeus's mouth hung open. He glanced at Alan, whose face was flushed with embarrassment, then at Ghislaine, who was blinking rapidly as she looked at the grass at her feet, and finally turned his gaze to Eris.
A brilliant, triumphant smile had split her face.
"See! Alan can't do it! So I don't have to learn either!"
Her voice was loud and clear.
Everyone fell silent.
Alan looked painfully at the puddle on the ground, then turned to Rudeus, who was covering his face.
"Uh… after you create the water ball, are you supposed to keep outputting mana to maintain it or something…?"
Rudeus, having failed in his first attempt to call upon Alan the Doraemon for help, replied listlessly.
"Lord Alan… you really can't do magic? Did all your talent points go into swordsmanship?"
"..."
"That's right…"
Eris watched their interaction happily. The fact that Alan couldn't do magic didn't diminish her opinion of him at all. In fact, it gave her a greater sense of 'kinship' with him.
See!
Grandpa can't do magic! Ghislaine can't do magic! Eris can't do magic either!
So of course Alan can't do magic!
And he really can't!
Perfect!
Now I don't have to learn magic either!
With that thought, Eris opened her mouth to deliver her victory speech.
In the next moment, Sylphie, who had walked up from Alan's side, took her hand.
No, to be precise, she took hold of the hilt of the sword in Eris's hand.
Sylphie looked down at the sword in Eris's hand, a reminiscent look in her eyes. She smiled gently.
"I used to want to learn swordsmanship too, you know. But in the end, I chose to learn magic."
This sentence made Eris pause. Rudeus also turned his head to look at Sylphie. He suddenly remembered that two years ago, when he first met Sylphie, she had been just like Eris, wanting to learn swordsmanship with all her heart.
Not magic.
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