[Fortress City, Roa]
Stepping into the void, Ash arrived in the next moment at the familiar large estate in the core district of the city where he had first settled... inside the room where he had once stayed for a long time.
However, the place was covered in dust, clearly untouched for quite some time.
But as he walked out of the room, he spotted a letter in the living room, with Roxy's name written on it.
"Come to think of it... is she still in that village now? Or..."
With curiosity, he picked up the envelope. Its contents were as expected. Roxy explaining her travel plans.
The gist was that she had already left this place, and because her two disciples had been too outstanding, she had been discouraged and no longer planned to continue working as a teacher. She intended to follow his advice and return to her hometown, to take a look around the Demon Continent.
At the very end of the letter, there was a final line.
[When we parted that day, perhaps we will never meet again. You may never see this letter, but even so, I want to say, if chance allows, if we can meet again, I hope to sincerely apologize to you... I'm truly sorry. I really am not fit to be your master, whether in talent or in character.]
"Suddenly getting so heavy, huh. Though... well, if it were me, I'd probably have a hard time letting go too? Maybe even want to die?"
Ash read the words on the letter, shook his head with a wry smile, and casually stuffed it into his pocket without saying anything more.
Though parting this way did feel a bit regrettable, life was always full of regrets.
Life can't be perfect; regrets are what make it life. That phrase came to mind from who knows where, but he didn't plan to go looking for Roxy specifically.
After all, this world was so vast, and the Demon Continent seemed enormous too. Going to find her would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It was easier to give up, and that was more in line with how demons did things... no, more in line with a traveler's mindset.
With a faint trace of melancholy, he silently walked out of the house and headed toward the lord's castle.
Just as Gall had said before, now all he had to do was announce his name and people would be scared weak in the knees. Walk forward, and the path would clear on its own, but...
"That perverted princess is already weird enough. Until I send her off, I should avoid causing any unnecessary trouble."
Planning to visit that strange muscle woman to relax his mind, Ash decided to keep a low profile.
Of course, both sides were probably pretty weird, one mentally abnormal, the other physically abnormal.
But perverted as that princess was, she was indeed very pretty, and he worried he might accidentally develop some strange interests himself... then he probably wouldn't be able to face his hometown folks again, given how young she really was.
As for Ghislaine, one look at her back made him feel like he was no different from an enlightened monk, though he didn't want to look, seeing her made him recall certain things and forced him into sage mode.
So meeting her when necessary actually worked wonders for him.
———
Skillfully avoiding the patrolling guards, Ash silently infiltrated the castle and accurately found Ghislaine's room.
Sitting on the windowsill, looking at that chocolate-skinned muscle-bound female warrior, he couldn't help but show an affectionate smile, "Mhm... as expected, seeing you really puts my mind at ease."
"What?"
Ghislaine, who had been fully focused on doing squats to train her power-packed body, was startled by Ash's voice out of nowhere. Her movements froze, and his abrupt words left her utterly baffled.
"I mean, seeing you again after so long feels wonderful."
Ash explained with a smile, sincerity in his eyes.
It was the kind of emotion one feels when seeing an old acquaintance after going through so much... at least that's how it looked.
"What, you want a reunion hug?", Ghislaine's mind immediately went to the enthusiastic greetings adventurers often exchanged when meeting again after a long time, so without overthinking it, she strode over to him.
Ash was taken aback. He'd thought he could accept it, but seeing her drenched in sweat, he quickly waved his hands: "I'll just. Ah..."
He couldn't even finish before Ghislaine had already spread her arms and pulled him into an embrace, instantly making him lose his soul and go rigid on the spot.
Ash had once longed for a touching hug.
Too bad everyone he knew had strange personalities, and a touching hug had never quite worked out.
Normally, being embraced by Ghislaine, who fit his tastes perfectly with her big breasts and onee-san qualities, should have made him happy, but...
'This is my first time being held by a beautiful big-breasted older sister, yet... why does it feel just as bad as when that perverted princess Ariel wet my bed?'
Ash wore a look of a dead man, but out of politeness, he couldn't bring himself to push her away.
Ariel had shattered his former filter for princesses, and now Ghislaine, after already ruining his love for beast-eared girls, was following up by ruining his love for big-breasted onee-sans as well.
"What's wrong? So happy you've gone limp?", Ghislaine, noticing that his feet weren't even supporting him anymore, shook the man in her arms with displeasure.
"Y-yeah... this is the first time I've ever had such a happy hug..."
"What, even you can say nice things like that? If you want, I don't mind doing this much anytime."
"As expected of the bold representative, the Amazon's champion Ghislaine. But..."
Her overly warm and friendly attitude left Ash, who had wanted to scold her for not reading the room or understanding his tone, forcing his bitter smile and words back down his throat.
He had come to relax and check on an old friend, but Ash ended up being hugged to the point of questioning life itself, unable to stop himself from sighing over his misfortune.
Because his remark had made Ghislaine misunderstand, and she had no intention of letting him go. But since he'd said those things, he couldn't exactly push her away forcefully either... leaving him to pray that someone would come rescue him soon.
And then, perhaps thanks to his good karma from everyday virtuous deeds, the door suddenly swung open from the outside.
"Ghislaine! Teach me today—what the? In heat or something?"
Accompanying that youthful yet rough voice were... even cruder words.
"Are all kids these days like this? No, Roxy and Sylphie are at least normal? So it's just noble kids who have issues?"
Ash instinctively looked toward the voice, and when he saw the girl standing in the doorway, he blinked, then his face unconsciously broke into his usual expression of disgust.
He couldn't even help muttering his thoughts aloud.
The girl at the door was quite cute. Big eyes like rubies, though their corners tilted upward with an overly spirited look. Her shoulder-length curly hair was a vivid, brilliant red, like burning flames. She wore a white top with a dark brown knee-length skirt and white stockings.
This outfit and face, on any other girl, would normally give off an impression of pure innocence, inspiring affection in anyone who looked.
But... on this little girl before him, that was not the case at all.
She was clearly cute and dressed elegantly, yet standing there with hands on her hips, chin slightly raised, her eyes carried a sharp, fierce energy, like a little tiger ready to bare its claws at any moment, radiating an aura that made people think twice about provoking her.