Citadel of Roa

Ghislaine decided to leave with Rudeus the next day after her test. Since the journey to Roa would take 6 or 7 hours on a horse carriage and it was already evening, Paul and Zenith invited Ghislaine to spend the night so that they would not have to travel through the night.

Before he left however, Rudeus went to say his farewell to the people he knew in Buena Village.

Soma and the other kids who he wasn't very close to wished him luck. The details of his departure were not disclosed. All he told them was that he was leaving go learn swordsmanship under a master he had met.

Sylphiette had a hard time letting him go, but she still managed to gradually accept it. Ever since accepting her as his student, Rudeus did not only teach her magic and swordsmanship. He also occasionally helped to build her confidence and make friends with the other village children.

She had been reluctant at first, but with his assurances that he won't let her get bullied, she agreed.

As a result, Rudeus would occasionally bring Sylphiette with him when he went to play with Soma and the other kids.

Though they disliked her at first, they were still willing to give Rudeus face and reluctantly played with her as well. After a month or two, both Sylphiette and the other kids had completely forgotten how they used to bully her before.

Children could be cruel, true, but none of them actually had any real grievances or long-lasting hatred towards each other. Sylphiette had only been bullied because she was different; basically the most common reason why any kid was bullied.

They might have only played with Sylphiette at first to give Rudeus face, but once Soma and the rest got to know her better and came to realize on their own that she was just a regular kid like them, they started recognizing her as one of them ever since.

She was even surprisingly good at soccer as well, which gave her plenty of street cred with the village children.

So it wasn't as though Sylphiette had no other friends in the village aside from Rudeus, which was why she was able to accept his departure a little easier, albeit a little teary eyed. She was very grateful to Rudeus after all, for teaching her so much and helping her make friends with the other kids.

(A/N: I just want to point out that at this point in canon, Rudeus was actively grooming Sylphiette, a 6 year old child, to 'raise her as a type he likes'. Quoted directly from the novel. Fucking disgusting human trash. He isolates her from the other children, practically assuring that he is the only friend she has, and refers to her as 'something that only belongs to him', another quote from the novel.)

That night, the Greyrat household held a farewell party for Rudeus. The mood wasn't as sombre as compared to when he had first asked them if he could leave Buena Village. Instead, they were celebrating Rudeus being received as a disciple by a Sword King and his new employment as a bodyguard / magic tutor.

Zenith, though reluctant to let Rudeus go, did not want their farewell party to be sullen, so she had forced herself to smile and cheer for her son. She decided that if she couldn't stop Rudeus from leaving, then the least she could do was be happy and supportive of his decision.

She pulled out some keepsakes she wanted him to bring to Roa with him, such as a strip of linen cloth Zenith wanted to tie around his wrist, reminiscent to the one he had given Roxy. Rudeus thought that his mother might have been a little jealous of how close he was to Roxy.

He didn't tie it around his wrist but instead he wrapped it around the handle of Blue Fang.

"This way I will feel like I am holding Mama's hand every time I hold my sword."

"Kyaa! Rudeus is still so cute even though he is leaving soon."

Rudeus let himself be enveloped by the bodacious hug from his mother with a smile. After all, it would be a long time until he would receive another such hug.

On the other side of the spectrum of sentimentality, Paul whispered tips and tricks on how to seduce noble girls into Rudeus' ear whenever he thought Zenith wasn't watching.

"Nobles' daughters are generally very haughty, so you can't approach them like you would normal girls. Impress them with adventuring stories, show off your skills. They are typically sheltered and ignorant of such things, so they get amazed very easily."

Rudeus shook his head at the extent of his father's knowledge. He truly was a promiscuous man. Rather than soft and doughy noble girls, he was more interested in swordswomen like Ghislaine.

As though noticing how he sometimes glanced at Ghislaine who was also sitting at the dinner table, Paul gave a roguish grin, "Well, there are also some noble girls who like swinging swords too, so they have a pretty good body. For them, you just need to defeat them with your sword and then you can defeat them with your 'sword'."

Rudeus blushed at accidentally revealing what he thought were well concealed thoughts, but he still took mental notes on what Paul was saying.

Lilia made a strange promise about how her daughter Aisha will serve him in the future, so he had to take care of himself and come back safely. Rudeus thought she was just making a weird joke so he did not put much weight to her words.

Rudeus also learned more about the noble family he was going to be employed by from Ghislaine.

He would be going to the Boreas household of the Greyrat dukedom. The Boreas family ruled over the Fittoa Region of their Asura Kingdom. They resided in the Citadel of Roa, which was the center of trade and commerce in the Fittoa Region.

Rudeus already knew that he was technically part of the Notos household, even though Paul had stripped away his Notos name after getting into a fight with his father and leaving. So he assumed that the Boreas family surely knew of this as well. Though he wasn't sure what his status as Paul's son would be like in the Boreas household, he discarded that thought to the back of his mind.

He also found out that the noble young lady he would be teaching was named Eris Boreas Greyrat. She was two years older than him and was technically a distant cousin.

Ghislaine described her as an energetic child who loved to run and play more than studying and reading books.

'Her personality seems similar to mine. That's good. At least we won't be too different. And she can also be considered a distant cousin of mine as well.'

Rudeus had been worried the young noble lady he would be protecting and teaching would be too incompatible. There was much he was willing to endure in order to learn from Ghislaine, but he would not complain if wasn't too difficult.

The farewell party soon came to an end. The next morning, Rudeus left Beuna Village alongside his new master.

----

The journey to Roa took roughly 6 and a half hours as predicted, and could not have arrived too soon in Rudeus' opinion. Being stuck in a tight carriage with Ghislaine who only wore what amounted to a micro bikini top, while her chest bounced around wildly thanks to the bumpy carriage ride…

Rudeus was glad he only had a child's body and was biologically incapable of becoming aroused. Otherwise, it would have been a very uncomfortable journey indeed.

Aside from the obvious distractions, Ghislaine had also spent the time sharing her knowledge on swordsmanship with Rudeus. Especially her insights the Sword God style, in which she had achieved King rank, were incredibly profound.

It was late afternoon when the duo arrived. Rudeus had stared at the city walls in awe when the carriage first stopped at the city gates. Their architecture did not match the level of technology of this world, but Earth magic had obviously played a large part in this continent's civil engineering.

The city was like a giant fortress, with tall ramparts, 7 to 8 metres in height, wrapping around the city. Even the city gates was exaggeratedly large, towering over the travellers awaiting their entry into the city.

Since Ghislaine was rather well known amongst the city guards as a retainer of the Boreas family, their entry into the city was expedited.

Rudeus leaned against the windows of the carriage in joyous wonder, taking in the sight of a medieval fantasy city. The streets were bustling, though the area inside the city closest to the gates was lined with stables and inns.

As the carriage continued deeper into the city, Rudeus started seeing rows of merchant stalls that had been erected along the main road. Ghislaine elaborated on the structure of the city as he watched the busy streets from inside the carriage.

The Boreas estate was located in the heart of the city, with a main road that led directly from the city gates to the property. One would imagine such a urban planning was horrendous when it came to defending the city, if there was a direct path that led right to the lord's manor. But you also had to remember Earth magic that could rapidly raise earthen walls existed in this world.

The concept of sieges and castle defence was, as a result, completely different from how Earthlings understood them.

The deeper they went into the city, the taller the buildings and the grander they became as well. The pedestrians that walked along the streets also looked like they wore finer clothing, as compared to the rougher linen and leather in the outer city.

Master and disciple arrive at the mansion, deep in the city, and stop at the gates of the estate.

Ghyslaine poked her head out of the carriage to verify her identity, and the guards immediately rushed to open the gates and ushered us in.

'It is indeed convenient to travel alongside someone as famous and well respected as my master.' Rudeus observed.

The two of them alighted from the carriage while the driver drove off somewhere after reaching their destination. They were then greeted by a prim and proper looking butler who escorted them to a guest room.