Chapter 490

Having come to Buena Village to stay temporarily for over a month now, and learning that Paul and Zenith were also in this village, Ghislaine would occasionally drop by for a visit.

Zenith's cooking was taught by Keith; occasionally running over to mooch a meal would remind her of the days when she was still in the Black Wolf Party.

Of course, Ghislaine had no dissatisfaction with her current life; it was just that occasionally missing the past wasn't a bad thing either.

This day she came to Paul's house again, knocked on the door, and Paul came out to open it; upon seeing her, he asked with some helplessness, "Want to eat something again?"

"If possible, I'd like to eat the Demon Continent Fried Fish made by Keith."

Ghislaine answered.

"This is the Central Continent; Demon Continent seasonings aren't easy to buy, and the prices aren't cheap either. Zenith and I aren't adventurers anymore, and we have a child to raise at home, so we can't supply that."

Paul started complaining.

"Then ordinary fried fish is fine; this is a letter for you."

Ghislaine took a letter from her pocket and handed it over; after receiving it, Paul asked with some surprise, "Is this a letter you wrote?"

"Do I look like someone who's literate?"

"Then whose is it?"

"It's a letter Lord Philip wrote to you."

"Ah, why would he write me a letter?"

"I don't know that; the letter's been given to you, so I'm leaving. If there's fried fish, send it to where I'm staying now."

"Hey, Ghislaine..."

Paul shouted from behind, but the Big Dog Girl just waved her hand and left; she still had to go back and instruct Eris and Sylphy in swordsmanship.

"Ghislaine came?"

Hearing the sound, Zenith walked out.

"She already left."

"Why didn't you keep her?"

"She wanted to eat fried fish."

"Miss Lilia, do we have fish at home?"

"Yes, Madam; there are a few raised in the water jar."

"Prepare to kill them then; we'll make fried fish for noon."

Paul sighed, didn't bother with his wife having Lilia kill fish, and opened the envelope in his hand.

"Hah?"

After reading the contents written in the letter, the man made this sound.

"Dear, what's wrong?"

Zenith, who was scaling fish, couldn't help but look over.

"Philip wants us to help train his daughter's public social skills."

"Eh, is there a problem with that?"

"It's by Noble family standards."

"Uh, how come?"

"Heaven knows what's up with that guy Philip, actually asking someone like me to train his daughter's noble social skills."

Although Paul was once the young master of the Greyrat Family, he had never been interested in those tedious noble etiquettes.

"Zenith, do you understand these things?"

Paul looked at his wife seeking help.

"I do understand, but it's all the noble social situation on the Miris Holy Kingdom side; it probably doesn't match the noble social customs on the Asura Kingdom side, right?"

Zenith was also of noble birth; before meeting Paul, she was an extremely excellent Young Lady, but not a noble from the Asura Kingdom side.

And noble social etiquette between different countries across continents can differ vastly; if a discourteous act is committed, that would be a face-losing matter.

Of course, it doesn't matter if their whole family loses face, since they're practically half removed from noble circles anyway; but if they teach wrong noble social knowledge while training the Boreas Family child's noble social skills, causing the other party to lose face later, then it's the Boreas Family's face that's lost, and that would be trouble.

"Can we refuse?"

Zenith thought for a bit, then asked.

"That guy Philip is using the matter of helping us settle in Buena Village as leverage, wanting our whole family to properly repay this favor of his."

When Paul originally brought his pregnant wife looking for a place to settle, they encountered quite a few difficulties; even going against their conscience to take the team's last adventure commission, making Zenith live a stable good life afterwards wasn't that simple either.

In the end it was Philip who helped them, allowing him to settle in Buena Village and obtain the easy job of a Guard Captain, even gaining the status of a Lower Noble.

And given the Greyrat Family's internal strife situation, this approach undoubtedly carried risk; once discovered by the Greyrat Main Family on the Ars side, Philip himself would be held accountable, and might even bear the crime of harboring ill intentions toward the Main Family.

Now that the other party mentioned repaying the favor in the letter, it was a situation hard to refuse; Paul also didn't want to be seen as an ungrateful villain.

"Sigh, if there's no way, we'll just go to the city and hire a Noble Etiquette Teacher to cram these noble social knowledge."

Paul said with a sigh, and Lilia, who had already gutted the fish, raised her hand: "If it's just general noble social etiquette, I think I should know it."

"Eh?!"

Paul and his wife looked at her with some surprise.

"Lilia, you shouldn't be a noble, right?"

"I indeed am not a noble, but my previous job was an Inner Court Guard of the Asura Kingdom Royal Palace; I've more or less learned noble social etiquette from the palace etiquette teachers, and witnessed many noble social occasions. Of course, if Madam and Master are uneasy..."

"Rest assured, how could we not be at ease? Then everything is entrusted to you, Lilia; your salary will be increased by one Silver Coin."

"No, that's not necessary."

"It's necessary, it's necessary; after all, the cost of hiring a teacher to teach noble etiquette is far more than one Asura Silver Coin."

While Eris was receiving etiquette lessons, Paul's Maid also got a raise because of this matter, and that day Paul explained this matter to his son at the dining table.

"The situation is like this; because your distant Cousin might visit our home at any time, Rudy, you also have to learn some noble etiquette knowledge together with Dad, Mom, and Miss Lilia."

Rudeus: "......"

It had been over three years since he came to this world, and only now did he learn that his family actually had connections to nobility.

"Father, Mother, if it's just a relative visiting, do we really need to be this formal?"

Rudeus feigned innocence and asked; he didn't want to learn knowledge that, even if he learned it, would in all probability never be of use in his future life.

"It's different, Rudeus. This is your cousin's father personally writing a letter to entrust us with training the other party's noble social skills, and he owes our family a debt of gratitude."

Paul didn't explain the details of the favor, but Rudeus still managed to infer a few things from the scattered information.

【It seems that the never-before-met distant cousin is a social recluse, and our family owes her family a favor, and as a family from a fringe village.

Even if the other party did something rude on our side, our family could never mock her for it, let alone spread these matters publicly so other nobles would know.

So, our family became an ideal household for training the other party's social skills.】

"I understand, Father. I will study etiquette under Miss Lilia, but I have some doubts I wonder if you and Mother could clarify for me."

Rudeus felt this was a good opportunity to understand his family situation in this world, so he blinked his eyes at his father and spoke.

"Ask whatever you want to ask."

Paul waved his hand, letting his son ask freely.

"Then, Father, I want to know just what kind of powerful nobles the Boreas family are."

This was Rudeus's first question; figuring out the caliber of his own family's connections might help his future life.

"The Boreas family, huh. They are the lord family of the Fittoa Region, and the land beneath our feet actually counts as theirs......"

Paul roughly explained the Boreas family's situation. Listening, Rudeus clicked his tongue inwardly; he had seen the family map and knew the size of the Fittoa Region, and never expected a backwater family like his could be connected to such a major noble house.

"Then how does our family have relatives like that?"

Rudeus asked again; he needed to clarify just how deep the relationship between the two families ran.

"Because your dad, I was once a child of a major noble family myself......"

Paul looked at his son and, by the way, also explained the Greyrat family's circumstances.

"Ah, so if you hadn't run away from home back then, Dad, I'd be a young master of a major noble family now?"

Rudeus suddenly felt his heart ache. It was the same feeling as buying a lottery ticket, seeing the results, and realizing your numbers were just one digit off the jackpot — missing it by a hair. He could have been born in Rome, but because of his father's failure, he became a country bumpkin.

*Snap—*

Rudeus's head was flicked by Paul.

"What are you saying, brat? If I hadn't left home, how would I have met your mother and had you?"

Rudeus rubbed his sore forehead and apologized, his mood of missing the jackpot by a hair also settling down.

He had no real dissatisfaction with his current family; his mother was beautiful, and there was a pretty maid at home.

Ah, still a bit of a pity though; if they were major nobles, he'd have many beautiful maids to keep him company during his childhood, right?

He could even do excessive things to pretty maids, like burrowing under their skirts, and cowed by his status as a major noble's young master, those maids wouldn't dare resist him.

"Rudeus, any other questions?"

"One last question. I want to know what kind of person that cousin is, so I can receive her better when she visits."

As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated; understanding a stranger lets you better cater to their preferences.

Who knows, maybe his future life's height would depend on the benefits leaking from between the other party's fingers.

"Uh......"

At this, Paul hesitated a bit.

"Father, what's wrong? Could it be you don't know her either?"

That wasn't impossible.

"No, I know her, it's just...... how should I put it......"

Paul looked conflicted but still explained Alice's situation.

"Ah, so the other party is the one who broke someone's front tooth recently?"

Rudeus only felt the sky was falling. When he heard about this before, he thought no matter the world there are violent bullies, and he planned to stay far from such violent people in the future; he never expected he'd have to face her directly before long.

"It wasn't her fault. She only acted to protect another child being bullied; at most she just used excessive force."

Paul hurriedly explained.

"Rudeus, you're an obedient child. As long as you don't make her angry, your cousin definitely won't want to hit you."

Zenith comforted him from the side.

"Mm."

Rudeus nodded. He heard what Paul said, but even so he didn't want to get close to someone dangerous.

Another half month passed. Just as Rudeus was imagining his cousin might be a somewhat violent chubby girl, Alice arrived in a cute dress, visiting as promised.

"I am Alice Boreas. A letter of visit was delivered to your residence recently. Today I have come as promised, representing my father Philip Boreas, to visit Uncle Paul."

Polite and dignified, yet young and adorable, the red-haired girl lifting her skirt in a graceful bow rushed unprepared into Rudeus's vision, directly shattering his imagination of her as a chubby girl.

Rudeus only felt his heartbeat accelerate, his mouth go dry; this feeling was most likely love at first sight or lust at first sight.

The cousin visiting their home before his eyes perfectly matched his fantasy of those perfect medieval noble ladies in a fantasy world.

While Rudeus stood dazed, Paul and Zenith solemnly made their self-introductions and, with the bearing of an aristocratic family, welcomed Alice's visit.

"Rudy......"

Suddenly, the dazed boy's back was poked.

"What is it, Father?"

Rudeus asked subconsciously.

"Self-introduction."

Paul reminded him, then smiled somewhat awkwardly at the red-haired girl opposite.

Eris's eyebrow arched, the corner of her mouth curling upward to reveal a contemptuous expression.

She had come to win back face for her own father; the worse the other side's son performed, the more it proved her superiority.

"I am Rudeus Greyrat. Pleased to meet you, my cousin."

Rudeus hurriedly stepped forward, performing the greeting etiquette commonly seen among Asura Kingdom nobles as he spoke. He had originally thought this was an exercise in noble etiquette, but after Eris entered their home, she began using an attitude that seemed polite but was actually sharp, picking faults everywhere in their household.

"My apologies, perhaps my words went a bit too far, but I truly never expected that Uncle you would actually be living such an impoverished life — your house doesn't even have a single piece of art, unlike my father, who has an entire room of art collection……"

A very classic noble-style mockery. Paul's face showed embarrassment; Zenith frowned with some displeasure, but had no way to refute it.

They could only turn their gazes toward Ghislaine following behind the girl. The Big Dog Girl silently shrugged her shoulders — today was destined to be a solo performance by Eris.

Rudeus had more or less figured it out: the other party had come to pick a fight. Although his three views were somewhat following this cute cousin's features, as a former NEET in his previous life he also had a trait — a psychological super-effectiveness against cute loli-style little female brats, absolutely no cowering.

"Cousin Eris, please forgive my bluntness, but what truly determines whether a person has cultivation is not how many tasteful art collections the other party possesses, but the knowledge and capability inside a person. My father possesses very formidable swordsmanship, but I wonder what your father possesses?"

Eris opened her mouth to speak, yet discovered she somewhat didn't know how to answer. What her father knew — swordsmanship? Never seen it. Magic? Also didn't know. As for the ability to manage a territory, that still belonged to Eris's knowledge blind spot.

"My father is the future heir of the Fittoa Region!"

"Just a noble-born identity? Then my father might not compare."

Rudeus shrugged his shoulders, the look of him saying this was asking for a beating.

"My father, he also has me this excellent daughter!"

【Oh my, starting to compare yourselves? Too bad I'm an otherworld reincarnator, a 34-plus-year-old adult in my last life. Although a NEET, I'm still not something you, this otherworld native little girl, can compare to.】

"My father, also has me this excellent son!"

Rudeus stood straight and said.

"Rudy~"

Beside them, his parents looked at him as if looking at a savior.

"You mean you're more excellent than me?"

Eris's gaze sharply turned toward him — a little brat smaller than herself, yet putting on airs.

"Whether I'm more excellent than you, Cousin, I don't know, but at least I don't believe I'll lose."

"I know Elementary Swordsmanship. What do you know?"

"Uh……"

Only now did Rudeus remember the other party was a guy who could knock out someone's front teeth.

"I recognize many characters."

A person must know to play to their strengths and avoid weaknesses, not compete in things they're not good at, so Rudeus said.

And to prove this point, he even ran upstairs to fetch a storybook and recited the story on it.

Eris leaned her head to peek at the book in Rudeus's hand, and became somewhat speechless.

Because she currently still counted as a semi-illiterate — her literacy was incomplete.

Eris actually also wanted to play to her strengths, but she couldn't very well lift the boy in front of her up and beat him, could she?

"I, I also know magic!"

Etiquette class teachings kept her from making a move to beat someone; Eris could only state the skill she still had.

"Magic, huh. I know that too."

Eris's words made Rudeus realize that in this world knowing magic might not be any taboo; just a slight hesitation, and he exposed this point.

"Eh?!"

This time it was Paul and Zenith's turn to be surprised. They weren't even too clear on their son's literacy, let alone the matter of their son knowing magic.

"Hmph, you're not bluffing, are you!"

Eris spoke and began chanting, condensing a water ball in her hand.

"I'm not bluffing. I don't even need to chant."

Rudeus spread his hand, and a water ball was also condensed.

"Uncle Paul, today my body is somewhat unwell, so I'll return first. Next time I'll come visit again!"

Eris didn't forget her farewell words; having said them through gritted teeth, she left in a huff.

Ghislaine hurriedly followed.

And after Eris left, the Paul household became lively.

"Rudy, when did you become literate?"

"Uh, Mom, you often read stories to me, right? I just remembered them at that time."

"Then what about magic?"

"That was a book I discovered upstairs. After reciting the text on it, I suddenly learned it……"

Just as Rudeus was deeply mired in having exposed his true abilities, being pestered by his parents asking this and that and praising him, falling into a happy troubled state.

Eris ran back to her home in Buena Village, intruded into the already-erected Magic Research Institute, and shouted: "Teacher Roxy, I want to learn more characters!"

"Eh?!"

Roxy was startled by the sudden shout, her hand trembled, and the Enchantment Magic Circle she was inscribing was drawn crooked.

And the Trumpet Water Elemental waiting on the Enchantment Magic Circle, awaiting modification experiment, was affected by the disturbed magic power — Bang! It directly exploded.

Drenching Roxy and the Saiyan boy beside her who was cooperating to control the Water Elemental and conduct an immediate link with the Enchantment Magic Circle in a full body of water.

"Uh……"

The intruding Eris halted her steps, suddenly realizing she seemed to have made a mistake.

"What happened, this is?"

Roxy wiped the water off her face, not minding that this Familiar modification small experiment had failed due to the girl's disturbance.

(Chapter End)