Mushoku Tensei: The Fool Magician

But in the final, critical moment, she ultimately couldn't hold on any longer.

There are times when enduring pain isn't something that sheer willpower can completely withstand.

As it seemed that the opponent was about to fall unconscious, Roy deliberately slowed the flow of his magical energy. Finally, after a long three-hour process, the magic seed was successfully planted.

What Roy had planted was the complete version of the Magic Seed.

Elena's will lingered on the brink of unconsciousness.

Feeling the magic seed pulsing violently within her, Roy smiled.

This would do. His first subordinate was now his number one lackey.

Elena, feeling the surge of power flowing through her body, finally relaxed and lost consciousness completely.

Roy, carrying the little girl, hurried back the way they came. Though he had promised her freedom—well, at least not to act too quickly—there were still some loose ends to tie up.

In the silent night, a shadow flashed by and finally stopped on the street from which they had come.

The aging middle-aged man remained standing in place, not leaving.

However, when his gaze landed on the girl in Roy's arms, his expression changed. With a swift motion, his left hand instinctively reached for his sword, and he shouted angrily at Roy, "What have you done to her?"

There was no mistake; the girl in Roy's arms was on the brink of death. Her aura was unstable, her face was pale, and the visible folds in her clothes hinted at her pain. Her expression was one of agony.

He couldn't even begin to imagine what had happened.

As her father, who had watched over her since she was a child, his face grew serious, and an overwhelming presence emanated from him.

The black robe fluttered in the night, and with a voice that carried a mature tone, he spoke again: "Weakling, I am not the filthy person you think I am."

Roy stepped in front of him and placed the unconscious girl in his hands. The man stood frozen, before noticing that Elena was only unconscious and unharmed. He breathed a sigh of relief.

After a moment of contemplation, Roy addressed this so-called elder brother—actually, her father—with a calm voice: "Don't worry. I merely gave her power, but gaining power is never simple. Once she resolves the bond between you two, I will come for her again. Until then, farewell, weakling."

With his new subordinate acquisition plan complete, Roy felt a mild sense of satisfaction as he made his way home.

The mission had gone smoothly. Now, it was time to focus on training his magical abilities, as well as instructing Eris and Rudius.

Returning to his room without a sound, Roy lay down on the bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Roy woke feeling refreshed. Though he had returned late the night before, his mental recovery was swift, and he was fully restored in about three hours.

The reason he didn't get up immediately was because he was enjoying his time with his soft companion in another world.

It was nice to be undisturbed.

Roy got up, dressed, and walked outside.

A new day had begun.

In the morning's magic class, Roy taught how to sense the magical energy within and how to cast new spells.

In truth, aside from her tentative grasp on fire magic, Eris was completely clueless about everything else.

But Roy hadn't expected to teach her everything so quickly.

After the magic lessons, Eris begrudgingly turned to her most hated task: reading, writing, and arithmetic.

On a whim, Roy pulled out an old problem from his past life—the famous "chickens and rabbits in the same cage" question—and asked the two of them to solve it together.

Eris didn't need to say much, and neither did Rudius—he was just as confused.

They stared blankly at the arithmetic problem in front of them, struggling to comprehend.

There are several chickens and rabbits in a cage. From above, there are 35 heads, and from below, there are 94 feet. How many chickens and how many rabbits are in the cage?

Despite the oddness of the problem, Rudius had some natural talent. Though the question seemed strange, based on his past life experiences, he managed to come up with an answer. Unfortunately, it was wrong.

Under Roy's disdainful gaze, Rudius awkwardly smiled, scratching his head in embarrassment.

There was no helping it—he had forgotten everything from high school and middle school once he became a recluse.

Roy began explaining the solution, though he only offered a few casual remarks. His main goal was to teach Eris, not waste time on Rudius, the fool.

Though Rudius had been a recluse in his past life, as the saying goes, a person should be treated with respect after three days apart, especially one who had been reincarnated. After a moment of thought, he understood the general solution.

This problem, in essence, was a system of linear equations. If taught properly, it could help elementary school students grasp basic concepts like unknowns and equations, and improve their ability to abstract numbers from real-world problems.

However, for Eris, this was clearly beyond her level. There was no way she could solve it right now.

Without thinking, Roy glanced over at Eris, who was absentmindedly counting on her fingers. After a brief moment, he realized this was something she wouldn't be able to solve.

Knowing this, Roy decided to simplify things for her. He gave her a set of basic addition and subtraction problems, saving the more complex one for later, as a challenge for her to tackle when she was ready.

As Eris continued to do the simpler arithmetic, she started to get drowsy. Eventually, she lowered her head, her eyelids drooping, and before long, she had drifted off into a light sleep.

Her little sneaky nap didn't escape Roy's notice, of course. But he didn't wake her immediately. After about five minutes, he tapped her forehead lightly, neither too hard nor too soft.

Startled, Eris jolted awake, her eyes blurry as she looked up at Roy.

She glanced down at the paper, a frown forming on her face as she reluctantly continued her work.

That forty-minute lesson felt like an eternity to her.

Eventually, when Eris left the living room with an excited look on her face, Roy couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.

In the afternoons, he practiced swordplay. In the mornings and at noon, he taught Eris magic, arithmetic, and writing.

During his free time, he occasionally ventured into town as an adventurer, taking on easy tasks.

His adventurer rank steadily rose, and by night, he would switch to his shadowy alter ego to take a stroll, checking in on his little pupil and casually teaching her a trick or two.

Whether she was confused or not at those late hours wasn't Roy's concern.

Elena's troubles were not insignificant, but they weren't catastrophic either.

The nobleman had hired a group of bandits and a skilled fighter, intending to go after Elena.

Roy had already gathered all the information he needed, staying in the shadows to see how Elena would handle the situation.

He wasn't looking for brute force.

Thankfully, Elena didn't disappoint him. The bandits weren't particularly strong, and the toughest among them was just an average intermediate swordsman.

The main problem was their numbers.

Upon sensing something was amiss, Elena initially feigned weakness, using the terrain to her advantage to easily evade the bandits. She then hid in the shadows, waiting for their leader to pass by the street corner. When he did, she struck swiftly, slitting his throat.

Without their leader, the bandits fell like helpless chickens, each knocked out by Elena's single punch.

When Roy saw Elena act so decisively, especially in taking down the middle-aged swordsman, his eyebrows lifted in surprise. He hadn't expected her to be so ruthless.

For an eight-year-old to be so cold-hearted and efficient in ending a life—it was impressive.

However, that wasn't enough.

The real threat had just arrived.

A man dressed in elaborate silk robes emerged from the shadows, a mocking smile on his face as he looked at Elena.

Despite his luxurious attire, his eyes held a lecherous gleam, continuously sizing Elena up.

As he walked toward her, he clapped his hands and taunted, "What a vicious little thing you are. But too bad, you've met me."

This man was a high-ranking swordsman, and to be honest, Roy was somewhat surprised to encounter one in this place.

Elena glared at him, her face grim. The man, grinning lecherously, continued, "That nobleman spent quite a lot of money, you know. Honestly, I'm not sure why he paid me so much, but now that I see you, I can understand why. It's not such a waste after all. So, little girl, why don't you put down your weapon? It might go easier on you."

Elena's eyes remained fixed on him, her grip tightening around her sword. The hilt was a gift from her father, a precious heirloom. The family's wealth was modest, and the importance of a weapon to a warrior was undeniable. A good sword was expensive, and her father had left it to her, thinking he'd never need it again.

In the end, it was the sword her father had given her that truly proved to be useful.

Elena was short, standing at just 1.2 meters tall, and her father's sword nearly matched her height.

Facing such a formidable opponent, Elena wasn't about to waste time with words. She drew her sword and, with ease, brought it to her waist. Her right hand began to channel her magic power, wrapping it around the blade.

Though her swordsmanship was only at an intermediate level, for someone who could channel magic energy into their sword, an advanced swordsman wasn't an insurmountable hurdle.

So, the fight was far from over.

The man gave a slight, regretful smile. "I see you've chosen to struggle, then. I suppose I have no choice but to finish it."

From his sleeves, three throwing knives shot toward Elena like a swarm of darts.

Elena swiftly raised her sword, deflecting each of the hidden weapons with precise flicks, but the man used the brief moment to close in, drawing his curved sword from his waist.

The blade wasn't a straight sword but more of a scimitar, the curve of the blade obvious. He drew it with incredible speed, almost closing the distance to Elena in a single breath.

The man slashed with his curved sword. The angle was sharp, the strike almost impossible to block.

Elena pivoted, her small figure twisting and darting out of the way, adjusting her stance to retaliate.

The strike missed, but the man didn't seem bothered. Elena was quick, but her lack of experience showed. She couldn't keep up with his seasoned skills.

The curved sword swung again, this time with greater force. He wasn't holding back; he could feel the power behind Elena's strike.

The clash of steel rang out as their weapons collided.

The man smiled, seemingly eager for a test of strength.

Elena's blow had indeed surprised him, but it wasn't enough.

She had been training for too short a time, unable to fully control her magic power. Otherwise, how could things have come to this?

She had clearly underestimated her opponent.

The fight grew more dangerous. Roy, watching from the sidelines, found himself silently hoping Elena could win.

But if they continued like this, Elena would inevitably lose. Her opponent was a high-level North God style swordsman, and though Roy had little respect for the North God style, he couldn't deny that these fighters excelled in tricks and deception.

The fact that they had been locked in combat this long showed the man had underestimated Elena's explosive power.

However, once he realized the danger, the man quickly began to fight with full force.

Elena had now found herself in a stalemate.

Though she had great strength for her size, she was still a young girl, not yet fully developed. How could she compete against someone like him?

Elena dodged, both hands gripping the sword tightly as she swung it horizontally toward the man.

But before she could complete her strike, she was forced to change direction. Her sword sliced down to the left as another throwing knife appeared in the man's left hand, hurtling toward her.

Elena was forced to block again, deflecting the knife, but before she could recover, the man's right hand swung the curved blade once more.

Elena barely managed to block the attack, but her defenses were weak. In that instant, the man's strength overpowered her, and she was forced onto the defensive.

In the next moment, the man kicked out with a powerful strike, hitting Elena squarely in the chest.

Elena, in disbelief, felt the crushing force in her abdomen. She was sent flying several meters away.

With a smug look on his face, the man watched Elena tumble through the air.

In that instant, as the swords clashed, the man had already prepared a sneak attack. He hadn't expected to hit Elena directly. The real strike came after, a feint to distract her, while the devastating kick had all the power he could muster.

By the time Elena tried to block his attack, she was already defeated.

Elena's throat tightened as blood spurted from her mouth, the kick knocking the wind out of her and draining nearly half of her combat strength.

Roy silently shook his head. He didn't need to watch any further. It was clear she was going to lose, and badly.

But then, Elena suddenly cried out, "You bastard, die! May the great flame's blessing fall upon you! Wild and furious flames, burn away the great favor! Fireball!"

Elena's words came quickly as she stretched out her hand, immense magical power surging from her fingers. Flames began to gather, swirling around her palm.

The man's eyes narrowed. The moment he saw her movement, he instinctively charged toward her.

***

Bonus Chapter:

100 Power Stones = 1 BC

300 Power Stones = 2 BC

500 Power Stones = 3 BC

700 Power Stones = 4 BC

1000 Power Stones = 5 BC

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