The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

the bed – just the tip of her nose for now.

“…Asley.”

“What is it… Pochi?”

“Promise me… that you won’t ever leave me behind…”

I was at a loss of words.

Could it be because this was the first time I had ever seen Pochi this timid?

Wait, no – it was because of our time together.
Pochi had said what she did because of how long we had been – so long that one could consider it an eternity.

Right… a long, long time… I was at a loss of words because she was the oldest friend I ever had.

“…I should be the one asking you that.”

That was the best reply I could muster up now – barely got it out, even.

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“…Damned fool.”

“Damned furball…”

Pochi withdrew back under the bed, pulling in the bed’s sheet with her and ruffling it up… and then leaped out as if nothing had happened.

She headed to the window, and said with her back facing me,

“Come on! It’s about time for afternoon classes, so get ready, Master! Don’t just stand there!”

Then she hopped down to the garden.

“…Heh, didn’t know she could be THAT scared.”

She must have felt a great deal of pressure from the powerful, virtually universal presence that was the Devil King.

We’ll have to make ourselves stronger as soon as possible.

At the very least… up to the level where we can stand on equal ground with Giorno and Lylia…

When the time for afternoon classes came, young Ferris insisted on staying in her room.

‘I just need this one day off,’ she said, refusing to come out.
Neither I nor Bright could convince her otherwise, so we carried on with the lessons by just the two of us – it’s been a while since we’d last done that.

Considering his arcane energy pool, it would be a while off until I could teach him intermediate-level spells, but that didn’t mean I had already run out of things to teach him.

We still could go more in-depth, covering spells’ effects, range, viable targets, such and such.

Moving on from classroom theories to real application was a technique I had always used for myself, too.

Seeing how young Bright had already perfected his understanding of the fundamental elementary-level spells, though, I would assume that he wanted to take things to the next level right about now.
He’s looking quite eager too, from what I could see.

While I was having trouble making a choice after seeing Bright like that, June approached me.

“Is something the matter, milady?”

“It’s about the low-level monster hunts we discussed earlier, you see…”

Let’s see it, then…what effect did young Bright’s resolve have on her?

“I would like to send him up north.
The level of danger should be relatively low there.”

“Sister!”

Bright’s expression instantly brightened up as he ran up to give June a hug.

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Although she briefly smiled, by the time she looked at me again, June had the look of a warrior in her eyes.

“I am currently unable to leave this house.
Can I trust you to keep him safe, Sir Poer?”

That surprised me quite a bit.

I hadn’t expected her to be this trusting of me after such a short period of my employment.

…I’ll have to let her know how grateful I am, and also live up to her expectations.

“Yes, you can count on me.”

I bowed deeply.

Still, the north… The north of Brunnera… Could we be heading in the direction of Radeata and Regalia?

“You will depart the day after tomorrow.
Jetta will be there to look after Bright as well.
You will hear from the people of House Adams for further instructions.”

“…House Adams, milady?”

“Sir Polco Adams is the only one I can trust with this procedure, you see.
On the day of your departure, you will be heading north together with Sir Polco and his escort.”

“Lady Ferris will be joining us as well, I assume?”

“But of course.
House Adams is based in Kugg, a village to the west of Regalia.
Since Sir Polco would be returning home, it’s only reasonable for his daughter to go together with him… Oh, is something the matter, Bright?”

I understood very well how the boy Bright was feeling as he dropped to his knees while hugging June.

Still, somewhere near Regalia, huh… Assuming that the Holy Emperor is living there now, the region must be relatively safe.

This means I’ll be moving farther and farther away from Sodom, too.
I suppose it would be better to consider that as on par with my current skill level.

According to the information I had heard in town the other day, the Devil King had entered his Fetal Stage last year.

And since we’ll be going somewhere with lots of low-level monsters, I sure would like to try some things out…

“Thinking about some weird stuff again, Master?”

“Oh… you know me so well, eh, Shiro?”

At any rate, we’ve got to get stronger.
Much stronger…

Index