Junior Fellow Disciple

When he opened his eyes, he was in a pure white space.

Ah, I died again, Sei thought as he stood up.

Watching him quietly with a worried expression was an orc.

… Orcs were apparently quite an expressive race.

"A-Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I'm immortal, so."

"A-A vampire clan member?"

"No, I'm human though."

 

*

 

"Alright, Sei and Bungol, give it a try."

At Ria's words, he faced off against the high orc, who was apparently named Bungol.

He had a shield at the ready, and his weapon was, of all things, a katana.

"You use a katana? Even though you also use a shield?"

"Indeed, I admire the Sword God. With an orc's strength, I can wield a katana one-handed."

Those words made it clear what had soured Ria's mood.

Certainly, on Earth there was such a thing as the two-sword style. Few people didn't know of Miyamoto Musashi.

But a katana was meant to be wielded with both hands.

 

*

 

"Well then, here I come."

Sei glided forward and cut through Bungol's shield in a single strike.

Seeing Bungol's shocked face, he slashed again. The shield had now lost everything except its handle.

"If it's a katana forged by Master, it can cut through most shields. That's why you need to grip the katana firmly with both hands… though with that katana of yours, it wouldn't make much difference anyway."

Bungol tried to block Sei's slash with his katana, having readjusted his grip to hold it with both hands. But Sei's blade changed trajectory and struck the spine of Bungol's blade.

The katana broke. Bungol's, of course.

Sei addressed the dumbfounded Bungol.

"Using a katana as your weapon is fundamentally wrong for you. For someone who prides themselves on strength like you, Bungol-san, I'd recommend crushing weapons like war hammers. Katanas are weapons meant for speed specialists like me."

"Mm, mmm…"

 

*

 

They moved to the living room to discuss Bungol's combat style.

"Being born as a rare species like a high orc, you've got Brute Strength, Bristled Hide, and Sturdy Body at least, right?"

At Ria's question, Bungol hunched his large body small and nodded.

"I don't mind you admiring me, but if you're going to use a katana, you need to first learn how to set the edge properly."

While Bungol listened obediently to Ria's words, Sei asked about something that had been bothering him.

"Um, Master?"

"What is it? Do you have something to say too?"

"No, it's not that, but together with Carla-sensei…"

 

*

 

"I'm home～"

"I'm home～"

Two voices overlapped. One was Carla's, the other a young boy's.

Yes, the voice of the hero that was registered on Sei's Map.

"Ah～, it's Miyamoto Musashi-kun～"

"Ugh, Tsubaki-san?"

Coming up were Carla, a boy, and a baby being carried on Carla's back.

"Oh, the baby's been born?"

"Yes, she can already hold her head up. Didn't Ria tell you?"

"I didn't hear anything…"

"Ah, I forgot to mention it."

 

*

 

Musashi Miyamoto-kun had accompanied Carla on her shopping trip and carried the bags back.

He possessed the gift "Time Stop," the kind of thing a final boss would typically have in most stories.

"But I got caught so easily… and then I got trained and taught various things, but…"

Time Stop was useless.

That was the reality of this world that Musashi had come to recognize.

"Well, it's useful against small fry, and it works fine against human-level opponents, and I can manage most monsters, but…"

The opponent who caught him was the worst possible match.

And the person he was entrusted to was also the worst possible choice.

 

*

 

"Even if I stop time and attack a huge monster over and over with my sword, I can't deal any damage at all. I realized I need to do the mundane level grinding."

At any rate, he had apparently been taught through hands-on experience just how weak Time Stop alone made him.

"I'm glad I didn't try to hold back the dragon attack…"

As he watched the evil gods' full appearance on TV, he seemed to have realized there was no way he could win against something like that.

"Thor and Ars apparently already had around level 200 when they were summoned. And the third generation supposedly had about 300."

He had apparently been thoroughly beaten by Ria, who somehow moved normally even in stopped time.

 

*

 

"By the way, what's the baby's name?"

Completely ignoring Musashi's complaints, Mako was engrossed with the baby.

"I apparently have no sense for naming. A friend named her Primula."

"Then, Pul-chan it is. She's so cute. She has Ria-san's hair color and Carla-san's eye color."

"Yes, unusually so… All three of my previous children had black hair and black eyes…"

Sei felt like it was his first time seeing Ria look somewhat anxious.

This baby had a gift.

It was "Dragon's Bloodline."

 

*

 

"I want her to live a peaceful life, and I want her to freely develop her talents, but this gift…"

After dinner, while lightly crossing swords as an after-meal exercise, Ria spoke as if grumbling.

First of all, all of Ria and Carla's previous daughters apparently lived at least 300 years without doing anything special. And in an ageless state at that.

Even those three didn't have Dragon's Bloodline. They had assumed it interfered with Carla's Divine Bloodline.

"With Dragon's Bloodline, she might live for 1,000 years…"

While speaking gloomily, Ria's blade was carving up Sei's body.

"But! Master! You! Live! Even longer! Right!"

Sei desperately defended, but it was all he could do to block fatal attacks, with no room to counterattack.

"You know, watching your children and grandchildren die one after another is quite painful."

Sei's katana was knocked away, and the tip of Ria's blade was placed precisely at his neck.

"Well, that's my problem. Let's move on to your problem."

Saying that, Ria went out from the mirror to the outside world. Sei frantically caught his breath as he followed.

 

*

 

"Eh! You guys stopped the Instant Death Eyes!?"

"Keita actually wanted to go back. So what about you?"

Under Sei's cold gaze, Musashi sighed.

"Ah～, if I can be useful as combat strength, I'm not opposed to cooperating, but…"

He had already heard from Mako, but among the remaining gift holders, there were some who were decisively dangerous.

"I don't want to deal with those guys… Unlike me who was just getting carried away, those guys have seriously messed up personalities."

According to Musashi, they were the type who didn't consider people as people.

And the fact that they thought they were cleverly hiding it made them beyond saving.

"Can I go home?"

"Sure."

Through the power of the Return Stone, the Miyamoto Musashi-kun who didn't live up to his name returned home.

 

*

 

"Now, I have something to give you all, but… how long are you planning to stay?"

"Until you accept me as your disciple."

Bungol's large bulk in the living room made it honestly cramped.

"A disciple, you say. Did you hear what we were just talking about? There's a world crisis going on, and we're busy over here."

"That's right. I'm also busy taking care of Primula."

Meanwhile, Laila and Lavi were watching the baby with serious eyes.

Lavi had never seen a baby up close before, and Laila actually hadn't either.

Being long-lived divine dragons and elves, they rarely had opportunities to see young children.

 

*

 

"Why don't you train some more and come back later? Bungol-san, you're 20, right? I hear high orcs live about 100 years."

Looking at his level, Bungol still had plenty of room for growth.

It wouldn't be too late to become Ria's disciple after training in a labyrinth.

"But if there's a means for faster growth right here, there's no reason not to choose it."

Bungol-kun was stubborn.

Normally, Ria would assign a training regimen that made death seem preferable and drive away would-be disciples.

But right now, she really was busy. She didn't want to be a deadbeat husband who left all the childcare to her wife, she needed to support humans against the evil gods, and she needed to contact the divine dragons about the hero countermeasures - she really was busy.

In such an exhausted state, her mind wasn't working properly. Ria came up with an easy solution.

 

*

 

"Sei, you take care of him."

"Eh, me!?"

"Your party has grown, but Gantz is the only one who can serve as a tank. It wouldn't hurt to have another shield to protect Kukuri and the elf girl."

"Well, but we might end up leaving the Dragon Bone Continent…"

"Figure it out as his senior fellow disciple. Oh, I almost forgot to give you this."

Ria pulled out a crystal ball from somewhere. Of course it wasn't just an ordinary crystal ball.

"It's a portable stable for transporting horses. I managed to make it so it can hold living things. It was really hard to make, so don't break it."

Actually, Ria wasn't the one who made it, but it was true that it had been difficult, so she said that.

"So, Bungol, you'll accompany Sei on his journey. Once that's done, I'll train you properly."

"Th-Thank you so much!"

Bungol bowed his head. Watching this, Sei felt something didn't quite sit right with him, but before he could figure out what it was, Bungol bowed to him.

"Please take care of me, Senior Fellow Disciple!"

 

*

 

Two days later, the party departed from the dwarven village.

The reason it wasn't the next day was because Ria rushed to outfit everyone with new weapons and armor.

It was soothing to watch Carla tending to Primula so the crying wouldn't wake anyone.

Their destination was the south. Part of the route was the same as going to the Labyrinth City, but they aimed further south as the carriage rolled on.

Bungol ran alongside it. This was also part of his training.

Sei watched Bungol, who was huffing and puffing, with a fairly serious expression.

Until now, he had been Ria's disciple. Now he was in a position to teach someone.

It was a fresh experience. And a sense of responsibility was budding within him.

 

*

 

"Hey, by the way, when are we going to use Lavi's teleportation?"

At Mako's cool retort, Sei thought for a moment.

"When Bungol gets tired… I guess?"

The carriage traveled down the road. Running alongside it was an orc.

Their destination was the Karasuri region.

A region with many human-dominant nations.