ME and Selena returned to our lodging and strategized. Darius told us to stay at his place, but being the adventurers we were meant that we just didn’t feel comfortable in a lord’s mansion. For me, I was way more at ease on the hard bed and dusty sheets of a cheap inn.
“Level 25 at his age,” I said. “And those stats. Makes me wonder what the heck the kid actually is, more than just a ‘genius.’”
I knew Arius’s capabilities because I’d used Evaluate on him, a skill that showed the stats of people with lower levels than you. The bigger the difference in level, the more revealed, up to even the skills and spells they could use.
After Darius and Rhea left our party long ago, me and Selena kept at it, and we both had to cover a lot of bases. We could use basic spells and skills, but we obviously had our own strengths and weaknesses.
“It seemed to me Arius was intentionally acting like a child,” pondered Selena. “I don’t believe he’s mentally a five-year-old, either. Maybe he’s a reincarnated individual… It wouldn’t be impossible.”
There were people in this world who had been reincarnated. Occasionally, there was someone you couldn’t help but think they might be reincarnated, what with their mysterious knowledge and special abilities.
“Even if he is, he’s definitely still Darius and Rhea’s son,” I stated. “And what I care more about is that I think Arius is worth training. He’s obviously got a knack for these things, but the fact that he’s level 25 means he’s put in a lot of training.” It wasn’t like Darius and Rhea were training him like crazy. Arius must have been going at it on his own.
“Both talented and hard working? I like children like that. He still has a long way to go in terms of technique and experience, but that’s what makes training him worth it.”
An unbreaking spirit was also a bonus when it came to getting stronger. Arius had attacked me with everything he had, even though he knew I was more than he could handle. I’d thought it was dumb to play along with Darius and Rhea’s obsession with their son, but now, Selena and I were both completely on board.
“Hmph, means we gotta train him like he’s not a five-year-old. Might accidentally make his fire of potential fizzle out if we treat him like one.”
Coddling him would just make him big-headed, and being overprotective would take away his opportunities to gain experience. We had to train him hard without consideration for his age.
“You’re right,” agreed Selena. “You’ll have to be careful. You can be surprisingly soft when it comes to children.”
“I know, I know. But seriously, we’ll have to take a break from adventuring while we’re Arius’s tutors.” I had no intention of being a half-assed tutor. I accepted the job—I was going to take it seriously.
“Oh? I don’t think so. While one of us is tutoring Arius, the other can tackle dungeons solo. We can both use teleportation magic, after all. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Huh, you might be right. That way, our skills won’t grow dull either.”
“Exactly. Although, it will be best for both of us to be present when we take Arius into combat, of course. But when it comes to teaching, one of us will do.”
One thing we had to do was get Darius and Rhea’s approval to train Arius seriously. Since they did ask us to be his tutors, they should know what that meant.
The next day, we headed back to the Gilberto mansion early and talked to Darius and Rhea alone.
“Meaning, we’re planning on giving him our all when we’re training and not treating him like a kid,” I explained. “That all right?”
“Yes, of course,” stated Darius. “Treating him like a child would do him no good. It’s not just us being impartial as parents; we know Arius is no mere child.”
Rhea nodded along with him.
Looked like they’d recognize the possibility Arius might be reincarnated, too. He was their son in the end—no way they couldn’t notice.
“May I ask what the goal of training Arius is? To make him into an adventurer?” asked Selena with a serious expression. “There are a few careers other than adventuring that require strength, and we are inevitably talking about putting him on a path that leads to fighting.”
“That’s for him to decide,” Darius said. “It seems like he wants to be an adventurer.”
“We have no reason to object if it’s what he truly wants,” Rhea agreed.
But Selena wasn’t satisfied. “Let me ask what I mean more directly: Can we assume we’ve acknowledged that Arius could be killing humans? I know you two understand that walking a path of battle means he will be unable to avoid ever killing a person.”
“We know,” continued Darius. “As a parent, you must be lenient about these things. Grey, Selena, can I ask that you teach Arius everything he needs in order to survive?”
“Please, you two,” added Rhea, and the two bowed low. They’d made their decision.
And if that were the case, there was no need for us to hesitate.
“We got it. No holding back, no mercy just ’cause he’s a kid. We’ll train him good,” I said. With that decided, might as well get right to it.