Chapter 10:
Epilogue
ARUS CLOSED The Book of Rudeus. That was the end of the twenty-ninth volume.
“So, you never did get punished?” Henry muttered after eyeing Arus for a while.
“As embarrassing as it is to admit, that’s correct. I was too immature to take responsibility for my actions.” Arus shrugged. “That said, although I was a fool at the start, after everything that happened, I ended up becoming a decent guy. Instead of resting on my laurels and thinking I was lucky for getting away with what I’d done, I poured all my energy into studying and training.”
“That’s how you became a Saint-tier Wind Magician and Sword Saint, huh? Guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you were amazing even when you were young, since you can beat the North God himself if you’re allowed to use magic.”
Arus Greyrat was said to be a Divine-tier swordsman. He’d never officially gotten his Sword God license, but the Dragon God Orsted, the North King Kalman III Alexander Rybak, and the other big-name swordfighters of the Ogre God Empire recognized him as such. Arus had achieved this through all of the hard work he’d put in since that fateful day.
“Fortunately for me, I had Red Mama’s training. That’s how I got there so quickly. I was always blessed by the environment I grew up in.”
“By Red Mama, you mean the Berserker Sword King Eris… She’s the founder of the Sword God Berserker Style, right? Said to have completely destroyed the concept of the Sword King Style. I heard she was fierce and always in something of a frenzy?”
“A frenzy? Really…?” Arus narrowed his eyes nostalgically. “Well, I guess she could be like that at times, but she was an incredible mother. I was more motivated than ever after what happened, and she responded to my drive in kind. Honestly, she was more of a father than my own father was. She was always the one to punch me and get me back on the right path whenever I strayed.”
“What happened after that?” Henry prompted.
“After? Well, I graduated, I went to get Aisha, we got married, and I started working under Sir Orsted as one of father’s men and a member of the mercenary band. Looking back on it, that was the hardest period of my life. I was being seduced right and left. For some reason, I got really popular with the ladies back then. And so many of them had big breasts… The captain of the mercenary band at that point was especially crazy. Aisha was my one and only, but lemme tell you, the captain was so attractive, I couldn’t help but look—”
He cleared his throat. “Uh, enough of that. In any case, I held myself back and ran all over the world for work. Eventually, I ended up as your boss.”
“Abridged much?” Henry scoffed.
“He’s always been like this,” Luicelia said frankly in response.
Luicelia had come to work under Orsted fairly late compared to others, but she’d spent plenty of time with Arus as a member of the family. She was familiar with Leroy and even knew his daughter, Ferris. Because of the differences between how humans and the Superd matured, there was a period during which the three of them had hung out as relatives who were around the same age. There was even a time when Luicelia struggled with the fact that they eventually left her behind and grew up. But as of late, she’d come to terms with that just being the way things were.
“You gotta give us more details,” she insisted. “It said in the book that you challenged Eris Greyrat to a duel in order to gain her recognition as a man.”
“Get your eyes checked,” Arus retorted. “It doesn’t say anything about a duel.”
“Okay, but I heard you did duel her.”
“And who in the hell spread that rumor?”
“My mother.”
“Norn, huh…?” Arus sighed. “Well, calling it a duel is a little much, but we sparred, yes…”
“Give us the details right now! Also, tell us about when you went to get Aunt Aisha! As a young maiden, I need to know,” Luicelia said.
Arus burst into laughter at heavy-handedness. Given her age, Luicelia lacked social graces. That was why, despite her long history in the military and her high rank, she lacked a squad of her own and continued to operate in a two-man unit with Henry. It was Luicelia herself, Orsted, and Arus who’d approved that. Henry possessed a great deal of social skills despite his curse, so he complemented her well.
“Sure, why not? There’s not much to tell, though,” Arus said.
Thus, Arus began to fill in the blanks of The Book of Rudeus—the final episode of this tale.