Chapter 172 Pseudonyms

Chapter 172 Pseudonyms

Although they tilted their heads in confusion, they eventually nodded.

"I see."

"learn."

Neither of them asked him why, nor did they investigate the reason.

Rudius knew in his heart that if Alice didn't count, then Rijrud must have some doubts, but the fact that he hadn't said anything meant that he trusted him, and Rudius had to live up to that trust.

"The Kingdom of Siron, right? The country where your master Rudeus lived."

Hearing Alice's words reminded Rudeus of the image of a young girl.

Lokishi Migludia.

That's right, she should be in Xilong. The god also told him to send a letter to an old acquaintance.

At first, he wondered who the "old acquaintance" was, but then he realized that there was only one person with whom he corresponded in the Kingdom of Xilong.

"Yes, he is my teacher, whom I respect very much."

He originally wanted to say "master," but quickly changed his mind before he could finish.

Because it was only now that he remembered that Luo Qixi forbade him to call her "Master".

"That's right. Since he's someone Rudeus respects, we should definitely go and meet him. Maybe he can even offer some help."

As Alice commented, she nodded repeatedly to herself, indicating that she understood.

Luo Qixi, with her outstanding qualities, will undoubtedly become a powerful asset to them.

That being said, Loki was, after all, a court magician, and Rudeus didn't really want to bother her, as she was probably very busy.

However, my desire to see her will not change.

He also wanted to thank her for the matter concerning the Demon Dictionary.

If it weren't for that book that taught him the demon language, he might still be on the demon continent.

It's such a shame to lose that book because of the transfer; it should have been copied and sold all over the world.

"I really want to meet Rudius's teacher."

"Yes, I'm interested too."

It seems that Alice and Rijkaard have also shown positive intentions.

Perhaps it was because he would occasionally mention Loki's name during his journey and praise her highly.

"Then when we arrive in the Kingdom of Xilong, I will introduce you to them."

After making this agreement, the group continued their journey.

First, proceed along the main road, passing through Vibon, the capital of the Kingdom of King Dragon.

Just like going around the Wanglong Mountains, the road will split into two after passing through this capital.

One route goes straight north, and the other goes west.

As planned, the group chose the northward route to Xilong, but before that, they stayed in the capital, Vibon, for a few days to replenish their supplies.

The Kingdom of Wanglong is the third largest country in the world and the hegemon of the southern part of the Central Continent, possessing four vassal states.

In the past, this country was just one of many countries existing in the southern part of the central continent. It is said that it was because it defeated the king of the Northwest Dragon Mountain, the Dragon King Kashakut, and obtained the vast mineral resources in his territory that it was able to rise to the position of a powerful country in one fell swoop.

This place is also the birthplace of the forty-eight demonic swords scattered all over the world, and it is also the location mentioned in one of the chapters of "The Tale of the Northern God Heroes".

This city has many blacksmith shops and sword-fighting dojos.

There are different schools of thought, but it seems that the Northern God School and the Water God School are the most common.

The group also took the opportunity to check on the situation at the dojo, where many of the students were children.

There seem to be many cases where even the dojo masters are only at the level of advanced swordsmen. Alice glanced at them and snorted, mocking those dojos as nothing special. As a result, she was advised by Rijkaard.

At the same time, they began collecting information about missing persons in such cities.

Paul's men, who belonged to the Adventurers' Guild, told them that there was no significant information about this country.

Sure enough, by this time, finding the missing person was no longer an easy task.

Leaving the Kingdom of Wanglong, we headed north along the road.

Before reaching the Kingdom of Xilong, one must pass through two countries: the Kingdom of Shanakia and the Kingdom of Qika. Both countries are considered vassal states of the Kingdom of Wanglong.

Rice cultivation was very popular in the Kingdom of Shanakia.

Perhaps it's because of the suitable geographical conditions, but as you move along the road, you can see a whole field of paddy fields.

There are many rivers nearby, and the climate seems similar to that of East Asia.

The hostel started frequently offering rice dishes with seafood.

Yue Ren, acting as the team's chef, started preparing some rice-based dishes for everyone, which made them eat with gusto, especially Rudeus.

Although he specifically reminded me to be moderate, I still couldn't resist the allure of rice.

This journey lasted for four months.

The group finally arrived at the Kingdom of Xilong.

Although the Kingdom of Xilong is a small country, it is an ancient country with a history of about two hundred years.

In a world where history changes in millennia, two hundred years might not seem so ancient.

However, this is because in the war four hundred years ago, all human nations except for the Kingdom of Asra and the Holy Kingdom of Milis had been destroyed.

The southern part of the Central Continent is a fertile land, but until the Kingdom of Wanglong ruled the southernmost part about three hundred years ago, it was always a region of fierce conflict.

Even now, moving northwards still reveals a vast area of ​​conflict.

The Kingdom of Xilong was located right next to such a conflict zone.

Then some people might ask, given its location, why has the Kingdom of Xilong been able to maintain its national sovereignty for two hundred years?

That's because in the early stages after the founding of the nation, Xilong formed an alliance with the Kingdom of Wanglong.

However, despite being allies, the difference in national strength between the two sides is obvious. Therefore, the Kingdom of Xilong, like the two countries it passed through along the way, held a similar position as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Wanglong.

The group continued their journey on the road to the capital.

The landscape extending outwards from the road includes fields lacking uniformity and grazing livestock, as well as some pasture grass that looks like clover, presumably in fallow areas.

It seems that the inhabitants of this world are not entirely without consideration when planting crops.

In this world, almost all major cities are surrounded by city walls.

For example, this is the case with Roya and Milishion, as well as the Kingdom of Zika and the Kingdom of Shanakia. Large towns all have city walls, with Milishion being an exception.

The capital of the Kingdom of Siron, Latakia, is also surrounded by a sturdy city wall that looks quite fantastical.

In fact, the existence of city walls is not much different between the Demon Continent and this place.

On the contrary, it should be said that the system was even more thoroughly implemented on the demon continent where monsters were more powerful.

Although none of the towns possessed massive natural walls of the scale of Lycaris, they all utilized the unique abilities of the various races residing nearby to create sturdy walls to protect their towns.

Furthermore, even small settlements seem to regularly exorcise monsters from the surrounding area.

Compared to the Demon Continent, the city walls of the Central Continent seem like nothing more than a show-off.

After passing through these city walls and entering the city, the carriage was, as is customary, stored in the stables.

Perhaps it's because there are many mazes near this country, and you can see quite a few agile adventurers along the way.

In this world, many adventurers make exploring dungeons their main profession.

For example, Rudeus's father Paul and the sword king Kyrianu were like that before, and Rudeus's master Rocchi also seems to have been venturing into the labyrinth for a period of time.

Rudy also remembered that Paul had mentioned that many of the adventurers exploring the labyrinth possessed considerable strength.

There are quite a few labyrinths surrounding the Kingdom of Xilong.

Anyone who can crack any one of them first will have a huge amount of money coming their way.

Among the adventurers coming and going along the roadside, quite a few are probably S-rank adventurers aiming to make a fortune in one go.

Normally, if they had nothing else to do, they would have tried it out as adventurers, but now they have more important tasks, so they naturally don't pay much attention to this aspect.

The group mingled with the crowd and moved towards the main street, eventually finding a suitable inn.

As usual, it is an inn that caters to D-rank adventurers.

Perhaps it's because there are many high-level adventurers in this city that even low-level inns charge high prices.

That being said, even the inns in the Central Continent catering to D-rank adventurers offer rooms of higher quality than those in the Demon Continent.

level.

Based on this, it wouldn't hurt to choose a hostel of a slightly lower standard.

The team is currently so well-off that they don't even need to worry about the price. Therefore, they are also able to stay in higher-standard places and don't need to deliberately lower the quality of their accommodations.

"Now that we've arrived in the Kingdom of Xilong, we'll be holding a war council."

Rudius made this announcement as was customary, addressing the other three people waiting in the room.

The sporadic, perfunctory clapping was probably evidence that they had completely adapted, not to mention the eldest brother's completely absorbed attitude towards the book in his hands.

"Alright, what topic should we start discussing and finalizing first..."

"7

"Are you going to see your teacher, Rudius?"

Alice's question reminded Rudeus of the advice given by the gods.

"The girl's name is Aisha Greirat."

'

If one is to fully believe this statement... then it means that he only needs to search everywhere for the alleyways he saw in his dream.

Should we take Alice and Rigd with us?

Since he wasn't specifically instructed to act alone, wouldn't it be better if he worked with a team?

Let me make a slight inference.

"Actually, while I'm in this city, I want to avoid using my real name."

"Are you acting again? Why?"

"Well..

'

Even if the matter of gods and humans were to be concealed, there shouldn't be any need to keep Aisha and the other girl's affairs a secret as well.

"Actually, I received intelligence from somewhere that my family members were being held captive somewhere in this country."

Is that so?

"Oh?"

Neither Alice nor Rijerud asked Rudeus where he heard it from or who it came from. Rudeus simply said it was true, and they shared that understanding.

"I see, that's why mentioning the name Greirat aroused suspicion!"

"That's about it."

"Then, who's here?"

"Lilia and Aisha... were originally maids and my sister."

Speaking of which, what should he call Lilia? He can't exactly call her stepmother.

"Rudius, your sister? You met one in Milschonia too, didn't you? The one who looked so timid."

"I also have another younger sister."

"I see..."

""

Alice pouted, seemingly bored.

"Since that's the reason, I have no objection! As expected of Rudeus, you've considered everything thoroughly!"

Alice snorted; praising Rudeus seemed to have become a regular occurrence for her.

Meanwhile, Raji Rudd, who was standing nearby, also offered his own suggestions.

"It's better to use a commonly used name as a katakana."

Why?

"Because I heard that it's best if kana isn't easy to remember..."

Rachel Rudd and Alice begin to ignore Rudy's troubles and start discussing various things about pseudonyms.

What are some famous names around here?

"I often hear the names Shaina and Ledar during my travels."

Death Knight Shaina is a female knight who appears in "The Tale of the Northern God".

She is one of the three swordsmen of the Northern God and also one of the Northern God's companions.

It is said that he would always survive no matter how harsh the battlefield, making him a person with extremely strong vitality.

Rudius felt that those stories were probably fictional creations, but he had heard that the residents of this area often named their children Shaina in order to prevent them from dying in accidents.

As for Ledar, he is the god of water. It is said that he was a genius at counterattacking and also the hero who froze the sea to create a foothold and defeated the sea dragon king.

The leaders of the Mizukami-ryu school have all used the name of this great figure. The men call themselves Ledar, and the women call themselves Leda. This is a fairly common name.

Rudius felt a surge of warmth in his heart; he had only said to avoid using his real name, yet the two were so enthusiastic.

This attitude is truly appreciated.

"How about we rewrite it using our titles? Wouldn't that be convenient? People on the Central Continent probably don't know the specific meanings of those titles. By the time your family finds out, it'll be close enough that we won't need to hide it anymore."

That makes so much sense. No wonder you're the eldest brother.

That's right, the one who made this suggestion was Yue Ren, who was still focused on reading. But the fact that he was able to offer such a constructive opinion shows that he also paid some attention to the conversation that was taking place on the side.

"Rudeus, what are you planning to do?"

"Big brother is right. Let's change it up and make it sound cooler."

"I understand. Then I'll call myself 'The True Lord of Magic'."

"Owner" sounds awful. "God" is much better. And since I'm a magician, it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with exaggerating and calling myself that.

"The Lord of Magic!"

Alice's cheeks flushed, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Rudius had initially worried that Rijkaard might find the name embarrassing, but he seemed quite accepting of it.

Paul also said that "the arrogant water dragon king" sounds cool.

It seems that the concept of "chuunibyou" (middle school syndrome) doesn't exist in this world.

The only problem...

Turning to look at Yue Ren, the latter was still quietly reading, as if he hadn't heard anything, but since he didn't object, it meant he didn't disagree.