Though she hadn't had one yet, that barbarian had a lover. As if Nina could bear with such a thing. She decided that it was definitely a lie. That Rudeus person or whatever was imaginary, she thought.
On one of her free days, she headed towards an information broker and gathered information on Rudeus.
'Well, it won't be easy; he's fictional after all' she thought.
Contrary to her wishes, she immediately managed to find some.
Rudeus Greyrat. Born in Buina village of the Fedoa region of the Kingdom of Asura. At 3, he became the pupil of the (Water Saint Ranked at the time) Water King Ranked magician, Roxy Migurdia. At 5 he became a Water Saint Ranked magician. At 7 he became the home tutor of the Stronghold City Roa's mayor's daughter, Eris Boreas Greyrat. After that, his location became unknown due to the Teleportation Incident. However, lately he was in the northern parts of the Central Continent and made a name as the adventurer 『Rudeus of the Quagmire』. He was now a Special Student at the Magic University and staying at Sharia, the capital city of the Kingdom of Ranoa. He was admired by certain types of adventurers, and there was also a rumor about him single-handedly slaying a stray dragon.
He was real. He wasn't just some prince from Eris's delusions.
While yielding to this, Nina thought to herself that he wasn't a big deal. Though everything up until age 7 was amazing, in the end he was just an adventurer. He hadn't even become Water King Ranked, he had a lame name like Quagmire, and he was talented as a child, that's all. There was no mistaking it. So thought Nina.
Then she thought of something bad.
'If I defeated this Rudeus, made him into a slave and brought him here, what kind of face would Eris make, I wonder?' she thought.
No time like the present. Nina prepared for a journey that very same day, and demonstrating the impatience inherited from her father, she jumped on a horse. Like that, she began her trip to the Kingdom of Ranoa. Though it was still winter, Ranoa was very close by. With one of the fine horses raised in the Holy Land of Swords, you wouldn't even need 2 months to get there. She was impatient.
After easily finishing her journey in a month, she arrived at the Magic University. There she was shocked.
Nina had honestly made light of magicians.
'Without any decent training, they were a bunch that did nothing but mumble some vague chants or something, thinking they could get stronger that way.' she thought.
However, walking down the road were muscular men. For some reason there were a lot of Beast People, and people dressed like warriors. Though there were also those in robes, and those in cute uniforms, the overwhelming majority had robust bodies. Nina was ashamed of her ignorance of the world; her view of magicians had been narrow until she was as old as 18.
At any rate, Nina called out to a nearby young man. He was well-built and was a Beast Race who definitely appeared to be a warrior. She tried asking him about Rudeus's whereabouts. When she did, he replied that he was heading to Rudeus as well. Thinking 'this is perfect', Nina followed him.
They arrived at a uniformed youth. He was said to be Rudeus.
He was just as Nina had imagined. Though he had trained his body, she couldn't feel any ambition from him. Though his face wasn't bad, he had an unconfident expression, and he had no appeal as a man. He was perfect for Eris.
'Right, time to beat him down...' but the instant she thought this, the young Beast Man raised his voice.
"I assume that you are the lone horseman who defeated a stray dragon, A-Ranked adventurer Rudeus of the 『Quagmire』! I challenge you to a customary courtship duel!"
Nina was shocked. The man had suddenly challenged Rudeus to a duel.
"No, I have piano lessons so..."
Though it was unmanly, Rudeus immediately rejected him. However, with this or that reason, the man ended up in front of Rudeus and because there was no use talking, he attacked.
Nina thought that in the next instant, Rudeus would be cut to pieces. Though he wasn't as skilled as she was, Nina could still see that the young Beast Man was quite strong. And Rudeus was a magician. The common sense of a swordsman dictated that as long as you closed the distance, a magician was weak. At this distance there was nothing a magician could do.
However, the result was the opposite. In the blink of an eye, Rudeus had defeated the young man. It might have been within three seconds. It was truly an instant.
Then without paying another glance at the dumbfounded Nina, he quickly went away.