Maybe I should have just named myself Orz considering these absurd oversights that I tended to make. I couldn’t even come up with any good excuses for it; there were reasonable and understandable ones, but they still led back to me being at fault, so they weren’t really good at excusing me. Well, as I had just said to Rion, you have to move on. I couldn’t do anything about the past, unless I had time magic, but Level 6s don’t get time magic.

Stepping into the house with food, I shook Ria’s shoulder to get her attention. Her mind may have been able to function, but there wasn’t much to do other than daydream deeply. Feeding her mana only allowed her mind and body to start working together, it didn’t actually instantly wake her up.

“We have something to talk about, just let me feed you.” It took a few repetitions to get it through to her, and a few more to convince her. She was surprisingly stubborn for not being able to do anything, but eventually complied. I explained the situation to her before waking her up, hoping some of it would get through. It was done in a bit more of a blase fashion than with Rion; she was the older of the two. Ria should be able to understand the reason why better.

“Alright, now’s the time for questions.” Poking her horns, the mana outflow remained at three, no improvement. Well, it would have been lucky if there had been; I was getting more and more certain the time between each increase was at least two weeks. Well, Ria needed to get ready for the long haul as well then.

“Eep! Wait, I have to leave? Why can’t you just bring the cure here, wouldn’t that be easier?” Ahh, at least she was getting much better at cutting to the heart of things. Only having 30 seconds to talk does that to you.

“There’s danger staying here, look at yourself. Besides, I don’t know the exact cure, I just have a hunch. It’s best for you to come with me.”

“I-I, don’t just drag me along! You can’t take me wherever you please!” Ria, in possession of her physical body moved away from me, starting by scooting to the other end of the bed. Oi, you’re making me look pretty bad, you know?

“Calm down, this is for your own good…”

“Sure it is! Just drag me away from home! I’ll be sick and c-can’t do anything, a-and alone...” Okay, yeah; my phrasing probably could have used a little work. Come on MCs, how do you magically get people to drop their lives and come with you? This journey is to restore her life to normal, this should be way easier.

Ria currently looked like she was about to try clambering away, but luckily given the size of the room, she couldn’t really slip past me to escape. The bad thing about this is how terrible it made me look in the situation.

“Breathe Ria! Look, the Little Vara is coming with us as well…”

“You’re taking away a little girl with you as well? How does that help at all, you’re just dragging us out to the unknown. Why would anyone let you do this? L-let me go!”

“Go where exactly? Please try and spend some time thinking this matter through.” Ria tried to force her way out of the hut, but seemed a bit discoordinated with her larger movements. Not wanting to appear too much like a bad guy, I gave her a little ground to buy time. “Haa~, I suppose that this comes in handy at times I guess.” Reaching the end of the 30 seconds, Ria collapsed, and I caught her. Despite her mind fading back into a resting state, I caught the tail end of some of her words.

“Let mgo...goff me. Gway, Iwon…”

“Ai, I’m just trying to help, those are some hurtful words, you know.” Shaking my head, there was no point getting angry. After all, Ria’s reaction wasn’t something I couldn’t understand. I knew that taking her away would be the best option, but she saw it as being torn away from home. We weren’t incredibly close either, so that was another mark against me in her eyes as well.

Staying wasn’t an option though. The fact I would be literally carrying her off hardly seemed like something that would improve her opinion of me. Well, the disdain was one sided, so I’d keep an eye on her, but her stubborn and rebellious attitude meant that would also be a strike against me. At some point we reached an emotional cascade in the negative direction.

Main Characters managing to acquire their companions so effortlessly; real life does not work that way! The world gave a little more leeway than Earth seemed to, but in the end things were not going as they should. Things really were troublesome.

Setting Ria to rest, I stepped outside to do some work. Due to Inventory’s limitations starting to crop up, training that didn’t produce products was preferred. ’s versatility was at a high level, although clearly not matching . It could become deprecated in the future by other spells, but given the difficulty of acquiring those new spells, it would likely have to suffice for a long time.

Again inferior to in terms of how often I practiced it, was still second most used spell in my repertoire on a daily basis. Given it was used with a duration to carry things, the volume of castings diminished, meaning despite it being regular cast, it wasn’t like used five times in one go.

Summoning the invisible force repeatedly, I tried to create a second hand while the first was still active. The spell shape stayed in the mind after casting, like a control panel. To keep it active, a button needed to be held down. This meant that other spells could be cast while it remained, but the dials and knobs to control it couldn’t be used while focusing on them. When summoning a second , it was like building a second control panel, except the same finger holding down the button on the first needed to now hold the one on the second.

All an analogy, of course. I didn’t have an actual mental space where I could attempt to use my toes to operate one panel, and use my hands on the other.

With the quick formation and unintentional dismissal of the , it was unfortunately a rather monopolizing training method, lacking in concurrent benefits. But were all the skills that could only be trained by themselves ignored, there would quickly become a large gap in my abilities. There is a difference between the optimal path, and the one that grants the most benefits.

Working singlemindedly, I almost did not catch Tagalong Girl’s approach. I suppose I wouldn't chastise my luck for being used up on such a tier threat; at least it saved my having to explain Necromancy to her.

“So when are we leaving?”

“I meant what I said, and said what I meant, *an elephant’s faithful 100 percent*. There isn't an exact date yet, but we will likely leave in a little over a week’s time.”

“So if that’s the case, why take the effort to speak with me later?”

“Oh *Tagalong Girl*, use your head. What do you know about traveling? You picked Rion because he has magic potential, but what was your actual plan after that?”

“There was still time, I didn't have to think of anything right away.” She tried sounding stoic, but her usual near monotone wavered. “If Rion became a mage, we definitely could have traveled without any worries.”

“Even though magic users are despised?” I smiled softly at her naïveté. The hate for magic here was lesser even before my arrival, it really bordered more along the lines of envy. Tagalong Girl only ever saw those powerful free wizards walking through, expressing their dominance; it probably never occurred to her that Rion might be one of the duds.

“We could scavenge and hunt for food. We wouldn't be helpless even if we couldn't go into town. Besides, how would anyone know he could use magic?”

“Ah, but the very way you planned to get Rion out of here was with promises of adventure using magic. How did you plan to suppress his desire to practice and show off? What about all the spells he couldn't cast? Not every problem that appears is one you are able to solve.”

Tagalong Girl scrunched her face up fretfully. Her short legs trembling, she stamped the ground a few times, but tried to hold herself back. Perhaps I’d been a bit harsh, but what an adorable tantrum.

“Don't be so angry, none of that matters anyway. The reason I called you here is to see if you figured out a way to survive without support. I do have my ways to keep us going, but you shouldn't be totally dependent on me. It may be a little much to ask given your age, but it's better for you to learn. Besides, even if you can't manage right now, I can help out until you can.”

“That’s good for me, thank you.” Tagalong Girl took a few moments to decide how to express her gratitude, calming down from her previously grumpy state. It looked like she knew to properly incorporate new information at least. “What are your ideas though? I doubt I would be capable of much at my size.” A pity there wasn't time to have her intern for Street Rat and Co., that would be a learning experience for her.

“Considering we will have to travel through the wilds, self defense will be the first priority. Living is the first step to doing anything, even though it may seem like a bit of a stretch. I suppose the chance of you having a weapon preference is rather low…” I tapped the side of my cheek, thinking. While thinking according to the now was important, I was there to pick up the slack. For her it might be better to pick something she would be compatible with later in life.

“You're teaching me to fight?”

“Right! I need to see how you fight first. Come, try to…” Figuring the best way to test Tagalong Girl was to have her come at me, I paused. It wasn't like I was like a moving shadow when dodging, I just tanked hits very well. Asking her to hit me as hard as she could was just a strength test, and that wouldn't be very helpful either. “Just come at me, punches, kicks, whatever.”

“How does that help?” A good question.

“You're going to need to trust me out there. If I say something, listen.” I ignored it though. Finding her a weapon would be a guess, but it should at least be an educated guess. That didn't sound cool at all, so I made it a trust building exercise as well.

Awkwardly, Tagalong Girl tried stepping into a stance of some sort. Then she started moving a bit forward to close the distance. I shuffled back when she reached a certain point, maintaining a minimum distance. Stopping she tried to reevaluate her strategy.

Thinking was good, but the enemy doesn't give you time to think. I let it slide because she was just a little girl, I wouldn't be so ruthless right away. I wanted to see what her first move would be as well.

She must have been waiting for me to let my guard down, because when I slouched, she made her move. Surprisingly quick for such tiny legs, Tagalong Girl seemed to be trying to go for a powerful surprise attack. Mm, not bad for a little one.

Pushing after a quick sidestep, she tottered for a second after passing by. Wondering where she went wrong or perhaps feeling it was futile, she paused and let her shoulders go lax. I rolled my eyes.

“Ow!” Landing a chop to the back of her head, I retreated.

“No dallying. There’s a week until we set out. I want you to be able to properly hold a weapon by then. Now don't stop just yet.”

“This is pointless, I can't do anything.” In a huff, she sat on the ground in refusal.

“Still just a kid, eh?” I didn't want to be one of those bone-cracking mentors, and it seemed we weren't up for a training montage either.

Whap!

“You want to travel with me, you're going to need to learn.”

Whap!

“Don't just sit there. Get up and have another go.”

Whap. Tagalong Girl was surprisingly stoic all of a sudden. I wasn't knocking her upside the head with any real force, but at the very least it should have started to annoy her. Crouching down, I grabbed the top of her head, wobbling it around.

“There’s no point. I'm not going to be able to hit you, and I won't learn anything.” Tagalong Girl spoke haltingly as I wobbled her head around.

“Who said this was to help you learn cool moves, huh? Just do what I say.” With the last phrase, I tilted her head back and forth with each word.

“I don't get why—” she jabbed me in the stomach with her elbow. “That counts.”

“Pfffft~” That certainly wasn't in the spirit of things. Nor was it like she did any damage with her frame. “Alright, I think I know I good match for you. Now go to bed you rascal.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Turning to face me, Tagalong Girl looked out of the loop, unsure of why I'd been trying so hard earlier. Smiling enigmatically, I gave a thumbs up.

“Good enough, go to sleep. Remember, we only have around a week, meet with me when you can.”

“I don't—”

“You don't need to understand. Go, shoo.” Waving her off, she looked more confused than ever. Watching her creep back towards her house, I thought about a few friends from the past. There really were only so many people, weren't there?