Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 31 - Aisha's Dream

Whiteness.

I opened my eyes to nothing but white.

Where is this place.......

I tried to remember why I had come here.

That white light......

All I could remember was that white light rushing toward me. I froze, rooted in place........until.....

Until my brother shielded me.......

"So......am I dead? Is this the kind of heaven Mama always talked about.......?"

I muttered to myself and took a few steps forward.

Even though I kept walking, the grey-white expanse didn't change at all.

Then a voice rang out.

"You're not dead, you know."

I turned toward the sound.

A person. A blurry, indistinct white figure.

"Little sis~ you're alive, you know."

"Oh......."

I didn't know why, but I instinctively disliked this person. Something about it felt deeply unpleasant.

"Aren't you curious who I am?"

"Uh.......Mama and Papa both told me not to talk to strangers, so I don't really want to ask......."

"Oh~ But what if I told you — I am a god?"

"A god.......?"

"That's right. An all-knowing god, though not all-powerful. In this world, I am known as the Man-God."

Someone claiming to be a god, in my dream......?

I didn't believe it. Not because I was clever or well-read, just instinct. A deep, gut-level refusal.

"You're free not to believe me~ But you and your brother could very well die, you know."

It.......could hear what I was thinking........?

"For a god, isn't something like that trivial?"

"So.......what is a divine lord doing in my dream......."

The figure looked me over from the left. Then it drifted to the right and looked me over again.

"Your brother."

"Huh?"

"I find your brother very interesting. But~ I cannot enter his dreams."

"So......?"

"So I will use my all-knowing ability to have you help your brother. And when the time is right, I will make him one of my followers."

That sounded exactly like something a con artist would say.

Right then and there, I decided I would never trust this fraudulent divine lord. Not ever.

"Don't be so quick to refuse~ You're still so little. If you don't listen to me and help your brother, you and your brother and that young lady could die at any moment, you know."

........I'm going to die.....why?

"Well, the Demon Continent is a harsh place. There's almost nothing to eat, and the magical beasts there are on an entirely different level from the Central Continent. Even if your brother is capable, even if he speaks the language — so what? Can he really lead a 4-year-old and a 12-year-old girl out of that continent? Can he really do that? Your brother."

"The Demon Continent.......? Why would I be in a place like that.......?"

"You were caught up in a large-scale mana disaster and got transferred there~"

"A mana disaster.......is that the white light?"

"That's right."

The god wore a perfectly relaxed expression. Like this was all good news, as far as it was concerned.

I still didn't believe it. But what it said seemed right.

I'd heard of the Demon Continent.......in the stories Mama used to tell......all the ferocious magical beasts came from the Demon Continent.......

If.....if I really had been transferred to the Demon Continent.......then no matter how brilliant my brother was, no matter how capable.......it would still be so hard for him to get me and Elder Sister Eris out of there.......

"Exactly, exactly~ So I will give you guidance. Follow my advice, and I will see to it that you all make it safely out of the Demon Continent~"

"I have a question.......why my brother.....?"

"Do you know why your brother is so clever? Why he is so powerful?"

"Because he's a genius......."

The divine lord looked like it wanted to say more, then stopped itself. The corner of its mouth twitched.

"Exactly! And I am an all-knowing god. Your brother will grow to a strength beyond imagination. Isn't it only natural to make someone like that one of my followers?"

That......did sort of make sense......

"Very well. First piece of advice: when you wake up, follow your brother's instructions without question — and tell him that to the west is......."

As it said those words, an image rose up inside the dream.

It spun slowly, then settled.

A barren, desolate flatland. And at its far end, a canyon.

This is.......the west.......?

"That is the west. And it is the only road that will take you all back home~ From now on I will appear in your dreams from time to time to give you guidance. Whether you believe me is your own business, I know very well how suspicious I seem~ But my authority is only all-knowing, and this is the most I can do for my followers~"

I still had questions......

Before I could get a single word out, it vanished.

The dream dissolved. I opened my eyes.

The night sky.......and a campfire.

My brother was staring up at the sky, like something was weighing on him.

I looked around, left, then right.

It was exactly like the scene from my dream.

What the Man-God said was true.......we had really been transferred to the Demon Continent.......

➤ Next: The Town