Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 37 - Anyway, Rage

"Mm... that should be about enough."

I counted up the money we'd earned over these four months. More than enough, actually.

I'd been too naive about it before, figured I could knock out any request within a day. Reality didn't work that way.

Even with my detection abilities, sometimes the monsters just weren't where I expected them to be.

So completing requests came down almost entirely to luck. Good luck meant finding the target and wrapping up in a day. Bad luck meant three or four days, sometimes a week or two.

I'd bought a map as well. From here, all I had to do was head south...

"What's about enough?"

Eris's voice came from behind me.

"Money. We've earned enough. Time to move on to the next city. Mm, probably about a year of travel still ahead of us. Once we reach Port Winn, we'll need to take a ship..."

"A ship! I've never been on one! So when do we leave?"

"Day after tomorrow, I think. Tomorrow I'll turn in all the outstanding requests, say goodbye to a few people."

"Okay! And — Rudeus, teach me the Demon God Language!"

"What? Why do you suddenly want to learn that?"

"Because it's a pain not understanding anything, isn't it?!"

"Fair point... Mm, we'll start tonight. You and Aisha can learn together."

"Mm... and also... Rudeus..."

"Th-there's more?"

Eris was fidgeting, her cheeks a faint pink.

What is she trying to do...?

My previous life had zero experience with romance, but the way Eris looked right now, she really did look like a girl about to confess.

Could it be?!

Hm? Didn't Eris already confess to me? Why am I getting worked up?

After a moment of squirming, she finally spoke.

"Tomorrow! Can you come with me to look around the market?!"

"Uh... don't we go out together all the time?"

"That's different! This time... I want... just the two of us..."

A d-date...?

Uh...

"Ah... mm."

"Is that a yes?!"

"Mm..."

"Yes! Okay, I'm heading back to teach Aisha swordsmanship first. Go do your own thing for now, Rudeus!"

And with that, Eris bolted back to the inn.

...

"Lord Rudeus, we've finished looking into the people you wanted investigated."

"Took you long enough. I'm about to leave and you're only now handing me the list."

"Sorry... we still have our own quests to handle..."

I tossed two silver coins to them.

"Forget it. I'm leaving this city in 2 days. Still, you did well — you actually got me promoted to B-rank."

Even if it only happened right as I was walking out the door.

If it had been a month earlier, I could have earned a lot more...

"Hehe, we're among the top C-rank squads around. Getting you to B-rank wasn't hard for us."

"Mm. You did good work. That's all, then. We probably won't see each other again."

"Then we wish you a safe journey, Lord Rudeus."

"Mm."

After parting ways with them, I tracked down [Shiki No Uta], the squad I'd been cooperating with, and explained the situation.

"Is that right? You're leaving the city."

"Yes. So our arrangement ends here. Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again! You're a damn fine support mage, and your older sister is one hell of a swordsman. We'll probably never forget either of you. Next time we cross paths, we're having a drink."

"Heh. If we do meet again someday, I should be old enough to drink by then."

It had started as nothing but a business arrangement, but 4 months of working together had built something real.

Friends born out of mutual interest, huh...

Actually, that wasn't so bad. The three of them hadn't given me a single reason to dislike them over those 4 months. Greedy, sure, but with enough self-awareness to know their limits. Compared to the other Demon Race members I'd run into, they were a significant improvement.

I walked out of the guild and headed toward the inn. Coming out of a narrow side alley, a figure stepped in front of me and cut off my path.

A man with a bull's head. I wasn't sure of the exact race, but he was some type of Demon Race.

In 4 months here I'd worked out a rough taxonomy: those with entirely animal heads fell under the Demon Race umbrella, while those with human-shaped faces but animal features were Beastmen.

"You're Rudeus Greyrat?"

"What do you want?"

"I've been hearing a lot about you and your older sister lately."

"Oh? We only take requests to gather herbs and track down lost animals. That was enough to catch your attention?"

"Yeah. Making it to B-rank off that kind of work — pretty impressive."

"Well, thanks for the kind words. I'll be on my way."

I turned and took two steps. Two more figures materialized in front of me, blocking the path.

A pig-headed man. A scrawny lizardman.

"And what exactly is this?"

"Rudeus Greyrat. You commissioned other squads to complete quests registered under your name, while simultaneously cooperating with the B-rank squad [Shiki No Uta], at a time when you were still F-rank. Am I wrong?"

So I'd been found out. I'd always dealt with any witnesses. Where did it slip through?

I sighed.

"You've done your homework. But this isn't exactly a big deal, is it? The guild knows. They've always looked the other way, as long as both parties have no complaints, they don't bother getting involved."

"True enough. But a formal report changes things. I was quite thorough in my investigation." He paused. "You have a little sister too, don't you? You usually keep her in the inn, but on rest days you take her out with you. Correct?"

My counter-surveillance clearly needed work...

"So. What do you want?"

"Nothing much. You and [Shiki No Uta] have been running A-rank quests. You must have made quite a bit. Leave half."

"You know I've been taking A-rank quests and you're still threatening me? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

"Sure I am. But your little sister is still in the inn right now, isn't she? We've already sent people there. And you're just a support mage, I made sure to come find you after your older sister had left..."

Ah...

On reflex, I froze all three of them from the waist down.

A conditioned response, probably, hearing them use Aisha against me.

"Wh — what are you doing?!"

"Eris is already on her way back to the inn. And my little sister is an Intermediate Mage. She doesn't need me to worry about her."

"Ah...?"

"Who told you all of this about me?"

"I investiga—"

CRACK!

I took his arm off with water magic.

Built like a wall, but completely fragile in front of magic.

Like the muscle-bound men from my previous life, no amount of training helps you stop a bullet.

"AAAAAAH, I'll talk! I'll talk! It was that C-rank squad you commissioned! We grabbed one of their members and beat it out of him! The part about you working with [Shiki No Uta], that dwarf let it slip when he was drunk!"

...The dwarf I could understand. He got absolutely hammered every single day. Something was bound to come out eventually.

But one of the people from that C-rank squad had been captured...

That explained why they'd suddenly mentioned a missing member a while back. He'd been taken.

"Mm... your name is Noskba, right?"

The panic in the bull-headed man's eyes sharpened into something raw.

"H-how do you know my name?!"

"I looked into you a bit. Compared to me, you're actually the more well-known one around here."

"What... what does that mean...?"

"Never takes requests. Rank permanently stuck at B. But somehow you're always at the guild, eating and drinking like there's no tomorrow." I looked at him. "You've been squeezing newcomers like this for a while, haven't you? I investigated everyone like you. But you're probably the stupidest one of the bunch."

As I said it, I used magic to take the heads off the lizardman and the pig-headed man.

Noskba screamed.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry... I, before, I only ever made newcomers hand over a third of their quest earnings! I saw how much you seemed to be making and it just, I lost my head! I was wrong! I have a wife and 3 children at home. Please... spare me this once..."

"So family matters to you. I understand that. It matters to me too." I looked at him. "I won't kill you."

"You... you'll actually let me go...?"

"Mm. I won't kill you. Your home is in the West District, isn't it? I looked into that as well."

"Y-yes..."

Frozen solid from the waist down, Noskba couldn't manage anything else. He trembled, cold sweat pouring off him.

"In this world, family is the thing I value most. In my last life, I failed my mother. Failed my only family."

"Wh-what are you talking about..."

"This life, I made a promise to cherish my family. It doesn't matter if they're scum, criminals, people the world could never forgive, I will always stand on my family's side."

Noskba swallowed. He stared at the thing he'd made the mistake of provoking.

"My adventurer rank doesn't actually matter to me."

"What... what do you mean...?"

"It means, you actually. Dared. To use. My little sister. To threaten me. You even thought. I would bow my head to you. Over a worthless rank."

Every word, I drove a fist into his face.

"No! No... I was wrong..."

When his face had gone thoroughly purple, I stopped.

"You know... I've come to really dislike your kind. The Demon Race, ugly, stupid, and greedy. Not just you. A lot of them are like this." I paused. "Once, because of my teacher, I thought I could be better than that. Thought I could keep from discriminating. But I was wrong. My teacher is fundamentally different from what you are."

"I was wrong... never again... never..."

Snot and tears ran down Noskba's face. It was disgusting.

"Don't worry. I keep my word. I won't kill you."

"R-really...? Thank you... thank you!"

I pulled off the cloth of the Arrogant Water Dragon King.

Glanced left. Glanced right.

West District...

"Wh-what are you doing...?"

"Mm... you threatened me with my family. I only promised not to kill you. I said nothing about sparing your family." I tilted my head. "You should probably start praying. This is a large-area Saint-level Magic. If your family happens to be down in a cellar when it hits, they might make it."

"Wh-what... but there are innocent people there!?"

"What can you do. Give me your family's exact address and I can keep them out of it."

"There's no way! You wouldn't dare! The West District has so many innocent people, if you actually do this and get caught, it's a death sentence!"

"Maybe. But I'll only consider those innocents to have been killed by you."

I raised my staff. Pointed it toward the West District. And began to chant.

"Hah... Majestic spirits of light, Thunder Emperor who rules the skies! Do you see the one who stands before me! That is the arrogant enemy of the Thunder Emperor! I shall take up the sacred sword and become the one who strikes the foe down in a single blow! With the power of radiant brilliance, I shall display the majesty of the Thunder Emperor!"

Thunder cracked across the sky. Then again. Then again, and again, and again, not one bolt, not two, but countless bolts hammering down in an unbroken torrent over the West District.

At the same time, I released the ice binding Noskba.

"Go on. Try to save your family."

Noskba screamed and ran, straight into the storm.

I knew what I was doing. I was venting.

4 months of accumulated pressure, finally bleeding out.

But as I said before,

Killing members of the Demon Race means nothing to me. Aside from Teacher Roxy, I have never looked at any of them as a person.

Sigh...

"There goes tomorrow's date."

➤ Next: Hope — Tears Unshed