Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 40 - At Sea

Wearing anything too conspicuous on the Demon Continent puts a target on your back, so I'd been dressing like a local adventurer the whole time we were there.

Now that we were boarding a ship, I switched back into the comfortable clothes I'd bought earlier. Mostly just for the comfort.

Eris and Aisha didn't bother changing. They'd been rotating through three sets of clothes since we arrived on the Demon Continent, and they had hooded cloaks to cover everything anyway.

"A-rank adventurer Rudeus Greyrat-sama and A-rank adventurer Eris Greyrat-sama, the voyage ahead will take approximately two weeks..."

"Understood. I've already looked into it."

"Then I'll leave it in your hands..."

About seventy passengers total on this ship. The merchant had hired adventurers who were already heading in the same direction — clever, honestly.

Ten silver coins for Eris and me. Two A-rank adventurers. Through the Guild that would have run him close to a gold coin. A-ranks aren't easy to come by.

Apparently he'd also hired a full A-rank party, so that gave him two A-rank squads watching over his ship.

"Rudeus... I feel awful..."

"Brother... me too..."

These two. They were practically bouncing with excitement right up until we boarded.

I reached out and cast healing magic on their foreheads.

"How's that?"

"Much better... x2."

"Go rest in the cabin."

"Ugh... forget it... At least out here on deck I can throw up into the sea whenever I need to."

Eris's face said she was about thirty seconds from doing exactly that.

Aisha nodded beside her.

"Fine. Then go sit over there."

I pointed to a patch of shade under the sail.

They both nodded and shuffled over obediently, settling down and leaning against each other.

A genuinely nice sight, those two.

...

By day 7, healing magic had almost no effect on their seasickness.

This is the first time I've heard of someone building up immunity to healing magic.

Like cockroaches from my previous life. Use the same insecticide long enough and eventually you get a generation that just shrugs it off. Was that what was happening here?

If only I knew magic that could block perception in specific organs. I remembered learning in my previous life that motion sickness comes from something in the inner ear being too sensitive. Seasickness should work the same way.

"Brother... am I going to die...? I'm so young... so cute... a genius, even... and yet...!"

"Where are you getting this stuff?"

I rapped her on the head.

"Ugh... I'm already suffering and Brother's still knocking me around. And Eris-nee already passed out from how bad it is..."

"Isn't passing out a good thing? You've barely slept in two days and you throw up everything you eat." I looked at her. "So tell me, what exactly is your brother supposed to do? Healing magic doesn't work on either of you anymore."

"Help... rub... rub my belly..."

Aisha murmured, and lay down beside me.

"Like this?"

I slipped my hand under her clothes and gently rubbed her lower belly. Used a little magic to warm my palm, and kept a steady trickle of healing magic running at the same time.

"Mmm~ That's so much better..."

She smiled with her eyes half-closed. She looked comfortable. Actually comfortable.

We stayed like that, the two of us, in that quiet warmth that only exists between siblings.

Then I felt eyes on me.

I turned. The gaze was coming from Eris, who I had assumed was asleep.

"Rudeus... I want some too...!"

She said it and immediately leaned in beside Aisha, lifting her own clothes herself.

Her lower belly had the marks of years of training. Even so, it was... cute. No, that wasn't the right word. A figure like that should be called beautiful.

And the expression on her face right now. Softer than anything she'd ever normally let show.

Uh. Eris was a fourteen-year-old girl going through adolescence. It made sense that I'd feel something. I'd never really been around women in my previous life either, so a reaction like this was completely normal.

A reaction like this. What reaction was I actually having right now?!

"Rudeus...?"

"Ah... yeah, come on."

I reached over and did the same for Eris that I was doing for Aisha.

She's only fourteen. Get it together.

I shook my head and pushed the stray thoughts out.

"Rudeus, what's on your mind? You don't look great."

"Nothing."

"Hehe~ Did Eris-nee lifting her clothes just now make Brother feel something?"

Aisha grinned from beside me.

"I-is... is that so...? Rudeus...?"

"Yeah, maybe. Now both of you be quiet. I need to concentrate on controlling my mana..."

I don't even know where Aisha picks up this stuff. What I did know was that arguing with her right now was a fight I'd lose.

I knocked her on the head with a hand chop.

This little sister of mine, I swear.

The ship lurched.

Several enormous tentacles broke the surface.

Eris started to push herself up. I stopped her.

"We're fine. That's what the other squad is here for."

"Oh. Right."

So the three of us kept on as we were, and watched the A-rank party put on what was honestly a decent show of coordinated work.

Say what you will, that's A-rank for you. Pull any one of them out individually and they probably wouldn't clear the bar, but together they made it happen.

If Eris and I built that kind of coordination, could we hit S-rank?

A few hours later, the giant octopus was dead.

Their maritime combat wasn't their strong suit, I'd give them that. Firepower was the issue. The mage had been throwing fire magic the entire time, which suggested that was mostly what she knew. Aisha would have switched elements immediately and finished it faster.

Good teamwork, though. Just nothing remarkable.

Aisha and Eris had fallen asleep by the time it was over. I carried them back to the cabin, then returned to the deck.

That was when I noticed the adventurer squad heading toward me.

Looking for a fight? Coming to lecture me for sitting it out?

"Excuse me, are you Rudeus-sama?"

Apparently neither.

"Yeah."

"During the battle just now, one of our warriors was poisoned. Can you use detoxification magic? Intermediate Magic would be more than enough."

I nodded. The man looked relieved and led me over.

The warrior from the fight. Still conscious.

I placed my hand on him.

"O benevolent goddess of maternal love, hear the plea of your child — [Ex Healing]."

Intermediate Magic was all it needed.

I stood when it was done.

"Y-you... you shortened the incantation?"

"Is that unusual?"

"Not unusual, exactly... but yours was so much shorter than..."

"I'm just a bit more practiced with healing magic. I'll head back now."

"Ah — thank you. We'll handle the deck watch. If anything comes up, please help us out. Our warrior isn't at full strength right now."

"Got it."

I waved a hand and walked back to the cabin.

Aisha's and Eris's faces had gone tight with discomfort again.

Made sense. These past few days had been nothing but eat and throw up, throw up and eat.

They couldn't stop eating either. That was the problem.

I slipped my hand onto their lower bellies and worked the same method I'd been using, rubbing slow circles against their skin.

"We'll be there soon..."

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