Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 42 - Aisha 3

Don't you think you've been appearing in my dreams more often lately?

"Have I?"

You definitely have! I don't trust you.

"Hm? Which of my suggestions has been a problem? You're about to find Father, you've obtained the Magic Eye, and you haven't run into any real crises along the way. Don't I deserve some credit for that?"

Even without your suggestions, my brother could have led me out of the Demon Continent. Your advice at most sped things up by a few months.

"Goodness~ So are you going to keep listening to my advice going forward?"

Mm-hm. I don't trust you, but go ahead.

"Aren't you following your brother to the Central Continent? When the time comes, he'll probably take you through the Red Dragon's Lower Jaw. If he decides that, you have to stop him. Otherwise your brother will die, you will die, and this world will be destroyed."

That sounds serious. What if I don't listen?

"Then this world will very likely be destroyed."

Heh.

"Anyway~ you have to trust me. This god has to log off again. I hope that by the next time I visit, you've already made it through this."

........

I opened my eyes. My brother lay beside me, fast asleep, snoring softly.

He probably doesn't even know he's started snoring. But I've heard Father say that snoring means someone is just too tired...

I turned the dream conversations over in my mind.

Brother will die? I will die? The world will be destroyed?

That kind of talk only makes me want to dig in my heels. All the same, I have listened to that Man-God's advice so far, and I have gotten something out of it.

But when I thought about it carefully — even without his advice, many of the decisions my brother made were perfectly fine on their own. A lot of his actions actually overlapped with what the Man-God suggested anyway.

The Man-God always spoke so gravely, and that did make me nervous about ignoring him. He's always cryptic like that. Following his advice does yield results, but from where I stood, most of those things were decisions my brother reached on his own.

Even without the Man-God, my brother would have managed.

Mm... Then I'll do what I always do. Follow my brother's lead.

While I was thinking, the snoring stopped.

"Brother?"

"Mm... You're up early, Aisha."

"I went to bed early last night."

"I see."

My brother sat up. The first thing he did was glance over at Eris, who was still fast asleep beside him.

Eris's sleeping posture wasn't exactly graceful. She was completely sprawled out like a starfish, snoring away.

My brother smiled, got up, and stretched.

"Ah~ I'll rest today. Tomorrow we set out."

"Mm!"

I climbed out of bed and headed off to wash up.

Just then, my brother looked me over from head to toe.

It made me a little self-conscious, even though this is perfectly normal, I suppose...

We bathe together all the time, so why does being looked at by my brother in the morning make me feel shy? Is it because my hair is a complete mess right now?

"What is it, Brother?"

"Mm... I was just thinking..."

My brother narrowed his eyes, turning something over in his head.

"I was just thinking I should buy you some new clothes. You've grown a lot. I picked up a few things for you on the Demon Continent, but that was half a year ago now."

"Uh... is that really necessary?"

"Of course! In two more months we'll see Pau— Father. If Father sees you wearing clothes that don't fit right, he'll definitely beat me up. And honestly, seeing you like this bothers me too."

Brother definitely almost said Paul just now.

His attitude toward Father is strange. I can't quite put it into words.

He dislikes Father, yet respects him. Something like that.

"Aisha? Are you listening?"

"Ah! Yes!"

"So like I said — we're heading out to buy you clothes. Get ready!"

"Ehh~"

Anyway, under my brother's firm insistence, we set out to go shopping.

Before we left, I caught my brother saying something close to Eris's ear. Eris went red and murmured something back.

I was a little envious. If nothing goes wrong, Eris will become my sister-in-law before long, won't she?

We walked through the streets, my brother holding my hand.

Inside the clothing shop, my brother browsed for me.

His taste was strange. Commoner clothes didn't suit him, noble clothes didn't suit him either.

After a while I lost track of how long we'd been there. My brother finally settled on 3 outfits. After I tried each one on, he nodded.

"So cute! Are they comfortable?"

"Mm! Very comfortable!"

When my brother paid, he bought 2 extra sets as well. Judging by the sizes, they looked like they were for Eris.

So that's what they were talking about this morning.

"I really wonder what kind of man my adorable little sister will end up with someday. If that day ever comes, I'm going to screen him very carefully..."

He said it while squeezing my hand tighter.

"I'm never getting married!"

"You're still young. You'll understand when you're older."

"Oh..."

After the shopping, we wandered around town for a while.

Human society really is something, isn't it? So many different foods, and all of it so much better than what we had on the Demon Continent.

When we passed by an alley, my brother stopped.

"Aisha. Do you hear that?"

"Mm... children crying..."

But my brother only listened for a moment before taking my hand to leave.

I stopped and pulled on his arm.

"Brother? Shouldn't we check? If those are kidnapped children..."

"Aisha, I don't want to get involved in things like this. As long as you're safe, that's enough. Human trafficking is everywhere in this world. Even if we want to change that, going through the motions right now isn't going to change anything."

His tone was cold. It felt unfamiliar.

I understood his reasoning — whether we save them or not isn't really our problem. But I didn't want to see my brother looking at lives that way.

"B-but... but... what if... what if I want to save those children...?"

My brother looked at me for a moment, then nodded.

"If it's my cute little sister asking, then I agree."

As expected. A little bit of pleading, and my brother will act.

He took my hand and turned back into the alley. He burned the wooden door open in one go.

Inside, cage after cage held children who looked to be from the beast race.

My brother crouched down beside the nearest cage and spoke to them in a language I couldn't understand.

So he knows the Beast God language too...

After talking with them for a while, my brother cut open every cage with water magic.

"Hey! Who are you?!"

4 men with swords at their waists came bursting out from deeper inside. Their shouts barely left their mouths before my brother killed all 4 of them with water magic.

4 heads hit the floor at once.

Whenever my brother kills, I always feel like I'm looking at a stranger.

His disregard for life frightens me. But in everyday life, he loves me and Eris so deeply. It's almost like two different people living inside the same person.

After freeing all the beast-race children, my brother had them stay close to us.

"Their home is in the Great Forest. It's on our way. There are over 30 of them, plus one big dog."

"Big dog?"

"Right. Uh... the children call it a sacred beast, but I honestly can't see what's so impressive about it..."

"By the way, Brother, I only asked you to rescue those children. When did you go and decide to escort them all the way back to the Great Forest?"

"Mm... Before I saw them, I was indifferent to whether they lived or died. But once I actually saw them..."

My brother paused. He let out a small sigh.

"Alright. The truth is, I saw that they're around the same age as you and Norn. And right then I thought... what if you or Norn weren't with Father and me during the teleportation incident? What if you or Norn ended up as slaves too... Just thinking about that possibility terrifies me."

He's always like this. Out of nowhere, something that cuts right through you.

"I'm right here by your side, Brother. And I plan to stay by your side my whole life!"

"If Aisha hits adolescence and starts finding me annoying... I'll definitely cry..."

"Adolescence? What's that?"

"You'll understand when you're older."

Anyway, we settled the 30-plus beast-race children and one large white dog at the inn.

Money wasn't a concern, according to my brother.

So we booked 3 rooms, 6 or 7 children to a room. Only for one night, since we were leaving tomorrow.

My brother bathed each of them one by one in the inn's bathroom, and gave the big dog a thorough scrubbing too. That last part was because Eris was absolutely taken with it.

The big dog seemed to know exactly who had saved it. It kept bounding over to my brother, me, and Eris and licking us. Really adorable.

Though every time it did that, the beast-race children would cover their eyes with both hands and start murmuring something I couldn't make out.

Dinner wasn't as lavish as usual, but the children were grateful anyway. I couldn't understand a word they said, but their tone and the way they looked at my brother made everything clear.

After dinner, one little beast-race girl walked over to me. Several other children trailed behind her.

She looked up at me, her mouth just barely open. After a long pause, all of them spoke together.

"Th-thank you!"

In the human language. I looked over at my brother, who was watching me with a smile.

I quickly asked him how to say "you're welcome" in the Beast God language. After about a minute of coaching:

"You're welcome!"

The moment I said it in the Beast God language, every one of those children broke into a grin. Then they turned and ran happily back to their room.

Back in our own room, my brother and I bathed and got ready for bed.

...Uh, Eris was still playing with the big dog.

She really loved that dog. And the dog really loved her.

"Rudeus! I want to keep it!"

"It seems to be a sacred beast of the beast race... Keeping it would probably be difficult."

"Ehh~ Do you want to come with us?"

Eris hugged the dog as she said it, but the dog didn't seem to understand.

My brother walked over and translated for her in the Beast God language.

The big dog nodded hard first, then seemed to think of something, and shook its head.

"Alright..."

That night, Eris fell asleep with the big dog in her arms.

➤ Next: Norn — What Was Lost