Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 80 - Unexpected Acquaintance — Face to Face

"Boss, what are your orders today, meow?"

"What are your orders, nya~"

After school, the idiot duo was fawning over me.

Brother has been gone four months now.

Before, I always had them tail Brother whenever they had nothing better to do, check whether any new women had shown up around him. All within the academy, though. The moment they left campus, those two and their tracking skills would get them killed on the spot.

"Nothing today either."

"Oh! Your brother still isn't back, meow?"

"It's been so long already, nya..."

I shot them a sidelong glance. They shut up immediately.

I never told them what Brother went to do, but they've clearly pieced most of it together on their own.

Not that I'm worried. I fully believe Brother won't run into any accidents.

"If you don't want me bossing you around, you have five minutes to leave the classroom."

"Right away, meow! Ah! Not that I mind being bossed around, Boss! I just have urgent business, meow!"

"Me too, nya!"

And with that, the two clowns were gone.

I shook my head, packed up my things, and left.

Come to think of it... Norn should be out of class by now too.

I don't particularly like Norn, but keeping up appearances matters. I recalled where her classroom was and headed that way.

When I got there, I found her at the door, but she wasn't alone. Two others were with her. Not strangers, exactly. I recognized both of them.

Ariel Anemoi Asura and Luke Notus Greyrat.

The princess and her knight.

What brought them here? Norn's Greyrat surname? Something else?

Recalling how Brother treats nobles, I couldn't quite shake the feeling that Norn getting tangled up with them wasn't a good thing.

I watched for a moment. Norn looked happy enough, chatting away.

"Hm..."

I let it go. It wasn't my place to meddle in Norn's affairs. I'm the younger sister, why borrow trouble?

I left the school.

Normally I'd walk home with Brother at this hour. Now that he wasn't here, the walk back felt pointlessly dull.

I passed through the market with nothing in mind that I wanted to buy.

"Excuse me, how much is this?"

A somewhat familiar voice by my ear.

I turned. A black-haired girl was buying skewers from a street stall. Black hair is rare enough that I remembered her clearly.

Nanahoshi, if I recalled right.

Pretty face. Nice figure. And a woman who got along with Brother remarkably well.

I didn't know the full story, but Brother clearly held her in high regard. Brother, who almost never drank, once had a full night of it on her account and carried her home drunk afterward.

Well. I'd go say hello.

I walked over. She had just finished paying, and our eyes met directly.

She stammered.

"Uh... ah... that is..."

"It's Aisha. Aisha Greyrat. I suppose today is our first proper meeting, Miss Nanahoshi."

"Right. I'm sorry I didn't greet you properly when I was at your house."

"It's fine."

Silence.

Awkward silence.

I genuinely had no idea what to talk to her about.

"Uh... want a skewer?"

"Yes, thank you."

I took it. Skewers like these, I used to eat them all the time back in my adventurer days. A little nostalgic.

"Your brother should be back soon, right?"

"How could that be? Just the journey there takes half a year. He probably hasn't even arrived yet."

"Hmm... he didn't mention that..."

"Didn't mention what?"

"Nothing. Haha..."

Watching her awkward laugh, I more or less pieced it together. Something about the trip. The timeline.

Miss Nanahoshi was more scatterbrained than I'd expected.

We fell into step beside each other, no particular destination in mind.

"How did you come to know my brother, Miss Nanahoshi?"

"We just hit it off. And he happened to be willing to help me."

"Help you with what?"

"Hmm... researching teleportation magic."

"Teleportation..."

Putting that together with what she'd just said, she had probably given Brother a teleportation landmark, or used the magic herself to send him a great distance.

Hmm.

"Can I help you?"

"Really? You'd be willing?"

"You're Brother's friend. Miss Nanahoshi is probably the only real friend Brother has."

"Ah... well, with that guy's personality... uh... haha. But it's really great that you're willing to help. Do you need compensation? Fair warning though, all I can offer is money."

What's wrong with Brother's personality? I thought it was perfectly fine.

I kept that to myself. I could understand why she'd say it, Brother's arrogance toward strangers was hardly subtle, especially when it came to the Demon Race and nobles.

"I don't need any compensation."

"Oh! You two really are alike. Then tomorrow — after school — come to this address."

Nanahoshi handed me a slip of paper with her laboratory drawn on it.

"I'll be there."

"Great. See you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow."

...

The next day.

Inside the laboratory, I was running on fumes.

That level of sustained mana output was genuinely hard to manage.

"You've worked hard. Shall we stop here?"

"Mm..."

"Still — it's remarkable. Aisha-chan actually has that much mana reserve?"

"Probably from learning magic with Brother since I was young."

"Oh~ So using magic from childhood can expand your mana reserve..."

Nanahoshi muttered to herself, already half lost in thought.

I glanced around her cluttered laboratory.

Brother does this every day.

One thing became clear to me, though, whatever easy warmth existed between the two of them, there was no chance of Nanahoshi and Brother becoming lovers. After watching her work, I was certain of it.

"Aisha-chan, want to grab food? Are you of age yet? Can you drink?"

"Not of age yet."

"Then let's just eat! My treat, of course."

"Sure, let's go."

...

At the restaurant, Nanahoshi gossiped about Brother's love life. She didn't oppose him taking two wives, but she wasn't exactly enthusiastic either.

"By the way, Miss Nanahoshi, could I take a look at your magic circle blueprints?"

"Hm? Of course."

I took them and studied them for a while.

I don't know that much about teleportation magic circles. But these blueprints had a problem. I could feel it, the way you feel a stone in your shoe before you can see it. This might be exactly why Nanahoshi kept failing.

The circle looked refined. Meticulous. No obvious flaws.

But symmetry, perfect symmetry stabilizes a magic circle, yes. Nanahoshi had taken that and run too far with it. What a magic circle actually needed to be was a chain of [Links].

I couldn't quite put it into words, but a magic circle was connection after connection, each one feeding into the next. Nanahoshi's circle could activate. It just wouldn't do anything.

Why hadn't Brother caught it? He must have looked at this.

Then again, Brother casts without chanting. Magic circles, with their slow activation, weren't part of how he worked. He probably hadn't thought in those terms.

That tracked. I'd even seen him reading books about magic circles a while back. He must have started cramming after he took on Nanahoshi's research.

"Miss Nanahoshi."

"Hm?"

"This magic circle of yours — I think you've made too many assumptions."

"Oh? Tell me what the problem is!"

"First..."

I laid out my thinking clearly. She didn't look surprised. No sudden realization, no moment of understanding lighting up her face.

She'd known from the start that magic circles operated through [Links]. That wasn't the issue.

"Yeah... I understand that part. I've been at this long enough. But just connecting them like a circuit board, there's always one joint that won't close."

"Circuit board? Never mind that, when you say it won't close, where exactly is the break?"

"Hmm... let me use an example. This table can probably only fit half my research notes to begin with... anyway, "

Nanahoshi spread blueprints across the table and walked me through the underlying logic of how the links were meant to chain together.

"I see... so the break here is what keeps the circle from completing its activation?"

"Exactly."

"Then what if we tried it like this..."

We talked until night had fully settled over the city. I eventually realized that Nanahoshi couldn't infuse mana at all, she was no mage, and she carried no sword. Sending her home alone in the dark felt irresponsible, so I simply walked her back to our house.

It occurred to me: this was the first time she'd visited in a state that wasn't dead drunk.

"Aisha-chan!"

She grabbed my left arm with both hands.

"Hm?"

"Would you be interested in researching teleportation magic with me? Properly? You're a genuine genius!"

"I can come help at the lab whenever I have time. Would that work?"

"Of course it would! I'll pay you, and trust me, the rate will be a hundred times better than what your brother gets for teaching."

"Miss Nanahoshi... you're getting carried away..."

"How am I supposed to stay calm right now? Your theory has real potential! If tomorrow's experiment shows even a little progress, I'll be that much closer to going back... going back home..."

Her voice trailed off. The energy drained out of her all at once.

It wasn't my habit to dig into other people's lives. I let it sit.

But then a different thought worked its way forward.

Brother goes to the laboratory every day. If I went every day to help, I'd have time with him every day. Just the two of us. Not counting Nanahoshi, of course.

"Will Brother still come to your laboratory after he returns?"

"Probably. He comes whenever he's free. The only times he skips are when he's walking his little sister home."

"Then I'm very willing to help, Miss Nanahoshi. As long as Brother is there, I'll come."

"Oh! Perfect. Once he's back, I'll lock him in the lab!"

"That won't be necessary..."

And just like that, Nanahoshi and I became properly acquainted.

➤ Next: Brother — Heartbreak