Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 93 - Before the Wedding

Because Orsted had said Ariel's move wasn't happening yet, life briefly returned to the mundane.

......

Eris settled in very naturally. So naturally it almost exceeded my expectations.

I had figured she'd do something willful eventually, but none of what I imagined came to pass. It's been a week now and nothing has happened.

Is she holding back? Or has Eris actually changed?

Either way, I've noticed something. Eris seems to be keeping a certain distance from me. I don't know what she's thinking, but since she chose to live here, she probably doesn't dislike me...?

Mm. She's gotten much closer with Roxy and Sylphie lately. At night the three of them sleep together, so no one keeps me company anymore.

"I suppose that's a good thing..."

Every night they gather in one room for a girls' night talk, like right now. Honestly, I'm pretty curious what they talk about...

"Brother~"

"Mm?"

Aisha stood at my doorway, hugging a pillow.

Come to think of it, what are adults in this world actually supposed to do? There's never been a clear standard.

In my past life, becoming an adult didn't mean you immediately had to shoulder responsibilities. You didn't walk straight out of school and into society.

What does that even look like here?

Thinking back to our adventurer days, I always had the feeling Aisha would succeed at anything she put her hands to.

An absurd, outrageous genius.

I reached out and touched her cheek.

"Aisha staying just like this is enough."

After she fell asleep, I got up and walked to the desk.

Last time I'd only skimmed the research notes. I was curious why the me from the previous timeline would write in this world's language. If it were me now, I would never do that. Did I have someone from my past life helping me with these experiments?

I opened the notebook and looked at the contents.

The concept was simple: use magic power to form threads invisible to the naked eye and slip them into another person's brain. Such a simple theory, yet the experimental notes filled an entire thick volume.

The early experiments used criminals as subjects. Later, probably because criminals weren't enough, the notes moved on to slaves, the Demon Race, Beastmen...

A total of 1,356 people died in the experiments I conducted in the previous timeline.

Cruel. But even looking at it now, I don't feel anything is particularly wrong with it. At most, I'd sigh and say: the me from the previous timeline was truly inhuman.

Beyond that, nothing.

But...

"Just reading the results isn't useful. I need to run the experiments myself..."

1,356 test subjects. I have no idea where they all came from.

Criminals, according to the Dragon God, the previous-timeline me helped Ariel become queen, so the criminals probably came through her.

Slaves, did I have that kind of money? Probably just took them...

The Demon Race and Beastmen seemed the easiest to obtain. Just capture them directly.

But. Roxy is of the Demon Race, and Eris seems to have a strong fondness for Beastmen. So criminals first.

Conveniently, I need to help Ariel anyway. This works out.

I closed the notebook and took out the other one Orsted had given me.

Calling it a notebook was generous. It was more of a biography, a record of the Milis Church's assessment of the previous timeline's Rudeus.

Page after page of "heinous crimes." I couldn't be bothered with the details, but the last line of the biography read:

[A mage of power that seemed beyond human, who in the end chose death because his own mother denied him]

Chose death, huh.

"Mother" here almost certainly meant Zenith. Orsted had said she was healed in the previous timeline.

Most likely everything was exposed, and Zenith condemned me without stopping. She was that kind of person, after all...

"Huh..."

I put the notebook back in the bookcase, locked it, and lay back down to sleep.

......

The next morning, I opened my eyes to find Aisha already gone.

Downstairs, Eris was in the kitchen doing something. The two maids beside her were scrambling to keep up. When Eris heard my footsteps, she spun around immediately.

"Rudeus...! I... I made breakfast... do you want to try some?"

Looking at the maids cleaning up the aftermath behind her, I felt a cold sweat forming.

Does making breakfast really need to cause this much chaos?

"Of course. I'd love to try Eris's cooking."

Well. It was just fried eggs and bacon. Even for Eris, with the maids helping, it couldn't be too difficult.

Looking at what she set on the table, I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

I cut the bacon into small pieces and brought them to my mouth, chewing as I spoke.

"Where are Roxy and Sylphie? Still sleeping?"

"Mm! Today Rudeus belongs to me!"

"Belongs to Eris? That's bold."

"Does Rudeus not like me being like this...?"

Eris's tone shifted, softened into something almost gentle. Like she was genuinely afraid I'd dislike this version of her.

She could stand to be more confident. Because Eris right now is truly beautiful. That beauty holds a kind of pull over me that I haven't really let show.

I should let it show a little.

"Of course not," I said. "I like Eris. The willfulness from before and the gentleness now — both. And Eris right now is genuinely beautiful. You draw me in from every angle."

"Mm... mm! That's good! Uh... Ru... Rudeus is also very handsome right now! Really! I really like the current Rudeus too!"

Eris flushed as she said it, and for a moment I was looking at the girl I remembered.

She really hasn't changed much.

We kept talking and laughing, and I noticed Ghislaine sparring with Aisha out in the courtyard.

Sensing my gaze, Eris spoke up.

"Aisha's swordsmanship keeps getting stronger. She can hold her own against Ghislaine now."

She said it seriously. That genuinely surprised me.

Aisha is already that far along...?

"And here I am, never managing to get anywhere with the sword..."

"Ah, um, Rudeus — um — everyone has their own area of expertise! Rudeus's magic is the strongest I've ever seen!"

Eris stumbled through her reassurance. Then she caught the teasing look in my eyes, and her face went red. She slapped the table.

"Rudeus! I really thought you were sad!"

"Just joking. I've always known Aisha is a genius." I kept my voice easy. "Sorry for teasing Eris. Is there anything you'd like as compensation?"

Eris's eyes went wide.

"Really? Anything?"

"Within my ability."

"I! I also want to give Rudeus a ring! The ring that shows Rudeus has me as his wife!"

So Sylphie and Roxy had told her. I'd originally planned to bring it up casually while we were out, then surprise her with a necklace.

"Of course. Let's head out after lunch? I was already thinking of buying Eris a necklace. Eris is far too beautiful right now, I'd rather no one else got any ideas."

"Hmph! I belong only to Rudeus!"

Eris can always say things like that openly, without hesitation. Sylphie and Roxy are the same, but Eris's love burns a little hotter.

......

That afternoon, I took Eris to have the ring and necklace custom-made.

Along the way, we fell back into something like our adventurer days, eating street food that wasn't anything special, talking about everything and nothing.

Eris has grown up. Physically she's matured a great deal. Her personality is still the same wide-open, unconstrained Eris, but she's reined in the willfulness.

No. She'd already reined that in during our adventurer days. I just hadn't been paying close enough attention to her. I missed it.

On the way home, Eris held my hand. Every so often she'd lift the gold necklace from her throat toward the setting sun, then turn and demand I raise my left hand and do the same.

My left thumb is the only finger without a ring now. I genuinely feel like a nouveau riche.

I glanced over at Eris. She was still staring at the necklace with a stupid grin on her face.

So cute.

When we got home, Aisha was still sparring with Ghislaine.

"You've probably surpassed Paul already, haven't you?"

"Not at all. Father is still my goal."

"So modest."

The words were modest. Their swords were not, each swing harder and fiercer than the last.

Eris watched from the side, clearly itching to join. At least, her eyes said as much.

She really does love the sword.

I let go of Eris's hand.

"Go practice too. Looks like you can barely hold yourself back."

"Is that okay?"

"Isn't it obvious? Does Eris think she can't swing a sword after becoming my wife?"

"That's not it! Then I'm going! You have to watch me, Rudeus!"

"Of course."

She really...

Hasn't changed at all.

➤ Next: Before the Wedding 2