Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 96 - Before the Wedding 4

"Whoa, you're really getting married, huh."

Inside the laboratory, Aisha, Nanahoshi, and I stood together.

Nanahoshi held the invitation I'd given her and looked me up and down.

How to put it?

For her, this had to feel strange. As someone who shared the same Earth moral values, Nanahoshi probably found the whole thing bizarre inside, yet here I was, completely at ease.

"Will you come?"

"Isn't that a given? My close friend is getting married. How could I possibly not go?"

Nanahoshi slipped the invitation into her pocket. I let out a quiet breath.

When I thought it over, Nanahoshi was the only person I could truly call a friend. If she didn't come, I'd be a little pitiful.

"So none of your three wives have any complaints? Nothing at all?"

"No... I don't think so? At least, they've never said anything in front of me."

"Mm-hmm. Well, never mind. I'll be there. Speaking of which, are you going to invite Orsted?"

Invite him?

I was fairly sure not a single guest at my wedding would dare laugh. A wedding held under a cloud of fear...

I waved my hand.

"Mm... if it weren't for the curse, I'd genuinely love to invite him. But after all..."

Before I could finish, Aisha beside me shuddered.

I turned. It was Orsted.

He looked at me, the corner of his mouth curving up slightly.

"Rudeus, it makes me happy to hear you say that. I wish you a joyful wedding. If the day ever comes when this curse is lifted, I wouldn't mind raising a ruckus with all of you at one of those so-called 'gatherings.'"

"Uh... when did you get here?"

"Just now."

I glanced at the teleportation circle behind him and understood at once.

These past few weeks, I'd been seeing Orsted in the laboratory more and more often. Had this place become his base of operations?

"Good afternoon, Lord Orsted."

"Good afternoon, Aisha."

I wasn't sure when it had happened, but Aisha and Orsted had developed a surprisingly decent relationship.

At least, that was how it looked to me. Aisha didn't really fear him anymore. That shudder just now was nothing more than the curse's instinct. Lately she'd taken to asking him questions from time to time, all about swordsmanship, of course, since for magic she could always come to me. Well. Maybe she went to Orsted for magic questions too, since he seemed to be remarkably proficient there as well.

"So, did you come this time because you have something to instruct us on?" I asked.

"No. I simply promised Aisha last time that I'd teach her the Water God Style's swordsmanship."

Orsted said that, then looked at me.

"I know the combination of the Water God Style's secret techniques. Would you like to try it?"

The Water God's... secret techniques...

That meant if I could break them, my chances of defeating her would rise significantly.

"Sure."

"Follow me."

Aisha and I followed Orsted into the teleportation circle and arrived at an enormous open plain.

Orsted walked 50 paces forward, stopped, and spoke.

"It has already begun. I'm using a hand blade."

I furrowed my brow. Already begun?

From where I stood, he was just standing there. Not a trace of anything that felt like a "secret technique."

Mm. Closing the distance was definitely the wrong move.

Even as I thought that, I subconsciously moved to raise the Prideful Water Dragon King and activate ice magic. But with just the flex of a knuckle, I felt myself torn to pieces.

When I came back to my senses, I was still standing in the same spot, completely intact.

What... was that...?

An illusion? Was there actually magic that could do that?

It had to be an illusion. It had to be. Telling myself that, I mustered my nerve and raised the Prideful Water Dragon King again.

The next second, my hand was gone. My legs were severed. The world spun and tilted, sky and earth trading places.

This is...? My head was cut off?

"Hah..."

When I came back to myself, I was standing intact in the same spot again.

My body breathed for me, deep and automatic, over and over.

Orsted walked toward us slowly.

"If that had been real combat, you would already be dead."

"I understand..."

I turned to look at Aisha. Her expression was exactly as bad as mine felt. She'd been shaken just as hard.

"This secret technique is a combination of the Water God Style's secret techniques — and it is Water God Reida's own original creation. Once you step into her domain, it doesn't matter where you are. Front, back, left, right, above, below, any direction, all 360 degrees. She can cut you down from any posture. The moment an enemy moves, she reads the motion and severs everything completely."

I listened. I was sure my expression looked terrible.

This...

I couldn't picture a path to victory. Most of the plans I'd worked out before would have to be scrapped entirely.

"What do you think? Do you believe you can win?"

"Let me ask one thing first. Is the range exactly what you just demonstrated?"

"That was approximately the maximum distance."

"Then I probably have very little chance of winning."

"Rudeus."

"Mm?"

"That notebook I gave you — how is the research going? You should be able to understand it fairly quickly, given that it's magic you invented yourself."

"Still in the experimental stage. I haven't used it on a person yet."

Orsted didn't seem particularly surprised by that.

He nodded.

"Invading the brain alters perception. For a swordsman, that is extremely lethal."

"You mean..."

"Correct. That magic can work on Reida. In the previous timeline, even I fell for it the first time. She is no different."

Orsted smiled. It was a little unsettling.

"In that previous timeline, I never found out what method you used to make her submit. Looking at it now, it was most likely Hitogami's arrangement."

No matter how I looked at it, the path always led back to Darius and the Water God.

We would have to settle things with them in the end. But if the Water God truly had the kind of strength Orsted had just demonstrated...

My grasp of the magic in that notebook was still patchy, nowhere near solid enough to use in the field.

I had to fully master it before moving. For the sake of the plan, and for Zenith.

I took a slow breath.

"Will you help me? Reida is that powerful. Even if I push Darius into a corner, she could end everything with sheer force. Using that magic might give me a chance, but..."

"I will help you. And I know exactly when enemies will appear along the way. The previous timeline's biography of Ariel recorded every obstacle she faced on her path to the throne."

Orsted produced a scroll and burned it in front of my eyes.

"This scroll can only be used once. If you reach the point where you see no way forward, activate this magic. I will come and kill Reida." He paused. "Though I trust you won't need it."

I felt a faint, strange presence settle somewhere in my mind. I nodded. I understood what he meant.

After that, Orsted actually did begin teaching Aisha the Water God Style's swordsmanship.

Aisha was genuinely that much of a prodigy, and Orsted, it seemed, had a fondness for talent. After all, his reason for putting Ariel on the throne in the first place was to cultivate future ability.

We teleported back to the laboratory. I helped Nanahoshi with her mana infusion, and then Aisha and I headed home.

"Brother~ I'm so tired~"

She moved to climb onto my back before she'd even finished saying it.

"You're aware you're an adult now, right?"

I said that. I carried her anyway.

"Just because I'm an adult, I'm no longer my brother's little sister?"

"You're still my little sister, obviously."

"Then it's fine. It's completely normal for siblings to bathe together, right?"

Aisha stopped pinching my cheeks and switched to thumping my back with mild irritation, which, honestly, made me start to think.

I really had been giving Aisha much less attention lately.

With the wedding coming, my days were spent running experiments with Nanahoshi in the laboratory, talking through future plans with Orsted when he showed up, and my evenings were warm, quiet time with my wives.

I'd probably... genuinely been neglecting her. Norn not being here was one thing, but the drop in attention Aisha must have been feeling had to be significant. It could even push her toward resenting her sisters-in-law.

That absolutely could not happen. Family falling apart — I would not allow it.

"Alright. We'll bathe together tonight."

"Yes!"

Aisha squirmed happily on my back.

Mm...

She really has grown up, Aisha.

"What are you thinking about, Brother?"

She leaned her head forward. Her wine-red hair fell past my eyes and blocked my view entirely.

"I was thinking about how fast you've grown up. I never noticed it happening. It just feels like one day you were suddenly this big. It makes me a little emotional, that's all."

"Tch. That just means Brother doesn't pay enough attention to me in everyday life!"

"Don't click your tongue. Where did you even pick that up?"

"None of Brother's business~ Say, Brother — do you like long hair or short hair?"

"Long hair."

No hesitation.

All three of my wives had long hair. I could hardly say otherwise. And honestly, I meant it.

"Mmm~ Is my hair long enough? Does Brother like it?"

Aisha smoothed her hair with one hand as she asked.

"I do. Haven't you noticed? Every time we sit together, I reach out and touch your hair without even thinking about it."

"That's true!"

She hugged me tight from behind, excited in a way I couldn't quite follow.

"Then does Brother like my hair down like this, or up in a ponytail?"

"Mm... like this is good."

"Okay~"

Whether Aisha had grown up or not, the face she showed me was still exactly the same, bright and open and completely herself.

➤ Next: Before the Wedding 5