Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 117 - Mother, Memories — Heartbreak

As Rudeus Greyrat, I didn't really know my own mother, Zenith.

I never made the effort. Aside from knowing she liked tending flowers, I knew nothing about her other interests or her past.

It wasn't that Zenith kept secrets or had things she couldn't speak about. I simply never bothered to learn.

She was my mother in this world, and I knew almost nothing about her.

I'm ashamed to admit it. During the treatment, so many of her memories were about me.

About Rudeus Greyrat. And yet I...

But not knowing doesn't mean I didn't care. If anything, I loved Zenith. It's just that, as her son, I made the same mistake I made in my previous life.

Back then, I always waited for my mother to reach out first. Only after that would I show any concern.

That was wrong. It shouldn't be that way in this world. Repeating the same mistake is just stupid.

"Mother, are you ready?"

Today was the final day of treatment.

In theory, at least. All the knots had been untangled — only one remained.

The last knotted memory. And it would also be Zenith's deepest one.

After all of this, I understood Zenith in a way I never had before.

I learned what she was like during her noble days.

I learned what she was like as an adventurer.

I learned how she and Paul fell in love.

A good girl. A good woman. A good mother.

"Well then. Let's begin."

...

What kind of scene was it?

Zenith's deepest memory — and it was so completely ordinary.

The house in Fittoa Territory.

I was seeing through Zenith's eyes, looking at myself.

My infant self.

A memory I had entirely forgotten.

I don't remember learning to walk. I have no image of it, no feeling.

But in Zenith's memory, it was exact. A winter afternoon, 3 o'clock. Sunlight came in through the left window. She even remembered the dust motes drifting through the light.

I crawled to the edge of the bed, little by little.

Just as Zenith thought I was about to tumble off, I reached out toward her.

She wanted to lean in and scoop me up. Then something stopped her, and she only took my hand, gently.

Slowly. Bit by bit. My fingers were so small they couldn't even straighten all the way.

But that weak little child stood up, with his mother's hand holding his.

Zenith even remembered how I did it — right knee down first, then pushing up with the left leg to find my balance.

...

The final treatment ended late.

Past midnight, technically. I sat there in a daze, not sure what I was feeling.

Treating strangers never moved me, no matter what their memories held.

But Zenith's memories always did. Like they were telling me the same thing, over and over.

I love you.

I watched Zenith's eyes slowly close. The breath I'd been holding finally came out.

It was done.

"Rudy...? How did it go?"

Paul walked in, drawn by the quiet sounds from the room. He looked at Zenith lying still, eyes shut, and asked with careful worry.

"It worked. She'll probably wake up in three or four days."

"Ah... yeah... right... hahaha..."

He'd probably meant to clap me on the back, say something easy like good job. That was the kind of thing Paul would do.

Instead he just stumbled over his words, tears sliding down his face, and sat down at Zenith's bedside. He picked up her hand and held it.

I smiled, watching him.

From the doorway, Lilia stepped in, a quiet smile on her face. She took out a handkerchief and walked over to me.

Hm?

I came back to myself. My eyes were wet.

What is this... I'm actually this sentimental?

"Rudy-sama. You worked hard."

Lilia said it softly, and wiped my tears.

Paul still had tears in his eyes. But he smiled anyway.

"You worked hard, Rudy."

➤ Next: One Day,