Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 131 - Detection

Three months of travel.

I set foot on the Demon Continent again. Not the slightest trace of unfamiliarity.

This barren wasteland was still exactly as I remembered it from over a decade ago. Just as desolate. Just as dead.

My Detection Magic had expanded considerably with my improved skills, so I spotted monsters at a distance and cut them down before they could close the gap. I didn't bother harvesting materials from the corpses. They were in my way. That was all.

.......

A village......?

Calling it a village felt generous. Tribe might be the better word.

A dozen or so houses clustered together, surrounded by rough wooden fencing. Small farm plots lined the inside of the fence.

I couldn't tell what was growing in them. Whatever it was, it didn't look like crops. Growing anything in a place with no river water seemed nearly impossible, but here it was.

I walked up to the entrance.

"Halt!"

A boy stepped out from beside the gate. He looked about middle school age, and his hair was blue.

It reminded me of Roxy.

"Hello."

I greeted him in the Demon God Language and drew out the pendant Roxy had given me.

"This pendant belongs to my wife. Her name is Roxy. My name is Rudeus Greyrat. I'd like to meet Roxy's parents."

The moment I finished, the man in front of me went wide-eyed.

"What!"

He strode right up to me and grabbed my shoulders.

A little rude, honestly... but he looked enough like Roxy that I couldn't quite bring myself to be annoyed.

"Y-you... you're Roxy's husband?"

"Yes."

"Where is Roxy right now?"

"I don't think my wife's address is something I should hand out so easily..."

"Tell me! Now! Roxy is my daughter!"

"Huh?"

So this was Roxy's father.

Before today, I'd never met a member of the Migurd Race besides Roxy herself. Well, my dear daughter Lara Greyrat counts too.

The physical traits were consistent across the whole race, it seemed. Even the men were on the smaller side.

"Where is Roxy? Tell me!"

"Father-in-law, Roxy is in the Ranoa Kingdom."

"Ranoa..."

"I've wanted to come meet you and Mother-in-law for a long time, actually. I just kept putting it off until the children were a little older."

"Children!?! Y-y-you..."

He pointed at me, mouth working without sound.

I understood the feeling. I'm a father too.

If my daughter ran away from home someday, and years later a man showed up at the door claiming to be her husband, with children in tow, I'd probably collapse from the shock.

"Yes. We're very happy together. May I ask your name, Father-in-law?"

He looked like a man trying to accept something that hadn't quite sunk in yet.

"Roin..." he said, a little flat. "You... you're really Roxy's husband?"

"Of course."

"Can you contact Roxy right now?"

"I can. Actually, my plan was to bring you and Mother-in-law back to the Ranoa Kingdom for a visit. The child has been wanting to meet her grandparents, after all."

"Uh... it doesn't feel real at all. Anyway. Follow me."

......

One word for the Migurd Race village: destitute.

A handful of houses whose shapes were difficult to put into words. The closest I could manage: like someone had dug a hole into the ground and dropped a turtle shell over it.

Asura Kingdom construction was leagues ahead of this.

Then again, even the best architects from Asura couldn't do much without materials. This land had nothing to harvest. No timber. They were working with what the earth gave them, and that wasn't much.

Inside the fence, farm plots were neatly arranged, the plants in them bearing dry, withered leaves. They looked dead.

I hoped they weren't.

Migurd Race villagers stared at me as I walked through. If I remembered correctly, they communicated without speaking. Roxy had left precisely because she couldn't participate in that silent exchange.

Which meant they were probably all already aware of who I was.

"You said earlier... you can contact Roxy. Was that true?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Can you bring her here?"

"I can. Though I'd rather bring you and Mother-in-law to the Ranoa Kingdom. The Demon Continent is..."

The environment is a bit much.

"I understand what you mean. But... Roxy's mother. She..."

Hm?

That tone.

Roin's expression had gone tight.

The Migurd Race were supposed to be long-lived. It shouldn't be age.

"Is something wrong with Mother-in-law?"

"She's fallen ill."

"Take me to her."

Inside the earthen house, a young woman with blue hair lay on what looked like a slab of stone serving as a bed.

She looked very much like Roxy.

But...

"This is..."

"We don't know what it is. It started 2 weeks ago as a fever. Now one of her hands has turned into purple crystal... I..."

I didn't hesitate. I stepped forward and activated healing magic.

My healing magic had reached Saint-level over the years. It did nothing.

What kind of illness was this? I'd never even heard of...

No. Forget identifying it. The situation was critical.

I thought back to the scroll Orsted had burned in front of me years ago, steadied my focus, and activated the magic.

About 10 seconds passed.

The ground began drawing a magic circle on its own.

When it was complete, Orsted stepped out from within it.

The moment he appeared, Roin dropped to his knees in sheer fright.

"Father-in-law, there's no need to panic. This is Lord Orsted, the Dragon God. He's also... a friend of mine."

Perhaps it was hearing the word "friend" that did it. Orsted actually smiled, and gave Roin a small nod.

"Th-this... I see..."

After explaining to Roin, I turned to Orsted.

"What illness is this? Can you cure it?"

Orsted studied her for a moment.

"Magic Stone Disease. I thought this strain had gone extinct."

"An extinct strain... then..."

"Rest easy. It takes God-level detoxification magic to cure. As it happens, I can."

.......

Rojari had been treated. She didn't wake up right away, but the change in her condition was obvious. The crystal had stopped spreading.

Orsted is proficient in every form of magic this world has produced. I'll never stop finding that reassuring.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! Lord O-Orsted!"

Roin's gratitude came out in a flood of Demon God Language, tears running down his face.

Orsted nodded and said nothing.

I spoke up.

"Father-in-law, I have a few questions."

"Go ahead."

"You said Mother-in-law fell ill 2 weeks ago. Before that, did anything unusual happen?"

Roin thought it over.

"There was... a traveler. He came to our village."

"A traveler?"

"He called himself Geese. Said he got lost on the Demon Continent. Spoke the Demon God Language fluently, so we let him rest in the village for 2 days."

Geese.

That monkey-faced old guy?

What was he doing on the Demon Continent?

"What did he look like? Did he do anything?"

"He... looked a bit like a monkey. He didn't do anything in particular."

"I see..."

Didn't do anything.

Geese. Geese, huh.

In the labyrinth, he'd shown up out of nowhere and helped us. During the hydra hunt, he'd acted in ways that didn't fit a seasoned adventurer. And now he'd turned up at Roxy's hometown.

Hm...?

I turned to Orsted.

"Did you catch that?"

"Yes. I had the same thought."

"You told me before that Lara Greyrat might be the savior. So everything Geese has been doing, it's all been attempts to stop Lara Greyrat from being born..."

"Correct. His plans have failed completely, though. Even this move against your in-laws was likely a last resort. He had nothing else left to try."

Either way, Geese had vanished somewhere.

When I got back, I'd ask Ariel, the King of Ranoa, and Cliff, who had just been confirmed as the next Pope, to all keep watch for any sign of him.

None of them would refuse me.

Once we had Geese and could read his memories, everything would fall into place.

"Uh... Rudeus."

"Hm? Father-in-law, Rudi is fine."

"I was a little out of it earlier. So... you and Roxy... you really have a daughter?"

"Yes."

"How old is she?"

"She just turned 3."

"Oh...! How long does it take to get from the Demon Continent to this Ranoa Kingdom of yours?"

"About 5 minutes. Since Mother-in-law is still unconscious, though, I could bring Roxy and Lara Greyrat here instead."

"5 minutes!? Like how you got Lord Orsted here just now?"

"More or less."

"Then... let me tidy up a little. Uh, my daughter probably won't care about the state of this place, but my granddaughter's first visit, after all..."

"Don't worry, Father-in-law. Lara Greyrat is very sensible."

"Oh... mm... I still want to prepare a bit."

And so Roin began tidying up an earthen house that had barely anything in it to begin with.

➤ Next: Granddaughter — Face to Face