Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 132 - Granddaughter — Face to Face

I set up the teleportation circle and linked it to home.

I stepped through.

The moment I arrived, I heard the patter of small feet.

"Daddy!"

Lara ran over and threw her arms around my leg. Behind her, the Sacred Beast was already circling my feet in happy loops.

I scooped her up.

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Daddy!"

The commotion drew Windsor and Lucy, who poked their heads out from across the room. They were both tucked into Paul's arms, one on each side, him somehow managing both at once. Zenith stood nearby, feeding them sliced fruit.

"Father, Mother — what brings you here?"

"What?" Zenith looked up. "We're not allowed to visit our own granddaughters?"

She finished the last piece of apple, then turned to me with something between a frown and a sigh.

"Rudy~ I heard everything from little Windsor and little Lucy, you know. These past few months, out nearly every day, home once every two nights?"

"Uh..."

"That's not good. The children are still growing. How can their father be gone all the time?"

"You're right..."

First order of business: admit fault. Getting scolded in front of my daughters was a bit mortifying.

Zenith opened her mouth to say something more, but Roxy walked into the living room. She gave Paul and Zenith a small smile and a nod, then looked at me.

"Rudy? How did it go?"

"I met my in-laws."

"Oh~ Are they well?"

"Mother-in-law was sick, but she's been treated. She's sleeping now."

Roxy's expression shifted. She went still for a moment.

Then, "Sleeping!? Was it that serious?"

"Very serious. Serious enough that I called Orsted in to help. Good thing he had a way to treat it."

"That's a relief... that's a relief..."

She let out a long breath and pressed a hand to her chest.

"So, should we bring Lara over to visit? Mother-in-law is still asleep, but she should wake up in a few days."

"Mm... there's Father too, of course..."

I smiled.

"Father-in-law is already tidying up the house."

"Right, that's Father for you... but yes, we should bring Lara back. Let her try the clan's way of communicating."

"It's fine if she can't, isn't it?"

"Of course. Just worth a try."

I could see it in her face, though. It was a thorn that had never quite come out. She said she didn't mind, but that was the very thing that drove her to run away from home in the first place.

"Where are Sylphie and Eris?"

"Out shopping with the maids."

"Alright."

I filled Paul and Zenith in on the situation with Roxy's family. Then I turned to Paul.

"Father — if you hear anything about Keith, let me know."

"Keith? What's going on?"

"There's a good chance he's one of Orsted's enemies. He was on the Demon Continent this trip. Most likely he's the one who went after Roxy's mother."

Paul's expression went quiet. "He... alright. I'll keep watch."

"Thanks."

I didn't honestly expect Paul to turn anything up, but putting him on alert was enough. The more important thing was getting Orsted to notify Aisha...

"Oh, Rudy."

Zenith's voice pulled me back.

"Hm?"

"Once Roxy's mother is better, ask them if they'd like to come for a visit."

"Will do."

I'd barely finished agreeing when Roxy tugged at my sleeve and leaned up to murmur in my ear.

"My parents... don't speak the common tongue."

"No problem. Nanahoshi has a tool that handles that. I'll borrow it when the time comes."

"Mm. Then we're fine."

------

I explained everything to Lara.

She took it in, solemn and attentive for all of three seconds, then her eyes lit up.

"The Demon Continent! The one that's always in the storybooks!"

"Isn't the Demon Continent always really dangerous in the storybooks? Aren't you scared?"

"With Daddy there, it won't be dangerous! So I'm not scared!"

Wow.

Lara.

I know I'm supposed to love all my daughters equally. As a father, that's the right thing to say.

But in this moment, in the instant those words left your mouth,

At least for today, you are my favorite daughter.

"Daddy, this satchel... it's digging in a bit..."

Lara was dressed in an outfit that was an exact copy of mine, just miniature. My adventurer's gear had apparently made quite an impression. After I left, she'd pestered Roxy until Roxy agreed to make her one. Roxy's hands aren't the most dexterous, so it ended up being a group effort, Sylphie and Eris both pitched in, along with the maids, until the whole set was finally done.

"Here."

I reached over and adjusted the satchel.

"Oh oh!"

Lara exhaled deeply and planted her hands on her hips, looking extremely pleased with herself.

Unbearably cute.

"Daddy!"

"Hm?"

"I want a staff too!"

"I'll buy you one when we're back from the Demon Continent."

"No — I want Daddy's!"

I looked down at the Arrogant Water Dragon King in my hand.

Mm...

Well. She is a very cute daughter.

I held it out to her.

Lara, all three and a half years of her, grabbed it with both hands, and immediately had to throw all her effort into just keeping it from toppling over.

She held her breath and strained out: "Daddy... a little help..."

"Doesn't look like Lara's ready for my staff just yet."

"Uuu..."

I watched her deflate, and reached over to pat her head.

"Once Lara grows up and reaches Green Mama's level, I'll hand it over. Deal?"

Reaching my level is genuinely hard, after all. Not to boast, but in magic, I'm fairly confident that outside of Aisha, there aren't many who could surpass me. Orsted doesn't count.

"Okay! It's a promise!"

Lara snapped back to full confidence in an instant.

Roxy, watching the whole exchange, laughed.

The three of us stepped onto the magic circle.

------

Back at Roxy's parents' house, Father-in-law had already tidied the place, not that there'd been much to tidy. Orsted was waiting.

"I'll take my leave," he said, turning to me. "Don't worry about the Man-God's apostles threatening your family. With the strength of your destiny — yours and your daughter's — plus that Sacred Beast, not even your in-laws are within his reach anymore."

"Is that right?"

"Yes. Take this visit as an example. You arrived on the Demon Continent at exactly this moment, seemingly by chance. That is destiny at work. The Man-God likely has ways to diminish it, so if anything unusual happens, contact me."

"Right..."

I turned that over in my head. So most of their moves against me would fall apart on their own, not because I was countering them, but just because I happened to be there.

"Once my mother-in-law recovers, let's sit down and talk properly. The Man-God's apostles are still a problem that needs handling."

"Agreed. No rush. I'll find you in a few days."

And with that, Orsted left.

Lara, who had arrived by now, was wearing a peculiar expression. The environment was clearly not to her taste. I picked her up before she could say anything about it.

Roxy caught sight of Loin and crossed the room.

"Father..."

"Roxy!"

They pulled each other into a hug.

When they finally separated, Roxy asked quietly, "How is Mother?"

"Much better. The fever broke, and that strange crystal is gone. I can't thank you enough, Rudeus."

"Father-in-law, that's too formal. Just Rudy."

"I'll... work on that."

His eyes landed on Lara in my arms. He stared. Then he fumbled for words.

"This... this is... my granddaughter? Isn't it? Roxy? This..."

Roxy smiled. "That's right. Lara~ say hello to Grandpa."

Lara looked up at him brightly.

"Hello, Grandpa~"

"Aiyo..."

That sound he made. Lara had spoken in the common tongue, but he heard it all the same, understood every bit of it without a translation. And his expression was exactly, uncannily, the same as Paul's.

My daughter is on a completely different level of cute.

I passed her over. The moment Loin took her, his arms were trembling.

Relax, she's not made of glass...

"Roxy..."

"Hm?"

"Granddaughter... she can use our clan's way of communicating."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes..."

Lara didn't say anything out loud. She was quietly, curiously reaching out with the Migurdia clan's communication, the wordless kind. The corner of Loin's mouth twitched and he said nothing back, just responding in kind. Teaching her, maybe. But Lara didn't know the Demon God tongue. So what exactly were they saying to each other?

I think I finally understood why Roxy ran away from home.

If Lara used that method every day, I'd be a wreck. I'd be down on my knees begging my own daughter to just talk to her poor old father like a normal person.

------

"Father-in-law."

"Hm?"

"Would you and Mother-in-law consider settling in the Kingdom of Ranoa? The environment here..."

I stopped myself. I wanted to say this place was barely livable. But the Migurdia had been rooted here for over a hundred years. It meant something to them. Saying it plainly would only cause offense.

"I know the conditions aren't good," Loin said. "But we won't leave."

"Why?"

"Call it an old man's stubbornness."

"Alright... I'll set up a teleportation circle linked to our home. Whenever you and Mother-in-law want to see Roxy or Lara, you can come anytime."

His face changed completely. "Oh oh oh! Now that is a wonderful idea!"

------

Since this was Lara's first time traveling so far from home, she wasn't ready to go back just yet. I figured letting her see a little more of the world couldn't hurt, so I carried her out. Roxy stayed behind to talk with Loin, to catch up on all the years and all the happiness she'd built in them.

We strolled through the Migurdia clan's territory. Strictly speaking, I strolled, Lara was in my arms.

"Daddy..."

"Hm?"

"Nothing's growing here."

"The soil's too poor. Not enough water either."

"Uuu..."

Lara is mischievous and a little willful, both of which I mean as compliments. Some of it is just who she is. Some of it is probably because she's grown up in a house where she never had to go without anything. Our family is comfortable, I give her everything she asks for, and I am completely incapable of saying no to my wife and daughters. A hopeless case.

But for all that, my daughter has a kind heart.

"Daddy."

"Hm?"

"Can I use magic to water the land?"

"Want to try?"

"Mm!"

I set her down.

Lara closed her eyes and raised one hand.

Worth mentioning: Lara can cast voiceless magic. Teaching her was what made me realize it might not be as unlearnable as I'd thought, given enough imagination, enough theoretical grounding, and a start early enough in childhood. Though if the imagination truly isn't there, it still won't come. Probably. Aisha started young too, and she's brilliant, and even she never quite cracked voiceless casting, so it's not as simple as all that.

But Lara clearly has the imagination. At 3 years old, she can already cast intermediate-level magic without a single word. Very much like her old man in his prime, if I do say so myself.

A few seconds passed.

Over that patch of dry, cracked earth, a small dark cloud gathered.

Rain fell. Light and thin, but rain.

"Daddy... it doesn't seem like it's doing much."

"Because the problem isn't the water. It's the soil underneath us."

"Uuu... so what do we do?"

"Revitalize it."

I smiled, raised the Arrogant Water Dragon King, and cast.

All the dead soil in that patch turned over completely, replaced, layer by layer, with earth conjured from magic.

Then I reached into the cloud Lara had made and pushed it, coaxed more rain out of it until the downpour thickened.

"Daddy, that's amazing!"

"Right? You can keep going, I don't mind."

"Daddy, shh."

She said it simply and closed her eyes.

One second she'd been praising me. The next, radio silence.

I watched her.

Then, slowly, a smile spread across her face.

The Migurdia communication again.

About a dozen seconds later, she opened her eyes.

"Daddy."

"Hm?"

"I want to learn the Demon God tongue."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Everyone in the Migurdia clan was so happy because of our magic. But I couldn't understand what they were saying..."

"Alright. We'll start when we get home. I'll ask Lucy and Windsor if they want to learn too."

"Big Sis Windsor definitely won't. She only cares about swords and dogs~"

"...Yeah, I had a feeling."

We spent the rest of the afternoon looping through the territory. I taught Lara how to control magic while we walked, she'd been the same as Sylphie at her age, knowing how to cast but not how to shape what came out. The difference was that Lara is a genius. The same kind of genius as Aisha. Once through, and she had it.

By the time we'd revitalized every plot of cultivated land in Migurdia territory, the sky had gone dark.

We headed back to Loin's earthen house to collect Roxy. Just before we went inside, I crouched down and taught Lara 2 words in the Demon God tongue, "Grandpa" and "Goodbye."

At the door, she turned back to face Loin.

"Grandpa, goodbye!" [Demon God tongue]

"Lara, goodbye!" [Common tongue]

They both spoke at exactly the same moment. Both stopped. Both blinked.

Roxy and I looked at each other, and smiled.

➤ Next: The In-Laws