Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 144 - Keith — Tears Unshed

"Yo!"

"Hmm?"

"Name's Paul. Swordsman."

"Uh... Keith. Scout."

The man grinned and grabbed my hand.

"So what's left to talk about? Join my party!"

I glanced behind him.

Nobody there.

"Your party? One person isn't a party."

"Once you join, there'll be two. Don't sweat the details. Let's go pick up a quest."

"Fair warning — I don't fight."

But this man named Paul was different from the others.

When I told him I couldn't fight, he didn't make that face. The look of disdain I'd gotten from everyone else. He just kept smiling.

"What are you even saying? I'm the swordsman. Why would I need my scout to fight? You think I'd actually lose?"

"Ho. Arrogant, aren't you."

"I'm a genius. Move it!"

------

"Please teach me how to cook!"

Zenith was the last to join the Black Wolf's Fang.

To me, she was a little girl through and through — her intentions were written all over her face.

Not that I blamed her. Paul was handsome and strong. Women falling for him was only natural.

I asked with a smile. "What, you want to cook for Paul?"

"Yes! Keith, your food is so good! Don't they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Please!"

"Alright, alright."

This girl was apparently a Milishion Faithful, too?

Paul is not the kind of man a Milishion Faithful can handle. You've got a rough road ahead, young lady.

In my head, I figured Paul would fool around with her for a bit, then move on.

He was strong. He was handsome. But even as a fellow man, I had to say it.

The guy had absolutely no restraint.

------

Well, this is really something...

Paul actually said he wanted to marry her. Wanted to find a village and settle down.

And just like that, without its captain, the Black Wolf's Fang fell apart.

My fault.

If I'd just never taught Zenith to cook...

------

Yo.

"......."

Long time no see, my faithful follower.

"Yeah... I suppose it has been."

What's this? Your adventurer days ended years ago and you're still not back on your feet?

"You're here because you want something from me, aren't you. I'll do it. Consider it repaying a debt."

Even after I destroyed your family?

"Two separate things. You destroyed my family. You also saved my life more times than I can count."

What a strange person. If it were that Rudeus, he'd want me dead no matter what.

"People are different. I'm me, he's him. Besides, I don't even know who this Rudeus is."

You do know him. Paul's son.

"Paul's son..."

Now then, this time, you'll be heading to the underground labyrinth on the Begaritt Continent...

"Hold on. You're not asking me to go after Paul's son, are you?"

No. Your target is the blue-haired demon woman in Paul's party. The one named Roxy.

"Roxy?"

That's right. Paul's group already has a lead on Zenith's whereabouts, thanks to my arrangements. If you leave now, you'll arrive at the labyrinth right around the same time as Rudeus.

"So all I have to do is make sure Roxy dies."

Correct. If you pull it off, any guidance I give you from here on will never work against you.

"No need. I'm doing this to repay a debt. Nothing more."

Is that so? Rudeus uses a detection magic of his own invention, senses the world through mana. So when the time comes, all you have to do is...

"The powder from that fruit. It can temporarily scramble the mana inside someone's body?"

Temporarily suppress it, more precisely. If he forces it, he can still cast. But there will be a window.

"Understood. I'll find my moment."

------

I failed.

I gave it everything I had. At the last possible second, I found my opening and used the special smoke bomb. I gambled my life for that one chance.

Still failed.

Rudeus didn't care whether he lived or died. He just reached out and shoved Roxy.

A failure is a failure.

And I left my friend's son short one hand.

Always the same.

Failing.

------

After that, the Man-God went quiet for a long stretch.

I went back to gambling.

Calling it gambling is generous.

I was just drifting.

Over the next few years, I caught plenty of rumors about Rudeus.

Adventurers passed his name around like legend — something about the ultimate human weapon.

Commoners in the Asura Kingdom and the Ranoa Kingdom called him a king without a country, the greatest philanthropist who ever lived.

Nobles called him an executioner.

"Paul's son, huh..."

The protagonist's son really does grow up to be a protagonist.

Well. None of that was my problem.

Time to think about what to bet on today.

That same night, the Man-God appeared again.

------

Keith.

"You actually said my name."

Please. I'm begging you.

"......."

Help me kill Rudeus. And his daughter. Lara Greyrat.

"I never thought I'd see you like this."

I have no options left.

"I can't fight. What exactly am I supposed to do for you?"

Gather every capable fighter you can find. I'll give you the intelligence on who to approach. The assembling is on you.

"Ho..."

Before that, though, go to the Demon Continent. Deliver this rat to the village of the Migurd tribe.

"A rat?"

I can't see Rudeus's family directly, but I can just barely make out someone inside the Migurd tribe with a connection to him. Probably Roxy's parents.

"You want Rudeus and his daughter dead. What do his in-laws have to do with any of this?"

Before the battle starts, I want him to feel that I can reach his family. Make him anxious. Make him sloppy.

"Heh... I see."

------

Even that god had bowed his head.

So I agreed.

I received intelligence on where to find the fighters worth recruiting. The location of the Migurd tribe. Coordinates for several teleportation arrays.

"The protagonist's son is the protagonist too, huh..."

Never thought it would come to this. A final battle against Paul's son.

But.

Fine by me.

My whole life has been one long joke.

If listening to this Man-God one last time can give me any kind of answer, then at least there's that.

He wants me to gather an army and hit them by surprise.

A surprise attack.

Maybe just once would be enough...

No.

Not "just once."

Not this time.

This time.

I'm going to stand on the field and face it head-on.

Everything I've done. Every last thing. It's time to settle it.

I'll write the letter. Send it out once the fighters are assembled.

No tricks. No shadows. A direct challenge, face to face.

"The final showdown, huh."

➤ Next: Aisha Greyrat — Words Unspoken