Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 145 - Aisha Greyrat — Words Unspoken

A year had passed since I left my brother.

That whole year, I'd been active as an adventurer.

My brother once told me not to be too conspicuous, but... it doesn't really matter.

I was an A-rank Adventurer before, so climbing to S-rank was easy.

As for quests, saving people, killing people, I do whatever I feel like.

Though I won't kill the innocent.

------

Right now.

Sitting in an adventurer's tavern, feeling hollow.

It shouldn't feel like this.

"Adventuring alone... isn't as fun as I thought..."

I muttered to myself. A voice answered me.

"Indeed, beautiful lady — a woman like you, adventuring alone? What a waste."

I turned toward the voice.

An adventurer party. Three of them.

The one up front had red hair. He walked over and flashed me a smile, clearly pleased with himself.

He doesn't actually think that looks cool, does he?

Well...

"I'm not looking for a party."

If they were interesting people, maybe I'd consider it. But these ones clearly weren't.

"No, no! I'm not here about a party. I'm here to court you, beautiful lady."

"I have someone I love."

I stood and turned to leave.

What a boring bunch. I can't believe a line like that got aimed at me.

If my brother were here, he'd already be punching this guy.

Seeing me walk away, he raised his voice.

"Hey! Woman! What kind of attitude is that?! Do you know who I am? I'm an A-rank Adventurer!"

Wow.

A textbook cannon-fodder speech.

I didn't look back.

"Hm...?"

A hand closed around my shoulder.

I turned around.

"Just your left hand, then. I'll take your left hand. How dare you touch the robe I got from my brother with something that filthy."

"What?!"

One swing. His left hand hit the floor.

The tavern went silent.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

He stared at his wrist for several seconds before the screaming started. I stood in front of him and burned the severed arm to ash with fire magic.

Really...

I've gotten too careless.

Letting someone like that touch me...

"Healing magic! Get me healing magic, now!"

He was screaming at the mage in his party. The bleeding stopped, but his face had gone paper-white.

Around me, adventurers were closing in. Apparently they weren't happy about a fight breaking out in here.

I'd only just arrived in town, so most of them didn't know my face.

Well. I'm not my brother. Best to just run.

If it were him, he'd probably kill them all and be done with it.

Just as I was looking for an opening to slip out, a rough voice cut through the crowd.

"All of you. Move."

A bald man. One I recognized.

He pushed through the ring of adventurers and looked at me.

"That you, Aisha?"

"Barn...?"

"Yeah! It really is you!"

"How old are you now, and you're still doing this?"

"Just can't get used to a quiet life."

Barn.

He'd been an S-rank Adventurer for a very long time.

I glanced past him. Two people stood behind him. Both women. Both young.

"What about your old party?"

"Lodis got married. The other two are dead."

Lodis...

Ah. That woman who once chased after my brother.

Married. Good for her.

"They die on a job?"

"Of course not. You know what I'm capable of."

"Then why?"

"I'm bald, so you probably can't tell, but I'm already 58. They got old too. One died of illness. The other went back to his home country when the war started and didn't make it back."

"I see. My condolences."

"Ha! What's there to mourn? They had no regrets — I'm sure of it. They'd had their fill of wine and women long before the end."

While we were catching up, the man I'd cut earlier pulled himself off the floor.

"Barn! What are you doing over there!"

I smiled at Barn. "You know him?"

Barn glanced over, lifted a foot, and kicked the man across the room.

"Get out of my sight. Don't interrupt me when I'm catching up with an old friend."

Then he turned back and grinned.

"He knows me, not the other way around. You might laugh, but after you and your brother left, I ended up being the most well-known adventurer around."

"Makes sense. This is the Holy Country of Milis. Even here, people recognize you."

"Yeah. I've been traveling from the Kingdom of Ranoa all the way here, taking in the scenery as I go."

"You? Since when do you care about scenery?"

"I've been thinking — for adventurers, the 'adventure' part matters most. What we call adventuring these days is really closer to sightseeing."

"You have the money for that?"

"During the time you and your brother were around, I made an absolute fortune! Hahahaha!"

I looked past him at the two women again. Not as young as I'd first thought. Around my brother's age, probably.

"So. Want to come with us? Not for quests, for the adventure. We'll pick up some work along the way, but that's not the point."

"Not out of the question."

"Hahahaha! So that's a yes! Having you with us means I can relax completely."

Barn introduced his party members.

Sara, scout. She'd lost her family during a monster invasion and Barn had taken her in. Still looking for somewhere to settle, but she found this kind of wandering life interesting enough to stick around.

Polina, mage. She'd simply wanted to adventure, and Barn's reputation was big enough to make him the obvious choice.

"Sara, scout."

"Polina, mage."

"I don't need to introduce myself, right?"

I smiled and looked them over.

"You actually manage to adventure with a lineup like this. You don't even have a single frontliner."

"Hahahaha! That's exactly what makes it interesting! We run for our lives together all the time!"

Barn rubbed his bald head and laughed without a trace of shame.

Sara spoke up.

"That's mostly because Uncle Barn keeps picking fights with monsters we have no business provoking."

"Exactly! Baldy uncle really should be more careful!"

Polina chimed in without hesitation.

Watching them, I felt something from the past stir.

I'd partied with Barn before. Back then, "careless" was the last word anyone would have used to describe him.

People really do change.

"You've changed, Barn." I said it out loud. "Where are you headed next?"

"Wherever you want to go, I suppose. Where are you thinking?"

"Ever heard of the Sky Continent?"

"The one in the legends? Above the Kingdom of Biheiril?"

"That's the one. I'm going there."

"Hahaha! Then we'll be on the road for at least a year or two!"

"I'll part ways with you once we reach the Kingdom of Biheiril. That place beyond it, you'd die."

"Fair enough. No problem. What about you two?"

Barn turned to Sara and Polina.

They both nodded.

"Then tomorrow." He slapped his hands together. "We leave tomorrow."

➤ Next: Aisha Greyrat 2