Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 146 - Aisha Greyrat 2
The next day.
In the carriage, the three of us women sat together inside the cabin. Bahn was up front leading the horse.
From the moment we set off, the atmosphere had been a little strange.
Mm...
Big brother was right. I'm probably not that good at talking to strangers. The ease I had before was likely because I was always by his side.
While I was thinking about that, the woman sitting across from me, Sara — spoke first.
"Miss Aisha... is it?"
"Yes."
Her expression was a little odd. Fidgety, maybe? Or something else. Her cheeks were flushed.
"Is something the matter, Miss Sara?"
"Uh... you're Lord Rudeus Greyrat's younger sister, right?"
"Yes."
She suddenly stood up, closed her eyes, and bowed toward me, both hands extended, holding a letter.
"Th-this is a letter I wrote! I've always wanted to thank Lord Rudeus! You're his younger sister, could you help me deliver it to him?"
Uh...
One of big brother's fans?
Well. Going by her appearance and manner, Miss Sara was probably commoner-born. Admiring big brother was only natural.
I took the letter.
"When I get home, I'll show it to him."
"Thank you!"
"No honorifics, please, Miss Sara. I'm younger than you."
"Uh... alright."
The carriage rolled on, and boredom set in quickly. Sara started talking about her past.
She was a hunter's daughter from an ordinary village. Her archery came from her father. Then the monsters came, her village was destroyed, her parents died. Bahn had happened to receive a commission to go there, and he saved her.
Sara put the blame squarely on the nobles' inaction. Commoners paid taxes every single day. The nobles did nothing. The monster problem had been reported for a long time. Nobody ever dealt with it.
She had wanted to kill the lord responsible. Pilemon.
But Sara was just a commoner. No matter how sharp her archery, no matter how high her adventurer rank climbed, there was no way to touch a noble.
Then she heard a rumor.
A man named Rudeus Greyrat had started purging nobles. From the Asura Kingdom to the Ranoa Kingdom. Not one noble had escaped judgment. Not one had escaped punishment.
It wasn't just a rumor — Sara could feel it. She could feel commoners' lives getting better. She could feel nobles beginning to treat commoners like people.
"So I'm very grateful. To you and your brother, Miss Aisha."
"Well..."
Hearing Sara's story, I didn't really feel much. I'd heard stories like this before, plenty of them. Honestly, hers wasn't even the worst. Not compared to the slaves.
But still.
"Miss Sara."
"Hm?"
"Do you still remember Pilemon?"
"Of course I do! That rotten noble! It was his inaction that cost my hometown, my village, my parents..."
Sara ground her teeth and clenched both fists.
"He's still alive, isn't he! I figured it must be because he's high-ranking... that Lord Rudeus was considering the bigger picture..."
"Actually, he's already been punished."
"Hm...? Really?"
"Big brother punished him. One of his eyes was gouged out by his own servant. His genitals were cut off too."
Sara froze, staring at me.
I added more.
"I tortured him as well. Breaking his fingers, healing them, breaking them again, over and over, until he passed out. Pretty much what you were imagining, I think. For certain reasons, he can't actually be killed."
Sara bowed again.
"Thank you... thank you, Miss Aisha. And thank you, Lord Rudeus. Thank you for everything you've done for commoners..."
She was genuinely moved.
But, well.
Big brother and I only helped commoners because of Orsted. Accepting her thanks like this felt a little awkward.
"Enemy attack!"
The shout came from up front. Sara grabbed her bow and was out of the carriage in an instant. Polina snatched up her staff and ran after her.
I stood, stepped down from the carriage.
Enemy attack...
It was just a pack of monsters. I didn't know the name of the species, but they had the shape of wolves, crystals growing all over their bodies.
Bahn drifted over to my side.
"Aisha. What do you think of those two?"
I watched Sara and Polina.
Scout. Mage.
I don't know much about scouts, but Sara's kill speed was solid. Each wolf was huge, and every arrow found the eye. Clean, efficient kills. Impressive, probably.
The mage, though.
Similar to Sister-in-law Roxy? Hm. Not quite there. Sister-in-law Roxy had greater output and faster chant compression.
While I was watching them work, Sara shouted.
"Uncle Bahn! What are you doing, get over here and help!"
"Baldy uncle! We're dying out here!"
Bahn chuckled.
"Relax. With Rudeus's little sister here, you've got nothing to worry about."
He said that while watching Sara and Polina get chased and snapped at by the wolf pack. Completely unbothered.
Right. My turn.
"Ice Arrow."
The spell activated.
I made a single arrow hang suspended above every wolf at once. Not multi-casting like big brother. I took one larger spell and split it into parts, the way big brother taught me. Magic is about control. If I can't multi-cast like he can, I cast one large spell and divide it instead.
The power isn't the same. But it works.
I closed my fist. The ice arrows drove down.
Almost every wolf dropped. The few left barely breathing were finished off by Sara.
"That was incredible... Lady Aisha!"
Polina ran over to my side.
Lady Aisha?
Sara walked up too.
"As expected of Lord Rudeus's younger sister..."
Bahn laughed out loud.
"Told you! The ultimate weapon's little sister, had to be a monster herself! Hahaha!"
This bald priest.
Hm.
How have they been adventuring this whole time?
"How have you two survived until now?"
Sara shook her head with a tired look.
"Uncle Bahn only took this route because you joined. Otherwise we'd be on a much safer road. Like he said, most of the time, we're just running for our lives."
"Mm-hmm! Baldy uncle has a little bit of melee ability, but in actual combat it's basically nothing! Now that Lady Aisha is with us, we can go anywhere!"
Bahn hopped up onto the front of the carriage, completely shameless.
"Stop talking about me behind my back. Get on. We're moving."
Alright.
What a strange, entertaining party.
➤ Next: Aisha Greyrat 3