Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 159

"Ah...!"

I opened my eyes.

I was...

Hm?

Did I dream? It felt like... a good dream.

What was I doing again?

Oh. Right.

The school.

I'd already written to Paul. Told him about Aisha and Eris.

His reply was a few lines. That was all.

[How could this happen? You should have been able to stop it, Rudeus.]

Ha.

Yeah.

I shouldn't have let this happen.

I was the one who chose that route. And my inability to use Saint-level healing magic, that's what killed Aisha.

Then, when we went to rescue Zenith, I made a mistake. That mistake killed Paul.

Teacher Roxy went missing somewhere in the labyrinth. She's probably dead.

Ha. I'm tired.

I walked through the academy and watched the students go by. Laughing, talking. There were even members of the Demon Race mixed in with the rest.

Part of me wanted to burn them all alive.

"Hm?"

A girl.

Black hair.

I moved before I thought about it, cutting across the path and grabbing her shoulder.

She turned around.

I didn't know her. But something about her made me feel...

She frowned.

"Can I help you?"

"No. I mistook you for someone else."

"I see." A pause. "What's your name?"

"Rudeus Greyrat."

She went still when I said it. Then her hand moved to her pocket, and she pulled out a mask.

I knew that mask.

The woman who stood beside Orsted.

"I'm going to fucking kill you."

I raised my hand. Flame magic ignited in the air above my palm.

Every student in the corridor turned to look. I didn't care. I was going to kill her.

"Wait!"

I brought the fireball down.

It didn't land. Something absorbed it, a ripple of nullification, clean and quiet. A Magic Tool.

"That's from the Dragon God, isn't it."

"I, I can explain, "

I stopped.

What was the point of killing her with magic?

I dropped the spell and hit her instead. One punch, clean across the face. She had no real ability to speak of. She hit the floor.

"Anything you want to say?" I looked down at her. "I'm going to beat you to death one punch at a time."

"It wasn't me." Her voice cracked. "I don't even know why he wanted them dead, your sister, your beloved — please, I don't know—"

"You think I'll believe that?"

I kicked her in the stomach. Hard.

She curled around the impact.

I was about to go again when she spoke, and what came out of her mouth stopped me cold.

"I don't want to die. I don't want to die."

Japanese.

That language. I hadn't heard it in so long.

I grabbed her by the collar and hauled her up.

"You're not from this world."

Tears were still running down her face. But she nodded. Hard, again and again.

"I transmigrated. I came here with my body. Their deaths — your sister and your beloved, that had nothing to do with me. Please. I don't want to die."

Calm down.

Calm down.

She might be lying.

--------

I forced myself to be still.

Nanahoshi Shizuka. A girl from Japan.

She'd transmigrated body and all, which meant she couldn't use magic. Not a drop.

Now I stood in her laboratory.

"This is all your research?"

"Yeah." She looked at the floor. "I want to go home. Back to Japan."

"You want my help. What are you offering?"

She bit her lip.

"I can give you information on Orsted. His location."

"What else?"

"Everything I have." The words came out tight, like it cost her something to say them. "Whatever you want. Just, help me."

"Fine."

To get to Orsted, I needed someone who could reach him. She was that someone.

But revenge could wait. Right now, the more pressing problem was Zenith.

I'd had an idea for a while now, something that kept surfacing and fading before I could pin it down. Magic that acts directly on the brain. An invasion of the mind itself.

Zenith's condition, she still had something left in her. Some fragment of cognition. She moved on her own. Sometimes she'd reach up and touch my head. That meant she could still recognize me, at least on some level.

Something in her brain was broken. That was the only explanation for why she'd become what she was.

"Nanahoshi."

"Ah, yes?"

"Do you have money?"

"Money? I, yes. My standing at the academy is fairly high, so..."

"How much can you give me?"

She bit down again, the same motion as before. Like she was making a decision she'd already made.

"I told you. Everything I have is yours."

"Good. Buy me some slaves. I need them for experiments."

"...Alright."

She agreed fast. Too fast, almost.

I didn't feel guilty. Though watching her fold herself that small wasn't exactly satisfying either.

--------

Night. Home.

Norn and Lilia and Sylphie met me at the door.

It wasn't a large house. We bought it with money from selling off the Hydra's remains after the battle. That was all we had left to work with.

"Big brother, welcome back!"

Norn smiled. It didn't quite reach her eyes. I hugged her anyway.

Then Lilia.

Then Sylphie.

"Rudy. Welcome back."

It was Sylphie who had brought them here, Norn and Lilia both, escorted safely to this place. After they arrived, I told them about Aisha.

Lilia wept. Right in front of me, no pretense. But she didn't blame me. She didn't say a word about fault. She was just a mother who had lost her daughter.

Norn didn't cry. She stared, eyes wide and glassy, like the news had knocked something loose inside her.

Sylphie had her hood up when she arrived. The moment she pushed it back, I knew her. Her eyes were full of grief, and she didn't try to hide it.

--------

I ate the dinner Lilia made.

Norn and Sylphie talked beside me about nothing in particular. Small things. The ordinary texture of a day.

Everything was... quiet. Something close to peaceful.

So why did it feel like something was clawing its way up my throat.

"Rudy?"

"Hm."

"You haven't touched your food in a while. What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

I finished what was left quickly and walked to Zenith's room.

She looked the same as always. That distant, vacant stare.

I sat down and took her hand.

"What am I supposed to do, Mother."

Silence.

I stayed beside her for half an hour. Then I went back to my room.

My drafts were spread across the desk, pages covered in notation. The early framework of a mental magic system. I'd been running experiments on animals for weeks now. Once Nanahoshi bought the slaves, the real work could begin.

[The next several chapters are all if lines. I'll mark them in the title.]

➤ Next: if Route 4