Mushoku Tensei — Chapter 188 - Holiness and Love (Incomplete)

Milishion, the capital of the Holy Country of Milis.

Just as Cliff had said, a city of stunning beauty.

Though the city is divided into the Sacred District and the Adventurer's District. The reason we find it beautiful is probably because we're standing in the Sacred District right now.

This evening, after dinner.

My wives and I are taking a stroll through this beautiful capital.

As for the children?

My grandmother is exasperating. Honestly, detestable, even. But she's still my grandmother, whatever else she might be. Aisha said she doesn't mind anymore, so let's just turn the page.

Oh right, the children.

My grandmother kept them. The way she did it wasn't exactly to their liking, but she said:

"Come here, great-granddaughters. As Rudeus's daughters, you need to learn proper etiquette. Your father is a man of importance — you must not embarrass him in public."

I defended them, of course. But, well...

My wives all sided with my grandmother. They felt the girls really did need to learn some etiquette.

Roxy in particular. She looked at me and said, "I don't want Lara Greyrat to act like a noble girl. I just hope she can stay playful and still be a little more polite."

Eris and Sylphie both nodded in agreement.

Personally, I think my daughters are perfectly polite.

Lara Greyrat... okay, maybe not the most polite. But she's adorable and she's a genius, so does it really matter?

Windsor... very polite in my opinion. She just sometimes doesn't bother acknowledging people. Which is fine, actually. That's exactly how she should treat men who aren't her father.

Lucy Greyrat... my third daughter is the most polite of the three. It's only that she's shy around strangers, which can come across wrong.

Either way, all my daughters are wonderful.

As long as they're cute, isn't that enough? Etiquette and all that, does it really matter?

I don't know any etiquette myself, after all...

------

We wandered around, looking at this and buying that.

Both my hands were occupied, each one holding one of my two lovely wives.

Roxy gazed at the streets and murmured softly, "Milis is even more beautiful than I remember."

Sylphie nodded. "I think so too..."

I found that a little amusing.

The first time either of them came to Milis, it definitely wasn't the Sacred District they'd seen.

I smiled and spoke up. "That's because the first time you came, you were in the Adventurer's District."

"Oh?"

"Hm?"

Both of them made the same adorable little sound of confusion.

I explained. "Milis is divided into the Sacred District and the Adventurer's District. The Sacred District is beautiful and luxurious — something like the noble quarter of the Asura Kingdom. The Adventurer's District is exactly what it sounds like: mostly adventurers and commoners, so it's not as elegant. Given your situations back then, the Adventurer's District was probably all you had access to, right?"

Roxy nodded. "So that's how it is. Mm, noted."

Sylphie smiled. "Rudy really does know everything. As expected of our husband~"

Sylphie, honestly.

She always praises me over the most trivial things.

I'm not going to get smug about it.

...Okay, maybe just a little pleased. But I'm not the type to completely lose his head the moment his wife says something nice.

Roxy nodded along. "Indeed. Rudy has essentially traveled the whole world. His breadth of knowledge may even surpass mine by now — and I was his teacher."

Mm.

Can't laugh.

Have to maintain proper dignity as a husband.

Though what Roxy said isn't wrong. Being praised for something like this isn't anything special. There's nothing to smile about.

"Rudy? What is that expression?"

"Honestly, Rudy..."

Roxy stood on her toes and pinched my cheek. Sylphie covered her mouth, giggling.

Alright. When my wives praise me, it's genuinely hard not to smile.

------

Mm! Cliff once said that true love will always be blessed, so it doesn't count as disrespectful.

So I brought my wives and headed toward the church.

------

We had barely approached the church when an elderly priest spotted me.

"Lord Rudeus."

He was an old man, and he had the look of someone who had been waiting.

My fame in Milishion isn't especially high. The people here mostly know my name exists, but they wouldn't recognize my face, unlike in Ranoa or Asura. According to Aisha, the people of the Shirone Kingdom all know me too, apparently. But here in Milishion, most couldn't pick me out of a crowd. So this elderly man was almost certainly sent by Cliff.

I got straight to the point. "Did Cliff send you?"

The old man nodded. "Cliff asked me to wait here for you. If you didn't come, I had nothing to do. If you came, I was to introduce you to this church."

Oh? Using Cliff's name directly, here in Milis?

A relative, I'd wager.

"What's your connection to Cliff?"

"He's my grandson. Haha. I wanted to meet the rumored Lord Rudeus for myself, so I had Cliff arrange it. He said there was a reasonable chance you'd come to see the Milis Grand Cathedral and told me to wait here whenever I had nothing better to do."

"Cliff, honestly... This barely counts as an arrangement. If I hadn't shown up, you'd have waited for nothing."

"But you did show up, so it wasn't for nothing. Now then — allow me, the former Pope, to introduce you to the most sacred church in all of Milis."

The old man leaned on his cane and started walking.

We followed. After a short distance, he began to speak, slow and measured.

"As the largest church in the Holy Country of Milis, this cathedral has been undergoing maintenance and reconstruction since its founding. Each time it was rebuilt, it was built taller, only to draw closer to Lord Milis, who resides in the divine kingdom above."

My wives and I tilted our heads back.

It was indeed tall. Incredibly so. And it looked so lavish it almost felt absurd.

If I had grown up in Milis, raised on its teachings, and then stood before a church like this, it would be very hard not to believe in god.

The old man continued. "The outer perimeter holds 6,000 statues and 135 spires. In over a thousand years, no building taller or more magnificent has ever been built. The people of Milis are the people closest to the divine kingdom."

I nodded, though I didn't quite agree with that last part.

We stepped inside. The old man spoke again.

"Has Lord Rudeus ever heard of maximalism?"

"You mean... being extremely wealthy?"

"Correct."

I glanced around the interior and understood immediately.

This was nothing like the Milis churches in Asura or Ranoa. This one was extraordinary.

"Not a single inch of wall is left bare. 670 square meters of stained glass. Light pours through every pane, and every window tells a story."

We took it in for a while, then moved deeper inside.

The color palette changed completely.

It was a kind of classical brown, the kind I had seen in my previous life.

"The dark gold-brown ceiling represents Lord Milis's gentleness. The pipe organ above is built into the architecture itself. When it sounds, the entire church breathes with it."

Eris tilted her head back, mouth slightly open.

Roxy and Sylphie looked on with composed appreciation.

The old man smiled and led us further in.

It really was hard to imagine that the people of Milis could come see something like this whenever they wished.

After another stretch, the color palette shifted again.

"Look beneath your feet. A meticulously crafted black and white marble floor, patterns complex and precise. Every step feels like treading across an enormous geometric painting. The walls are filled with statues and reliefs: saints, angels, martyrs. Their expressions are solemn. They gaze down at visitors from above, carrying a quiet, immovable authority."

So angels exist here too, apparently.

Unlike the golden opulence of the earlier sections, this one was cold-toned and severe. Gray-white stone dominated everything. The decoration was intricate but never gaudy, layer after layer of carvings, precise to the point of obsession, the kind that grew more astonishing the longer you looked.

The old man pointed up.

I looked at the dome. Light and shadow wove through the structure, the space seeming to open upward toward the sky. Sound was amplified here, then stretched thin, footsteps, hushed murmurs, all of it echoed with an faint resonance that made you instinctively hold your breath.

"And finally, the most sacred scene. Lord Milis's heavenly battle against the demons, witnessed by the one chosen by god, carved into marble."

Ho.

The faceless figure of Lord Milis spread enormous white feathered wings. The carving of the feathers almost instinctively communicated what holiness was supposed to look like. If no one had told me, I would never have believed it was marble.

The demon was swallowed within those wings, countless holy swords buried in its back.

"What do you think, Lord Rudeus? Madams."

"Mm. It is genuinely awe-inspiring."

My wives all nodded.

The old man smiled, then produced a small crystal ornament and held it out to me.

"What is this?"

"A symbol of honored guest status. Do you plan to visit anywhere else this evening? You're welcome to rest here tonight. Underground, there are quarters that once housed refugees, they've been fully renovated now and serve as accommodations for honored guests. You are the first honored guest Milis has received in over a hundred years."

I accepted the ornament and nodded. "Understood. Thank you."

--------

We left the cathedral.

My wives and I wandered through the Adventurer's District for a while after. It had changed here too, much cleaner than before. The churches we passed were empty of refugees.

Cliff, that guy. He's quite capable.

Night fell.

I had originally planned to head back to my grandmother's house. But Eris insisted on spending a night in the church, just to try it. The other wives agreed, so we made our way back.

The church administrator recognized us on sight and led us straight to the underground guest quarters without even asking for the ornament.

The bed was bigger than anything we had at home. Cliff must have arranged this specifically.

Thoughtful of you, old friend.

"Rudeus!"

"Mm...?"

I had barely turned my head when Eris kissed me.

Still so direct, always.

After the kiss broke, I cast a soundproofing spell.

➤ Next: Love~ — Words Unspoken