Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Traversing the Sands 

OUR SECOND DAY on the road proved no less eventful. In fact, we ran into even more monsters. For how barren this desert looked, it was crawling with critters. 

The Sandworms were particularly nasty. They didn’t pose a real threat if you stayed alert and spotted them ahead of time, but sometimes you just had other things demanding your attention. Like monsters, for example. At one point, we blundered into a Sandworm in the midst of fending off a Twin Death Scorpion. The thing swallowed me whole instantly and started to drag me underground. Startled as I was, I managed to instantly fire off the intermediate spell Wind Slice to rip it apart from the inside. 

After using earth magic to tunnel my way back above ground, I found that Elinalise had taken a hit from the scorpion’s poisonous stingers. She was down on her knees and her face was purple. She’d been so alarmed to see the Sandworm swallow me that she’d lost her focus. I quickly killed the scorpion and used my Detoxification magic to save her life. 

Neither of us had really screwed up this time, honestly. We’d just gotten unlucky. 

“Nice work getting us out of that mess, Rudeus. I can see why you acquired such a reputation as an adventurer.” 

Elinalise certainly didn’t blame me for the situation, even though she’d nearly died, and I was the one who’d been more careless. The woman was definitely mature. 

“Don’t look so miserable, all right?” she said. “No matter how alert are you, sometimes things just get the better of you. We managed to pull through, and that’s what matters.” 

The risk of failure was ever-present—as was that of death. Elinalise had been well aware of that from the start. 

Fortunately, that was our only brush with real danger on that day. We did catch a glimpse of a colossal monster in the distance at one point. It was trudging along slowly, but every step it took sent up a huge cloud of sand visible even from a great distance. The thing had to be hundreds of meters in size. It was hard to describe. I guess you could say it was like a blue whale with the legs of an elephant. 

“That’s a Behemoth, Rudeus.” 

“Huh. You’ve seen one of those before, Lise?” 

“Oh? Somebody’s gotten a bit more casual all of a sudden.” 

“I don’t know about that. I just try to be respectful with my elders.” 

“Zanoba’s older than you too, you know?” 

“Well, sure, but he’s basically just a big kid…” 

Apparently, the Behemoth was one of this continent’s more famous monsters. They ranged in length from a hundred to a thousand meters. 

It wasn’t clear what the things ate, but they were only ever sighted in the desert. They had peaceful dispositions, for monsters, and tended to leave people alone unless attacked. 

A few adventurers claimed to have slain one and found massive numbers of magic stones inside its belly. Hearing these rumors, some people had tried to hunt them for profit, but bringing down a Behemoth was much easier said than done. Their outer hide was extremely tough, and given their sheer size, your average adventurer was barely going to scratch them. They had no particular attacks or natural weapons, but simply thrashing their massive bodies around was enough to kill most of their enemies. 

What if you attacked them from a distance, then? Well, apparently the creatures were capable of burrowing deep beneath the sand when things started to heat up. Almost no one had actually succeeded in killing one. Additionally, despite their massive size, nobody had ever found a Behemoth corpse. This had given rise to rumors that there was a hidden “Behemoth burial ground” somewhere. An exciting concept—it reminded me of similar myths about elephant graveyards back in my old world. But realistically speaking, their corpses were probably just eaten by other monsters. 

“You know, you might be able to take one down if you tried, Rudeus.” 

“I’m not planning to go around assaulting harmless herbivores for no good reason.” 

Still, if I ever found myself seriously hard up for money, it might be worth a shot to throw some magic at one from a safe distance. 

On our third day in the desert, we encountered our first sandstorm. 

Maybe encountered isn’t the right word. We were just walking along when we saw something that looked like a wall in the distance—and when we got closer, it turned out to be a wall of sand . Elinalise and I considered the possibility of waiting for it to die down, but from the looks of things, this was a static storm that blew constantly in this one location. It didn’t look likely to rush past us or disappear. And we were in a hurry, of course. 

I ended up using my magic to clear the storm until we’d pushed through the area. My professors had told me it was best not to meddle with the weather too much, but this felt like a case where I was justified. 

When I turned to look back after about an hour of walking, I found that the sandstorm had reappeared exactly where it had been before. It seemed plausible that it was a sort of magic barrier in its own right—a natural-looking defense of the road that led to Orsted’s teleporter, maybe. Nanahoshi hadn’t mentioned it, but I seemed to remember her saying that she’d been kind of out of it during their trip through the desert. 

On our fourth day, the number of monsters we encountered decreased sharply. Maybe that sandstorm kept them sealed off in the area we’d just left. 

There were creatures in this part of the desert too, of course, but they were totally different from the region around the ruin. The scorpions only had one tail, and there were no armies of ants. The Sandworms were only about as thick as Elinalise’s waist now. Also, there didn’t seem to be any Giant Bats flapping around at night. We spotted a few raptors here and there in the twilight hours, but they were smaller, and so were their packs. There was no sign of any Garuda. 

Most importantly, there were no more nocturnal ambushes from the Succubi. I guess that was for the best, but maybe a part of me was disappointed? 

Nah, let’s say not. 

Day five was more of the same. We trudged through the same old sand, staring out at the same old featureless landscape. 

When you’re walking through a place without any visible landmarks, it’s supposedly easy to end up going in circles when you think you’re moving straight forward. It has something to do with the difference in the length of your stride when you’re moving your dominant leg. 

I was confident Elinalise was keeping us on track. But I was still starting to feel like I’d seen some of these sand dunes before. Doubt crept into my mind. Could she actually be lost? 

My growing mistrust wasn’t a problem in itself, as long as I kept it to myself. Elinalise would be very annoyed if I voiced any of these thoughts, and if it threw off our teamwork, we might end up dead. 

The only thing I could do here was be understanding. If she did screw up, I needed to say, “That’s okay!” with a big smile. This was a no-negativity zone. 

“…Hm. Rudeus, I think I see something in the distance.” 

In the end, my resolve wasn’t actually tested. I could indeed make out a vague blur shimmering on the horizon in the direction Elinalise was pointing, 

There was definitely something out there. My eyes weren’t sharp enough to tell what it was, but its color suggested it wasn’t just part of the desert. There was still a possibility it was just a mirage, though. 

We made our way toward the blur, staying on high alert. 

Come to think of it, we hadn’t run into any monsters today at all. Maybe this area just wasn’t home to any… Not that I was going to let my guard down, of course. 

As I was thinking this, the shape ahead of us grew larger and clearer. It was a giant rock formation that made me think of Ayers Rock, and it was maybe fifty meters in height. 

The wall facing us looked very steep, if not totally vertical. Climbing to the top would probably be challenging. And it stretched from one side of the horizon to the other, with no end in sight. 

“Should we try to find a way around it?” Elinalise asked. 

“No, let’s get up on top of it. I’ll use my magic.” 

With a simple Earth spell, I created a pillar of stone; taking Elinalise into my arms, I rode it upward like a makeshift elevator. There was no telling what might try to ambush us up there, so I took it fairly slowly. 

Suddenly, I noticed an odd sensation. Something was…rubbing my butt? 

“Uhm, Elinalise?” 

“What is it?” 

“Is there some reason you’re groping me?” 

“Oh, just force of habit. Think nothing of it.” 

For the several minutes it took us to rise to the top of the rock shelf, Elinalise continued feeling me up. 

“…” 

Maybe her curse was starting to affect her. I was keeping Cliff’s invention supplied with mana, but all it did was buy us more time, and it had been about ten days since the last time she’d been with Cliff. She could probably hold out a while longer, but the thing was just a prototype; we couldn’t trust it blindly. The sooner we got to a city, the better. 

In the worst-case scenario, I’d have to sleep with her myself. But no matter how I tried to spin it, that would be cheating on my wife. It would still be a betrayal, even if I could blame it on the curse. We’d decided beforehand that I wasn’t going to sleep with Elinalise on this trip, and I needed to keep that promise. 

If Bazaar had a brothel where she could hire a male prostitute, that would be ideal. That way, it would just be a business transaction. She could see to her needs without either of us feeling too guilty about it. 

“Elinalise, we’re at the top now.” 

“Yes, I suppose we are.” 

Elinalise was still clinging to me, and she seemed to be staring at my shoulders with some passion in her eyes. 

“…You can get off now.” 

“Ah, right. Pardon me.” 

Elinalise stepped off the pillar and away from me, but her eyes quickly drifted downward to my lower body. I was definitely starting to sense some danger here. 

Maybe holding her like that on the way up had been a mistake. If I’d just taken a few minutes to think, I could have figured out another way to get us both up here. In retrospect, I felt like she’d been consciously trying to avoid physical contact with me these last few days. And now I’d gone and thrown a wrench in the works. We needed to get to this Bazaar place fast. 

“Let’s get going, then,” she said after a moment. 

“Sure.” 

Only a few seconds after we began to walk, though, a shadow flitted across the ground toward us. 

“Rudeus! Get down!” 

As Elinalise shouted out a warning, I threw myself down and forward without even looking upward. An instant later, something zoomed past above me, and a cold tingle ran down my spine. 

I quickly jumped back to my feet and looked up. We’d been attacked by a monster with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. Beating its massive wings loudly, it thumped to the ground some distance away from us. 

“That’s a Gryphon!” shouted Elinalise, drawing her sword. 

I quickly focused my thoughts on the battle at hand. Readying my staff and turning to face the creature would leave me in an awkwardly exposed position, and Elinalise was currently behind me, a reversal of our usual formation. But even in a situation like this, she could probably maneuver her way to the frontline without getting in my line of fire, and then I could fall back to safety. 

Or so I thought at first. 

“There’s two of them, Rudeus! You deal with that one!” 

A loud flapping sound from behind confirmed that we’d been caught in a pincer attack. I’d have to deal with Gryphon A over here by himself. If I dodged out of its path, it would charge right past me and hit Elinalise from behind. 

Still, maybe that was the safer route. If she could hold off both of them for a few moments, I’d be able to pick them off one at a time. That would be more like our usual pattern, at least… 

But we hadn’t worked out any plan to that effect in advance. She’d told me to deal with this one. So if I didn’t kill it, she’d be taken by surprise. 

Right then. 

The Gryphon was standing with its body bent forward, its beak half-open, glaring fiercely at me. It wasn’t far from me, and it looked like an agile creature. It might be able to dodge my Stone Cannon, or even shrug it off. I wanted to be absolutely sure I killed this thing. 

It had wings. I wasn’t sure how far it could fly on them, but Q uagmire probably wouldn’t be too effective either. That left my wind magic. 

The Gryphon’s back legs tensed up suddenly. I was out of time to think. Launching itself forward with a powerful kick, the monster rushed at me with its legs outstretched like a pouncing tiger. 

I ducked down and cast the advanced spell Earth Hedgehog at the ground. A circle of three-meter earthen spikes burst up all around me. 

“Kyeeaah!” 

The Gryphon instantly beat its wings. But my Eye of Foresight was kind enough to show me what it was planning. 

It adjusts its course in mid-air, dodges to the side, and tries to take its distance. 

Whipping my left hand forward, I fired off a wind spell, creating a shock wave in mid-air that robbed the Gryphon of its mobility. It spun helplessly for an instant; but before I could follow up, it twisted its body around with cat-like agility, trying to brace itself for a smooth landing. 

I fired off a Stone Cannon at the spot it was falling toward. The projectile whistled through the air and struck home, passing straight through the creature’s body with a wet crunch. The Gryphon staggered backward a few steps, then collapsed loudly to the ground. 

The thing looked dead already, but I finished it off with a fire spell to be absolutely sure, and then spun around to see how Elinalise was faring. 

Fortunately, she was okay. I saw her fending off the Gryphon’s swipes with her shield while striking at it with her rapier. The Gryphon’s front legs were red with blood; she’d obviously been targeting them persistently, trying to reduce its ability to attack. 

“Heads up, Elinalise! Stone Cannon!” 

“…!” 

After a shout of warning, I fired off another deadly projectile. Elinalise sidestepped nimbly out of its path. 

The Gryphon didn’t follow her. It had noticed me and was trying to dodge into the air. But Elinalise stabbed out with her rapier, striking a shallow blow on its leading leg that dropped it back down. 

The sharpened stone hit the Gryphon at the neck and tore through its body, severing its spine on the way out. It crashed to the ground headfirst and began to convulse. Elinalise strode forward and stabbed the creature in the head to put it out of its misery. I proceeded to burn its body with fire magic. 

The two of us took a few moments to look around the area for any additional reinforcements before finally letting out a sigh of relief. 

“Sorry about that, Rudeus. I got a little careless.” 

“Nah, I’m the one who wasn’t looking above me.” 

After apologizing to each other for our slip-ups, we turned our attention to the road ahead. The top of the rock shelf had a coating of sand here and there, but for the most part, it was solid stone. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about anything lurking under the surface. 

“Let’s make sure we watch the skies from now on.” 

“Yes, let’s.” 

With that brief battle analysis complete, we set off once again. 

On day six, we figured out that the rock shelf was a Gryphon nesting ground. Multiple creatures seemed to have divided up the area into their own territories, judging by the steady pace of the attacks we faced. 

Gryphons were B-rank monsters. They didn’t use any magic, but they were physically powerful and had limited flight capabilities. That added mobility made them much more challenging for a magician like me to target. Most of the time, we encountered them alone, but sometimes you’d get small family packs of two to five. The creatures were clever and could organize coordinated attacks and ambushes, so in a group, they were considered an A-rank threat. 

They weren’t any match for us without the element of surprise, though. 

Night fell, but no Succubi appeared to harass us. They presumably avoided Gryphon turf. From the looks of things, the Gryphons were pretty territorial. Once you beat off the locals, there wasn’t much risk of another group barging in to attack you that same day. 

In other words, we were safe here for the moment. For the first time in a while, we made ourselves a campfire and roasted some Gryphon meat for dinner. 

The last group we’d beaten was a male, a female, and their child, so we went with the youngest of the three. Young animals tended to be more tender and tastier. I did feel a little bit conflicted, as someone who was going to be a father himself before too long, but we do what we have to in order to survive. People are selfish creatures, at the end of the day. 

Fortunately, I’d picked up a few tricks when it came to cooking monster meat—like carrying my own spices with me. The raptors hadn’t been particularly tasty, but the Gryphon was basically part bird and part mammal, so I had higher hopes this time around. 

For the seasoning, I used one part ground Kokuri nuts to two parts Awazu seeds and Abi leaves. After mixing and grinding them together, I tested the blend by licking my finger. Mmmm. Nice and spicy. 

I rubbed the seasoning evenly across the surface of the cut we’d butchered out of the beast, taking care to rub it in well. After adding a sprinkle of salt, I moved on the cooking part. Once the surface was done, I moved the meat a little further from the fire to lower the heat and waited a bit longer. Once the fat was visibly sizzling, we were good to go. 

Trying not to burn my tongue, I took a cautious experimental bite. 

The meat was both tender and juicy. It had a slightly odd flavor to it, but the spices almost completely masked that. Given the way I’d done things, it wasn’t cooked completely all the way through. But that wasn’t an issue—and once you chewed off the surface, you could just sprinkle a little more seasoning on. 

“Ah, this really takes me back,” said Elinalise. “Geese always used to carry around little bottles of spice like that too.” 

“Yeah, that seems pretty common with rogue types, doesn’t it?” 

After Eris dumped me, I’d spent several years living the adventurer life. Naturally, I’d spent some of that time working in parties. It felt like there was always one guy in every group who’d make his own spices and carry them around. For some reason, it was usually the dagger-wielding, lock-picking, trap-disarming sorts. I’d often noticed them squirrelling random nuts and leaves away for later. 

Foraged materials weren’t just useful for cooking, though. Sometimes you’d run into a monster that recoiled from the strong tastes and smells of certain plants. Some plants also made a decent insect repellant in a pinch. I’d even seen one guy who even tossed some kind of powder in his enemies’ eyes to blind them. 

“I like the way you seasoned this quite a lot, Rudeus.” 

“Well, that’s good to hear.” 

Elinalise was openly licking the fat from her fingers. You wouldn’t usually catch her doing that when she was eating in a random tavern. Not unless she was trying to seduce someone. 

“Your table manners aren’t the best today, Elinalise.” 

“Goodness. Now you sound like Zenith.” 

“Did Mom used to nag you about that?” 

“Oh, yes.” She’d flush bright red and hiss, “ You’re a lady, Elinalise! Try to act like it! ” 

Elinalise’s imitation of Zenith didn’t quite line up with the woman I remembered. But I guess they’d known each other well before I was born. 

I found myself wondering about where Zenith was now for a moment, but I shook the thought out of my head. There was no point in making myself anxious. 

“Were you just as promiscuous back then, too?” 

“Promiscuous? That’s rather rude. I suppose I was, though. But back in those days, we all used to sleep in our underwear, or the nude. Ghislaine didn’t even know what a bra was at first! You should have seen the way Paul ogled her…” 

It was hard to imagine Ghislaine being quite that shameless…but maybe she was just clueless. That would fit with what I knew of her. As for Paul, well…not to excuse the guy’s behavior, but I probably would have done the same thing. Beastfolk women tended to be pretty impressive in the chest department. 

“You know, come to think of it… I guess Zenith was about your age now when I first met her,” Elinalise said. 

“Really? You’ve known her since she was a teenager?” 

“Yes. She was a clueless, innocent little girl. Paul picked her up off the street and dragged her into our party, the scoundrel.” 

There was a fond, nostalgic look in Elinalise’s eyes as she reminisced. Come to think of it, Geese and Ghislaine had seemed just as happy when they talked vaguely about the past. They’d probably had some good times together. 

“I got the impression Dad wants to apologize to you about something that happened back then. Is it all right if I ask what it was?” 

“…You’re better off not knowing, dear,” said Elinalise, grimacing now. “I don’t think you want to hear too much about your father’s romantic history, do you?” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” To tell the truth, I kind of did want to know, but I didn’t want to pressure her. Sometimes a man has to swallow his curiosity. 

At least her reply told me it had something to do with his love life now. He’d apparently been in a physical relationship with Ghislaine at some point, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d been sleeping with Elinalise too. And then Zenith got pregnant, and the whole party fell apart… I could easily imagine how that could lead to some ugly drama. 

“Once we make it to Rapan, I’m sure he’ll fall over himself to apologize,” I said. 

“…I’m not going to forgive him no matter what he says.” 

Elinalise was scowling again. Whatever happened must have been seriously ugly. 

Paul really was a good-for-nothing bum. But that exactly was why I had to help him out. Guys like him and me had to look out for each other. 

If worse came to worst, I’d just have to beg Elinalise to forgive him myself. 

The seventh day started off like the sixth, and we made steady progress north while fighting off Gryphons. This rock shelf went back further than I’d expected—maybe it was more of a mountain. While the top was mostly flat, we couldn’t see far in any direction thanks to the giant boulders strewn randomly across its surface. 

Every once in a while, though, we’d come across a more open area. This was where the local Gryphons would attack us. We beat them down, then forge ahead. Rinse and repeat. 

“Oh.” 

But then, quite suddenly, the rock shelf came to an end. 

“Well, it’s about time…” 

The ground far below us wasn’t barren desert anymore. There was a smattering of trees and plants down there. It looked kind of like a savannah, without much in the way of grass. 

In the distance was a large lake—with white roofs clustered all around it. 

We’d found the city of Bazaar.