Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

A Brother’s Feelings 

I LEARNED ABOUT THE SITUATION as I headed to school with Sylphie one morning. 

Linia and Pursena were waiting outside the gates for me. As soon as they saw us approaching, they ran over and explained that Norn had shut herself in her room the day before and was refusing to come out. 

“I’m going to go take a look!” Sylphie was off and running toward the girls’ dormitory pretty much instantly. 

On the other hand, I was frozen in place. I should probably have been following my wife, but the news had thrown me into a state of panic. The word shut-in had some very heavy connotations for me, I guess. 

“Aren’t you going too, Boss?” 

“You gonna just ignore this?” 

I didn’t know what to say. 

What was I going to do? What was I supposed to do? My mind was blank. In my case, it had all been over the minute I locked myself into my room. I’d stayed a shut-in for the rest of my life. 

Why did I never come back out? Because I thought the outside world was a dangerous place, full of people who wanted to do me harm. I thought I’d be bullied again if I went back to school. Yeah—it was the bullying that started it. I knew they’d make me miserable all over again if I ever tried to emerge from my isolation. 

I had to address the cause of Norn’s behavior if I wanted it to change. Before I tried to coax her out, I had to figure out the reason she was hiding in her room. 

A memory from my past flashed through my mind. I was in the cafeteria at my old school, standing patiently in line. But just as it was finally my turn, a bunch of scary-looking punks barged in ahead of me. Full of righteous anger, I stupidly decided to stand up for myself. I lectured them loudly enough for everyone to hear, even as they sneered at me and told me to fuck off. 

I could see other students starting to glance over at us. Feeling increasingly proud of myself, I stubbornly pressed the issue, demanding an apology. Instead, they beat me viciously. By the time it was over, I thought they’d crippled me for life. 

That one mistake turned my life into a living hell. 

If there was any chance Norn was going through something similar right now, I needed to help her. I’d beat down the bullies who were harassing her until she felt safe again. 

Their friends or relatives might come after me later, but I’d deal with them too if I had to. I didn’t care if they were rich aristocrats, or even royalty. I’d fight them with everything I had. I’d make sure they lived to regret antagonizing me. 

There was a possibility Norn had set off the initial conflict. But whatever they were doing to her in response had obviously crossed the line. 

Norn was my sister. It didn’t matter if she hated me and Aisha, or if she didn’t want to live with us. She was still part of my family. And it’s the big brother’s job to protect his siblings, right? 

A few minutes later, I was striding down the hall toward the first-year classrooms with Linia and Pursena following close behind me. I’d considered doing this by myself, but I didn’t think my face was especially intimidating. At least with these two standing next to me, everyone should recognize that I meant business. 

“Uh, Boss…” 

“Don’t, Linia. Can’t you see how mad he is? It’s kinda scary.” 

The two of them seemed a little dubious about this. That was understandable. I was dragging them into a seriously embarrassing situation. But right now, I wasn’t about to let my sense of shame stop me. Right now, I was in full helicopter parent mode. 

Before long, we reached Norn’s primary classroom. Homeroom was already underway. 

“Excuse me,” I said, throwing open the door and stepping right inside. 

“Uh, M-Mister Greyrat? We’re in the middle of—” 

“I’d like a moment of everyone’s time, if you don’t mind.” 

“But—” 

“It won’t take long.” 

Shouldering the professor out of the way, I took her place behind the podium. 

Before getting underway, I looked around the classroom. Everyone was staring up at me in surprise. But somewhere in this crowd, there had to be a bully who was picking on my little sister. 

Had they punched her? Kicked her? Maybe they’d only insulted her for now. Maybe they’d just made fun of a sad, lonely little girl who was isolated in an unfamiliar city. 

“As I believe most of you know, one member of this class was absent yesterday.” 

No one had anything to say to that. 

“What you may not be aware of is that she’s my little sister.” 

That got a reaction. I heard murmurs from all around the classroom. 

“I haven’t heard the details from my sister yet, but there aren’t many reasons why a kid her age would stop coming to class. I think someone in this room is probably responsible.” 

I scanned the room as I spoke, looking for a reaction. A number of students looked down at their desks when I made eye contact with them. Most of these were tougher-looking kids who were already starting to bend the dress code slightly. Did they have a guilty conscience, maybe? 

Looking more closely, I realized that one of them was that delinquent I’d met some time earlier. I couldn’t remember his name off the top of my head. Could he have been the one? 

Slow down. It’s too early to start jumping to conclusions. 

“I don’t expect much of those responsible,” I said. “Maybe they were just playing around, or trying to get to know my sister, and things took a weird turn. Maybe she provoked them somehow.” 

I was watching every face in the classroom very closely now. 

Who was it? Who’s bullying her? Is it that rich brat over there? Or maybe that sullen demon kid? No, it could just as easily be an ordinary girl. The average kids can be the nastiest bullies of all, sometimes. 

“I’d very much appreciate it if anyone involved would step up and admit it. I’m not going to yell at you. I just want you to recognize what you did and apologize to my sister.” 

And after that, I’ll chop you into mincemeat. 

Some of the kids in this room were about as young as Norn, but the majority were older. Some were even in their late teens. There were probably at least a few who’d looked the other way. There was even a chance they’d all been in on it. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. 

For a few long moments, no one said a word. Everyone just stared at me, their eyes wide with surprise. 

“U-Uhm…” 

Finally, one girl in the group hesitantly raised her hand. It took some serious willpower to keep myself from firing off a Stone Cannon at her. 

She was beastfolk, maybe thirteen years old, who looked a bit like a raccoon dog. She had a round face, timid eyes, and a bob haircut. Not the kind of kid you’d expect to be a bully, honestly. It was easier to imagine her getting bullied. 

“I w-was actually talking to Norn the other day, and—” 

“You accidentally said something mean to her?” 

As long as it was just a few nasty words, maybe I’d take it easy on her. 

“No, no! It’s just, uhm… I’ve heard a lot of stories about you, Mr. Greyrat. But Norn’s more of an ordinary girl, right? I just pointed out that you’re pretty different from each other, and then she got really mad at me…” 

That didn’t make any sense. Why would Norn get mad about that? She didn’t want to be like me. She didn’t even like me. 

“Oh…” 

The professor standing off to the side of the room seemed to have remembered something. I turned my attention to her. At a glance, the woman looked like an ordinary middle-aged magician. It hadn’t even occurred to me that a teacher might be the culprit, but adults can obviously be bullies too. 

“Did something come to mind, Miss?” 

“Well, I was giving Norn her homework back yesterday, and—” 

“She couldn’t finish all the assignments you’d dumped on her, so you made her stand naked in the faculty office for an hour?” 

“What? N-No, no! She didn’t do too well on the assignment, so I told her to learn from your example and try a little harder next time.” 

“…” 

“I thought she was going to cry for a moment, but then she nodded and said she’d do her best.” 

Wait, what? She nearly cried? 

“Oh, wait, that reminds me…” 

All of a sudden, there were multiple people chiming in from all around the classroom. And all of them had similar stories to share. 

After leaving the classroom behind, the three of us headed over to the dining hall. At this time of the day, it was totally deserted. 

I took a seat at random and flopped forward onto the table. This one really hurt. 

Long story short, it all came back to me. Every time Norn had lost her cool, it had been because of someone mentioning my name or comparing her to me. 

Most of the students in her class had known that we were siblings. That wasn’t too strange, in and of itself. We had the same parents, and we looked alike. But whenever someone mentioned this, Norn reacted badly. She hated being compared to me, but she got just as upset when someone referenced me as a way of complimenting her. 

Her classmates weren’t to blame for any of this. None of them were deliberately trying to upset her. Some of them were even trying to be nice by telling her she was nothing like her scary bully of a brother. 

The real issue was that nearly everyone in this school knew me. And so, even without really meaning to, they tended to bring me up when they were around her. That was always going to be rough for Norn. Back in her old school, she’d been constantly compared to Aisha, and never in a good way. She was the less talented sister, and they rubbed her nose in it every single day. 

She was finally in a new school, living on her own, without Aisha hanging over her like a shadow. But before she had a chance to catch her breath, everyone started comparing her to me. No matter where she went, she was forced to face the fact that she was the least talented member of her family. 

That had to be rough in itself. And then, just to top it all off, there’d been that incident with the panties. 

No one had actually been traumatized by that whole mess, fortunately. Ariel did a great job following up with the victims, and by now, most of them could look back on it and laugh. From the sound of things, Linia hadn’t forced the girls to strip against their will but rather just pestered them to trade their underwear. It seemed someone had seen this happening from a distance and given the student council an exaggerated version of events. 

Still, I could only imagine how Norn had felt when she heard about it. It’s hard enough to feel inferior to your brother, but feeling inferior to your total pervert of a brother had to be ten times worse. 

“Sigh…” 

What the hell was the matter with me, anyway? I’d jumped to conclusions and barged into her classroom like an idiot. I wasn’t a helicopter parent—I was a helicopter dumbass. 

“Sorry about dragging you into that, guys,” I mumbled, looking over at my faithful subordinates. “I guess I was being kind of stupid.” 

“That ain’t true. It’s never stupid to try and help your family.” 

“She’s right, Boss.” 

“If the kid stays in that room too long, her brain’s gonna melt into mush.” 

“Too true, mew.” 

“She might even become as stupid as Linia.” 

“Yeah, she might—mrrrow!!” 

I couldn’t even muster up a smile as Linia and Pursena went about their usual comedy routine. I knew how tricky situations like this could be. People don’t just stop going outside because it’s fun, you know? There’s always a reason why they can’t bring themselves to leave, and dragging them out of their room by force doesn’t change that. In fact, it often makes the problem worse. 

That said, this wasn’t the sort of thing we could just ignore. If Norn stayed in there for too long, she’d end up regretting it. Even a wasted month or two can have serious consequences. 

I knew all this from bitter experience. But it wasn’t something you could just explain to a kid who was right there in the middle of it. 

Eventually, even the stubbornest cases start to wish they could go back and do things differently. But it takes a long time to get to that point. Real regret doesn’t hit you until a year—or two, or even ten—slips by. And by that point, it’s too late to undo any of the choices you made. 

It’s part of why so many parents push their kids so hard, I guess. Everyone has regrets. Sometimes, you take those regrets out on others. 

“Tell me something, you two. Let’s say you’re less talented than your siblings, and people won’t stop reminding you of that fact. What’s the best thing you can do about it?” 

Linia and Pursena looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. 

“I dunno, Boss. The two of us are pretty talented, ya know?” 

“Yep. We’re not too shabby at anything.” 

Wait, I thought you two got shipped out here because you were too dumb and lazy to lead your tribe. Right? Like, they wanted to whip you into shape before they gave you any power? 

Well, whatever. Their total lack of self-awareness clearly wasn’t hurting them. That approach wasn’t going to work for Norn, though. She was a sensitive little girl, not a fur-brained narcissist. 

“Oh, I do know someone like that, though!” said Linia proudly. “Aunt Ghislaine! She used to be a thug who went around startin’ fights all the time. But then she started training, and she ended up becoming a Sword King!” 

“Hmm. Okay, that’s not a bad example…” 

Ghislaine was an exceptional case, but there was definitely a chance that Norn had some unexpected talent we hadn’t discovered yet. There was no reason for her to compete with me or Aisha at the things that we were good at. If she didn’t want to be compared to us, she could just do something neither of us had even tried. I wasn’t sure exactly what that something could be, but the world was a big place. Surely, she could find a field that interested her, outside the realm of magic or swordplay. 

There was a risk she wouldn’t be particularly talented at whatever she decided to do with her life. It had happened to Zanoba, after all. But despite his lack of talent as an artisan, the prince still seemed to be enjoying life. He got to make his own figures, collect them, and appreciate them. That was enough to make him happy, and that was all that really mattered. 

It would probably be hard to convince Norn of this, though. None of these arguments would have worked on me back in the day. 

“But how am I supposed to talk to her about all of this?” 

“Don’t overthink it, Boss. Barge right in there and give it to her straight!” 

“Yep. Just tell her to get her butt back in class.” 

They sure made it sound simple…but maybe I was spending too much time trying to think through all these details. Norn was only ten years old, after all. Maybe she was just sulking. 

I mean, this was only her second day in her room, right? It was way too early to even call her a shut-in at this point. Spending a couple days alone when you’re feeling down isn’t anything that unusual. 

That said, she was obviously struggling right now. I’d been telling myself she probably just needed space, but was that actually true? Maybe I’d just been avoiding the issue. 

As her big brother, I could have at least tried to actively support Norn and help her adjust. The hands-off approach might be easier, but that didn’t mean it was the better choice. It might be a different story if we were talking about a high school-aged kid, or even a junior high schooler, but Norn was only ten. Giving her more attention than she wanted was probably the right call. 

Before I knew it, I’d settled on a plan of action. 

“All right then. I’ll go talk to her.” 

“That’s the spirit, Boss!” 

“Yeah. Go give her a little slap upside the head.” 

Of course, I was the direct cause of Norn’s problems, so it seemed very possible that she wouldn’t listen to a word I had to say. But I wasn’t going to drive myself crazy thinking about that. First things first: I had to go see her and hear what she had to say. 

“Oh. I’m not sure how I’m going to get to her, though…” 

Norn’s room was in the girls’ dormitory. I could walk past it safely these days, but that didn’t mean they were going to let me wander inside. 

“You just sneak your way in, obviously.” 

“Time fer a covert operation, Boss. Leave the plannin’ to us!” 

The “covert operation” didn’t prove too difficult, thankfully. I had lots of friends on the inside; Sylphie and Ariel were in that dorm too. When I explained the situation to the princess, she immediately agreed to help me out. Of course, Goliade and the other members of her self-defense squad weren’t going to be so easily convinced, so this still needed to be a secret visit. 

Linia, Pursena, and Sylphie would be handling the actual operational support. Sylphie was eager to help, but she seemed a little downcast about the situation. 

“I’m sorry, Rudy. I promised you I’d keep an eye out for Norn, but she doesn’t even want to talk to me…” 

“It’s not your fault, Sylphie. I’m the only one to blame here.” 

I explained what I’d learned about the situation, including the fact that Norn’s depression had a lot to do with me. 

Sylphie listened quietly, but she ultimately frowned and shook her head. “None of that sounds like your fault, Rudy.” 

“What? But I…uh…” 

Hm. Maybe I hadn’t really done anything that wrong, come to think of it. Not that I’d handled the situation very well either. 

It didn’t matter either way. I still needed to fix this. 

*** 

That evening, I waited until dinner time, then headed for the dorm. 

The majority of the residents were off at the dining hall at the moment. Word had gotten around that Ariel was going to be giving an impromptu speech there, and she always drew a big crowd. 

That didn’t mean the dorms would be totally deserted, though. You couldn’t fit the whole student body in the dining hall even if you tried. Still, I understood that the members of the self-defense squad were being encouraged to attend. 

I slipped along the side of the building as furtively as possible, looking for a specific room. After a few moments, I spotted it—a window with a single flower placed up against the windowsill. 

I grabbed a small pebble and tossed it up at the window. A moment later, it slid open. After that, it was just a matter of lifting myself up off the ground with the spell Earth Lance and clambering inside. 

“…Hm.” 

I found myself inside a dark room with a strong animal funk. I didn’t mind the scent that much. Maybe it was because the beasts in question were also young women. Animals tend to be more tolerant of the odors emitted by potential mates, right? 

“Thanks for the help.” 

“You betcha, Boss.” 

Linia had been waiting in here for me for a while. Her cat-like eyes glinted slightly in the darkness. 

My eyes were starting to adjust, so I took a look around the place. The layout was perfectly typical. You had your two-tier bunk bed, a couple of desks and chairs, and a shared closet. 

It was a little hard to tell, but the room looked like a bit of a mess. 

“Don’t look around too much, Boss. It’s embarrassing, ya know?” 

“Right. Sorry.” 

I took a few cautious steps forward and groped around, looking for the doorknob. Instead, my hand closed around something oddly soft. 

“Ooh. That’s one of Pursena’s bras.” 

“…” 

I wasn’t sure what her cup size was, but from the feel of things, it had to be impressive. 

“Nyheh. Feel free to take that one home with you, Boss.” 

“I don’t think you get to decide that.” 

I tossed aside the brassiere with a sigh. Normally, I might have taken this opportunity to press it to my mouth and take a few deep breaths, but there was no time to waste at the moment. 

Linia slipped past me and knocked on her door from the inside. A few seconds later, another knock answered from the outside. 

“Looks like we’re good.” 

The two of us swung open the door, and I quickly slid into the laundry cart that was waiting right in front of it, burrowing underneath a pile of sheets. 

From the smell alone, I could tell these had come from Sylphie’s bed. There were blankets and shirts in there as well to provide a little more volume, and all of them smelled like her. I couldn’t work up the energy to get aroused, though. 

Norn was the only thing on my mind right now. 

My little sister was suffering. She was all alone in that room, totally isolated, hiding from the world. And I had to help her. I was her brother, after all. 

“Okay. Let’s roll.” 

As the cart rattled along down the hallways, I turned my thoughts to the problem at hand. 

If this was just a temper tantrum, that was one thing. But what if it was something more serious? Would I be of any use here? Until the day my brothers kicked me out into the street, I’d never managed to leave my house. If there were any argument that could have coaxed me out, I didn’t know it. 

“We’re here, Boss.” 

The cart reached its destination before I could reach any real conclusions. 

We were outside Norn’s room. 

I pushed open the door as quietly as I could and stepped inside. 

The room was totally dark, so I paused to light one of the candles in the corner. 

In its faint light, I could see Norn sitting on her bed, holding her knees to the chest. Her eyes were open, and she was staring right at me. 

“…” 

I approached her slowly and took a seat in the closest chair. 

What were you supposed to say at times like this, anyway? What would I have wanted someone to say to me? I couldn’t remember. All the words I’d rehearsed beforehand evaporated from my mind. 

I could remember the things I used to hate hearing, at least. Mainly the cheap clichés. If nothing else, I wasn’t going to fall into the “my way or the highway” pattern. No “you’re going back to school right now.” No “I’m paying your tuition for a reason, young lady.” And no “stop making such a nuisance of yourself.” 

Lines like that would only backfire on me. 

Maybe Linia and Pursena were right, in a sense—a slap upside the head might be simplest. Norn was only ten years old, so it might be enough to make her do what I wanted. But that would be the opposite of a long-term solution. Another crisis would pop up soon enough, and she’d grow steadily more defiant. 

And apart from anything else, it was my fault she was hiding in here. What right did I have to lecture her, let alone hit her? If anything, I owed her an apology. 

Not that saying sorry was going to change anything. The rumors about me weren’t going to go away, and Norn was going to keep getting compared to me. 

“Norn, I—” 

“Uhm, Rudeus—” 

We’d both spoken up at the exact same time. 

I cut myself off mid-sentence so Norn could continue. But she’d fallen silent as well. It was a crappy feeling. I sort of felt like I’d missed my only chance. 

I had to believe that wasn’t really the case, though. And so I forced myself to start the conversation. 

“I’m sorry, Norn. It hasn’t been easy for you here, has it?” 

I paused for a moment, but she didn’t say anything in response. 

“You finally got into a new school, but now everyone’s pestering you about me. I’m not even sure what to say, honestly…” I continued. 

Norn didn’t respond. 

“I guess I don’t really…even understand you that well…” 

Still no response. And despite all the thinking I’d done on my way over here, I found myself at a loss for words. I didn’t know anything about her. I’d kept my distance from her, telling myself not to pry. I hadn’t even tried to get to know her. 

“…I know this must be hard for you, but I’m not sure what to do,” I tried again. 

Norn was still silent. I couldn’t begin to tell what she was thinking. I didn’t even know if she was listening to me. 

Was this a lost cause after all? Should I just back down and wait for Paul to get here? Maybe I should step back and seek help from the people I knew. Maybe Nanahoshi could offer some insight on what a younger girl might be thinking. Maybe Elinalise could figure out some clever way to coax her out. There was no reason I had to try and solve this by myself, right? 

“…Oh.” 

Suddenly, I found myself remembering something I hadn’t thought about in a long time. 

When I first shut myself away from the world, one of my brothers used to come see me in my room. He’d always look me right in the eye and hit me with all sorts of reasonable-sounding arguments. 

“Life always has its ups and downs, you know? But there are people out there who have it worse than you. Things might be tough right now, but if you just run away from all your problems, you’ll keep running forever. That’s much worse in the long run. You don’t have to go back to school right away, but why don’t you at least come out and have lunch with me?” 

In my mind, I answered those words by spitting in his face. And in reality, I ignored him. 

Even so, he would stay in there for some time after delivering his speeches. He’d watch me closely, looking like he had something more to say. But I kept on ignoring him, confident that he couldn’t possibly understand my feelings. 

Maybe this was how he’d felt back then. 

We used to sit like that for hours sometimes in total silence before he’d finally get up and leave. After a while, he stopped coming. I can only guess what he was thinking. Although he didn’t show up anymore, a bunch of other people started to visit me instead. Maybe he’d arranged that. 

In the end, I paid no attention to anything those people said either. 

This might just be a crucial turning point. If I backed off now, I had a terrible feeling that Norn might stay in this room forever. 

I couldn’t just turn and run. Not this time. 

For a long moment, I studied my sister quietly in the darkness.