Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Farewells 

THE BEGARITT CONTINENT was a massive island, so reaching it would require crossing the sea. And my specific destination, the Labyrinth City of Rapan, was located near the eastern coast. 

There were two possible routes I could take. The first involved traveling to East Port, the King Dragon Realm’s main harbor town, and catching a boat there. It wouldn’t be the most direct route, but it would allow me to enter Begaritt from the east, cutting down the amount of traveling I’d have to do on that continent. This was the safest option. 

The other possibility was catching a boat from the Kingdom of Asura instead, which would bring me to the northern shore of the continent. This would involve cutting through more Begaritt territory, making it a more dangerous path, but it would also save me a good amount of time. 

My best guess was that the first plan would take me eighteen months and the second about twelve. Even the most efficient plan wouldn’t get me there and back in the next seven months. I’d be missing out on the birth of my child, no matter what. 

But that was far from my only worry, of course. 

For once, I was going to disregard the Man-God’s advice. Knowing him, he might have been fully aware that I wasn’t going to agree with him, but I’d never done the exact opposite of what he recommended before. This was comparable to…if I’d avoided the Kingdom of Shirone entirely on my way through the Central Continent. Lilia and Aisha would still be captives there, and I never would have met Aisha. I guess that might have kept me from running into Orsted, though. 

Where would I be now if things had played out that way? We’d probably have made it to the refugee camp without too much trouble. Things might have ended just as terribly with Eris, though. And ten years down the road, I might have found out where Lilia and Aisha were, much to my regret. 

Yeah. He did say I would regret this too. He’d repeated that both times I’d talked about it with him. 

Based on that, the reasons probably had nothing to do with my timing. No matter when I went to Begaritt, I would end up with some new regrets. But there was no telling what those would be. I could imagine all sorts of possibilities. I might end up losing something. Like one of my hands, maybe…or one of my parents. 

There was no point wasting time thinking about it. If I didn’t go, I’d be stuck here waiting anxiously for at least a couple years. In the end, I might learn that someone I cared about was dead. Paul or Geese might show up, battered and bruised, and blame me for abandoning them. 

Anything could happen, but I had to go. Even if I knew I would regret it. 

Before anything else, though, I decided to talk to Elinalise about my decision. If I started with Sylphie and she broke down in tears, my resolve might waver. I wanted to steel myself by breaking the news to my friends first. 

I had Elinalise meet me in an empty classroom on the campus. 

When I told her what I was planning, she grimaced unhappily. “Look, Rudeus. Didn’t I tell you to stay here?” 

“Yes, you did. But I—” 

“You know, there’s still a chance Geese just jumped to conclusions.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“You know the man, Rudeus. He rarely thinks anything through before he acts. It’s all hunches and intuition with him.” 

Well, she wasn’t wrong about that. Geese liked to keep the facts to himself too, and he wasn’t above manipulating people. 

“The letter might be one of those cases,” Elinalise continued. “For all we know, there’s already another letter on its way to us, saying, ‘Disregard last message, Zenith is safe,’ or something of the sort.” 

“Yeah. The thought did occur to me.” 

There was a chance we’d head out there to find that Paul had already rescued my mother. We might even miss each other on the road. It was possible , but… 

“Think about it for a second,” I said. “Isn’t it odd that Geese knew where to find me?” 

“…What?” 

“I sent a letter to Paul a year and a half ago, telling him where I was living. Geese was in the Begaritt Continent as of six months ago, at least. When did he learn we were in this city now? How did he send us those letters?” 

Getting to Begaritt would take a traveler about a year, and even letters didn’t move that quickly. It wasn’t like texting on your phone. You were looking at six months minimum, even with an express delivery service. The dates didn’t line up. 

“The only way Geese could know my location is if he’d met up with my dad and the others. They must have told him where we were.” 

“Then why was it Geese who wrote to us, instead of Paul?” 

“Either Geese decided to send the letter all on his own, or my dad’s stubborn pride got in the way.” 

“Oh. I see…” Elinalise put a hand to her chin, considering this. 

In Paul’s last letter, he’d assured me that he could handle Zenith’s rescue by himself. That would have made it harder for him to ask for my help, even if he needed it. 

Elinalise studied me for a few moments and let out a thoughtful “Hmm.” But eventually, she nodded. “All right, then. I suppose we’ll go together.” 

I wasn’t sure what exactly she’d been thinking about, but her smile looked a little sad. I got the feeling she’d half-expected things to end up this way. 

We’d be traveling to the Begaritt Continent together, a party of two. 

An hour later, we met up again. 

“Right. Let’s begin by deciding on our route, shall we?” 

Elinalise had returned briefly to her room to retrieve a large map of the world. She’d likely purchased it a few days ago in preparation for her journey. The two of us spread it out on a table, then leaned over it to consider our options. 

The map was fairly crude. It didn’t have the names of specific roads or the locations of many towns. It just gave you the shape of the continents, the major mountain ranges, and some other basic geographic features. 

Elinalise had evidently spent some time studying the possible routes. There were small marks on the map indicating the rough location of Rapan and important locations we’d be passing on the way there. As I’d anticipated, there were two potential approaches. 

“To start, I think we want to arrive at Rapan as quickly as possible.” Elinalise was pointing at the shorter route, which would take us from Asura to the northern coast of the continent. 

“But the route from the north is more dangerous, right?” I asked. 

There were all sorts of risks involved with this approach. We didn’t know the roads in Begaritt, and we’d have to travel nearly the entire length of a dangerous continent. I was confident in my ability to slay monsters, but an unfamiliar land could still hold many dangers. 

“I seem to remember you can speak the Fighting-God Tongue, Rudeus. Am I correct?” 

“Huh? Well, yeah. I’m not exactly fluent, though.” 

“In that case, we can simply hire a guide and bodyguards once we arrive.” 

“Ah, I see…” 

Thanks to Elinalise’s many years of experience on the road, we quickly agreed on our basic route. Having done that, we moved on to planning the details of our journey. 

First, we’d buy horses here in Ranoa and load them up with just enough provisions to get us to the Asura Kingdom. We didn’t want to bring too much stuff, since that would slow us down. We’d replace our horses when necessary and drive them as hard as possible until we reached the port in Asura. 

Once there, we’d buy equipment and provisions. Foodstuffs were hard to find in Begaritt, even when you had money to spare. The prices in Asura might be higher, but it was wise to stock up when we had the chance. 

As soon as we had everything we needed, we’d catch the next boat to Begaritt. There, we’d hire a guide, and possibly bodyguards if it seemed prudent. Elinalise would handle these negotiations while I acted as interpreter. After that, we’d just let our guide lead us to the city of Rapan. Once there, we’d find Paul and the others, rescue Zenith, and take the same route back home. 

“I’ve made the trip to Asura more than once, so it won’t be an issue,” said Elinalise thoughtfully. “The only tricky part is choosing what we bring with us to Begaritt…” 

We couldn’t carry everything we might want. A carriage could have solved this problem, but Begaritt was apparently covered in deserts, and wagon wheels aren’t much good on sand. We’d likely have to buy a steed like the lizard I’d used in the Demon Continent. Maybe they had camels or something. 

“I think you can leave those details to me, though. I have more experience in this field,” she said. 

“Old age does have its benefits, huh?” 

“ Don’t provoke me, please.” 

I’d spent five years as an adventurer, but compared to a veteran like Elinalise, I was still a fledgling. I ended up leaving a lot of the tough calls in her hands. 

“Fortunately, we’re both in reasonably good shape,” Elinalise said. “We should be able to push ourselves hard when necessary.” 

“Yeah, I guess so…” I was confident Elinalise could march all day long through the desert, but not quite as certain I’d be able to keep up with her. I’d kept up my training, but there was a chance I’d slow her down a little. 

It didn’t strike me as a huge problem, though. 

“In any case, it’s convenient that they breed horses for long-distance travel in this region. We should be able to find some very suitable options.” 

Our initial goal was to reach the port in Asura within two months. It was hard to say how long the crossing to Begaritt would take, but we estimated one month. Neither of us had been to the continent itself, but it was apparently tough terrain, so we penciled in another six months to reach our final destination. 

Altogether, we were looking at maybe eight months one way. 

That was faster than I’d estimated myself. I felt like there might be ways to cut it down further with creative uses of my magic, but I didn’t want to risk slowing us down with amateurish experiments. The most important thing was getting there in one piece. 

We spent some more time discussing other details we’d need to be aware of on our journey. Elinalise cleared up a few things I didn’t understand with remarkable precision and had us hammer out quite a few decisions in advance to prevent any disagreements on the road. It was nice to know we weren’t going to waste any time arguing about what to do next once we got underway. 

“The biggest problem…” 

After a while, though, she put a hand to her chin and grimaced. I felt like we’d covered most of the important topics, but evidently, I’d overlooked something. 

“…is going to be my curse.” 

“Oh. Right.” 

Unless she slept with men on a regular basis, Elinalise would literally die. On a casual journey, that posed no issue—she could satisfy her needs in whatever town she wandered into. On longer trips, she often joined a party and found a willing partner. But on a rapid-paced expedition like this, there would be times when none of those methods worked. 

Both of us fell silent for a moment. 

There was a simple answer, of course. I could sleep with her when necessary. My performance problems were a thing of the past. If a random woman walked up to me asked me to have sex with her, I could probably manage just fine. 

But I didn’t want to betray Sylphie. 

“I’m not going to sleep with you on this journey,” I said. 

“Yes, that wouldn’t be a good idea.” 

“I guess we’ll have to stop by brothels or something on our way.” 

The two of us were going to keep things strictly platonic. I wanted to make that clear up front. Otherwise, we’d probably end up doing it on the road out of sheer convenience. 

“What about that magical implement, though?” I asked. “It does weaken the curse’s potency, right?” 

“Well, if I tried to take it, Cliff would ask why…” 

“You’re really not going to tell him about this?” 

For some reason, Elinalise seemed determined to disappear without a word to Cliff. It felt needlessly cruel to me. 

“Look, I really think you need to talk to him first,” I said. 

“But I…” 

“Let me help you out, okay? It’ll be all right.” 

The two of us ended up heading right over to see Cliff that same evening. 

When we arrived at his laboratory, Cliff came trotting over to show us the magical diaper in question with a big smile on his face. “Look at this, you two! I’ve made it smaller already! It’s not as heavy as the old one, either. You should be able to wear this for some time without—” 

“Cliff. Do you love Elinalise?” 

Cutting him off mid-sentence, I put the question as bluntly as I could. Cliff stared at me with a look of blank confusion on his face. 

“What? Of course I do.” His tone suggested that I’d asked him the single most obvious question in the world. So far, so good. 

“Will you keep loving her, no matter what?” 

“Naturally. I love Lise from the bottom of my heart. You’re aware of this, I’m sure.” 

“Well, good. That’s what I wanted to hear.” 

I explained the situation to Cliff. 

I explained that my family was in serious danger. I explained that Elinalise was an old comrade of my dad’s and felt an obligation to help. And I explained that it would be a long journey, on which she’d probably need to sleep with other men. I went into great length, covering every relevant detail. 

Cliff listened silently and didn’t interrupt me even once. When it was over, he paused for a moment, then murmured, “I suppose I’d be a burden if I came along.” 

Frankly, it was true. But it was hard for me to come out and say so. 

As I hesitated, Elinalise stepped in to reply. “Yes, I’m afraid so. You wouldn’t be able to endure a journey like this, Cliff.” 

She might have put it more gently under different circumstances. But this time, she was blunt. 

“I see…” 

Frowning sadly, Cliff looked down at the ground. I felt a small, painful stab of sympathy in my chest. 

What was he feeling right now? Elinalise would have no choice but to sleep with other men on this journey. He understood the situation completely, and he knew she loved him…but it had to be a painful thought. 

“You know, Elinalise, maybe we can bring him along?” I said. “He can use Barrier magic and Advanced-tier Divine spells. Even if he doesn’t have much stamina, he might come in handy sometimes…” 

“It’s all right, Rudeus. I wasn’t useful in the slightest the last time I tagged along on someone else’s adventure. This wouldn’t be any different.” 

As he spoke these words, Cliff stepped forward and handed me the magical diaper. 

“Rudeus…” 

“Yes?” 

“Take care of Lise for me.” 

To be honest, I’d been expecting more wailing and gnashing of teeth. But it seemed Cliff understood his own strengths and weaknesses very clearly. 

“Lise…” 

This time, he turned to face Elinalise. Standing on tiptoe, he wrapped his arms around her. 

“Cliff…” She embraced him in return. 

“When you get back home, let’s get married,” Cliff said. “I know I haven’t cured your curse yet, but I want to buy a house and live there with you. I’ve made you anxious by waiting this long to say that, haven’t I? Maybe you were afraid it was all just talk?” 

“Oh, Cliff…but I’m a terrible person. I was planning to go off without even saying a word to you…” 

“I’d like to have the ceremony in the Millis style, if you don’t mind. I know you’re not a member of the church, but…” 

Was Cliff deliberately ignoring what she’d just said? Maybe that was for the best. Elinalise sure looked overjoyed. 

“Cliff, dearest! I love you so much! More than anyone in the world!” 

Just like that, she’d pushed him down onto the floor. Once I saw Cliff’s shirt fly into the air, I spun around and quickly left the room. It seemed like they needed some private time at the moment. 

I wasn’t crazy about the way she’d just promised to get married after “one last job,” but maybe I was just too familiar with movie clichés. 

I spent the rest of the day going around telling everyone I knew about the situation. 

I was going to be leaving for nearly a year and a half, at minimum. If there was real trouble in Rapan, it might be more like two years. That was a long time to just disappear on everyone. I needed to say my goodbyes, at least. 

My first destination was the vice principal’s office. It was probably best to take care of the formalities sooner rather than later. I found Jenius behind his desk, as always, facing down a sizable pile of paper. 

“Hello there, Vice Principal Jenius.” 

“Ah, if it isn’t Mr. Greyrat. Very nice to see you. I’ve heard you helped Miss Sevenstar complete a rather ambitious experiment?” 

“Yeah, that’s true. Only because Zanoba and Cliff helped us out, though.” 

“Ah, I see.” 

I had no idea how word had gotten around about the summoning experiment. Maybe Jenius was better informed than I thought. 

“In any case, what can I do for you today?” he asked. 

“Well, I need to take a roughly two-year leave of absence,” I said. “I wanted to get the paperwork taken care of right away.” 

“Two years? That’s quite a length of time.” 

“Yes. I’m afraid I’ve got quite a rather complex situation to take care of.” 

“Is that so? Hmm.” There was no reason I couldn’t explain the details, but Jenius didn’t ask. “Very well, then. I’ll put your enrollment on hold for the time being. Once you return to us, please come to see me.” 

“Is a two-year hiatus not going to cause me any issues?” 

“We wouldn’t allow it for an ordinary undergraduate, but special students like yourself are allowed a bit more flexibility in these matters.” 

Good thing I was a special student, then. “Thank you very much.” 

“That’s quite all right. The special student system is designed to be as accommodating as possible, after all.” 

“In that case, could you also put Elinalise Dragonroad’s enrollment on hold…as a favor to me? She’s not a special student, but she’s going to be accompanying me as a bodyguard.” 

“Ah, I see. All right, I’ll figure something out.” 

Well, that was easy. It’s nice to have a friend in the bureaucracy. 

Thanking Jenius once again, I left the faculty building behind. 

A few minutes later, I spotted Linia and Pursena outside. The two of them waved at me from across the courtyard and trotted over. I took the opportunity to explain the situation to them as well. 

“No kidding? Man, it’s gonna be boring without you around, Boss.” 

“We’re gonna graduate by the time you get back, so I guess this might be goodbye.” 

That hadn’t occurred to me until now, but it was true. They were sixth-year students. Two years from now, they would probably be back in the Great Forest. 

It made me a little sad that I wouldn’t get to see them off. 

“I guess you’re right. That’s a shame…” 

Come to think of it, the Man-God had encouraged me to “begin a relationship” with one of these two. If I’d chosen to hang around here until the mating season started in two months, things might have taken a turn in that direction. 

“What’s up, Boss? Do I have something on my face?” 

Linia was an attractive girl. Those twitchy cat ears, swaying tail, and healthy thighs were her most distinctive features, but she had big breasts too. What was she, an E cup? All the beastfolk girls were on the well-endowed side, so that was probably about average. That cocky attitude would probably make her fun in bed too. 

“Sniff sniff…whoa! Thinking about goin’ a round with us before ya leave, Boss?” 

Pursena had her charms, too. Those soft, floppy dog ears and her voluptuous body were her most notable assets. Dog-type beastfolk seemed to have particularly big breasts for some reason; she had to be a G cup. I’d groped those things a few times, so I knew how soft they were. How good would it feel to bury your face in them? Hmm… 

“Uh, sorry,” I said. “Someone recently advised me to make a move on you two once the mating season comes around. I was just remembering what they said.” 

“Whoa, seriously? Didn’t know you were even interested!” 

“Ya never really flirted back, so we figured we weren’t your type.” 

The two of them seemed surprised, but also more than a little amused. 

Of course, sleeping with them would have meant cheating on my wife. But from what the Man-God said, it sounded like Sylphie wouldn’t have kicked me out of the house over it. Would she really just forgive me for messing around while she was pregnant? Maybe there’d be an ugly fight before things calmed down? Hard to say. Either way, it would supposedly lead to “greater happiness” in the end. 

I loved my wife, but I was also a man. The idea of a harem had a certain appeal. I found myself picturing a foursome with Linia, Pursena, and Sylphie. In some alternate reality, could that have been my future? 

…Nah, probably not. It was never a real possibility. 

“Linia, Pursena…” 

“Yeah?” 

“What’s up, Boss?” 

Linia and Pursena looked at me nervously. I guess I’d spoken in a slightly stern tone of voice. 

“Let’s stay friends,” I said. 

The two of them instantly relaxed and shrugged their shoulders. 

“Well, if you insist,” said Linia, elbowing me in the side. “A guy like you could use a few.” 

“Friends it is,” said Pursena, elbowing me in the other side. “Make sure you keep in touch.” 

We ended up exchanging handshakes before we parted—probably a first for us, actually. Some people like to say it’s impossible for men and women to really be friends, but that isn’t true. You can be friends with someone you’re attracted to; it’s a just a matter of setting the right boundaries. 

“Let’s meet again someday, all right?” I said. “Even if it’s ten or twenty years from now.” 

“Sounds good, Boss. We’ll both be big shots ten years from now, so you can bow down before us and kiss our shoes!” 

“We’re gonna conquer the Great Forest, man.” 

I had to smile. Good to know they had ambitions, at least. “Well, I hope you don’t take revenge on me or anything.” 

And so we went our separate ways. If we were lucky, maybe we’d see each other again sooner or later. 

A little later, I found myself standing in front of Nanahoshi’s laboratory. 

I wasn’t sure how to break the news to her. Nanahoshi was a lonely girl at heart. For all her outward hostility, I got the sense she was desperate for company. And more importantly, my absence was going to disrupt her research. Her plan to return home would be delayed significantly. 

I had to imagine she was going to try to convince me not to go. She might even blackmail me somehow. What was I supposed to do if she threatened to murder Sylphie if I left? Not that I expected her to go that nuts… 

Letting out a small sigh, I knocked on the front door and waited. The “come in” came a moment later. 

Nanahoshi looked up from her desk as I stepped into the room. “What is it? This isn’t your usual time…” 

“I’m afraid I’ve got some unfortunate news, actually.” 

“Unfortunate news?” 

Nanahoshi’s expression turned suspicious. I spent a few seconds debating how to begin, before deciding that it didn’t really matter. Best to get straight to the point. 

“I’m going on a lengthy journey. My parents are in danger, and I need to help them. They’re in the Labyrinth City of Rapan in the Begaritt Continent. It’s going to be about two years before I’m back.” 

“…What?” 

After a moment of silence, Nanahoshi jumped to her feet, knocking her chair backward with a clatter. She pressed her hands down on her desk and stared at me, looking more stunned than anything. 

“Rapan? Begaritt? Did you say… two years ?” 

She repeated the words slowly, as if trying to make sense of them. 

“I know I said I’d help you with your experiments, and I do feel terrible about leaving now. But I really need to go.” 

Nanahoshi’s eyes opened wide, and she took a great gulping breath…but instead of shouting, she dropped back into her chair and looked up at the ceiling. 

“Two years…” she repeated. 

“Once I get back, I promise to help you again as much as I possibly can.” 

“…Two years…” 

Nanahoshi folded her arms and muttered the words to herself a few more times. 

She didn’t try to stop me or cry out in despair. She just looked up at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought. We spent five extremely awkward minutes like this. 

“Well…I guess I’ll be going, then,” I said. 

There wasn’t much else I could say here. Nanahoshi knew I’d been helping her out of the goodness of my heart. She probably wanted to change my mind about leaving but was choosing to bite her tongue. 

I turned around to leave… 

“Hold on just a minute,” she said. 

And then I stopped in my tracks. 

To be honest, I didn’t want to continue this conversation. I knew she was just going to try to stop me. But it felt like I owed her a full explanation, so I turned back around. 

Nanahoshi was rooting around in the bottom drawer of her desk for some reason. After a moment, she took out some kind of book or journal. She flipped through it to a specific page, then turned it around to show me. “Take a look at this.” 

I leaned forward curiously. Someone had pasted a section from a map onto the page. The map looked familiar enough; it depicted the area around this city, although the scale was a little on the larger side. 

Near the top of the map, someone had scribbled the characters N1. Down in the southwestern forest was a red X with the characters B3 above them. 

“What is this, Nanahoshi?” 

“…” 

Nanahoshi was obviously hesitant to explain. But after a few moments, she spoke up. 

“It’s a map of ancient ruins that contain teleportation circles. They can be found all across the world.” 

Teleportation circles? 

“Huh?” 

Once again, I peered at the map. At the characters B3 specifically. Could that mean— 

“That right there is a teleporter that will take you to the Begaritt Continent.” 

“Wha—” 

Come to think of it…Nanahoshi had mentioned something like this once, when she was telling me about her travels with Orsted. Something about how he used teleportation circles to jump all around the world… 

“But you said…you didn’t remember where they were!” 

I remembered that part clearly. She’d told me she had no idea where to find them. 

“Orsted swore me to secrecy at the start. This is forbidden magic, after all. I agreed readily enough, since I figured I wouldn’t be able to remember them anyway.” 

After a while, though, she’d started making some notes on the teleporters’ locations, just in case she ever had to use them. Then she began secretly buying maps or roughly sketching her own. Sometimes she casually asked Orsted where they were or noted the names of nearby cities…and then wrote it all down, instead of trying to memorize it . 

Stunned, I flipped through the journal. 

It was a rough and incomplete record. There were times when she couldn’t procure a map, or they hadn’t even visited a town, so she’d penned notes like “Mountains to the left. Roughly three days travel east to reach the river, then two more to reach them.” 

The letter part of her marks indicated the continent, and the number seemed to be the order in which they’d been accessed. N was the northern region of the Central Continent. S was the southern region, and W the western. DE was the Demon Continent. M was the Millis Continent. They hadn’t visited the Divine Continent, apparently…but there were a few Bs for Begaritt. 

When she didn’t even know what continent they were on, she’d used letters like X or Y instead. It was obvious that she’d put a lot of thought into this thing. 

“I’ve heard about this Rapan place you mentioned,” she said. “I remember where it is too. There’s a place called Bazaar close to this teleporter, and Rapan is about a month’s journey to the north from there. I’m positive.” 

“It’s that close?” 

I flipped back to the page Nanahoshi had shown me first. It covered the area from the city of Sharia to the southwestern forest. The scale was a bit unclear, but it looked like a journey of ten days or so. Maybe even less. And the teleportation circle here would bring us to the point marked B3. 

I flipped back to the relevant page. From the B3 teleporter, it looked to be about a week’s journey to the closest town. So if Rapan was only a month away from there… 

We were looking at forty-seven days or so, and a ninety-four–day round trip. We could get there and back in just three months . Even if we took a month to rescue Zenith, we’d be back home in four. 

I could make it back in time. I could be here for the birth of my child. 

I’d still miss out on the mating season thing, but that really didn’t matter. 

“Are you sure about this?” I asked. “Didn’t Orsted tell you to keep this a secret?” 

“I won’t deny I’m a bit conflicted, but I owe you a lot after last time. Just don’t share this information with anyone, all right? Teleportation magic is a forbidden art. If word gets around, the ruins will be destroyed by local governments.” 

And that would make life less convenient for Orsted. He’d probably get mad at both of us. Just thinking about that guy made me tremble a little. I was going to keep my mouth shut, that much was for sure. 

“Thanks, Nanahoshi. This is a huge help.” 

“I just want you to get back here as quickly as possible, that’s all,” she said with a dismissive snort. The girl really was pure tsundere. 

Carefully closing the journal, I lowered my head to her in gratitude, then turned to leave. 

“Oh, I almost forgot,” she called. “On the first page, I sketched the signs they used to mark these ruins and described how you dispel the concealment magic that protects them. Make sure you read that carefully.” 

“Got it. I owe you one, Nanahoshi!” 

“No, you don’t. I’m just repaying my debts.” 

Smiling at her grumpiness, despite myself, I left the laboratory behind. 

I immediately headed back to see Elinalise. 

We could make this trip much quicker than expected. This was fantastic news. She’d be overjoyed, of course. But we also needed to alter our plans completely. The trip was only going to take a month and a half, after all. We might even be able to bring Cliff along for that! 

Slapping my cheeks in an attempt to keep myself from grinning like an idiot, I opened the door to Cliff’s laboratory…and was greeted by something that resembled a Renaissance painting of Venus. 

“I’m sorry, Rudeus! I can’t go after all!” 

Elinalise was lounging around wearing nothing but a blanket. And she’d apparently lost her nerve completely. 

Her slim, elegant limbs and tastefully draped bosom definitely had a certain classical appeal, but I felt no urge to display her in a museum. I’d never been a big art appreciation guy in the first place. It did occur to me that she’d make a pretty sexy figurine, though. 

Cliff was sitting slumped in a corner of the room, looking a bit like an Egyptian mummy. There was a big smile on his face, but he was obviously passed out. He actually looked more like a masterpiece than his girlfriend. What would you title a statue like this? Blissful Demise ? 

“I can’t bear to be parted from Cliff for two whole years!” yelped Elinalise. “I know it’s horrible of me, but I simply won’t do it!” 

Hmm. Well. People do say women are more guided by their emotions, don’t they? 

“I mean, if you’re going, then there’s hardly any need for me to tag along too,” she babbled. “Your father and I aren’t even on good terms. He probably wouldn’t want to see my face! Shouldn’t I stick around to protect my pregnant granddaughter, in any case?” 

“…” 

It was hard to remember this was the same woman who’d sternly told me that I should wait here while she took care of everything. I tried my best not to judge her too harshly. She was just returning to reality after a stint in paradise, that was all. 

“Well, okay, Elinalise. The thing is, I just found a way that could get us there and back in only three months, but…” 

“Huh?!” 

Elinalise froze for a moment, staring at me in disbelief. 

“What are you talking about, Rudeus?” 

I double-checked that Cliff was still asleep, then leaned down to whisper in Elinalise’s ear. “So actually, Nanahoshi—” 

“Ah! No, not my ears! They’re sensitive…” 

“Can you actually pay attention, please?” 

“I-I was only joking, dear.” 

I showed Elinalise the journal and gave her a quick explanation, making sure to emphasize that Nanahoshi had sworn us to secrecy. She flipped through it a few times, unable to hide her astonishment. 

“Can we really make it there that quickly…?” 

“That’s right. If we do it this way, I might even make it back in time to see my child born.” 

“…This could work.” 

A six-week journey wasn’t nearly such a long trip. Elinalise seemed to have snapped back into planning mode, judging from how seriously she was scrutinizing the journal. 

“Oh, all right, then,” she said after a moment. “I’ll come along after all.” 

Another sudden change of heart, huh? 

I did understand where she was coming from, though. Two years was a really long time. 

“Considering how much quicker this route is, we could bring Cliff with us,” I said. 

“…No, we’re leaving him behind.” 

“You sure?” 

“I doubt he could keep it to himself if he learned about these teleportation circles.” 

Really? Cliff was a reasonably trustworthy guy, wasn’t he? Then again…he was probably the type to let secrets slip without even meaning to. Yeah, it was probably better to keep as few people in the know as possible. The more people we brought into the fold, the more likely word would get out. 

Besides, there was trouble waiting for us in Rapan. We wanted to show up with a small, elite group of experienced people. 

If I were going to take anyone else along, I’d have preferred someone like Ruijerd. He was both a powerful fighter and as tight-lipped as they come. Badigadi came to mind too. He’d been alive for thousands of years, so it was very possible he already knew about the teleportation circles. And he seemed to be familiar with Orsted, so it would be easy to explain the situation to him. 

Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen either of those two in some time. No one else came to mind as a likely candidate. Zanoba might be strong in a brawl, but he definitely wasn’t a seasoned traveler. 

…Come to think of it, if we ran into trouble over there, we could always come back and get more help. Better to play it safe for now, since we didn’t know our route. But once we’d made the trip, it wouldn’t be so hard to come back and fetch a few additional allies. We’d have to tell them about the teleporters, but that was better than falling short of our goal. 

The trip wasn’t brief, of course. But even if we had to wait three months for reinforcements, it was at least a viable option. 

“All right. Just the two of us for now, then.” 

“Right. Let’s get this over with and get back home as quickly as we can.” 

At least Elinalise seemed to be on board again. For now. 

Finally, I headed home to tell Sylphie. 

After gathering her, Aisha, and Norn in the living room, I broke the news right away. 

“I think I’m going to go help my parents after all.” 

Sylphie let out a small, surprised sound, and an anxious expression flashed across her face. I’d taken her off guard, apparently. 

But after a moment, she shook her head as if to clear it, and then nodded seriously. “Okay, I understand. I’ll take care of things here.” 

“I’m sorry to disappear like this so suddenly, even though I promised not to,” I said. 

“You’re not breaking your promise, Rudy. This isn’t sudden, and you aren’t disappearing.” Sylphie smiled at me, but it looked forced. No matter what she said, she was obviously struggling with this. It made my heart hurt just to look at her. “Uhm, how long do you think you’ll be gone? About two years, right?” 

“No. Nanahoshi showed me a way to get there using a teleportation circle. I think I should be back before the baby comes.” 

I’d already made the decision to tell her about the teleportation thing. If I couldn’t trust Sylphie to keep a secret, I couldn’t trust anyone. 

“Huh?! You’re going to teleport there? Is that safe?” 

She was obviously startled. The anxiety was visible on her face once again. 

It made sense that she’d be worried, of course. Both of us had lost a great deal because of the Displacement Incident. 

“I can’t say for sure just yet,” I said. “But Nanahoshi seems to have used these circles personally in the past, so I think it’s going to be all right.” 

“O-okay…” 

Sylphie still looked worried, so I pulled her close to me and whispered the next part in her ear. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back, no matter what.” 

“Right.” 

“Sorry about this.” 

“That’s okay…” 

Turning my head, I spoke to one of my sisters, who stood nearby. “Aisha.” 

“Uh, yes…?” 

Her expression was even more uncertain than Sylphie’s at the moment. 

“Can I leave things here to you?” 

“I…think so. Mom taught me all about caring for pregnant women.” 

“If it gets to be too much for you, get help from anyone you can. Don’t be shy, and don’t try to do everything by yourself. You’re a talented kid, but you’re still inexperienced. Turn to the adults when you need advice.” 

“R-right.” 

Aisha nodded seriously. I did feel a bit nervous about this, but it would probably be all right. There was no perfect solution here. 

“Norn.” 

“Yes, Rudeus?” 

“If Sylphie and Aisha get overwhelmed, try to step in to help them, please. Maybe just talk to them when they’re feeling stressed. You know how hard it can be to face that sort of thing alone, right?” 

“Of course!” 

“And try to keep up with your studies while I’m gone too.” 

“I’ll do my best!” 

Norn seemed to be very determined to play her role in this properly. Hopefully that wouldn’t get her butting heads with Aisha or anything. 

Well, then. What did that leave? Was there anything else I needed to say to them? 

“…Oh, right. Maybe we should decide on a name for the kid before I go.” 

I was planning to make it back in time, but you never knew what might happen. It couldn’t hurt to get this settled beforehand. 

What sort of a name would be best? People tended to like cringe-inducingly “cool” names here, so…hmm. If it was a girl, maybe Ciel or Sion… If it was a boy, maybe Nero or Wallachia… 

Nah, this wasn’t a video game. 

Our names were Rudeus and Sylphie, so we could sort of combine parts of them. Maybe something like Sirius if it was a boy, or Lucie for a girl. That was kind of cliché, though… Maybe I should just ask Paul for advice. 

After thinking all this over for a few seconds, I finally noticed everyone was looking at me with strange expressions on their faces. 

“R-Rudy…you want to name the baby?” 

“Why would you say something like that?” 

“Rudeus…” 

They seemed genuinely shocked. Aisha even had tears welling up in her eyes. Was the idea that odd? I didn’t remember any rules about not naming kids before their birth. 

“If you name a child before you leave on a journey, you’ll never come back home…” Sylphie looked more anxious than ever before. Apparently, I’d tripped over a “death flag” unique to this world. One that I had no memory of. 

No, wait. I remembered now. Was this about that thing from the story of Perugius? 

One of Perugius’ companions was an Emperor-tier Fire mage named Feroze Star, known as the “Fortunate Man.” Feroze decided to name his unborn son before departing for the front lines, just in case he didn’t make it back safely, choosing to pass the boy his own name. In the battle that followed, however, Feroze was defeated by the Demon King Ryner Kaizel, and he died thinking of the child he’d never live to meet. His son, inheriting his famous father’s legacy, went on to become a magnificent magician in his own right. 

That was how the tale went, at least. I’d also heard a version where the kid actually turned out to be a good-for-nothing nobody. At any rate, the story was so well-known that everyone now thought naming an unborn child before setting off on a journey would bring terrible disaster. It wasn’t like that decision had actually caused Feroze’s death, of course, but people can be superstitious about these things. 

“Uh, okay, then. You think we should wait until I get back?” 

“I-I don’t know… Maybe…” 

“But I kind of want to have a say in this, you know? And there’s always the worst-case scenario…” 

“Don’t even talk about that, Rudy.” 

“Right. Sorry.” 

Still, this was my first-born child we were talking about. That didn’t feel completely real yet, but I wanted to at least participate in choosing a name. 

“Ahem.” 

Aisha cleared her throat meaningfully. She’d clearly come up with some sort of proposal. 

“How about this, brother dear? If the child is born before you make it back, we’ll call them Rudeus Junior temporarily . Once you’re back home, you’ll pick a proper name. We can make the Rudeus into his middle name, like the famous North God Kalman.” 

Rudeus Junior, huh? Well, it wasn’t too unusual to give a child their parent’s name in this world. And if we ended up going with Lucie, it would turn into something like Lucie Rudeus Greyrat… 

That didn’t sound too bad to me. It did feel a little embarrassing, since I still associated names like that with wealthy aristocrats, but it seemed more common here. 

Hm? Wait a second, though. 

What if it was a girl, and I never made it back? Would she be stuck with Rudeus Junior forever? What if she got picked on? What if she turned into a furious little monster who had to beat everyone senseless to defend her stupid name?! 

I tried to convince myself that was unlikely. The world didn’t need another “Mad Dog.” 

…Well, whatever. Just another reason to make it back home safely. 

“That sounds good to me, I guess. Sylphie…?” 

“Yes?” 

“Uhm…” 

I felt like I had more to say to her, but I couldn’t find the right words. I had the feeling anything I could say would come out sounding weirdly ominous. 

“Come here.” 

So instead, I just walked up to her and put my hands on her shoulders. 

“Huh? Ah…” 

After a moment of confusion, she closed her eyes, lifted her chin, and folded her hands in front of her chest. She was actually trembling a little. This wasn’t exactly a first for us, but I wasn’t sure we’d ever done it this ceremoniously before. 

I glanced over at my sisters. Aisha was leaning forward eagerly. Norn had covered her face with her hands but was peeking between her fingers anyway. 

I shot the both of them a quick wink. Norn instantly closed her hands over her eyes, but Aisha winked back happily. What a little rascal. Did she really want to see a kiss scene that badly? 

Well, it couldn’t hurt to indulge her just this once. This was a special occasion. 

I kissed Sylphie deeply—and listened to my little sister squealing softly in delight.