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Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 1




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Chapter 1:

Roxy's New Job

ONE MORNING, I was roused from slumber by the most delicious of smells. It had wafted into my nostrils as I slept, filling my heart with warm and wonderful emotions.

“Wha—?!”

Startled by this alluring aroma, I snapped my eyes open…and found a goddess in bed next to me, sound asleep. Her cherubic face was inches from my eyes. I could even hear her breathing softly through her charming little nose.

“Ooh…”

I slowly emerged from beneath the blanket, and then rose to my knees as quietly as I could. Putting my hands together, I offered her a brief gesture of supplication. There was a holy personage in my bed. It was only natural that I show her deference.

“Wait a minute. Could this mean…”

With shaking hands, I reached out to pull back the blanket from atop the goddess. It was just as I’d hoped! Astonishing as it may seem, her entire body had manifested next to me!

“Ooooh!”

Her figure was slender and deceptively youthful in appearance, lacking curves in certain places where they might usually be expected. It was too dark to see clearly, but…was that dot I saw on her chest a divine symbol, perhaps? An auspicious mark, meant to represent her third eye?

No, probably not. Still, it was something no less holy.

“Gulp…”

Would it be permissible for me to touch her? Surely I had the heavens’ implicit blessing. The goddess had come to me, after all. I was the chosen one. The messiah. And surely a messiah is allowed to touch his god.

But was it permissible for me to do so while her spirit was roving elsewhere? There was a risk that I would burden my soul with sin, and bar myself from the gates of Nirvana. The moment I reached out my hand, she might flood the room with brilliant light, shout “Begone, foul Mara!”, and purify me into nothingness.

What a cruel dilemma. I couldn’t help it if my little apostle was feeling particularly fervent this morning!

“Mm… ’S cold…”

The goddess grabbed blindly for the blanket, pulled it back over her, and then turned on her other side.

“Oooh…”

How truly wondrous! I could see the white nape of her neck peeking from beneath her blue hair! I could see the hickeys I’d left there yesterday! Truly splendid. Surely I was the luckiest man in the world, to be offered such spectacular sights the very moment I awakened.

…Oh, right. We don’t have that much time in the morning, do we? Better get her up…

“Roxy, wake up. It’s morning.”

“Hm…?”

My goddess opened her eyes and slowly sat up. The blanket slipped away as she did so, revealing her lovely, naked back. This was the dawn of a new age.

“…Good morning.”

Sluggishly, she turned around to face me, eyes fogged with sleep. She had two auspicious marks on her chest, and a cute little belly button down below them. And then there were her panties, which hid further spiritual delights.

My stupa was accumulating karma at a dangerous rate of speed. At this rate, I was going to reach enlightenment before too long.

“Oh…” 

Perhaps noticing this state of affairs, she grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to hide her body. The goddess had abandoned me. All light faded from the world. A new dark age was upon us…

“Is there a reason you look so dejected?” she inquired dryly.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just wanted to take a nice long look at your body in the daylight, Teacher.”

“…I don’t think it’s much to look at, anyway.”

“Don’t be absurd! Come on, pull back that blanket. Let me bask in your radiance!”

“Good lord, you’re certainly energetic this morning… Well, whatever. I suppose there isn’t any reason to be bashful at this point…”

Slowly, Roxy pulled the blanket aside. Just like that, the light came flooding back into my world. Yeah, I saw the light, and it was good!

I saw the darkness, too; I named it Eros, and the light Apollo. Beside the darkness, I saw a belly button and thighs. I named them Cupid and Amor. That seemed like enough work for the first day.

“All right, I think that’s enough.”

Once again, that accursed blanket hid the glories of creation from my eyes. Another dark age was… Okay, even I was getting sick of this bit.

“Uhm, Rudy?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Thank you. For last night.”

Roxy ducked her head to me in an awkward little bow.

Last night had been something of a special one for us. It was something we’d built up to over a couple weeks. We’d agreed that Roxy would officially become my second wife once Sylphie gave birth. That had happened a while ago. But up until yesterday, Roxy and I hadn’t actually slept together since our arrival in Sharia. Part of it was that everyone was busy adjusting to Lucie’s arrival, but I could tell Roxy was also anxious about our new arrangement. That was understandable, but I wanted to do something about it. 

And so, I put in some special effort to relieve her. I’d treated Roxy like a princess last night. My jaw was still a bit sore this morning—I’d put it through a real workout.

It was all worth it, though. She’d most definitely been satisfied.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know there were…techniques like those.” Her eyes darting away from mine, Roxy blushed a little.

“Heh heh. Well, it’s a wide world out there, you know?”

I’d used every trick I knew. Over the years, I’d developed a routine that always left Sylphie breathless from too much moaning. I wanted to overwhelm Roxy with pleasure, too, and I figured my “techniques” would be the quickest way to accomplish that.

It hadn’t gone exactly as expected, though. Mostly because Roxy kept asking me questions at every step of the process—usually something like “What should I be doing now?” It seemed she was just the studious type, even in bed. I’d indulged her with brief explanations and tips, followed by extensive hands-on demonstrations.

“Teach me more of the details next time, all right?”

“You could always just lie back and let me do my thing, Roxy. I’ll make sure you enjoy yourself.”

“No, thank you. I want to develop my own skills.”

To be honest, this wasn’t what I’d pictured when I was planning things out beforehand. But it wasn’t half bad, in its own way. Sylphie had her approach to sex, and Roxy had a different one. I found both of them very satisfying, so I wasn’t about to complain.

“Ugh. I’m going to be late for work…”

Her face still slightly flushed, Roxy turned her face away from me and clambered down out of the bed. I stayed right where I was—seated formally on the bed—and bathed in the radiance of her butt as she walked across the room.

“Hm? What is it?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.”

Sensing my gaze, Roxy looked back at me. I turned and pretended like I’d been getting dressed all along.

“…”

I felt Roxy’s eyes on me from behind. I was starting to consider flexing for her amusement when she walked over and touched my back.

“I’m sorry, Rudy. It looks like I scratched you. Does it hurt?”

“Hm?”

When I craned my head around to get a look, I could just see four long, thin welts on one side of my back. They stung a little when I touched them. Roxy had left them on me last night. They were a badge of honor, in other words.

Gah, now she’s got me remembering the look on her face when she did that… Down, boy! Down! We don’t have time for your antics right now!

“I’m fine, Roxy.”

“I hope they don’t leave a scar or anything…”

Roxy’s face was bright red as she mumbled out those words. The fact that she didn’t even think of healing them with magic made me feel like she was busy remembering last night as well. I looked up and met her gaze. I could see my face’s reflection in her big blue eyes. After a moment, she closed them, clearly anticipating a kiss.

I couldn’t take her up on that, though. We’d find ourselves right back in bed ten seconds later. And so, I restrained myself to stroking her cheek affectionately.

“…I think it’s about time we got dressed, Professor.”

“Oh. Right. O-of course!”

Roxy hopped back away from me, looking more than a little embarrassed, and started pulling on her underwear. I turned around and started getting dressed as well.

“Do I look all right, Rudy?”

Once she’d gotten her robes on, Roxy turned around in front of me so I could look things over for her.

“Yep.”

“Really?”

“Of course, Roxy. You look great.”

That was an understatement, in fact. If there was anyone stupid enough to imply that Roxy looked anything less than perfect, I’d ensure they saw the error of their ways.

“Well, all right. It’s my first day on the job, you know? I can’t mess this one up!” 

Roxy squeezed her hand into a fist and nodded to herself. As of today, she was going to be commuting to the University of Magic as well…but as a member of the faculty. This would also be my first day as a third-year student there.

But before we get into all that, I should probably turn back the clock a little.

Let’s talk about the day that Roxy got her new job.

Several Months Earlier

ABOUT A WEEK had passed since I returned home from my journey. It had been hectic for a while there, but things were finally starting to calm down again. 

I was relaxing on the sofa in the living room when Roxy walked in.

“Rudy, I think I’d like to work at the University of Magic. Would that be all right with you?”

“Huh?”

I wasn’t sure what she meant at first. She looked down at me with her usual steady expression, fixing her eyes on mine.

“I feel like I’ve got a bit too much time on my hands, so I wanted to see about making myself more useful.”

“Um, so…you’re saying you want to become a professor or something?”

“That’s the idea, yes.” Roxy nodded, her face solemn and serious.

It did make sense. She’d seemed a little bit restless since our arrival here.

Roxy wasn’t exactly the domestic housekeeper type. She’d spent most of her life as a solo adventurer on the road, so she could handle almost any job when she needed to…but when it came to housework, she wasn’t nearly as efficient as Aisha, Sylphie, or Lilia.

Also, we had two dedicated maids living in the house already, so there wasn’t much for her to do. 

She was taking the place of my left hand sometimes, though. I wasn’t used to being one-handed yet, and it did make some things really inconvenient. It was a help having Roxy around to assist me with getting dressed and eating my meals.

Still, it wasn’t like I absolutely needed her around all day. I could bumble by on my own when I had to.

“Hmm…”

In any case… Roxy wanted to be a professor, did she? She was an amazing teacher, of course. I knew personally what a blessing it could be to learn magic from her.

Given her talents and wisdom, it would be criminal of me to keep her around as nothing more than a replacement for my missing hand. Keeping her all to myself did have a certain appeal, but for the sake of everyone else in the world, she should be out there enriching our society with her presence.

“I’m sure it sounds a little arrogant to you, since I’m nothing special as a mage…but I’ve always enjoyed teaching people what I know.”

“What? That’s not what I was thinking at all!”

I was actually kind of offended, in a way. 

No matter how many parallel universes might exist, you’d never find one where I thought Roxy was arrogant. I was fated to respect her deeply in every possible world line. It was the choice of Stein’s Gate!

“You should go for it, Roxy. Absolutely. You’ll be a great professor!”

“Oh. Well, that’s nice to hear…and a little embarrassing, I guess.”

Now that the matter was settled, there was no point dilly-dallying around. “Okay then. Why don’t we go talk to Vice-Principal Jenius right now?”

Roxy started in surprise. “Jenius? Wait, Professor Jenius is the Vice-Principal now?”

“That’s right. Do you know him?”

For some reason, Roxy hesitated for a moment with something like a grimace on her face. “He was my master, actually.”

Oh? Is Jenius a Saint-tier Water Mage, then? I thought Fire magic was his specialty… Maybe I’m misremembering?

Then again, it wasn’t that unusual for a mage to study more than one element in depth. Presumably Jenius was a Water Mage as well, and had just neglected to mention it to me.

“I’m afraid I said some very harsh things the last time I saw him. I regret that now, but I was young and hot-headed…”

“Don’t worry about it, Roxy. The past is the past.”

From what she’d told me, Roxy’s master in magic was a pompous, prideful fool of a man. But the Jenius I knew was a diligent and polite guy who spent most of his time pushing paper around. He’d probably changed a lot himself over the years.

“What if he holds it against me, though?”

“I’ll make sure he puts it all behind him. Whether he wants to or not.”

I already owed Jenius a good deal for his help over the years, but for Roxy’s sake, I wouldn’t hesitate to add to the debt I owed him.

“Well, okay then. Hopefully it won’t come to that.”

With that settled, the two of us headed out for the University of Magic.

We found Jenius buried under a mountain of paperwork, as always.

“Well… My goodness.”

At the sight of Roxy, he offered us a smile that looked more like a grimace.

Awkward smiles were basically his default expression, but this one was definitely more awkward than usual.

“Sorry to interrupt, Vice-Principal Jenius. Could we have a bit of your time?”

“Of course, Rudeus. Why don’t we step into the other room?”

Still, despite the fact that he was obviously busy, Jenius readily agreed to speak with us. The man always had a lot on his plate, but he’d never shooed me away when I needed help. He wasn’t a bad guy at heart.

“Take a seat, please.”

After heading over into the reception room, Roxy and I settled down on a sofa across from Jenius.

When was the last time I’d been in here? After my duel with Badigadi, maybe? It had definitely been a while.

“First of all…it’s nice to see you again, Roxy.”

“…It’s been too long, Master Jenius.”

“Hm. Didn’t you say I, ah…wasn’t worthy of that title?”

Roxy let her gaze fall to the ground. “I’m sorry about all that. I was young and arrogant, I suppose.”

The conversation had begun tentatively. They clearly both thought one wrong word might lead to an explosion of anger.

“I think that goes for both of us. I was far too proud myself.”

Once they apologized to each other, though, they both visibly relaxed.

They’d thought of each other as obstacles for a long time, but at some point they’d probably developed a kind of mutual respect. And only now, years after the fact, were they able to admit that to themselves.

I had no way of knowing what they’d argued about in the past, but after all this time, it seemed like it was water under the bridge. A decade or two is enough to change most people.

After a few seconds, Jenius raised his head and cleared his throat. “In any case…what can I do for you two today?”

“Well, Master Jenius…in my travels after leaving the University, I eventually came to understand the joys and rewards of teaching. I was hoping to become an instructor here, if possible.”

“Well, well,” said Jenius with a slight grin. “Didn’t you regard teachers as ‘utterly useless’ at one point? You certainly have changed, Roxy.”

Was he going to give us trouble about this?

Feeling a little nervous, I shot a look over at Roxy, only to find she was smiling slightly as well. Maybe they’d both found something humorous about the situation. I found myself feeling a little bit left out.

If Jenius had rejected the idea, I’d been planning to get pretty pushy on Roxy’s behalf, but it didn’t look like that was going to be necessary. In fact, my presence here was probably unhelpful.

“Teacher, would it be all right if I left you two to work out the details?”

“…Huh? Um, okay. I don’t mind if you stay around, though.”

“Well, I was thinking I’d drop in on a friend of mine.”

Roxy and Jenius were old acquaintances. They probably had a lot of catching up to do. And somehow, I felt like Roxy might be reluctant to let me hear too many embarrassing stories from her younger days.

That made me just a little sad, but it seemed best for me to leave the room.

***

I headed straight over to Zanoba’s laboratory.

I’d told him I might be gone for two years, and I’d made it back in a mere six months. He’d probably be surprised to see me. 

The outcome of my trip hadn’t been especially positive, of course, but there was no need for me to get him depressed as well. I’d have to try and act as cheerfully as possible.

“Okay…”

I knocked on the door, then stepped inside without waiting for a reply.

“Breaking news, Zanoba! I’m back!”

“Wha—?!”

Inside, I found my friend straddling a life-sized mannequin with an ecstatic expression on his face.

“…”

“…”

The two of us stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

What was Zanoba feeling right now, in this instant? What emotions were swirling through his mind?

I knew, of course. I knew all too well.

“…”

Averting my eyes, I closed the door without a word.

Immediately, there was a great deal of clattering from inside the room. I waited about ten minutes until the sounds finally stopped and a small voice called “I’m ready.”

I threw open the door vigorously for the second time.

“Breaking news, Zanoba! I’m back!”

“Ohhhh! How splendid! If it isn’t my beloved master, Rudeus!”

The two of us rejoiced in our reunion and embraced each other as if nothing at all had happened There was no reason for either of us to feel awkward. The two of us were best friends. I didn’t see anything. Nothing even happened.

“You certainly have returned to us quickly, Master! I thought you were going to be gone for two years!”

“Well, it’s a long story, but we ended up coming back early.”

“Ah, so you accomplished a two-year quest in less than half the time! You never cease to amaze me!”

I took a look around the room. It was full of dolls and statues, many of which seemed to be folk art of some kind. I’d been in this room many times before, of course, but it felt almost nostalgic to be back. He’d certainly accumulated a lot of new toys while I was gone, though. In particular, Julie’s desk was virtually covered in clay dolls and figurines. She’d obviously been working hard in my absence.

“Where are Ginger and Julie?”

“The two of them are out shopping at present. Some of the things I asked them for won’t be available until evening, so they won’t be back for some time.”

I see. So that’s why he’d felt it safe to engage in a “date” with his beloved doll friend.

This was probably an uncommon opportunity for him. I almost felt bad about having interrupted.

“Oh? Master, your hand…”

At this point, Zanoba finally noticed that I’d come back without a left hand. He was staring at the stump of my wrist with a troubled look on his face.

“Yeah, it’s gone. I got a little careless out there.”

“…What opponent could be fearsome enough to harm you so grievously?”

“It was a hydra with an immunity to magic.”

“A hydra? Hmm, I see. That’s no small threat.”

When I looked back on that battle, it was obvious we were lacking in the physical attack department. If Zanoba had been along with us, maybe we could have taken the hydra down more easily. Maybe we really should have turned back temporarily and recruited him, or someone else, to help us out.

There wasn’t much point speculating about it now, though.

“If the beast was resistant to magic, I can see why even you would have struggled to defeat it.”

“Yeah. Oh, and even when we managed to cut off one of its heads, they grew right back. It was no picnic, that’s for sure.”

“It was capable of regeneration, as well? How did you manage to slay it, then?”

“My— Our swordsman chopped off its heads, and then I seared the stumps with fire.”

“Ah, now I see. The flesh itself was vulnerable, even if its hide was not! I presume you thought up this strategy yourself, Master?”

“I just remembered hearing someone say that was the way to do it.”

Thinking about that battle wasn’t doing wonders for my mood. I’d gone in knowing the way to kill that monster, but Paul still ended up dead. The more Zanoba complimented our victory, the more depressed it made me feel.

“I must say, Master, you look rather gloomy.”

“Well…we did win, but it came at a heavy price.”

“Ah, I see.” Glancing down at my hand, Zanoba nodded to himself. “On that note, I think I have an idea.”

With a smile, he trotted over to his own work desk and start rooting around through the bottom drawer. After a few moments, he pulled out a scale model of a hand.

Maybe that wasn’t the right way to describe it. It was a bit clunky looking for a “hand.” Maybe it was a prototype of some kind of glove.

“Take a look at this, please.”

“What is that thing, Zanoba?”

“Heh heh. It is the fruit of some six months’ labors!”

“Oh?”

“Indeed,” said Zanoba proudly, a meaningful smile on his face. “I wasn’t just sitting around in your absence, Master.”

True enough. You’ve also been making love to inanimate objects… Whoops. No, I didn’t see that. I didn’t see anything!

“Okay, then. So what is it, exactly?”

“Observe!”

His face full of confidence, Zanoba balled his free hand into a fist, then plunged it inside the model glove. 

At this point, he shouted something that sounded like an incantation: “Earth, be thou my hand!”

All of a sudden, the model began to move. It had been fixed in the shape of a fist, but now its clay-like fingers slowly extended. It clenched again, then unclenched, and then folded down its fingers one by one.

All of these movements were startlingly smooth and natural-looking.

“It’s a magical implement in the shape of a hand. It moves exactly as its bearer wills.”

“…”

“I followed your advice, Master, and continued my study of that mysterious doll with Cliff’s assistance. This is my first practical implementation of my findings.”

“…”

“Master? Er…Master?”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry about that.”

I’d actually been speechless with surprise for a moment there. I did remember telling Zanoba to focus on studying the hands and arms of that doll, but I certainly hadn’t expected him to make something this impressive in a matter of months.

“That’s incredible, Zanoba. I’m honestly impressed.”

“Heh heh heh. Oh, but I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet. By using this device, I’m able to control my fearsome strength!”

“Wait, really?”

“Indeed.”

Zanoba nodded with a smile of genuine joy on his face. His happiness was obvious, and infectious.

If Zanoba could control his strength, that meant he could make figurines himself. He’d finally found a way that he could create the things he loved most. It was hard for me to even imagine how much that meant to him.

“My hand, return to earth.”

With Zanoba’s second incantation, the hand stopped moving. Apparently, you could turn it on and off at will.

“Now then…”

Pulling his hand out of the magical implement, Zanoba offered it to me.

“Please do give it a try yourself, Master. Simply command it with the words ‘Earth, be thou my hand,’ and it will become a part of you. When you wish to remove it, speak the words ‘My hand, return to earth.’”

“All right.”

Accepting the hand from Zanoba, I pushed it against my left wrist. The thing was made to have room for a balled-up hand inside it, of course; since I was missing a hand, it felt like it might fall off at any moment.

“I’m not sure if this thing’s going to stay on, though…”

“It won’t be a problem. Go ahead, try the incantation.”

“Okay, then… Earth, be thou my hand.”

The instant I spoke those words, I felt the device draining mana from my arm.

It didn’t take that much. But of course it wouldn’t, if Zanoba could use it.

“Whoa!”

As soon as it absorbed my mana, I felt the device press itself tightly against my stump.

The sense that I was “wearing” something quickly faded away. In its place, I could feel the artificial hand that was now connected to me.

“…What do you think?”

Gingerly, I tried moving my left hand. I opened and closed it, stretched out each finger starting from the thumb, and folded them down starting from the pinky. The crude-looking clay responded as if it was just another part of my body.

“It’s moving! It’s really moving!”

“Ah, but there’s more to it than that. Try touching something, why don’t you?”

“Right…”

I reached out to take a small wood sculpture from the nearby table. It was a carving of a horse, about the size of my fist.

My artificial fingertips could “feel” its weight and texture. The sensation was a little dull and indistinct—almost as if I were wearing a thick pair of cotton gloves—but it was definitely there.

“You can even feel things through this? That’s incredible.”

“But of course. One could hardly hope to make a figurine without a sense of touch.”

True enough. You needed to be pretty precise with the amount of force you used when you were carving something. Since Zanoba made this with his own goals in mind, this sense of touch would have been an essential feature.

Just to see what might happen, I tried casting a small spell through my new “fingers.” A tiny ball of water appeared in front of them. It seemed like magic wasn’t going to be a problem, either.

Had Zanoba really created this thing in only half a year? That couldn’t have been easy. His passion for figurines must have kept him incredibly motivated.

“I wasn’t entirely sure if you’d be able to use it without a hand, but it seems there aren’t any major problems,” said Zanoba with a satisfied smile.

“Yeah, it moves just fine. I can feel the fingers, too. And use magic.”

“If you wish to increase its strength, simply feed it more of your mana. Its power will increase accordingly.”

“Oh really?”

“Of course, if you were to give it all of your mana, I would expect it to fall apart under the strain. It’s sturdier than a normal human hand, but do be cautious.”

“Well, let’s see…”

As we spoke, I fed the device a bit more mana. The weight of the sculpture in my hand seemed to disappear entirely.

“Wow, this is really—”

Before I could finish my sentence, there was a sharp crack.

“Oh.”

“Aaah!”

I’d snapped one of the legs clean off the little horse without even meaning to.

“Aaaagh… Master, how could you…?” Zanoba stared at me with a reproachful look on his face.

“Sorry, Zanoba… I’ll make it up to you.”

“Uggh…that was a traditional sculpture from the ancient principality of Giara… I doubt I’ll ever find its like again…”

“U-uh, well, maybe I can make you something new? It’d just be an Earth magic sculpture, but…”

At this offer, Zanoba’s face lit up. “Oooh! How splendid! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pressure you!”

Taking the sculpture from me, he carefully put it away inside his desk. Maybe he was planning to superglue it back together or something. Hopefully it would go well.

Zanoba turned back to face me. “That hand is yours to keep, Master Rudeus. It’s still only a prototype, of course, but I’m sure it’s better than nothing.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“With you and Cliff to help me, I’m sure I can make another of comparable quality in no time at all.”

That made sense. He was still actively working on his research, after all.

It would be nice to make the thing more sensitive. That way, I could use it for recreational fondling.

There were countless other possible improvements, of course. This thing had a lot of potential. For example, we could find a way to make it transform into various tools or weapons. How useful would it be to have fingers that turned into drills whenever you needed one? Or a hand that turned into a magic cannon on demand?

“…Zanoba, I think this might be a pretty amazing invention.”

“I quite agree! Not to toot my proverbial horn, but I do think it’s a rather splendid little item.”

As useful as it might be in combat, or in making figurines, there were plenty of other applications. For one thing, it was a brilliant prosthetic.

In this world, it was possible to reattach a severed limb if you made your way to a magician with advanced skills in Healing. And wounds that would have landed you in a hospital back in my old world could be cured quickly with even elementary spells.

On the other hand, having a missing part of your body regenerated was extremely expensive. Unless you were very wealthy, it probably wasn’t going to happen. And there weren’t many magicians even capable of restoring an entire arm or leg. You could find some in the Holy Country of Millis, but even there they were very rare. A mere adventurer couldn’t expect to employ their services.

When a common villager or adventurer lost a part of their body, for the most part they had to make do with crude replacement—something more like Captain Ahab’s wooden peg-leg.

If we started selling magical prosthetics like this at a relatively affordable price, we’d be helping a lot of people. And making plenty of money in the process.

The Healers of Millis might not be too pleased about that, but fortunately, they were on the other side of the world from us. As long as we got the backing of a larger organization, like the University or the Magic Guild, it would probably work out just fine.

“Do you have a name for this thing, Zanoba?”

“I hadn’t given it one as of yet, no. Neither Cliff nor I have much talent for naming things, I’m afraid.”

“Oh yeah?” That wasn’t much fun. Surely we could come up with something, right?

“Would you care to do the honors for us, Master Rudeus?”

“Huh? Uh, sure, I guess.”

I didn’t think of myself as especially great at naming things either, but I couldn’t turn him down if he wanted my help.

Looking down at the thing that was now serving as my left hand, I took a moment to think.

When it came to removable, artificial hands, the first words that popped into my head were “Rocket Punch.” But it wasn’t like I could fire this thing off at my enemies or anything…although I could always throw it at them at in a pinch.

The second term that came to mind was “Hand of Glory.” As in the severed, pickled hand of an executed criminal, which supposedly held magical powers—not the special move of a perverted, bandana-wearing anime character.

I didn’t feel the need to reuse a name that already existed, though.

This thing was a brand-new invention—something this world had never seen before. Maybe the inventors deserved to get some credit.

“Why don’t we take a bit from ‘Zanoba’ and a bit from ‘Cliff’ and call it a Zaliff Prosthesis?”

“Shouldn’t there be part of your name in there as well, Master?”

“Nah, that’s all right. I didn’t really contribute to this or anything.”

“…I don’t believe that’s entirely true, but very well. From now on, we’ll call that device the Zaliff Prosthesis, Prototype One.” Zanoba smiled proudly as he spoke.

In any case, it seemed I now had a magical replacement for my missing hand. It wasn’t as precise or as sensitive as my old one, but it moved just fine, and I could at least feel things through it. It could also become very powerful with the addition of a little excess mana. I was going to need some practice to get the hang of using the correct amount of force, though. 

My goal was to get to the point where I could gently squeeze Roxy and Sylphie’s breasts.

“There’s still quite a lot of room for improvement, of course, but we also need to continue our study of the automaton. What should we prioritize, Master Rudeus?”

“Hmm, let’s see…”

Apparently, there were some fundamental issues with this prototype. For one thing, its mana consumption wasn’t ideal. I could use it indefinitely, but it would suck Zanoba dry after only two or three hours.

The fingers were also a little on the thick side, which wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. And of course, its sense of touch wasn’t perfect yet. If we managed to resolve all those problems, it would be an even more amazing invention.

That said, this prosthetic wasn’t the main focus of our research. It was just a byproduct of it.

“Well, let’s not lose our focus here.”

Our goal was to make an automaton of our own, with our own hands. This prosthetic would definitely command a high price, and it made for a very convenient tool. We could probably put it on the market at some point. But I didn’t want it taking up all of our research time.

“We’re trying to make a fully automated doll here, right? We can’t let ourselves forget that.”

“Very true.”

“For the moment, let’s put improving the prosthetic on the backburner and get back to studying that automaton.”

“Of course. I rather expected you might say as much, Master.”

Zanoba and I seemed to be in agreement, fortunately. We could always work on the prosthetic on the side.

The two of us kept talking for a while afterwards. For the most part, our conversation focused on the various dolls and figurines I’d seen on the Begaritt Continent. When I told him about their glass sculptures, Zanoba’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Anyway, how’s Julie been doing while I was gone?”

“Quite well. Just the other day, she finished a figurine of a certain gentleman. I believe she wanted to show it to you, Master Rudeus.”

Hm? Had she finished the Ruijerd figurine already? I did want to see that as soon as possible, but…

“That’s good to hear. But if she’s not going to be back until evening, I guess I might not be able to see her today.”

“Hrm. Do you have some other business to attend to?”

“My master’s interviewing for a job at the moment. Once she’s done, I was planning to go around and say hi to everyone.”

“Your master?”

With impeccable timing, someone knocked at the door. 

“Rudy? Are you in there? This is the place, isn’t it?”

It was Roxy’s voice. Apparently she’d finished with the vice-principal while Zanoba and I were catching up.

“Come on in. We were just talking about you, actually.”

“Pardon me…”

Roxy stepped into the room tentatively. She paused to look around the room for a moment, then gingerly made her way over to my side.

“This is quite an impressive laboratory. Is it really all right for me to be in here? I feel like there’re a few things I shouldn’t really be seeing…”

“Don’t be silly, Roxy. There’s not a single place on this campus that you’re not allowed to enter.”

“I don’t really think that’s up to you, Rudy.”

“Maybe not. But you’re welcome here, at least.”

As the two of us chatted, Zanoba stood frozen in place. After a moment, I noticed that he was trembling slightly.

“Zanoba, let me introduce you. This is Roxy M. Greyrat, my master in magic.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Prince Zanoba. I’m glad to find you looking so hale and healthy.”

Roxy bowed her head deeply to Zanoba.

“Oh… Oh… Ohhh…”

Zanoba, for his part, just stared at her and trembled even more visibly than before. Finally, he raised his shaking arms up above his head. All of a sudden, he bellowed out a strange roar of some kind.

“Ohhhhhhh!!!”

After leaping up into the air like a frog, he dropped flat to the ground, prostrating himself with his hands stretched out in front of him.

“Whoa!” Roxy flinched in surprise and stepped behind me, partially hiding herself from view.

“How wonderful to see you again, Lady Roxy! My deepest apologies for how rudely I treated you in the past! I had no idea at the time that you were the master of my master!”

“Um, please stop groveling! You’re the prince of an entire kingdom, and I’m just a magician. What if someone were to see this?”

Roxy was obviously flustered. Not that I could blame her.

This was probably my cue to step in and calm things down a little. “Not to worry, Teacher. If anyone tried to make an issue of it, I’d silence them myself.”

“Not you too, Rudy! Have you lost your mind?!”

God, she’s so cute when she’s all worked up…

There wasn’t really anything to be worried about, though.

“I think you just need to take a few deep breaths and calm down, Roxy. It’s perfectly natural that Zanoba would want to prostrate himself in front of you.”

“Uh, is it? Could you explain why?”

“Well, Zanoba? It’s perfectly natural, isn’t it?”

His face still pressed solidly into the ground, Zanoba nodded respectfully. “Indeed! She is the master of my master, after all!”

See? Perfectly reasonable all around.

“That’s not an explanation! I want an actual reason!”

“You don’t need a ‘reason’ to do what comes naturally, right? Just accept the gesture gracefully, why don’t you?”

“But…”

“Oh, very well then. Zanoba, would you mind standing up?”

It seemed like we weren’t making any progress in this conversation, so I decided to let Zanoba get back on his feet.

The man was on the tall side, so once he was standing again, he probably had a clear view of the top of Roxy’s adorable head.

That struck me as decidedly impudent, but I’d have to let it pass. He couldn’t control his own height, after all.

“In any case, Miss Roxy, how was your interview?” asked Zanoba politely. “Do you think you’ll be hired as a professor?”

“Yes. Master Jenius—the vice-principal, that is—seemed to think my skills as a magician were adequate.”

“Well, of course they are,” I interjected. “You’re the woman who taught me magic, after all!”

“You did most of your learning on your own, Rudy. I’m not sure how much that says about my potential as an educator.”

Apparently, Roxy would be starting her new job as an instructor here as soon as the next term got underway.

This clearly called for a celebration.

It wasn’t the only thing we had to celebrate, either. We’d be getting married soon, my sisters were going to be turning ten before too long, and we had another member of the family on the way.

It might be easiest to consolidate them all into one big party or something. 

Apart from everything else, Paul’s letter had suggested having a celebration once everyone made it back here. There wasn’t any rush, though. We all had a lot on our plates right now. It would be better to wait until things were a little less crazy.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I was planning to go around and say hi to everyone else, too.”

“Quite reasonable, Master. I’m sure they’ll be overjoyed to see you back so soon.”

Zanoba smiled so brightly that I couldn’t help grinning as well.

More than anything else, I was excited to finally introduce Roxy to the others.

“All right then, Zanoba. Thanks again for the prosthetic. I’ll come back soon.”

“Please do stop by when you have the time, Master. Julie will be glad to see you.”

“Of course.”

“Ah, one last thing. If your new hand starts giving you any trouble, it might be faster for you to show it to Cliff directly, rather than coming to me.”

“Got it.”

With that, the two of us left Zanoba’s rooms behind.

As we walked down the chilly corridors of the University, a creaking sound echoed off the walls.

It was coming from my new prosthesis; I was actively experimenting with how much magic I could safely feed it. Every time I opened and closed the hand, it emitted an audible squeak.

I suppose it wasn’t reasonable to expect a prototype to be designed with silent operation in mind.

“Is that prosthesis a magical implement, Rudy?” asked Roxy, looking down at the clay-colored hand.

“That’s right. It’s apparently the product of some serious research and development on Zanoba’s part.”

“It’s very impressive work, I have to say. It seems to be capable of very precise movements.”

“Yeah, it’s really something. Given how well it works, I think I’ll be able to get by just fine from now on. Even without having you around all the time.”

“Oh…r-right. I suppose so.”

For some reason, Roxy’s face took on a slightly downcast expression.

“I’m sorry, Rudy. I suppose I wasn’t taking your situation into account. I was so eager to become a teacher, I didn’t even think about the trouble it might cause you…”

“What, you mean with my missing hand? It’s not that big a deal, really.”

Having Roxy around had been a big help, but it wasn’t like I’d asked her to take on a role as my personal assistant. Obviously, I wanted her to put her own plans first.

For one thing, there were plenty of other people in my life who were willing to help me out when necessary. Not that I was actually going to say that, since it would sound like I was calling Roxy replaceable.

“In any case, I’m certainly glad you have a left hand again.”

“Yep. Now I can touch you twice as often.”

I reached out and stroked Roxy’s shoulders gently with my artificial hand.

I could feel her warmth and the softness of her body, even through her robe. Apparently this thing was sensitive to temperature, as well. It really was well-made.

I kept caressing Roxy for a lengthy period of time, but she accepted it without complaint.

“Anyway, I want to introduce you to everyone. Mind coming with me for a while?”

“Oh…oh! Of course.” Roxy nodded, looking a little nervous.

For the rest of the afternoon, I went around the campus introducing Roxy to my friends and acquaintances. We managed to see Linia, Pursena, Ariel, Luke, and Nanahoshi. I’d been planning to visit Cliff as well, but I heard passionate moans from inside his laboratory when we approached, and decided to come back some other time. 

The reactions we got were widely varied.

Linia and Pursena responded in a particularly amusing way. The moment they got a whiff of Roxy’s scent, they both twitched to attention with looks of fear on their faces.

As they stood there meekly with their tails between their legs, I introduced Roxy as my beloved teacher. They promptly bowed their heads to her.

I guess beastfolk are quick to recognize people they really shouldn’t mess with. Their instincts were right on the money this time.

Ariel and Luke, on the other hand, were surprisingly oblivious.

When I showed up to say hello, the first words out of Ariel’s mouth were “I see you remembered to stop by after your trip, at least.”

She didn’t seem genuinely upset, but she did explain that she could have offered me assistance if I’d come to see her before leaving. Considering that my inadequate preparations had ended up costing me dearly, hearing that left me a little shamefaced. I ended up apologizing for my oversight.

Putting that aside, though… When I got around to introducing Roxy, the two of them stared at her in blank surprise, then turned to look at each other. They were obviously surprised that such a “young” magician would be taking on a role in the faculty here.

Still, Ariel was a princess, with all the diplomatic skills that implied. She greeted Roxy very politely, without any hint of confusion in her voice. The woman’s self-control was impressive.

We found Nanahoshi looking somewhat the worse for wear. She might have caught a cold or something, since she was coughing like crazy. When she saw my face, she smiled in relief and muttered “Now we can get the research back on track.”

When I introduced Roxy, and explained that she would be teaching at the University from now on, her response was a disinterested “I see.”

This struck me as a little too curt, so I took the time to elaborate on Roxy’s many virtues and talents. Sadly, Nanahoshi just grimaced and called me a “cradle robber.”

I suppose it was too much to expect that an ordinary high-school girl could grasp Roxy’s greatness.

By this point, it was getting around to evening, and we’d stopped by everyone I wanted to visit.

Just as I was about to suggest we head home, though, Roxy spoke up with a slightly disgruntled expression on her face. “Rudy?”

“Yes, Roxy?”

“I’m very happy that you’re taking the time to introduce me to your friends, but I feel like you’re being…a bit excessive in your praise of me.”

“Really? It wasn’t intentional, I assure you.”

“Are you serious?”

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, no words I could offer would possibly be sufficient to really capture how wonderful you are. I thought I was selling you a little short, if anything.”

Frowning, Roxy jabbed a finger up at me. “Okay, there you go again! Are you teasing me or something, Rudy?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. My respect and admiration for you is as real as it gets.”

“Oh, for crying out loud… You know, whenever you start calling me Teacher, I can’t help feeling like you’re just messing with me.”

Roxy paused to let out a long sigh.

I honestly thought my opinion of her was perfectly justified, but it seemed she found it somewhat overblown.

“Putting all that aside, though… You introduced me to quite a few of your friends, and told them I was your teacher. But you didn’t once mention that I was your wife.”

“Oh!”

Just like that, I realized how badly I’d screwed this up.

This might not even be something I could fix at this point.

Roxy was perfectly right. She wasn’t Roxy Migurdia anymore. She was Roxy M. Greyrat now.

I’d introduced her that way to everyone, of course. And she’d repeated it when she made her greetings. I guess a part of me had assumed that was enough—that it was perfectly obvious we were married.

At the very least, I was confident someone as sharp as Ariel would have figured it out.

Still, that was no excuse. Roxy had every right to be furious. 

I suppose I’d wanted to emphasize her greatness more than anything else. And a part of me still thought she was far too good to be married to the likes of me. But she’d clearly wanted me to introduce her as my wife.

This was an unforgiveable blunder on my part. Roxy was my second wife, yes, but that didn’t make her any less my wife. We’d be spending the rest of our lives together. Maybe even having children.

“I’m so sorry, Roxy, sweetheart. But you know how much I love you, right? How can I make it up to you? Want me to go introduce myself to your parents?”

“Uh…n-no, I don’t think that’s necessary. It’s a long trip, after all. We’ll get to it eventually.”

Eventually? Hmm.

Hopefully Rowin and Rokari were doing well over on the Demon Continent. Now that I was married to Roxy, they were my in-laws. I owed them for the assistance they’d given me many years ago, too. I kind of wanted to make the time to go and see them.

If we plotted a route through a couple of the teleportation circles, we might be able to make it there in two months or so, but…

“All right then. We’ll have to make the time one of these days.”

There was no need to rush things. Once everything settled down, maybe we could take the entire family out to say hello to them.

Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, I headed home with my new wife at my side.

 Legends of the University #1: The Boss can fire his hand like a rocket.



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