Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 17 - Chapter 11.1

Luke

I KNEW MY FATHER was a coward. But I also knew how understandable that was.

While he became head of our family at a young age, he was never truly suited for the role. I was his own son, and even I could see what a clumsy, awkward, and anxious leader he was. Whenever his decisions as the liege lord of our region ended poorly, he was compared unfavorably to his stern and firm-willed father. Even his own retainers whispered behind his back that his brother Paul would have made a better lord. I saw it happen many times in my years living at our home.

My father had struggled and suffered, all to no avail. It was no wonder he’d grown bitter and lost what courage he possessed.

Now he was going to be executed right before my eyes. His own actions were ultimately to blame, but Ariel’s promise to the Sword King Ghislaine likely had something to do with it as well.

It would be a lie to claim that I’d never considered the possibility my father had played a part in Sauros Boreas Greyrat’s death. They had detested each other, after all. Sauros had been very close to my grandfather, the former head of the Notos family. The two of them were almost like brothers, in fact. On the other hand, he took a disliking to my father from the very beginning. At their first meeting, he’d bellowed “You’re a scrawny little runt, aren’t you?” in my father’s face; and that was only the beginning of his insults and criticism. Sauros goaded him at every opportunity even after my father took over the Notos family.

The Displacement Incident had left Sauros terribly vulnerable. I could believe that my father would have seized that opportunity to take his revenge. In fact, it was difficult to imagine him passing up the chance, though the Man-God’s lies had convinced me otherwise for a time.

I studied the face of my father in silence.

I hadn’t seen him in eight years. The man looked much older, and much smaller, than he did in my memories. I found myself wishing I could talk to him, without any of the lies or bluster.

When I was a child, we’d spoken of many things. He had kept the more important matters from me, but when I went to him with questions, he always indulged my curiosity. My father didn’t know everything, of course. He would often give me answers that were simply incorrect. Still, he always had something to say to me. At times he would tell me to think it through myself, but even then, he was giving me the best guidance he could.

In hindsight, I felt that he doted on me more than my older brother. Perhaps he felt a certain connection to me, as a fellow second son. That was my father in a nutshell: an awkward man who made odd choices in the clumsiest of ways.

But for all his shortcomings, he contributed greatly Princess Ariel’s cause for many years. Before our flight from Asura, he’d struggled against countless enemies on her behalf, trying to position her for the throne. 

His motives were always self-interested, true. But as the head of our family, he had an obligation to protect it. Who could truly blame him for joining another faction in our absence, when all seemed lost?

He’d sent his men to lead the first attack against us. But again—he’d surely done so to protect House Notos. He must have been desperate to earn the trust of his new allies in Grabel’s faction.

“Your Highness, I have a request.”

“What is it, Luke?”

“Will you find it in your heart to forgive my father?”

Ariel turned to face me. There was a coldness in her eyes that I’d seen a great deal of in recent days… particularly after we learned of my father’s betrayal.

“…I can’t do that.”

“Because of Ghislaine?”

“No. Because I can’t overlook his betrayal.”

Of course she couldn’t. My father had openly turned against her, sending his personal troops in an attempt to take her head. No matter how friendly they’d once been, to forgive this would be harmful to her reputation.

I knew this all too well myself. Pilemon Notos Greyrat was doomed, and nothing could change that now. Perhaps that evil god had played some part in arranging this. Perhaps Rudeus and Princess Ariel were both being deceived. It didn’t change the fact that my father had betrayed us, or that he’d shamelessly attempted to undo that betrayal.

And yet…

I didn’t want to see this happen.

I drew my sword.

“…Luke?”

“Forgive me!”

“Huh?!”

I didn’t know why I was doing this myself. But before I knew it, I’d pulled Princess Ariel into my arms…and pressed the side of my blade to her neck.

“Luke?! What are you doing?!”

Sylphie reacted immediately. She glared at me with murder in her eyes. Rudeus might hardly have recognized her—she never let him see this kind of fury on her face.

In her hand, she held the kind of rod used by novice mages. It was essentially a miniature staff, best suited to practicing the most basic of magic. But in her hands, it could fire off spells as powerful as those of Royal Magician captains. 

Right now, it was pointed straight at me.

“Can’t you see how bizarre all this is, Sylphie?”

“Have you lost your mind?! Get that sword away from her!”

It was a reasonable question—had I gone mad? I wasn’t even sure what I was trying to accomplish with this stunt, in all honesty.

The gazes of the high nobles in the hall were fixed on me. Their faces were confused and uncertain.

…Perhaps I had doomed myself as well. But so be it.

“Tell me, Sylphie—do you really trust that man?”

“What man?! Are you talking about Orsted?! What does he have to do with anything?!”

“Just answer the question!” I shouted fiercely.

Her rod still trained on me, Sylphie paused for an instant, then replied in a low tone of voice. “I don’t trust him in the slightest.”

“Then why do you obey Rudeus’ every order without question? Perhaps he did it for his family, but he’s sworn allegiance to that monster!”

“Why? Because I trust Rudy, that’s why!”

How does that make any sense?! “Rudeus is acting on Orsted’s behalf, as his direct subordinate. Haven’t you noticed any difference in his behavior lately? Are you positive Orsted isn’t deceiving him somehow?”

It wasn’t that I harbored any real hope of winning Sylphie over to my side. But since her marriage to Rudeus, I felt as if she’d stopped making many of her own decisions. Instead of voicing her opinion, she left matters to her husband, or did exactly as he asked.

Ironically, I was the one who taught her to behave that way. I’d told her that a wife should listen quietly to her husband if she wanted to remain in his good graces. My own mother had been a vocal woman, and my father had never truly loved her. Their marriage ended in separation.

“Are you even thinking for yourself, Sylphie? Rudeus can make mistakes, just like anyone else!”

“You think I don’t know that?! I think about it constantly!” Sylphie shouted indignantly. “But Rudy’s doing what he thinks is best for us, okay? He swallows his pride and submits to us! He does everything he can, no matter how humiliating it feels! What am I supposed to do, argue with him and make things even harder? At least this way, I can take some of the burden off his shoulders!”

Sylphie’s answer was clear and firm. In her thoughts, Rudeus came first—before even herself. It felt as if she’d changed a great deal in these last few years. But perhaps I simply hadn’t known the girl as well as I thought I did.

“And what if your blind loyalty puts Princess Ariel in danger?!”

As I spoke these words, I pressed my sword to the neck of my sworn master. I was using the side of its blade. This wouldn’t prevent me from being executed as a traitor, naturally, but I couldn’t very well risk cutting Princess Ariel. It was simply wrong to mar a woman’s skin with scars.

“You’re the one with the sword against her neck!”

An excellent point, I must admit…

Just then, the door to the hall swung open and Rudeus stepped into the room. 

His eyes found me and went wide with shock.

“Listen, Sylphie,” I said. “By accepting everything Rudeus says, you’re making yourself a pawn of that horrifying creature Orsted.”

“…Fine. So what?”

“Consider what that might mean, in a situation like this one.”

I looked over at Rudeus. He was scanning the room, perhaps trying to make sense of what was going on here. His gaze paused at a certain point, then he looked away with a disappointed expression.

Glancing in that direction, I realized he’d been looking at Perugius. Despite the drama unfolding before him, the man was sitting casually in his chair, looking utterly unconcerned. There was a small, amused smile on his lips.

“If you want to save Princess Ariel, kill Rudeus here and now,” I said.

Sylphie’s eyes went wide.

“What would your answer be, if I made such a demand?”

She didn’t turn around, although she clearly knew that Rudeus was standing behind her now.

“You could be forced to choose between the two. And what would you do then?”

I knew it was an ugly, unfair question. I wasn’t even sure why I was asking it. Was this truly what I’d wanted to say? 

“I’d choose Rudy.”

Sylphie didn’t need much time to think about it. Her reply was nearly instantaneous. 

“I hate to say that in front of Princess Ariel. But if Rudy wasn’t the most important person in the world to me, I never would have married him in the first place. I never would have had a child with him.”

It made me slightly sad to hear those words. And I imagine the Princess felt the same.

Rudeus brought both hands to his mouth, but failed to completely cover his smug grin. The man could be truly obnoxious at times.

“I’ll stick by Rudy no matter what,” said Sylphie. “I don’t know how it will turn out in the end. For all I know, Orsted might decide he doesn’t need us anymore… but no matter how ugly things get, I’m going to be there helping Rudy. I mean, that’s what I signed up for, right?”

Those words hit me like an arrow to the chest.

She was right. I felt it in the pit of my stomach. I’d found one of the answers I was struggling for.

“…Hah.”

I let out a small sigh. What was I doing here? What was I thinking? 

My role was to aid Princess Ariel—even if she stumbled, even when she chose poorly, and even if her cause looked lost. I wanted to be the one man who would always be there for her, regardless of the circumstances. That was what I’d signed up for, as her knight.

What did it matter if Orsted was an evil god? True, I would rather have obeyed the Man-God than that creature. But would I follow the Man-God over Ariel? 

The question wasn’t even worth considering. It was my duty to respect her decisions, obey her commands, and risk my life to protect her if she chose poorly. It never had to be more complicated than that. 

My own words had come back to hit me in the face.

“Now then, Luke.”

I suppose Princess Ariel had heard my faint sigh. She chose this moment to break her silence. 

“Now that Sylphie has chosen Rudeus, will you be cutting off my head?”

“Huh?”

“If so, I’d like a little time to speak with my brother first. Perhaps he’ll allow Sylphie and the others safe passage outside of Asura. Do you mind?”

Her voice seemed…strangely calm.

“You’re not going to ask why I’m doing this?”

“No.”

That made me sad. I could hardly defend myself, now that things had gone this far… but it seemed the princess truly believed I had betrayed her. I had been by her side since we were children, supporting her in every way I could. I’d put her interests and needs before my own. And she still believed I was capable of turning on her, at the very end of our long journey.

Or so I thought, until I heard the words that followed.

“There’s only one thing I do want to say to you, Luke.”

“Hm…?”

“I am your princess.”

I nearly broke down in tears. Those words were reward enough for me. Even after what I’d done, Princess Ariel still saw me as her knight. She’d never believed I could betray her. She was confident in my loyalty—even now, with the blade of my sword pressed against her neck.

I tossed my sword aside. It clattered against the floor, and the tension in the air was finally broken. I releasing Princess Ariel from my arms, stepped back and kneeled before her. When I looked up, I saw that she was staring at me with that same, familiar coldness in her eyes.

“Tell me, Luke. What are you?”

“I am…your knight.”

The princess smiled kindly at those words.

I studied her face for just a moment, then leaned forward and held my hair aside to expose my neck.

“I’m ready, Your Highness. Give me the proper punishment for my treachery.”

I didn’t want to die. There was still a great deal left for me to do. 

But so be it. I could accept this.

“…”

Princess Ariel bent down to take my sword, lifted it awkwardly with one hand—and smacked my head with the side of its blade. A dull shock of pain radiated across my skull.

“It seems your legendary lust for women drove you to a fit of madness, Luke. I can’t imagine any other reason you would have grabbed a princess in your arms and molested her in such a manner.”

“…?”

“Ordinarily, such a crime would warrant severe punishment. But I’ll let you off the hook this time, as I happened to be in the mood for a bit of groping.”

I looked up at Princess Ariel. She met my gaze with a playful smile and a wink. How long had it been since I’d seen this expression on her face? These days, her smiles were mostly forced. But when we were children, she’d often grinned at me like this.

“Haha!”

It seemed I’d been forgiven. My words and deeds should, by all rights, have been construed as a betrayal. But she wasn’t even going to punish me for them.

 “Now then…”

Pausing to draw a breath, Princess Ariel turned to my pale-faced father. As soon as her gaze settled on him, he prostrated himself on the ground before her.

“What shall we do with you?”

The matter of his punishment remained unsettled. Now that she’d forgiven my betrayal, the mood of the room had shifted. It almost felt as if she had to find some way to pardon him.

But my father’s misdeeds were grave. He’d joined forces with our enemies and tried to have the princess murdered. She couldn’t simply invent some convenient story to explain this away, as she’d done for me.

We needed to find some justification. Some reason for a pardon.

As I was trying to think of something, Rudeus stepped forward to speak.

“When we cornered him, Darius revealed he was the one who’d arranged for Sauros’ death. Lord Pilemon was just a pawn in his game, from the sound of things.”

“…And what became of Darius?” asked the princess.

“He’s de… We killed him.”

“I see. In that case, I think we might as well assign him all the blame.”

As she spoke those words, Princess Ariel turned her gaze to someone behind me. I turned and I found that Ghislaine and Eris had slipped around me at some point. They might have cut me down from behind if I’d kept my hold on Princess Ariel for much longer.

“Ghislaine, can you accept that?” said Princess Ariel.

“Well…”

Ghislaine looked distinctly displeased at the suggestion. Perhaps she was determined to cut my father down regardless. But before she could raise an objection, Eris reached out and yanked her tail. With a jerk of surprise, Ghislaine looked over at her pupil. 

Eris folded her arms and stuck her chin into the air. “Ghislaine! We got revenge for Grandfather Sauros already, okay? Don’t be greedy!”

“…If you say so, Lady Eris.”

At those words, Princess Ariel turned back to my father with a satisfied expression on her face. “There you have it, Lord Pilemon. I’ll issue my judgment to you at a later date.”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”

My father threw himself to the ground once again, groveling in gratitude. He wouldn’t get off without any punishment, of course. But it seemed his life had been spared.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Luke…”

The words were barely audible, but I was close enough to hear them clearly. And a wave of relief washed over me.

I looked around the room. Rudeus was speaking quietly to Sylphie, who had her arms around him, and stroking her head. She lowered her gaze bashfully, but looked rather pleased. Eris and Ghislaine were discussing something so loudly I could hear the conversation clearly. Eris was proudly explaining that you had to read the room sometimes. From the sound of things, it was a phrase Rudeus had taught her.

Perugius was the same as ever. Still planted in his seat, he was looking over this way with a highly entertained expression. I couldn’t begin to guess what the famous Armored Dragon King found so amusing, in all honesty.

My father was still groveling on the floor. He still looked very small, but a hint of color was slowly returning to his face.

The novice knight Isolde was weeping quietly as she cradled the body of the Water God in her arms. She didn’t seem inclined to head in our direction.

It seemed that Darius was dead. Prince Grabel, who had lost his greatest ally, slumped in his chair, looking exhausted. There was a small crowd of nobles hovering around him, even now… but it was hard to imagine him trying much of anything.

The nobles of Princess Ariel’s faction were looking on with utter bewilderment on their faces. Triss was among them, standing next to her parents.

We had no enemies left to fight.

The battle for Asura was over.