Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Cliff and Zanoba’s Graduation Ceremony

LIFE SPED PAST, and before I knew it, it was already time for the Ranoa University of Magic graduation ceremony. The ceremony took place in a large lecture hall. Cliff sat among the rows of the newly minted graduates. Zanoba was actually there too, in one of the back rows. I asked if they could let him join the ceremony even though he dropped out, so they decided to make an exception. He was an exceptional student, after all, and he barely took any classes to begin with. Considered in another light, you could say this was Jenius’s mercy at work.

Not that Zanoba himself seemed to care about the graduation ceremony. But hey, it means something to participate in these sorts of functions. Life’s rituals matter.

The other attendees were the same old people. Seated beside the five hundred graduates were the two or three hundred members of the teaching faculty. Roxy had seemed a bit distant from her colleagues the last time she was in that spot, but this time, she fit right in. Perhaps she’d gotten used to it. Her short stature didn’t set her apart from the other faculty; if anything, her uniqueness made it clear how she belonged.

The only non-graduates present were the student council members. Norn headed the group with a scowl that seemed frozen by nerves. Lined up with her were demons, beastfolk, and more. The student council under Ariel’s presidency was very human-centered, but I suppose that when the leader changes, the people working under them do too.

I’d thought this during last year’s entrance ceremony too, but Norn seemed to be particularly well-liked by the demon and beastfolk students. I’d never heard a bad word from the rest of the students, either. She didn’t inspire the same level of fanaticism that Ariel did but being seen as a reliable student council president was plenty good enough. As her brother, she did me proud.

I had gotten Jenius’s permission to sit with the student council in one of their empty seats. Ah, graduation ceremonies! I’m a sap for them.

“Representing the graduating class, Brooklyn von Elsass. I present you with your degree and your D-Rank Magicians’ Guild certificate!”

This year’s valedictorian wasn’t Cliff. I hadn’t heard of the dude they picked instead, but his last name did ring a bell. I recalled that it belonged to a royal family in the Duchy of Neris, one of the Magic Nations.

The Ranoa University of Magic might have carried “Ranoa” in its name, but its funding came from all three of the Magic Nations. Putting their nobles and royalty first was probably an unspoken rule.

“I, Brooklyn von Elsass, humbly accept!”

“May you find your way upon the path of magic!”

Cliff looked on with melancholy in his eyes. If it were the old Cliff, he’d probably be throwing a fit over not being the valedictorian. Honestly, if you went by grades alone, none of the other graduates would touch Cliff; his final grades were Advanced-tier in the four branches of attack magic, Advanced-tier healing, Advanced-tier detoxification, Intermediate-tier barriers, Advanced-tier divine. Plus he’d done that research report on curse suppression. He didn’t quite reach Saint-tier, but nobody else was even close, maybe not even if you searched back into the school’s history. The only person who might be able to compete was Roxy. Maybe.

Me? All I learned in college was healing and detox, so I wasn’t in the running.

On top of his excellent grades, Cliff had also become a certified Millis priest. You’d think that spending every morning and night servicing Elinalise would have made him too busy to keep his grades up, but they didn’t drop at all. He’d learned everything this school had to offer, and now he was an adult in body and soul. Plus, he nabbed himself a hot wife and they’d popped out a kid, all domestic and stuff.

A real normie-kinda excellence.

So, what about that sad expression? It probably didn’t come from grief over how he wasn’t valedictorian. It was melancholic, one rooted in deep thought. Maybe he was still considering my proposal from a couple months back. But if he was still thinking it through, that would have been fine by me. There weren’t a lot of decisions worth making that could be thought through in just two months.

With the graduation ceremony now complete, I started by meeting up with Zanoba. He was accompanied by Ginger, who was dressed in formal wear, and Julie, who trotted along behind with a bouquet in hand. Nobody else appeared to be following suit, so maybe it was a Shirone Kingdom custom.

“Congrats on graduating, Zanoba,” I said.

“Oh! Master, thank you ever so much!” Zanoba exclaimed. He was wearing his Ranoa University of Magic uniform. Its design was a bit youth-oriented, but it suited him a lot better than Shirone Kingdom formal wear.

“I see that you put in a good word or two regarding my graduation… I must say, I was astonished when I received that letter from the University.”

“Hey, no big deal, right? Showing up to this stuff helps put it behind you.”

Yeah, it’s always a safe bet to attend ceremonies. Sylphie always seemed a little regretful that she didn’t go to her own graduation ceremony. Then again, Zanoba might’ve seen a ceremony as nothing more than a hassle. He was royalty.

“Or was it just a pain?”

“Not at all. I thought it was a bother at first, but surprisingly, it wasn’t all that bad once my turn came…”

Zanoba’s voice trailed off as he looked over his surroundings. Graduates were being surrounded by their underclassmen, greeted by teachers, all that good stuff. The kind of sight you get misty-eyed over once some time has passed.

Well now, was that group over there centered around Norn? A boy—he looked like a demon—was holding her hand with a beet-red face. Seeing that Norn looked a bit uncomfortable while her fellow student council members were grinning ear to ear, I had a feeling it was the classic love confession. Or perhaps it was more wholesome, where an admirer of the student council president just begged to shake her hand.

A Norn meet-n-greet. If I bundled Norn handshake tickets with the Ruijerd figurines, her diehard fan club would probably buy tons of them. Wait, I wasn’t trying to turn a profit, so maybe I shouldn’t…

Over in another direction was Roxy, who was surrounded by girls. About five schoolgirls were bowing their heads to Roxy with tears welling in their eyes. Roxy gently smiled and told them something; suddenly, the dams broke, and one of the girls started wailing out of sheer emotion while clinging to her. Roxy seemed uneasy, but she gave the girl some tender pats on the back. The rest of the girls were moved to tears and began bawling as well.

There were plenty of other graduation clichés happening around the campus, all with that sappy, tender atmosphere that you could only find at a graduation.

Not that anyone was coming near me or Zanoba. I knew I wasn’t exactly Mr. Popular here, but it still felt kinda lonely.

Well, them’s the breaks.

I had a reservation at a pub after this. Me, my family, Linia, and Pursena. Maybe I’d call Nanahoshi over too, that way we could all have a little party. Orsted wouldn’t be able to join, but I’d already gotten his congrats. I might have felt all alone in this sort of place, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have my friends. It was time to put this behind me and head on home. Or so I thought.

“Mr. Rudeus.”

A lone man approached me. He had fluffy blond hair and looked to be about twenty. He seemed vaguely familiar… Who was this guy, again?

“A pleasure to meet you. My name is Brooklyn von Elsass.”

Ah, the valedictorian guy. I saw him earlier today, didn’t I?

“Congratulations on graduating as valedictorian,” I said, bowing my head.

“Thank you very much,” he replied as he gracefully returned the favor. “But it was only due to the influence of my family that I was able to take that spot. My test scores have always been second to Cliff’s.”

“Come now, you’re too humble…”

I felt myself about to break out in a cold sweat. I didn’t wanna say it, but I’d been thinking it.

“Still, regardless of my family’s circumstances, I proved victorious over Cliff in the end. Anticlimactic as it is…”

True, he was the valedictorian. Couldn’t argue with results. It probably wasn’t the kind of victory you could boast about, though.

“Which…brings me to you, Mr. Rudeus,” said Brooklyn as he looked right at me. The look in his eyes was resolute. Jeez, why? Maybe this was some romantic confession. He had to defeat Cliff before he could ask me out? Is that what’s up? But oh, but heavens, I belong to another! I have my wife, my other wife, my other other wife, and my children to think about…

“I wish to challenge you to a duel.”

So. I’d been a little wrong.

A duel, huh? Ever since word got out about me being Orsted’s second, I’d been approached by a handful of chumps asking for one, but…what did beating Cliff have to do with dueling me?

“Why?”

“Right. For a while, I’ve become interested in ascertaining just how strong I’ve become. In the past few years, I’ve become aware that my strength is exceptional by the standards of the average person.”

Exceptional? Well, he was the valedictorian. Technically. It made sense he was a cut or two above the average mage.

“But you, Mr. Rudeus, have reached far greater heights.”

“I…suppose.”

“I’ve long wished to challenge you. Ever since the moment I saw you defeat the Demon Lord Badigadi.”

Brooklyn clenched his fists tight as he mentioned that moment.

“I come from a family of warriors. When I return to my home country, I’ll succeed the family, hire subordinates, and be in a position of commanding others. Once there, I’ll surely lose all remaining chances to test my strength.”

“Yeah, you can’t act on a whim once you’ve got a position to maintain.”

“Exactly. That’s why I’d like to take this final chance to challenge you!”

Brooklyn bowed his head with force.

I understood perfectly. Every man gets curious about how strong they really are. He knew he was above average. He knew there were people above him. He knew he had a slim chance at victory, but he wanted to challenge me anyway. I understood where he was coming from. Except for one part…

“Where did the ‘defeating Cliff’ part come from?”

“Huh?” Brook seemed to be surprised by that question. “I heard that nobody could challenge you without defeating the Demonic Circle of Six first. Ms. Linia, Ms. Pursena, and Ms. Fitz have already graduated, Mr. Badi has left…and I’ve already defeated Mr. Zanoba…”

“…”

The…Demonic Circle of Six? That was a thing, wasn’t it? Beats me as to who started it, though. Defeating all of them to challenge me? Talk about a stickler for rules…

“So, you won against Zanoba?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ve bested him numerous times during mock battles as part of our classes.”

“Uh, you don’t say.”

I glanced over to Zanoba. He looked away.

…Well, in a battle using magic alone, Zanoba probably would lose. But this guy couldn’t win against Cliff this whole time, which is what drew this whole thing out until now. He knew he hadn’t really bested Cliff, but graduating without challenging me would mean letting his last chance slip away, so he came now to ask anyway.

I get it. A graduation memory, huh?

“I suppose I really must defeat the ones who’ve graduated as well?” he asked.

He probably wanted to make a memory here more than he wanted to win. To put this behind him. Like asking out a crush who’s way out of your league.

“Nah, it’s fine. Let’s do it.”

No matter what the world, people want to make their graduation special.

“I… Thank you very much!”

Brooklyn responded with another aggressive bow.

“Hey, Zanoba, could I ask you to judge?”

“Understood, Master.”

I handed my coat to Zanoba. The thought of using the Magic Armor flashed across my mind…but I figured that was best left on the sidelines.

***

The whole thing took about four hours.

No need to keep you in suspense: I won. I didn’t spend those daily training sessions with Sword King Eris and Dragon God Orsted twiddling my thumbs. Our duel wasn’t remotely close; I knocked him down. I figured Brooklyn wouldn’t want me going easy on him; given the relieved smile he later thanked me with, it seemed like he also knew how this was going to end.

That part was fine.

After that, a number of other graduates who’d been watching from the sidelines started coming one after another, each challenging me to test their strength. They claimed they’d beaten Zanoba in an eating contest, or beaten Cliff in a race, or any other excuse I couldn’t fact-check. The onlookers gathered in droves, and suddenly, I was the center of a crowd.

I was starting to enjoy myself. Bring it on. Hey, it was graduation, and I wasn’t the one who made up that Circle of Six stuff anyway. Even Norn restrained her usual nagging and spent her energy directing the student council members to manage the queue. She resigned herself to the task of preventing chaos without stifling the normal rowdiness of kids at graduation. Sorry, President.

“Phew…”

And so, my duels with about twenty other people had ended. All my training might have toughened me up, but even I was a little wiped out. Everyone seemed satisfied; every face had this slight look of contentment on it. I hoped I’d helped make memories for the kids headed back to their homelands.

Eventually, the crowd cleared. Norn had to clean up the assembly hall, so she told me to head home without her before she vanished. The only ones left were Zanoba and his attendants.

“You certainly are popular, Master.”

Zanoba seemed exhausted from all that judging. He was a real glass cannon, no stamina.

“I must say, I’m simply enervated… And you, Master? Are you not a tad tired?”

“Nah, I’m fine. I think we got a bit dirty, though. We ought to get changed before the party later.”

“Hmm… A fair point,” Zanoba said as he looked down at his clothes. They were covered in dirt and sand that the shock waves from those magic spells had splattered him with. Of course, that went double for me, the one those spells were aimed at.

“Then let us return to our homes for now. What of your sister?”

“Norn said she’d join us, and she already told the people at the hall about it, so she should show up on her own.”

“I see. Well then…”

For a moment, Zanoba’s gaze flitted to something behind me, just a little above my ear. I turned around to search for what he was looking at.

Found it.

A head of short, dark-brown hair was looking down at us from the rooftop. Standing next to him was a head of blonde ringlets rustling in the wind.

“Julie, Ginger,” said Zanoba.

“Yes?”

“Apologies, but could I ask you to return home ahead of me and prepare a change of clothes for when I arrive?”

“Understood.”

The two nodded and left. I thought they’d decided Ginger wasn’t a servant anymore, but she was acting pretty subservient to my eye. Guess old habits die hard.

“Now then, Master, let us go.”

“Sure.”

I nodded at Zanoba and we entered the school building.

“I saw it all, Rudeus. You cleaned up.”

Cliff commended me with a tired expression when we arrived on the roof. Elinalise was to his side, standing off a ways. I was aware that she had come to the graduation ceremony; she dropped off Clive at our house beforehand, after all. I wasn’t aware that she’d come in her schoolgirl uniform, what with her dropping out and all. I refrained from asking what she wore that uniform for, however.

Hey, today was a graduation ceremony. Whatever floats their boats, so to speak.

“You mean how I showed ’em why they call me the Right Hand of the Dragon God?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You could have easily done that before you ever fought Orsted.”

“Fair enough.”

Cliff rested against the rooftop’s railing.

“So, Cliff, what’re you doing up here?”

“No reason,” said Cliff as he gazed up at the sky. “Just felt like going somewhere high.”

Just felt like it, huh? Hey, we’ve all got times like that. I wasn’t great with heights, so my melancholy usually brought me to Paul’s grave.

“Well, congrats on graduating, Cliff.”

“Thank you.”

I walked up to his side and rested my own body against the railing. Zanoba joined on Cliff’s opposite side. Elinalise stood a bit further away, watching over the three of us.

Man…we were totally nailing that “YA protagonist, ‘gazing out into our futures’” aesthetic. Come to think of it, Cliff had his whole future ahead of him. Twenty-two, married with a kid, and fresh out of university. And with that new chapter in life, new challenges were sure to emerge… Wait, no, I was being silly. Time to get serious. Focus on what really mattered at a time like this.

We needed to talk about the afterparty.

He’d said he was coming before, and it’d be a bummer if one of the stars of the show flaked out.

“Cliff… What’ll you do after this?”

You know, what time would he get there? Would he come with us right to the party, or would he need to go, uh, pregame with Elinalise beforehand? That was what I meant with that question.

“…”

Cliff responded with silence. Was he getting shy? Did he and Elinalise still have some schoolgirl roleplay to get down to?

“I…did some thinking. I talked it over with Elinalise, too.”

Cliff paused for a few seconds before his next words.

“One more year. Can you wait for me?”

For a moment, I didn’t know how to process what I’d just heard. Our reservation at the pub was today. They’d make us reschedule for sure.

“Until your child grows just a bit older, you mean?” asked Zanoba.

Oh, right. Reality! Cliff had said two months ago that he’d give an answer at the graduation ceremony. Hey, I hadn’t forgotten or anything. We just had the graduation and the afterparty today, so I didn’t wanna press him until after that.

“Yes. Clive is still so little. I’d like to at least watch over him until he’s done weaning.”

Cliff looked stern as he gazed down upon the Magic City of Sharia. The city stretched out under us. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the green roof, but man, my house sure stood out like a sore thumb… 

Come to think of it, this rooftop wasn’t here when we first enrolled. Three years ago, before the last renovation, they sent out a survey asking what the building needed. I asked for a rooftop, but this was the first time I realized it’d actually been built.

“It will take nearly two years to travel to the Holy Country of Millis from here. However, Rudeus, if I use the teleportation circle in your home, I could shorten that time. I don’t know by how much, but I should have at least a year of leeway.”

Cliff seemed to think it was his duty to return home within two years of graduating. Always keeps his word, huh?

“You’ll let me use the magic circle, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

“I appreciate it.”

The teleportation circle was taboo. Using it not for an emergency, but for personal convenience was surely something that weighed heavily with buttoned-up Cliff.

“Also, Rudeus. About joining you…”

“Yeah?”

Cliff hesitated to say it. It sounded like I was about to be rejected. I at least wanted to hear his reasoning so I could persuade him one last time…

“I’d like you to wait for that as well.”

“Oh, wait?”

“Yes. It is true that having the backing of the Dragon God Orsted would allow me to reach a high position within the Millis Church.”

That was for sure. Orsted knew a lot about the internal workings of the Millis Church. If nothing else, he’d probably learned about what weaknesses of which officials mattered when during his many long loops.

“But I feel it just wouldn’t be right.”

“…”

“Part of me wants to know how far within the Millis Church the efforts I’ve made can take me…but I also don’t want to sit in a seat that someone else handed me.”

Cliff clenched his fists as he spoke. I guess I understood. He was just like the guys who challenged me to those duels. He wanted to test his strength. It was the part of Cliff that made him a man.

“If those efforts bring me to the top of the Millis Church, then I will become your ally.”

Hmm… I certainly would’ve liked it if Cliff could do it on his own, but there was always the chance that he couldn’t. If it ended with him losing his position, then I could live with it. I’d find another avenue to reach the Millis Church while I hired Cliff to be Orsted’s personal helmet designer or something. But that wasn’t the only way it could go. The thought of his life ending in an assassination made me sick. He could die. But if it was the path Cliff chose, I wouldn’t talk him out of it.

“Incidentally, Sir Cliff,” said Zanoba in my stead. “Do you plan to travel alone one year from now? What of your family?”

That was right, what did he plan to do about Elinalise and Clive? Cliff looked pained, a mixture of anguish and shame flooding his face. At the same time, he was resolute.

“I’ll leave them.”

“For…how long?”

“Until I’m a real man. At least.”

A real man, huh? Which was to say, he didn’t know how long it would be. I looked at Elinalise; her eyes were closed and arms folded in front of her stomach. She had no illusions.

But was this okay? Elinalise surely wanted to be by Cliff’s side if she could, to watch over him and give him the support he needed. The curse mattered, too. Cliff’s magical implement could lighten the curse’s symptoms, but it wouldn’t do so for years on end. But it wasn’t my place to interject, here. Cliff had made this decision with his wife.

Cliff was at a crossroads, and he’d decided.

“I understand,” I said.

Respecting Cliff’s wishes came with its risks. If Cliff died somewhere outside of my control, then I’d lose my only connection with the Holy Country of Millis. I’d also lose someone who could research curses. As a risk, though, it could pay dividends. Cliff would get more chances to grow if he struck out for himself. That growth would make Cliff a formidable ally when the time finally came. I couldn’t say if it outweighed the risks, but it was certainly possible. As a logical move, it wasn’t bad.

Cliff made his decision, and Elinalise agreed. I had to respect that.

“Well then, I’ll see you again one year from now.”

“Yes. As will I.”

Cliff held out his hand. I grabbed it and nodded deeply.

That said, if I had to wait until Cliff became a real man, that was three years of not knowing if Cliff would join up. That meant I had to put Cliff to the side and focus on something else.

As for what… Well, saying hi to Ariel would be a good start. Zanoba just started with the figurine sales, and I had to make sure the Mercenary Band kept recruiting. To accomplish both of those, I wanted to expand into the Asura Kingdom. Perhaps I’d use this year to plan how to conquer Asura. I was gonna be busy.

But first…it was time to party.

“All right, Cliff. Enough of the heavy talk, let’s spend the rest of the night havin’ the time of our lives!”

“Yeah… Let’s do it!”

And that was Zanoba and Cliff’s graduation.