Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Onward, to Millishion…

SYLPHIE WAS ONCE AGAIN pregnant. This would be the second child for her. And it happened just before I was going to set out. Once, this might have made me clutch my head and agonize over what to do. Now? This was my fourth time hearing a baby was on the way just as I was set to embark somewhere. It wasn’t nothing, but Sylphie and the baby didn’t take up all my thoughts.

If anything, I was elated. What should we name the baby? Would they be a boy this time, or a girl? Lucie, you’re getting a new baby brother or sister! Are you ready to be the big sis again? Or those were subconversations I rehearsed in my head while half-skipping with elation across the lawn, until…

“Madam Sylphie is… Wh-what shall we do?!”

Lilia was bewildered, her normally placid face now drawn and uncertain.

“I’m the only one who can attend to Madam Zenith… But Madam Sylphie is the only one who can attend to the house, and she’s now with child… If the unthinkable happened, then…”

We’d struck a deal that Lilia would come to Millis and attend to Zenith while Sylphie focused on maintaining the household. But now: pregnant. It wasn’t the end of the world. Roxy was capable of doing any chore that needed doing, and we could always hire outside help to tide things over. I was tempted to leave it at that, but even I was worried about leaving a pregnant woman alone for months at a time.

Lilia couldn’t decide. Should she head out with Zenith, or should she stay to look after Sylphie? It was hard not to be shaken by the sight of Lilia herself actually shaken by something. Maybe it would be best to tone down my goofy celebration.

When I decided to serve Orsted, I was fully prepared for the possibility that I’d have to leave a pregnant wife behind for the sake of my work. But now it dawned on me that I’d committed to that sacrifice on the assumption that Lilia and Aisha would be there for my wives when I couldn’t be.

This could be bad. Oh boy…

“Umm, I’ll be fine, you know. It’s my second time, and I have Roxy and Eris. I even have Grandma,” said Sylphie to comfort Lilia.

That was true. This was Sylphie’s second baby. She knew better what was coming and had more people to rely on to boot. Roxy spent a lot of time out of the house, but if Elinalise could make regular check-ins, that’d be best. Even Eris would do something if there was an emergency. 

Yeah, that was right. During her first pregnancy, we only had Norn and Aisha in the house. And while Aisha was an old hand now, she’d had zero experience back then. From that perspective, we were in a better position now than we were back then. It wasn’t like I was going to be gone for a full year, either. It was gonna be fine. 

Eris and Roxy backed Sylphie up.

“Yeah, we’ll make something work! You’ve got me to protect you!”

“I’m away during the afternoons so I’m still a tad worried, but you always have people around you, so I believe you won’t be in much danger!”

Even so, my mind kept churning up fresh, new worries. 

Lilia glanced down at little Lara, who tugged at the hem of Roxy’s robe.

“But we have children in the house now, which means more work to do. And you never know what could happen…”

Good point. You never knew what kids could be up to. Lucie and Lara were both rambunctious little squirts. They would never attack Sylphie out of malice. But, let’s say that Lucie accidentally misfired a spell during practice that happened to hit Sylphie. Or maybe Lara started riding on Leo’s back and was about to leave the house, and Sylphie became so panicked to stop them that she fell down the stairs.

…Children were accidents waiting to happen no matter what I did. If I started imagining hypothetical disasters, I’d never stop. 

But there were real problems on the horizon. The first big one: when Sylphie told me that she’d probably hit her limit given her race’s biology, I took that as a personal challenge. Didn’t even think about family planning. Of course I’d never make babies for the fun of it! How dare you? I’d always wanted a second child. But maybe the five-year gap since Lucie was born without another baby in sight made me consider that Sylphie really had hit her limit, and maybe I did get a little lazy about using protection…

Anyway, the matter was settled. I guess this was at least half my fault—I’d chosen a hectic time to get my wife pregnant, and now I was leaving her alone. A repeat of history. Why did I only seem to have children right before running off on long journeys? Perhaps it was the Man-God’s curse.

There was the option of delaying my departure to the Holy Country of Millis. I could put it off for about a year, see Sylphie’s pregnancy to term, and then rethink my strategy once that was over. But then, bam, it’d be Roxy! Boom, Eris! It was possible that there’d be no end to it… But given how long a trip to Millis would normally take, the Latrias probably wouldn’t complain if we put the trip off for a year or two. Cliff’d been in the same boat.

Ugh, right. Cliff! Elinalise asked me to at least watch over him until he found his footing. Even if we backed out, Cliff would still go. I was sure he’d be fine, but there niggled a remote possibility he could wash out of the position within that one year and be stuck there.

Be it Sylphie or be it Cliff, my thoughts went straight to the worst-case scenario. If either had been an emergency, my choice would be made for me, but no such luck. I had to choose: Cliff or Sylphie? Work or love? Cold pragmatism said to establish the Mercenary Band in Millis at once and then place Cliff in line for the papacy. That would make things easiest on me. But would that be right? What was the point of all these machinations if I left Sylphie and our child crying in the cold? I had to reconsider why it was that I joined forces with Orsted to begin with. I couldn’t lose sight of what mattered.

“…”

Just as I thought that, Zenith moved.

“Hm? Madam?”

With the stiff, jerky movements of a sleepwalker, Zenith grabbed Lilia’s hand. Zenith lurched onward, her iron grip yanking Lilia after her. Lilia stumbled to keep up. Zenith was leading her to Sylphie.

“Umm… Miss, er, Zenith?” asked Sylphie, baffled.

Zenith took Lilia’s hand, and slowly, softly, placed it on Sylphie’s shoulder. As though to say, Lilia, watch over her. As though to say, I’ll be just fine.

“M-Madam…”

This was a glimpse of that steel will that Zenith hid so well. The entire family had noticed it most reliably came out when something pertained to her children or grandchildren. Of course Zenith would want Lilia to watch over the child in Sylphie’s tummy over her. Everyone understood the decision she’d made.

“Very well,” said Lilia. She wiped her tears, looked Zenith in the eyes, and nodded. Her own resolve had now firmed.

“Aisha!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” shouted Aisha as Lilia’s command snapped her out of her daze.

“You will attend to Madam Zenith’s needs in my place and see her to the Latria residence. No buts!”

“Guh… Got it!”

Aisha froze for a moment. She really didn’t want to set foot onto Latria property. But she wasn’t an going to bust up this touching scene by saying “no.”

“Master Rudeus, I believe we’re decided. Do take care.”

“Yeah… Thank you. For everything.”

If Lilia was looking after her, then I knew tragedy would be impossible. Not with Lilia there. I could do my work in the Holy Country of Millis without any worries.

“Sylphie.”

“What is it, Rudy?”

I had one last thing I needed to say before I left. Something important.

“I love you.”

“Yeah. Same.”

Sylphie stood up and gently wrapped her hands around my torso. I buried my face in her hair and hugged her back, being careful not to squeeze too tight.

“I’ll think up a name while I’m gone.”

“Sure. Tell me when you get back.”

Sylphie broke out into a smile. Any other time, she’d still be anxious. But now, she had Lilia behind her. A second mother to depend on.

I gave my hugs to Roxy and Eris and then set out.

***

We began our journey. Me, Aisha, Zenith and Cliff. Just us four.

I’d packed carefully, but it was still a lot to carry. The stone contact tablets and the Magic Armor Version One summoning scroll proved pretty bulky. The weight itself wasn’t an issue since I was wearing Version Two. But while I was strong enough to shoulder the burden no sweat, I only had two hands and a single back. Carrying something larger than yourself lowers your dex, too, and this armor wasn’t making me any taller. It was as awkward as carrying an empty cardboard box that your arms couldn’t reach around.

With my massive luggage in hand, we met up with Cliff outside the city. He was surprised by the explanation of why our party was a member short. That said, the baby news made Cliff smile. He offered his best wishes.

“I’m afraid I can’t give your news my highest congratulations given my position…but Saint Millis once said, ‘The birth of a new life, whatever that life may be, is a joyous occasion.’”

“Well, aren’t you supportive.”

“Worry not, I’ll pray to Saint Millis that your future child will get along well with mine.”

No matter how terrible the Millis faith deemed me to be, the sins of the father didn’t fall on the children. There was always the chance that any kid with my blood in them could end up going through partners one after the other…but I was sure that Cliff would set those kids right if they did.

Wait, no, that was my job. Huh.

“By the way, Cliff, are you familiar with the House of Latria?”

“Latria, oh boy…”

Over the past month, I’d been trying to ask my sisters and Lilia about what kind of person this Claire Latria was. From their descriptions and the peculiarly unpleasant looks on their faces, I was able to figure out this much: she had a stick up her ass.

Norn averted her eyes and said that she “only remembered being scolded and called a slacker.” Aisha sighed and said that “Claire would get mad” and demand she “stopped embarrassing Norn by acting up like this.” Lilia answered that “she deeply values lineage and religion.”

Basically, it sounded like the three of them got nagged incessantly about their family’s structure and marriage history while they were stuck in that house in Millishion. But Claire wasn’t gonna get to me the same way. Sure, everything I’d heard so far made me a bit scared to meet her…but I knew someone else who you could call “stubborn and strict.”

He might have passed away, but…Sauros Boreas Greyrat. Eris’s grandfather. The ideas he valued might have differed from Claire’s, but he was just as much of a stickler for them. We even found some common ground after I showed him proper etiquette. Plus, she was human. If she valued lineage, then hey, I technically had the blood of both the houses of Latria and Greyrat. If she valued religion—well, uh, that part scared me a bit, so perhaps hiding my polygamous marriages would be for the best.

I recalled how I’d weathered that wasteland of shouting and violence that Eris called home. If I imagined Claire as a female version of Sauros, I could handle it. It was also quite possible that time had made my little sisters’ memories of Claire harsher than they really had been, and that Claire was only harsh out of love for her family. Just like Ruijerd. No way I’d stop a mother and child reunion, but I figured that gathering a little advanced intel couldn’t hurt.

“They’re a house of note, particularly as leading figures of the Demon Expulsionists who’ve produced many of the top Temple Knights.”

“I see.”

The Temple Knights. Come to think of it, Aunt Therese was a Temple Knight. I wondered how she was doing.

“I was young when I was last in Millis so I don’t know the details, but I’ve heard from Norn that they’re quite strict,” Cliff added.

Norn placed a lot of trust in Cliff; he listened to her vent about her problems when he was still in school. It seemed that some of those talks were about how she was branded a “good-for-nothing” during her time in the Latria home. About how she was constantly compared to Aisha, about how she was called a “failure who lost to a bastard child.”

Cliff always responded to that by saying, “You mustn’t compare yourself to others. Instead, strive to surpass the person you are now.”

Norn followed that advice until she became the student council president. She never said as much, but Norn obviously held a deep respect for Cliff. It didn’t reach the point of romance. But maybe, if Elinalise weren’t here, Norn and Cliff might have become something more.

Whoa, if that happened, then that’d be a marriage between the Demon Expulsionist Latrias and the Demon Integrationist Grimors… Ah, wait, Norn was different. She was Paul’s daughter, a Greyrat—not a Latria. She didn’t have anything to do with the Millis Church’s political strife.

“Personally, I can only pray that you don’t join the House of Latria and become my enemy.”

“Come on, Cliff, there’s no way I’d ever fight against you.”

“I trust you, of course. But there are times when the choice is already made for us…” Cliff trailed off, and then snickered at himself.

True. 

Thinking about these relationship dynamics was already making my head hurt. The Latrias were Temple Knights and Demon Expulsionists, making them Cliff’s enemies. Perhaps I should think carefully before building connections with that house. We Greyrats and Latrias might have been related by blood, but I was first and foremost a Greyrat from the Magic City of Sharia. I didn’t need to be anyone other than Rudeus Greyrat, the Right Arm of the Dragon God, a subordinate to Orsted, and a friend to Cliff.

“Look Cliff, just because I won’t butt in to help you doesn’t mean I’d dream of becoming your enemy. Cross my heart. Giftwrap one of my daughters and hand her to Clive if I’m lying.”

“Ah, that might be a good idea. A marriage between your daughter and my son… Yes, not bad at all.”

“Whoa, what? Let’s not be hasty, you know, it’s not right for parents to decide who their children marry…”

“Yes, yes, I understand. It was a joke, now come along.”

Cliff chuckled and started walking.

That, uh, was a joke, right? Then again, Lucie and Lara sure were cute… Those two would definitely grow to be beauties just like their mothers. Clive would grow up seeing those beautiful sisters every day. His first love would probably be Lucie. And since he was Elinalise’s son, he might be precocious and ask her out early.

I didn’t love the idea of some random kid off the street calling on my daughters, but this was Cliff’s son. If Clive begged on his hands and knees before me, his future father-in-law, then I could perhaps be convinced to permit their relationship. But hold on there, kiddo, you’ve got some nerve calling me your in-law already—

“Big Brother, we’re leaving you behind!” called Aisha as she held Zenith’s hand. That snapped me back to reality.

“Ah, sorry about that!”

Ah, well, that was still a long way off. I turned my attention to the present and ran to catch up.

We entered the office and greeted Orsted. After that, we descended underground to the teleportation circle. In the blink of an eye, we were on the Millis Continent.

Last time I was here, I’d made the Millis teleportation circle where we found ourselves standing. It was in the basement of an abandoned mansion deep in a forest, not far from the Millis capital. Why was there an abandoned mansion in the middle of the forest, you ask? In this world, villages built near forests are sometimes invaded by the forest—suddenly swallowed whole. That was the story behind these ruins.

The dim glow of the magic circle threw an eerie light onto the moss and ivy that climbed up the basement’s walls. We didn’t maintain the mansion, but the surrounding trees buttressed the walls. It wouldn’t fall down any time soon. Some adventurers from nearby towns came by every now and then, I heard, but the room with the magic circle was only accessible through a hidden pathway. We just placed a loot chest in the room connecting to it. All it contained were a few random magic items, but they should’ve been enough to convince the average person snooping around that they’d found everything.

From the mansion, we traveled on foot. It took a bit of time given Zenith’s dissociated state. There weren’t going to be any strong monsters in our way since we were close to Millis, but we still needed to move with caution.

Ah yes! Speaking of monsters, that reminded me of the time I came to this forest with Orsted to set up that magic circle. It was my first time finally encountering one of the most famous varieties of monsters out there: the goblin. Those green-skinned fellas who were about half the height of humans. They were aggressive, amorous, and among the weakest class of creatures on the planet. They lived in packs, and sometimes they’d capture women of other species so they could mate with and impregnate them. They couldn’t be reasoned with and they viewed people as enemies, so they’d attack on sight. Goblins made me wonder if they actually weren’t monsters, but instead demons. They lived incredibly primitive lifestyles inside caves within the forest. They resided in cliffside dwellings and eked out a living by grouping together to hunt. Their engineering skills weren’t great, but they used tools like clubs and stone knives. Also, while I only saw it in glimpses, I had seen a goblin parent show what might be mistaken for affection towards their own children.

In my mind, there wasn’t much daylight between them and primitive humans; they were treated like monsters simply because of their low intelligence. Perhaps things might go another way if we could understand each other. Sadly, this was the Millis Continent, and the Holy Country of Millis would never acknowledge we were more alike than different. Perhaps the goblin compulsion to attack people on sight was simply a holdover from the past. The goblins and the Holy Country of Millis must have had a history of warfare that I wasn’t aware of.

The more I thought about it, the more I saw the goblins as tragic creatures. If only they had resided in the Central Continent, where they might have been recognized as low-level demons instead of complete monsters…

That’s what was going through my mind right after I killed a goblin who attacked us on our path.

“Big Brother, why are you tearing up over a goblin?”

“You know, just thinking that if goblins had lived somewhere else, they might have been called demons instead of monsters.”

“Uh… You sure Roxy wouldn’t get mad at you for that?”

“Nah, she wouldn’t.”

The word “demon” was actually an umbrella term that included a lot of different races. I was far from aware of every single one, but I was sure that there had to be some demon races out there with intellects as lacking as goblins. Heck, there was someone people called a demon king who was pretty dumb; it wouldn’t be a surprise for a race to be even dumber than that. If anything, that demon king’s level of stupidity was the bigger marvel of nature.

“So, what made you think of that, anyway?”

“Well, unlike other monsters, goblins form groups, right? So I was wondering what would happen if they were treated better.”

“Huh? What difference does that make?”

Aisha gave a look of open disgust. Anywhere you went, any nation you visited, especially if you spoke to women and children, nobody was a fan of goblins. Oh well. I wasn’t exactly a goblin rights activist here.

Speaking of political organizing. “Aisha, how’s it going with the Mercenary Band?”

“Hmm? How do you mean? I think I’m handling it fine.”

“Well, less about how you’re handling it, more like if you’re getting along with everyone.”

I only meant to start up some small talk. I knew, in broad strokes, it was going well. But I wanted to hear the slice-of-life fluff. Like, maybe she went out to eat with everyone, but they all got served something extra spicy, so everyone was breathing fire between quips and small talk.

“Hmm… Good question…”

No fun, just gloom.

Was she being bullied?! If we were home, I would have turned my sirens on and floored it to the Mercenary Band, hauled Linia and Pursena into custody, tossed them into the interrogation room, and gone full bad cop on them until they owned up to their crimes. But I saw the truth just last year; Linia, Pursena, and the entire mercenary band gave Aisha that huge birthday present. All my evidence said Aisha was well-liked among the Mercenary Band.

“Is there something on your mind?” I asked.

“Hmm… I dunno, I just don’t get it, you know?”

“Oh?”

“It’s something I see Norn doing too. They start something and keep at it even if it’s doomed to fail.”

“Well, nobody can know they’re going to fail until they try.”

“No, not like that. I mean like, they fail once, then they repeat the same mistake and fail again.”

“Ah, I see.”

People repeat history, huh? Norn was definitely the type to repeat the same mistakes a few times just to be sure. But that was because… Wait, I was getting head of myself. How about I politely let her finish?

“So in the Mercenary Band, I’m an advisor, everyone’s boss, so I warn people when they mess up the same way they did last time. Sometimes I’m harsh. Like, ‘I already told you how to do it, so what’s your problem?’ and stuff.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But they all seem to hate it.”

“Well, nobody loves getting yelled at.”

“But if they hate it so much, then why mess up again? I’m even telling them how to do it. Just do it.”

“Just because you tell them what to do doesn’t mean they can put it into practice right away.”

Aisha’s doubtful look told me she didn’t quite understand. Well, that was Aisha; she was a natural. She learned quick, and her memory was a steel trap. Her failures were minor and infrequent, and her successes bordered on perfection. She relentlessly applied any experience or knowledge she gained to anticipating the next challenge. That’s why things that she saw as “the same mistakes” might have looked like average mistakes to an average guy like me. It must have been frustrating for her to see people who should have learned their lessons from last time screw up over and over. Then again, the employees Aisha yelled at probably didn’t even realize that they were making the same mistakes. That could explain why they didn’t appreciate Aisha yelling at them all the time.

“So yeah, it’s going well, but I’m not sure I’m making any friends…”

“Ah, I see.”

Being exceptional meant Aisha left people behind. She thought of herself as capable of anything, as someone who would’ve succeeded where anyone else might fail. That’s why she was so hard on people. It was why she chewed them out.

“But doesn’t that make work a little tense?” I asked.

“Umm, when I get mad, Linia steps in and takes them aside. I dunno what she tells them, though. And then, that person always comes back looking relieved.”

I see. So Aisha scolded the mercenaries while Linia or Pursena cheered them back up. Like I said, people came in different styles, which made them suited for different jobs.

“Well, here’s hoping that you can pick up that part of the job someday, too.”

“Ugh…”

Aisha looked visibly annoyed. As though to say, I’ll do it if I have to, but I don’t want to.

If that was what excellence took, I was sure that Aisha had it in her. She could learn to comfort people and give them little pep talks. But that wouldn’t necessarily mean she could empathize. That was what I really wanted her to learn somewhere down the line; the anguish of someone who just can’t get it right, the frustration of someone who wants it desperately and still fails, and the powerlessness of someone who knows what to do, but whose body won’t cooperate. If Aisha could learn those feelings, then I was sure her tension with the mercenaries would ease considerably.

If she never did, well… some people live with flaws like that for their entire lives. And they do, you know, okay. But.

“Hey, no rush.”

“Yeah, I’m not rushing. Things are going well.”

And that was what I talked about with Aisha as we wended our way toward Millishion.

We reached the edge of the forest. Seven more days’ worth of travel until we hit Millishion. We stopped by a village along the way and bought a horse-drawn carriage. Don’t get too excited by the fancy name; it was a rickety old thing better suited for hauling cargo, but hey, it beat walking. The stone tablets weren’t exactly light.

We rode the carriage along the highway. This country had more grasslands than the Asura Kingdom, and its agriculture relied more on pasturage than dry farming. If the Asura Kingdom’s scenery recalled the waving wheat fields of America, these were the cow pastures of Mongolia. Asura was a land of gold and green, while Millis was a land of blue and green. Both held lush greenery in common; both were bountiful lands. Millis did have more monsters on its roads, but that was about it. Traveling in either country was a leisurely stroll compared to what you’d find on the Demon Continent.

Finally, we arrived: the capital of the Holy Country of Millis, Millishion.