Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 3.2

Therese

RUDEUS MUTTERED something and the ground beneath my feet turned to mud. My informant had told me about this spell. This was why they called him Rudeus “Quagmire” Greyrat.

The swamp the spell created should only have been about the size of a dinner plate. As was to be expected from the Quagmire, however, this one was much bigger. Every visible inch of the garden was transformed into a muddy bog. There was a nasty squelching sound as the Blessed Child’s treasured Sarakh Trees, the Balta Trees, and the Peeris Trees all listed sideways. The quagmire wasn’t going to hold us back; Trash was already chanting the counter spell.

“Deep Mist,” Rudeus murmured. A moment later, everything was obscured by white mist. 

Oh, crap.

“Everyone on your guard! He wants us stuck in the mud and lost in the mist so he can pick us off one by one!” I shouted. The next instant, the ground glowed purple, followed by a sharp crack like something splitting apart. My ears rang.

“No one panic! The enchantment on your armor makes you immune to Electric!” I called out. “This guy’s slippery—don’t give him any opportunity to escape!”

I heard someone say, “Understood, captain!” from the mist. 

Everything was going to be fine. My informant told me that Rudeus was no good at close range. He did, however, have spells like Electric and Stone Cannon and a number of others we had to watch out for. All his magic was powerful to boot. I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a direct hit.

Unfortunately for Rudeus, however, every knight in the Keepers of Anastasia was a warrior priest of the highest caliber. At minimum, they were Advanced-level with a blade. They were also trained in Barrier magic, plus four other disciplines at Advanced-level. Any one of them was a formidable opponent taken alone, but they’d also drilled extensively for subduing lone enemies as a team. My Water God Style was only Intermediate-level, but Funeral Procession, waiting beside me, was a Water Saint. Rudeus might be an Imperial-tier magician, but he wouldn’t find it easy to get through the ring we’d drawn around him. My strategy was sound.

“We’re going to counter the Quagmire, Captain!” said Funeral. A moment later I heard Trash say, “Sand Wave!” The mud beneath us turned to sand, and I yanked my feet out to avoid being buried in it.

Sorry Rudeus, but Sand Wave can overwrite Quagmire. I bet they didn’t teach you that at the academy. Countering combined magic is still an ongoing topic of research, after all… This’ll be the first time you’ve had Quagmire cleanly countered, right? Whatever you had planned, it’s over. This is checkmate.

None of us really believe that you were going to try and kidnap the Blessed Child, of course. You really made her smile. And I know you only came to me because you were genuinely scared for Zenith. Unfortunately, my hands are tied. This was an order from the cardinal, so truth doesn’t come into it—I simply obey.

Well, Dust alone did get a bit huffy, saying he knew you were in love with the Blessed Child all along…

I argued to spare your life, at least. And it worked. The Cardinal generously decreed that as an enemy of Lord Millis, losing your arms would suffice as punishment. That’s why we brought no blades or poison. 

It’s going to be okay, Rudeus. You’re so young, and yet you already have a beautiful wife! Even without your arms, you’ll be able to live your life with Lady Eris’s support. I heard you serve the Dragon God, too. When I was a child, I heard that dragons have mysterious powers, so perhaps they could break our seal and reattach your arms. So long as we don’t hear about it, I promise we won’t bother you.

As for Zenith…I’ll make sure that works out. Like I said, this has no bearing on that. 

“We’re going to counter Deep Mist, Captain,” said Funeral, snapping me back to reality. Then, all of a sudden, I got a strange feeling. Something was wrong. But what?

Rudeus…wasn’t doing anything. That was it. After casting Deep Mist, Rudeus hadn’t moved an inch. If he’d run, or used magic, I would have heard something. In the depths of the mist, where I couldn’t even see a meter in front of my face, I didn’t hear a thing. Nothing, not since that first Electric. Could he have gotten away? The Quagmire and Deep Mist, followed by Electric, were the groundwork to keep us from moving, then he’d used some other magic, and he was already—

“Wind Blast!” The wind spell went off, and the mist instantly dispersed. 

“Huh?”

All of us stared, unable to believe our eyes.

When the mist cleared, what we saw standing in the middle of our ring was not Rudeus. The thing, whatever it was, stood on top of a torn scroll. It was big and made of rock.

A figurine? A set of armor?

An idea suddenly occurred to me and I murmured, “Was that…summoning magic?” The next moment, the giant suit of armor moved. With terrifying, unbelievable speed.