Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

What is Owed

WE PUT THE AGREEMENT in writing. It spelled out everything that had happened, the whole sordid affair, and it said only Rudeus’s good character had kept the Blessed Child from harm. It placed the blame with the Millis Church, and stipulated that in accepting liability, the Holy Millis Church would make restitution by comprehensively supporting the activities of the Dragon God Orsted and Rudeus Greyrat. The contract wrapped up with something along the lines of: the pertaining “activities” may involve demons, but shall not extend to any act that violates the laws of Millis.

The two principal culprits, the pope and the cardinal, signed it like it was no big deal. The nervous sweat rolling down the cardinal’s face was honestly kind of adorable.

The contract was signed, my hostage returned, and the gathering concluded.

Apparently, the decision reached by our provisional court would later be reviewed by an evaluation council that would assign liability to all the relevant parties. Whatever that involved, I bet the cardinal would find a way to wriggle out of it. Chasing down the guilty wasn’t my job. If they weren’t disciples of the Man-God, they weren’t my enemies, just annoyances. Also, taking out the cardinal wasn’t the same thing as wiping out the Demon Expulsionists. I’d gotten what I came for and sorted out the attack in the garden. Call that a win.

Zenith and Cliff and I set out for his place. 

On the way, Cliff blurted out, “I’m sorry.”

“Wait, what are we talking about?” I replied, a bit lost.

“When I thought about it, I realized it’s my fault Zenith remained captive as long as she did,” he said. “I wasn’t careful enough. Everything worked out in the end, but I feel like I just made it worse by thinking I could smooth everything over.” 

Isn’t that your whole schtick? You use a bunch of mistaken assumptions to make a big, logical speech, but in the end, everyone ends up happy. This is who you are as a person, Cliff.

“I’m not holding it against you. Let’s try to learn from this, so we can do better next time.”

“Yes. Of course,” he replied. Cliff was feeling down…but personally, I was more worried about what this was going to do to his career. 

Wendy was waiting for us when we got home. Just Wendy, alone.

“Oh, welcome home!” she said. I was struck by sudden unease. Were Aisha and Geese all right? 

When the contract was being written up, I’d tried to casually ask after them, but the cardinal and the Temple Knights had basically said “Don’t know, don’t care.”

“Miss Aisha and Master Geese are both safe and sound!” Wendy continued, and my paranoia evaporated. The two of them came up from the basement.

“Big Brother, you’re back! And…and oh, Mother Zenith!”

The two of them told me what had happened. They got word that Claire and Carlisle had left the house early that morning to go to the church headquarters, so they headed to the church headquarters themselves to try and tip me off. By the time they got there, though, it was already too late. The Temple Knights were in an uproar; Claire was at the church. I was there too, trying to get close to Therese. They put two and two together and assumed we’d run into each other and clashed. At that point, they remembered the orders I’d given them and went back to Cliff’s house. They got our things packed for a quick escape, then hid in the back of the house. They planned to get out of the city when night fell. 

“Those Temple Knights showed up a few times, but I sent them on their way this time!” Wendy said. She was doing her job properly now—a small mercy. 

But the cardinal had tried to get to Aisha and Geese. What a nightmare.

“Anyway, you’ve got Mother Zenith back. Does that mean…?”

“Yeah. It’s all over,” I said. I told Aisha and Geese everything that had happened. 

After I finished, Aisha sighed with admiration. “Big Brother, you’re like, totally the hero or something,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Everyone is just screwing everything up then one day, bam, call to adventure, a stranger comes to town, then he mysteriously returns where he came from.”

Don’t be stupid, I thought. I’m not handsome enough to be the leading man.

We arranged to take Zenith back to see the Blessed Child the following day. Carlisle and Claire came to Cliff’s house by carriage to get us, and the five of us, Cliff included, set off together. 

Inside the carriage, I had a chance to talk to Carlisle. He seemed majorly cut up about everything and kept apologizing to me. I wasn’t interested in pointing fingers. Maybe he could have handled things a bit better, but hey… People make mistakes. The important thing is that you learn from them, so that you can do better in future, right? Besides, I couldn’t claim to be doing too well on that front. Who was I to start harping on at other people about their screw ups? How was anyone supposed to move forward if you kept digging it up? Not that it was my job to make sure any of them were moving forward.

Carlisle talked a lot, but Claire didn’t say anything. Jammed in with the other four of us in the carriage, she stayed silent the whole time. 

What’s she thinking? Should I ask? I wondered. I was still going back and forth on the question as we arrived on church grounds.

After going through some official procedures, we were granted entry into the inner sanctum for the audience. We were escorted to a room that seemed to be the Blessed Child’s quarters.

A transparent barrier was set up in the middle of the room just like when I’d met with the pope. There were also two chairs and a window. Six guards stood at attention under the dim lights.

Therese wasn’t there. Maybe she’d been transferred. Regardless, it looked like the examination would happen with the Blessed Child’s fanboys standing by. They didn’t seem hostile. Just a little tense and unwilling to meet my eye.

I’m not looking for an apology, guys. It’s your job, I get it, I thought.

Besides, I beat them all unconscious. They’d started it, and I’d finished it. We were even. They were probably going to see some professional consequences too, so I was happy to let things go. I hoped I could leave here with us on friendly terms, actually. I didn’t like the idea of these guys holding a grudge against me. 

“Shall we begin?”

The Blessed Child and Zenith sat down opposite each other. Dust gently supported Zenith’s head, positioning her so she was still, her eyes open. Then, the Blessed Child leaned forward and gazed deep into Zenith’s eyes. It reminded me of an optometrist’s exam.

“…Whoa.” 

The Blessed Child’s gaze shone as she gazed at Zenith. It literally shone. I can’t think of a better way to put it. Faint threads of light connected them, eye to eye. 

The otaku were all oohing and aahing over her.

“That’s our Blessed Child…”

“She really is blessed…” 

That light didn’t appear before. Was she putting on a show? Or does it take effort?

Maybe it was like fire magic. As your magic gets stronger, the fire gets hotter and brighter. Maybe this phenomenon only happened when she was pushing her power to its limit. She’d switched from basic cable to fiber optic.

Claire clenched her fist over her heart, like she was praying. I tried to pull myself back on task. Right now, all of Zenith’s past was being laid bare. The Blessed Child might even be able to see the memories that had been devoured by her magic crystal prison in the depths of the labyrinth. If Zenith’s memories revealed the cause, maybe they could shed light on a solution. 

Just one clue. One little clue might be enough for one of my brainier friends to think of something. Orsted, or Kishirika maybe.

“Oh,” The Blessed Child said softly, then shivered. Dust released Zenith’s head, then gently touched the Blessed Child’s shoulder.

Does that mean ‘download complete’?

The Blessed Child stood up, her eyes still wide open. She was looking straight at me.

“Rudeus Greyrat.”

“Yes?” I replied. The use of my full name made me sit up straight.

“I have seen the memories of Zenith Greyrat.”

“What did you see?”

“Until the Displacement Incident, she lived in the village of Buena in Fittoa, where she lent her services to the local healer while raising Aisha and Norn.”

We’re going all the way back to that? Okay, no, fair enough. She’s got to go through everything in order or it’ll sound like she’s just talking at random.

“After you left, not a day went by that she didn’t worry about you. She worried that you weren’t eating properly, that you weren’t doing your laundry, that you were chasing after lots of different girls…”

Oh wow, sorry, Mom. Least I didn’t cheat on anyone!

The Rudeus Continent was a peaceful land…up until it was conquered by the bits below the waist. It even managed to hold off invading the unsuspecting Land of Sylphie for a while. Hard as that might be to imagine for anyone who knew of Rudeus’s, uh, troop movements over the past few years.

“In the midst of her worries about you, her memories cut to white.”

The Displacement Incident. I remembered that moment. Most people, though, were displaced before they realized what was happening, or why. That’s what happened to Paul, and I heard the same was true for Lilia.

“For some time after that, only darkness.”

“Uh… ‘some time’?”

“Yes. It was as though she remained deep in a dreamless sleep as a great deal of time passed around her.”

So she had no memories of that period. In which case she must have been sent straight into the labyrinth by the Displacement Incident. The chances of that happening had to be tiny…but it wasn’t impossible. A random teleportation to anywhere in the world had a small chance of burying you inside of a wall. If you did it on purpose, set up an entry and exit circle in advance and so on, that would mostly eliminate that kind of risk…

The Displacement Incident had really blown our lives apart. It was apparently the aftershock of Nanahoshi arriving in this world, but that didn’t really matter. It was all over and done with now.

If humanity hadn’t made teleportation circles taboo and managed their use responsibly, if they’d only done that much, they’d have weathered this crisis without panicking. 

I’ll tell Ariel that next time. Ariel will get things worked out if I write up a report on teleportation for her.

…Wait.

How did Geese find Zenith, then? He told me he went asking around and heard she was in the depths of the teleportation labyrinth…hold on.

“Then, she had a dream,” the Blessed Child said. I refocused. 

He’s not even here right now. You can question Geese later.

“A dream?” I asked.

“A dream. She began to feel like she’d been turned into a rag doll.”

“A rag doll…?”

“Still, it was a pleasant dream,” the Blessed Child said, then closed her eyes. Her voice flowed on, as though she was watching a film play on the inside of her eyelids.

“She dreamt of living an easy life in a house she didn’t know. She and Lilia sat in the sun and tended to the garden.”

The Blessed Child’s voice had subtly changed. She sounded like Zenith.

“Paul was gone, but Rudy and Sylphie got married, and then they had a baby. But then, well, like father, like son! Rudy went off with Roxy, then it was Eris—they just kept coming! But they all seemed happy at least. Even Sylphie.

“Norn moaned a lot, but she still went to school and kissed me goodbye every morning. Aisha and I are getting to be such good friends! Did you know she likes flowers? I tell her I like apples and daffodils and she turns to me and says, ‘Miss Zenith?’ You can call me Mom, I told her, but Lilia looked a bit unhappy at that. I guess she wants Aisha to see her as Mom too.

“Roxy is teaching at the local school. Norn says all the kids love her. She must be pretty old, given she’s a demon… But oh, well. Rudy adores her, so I guess I shouldn’t worry about age too much.

“I got to meet Eris for the first time. It was plain as day how much she loves Rudy. She came to see me when no one else was around, her face bright red, then said something like ‘I’m… I’m still figuring stuff out, but… I’ll do my very best.’

“Honestly, I just burst out laughing. I told her to try saying it to Rudy instead. There was no point being all formal around me. Then Eris went bright red again and bowed her head. It was the sweetest thing. She’s always so bold, you know?”

Those were Zenith’s memories of the past few years. They didn’t quite match up with mine. Norn hardly ever spoke to Zenith. And while Aisha talked to her in the garden frequently, Zenith never replied. 

But does that mean that in Zenith’s eyes… Did it feel to her like she was talking to everyone, and they were replying?

“Then, there’s Rudy’s children. Lucie is the most precious little thing. She’s still so little, but she’s doing her best to be a big sister. She listens so carefully to everything Sylphie says, and she practices her magic every day to show Rudy. With me, though, she doesn’t act so tough. She says she’s not as strong as her mama. She’s hard on herself. I told her she has nothing to worry about. One day she’ll be able to do it all, and even if not, she’ll find her own talent. After that, she said she’d do her best. Oh, she’s so sweet! Lara really likes me. You know she was talking from the moment she was born! She calls me over every little thing. Granny, Granny…she says, then next thing I know Leo comes over saying ‘Miss Zenith, help! Miss Lara wet herself!’ 

“Lately, she climbs up on my knees and we sit in the sun with Leo and talk. About the countryside around the house, or about their daddy’s hometown. That sort of thing.

“Arus loves breasts. Just like Rudy when he was little. Whenever I pick him up he grabs at mine and he looks so pleased with himself. I suppose even the breasts of an old granny like me will do! He’s a little bit bad, just like Paul and Rudy. I told him if he’s going to make all the girls cry like Rudy, he has to make sure they’re all happy in the end too.”

I realized my eyes were hot. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. Lucie hardly ever went near Zenith, and Lara couldn’t talk. More than half of the scenes the Blessed Child described were just Zenith’s delusions. Hallucinations playing behind her empty eyes. But the world she saw was so kind.

“Oh, I almost forgot! Rudy started working for this really amazing guy. The Dragon God Orsted, he’s called. One of the three Demon Slayer Heroes and a distant apprentice of the Dragon God Urupen. He’s supposed to be suuuper strong and suuuper scary. Everyone seems terrified of him, but he doesn’t seem so bad to me. I think deep down he just wants to make friends. He’s hung up on Rudy in particular. He keeps coming to see how our family is getting along. I talk to him sometimes, but he doesn’t seem very used to talking to people. He gets all tongue-tied. He’s a good person, though. He teaches Lucie tricks to help her with her magic when she’s struggling, though they’re a bit complicated—I don’t think she understands him very well.

“Once, I asked if he wanted to hold Lara. He was so nervous about it! But he was very careful when he took her. He’s not so keen on Leo and Arus though, I think. The other day he made Arus cry, then left without greeting Eris. I wonder what sort of work Rudy is doing for this man who’s so strong, and yet so kind. Whatever it is, I’m proud of him. I’m sure Paul would be too.”

How much of that is true? Orsted almost never comes to the house… Is he coming by without telling me?

“Rudy’s grown up into such a wonderful young man. Norn and Aisha are grown up too now, and Sylphie had her second baby. Lilia was so worried, saying now she had that on top of looking after me! How silly. Obviously, the children come first. I’m going to visit my mother, so I’m leaving Sylphie to you, Lilia, okay?

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I used to be an adventurer, you know! We’re going with Rudy and Aisha and Rudy’s friend Cliff. Hah ha, I’m getting all excited, thinking about going on a trip with Rudy!”

Zenith’s memories were approaching the present day.

“Mother has gotten so old. She’s nothing like how I remember! I thought she’d yell at me for sure, but instead she comes up to me saying, ‘Zenith, oh, Zenith,’ and looking all weepy! She was worried I was hurt or unwell, so she brought a doctor to see me. I mean, as you can see I’m in perfect health! But Mother does like to worry. She brought the doctor in every day! She was always so hard on us, but now she looks at me like she might cry. She doesn’t scold me at all.

“She comes by so often because she’s worried. Oh, Dad came too. He’s grown out his beard, can you believe it? He never used to wear it like that. When I asked him about it, he said he let it grow because he got promoted. It looks so awful on him, I have to laugh.”

I shot a glance at Claire and Carlisle. Claire had her face buried in his chest while Carlisle stroked her hair. His eyes were brimming with tears.

“The only thing is, Mother doesn’t get on with Rudy at all. Rudy hates people looking down on him and telling him what to do. He and Mother got in a fight. I wish they’d find a way to make up… Then Rudy went and backed Mother right into a corner! Paul was always like that when we fought back in Buena. Rudy really doesn’t pull his punches… Well, I’ll just have to get them to make up!”

The Blessed Child’s eyes opened.

Is that the end, then?

“Whew,” she said, rubbing her eyes and exhaling, before she collapsed back into her chair. The otaku rushed to her side, one with what looked like hot towels, another with a glass of water. One started massaging her shoulders. It was like she was some ancient empress or something. 

“My apologies. That was all I saw. Did you hear what you wanted?” the Blessed Child asked. She sounded wiped out. Using that power really drains her, huh, I thought.

I guess it would. She’d read through all Zenith’s memories, downloaded them into her own brain, then her brain had converted the whole thing into a little simulated Zenith monologue for us. Having all that information rush into your brain at once had to be exhausting.

For once, I thought maybe I should join the otaku. She deserved that shoulder rub.

“Yes, thank you,” I replied. I still didn’t know how to fix Zenith. But now I knew how she’d felt after becoming like this. Just knowing that made coming to Millis worth it.

“It may not mean much, but she is happy now,” the Blessed Child said. “She knows that Paul is dead, and she understands what is happening around her.”

She sure does, I thought. She understands a lot more than I ever imagined. It all still felt a bit dreamlike, and the Blessed Child’s voice had lent it this fairytale quality, but—I mean, she knew how many kids I had, and her description of their personalities had been pretty solid. Except for Lara, maybe. Lara did like Zenith, though. Maybe from Zenith’s point of view it looked like she was trying to communicate. 

“There was one more thing I learned,” the Blessed Child said. I looked at her questioningly. “Zenith… I don’t know how much she sees, but she can read minds.”

Read minds?

“Because of her current condition, she doesn’t always interpret what she reads correctly, and I think she may be filling in the parts she can’t read with her own stories…” The Blessed Child’s voice trailed off.

She beckoned to me, gesturing to me to bring my ear to her mouth. The otaku all immediately covered their ears and turned away.

I leaned in toward her. She whispered, “She is a Blessed Child.”

I nodded slowly. I’d known from the start that it was likely she was cursed. And I knew all too well that a Cursed Child and a Blessed Child were, in essence, one and the same.

“If this gets out, things will get out of hand again. I recommend you keep it safe,” she said.

“No question about that,” I agreed. “I’m a follower of Orsted. I’ll protect her, no matter what.”

“Total commitment… That’s who you are, isn’t it?”

I probably don’t need to tell her I go all out, given that I did try to kidnap her. But yeah. Those are the words I’m trying to live by.

I knew two things now. The first was that Zenith had power. She could read minds. It wasn’t clear how much she could read, but it probably wasn’t killing her. It was more like she didn’t know how to communicate what she saw. No immediate danger. I could relax a bit knowing that.

The second was that something was up with Geese. Some of what he’d told me didn’t fit, and honestly, his behavior throughout this whole incident had been a bit off. Going to the Latria estate even though he knew they favored demon expulsion, then blindly following Claire’s orders to bring Zenith out into the open. I needed to talk to him soon—today, if possible.

“Blessed Child, I’m really glad we met,” I said. “I’d like to thank you somehow.”

I still didn’t know how to get Zenith’s memories back—or rather, how to get her back to her old self—but I’d learned that things were nowhere near as bad as I’d feared. She was conscious, just dreaming. That meant that one day, she might wake up. And even if she didn’t, so long as she was happy like this, maybe that was okay.

“You are very kind. In that case, I do have two requests. May I make them?”

“Go ahead.”

“Will you give me that bracelet?”

“Bracelet?” I looked down and saw Orsted’s bracelet shining on my arm.

“Yes,” said the Blessed Child.

“Um, see… Thing is, I can’t take this off. Isn’t there something else?”

“Anything will do, so long as it identifies the bearer as a follower of Orsted at a glance.”

So long as it identifies the bearer as a follower of Orsted at a glance… Does she mean what I think she means…?

“You want to join Orsted?”

“I do. I would prefer to live past thirty.”

“Fair enough.”

That’s right, her destiny is weak. She’s fated to die unless something changes. She wasn’t in the best shape, but she didn’t seem especially sickly either. That left assassination as the biggest worry. Considering her power and the sheer number of schemes going on in the Millis Church, that was the likeliest cause. If she were under Orsted’s protection, though, the cardinal (who had a guilty conscience about this whole thing) and the pope (who thought I was on his side now) would find it a lot harder to move against her. Still, it wasn’t a guarantee.

Heh… All right, then let’s upgrade it to a guarantee. 

“Okay, I’ll bring you something in the next few days,” I said.

“Oh, thank you! With that, I might even make it to fifty!” she replied.

She’d seriously helped me out at every turn. I wouldn’t bring her a meager mark of the Dragon God. I’d summon a guardian beast for her.

“What about the second thing?” I asked.

“I want you to get Therese off on a lighter sentence. Unless we do something, she’s going to be demoted and sent far away.”

“I mean, doesn’t she kind of have it coming?” I pointed out. Not only was she ‘just following orders’ but she couldn’t even carry those orders out.

“That’s not unfair. But you must understand, Rudeus, her loss to you was a rather humiliating defeat for the cardinal. If she is sent away, she will be killed. And I want her in my guard.”

I could see how the cardinal might kill her out of pure spite when she wasn’t useful anymore. But she stuck to her role as his henchman, and this is what happens to henchmen who fail…

Still, I couldn’t deny she’d done absolutely everything she could for Zenith. Death was a tall price to pay for following orders and being manipulated. 

“All right,” I said.

“Thank you. May I have your signature?” One of the fanboys brought a document over to me. They were on top of everything, those guys.

“I do look forward to working with you in the future, Sir Rudeus,” she said.

And that’s the story of how the Blessed Child became a follower of Orsted.

***

“Rudeus.”

We were waiting for the coach in a side room when Claire addressed me. Her face was as stony as ever. That was just how she looked. Unless that was anxiety I was reading in her face?

“This is far from an appropriate place to discuss what I have to say,” she continued, “and I’d hoped to talk to you when things had calmed down somewhat, but you are sure to only grow more busy as time wears on. May we speak now?” 

I nodded.

Is she mad at me for having three wives? Two was bad enough, but three! The Millis Church will never stand for such a thing!

“It’s regarding the mess I caused.”

“Okay.”

Huh, so it’s not about the wife thing. She wants to talk about herself. Fair enough. She wasn’t about to come chew me out for my life choices after what she tried to pull. That would be ridiculous. Duh.

Her expression remained firm as she went on. “I know that what I tried to do was unforgivable.”

“Yep,” I said.

It might have been for Zenith’s sake or whatever, but her treatment plan was way overboard. If she’d gone through with it, well…let’s just say we wouldn’t be chatting as amicably as this.

“I want you to punish me,” Claire said.

“P-punish…?”

“Yes. I stole Zenith from you, and I tried to do something utterly inhuman to her. I should be punished accordingly.”

“Can’t you just apologize?”

“What would that solve? Sins must be punished,” she insisted.

I saw where she was coming from. If sorry made everything better, there’d be no need for the police. Pretty much everyone who’d contributed to that mess had received some sort of punishment. But not Claire. And Claire herself wasn’t satisfied with that.

“Okay, then… What kind of punishment do you think you deserve?”

“You could beat me with a whip, or a staff, or cut my arms off. You could even kill me. I don’t care.”

Um… That’s a bit much. I didn’t want to become known as a grandma killer. Plus Zenith would be so mad at me.

“You heard what Zenith said in there. You saw how self-righteous I was, how little thought I gave to anyone else. You saw how she trusted me like a baby, and I was going to throw her into hell. Fools like me don’t need to be pitied, only to be crushed by the hammer of justice.”

Her hands were clenched into fists and shaking. 

So that’s what she heard back there. It sounded a little different to me.

Zenith forgave Claire. I don’t think she knew what Claire planned, but she knew that Claire was suffering over some decision, and she knew it related to her. That was why, when she saw Claire trying to take all the blame herself back at the trial without anyone standing up for her, Zenith had forgiven her. Then, she’d slapped Carlisle and me, but not Claire. 

Okay, maybe I’m twisting that logic a bit far. That’s not how it went down either.

Maybe it was right that Claire received some kind of punishment. Claire herself seemed to want punishment more than forgiveness anyway, and she wasn’t going anywhere until she got it. Fine, then.

“Well, okay… If you insist…” I said. Claire looked at me nervously. 

Sorry, but if it’s all the same to you, I’m gonna use this to my advantage.

“I want you to convert,” I said.

“You mean to your religion? You want me to worship demons?”

Crap, that wasn’t the right word. Not convert. I really don’t want you joining the Roxy cult. How the heck do I explain this? Oh, well. I guess I can spell it out for her.

“No, sorry. That’s not what I meant. You don’t have to leave the Millis Church. I mean I want you to leave the Demon Expulsionists.”

“The whole of the Latria family?”

“Just you would be fine with me. One of my wives is a demon, so I’d rather you didn’t call her ‘filthy.’ Also, I’d like you to recognize my religion and keep your opinions about my family to yourself.”

Claire didn’t reply.

“And one more thing. If you ever end up facing that sort of decision again, talk to me about it, okay? I have the power to solve most things… At least, I like to think so,” I finished. Claire stared at me, shocked. But she nodded.

“Very well,” she said.

She didn’t look convinced. She probably wasn’t sure if she’d actually been punished. Neither was I. I basically listed off everything I wanted from her and she interpreted it as a punishment. 

She nodded, even so. I guess she decided that if this was my judgment, she’d go along with it.

“From this day forth, I, Claire Latria, shall be a demon integrationist and do everything in my power to assist that cause. I will trust in you, Rudeus, and make no comment on your religion or your educational methods, nor shall I permit such words from any other.”

“Thank you…” I replied. “Just don’t overdo it, okay? Pushing your thoughts on others never goes well.”

“I understand.”

If I could get the old bird to be a bit more flexible, then I could rest a whole lot easier. That way, I could know for sure that she wasn’t going to start any fights with my wives or daughters. She was all obedient now, but what’s the saying? Vows made in storms are forgotten in calm… When we met again…or rather if we met again, I really didn’t want to get into another argument.

“That’s all I have to say,” I said.

“Thank you for your kindness,” she replied curtly, then nodded.

Could you be any worse at apologizing? I thought. Honestly…

Right, so back to Cliff’s place. I would probably have to show my face at the Latria estate later, but first I would deal with Geese. I had serious questions—about this trip and the last time we ran into him. When I thought back, I realized that the guy had a real knack for showing up at just the right moment. I was fascinated. He was going to explain that trick to me.

“I’m heading out to go find Geese,” I said to Aisha and Zenith as I went to leave.

“Big Brother, hold up!” Aisha called out, rushing over to stop me with her hand outstretched. “Look at this!”

In her hand was a letter. It was sealed with wax, and on the outside was written Rudeus. “Wendy said that as soon as you left, Geese came by and left this!” Aisha explained. I took it without a word. A letter, right at this moment.

Oh, I had a bad feeling about this.

I broke the seal and began to read.

Rudeus,

Hey, Boss. If you came back to the house from talking to the Blessed Child and you’re reading this letter, well, you probably worked out what’s happened.

You have, yeah? Worked it out, I mean. There’s no way you haven’t. Right? If you haven’t I really messed up by writing this. But what the hell.

I reckon you’ve got some questions, right, Boss? Like how come I knew where Zenith was when there was no way I should? How come I took Zenith outside just at the right time?

This is going back a bit, but the time we first met was like that too. Quite the coincidence, me just running into you like that in Doldia village…

Well? How’d I do it? There’s some stuff even the mighty S-ranked adventurer Geese just shouldn’t be able to do!

How ’bout I tell you?

It was all thanks to the Man-God’s instructions. Everything I did, I was following the Man-God’s advice.

Basically I’m what you’d call a ‘Disciple of the Man-God.’ I was pulling one over on you, Boss.

Well? Surprised? Are you thinking ‘I knew it’? Or are you pissed off?

Yeah, you’re probably pissed. Ah well, that’s only fair!

Just so you know, though, I’ve been hearing this god’s voice since I was a kid. That voice got me out of some tough scrapes and a few near-death situations too boot. I’m weak. I can’t get by on my own. That voice was my savior, y’know?

Wasn’t it the same for you, Boss?

The Man-God helped you out when you came back from the Demon Continent. He brought you together with old Ruijerd, then made sure you got your hands on the Demon Eye. He got you out of that cell and saved your little sister’s life. It was the Man-God who told me where to find Zenith too.

All of that. He did it for you, Boss.

You’re a traitor.

What, did you have a little falling-out?

I know the Man-God isn’t benevolent. All the advice he gives is just so He can use us for His own ends. We’re like toys to him, honestly. I guess you think you’re too important for that. Really got under your skin, huh? But betraying Him, smashing everything up—don’t you think ya went too far? Okay, so He used you. But we owe Him everything. That’s the only way this all makes sense.

That’s how I saw it after my hometown got wiped off the map.

The Man-God manipulated me, then He wiped out my home. And He laughed about it! Told me all about how he’d played me. Of course I was pissed off! Like, what the fuck, dude?! What is wrong with you? Get screwed! I let him have it, y’know?

But this is what He told me.

“After everything I’ve done for you, this is nothing.”

I reckon He meant to piss me off more, send me over the edge, you know? Drive me crazy, just so He could laugh at me.

But when He said that, it hit me like, wham.

He’s right, I thought.

Thinking about what I owed Him after all the times He saved my ass, and I figured I could just…let it go. I mean, there’s a little grudge underneath it all, but that’s normal, ain’t it?

Anyway, I reckon you don’t get it, huh Boss? You’re probably reading this like, ‘Newbie, you are out of your mind.’ And maybe it feels wrong to you. But not to me.

Far as I see it, you’re turning your back on your debts. Biting the hand that fed you. So sorry, Boss, but I think I’m team Man-God now.

This time I was testing the waters, seeing what you were capable of. I got you right in my trap, then set the Temple Knights against you. Looks like you blasted straight through them in the end, but hey, now I know what doesn’t work. You messed up. You showed me every trick you got. I’m off to get enough allies so I know I can beat you, then I’ll be back to fight you head-on, fair and square. It’s war, Boss. Plan your funeral.

I don’t hate you or nothing. We had a good time back at the prison, and I’ll never forget our journey on the Holy Sword Highway. The labyrinth hunt too! That was the most alive I’d felt in ages. I haven’t forgotten any of that.

But that’s as far as it goes. I don’t hate you, but I don’t owe you nothing. I might have my little problems with Man-God, but I owe him. Even when there’s hard feelings, you gotta pay what you owe. That’s a jinx for both of us, Boss.

Yours,

Geese Nukadia

I sprinted out of the house.

“Geese!” I yelled as I ran. 

Geese. Geese was my enemy. I didn’t know how, but he’d seen the Magic Armor. He said he was getting ready to face me. 

How? 

Next time, he’d fight me fair and square. Could I trust that? It didn’t matter. If that’s what he meant to do, I would stop him.

I had to kill him.

I kept running all the way to the Merchant District until I burst into the mercenary office. I immediately sent a message to Orsted about everything that had happened in Millis, the identity of the Man-God’s disciple, and the contents of the letter.

I wasn’t going to wait for an answer. I was going after Geese. One problem: I had no way of knowing where he’d gone. Working alone would be foolishly inefficient. I went back to the church and had them put out a warrant for Geese’s arrest. Then I went to the Temple Knights and demanded they send out search parties throughout Millishion and the surrounding area.

But Geese was a disciple of the Man-God.

He could see the future.

Geese. The guy who got to S-ranked with zero combat abilities.

There was no way in hell I was catching him.