Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 26 - Chapter 5.1

Final Chapter: Complete Edition

Story 1:

The Final Dream

THE PLACE I FOUND myself was all white. The same white place as always. I could count the number of times I’d been here since being reincarnated in this world on my fingers, but every time, without fail, it was still the same white, empty place I keep coming back to. 

When I came here, I always looked as I had in my past life, with a potbelly and rolls of flab. My body felt heavy and powerless. Strangely enough, it didn’t disgust me anymore. I didn’t feel frustration welling up in the depths of my chest. Being like this didn’t seem so bad. Maybe that was because I hadn’t been back here for such a long time.

Unless…

“Wait, what?”

That was weird. Sure, it had been a long time, but I didn’t remember taking my bracelet off. I never took it off. 

Why was I here?

Hold on. What was I even doing before I came here? I couldn’t remember what I’d been doing before I fell asleep. I think it was probably, you know, something along the lines of baby-making…No scratch that, I hadn’t done anything like that for a long time. I’d been neglecting it for around ten years now. 

My memory was hazy, for some reason.

“Hey.”

Dazed as my memory was, my vision was sharp. As usual, he was here in this white place. That pixelated blob. The Man-God. 

But what was this? He looked strange. His body was in pieces, with each of his four limbs held in place by something that looked like a magic circle and bound by some sort of translucent chain.

He looked like the final boss in an RPG. It was like, I dunno, unless you hit him in the right leg, he’d use a restoration spell to return to full health. A giant pain in the ass.

What happened to you? Cosplaying Exodia the Forbidden One or something?

“They got me.”

Who?

“You’re asking me that?”

I don’t see anyone else asking. What, is there someone here other than me?

“…Take a look over there.”

I turned around and saw a crowd of people. They were standing with their backs to me. No one there I knew. Unfamiliar men and unfamiliar women, demons, humans.

There were about eight of them. One of them, I knew. It was Orsted. He was the same as ever, but a few things had changed. He didn’t have his black helmet, and there was a sizable scar on his face that made him look more fearsome than ever. Yet the people around him were all smiling at him. Orsted’s face was as terrifying as it’d ever been, but there was a slight softness to his expression. I couldn’t make out what they were talking about, but I could see the trust between them.

The one speaking…was a boy. He looked seventeen or eighteen years old, with short hair and the kind of good looks that made me think he’d be good at sports. A normie sort of face, and Asian, going off his features. He had a nice smile. I guess Orsted’s curse didn’t affect him.

As I was watching the boy, a woman in the group stood up. Sitting, she’d been hidden by the others. Really, she was more a girl than a woman. She had blue hair and at her side was a giant white wolf.

Ah, I’d seen her somewhere before. She looked like Roxy, but not Roxy. She was definitely a Migurd, but I’d never mistake someone else for Roxy. So…who was she?

Could…could she be Lara?

Just then, the girl turned and waved at me. It couldn’t be at me. She had to be waving at the Man-God.

A man near her said something to her, probably asking what she was doing. She said something in reply, and he looked my way in surprise. He looked Asian, too. There weren’t many people in this world with that sort of face. He could have been Japanese. I’d have put him in his twenties, no older than thirty. He turned to me and bowed—a Japanese gesture. Maybe he was Japanese?

Then, the whole group turned my way. I saw faces both young and old. What I’d first thought was eight people was actually a much larger group, but they were hazy, making them hard to see. The only face I recognized was Orsted’s, but…oh, but was that Eris? A sword fighter with braided red hair was looking this way. No, she didn’t quite look how I remembered Eris, though…

They all looked our way and made gestures of gratitude. Were they thanking the Man-God? Probably not, their manner wasn’t quite right for that. Who, then?

As I watched, wondering, they all stepped onto a magic circle drawn by Lara and disappeared somewhere. Just like that, they were all gone. The magic circle remained, glowing pale blue, but after a while, the glow faded, and the magic circle itself disappeared. Everything was gone.

“That lot ganged up on me and went to town. Then they cut me up like this and sealed me here. Said if I died, the last remaining human world might be destroyed.”

Would it be destroyed?

“How should I know? It’s not like I’ve died before.”

Right, fair point. No one knows what happens when they die.

“So, are you happy now?”

With what?

“This is the ending you wanted. Me, living here alone with all my powers sealed away. I’m living only to keep the world in existence. I can’t see it anymore. I can’t speak to anyone. I’ll just go on staring into this empty, white void.”

I dunno. It’s hard to say if that makes me happy or not. My goal was never to do anything to you. I just wanted a happy life with Sylphie, Roxy, and Eris. Go to work, earn a living, come home to eat dinner with my family, do some sweet, sweet baby-making at night. A normal…no, a happy life like that.

A normal life—the happiest life I could possibly imagine.

“Your happiness is my misery.”

Yeah? All right, I’m satisfied then. I mean, you look about as miserable as it’s possible to be right now, so I must be happy.

“You…you can’t seriously… You disgust me!”

I couldn’t read the Man-God’s expression, but his voice wasn’t hateful. It was simply full of sadness. He sounded like he might cry.

“I hate you.”

Okay. Well, you—

I lost consciousness.

***

When I awoke, I was in bed. It was a truly massive bed, big enough that three people could have slept comfortably in it, and it was soft. My back was a little damp, which I didn’t love, but it was pleasant otherwise. There was no one sleeping beside me. I could move my eyes and my neck, but not so much my body. It was like the blanket was too heavy. I moved just my eyes to look away from the bed and saw a girl with red hair sitting there. She had single-fold eyelids and a determined line to her chin—the spitting image of Eris, although she wore her hair in an unassuming braid and was far smaller. Both in terms of height and cup size. I expected that much: she looked about five years old. 

When her eyes met mine, she dropped what she was holding and leapt to her feet. The chair fell over with a crash and she looked like she might fall with it. Right away, I propped her up. How did I prop her up when my body wouldn’t move? I couldn’t tell you myself. She just put her hands out and caught herself in mid-air, then righted herself. No sooner had she planted her feet on the ground once more than she left the room.

“Mama! Mama! Great-Grandpa’s awake!” Listening to the patter of running feet, I looked at the item she’d been holding. It was a bracelet engraved with the Dragon God’s emblem. I didn’t remember taking it off, but—ah, yes, I suppose she must have taken it off while I was asleep. I reached for the bracelet, my arms trembling. It was so heavy. No, scratch that. It wasn’t heavy. I was weak. My arm had grown so thin that I couldn’t even pick up a bracelet. 

Just then, my eyes found the mirror in a corner of the room, and I saw an old man slumped in bed who looked like he might die at any moment. He had a white beard, white hair, and deep wrinkles. The shadow of death was visible in every line of his face.

Ahh, I remember now. I turn seventy-four this year.

There was something odd about thinking that. Everything else, I couldn’t really remember. It was like a fog hung over my memories. Had there been a room like this in my house…?

“Rudy?!” A white-haired woman who looked about forty came bursting into the room. A proper middle-aged lady. When our eyes met, she came straight to my side and gripped my hand that lay on top of the blankets.

“Sylphie…?”

“Yes… That’s right, Rudy. It’s Sylphiette,” she told me gently. “Do you know who I am?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I know you. What…happened to me?”

“Nothing happened. It’s just, you were asleep for a long time.”

So I was just asleep. Right. I did feel sleepy.

“But why can’t I move?”

“Yes, well… Yes…” Sylphie didn’t answer me. She just stroked my hand sympathetically. Like she was humoring a forgetful old man…

Wait, you don’t mean… Am I senile? Is that why I have no memories? What?

Seventy-four shouldn’t be old enough for that…but was I actually seventy-four? Maybe I’d aged a lot more. Maybe I’d been senile for much longer.

Just how long had I been in this bed for, anyway?

“I’m scared…” I said.

“You’re okay. I’m here with you.” Sylphie squeezed my hand harder. Just that was enough to relieve some of my fear. But not all of it. 

In the next instant a torrent of people poured into the room. I saw a redheaded child, a blue-haired child, a blonde child. Some of them were young, some middle-aged, some elderly, and they all came to stand around my bed. They looked like people I knew.

“Look, Rudy. Everyone’s here to see you.”

“Yeah…”

For some reason, I couldn’t remember a single one of their names. Ah, one of them I knew. The one who came in slowly behind everyone else, then shut the door behind her. It was a small girl with blue hair. She wore it in braids, just as she always had.

“Roxy.”

“Rudy.” When I said her name, she looked for a moment like she might cry. But she came straight to stand beside Sylphie, then gently stroked my head.

“Rudy.”

“Thank you, Roxy…” Then, the word slipping out of my mouth, I said, “Master.”

Tears spilled from Roxy’s eyes. She hastily wiped them away and tried to look cheerful, but her mouth only twisted, unable to form a full smile.

A question struck me.

“What about Eris? Isn’t she here?”

Usually, she’d have been rushing in first, but I saw no sign of her.

“Oh, Rudy. Eris already…she went on ahead.”

“Went on where?”

“She’s waiting for you, Rudy.”

Oh, now I see. I see.

“Was I there for her?”

“Yes, don’t worry. You cried for three days straight, but you got through it.”

That’s right. It was hazy, but the memory was coming back to me.

Eris had kept on training hard past seventy. But then one day, after going for a run and doing her sword drills, she’d come home, fallen into bed, and that was it. She never got up again. By the time I realized, she was already dead. I’d cried because I thought perhaps if I’d noticed sooner and used healing magic on her, maybe I could have made her better.

I’d even forgotten that. That meant I couldn’t have long either…

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “You’re all here for me, but I don’t know who’s who.”

“I know, don’t worry. Let’s see… From over there, we have our grandchildren—that’s Lucie’s son, Roland, see? And beside him—” Sylphie went through pointing at each of them and telling me their names. They were almost all my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Where were my kids? Ah, that’s right, they’d all left the nest and moved to live far away.

“And over there, with the red hair, the girl who looks just like Eris. That’s Arus’s granddaughter—your great-granddaughter—Feris.”

“Ah, the girl who woke me up.”

The red-haired girl looked a little embarrassed. Probably nervous that she’d get a scolding for trying to pinch my bracelet. I had the feeling I’d seen here somewhere before.

Right. She’d been in my dream about the Man-God. I was pretty sure she’d been in that group of people. Yeah, that was it. It had been her, for sure. She’d been a good deal older than she was now, but I knew it was her.

“Come here,” I said, and she obeyed, tears prickling her eyes.

“Did you take this off my arm?” I pointed at the bracelet. Tears began to pour down her cheeks. I guess now that she knew getting in trouble was inevitable, she was trying to cry her way out of it.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just so pretty.”

“Is it now? Well, then, you keep it.”

She gaped at me. “Really?”

“In return, you’re not to take people’s things without asking ever again.”

“I promise.”

“Good girl.” I reached out slowly and patted her head. She might get scolded later, but ah, well. It wouldn’t be my fault if she turned out spoiled. 

“They all look healthy.”

“Yeah, they are.”

That put me at ease. Everyone had to be doing well if I had this many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“Glad to hear it. All that work was worth it…”

As my strength faded, my hand slid from Feris’s head. There was murmuring around me.

Relax. I’m not going to snuff it quite yet. I plan on staying a bedridden old man for a while yet.

Someone came into the room. He was tall, with silver hair and a scowl on his face.

“Rudeus,” he said.

“Sir Orsted.” The moment he appeared, the mood of the room changed. Was it tension? Fear? But no, it was more relaxed. It was reassurance, and trust. 

“You don’t need to wear the helmet?”

“No. Your grandchildren cry when I put it on.” Laughter broke out around him, along with calls of “I won’t cry anymore,” and “Man, I really bawled back then.”

“People don’t fear your face anymore?”

“No, the curse remains. Only your children and grandchildren are unaffected.”

Orsted’s expression was much softer than it had been when I’d first met him. He was still scowling, but I suppose you could say he was relaxed. 

“Actually, Sir Orsted, that reminds me,” I said.

“What is it?”

“Just before, when Feris took the bracelet from me, I dreamed of the Man-God.”

There was a pause. “Are you a disciple now?”

“Well, I dunno about that. It might’ve just been an ­ordinary dream…” I said. “If I had become a disciple, what would you do? Would you kill me like you did all the others?”

“Naturally. I do not suffer traitors,” Orsted said, dead serious. Despite that, I immediately picked up that he was joking. Everyone around him laughed, for one thing, and I didn’t feel any hostility coming off him. It felt like poor taste to say that sort of thing in front of a bedridden old man on death’s door…but maybe it was one of those surefire lines that always got a laugh.

“In the dream, you’d defeated the Man-God. He was bound with magic.”

“A good dream, then.”

“Yeah, really good.”

Could that dream have shown future events? It felt real, but then, dreams always did. 

“I hope you’ll do your best to make it come true,” I said. Orsted gave a solemn nod.

As you’d expect, after fifty years of knowing him, I could read his expressions incredibly accurately.

“You lived well. May you rest in peace.”

“Ha ha… It’s a bit early for resting.”

I wanted to stay awake a bit longer. I felt okay. While I couldn’t really move, the sunlight on me was warm and pleasant.

“I’ll stay a little longer. Just a little longer…”

It wasn’t like there was anything I really wanted to do. I just wanted to look at all the faces around me for a little longer. That was all. I suppose you could say I was a little sad to be leaving them. I just wanted another hour or two with them—even another ten minutes would be enough.

I didn’t have anything I needed to say. I didn’t have any lingering regrets. Right now just felt nice in a small way. That was all.

“Just a little…”

My eyelids began to close, drooping down little by little. The last thing I saw was the girl who looked just like Eris, and Sylphie and Roxy’s faces.

Then my eyes closed. 

And just like that, I was gone.