Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

A Master’s Secrets 

O nce again, I was dreaming. This time, I was watching a group of angels descend from the skies above. Seemed pleasant enough, compared to my recent nightmares. 

Then I noticed that parts of the angels were hidden by pixelated mosaics. As they drew closer, they giggled at me in unison, and creepy grins spread across their faces. 

The instant I realized this wasn’t going to be a happy dream, I woke up. 

“Another nightmare…” I’d been having many of those recently. 

I sat up slowly and studied the barren, rocky field of earth in front of me. This was the Demon Continent—one half of the supercontinent that was torn apart in a war between humanity and demonkind, and home to the various demonic races once united by the Demon-God Laplace. 

Its area was roughly half that of the Central Continent, but it was a harsher place by far. There was very little vegetation, for one thing. The terrain was scarred with cracks and fissures; changes in elevation were abrupt, with great rock slopes jutting up like steps on a giant staircase. Travelers would often find their path blocked by piles of boulders taller than a man. The place was basically a maze. 

What’s more, its dense, natural concentrations of magical energy meant it was plagued by numerous powerful monsters. From what I’d read, walking from one end to the other would take three times as long as a journey across the larger Central Continent. We had a very tough road ahead of us, and I wasn’t sure how to break the news to Eris. 

But when I looked over, I found her staring out at the bleak landscape with excitement shining in her eyes. 

“Uhm, Eris. It seems we’re on the Demon Continent, so—” 

“The Demon Continent! What an adventure this is going to be!” 

Was that joy in her voice? Well, all right then. No reason to be a buzzkill and explain just how dangerous this is going to be. 

“Let’s move,” said Ruijerd. “Follow me.” 

Together, the three of us set out across the barren plain. 

*** 

Apparently, Eris had made friends with Ruijerd while I was sleeping. She chattered away at him as we walked, describing her life at home, her lessons in magic, and her sword fighting practice with great enthusiasm. Ruijerd didn’t contribute that much to the conversation, but offered polite expressions of interest where appropriate. 

It was hard to believe Eris had been utterly terrified of the man only the night before. At this point, she didn’t seem intimidated by him in the slightest. In fact, she made a few offhand comments that bordered on being outright rude. It made me more than a little anxious, but Ruijerd never seemed to take offense. 

Who said the Superd had a terrible temper anyway? They were clearly full of it. 

Of course, Eris wasn’t quite as prone to bluntly insulting people as she used to be. Edna and I had basically drilled that habit out of her, so she probably wasn’t going to blurt out anything too awful—or so I wanted to believe. Still, it was hard to know what might infuriate a stranger from an unfamiliar culture. I was really hoping she’d tread carefully here. 

Also, Eris tended to get infuriated pretty easily herself, so…hopefully Ruijerd would do the same. 

As that thought ran through my mind, I heard Eris’s voice grow sharp with irritation. 

“Rudeus isn’t your older brother then?” 

“Of course not!” 

“But you share the name Greyrat. That is a family name, correct?” 

“That doesn’t make him my brother!” 

“Was he born to a different mother? Sired by a different father?” 

“No, no. That’s not it, either.” 

“I don’t know how humans view these things, but you ought to be grateful that you have him.” 

“Look, you’ve just got the wrong idea!” 

“Regardless, be grateful that you have him.” 

“Ugh…” Ruijerd had spoken firmly, and Eris faltered for a moment before finally giving in. “O-Of course I’m grateful…” 

Not that we’re really siblings, of course. Also, she’s older than me. 

*** 

The Demon Continent lived up to its reputation for rocky, steep terrain. The ground was also hard, dry, and dusty—more sand than soil. You could hardly blame the demons for starting a war to break out of this lousy place. There were barely any plants at all. Every once in a while I spotted a weird rocky thing that looked like some sort of cactus, but that was about it. 

“Hm. Wait here for a moment. Don’t move from this spot, you understand?” 

Once every ten minutes or so, Ruijerd would order us to sit still and run off ahead. This time, he leapt easily across a series of massive boulders, quickly disappearing from view. The man’s physical abilities were unbelievable. I’d always thought of Ghislaine as almost superhuman, but if you translated their raw agility into numbers, Ruijerd might actually come out on top. 

Less than five minutes after his latest abrupt departure, he came hopping back to us. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s move on.” 

Ruijerd didn’t explain himself, but there was a faint scent of blood on the head of his trident. Presumably, he’d cut down some sort of monster that may have blocked our way forward. From what I recalled of Roxy’s dictionary, that jewel-like thing on his head acted like a radar of sorts. He was probably using it to identify potential threats before they got too close, then cut them down before they knew what hit them. 

“Okay, look! Why do you keep running off like that anyway?” Eris asked, blunt as ever. 

“I’m dealing with the monsters on the road ahead of us,” Ruijerd responded concisely. Parting his hair to the sides, he showed Eris the glinting red crystal at the center of his forehead. She flinched in surprise for just a moment; but the “jewel” was actually a rather pretty thing, and soon she was staring up at it with open curiosity. 

“Oh, right. That must come in handy!” 

“I suppose it does, but at times I wish I didn’t have one.” 

“Well, I’ll take it if you don’t want it. C’mon, let me yank it off!” 

“It’s not quite that easy, I’m afraid.” Ruijerd smiled a little. 

Eris really had come a long way. She was even making jokes these days. 

Uh. That was a joke, right? 

“That reminds me, Ruijerd…I’ve heard the monsters on the Demon Continent are very strong.” 

“They’re not so fearsome in this area. But we’re some distance from the main road, so they’re rather numerous.” 

That seemed like a bit of an understatement actually. Ruijerd had been fighting monsters every fifteen minutes or so for a while now. Back in Asura, you could travel for hours by carriage without seeing a single one. True, the Kingdom’s knights and adventurers made regular efforts to exterminate any monsters within its borders, but even so, the encounter rate on the Demon Continent was absurdly high. 

“You’ve been fighting all alone this whole time, Ruijerd. How are you holding up?” 

“It’s not an issue. I cut these creatures down in a single strike.” 

“Well, all right…but let me know if you’re getting tired, will you? I could watch your back at least. And I do know how to use healing magic.” 

“Don’t worry yourself, child.” Ruijerd reached out and timidly patted my head again. He really loved doing that, didn’t he? “You just stay with your little sister and keep her safe, all right?” 

“Listen! I’m not his little sister, okay?! I’m older than he is!” 

“Hm. Really? My apologies.” 

Ruijerd tried patting Eris on the head as well, but she slapped his hand away sulkily. 

Better luck next time, big guy. 

*** 

“Here we are.” 

The walk had taken about three hours in total. We’d followed a long, winding path with a good bit of uphill climbing, so it took quite a while. But as the crow flies, we were only half a mile or so from where we’d started. 

I was surprisingly worn out. I’d been feeling lethargic since the night before. Was this some sort of after-effect of that teleportation spell? Maybe I just needed to work on my endurance… It wasn’t like I’d been slacking off on my training with Ghislaine, though. 

“Oh! It’s a town!” Eris exclaimed, studying the little settlement in front of us with great interest. The girl didn’t look even slightly winded. I was a little jealous of her stamina. 

To my eyes, the place we’d arrived at looked more like a village than a town. There were maybe ten or fifteen houses at most, and the fence surrounding them was crude. I noticed a small field inside as well. It was hard to tell what they were growing, but from the looks of things, it wasn’t going to be a bumper crop. 

Was it even possible to farm on land like this, without a river anywhere nearby? 

“Halt!” 

Just outside the front gate, we were stopped by a boy who looked like he belonged in junior high. His blue hair reminded me of Roxy. “Who are those two, Ruijerd?!” 

The kid was speaking in the Demon-God tongue, but I could understand him well enough. My listening comprehension skills were apparently up to par. 

“Remember the shooting star last night? That was them.” 

“I can’t let such suspicious strangers into our village!” 

“What’s so suspicious about them? Explain yourself.” Ruijerd’s face was suddenly stern, his voice threatening. If he’d spoken to me this way last night, I probably would have run for the hills without a second thought. 

“Wh-What is there to explain? Just look at them!” 

“They’re the victims of a magical disaster that occurred in Asura. They happened to be teleported here, that’s all.” 

“But… Look, even if that’s true…” 

“What’s the matter with you? Would you really leave these children to their fate?” 

At this point, I noticed Ruijerd was clenching his hands into fists. Acting on instinct, I reached out to grab his arm. “He’s just doing his job, Ruijerd. Please calm down.” 

“What…?” 

“Arguing with some flunky isn’t going to get us anywhere. Why don’t we ask him to go get someone with actual authority?” 

The boy scowled at the word flunky , but Ruijerd nodded in agreement. “You have a point. Rowin, would you call for the elder?” 

“Yeah. I was just thinking I might do that actually.” Rowin closed his eyes tightly. He then proceeded to stand there silently for the next ten seconds. 

Uh…what is this? Are you going to get moving or not? Please don’t tell me this kid just nodded off on the job… Hmm. Maybe he’s waiting for a nice wet kiss? 

“Uh, Ruijerd, is he…” 

“The Migurd can converse with others of their race, even at a distance.” 

“Oh. Now that you mention it, I think my master told me a bit about that.” To be specific, she’d written in her Dictionary of Demonkind that the Migurd were capable of telepathic communication with their close friends and family members. She also noted that she herself lacked this ability, and had left her village because of it. 

Poor girl. 

Come to think of it though…if this was a Migurd village, maybe mentioning Roxy’s name would be helpful? Then again, I didn’t know if she was connected to this specific place. There was also the chance it could backfire completely. 

“The elder’s on his way,” Rowin said, opening his eyes at last. 

“We could go meet him halfway, if—” 

“You’re not taking a step inside this village!” 

“Very well then.” 

With negotiations at an impasse, we just stood there for a while. As the awkward silence stretched on, Eris tugged at my sleeve and whispered, “Hey, what’s going on?” 

Oh, right. She doesn’t understand the Demon-God tongue. “The guard here thinks we’re suspicious, so we’re waiting for the village elder to come look us over in person.” 

“What the heck? What’s so suspicious about us?” Furrowing her brow, Eris looked down at her clothes. She’d put on her usual sword-practice outfit for our trip outside the city; it was a little light, but didn’t strike me as odd compared to what Ruijerd was wearing. It wasn’t like she was wearing a frilly dress. “Uhm, should I be worried?” 

“About what?” 

“I don’t know. Just…in general.” 

“We’ll be fine, Eris.” 

“Well…okay then.” 

Bold as Eris was, the prospect of an argument at the village entrance clearly made her more than a little anxious. My attempt at reassurance seemed to work at least. 

“The elder seems to have arrived,” Ruijerd murmured after a moment. 

I peered into the village and saw a bald man with a cane who looked weirdly youthful. He was walking toward us with two girls who looked like teenagers. None of them were particularly tall. Maybe the Migurd just stayed that height, even when they were fully grown. 

There hadn’t been any mention of that in Master Roxy’s dictionary…but the girl she drew to illustrate the entry did look like a junior high school student. I assumed it was a self-portrait at the time, which was somewhat charming, but maybe she was just depicting a typical adult Migurd. 

While I was pondering the matter, the village elder began conferring with Rowin a little way from our group. “These are the children in question then?” 

“Yes. One of them can speak the Demon-God tongue. It’s very strange.” 

“Anyone could learn the tongue if they studied it, surely.” 

“Why would such a young human child study our language of all things?!” 

I had to hand it to Rowin. He kind of had a point on that one. Fortunately, the village elder just patted him gently on the shoulder. “Let’s not be too hasty, Rowin. Try to calm down, all right? I’ll speak with them.” 

With that said, the little man began walking slowly toward us. For lack of a better idea, I bowed to him—a simple Japanese greeting, rather than the fancy one favored by the Asuran nobility. “Nice to meet you, sir. My name is Rudeus Greyrat.” 

“Well, you’re certainly a polite one. I’m Rokkus, the elder of this village.” 

I glanced over at Eris, trying to prompt her to follow my example. Apparently confused by the contrast between the man’s apparent youthfulness and his dignified bearing, she crossed and uncrossed her arms. It looked like she was trying to decide whether to assume her signature defiant pose. 

“You should introduce yourself, Eris.” 

“But…uh, I don’t know the language.” 

“Just do it the way you learned. I’ll tell him what you’re saying.” 

“Ugh… I-It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir. My name is Eris Boreas Greyrat.” 

After a moment’s hesitation, Eris offered a textbook curtsy, just as she’d practiced in her etiquette lessons. The village elder’s face broke into a smile. 

“Did the little lady here just introduce herself as well, son?” 

“Yes. That’s the way you do it in our homeland.” 

“Hmm. It wasn’t much like yours, though.” 

“Well, the customs are different for men and women…” 

Rokkus nodded thoughtfully at this, then bowed to Eris the same way I’d bowed to him. “My name is Rokkus. I am the elder of this village.” 

A bit startled, Eris glanced over at me uncertainly. “What did he just say, Rudeus?” 

“He’s the elder of this village, and he’s called Rokkus.” 

“Oh. R-really? So I guess he did understand you. That’s good.” Eris smiled in obvious relief. 

That probably covered the initial formalities. It was time to get down to business. “Would you permit us entry to your village, Rokkus?” 

“Hrm…” Rather than answering my question at once, the little man began studying me intently from head to toe. 

Ooh! Such a passionate gaze! Cut it out…you’re making me want to do a striptease… 

After a long moment, his eyes came to a stop, fixed on my upper chest. “Where did you obtain that pendant you’re wearing, young man?” 

“It was a gift from my master.” 

“And who was this master of yours, if I might ask?” 

“Her name was Roxy.” The honest answer felt like the way to go here. At the end of the day, I was proud to have studied under her. 

“What was that?!” Rowin shouted. Before I could respond, he rushed right past Rokkus to grab me by the shoulders. “D-did you just say Roxy , boy?!” 

“Yes. That’s my master’s name…” 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ruijerd balling his hands into fists. Turning my head to meet his gaze, I shook my head slightly. There wasn’t any anger on Rowin’s face, only anxious excitement. He wasn’t going to hurt me. 

“Where—where is Roxy now?!” 

“Well, I haven’t seen her in some time myself, but…” 

“Please! Tell me anything you know! Roxy… Roxy is my daughter !” 

Sorry, come again? 

“Uhm, I’m not sure I heard you correctly. Could you repeat that.” 

“Roxy’s my daughter! Tell me, is she still alive?!” 

Pardon, monsieur? Uhm, no, I think I heard you fine the first time actually. Just feeling a bit curious about your age. The man didn’t look old enough to be in high school even. If you told me he was Roxy’s little brother, I would have believed you. But apparently…hmm. Yeah. Interesting. 

“Please, just tell me! It’s been more than twenty years since she left this village, and we haven’t heard a word from her since!” 

So Roxy had basically run away from home. Not that she’d mentioned anything about that to me of course. Honestly, master, must you be so secretive? 

Wait. More than twenty years ago? Uh…how old would that make her? 

“Well? Why aren’t you saying anything?!” 

Whoops. Sorry about that, buddy. “Uhm, right now she’s…” 

Halfway through my sentence, I realized the man still had a death grip on my shoulders. It sort of looked like he was trying to squeeze the information out of me, didn’t it? That was no good. I didn’t want anyone thinking I’d broken under pressure…not quite this easily at least. I mean, if he’d smashed my computer, beaten me up, then barraged me with insults, that’d be a different story. I needed to stick up for myself a bit here. It might make Eris anxious otherwise. 

“Actually, I want you to answer a question for me first. How old is Roxy right now?” 

“What? Why does her age matter? Can you just—” 

“It’s very important. Oh, and while you’re at it, I’d also like to know how long the Migurd live.” 

Yeah. This was definitely something I needed cleared up. 

“Uh…fine. Roxy would be…forty-four this year, I suppose. And we live around 200 years, for the most part. Unless some disease kills us first.” 

Huh! We’re the same age! That makes me kind of happy actually. 

“You don’t say. Hmm. By the way, would you mind letting go of me?” 

Rowin finally released his grip on my shoulders. 

Okay. Now we can talk. 

“As of six months ago, Roxy was in the Kingdom of Shirone. I wasn’t there in person, but we were exchanging letters for a while.” 

“Letters? Can she write in the Human tongue?” 

“Yes. She knew our language perfectly by the time I met her. That was seven years ago.” 

“R-really? In any case…you’re saying she’s all right?” 

“Well, there’s always a chance she came down with some sudden illness recently. But as far as I know, she’s in perfectly good health.” 

Rowin sank unsteadily to his knees. There was undisguised relief on his face, and tears were shining in his eyes. “I see… So she’s all right. She’s all right! Haha… Thank goodness…” 

Hey, I’m happy for you, Dad. I found myself thinking of Paul, wondering if he might react similarly when he learned I was safe. I’d have to send a letter to Buena Village as soon as I could. 

Turning away from Roxy’s weeping father, I addressed Rokkus again. “Now that we’ve cleared that up…would you be willing to let us inside?” 

“Of course. We wouldn’t turn away someone who brought us such welcome news.” 

Good thing I had this pendant. Never would’ve thought it’d come in so handy. 

I probably could’ve saved myself some time by showing it to them right away. But then again, depending on how the conversation went, they may have gotten the impression that I killed Roxy and stole it from her. Demons apparently had long lifespans, and it probably wasn’t uncommon for them to look much younger or older than they really were. In other words, my appearance wouldn’t necessarily protect me from suspicion here. I’d have to do my best to act appropriately childish. 

For now, at least, we’d managed to gain entrance to the Migurd village.