Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The Sage on Board 

That night, the man associated with the smuggling organization, Gallus, left after telling us he would be in touch. We were forced to wait fifteen days until he sent a man with more details about the job. 

The smuggled goods would be temporarily housed in a building which we would infiltrate. We would free those who had been taken and escort them back to their homes. As for how we would go about it, Gallus left that up to us. 

The information was vague and the plan sounded sloppy. Still, we were just swords for hire. All we needed to do was fulfill our mission. There was some danger involved, so we decided that only Ruijerd and I would be carrying out this mission. Eris would stay behind at the inn. 

*** 

It was midnight on the day of the operation. The moon was nowhere to be seen. The place in question was a pier located on the edge of the harbor. It was eerily quiet, the only sound being the echo of the ocean’s waves. A suspicious figure stood by a small boat, a hood lowered over their head to hide their eyes. 

If you wanted someone smuggled across the border, this was the guy. Just as we had arranged in our briefing beforehand, I handed Ruijerd over to him. Per instructions, Ruijerd’s hands were shackled behind him. 

A smuggler treated anyone they handled like a slave. The transport of slaves cost five green ore coins across the board, but we were exempt. The fact that Gallus had paid for us in advance didn’t change how we were being handled, though. We weren’t being treated as mercenaries whom Gallus had hired, but rather criminals who were smuggling slaves. 

“All right then, I leave it in your hands.” 

The smuggler didn’t say a word. He just nodded, guided Ruijerd onto the small boat, and slipped a sack over Ruijerd’s head. The boat had a single boatman, but there were many others on board with sacks over their heads. Judging by their heights, none of them were children. 

Once Ruijerd was safely on board, the smuggler gave the boatman a signal. The latter, who was sitting at the head of their small vessel, chanted a spell. The little boat took off without a sound, gliding across the water through the pitch black of night. I couldn’t hear the words clearly, but it seemed to be a water spell that created a current to propel them forward. Something I could also do. 

The little boat moved toward a merchant ship anchored in the open sea, where the slaves were transferred over to be shipped off in the early morning. Even from his spot on the smaller boat, Ruijerd continued to look my way the entire time. He knew exactly where I was, despite the bag on his head. 

Watching him, I heard “Goodbye, My Lover” playing in the background of my mind. No, wait, no! He wasn’t my lover! And anyway, it wasn’t goodbye because this was only temporary. 

The next day, I sold the lizard we had been riding around on for the past year. The steed had carried us all the way here from the city of Rikarisu, and it was reliable enough that I wished I could have taken it to the Fittoa Region with us, but it would have cost us extra to bring it on the boat. Plus, we could use horses on the Millis Continent. The horses of this world were fast, and their stamina was on an entirely different level. We didn’t need to ride the lizard anymore. 

Eris wrapped her arms around the lizard’s neck and gave it a few pats. They exchanged no words, but it was a sad parting. The lizard had grown attached to Eris. Often, during our travels, it would lick her head all over and leave her hair drenched in drool. 

We couldn’t keep calling it “lizard” forever. We should at least give it a name. Okay, from now on your name will be Guella Ha, I decided. Guella Ha, a man of the sea who longed for more human companions. 

“This one’s really obedient. You must have trained it well on your travels, eh?” The merchant who handled lizards was impressed. 

“I suppose so.” 

Ruijerd was the one who’d trained it. Not that he did anything special, but there was certainly a master-servant dynamic between him and Guella Ha. The lizard must have realized he was the most powerful person in our party. On the other hand, it didn’t take a liking to me at all and bit me several times. 

Hm…yeah, thinking about it just pissed me off. 

“Ha ha, just what I’d expect from Dead End’s Kennel Master. That’ll add a little something extra to this one. Most people treat these guys too rough, and it makes my job of retraining them that much harder.” The merchant was of the Rugonia tribe, a race of men with lizard heads. On the Demon Continent, the lizard men trained the lizards. 

“It’s only natural to treat your companions with kindness when you’re traveling together.” 

Again, the song “Goodbye My Lover” played in my head. In my hand, I held the money we got for selling our companion off. It felt like dirty money when I thought about it that way. How strange. 

Let’s quit it with the name after all. It just makes me feel attached, I decided. Goodbye then, unnamed lizard. I’ll never forget how it felt to ride on you. 

“Wah…” I heard Eris sniffling. 

After selling our steed, we traveled on foot to board our ship. 

“Rudeus! It’s a ship! It’s sooo huge! Whoa! It’s rocking! What is this?!” From the moment she got on board, Eris started yelling in excitement. Perhaps she had already forgotten about the lizard. Her ability to recover quickly was one of her strengths. 

The ship had sails and was made of wood. It was a brand-new model that had been completed just a year ago. Not only was this its maiden voyage, but it was also pushing the envelope by traveling all the way to Zant Port. 

“But this is one is a little different than the one we saw before, right?” 

“You’ve seen a ship before, Eris?” Hadn’t she said this was the first time she’d even seen the ocean? 

“What are you talking about? You had one of these in your room, remember?” 

Oh right, I did remember making one of these. That was a fond memory. Back then, I’d wanted to work on my earth magic, so I started crafting things. Once I realized I might be able to sell them, I started making 1/10 scale Roxy figures. I hadn’t done that in a while, though. Right now, we didn’t know when I would need to use my mana, so I hadn’t done any training that would consume that precious resource. The only training I’d done was the physical kind, alongside Ruijerd and Eris. I really had been slacking off recently. Once things calmed down, I’d probably need to sharpen my skills again. 

“I made those using my imagination, so it’s no surprise that it wasn’t a perfect replica,” I said. Not to mention that this was supposed to be a new type of ship. As to what part of it was new, I had no idea. 

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? That something this big can cross the ocean.” Eris was incredibly impressed. 

*** 

We left port three days later. 

As we were on board, I began to think. A ship…a ship was a treasure trove. Now that we were on board, there had to be an event scene. I had played enough dating sims that I could say that without a shadow of a doubt. 

For instance, dolphins might skip alongside the ship. The heroine would see that and say, “Look! Amazing!” And in response I would say, “My techniques in bed are even more amazing.” Then she would say, “How wonderful! Make me yours!” And I would tell her, “Come on, baby, we can’t do something like that right here.” 

Yeah, no, that wasn’t quite it… Ah! That’s it! When you think of a ship, you think of being attacked at sea! An octopus, a squid, a serpent, pirates, or a ghost ship, something like that. One of those would attack and sink us. We would be set adrift, then become stranded. We would arrive on a deserted island, where the heroine and I, just the two of us, would begin our lives together. At first, she would hate me, but after overcoming numerous hurdles, she would gradually grow less tsun and more dere. 

Plus, there was only one thing for a man and a woman stranded on a deserted island to do together. The exchange of looks, the feverish heat… Two hot-blooded youths, breaking out in a sweat amidst the echo of crashing sea waves. Afterward, we would enjoy the sunrise together. A paradise just for the two of us. 

On the issue of an octopus attack, the heroine’s fate was already sealed. She would be assailed by numerous tentacles, more than you would think an eight-legged octopus could possess, and it would string her up in the air. Her body would writhe as if in agony. The creature would wrap its tentacles around her and dive beneath her clothes. It was the greatest spectacle of all, one that would make sweat pool in the palms of your hands. A sight you couldn’t pull your eyes away from, even for a second. 

Reality, however, was cruel. 

Eris sat pale-faced in the cabin with a bucket in front of her. Her excitement over her first voyage on a ship quickly turned to nausea about midway through. I wondered why she was fine riding atop of a lizard but somehow couldn’t stomach a ship. 

As someone who had never experienced motion sickness, I couldn’t comprehend it. Although there was one thing I could say. No matter how mild the rocking of the ship was, it did not seem to ease the suffering of a person who got seasick. 

On the fourth day, an octopus showed up. At least, that’s what I assumed it was. It was a startling sea-blue color and extremely large. Unfortunately, it didn’t manage to capture any girls. Instead it was abruptly dispatched by an S-ranked party of bodyguards. 

There shouldn’t have been any escort missions available. If there had been, I would have snapped it right up. I asked a merchant nearby, who informed me that these people specialized in escorting ships. Their party name was Aqua Road. They apparently had an exclusive contract with the Shipwrights’ Guild, and their primary work was acting as sea escorts. As a result, they specialized in dispatching any of the creatures that might appear on our route. 

There would be no thrilling tentacle event scene after all. Too bad. 

That said, there was something to glean from this. I stood aside and watched them fight, just in case something happened, so I saw the way they fought as a party. 

To be honest, I snorted in laughter when I first saw their individual strengths. The swordsperson fighting in their vanguard was strong, but not as strong as Ghislaine. The one who primarily deflected the enemy’s attacks and drew its attention was also a strong warrior, but nothing like Ruijerd. Their rearguard was the one who stopped the octopus, a magician who was surely weaker than I was. 

I was disappointed. Was this really what an S-ranked group looked like? I thought most of the people in this world were pretty strong, but these people weren’t as impressive as I’d imagined. 

However, I quickly came to a different conclusion. They were an S-ranked party. I shouldn’t have been looking at their individual strengths, but rather how they worked as a team. Even though they weren’t that strong, they still managed to defeat that huge octopus. Even though they weren’t that strong, they still obtained an S ranking. That was what was important. Each person fulfilled their role within the party, and that’s how they wielded such power as a group. That was what teamwork meant. That was what Dead End lacked. 

Each member of Dead End was powerful. But what about our teamwork? Ruijerd’s teamwork was outstanding, possibly because he had operated in a squadron himself. He was skilled at group battles. Even if Eris or I made a mistake, he could cover for us. He was also great at drawing aggro, keeping the beast’s eyes glued to him the entire time. 

Ruijerd was also too strong. In truth, he could slay our opponents on his own, but we were forcing him to work with a team during battle. I wouldn’t exactly call it bad, but there was no doubt that it distorted things. I thought I knew what it meant to battle as a team, but that was just in theory. Knowing the theory didn’t mean you’d be able to put it into practice. I had a habit of focusing on enemies that were coming toward me, and when they outnumbered us significantly, I relied too greatly on Ruijerd. 

Eris was horrible. She would listen to directives just fine, but when it came to actual battle, she couldn’t match her rhythm to ours. She was too fixated on the enemy in front of her, and she threw herself too intensely into battle. The longer a fight went on, the less she would listen. Even though we called out to her, she would never cover for either of us, not even once. 

Granted, neither Ruijerd nor I really needed it in the first place. Still, if this kept up and Ruijerd left us for whatever reason, I wasn’t confident I could fully cover for her. Even though I had a demon eye, I still only had two hands. Just one hand for protecting myself and one hand for protecting Eris. The range of one hand was indeed limited. 

“Rudeuuus…” 

As I was busy with my thoughts, Eris’ pale, sickly face appeared on deck. She drifted, staggering over to the edge of the ship, and vomited over the side. At this point it seemed there was nothing left in her stomach except bile. 

“What are you doing up here…when I’m suffering like this…” 

“Sorry. The sea is just so beautiful.” 

“You’re so mean… Waah…” Tears pooled in her eyes as she threw her arms around me. 

Her seasickness was severe. 

Day five. Eris was in the cabin and down for the count as always, and I was constantly attending to her. 

“U-urgh…my head hurts… Heal me….” 

“Okay, okay.” 

I found out from one of the sailors that a little bit of healing magic could ease her suffering. Seasickness was caused by an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system. Casting a healing spell on her head would bring some temporary relief. 

At least, that’s how it should have worked. I couldn’t continually cast it, and healing magic didn’t erase all of the nausea. 

“Hey…am I going…to die?” 

“I’ll laugh at you if you die of seasickness.” 

“Don’t…” 

There was no one else in the cabin. The ship itself was gigantic, but there weren’t many people traveling from the Demon Continent to the Millis Continent. I wasn’t sure if this was because the fees for passage were so much more expensive for demons than they were for humans, or because demons just found it easier living on the Demon Continent. 

Eris and I were alone together. 

In this quiet, dimly lit room, there she was without the power to fight back. And there I was beside her, having spent the past five days watching her weaken. 

At first there was no problem with that. Except healing. That was a problem. To heal her, I needed to touch her head. Since I needed to cast my spell fairly regularly, she was using my lap as a pillow while I kept my hands wrapped around her head, repeatedly healing her. 

That’s when I started to feel strange. No, strange was a misleading word to use. To put it bluntly, I was starting to get horny. 

Just hear me out here. There we were in a cabin and Eris, who was usually so strong-willed, was suddenly misty-eyed, her breathing erratic as she called out to me in a weak voice, entreating me. “Please, I’m begging you please, just do it (heal me).” 

My internal volume controls drowned out the word heal. It just sounded like she was begging for it. Of course, that wasn’t true. Eris was just weak. I had never experienced seasickness, but I knew it had to be awful. 

There was nothing inherently sexual about touching another person. Still, she was of age, and I could feel the heat of her body. That alone was stimulating, even if the touch wasn’t sexual in nature. The excitement it produced was slight, but continuously doing this for a while would spell trouble for me. 

Touching, no matter where on her body, was still touching. Touching meant that we were close. Being close meant that her body was in full view. Her forehead, broken out in a cold sweat, the nape of her neck, her chest, everything. 

Eris was so weak and listless. Normally, she would punch me if I touched her without reason. Right now, she was like a fish on the chopping board. That meant she was basically mine for the taking, right? 

Those horrible feelings started to take root within me. I was sure she wouldn’t resist me, even if I ripped off my clothes and launched myself at her. No, she couldn’t resist me. The mere thought made my crotch feel like Excalibur before Arthur took hold of it. And in my head Arthur screamed. He was yelling at me, telling me that right now Eris couldn’t resist. He told me I would never get another chance like this. Now was my chance to lose the virginity that I had been holding on to for so long. 

My inner Merlin, however, urged me to resist. I had already made a decision when I promised to wait until I was fifteen. I said I would wait until this journey was over. I supported what Merlin was saying, but my ability to resist was reaching its limits. 

What if I tested things out by just touching her breasts? I was sure they would be soft. And soft wasn’t the only thing they would be. That’s right—breasts were more than just soft. There was a firmness in the middle of all of that softness. A grail. The holy grail that my inner Arthur sought. What would happen if my hand, my Gawain, found that grail? The Battle of Camlann. 

Ahh, of course, it wasn’t just the holy grail. Eris’ body was changing day by day, particularly her bosom. She was in the midst of puberty. I wasn’t sure if it was genetic, but she was rapidly developing in a way that resembled her mother. If it kept up at this rate, she would grow into a voluptuous beauty. 

Some men out there might say, “Eh, I think the smaller ones are just right.” Everyone had their preferences, but I could say I’d been there at the moment when you would describe a woman’s breasts as being “just right.” I could take her breasts into my hands at this very moment, while they were still small. 

Her breathing was erratic. “R-Rudeus…?” She looked up at me anxiously. “Are you okay?” 

Her voice struck me. A voice that was usually so loud and forceful. This time it was the perfect pitch, enough to make my chest tingle. 

“Uh…yeah, I’m fine, I promise. Don’t worry.” 

“If you’re suffering, you don’t have to force yourself, you know?” 

I don’t have to force myself? So in other words, I didn’t have to deny myself’? Did that mean I could do whatever I wanted? 

…Just kidding. I understood what she meant. She was worried about whether my mana would hold, since I was continuously healing her. I knew that already; knew that she trusted me. Trusted that I would never use this opportunity to lay a hand on her. I wouldn’t betray that trust. Rudeus Greyrat would not betray that trust. That was the proper way to respond to a person’s trust. 

Okay, I told myself, let’s just act like a machine. A machine. I was a healing machine. I would become a robot with no blood or tears. I would see nothing, because if I saw her face, I would do something impulsive. With that thought in mind, I decided to close my eyes. I wouldn’t hear anything, either. If I heard her voice, I’d do something reckless. So I blocked off my hearing, too. 

I was a silent, anti-social outcast. And since I held no earthly desires, I could do nothing impulsive. With that in mind, I closed my heart off. However, I could still feel the heat from her head and smell the scent of her body. Between those two things, my will was instantly shattered. It felt like my head was going to boil over. 

Ah, I can’t do this. I’m at my wits’ end, I thought. 

“Eris, I need to go to the bathroom.” 

“Oh, so that’s what you were holding in. Okay… See you in a bit.” 

She fell for that easily. I gave her a sidelong glance before exiting the cabin. I moved quickly. I needed somewhere deserted, and I found a spot quickly enough. There I had a moment of supreme bliss. 

“Phew…” 

Just like that, I felt like a boy who had transformed into a sage. When I closed my eyes the sense became stronger, as if I’d reached sainthood, like a magical girl transforming and obtaining even greater powers. 

“Okay, I’m back.” 

“Yeah, welcome back…” 

I returned to the cabin with a look of enlightenment on my face, like Bodhisattva, and became a healing machine at last. 

*** 

Eris returned to her normal lively self the moment we got off the boat. “I never want to ride on another ship again!” 

“Yeah, but we’ll have to do it one last time in order to get from Millis Continent to the Central Continent.” 

She looked disheartened at that, then anxious as she recalled what had transpired on the ship. “H-hey. When that happens, will you heal me the entire time again?” 

“Sure, but next time I might do something naughty to you,” I said matter-of-factly. 

“Ugh…why would you say something so cruel?!” 

It wasn’t cruelty. I was the one suffering. I understood now how a dog felt, having a delicious meal set before it only to be forcefully restrained from taking a bite. There you were, your stomach completely empty with the food calling out to you, begging you to devour it, and you couldn’t. You could gulp down as much water as you wanted to try and temporarily satisfy the ache in your belly, but it was a futile effort. The meal wouldn’t disappear, and your stomach would feel empty again soon enough. 

“You’re really cute, Eris. I’m desperately trying to resist the temptation to do anything to you.” 

“F-fine, I guess if that’s how it has to be. Next time you can touch me, but only a little bit, okay?” Her face was bright tomato red. It really was adorable. However, there was far too great of a gap between the enormity of my desire and the “little” that she offered. 

“Unfortunately, ‘just a little’ isn’t going to cut it. Please, let’s wait until you’re ready for me to dive in and have my way with you.” 

Eris was speechless. I didn’t want her to fuel my expectations. I wanted her to let me keep that promise I made to her. If I broke it and put my hands on her, we would both be upset about it afterward. 

“Anyway, let’s get going.” 

“O-okay. Sure.” Eris recovered quickly and was soon in high spirits as we started walking toward the town. 

The townscape before us was not much different than Wind Port. But this was Zant Port, a city at the northern edge of the Millis Continent. Millis Continent. We were finally here, yet we still had a long way to go. 

“Rudeus, what’s wrong?” 

“No, it’s nothing.” 

Best to forget about how long our journey would be. The important thing right now was setting out for the next city. 

Before we did that, however, we needed to get some money and buy a horse. And before that, we had to finish our current job. Now that we had come this far, it was time to see this mission to completion. That said, our job didn’t start until nightfall. We still had some time before then. So, what to do? 

We had already exchanged our money on the Demon Continent, so there was no need to visit the Adventurers’ Guild. I decided we would get ourselves an inn. That way we could recover from our tiring journey on the ship. Our job came later. Ruijerd would have to suffer in his uncomfortable living conditions a little while longer, but…well, he would just have to endure. 

And that was how we arrived on the Millis Continent.