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Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter Ep




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Epilogue 

Accompanying Soldat, I spent about a year bouncing from town to town. We started at the third largest city of the Duchy of Neris; went to the capital, Gyuranza, where Thunderbolt’s headquarters were located; and then to the city of Caerleon at the very edge of the Ranoa Kingdom. 

As we moved throughout the Three Magic Nations, I began working on my own, independent of Soldat. I was basically doing the same stuff I did back in Rosenburg: joining adventurers on a temporary basis to get my name out there. I didn’t think I’d have as much leeway to bend the rules here as I’d had in Rosenburg, so I only participated in B- to S-ranked missions. I would help Soldat and his party with missions, too. We moved quickly from town to town, switching locations every two to three months. 

The members of Stepped Leader never treated me like a nuisance. In fact, it was just the opposite: They welcomed me, albeit with expressions that seemed to say Oh boy, what has Soldat dragged in this time? Several of them had been brought into the fold by Soldat under similar circumstances. They understood my objective and maintained a respectable distance. 

I had no idea what had happened to the members of Counter Arrow. I hadn’t heard anything about them since that day. Maybe they found some new members, or maybe the jobs got too tough and they decided to return to the Asura Kingdom. Honestly, now that things had calmed down, I wished I’d tried talking to Sara again. 

Ultimately, though, this was probably for the best. My relationship with Sara and the other members of Counter Arrow had not been part of my original objective, and diddling around in Rosenburg kept me from moving on. I had some lingering regrets about not saying anything to them before I left the city, but it wasn’t worth the stress of reconciliation, either. 

I was searching for Zenith. That was the only thing I needed to focus on. This wasn’t the time to be mulling over women like Eris or Sara. I could worry about such things after I found Zenith. 

That thought alone took a weight off my chest. A relationship with a woman was completely unnecessary right now, and since it was unnecessary, I had no need to cling to regrets. 

These days, if a female adventurer or someone I was helping during a mission made a pass at me, I would gracefully sidestep their advances. Painful as it was, the incident with Sara had taught me something. Granted, I would be thrilled if my buddy suddenly sprang to life once more, but it was pretty far down my list of priorities. 

Still, I would occasionally recall my first time with Eris, or Sara’s soft, supple body, or the way Elise had tried to please me. I resolved to find a cure for my impotence as soon as Zenith was found. 

Meanwhile, as I’d hoped, my name became known throughout the Three Magic Nations. Not quite on the same scale as in Rosenburg, where even the escorts knew of me, but I was famous enough that people knew I was searching for someone. 

*** 

East of the Three Magic Nations, in one of the many small countries spread out over the Northern Territories, two men were talking in an Adventurers’ Guild. 

“This country will be done for soon.” 

“How can you tell?” 

“People’s faces. No one has any spirit left in them. Plus, there’s a rumor that the Prime Minister’s eager to go to war. When a country is backed into a corner and war is their only option, you can tell how things are going to end.” 

“Aah… Well, I don’t want to get dragged into that mess. Maybe I should move on.” 

“Gonna have to go to the west then.” 

“Yeah, I left the Three Magic Nations to see what things were like, but it’s just madness out here.” 

Aside from the two adventurers, the only occupants of the otherwise deserted guild were a group of gloomy-faced adventurers and a woman who was asking the receptionist something. Even the bulletin board was largely devoid of requests. The residents were impoverished, and so entrenched in their problems that they couldn’t even ask for assistance. Visiting adventurers were few and far between, so even requests that did pop up went largely ignored. This Adventurers’ Guild was in a real slump. 

This country had been different long ago. Back when it was first established, it was a prominent and powerful nation among the Northern Territories. People were sure that it would conquer the whole of the northern region. 

Fate, it turned out, had different plans. 

Making a living in the north proved to be an incredibly difficult task. Cultivable crops were few, monsters were numerous, and travelers rarely passed through. If this country had worked to develop magic as the Three Magic Nations did, it might have done better; but alas, it produced nothing. All it did was consume what resources it had until there was nothing left to consume. 

Now, the nation was well on the path to destruction. It was only a matter of time until one of its neighbors declared war on it, or it declared war on them. Either way, those in charge would be replaced. That might breathe life back into the Adventurers’ Guild, but before that could come to pass, any adventurers who remained would be caught in the middle of war. Anyone with good sense would flee before the borders were sealed, which was exactly what the two aforementioned men were talking about. 

“Speaking of the Three Magic Nations, I’ve heard a strange rumor.” 

“A strange rumor?” 

“People were talking about this ridiculously strong magician who’s been temporarily joining other adventuring parties.” 

“There’s nothing strange about that. There’s a bunch of guys who do that to make some coin.” 

“Yeah, that’s just it, though. This guy isn’t even looking to make money. I don’t know what he’s after, but they say he basically hasn’t taken any cash.” 

“So? That just means he’s too useless to get a cut of things, right?” 

“No, that’s not it, either. I heard he’s unbelievably strong.” 

“Unbelievably?” 

“Yeah. Just by having that one guy in their ranks, a group of twenty took down a Red Wyrm Straggler.” 

“…Seriously?” 

“Yeah. Strange, isn’t it? Someone like that wandering around as an adventurer… You’d have thought some country would have welcomed him into their service by now.” 

“That can’t be right. What’s this guy called?” 

“Uhh, if I remember right… It was Quagmire Rudeus.” 

“ Quagmire, huh? What a stupid name.” 

Just then, a shadow fell over their table. The man glanced up and found the refined-looking woman—who moments ago had been conversing with the receptionist at the counter—had wandered over to their side. She was an elf. The men could immediately tell that she was a first-rate warrior. She was slender but muscular, with a demeanor that suggested she’d been through many a battle. They gulped. 

But something was off. There was a luster to her that seemed unbefitting of a warrior. 

“Could you share that story with me in a bit more detail?” The woman put a finger to her lips, her expression almost flirtatious as she asked the question. 

“Th-the one we were just talking about?” 

“Yes, the one about that adventurer, Quagmire Rudeus.” 

“I don’t know all that much,” the man blurted incoherently. Right now, he wasn’t sure if she was asking him a question or soliciting him. 

“Isn’t there anything you can remember? For instance, where he might have last been spotted, or anything like that?” 

“Ah, uh, I think…” 

“Yes, come on, try your best. If you can remember, I’ll let you have your way with me.” 

A switch flipped in the man’s head. Men were simple creatures: As soon as he realized she was not asking him a question, but rather propositioning him, his mind started working overtime to get what he desired. In a corner of his mind, he found himself thinking this had to be too good to be true, but he could not resist the delicious prospect dangled before him. “Oh, I remember! Basherant. It was the third largest city in Basherant, Pipin.” 

“My, my, is that so? Thank you.” The woman grinned at him. Then, she muttered under her breath, “So I’ve finally found you.” 

The man didn’t catch that last part. But she did grab him by the hand, as if to say she was ready to offer him a reward for his efforts. 

“Well then, let us be on our way,” she announced. 

“T-to Pipin?” he asked in disbelief. 

“Of course not. I have to pay you for your information. We’re off to your room. Unless you prefer doing it outside?” 

“Heh, heh… What kind of pervert are you?” 

“You as well, sir. Come along.” 

The two men took her to their inn. No—perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she took them . After all, she was the one most bent on having sex. 

The men, for their part, would spend some time wondering if the events of that day been a dream. Unable to forget the night they spent with her, they would linger in that country, searching until war was upon them. 

That, however, is a tale for a different time. 

“Just a bit further.” 

Her skin looked lustrous the next morning as she set out for Basherant’s third largest city, Pipin. The woman’s name was Elinalise Dragonroad and she had only one objective: to tell Rudeus Greyrat that his mother had been found. 



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