Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

The Prodigy’s Secret

(Part 1) 

CLIFF GRIMOIRE, the grandson of the Millis Church’s reigning Pope, was a highly gifted young man with a particular talent for magic. Unfortunately, Cliff was also hot-tempered, egotistical, and a pompous braggart. As a result, he had no friends whatsoever. Cliff was sixteen years old at present; in other words, he’d come of age a little more than a year ago. But no one had celebrated that milestone with him. 

Still, the young man did have his virtues. For all his boastful talk, he worked very hard to succeed, rather than leaning on his natural talents. There were some, at least, who noticed this and respected him for it. 

Cliff had come to the Ranoa University of Magic for a simple reason: he’d gotten mixed up in an ugly power struggle back home. Following the attempted assassination of a Blessed Child near the city of Millishion several years ago, an internal conflict within the Millis Church had grown increasingly intense and violent. Cliff’s grandfather, who happened to be the Pope, had shipped him off to the far side of the world for his own safety. 

Cliff remembered his grandfather’s parting words to him perfectly: “You have the potential to be a great man someday, Cliff. Don’t let yourself grow self-satisfied; know your flaws, and work to overcome them.” 

The young man knew that much was expected of him. And at the time, he found that reasonable enough. He was a prodigy, after all. Perhaps not as talented as the brilliant young swordswoman Eris, whom he’d seen defeat a group of trained assassins in the blink of an eye; but a prodigy nonetheless. He’d always believed himself to possess special gifts. 

The Kingdom of Ranoa, which Cliff reached following a long and difficult journey, proved to be a harsh land. The food didn’t agree with him, the climate was severe, and many of the locals behaved in ways he found strange and off-putting. 

Still, he trusted that his sheer talent would see him through any challenge. He was a Special Student, the grandson of the pope, and the man who’d one day take charge of the entire Millis Church; surely that meant he was a cut above the rest. 

To Cliff’s surprise, however, he was embarrassed twice in his first year at the University. 

The first humiliation came at the hands of a young man named Zanoba Shirone. Zanoba was a Blessed Child, bestowed with certain divine gifts at birth. He was a somewhat unstable individual, true. But his physical strength was genuinely astonishing. Cliff had once seen Zanoba seize a man three times his weight by the head, lift him off the ground, and effortlessly toss him to one side. 

Despite his fearsome capabilities, Zanoba had enrolled at the University of Magic, where he studied spellcraft like all the others. By Cliff’s standards, his progress was painfully slow, but it wasn’t like a Blessed Child had much need of magic. In fact, some scholars theorized that magic had originally been developed by the ancients as a means to help common people imitate the divine powers. And, of course, a Blessed Child was a human manifestation of those very powers. There was hardly any reason for one of God’s elected to trifle with casting spells. 

Eventually, Cliff had approached Zanoba and pressed him for an explanation. “Why are you even bothering to learn magic, Zanoba?” 

“That’s simple enough,” the young man had responded. “I’m pursuing a goal that means everything to me.” Reaching into a box he carried with him, Zanoba retrieved a single figurine… which he then proceeded to speak about at great length. The majority of this monologue meant nothing to Cliff, but it was clear that Zanoba had nothing but praise for the quality of the little figure’s design and manufacture. 

“I wish to apprentice myself to the man who made this figurine, and to spread such wondrous figurines across the world. For this to happen, I’ll have to learn to make figurines myself! Before I’m reunited with my master, I must master at least the basic spells necessary for this purpose. I’d be too ashamed to face him otherwise! And of course, I have a few figurines I’m dying to create with my own two hands.” 

The man had a dream . This was something that Cliff himself lacked. He had given up on his own dream some time ago. Given his position in the world, there’d been no other choice but to do so. Still… Zanoba, too, was a person of some importance. As a Blessed Child, he carried the hopes of his countrymen on his shoulders. Once he returned to Shirone, he would surely have no real leeway to choose his own path in life. And yet, he still clung to some thread of hope—planning for the possibility that some day, he might be free. If he ever had the chance, he wouldn’t hesitate to choose his own destiny. 

Such were Cliff’s impressions, at any rate. They were based on assumptions that were not entirely accurate. He knew nothing of the events that had taken place back in Shirone, or of Zanoba’s actual standing there. Still, his interpretation left a deep impression on him. He found himself looking at Zanoba with real respect—even admiration. 

“Who is this ‘master’ you keep talking about, anyway?” 

“He is a magician known as Rudeus Greyrat.” 

Cliff found himself at a loss for words. Rudeus Greyrat. It was a name he’d filed away in a dark corner of his mind, ever since the day Eris had rejected him. He’d never expected to hear it again in this place, spoken by a man he’d just come to respect. 

It was a harsh blow to his ego. 

The second of Cliff’s humiliations came at the hands of two older students. 

As one might expect, Cliff believed himself to be the single most powerful mage enrolled in the University. There were plenty of people who could overwhelm him in a close-range brawl, of course, but he thought himself clearly superior as a magician at the very least. He was a genuine prodigy, while the others were merely students. Even the professors were often no match for his skills. In short, he thought himself essentially invincible. 

It took all of two months for him to be rudely disabused of that notion. His defeat came at the hands of two beastfolk girls, said to be among the strongest students in the University. Their names were Linia and Pursena. 

It was hard to say who exactly provoked the fight. Cliff was a sharp-tongued young man, and he’d spoken to them with open arrogance. Linia and Pursena were less aggressive than they’d once been, but they weren’t about to let a cocky first-year talk down to them. Cliff didn’t even recall exactly what he’d said to finally set them off. But the fight itself he remembered very clearly. He’d attempted to cast an Advanced spell; Pursena had quickly fired off Beginner-level magic, interrupting his incantation and restricting his movements. Linia then drew in close and beat him black and blue. 

In the aftermath of this very public defeat, Cliff retreated to his room to cry in solitude. He told himself that it wasn’t a fair fight. He’d been outnumbered, after all. He hadn’t really lost. 

But a few days later, he learned that another student named Fitz had previously defeated both Linia and Pursena in an instant. And that news came as a real shock. 

There was always someone better out there. Obvious as it might sound, Cliff had never learned this lesson personally until now. The fact that he knew so much Advanced magic did not, in itself, make him powerful in combat. This, too, was something he had just begun to understand. 

Cliff took all this very hard. Yet from that day he redoubled his efforts to improve himself. He was too proud to learn from his professors, let alone from other students. Instead, he tried finding his own ways to refine his craft. It proved a struggle, but he kept at it, doggedly seeking to eliminate his weaknesses. 

In time, however, he entered his second year at the University… and received another pair of shocks in quick succession. 

The first shock was the enrollment of Rudeus Greyrat. 

The boy wore shabby grey robes, and the uncertainty on his face betrayed a lack of confidence. He was servile and submissive to everyone he met, putting himself down at every opportunity; he also routinely leered at every nearby woman. There was nothing manly or appealing about him whatsoever. 

He was, in other words, virtually the opposite of what Cliff had pictured when he heard Eris and Zanoba speak of “Rudeus.” Was this even really him? Could it be someone else with the same name? It seemed like a legitimate possibility. 

But Zanoba acknowledged Rudeus as his “master,” and the boy knew about Eris as well. And so, Cliff concluded that he simply had to be a fraud. Somehow, he had deceived both Zanoba and Eris with a pack of lies and a few devious tricks. 

The evidence seemed to support this theory. When challenged by Linia and Pursena, the boy instantly bent and scraped to avoid a conflict. If he was a truly powerful magician, he surely wouldn’t have hesitated to put them in their place. 

In conclusion, Cliff reasoned that Rudeus would be exposed as the fraud he was soon enough. Linia and Pursena were fearsome fighters, and Zanoba was a diligent young man with divine powers at his disposal. Bluffing and trickery would only get you so far in an environment like this one. There were rumors flying around that Rudeus had defeated Fitz. But this was presumably either a misunderstanding of some sort, or a lie that Rudeus himself was spreading. If he had won somehow, he must have resorted to some underhanded trick. Cliff felt quite confident of this. 

However, Rudeus soon demonstrated that his skills were real. He could cast magic freely without the need for incantations. In no time at all, he made Linia and Pursena his loyal subordinates, and somehow won even more admiration from Zanoba. Even Fitz seemed to recognize his skills: soon they were seen studying together at the library every other day. And despite Rudeus’ obvious abilities, Cliff had even seen him attending classes —lectures on elementary Divine and Barrier spells. He had no real need to learn such basic magic, surely, but he seemed to have an innate hunger for knowledge of all kinds. 

Rudeus Greyrat was just as devoted as Cliff was, and considerably more talented. More importantly, his actual achievements were far more impressive. 

This would normally have been very painful for Cliff to admit. But for some reason, he found himself readily able to accept the facts. Perhaps it was because he’d already met Zanoba, and lost to Linia and Pursena. He could admit, to himself at least, that this Rudeus was destined for greater things than he was. 

This didn’t mean he liked the boy, of course. That was a very different matter. 

The next and final shock was of a somewhat different nature. 

It struck Cliff without warning one evening, as he was walking back to his dorm and happened to look upward. 

He found himself gazing at a goddess. She was leaning on a windowsill with a listless expression, letting her luxuriant golden hair flutter in the breeze. The setting sun cast a red glow on her shapely face. 

Cliff was instantly smitten. He’d fallen in love at first sight. He had always been drawn to beauty of this sort. Back in his more childish days, when he’d dreamed of living as an adventurer, he’d also pictured himself marrying a gorgeous woman. In fact, a pretty young Healer who sometimes paid visits to the orphanage where she grew up had been a big part of the reason Cliff developed such a strong interest in adventuring. 

All of a sudden, the woman in the window glanced down at Cliff. With a small smile, she waved her hand. 

It was all so… picturesque. So perfect. Cliff was deeply, deeply moved. 

I was born to meet this woman, he thought. And she was born to meet me. In that instant, his first love Eris was demoted in his mind to the status of an acquaintance. 

Rudeus 

T HE TIME HAD COME for my monthly appearance at homeroom. I was sitting at my desk, closely surrounded by Zanoba, Julie, Linia, and Pursena. It felt kind of nice to be at the center of my own little group for once. 

As usual, Linia was leaning back in her chair with her feet on the desk, flaunting her shapely thighs without a hint of shame. Another nice perk of my new position was getting to see those up close and personal on a regular basis. 

“You never stop starin’ at my legs, Boss,” said Linia with a teasing smile. “Heheh. I guess you’re just another tomcat at heart, huh? Can’t blame ya, though. I’m criminally sexy… Ehehehe. Go on, take a little peek inside… Myaaah! Get your hand outta there!” 

I’d reached under her skirt without hesitation or embarrassment. But groping at her thighs just made me feel empty inside. Nothing makes a man more miserable than a frustrated libido. 

“Mew?! Don’t look all disappointed! You’re the one who decided to grope me! What’s so bad about my legs, anyway?!” 

To be perfectly honest, I found more pleasure in touching her ears or tail lately. At least petting something fuzzy was relaxing. 

“You’re such a moron, Linia,” muttered Pursena, munching away on a slab of something just outside the range of my hands. That girl never seemed to stop eating meat. Sometimes it was jerky, sometimes it was grilled, and sometimes it was raw, but she was always eating in some form or another. She herself was a tough, cool-headed girl, but if you waved a little meat in her direction she’d come trotting over to you with her tail wagging wildly. Her fur was softer than Linia’s, and felt really nice under your hand. But unlike Linia, she wouldn’t let me pet her unless I offered her some food first. 

On the other hand, if I did bring her some meat she’d let me do basically anything I wanted. She seemed to have some fairly old-fashioned views about chastity, but I was a little worried someone might take advantage of her. 

“Hmm… Master, look here,” said Zanoba. “I’ve made the angle of this ankle worse, haven’t I?” 

“Let me fix that for you, sir,” offered Julie, looking over at the figurine. 

“I would rather that you called me Master, Julie. Take care to address Rudeus as Grandmaster, also.” 

“Okay, Master.” 

Our resident prince seemed to be carrying on about the same as ever. Still, it did feel like he’d fallen to the bottom of our little group’s hierarchy. He’d tagged along for my fight with Linia and Pursena, but I basically ended up defeating them singlehandedly. Linia had compared him scornfully to a hyena skulking around in the shadow of a lion. 

For his part, though, Zanoba seemed more concerned with his status as my “first student.” Of course, he was technically the fourth person I’d taught, after Sylphie, Eris, and Ghislaine. With Ghislaine there’d been a mutual exchange of information, so you could probably take her off the list… but that would still leave Zanoba at number three. 

When I mentioned this to him, however, he looked so heartbroken that I instantly regretted it. To soften the blow a little, I told him he was my first student when it came to making figurines. 

Julie, my second figurine-making student, always listened intently to Zanoba’s lengthy diatribes about his beloved Roxy figurine. He’d communicated enough of his passion to her that she sort of understood what he was talking about; I’d noticed her growing interest in making figurines on her own initiative. Still, it would be some time before she could discuss the finer points of design and technique the way Zanoba and I did. 

Just as importantly, though, she’d started to take her first clumsy steps as a silent spellcaster. Master Fitz was right on the money when he suggested that learning magic at an early age was the best way to master that skill. 

“…I couldn’t do it, Grandmaster.” 

“That’s okay.” 

For all of Julie’s progress, she was still young and made many mistakes. This time, the figurine’s legs had come out swollen like water balloons. She didn’t have the control necessary to use Earth magic precisely on such a small scale. I never got angry or frustrated with her, of course. I encouraged her to keep trying, telling her not to worry about her mistakes. Success never comes easily, and giving up after one failure is a good way to turn yourself into a sulky shut-in loser. 

“I guess you’re not quite ready to be fixing dolls yet, huh?” 

“I’m sorry…” 

No matter how kindly I spoke to Julie, there was always fear in her eyes when she looked at me. Apparently, I intimidated her. 

“Meeeew… I’m so sleepy…” 

“Yeah. It’s getting warmer out and all.” 

“Hey, Boss. We’ve got a great spot for midday naps, ya know? How about we show you sometime?” 

“Hmm? Can I do naughty things to you while you sleep, Linia?” 

“…Do you ever think about anything but sex, Boss?” 

“Don’t be absurd. Figurines are always first in my master’s thoughts.” 

“Ah, pipe down, Zanoba. No one asked you.” 

“But I—” 

“Put a sock in it. How’s about you go buy us some meat?” 

“Ain’t much time till the teacher gets here, mew.” 

“Guess he better run, then.” 

“Master Zanoba, I can go instead…” 

“I’m not going to let a little girl run errands for you. Why don’t I go instead?” 

“Mew? Don’t be stupid, Boss! I’d rather go myself!” 

“Oh yeah? Well, knock yourself out, then.” 

“Meow?!” 

The five of us were chattering pretty loudly. I imagine it was pretty annoying; we weren’t the only people in this room, after all. There was one other student in the classroom. Namely, Cliff Grimoire, who’d been studying all by himself up front during our entire conversation. 

All of a sudden, he jumped to his feet and turned back to us, his shoulders trembling with fury. “Will you people please shut up?! I can’t concentrate! If you’re just going to play around, go back to where you came from and do it there!” 

I immediately shut my mouth. Zanoba also stopped chattering, and returned to quietly instructing Julie. 

Our two ex-delinquents, however, chose to interpret Cliff’s outburst as a challenge. 

“Who d’you think you’re mouthing off to, kid?” 

“From now on, your money is my meat!” 

You might expect them to be a little more hesitant to pick a fight, given that I’d beaten them solidly. But I’d heard they went a round with Cliff soon after he enrolled and had beaten him easily; after that, he’d devoted himself wholeheartedly to his studies. 

I had to admire a guy who used his setbacks to motivate himself. It wouldn’t be right to harass such a diligent student. “Sorry about that, Cliff,” I said, interrupting. “Didn’t mean to distract you from your studies. We’ll keep it down from now on. Come on, you two. Down. Down!” 

“…If mew say so, Boss.” 

“Fuck…” 

Linia and Pursena flounced back into their seats, looking rather surly. 

“Hmph,” Cliff snorted. “Well, that’s all I wanted. Honestly, you people are ridiculous… I can’t believe you’ve roped Zanoba into your nonsense.” 

Linia and Pursena clicked their tongues, clearly irritated. Still, I didn’t see any reason to mess with someone who was working hard to get ahead in life. I didn’t think of myself as a slacker, either, but Cliff and I were clearly heading down very different roads. We’d never be anything more than acquaintances. 

Or so I thought at the time, at least. 

*** 

A week later, I was researching teleportation with Master Fitz at one of our regular library sessions. 

Recently I’d begun to understand that teleportation bore certain similarities to Summoning magic. The magic circles used were very much alike, and the color of the magical energy they released when activated was almost identical. 

They were totally different in one respect, though. It was totally impossible to summon a human being. There was simply no known way to do it, even with the most advanced and complex of techniques. You could call forth fiends, spirits, and even plants, yes. But not a person. I’d pored through countless records, myths, and ancient histories without finding a single reference to anyone summoning a person. There were many races in this world, including the various tribes of Demonkind, but this rule seemed to apply to all of them equally. 

This didn’t have any direct relevance to what we wanted to know, of course. Maybe it wasn’t a meaningful insight. But there was something about it that nagged at me. You couldn’t summon a flesh and blood person. Fair enough. But what about their soul? 

I didn’t voice these thoughts, but I did file them away quietly. If I ever met a real expert in this field, I’d have to ask them about the possibility of summoning the spirit of a dead man from another world. 

“Master Fitz, could you try to find out if there are any professors who know a lot about Summoning for me?” 

“Huh? Well, sure. But they don’t really teach that here, you know? Except for Enchantment, I guess. I’m not sure we’ll find anyone who knows about the kind of stuff we’re researching…” 

Come to think of it, I’d noticed a distinct lack of Summoning classes on the list of courses offered here… although Enchantment was technically a subcategory, from the sound of things. Had I read something about that in one of my textbooks? “Well, it can’t hurt to poke around and see what you find, at least.” 

To be honest, a small seed of uncertainty was growing inside me at this point. I didn’t let it show, of course. I was probably mistaken. The Displacement Incident had occurred when I was ten—a whole decade after I was reincarnated in this world. Surely those two things weren’t connected? Ten years had passed without anything happening, after all… 

With a hint of anxiety still lingering in my mind, I left the library and headed for my dorm by the light of the setting sun. The latest snowfall had mostly melted away; patches of red-brown earth were visible across the courtyard, and the paved stone path was clear. As I followed it toward my destination, I heard a shout somewhere nearby. 

“Get back here, you little shit!” 

“You think we’re gonna let you cast a spell?!” 

In the next instant, a young man burst out from behind a school building, followed by a group of six older men who were obviously chasing him. The young man was trying to gain enough distance from his pursuers to cast an Advanced spell, but they kept interrupting his incantation. He switched to Beginner-level magic, trying to slow them down, but it wasn’t enough. The group of six closed in and knocked him to the ground, then kicked at him viciously as he curled into a ball. 

I’d stumbled across a blatant case of schoolyard bullying, from the looks of things. It was painful just to watch; I couldn’t stop myself from intervening. “Hey, c’mon. Give it a rest, guys,” I called out as I trotted over. “No need to pick on that poor turtle.” 

The six bullies turned and glared fiercely in my direction. They were all a little taller than I was, so I guess they were trying to intimidate me. “Who the hell are you supposed to be?” 

After a moment, though, one of them recognized me. “H-Hey, that’s Q uagmire…” 

“ Q uagmire? Wait, you mean Rudeus?!” 

“That Rudeus?! The guy who locked Linia and Pursena in a room and trained them?!” 

Now, now. There wasn’t any training involved, I assure you. 

“That story’s a load of bull.” 

“But I saw Pursena wag her tail and calling him Boss…” 

“She wags her tail for anyone who gives her meat!” 

“But they do what he tells them now, right?” 

“Yeah. I saw them in class with that writing on their faces.” 

“What did it say again? ‘We are Rudeus’ love slaves,’ right?” 

“Well, I don’t remember exactly how it went…” 

“Damn. He beat them up and then enslaved them?” 

“They’re Doldia princesses, man!” 

“The guy doesn’t even think about the consequences…” 

After loudly whispering these highly inaccurate rumors, the group of bullies swallowed in unison and stared at me in something like awe. They looked each other in the face, nodded, and then turned their attention to the boy lying at their feet. “All right, kid. We’ll let you off the hook for today.” 

I quickly pounced on that comment. “For today? Are we going to have a repeat on our hands tomorrow, then? You planning to gang up on him again?” 

The six bullies grimaced in irritation. 

“Tch…” 

“Look, uh… Mr. Greyrat. This doesn’t really have anything to do with you, does it?” 

Guys like this loved trotting out that line. Yes, yes. This wasn’t any of my business. I knew that before I stuck my nose into it. “I don’t know what happened, but six-on-one just isn’t a fair fight.” 

The group exchanged looks, then shook their heads. They were evidently pretty good friends, judging from their ability to communicate silently. “Okay. Fine. We’ll leave the kid alone,” said one of the group. “But just so you know, it’s not like he’s the victim here.” 

With that, he turned and walked off, heading behind the building. The other five followed. Maybe they had a little base of operations set up back there or something. 

Once they disappeared, I let out a small sigh of relief. It wasn’t easy keeping cool when six people were glaring at me like that. I’d worked out some strategies for fighting when I was outnumbered, but it still took some effort to keep myself from turning tail. I was fine staring someone down one-on-one at this point, though. 

“Hey. You all right?” I walked over to the bullied boy as he struggled to his feet. He brushed the dust off his clothes, quickly murmuring the incantation for a Healing spell. In this place, even the kids who got picked on were apparently competent magicians… 

The boy turned to face me. It was Cliff. 

“…” 

Honestly, most of my interactions with this guy had been pretty unpleasant. Whenever we bumped into each other, he was openly hostile toward me. He was probably going to say something like “I didn’t ask for your help!” and then stalk off angrily. 

“I didn’t ask…” Halfway through the sentence, Cliff paused and frowned in thought. After a moment, he let out a small sigh. “…Sorry. I appreciate the help, Rudeus.” 

“Oh. You’re welcome.” 

The young mage bowed to me just a little, then walked briskly off. I stood there and watched him go, feeling a little startled. It was true that I’d come to his rescue, but that sudden change in attitude seemed very weird. It almost made me think he was plotting something. 

Still, it was probably best to take things at face value for the moment. Cliff had been hostile to me for some time, but I’d never snapped back at him. Maybe he’d finally figured out that I wasn’t his enemy. Honestly, I didn’t understand why he’d decided to hate me in the first place, but… 

“Well, whatever.” I shrugged, and walked off toward my dorm. 

The next day, Cliff asked me to speak with him behind our school building. 

He was angry. I didn’t have the first idea why, but it was written all over his face. It seemed like this might come to violence, so I’d activated my Eye of Foresight beforehand and was carefully monitoring my surroundings. I also had a good bit of mana gathered in my right hand waiting to be used. 

Honestly, though. Turtles these days. Talk about ingratitude. 

“Okay, we should be fine here.” 

After checking that there was no one else in the area, Cliff turned to face me. His face was flushed an interesting shade of red. 

I quickly realized that I’d misinterpreted the situation. He hadn’t called me here to fight me. If anything, this looked more like a classic love-confession scene. This was a little awkward. True, I hadn’t been able to perform with the ladies lately, but that didn’t mean I was ready to start studying Male Anatomy 101. 

It’s tough being so sexy, heh heh. 

“S-So here’s the thing, Rudeus…” 

“Yes?” I already knew how I’d reply, of course. It was important to give him a clear, definite answer. We were going to start off as friends. And also end that way. 

“Well, I’ve fallen in love with someone,” Cliff continued, scratching his cheek and bashfully studying the ground. 

“N-no kidding?” Man, was I really going to have to shoot this poor guy down? The thought made my stomach hurt. I couldn’t help thinking about how I might have reacted if he was a girl… but my sword had its preferences, and they weren’t about to change. 

To my surprise, however, Cliff looked up and pointed off to the side. “That’s her, right there.” 

He was indicating a building a little way off in the distance. There was someone inside, looking out an open window. Her long blonde hair fluttered in the breeze as she gazed at the setting sun with a melancholy expression on her face. 

“I saw you two talking this afternoon. You know her, right? Uhm… would you be willing to introduce us?” 

“…Er, sure.” 

The person standing at that window was a woman I knew all too well. She was a notorious troublemaker, the subject of countless rumors—and a voracious predator who chewed through her fellow students with all the vigor of a succubus. 

In other words, it was Elinalise Dragonroad.