Mushoku Tensei – JOBLESS REINCARNATION. Volume. 15.
Adulthood – Man-God Arc.
◇◇◇
Before starting please visit and bookmark our website dranimetv.com to listen audiobook of this Awesome series.
Also, Become our PATREON member to get series you wanted Faster and Earlier with Awesome Merch and Events.
So please check it out and let’s get started.
Diamond. diamond. diamond.
◇◇◇
‘Chapter 7:- READYING FOR BATTLE’
TIME MARCHED ON, indifferent to my concerns; and soon enough another month had passed.
The Magic Armor Mark One was now complete.
Somehow, we’d finished the project in only three months. I’d thrown a lot of money at it near the end, hiring additional workers to cover the more monotonous tasks, which had definitely sped things up.
Just as I’d anticipated, the thing ended up standing about three meters tall. However, its entire frame was covered in thick, crude plates of armor that I created, which lent it a surprisingly squat and stout appearance. It wasn’t exactly stylish, in other words.
You got in from behind. There was a hole in its back shaped for a human, which you basically just climbed into. Once you were feeding it mana, it acted as an extension of your own body, so you could manually close the rear armor over you. That section of armor also contained a special magic circle that would automatically eject you out of the back if you spoke the correct command.
We’d mounted the ‘Gatling gun’ on the right arm. The modified Magic Implement now automatically fired off Stone Cannon spells whenever I wanted it to. When I fed it as much mana as I could, it was capable of shooting my very deadliest Stone Cannon ten times per second. It would reduce your average monster to a bloody mist in the blink of an eye.
This was my main plan for coping with Orsted’s Disturb Magic.
On the left hand, we’d mounted a Stone of Absorption. For the most part, I was planning to ward off Orsted’s spells with Disturb Magic, but it was possible I wouldn’t have the time if things got too hectic. This stone could dissipate magic that had already been completely formed. It would let me deal with any spells I wasn’t quick enough to stop preemptively. I had a feeling it might come in handy.
We’d also given it a shield that could serve as a melee weapon of sorts. I wasn’t bad with a sword myself, but I knew I couldn’t compete with Orsted on that front. I’d concluded that it would be better to focus on defense at close range. And honestly, smacking him with a giant, heavy slab of rock might do more damage anyway. The best offense was a good defense. It was the same concept as a tank, basically.
However, I’d also mounted one of Paul’s old weapons at the tip of the shield. It was the magic sword I’d given to Aisha, rather than the one Norn now owned. I didn’t know if its ability to ignore an enemy’s defense would work on Orsted, but it was worth trying everything I could.
The end result wasn’t exactly majestic.
The Magic Armor was painted in a camouflage pattern, which felt almost as out of place here as the bulky Gatling gun on its arm. The huge, clunky shield with a blade at its tip didn’t have much aesthetic value either.
At the moment, the thing was lying face-down on the ground in a field on the outskirts of Sharia. It was so incredibly heavy that I’d have to get inside and feed it mana just to stand it up.
“Ooh! Now that’s a fearsome suit of armor!”
“Indeed, indeed. Its sheer bulk is quite imposing.”
“Uh, I don’t know. I might have gone with something a little sleeker…”
“Agreed. To be perfectly honest, I think it looks absurd.”
“…It’s like some kind of monster, Rudy. Couldn’t you have gone with a different color?”
Cliff and Zanoba nodded in satisfaction as they examined the finished product, but the women reacted much less favorably. Maybe this sort of thing just appealed more to boys.
On the other hand, Julie was studying it with a fairly satisfied expression on her face, so that clearly didn’t apply across the board. If I made it back in one piece, I’d have to see what Aisha and Norn thought.
Well, whatever. We hadn’t designed this thing to look cool.
“Okay, everyone,” I said, turning to face the group. “I think it’s time to get started with the final test run.”
Sylphie, Roxy, Zanoba, Cliff, Elinalise had all come out to watch. Julie and Ginger had tagged along as well. Nanahoshi wasn’t here. She’d agreed to help lure Orsted to me, but her main objective was still to return to her own world. As a precaution for her safety, we were pretending I had coerced her into cooperating with me. For that reason, she couldn’t be seen with us right now. She was probably studying Summoning magic with Perugius back at the floating fortress at the moment.
Of course, there was a chance that Orsted would end up killing her regardless. But when I mentioned this to her, she’d nodded queasily and accepted that risk.
“All right. I suppose I’ll look on from a safe distance, then.”
With those words, Roxy headed over to the chairs we’d set up for our spectators, taking Julie with her. Her baby bump wasn’t conspicuous just yet, but you could see it if you looked for it. She probably wasn’t going to be able to hide it much longer. Hopefully she’d make the big announcement soon.
Then again, going off to battle with a pregnant wife waiting for you at home was a classic way to get yourself tragically killed…
Okay, no! Don’t even think about it. The more anxious you get, the harder it becomes to focus.
I was going to win this fight. My wife was going to have her kid, and I was going to name them. And then I was going to get started on making baby number three. That was what my future looked like! Yeah!
“Okay, I’m going to climb inside it now. Sylphie, Zanoba, and Elinalise, I want all three of you to come at me at once. Cliff, you just keep your Eye of Identification active, and let me know if you notice anything.”
“Sure, Rudy.”
“Certainly, Master.”
Sylphie and Zanoba stepped forward at once. But to my surprise, Elinalise raised her hands in the air and backed away instead.
“I’m sorry, Rudeus, but I think I’ll just be spectating today. I’d rather not get injured.”
Come to think of it, that diary said Elinalise had gotten pregnant at some point. When I studied her physique carefully, I thought I could make out the beginnings of a bump. I’d been a little thoughtless inviting her to scrap with me.
“Ah, right. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to the baby. Why don’t you go sit with Roxy?”
“What?!” yelped Cliff. “The baby?!” Spinning around, he stared at Elinalise’s belly intensely. “Elinalise… are you pregnant?”
“Well, my curse has been inactive for some time now… so yes, I probably am.”
“Your curse is inactive?! But we’ve been, er, carrying on as usual!”
“That we have.”
“Wait, whose… It’s… It’s not Rudeus’ baby, is it?”
“Are you trying to make me angry, Cliff?”
“B-but, I mean—”
“If it’s that hard to believe, why don’t you take a look yourself? Maybe that Eye of yours will tell you something.”
“O-Okay.”
Cliff pulled his eyepatch aside and stepped closer to Elinalise… and then closer still. He ended up with his face about two inches from her lower abdomen. From all appearances, he was attempting to stare right into her womb. This close-range examination didn’t seem to be sufficient, though, as he reached out and began to slowly lift her up her skirt.
“Oh my. You do know we’re in public, dear?”
“Could you just be quiet for a minute?” hissed Cliff intensely. “Please?”
“All right, all right,” Elinalise replied, with a little shrug of her shoulders.
To be fair, it did look more than a little obscene the way he was crawling under that long skirt of hers. Maybe I could try something like this with one of my wives later… Hmm. Sylphie would definitely look good in one of those.
…This probably isn’t something I should be spending my mental resources on right now.
“…It’s true.”
Cliff reemerged from under his wife’s skirt, his face as pale as a sheet. Apparently, the Eye of Identification could serve as a pseudo-ultrasound. Maybe the word Pregnant had popped up in his vision or something.
“Wh-what now? What do we do?!”
“Oh, nothing in particular.”
“But it’s… it’s not an easy process, is it? And there are all sorts of—”
“Cliff, I’ve been through this many times already. I’ll be fine. You just let me handle things, and I’ll give birth to a healthy baby.”
“R-Right…”
Cliff’s face wasn’t getting any less pale. He seemed shellshocked at the suddenness of it all.
“In any case, that wasn’t very tactful of you, Rudeus,” Elinalise said, glancing in my direction. “Did Roxy let the cat out of the bag?”
“…No, she didn’t say anything. I just had a hunch, I guess.”
“I see. Well, hopefully you can understand why I’d rather not get involved in any brawls at the moment?”
“Of course. Sorry about that.”
Elinalise fluttering one hand in the air and walked off toward the spectator area, where she took the seat next to Roxy. The two of them immediately struck up a conversation. I had a pretty decent idea what the topic might be, considering that Roxy was rubbing a hand over her own stomach. The two of them must have gotten pregnant at almost exactly the same time.
Momentous as all this was, however, we had other things we needed to focus on at the moment.
“Okay, everyone, back to business. Let’s get this test started.”
Sylphie and Zanoba nodded, their faces turning serious.
An hour later, I called the test complete.
The Magic Armor had performed stupendously. My top speed felt something like two hundred kilometers per hour, I could jump several meters into the air with ease, and my punches hit hard enough to leave an impact crater on the ground. Sylphie struggled to land a single spell on me, and any magic that did hit me just bounced back. I couldn’t even feel Zanoba’s fearsome punches. In fact, he ended up breaking his hand on my armor and screaming in pain.
The project was a success. I was capable of dealing physical damage to a Blessed Child like Zanoba, which meant I would be capable of harming Orsted as well. For once, it felt like I’d managed to achieve my goal completely, without screwing up even once along the way. That felt nice.
Then again, I couldn’t really take the credit here. Zanoba and Cliff had made the project possible.
Maybe this was something like what it felt to fight under the protection of Battle Aura. This kind of power was intoxicating. I was beginning to understand why the likes of Perugius and Atofe had grown so arrogant over the years.
Had I evened the playing field enough? Did I stand a chance now?
Yeah. It could work… I can do this.
One way or another, my preparations were now complete.
***
That same evening, Roxy finally made the big announcement.
“I think it’s about time I told you, everyone. It seems I’m pregnant.”
She spoke up just before dinner. Norn happened to be at home that evening as well, so the whole family was present.
“Congratulations! How very exciting!”
Lilia was the first to react. Although she usually kept her emotions somewhat hidden, there was a big smile on her face right now, and it looked completely genuine. For a moment, I thought it might have something to do with her feelings about her own daughter’s position in the family…but it seemed more likely that Roxy had consulted her in advance. That would also explain why the meal on our dinner table looked a bit fancier than usual.
“Congratulations, Roxy.”
Sylphie’s reaction was similar. Either Roxy had gone to her for advice, or she’d had a hunch this was coming. She accepted the news easily, with a warm smile on her face.
For some reason, the sight of that smile hit me with a flash of déjà vu.
In a sense, this was similar to the day when Lilia revealed her pregnancy. There were many differences, of course. Zenith and Lilia were here, and I hadn’t exactly been cheating with Roxy. Well… it might have started out that way, but at least we’d talked things through as a family and worked something out. Sylphie had accepted Roxy. Unlike my old man, I wasn’t going to get a slap in the face from my furious wife, or see my ‘mistress’ break down in tears. We’d skipped right to the happy ending part.
“Uhm… Rudy? Do you have any thoughts?”
Evidently a bit unnerved by my silence, Roxy turned to me with an apprehensive look on her face.
There was only one thing to say, of course.
“I’m incredibly happy. Thank you, Roxy.”
“Huh? Uh… what are you thanking me for, exactly?”
Roxy tilted her head quizzically to one side with a confused half-smile. She didn’t seem to understand my reaction, but she didn’t look upset, either.
“There you go again, Rudy,” said Sylphie with a chuckle. “He said the same thing to me when I told him about Lucie, you know?”
Did I? Yeah, maybe I did. Why would that be my default response, though? Hmm…
“Well… I’m glad you’re pregnant with my baby, and I’m glad you felt comfortable telling me about it. It feels like proof that you’ve truly accepted me, I guess.”
“I thought I’d proven that to you quite some time ago, but—Wah!”
I leaned forward, picked Roxy up and pulled her into my lap. I usually tried not to get too lovey-dovey with her in front of Sylphie, but today was going to be an exception.
“You’ve given me all sorts of gifts, taught me all sorts of things, and helped me many, many times. And now, just to top it off, you’re even going to have a baby with me… I don’t know what to say other than thank you. I’m so grateful that I met you, Master Roxy.”
“Goodness. It’s been a while since you called me that…”
Gently, I ran my hand over Roxy’s belly. She was probably about three months into her pregnancy by now; I could feel a definite bump. I’d been through this once already with Sylphie, but it still felt kind of surreal.
“Listen, Rudy. You’re my husband now, and I wanted to have a baby with you. If you feel the need to praise me, I think something like ‘well done’ or ‘good work’ would be more appropriate.”
“Wouldn’t that sound kind of arrogant?”
“Come on. Please? Can’t you let me have my way every once in a while?”
“Well, okay then… W-Well done, Roxy.”
“Heheh. Oh, it was nothing, really.”
As she spoke these words, Roxy pressed her head against my chest and snuggled in. She sure seemed to be taking this calmly. I felt like Sylphie had been a little more nervous.
Then again, it seemed like Elinalise and Lilia both knew about Roxy’s pregnancy in advance. Maybe she’d reassured herself by talking to lots of different people about her situation.
…Maybe she’d turned to them because of how busy I’d been lately.
The idea made me feel guilty. I was turning into one of those absentee dads, too busy to pay attention to his family… Although it wasn’t like I was off climbing the corporate ladder or anything.
I squeezed Roxy tightly in my arms, pressed my face to the back of her head and buried my nose in her hair. Her scent was as wonderful as ever. It really put my heart at ease.
“Ugh! Rudeus!” yelped Norn, thumping her hands against the table for emphasis. “Can you try to contain yourself? I’m going to lose my appetite!”
I glanced over. Her face was as red as a tomato.
“C’mon, cut them a little slack,” chided Aisha. “Roxy is always so considerate, you know? She deserves some affection tonight.”
For some reason, she was leaning forward on the table with her chin in her hand and a smirk on her face.
“You’re just cranky because Rudeus isn’t giving you any attention lately, right?”
“Wh-what?! No!” yelped Norn. “I am not! Look, I mean, things are a little complicated, right? Think about how Sylphie and Lucie must feel! I just think they should keep this sort of thing behind closed doors!”
“Oh, you’re not fooling me. You know, brother dear, you really should make the time to catch up with Norn. She’s very popular at school lately. Just the other day, some boy stopped by the house to leave her a letter.”
“Aisha! Who said you could tell him about that?!”
Ah, so Norn had attracted her first swarm of admirers? Well, she was adorable, and hard-working too. The boys had good taste, I’d give them that.
Someday down the line, she’d probably get a boyfriend, get married, and leave my house for good. I wanted to be supportive, of course… but if she fell for some no-good playboy, it would be hard not to intervene. I tried to picture Norn bringing home some kid with bleached blond hair, pierced ears, and a teardrop tattoo under one eye…
Your little sister’s teachin’ me what true love really is, man. Can we, like, have your blessing?
Hmm. It didn’t seem very plausible, fortunately. But if things did turn out that way, I’d have to try and smile politely before freaking out.
“Do you have anyone you’re fond of yet, Norn?”
“A-anyone I’m… fond of?” As another blush spread slowly across her face, Norn turned away from me and pouted. “O-of course not.”
So there was someone in the picture, huh? Nothing unusual about that. She was getting to that age, after all. Whoever he was, he was one lucky kid.
“Okay, I get the picture. If things start getting serious, you make sure to bring him over to meet the family.”
“Are you even listening to me?!”
Once she brought the boy back home, I’d have to size him up carefully in Paul’s stead. That, and dispense a few fatherly threats. The words “You’ll take my little girl away over my dead body!” were going to get bellowed at some point.
“Anyway, what about you, Aisha? You’re always babbling about how happy Rudeus will be when you show him that rice from the garden!”
“Heeey!” shouted Aisha, jumping up out of her seat. “I was gonna make a big announcement about that later! You’re horrible, Norn!”
“Hmph! Serves you right!” said Norn, turning away sulkily.
Wait, wait. Did she just say what I thought she said?
“Hold on, Aisha. You…harvested the rice from the garden?!”
“Uh… well, yeah. I think it’s been a little too cold, though, so I didn’t get that much. But if I get replanting now, by fall we should—”
“Replanting?! Does that mean you harvested seed rice, too?! It does, doesn’t it?!”
“Y-Yeah, I did. Uh, you’re…acting a little weird, Rudeus. What’s the matter?”
“I’m acting perfectly normally, I assure you! What about next year?! Will we have another crop next year?!”
“W-Well, as long as you make more of that soil with your magic, sure… it grows a lot better in that stuff.”
I gently picked Roxy up and sat her down on the floor next to me. Then I rose to my feet, moved to the side of the table, and kneeled three steps from Aisha’s chair with my arms spread wide.
“Well done, Aisha!”
“Y-Yay? Uh, should I be… jumping into your arms right now, or something?”
Aisha slowly walked toward me while glancing repeatedly in Roxy’s direction, then hopped gingerly into my embrace. I grabbed her from either side, hoisted her into the air, and started spinning her around.
“Woooo! It’s rice, Aisha! Riiice!”
“Woooo!”
I could finally eat rice again. It was a minor thing compared to Roxy’s pregnancy, but I loved rice with a passion. Nothing could compare to a big, plump mound of fluffy white goodness. Especially when you paired it with some nice, salty grilled fish. Soon enough, I could make that happy dream a reality.
As I spun Aisha around and around, a fresh surge of joy spread through my body. Roxy and I were going to have a baby. Lucie was going to have a little brother or sister, about two years younger than her. The kid would be half-Migurd, of course… hopefully she wouldn’t get bullied or anything. What color would her hair turn out to be?
Would Lucie be a good big sister? Hopefully they’d get along with Norn and Aisha, too…
I can’t wait. What should we name— Oh, right. There’s a taboo about that, isn’t there…
A whole bunch of other thoughts swirled through my head in quick succession, until I couldn’t even keep track of them anymore.
After Roxy’s announcement, we had ourselves a modest little celebration. The food was nicer than usual, and the conversation around the table was cheerful and energetic. Norn told us stories from her time in the student council. Aisha happily reported that the people at the city market were starting to learn her name. Lucie burst into tears at all the noise, and Sylphie comforted her expertly. Lilia served the food quietly, with a gentle smile on her face. Zenith ate silently, but was clearly in a good mood. Roxy was sulking after my overreaction to Aisha’s news, so I had to work hard to mollify her.
One of the courses that evening consisted of salted rice balls. Aisha had made these personally. When I asked why she’d chosen rice balls in particular, she explained that Nanahoshi had told her how to make them some time ago. I had to assume that it was the only ‘recipe’ she knew off the top of her head… the girl clearly hadn’t spent much time in the kitchen. Then again, the only recipes I could come up with on the spur of the moment were for equally basic stuff like rice porridge and simple varieties of rice ball.
In any case, Aisha’s first attempt at hand-made rice balls were round and on the smaller side. The first planting had been more of an experiment than anything else, so she hadn’t harvested that much rice.
Still, there was enough for everyone to try one. Nobody else around the table looked particularly impressed with the flavor, but I savored mine joyfully. Aisha had worked very hard to harvest that rice, and she’d pressed it into a ball with her own little hands. How could the result be anything but delicious? Tears streaming down my cheeks, I slowly chewed and swallowed every bite.
The experiment had been a success. That meant we could expect a larger harvest next time. Aisha was going to plant more rice than before, so the next rice balls she made would be bigger.
…There was no guarantee I’d be around to eat them, though.
“I’ve got something I need to tell you, everyone.”
Once everyone had finished their meal, I finally spoke up, then paused to look around the table. My sisters and my mothers looked startled. My wives seemed to be bracing themselves. I took the time to look all of them in the eyes, one by one.
“Very soon, I’m going to be fighting someone. Someone who’s incredibly powerful.”
I’d decided in advance not to say Orsted’s name explicitly.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve been acting rather oddly for the last two months. Thank you for not pressing me to explain. I know it wasn’t easy for you, and I’m sorry I can’t explain in detail.”
“…”
“There’s a good chance I won’t win this fight.”
When I spoke these words, surprise and anxiety flashed across my family’s faces. I pressed right ahead anyway.
“This might be my last meal at this dinner table, in other words.”
“D-do you have to fight this person?” said Norn, clearly rattled. “Isn’t there any other option?”
“…No. None that I know of, at least.”
The Man-God hadn’t stopped by since advising me on how to build the Magic Armor. Knowing him, however, I had to assume he’d been keeping a close eye on me all this time.
“But you said you might not win, right? What’s… Why would you do something like that? It doesn’t—”
“Norn, listen.”
Norn was the most flustered and confused person in the room. That was perfectly understandable. Aisha and Lilia still lived under the same roof as me, so they’d probably picked up on the fact that something was going on. Their expressions were grave, but they didn’t look especially surprised.
“If I don’t come back, I want you to go into my room and—”
“If you don’t come back?! Why would you even say that?!”
She did have a point. I’d worked out a nice dramatic line like something out of a story, but why bother with the doomed hero act? Might as well keep a positive attitude.
“Okay then. When I do come back, let’s take a bath together or something.”
“…I don’t want to. Take it by yourself.”
Haha, ouch! Classic Norn!
“Aisha.”
“Yes?”
“If I don’t make it back, I want you to take some of those rice balls you made to Nanahoshi, too.”
“Oh…”
“She’ll cry with joy, I guarantee it. Once you’ve given her some of those, she’ll do anything you ask her to.”
“…I don’t really want to win over Miss Nanahoshi,” Aisha muttered, her head drooping slightly. “I’d rather make you spoil me, Rudeus.”
Aw, isn’t that sweet. What a lovable kid. I’ll have to buy her a nice present if I make it back alive. I think she’s earned a nice big bag or a diamond ring by now.
“Lilia…”
“Yes, Master Rudeus?”
“Take care of my mother, please.”
“I certainly will. However…”
“Yes?”
“I’ll be waiting for your return, Master Rudeus. No matter how long it takes.”
Lilia’s voice was soft, but firm. We’d known each other for a long time now, but she’d never managed to get any less formal with me. Aisha was definitely my little sister, but it felt like Lilia didn’t really consider herself my mother.
“Hey, Mom. Did you hear all that?”
“…”
“I’ve got to go soon, but I’ll be back.”
“…”
I thought I could see a hint of sadness on Zenith’s face, but it was hard to tell with her. I had to hope that she’d manage to express her emotions more clearly someday.
“Sylphie…”
“Yeah?”
“Take care of Lucie.”
“Right. Uhm, Rudy… I…”
“…Go on. What is it?”
“It’s… it’s nothing. Sorry.”
There was something on the tip of Sylphie’s tongue, but I couldn’t guess exactly what it was. I loved her very much, of course. But she wasn’t easy to read, and it made me anxious sometimes.
I reached out under the table and took her hand in mine. And then, bringing my mouth to her ear, I spoke to her in a whisper.
“Uh, Sylphie?”
“Yeah?”
“This might piss you off a little, honestly…”
“Okay.”
“But if I make it back, let’s get really busy.”
Sylphie’s head jerked forward at this. Maybe I’d taken the wrong approach here?
“Good grief! Why are you always so naughty, Rudy?” she whispered, slapping me lightly on the shoulder.
I took the opportunity to grab her hand and pull her close.
“Ah!”
It was a sudden, relatively forceful kiss. Sylphie stiffened in surprise, but didn’t pull away. She was as cute as heck today. Not that she wasn’t cute at any given moment. Sylphie was cute by definition. I was going to come back home to her. When I told that to myself, it started to feel true.
“Come on, Rudy… everyone’s watching… Hyaah!”
Just for good measure, I took some time to lick one of her long, pointed ears, pausing to nibble on it gently. By the time I released her, there were visible bite marks on it.
“Don’t worry, I’ll come back. Just be patient, okay?”
“Okay,” murmured Sylphie, her face bright red. “I’ll try my best.”
With that, I turned to the last person at the table.
“Roxy…”
“Yes, Rudy?”
“Let’s…sleep together tonight, okay?”
“But the baby’s… Well, all right.”
She hesitated briefly at my offer, but ended up nodding in agreement.
That evening, Roxy and I took our bath and headed to my bedroom together, holding hands. Last year, this sort of thing had been enough to get me worked up and raring to go. But under these circumstances, well… there was no way I could get myself in the mood.
“All right then. As long as you’re gentle, I—”
“That’s okay, Roxy. I think we should skip that tonight.”
Roxy had already started to take off her nightgown, but I held up a hand to stop her. She paused, her hands still on her sleeve, and tilted her head quizzically.
“Come on. Have a seat.”
I gestured to the bed. Once Roxy settled on it, I took a seat in my chair, rather than joining her.
“I want to give you the details of the situation… and explain what might happen if I lose.”
“…Why just me? What about Sylphie?”
“…”
“You’re willing to trust me and Nanahoshi, but not her?”
“How do you know I’ve been talking to Nanahoshi?”
“It’s Sylphie’s theory, not mine. We’ve been talking to each other about the situation for a while now… Is there some reason you don’t want Sylphie to know all the details?”
“That’s…a good question, actually.”
Why was I doing this? I wasn’t sure. But for some reason, I didn’t want to tell Sylphie everything. Maybe I didn’t want to worry her?
No, that wasn’t it. But why, then? Seriously, why?
Was this that destiny thing at work again?
“I’m happy you’re willing to consult me, of course. But I feel quite bad for her at this point.”
“Yeah… you’re right, Roxy. I’ll go get her now.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Roxy was always right, wasn’t she? I was so lucky to have her around.
I left Roxy in my bedroom for the moment and made my way over to Sylphie’s room. As my hand found the doorknob, though, I hesitated for a moment.
Now that I thought about it, I’d never looked in on Sylphie on a ‘Roxy night’ before. What if she was crying herself to sleep in there or something? Sylphie always said that she was okay with me falling in love with other women. She’d welcomed Roxy to the family warmly, and she’d accepted the possibility of Eris joining us as well. But it was possible that she felt very differently deep down inside.
What if she was sobbing right now?
What is she was hammering little spikes into a voodoo doll? Or biting on a lacy handkerchief, hissing “That little hussy!” to herself?
Hmm… Nah, it’s gonna be fine. Surely my sweet little Sylphie isn’t capable of that.
“Uhm, Sylphie? Can you come to my room for—”
“He just chomped on my ear, just like that! Oh, you should have heard the way he murmured Let’s get really busy! Eee! What is he going to do to me? I bet it’s gonna be that first night all over again… What do I do, Lucie? You might have a little brother or sister on the way soon!”
When I opened the door, I found Sylphie rolling around on her bed with her arms wrapped around a pillow, kicking her legs in girlish excitement. She’d been talking fairly softly, but once the door was open, I could hear every word clearly.
It was a little hard to believe this girl was already the mother of a child. On the other hand, it was an extremely adorable sight. I was sorely tempted to pounce on her. Fortunately, Lucie wasn’t in the room, as she slept in Lilia’s bedroom. But then again, this room wasn’t soundproof…
Gah. Get a hold of yourself! Roxy’s waiting for you, remember?
“Ah.”
Our eyes had met. Sylphie stopped dead in mid-roll with her back on the bed, her butt up against the wall, and her legs stretched up toward the ceiling. A big, creepy grin was frozen on her face.
“…”
In a gesture of compassion, I closed the door without a word. Everybody does things they wouldn’t want anyone to see, right?
“Hey! No, Rudy! Wait! You’ve got it all wrong! Don’t go!”
Moving with impressive speed, Sylphie popped up out of her bed and rushed forward, catching the door just before it shut completely.
“Well, I wasn’t going anywhere. Just thought we might want to retry that from the top.”
“What? You don’t have to do that. Do you need something? It’s Roxy’s night, isn’t it? Oh, maybe it’s one of those days? Do you want me to swap in?”
The girl clearly wasn’t thinking straight at the moment. She seemed to think Roxy’s period had suddenly started, despite the fact that Roxy was pregnant. You didn’t see her like this every day. Or very often at all, really.
Charming as it was, though, it was about time I got things back on track.
“I wanted to tell you about the person I’m going to fight, and what might happen afterward. Can you come over to my room?”
Sylphie fell silent for a few seconds, then nodded quickly with a serious expression on her face. I thought I saw a hint of happiness in her eyes as well.
I felt a little relieved myself, for whatever reason.
The explanation itself didn’t take too long.
Sylphie and Roxy listened quietly as I told them that my opponent was the Dragon God Orsted, and that I’d been ordered to fight him by someone called the Man-God, who visited me in my dreams. I explained that if I died, there were a few things they had to do: first, consider Orsted an enemy, but never challenge him directly; second, never trust any advice given by the Man-God; and third, pass down both of those instructions to future generations of our family.
I also mentioned that after my death, they should tell the rest of the family everything I’d told them—and try to think of ways to keep each other safe. I did my best to convey how serious the situation really was. The three of us had started off sitting on the bed, but as the conversation continued, I found myself lying down with Roxy and Sylphie cuddled up on either side of me.
“If I end up losing, there’s a chance something horrible might happen to Roxy during her pregnancy. Or to Lucie, for that matter.”
“Something horrible? Uhm, basically… you’re saying this Man-God might do something to us?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh… now I get it. So that’s why you kept telling us to keep an eye on the house lately…”
Sylphie nodded to herself, looking like she’d just solved a puzzle. I had a feeling she was misunderstanding my motives slightly. That was convenient, in a way, but maybe I needed to say something.
“Okay, I get it,” Sylphie continued. “But you know, Rudy, I can take care of myself! And you don’t need to ask me to protect my daughter, either. I’d give my life for her in a heartbeat.”
“Don’t worry about me either,” Roxy added. “I kept myself alive for many years, and I’m not planning to get careless now. I might be weaker than you, but please don’t assume I’m helpless.”
On second thought, I couldn’t see a reason to say anything. They were both a little fired up, and that was all for the best.
“In any case, Orsted of the Seven Great Powers is…quite the opponent,” Roxy continued. “Do you think you can win?”
“I’m not sure,” I replied honestly. “I’ve only fought him once before.”
“What happened?”
“He overwhelmed me. Easily.”
Even after all this time, remembering that first encounter with the Dragon God made my legs tremble. He’d beaten Ruijerd in an instant, easily knocked Eris out of the fight… and stabbed his hand deep into my body.
…The man was terrifying.
“…Rudy, are you sure we shouldn’t all go together?”
“Nah, I’ll do this alone. I think that gives me the best chance of winning. I’ll fire off lots of huge spells and chip away at his defenses from a distance.”
“That does make sense… but you’re trembling, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“Hey! Wha… Hands off, Rudy! Stop trying to distract me!”
In my defense, I hadn’t started touching Sylphie because I wanted to distract her. I just wanted to feel her up. If Orsted killed me, I wouldn’t get another chance to touch these. Or this right here, either. Or that. Or this, for that matter…
“…Gah! Come on. We’re having a serious conversation right now, right?”
“Yep.”
“You know what, Rudy? Lucie’s crawling around all over the place now. She can get anywhere she wants to.”
“Hmm…”
“Lilia said she reminds her of the way you were as a baby.”
“…”
“Also, she’s picking up lots of new words. At this rate, I bet she’ll be toddling around the place in less than a year.”
I hadn’t been helping out much at all with raising Lucie. I was leaving it entirely to Lilia and Sylphie. Still… I knew how incredibly cute she was, at least.
“I’m really looking forward to that, Rudy.”
“Me too.”
“If it seems like you’re going to lose, make sure you run for it, okay?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get away from him, but I’ll try.”
Was Lucie old enough to understand what was happening around her yet? If I died in this battle, she probably wouldn’t even remember the face of her own dad by the time she grew up. What would that feel like? It was hard for me to imagine, but maybe I could find a tactful way to ask Aisha…
“…Rudy.”
Roxy had spoken up from my left. I reached out to grope at her chest, as well, but she seized hold of my arm before I could.
Ooh, that’s some impressive grip strength! Ow. Sorry. I know, I know… we’re having a serious conversation.
“Uhm… I’m glad I met you, Rudy. I’m glad I married you and had a child with you. I’ve never been happier in my entire life than I am right now. To be honest, I never thought I’d find this kind of happiness.”
“Right…”
“But there’s a downside, I suppose. If you go off and get yourself killed, you’d be making me sadder than I’ve ever been before.”
“…Right.”
“Uhm, it’s a little embarrassing to even say this sort of thing, but…”
Roxy paused for a moment, inhaled deeply, and then finished her sentence.
“Please make me happy, Rudy.”
I hadn’t made the wrong decision after all. I was going to fight for Roxy, and for Sylphie.
I had to fight for these two, and then come back home to my family.
All my doubts had finally evaporated.
A few days later, with all my preparations finally complete, I set out from the Magic City of Sharia.
I was entirely alone.
◇◇◇
Diamond. Diamond. Diamond.
◇◇◇
Thank you for Reading on Light Novel Page.
Please like, Share and Subscribe our YOUTUBE Channel.
Also follow me on INSTAGRAM and TWITTER to get future updates.
And support me on PATREON.
This is Dr.Anime & Stay tuned for next Chapter.
◇◇◇
