Mushoku Tensei Redundancy

『Talhand The Clifftop』was the 37th of 51 siblings.
He was born to an ordinary Dwarf family and was constantly surrounded by his brothers and sisters.

51 of them.
Of course, they didn’t all share the same mother.
Something not generally known is that in the Dwarf village, all children of the same generation are all grouped together.
I guess you could liken it to a school, but from the moment they are born, they are considered siblings until death.
And so all the children live as siblings, any disparity in wealth is lost, and they can eventually transition smoothly into positions of responsibility within the village.
And among their siblings, someone will be the chief, some will be servants, and others will marry each other.

Of course, that’s simply the state of this village.
Dwarves outside the village have no such custom.

Anyhow, Talhand was raised among several tens of people as siblings.
He was a normal child.
He was interested in rock and iron, he liked the smell of alcohol, and he admired blacksmiths and builders.
The only thing that might have stood out was that he seemed to like the men more than the women.

That aside, among his siblings there was one who was particularly popular.
His little brother, the 38th of 51.
His name was『G.o.dbard of the Splendid Heavenly Peak』.

G.o.dbard had a particular talent.
Once Dwarf children are of age, they are taught blacksmithing and crafts, as well as simple Earth Magic.
And amongst those, G.o.dbard far outshone the rest.
He could use the hammer to create steel as hard as the adults, he could craft ornaments splendid enough to make you doubt your eyes, and if you showed him a building, he could immediately fix its weak points.

Dwarves live longer than humans.
Around the time that G.o.dbard’s talent was discovered, there were still those who had lived through the Laplace War.
“He’s the spitting image of the late Ore G.o.d,” they proclaimed.
At their recommendation he was selected as a candidate for the next Ore G.o.d and was given preferential treatment.
The other children also came to recognise him as their future leader.

It was at that point that Talhand also began to show changes.
He lost interest in smithing and crafts.
Because he knew that no matter how hard he tried, nothing he made would ever outs.h.i.+ne G.o.dbard.
He wasn’t comparing himself to G.o.dbard.
The adults never even looked at anything anyone other than G.o.dbard made, so there was never even any comparison.

Did Talhand want to be number one?
No.
That wasn’t it.

Then did he resent the respect shown to G.o.dbard?
That wasn’t it either.
Talhand and G.o.dbard were quite close.
In fact, G.o.dbard was one of his first friends.
Talhand’s first love was G.o.dbard.
When he heard that G.o.dbard was to be the next Ore G.o.d, he was happy.

And so, Talhand thought of how he could be helpful to G.o.dbard.
How he would make up for his deficiencies and become his right-hand man.

The conclusion he reached was Magic.
Especially, Water and Wind Magic which the Dwarves considered worthless.
The previous Ore G.o.d was was a G.o.d Cla.s.s Earth Mage, and using the stone he created, produced a legendary sword.
But it’s also said that the reason he was able to create such an amazing sword was because of the Water and Wind talents of the Elves.

Blacksmithing is done with more than just earth and fire.
To grow fire, you need wind. To cool steel, you need water.
It’s not an incorrect philos

ophy, but the adults of the village refused to acknowledge it.
Tradition and formality have prevented previous generations of Dwarves from excelling at Wind and Water Magic.
They would give all kinds of reasons to prevent Talhand from learning Wind and Water Magic.
In actual fact, Talhand was far better at Earth Magic than Wind or Water.

But G.o.dbard had said, “I think it’s a great idea. Those adults’ heads are too hard.”

Those words gave Talhand determination and further flared his admiration of Magic.
And so Talhand separated from the norm.

And because of that, he became an object of scorn among some of his siblings.
According to them, any Dwarf who couldn’t work a forge, couldn’t be considered a man.
And Magic should only be used to loosen bedrock, anything used in smithing should be birthed by nature.

And under their contempt, Talhand slowly advanced his studies.
It was all for the sake of G.o.dbard.
When he became the new Ore G.o.d, he would definitely need Talhand’s strength.
That’s what he believed.

Even when they criticised him, ostracised him, and he became known as an eccentric madman, he continued to believe.

And then the day arrived.
The day G.o.dbard became the Ore G.o.d.

In accordance with the succession ritual, the Ore G.o.d must craft five swords.
And for each sword he creates, he selects those he can most rely on.
The Ore G.o.d himself selects his his wife and friends, those who will help him lead the village in the future.

Talhand of course, nominated himself.
He’d been training himself for this day.
But to his surprise, G.o.dbard didn’t select him.
He selected those in the village who possessed skill and his lover… And that was fine.
But his last selection was one who had berated Talhand as a lunatic, a stubborn old man.

Talhand objected.
“As if I could stand such foolishness, I worked this hard for you!” he said.
But G.o.dbard replied,

“Can you make an actual sword?”

And of course Talhand answered,

“Of course I can, give me a chance.”

G.o.dbard gave a bitter look, but he consented.
The stubborn old man and Talhand.
They would both forge a sword in compet.i.tion.
And to a.s.sure impartiality, G.o.dbard proclaimed that only those he deemed worthy were to partic.i.p.ate.
They gathered from all around to join.

Talhand was baffled.
He had trained his Water and Wind Magic for this moment.
But since childhood, he had done very little smithing.
He could count the number of times he made a sword on his hand.
He was at a ma.s.sive disadvantage.

“Wait! I wanted to help you make swords!”

And to his plea,

“Someone who can’t make their own sword, couldn’t possibly understand my design. Those who don’t understand can’t a.s.sist me.”

He was denied.
He didn’t understand.
He thought there was n.o.body who could understand G.o.dbard better than himself.
So why…

And so still confused, he duelled with no plan…
And lost.


And so with eyes drilling holes in his back, he left the scene.
The next day, during the succession ceremony, Talhand left the village.


 

After that, Talhand continued traveling as an Adventurer.

He was almost always alone.
After the incident with G.o.dbard, he could no longer bring himself to trust people.
After being ostracised for so long, he had no idea how to interact with others.
And his s.e.xual inclination didn’t help with that.

His smithery was at the base level a Dwarf should have, but the Magic that he had spent most of his time on was only at a reasonable level.
It only went as far a reasonable.
So he clad himself in armour and had no choice but to resign himself to something of a Magic Knight role.
But he still didn’t think being a solo adventurer was that difficult of a task.

When Talhand was raised to B rank, a certain person took notice of him.
Elinalise Dragonroad.
At first, she had her eyes on his body.
She felt like eating up a Dwarven youth.
But with Talhand’s s.e.xuality, he had no interest in her.
And no amount of seduction could change that.
And when he finally got tired of her advances, he told her he was gay.

Elinalise stared at him mouth agape and the proceeded to laugh.
Talhand wasn’t too pleased with that.
But he knew he would be able to part ways with the lascivious Elf.

But Elinalise never left him.
He had no idea why.
Maybe she thought she could stay out of trouble by following him around.

After that the two of them teamed up a quite a number of times.
The abilities of the fast warrior Elinalise and the heavily armoured Mage Talhand meshed well together.

He still found her irritating, but for some odd reason, it wasn’t an uncomfortable sensation.
Maybe because her common sense was bound by strict rules.
Although neither of them talked about forming an official Party.

But the appearance of a single boy changed that.
Paul Greyrat.

He managed to bring together the scattered Elinalise, Talhand, Gisu and Ghyslaine and form a party.
The『Black Wolf’s Fang』.
Their combination caused quite a stir, but that’s a story for another time.

The members of『Black Wolf’s Fang』were all those ejected from their own societies.
And although none of them matched with Talhand, they were all faithful to their desires.

Paul was especially creative in his wild thoughts.
When he heard of Talhand’s preferences, he simply laughed it off and exclaimed, “So I get the women, Elinalise gets the men, and if you take whoever’s left, n.o.body gets wasted.”
Paul was an easy to understand kid and his every action would leave you wanting to sigh.
Although it didn’t seem as if he acted without restraint.
He possessed some amount of common sense.
Even when he was publicly labelled a playboy, he continued to live how he wanted as if he couldn’t care less.
Paul’s way of life opened Talhand’s eyes.

Paul’s actions gave the『Black Wolf’s Fang』quite the bad reputation, but it was fun nonetheless.
Whenever Paul did something befitting of his name, he would give a hearty Dwarven laugh.
Talhand’s feelings for Paul, while similar to love, were decidedly different.
It was most likely faith.
For the first time in his life, he had companions he could trust.

But that trust was broken.
Zenith joining the party had destroyed his reliance on them.
Paul, who had run around uninhibited until now, began to act with common sense to conform with what Zenith expected.
You could consider it Paul growing as a person.

But Paul made one mistake right at the end.
The upheaval caused by Paul’s marriage to Zenith left a scar on each of the members hearts.
In hindsight, it may have only been a small thing.
But it resolved Talhand to never join another party again.

After that, Talhand continued on alone, and before long, the Fitoa Annihilation Event occurred.
He was reunited with Elinalise, met Roxy, and together with the two of them, his aversion towards groups diminished…
But his sentiment didn’t extend to Paul.

He met back up with Paul on his return from the Magic Continent.
And the man he met, was no longer the unruly child he once knew.
He was a man, a father, desperately searching for his family.
Talhand knew he had changed, that he had grown up.

He first met Paul’s son in the Begarrito Continent.
Rudeus Greyrat.
He had a.s.sumed he would be some lazy arrogant brat just like his father, but he was a surprisingly dependable kid.
But seeing how Paul had matured it wasn’t all that strange.

Paul and Rudeus.
Seeing the two of them caused Talhand’s chest to tighten.
He didn’t know why.


And then Paul died.


It was too quick of an end.
He received quite the shock.
But seeing the far greater impact it had on Rudeus, he was hesitant to let it show.
So he drank his sorrows away as calm as he always was.

After that he left the Begarito Continent and met Paul’s son’s family.
The son of the flagrant womaniser Paul, had actually started his own family.
So after erecting a grave for Paul and having a drink in his honour, he left Sharia on a journey.

It was then that something inside Talhand was over.
Something that had been with him since he became an Adventurer.


 

One day, in his emptiness, a thought came to Talhand.
That he should learn to blacksmith.

He couldn’t tell why he thought that.
But throughout his journey towards the Asura Kingdom, he took up jobs in smithies alongside his work as an Adventurer as training.
Because of Gisu’s gambling, he had lost most of his fortune.
And to earn a little more money, when he reached the Millis Continent, he took a break from his travels.

He started smithing with all of his magic at his disposal.
Fire, Earth, Water and Wind.

He made swords, he made gauntlets, he made s.h.i.+elds, he made swords, he made armour, he made helmets, and he made swords.
And through that, he somehow began to understand what G.o.dbard had said to him all those years ago.
Some things just can’t be conveyed through words. The tempo, the timing, the force, he began to get a feel for all these things.

His skill rapidly increased.
The intricacies of G.o.dbard’s forgery were burning in his mind.
And his knowledge from his time as an adventurer about what kinds of equipment outperformed others played a big part.
The way he used Magic was far from that his village taught.

Eventually, people who would buy his wares appeared.
The Rudo Mercenaries.
Because he was acquainted with Rudeus, that branch became his sponsor.
And because of that, eventually he was able to set up his own shop.

But, as always, his actions didn’t have any purpose to himself.
His part time Adventures, playing teacher to apprentices, none of it had any meaning.

What finally changed that was when Rudeus brought his entire family over from Sharia.
Paul’s son, could stand on the same level as the Latria house.
When he saw that, he knew.
He finally understood.

That he had to return to his village.
That he had to overturn the decision on that day.
That’s why he was smithing.


 

After getting the rod of black rock from Rudeus, Talhand returned to his store.
He had always thought that if he had the ability, that was the kind of stone he would make.
What was once a dream, was now possible through all the training he had put himself through.

“…”

The first step was to powderise the rock from Rudeus with hammer and Magic.
Then mix in iron sand and heat it.
And using Earth and Wind Magic to achieve temperatures unimaginable with a conventional furnace, raise the heat.

Both the s.h.i.+ngane and the Tamahagane1would be made of Rudeus’s rock and the iron sand.
The ratio would be different, but the basic process the same.
He could have used Red Dragon scales or Hydra bones to produce an even stronger sword, but Talhand wouldn’t use any of that.
There wouldn’t be any point.

He began to slowly forge the sword, and after an entire night without rest, he began the tempering process.
Slowly but surely, he poured the epitome of his magic and willpower into the sword.


The result: a single blade.


It was a hard black sword.
It had no special decorations and no special effects.
But Talhand was satisfied. He made a scabbard, wrapped it in a first cla.s.s cloth, and placed it on his back.
After putting the remaining black rocks in his bag, he set off from Millis.h.i.+on.

His destination: the Dwarf village.


 

Even after so long, nothing had changed about the Dwarf village.

The village was built from stone at the base of a cliff.
The sound of hammering iron could be heard even through its thick stone walls.
Talhand made it through the entrance without much difficulty.
He was no longer part of the village, but he was still a Dwarf.
Dwarves regularly left and entered the village so the watch wasn’t particularly mindful.

“…”

In the side of the cliff there was a huge hole and out of it came a system of pulleys.
Half naked men drenched in sweat carried coal and ore out from the mine and the women brought ma.s.sive sacks of steamed potatoes on both shoulders to the rest stop near the outside.
Talhand felt a sense of nostalgia at the sight.
As if time had been frozen from the moment he left the village.

The only thing that had changed was the number of people he didn’t recognise.
Although he drew some quizzical gazes walking about, the amount that looked at him with disdain were few.
Most of them didn’t know him or didn’t think anything of him.
Talhand didn’t let any of that bother him and headed straight for the Patriarch’s residence.
he only had one aim.

“…It’s been some time『Clifftop』What did you come here for?”

But of course, there were those that knew him.
Standing in his way was one of his brothers.
The man who had laughed at Talhand all those years ago and was chosen as the confidant of the Ore G.o.d.

“I’ve come to see the Ore G.o.d.”
“Know your place, as if he would meet with one such as yourself.”
“…”

Talhand said nothing and removed the sword from his back.
He unfastened the cloth and the instant he removed the sword from its scabbard, the man was shocked breathless.
Because underneath was a jet black sword blade.
So dark it was as if it would absorb all light, but it wasn’t eerie, instead it possessed a kind of enlightening arrogance.
It was a thing of beauty.

“Just what is this…?”
“I forged it.”
“Impossible…”

In Dwarven smithing, swords showed everything.
An excellent Dwarf could produce an excellent sword.
Therefore, he couldn’t believe that it was something Talhand created.

“I am here to present.”

The Ore G.o.d is renowned throughout the world as the greatest blacksmith and is the pride of the Dwarven race.
And as such, whenever a fellow blacksmith produces a work to a degree of quality, he has an obligation to inspect it.
Of course, anything not up to standard would immediately be turned away by any inspecting Dwarves.
And the man in front of him was doing just that.

“…”

He didn’t like Talhand.
But swords didn’t lie.
The black sword in front of him possessed no special features and wasn’t crafted with any special techniques.
But, it was hard. Extremely hard.
No half hearted battle could damage it.
That made it an excellent blade.
Any who calls himself a dwarf couldn’t lie about this sword.

“I give you permission. You may proceed, Talhand Clifftop.”
“I give my thanks, Dotol Flamesteel.”

Talhand recalled his old brother’s name, bowed his head and resealed his sword.

On his path to the Ore G.o.d, Talhand encountered the same thing many times.
But when they saw the sword, none barred his path.


 

The memories of the esteemed『Ore G.o.d』G.o.dbard regarding Talhand had somewhat faded.
It was only natural.
Many years had pa.s.sed since Talhand had left the village.

“You’ve grown old, Talhand.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“I thought you would have died in the middle of nowhere a long time ago.”
“I had intended to.”

The two exchanged only a short greeting.
Off to G.o.dbard’s side was his wife and right-hand man.
With the return of the village’s biggest madman, their vigilance was plain to see.
But there was no such thing between Talhand and G.o.dbard.
Talhand had decided to face G.o.dbard with a calm heart.

“…”
“…’

But G.o.dbard didn’t have any intention to talk.
There was so many things that could be said.
About his experiences outside the village.
But words were unnecessary.

Talhand wordlessly took out the sword.
G.o.dbard, still silently, removed it from its scabbard and marvelled at the blade.

“…Hoo.”

G.o.dbard’s response was overflowing with admiration.
He brought the sword up to his face to study.

“This blade holds great faith… There is neither wavering nor naivety, but the inexeprience can be spotted. Given the same materials and construction, I could craft a better blade.”

Talhand smiled.
Of course he was happy.
No matter how hard Talhand had worked at smithing in these last few years, he couldn’t catch up to the Ore G.o.d who had been diligently studying for over a hundred years.
That much was obvious.

“…Haha.”
“What’s so funny?”

But that’s not why.
That wasn’t why at all.

“So you want to know the materials and construction?”
“Of course. It’s a curious sword.”

Explaining the materials and construction behind presented swords was not a rare occurrence.
To place a reason on why swords are ever even presented, It would be to leave behind the method of creation.
What materials were used, how it was made and the thought behind it.
There are many who want to leave behind such things in history.

“The base material was a rock created through Earth Magic.
It was ground up and mixed with iron sand.
And I melted it with a combination of Fire and Wind Magic.
After that, I forged and tempered it like any other sword and cooled it with Water Magic.”
“A stone made from Earth Magic…”

Those words caused G.o.dbard to suddenly remember something.
He had heard that method before.
Years ago, a crazy friend had told him about it over and over.

“Is this payback?”
“No. I simply thought to settle our score.”
“…Did you think that, once I saw this sword, I’d tell you to come back?”
“No. You’ve already told me what I wanted to hear. That’s more than enough.”

That G.o.dbard could create a better sword.
With that alone, he was satisfied.
He could feel a weight lifted off his shoulders.

Of course, with the same materials, and the same method, he could create a better sword.
But without Magic, you wouldn’t be able to melt or break the stone, and no normal water could be used to cool it at that temperature.
And so, without someone able to use such Magic to a sufficient level…

Although, the genius in front of him, even without Talhand’s method, could probably come up with some way to skilfully refine the stone.

“So, this『Stone』, did you craft it yourself?”
“…No. The son of an old friend created it for me.”

He pulled out the three rods of rock from his backpack and lined them up in front of G.o.dbard.
G.o.dbard picked up one of the rocks and felt its weight.
He tried to break it in half to get a look at the cross section, and when he couldn’t do that, he pulled out a hammer and attempted to smash it, but couldn’t even manage a dent.
He was baffled at the hardness of the rod.
He suddenly got excited at the thought of using the rock to make something.
A smile floated to his face.

Talhand nodded, satisfied with the reaction.
G.o.dbard was still as easy to read as he was in his childhood.

“Several days from now the one who made those will be coming to request an audience.”
“…”
“Would you be willing to meet with him?”

Talhand sounded somewhat fond speaking of Rudeus.
He had now achieved his goal.
He had delivered his message.

Now all he had to do was wait for the man who gave him his task.

“He might look somewhat unreliable, and he’ll probably bring with him some unreasonable request…
But he’s a man with guts. You won’t lose anything meeting him.
I’ll swear it on that sword.”

G.o.dbard eyed the sword and stones.
His wife and confidant by his side seemed to have their own thoughts but decided against voicing them.

Talhand was far beyond their expectations.
Probably partially due to the magician that made the stones.
Their curiosity was peaked.

“Fine then. His name?”
“Rudeus Greyrat.”
“Understood.”

G.o.dbard etched that name into his mind.

Once Talhand was sure of it, he stood up.
It was only a spoken promise, but that was more than enough.
G.o.dbard wasn’t one to break his promises.
Once, Talhand may not have thought that way, but what he did back then, was no broken promise.
Only Talhand’s inexperience.

“You’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
“After your display, n.o.body would have any complaints with you staying.”
“I have a shop in Millis.h.i.+on. I’ll probably be there as long as I live.”

With those parting words, Talhand left the Ore G.o.d’s residence.
While he had been inside, it had already been surrounded by his once siblings.
Their sharp gazes not hiding their desire to scrutinise him.

“Excuse me, but I’m going through.”

They opened a path where he walked.
And among those eyes filled with bewilderment and scorn, Talhand headed for the exit.
n.o.body called back to him.
n.o.body chased after him.
But Talhand’s steps were light and his heart was clear.

The curse had finally been undone.



The fact that the Ore G.o.d traded his loyalty to the Dragon G.o.d for a large amount of rocks was a story for another time.