Mushoku Tensei Redundancy

A long, long time ago.
In the days before the school of the Water G.o.d Style.

A certain country was frightened of the Water Dragon King.
Their fishermen had encroached on his territory, and incurred his wrath.
As a result, each day, their fis.h.i.+ng boats were attacked, and water dragons frequently appeared in the port town.
The knight order attempted to resist, but due to the dragons’  ma.s.sive size and their ability to move freely through the water the country was rapidly pushed towards ruin.
They were on the precipice of destruction.

In this situation, the gloomy King declared that he would offer both his crown and daughter’s hand to any who could subdue the Water Dragon King.
The many knights, brave men, and Heroes who took up the challenge met their end torn to pieces at the hands of the Water Dragon King.

What appeared then was a man carrying a single worn out sword, clad in worn out rags.
Dramatizations of this ancient tale depicted him as a splendidly handsome man, but this couldn’t have been farther from the truth. His true visage could elicit only one word. Vagrant.
His name was Raydel.
Raydel volunteered before the king saying,
“I will defeat him. Everything will be ok.”
With this, the King consented to his challenge.
Many thought he would give up halfway, as there was no way such a sloppy man could do anything.

But Raydel was strong.
He froze over the surface of the ocean, putting a stop to the water dragons’ movements. Within  a blink of an eye, he approached the Water Dragon King.
Having broken out of the ice, the writhing Water Dragon King rushed to attack Raydel.
With his worn out sword Raydel returned the Water Dragon King’s unblockable strike slicing its head off with a single slash.

With the Water Dragon King’s head in hand, he returned to the country a Hero… Or so, he should have.
The king gave him a fortune great enough to play around with for the rest of his life.
That was all.
He could not consent to giving his daughter and crown to this dirty man.

Raydel was not mad but he fell into a deep depression.
He was in love with the princess.
He loved the princess whom he had always watched from afar.
Because his wish to marry the princess was not granted, he thought of leaving the country.
Or should he have decided so, he could have easily become the king through sheer force.
But there was someone who got angry in Raydel’s stead.
It was the princess.

While reprimanding the King the princess. .h.i.t him, sent him flying, and left the castle. She chased after Raydel who was leaving the country and clung to his legs , saying:

“I have abandoned my country.
I am no longer a princess, nor do I have a last name.
Even if you obtain me, you won"t be able to have the country, you won"t be able to become king.
But if that is still agreeable with you, please take me as your wife.”

Raydel held the princess in his arms and left the country smiling. The two married soon after, then vanished.

Decades later.
Somewhere in the world, the Water G.o.d Style was born.

And in accordance with that story a custom was born. “The spouse of the Water G.o.d shall abandon their household”


 

Isolte Cruel.
She is the person in charge of the Asura Kingdom"s Water G.o.d style school, and the single instructor of the Asuran Knight Order.
She is currently a Water Emperor, but just recently acquired the third out of the five secret techniques belonging to the Water G.o.d style.
In a few months she will succeed the name of Water G.o.d.

Age unknown.
Appearing in  her twenties.
Stunning blue-black hair and dignified features.
Whoever saw her would admit she was beautiful.
But rumour has it that she isn"t really all that young.
In the Asura Kingdom, the only person that knows her true age is Lady Ariel.

But now, this woman is currently searching for a marriage partner.
Her long days of training to become the Water G.o.d are over.
Although she"ll still continue training, this is a turning point in her life, that is to say... She should seriously start considering marriage.

But her search for a husband is a difficult one.

Of course, that"s not to say there"s no one willing.
She"ll soon be the Water G.o.d after all.
There are many who have approached her.

Such as fellow Water G.o.d style disciples.
Captivated by her beautiful appearance, there are few men whose hearts have not been touched by her sincere training.
That being said, they are swordsmen.
They are those who have decided to make a living through the sword.
There are few men tolerant enough to take on a wife stronger than themselves.
It was Isolte’s condition that if they were a swordsman, then they would have to be as strong as her, or at least possess strength of the King cla.s.s.

For Asuran n.o.bles, female swordsmen have always been popular.
The pa.s.sive women of the Water G.o.d style have a much softer and more graceful demeanour when compared to those of the a.s.sertive and violent Sword G.o.d style.
Isolte would also be well versed in the etiquette of the imperial court.
A young, pretty, well-spoken girl; the men would be all over her.
And on top of that, she"s an established swordsman.
To have a woman like that serve as their wife and to be able to dishevel her in bed at night.
Many Asuran n.o.bles approached her with those thoughts in mind.

Of course, those who approached her with perverted hobbies and vulgar laughs were refused.
But every now and then someone who would make her think "This person might be alright." comes along.
Good looking, good personality and fairly good sword skills.
Those kinds of good looking men are quite good at hiding their perverted interests while flas.h.i.+ng a smile and drawing closer.
Very prince like.

Isolte could easily see through guys like that.
The people around would always end up saying things like "He"s actually a sc.u.mbag, don’t bother with him."
Those prince types have good outer relations.
If Isolte cared about such superficiality, she"d have already fallen.
Thinking thoughts like "Well, he"ll do."

Even so, those very princes immediately turned her down upon hearing her condition.

"I will soon become the Water G.o.d and will name myself, Water G.o.d Reida Ria.
If you are to marry me, you must abandon your household.
The spouse of the Water G.o.d must not have a last name."

The custom of the Water G.o.d.

Not following it wouldn"t be disadvantageous and following the custom most likely would not provide any benefit.
It is simply a tradition followed by generations of Water G.o.ds.
Isolte’s grandmother, previous Water G.o.d Reida also followed this tradition.
Because of this, Isolte"s father also didn’t possess a last name.
Cruel was the last name of her mother.

And so, Isolte, who greatly respected her grandmother, wished to follow in kind.

But unfortunately, the princes that attempted to fool Isolte were n.o.bles.
They were born as n.o.bles and have lived as n.o.bles.
They had lived for appearances and superficiality.

Even if they were charmed by Isolte, there was none whom they would willingly abandon their family to marry.


 

Isolte was troubled.
She"d been searching for a husband for several years now.
It mostly seemed to be going well, but things always tripped up at the last step.
"At this rate it looks like I wont be able to marry  before the succession." Is what she thought.

She was confident.
She had good looks, cooking skill, and was well versed in make up.
There wasn"t a day she missed the upkeep of her hair and skin.

She was well-versed in conversation as Water G.o.d style training included such skills in its curriculum.
Skills for provoking the opponent and taking the initiative.
Putting them into practise, flattery is simple.
But she was still having to exert herself.

Despite all that, she couldn"t get married.
Even Eris and Nina had managed to find partners but she still couldn"t.

Well it was probably be because they had childhood friends.
There was no law that stated she had to marry.
But she still thought she could overcome that with her own charm.

She was self-conscious.
But she thought that her ideal partner would eventually show himself due to her unceasing effort.

"How many has it been now?"
"...That was the 21st."

21 people had now turned her down.
Including the one"s she, herself had turned down, the number was much higher.

"I see."

Right now, Isolte was sitting in her living room facing her brother.

Isolte"s brother, Tantris Cruel, was a high level Water G.o.d style swordsman.
He was the oldest son of the Cruel house but compared to his little sister, he couldn’t be considered especially talented.
He put forth enough effort to make his blood run, but in the end he didn"t have the talent to advance any higher.

But he"s an honest man.
His grandmother, Reida, had told him "Maybe it"s time to make you a saint cla.s.s." but he had said "I dont need a t.i.tle unbefitting of my stature." and rejected the offer.
Even when Reida was alive, he"d been in charge of the dojo"s administration.
And he"d even looked after Isolte.

"Do you think you"re aiming too high?"
"No I don"t think..."
"You have a certain level of talent and standing. You have the right to choose a suitable partner. But if you"re too picky and can"t find anyone, there"s no point."
"I understand that."

Isolte had always looked up to her brother.
The two of them had lost their parents at an early age.
Luckily their grandmother was the Water G.o.d and they didn"t have to struggle to survive, but she was a busy woman and didn"t have much time to look after the two of them.
At that time, it was Tantris who took over as the parent.
He had supported her after their parents died and raised her.

The school of swordsmans.h.i.+p is a world of ability.
The talented Isolte surpa.s.sed her brother in under 10 years.
But she never stopped looking up to him, and he never stopped supporting her.

"There"s no need to think about the honour of the Cruel house.
Living as the Water G.o.d, a harsh fate no doubt awaits you.
Forget about status and lineage and pick someone you"re comfortable with."
"..."

Tantris was already married and had a child.
Of course they had met with Isolte and talked with her about it.
But Isolte hadn"t thought she was very likeable.

She was the daughter of an Asuran n.o.ble.
Her father had sent her to get married to create a relations.h.i.+p with the Water G.o.d Reida.
She obviously looked down on Tantris and had no understanding of Swordplay.
She had never once come to the dojo.
Aside from things relating to the children, the two mostly lived apart.

Isolte didn"t want to marry someone like that.
It"s exactly because of that, that Isolte had been so careful in choosing.
...Although her carefulness extended only to stripping away their facade"s.
But she had stuck by the requirement of at least intermediate level swordsmans.h.i.+p.

She had no intention of fussing over lineage.
But now that she had become the main instructor, she would have many chances to meet with Ariel and talk to her and there were many coming to meet with her who wanted to take advantage of that.

A fallen n.o.ble, a commoner, or an adventurer would have been fine.
As long as they’re able to make up for it in some other way.

"I have no intention of choosing."
"Then are you ok with someone I choose for you?"
"No, I should be allowed to search for my own partner."

And she was also very stubborn.
Of course there"s also the fact that everyone Tantris recommended were nothing but muscleheads...
Although you couldn"t call her picky, she absolutely wouldn"t concede on her conditions.
It really didn"t seem likely that she would be able to marry.

"Right..."

Tantris had no intention of blaming her.
It wouldn"t be the first time the Water G.o.d was without a spouse.
And he could continue the Cruel line himself.
But he still wanted to help his little sister find happiness.
And if his sister wanted to find happiness in marriage, he wanted to support her.

That said, if she didn"t want his help, he had no intention of pursuing.
Although he didn"t have much talent, he was still a man of the Water G.o.d school.

"Oh right, Isolte, didn"t Her Majesty summon you today?"
"...Yes."
"Are you fine on time?"
"I’m still good."
"Just in case, you shouldn"t keep Her Majesty waiting. We"ll stop the conversation here today. Have a safe trip."
"Yes brother.1 I"ll be off now."

Isolte said that, bowed, and returned to her own room.
After that she changed and headed for the Imperial Palace.
After seeing her off, Tantris breathed a sigh of relief.

"Haaa..."

At this rate it"ll probably be impossible for her to get married before the succession ceremony.
After thinking that, Tantris returned to the dojo and resumed his instruction of the younger disciples.


 

Isolte walked to the Asura Kingdom"s Silver Palace.
The crest of the s.h.i.+eld bearing battle girl carved onto the breastplate of the silver armour is one that is famed throughout the land.
Her white and blue coat fluttered through the air as she marched forward.

The patrolling soldiers stood at attention with admiration in their gazes as she walked towards the palace.

There isn"t anybody in the Asuran Imperial Palace who doesn"t know the name of the Water Emperor Isolte.
And there are many soldiers who yearn for her dignified figure.
By the way, there aren"t many who know that she"s been having thoughts along the lines of "I don"t want to get married too late." or "I hope a good guy would fall from the sky."

"Why if it isn"t Isolte-dono, where are you headed?"

The person standing in front of her was a single man.
He was short and lanky with thin hair, overall he seemed very timid.
He looked about 40 years old.
He was human, but if Rudeus saw him, he"d probably think "He"s looks like a senile old man."2

No matter how you looked at him, he didn"t seem like a knight or a swordsman, but he was wearing the same silver breast plate as Isolte.
But his armour had a slightly different design.
His crest was a girl praying with a rampart crown atop her head.

"Well if it isn"t Lord Ifrit. My good graces to you sir."
"Ahh, be at ease. We are of the same rank, there is no need kneel."

Sylvester Ifrit.
One of the Seven Knights of Asura The 『King"s Rampart』.
He with a name that didn"t match his face, was the chief executive in charge of the defence of the Imperial Palace.

Isolte was only a knight.
Knights were of a fairly low cla.s.s, whereas n.o.bility was quite high.
And Sylvester held the highest position among all knights and soldiers, and was also a middle ranked n.o.ble.
Normally any servant who crossed his path would immediately fall to their knees.


"But..."
"We are both knights of Her Majesty."

In response to his sharp words, Isolte stood back up.

"That is sufficient. We do not work for the country, but for Her Majesty. The only person you should kneel before is Her Majesty, herself."

In response to Sylvester"s rising aura, she swallowed her words and nodded.

Sylvester was of small stature.
He was p.r.o.ne to illness and could not be called strong.
He was in no way skilled with swords or magic.
And yet in spite of that, he had managed to graduate as the valedictorian of the knight academy.

He raises people up and and is well versed at command.
He truly understood the meaning of the phrase, "Right person for the right job."
And for that one talent, Ariel dragged him out from an obscure corner of the country, called him back to the palace, and appointed him as her knight.

"By the way Isolte-dono, where might you be heading?"
"Her Majesty has called for me."
"If that is the case then you haven"t the time to be wasting it with someone like me."
"Did you have some business with me?"
"It"s nothing major.
There"s simply a man I would like to introduce you to.
I hope you"ll forgive the selfishness of my foolish son, but time permitting, if you are interested, I hope you"ll at least have a couple of words with him."

This was a conversation Isolte very much was interested in.
She wanted to hear more about this foolish son of his.
But she was currently being called by her lord.

"I understand. When I have the time, I"ll come and we can finish the conversation."

But she simply said that with a stiff face and headed off


On her way to the inner palace, the amount of people decreased.
The simply dressed soldiers began to become scarce, being replaced by lavish knights.
These lower ranked n.o.bles, befitting of their t.i.tles’ as knights, had all pledged allegiance to Ariel.
Those who had an extremely small chance of betrayal.

And in the inner section of the inner palace, there were even fewer people.
By now the soldiers and knights had disappeared and she was walking through an empty hallway.
Occasionally, there was a frighteningly sharp looking maid - The Imperial Maids - pa.s.sing by.
These Imperial Maids were personally chosen by Ariel.
There possibility of betrayal was even lower.

Ariel was in the 『King"s Chamber』.
Standing in front of the extravagant door was a single man.
He was completely covered in golden armour and holding a giant battleaxe.
The Asura Kingdom"s greatest gatekeeper.
The possibility of him betraying Ariel was non-existent.

"Isolte Cruel! Reporting for summons!"
"...Yessir."

Doga had received Isolte"s introduction and slowly moved.
They seemed like clunky movements.
But Isolte couldn"t see a single opening.
If it came to it, he could swing that battleaxe of his at terrifying speeds.
And if it came to it, breaking past this man and pa.s.sing through the door behind him would be nigh on impossible.

"...Hm?"

Doga had extended his hand towards Isolte.
Isolte saw that and looked confused.

Doga had a simple face.
It wasn"t crude but Isolte wasn"t fond of it.
Being searched by someone like that sparked a slight amount of resistence in her.

"Body search? Go ahead."

But this was the Queen"s room.
And obviously, even her knights could not be permitted to bring weapons into the room.
Doga understood that weapons could not be brought into her room.
Even against the prime minister of the Asura Kingdom, Doga would still carry out his meticulous search and not even the smallest of things would get past him.

The body search was a matter of course.
While wondering if he was going to touch her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, Isolte silently decided to bear with it.

"Yessir."

But Doga didn"t touch her.
What his extended hand had touched was her hair.
Doga moved his hand up to her hair and grabbed something out of it

"...?"

In Doga"s fingers was a flower petal.

"Follow me."
"?"
"Isolte is pretty, so you can"t have these kinds of things on you."

Doga was smiling under his helmet.
Isolte stood there stiff with a blank expression.

"Aah, my weapon."

Isolte suddenly though that and unfastened her sword belt and presented it to Doga.
Doga didn"t even take that.

"Isolte is Ariel-sama"s knight. For you to protect Ariel, a weapon is necessary."
"..."

He didn’t conduct a body search.
He didn’t take her weapon.
He trusted her as Ariel"s knight.
The man who possessed the ability to join the 5 fingers of the Asura Empire.
Thinking about it like that, her heart rate slightly increased.

(No, not with that face...)

She took a deep breath to calm her buzzing head.

"Isolte Cruel! Entering!"
"Come in."

She waited for Ariel"s response and entered.


 

The Seven Knights of Asura.
With Luke Notos Greyrat, the『King"s Dagger』as the head, they are seven knights who have sworn absolute allegiance to Ariel herself.
Even among knights they possessed a special position and independent movement was permitted to some extent.

Isolte was also a member.
The『King"s Greats.h.i.+eld』.
To defend the King at all times, a fitting name for a Water G.o.d style swordsman.

Isolte, Sylvester, Doga.
These three are known as the『Three Knights of the Left』.
Among the seven knights of Asura their main job was the protection of Ariel.

But Isolte felt something was off.

The seven knights of Asura were knights who had pledged absolute allegiance to Ariel.
At least that’s what was said.
Because Isolte hadn’t gathered with them and met them yet, she wasn’t deeply informed about them.
They may have pledged loyalty to Ariel, but most of them are unrelated to the Asura kingdom, having been gathered from outside.

They most likely each have their own reasons to unconditionally serve Ariel.

But Isolte was different.
Isolte had a reason to betray.

The previous Water G.o.d.
The moment when her grandmother had died.

The death of the previous Water G.o.d Reida
During Ariel’s battle for the crown she had been killed by Ariel’s supporter, the Dragon G.o.d, Orsted.

Of course, it had happened during a battle.
Isolte was a warrior who had no intention of harbouring unnecessary emotions after a battle had come to a close.
This was because before she was Isolte’s grandmother, she was the Water G.o.d.
If she were to defy Ariel, more so than the Asura Empire, the Water G.o.d school would see to her banishment.
And thus, she wouldn’t think of defying Ariel.
Isolte’s resolve was clear on that.

But no matter how sure of it she was herself, if all she had was words, n.o.body could be certain it was the truth.
n.o.body could see the depths of another’s heart.
It was entirely possible that after her grandmother had been killed, she had been secretly harbouring hatred and secretly aiming for Ariel’s life.
Or maybe instead of Ariel, she could be aiming for the perpetrator, Orsted.

In truth, when Ariel was taking the crown, she had a large number of knights and n.o.bles killed.
And the amount of people who still hold grudges was not small.
They continue their everyday lives having pledged loyalty to Ariel, awaiting their opportunity.

It wouldn’t be strange for Isolte to be thinking the same way.

Isolte had sworn the knights oath and pledged loyalty to Ariel.
But it wasn’t because of Ariel’s personality, nor was it due to patriotism.
It was to protect her honour and place as Water G.o.d.
She was currently protecting their relations.h.i.+p of mutual trust, but if that was jeopardised, it’s possible that she couldn’t guarantee absolute loyalty.

It’s not as if she thought of betrayal.
It’s simply that the possibility exists.
That’s something that Isotle herself understood.

And yet in spite of that, she was chosen as one of the seven.

She was uneasy.
There had to be some kind of catch.

“Isolte, do you have any intention of considering a marriage candidate of my referral?”

Which is why, even in the face of that suggestion, she was weary.

“Why would your Majesty mention such a proposal?”
“To me, having you, the Water G.o.d, settle down with a family would be a plus to your work.
The candidates are all of my blood, and there are many who possess rather particular s.e.xual dispositions among them… But there has to be one who matches your tastes.”
“Of your blood… Do you mean to say that they’re royalty!?”
“Yes, that is the case.”

A marriage interview with royalty.
Hearing that did not cause excitement in Isolte.
It was of little matter.

“But when I become the Water G.o.d they will have to abandon their household, for royalty, isn’t that somewhat inconvenient?”
“Even without the name, their blood still remains. They do not have to actively cut off their family do they?”
“That is the case.”
“It’s fine. They all acknowledge this condition.
They have been promised that if they marry you, the support of the royal family will not be withdrawn.
All you need to do is meet with them and pick the most good natured out of the bunch.”

This was definitely a ploy to win her over, is what Isolte thought.
Because the conditions were too favourable.
Ariel’s relatives, royalty.
They may only be a branch, but these are people who could be called genuine princes.
They aren’t the sons of n.o.bles, they are people, no matter how small, have the possibility to become king. A true Prince.
And all those of the Asuran royal family are good looking and refined.

“How does it sound? It’s not a bad deal right?”
“Please allow me!”

Isolte gave an immediate reply.
She didn’t have a reason to refuse.
If she was a sly Asuran n.o.bel, she may have taken the time to consider the hidden meaning behind Ariel’s words.
But unfortunately she was just a swordsman.
Although she may have been a girl searching for a husband.
She didn’t care about anything complex.

“Then sometime in the near future we’ll begin the marriage interviews. Please convey to Luke or Sylvester on which days you are free. You can leave the rest to me.”
“Yes ma’am, I thank you for your kindness.”
“Understood. Then, you may leave.”

Isolte withdrew from Ariel’s private room in a dreamy state of mind.

(A marriage interview with royalty…)

Isolte was somewhat light on her feet and her heart was beating with excitement.
She was going to go tell Sylvester to book her closest day off.
When she thought that, she suddenly realised that she was quite thirsty.
It must have been nervousness from being called out for an unknown reason.

“I’m quite thirsty…”
“Yessir.”

While mumbling to herself, suddenly being called out to from behind caused Isolte to fall into stance and turn around.
And Doga was standing there.
The huge man standing there with the small cup.

“Here, it’s cold.”
“Thank you very much.”

Isolte took it and after wondering for a moment whether there was poison in it, drank it down.
Like Doga said, it was cold as if it had been ice just moments ago and her thirst was quenched.
Feeling the water permeate the depths of her body, she realised that she was far more nervous and tired than she had thought.

“…Haaa.”
“Isolte, good work.”

Doga drank some water took a breath and gave a smile.
Even through the helmet, she could tell that that smile had no ulterior motives and was simply an honest gesture.

“…”

She was a perceptive person.
She realised that she wouldn’t hesitate to leave her back to this man.
Although she wasn’t fond of his face.

“Good work to you too Doga. Best wishes with your guard duty.”
“Yessir.”

Well that’s something in and of itself.
Reminding herself of the upcoming marriage interviews, that she’d be spending the next few days absorbed in, she cut off the conversation and walked off smiling.






 

Q: Not being able to beat Doga even after becoming the water G.o.d, does this mean that her ability is below the World Power cla.s.s?
A: It’s not that she can’t win.
It’s just that she practises defence techniques, so breaking past Doga to get into the room would be quite hard.


Q: Isolte-san is worn out!
A: It’s just that she doesn’t have an eye for people.
She’s quite capable as a swordsman.


Q: Is Doga’s face bad?
A: He has a harmless looking face.
He’s a looks like a good person.

 

1. Aniue.
2. Literally "Windowsill race" and it"s an expression that means old employees that have been given menial tasks until they retire.