Mushoku Tensei (WN)

Chapter 4

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Cover

Translated world map

Wind Port.

The only port city in the Magic Continent.

It"s a town with a lot of hills and slopes. You can see the entire city from the entrance.

The majority of the houses are made from the usual earth and stone commonly found in the Magic Continent, but there are a few wooden structures mixed in as well.

They must be importing wood from the Milis Continent.

There"s a s.h.i.+pyard at the end of the town.

It might be because it"s a port city, but there are very few stalls near the entrance of the city. In contrast, there"s a lively atmosphere closer to the harbor.

It"s a town with a bit of a different color from the usual.

Then beyond the port...

Then outside of town spread an enormous ocean.

When was the last time I saw the ocean?

Probably around middle school when I went on a field trip.

It seems the ocean is the same no matter which world it is.

The blue sea, the sound of the waves, the seagull-like birds, and the boats raising their sails.

This is the first time I"ve seen a sailboat with my own eyes.

They occasionally appear in movies, but you can feel one"s age and excitement when you actually see a wooden sailboat with its sails.

As expected, in this world they must have advanced techniques to ride against headwinds.

No, it"s this world after all. They can probably just make their own tailwinds with magic or some other sort of method.

The moment we arrived in the city, Eris jumped off the lizard and started running.

"Rudeus! It"s the ocean!"

The words that came from Eris" mouth were spoken in fluent Demon G.o.d Language.

She has remembered to speak in the Demon G.o.d language on a daily basis now.

Ruijerd and I were trying to use Demon G.o.d language as much as we could to talk.

The plan was a success. Recently, Eris" Demon G.o.d language has improved quite a bit.

After all, it seems that the fastest way to learn a language is to live in a place where it"s commonly used.

Still, she can"t read or write with it.

Incidentally, since we came to the Magic Continent I haven"t taught her magic even once.

Putting aside voiceless incantations, I"m sure she"s already forgotten all the incantation magic.

"Wait Eris, where are you going before we even decide on an inn!?"

After hearing my statement, Eris" legs abruptly stopped.

Incidentally, this is the third time we"ve had this back and forth exchange.

The first time, we got lost, the second time we got into a fight on a street corner.

There won"t be a third chance.

"That"s right! If we don"t decide the inn first, we"ll get lost right?"

Eris returned to being cheery while looking at the ocean.

Come to think of it, this should be her first time seeing the ocean.

There"s a river near the Fedoa region and she would occasionally go play in the water with Sauros on holidays.

Unfortunately, without me.

"Can you swim?"

"Eh? You can swim in the harbor?"

"I want to swim!"

I want to see Eris" enchanting 13 year old body as well, but...

"We have no swimsuits right?"

"Swimsuit? What is that? We don"t need it!"

I couldn"t hide my confusion with that shocking statement.

Swimsuit? What is that? We don"t need it!

We don"t need swimsuits.

I wonder if that meant that we would go nude.

No, there"s no way that"s the case.

Even in this world, there"s the culture of feeling embarra.s.sed over nudity.

That"s why, yes, most likely in underwear.

We"ll play in the water with underwear on top.

The underwear that sticks to the skin as you get wet, transparent flesh showing through, pocchi[1] rising to the surface.

That"s strange, why wasn"t I involved in the river play in Fedoa region? Exactly where was I?

I guess it was because I was busy.

In those days, I was living a fulfilling lifestyle everyday.

However, just once, just once I wish they had told me they were going.

No, there"s no point in thinking about that now.

Focus on what is before my eyes right now.

Live in the now.

Yes, I"m going to live right now!

Alright!

It"s the ocean!

"No, it"s probably better if you don"t try to swim in this ocean."

Then Ruijerd comes in to throw water on the mood.

"Eh?! Why?!"

"There"s a lot of monsters."

That seems to be the case.

It would be fine if Ruijerd and I just annihilated all the monsters.

Is what I was thinking, but surprisingly that living organism radar might not be all-purpose.

It probably can"t detect very well in the water.

No, but couldn"t we manage to bathe in the sea for at least an hour or so?

Swimming in the harbor as expected would be dangerous, but I could make something similar to a fish preserve in the nearby sh.o.r.e with earth magic.

Though, in the 1 in 10,000 chance that something happens.

There might be some kind of monster in the water with some kind of strange special ability.

They might just jump straight over the fish preserve.

If it was an octopus we could have an ero event start up, though if it was a shark it would be Jaws.

Cannot be helped.

It seems like it"ll be best if we give up on playing in the ocean here.

Really, it cannot be helped.

"We"ll go without swimming this time. After we decide on the inn we"ll head for the Adventurers Guild."

"Yeah..."

Eris was downhearted.

Hmmm.

However, even I have a healthy interest in Eris" body.

I haven"t been able to confirm exactly how much her body has grown up over this past year.

It"s hard to tell with clothes on top, since that"s the case I thought it would be good liberating near a sh.o.r.e, you never know what might happen.

"Even if we can"t swim we can still play on the sh.o.r.e."

"Sh.o.r.e?"

"The ocean has a sandy beach sort of thing. The sand pit continues on all the way along the beach."

"What"s fun about that?"

Even if you ask me what.

"Ummm... you can get some water from the beach and pour on it?"

"Rudeus, you"re making a strange face again."

"Uh?"

"Though it sounds interesting! Let"s go later!"

Eris said that happily and kicked off the ground, jumping back onto the lizard.

It was a wonderful jumping ability.

It was a jump purely with the power from her ankles.

In terms of sound effects it would be a "guon" feeling.

Eris"s legs have been trained rather well.

Though this matter is fine as it is .

I wonder if in the future she will end up looking like Ghyslaine with bulging muscles.

I"m a bit worried.

For starters, we decided on an inn, left the lizards in a stable, and then started walking to the Adventurers Guild.

The meeting will be held before we sleep.

Windport"s Adventurers Guild.

There were a large number and variety of adventurers crowding around and making noise.

It was a familiar scene, but it felt like there were quite a few human races.

If we cross over into the Milis Continent, then it will probably increase even more.

First off, let"s go with our usual routine. I moved in front of the notice board.

"Are we not planning to quickly cross the ocean?" Ruijerd asked.

"I"m just taking a look. It seems like earning money in the Milis Continent would be better after all."

Earning money is easier in the Milis Continent.

That"s because the currency is different.

The currency in the Milis Continent can be divided into six types: Royal Notes, General Notes, Gold Coins, Silver Coins, Large Copper Coins, and Copper Coins.

If we use the fact that one stone coin is equal to a single yen as the basis and look at it then:

Royal Notes - 50,000 ($500 USD)General Notes - 10,000 ($100 USD)Milis Gold Coins - 5,000 ($50 USD)Milis Silver Coins - 1,000 Yen ($10 USD)Milis Large Copper Coins - 100 Yen ($1 USD)Milis Copper Coins - 10 Yen (10 Cents)

That sort of reasoning.

The B rank jobs on the Magic Continent generally have rewards between 15-20 Sc.r.a.p Iron Coins in total.

If we convert that into stone coins, it would be 150-200 stone coins.

If we make the a.s.sumption that a B rank job on Milis Continent gives the same amount as the second tier of their currency, it would be 15 Large Copper Coins.

After conversion, it would be 1500 stone coins.

That"s 10 times more. It would be better to earn it in Milis.

However, if it seems like there will be quite a bit of time before the s.h.i.+p leaves, then we will end up taking some jobs here.

Fundamentally B rank jobs.

A rank and S rank jobs aren"t just dangerous, but most of them take over a week or at minimum a number of days.

If we want to constantly do a number of jobs in a period of a few days, then B rank are the best.

That"s why we have no intention of rising up to S rank where you can"t accept B rank jobs anymore.

After you reach A rank, you can accept S rank jobs as well.

Since that"s the case, I first questioned why anyone would bother rising up to S rank.

I asked the staff member and supposedly you receive special privileges if you rise up to S rank.

I wouldn"t know unless I specifically investigate it more, but the inn cost rates will be cheaper, and the guild will distribute more profitable jobs to you and such things.

Also, they"ll close their eyes to a majority of things that violate a contract.

Those kinds of things it seems.

If we focus our efforts around A rank jobs, staying at A rank is more efficient for earning money than rising up to S rank.

Although, it seems such privileges are a huge benefit when it comes to exploring labyrinths for adventurers.(!)

We haven"t tried exploring any labyrinths.

They"re dangerous and they take too long.

We have been focusing our efforts around B rank jobs.

For those reasons we have no plans to rise up to S rank for the time being.

Eris seems to want to try it though.

Rather, the conversation has gone off topic a bit.

In any case, we joined the Adventurers Guild with the intention of earning money.

Since that"s the case, it"s better if we take the s.h.i.+p as soon as we can and earn money in Milis instead.

"Come to think of it, I wonder where the s.h.i.+p takes off from?"

"The port."

"I mean where in the port?"

"Let"s ask and see."

I moved up to the counter.

Standing there was a female, probably from the human race.

Why are there almost always females standing at the counters?

And why is the ratio of large chested ones so high.

"We want to go to the Milis Continent, but do you know where we can go to get there?"

"Ask those sorts of questions at the checking station."

"Checking station?"

"Since you"ll be crossing national borders when you board the s.h.i.+p."

It"s a problem between countries outside of the guilds" jurisdiction.

Since that"s the case, the guild staff has no obligation to offer an explanation about it, it seems.

Hmmm, since that is the case, we should head to the checking station.

Maybe we can hear a detailed explanation there?

"Hey you!"

Just as I was thinking that.

I heard a loud yell within the guild.

After turning around, Eris was punching a human race male.

Our nuclear warhead is energetic today as well.

"Where and who do you think you"re touching?!"

"It... it was an accident! Who would want to touch a brat like you?!"

"It doesn"t matter if it was an accident! I don"t hear any sincerity in your apology!"

Eris has become quite fluent in Demon G.o.d language.

And then, as she improved in fluency, the number of fights increased.

"Gyahahaha! What"s this what"s this, a fight?!"

"Oh my, oh my!"

"Hey hey, don"t go getting beaten up by a child!"

Incidentally, fights between adventurers are actually a pretty common everyday occurrence so the guild doesn"t really interfere.

Rather, there are staff members who start up progressive gambling and take bets.

"I"ll crush you!"

"So... Sorry, it"s my loss, let me go, please stop and let go of my leg?!!"

Just as I was thinking about that, Eris had rolled the guy over in no time at all.

Eris" ability to drive people into a corner especially recently has been strong.

They start to become afraid before she even touches them and not only that she accurately drives them into a corner.

What are you snapping over? Just as you"re thinking that they"re rolling on the floor and being stomped on the crotch.

The C rank adventurers here and there can"t do anything to stop it.

Then after a certain amount of damage has been done Ruijerd steps in to stop it.

"Stop."

"Why, did you stop me?!"

"The fight is already decided, let him go with this much."

This time as well, Ruijerd stops her by carrying her like a cat.

The man ran away while holding a certain part of his body.

"d.a.m.n it, you"re insane!"

It"s the usual spectacle.

I can"t really stop it.

If I grab her from behind to stop it, I can"t stop my hands from moving on their own.

When I start moving my hands will grab weird places, then it"s my turn to be beaten half to death.

"A baldy and a red haired violent little girl?! Could it be you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are [Dead End]?"

The moment someone yelled that, the guild hall became quiet.

"[Dead End] you mean the Superd race?"

"Idiot! It"s the party name. It"s been rumored to be fake recently!"

"I"ve heard rumors that they"re the real thing as well."

Oh?

"They"re violent, but they really aren"t bad guys at all?"

"Violent but good guys, isn"t that contradictory?"

"No, it means they"re not all violent?"

Zawa Zawa.

Murmurs started to spread around inside the guild.

This is the first time we"ve been in this situation.

It seems, we"ve become quite a bit famous.

I wonder if it"s fine if we don"t sell Ruijerd"s name in this town?

"Just a three person party made it to A rank after all?"

"Ah, that is amazing, but regardless of whether it"s a fake or the real thing, I can believe it if it"s those two."

"[Mad Dog Eris] and [Watch Dog Ruijerd] right?"

Eris and Ruijerd have nicknames!

Nevertheless [Mad Dog] and [Watch Dog], huh?

I wonder why they"re both dogs?

I wonder what kind of dog I am?

I guess I"ll listen for a bit and see.

[Fight Dog] is unlikely.

It"s most likely not something cool like that.

I can"t imagine it giving a brave feeling either.

If I had to pick for myself it would be [b.u.t.ter Dog][2] but...

This past year I feel that I"ve been working as a sort of operations tower though.

After all it should be some kind of intellectual name.

[Patient Dog] maybe?

"Then, that midget in the back would be [The Owner Ruijerd]!"

"I heard that the [The Owner] was the one with the worst personality among them."

"Yeah, everything I heard about him was bad."

And there it is...

My name... name... hasn"t been remembered.

No, certainly I often name myself as Ruijerd, though...

Every time something good happened on our travels I would say "We name ourselves Ruijerd of the Dead End, please take care of us." as such.

And then, whenever something bad happened I would announce with a loud laugh "I am Rudeus, guahahahaha" and such while laughing.

Since that"s the case, why did they end up mixing them?

Hnnn.

Even though we"ve been quite active for this past year, I"m a bit shocked by the fact that only my name hasn"t been remembered.

Well, I guess it doesn"t matter.

It was selling my name with a bad meaning anyways, it"s not too bad since it"s not my real name.

Also, The Owner isn"t too bad as well.

I"d certainly like to put a collar on Eris and lead her around.

"In any case, he"s small."

"I"m certain that"s small as well. He"s a child after all!"

"Hey hey, if you say it"s small you"ll incite the dog!"

"Gyahahahaha!"

Just as I realized it, they"re laughing at something totally unrelated.

However, I"m sorry to disappoint you.

Recently, I"ve been growing favorably.

Oh, I can"t.

If I let them continue to laugh like this Eris will snap again.

Just as I was thinking about that, she was sneaking looks in my direction with a red face.

Oh, that seems cute.

"Eris, what"s the matter?"

"No... nothing!"

Dyufufu.

If you"re interested feel free to come peek at me while bathing tonight.

What? I"ll give Ruijerd detailed instructions to allow it to pa.s.s.

Since that"s the case how about we bathe together.

If that becomes the case, I might just slip a little bit, something like with my hand, or my foot, or my body, or my tongue.

Putting jokes aside.

For the time being we should move to the checking station.

Just like The Owner, I headed out of this place full of dignity.

"Eris-san! Ruijerdoduria-san! Let"s go!"

"Why do you sometimes get my name wrong..."

"Hmph!"

The surrounding stares were gathered on us as we left the Adventurers Guild.

We came up to the checking station.

This town is in the Magic Continent, but after you get on the s.h.i.+p it will take you into the territory of the Holy Milis Kingdom.

There"s a tax on anything you bring in and there"s an inspection upon entry to the country.

Whether it"s in order to prevent crime or otherwise just to earn money.

Well, the reason doesn"t really matter at all.

If they ask us to pay we just have to do it.

Just as I was thinking lightly of it.

"Two human race and one magic race, but how much will it cost?"

"Humans are 5 sc.r.a.p iron coins each. What species of magic race?"

"Superd race."

The staff member of the check point looked at Ruijerd with his mouth hanging open.

Then after looking at his bald head he let out a sigh.

It was a face without any motivation.

"Superd race are 200 small green coins."

"2... 200 coins?"

This time it was my turn to be surprised.

"Wh... why is it that expensive?!"

"Even if I don"t say it you should understand right?"

A reason why it would be expensive to bring Superd race on the boat.

I get it!

I understand now since I"ve seen how things went during the travels up until now.

However, it"s way too expensive.

"Why is it that absurd amount of money?"

"I wouldn"t know. Ask the one who decided on it."

"Old man, you can"t guess?"

"Ah? Well, probably a counter-measure against terrorism. Having one transported in as a slave and then having it go wild in Milis Continent and such."

That seems to be the case.

I already understood that the Superd race are treated like a bomb.

"You guys are that famed [Dead End] right? When you go to board the boat they will properly investigate your race. I don"t think there"s any point in showing your vanity and paying the 200 small green coins here?"

Thankfully the official gave us that sort of warning.

In other words, even if we were to try to falsify him as a Migurd race, it would be revealed.

"If you try to lie about your race is there some sort of fine?"

"Yeah, you"ll have to pay a pretty expensive fine."

According to the staff member it seems as long as you pay money just about anything is okay.

What a money-based doctrine.

The sun was starting to set as we returned from the check point.

We returned to the inn and decided to eat.

The food they brought out in the inn was a port city seafood specialty.

A sh.e.l.lfish about the size of a fist was the main dish for tonight.

It tasted like it was covered in b.u.t.ter and steamed with alcohol for flavoring.

It"s good.

Out of all the food I"ve eaten on the Magic Continent this would be the best one.

"This is delicious!"

Eris was eating it all happily while making a mess.

During this past year, she seems to have completely forgotten Asura Kingdom style table manners.

Using the knife in your right hand to slice the food, and then stabbing it with a fork and bringing it to your mouth.

At the very least she wasn"t just picking up the food with her hands and putting it into her mouth, but there were no manners about it.

If Edona saw this, she would probably cry.

Is it my responsibility?

"Eris. Your manners are bad!"

"Mogumogu? Who cares about something like manners."

Even Ruijerd has better manners.

Although this one is also lacking some elegance.

He doesn"t use the knife at all and cuts the food up with just the fork.

Just sliding the fork across them and the food gets cut through as if it were b.u.t.ter.

I can feel the skills of a master.

"Now then, in that case, even though we"re in the middle of eating, let"s start today"s operations meeting."

"Rudeus. Talking in the middle of a meal is bad manners."

Eris said that with a sour face.

After we finished eating and our stomachs were full, we started the operations meeting.

"The voyage expense is 200 small green coins. It"s way beyond reason."

"Sorry about that, it"s my fault."

Ruijerd frowned.

I didn"t think it would cost this much myself.

Honestly, I wasn"t thinking too much about the toll cost.

As long as we work a bit we would quickly be able to ride it.

In reality, the human race are only 5 sc.r.a.p iron coins a person.

Even other magic races are at best only one or two small green coins.

Only Superd race are such an absurdly expensive amount.

"Father, that"s going too far."

"I"m not your father."

"I know. It"s a joke."

In any event, 200 small green coins, huh.

It"s not a normal amount of money.

Even if we focused on doing A rank and S rank jobs in this city to earn money, it would take a number of years.

It seems like the Milis Continent really don"t want to accept any Superd race.

"However, it"s rather troubling. It"s not like we can just leave Ruijerd behind here."

Leave Ruijerd behind.

That would be the fastest way.

We"re already pretty experienced as adventurers at this point.

I"m sure we could keep going with our journey even without Ruijerd.

Even though I say that, obviously I have no intention of doing that.

Ruijerd will be with us until the end of our journey.

Our friends.h.i.+p is eternal and indestructible, that kind of thing.

"Of course we won"t leave you behind."

"Then, what do we do?"

"In terms of methods? There are three."

After saying that I held up three fingers.

Everything starts with the number three.

No matter what time it is, there"s always the three options of, continuing ahead, returning, or stopping.

"Oh?"

"That"s amazing, there"s three ways?"

"Fufun."

I"ll wait a bit on the explanation, I haven"t thought of them yet.

Umm...

"First off. There is the legitimate way of doing jobs to earn money and then setting off to Milis."

"Though that way..."

"Yeah, it will take far too much time."

If we just gave it our all at earning money, it would still take us at least a year to earn it.

There"s a guarantee that some sort of incident will occur during that period.

Carelessly dropping our wallet for example.

"The second. Enter a labyrinth and find a magic crystal or magic items. It"s quite a bit of trouble, but in just a single trip we can earn a considerable amount of money."

Magic crystals sell for a high price.

I can"t say in specific how much that would be, but if we gave it to the official at the check point, I"m sure it would be enough to allow the Superd race to travel.

"Labyrinth! That sounds good! Let"s go!"

"No way."

Ruijerd rejected the labyrinth option.

"Why?!"

"Labyrinths are dangerous. I can"t see through traps with my eye as well."

Even though Ruijerd"s eye will react to living things, it won"t work at all for traps made in a labyrinth it seems.

"Even though we won"t know unless we try?"

"I was the one who suggested it, but I don"t want to go either."

If we proceed carefully, we could probably manage it somehow or other, but since it"s me who doesn"t pay enough attention to his feet, somewhere I would most likely make a fatal mistake.

This is where we need to listen to Ruijerd"s advice.

"Third option. We look around this city for a smuggler."

"Smuggler? What"s that?"

"In places like this where people cross a border, they transport things across in return for a fee. In such examples like in our case where we"re forced to pay absurd prices. Most likely, if it were a merchant, they could transport it for a lower price."

"Is that the case?"

"That"s the case."

If that weren"t the case, then each species wouldn"t have a different price.

"Among them, there are certain articles which cost an amazing amount. For people who can"t afford to have things transported publicly, there are people who will transport it for a cheaper price."

Well, it"s also possible there aren"t any.

However, if we try talking to some merchants around here, I"m sure we could find someone who would take a much lower price than 200 small green coins either way.

The price set at the checkpoint is clearly strange.

If we violate the rules just a bit, it shouldn"t be too much retribution.

No no, I can"t think like that.

If we try to take the easy route out, there will be a pitfall.

I"ve already learned that through experience.

For the most part I"ve included it as an option, but we should try to avoid doing anything bad as much as possible.

For the time being, those three are all that I can think of.

Legit method of collecting moneyGet rich quick from a labyrinthAsk an underground merchant

None of the options are very good.

Ah, that"s right.

There was one more method.

I could sell my staff, [Arrogant Water Dragon King, Akuahatia].

Putting loss and gain aside I really don"t want to consider the option of selling this.

It was something I received on my birthday from Eris.

I"ve used it preciously until today.

I"m sure Ruijerd and Eris won"t agree with me letting this go.

However, this could be the best method.

That night I had a vision.

Hitogami said.

"Buy some food from a stall and then search alone in the back alleyways."

And.

Since I have no other means, I"ll give it a try.

"Is it a matter of having no other means?"

No, well, buying food, and going into a back alleyway, I already understood it was that sort of event.

"You understand it?"

It"s that right, there will be some lost child that is hungry and wandering around, right?
Then they will somehow or other get involved with a strange man right?

"That"s exactly right, amazing!"

Then, after I save that child, it will become the case that it"s actually the grandchild of the s.h.i.+pbuilding guild head or something along those lines right?

"Fufufu, that is something to look forward to for to...mor...row."

What is there to enjoy myself about it.
There wasn"t even a single one of those enjoyable developments up until now.

Rather, hey you! It"s been a year since we last talked you know!
Look, I was just starting to feel relieved that you would never show your face before me again.

"Well~ , didn"t you get into a bit of a troublesome incident because of my advice last time? It was just a bit difficult to show my face after that."

Ha!
So, even G.o.d has times like that.
However, don"t be mistaken.
That was my own personal mistake.
Though, incidentally, I would like you to tell me what kind of thing would have been the correct answer.

"Even if you say correct answer, if you had just normally interacted with the guards, they would have gotten along with Ruijerd as well."

Eh? Was it that sort of simple event?

"That"s right. If you had just become allies with them, then Nokopara wouldn"t have had his eyes on you. Really it was outside of my expectations. Though in my own opinion, it was pretty fun to watch."

In my case it wasn"t entertaining one bit at all.

"However, thanks to that, you made it this far in just about a year, right?"

So you"re trying to say the results are okay?

"The results are everything."

Cheh.
I don"t like that.

"Is that so? Well, it"s fine. Now then, it seems like you"re in a bad mood so I"ll disappear here."

Wait just a moment.
I would like to confirm something with you.

"What is it?"

Could it be that with your advice, it will turn out better, if I didn"t really think about it too much?

"In my opinion, it"s more interesting if you gave it more thought though..."

Ah, I see now!
It"s that sort of thing, huh.
I get it now.
I"ll go with what you said.
Next time won"t be interesting at all.

"Fufufu, that"s something to look forward to then."

Then. Then. Then.

My consciousness sunk as I heard the echo flow.

The next day after I received advice from the Hitogami.

I bought some skewered food similar to yakitori from a stall and started wandering around back alleyways.

The only thing I have on me are just these skewers.

The skewers had something like scallops, mussels, and seasoned fish.

Also, a number of marine products which I couldn"t really figure out.

Buy food from a stall, even if you say that, he didn"t really specify what kind.

Therefore, I went with the easiest thing to carry.

Last time I put too much thought into matters.

If an amateur tries to arrange and cook something it will just end in failure.

If I try to think about it too much, I"ll get stuck not knowing what to do.

This time conversely, I"ll just honestly obey and see what happens.

Just as I was told, I bought some food and now I"m just wandering around the back alleys, looking for an event.

Mindlessly.

This is role playing.

What is about to happen is nothing but a coincidental happening.

No need to think about it deeply, just obediently follow through with it.

That guy prefers interesting events.

The fact that I"m over thinking things is exactly what he"s aiming for.

If I just obediently obey then he won"t find it interesting.

Just as I was thinking that and wandered around for a number of minutes, I suddenly realized.

"Wait? Isn"t this going exactly as he predicted though?"

I thought I had been tricked.

Through his skillful art of conversation, I"m perfectly moving along with his predictions.

If I think about it I realize, it"s really an irritating way of speaking.

It feels like you"re dancing on the palms of his hands.

Remember the original intention.

My feelings during our first meeting.

I know for a fact that I should absolutely not trust him.

Alright, this will be the last time I move along with his plans.

This time I"ll just wait and see what happens as I go along with his advice, but next time I will absolutely not obey.

I already don"t want to go along with his wishes anymore, so this is it.

Walking around in a back alley.

Alone.

I wondered why it needed to be alone.

That should be where the truth behind this advice comes up.

A development that wouldn"t happen if Ruijerd and Eris were here.

No need to think about it too deeply.

I would be happy if it was an erotic development, I"ll go while hoping for something along those lines.

I told Ruijerd and Eris that we"re acting separately for a day.

Since it"s Eris, it would be dangerous to go out alone so I asked Ruijerd to guard her as well.

About this time, those two could be having a good time on the beach.

"Wait? Wouldn"t that be a date?"

Following along with my flow of thoughts, I imagined the shadow of two people on a sandy beach.

Nono.

That can"t be.

Ca...ca..ca..calm down.

It"s that Eris and that Ruijerd.

There"s no way it"s that sort of s.e.xy story.

It"s babysitting, babysitting.

Ah!

Though Ruijerd is strong!

Eris seems to respect Ruijerd as well!

Recently I"ve been treated as just The Owner too!

No way.

Why am I getting worried.

Fuuuu.

It"s alright, right Ruijerd-san.

This won"t become netorare[3], right?

It"s alright, right?

After I return you two won"t become strangely close, right?

I...I"m trusting in you!

For the time being, I start to simulate fighting against Ruijerd for the first time.

I don"t stand a chance in close combat.

In order to get rid of him, the first thing I would need to do is move two times the distance out of his search ability with the gem on his head.

Then in order to defeat him, use water.

The flow of water is a hindrance to him.

In order to pay out that punishment, I need to cut him off with water.

I"ll create a large amount of water and then just like that push him down into the ocean, the end.

I"ll have him drift until he dies.

Kukuku.

Please don"t be mistaken.

I believe in Ruijerd.

However, how do I put it.

Look, it"s like that.

Don"t they say love is a war?

The back alleys were peaceful.

Normally when you think of a back alley, you get the image of a gathering place for all sorts of bad people.

In reality, if a child like me who is pure, helpless and sincere were to walk through one it would immediately catch the eyes of kidnappers.

In this world kidnapping is one of the most popular and profitable crimes after all.

If anyone comes to abduct me, I"ll crush their arms and legs then interrogate them for information, take everything of value they have on them, then turn them over to the authorities.

"Hehehe, little girl, if you come with me I"ll let you eat until your stomach is full."

I heard that voice coming from the back alley.

I suddenly peeked through to look.

A man with a scary looking face was pulling on the arm of a young girl sitting down against the wall.

It"s certainly a very easy to understand composition.

First move wins.

I prepared my staff and did modifications to my Stone Cannon that would put it at about the level of a jab from a pro boxer.

Then fired off a rock bullet at the man"s back.

During this past year I"ve gotten quite good at going easy like this.

"Ouch?!"

After he turned around I fired one more shot.

This time it was just a bit stronger.

"Ga?!?"

Bagan! A good sound came out and the rock hit the man directly in the face making a cracking sound.

The man started to stagger about unsteadily dragging his body and then he fell over.

He shouldn"t be dead.

It seems like I did a good job at holding back.

"Are you alright, young lady?"

I put on as much of a refres.h.i.+ng face as I could, and held out a hand to the girl who was about to be kidnapped.

"O...oh??"

It was a little girl dressed in a risque, black leather styled outfit.

Boots that come up to her knees. Leather short-shorts. A leather tube-top.

Her collarbone, curveless waist, navel and thighs - all of her skin is pale.

And finally her most noticeable features; voluminous and wavy violet hair, and horns like a goat.

I understood the moment I saw her.

It"s a succubus.

Not only that but a little girl.

Without a doubt she should be younger than me.

Could this possibly be a reward the Hitogami is giving me for giving it my best.

That guy can occasionally do some good things it seems.

No, it shouldn"t be a succubus.

In this world the succubus related species are considered a type of monster.

If I remember correctly it"s a monster that inhabits the Begaritto Continent.

I remember back to when Paul said in an unusually serious face, "Our family cannot win against them."

I"m sure if I were to actually meet a succubus I would lose to its technique and be exhausted by it.

Succubus are the Greyrat family"s natural enemy.

Well, putting that aside.

There"s no monsters in the middle of the town.

In other words, she is not a succubus.

She should just be a child from a normal demon race wearing erotic clothing.

"O..ohhh! Yo... you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, what have you doneeeee??! Look at what you have done!"

The little girl was trembling all over.

"Th...this man was... this man you know...?!"

She made an unbelievable face.

What have you done? What are you going to do about this? Sort of face.[4]

"Ah, sorry about that, was he an acquaintance?"

Is what I asked while tilting my head.

It wasn"t the sort of feeling and face a normal middle aged man would speak with to an acquainted child.

How do I put it, it was more like the exact feeling of an aroused middle aged lolicon.

Look at this bright red face, even after he"s lost consciousness he still has that loose smile.

He may have been about to take the little girl home and feed her an extravagant meal and offer a warm bed, but in return he would have requested a hot night, that sort of feeling.This man was going to feed this one with an empty stomach fo... food!!

"This man was going to feed this one[5] with an empty stomach fo... food!!"

I heard a loud gurgling noise from somewhere.

It was a sound like the ground was rumbling.

Just as that sound was about to end the little girls knees gave out and she fell to the ground.

"Are...are you alright?"

Without thinking about it I crouched down and picked her up.

I wouldn"t let a justified reason to touch a little girl pa.s.s me by.

However, don"t be mistaken.

I came to save her on the orders of the Hitogami.

Different from that middle aged man just now.

"Gu?? Ugh? It"s been 300 years since this one revived. To think this one would fall in this sort of place? This one cannot let Laplace know about this matter!"

Somehow a strange self play started up.

Could it be that this outfit is some sort of cosplay?

"Fo...for the time being, eat this and get a hold of yourself."

I shoved three of the skewers I had prepared into the mouth of the little girl.

"Mogyumogyumogyu"

The moment they were shoved into the little girls mouth her eyes flew wide open, with her eyes open just like that she kept chewing away eating the skewered food.

Then she even plundered the skewers I had in my hand as well.

I still had 12 pieces left on my skewer, but 10 pieces suddenly disappeared.

"U..u..o..oh! It"s good! The first meal in a year is good!"

The little girl regained her energy.

She suddenly lifted her back from the ground energetically with a spring and jumped up, and then stood on the ground after a single rotation.

Her physical ability must be surprisingly high it seems.

"This one has been saved, saved! You! With this, this one should be able to last another year!"

Then at that point the little girl"s eyes finally met with mine.

It was an odd set of eyes that had a mix of purple and black.

I wonder if this is some sort of cosplay as well.

No, there shouldn"t be any contacts in existence in this world.

Her eyes should have originally been like this.

"Oh?"

The little girls right eye spun around in a circle.

In that moment, the color changed to blue.

Tha....that"s creepy!!

"Uwaaa! Uwaa! What"s with you? Amazing! That"s disgusting! What"s this, what"s this?! Fuhahaha! It"s the first time this one has seen something like this!"

After seeing my face the little girl started to say that while jumping around energetically.

Yeah, it"s a shock of course.

It"s the first time in a while since anyone has looked at my face and called me disgusting.

However, I also thought that she was creepy.

I"ll just call it even here.

"Is it that? During the time it was in the stomach it was a twin, then when it was born one half died, is that it?"

What?

What is she saying?

"No, I don"t think that is the case."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Still your magic power quant.i.ty!! It"s above Laplace you know."

What is higher than who?

"Well, it"s fine! Name yourself!"

"I"m Rudeus Greyrat."

"Alright! This one is called Kis.h.i.+rika Kis.h.i.+risu! A.K.A. THE GREAT EMPRESS OF THE DEMON REALM!"

With her hands on her hips, and her pelvis thrust forward, she threw out her chest with pride.

Suddenly seeing thighs in front of my eyes, I reflexively licked her.

It smells but it"s sweet.

"Uhyaa! What are you doing!? That"s dirty!"

The little girl started to glare at me as she clamped her legs together and started rubbing them.

However, I see now.

Great Empress of the Demon Realm, Kis.h.i.+rika Kis.h.i.+risu.

Even I"ve heard that name before.

In the Human-Demon Great War, the one who lead the magic race, fought, and was easily crushed, the immortal Demon Empress.

I wonder if it"s the real thing.

I came here following the advice of that Hitogami.

There is the possibility that she is the real Great Demon Empress.

However, would the real Demon Empress be in this sort of place in the middle of nowhere on the Magic Continent, furthermore collapsing from starvation.

No matter how you look at it, that can"t be the case.

That"s right.

This must be like where the children of the Magic Continent go around playing, pretending to be great people of the past.

And the especially popular one is the Demon G.o.d Laplace.

For someone like me who knows the truth, he"s a disgusting and evil b.a.s.t.a.r.d but that guy is popular.

Even though he did lose the war, he subjugated the Magic Continent, gathered together the demon races and brought them status, then brought about peace.

The demon races greatest man in history, is how it"s been told.

What the children usually go around imitating is the story of Laplace.

Especially, the episode where he fights the immortal demon king, until we came here to Wind Port it was something I saw a number of times.

Great Demon Empress Kis.h.i.+rika as well, is a great being if you can call it a great being.

However, probably because it"s from a much older era I"ve almost never seen make believe play of her.

This child is certainly a pa.s.sionate fan of the Great Demon Empress and she has no friends to play together with, so she was playing alone in this back alley.

Thinking of it that way is smart.

Hmm.

Being alone is lonely right.

It can"t be helped I"ll play along as well.

"Wa, wa ha! Please excuse me! Your majesty!"

I started acting out in exaggeration and bowed over on one knee similar to a retainer.

"O? O.. oh! That"s good, that"s good! This one has always waited for that sort of response! The young ones these days don"t have any manners after all!"

Yes, yes, Kis.h.i.+rika started to nod happily.

Yes, yes.

That"s right, I"m sure you wanted someone to play along with you.

"Please forgive my rudeness for I did not know you had revived and acted in an impolite manner!"

"It"s fine. You have saved this ones life. It"s fine if you ask for any one desire."

Saved your life... I just gave you some food when you were hungry, right?

"Ummm? Then, I want great riches."

"Idiot! This one is totally broke just as it looks!"

Even though you said anything?

No, I guess it"s that sort of setting.

If you were to ask for money, then there would be an episode later where you"re forced to pay it back.

"Then, please give me half of the world."

"Wha! Half of the world you say! That"s huge! However, half-a.s.sed. Why only half?"

"Well, since I don"t really need the men."

Oh that"s bad, I let out a bit of my true intentions.

It"s not something to tell a little girl about.

"I see, this one understands it now? Even though you"re still young, you"re a l.u.s.tful one. However, sorry. To tell you the truth, this one hasn"t acquired the world either you know?"

Well, all of the wars Kis.h.i.+rika lead the demon races in were lost after all.

"Then, your body is fine. Pay me back with your body."

"Oh? With this body? Even at that age you"re that l.u.s.tful, I"m worried for your future."

"Haha, of course that was a jo-..."

A joke, I was about to say, when Kis.h.i.+rika started to put her hands on her hot pants.

"Really, it can"t be helped. It"s the first time since this one has revived, be gentle, okay?"

Kis.h.i.+rika"s cheeks started to change color and she started to unfasten the b.u.t.ton on her hot pants.

Eh? Seriously?

I just meant it as a joke though...

No, but, this isn"t the sort of atmosphere where you can say it"s a joke.

This is where I should just carefully appreciate it as the little girl strips, then after enjoying the sensation of holding on to her majesty, gently reject her, is the correct way of doing things.

"Oh, wait, this one can"t do that."

However, Kis.h.i.+rika stopped.

Don"t stop, just a bit more and it could have been seen.

"This time this one"s fiance is here as well. Sorry, but this one cannot offer you this body."

The pants that had been pulled down were pulled back up again.

I feel like a man who has just had his pure heart played around with.

Money is no good, the world is no good, the body is no good.

"Then what can you offer?"

"Fool, when it comes to things the Great Demon Empress Kis.h.i.+rika can grant one, then it"s obviously demon eyes!"

Demon eyes.

Demon eyes, huh.

Is it that sort of thing.

Somehow it"s kind of a different image from this world"s heroes after all.

Come to think of it, one of Ghyslaine"s eyes was a demon eye wasn"t it?

However, demon eyes, huh.

"When you say demon eyes, do you mean, "Has the ability to see the opponent"s Lines of Death, and cutting along those to deliver them certain death" - those kind of demon eyes?"[6]

"Scary!! What is that! This one doesn"t have anything scary like that!"

That doesn"t seem to be the case.

After that the only other demon eyes I know of are the kind that turn the opponent into stone when you look at them.

Or the kind where beams come out of your eyes, [Eye Beam Gun], or the kind where lasers come out, [Laser Eyes], those are probably not included as demon eyes.

"Do you really want something as dangerous as that? Do you have some sort of grudge against someone?"

"No, not particularly."

"Nothing can be born from revenge. This one has already been killed twice, but now this one doesn"t hold any grudges against the opponent that killed this one at all. When people resent, that resentment becomes a chain. Then things like the Human-Demon great war happen."

I was being preached to by the little girl.

Well, it"s not like I"m particularly planning on cutting any vampires apart[7], so she doesn"t really have to lecture me.

"Or rather, I don"t really know much about the demon eyes. What kinds are there?"

"Humu. This one has only just revived so this one doesn"t have any significant ones, but Magic Power eyes, Identification eyes, X-ray eyes, Clairvoyance, Foresight, and Absorption eyes, would be ones that are famous around here."[8]

Even if you just tell me the names.

"Can you please explain each of them to me?"

"Umu? You don"t know? Really now, the young ones these days don"t study enough?"

After saying that Kis.h.i.+rika took the time to explain each of them to me in detail.

Magic Power Eyes

They are eyes that allow you to see magic power directly.

The most popular ones. 1 in 10,000 possess them.

Identification Eyes

When you look at something it will show you the details of that object.

However, only within things that this one knows of. Anything that this one doesn"t know will be shown as something unknown to this one.

X-ray Eyes

If you look you will be able to see through things like walls.

Though you can"t see through living beings or dense magic fields.

You"ll be able to see all the females naked that you want. It"s just right for a l.u.s.tful master.

Clairvoyance

It allows you to see far away. It"s difficult to control the focus point.

Since you can only see and not interfere, it"s not really suggested.

Foresight

It"s an eye that allows you to see a short distance into the future.

This one is hard to adjust the focus point as well.

However, it"s suggested.

Absorption Eyes

Eyes that absorb magic power. Since they also absorb your own magic they aren"t really suggested.

Kis.h.i.+rika was knowledgeable about demon eyes.

I wonder where she learned about these sorts of things.

Maybe her parents are knowledgeable about it.

Otherwise maybe there"s some kind of book called Demon Eyes Encyclopedia.

"Then, let"s go with two and make both eyes demon eyes."

"Suddenly going with both, you, are surprisingly greedy aren"t you?"

"Here, I"ll give you the last bit of meat."

I pa.s.sed her the last two pieces on the skewer and Kis.h.i.+rika received it with a full face smile.

"Yay.. mogumogu. However, it"s fine to give you both, but this one wouldn"t really suggest it."

"Why?"

"It"ll trouble you if you can"t see through them normally, generally you keep your field of vision sealed with an eye-patch. If you have to cover both eyes you won"t be able to see."

"Ah, come to think of it I"ve seen something like that from an acquaintance of mine."

Ghyslaine used one as well.

After all what Ghyslaine had should have been a demon eye.

"If you"ve been alive for several hundred years you might be able to control it, but if this one suddenly gives both eyes to a child like you then it"ll drive you mad."

I"ll go mad, huh?

After all, I guess it would put some kind of burden on your brain.

How frightening.

"Then, I"ll give up on both eyes."

"That"s for the best. Then what will you do? This one suggested foresight."

Demon eyes, huh, if I could get my hands on one, which would be good.

The magic power eyes seem like a bit of waste.

It seems like quite a few people already have them after all.

Unexpectedly, though they could be quite useful.

I don"t really need the identification eyes.

I"ve never been troubled over not knowing about things.

Moreover, it doesn"t know about things that the Great Demon Empress doesn"t know it seems.

I can imagine it not being useful at the times when you need it the most.

I don"t particularly need the X-ray vision either.

Until I can learn to control it, it seems like I would end up seeing Ruijerd nude as well.

The clairvoyance seems like it could be useful.

Though for the time being I don"t really feel like I need it.

If I was given it right now, I could see what is going on with Eris and Ruijerd, but I"m sure the usual scene of Eris getting into a fight with someone and Ruijerd going to stop it would enter my vision.

Foresight is... I see, certainly that one seems to be a good suggestion.

Currently, I can"t win against Ruijerd or Eris in close combat.

The living things in this world are fast after all.

If I could see a moment into the future, that sort of thing would be a huge advantage to me.

The absorption eyes are out of the question.

They would kill my advantage as a magician.

Though I"m glad I was able to learn about the demon eyes like this.

If all of a sudden all of my abilities were being cancelled out I could have gone into panic and been in danger.

If I think about it seriously, then all of them are dependent on how they are used.

Well, anything works really.

It"s just make believe play after all.

"Then, I"ll go with the suggestion."

"Is it fine? The majority of people have gone with different ones than the ones this one has suggested. Saying "what can be done if you can only see just a little bit into the future?" like that."

"If you can see one second into the future, you can control the world."

Even though I say that, the swordsmen in this world are fast.

Even if you could see one second into the future, it"s possible you won"t win.

There"s that [Sword of Light] thing as well.

"Is it fine not to get the X-ray vision? You could look at all the females naked you want."

She doesn"t get it, this little girl.

Certainly, just walking down the road you could see beauties and young women naked all you want and it would be exciting.

However, that"s exactly it.

It would quickly become boring.

In regards to that, the process of taking off the clothes and imagining what they"ll look like when they"re off is part of the enjoyment.

The pocchi who rises up to the top of clothes, won"t be able to enjoy it without being able to see the clothes you know?

"I see I see, then I"ll just borrow your face really quick."

"Yes."

"Here, ready?"

Kis.h.i.+rika suddenly stuck her fingers into my right eye.

I experienced an intense pain.

"Gu gia????Aaa!!!"

Without thinking about it I tried to run away.

However, I was caught by Kis.h.i.+rika"s hair and unable to run away.

Surprisingly strong.

Ouch ouch ouch ouch!

"Ga? Aaa?! Wh..what are you doing you brat?!"

"Shut up will you, you"re a boy right? Endure it for a bit."

She was tampering away in my eye socket with her fingers with a grinding sensation.

After a little while pa.s.sed, she completely pulled it out.

I"ve certainly lost the sight in that eye now.

"The color of the foresight eye is a bit different from your own though you won"t be able to tell from a distance."

"You idiot! There are things you can and cannot do even when just playing around!"

"This one is the Great Demon Empress, this one wouldn"t give demon eyes while just playing around."

d.a.m.n it, my eye, my eye is???

Ah??? Oh?

I can see.

Things have become doubled, but I can see.

What"s this, it feels disgusting.

"It depends on how you control the flow of magic power in it, but you should be able to make the flow as thin as possible. Well, give it your best and train in using it."

"Ah? Eh? What do you mean?"

"It means it depends on you."

In front of the confused me, Kis.h.i.+rika looked totally satisfied.

There was an afterimage remaining in place of the nod.

However, rather than an afterimage the silhouette was deeper.

What"s with this, it feels disgusting.

"Alright this is good, you can properly see it seems. Now then, it"s about time this one heads off. This one must search for Badigadi. In regards to the meal, it was a great justice."

After saying that Kis.h.i.+rika jumped up onto the roof.

"Well then, see you Rudeus! It"s fine if you rely on this one if you"re in trouble again sometime! Fahahahahahaha! Fahahahah! Fahahahahafuagahogeho??!"

Leaving behind a Doppler effect, she disappeared into the distance while laughing out loud.

I just kept staring blankly.

Eh?

The real thing?

Just like this I obtained a [Foresight] eye.

Middle Aged Man"s Point of View

"Ugh, my head hurts."

I drank too much yesterday.

I finished the first stage of a long job and went partying with my colleagues.

We drank until morning.

We drank so much that we thought the shop would run out.

Then, I have no memory.

All the memories after I left the shop seem to be a bit vague.

If I remember correctly, I went down one of the back roads in order to take a shortcut.

That"s right.

Then there was a little girl sitting down there.

After talking to her she said she was hungry.

Since I was in a good mood I invited her to my house.

My wife should have prepared some breakfast.

Unfortunately, my intoxication still remains so I wouldn"t have been able to eat it.

If I leave the food my wife prepares then she"ll get angry.

If I were to let this girl eat it, my wife shouldn"t get angry.

In my head while drunk it seemed like a great idea.

Yeah, from that point on I don"t have any memory.

It seems like I drank until I pa.s.sed out.

My wallet is? Still here.

I haven"t been stripped of my possessions.

After looking at the sky, the sun is still high in the sky.

Well, I am a pretty well known person in this town after all.

There shouldn"t be anyone in the town who sees this scary face and doesn"t realize who I am.

Moreover, yesterday, we finally finished a new s.h.i.+p, all the people around town should know about it.

Of course, they should know about the first launch celebration as well.

Surely, they decided to just leave me be as I was sleeping here so peacefully.

"Wait, isn"t it already midday? Ah? This will put my wife in a bad mood!"

The s.h.i.+pbuilding Guild chief Bakkasu Randasu hurried down the road home with his head aching from a hangover.

Demon eyes.

Normally you"d be pretty surprised if you suddenly received something like this.

Why was the Demon Emperor in that sort of place and why was I given something like this?

It was such an opportunistic development that my mind didn"t have time to catch up.

Howeve

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