48 Side Story
Ghislaine smiled as she looked down at the wooden dagger-wand that Rudeus had gifted to her. She found herself bringing it out and holding it whenever she fell deep in thought. Every groove and notch on the dagger had been hand carved by her precious apprentice. Something about that sentiment made her feel comfortable when she held the dagger.
The dagger had been given to her as her graduation gift on Eris' 10th birthday. There was a singular magic crystal inserted into the base of the handle, allowing the dagger to function as a wand.
She had been struggling to think of a present for her apprentice to return the favour ever since then. What she could give Rudeus, he did not lack. All she had was a tidy sum of gold, but the boy had multiple times more saved up from selling the magic items he created.
Ghislaine had already taught him everything she knew. All that was left for Rudeus was for him to comprehend King-rank Battle Aura and merging the Saint-rank Sword God techniques in order to break through the realm of Sword King. There was nothing else she could offer him.
She had written a letter to Paul and Zenith (she could now read and write fluently thanks to Rudeus' tutelage) asking them for opinions on what gift might be most appropriate.
Paul must have intercepted the letter before Zenith could read it, because the response she received was something along the lines of 'just use your body to repay him, muscle gorilla'.
That pervert. What kind of father would suggest something like that for his son? Needless to say she sent the letter back, addressed to Zenith specifically this time. Hopefully Paul would not intercept it again.
But now the issue remained. What should she get for Rudeus? She asked around the estate, getting some advice from the Beastfolk servants. The common consensus was that in a Beastfolk tribe, when a woman wanted to show her appreciation for a man, they would traditionally give them a lock of their hair, fashioned into a bracelet or armband of some kind, so that their scent would always be with them.
Ghislaine did not know of these traditions, since she had been more beast than woman when she was still living in the Doldia village. But she could vaguely recall that the women would always marry the men they gave these locks of hair to. What an odd coincidence.
So she cut off a lock of hair and asked a beastwoman servant to help her braid them into a bracelet. It resulted in a bracelet that was silvery-grey in colour, which looked rustically handmade.
Ghislaine still thought this gift looked a little too shabby, and did not possess the same practicality of what Rudeus had given her, despite being reassured by the other beastwomen that Rudeus would be able to see the sincerity and thought put into the gift.
So she thought of something else.
Recently, Rudeus had looked extremely stifled. Like he was struggling with a dilemma and as a result appeared restless when they trained together.
Ghislaine knew what he was struggling with. The lack of progress in his swordsmanship. It was a very frustrating feeling, and disheartening to see one's progress stagnate. Especially so for Rudeus who genuinely loved swordsmanship like nothing else.
But there was nothing else she could do for him. It would take time, she had explained, before he would comprehend King-rank Battle Aura. But these were only excuses, she had realized. There was one method he could see his progress skyrocket. And that was if she brought Rudeus to the Holy Land of Swords to meet Gal Farion.
Gal Farion was the most skilled expert Ghislaine knew, and he had an insight into the sword like none other in the world. If it was him, he would be able to train Rudeus in ways she did not know how.
She had mentioned this to him before, claiming that when they had time, she would bring him to meet her master. But when would that be? Ghislaine owed a life debt to the Boreas family, which could not be easily repaid. She did not know if she would have ever take the time to bring Rudeus to the Holy Land of Swords.
Thus, Ghislaine was resolved. After Rudeus' birthday party, she would approach Sauros and ask for time off. She just needed a month or two, to bring Rudeus to the Holy Land of Swords and request for her master to take him on as a disciple.
This would be her gift to him. Hopefully Rudeus would not find her company for 1 month straight to be too unpleasant a gift.
When the day of his birthday party arrived, Ghislaine had been tasked with keeping Rudeus busy while the maids set up the decorations and the food. But it had not been necessary, it turned out. Rudeus had left to go hunting early in the morning, so the servants no longer needed her to play the part of a decoy.
So now she found herself in the middle of the Boreas mansion's dining room, surrounded by servants who were busying themselves setting up one thing or another, generally staying out of their way.
Eris had been excited the entire morning. For Rudeus' present, the Boreas family had prepared a particularly luxurious gift for the boy. It was a set of enchanted, leather magic armour. They had apparently been very generous with this gift, spending nearly a thousand gold coins on it. That was a heavy expense, even for the wealthy Boreas family.
However, it sufficiently matched the friends and family discount Rudeus had given them when he made the magic rings for their family.
The armour had been enchanted to provide a constant stream of mana that regulated the temperature of the wearer, so that they would not feel hot or cold in extreme climates. It also had another feature that boosted the Battle Aura of the user, enhancing their physical capabilities by around 5 – 10 percent.
Eris had been so in love with the armour that she wanted to wear it before the family officially gave it to Rudeus. Hilda had approved, saying something about leaving her mark on the armour so that other girls would know to stay away.
The party was almost fully prepped when suddenly Ghislaine felt the air shift. Her keen beastfolk senses made her hair stand as a strange weight suddenly descended all around her.
"There's something strange." She muttered, before rushing to the window and roughly opening it. Ghislaine saw that the sky had darkened, but thunderclouds would not have given her such an ominous sensation.
"Ghislaine? Is something wrong?" Philip asked, but Ghislaine ignored the question, focusing on the sky above Roa.
She brought her hand up to the eye patch that normally covered her demon eye that let her see mana directly and lifted it up.
"…What incredible mana." She remarked, seeing the dense mass of mana that was accumulating above Roa. It looked like a veritable sea of magical energy, that formed whirlpools of swirling maelstroms made of mana. Ghislaine had never seen this much magical energy being gathered in a single place before, ever.
She did not understand what was happening, but her gut told her that it would not be anything good.
Ghislaine turned back to the Boreas family and the gathered servants, who were all looking at her worriedly.
"There is something happening in the sky. A colossal mass of mana has been gathered." She explained.
Sauros frowned, "What should we do? Should we evacuate?"
Ghislaine nodded, "I'm not sure what is going on, but it would be best for us to leave before we find out. Hopefully, there is still time."
Eris' eyes darted, not fully understanding what was happening.
Philip put a hand on her shoulder, and looked at Ghislaine, "Bring Eris out of the city first. We will pack our things and follow soon after."
She nodded silently.
Eris looked at her father in confusion, "Eh? What is going on? Why do we need to leave? We have to wait for Rudeus to come back first!"
Damn it, Rudeus is out there too! Ghislaine realized. She did not know the scope of the phenomenon, but felt she would be more reassured if her other disciple was there with her.
'No, it should be okay. Rudeus is young, but he is strong. He can take care of himself. I need to prioritize the Boreas family members.' Ghislaine told herself.
"We will find Rudeus after." The beastwoman told Eris, and lifted her up with one arm. "I have space for one more."
Sauros and Philip looked at each other before simultaneously turning to Hilda.
"Hilda, go with Ghislaine and Eris. A mother should be with her daughter no matter what."
The noble lady nodded in assent. She knew this was not a good time to argue with her husband.
Ghislaine approached Hilda and snaked her arm around the other woman's waist. "I apologize for being indelicate."
Hilda felt the firm forearm of Ghislaine digging into her abdomen as she was lifted up like she weighed almost nothing. "It's okay. Don't concern yourself over this."
Ghislaine nodded towards Sauros and Philip before turning to leave without saying anything more.
Just as she charged out of the front door of the Boreas mansion, the red orb that had been a constant in the lives of Roa's residents imploded, turning into a bright white light that shot down towards the city.
Ghislaine's eye widened at the sight before letting a massive surge of King-ranked Battle Aura saturate her legs. She exploded back in to the mansion, diving towards Philip and Sauros.
Suddenly, the white light enveloped the entire mansion as well as its inhabitants.
[End of Volume 1]
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A/N: A short side story to tide you guys over before the daily release commences next week.
Did Ghislaine managed to reach Philip and Sauros? Where will they be transported to? Or perhaps what you are most curious about - where did Rudeus teleport to??? Find out by adding this story to your library to receive any updates when a new chapter is uploaded!
And with this chapter, we have reached 100k words! Thank you all for coming on this journey with me.
I never thought we would come this far when I first started writing this story. It was initially just a side-project, since my main focus had been on my other story, Accidental Gamer Hero. But as I started writing this story, my mind ceaselessly obsessed over this work. I could no longer spend any time writing AGH because all I would be think about was how to write this story.
I read the web novel for Mushoku Tensei many years ago, maybe around 2015 or 2016? I only felt inspired to write a fanfic for Mushoku Tensei after watching the anime and realizing I hated the main character. Thus, the earlier chapters I had to refer a lot to the novel and anime, since my canon knowledge was rather lacking.
Hence, I never argued with people who commented that I was copying canon a lot. They did make some valid points.
However, what I can promise you is this - you will definitely see a lot more original stuff in the second volume of this novel as my confidence to explore the world building rises.
See you next week! Don't forget to add this story to your library! I don't want to come back in a week and realize everyone has forgotten about my story :(
