Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Volume 3

Chapter 3: A Master's Secrets

Once again, I was dreaming. This time, I was watching a group of angels descend from the skies above. Seemed pleasant enough, compared to my recent nightmares.

Then I noticed that parts of the angels were hidden by pixelated mosaics. As they drew closer, they giggled at me in unison, and creepy grins spread across their faces.

The instant I realized this wasn't going to be a happy dream, I woke up.

"Another nightmare..." I'd been having many of those recently.

I sat up slowly and studied the barren, rocky field of earth in front of me. This was the Demon Continent—one half of the supercontinent that was torn apart in a war between humanity and demonkind, and home to the various demonic races once united by the Demon-God Laplace.

Its area was roughly half that of the Central Continent, but it was a harsher place by far. There was very little vegetation, for one thing. The terrain was scarred with cracks and fissures; changes in elevation were abrupt, with great rock slopes jutting up like steps on a giant staircase. Travelers would often find their path blocked by piles of boulders taller than a man. The place was basically a maze.

What's more, its dense, natural concentrations of magical energy meant it was plagued by numerous powerful monsters. From what I'd read, walking from one end to the other would take three times as long as a journey across the larger Central Continent. We had a very tough road ahead of us, and I wasn't sure how to break the news to Eris.

But when I looked over, I found her staring out at the bleak landscape with excitement shining in her eyes.

"Uhm, Eris. It seems we're on the Demon Continent, so—"

"The Demon Continent! What an adventure this is going to be!"

Was that joy in her voice? Well, all right then. No reason to be a buzzkill and explain just how dangerous this is going to be.

"Let's move," said Ruijerd. "Follow me."

Together, the three of us set out across the barren plain

***

Apparently, Eris had made friends with Ruijerd while I was sleeping. She chattered away at him as we walked, describing her life at home, her lessons in magic, and her sword fighting practice with great enthusiasm. Ruijerd didn't contribute that much to the conversation but offered polite expressions of interest where appropriate.

It was hard to believe Eris had been utterly terrified of the man only the night before. At this point, she didn't seem intimidated by him in the slightest. In fact, she made a few offhand comments that bordered on being outright rude. It made me more than a little anxious, but Ruijerd never seemed to take offense.

Who said the Superd had a terrible temper anyway? They were clearly full of it.

Of course, Eris wasn't quite as prone to bluntly insulting people as she used to be. Edna and I had basically drilled that habit out of her, so she probably wasn't going to blurt out anything too awful—or so I wanted to believe. Still, it was hard to know what might infuriate a stranger from an unfamiliar culture. I was really hoping she'd tread carefully here.

Also, Eris tended to get infuriated pretty easily herself, so...hopefully Ruijerd would do the same.

As that thought ran through my mind, I heard Eris's voice grow sharp with irritation.

"Rudeus isn't your older brother then?"

"Of 'course' not!"

"But you share the name Greyrat. That is a family name, correct?"