Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Volume 3

Chapter 5: Three Days to the Nearest Town

The next morning, as the three of us were leaving the village, I spotted Rowin standing at his post by the gate.

"Good morning. Are you on guard duty again?"

"Yes. I'll be out here until the hunting party returns."

The other men of the village still hadn't shown up since yesterday. Had Rowin been out here all night, like some NPC guard from an RPG? That always seemed like a pretty simple job... just standing in the same place all day, never moving an inch. Still, was he seriously going to be handling this all alone until the others got back?

Oh, I guess there's Elder Rokkus. In a village this small, he probably has to pitch in too.

"Are you leaving already?" Rowin asked.

"Yes. We managed to talk things through last night."

"Ah. I was hoping to ask you more about my daughter, but..."

"Ordinarily I'd love to talk, but I'm afraid we need to get on the road soon."

"Right..."

The man was clearly disappointed. The feeling was mutual. I would've loved to hear some embarrassing stories from Roxy's childhood.

"If I see her again, I'll make sure to tell her to get in touch with you."

"Please do," Rowin said, bowing his head in gratitude. I'd have to make a mental note about this. "Oh, that reminds me! Wait just a minute."

He ran into the village and into one of the houses—presumably Roxy's childhood home. After several minutes, he emerged with a girl who bore a striking resemblance to my master. At first, I wasn't sure why he hadn't just used telepathy to call her outside, but then I noticed that he was also carrying some sort of sword. Were they giving us a present?

"This is my wife."

"Nice to meet you. My name is Rokari."

Ah. So this was the mom of the family then? "I'm Rudeus Greyrat, ma'am. I have to say, I didn't expect Roxy's mother to be so young." I found myself bowing slightly. I owed these two a great deal, in a sense: they raised Roxy, and without her, I probably wouldn't have set out into the world the way I did.

"Oh my, what a flatterer. I'm 102 years old, you know?"

"Uhm, well... that's still young in my book." Apparently, the Migurd reached physical maturity by age ten or so and didn't visibly age until they hit 150. "I owe Master Roxy a great deal, ma'am."

"Master...? Goodness, it's hard to imagine that girl teaching anyone much of anything. She must have changed a great deal...."

"She taught me all sorts of things. I'm very grateful to her."

At this, Rokari blushed a bit and murmured, "Goodness." Seemed like she'd gotten the wrong idea somehow.

"In any case," Rowin said, "I'm glad you showed up when I happened to be on duty."

"Yes. I'm very glad to have met you both as well. Roxy did so much for me, really... Hmm. Maybe I should call you Dad?"

"Hahaha... No. Don't."

Ouch. The man didn't even crack a smile. His poker face reminded me a bit of Roxy's. Made me a little nostalgic.

"All jokes aside, I do want you to have this," Rowin said, holding out the sword. "I know Ruijerd's with you, but you'll sleep better if you have a weapon of your own."

"I'm not exactly unarmed really," I said, accepting the sword and drawing it from its sheath.

The blade was wide, single-edged, and only about sixty centimeters long. It was also slightly curved, like a machete or a cutlass. A few dings suggested that it had been in use for many years, but the cutting edge itself wasn't chipped at all. It sure looked like they'd taken good care of this thing; it was clean, beautiful even. But there was also something oddly threatening about it. Maybe it was the way the dull grey steel glowed faintly green when it caught the light.