Zenith announced her pregnancy right after dinner, her hand resting on her belly.
Paul was clearly already prepared, but he still couldn't contain his excitement. He started to hug Zenith but managed to stop himself, instead dancing on the spot.
Ever since Zenith had given birth to Rudeus, they had wanted another child, and now their wish had finally come true.
Rudeus also looked at Zenith with curiosity and quickly ran to her side, pressing his ear to her belly along with the excited Paul.
Zenith, with a gentle expression, stroked Rudeus's head.
"That's wonderful, Rudeus. You're finally not alone…"
At this, she suddenly paused and looked at Alan, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed and an unreadable smile.
"In that case… you'll have another little brother or sister, won't you? There will be a third child in the family to play with. You have to fulfill your duty as an older brother, okay~"
Rudeus nodded, then tilted his head to look at Alan, a strange light flickering in his eyes.
Alan, being a bit far away, didn't quite catch what Zenith said. He felt that they had mentioned him, so he dropped his spectator's smile and tilted his head with a questioning look.
Rudeus smiled but didn't respond to Alan's questioning body language, instead pressing his head against Zenith's belly again.
'The fact that Alan is my distant cousin still feels a bit unreal… This guy is amazing. He's very perceptive in his interactions with people, able to accurately grasp their emotional fluctuations and say the right thing… But, how should I put it, he's a bit dense when it comes to his own feelings.'
'Is it a lack of confidence? He doesn't fully sense how Paul and Zenith feel about him… I've heard from Paul before that his family situation is quite complicated, and he was even hunted by his biological father… Although I don't have much of a sense of belonging to this family either, his situation is different from mine. I'm like this because of reincarnation, but is he like this because of his original family? Emotionally distant, not good at handling others' affection for him?'
At this thought, Rudeus glanced with pity at his fellow transmigrator, Alan. Under Alan's increasingly puzzled gaze…
He was lifted away from Zenith by Paul.
Who then happily took Rudeus's place, rubbing his face against his wife's lap.
Alan: …
Rudeus: …
Just then, Lilia finally finished washing the dishes and came out of the kitchen. She glanced at Paul, then bowed her head.
"Congratulations, Madam."
Zenith, stroking Paul's head, joked with a smile.
"You're welcome~ By the way, Lilia, you've been here for over five years. Should we find someone in the village to keep you company? It must be lonely being by yourself all the time, right?"
Lilia looked down at the hem of her maid's uniform and said with downcast eyes.
"Thank you, Madam… I… don't have any thoughts on that for now. I'm quite lost about the future."
"Ah, that's true. Lilia, you were once a noble's guard. There probably isn't a suitable person in the village… At the very least, it would have to be someone of Paul's status to be worthy of you, right? Paul, do you think we should ask Philip for help? Would a minor noble be more suitable for Lilia?"
Paul quickly glanced up at Lilia and found her looking down, her red bangs slightly covering her eyes, her red pupils fixed on him. The moment their gazes met, they quickly looked away.
Paul's face stiffened. He remembered his past transgression against Lilia and his occasional harassment, and felt a pang of panic.
"Ah, well… I think so too… Lilia is very outstanding… Ha… haha."
Alan watched the interaction between the two with his arms crossed, a faint smile slowly appearing on his face.
Is it coming? The infidelity incident from the original story.
The timing is right this time. There won't be another butterfly effect, will there?
Knock, knock, knock. A rapid knocking came from the door.
Alan was stunned and turned to look at the door. This scene, which had not appeared in the original story, subconsciously reminded him of Roxy's late-night visit a month ago.
'No way? It can't be another strange butterfly effect, can it?'
Just as Alan was feeling suspicious, Zenith and Paul started talking calmly.
"Is that Rolls?"
"Ah, it should be him."
Under Alan's puzzled gaze, Lilia had already opened the door.
Outside was indeed the blond, long-eared Rolls. He nodded at Lilia, then looked first at Rudeus and Alan inside the house, and with a smile, stepped aside to make way.
A small figure emerged from behind him.
It was Sylphie. She was wearing a winter outfit that had not appeared in the story, with a fluffy collar on both sides of her coat framing her small face. Her nose was red from the cold wind, and under her long eyelashes, her red pupils reflected Alan's figure.
"Good morning, Alan."
Rudeus came over from the side in a huff.
"Hey, Sylphie, why are you only greeting Alan?"
"Sorry, Rudeus. Good morning."
Alan couldn't help but smile at the sight of Sylphie. It had been snowing continuously for the past ten days since winter began, and he hadn't seen her. Now, seeing her in a thick winter coat that hadn't appeared in the anime, he found her extremely cute.
Alan threw an arm around Rudeus and casually patted Sylphie's head.
"Good morning, Sylphie. This is the first time I've seen you in winter clothes. Very cute."
Sylphie's ears twitched.
"…Thank you for the compliment."
It was worth mentioning that over the past six months, thanks to Alan's early intervention, Sylphie had not been bullied for a year as she had in the original story. She had experienced friendship earlier, and her personality had gradually shed its timidity, becoming closer to the gentle, understanding "White Mama" image from the original plot.
Now, when she heard Alan's occasional compliments, she was no longer overly flustered or shy, and could accept them with grace and express her thanks.
Rolls smiled at the scene, then looked up at Paul, who had walked over.
"The snow has stopped. It's time to prepare for the monster subjugation."
—
There are few demonic beasts in the Asura Kingdom because the surrounding villages conduct a regular extermination led by their knights during the winter when the monsters are in their dormant period. This is a national policy to ensure the kingdom's prosperous commodity economy.
This is something that doesn't even need to be explicitly mentioned in the original story, as it has nothing to do with Rudeus. But clues can be found, for example:
The book in Rudeus's home: The Ecology and Weaknesses of Demonic Beasts in the Fitoa Region.
Considering that books are very expensive in the world of Mushoku Tensei, having such a book in his house means it certainly wasn't bought as a children's book.
That being said, logically, the monster subjugation should not have involved Rudeus in either the original story or now.
But, over the past six months, Alan had often had a bout of fatherly concern and, worried about Sylphie, would drag Rudeus along to deliver meals to Rolls. As a result, they had also helped hunt many demonic beasts that had strayed from the forest. In turn, Rudeus would also play the role of the cook to clean up afterward. Over time, the adult men of the village had all come to realize one thing.
That is, although Alan and Rudeus were not yet ten years old, they could not be simply regarded as children. In some respects, they were even more capable than adults.
Naturally, they were also allowed to participate in the preparatory work for the monster subjugation. And Paul himself, who believed that boys should go out and gain experience, naturally took Alan and Rudeus along to see it for themselves.
At the edge of the forest, the dense leaves of summer had completely fallen away. The forest was wrapped in a thick coat of snow, each tree distinct, allowing for a clear view into the depths of the forest, unlike in other seasons when it was hidden in the thick, shadowy canopy.
The men of Buena Village pulled a specially lengthened and widened thorn net, trudging through the thick snow, and tied it section by section to the tree trunks inside the forest, gradually enclosing the entire edge of the forest.
This was to prevent any escaping monsters from sneaking into the village during the official subjugation.
Alan and Paul stood at the front of the group on guard, preventing any monsters from suddenly bursting out from under the snow and injuring people. The two little ones were at the very back of the group, watching everyone from a distance.
"Uncle, is this subjugation done every year? I've never heard of it before."
Paul held his sword and looked around.
"You were in the capital, of course you wouldn't have seen this kind of scene. What, is it novel to you?"
"It's alright… Then, what is that?"
Paul was stunned and looked at Alan, only to find him pointing a finger at a corner deep in the bare forest. Between the tree trunks, a simple wooden cabin revealed its mottled eaves.
"That? A safe house."
"A safe house?"
"Yes, it's a temporary shelter specially prepared for hunters crossing the forest in winter or for merchant caravans that get caught in a blizzard."
"A temporary shelter?"
"Don't be fooled by the clear view now. When it snows at the foot of the Red Dragon Mountains, it often snows for a month straight. At that time, it's almost impossible to tell east from west in the forest. If someone gets lost in a blizzard and their carriage gets stuck in the snow, it's very easy to die in the storm. That's why the kingdom ordered the construction of many such small shelters in the forest, precisely to deal with this situation."
Alan was stunned. He remembered the difficult trek through the forest last winter, driving his battle aura. And before his assassination last winter, his original plan had been to travel by carriage.
'When the winter wind blows, the rising air currents on the mountain slopes can easily cause orographic snow… a carriage definitely wouldn't be able to move."
'I overlooked that point when I was planning before. So, if the accident hadn't happened and I had traveled according to the original plan, I would have been delayed by the carriage? At that time, I definitely wouldn't have been able to make the timely decision to abandon the carriage and travel on foot through the forest, but would have chosen to wait for the blizzard to end.'
'I might have found a shelter and stopped to rest. If the snow lasted a long time, and I found the carriage couldn't move after it stopped, it could have caused a long delay, which would have been slower than traveling on foot with battle aura.'
'In that case, I might not have met Roxy. And if I hadn't met Roxy, my points would probably have been hovering around the passing line at best… That was a close call. Although it was very hard to travel through the snow with my battle aura, in hindsight, the assassination attempt was a blessing in disguise… Fortune lies within misfortune, and misfortune lurks within fortune?'
'I was lucky.'
A few dozen meters away from the two, at the edge of the area, Rolls was setting up the net with three other men.
"Hey, Rolls, are we setting it up a bit too deep this year? It's a few dozen meters deeper than last year… Isn't that a bit dangerous?"
A big-bearded man beside him scratched his head as he tied the net to a tree trunk, his voice filled with worry.
Rolls replied seriously.
"It's fine. In previous years, it was just Paul, an Advanced-rank swordsman, so we were more cautious. This year, we have Alan. Even if we startle some monsters on the east side, we can deal with them quickly."
The man smiled.
"Alan is indeed outstanding. But I didn't expect the knight's son to have such a talent for magic. With Roxy first, and now Alan, he will surely make a name for himself in the future… I heard your Sylphie is very close to them~ That's great. It's a pity they don't play with my kids."
Rolls was stunned.
'Sylphie… Yes, ever since Alan came, Sylphie made friends, and the smile on her face has appeared more often…'
At this thought, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the back of the group. The small figures of Sylphie and Rudeus were looking at Alan in front of the forest from across the crowd. She was cupping her hands to her mouth to warm them with her breath, her ears twitching.
The cute sight was imprinted in Rolls's pupils, and his expression melted like snow… In reality, Rolls cared deeply for Sylphie; it was just that he was not good at coaxing children, which gave the false impression of a strict father.
'…This is great. If Sylphie is happy, Norn will be much more at ease… She felt guilty for a long time after giving birth to Sylphie because of her green hair… It wasn't her fault at all. Who can you blame for a phenomenon like atavism?'
The next moment, the distracted Rolls stepped into a pile of snow in front of a tree.
Still in a daze, he felt as if his foot hadn't stepped into the emptiness of snow, but on something cylindrical.
His vision tilted, the sole of his foot trembled, and his body staggered, about to fall. Just then, he heard the horrified shouts of the men beside him.
"Rolls!!"
"Get out of the way! Rolls!!!"
Almost simultaneously, the snow under his foot, which had felt uncompressed, exploded with a bang. Rolls's eyes filled with surprise. He struggled to turn his head.
In his vision, clumps of flying snow erupted from the ground, and a huge maw was already right in front of him—
Rolls looked at the huge maw, a surge of heat flowing through his waist, his adrenaline soaring. In his vision, the circles of fine fangs in the maw were so clear, even covered in saliva.
But his body had no time to make any effective response.
Rolls's heart went cold.
A Mutated Forest Snake… a D-rank demonic beast.
The monster had been awakened from its winter hibernation.
And to the human who had disturbed its sleep, it delivered a fatal blow.
Author's Note:
A transitional chapter, filling in a main plot hole and digging a few new ones.
Tomorrow, we start the infidelity arc. No delays.
Join my patreon For Early access to Chapter : patreon.com/TheWorldGod
Tiamat 200 Chapter (Final)
Honkai 440 Chapter
Lobotomy 110 Chapter
MushokuTensei 239 Chapter
'Pure Evil' Simulator Chapter Ending
Crossover Fic Blapterue-Eyes Chapter Ending