Reborn in Mushoku Tensei

Life is precious; life is fragile. Too many wrong steps in the wrong direction, and it dies. No matter how strong your life is, it's still weak. Your actions will make you lose precious people. Stop Running and walk.

I jolt awake in a cold sweat. "What the hell was that?" It felt like someone was speaking to me, like they were trying to tell me something. Was it a dream? What does that even mean—I will lose precious people?

"Rudy, are you okay? You haven't been the same since this morning. Miss Roxy said that you had some type of dream."

"Oh, Sylphie, yeah, it's nothing. I've just been thinking about it. Don't worry about me, I'm fine." If I'm being real with myself, I can't get it out of my mind. Stop running and walk? What does that even mean? This didn't happen to Rudeus in the original. Is this Hitogami? I'm so confused.

I can't help but look up at the sky and wonder if this is divine intervention, telling me something will go wrong. Someone, please tell me something.

"Ummm, Rudy, I'm concerned about you. Even though you tell me you're okay, I can see you have something on your mind. We've been under Roxy for three months now, and I can tell when something is wrong with you. Let me help you." The green-haired girl leaps onto me and hugs me, tightly wrapping her arms around me, threatening never to let go. Feeling the warmth of another person makes me feel like I'm not so alone.

I can't help but pat her head. She really is helping me. I can't let this break me down. I'll stand up bigger than ever and ready to face any challenge that comes my way. "Thanks, Sylphie, you're really helpful. I feel like I could marry you."

"M… Marriage—" Sylphie starts to stutter her words in embarrassment. It's cute to see her get teased so easily. You know what? This calls for something special.

"Hey, Sylphie, would you want to stay over at my house for a night? I'm scared to go to bed after that dream."

"Umm… I don't know. Would my parents even let me?"

"Sure they would. Just say Roxy asked you to stay for some exclusive overnight training and celebration." Wow, now that I think about it, that sounds pretty lewd. I hope her parents don't think it's something else.

{insert Lesbian Roxy}

"Well, okay, I'll ask my parents." Sylphie releases her hug and starts to walk down the hill, her hair swaying in the wind. It's a little longer than before. After a short minute, her figure disappears, no longer in my sight. She really took my words to heart. Long-haired Sylphie incoming.

"Well, since she's gone, I guess I'll try it. It's been so long since the first time, but there's no time like the present."

I start to form a fireball, but instead of making it hotter, I start to condense it more and more. The fireball starts to shrink, getting smaller and smaller, almost to the point where my eye can't even see it. I turn on my demon eye and see how small the mana is—almost as small as dust. My demon eye can barely even detect it. Then I get that feeling again, like all my mana is being sucked from me, like it's being pulled in. I can't stop or slow it down, but now my mana is many times greater than before.

Before long, I see it—one of the biggest anomalies in the universe, a black hole. I quickly release it and shoot it at the trees. After what seems like not even a second, it disperses, collapsing in on itself.

"Damn, it's the same problem each time. I can't make it sustain itself long enough to hit the trees. And if I did, all my mana plus more would be needed. I'd grow a full set of gray hair."

I punch the tree next to me, leaving a little dent there, among many others nearby. I've been trying this for about a month now, and even after increasing my mana pool, it's not something I could even think about pulling off. The move is extremely close-range and currently not usable.

"Well, there goes basically all my mana. I only have enough left to avoid passing out from mana exhaustion." I give up on trying to make a black hole today and start my walk home to rest.

"Rudeus, since you're home already, let's just start the training early." Oh my god, I just got back, basically wasted all my mana, and now I'm going to be tortured by Lilia. Will I even survive?

"Please, Lilia, give me time to rest. I used up basically all of my mana." I see her start to scan me with suspicious eyes, but before she can retort, she runs off into the bathroom.

Huh? That's strange. Did she have to poop? Why did she suddenly just run away? She's been acting strange recently; she gets tired faster during our practice, and I see her sneaking more bites of food. And is it just me, or did her boobs get bigger?

Strange. She's probably sick or something—not my problem. I'll just go take a nap.

—–————–———–————–—————

I wish the food here was better. I wish I had more seasoning. Lilia's food is good and all, but sometimes it's bland.

"Ow! Why did you smack me, Lilia?" I can feel a lump starting to appear on my head and instinctively rub it.

"I don't know. I just felt like you were offending my cooking." Sigh. The day can't get any worse.

"I'm pregnant." Wow, I guess I was right—it got better. I see Paul hug Zenith and start to smile, even dance a bit. It's pretty wholesome to watch. Speaking of that, I want to get Roxy pregnant.

"Ow! Why did you smack me, Roxy?" I feel a second lump appear on my head.

"I have a feeling you said something lewd about me." Can everyone hear my inner thoughts?! Wow, there is no way this day can actually get worse.

"Sylphie, are you going to hit me next?" I use my secret technique: fake puppy dog eyes.

"No, Rudy, I'd never hurt you." She begins to rub my head where the lumps are.

[Super Effective]

"I'm pregnant as well." Looks like my luck ran out the second time.

Everyone drops their utensils. The house is silent; you could hear the slow breathing of everyone at the table. The atmosphere is thick; nobody dares to move. The joyous moment has died, and in its rebirth, an awkward silence has appeared.

I should've known this would happen. I've already started messing with the timeline, and now this is happening. I guess Paul being a scumbag to Zenith and their vows is a constant.

Everybody's gaze goes to Paul, the only male capable of pulling this feat off. "I'm sorry, it was me. I'm the father." Everyone's jaws drop. They knew, but hearing it made it worse—even little Sylphie knew that Paul had made a bad mistake.

"Mom, are you okay?" Sylphie and I walk up to Zenith, Paul being in a corner, and Roxy comforting Zenith by holding her. Lilia is on the other side of the table.

"Yes, Rudy. It's just… your father has betrayed the family, and now I don't know what to do." Damn, this is wild. Just the action of me meeting Sylphie had a ripple effect, and now Paul has gotten involved with Lilia early.

"Well, Sylphie and I think that you should let Lilia stay." Hopefully, this works like it did in the original.

She looks back at Sylphie and me. I can see the tears running down her face and the pain in her eyes. "What do you mean?" She looks into my eyes; she wants a reason—a reason to keep Lilia and a reason to forgive Paul.

"Well, I think that Lilia is already part of the family. She's really nice and helps me out with a lot of things, and I think this is a good thing for the family, as I can have two sisters, and Sylphie and I can take care of them."

I can see the conflicting emotions on her face—the disparity and sadness but also a little happiness. "Well, even though I don't forgive your father now, I'll keep the family together for you and Sylphie."

Looks like I saved the family, and I did it better than the original Rudeus did. I didn't have to offend Paul, even though I should've. The good thing about Paul is that he learns from his mistakes. Even though he's a terrible person, in the end, you can't help but feel sad for him. He's just human, and humans adapt, and that's what he represents.

"I don't deserve to be saved."