Leon Greyrat: The Second Son – Mushoku Tensei OC

Chapter 61 – Farewells

— Leon Greyrat —

It was the next morning, and with the two horses prepared, their saddles packed with our supplies for the coming journey, we were ready to depart.

Unfortunately, while the horses would be great for getting to the nearby ruins, because of the sand, the horses would only be useful on the Begaritt Continent as food, so that meant we needed someone to take them back.

Thankfully, Ginger had volunteered to do so without any payment.

Or rather… Zanoba had volunteered her, but… that was beside the point.

As I checked the last of the supplies, ensuring we had enough food to last the expected two-week journey until the first settlement in case we didn’t run into any edible monsters, and a collection of spices in case we did, I felt my gaze drifting back to the four people who had come to see us off.

Or rather, to be more specific, my eyes had wandered to Sylphy, who for the moment, had removed her ‘Fitz’ persona, so I could see her beautiful red eyes.

This morning was also the first time Sylphy and Rudy finally met after many years apart, but that was beside the point.

…I can’t believe I went and did it.

I don’t even understand… even with those sensual words and actions, I felt that I was able to hold myself back with the thought that once she turned fifteen, I would be able to indulge all I wanted, but… I went and indulged a year and a half early.

I blame my growing libido, and I blame Ariel as well.

At least I kept my sanity enough to cast a contraception spell, so I wouldn’t have to worry about any little Sylphys or Leons growing upon my return.

My eyes met hers, causing memories of last night to play through my mind, all the expressions that cute face displayed and the passionate sounds she made… 

Well, even if it was a bit premature, I couldn’t call such an enjoyable time a mistake.

Though I would try to rein in such actions when I came back.

Besides, while the intense actions of love were great, I was also able to see the cute, innocent Sylphy once again as we cuddled in the afterglow until we fell asleep.

She really was perfect to hug. Like a teddy bear.

Sylphy also seemed to think back to our recent first time, as after staring at each other for a few moments, she quickly looked away, her cheeks flushing as she anxiously toyed with a lock of hair.

…Cute.

But how could such a bashful girl be that incarnation of lust and sexiness from last night?

Moving my gaze over to Ariel, I saw as she finished giggling into her hand, her eyes narrowing at me as she formed a smug smile.

…I knew it. That damn princess definitely had something to do with it.

But I was still a bit confused… ever since Eris’ send-off, and even more after last night, Ariel had been glancing at me a lot lately, her cheeks flushing a bit every time.

…Odd.

Was she… excited by such things?

I would say that a princess couldn’t be, but… I knew that if it was Ariel, she certainly could.

Rudy, noticing the interaction between Sylphy and me, and likely remembering the previous interactions we shared during the morning as well, narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Leon… what’s with the odd atmosphere between you and Sylphy?” he asked. “Did… something happen?”

Looking over to his face, I quickly turned my head away, trying to put our night into the right words.

“We decided to do some… endurance training.”

Perfect.

“…Oh,” was all Rudy said.

He already knew that the silver-haired fairy was promised to me and that Eris knew that, but it must have still been a shock to learn of our relationship’s… maturity.

Sylphy’s head then turned back to me, our eyes meeting for another moment before she once again diverted them, this time also crossing her legs, gently rubbing her thighs against each other.

Haa…

“…Disgusting,” Sara said from the side, looking at me with a slight frown.

I don’t know whether it was because Sylphy was now my second partner, because she was not an adult yet, or simply because Sara didn’t want to know about that stuff, but getting called that brought back memories of me doing the same to my father.

I had promised not to be like Paul, dammit!

“It doesn’t feel nice hearing such scathing words from my sister,” I sighed.

“Huh? Sister?” Sara said, confused.

Oh?

Well, I guess I hadn’t articulated this just yet, so this was a good time to do so, while also moving the topic away from Sylphy and I.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “You’re Rudy’s beloved, right? And from what I can tell, you two are pretty serious, so you’re my sister.”

She looked at me with wide eyes, stunned at my words, before eventually voicing out, “So… you really think of me as a sister?”

“Naturally,” I said, turning to face her. “You’re part of my family, Sara. And because of that, I will do everything I can to keep you safe and happy. Though… I think I can leave the happiness part to my brother.”

Sara, rendered speechless, slowly turned her head back to her bag, going through another check of her supplies without a word.

“Brother… can you not seduce my beloved girlfriend?” Rudy said.

“I have absolutely no interest,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m only allowed three, after all.”

Besides, I wanted Sara to know I thought of her as family, so there was nothing wrong with voicing my true thoughts.

“Right…”

As Rudy slowly sighed, Aisha and Norn both came up to me.

“Brother!”

“Big Brother…”

Leaning down, I took them both in my arms, lifting them as I stood up straight and resting them against my hips.

Haa… I remember when I could carry them both in my arms… when my shoulders seemed like the tallest place in the world…

They were getting bigger. And fast too.

Dammit, no crying!

“Be good for Sylphy, okay?” I said, looking into both of their eyes. “And try to find something you want to do at the university too, but most importantly… have fun.”

I kissed both of their noses, making them giggle slightly.

“That tickles!” Norn laughed.

Smiling at their cuteness, which unlike their height had remained the same, they both calmed down before leaning forward, simultaneously wrapping their arms around my neck in a tight hug.

“I’ll… we’ll miss you,” Aisha said.

“Mmm,” Norn nodded.

“I know,” I said, soothingly patting their backs. “But I’ll be back soon, and I’ll be bringing our whole family together when I do.”

Ah… thinking about it now, this is the first time we’d be separated in four years… that’s a depressing thought.

But it wasn’t all bad.

I was excited to see how much they’ve grown when I came back, even if it might pain me a bit to have not seen that growth as it happened.

My sweet sisters would grow into the most amazing women after all.

“Once I come back… we’ll get a big house, okay?” I said calmly. “We’ll all live together again, as one giant family.”

With the two of them nodding their heads and both giving me a kiss on the cheek, I slowly let them back down to the ground.

Scuffling her toes in the dirt with her head down, Norn then reached into her coat before pulling out a small wooden carving of a sword.

“Here, Brother… this is for you.”

Taking it gently in my hand, I examined the carving with a wide smile, instantly marking its similarities to my very own sword.

It seems that Norn got quite good at whittling.

Her brother was very proud.

“Thank you, Norn. I’ll make sure to keep it safe.”

Taking off my Migurd necklace from Roxy, I undid the string as I formed a thin needle out of earth magic, poking a hole through the handle of Norn’s gift as I then thread it through the string.

“Now I’ll always have it on me!” I said, putting the necklace back on.

I was a bit worried about how she would feel about creating a hole in her carving, but she didn’t seem to mind, instead smiling happily at how I had decided to keep her gift close to my heart… literally.

Aisha, who was pouting slightly, then also revealed a gift, taking out a grey wool cap that she had seemingly sewn herself.

I had noticed she was working on a project… to think it was for me.

I was very happy.

So much that my cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling.

“I… know this will be useless in the Begaritt Continent, but it can be used for the way there at least…” Aisha said, her expression forming a dissatisfied frown. “…You can leave it behind to not waste space.”

“Nothing you give me is useless, Aisha,” I said as I took the cap, placing it on my head.

As expected, it fit perfectly.

“That’s something you’d say, Big Brother,” Aisha grumbled.

“Because it’s true,” I said, patting her head. “Begaritt is hot, so I can soak this in cold water with magic to keep my head cold. So thank you, Aisha, for your heartwarming and useful gift.”

Aisha’s pout slowly transformed into a smile as I continued patting her head.

Good. That smile was too cute to be hidden away.

“I don’t have a gift right now, but I’ll bring you two back some rare stuff you can only get there, okay?” I said. “I heard they have quite extravagant spices and glassware.”

My eyes then drifted to their necks, where an old, worn stone was still tied with a string.

Damn… that brings back memories.

I had created that when we first arrived at the Demon Continent, so the barrier magic was long exhausted, especially after my blood had been washed off with many rains and baths.

At this point, it was just a useless stone on a string, but still, they wore it regardless.

Even when the previous string became too small and frayed, they adamantly refused to remove it, instead deciding to replace the string in Millishion and keep it as a memento.

It made me feel very warm, that was for sure, but if they wanted to keep that stone, I should try to get a better necklace to go with it.

Hmm… maybe silver? Or would gold be better?

Ah, I guess I’ll decide there.

As it was now time to depart, I walked up to Sylphy before leaving, her hesitant eyes slowly finding their way to mine.

…I really can’t believe that this innocent looking girl was the same one who asked me so sensually to ‘make her a woman’ last night, but… that was just part of her charm, I suppose.

“I’ll be going, Sylphy,” I said, brushing my hand across her ear to hold her head.

She exhaled softly as I did so.

Right, as I had learned very well last night, her ears were sensitive.

“I know… but you’ll be back soon, right?” she asked with upturned eyes.

“Exactly.”

I then leaned down, capturing her lips in a kiss as my tongue danced across her teeth.

Our kiss deepened, with Sylphy wrapping her arms around my neck as we eagerly tasted each other, ensuring this final kiss would cement itself in our memories during our time apart.

“Ahem!”

However… it seemed that we had both gotten too into it.

“While I appreciate how much Big Brother and Big Sis Sylphy love each other… I think you should be more mindful of your surroundings,” Aisha said with a giggle.

We separated at that, with Sylphy’s face growing increasingly red as her eyes darted around, seeing the surprised and flustered states of Rudy, Sara, Norn, Ginger, and even Ariel.

I was not so embarrassed.

After all, love was beautiful, and Sylphy’s lips tasted wonderful.

And because they tasted so wonderful, I traced my tongue across her lips a final time, wiping off the saliva that had escaped and causing her to shiver.

“I love you, Sylphy,” said with a smile. “It’s still not the time for kids, but… when I get back, we can start that happy family.”

“O-Okay,” she said, her moistened lips spreading into a wide smile. “I’ll wait for you… and I love you too, Leon.”

Nodding at her, I then turned to Ariel, the final person I needed to say goodbye to.

“Princess… I made sure to watch out for anyone, and found nothing, so I don’t think you will find any enemies here,” I said. “But still, stay safe until I return.”

She smiled back at me.

“While I appreciate your concern, I have been able to survive in worse situations without you,” she said calmly. “Besides, if you say those words to a woman, you might annoy your wives~”

She giggled lightly into her hand as I continued staring at her, not reacting in the slightest to her teasing.

“Sylphy, Aisha, and Norn… I am entrusting my family, the most important part of my life, to you, Ariel,” I said in a serious tone, causing her to freeze. “I am not one to trust someone with such a thing lightly, so… don’t make me regret it. Please.”

She removed her hand as she stared at me, her eyes firm in resolve.

“I promise to keep them safe, Leon Greyrat,” she said before softening her expression into a smile, though… it seemed a little… forced. 

“…How vexing. Like this, I can’t help but feel a bit jealous…” she murmured to herself, shaking her head. “However, hopefully, I will be able to receive some of that overprotectiveness upon your return… Be well, Leon Greyrat. I wish you success in finding your family.”

She wanted to receive my overprotectiveness?

Oh, right. I did promise to be on her side when I came back.

“Thanks,” I said in return. “And… same to you.”

And with that final, pleasant farewell, we then began our journey into the forest.

Today would be my first experience with the Begaritt Continent.

Today… would be the beginning of the end of my grand quest, four years in the making.

Soon… I would be reuniting with all my family.

— Leon Greyrat —

The journey to the forest had been easy, with Ginger kindly taking the horses back as we reached the treeline. 

While there were monsters in the forest, they were quite easy to deal with.

With me using my Demon eye, I scouted for any enemies, avoiding them when we could, and either me or Rudy dealing with them when we couldn’t.

And like so, we easily made our way through the monster-infested forest towards the marked location.

“So, according to Nanahoshi’s notes, it should be around here…” Rudy said.

“Alright, let’s see,” I said, activating my Demon eye once again.

Scanning the surroundings, it didn’t take long for me to notice a… distortion of mana.

Weird. 

When I had heard of the barrier blocking the ruins from the common eye, I had expected there to be a veil of mana, similar to Ariel’s transformation magic, but to me, it looked like it was hiding the mana itself…

If I was just passing by, and didn’t know about the ruin, I likely wouldn’t have even noticed it.

“It’s here,” I said. “So? What do we do now? Break it?”

“Don’t be so violent, brother…” Rudy sighed.

Sara just stared at me in confusion.

“Is there something on my face?” I asked.

“No, it’s just… are you truly an adventurer?” she asked. “You’re supposed to treat stuff like this with caution, you know.”

Oh… was that the case?

I didn’t really care for that stuff, though. 

At the moment, this was just a way to get to Mama quicker, that’s it, and being an adventurer was just a job to hasten our journey across the world while gaining some money.

“Just… give me a moment,” Rudy said, kneeling in front of a stone tablet.

He then placed his hand on the stone, muttering some words under his breath as I watched the surroundings, ensuring nothing would ambush us.

And then, a moment later, the space in front of me distorted, revealing an old, worn, overgrown stone monument.

“…Damn,” I said. “So this is it?”

“I would hope so…” Sara said.

“…Yep, this is the place,” Rudy said in a similar state of amazement. “Magic is truly amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” I said.

With me walking forward, Rudy and Sara followed behind as we entered the first room, my Demon eye scanning for any traps, or at least those activated by mana, while I kept my body enhanced with touki in case there were any mechanical ones.

There seemed to be a few rooms in the ruin, with one of them storing winter robes, likely meant to be used when Orsted arrived here from a different climate. 

We had also decided to use this efficient strategy by leaving our winter clothes here and changing into some light robes for the expected heat of the Begaritt Continent.

After all, we wanted to pack light, so we could get to Rapan as fast as possible.

Luckily, despite my caution, there were no traps, as it seemed that whoever made this place thought the barrier was enough, and looking around the place, the only mana I could see was from a complicated circle down a small stairway, which was likely the teleportation circle that we would be using.

But speaking of that barrier…

“Do you have to say that chant again?” I asked Rudy. “So no one else stumbles in here, I mean.”

“No, I think it closes automatically,” he said. “At least, there’s nothing in the notes about it.”

“I see.”

Well, even if someone stumbled across this, which was unlikely enough, I doubt they would decide against stepping on some random magic circle.

…Hopefully.

Adventurers could be stupid, after all, like that person who wanted to sit in my seat the day I met Rudy.

Reaching the bottom of the stairway, we entered the dilapidated room, with vines sprawling across the cracked stone walls and moss growing here and there.

It… obviously wasn’t well-maintained, and likely not often visited, judging by the dust coating the ground, so my small fear that we would randomly encounter Orsted had lessened slightly.

“Wow… it’s truly a classic ‘forest ruins’ trope,” Rudy muttered.

“What are you going on about?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he shook his head with a smile. “Now… this must be it, right?”

All three of our gazes fell onto the large magic circle sketched across the stone floor at the centre of the room.

“To think… after everything we’ve been through… we’d be willingly teleporting,” I said with a slight frown. “…How ironic.”

Especially considering that we were using this to save my mothers, who were only in danger due to the teleportation disaster…

Really, it was super ironic.

I just hope this thing doesn’t screw us over.

Rudy then took out Nanahoshi’s notebook, tracing his finger across the paper as he summoned a ball of fire to give us some light.

“It… seems to be the same thing written down,” Rudy said as he took out another book. “But let’s see if we can confirm it.”

He then began reading through the book he had brought from the academy, detailing an adventurer party’s expedition into a teleportation labyrinth.

I had briefly read through it on the ride here, and while most of it was about adventure and tragedy, there were some pieces of wisdom sprinkled in there, mostly detailing many of the teleportation traps that they had encountered.

“Huh… I can see some similarities, so… this should be good,” Rudy said, standing up and snapping his book shut. “Let’s do this.”

I nodded in response as I held out my hand.

With Rudy grabbing Sara and my’s hands, so we wouldn’t be separated during our teleportation, we then stepped onto the circle.

Uhh… nothing was happening.

“…Do we have to activate it-?”

My question was cut off as I was suddenly assaulted with a dizzying feeling and, a moment later, I found myself standing in a very familiar room.

It looked extremely similar to the room we were just in, but there were some differences.

The most obvious one being that instead of moss and tree roots pervading the stone walls, now, there were small piles of sand.

“…It seems that we’re here,” I said, stepping forward. “But to think it automatically activated… how odd.”

I had seen mana flowing through the magic circle’s lines, so it wasn’t entirely surprising that it could work, but I wasn’t able to spot any power source for said mana when I looked over it.

And activating my Demon eye, I could see that it was the same case here.

…Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter.

“You two okay?” I asked.

“Huh? Ah… yeah,” Rudy said, nodding. “Just… felt a bit familiar, is all.”

Familiar?

“You mean the teleporting?” I asked.

“Something like that…”

…Weird.

“And you, Sara?” I asked.

“…Yeah,” she nodded, getting over her momentary state of shock. “Just was a bit startling. To think we’ve traversed months' worth of travel in an instant… I can see why teleportation magic was forbidden.”

“True…” Rudy nodded. “Imagine an army suddenly showing up like this… that’s terrifying.”

Yeah. Teleportation magic seemed… extremely useful.

Both in general life and in a fight.

I would hold off for now, but even if it was forbidden… I wanted to learn it.

“Well… no time to waste,” I said, adjusting the strap of my bag and soaking my gifted cap with water magic. “Let’s go.”

Receiving two nods, we then began heading up the stairs, only to stop a moment later as Rudy suddenly interrupted us, “Wait, should we check if we can get back to the other side?”

“…No,” I shook my head. “Even without teleportation, we would be crossing here to get back home anyway. If one of us teleports and suddenly can’t return, that would be extremely troublesome.”

“I guess…” Rudy shrugged as we continued.

As we reached the first floor, I instantly felt the change in temperature, as well as noticing the few footsteps marking the sand-covered floor.

“Those are… Orsted’s, right?” Rudy said, looking down.

I guess he noticed them too.

“Orsted? Who’s that?” Sara asked.

“No one, Sara, and as for these footsteps… probably,” I shrugged. “Let’s just make sure we don’t stay here too long.”

I didn’t want to ever see that guy again, after all.

Especially when I had only gotten a bit stronger in the year since my absolute beat-down.

“Yeah… let’s do that,” Rudy nodded.

We then exited the ruin, revealing a vast expanse of sand dunes as far as the eye could see.

It was… desolate. 

To the point where it reminded me of the Demon Continent, without a hint of civilization in sight.

And it was also…

“It’s fucking hot!” Sara said, fanning herself with her hands.

“You’re telling me… I really have to thank Aisha,” I said, cooling down my soaked cap. 

But as soon as I went to cool it down, I noticed that much of the previous moisture had already evaporated.

…It wasn’t just hot here, it was fucking boiling.

“…Well, other than getting Mama and Lilia earlier, I guess this is another reason to go fast,” I grumbled, taking out my canteen in preparation for the coming dehydration as the other two nodded in agreement. “Rudy, can you refill our water? I’ll keep a cool breeze on us the entire time.”

“Got it, Brother,” he nodded.

Since generating water used up way more mana, I decided to leave that task to him.

Also, I couldn’t exactly trust Rudy with breezes after his displays during our childhood, even if he had grown up.

Even with my time crossing the world, I had still never seen so many panties at once… truly, I was glad he had calmed down his lust after meeting Sara.

And so, with our direction decided with a glance of our map, we then began our journey north to the city of Rapan, where my Mama was hopefully still waiting for me, or at least some information about her, as well as my father and his group.

We continued at a smooth pace as the sun passed its apex, avoiding most monsters with my enhanced eyesight as we jogged through the difficult terrain.

Fucking sand… after this, I definitely hated sand.

Luckily, with Sara being an active girl, and Rudy keeping up with his training despite being a magician, there were no issues with stamina during our trek, with the only breaks being taken to drink some water, cool down, or remove the sand from our shoes.

But, unfortunately, our luck of avoiding enemies didn’t last forever, as we soon found ourselves facing a pair of large scorpion-like monsters.

They were about two meters in length, with two long tails, both fitted with a stinger each, and a hard green carapace protecting their bodies.

From what I could remember from my brief research… these were Twin Death Scorpions, a B-rank monster that roamed the desert of the Begaritt Continent.

Luckily, even though they were B-rank, their most dangerous trait was the poison that was injected by its stinger, and since I could remove it with detoxification magic, its biggest threat was nullified.

As I was about to step forward and put them down, I was stopped by both Rudy and Sara.

“Brother, you’ve been constantly casting wind magic, and you dealt with most of the monsters in the forest,” Rudy said. “Let us deal with this.”

“Besides, you haven’t seen us in action, right?” Sara said, drawing an arrow. “We’re not your little sisters. We’re S-rank adventurers. You should know the strength of your allies.”

“…Sure,” I said with a smile. “I’ll leave it to you.”

I knew they were strong, and again, I could always heal and detoxify them, so I wasn’t worried.

Plus… I wanted to see how they fought. Both together as a team, and also their individual skills.

Especially…

“Hiya!” Sara shouted, releasing an arrow.

The projectile flew through the air before easily penetrating the first monster’s eye, or at least one of them, causing it to screech in pain.

…What?

While I had only seen an archer in combat a couple of times, I did know one thing.

Arrows… shouldn’t fly that fast, nor should they be able to penetrate a B-rank monster so easily.

I could understand if it was some sort of magic item, but I had seen Sara carve some of her arrows during our walk through the forest.

…Interesting.

I watched as the battle continued, the couple showing off their perfect coordination as Rudy immobilized the scorpions by sinking them into the ground, while also creating platforms by raising the ground, which Sara used to jump around the monsters, sinking arrow after arrow into the spots between their armour with perfect accuracy as she manoeuvred around them for optimal angles.

And then, with a Stone Cannon shooting out from the tip of Rudy’s staff, the same one he had gotten for his tenth birthday, the monsters were killed instantly as the projectile flew through their bodies.

“Well done…” I said in slight amazement and shock.

Their coordination was perfect. Even better than mine and Eris’. 

And Rudy’s magic was just as amazing as I had expected.

But that wasn’t what had startled me.

As soon as she harmed a B-rank monster with a mere arrow, I became suspicious of Sara, and thus, activated my Demon eye to see exactly what was going on.

And so, I saw it.

Her arrows… they were enhanced with touki.

That… that should be impossible.

Aside from being useful for assassinations with poisoned arrows and against unassuming warriors, there was a reason why archers were seen as weak.

Their power was… normal.

Arrows could only go as fast as you pulled back on the bow, which could only be pulled back so far without it turning into siege equipment.

And that was because of touki.

Unlike with one’s body, or swords, spears, and all weapons that could be constantly held, arrows could not be enhanced with touki.

After all, once the arrow was let loose, it lost the physical connection with the archer, meaning touki could no longer flow through the object.

But Sara did just that.

…What the hell?

Was I… wrong about touki?

…I would have to ask her.

“That was great, you two,” I said, clapping in astonishment. “And Sara… I’m amazed that you can infuse your touki with arrows. I didn’t even think that was possible.”

Instead of accepting my earnest praise with a smile, Sara only looked back at me, tilting her head in confusion.

“‘Touki’? What’s that? And what do you mean I can infuse it into my arrows?” she asked.

…Huh?

“Wait a second,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “How… No, first, what do you do when shooting an arrow.”

“What do I do? Hmm…” she said, adopting a thinking pose. “Well… first, I focus on the draw, make sure I’m aiming straight, and then, as I release, I become ‘one with the arrow’. Keeping up my concentration as the arrow finds its target.”

Fucking shit!

She was an instinctual type, just like Paul, but worse!

At least an experienced swordsman could understand the dumb words he said and everything about ‘feeling it’, but no one would understand Sara, because as far as I knew, there were no other archers who could do that.

“…So, you just… concentrate,” I said in exasperation. “Becoming ‘one with the arrow’ and such.”

“Yep! Archery is simple like that,” she said, winking at me with a smile. “Just practice!”

…Right.

Well, if she was this good without even knowing what she was doing… perhaps I could help her become a bit stronger.

I was also interested in her unintentionally groundbreaking technique, after all.

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