Mushoku Tensei: A different path

(Rudeus POV)

There wasn't much talk after that, except that moment when I showed them my pocket dimension spell, which made their question marks about my strength vanish and instead put them onto 'what can he NOT do?'.

We decided that we could do the skinning and scale harvesting later, as we discovered where we were at when fighting the Blizzard Dragon.

The ruin we were fighting in was called the Galgo Ruin, a place made by an Earth God Demon Lord in honor of Kishirika Kishirisu and a day away from the Ilbi Cave.

Our main evidence was the headless lady statue that we discovered.

The clothes style reminded me of her, but… the 'bust'? Not so much.

Anyway, the main problem was that there was an opening that connected the two locations.

Which gave me another moment to show off my Magic skills.

With highly concentrated Earth Magic, I conjured a dense black wall, closing the path.

The following was a long carving session of all the carcasses.

Distribution was done relatively quickly but questionable for me.

The total of what I got is twice as much as what Soldat's party has in total.

The loot consists of skin, scales, claws, and bones. All of that can be sold for good money.

None of the Blizzard Dragon parts can be sold yet as we need to give that to the guild for documentation purposes.

After a silent retreat back to Rosenburg, we made it into the guild with no injuries whatsoever.

"Hey Rudeus."

In the background at a table, I was called out by Susanne and her group.

"Back already? That was fast. But, they don't look so good. What happened?"

"We came across some difficulties."

"Was there another assassins attack?" She asked concerned about it.

"No, it was a Snow Drake mutation."

"What?" Patris exclaimed. "You found a Snow Dragon?"

"Worse."

"…" dumbfounded face from them all.

My answer may have been confusing to them, but it was the one and only truth.

"Just wait and see."

"Rudeus, come over here." Soldat called me over, and so I did as he said.

Let's get this over with, so I can go look for a labyrinth or something.

As I arrived at the counter with the clerk behind, I wondered if he needed more proof for the extermination quest.

"Give her the parts of our sudden encounter."

"Ah, right."

Soldat told me to keep the remains of the Blizzard Dragon to show the guild should they ask for it.

I opened my pocket dimension and took out the Blizzard Dragon's severed head.

To preserve it better, I froze it. All of it still in the same condition as we got it. Even the eyes were looking lively.

"Not that part you idiot!" Soldat shouted as he stepped away from me.

"What, you didn't specify what part."

"I was talking about the crystals, not the head you sliced off!"

"Then say that next time."

In my opinion, this is better proof to it then just showing the crystals. The sheer size should show the guild clerk what type of threat we were dealing with.

As funny as this may look like, this was actually a little plan Soldat thought of for me.

By showing off the head of the Blizzard Dragon, I would present it before the other adventurers as a trophy.

It didn't just slip from Soldat unintentionally that I was the one who killed it, as it was supposed to spread the rumor of me killing something of S rank danger myself.

And as I picked up multiple signals of fear from everywhere, including the clerk behind the counter, I put back the head and took out one of the crystals.

Even after ripping it out from the spine, the crystals all remained in their shining brilliance.

Exclamations of amazement were heard from all over the guild.

"I-Is that the c-crystal you were referring to?"

"One of them, yes." Soldat answered.

"One of them?! As in, there are more!?" The clerk shouted.

And on request, the rest of them were taken out as well.

There was barely any room left on the counter, so I had to hold some of the smaller one's in my hands.

Wide eyed and yaw dropping, the clerk took in the light all of these crystals emitted.

It was enough to get the attention of everyone else here, even making some people outside come inside to see what's causing that light.

There were about 28 crystals in total. They were all plates with the top parts being triangle shaped.

The biggest one was as wide as an uchiwa and as thick as two or three of them stacked up on top of each other.

Now comes the unfortunate truth about their magic properties.

"Have y-you already discovered any special effects of them?"

"Only that they shot out a minor wind blast similar to the advanced class Water Magic [Blizzard Storm]."

"… and?"

"That's… it." I said, feeling awful about having gained nothing about these crystals.

A single one of them can shoot out a blizzard wind as strong as a leaf blower, but all together made the frost effect that the Blizzard Dragon used to spin and freeze.

There is actually a bottom part on every crystal that got implanted directly into its spines.

The Blizzard Dragon had three spinal cords going along its back next to each other that each had crystals implanted into them.

That way it was able to use all of them simultaneously and do what it did back then.

However, that makes them pretty useless for me to use.

I can only hold to of them at best and couldn't use the same attacks that monster did.

Unless I implant some of those into my own spine, but that surgery is something that I would never do or ask someone to try out.

All in all, that creature had only its previously high-quality skin and scales to offer as compensation.

They WERE in good condition before I damaged the scales and muddied the skin too much.

So much struggle and yet no good loot. The money-grubbing side of me is crying.

Before the clerk took some of the crystals with her, we gave her more details about the nature of the Blizzard Dragon and what types of attributes it had in battle.

Once Soldat told her about the lack of mana it had for long battles, she wasn't showing much of a surprised response.

It still bugged me how it had used so much mana in those reckless attempts, but I simply let that slide for now.

A different attendant showed up from behind the counter and took in the materials we had.

We then gave a report about the sudden path that connected the Ilbi Cave and the Galgo Ruins and that we made sure to seal it.

"Is there anything else you need?" The clerk asked, slowly calming down on what he'll of a report she had to hear out.

She will surely have to write that all down somewhere. Certainly, anyone who would read that on paper couldn't possibly believe it.

"Yes there is." Soldat enthusiastically said, pointing his hand at me. "I would like to sign him to [Stepped Leader] as a member." Soldat said to the clerk.

"Wait. After all of that, you still want me in your party?"

"Are you joking?"

Soldat exclaimed, the smugness practically shinning out of his smiling face.

"You're overqualified for any party in this region. You not only defeated more Snow Drakes than any of us, you killed dozens of them with a King class spell INSIDE a cave. Not just that, you were the only one who was able to damage that Blizzard Dragon. Without you, my party would've been that thing's next meal.

And the performance you showed gave proof of your talent in magic. You were even utilizing Healing Magic into a life-force robbing attack? And to top it all of that magic storage thing you do.

I would be a fool not to try to hire you."

Huh. Seems like I had the wrong impression about my result. If he as a professional adventurer says it, I may as well believe it too.

But why is he saying that all out loud? Is it another spontaneous attempt to get my name spread?

"Also…"

Pausing for a second, he nudged his chin towards somewhere.

When I followed his eyes, I saw a devastated Anastasia getting comforted by other women.

"Yeah, your little power showcase broke her Magician spirit."

"…oh…"

I… definitely went too far with my performance, didn't I?

And now the same people who tried to comfort her are staring daggers at me.

'Hey, it's not like I did it with an evil thought behind it. I gave it my all for a totally different reason!'

"Now, as an official member of our party, and for our bountiful quest, let's celebrate!"

"Well, I guess that sounds-"

"On your pay of course!"

"Wait, what?!"

On me?! There are like over 50 people here. I'm gonna lose a lot of my money.

"That way we can tell everyone about the spectacular presentation you gave us to each of them and let them know to never mess with you. Or else they end up like those Snow Drakes that you killed with Healing Magic. Or getting their heads severed like that Blizzard Dragon."

Is he using me to threaten people or as a bragging tool?

But either way, it's not like I don't know where he is coming from.

By letting people know of my work, they will make me the talk of the town and my name will get spread across the country.

With a heavy heart, I made one of the toughest decisions I have made as an adventurer so far.

Playing along and letting my pouch lose a significant amount of weight.

***

As we arrived at one of Soldat's favorite bars, it was made clear that for the most part, I would pay.

While everyone was enjoying their drinks, I imagined the moths flying out of my pouch once this night was over.

Soldat came next to me and slung his arm around my neck.

"Yo, kid, why aren't you enjoying yourself?"

He is already intoxicated. His breath reeks of alcohol.

"You know exactly why."

He is the one that started this whole thing on his own. Heck, he may as well have planned this ever since looting the Blizzard Dragon.

"Come on. This is also for you. You need to get off and enjoy this- wait, what are you drinking?"

"Fruit water."

It was one of the few options this bar had that didn't involve alcohol.

There is no age restriction for me to consider in this world when it comes to drinking, but I don't feel like getting that stuff in me anymore.

Paul was the best example as to what alcohol can do to a person when stressed.

I'm afraid to end up like him and lose hope into finding Zenith afterward.

Suddenly, when I was looking into my jug, a bottle got pushed into my mouth.

I was dragged backwards a bit and the contents of it went straight down my throat.

I tried to resist, but my so-called leader was physically stronger than me.

Once the bottle was empty, I violently coughed from the burning sensation growing in me.

"Now, soon you feel that grumpy expression of yours out of your face. I can't stand people like you who think that have it the worst - huh?"

I grabbed the top of his hair and slammed his face through the table and into the ground.

The entire bar got silent and looked over at us.

Soldat was groaning in pain from the head trauma, but I was about to worsen it by stepping on his head.

*Thud*

"Huh?! Ya think I'm *hick* looking down on anyone?"

*Thud*

"Ya think just because ya my *hick* new leader you're automatically *hick* allowed to insult me?"

*Thud*

"Go… fffuck yourself you *hick* ass… hole."

By each second that passed by, my head became more and more jumbled, and I let out my thoughts about his action against me.

And now I wasn't even giving him proper stomps to the head and swayed around.

"The heck is happening to him?"

"Look. That idiot gave him one of the strong bottles."

"Who would fore him that stuff down?"

"Ha! Look at him. Brat can't hold his- Argh!?"

With my thumb pointed downwards, I crushed the guy into the flour by making him as heavy as a boulder.

The sight made me laugh out hysterically, with the occasional hick in between.

"The hell is wrong with this brat?"

Panic ensued from the kid that had no control of his drunken state.

A hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

"Cut it out. You had enough, kid."

I didn't look at him and instead pointed my index finger down.

"Hey Sir, did you know?"

"'Know' what?"

"I can make people" I then looked at him with a smile while pointing my index finger up "-fly to the sky."

And the result was him flying head first up against the ceiling and getting stuck there.

I burst into another laughter filled with hicks before noticing another group coming at me, all of them getting their fists ready.

Feeling the flow for the first time in a long time, I in return cracked my knuckles with each crack creating a lightning spark.

"Prepare for a *hick* ass whoppin'."

"Rudeus, no!" Connor tried to intervene, but it was too late.

"Rudeus yes!"

I said before going straight for those imbeciles that think they could defeat the almighty Rudeus.

***

Memories about people getting red from nosebleeds and me healing them right after they got unconscious are the only thing I can recollect from that time.

I was safely brought to my inn and became an official member of the S-rank party [Stepped Leader] the next day when I was still recovering from my hangover.

***

A rule was brought up the next few days that involved of not pissing me off. Especially when I'm drunk since that makes me magical-sadistic against my victims.

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